** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Tim Gaynor, Unique Radio, replies:
``Domestic HF Callsigns from Australia and Territories
Hi Glenn, I heard you mention during DXLD that HF Domestic Shortwave stations in Australia (& territories), don't seem to have callsigns in WRTH.
ACMA no longer issue callsigns for HF Domestic Shortwave stations in Australia and territories and haven't for a while now. However, some older licenses still do have callsigns.
https://web.acma.gov.au/rrl/register_search.main_page
If you enter either a full name or surname in there, you will find licenses. If you enter - Hacko (Nickola) Radio DX, Gaynor (Timothy) Unique Radio Australia, Tate (Peter) Station X, Schwartz (Kevin) Bay Island Radio or Island FM 88 Shannon Shuttleworth (Also tech for K Schwartz 5045 kHz)and Al Kirton 4KZ Innisfail QLD 5055 kHz. These are the active ones or semi active.
You can also look up frequencies here in https://web.acma.gov.au/rrl/assignment_range.search
ACMA main page: https://web.acma.gov.au/rrl/register_search.main_page
I hope that helps, Glenn, and I find this a valuable resource of looking up licensed stations in Australia and its territories. Best regards, Tim Gaynor. Unique Radio, Australia`` (via Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR)
** CUBA. 6100, April 29 at 0629, only RHC frequency still on and in wrong language, Spanish: English frequencies gone: 6165, 6060, 6000, 5040 all off. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR)
** MALDIVES [non]. 11620, April 29 from 1500, VOMK Maldives, secret site, YL preacher in Dhivehi, S9/+10 into Coimbatore, India SDR, 1528 switch to music, 1529.5 s/off in English, and off 1529.8* in time for Vatican Arabic, much weaker crash-starting at *1530 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR)
** NORFOLK ISLAND. Re the 5045 tests of Radio DX:
``[WOR] That's all from Norfolk 5045 - at least for now Apr 28 at 10:05 PM vk2dx <nick@clockmaker.com.au>
A quick report after two evenings of on-air tests. First, massive thank you to all listeners who invested their time and tuned in. You are a dedicated crowd, and I have an enormous respect for legends who have been listening for 20, 40 or 70 years, and keep tuning the knob to this day. Actually, the only reason even to attempt to get on air from Norfolk is to serve you by 'giving you a chance to log a new one'. Serving you is a pleasure and honour.
Another massive "thank you" goes to Glenn. There is nothing I can tell you about Glenn and his devotion to radio that you already don't know. To have him as an honorary station announcer was a thrill.
A word about Norfolk: my wife and I moved here in October last year. We still travel to Sydney on regular basis, but Norfolk is now (almost) a home. Life on island is complex and 'to get things done' takes far more time and patience than on mainland. Transport of goods to island is almost non existent, and people are still worried about covid. Medical resources are very limited. Same apply to food. The shops are empty and when fruit and vegetables are available, the prices are simply unbelievable. A kilo of apples goes for $15; potatoes are $10 and whole cabbage $50. Meat is reasonably affordable thanks to local producers (there are two butchers on island). Wires, tubing, timber, aluminium, steel, cement and building material appear on island occasional - and disappears fast. We have brought with us so far over 450 kg of various radio equipment and every piece was hand carried between two of us. Internet is painfully slow and even local phone calls are $1 per minute (and no one would dare to call overseas on land line or mobile!).
The relationship between local population and Australian Government is complex. There is a very strong desire for independence and self governance. Clearly, as a newcomer I am trying to see both sides of the story from unbiased standpoint, but there is no clean cut nor fast solution to a complex problem.
On the other hand, the island itself is a pure magic and living here is simply 'worth the trouble'. Playing radios is amazing; at our location we have no man made noise and bands are open to somewhere 24 hours per day. Made 40,000 QSOs already! Norfolk is one of the best places in world to enjoy Amateur radio, fishing and astronomy, and probably one of few where you can enjoy all three.
To broadcasting: a steep learning curve. Quite frankly, I am disappointed that my signal was rather 'amateurish' - it barely made it to West Coast of USA and Canada and even reports from New Zealand were rather modest. There are two reasons for this rather below-average performance: unreliable transmitter which failed to perform as per specs. The overheating protection was kicking in too often. A KW rated transmitter was barely producing 200-300W and most of the TXing was at 100W.
The second 'problem' are propagation on 60m which at this time of year favour north rather than north east. As many have reported, the second night was significantly worse than the first. The good news is that the 14m vertical worked as expected. This is a home made 14m radiator with 16 radials, tuned to 5045 with SWR 1:1 so no issues there.
Where do we go from here? Clearly, an investment in a professional grade transmitter is a must. My license allows me to run 1 KW and this is what is the power level required to produce a decent signal. If you have any suggestion to make or model, please do let me know. Of course, this is not-for-profit radio setup so money is a factor, but I am really looking for transmitter which will be turn on, and left alone, capable of transmitting 24/7 if required.
I will be also reaching out to Tim who is on this mailing list with request for mentoring. There is fair bit to learn about broadcasting - and if I am to put a signal on air, then I do need to do it right and in a professional way. I remain open to all suggestions, especially from fellow members who have been through similar process themselves.
Also, my plan is to apply for secondary frequency as well. It is yet to be seen how ACMA will deal with application, but in my opinion co-sharing a channel is less then ideal solution.
Finally, the bit that probably interest you the most: when is the next transmission? At this stage, assuming than new equipment could be obtained and delivered relatively fast, the next 'proper' transmission should be in September.
Best regards to all, thank you for your support and happy listening!
PS: yes, QSL cards will be printed and mailed out to all who have submitted listening report. No money is required, just make sure I have your mailing address. Unfortunately Norfolk Island stamps are no longer in circulation, sorry. Nick Hacko VK9DX``
{for the historical record, not for undeserved QSLs: gh}
``I recorded most of both nights` tests. I loaded some to Dropbox for Nick to check. Here's a snippet from the first night recorded at my home in New Zealand:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gal5ihtiv1yqr93/20220427%200803%205045%20kHz%20VK9DX%20broadcast%20test.mp3?dl=0
73 Chris Mackerell`` [of World FM]
``Audio of taped WOR segment of Nick’s test from 0640:50 to 0650:42 UT on 27 April 2022 (recording made from the KiwiSDR at Half Moon Bay, CA using the TCI 532 log-periodic antenna pointed 222 degrees):
https://bit.ly/RadioDX220427
Bruce Churchill``
``The 28 April transmission from Radio DX commenced at 0552:20 and concluded at 0738:34 UT. Frequency right on 5045.000. Island FM on the other hand is on 5044.997 - its transmissions are heard later and, as Bruce says, were on air at 1300 UT 28 April. I've noticed them breaking from their continuous music format just after the hour to carry a commercial or public service announcement plus station identification. Regards, Bryan Clark, Mangawhai - NZ`` (all from WOR iog via Glenn Hauser)
** UKRAINE [non]. 7730, April 29 at 0501-0507, Ukraínske Radio 1 via WRMI with English segment `Ukraine: Security Issue`, by YL this time, summary of latest war news; including voice-over translations, but not fading out the UU voice-unders causing self-QRM. VG into Maryland SDR, good into UTwente, but VP if at all into western Russia SDRs which tend to block this portion of spectrum (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 2136 contents: Australia, (Austria), Brasil, (Bulgaria), Chile, China, Estonia, Ethiopia and non, (France), (Germany), India, Indonesia, Korea South, Kurdistan non, Maldives non, Nigeria non, NORFOLK ISLAND, Perú, Pridnestrovye, Russia non, Taiwan, Ukraine, USA, Vanuatu, (Vatican); streaming; DRM; Propagation outlook. () countries mentioned not in order
WOR 2136 is available as of 0114 UT Friday April 29, 2022
(mp3 stream) https://www.w4uvh.net/wor2136.m3u
(mp3 download) https://www.w4uvh.net/wor2136.mp3
Or via http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html
Also linx to podcast services.
The shortwave+ broadcasts should be:
0130 UT Friday WRMI 5850 to NW, 7730 to NE
1430 UT Friday WRMI 9955 to SSE [jammed?]
1815 UT Friday IRRS 7290-Bulgaria to WNW, 14580, 1323 & 918?-Italy
2030 UT Friday IRRS 1323 & 918?-Italy
0130 UT Saturday WRMI 9395 to NNW
0400 UT Saturday WBCQ 4790 to WSW
0700 UT Saturday Unique R, Australia 5035-USB or 3210-USB
1930 UT Saturday WRMI 15770 to NE
1930vUT Saturday WA0RCR 1860-AM
0030 UT Sunday WRMI 7780 to SW
0300vUT Sunday WA0RCR 1860-AM [nominal 0315; as late as 0430]
1324vUT Sunday WMRI Europe via Ch 292 Germany 9670
2000 UT Sunday IRRS 1323 & 918?-Italy
2230 UT Sunday WRMI 5950 to NNW [to be canceled? still Apr 24]
0030 UT Monday WRMI 7780 to SW
0300vUT Monday WBCQ 6160v Area 51 to WSW
0030 UT Tuesday WRMI 9395 to NNW; 9455 to WNW
2230 UT Tuesday WRMI 9955 to SSE [jammed]
1000 UT Wednesday Unique R, Australia 5035-USB or 3210-USB
1030 UT Wednesday WRMI 5850 to NW
2100 UT Wednesday WBCQ 7490v to WSW
0030 UT Thursday WRMI 9395 to NNW; 9455 to WNW
0130 UT Thursday WRMI 5010 to S; 9395 to NNW
Full schedule including AM, FM, webcasts, satellite, podcasts: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html Thanks this week for financial support from Mike Lewis, Alexander City, Alabama who sent a generous check to Glenn Hauser, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702, and testifies:
``I have been an on-and-off World of Radio listener since the late 1970’s ... I regret that I have utterly neglected the most valuable and thankfully still enduring radio resource, World of Radio! ... Fortunately, World of Radio is still with us. I am finally doing the right thing and offering a contribution, and plan to do more in the future.``
Also, last week`s thankee, Joe Caberlin, Ontario, would always also like to be known as VE1EJ; originally from Nova Scotia
One may also contribute via PayPal not necessarily in US$, to: woradio at yahoo.com
WOR 2136 confirmed first broadcasts UT Friday April 29 at 0130 on WRMIs: 5850, S9+32 into Missouri SDR; 7730, S9+15 into UTwente but with rapid clicking QRM on USB only, OTH radar?
NOT confirmed Friday April 29 at 1430 on WRMI 9955: on the air S9/S5, but open carrier/dead air only! From tune in 1429 past 1632. At least that means a little less BS after 1500. 9395 & 9455 are modulating normally. Something`s odd at Okeechobee. Next: as above Fri 1815 on IRRSes (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR)
** U S A. 9940, April 28 at 2141, WTWW #? in dramatic Ukrainian, probably Biblical (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR)
** U S A. 9975, April 29 at 0634, KVOH still on past nominal 0600* with S9+30 of music (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR)
** VANUATU. 11835, April 29 at 0634, R. Vanuatu good on 3 x 3945, usual canned ID with music and YL and music mentioning Kingdom of Tonga, Papua New Guinea; delusions of grandeur? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR)
UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL
``Michael C. Lewis, Alexander City, Alabama 35010. April 17, 2022
Dear Glenn,
I have been an on-and-off World of Radio listener since the late 1970’s when I was first introduced to international broadcasting via shortwave at the age of 17 (by borrowing my grandmother’s shiny new GE 8-Band radio). In addition to quickly becoming addicted to the SWL hobby, I obtained my Novice Ham license in 1980 and remain on the air today (KA4JGP).
While spending lots of time and money on too many radios and associated listening books over the years (like we all do in this hobby), I regret that I have utterly neglected the most valuable and thankfully still enduring radio resource, World of Radio!
This point finally hit home last night when I stumbled upon the shortwave radio archive website and listened to a tape of RCI’s final edition of the Shortwave Listener’s Digest with Ian McFarland. If it was not poignant enough, I caught your last DX report on that show in which you both exchanged hopes that you would meet up again.
It then registered with me that I should support your noble efforts. I bumped into Ian at one of the Winter SWL Festivals in Kulpsville, PA in the mid 90’s after he had left RCI. He was selling coffee mugs from his show noting it began about same time I became an active SWL (June, 1977). I really miss Ian and his show and of course your regular contributions to it. Fortunately, World of Radio is still with us.
That said, I am finally doing the right thing and offering a contribution, and plan to do more in the future. I’m near retirement from more than 30 years in local broadcasting and government work and have more time to tune in. Thanks for staying with us SWL’s and long life and good health to you. 73’s Mike Lewis``
This report dispatched at 1639 UT April 29
