Radio Enoch was one of many Europirate stations active in the late 1970s. As this QSL card shows, Radio Enoch broadcast on 6,248 khz using SSB at a claimed power of 4,000 watts. This reception was between 0800 and 0900 UTC in December in the eastern U.S. which was 3:00 to 4:00 AM eastern time. This was pre-Internet so QSL verifications came in the mail. The approximately 4 minute recording consists of a commentary against Marxism and Communism and a station ID at about the 3:55 mark as “This is Radio Enoch, the Voice of People Against Marxism”
In the 1970s and 1980s the 48 meter band was full of European pirate stations, usually making “test transmissions” in the early morning hours, and usually on weekends, notably on Sundays. SWLs in the United States hunted these Europirates, which required rising at early hours in order to hear them. One of the stations in 1981 was South Dublin Radio, with a power of 1,000 watts on 6,243 khz. This recording of the station was made in Washington, DC using a Hammarlund HQ-180A receiver. The station verified with a plain white QSL card — in those days, eQSLs did not exist.
For shortwave listeners, if there was one station that became a favorite it was ELWA in Monrovia, Liberia. But whereas ELWA was extremely easy to hear, the real DX catch was ELBC, the Liberian Broadcasting Corrporation. Its frequency was 3,255 khz in the 90 meter band and during the “golden” years of tropical shortwave broadcasting, that band was full of stations from Africa and Latin America, which created interference issues. With a power listed as 10 kilowatts, in comparison to 50 kilowatts for most of ELWA’s transmitters, ELBC was a definite challenge for DX’ers, but occasionally was heard before its listed 0000 UTC sign off. This recording was heard on a Hammarlund HQ-180A in Levittown, Pennsylvania. There is a female announcer, perhaps concluding a news segment, followed at about the 10 second mark by drums, followed by an ID: “This is the ELBC, Monrovia”
With a transmitter power listed as 100 kilowatts, Malawi should have been one of the easiest African stations to hear during the “golden” years of tropical shortwave broadcasting. But that was not always the case as the 3,380 khz frequency in the 90 meter band was often plagued by interference from Latin American stations that were being heard at the time.
The 1978 WRTH listed Malawi as using 3,380 khz, 5,995 and 7,130 khz. Best time to attempt to hear Malawi was in the evening in eastern North America just before its 0300 UTC sign on. When conditions were good for central Africa, other stations could be heard, such as Rhodesia, as well as Indian Ocean signals from Zanzibar and Reunion and Comoros.
In 1974 I had the opportunity of living in Swaziland as an exchange student, and brought with me my Drake SPR-4 receiver for which I erected a 75 foot longwire antenna on a hill near Mbabane, Swaziland. This recording of MBC in Blantyre was made there, from actual air and is not a studio recording.
Another from the golden era of tropical band shortwave broadcasting, the Central African Republic was among the easiest stations to hear on its 5,038 khz frequency, especially in early to late afternoon as heard in eastern North America. The 1978 WRTH listed two shortwave frequencies including 7,220 khz which was shown as being for 0730 - 1630 UTC. And that 1978 listing had the country identified as “Central African Empire” instead of CAR. The 5,038 frequency made for quite a mash up in the area above WWV on 5.0 mHz as there were a number of stations in that range, including Cabinda/Angola on 5,033 khz, Sudan on 5,039, and Togo on 5,047 khz, Benguela/Angola and Mocamedes/Angola and Niamey/Niger, along with numerous other Latin American stations. This recording of Bangui as it signed off was made in Levittown, PA using a Hammarlund HQ-180A receiver.
Version entity is Pakistan, AP ADIFCnt.txt has 340 current DXCC entities and 62 deleted DXCC entities. arrlpre3.txt has 21525 prefix+callsign mappings. cqwwpre3.txt has 21675 prefix+callsign mappings. [download] Added/changed Entities/Prefixes/Callsigns: Removed Entities/Prefixes/Callsigns:
To read this edition, tap or click the cover image Contents 1 High loss RF sampler taps Thomas Alldread, VA7TA 8 Operating on the 30THz band – Part 1 Barry Chambers G8AGN 14 Long delay echoes A.K. Goodacre VE3HX 19 Experiments with DIY remote operations Bob Cowdery G3UKB Download options
The very first Svalbard QO-100 Satellite DX-Pedition will take place 22-24 April 2022 from Kapp Linné – Isfjord Radio at 78° North.
They will operate two QO-100 satellite stations under the callsigns JW0W and JW100QO, while JW0X will be used by another team for contacts on shortwave.
With QO-100 only 3° above the horizon, Kap Linné was the only suitable place in the area with Svalbard at the edge of the satellite footprint. Looking for a suitable location to stay and getting there, is one of the biggest challenges and cost drivers for the team.
Version entity is Christmas Island, VK9X Entities: 402 Prefixes: 4,664 Callsigns: 29,786 Managers: 91,953 Addresses: 12,903 [download] DX4WIN 8.05 and earlier [download] DX4WIN 9.01 and later [Entities] [Prefixes] [Callsigns] [Managers] [IOTA] Entities Prefixes Callsigns BD6KF/0 from 20 August 2012 through … Continue reading →
