At about 1018 UTC on Friday the 11th February 2022, I tuned in to the Voice of Korea, broadcasting on 7580 kHz in the Japanese language.
The broadcast was coming from the Kujang 200kW transmitter.
Above:- Map showing the location of Kujang, north of Pyongyang. Map c/o Google maps
The overall reception of the Voice of Korea was excellent. The signal strength was excellent and there was no interference from other stations. There was virtually no fading of the signal.
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Below is a short video showing my reception of the Voice of Korea.
On Sunday 6th, Monday 7th, and Tuesday 8th February 2022, Marija VK5MAZ and I were fortunate to be able to use the special event callsign of VK90ABC, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
On 1st July 1932, radio announcer Conrad Charlton sat alongside then-prime minister Joseph Lyons and announced:
“This is the Australian Broadcasting Commission”.
On Monday, we had other commitments for the morning and early afternoon, so we had a late start that day. But over two and a half days we made a total of 1,044 QSOs on 10, 15, 20, 40, & 80m SSB. ur first contact was with Fran YB9YSS in Indonesia. Our final contact was with Gordy W5AZ in Louisiana in the USA.
We made the following QSOs on the various bands:-
10m – 36
15m – 27
20m – 670
40m – 246
80m – 65
Unfortunately, 10m was not as good as it had been about a week before, but we still managed to make 36 contacts there into VK2, VK4, VK5, and VK7.
I have not heard any significant amount of Japanese or South-East Asian stations on 15m for some time, and the trend continued over the three days we had the call. Just 5 JA stations made it into the log. We logged 27 stations on 15m from VK2, VK4, VK5, VK7, VK8, Japan, New Caledonia, New Zealand, USA, and Wallis & Futuna. Working Jean-Gabriel on Wallis & Futuna in the Pacific was a real bonus.
The ever-reliable 20m band provided us with numerous DX in the log. This included Europe and the UK on both the long path and the short path. There was also a nice opening to the USA on the short path on Monday evening.
Of course, 40m proved reliable for contacts around Australia, but generally only late in the afternoon. We found 40m a real struggle during the mornings and early afternoon. The 40m band provided us with some nice DX. We worked the following DXCC entities on 40m:- VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, VK6, VK7, Belize, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Costa Rica Ecuador, Jamaica, New Zealand, Panama, Puerto Rico, & USA. Paul V31AX in Belize in Central America was a nice contact on 40m.
The map below shows our contacts around the world.
We worked a total of 64 different DXCC entities:-
Asiatic Russia
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Belize
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Canada
Canary Islands
Corsica
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
England
Estonia
European Russia
Federal Republic of Germany
Fiji
France
Georgia
Greece
Hawaii
Hungary
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Northern Ireland
Oman
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Romania
San Marino
Sardinia
Saudi Arabia
Scotland
Serbia
Seychelles
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Ukraine
United States of America
Wales
Wallis & Futuna
We were very fortunate to experience some nice opening to Europe and the United Kingdom on the 20m band on both the long path and the short path. Long path conditions were not so favourable on Monday afternoon here in VK5, but on Tuesday afternoon they were excellent. We had quite a significant pile-up going.
The video below shows the pile-up on Tuesday afternoon on the long path on 20m.
On Monday evening there was a nice opening to North America on 20m, with 48 stations from Canada and the USA making it into the log.
The map below shows our contacts into North America on 15m, 20m and 40m. Just the one USA station on 15m, seventeen on 40m, and the remainder on 20m.
Of course, 40m proved reliable for contacts around Australia, but generally only late in the afternoon. We found 40m a real struggle during the mornings and early afternoon.
VK1 – 8
VK2 – 99
VK3 – 123
VK4 – 74
VK5 – 60
VK6 – 46
VK7 – 24
VK8 – 3
We logged 26 stations from New Zealand.
THANK YOU to everyone who called. Also, thanks to Chris VK3QB for giving us the opportunity of using the special event callsign. We had a terrific time.
At about 1320 UTC on Saturday 5th February 2022, I tuned in to Radio Free North Korea broadcasting in the Korean language on 9910 kHz.
This was a new station for me.
The Free North Korea Radio website states:-
“Since 2006, Free North Korea Radio has broadcasted into North Korea. Voiced and produced by North Korean defectors now living in South Korea, we broadcast news, information, and hope into North Korea.”
The broadcast was coming from the Tashkent 100kW transmitter.
The overall reception of Radio Free North Korea was fair-poor. There was a jamming signal on the frequency and this severely affected listening pleasure.
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Below is a short video of my reception of Radio Free North Korea.
At about 1215 UTC on Saturday 5th February 2022, I tuned in to Radio Marti broadcasting in the Spanish language on 5980 kHz.
The broadcast was coming from Radio Marti’s Greenville 250kW transmitter.
The overall reception of Radio Marti was fair – good. At 1230 UTC Radio Marti was totally wiped out by Vatican Radio broadcasting on the frequency in the Chinese language.
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Below is a short video of my reception of Radio Marti.
VK5PAS 