[IRCA] TP 5 May Victoria version

[Nick Hall-Patch]

Last gasp of Asians (presumably) as the geomagnetic upset took hold


pretty darn good audio (all of it understandable by a native speaker, at least 
briefly):

not today



Reasonable audio  at  times during the period (much of it understandable by a 
native speaker, though often battling w/splash or noise):

or today either




not so reasonable audio, occasional words or phrases in splash or noise could 
be understood by a native speaker: 

774 JOUB man in Japanese 1207-8UT

1566 HLAZ.  Had heard man talking, maybe Chinese at 1220UT, but the Japanese 
program s/on was more definite:  "HLA - Zeto"   "Nihongo hoso" etc. by man 
1230UT






Burbles in the splatter and noise (if lucky, language might be guessed at by 
cadence of talk, or parallel established by changes in talk or music)  

594 man talking, DU English intonation 1209UT

675 RNZ National male ballad //756 1229UT

702 woman talking, DU English intonation 1202UT

756 RNZ National male ballad //675 1229UT

972 two men talking, possibly Korean 1155UT

1116 woman talking, DU English intonation 1242UT

1323 vaguely choral music 1145UT, faded down as man began to talk. CRI?



Strongish het, no or "near imaginary" audio (either undermodulated or ravaged 
by splatter)

594  747 828 1134 1287seemed to be Asian;
 738 846 891 909 1017seemed to be DU 



best wishes,

Nick








Nick Hall-Patch
Victoria, BC
Canada  

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[IRCA] 1030 WBZ reception in Iceland, other remote SDR stuff

[Mark Connelly via IRCA]

--- Begin Message ---
With my antenna feedlines temporarily disconnected for extensive spring yard 
work, I decided to check out some of the many online remote receivers.

Many of these can be found from links on:
http://sdr.hu/?top=kiwi

Since Trans-Atlantic DX is my major interest, I wanted to see which receivers 
on either side of the "pond" are the serious DX machines and which are simply 
not worth it.

In Europe, admittedly its westernmost extremity, I came across a really good 
set-up in Iceland.

It's identified as "0-30 MHz SDR at TF4M | Otradalur, Iceland" ( 
http://194.144.165.206:8073 ).

One thing I like to do is see how US and Canadian stations make the trip across.

This is 1030 WBZ Boston heard at 0447 UTC / 5 MAY 2018 on the Iceland receiver:
https://app.box.com/s/94x7jc74zvzgqswgqw1nc53c9ozfhph5

WBZ and 1130 WBBR NYC were among the strongest North American stations coming 
in.

The receiver at Carlow, Ireland ( http://emeraldsdr.ddns.net:8073 ) had a bit 
of 850 (WEEI) in nasty 855 Spain splatter and hints of 1130 and bits of one or 
two out of Newfie but nowhere as good TA DX as the Iceland radio.  Other 
European SDR's weren't showing much getting across.

Farther east in Europe is a decent machine in Sardinia, Italy at IS0KYB ( 
http://sibamanna.duckdns.org:8073 ).  I would consider this as a good vantage 
point for researching anything in the Mediterranean region, an area that often 
propagates well to here.  This, however, is less likely a receiver on which to 
find US and Canadian stations: there's too much of Europe in the way.

On this side of the Atlantic, Bill Whitacre's SDR in Maine ( 
http://qhkiwisdr.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073/ ) seemed the best one last night.  I 
don't know of anything active in PEI, NS, or NL at present. 

Even on the Maine receiver the Europeans were sub-par last night with usual 
flamethrower 1215 Absolute UK rather wimpy.  The best TA signal was 684 Spain, 
a station usually highly slopped by WRKO here on Cape Cod (it was even in a bit 
of WRKO slop in downeast Maine).  Some other RNE parallels were dribbling in 
but 684 was definitely the boss.

Several other US-based SDR's were tried for TA DX but results were nil or 
near-nil.  The two SDR sites in MA and the two in NH are not running antennas 
that null domestic interference adequately.  Only one of those sites (N1BPD) is 
even close to being a coastal one but the antenna doesn't cut the mustard for 
serious MW.

One semi-competent US receiver is the one ID'ed as "Radio McRadioface, 0-30 MHz 
SDR, Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA" ( http://jerseyshoresdr.hopto.org:8073 
).  It had bits and pieces of 684 Spain but nothing from 1215 UK.  Admittedly 
684 does take a lot less slop in NJ than here in eastern MA with WRKO blasting 
away on 680.

With an eye more to Latin America, the "NO2CW MW/HF W6LVP loop | near Miami, 
FL" site ( http://qth.ddns.net:8073 ) can be useful.  Sensitivity is in the 
acceptable range and noise isn't too bad.  No TA's on that last night but, of 
course, lots of Cuba, some Colombia, etc.

Of course there are SDR's in Latin America but that's a subject for another 
message later.

Mark Connelly, WA1ION
South Yarmouth, MA--- End Message ---
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Re: [IRCA] Ultra Rare 630-Cook Islands-- Full Details

[Gary DeBock]

Thanks Bruce,

The live stream from 630-RCI sounds like a completely different station, with 
decent audio and a steady amplitude level. Maybe they have the delusion that 
they actually sound like this live stream, over the air?

<<< However, every 2-3 minutes
the audio drops out for up to 30 seconds. Maybe that's their way of
dealing with the exorbitant internet costs. >>>

The exorbitant internet costs in the Cook Islands seem to be targeted at the 
tourists, most of whom expect to find free WiFi at a café, library or some 
other public place. Such places do not exist in the Cooks! A racket seems to 
have been set up between the motels and temporary internet providers like the 
"Zenbu" company out of Auckland, NZ. The tourists get gouged about $20 NZ for 
10 minutes online, with apparent kickbacks going to the motels, and the NZ 
politicians protecting the racket.

Gary

> On May 4, 2018 at 9:59 PM Bruce Portzer  wrote:
>
>
> Radio Cook Islands is also available via streaming audio.  The link on
> the station's website doesn't work, but this one will:
> http://vtuner.com/setupapp/guide/asp/func/dynampls.asp?link=1=24442
>
> The audio feed sounds pretty clean and doesn't have the quality issues
> Gary reported for over the air reception.  However, every 2-3 minutes
> the audio drops out for up to 30 seconds.  Maybe that's their way of
> dealing with the exorbitant internet costs.
>
> Bruce
>
>
> On 5/2/2018 03:13, Gary DeBock wrote:
> > 630-Cook Islands in Rarotonga has the reputation of being one of the 
> > toughest DU island stations to track down at long range-- and for good 
> > reason. Its "domestic" frequency, underperforming transmitter, strong DU 
> > co-channels and multiple programming issues all conspire to make this a 
> > legendary tough catch.
> >
> > Recently I had the chance to visit Aitutaki Island in the Cooks, a location 
> > 164 miles (264 km) north of the Rarotonga transmitter site of the station. 
> > After two failed attempts to track down 630-RCI at relatively close range 
> > in Kona, Hawaii, I was very curious about why this obscure, 2.5 kW 
> > transmitter couldn't manage to get its miserable signal even a few thousand 
> > miles north to the Big Island.
> >
> > The full details are contained below, part of an upcoming post about 
> > Pacific Island results during the Cook Island Ultralight DXpedition. Good 
> > luck to all those trying for the obscure station-- you will probably need 
> > it!
> >
> >
> > 630 Radio Cook Islands Rarotonga, Cook islands, 2.5 kW Located 164 miles 
> > (264 km) south of my DXing site, it was pretty obvious why this obscure 
> > station is so tough for distant DXers to track down. After sunset it had 
> > multiple strong co-channels on the frequency (RNZ and ABC), and even just 
> > after its sign on at 1556 UTC the 5+1 pips from RNZ were clearly audible at 
> > 1600. The station has multiple issues, with a disastrous live microphone, 
> > audio amplitude varying widely between different programs, noticeable audio 
> > hum on the signal, etc. It signs on at 1556 and signs off at 0958, unless 
> > there is a weather emergency in the area (as there was with tropical 
> > cyclone Keni on April 9), in which case it switches to an RNZ satellite 
> > feed overnight until sign on at 1556 (thanks to Bryan Clark for ID of the 
> > station). The station is obviously a low budget operation, with no special 
> > sign on or sign off message, automated time mentions, and (typically) 
> > strings of recorded island music
> > with no live announcer. The only live announcers I heard during the week 
> > were during a Sunday morning recorded church service on April 8, and just 
> > after sign on (with the dreadful microphone) on April 12th.
> > Here is the full sign on routine at 1556 UTC on April 12, with the horns, 
> > apparent national anthem, English ID, drums, and finally the live female 
> > announcer with the dreadful microphone (cutting off almost all the high 
> > frequencies, resulting in legendary poor audio). The weakness of the signal 
> > at 1600 UTC allows the 5+1 time pips from 630-RNZ to be clearly heard at 
> > the 4:30 point in the recording 
> > https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/xqonh9iz57w22ebzxwz42krugu3rvykx
> > This recording of a church service at 1724 UTC on April 8 was the only one 
> > I made on Rarotonga, the site of the transmitter. It features a live male 
> > announcer at 1:10 into the recording with an English "It's 7:25, that's 
> > your time with your National Voice" ID. At 1:44 into the recording one of 
> > the station's major issues is on full display-- the sudden amplitude 
> > increase of the transmitted audio 
> > https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/rfe2u3m3px4xmossujtxilzw8vlk3jtg
> > During most hours of the day the station runs a fully automated operation, 
> > with strings of recorded island music interspersed with recorded 
> > male-voiced station ID's and female-voiced time checks, as at 0706 UTC on 
> >