the amazing conditions to E Africa continue!

[Chanter]

Here are the logs I've managed so far, and you can bet they're all getting QSL'd.  I'll be trying for UBC Uganda again tonight, and Voice of the Tigray Revolution tomorrow morning before work.  I could also snag VOA Botswana and Sao Tome if I wanted, and I think I will, at least where Sao Tome's concerned.  

February 3  
4780, Radiodiffusion Television Djibouti, 0409-0414.  Faint but audible Afar talk in what sounded like a female voice from tune-in to tune-out.  May have been music, but this was difficult to discern.  Signal weak but present.  Listened in USB to avoid a high noise level.  SINPO 32232.  

February 4  
4775, Trans World Radio, 0346-0348.  Animated talk in listed Lomwe by a female presenter from tune-in to tune-out.  Voice peaked above the noise floor, but was at the noise floor otherwise.  Listened in USB to avoid the worst of the noise.  Carrier louder than actual audio.  SINPO 32232.  

3320, Radio Sonder Grense, 0353-0356.  Music from tune-in to tune-out, definitely with a woman as vocalist, possibly with a guitar beneath.  Music was definitely softer/lighter, and assumedly in Afrikaans, though this was difficult to discern.  Signal weak but audible, carrier louder than actual audio.  Listened in USB to avoid a loud noise floor.  SINPO 32232.  

The South Africa catch was an unexpected pleasure, as I'd only had a weak carrier there the previous evening.  Ditto Swaziland TWR, only I knew I had at least something of a chance at hearing that one if conditions held.  Little sign of Uganda last night, but as I said, I'll be trying again tonight.  


Edited to add: I got Rwanda!   

February 5 
6055, Radio Rwanda, 0258-0313.  Tuned in to French/Kinyarwanda talk by a male presenter with distinct reverb effect behind.  Into talk in a quieter female voice after several minutes, then into a program of lighter, almost hymnlike music.  Signal weaker to fair, subject to some adjacent channel splatter from Cuba on 6060.  SINPO 33333 at peaks, 23232 otherwise. 

[jFarley]

Again, nice!  I've been noting presumed Angola 4950 +/- with a very good carrier lately, very little audio.  It would be good if someone were to get a solid ID there.  Happy hunting!

[Chanter]

I've been wanting to hear Angola for a long time.  I'll try for that one and let you know.  I've never heard a carrier there, but we'll see what this evening brings. 

Have you ever heard any sign of Equatorial Guinea on 5005 or Madagascar on 5010?  I never have, and those are two on my wanted list.  Also Rwanda as its own station, not as a DW transmission from Kigali.  Hmmmm... 

[jFarley]

I have not logged Bata this season, but IIRC there have been logs in the US recently.  Madagascar was logged here several times last year, but I have not seen a trace of it this season (I look for it often), nor do I recall seeing logs.  Off the air?  I don't know.  There is occasional a waterfall trace there at about the right time but...

[Zane]

Heard RTD tonight at 0330z on 4780 after reading this thread. Nice signal but fighting some type of repetitive swishing sound QRM.

Also tried 3320 at 0337z and had a nice S8 signal with music and what sounded like Afrikaans (or at least the accent sounded like the characters from the movie District 9  ).

Nothing on 4775.

I don't tune outside the pirate bands much; this was a nice alternative.

Z

[Chanter]

Glad we were responsible for a successful tip-off!   

3320=Afrikaans, yes.  That signal is aimed at the Afrikaaner population in Namibia. 

[jFarley]

Congo 5066.34 with a respectable showing tonight.  I've always had the best luck with East Africans on the leading edge of the monthly peak, and that's coming shortly, so...

0403 Started to build with trace audio, 0415 def YL talk, then fading for a while till a second peak around 0445-0455.  Frags of songs - one accomp by accordion, one possibly folkloric song, and then a women's choral number - before finally dropping into the mud.

Carrier peaked to around S6; this one has infamously low modulation making audio tough.

[Chanter]

I envy you that Congolese catch!  No sign of Angola tonight, and only a carrier for Uganda.  I might've gotten different results if I'd stayed up, but sleepiness from a long day at work took over and I conked out. 

No sign of that Ethiopian clandestine signal on 5950 this morning - maybe that's better left to the weekend? 

[jFarley]

The presumed Uganda carrier came on at 0247, but never really developed further which I thought was kind of queer since it comes via a path virtually identical to Bunia.

I checked in on Angola after 0510 and there did seem to be fair audio there.  As I missed the TOH I called it a night and tried to sneak into the refrigerator without waking my dog.  Major fail.

[Zane]

Tried Chanter's Radio Rwanda frequency just about 0255z and it seemed to be the one. Quite a bit of splatter from 6060, but some filtering and using the Sherwood to walk the carrier down to 6054 kHz helped. A good signal with all the audio parts you had mentioned. The hymn-like music, man with heavy reverb, then the soft spoken woman.

Here's a recording:  http://www.yousendit.com/download/UW16V0o3TEQ5RlpsQXNUQw?cid=tx-02002207340200000000&s=19102

So, how would you go about QSL'ing this type of thing? Since I don't speak the language, I wouldn't recognize an ID assuming there was one around 0300z. Do you email them a report and a recording?

0323z - Hearing what I assume is Radio Angola on 4949.8 kHz. Fast fades between S4-S6. Audio isn't strong enough to tell if it's Portuguese.

Zane

[jFarley]

Hey Z!

Welcome to the AFR;ICA! (Ain't Free Radio; It's Cool Anyhow!) DX Club.  Great catch!  All these East Africans are challenging DX targets, coming via a long miserable path, and generally low TX powers.  What's not to like?

I have never tried to veri a SWBC station via email, only via snail mail, but I would suspect that the approach would be similar.  It's very important that the report gets into the hands of a sympathetic staffer at the station or it may go nowhere.  When I had reports with only sketchy program details, I would try to get it routed to the Chief Engineer, and stress some technical details of the reception.  When I had a lot of detail I would see if I could get it to the Director of Programming.  With very small stations, I would send it to the attention of the Station Manager.

I have found, as have other DXers, that it is always a good thing to ask questions which might help to elicit a response from the station.  What kind of transmitter do you use?  Do you get a lot of reports from my area?  What was the name of that song you played?  It was cool!  Many of these guys are not broadcasting to an international audience, and the fact that you show interest in their operation will likely help.

Sending along attached audio or a link to it can't hurt.  Likewise, an English rpt to Rwanda should be okay.

Hope this helps!

[thebeav]

I have found, as have other DXers, that it is always a good thing to ask questions which might help to elicit a response from the station.  What kind of transmitter do you use?  Do you get a lot of reports from my area?  What was the name of that song you played?  It was cool!  Many of these guys are not broadcasting to an international audience, and the fact that you show interest in their operation will likely help.

Sending along attached audio or a link to it can't hurt.  Likewise, an English rpt to Rwanda should be okay.

Hope this helps!

Very good tip for QSL'ing.....I haven't tried a SW QSL in many, many years. But I remember including stuff like this.
Some fine catches in this thread. I've been so doggone busy, I haven't had a chance to be very radioactive lately.
Keep up the good posts...

Paul

[Zane]

Hey Z! Welcome to the AFR;ICA! (Ain't Free Radio; It's Cool Anyhow!) DX Club.  

LOL - Clever Joe. Thanks for the tips.

0430z 2-8-13  5950 kHz  - Shortwave.info is telling me this is The Voice of the Tigray Revolution. S7 signal with a fast flutter. Male and female alternately speaking, the female sometimes with reverb - interspersed with bits of music and a segment that sounded like a large crowd cheering (or revolutioning).

Z