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Saturday, September 30, 2017

From the Isle of Music and Uncle Bill's Melting Pot schedules, October 1-7


From the Isle of Music, Oct 1-7:
This week, our special guest is drummer/composer/bandleader Ruly Herrera, whose album Real Project won the Cubadisco Award in 2017 in the Jazz Ensembles category. We'll talk about the project and listen to some of the album. Also, we will listen to some of two other Cubadisco nominees.
Four opportunities to listen on shortwave:
1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including parts of East Asia and Oceania) 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 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
From the Isle of Music is not available for listening on demand but some broadcasts can be heard online during the time of the broadcast using Web SDRs or the WBCQ website (during their broadcast) if you are not receiving the radio signal.


Playing with FYROM:
Episode 30 of
Uncle Bill's Melting Pot will be mostly some great music from The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (or FYROM). Some of the best folkloric music in the world comes from there.
Sunday, October 1 at 2200-2230 UTC (6:00pm-6:30pm EDT US) on WBCQ 7490 Khz, right after Marion's Attic, and right before a rebroadcast of Ramsey's Furthermore 29/54 and then Harry Shearer's Le Show.  Check us all out, and you'll have no reason to complain about what's on....

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

Friday, September 29, 2017

Shortwave Radiogram, weekend schedule


Hello friends,
This weekend, for a change, we will not be monitoring hurricanes, except for any remnants of Maria and Lee heading east across the Atlantic Ocean. 

Shortwave Radiogram this weekend will be all in MFSK32. It includes six images – one of which is actually a combination of two satellite photos.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 15, 30 September and 1 October 2017, all in MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz:

  1:27  Program preview

 2:38  US/Russian deep space gateway*

 7:22  Fifty radio amateurs deployed to Puerto Rico*

12:28  BBC World Service launches Korean service*

17:41  Highest-capacity transatlantic data cable completed*

23:20  Anatoly Karpov and his radio*

25:30  Closing announcements
* with image

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Twitter: @SWRadiogram
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/567099476753304


Shortwave Radiogram Transmission Schedule

Saturday
1600-1630 UTC
9400 kHz
Space Line, Bulgaria
Sunday
0600-0630 UTC
7730 kHz
WRMI Florida
Sunday
2030-2100 UTC
11580 kHz
WRMI Florida
Sunday
2330-2400 UTC
11580 kHz
WRMI Florida

 The Mighty KBC transmits to Europe Saturdays at 1500-1600 UTC on 9400 kHz (via Bulgaria), with the minute of MFSK at about 1530 UTC (if you are outside of Europe, listen via websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ ).  And to North America Sundays at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 8-10 pm EDT) on new 5960 kHz, via Germany. The minute of MFSK is at about 0130 UTC.  Reports to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/

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

 Thanks for your reception reports!  I am still answering reports from program 6 during this weekend.
Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB
Producer and Presenter
Shortwave Radiogram


Universe Radio slated for special broadcast

Universe Radio 
On September 30, 2017, Universe Radio will make a special HF broadcast to celebrate it's fifth year  anniversary.

A QSL card will be available.

Universe Radio is a daily, 24 hour internet music station. We play a mix of old and new hits and mix that with independent music.

The program on September 30, will be a mix of music and "look back"  on the last five years.

The transmit schedule: Times UTC
0900-13oo - 15230 kHz (CJSC Gavar Armenia site 100 kW)
1000-1500 - 9330 kHz (WBCQ Monticello-ME-USA site 50 kW)
1400-1800 - 6070 kHz (Ingolstadt Rohrbach Germany site 100 kW)

Met vriendelijke groet,
Michiel Bouwmeester
Wilhelminalaan 51
4872 BW Etten-Leur, The Netherlands
www.universeradio.nl

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

North Korea ‘aggressively jamming’ BBC’s new Korean service

North Korean jamming BBC World Service 5810 kHz - 27 Sept. 2017
You Tube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui64vGN-54k

The BBC's new Korean-language service is being "aggressively targeted" by North Korean jamming of its broadcasts.

The service was launched on Monday (September 25) and delivers a mixture of global news, sport and radio features to the whole of the Korean Peninsula for a three-hour window that starts at midnight local time.

Broadcasts are going out on two shortwave frequencies, from Taiwan and Tashkent, while the hour-long segment from 1am is relayed on medium wave from Mongolia, according to a report on the 38 North website, operated by the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

 Full article at The Telegraph:
North Korea 'aggressively' jamming BBC's new Korean-language service
(BDXC)

U.K.(non) Second day for BBC Korean Service to North Korea - Sept.26
1530-1830 on 5810 TAC 100 kW / 068 deg to NEAs Korean, fair+ jamming
 1530-1830 on 9940*TSH 300 kW / 002 deg to NEAs Korean, fair to good
1630-1730 on 1431 CHO 500 kW / 150 deg to NEAs Korean
*from 1800 on 9940 KCH 300 kW / 157 deg to EaAf TWR Africa co-channel
 On this frequencies until Oct.28. From Oct.29 will be:
1530-1830 on 5810 TAC 100 kW / 068 deg to NEAs Korean
1530-1830 on 5830 TSH 300 kW / 002 deg to NEAs Korean
1630-1730 on 1431 CHO 500 kW / 150 deg to NEAs Korean
(DX Bulgaria/27 Sept)

 Codes:
CHO       Mongolia
KCH        Grigoripol, Maiac, Moldovia (district of self-proclaimed state‎: ‎Transnistria)
TAC        Tashkent, Uzbekistan
TSH        Tanshui, Taiwan

Monday, September 25, 2017

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins


Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
:Issued: 2017 Sep 25 0425 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 18 - 24 September 2017
Solar activity was at very low levels with a few B-class flares observed. Old active Region 2673 (S09, L=119), a major flare producer on its previous transit, returned on 24 Sep and was
numbered 2682 (S09, L=127, Hsx/180 on 24 Sep). No Earth-directed CMEs were detected during the period. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at high levels throughout the period with a maximum flux of 36,942 pfu observed at 22/1655 UTC.

Geomagnetic field activity began the period on 18 Sep at mostly unsettled to G1 (Minor) storm conditions under the influence of a positive polarity CH HSS. During the 18th, solar wind speeds peaked at near 720 km/s, total field ranged between 2-6 nT while the Bz component varied between +5 nT to -6 nT. Quiet to unsettled conditions prevailed on 19-20 Sep under waning CH HSS influence. Mostly quiet conditions, with isolated unsettled intervals, were observed from 21-24 Sep. Beginning on 19 Sep, solar wind exhibited a steady decline in speed to a low of about 320 km/s at 24/2100 UTC. Thereafter, and through the remainder of 24 Sep, solar wind speed increased to near 415 km/s, total field peaked at 10 nT while the Bz component varied between +6 nT to -9 nT. A SSBC from a positive to a negative orientation was observed at about 24/1905 UTC.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 25 September - 21 October 2017
Solar activity is expected to be at low levels, with a slight chance for M-class activity (R1-R2, Minor-Moderate), from 25 Sep - 07 Oct and from 20-21 Oct. This is primarily due to the flare potential
from Region 2682. Mostly very low levels are expected from 08-19 Oct.  No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 26-27 Sep, 28 Sep - 09 Oct and 12-21 Oct due to CH HSS influence. Normal to moderate levels are
expected for the remainder of the outlook period.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at unsettled to active levels on 26 Sep and 30 Sep, with G1 (Minor) storm conditions are expected on 27 Sep, 29 Sep and 11-14 Oct while G2 (Major) storm
conditions are expected on 28 Sep, all due to recurrent CH HSS activity. Mostly quiet conditions are expected for the remainder of the outlook period.

Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt
:Issued: 2017 Sep 25 0425 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 2017-09-25
#
#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest
#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index
2017 Sep 25      90          16          4
2017 Sep 26      95           8          3
2017 Sep 27      95          25          5
2017 Sep 28      95          32          6
2017 Sep 29      95          25          5
2017 Sep 30      95          12          4
2017 Oct 01      95           8          3
2017 Oct 02      95           8          3
2017 Oct 03      95           8          3
2017 Oct 04      95           5          2
2017 Oct 05      95           5          2
2017 Oct 06      95           5          2
2017 Oct 07      90           5          2
2017 Oct 08      85           5          2
2017 Oct 09      76           5          2
2017 Oct 10      75           5          2
2017 Oct 11      74          25          5
2017 Oct 12      73          25          5
2017 Oct 13      72          25          5
2017 Oct 14      72          20          5
2017 Oct 15      72           8          3
2017 Oct 16      71           8          3
2017 Oct 17      74           5          2
2017 Oct 18      73           5          2
2017 Oct 19      78           5          2
2017 Oct 20      80           5          2
2017 Oct 21      85           5          2
(NOAA)

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Early Wireless Stations in India

Research into the early usage of wireless communication in Morse code indicates that India was one of the very first countries in the world to establish wireless stations for the practical conveyance of important messages.  The first cluster of these early wireless stations in India was installed on the eastern edge of the Indian sub-continent in what is now the state of West Bengal, and the era was way back during the very early 1900s.
Saugo Island Lighthouse
            Saugo Island is a large mainly silt island that lies at the eastern edge of the Hooghly River in the delta areas south of the massive city of Calcutta-Kolkata.  During the past 40 years or more, something like half of the island has been washed away, due to storms and rising ocean levels.

            As a matter of interest, the Saugor Island Lighthouse became famous in 1934 when a rocket containing special postal mail exploded overhead.  Most of the scattered items of postal mail were recovered, and the lighthouse keeper postmarked them in the lighthouse.

             But, back to the wireless scene . . . what would now be described as a primitive spark wireless station was installed on Saugor Island in 1902.  It would be suggested that this new wireless station was installed at the lighthouse on Saugor Island. The antenna system was attached to a mast standing 120 feet tall.

             Two way communication in Morse code was achieved between Saugor Island and another equally primitive wireless station that was installed on a government control ship, the Eastern Channel Lightship, in 1902.  This ship was stationed further out into the Bay of Bengal at Sandheads, a cluster of low mainly silt islands near which was the gathering point for incoming shipping. 

            These ships were awaiting the small pilot vessel to take them one by one into the wharves at the city of Calcutta.  Initially, the wireless call sign on board the Lightship was ROS, though subsequently the call was changed to VWS. 

            Two years later (1904), new and upgraded equipment was installed on Saugor Island; and additionally, a new set of equipment was also installed on a newly built pilot vessel that had just been obtained from England, the Fraser.

            Give a few more years, and another wireless station was installed at Diamond Harbour in the waterways of Calcutta itself.  This station was moved soon afterwards to nearby Budge Budge, and subsequently again, to Calcutta South.  

            The original call sign of this Calcutta station was ROC, though soon afterwards it became WCA.  However, another change of call sign provided what has since become a permanent call sign for the maritime communication station in the Calcutta-Kolkata area, the now well known VWC.  This station is still on the air to this day, with weather information, time signals, and shipping communication.

            In August 1904, another set of three wireless stations was installed across the other side of the Bay of Bengal.  These three stations were installed at Diamond Island in Burma-Myanmar;Table Island in the Andamans; and Port Blair, also in the Andamans.

            The key station in this threesome was located on Diamond Island, Burma which is not to be confused with Diamond Harbour in Calcutta.  This Burmese station was installed on Diamond Island which is located at the delta mouths of the Irrawaddy River, and it was intended for communication with Port Blair in the Andaman Islands.

            The original 1904 transmitter on Diamond Island was rated, strange as it may seem to us today, at ½ hp horse power, though in March of the following year (1905) a 3 hp transmitter was installed.  The original calls ign for the Diamond Island wireless station was ROD, and this was changed to VTD around the time when World War 1 began (1914).

            Initially, the location for the destination wireless station in this threesome was intended to be Ross Island, just three miles east of Port Blair on South Andaman Island.  At the time, the British administration of the Andaman Islands was located on Ross Island.

            However, an assessment study demonstrated that there was no suitable location for the wireless antenna system on small Ross Island, so the project was transferred to the “mainland” on South Andaman Island.  The actual location for the Port Blair wireless station was at Aberdeen, immediately north of the women’s prison.

            Initially, the wireless equipment was installed temporarily in a small cluster of tents.  The first transmitter for Port Blair was rated at ½ hp, and the allotted call sign was ROP.  During a series of test transmissions on November 1, 1904, station ROP was heard clearly with a set of similar equipment aboard the ship Minto in Port Blair Harbour.  Nearly 8 weeks later on December 22 (1904), direct communication was achieved between stations ROP Port Blair and ROD Diamond Island.

            In January (1905), construction work was completed on the brick buildings for the wireless station at Port Blair and the electrical equipment was transferred from the tents into the new substantial facility.  In March (1905), a new 3 hp transmitter was also installed here at Port Blair.  The Port Blair call sign was also changed around the time when World War began (1914) and ROP became VTP. 

            Back during that same era, an intermediate relay station between ROD Diamond Island and ROP Port Blair was installed on a small island in the lengthy chain of islands that run down south from the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar to Sumatra in Indonesia.  Generally speaking, the intermediate relay station was identified as Table Island, though in reality it was installed on the much smaller Slipper Island.  

            Strangely, there are two small islands in this same chain of islands that are identified on the map as Table Island; and back then, the location for each was given as the Andaman Islands.  One Table Island is located just off the east coast of North Andaman Island.  This Table Island is a mile long; it is less than a quarter mile wide; it is shaped like the Australian boomerang; it has never been inhabited; and there never was a historic wireless station on that island.

            The other Table Island is in the Coco Islands belonging to Burma, not in the Andaman Islands belonging to India.  However back then, all of the islands in the chain of islands running down south from the Irrawaddy delta in Burma/Myanmar towards the island of Sumatra in Indonesia were known as the Andamans.  And in addition, during the earlier colonial era, Burma itself was administered as part of British India.    

            This Table Island is an irregularly shaped island that is situated a little north of Great Coco Island.  An iron lighthouse was installed on the southwest edge of Table Island in 1867, and it can still be seen on Google Earth to this day.

            Slipper Island is a very small island to the west of Table Island and it is connected by a sand bar that is above water level at low tide. On November 30, 1904, a small party of wireless personnel arrived at this Table Island in order to choose a suitable location for the intermediate wireless relay station.  However, they chose Slipper Island instead because it was as far west as possible.

            On January 11 of the next year (1905), installation of the new wireless station, the ½ hp transmitter under the call sign ROI, was completed, and next day Morse Code communication was made with station ROD Diamond Island.  Three weeks later on January 30 (1905), all three stations achieved satisfactory intercommunication in Morse Code: ROD Diamond Island, ROI Slipper Island, and ROP Port Blair. 

            As with Diamond Island and Port Blair, a new 3 hp transmitter was installed on Slipper Island in March (1905), and Slipper Island was given a new call sign in 1914; ROI became VTT.

            That was the story of the wireless stations in East India during the era before World War 1.  When the war began (August 1914) there were 5 wireless stations in two different networks in regular service in the Bay of Bengal area:-  

1. VWC Calcutta, VWS Sandheads
2. VTD Diamond Island, VTT Slipper-Table Island (Andamans), VTP Port Blair
(AWR-Wavescan 448)
                                   


The Radio Scene on the Island of Goats


            On several previous occasions here in Wavescan, we have presented a series of topics on the progressive development of wireless and radio on the island of Guam in the western Pacific. Currently, Guam is the focus of world attention, due to aggressive threats that have been made against the island by the country of North Korea on the Asian mainland.

            Many months ago, we began this lengthy series of topics on the radio scene on the island of Guam, and our first topic was the story of their first longwave wireless station, a navy wireless station that was inaugurated in 1906 under the informal callsign UK. That callsign, UK, was subsequently regularized to NPN.  During this consecutive series of historic topics, we have presented the story of many wireless and radio stations on Guam, including the two Gospel shortwave stations, Adventist World Radio KSDA and Trans World Radio KTWR.

            On this occasion, here in Wavescan, we return to the radio scene on the island of Guam for episode number 16. Today’s story is presented under the title: The Radio Scene on the Island of Goats.

            Actually,  there are several islands in various places around the world that have been given the name Island of Goats or Goat Island.  Back during the era of European exploration across the wide oceans upon planet Earth, there were several occasions when a few goats (or sheep or pigs) were dropped off on a small island somewhere so that they could multiply and serve as a food source for subsequent explorers traversing the same wide spread ocean expanses. 

            Apparently Cabras Island on the edge of Guam was one such location where a Spanish galleon dropped off a few goats, a few hundred years ago. The Spanish word for Goat is Cabra. 

            Cabras Island in the Central Pacific, the Island of Goats, is a small low island at the end of a narrow reef causeway that extends from the central west coast of the larger island Guam.  The causeway and the small island form the northern arm of Apra Harbor, a location that the Japanese armies defended vigorously around the middle of the year 1944. 

            Early in the following year (1945), the Americans began work on the installation of a Coast Guard radio station on Guam’s Cabras Island. The electronic equipment was installed in a small corner of what was called an Elephant Quonset Hut, a large semi-circular steel two storied prefabricated hut. 

            Coast Guard radio station NRV was soon taken into regular service with a staff of just four operators.  Station NRV was in use for communication with local shipping, and with the small Chain of American LORAN navigation stations in the western Pacific.

            Some 18 years later, Coast Guard Radio NRV was enlarged and upgraded, with new electronic equipment, though still at the same location in the Elephant Quonset Hut.  Around this same era, there was a major earthquake off the coast of Japan, with the threat of a tsunami along the coast of Guam.  The communication radio station NRV was temporarily abandoned due to its low lying location, though subsequent information demonstrated that this had not been necessary.

            Two years later (1965), the NRV Coast Guard communication station was transferred  from Cabras Island into ground level rooms in Building 150 in the Naval Communication Station NPN at Finegayan.  This new location for NRV was very close to the cave that the famous American escapee George Tweed survived in during the era of Japanese occupation.

            The transmitters in use for station NRV were part of the naval transmitter complex at Barrigada, and usually NRV communicated in Morse Code on shortwave via one of the 1 kW AN/FRT-70 transmitters.  There was a buried cable running from Building 150 to Building 112, and then a microwave relay carried the electronic signals to the navy transmitter station.

            Ten years later again (1975), Coast Guard NRV was moved upstairs in the same Building 150 at Naval Base Communications.  The receiver equipment was also installed in this same Building 150.

            However, give almost two more decades (1994), and the operation of Coast Guard Radio NRV on Guam was transferred and remotely controlled from Coast Guard NMO in Hawaii and also from NMC at Point Reyes in California.  The use of Morse Code was finally dropped during the next year, on April 1, 1995.

            However, current information available on the internet indicates that callsign NRV is still in use on Guam to this day.  Station NRV is still available for communication in the usual way by aircraft and shipping coming and going in the Guam area.  We might add that Coast Guard Radio NRV on Guam readily verified listener reception reports in the past.

            On the next occasion when we visit the radio scene on Guam in the western Pacific, we plan to present information about the NORAD navigation radio station which was installed on another nearby small island, known as Cocos Island. 
(AWR Wavescan 447)

BBC World Service continues with new expansions for Ethiopia and Eritrea


Three new language services for Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the diaspora are being launched today by the BBC World Service as part of its biggest expansion since the 1940s.
BBC News in Amharic, Afaan Oromo and Tigrinya will be available online and on Facebook. This will be followed later in the year with shortwave radio services in each language consisting of a 15-minute news and current affairs program, followed by a 5-minute Learning English program, from Monday to Friday.
The new BBC services will provide impartial news, current affairs and analysis of Ethiopia and Eritrea as well as regional and international news. Boosting the BBC’s operation in the Horn of Africa will also provide the rest of the BBC’s global audience with a better understanding of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Programs will target a younger audience with social media playing a key role. In addition to news and current affairs, there will be extensive coverage of culture, entertainment, entrepreneurship, science & technology, health and sport - including the English Premier League.
These services will benefit from a growing network of journalists across the region and around the world.
Francesca Unsworth, BBC World Service Director, says: “The BBC World Service brings independent, impartial news to audiences around the world, especially in places where media freedom is limited. I’m delighted we’re extending our service to millions of people in Ethiopia, Eritrea and the diaspora worldwide.”
Will Ross, Editorial Lead for Africa, says: “We know that there is a great deal of hunger for audiences in Ethiopia and Eritrea to access a broad range of high quality content in Amharic, Afaan Oromo and Tigrinya. It has been a privilege to work with Ethiopian and Eritrean journalists who are so keen to learn new skills and to ensure the new language services are a success.”
BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/world-service-ethiopia-eritrea

Saturday, September 23, 2017

From the Isle of Music & Uncle Bill's Melting Pot , schedules September 24-30


From the Isle of Music, Sept 24-30

Electric 60s-70s
Most of this episode will be dedicated to some very interesting Cuban Rock and dance bands in the 60s and 70s, including some groups that were very popular in Cuba but little-known in other countries except among close followers of the music then.
Four opportunities to listen on 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 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
From the Isle of Music is not available for listening on demand but some broadcasts can be heard online during the time of the broadcast using Web SDRs or the WBCQ website (during their broadcast) if you are not receiving the radio signal.


Adults Mostly......
Send the kids out in the yard to play this week, on Episode 29 of
Uncle Bill's Melting Pot, we are going to listen to some classic Party records (if you are of a certain age, you know what those are) with a little bit of Greece on the side. Sunday, September 24 at 2200-2230 UTC (6:00pm-6:30pm EDT US) on WBCQ 7490 kHz right after Marion's Attic, and right before a rebroadcast (we think) of Ramsey's Furthermore 29/54. Check us all out - if we're going to Hell, we want company!

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

Friday, September 22, 2017

VOA Mediumwave Stations in the Florida Keys


On a previous occasion here in Wavescan, we presented the story of the short term VOA medium wave relay station that was established on Garden Island in the cluster of keys known as the Dry Tortugas, in the chain of small islands known as the Florida Keys.  This station was subsequently reinstalled on Sugarloaf Key.  The 50 kW transmitter for this station came from the medium wave broadcast station WBAL in Baltimore Maryland, and it operated in the Florida Keys under VOA on 1040 kHz from 1962 to 1966.

            Over a period of time, there were two other radio transmitters in the Dry Tortugas Islands and these were installed on Garden Island and Loggerhead Key.  The seven keys and associated islets and rocks in the Dry Tortugas are these days clustered together into a United States National Park at the western end of the Florida Keys. 

            Wireless station RF was installed in Fort Jefferson on Garden Island in 1902, and it was in use for just seven years.  The reason for its closure was the difficulty in providing logistical support for personnel serving on the isolated Garden Key, and also the cost of providing all of this necessary support.

            There was another radio station in the Dry Tortugas, and this was installed in the Radio Room at the base of the Dry Tortugas Lighthouse on Loggerhead Key, three miles west of Fort Jefferson.  The Dry Tortugas Lighthouse on Loggerhead Key stood 150 ft tall and its light could be seen 35 miles distant.

            The first radio beacon in Florida, as a wireless guide for passing shipping, was established on Loggerhead Key on December 21, 1927.  A small communication transmitter was installed in the Radio Room at the lighthouse and this was on the air on 3410 kHz under the callsign WST.

            Another VOA medium wave relay station was installed on Sister’s Creek Island in Marathon Key and it was taken into regular service on November 12, 1962.  This VOA station was made up of three transportable vans with a three tower antenna array, and the normal operating frequency of its 50 kW transmitter was 1180 kHz.  However, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the previous month of October, this station was temporarily on the air on 1040 kHz, the same channel as the other VOA station on Garden Island.

            During the year 1982, the United States navy constructed another 50 kW medium radio station  with four antenna towers at its communication center on Saddlebunch Key.  Seven years later, during a massive rebuilding of the VOA station on Sister’s Island-Marathon Key, the Saddlebunch station took over the regular VOA-Radio Marti programming that was beamed to Cuba..

            During the Cuban crisis, which was precipitated by the collapse of the Soviet Union two years later in 1991, approval was granted for the usage of the full power output of 100 kW from VOA Marathon.  The output from the twin 50 kW Continental transmitters was combined to provide the power level of 100 kW.

            A new transmitter complement at 100 kW was installed in 2008, and during the following year new antenna towers were erected.

            In our two part series on the medium wave VOA relay stations in the Florida Keys, we have presented the story of four different stations.  These have been:-

Garden Key                50 kW  1040 kHz        1962 Oct  till    1962 Dec        WBAL transmitter
 Sugarloaf Key             50        1040                1963 Jan         1966                WBAL transmitter
 Marathon Key             50        1180                1962 Nov        1989                Sister’s Creek Island
                                   100        1180                1996                2017                Rebuilt station
Saddlebunch Key       50        1180                1989                1996                Marathon rebuild        
(AWR-Wavescan/NWS 446)

Radio Mi Amigo to broadcast on September 24


Hello to all Radio Mi Amigo International friends,
Another high-power broadcast, is scheduled for this Sunday, September 24, 2017.
                                         
We will play Soul/Tamla Motown as requested from the listeners.

The "host" of the show will be our 'Soulman' Bruno Hantson together with Keith Lewis and Bob James

Schedule:
September, 24 from 1700-1900 UTC, with 100 KW of power, in the 25 meter band on 11845 kHz, and online webstreams:http://radiomiamigointernational.com

 .....Coming Soon..........
At the end of October there will be another 'high power' broadcast ! (in the 1st hour more of your soul-requests)

....also we will welcome two more "big names" from the Netherlands in our team who worked on offshore-stations in the 70s and 80s

 Don't forget to listen every day from 09-19hr CET on 6085 kHz and 24/7 online to the 'one and only' original Radio Mi Amigo International !

Kind regards
Cpt. Kord and the whole team
http://radiomiamigointernational.com

Shortwave Radiogram schedule , September 23-24


Saturn was looking good last Sunday at 2355 UTC, until I broke the transmitter on 11580 kHz. Fortunately, it came back on the air a few minutes later. Thanks to Carlos in Illinois for decoding and posting this image.
Hello friends,
Last weekend, Shortwave Radiogram was transmitted during three of its four time slots, despite hurricane damage to the antennas at WRMI. Because WRMI’s ftp server was not working, we needed to use an alternative method to upload the show to the station. The broadcasts on 11580 kHz were successful, except for a short break in transmission during the Cassini Saturn image (see above).

 On the WRMI Facebook page, Jeff White reports that all the station’s frequencies are back on the air except for 15770 kHz, the antenna for which suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Irma. Thanks to these quick repairs by the WRMI team, Shortwave Radio should be back to its full schedule this weekend.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 14, 23-24 September 2017, all in MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz:dddedd

 1:31  Program preview

 2:44  Nanosat fleet proposed for voyage to 300 asteroids*

 9:33  Acorns: little nuts with big impact*

14:58  Smoke from western North America fires reaches Europe*

20:59  Rockwell Collins to be sold to United Technologies

23:27  Drawings recall Soviet era in Ukraine*

27:26  Closing announcements

 * with image
Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Twitter: @SWRadiogram



Shortwave Radiogram Transmission Schedule

Saturday
1600-1630 UTC
9400 kHz
Space Line, Bulgaria
Sunday
0600-0630 UTC
7730 kHz
WRMI Florida
Sunday
2030-2100 UTC
11580 kHz
WRMI Florida
Sunday
2330-2400 UTC
11580 kHz
WRMI Florida

 The Mighty KBC transmits to Europe Saturdays at 1500-1600 UTC on 9400 kHz (via Bulgaria), with the minute of MFSK at about 1530 UTC (if you are outside of Europe, listen via websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ ).  And to North America Sundays at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 8-10 pm EDT) on new 5960 kHz, via Germany. (But also try 5960-5970, 6100, 6105, or 6125-6135 kHz, in case there are last minute changes.) The minute of MFSK is at about 0130 UTC.  Reports to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/


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

 Thanks for your reception reports!  I am still answering reports from program 6 during this weekend.
Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB
Producer and Presenter
Shortwave Radiogram