Finally! Heard the Unid Tone on 1610 kHz!

Having been unable to get to a decent radio until just now, I have not been able to participate in the "feeding frenzy" of DX'ers reporting an unidentified station carrying a test tone on 1610 kHz. Hooray! I can now join the crowd! Using my new KA-1103, I most definitely heard the tone! According to my hack, the signal is emanating from an unknown location roughly ENE from my QTH in southeast Texas.

I did not hear it without difficulty, however. There were two annoying TIS stations that I had to slightly tune away from in order to hear the tone. Hear it, though, I did!!

It's amazing how many e-mails and weblogs this tone has generated. Could it be a signal from Mars (Mars Hill, NC?) or a secret transmission from "across the pond?" One can imagine hundreds of possibilities! I will be most disappointed if the DX community finds out it was just another station doing some unscheduled transmitter tweaking, not realizing that they have generated more DX logs in a few days than ever before in recent DX history!

Radio Austria International - 7325 kHz at 00:40 UTC

Had great copy of Radio Austria International's EG-language segment on 7325 kHz tonight from 6:40 PM until 6:57 PM CST (25 Nov 2006, 00:40-00:57 UTC). I was using my new KA-1103 with just its standard whip antenna. Great signals, too! I would rate them as SINPO 54434.

Starting at 6:40 PM CST, they broadcast their news segment, followed at 6:51 with "Report from Austria." Lots of musical segments (all of them the "Blue Danube Waltz").

At 6:57 PM CST they began their multi-language Interval Signal (German, English, French, and Spanish ID's) with the "Blue Danube Waltz" in the background.

At 6:57 PM CST, poof! Their carrier dropped - end of transmission!

Their website has an online reception report form, which I used. I had made an MP3 recording of the last few minutes of the broadcast, but it's around 3.5 MB in size - way too big to send via e-mail.

The 2007 PWBR lists their e-mail address as roi.service@orf.at

My New Radio - I Love It!!

I bought my Christmas present a little early this year - a new
Kaito KA-1103 LW/MW/SW/FM portable! I love it! I'm a horrible photographer, so please excuse the blurry images, but I just had to put them on my blog for all to see.

You've probably read all of the reviews that say the KA-1103 is an ergonomic nightmare, but I've found it to be a pretty handy and easy to use radio. The reviews are all well written by very respectable DX'ers, so don't send me nasty e-mails. The reviews are worth the time to read and print out, especially if you buy the radio. I keep my copies in a loose-leaf notebook for quick reference. Here are two of the reviews:


RadioIntel DE-1103 Review


Monitoring Times DE-1103 Review (PDF)

The volume control is unorthodox, but after about 15 minutes using the radio, it's no problem at all.

Here's a better picture - you can see the bottom row of buttons.



The number buttons are all in a row, instead of positioned like a telephone keypad. Those same reviews said this arrangement was bad. But, just as with the volume control, I've found them not to be a problem at all.

I splurged and bought a leatherette/vinyl protective case for the radio. The stock "case" was a velour-like drawstring pouch. I think the case adds extra protection to the radio.



I'd love to hear what others have to say about the KA-1103 or its cousin, the Degen DE-1103.

I'm hoping that over the Thanksgiving holiday, I'll be able to log some great DX with it and post it here!