The B09 transmission season has commenced!
The B09 season commenced, as expected, on October 26, 2009.
Compared with the A09 season, there has been an immense number of frequency changes and schedule variations, many of which have been activated by Transmission Providers as a result of continuing negligible solar/sunspot activity. Associated with the new Season, there has been a significant increase in the usage of brokered relay sites for many broadcasters, particularly for improving long-distance coverage into target areas which have proven unreliable for direct multi-hop broadcasts.
Concident with this, there has been a wholescale movement into the 6, 7, and 9 Mhz bands for transmissions over long distance darkness and semi-darkness paths, due to the uncertainty in delivering effective results on frequencies above about 12 MHz for those circuits. Amateur Band Intrusions
Most broadcasters have now moved out of the recently authorized exclusive amateur radio spectrum 7100-7200, and those which remain are being investigated and identified by the various national Intruder Watch organizations. They include transmissions originating from North Korea, Russia, various African states, and broadcasts of a political nature targeting the Middle East and Asia. Frequency Clusters
Research into actual operations reveals several "Frequency Clusters", for various broadcasters, which have moved in to spectra which was previously the domain of point-to-point and other stone-age technologies, generally classified as "utility". Shared use of this spectra is permitted by the ITU, on a non-interference basis, but there are so few of these obsolete operations remaining, that the concept of "shared usage" has become virtually meaningless. The main Clusters may be observed in these spectra: 5700 to 5900 6200 to 6300 7500 to 7700 9300 to 9400 Frequency Usage within Clusters Analysis made here in Melbourne of spectrum usage in these Clusters since the start of the B09 season reveals these operations in the time window 1700 to 2100 - these are selected snapshot entries only - there are many more! 5750 KUWAIT VOA Pashto/Dari 1850 5790 ENGLAND BBC-Skelton Arabic 1900 5810 MARIANAS RFA-Tinian Mandarin 1730 5820 GERMANY RFE-Lampertheim 1800 5825 GERMANY RFE-Biblis 2015 5835 KUWAIT VOA Pashto 1815 5840 UZBEKISTAN DW-Tashkent Russian 1830 5850 GERMANY VOA-Wertachtal Farsi 1845 5860 MARIANAS RFA-Tinian Mandarin 1810 6250 N. KOREA Pyonygang BS 1715 6260 UZBEKISTAN CVC-Tashkent Hindi 1830 6260 EGYPT R. Cairo Urdu 1900 6270 EGYPT R. Cairo French 1915 6280 INDIA AOR GOS Arabic 1900 6285 N. KOREA VOK German 1815 6290 EGYPT R. Cairo Arabic 1915 7520 THAILAND R. Farda Udorn 1930 7530 ARMENIA RFA-Yerevan Korean 1915 7550 INDIA AIR GOS 1845 7560 THAILAND VOA-Udorn Dari 1815 7560 KUWAIT VOA Pashto 1915 7570 THAILAND R. Thailand, Udorn 1900 English 7580 THAILAND R. Farda, Udorn 1800 9310 THAILAND R. Farda Iranawela 1830 9320 SRI LANKA VOA-Iranawela Tigrinya 1900 9325 N. KOREA VOK German 1800 9335 KUWAIT VOA Dari 1730 9335 SRI LANKA VOA-Iranawela Farsi 1915 9365 FRANCE RTI-Issoudin French 1930 9380 SRI LANKA R. Parfur, Iranawela, Sudanese 1815 9385 SRI LANKA RFA-Iranawela Korean 1800 9390 FRANCE R. Algeria, Issoudin Arabic 1830 As the above data reveals, the 6, 7, and 9 MHz is grid-locked in the period 1800 to 2100, with serious congestion due to multiple occupancies of many channels, for broadcasters targeting Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Study of languages observed in this winmdow reveals a large increase of broadcasts in Farsi, Pashto, Dari, and Arabic, mainly originating from the BBC and IBB giants, maximising transmitter capacity from relays in Sri Lanka, Germany, the United KIngdom, Kuwait, Oman, Thailand, Cyprus and the Philippines.
China Radio International has stepped up its usage of 7 MHz channels in the European evening, especially in the spectrum 7300 to 7500, with direct transmissions from China, and also from the relays in Albania, France, and Mali.
I would be interested in your own observations and analysis of spectrum occupancy in your location, which you may submit in the "Comments" area of this Weblog!
Regards from Melbourne  |
Australian DX Report audio news magazine 175 available
Episode no. 175 of the Australian DX Report audio news magazine includes research and analysis of current spectrum occupancy in several "Frequency Clusters" in the 5, 6, and 7 MHz regions, for the B09 season.
There are also other features, news and information about shortwave broadcasting, propagation, a solar activity report, monitoring notes, schedules for the new B09 season, extracts from schedules, and schedule updates.| It\'s 15 mins duration, and may be accessed from the Australian Internet Radio Magazine site, at http://airm.edxp.org You may download/listen to/save the episodes as an MP3 file on your laptop/desktop, set up a Podcast, or receive/save it on your Mobile Phone or other portable internet-enabled digital device. You may also subscribe via the site\'s RSS/Atom feed - full details are at the site. Thanks to Australian listener Michael Ingall for his financial contribution via PayPal, which will assist with costs in enhancing the site! The shows are very popular - in the four weeks to October 31 2009, there have been 707 downloads by subscribers, 1579 site visitors, 188 episode hits. There have been 19,285 channel visits in the past 12 months! The episodes are also available on-air, over WWCR Nashville, 0300-0315 on Sundays, on 5070, and on Mondays 1245-1300 on 15825, and via WWCR\'s streaming audio (live) at http://wwcr.com Good listening to the Australian DX Report Episode No. 175, and enjoy the music! Bob Padula, Melbourne, host and presenter  |
| Australian DX Report audio news magazine 173 available Episode no. 173 of the Australian DX Report audio news magazine includes propagation research analysis of current spectrum occupancy in the 7 MHz band.
There are also other features, news and information about shortwave broadcasting, propagation, a solar activity report, monitoring notes, new schedules for the B09 season, extracts from schedules, and schedule updates. It\'s 14 mins duration, and may be accessed from http://airm.edxp.org You may download/listen to/save the episodes as an MP3 file on your laptop/desktop, set up a Podcast, or receive/save it on your Mobile Phone or other portable internet-enabled digital device. You may also subscribe via the site\'s RSS/Atom feed - full details are at the site. The shows are very popular - in the four weeks to October 18, 2009, there have been 672 downloads by subscribers, 1416 site visitors, and 189 episode hits. The episodes are also available on-air, over WWCR Nashville, 0200-0215 on Sundays, on 5070, and on Mondays 1145-1200 on 15825, and via WWCR\'s streaming audio (live) at http://wwcr.com Good listening to the Australian DX Report Episode No. 173, and enjoy the music!  |
| Australian DX Report audio news magazine 172 available Episode no. 172 of the Australian DX Report audio news magazine includes propagation research analysis of current spectrum occupancy in the 9MHz and 11 MHz bands.
There are also other features, news and information about shortwave broadcasting, propagation, a solar activity report, monitoring notes, new schedules for the B09 season, extracts from schedules, and schedule updates. It\'s 14 mins duration, and may be accessed from http://airm.edxp.org You may download/listen to/save the episodes as an MP3 file on your laptop/desktop, set up a Podcast, or receive/save it on your Mobile Phone or other portable internet-enabled digital device. You may also subscribe via the site\'s RSS/Atom feed - full details are at the site. The shows are very popular - in the four weeks to October 11, 2009, there have been 672 downloads by subscribers, 1416 site visitors, and 189 episode hits. The episodes are also available on-air, over WWCR Nashville, 0200-0215 on Sundays, on 5070, and on Mondays 1145-1200 on 15825, and via WWCR\'s streaming audio (live) at http://wwcr.com Good listening to the Australian DX Report Episode No. 172, and enjoy the special Australian music from the High Country at the end - the wistful theme from "The Man from Snowy River".  |
| Australian DX Report audio news magazine 171 available Episode no. 171 of the Australian DX Report audio news magazine includes propagation research analysis of current spectrum occupancy in the 11 MHz band. There are also other features, news and information about shortwave broadcasting, propagation, a solar activity report, monitoring notes, new schedules, extracts from schedules, and schedule updates. It\'s 14 mins duration, and may be accessed from http://airm.edxp.org You may download/listen to/save the episodes as an MP3 file on your laptop/desktop, set up a Podcast, or receive/save it on your Mobile Phone or other portable internet-enabled digital device. You may also subscribe via the site\'s RSS/Atom feed - full details are at the site. The shows are very popular - in the four weeks to October 3, 2009, there have been 672 downloads by subscribers, 1416 site visitors, and 189 episode hits. The episodes are also available on-air, over WWCR Nashville, 0200-0215 on Sundays, on 5070, and on Mondays 1145-1200 on 15825, and via WWCR\'s streaming audio (live) at http://wwcr.com Good listening to the Australian DX Report Episode No. 171, and enjoy the music from Yuppie Dog! Bob Padula, Melbourne  |
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