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Messages - VK3BVW

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61
Clandestine Stations / Voice of People of Somaliland
« on: October 31, 2017, 2328 UTC »
9600   MADAGASCAR. Voice of the People of Somaliland - Talata-Volonondry. Somali to EAf at 1926 to s/off 1930, NF (ex 7325), good signal, Oct 31.

62
Shortwave Broadcast / 9910 TWR India
« on: October 31, 2017, 2325 UTC »
9910   ARMENIA. TWR India - Yerevan-Gavar. Service to SAs at 1250 in a minority South Asian language (listed from old schedule as Mundari on Mondays). Then into the Kharia language with clear ID and anncts. NF (believed to be ex 12055), excellent signal Oct 30.

63
Shortwave Broadcast / New KSDA/AWR Frequencies for B17
« on: October 31, 2017, 2324 UTC »
5965   GUAM. KSDA/AWR - Agat. Korean service to EAs at 2110, NF (ex 11790?), poor signal, Oct 30.

9610   GUAM. KSDA/AWR - Agat. Amoy to EAs 1225, good signal and NF (ex 9475), Oct 30.

9975   GUAM. KTWR - Agana. Mongolian to EAs at 1100, ID at 1103, NF (ex 12120), excellent signal, Oct 31.

11610   GUAM. KSDA/AWR - Agat. Vietnamese to SEAs at 2215, NF (ex 15630), weak signal, Oct 31.

11630   GUAM. KSDA/AWR - Agat. S/on 1230 in Cantonese to EAs, NF (possibly ex 12105), fair signal Oct 30.

11690   GUAM. KSDA/AWR - Agat. Mandarin to EAs at 1110, NF (ex 11750?), excellent signal, Oct 31.

11800   GUAM. KSDA/AWR - Agat. Indonesian to SEAs at 2205, NF (ex 15320), fair to weak signal with co-channel QRM RRI-Tiganesti, Oct 31.

11980   GUAM. KSDA/AWR - Agat. Mandarin to EAs at 2240, NF (ex 15215), weak signal, Oct 31.

15215   GUAM. KSDA/AWR - Agat. Mandarin to EAs at s/on 2300, NF (ex 15625), fair to weak signal and // 17520 also heard, Oct 31.

Quite a number of changes there. Possibly more that I haven't discovered yet!

73, Rob VK3BVW

64
Shortwave Broadcast / KSDA 11610
« on: October 31, 2017, 2223 UTC »
11610   GUAM. KSDA/AWR - Agat. Vietnamese to SEAs at 2215, NF (ex 15630), weak signal, Oct 31.

65
Shortwave Broadcast / KNLS - 6155 Poor Choice!
« on: October 31, 2017, 2140 UTC »
6155   USA. KNLS - Anchor Point AK. S/on 1300 in Mandarin to EAs, NF (ex 9655). Fair signal but not a wonderful choice as CNR 2 sits here till 1600 and causes a strong het. Oct 30.

66
Shortwave Broadcast / Ozy Returns.....Briefly!
« on: October 27, 2017, 0948 UTC »
IT'S BAAAACK!
Ozy Radio 5045 after weeks off-air! Noted 0930 UTC, complete with txer hum.
Hmmmm.... 0930 News, 0935 Kookaburra and Ozy ID. Now just an open carrier. Obviously still some tech issues here.

67
Software / Re: DX ToolBox 5.0.0 Beta for Windows and macOS
« on: October 25, 2017, 0550 UTC »
Chris, this looks great! Very interested in the new version.

Will this version still retain all the propagation facilities of the previous versions? If so, it's going to be one powerful app!

Cheers, Rob VK3BVW

68
General Radio Discussion / A Visit with Victor Goonetilleke
« on: October 21, 2017, 2327 UTC »
The legendary South Asian DXer, shortwave listener, amateur radio operator (4S7VK) and all-round-good-guy, Victor Goonetilleke has been here in Melbourne over the past two months visiting his daughter and her lovely young family. I have known Victor since the early 70s when we were both strapping young lads, and we corresponded occasionally either directly or through the pages of the Australian DX News. Many years later, I had several contacts with him on the 20m amateur band, which I was most excited about! And then about three years ago, I got to meet Victor face-to-face on his first visit to Melbourne. On that occasion, we spent the morning visiting the Reach Beyond Australia (formerly HCJB Aust.) studios, lunch and later back to my radio shack.

Well, Victor has been back in town and we caught up again at his daughter's home this week. We yacked away, like two old women....except we are now two old men!! 😉  Three hours later, the conversation had ranged across many topics including the past, present and future of the shortwave listening hobby, DXpeditions, coping with the RF interference menace, raising the standard of reception report writing, QSLs, amateur radio, and many other things. We also reflected on what has been happening in our respective families.

While he was here, I had hoped to take Victor on a mini DXpedition for a day out listening in the bush. But it could not be arranged on his visit this time around. But perhaps next year? Anyway, it was a wonderful morning spent with this delightful and genial famous DXer. I very much look forward to his next visit to Melbourne.

73, Rob VK3BVW


69
Equipment / Using a Mixing Console in the Radio Shack
« on: October 14, 2017, 2323 UTC »
For Terry and others who have seen my Behringer mixer in the radio shack, here is a detailed look at using the Xenyx Q802 USB mixing console with four receivers into a pair of powered speakers. I cover how the mixer is connected to the radios and the speakers, explain the various controls available to the shortwave radio listener and amateur radio operator, advantages of using this system in the radio shack, and a few tips when buying a mixing console such as this Behringer unit.

https://youtu.be/iDisHsLNaHI

73 all,  Rob VK3BVW

70
Equipment / RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #11 - The NATIONAL RF-5000
« on: October 08, 2017, 0406 UTC »
RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #11 - The NATIONAL RF-5000
This time, Craig Seager explores the upmarket RF-5000. This is an 11-band set, including 8 x shortwave, longwave, mediumwave and FM, originally released around 1969/1970.

http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/09/retro-receiver-review-11-national-rf5000.html

71
Equipment / Re: Two New Videos - Preparing for Your Next DXpedition
« on: September 24, 2017, 0721 UTC »
Thanks for the feedback and comments everyone. All great ideas there for the DXpedition out in the field. I agree that the toolkit is really important, and that spares are a good idea, too.

Terry - The Behringer mixer is great for bringing together the audio from all shack radios and on into the powered speakers. That particular model is not very expensive and offers some good facilities such as equalization and volume control from the one point. Also, since that shack video was made, I have now two speakers, so panning allows me to have audio from one radio in one speaker and different audio from another radio in the other speaker. Great for monitoring, say, parallel frequencies from the one SWBC station. I'll do a specific video on the mixer shortly.

Cheers all, Rob VK3BVW

72
Equipment / Two New Videos - Preparing for Your Next DXpedition
« on: September 12, 2017, 0457 UTC »
Some of you will be aware that I am passionate about going portable/mobile with my radio listening hobby. There's just nothing like communing with both nature and a bunch of electrons whizzing along the wire!

As a follow up to an article I wrote several years ago, I have now prepared two new YouTube videos entitled Preparing for your Next DXpedition - Parts 1 and 2.
 
Part 1 covers:
- why we should even think about bothering to go portable with the radio
- the goals to consider when undertaking a DXpedition
- planning your listening depending on the time of day and time of year
- the all important decisions regarding location

Part 2 discusses:
- choosing the right radio for portable operations
- your options for powering the radio
- the antennas you could consider including on the trip
- handy auxiliary equipment
- references and notes to take along with you
- the importance of operator comforts while away
- developing a checklist.....so that you don't forget to take something important!

There may be something of interest in these videos that could assist you in further enjoying our great hobby. I've posted the links below.

Part 1:  https://youtu.be/AUtXWxP4gtE

Part 2:  https://youtu.be/LlvJzMH6YMw

As always, thanks for taking the time to watch my video ramblings; your comments and feedback are always welcome.

73, Rob VK3BVW

73
Shortwave Broadcast / Re: ***** Ozy Radio Returns ******
« on: September 08, 2017, 0355 UTC »
I set up my SDR to record last night, and was rewarded with reception here in the USA!  From 0848-1147z, although the last half hour was just a weak carrier. Poor quality, but the Waltzing Matilda IS was quite obvious.


Very nice, Chris. The Waltzing Matilda IS certainly cuts through, even on weak signals.

74
Shortwave Broadcast / Re: ***** Ozy Radio Returns ******
« on: September 08, 2017, 0353 UTC »

VK3BVW...funny thing last weekend was listening to ABC Grandstand Radio with the AFL match of the day on Medium Wave and they announced at intervals "Across the ABC News Radio, local radio and Radio Australia network with live AFL."

No one has told them that Radio Australia no longer exists? ;D

They are referring to Radio Australia's online streaming audio. It's just another outlet for ABC streaming over the web.

75
Shortwave Broadcast / ***** Ozy Radio Returns ******
« on: August 29, 2017, 0724 UTC »
The flea-powered Ozy Radio has begun testing on 5045 kHz in the 60-meter band. First noted here in Australia on August 28, the station has been missing for several years from its former 3210 kHz allocation. The location has been reported as Razorback, New South Wales, but I have not been able to confirm this yet. The transmitter power and the type of antenna are also unknown at this time. Observations by myself and other Australian listeners have noted the station operating between 0600 and past 1300 UTC.

The signal into Mount Evelyn, Victoria (at a guess, about 800 km from the reported transmitter site) is very strong – about 10 dB over S9! This is a much better signal than was ever heard on the old 3210 outlet. Whatever has been done at the station appears to be working very well! I believe there is a very good chance that Ozy Radio will be heard internationally!

The current programming consists of test transmission announcements, relays of the Australian Independent News service, and continuous antique pop music from the 50s and 60s. Cheekily, the station is also using the Radio Australia interval signal, while the RA kookaburra also fires off every now and again throughout the broadcasts. I’m not sure how the ABC feels about that!!

Here is a short video I prepared of the test announcement and email address given out at 1356 UTC.

https://youtu.be/L1nm7zzcFN0

UPDATE:
The current power output is 500w and the location is now confirmed as Razorback near Camden approx 45 km southwest of Sydney. Thanks to John Wright for the eQSL statement and information. John also reports that reception reports have been received from as far away as Germany.

Here's hoping that you guys in the US can catch this one!

73, Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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