Topics

166

Shortwave Broadcast / Bhutan

« on: January 10, 2018, 1824 UTC »

BHUTAN. 6035, BBS, 1131-1225* UTC, Jan 10. Above average reception;
in English with pop songs (Whitney Houston with "I Wanna Dance With
Somebody," etc.); 1200 into vernacular with the normal brief breaks for
indigenous stringed instrumentals at 1213 & 1215; indigenous music/
singing from 1220 till suddenly off; mixing with PBS Yunnan (China) till
about 1201*. Certainly one of their better days and recently not heard
when checking after 1130, so an especially good day. Was also being
enjoyed over on the East Coast by Dave Valko & Larry Yamron (well
done fellows!).

Ron
Asilomar State Beach, CA
Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire

167

Shortwave Broadcast / Myanmar - new 7200.0 kHz.

« on: January 10, 2018, 1823 UTC »

MYANMAR/BURMA. new frequency 7200.0, Myanmar Radio, 1323-1358 UTC,
Jan 10. Non-stop lecture (Distance Learning Service), in vernacular;
many mentions in English (accented) of "industrial organization" and a few
“industrial psychology"; QRM from chatty hams (one mentioned a "foreign
broadcast" on frequency); without QRM the strong signal would have had
good reception; audio ended after theme music at 1356, with transmitter
off 1358. My audio at http://goo.gl/ybTdg5 . Also being heard over on the
East Coast by Dave Valko.

5985, Myanmar Radio, 1245-1300 UTC, on Jan 10. The Wednesday edition of
the language lesson "Say it in English"; this week Tom's aunt Jennifer had
a car accident, as she was learning to drive; "If only she had been more
careful," "If only she would have listened to me," etc.; fairly readable.

Ron
Asilomar State Beach, CA
Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire

168

Shortwave Broadcast / Ozy Radio

« on: November 19, 2017, 1456 UTC »

AUSTRALIA. 5045, Ozy Radio, 1126-1241 UTC, Nov 19.
Several news segments; variety of Aussie songs; 1154
played one of my favorites, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down
Sport" by Rolf Harris and at 1236, just after the news,
played "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees, who indeed at
one time did emigrate to Australia. A very rare day for
me to hear Craig's station so well. My audio of the Ozy
music at http://goo.gl/k7s95Y  .

Ron, listening in San Francisco, at Ocean Beach

169

Shortwave Broadcast / Radio Ethiopia

« on: October 14, 2017, 1828 UTC »

ETHIOPIA. 7236.35-.47v, R. Ethiopia (presumed), 1412-1450 UTC, Oct 14.
Rather surprised to find this doing so well; via long path, with announcers,
various HOA music and an interview; poor; best in USB. My audio at
http://goo.gl/kXe7FN

170

Shortwave Broadcast / China - Voice of Strait - Focus on China program

« on: October 14, 2017, 1827 UTC »

CHINA. 4940, Voice of Strait, 1500 UTC, Oct 14. The Saturday only
"Focus on China" program in English; started with pop song; ID &
singing "Voice of Strait, Focus on China" jingle; program consisted
of the audio feed from the CCTV 9 documentary ("part 8") about
Hangzhou's West Lake. Video at http://goo.gl/JzgN9m .

West Lake is my favorite place to visit in China. Have been there at
least a half a dozen times, as it's so beautiful. Is an easy trip from
Shanghai, especially via the high speed train.

171

Clandestine Stations / Voice of Freedom (Korea)

« on: October 13, 2017, 0253 UTC »

KOREA SOUTH. 5920, Voice of Freedom. On Oct 12, with good signal strength to cut through the jamming by North Korea;
1500 UTC distinctive station jingle ("jinsil-e soli, huimang-e soli, jayu-e soli bangsong" - Voice of Truth, Voice of Hope, Voice
of Freedom Bangsong); jamming ended about 1503, so N. Korea clearly knows the VOF schedule; VOF ended their audio at
1506, after which there was just a carrier (dead air) till past 1510+ UTC.

My audio at http://goo.gl/8Um8Mz .

Ron. listening at Asilomar State Beach, Calif.

172

Shortwave Broadcast / Myanmar

« on: October 13, 2017, 0249 UTC »

MYANMAR. 5985, Myanmar Radio, 1530 UTC, Oct 12 (Thursday). In English; fairly readable; "Hello. Good evening dear listeners.
Here is our final English transmission for today, radiating on 5985 kHz., 50.13 meters, 576 kHz., 520 meters and 594 kHz,
505 meters"; news (ceremony this morning attended by President U Htin Kyaw and wife Daw Su Su Lwin, etc.) and weather;
1545-1559 NHK's "Friends Around the World," hosted by Eriko Kojima and Marcellus Nealy; featured music and info about Gen Hoshino,
a Japanese singer, songwriter, lyricist, actor, and voice actor; played his "Koi" and "Sun" song; *1559 sign on of strong CRI, which covered
Myanmar reception. This NHK program will be repeated again tomorrow (Friday).

My audio at http://goo.gl/WjApRw .

Ron, listening at Asilomar State Beach, Calif.

173

North American Shortwave Pirate / YHWH 7470 AM 0349-0423* UTC 3 OCT 2017

« on: October 03, 2017, 0645 UTC »

NORTH AMERICA. 7470, YHWH, 0349-0423* UTC, Oct 3. Has
been a long time since I have heard this religious pirate so well;
very readable; 0400 the ten commandments of Yahweh; 0418
the usual strange sounding song ("Days of Hard Life"); at 0420
seemed he went live, but the modulation dropped so low was
completely unreadable, whereas the recorded segment before
that had a very strong audio.

My four minute audio at http://goo.gl/LC4nJe .

Ron, listening at Asilomar State Beach, California

174

Shortwave Broadcast / Myanmar Radio with English language lesson

« on: September 20, 2017, 1529 UTC »

MYANMAR. 5985, Myanmar Radio, on Sept 20, heard the start of the
Wednesday edition of "Say It In English" at 1247; continuing adventures
(dialogue) of "Tom," who this week was sick; some type of QRN, but still
with decent reception; program only on Monday and today. My readable
seven minute audio at http://goo.gl/Mzi2Mu .

Ron, listening at Asilomar State Beach, CA

175

Shortwave Broadcast / Bhutan - BBS: 6035 kHz., 1201-1420+ UTC, Sept 18

« on: September 18, 2017, 1545 UTC »

BHUTAN. 6035, BBS. Sept 18, with a marathon listening
session of this station that rarely extends their broadcasting
day so much; 1201-1420+ UTC; PBS Yunnan (China) cut off at 1201*,
leaving BBS in the clear; seemed to all be in vernacular; various
amounts of adjacent QRM, along with pulsating noise; 1216-1230
non-stop music (indigenous singing/chanting); interview 1330-1345;
usual brief spots with indigenous instrumental music at 1201, 1211,
1212, 1215, 1300, 1311, 1314 and 1317; many nice segments of
indigenous singing/music. Headed for a 24 hour broadcasting
day? My musical audio clip at http://goo.gl/wDuW5E .

My local sunrise today was at 1352 UTC, while sunset at Thimphu, was
at 1202 UTC.

Ron, listening at Asilomar State Beach, Calif.

176

Shortwave Broadcast / Myanmar Radio, 5985 kHz, 1222 UTC, Sept 4 (Monday), in English

« on: September 04, 2017, 1548 UTC »

MYANMAR. 5985, Myanmar Radio, on Sept 4, tuned in at 1222 UTC to hear the Monday edition of the English language
lesson "Say It In English" already in progress; program must be produced in England, as they often refer to
"Manchester." Today's dialogue: "Do you know if the train is on time?", "No, sorry I don't," "20 minutes late," "Did
you have a good trip?", "My suitcase is on the train," "What time does the train to Manchester leave?", "What platform
does the train to Manchester leave from?"; 1232 UTC end of lesson. Program is only on Monday & Wednesday.

Ron, listening in San Francisco, at Ocean Beach, California

177

Shortwave Broadcast / NBC Bougainville, 1101-1151* UTC, on Sept 3 (Sunday)

« on: September 03, 2017, 1959 UTC »

BOUGAINVILLE. 3325, NBC Bougainville, 1101-1151* UTC, Sept 3. Another Sunday with an entertaining program
by DJ in Pidgin; mix of pop, C&W and religious (Christian) songs; Lionel Richie - "Jesus Is Love," Dolly Parton -
"When You Think About Love," Don Williams - "Shot Full Of Love," etc.; many local time checks ("19 past 10"),
which would set it apart from local times given by NBC Madang (PNG) on 3260, which happens to be one hour
behind Bougainville; decent reception, as very light QRM from RRI Palangkaraya today.

BTW - Voice of Indonesia remains silent for yet another day up on 9524.95 kHz.

Ron, listening in San Francisco, at Ocean Beach, California

178

Clandestine Stations / Korea - Voice of Freedom on new 6045 kHz.

« on: August 21, 2017, 1445 UTC »

KOREA SOUTH. new frequency of 6045, Voice of Freedom
(presumed), on Aug 21, noted strong reception (not jammed),
with programming that certainly was consistent with VOF;
1001 UTC and subsequent monitoring till 1304. Segments with
announcers chatting, dramatic monologues, pop songs,
dramatizations, etc. My five minute audio - http://goo.gl/VBj7rq .

Today VOF, as I noted yesterday, clearly not on 6135, 5920, 5940
nor on 6020. Thanks to Amano and Hiroyuki Komatsubara for their
confirmation of this new frequency.

Ron, listening at Asilomar State Beach (near Monterey), California

179

Clandestine Stations / "Radio Free Korea" - VOH - Echo of Hope on 4885 kHz.

« on: June 29, 2017, 1522 UTC »

KOREA SOUTH. 4885, "Radio Free Korea" - VOH - Echo of Hope,
1141-1241 UTC, June 29. At both 1141 & 1241 heard what for me was a
new ID in English - "Radio Free Korea." Per informative info from
Amano-san (Saitama, Japan), the same program is repeated
here on 4885 every hour; program is "Radio Broadcasting Guide,"
provided for by "Foreign Family Alliance"; program is different from
the other Echo of Hope VOH frequencies, hence 4885 is NOT // to
3985, 5995, 6250, 6350 nor 9100.

At 1203 gong/bell rung slowly three times, followed by full ID in Korean.
Thanks very much to Amano-san, here is the ID and his translation,
posted to Hiroyuki Komatsubara's website, "Now On The Radio"
(http://radio.chobi.net/DX/):

:Korean reading

 - Sound of the bell; 3 times.

 - Female start announcement:
"joguggwa haeoee gyesin dongpo yeoleobun, annyeonghasib nikka?
i bangsong-eun haeoedongpochong-yeonhab-eseo bonaedeulineun
VOH huimang-e meali bangsong-ibnida.
choi VOH huimang-e meali bangsong-eun jogug-e pyeonghwatong-il
gwa jeonsegye uri dongpodeul-e jayuwa beon-yeong-eul wi han
haeoedongpo bangsong-euloseo hangsangppaleugo jeonghwaghan
sosiggwa jinsildoen naeyong-eulo yeoleobunkke yong-giwa
huimang-eul jeonhae deuligessseubnida.
VOH huimang-e meali bangsong-eun jogug sigan-eulo ohu 3(se)sibuteo
da-eumnal achim 9(a-hop)si kkaji danpa 3985(sam-chong gu-peak pal-sip
o) kHz wa, 4885(sa-chong
pal-peak pal-sip o) kHz, 5995(o-chong gu-peak gu-sip o) kHz, 6250(yuk-
chong i-peak o-sip) kHz, 6350(yuk-chong sam-peak o-sip) kHz, 9100
(gu-chong peak) kHz lo bangsongdoebnida.
geuleom dongpo yeoleobun-e manh-eun aecheong-eul butagdeulimyeon
so dongpo yeoleobun-e wi han 'Radio bangsong annae'-eul
sijaghagessseubnida.
yeogineun haeoedongpochong-yeonhab-eseo bonaedeulineun hui mang-e
meali bangsong-ibnida. VOH."

 - VOH SJ "hui mang!"

:English

 - Sound of the bell; 3 times.

 - Female start announcement:
"Hello to all my fellow countrymen and overseas fellows!
This broadcast is VOH - Echo of Hope sent from the Foreign Family
Alliance.
Our VOH - Echo of Hope communicates the courage and hope to
everyone with constantly quick and accurate news and truth content
as one foreign brother broadcast, with the unity of peace in our country
and the freedom and prosperity of our fellow countrymen.
VOH - Echo of Hope will be broadcast at 3985 kHz, 4885 kHz, 5995 kHz,
6250 kHz, 6350 kHz, 9100 kHz with shortwave from 3 pm in homeland
time to 9 o'clock on the next day.
Then, I wish for many people 's love hearings, and I will start "Radio
Broadcasting Guide" for all my friends.
This is Echo of Hope sent from the Foreign Family Alliance. VOH."

 - VOH SJ "Hope!"

Is wonderful to have Amano-san provide the ID in Korean, so I could
follow along in my recording today, posted at http://goo.gl/8shH2m .

Ron, listening oceanside at Pacific Grove, Calif.

180

Spy Numbers / V26, etc.

« on: June 01, 2017, 1416 UTC »

RUSSIA. 7345, Radio Sakha, via Yakutsk with very
decent signal, going off the air after their IS (Jew's harp)
and time pips at 1200 UTC.

MYANMAR. 7345, Thazin Radio in the clear after
1200 UTC; very weak with music program and in
vernacular; after 1203 UTC, had to listen in LSB.

CHINA. 7345-USB, V26, noted at 1203 UTC, with
Chinese numbers; mixing with weaker Myanmar;
off at 1220* UTC, with Thazin Radio continuing. My
audio at http://goo.gl/6PkgJX .

Very interesting to compare my reception June 1
with DFS's reception in Japan: http://goo.gl/Yeu1dF .

Ron, listening in San Francisco, at Ocean Beach, Calif.