DX NEWS AND QUICK TIPS
March 22, 2024

A Brief Medical Update

My apologies for not posting regularly on this blog. As many of you know, I am preparing for radiation treatment for prostate cancer. Before the treatment could commence, I had four other related surgeries during the last eight months, with a fifth surgery due in the next few weeks. If all goes successfully, I will then begin five weeks of radiation therapy. I'm hopeful this treatment will be completed by July. Fingers crossed. Meanwhile, blog posts will likely be sporadic for the next few months. My heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful radio enthusiasts who have sent me your good wishes and support. Much appreciated!

A24 Transmission Season Begins

This is a reminder that Sunday, March 31, will see the start of the new transmission season for international shortwave broadcasters, commencing at 0000 UTC. Radio New Zealand Pacific has already made its A24 transmission schedule available, so you may want to check that out. We can expect other stations to release their schedules over the next few days .... if you can find them on their convoluted websites!

Australia: 4KZ has gone from shortwave, but is something else coming?

For those wondering why 4KZ Innisfail, QLD, has not been audible on 5055 kHz in recent months, my mate Craig Seager VK2HBT has the answer. Craig has been in contact with Al Kirton, who has headed the station management at 4KZ for 38 years. Al is now semi-retired, and the shortwave transmitter and antenna have been removed from the 4KZ site. Al was the driving force behind getting the shortwave outlet on the air a few days before Christmas in December 2017. But, once he left the station, 5055 kHz went with him.

However, Al has told Craig that he intends to get back on the air, possibly using the call sign 4DX with an "oldies" program format, on 2485 kHz with 2 kW in his local evenings. However, before that happens, Al says he needs to buy land to accommodate the new station. So, it may be a while off, but a new Aussie station could be in the wind!

HLL Seoul Meteo Radio on the move....slightly!

South Korea's Seoul Meteorological Radio, with the call sign HLL, has shifted frequency somewhat! Following a tip-off from Ron Howard (CA, USA), I found the station had moved from its usual home on 5857.5 kHz to 5855.61 kHz. This is highly unusual because the station has been a fixture on 5857.5 kHz for many years. Located in Gangseo-gu, a suburb west of and close to Seoul and near Gimpo International Airport, HLL provides essential weather information in Korean, English, Japanese, and Mandarin. Transmissions are in the upper sideband. Here are my monitoring notes from March 21:

I checked HLL at 1255 UTC to find an unmodulated carrier. Then, weather reports in Korean at 1300, English at 1305, Japanese at 1312, and Mandarin at 1320 until 1329. The language sequence recommenced at 1332 and concluded at 1357. Nothing further was heard, so I stopped monitoring at 1407. A later check at 2245 confirmed continued operation on this channel with Korean and English but no Japanese or Mandarin. NF (ex 5857.5 kHz).

DX Quick Tips

5829.91 UZBEKISTAN. Iran Int’l TV - Tashkent. 2117 Farsi to Iran, commentaries. Fair signal except for digital hash QRM on 5827 kHz, Mar 20.

⭐⭐ 7300 ENGLAND. HCJB R. Akhbar Mufriha - Woofferton. 2100-2115 Tachelhit to NAf, preaching. ID and station contact details at 2113, s/off 2114. Fair signal, Mar 20.

7625 UZBEKISTAN. Voice of Martyrs - Tashkent. 2110 Mandarin to EAs, commentaries. Fair signal, Mar 20.

⭐⭐ 9874.82 INDIA. Akashvani - New Delhi. 1155 in English with a telephone interview. Back into Tibetan at 1204 with music selections. At 1215, suddenly back into English with sports results! THEN, suddenly, went off-air mid-results at 1216. NF (ex 9735, ex 9950!). Fair signal with splash coming 10 kHz away (9885 kHz) from RTI and the CNR 1 jammer. Then, s/on again at 1229 with a spasm of English before the official Baluchi service beaming to Pakistan at 1230. This broadcast is also an NF (ex 9735, ex 11560). Pleasant Indian instrumental music and a fair signal, Mar 21.

9885 SRI LANKA. AWR - Trincomalee. 2120 Mandarin to EAs, fair signal, Mar 21.

11760 MADAGASCAR. R. France Int’l - Talata - Volonondry. Swahili to EAf with current affairs. Fair to poor signal, but it should improve in the next month or so. Mar 20.

⭐⭐ 11805 INDIA. Akashvani—New Delhi. 1230 Pashto to AFG with news. It started well but then had a major collision with Vatican R. via Tinian, which signed on late at 1235 (scheduled for 1230) in Russian to NEAs/Siberia. Equal strength QRM until the Vatican s/off at 1249. NF (ex 9950). Mar 21.

11825 MADAGASCAR. African Pathways R. (MWV) - Mahajanga. 0432 English to CAf, interview on communication. Good signal, Mar 20.

11870 VATICAN. Vatican R. - SM Galeria. 2110 Portuguese to WAf, preaching with pleasant hymns in the background. Fair signal, Mar 21.

11875 IRAN. VoIRI - Sirjan. 0440 Turkish to ME, horrible distortion, plenty of carrier but with weak audio, Mar 20.

11885 VIETNAM. VoVietnam - Son Tay. 2115, Spanish to Eu with commentary. Fair signal, Mar 21.

⭐⭐ 11905 SRI LANKA. Sri Lanka BC - Trincomalee. South Asian pops in the Hindi service from s/on 0158. A weak signal. The co-channel CNR 6 Amoy service to Taiwan may trouble some DXers in other parts of the world, but here at Mount Evelyn, CNR propagates later in the day on this frequency. Mar 21.

11985 MADAGASCAR. AWR - Talata Volonondry. 2105, vigorous preaching in Nigerian Pidgin, fair to poor signal, Mar 21.

13760 MADAGASCAR. MWV New Life - Mahajanga. 0225 English to SAs with preaching. Fair to poor signal initially, but improved later. Mar 21.

15150 U.S.A. WMLK - Bethel PA. 0422 English to Eu. Convoluted religious talk on world affairs (stream-of-consciousness stuff). Surprisingly good signal on Mar 20.

15110 ALGERIA. Irfikya FM - Bechar. 2030 French to CAf with a discussion program. 2042 African-tinged guitar instrumentals. Good signal and // 15160 beaming to WAf, but a weak signal there. Mar 20.

⭐⭐ 15280 INDIA. Akashvani - Bengaluru. At 0432, there was an unscheduled English interview regarding elections (scheduled in Farsi to Iran). The studio interviewer could be understood despite only average audio quality. But the interviewee's audio was just horrible and unintelligible. Back into Farsi programming and music at 0547. Strong signal, March 19.

15310 SRI LANKA. AWR - Trincomalee. 0420 Amharic to EAf, preaching and musical items. Fair signal to s/off 0429, Mar 20.

15410 INDIA. Akashvani -Bengaluru. 0411 to s/off 0415 in Burmese to SEAs. Barely adequate modulation and a weak signal, Mar 20.

15420 OMAN. BBC - Al Seela. 0417 Somali to EAf with current affairs interviews. Fair signal, Mar 20.

15510 TAJIKISTAN. AWR - Dushanbe. 0215 English with preaching to SAs. Fair signal, Mar 21.

15765 THAILAND. R. Mashaal - Ban Dung. 0410 Pashto to Iran, ME music programming, fair signal, Mar 20.

15770 USA Supreme Master TV - Okeechobee FL. 0353 Meditative music, 0357 health news. 0359 WRMI ID. Into RFE/RL programming with Russian news at 0400. Good signal, Mar 20.

17530 MADAGASCAR. Light of Life (MWV) - Mahajanga. 0405 Mandarin to EAs, prayers. Good signal, Mar 20.

17600 ALGERIA. Ifrikya FM - Bechar. 1145 French to CAf, telephone interview, fair signal, Mar 21.

17790 TAIWAN. R. NUG - Pauchung. 0200-0230 Burmese to Myanmar with commentaries and many mentions of Myanmar. Weak signal on Mar 21.

⭐⭐ 21595.15 U.A.E. R. Ergo - Dhabayya. 1220 Somali to EAf with commentaries. Good signal with slight low-frequency transmitter hum, Mar 21.

⭐⭐ 25900 MADAGASCAR. BBC - Talata Volonondry. 1225 French to CAf with current affairs. Fair to weak signal, Mar 21.