Topics

151

Clandestine Stations / R. Payam e-Doost - Grigoriopol

« on: January 12, 2017, 1958 UTC »

7480   MOLDOVA. R. Payam e-Doost - Grigoriopol. Farsi talk program with soft piano in the background. Clear mentions of R. Payam e-Doost on four occasions between 1803 and 1812, Strong signal, Jan 12.

152

Shortwave Broadcast / Four 60mb Logs

« on: January 12, 2017, 1956 UTC »

4765   TAJIKISTAN. R. Tajikistan - Yangi Yul. Some pretty weird local music involving drums and singing at 1940 for the Radio 1 service. Fair to poor signal, Jan 12.

4930   BOTSWANA. VoA - Moepeng Hill. News in slow English 1932, good signal on Jan 12.

4949.71   ANGOLA. R. Nacional - Mulenvos. Discussion program in Portuguese at 1929. Fair signal, Jan 12.

5020   SOLOMON ISLANDS. SIBC - Honiara. Bluesy Gospel song at 1925. Fair signal, Jan 12.

153

Shortwave Broadcast / Cairo Almost Listenable!!

« on: January 12, 2017, 1955 UTC »

9540   EGYPT. R. Cairo. Italian service to Eu 1830. Appeared to be dead on-frequency today (sometimes operates between 100-200 Hz higher than this)! With clear-ish audio, I could actually identify the language although there was a background transmitter hum. Fair signal, Jan 12.

154

Shortwave Broadcast / TWR Africa - Swaziland - Three Freqs

« on: January 12, 2017, 1954 UTC »

6130   SWAZILAND. TWR Africa - Manzini. In the listed Umbundu language to Angola at 1840 with preaching and occasional songs by a native choir. Clear mentions of Angola on several occasions and a TWR ID at 1850. Fair signal with slight residual QRM slop from Korean jamming on 6135, Jan 12.

9500   SWAZILAND. TWR Africa - Manzini. English religious program to EAf (100kW) at 1815, weak but clear signal on Jan 12.

9939.98   SWAZILAND. TWR Africa - Manzini. While checking TWR Africa freqs this morning, I waited for this to s/on. Carrier on at 2001, IS and ID as "This is Trans World Radio Swaziland" at 2002. Start of broadcast at 2005 (as scheduled) in the Lingala language to CAf (specifically the Dem Rep of Congo). Poor signal here but strong on the European Twente remote receiver, Jan 12.

155

Equipment / Portable Wire Antennas - A Book Review

« on: January 06, 2017, 2303 UTC »

PORTABLE WIRE ANTENNAS - Book Review
Some months back, I purchased the latest edition (v2.1, 2015) of John W. Hill's excellent antenna compendium Portable Wire Antennas. And now having had some time over the holiday period to dig into the book, I'm mighty glad I did buy it! There are some really helpful hints for deploying antennas in portable or temporary situations. However, all of the designs presented in this book will work just fine in the home QTH environment as well. Although it is aimed principally at the licensed amateur radio operator, this book should also be read by the average shortwave listener, too! There's plenty here for all radio hobbyists to enjoy!

You’ll find the review at the ink below.

http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/01/portable-wire-antennas-book-review.html

Cheers all, Rob VK3BVW

156

Clandestine Stations / 7500 NK Reform Radio

« on: December 30, 2016, 2046 UTC »

7500 UZBEKISTAN. North Korea Reform Radio - Tashkent. S/on 2030 with Haydn's Trumpet Concerto, station ID and talk in Korean. Fair signal with local noise, Dec 30. Initial broadcasts were in December 2007. The English version of their website is http://eng.nkreform.com/
Frequency details on the site are incorrect!

157

Shortwave Broadcast / 5820 RTE

« on: December 30, 2016, 2010 UTC »

5820   MADAGASCAR. R. Telefis Eireann - Talata Volonondry. S/on 1930 with the RTE Radio 1 service, beaming to CAf, weekdays only. Fair signal Dec 30.

158

Clandestine Stations / 7510 Sedoye Bahar

« on: December 30, 2016, 2009 UTC »

7510   MOLDOVA. Sedoye Bahar (Voice of Spring) - Grigoriopol. Farsi to Iran at 1920, massed choral item at 1925 to s/off 1929. Still only offers a Thurs/Fri service and a  strong signal on Dec 30.

159

Equipment / Retro Receiver - Yaesu FR101S

« on: December 26, 2016, 2144 UTC »

Craig Seager VK2HBT has contributed another excellent Retro Receiver Review - #8 - the Yaesu FR101S. Worth a read!

http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/retro-receiver-review-8-yaesu-fr101s.html

160

Clandestine Stations / 11570 Suab Xaa Moo Zoo

« on: December 26, 2016, 2140 UTC »

11570   TAIWAN. Suab Xaa Moo Zoo - Tanshui. S/on 1130 with music and ID in the Hmong language. 30-minute religious programming. The website is http://www.sxmzradioministry.org/ Very good signal on Dec 26.

161

Shortwave Broadcast / 17695 SR Radio International

« on: December 26, 2016, 2139 UTC »

17695   ARMENIA. SM Radio International - Gavar. Unfortunately, the 1200 service to Australia on this frequency was a poor signal. I also tried via Mark Fahey's remote SDR outside Sydney and it was about the same signal strength there, too. At this time when the smoothed sunspot numbers are getting quite low, reception on 17 mHz can be notoriously unreliable - one day good, next day poor, even on our summer evenings. I think they may have struck a bad day. 15 mHz MAY have been slightly better. Or perhaps use a transmitter site in Asia. Pity it couldn't be heard well because the program sounded quite entertaining, Dec 25.

162

Shortwave Broadcast / 5875 Thailand

« on: December 26, 2016, 2137 UTC »

5875   THAILAND. R. Thailand - Ban Dung. S/on 1100 with English ID and then into the 15 min Vietnamese service. Into Khmer language at 1115. Beautiful signal, Dec 26.

163

Shortwave Broadcast / R. Publique Africaine - 11550

« on: December 19, 2016, 1102 UTC »

11550   MADAGASCAR. R. Publique Africaine - Talata Volonondry. Energetic French programming with occasional music and news at 1840, R. Publique Africaine ID at 1849. Eventual s/off at 1858. Very weak signal here and confirmed by the Twente remote where it was much stronger. Dec 18.

164

Shortwave Broadcast / More MWV Outlets

« on: December 18, 2016, 1830 UTC »

17640   MADAGASCAR. MWV - Mahajanga. English religious programming to WAf at 1825, fair to poor signal. Indeed, it was the only station audible on the band here at this time, (band not usually open this early!). Dec 18.

ALSO,

9570   MADAGASCAR. MWV - Mahajanga. Russian service to EEu at 1815, fair to good signal in the clear, Dec 18.

165

Shortwave Broadcast / WMLK 9275

« on: December 18, 2016, 1818 UTC »

9275.04   USA. WMLK - Bethel PA. American religious preaching, many mentions of Yahweh, weak signal at 1755 to past 1810. Rarely heard here in SE Australia, Dec 18.