Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Blog Logs

Example of monitoring via Airspy HF Discovery
Monitoring 10-18 August, 2020


All times UTC/ SDR units as indicated

Chile
Radio Cooperative, 760 kHz from 1715 tune-in. News-talk format in Spanish with national news items and brief references to station. Confirmed via parallel audio at station’s website http://www.cooperativa.cl . Station operates on 24-hour schedule. Chile’s Radio Nacional Santiago on 1140 kHz from 1725-1740. News topics and announcer’s friendly conversations about Santiago. Station ID, frequency and local Santiago time check to station jingles. (Chile SDR)

Clandestine
Denge Welat via Moldova relay on 11530 kHz. Tune-in 1305-1335. Kurdish news, references to station and lengthy commentary. Slight fades, but overall good signal. (Poland SDR).

Eswatini (ex Swaziland)
TWR Africa, 6130 kHz (100 kW) Religious text cadence from 1835, listed as Umbunbu ethnic language (Mon-Fri) in GRG Summer 2020 edition. Format continued to 1842. Noted on-frequency digital signal interference, likely ANDVT every 24-25 second intervals. Religious chorus, sermon’s text as signal intermittently fades. (SIO 322.Vocal segments to 1903. (S Africa SDR)

Ethiopia
Amhara Radio 6090 kHz. Tune-in 1905 to news script format in presumed Amharic. Ethiopian music with announcer’s voice-overs. Fair signal SIO 322. (Qatar SDR)


Germany
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via Lampertheim relay; 11850 kHz. Tune-in 1400 (SIO 323) // 15450 (SIO 222) Announcer’s Tajik service schedule to 1600. Udon, Thailand relay with excellent signal on 15255 from 1420 with Turkmen text. Kuwait relay audible from 1425 ID on 11790. Uzbek service via Woofferton, UK relay from 1428 on 11790 // 15310 kHz. NLD & Qatar SDR)

Iran
VOIRI/Pars Today 6060 kHz. Arabic service covering items about Iran into program intros. Islamic feature with commentary. SIO 433. Opening instrumentals on 7235 kHz at 1920. Station ID, station frequency quote into French service. (Qatar SDR)

Kuwait
Radio Kuwait Classical Arabic Music Channel, 1269 kHz (100 kW). Arabic vocals to classical music and intermittent Arabic text over music segments. Schedule listed to 0000 UTC. Enjoyable Arabic music. Kuwait’s Quran Prgm in Arabic noted on 630 kHz (24 hour schedule) with SIO 434. (Qatar SDR)




Malaysia
RTM Sarawak WAI FM 9835 kHz at 1225 tune-in. Lady’s Malay item to Asian rap vocals and jingle format. Station ID at 1230 Additional Asian pops, and PSA’s about Covid. Mentions of Malaysia to additional pop tunes. Parallel frequency 11665 not heard. (Philippine SDR)


ORTM Mali signal on 9635 kHz
Mali 
ORTM Mali, 9635 kHz. Tune-in 1755 to mbira music, followed by ethnic vocals to 1759. Time tips signal tones to drum instrumental segment, closing on 9635. Shifted to 5995 kHz from 1800. Very weak (SIO 222) ethnic vocals to announcer’s French items at 1815. (Sevilla, Spain SDR)



Philippines
FEBC Philippines, 9275 // 9400. Good signals from 1243 tune-in. Chinese religious text format. This schedule to 1600 and 2230-0000 UTC. Khmer service on 13870;  1100-1300 UTC.  Occasional ID breaks and station info. (Philippine SDR)

Poland
Polskie Radio 1, 225 kHz LW. Tune-in 1253 with Polish announcements. PSA formats and several “Polski” references. Station ID to time ticks at 1300 UTC. Additional ID into national news format. At 1301. (NLD SDR)

United States
USAGM-Radio Farda in Persian from 1445 tune-in on 12005 (300 kW) via Woofferton, UK relay. (NLD SDR)

USAGM-Radio Martí 11930 kHz via Greenville, NC // 11860 // 13605 from 1420-1445. Persistent jamming from Cuba on three frequencies. (Airspy HF Discovery/W6LVP, Brasstown, NC)


Uruguay
Radio Clasica/Rdif Nacional, 650 kHz (25 kW) from 1510-1520. Spanish announcers occasional “canned” ID to classical music programs Radio el Espectador on 810 kHz from 1520. Station’s slogan and items on Uruguay, ads with phone numbers and ID breaks. (50 kW). Radio Monte Carlo 930 kHz (50 kW) from 1525 tune-in. Spanish pop vocals and easy-listening tunes. ID, station promo and singing slogans. Audio parallel with station’s online streaming at http://www.radiomontecarlo.com.uyRadio Oriental on 770 (50 kW) with promos, and slogans from 1530 tune-in. Program for morning greetings to listener’s, promo for the news and ID. Audio parallel with station’s online streaming at http://www.oriental770.com/ (Montevideo, UR SDR)
(Gayle Van Horn, Teak Publishing, Brasstown, NC)


Monday, August 10, 2020

Blog Logs

Monitoring 28 July - August 5, 2020

All times UTC / frequencies in kilohertz (kHz) SDR units as indicated

Algeria
Radio Algerienne Chaine 1, 558 kHz in Arabic, from 1835 tune-in. Parallel Quran noted on 693, 873, 1026, 1071 kHz. (Qatar SDR) Chaine 3, (Tipaza, Algeria-1500 kW) French on 252 LW from 1510. Male/female phone-conversations to 1524. Instrumental Algerian music to 1527. Additional brief phone-in to 1530. Station ID over Arabic music to extended Arabic vocals. SIO 434. Jil FM (F'Kirina and Sidi Hamadouche, Algeria-600 kW) Noted on 531 // 549 with fair signal SIO 333; Multichaine-Radio UFC, Ouled Fayet, Algeria-50 kW) Tune-in 1422 amid Arabic vocals to intro to a Quran program. All Algerian station's via Sardinia SDR. http://www.radioalgerie.dz

Cuba
Radio Habana Cuba, 1830 sign-on for Creole service on 15140 (Bauta-100 kW). Opening station melody to announcer's  Creole station ID. Musical intro to items about Cuba.Target to western North America 444 SIO. (Airspy SDR) Interval signal 1857 to Spanish ID, info and web address. English service program preview into national news. SIO 434. French service heard 2000-2030 on 15140 per schedule; Portuguese service, fair signal  to Europe 2005 tune-in on 15370 kHz (Bauta) No show for Spanish 2100 check on 15370; Spanish 2100 on 9640 (Bejucal) with fair (SIO 333) All over the place on 11760 in Spanish from 2305 check. Muddled audio and drifting. No sign of the following listed on the latest schedule: 11800 from 2300, 13740, 11670 kHz; 7390 in English 2300-2330; 15730 2300-2330. Audible 2300-0000 on 9640 (Bejucal) in Spanish to the Antilles, with Cuban music program with over mod. (Airspy HF Discovery, Brasstown, NC)

Estonia
Radio Eli from Tartu on 1035 kHz (100 kW). Russian religious text format from 1820 tune-in. Just barely audible, but religious vocals heard from 1829. Published schedule as 0300-0700 and 1500-2200 UTC. (Karuse, Estonia SDR).

Radio Fana via Qatar SDR
Ethiopia
FBC Radio Fana, 6110 kHz (!00 kW). Good signal for several days monitoring, in listed as Afar/Amharic. Tune in's from 1725-1830. Ethnic African music, text for news format, announcer's talk and special presentations. SIO 434. (Qatar SDR) http://www.fanabc.com Tentative on Ethiopia's OBN/Radio Oromia on 6030 kHz 1804-1820. African ethnics for announcer's text but very poor signal throughout. (Qatar SDR)

Hong Kong
MBC Metro Plus, 1044 kHz. English service from 1835 tune-in. U.S. and world news headlines, into Asian pops and "Metro Plus" jingles. SIO 444. Additional Hong Kong station's audible; RTHK Radio 3, English on 567 kHz (20 kWW and // 1584 (1 kW) very poor from 1845. Rod Stewart classic pops, followed with jingles and additional pops. RTHK Radio 5 on 783 at 1851-1855. Cantonese/Mandarin service to U.S. pops and 'voice'over' slogans. RTHK Radio 6 at 1855. Cantonese/Mandarin jingles and easy-listening vocals. All of the HK station's checked basically have a similar program format. (Honk Kong SDR)

Kosovo
RTK Radio Kosovo 1, 549 kHz. Weak signal from 1837-1845. (SIO 232) Presumed Albanian text including a mention of Pristina. Subsequent check from 1445. Pope music, including Euro and U.S. pops from lady announcer to 1500 routine as signal deteriorates. Nice catch once again. (Romanian and Slovenian SDSR)


Kuwait
Radio Kuwait-Main Prgrm, 540 kHz (600 kW). Tune-in from 1805 during program of male/female Arabic newscript to fanfare music between segments. Items on Saudi Arabia and heard mentions of Hajj. Audible on // 963 and 1134 kHz, though both latter freqs very poor. Good signal for 540 kHz. Radio Kuwait's Quran Prgrm loud and clear on 630 kHz, for 24 hour schedule. (Qatar SDR)

Kyrgzstan
KTRK Birinchi Radio-Prgm 1, 4010 kHz. Tune-in 1502 as female/male trade news topics in Kyrgyz. Signal tips at 1506 to announcer's clear station identification. Continued text and announcer chat to 1523. Fanfare instrumental to "Birinchi" ID. Two males conversing to 1529. Additional fanfare and extended station information and frequency quote. Local interference from SDR location from 1532. Slight signal fades, SIO 333. Monitored on subsequent day from 1535-1545, with similar format. http://www.ktrk.kg (Kyrgzstan SDR)

Romania
Radio Timisoara, 630 kHz. Tune-in 1847 to Romanian folk music to 1850. Brief station mention, back to music. Noted interference from'presumed Italian station on frequency. Station website: http://www.radiotimisoara.ro/ Romania's longwave station Radio Antena Satelor on 153 kHz always has interesting programs and Romanian music. Numerous ID's and specials about Romania. Enjoy this station's music, and have it programmed on my Logitech Squeezebox Radio. http://www.antenasatelor.ro (NLD SDR)

Radio Romania Actualitati, 1152 kHz. Romanian programming from 1910 including news topics.  Noted parallels on 756, 1179 kHz  (poor) and 1458 (poor). No sign of // 855 kHz. Lady's newscript to the sports update. http://www.radioromania.ro Radio Romania International also audible in Romanian for afternoon programming on 9500 kHz to Europe and // 11975 (very poor). Programs of station ID,  chats, and music. Time ticks 1859 to full ID at 1900. http://www.rri.ro (NLD SDR)

Saudi Arabia
SBA Quran 11820, 2015 tune-in to Arabic text on Quran, followed by recitations at 2020. (SIO 444); audible on // 11915 to Asia. Schedule to 0000 UTC. 'lSBA Saudi Radio International in Turkish on 9675 kHz. Monitored from 2025. Turkish service is 1800-2057 UTC. Turkish instrumentals introduced special programming at 2028 to 2100*. (AirSpy HF Discovery/Brasstown, NC)

SRTC Sudan Radio signal on 7205 kHz
Sudan
SRTC Sudan Radio, 7205 kHz. Announcer reading script in ethnic language for presumed newscast, from 1802 tune-in. Very poor, weak signal for martial style music. Recheck next day 1710 to lady's Arabic text, followed by extended Arabic conversations, past 1730. Did manage a few "Amerikas" during chats. Qatar SDR vastly improves reception.

Voice of Turkey via Airspy HF Discovery
Turkey
Voice of Turkey 9830 kHz, Sign-on at 2200. English service with world news. Station ID's and Turkish pop tunes to Letterbox program 2230-2240 closing with postal address, email and the website URL. Noted closing ID's, info, frequency schedules into Turkish music loop. to 2258 sign-off. (Airspy HF Discovery, Brasstown, NC)

United States
WRMI-Overcomer Ministry 9455 kHz from 1905 tune-in. Usual banter on the end times with breaks for phone-in calls. "Canned" ID, address and website reference. (SIO 434). Also heard from 1930 on 7490 kHz via WBCQ with usual programming. WJHR-Milton, Florida from 1910 on 15555 kHz USB. Just barely there, but what sounded like biblical text from tune-in. Scheduled to 2200 UTC. WINB from 1920 tune-in on 9265 kHz. Bible verses to text about Apostle Paul. (SIO 444). World's Last Chance Radio via WBCQ on 9330 kHz for 1925 German tune-in. Plenty of ID's and station info. Schedule listed to 2157 UTC. (Airspy HF Discovery, Brasstown, NC)
(Gayle Van Horn W4GVH)

Friday, August 07, 2020

Icom to release the ID-52A/E Amateur Handheld Transceiver

 

Icom Incorporated (Headquarters: Hirano, Osaka, Japan/President: Masataka Harima) releases the ID-52A/E*, VHF/UHF dual-band digital transceiver that supports D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio).
* ID-52A is the USA version, ID-52E is the European version

The ID-52A/E is equipped with a color display. The display size is increased to 2.3 inches (1.7 inches for the ID-51A/E), and a transflective display is used to achieve excellent visibility, even in bright sunlight. The transceiver also supports Bluetooth® communication as standard. Wirelessly connect to Android™ devices with ST-4001A/ST-4001I Picture Utility Software and RS-MS1A Remote Control Software installed, the optional VS-3 Bluetooth® headset is also available, for hands-free operation.

And the following features are enhanced from the previous ID-51A/E models. Simultaneous reception in V/V, U/U, V/U as well as DV/DV. Airband reception is expanded from VHF to UHF (225 to 374.995 MHz). The new model can be charged via a micro USB connector. Audio output is significantly increased from 400 mW to 750 mW. The latest function of D-STAR enables you to send, receive, and view saved photos on an installed microSD card using only the ID-52A/E.

In addition to the above, the ID-52A/E has a variety of attractive features such as the DR function with easy set-up, built-in GPS receiver, micro SD card slot, IPX7* waterproof construction, and Terminal/Access Point modes. The ID-52A/E is a product that leads the amateur radio digital communications with enriched features that satisfy any users, from beginners to even heavy users who want to fully enjoy D-STAR.
* 1m depth of water for 30 minutes.

MAIN FEATURES

  • 2.3" large transflective color display that is easy to see outdoors
  • Bluetooth® communication as standard
  • Simultaneous reception in V/V, U/U, V/U and DV/DV
  • Enriched D-STAR® features including the terminal mode/access point mode
  • UHF(225~374.995MHz) airband reception
  • Significantly increased audio output power to 750 mW (400 mW for ID-51 series)
  • Accessories for the ID-51A/E such as battery packs and microphones can be used