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Canadian Reginald Aubrey Fessenden in his lab believed circa 1906 (Source: Radio Canada International)
Now an annual Christmas tradition, Brian Justin (WA1ZMS) will put his longwave experimental station WI2XLQ on the air to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Reginald Fessenden’s first audio transmission.
WI2XLQ will be on the air from 17:00 UTC Dec 24th on 486 kHz and run for 48 hours until 16:59 UTC on Dec 26th.
The 4KZ transmitter is located in Innisfail, Australia
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Phil Brennan (VK8VWA), who notes that 4KZ started broadcasting today in Australia. Phil notes:
At last! ID for 4KZ confirmed at 0750 [UTC] Wednesday 20 December on 5,055 kHz.
Thank you, Phil–and thanks for following this development so closely over the past few weeks.
I tried tuning to 5055 kHz at my home in eastern North America, but of course conditions weren’t ideal to receive a 1,000 watt AM signal from Australia. I wasn’t ready to give up, of course, so I turned to the KiwiSDR network.
The following recording was made on December 20, 2017 starting around 11:33 UTC on 5,055 kHz . The receiver is a KiwiSDR located in Goulburn, NSW, Australia.
The beautiful Capim River in a land of Jaguars, Tarantulas and occasionally, wonderful shortwave DX
Hi there, I returned from my third trip to the Rio Capim area of Pará, Northern Brazil about 5 weeks ago, having been out there for exactly a month. Now, whilst this was strictly a business trip I always make time to tune around the bands, mostly shortwave, in the hope of copying some interesting DX. My previous two trips were reasonably successful; however, I didn’t really hear anything new – just lots of Tropical Band – and tropical stations with much greater signal strength and clarity. Part of the problem is one of which most of us suffer from – the dreaded local QRM. Even in the depths of the rain forest noise is present from building electrical systems (particularly lighting) and other equipment. In my first attempt to escape the noise on this trip I ventured out of my accommodation building (basically a very large hut) to the wire fence that separates us and the larger fauna (although having said that, the monkeys and everything else that lives in the area appears to have no difficulty scaling a 6 foot fence – funny that! ). Anyway, ultimately, you’ve really got to want to hear something special quite badly to venture out. I suppose it could be the definition of hard-core DX! I tried this only once because as I was copying a very nice signal from Radio Guinea on 9650 kHz, I found myself about 2 feet from a Tarantula Hawk Wasp dispatching a very large spider (check out the very brief video on my YouTube channel). That was me done for alfresco DXing in the jungle.
Bonito’s USB-powered MegActive MA305 E-field antenna up a tree…performed superbly in Brazil
Fortunately, I was lent a 4-wheel drive truck for the duration of my visit and so I decided to find a quiet location to park up and listen to the radio – therefore only having to venture outside (at night) to place my antenna. One evening after dinner I got in the truck and drove around the site for a while until I found a location, effectively on the edge of the jungle that was mostly very quiet. Perfect…as long as I didn’t end up as something else’s dinner. I took the super-compact USB-powered Bonito MegActive MA305 antenna with me on this trip because I’d already tested it at home on DXpeditions and in Crete and thus I was confident as to how superbly well it would perform in a quiet location. To supplement my antenna choices, during the first weekend, I made the 90 km drive to the nearest town and bought, amongst other supplies, a 40 metre length of speaker wire and a 3.5 mm jack connector to make a temporary long-wire antenna.
In my experience, there are roughly 3 tiers of Tropical and Tropical Band DX on short wave. There’s the bottom tier of stations which with a decent portable and a few metres of wire can be readily heard in the UK on a Dxpedition – and at home with a magnetic loop antenna, for example and a good quality table-top receiver or SDR. Amongst this group of signals I would include Rádio Clube do Pará, Brazil on 4885 kHz, Radio Difusora Roraima on 4875.3 kHz, Emisoras Pio XII 5952.5 kHz, Radio Santa Cruz, 6134.8 kHz etc. etc. On the next tier are tropical stations that are really difficult to hear in the UK – but can be heard with good propagation and good equipment. This group includes Radio Aparecida on 6135.2 kHz particularly, Rádio Educação Rural on 4925.2 kHz, Radio Tarma Internacional on 4774.9 kHz, Rádio Evangelizar (formerly Radio RB2) on 6040.7 kHz etc. There are many more examples from these two groups I could use, but you get the picture. Lastly, there is a tier of stations that are very rarely or never heard in Europe, irrespective of equipment or propagation. Often these stations operate with low TX power which makes them extremely difficult to copy anyway – and that leads to ambiguity farther as to whether they are even on-air. Furthermore, some of these stations broadcast very irregularly, which makes copying them even more of a lottery.
My mainstay travel receiver, the brilliant Eton Satellit..two-time veteran of South American DXing
In this context, a month in Northern Brazil was a useful timescale for surveying the Tropical Bands and geographically tropical stations for the presence of very rare signals. Fortunately, over many hours of listening in Rio Capim with the Eton Satellit and mostly the Bonito MegActive MA305 antenna, I manged to record six signals that are very rarely heard outside of South America. The list of stations follows below, complete with the antenna arrangement. Further below you will find embedded reception videos and text links to the same videos on the Oxford Shortwave Log YouTube channel. Please take the time to watch the videos and note the comments made by some of my subscribers with local knowledge. In particular, Rádio Gaúcha and Rádio Canção Nova on 4825 kHz are very irregular broadcasters and therefore I was fortunate to be in the right place, at the right time to copy their signal. More luck came my way with the reception of Radio Sora de Congonhas on 4775 kHz – made possible because of a total power cut on site, reducing noise effectively to zero (I was indoors at the time). I, personally, never heard anything else other than Radio Tarma, Peru on or around 4775 kHz – itself something of a rarity, except when conditions are very good.
In conclusion, I have to say, once again, the DXing credentials of the Eton Satellit and the Bonito MegActive MA305 USB-powered antenna are clearly demonstrated here. The perfect travelling companions for the serious DXer and broadcast band listener alike, I had no issues getting through security at any of the airports and their combined weight is unnoticeable in a fully loaded backpack. I definitely recommend both products. It’s also worth noting that if you’re travelling to a relatively remote location, even with modest equipment, you might be able to copy rare signals that will provide good information to the rest of us trying to hear those same signals from 1000’s of km away. I will be returning to Rio Capim early in 2018 and I’m seriously considering taking my Perseus SDR with me. A superbly sensitive and selective receiver with noise reduction that actually works, it opens up the possibility of even more exotic DX on that trip.
As always, thanks for watching/listening/reading and I wish you all excellent DX and Season’s Greetings. 73!
The list of exotic catches and antennas utilised:
Radio Apintie 4990 kHz, Suriname – Bonito MegActive MA305
Radio Cançao Nova 9675 kHz Sao Paulo – 20 metre long-wire
Radio Verdes Florestas 4865 kHz, Cruzeiro do Sul – Bonito MegActive MA305
Rádio Gaúcha 11915 kHz, Porto Alegre – Bonito MegActive MA305
Radio Sora de Congonhas 4775 kHz, Congonhas – Bonito MegActive MA305 antenna
Rádio Canção Nova 4825 kHz, Cachoeira Paulista – Bonito MegActive MA305
Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.
Weather and technology permitting, our programmes on 648 kHz will commence originating from the Ross Revenge at 7.00 AM on Friday 22nd December.
The changed schedule for the day will be :
7am Johnny Lewis
9am Top Fifteen
10am Ray Clark – with the official launch at midday.
2pm Kevin Turner
5pm Resume normal programmes
No doubt Bob Lawrence, Martin Fisher and Jerry Wright will personalise their evening shows to mark the day.
Of course we are delighted to have found and secured what must be the best possible AM transmission site for our service. We thank Cobra Mist Ltd for this facility whilst noting that this is a private site which cannot at this time be visited.
So, another date for the Radio Caroline calendar of events and the inevitable question. Where do we go from here?
Update: Stair has waved his rights to a bond hearing. See details and video at bottom of page.
I’m sure many–if not a majority of–shortwave listeners have heard the Overcomer Ministry on the air via various private broadcasters. Ralph G. Stair, the leader and voice of Overcomer was taken into custody this morning on eight criminal charges. I’m personally not a fan of Overcomer and I don’t typically post this sort of news content, but if Overcomer is eventually shut down, private broadcasters will certainly notice the loss of income stream. Could be profound to smaller stations.
Update | Arrest of Brother Ralph Stair confirmed on multiple charges | News | The Press and Standard
(Photo source: Overcomer Ministries)
Colleton County Sheriff’s Office personnel arrived at the Overcomer Ministry at 12680 Augusta Highway early Monday morning to take Ralph G. Stair, the leader of the religious compound, into custody on eight criminal charges.
Lt. Tyger Benton, public information officer of the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office said a large contingent of law enforcement officers arrived at the church compound Monday at approximately 7:30 a.m. to take Stair, 84, into custody.
The charges, all filed by the sheriff’s office investigators, include three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and single counts of assault with the intent to commit criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, second-degree assault, first-degree burglary, and third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
Stair was transported to the Colleton County Detention Center on the charges and is expected to have a bond hearing Monday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office personnel arriving enmass at the compound were joined by agents of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations.[…]
Alleged Colleton Co. cult preacher charged with 8 counts waives bond hearing
COLLETON COUNTY, SC (WCSC) –
The accused leader of a cult in Colleton County facing eight criminal counts waived his right to a bond hearing Monday afternoon.
Ralph Stair, 84, has been charged with a total of eight charges. The charges include three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of assault with intent to commit first-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of kidnapping, one count of burglary, one count of second-degree assault and one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
Stair was arrested Monday morning two months after a Live 5 News investigation.
Agents with the State Law Enforcement Division and the FBI, and Colleton County Sheriff’s deputies worked together to make the arrest at 7:48 a.m. Monday at the Overcomer Ministry on Augusta Highway in Walterboro, according to Colleton Co. Sheriff’s Lt. Tyger Benton.
A search warrant for the property was also executed, he said.
Stair was located on the property and taken into custody without incident, Benton said.[…]
There should surely be a queue down the street for a steady job in a subtropical climate with beautiful beaches and ocean views, especially after you have climbed a 413ft radio mast.
But contractors running the BBC Atlantic relay station on Ascension Island in the south Atlantic have had to readvertise a post for a full-time antenna maintenance supervisor. It may not be the job of everyone’s dreams, but it would suit anyone with a head for heights and a longing to get away from it all.
[…]Attempts to recruit a new rigger have proved unsuccessful, even though the job comes with a bungalow and an unspecified salary with a singular advantage: there are few places on Ascension (population roughly 800) to spend any money.
[…]The successful candidate will not lack for fun. There are beachside barbecues and even an 18-hole golf course, although the greens are known locally as “browns” and visitors have unkindly dubbed it “the worst golf course in the world”.
Allan has set up a Go Fund Me campaign to begin the process of raising enough money to purchase a used transmitter. Here’s the note from their Go Fund Me page:
Free speech radio WBCQ international shortwave suffered a fire in its main transmitter building on December 10th. The building was saved but our main 50 killowatt trasnmitter completely burned up inside and is a total loss.
We are dedicated to the cause of free speech radio and have been for 19 years. There was no insurance and we have limited funds. We need to replace this transmitter to insure there is at least one free radio station broadcasting programs of individuals wishing to express their free speech rights to the world.
At least $20000 is required to buy a used transmitter and have it shipped to the radio station in Maine. We are on a reduced power backup transmitter and need to return to full 50KW power as soon as possible. Thank You.
Click here to view WBCQ’s Go Fund Me campaign and support the purchase of a transmitter. [Link Removed]
Many thanks to Dave Zantow for the tip!
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My mainstay travel receiver, the brilliant Eton Satellit..two-time veteran of South American DXing
