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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, David, who passes along this announcement from Radio Australia via Pacific Beat:
On Sunday, Radio Australia’s shortwave signal to Asia will be turned off, another result the ABC says of recent government funding cuts.
Shortwave broadcasting into the Pacific will continue, but signal strenth outside Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji may be degraded.
Alex Oliver from the Lowy Institute has contributed evidence to Australian parliamentary inquiries and committees on foreign affairs, defence and trade for many years.
So does she view the switch off as a big step back from international broadcasting by Australia, or simply the retirement of some old technology.
“Tuned [to Helliniki Radiophonia] during band scan at 0110 UT. It was playing 1970s rock music like Love is Like Oxygen by Sweet and Evil Woman by ELO. Male announcer speaking in Greek between each song. Initial signal strength was weak SIO 233 on PL-880 and PL-380. Also weak and noisy on University of Twente Websdr. Switched to local Perseus with Wellbrook antenna. Reception improved from SIO 443 to SIO 555 during recording of 100 kHz wide RF from 0126 to 0140.
Observation showed carrier on 9415 with nothing on assigned 9420 kHz as per Aoki and EiBi. Switched back to PL-880 as signal had improved to SIO 555. PL-880 with internal whip provided easy copy from 0140 to 0145 when signal suddenly dropped out. Signal returned several seconds later but decidedly not on 9415. Tuning to 9420 restored clear strong signal. Verified via local Perseus receiver that carrier was now on 9420 with no carrier at 9415. Same male announcer was noted between songs at 0153. University of Twente Websdr also showed same shift. Ended reception at 0154 UT.”
Many thanks for this detailed listener report, Mark. Indeed, several of us have noted Helliniki Radiophonia on 9,415 occasionally. Last year, I made all-night recordings where RH remained on 9,415 the entire time.
I have no idea why RH is hopping between 9,415 and 9,420 kHz. Initially, I thought this may be due to the fact that they were silent on 9,420 for an extended perios of time last year and Voice Of Islamic Republic of Iran, who shares the same frequency, seemed to take its place. I even had a few readers note that when Helliniki Radiophonia returned to 9,420 kHz, interference from Iran was substantial and the occasional move to 9,415 kHz was, perhaps, to obtain a clear frequency.
In truth, though, this is speculation; is this frequency shift deliberate or accidental? Do any SWLing Post readers have a definitive answer?
For your listening pleasure: the Voice of Nigeria–recorded on January 28, 2015, starting at 10:00 UTC on 9,690 kHz.
The past few days, the signal out of Ikorodu has been much stronger than normal, so I’ve spent several afternoons listening to the wonderful sounds and music from the Voice of Nigeria.
It appears Blinq only has one more left in stock–though I imagine more will sporadically appear in the future. While I have received a dud radio from Blinq once (a 450DLX), their return process is so effortless and efficient, I personally don’t mind taking my chances.
My friend, @K7al_L3afta, posted to Twitter, the following fax he decoded from the Kyodo News Agency on 12,745 kHz today:
The Kyodo News Agency is possibly the last marine weather fax station which faxes daily news (full newspapers) and navigational warnings to ships at sea.
For those of you who might believe it takes a sophisticated setup to decode a FAX transmission, you would be incorrect. @K7al_L3afta uses only a Tecsun PL-660 portable hooked up to his PC running the MultiPSK application. He lives in Morocco–in an urban environment with lots of RFI as well, so those of you living in a similar situation should feel encouaged.
After posting the FAX image, our friend @LondonShortwave then sent a link to a Sony radio I have never seen before: the Sony CRF-V21.
The Sony CRF-V21 (Image source: Universal Radio)
The CRF-V21 is a full-featured shortwave radio receiver with built-in printer and decoding for FAX and RTTY. In fact, with an optional AN-P1200 satellite antenna, the CRF-V21 will even copy and print G.O.E.S. satellite weather transmissions.
The Sony CRF-V21Visual World Band Radio is the first portable to offer integrated facsimile (FAX) and radioteletype (RTTY) shortwave reception. You can print RTTY and FAX transmissions directly with the built-in thermal printer. Supported RTTY modes include Baudot at 60, 66, 75 and 100 WPM and ASCII at 110, 200, 300 and 600 bps. FAX shortwave speeds include 60, 90 120 and 240 rpm. Even G.O.E.S. satellite weather transmissions may be copied and displayed with the optional AN-P1200 satellite antenna.
Frequency coverage is 9 kHz to 30 MHz for all longwave, medium wave and shortwave frequencies. Plus FM coverage from 76 to 88 MHz and NOAA satellite channels 137.62/141.21 MHz. The optional AN-P1200 antenna system adds 1.6910/1.6945 GHz G.O.E.S. satellite reception. Another highlight of this radio is built-in spectrum display showing a visual picture of 200 kHz or 5 MHz of the shortwave spectrum.
Other refinements include: Mini Earphone Jack, S Meter, 350 Alpha Memories, Carry Handle, Clock, 8 Event Timer, Scan, Sweep, FM AFC, Synchronous Detection, Attenuator, 6/3.5/2.7/14 kHz Selectivity, AF Filter, Record Jack, Dial Lamp, Keypad and LCD Contrast Adjustment.
The CRF-V21 is supplied with: AN-V21 telescopic antenna unit, ACP-88R AC power unit, NP-227 battery, BCA-70 charge tray, antenna cable, protective cover, UPP-21 thermal printer paper and manuals. Operates from 110/120/220/240 VAC. Requires two AA cells for memory retention. 16.25 x 11.25 x 6.75 inches (21 lbs.).
The CRF-V21 is basically an all-in-one Holy Grail portable for those at sea!
“I’m a SWL-MWL-LWL from Hungary, Europe. I like your blog where I can read about radio news and reviews. You report about new stations if they appear in the air and about closed stations if they disappear from the air. I did not observed any news in your blog about the closed LW stations of the “Deutschlandradio”. There were two frequencies for “Deutschlandfunk” (153 kHz and 207 kHz) and one for “Deutschlandradio-kultur” (177 kHz). Here in the center of the Carpathian Basin – many hundreds kms from the statons – I could hear them very well. But not any more. For some weeks it seems that they have disappeared.
I checked the website of the German Radio, and on the following pages LW frequencies are not mentioned any more:
I’m sorry for it. Beside this German radio had a great foreign service in the past (DW – also on Hungarian). But it was closed in the last 10-15 years.”
Thanks for your message, Attila. Being State side, there are few options for listening to the longwave stations I so enjoyed while living in Europe at various times over the past two decades. With that said, when propagation is in my favor, on winter nights, I occasionally hear faint European LW stations like France Inter on 162 kHz.
At some point, I need to dig up a one sheet listing of all longwave stations that are still on the air. Does such a thing exist?
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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, David, who passes along this announcement from Radio Australia via Pacific Beat:
