HIGHER FREQUENCIES FIRE UP!

Over the past week, reception conditions on the higher frequencies have vastly improved. There have been some spectacular openings on frequencies above 14 MHz. Why? Well, the Solar Flux Index (SFI) has been registering levels in the low to mid-90s - numbers that we haven't seen for a few years now. During the past two years, the SFI has been bouncing around the low-70s to mid-60s. So, the turnaround over the last week has been striking.

SHORTWAVE BROADCAST BANDS: Here at Mount Evelyn, the biggest telltale sign of changed reception conditions was the 13mb presence of R. France International on 21580 and R. Saudi International on 21670 kHz. Both open their broadcasts at 0900 UTC and reception at that time on November 10 could be best described as "armchair copy"! Reception on other days was not quite as good but still serviceable. The current problem with the 13mb is that there are not many stations using the band, but we could see an increase in occupancy over the next 12-18 months.

The 16 and 19mb are also opening up with more reliable signals, especially in the early evenings. Although both these bands are "riddled" with the Chinese CRI and CNR outlets, there are also other broadcasters being heard including R. Farda 17880 and 17560, R. Saudi Int'l 17615, R. Kuwait 17760, R. France Int'l 17850, R. Pilipinas 17820, R. Thailand 17630, and Adventist World R. via Trincomalee on 17650 kHz. And in the 19mb, I noted four FEBC outlets: 15420, 15450, 15560 and 15580, along with R. Kuwait 15530 and 15515, and others (details below).

HAM BANDS: Much CW, SSB and FT8 activity has been noted on 18, 21, 24, and 28 MHz for the past 10 days. Remember that the popular FT8 mode was first introduced during the sunspot minimum, but is now seeing new activity on these higher frequencies for the first time! DXers are chasing their DXCC in this mode on these bands. I even had some success on 50 MHz with several QSOs into VK4 (Queensland) at distances of over 1700km...using my recently erected 100m long horizontal loop (certainly not designed for 6m operations but it tunes up there just fine!)

It is now safe to say that the new solar cycle has well and truly begun. Most earlier cycles rose rapidly, reached their peak (and sometimes double peaking) before then dwindling in a long downward trend. This means that we should see some significant changes in frequency occupation above 14 MHz in coming years, both for shortwave broadcasters and the amateur radio parts of the spectrum. Go for it!

DX QUICK TIPS

7254.94 NIGERIA. VoNigeria - Abuja. Presumed this at 0655 in presumed Hausa but the signal was so weak it was hard to tell. BUT….it’s VoN’s odd operating frequency that helps to ID it! Nov 4.

9410 SÃO TOMÉ. BBC - Pinheira. English to SAf 0610, weak signal, Nov 4.

9535 ENGLAND. R. Ndarason Int’l - Woofferton. Kanuri service to Chad, groovy regional Afro music 0625, fair signal, Nov 4.

9790 FRANCE. R. France Int’l - Issoudun. French to CAf 0640, fair signal, Nov 4.

9830 FRANCE. Deutsche Welle - Issoudun. Hausa to WAf, fair signal, Nov 4.

9855 MADAGASCAR. R. Japan - Talata Volonondry. French to WAf at 2044 to s/off 2100, good signal, Nov 12.

9895 GERMANY. R. Farda - Biblis. Farsi to Iran, 0650. good signal, Nov 4.

12055 PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Bocaue. Noted with a weak signal at 0037 in the listed Lahu language (a local language spoken in Thailand). Then at 0045, into the Wa language (spoken in parts of Burma). The signal improved slightly just before s/off at 0101 after the FEBC interval signal, Nov 13.

12070 PHILIPPINES. FEBC (Liangyou 1) - Iba. Mandarin to EAs at 0030, fair signal until s/off 0100, Nov 13.

12095 SINGAPORE. BBC - Kranji. English WS to SAs at 0145 until s/off 0200 exposing some pulsing jamming noise. Fair signal, Nov 13.

13710 IRAN. VoIRI - Sirjan. Hausa to WAf 0620, fair signal, Nov 9.

13750 THAILAND. R. Thailand - Ban Dung. Thai to WNAm at 0136, fair signal, Nov 13.

15190 CHINA. CRI - Kunming. English to SAs 1010, // 15190 by weaker there, Nov 13.

15310 OMAN. BBC - Al Seela. Pashto to AFG at 1008, weak signal, Nov. 13.

15350 CHINA. CRI - Kashi. English to SAs at 1005, weak signal, Nov 13.

15410 SRI LANKA. AWR - Trincomalee. Kazakh service to CAs at 0215, weak signal, Nov 13.

15420 PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Bocaue. The Minangkabau language service to Indonesia at 0956 to s/off 1001 after the interval signal. Fair signal, Nov 13.

15450 PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Iba. Mongolian service to EAs at 0955 to s/off 0959, good signal, Nov 13.

15450 GUAM. KSDA - Agat. AWR programming in Mandarin to EAs at s/on 1000, fair signal, Nov 13.

15525 CHINA. CRI - Urumqi. Mandariin to SAs at 0955, fair signal, Nov 13.

15530 KUWAIT. R. Kuwait - Sulaibiyah. Apparent transmitter problems at 0643 when it suddenly left the air mid-Arabic service to Eu. The carrier back on at 0646 but no audio until 0648. Good signal when back on the air. The parallel 15515 outlet was still functioning OK. Nov 9.

15560 PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Bocaue. Javanese to Indonesia at 0110. Fair signal, Nov 13.

15580 PHILIPPINES. FEBC - Bocaue. The Buginese language service to Indonesia at 0951 to s/off 1000. Buginese (a.k.a. Bugis) is spoken by 5 million people, one of the ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, in the southwestern province of Sulawesi, the third-largest island of Indonesia. Fair signal, Nov 13.

15665 CHINA. CRI - Kashi. Russian to EEu 0950, fair signal, Nov 13.

17490 CHINA. CRI - Kashi. English to Eu 0947, fair signal, Nov. 13.

17560 THAILAND. R. Farda - Ban Dung. Farsi to Iran at 0945, fair signal, Nov 13.

17570 CHINA. CRI - Urumqi. English to Eu at 0942, fair signal, Nov 13.

17615 SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA - Riyadh. Friday Qur’an prayers at 0940 beamed to SAs, good signal, Nov 13.

17630 THAILAND. R. Thailand - Ban Dung. Thai to ME at 1023, fair signal, Nov 13.

17650 SRI LANKA. AWR - Trincomalee. Mandarin to EAs on Fridays (Amoy on most other days) at 0115. Into Cantonese (a.k.a. Yue Chinese) at 0130. Good signal, Nov 13.

17650 CHINA. CRI - Kashi. English to Eu 0937, fair signal, Nov 13.

17670 CHINA. CRI - Kunming. Mandarin to Oc 0935, huge signal, Nov 13.

17690 CHINA. CRI - Jinhua. English to Oc at 0930, huge signal, Nov 13.

17735 CHINA. CRI - Kunming. Indonesian service at 0920 to s/off 0926, very good signal, Nov 13.

17760 KUWAIT. R. Kuwait - Sulaibiyah. Arabic to the Philippines at 1020, fair signal, Nov 13.

17820 PHILIPPINES. R. Pilipinas - Tinang. English to ME at 0204. Fair signal and // 15640 by much weaker there, Nov 13.

17850 FRANCE. RFI - Issoudun. French to Af at 1017, weak signal, Nov 13.

17880 GERMANY. R. Farda - Biblis. Pashto to Pakistan at 1015, fair signal, Nov 13.

👍 21580 FRANCE. RFI - Issoudun. French to WAf at 1015, SFI 90, very good signal, lovely to see this band coming alive! Nov 10.

👍 21670 SAUDI ARABIA. R. Saudi Int’l - Riyadh. Indonesian at 1025 with a booming signal! Still heard at 11505 just before s/off but a much weaker signal by then (10:55pm AEDT). Nov 10.

73 and have a great weekend everyone! And stay away from that COVID stuff....it's NO GOOD for you!!! 😉

Rob Wagner VK3BVW