Japanese FAX Warning Map

Part of a Kyodo News transmission received here in SoCal at 0430 UTC on 25 November 09. Frequency was the usual 16971.0 kHz USB (dial reading 1.9 kHz lower).



I suspect from the mention of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), that these are warning areas for some type of rocket or missile activity.

WGS-84 refers to the datum for the map coordinates (World Geodetic System 1984), and IGS is the International GNSS Service. Yes, a nested acronym. GNSS is for Global Navigational Satellite Systems, referring to the US GPS and the Russian GLONASS.

GPS is, of course, yet another acronym, for Global Positioning System. GLONASS is a translation of the Russian acronym for ГЛОбальная НАвигационная Спутниковая Система. It translates as GLObal NAvigation Satellite System.

Afternoon US Kyodo News is JSC, Not JJC

Still getting great reception of the Kyodo News FAX on 16971 kHz USB, 60/576. Today I caught a sign-on, identifying the transmitting station as JSC, Kagoshima Radio, not the usual JJC, Tokyo.



Some Googling around turned up the following (badly translated) information:

07.04.12 [April 2007 -hugh] 16971kHz 10kW JSC Fisheries Kagoshima consignment sent to radio stations (for the direction of Hawaii)

I interpret this to mean that this one frequency is broadcast for part of the day over a separate transmitter with a different beam. This certainly explains why only part of Kyodo's 24/7 sked is being sent, and why it's so much louder on the US Pacific Coast than any of the others. It sounds like a special contract to transmit a newspaper to Japanese fishing boats operating in the Eastern Pacific.

You learn something new every day in this hobby.

JJC Tokyo News FAX Received Nov 3

You know the fall DX season has arrived when Southern California has a relatively clear copy on the Kyodo News FAX from Japan. This is the best one I've received in a long time.

Frequency was 16971.0 kHz USB, time was just after zero UTC. Parameters were 60/576.



It's worth repeating that, unlike the weather charts, the news FAX is copyrighted material, reproduced here at a greatly reduced size under fair use for the purposes of amateur radio propagation reporting. Any unauthorized commercial use would probably prompt Kyodo to start scrambling the faxes again. We'd hate to lose the last news FAX on the air for DXing.