Friday, December 30, 2016

QSLs for December 2016

Voice of Turkey (QSL Card) transmitting from Emirler, Turkey

Radio Taiwan International (QSL Card) transmitting from Paochung, Taiwan
Rhein-Main-Radio-Club (eQSL) "DSWCI - The Last AGM"  transmitting from Trincomalee, Sri Lanka


Radio Sylvia* (eQSL) transmitting from Channel 292 in Rohrbach, Germany

KNLS (QSL Card) transmitting in Chinese from Anchor Point (Alaska), USA


WRMI (QSL Card) transmitting from Okeechobee (Florida), USA


Voice of Turkey (QSL card) transmitting from Emirler, Turkey


 Radio 700* (QSL Card) transmitting from  Kall-Krekel (Germany) .

NeuesLeben-HCJB (QSL Letter) transmitting from Nauen, Germany




Radio Mi Amigo (eQSL) transmitting from Trincomalee, Sri Lanka


Radio Marconi International* (eQSL) transmitting from Italy

 

NHK World - Radio Japan (QSL Card) Russian Service transmitting from Yamata, Japan

Radio Taiwan International (2 QSL Cards) for special German broadcasts from Paochung, Taiwan



Voice of Vietnam (QSL Card) transmitting from Hanoi-Sontay, Vietnam

Radio Tirana (QSL Card) transmitting from Shijak, Albania



Atlantic 2000 International* (eQSL) transmitting from Kall-Krekel, Germany

Radio Taiwan International (QSL Card) transmitting from Paochung, Taiwan





Promised:
Radio Pushka** (QSL) transmitting from the facility of Channel 292 in Rohrbach, Germany


*Received using a remote SDR receiver linked to the University of Twente (The Netherlands) website and monitored in Malaysia 

**Received using a remote SDR received in Bedford, England and monitored in Malaysia 

Thursday, December 29, 2016

QSL and Greeting Card in the Mail


Radio Taiwan International QSL card for the month of December and New Year's greeting card from NHK World - Radio Japan (Russian Service) arrived in the mail, today.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Random Log



In a random band-scan from 15.00 till 16.00 UTC, many African stations were observed on the 16 and 19 metre bands. Over on the tropical band, 60 metres particularly, several All India Radio stations, i.e. Kurseong, Jeypore, Chennai, were heard. While this is par for the course, the quality of reception was much better than expected compared to the mediocre conditions in previous weeks. Additionally, but no surprise, many Chinese stations were found to be broadcasting across the short-wave bands, often duplicating programmes on multiple frequencies. This is common, here in South East Asia, and increasingly so as broadcasters reduce and/or cease their short-wave operations. Hopefully the coming year will bode well for DXing wherever one may be. 73 from Malaysia!

AUSTRIA
Adventist World Radio
via Moosbrunn // 15.290 kHz // 45544 // 15.35 UTC with religious programming "Bible Switch" in Punjabi

BANGLADESH
Bangladesh Betar
// 15.505 kHz // 25422 // 15.45 UTC with pop music in Hindi

BOTSWANA
VOA
via Selebi-Phikwe // 15.580 kHz // 35433 // 15.45 UTC with Larry London's Border Crossings

CHINA
Voice of Strait
via Fuzhou // 4.940 kHz 44544 // 15.50 UTC with Chinese pop music

ETHIOPIA
Radio Oromiya
in Addis-Ababa // 6.030 kHz // 34443 // 15.58 UTC with Horn of Africa music, followed by ID and news in Afar Oromo

INDIA
AIR Kurseong
// 4.895 kHz // 34433 // 15.55 UTC with budget report in English/Hindi

OMAN
Radio Sultanate of Oman
// 15.140 kHz // 25432 // 15.30 UTC with music in Arabic

MADAGASCAR
Radio Dabanga
via Talata Volonodry // 13.800 KHz // 45444 // 15.25 UTC Talk and frequent IDs in Sudanese

SAO TOME
VOA
via Pinheira // 17.895 kHz // 35443 // 15.20 UTC onward with Larry London's Border Crossings

SAUDI ARABIA
Radio Saudi
// 15.225 kHz // 55545 // 15.30 UTC with discussion in Arabic

SOUTH AFRICA
BBC
via Meyerton // 15.420 kHz // 35443 // 15.40 UTC with sports news on British football teams, i.e. Manchester, Chelsea, etc

Channel Africa
in Meyerton // 17.770 kHz // 35433 // 15.15 UTC onward with local pop music in Swahili

SRI LANKA
Deutsche Welle
via Trincomalee // 15.275 kHz // 25442 // 15.35 UTC with news magazine in Swahili

Receiver used: Tecsun S-2000
External Antenna: 1/4 wave aerial, vertically erected to an approximate height of 13 metres
RX location: Central West Malaysia

Monday, December 26, 2016

IRIB - Radio Iran (via Dehno)

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB - Radio Iran), transmitting from Dehno, Fars Province (Iran), was logged on 26 December 2016. Talking and Iranian contemporary music was observed from 18.10 till 18.35 UTC. Reception on the medium-wave frequency of 990 kHz was (SINPO) 44434 -- good, strong and clear signal when not fading.

Reception report was emailed to IRIB the following day. QSL card and greeting card arrived in the mail on 7 February 2017.


Chubu-Nippon Hoso - JOAR (via Nagoya)

Chubu-Nippon Hoso - JOAR, transmitting from Nagoya (Japan), was logged on 26 December 2016. A children's programme and a selection of Japanese music was observed from 18.10 till 18.35 UTC. Reception on the medium-wave frequency of 1053 kHz was (SINPO) 23432 -- fair to poor signal, mixing with a Thai station (in Bangkok) when not fading every two to three minutes. Despite these conditions programme content was occasionally audible and clear. Prior to 14.30 UTC, the Gimpo (South Korea) siren jammer and two Asian stations were detected.

Reception Report was submitted online snd posted in subsequent days.

Address:
Chubu-Nippon Hoso
1-2-8 Shinsakae, Naka-ku
Nagoya 460-8405
Japan

Saturday, December 24, 2016

RMRC Calendar 2017 in the Mail


Yesterday, I received a pleasant surprise in the mail. A fellow radio enthusiast in Germany gifted to me a copy of the 2017 Rhein-Main-Radio-Club Calendar. This rather remarkable calendar depicts a collection of colourful QSL (verification) cards of radio stations from a bygone era, many of which are now defunct. Vielen Dank und Fröhliche Weihnachten! 73.

The calendar appears in cross-format (A4) and is in English. Price: 15 € (for RMRC members 10 €).

 





 

 







To order, please refer to the RMRC website at http://www.rmrc.de/index.php/rmrc-service/qsl-kalender. Fill in the contact form and send the amount requested.

Address:
Rhein-Main-Radio-Club e.V.
Postfach 700849,
60558 Frankfurt, Germany

Email:
mail@rmrc.de

Friday, December 23, 2016

QSLs & Greetings in the Mail


A Voice of Vietnam QSL card and New Year's greeting card, along with a QSL card depicting Radio Tirana's broadcast house arrived in the mail, today. Thank you, Voice of Vietnam and Radio Tirana.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Holiday Greetings

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! HAPPY DXING! 
 Every year about this time, many radio stations send out holiday greetings for Christmas and/or the New Year. This year has been no different. Here are a few of the growing number of eCard and paper card greetings from around the world. 

Voice of Vietnam and Voice of Mongolia
Radio Mi Amigo International

Radio Taiwan International (German Service)

Radio Taiwan International (French Service)
Atlantic 2000 International
U-Boat 66




QSLs in the Mail


Two QSL cards from Radio Taiwan International arrived in the letterbox, yesterday. Verifications were for RTI's special German language broadcasts on 26 and 28 August 2016. Thank you, RTI German Service.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

QSL in the Mail



The Russian Service of NHK World-Radio Japan sent this QSL card and programme schedule just the other day. Thank you very much!

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Radio Pushka*

Radio Pushka* via Channel 292 in Rohrbach, Germany was logged on 18 December 2016. Broadcast focused primarily on the Republic of Kalmikiya and music from other regions in Russia from 16.00 till 17.00 UTC, but was monitored from 16.50 till 17.00 UTC. Digimodes transmission was observed at 16.55 UTC.

Reception on 6.070 kHz was (SINPO) 54545 -- strong, clear and audible signal. Some interference from Voice of Turkey was observed, but less apparent in the UK compared to elsewhere in Europe. At the University of Twente (The Netherlands), for instance, their signal was only occasionally detected under a very dominant Voice of Turkey. HERE's how Radio Pushka sounded in England.

Reception report was emailed to Radio Pushka shortly after their broadcast ended. On 20 December 2-16, Radio Puska replied, saying: "Thanks a lot for the report! You will be receiving a QSL Card. It can take a while to arrive, due to the season."

Email: 
radiopushka@gmail.com

Website:
radiopushka.blogspot.my/

*Logged using a remote SDR receiver in Bedford, England which was monitored in Malaysia  

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Year-end Radio Review


As 2016 winds down it's time to take stock of what transpired this past year, on and off the airwaves, here in South East Asia.  In what has become all to common in the last decade, long-established and familiar radio stations and radio-related organisations ceased to operate, among these being Radio Australia and the Danish Shortwave Club International (DSCI). On the bright side, broadcast providers like  Media Broadcast GmbH, Shortwave Service and WRMI  expanded their programming, allowing broadcasters like Radio Mi Amigio, Radio New Ireland and Italian Broadcasting Corporation to broaden their reach and audience. Similarly, QSLs previously impossible to acquire were finally confirmed.

All India Radio (AIR) was the major verifier in this category. Thanks to continued efforts of Spectrum Management & Synergy, the following stations were QSLed: AIR Ahmedabad (MW), AIR Chinsurah (MW), AIR Cuddapah (MW), AIR Cuttack (MW), AIR Dibrugarh (MW),  AIR Imphal (MW), AIR Indore (MW), AIR Jabalpur (MW), AIR Jeypore (SW), AIR Leh (SW), AIR Port Blair (MW), AIR Rajkot (MW), AIR Srinagar (SW), AIR Varanasi (MW) and AIR Vishakapatnam (MW). The lone hold out, to date, remains AIR Gangtok.

As mentioned above, many stations formerly heard only in Europe or the Americas expanded their broadcast coverage. Transmissions were relayed from Yerevan (Armenia) and Trincomalee (Sri Lanka). These included Radio Northern Ireland, Radio Mi Amigo and The Voice of the World Report. The exceptions were FRS Holland and Italian Broadcasting Corporation, which owing to frequency and propagation, were received -- for the FIRST TIME, here in Malaysia -- from their home countries.

Among the many new stations to enter the short-waves were clandestine operators, Free Radio stations and religious broadcasters, who from time to time, do and will confirm. Many use the services of Malagasy Global Business SA (MGLOB), Media Broadcast GmbH, Télédiffusion de France (TDF),  Spaceline Ltd. Bulgaria and SENTEC (South Africa). Of the five service providers,  Media Broadcast GmbH consistently verifies correct reception reports for the transmissions of their clients, among these being Radio Studio Otkrovenie - HCJB Global.  Of the new short-wave stations, Voice of Hope (in Zambia) and Madagascar World Voice appeared on the bands in early 2016.

Over on the medium-wave band, verifications from Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, Sao Tome, Taiwan  and Thailand were obtained. A few of these included: Radio Republik Indonesia Sungailiat, RRI Pekanbaru PRO-4 and Radio Republik Indonesia Semarang (Indonesia); Radio Payam - IRIB (Iran); Asahi Broadcasting Corporation - JONR (Osaka, Nippon Cultural Broadcasting - JOQR and RKB Mainichi Hoso - JOFR (Japan): Like Station 1494 (Thailand); and even a "Test Transmission" for Choibalsan 1431 for Babcock International (Mongolia). Two stations in the Philippines were received as well, but remain, as of this writing, MIA (Missing In Action). In all fairness, a good many Indonesian and Thai stations failed to reply too. After nearly a two year absence from MW, National Radio of Kampuchea returned to the airwaves and continues to be received strongly here.


On short-wave, either verifications or acknowledgements came from Radio Republik Indonesia Merauke (Papua), National Broadcasting Corporation - Radio Bougainville (Kubu, PNG), Radio Télé Candip (Bunia, DRC) Radio Puntland (Puntland Somalia), Radio Quillabamba (Peru), Seoul Radio Center Korea Telecom - Station HLG and Radio Guinée / Radio Télévision Guinéenne (Conakry, Republic of Guinea).

On the down side, the Danish Shortwave Club Internationally -- one the oldest and possibly the best radio club -- officially ceased to exist in December 2016 after 60 years, but not before a special broadcast, produced by Rhein-Main-Radio-Club, aired the "DSCI - Last AGM". This broadcast was heard worldwide via WRMI (Okeechobee), Shortwave Service (Armenia) and SLBC / Shortwave Service (Trincomalee) in early December.

It has also been widely reported the short-wave outlets of Radio Australia (Shepparton) and ABC Northern Territory are slated to close at the end of January 2017. Although, it has also been reported, an effort is afoot to save ABC stations (Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek). Should they go, the only remaining short-wave broadcaster in Australia will be Reach Beyond Australia (HCJB) in Kununurra, Western Australia. A few Australia Bureau of Meteorology stations (VMW - Wiluna, Western Australia) and VMC - Charleville, Queensland)  broadcast on short-wave as well.

In other news, while China Radio International, China National Radio and PBS outlets in China literally dominate the short-wave bands, they continue a policy of issuing no paper QSL. This went into effect late last year when CRI announced budget cuts. For a brief time, earlier this year, the exception was their Japanese service; but near the middle the year, they too ceased to issue paper QSLs. However, on a positive note, CRI English service does verify by eQSL, and occasionally will confirm for PBS outlets as well. Similarly, Radio New Zealand International verifies only by eQSL, as of late last year.

Once reliable Voice of Turkey acknowledged only half of this year's reception reports.  In previous years, TRT confirmed nearly every report within a month's time. One can assume, perhaps due to the unrest in Turkey and the region, this would account for the lapse in verification and delivery. QSLs from Bangladesh Betar, Radio Romania International and VOA seem to be equally sporadic. Some listeners may defer and say KBS World Radio, Radio Thailand, Radio Taiwan International and Voice of Vietnam are just as guilty, but, personally, I have had no great difficulty in receiving verifications from them, so long as one constantly communicates with them.

Occasionally, short-wave propagation and bands in South East Asia, are nearly absent of stations, save for Chinese, North Korean and religious broadcasters (AWR and Overcomer, especially). And, I feel it is almost pointless to continue listening to short-wave, let alone to maintain this blogsite.

This is one of the reasons I have recently gravitated towards medium-wave DXing. But this band, in South East Asia, is quite a challenge, what with the many Thai, Indonesian and Chinese stations that fill the airwaves and broadcast in their respective languages/dialects. To listen to stations outside these 'Big Three', broadcast times (often in the wee hours of the morning) and propagation almost ALWAYS dictate reception. And even then, when a station is received, it can be difficult to get a confirmation.

All in all, in spite of the ups and downs this year, it appears radio will remain a viable medium in the coming year. And this, in part, thanks to radio enthusiasts taking charge to preserve it. Let us hope they prevail. Long live radio! Happy DXing and 73.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Gimpo Siren Jammer (South Korea)

Gimpo, South Korea
Gimpo Siren Jammer (South Korea), transmitting on 1053 kHz (MW), was logged here in Malaysia on 13 and 14 December 2016. Their signal rated a SINPO of 43423. While their transmission is designed to jam Pyongyang Broadcasting Station in Haeju (North Korea) -- a super-powered station rated at 1500 kW --  it was heard mixing with two Asian stations, one being a Chinese broadcaster at 12.20 UTC and possibly RRI Jayapura (Papua) at 13.30 UTC. Signal was prominent, although not a major disturbance, to the Chinese and Indonesian stations when it faded under. Transmission was observed from 12.20 UTC onward till 14.30 UTC. Additionally, at 19.30 UTC, a Thai station (possibly "Suan Misakawan" -- Monthon Thahaan Bok Thii Sip-Et in Bangkok) and another weaker Asian station (possibly JOAR in Nagoya, Japan) was received; at 22.20 UTC, no jamming was apparent, only an Asian broadcaster. 

This is one incredibly powerful transmitter for it to reach Kuala Lumpur -- a distance of 4,600 km!!!

HERE's an audio file of the Gimpo Siren Jammer.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Radio Taiwan International (via Paochung)

Radio Taiwan International, transmitting from Paochung (Taiwan), was logged on 13 December 2016. An English language broadcast, from 11.00 till 12.00 UTC, featured the programmes  "Hear in Taiwan", "Book of Odes" and "Status Update". "Book of Odes", hosted by Charlie Storrar, profiled one of the major poets and poetry from the TángshÄ« Dynasty. It, and "Status Update" reported on the historically significant tourist sites from the Japanese Occupation period, were quite fascinating and informative. This is one of the reasons I love listening to short-wave broadcasters like RTI; the programmes can be quite educational.

Reception on 11.600 kHz during this period was (SINPO) 44343 -- good signal strength and clear audio, despite slight fading and a persistent, annoying atmospheric noise under signal. An hour earlier, during the Indonesian broadcast, reception was stronger and without the noise.

Reception report was emailed and submitted online. QSL card arrived in the mail on 29 December 2016.


Email:
rti@rti.org.tw

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Atlantic 2000 International*

Atlantic 2000 International*, broadcasting from the Radio 700 facility in Eifeldorf Kall-Krekel (Germany), was logged on 11 December 2016. This largely French language broadcast of pop music included  Alannah Myles - "Black Velvet,  Lukas Graham - "Once I was Seven Years Old", Leonard Cohen - "Suzanne" and similar oldies, from 10.00 till 11.00 UTC. For my part, their transmission was monitored from 10.00 till 10.25 UTC. Reception on 6.005 kHz rated a (SINPO) of 44444 -- QRM from utility station, with some transmitter hum and fading, otherwise clear and good audio was noted.

Reception report was emailed to Atlantic 2000 International on the same day,

Email:
atlantic2000international@gmail.com


*Logged using a remote SDR receiver linked to the University of Twente (The Netherlands) website and monitored in Malaysia