Yesterday’s Radio DX from Norfolk Island test broadcast on January 14, 2023, was a challenge for man and machine. Nick got up especially at 0415 local time on Norfolk to broadcast from 1630-1830 UT with only 200 watt in the tropical band on 5.045 kHz. The signal was visible from the start of transmission here in Salzburg, first audio signal just before sunrise, the “sunrise enhancement” of the ionosphere exactly at sunrise in Norfolk just after 1800 UT worked perfectly. Although the signal from the Pacific island 16,998 km away could be heard at most with S3, it may have been close to the optimum for the transmission path. The test transmission ended at 1827 UT, and three minutes later the morning program from Vanuatu, exactly 1,000 km closer, began on the adjacent channel 5040 kHz, transmitted via the 2 kW transmitter in Port Vila. This signal from the Pacific was heard with S7 in Salzburg, the best reception this winter.
I listened to both signals on WinRadio G33 Excalibur PRO SDR on my 25 mt. K9AY antenna with technology from RemoteQTH – https://hamparts.shop
A big thank you to Nick Hacko VK9DX for doing this test broadcast for Europe, to hear a shortwave broadcast station from Norfolk Island in Central Europe is a rare experience.
Nick, VK9DX, is currently on Norfolk Island, an island in the Pacific Ocean that belongs to Australia. In addition to his amateur radio activities, Nick holds a broadcast license to operate a radio station on 5,045 kHz in the tropical band since 2022.
So far there have been three test transmissions on local evening on Norfolk, another is today, Friday around 0730/0830 UT. Very difficult to receive for Europe as already too far in daylight. I made Nick the suggestion of a test transmission for European DXers, the reception window between 17-20 UT would be very favorable now at the turn of the year, the broadcast stations of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu rarely but still to be heard on 5 MHz.
And indeed, in the coming days, probably Sunday or Monday – while Nick is still on the island – there will be a short test broadcast between 16.30 – 18.30 UT from Norfolk!
An extremely rare opportunity to hear RadioDX from the Pacific in Europe.
Here are my MW logs for the first days of January 2023. Currently there is very little to hear from Asia, in the afternoon sometimes only 1-2 stations from China. Only from the Arab region and Africa can some signals be heard. The transatlantic reception is similar; if a handful of stations land in the log, one can be very satisfied.
2023-01-07 1010 0345 CAN CFRB, Clarkson (ON) 6758 km 1010 0345 USA WINS, New York/Lyndhurst [NJ] (NY) 6597 km 1130 0345 USA WBBR, New York/Carlstadt [NJ] (NY) 6592 km 1280 0400 CAN CFMB, MontrÈal/Saint-Mathieu (QC) 6254 km 1350 0345 PTR WEGA, Vega Baja (PR) 7718 km 1377 1630 CHN CNR 1, Xingyang/NRTA554 (HE) 7899 km 1395 1631 ARM Public Radio of Armenia, Gavar (grk) 2674 km 1521 1632 CHN China Radio International, Hutubi/NRTA654 (XJ) 5492 km 1566 1650 KOR Radio Teos, Jeju=Cheju (FEBC) (jej) 8802 km
2023-01-06 1300 0630 USA WOOD, Grand Rapids (MI) 7180 km 1320 0640 CAN CJMR, Oakville (ON) 6769 km 1330 0645 USA WRCA, Watertown (MA) 6304 km 1520 0650 USA WWKB, Buffalo (NY) 6762 km 1540 0630 CAN CHIN, Toronto Island (ON) 6735 km 1570 0650 CAN CJLV, Laval (QC) 6258 km 1584 0700 G Jeo Radio, London/Sewardstone (EN-GTL) 1024 km 1590 0650 USA WARV, Warwick (RI) 6360 km 1610 0650 CAN CHRN, MontrÈal (QC) 6241 km
2023-01-05 702 2130 ARS SBA Radio Jeddah, Duba (tbk) 2998 km 765 2135 SDN SRTC Al-Barnameg al-Aam, Khartoum/Soba (kha) 4029 km 774 2143 EGY NMA Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Abis (bhy) 2358 km 819 2146 IRN IRIB Radio Mazandaran, Sari/Khazarabad (mzd) 3462 km 819 2145 EGY NMA Al-Barnameg al-Aam, Batrah (dqh) 2428 km 837 2151 IRN IRIB Radio Isfahan, Esfahan/Habibabad (esf) 3633 km 846 0025 IND AIR West, Ahmedabad A (GJ) 5898 km 864 2152 EGY NMA Al-Quran al-Karim, Santah (ghb) 2451 km 882 2200 IRN IRIB Radio Mahabad, Mahabad (waz) 2924 km 900 2210 ARS SBA Radio Riyadh, Qurayyat (jwf) 2753 km 917 2215 NIG Radio Gotel, Jabura/Modire (adw) 4294 km 918 2221 NIG Radio Benue, Makurdi (bnu) 4492 km 963 2223 TUN RTT ChaÓne Internationale, Tunis/Djedeida (tun) 1258 km 1026 2230 IRN IRIB Radio Tabriz, Azarshahr (eaz) 2867 km 1134 2240 KWT Radio Kuwait Main Arabic prgr., Kabd/Sulaibiyah (jah) 3624 km 1206 2202 MOZ Emissor Provincial de Inhambane, Inhambane (ihb) 8294 km 1269 2245 KWT Radio Kuwait Classical Arab Music, Kabd (jah) 3624 km 1350 0305 PTR WEGA, Vega Baja (PR) 7718 km 1377 2250 TZA Radio Free Africa, Mwanza (mwz) 5937 km 1521 1600 CHN China Radio International, Hutubi/NRTA654 (XJ) 5492 km
2023-01-04 1377 2325 TZA Radio Free Africa, Mwanza (mwz) 5937 km
WinRadio G33DDC-ExcaliburPro/CSO, Beverage 200 mt. USA 335°, Afrika 165°.
Jan Šustr “RemoteQTH / qro.cz” has opened his new website hamparts.shop today.
There you can not only buy the products, but also find very good and understandable explanations on how his products work, such as antenna boxes, distributors and controllers. I have been using his products for years, they are perfect in terms of technology and price. Definitely have a look!
I control the antennas of my receiving station via the Internet. This is possible with a web browser, but also much more elegantly with the small Stream Deck from Elgato. Mike Müller from Remoteswitch.de has programmed the appropriate extension for this, in the current version also with a status display. So I can now operate my RemoteQTH antenna switch simply by pressing a button and within a second I also get the feedback – and the corresponding button lights up. A wonderful solution, with a lot of invisible work in the background.
After finding my interference in the medium wave band and not being active most of the time here again some logs from today. Asia and Africa can be heard well in the afternoon and early evening, the last days overall not a bad time to listen to medium wave.
594 1905 NIG Radio Nigeria, Kaduna/Jaji (kdn) 4157 km 846 1530 IND AIR West, Ahmedabad A (GJ) 5898 km 891 1535 THA Sor. Wor. Thor. (Radio Thailand), Saraburi (srb) 8673 km 917 1900 NIG Radio Gotel, Jabura/Modire (adw) 4294 km 918 1900 NIG Radio Benue, Makurdi (bnu) 4492 km 918 1545 IND AIR North, Suratgarh (RJ) 5518 km 972 1550 KOR HLCA KBS Hanminjok Bangsong 1, Dangjin (ccg) 8514 km 1026 1555 IRN IRIB Radio Tabriz, Azarshahr (eaz) 2867 km 1071 1557 IRN IRIB Radio Ma’aref, Qom=Kum (qom) 3436 km 1143 1500 TWN Taiwan Chü Yuyeh Kuangpo Tientai, Baisha (PG) 9224 km 1206 1545 CHN Yeonbyeon Joseonmal Bangsong, Yanji/Longjing (JL) 8165 km 1206 1530 IND AIR East, Bhawanipatna (OR) 6905 km 1233 1515 CHN Shinjan Qazaq Radiosu/CNR 17, Bortala/XJTS762 (XJ) 5125 km 1341 1505 PAK Radio Pakistan, Bahawalpur (pjb) 5344 km 1368 1500 IRN IRIB Radio Golestan, Gonbad-e Qabus (gsn) 3588 km 1431 1530 DJI Voice of America, Djibouti/Doraleh (djb) 4911 km 1449 1530 IRN IRIB World Service, Bandar-e Torkaman (gsn) 3533 km 1467 1530 KGZ TWR PANI, Krasnaya Rechka (cuy) 4738 km 1512 1530 IRN IRIB Radio Ardabil, Ardabil (ard) 3016 km 1521 1500 CHN China Radio International, Hutubi/NRTA654 (XJ) 5492 km 1539 1530 IRN IRIB Radio Golestan, Gorgan (gsn) 3565 km 1548 1500 KWT Radio Sawa, Al-Kuwayt/Umm al-Rimam (jah) 3590 km 1557 1500 TWN Radio Taiwan International Chinese Channel, Kouhu (YL) 9270 km 1566 1515 IRN IRIB Radio Iran, Bam (krm) 4384 km 1575 1530 THA Voice of America, Ban Phachi/Rasom (pay) 8657 km
The picture shows the monitoring bus with my 200 Meter USA/Africa Beverage.
Today I was at my station with two officials from the Salzburg telecommunications office to find my interference in the medium wave and 160 meter amateur radio bands. They examined in detail what I was receiving and how and then the measuring bus, equipped with the very best Rohde&Schwarz equipment, drove around the area for a long time.
After some time, I got the call – they actually found the interference far away in a westerly direction, a defective (but high-quality) surveillance camera that had been in use for 10 years and – presumably the power supply – was now causing this interference under load. I was at my station when the fault suddenly disappeared. Score. The owner will hopefully replace everything as soon as possible.
It was great how competently and quickly I was helped by the Austrian Radio Monitoring. Many thanks for that!
Since some days, my 200 metre USA/Africa Beverage has been installed. This time with a new, simple 75 Ohm Sat coax cable, as I have 195 metres to the antenna, double 50 Ohm coax is not sensible. Everything works wonderfully, the new boxes (Coax Match 75/50 Ohm, limiter and the antenna box) of course from https://RemoteQTH.com Really good quality and a reasonable price.
remotedx 