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Re: [HCDX] Dxers Unlimited´ script of the s mid week edition for 11-13 February 2008
RADIO HAVANA CUBA
DXERS UNLIMITED
DXERS UNLIMITED´S MIDWEEK EDITION FOR 12-13 Feb 2008
BY ARNIE CORO
RADIO AMATEUR CO2KK
Hi amigos radioaficionados all around the world, and moving in orbit
around Planet Earth, with solar activity at rock bottom levels... it is
really amazing to be able to hear the VP6DX Ducie Island expedition with
such good signals here in the Caribbean,and also according to reports
received, they are making many contacts in Europe too. Congratulations
to the devoted group of radio amateurs that are providing the
opportunity to work this rare DX spot, and I hope that the team will
also QSL to the many short wave listeners that are expected to send QSL
cards to them.
More about the Ducie Island amateur radio DX expedition later in the mid
week edition of your favorite radio hobby program , Dxers Unlimited with
yours truly Arnie Coro, radio amateur CO2KK at the microphone...
Item two: A nice analysis of the role of the human voice in broadcasting
started around the use here of a especially shaped audio frequency
response curve that , it´s true, sounds almost like telephone quality
because the lower frequencies are attenuated and the frequency range
between 500 and 1500 Hertz or cycles per second are boosted in order to
increase the talk power... We also cut abruptly above four kiloHertz, as
very little information is sent with my voice above three point five
kiloHertz... As a result of this shaping of the audio frequency response
curve, Dxers Unlimited is heard better when propagation conditions are
marginal, and also in areas where the signal from the station is
normally very low because they are not the target of the broadcasts.
Thanks to the Ontario DX Association mailing list, we learned that Andy
Sennit, from Radio Nederland also used a specially tailored for his
voice audio frequency response curve during the time that his popular
Media Network program was on the air.
Item three: During my recent visit to Venezuela I had the opportunity to
meet with several well known radio amateurs there that are contests
enthusiasts... and they told me that on 160 meters success was very much
tied to the use of very effective Beverage type antennas. I fully agree
with them and we also discussed about the K9AY receiving loop, an
extraordinary antenna system by all standards, that the Venezuelan radio
amateurs have also installed and used for their very succesful contest
stations. The K9AY loop is not too difficult to homebrew and according
to what I have heard about it , reception of the lower frequency bands,
including the AM medium wave broadcast band is outstanding as compared
with other loops.
More about our radio hobby and its more than 83 ways that you and I can
enjoy it in a few seconds when the mid week edition of Dxers Unlimited
continues after a short break for station ID. I am Arnie Coro in
Havana... stay right on this frequency amigos..
..............
You are listening to Radio Havana Cuba, the name of the show is Dxers
Unlimited and YES, we do QSL, we do verify reception reports with a nice
QSL card... Just send an e-mail to arnie at rhc dot cu and I will be
sending you our QSL card to your postal mailing address VIA AIR MAIL.
Now here is item four of today´s program...Some time ago an American
broadcast band Dxers wrote to me asking about Radio Reloj, the 24 hours
voice only news and information service of the Cuban Institute of Radio
and Television, the Cuban broadcasting organization. Amigo Chuck from
Utah told me in his e-mail that he could pick up several of the RADIO
RELOJ´S relay stations, and that he wanted to know which one was the
main station in Havana. Well amigo Chuch, RADIO RELOJ was founded in
1947 and it will soon be 61 years old ... its main station transmitter
is on 950 kiloHertz and it runs 10 kiloWatts to a very efficient antenna
system . The fact that RADIO RELOJ broadcasts on CW Morse Code its
station ID with the letters R R, make it a very easy to verify station
when you are trying to pick up DX on the AM broadcast band... the one
kiloHertz tone with the audio keying of the letters RR is capable of
drilling right trough the worst
iInterference conditions, and makes you sure that the station you are
picking up is certainly RADIO RELOJ. By the way Radio Reloj is a
national network that also has some transmitters on the FM broadcast
band... here in Havana, the frequency used is 101.5 megaHertz and the
transmitter power is about 10 kiloWatts effective radiated power... So
when the upcoming Sporadic E skip season starts sometime in late April,
if you hear Radio Reloj on 101.5, you can be sure that it is the City of
Havana transmitter !!! The 24 hours of Radio Reloj´s programming is news
and information in the voice of two announcers... You can hear two men´s
voices, two women´s voices or in some cases a man and a woman reading
the news at a speed of about 130 to 150 words per minute in very
articulate Spanish... Radio Reloj´s Sunday programming is also voice
only, but the words per minute is reduced to about 120 words per minute
and each news item is read totally by one of the announcers. The weekend
program is called ¨Revista Semanal¨or weekly magazine, and it shares the
air time with news bulletins at the top of the hour and the half hour...
And before leaving this topic let me add that the Radio Reloj station
management does QSL. You can send your QSL requests to Radio Reloj , 23
no 258 and M street Vedado , Havana , Cuba, again , Radio Reloj 23 no
258, and M Street Vedado, spelled Victor Echo Delta Alpha Delta Oscar,
Havana, Cuba...
...................
Item five: More about my visit to Venezuela... Radio Nacional of
Venezuela is now involved as I explained during the weekend edition of
Dxers Unlimited, in a wid reaching
a nation wide expansion and modernization of its broadcast facilities,
that includes he installation of a large number of FM broadcast band
transmitters to increase the overage even to the most remote locations.
The installation of several new AM broadcast ransmitting stations is
also now in the works, using solid state transmitters and highly
efficient folded monopole vertical antennas. Most of the new AM
broadcast band sites will be serving two of Radio Nacional of
Venezuela´s national programs, by means of a diplexer arrangement that
allows using the same antenna system for transmitting two different
AM band frequencies . This is a very sound and economical approach that
has been used for a long time by AM stations around the world, and now
it is even a more efficient approach thanks to the use of the vertical
folded and grounded monopole antennas, that also provide additional
protection for the solid state output modules of the modern transmitters...
So, in the not too distant future, I am sure that Dxers in South
America, the Caribbean Central America and North America will be able to
pick up the new Venezuelan AM transmitters
broadcasting Radio Nacional of Venezuela different programs, as several
of these sites will be using power outputs in the 10 to 50 kiloWatt
range... the kind of power that makes possible frequent DX pick up from
distances of more than one or two thousand miles away...
But there is still more good news for short wave listeners around the
world from Radio Nacional of Venezuela, their international service,
CANAL INTERNACIONAL , is also part of the broadcast expansion plans, and
a new short wave transmitting station is now under construction there.
The new installation will include a 50 kiloWatt transmitter to be
operated on the 60 meters Tropical Band, and five 100 kiloWatts short
wave transmitters to be operated with several antenna arrays . The new
transmitting station is located in the State of Guarico, and the antenna
systems will include several high gain curtain arrays and also quadrant
type omnidirectional antennas for short and medium range coverage. The
new transmitters are of the pulse step modulation type, and very
efficient from the point of view of energy conversion, that is that they
are capable of producing a 100 percent modulated signal with much less
electricity than what is required for a high level plated modulated
transmitter.
The Radio Nacional of Venezuela engineering department is in charge of
the project and it is expected that the first transmitter may be on the
air pretty soon. The new Venezuelan international broadcasting facility
is going to be one of the most modern and energy efficient installations
in the Americas, and its antenna systems where designed with coverage of
the Americas as the prime target area, but as expected , it may be heard
around the world when propagation conditions are good. The old
Venezuelan Radio Nacional 50 kiloWatt transmitter on 9540 kiloHertz may
also soon be back on the air on that traditional frequency that has been
in use by the station for many years .
At the present time Radio Nacional of Venezuela Canal Internacional is
broadcasting via the Radio Cuba transmitters outside Havana , according
to an agreement between the two nations.
......
..................
You are listening to Radio Havana Cuba, the name of the show is Dxers
Unlimited, and you can send your signal reports, comments about the
program and radio hobby related questions to arnie at rhc dotcu, again,
very easy to remember and to type too... arnie at rhc dot cu..., VIA AIR
MAIL you can get in touch by sending a postcard or letter to Arnie Coro,
Radio Havana Cuba, Havana , Cuba... and now the weekend edition of
Dxers Unlimited continues via short wave and from 05 to 07 UTC we are
also on the world wide web via streaming audio from http://rhc.cu....
And now amigos, just before going QRT, now back in Havana, at RHC Studio
6 and with the audio frequency equalizer set for optimum response to my
voice...here is Arnie Coro´s HF plus low band VHF propagation update and
forecast. According to solar scientists we are still heading for more
zero sunspots days... solar cycle 23 seems to be going to last for at
least several more weeks... predictions call for extremely low solar
activity , rock bottom solar flux near 70 units and lower, and zero
sunspots for at least six more weeks... so , again we will see short
wave propagation conditions will limited to the lower frequency bands,
with daytime propagation reaching only up to 18 or 20 megaHertz. Night
time maximum useable frequency on some paths will dip even below 7
megaHertz , something typical of extremely long periods of very low
solar activity. Also be on the alert if you enjoy Dxing on the Low
frequency bands Dxers, in the range between 100 kiloHertz and 2
megaHertz, because propagation conditions will be ideal during periods
of quiet geomagnetic activity...
AM broadcast band conditions are ideal to bring in some rare and nice
DX especially to the South of
your location. Amateur radio operators that enjoy the use of the 160
meters 80 and 40 meters bands
will be able to work some nice DX during the rest of February and early
March... we will see possibly the best conditions for 160 meters for
many years to come...
Hope to have you all listening to the weekend week edition of Dxers
Unlimited , Saturday and Sunday UTC days, and don´t forget to send me
your signal reports , comments about the program and radio hobby related
questions to arnie at rhc dot cu, or VIA AIR MAIL to Arnie Coro, Radio
Havana Cuba, Havana, Cuba...
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