Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2011 - Done for another year

Well All,

I've shut the Queensland HF Comms Coverage of Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2011 down for 2011. A quick review of my stream / coverage was that I more or less could only cover the 4483 khz nightly sked due to 6516 have the unbearable interference from 6518 khz.

However that said this year we had a total of 3 streams (4 including the parttime Offical stream) covering the HF Comms.

Brisbane, Qld Audio Stream (mine..)

http://s2h.listen2myradio.com/

Melbourne, Vic Audio Stream

http://melbourneradio.no-ip.org:88/broadwave.asx?src=1&rate=0

NSW Audio Stream

Peter Bye of vk2mpj on the NSW South Coast is once again providing Audio Stream for Sail-World http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=92269

The NSW stream stayed on 6516 khz were as the VIC stream covered both 6516 and the 4483 khz channels. Together the VIC and NSW streams were brillant and really made it possible to hear the HF Comms at all the Skeds and during the race.

A big thanks to them for their time and use of their own hardward and equipment to provide te audio streams.

The VIC stream is actually going to coninue on and attempt to provide coverage of the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Race 2011 (http://blog.grantstowell.com/pittwater-to-coffs-harbour-ocean-race-2012) Stream Detail - http://blog.grantstowell.com/pittwater-to-coffs-harbour-ocean-race

Hope you all enjoy it :) and we'll defintely see your all next year and who knows maybe whenever there is another event during the year (ie Brisbane to Gladstone) I'll give it a go......

Have a very Happy New Year and a great 2012 !!!!!!!!!!!!

AussieDrifter

Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2011 - Victoria Audio Stream

Bloody great news, @grantstowell based in Melbourne, Victoria is streaming the Race HF Comms from this QTH :)

You can tune in here - http://melbourneradio.no-ip.org:88/broadwave.asx?src=1&rate=0

2011 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - Skeds

20111226 1905

Listen here http://soundcloud.com/ozidrifter/s2h-20111226-1905-sked - download here

The HF conditions started of fairly poor, you can just hear JBW broadcast his 2min pre sked call. at 2min JBW is a little stronger but surprisingly most of the yachts were fairly clear and JBW eventually had a fair signal. Sked lasted to 25min 30sec where JBW broadcasted the weather reports. At 28m 45sec JBW changed from 4483 khz to 6516 khz, had a fair signal there, and could be heard over the interference from 6518 khz.

Aurora was acted as relay for a couple of yachts and can be hear going clear with JBW at 31min. Wasabi position was finally relayed at 31min 45sec.

20111227 0005

Listen http://soundcloud.com/ozidrifter/s2h-20111227-0005-sked - Download here

A great copy of the 20111227 0005 sked. Only issues were a handful of yachts were faint or scratchy signals and even JBW had a tough time with them.

20111227 0735

Listen / Download here

A fairly poor copy of the sked received here in QLD, while a few yachts did come through clear, JBW appeared to be having issues with his transmission, his transmissions appeared to be clipped like there was battery issues. That said, I've upload the record audio. BTW the audio stream from Melbourne Victoria (http://melbourneradio.no-ip.org:88/broadwave.asx?src=1&rate=0) provided by @grantstowell was much cleaner and clearer, so remember if my stream is not the best try his or even the Official stream from the RSHYR web site.

20111227 1205

A vey poor to no copy of the Sked received in QLD. Both VIC: http://tinyurl.com/76swzhs and NSW http://tinyurl.com/6muh2de had some signal, except NSW feed / station had a severe interference that made audio tough to make out at times :( VIC signal was the best one out of the three to listen to comfortably :)

20111227 1705

Another poor copy to QLD, but mostly due to the series of storms around during the sked here in Brisbane. That said, NSW stream came through fantastically (thumbs up to Peter Bye of vk2mpj on the NSW South Coast), towards the end it was fighting a heavier static, but JBW booming through. VIC stream had clear signal and who could hear JBW and the yachts but the audio was faint. The joys of HF Radio. I'm so happy that there are multiple HF Comms streams covering the yacht race :)

20111228 0005

A great copy of the 20111228 0005 sked. Only issue was the static crashed from storms but overall great copy. I dont have access to Audacity so I've uploaded raw stream so you'll need to located the sked :)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

20111228 0735

Moderate signal,so did no worry about uploading sked mp3. VIC Stream was nice and clear.

20111228 1705

Was at work and still have not review my recordings, but if it was anything like yesertday, probably not worth uploading mp3.

20111229 0005

A good copy of the 20111229 0005 sked. Only issue was the static crashed from storms but overall good copy. NSW Stream seem to stay on 6516khz so nothing heard from the sked. VIC stream was a little weak at the start but sarted picking up near the end. VIC stream also had a interfence that made listening a little hard but atleast it did not have the lighting static crashes. I dont have access to Audacity so I've uploaded raw stream so you'll need to located the sked :)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

20111229 0735

Again very poor signals and interference from 6518 khz here in QLD. The VIC stream was brilliant. Only issue was JBW was having transmision issues and so Hobart Race Control had to manage the Sked. The NSW stream was good, however its DSP / filtering was making the listening a little harder / not as crisp as VIC.

Prerace Radio Check - Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2011

Well that's the "official" HF comms / radio check period for yachts competing in the 2011 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race to check in with "Marine Resuce Newcastle".

I've worked my way through my recordings and located a few samples of the Yachts making their prerace radio checks, I've uploaded them here - http://soundcloud.com/ozidrifter/sets/sydney-hobart-yacht-race an online audio storage service provided by SoundCloud.

Enjoy :)

Preparing for Sydney To Hobart HF Comms Coverage

Hello All,

I've been a little quiet this year in regards to my Shortwave hobby, however with the up coming Sydney To Hobart Yacht Race 2011 (http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/) and my tradition of trying to provide a broadcast coverage of the HF Comms, what better reason to blow the dust of the radios and fire them up :).

I'm still located in Brisbane Qld, so as we all know that the coverage of the comms can be a little hit and miss. Even if I do have clear reception I'm plaqued with the following two sources of QRM

• I've got an issue with a broadband burst of static that has a pattern of 12sec of static (loud s9+) every ~60sec.  This appears to occur between 09:15 - 15:15 AEDST (08:15 - 14:15 AEST). It shouldn't impact the main Race Position reporting Skeds, but never the less pain the the backside if you just want to tune in and monitor the comms.

•  Our friendly interference from the clandestine Shortwave Station (Voice of People-Korea) that transmits on 6518khz which is also being blocked by a jamming station which just causing an god aweful of frequency wobble. This normally starts / fades in from ~1915 AEDST and lasts till it fades out 0700 AEDST (1815-0600 AEST).

Previously I have been using "ustream.tv - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sydney-hobart-yacht-race---hf-comms-6516--4483-kh" and while it is a fantastic service each time you attempt to view a saved recording or list on to listen to my feed you forced to watch a 30sec advertisement.  Now while that might not seem to bad, I thought why not try and see what else is on offer....  So this year I'm going to trial a different technology to broadcast the HF Comms audio.  I'm going to use "ShoutCast"  and a free hosting service "Listen To My Radio".

My feeds web page is: http://s2h.listen2myradio.com/ and the players on this page also point to the current server which has been allocated to me after I might stop / start my ShoutCast Service.

However I've embedded the player as follows to see if it will work, but its based on the link provided by shoutCat Yellow Pages.




Currently I've got feed monitoring 6516 khz for the pre-race radio checks which needs to be completed by the yachts before they compete.  The radio checks are schedule to ran from Dec 15th 2011 - Dec 22nd 2011. Lets see how the ShoutCast feed goes, worse case if it pans out to be too unreliable, I'll switch back to "ustream.tv" and we'll need to put up with 30sec adverts .

Odd Frequency for HLS

Guys,

I was monitoring 17 m band, when I came across the following morse code on 18057 khz "20110101 0353 UTC" (list here).  Not having tone, I had to view the recording's waveform to decode the morse, as my ears just weren't able to copy the signal :(

Anyway the messgae was repeating:

"CQ CQ CQ DE HLS HLS HLS QSX 12 MHZ"

Nothing fancy, I've seen the HLS and others using normal CW tone on lower frequencies and when I went googling, even "WWW.SHORTWAVEMONITOR.COM" did not have a listing of HLS in the 17 m band, but has it listed on lower frequencies as "pup'yong radio kor "

Hmmmm strange so thought I'd share that one with you's :)

Mark

10 Meter Beacon Monitoring

Guys,

For the last few days HF Conditions have been poor during the day here in Brisbane.  Today however I started checking the other lower bands then tuned into 27355 and here the old CB LSB call channel going off.   So I raced up to 10 m and done a scan and a few CW Beacon staying were coming through nice and cleanly.

Because I'm no expert yet in morse :( I rely on CW Skimmer v1.6 to decode the signals.  Well with no problems I decoded the following stations and with the help of "10 Meter Beacon List" got the correct frequency and have attached a recording of each:

1. 28256.5 khz - VK3RMH


2. 28260.0 khz - VK5WI

3. 28261.6 khz - VK2RSY

Well now that I found the 10m Bacon List, there was a stack of beacons listed round the world.  A great feature of CW Skimmer is its water fall display. Slowly tuning the bands, I could see more stations appearing on the display and very very faint on the headphones.  So thats what I'm do now, trying to get a few DX examples of the weaker signals.  Lets see how I go.

4. 28268 khz - VK8VF and also heard 1khz down VK7RSC

The audio stream I feeding up to USTREAM when its compressed is doing obvious bad things with weaker CW signals.  Sorry about that.  Maybe one day I'll get a nice Digital record and record cleaner samples :)


5. 28270 khz - I could here a signal key on for 4 sec, key off for 4 sec.  Looking at the list it will probably be "VK4RTL QTH TOWNSVILLE ,QLD" but with no station ID to be 100% sure.

Well it appears I can hear all from all of Australia except the western part.  I'll tune in this afternoon when WA normally would come through fro 10/11m.

Mark

Radio Caroline - Requesting UK MW Frequency Allocation

Guys,

While researching Flag and Pennant Antennas again, looking for examples of how well the directivity is when used on 6516khz (~46m Band) I came across a bloke's (in Scotland) blog called "David Hamilitons TV and MW DX DIARY IN SCOTLAND".  Here is has recordings of his MW dx'ing using a Flag Antenna and other experiments.

However in his blog for "December 20th 2010" he has a recent video of Radio Caroline requesting a frequency allocation within UK's MW band.  Have a listen, it brought a smile to my face, on what Radio Caroline have to face in regards to good old  UK Politics.

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2010 - HF Comms Coverage Finished

Guys,

We've just shut down the live HF Comms coverage / USTREAM Feeds for the 2010 Sydney Hobart Race.

If I was to give a quick review of how well our broadcasts were, from Brisbane end, my coverage of 6516 khz was fairly poor, due to poor HF Condition during the day.   However this is were having another HF Stream provided by VK2MPJ located near NOWRA, NSW was able to provide most of the time good coverage of the 6516khz (0735 and 1705 AEDT) Position Reports.  But even VK2MPJ had a few times where the HF Conditions did not play nice ;)

However for 4483 khz, I was able to provide great coverage of this frequency especially the 2305 Sked for M2H (East and West Coast Race) and M2L.  Aswell as the 0005 Sked for the S2H.

The ALA-1530 Loop antenna worked a treat as always. However the interference from 6518khz was just a pain in the arse.   Chatting with VK2MPJ I'm keen to test a couple of directional antenna designs such as Hex beam, Moxon and other possible wire beams antenna.   After a lot of research of locating a directional antenna over the last few month prior to the 2010 S2H Race, I found / digested / learnt a stack of info regarding beverages, flag / pennant and EWE antennas.  The main flaw with these antennas is that their directivity is only effective for the low HF / MW bands.  And Since I'm dealing with 6.516 Mhz I need a design that would be directional at this frequency.   So it looks like I have a year to get my act together and see if a Hex, Moxon or yagi (wire beam version) monoband cut /designed for 6516 khz will reduce the interference from 6518 (Voice of People of Korea).

Or I could always hope the Signal 6518 goes off-air or changes frequency :) :)  But since starting the HF coverage of  2007 S2H the 6518 khz has been a pain in the arse and hoping they'd go away each year, just doesn't seem to work.

On another note, it would be great to tee up a couple more people to provide HF and possible VHF coverage of the yacht race.  Its hard to say where exactly would be good, but at a stab in the dark, I would love someone at the following extra locations:

• SE Corner VIC (Lakes Entrance, Sale .....) 
• St Helens (NE Tas)
• Hobart (HF and VHF Coverage)

I've just joined AURFSCAN and they have great forums for "Scanning and other communication" topics and especially appear to have a diverse set of members which may be a great possible means of locating people to give us a hand in providing HF / VHF Comms Coverage for S2H 2011......

Thats All Folks

Mark (AussieDrifter)

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2010 - Live HF Broadcast(s)

Hey all,

I've got the ICOM R75 and ALA-1530 loop antenna up and running to monitor the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race for 2010.

Here is the link to my USTREAM feed : http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sydney-hobart-yacht-race---hf-comms-6516--4483-kh


Here is a link to VK2MPJ USTREAM feed:  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rshyr-2010

Hope you all enjoy the broadcasts :)

Mark

In the Christmas Mood AGAIN - LIVE365

Guys,

There is one thing that if you don't already know about me, is that I LOVE CHRISTMAS,  maybe not the busy shopping centres part though.  Having spent a few of childhood years growing up in Northern Ireland, I was privileged to have had a couple of snowy / icy (not quite true White Christmases), but whitish never the less. Now living in a southern hemisphere I have no snow for Xmas, unless I jet-set to the northern parts of the world. So Christmas music, good times with the family is what I love, presents, turkey, ham and lots of cold beer is my thing!

Over the years I've noticed that the music on the radio stations don't start playing lots of Xmas music any more till 2 weeks before Christmas. Unlike shopping centres at the start of October and the Xmas decoration are out already for sale.

Although the music doesn't start till just before Christmas, one of my favour sources of online internet radio is LIVE365 and here you have over 260 genres and over 10,000 radio stations to choose from. So if you head to the "Seasonal/Holiday" section you'll find a stack of 24/7 Christmas stations that at any time of the year you can get your Christmas fix ;)

Anyway, on one of of these stations I found a link to the follow video title "The Amazing Grace Christmas House - Official Version" its bloody brilliant and if it doesn't make your smile or laugh, then "bah!!! humbug!", nah just kidding :)

Well only 57 sleeps to go till Christmas  :) I wonder what I'm going to get this years from Mrs Clause.....

Take Care All, and seriously hope you enjoyed the video!

Mark

Interesting Antarctica Radio Articles, video and Dxpeditions

Guys,

Antarctica popped in my head this afternoon and so I thought I have a wee look round to see what interesting videos and articles were around. I wasn't disappointed and here are some of the links I liked:


1. Antarctica Sun: Ham Radio Back in the Day

This is a fantastic story of how a young ham radio operator (and his brother(s)) helped to keep the navy persennel located in Antarctica back in touch with their families and loved ones via phone patch. All done with having great dedication and a big antenna for his day :)

2. Hamradio from the Antarctica area

This is a video presentation of various QSL cards, Sound recording and other bits and pieces from DXpeditions from the Antarctica area. Its well done and well worth a look.

3. VP8SSI Dxpedition 1992 Story

This video story documents what condition DXpedition groups are willing to put themselves in / through. I love the snow, blizzards, but in the confort of a bloody good shelter and a good heat source :)

4. Australian Antarctica Communications 1911-1985

A great insight / read of the introduction of VLF / HF and SAT comms to link Antarctica back to Australia.

5. Amateur Radio Call Signs of Antarctica

As the name suggests, list of call signs allocated to countries / dxpeditions when operating on or near antarctica.




I'm still looking though a few other articles, but these definitely had an impact on me :)

Take care All

Mark

Broad Spectrum RFI

Hey Guys,

This is a small post to report on a broad spectrum RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) that I've noticed since setting up my SWL radios and Antennas at my Brisbane QTH location. The RFI appears to start dead on 0900 AEST every morning and has a cycle of ~50 seconds and lasts for ~2-3 seconds burst. It appears to stop just before 1200 AEST.

The S-meter on both the Kenwood R1000 and ICOM R75 are pegged at S9+ for dipole antenna. So hoping that the magic of loop antenna would null out local RFI, I switched over to the Wellbrook ALA-1530 loop antenna and ..... BUGGER!!! its also pegged at S9+. Using the ICOM R75 I've tested each 500 khz between 2mhz and 60mhz and this RFI comes through them all.....

Here is a sample audio file of this RFI "0.5 mb : ~4min"

I'm not sure to what extent / distance this RFI is affecting and hope to take a drive round the area with the Sony Protable to see if I can hone in on the source.

If anyone has encountered or encountering a similar RFI pattern and could shed some possible light / answers I'd be most appreciated.

Cheers
Mark

05-Oct-2010 - Update 1

I've been monitoring the RF interefence from when I wake up til I hit the sack sometimes near midnight and besides the period ~08:55 AEST til ~11:00 AEST they was no other sign of the RFI.   Well that was until early this morning when I coun't sleep and got up just before 01:00 AEST to do some WSPR work and band scanning.  Just after 01:00 (else I hadn't noticed it while setting up) the RFI appeared to start, yep!!!!! and went on for an hour and I gave up and got back into bed......  Got up just after 0600 and the RFI was not there, until the normal time 08:55.. Ahhhhh!!!!!! 


I need to sort this out !!!


06-Oct-2010 - Update 2

Morning Guys,

I've just been for a walk round the neighbourhood and as soon as I was a few houses away from home I noticed the RFI was not audible. so I walked a circle and up an down the streets clockwise and wouldn't you know, the bloody last powerline power two doors down appears to be the source.  I used my portable with the antenna in its down and locked position and standing under this pole and the RFI blasted your ears off. if only I had walked anticlock wise doh!!!! :)

Walked to the poles either side of it and the rfi is there slightly  and onto poles further either side and nothing.

The pole feeds power to 4 homes and a street lamp.  I've got the pole number so now going to get in touch with the power company "Energex" and somehow provide them problem / fault report.

Fingers crossed

Many thanks
Mark

Louisiade Yacht Rally 2010

While testing out my new homebrewed 2 Turn and Single Turn 1.6m Diameter Magnetic Loop Antennas, I was monitoring 4483 khz on Saturday 11th September 2010 evening and it appears a maritime net was being run and a series of yachts where giving their positions just north east of Cairns. Catching the end of the 18:30 sked, I waited to the morning sked at ~ 0730 (I think) but again was not able to hear which yacht net was being run, although it was fun listening the previous night to the the net controller onboard the yacht "Sanctuary". It was the net controller's birthday and he had a few best wishes given.

Anyhows last night Sunday, I did a little googling after hearing "something yacht rally" and quickly located the yacht names and website for the "Louisiade Yacht Rally 2010". The basic idea of the event is a bunch of yachta leave Cairns for the "Louisade Archipelago's" east of PNG. It provides yachtmen that have not had much blue water experience a safe and fun means to expose themselves, their crew and their yachts to the open ocean.

Tonight Monday 13th September 2010, listening into the the 18:30 sked, we heard moajority of yachts in the sked, and it appears that some will start arriving tomorrow morning somethime. They have had great sailing conditions with only a few incidents causing a couple of the yachts to retire and head back to cairns.

At the end of the day, I think this event is a fantastic one, as the event promotes a fun and safe culture for those looking to get exposed to / sample blue water.

Here is a mp3 audio sample of the tail end of sked "click here - 1.3 mb : 12 mins".

Cheers
Mark

Hamsphere v2.0.x

After touring and living in the UK and Europe for the past 7 months the wife and I are back in Brisbane, QLD Australia :)

Having a look around some Shortwave and online HF rig web sites and forum after a long period of non-radio time, I stumbled onto the website and tool called "Hamsphere". This tool allows you to operator a virtual HF transceiver over the internet.

Creating my Hamsphere call sign "43HS626" and downloading the application I firstly eased my way into to it and sandbagging on a few frequencies / conversation between other members and actual Ham operators. I was hooked, and it gave me a buzz.

Just a moment ago I made my first Hamsphere QSL with "RW6XT" operator "Victor" located southern part of Russia. After a brief exchange of Signal and weather report we parted. I was pumped / hyped. Having just talked with a bloke in Russia, in albeit simulated HF radio conditions over the internet was bloody fantastic.

Cheers All, Hope to post more HF and shortwave scan / blogs as I get my antenna up and settled back in Oz.

Got a Hankering for CW

Woke of this morning early as the sun was rising and all was quiet. Made my first coffee fired up the radio and start tuning the band. I started with the maritime band and located a CW station on 6390 khz and from there I've dedicate the morning to hunt CW stations and try to get their ID. Previous night I had rolled out a good length of thin stranded wire for an antenna for the Sony ICF-SW7600GR as all my other radio gear and antenna have been packed away ready for us selling up the QTH here in Canberra and moving over to Manchester UK for a while. So it been a good morning so far, lets se how the rest of it goes.

20091107:
          
Time  Khz  RST   Message / Info 

1945 6390  359    AQR 2/4 VVV VVV  - Signal faded in and out 50% copy

2002 6378  479    DE 4XZ VVV - ID itself regularly and variety of other short message followed.  
                              Looking on the web it appears that this is (Israeli Morse Station 4XZ)

2022 7015  259    IK2SND IK2ND TEST - Fairly hard to focus with this operator, and signal fade 
                  did not help.

Trying to listen to CW on 7MHz and it was busy / piled up at times fairly hard for a novice CW listener. 
I'll spend a little more time here and get another coffee and see how I go.

20091108:

After getting bogged down in 7MHz, I had to stop as the washing was being done, and the washing machine kill the reception.   So back up and running let see what afternoon CW we get:

0326  14014 479  CQ TEST UA9MC

MW Band Scanning

G'day All,

Well its been a while since I've done any Shortwave / AM / MW scanning and documented it. I'm always listening with the sony out the back with a hot cuppa coffee and when camping, but I've been slack documenting my encounters. Today while sitting at home, I remembered I had my old SONY XR-5100 AM/FM/SW in car stereo sitting in the cupboard. and thought hey why don't I hook it up to a set of speakers and use it with the Slinky external antenna.

After finding power supply and testing it out to see how compatible or not the antenna impendance matching was going to be from the 50/75ohm slinky, I was quiet pleas with its performance. So waiting for dark to fall, I'm now sitting here with a large scotch, and started at my scanning.

Start down at 531 kHz, Here is my report :) Especially hearing Tasmania's 7BU 558 AM Burnie, it inspired me to document my nights encounters.

BTW I've used the following link [List of radio stations in Australia] for my source of Station ID, but I do try and confirm station ID were possible.

26th August 2009

time	Frequeny (kHz)	Station	SINPO	Description
1102z	549	????	44444
1108z	558	7BU	43344
1144z	576	Radio National - ABC (formerly known as 2FC)	55555	Talking about Monkey brains and 3D.
1147z	594	ABC Western Victoria - ABC	55535	Music - Tambourine Man Covered version by "The Birds". Host starts talking about "Redundancy".
1152z	603	ABC ??	33333	Male talking about storm / wild weather, like an old broadcast or story. - Night Share
1156z	612	4QR - ABC Brisbane	44444	ABC - Talking about Redundancy
1158z	621	3AR - Radio National Network - Radio Electric	44444	Story of little girl in the boat.
1202z	639	Radio 639 and ABC North/West SA	44444	Mostly ABC, but Coffs Habour Radio 639 came in strong for a minute, but ABC won.
1205z	648	ABC New England - Tamworth	55545	ABC news / weather
1207z	666	ABC Canberra	55555	Segemnt on "Global Zero" (Sunday Profile) -
1207z	684	ABC and ???	43444	Segemnt on "Global Zero" (Sunday Profile). Could hear asian singing in background.
1211z	693	3AW - Fairfax Media, 4KQ (possible)	43444	Guys (like commentators) yapping - trivia. Music / singing fading in little.
1215z	702	ABC - Sydney (formerly known as 2BL)	54555	Segemnt on "Global Zero" (Sunday Profile). Fading a little, but came back strong
1217z	729	ABC - Adelaide	54555	Bloke taking about recording sounds.
1220z	738	ABC - Mid North Coast	54555	Segemnt on "Global Zero" (Sunday Profile). Fading a little, but came back strong
1222z	756	ABC - National ?	54555	Talking about some guy and his photography
1223z	765	ABC - National ?	54534	Music, fades a little, but nothing replaces it.
1226z	774	ABC - Mid North Coast	54544	Segemnt on "Global Zero" (Sunday Profile). Fading a little, but came back strong
1227z	792	ABC - National (Brisbane)	54555	Talking about some guy and his photography. bit og static dump.
1227z	810	ABC South East NSW - (Bega / Cooma)	54445	African American in the Space Program - (Speaking Out). There was some fade and music coming in. Static Dumps
1235z	828	ABC Gippsland - (Sale)	54555	African American in the Space Program - (Speaking Out). Static Dumps
1238z	836	ABC - National (Canberra)	55555	Still talking about sound/photography and the concious.
1240z	873	2GB - Macquarie Radio Network	55544	Music, a bit of fading
1243z	883	3YB - Part Of The Ace Radio Network 4BH - Fairfax Media (Easy Listening)	53333	Fading in both Stations, but could hear 4BH music and 3YB classical singing or similar. 4BH has just come in strong and clear.
1243z	891	ABC Adelaide - ABC	55555	Some static dumps
1250z	900	7AD - Grant Broadcasters (id)	54434	7AD ID and Music clear. When fades you can hear some form of electrical humm and other station (???)
1254z	918	2XL (Cooma) (ID)	54434	2XL identified, fading, Another station coming in
1256z	936	ABC Hobart - ABC ABC NewsRadio - (Brisbane)	54434	Both equal signal and doubling over each other
1256z	954	2UE (ID) - Fairfax Media - News / Talk	54555	Cherri - Tarrot Reading. Some fade, static dumps.
1303z	963	??	22222	Channel has too many stations at one time. Hard to pull one out
1303z	972	NewsRadio - (Adelaide)	53333	There is another station there during fadeout, but not sure if its 2DU (Dubbo NSW).
1308z	981	2NM (Muswellbrook)	53333	Music, fading a bit, news comin in.

Well I got just under half way through the band scan. I'm knackered andof to bed. But from the above you can see a stack of ABC News, National Capital City and Regional Stations. Some music stations. But Hey I could hear stations from south (Tassie) and to the north (Brisbane, QLD).

Night All

Mark

The Muppets Show

There is not much I need to say, if you grew up with the Muppets Show you know why I loved it. Starting witht the intro which always seemed to be different, but heres one I found and still piss myself with laughter The Muppets Show Intro

The muppets had many, many special guests, and covered many many songs. Here are some I found and its great to see them again:

1. 12 days of Christmas - Muppets & John Denver

2. Ghostriders in the sky - Johnny Cash & The Muppets Show

3. The Muppet Show - Sax and Violence

4. Wild Thing - Animal

5. The Muppets Sleep Tonight

6. Muppets - She Drives me crazy

7. Muppets - You Don't Want My Love

8. Muppets - To Morrow

9. Muppets Tonight - Dancin' With Myself

10. Muppets Tonight - Dancin' in the Dark

11. Paula Abdul on "Muppets Tonight" - Opposites Attract (Edited)

12. Sandra Bullock The Muppets

13. The Muppets - Never On Sunday

14. Muppets Tonight - Muppets Tonight's Greatest 'Hits'

15. Muppets Tonight - She Blinded Me With Science

16. The Muppet Show - Why Can't We Be Friends

17. John Denver - Muppets Christmas - The Peace Of Christmas Day

18. John Denver - Muppets Christmas - Silent Night

19. The Muppet Show - El Condor Pasa

20. The Muppet Show - Scarborough Fair

21. The Muppet Show - Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover

22. Staying Alive - The muppets show

23. The Muppet Show - The Devil Went Down to Georgia

24. The Muppet Show - You're No Good

25. The Muppet Show - Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

26. The Muppet Show - Julie Andrews

27. Elton John's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" on The Muppet Show

28. Kokomo - The Muppets

29. Leo Sayer & The muppets - When i need you

30. Leo Sayer & the muppets - The Show Must Go On

31. The Muppets with Kylie Minogue - Especially for You

32. Copa Cabana- by Liza Manelli (Muppet Show Segment)

33. John Cleese on The Muppet Show

34. Shirley Bassey Muppet Show

35. The Muppet Show - Bob Hope.

36. Joan Baez at the Muppet Show
- Part 1 Intro
- Part 2 - Honest Lullaby
- Part 3 - Joan is imitating Marlon Brando as the Godfather
- Part 4 - The night they drove old Dixie Down
- Part 5 - Will the circle be unbroken

37. Muppet Show: Act Naturally

38. Muppet show - Down Memory Lane

39. Muppet Show. Gonzo the Great - My Way (ep 4.11)

40. Kenny Rogers' The http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifGambler on the Muppet Show

41. Johnny Cash @ the Muppets singing with Miss Piggy

42. Alice Cooper & The Muppets - Schools Out

43. Muppets - Don Knotts - What a wonderful world.

44. Muppets sing Jim Croce's "Working at the Carwash Blues"

45. Muppets - Great Moments in Elvis History

46. The Muppet Show - Chanson D'Amour

47. John Denver's "Grandma's Feather Bed" on the Muppet Show

48. The Muppet Show - Surfin' USA

49. The Muppet Show - The Happy Wanderer

50. The Muppet Show - You'll Never Walk Alone

51. The Muppet Show - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

52. The Muppet Show - In the Navy

53. The Muppet Show - Hound Dog

54. The Muppet Show - Big Spender

55. The Muppet Show - Run Rabbit Run

56. Muppet Show - Floyd Pepper - "Wicked Game"

57. The Muppet Show - The Gnu

58. The Muppet Show - Poison Ivy

59. The Muppet Show - Roger Moore - Talk to the Animals

More Cold / winter Videos

1. Hard Ice Hill

2. John Deere 6530 snow ploughing / snow plowing

3. Train Snow plowing Mp.435.5

4. NB Southern Railway - Plow Extra Jan 2/08

5. Serious snow removal (Rotary)

6. Railroad Jet Powered Snow Remover

7. Truck crashes through barrier on ice/snow

8. Car Snow Ice - (Very Funny)

Cold weather Videos

Going over some of my video links to the left of ships in rough weather, Multiple Train Engines ploughing their way though snow banks that are huge. Well I had to log some more related videos :)

1. Train vs. Snow in Western Iowa

2. Train Pushing Heavy Snow After Storm

3. Who needs rotary snow plows anyways?

4. Bad weather 21-2-2007

5. Crystal Harmony hit by a big wave

Regards
Mark

Johnny and Marching

G'day All,

As I sit here with a little Scotch with 96.7 QBNFM playing in the background just reading and watching information on engine rebuilding and alike, a song came over the airways and I was just taken by it in way I still can't describe :) Anyway the song was called "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" by Anita Carter. I've not been able to locate a youtube demonstrating of her rendition, however here are two renditions, a slow tempo ( Listen Here ) and fast tempo (Listen Here).

Not sure if it was the slow beat version Anita song, her voice especially for each of her "hurroo, hurroo"

While reading more about these lyrics and the many variations I came across the opposite version "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" - Listen Here. Again many covered version but such as this one - (Listen Here)

Thinks its time for another Scotch :)

Talk with yer all later

Mark

Pittwater to Coffs Habour 2009 Yacht Race

G'day All,

After a fairly terrible time with the 6516 khz frequency for the Syndey to Hobart race, I'm going to see how the we go covering the "28th Pittwater & Coffs Harbour Offshore Series 2009".

I'll be using the Icom R75 located in Canberra, and the Sony ICF-SW7600GR portable radio attached to an inverted V / random length antenna.

The race using Satphone, VHF and HF to provide Position and Safety reports. So ignoring the Sat and VHF side of things here are the following Sked times for HF obtains from the following Racing Instructions:


To make it easier / comfortable to listen to some of these recordings that may have been recording during poor HF conditions, play them with in a mp3 player that has a Graphic Equaliser functionality such as Windows Media Player and set all bar the voice frequencies to off, here is my setting for Windows Media Player:

20090102 2005 Position Report - (Listen Here)

20090103 0005 Safety Report - (Link Here)

20090103 0705 Position Report - (Listen Here - Audio from Sony located in Brisbane)
                                (listen Here - Audio from Icom R75 located in Canberra)

20090103 1405 Position Report - (Link Here)

20090103 2005 Position Report - (Link Here)

(The sked's listed for the 3rd January 2009 above are repeated until end of race).

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2008

That time of year again, I've been broadcasting the primary race frequency and making recordings of the Radio Skeds for Position and Safety, hope you all enjoy and we'll see how the race goes :)

Radios and QTH Background
The primary race frequency 6516khz has been clear as bell since I've been testing my new setup at the Canberra QTH preparing for remote controlling the radio from Brisbane via internet.

Beside the normal bastard of a Shortwave Station that starts broadcasting on 6518khz from 2155 AEST until 0805 AEST the next morning I was fairly happy with the results.

However things went to custard sometime from Xmas-eve and Boxing Day morning, when I logged on to monitor the audio on 6516khz, I was getting blasted with a S2-S4 electrical RFI. Since I'm in Brisbane, I was unable to diagnose or locate the possible source of RFI, except to come to the conclusion that one of the bloody neighbours must have got a new present / device for xmas and has plugged it in and now causes +/- 500khz from 6500 to have a very annoying RFI. All other frequencies I've scanned on the Icom R75 are clear of this RFI noise.

I put up with it for the first day as the fleet when broadcasting could be fairly easily be heard over the RFI. However the next morning when preparing for the 0735 AEST sked, HF propagation between the S2H fleet and the Canberra QTH fell through the floor (and has remained that way through out the race so far!) and had to resort to the Sony ICF-SW7600GR Portable and the Brisbane Special homemade inverted V antenna. This gave me enough signal to monitor the race when the Canberra QTH was crap, and visa-versa Canberra QTH was perfect for the 4483khz frequency.


S2H Radio Schedules

20081226 20:05 Position Report - (Listen Here)

20081226 21:15 Yacht Georgia sinking - Pan Pan / Mayday

   Part 1 - 2008-12-26  21:13 AEST (~47mins 10 Mb) - (Click Here)
            (NB at 21:55 AEST Shorwave Station starts broadcasting on 6518 kHz, it a pain in the ARSE!!!! 
            and the station does not stop broadcasting till 0805 AEST following morning.  
             Not much I can do about it, got the R75 Filters and DSP tuned / configured as best 
             as I could to filter the station out.)

   Part 2 - 2008-12-26  22:00 AEST (~60mins 12 Mb) - (Click Here)

   Part 3 - 2008-12-26  23:00 AEST (~15mins 3 Mb) - (Click Here)

20081227 00:05 Safety Report - (Listen Here)

20081227 07:35 Position Report - No recordings, nothing heard from QTH Canberra except for the annoying interfering Shortwave Station broadcasting on 6518khz since 2100 to 0900, I was however able to hear them on the Sony Portable with a small hookup wire from hear in Brisbane, but was not able to setup any recording via the laptop in time. I'm, going to set up the Brisbane Special inverted V antenna and hook it up to Sony as a backup and get this recording issue sorted.

20081227 12:05 Weather Report - (Nothing of interest and HF was still fairly poor)

20081227 17:35 Position Report - Canberra QTH was a wash out after two afternoon storm came through the region / area (God I hope the house is ok, heard on the news this morning there was flash flooding)

20081228 00:05 Safety Report - Good signal, nothing of interest a few of the yachts that did not report position earlier came in nice and strong.

20081228 07:35 Position Report

   - Audio from Sony SW76000GR - Located at Brisbane - (Click Here)

   - Audio from Icom R75 - Located at Canberra - (Click Here)  

Regards
Mark

Christmas Songs

Having put up the Chrissy lights the other day, I've noticed that while listening to the local radio stations, the lack of feel good Christmas songs especially the traditional one I use to remember when I a fair bit younger :) So with a quick google, I found a website "Christmas Songs" list of Christmas songs, and thought I'd go through them as link them as usual to a video clip from YouTube:

1. A Baby Just Like You - John Denver


2. All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth - Spike Jones


3. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley


4. Christmas Dinner


5. Christmas For Cowboys - John Denver


6. Christmas In Killarney


7. Deck the Halls


8. First Christmas - Stan Rogers


9. Frosty the Snow Man - Nat King Cole


10. Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer - The Irish Rovers, Dr. Elmo


11. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Frank Sinatra


12. Here Comes Santa Claus


13. Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives


14. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Jessica Simpson


15. It's the most wonderful time of the year - Andy Williams


16. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Frank Sinatra


17. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms


18. Jingle Bells - Bing Crosby & Frank Sinatra


19. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas - The Ray Conniff Singers


20. Let It Snow - Dean Martin


21. Mary, Did You Know? - Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd


22. Merry Christmas Darling - The Carpenters


23. Must Be Santa - Mitch Miller & The Gang


24. Nuttin' For Christmas


25. O Christmas Tree (Has many Versions - Very funny)


26. Pine Cones And Holly Berries


27. Rocking around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee


28. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry


29. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bruce Springsteen


30. Silver Bells - Dean Martin , Johnny Mathis


31. Sleep Well, Little Children - Kristin Chenoweth


32. Sleigh Ride - Andy Williams, The Ronettes


33. Tennessee Christmas - Amy Grant


34. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole


35. The Little Drummer Boy - BING CROSBY & DAVID BOWIE


36. The Night Before Christmas


37. The Twelve Days of Christmas - John Denver - Muppets Christmas


38. Up On the Housetop - Gene Autry


39. We Wish You A Merry Christmas


40. White Christmas - Bing Crosby


41. Winter Wonderland - Bing Crosby

Misc:

O Come All Ye Faithful - Nat King Cole

Silver Bells


Wow !!! Thats enough for tonight :) Hope you enjoy the version / cover of each popular Christmas Songs listed above......

Merry Christmas Everyone !!

Mark

Frequencies 6th-December-2008

Using Icom R75 - Slinky Dipole, QTH: Canberra

khz    UTC    SINPO   Country      Station  
13362  0855   45544   USA          AFRTS
5765   0904   45544   USA          AFRTS
7811   0905   45544   USA          AFRTS
2310   0908   25222   AUS          ABC
2325   0909   25223   AUS          ABC
8743   0912   25443   ??           USB - Melody intro, clean frequency, but faint very faint voices talking.
4750   0917   23222   BGD          Bangladesh Betar
6195   0922   22232   G            BBC - (Thailand)
9740   0927   55545   G            BBC - (Singapore)
6020   0930   55555   AUS          R. Australia
6070   0932   34333   CHL          Voz Cristiana
3330   0941   15331   CAN          CHU
7335   0941   43333   CAN          CHU
15555  0945   33333   AUS          CVC International
13630  0948   15331   AUS          CVC International
17820  0949   35544   AUS          CVC International
17635  0951   22222   AUS          CVC International   
17710  0952   55545   D            Deutsche Welle
21840  0954   25522   D            Deutsche Welle
17520  0956   55545   D            Deutsche Welle (Sign off 0958)
17510  0959   55555   IND          All India Radio
5955   1005   43434   CHN          China Radio Int.


9735   2000   55545   D            Deutsche Welle (Tgt East Africa)
6075   2055   55545   RUS          GTRK Kamchatka (Sign off at 2059)
11845  2127   55545   CAN          Radio Canada Int. French (Tgt North Africa) Station ID 2130
17675  2132   45433   NZL          Radio New Zealand Int.
7405   2143   22233   USA          Voice of America. English (Loc KWT) (Tgt AFG) - Co Channeled against Arabic Singing / music / chanting

Sony ICF7600GR Joins the Family

After returning the recently purchased DEGEN 1103 which was faulty with MAJOR overloading and MW coming through all of the HF band. I thought I better hedge my bets for XMAS and finally bit the bullet and bought the slightly (ok alot) more expensive Sony ICF76000GR Portable Shortwave from a USA Ebay Store. It arrived within 6 business day via UPS International Express Post safe and sound and what can I initially say.

Its different :) After getting use to the ergonomic layout of the DEGEN it took a couple of days for me to remember to press "DIRECT" button first then the frequency then ENTER. Unlike the DEGEN the keypad and a few other main buttons aren't light up and so it a little more awkward in the middle of the night to operate with no light. I do miss the jog dial that the DEGEN 1103 has, were as the Sony ICF7600GR using up/down buttons at +/-5hz or +/-1hz. But I knew of this before purchasing the radio and will put up with these little features :)

Apart from that, my initial feel for the SONY is yeah that little buggers does work pretty darn well. The SSB is definitely cleaner and the AM-SYNC well it seems to work. But I've only had a few short band scans with my new toy.

In regards to the DEGEN 1103 replacement, well it arrived the day after I got the Sony, and I quickly opened her up and ran through my test frequency and what a relief. I got a GOOD one, no sign of overloading on the HF and all the test frequencies worked fine.

When I get a bit of time, I'll do a little side by side comparison test, but my feel is I'll probably put the DEGEN 1103 in storage as a spare radio and utilise the Sony ICF7600GR as my primary portable since I've already had a good 18mth usage and fun from my previous DEGEN 1103.

Any ways better get back to the Maria Island 2008 race and other Maritime monitoring.

Regards
Mark

Maria Island Yacht Race 2008

Thought I would see if I could hear the Maria Island Yacht Race This year (http://tashost.com.au/maria_island/index.php). And after finding out that the race primary HF frequency was 2524 khz for all HF traffic, I wasn't confident of getting good reception.

Well after now hearing and recording the 2235 and 0535 sked's, its been tough. I definitely would prefer a primary HF frequency a little higher but hey still a worth the hunt, especially using the ICOM R75 DSP to block / filter the lightening Static Dump and RFI interference from near by sources.

The biggest disappointment was that I was able to hear Hobart Race Control/Check on about 75% copy Readability 3/5. However none of the yacht used HF to relay their position, instead utilised VHF ch81.

Here are the Skeds:

20081121 2235 - (Listen Here)

20081122 0535 - (Listen Here)

20081122 1135 - Nothing Heard (didn't expect to hear 2MHz during the day form hear)

20081122 1635 - Local severe QRM blanket whole HF spectrum S9+

20081122 2235 - A lot of yachts already crossed the line and a few retired, so a couple of position reports. Listen Here.

20081122 0535 - Final sked - Gives weather forecase and attempts to call 3 yachts. 2 do not respond. Listen Here.



Regards
Mark

Frequencies 26-October-2008

Using Icom R75 - Slinky Dipole, QTH: Canberra

khz    UTC    SINPO   Country      Station  
13725  0258   35544   IRN          IRIB Teheran - Sirjan - STID and Sign off 0301
13740  0303   25333   IRN          IRIB Teheran - Ahvaz
13780  0320   35333   CHN          China Radio Int - Kumming
15195  0325   25333   J            NHK Radio Japan - Female Singing and interview, then more singing.
15210  0329   45444   CHN          China Radio Int.
15325  0330   25433   J            NHK Radio Japan - Same broadcast as 15195
15350  0332   25333   CHN          China Radio Int.
15490  0334   25333   ???          Asian Instruments
15720  0336   25222   NZL          Radio New Zealand Int.
17615  0338   53455   ??           Can just hear R Free Asia in background under the jamming Asian Instruments.            
17625  0340   35333   CHN          CNR 2 China Business R.
17650  0341   15221   ??           Male presenter, European language  
17710  0342   33333   CHN          China Radio Int.
17715  0343   24332   IND          All India Radio - Some QRM from 17710
17735  0345   35334   CHN          Jamming Asian Instruments - can hear something in background.
17810  0346   25333   J            NHK Radio Japan
9535   0350   35544   E            Radio Exterior Espana - via Noblejas Spain
9600   0352   25222   CUB          Radio Habana Cuba
9690   0359   35543   CHN          China Radio Int. - via Noblejas Spain - Signed off
9690   0400   15331   ROU          Radio Romania Int. - English - Female voice heard

12290  0404   15332   Maritime Distress - faint traffic heard.

DEGEN 1103 - Died after many hours of use

G'day,

Just a short blurp to say that my DEGEN 1103 broke a few weeks back, which means I've now had it 18mths back. I actually bought two at the time, one for me and one for my brother, and his appears to be still going strong.

My ltitle radio broke in the strangest way, in that while on shortwave, any frequency I was that was ODD number, would be muted, while any frequency I was on that was EVEN was still fine. I opened it up to see if there was any obvious lose connection, but nothing obvious was found.

So Straight onto EBAY and ordered another one. Well it arrived few days back, and guess what ?? It sucked big time. I can only conclude that it faulty in that all through the shortwave band my local AM stations are ghosting very loudly and strongly, and that is just using the internal whip. When I plug in the external long wire antenna the overloading is even worse.

So I've contacted the ebay seller and without any hassles has indicated that he'll replace it with another one and swears that the radio was new from DEGEN. So come Monday I've parcel it up and ship it back.

Fingers crossed that the next one will be ok.

Cheers
Mark

Frequencies 6-October-2008

Using Kenwood R1000 - Slinky Dipole, QTH: Canberra

khz    UTC    SINPO   Country      Station  
9250   2015   25522   EGY          Radio Wadi el-Nil
9280   2035   33333   ???          Arabic Chanting / Praying

Bugger the Topfield PVR5000t (Digital HDD recorder) has become a major source of spectrum noise. The power supply must be having issues. Need to see what I can do. For now if its plugged in and turned on you have a hum at about a beat a second. Turning it to stand by reduces the hum beat / cycle but still have a high noise level / floor. Unplugging it stopped the broad source of wide sprectrum noise. The wife ain't going to be happy with that one. Well while she is still having a sleep in, lets continue with the band scan :)

khz    UTC    SINPO   Country      Station  
9370   2103   25422   USA          WTJC Newport, NC - English male singing
9385   2110   35443   USA          Radio Free Asia - Koren (via Northern Marianas)
9410   2114   25432   G            BBC, (via Skelton Cumbria) Playing Classical Music
9420   2118   24433   GRC          Voice of Greece
9450   2121   14321   USA          Eternal Word Television Network, Inc. - Periodic singing /
                                   music would come through.
9500   2127   23332   AUS          Radio Australia - Co Channel with CRI with fading CRI 
                                   periodically comes through louder than R.Australia
9510   2133   35433   CHN          CNR 2 China Business R.
9545   2135   35534   D            Deutsche Welle (German)

Sad Songs !

Just having the radio on in the background and I heard the song "Ebony Eyes" by the Everly Borthers which got me thinking about Sad Sad Songs, lets see what we can dig up on the youtube archives:

1. EVERLY BROTHERS (EBONY EYES)
2. Everly Brothers - Lightning Express
3. Shangri Las - Leader of the Pack
4. Ray Peterson - Tell Laura I love her
5. Shangri Las - I Can Never Go Home Any More (1965)
6. Jody Reynolds - Endless Sleep
7. James Taylor - Fire And Rain
8. Wayne Cochran - Last Kiss
   
9. Pearl Jam - Last Kiss
10. Jimmy Cross - I Want My Baby Back
11. Mark Dinning - Teen Angel - original song-1960
12. Don McLean - The Grave
13. Don McLean - American Pie
14. Don McLean - Don McLean - Vincent 1972 Live
15. Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again (original version)
16. David Bowie- Space Oddity Original Video (1969)
17. Bee Gees - Message To You (1973) Live!
18. Neil Diamond - Shilo
19. Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
20. Martina McBride - Concrete Angel
21. Jeff Buckley's - Hallelujah
22. Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah
23. Johnny Cash - Hurt
24. Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven
25. John Lennon - Imagine
26. Justin Hayward - Forever Autumn
27. In The Arms of The Angel (City of Angel music video)
28. Mike + The Mechanics - The Living Years
29. Seven Spanish Angels

Jimmy Dean - Big Bad John

Normally when I think Jimmy Dean - "Big Bad John" is the first song of his that pops to mind immediately. That said this morning on the way into work I heard another one of his that I did not know he had done, and what drew my attention this this particular song was the mention of a JFK and a PT boat and the last last set of words of the song referring to " Anyopne named John is ok."

Well the song I'd heard was called "PT-109", have a listen its great :)

As I normally do, I love the feature of YouTube called "related Videoes", lets see what other Songs / Videos that YouTube takes me to:

1. SINK THE BISMARCK ~ sung by Johnny Horton
2. North To Alaska ~ Johnny Horton
3. Jim Bridger ~ Johnny Horton
4. Jimmy Dean - To A Sleeping Beauty
5. Johnny Horton ~ Honky Tonk Man

Totally going off track a little :)

1. The Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron
2. The Royal Guardsmen - Return of the Red Baron
3. The Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy's Christmas

Oh Another song that I heard this morning, and heard before and love it is "Lili Marleen" (Lale Andersen, English Version).

Alison Krauss - What a voice !!!

One of my favourite all time movie is "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". This movie has a bucket load of great songs through out it, but a couple of these songs was done by a female voice that was enchanting and I've been meaning to look it up and thats what I've finally done - Her name is Alison Krauss and as I troll through youtube I see a stack load of her works and they are great: Here are some I've listened too and loved:

Alison Krauss - Down In The River To Pray
Alison Krauss-Gillian Welch - I'll Fly Away
Alison Krauss - When You Say Nothing At All
Alison Krauss-The Lucky One
The Chieftains & Alison Krauss - Molly Ban
Alison Krauss - The Boxer

What kinda mood am I in tonight ?

Thought I'd kick back a listen to a couple of songs I've got linked on my site, and then got in the mood to find more:


1. Firstly how about a wee Rally/War Cry - Scottish national Anthem - (Footy Style)
2. Celtic Woman - Siuil a run
3. The Corries - Scotland The Brave (humorous)
4. The Corries - The Skye boat song.
5. The Corries - The Wild Mountain Thyme
6. Simon & Garfunkel - Homeward Bound
7. Simon & Garfunkel - Cecilia
8. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (rare)
9. Irish Celtic - The Hills of Ireland
10. Slainte - Wild celtic fiddle piece
11. Slainte - Wild celtic bagpipe piece
12. Johnny Bagpipes
13. THE SOGGY BOTTOM BOYS - Man Of Constant Sorrow
14. The Real Soggy Bottom Boys, Union Station & Alison Krauss
15. Alison Krauss - Down To The River To Pray (Live)
16. Basil Poledouris - Hymn To Red October
17. The Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen
18. I belong to Glasgow
19. RFC - Glasgow Rangers
20. Quincy Jones - Self Preservation Society
21 .

Frequencies 20-April-2008

khz    UTC    SINPO   Country      Station
5850   2137   45433   CAN          Radio Canada Int. (French)
5885   2145   33333   CVA          Radio Vaticana (Instrumental Music) ??
5915   2147   44444   ??           Under HFRadio.org it list USA - "New Organisation", Languange unknown. Hmmm.
5975   2155   34433   RUS          VOR
6065   2157   34444   SWEDEN       Radio Sweden Intl - Had to use LSB AM had annoying adj. interference.
                                  Faintly hear possibly China Fading In.

90's Memories / Flashbacks - Part 2

Well Its Friday night, nothing on the normal TV worth watching so back into the swing of things here and lets continue on with the 90's :)

1992 - (1992 Top 100 List)

1. Sir Mixalot - Baby got Back ( I like big butts )
2. Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last
3. Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
5. Shanice - I Love Your Smile
6. Mr Big - To Be With You
7. Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy
8. Michael Jackson - Black Or White
9. Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
10. Guns N' Roses - November Rain
11. Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
12. CeCe Peniston - Finally
13. Patty Smyth - Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough
14. George Michael Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
15. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
16. Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
17. Technotronic - Move this
18. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
19. Shakespears Sister # 1 Stay
20. MC Hammer - 2 Legit 2 Quit
27. KWS - Please Don't Go
28. Michael Bolton - When A Man Loves A Woman
29. Genesis - I Can't Dance
30. Richard Marx - Hazard
31. U2 - Mysterious Ways
32. The Heights - How Do You Talk To An Angel
33. U2 - One
34. Genesis - Hold On My Heart
35. Arrested Development - People Everyday
36. Genesis - No son of Mine
37. Bryan Adams - Do I Have To Say The Words
38. The Cure - Friday I'm in love
39. Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You
40. Bryan Adams - Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven
41. Snap - rhythm is a dancer
42. Richard Marx - "Take this Heart"
43. Charles and Eddie "Would I Lie To You"
44. Amy Grant - That's What Love Is For
45. Mr. Big - Just Take My Heart


1993 - (1993 Top 100 List)

1. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
2. Tag Team - Whoomp! (There It Is)
3. UB40 - Can't Help Falling In Love
4. Mariah Carey - Dream Lover
5. Snow - Informer
6. Soul Asylum - Runaway Train
7. Billy Joel - The River Of Dreams
8. The Proclaimers - I Gonna Be (500 miles)
9. Spin Doctors - Two Princes
10. Arrested Development - Mr Wendal
11. Rod Stewart - Have I Told You Lately
12. Duran Duran - Ordinary World directors cut
13. Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
14. Duran Duran - Come Undone
15. Ace Of Base - All That She Wants
16. 4 Non Blondes - What's Up
17. Bon Jovi -Bed of Roses
18. Aerosmith - Crying
19. Ugly Kid Joe - Cats In The Cradle
20. Cypress Hill - Insane In The Brain
21. Madonna - Rain
22. Inner Circle-bad boys
23. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Boom Shake The Room
24. Inner Circle - Sweat (A La La La La Long)
25. Captain Hollywood Project - More and more
26. Haddaway - What is Love
27. Sting - Fields Of Gold
28. Green Jelly - three little pigs
29. Aerosmith - Living On The Edge
30. Sting - If I Ever Lose My Faith In You

90's Memories / Flashbacks

Well it official I just can't help myself..... After going over the top 100 songs of the last few years of the 80's I have to see how my tastes where in the 90's :)

Looking at the stats I liked 30 odd % of the listed Top 100 songs for 87, 88 and 89 hmmmmm very interesting. Stay Tuned as this is going to take me ages to do, but I got to do it, as it should highlight that Music of today is total SHIT!! so I'm hoping to see a major drop of in songs I like towards the end of the 90's especially.

1990 (High School, Year 8 - 1990 Top 100 List)

1. Wilson Phillips - Hold On
2. Roxette - It Must Have Been Love
3. Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares
4. Madonna - Vogue
5. Phil Collins - Another day in paradise
6. Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze Of Glory
7. Michael Bolton- How Am I Supposed To Live Without You
8. Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam
9. Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract
10. Heart - All I want to do is make love to you
11. Alannah Myles - Black Velvet
12. Linda Ronstadt - Don't Know Much
13. Snap - Power
14. Roxette - Dangerous
15. Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire
16. Rod Stewart - Downtown Train
17. B-52´s - Roam
18. Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
19. Michael Bolton - How Can We Be Lovers
20. M.C. Hammer - U Can't Touch This
21. Phil Collins - i wish it would rain down
22. Phil Collins - Something Happened on the Way to Heaven
23. Aerosmith - Janie's Got A Gun
24. Taylor Dayne - I'll Be Your Shelter
25. Tom Petty - Free Fallin'
26. Go West - The King of Wishful Thinking (1990)
27. Technotronic - Get Up! (Before The Night Is Over)
28. Gloria Estefan - Here We Are
29. Faith No More - Epic
30. Jive Bunny and The Mastermixers - Swing The Mood



1991 - (1991 Top 100 List)
1. Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
2. C C Music Factory ☆ Everybody Dance Now
3. EMF - unbelievable
4. Extreme - More Than Words
5. Amy Grant - Baby Baby
6. Bette Midler - From A Distance
7. Jesus Jones - Right Here, Right Now
8. Roxette - Joyride
9. Amy Grant - Every Heartbeat
10. London beat - I've Been Thinking About You
11. R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
12. Scorpions - Wind of Change
13. Roxette - Fading like A Flower
14. Extreme - Hole HEarted
15. Michael Bolton - Love Is A Wonderful Thing
16. Rod Stewart - Rhythm Of My Heart
17. Divinyls - I Touch Myself
18. Bryan Adams - Can't Stop This Thing We Started
19. The KLF - 3AM Eternal
20. Enigma - Sadness Part 1
21. Prince - Cream
22. UB40 - Here I Am (Come & Take Me)
23. Seal - Crazy
24. Chris Issak - Wicked Game
25. INXS - Disappear
26. Dee Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
27. George Michael - Freedom '90
28. Rod Stewart - The Motown Song
29. R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People