In article ,
wrote:

The only station I know of from Europe that does a DRM broadcast
beamed to America is Vatican Radio from 2300UT-2330UT on 9755kHz. It
is FM quality and stays locked in under good conditions with only a
few momentary distortions.

Is that from Europe? Or is it a relay from Radio Canada's site?

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:51:11 +0100, "Brian Gregory [UK]"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
I would expect it to be similar to Radio Romania's DRM broadcast which
is intended for Europe. I can hear Romania in DRM here in the Midwest.
It is FM quality when it is locked in, but it drops out completely
about 10% of the time. The 25 meter analog broadcasts beamed to North
America are 100% copy with just a little fading and background noise.

I'm only just beginning to look into the possibility of getting set up to
receive DRM.

Does "FM Quality" have some special meaning with DRM?
As I understand it DRM30 isn't really capable of anything one could really
truthfully call "FM Quality", even on MF let alone HF. But maybe it's the
official name of one of the modes.

OK. I should not say FM quality. Vatican is mono at something like
17kBits/sec. Very quiet and clear compared to an HF broadcast as long
as it stays locked in.

Disco Palace relayed by Bonaire is something like 24 kBits/sec in
Stereo. I think Radio Australia is 24kBits.sec / mono or stereo -
can't remember. However I have never got Australia to lock in, only
enough signal to get transmission information displayed. Also, these
numbers are from memory.

I am guessing these broadcasts are DRM30 since this is the mode
recommended for shortwave broadcast. All I can give you is the station
data encoded in the signal and dispalyed in the Dream software box.

From now on I will give the info dispayed by the software with any
reception reports. I have not listened for Bulgaria yet. That will be
the first report if I can receive it.

Jim

On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:56:54 GMT, (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

The only station I know of from Europe that does a DRM broadcast
beamed to America is Vatican Radio from 2300UT-2330UT on 9755kHz. It
is FM quality and stays locked in under good conditions with only a
few momentary distortions.

Is that from Europe? Or is it a relay from Radio Canada's site?

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

There is a listed relay broadcast earlier on 9800 kHz at 1945-2030UT
from Vatican via Canada. This was not monitored.

Here is the signal and transmitted information from the DRM Vatican
broadcast on 9755 at 2300UT and the earlier DRM Radio Canada broadcast
on 9800kHz.

Radio Canada on 9800kHz @ 2100UT - DRM signal S9+25dB
Info: 17.16 kBits/sec / EEP AAC+ Mono / CA
Message box: From Sackville, NB Canada for your listening pleasure
Audio: No dropouts. A few quick intermittent distortions.

Vatican Radio on 9755kHz @ 2300UT - DRM signal s9+20dB
Info: 14.56 kBits/sec / EEP AAC+ Mono / VA
Message box: We are sending a DRM transmission on SW 9755kHz for North
America from Vatican Radio Santa Maria di Galeria-Vatican City
Audio: Periodic dropouts. Multiple intermittent distortions.

Appears the broadcast comes from Europe but can't guarantee it. Will
check the relay broadcast tomorrow if I can.

Jim

On Apr 27, 3:59*am, dxAce wrote:
bpnjensen wrote:
I would really like to get a simple QSL or verie from R. Bulgaria.
After listening to that station for months and years, I *finally*
heard a transmission, intended for Europe, on which I could understand
*a little bit* of what they hosts were saying (their sound on English
transmissions is uniformly muffled and audio-challenged). *I wrote
down the scant details I could, and went to the RB website ~ and I
found this. *They must be kidding.

This, from the R. Bulgaria website:

"Reception report

Dear listener of Radio Bulgaria,

The good news is that in order to become a member of Radio Bulgaria’s
Monitoring Club and receive the 6 QSL cards in the series you have to
fulfill the following requirements:

For the FIRST QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for January and THREE for February.

For the SECOND QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception
reports for March and THREE for April.

For the THIRD QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for May and THREE for June.

For the FOURTH QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception
reports for July and THREE for August.

For the FIFTH QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for September and THREE for October.

For the SIXTH QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for November and THREE for December.

A valid reception report should cover at least 15 minutes of our
broadcasts on any frequency and at the time you prefer, and should
include details of the contents of the broadcast and SINPO rating.

Upon reception of the full set of 6 QSL cards, you will also get the
Monitoring Club Membership Certificate of Radio Bulgaria.

Letters and reception reports should be sent within the period
specified for each QSL card."

It takes years to understand a single word of what these people are
saying, and then for a single QSL they want SIX in two months? *Forget
THAT!

I'd just send 'em the single report and see what happens.

dxAce
Michigan
USA- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Exactly. I know for a fact I have a qsl from them, but it's been a
while back. I know from my notes that I didn't send them a tape which
is odd because during that period I was on the kick of sending the
stations solid proof of my contact, must have been short on micro-
cassettes or money that week. {?}

On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:12:15 -0700 (PDT), bpnjensen
wrote:

On Apr 27, 12:51*pm, SC Dxing wrote:
Bruce,

The idea of course is to get people to actually listen to their
programming on a regular basis. As others have said, more than likely,
their real listening audience in North America is probably under 10.
Still wouldn't hurt to send a QSL request along with a few bucks to
help with postage and handling and see what happens.

Thanks - Yeah, that's what I did. I actually rather enjoy listening
to some stations once or twice a fortnight (RNZI gets my ear at least
a couple times a week and I like both R. Prague and R. Romania I.),
but when the audio is so bad, what's the point?

I wish the USPS still sold IRCs. I'd be happy to send them a couple
of those each time. I have no idea how these different countries
handle Yankee bucks...

They handle as many of them as they can. Most international amateur
operators now request "green stanps" (dollars). Problem is the world
economy is so bad that theft is rampant. I never put my call sign on a
qsl envelope because that guarantees someone will open it to search
for money. Most hams overseas that exchange cards and request return
postage have got post office boxes now.

Of course, back in the Cold War days, getting a response was *easy* -
I got not only a QSL but also a pennant, a schedule, and about twenty
pounds of glossy propaganda magazines in brown kraft paper wrappers to
boot! Man, those things smelled funny...probably be classified as
hazmat these days...


Radio Peking had that nice coat of red leaded paint on everything.

Jim





Bruce

On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:13:25 -0700 (PDT), bpnjensen
wrote:

On Apr 27, 9:54*am, "Brian Gregory [UK]" wrote:
"bpnjensen" wrote in message

...





I would really like to get a simple QSL or verie from R. Bulgaria.
After listening to that station for months and years, I *finally*
heard a transmission, intended for Europe, on which I could understand
*a little bit* of what they hosts were saying (their sound on English
transmissions is uniformly muffled and audio-challenged). *I wrote
down the scant details I could, and went to the RB website ~ and I
found this. *They must be kidding.

This, from the R. Bulgaria website:

"Reception report

Dear listener of Radio Bulgaria,

The good news is that in order to become a member of Radio Bulgaria s
Monitoring Club and receive the 6 QSL cards in the series you have to
fulfill the following requirements:

For the FIRST QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for January and THREE for February.

For the SECOND QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception
reports for March and THREE for April.

For the THIRD QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for May and THREE for June.

For the FOURTH QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception
reports for July and THREE for August.

For the FIFTH QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for September and THREE for October.

For the SIXTH QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for November and THREE for December.

A valid reception report should cover at least 15 minutes of our
broadcasts on any frequency and at the time you prefer, and should
include details of the contents of the broadcast and SINPO rating.

Upon reception of the full set of 6 QSL cards, you will also get the
Monitoring Club Membership Certificate of Radio Bulgaria.

Letters and reception reports should be sent within the period
specified for each QSL card."

It takes years to understand a single word of what these people are
saying, and then for a single QSL they want SIX in two months? *Forget
THAT!

They're clearly desperate and will try anything to get their listener
numbers into double figures.

--

Brian Gregory. (In the UK)

To email me remove the letter vee.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

LOL! A little clean audio would help! I listened two nights ago - on
11600, their German and French transmissions were clear and
understandable - I speak neither language, but I could plainly make
out words and phrases and could have easily written a report based on
those. Then the English came on, and the hosts sounded like mud.
WTF? The prelim ID/freq recitation and music sounded fine...

Bruce

Maybe they heard you...

I listened to the 2300UT English broadcast on 9700kHz and the
modulation was good. A few pops in the audio but completely copyable.
There was a strange artifact in the signal. In the background was a
ringing noise similar to the bells on the Voice of Greece only audible
during voice portions.

I switched to 11700kHz around 2315UT to check reception. Noise was
noticeably higher with weaker signal. Modulation looked about the same
but there was some fading. No backgound ring on this frequency.

We need more sunspots. Still have not listened to the DRM broadcast.

Jim

On Apr 29, 4:39*pm, wrote:
On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:13:25 -0700 (PDT), bpnjensen





wrote:
On Apr 27, 9:54*am, "Brian Gregory [UK]" wrote:
"bpnjensen" wrote in message

....

I would really like to get a simple QSL or verie from R. Bulgaria.
After listening to that station for months and years, I *finally*
heard a transmission, intended for Europe, on which I could understand
*a little bit* of what they hosts were saying (their sound on English
transmissions is uniformly muffled and audio-challenged). *I wrote
down the scant details I could, and went to the RB website ~ and I
found this. *They must be kidding.

This, from the R. Bulgaria website:

"Reception report

Dear listener of Radio Bulgaria,

The good news is that in order to become a member of Radio Bulgaria s
Monitoring Club and receive the 6 QSL cards in the series you have to
fulfill the following requirements:

For the FIRST QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for January and THREE for February.

For the SECOND QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception
reports for March and THREE for April.

For the THIRD QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for May and THREE for June.

For the FOURTH QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception
reports for July and THREE for August.

For the FIFTH QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for September and THREE for October.

For the SIXTH QSL CARD you will have to submit THREE reception reports
for November and THREE for December.

A valid reception report should cover at least 15 minutes of our
broadcasts on any frequency and at the time you prefer, and should
include details of the contents of the broadcast and SINPO rating.

Upon reception of the full set of 6 QSL cards, you will also get the
Monitoring Club Membership Certificate of Radio Bulgaria.

Letters and reception reports should be sent within the period
specified for each QSL card."

It takes years to understand a single word of what these people are
saying, and then for a single QSL they want SIX in two months? *Forget
THAT!

They're clearly desperate and will try anything to get their listener
numbers into double figures.

--

Brian Gregory. (In the UK)

To email me remove the letter vee.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

LOL! *A little clean audio would help! *I listened two nights ago - on
11600, their German and French transmissions were clear and
understandable - I speak neither language, but I could plainly make
out words and phrases and could have easily written a report based on
those. *Then the English came on, and the hosts sounded like mud.
WTF? *The prelim ID/freq recitation and music sounded fine...

Bruce

Maybe they heard you...

I listened to the 2300UT English broadcast on 9700kHz and the
modulation was good. A few pops in the audio but completely copyable.
There was a strange artifact in the signal. In the background was a
ringing noise similar to the bells on the Voice of Greece only audible
during voice portions.

I switched to 11700kHz around 2315UT to check reception. Noise was
noticeably higher with weaker signal. Modulation looked about the same
but there was some fading. No backgound ring on this frequency.

We need more sunspots. Still have not listened to the DRM broadcast.

Jim

Here's the funny part - I can *never* get a good copy on their earlier
NAm broadcasts. They are even worse, for me, than their later 11600
to Europe.

At 2300 there is nothing but a weak het on those freqs. Sun's up high,
too early for the west coast.

BJ

On Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:25:21 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:56:54 GMT, (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

The only station I know of from Europe that does a DRM broadcast
beamed to America is Vatican Radio from 2300UT-2330UT on 9755kHz. It
is FM quality and stays locked in under good conditions with only a
few momentary distortions.

Is that from Europe? Or is it a relay from Radio Canada's site?

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

There is a listed relay broadcast earlier on 9800 kHz at 1945-2030UT
from Vatican via Canada. This was not monitored.

Here is the signal and transmitted information from the DRM Vatican
broadcast on 9755 at 2300UT and the earlier DRM Radio Canada broadcast
on 9800kHz.

Radio Canada on 9800kHz @ 2100UT - DRM signal S9+25dB
Info: 17.16 kBits/sec / EEP AAC+ Mono / CA
Message box: From Sackville, NB Canada for your listening pleasure
Audio: No dropouts. A few quick intermittent distortions.

Vatican Radio on 9755kHz @ 2300UT - DRM signal s9+20dB
Info: 14.56 kBits/sec / EEP AAC+ Mono / VA
Message box: We are sending a DRM transmission on SW 9755kHz for North
America from Vatican Radio Santa Maria di Galeria-Vatican City
Audio: Periodic dropouts. Multiple intermittent distortions.

Appears the broadcast comes from Europe but can't guarantee it. Will
check the relay broadcast tomorrow if I can.

Jim

Vatican relay broadcast from Canada
9800UT @2000UT DRM signal S9+15dB
Info: 17.40 kBits/sec / EEP AAC+ Mono / VA
Message box: blank
Audio: No dropouts. Very few intermittent distortions.

So, it appears there is no way to prove where a DRM signal comes from.
The info area shows the Vatican (VA) as the source but there is no
indication it is relayed by Sackville other than signal quality.

Jim

In article ,
wrote:
On Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:25:21 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:56:54 GMT, (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

Is that from Europe? Or is it a relay from Radio Canada's site?
....
So, it appears there is no way to prove where a DRM signal comes from.
The info area shows the Vatican (VA) as the source but there is no
indication it is relayed by Sackville other than signal quality.

The reason I asked orignally was that, a couple of years ago, I found
the Sackeville DRM schedule on a web page and vaguely remembered a some
transmissions not on 9800 kHz.

But then, of course, I can't find that printout in my file of random
shortwave schedules. (Since I can't get DRM, I probably recycled that
page as a grocery list).

(did, dig, dig) http://www.rcinet.ca/english/schedule/

It doesn't show up there now. The non-Canadian programs in the DRM
schedule now only have the Vatican one on 9800, and a couple of other
transmissions (from China and "Top of [something]").

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)