Saturday, October 28, 2017

From the Isle of Music and Uncle Bill's Melting Pot schedules


From the Isle of Music, October 29-November 4:
This week, our guest is the extraordinary percussionist, bandleader, composer and educator Ruy López-Nussa, whose DVD Repercusiones was nominated in the Espectáculo Musical Audiovisual (Live Musical Performance) category of Cubadisco 2017. If you are a fan of Jazz, percussion or both, you will love this episode.
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.

Polka Party!
Episode 34 of 
Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot will be a New Ulm, Minnesota-style Polka Party. New Ulm was the epicenter of a distinct Polka sound that swings. If you think you don’t like Polkas, this might make you a convert.
Sunday, October 29 at 2200-2230 UTC (6:00pm-6:30pm EDT US) on WBCQ 7490 Khz, for the Americas and parts of Europe.

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

Friday, October 27, 2017

Shortwave Radiogram weekend schedule





Hello friends,



Many shortwave broadcasting stations will change frequencies this weekend, but the frequencies and UTC times of the four Shortwave Radiogram transmissions remain the same, and least for the time being. See the schedule below.



Thank you to everyone who participated in last weekend’s test of the ISO-8859-5 character set. If you have not done so, you might want to change your Fldigi character set back to UTF-8, as that the character set we will be using most often. 



For the most part, we were able to speed up the transmission of Russian text. For some listeners, the Cyrillic characters did not display, even after changing to ISO-8859-5. This might be due to the lack of a necessary font in the operating system.



From analysis by Roger in Germany, we learn that the use of ISO-8859-5 “in Internet and in other practice is very limited.” So in our future experiments with Russian and other Cyrillic alphabets, we might try the CP1251 or KOI8 character sets instead.



This weekend on Shortwave Radiogram, all content will be in MFSK32, with six images, and no unusual character sets.



Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 19, 28-29 October 2017 all in MFSK32:



 1:26  Program preview

 2:31  Origami for space engineering*

 9:18  Twitter bans RT and Sputnik ads*

14:18  Tennessee Radio Shack hosts ham license classes*

17:07  Defense Department interoperability exercise*

22:57  World Series 2017*

25:52  Closing announcements*



* with image



Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.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 MFSK32 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 5960 kHz, via Germany. The minute of MFSK32 is at about 0130 UTC.  Reports to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/



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:



To Europe:

WEDNESDAY 20-20.30 UTC 1584 KHZ

THURSDAY 03-03.30 UTC 1584 KHZ

SATURDAY 21-21.30 UTC 1584 KHZ

SUNDAY 11.30-12 UTC 6070 KHZ



To the Americas (from 6 November):

TUESDAY 01-01.30 UTC 11580 KHZ

FRIDAY 02-02.30 UTC 9955 KHZ

SATURDAY 01.30-02 UTC 11580 KHZ

SUNDAY 00.30-01 UTC 7730 KHZ



Thanks for your reception reports! 



Kim



Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB

Producer and Presenter







Evolution of Radio Callsigns

During the 1800s, the wire network of telegraph stations continued to expand in many different countries around the world, and usually each telegraph station adopted its own identification letters, usually two letters in the relevant alphabet.  It was much quicker and easier to tap out two letters in Morse Code rather than to spell out the geographic name of the location, particularly where very long names were involved.

            In 1872, it was decreed by maritime regulatory organizations that each ship should identify itself with four letters in the English alphabet.  Thus it was a simple matter for the flagmen on each ship to spell out the ship’s identification with four alphabet flags, rather than spelling out in full the long name of the ship in flag language. 

            When wireless stations began to proliferate right at the end of the 1800s, each wireless station adopted its own callsign, generally made up of two letters.  For example,  CC Cape Cod, PH San Francisco.   

            The signing of protocols at the Second Wireless Telegraphy Convention in Berlin took place on November 3, 1906 and these documents required that ship callsigns should consist of a group of three letters.

            In 1908, the Marconi company in England required that all Marconi wireless stations on land and at sea should begin with the letter M followed by two additional letters for local identification.  For example,  MCC Cape Cod, MGY the SS Titanic.   

            On June 4, 1912 the papers were signed at the International Telegraphic Conference in London and one of the protocols was that each country throughout the world was allocated a cluster of letters in the English alphabet with which to identify their respective wireless stations.  For example, wireless callsigns in Great Britain would begin with the letter B or G or M, and callsigns in France with the letter F, and American callsigns could begin with N or W, or with K beginning at KDA. 

            On May 9, 1913, the United States implemented its own system of callsigns (ultimately within the framework of its own internationally allocated alphabetic letters).  The country was divided into nine wireless districts and thus local coverage stations were granted callsigns that comprised a number followed by two letters.  Examples: 2XG New York, 3XZ Washington DC.

            An international designator was added subsequently and the number of letters after the number was increased to three.  Examples: W2XAD Schenectady NY, W9XAA Chicago.  The X in these callsigns indicated experimental.  Four letter callsigns for mediumwave stations were introduced in 1920 (KDKA), and similar four letter callsigns for shortwave were introduced in 1939 (KGEI, WRUL).

            Soon after the end of World War 1, medium wave stations began to proliferate worldwide.  Within continental Europe for example, Germany was granted the prefix number 4, Switzerland was granted 9, and Great Britain was granted 2 5 and 6 as the initial numbers for their callsigns.   However, there seems to be no categorized cluster for the use of 2 5 and 6 in Great Britain, not in chronological order nor in geographic order.

            Australia followed a similar pattern, and each state was granted a prefix number, followed by two letters for the station identification, such as for example: 2GB Sydney New South Wales, 5DN Adelaide South Australia, 7NT Northern Tasmania, 9PA Port Moresby Papua New Guinea.
(AWR-Wavescan/NWS)

Shortwave broadcasting in the Caribbean Islands


         At the present time, relief and recovery are underway on the many islands in the Caribbean that were devastated by the recent string of hurricanes that swept through the area.  However at the same time, there is a lot of turmoil and chaos due to the destruction of so much of the basic infrastructure in these islands, with the lack of availability of necessities and commodities, such as food, water, gasoline,  electricity, and even satisfactory accommodation.  

            In today’s edition of the AWR DX program Wavescan, we again focus on the radio scene in the Caribbean as a tribute to the people who live in these islandic countries.  We present our opening topic under the title, International Shortwave Broadcasting in the Caribbean Islands, the story of six major shortwave stations in the Caribbean, and we begin with the earliest, Radio Antilles on the Island of Montserrat.

            On April 20, 1963, the Radio Antilles Corporation was formed, and five months later the government granted a radio broadcasting license.  Much of the electronic equipment for the Montserrat station came from the previous Radio Africa in Tangier, Morocco and it was installed and operated with co-operation from the staff of Radio Andorra in Europe.

            Some eight years later (1971), Radio Deutsche Welle DW in Germany injected a massive cash flow into Radio Antilles, and as a major shareholder/new owner of the station they took over the operation of the large facility.  When DW engineers arrived on Montserrat in 1971, they found two shortwave transmitters at 15 kW each already installed.  They soon afterwards installed an additional shortwave transmitter at 50 kW among the medium wave transmitters on the ground floor of the two story building on the lower south west coast of the island of Montserrat. 

In March 1977, Radio Antilles was taken into regular service as a relay station for the programming of Deutsche Welle in Cologne Germany and for the BBC in London England.  However, just four years later (1981), the BBC withdrew from their usage of Radio Antilles, and eight years later again (1989), Deutsche Welle Montserrat was closed.  Soon afterwards, the electronic equipment was removed from the isolated country building, and the building was ultimately inundated by lava overflow from a nearby volcano, so much so, that the exact location of the building is now indiscernible.

            However at the same time as Radio Antilles was under development as a relay station for Deutsche Welle and the BBC, a new joint operation was under installation on the nearby island of Antigua.  The development of this new international shortwave relay station was staged under the auspices of a joint holding company, the Caribbean Relay Company. 

            After a series of surveys on several of the Leeward and Windward Islands, Antigua was chosen because of its strategic location, together with sufficiently level ground that would be satisfactory for a large antenna farm.  A tract of land, 240 acres, was procured near Seaview Farm in the center of the island of Antigua.

            The BBC designed and constructed the transmitter station, they installed 4 Marconi transmitters at 250 kW each Model BD272, and they erected 7 antenna towers supporting 18 curtain antennas.  The locally available electrical power was somewhat unreliable, so the BBC installed 5 electrical power generators, each a Ruston at 1 megawatt, which was sufficient to power the entire station with 1 always available on standby.

            The first transmitter was taken into service on November 1, 1976, and the other three were activated during the following year (1977).   Original planning called for 2 transmitters and 9 antennas each, for the BBC and DW.  However, as the scheduling was developed and implemented as time went by, it appears that the programming of both shortwave organizations, the BBC and DW, was carried by all 4 of the transmitters, though at approximately half time each. 

            Due to budget cuts, the BBC-DW relay station on Antigua was closed on March 26, 2005.  Initially, the Caribbean Relay Station endeavored to find other clients who were willing to broadcast to the Americas from their shortwave station.  However, there are no known additional relays from the Antigua station, and all that we can presume is that all usable equipment was removed and the property was sold off.  

            We cross over now to the Dutch islands in the Caribbean, and in particular to Curacao and Bonaire.  Around the year 1960, Trans World Radio TWR gave consideration to constructing a large shortwave/mediumwave station on the island of Curacao.  However, the entire project was soon afterwards transferred to the nearby island of Bonaire.

            Construction at TWR Bonaire began in September 1963, and the first test broadcasts on shortwave began almost a year later in August 1964.  The very first shortwave frequency for the new TWR was 5955 kHz under the official Dutch callsign PJB.    

            Beginning in November 1964, the new Bonaire shortwave station broadcast the programming from Trans World Radio and it also relayed programming from Radio Netherlands in Hilversum Holland.  However, Radio Netherlands ended their relay via TWR soon after their own shortwave station on Bonaire was inaugurated.

            On June 30, 1993, TWR closed down the usage of their two shortwave transmitters on Bonaire, one at 50 kW and another at 250 kW, and shipped them off to Swaziland for incorporation into their African shortwave station.  However, in various configurations, a mediumwave station at TWR has remained on the air on Bonaire, and the space that was previously occupied by the shortwave transmitters now houses power generators that provide electricity for the island.  

            Test transmissions from the new relay station operated by Radio Netherlands on the island of Bonaire began in March 1969.  At the height of its total capability RN Bonaire contained 3 shortwave transmitters at 250/300 kW, 21 antennas on 17 towers, and 6 power generators at 500 kW each.

            However, with the changing winds of fortune in the international shortwave world, Radio Netherlands Bonaire was closed on June 30, 2012.  The station was totally dismantled and all that remains of this once majestic shortwave station is just an open field. 

            Radio Havana Cuba was organized as a government operated international shortwave facility in 1963.  At that stage, 4 shortwave transmitters at 100 kW were installed at their shortwave station at Bauta near Havana, 2 from Russia and 2 from BBC (Brown Boveri Company) Switzerland.  These days, Radio Havana Cuba operates a total of 3 shortwave sites with 16 shortwave transmitters rated at 50 kW, 100 kW and 250 kW.

            The shortwave station known as the Caribbean Beacon is located on the island of Anguilla, a small British island in the eastern Caribbean.  In June 1991, Dr. Gene Scott bought the mediumwave station Caribbean Beacon, and he installed a new Continental 100 kW shortwave transmitter at the same Sandy Hill site.  The antenna system was previously in use with shortwave KGEI at Belmont in California.  

            The new shortwave Caribbean Beacon was inaugurated in December 1996, though it was hounded by subsequent local fears about radiation problems for more than a year.  During the year 2008, the shortwave station previously on the air under the callsigns KUSW and then KTBN was closed and the electronic equipment was shipped to Anguilla for incorporation into the Caribbean Beacon.

            As we mentioned previously here in Wavescan, the Caribbean Beacon was damaged in the recent hurricanes that swept through the Caribbean islands.  The station has since been noted back on the air with test broadcasts, and it is doing its best to maintain its international shortwave service.   

            This has been the story of six international shortwave stations in the Caribbean.  A total of four have come and gone: Deutsche Welle-BBC Montserrat and Antigua, Trans World Radio and Radio Netherlands on Bonaire.  Two still remain: Radio Havana Cuba with 16 transmitters, and the Caribbean Beacon on Anguilla with 1 at 100 kW, hanging on tenuously after the onslaught of the recent hurricanes.
(AWR Wavescan/NWS)

Presidential Election Results on Radio


KDKA - the early years
For the past nearly one hundred years, the history of the medium wave station 8ZZ-KDKA in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania has been closely linked with the broadcast of voting results for the American presidential campaign in November 1920.  This event was the grand occasion for the inauguration of the now historic medium wave broadcasting station KDKA on November 2.

            A major result of this programming emphasis in 1920 catapulted KDKA to an all time historic high.  Even though KDKA was not chronologically the first radio broadcasting station on the air in the United States, yet their inaugural broadcast on November 2, 1920 is seen without doubt as a major turning point in the progressive development of radio broadcasting, not only in the United States, but also right throughout the world.

            However, it is not so well known, that a large number of other radio stations in the United States have also broadcast the progressive count of voting results in American presidential campaigns, not only at the same time as the KDKA event in 1920, but also during earlier campaigns as well.  In our program today, we investigate the usage of radio in giving wide coverage to voting counts in presidential campaigns way back a hundred years ago.

            From the middle of the 1800s onwards, the nationwide network of wire telegraph systems in the United States began to grow, as did also the transmission of news and information in Morse Code, including progressive figures in presidential voting every four years.  When wireless telegraph stations were installed in various areas across the nation, then presidential voting news was also transmitted, sometimes informally, sometimes officially.

            During the year 1910, the New York Herald newspaper established a wireless station in the United States Barge Office at The Battery in New York City, which operated on longwave 640 metres (470 kHz) under the self chosen informal call sign OHX.  A contemporary photograph in the New York Herald showed the antenna system at station OHX stretched across a wide street between two buildings.   

            The main purpose for establishing station OHX was for the transmission of daily bulletins of newspaper news in Morse Code for the benefit of other newspapers.  In addition to the broadcast of these daily news bulletins from wireless station OHX in New York City, two other longwave wireless stations also carried a relay of these same transmissions. 

            These two additional relay stations, both Marconi stations, were station CC across the waterway from Cape Cod Boston in Massachusetts, and station PH at Hillcrest in San Francisco California.  The program feed in Morse Code was carried by the regular landline telegraph system from station OHX in New York City to station CC in Boston and to station PH in San Francisco.

            The presidential campaign during the year 1912 was a strange four way contest, though the main contenders were the governor of New Jersey Woodrow Wilson and the previous president Theodore Roosevelt.  Wilson won that race with a landslide victory.

            The New York Herald wireless station OHX provided wide area coverage of the progressive vote counts as they came in, beginning in the evening of Tuesday November 5, 1912.  Other wireless stations that carried similar progressive news information in Morse Code were two navy wireless stations; station NAD in Building 10 at the Massachusetts Navy Yard in Charlestown Massachusetts and station NPH on Mare Island California.

            The amateur station 1AF at Harvard University in Massachusetts, acknowledged as a control station in the Boston area in 1912, also sent out the November election results in Morse Code.

            However, for the first time ever, the progressive vote count was presented live by voice, from the Charles Herrold broadcasting station in San Jose California.  Just a few months earlier, during the evening of July 22, 1912, Herrold had begun a regular series of radio program broadcasts over his self-made 15 watt Arcphone longwave transmitter, operating without call sign at the time, just below 600 metres (500 kHz).

            This new transmitter was installed with the Herrold College of Wireless and Engineering in the Garden City Bank Building at the corner of First and West San Fernando Streets in downtown San Jose, which itself is a conjoined city on the southern edge of San Francisco in California.   The wireless station, with its water-cooled microphone, was installed on the top floor of the seven storied bank building.  The longwave antenna system, described as a carpet aerial, was made up of two miles of bronze wire which was strung like an umbrella from the Garden City Bank Building across three other adjoining buildings.

            On the occasion of the broadcast of the voting returns for the presidential election on November 5, 1912, the University of California in nearby Berkeley on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay set up a receiver in their gymnasium so that students could hear the progressive news counts.  Although not claimed as such, this was the first occasion in which the progressive voting results were broadcast by voice in the United States.

            Four years later, there was another presidential election in the United States, and on this occasion, November 7, 1916, contemporary newspaper reports state that several thousand amateur radio listeners heard the progressive news counts.  The 1916 election campaign was fought between the incumbent President Woodrow Wilson and Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes.  As the counting figures came in, the tallies ebbed and flowed between President Wilson & Justice Hughes.

            A few days prior to the election day voting, radio inventor Lee de Forest installed a radio broadcasting station at his Highbridge Laboratory at 1391 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx New York.  This pioneer longwave radio broadcasting station was licensed under the call sign 2XG and it emitted 125 watts on 800 metres (375 kHz).   The first test broadcast from the new 2XG was transmitted on the evening of October 26, 1916, and regular programming began just a week later on November 1.               With the presidential campaign in its final stages, and World War 1 in Europe already two years old, there was much to report, although America dod not enter that war until six months later on  April 6, 1917.  Initial programming from 2XG at that stage was made up of music from Columbia disc recordings together with news and information from the morning daily newspaper, the New York American.

            Just a week later again on November 7 (1916), the new broadcasting station 2XG carried progressive reports on the voting counts from the offices of the New York American, up until 11:00 pm.  Just before closing for the night, station 2XG announced mistakenly that Justice Charles Hughes had won the election.  However, subsequent late returns from California swung the election results in favor of President Wilson, a fact that was made known early next day.

            Several contemporary newspaper reports stated that many thousands of amateur radio operators heard the news reports from station 2XG, and of course many of these radio operators also rebroadcast the news further afield from their own amateur radio stations.  The Electrical Experimenter magazine declared that 7,000 amateur radio operators heard the news from station 2XG, and the estimate from the New York American newspaper stated that 8,000 amateur radio operators heard this news from the same station 2XG.

            This figure, 7,000 or 8,000 amateur radio operators, may sound a bit like a newspaper exaggeration.  Maybe it was, but at that time, the Commissioner of Navigation in an official report stated that there was a total of 15,868 licensed amateur radio operators in the United States; double the listenership that this newspaper was claiming.

            The New York American declared triumphantly: It was the first time in the history of this wonderful world of ours that such a thing could be done.  For the first time, the wireless telephone has been demonstrated as a practical, serviceable carrier of election news and comment.

            Of course, that is not true; the 2XG broadcasts in 1916 were not the first election results that were broadcast in the voice mode.  As  we know, Professor Charles Herrold in San Jose California broadcast election reports by voice in the 1912 presidential campaign, four years earlier than station 2XG in New York in 1916. 

            We should also mention that a competitor radio station, the New York Herald station WHB (ex OHX) also carried its own programming of election results during that same 1916 presidential race.

            So, apparently several hundred, if not thousands, of radio stations have broadcast presidential election results in the years before the famous KDKA in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania performed a similar service in 1920.  Does that dethrone KDKA from its illustrious place in radio history?  No, not at all.  Station KDKA played a pivotal role in the development of radio broadcasting in the United States, and that honor can never be removed from KDKA and given to another.   
*AWR-Wavescan)

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Deutsche Welle, winter shortwave schedule

(via playdx)
Deutsche Welle, Bonn/Berlin - Winter schedule B-17
Effective: 29 October 2017 - 24 March 2018 

All times UTC
StartEnd Freq Station Power Azi Target Days

AMHARIC
1600 1700 15275 TRINCOMALEE 250 270 Ethiopia Daily
1600 1700 17800 DHABAYYA 250 225 Ethiopia Daily

DARI
1330 1400 9720 DHABAYYA 250 45 Afghanistan Daily
1330 1400 15430 TRINCOMALEE 250 335 Afghanistan Daily

HAUSA
0630 0700 7220 SAO TOME 100 0 West Africa Daily
0630 0700 9830 NAUEN 500 185 West Africa Daily
0630 0700 15200 MEYERTON 250 330 West Africa Daily
1300 1400 9830 SAO TOME 100 20 West Africa Daily
1300 1400 17800 ISSOUDUN 500 170 West Africa Daily
1300 1400 17840 ASCENSION 250 55 West Africa Daily
1800 1900 9785 ISSOUDUN 500 170 West Africa Daily
1800 1900 9830 SAO TOME 100 0 West Africa Daily
1800 1900 15200 MEYERTON 250 330 West Africa Daily

HAUSA (Football)
1425 1630 15195 ISSOUDUN 500 170 West Africa Saturdays
1425 1630 17840 ISSOUDUN 500 172 West Africa Saturdays

PASHTO
1400 1430 9720 DHABAYYA 250 45 Afghanistan Daily
1400 1430 15430 TRINCOMALEE 250 335 Afghanistan Daily

SWAHILI
1000 1100 15275 MADAGASCAR 250 300 East Africa Daily
1000 1100 17710 MEYERTON 250 7 East Africa Daily
(DW Bonn Germany, via ADDX Andreas Volk-D,
via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 25)

These are RESERVE alternative frequency requests

15340 1600 1700 48 DHA 250 225 0 218 Amh UAE Alterna

11800 0630 0700 46,47W NAU 500 185 0 218 Hau D Alterna
17800 0630 0700 46,47W DHA 250 260 0 218 Hau UAE Alterna
15200 1300 1400 46,47W ISS 500 165 0 211 Hau F Alterna
21780 1300 1400 46,47W NAU 500 185 0 218 Hau D Alterna

11620 1330 1400 40E,41NW DHA 250 45 0 217 Prs UAE Alterna Dari/Persian
15215 1330 1400 40E,41NW DHA 250 45 -15 146 Prs UAE Alterna Dari/Persian
17720 1330 1400 40E,41NW ISS 500 76 0 217 Prs D Alterna Dari/Persian

11620 1400 1430 40E,41NW DHA 250 45 0 217 Pus UAE Alterna
15215 1400 1430 40E,41NW DHA 250 45 -15 146 Pus UAE Alterna
17720 1400 1430 40E,41NW ISS 500 76 0 217 Pus D Alterna
(DW Bonn Germany, via ADDX Andreas Volk-Munich-D,
via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 25)
(Top Nx 1319-26 Oct 2017)

Monday, October 23, 2017

Radio Free Asia, Winter schedule


We encourage our listeners to tell us when they receive our transmissions. Your reception reports help us evaluate the quality of our signal strength and are always confirmed with an RFA QSL card. Please find mailing instructions below the frequency table.

Effective 29 October 2017 through 28 March 2018

All times and dates are Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), same as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Burmese
0030-0130 UTC 12115 15700 17510
1230-1400 UTC 11795 12105 13735
1400-1430 UTC 11795 12105

Cantonese *FNP

Khmer
1230-1330 UTC 9325 11750
1430-1500 UTC 9720 11750
2230-2330 UTC 11850 15275

Korean
1500-1700 UTC 1188 5885 9915 9985
1700-1900 UTC 1188 5885 9985
2100-2200 UTC 7485 9860 9985

Lao
0000-0100 UTC 13685
1100-1200 UTC 13685

Mandarin
0300-0500 UTC 11980 15340 17660
0500-0700 UTC 11980 15340 17660 21700
1500-1600 UTC 7415 9790 11765
1600-1700 UTC 6120 7415 9455
1700-1900 UTC 7415 9455 9860
1900-2000 UTC 1098 5890 7475 9455 9860
2000-2100 UTC 1098 5890 7300 7475 9455 9590
2100-2200 UTC 1098 7475 9410 9455
2300-2400 UTC 9860 9900 11775

Tibetan
0100-0200 UTC 9670 11895 11950 13795 15270
0200-0300 UTC 9455 9670 11895 11950 17525
0600-0700 UTC 17675 17815 21480 21680
1000-1100 UTC 9690 15665 17830
1100-1200 UTC 9315 11550 15745
1200-1300 UTC 9315 11555 12055 15375 15745
1300-1400 UTC 9315 12050 13650 15375 15745
1500-1600 UTC 7540 9315 11660 11805
2200-2300 UTC 7470 7480 9790
2300-2400 UTC 5970 7470 7540 9535

Uyghur
0100-0200 UTC 7480 9450 9700 13705 17540
1600-1700 UTC 7545 7565 11720 11800

Vietnamese
1400-1430 UTC 1503 11850 13735
1430-1500 UTC 11850 13735

FNP = Frequency Not Promoted

Frequencies are in kiloHertz (kHz). 1 MegaHertz (MHz) is equal to 1000 kHz. Conversion to meter bands: Meters=300000/frequency in kHz. e.g.: 17705 kHz --> 16.9 meters

You can either email your reception reports to us at qsl@rfa.org, submit online using our automated reception report system at http://techweb.rfa.org (follow the QSL link), or send them to us by regular mail to:
Reception Reports
Radio Free Asia 2025 M Street N.W., Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036
United States of America
(A.J. Janitschek/RFA)

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins



Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
:Issued: 2017 Oct 23 0514 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 16 - 22 October 2017

Solar activity was at very low levels with the exception of 20 Oct when an M1 flare was observed on the southeastern limb. The M1 flare occurred at 20/2328 UTC from Region 2685 (S09, L=131, class/area Hax/070 on 22 Oct) with an associated Type II (344 km/s) radio sweep and a coronal mass ejection (CME) off the east limb first observed at 21/0012 UTC in SOHO/LASCO C2 imagery. By the time Region 2685 rotated fully into view, it was a simple alpha spot group and has been quiet since the M-class event. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed during the period.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached moderate levels on 20 and 22 Oct with high levels on 16, 19 and 21 Oct. Very high levels were observed on 17-18 Oct. The largest flux of the period was 56,839 pfu observed at 17/1535 UTC.

Geomagnetic field activity ranged from quiet to active levels. The period began under the weakening influence of a polar connected, positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). The solar wind speed declined from approximately 550 km/s early in the period to near 350 km/s by late on 18 Oct. Total field was at 5 nT and below during this timeframe. The geomagnetic field responded with quiet to unsettled levels on 16 Oct and quiet levels on 17-18 Oct. By 19 Oct, a weak connection with the positive polarity polar CH was observed resulting in a brief increase of solar wind speed to near 470 km/s and total field at 10 nT. Solar wind speed again decreased to nominal levels by early on 21 Oct. The geomagnetic field responded with quiet to unsettled levels on 19 Oct and quiet to active levels on 20 Oct. A solar sector boundary crossing into a negative sector was observed at 21/0730 UTC followed by a weak enhancement from a negative polarity CH HSS. The solar wind speed increased to near 490 km/s late on 21 Oct with total field increasing to near 10 nT. By late on 22 Oct, solar wind parameters had once again decreased to nominal levels. The geomagnetic field responded with quiet to unsettled levels on 21-22 Oct.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 23 October - 18 November 2017

Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels with a slight chance for M-class flares (R1-Minor) on 23-06 Nov due to potential flare activity from Region 2685 and the return of old Region 2683 (N13, L=111) to the visible disk. From 07-18 Nov, only very low levels are expected.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is likely to be at high levels on 25-26 Oct, 28 Oct-01 Nov, 08-10 Nov, 12 Nov, 15 Nov and 17 Nov with very high levels on 27 Oct, 11 Nov and13-14 Nov due to CH HSS influence.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be unsettled to active levels on 24-29 Oct, 01-02 Nov, 07-11 Nov and 15-17 Nov with G1 (Minor) storm levels likely on 24-26 Oct, 07-11 Nov and G2
(Moderate) levels likely on 25-26 Oct and 09-10 Nov due to recurrent CH HSS effects.

Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt
:Issued: 2017 Oct 23 0514 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 2017-10-23
#
#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest
#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index
2017 Oct 23      82           5          2
2017 Oct 24      84          18          5
2017 Oct 25      85          45          6
2017 Oct 26      85          40          6
2017 Oct 27      85          18          4
2017 Oct 28      85          12          4
2017 Oct 29      85          10          3
2017 Oct 30      85           8           3
2017 Oct 31      85           5           2
2017 Nov 01      85           8          3
2017 Nov 02      85          10         3
2017 Nov 03      85           5          2
2017 Nov 04      84           5          2
2017 Nov 05      82           5          2
2017 Nov 06      80           5          2
2017 Nov 07      80          28         5
2017 Nov 08      80          30         5
2017 Nov 09      80          40         6
2017 Nov 10      80          28         6
2017 Nov 11      80          26         5
2017 Nov 12      80           8          3
2017 Nov 13      80           5          2
2017 Nov 14      80           5          2
2017 Nov 15      80          12         4
2017 Nov 16      80          10         3
2017 Nov 17      80           8          3
2017 Nov 18      82           8          3
(NOAA)

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Isle of Music and Uncle Bill's Melting Pot weekend programs


From the Isle of Music, October 22-28
No interviews this week, rather, we will explore the Electronic & Electronic-Acoustic Music category of Cubadisco 2017 plus listen to some excellent Cuban Jazz from the early 2000s.
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.



Soul Masala......
Episode 33 of Uncle Bill's Melting Pot will be mostly some excellent Indian/Soul/Jazz fusion with the usual surprise or two on the side. This will be different.
Sunday, October 22 at 2200-2230 UTC (6:00pm-6:30pm EDT US) on WBCQ 7490 Khz, for the Americas and parts of Europe.

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

Friday, October 20, 2017

Shortwave Radiogram weekend schedule


Hello friends,
I received very few reports of last weekend’s Thor 25x4 providing a better decode than our usual MFSK32, despite the 2-second interleave of Thor 25x4. One of those reports was from Zach in Alabama (above).

This weekend Shortwave Radiogram will be all MFSK32, but we will experiment with the ISO-8859-5 character set. In our usual UTF-8 character set, when we transmit Cyrillic text, e.g. Russian, the speed of the printout is reduced by half. With the ISO-8859-5 character set, Cyrillic prints out at the same speed (120 wpm using MFSK32) as English.

So please adjust Fldigi: Configure > UI > Colors & Fonts > change Rx/Tx Character set to ISO-8859-5. In ISO-8859-5 you will see both the English and Russian text. In UTF-8 (Fldigi’s default), only the English.

Unfortunately, in Android, the TIVAR and AndFlmsg apps have only the UTF-8 character set, so the Russian text will not be visible. Less than 3 minutes of the program is devoted to the Russian text.  

And keep in mind that you can record Shortwave Radiogram and decode from the recording, trying different settings.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 18, 21-22 October 2017, all in MFSK32:

 1:31  Program preview
 3:21  US worried about independent media in Hungary*
10:51  Excerpt of Russian text from Deutsche Welle
13:55  New amateur radio station at BBC Broadcasting House*
19:23  QST review of new Icom IC-R8600 receiver*
21:34  DW.com feature on best mountain photos*
24:45  DW.com feature on autumn leaves* 
27:05  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 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!  The QSL gallery for program 16 has been sent to everyone who reported.
Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB
Producer and Presenter
Shortwave Radiogram