Those who like exploring transmitter sites on Google might like to look at the latest view of the KBS Kimje (Gimje) station. The Google satellite image has been updated in the past week or so: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@35.8208152,126.8647399,713m/data=!3m1!1e3
New features include the upgraded antenna group at the left, which is intended to cover Europe, the Mid. East, South Asia & Africa. Towards the centre are the new high band and low band arrays for the targets Japan/South America. These were completed in 2015 and 2017 respectively, when listeners were advised of degraded signals due to antenna work. ND antennas were then substituted for about 3 months each time. The North American antenna is on two towers at the right of the centre top of the image.
There is also a new L-shaped open feeder arrangement. Presumably this now enables a more flexible connection between the various transmitters and antennas, hence the recent restoration of 250 kW on some transmissions.
Switching to “Street View” gives a partial view around the site, but the last revision was in 2015. It’s possible to get close ups of the feeder lines, 2 small quadrant antennas, the two-stack quadrant on 4 tall masts, as well as the 4x4 curtain antenna for North America.
I am guessing that the North American array is multi-band. I remember 9, 11 and 15 MHz frequencies being registered on 40 degrees back in the late 1990s. But if this antenna is only single-band, it might explain why they remain only on 15 MHz. I can’t really tell from looking at the arrangement of dipoles.
The Kimje station is certainly run very efficiently. Never once in all my years of listening have I ever encountered missing transmissions, poor modulation, intermittent breaks, late starts, etc. If only the planners would get the frequencies right!
By the way, has anyone had any luck in getting QSLs from the English Service lately? Since the programme revision in Sept. 2017, I have been getting very little if any mail from them, in spite of sending in monthly e-mails and reports (I have been their tech. monitor since 1998).
73 (Alan Holder, Isle of Wight, UK, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
