About Our Club
New Zealand Radio DX League Incorporated
NZBN 9429042708728
Benefits
•Subscription to the New Zealand DX Times, published monthly and containing the latest DX news and what’s being heard on the wireless.
•Access to NZRDXL remote receivers located in Mangawhai (North Island NZ) and Hina Hina (South Island NZ).
•Membership of DXDIALOG, an email group where you can learn about the hobby and share your loggings with other members.
•Participate in DXpeditions, conventions and social gatherings with other members.
Patron
SUTTON BURTENSHAW
What is this thing called DX?
It’s the ‘Love’ of listening to radio stations in far off lands.
Committee
• Arthur De Maine
• Bryan Clark
•Peter Mott
• Steven Greenyer
• Stuart Forsyth
In This Issue
New Zealand DX Times
ISSN 0110-3636
Contents
Club Remote Receivers4 SW Bandwatch28 NZ based KiwiSDRs with Ian Wells
Receivers from Days Gone By5Remote Listening35 by Bill Marsh with Dene Lynneberg
AM Broadcast
7 Ladders44 with Bryan Clark with Lance Johnston
TV/FM News & DX25Utilities45 with Paul Rawdonwith Arthur DeMaine
Front Cover
RCA AR-88 receivers on display at the The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park, UK. https://www.tnmoc.org
Next Month
Email your news and loggings to hello@radiodx.com with the column name above as the subject prior to;
Wednesday 28th of June 2023.
Club Remote Receivers
City living has made DX’ing challenging. Man made interference makes it almost impossible to hear weak distant radio stations.
To solve this problem, NZRDXL provides members with two remote KiwiSDR receivers located in quiet coastal locations.
How To Connect
Click on the link below for the receiver you wish to use, then enter the password when prompted.
Check the monthly Members Update email for the latest password. It changes from time to time.
http://mangawhai-nzrdxl.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073
http://catlins-nzrdxl.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073
Online help is available at https://kiwisdr.com
Receivers From Days Gone By
By Bill MarshGrundig Satellit 800 Millenium World Radio
This receiver was manufactured by Grundig Company of Mento Park, California, USA. Although portable some define it as “Desktop” receiver.
The SATELLIT 800 MILLENNIUM is a microprocessor controlled, synthesized, world band receiver with continuous coverage capability from 100 kHz through 30 MHz which includes the AM broadcast and shortwave bands. Reception also includes FM broadcast (87 - 108 MHz) and Aircraft (118 -137 MHz) bands.
It offers excellent sensitivity, selectivity (2.3, 4 & 6kHz), good dynamic range, and features that permit easy tuning of desired stations. Conveniently located front panel controls allow for rapid operator programming and ease of use. AM, SSB & FM reception. 9 & 10 kHz tuning steps. AM Sync detector. Two internal clocks. Memory storage. External antenna connections ie. 50/500 ohm to 30 mHz & 75 ohm on FM. The unit can be operated from either an AC to 9 volt dc power adaptor or from six internal "D" cell batteries for portable operation. A low battery voltage indication is displayed when that condition exists.
Notes from writer. Although I purchased one of these receivers late in life, I am confident that if I owned of these receivers in my DX heyday, it would have contributed greatly to my number of verifications particularly from some of the remote locations I frequented.
These receivers are very much collector items today and fetch extremely high prices on EBay.
AM Broadcast
with Bryan Clark, Mangawhaiemail hello@radiodx.com subject “AM Broadcast”
News
The big radio story in the US continues to be the moves by automakers including BMW, Volkswagen, Mazda and Tesla, are removing AM radios from new electric vehicles because electric engines can interfere with the sound of AM stations. Then Ford, one of America’s top-3 auto sellers announced it would take a bigger step, eliminating AM from all of its vehicles, electric or gas-operated.
Ford’s move was subsequently reversed with CEO Jim Farley announcing on 23 May that, the decision followed discussions with government policy leaders who are concerned about keeping emergency alerts that often are sounded on AM stations. “We've decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles," Farley wrote on Twitter and LinkedIn. "For any owners of Ford's EVs without AM broadcast capability, we'll offer a software update” to restore it, Farley wrote.
The decision followed a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers introducing a bill calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require AM in new vehicles at no additional cost. Sponsors of the “AM for Every Vehicle Act” cited public safety concerns, noting AM's historic role in transmitting vital information during emergencies, such as natural disasters, especially to rural areas.
Massachusetts Democratic Senator Edward Markey, one of the bill’s sponsors, had said 8 of 20 major automakers including Ford, BMW and
Tesla have pulled the band from new vehicles. “Ford’s reversal reflects an overdue realization about the importance of AM radio, but too many automakers are still going the wrong direction," Markey said in a written statement Tuesday. He said Congress should still pass the bill to keep access to the band.
Ford had removed AM from the 2023 Mustang Mach-e and F-150 Lightning electric pickups after data collected from vehicles showed that less than 5% of customers listened to it, spokesman Alan Hall said. Electrical interference and reducing cost and manufacturing complexity also played a role. The company also took it out of the 2024 gasolinepowered Mustang, but will add it back in before any of the muscle cars are delivered, Hall said.
The EVs will get an online software update to put AM back into the vehicles, and Ford will keep including it in future vehicles as it looks at innovative ways to deliver emergency alerts, Hall said. Ford and others also suggested that internet radio or other communication tools could replace AM radio. But Markey and others pointed to situations where drivers might not have internet access.
The FCC and National Association of Broadcasters praised the legislation, which is also backed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, DN.J., Rep. Tom Kean, Jr., R-N.J., Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., among others.
But the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a U.S. trade group that represents major automakers including Ford and BMW, criticized the bill, calling the AM radio mandate unnecessary. The trade group pointed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alerts and Warning System, which can distribute safety warnings across AM, FM, internet-based and satellite radios — as well as over cellular networks. The alliance said the bill gives preference to a technology that's competing
with other communications options.
According to the National Association of Broadcasters and Nielsen data, more than 80 million people in the U.S. listen to AM radio every month.
Some American AM station owners and advertisers contend that losing access to the car dashboard will indeed be a death blow to many of the nation’s 4,185 AM stations — the possible demise of a core element of the nation’s delivery system for news, political talk (especially on the right), coverage of weather emergencies and foreign language programming.
“This is a tone-deaf display of complete ignorance about what AM radio means to Americans,” said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers, a trade journal covering the talk radio industry. “It’s not the end of the world for radio, but it is the loss of an iconic piece of American culture.”
Several other companies — including Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia and Jaguar Land Rover — said they have no plans to eliminate AM radio and General Motors, the nation’s top-selling carmaker, has not announced its intentions.
The removal of AM radio from cars — where about half of AM listening takes place — has sparked bipartisan protests. Some Democrats are fighting to save stations that often are the only live source of local information during extreme weather, as well as outlets that target immigrant audiences. Some Republicans, meanwhile, claim the elimination of AM radio is aimed at diminishing the reach of conservative talk radio. “The automobile is essential to liberty,” right-wing talk show host Mark Levin told his listeners last month. “It’s freedom. So the control of the automobile is about the control of your freedom. They finally figured out how to attack conservative talk radio.”
(Condensed from reporting by Grantham-Philips, Associated Press & Marc Fisher Washington Post via Theo Donnelly)
NEW ZEALAND
On 1 May, the 1548 transmitter at Palmerston North switched from carrying the Coast network to relaying 2XS-FM, a local operator previously only on 106.7 FM. (Adam Claydon, DX Dialog)
ALASKA
The 50-year-old transmitting mast of KYUK Bethel 640 AM was demolished on 11 May as part of a planned upgrade as it has been sinking into the permafrost and replacement has been planned for years.
The AM signal has been able to reach people all over the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. In almost every community, KYUK is the only signal they’re getting. So the ability to transmit information through 640 AM, whether it’s local information, state-wide information or national news, it all goes through that tower. So, the 640 AM signal is down currently.
Fortunately, here in Bethel, we have a 90.3 FM signal. So we put all of our regular 640 programming on that. So everyone here locally can still catch our programming on FM and it might sound better in some instances, definitely, if you’re close to Bethel, and that’s going to serve the nearest villages. And then fortunately, too, we have nine repeaters and outlying areas, places farther away from Bethel, places like Aniak, up the Kuskokwim. Emmonak and Nunam Iqua on the Yukon, Quinhagak, Good News Bay out on the coast. So those repeaters are unaffected, they are still picking up our signal. So while we hate to be down on 640, especially during break up, we are happy that almost everyone is still able to receive our services.
It’s the villages that are not quite far enough away that they needed a repeater, but that are too far to receive the FM signal. They’re going to be the ones that have a tough time hearing us right now. And that’s a
handful of villages. And we’re going to do everything we can to get back on the air as quickly as possible. The new tower, along with the brand-new equipment with it, the transmitters and other accessory equipment means KYUK’s AM signal should be clearer than it has been and it should reach further than it has. (Francisco Martínezcuello, KYUK via Alaska Public Media via Ray Crawford)
ARGENTINA
LR9 Radio Perfil Buenos Aires measured on 1189.987 kHz on 6 May by Jan Edh (via Arctic Radio Club’s mv-eko magazine)
CANADA
910CKDQ Drumheller AB on 910 AM wants to move its 50,000 watt directional AM to FM with 24,500 watts, directional with a maximum ERP of 36,600 watts, at 39.4 metres above average terrain (EHAAT). The Application will be heard in a CRTC Hearing on 6 July. There is no indication if a format change will accompany the move to FM. (via Jon Pearkins direct)
940CJGX Yorkton SK applies for CP with U1 50kw days, 690 watts at night, from existing site. (via NRC)
CYPRUS
The BBC is back on 2 MW frequencies from Cyprus, on 639 and 720 kHz. The reception was good and clear on 12 May. It was only a test transmission with a music and periodic announcement of test transmission in English language. (Alexei Lubich, Israel via Ydun’s mediumwave.info)
GUAM
630KICH Agaña granted STA extension, U1 5000/5000, using guy wires at KSDA (SW) site 13-20-27 N/144-39-04 E. (via NRC)
JAPAN
According to May 21 issue of "Tokyo Simbun" newspaper on 21 May, only 1 AM station out of 6 in the Kanto area (Tokyo and surrounded 6 prefectures) has decided to stop AM from February 2024. Japanese Ministry of Internal A ff airs and Communications permits AM commercial radio stations to stop AM on a trial bases for maximum 2 years from February 2024, if they request in November 2023, when all the AM radio stations renew licenses.
As for Kanto area only 1 AM station out of 6 decided to stop AM.
Tokyo:
Nippon Hoso (Kisarazu 1242kHz), Bunka Hoso (Kawaguchi 1134kHz), TBS Radio (Toda 954kHz) will not stop AM, because each station has only one AM transmitter site and FM from Tokyo Sky Tree(634m) cannot cover the northern Kanto areas.
Kanagawa:
Radio Nippon (Kawasaki 1422kHz, Odawara 1485kHz) is not considering stopping because most listeners are old and prefer to listen on AM.
Tochigi:
Tochigi Hoso (Utsunomiya 1530kHz, Nasu 864kHz, Ashikaga 1062kHz) haven’t decided yet. Their cause for concern is the low penetration of FM radios receivable above 90MHz (old Japanese FM radios only covered 76-90MHz).
Ibaragi:
Ibaragi Hoso (Mito 1197kHz with relay on 1458kHz) has decided to stop AM because their 100 watt FM transmitter in Tsukuba (located at the top of Mt.Hokyo 461m) can cover much wider areas than AM and 88.1MHz can be received by old FM radios for 76-90MHz.
(Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo via Glenn Hauser’s WOR io Group)
PERU
880OBZ4N Radio Nuevo Tiempo, Lima, -ex. IPDA observed in Lima. //1380. https://sites.google.com/view/ntperu (Fredrik Dourén)
900Radio Jaguar Mix, Jaén, - new unlicensed on MW // OCZ2Y 98.1 FM. https://www.radiojaguarmix.com/ (Mauno Ritola & Fredrik Dourén)
1010OCU7P Radio Nacional, Juli is active. (Mauno Ritola)
1070OAU6K Radio Trinidad, Arequipa is active. - observed by José Kucher. (via Fredrik Dourén)
1120Radio Nuñoa, Nuñoa, Melgar, Puno – new unlicensed on MW –
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089797600438observed by José Kucher. (via Fredrik Dourén)
1180OAM2U Radio Los Chukos, Santiago de Chuco, La Libertad -
https://www.facebook.com/heberth.infantes.7/ observed by José Kucher. (via Fredrik Dourén)
1190OAX7B Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cusco noted at closedown on 8 May on measured 1190.076 kHz by Norwegian DXer Hans Östnell. In Sweden, Thomas Nilsson measured the frequency as 1190.074.
1290OAU6N Radio Libertad, Arequipa here ex 1310 kHz. - observed by José Kucher. (via Fredrik Dourén)
1470OAU4B Radio MegaMix, Lima ex. Radio La Mega (Andrew Brade, mwcircle and contributors to MVE)
1550OAM7D Radio Checca, Checca, Canas, Cusco now here ex. 1590. So R San Sebastian, Livitaca is gone.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090330665338 (Fredrik Dourén) (all via Arctic Radio Club’s mv-eko magazine)
PUERTO RICO
1430WNEL Caguas granted STA extension, U1 2300/2300, using shorter tower. (NRC)
hello@radiodx.com
SAUDI ARABIA
Radio Riyadh is back on 1440 after a few years absence. Modulation is quite low as always before. Heard at 1800 UTC with good signal in Hungary. (László Tringer via Ydun’s Medium Wave Info 5/5 via Arctic Radio Club’s mv-eko 63-22) [Has been heard in NZ. BC]
SPAIN
SER Radio Gerona/Girona on 1008 kHz was officially decommissioned yesterday. The station went off some weeks back due to technical problems and a low transmitter efficiency.
USA (from National Radio Club’s “DX News” magazine)
630KSUR Monterey CA – license cancelled Apr. 30 at licensee’s request.
760WJR Detroit MI verified by Keith Bosworth, Regional Director of Engineering by email in 1 day for a follow up Email. keith.bosworth@cumulus.com (Martin Foltz-FL)
820WBAP Fort Worth TX verified by email in 6 days after a follow up email, v/s Duane Sedge, Assistant Chief Engineer. duane.sedge@cumulus.com. New postal address is 3090
Nowitzki Way, Suite 400, Dallas TX 75219. (Martin Foltz -FL)
880KIXI Mercer Island-Seattle WA new format is Nostalgia (ex-NOS/ BIZ); networks to A/WW1. (Northwest Broadcasters)
920KVIN Ceres CA new format is Punjabi (ex-OLD), drops networks; slogan Punjabi Radio. (Station Intel)
950KPRC Houston TX granted license to cover CP with U2 7000/4300, new site (triplexed with KBME-790/KXYZ-1320) 29-54-55/95-27-48 day, 29-54-56/95-27-46 night.
1090KAAY Little Rock AR verified by email in 2 days for follow up email. He didn't receive my original letter, v/s Toby Howell, PD. toby.howell@cumulus.com (Martin Foltz-FL)
1190WOWO Fort Wayne IN new slogan is “WOWO News/Talk 92.3 FM 1190 AM 107.5 FM” (Radio Insight)
1200KPSF Cathedral City CA – silent since June 4, 2022; back on the air Apr. 24. Silent again May 5 due fuel contamination damaged generator.
1210KGYN Guymon OK applies for license to cover CP with U2 22000/1000, existing site.
1240KRJW Altamont OR format to SS:MEX (ex-SPT), slogan to “La Patrona 106.5,” “La Voz de Klamath”. (Radio Insight)
1250KKDZ Seattle WA granted STA extension, U1 2500/1250 from CP tower.
1280KZNS Salt Lake City UT slogan now “KSL 97.5 Sports Zone.” (Station Intel)
1280KIT Yakima WA applies for CP with U1 4500/810, new site (diplexed with KUTI-1460) 46-33-29/120-27-02.
1300KKOL Seattle WA granted STA extension, U4 35000/3200.
1310KKZI Barstow CA silent since May 17, 2022; back w/STA Apr. 27.
1320KXYZ Houston TX granted license to cover CP w/ U4 8400/2800, new site triplexed w/KBME-790/KPRC-950 at 29-54-56/95-27-42.
1400WFLL Fort Lauderdale FL format to Portuguese (ex-ETH), slogan “Nossa Radio USA”.
1400KEBE Jacksonville TX format to Religion (ex-CLR), // K284CT-104.7. (Station Intel)
1450KIKR Beaumont TX granted STA extension, U1 600/600.
1450 KOBO Yuba City CA slogan now Punjabi Radio. (Station Intel)
1470 KUTY Palmdale CA granted STA extension, U1 1250/1250.
1490KRSN Los Alamos NM – License cancelled 2 May at licensee’s request; silent since May 1, 2022.
1520KGDD Oregon City OR granted license to cover CP with U1 5000/42, new site (diplexed w/KXPD-1040) at 45-28-26/122-39-33.
1550WRHC Coral Gables FL format to SS:NWS/TLK/SPT (ex-SS:NOS), slogan “ WWFE La Poderosa”. (IRCA)
USA (via IRCA’s DX Monitor magazine)
670WWFE Miami FL has new slogan “La Poderosa 670 AM”.
710WAQI Miami FL new slogan is “Radio Mambi 710”.
1280KZNS Salt Lake City UT new slogan is “KSL Sports”.
1530KFBK Sacramento CA new slogan is ”NewsRadio KFBK”.
1530KGBT Harlingen TX drops old slogan: “Amor Celestial 1530 AM”, is now TUDN.
VIETNAM
I was startled to see the new 400kW transmitter at Phước Dinh on the east coast of the country, operating on 1071kHz mentioned in the Update to WRTH International Broadcasts. Asiawaves has details of the VOV5 broadcasts in English and Mandarin. The clue is in mention of that (latter) language. In short, the Chinese have been sending their huge navy all over the South China Sea. The Spratly islands have no less than 4 nations claiming bits of it. Vietnam has control over the main island called Spratly. Therefore, VOV5 is sending out the signal at 135 degrees to "persuade" Chinese sailors not to overstep their activities. Also, the idea is to serve Vietnamese civilians in those farflung islands. Fascinating stuff, hopefully to explain an unusual use of a transmitter. (Dan Goldfarb, MW Masts io Group)
X-Band Update
PERU
1610OAU6O Radio El Sol, Arequipa heard on 8 May.
1620O..7. Radio Choque, Chamaca heard on 10 May w/"Radio Choque de Chamaca" inserted in religious prgm. Modulation had horrible hum. (Fredrik Douren, Sweden via Arctic Radio Club)
USA
1690WMLB Avondale Estates GA verified by prepared card in 14 days, v/s Anne Fredericks, CFO. 5302 Coleway Dr, Holly Springs NC 27540. (Martin Foltz-FL via NRC)
Broadcast Mailbag
BRYAN CLARK, Mangawhai is very pleased to have verified KSEN Montana 1150 for the NRC/IRCA DX Test from last November. Along with an attractive Ekko Stamp QSL, the Courtesy Program Committee Chairman Les Rayburn added “Your reception is by far the most distant that we’ve received at 7,388 miles (11890 km). I envy your coastal location and the amazing DX that you’re able to achieve from there. I’ve copied Chief Engineer Todd Clark on this email, knowing that he will be thrilled to hear of your reception.”
STU FORSYTH Mangawhai “It has been an enjoyable month listening on both SDRs 2 & 3. I have been pleased by what has been heard. I have sent reports via Facebook Messenger to both Radio UCSG Guayaquil on 1190 and Radio Salud y Vida on 660. Neither have replied - unsurprisingly. I may even get round to sending a letter because I would like to verify them! The weather has continued wet, so haven't tackled my plan for revamping my EWEs as yet.” [Thanks Stu –I need your help getting my EWEs operating too! BC]
SUTTON BURTENSHAW (El Patrona) writes from Hamilton: “I was stumbling around the Catlins SDR actually looking for any likely new radio countries for me and came across a loud signal on 1557 Khz. Not having (logged) a NZer on that frequency I decided to log it and then found the same transmission on 774 Khz. Sent a report away to Gold Sport South Taranaki (gold@gold.co.nz) and bingo, next morning a con fi rmation from David Brice, Content Director, Coast-Gold (david.brice@nzme.co.nz) appeared in the in-box. Nothing like DX, but keeps my hand in, hi!” [Indeed Sutts! With Kiwis absent from 17 MW frequencies up to 1602, we certainly still have opportunities for international DX from the Eastern Hemisphere too. BC]
STEVEN GREENYER Timaru. “I have been checking SDR3 most nights but generally conditions have been flat. Was initially hopeful that a trace on 666 kHz in the early evening was a long path European but as the trace is also there at other times it must be something local producing it. I did however hear a reasonably good signal from WA later one evening. Following the tip from Bryan I have been checking 1400 for Granada but it is not appearing on SDR3.
We are now in the process of packing up to move to Central Otago so
DX may be on the back burner for a while. Many years ago the location there seemed to favour Canadians but with many permanent neighbours now I doubt it will be a good location. [Thanks Steven – like you I have been monitoring those vacant 9kHz channels and also have some perplexing carriers like 1359 prior to 0600 UTC. Unlikely to be longpath, so who? BC]
ROBBIE MEGAW Timaru makes a welcome return to the DXT: “after a 30 year absence from radio and rejoining the League again last year, my Radio Shack is all setup and running and I'm now able to start listening and contributing some logs to the DX Times!
Having been into shortwave back between 1983-1993 then radio scanning from 1993 till 2004, I’ve returned to the start again and got myself setup for shortwave, AM and FM listening. My equipment is a Icom IC-R71E for AM dx with a few mods done to remove MW attenuation along with audio mods and a realignment etc. Also an RSPDX SDR for the visuals and all connected to a Wellbrook 1530 loop on a rotator with a Strisberg multi-coupler.
My logs for the MW Trail are not as good as some of the stuff others get, but I was pretty happy to get some distant signals on the first few nights of listening recently. [Thanks Robbie! I struggled to hear my first North American in the early 1960s, but once I’d heard one, the tide turned! BC]
MARTIN GREER, Tasmania writes: “Hello everyone, here are some MW logs for late April and most of May. There seems to be some kind of shift in signals towards Queensland, just recently. It was good to hear VOA Thailand 1575 Khz - I had not heard it for quite a while.” [Thanks for your regular contributions, Martin! BC]
Broadcast Trail
Trail times & dates are always in UTC/GMT – 12 hours behind NZT. Member loggings made on the DX League’s remote New Zealandbased KiwiSDRs are indicated with a symbol after the frequency. # after the frequency indicates logging made on the SDR at Mangawhai (Lower Northland) with EWE antenna to NE. cafter the frequency indicates loggings made on the SDR at Hinahina (Catlins Coast, Otago) with EWE antenna to South or Central America.
*after the frequency indicates reception made by a member located outside NZ. a approximate. Frequency is well off its nominal channel. vfrequency of station varied during reception.
CWIS = Reception in NZ Confirmed With Internet Stream of station. CWSDR (and a location) = Reception in NZ Confirmed With SDR reception in specified overseas location to validate station identity.
BCMBryan Clark, Mangawhai w/WinRadio G33DDC SDR & EWEs to NE, E & SE.
SMFStu Forsyth, Mangawhai w/WinRadio G33DDC SDR & 5m EWE.
SGSteven Greenyer, Timaru DXing on SDR3 at Hina Hina.
RMRobbie Megaw, Timaru w/Icom IC-R71E & Wellbrook 1530 loop. MGMartin Greer, Launceston, Tasmania w/ Kenwood R2000, Tecsun PL880 and EWE antennas pointing N,NE,E,SE and SW.
580#0842USA KMJ Fresno fair with talk. SDR2 11/5 SMF
5580522FIJI Radio Fiji 1 clear w/ island melodies 22/5. BCM
580#0842USA KMJ Fresno CA fair with talk. 11/5 SMF
590#0841HAWAII KSSK Waipahu Good w/soft adult contemporary mx. 11/5. SMF
594a0527NZL Star Whangarei & Timaru – loud hum on freq w/ carriers on 594.000 and 593.926m, noticeable on Catlins SDR as well 22/5. BCM
640c0759USA KFI. Los Angeles, CA. ID by FM/Ann then into news. Reasonably regular. SG
640c0732USA KFI Los Angeles CA fair with fading, mixed with SS stn – playing ballads – couldn’t find any internet links. Possibly R Pacifico Peru. SMF
660c0542PERU Radio Salud y Vida Lima (most likely) – fair sig with mx and telephone calls. 6/5 SMF
666c1035AUSTRALIA. Classic Hits 666, Carnarvon, Carrying either AFL or League weak. Parallel to web feed that had two streams on it SG.
670c0831ARGENTINA Radio Mar del Plata most likely here –seems to match internet signal – vocals. Signal is subject to swamping from 675. SMF
680#0750USA KNBR San Francisco CA fair with sports nx, but noisy condx. 16/5. SMF
680c0752COLOMBIA. R. Nacional, music program with ID by M/ Ann fair signal. SG
8800715PERU Radio Nuevo Tiempo, Lima fair CWIS, contemporary Christian vocals, few time checks in SS, sung IDs, deep fades. Distinctive offset 880.0085m. 7/5. BCM [My UNID from last month! BC]
990c0610PERU R Latina Lima vg w/religious prgm. CWIS 6/5 SMF
10170627TONGA A3Z Nukualofa smothering NewsTalk ZB Christchurch w/Tongan talk, many Tonga refs 22/5. BCM
1020c0936USA KTNQ Los Angeles fair in SS w/talk. 2/5 SMF
1050c0934USA KTCT San Mateo CA poor, clear w/sports. 2/5 SMF
11100600MEXICO XERED w/Mexican National Anthem on 1110.002m, then western pops w/occasional very short SS anncts o/KFAB 1110.000m 29/4. BCM
1110c0620PERU Radio Feliz Lima vg with mx and talk. 6/5. SMF
1110c0924USA KRDC Pasadena CA poor-fair, mixed with XERED (CWIS) and probably KAOI. Up and down in short bursts. Sports news, talking about baseball. 2/5. SMF
11100930KRDC Pasadena CA promos “LA’s mega sports talk.. LA’s best talk all day long ..ESPN” on 1110.000m 3/5. BCM
1140c0916USA KHTK Sacramento CA fair-w/sports nx. 2/5. SMF
11401019UNID LATIN Radio Esperanza mentioned in SS talk but which one – Mexico or Colombia? 16/5. Offset & mx played makes XEMR most likely option. BCM
1170c0719USA KTSB Tulsa OK fair with local ads. 16/5 SMF
1190c0715ECUADOR USCG Guayaquil fair with fading – lots of talk. CWIS 11/5 SMF
1200#0843USA WOAI San Antonio TX Fair/ good w/C to C. 11/5. SMF
1360c0622PERU R Bienestar , Lima vg with talk 6/5. SMF
1380# 0852PERU R San Martin Arequipa fair/ poor – up and down in the mix. Songs identified via the web. 11/5 SMF
1380c0908USA UNID possibly KTKZ – noisy reception. Talking audible but incomprehensible 2/5 SMF
14000909GRENADA Harbour Light of the Windwards w/ hymns eg ”Great is thy Faithfulness”. Freq: 1399.999m, occ QRM from Latin on 1399.997m. 18/5. Traces 17/7 & 19/5. BCM
14200859HAWAII KKEA Honolulu good, clear w/ESPN promos, idents for “ESPN Honolulu” and “92.7 FM & 1420 AM” 17/5. BCM
1420c0904HAWAII KKEA Honolulu fair, noisy w/sports nx. 2/5 SMF
1470c0550PERU Radio MegaMix Lima exc with mx. 6/5 SMF
15300519USA KGBT Harlingen TX most likely the SS sports talk being hrd regularly on 1529.994m in Radio Spice fades. Thanks to RealDX colleagues for input re TUDN sports network KGBT now carries. 20/5. BCM
15300803USA KFBK Sacramento CA mixed Radio Spice, w/nx, into Coast to Coast AM w/George Noory at 0808 23/5. BCM
15400607BAHAMAS ZNS1 Nassau w/vocals, mx variety, in noisy
condx. CWIS until KREA came up at 0633 2/5. BCM
1580c0902USA KBLA Los Angeles CA fair with talk 2/5 SMF
1660c0742USA KBRE Merced CA (pres) w/rock mx. Fair but a lot of electrical QRN. 16/5. SMF
17000717MEXICO XEPE Tijuana fair, on peaks, alone, mainly SS talk, CWSDR San Diego, at 0853 recheck was mixed w/ KVNS on sports talk 19/5. BCM
5581157AUSTRALIA 4AM Mareeba/Atherton QLD with 4AM ID,heard with song by Air Supply, then at 1200 nx,fair signal 5/5 MG
8820800AUSTRALIA 4BC Brisbane QLD w/news then program announced as”4BC Wide World Sports”,w/good to fair signal 9/5 MG
8820922NEW ZEALAND Star Auckland w/fair signal, ID “You’re listening to Star”, song by Rich Mullins, signal became v.strong. 11/5 MG
10260835AUSTRALIA 4MK Mackay QLD w/ID as 4MK,block of local advts, good signal, No sign of c/c 3PB Melbourne 26/4 MG
10981218AUSTRALIA 4LG Longreach QLD.with some local advts,with one for Longreach tavern, then annct “Best songs of all time, 4LG”, fair signal 8/5 MG
11161119AUSTRALIA 4BH Brisbane QLD with INXS song, ID at 1125 “You're listening to Brisbane's Classic Hits 4BH”,good signal mixed briefly with c/c 3AK Melbourne Vic 5/5 MG
12200920COLOMBIA Radio Melodia on 1220.024m CWIS w/soft ballads, strongest sig on freq several nights 30/5. BCM
13411040NEW ZEALAND Newstalk ZB Nelson, talkback w/Marcus
Lush, good signal mixing w/2TAB Newcastle NSW 10/5 MG
14000914PERU Radio Agricultura, Cajamarca on 1399.960m poorfair sig w/folk songs CWIS, low het against 1400 plus UNID Latin on 1399.937m, 28/5. BCM
14200954HAWAII KKEA Honolulu Good signal strong peaks between some fading 18/5. RM
14220847AUSTRALIA 3XY Melbourne Radio Hellas, fair sig 18/5. RM
14600657COLOMBIA Nueva Continente, Bogota fair w/ instrumental mx, SS anncts, religious msg, songs from 0700 CWIS, KION almost inaudible for a change 29/5.
BCM
15120848AUSTRALIA 2RN ABC Radio National Newcastle, good signal 22/5. RM
15480844AUSTRALIA 4QD ABC Capricorna Emerald Fair mixing with SENZ Rotorua 21/5. RM
15660913AUSTRALIA 3NE 1566AM Wangaratta Weak signal but some good peaks 23/5. RM
15571201NEW ZEALAND Gold Sport Hawera/Rotokare w/ID as Gold Sport, pop songs from INXS & Split Enz // 792. 4/5 MG
15751530THAILAND VOA Ban Phachi with EE announcement”
You're welcome to the Voice of America in Burmese”. Signal at fair level tuned out at 1540 24/5 MG
15800955USA KBLA Santa Monica CA good w/deep fades 19/5. RM
TV/FM News & DX
with Paul Rawdon, Christchurchemail hello@radiodx.com
subject “TV/FM News & DX”
Greetings and welcome to the June edition.
Winter is now upon us and with it the chance of some midwinter DX. July has borne fruit in the past. I recall one winter’s morning I was woken up by the ABC TV channel 2 on my scanner.
NEWS
Thanks to our contributors there is some news to report:
BRAN CLARK, Mangawhai is first up keeping us up to date with developments in Auckland. He reports that The Rock has returned to its former frequency of 90.2 which was their original frequency prior to Today FM coming on air. In its place on 106.2 there is a six minute teaser for a new station for Auckland.
ADAM CLAYDON, Palmerston North advises that the same thing is happening in Palmerston North on 94.6.
BRIAN WITHERS, Napier reports that Channel X in the Hawkes Bay is on 106.3. Brian also notes that there is a Samoan language station in Hastings on 87.9 and that Small FM also in Hastings is providing a strong signal on 106.7.
DAVID KAIO reports that so far there hasn’t been any word of a replacement of Pulzar FM who closed down at Midnight on 12th May. A Wikipedia article indicates that Athemz will be a replacement and that with Channel X opening Pulzar FM would be an unsustainable business model.
Who is Channel X?
Channel X opened on the 8th May their target audience is Generation Z. To the uninitiated a statement on Wikipedia indicates that Generation Z colloquially known as Zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. To put it another way the station will fill the niche for a music station that features music from the 90s to 2000s. Interestingly when checking their website no mention is made of Christchurch or Canterbury. George FM is on the former To Day FM frequency of 95.3.
Overseas Developments
In the Northern Hemisphere the Sporadic E season is under way, In the Skywaves IO group Janpeter van Dijk, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands has reported his activity. 29th May was a good day for him logging stations in Spain, Portugal, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. A screen grab follows:
SW Bandwatch
with
Ian Wells, Dunedinemail hello@radiodx.com subject “SW Bandwatch”
June, shortest day , but hopefully with most of a year’s rain behind us things will dry out a little and settle down now to more normal conditions.
Thanks as usual to my support crew whose names appear below the loggings, because, without them, there could be no column. New contributors are always welcome – tell us what you’ve been listening to. These days hearing anything is an achievement worth celebrating.
Show loggings as tentative (tent) if you don’t get a clear ID, or if there’s doubt about the logging, and provide as much detail as you can, including date and language, while keeping your notes concise.
Symbols used in this column:
# reception achieved using the Mangawhai, Northland SDR2 (NE)
“c” reception achieved using the Hinahina, Catlins SDR3 (East)
Otherwise, you used your radio or SDR equipment, and your aerial.
“a” indicates the station was slightly off its allocated frequency.
“v” indicates varying frequency during the broadcast
“h” indicates a harmonic of the true frequency.
“U” indicates using USB mode is recommended
“CWIS” reception validated by matching the station’s internet stream
“CWSDR” reception validated by reference to an SDR in a specified overseas location to confirm the station identity
Many common languages are abbreviated –AA=Arabic, CC=Chinese, EE=English, FF=French, GG=German, JJ=Japanese, PP=Portuguese, RR=Russian, SS=Spanish. Others are usually spelled out in full.
New Zealand-based reception
5025 10:20
CUBA R Rebelde good in SS 22/042023 BC.
590019:25BULGARIA R Taiwan Int fair in GG 25/04/2023 BC
5900 20:09BULGARIA The Overcomer Ministry in EE religious talk 06/05/2023 BC
5995 05:26
MALI ORTM Bamako fair in FF & native dialects, folk mx, ID as Radio National, 30/04/2023 BCM
6050 04:40
6050 06:25
ECUADOR HCJB Voz de los Andes poor, clear in SS, Latin melodies, callsign ID 21/05/2023 BCM
LIBERIA ELWA Monrovia reactivated, first noted 20/5 poor w/relig teaching in EE past 0730. On 21/5 opened w/interval signal at 0555 21/05/2023 BCM
6155 05:00AUSTRIA R Austria Int good in GG 25/04/2023 BC
6320 # 19:23
7260 03:35
NETHERLANDS Johnny Tobacco Radio. Poor in Dutch, mx from 50s & 60s. 24/05/2023 JJD
VATICAN STATE VOA vgd in Somali (sometimes sounded AA) smothering co-channel R Vanuatu. 03:56 native vocals, 0359 closing anncts and off abruptly to leave RV clear 16/05/2023. BCM
729018:36BULGARIA IRRS relay good in EE 28/04/2023 BC
733509:05USA R Marti good in SS 25/04/2023 BC
7590 20:50
UZBEKISTAN Nth Korea Reform Radio fair in KK with spoken prgm 02/05/2023 JJD
7600 20:00 ARMENIA Afghan International Radio. Very good in local languages 02/05/2023 JJD
7610 20:32
UZBEKISTAN R Free Nth Korea. Fair to Good signal in KK mainly mx 02/05/2023 JJD
7625 21:00 UZBEKISTAN Voice of Martyrs poor at sign on in KK 02/05/2023 JJD
8514U 05:30 RUSSIA (tent) fair w/same song repeated over & over again with possibly Russia mentioned in song
06/05/2023 JJD
944006:02VATICAN STATE BBC WS good in FF 24/04/2023 BC
950004:11ROMANIA RRI good in Romanian 24/04/2023 BC
955520:13GERMANY AWR good in FF 30/04/2023 BC
959000:34CHINA CRI good in SS 24/04/2023 BC
961019:37ROMANIA RRI good in SS 28/04/2023 BC
966504:10BRAZIL R Voz Missionaria fair in PP 11/05/2023 BC
9670 17:00 GERMANY Europarl Radio via R 292 fair dropping to poor in GG EE & FF 09/05/2023 JJD
979006:35FRANCE R France Int good in FF 25/04/2023 BC
983520:05IRAN VOIRI fair in EE 28/04/2023 BC
988019:55TURKEY VOT good in FF 29/04/2023 BC.
9900 09:25 TAIWAN Radio Northern Europe International special tx opening vgd clear, eclectic mx tracks, EE ids, JJ annct w/email address 06/05/2023 BCM
9900 09:25 TAIWAN R North Europe Int strong in JJ with occasional EE. 06/05/2023 JJD
9975 03:53 USA KVOH Rancho Simi CA good w/'Time to Ponder' w/Bob Biermann, ID 04:00 then 'Saturday Night jazz Session' 07/05/2023 BCM
11640 21:20 MALI CRI relay poor in EE 02/05/2023 JJD
11745 21:28 SAUDI ARABIA Al Azim Radio good in AA with mention of Yemen. 02/05/2023 JJD
1174904:07ROMANIA RRI v/good in Romanian 27/04/2023 BC
11780 01:48BRAZIL R Nacional da Amazônia good w/lively PP chatter, IDs & mx. Blocked by Romania in SS at 02:00 20/05/2023 BCM
11780 20:32 BRAZIL R Nacional da Amazonia poor to fair in PP, better on USA 12/05/2023 JJD
11815 20:45 BRAZIL R Brazil Central fair in PP 25/05/2023 JJD
1196510:14GUAM KTWR very good in Javanese 24/04/2023 BC
12005 05:00ENGLAND Pop Shop Radio via Wooferton, good with mx mainly from the 60s 13/05 JJD
1209503:50OMAN BBC WS fair in EE 24/04/2023 BC
1376003:52MADAGASCAR World Christian Broadcasting fair in EE religious talk 25/04/2023 BC
13790 02:43 ALGERIA Ifrikya FM fair/good with great African mx 24/05/2023 JJD
13800 18:00 ESWATINI TWR Manzini weak w/tuning signal & EE ID
"This is TWR broadcasting from Eswatini". 18:02 AA ID & relig prgm. Sked Mon-Fri 03/052023 BCM
1517005:49SAUDI ARABIA R Riyadh good in AA 28/04/2023 BC
1521505:42FRANCE RFI good in Swahili 28/04/2023 BC
1531003:24ARMENIA BBC WS in Pashto, some EE 27/04/2023 BC
1532005:26TURKEY VOT fair in Hausa 28/04/2023 BC
1552021:16SPAIN REE good in SS 25/04/2023 BC
1556005:14AUSTRIA AWR fair in Hausa 28/04/2023 BC
15700C 09:00 DENMARK World Music Radio poor with mx and IDs
21/05/2023 JJD
1593004:02INDIA AIR Bengaluru good in Farsi 17/05/2023 BC
Local NZ-based contributors
BCBrian Carr, Christchurch
NRD-535 Airspy hf+ plz-qrm eliminator ewe antenna
BCMBryan Clark, Mangawhai
WinRadio G33DDC Excalibur Pro & AOR7030+, EWEs to North, Central & South America
JJDJohn Durham, Tauranga
Airspy HF Discovery.. Eavesdropper trap dipole.
SDRPlay pro 2. Cross Country Wireless loop with LA++ amp and not to forget the famous League SDRs
European-based reception
476519:53TAJIKISTAN Tajik Radio poor in Tajik 06/05/2023 MM
476501:56CUBA R Progreso fair in SS, music 14/05/2023 MM
477501:54PERU R Tarma, poor in AA, music 14/05/2023 MM
482001:55PERU R Senda Cristiana (tent) poor, unreadable
14/05/2023 MM
488504:31BRAZIL R Clube do Pará fair, PP, 06/05/2023 MM
496519:07ZAMBIA, Voice of Hope Africa poor 06/05/2023 MM
494004:33VENEZUELA Unknown relaying Fuerza de Paz, poor
14/05/2023 MM
589520:24NORWAY The Northern Star, Bergen, poor in EE, country music 06/05/2023 MM
591005:33COLOMBIA Alcaraván Radio poor, SS13/05/2023 MM
599518:35MALI R Mali poor “English Magazine” 06/05/2023 MM
603018:15ETHIOPIA R Oromiya fair, local langs 13/05/2023 MM
605004:16ECUADOR HCJB fair in SS, local songs 14/05/2023 MM
606017:13NETHERLANDS, Radio Delta fair w/ID and pop songs
13/05/2023 MM
607004:48CANADA, CFRX fair in EE, news, 07/05/2023 MM
611017:50ETHIOPIA, R Fana fair in local langs 10/05/2023 MM
618020:35BRAZIL, R Nacional da Amazonia fair 06/05/2023 MM
618504:40MEXICO, R Educación fair in SS 07/05/2023 MM 711017:48ETHIOPIA R Ethiopia fair local langs
7254.905:58NIGERIA, Voice of Nigeria poor
MM 966506:41BRAZIL, Voz Missionaria fair in PP
9819.106:35BRAZIL, Radio 9 de Julho poor in PP religious songs and talks 07/05/2023 MM
733010:02AUSTRIA, R Joystick fair in GG 07/05/2023 MM 1178008:29BRAZIL R Nacional da Amazonia fair 07/05/2023 MM 1181507:12BRAZIL, R Brasil Central fair in PP “Madrugada Musical”
MM
Thanks to our European contributor
MMManuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain
Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters
North American reception
493003:36BOTSWANA VOA poor in EE news 20/05/2023 RDA
591000:38COLOMBIA Alcaravan Radio poor in SS with religious songs 20/05/2023 RDA
608004:18SAO TOME VOA poor in EE w/news 04/05/2023 RDA
985003:46ROMANIA RRI fair in EE, close 03:55 03/05/2023 RDA
1165023:02ROMANIA RRI fair in SS news 11/5/2023 RDA
1174023:00CHINA CNR2 – China Business Radio good in CC 11/05/2023 RDA
1174500:24SAUDI ARABIA Al Azm Radio Jeddah fair in AA 04/05/2023 RDA
1177021:13CHINA CRI via Xian poor in EE 11/05/2023 RDA
1181500:35BRAZIL R BRasil Central poor in PP w/music prgm
from 01:00 18/05/2023 RDA
1209500:11UZBEKISTAN IBRA Radio poor in Bangla off 00:29
18/05/2023 RDA
1379023:47ALGERIA Ifrikya FM fair in AA w/ID & music
11/05/2023 RDA
Our thanks to our US-based contributor
RDARick D’Angelo, Wyomissing, PA 19610, U.S.A.
Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4
Remote Listening
with Dene Lynneberg, WellingtonNews
Welcome to this month’s remote Listening pages.
During the past month Dxers have been reporting reception of transmissions from Weekend Music Radio in Scotland on various frequencies. However, it seems that these are so called “fake” transmissions in that they are being relayed by an unidentified pirate station. Interestingly enough these programmes which are usually old WMR programmes have also been heard over Shortwave Gold on 6160 kHz which is a legal station in Germany. I have heard some of these broadcasts recently and you can tell by their content that they are rebroadcasts of old programmes. See the bandwatch trail for details on reception of Weekend. Some interesting information has come to light on these broadcasts from Weekend Music Radio who write on their website the following:
14th MAY 2023
This weekend has been the 3rd weekend that the fake WMR has been on the air. It was heard Saturday and Sunday 29th and 30th April on 6284kHz, and this last two weeks on 6295 ish. Last weekend the signal really was booming out. 6295 is a great channel since Reflections Europe seem to be off air for now. Last weekend, the signal was superb armchair quality most of the late afternoon and evening. The fake WMR has been on the air since 2000, and often popped up at this
time of year. This year we thought we would try a little experiment and see if the fake WMR wants to stick out new shows. So for a trial, there is a link below to a new show, recorded on 14th May 2023, there has never been any communication with the operator of this transmitter, so he may not be interested. But if he is, then I would guess this would turn the fake WMR into a real WMR!! In actual fact, the fake WMR did broadcast current shows in the past, but only after they had their first airing via the WMR transmitters. (These WMR transmitters are in quite a state of disrepair at this time, and need a bit of work done to make them work again, as did the studio recently!!) So the only difference this time is they have not been aired by WMR first. Confused?? Not nearly as much as I will be if these shows get an airing and listeners start to want a QSL from an unknown location....lol...
21st MAY 2023
Another weekend of some superb signals from the fake WMR, but on Friday night he was airing the new show uploaded last weekend to this web site. So that makes the mystery operator a friend of WMR I would say. So below is a new 2 hour show recorded on 21st May. Time ran out on Saturday for recording as part of the studio equipment had been used for a disco on Friday night, and the venue / premises was locked up until 6pm on Saturday for picking the gear up. But another pleasant surprise was the guys at 6160 / 3975 Shortwave Gold / Shortwave Radio (new name??). The show was aired on their transmitters on Friday night. Do they want any more shows from WMR??? Who knows. I have not been in touch with either the guys at 6160, or the fake WMR, so what the future plans are I have no idea as yet... For the first time since the fake WMR came on the air at the end of April, I have checked the email. We have had a fair amount of email reports, which will be acknowledged in due course. Also many thanks to the operator in the States that aired the new show last weekend as well.... Good grief we are creating a bit of interest!!!!! All thanks to the fake WMR for coming on air and giving us a kick up the arse!!! It is
although the fake WMR doesn't want to do his own shows and wants to stay anon, And here am I happy to record more shows but currently no tx site. (Not looked too hard though this last little while, busy old life and all that..lol..) So this arrangement might just work !! Below is a link to todays 2 hour show, music and chatter only, no features this time around. Hopefully next time there will be a mailbox section as well as maybe some old recordings featured. Audio is unproccessed, with no eq on the music, and I am assuming it is proccessed at the tx site. But seeing as there has been no contact with the operators, we can't really be sure..!!! What a unique and odd way of operating, but it seems to be working!!!! Jack.... 21st May..
WMR SHOW - 21st MAY 2023
26th MAY 2023
Again WMR had a great weekend of broadcasting last weekend via the unidentified relay station. The broadcast was well heard Saturday and Sunday, and the new 2 hour show that was uploaded on Sunday was noticed and also broadcast. The freq of 6295 was used although later on Saturday night a transmitter did appear on 6950kHz. Can this be assumed to have been the same operator?? The new show was also aired again on Friday 26th. Many thanks for this relay whoever you are and it really is very much appreciated. Also on Friday 2000 - 2200 the Shortwave Gold relay again took place on 6160 and // 3975kHz... Again, this airtime is very much appreciated. The only thing with this set up is that I have no idea what type of compression / proccessing is done with the audio, and am unsure if the audio should have some eq on the music, or be fully compressed and proccessed. In the past it was always better that recorded shows were recorded flat and raw, with processing done at the playout system at the transmitter. Is the mic really better with slight echo or none?? We have tried to have that slight 60s sounding slight reverb for years, and thought it sounded not too bad. There have been a fairly large number of emails coming in over the last few weeks and for this we are also greatful and many
thanks for your interest. We have a new E QSL to arrange / design, so please be patient just a little while longer, and you will all have your eQSL. These come in the form of a pdf with a few extra pages as well as the QSL part. So a new design is required and being prepared. Below is a link to a new 2 hour show, a little rushed and stressed with other stuff during the recording, but it should sound reasonable. A bit out of practice you understand....!!
Jack... May 26th 2023
WMR SHOW - 26-28th MAY 2023
These links only seem to work when you access them from Weekend Music Radio’s website: Weekend Music Radio - Latest News (wmrscotland.com)
Mailbag
Your Ed has received QSLs from: BBC News Arabic Emergency Service for Sudan 21510 via Dhabbaya, BBC World Service 21560 via Dhabbaya, UAE, Radio Azadi 17880 via Udon Thani, Thailand (2 cards –one for Dari broadcast and one for Pashto broadcast
Reports are out to: BBC News Arabic Emergency Service for Sudan
21510 via Dhabbaya, BBC World Service 21560 via Dhabbaya, UAE, JMH 3622.5 Japan Meteorological Agency, ZKLF 9459, 13550.5, 16340.1 (FAX broadcasts), Faroes 531, Radio Dechovka 1233, Eifeler Radiotage 3985 & 6005, Europarl Radio 6070 & 9670, Laser Hot Hits 6205, Radio Augusta International 1611, Radio Alabama 1611 and several others.
Bandwatch
REMOTE RECEIVERS
1 = Twente SDR located at Enschede, Netherlands using a mini-whip
antenna (PAR0DT design):: 2 = TWR Kiwi SDR located at Kempton Park, South Africa using a Wellbrook ALA 1530 active loop antenna: 3 = Kiwi SDR located at Weston-Super-Mare, England using a Top band dipole, Wellbrook loop & 28 MHz 5/8 th via a triplexer & 16 port multicoupler: 4 = Kiwi SDR located at Oita, Japan using an ApexRadio 303WA-2
antenna: 5 = Kiwi SDR located at Trawbreaga Bay, Malin County, Donegal, Ireland using an L antenna with two llel 44m top hat wires: 6
= Flying Dog Kiwi SDR located at Noale, Italy using a Wellbrook ALA 1530 active loop antenna: 7 = WA2ZKD’s Kiwi SDR located at Rochester, New York, USA using a Pixel RF-Pro-1B loop antenna.
531510161237FAROES: Kringvarp Føroya via Akraberg. Good in Faroese with pop music program “Popp Service” followed by 5 minute news bulletin (tiðindi) at 1300 UTC. 12/05 DL
123317401840CZECH REPUBLIC: Radio Dechovka via their Prague Zbraslav transmitter with a special broadcast to commemorate the anniversary of 100 years of broadcasting in Czechia. Good in Czech with music program and frequent ids 18/05 DL
161110936NETHERLANDS: Radio Alabama (Dutch pirate) very good in Dutch with polka music, brass band music, and schlager songs. Id in Dutch as “Dit is Alabama” 28/05 DL
161132040EUROPE: Radio August International fair in English with songs by Joe Cocker, Tiken Jah Fakoly and Tina Turner then id as “The transmitters of Radio Augusta International are now closing down. You can listen to the station daily on the internet and on your mobile, We thank you for listening to our programme from the Ivory Coast” 14/05 DL
1611311282100NORWAY: Radio Northern Star via fair in English with songs and English id’s after Radio Augusta International closed down. 14/05 DL
117023292016ESWATINI: Trans World Radio Africa via Mpangla Ranch good in Shona with spoken programme through to s/off at 2055 UTC. 03/05 DL
3622.547941019JAPAN: JMH Japan Meteorological Agency, Tokyo. Good in USB with FAX chart “ Sea Ice Condition “ 25/05 DL
3955310752210GERMANY: C M Obrecht Shortwave Radio via. Rohrbach-Waal. Fair in German and English with music programme 06/05 DL
398531962005GERMANY: Eifeler Radiotage via KallKrekel. Good in German with songs such as Glen Frey with “You Belong to the City”. Occasional id’s as “Die Eifeler Radiotage …”
13/05 DL
513078480240USA: Greek Music Refuge via Radio Angela (WBCQ Monticello MA) good in English with programme of Greek songs. Email address given at prog end as 4790info@gmail.com 20/05 DL
513078480300USA: From the Isle of Music via Radio Angela WBCQ. Good with programme of Cuban music hosted by Bill Tilford. 20/05 DL
600511960450GERMANY: Eifeler Radiotage via KallKrekel. Good in German with songs mainly by European singers, some of them old Eurovision Contest songs. Occasional ids in German. 13/05 DL
607061215GERMANY: C M Obrecht Shortwave Radio via Rohrbach-Waal. Fair in German and English with electronic music programme
06/05 DL
607015201000GERMANY: Radio Tumbril via RohrbachWaal. Good with Encore a programme of classical music hosted by Bryce Avery
13/05 DL
607015200918GERMANY: Europarl Radio via RohrbachWaal Good with English id followed by news in Spanish then song by Paula Vesala
“Miks Pitäá it keä” 13/05 DL
620530930ENGLAND: Laser Hot Hits (location unknown) good in English with pop songs and frequent ids as “This is Laser Hot Hits International”
14/05
629531144SCOTLAND: Weekend Music Radio. Relay of old WMR programme by unknown pirate station. Good with slight fading 1115 UTC Gordon Lightfoot with Sundown 21/05 DL
695032340SCOTLAND: Weekend Music Radio. Fair with relay of old WMR programme by unknown pirate station. Songs by the Eagles, Carly Simon & Elton John. Unidentified station heard underneath. 21/05 DL
726036080744NETHERLANDS: Rock Power Radio via Nijmegen. Fairly good with oldies and id at 09132 as “This is Rock Power Radio” 21/05 DL
967015200900GERMANY: Europarl Radio via RohrbachWaal Good with English id then short news bulletin in German followed by song by Andrew Lambrou. English id again then id’s in several languages then info on a special QSL available for this transmission. llel 6070 also good. 13/05 DL
15770368640505USA: Supreme Master TV via WRMI. Good in English with strange programme mainly about the planet and its climate interspersed with comments such as “Peace for Ukraine”, “Russia go home” and “Hate war not our own fellow humans”
14/05 DL
21560150270500UAE: BBC World Service via Dhabbaya fair in English with time pips then half hour news programme. Slightly noisy. 04/05 DL
21560221530600MADAGASCAR: BBC via Talata Volonondry fair news program in English 04/05 DL
NB: Reception distances are not given when the exact location of the transmitter is unknown.
CONTRIBUTORS
DL = Dene Lynneberg, Pukerua Bay,
Well that wraps it up for another month. I look forward to your contributions next month. Meanwhile good dx on all those online receivers wherever they may be located.
Ladders
with Lance Johnston, Christchurch
email hello@radiodx.com subject “Ladders”
Greetings from Christchurch. It's that time again for our 6 monthly competition results. Again this proved very quiet for QSL total increases. However we do have 2 winners.
SUTTON BURTENSHAW takes out MEDIUM WAVE OPEN and STUART FORSYTH takes out SHORTWAVE OPEN. Congratulations to both winners. Not much happening at this QTH DX wise, but I have been following the higher bands as they continue to improve. Good DX….. Lance
Utilities
with Arthur DeMaine, Ashburtonemail hello@radiodx.com subject “Utilities”
June is upon us and it is nearly the shortage day of another year. Not sure where the year has gone. Over the past few months I have been using the SDRplay RSPdx and have finally managed to get the fax plugin to work. Now all I have to do is find out where charts are saved on my computer. Arthur.
FREQ UTC DETAILS OF TRANSMISSION
3247.40945NZ ZKLF radiofax weather chart fair 29/5 ABD
44260950USA USCG Chesapeake NMN male with weather and Heights, poor barely audibly 28/5 ABD
65010943USA USCG Chesapeake NMN Male giving wave heights for an area fair 28/5 ABD
85020945USA USCG New Orleans NMG ID All Stations this is United States Coast Guard fair 27/5 ABD
127880518USA USCG New Orleans NMG Male with wind and sea conditions fair 30/4 ABD
130890528USA USCG Chesapeake NMN 24 hour forecast mentioned the Gulf of Mexico good 30/4 ABD
1731405120USA USCG Chesapeake NMN mentioned 25 knot poor just above the noise level 26/5 ABD
CONTRIBUTOR
ABDArthur De Maine. Ashburton: Receiver SDRplay RSPdx Antenna MLA30+
radiodx.com
RETIREMENT OF RADIOFAX - ZKLF transmissions to end
After decades of operation, MetService will retire its Radiofax broadcast service from 1 July 2023.
The MetService isobaric mean sea level analysis and prognosis charts transmitted through Radiofax will however continue to be produced and available on the metservice.com website here, also on a low bandwidth page here which is designed for users with more limited or paid data connections (such as via satellite) to minimize download size and cost.
What’s not changing?
While the Radiofax service will cease from 1 July 2023, it is important to note that it is not used for the more safety critical oceanic/high seas warnings and forecasts which will continue to be produced and broadcast through all existing channels/services, including: internet, email, radio broadcast, and satellite broadcast under the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). For more information about the GMDSS, see the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) website for the Worldwide Met-Ocean Information and Warning Service (WWMIWS).
What is Radiofax and why is it stopping?
The Radiofax service is one method that MetService has used to transmit isobaric mean sea level analysis and prognosis charts throughout the South Pacific (an example is shown below).
Radiofax (also known as HF Fax or Radiofacsimile) is an analogue broadcast using high frequency (HF) radio waves to transmit images over very long distances. The technology is almost 100 years old (see Wikipedia for more about its history) and was originally used by MetService to transmit weather charts and images to other National
Meteorological Services in the South Pacific – long before the arrival of the internet.
Nowadays, Radiofax equipment is scarce and difficult to service, costly to maintain (especially transmitting equipment), and the technology has now been superseded by the likes of HF email or satellite-based internet – all key reasons for the retirement of the service.
Modern solutions
Newer technologies allowing vessels to receive data while crossing the ocean have been revolutionary. Satellite internet connections have enabled up to date weather information and forecasts (such as maps of pressure, wind and waves) to be directly displayed within onboard Chartplotters or Multi-Function Displays (MFDs). These can now provide skippers with a much richer source of information that can be integrated with other navigational maps and vessel data in digital devices. Thanks to the Chief Editor for passing on this information.