Ifrikya FM, Africa's continent-wide shortwave radio station, quietly turns one
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- Опубліковано 12 чер 2024
- A year ago, on 3 May 2023, Algeria launched a brand new radio station, on shortwave and FM. This, in my opinion, was a very important event, at a time when many other broadcasters are reducing their shortwave transmissions.
Not only did Algeria launch this station, they also built brand new transmitters in 2022, a clear vote of confidence in the future of shortwave radio in Africa. Bechar in Algeria, where the signal in this video comes from, is one of the new transmitter sites. These transmitters are powerful, pumping out 300 kW.
I think Ifrikya FM's first birthday is worth celebrating. This station targets audiences all over Africa in many languages, including Arabic, French, Hausa and also English. It presents programming from an African perspective and has correspondents in various African countries. It shows that shortwave radio still serves a purpose in Africa.
Received on Qodosen SR-286 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
00:00 Africa's shortwave station
01:36 Ifrikya FM 17600 kHz in French
04:25 Jingle and station ID - Розваги
Love Ifrikya FM here in the US.
one of my favourite stations! their signal is always loud and clear in central europe. love it when they play desert rock music
Glad you are enjoying this station! It is quite refreshing, I think, a bit different from many of the other stations on shortwave.
I pick this station up in Ireland regularly and its one of my favorites with radio Romania. Cheers brother ....Ged ..
Hi Ged, glad you are enjoying this station!
Thanks Andre I believe I have heard the broadcast, but thought it was a USA religious station and passed it by on my way to 17855KHZ Radio Spain. I am usually asleep at 1600 UTC to hear the English service, but I will try to make an effort….🤪!
73! Have a great day!
I think it's a fun station to catch, quite varied programming also. Sometimes some interesting North African music. The English programmes are very random at the moment, I haven't heard them myself, but I have seen some reports about them.
About 6,500 km, much further than the distance from new York to North pole or roughly the same as from Los Angeles to Wellington New Zealand.....yet the signal was sent and received all within all within the continent of africa. Florida to Alaska a etc etc
Hi Terry, thanks for your comment! They use very powerful and new transmitters, so I think this station is heard all around the world. Sometimes it is a bit weak here in South Africa, but most of the time it is very strong and very clear.
New transmitters? 300kW? I'm in! 😀🗼📻
I've received very few stations from North Africa last year, but Ifrikya FM wasn't one of them. It's interesting that the station spent money on 300 kiloWatt transmitters when other major stations have either cut down on their frequencies and/or ceased their operating hours.
Looks like your SR-286 is getting lots of mileage in 2024, bru! Last year it was a toss up between your D-808 and the PL-368. It's time that Qodosen sponsored you their next receiver! 📻👍
Edit: Credit goes to all that highly educational research that went into the making of this episode! I've always enjoyed looking at Google Earth images!😀
Thank you! I think you might be able to hear this one in Malaysia, I have seen reports fromm the US and Europe. With such strong and powerful transmitters, I think the signal might reach Malaysia at the right time also. Algeria showed us all here that shortwave is not dead in Africa, with their investment in the new transmitters and a new station :-)
I do use the Qodosen quite a lot now (like I did the D-808 and the PL-368 before, as you say). It is definitely my favourite DXing radio now. But I still use my other radios, got the D-608WB out last night and will upload a video later today.
@@swlistening Eureka! I finally caught Radio Ifrikya FM on 17600 kHz, about 0100 hrs local time. 📻😀 I wasn't actively looking for it but just stumbled upon it while scanning the 16 metre band. The signal was low and the audio was faint. No interference from other stations or local RFI.
I used my Shortwave Schedules premium app (not the free Skywave Schedules) and confirmed the signal with the U-Twente SDR in the Netherlands.
My ATS-25 AMP with the 30 metre outdoor long wire antenna + balun got a better signal than my Tecsun PL-660 with the (counterfeit) indoor MLA-30+. SINPO 21422 with a steady in/out fading against the ionospheric background noise.
This is a historic triumph for me as signals from North Africa are difficult under the current solar storms. 💯👍🏼
@@StratmanII I think congratulations are in order! Great catch! There are so few signals left in North Africa, so this one is really a nice catch for you.
I am wondering what the PL-660 would do on the 30 metre long wire, maybe that is something you can try next time? Would be interesting for me, as I am still definitely considering getting either a PL-660 or a P-680.
@@swlistening Sure Andre, no worries! I do have the appropriate connector jacks but will have to juggle between them. 🙂
If you like, I could also take out my PL-990, 680, 330, 320, 398MP, 368, R-108, D-909, D-109, Malachite DSP1, Airspy HF+ Discovery and RTL Blog V4 while I'm at it. 😀
Seriously, I believe it's the fact that about 80 percent of my 30m wire antenna is exposed outdoors pulls in the faint signals. The supplied mini 1:49 balun matches the high impedance of the wire antenna with the low impedance of the feed cable into the receiver.
I have been toying with the idea of using a 12 or 14 gauge Monster Cable or a similar oxygen-free copper wire (for hi-fi audio speakers) instead of the factory supplied el cheapo wire, but if it stretches to 30 meters, it will be an expensive experiment. 😭
@@StratmanII Thank you so much! The PL-660 and PL-680 would be fine 😀 I agree with you about the wire being outside, makes a really big difference. Did you find enough space to stretch out 30 metres of wire?