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The ARRL reports the first amateur radio operation from Pyongyang, N.Korea in 13 years took place on December 20.
In an unexpected turn of events, Polish DXer Dom Gryzb, 3Z9DX, who has been visiting North Korea this week in advance of a planned Amateur Radio operation early next year, came on the air from the most-wanted DXCC entity around 0000 on December 20. P5/3Z9DX has been active on both 20 meters and 15 meters SSB only, and a few hundred stations have been fortunate enough to work him.
Propagation was unfavorable due to a geomagnetic storm that seems to have affected his efforts on 20 meters. He also reported that he faced extremely high ambient noise levels in Pyongyang. He ran 100 W to a vertical antenna mounted on a metal fencepost some 7 feet above the ground among government high-rise buildings.
If you’ve registered for, and plan to attend, the PARI DXPedition, please make sure you’ve joined our Yahoo Group. This is where we’re finalizing details and communicating about the DXpedition, noting any changes, updates, etc.
If you’ve tried to contact me recently and haven’t gotten a response yet (sorry about that!) it’s because I’ve been unusually busy: writing a shortwave radio buyer’s guide for The Spectrum Monitor, several reviews for WRTH 2016, plotting another reader challenge, and last but not least, putting together the final details of the SWLing Post DXpedition at PARI this weekend.
Soon I’ll be another kind of busy, at the DXpedition: exploring the bands, gazing at the stars, and hanging out with some of the SWLing Post community. Needless to say, it’s going to be fun, and I’m looking forward to it.
If we have Internet access at PARI, we hope to post a few loggings and photos from our Twitter account.
We have about a dozen registrants this year, a good start. If you can’t make it there, no worries; if all goes well, we may have another next year.
“Thought I’d forward you this information on the annual “Night of Nights” event on July 12 (U.S. local time)/July 13 UTC, which provides an opportunity for shortwave QSLs – assuming the listener understands Morse code!
I’m sure you’re familiar with this one-night-a-year happening, in which maritime radio stations rise from the dead and transmit Morse code messages again for a few hours.
As a guy who honed his CW sending skills by listening to these stations’ constantly repeating messages, I have a sense of nostalgia and gratitude toward these stations, which helped me obtain my first Novice license, WN9ICB, at the age of 15 … less than 2 months after I taped the WWV recording that I submitted.”
It’s that time of year again. Time to honor all those ops who came before us by preserving their skills, traditions and culture through on the air operations.
Why 12 July? Long time True Believers know the story. But it may be worth repeating for new arrivals and to remind everyone of the traditions we hope to keep alive.
On 12 July 1999 some very tough looking grizzled old radio pioneers had tears in their eyes as the last commercial Morse code radiogram was sent. It was the end of an era. And as the last beeps faded away into the static they witnessed the end of the career to which they had devoted their lives.
These men – and some women – had stood watch over the airwaves on shore and at sea. Theirs was mostly the business of maritime commerce. But when their ship was in peril they were called upon to send the most electrifying three letters in radio, S O S, knowing that all their fellow radio operators would press their earphones close to get every scrap of information and bring aid to their stricken ship.
Once, our coasts were dotted with great Morse code radio stations, all communicating with ships at sea. They’re all gone now… all except one, the one they called the Wireless Giant of the Pacific, located at Point Reyes.
On that sad day in 1999 another event took place. The Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS) was formed. We made it our life’s work to honor the men and women of wireless by restoring that wireless giant. One year and one minute later the giant’s voice once again spanned the oceas as we picked up the thread and kept the faith with our colleagues of the air.
Every year since, in an event that became known as the Night of Nights, Morse code station KPH has returned to the air, joined by KFS and the station of the MRHS, KSM.
This year our friends and colleagues at USCG station NMC have labored mightily to bring that storied call sign back to life on Morse code for the evening along with NMQ in Cambria, CA..
And station NMW in Astoria, OR will be on the air as well.
Stations WLO and KLB will join us again as hey have in years past.
This is a global and local event. Hundreds of listeners around the world will be waiting with their earphones on, waiting for the signals of the great station to once again arc over the dome of the Earth to their receivers.
You can be with us in person!
My buddy, Mike (K8RAT) also notes that this “Night of Nights” event may witness the last ever Morse communications from the US Coast Guard stations. Indeed, this is mentioned in the MHRS newsletter:
This may very well be the last time ever that USCG stations can be heard on the air using A1A (Morse) emission. As new equipment is installed the hardware and wiring for Morse has been progressively removed. And the personnel who knowledgeable in the art retire or are reassigned. So be sure to listen for these stations.
I’ll not only listen to this Night of Nights, but hope to record some of the stations as well.
The frequencies for this event are numerous! I have listed the USCG (NMC) frequencies below, but please check the MHRS newsletter for MRHS and other maritime station frequencies.
I decided to record the leap second on as many shortwave time station frequencies as possible. The only viable options for me–based on time of day and my reception location–were the WWV frequencies 10, 15, 20, and 25 MHz, and CHU frequencies 7,850 and 14,670 kHz.
I was able to monitor four different time station frequencies simultaneously on the TitanSDR Pro. (click to enlarge)
Unfortunately, HF propagation was very poor yesterday, so the higher WWV frequencies–20 and 25 MHz–were completely inaudible, as was CHU on 14,670 kHz. There were numerous thunderstorms in our area, so static crashes were prevalent.
Still, since this was a first attempt to record a “leap second,” I didn’t want to take any chances. I had the Titan SDR Pro monitoring and recording two CHU and two WWV frequencies [screenshot], the Elad FDM-S2 recording WWV on 15 MHz [screenshot], and the WinRadio Excalibur on WWV’s 10 MHz frequency, as well as recording the whole 31 meter band spectrum [screenshot].
In the end, the strongest frequencies I captured were CHU on 7,850 kHz and WWV on 15,000 kHz. WWV on 10,000 kHz was much weaker than normal and the band was quite noisy–still, it’s readable, so I included this recording, too. Recordings follow…
Recordings
The sign above WWV’s primary 10 MHz transmitter (2014).
All of the recordings start just before the announcement of 23:59 UTC.
WWV added the extra second and higher tone, then continued with their top of the hour announcements, including a note about leap second (which begins after the 00:04 announcement). CHU simply injects a one second silence before the long tone.
One interesting note about the 10 MHz WWV recording above: I believe I may be hearing BPM China in the background. I’m curious if anyone can confirm this because I don’t know BPM’s cadence/pattern well enough to ID it.
Other recordings…?
Did you record a shortwave time station as leap second happened? If so, please comment, and feel free to share a link to your recording!
We gathered in the Comms Office to listen to the audition, during which our loved ones sent us their messages. Even though we all can talk to our families and friends on the phone with relative ease today, it was still a very touching moment. (Credit: Michal Krzysztofowicz, Halley VI Research Station)
This is one of my favorite annual broadcasts, and I endeavor to listen every year. This year, the SWLing Post called upon readers to make a short recording of the broadcast from their locale. We received a total of thirty (!) recordings, from every continent (save Antarctica, that is; I’m sure the BAS team were too busy celebrating)…Wow! Thank you, participants!
Below are the entries, roughly organized by continent and country/region, including reader’s photos if provided. (If I’ve somehow missed including your entry, please contact me; I’ll amend this post.)
So, without further ado….
The Recordings
Africa
Morocco
SWL (Shortwave Listener):@K7al_L3afta Location: Chaouia-Ouardigha, Morocco Notes: The BBC World Service Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast. Woofferton transmitter.
Receiver: Tecsun PL-660 + 15m wire antenna.
Asia
India
SWL: Babul Gupta Location: Barasat, West Bengal, India Notes: Babul listened to the broadcast with his ICOM IC-R75 receiver, connected to a 176 meter long beverage antenna oriented in a West South direction.
Malaysia
SWL: Timm Breyel Location: Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia Notes: Here is a sound file of the broadcast monitored in central Malaysia, using the frequency 5.985 kHz via Ascension Island at 21.30 UTC.By 21.35 UTC, QRM from presumably Myanmar Radio overwhelmed this frequency. Worst of all, reception on 9.590 kHz via Wooffeton was in audible due to strong QRM from PBS Xizang. Transmission on 5.905 via Dhabbaya was the only audible signal after 21.35 UTC, and it was a paltry (SINPO) 15341, best heard in USB.
Australia
Australia
SWL:Rob Wagner (VK3BVW) Location: Mount Evelyn, Victoria, Australia Notes: All three freqs noted here at Mount Evelyn, southeastern Australia: 5905.1 – Off freq and with a slight hum but a good signal, 5985 – Best of the three freqs, strong and clear, 9590 – Good signal but with moderate QRM from PBS Xizang co-channel. Pity! I suspect that freq would not have been as good down south either. Overall, a reasonable success this year.
Australia
SWL: Michael Stevenson Location: Port Macquarie, NSW on the east coast of Australia Notes: “5905 kHz Dhabbaya was only just fair and rather noisy while 5985 Woofferton was fair and still noisy with 9590 kHz Woofferton was the strongest signal but was marred by CRI China here in Port Macquarie, NSW on the east coast of Australia!”
New Zealand
SWL: Chris Mackerell Location: Motueka, New Zealand Notes: Receiving setup: Elad FDM-S2 SDR, Wellbrook ALA-1530S+ loop. QTH Marahau, Tasman District, New Zealand 41.00S 173.01E
Europe
Cyprus
SWL: Arjen Huisman Location: Kissonerga, Cyprus Notes: Attached my recording of the BBC Antarctic Midwinter broadcast on 5985 kHz. last Sunday June 21st. Something about my listening conditions: I have been listening with a JRC NRD-535DG to which a 13,5 longwire has been connected, hanging outside on the (large) uncovered balcony of my apartment, 3rd (top) floor.
I live about 500m from the coastline of the western part of Cyprus, about 8 km. north of the city of Paphos in a village called Kissonerga. Generally reception conditions are very good here, so close to the sea with no high buildings around.
Denmark
SWL: Willy Andersen (OZ4ZT) Location: Soeborg near Copenhagen, Denmark Notes: Willy used an Icom IC-756 Pro with an inverted V antenna. He noted that 9590 kHz and 5985 kHz were equal in signal strength and quality.
Germany
SWL: Gunther Rose Location: Wetter, Germany
Notes: Here is my recording of the last 1,5 minutes of the Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast 2015 on 5985 kHz. My receiving-setup: Tecsun PL-880 with telescope antenna (indoor near a window on the 4th floor), line out to Macbook (audacity-software) Unfortunately I got lots of RFI from my neighbour’s powerline adapter so the signal from Wooferton was strong but not noise-free.
SWL: Gabriele Somma (IZ8094SWL) Location: Salerno Roccapiemonte, Italy Notes: recorded the broadcast on his Icom IC-PRC1500 with an antenna at 10 meters high.
Italy
SWL: Giuseppe Morlè (Joseph) Location: Ponza island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy Notes: I heard the BBC broadcast with my AOR AR 3030 receiver and Mini Whip antenna, and Tecsun PL-660.
Netherlands
SWL: Jonathan Marks Location: University Twente, Netherlands Notes: Here’s a clip from the University Twente SDR reception from Woofterton 5985 from 2145 onwards.
SWL: Sérgio Pimenta Location: Porto, Portugal Notes:[H]ere is my reception in Portugal (Porto, northern of Portugal), using a Tecsun PL-310ET with just the telescopic antenna on my kitchen window, very strong signal.
SWL: Dennis Location: Moscow, Russia Notes: BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast 2015 – for SWLing.com. Moscow. Grundig Satellit 1400 built-in mini whip.
http://youtu.be/7FAwUi9WOQ4
Spain
SWL: Michael Haun Location: Menorca, Spain Notes: Please find 2 recordings from your special Midwinter broadcast: 5905 kHz (S9+10, rapid fading, quite noisy) and 5985 kHz ( S9+40, fantastic signal).
Receiver used was a PERSEUS SDR and a 5×10 meters active loop antenna. Keep up the good work and 73 also to all in the Antarctica!
Turkey
SWL: Oktay Egi Location: Istanbul, Turkey Notes: I am located in Istanbul, Turkey. I used Sony ICF-SW77 for listening with internal antenna on 5905 KHz. The sound was not clear but understandable. Time was 21:35 UTC.
United Kingdom
SWL: Mark Harper (MW1MDH) Location: Saltney, England Notes: “I’m running an IC-R75, on an internal, RF systems Windom, the ATU isn’t connected in the attached video. I’m located in Saltney, which is about 2 miles west of Chester, but just over the Welsh border by about 200 yards, I’m also just north of Wooferton! Hope the audio is ok, I’m running my 75 on an external speaker, just off to the side.”
United Kingdom
SWL: “Driverfilms” Location: Newcastle Under Lyne in Staffordshire, England
United Kingdom
SWL: Andrew Svonja Location: Hinckley, Leicestershire in the Midlands in the UK Notes: On Sunday 21/06/15 at 21:30 UTC I recorded a segment of the BBC Winter Solstice broadcast to the Antarctic–SINPO reading was a complete 5 across the board
United Kingdom
SWL: Stephen Cooper Location: Southport, England, Notes: 9,590Khz on the Elad FDM-S2 with a 15m random wire.
North America
Canada
SWL: Fred Location: London, Ontario Notes: The recording was made using a camera in AVI format, which has been converted to MP3. The time stamp on the video is 17:46 EST. The recording is from a Grundig Yacht Boy 400. The best reception was by laying the Grundig flat with the radio antenna facing North East. No longwire or external aerial was used. I was also able to receive the signal on my Tecsun PL-380, but the signal was very muffled with excessive static.
Canada
SWL: Richard Langley Location: Hanwell, New Brunswick, Canada
Richard’s Tecsun PL-880 and Tecsun digital recorder in a protective plastic case outdoors.
Notes: Richard listened to the broadcast on 9,590 kHz. He notes that it was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in AM mode with 3.5 kHz RF filtering.
United States
SWL: Dan Robinson Location: Potomac, Maryland, USA Notes: using a JRC NRD-515 receiver, with Wellbrook 1530 loop antenna.
Dan also included the following audio recording:
United States
SWL: Frank Colella Location: Westchester County, New York Notes:Sangean ATS-909 receiver
United States
A screen capture of the TitanSDR Pro as I recorded all three frequencies of the BBC Midwinter broadcast simultaneously.
SWL: Thomas Witherspoon Location: North Carolina, USA Notes: I recorded the broadcast on a total of three SDRs simultaneously: the TitanSDR Pro, Elad-FDM-S2 and the WinRadio Excalibur.
Screen capture of the Elad FDM-S2
I was very pleased to hear the broadcast on 9590 kHz. Since North Carolina was not in the path of this broadcast, it was a weak signal. All three receivers were using the same large outdoor horizontal delta loop at 60′ above the ground.
Screen capture of the WinRadio Excalibur
The following embedded audio player, should contain all three recordings. Note that the FDM-S2 recording (which is perhaps the best of the three) starts in the middle of the broadcast.
South America
Brazil
SWL: Flavio PY2ZX Location: Brazil Notes: Also noted the three frequencies in Brazil but 9590 kHz sounds better despite the presence of PBS Xizang. Great to hear such friendship spirit through the shortwaves! Congratulations BBC and BAS team. My recording:
Colombia
SWL:Rafael Rodriguez R. Location: Bogota, Cundinamarca, Colombia Notes: Greetings from Colombia. I could only hear the signal at 9590 KHz. The location is [at] a park close to my house (aprox. Lat 4 72 62 N Long 74 02 85 W; alt 2577 m over level sea).
Once again, many thanks to all of you who submitted your recordings of the BBC Midwinter Broadcast! We’ll be sharing this post with both the British Antarctic Survey and the BBC World Service. And to all of you, from the SWLing Post: Happy Midwinter! Happy Summer/Winter Solstice!
Please note that any map graphics used in this post were originally designed by NuclearVacuum and Ssolbergj–they have been modified for this post under a Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 3.0.
I’m putting together a post with all of the recordings to publish by mid-week. If you haven’t yet sent in your recording, please do so today! Simply contact me with a link to download.
As a reminder: I’m calling on all SWLing Post readers and shortwave radio listeners to make a short recording (say, 30-60 seconds) of the BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast and share it here at the Post (frequencies and time below).
The recording can be audio-only, or even a video taken from any recording device or smart phone. It would be helpful to have a description and/or photo of your listening environment and location, if possible.
If you submit your recording to me, I will post it here on the SWLing Post–and insure that the BBC World Service receives the post, too. The recordings will be arranged by geographic location.
Halley VI: The British Antarctic Survey’s new base (Source: British Antarctic Survey)
The broadcast will take place today at 21:30 UTC on the following frequencies:
5,905 kHz, Dhabayya, 203 degrees
5,985 kHz, Woofferton, 184 degrees
9,590 kHz, Woofferton, 182 degrees
I will (hopefully) be in the SWLing Post chat room during the broadcast. Please sign in and share your report!
Spread the radio love
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(Source: Southgate ARC)
SWL: Babul Gupta
