Mount Evelyn DX Report

  VIDEO:  RADIO REPUBLIK INDONESIA - NABIRE The 1 kW Station in Central Papua In 2023, the Radio Republik Indonesia station at Nabire is one of the few remaining RRI regional stations on shortwave. Nabire is a town in the Indonesian province of Central Papua, at the western end of New Guinea.  RRI-Nabire's schedule tends to the irregular and erratic. However, the station has recently been arriving at Mount Evelyn at quite a reasonable strength by 0900 UTC. But it can also be heard with a weak signal as early as 0750 UTC. Sign-off times are also highly variable. The station features easy-listening Indonesian pop music. By 0900, Islamic prayers are broadcast before the broadcast concludes. Although the frequency is registered as 7290 kHz, it is habitually on the low side at 7289.93 kHz. The output power of RRI-Nabire is listed as only 1 kW. The recording here was made on July 23, 2023, at 0903 UTC. Listening was done in USB mode as this considerably reduces the late afterno...

  SIRIO GAIN-MASTER ANTENNA: A REVIEW AND SET-UP Here is something for amateur radio operators, CB enthusiasts and shortwave listeners!   As the solar cycle makes significant gains, the upper high-frequency bands are really producing some excellent propagation conditions. To help make the most of Solar Cycle 25, you may want to consider a great antenna for that part of the shortwave spectrum, without having to break the budget by getting into beams, masts and towers! This video looks at the setup and performance of the Gain-Master vertical antenna. It is manufactured by Sirio, an Italian company that offers a wide product range of HF, VHF and UHF antennas. After having tested it for some months now, I have decided that I really like the Gain-Master. The video below presents a few of my thoughts. 73 and good DX to you all! Rob Wagner VK3BVW Follow @robvk3bvw CLICK HERE for VK3BVW Live Stream (Clublog) QRZ callsign lookup: Search Callsign lookup...

  CHINESE JAMMING: Is it Declining? The opposition broadcaster, Sound of Hope (SOH), has been on air since 2003, broadcasting to mainland China from low-powered transmitters in Taiwan. Also known by its Chinese name Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, the Sound of Hope broadcasts mainly in Mandarin but also has segments in Cantonese.   SOH offers a mixed content of news, current affairs, and educational programs. It provides a voice for the mainland-banned Falun Gong, a spiritual and philosophical movement that proved to have huge popularity among citizens of mainland China in the 1990s. Waterfall of Firedrake jamming obliterating a broadcaster's signal. (Courtesy: sigidwiki.com)  Because of its links to the Falun Gong movement, SOH has always been subject to heavy jamming in the form of either the musically noisy “Firedrake” broadcasts or relays of China National Radio 1 (CNR1), a.k.a. The Voice of China. But with SOH operating on more than 70 frequencies at various times of the day, the...

  RADIO THAILAND: NEW FREQUENCIES AND THAI SERVICE DROPPED! Effective from July 1, Radio Thailand World Service has made new frequency changes partway through the A23 transmission season. Here is the schedule released by the station: All times in UTC, all frequencies in kHz, all from the Ban Dung transmitter site. (NEW: See latest UPDATE below!) 0000-0030  English   13750   15590 (See below) 0200-0230  English   13750    15590 (See below) 0500-0530  English  17640 1200-1230  English  9940 1230-1245  Vietnamese  9940 1245-1300  Mandarin  9940 1300-1315  Japanese  9940 1315-1330  Malaysian  9940 1330-1400  English  9940 1800-1830  English 7475 1830-1930  English  7475 Some strange decisions here! For example, the 0200-0230 English service clashes badly with VoA's Deewa Radio service also listed on 13750 kHz and also from Ban Dung!! Administrative or engineering erro...

  SPIES IN THE TRANSMITTER! If you enjoy Cold War spy stories and are interested in Radio Free Europe's history, I am sure you will enjoy the recent Netflix production called Glória. The 10-part series, released nearly two years ago, uses the backdrop of RFE's once-famous Portuguese relay transmitter site at Glória do Ribatejo.  The story begins in 1968 and focuses on RARET (Portuguese for RAdio de RETransmissão). This organization was responsible for receiving broadcasts from RFE's German headquarters and rebroadcasting them using 100 kW (and later 300 kW) transmitters.  A young engineer is sent to work at the transmitter site but has been recruited as a spy by the KGB. The story is a mix of fiction and some fascinating history. Set during the height of the Cold War and when the Portuguese dictator, Oliveira Salazar, ruled with an iron fist, the country was also attempting to quell uprisings in its many African colonies (particularly Angola) and Asia. From a radio enthus...