Gifts from Habana

Today, the postman delivered a letter from Radio Habana Cuba to my home. Curious, I inspected the typewriter addressed envelope,  suspecting it was possibly another QSL card from this Caribbean island nation. I carefully snipped open the envelope and discovered a  few souvenirs tucked inside. No, there wasn't an autographed photo of Fidel, although that would be a great keepsake to own. Nor was there a famed Cuban stogie stuffed inside.  Rather it contained two 2014 pocket calendars depicting Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín, a New Year's greeting card of a 1964 painting by Vladimir Iglesias Geraldo and an RHC programme schedule listing their current broadcast frequencies, times and target areas. Why should any care about Radio Habana cuba? Well, politics aside, I love listening to Latin and Cuban music...and RHC does play  fabulous songs!!!

Muchas Gracias, Radio Habana Cuba!

Grapevine News on FEBA India Test Transmission

FEBA India is celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year. Although my first exposure to FEBA was in the early 1970s, with a transmission from Seychelles, I quite probably would have missed this event had it not been for news through the radio grapevine. More precisely, fellow DXers Jose Jacob in India and Rob Wagner of Mount Evelyn DX Report in Australia must be credited for alerting me of this news. Secondly, I most certainly would have missed FEBA India's test transmission had  their tip gone unnoticed. It was with this input I tuned in last night and caught FEBA India's broadcast, the second of two known test transmissions. 

FEBA India in a test transmission, originating from Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, was logged in Malaysia on 6 March 2014.  The broadcast from 13.30 to 14.00 UTC opened with the long recognised FEBA interval tune, station ID and announcement of their test transmission. It was followed with a radio drama on the life of Christian acolyte Matthias and his meeting of Jesus. Thirty minutes later the broadcast closed with announcement of an email and phone number to submit "feedback" on their transmission. Reception of this test transmission on 9.720 kHz was relatively good with excellent signal strength, despite persistent QRM from weaker stations transmitting either on the same or adjacent frequency, thus yielding a  (SINPO) of 53554.

HERE is a sound file of how FEBA India sounded at sign-on in this test transmission.

I followed up with a reception report and emailed FEBA India shortly after the broadcast.

Email:

kenneth@febaindia.org

febaindia@vsnl.com

Website:

febaindia.org/

Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran (via Kamalabad)

Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran, transmitting with 500 kW from their Kamalabad site (in Semnan Province - northeast of Tehran), was logged with relative ease on 4 March 2014, here in the Kuala Lumpur area. Between 15.35 and 16.17 UTC (broadcast time 15.30 to 16.17 UTC), VOIRI presented  "News Magazine", a programme that featured their analysis on events in Ukraine and Crimea, Israeli-Palestinian inaction to reach a peace deal, the UN Secretary General's request to send UN troops to Central Africa, Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon and renewable energy (wind, water and sun power) in Spain and possible government/corporate exploitation. Transmission closed abruptly during a surprisingly excellent and in-depth report on renewable energy. As I mentioned above, reception was superb  with a (SINPO) of 55555 on the short-wave frequency of 15.525 kHz.

Although I have QSLed VOIRI numerous times in the past, I nevertheless emailed another reception report shortly after their broadcast, hoping to receive a QSL from their new series. Of course, along with their verification card, I can expect the usual VOIRI perspective on Iran and Shia Islam in the form of magazines and books. 

Email:

englishradio@irib.ir

Radio VOR - Voice of Russia (via Irkutsk)

Radio VOR - Voice of Russia, transmitting from Irkutsk, was logged on 4 March 2014. With all eyes on Russia following the Sochi Olympics and now developments in the Ukraine, I decided to tune into VOR. I caught the last ten minutes of their "Live from Moscow" programme at 13.50 till 14.00 UTC, broadcast time being 13.00 to 14.00 UTC. In the brief time I listened, I heard VOR analysis on US-Israeli relations regarding Palestine and Russia-China agreement on crude oil. Frequent promotions for VOR programmes and FaceBook, much like the format presented on BBC and VOA, was observed until closure.  Reception on 9.560 kHz (SINPO) was 54554 with excellent signal strength and clarity, despite some minor unidentified interference under their transmission.

With Voice of Russia transmitting less on short-wave, Irkutsk remains the only non-DRM transmitter site operational. VOR appears to have turned their attention towards DRM, with transmissions emanating from Kaliningrad and Moscow-Taldom. Even with this I have to wonder how much longer the world's oldest short-wave broadcaster will remain on air. So, with this in mind, I set out to submit yet another reception report to VOR, which I emailed shortly after filling this report.

E-mail:
world@ruvr.ru

19 Metre Tuning on 2 March

19 Metres is a favourite band of mine to DX here in Malaysia. Under normal conditions, around 14.00 to 23.00 UTC, I find it relatively clear of noise and clutter with stations from Africa, America, Asia and Europe present. On a random band scan from 18.00 to 20.45 UTC, on 2 March 2014, I observed a variety of languages, songs and topics.

GERMANY

NHK World - Radio Japan via Nauen // Japanese from 18.45 to 19.00 UTC // 15.445 kHz // (SINPO): 45454 - good signal strength, excellent audio clarity with minor atmospheric noise // Traditional Japanese songes, possibly from the 1930s, plus a few contemporary songs were noted until sign-off at 19.00 UTC

GREECE

Voice of Greece via Avlis // Greek from 20.15 UTC onward // 15.650 kHz // SINPO: 45444 -- good to fair signal and audio quality with slight fade and noise // A wonderful selection  Greek singers accompanied by bouzouki music made me want to sing, dance and break some old pottery a la Zorba the Greek

PHILIPPINES

Radio Pilipinas via Manila // Filipino and English from 18.30 UTC (broadcast time 17.30 to 19.30 UTC) //  15.190 kHz // SINPO 45544 // Current event programme with a mix of Filipino pop music was heard

MADAGASCAR

Adventist World Radio via Talata Volondry // Arabic from 19.05 to 20.05 UTC (broadcast time 19.00 to 21.00 UTC) // 15.480 kHz // SIO: 444 -- good signal strength and audio quality throughout broadcast // An interesting mix of contemporary Arabic pop music, traditional instrumentation for Christian religious programmes and frequent reference to AWR's Arabic language website was observed

Adventist World Radio (via Talata Volondry & Guam)

Adventist World Radio was founded in 1971 and is the "radio mission arm" of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It utilizes AM, FM, Shortwave, satellite, podcasting, and the Internet broadcasting in 77 major languages with a potential coverage of 80% of the world's population. AWR's headquarters is based in Silver Spring, Maryland with studios and transmitters located throughout the world.

MADAGASCAR
Adventist World Radio, transmitting from the Talata Volondry relay site, was logged on 2 March 2014. An interesting mix of Arabic pop music, religious sermons and frequent announcements of the AWR Arabic language website was monitored from 19.05 to 20.05 UTC (broadcast time 19.00 to 21.00 UTC). Reception  on  15.480 kHz (SIO) was 444 -- good signal strength and audio quality, despite slight atmospheric noise throughout transmission.

Reception report was emailed to AWR Frequency & Monitoring Department in Germany on 3 March 2014. 


 GUAM

Adventist World Radio - KSDA, transmitting from Agat, was logged on 4 March 2014. A Chinese language broadcast with sermon from a female announcer and occasional selection of music was monitored from 22.40 to 22.59 UTC. Reception was weak to fair signal with atmospheric noise on 15.685 kHz, earning an (SIO) rating of 232. 

Another reception report was emailed to AWR Frequency & Monitoring Department on 4 March 2014.

Source: Wikipedia

NHK World - Radio Japan (via Nauen)

NHK World - Radio Japan, transmitting from Nauen, Germany, was logged on 2 March 2014. A Japanese language broadcast of traditional and contemporary Japanese music was observed from 18.45 to 19.00 UTC. The music was a delightful rendition of performances from early recordings quite possibly from the 1930s, a period of 20th century history that's of interest to me. Reception was remarkably good from the famed Nauen transmitter site on the 19 metre band at 15.445 kHz. (SINPO) was 45454 - good signal strength, excellent audio clarity with minor atmospheric noise.
 

A reception report was submitted on-line at NHK World - Radio Japan on 3 March 2014.

Online Form:
www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/contact/index.html