Greetings from the Snow!

It seems this winter will become a record winter not only for good DX but as far as amount of snow is concerned. The snow has been accumulating up to about 40 cm now and there is more to come. The DX QTH is in the middle of snowy trees. BOG is under about 40 cm snow and my longwire seems to have problems in the forest.
The conditions seems to be "back in normal" without any big surprises in the end of January, let´s hope some better times until the next CH due to arrive around Feb 10.

Meanwile I have updated the list of Japanese MW stations logged from December 1st 2009 up to January 20 2010. The number of stations is now 70, I had forgetten a common JO-station JOER 1350. A few new were also noted in the beginning of January, like NHK-stations on 945 (NHK1) and 1467 (JOID Oita).
The list is at Google-docs (Japan list, times usually around 1055 to 1400 UTC)
Japan list

DX-Station of December 2009: Radio Symban Australia

It is not often that a new station appears on Short Waves! Indeed short waves are still used at least in Australia, where we can hear ABC on 2310, 2325 and 2485. But last year a new station "Radio Symban" started also here on 2368.5 kHz. It was first heard in Europe by MR (Mauno Ritola) and soon many dxers tried to get in here on 120 mb. The carrier could be seen often on the frequency, but to hear the audio was rather difficult. Maybe partly because the power has been rather low around 150-250 Watts only. It seems the power has been at least some days a bit more (up to 500 Watts), but information from Australia says it is still no more than maximum about 240 Watts. Another reason which makes it difficult is the current reception conditions which favors more Northernly paths. Anyway I managed to get some audio (apparently relay of a Greek radio) in some evenings in December. The best time has been always the local sunrise around 19 utc. Later on, in January the station has been heard quite regularly and during some days of a minor geomagnetic disturbance and a quick rise of the solar wind the reception has been almost near the level of strong ABC outlets! The station has some local programming with spots etc just after 19.00 utc. Usually around 17-19 utc the program consists mainly Greek music.
Thank you also for the nice hadwritten QSL received from the station´s "QSL-manager". The station has a web-page and a working on-line feed of the program as well. Let´s hope it can run the full power later on to make it easier to listen to.

Examples of Far East DX- conditions

As an example of signals received in December from the Far East you can listen to the video at the December archive of old posts (22 Dec.) where you can hear typical signals of JOUB 774 and JOIF 1413.

In addition an example of signals on December 8 at 1200 UTC can be found at my 4shared page. It is a Perseus file of about 30 seconds at noon covering the mw-band. You can explore the widespread reception conditions as there are stations also from North America´s North West, Alaska and Hawaii and the Easternmost stations from the Philippines like DWCM 1160.9 kHz.
The link to the file (zipped, 30 seconds)is

SPR_091208-1154_01000kHz_001 115945 120015 .zip

There is also a 45 seconds file at the same time (12:59:45 - 13:00:15, 343 Mb WAV) at Guy Atkin´s blog http://fivebelow.squarespace.com/. Thank You Guy for adding the file to the archives!

Exploring Japan on MW - times they´ve changed

Japan on MW has been an interesting target for me since I started to listen to MW-signals from Asia. My first QTH in the Center of Finland was rather good for Asia during dark wintertimes.
In the era of reporting and QSL-hunting (70´s ... 80´s) I got about 30 QSL-cards and letters from Japanese MW-stations (NHK and commercial stations). Before the current mf-allocation they were pretty easy to hear on their 10 kHz spaced channels. It took about 20 years to get these 30 stations verified. I think in my old logbooks are about 40 stations heard. Some examples of the QSLs at the picture.

In December 2009 I tested how many of them can be heard in about month in this deep solar minumum. I recorded almost daily total mw-band at several TOH´s for 5-15 minutes (including several recordings around 1320 utc to get the NHK2-IDs). All recording were preprogrammed beforehand at my King´s Village QTH. Some days the program crashed because of the electricity problems (at rural areas there are sometimes short power blackouts - usually 1 seconds or so...) so there were some periods of several days without recording. I have now explored majority of the recordings. It seems conditions favoured Japan as was expected - during this deep minimum and almost total darkness even in Southern Finland, conditions towards North-West, North and North-East are going on daily. Example of these conditions is KUMU Hawaii which could be heard almost daily in Scandinavia.

The count of the stations heard from Japan (NHK´s partly IDed only as "NHK1/2", partly rather definite ID as being the only NHK on the channel). Commercial stations were IDed by the company initials (usually, as an example "KBC Radio" 1413 JOIF).
So during about 20 days recordings at around 11,12,13 and 14 UTC totally about 55 stations were heard. I could estimated that during the best days (like 8th December for example) one could get an ID of 30-40 stations during about 3 hours containing 4 recordings of 5 minutes each at the TOH and 1 minute at 1320 UTC! That is a difference - during 1900´s I had a TRIO 9R59DS receiver and some longwire antennas - now a Perseus SDR-receiver and a BOG antenna. So one can not compare the results of 1970´s - 1980´s to todays captures!

The list of the stations:
freq station remarks
567 JOIK NHK1, Sapporo no call id
594 JOAK NHK1, Tokyo/Shobu no call id
648 JOIG NHK1, Toyama no call id
666 JOBK NHK1, Osaka
693 JOAB NHK2, Tokyo/Shobu
729 JOCK NHK1, Nagoya no call id
747 JOIB NHK2, Sapporo no call id(*
774 JOUB NHK2, Akita
792 NHK1, tent. Embetsu (//Hokkaido NHK) no call id
828 JOBB NHK2, Osaka/Habikino
837 JOQK NHK1, Niigata no call id
864 JOXR ROK Radio Okinawa, Naha/Nanjo
873 JOGB NHK2, Kumamoto
927 NHK1
936 JOTR ABS Akita Hoso, Akita
954 JOKR TBS Tokyo Hoso, Tokyo/Toda
963 JOTG NHK1, Aomori local news
990 JORK NHK1, Kochi no call id
1008 JONR ABC Asahi Hoso, Kyoto
1017 JOLB NHK2, Fukuoka
1053 JOAR CBC Chubu-Nippon Hoso, Nagoya/Kuwana-Shi
1071 JOFK NHK1, Hiroshima no call id
1107 JOCF MBC Minami Nihon Hoso, Kagoshima
1107 JOMR MRO Hokoriku Hoso, Kanazawa
1116 JODR BSN Niigata Hoso, Niigata
1134 JOQR NCB Bunka Hoso, Tokyo/Kawaguchi
1179 JOOR MBS, Mainichi Hoso, Osaka
1197 JOFO RKB, RKB Mainichi Hoso, Kitakyushu Fukuoka
1224 JOJK NHK1, Kanazawa no call id
1233 JOUR NBC Nagasaki Hoso, Nagasaki
1233 JOGR RAB Aomori Hoso, Aomori
1242 JOLF NBS Nippon Hoso, Tokyo/Kisarazu
1260 JOIR TBC Tohoku Hoso, Sendai
1269 JOJR JRT Shikoku Hoso, Tokushima
1278 JOFR RKB Mainichi Hoso, Fukuoka
1287 JOHR HBC, Hokkaido Hoso, Sapporo
1314 JOUF OBC Radio Osaka, Osaka/Sakai-Shi
1332 JOSF Tokai Hoso, Nagoya
1368 JOHP NHK1, Takamatsu Kagawa no call id
1377 JOUC NHK2, Yamaguchi
1386 JOJB NHK2, Kanazawa
1386 JOKB NHK2, Okayama
1395 RKC, Kochi Hoso, Sukumo Kochi
1413 JOIF KBC-Kyushu Asahi Hoso, Fukuoka
1422 JORF RF, RF Radio Nippon, Yokohama
1431 JOZF GBS, Gifu Hoso, Gifu
1440 JOWF STV, Sapporo TV Hoso, Sapporo
1467 JOID NHK2, Oita / NHK2 Hokkaido (** no call id
1494 JOYR RSK, Sanyo Hoso, Okayama
1503 JOUK NHK1, Akita no call id
1512 JOZB NHK2, Matsuyama no call id
1521 JOTC NHK2, Aomori no call id
1584 JOQG NHK1, Fukaura Aomori no call id
1593 JOQB NHK2, Niigata
1602 JOSB NHK2, Kitakyushu Fukuoka
1602 NHK2, Embetsu //747 Sapporo

*) Sapporo NHK 747 nowadays no call at 1320 only "NHK"
**) poss. Different relays diff. Days, one day //Hokkaido channels

Ids: NHK usually at 1320 after the weather
Some NHK1 with local programs before 11 utc
Some NHK-stations "Ided" being the only one on the frequency
Commercial stations Ids with company inititials with some exceptions (like "Radio Kansai 1395")
56 stations logged Dec 1 - 31 2009 (updated list after check 15th Jan.)
Perseus sdr + 250 m BOG (under snow) to NE

SDR-Receiver tests Part II

I did some more tests and search of the latest SDR-radios & softwares during the Holiday Season. It seems there are something going on on several receiver / software manufactures on SDRs just now.

SDR-RADIO

This is a nice piece of software which obviously is in the development stage, but versions that I tested worked quite OK with a SDR-IQ-receiver. Obviously this is more intented to HAM-operators and IQ-compatibility is only one of the features of this softaware. The highlights of this are an integrated MP3-recorder and easy connectivity into Internet and remote use of the receiver (like IQ). However I could not find a good possibility to measure the exact carrier frequency like using the SpectraVue-software ( see earlier post "Part I" recarding the latest SpectraVue 3.03). More about SDR-RADIO on their web-pages.

SDR-IP and SpectraVue 3.03

It seems the release of the new SDR-IP-model will be in Q1 2010 and the current softaware version of SpectaVue 3.03 seems to support 2 Ms/s samplerate to achive IQ-recording of 1.8 MHz with the resolution of 0.95 Hz. The resolution enhancement is important to all of us who wants to really see and measure the carrier frequency to the last Herz. This feature have been discussed many times earlier (see the archives of earlier posts) as it is often important to visually examine the spectrum of several carriers on the tuned frequency. The latest version of the manual does not mention the support for Perseus (or other IQ-recordings) - as it was on an earlier version - an issue discussed sometimes with earlier versions of SpectraVue. It is very understandable for the software designer just to support RF-Space products. As of IP IP-board some other interesting options are at least: support for down converter of 88-108MHz (an internal 10 MHz locked downconverter).The SDR-IP utilizes straight TCP/IP and ethernet for all communications. This offers the highest possible performance due to the highly optimized ethernet drivers on PC, Mac and Linux systems. So different Operating Systems are supported. The 1.333 Mhz sample rate gives a very convenient 1.2 Mhz output (IQ) bandwith – just suited for a MW-dxer. At that sample rate the resolution is about 0.6 Hz. Let´s see when we get some real world tests of the new IP-model!


Win Radio - new model !

I was a bit surprized to get to know that also WinRadio has released a new model "coming soon". The presented Excalibur model seems to have a few interesting features like three independent channels (i.e. three receivers in one), all parameters can be set separately for each channel. Each channel can also record audio simultaneously and independently. Recording and playback are also provided at the output of the Digital Down-Converter, where an entire 2 MHz spectrum band can be recorded for later demodulation (seems to be real IQ-recording, not the "IF"-as in earlier models). The recording facility also features pre-buffering to avoid a loss of signal at the start of a transmission. A flexible Scheduler function makes it possible to program each channel separately, for unattended recording on preselected frequencies, at specified dates and times. There are not yet more information of the scheduler. However according to specs I have found that the maximum resolution is only 1.5 Hz which is not as good as that of Perseus or SpectraVue softwares. As there are no more pictures or information, you can not say if the carrier frequency can be "seen" exactly or measured by the software automatically. More information will be seen in the near future I hope.


So it seems this year we will see more happening in the field of constantly developing receivers!

Perseus Markers - just another try

During the Christmas period one of the favourite short wave DXing targets has always been the Papua-New Guinean stations. These are few still left on 90 mb. As I had no possibility to check them during their Christmas programs or the often longer New Year´s Evening shows I made a short preview recording a Perseus file 3200-3400 kHz on Dec 29th while visiting my DX-ing cottage.

Quite a few fellow DXers have been making graphs using the Markers Log - feature of the latest Perseus software (2.1h). One major problem to do the graphs is the file format - it does not write the markers loggings as a tabulated file but rather a vertical file one freyency after another (figure showing the format). I transferred all the rows to Excel, made a "manual transpose" of the three channels info into a horizontal table, made then a new file with only the right rows (every 3rd) and got finally a table where you can make a graph. It is a bit hard to explain but everyone knowing how to operate with Excel can do that. Maybe there are easier ways and easier softwares (I do not know how e.g. SciDavis can do that), but when you know how to do it it is rather easy with Excel as well.

The signal of 3365 Papuan was the strongest starting from about -85 dBm. The noise level using the BOG under 20 cm snow was rather low around -140...-150 dBm. The signals of 3260 and 3325 were a bit weaker. Note that although the graph shows 3260 going stronger that is not true: an utility station started after 2030 utc and occupied the channel. So using large spans with known signals could lead wrong information!
Finally you can listen to an example of PNG Madang 3260 recorded earlier this december (Dec 2nd)- the signal was quite strong during the sign on around 19utc!

Arctic Radio 1584

Arctic Radio was monitored during the tests and the official broadcasts at home with a IQ and an ALA100 antenna. Although the noise level is high and there were interference from the co-channel stations it was heard several times at night and in the afternoon of Dec. 28th. Fortunately on Dec 28th they were transmitting after 14 utc of their afternoon broadcast and the signal level starting (Arctic R. is the black line) to increase then as can been seen in the graph. The levels were recorded afterwards using SpecLab´s Plotter window and the data was transfered to Excel for the graph.
Below is also a small clip of the transmission with heavy noise containing a part of the programme before 15 utc (with Iran coming quite strong as well) and an announcement in Swedish later on. The picture shows a SpecrtaVue screen with resolution of about 0.1 Hz.
Keep up the good work in b´casting all the staff of Arctic Radio Morokulien.

I wish also my best wishes to Arctic Radio Club now 50 years old
!

LATEST SDR-RADIO TESTS PART 1 - PERSEUS

I have had some time after all to check a bit what is happening in the field of new software and receivers in the fascinating world of SDR-technology.

Finally tested a bit the latest release of Perseus software 2.1h. I was of course waiting for something from the big wish list which is easy to do but the implementation of the list is in the hand of the software designers. It is like waiting for presents from Santa Claus, you do not always get all you are dreaming of.

Well, the most important new features for me has been so far:

Multiple receivers attached to a single PC.

- for me not a big issue as I have currently not enaugh powerfull PC to run two Perseus at the same time. This feature is really good during DX-peditions. I wonder how many Perseus you can put into a same PC- they say you should not go more tahan totally 2000 kHz sample rate alltogether on one machine.

Waterfall Time Ticks

- this could be a usefull addition when checking what is happening on a certain SPAN especially hunting some carriers. However it seems SpecLab can do this more accurately and with many nice options.

Markers Log (file)

– this feature seems interesting, but of course not for a "normal" dx hunter, but for a more "scientivical" approarch what is happening on a certain SPAN. For instance when you try to find out certain fade in times of weak stations. However, the format is not a table if you log several markers (like a carrier and a noise marker) so you have to make some tricks with softwares (like Excel) to make graphs. Maybe someone could make a simple 3rd party software to do the graphs. As it seems the marker is locked into the peak of carrier, the lock can be loosed when the signal fades out ? And if you want to log markers before the fade in it seems hard as the marker is not locked to the exact frequency as far as I can understand. So making frequency locked logs of relative signal strengths one should use SpecLab instead. With SpecLab Plotterwindow you can trace the data of many carriers not only the signal level but the frequency drift as well.
The picture shows an example of a typical frequency with known offsets (Korea 1566.003 and Hubei China 1566.030).


Fully featured demonstration version

This version is nice to those who want to just test the software using some example files or files from friends. So now you do not need to have a Perseus RX plugged at least once to your hardware. This seems to be as a marketing tool for the Perseus. Money Talks.

WinUSB drivers and control DLL. Windows Vista and Windows 7 support.

Now the support of Vista 64bit and Win7 with own drivers, which is good. For me not a reality until I have to go for a new operating systems. I am still having a good worksing enviroment with an old XP. What I would like to see is a working system with Apple Macintosh OS or Linux environment!

Not all that good..

But what was a disappointment for me was that you still has to listen on AM or SAM when trying to read the exact carrier frequency! As you can see in an example here (AM-window behind the LSBdemod window) – a TA channel 1510 kHz, which also has very usual (and good indicators) of US stations: Boston, Denver and Seattle on 1510.018, 1510.000 and 1509.987 resp. (+- 1 Hz). If you look at the Perseus using lower sideband to avoid Euro QRM 1510 you are lost !

The same situation using the latest SpectraVue (now 3.03 with RBW 0.1Hz) – software shows using the LSB the carriers well and also automatically gives you the frequency reading on the upper left corner of the window. Maybe Perseus software could have one more button "show the center frequency of SPAN" which is independent of demodulation.


However, all in all the software runs OK and there are many good additions, it seems also there will be in a near future a version of Perseus software with easy connection over the internet. Let´s see. And last but not least: Perseus is the best receiver I have ever had. period.

KING´S VILLAGE DX - A MYSTERY AFTER THE SOLSTICE

When visiting my cottage I found a mystery around December 23rd at the cottage - now with a lot of snow around everything - also covering my antennas. Fortunately I had my video camcorder with me - a short video shows what is happening in the darkness of King´s Village...

So it is time to wish you all the best for the Holiday Season 2009!
73 TK

The Sun is Standing !

KING ´S VILLAGE DX WISH YOU A HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE 2009 - THE SUN STANDS AT DEC 21 1747 UT AND WE ARE BEGINING OUR WAY TOWARDS SUMMER!

In the meantime when we also are in the middle of snow and ice in Europe we can enjoy the best medium wave conditions towards the Northern Dimensions!

The photo shows the scene at Abborsfors 10 kms South of the Kungsboele QTH, three days before the solstice, the weather was still fine with sun and - 19 centigrades (18 Dec 10 UTC).

More about latest DX soon.

73 TK

Ecos de Naranjito - revisited

After a nice email and also a postcard from the station (Licdo. Leoncio Delgado Hermida Gerente Propietario) I also got a link (Thank you Henrik Klemetz!) to Valter Comuzzi, Italy, who kindly send us some photos (originally from 2004 - grazie Valter!) of the station. The photo here shows the front door of the station.
Hopefully Ecos de Naranjito´s project of the new transmitter is going well and we wish the situation with electric power is better also soon.

Muchas gracias y saludos cordiales a Licdo. Leoncio Delgado Hermida!

King´s Village DX-Station, November: 4KZ Ingham, Qld, Australia!

That´s it - the X-bander 4KZ finally has been noted several times this fall, although I have had several "fights against the nature" with BOGbiters trying to eat my Far East Bog! The station has usually phone-in shows at nites and sometimes with very marginal signals it is easy to recognize during the TOH with interval signal music and time pips before the news. The best reception has always been during my local sunset around 14.30 - 16.30 UTC. It seems 4KZ has been so far the easiest catch although not so easy - 500 Watts AM and about 14.000 kilometers distance is the reason. I know some special conditions has been noted in the North (Lapland´s DXpeditons), but the situation is a bit different down here.
By the way - the Finnish Immigration Museum near Seinäjoki has received a house (hut) from Ingham last summer. It is an old sugercane workers hut of Finnish immigrants in Australia built in the 1900th century. Obviously it was not only Italians but Finns doing the cane cutting during that time. The barack will be rebuilt at the museum village next summer!
The article of the project is also at http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/01/08/2461654.htm

Thank you very much for the email from 4KZ, the director of 4KZ - Al Kirton says "For some reason, we seem to receive quite a few reports from the Scandinavian region" - that´s right - Scandinavia is certainly a densely populated area of guys trying to pick up distant signals on AM! Another email from the station (Thank you Anthony Palmer - Maintenance Supervisor) contains some photos, here is a 100 Ft tower of the Ingham transmitter (1620 AM). Thanks guys down there!

King´s Village November DX-Station: 2 days left!

The selection of the November DX-Station will be in two days. Recent DX will be rather difficult especially towards North East / East not only because of the BOG-biters, but also due to the current global warming (?) with continuing rains has made by BOG now into a BUW (beverage under water) at least at the beginning of the wire - the picture shows the beginning of the BOG before the rain - some snow was still there up to about 14th November.
One Philippino what was finally IDed in November: 1160.9 DWCM Manila. Seems to be pretty regular altough current conditions favor stations more North and of course China! Ni Hao!
Stay tuned!

Fight against the Nature - BOG Biters!

In October I tried several times to get even something from the Far East and Australia on MW-band. I installed the BOG as usual on the cultivated field (to about 45 degr./NE). The simple antenna is about 250 m long, yet enaugh to bring something from NE direction and whats more important the noise level (mostly from the telephone lines near by carrying ADSL-traffic) is pretty low.
But the wire was destroyed several times in October - sometimes to several pieces - and it turned out to be rabbits / hares testing their teeths to my BOG! So nowadays I call these animals "BOGbiters".
However I have managed to do some DX although also the European QRM seems to be stronger this year.

Anyone who likes to check the band from 909 kHz to 1701 kHz (October 19th 15hrs UTC, there are of course a lot of Europeans, some Chinese etc but a few Aussies on X-band - 1620 the strongest - and on 1548 ? - but something sounds like English on 1233 as well? - Please send your comments to me if you find something interesting) can do by downloading the Perseus file of 30 seconds at:
SPR_091019-1450_01305kHz_001 150002 150032 .wav

PAPUA -NEW GUINEA ON 90 MB

Like Indonesia, Papua was an interesting target with a lot of stations on 120, 90, 75 and 60 meters in the end of 1900 century. Well, there are fortunately still a few stations left on 90 mb. Usually in winter period almost all active stations can be heard - some better durinf their morning broadcasts around 19 - 20 hrs UTC and some during the evening b´casts around 12-13 UTC. I made a scan of these in October while visiting my QTH at Haapavesi. The stations heard can be seen on the picture with offsets frequencies (+-1 Hz). There is a missprint on the picture - please note that .99xx means below the nominal while .0xxx is above!
Around 13 hours utc RRI 3345 had a break of a few minutes making possible to listen the TOH of the Papuan on 3345!
The best reception of these was on 3290:


If you want to check the band yourself you can also find a short Perseus file at 13 utc on 4shared:
90mb_2110_13ut_000 130045 130130.wav

Indonesia on SW

All those who have been active DXers in 1970-1990 remember well the numerous Indonesian Shortwave stations on tropical bands. Now we have only a few left like a couple of RRI stations - the most commons are on 3325 (Palankaraya), 3345 (Ternate), 3976 Pontianak, 3987 Manokwari and 3995 Kendari. The closing down ceremony with a famous "Rayan Pulau Kelapa"-song is very well remembered among us. During my latests visits to my Haapavesi QTH (almost in the middle of Finland) I checked of course some of these channels. What else can we say but sing along:
Tanah airku Indonesia
Negeri elok amat kucinta
Tanah tumpah darahku yang mulia
Yang kupuja sepanjang masa

DX-Station of October: Ecos de Naranjito Ecuador 1470

This station was easy to select as it was heard at home with only a small 3x7m ALA100 loop antenna and an SDR-IQ receiver and the listening situation was quite a surprise. I heard it"live" during a brief check of reception conditons. The frequency of 1470 is well known as an indicator channel of Trans Atlantic reception. When I checked the situationon October 3rd during the local sunrise time I soon realized that a station was interfering normally very strong Venezuelans (both Vibración and Llanerísima are often heard, the first one now being on 1469.995 and the last one on 1470.034). The Venezuelans played their National Anthem as usual at local midnight but a station with localy oriented program with a gentleman at the studio (with "mensajes" and beautiful Ecuadorian music) was intefering others - and soon it became to dominate the channel! Soon I heard also announcements with time check and ID "...minutos faltan para las zero horas ... 14-70 ... Ecos de Naranjito". The 3rd October was one of the best days to get Ecuadorians in Scandinavia. Many DXers reports to have heard several stations! The strongest stations at my QTH were on 1350 (TeleRadio), 1370 (Rocío), 1470 (Naranjito) and 1530 (both Dorado Deportes and Ondas Canaris). Below you can hear the announcement of the station - the clip shows how the Ecuadorian beats the stronger Venezuelans easily!

Best greetings to Ecos de Naranjito!
Felicitaciones a la Ecos de Naranjito!

DX-Station of September: NuevaQ FM Lima Perú

The September DX-station was a Peruvian station which is rather new broadcasting on MW-band. The reason was easy: I discovered a strange programme which sounded Latin, maybe Peruvian with cumbia music. Soon I heard it mentioning "Nueva Q FM" or something like that. After some work with internet I discovered that there are at least that kind of programming on FM and Internet. After a while this station was heard all over Scandinavia (maybe the first loggings by Norwegians at Kalvoya already in August?) and it soon became a very easy target for Trans Atlantic DX enthusiasts. The station has a web feed as well, at least of this name - I do not know if the feed I found is exactly the same as on MW 1360 kHz. The recording of the station is made in September, but the station has been heard better also in October. I had to make some tricks with a still picture & sound - using Apple Mac´s clever iMovie application.
Congratulations to the Nueva Q-FM!
Felicitaciones a la Nueva Q FM!

Saludo de Aniversario

One of the easiest Peruvian AM-station to catch in Scandinavia is Radio Santa Rosa, Limá, Perú.
On October 16th (actually 15th - 16th night in Perú) quite a few Peruvians were audible in Finland. Many DXers have reported to listen several stations (the easiest channels have been at my QTH: 1240, 1310, 1360, 1380, 1400, 1470, 1500 and 1540).
When I checked a SDR-recording of 16th October at around 05.00 UTC I heard the announcement (check the video) of Radio Santa Rosa of their 51st Aniversary. The quality is not the best as I had only a ALA100 loop (7x3m) & SDR-IQ at my home QTH with RF-noise.
As can been seen, Radio Santa Rosa dominates the channel being even stronger than Europeans on 1503 kHz!

So I am happy to wish this:

SALUDO MUY CORDIAL DE ANIVERSARIO A RADIO SANTA ROSA 1500 KCS AM !

King´s Village DX-station August 2009: Radio Princesa AM 1560

Brazil offers usually interesting dx-opportunities in August. This year we had several openings although the reception conditions started soon to favor more Northernly stations from Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.
Several sunday mornings I had a station right below 1560 kHz. Later on it turned out to be a new station for me ZYH257 - Rádio Princesa da Matas, Vicosa (AL)! It is possible that the station usually signs off earlier, but sometimes it was heard past 3 UTC. The frequency (1559.551) has been observed in Brazil as well. The latest list of Brazilian MW-stations (June 2009)is a good database of Brazilians, you can get it from DX-Clube do Brasil - Thank You!
By the way, while searching information of Radio Princesa, a video was found at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5KQKJnzdmY. Somebody has been there,hi! Online programming was not found, but it seems the home page is pretty new.

A good candidate of the DX-station of August was R Planalto de Ji-Parana 1390 kHz (new name, possibly a new owner,too?).