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!

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.

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!

UNID HF-Fax station: Must be Tashkent!

I did a search to some old HF-Fax images, received back in 2001-2002 where the Sun was more kind to us offering more sunspots! I found some similar images, of better quality, which resemble the ones I've posted earlier. The service's logo is visible, and I think it reads "UZHYMET". So it must be Uzbekistan. I'll show you my older images later, and ask you if I'm right. Here is a link to the Weather Service web page. Still I haven't found more info about fax transmissions...

First, I believe a transmission was on air commencing earlier than ~1359z, but it was under heavy QRN. A series of images followed, with slightly different timing than the previous days.

4067 kHz, 01/02/2007 1422z

4067 kHz, 01/02/2007 1448z

4067 kHz, 01/02/2007 1601z

4067 kHz, 01/02/2007 1631z

4067 kHz, 01/02/2007 1701z

4067 kHz, 01/02/2007 1731z

There was also a transmission at 1801z, but I was listening to G11 of course!

Here are the old pictures. Definitely then the conditions were better, despite being received in a more noisy location and with Sangean's 7 meter random wire antenna!

15/09/2001 1440z

04/10/2001 1439z

15/09/2001 1501z

22/12/2001 1519z

I have uploaded them full-sized so you can read the labels more easily! Unfortunately no frequency details available. I was novice then and underestimated the value of a good logbook! But it is obvious that the conditions were much better back in 2001.

UNID HF-Fax station: Tashkent?

Yesterday I decided to look again for that UNID Fax station on 4067 kHz, and got 4 complete transmissions and a partial one. Again the problem is the spacing: 1000 Hz instead of 800 Hz, and also some faults during the beginning of the broadcast.

4067 kHz, 30/01/2007 1451z Partial image.

This one probably started at 1430z. Well it still seems Russian to me :-)

4067 kHz, 30/01/2007 1601z

4067 kHz, 30/01/2007 1709z

You see, my environment is not QRN-free! That zig-zag lines are caused by QRN.

4067 kHz, 30/01/2007 1801z

Use the times given as a guide to hunt for this one! Unfortunately the images are not clear and I can't read the boxes. If anyone is familiar with Tashkent fax service, is kindly requested to post a comment saying so.

Murmansk, Russia Meteo HF-Fax

An unusual HF-Fax station logged today with success. It is supposed to be Murmansk Radio. Rfax info is partially outdated.

8444 kHz, 1330z

This station must be decoded with the receiver in LSB mode. My Sangean was tuned on 8446 kHz LSB. The transmission was wider than 800 Hz, and I didn't noticed the series of tones that triggers the decoder. So another difficult station, not because its distance!

I logged this station yesterday at 1456z and 2007z, so keep an ear(!) at 1440z and 2000z (or something like that!) on 8444 kHz!

UNID HF-Fax station

Unidentified HF-Fax station logged on 4067 kHz today on 1631z, 1701z, 1731z, 1801z:

It seems Russian to me :-)

Moscow, Russia HF-Fax

Moscow HF-Fax service seems to be active, but on different frequencies rfax initially mentions. In the end of the entry about Moscow Fax, the latest (May 2006) edition of rfax mentions:

(Update 3/2002) - Frequencies reported as 4318, 5108, 6890(night), 10611 and 13886 (night)
(Update 3/2002) - All broadcasts reported as 120/576 or 120/288 mode. 60 or 90 rpm is no longer used.

From my observations, the station is active on 10611 kHz and 13886 kHz (there is always an idling (?) digi station interfering) in the mornings, and 4318 kHz and/or 10611 kHz in the evenings. Here are some sample images from yesterday, logged on 10611 kHz:

10611 kHz, 18/01/2007 1401z

10611 kHz, 18/01/2007 1423z

10611 kHz, 18/01/2007 1446z

Cape Navel today and... yesterday

The ionosphere is disturbed again, but reception on 18238 kHz today at around (!) 1530z was the best I ever had! The transmission started early at 1523z, and was a "blurred" Surface Analysis chart.

18238 kHz, 1523z 12:00 Surface Analysis

But yesterday... a series of false starts:

• 1538z: Transmission of a "blurred" Surface Analysis starts.
• 1549z: Stops! Starts again!
• 1552z: Starts again! Ends!
• 1553z: New trial: Header only!
• 1555z: New attempt, this one finishes normally at 1616z!