Invitation to Mexican DX Meeting 2013

[The information below was  recently posted as a comment under
one of my posts. I thought I'd put it up here for those who may
be interested. -B.]

Dear friends of Radio, DX clubs, SWL, Ham radio:

I like to invite to our Mexican DX Meeting, we would like to accompany us
and talk about his radio station, SWL stations or Radio Shack.

More information:

19th National and International Meeting of DXers and Shortwave Listeners
July 18 - 20, 2013

What is this Meeting?
This is the annual get-together for all radio enthusiasts: DXers, radio
experimenters, shortwave listeners, associations, groups, clubs and radio
listeners in general; from Mexico and any part of the world, as well as
representatives of international and local radio stations.

For more details, e-mail to:  mcruz_dx@yahoo.com.mx


Thanks!

If you can not attend, please share the invitation. Live the shortwave and
DXing!

Organizers are Radio Educacion - Onda Corta 6185 kHz and Mr. Juan Jose
Miroz - radioamateur and swl.

Shortwave Logs for May, 2013

Country in brackets is the transmitter site and not
necessarily the country of origin, unless specified.
If two countries are in brackets, first one is
transmitter site. After that, the date, time and
frequency in kHz is listed. All times in UTC and
all stations heard on TECSUN PL-380 portable in
Euless, Texas, USA, with 25 foot reel wire antenna,
on a second floor, unless otherwise noted.

[BRAZIL] 05-09-13, 0210, 6180 -- Radio Nacional de
Amazonia in Portuguese. Two males probably talking
about a futbol game. Reception marred by loud whine
and interference . Not as good as R. Nacional on
11780, where it is almost always excellent. SINPO
42333.

[SPAIN] 05-09-13, 0215, 9535 -- Radio Exterior de
Espana in Spanish from Noblejas at 350 KW, per Aoki.
One female interviews another, apparently regarding
a book on Cuba. SINPO 44444, somewhat better than
normal for this frequency.

[MOLDOVA/RUSSIA] 05-09-13, 0220, 9665 -- Voice of
Russia in English from Kishinev-Grigoriopol, Moldova.
Two males talk, can't quite tell what about. Bad
interference and noise. SINPO 42322.

[EGYPT] 05-09-13, 0223, 9720 -- Radio Cairo in English
from Abu Zaabal, 250kw. Female talks, hard to understand
due to noise, but could tell it was English. SINPO
33222. Also heard R Cairo w/ Middle Eastern music on
05-16-13 on 9965 khz, 0055 UTC, similar reception.

[USA/TAIWAN] 05-13-13, 0108, 11565 -- R. Taiwan Intl
in Spanish from Okechobee, FL. News by male, relations
w/ PRC, then weather. This followed by details on some
sort of contest. SINPO 44334.

[TURKEY] 05-13-13, 0113, 9770 -- Voice of Turkey,
500kw from Emirler. Spanish. News by female, Israeli
budget, other world news. Muddy, mediocre reception
at best. SINPO 33222.

[ROMANIA] 05-13-13, 0118, 9700 -- Radio Romania Intl
in French. Male interviews female. Some fading but otherwise
very good, SINPO 55455.

[AUSTRALIA] 05-13-13, 0120, 19000 -- Radio Australia
Intl from Shepparton @ 100 kw, end of reggae-sounding song, 
then ID at 0121. Female interviews German/Tongan female
artist from Auckland. SINPO 44333. Heard the same on 21740,
as normal.

More Cuban Spy Numbers...Now With Data!

One recent afternoon (April 2nd, around 2330 UTC), I was
sitting on my second floor patio, and scanning the shortwave
bands on my Tecsun PL-380, with a 15 foot wire attached to
the whip antenna. I came upon what sounded like the usual
Cuban spy numbers, but this time on 17540 khz, where I don't
normally hear them, certainly not at this hour. No big deal,
as I hear presumed cuban numbers stations all the time, but
this time there were less numbers being read, and the sets of
numbers were interrupted by data bursts/modem sounds. This
was actually not the first time I've come across these voice/
data spy transmissions, but I'll admit I only started hearing
these particular ones within the last 3-4 weeks. This time, I
decided to finally get off my ass and make a recording. Click
below to listen and/or download.

https://www.box.com/s/ueptz8b3gx9ov1p9dxze

QSLs from Turkey, Cuba and Chile

A couple of weeks ago, I received a response in the mail
to my reception report to Voice of Turkey. I had emailed
them back in November 2012, after I logged them on
shortwave on 9830 khz, on 11/10. I received a QSL card
and a coaster (pictured above). The top of the coaster has
a "prism" effect, which doesn't come through in the pic.

You can contact Voice of Turkey at tsr@trt.net.tr.

Finally received a snail mail QSL from CVC La Voz's Chile
transmitter site! The back of the card is pictured above. The
front can be seen in this post.





Not too long after I received my first Radio Habana QSL
earlier this year, I received another QSL card for reception
on 10/26/12 on 11760 khz (Spanish). As with the first
package, I received a pocket calendar and a postcard
with a scene from Havana along with the QSL itself.


Thank you to Voice of Turkey, CVC and RHC!

SW Logs from February 2013, from Euless, TX

Country in brackets is the transmitter site and not
necessarily the country of origin, unless specified.  If
two countries are in brackets, first one is transmitter
site. After that, the date, time and frequency in kHz is
listed. All times in UTC and all stations heard on
TECSUN PL-380 portable in  Euless, Texas, USA,
with a 6 foot wire antenna, on a second floor, unless
otherwise noted.

[ROMANIA] 02-02-13, 0435, 6130 -- Radio
Romania International in English. Female reads
listener mail. Good signal, SINPO 44344. Per
Aoki, 300 kw from Galbeni, Romania.

[INDIA] 02-02-13, 2148, 9445 -- All India Radio
from Bengaluru at 500 kw. Lots of what was
presumably ambient noise, but still very readable.
Indian/South Asian music, SINPO 33222. First
time ever hearing AIR here in Texas! And the last,
for all I know.

[USA] 02-02-13, 2202, 8420 -- WLO, port beacon
in coastal Mobile, Alabama. Heard beeps/data bursts
and could've sworn I heard morse code. A brief
Google search directed me towards some message board
posts, one of them stating that WLO provides "coastal
radio station ship to shore communications", and that
the actual frequency is supposed to be 8421 khz.
SINPO 34233.

[CUBA] 02-03-13, 0943, 9240 -- Cuban numbers
station. YL reads number sequences followed by
data bursts. Abruptly off at 0946, although open
carrier remained. 54455.

[SPAIN] 02-13-13, 0250, 9535 -- Radio Exterior de
Espana, 350 kw from Noblejas. Male talk in Spanish,
then female with literary segment. Started ok, but
deteriorated to SINPO 34222.

[VATICAN] 02-14-13,  0449, 7315 -- Radio Dabanga
in Arabic/Sudanese, directed to Darfur. Transmitted
from Santa Maria di Galera, 250 kw. Two males
talking, then only one male. SINPO 44444, very good
signal.

[TUNISIA] 02-14-13, 0452, 7275 -- RTV Tunisia, 500
kw from Sfax. Another first time DX for me! Arabic per
Aoki. Middle Eastern sounding music, SINPO 34333.
Pretty sure these guys don't QSL, but I might try
anyway.

[ASCENCION ISLAND/UK] 02-14-13, 0455, 7255 --
BBC in English from the Ascension transmitter in
the Atlantic, 250 kw. Weak but readable, SINPO 24112.
Heard male and female announcers.

[FRENCH GUIANA/VIETNAM] 02-14-13, 0457,
6175 -- Voice of Vietnam in Vietnamese from Montsinery,
French Guiana at  500 kw. Male announcer, SINPO
44555.

[USA] 02-14-13, 0500, 6030 -- Radio Marti in Spanish
from Greenville, SC at 250 kw, directed towards Cuba.
Sounded like it may have been subject to jamming. Male
reads US government editorial. SINPO 32222, bad.

[NEW ZEALAND] 02-14-13, 0432, 15720 -- Radio New
Zealand International from Rangitaiki @ 50 kw (?!) per
Aoki. Male reads sports news, SINPO 33333.

[UNIDENTIFIED] 02-21-13, 0305, 21895 -- Male talks
in what sounds like Portuguese, SINPO 32222, deteriorates
to 22111 around 0313z. Brazillian radio? Pirate?

[USA/TAIWAN] 02-25-13, 0105, 11565 -- Radio Taiwan
International, 100 kw from Okechobee, Florida. Male
reads news in Spanish. SINPO 34233.

 

Voice of Greece QSL

On August 24, 2012, I received Voice of Greece on 15630 khz, and
heard the usual Greek and/or foreign music. It was one of the first
times I'd logged Greece, and badly wanted to send a reception
report. I could not find a good email address anywhere, so I took
the unusual step (for me, at least) of sending them a QSL request
by regular mail. If I remember right, I got VOG's address from the
excellent blog South East Asia DXing (if you need a mailing address,
it is at the bottom of this post). Anyway, I wrote a brief report, put it
in an envelope with two or three stamps, and off it went.

After several months, (sometime in January this year), I received
an envelope containing a big, folded map of Greece, a sheet with
a VOG schedule and my eagerly anticipated QSL card, with a
picture of some ancient Greek jewelry on the front. Since my
initial loggings of VOG, I have found myself listening to it very
often, although mostly on 9420 khz, rather than 15630. The
quality of the transmissions varies, with some days earning
something like a SINPO rating of 44344, but more often it's
more like 33233, or worse. Still, it's almost always on when I
do my SWLing in the evenings, and the strange, idiosyncratic
music is always cool to listen to.

QSL card, front and back, is pictured below.

Voice of Greece
432 Messoghion Av
15342 Aghia Paraskevi
Athens - GREECE

or

POB 60019
15310 Aghia Paraskevi
ATTIKIS
Athens - GREECE

Shortwave Logs for January, 2013

Country in brackets is the transmitter site and not
necessarily the country of origin, unless specified.
If two countries are in brackets, first one is
transmitter site. After that, the date, time and
frequency in kHz is listed. All times in UTC and
all stations heard on TECSUN PL-380 portable in
Euless, Texas, USA, with 25 foot reel wire antenna,
on a second floor, unless otherwise noted.

[MOLDOVA] 01-10-13, 0035, 7290 -- Voice of
Russia in English from Kishinev-Grigoriopol  at
500 kw, per Aoki. Male announcer, technology and
business news. SINPO 44233, lots of ambient noise.

[GREEECE] 01-12-13, 2220, 9420 -- Voice of
Greece is sometimes barely audible on this frequency,
but reception was slightly better this night. Music and
greek talk by two males. SINPO 34333. Great station
for music when it comes in decently.

[USA] 01-12-13, 2225, 15440 -- Radio Taiwan Inter-
national in English, from Okechobee, Florida. Female
interviews male (about food?), followed by the segment
"Classic Shorts". SINPO 54555, excellent reception.

[CUBA] 01-27-13, 0730, 9330 -- Cuba's "Atencion"
spy numbers station, this time on a frequency which I
don't recall hearing it on before. Aoki lists nothing here
at this time. Female voice reads strings of numbers,
interspersed with data/modem type sounds. SINPO
32333. Listened until 0738. Would've made a recording,
but I'm laaaaazy.

[BRAZIL] 01-28-13, 0037, 11780 -- Radio Nacional
de Amazonia in Portuguese. Caught the end of the song
"Black Sabbath" by the band of the same name, followed
by male announcer saying "memorias musicales", then more
music, not rock this time. SINPO 33233.


COMMENTS: Not a very active month for logging stations
for me, mostly due to me doing most of my DXing outside
and not being a huge fan of the cold. Nothing new or
terribly interesting this month, no new or weird stations.
I'm still hearing Canada's CHU time station on 3330 khz
regularly, although very weak. Radio Habana Cuba still
strong all over, still listening to them almost daily on
5040, 6165 and 11760 khz.

Radio Habana Cuba QSL card

Way back in July 2012, I sent Radio Habana Cuba a QSL request by
email to radiohc@enet.cu, for shortwave reception on 11750 khz. For
some reason, that doesn't sound quite right at the moment. Buuut, I'm
too lazy to check my logs. And let's face it, what frequency doesn't RHC
broadcast in? Does it even matter?

Several months later (early January  2013) I received a QSL package
from Cuba in the mail. The envelope was badly torn, basically open;
this happens to my correspondence from Iran as well, so no real surprise
there. Free countries (unlike Cuba?)  routinely open and check their
citizens' mail, right? Aaaanyway...Pictures of the QSL (back and front)
are below, along with a postcard and Jose Marti pocket calendar .
Thanks, RHC!

CVC La Voz Responds Regarding QSLs

Back on August 18th, 2012, religious broadcaster CVC La Voz
transmitted on shortwave from Chile for the last time. I, and many
others, immediately sent them QSL requests. Nothing had been
heard from CVC since then, at least as far as I knew.

Finally, today, I received a mass email explaining the delay, as well
as a spreadsheet showing who had been sent a QSL already (with
full names and postal addresses on it. Yikes!!). Unfortunately/
fortunately, I wasn't on the list, and it seems not everyone who
wrote will receive a QSL, although a picture of a blank QSL card
was attached to the email (pictured at the end of this post). The
body of the email is pasted below, in English and Spanish.


Dear listeners and friends,


First of all I would like to thank you for your reports of the last week of
transmission of CVC La Voz in shortwave. We closed transmissions few
months ago and we have been dismantling the site during these months so
we will be finishing probably this month. I’m sorry for the delay in this
response, but we have been in a complicated process from the technical,
administrative and personal point of view, and because we have
experimented a reduction in personnel as well, we have been late in
sending the QSL requested. But, during this month we have been sending
a lot of QSL , and due the quantity of requests and reports we received,
it will be difficult to send responses to everybody. All of the messages
and reports showed us that they were lot of people listening to our signal
and this satisfied us a lot. By now, an in the case you don’t receive the
QSL physically, I’m attaching a scan of it.Also I’m attaching a list of
QSL sent already.Personally speaking, I’ll stop working for CVC
soon, so this email address will stop working soon. Thanks again for
all your messages and reports! Kind regards,



Estimados radio escuchas y amigos,Quiero primero saludarlos y
agradecerles por sus reportes de sintonía de la última semana de
transmisión de CVC La Voz por onda corta. Ya hace varios meses
cerramos las transmisiones y hemos estado en proceso de
desmantelamiento de la planta la cual está finalizando este mes. Quiero
también disculparme por la demora en esta respuesta, pero hemos estado
pasando por un proceso complicado desde el punto de vista técnico,
administrativo y personal producto de este cierre, y debido a esto y a la
reducción drástica de personal que hemos experimentado, es que hemos
tardado en enviar las QSL respectivas. Sin embargo, durante este mes
estamos enviando una gran cantidad de ellas, pero temo que, debido
a la demanda que tuvimos de esta QSL final, quizás no sea posible el
enviársela a todos y cada uno. Hemos recibido demasiadas cartas y
mensajes tanto vía email como por correo postal, lo que nos demuestra
la gran cantidad de gente que nos escuchaba, lo cual nos deja muy
satisfechos. Por ahora estoy adjuntando una copia escaneada de esta
QSL y esperamos que dentro de este mes podamos hacérsela llegar a
la mayor cantidad de ustedes.Adjunto también la lista de las tarjetas
QSL ya enviadas.En lo personal, ya prontamente dejaré de trabajar
para CVC, por lo que esta dirección de correo dejará de funcionar
próximamente.Me despido agradeciendo nuevamente sus mensajes
y reportes.


Un saludo cordial!
Antonio Reyes Barriga
Gerente General
Sitio de Onda Corta
CVC La Voz