Winter shortwave monitoring from down under

Special thanks to Bob Padula of Australia for his winter radio monitoring conditions.
Gayle VH

We are now in the second week of winter here in Melbourne, and 9 MHz propagation is splendid across our noon window on 9 MHz, at 0200 UTC. This pattern will continue during our mid-winter period until mid-July.

The 9 MHz band is not as heavily occupied as in the corresponding period of 2011, due to the continuing abandonment of HF radio by an increasing number of broadcasters, leaving plenty of unused spectrum space. There are still plenty of opportunities of studying long-haul multi-hop propagation in this time period, as we progress through Solar Cycle 24, with solar activity now classified as “low” by the Ionospheric Prediction Service in Sydney, NSW.

These are selected observations made on June 11 2012, in the window 0100 to 0230.

9520 ROMANIA RRI Spanish 0200
9525 ROMANIA RRI Romanian 0100
9560 CANADA KBS-Sackville Spanish/English 0200
9580 CUBA CRI-Havana English 0100
9585 CHINA CRI-Kashi Spanish 0200
9605 USA WHRI 0100
9615 IRAN VOIRI Tajik to 0230*
9685 CHINA CNR1 0100
9780 CHILE CVC-Santiago Spanish 0130
9860 USA WHRI English 0215
9885 TAJIKISTAN RFA-Dushanbe Tibetan

Regards from Melbourne!

Bob Padula

Shortwave DX Report from Australia

Special thanks to Bob Padula for sharing his monitoring observations from Australia. What are you hearing from your part of the world ?

As at Feb 28 2012, solar update from IPS, Sydney:

Solar Flux 105
Equivalent smoothed sunspot number 54.

Classified by IPS as low.

Yesterday afternoon, I was in the Warrandyte State Park, 15 km from central Melbourne, about 25 mins drive time from my home here in Mont Albert, and did some propagation research with the little Eton E5 and 3 m of random antenna, from the Jumping Creek Picnic Ground, on the banks of the Yarra.

Plenty of action on 9 MHz and 11 MHz, dominated by longpath signals from Europe, Africa, Middle East, and shortpath from Asia and the Americas.

This is the summary of key occupancies, as noted between 0400 and 0430 (1500 to 1530 local Melbourne summer time)

9410 CYPRUS BBC Somali to 0430*
9490 CHINA PBS-Xizang, Lhasa, English news and features during daytime broadcast
9500 IRAN VOIRI Arabic
9560 CHINA PBS-Xinjiang, Uyghur, via Urumqi, daytime frequency
9655 TURKEY VOT English
9675 COSTA RICA REE Spanish
9705 ETHIOPIA National network
9755 IRAN VOIRI Hebrew to 0430*
9765 ROMANIA RRI Spanish (on late schedule)
9805 IRAN VOIRI Dari
9835 MALAYSIA RTM Kajang Malay
9855 RWANDA DW-Kigali English
9895 IRAN VOIRI Arabic
11620 INDIA Urdu to 0430*
11625 MADAGASCAR Vatican Radio, Talata, French
11640 TAIWAN RTI Chinese
11665 TAIWAN RTI Chinese
11690 S. AFRICA R. Okapi, Meyerton, French
11730 UZBEKISTAN NHK-Tashkent Farsi to 0430*
11765 BRAZIL R. Tupi
11885 TAIWAN RTI Chinese
11870 IRAN VOIRI Hebrew from *0430, dominating co-channel WEWN
11905 CHINA CNR6 Amoy
11925 BRAZIL R . Bandeirantes, rare daytime appearance
11935 CHINA CNR5 Chinese
11940 FRANCE R. Tamasui via Issoudin, Arabic/Sudanese
11950 CHINA PBS Xizang, Lhasa, Chinese
11980 TURKEY VOT Turkish

Some modest action observed on 13 metres:

21480 CHINA Jammers for RFA – RFA not audible! RFA seems to alternate between 21480 and 21495 0300-0600 on different days.
21540 MARIANAS RFA-Tinian Chinese
21570 PHILIPPINES VOA-Tinang, Tibetan
21725 AUSTRALIA RA-Shepparton English (low level signal here, as groundwave from Shepparton

Regards from Melbourne, home of Australian Rules Football!

Bob Padula

Last day of summer DX from Australia

For our friends in the southern hemisphere, looks like they just rounded up their last days of the summer shortwave season. Contributor, Bob Padula sends in his Last Day of Summer DX logs to share with our readers. Thanks, Bob.
Gayle VH

It is now official - Summer has ended and Autumn has commenced!

On the last day of Summer, February 28 2011, I did some propagation research in the 11 MHz band during our Melbourne early afternoon period, with plenty of longpath (darkness) activity from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and shortpath from the Americas and Asia.

In fact, there was evidence of multi-path propagation, which occurs during our early Autumn.

This is a summary of key occupancies as monitored from one of my favourite field sites on the Warrandyte State Park, about 20 km from central Melbourne, between 0330 and 0400 using the Eton E5 and a 3m random antenna tossed into a scrubby tree, not far from the Yarra River!
11640 CHINA CRI-Kashi Hindi
11665 MALAYSIA RTM-Kajang, carrying RTM-Sarawak
11670 CHINA CNR2 Chinese
11695 SRI LANKA DW-Trincomalee English
11710 ARGENTINA RAE French, one of strongest signals in the band!
11735 INDIA AIR Dari
11760 CUBA RHC Spanish
" CHINA CNR1 Chinese, co-channel Cuba
11780 GERMANY VOA-Lampertheim Somali *0330
11815 BRAZIL R. Brasil Central, on extended schedule
11840 INDIA AIR Hindi
12010 CUBA RHC Spanish
12015 SRI LANKA IBB-Iranawala Turkmen
12025 KUWAIT VOA Uzbek
12040 RUSSIA VOR Vladivostok English

Note: Arnie Coro, Technical Manager of Radio Habana Cuba, has asked me whether there is any propagation from Cuba into Melbourne during this time window on 11 MHz - only two outlets noted on this occasion - 11760 (almost buried under co-channel China), and 12010).

Regards from Melbourne!

Bob Padula
Melborne, Australia

Winter DX conditions from down-under

While radio hobbyists in the northern hemisphere are in the midst of summer DX conditions, and contending with high noise levels and such, our friend Bob Padula in Melbourne, Australia is enjoying winter DX conditions. The following is a sampling of what he is monitoring down-under. Geez Bob, we'll have to wait a few months to enjoy the "prime" DX season.
Have fun ... and report often!
Gayle Van Horn

Melbourne is now in the depths of winter, with good snow falls in the Victorian Alpine areas.

The maximum elevation of the sun on June 12 is only 28.8 degrees – sunrise is at 7.30 am (2130 UTC), sunset is at 5.07 pm (0707 UTC) and we are only given 9hrs 34mins of daylight!

Hours of sunlight are now minimal, with good distance signals noted on 6, 7, and 9 MHz throughout our morning, across noon and into the afternoon. These winter propagation eventswill continue until well into July, opening up many opportunities for propagation research and spectrum studies on these bands.

Of particular interest is occupancy in the 6 MHz band from mid-morning until mid-afternoon. This is in the 10 am to 1 pm window, 0000 to 0300 UTC, represented by short path signals from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and longpath from the Americas until around 0100. After 0100, the longpath mode for Europe/ME/Africa dominates, and signals from the Americas come to us via shortpath.

This is the observed spectrum occupancy on 6 and 7 MHz, in the general period 0000 to 0300, on Jun 11 – many interesting signals for the taking!

All tumes UTC

49 metres
---------
5930 CZECH REP R. Prague 0100-0200 var langs
5960 ENGLAND NHK-Skelton, 0000-0020* English
5965 CUBA RHC 0030-0100 Spanish
6010 CANADA R. Sweden via Sackville, 0100-0130 Swedish
6030 USA R. Marti 0100-0300
6055 SPAIN REE 0100-0300 Spanish
6070 CHILE CVC-Santiago 0000-0200 (shortpath throughout across Antarctica)
6100 CANADA RCI-Sackville 0100-0300* var langs
6115 ENGLAND DW-Rampisham 0100-0200 Russian
6145 CANADA NHK-Sackville 0000-0020* English
6150 HUNGARY Hungarian Radio *0100-0200* Hungarian
6165 N. ANTILLES RN-Bonaire 0000-0200 Spanish
6175 CANADA VOV-Sackville 0000-0300

41 metres
---------
7205 RUSSIA BBC-Krasnodar *0100-0200* Hindi
7210 ENGLAND BBC-Rampisham *0300-0330* Swahili
7225 MOLDOVA VOR-Kishinov 0000-0300* Russian
7235 IRAN VOIRI *0130-0230* English
7260 RUSSIA VOR-Serpukov 0000-0300* Russian
7270 ARMENIA VOR-Yerevan 0000-0300* Russian
7270 GERMANY AWR-Wertachtal *0300-0330*African langs
7280 GERMANY R. Farda, Wertachtal *0030-0300 Farsi
7290 GERMANY IBB-Lampertheim *0300-0400* Caucasian
7300 RUSSIA VOR-Serpukhov 0000-0300 Spanish
7305 VATICAN VR-SMG *0030-0300 various langs
7310 ENGLAND DW-Rampisham *0200-0400* German
7315 USA WHRI 0100-0200
7320 ENGLAND BBC-Skelton *0230-0330* Farsi
7325 PORTUGAL RN-Sines *0000-0200* Spanish
7335 VATICAN VR-SMG *0040-0300 var langs
7345 CZECH REP. R. Prague 0000-0300 var langs
7350 CHINA CRI-Kashi 0000-0100* English
7360 VATICAN VR-SMG *0230-0330* French English
7365 USA R. Marti, Greenville 0000-0300 Spanish
7365 ROMANIA RRI *0100-0200* French
7385 USA WHRI 0000-0100
7390 RUSSIA VOR-St. Petersburg 0100-0300* Russian
7400 BULGARIA R. Sofia 0000-0300 var langs
7425 ALBANIA R. Tirana *0230-0300* English
7430 SRI LANKA IBB-Iranawela 0000-0030* Burmese
7440 UKRAINE RUI 0000-0300 var langs
7460 MOLDOVA R. Bahei, Kishinov *0230-0330* Farsi
7465 USA WWCR 0000-0100
7475 GREECE VOG 0000-0300 Greek

These propagation modes will continue until the end of July.

Regards from Melbourne!

Bob Padula
(photo of Bob Padula in his shack)

Australian DX Report # 151 available for download

The 151st Episode of the Australian DX Report is now available - a weekly audio news magazine with news and information about shortwave broadcasting, propagation, monitoring notes and schedule updates.

It's 15 mins, and may be downloaded from the Website of the Australian Internet Radio Service, at http://airm.edxp.org/

The site allows you to listen to the ADXR and other audio features directly (streaming audio) via your MP3 player, or via the site's embedded mini-player. Podcasts, iTunes capability, full RSS/XML/Atom feeds, and free subscriptions are supported - full details are at the site.

The ADXR is compiled from the resources of the Electronic DX Press Radio Monitoring Association.

Your comments and feedback are particularly important!

You can also hear the episodes on-air, via WWCR Nashville, every Sunday at 0200-0215 on 5070 and on Mondays 1145-1200 on 15825. The WWCR release is also available as streaming-audio, live, from http://wwcr.com/

Good listening to the Australian DX Report Episode No. 151!
(Bob Padula, Melbourne, Australia)

Terrible Week for Australia

Our thoughts and prayers continue for those in Australia who have been affected by the bushfires in Victoria, and especially the brave firefighters. 3AW (693 AM) continues to cover the latest as we've been following this week. You can follow the latest via straming audio at: http://www.3aw.com.au/

Our friend and colleage Bob Padula, a resident of Melbourne, Victoria, weighs in with the following.

The ABC has expanded its coverage of the Victorian Bushfire Disaster.

This originates from the ABC's Melbourne studios at Southbank, primarily on 774 AM, and includes frequent reports from many agencies and authorities, including CFA, DSE, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Ambulance, the Army, Wildlife Services, and many other organizations.

The Bushfire Coverage includes on-location broadcasts from various Relief Centres, such as at Healesville, Yea, and Whittlesea.

ABC Regional outlets on AM and FM break for local reports at various times.

ABC Newsradio services are also carrying the Melbourne broadcasts for Australia-wide coverage.

Good quality streaming audio of ABC Melbourne is available at

http://www.abc.net.au/local/internet_radio/

Forget about Radio Australia, which has a pathetically small ongoing coverage of this disaster.

(Bob Padula)