QSLs for August 2016

Radio Goldrausch* via Channel 292 (eQSL) transmitting from Rohrbach, Germany

Radio Seagull* (eQSL) transmitting from the North Sea

Vatican Radio "Special World Youth Day Broadcast from Poland" (QSL Card) transmitting from Santa Maria di Galeria

Radio Romania International (QSL Card) transmitting from Galbeni, Romania



Radio Republik Indonesia Sungailiat (QSL Letter) transmitting on medium-wave from Sugailiat, Bangka Belitung Island, Indonesia

Voice of the Report of the Week (eQSL) transmitting from Yerevan-Gavar, Armenia

 
Adventist World Radio (QSL Card) transmitting from Nauen, Germany

Adventist World Radio (QSL Card) transmitting from Trincomalee, Sr Lanka


IRIB Radio Payam (QSL Card) transmitting on medium-wave from Iran



Radio Free Asia (QSL Card) transmitting on medium-wave from Incheon, Republic of Korea

 
WRMI "Wavescan"  (QSL Card) transmitting from Okeechobee, Florida, USA

WRMI for Chelmsford Calling World Service (QSL Card) transmitting in January 2015 from Okeechobee, Florida, USA

 
WRMI for Chelmsford Calling World Service (QSL Card) transmitting in December 2015 from Okeechobee, Florida, USA


*Verification obtained using remote SDR receiver in  The Netherlands (Twente)

Radio Prague International (via Yerevan-Gavar)

Radio Prague International, transmitting from Yerevan-Gavar (Armenia), was received on 31 August 2016. A special 80th Anniversary Broadcast of “Radio Prague, Czechoslovakia” in the Russian language was observed from 16.30 till 17.05 UTC.

Reception on 9.535 kHz (SINPO) was 44554 -- good signal strength, clear audio, slight transmitter noise. HERE's an excerpt from this broadcast.

Reception report was emailed and submitted online to Radio Prague International on the same day. QSL card arrived on 26 September 2016.

Website:

www.radio.cz/en/

All India Radio Gangtok

All India Radio Gangtok (Akashvani Gangtok), transmitting from Sikkim, was logged on 30 August 2016. I was fortunate to catch this transmission, owing that VL8A in Alice Springs, Australia, (which shares the same frequency as AIR Gangtok) was switched off, possibly for maintenance. who knows? In any event, this rare occasion allowed for a selection of Indian subcontinent music and news to be heard between 13.40 UTC up until sign-off at 16.00 UTC.

Reception on 4.835 kHz was sadly less than ideal, but still audible despite a weak signal, whiny (10 kW) transmitter and occasional fading under scratchy atmospheric noise. SINPO of 24322 remained unchanged till sign-off.

Reception report was emailed and posted with audio files to AIR Gangtok and Spectrum Management & Synergy on the following day.QSL card arrived on 23 January 2017.

Photo by A. Anvar, Asst. Eng, Doordarshan Kendra Gangtok, Sikkim

Email:
spectrum-manager@air.org.in
gangtok@air.org.in

Address:
All India Radio Gangtok
Old MLA Hostel
Gangtok 737101
East Sikkim District
Sikkim, India

Spectrum Management & Synergy,
Directorate General, Room No. 204,
All India Radio,
Parliament Street,
New Delhi 110001, India

Radio Taiwan International (German Service via Tamsui)

 Radio Taiwan International in a Special German language broadcast from Tamsui (Taiwan) was logged on 26 and 28 August 2016. This was a three-day run -- 26, 27 and 28 August -- direct from Tamsui. RTI features this special transmission annually. primarily for their German speaking listeners in Europe.  

Under poor conditions, on 26 August 2016, news, current events magazine "Panorama" and mailbag programme was monitored from 16.00 till 16.25 UTC (broadcast time 16.00 till 17.00 UTC). Reception was much better on 28 August 2016, and I manged to catch a wonderful report on a Taiwan Music Festival, featuring folk/traditional music, This was monitored from 16.25 till 17.00 UTC.

26 August 2016:
Reception on 11.665 kHz was  (SINPO) was 24432 -- weak signal with dominant carrier and only peaks of faint audio under atmospheric noise. By 16.25 UTC, signal was inaudible and immersed in atmospheric noise. RTI obviously had their antenna aligned towards Europe.

28 August 2016:
Two days later, reception on 11.665 kHz improved with (SINPO) rating of 45434 -- good signal strength, excellent clarity when not fading under atmospheric noise. HERE's an excerpt from this transmission.

Separate reception reports were emailed and submitted online shortly after each broadcast ended on 26 and 28 August 2016. QSL crads arrived in the mail on 21 December 2016, only after follow-up email reports.

Email:
deutsch@rti.org.tw

Address:
Radio Taiwan International
German Service
55 Bei An Road
Taipei 104
Taiwan, R.O.C

Radio Seagull* (via the North Sea)

Radio Seagull*, presumably anchored in the North Sea, was heard on 20 August 2016, from 05.10 till 05.45 UTC, on the medium-wave frequency of 747 kHz, using the remote SDR receiver in the Netherlands (Twente). Reception was (SINPO) 34553 -- fair signal strength, clear audio, some atmospheric noise and transmitter hum.

A selection of rock songs, including Starship  "We Built This City" and Deep Purple "Strange Kind of Woman" (live version in Osaka, Japan), were heard between technical problems with computer/studio console. 

HERE's how Radio Seagull sounded in The Netherlands.

Report was emailed to Radio Seagull on the same day. An eQSL was received on 22 August 2016.

*Received using remote SDR receiver in The Netherlands (Twente)

QSLs in the Mail

QSL cards from Vatican Radio and Radio Romania International arrived in today's mail. Vatican Radio confirmed reception of their Special Youth Day broadcast and papal visit in Poland. Whereas Radio Romania International verified one of their French language broadcasts from Galbani. 

ER4DX (Moldova)

Amateur Radio Station ER4DX, operated by Mr. Vasily Romanyuk, in Chisinau (Moldova), was logged on 21 August 2016, from 16.15 till 16.30 UTC. Conversation in English and presumably Russian was noted with other HAMS, i.e. "CQ Echo Romeo Four Delta Xray..." It was repeated several times, then QSO with amateur operators which could only be faintly heard. Reception on 14.182 kHz USB was (SIO) 454.

HERE's how ER4DX sounded in Malaysia.

Reception report was emailed on the same day. I may follow up with a letter. Although I am quite doubtful a reply will be forthcoming.

Radio Romania International

Radio Romania International was logged on 21 August 2016. An English language broadcast, featuring profiles on a Romanian architect, heavy metal band, "Green" preservation and letters from listeners was heard from 17.15 till 17.58 UTC (broadcast time 17.00 till 17.57 UTC). Reception on 9.540 kHz was (SINPO) 54544 -- strong signal,  slight fading, no interference except for a slightly noisy transmitter.

Reception report was emailed and submitted online to RRI on the following day. QSL card arrived in the mail on 20 February 2017.

Postal Address:
Radio Romania International,
60-62 General Berthelot Street,
P.O. Box 111,
Bucharest, ROMANIA

Email:
engl@rri.ro

Free Radio Service Holland (via The Netherlands)

Free Radio Service Holland, in their 36th Anniversary broadcast, was logged on 21 August 2016 -- for the FIRST TIME -- directly here in Malaysia, not from a remote receiver in Europe. While reception was less than ideal on 9.300 kHz, I did manage to catch their transmission of rock music, including a Rolling Stones opening track.  What else I heard from 19.00 till 19.30 UTC was quite frankly poor, but THERE...on my Tecsun S-2000! Songs and spoken word faded in and out under noise, occasionally peaking with faint bursts of audio. Pretty amazing, actually, when one thinks about it! That is, Free Radio Service Holland REALLY DID radiate far beyond Europe to South East Asia, despite a puny SINPO of 15421.

God knows how much TXer output power was used. And God knows which country in Europe this transmission originated from. I'm guessing Holland -- as their namesake suggests -- and with approximately 500 watts or less. Hopefully Peter Verbruggen will shed some light on these details and, more importantly, will QSL my report in coming days.

Reception report was emailed on the same day to FRS. An eQSL with letter from verisigner, Peter Verbruggen was received on 15 October 2016. A paper QSL carrived arrived in the mail in early January 2017. Mighty pleased to have this QSL. Thanks a million, Peter.

Postal Address:

FRS-Holland

P. O. Box 2702

6049 ZG Herten

THE NETHERLANDS

Email:
frs@frsholland.nl

RKB Mainichi Hoso - JOFR (via Fukuoka)

RKB Mainichi Hoso - JOFR, transmitting from Fukuoka (Japan) was logged on 20 August 2016, from 18.40 till 18.50 UTC, on the medium-wave frequency of 1278 kHz. A weak signal with clear speech in Japanese was observed when audible and not fading (every 2 to 3 minutes). No co-frequency interference was present at 18.40 UTC (03.40am, Japan Time), which made for ideal reception conditions. Overall SINPO rated 25432.

On subsequent days JOFR was logged on 21, 22 and 25 August 2016, even as late as 20.15 UTC with approximately the same results. Japanese announcer and music was noted when not fading under. On 25 August 2016, a pop music show, moderated by female and male announcers, speaking Japanese, was observed after 18.40 UTC.

The frequency (1278 kHz) is virtually "clear channel" for JOFR in this quarter of the world, unlike the NHK Radio 2 stations on 747 kHz (JOIB) and 774 kHz (JOUB) which have to compete with either stations in Thailand and/or Indonesia, respectively. Even JOWF - STV Broadcasting Co. Ltd has to compete with broadcasters in Thailand (Samut Sakhon) and China, with the later possibly signing-off around 18.00 UTC. Hopefully the Thai station, which reportedly is off air on Tuesdays, will allow for a window of opportunity to log JOWF.

A brief recording of their transmission received in Malaysia may be heard HERE. To see a YouTube video of JOFR's coastal transmitter site in Fukuoka, click HERE.

Reception report was emailed the following day, 21 August to RKB-JOFR. Report was posted in a day later. A follow-up reception report with audio recordings for 25 August 2016 was emailed the following day. QSL card arrived in the mail on 1 September 2016.

A distance of 4,507 km

Email:

radio-web@rkbr.jp

Address:

RKB Mainichi Hoso (JOFR)

2-3-8, Momochi-hama,

Sawara-ku,

Fukuoka-City, Fukuoka-Prefecture,

814-8585, JAPAN

DZRH - AM / Manila Broadcasting Company

DZRH - AM / Manila Broadcasting Company, in Metro Manila (Philippines), was logged on 18 August 2016 (19 August 2016, PHT), from 18.04 till 18.30UTC (02.04am till 02.30am PHT). A Filipino language broadcast of current event reports/news. station ID and website announcements, DJ comments from listeners and Filipino contemporary music was observed during this period.

Reception on 666 kHz was (SINPO) 35433 -- fair to good signal strength, clear audio, no co-frequency interference at the time logged, slight fading (every 10 to 12 minutes). HERE's a recording from their broadcast.

Reception report was emailed and posted on the following day.

Email:
r.salonga@mbcradio.net

Postal Address:
DZRH MBC Building,

Sotto St., Star City Complex,
Roxas Blvd., Pasay City.
Pasay City Metro Manila , Philippines

QSL and Souvenirs from RRI Sungailiat (Indonesia)

What a BIG SURPRISE from Radio Republik Indonesia Sungailiat!!! A Polo knit shirt with RRI logo, RRI Sungailiat stickers and a verification letter. For those not familiar with the location of this town, Sungailat is a subdistrict of Bangka Regency, Bangka-Belitung province of Indonesia, an island east of Sumatra. Of all places in Indonesia, I never expected a verification from RRI Sungailiat, let alone all the souvenir items. Mashallah. Jazakallah khairan. Terima kasih banyak RRI Sungailiat, dan terutama Drs. Ahmad Bahri.

Knit shirt gifted by RRI Sungailiat

QSLs in the Mail

Two verification cards from Adventist World Radio arrived in the mail a few days back. Besides the QSLs, an envelope stamped with postage from Germany -- a common AWR practice -- and an AWR pennant was enclosed. The QSLs were in response to requested reception reports for their Hindi, Marathi and Punjabi broadcasts, which I happened to catch from transmitter sites in Nauen (Germany) and Trincomalee (Sri Lanka). Thank you once again, AWR!

QSL in the Mail

The promised and long-awaited QSL card from IRIB Radio Payam, a medium-wave station in Iran, arrived in the mail today. Nice to finally get this one!!! Interestingly, the photo on this card depicts the mausoleum of Sheikh  Safi-ad-din Ardabili, a Sufi poet who composed poetry in the Iranian dialect of old Tati. Thank you, IRIB English Radio for the verification.

Radio Goldrausch* (via Rohrbach)

Radio Goldrausch* via Channel 292 in Rohrbach (Germany) was received on 14 August 2016, from 08.25 till 09.00 UTC (broadcast time 08.00 till 09.00 UTC),  using an SDR receiver at the University of Twente, The Netherlands. Reception on 6.070 kHz was strong and clear with SINPO of 55545.

A selection of seminal Rock-n-Roll songs, along with well known tracks in the hey-day of Radio Luxembourg, rounded out the broadcast of this German language programme hosted by DJ Eckhard "Hannibal" Heuermann.

Reception report was emailed on the same day to Radio Goldrausch  and Channel 292. An eQSL was received on 24 August 2016.

Email:

goldrausch6070@yahoo.de

info@channel292.de

*Transmission received using the remote SDR receiver located in the Netherlands (Twente).

Random Log for August

Since early August the following observations have been made on the medium-wave and short-wave bands, here in Malaysia. Aside from the stations listed in this log -- most internationally recognised stations -- All India Radio, BBC, China Radio International, Deutsche Welle, KBS World Radio, NHK Radio Japan (via Nauen, Issoudun and Yamata), Radio Taiwan etc. dominate the airwaves. RTM Sarawak FM and Wai FM (via Kajang) are the only Malaysian stations still broadcasting on short-wave. A few additional All India Radio medium-wave stations have been observed. A VOA affiliated medium-wave station, out Tajikistan, has been noted as well. Hopefully propagation is much better wherever you may be. Happy DXing!

BULGARIA
Dimtse Radio Erena (Clandestine) via Kostinbrod // 11.855 kHz // 33443 - initially interference from PBS Xinjiang up until 17.45 UTC // Mostly commentary, frequent IDs and occasional Horn of Africa music from 17.00 till 18.00 UTC

Bible Voice Broadcasting // 12.075 kHz // 35443 // Religious talk in Persian (Farsi) from 17.45 till sign-off at 18.00 UTC

End Times Coming via Kostinbrod // 12.075 kHz // 35443 // Religious talk in English from 18.00 till 18.30 UTC (Saturday)

CHAD
Radio National Tchadienne // 6.165 kHz // 25343 // Talking in French from 18.54 UTC

GREECE
Helliniki Radiophonia // 9.420 kHz // 35453 // Greek music from 19.00 UTC

INDONESIA
Voice of Indonesia // 9.525/6 kHz // 54555 -- depending on the time and day a persistent transmitter hum is present //  German programming from 18.00 till 19.00 UTC,  followed by English programming at 19.00 UTC

MOLDOVA
Radyoya Denge Kurdistane via Kishinev-Grigoriopol // 11.600 kHz // 55545 // Kurdish music from 19.00 UTC onward   

NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand International // 7.245 kHz // 25332 -- initially weak and very noisy at 10.45 UTC, but with improved strength and clarity as grey-line neared in Malaysia // 10.45 UTC onward with current event reports, RNZI interval and news at the top the hour

REPUBLIC OF KOREA
KBS Hanminjok Bangsong 1 via Dangjin // 972 kHz // 23332 // Talk in Korean at 14.15 UTC

 

Dimtse Radio Erena (via Sofia-Kostinbrod)

Dimtse Radio Erena, a clandestine Eritrean station broadcasting from Sofia-Kostinbrod (Bulgaria), was heard on 13 August 2016, from 17.26 till 18.00 UTC (broadcast time 17.00 till 18.00 UTC).  This mostly talk format station featured various commentaries, occasional station IDs and Horn of Africa music.

Reception on 11.885 kHz up until 17.45 was (SINPO) 33443 -- fair signal, clear audio but mixing with co-frequency station, PBS Xinjiang with talk and music in Uyghur language. When this station signed-off, either a noisy transmitter or possible jamming was observed in the background. Despite these conditions audio was clear and discernible.

HERE's an excerpt of their station ID and frequency announcement with music.

Reception report was emailed to Radio Erena on the following day. While clandestine stations such as Radio Erena rarely reply, it is always worth making an attempt to contact them. Sometimes one does get lucky.

Email:
radioerena@gmail.com
radioerena@yahoo.com

Voice of the Report of the Week (via Yerevan-Gavar)

Voice of the Report of the Week, transmitting from the Shortwave Service facility in Yerevan-Gavar (Armenia), was heard on 11 August 2016, from 16.00 till 17.00 UTC, on the short-wave frequency of 12.075 kHz, under fair to good conditions with a SINPO of 45544.  A selection of mixed genre songs, including Talking Heads, Lisa Loeb, Michale Jackson, Beatles, Enya, Black Lips, Oasis and other artists, with station IDs, requests for reception reports was observed during this hour-long broadcast. And, I might add, it was a very enjoyable and entertaining programme at that!

HERE's how VORW sounded in Malaysia.

Reception report was emailed immediately after the broadcast concluded on the same day. VORW Radio replied a few hours with a very nice letter and eQSL.

John at VORW had this to say about South East Asia DXing: "...Believe it or not, I actually am a regular reader of your blog "South East Asia Dxing" which has proven time and time again to be a valuable resource in terms of reception report writing. When I'm not broadcasting on shortwave, I'm usually listening. I've been an SWL for a few years and I've been collecting QSL Cards from various stations since late 2014. It's always fun to check up on your blog and see what stations you've received and which one's have actually provided QSL Cards/Materials. Keep up the excellent work and it is my absolute pleasure to be able to respond to your reception report!..." Thank you very much for the compliment  and 73. Hope to catch your broadcast again, John.

Email:
vorwinfo@gmail.com

VORW Radio on Patreon:
http://bit.ly/1Q2g9zX

QSLs in the Mail

 

QSLs from WRMI "Wavescan"  via Okeechobee (USA) and  Radio Free Asia via Incheon (Republic of Korea) arrived in today's mail.

Voice of Vietnam

Voice of Vietnam, transmitting from Hanoi, was logged on 10 August 2016, from 10.00 till 10.30 UTC, on the short-wave frequency of 9.840 kHz, under excellent conditions with an SINPO of 55555. This half-hour English language broadcast profiled an in-depth report on Agent Orange/Dioxin used by the US military during the Vietnam War, followed by a mailbag programme featuring emails and letters from their radio listeners. A broadcast in Indonesian followed at 10.30 UTC.

Reception report was emailed to VOV on the following day. On 12 August 2016, VOV English replied with an email stating a QSL would be posted. QSL card indeed arrived, along with a postcard, on 1 September 2016.

Email:
englishsection@vov.org.vn

Voice of Indonesia (die Stimme Indonesiens)

Voice of Indonesia (die Stimme Indonesiens) in Jakarta was logged on 5 July 2016. Their hour long German language service, from 18.00 till 19.00 UTC, consisted of news, in-depth reports about Indonesia and cultural programes "Indonesische Wonder" and "Indonesische Musik". Reception on 9.525/9.526 kHz was (SINPO) 54444 -- strong and clear signal (given my close proximity - Malaysia), but terrible transmitter hum, slight fade and atmospheric noise. The transmitter noise seems to be an ongoing problem, so bad that audio is nearly at the same decibel level as the TXer on some days.

Reception report was submitted in German, both online and email. To date I have submitted at least four reception reports and only one QSL card has been issued. The German Service appears to be one of the more reliable departments when requesting a QSL. Finally a QSL card, but one card for three reception reports -- separate dates -- arrived in the mail on 3 October 2016.

Email:
voi.deutsch@gmail.com

Website:
de.voi.co.id/

Voice of Turkey

Voice of Turkey was  heard on 5 August 2016, from 17.00 till 17.25 UTC (broadcast time 16.30 till 17.25 UTC), here in the Kuala Lumpur area. An English language broadcast of Turkish contemporary pop music with occasional Voice of Turkey IDs was observed on the short-wave frequency of 15.520 kHz.

Reception was (SINPO) 55445 -- excellent signal strength and audio quality mixed with slight fading and atmospheric noise

Reception report was emailed on the following day. QSL card and bookmark arrived in the mail om 2 September 2016.

Email:
englishdesk@trt.net.tr

Voice of America (via Ascension Island)

Voice of America via Ascension Island was logged on 5 August 2016 (possibly a Friday only broadcast), from 16.45 till 17.15 UTC (broadcast time 16.30 till 17.30 UTC). A Portuguese language broadcast of news and current event reports with occasional VOA IDs was observed on the short-wave frequency of 15.480 kHz.

Reception was (SINPO) 34343 -- fair signal strength, some transmitter and atmospheric noise, otherwise clear and discernible speech thoughout the transmission. HERE's how VOA via Ascension Island sounded in Malaysia.

Reception report was emailed on the following day. QSL card arrived in the mail on 17 February 2017.