Mount Evelyn DX Report

  A24 TRANSMISSION SEASON 165+ NEW FREQUENCIES MONITORED The new A24 transmission season began last weekend. I have been scanning the international shortwave bands, checking out what has changed since the start of this new season. Below is a record of some early observations made during the first five days since the changeover. Where possible, for each item, I have tried to identify the former frequency used in the B23 season. But this is sometimes quite hard because schedules can be complex or drastically changed by the broadcaster, making it difficult to arrive at direct comparisons. There are  165+   frequency and schedule change s listed below. So if you are missing your favourite station, it could be listed here!  NOTE: It is not possible in this list to cover every frequency change in five days of monitoring. There are many more frequencies for you to chase down, and I encourage you to do so! It's fun to play "detective"! Some additional points to note: The li...

  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...

  One of the Vatican Radio studios (photo courtesy of Vatican Radio) VATICAN RADIO ANNIVERSARY AND SCHEDULES Between 2012 and 2017, Vatican Radio was reporting that it would close all its shortwave services. To its eternal credit, the service still operates today in various languages for listeners in Asia, South America, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.  VR is still using the Santa Maria di Galeria site. But it has also harnessed relay stations at Greenville NC, Tinang (Philippines), Talata-Volonondry (Madagascar), and Tinian (Nth Mariana Islands).   I suspect the good Fathers at VR may have realised that many listeners in Africa, Asia, and parts of South America were not quite ready for Internet listening just yet. You can find the VR transmission schedule for both Santa Maria de Galeria and the global relay stations at  https://www.vaticannews.va/en/short-waves.html . The downloadable frequency chart isn't easy to read, but the online schedules (same pag...

  KENWOOD R-5000 FEATURE IN THE SPECTRUM MONITOR For those of us who enjoy preserving and using older receivers, take a look at the February issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine. In it, you will find a five-page feature article I have written on the venerable Kenwood R-5000 receiver.   I discuss the history of both Kenwood and the radio, all the features and innovations that come with this rig, the ARRL lab tests, the differences between the R-5000 and the TS-440 transceiver, some of the worthwhile modifications that can be done to improve the rig, and I offer an honest performance appraisal. The Spectrum Monitor (TSM) covers plenty of interesting articles for radio enthusiasts. The February issue is no exception! You can read about the new switching technology for LF and MF antennas, geomagnetic storms and propagation, the scientist Oliver Lodge, the CONELRAD alert system from the Cold War era, plus columns on pirate radio stations, shortwave programming highlights, amateur...

  Writing Better Reception Reports To Radio Free Asia In an era where the paper QSL card is fast disappearing, it is great to see a radio station still connecting with shortwave listeners and DXers. I have always been impressed with the QSL policy of Radio Free Asia. This broadcaster continues to support the radio hobby with attractively designed QSL cards. RFA's latest QSL is a particularly striking design in shades of blue and white (see below), reminding us that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon. This tasteful and thoughtful design will look good in any listener's QSL collection! But, the station is looking for DETAILED AND ACCURATE reception reports. Unfortunately, some listeners let everyone else down by submitting sub-standard reception reports. Indeed, a few dishonest people have sent fake (!) reports to stations - reports written when they clearly didn't hear the station at all. These counterfeit reports give DXers a lousy name, and many stations have stopped sending Q...