View Full Version : Vatican Radio on 1530 kHz
Hi,
Vatican Radio is currently transmitting on 1530 kHz and can be received with a good and steady signal here in Munich.
A static text message stating "This is a DRM transmission test from Vatican Radio 1530 kHz" is being transmitted. During my logging period, the programme which was announced (in Italian) as "Vatican Radio music, at night with you", began with classical music from Schubert, Prokofiev and Mozart. Later they switched to pop with Sister Sledge.
As I am writing this, transmission has just ended at midnight UTC.
Roland
Rather good reception tonight. Transmission in DRM on 1530 kHz started a few seconds before DRM transmission on 1611 kHz ended, this proves that there are at least two DRM encoders at Vatican Radio. :)
Roland
Quite good again today.
In fact, this frequency gives me the best reception of all mediumwave stations that I can get in DRM.
Roland
Again a good signal.
Roland
FritzWue
30-09-2005, 06:01
Dropouts caused by interference during fading periods on the vertical antenna. Will try again with the loop antenna.
Not matching audio frequency range only up to about 7 kHz.
Excellent reception again.
@ FritzWue:
On-channel interference could be nulled very well on the loop. Classical music sometimes gives a wrong impression of the audio frequency range.
Roland
Again quite good with just a little fading.
@ FritzWue
Audio bandwidth was 13 kHz.
Roland
Rather good - as always - despite local interference from my neighbour's low-voltage lighting system.
Roland
FritzWue
02-10-2005, 08:06
A good signal for this distance, some problems with interference.
The modulator's audio bandwidth was about 12 kHz, but the source material for music is not good. Perhaps they use 30 years old tapes or the same audio settings as for a.m..
The audio coming from the voice studio was ok for 18.4kbps, but violins usually produce a higher content of high audio frequencies than speaking human voices.
Hi all,
only an unatteneded log, so no idea what caused the problems.
Simone
Hi,
not quite as good as yesterday.
There was a break in transmission at 23:14 UTC. Also, I often get very short dropouts at good SNR (with Dream's MSC indicator turning yellow), something I don't experience with other stations at much lower SNR. I suspect that this is a result of a streaming or resampling problem. Perhaps someone else can confirm this observation.
The musical combination of classical music and pop, eg Franz Schubert's Rosamunde immediately followed by Bruce Springsteen can be found nowhere else...
Roland
Here is a part of the waterfall plot showing the interruption at 23:14 UTC.
Roland
The large dropouts were caused by fading.
Roland
Hi,
there were a few fade-outs at the beginning.
Music by Bartock immediately followed by music from Metallica is really a strange combination.
As I said: Such can be found nowhere else!
Roland
Hi,
not bad but 1611 was better. The 1611 was not switched off as scheduled, SNR on 1611 > 30 dB. Next time I will try to log both frequencies in parallel.
Bernd, DF9RB
Quite good until the end of transmission (9 minutes later than usual).
Roland
Suddenly much better than before, but why?
Roland
Very good reception with only minor dropouts apart from a larger one which I believe to be TX related.
Roland
Just a short report. There was occasional interference from an on-channel station.
Roland
A few minutes ago, classical music on this Vatican Radio transmission was shortly overlaid by an announcement in arabic. Then the original Vatican Radio programme with classical music to which I had wanted to listen, disappeared completely and was replaced by this arabic programme. The arabic programme seems to be one from the voice of Russia!
Very strange! Has the satellite channel feeding the Vatican Radio TX been hijacked?
The station label still shows the static Vatican Radio text.
Attached is a short clip where a russian politician speaking in the background is translated into arabic by an announcer.
Roland
Such has never been heard before!
There was just a short recitation of the holy book of Islam, the Quran, on Vatican Radio!
I couldn't believe my ears!
From the arabic announcement, this is definitely the voice of Russia broadcasting in Arabic. But how comes that this reaches me via a transmitter of Vatican Radio which should really be broadcasting a different programme at the moment?
Should someone not believe it, I will record an IF file of a part of this transmission.
At 23:00 UTC, the programme language was switched to Portuguese.
BTW: Audio bandwidth on this strange transmission is only 6 kHz. According to a Voice of Russia webpage, the programmes are transmitted on the left channel on Intelsat 7 @ 05.18° W, 11104.96 MHz in QPSK with 192 kbps, FEC 1/2, horizontal polarization.
Roland
Hi,
transmission ended at midnight UTC with the Voice of Russia's interval signal. :p
Report attached, there was a bit of local interference at the beginning.
Roland
Just a short report, the audio frequency range ended at 6 kHz, 1611 kHz sounded much better!
Roland
Last night, other programmes than usual were transmitted. A german, an english and an italian programme were broadcast, they were followed by almost 10 minutes silence, then the regular music programme could be heard. Reception was quite good.
With the exception of a short part on the german programme, there was no distortion but the audio level was significantly higher than it is on other stations. The distortion on the german programme was probably already on the programme material itself.
Roland
No more "Musica nella notte con voi" after midnight local time.
:mad:
Roland
FritzWue
17-10-2005, 06:18
Reception here with the wire antenna, less interference on 1611kHz.
FritzWue
18-10-2005, 06:02
Better result the following night with the shielded loop:
Since the music programme is now limited to after 21:30 UTC, I only switched on then.
Unfortunately, most of the music programme is now lost with the new schedule.
Roland
FritzWue
19-10-2005, 06:54
Not as good as the night before, but still a good result on the crowded mediumwave at nighttime over almost 1200km.
Only a short period with classical music left.
Roland
Quite good with a bit of fading.
Strangely, 1530 kHz shows much less fading here than does 1611 kHz.
Roland
Hi,
My first attempt on 1.530 MHz. Quite good overall but much lower SNR than 1.611 MHz.
Terje
My first log of this frequency. Strong co-channel interference, so no pleasure to listen to.
The WMER plot shows a strange maximum around the centre of the channel on this frequency, see screenshot. No idea why. Perhaps a TX-related phenomenon.
Roland
Quite bad reception with strange interference. There was no visible interfering carrier for most of the time but there was still interference. No idea about its origin.
Roland
Hi all,
bad results last night, low SNR, see attachment
Simone
FritzWue
23-10-2005, 09:11
Why is the SNR limited to 16dB in all latest reports?
Like Roland I also noticed this strange maximum at the center of the SNR spectrum.
Something is wrong.
Not a good result.
There was again the strangely shaped WMER vs. carrier index characteristic and a low overall SNR.
Roland
Hi,
SNR on this transmission is again low and the WMER characteristic looks strange, see attached screenshot.
No such observation can be made on 1611 kHz.
Roland
As a result of the low SNR, there is almost no headroom in case of fading or light interference. This causes quite a bad result.
Roland
Hi,
what a difference! Now, the SNR is again back to normal and the WMER characteristic does not show the strange maximum or rather the low value shoulders any more, see screenshot.
Now, only the music programme "Musica nella notte con voi" needs to come back at 22:10 UTC. :)
Roland
And again, with SNR back to normal, reception is as good as it used to be.
Roland
The later, the better.
BTW: Prior to the DRM transmission, there was, what sounded like a strange type of heterodyne on the AM signal. The frequency of this heterodyne changed with modulation. I checked with two different receivers and I could hear it on both. Quite like as if there was an audio oscillation somewhere in the modulation amplifier, the frequency of which changed with voltage or RF level.
Roland
Although being a bit off-topic, here is a short recording of the heterodyne tone that changed with modulation level on the AM transmission immediately prior to the change to DRM. Perhaps it is also related to the lower SNR at the beginning of the DRM transmission and to the problems with low SNR a few days ago.
Roland
There is still this strange heterodyne tone that changes pitch with Vatican Radio's AM modulation level. I can monitor it on three independant receivers, so it is definitely transmitted. Are there parasitic oscillations somewhere at the TX?
Roland
Quite good after local interference had gone.
Roland
FritzWue
27-10-2005, 06:25
Quite good considering the distance.
At times, there was strong on-channel interference.
Roland
Hi all,
many dropouts last night, see attachment
Simone
Strong signal with good reception.
Roland
A high local noise level at the beginning. Transmission ended after the italian programme had ended.
Roland
Transmission resumed a few minutes later for the night music programme.
Roland
Hi,
Stable reception last night.
Terje
Rather good reception last night.
Roland
Quite good. The receiver was not my regular ATS-803 but a cheap portable from China, which I modified yesterday. The loop-antenna was coupled inductively by placing it 30 cms away.
Roland
FritzWue
03-11-2005, 06:03
Not good here last night, too much interference:
Hi,
signal was weaker than usual last night which resulted in many dropouts.
I have no idea what caused the sudden jump in SNR that is visible in the log at 0:45 UTC.
Roland
Very good reception.
Roland
Hi all,
quite good in the first half hour, later again some problems, see attachment
Simone
FritzWue
07-11-2005, 07:23
Good TX SNR and relatively good results on the crowded mediumwave considering the distance.
Very good reception again. I forgot to switch on logging between the begin of transmission and the start of my log but results were similar during that period, I noticed only one very short dropout.
Roland
At the beginning, signal was weaker than usual but it gained strength over the course of my logging period.
Roland
Hi,
again, signal was a little weaker at the beginning and improved later.
Roland
Hi,
signal was not strong and on-channel stations were clearly audible on the AM signal prior to the DRM transmission.
There was local noise as well.
Roland
Hi,
when I switched on, my neighbour had his low voltage lighting system (with 'electronic transformer') on and the result was not good since the signal was also not strong. Later, the lights were obviously switched off and reception improved considerably as can be seen in the plot.
Roland
First time I could get at least some short bits of (high quality!) audio.
But I am apparently too far from the Tx, with an inadequate antenna and also an insensitive receiver.
@Roland: I think I will buy a Hula-Hoop next week - guess what for !?
73, Andreas
Originally posted by Andreas
@Roland: I think I will buy a Hula-Hoop next week - guess what for!?
For letting it rotate around your hips, what else! :D
BTW: You may find this (http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx/antenna/loop/hulaloop.html) interesting to read.
Roland
Quite good apart from a few dropouts at the end of my logging period.
Roland
FritzWue
15-11-2005, 06:52
...some more dropouts, but also quite good considering the distance:
A few dropouts as a result of fading.
Roland
Not bad but a bit of fading and an impulse response that was longer than usual.
Roland
Not bad with a fading period when another on-channel signal became visible.
Roland
Initially, reception was very bad, most likely due to local interference. After the interference had seized, reception became quite good.
Roland
A lot of fading and also a break in transmission after the italian programme had ended. Transmission continued beyond the "normal" times.
Roland
There's no DRM transmission at the usual time, just an old-fashioned AM transmission.
Roland
Very good reception.
Roland
The signal was much weaker than usual and faded a lot. After a while, conditions improved, but later became bad again. Reception problems were not a result of local interference, since there wasn't any.
Roland
The transmission ended earlier than usual for no apparent reason.
Roland
..perhaps they were tired.
However this Tx is 2 far 4 me!
(But seems 2 b stronger than 1611 kHz)
Good night
73, Andreas
Very good reception.
Roland
Quite good after a few days with technical problems.
Roland
There was a bit of fading at times.
Roland
Signal faded at times and then, there was strong on-channel interference from other stations. Some local interference at the beginning of my logging period.
Roland
Deep fading caused a few dropouts.
Roland
Deep fading in conjunction with some local interference caused quite a number of dropouts last night.
It looks as if local interference stopped at around 00:30 UTC.
Roland
Transmission ended unexpectedly. Later Vatican Radio transmitted in AM. Has the schedule changed or was it due to a programming error?
When I checked 1611 kHz later, there was a DRM transmission there, which was also different from the schedule that I am used to.
Roland
There is no DRM transmission on this frequency today, so far (23:20 UTC), only an AM signal can be received from Vatican Radio.
Again a programming error?
Roland
vaticanradio
28-12-2005, 13:59
Due to technical reasons our broadcast on 1530 kHz at 2310 - 0100 UTC will not be carried out till new message.
vaticanradio
05-01-2006, 14:34
1530 KHz comes back on air; any report is appreciated.
Hi,
today's DRM transmission began with a few interruptions (prior to the period logged in my report), then there was a difficult period which was followed by very good reception.
During the difficult period, I noticed some signal on frequencies below the DRM signal, I don't know whether the transmitter had not been properly tuned then or whether there was local interference which caused this.
After a while, reception became quite good.
Roland
Signal was weak at the beginning but became rather strong over time.
Roland
There were again these strange short DRM bursts (or should one term it interruptions of the DRM stream) prior to the regular transmission, see screenshots.
Roland
Perfect reception but transmission ended earlier than expected. Perhaps it was resumed at the half hour but I did switch off anyway.
Roland
Very good reception tonight.
Roland
So far (23:18 UTC), there is no DRM signal on this frequency today.
Roland
Local interference and a weak signal caused an unsatisfactory result.
Roland
Signal was weaker and more unsteady than usual, local interference level was also high.
Roland
Quite good tonight with one dropout.
Roland
Hi,
I tuned in, when transmission was still in AM (immediately before the DRM transmission) and I noticed an annoying audio tone that changed pitch with modulation level.
This is a recurrence of a problem which has already occured some time ago.
Roland
Hi,
rather good in DRM but obviously there were TX problems in AM before (see post above).
Roland
Not bad and no more problems on the AM signal.
Sorry for the late post.
Roland
Strong local interference, interfering carriers could also be seen but still, listening was by far not as bad as the screenshot may suggest because, being very short, dropouts were barely audible.
Roland
Hi,
excellent reception. Transmission ended in the midst of the italian programme but nevertheless with Vatican Radio's interval signal.
Roland
Hi,
quite good again.
Roland
There were again problems on the AM transmission. The strange heterodyne tone that changes pitch with modulation level was back when I switched on just prior to the DRM broadcast.
Some problems during the DRM transmission as well, these may have been caused by a weak signal and an on-channel AM station though.
Roland
In part a weak signal and a low SNR for no directly obvious reason. An on-channel carrier was sometimes visible but it didn't stick out much of the DRM spectrum.
I cannot say whether the AM signal had again problems or not, because I switched on too late.
Roland
Excellent reception. But why is the transmitter programmed in such a way that it went on the air for a few seconds at the start of today's transmission and then off the air for half a minute or so, only to really begin transmission thereafter? See the start of today's log.
I had a look at the audio spectrum today: Although audio sounds very good, there is a strong rolloff of the higher audio frequencies, at least during the piece that is being played at the moment but perhaps it is an old recording ...
Roland
Unwanted sidebands seem to be rather strong on this transmission today, see screenshot.
Roland
I don't know the reason for the sudden jump in SNR but it could have been caused by a local interference source being switched off.
Roland
Not so good. Signal was sometimes weak and a high level of interference caused problems.
Roland
Hello to all,
Not so good here too, during the magazine in english. Though SNR slowly increased during the 00 UTC news in italian, it would have been interesting to log for a longer time... but the batteries of the laptop went out.
73, de Stephane
FritzWue
05-02-2006, 08:39
Not bad at almost 1200 km distance on the mediumwave band:
Hi,
quite good apart from one larger dropout.
Roland
Just a short report.
Roland
Hi,
SNR is low today and the WMER plot yields a strange result with the outer carriers contributing much to the low SNR. Reception is quite bad as a result.
I think I have already seen a similar result in the past on this frequency. Is it a TX tuning problem?
Roland
Hi,
here is a short report. It doesn't make sense to listen to such a bad signal.
Roland
FritzWue
12-02-2006, 10:02
Problems with on channel AM interference from Romania and the british low power stations with some good periods in between.
I have seen a much stronger signal and a much better result on this frequency before.
Roland
Reception got better over time when signal became stronger and more stable and when local interference ended as well.
Roland
Signal was sometimes weak and there were other on-channel carriers, so reception quality was not what I am used to.
Roland
Apparently for my present equipment this Tx is too far away from me.....:(
@Roland: Instead of spreading 30m of copper wire in the garden I now bought 40m to wind up in a loop. I just have downloaded an instruction howto from www.fading.de)
@Roland: Instead of spreading 30m of copper wire in the garden I now bought 40m to wind up in a loop. I just have downloaded an instruction howto from www.fading.de)
Hi Andreas,
this looks much too complicated to me. I would rather not wind it in a spiral but instead with all windings at about the same diameter. For the first test, you may use a large cardboard box or a large piece of styrofoam and wind your wire around it. Do not place the windings very close to one another, leave some distance (1 cm or more) between them. Use a coupling loop that is much smaller than the main loop!
You can do the first test without the coupling loop, just place a receiver with a built-in ferrite antenna in the axis of the loop at some distance (30 cm is enough) and tune the capacitor, you will be amazed!
Have success!
Roland
There were a few short dropouts that were caused by local noise pulses, otherwise reception was quite good.
Roland
Good reception.
Transmission didn't end at the usual time and is still running.
SBR was missing and audio bandwidth is rather limited as a result.
Please put SBR on again!
Roland
There seemed to be a transmitter problem, SNR was limited and reception was quite bad.
The WMER plot showed the strange well known maximum at the centre and slopes falling off to very low values at the lower and upper ends.
Roland
There was no TX problem as on the previous day and the result was not bad.
Roland
FritzWue
21-02-2006, 07:53
"Only" 98% cda with interference:
Co-channel interference was strong and there were a few dropouts during fading when the impulse response also looked somewhat prolonged.
Roland
Not as good as usual.
Roland
Reception was quite quite ok and improved a bit over time perhaps because local interference sources were switched off.
Roland
Not really bad but I have seen better days.
Roland
When I tuned in to the AM transmission just prior to the DRM transmission, there was again the strange heterodyne tone which changed pitch with modulation. Perhaps DCC is defective.
Then, DRM started with interruptions during the first minutes. Reception was good for a while but suddenly deteriorated for unknown reasons. Was it perhaps a TX problem?
Roland
Not bad however during one certain programme, audio was extremely dull and bandwidth was <3 kHz as from 23:36 UTC. When the programme had ended, everything was back to normal, so it seemed this was not a fault caused by DRM but by the way the programme had been recorded.
Roland
Good reception but there was also a short period, when the impulse response looked rather long and when decoding dropped out.
Roland
Something must have happened at 23:47 UTC, no idea what it was. I could not see any reason for the drop in SNR, neither from the spectrum plot nor from the impulse response, so I believe that it was TX-related.
Roland
Not so good last night.
Roland
Initially, there were problems with local interference and a weak signal.
Roland
Quite good but why is there always a break in transmission for about 10 minutes on sundays? Why isn't the music programme already switched on 10 minutes earlier?
Roland
No DRM signal last night.
Roland
Quite good apart from two short moments with fading.
Roland
Fading caused one deep and a few light dropouts.
Roland
A not so strong signal with fading and local noise resulted in dropouts.
Roland
Signal suffered from fading for a few times.
Roland
A few dropouts during fading periods.
Roland
Rather good with a little bit of fading.
Roland
A few moments with fading and co-channel interference.
Roland
Hi all,
good results last night.
Simone
A good signal but also a bit of fading last night.
Roland
Unfortunately, there was interference from my neighbour's low-voltage lighting systems. It can be seen from the SNR diagram when this was switched off.
Roland
That's interesting:
Mediumwave conditions in southerly direction were excellent, quite unlike in northerly direction towards Orfordness.
Signal was (and still is) rather strong.
Although the impulse response was rather long and did have many peaks, the longer delayed peaks were attenuated strongly and did no harm.
Quite good reception as a result.
Roland
Just a 14 minute report.
Roland
Not bad but it was strange to watch an on-channel carrier appear that was 30 dB stronger than Vatican Radio's signal during the last minute of my logging period. The carrier appeared and went away again after a few seconds.
Roland
Signal was rather strong last night and reception was flawless. I only listened for a short while though.
Roland
Very good, strong signal.
Roland
A good signal but the TX took several breaks, see screenshot.
Roland
Excellent reception.
Roland
Ionospheric conditions caused an often long delay and an unusually large number of dropouts.
Roland
Just very good reception.
Roland
Very good reception.
For some reason, times for this transmission are wrongly listed on www.drm-dx.de and Dream's station dialogue as beginning and ending one hour later than they actually do.
Roland
A bit of fading but quite good otherwise.
Roland
Reception was good with the exception of a period when signal faded.
Roland
There was a period with fading when reception suffered from dropouts but local interference level was also high.
Roland
Excellent reception last night. Result was close to 100% but unfortunately, I forgot to switch logging on. :(
Roland
Not bad last night.
Roland
There is only an old-fashioned AM transmission on this frequency tonight. Taking into account the number of unintelligible moments when the carrier undergoes selective fading and the constant co-channel interference present in the background, DRM produces a much better overall result and it sounds much better too!
Roland
A bit too much of fading tonight.
Roland
There were some problems with the signal from ERF Mainflingen on 1539 kHz being exceptionally strong at times last night. This caused some dropouts when Vatican Radio's signal also faded a little at the same time.
Roland
There were strange on/off cycles at a time, when there was a break in audio between programmes (for whatever reason since "Musica nelle notte con voi" could also begin 10 minutes earlier).
Roland
Simply very good reception.
Roland
Not so good last night.
Roland
Here is a report in two parts, some interference in the later part.
Roland
Quite good. The larger dropout was most likely caused by far distant lightning at least it looked like that in the waterfall graph.
Unlike the day before, there were no visible co-channel carriers.
Roland
Suddenly, reception became bad with strong co-channel interference and dropouts.
Roland
There was still a transmission at an unusual time last night.
Roland
Really good reception.
Roland
Static noise from distant thunderstorms caused some ripple on the result. Reception was still quite good however.
Roland
The signal became weaker towards the end.
I have no idea what caused the dropout.
Roland
Transmission started a minute late last night. Towards the end of my logging period, an increasing number of flashes from distant thunderstorms caused an increasing number of very short dropouts.
Roland
The tiny dropout at 23:33 was homemade. It occured when I switched the AGC into another mode.
Perfect reception.
Roland
Here is a two part report, I had to interrupt reception in between.
Excellent reception.
Roland
Some fading with interference at the start of my logging period but the antenna was also not directed properly.
Roland
FritzWue
29-05-2006, 00:19
Interference, carrier right ontop sometimes visible.
Excellent reception.
Roland
Good reception with a little bit of occasional interference.
Roland
Mediumwave conditions were not good at all last night. Signals were strong but decoded audio left a lot to desire.
Roland
Not entirely perfect but not bad either.
Roland
Signal was strong, nevertheless, there were a few short dropouts due to interference from a thunderstorm which moved further away over time.
Roland
Quite good last night.
Roland
Quite good with some interference from distant thunderstorms.
Roland
Hi,
AM sounds awful tonight. The old problem has returned. Listen to the attached file recorded in AM mode.
The DRM transmission has just started and it is ok.
Roland
Good reception of the DRM transmission last night. See previous post for AM problems.
Roland
Today, there is again (or even still) this strange interference tone which changes frequency with modulation on Vatican Radio's AM signal. No one seems to read the reports here on the forum and the email which I have sent. :mad:
Roland
DRM reception was ok, AM wasn't, see post above.
Some interference from distant thunderstorms.
Roland
A bit shaky due to thunderstorms.
Roland
There was no DRM transmission at the scheduled time. AM prior to this time was ok.
1611 kHz had a DRM signal however.
Roland
Quite good last night. AM was ok again as well.
Roland
Very good with one TX break at a time between programmes, when there was no audio anyway, so perhaps, despite lasting only a few seconds, it was intentional.
Roland
I listened only for 30 minutes but I had excellent reception.
Roland
There were a few dropouts due to interference from distant thunderstorms.
Roland
Like yesterday, there was again interference from distant thunderstorms.
Roland
The report shows a strange regular pattern in the number of properly decoded audio frames. No idea whether this phenomenon is TX-related.
Throughout the entire logging period, the same kind of annoying audio clicks as already observed on the 13750 kHz transmission this afternoon could be heard.
Roland
There were still very annoying clicks on the audio. Otherwise reception was quite good, see my short report.
Roland
Audio was still clicking quite annoyingly. It seems, nobody at Vatican Radio reads in this forum or checks email. :(
Roland
No more audio clicks on this frequency today (they now appear on 1611 kHz).
Good reception.
Roland
Very good reception despite the impulse response being a little long at the start of my logging period.
Later, the impulse response looked normal again.
Roland
Excellent reception.
Roland
vBulletin v3.5.3, Copyright ©2000-2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.