Logbook for 31 Dec 2017 - 3 Jan 2018

AUSTRALIA

Radio 4KZ in Innisfail, Queensland was logged between 17.50 till 18.25 UTC, on 31 December 2017. For over a week I have chased this station with varying degrees of success, always quite poorly, either with just a carrier or content barely audible and mixing with scratchy atmospheric noise. Finally, at the end of 2017 (New Year's Day in Australia and Malaysia), propagation improved for the first time and their signal broke just above the noise, allowing for the best reception to date. I mean, I was actually able to listen to a late night talk show and some music for a remarkable period without it fading under the noise every few seconds. Not bad for a shortwave station operating with just 500 watts and approximately 5,374 km away from Kuala Lumpur. Reception on 5.054 kHz (slightly off their 5.055 kHz) rated a modest SINPO of 25432 -- weak signal with audible and occasionally clear content, with less QRN than previous nights. Any chance of receiving Radio 4KV before 16.00 UTC is impossible due to station splatter (5 Hz +/-) from Voice of Beibu Bay which operates on 5.050 kHz. At any rate, Radio 4KZ is usually detected shortly before or after 17.00 UTC here, and has been heard as late at 20.00 UTC on one occasion, but again poorly and mostly carrier observed. While the content of the following audio files represent how poorly and noisy reception is, Aussie accents, gender of announcers/guests and even Peter Gabriel's song "In Your Eyes" presented here are all heard; and while no station other than Radio 4KZ operates on this frequency, Al Kirton (the station manager) deems the audio files insufficient to ID the station, and therefore is unable (or unwilling) to issue the station's QSL. With the power increase to 1 or 1.2 kW in coming weeks, reception should improve slightly, although I won't count on much of a big improvement. Be that as it may, HERE and HERE is how Radio 4KZ sounded in my quarter. 

Reach Beyond Australia in Kununurra, Western Australia was received on 3 January 2018. Station interval in English for South Asia broadcast noted, along with religious sermon and vocal music in Kuruk language was monitored from 12.27 till 12.45 UTC on the short-wave frequency of 15.345 kHz with SINPO of 55544 -- excellent signal strength, strong and clear audio, slight fading but not enough to seriously degrade reception. HERE's Reach Beyond Australia. 

RX:  Tecsun S-2000 and Degen DE-1102 ANT: long wire of 10 metres  QTH: Kuala Lumpur