ABC Northern Territory Shortwave Services: returning September 13

SX-99-Dial-Nar

ABC RadioMany thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Harald Kuhl (DL1ABJ), who clears up a little confusion:

it was reported that ABC Northern Territory Shortwave Services left shortwave for good.

I asked them and they replied they will be back on coming Tuesday:

Dear Mr Kuhl,

Thank you for your note. The service you are referring to will be re-established next Tuesday morning at 9am local time.

Kind Regards,

ABC Reception Advice
Communications Networks

Thank you Harald. I, too, have seen a lot of notices on social media that the ABC Northern Territory Shortwave Services had shut down permanently. I had not posted anything here because I couldn’t find any mention or confirmation from ABC. Looks like they’re probably doing routine maintenance.

NPOTA: Activating the Carl Sandburg Home (NS07) today

Elecraft Kx2 ON Clipboard

This afternoon (September 8), I should have a chance to activate the Carl Sandburg Home again for the ARRL National Parks on the Air program. You might recall, I activated the site Sunday as well.

I’ll plan to use the Elecraft KX2 and EFT TRail-Friendly antenna combo once again.

I should be on the air starting sometime between 20:00-20:30 UTC (4:00 – 4:30 PM EDT). I’ll plan to operate SSB on two frequencies: 14286 and 7286 kHz. I should be on the air for one hour or so, if all goes well. Listen for my amateur radio call sign: K4SWL.

It would be fantastic to log some SWLing Post readers. If you do manage to hear my 10 watt signal, or work my station, please comment!

From The Radio Netherlands Archives: September 18 and 19

pcj(Source: PCJ/Keith Perron)

September 18th and 19th PCJ Radio International will present part 3 of From The Radio Netherlands Archives.

In the 1960s to the late 1970s Radio Netherlands produced radio dramas that were for export to radio stations overseas.

Some of the radio plays were commissioned specially for RNW and others were adaptations of popular Dutch plays.

There will be a special E-QSL issued for this program. PCJ Radio International’s partner stations will receive this program in two parts.

The program will be presented by Paulette MacQuarrie.

  • Europe: 0600 to 0800UTC – Frequency 7780 kHz
    September 18, 2016
  • North America: 0100 to 0300UTC – Frequency 7570 kHz
    September 19, 2016

For more information contact PCJ at [email protected]

Phil demonstrates the BHI NEIM1031 Noise Eliminating In-Line Module

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Phil Brennan, who writes:

[Recently] one of your contributors mentioned that he purchased a BHI DSP unit at a discounted price. I purchased one (a different model to the one in the previous post) some months ago before I headed away travelling.

The post reminded me that I had made a small video demonstrating the DSP unit on my FRG7. The video shows me tuning the DSP on a broadcast of Voice of the People on 3912 khz. While QRM at my place isn’t too bad, it’s still present and the DSP does aid in clearing up a signal.

https://youtu.be/prIPxMmcHQc

Voice of the People is usually jammed by the DPRK and the DSP also assists in reducing the roar of the jammer. Of course one can go to far with DSP and the audio can suffer from that underwater sound.

Thank you, Phil! The FRG-7 is an ideal receiver for something like the BHI module since it precedes on-board DSP. The great thing about an in-line module, of course, is that it can be used with a variety of receivers.

Click here to view the BHI NEIM1031 MKII on BHI’s website.

From The Isle of Music Preview for September 12/13 (WBCQ & Channel 292)

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TIMBA TIME!

Our September 13 (September 12 in the Americas on WBCQ) program offers more of Caribe Nostrum, winner of Cubadisco 2016 in the Concert and Chamber Music category and one of the two Gran Premio winners. Guido López Gavilán, the Director, will join us to talk about the music. Then, special guest Lourdes Diez will tell us about Timba 25, a future release by EGREM honoring 25 years of Timba. Naturally, we will listen to some of the music from the forthcoming album, and we will play some other excellent dance music from the past.

Two options for listening on shortwave:
WBCQ, 7490 KHz, Tuesdays 0000-0100 UTC
(8pm-9pm EDT Mondays in the Americas)
Channel 292, 6070 KHz, Tuesdays 1900-2000 UTC
(2100-2200 CEST)
Visit our Facebook page  for more information.

Can you help Rick ID this mystery digital signal?

Ricks-Location

Photo from Rick’s location in Vernon, BC.

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Rick Slobodian, who writes to request help with the following:

Tecsun-PL-606I was on the beach at our lake, [where I was listening to my] Tecsun PL-606 receiver.

[On Friday, August 19, 2016 at 1800 UTC, I noted a] “beeper”: beeps at Hz repetition rate , does not appear to be data, it beeps for about a minute then there is a short data burst then beeping again for a minute or two.

This went on for over an hour.

Location of Vernon, British Columbia, Canada.

Location of Vernon, British Columbia, Canada (click to enlarge).

[The beeping covered] all frequencies between 13400-13800 kHz. [Then on August 20, it started at] start 1745 UTC and was no longer on 3400-13800 but now on
all frequencies between 12120 -12250.

What is it? [Take a listen:]

Click here to download a recording of the beeping.

My ham radio friend says there are a network of stations that send out pings that everyone in the group transmits and everyone receives. The signal strength and phase of the rx signal is correlated at each receiver station, to direction find some unknown station.

Was there such a thing during the cold war, and is it still around? What is this system and where can I find out more about it?

Thanks for your inquiry, Rick. This is outside the scope of what I understand on the HF bands, so I hope SWLing Post readers can chime in and offer suggestions.

Please comment if you can help Rick ID this transmission!

Dan offers services to digitally preserve off-air recordings on legacy formats

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

Some years ago, I urged those of us survivors in the shortwave listening  community to transfer any reel or cassette tapes to digital format. In recent years we have lost many top DX’ers to illness. Collections of recordings have unfortunately also been lost because family members are not able to preserve them or have no interest in doing so.

If any SWLing Post readers have such recordings, I am able to transfer them from/to to any format — including MD, SONY Microcassette (both of these are obviously still legacy formats but many still use MD for example), and straight to solid state media such as SD, MicroSD, etc

While I realize that most people do have the knowledge and capabilities to transfer old  recordings, I know many lack the time and patience to do so. So I am offering my services here, for reasonable fees to compensate for time invested. You can reach me at: [email protected]

Those who wish to simply donate recordings can send them to me (please get in touch first).  Anyone who does wish to have their recording collection(s) transferred in full and to have  original tapes or cassettes returned, I ask to be compensated for postage costs. If you wish  to provide solid state media for the transfers that is fine, but please make sure that thumb drives  or memory cards are of sufficient size. Otherwise I will obtain memory cards/sticks and add this to the cost.

In recent years I have transferred recordings of about a dozen DX’ers who have passed, and for a few who left the hobby. All of these recordings are valuable as they represent snapshots of the SW broadcasting era and of history — they should be preserved.

I can certainly vouch for Dan and his integrity, so if you would like to have your recordings transferred, he’s the guy to do it. Thanks, Dan!