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.

E25 -1 h shift confirmed

Egypt switched to DST and the expected -1 hour shift of E25 slots happened. The problem is I have a few logs confirming this phenomenon (only 3):

1. 29 April 2008 a message sent to "111" at 0800z instead of 0900z.
2. 30 April 2008 a "control" message sent to "200" (200 9) at 0800z instead of 0900z.
   
3. 04 May 2008 a message sent to "128" and a "control" message sent to "126" (126 6) at 0945z (well 0952z actually but you know E25's punctuality!) instead of 1045z.

It is a quiet period for E25, I hope they are ok and didn't chance anything regarding their frequencies! BTW the mechanical YL still tries her best :-)

New non-oriental song from E25

The new mechanical YL delivered this message today at 0914z and after that, two minutes later, a different kind of music appeared! It started at 0921z and finished at 0928z. Both transmissions (message & song) were in AM mode having an average of S9 with some QSB, esp. during the message (S5-S9). During the song, the signal reached 10 dB over S9.

Attention:

Egypt switches to DST soon! A -1 hour slot shift is expected! Let's see what will happen!

Local time	DST?	UTC offset	Zone
Thursday, April 24 at 11:59:57 PM	No	+2 hours	EET
Thursday, April 24 at 11:59:58 PM	No	+2 hours	EET
Thursday, April 24 at 11:59:59 PM	No	+2 hours	EET
Friday, April 25 at 1:00:00 AM	1 hour	+3 hours	EEST
Friday, April 25 at 1:00:01 AM	1 hour	+3 hours	EEST
Friday, April 25 at 1:00:02 AM	1 hour	+3 hours	EEST

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!

The first steps towards E25 automation are always difficult...

We were glad to hear again a YL behind the microphones of E25, during live transmissions, some time ago. Now the operators seems to start using an automated system for message broadcast, using voice samples from a YL.

Specifically, they recorded the YL saying each number, 0-9, "Rebeat", "EOM EOT" and use some sort of machine to convert text-to-voice samples. It is interesting that they have separate ending numbers, like E10 and some more Enigmas who wants to have a more realistic voice. A nice touch, but the whole project seems to be problematic.

Listen what happened yesterday, Tuesday 11 March on 6140 USB at 1028z. The usual hum, but then, some more noise and a staggering mecha voice with a strange noise after each gap. The transmission ended abruptly at 1033z so they replayed it a few moments later.

The same problems occurred in the next transmission at 1113z, again on 6140 USB, as you can hear here! Again the TX starts with some hum noise, then again YL's voice is broken.

Things were better on 9450, where 2 YL mecha transmissions occurred. Both of them were "control" messages. This one recorded at 1213z, and the next one at 1243z. Note that my tuner was set in USB mode.

Any ideas regarding the failures? What about the noises? I wonder what kind of system they use (mechanical/analog or a PC playing the samples)...

Ahh! I forgot to mention that a typical live transmission happened at 1044z, featuring an OM, sending a message to 128 (initially read as "182" another reversal!) and the "control" message "4" to 126.

Today I managed to forget connecting my antenna to the RX and set my PC record 6 hours of nothing... It is a good precaution to unhook your antenna when a storm is coming but you must remember to hook it back again :-) So I'm waiting your logs for today!

E25 young (automated?) lady

"557 6 557 6..."

This is a "control" message sent by a young lady voice on 9450 AM, today at 1225z. The song "Arouh Le Min" played as an introduction. Excellent signal in my QTH, peaking at S9+30 db. The audio S/(S+N) ratio exceeded 40 db!

The voice has a constant tempo so I suspect it is not a live transmission, but somehow created from pre-recorded voice samples.

Enjoy it here!

ABC and ULX together

Yesterday ABC spotted on the same frequency as ULX.
At 1038z on 6270 kHz ULX was repeating the g23 IWLXY message and ABC was in the same frequency! At 1040z ULX ended but ABC was still there. It suddenly stopped at 1042z.

Clip!