Chile HF-Fax service log

And here is a HF-Fax log!

This is the schedule transmission logged from Chile CBV HF-Fax service, logged on 29 July 2155UTC, on 17144.59 USB:

171446.4 kHz 2155z

Many thanks to Nairam for providing the tip! He had better reception than mine as you can check his images here (schedule) and here (+36h prognosis). The transmission ended before the completion of the full schedule image.

73!

Hooray! A new edition of rfax.pdf from NOAA!

I just noticed the existence of a newer edition (9 Feb 2011) of NOAA's HF fax guide. Because it took me ages to download it from their site, here is a copy of it!

New edition of rfax.pdf

I just noticed that NOAA has published a new edition of the rfax.pdf which is a guide/schedule for the HF-FAX stations of the world. The guide is dated 13 August 2010.

New edition of rfax.pdf HF-FAX guide ... Updated!

Here is the latest (10 September 2009) version of rfax.pdf guide, which is updated. There are less stations listed now, which means that some are no longer transmitting... This is a bit sad...

BTW right now the South Africa ZSJ station has a fair image quality on 18236.10 kHz, USB mode...

Honolulu FAX audible on 16 MHz

Unfortunately I haven't got a decent map from Honolulu HF-FAX service on 16133.10 kHz USB, but I can hear it right now (1830z). My ears can detect the presence of fax signal but the software decoder just gives a very noisy printout.

I managed to log Honolulu on 16133.10 kHz USB this morning at 0715z, and also on 11088.10 kHz but still no clear image reception... While the HF conditions gizmo in my blog says Poor, I wonder if these... 11(!) sunspots makes the difference!

Latest version of rfax.pdf

A new HF-Fax frequency/schedule list is available, dated 24 February 2009. Download it from here.

A new version of the rfax.pdf is out there

Please update your favorite HF-Fax list with this one (28 October 2008).

Some better images from Honolulu

Yesterday evening I tried again on 11088 kHz and luckily the reception was a bit better! Now you can see a "real" map!

11088.10 USB 1718z TEST TRANSMISSION

Unfortunately the test transmission is a short white chart with a black horizontal line...

11088.10 USB 1734z SIGNIFICANT CLOUD FEATURES

That's better, isn't it? Compare it with the original:


I received two more complete charts until I quit due to excess noise but I think it's unnecessary to upload them now I have at least one good image from them. I'm happy I'm back to HF-FAX DXing, after a long time.

QUESTION: Does anyone of you know if they answer to QSL reports? Any ideas for how to send a proper QSL report? So far I got response only from amateurs, so far no response to a letter sent to Northwood and an e-mail sent to Hamburg...

And yes... Honolulu!

Propagationally speaking, Honolulu is more difficult than Wellington, New Zealand, even if it is closer (13700 km instead of 17400 km).

Yesterday, I had some luck with Honolulu!!! The frequency was 11088.1 kHz USB, starting at ~1723z till ~1834z.

Here is a comparison of my received images to the ones actually sent. Mine are the top (and noisy) ones:

1724z SIGNIFICANT CLOUD FEATURES

1735z CYCLONE DANGER AREA

1755z STREAMLINE ANALYSIS

Despite the noise, I think there is some resemblance with the original images. These are provided by NOAA and I was lucky to find the originals today since they keep only the latest images! I've got Honolulu! What do you think?

Athens HF-FAX service improves its transmission quality

The local HF-FAX service, Athens, suffered from bad transmission output (probably too much audio level in an SSB transmitter). See my older post. Nowadays all seems to work fine; the image quality is superb:

8105 kHz USB, 03/08/2008, 1007z

8105 kHz USB, 03/08/2008, 1019z

Both images logged yesterday morning on 8105 kHz USB mode with a +20dB signal. Athens also transmits on 4481 kHz (had an S9 signal). Usually the lowest frequency is better received at my QTH, but if ionosphere permits (relative) local propagation on higher frequencies, the 8 MHz transmission is better, with less multipath distortion (fuzziness of the lines).

A nice HF-Fax picture from Tokyo

Last night I decided to give a try to JMH HF-Fax service. I only got this nice picture at 1930 UTC on the highest (13988 kHz) JMH frequency:

13988.5 kHz, 1930z

24HR SURFACE PRESSURE, WIND, FOG, ICING, SEA ICE PROG

The following transmissions were noisy so 1930z sets a limit for the reception on 14 MHz from Japan to my Location.

New edition of rfax.pdf available

Check out http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/rfax.pdf for an updated HF-Fax schedule compilation from NOAA, as of 30 May 2008.

New Orleans HF-Fax service: New frequency found

Nairam send me a tip that New Orleans may be using a new frequency, 8763.96 kHz USB. And indeed, there was a fax signal there, and luckily I managed to get the schedule transmission which indeed is from New Orleans, but it does not mention the new frequency:

8763.96 kHz USB, 2045z

The above was received a couple of days ago; 17 March 2008. Note that this image is different from the schedule I logged last year. You can find the source image at the NOAA site:


Thanks Nairam for the tip!

New edition of rfax is available

A new edition of rfax.pdf, the well-known radiofacsimile schedule issued by NOAA can be downloaded from here. Happy hunting!

New edition of rfax is available

A new edition of the rfax.pdf HF-Fax list by NOAA is available. I haven't thoroughly compared it with the previous one, but seems to have the latest info regarding JMH. On the other hand, no further info about Rome Meteo, which I'm not sure if it is still on air.

JMH new frequencies confirmed

It seems that the image I posted earlier from JMH Tokyo HF-Fax Service was the best so far... I have trouble getting a decent image from Japan. The good news? I confirmed all three frequencies (2 new, one old) of JMH. Here is the broadcast schedule, effective 1 March 2007 (source JMA).

JMH Japan HF-Fax service frequencies

The latest HF-Fax frequencies for JMH Japan HF-Fax service are:

3622.5 kHz
7795.0 kHz
13988.5 kHz

(all H24, 120/576)

Myself have logged 7795 and 13988.5 kHz. Here is today's test transmission at 1300z:
There is some QRM from a digital station few Hz lower. That caused my decoder to choose 60 LPM instead of 120 so I cropped the resulting image.

Some more schedule times for Tashkent Meteo

Today these air times were noted for Tashkent fax service:

1. Earlier than 1507z
2. 1510z
3. 1541z
4. 1608z

Second and third fill the gap 1500z-160z which is nice. Images were of bad quality so I didn't upload them.

Some more images from Murmansk

Three images from that unique fax station which transmits on LSB mode. Your favorite fax decoding software might miss it since Murmansk does not transmit the series of tones which activates the decoder. You must be present and press "Receive" when you notice a fax transmission. Usually Murmansk sends the "white" tone and then the phasing band of black-white for you to align the image. Then the chart follows.

At noon, the two images were sent one after the other so I has to manually start and stop the decoder.

8444 kHz 1327z

8444 kHz 1342z

8444 kHz 2002z

An annoying "barking" sound (digital station) is present near Murmansk's frequency. It doesn't cause much interference but it is really annoying!

HSW64 Bangkok, Thailand Meteo HF-Fax

Bangkok HF-Fax service is active on 7397 kHz in par with rfax. today I received the following charts:

7397 kHz 1702z Forecast for shipping

7397 kHz 1720z Surface analysis

Signal was weak and had voice QRM. Also at 1300z was on air, on the same frequency but much weaker so no chart to present here!