Friday, April 14, 2017

Radio DARC to Cover IARU Region 1 General Conference on Shortwave this Fall

Radio DARC — the shortwave broadcast program of the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club in Germany (DARC) — has announced plans to broadcast six programs during the 24th International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU-R1) Conference, September 16-22 in Landshut, Germany. IARU Region 1 includes Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Asia. Rainer Englert, DF2NU, of Radio DARC said the broadcasts from the conference, in English, will keep the IARU Region 1 ham radio audience up to date with news and background reports.

"Although targeted to IARU Region 1, the transmissions are likely to be heard in North America, too, as 2,000 kW EIRP from a log periodic antenna will be used for the Western European beam in the 31-meter broadcast band," Englert said.

Radio DARC is the weekly magazine of the German Amateur Radio Club for radio amateurs and shortwave listeners, with three broadcasts on 6,070 kHz for Europe. Typical programs contain DX news, technical features, and reports from the DARC, as well as commentary, propagation forecasts and music from the 1970s and 1980s. After the discontinuation of Deutsche Welle and other shortwave broadcasters, the weekly DARC program is one of the few remaining from Germany.

"Several transmitters of up to 300 kW and three shortwave bands will be used to allow reception in different target regions of the world," Englert said.

In 2015, a group of radio amateurs in Germany obtained a license to broadcast on the 49-meter band after German national broadcaster Deutsche Welle closed down a 500 kW shortwave broadcast transmitter near Munich. Using parts scavenged from the Deutsche Welle site, the ham group built up its own 10 kW transmitter and launched Channel 292. The Austrian Broadcasting Transmitters Corporation (ORS) near Vienna is a broadcast partner for the IARU R1 General Conference, and broadcasts covering that event will air via ORS and Channel 292 transmitters.

Preliminary Schedule: Sunday, September 17 through Friday, September 22, 2017

1730-1800 UTC: 13,775 kHz @ 300 kW for Africa
1730-1800 UTC: 9,790 kHz @ 100 kW for eastern Europe/Russia/ Middle East
1800-1830 UTC: 6,070 kHz @ 100 kW for central, northern, and southern Europe
1800-1830 UTC: 9,540 kHz @ 100 kW for western Europe

The venue for the 2017 IARU Region 1 General Conference is the Sparkassenakademie Bayern in Landshut. On the last day of the event, delegates will visit BMW Welt and Museum and then attend Oktoberfest.

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