August Amateur Radio: Islands, Castles and Portable Operations

N5FPW QSL for ON4KBJ

A portion of special events for ICPO (Islands, Castles and Portable Operations). Events open to amateur radio and shortwave listeners. QSL info is included and all time references are UTC. Good luck with these events !

August
Luc, ON6DSL, informs ICPO that he will be QRV once again from the Greek island of Crete (EU-015, GIOTA KRS-005, MIA MGC-005, WLOTA 1400) during his August holiday stay as SV9/ON6DSL/p. "I will be regularly QRV (holiday style) from the beach at QTH Pigianos Kampos near Rethimnon with equipment FT-817-ND - 5W (QRP) and a home made multiband antenna inv.V dipole at only 4 m high. SRI ONLY SSB. PSE QSL via ON UBA BURO home call. [ON6DSL]

August 1-4
Kuny, AH0BT and his son Yoshiki (14y/o), KH0UA are once again active from the Saipan BBQ Contest Club, island of Saipan (USi NI-002S, WLOTA 1333, Grid Loc. QK25), Northern Mariana Islands (OC-086) until August 4. QRV holiday style on the HF bands, all modes. QSL AH0BT via the  JARL Bureau or direct with 2USD+SAE (ML9292, 2-14-8, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0061, JAPAN). QSL KH0UA via the Bureau or direct 2USD+SAE (ML9292, 2-14-8, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0061, JAPAN). NOTE: Direct address had been changed in 2014. Please forward the new address to your friends. [AH0BT via NG3K]

August 1-4
Marilyn, WM2W and Terry, N0TW (10x #36547 VP 3138) will be active as C6ANW and C6ATW, respectively, from the Bahama Islands. They will be QRV on 10 metre SSB, especially during the 10-10
Summer QSO Party (www.ten-ten.org). QSL both callsigns via N0TW. [425 DX News]

August 1-14
Michel, F5OZF and Solange, F5RXL will be active as TK50O from near Ajaccio, island of Corsica (EU-014, DIFM TK-001, MIA MCO-001, WLOTA 1390, WW Loc. JN41IW), Corse du Sud (DDFM 2A). QSL via F5RXL, direct or Bureau, and LoTW. [425 DX News]

August 2
On Saturday, August 2, Jean-Pierre F8NUH/p will activate the Castle of Montceau (DFCF 38-052), commune of Ruy-Montceau (CP 38300 WW, Loc. JN25QO). Plans are to be QRV on 80 and 40 metre CW and SSB. QSL via home call, Bureau or direct. [F8NUH]

Mount Dora Lake Lighthouse

August 2-3/ 7
Repeat Special Event - Activating the Mount Dora Lake Lighthouse (ARLHS USA-1407) during National Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend. Carol, KA4WJR, informs ICPO "We had so much fun with the FEB 2014 event- that we decided to do a REPEAT SPECIAL EVENT during NATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE & LIGHTSHIP WEEKEND - Aug 2014!!!! We will again activate the Mount Dora Lake Light located on Lake Dora at the entrance of the Port of Mount Dora in Mount Dora, Florida. We will operate from 1300 UTC Aug 2nd, 2014 to 2300 UTC Aug 4th, 2014 (9:00 am to 7:00 PM - local time) on Saturday August 2nd, 2014 and POSSIBLY again on Sunday August 3rd, 2014 or Thursday August 7th, 2014 - National Lighthouse Day. We will operate CW, SSB phone and PSK31. QSL information is the same as noted on the QRZ.com page, under KA4WJR, for the FEB 2014 lighthouse event." [KA4WJR]

August 2-3
Cristian, CE2WTF and Manuel, CE2NTT plan to pay a short visit to the Isla de Pascua [aka Easter Island, Rapa Nui] (SA-001, DICE ICE-001, WLOTA 0319, WWFF CEFF-027). They have the
following options for callsigns: CE2NTT: XR0YNTT / 3G0YNTT / CB0YNTT; CE2WTF: XR0YWTF / 3G0YWTF / CB0YWTF. QRV on 40, 20, 15, 10, and 6 metre SSB, maybe also on LEO satellites. QSL via operators' information. Website: www.ce2ntt.blogspot.de/ [DX-World]

August 2-5
Larry, K4KGG, plans activity from Fogo Island (NA-198, CIsA NF-005), Newfoundland. QRV on HF bands, SSB. Possibly RTTY. QSL via K4KGG, LotW preferred and direct (Lawrence R Libsch,
23383 Water Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33486-8542, USA) with SAE + 2GS, or Bureau. [DX-World]

August 2-8
Laci, HA0NAR reports that he will be active from the island of Thasos [aka Thassos] (EU-174, GIOTA NAS-037, MIA MG-124, WLOTA 4186) as SV8/HG0R. QRV holiday-style on 160-6 metre CW, SSB
and RTTY. QSL via HA0NAR, Bureau or direct. [DX-World]

August 2-9
Imam, YB4IR, will be active as YB4IR/5 from Tambelan Island (OC-122, WW Loc. OJ30SX) off the west coast of West Kalimantan, (Borneo), Indonesia. QRV on 40-10m, CW, SSB and Digital modes.
QSL via home call, direct, Bureau or ClubLog OQRS. [YB4IR]

August 2-17
Operators Mek, SP7VC and YL Katarzyna, SQ7OYL have announced their next DXpedition will be to the Balkan area. They state that they will visit some Balkan countries: Slovenia, Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia. As usual you can expect our activity from each country on many bands. No other details were provided, but stay tuned! For details and updates, see: www.sp7vc.dxing.pl [OPDX Bulletin]

August 3
Tony, VK3VTH, announces an activation of Snowy River National Park (WWFF VKFF-455) for 3rd August 2014. QRV as VK3VTH/p from 02:00-04:00 UTC on 7085 kHz and from 04:00z - 06:00 UTC on 14244 kHz. QSL via home call, direct or Bureau. [DX Newsletter]

August 4-12
Rich, KB5FLA, plans to be active from the island of Dutch Sint Maarten (NA-105, WLOTA 0711) as PJ7/KB5FLA. QRV holiday-style on the HF bands. QSL via LoTW and eQSL. [DX-World]

N5FPW QSL from Azores Islands

August 5-11
Azores Islands/Portugal, look for Joao, CU3AA, to be active as CT7/CU3AA/P in several counties in the districts of Lisbon, Coimbra and Santarem. Also will activate parishes for DDFP and if the opportunity arises, some monuments to DMHP (WCA). He will have access to 40, 30, 20 and 17 metre SSB and CW (if necessary). Information about the activation will be sent to the international network of clusters. Joao hopes to contact you on this "on-the-run expedition". [CU3AA]

August 6-11 / August 9-10
Eric, K9GY, will once again visit the shack of Ed, VP9GE, located in Hamilton Parish, island of Bermuda (NA-005, WLOTA 0201, WW Loc. FM72PI) and be active as K9GY/VP9. Eric will focus on
the Worked All Europe (WAE) CW Contest (9-10 August). Outside of the contest look for Eric to be QRV on 160-6 metres (100W on 6M). QSL via LotW (preferred) or direct via CBA for K9GY. [NG3K]

August 7-11
A team from the Royal Omani Amateur Radio Society will operate SSB, CW and digital modes as A43MI from Masirah Island (AS-014, WW Loc. LL90JL), off the East coast of Oman, Ash Sharqiyah Region, Masirah Province. QSL via A47RS. [DX-World]
(ICPO/31 July)

Blog Logs: August

A sampling of shortwave monitoring from hobbyist.

All times UTC/ frequency in kHz (kilohertz) // parallel frequency
* Sign-on  / Sign-off *
English unless otherwise indicated

Logs edited for clarity

Argentina
15344.43, Radio Argentina Exterior, 2246-2301.+ Spanish phone interview, con embajador a Panama. Mix of classical guitar and easy-listening jazz with numerous station ID's, included "RAE" Continued in Spanish after 2300. SIO 3+33 with Arabic splash from 15355 kHz. (Harold Frodge, MI/MARE 790/791)

An aerial view over Ascensions Islands

Ascension Island
12095, BBC World Service, 2105. Heard station ID to interview with lady who is an Egyptian Broadcast journalist. Signal poor with much QRN and fading. (Frodge).

Australia
17860, Radio Australia (presumed) 2124-2131+. Male/female with newscast to 2130, followed by sports program. SIO 252 and very peaky (Frodge) Radio Australia noted on 9710 at 0830 // 9475 with news. (Martin van Driessche, Belgium/HCDX) 4910, VL8T, Tennant Creek, NT, 2132-2145. Newscast for SINPO 24322. Heard on  // 4835 and 5025. (Manuel Méndez). Also heard at 2215, ABC news, Gaza evacuation, SINPO25333. (Bell/DX Window 510)

15450, Reach Beyond Australia (former HCJB) Kununurra at 1400. Beginning of musical interval signal, weak sign-on by male announcer in English. Very poor signal. (Harold Sellers, BC Canada).

Austria
11955, AWR Europe via Moosbrunn, 2126. Religious sermon to 2127, just before 2130 head AWR identification to musical tones at 2130. (Vanca, MI?MARE)

Bolivia

5952.5 Radio Pio XII, Siglo 2305-2312. Spanish comments from announcer for a SINPO 14321. (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain/HCDX

6135, Radio Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 2309-2320. Spanish. Soccer coverage for the Libertadores Cup Semifinal, Argentinian team San Lorenzo de Almagro vs Bolivian team Bolivar, live narration, "Copa Libertadores". SINPO 23222. (Méndez)

6024.97, Radio Patria Nueva, La Paz, 2240-2310. Spanish newscast to ID as, "informa Patria Nueva desde la Paz", program ”Bolivia Informa.” News, ads and music with political messages. Additional ads Campo Ferial Yanomarca, SINPO 44444. (Arrunátegui). Also heard at 0057, alone and clear. Has been here on the low side for a long time. Radio Amanencer has been off for a very long time and was last reported in Aug 11. (Nilsson/DX WIndow 510)

6155.10, Radio Fides, La Paz, 2340-0005. Music to ads as - ”Banco los Andes.” Program, ”El Hombre Invisible”, ID: “El grupo Fides presento…”, ID: “Radio Fides la voz permanente de Bolivia”, ID: “La historia de Bolivia es Radio Fides”, program: ”En Contacto”, SINPO 44444, (ex 6154.90) verified in USB and LSB. (Arrunátegui/DX Window 510)

Botswana
6080 Voice of America relay, Moepeng Hill at 0320-0347. Announcer's discussion with several people, followed by Day Break Africa program. Several promo announcements and station ID's. Website mention at 0328, followed by VOA International Edition at 0330. Poor - fair signal quality. Also heard this relay 15579.99 at 0400 with newscast script, // 6080 via VOA Sao Tome relay (Brandon Jordan, TN/HCDX)

Brazil
4965.01, Radio Alvorada, Parintins, AM, 2300. Definite on this station, heard on // with a two minute delayed webstream. Easy to hear the ID from the web, but the noise just above 4865 is very annoying, but when you know what will come, you can hear the ID. This frequency carries their FM cultural program. The station was gone for a week or two but back again from Jul 06. Parintins is known for a popular folklore festival held there each June called Boi-Bumbá. (Nilsson/DX WIndow 510)

Gayle Van Horn QSL from Radio Nacional Brasilia

5990.1, Radio Nacional Brasilia 0408-0415.+ Station ID's as, "Radio Nacional" and "Radio Nacional Brasilia." Pop 'bumper' music to male's commentary in Portuguese. Brief Happy Birthday tune played at 0414. SIO 32+3 with splash from 6000 kHz (presumed to be Cuba). (Frodge).

9820v, Radio Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, 0558-0612. Religious program "Santuario Nacional", "Com a Mãe Aparecida", comments and songs, SINPO 24322. (Méndez). I heard this program "Com a Mãe Aparecida" on 25 Oct 2013. Luckily I also heard an ID of ”Radio 9 de Julho” on top of the hour, so I sent a report and got surprisingly also a QSL. So it's possible to identify the station also during the network programme. Based on the QSL letter the programme is produced and transmitted by Rádio Aparecida and it's on air from 22h00 till 5h00 every day (definitely local time). I mentioned in my report that there were phone calls from Parà also and they replied in Portuguese, that this programme integrates Brazilian people from various states of Federation. (Nurmela). (Cf. DX-Window no. 509. Ed/DX Window 510)

11815 Radio Brasil Central via Goiania at 2320-2346. Lively discussion by several males in Portuguese. Quick station jingle ID at 2330, followed by fast-paced discussion. (Rich D'Angelo, PA/DXplorer/WWDXC Top Nx)

China
6155, CNR2/China Business Radio, Beijing, 1237. Apopular variety show (comedy, music) in Chinese, frequently broadcast via CNR2. Good reception; occasional nice English IDs: “Ladies and gentlemen, Haiyang live show. It's brought to you by Haiyang live from Beijing." Audio at https://app.box.com/s/blshq8rw2d8k71nalva5   // 6065, 7265, 7315 and 7375. (Ron Howard, CA/DX WIndow 510)

6200, Voice of Jinling, Nanjing, 1400. Usual "FM" IDs, station moved to this frequency, ex 5860. Mixing with Xizang PBS, Tibet. For many years Tibet had sole possession of 6200, but no longer. VOJ is stronger by far than Tibet, so bad news for Xizang PBS. (Howard/DX Window 510)

Clandestine
11985, Radio Akhbar Mufriha, via Ascension Island, *2145-2215.* Arabic instumental music and talks to ID for Akhbar Mufriha. Announcement for postal address in Paris, and e-mail address. New frequency, and very good signal. Their web site lists they broadcast at 2100-2145 on 7300, but nothing could be heard on 7300 at 2100-2145 here in Japan. (Wakisaka/DX Window 510)

15425, Radio Free Sarawak 1105. Fair signal at tune-in. Announcers in Iban language. Unsure of correct or current transmitter location. (Wendel Craighead, KS)

Colombia
6010.00, Radio La Voz de tu Conciencia, Lomalinda, 2325-2345. Religious hymns and Joropo music with religious messages, ID: “Por la Voz de tu Conciencia”, SINPO 44444. (Arrunátegui/DX Window 510)

Cuba
4765 Radio Progreso 0302-0313. Cuban songs and Spanish comments. SINPO 24322. (Méndez)

5990 China Radio International relay, Havana, 2347-0002. Group discussion talking about brain functions, being forgetful and deterioration with old age. At 2355, CHinese language lesson, followed by Spanish program at midnight. Very good signal. (D'Angelo)
Egypt
9965, Radio Cairo 0018. Lady announcer discussing 'how to sleep, type of mattress and what side to sleep on." All this during a constant and heavy howling tone interference. Music followed by 'The Egyptian Wall of Sound' music. (Vance, MI/MARE)

Germany
15690, Radio Farda relay via Biblis at 1312 in Farsi. Moodly Blues song Nights in WHite Satin, followed by station ID for fair signal quality. (Sellers). Germany's Hamburger Lokal Radio heard on 7265 kHz at 0512-0523. (Méndez)

Guam
11895, AWR Asia/Pacific 1124-1130.+ English/Chinese language lesson and special English for religious phrases. Program close down at 1128 with "bye-bye", then to CHinese service. SIO 353. (Frodge).

Guatemala
4054.98, Radio Verdad, Chiquimula, 1100-1116. Religious music in English, ID, SINPO 22222. (Arrunátegui/DX WIndow 510). Also heard at close down 0540-0607.* Religious songs, comments, ID in various languages, anthem, SINPO 14321. (Manuel Méndez, Spain/HCDX)

India
13710, All India Radio 1417. English service and noted on parallel 13710 kHz. Music and station ID to Music Box program. Good signal. AIR noted on 13710 at 1346 with program schedule into Hindi music. Fair signal until China Radio Int;l came on before 1358 with English program for poor signal. (Sellers).

Indonesia
3325, RRI Palangkarya, 1626. Male speaker in Bahasa Indonesia taking callers, slow romantic songs, SINPO 25432. (Bell) Indonesia's 3344.87, RRI Ternate, 1136-1202. Heard daily now, mostly non-stop reciting from the Qur'an, with a few phone calls. Seems to never carry the 1200 Jakarta news. (Howard and Sellers/DX Window 510)

GVH QSL from Voice of Indonesia

9525.9 Voice of Indonesia 1302. English at tune-in with program announcements. Station ID "Voice of Indonesia with the news." Male/female trade news items during poor signal. (Sellers)

Iran
9845, Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran, Sirjan at 0026-0121.* Lady announcer in Turkish, apparently about Ramadan special program. Selections of vocals, talk and recitations with carrier cut mid-song. Fair-good signal. (D'Angelo)

Malaysia
11665 Wai FM (presumed) 1110-1120. Lady announcer taking phone calls in Malay language. LSB helps with 11670 splash, noticebly worse about a half-hour later (Frodge). Malaysia's Klasik Radio on 5964.7 at 1215, Malaysian pop music to announcers in Bahasa Malay, followed by Islamic 'call to prayer.' Malaysia's Asyik FM on 6050 at 1218 for fair signal (Sellers).

Mexico
6185, Radio Educación, México D. F., 0453-0510.* Spanish comments, songs, ID: "Radio Educación, desde la ciudad de México, y en internet www.radioeducacion.com.mx , SINPO 23322. (Méndez)

Nigeria
9689.915 Voice of Nigeria. Foot print is probably Hausa at 2044. Strong interference from REE French service on 9685 kHz. (wb, Germany/WWDXC Top Nx)

North Korea
11735 Voice of Korea, 1144-1202.+ Tune-in to rousing music then vocal by lady announcer, followed by French and off to more music.SIO 153- // 11710. Presumed same station on 15180 at 0442 with choral music and English between items. SIO 2+53- (Frodge)

Oman
15140 Radio Sultanate of Oman at 1406. Lady announcer's comments about raising children under the Islamic religion. Poor signal quality (Sellers)

GVH QSL from Radio East New Britain

Papua New Guinea
3385, NBC East New Britain, Rabaul, 1138-1153. Tok Pisin. Pop music, 1150 several ads in English, including one for a car dealer identified as a “supporter of NBC East New Britain”, 1153 phone number and invitation for dedications, SINPO 45444. (Sellers). Also heard at 1200-1228.* Noted at 1201 PNG bird call, "Good night Papua New Guinea. The News Roundup", news and "weather forecast" (weather now a regular feature with the news), 1207 "Provincial News" in Tok Pisin, ads and promos, DJ with "musical requests," listing persons with dedications for pop songs. They have re-set the timer for closing down the transmitter (ex 1200.*) (Ron Howard/DX Window 510)

Peru
4955.00, Radio Cultural Amauta, Huanta, 2300-2320. Peruvian music, Spanish religious talk, SINPO 25232. (Petersen). Also heard at 1122-1145, with Quechua program, advs about the evangelical churches in the zone, religious music in Spanish,  ID: “En quechua.. Radio Cultural Amauta”, SINPO 44444. (Arrunátegui/DX Windoe 510)

5024.92, Radio Quillabamba, Quillabamba, Cusco, 1138-1200. Deal with the different political parties in the upcoming municipal elections, ID: "Muchas gracias por su presencia en Radio Quillabamba", music, ID: "Radio Quillabamba", sports  program about World Cup, ID: "Radio Quillabamba pionera en educación y cultura", SINPO 33333. (Arrunátegui/DX Window 510)

5980.00, Radio Chaski, Urubamba, Cusco, 2320-2335. Program ”El Camino de la vida”, religious in Spanish //  la Red Radio Integridad, 700AM in Lima, religious hymns, program Momentos decisivos "Mientras el Señor Regresa", SINPO 44444. (Arrunátegui/DX Window 510)

Romania/Italy
7290 Radio City via IRRS Milano, 1840-1900.* Pop music to English comments and station ID as " Radio City, the station of the cars." "This is the Italian Radio Relay Service signing off." SINPO 44444. (Méndez)

7330 Radio Romania Intl 0532. Noted DRM signal in English with Romanian news, 100% decode and parallel signal on 9700 with excellent signal, 17760 poor. (Jordan).

Rwanda
11900 Deutsche Welle relay via Kigali at 0503. News reports on Israel and Libya. Excellent S 9 signal // 12070 fair, 9800 fair, 7425 poor. Ascension Island's 6005 good in USB to avoid 6000. Jordan).

GVH QSL from SIBC

Solomon Islands
5020.00, SIBC, Honiara, 0830. Noted on even frequency on remote unit at Sydney, S=9+10dB. (Bueschel). Also heard at 1154-1158.* Usual evening devotional in English, normal full ID and national anthem. Is now generally agreed that this is most likely the same newer transmitter that is also used on 9545, thereby replacing the older off frequency one. (Howard and Wagai). Schedule probably now: 5020 1900-2200, 0500-1200 and 9545 2200-0500. (Ritola/DX Window 510)

Tanzania
6015, ZBC Radio, Dole, *0255-0401. Different format now for Ramadan. Normally suddenly on with Spice FM music, but today had chatting till brief "Zanzibar song", pips (5+1), mostly monologue, 0314-0330 reciting from the Qur'an, 0359 normal drums leading up to pips (5+1) and the news. (Howard/DX Window 510)

11735, Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation, Dole, 1525-1805. Swahili 1525-1800, English 1800. (Ivanov, Bulgaria/DX Window 510)

United States
7355, Alaska-KNLS Anchor Point, 1226-1227, English. Oldie pop song “You’re the Only Woman.” The English Express program looking at the phrase “the once over”, SINPO 45444. (Sellers) KNLS 9655, 0757 sign-on (van Driessche)

Radio Romania International announces new contest

RadiRo - International Festival of Radio Orchestra 


Radio Romania International invites you to participate in the new contest dedicated to the second edition of the International Festival of radio orchestras. It is a unique event in Europe, held 20 to 27 September on Radio Romania, which supports the classical music since 1928 when it aired its first signal. The event will gather on the stage of the Concert Hall of Radio Romania and live on its stations, 5 famous orchestras, conductors and soloists alongside world-renowned.

In 2012, the first edition of RadiRo brought Romania the prestigious BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

The second edition of the Festival invites the public to meet the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Finland, Prague and Stuttgart, next to the Orchestre National de France and the National Orchestra of Radio Romania, under the baton of famous conductors including Joshua Weilerstein, Ondrej Lenard Stéphane Denève, Case Scaglione, Vassily Sinaisky, Tiberiu Soare and Cristian Mandeal.

Next to them, equally famous soloists: the pianists Jonathan Biss and Jan Simon, soprano Katarina Jovanovic Nikolaj Znaider and violinists Vadim Gluzman, along with the great Romanian artists: the mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose, pianist Horia Mihail, violinist Alexandru Tomescu. Honorary Director of the Festival will be the Romanian conductor Cristian Mandeal, which will bring greater prestige and value to the European RadiRo.

To you as one of the winners, follow the programs of Radio Romania International, visit us on the www.rri.ro and profiles of Facebook, Twitter and Google+, answer the questions correctly in writing of the competition by September 26, 2014, postmark attesting.

The awards consist mainly of symphonic music CD with Romanian and foreign, but also objects of cultural and tourist promotion. The competition is organized with the publisher, House Radio and the Municipality of Bucharest.

Here are the questions:
When we held the first edition of the International Festival of Orchestras radio?
Who is the honorary director of the second edition of RadiRo?
How many radio orchestras participate in 2014 edition of the Festival?
Nominate known Romanian artists (soloists or conductors) in the billboard RadiRo 2014.

Write us what prompted you to participate in our contest and, above all, why follow the programs of Radio Romania International or its online presence.

We look forward to hearing your answers by mail, fax, e-mail, Facebook or directly on the site www.rri.ro, by 26 September, at:



Radio Romania International
General Berthelot Street nr. 60-64, district 1, Bucharest, Romania
PO Box 111, Postal Code 010 171
00.40.21.319.05.62 fax, e-mail ital@rri.ro 

Winners will be announced after 26 September. Radio Romania International wishes you good luck!
(Dario Monferini/playdx 31 July)

Schedule Updates on VOA Radiogram

Hello friends, 

Our new experiments with MFSK32 on the VOA Mandarin Service continue. The center audio frequency has been moved up to 2500 Hz, so you will probably need a 6 kHz bandwidth for best results.  

Until the MFSK32 begins, most of the audio you hear will probably be Chinese domestic radio on the same frequency as VOA Mandarin.

Each MFSK32 transmission is 1 minute, 10 seconds. Here is the schedule:

Daily

UTC

2258      6135  9845 kHz

0058      9880  15385  15565  17560 kHz

Please send reception reports for the VOA Mandarin MFSK32 to radiogram@voanews.com.  Audio recordings (mp3 is OK) are especially helpful.

TW in Shimane Prefecture, Japan, prepared these YouTube videos of his decoding:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yscPPKvxomg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqLRnrKYVQE

VOA Radiogram this weekend will include news about legislation that could bring major changes to VOA and to other entities of U.S. international broadcasting.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 70, 2-3 August 2014 (MFSK32):

1:32  Program preview

2:40  International broadcasting bill passes House, with image

8:17  Moose drool detoxifies fungus, with image

11:36  ESA spacecraft will land on comet, with image

18:18  Bahama Islands formed from Sahara dust, with image

22:29  Outernet, via satellite, launches 11 August, with logo

25:25  Closing announcements

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

The Mighty KBC will transmit a minute of MFSK64 Saturday at 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz and Sunday at 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. Both frequencies are via Germany. Reports for this broadcast to themightykbc@gmail.com .

Thanks to everyone who have sent reception reports for VOA Radiogram and for the VOA Mandarin tests. I will prepare a new eQSL for both of these and start sending them tomorrow.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott

Producer and Presenter

VOA Radiogram

voaradiogram.net

Throw-Back Thursday: Iceland

Icelandic Broadcast Corp QSL - view from  þingvellir National Park

Iceland no longer broadcast on shortwave, but 'back in the day', many of us took advantage of their Icelandic programming on 13, 797 kHz. I logged Icelandic Broadcasting Corporation on August 20, 1982 and verified the station on June 2, 1983.
(Gayle Van Horn)

Radio Broadcasting in Pakistan: On the Air in Peshawa

Radio Pakistan QSL 

Focus on Asia:

The Story of Radio Broadcasting in Pakistan: On the Air in Peshawa

The city of Peshawar in Pakistan is located right up against the edge of the Khyber Pass in what used to be the North West Frontier in British India.  The name Peshawar comes from an old Sanskrit word which is translated as “City of Men”, perhaps meaning a city with a lot of people, or a city where the men were dominant and powerful.

            The original inhabitants were tribal's of Indo-Iranian heritage who moved into the area in ancient times.  In the year 326 BC, Alexander the Great moved his armies through the area in their onward march towards mainland India; and it is stated that doubting Thomas of Biblical fame passed through the area in his trek towards south India in the year 52 AD.

            By the year 100, historians tell us that Peshawar was the seventh most populous city in the world; and it was around that era that descendants of the left over soldiers from Alexander’s army became rulers in Peshawar itself.  The Buddhist era began soon afterwards with missionaries coming in from the plains of India. 

            The Buddhists constructed a stupa, a rounded mound, that was 400 feet high and it is thought that this was the tallest building on Earth at the time.  On several occasions, the stupa was damaged and destroyed by lightning, and though it was again repaired and rebuilt, these days only the ruins of the base remain.

            Islam came to Peshawar a thousand years ago; the territory was absorbed into British India in 1849; and the monumental Bab-i-Khyber, the Khyber Gateway, was constructed over the highway in 1964.  During the 1980s with the Russian presence in Afghanistan, around four million refugees came into Peshawar, though the official population for Peshawar stands around 2½ million. 

            Wireless came to Peshawar in 1919 with the establishment of station VWP, quite close to the Bala Hissar Fort and the nearby railway line.  An early postcard shows all three in the one photograph: the Fort, the railway line and the wireless station. 

            When wireless became radio and spark gave way to voice communication, the station identification was changed from VWP to VVP.  A station list in 1933 showed station VVP on 34.28 m, or as we would say today, 8750 kHz.

            It was in 1934 that the Marconi radio company in England offered equipment for a new radio broadcasting station to the government of the North West Frontier Province.  The agreement provided that if the project was successful, the provincial government would purchase the equipment.

            This new broadcasting station was inaugurated with local programming on March 6, 1935 and soon afterwards it was allocated the callsign VUP, with these letters indicating India Peshawar.  This small radio station emitted just 250 watts on 1500 kHz which gave it little more than just quite local coverage.  Back at that time there was a promise that the station would be upgraded to 2 kW, though this prediction was never fulfilled.

            During the following year, the provincial government took over the control of the station, and during the next year again, the station was taken over by the Indian national government in Delhi.  Then, in March 1939, station VUP Peshawar was converted into a relay station, taking its programming on a telephone line from the national station VUD in Delhi.

            However, a totally new broadcasting station, with new studios and new technical equipment, was constructed at the old wireless location in Peshawar soon afterwards, and this was inaugurated on December 1, 1942.  This new station with its new RCA transmitter was assigned the mediumwave channel 629 kHz with an output power of 10 kW.

            Thus, it is true, there were really two different radio broadcasting stations in Peshawar in the era before partition; the Marconi station on 1500 kHz, followed by the government station on 629 kHz, both of which were on the air, consecutively, under the same callsign, VUP.

            Back about 1½ years before the epic events of Freedom at Midnight, there was a man from Pilibhit up near the border with Nepal, by the name of Tahir Husain.  He owned a radio shop in Delhi and he agreed to assemble a radio transmitter together with a power supply.  This radio broadcasting equipment was smuggled in three large fruit baskets into a house in Peshawar occupied by Sardar Abdur Rab.

         On April 24, 1946, this new clandestine radio broadcasting station was activated in the 70 metre band (approx 4285 kHz) in another home in Peshawar.  The programming that was broadcast over this mini radio station was intended to influence the vote in a coming local political election.  The station was moved several times within Peshawar itself in order to avoid detection, and its short life span ended as soon as the elections were over, shortly afterwards.

            At the time of partition in 1947, there were just two radio broadcasting stations on the air in the Pakistani West Wing; VUL Lahore with 5 kW on 1086 kHz and VUP Peshawar with 10 kW on 629 kHz.  When things got sorted out in the two dominions, India & Pakistan, the callsigns were regularized in Pakistan under new designation for this new country, and VUP Peshawar became APP. 

            As Nihal Ahmed tells us in his very interesting book, A History of Radio Pakistan, the transition from All India Radio Peshawar to Radio Pakistan Peshawar took place around midnight, between Thursday August 14 and Friday August 15, 1947.  At the time, the AIR relay station VUP in Peshawar was on the air with 10 kW on 1500 kHz. 

            Soon after 11:00 pm on Thursday August 14, Yunus Sethi made the final announcement on behalf of All India Radio.  This was followed soon after midnight with the opening announcement on behalf of the Pakistan Broadcasting Service in the Urdu language of Pakistan by Aftab Ahmad Bismil and then a similar announcement in the Pushto language of Afghanistan by Abdullah Jan Maghmoom  .

            Interestingly, the first series of new radio stations planned for installation in the new Pakistan were all intended to radiate on shortwave, and not mediumwave.  A few months after partition, a representative of the new Pakistani government visited England to negotiate the purchase of equipment for several new radio stations. 

            Soon afterwards, it was announced that these new radio stations would be installed in five cities in Pakistan including Peshawar, and that the transmitters at these locations would operate on shortwave with 7½ kW.  However, as the unfolding of events would demonstrate, not one of these transmitters was installed anywhere in the territory we know as Pakistan.

            Much later, in the year 1960, a fifth new shortwave station in Pakistan was installed in the frontier city, Peshawar, and it was inaugurated on October 15.  This was a 10 kW AWA transmitter from Australia and it was inaugurated at the city location and given the callsign APP2.

            However, as time went by, a new transmitter station was constructed at Chughalpura, some three miles out north east from Peshawar.  This station housed two transmitters, both mediumwave and shortwave at 10 kW each, though these days, just one mediumwave transmitter is on the air at this location, now with 100 kW on 729 kHz.  Radio Pakistan Peshawar APP shortwave left the air in 1999.

            More recently, a newer and larger transmitter station was constructed at Pabbi, a dozen miles east from Peshawar, and these days it houses two mediumwave transmitters; 100 kW on 1170 kHz and 300 kW on 540 kHz.

            Back in the late 1930s before Partition, QSL cards were printed for general use by the various stations in the federation-wide network of All India Radio.  These cards also showed entries for VUP Peshawar.

           The first known QSLs from the new Radio Pakistan are dated in the year 1949, just two years after Partition.  These cards showed the Radio Pakistan logo, the star and the crested moon, and they listed the early radio stations that were on the air at the time. 

            A subsequent QSL card gave more details about the early mediumwave stations in Pakistan.  The earliest of these cards, of which there are three or four different designs, lists the mediumwave and shortwave stations in Peshawar:- APP1 on 580 kHz & APP2 shortwave.

(AWR/Wavescan, NWS 283)

Update on HCJB Germany

Germany

Effective August 1, the following HCJB transmissions will be terminated

All times UTC

German
0000-0045  11920 via Nauen  100 kW targeted to Brazil
2300-0000   11920 via Nauen  100 kW targeted to Brazil

Portuguese
2300-2330  9835 via Nauen  100 kW targeted to Brazil
(Ivanov 31 July)

August Specials from DX Stamp Service

Shortwave listeners and radio amateur operators hail that DX Stamp Service is the # 1 source for buying worldwide mint postage stamps. DXers enclose mint stamps within their postal mail outs - thus increasing their chances of a reply from the receiving party. Mint stamps are used for return postage back to you - so it's a win-win results.

Dear Customer,

Below are specials for August.

Check out the added bonuses on DX supply special offers. AND some nice new ones on U.S. discounted postage....sure
would like to move out more of the U.S. postage...hint! hint! International Rate available AGAIN!!

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

A list of the countries we stock that have issued their own international forever stamps is yours for the asking.

 Latvia is now on the euro, stamps not in euro denomination will be valid until Dec. 31st. If stamp denomination isn't in euro value use by the end of yr.

NEW RATES:
Argentina now $23, up from $19 (make up 50c)
Brazil now R$2,45 up from R$2,30
Ireland increased from 0,90 to 1,00 euro July 21st

Sweden now 14 kr, up from 12 kr.
Spain now 0,92 up from 0,90
New Zealand rate will be NZ$2.50 starting July 1st, up from NZ$2.40, NZ units updated early June.
 Make ups available for these three.

NEW PRICES: Argentina now priced at $3.50 due to recent increase.

IN STOCK AGAIN: Switzerland.

STAMPS ON BACK ORDER: Hungary, Morocco.

BACK ORDERS will now be sent with your next stamp order, unless I have several to send you.  Am losing money by sending out one at a time. Sorry.


U.S. DISCOUNT POSTAGE DEALS!!

****JULY/AUGUST  SPECIAL,  BUY 2 U.S. POSTAGE DEALS & DEDUCT $5.00****

Save Big on your domestic mailings when you plaster  your envelope with colorful stamps.

49c Units
  2 stamps
  3 stamps
  4 stamps
  5 stamps

x 100
 $46.00
 $43.00
 $42.00
 $41.00

x 200
 $89.00
 $84.00
 $81.00
 $78.00

x 400
 xxx
 $161.00
 $157.00
 $154.00

(3 stamps means 49c unit made up in 3 stamps such as 22c, 22c and 5c)

International Rate!!

$1.15 Units
 3 stamps

x 100
 $95.00

x 200
 $180.00

MORE U.S. POSTAGE for SALE!!

Excess of 20c stamps, want some?

$50 in 20c stamps-$43    $100 for $75    $200 for $140

EVEN MORE U.S. POSTAGE for SALE!!

$100 Grab Bags - $70!!

Values from 3c to 29c in envelopes of 100 ea. I'll send a great mix!
 
For US postage deals, payment by
CREDIT CARD IS OK!!

 No charge for shipping US postage deals to US addresses.
ORDER NOW!

JULY/AUGUST  2014  DX  STAMP  SPECIALS
    3 Canada-$3.90          2 Latvia-$2.00         3 Japan-$3.90
3 France-$3.90       2 Spain-$3.20       3 UK-$5.10
2 Finland 1st Kl.-$3.00     3 Finland 2nd Kl.-$3.00
Finland 1st class is priority rate
 2nd class is economy rate, it goes airmail too and saves you a bit!  
   
 JULY/AUGUST  2014  DX  SUPPLY  SPECIALS
200/200 European Air Mailers and Air Returns -$40.00
200/200 Stateside Mailers and Returns - $19.00
2 Standard QSL Albums - $40.00

Buy 2 DX Supply Specials...Deduct $5.00!!

Priority Mail Shipping Rates: Orders up to $16.00 add $6.50, orders from $16.01 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. (01/2014)

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
908 782-2612 FAX
Email: plumdx@msn.com

VOA Radiogram update on MFSK32

Hello friends,

As a follow-up to my previous email about the MFSK32 on VOA Mandarin, I want to clarify that these transmissions will be daily for the next two weeks, at least.

2258:15 UTC        6135  9845 kHz

0058:10 UTC        9880 15385 15565 17560 kHz

The transmissions are via IBB relay stations in Asia.

The MFSK32 will be Chinese characters. You will need the UTF-8 character set. If using Fldigi: Configure > Colors & Fonts.

If you are unable to hear these frequencies from your location, perhaps you can via the University of Twente SDR receiver: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ -- or a web controlled receiver in Asia, if you have access to one.

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com . Audio recordings, including a minute or two before the MFSK32 starts, would be especially helpful – even if you can’t decode the tones. Mp3 files are OK. 

The English VOA Radiogram broadcasts on weekends will continue.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott

Producer and Presenter

VOA Radiogram

voaradiogram.net

QSLing the Commonwealth Games

Amateur radio operators and shortwave hobbyists have an excellent opportunity to QSL the Commonwealth games, currently in progress to August 3, from Glasgow, Scotland.

GA14, (Special Event). To celebrate the Commonwealth Games this summer, the Stirling & District Amateur Radio Society (GM6NX) are hosting a special event station, GA14CG, at their club premises, approximately 25 miles northeast of the city of Glasgow, to August 3, 2014.

The station will be run by members of the Stirling and DARS along with other clubs in the surrounding area. Visitors are most welcome to the station and visiting amateurs can operate the station, permitted they bring a copy of their license. There will be three HF stations and two VHF stations operational. Activity will be on 160-2 meters using CW, SSB and Data.

For more information about the station, visit: http://www.ga14cg.com You can also follow them on Twitter (@GA14CG) and "like" them on FaceBook.

QSL via LoTW (Logbook of the World) and e-QSL. For direct and Bureau QSLs are via Club Log's OQRS only. They prefer to QSL via LoTW and e-QSL to save money, time and to protect the environment. Uploads to Club Log are instantaneous. Uploads to LoTW and e-QSL are made at the end of each day. If you send your card via the bureau or direct, you WILL NOT receive a reply!

(OPDX)

Radio Havana Cuba: DXers Unlimited

Radio Havana Cuba Dxers Unlimited's  - middle of the week program  for Tuesday 29 July 2014
 By Arnie Coro - radio amateur CO2KK

 Hi amigos radioaficionados all around the world and orbiting our  planet aboard the ISS. Yes, there are radio amateur operators on duty  at the International Space Stations and whenever they can take a break, you can pick up their FM voice mode transmissions on the two  meters amateur band frequency of 145 dot eight hundred megaHertz...

 The spacecraft is in a low Earth orbit, so the signals can be picked up for a short period even when there is an overhead pass.... I am Arnie Coro, radio amateur CO2KK your host here at the middle of the week edition of Dxers Unlimited, and YES, amigos I was one of the pioneers here in Cuba to use amateur radio satellites, a complex technology that has enjoyed ups and downs in the preferences of the  world's ham radio enthusiasts... At one time, several of the so called EASY SATS, made possible for many operators to establish regular two way contacts using standard factory built radios.... and simple antennas.... But those days are now over, and the present generation  of amateur radio satellites are in my opinion much more difficult to access and the time windows available for making contacts are very,very small, and that is yet another drawback. Ideally a geostationary amateur satellite would be the way to go, but many experts say that although it could cover only one third of the Planet

 Earth from its Clarke Belt orbital slot, so many amateurs will try to use it that it would be quite useless due to the interference caused by so many stations trying to communicate, even if the super ham satellite offers many transponders. Then, add to this the extremely high cost to build a the geostationary satellites, and also the need to find a suitable launching vehicle that will also cost a fortune.

So, what we are seeing now are small, low Earth orbit satellites that  have created interest among a few radio amateurs, like Cuba's top satellite operator, Hector CO6CBF, who has broken several records from his Cienfuegos city of central Cuba operating position.

 Hector CO6CBF has built his own special antennas as well as azimuth and elevation rotors to turn them for optimum access to the satellites.... Si amigos, yes my friends , oui mes amis, amateur satellites are flying, but they are flying at low heights making long distance contacts a tremendous challenge for the operators that must rely on minimum height above the horizon passes to assure the longest possible contacts... Stay tuned for more radio hobby related information coming to you from  La Habana, where we are going through a period of extremely high  temperatures and low relative humidity...

 I am your host Arnie Coro,

 my ham radio callsing is CO2KK

 and I will be back in a few seconds after a short break for a station ID
 ..................................

*Yes amigos, this is Radio Havana Cuba, and here are some recent schedule changes that took place on July 25th .... Starting on Friday July 25th UTC day, we are no longer using 9550 kiloHertz from 11 to 13 hours UTC, and also NOT using 15340 kiloHertz from 13 to 15 hours UTC.... Then, here is now another important schedule change.... since Friday July 25th, our 11760 kiloHertz frequency continues to be on the air after 15 hours UTC and until 19 hours UTC broadcasting programs  that we were previously only streaming to the Internet. The first three hours from 15 to 18 UTC are in Spanish, broadcasting our new CUBA ONLINE magazine show that received many nice reports from listeners picking it up via the streaming audio from 1. www.radiohc.cu, and who suggested that we made it available also via short wave, something we have done using a 100 kiloWatts transmitter on 11760 kiloHertz with the 6 dB gain omni directional antenna that provides coverage to parts of North America, all of Central America and the Caribbean, as well as the northern areas of South America. Reports received so far confirm what our engineering department had calculated to be the 80 percent of the time service pattern. So, give it a try, and tune in to 11760 kiloHertz from Radio Havana Cuba from 15 to 18 hours UTC and then from 18 to 19 hours UTC in other Arabic and Portuguese....*

 Now here is item three of the middle of the week program of Dxers Unlimited...

Over the weekend, several Perseid meteor shower advance fireballs were detected by observers, and this can best be described as signals of the beginning of the annual August Perseids meteors display. Normally, the best time to watch would be during the shower's peak: August 11th through 13th. This year, however, the super moon will cast an interfering glare across the nights of maximum activity, reducing visibility from 120 meteors per hour (the typical Perseid peak rate) to less than 30. Instead, late July-early August might be the best time to watch as Earth plunges deeper into the debris stream of comet Swift Tuttle, before the Moon becomes full. For radio amateur operators the yearly Perseids are among the best showers for meteor
scatter propagation Dxing attempts.

Now let me explain in detail ---- PERSEID METEOR SHOWER BEGINS as the Earth is entering a broad stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Although the peak of the shower is not expected until August, meteors are already flitting across the night sky.

By the way, TV Dxers in the days of analog television broadcasts were able to log many low band TV stations within the frequency range of 54 to 88 megaHertz in the Americas using the ionized trails of meteors entering the upper atmosphere. You had to be pretty lucky so that the burn of the meteor will coincide with the time of a station ID... but dedicated TV Dxers proved that this happened more often than expected, as they kept cameras in front of the TV set's screens and also later kept videocassette machines running all the time during the meteor showers ... I began TV Dxing in the middle of the nineteen fifties, and was able to log the audio channel of the then on the air BBC One TV from London, when the super active solar cycle 19 sent the monthly sunspot counts to the above 200 mark, something never before again seen ever since....

 Digital Terrestrial Television broadcasts using any of the several available standards are not DX friendly at all, something that has taken its toll, reducing the number of TV Dxers dramatically in every country where the analog blackout takes place....

Nevertheless there are still many nations around the world where the analog TV signals are still on the air and the analog blackout is not expected to take place until a few years from now.

At the end of the show a short form solar activity and HF propagation update. Sunspot number hovering around 140, the solar flux was near 130, and the effective sunspot number was around 85 Tuesday at 15 Hours UTC, add to this that all the active sunspot regions show no signs of powerful magnetic activity. Best HF propagation conditions on the Northern Hemisphere to happen after local sunset and until one hour past sunrise.... So , here is Arnie Coro's advice for short wave listeners and radio amateurs alike if you want to pick up DX stations, stay awake after midnight and go to sleep one hour after your local sunrise !!!

Yes amigos, your signal reports, comments about this and other Radio Havana Cuba programs and radio hobby related questions are most welcome to the following e'mail address: inforhc@enet.cu

inforhc@enet.cu. or VIA AIR MAIL

Arnie Coro, Radio Havana Cuba, Havana, Cuba
(wb, Germany/HCDX)

Update on station closures in 2013

Stations broadcasting on the tropical band, that have closed down during 2013.

kHz kW Station Country Last log

3315 10 NBC Manus, Lorengau Papua New Guinea JAN13
3350 100 R Exterior Espana, Cariari Costa Rica OCT13
3915 1 R Fly, Kiunga Papua New Guinea FEB13
3915 100 BBC, via Kranji Singapore MAR13
3990 15 Gannan PBS, Tianshui, Gansu China MAR13
3995 100 R Pakistan, Rewat, Islamabad Pakistan MAR13
4050 100 R Rossii, Krasnaya Rechka Kyrgyzstan JUN13
4700 100 Voice of Broad Masses, Asmara Eritrea APR13
4750 50 Qinghai PBS-1, Xining, Qinghai China FEB13
4790 10 RRI Fak-Fak, Propinsi Papua Indonesia MAR13
4815 1 R El Buen Pastor, Saraguro Ecuador MAR13
4828 00 Voice of Zimbabwe, Guineafowl Zimbabwe APR13
4940 50 AIR Guwahati A, Assam India MAR13
4960 100 Voice of Russia via Yangiyul Tajikistan DEC13
4974.8 5 Pacifico R, Lima Peru JAN13
5765 3 AFRTS feeder, Barrigada Guam SEP13
(Danish Shortwave Club Intl/June-July 2014)

Weekly propagation forecast bulletins

Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
:Issued: 2014 Jul 28 0505 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 21 - 27 July 2014

Solar activity was at very low levels on 21 - 23 July with several B-class events obsered. Activity increased to low levels on 24 - 27 July with a few weak C-class events recorded. Region 2121 (N07, L=317, class/area Cao/210 on 24 Jul) produced a C2/1f flare at 24/0151 UTC. At 25/0702 UTC, this same region produced a C2/1n flare with an associated Type II radio sweep with an estimated shock
velocity of 1090 km/s. 

26 July saw a C1 x-ray event from Region 2125 (S13, L=266, class/area Cao/040 on 27 Jul) at 0504 UTC. This was followed by a  trio of C1 events from Region 2123 (S14, L=323, class/area Dao/040 on 24 Jul) at 1143 UTC, 1210 UTC and 1320 UTC. The period ended on 27 July with a C2/Sf flare at 0551 UTC from Region 2125 followed by a C1 event from Region 2127 (S08, L=248, class/area Dao/080 on 27
Jul). 

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal levels. 

Geomagnetic field activity was at predominately quiet levels with isolated unsettled periods observed late on 23 July and again early on 25 July. Sustained southward Bz, associated with a solar sector boundary crossing, was responsible for the unsettled periods late on the 23rd while a weak positive polarity coronal hole high speed influenced the magnetic field early on the 25th. 

Solar wind parameters reflected the quiet to isolated unsettled conditions during the summary period. Solar wind speeds ranged from a low of about 270 km/s early in the period, peaking at near 425 km/s midday on 26 July and finishing the period at about 350 km/s. The interplanetary magnetic field Bt ranged from 2 to 8 nT while the Bz component varied between +/- 7 nT. The phi component began the period in a positive (away) orientation, switched to a more negative (towards) sector midday on 21 July and remained so through about 23/1600 UTC when the phi angle became variable through 24/1145 UTC. For the balance of the period, phi settled into a more positive orientation. 

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 28 July - 23 August 2014

Solar activity is expected to be at predominately low levels through the outlook period with a chance for moderate level activity (R1 radio blackouts) from 28 July - 09 August due to the presence of several complex regions on the disk. 

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be normal to isolated moderate levels. 

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at mostly quiet levels for the majority of the outlook period in the abserce of transient features. Unsettled to active conditions are possible associated with high speed solar wind streams on 28 - 29 July, 05 - 06 August, 10 August and 22 August. 

Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt
:Issued: 2014 Jul 28 0505 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 2014-07-28
#
#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest
#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index
2014 Jul 28     130          12          4
2014 Jul 29     135          10          3
2014 Jul 30     135           5          2
2014 Jul 31     140           5          2
2014 Aug 01     140           5          2
2014 Aug 02     140           5          2
2014 Aug 03     135           5          2
2014 Aug 04     135           5          2
2014 Aug 05     130           8          3
2014 Aug 06     125           8          3
2014 Aug 07     120           5          2
2014 Aug 08     115           5          2
2014 Aug 09     110           5          2
2014 Aug 10     105           8          3
2014 Aug 11     100           5          2
2014 Aug 12      95           5          2
2014 Aug 13      90           5          2
2014 Aug 14      90           5          2
2014 Aug 15      90           5          2
2014 Aug 16      95           5          2
2014 Aug 17      95           5          2
2014 Aug 18     100           5          2
2014 Aug 19     105           5          2
2014 Aug 20     105           5          2
2014 Aug 21     105           5          2
2014 Aug 22     100           8          3
2014 Aug 23      95           5          2

(NOAA)

Weekend schedule for VOA Radiogram

Hello friends,

Sorry for the late notice about this weekend’s program. 

It will include two stories about international broadcasting, and one in Russian. For the Cyrillic text to display correctly, use the UTF-8 character set (Fldigi: Configure > Colors & Fonts).

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 69, 26-27 July 2014 (MFSK32):

1:38  Program preview

2:32  Voice of Russia in Washington, with image

6:14  Iranian satellite jamming, with image

10:47  Battery of the future, with image

18:29  VOA Russian on global Internet policy, with image

25:10  Closing announcements

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com .

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

Thanks for your reports from last weekend. I’ll begin to answer them later today.

Please tune in and write in this weekend.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott

Producer and Presenter

VOA Radiogram

PS: The Mighty KBC will transmit a minute of MFSK64 Saturday at about 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz and Sunday at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) in 9925 kHz. Both frequencies are via Germany. Reports for KBC should go to themightykbc@gmail.com .

HLR And Radio Gloria weekend schedule

HLR & R Gloria this weekend

Saturday:
05 - 08 UTC, HLR on 7265 KHz
08 - 11 UTC, HLR on 6190 KHz
11 - 15 UTC, HLR on 7265 KHz

RGI this Sunday
07-2014-27-RGI-BH old/mix

06 -0 8 UTC (8-10) 7265 kc
08 - 10 UTC (10-12) 9485 kc
09 - 10 UTC (11-12) 6005 / 7310 kc

Internet:

09 - 10 UTC (11-12) „shortwaveservice.com“-6005
15 - 17 UTC (17-19)„coloradio.org“and „laut.fm/jukebox“

Repeat: Sunday 10th  August  (laut.fm/jukebox)

Sunday:
11- 15 UTC, HLR on 9485 KHz

Good listening!

73s

Tom Taylor