VOA Radiogram weekend schedule

Hello friends,
Before the preview of this weekend’s show, some news about the future of VOA Radiogram. I will retire from the Voice of America on June 23, after 32 years as audience research analyst and broadcaster.

I was hoping to continue to produce VOA Radiogram as a contractor. I approached 1) BBG’s Technology, Services and Innovation (engineering), 2) BBG’s new Office of Internet Freedom, and 3) VOA English Programs. They all declined.

And, therefore, the last VOA Radiogram will be the weekend on June 17-18
Money is not the issue.  I am willing to work cheap.  My main interest is to be authorized to continue the show and maintain a VOA email address, so that I can keep in contact with the audience.

The irony is that, after retirement, I will finally have time to answer your emails – but I will no longer have access to the VOA email system to do that.

But, the show must go on.  In addition to the four weekly transmissions via the BBG North Carolina transmitting site, VOA Radiogram is also broadcast on WRMI in Florida twice on Sundays. I can hardly allow those half-hour slots to be filled by light recorded music. So, beginning the weekend of June 24-25, a program similar to VOA Radiogram, but with a new name and email address, will be broadcast by WRMI.

In future crises and worse, the Internet to the affected countries will be cut off. In such times, when international broadcasting will be most needed, only those media organizations that have some shortwave capability will play a role.

 More about the demise of VOA Radiogram, and the emergence of its replacement, in the weeks to come.

 VOA Radiogram this weekend includes some text in Russian. You will need to use the UTF-8 character set. IF you use Fldigi, it probably is already set for UTF-8, but you might want to check under the Colors & Fonts menu. All of the show is in MFSK32 except for one item in MFSK16, in case reception is challenging.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 216, May 20-21, 2017, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

1:46  Program preview
 3:00  Distance supernova can doom earth has doubled*
10:16  Plan to clean plastic patch in the Pacific*
15:55  Plastic-eating moths (Russian) * **
22:01  MFSK16: Ukraine blocks Russian websites
26:10  MFSK32: Closing announcements*
* with image
** Mostly Cyrillic text: use UTF-8 character set

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com 

VOA Radiogram Transmission Schedule
UTC Day
 UTC Time
 kHz
 Transmitter
 Target
 Also try in …
 Saturday
 0930-1000
 5745
 North Carolina
 Americas
 Asia-Pacific, Europe
 Saturday
 1600-1630
 17580
 North Carolina
 Europe
 Americas, Asia-Pacific
 Sunday
 0230-0300
 5745
 North Carolina
 Americas
 Europe

Sunday
 1930-2000
 15670
 North Carolina
 Europe
 Americas, Asia-Pacific
 Sunday
 2030-2100
 11580
 WRMI Florida
 Europe
 Americas, Asia-Pacific
 Sunday
 2330-2400
 11580
 WRMI Florida
 Americas
 Europe, Asia-Pacific

The Mighty KBC transmits to Europe Saturdays at 1500-1530 UTC on 9400 kHz (via Bulgaria), with a minute of MFSK32 at about 1530 UTC. And to North America Sundays at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 8-10 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32 is at about 0130 UTC. Reports to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/.  

 DigiDX has not resumed, hence the VOA Radiogram transmissions via WRMI. See http://www.digidx.uk/ and https://www.facebook.com/digidx/ 

Italian Broadcasting Corporation (IBC)  For the complete IBC transmission schedule visit  http://ibcradio.webs.com/  Five minutes of MFSK32 is at the end of the 30-minute English-language “Shortwave Panorama,” per the schedule below:

WEDNESDAY  18.55 UTC  6070 KHZ TO EUROPE

                        19.55 UTC  1584 KHZ TO EUROPE

THURSDAY     02.55 UTC  1584 KHZ TO EUROPE

FRIDAY           01.25 UTC  9955 KHZ TO CENTRAL/SOUTH AMERICA

SATURDAY     01.55 UTC 11580 KHZ TO NORTH AMERICA

                        20.25 UTC  1584 KHZ TO SOUTH EUROPE

SUNDAY          00.55 UTC  7730 KHZ TO NORTH AMERICA

                        10.55 UTC  6070 KHZ TO EUROPE

 Thank you for your reception reports from last weekend!
I hope you can tune in and write in this weekend.
Kim
Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram voaradiogram.net
Twitter: @VOARadiogram  (especially active just before, during, and after broadcasts)

Low-powered South American station slated for weekend broadcast

From Pirana International, the schedule for an upcoming broadcast for Radio Enterhaken.

Dear friends!

This weekend our transmitter in South America will be active again with relay of
Radio Enterhaken, on the following schedule: 

6930 kHz  10 watts carrier. A true challenge In March we got reports for this transmitter from Finland, Norway, Germany, New Zealand, and the United States - and incredible 10 watts!

Friday May 19 - 21.00 - 13.00 (Saturday)

Saturday May 20 - 21.00 - 13.00  (Sunday)

Sunday May 21 - 21.00 - 13.00 (Monday)

Reports to: Enterhaken@gmx.net
73'  Jorge R. García

Echo of Hope frequency updates

Clandestine
Echo of Hope frequency update

All times UTC
Effective: 18 May 2017

0600-2400 5995#HWA 100 kW / non-dir to NEAs Korean, ex  6003
0600-2400 6350*HWA 100 kW / non-dir to NEAs Korean, ex  6348
parallel freq 3985 HWA 100 kW / non-dir to NEAs Korean no change
parallel freq 6250 SEO 010 kW / 010 deg to NEAs Korean no change
# no jamming, but other two traditional 3985 and 6250 are jammed
* no jamming, best reception in USB, due to strong Interference from RTTY station on 6245 kHz.
(DX Bulgaria 18 May)

Reach Beyond Australia updates shortwave programming

Dimapur, May 18 (EMN): Highland Dawn Media Nagaland (HDM) and Reach Beyond Australia (RBA) have announced broadcasting a new weekly Nagamese Christian Radio program.
This is among one of the first Nagamese Radio broadcasts specifically covering Northeast India and Myanmar to bless all Nagamese speaking people in the regions.
The program called ?From darkness to Light? will feature well known Naga pastors and preachers like Rev. Vizotuo Kiewhuo and Rev. Shan Kikon from Nagaland, including Rev. Luoliehu Yimsung from Australia.
Evangelism, family and relationships, health, youth programs and Nagamese Christian music from Nagaland and beyond will be featured in the program. In this regard, HDM has invited singers and musicians, who have recorded Nagamese Christian music, to contact them for Radio broadcast or recording of their songs and albums.
Pastors and listeners from remote places and villages in Eastern Nagaland and beyond can mark the times and frequency of the broadcast.
The Radio program will be broadcast every Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday at 5:45 pm IST, which will be 6:45 p.m. according to Myanmar Standard Time (MMT) [= 1215-1245 UTC]. The program can be heard on Short Wave Band Frequency: 9685 Khz (31 metres).
The broadcast will started on May 13 and will continue every week on the above mentioned days and time. The same program will also be posted and heard online soon at HDM?s online Radio website at www.NagalandChristianRadio.com .
( http://www.easternmirrornagaland.com/nagamese-radio-broadcast-for-ne-myanmar/  May 16 )

Reach Beyond Australia have also added a broadcast in Matu to Myanmar also on 9685 kHz 1145-1215 UTC (Wed and Sat) and 1215-1245 UTC (Thurs), all from their Kununurra transmitter site near the northern tip of Western Australia. But their A17 schedule has dropped programs in Chinese (and Fujian).

This from their website:

New Languages added to Broadcast Schedule (Friday, 24 March 2017)
Reach Beyond Australia is constantly seeking ways to better serve listeners who have no or little access to the gospel in the South East Asia region. Our programming features a handful of languages spoken by people groups notably hungry for the message of salvation. Our new schedule of programs for A17, marks the beginning of an extended outreach to India and Myanmar with the addition of programs in the Nagamese and Matu languages.

Nagamese is widely spoken in Nagaland, a state in India?s North East, and among some remote villages of Myanmar, just across the border. Matu, in turn, is one of the languages of the Chin state of Myanmar. Two independent media ministries are coming alongside Reach Beyond in the task to make the gospel more available to those audiences. We strongly believe that the new broadcast services into India and Myanmar will impact many.

While expanding broadcast hours into South East Asia?s audiences, the A17 Schedule will also mark the end of our services for China. We praise God for the extensive shortwave Christian programming into that country being delivered daily by our friends in ministry TWR and FEBC. That will allow us to strengthen our focus on new audiences such as those within India and Myanmar. We are looking forward to this new broadcasting season and the fruit the programs will bear. As we all know, the word of God, when sent out, ?never returns empty?.

You can find our new program schedule here: http://www.reachbeyond.org.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/publications/A17%20Schedule_by%20Language%20Edition.pdf

Article on North Korean AM broadcast

Perseus unit tuned on echo of Unification

Mike Terry from the British DX Club, posted this interesting article on the clandestine station, Echo of Unification. While it originally was published in December 2016, it remains an interesting glimpse into this station.

DPRK propaganda station drops AM broadcast

Posted By: Martyn Williams December 24, 2016

Echo of Unification (통일의메아리방송), a North Korean radio station that broadcasts propaganda towards South Korea, dropped all mediumwave (AM band) broadcasting on December 21.
The move seemingly confirms the futility of the broadcasts, which consumed large amounts of electricity but were blocked by powerful South Korean government jamming transmitters, but the station isn’t giving up. In their place, it has brought on air additional shortwave and FM transmitters.
It’s all part of a game that’s been going on for decades. North and South Korea both broadcast propaganda at each other while trying to stop their own citizens from hearing the other’s broadcast. Similar battles used to be played out across borders around the world but have largely moved to the internet and social media. The lack of internet in North Korea and South Korean censorship mean radio still plays a part on the Korean peninsula.
Echo of Unification launched in December 2012 with three blocks of programming each day: from 7am to 9am; from 1pm to 3pm; and from 9pm to 11pm (Pyongyang time).

Additional article and audio links at:
http://www.northkoreatech.org/2016/12/24/dprk-propaganda-station-drops-broadcasts/

You Tube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpEg7RgV9l8

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins

Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
:Issued: 2017 May 15 0217 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html
#
#                Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
#
Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 08 - 14 May 2017

Solar activity was at very low levels with only B-class activity observed. On 13 May, an eruptive filament located near S60E10 was observed in H-alpha imagery starting to lift off at approximately 13/1300 UTC. An associated CME was observed in LASCO/C2 coronagraph imagery beginning at 13/1712 UTC. The majority of the ejecta appeared to have a southern trajectory; however, there was
indication of an Earth-directed component. ENLIL modeling suggested an arrival at Earth late on 16 May.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal to moderate levels throughout the period.

Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels on 08-09 May and 13 May while quiet to unsettled levels were observed 10-12 May and 14 May. Mostly nominal solar wind conditions were observed throughout the period with an SSBC slightly enhancing the solar wind environment on 09 May.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 15 May - 10 June 2017

Solar activity is expected to be very low throughout the forecast period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to range from normal to very high levels. Normal levels are likely on 19 Apr. Moderate levels are likely on 20 Apr, 05-06 May, and 08-14 May. High levels are likely on 18 Apr, 21-23 Apr, 29 Apr-04 May, and 07 May. Very high levels are likely 24-28 Apr. All enhancements in flux values are anticipated from multiple,
recurrent, CH HSS influence.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to range from quiet to G2 (Moderate) storm conditions over the outlook period. Active conditions are likely on 15 May due to an anticipated CIR late in the day. 16 May will likely observe G1 (Minor) storm conditions due to a positive polarity CH HSS. G2 (Moderate) conditions on 17 May are likely as CH HSS influence is forecast to combine with the 13
May CME. G1 (Minor) storm conditions are again likely with the onset of a negative polarity CH HSS on 18 May. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to increase to G2 (Moderate) storm levels on 19-20 May as wind speeds from the CH HSS peak. As the negative polarity CH HSS influence slowly wanes, G1 (Minor) storm levels on 21 May are likely to decrease to active on 22 May and finally to unsettled on 23 May. With the exception of a period of quiet to unsettled levels on 10 Jun, the remainder of the forecast period is expected to be at quiet levels.

Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt
:Issued: 2017 May 15 0217 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html
#
#      27-day Space Weather Outlook Table
#                Issued 2017-05-15
#
#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest
#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index
2017 May 15      72          12          4
2017 May 16      72          22          5
2017 May 17      74          32          6
2017 May 18      74          20          5
2017 May 19      74          48          6
2017 May 20      74          36          6
2017 May 21      74          20          5
2017 May 22      76          12          4
2017 May 23      76           8          3
2017 May 24      76           5          2
2017 May 25      76           5          2
2017 May 26      76           5          2
2017 May 27      76           5          2
2017 May 28      76           5          2
2017 May 29      76           5          2
2017 May 30      74           5          2
2017 May 31      74           5          2
2017 Jun 01      74           5          2
2017 Jun 02      74           5          2
2017 Jun 03      74           5          2
2017 Jun 04      72           5          2
2017 Jun 05      70           5          2
2017 Jun 06      70           5          2
2017 Jun 07      70           5          2
2017 Jun 08      70           5          2
2017 Jun 09      70           5          2
2017 Jun 10      70           8          3
(NOAA)

ABC opposes bill to restore Pacific shortwave service

ABC QSL (Gayle Van Horn QSL Collection)

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has made a Senate submission opposing a bill which would force it to restore its shortwave services for the Northern Territory and the Pacific. The bill was introduced by South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon after the ABC switched off its shortwave transmitters in late January.

The ABC is opposed to the bill and said in its submission that its passing would impinge on its independence by directing the ABC to use broadcast technologies for diminishing audiences and at significant maintenance costs.

The ABC also said that in the bill there were factual errors and misconceptions, including the figures for the actual cost of the services. The bill said that the cost of the services was $US1.4 million but the ABC said if the Bill was enacted, the total transmission cost would be closer to $US3 million per annum, with the costs of $US 880,000 for the domestic services and $US2 million for the international services.

It also said while it had received numerous submissions from pressure groups, politicians and members of the public since switching off its shortwave service, it had only got complaints from 20 listeners. The ABC said it believed that the limited response from individual audience members in affected regions bears out the weight of evidence it used in making its decision to cease these services.
(RNZ/BDXC)

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins

Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
:Issued: 2017 May 08 0049 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html
#
#                Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
#
Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 01 - 07 May 2017

Solar activity was at very low levels with only B-class activity observed. On 04 May, an episode of large-scale magnetic reconnection was observed in the NE quadrant with a subsequent slow-moving CME off the NE limb, first observed in LASCO C2 imagery beginning at 04/1900 UTC. Analysis, and follow on WSA-Enlil model output of the CME, suggested an arrival at Earth early to midday on 10 May.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at high levels on 01-04 and 07 May and normal levels on 05-06 May.

Geomagnetic field activity was at predominately quiet levels throughout the period. Isolated unsettled to active periods were obsevered late on 04 May and early on 05 May due to weak effects from the 30 April CME. Isolated unsettled periods were observed on 07 May due to sustained southward Bz.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 08 May - 03 June 2017

Solar activity is expected to be very low with a slight chance for C-class flare activity throughout the outlook period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is likely to reach high levels on 08-09, 13-15, 17-20, and 24-31 May with very high levels likely on 21-23 May. Normal to moderate flux levels are expected for the remainder of the period.

Geomagnetic field activity is likely to reach G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels on 17 and 21 May with G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels likely on 22 May due to the influence of mulitple, recurrent CH HSSs. Active conditions are likely on 10-11 May due to effects from the 04 May CME with additional active
conditions possible on 16, 18 and 20 May due to CH HSS influence. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected for the remainder of the period.

Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt
:Issued: 2017 May 01 0108 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather 
Prediction Center
# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html
#
#      27-day Space Weather Outlook Table
#                Issued 2017-05-01
#
#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest
#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index
2017 May 01      77          12          4
2017 May 02      75           8          3
2017 May 03      75          12          4
2017 May 04      73          12          4
2017 May 05      75           8          3
2017 May 06      75           8          3
2017 May 07      75           5          2
2017 May 08      75           8          3
2017 May 09      75           5          2
2017 May 10      75           5          2
2017 May 11      75           5          2
2017 May 12      75           5          2
2017 May 13      75           5          2
2017 May 14      75           5          2
2017 May 15      80           8          3
2017 May 16      80          15          4
2017 May 17      80          30          5
2017 May 18      80          25          5
2017 May 19      85          45          6
2017 May 20      85          50          6
2017 May 21      85          15          4
2017 May 22      80          10          3
2017 May 23      80           8          3
2017 May 24      77           5          2
2017 May 25      77           5          2
2017 May 26      77           5          2
2017 May 27      77           5          2
(NOAA)

Dxers Unlimited Edition, May 2, 2017

Radio Havana Cuba
Dxers Unlimited middle of the week edition for Tuesday 2 May 2017
By Arnie Coro
radio amateur CO2KK

Hola mis amigos radioaficionados now listening to the middle of the week edition of Dxers Unlimited... this is certainly the one and only radio hobby program that attempts to cover each and every one of the more than 90 ways of enjoying this wonderful way of spending our spare time having  a lot of fun with our radios....

India is at the forefront on the use of Digital Radio Mondiale technology. The current test period includes one hour a day of DRM broadcasts at twenty five different transmitting stations.... But the single most important drawback to DRM Digital Radio Mondiale continues to be the lack of low and medium cost eceivers that are still sadly missing .... Another recent news item brought information about an integrated circuit capable of demodulating all possible transmission modes, including standard AM, FM, and several of the already on the air digital radio modes, like DRM, the IBOC or HD Radio and all different DAB modes....

Massive production of this new digital integrated circuit that automaticallly detects the modulation mode in use , producing clear audio output, could be the breakthrough every one is expecting in order to introduce the most efficient digital modes at a worldwide scale.... In the meantime, DRM capable receivers continue to be expensive, while those for HD Radio and DAB are slowly becoming available at lower cost... More updates about digital radio transmission modes at an upcoming edition of Dxers Unlimited.
Item two: Coming to you from Dxers Unlimited's middle of the week  edition... a short form solar activity update.... The Sun is going  through another period of very low activity, and just three sunspot  active regions with a single sunspot inside are visible, so the current  sunspot number was 33 late Monday UTC day...

Item three one of the show... Si amigos, many of you I am sure will want to experience the unique joy of listening to a radio receiver that  you have just built... I can share with you my very special day , way back in 1956 when the radio in kit form that was my birthday present started to pick up station CMZ on one thousand ten kiloHertz, and at the low frequency end of the little radio's dial I was listening to CMQ's powerful signal on 630 kiloHertz...The radio used just a single 3S4 miniature triode... and was powered by two batteries.... a one point
five volts size D cell for the vacuum tube's filament and a twenty two and a half volts battery for feeding the plate voltage for the 3S4. The receiver used a classic regenerative circuit using the Armstrong plate feedback method, controlled by a variable capacitor throttle control...

It took me a while to understand how the radio could be made more and more sensitive until it starting howling like a lone wolf ... the howl audio note was bad for my ears !!! Then about a week after using the radio , one evening , while tweaking the throttle regeneration capacitor just at the point before the radio started to oscillate , a weak signal arount the center of the dial could be heard and it was a station speaking in English.... Si amigos, yes my friends, oui mes amis, that was KAAY , from Little Rock in Arkansas on 1090 kiloHertz, and just at
slightly higher frequency the scond DX station was coming in... it was WBT from Charlotte North Caroline on 1110 kiloHertz, and I kept the radio going from one station to the another until about three o'clock in the morning... Needless those two first AM Broadcast Band stations picked up by very simple battery powered regenerative receiver turned me into a lifelong fan of AM Band Dxing.... Oh, and before I forget, the radio can be built nowadays , because it uses very common parts that are still available....

Si amigos, you are listening to Radio Havana Cuba, this is our middle of  the week edition of Dxers Unlimited, I am your host Arnie Coro, radio amateur CO2KK, and now more about home brew radios, that use a low number of parts and can be built at home with a few hand tools, a low wattage soldering iron and a low cost digitalmultimeter...

You must learn how to identify electronic components like resistor, capacitors, transistors, integrated circuits and vacuum tubes pin outs.... It will take some time, and you will want to obtain the help of more experienced radio hobby enthusiast ....buy be assured it can be achieved and after some time your know how will be enough for you to build your first simple radio...

My advice is to try to build a simple crystal receiver to which you add a one or two transistors audio amplifier so that good headphone volume can be achieved from the local and near local AM broadcast band stations....

Item four:  More information about the spring and summer sporadic E layer propagation season, just starting at this moment. According to several ionospheric propagation experts, they expect this year's sporadic E main season spanning from early May to late July could be surprisingly active... The gurus say that there seems to be a reverse connection between solar activity and the sporadic E layer events...

In other words during solar minimum years it seems that less solar activity
somehow helps to enhance the probability of the formation of high ionization density patches at the height of the E layer that may produce outstanding propagation events... Amateur radio operators having stations capable of operating on the 10 and 6 meter bands will be able to make DX contacts on those two bands during the summer Sporadic E season now starting... The real challenge brought by Sporadic E layer events is that so far they have proven to be impossible to predict... so far there is no method that can tell in advance when one of such super density sporadic E layer patches starts suddenly brings in DX signals for periods as short as a few minutes or maybe even hours and then
suddenly just vanish...

For 6 meters band operators the sporadic E events make possible working DX stations several hundreds of miles away, with the first skip zone area coming after a zone of no signals... There is also the possibility of double and triple hop skip signals when two or three patches of high density sporadic E clouds align themselves properly...

Si amigos, we will soon learn if the forecasts of a very active sporadic  E layer Dx season is going to happen or not... and if you do have a nice  FM broadcast band radio it would be possible during very good band  openings to pick up far away FM stations via sporadic E very high  density patches to raise the maximum usable frequency past the one hundred megaHertz band.

And now at the end of the program here is our propagation update and forecast for the next several days--- solar activity at very low levels, just a lonely weak sunspot active region in sight Tuesday morning local time in Havana, around 12 hours UTC... a quiet ionosphere due to the very low ultraviolet radiation levels, so the maximum usable frequency reached by the best North to South propagation paths will barely reach 20 megaHertz at peak times... Be on the look out for sporadic E  openings... it is now clear that the late spring and summer E skip season is well under way...

 I am already receiving reports from Six Meters Band radio amateur operators from North America and the Caribbean telling me that they have already made the season's first E skip contacts...

AMIGOS please don't forget to set aside a little time to send me a signal report and your most appreciated comments and radio hobby  related questions to  Dxers Unlimited. Send mail to inforhc@enet.cu .

 Postal Mail: Arnie Coro, Radio Havana Cuba, Havana , Cuba

May Specials From DX Stamps & Supplies Service

Dear Customer,

 

Below are DX specials and news for MAY 2017

 

 If you need a current stamp list or supply list, I can email it to you. 

 

NEWS:   

 

FOUNTAIN PEN/PENCIL UPDATE:   Did  a local craft fair and the SplitRock ARA Hamfest last weekend. Fairly quiet at both, but did move out some DX stuff at Splitrock and a few pens and pencils, plus it was good seeing a number of long time customers from the north Jersey area. I have a table at Branchburg flea market on April 29th. I'll be adding more of these events, all in New Jersey...IF you're in the area, drop me an email and I'll keep you informed as to where I'll be with the pens and pencils.

 

 

NEW RATES:

  

NEW PRICES:  

 

 IN STOCK AGAIN:  Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova.

 

STAMPS ON BACK ORDER:  Saudi Arabia

 

  

U.S. DISCOUNT POSTAGE DEALS!!

 

Save Big on your domestic mailings when you plaster 

 your envelope with colorful vintage stamps!

HAPPY  MAILING!!

49c units	Forever		in  2 stamps	3 stamps	4 stamps
x 100	$45.00		xxxx	$41.00	$40.00
x 200	$85.00		$65.00	$63.00	$62.00
x 500	$208.00		xxxx	$157.00	$157.00

Payment by Credit card, check or money order

               for forever stamps and 49c units                   

No Charge for posting Discount Postage Offers, sending only to USA addresses. 

 

 MAY 2017  DX  STAMP  SPECIALS

2 Germany-$2.60       2 Russia-$2.60       3 Japan-$3.90  

2 Italy-$7.00    2 UK-$3.00    2 France-$3.60    5 Spain-$10.00

   

  

 MAY 2017  DX  SUPPLY  SPECIALS

200/200 European Plain Mailers and Plain Returns - $40.00

200/200 European Air Mailers and Plain Returns - $40.00

200/200 STATESIDE Mailers and Returns - $22.00

European AIR Returns are SOLD OUT!!

 

 

BIG TIME SPECIALS

500/500 European AIR Mailers and Plain Returns - $90.00

500/500 European Plain Mailers and Plain Returns - $90.00

500/500 Stateside mailers and Returns - $50.00

2 Deluxe QSL Albums - $70.00

2 Deluxe QSL Albums Slightly damaged - $55.00

 

  

Priority Mail Shipping Rates: Orders up to $40.00 add $9.00, orders from $41.00 to $100.00 add $15.00. orders from $101.00 to $150.00 add $20.00, orders over $150.00 add 15%. When ordering supplies and stamps, the stamps ride free, just use supply total to figure shipping costs. Shipments to Canada and overseas ship at a greater cost. (07/2015 modified)

 

Stamps Only Orders: Just add $1.00 P&H for posting to USA, add $2.00 for posting to Canada.

 

73, bill

 

William Plum

12 Glenn Road

Flemington, NJ 08822

908 788 1020

 

Email: plumdx@msn.com

 

 

 

Japanese radio station on an Australian island

Browse Island, Australia

During the era of the Pacific War, there were numerous rumors of Japanese armed personnel landing at isolated northern areas on the Australian continent, though it is evident that there were more rumors and less landings.  Some wartime stories even tell of Japanese scout planes landing at bush airfields up north, though it is known quite reliably that submarine launched scout planes did fly along the Tasmanian coastline, and over the cities of Melbourne and Sydney.

            There is one verified landing of Japanese personnel on the isolated coastline of Western Australia near Browse Island.  A 25 ton fishing vessel the "Hiyoshi Maru” carried army and navy personnel from Timor, and it was escorted on the earlier part of its journey by a Mitsubishi airplane, Type 99 light bomber.  The names of the Japanese party aboard the ship are given, and Lance Corporal Kazuo Ito was the radio operator.

            During the early afternoon of January 19, 1944 three separate parties from the "Hiyoshi Maru” landed and scouted the area at the very northern tip of the Western Australian coastline, and they also filmed what they saw with an 8 mm movie camera. 

            It is probable that Lance Corporal Kazuo Ito did not use his radio transmitter while in Australian waters, though there were rumors abounding back then that Japanese spies in Australia did communicate critical information by radio.  Professor Hiromi Tanaka, professor of War History at the National Defence Academy at Yokosuka in Japan, states that small bands of Japanese spies lived on small outer islands off the coast of Australia for months at a time, and they were then relieved by the arrival of a new party.  It should be stated though that government authorities in Australia have no tangible record of any such events. 

            However, there was one very interesting story as to how a Japanese spy used a radio transmitter in Australia during the Pacific War.  This is the story.

            When the subversive had collected the information he desired, he took a small boat out to a nearby island and he tuned his small low powered transmitter to a frequency just under the edge of a nearby mediumwave broadcasting station.  The spy then transmitted the information in Morse Code, and the heterodyne signal was almost impossible to hear on the mainland, except by an astute radio monitor with good receiving equipment.

            This story could be true, and it was accepted by the DX world in Australia at the time, but as it is told, there are several strange anomalies.  According to the government report, the astute international radio monitor who discovered this disturbing information was living in suburban Sydney and the transmissions were said to be from an island location near Newcastle, a distance of some 75 miles north.  Such low power reception at such a distance would be almost impossible.

            The callsign of the supposed broadcasting station in Newcastle is given, but in reality that callsign actually belonged to a mediumwave station located in Sydney.

            The subversive is said to have taken a small boat out to a small island near Newcastle, but the nearest island to Newcastle is 200 miles further north.

            The owners of the radio broadcasting station in Newcastle were named as a particular religious organization; that religious organization does own hundreds of radio stations around the world these days, but never any in Australia back then.

            The radio station in Newcastle that was said to be the innocent culprit in these subversive events was off the air before Japan entered the Pacific War; it was silent at the time when the spy radio operator was said to be active.

            We are not listing any of the known identifications in this radio story simply to protect the innocent.  However, the name of the government approved operator who discovered this interesting radio event is known. 

            Was then the story really true, and the informant was simply relying on a faulty memory?  Or was it simply a wartime ruse, a disinformation event that fitted the requirements for some unidentified wartime circumstance?

(AWR Wavescan/NWS 247)

            

Another BBC Shortwave Station is Closed

BBC - Nakhon Sawan, Thailand tower

The latest edition of the Australian DX News alerted us to the fact that the BBC has closed its East Asia Relay Station at Nakhon Sawan in northern Thailand.  Additional news reports about the closure of this important BBC shortwave relay station have subsequently circulated widely on the internet.

            According to a news release issued by the BBC in London, the last day of operation for their relay station in Thailand was December 31 last year, at the end of their lease which was not renewed.  The BBC states that they have not been able to come to an agreement with the Thai government over programming issues, but in any case the BBC has now closed the station due to financial difficulties.                   Even this station has been completely silent right throughout this year thus far, the closure of this important BBC shortwave station seems to have largely escaped the attention of the international radio world.  In our program today, we plan to present the story of this BBC Far East Relay Station during its nearly ten year operation from Hong Kong, and in a coming program, we plan to present the story of their subsequent station in Thailand.  

            Planning for the Hong Kong relay station began during the 1970s.  However in 1981, the Managing Director of BBC External Broadcasting, Douglas Muggeridge, expressed frustration that the entire project may be abandoned due to unavailability of funding. 

            Nevertheless, even though it was known in advance that the station could expect a life span of no more than ten years, the managing authorities finally decided to go ahead with the project in Hong Kong while planning also for the construction of a subsequent station in another at the time undetermined country.

            The location for the new BBC East Asia Relay Station was in an area of undeveloped jungle in the New Territories at Tsang Tsui, some 75 miles north west of downtown Hong Kong.  It was an isolated location with no nearby public transportation. 

            A very compact site was chosen for the construction of the transmitter building and the erection of five self supporting antenna towers.  The towers were arranged in an east-west row and they supported four multi-band curtain antennas with passive reflectors. 

            Each antenna could be slewed electronically at plus or minus 14^o for coverage into northern China and Japan.  A row of hills obstructed propagation to the south, but in any case the station was needed for programming only to the north.

            Construction work at the Hong Kong transmitter site began in February 1985 at a total cost of $11 million.  Two Marconi transmitters at 250 kW, Model B131, were installed and the first test transmission began more than two years later at 0400 UTC on August 6, 1987 on 15280 kHz.  Full time operation began six weeks later on September 27.

            Programming delivery from London was by satellite to Hong Kong Telecom and then by fibre optic cable to the station.  Programming was broadcast in three major language streams, Chinese, Japanese and English, with two programs on the air simultaneously at any one time.

            The station was an efficient computer controlled unattended operation with only twelve employees, just one of whom was a foreigner, a BBC manager from England.  As a touch of humor, it was stated that the local protective dog was also a BBC employee, due to the fact that the manager fed it from BBC funding.

            On the political scene, it was agreed that the one time British colony of Hong Kong would revert to China in June 1997.  Consequently, the BBC planned to remove and ship out all usable equipment and demolish the building in advance of the transfer of the territory to Chinese sovereignty. 

            The final broadcast from the BBC East Asia Relay Station in Hong Kong occurred at the end of November 1996.  The actual location of this shortwave station seems to be a green area among the jungle trees, visible on Google Maps at 113 55 18 57 E & 22 25 04 02 N.

            Many QSL cards were issued from the BBC East Asia Relay Station, quite often local Hong Kong postcards with a rubber stamp on the text side containing the QSL details.  At one stage, a printed QSL card showed a photo of the antenna system at Tsang Tsui.

            Two months after the station was closed, the towers were down and the two transmitters were already crated, ready for shipment to another destination, which turned out to be a new BBC station in Thailand.  And that station is now also off the air.  The story of this station is planned as our topic here in Wavescan, quite soon.

(AWR Wavescan/NWS 247)

Focus on the Middle Americas: El Salvador on Shortwave

An unidentified amateur radio operator in San Salvador, the capital city of the small Central American country of El Salvador, was the first to enter into experimentation with shortwave radio.  He sent a written report of his early activities to the American amateur radio magazine QST, and they printed his remarks in their issue dated December 1922.  He said that he had recently made some successful shortwave tests from his own radio transmitter, and that he planned on making further test transmissions on shortwave some time soon.

            Back in the year 1922, the emphasis in the radio world was the usage of high power on longwave rather than low power on shortwave, and at that time shortwave experimentation was quite rare.  The amateur radio experimenter in San Salvador identified himself simply as Sparks, seeming to indicate that he was an unlicensed amateur radio operator, which was rather common in many countries back in that era.

            Many international radio monitors in the United States and the South Pacific made frequent comment in the mid and late 1930s regarding shortwave transmissions from El Salvador.  It would appear that new shortwave equipment was installed in San Salvador around the year 1935, apparently at an already established radio communication station somewhere in the capital city area.   

            Mention of new low powered shortwave transmissions from El Salvador soon began to appear in radio magazines in the United States and Australia, and the first known reference (Australasian Radio World, August 1936) listed the station as the new YSJ which was heard in Australia on 13410 kHz.  Apparently this entry was for the logging of a communication transmission, rather than for the broadcast of entertainment radio programming.

            However, during the following year (1937), monitoring reports in radio magazines referred to the fact that the new 500 watt transmitter in San Salvador was now in use at various times of the day with the relay of programming from mediumwave Radio Nacionales YSS (864 kHz).  The Listener In radio magazine in Australia referred to the new shortwave broadcasts as a new shortwave station in a new shortwave country.  

            According to propagation conditions, three channels and three callsigns were employed for the relay of entertainment and informational radio programming: YSD 7894 kHz, YSH 9520 kHz, YSM 11710 kHz.  However, it should be noted that only one channel was on the air at any one time, seeming to indicate the usage of just the one transmitter.

            Some where around the middle of last century, a new 1 kW transmitter was installed for the shortwave service of Radio Nacionales.  Then some ten years later again, another 5 kW transmitter was in use for the program relays; and in the mid 1980s, YSS shortwave was noted with a power of 10 kW.  However, soon after this increase in power, the government shortwave service came to an end.

            It should be noted also that there were many other double combination mediumwave/shortwave stations on the air in El Salvador, with a maximum number of 18 around the mid 1950s, all commercial.  The final listing for a shortwave broadcasting station in El Salvador was for Radio Imperial with 1½ kW under the callsign YSDA about a dozen years ago.       

            El Salvador is geographically a small country, and shortwave transmissions were not really necessary to ensure nationwide coverage.  Then too, the introduction of FM broadcasting began to supersede the usage of both shortwave and mediumwave for nationwide coverage.

            In a rather strange situation, two major clandestine shortwave stations in El Salvador were on the air surreptitiously for many years, though more recently the government has granted a license to each, and both are on the air in the capital city, though on FM only.  Those clandestine shortwave events transpired during the disastrous and tragic civil war in El Salvador that extended over a period of eleven years, stretching from 1981 to 1992. 

            On January 10, 1981, Radio Venceremos made its first broadcast in El Salvador from a damp  cave in an isolated hidden mountainous area of the country, though it is claimed that they were previously on the air from a clandestine location in Nicaragua.  Much of the programming from Radio Venceremos was pre-recorded on cassette tapes and then broadcast over whatever shortwave equipment was available.

            Daily one hour programming began at 6:00 pm local, and the contents featured news and information about the civil war that was not readily available from any other source.  The daily news and wartime features from this forbidden radio station were listened to avidly not only by the citizens of this war torn country, but also by the news media and high level politicians in other countries.  

            The original old transmitter, identified in some circles as a Viking, together with a 700 watt amplifier, carried the broadcasts of Radio Venceremos during its first era.  Other electronic equipment was pressed into service whenever and wherever it could be obtained, and of course, frequent moves were necessary to obviate capture or destruction.  When the operation became more professional, two transmitters were employed with simultaneous programming on nearby channels.

            Radio Venceremos usually transmitted somewhere around the 40 metre amateur band, and the actual frequency hopping varied in order to avoid jamming.  There were times also when the jamming transmitter would come on the air with its own programming immediately Radio Venceremos closed, on the same channel.

In an endeavor to counter the broadcasts from Radio Venceremos, the United States stationed two navy ships in the Caribbean off the coast of Central America.  These two navy vessels were Spruance class destroyers, and they were located in the Gulf of Fonseca.

            Programming from the shortwave communication transmitters on these two vessels, first the "Caron" and later the "Diego," consisted entirely of jamming noises.  The signal from these two ships was also heard widely throughout North America and into Europe and the South Pacific.  It could be conjectured that no QSLs were ever issued for these jamming broadcasts.

            After peace talks produced some sort of a peace keeping truce, Radio Venceremos was granted an FM license, and some of its early equipment can be seen these days as a rebuilt display in the city museum.

            The story of the other clandestine radio station in El Salvador, Radio Farabundo Marti, is quite similar to that of Radio Vinceremos.  Radio Farabundo Marti made its first broadcast on January 22, 1982; and this station is now also licensed as an FM station in San Salvador.  Just a few QSLs are known for  Vinceremos and Farabundo Marti and these are informal cards and notes.  However, in earlier days, QSL cards were issued by Radio Nacionales YSS for the reception of their shortwave broadcasts.

 (awr wAVESCAN/NWS 246)

Special programming and QSLing from Arctic Radio Club

Arctic Radio Club celebrates the 2017 Convention in Jönköping, Sweden May 6 and 7th. Our radio station will be on the air with many different types of programs, mostly in Swedish.

The transmitter will have a power of 250 W (ERP) on 1593 kHz and the antenna is located on a high hill near Lake Vättern. In the evening of May 5th we will start tests. There will be station identifications in English, too.

The official start will be May 6th at 1900 UTC and the programs will be running until 1100 UTC on Sunday noon. On the 7th there will be a program dedicated to the local SR P4 Radio Jönköping that celebrates its 40th year of broadcasting this year. This program starts at 1000 UTC and will be in Swedish until the station signs off at 1100 UTC. Reception reports are appreciated and a special QSL?card is issued, if you enclose return postage in your letter. Reception reports by email will be answered by an e-QSL.
Address:
Ronny Forslund
Arctic Radio 1593
Vita Huset, SE-17995 Svartsjö
SWEDEN.
E-mail: info@rock.x.se.
(Giampiero Bernardini, PlayDX/DX News 84-15)

Domestic Broadcasting Survey 2017 now available

The annual edition of Domestic Broadcasting Survey is now available to download. Edited by Anker Petersen, the DBS is always a welcome edition to shortwave hobbyists throughout the world. To obtain your free edition, go to: http://dswci.org/

The Domestic Broadcasting Survey is divided into three parts:

Part 1: The Tropical Bands Survey covering all ACTIVE broadcasting stations on 2300 - 5700 kHz, including clandestines.

Part 2: Domestic stations on international shortwave bands above 5700 kHz broadcasting to a domestic audience.

Part 3: Deleted frequencies between 2 and 30 MHz which have not been reported heard during the past five years, but may reappear.

RAE Argentina Special QSL and Shortwave News

(QSL via Gayle Van Horn Collection)

During the time that requires the repair of our shortwave transmitter ,we are going to maintain our HF presence both in English and Spanish, via the WRMI relay station

It is fundamental for those who love the short wave sharing of this information, as well as the active participation of listeners and DXers through emails and post letters.
Your sound files in mp3 with audio captures or videos on YouTube listening RAE will be  welcome at   conexionrae@radionacional.gov.ar

During the time of these experimental transmissions we will answer every reception report we receive from anywhere in the world through a special and numbered QSL card.
From the 2nd of May RAE Argentina to the World returns to the dial.
Remember: Every Friday the DX  program, "Actualidad DX .com . AR" is issued
Our programs are available on the web www.rae.com.ar 24 hours a day in all 8 languages, and many of them also in podcast (see iTunes)
We also work with the AudioNow platform in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
SCHEDULE ( UTC TIME)
RAE Argentina to the World
Broadcasts on the short waves

SPANISH    Monday  through Friday  22:00 to 23:00 hs UTC on  5950 Khz , on the 49 m band *     Latin American Area
ENGLISH    Tuesday  through  Saturday   01:00 a 02:00 UTC on  9395 Khz,  on the  31 m band  *  USA & CANADA Area

*Via WRMI

ATTENTION
The reception reports of your hearings sent to us by ordinary mail will be confirmed by a SPECIAL and NUMBERED QSL.

RAE Argentina to the World
P.O Box  555
1000 CABA
Buenos Aires
ARGENTINA

Facebook : conexionrae
Twitter: @conexionrae
(Adrian Korol)

From The Isle of Music, April 30-May 6

From The Isle of Music, April 30-May 6
April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and April 30 is International Jazz Day. In honor of this, we dedicate this week to the new generation of Jazz musicians in Cuba and to a wonderful series of recordings in Cuba, the Jazz Young Spirit. Our special guest is Gloria Ochoa, one of the most important figures in Cuba's music and recording industry today and, among many other things, the Producer of many of the albums in that series.

Four possibilities to listen via shortwave:
1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in all directions with 100Kw, Sunday 1500-1600 UTC on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)

2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 UTC on WBCQ, 7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EDT in the US)

3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.

Episode 10 of Uncle Bill's Melting Pot, a clandestine musical variety program that features everything from everywhere EXCEPT music that you are probably familiar with, ,will air on WBCQ the Planet, 7490 KHz, Thursday, May 4 from 2300-2330 UTC (7:00pm-7:30pm EDT in the Americas). Brought to you by Tilford Productions, which also brings you From the Isle of Music.

William "Bill" Tilford, Owner/Producer
Tilford Productions, LLC

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins

Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
:Issued: 2017 May 01 0108 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html
#
#                Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
#
Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 24 - 30 April 2017

Solar activity was at very low levels. The most significant event of the period was observed early on 30 April at 0057 UTC when Region 2653 (S09, L=031, class/area, Hax/110 on 23 Apr) produced a long-duration B3 flare with an associated slow-moving CME off the WSW limb, first visible in LASCO C2 imagery at 30/0336 UTC. Analysis and subsequent WSA-Enlil model output suggested a possible weak, glancing blow at Earth beginning late on 03 May.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached very high levels on 24-28 April and high levels on 29-30 April. A maximum flux of 66,472 pfu was observed at 26/1735 UTC.

Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to active levels on 24-25 April under the waning influence of a negative polarity CH HSS. Predominately quiet levels were observed from 26-30 April.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 01 May - 27 May 2017

Solar activity is expected to be very low with a slight chance for C-class flare activity throughout the outlook period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is likely to reach high levels on 01-02, 04-06, 17-20 and 24-27 May with very high levels likely on 21-23 May. Normal to moderate flux levels are expected for the remainder of the period.

Geomagnetic field activity is likely to reach G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels on 19-20 May with G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels likely on 17-18 May due to the influence of multiple, recurrent CH HSSs. Active conditions are likely on 01, 16 and 21 May due to CH HSS influence with additional active conditions possible on 03-04 May due to CME effects. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected for the remainder of the period.


Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt

:Issued: 2017 May 01 0108 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html
#
#      27-day Space Weather Outlook Table
#                Issued 2017-05-01
#
#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest
#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index
2017 May 01      77          12          4
2017 May 02      75           8          3
2017 May 03      75          12          4
2017 May 04      73          12          4
2017 May 05      75           8          3
2017 May 06      75           8          3
2017 May 07      75           5          2
2017 May 08      75           8          3
2017 May 09      75           5          2
2017 May 10      75           5          2
2017 May 11      75           5          2
2017 May 12      75           5          2
2017 May 13      75           5          2
2017 May 14      75           5          2
2017 May 15      80           8          3
2017 May 16      80          15          4
2017 May 17      80          30          5
2017 May 18      80          25          5
2017 May 19      85          45          6
2017 May 20      85          50          6
2017 May 21      85          15          4
2017 May 22      80          10          3
2017 May 23      80           8          3
2017 May 24      77           5          2
2017 May 25      77           5          2
2017 May 26      77           5          2
2017 May 27      77           5          2
(NOAA)