DX QUICK TIPS
February 13, 2021

Once again this past week, propagation conditions were NOT spectacular. The solar flux index bounced around in the low 70s and, at times, Maximum Usable Frequencies (MUFs) returned to depressed levels around 13 MHz. So signal paths on the higher frequencies have behaved like they did in the past few years, largely closed to multi-hop propagation.

Yet, with a bit of digging around, some good DX signal sometimes cut through the noise floor. Highlights from the list below include 4010 Kyrgyzstan, 4775 Peru, 5039 Brazil, 6185 Mexico, 11770 Nigeria, and 12085 Mongolia. It is also pleasing to see the return of some language services from All India Radio, including Swahili on 15030 kHz.

RIGS: Yaesu FTDX3000, Kenwood TS2000 and Kenwood R5000

ANTENNAS: 100m horizontal loop, 30m vertical delta loop, and an inverted vee for 14 MHz

All times in UTC, all frequencies in kHz

// = The same broadcast simultaneously on another frequency i.e. in parallel.

⭐⭐ 4010.21 KYRGYZSTAN. Birinchi Radio - Bishkek. Rarely heard here, noted between 1701-1722 at a very low level with a long discussion program (complete with a coughing fit at 1707!!). The language was not Russian, probably Kyrgyz. Only confirmed by checking the outlet against the Novosibirsk KiwiSDR in Russia. Feb 11.

⭐⭐ 4775 PERU. R. Tarma - Tarma. I haven’t heard this one in a long time! What used to be a regular is now seemingly a rarity! At 1020, Spanish anncts and music with strong Andean influences. Occasional canned anncts. The anncts tended to be lost in the noise but the music broke through quite well. Heard on the 100m horizontal loop. Feb 10.

⭐ 4950 INDIA. AIR - Srinagar. Long speeches, possibly a relay from the Indian parliament (?) in Hindi and English (not Kashmiri), many mentions of funding. At 1640, a weak signal on Feb 11.

⭐ 5009.92 MADAGASCAR. R. Madagasikara - Ambohidrano. Continues to be heard here quite regularly now, as on Feb 11 at 1724 with a fair signal in Malagasy. Some days very weak, other days at quite good strength.

5915 ZAMBIA. Zambia NBC - Lusaka. Radio 1 service in one of the local Zambian languages at 1730 with a discussion program. Mentions of Lusaka and the New York Times (!). Fair to poor signal, Feb 11.

5040 UNIDENTIFIED. Very good signal at 1040 with orchestral pops and light classics, but no anncts. The transmission was constantly interrupted with periods of silence varying between 20 and 90 seconds, clearly some technical issues. At first, I thought this was R. Habana Cuba testing during off-schedule time because it had the audio quality of an RHC transmission. But checks on various KiwiSDRs in the US and the Caribbean showed that the signal was barely audible on some receivers and not there at all on others. Yet, it was so strong here! Off-air at 1058 and never returned. A subsequent check the next two days saw nothing further heard. Feb 10.

⭐ 5040 INDIA. AIR - Jeypore. Relay of what sounded like the Indian parliament in session (or similar) at 1645, // 4950 but much weaker there. Mix of Hindi and English speeches, fair signal, Feb 11.

⭐⭐ 5939.42 BRAZIL. Voz Missionária - Camboriú, SC. First noted at f/in 0845 with continuous ballads. From 0900, short talks in Portuguese interspersed with easy-listening music. Occasional canned IDs. A weak signal but quite copyable on this clear channel and much more pleasant listening than the shouty American preaching just 5 kHz below! Feb 11.

6120 USA. KNLS - Anchor Point, AK. American preaching in Russian to EAs at 0935, good signal, Feb 10.

⭐⭐ 6185 MEXICO. XEPPM R. Educación - Mexico City. At 0910, the usual range of eclectic musical genres for middle-of-the-night Mexican listeners - contemporary choral, instrumental and world music selections. Some of the most interesting music programming on shortwave! A weak signal but well heard on this clear frequency….until suddenly flattened at 0941 by the co-channel s/on of China Huayi. Feb 11.

6400 D.P.R.KOREA. PBS Pyongyang Pansong - Kanggye. Korean piano and orchestra programming at 0950, fair signal, Feb 10.

⭐ 7140.03 ERITREA. Voice of the Broad Masses - Asmara. Network 1 with talks in Tigrinya (or similar) and occasional drum music at 1625, fair signal, Feb 11.

⭐ 7180.02 ERITREA. Voice of the aBroad Masses - Asmara. Network 2 programming with a discussion at 1630, fair signal, Feb 11.

7260 VANUATU. R. Vanuatu - Emten Lagoon. Bislama DJ chat and island tunes with a distinct Reggae feel at 0640. At 0659, there was a smooth and automatic switch mid-song to 3945 kHz and its harmonics on 7890 and 11835. Fair to good signals on all legal and illegal outlets! Feb 11.

7370 USA. KNLS - Anchor Point, AK. Mandarin to EAs at 0940, good signal, Feb 10.

⭐⭐ 7890 VANUATU. R. Vanuatu - Emten Lagoon. Bislama talks, anncts and occasional music from 1900. Fair signal on this 2nd harmonic of the fundamental 3945 kHz and 3rd harmonic 11835, both of those outlets being heard quite well. I also tried for the 4th harmonic of 15780 kHz (which can sometimes be heard here!) but no propagation here on that band at that time of day. Feb 10.

⭐ 9505 SUDAN. Voice of Africa - Al Aitahab. In English with a political commentary on the plight of young people in Sudan at 1742. ID and frequency annct at 1750. Plenty of strong carrier but the audio was down on Feb 11.

9605 USA. KNLS - Anchor Point, AK. S/on 1000 in English to EAs, weak signal and much splatter from R. Taiwan Int’l and CNR 1 jamming on 9610, Feb 10.

9775 ENGLAND. R. Sama IBRA Radio - Woofferton. Arabic programming at 1753 with contemporary pop-styled song. ID and s/off 1759, Feb 11.

11540 PRIDNESTROVIE. Dengê Welat - Grigoriopol. First noted at 0705, Kurdish to ME, fair signal. The Kurdish music jammer then faded in around 0715 but still below the Welat signal, fair reception, Feb 8.

11620 VATICAN. Vatican R. - SM Galeria. S/on 0700 Italian to ME, daily except Suns. Good signal, slight co-channel QRM CNR 5-Beijing. Feb 8.

⭐⭐ 11769.90 NIGERIA. VoNigeria - Abuja. Listed for the Fulfulde language, noted at 0703 with spasms of West African music, then a long commentary at 0705. Monitored to past 0730. I came back at 0905 to find it still going with electronic pop W. Afro songs in the English service. Eventually faded around 0935. Only erratically heard here on this frequency and a fair signal on Feb 10.

11965 GUAM. KTWR - Agana. Madurese service to Indonesia at 1005, good signal, Feb 10.

⭐ 11965 PHILIPPINES. VoA - Tinang. S/on 1200 in English to SEAs with a good signal. // Tinang outlets 15560 and 17680 also heard at fair levels. This was originally scheduled as Burmese. Does this change have something to do with the political turmoil in Myanmar? Feb 10.

11995 GUAM. KTWR - Agana. A big signal to Oc at 1010 with American preaching in English, Feb 10.

12084.9 MONGOLIA. VoMongolia - Ulaanbaatar. Mongolian service at 0945, into Mandarin at 1000. Fair signal and slightly distorted audio, Feb 10.

⭐ 15030 INDIA. AIR - Bengaluru. S/on 1209 with a few minutes of unscheduled warmup chatter in Hindi. Then the official s/on 1215 with IS and ID in Swahili to EAf. Good to see this language returning after a long absence from the AIR schedule, fair signal, Feb 10.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Rob Wagner VK3BVW