My Shortwave Logs and Trip Reports: Australia Ocean Racing S2H, M2L and M2H 2013

Saturday 21 December 2013

Australia Ocean Racing S2H, M2L and M2H 2013

Its that time of the year again where during Christmas and New Year, I'll attempt to stream HF Communication audio from 4 Yacht Races held between Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart from my location here in Sunny Brisbane, Queensland. The main communications which occur during the races are the scheduled Yacht Position Reports (Sked).

The Audio Streams will only be available during the Racing events, so the first to kick us off will be Sydney To Hobart Yacht Race starting (26-Dec-2013).

Besides my own stream, there are usually a couple of other enthusiasts that also stream similar content:

Who	Location	Audio Links
AussieDrifter (Me)	Brisbane, Qld	Main Radio / Streaming Station Main Blog Site
Australia Ocean Racing Communication 2013 (VK3VIM)	Melbourne, Victoria	http://www.vk3vim.net/

Race Sailing Instructions

Sydney To Hobart (S2H)
Melbourne to Launceston (M2L)
Melbourne to Hobart (M2H)
- Eastcoaster
- Westcoaster

Race Frequencies

Event	Time (AEDT)	Primary (kHz)	Secondary (kHz)
S2H	Day (0700-1900)	6516	4483
S2H	Night (1900-0700)	4483	6516
M2L & M2H	Day (0700-1800)	12305	8210
M2L & M2H	Night (1800-0700)	6218	4483

Note:
^1. M2L and M2H yachts needing to make contact with Kordia (Charleville Radio) between schedules should do so on the standard calling channels listed below. These frequencies are also distress frequencies. For longer communications, a switch to one of the race frequencies may be required once communications have been established.

Frequency Period

4125 Night
6215 Day or Night
8291 Day
12290 Day

Race Schedules

	Schedules (AEDT)
Event	Day	Night
S2H	0735, 1205¹, 1705	0005
M2L	1135, 1635	0535, 2235
M2H Westcoaster	1205, 1705	0605, 2305
M2H Eastcoaster	1235, 1735	0635, 2335

Note
¹ - Listening schedules will be conducted on 6516 kHz at 1205 hrs each day from 27th December until 2nd January 2014 on 6516 kHz.

Recorded Race Skeds

Date	Time (AEDT)	Event	Frequency (khz)	Audio Recording Link	Description
26-Dec-2013	1130-1230	S2H	6516	Poor to Fair copy. Here a samples of some checkins, JBW was heard most of the time.	Prerace Sign on
26-Dec-2013	1905	S2H	4483	Fair copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
27-Dec-2013	0005	S2H	4483	Good copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
27-Dec-2013	0735	S2H	6515	Poor copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio. VK3VIM audio feed was great.	Sked
27-Dec-2013	1205	S2H	6515	Nothing Heard VK3VIM audio feed was great.	Listening Sked
27-Dec-2013	1335-1445	M2L	12305	Good copy of Prerace Checkin. Here is link to Audio.	Prerace Sign on
27-Dec-2013	1335-1445	Eastcoaster (M2H)	12305	See Above	Prerace Sign on
27-Dec-2013	1335-1445	Westcoaster (M2H)	12305	See Above	Prerace Sign on
27-Dec-2013	1635	M2L	12305	Good copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
27-Dec-2013	1705	S2H	6515	Nothing Heard VK3VIM audio feed was good.	Sked
27-Dec-2013	1705	Westcoaster (M2H)	12305	Good copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
27-Dec-2013	1735	Eastcoaster (M2H)	12305	Copied Yachts fine, Kordia dropped out. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
27-Dec-2013	2235	M2L	6218	Good copy of Sked. Held on 4483. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
27-Dec-2013	2305	Westcoaster (M2H)	6218	Good copy of Sked. Held on 4483. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
27-Dec-2013	2335	Eastcoaster (M2H)	6218	Good copy of Sked. Held on 4483. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	0005	S2H	4483	Fair copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	0535	M2L	6218	Heard Kordia fine, but not yachts. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	0605	Westcoaster (M2H)	6218	Heard Kordia fine, but yachts very faint. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	0635	Eastcoaster (M2H)	6218	Heard Kordia fine, but not yachts. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	0735	S2H	6515	Freq No good at this time. Please goto VK3VIM audio feed.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	1135	M2L	12305	Heard Kordia fine, faint copy on yachts. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	1205	Westcoaster (M2H)	12305	Heard Kordia fine, faint copy on yachts. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	1205	S2H	6515	Freq No good at this time. Please goto VK3VIM audio feed.	Listening Sked
28-Dec-2013	1235	Eastcoaster (M2H)	12305	Heard Kordia fine, faint copy on yachts. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	1635	M2L	12305	Good copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	1705	S2H	6515	Freq No good at this time. Please goto VK3VIM audio feed.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	1705	Westcoaster (M2H)	12305	Heard Kordia fine, but yachts very faint. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	1735	Eastcoaster (M2H)	12305	Good copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	2235	M2L	6218	Heard Kordia fine, but yachts very faint. Held on 4483. Most yachts arrived. Except Ariel 2... Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	2305	Westcoaster (M2H)	6218	Heard Kordia fine, but yachts very faint. Held on 4483. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
28-Dec-2013	2335	Eastcoaster (M2H)	6218	Good copy of Sked. Held on 4483. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	0005	S2H	4483	Fair copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	0605	Westcoaster (M2H)	6218	Good copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	0635	Eastcoaster (M2H)	6218	Good copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	0735	S2H	6515	Freq No good at this time. Please goto VK3VIM audio feed.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	1205	Westcoaster (M2H)	12305	Heard Kordia fine, but yachts very faint. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	1235	S2H	6515	Freq No good at this time. Please goto VK3VIM audio feed.	Listening Sked
29-Dec-2013	1235	Eastcoaster (M2H)	12305	Heard Kordia fine, but yachts very faint. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	1705	S2H	6515	Freq No good at this time. Please goto VK3VIM audio feed.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	1705	Westcoaster (M2H)	12305	Good copy of Sked. Held on 4483. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	1735	Eastcoaster (M2H)	12305	Good copy of Sked. Held on 4483. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	2305	Westcoaster (M2H)	6218	Kordia struggled with HF conditions. Hobart Race Control helped Held on 4483 Here is link to Audio.	Sked
29-Dec-2013	2335	Eastcoaster (M2H)	6218	Kordia struggled with HF conditions. Held on 4483 Here is link to Audio.	Sked
30-Dec-2013	0005	S2H	4483	Fair Copy of Sked Audio TBA	Sked
30-Dec-2013	0635	Eastcoaster (M2H)	6218	Kordia struggled with HF conditions. Held on 4483,8294,8210khz. Heard two yachts on 8210khz. Here is link to Audio.	Sked
30-Dec-2013	1205	Eastcoaster (M2H)	6218	Kordia Faint. Bad HF Conditions	Sked
30-Dec-2013	1235	Westcoaster (M2H)	6218	Kordia Faint. Bad HF Conditions	Sked
30-Dec-2013	1735	Eastcoaster (M2H)	6218	Good copy of Sked. Here is link to Audio.	Sked

Twitter Feeds

You can monitor the following twitter for latest news regarding the events.

No comments:

ICOM R75 with DSP

This is a great radio, build in speaker lets it down, but piped through to my sound centre or headphones and sounds great for working those faint signals. Read some Reviews

Kenwood R1000

Another great radio, the sound from this radio is beautiful and warm, and can listen to weaker stations / ones suffering from fade very easy with out getting a headache. Read some Reviews

Yaesu FRG-7

A great little worker, but only for those stations that are in the clear from interfering side channels. Read some Reviews

Sangean ATS 505

It works, and is perfect for those camping trips were I am unable to hump my other radios. Read some Reviews

Degen DE1103

Wow, Wow, Wow !!! This little radio blows the Sangean ATS-505 out of the water, and I have even now not listened with the ICOM R75 or Kenwood R1000 since receiving and comparing the DE1103 against them. Yes the ICOM R75 is slightly more sensitive, however with the long wire antenna that came with the radio and the extremely low noise of the radios circuitry I was able to hear every single station that the ICOM received but just a maybe a S-Level lower. However the DE1103 handled fade and had a by far a better tone to listen to faint / fading stations.

I would highly recommend this radio to anyone, especially with the Sony AN-LP1 Active Loop Antenna, the radio is bless pulling in many stations at bed time with minimal fade which doesn't annoy the wife anymore :)

Read some Reviews.

Sony XR-5100 In Car Cassette / AM/FM/SW Radio

This radio is installed in my Pajero 4x4, and wherever I go I always have a shortwave. The only downside is that it is currently connected to the Pajeros electric antenna, its short and does ok for the strong SW stations while the car is not running. However to getting more out of this very capable radio, I attach some light weight stranded cable and run it out in any direction I can or want. I have a 5 meter version for quick hook-up while having a coffee or toilet break and a 40 meter version for longer stop overs / DXing on cold Canberra nights. With the extra length of cables attached to the car antenna (longer one needs to support on the 4x4 snorkel (raised air intake) to prevent the weight of the cable snapping the antenna of :(.

Sony CDX-GT260 / GT360 In Car CD / AM/FM/SW Radio

I originally had the Sony XR-5100 SW/AM/FM Car Radio. It worked great as long as I had the car engine stopped. A length of wire added to the car antenna was used to allow the radio to reach it full potential. A couple of CONS was that it was Tape Deck cd a CD Player and there was no AUX input.

Well the wifes radio finally died in her Suzuki ~2 months back, so we went to the local auto shop (Supercheap) and too my surprise there was the Sony CDX-GT260 SW/AM/FM radio. I thought Bugger me, looked at the price and had to look twice as it was priced AUD$136. It was a CD Player and it also had AUX input jack on the front. Turned to the wife and said, "DARLS" here a nice little radio for yer :) Well the price was perfect and I still did not beleive it till I got to the till and it rang up as AUD$136. JACKPOT!!

Installed it in her car and done a few tests with and without the ext. antenna wire and it WORKED fine. Ran in side and said the wife "I WANT ONE" she busted out laughing and we headed of to get one.

But to our shock it was the last one hence the sell out price. We finally tracked down once at another store but it was the GT360 can't remember now, and was $199, but the bloke at the store knew the other bloke and bingo said if I wanted it now he could give it to be for AUD $149. SOLD!!! Raced over and picked it up and installed it in to the Pajero. The only difference between the two models appears to be EQUALIZER modes I thinks apart from that they are identical :)

So from me and my Wifey, we can both say they and the (XR-5100) are great SW/AM and FM car radios. But remember to always keep a bit of hookup wire to get its full potential when stopped at the side of the road / camping.

SW1: 2940 - 7735 kHz

SW2: 9500 - 18135 kHz

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race - 2006

I love tuning in to the the yacht race each year starting on Boxing Day to catch the action. 2006 was a bit quiet nothing too dramatic as it all happened on the first night two maxi's retired with mast damage and the one bit of radio traffic that I wish I had captured onto tape / mp3 was the "Ray White Koomooloo" sinking incident. Now I'm slightly paraphrasing here but here goes.

JBW is the relay yacht and it as busy dealing with co-ordinating with the Police Launcher to get a injure crewman of one of the maxi's (MAXIMUS I think).

Then the yacht Koomooloo comes on frequency and asks how long would the Police Launcher take to get to them (most have missed the initial radio traffic from Koomooloo reporting initial troubles). Anyways JBW asks Koomooloo to standby for a sec and come back with info that the the Police Launcher would take about 2 hours or so.

This is what I remember and was freaky / funny. After the radio operator of Koomooloo received the info he must have went and discussed with the captain and comes back on frequency and calm as anything says "JBW, JBW, Koomooloo, hmmmm 2 hours is insufficient......... We are taking on water and will probably only last at most 1 more hour. We would like to declare MAYDAY, MAYDAY any vessel in vicinity of LAT / LONG".

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/a,DfIBuVj0mDNRDReOA9xJ9acOzxqpS6
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/p1dMBbRZSli,2q2Iw59sqzwHeWGPXWED
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/SNTggbhSS.9oFo.ozsX2RbmVyZs1EGo5
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6OMu8RkRAdYmvZuR2DTLlxRjxOX7Kml1
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/hvQ3.TF0Ojhuuy.6dRHp55.VBYK3cgTY
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/99m6prQ0q6ciT80OBfKsyAUyBKjIDFx4

My Shortwave Logs and Trip Reports

Listen Live to what I'm listening to !!

Saturday 21 December 2013

Australia Ocean Racing S2H, M2L and M2H 2013

Race Sailing Instructions

Race Frequencies

Race Schedules

Recorded Race Skeds

Twitter Feeds

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