Recording of Emisora Pio XII, Bolivia
A poor signal from Emisora Pio XII made all the worse due to the splatter from the Overcomer Ministry 2.4 kHz lower in frequency. Impressive nevertheless given that it’s over 14,000 km from me here in eastern Australia.
Received on 5292.45 kHz at 1043 UTC on August 10, 2014. (8.43pm local time with me).
Play:
Or download mp3 here.
Recording of Alcaravan Radio
Not a bad signal from Alcaravan Radio, Puerto Lleros, Colombia, some 14,500 km from me in eastern Australia. All the more impressive given that they’re only running 1 kW to an omnidirectional antenna.
Received on 5910 kHz at 1001 UTC on August 10, 2014 (8pm local time for me).
Play:
Or download mp3 here.
Recording of Radio Havana Cuba
This recording of Radio Havana Cuba on 6000 kHz was made at 0654 UTC on August 9, 2014. This was about 40 minutes before sunset here in eastern Australia (North NSW).
The signal was quite weak, S4 to S6 in strength. I recorded in LSB to minimise noise.
This 14,400 km path on the 49m BC band would have improved with darkness falling at my location – though RHC ceases transmission on this band before then.
RHC has given good signals in previous weeks in the 16m BC band at around 1130 UTC but conditions have not been favourable there in the past week.
[Please ignore the extra 3 minutes after the end of transmission – I think I was listening to the mis-switched Spanish language transmissions on one of the other three 49m band frequencies until it was cut].
Recording of All India Radio (DRM)
A recording of All India Radio’s General Overseas Service made on July 25, 2014. This digital transmission (DRM) was made from Bangalore on 17895 kHz and received in east Australia (over 9000 km distant).
While the quality of music played on this digital transmission is good (given the low bandwidth used – 10 kHz), All India Radio (AIR) seem’s to have poor quality audio emanating from its announcer’s studio.
For further information on DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Radio_Mondiale
AIR uses DRM Mode C.
This recording was made at 1049 UTC on July 25, 2014 (8.49pm my local time).
Recording of Radio Exterior de España
A recording of a music programme from Radio Exterior de España, with announcements in Spanish, made on July 20, 2014.
This digital transmission (DRM stereo) was made from Spain on 9780 kHz and received in east Australia.
Reception was at 0637 UTC on July 20, 2014 (4.37pm my local time).
Monthly rainfall tallies
Monthly rainfall tallies (in millimetres) for the past 12 years, as measured 20 km (12.5 miles) east of Armidale, NSW.
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 50.0 | 80.0 | 78.7 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 21.9 | 10.3 | 58.2 | 26.7 | 25.0 | 83.2 | 75.6 | 517.4 |
| 2003 | 51.6 | 144.5 | 52.7 | 108.7 | 39.1 | 31.8 | 18.9 | 23.0 | 5.7 | 91.3 | 55.9 | 71.1 | 694.3 |
| 2004 | 192.1 | 77.8 | 65.2 | 22.4 | 5.4 | 20.4 | 43.3 | 49.6 | 45.9 | 111.2 | 69.0 | 133.8 | 835.0 |
| 2005 | 92.9 | 66.3 | 16.2 | 13.2 | 18.8 | 82.6 | 20.9 | 13.4 | 87.1 | 60.2 | 154.3 | 98.7 | 724.6 |
| 2006 | 109.5 | 115.2 | 110.2 | 22.5 | 3.6 | 45.8 | 46.4 | 30.8 | 44.8 | 29.8 | 133.6 | 43.8 | 735.0 |
| 2007 | 98.1 | 137.1 | 95.4 | 43.6 | 21.7 | 39.9 | 8.7 | 105.4 | 13.8 | 95.7 | 102.8 | 127.7 | 889.9 |
| 2008 | 133.6 | 203.0 | 3.8 | 68.9 | 10.9 | 60.4 | 25.8 | 35.0 | 54.5 | 57.1 | 119.4 | 61.2 | 833.6 |
| 2009 | 67.8 | 160.4 | 56.6 | 67.1 | 121.1 | 46.1 | 23.4 | 18.2 | 31.3 | 53.7 | 52.2 | 138.4 | 836.3 |
| 2010 | 134.7 | 63.4 | 86.0 | 53.9 | 47.3 | 38.0 | 68.2 | 48.8 | 59.1 | 59.0 | 128.6 | 67.1 | 854.1 |
| 2011 | 151.6 | 58.4 | 87.8 | 69.3 | 50.6 | 156.5 | 11.7 | 76.4 | 70.9 | 64.3 | 241.2 | 116.4 | 1155.1 |
| 2012 | 122.3 | 75.6 | 52.4 | 55.0 | 10.7 | 43.1 | 75.8 | 12.8 | 8.2 | 14.2 | 128.4 | 110.7 | 709.2 |
| 2013 | 229.5 | 158.9 | 65.3 | 9.1 | 21.8 | 66.6 | 20.1 | 12.5 | 24.6 | 27.2 | 121.6 | 34.9 | 792.1 |
| Avg | 119.5 | 111.7 | 64.2 | 44.8 | 29.6 | 54.4 | 31.1 | 40.3 | 39.4 | 57.4 | 115.9 | 90.0 | 798.2 |
The 135 year average for Armidale (in millimetres) is:
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg | 104.5 | 87.1 | 65.0 | 45.9 | 44.4 | 56.9 | 49.2 | 48.4 | 51.6 | 67.8 | 80.4 | 89.2 | 790.1 |
Hot and dry
It’s been a record breaking hot summer so far. Armidale reached a new maximum-ever temperature a couple of weeks ago with 37.1°C (99°F) though at the house we reached 39°C (102°F). Twelve months ago, last January, we had 229 mm of rain; so far this January we’ve have 4.5 mm. Perhaps another record in the making if we don’t get some more rain this month (The lowest January tally for Armidale is about 42 mm).
The photograph? A terrestrial orchid (Eriocholus cucullatus) which can be found growing not too far from the house in Autumn. All being well, we’ll see some of these orchids again in a month or so.
