All India Radio Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh)

All India Radio Varanasi (Akashvani Varanasi), transmitting on the medium-wave frequency of 1242 kHz from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh (India), was received on 1 September 2016. Presumably Indian classical music, a rather lengthy flute piece, moderated occasionally by a male announcer, was observed from 17.10 till 17.30 UTC / 10.40 till 11.00 IST. Transmission closed at 17.40 UTC.

Reception rated a SINPO of 23322 -- fair to weak signal with audible content when not mixing with Radio Sultanate of Oman and fading every three to four minutes under static bursts from a local thunderstorm. Prior to 17.00 UTC/10.30 IST, Akashvani Varanasi was not received due to strong co-frequency interference from Radio Republik Indonesia Bogor (Java), stations in Thailand and Vietnam, and to a lesser extent Nippon Hoso-JOLF (Tokyo) after 17.00 UTC/10.30 IST. On previous and subsequent days, owing to poor propagation, Akashvani Varanasi just barely broke through the threshold, and only then at a whispered level.

While Southeast Asia is not the primary broadcast target of Akashvani Varanasi, it is interesting to note the station radiated a signal over 3,150 km away, well beyond Uttar Pradesh and India. This is a rather impressive distance for any medium-wave station!

Reception report was emailed and posted, with audio files, to Spectrum Management & Synergy. QSL card arrived in the mail on 18 October 2016.

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

Email:
spectrum-manager@air.org.in