Hello and welcome to DigiDX 30 a weekly review of the latest shortwave
and DX news today in MFSK32 mode. This programme includes the latest
shortwave news, an article on combating shortwave radio interference by
Jay Allen and the e-QSL card.
DigiDX weekly schedule:
Sunday 2130 - 15770kHz via WRMI (Okeechobee, FL, USA)
Sunday 2330 - 11580kHz via WRMI (Okeechobee, FL, USA)
Sunday 1830 - 6070kHz via Channel 292 (Rohrbach Wall, DE)
Monday 2000 - 6070kHz via Channel 292 (Rohrbach Wall, DE)
To buy shortwave time from Channel 292 at very reasonable prices go to
http://www.channel292.de or from WRMI from
http://www.wrmi.net/
Any other extra broadcasts will be listed on
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Latest Shortwave News:
All India Radio to stay on shortwave
Radio Argentina changes
RTE All-Ireland Final replay on shortwave
Radio Rossii update
All India Radio to stay on shortwave
Director of All India Radio Fayyaz Sheheryar has revealed in an
interview with Radio and Music Biz (RmBiz.com) that All India Radio’s
shortwave service will not be taken off the air.
Several websites based in India had suggested that to cut costs and to
spend more money on programming the shortwave service of All India Radio
would be taken off air. However Mr Sheheryar has said the following in
the interview:
Q:*...But there had been some talk in the government at one time to
disband short wave broadcasts?*
A: “Yes, but we had opposed this and it is agreed by all that short
wave will stay.”
Q: *What are the future plans for popularizing programming and
strengthening internal functioning?* A: “All India Radio has embarked
on a major plan to start a Content Delivery Network (CDN) which will be
ready within the next two to three months. It will help keep track of
number of listeners, and also prevent ‘stream theft’. There will be
greater live streaming of channels on the internet complementing Short
wave on air.org.in, and Mobile Apps will be launched for more channels.
It will also be possible to give audio on demand and the internet will
store programmes of up to seven days for this purpose. The App will be
monetized, and there will be an alert which gives information about
listeners, and messages and advice about programmes on the Apps”
All India Radio’s Global Overseas Service transmits in 26 languages on
shortwave including English, French, Hindi, Arabic and Urdu.
RAE- RADIODIFUSION ARGENTINA AL EXTERIOR becomes RAE- ARGENTINA TO THE
WORLD
A new stage begins in the history of RAE, that will transform from
RAE-RADIODIFUSION ARGENTINA AL EXTERIOR to RAE- ARGENTINA TO THE WORLD,
updating the identity of our international signal.
Among the news to share, there’s the decision to maintain presence on
the shortwave frequencies of 15345 and 11710 KHZ, which are broadcast
from the transmission plant located in General Pacheco. Currently,
we’re facing some technical problems with regard to modulation, but
we’ll face the challenge of fixing this and increase our presence on
the shortwaves. We’ll keep on transmitting in eight languages, now
with a homogenous programming, that will be coherent with regard to
contents, with the specific contribution of each language considering
particular characteristics. RAE’s new stage will feature programs
Mondays through Mondays. Each language will have a daily 55-minute
broadcast on the shortwaves, with one daily re-run. In addition, the
daily show will be available on the new website of RAE, where the
program will be on streaming 24 hours a day. Specific applications for
RAE will be developed for mobile devices and on a second stage, podcasts
and RAE content broadcast by local stations in other countries. The most
recent shows will also be available to download on demand. Another
innovation are the six channels of Argentine music available on RAE’s
website, organized by genre: Tango, Folk, Rock, Pop, Jazz and Classical,
that will play music 24 hours, with playlist in constant expansion and a
radio sound, that’s to say, with a presentation of songs, that will
provide additional data about the tunes.
This way, listeners will be able to enjoy at any time of the day the
best works by artists such as Charly Garcia, Yupanqui, Piazzolla,
Sandro, Malosetti, La Camerata Bariloche, announced in various
languages, with a radio format. This is part of the new design of what
we call DIGITAL RAE.
The daily programs of RAE cover various topics developed jointly by the
new production team of RAE as well as the language teams. After the news
bulletin, with the inclusion of music and bite-sized features about
various topics. In addition, we’ll now have a new interval ID signal.
The schedule for our station in all languages now will be:
MONDAY: Our Football/Argentine Tango
TUESDAY: Argentines Without Borders / La Folklórica
WEDNESDAY: The Conversation/Argentine Roads
THURSDAYS: Welcome/Science and Technology
FRIDAYS: Multi-Sports Center/Histories in Common
On Saturdays, a SUMMARY OF THE WEEK will be broadcast, followed
by ACTUALIDAD DX.COM.AR, the new segment dedicated to DXing, radio,
media and information technology.
This program will be produced and presented in Spanish by ARNALDO SLAEN
and RAE’S director, LUIS MARIA BARASSI, featuring news about radio and
technologies applied to communication, plus audio files, interviews,
etcetera. The program will have an average duration of 25-30 minutes.
This format will be broadcast also on various languages and will not
only be available on RAE’s website, but also in the spaces dedicated
to DX-related content on the web. Finally, Sundays will be the day of
program THE BRIDGE, a weekly space focused on the contact with
listeners, music and interviews. The show will also pay homage to
classics of international broadcasting such as the STATION OF JOY and
similar programs that left their mark in the history of international
radio.
The support of all DXing colleagues, radio ham enthusiasts and fans of
the Short Waves is paramount, in order to spread their messages,
emphasize the importance of the shortwaves as well as the need to
increase the presence on various bands, complementing digital content.
A new stage begins for RAE, ARGENTINA TO THE WORLD, with many ideas and
challenges ahead, a phase in which the participation of all sectors
linked to our field will be key for our growth and for the steps that
will follow. It’s important to underline that after many years of
being practically ignored by various administrations, the new stage of
Radio Nacional, under director Ana Gerschenson, and Deputy Director
Pablo Ciarliero, includes a project for RAE, with the participation of
the excellent and historic professionals of RAE, plus the arrival of
experts in digital content and with the incorporation of Adrián Korol,
who, beyond his renown for his work in Radio and TV, is a passionate
DXer and Radio Ham fan. Over the next few days, we’ll release the
definitive schedule, with timetables, frequencies and targeted zones for
all languages. The launch of this new phase will be next October 5 at
7PM, at the Auditorium of Radio Nacional Buenos Aires. We let you know,
as well, that next week a definitive timetable will be released. It’s
clear that all ideas, proposals and specially the dissemination to this
news will be greatly appreciated.
RTE All-Ireland Final replay on shortwave
As every year, RTE have been broadcasting the All Ireland Football and
Hurling finals on shortwave. This year however has seen only one
frequency used instead of the previous use of three freqencies.
As last Sunday's game was a draw, it will be replayed on Saturday 1st of
October 2016. Kick off is at 5 pm (1600 GMT.) and it is assumed that the
relay on shortwave will be on 15320 kHz via Meyerton, South Africa.
Radio Rossii update
Last week on DigiDX we reported on the return of Radio Rossii to
shortwave. It has now been confirmed by RTRS that this return was
temporary due to a cyclone affecting the East of Russia causing many
power outages affecting DVB-T and FM transmitters .
Shortwave and Medium wave broadcasting was brought back to provide news
to people affected by the cyclone but As of 4:00 am (Moscow time) 17th
September 2016 the work of all the objects RTRS network was restored in
full.
Broadcasting in MW and SW bands was scheduled to continue for another
week and is scheduled to finish on the 24th September.
Upcoming relays and special broadcasts:
VOA Radiogram will be on air this weekend on the following frequencies,
for more information on the modes to be used visit
http://voaradiogram.net/
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
After a summer break Gilles Létourneau who runs the excellent
OfficialSWLchannel channel on Youtube is back with with his shortwave
and radio related Youtube Live shows. To watch the shows or any of his
videos go to
https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialSWLchannel
This weeks feature now follows, the first part of an article on combatting
shortwave and medium
wave interference by Jay Allen from
https://radiojayallen.com
I am frequently asked by readers how they can improve their AM (and SW)
reception. They usually ask me what kind of radio is best for AM, or
which radio will bring in a particular station they are unable to
receive adequately. The answers are often complex because one of the
most misunderstood aspects of getting good AM reception is dealing with
and reducing local noise, referred to as Radio Frequency Interference,
or RFI. The most important single piece of information I can give you is
that most AM reception is limited by local noise, even if you have a
good radio. In fact you may not be able to notice much difference
between an excellent and an average radio if noise is the limiting
factor. You can find many technical and semi-technical articles about
RFI but the aim of this article is to distill all that information down
to some very specific things you can actually do to improve your AM
radio reception.
In a typical home today there is so much RFI that only strong local AM
signals can break through. The noise usually sounds like a buzz, hum,
whine or whistles. In such conditions, getting a better radio will
provide little improvement because the reception is limited by the noise
floor…when signals are near or below that noise floor no radio can do
much to improve things. An important term to learn is “signal to noise
ratio” – simply it describes how much stronger the desired signal is
than the RFI. If you want to improve your reception of weak signals you
must work to reduce the noise level to be lower than the desired signal.
Because of the noise problem, many comparisons of radios, or listening
tests, are inaccurate, because in the presence of high noise levels, you
cannot distinguish the true differences among radios. I am lucky enough
to live in a private residence with relatively low noise, but even so,
noise is an on-going battle I have had to deal with, and I have found
that some parts of the house are much quieter than others. Even so I
still occasionally take radios outside, well away from the house where
the last vestiges of noise disappear, in order to reveal extremely
subtle differences among the most sensitive radios.
In this article I will describe how to identify and reduce local noise
as much as possible, then I’ll give you some tips on what you can do
to improve your AM/SW reception as much as possible in your local
conditions. Even though you may not achieve perfection there are some
very real steps you can take, many of which cost little or nothing, to
maximize your AM reception.
Shielded Buildings: Another big problem is that many buildings, such as
steel-framed structures, stucco with embedded mesh-like wire, concrete
walls with rebar, foil-backed insulation and aluminum siding can block
AM signals. If your signals are much stronger outside than inside this
could be an additional problem…we’ll talk about things you can do to
maximize your reception in shielded buildings.
Inside versus Outside Noise Sources: It’s an unfortunate fact that
many modern electrical devices generate AM interference…after all
that’s one reason why FM was invented. But if you love AM the first
thing to do is to become aware of what your noise sources are, which
ones you can control or reduce and those which you must deal with. To do
that we must first divide the noises up into two main categories; that
which comes from outside your home (most of which you can do little
about), and that which comes from within your home. If you live in a
densely populated area, such as an apartment building, there is likely
very little you can do about external noise sources, although you can
often minimize its impact to some degree. If you live in a stand-alone
dwelling you may still have noise coming in from the power lines so
again, you’ll have to learn how deal with it. But for noises within
your home there is a lot you can do to reduce or eliminate noise
sources, although some are tricky to find. As always, please always use
extreme caution when working around AC power…safety should always be
the first thing on your mind.
A good starting point is to turn off the main power to the house to see
if the noise changes. The easiest way to do this is to use a small
portable radio, tuned to a fairly weak AM station that is plagued by
noise. Then shut off the main power switch or begin turning off the
breakers one at a time. If most of the noise abruptly stops that tells
you that it was coming from something within your house. Usually this
will be the case…see below. You can also turn individual circuits on
and off to see if a particular circuit causes the noise. However, if the
noise continues, even at a reduced level, that tells you it is coming in
on the power lines or it is simply in the air from noise sources
outside. In that case you can take your radio for a walk outside to see
if you can pinpoint any noise sources, such as a neighbor’s Plasma TV
or a noisy power pole. Almost all portable radios use an internal
ferrite rod antenna for AM and this is very directional. Signals and
noise are maximized when they arrive broadside to the radio, so if you
hear a noise source you can tell where it is coming from by aiming your
radio at it. The noise will be loudest when it is coming from a
direction broadside to the radio…if you aim the radio to minimize or
null the noise it will be aimed directly at the noise source…this is
RDF…Radio Direction Finding in its simplest form. I have read accounts
of noise hunters locating noisy insulators on power poles by hitting the
pole with a wooden bat to see if they could hear spikes in the noise.
I’ve personally never done that but it sounds interesting. Of course,
contact your utility company to fix the problem if you find one. But
probably you will find the noise is just all around, coming from the
overhead power lines and neighbor’s homes…you will have to deal with
minimizing its impact on your listening.
However, you may find that most or all of the noise stopped when you cut
the power off. If so, count yourself lucky, because you can probably
eliminate some of it, and deal with the rest even though it may not be
easy. I have often located noise sources by turning the circuit breakers
off one at a time, listening for noise changes with each one. When you
hear one, you then have to track down what it is on that circuit
that’s making the noise and proceed from there….even that can
sometimes be tricky as I’ll explain. Also be aware that sometimes
turning a circuit back on may not cause a noise to return immediately as
some devices cycle themselves as they see fit.
Typical noise sources include:
Overhead wires & transformers (those big “cans”) on utility poles
Computers/monitors/scanners/modems and their “wall-wart” power
supplies
Wall-wart chargers of the switching type (most modern light-weight ones
such as for cell phones and the like)
TV sets (especially Plasma…extremely noisy)
Fluorescent and CFL (Compact Fluorescent) light bulbs
Dimmers
Touch lamps
Auto sensing light switches (as on outdoor security lights)
AC Wired Smoke and O2 Detectors
Motors
Electric Fences
Garage Door Openers
Faulty connections and electrical components such as power strips (more
on this later)
Some of these devices don’t have to be turned on and running to cause
noise…many cause interference the moment they are plugged in to the AC
outlet. Others are intermittent offenders…finding those can be among
the toughest of challenges.
The easiest problems come from those devices which you can simply turn
off or unplug when you want to listen to radio…light dimmers for
example. Touch lamps (as far as I’m concerned) are expendable…not
everyone will agree with this of course. Other noise sources which you
can’t eliminate, such as TV sets others are watching or smoke
detectors, must be dealt with – it’s a matter of learning how to
minimize their nuisance value. Each case must be attacked on an
individual basis.
Email me at:
radiojayallen@gmail.com and please tune in next week for the second
part of this article.
Now follows the E-QSL card for last week's reception reports as an
MFSK32 image.
Sending Pic:466x266;
Thank you for listening, please send reports, comments and shortwave
related news or articles to
reports@digidx.uk. This is DigiDX Signing
off.....
