March 2008 ABDX Journal
Vol 3. Issue 3
Editors Corner:
ABDX membership is now 184 members, unchanged from last month. Let us know what you are hearing and send in your logs. Your logs are what make ABDX a healthy and active list. We thank all of you who have contributed your logs to this months Journal. There were some very nice catches this month.
Spring is here. It’s the time for
DXers to be thinking about TV and FM DX. It’s the time for tropo reception in
much of the country. Its also the last year for analog DX. See what you can get
in this final year. Some of you have picked up a new DTV tuner box courtesy of
the $40 coupons sent by the government. This is your chance to see how great DTV
is and how nice it looks when received via trop ducting.
We enjoy seeing our members who have made it to the “Hall of
Fame” for those of us with faces for radio! If you are a member and want to be
in the Rogues Gallery, send your pix to webmaster@americanbroadcastdx.com.
Only submissions from ABDX members will be accepted unless the editor decides the information is so important that it should be added. This will probably be very rare, Should you receive this and you are not a member, go to this URL and tell us a little about yourself and we will consider you for membership.
This is the site to join ABDX.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/
To join ABDX by mail here’s where to send the mail:
ABDX-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
The ABDX website URL is:
www.americanbroadcastdx.com
or
www.abdx.org
The ABDX CME Journal is available to all at no cost. Please pass it around to your DXing friends and also post it on other lists as well. We want as many as possible to see the Journal so we can grow the DX hobby. Please do your part to keep our hobby viable.
You can get your copy of the journal at www.abdx.org
Its time for the March CME and you can send reports
on anything on
any band and it will be published.
That said, since baseball season is starting, any
baseball on any
band, LF/AM/FM/TV/HF and satellite.
For HF since BBC cut off shortwave to Europe, any
BBC on HF. DX
programs such as World of Radio, DXing With Cumbre
and the like.
March is when the beginning of trop ducting fires
up and any logs via
Tr above 30 MHz are wanted.
And for those who wanted frequency spreads on MW
we'll do 1400-1710.
Maybe a little bit for everyone this month.
The April CME Announcement
Some of you
remember Morris Sorensen who was from Winnipeg and on
this list. He
passed away in April a few years back and we remember
him with the
April CME in his name.
This month is
all Canadian all the time. AM, FM, TV, longwave,
shortwave,
Nothin but Net, its all good. NBN and shortwave from
Canada should
be exceptionally easy with Vancouver and all the stuff
from Sackville
coming to North America from RCI and everyone else on
shortwave.
So bring out
the Tim Hortons, the back bacon, the maple syrup and the
like and sing
the Maple Leaf Rag or Oh, Canada and do a little DXing
north of the
border.
Here's to you Morris, wherever you are!
Kevin Redding, Phil Rafuse, Powell Way, Mike Richard, Jay Heyl and Martin Foltz the ABDX crew.
The Broadcast Band
Larry Wild – Aberdeen, SD
Receiver and antenna
1090. Last night (3/26) about 1130pm CDT I heard a
Spanish Language station under/over KAAY. Any idea what it might be? They may
have given an ID, but unfortunately, I don’t understand Spanish. It was a
combination of Spanish Music and talk.
1060.
WLNO New Orleans, LA. Weak, a little above the noise.
Most of my
listening/DXing is between 11:30 and midnight, CDT. I heard a
couple of new
stations on 560 Saturday night.
560
WIND
Chicago, IL 5k
29-Mar@11:30pCDT ID.
"News Talk
560"
560
KLZ
Denver, CO 5k
30-Mar@12:01amCDT
IDs as
"560, The
Light" Christian music, Heard no call letters on air. Used Google to
determine the
call.
Tuesday through
Saturday morning (12:05am) I listen to "When Radio Was"
on WBBM, 780.
Keith McGinnis – Hingham, MA
Drake R-8 K9AY
3/16/08
0135 UTC
WFUN
970khz
Ashtabula OH ESPN sports with lots
of local ads and slogans
0145 UTC
WILK
980khz
Wilkes-Barre PA
faded up nicely over WCAP with an ID and mentions of being an Entercom
Station
2125 UTC
WEOK
1390
Poughkeepsie NY With Radio Disney
3/21
Well the
Wellbrook ALA 1530 Outdoor Broadband loop arrived yesterday.
Got it up today
on a rotor about 7 ft AGL. Phased
it against the K9AY
and was just
rewarded with a new log.
VOCM 590 St.
Johns Newfoundland with country music (with local WEZE 95%
phased).
John Cereghin – Smyrna, DE
Car Radio
Caught WWOL-780, Forest City NC at 1915-1930
Eastern on March 20. Lots of church announcements (mainly from Baptist
Churches), a few Southern Gospel type songs, ID (with very rough copy) and
sign-off at 1930 Eastern. Another one for the DX Dashboard Society.
I
would have reported this a day or two ago, but I just got back from Bangor,
Maine, and I'm still catching up on my paperwork!
3/23
WXXY-AM-1600
in Dover, Delaware (one of my locals) seems to have changed their format from
urban gospel to contemporary Christian music. WXXY and it's other
incarnations on 1600 have been basically urban gospel for about the last 10
years but they seem to have shifted to a CCM format. A quick listen today
showed more local Dover announcements, as they may not be just relaying
programming from the 88.7 Mhz main station in Port Republic NJ (WXXY-FM).
Since I don't listen to WXXY all that much, I'm not sure when the change took
place but my log from late last year of WXXY-FM had them as an urban gospel
station, which WXXY-AM was simulcasting, so this shift in programming is rather
recent, I think.
Jay Heyl – Orlando, FL
SRF-59
2008-03-22 2100EDT 1640 WTNI Biloxi MS Mississippi
Seawolves vs Texas during break.
Picked this up on the SRF-59 when I had a few
minutes and just started tuning around. They're supposed to be only 1000W at
night. I suppose it might get this far over water, but I'm also thinking they
may have stayed on daytime power for the hockey game. It was a pretty good
signal.
2008-03-23 0318EDT 1660 WCNZ Marco Island, FL
Relevant Radio
2008-03-23 0319EDT 1650 WHKT Portsmouth, VA
Radio Disney
I
also heard the Midnight Trucking Network on what I think was 1620 (could have
been 1610 or 1630). Thing is, the ID at BOH was for WBAP. Is there a station in
that range that simulcasts WBAP on Saturday nights? I've checked online for what
I think are the likely candidates and they all claim to be airing something else
in that time period.
Bob Smoak – Bamberg, SC
Receiver/Antenna
3/7
It
appears that WQIZ hasn't tonight, and I suspect for the past several nights has
not signed off at sundown which is 6:30 P. M. Eastern at my location about 30
miles west. I'm not sticking around for a positive ID, but it sure sounds
like their Catholic programming. The station operates daytime at 810 kHz
with 5,000 watts.
HQ-180A
1680
KGED Fresno, CA 3/10/08 10:25 PM PDT, I was out of town and I missed the earlier
emails about the format change on KAVT. Tonight I ran across them with the
Legends 16-80 slogan and America's Best Music. Then ToH ID at 11 PM was for KGED
Fresno. Call change.
1250
WKBL TN
Covington. 0745 CDT. Country
music. "US 51 Country
WKBL"
slogan--I.D. NEW
1560
KGOW TX
Bellaire. 0835 CDT. Numerous
"1560--The Game"
slogans. Then
local ads. NEW.
March 3/08
4:27 UTC 1548 khz - VORussia via Moldova w/
Voice of Russia World Service 30 Year Jubilee Promo in English; good
4:39 UTC 1530 khz - Vatican Radio w/ familiar
interval signal after Spanish broadcast ; fair
5:05 UTC 1580 khz - CKDO Oshawa, Ontario w/ ID
mentions of 107.7 FM then into song by the Crystals
5:07 UTC 1431 khz - Radio Sawa , Djibouti w/
arabic chants ; ID , mixing with R. Ulster ; fair
March 12/08
9:26 UTC - 1370 khz - Unidentified mixing
with WDEA in Maine mention of Sweet Hour of Prayer Promo and what sounded
like WDIP for an id ; fair ... not sure about his one , any ideas ? Its
the only other station i've ever logged here on 1370 with WDEA being
strongest most mights.
9:37 UTC - 1380 khz - Unidentified with Chinese by woman then into Chinese song ; fair , presumed this is WKDM New York, NY as per other DX reports listed on the net.
5:57 UTC 1320 khz WJAS Pittsburgh, PA w/ song by
Kenny Rogers then ID "1320 WJAS , Wherever you go and on the
Net" by man then into Anne Murray song - You Needed Me ; fair
Mar 22/08
2:25 UTC 1530 khz - Vatican Radio w/ spanish
program then Interval Signal followed by ID in french and news by woman in
french , gd
2:31 UTC 1570 khz - CFAV, Laval Quebec
with song "Somewhere Between" by french lady , fair
Mar 20/08
2:12 UTC - 930 khz - CFBC -St. John, New Brunswick
w/ "93 Good Time Oldies Plays The Hits" then Beatles song ; fair
( 930 CJYQ St. John's local off air most of the evening and next morning
2:24 UTC - 1089 khz - SportTalk Radio England w/
commentary and talk , ID ; good
2:55 UTC - 936 khz R. Bremen Germany w/ soul
type song in English , **New One **
23:36 UTC - 1161 khz presumed VOIRI, Iran w
persian chants and Rolling Stones song in lite music format ; strong
Mar 22/08
1:53 UTC - 567 khz RTE1 Tullamore , Ireland w/
musical selections and ID ; good
2:14 UTC - 1215 khz Virgin Radio , England w/
man talking about Eastenders and Ice falling ; good thru slop from 1210
local
2:41 UTC - 760 khz WJR Detroit, Michigan w/
Dr. Laura show ; good
March 24/ 08 - 1320 khz - CJMR Mississauga,
Ontario w/ ethnic programming and ID "Youre listening to 1320 CJMR
The Voice of the City "
3/4
Right now I'm
listening to 1100 WTAM in Cleveland OH with the results coming in.
receiver is a very quacky sounding, but hot as a firecracker Heathkit
Mohican fed by, you guessed it, the LF Engineering M-601C.
While the
little green quacker heathkit is blatting away, I'm going back to Scott's post
to see what else I can catch - the only station I can get from Texas is 1700
KVNS - can't imagine they'll stop rolling oldies, so my focus will be on Vermont
and Rhode Island.
3/7
864 France
coming in here tonight - its been quite a while since I last caught them.
Quite listenable on the R-390A and R8 - haven't fired up any of the other
rigs.Only other Euros I've noted tonight are the mostly usual nightly visitors
here - Virgin 1215 and Croatia 1134.
3/10
The TAs
[Trans-Atlantic] stations are really hopping here tonight -
bellweather
Croatia 1134 pounding in, almost giving 1130 WBBR a run for
its money!
567, 585, 594,
603, 612, 765, 1107, 1116, 1125, 1134, 1206, 1215, 1422
hopping, amoung
others.
I tuned in 1320
CKEC on its last, or second last night - signal strength is down and its being
buffeted by the ether.
I'm wondering
if they are shifting the pattern to help DXers - remember how the last few days
were supposed to be extra good for DXers.
If you don't
have a local or near local tearing up 1320 or 1310 or 1330, give 1320 a listen
tonight. Listen for the ID East
Coast FM 94.1. You will not hear
1320 being IDed, and only occassionally will CKEC be mentioned. But East Coast FM will be IDed a lot.
3/12
Driving home
last night, I happened to think to check 1320 on the car radio and CKEC was
dark.
Based on the
number of commercials they have, I think they are very happy to be on FM!
With CKEC-AM
now dark, its possible to truly DX 1310, 1320 and 1330.
CKEC had a very nicely processed high end, with lots of sizzle, to make
their AC/ Hot AC format sound good. But
it made it tough to DX 1310 and 1330 and, well, 1320 was impossible.
I picked up a
bunch of stuff last night on these frequencies.
Too much to make a mental note of all, so I concentrated on 1330. I heard
three stations:
1. English
language religious programming - this was the strongest - I heard this last
night and then again early this morning - e.g. at dawn.
Gone by the time I was driving to work.
2. Spanish
language music - this was the weakest last night, but the strongest later this
morning driving to work.
3. Rock/AC
station - playing REM, Tears for Fears, some true rock, with a prefernce for 80s
music. I would describe it as either a classic hits [new oldies!] format, or a
rock/hot ac mix - this was the "middle" signal strength station last
night and early this morning - gone by the time I was driving to work.
Never heard any
IDs.
Any theories as
to what I may have heard?
Thanks in
advance gang!
3/20
Tune in 1560 if
you are within ears of 1560 WQEW and you will hear:
Not the het,
Not the tone,
BUT 1560 THE
DRONE
3/21
Last night
continuing into just after local sunrise, 1560 THE DRONE replaced the usual awe
inspiring programming of WQEW Radio Disney. I would have thought it was Brent
tuning up his 50 KW transmitter in his basement based on signal strength [he
probably thought it was me up to similar mischief!] but the drone was blasting
and fading - so I expect it was some major gremlims at WQEW.
Tonight WQEW is back to regular programming.
Also, last
night I logged 990 WLGZ Rochester NY with their nostalgia/oldies format.
No small feat given the dominance of 990 CBY Corner Brook NL and 990 CKGM
Team 990 in Montreal QC.
I've also been
reading the three NRC antenna reference manuals.
Some good reading - especially Volume 3 discussing broadband loops,
active verticals, baluns/broadband rf transformers etc.
Right now I'm
listening to pop/rock on 1670 KHz. In between songs, French is spoken.
Very weak. Receiver is a
1955/1963 Collins/Teledyne R-390A fed by a LF Engineering M-601C active whip
located 22 feet outside and away from the VY2PR Radio Room.
I strongly
suspect it is the new kid's station in Gatineau QC. I saw one reference online [wikipedia]
to callsign CJEU. I did find a
website and looked at pictures of their tiny 1KW Nautel transmitter, the 85 foot
tower and the site.
March 23, 2008
8:40 p.m. ADT Receiver: Kaito KA2100 nekkid:
960 KHz WHYL
Carlisle PA playing oldies/nostalgia *NEW*
3/27
I'm stepping up
my own personal war on RFI. Not
only do I have the Tripp Lite ultra isobar in the shack, but I now also have an
Isoblock in the shack and another Isoblock in the adjacent electronic mini-shop.
A new Belkin powerbar [on sale at the Sourcer by Circus City] for the
family computer. And, 10 [yes 10]
more Isoblocks on the way at a price, shipping included, of $7 a piece. The idea
is that anything, I mean anything, that generates hash in our house will be
filtered at the
wall socket - the microwave, the outlet my wife plugs her cellphone charger
into, the fax machine [already filtered, but its the biggest hash maker in the
house], etc.
So far, the war
is helping. The 720 to 740 floating, evolving, morhing buzz seems better
outshouted by WGN, CKAC and CHCM. I think I have mostly wrestled the 960 buzz to
the ground, the reward being clearer reception of Cuban time pips. An hour ago I
had the nekkid as a jaybird Kaito KA2100 on my lap in the shack and caught the
following:
1170 Radio Sawa
Al-Dhabbiya in the UAE
Sure, they run
800 KW, but the UAE is a pretyy good haul from PEI.
They were nice and clear, playing kind of hip Arabic type music, then
IDed as Radio Sawa, before going into the news or other such spoken word
programming. I then grabbed my 2008
WRTH and checked my scribbled notes on a sticky [post-it].
Checking the
band with the Radiosophy HD-100, I see WQEW is now flashing a blue light and
emitting Dragon Breath hiss - yet, no lock of course.
Sure I can get their analogue signal on a 1 tube regenerative radio with
10 feet of wire for an antenna, but get a digital lock on the HD-100 coupled to
a fancy antenna, no...
About
3:25 this morning, I was spinning the dial on my Sony SRF-59 Walkman..
The dial was a big pile of mud tonight, meaning
there were stations on top of stations.
I was looking for a "placeholder"
station to figure out where exactly on the dial I had everything at. While
waiting for something to pop up, I heard an add with a 716 area code and base
upon where the dial was, I'd say I logged WWKB-AM 1520
Now, I also have an UN'id station and I can't quite
figure this one out...
This UN'idwas one of the many stations in the mud
on 1520kHz...
It was definately playing oldies (60s, 70's type
stuff) and it was satelitte delivered programming from ABC's Oldies Radio
Network in Dallas. I recognized a jingle between a song as simple "Oldies
Radio" and then coming out of a song, I recognized the jocks voice but
don't remember his name.
I didn't make out the entire call sign, but I
was pretty sure I heard the last two letters as "N" and "S"
or something that sounded like them. I don't think it was WNWS Brownsville, TN
as they are Daytime only and spanish.
I'm tempted to say is KDJS 1590 Wimar, MN (1KW
Day-2 towers/89W Night-2 towers) as it seems like the station does run a salitte
format.. but it's a bit far fetched for me to believe at this point.
Any insight? Thoughts?
3/22
I didn't know what frequency I was on at first, but
I Heard a spot for "stratford.edu"
which is Stratford University with campuses in Woodbridge and Falls Church, VA
followed by a spot for HD radio, talking about the clarity and the quality. Then
an intro for "National Geographic Weekend on the Salem Radio Network"
(SRN2).
i was able to figure out that my logging was WWWT
1500 Washington, DC based upon the information.
Oh, the funny thing was, while they were talking about HD.. their signal was a mess. I think WLAC has their IBOC on.
1370 WGCL IN Bloomington - 03/12/08
2300 - TOH ID, News and Weather, and ESPN Radio. Decent signal on top of the
mix. "Monroe County's Sports Leader, WGCL, Bloomington".
880 KGHT AR Sheridan - 03/13/08 2312 - Southern Gospel. Good signal in the null of WCBS in New York, NY. "AM 880, KGHT".
3/6
Driving home
from work, I was listening to 990 kHz. I
heard the choral version of the Cuban National Anthem at 7:00 PM CST, then news
read by a male announcer. I could
not hear any station Ids (at least none that I could recognise). A quick check of known Rebelde, Progreso, and Reloj outlets
on MW revealed no parallel programming.
When I got
home, I checked Bruce Conti's webpage "Progreso, Rebelde, and Reloj:
The Three Todopoderosos" (http://members.aol.com/nrcidxd/cuba.htm).
It says that I
could have been listening to:
CMAP Radio Guamá,
San Luís, Pinar del Río
Has anybody
else been hearing this station lately?
Coupla logs from 3/20... Times UTC
1140 KZMQ Greybull, WY
Weather for "Cody and Powell", other local references. ID at 1330 ,
clear. Haven't heard this one beore, but this frequency is one i check a
lot...it often brings a surprise.
1550 KKJY Albuquerque, NM 1245.
Local spots,John Denver & other MOR .
ID & traffic report at TOH, spot for
"Catholic Foundation". Unid co-channel Spanis lang station prestent
after 1300 also.
yeah yeah spring is here...whooptie-freaking-doo. (Kevin Redding understands). Cant wait for the nice 45 degree weather. 45 deg C., of course.
3/25
1170 KFAQ Tulsa , OK 1204
with local weather, local refs ("here
in Tulsa").
1600 KRKE Albuquerque, NM
0115 with oldies format, 50's and 60's
stuff.
3/5
Sounds like WW1
feed, not 100% sure.
"The all
new 1680" and "Legends 1680" slogans.
KAVT's mouse droppings conspicuously absent so maybe them? Signal good at times but seems too fadey for KAVT. [KDVD]
Got an SRF-59...2nd one as 1st seemed hard of
hearing. Heard KFWS at 9 pm Sat evening out of Wichita Falls, 446 miles from
Laredo. They operate at 73 watts nighttime, and came in easily for several
minutes despite our local on 1300 (KLAR, 80 watts nighttime). The SRF-59 is
decent in sensitivity, decent with selectivity, decent with regard to lack of
mixing products (particularly true at night)...what is most outstanding is it's
very sharp null! Fun set!
How would one go about aligning a set like this...is it something that someone with little knowledge, and 2 left hands could give a try (namely, me)?
3/18
Clearly audible
with time ticks, "RR" in code, and a woman's voice
reading news in
Spanish, over WSYR Syracuse and presumed WKBN
Youngstown.
0015 EDT.
3/22
Does anyone
know a station playing classical music on 860? Cuba perhaps?
Heard in the
mix of things last night but clearly was a symphony.
Never heard an
ID. Classical stations should be
required to Id every
ten minutes for
the DX'ers in the audience.
1480 KQAM
Wichita, KS 3/15 0000 with ID just prior to ToH. Pretty
rare to hear it
here. Only once before.
Not that this
is untypical, it's actually VERY typical, but we have snow this morning and it's
30 degrees. Typical first day of
spring here in Wyoming. However,
had a little bit of late-day DX yesterday on a trip home from Rock Springs, WY.
1310
KLIX ID
Twin Falls 19:00 Heard the Dr Laura show - listened for quite
a while ( 1
hour plus ) and these guys were in like local.
Have heard them
before but
never in like local. Great signal.
Chrysler Corp AM Stereo / FM
Stereo car radio. 3/19/08
3/24
Hello all – I wanted to report my findings from a
new radio I’ve received. This radio comes equipped with a 2007 Pontiac
Grand Prix which I just purchased for the wife last week. We took the new
car here to Kingman Arizona as we’re on a week’s vacation for spring
break….YES…away from the damn snow. Beautiful time of year to visit
the desert by the way. From St George to Las Vegas to Kingman the desert
is GREEN! It is gorgeous with flowering trees in bloom and so forth and
you can’t beat the 75 degrees it was today. The family and I spent
the day on the road headed east to Flagstaff (wow! What a beautiful town!)
then over to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. I got to see such a
beautiful part of Arizona that I never would have thought was Arizona.
Loaded with mountains, millions of pine trees….I’d swear I was back home
around Jackson, Wyoming. Still some remnant snow banks here
and there too. OH……I’m supposed to be reporting on the RADIO,
not the TRIP! Okay…. Well the Pontiac has a stock GM AM/FM CD
radio with RDS. I must say it’s amazing just how much RDS is out there.
A LOT more than I would have expected. In Las Vegas about half of the
FM’s there have it and I believe just about all of the FMs in the Flagstaff
area have it. And they UTILIZE it! Not just to display the
station’s name, but they all seem to display promos “Join so and so for the
mornings how” and all of the song titles and artists. Good to see such
an easily-implemented technology getting used. Sorry folks….I know
it’s been around for a while, I just haven’t had a car with an RDS-capable
radio since back about 2003 with my wife’s Impala that we got rid of after
only a year or two of having. Anyways, the antenna is integrated
into the rear defroster grid in the back windows. The one on her
2001 Impala was that way too so I guess this is something GM “discovered”
and decided they wanted to keep doing cos they’re still doing it.
Nonetheless, the FM sensitivity is actually GREAT. This is one hot
radio when it comes to FM. On the AM side, it really isn’t too bad as
far as sensitivity. On the way home from the Grand Canyon just a few
minutes ago, we were (at HER suggestion) DXing just to see what came in.
Audio quality seems kinda sucky, but not as bad as the stock radio in her Impala
was and many other GM stock radios I’ve heard. Upon earlier tries of
listening I must say I couldn’t hear the difference between stations running
IBOC that roll everything off at 5khz and stations that are running the full
10khz so I’d guess it’s bandwidth is 5khz. Maybe a little less on
distant stations but when it’s local and strong enough it opens up to the
whole 5khz. This does help when DXing because it helps to reject the
adjacent channel interference. Sensitivity isn’t great, but really
isn’t too bad. I was naming off the stations as we went from frequency
to frequency…..had a SS at 540, something mixing with KUZZ at 550, KMJ
at 580, Cedar City (KSUB?) at 590, KOGO at 600, baseball on 610 – thought it
to be San Fran but I don’t think so….they’re religious….620 was messy…
thought I’d hear KTAR but it wasn’t there, 640 KFI in loud and clear, 650
was a mess….was hoping for WSM and will keep trying for them while I’m here
since I’m far enough away from KMTI, 660 KTNN Window Rock AZ loud, 680 KNBR
loud, 690 had SS….thought maybe I’d hear XETRA but it was SS…..what IS
XETRA running these days---maybe that WAS them, 700 had KALL from Salt Lake, 710
SS from Black Canyon City AZ, 720 KDWN Las Vegas in very nice, 740 KCBS Los
Angeles in good, 750 KOAL Price UT fair, 760 with talk (assuming Denver), 770
KKOB VERY LOUD, 780 – hoping for KAZM Sedona but no dice, 800 XEROK VERY LOUD
of course, 810 KGO in VERY nicely, 820 WBAP Fort Worth, 830 KLAA Orange CA in
very nice, and finally 840 KXNT Las Vegas in good too. Stopped there
because we were close to Kingman and they were running Dr Laura so we listened
for a while. We did notice while listening that occasionally KOA would be
coming in well enough that their IBOC HASH would at times eliminate our ability
to hear KXNT. Then the hash would fade and Dr Laura would come back.
Didn’t notice any hash on 830 from KXNT but the signal was fair to good so it
might not have been strong enough if THEIR IBOC was on.
If I had my car or my Sony 7600 this is about the
same outcome I’d expect…..this is what the dial is usually like down here so
the back-glass antenna was apparently not HINDERING the AM reception but I’m
sure it wasn’t helping it either. GM has apparently worked on the
filtering aspects of this hokey antenna because it’s actually pretty damn
clean even during the day with no interference from the engine or motorboating
or anything. Not bad. This radio lets you set your own EQ
settings….tune the bass,mid,and treble separately so you can tweak it so you
can boost those highs (if ya wanna call 5khz high) and it’s not too bad to
listen too. I’m sure we’ve all heard worse.
Will be here in Kingman until Sunday so will maybe
have more to report. On a non-related note, we had quite the discussion
about KADD – Laughlin being moved from Laughlin to Logandale, NV. I
didn’t recall the frequency so I didn’t listen when we passed through Las
Vegas, but we’ll be there on Wednesday so I will try to remember to check to
see if it’s on and what it’s doing. Meanwhile the translators here in
Kingman that used to point to it are apparently still on the air. One of
them is dead. OC. No stereo pilot. The other one at 99.1 is on
and from what I can hear it’s still the K-hits station and ABC’s Hot AC
network, however it’s unlistenable as there seems to be another close-by
station interfering with it. I’m guessing this is going on at the
receiving end of the translator….not my end because there is nothing directly
next to it. We had HEARD they were going to re-broadcast a new station
going on the air that would be licensed to Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada. This
is a flea power station up on Christmas Tree Pass between Vegas and Laughlin –
so I can’t tell if they re-tuned the translator to the frequency of this new
station and maybe there is a first-adjacent station nearby that’s it’s
getting interference from. Who knows. I don’t remember the calls
of that supposed new station. I think we’re going to be in Laughlin /
Bullhead City on Thursday so I will try to look up the specs and see where the
cal-nev-ari station is on the dial and if it’s listenable in that area – it
should be. Will report on that too.
3/25
Sunday eve I
did some repair work on my westerly Phased BOG System and then tuned around for a few hours. With roughly 600 ft // 425 ft
directivity is
awesome
especially on the high end of the band. They aim about 273 deg. I
have some
termination work to do, but that will wait until I can walk
painlessly
again (bad bad foot issues here)
As an example I
am about 45 miles NNW of WVON on 1690 and they basically a
non factor at
night. Toronto's Greek is dominant off the back end (they get
out very well
it seems) and when I phase null them Denver's Disney is quite
decent. Iowans
completely crushing regionals like 1460 and 1350. KCHA and
KNIM mixing on
1580 with little trace of CKDO, 1570 from SD "The Ticket"
quite decent
with sports. In short real good directivity to the west.
Anyhow, I was
tuning in the X-band and as I passed 1670 noted weak EE talk
under WTDY and
mixing with weak SS from WVVM. I heard a couple ments of
Highway
Advisory Radio ... Iowa Dept of Trans. and presume it must be Des
Moines as
that's all I can find listed and here's a link to an IA HAR map
http://www.dot.state.ia.us/research/State%20HAR%20Map.htm
from their DOT.
The FCC TIS
search has changed and even when I select all services, there
are many known
local TIS's not listed.
I find it
extremely rare to ever hear 10 w TIS via skip now that there are a
few X-banders
on each channel.
Also of note
from Sunday eve was decent copy of KOMO 1000 from 9:06 to 9:11
with lots of
local news and finally an ID and 7:11 TC. This is surprisingly
easy prior to
sunset switch time and was had some QRM from an SSer in the
phase null of
local WMVP.
A bit of
listening 3/9 at SSS. Most notable
was that local 1550 seemed
to be back to
running their former format of Modern Country/Western
music.
At least they had a program of it on about 6:40 p.m. PDT tonight.
Announced as K-You still & said they were the local radiooutlet for
the Oakland A's. I wasn't aware of
that.
Other
stuff.....not much but.....oh well! 1715-1750
PDT 3/9....
660
No dominant signal, just several stations just above
audibility..Usually
KTNN is all powerful.
670
Strong KBOI
700
Salt Lake City in with sports and dominant
710
No sign of Seattle thru KFIA Carmichael
720
No sign of KFIR thru KDWN Sin City
790
Very strange here. Looping
NE (the only direction I can use that
doesn't have
very heavy neighborhood noises) I had Boise atop with
preacher and
KWIL Albany OR mixing with them with hymns.
Both Fresno &
L.A. the
dominants seemed to have taken a vacation.
Wish I could get
them to do this
beaming SE so I could hear the Winchester (LV) station.
830
Orange barely peeking thru KNCO. Usually
KLAA is strong at this
hour.
840
TIS WPEI433 S.F. strong atop with report of overturned truck on
I-280 near
intersection with Cal 92 (San Mateo area).
Usually Belvedere
TIS is atop.
New Modesto station beneath all this.
850
No sign of KOA
880
Someone trying to cut thru KKMC with talk
1110 KLIB
Roseville with nice strong signal (very unusual)..
1210 Assumed
Rocklin with Spanish language religion. Strong
signal.
1220 Palo Alto
carrying Lakers-Kings game
1250 Willits
very strong in spanish.
1330
Someone in English atop. Most likely Shasta City.
1350
KSRO Santa Rosa getting squashed by next door KFIV Modesto on
1360.
1390
Turlock very strong in spanish
1410
KMYC Marysville mixing with KRML Carmel.
KMYC carrying
Lakers-Kings.
1550
KYCY with c&w music. In
tight null I could easily bring in a
station playing
music in spanish, sometimes with no KYCY QRM.
Assume
this to be Reno
KXTO as antenna was pointed right at them.
Like I said,
not much to talk about.
** U S A. You
might think that KOKC 1520 would own the channel here in Enid,
but not so:
March 22 at 0532, heavy IBOC QRM centered on the hi side of 1520,
obviously from
WLAC 1510. Fortunately, KOKC was carrying Roy Masters at the
time, and who
cares if he`s IBOCed?
Also open
carrier was dominating 1500 at 0532, instead of KSTP, so was that
KSTP? Or
Pawhuska? IBOC also audible on the other side of WLAC
I heard it as
well on 3/28 but still managed to hear KBOZ's 5 kW out
of Bozeman, MT.
The Spanish faded in and out killing KBOZ for brief
periods.
I tried to work the 1480 kHz 5 kW DX test by WHBC out of Canton, OH
Friday night
but found KLNS's 0.75 kW from Lincoln NE to pretty much
dominate that
frequency.
The Whole Earth
3/25
AUSTRALIA 2485 ABC - Katherine
0900 - Interviews, pop music,
news on half hour. Armchair quality, but only one
of the ABC domestics
audible.
PAPUA
NEW GUINEA 3315 R. Manus 1110. Idig. music pgm, female
announcer, very good signal.
U.K. 15410 R. Farda (Wooferton-?)
1515 Middle Eastern music and
rap .
PHILIPPINES 11730 R. Pilipinas
1730 opening with armchair signal
and clear IDs , program mistly in Taglish and
Tagalog.
GUAM 15320 AWR at 2245 w/ mailbag
pgm.
CHINA 13640 CRI -Jinhua to service to
Indonesia in pres. Indo lang.
MOROCCO 15345 RTV MArocaine 1900
Very strong at local noon with
m.e.music and female anncr in Arabic. Full S-9
signal on RF-2200with
telescoping antenna - but freq. confirmed with
Sangean digital dial.
SPAIN 9630 R. Ext. de Espana 2230
soccer match and closeing at
TOH leaving CBC Radio 1 alone on freq.
Yowza! After
seeing Glenn's logging of "hifer" beacon OK, I thought I'd
give it a try.
Heard between
0300 - 0315 UTC 09MAR08
3450 OK
Oklahoma 300 mw (Map indicates central OK)
4077 MO
Oklahoma 200 mw (Map indicates eastern OK Panhandle)
4094 PA
Arkansas 200 mw (Map indicates north-central Arkansas)
4112.1 FL
Florida 100 mw!! (Map indicates north-central Florida)
March 22 was a
great morning here for Papua New Guinea on
90 meters from 1155-1225 UTC. Signals were uniformly good, all building
toward my local sunrise. While all have been logged before, it was a treat to
hear the below at such nice levels:
3315 Radio
Manus with choral music, male and female announcers in English.
3325 Radio
Bougainville noted after 1200 with apparent news or commentary show with male
announcer and guests with "telephonic" audio on their segments; this
was my unID from last week----I thought this was supposed to sign off by 1200.
3335 Radio East
Sepik with beautiful choral music. Also heard after 1200, which I thought was
their sign off time (the divinely inspired and therefore inerrant
Passport to
World band Radio 2008 says 1200 sign off).
3385 Radio East
New Britain with male and female announcers and (yes!!) choral music, perhaps
the strongest of all four signals after 1210.
Tried for 3305,
3355, and 3365 outlets without luck.
These loggings
were with the Eton E5 and its whipantenna. I find myself constantly surprised
anddelighted by the performance of this little wonder!
** AUSTRIA.
Classical music is so rare on SW, that I had to pause when I came
across some on
9870, fair March 6 at 2343 – what could that be? O yes, Ö1 is
scheduled here
to SAm during this semihour only, in its complex mixture of
English, German
and Spanish. I must say, they have good taste, letting the
music play,
rather than chopping and hyping it up, like over on 15410 at the
same time
** CUBA. As
previously reported, RHC found on new unlisted 11680 during the
0000 UT hour
March 1. Did not get around to checking it again until UT March 5
at 0010 ---
yes, still there in Spanish and nothing on 11875
** CUBA. The
DentroCuban Jamming Command, for good measure, or in its customary sloppiness,
was jamming nothing but poor Bolivia on 6135, March 7 at 0003, tho it was liter
than the heavy jamming on R. República 6155, shortly after its switch from
6135.
Say, what`s the
problem with Radio República, anyway? Isn`t República de Cuba
the current
name of the country? More marxist than thou, yet never officially
renamed a
People`s Democratic Republic, or some variant thereof. Patria o
suerte, ¡pensaremos!
BTW, check out George Will`s latest column about Castro
and Cuba
** EGYPT. R.
Cairo, English to NAm, 9465, March 6 at 2315 with 4+1 timesignal
7.5 seconds
late compared to WWV (so why bother instead of a simple time
announcement?),
`News from the North American Service of Radio Cairo``, news
theme, and news
read by YL, starting with shootings in Jerusalem. By
concentrating
with headphones I was able to follow most of it, but the audio
level faded up
and down. Engaging the hi-pass audio filter on the FRG-7 helped
to minimize the
bass. She wrapped it up at 2324, I think giving her name, but
could not
understand it. Then into at least 15 minutes of uninterrupted music,
mostly Arabic
songs by a woman. Recheck at 0000 UT Fri March 7, Arabic lesson, but signal was
down a bit and now bothered by much stronger Portugal on 9460
** PORTUGAL. I
recently pointed out that a Stewart MacKenzie log of Spain in
Spanish on
11620 must really have been Portugal in Portuguese, as scheduled.
However, March
6 just as I tuned across 11620 at 2249, it was in Spanish!
Listening a bit
longer, this turned out to be an interview with some silly
ballgame figure
from Spain. The interviewer spoke in Portuguese and the
interviewee
answered in Castilian, neither taking the trouble to speak the
other`s
language, and no translations were included, nor apparently were they
thought to be
needed. So you may indeed hear Spanish from RDPI under these
circumstances.
Also // on much weaker 11960
** RUSSIA. Tho
there was little doubt, on March 6 I made sure that the station
taking over
6020 after Australia closes is Family Radio, as scheduled via
Samara. At
1357, Russian marker tones periodically under RA, which played
Waltzing
Matilda 1358-1359*. Then sure enough, starting a few seconds after
1400, Family
Radio trumpet theme.
This is Telugu,
a 140 degree beam across south India from the site at 50-15
East, 53-17
North, per Aoki. Checking Kuybyshev (its Soviet name) as on my old
NGS globe, I
find that the great circle to Enid heads about 153 degrees from
Samara, not too
far off; goes to 76 degrees south near McMurdo, and is all over
water from S
Asia to the SW coast of Mexico. How about the greyline?
Set for 1400 UT
March 6 at http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Earth
we see that
there is a lot
more light on the short path across northern Greenland this time
of year,
tangent to 76 degrees north, than there is the much longer long path.
This plus the
fact that I am not hearing anything else from any part of Europe
on 49m at the
time, leads me to conclude that this reception is indeed
long-path
** TURKEY. VOT
still doesn`t have its act together on how to handle the Live
from Turkey
anomalies twice a week. I listened to the Tuesday March 4 edition
on webcast at
1950-2020 UT [broadcast on 6050] (no callers, lots of music, gab
about
Turkey/US/Kurdistan relations, etc.), and checked the 2300 UT webcast too
[broadcast on 5960]: The opening program summary admitted it was a replay of the
1930 UT broadcast, and said Live from Turkey would ensue. But at 2323 ---no Live
from Turkey! Switched around this time to alternate programming,
presumably
duplicating the 1330 UT transmission [broadcast on 12035, 11735]
with Economic
Weekly show instead
** U S A. Just
how early does WWRB start its big band prélude on 5050? Per FCC and HFCC B-07,
5050 is available to WWRB only from 0000 to 0500. There have been reports of it
from before 2330, but on March 6 I found it already going at 2259 tune-in, lots
of familiar tunes including American Patrol (jazzed up) at
2308. Very good
signal. Checked other WWRB frequencies and found 6890 // 9385 with hymn,
presumably the Brother Scare service, breaking for Dave Frantz lofi ID at
hourtop, which I never heard, nor any other announcement, on 5050
** ECUADOR [and
non]. DRM buzz from HCJB on new frequency March 7 and 8 to avoid DW 14-20 via
Kigali, Sines on 15275. Supposed to be on 15480-15485-15490 at 1400-2100, but
already on at 1343 March 7, nominal 4 kW transmitter power, but quite a bit
stronger than neighboring DRM from Vatican on 15510-15515-15520 which was
scheduled only until 1400. Also checked the third special for the SWL Winter
Fest, and it was on too at 1355, TDF Guiana French, 17835-17840-17845, which had
also changed from its usual 17870-17875-17880 to avoid some interference.
However, on Saturday, 17840 will collide with Lisbon from 1400, weekends only
** ISRAEL.
Galei Zahal, 15781.8, talk in Hebrew at 1443 March 7, poor signal,
but better than
an hour before when IBA was much stronger in Hebrew on 15760
** KOREA NORTH
[non]. Shiokaze via JSR, Japan, 5985, in English once again on Friday March 7 at
1404, this time with chronology of news about NK, at this
point Feb 20 on
de-nuclearization, next item dated Feb 21; hard to understand
due to accent;
34333
** ROMANIA [and
non]. March 7 at 1349 was getting 5 Hz SAH on REE via Costa Rica, 15170, as REE
was ending Gallego news segment; some talk audible from the QRM; at 1444
recheck, REE had gone and was getting music and talk with continuous
crackle/breakup in the modulation tho carrier was steady. Checking listings
later, must be RRI Galbeni, in Romanian as scheduled, well-known for its audio
problems, at 285 degrees, more or less toward Costa Rica! Great coördination
** RUSSIA.
Another check for 8GAL, 6074 proved negative as it has been for the
past week, but
March 7 at 1400. R. Rossii 6075 timesignal closing after jazz
was 5.5 seconds
late compared to WWV! If you can`t do any better than that, you
should not
pretend to broadcast an accurate timesignal
** RUSSIA. YFR
via Samara longpath, 6020, checked again March 7 at 1402: just buzz/hum, no
modulation audible, but at 1406 recheck presumed Telugu talk
mixing with hum
** SAUDI
ARABIA. 17660, March 7 at 1429 in French giving address for ``Club de l`Auditeur``,
but couldn`t copy it, fading in and out; after 1430 mentioned
Côte d`Ivoire
several times. Consulting PWBR 2008 you will have no leads on
this, but it`s
the French service of BSKSA at 1400, beamed due west from
Riyadh. This
misses Ivory Coast, crossing sparsely inhabited northern regions
of ex-French
West Africa, Chad, Niger, Mali, finally not far from Bamako
** SOUTH
CAROLINA [non]. Brother Scare on 15325, March 7 at 1455, barely
audible in
skirts of Martí Greenville 15330, but unmistakable hoarseness, and
// WWRB 9385.
This is Nauen 14-16, 100 kW, 165 degrees
** U S A. 7457,
Friday March 7 at 1410, Air Force MARS net on SSB, NCS AFA2AJ, first ``calling
all stations in Puerto Rico``, and asking for relays; then
North Carolina,
then Kentucky, Georgia with a few check-ins; constant RTTY QRM from 7455.
Googling AFA2AJ, the top four hits (why??) were from the Russian bulletin World
DX quoting other logs of this including 7457-USB, from
Starchat/UDXF
but not mentioning location. Searching on UDXF yg itself only got
two hits on the
callsign, one from Sept 2007, and another from Aug 2006, in
fact the same
logs picked up by World DX. A very seldom-reported station!
Another Google
hit had afa2aj as part of an e-mail address by someone
participating
in something to do with a Nuclear Regulatory Commission seminar
in April 2005,
``Presentation by Dr. Norman Abrahamson and Dr. Lloyd Cluff on
the new
generation ground motion attenuation model and results for large
magnitude
earthquakes.``
Another hit led
to this: ``TRAINING MESSAGES: AFA2AJ IS CERTIFIED AS ALTERNATE REGION TRAINER TO
EXCHANGE TRAINING MESSAGES WITH TRAINEE STATIONS. THIS STATION IS AUTHORIZED TO
AWARD OR DENY CREDIT FOR TRAINING TRAFFIC EXCHANGES.``
from:
USAF MARS
Virginia Communicator Region 2 Bulletin,
http://usafmars.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/region-2-bulletin/
Another hit led
to an image of the shack, but possibly disinformation, since
it`s apparently
the Air Force Academy, nowhere near Virginia;
http://img311.imageshack.us/my.php?image=afa2aj.jpg
See where a hard-to-copy SSB log can lead?
**
PRIDNESTROVYE. Wonder what became of Radio PMR? No sign of anything on 6240,
Friday March 7 at 2332 check, nor at 0023 recheck March 8. I remember hearing it
as usual, but not bothering to log it, one day earlier after 0000 UT March 7 in
English
** U S A. KVOH
spurs heard again, March 7 at 2308: having listened to R.
Australia 17785
most of the previous hour without any problem from strong
17775, I tuned
around 16m and found a noise blob very close to 17920 where KVOH spurs have
appeared before. Mixed with the noise were modulation peaks, which I could //
with 17775, talk interview with someone on phone, so that`s the source, plus 145
kHz. Then checked for a match on minus 145 kHz = 17630 and could hear the same
pitched noise, tho quite a bit weaker against local noise level
** U S A. As
feared, WORLD OF RADIO was missing from Area 51, WBCQ, 5111+v, at its usual
Friday 2330 time, March 7. Did not check until 2355, but did not hear any
modulation on the reduced carrier with USB; webcast was playing music. Nor has
the March 7+ Area 51 schedule been posted on WBCQ Forums, another casualty I
suppose of the Winter SWL Fest. Let`s hope things are back to normal from March
14, when, however, we assume everything will be one UT hour earlier due to silly
daylight shifting time, thus WOR Fridays at 2230, immediately losing an hour of
nighttime propagation in addition to the gradually latering sunsets
** U S A [non].
CVC A Sua Voz commits another cardinal sin in presenting
classical
music, ``Sem Limites``, on 15410 via Chile, March 7 at 2328: talking
over the tail
end of a piece and fading it out, in order to introduce a
3-minute break
consisting of jarringly over-produced promotions for something
or other with
music that was anything but classical. Tune out in disgust. BTW,
the audio
processing is not suitable for classical music either, everything
pushed up for
minimum dynamic range, plus generally low fidelity
** VENEZUELA
[non]. Bandscan of 19m, March 7 at 2322 found a big gaping hole on 15250 where
huge signal from RNV via Cuba normally resides during this hour. But it cut on
at *2324 in the midst of their habitually outdated transmission schedule
announcement, then ``Mari2`` folk song, and started ``Efemérides`` but cut off
the air again at 2327* before date could be mentioned. Then checked // 13680 and
it was also missing. Both came on again at *2330
** CUBA [and
non]. DentroCuban Jamming Command, wall of noise centered on 15330 against Radio
Martí, March 8 at 1405, was also putting out spurious spikes as far as
15305-15355, the latter audible under WYFR. Also same sounding spikes on 15495,
next to HCJB DRM 15480-15485-15490. Recheck at 1537, the spikes had built up to
more severity, bothering Morocco Arabic on 15345, also vs Saudi Arabia Arabic
15435-15445; and the upper set 15485-15495 vs HCJB DRM was matched by a lower
set at 15165-15175, i.e. plus and minus 155-165 kHz from 15330
** GUIANA
FRENCH. TDF DRM test to SWL Winter Fest, 17835-17840-17845, March 8 at 1401.
Only heard DRM noise and no AM from Portugal, which is scheduled weekends only
on 17840; however 16m European reception was far below normal with e.g. Spain
17595 just barely audible instead of usual inbooming. Even from the east coast
among DRM monitors I don`t see any mention of Portugal causing problems. Next I
checked at 2028, 17835-17840-17845 was DRM-free; I believe a DRM monitor said
they closed at 2009. For those wondering, all my ``DRM`` logs are just of the
noise, as I am not sufficiently motivated to try to monitor DRM as intended
** INDONESIA.
RRI was good on 60 meters, March 8; it helped a lot to tune in an
hour earlier
than I usually do, at 1304: 4605 Serui was best at S9+20 with
warta berita,
// 4790 Fak2, and at 1306 also // 4920 Biak when M&W were
talking, still
in news, I think. However at 1305, 4870 Wamena was in music not
// the others.
At 1308, 4605 heard mentioning ``RRI [pronounced air-air-ee]. .
. warta berita``.
At 1351, 4605 was still holding up well with music and more
flutter than
before, also 4790 with not // music, and CODAR worst there; also
at 1351, 4920
was somewhat stronger than 4870. Missing was 4750 Makassar, even at the earliest
1304 check. There were also some Chinese frequencies audible, interspersed. VOI
9526 was missing this date before and after 1400 ** OKLAHOMA. Have been looking
for the ``OK`` hifer beacon on 3450, as recently
reported from
as far away as Michigan, but must have been off or below my
considerable
local noise level. But heard March 8 at 1310 with nothing but A1 =
CW ID ``OK``
ten times per minute, peaking S9+8, fortunately a bit above the
current noise
level, and a bit below 3450.0. It was still detectable at 1408,
1444, 1547, and
2031 UT. WHERE in Oklahoma is it, I wonder? I suppose this is
secret since it
is not exactly licensed. The website
http://highfrequencybeaconsociety.bravehost.com/beacons.html
gives no
specific location, but claims it is 24/7, running 300 Megawatts! I
should get it
on my teeth. O, I`ll bet they mean millwatts, if not microwatts,
since they
don`t know their M/m/u metric prefixes.
``OK 3450 Khz
solar power 300Mw end fed wire 24/7 Location: Oklahoma``
And there`s
another one in state for me to seek next:
``MO 4077 Khz
solar 200Mw 118ft end fed wire 24/7 Location: Oklahoma``
** PORTUGAL.
Nice Portuguese music on 15465, Saturday March 8 until 2000* Can`t imagine why
RDPI did not have a silly ballgame runing on a Saturday evening, but fine with
me
** SUDAN [non].
SSIRI, 15675 fair via South Africa, Sat March 8 at 1400, YL
opening
elementary English lessons with usual doorbells, etc. Not always
audible, but
scheduled Tue/Thu/Sat 1400-1430
Geophysical
Alert Message # Solar-terrestrial indices for 07 March follow.
Solar flux 71
and mid-latitude A-index 2. The mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC
on 08 March was
4 (48 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past
24 hours. No
space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours
** TAIWAN
[non]. Happened to stop on 5950, RTI via WYFR, March 8 at 0257 as
they were
closing with English transmission schedule. Tho very strong signal as
usual, the
modulation was suppressed by an even stronger carrier which came on at 0258.
There was an occasional SAH ripple when one took a brief fade. What could this
be? RTI is in English via WYFR at both 0200 and repeated at 0300 on 5950. But
from this, it appears that two different WYFR transmitters are
involved, and
they did not turn off the first one before the second one came
on. Yes, there
is a beam change from 355 to 285 degrees, but instead of
switching
antennas on a single transmitter, they just use two different
transmitters
–-- why not? They`ve got a dozen --- and not have to make a quick
antenna switch.
Surprised no one has noted this overlap before, as far as I
know
** U S A. WHRI,
Sat March 8 at 1358, tuned in 11785 just in time to hear Marie
Lamb`s ``take
care`` closing, and then immediately the WHR announcer with
frequency
change announcement from 7520 to next frequency, 11785! But, but,
this was
already on 11785. He doesn`t even know which frequency he is really
on! So had the
axual QSY just been made a few minutes before hourtop, or was
DXing with
Cumbre totally on 11785 already from 1330? Furthermore, DST starting the next
day will mess things up more. I expect Hmong Lao Radio to settle at 1300-1400
Sun & Sat on 11785 instead of 1400-1500 UT, so will DWC be at 1230 instead,
and on which frequency?
** GUATEMALA. I
rarely send reception reports for QSL, but can hardly refuse
when directly
invited by the station to do so. So my log of Feb 20 as in DXLD
8-022 was
e-mailed to R. Verdad, 4052.5v, and the reply came in the P-mail
March 12. The
unsealed envelope was secured by one little piece of mystik tape,
which had been
broken, so I can`t be sure everything originally in the envelope
was still
there, but nevertheless it contained:
1, a very nice
pennant (or banner as they call it) on yellow background with
frills hanging
below, with the usual slogans and logos. I will scan and
availablize the
image along with the QSL in my gallery
http://www.worldofradio.com/QSL.html
The pennant has
a somewhat rubbery backing, and the obverse of the QSL card was stuck to that,
but could be peeled off without much damage. A faint image of
the card
remains on the back of the pennant, as some of the green ink came off
2, QSL card as
illustrated on their own website, showing a quetzal, and labeled
QSL 8 for 8th
anniversary. Filled in my name, location, date and time of
reception.
Still has some rubbery residue from the pennant. Blank on the back
3, yellow
sticker with some of the same slogans and logos as the pennant
4, faux cheque
from the Banco Vida Eterna, with numerous Bible verses, and
signed by `Jesucristo`.
Even has `safety` text in the entire background of the
obverse, Juan
3:16
5, slip of
paper with drawing of 7 figures à la the ascent of man from ape to
sapiens,
instead from a guy holding a wine glass degenerating to a pig with a
keg, ``El
acoholo adormece al hombre, para despertar a la bestia.`` -- Dr.
Saint Jacques
[not if you drink in moderation; good for you]
6, five pages
of printed material, similar to what is on their website
http://www.radioverdad.org starting with a
customized letter in English
addressed to
me, dated Feb 26, enumerating all the countries whence reports
have come,
saying power is now 650 watts, at 89-32-15 W, 14-48-10 N. Signed by Dr. Édgar
Amílcar Madrid who recounts his background and the history of the
station. Since
a child, he always wanted to be on the uncrowded 75 meter band,
and got his
wish
7, another
sheet, `Radiation Area of Radio Truth` with a little world map
centered on
Chiquimula (not great circle azimuthal equidistant), and 4 separate
lists of
reports received in the past 8 years, by continents, countries,
departments of
Guatemala, and `states` of Canada, Mexico, USA
8, program
schedule in English (tho most of the programming is axually in
Spanish), in
time order 5 am to 24:05 with more than 44 entries, for Monday
through
Saturday only; Sunday: Special Programming. However, at 16:30-17:00
some day, not
clear which, as there is another entry for the same semihour, =
2230-2300 UT,
there is E Imb`utz Ajk`in (The Good News, in Chortí). Maybe it`s
Saturday only
I see that the
early morning show I heard when I discovered Radio Verdad eight
years ago, is
still on the schedule, presumably with the same choo-choo sound
effects, The
Gospel Train, at 5:25-6 am = 1125-1200 UT, a time pointed out in
the literature,
when TGAV is DXable at great distances, just before local
sunrise
9, What to do
if the band is very noisy to tune ``RADIO TRUTH``, tips on
orienting
antenna, preferably 25 to 100 meters long, and avoiding noise sources
10, 2008
calendar on card stock, also promoting the program Volviendo a Jesús,
which is also
on some Guatemalan FM stations, and Honduran AM stations, same as received
before
11, the
lightweight airmail envelope, with red and blue parallelograms around
all borders,
also has logos of RV and Volviendo a Jesús, Romans 12:21, and
three stamps,
two of which for Q6.50 each are identical, an old Q5 quetzal
stamp on the
new stamps, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Guatemalan Philatelic
Association, 1932-2007; unfortunately, like on the previous mailing, the third
stamp is pasted on top of the other two; this one from the same set, for Q1.00
showing an old Q1 stamp in different colors of the same old bird
perched on a
corinthian pedestal. Lightly handstamped postmark for 27 FEB
Our
congratulations to Dr Madrid on the anniversary, and appreciation for an
individual
broadcaster enthusiastic about shortwave, who is trying to make a
difference in
his country and beyond. Although he says, ``Lightning have
destroyed a
part of our main short wave transmitter several times, and we have
made many vain
efforts to convince our Government to provide us with an FM
frequency
besides the SW.``
The recently
published e-mail correspondence in Spanish with Magidel Cruz R. in Mexico
mentioned that R. Verdad has also been denied power increases on SW beyond 1 kW,
since Honduras does not want his station to be audible there,
altho it is
anyway
** LIBYA. V. of
Africa, 17725, seldom audible during English bihour, but one of
the better
signals on 16m, March 11 at 1414, YL with stilted exposition about
African unity
and Al-Fatah`s rôle in it. Can`t help but wonder if MAQ himself
writes this
stuff and mandates it be translated and broadcast
** OKLAHOMA.
Another hifer beacon in the state, ``MO`` easily heard on 4077,
1250 UT March
11, nothing but repeated MO in A1=CW, ten times per minute. S9 plus 15
** U S A. Dave
Frantz keeps asking me if I have heard his beacon LYQ on 529
kHz. Now I can
say yes. Driving in Enid at 0424 UT March 11, on 530 kHz had a
big het against
hymn and Spanish announcement from RVC. At times I could hear a bit of code but
not enough to copy full ID, nor hear the voice weather info,
but no doubt
this is it. Of course, this was on caradio with no way to side
tune, notch, or
null. I was also reminded of severe noise problems at various
locations,
especially next to Walgreens, whose security system (?) wipes out
the MW band.
(And a second Walgreens is UC here now!) While LYQ may be
excellently
engineered to get out better than your average beacon, I`m still
baffled why he
would want it to be on 529 kHz, even tho so authorized, 1 kHz
from several
broadcast stations. Just a few kHz lower would be better for all
concerned,
unless there is some ulterior motive. Dave indicates the US
government
chose the frequency
** ALGERIA
[non]. 7295, March 16 at 0617, eerie chanting, alternating talk in
Arabic and
Qur`an, 0620 fading down a bit and fluttering, still past 0632.
Consulting PWBR
one has no clues on this one --- certainly not AIR Aizawl,
India or TRAXX
FM, Malaysia, the only two 7295 stations shown as on the air at
this hour.
Could not catch
any ID, but this is Algeria`s Qur`an service 0400-0700 via
Issoudun,
France, 500 kW at 162 degrees, per Aoki, which began in December of January.
Competes with Tunisia 7275/7190 for late night trance-induxion.
Stewart
MacKenzie had also reported this as Unknown, March 11 at 0453 ** AUSTRALIA. RA,
6020, interesting discussion on religion with author Val
Webb, March 16
at 1323-1355, including that Yahweh started out as Abraham`s
city god (each
city or clan had one), and then got promoted to the only god;
how Christians
limited their god by portraying him in art as an old man, rather
than a breath.
Music breaks included Pilgrims` Chorus from Tannhäuser, and Do
You Hear the
People Sing from Les Mis. This is the Sunday Nights program
originating
with ABC Local Radio. The website does not yet have working links
to the latest
show, but presumably will be upcoming:
http://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/
Reception was
OK tho buzzy station barely audible underneath, Vietnam? And from 1354, Russian
tones preceding YFR via Samara, longpath
** COSTA RICA.
Several weeks after it first happened, REE via Cariari de Pococí remains
exactly 1 kHz off frequency, 5964, obviously the case as it produces a big het
against 5965 stations such as Cuba or Vatican. Now the infexion has spread to
another Cariari relay frequency, 9765. Tuning across 31m, March 16 at 1313,
heard a two-pitched het with VOA 9760 and some weak signal on 9765. Yes, REE on
9764! Checked their other CR frequency, 15170, but it was not on 15169, yet. In
noting the HONDURAS carrier on 3340, Sunday March 16 at 0446, I found REE
on 3350 or so; HFCC has this Tue-Sat only at 0200-0600, but other listings show
it daily, so the latter are correct; anyhow, I should have measured 3350 to see
if it is offset too; next time
** CUBA. Dentro
Cuban Jamming Command, running at full force on 6100, March 16 at 0440. No trace
of Radio República, which supposedly closes on this frequency at 0400, and I
don`t think has ever been reported later than 0400, but hey, burn up some more
megawatts just in case. The collateral victim of this is TWR Swaziland which
opens at 0400 on 6100.
BTW, Aoki says
this RR frequency is Sackville, and with WRMI brokering, at
0200-0400
Tue-Sat. But as Jeff White has maintained repeatedly, these RR
transmissions
on 49m have nothing whatsoever to do with WRMI, just the ones on 9955; and
surely the 6135/6155/6100 broadcasts are 7 days a week.
R. Rebelde,
5025, with béisbol play by play, 0442 UT Sunday March 16. Rather
late game,
approaching local midnite, or is this normal in Cuba? Night games
are no doubt
more comfortable in the tropix, but burn up more lighting power
** HONDURAS. I
have noted an open carrier several times late at night on 3340.
I can only
assume this is HRMI. Stayed with it 0446-0450 UT March 16, but no
trace of any
modulation here between CHU and REE. Wonder if they just turn on
the transmitter
and assume it is axually modulating, wasting wattage.
Supposedly
scheduled at least until 0600
** LAOS [non].
So much for trying to second-guess what WHR will do with
scheduling
Hmong Lao Radio. Sunday March 9, first day of DST, it was not on in
the 1400 UT
hour as it had been all winter on 11785, since DXing With Cumbre
was noted at
1435. Did not check whether HLR was on before 1400. Yet the next
broadcast of
HLR, Saturday March 15, WAS on in the 1400 UT hour on 11785, as heard at 1450.
The website http://www.h-lr.com/ with more than a
megahit,
continues to
claim it is Sat & Sun at 8 am Central time, i.e. 1300 UT!
However, on
Sunday March 16, HLR was going at 1310 on 11785, and DXing With Cumbre was going
with Chris Lob,dell at 1440. So will they manage to get HLR on at 1300 instead
of 1400 coming Saturdays?
Hmaybe next
weekend they will get it straightened out
** RUSSIA. R.
Rossii, Petropavlovsk, 6075, monitored 1357-1402 March 16. 5+1
timesignal at
1400 was 4 seconds late compared to WWV, and again no sign of
8GAL, CW on
6074
** COLOMBIA
[and non]. Marfil Estéreo, 5910, underneath Russian at 0534 March 20, and
making a low het with it. That`s DW via Rampisham scheduled at
0500-0630, 48
degrees
** COSTA RICA.
REE relay, 9675, March 20 at 0530, with semi-hour timesignal,
ID, and //
5964. Another frequency which has not yet stepped down a kHz
** CUBA. DST of
UT -4 started here March 16; Arnie ``sounds like a phone-in``
Coro mentioned
this in a news item at 0529 UT March 19 on 6000, as happening
``this past
weekend`` to save energy, etc., (rather than to catch up with the
USA which went
on DST a week before). March 30 had been the expected change date for Cuba at
timeanddate.com but they have already corrected that to March 16 at 0500 UT.
This should have no effect on RHC UT scheduling, except possibly some domestic
programs relayed such as Mesa Redonda. There`s a time check every day at 1402 UT
on multiple RHC frequencies such as 12000; last week they said it was 9:02 am;
on March 19 they said it was 10:02 am.
But what about
Radio Rebelde? On March 19 I went looking for the mid-day
broadcast which
I figured would now start at 1600 UT = local noon, but no sign
of it on any of
the previously monitored frequencies, 17735, 17555, 15570,
15370, 13750,
11655. EiBi and Aoki can`t agree on which ones start at 1600 or
1630 or 1700.
17735 is occupied anyway by CRI Sackville until 1700, and 17555
has WYFR from
1700.
Checked again
and again, around 1630, 1700, 1730, 1800 but no trace of any
activity from
Rebelde during these hours when plenty of transmitters are
available, the
break between RHC`s morning and afternoon programming. I did not scan all bands
thoroly, however, in case frequencies other than the above be
used. So is
this service closed? ** CUBA. Yet another complaint against the DentroCuban
Jamming Command: March 17 at 0546, I found rapid clix like ``Geiger counter``
peaking at several places in the 10 MHz area, approx.: 10120, 10065, 10010,
9905, 9845, 9790. Note these are 50-60 kHz apart, centered around: 9955! Where
there was heavy jamming against WRMI, but this jamming was the usual roar, not
the Geiger counter; it also extended a little further away from 9955 than usual.
Therefore, I think these are spurs from the jammers on 9955.
BTW, there
should have been no jamming on 9955 at this hour since the program scheduled is:
Studio DX, the Italian DX program by Robert Scaglione! That`s UT Monday at
0530-0600; however, on UT Saturday and Sunday, Radio República is on 9955 at
0500-0700, per the grid at http://www.wrmi.net/images/wrmichart.xls
** HONDURAS.
Once again, 3340 with open carrier instead of HRMI programming,March 20 at 0532
check
** MOROCCO.
15345, very undermodulated talk in Arabic, March 17 at 2006; no
comparison with
audio on 15315 Bonaire, for instance. This must be RTVM, as in
EiBi, tho it
hides out from HFCC, as does RAE Argentina, which did not even
figure as a het
at this time
** ZAMBIA.
9430, March 17 at 0544, interview in English about status of women
in India;
interviewer had Oz accent, so it must be Zambia! Yes, CVC scheduled
from Lusaka at
05-06 on 9430, 315 degrees, headed our way beyond West Africa. Good signal
**
HONDURAS. Open carrier again on 3340, presumed HRMI, March 22 at 0527-0530
check. Wake up!
** INDONESIA.
VOI was active on 9526, March 21 at 1355 as a bit early ran the
IS and English
announcement that they were transitioning from Korean to
Indonesian.
This is really insulting --- English is good enough for such
continuity
announcements, and they also do English IDs inside other language
services, but
they won`t put an axual English language hour on the air when we
could hear it
well, e.g. at 1300
** LAOS [non].
Saturday March 22, WHR filled 11785 as follows: 1300 Hmong Lao Radio, 1400 Hmong
World Christian Radio, 1430 DXing with Cumbre. That`s
extrapolated
from chex as follows: 1355 HLR music; 1359 hymn music and
short-version
of WHR OCS ID, 1400 HWCR opening with lots of MHz mentioned (FM affiliates), and
http://hwcr.us website given in English; 1455,
DWC closing
theme music.
The online program schedule at http://www.whr.org/customcf/dsp_schedule_read.cfm?Search=Angel1
has been
corrected to show HLR at 1300 both Sat & Sun, but still shows HWCR as 1500
Sat instead of 1400!
** MEXICO.
Sorry to note that XEYU, Radio UNAM has been missing again lately from 9599.3v,
such as March 21 at 1355 check
** U S A.
Brother Scare expanding on WBCQ. March 21 at 0505, I found 7415 still on the
air, with B.S. Previous closedown on weeknights has been 0430 after
Herald of
`Truth`, until next programming day starting at 1700. But rechecked
at 1335 UT,
7415 was still/again on the air with B.S.! At that time he was
talking about
WBCQ. Allan Weiner had come to see him (in Walterboro,
apparently),
and BS is now on 7415 at 12:30-3:30 am 7 days (= 0430-0730 UT). Or more,
obviously. This conflicts with WORLD OF RADIO, Mondays 0415-0445, so I will have
to ask Allan what gives with that?
Furthermore,
B.S. is praying about whether to take over 15420 fulltime, when
WBCQ moves
there April 1. (Actually, registrations have been changed to allow
WBCQ to go to
15420 already March 14, from 1400 to 2300, but when is it really
starting? Not
heard yet.) He too mentioned that 15420 was formerly WRNO`s
frequency. B.S.
went on to reminisce about The Fury. This 7415 broadcast was
about 1 second
ahead of WWRB 9385, and much better audio than he ever gets on WWRB. At 1429
recheck, 7415 was not heard. But what about the current clients on 17495, which
15420 will replace? Namely The Zeph Report, Global Spirit Proclamation and Good
Friends Radio Network.
[later:] Allan
Weiner of WBCQ explains that Brother Scare`s 0430-0730 time on
7415 is EXCEPT
for Tom & Darryl and WORLD OF RADIO, so we should still be heard UT Mondays
0415-0445. However, checked at 0540 UT March 22, no signal on 7415
** U S A.
George Jacobs tells me that KTBN will be closing down permanently at
0100 UT March
30. So DX it while you can on 15590 or 7505. We suspected that
was going to
happen, as another client of his, WRNO, gets those two frequencies
for A-08.
George says WRNO hopes to start testing their Katrina-damaged
transmitter in
early April, and programming in late April, but that`s only
tentative. In
turn, WBCQ gets former WRNO unused frequency 15420 from April 1, ex-17495
** ANGUILLA.
DGS, 11775, on late still at 2206 March 22, over CCI, presumably
Chicom jamming
and/or RFA Cantonese via Tinian. Yup, nothing yet on 6090, where AIA is supposed
to QSY at 2200
** CANADA. RCI
can`t be bothered to broadcast the National Anthem, but the CBC Northern Quebec
service does, at closedown 0506-0508* March 23 on 9625; tone test for a few
seconds before transmitter off. Preceding sign-off announcement by YL in French
with strange accent, Inuk? Tnx to DST, this no longer collides with Bonaire
which does not open until 0559
** ECUADOR
[non]. The Arabic Christian service HCJB is involved in, transmitted via
Sackville, 12025, logged March 22 closing at 2141 giving website
http://www.arabicbroadcasting.com --- those
words were pronounced as in
English,
appropriately. But then the announcer spelled out the letters,
pronouncing
them in French! And then gave a P-mail address in Málaga, España. O, how
multicultural! 2144-2145* RCI IS and ID loop
** SOUTH
CAROLINA [non]. Brother Scare once again audible on WBCQ 7415 far beyond the
scheduled time, at 1359 UT March 23
** U K [non].
BBCWS final SW broadcasts in Western Hemisphere:
Made a point of
listening for the next-to-last time to BBC WS in English to
America, March
22 at 2149-2159* on 11675-Greenville, better than // 9525 WHRI, in Newshour
discussion of US economy`s effect on rest of world. 11675 marred from *2157 by
RNV CI via Cuba OC, IS and sign-on, which in turn got ACI from WYFR in Arabic on
11665, take that! At 2209 BBCWS was still going on 9525, but nothing on 5975,
which had been the // via GUF.
Next day: I was
listening to 9525, as little if any signal on 5975. At 2256
March 23, Jerry
Simmons, head of ME/Af division, was talking about ``retaining
trust of
listeners``, in yet another self-serving interview, on Over To You.
Then brief
announcement at 2258-2259 said shortwave transmissions to the
Caribbean are
closing today, as if a groundswell of listeners had demanded they
broadcast on
FM, internet only; WHRI ID and off. Since 9525 (and 5875, 9660 in
the morning)
were picked by and for BBC usage, I`ll not be surprised if WHRI
goes somewhere
else during the ex-BBC hours. 11675 Greenville was also on
again, for the
last time during the 21 UT hour; 2128 BBC theme and ID
** VENEZUELA
[non]. No sign of ``Aló, Presidente`` on any of the usual
frequencies,
Sunday March 23 at 1505 check. HCF observing Easter? However,
Cuban
transmitters observed at 1402: 13680 with big hum, 13760 with little hum
** ZIMBABWE
[non]. SW Radio Africa, 12035, March 23 during 1800 hour was fairly, audible
here; at 1857 retune found it colliding with REE IS until 1859, prior
to their French
broadcast. They should have been asked to crash-start. The REE
IS is one of
those which is very nice to hear once, not a dozen times in a row.
Anyhow, they
will no longer abut 12035 in A-08
** ALGERIA. ~1
kHz het on WLS 890, March 25 at 0530, surely Algeria as often
heard before,
but this time on my new Sony SRF-59 ultralight barefoot, given by
Kraig Krist.
However, people may relax. No doubt I will make good use of this
radio, but as
soon as a fad develops, I run in the other direxion, and am not
about to join
the ultralight craze, dropping everything else, giving up my
bigger radios,
which has overtaken once serious DX groups. BTW, axually pulling identifiable
audio from Algeria 891 is quite another matter on any radio this far inland
** MEXICO. XEYU,
Radio UNAM, back on 9599.3v, March 24 at 2152 with classical, het, after missing
a few days. Also heard since then, but seems quite weaker
** TURKEY. V.
of Turkey announced their 2008y contest during Live from Turkey
on March 25, as
heard on webcast [6050 broadcast at 1950]: this essay writing
contest is
titled ``Why the Voice of Turkey?`` Tell us about ourselves --- are
you pleased
with our programming? Suggestions to make it better? Satisfied?
Maximum two
pages [undefined]. Deadline 7/31/08 [postmark or receipt?]. There
will be 8
winners of a 12-day holiday in Turkey beginning this October. Send to
VOT, P O Box
333, 06443 Yeneshehir, Ankara, Turkey, or englishdesk at
trt.net.tr
That`s a paraphrase of the announcement which no doubt will be
heard many more
times. IIRC, no one writing in English won last year
** U K [non].
WHRI still on 9525 during ex-BBCWS hours, March 24 at 2150 check, but playing
gospel rock fill music, of which they have an endless supply. WHR online
schedule still shows BBC during the 4 hours previously relayed. Hey, why not
just `fill` with BBC anyway, a helluva lot better than that music, whether BBC
buys the time or not. Would BBC disallow?
**
U S A [non?]. VOA in African language at 1504 March 24 on 9605, soon
confirmed with
VOA jingles at 1509, to 1530* with usual non-specific sign-off.
This was so
strong I just about concluded it had to be Greenville, probably an
early
replacement for Morocco; atop some CCI which would be BBC Singapore in Chinese,
jamming. However, listings show the 1500-1530 broadcast on 9605 is VOA Hausa via
São Tomé, 335 degrees, so it`s azimuthally favorable for us.
Greenville is
used at other times for Hausa aimed east, and I would expect to
see more usage,
at least temporarily, of Greenville for Africa as Morocco
demises
** VENEZUELA
[non]. RNV CI via Cuba, 11680, March 24 at 1511 check had YL in English doing
hard-to-follow voiceover to a Chávez pronouncement
UNIDENTIFIED.
Checked 2980 as reported by the Albertans, March 25 around 0550, and
occasionally traces of music surfaced above the high local noise level;
that`s all
** ALBANIA. R.
Tirana, 7425, March 30 at 0233, poor but audible with high local
noise level,
usual English opening with transmission schedule. Propagation from
Europe above 6
MHz band was quite degraded. The 0330 broadcast was barely
detectable.
** COSTA RICA.
No sign of ELCOR test, 5954.1, Sat March 29 around 2250 or 2320 chex; has anyone
been hearing it lately?
** COSTA RICA.
REE relay, still off-frequency on 9764.0, March 30 at 0218 in
Spanish, much
weaker than DGS CR on 9725, 15 vs 21 over S9; however, REE // 9675 was much
stronger than 9764. BTW, 9675 is a smidgen on the hi side but
nowhere near 1
kHz off
** CUBA. RHC`s
new 11680 still in use tho not on schedules, March 30 at 0217
check in
Spanish; fair but fading, with not much else audible on 25m.
6140, March 30
at 0248 with lo-fi narration, historical lecture; sounds like a
TV soundtrack,
// better 5965 but the two a reverb apart so different sites or
feed routes.
Cartas a la
Redacción, mailbag program on RHC, UT Sun March 30 at 0310 on 6060 saying the
show is scheduled Sats at 10:10 am and 11:10 pm Habana time. This is an external
service, so why do they expect those abroad to know or care what time it is in
Habana, which doesn`t even stay the same from one month to the next? That would
be Sat 1410 and Sun 0310 UT
** CUBA [and
non]. Dentro-Cuban Jamming Command notes: March 29 at 2310, R. Martí in the
clear on 9565, no jamming audible, tho RHC signal was good on
9550.
As for the
radio war with Radio República: March 30 at 0225 the jamming was on
6185 against
innocent bystander Radio Educación, with Mexican music, while RR was axually on
6100 at this hour, and totally free of jamming; 0227 ID and
slogan ``ni el
tirano ni su hermano`` which rhymes a lot better in Spanish than
in English.
At 0258, 6100
irrelevantly announcing that they were closing on 9955, and
giving RR
schedule there as Sat-Sun 1-3 am, 12-5 pm, 10-12 midnight, zone not
specified. Now
some jamming was audible underneath 6100. 0259 another
announcement
claiming that RR was ceasing 6185 and moving to 6100 at ``9 pm`` --- but it`s 11
pm in Miami and Habana and it`s already on 6100!
Transmission
break of a few seconds just before 0300 allowed jamming only to be heard
briefly. This is suspicious, indicating a possible site and/or antenna
change. 6100 is
generally listed as Sackville without adequate proof, IMO. At
0313 jamming
had overcome RR on 6100, and at 0317 XEPPM was in the clear on 6185, but
squeezed by 6180 Cuba and 6190
** EGYPT. R.
Cairo on new 9280, English to NAm at 2300-2430, already March 29 at 2305 check,
usual very low modulation, despite S9+20 signal, YL talking;
nothing on
ex-9465 and not clear why they needed to move. 2315, 5+1 timesignal, 7 seconds
later than WWV, standard remark; news theme and unintelligible news. This
confirms 9280 which was not shown as English in the Cairo A-08 skeds circulating
** ISRAEL.
9390, March 29 at 2308 in presumed Hebrew, M&M dialog, flutter;
Albania is
scheduled here in A-08 at 2300-2430 in Albanian to NAm, but this was
not // 7425, so
March 30 and 31 there may be a conflict on 9390 before Kol
Israel
self-destructs
** MOROCCO.
Presumably some of the last broadcasts of R. Farda via Briech site, March 30 at
0228 on 6115 with rock, VG signal at first, 0230 ID, and most of
next semihour
was talk, still so at 0250; I guess that`s the 7 am news
magazine. Also
// Morocco 7105 found at 0234, not so strong. For A-08 in the
0200-0330 time
period, the Farda SW frequencies are 5860 7280 9510 --- Sri
Lanka,
Wertachtal and Wertachtal respectively, no match for Morocco reception
back here
** MOROCCO.
RTM, 5980, March 30 at 0232 with rustic band music, Arab singer, then ID by YL
mentioning Tanger. Initially good signal gradually faded down. The question is
whether the Moroccans will keep these secret (from HFCC, Aoki but not EiBi)
transmissions going after the Americans pull out of Briech
** NETHERLANDS
[non]. Big collision on 6190, March 30 at 0302 between RN in
Dutch and CRI
in Spanish, a slow SAH between them. This is nothing new as for
B-07 both were
scheduled to CIRAF zones 7 and 8 in NAm! Bonaire at 320 degrees and Sackville at
277 degrees. Fortunately, in A-08, CRI is gone, or rather not on 6190 until 0500
** RUSSIA.
7300, the defective Russian transmitter with motorboating noise, no
other audio
detectable, at 2316 March 29 and still at 0009 recheck March 30.
Believe this
one is on 5900 in B-seasons; not sure of real site, but Olle Alm
can remind us.
Listed as Serpukhov in A-season.
Looked for V.
of Russia, UT March 30 in the 0200 and 0300 hours, but nothing on 6240, 6155 or
7350, the frequencies still showing on their undated schedule at http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&w=129&p=
Suspect they
have made A-08 changes without telling us, as all those are
deleted, and/or
propagation so poor that even German relay on 6155 was not
making it **
SPAIN. REE, Amigos de la Onda Corta, DX program in Spanish already shifted one
UT hour earlier, Sunday March 30 at 0305-0330 on 6055 // 6125, giving its own
frequencies; report on sale of 700 MHz spectrum in USA; propagation predixions
for various SW bands
** SWAZILAND.
Listening to VATICAN [q.v.] to NAm on 6040 via Sackville, March 30 at 0255, in
addition to the other QRM, TWR music box IS could be heard. This is Manzini
warming up for the Kikuyu broadcast at 0300, the same collision in A-08 as in
B-07 --- Christians vs Christians!
** SWEDEN
[non]. R. Sweden insists on staying on 6010 via Canada, despite
Mexico and
Colombia, both of which interfere with Sweden and vice versa; March 30 at 0230
opening in English, and after 0300 in Swedish, so this was still
B-07 rather
than A-08 scheduling
** TURKEY [and
non]. VOT already made the frequency change from 5960 to 6195 for the English to
ENAm broadcast as of Sat March 29 at 2343 check with
time-filling
multi-lingual ID (have they added the three new ones?), plugs for
competitions,
IS at 2355 or earlier. Yes, they changed the frequency but not
the time. In
A-08, 6195 is at 2200-2250, presumably starting March 30. 6195
still on after
0000 March 30, in German, getting weaker into noise level.
German is on
the VOT World satellite schedule for 0000-0100, but not supposed
to be on SW!
As for the new
relay via Sackville at 0300 on 7325, not a trace of it March 30
at several chex
after 0300 --- could be the low MUF took it out, as CHU 7335
was not audible
either, nor WBCQ 7415; and WHRI 7315 SC was poor by this hour. Let`s hope for
better luck subsequently
** U K [non].
BBCWS via Ascension to Africa, 6145, March 30 at 0315 with report
on plastic
pollution in the Pacific, good // 7160. These remain useful in NAm
for A-08, the
first scheduled at 0300-0400 only, the second at 0300-0600
** U S A. WYFR
on new 6985, 0221 March 30 preacher in English reading from Song of Solomon, hot
stuff about love apples, sucking breasts. Initially quite
strong but
later in evening fading down a lot. Not to be confused with other
Abrahamists,
Israel Radio, formerly on this frequency at other times
** U S A. KTBN,
7505, still going March 30 at 0224 with ancient Billy Graham
sermon in black
& white. The guy sure was certain of himself, a great asset in
persuasion,
even if it`s totally unwarranted
** U S A [non].
VOA, 6080 via São Tomé, in English with forum about Tibet,
March 30 at
0320; there was a SAH of about 5 Hz from unknown 6080 station,
unlikely Minsk
and not much else scheduled. In A-08 this is to be ruined by
Prague via
Sackville starting at 0330.
Not much making
it on 7 MHz, as noted under TURKEY, but March 30 at 0329 heard Y. Doodle on
7340, VOA opening something, just barely audible. This is
Kinyarwanda/Kirundi,
in A-08 via Sri Lanka, but in B-07 via Botswana, no doubt
had to be the
latter this one last night for propagational reasons
** VATICAN. VR,
6040 via Canada, March 30 at 0229 IS; English feature after
0250 was
interview with Terry Ascott, founder and CEO of Sat-7, TV networks for
Christians
stuck in Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia where there is no place
to worship; or
in Iraq where they need to lock themselves in their houses for
safety,
especially at night. From one original network in Arabic, there are now
three, the
second featuring Turkish/Persian, other languages, and the third for
children
covering 5 timezones. This lasted until 0308; see http://www.sat7.org
Thruout on
6040, VR had some co-channel underneath, LA? Slightly off-frequency making a
fast SAH.
** VIETNAM
[non]. VOV, 6175 via Canada, March 30 at 0325 mailbag in Spanish
with heavy Viet
accent which must be heard to be believed. This relay including
English at
other hours never has a very good signal here, partly due to Cuba on
6180 ---
Commies vs Commies!
** ZIMBABWE
[and non]. Am not often monitoring 90m at this hour, so maybe not unusual, and
strangely enough my hi local noise level is currently not so bad
on 90 as it is
on shorter wavelengths. March 30 at 0240 scan of the band,
undermodulated
music on 3396, so what could it be but ZBC? 3320 South Africa
was quite a bit
better
** AUSTRIA
[non]. Ö1 relay via Sackville on new 13775 for A-08, 1500 in German, 1505 into
English; ex-13675 at 1600. Very good
** CANADA. CRI
relay is back on summer frequency 15260, ex-15230, March 30 at 1328 in English,
along with R. Sweden relay in Swedish still on 15240 but an
hour earlier.
These two very strong produced much weaker mixing products on
15220 and
15280, which went off at 1329 when 15240 did.
RCI has finally
made the change from 7310 to 7325, which was originally
expected two
sesquiweeks of confusion earlier: March 30 at 1301, closing The
Message Beaver
in Spanish, with some QRM under, unlikely Wantok Radio Light or Mumbai tho I see
nothing else listed. Anyway, RCI at 1105-1405 on 7325 now
blocks any
slight chance of PNG during those two sesquihours
** COSTA RICA.
REE relay, Cariari de Pococí, March 30 at 1310 back on correct
frequency 9765
after several days on 9764, Spanish discussion about Brasil.
However, at
1319 found the // 11815 is the one now off-frequency! 11814.0,
hetting
something on 11815, no doubt Japan; // 15170 remained on frequency.
At 1405 I
noticed that 15170 modulation was cutting on and off, and so was the
carrier cutting
on and off separately, until stayed on with open carrier. Back
to normal at
1446 recheck
** CUBA. RHC,
March 30 at 1316 had quena and Andean vocal music on 11670; good signal but poor
audio like lo-level Internet feed, // 11760 and 11805 which had slightly better
audio and all were much better when the music stopped and
studio talk
started. At 1323, when I paused on // 12000, program was ``Amigos
de Cuba``. The
music may have been a crummy mp3 file someone sent in ** CUBA [and non].
DentroCuban Jamming Command hasn`t caught up with A-08 yet as R. Martí was in
clear on reactivated 11845, March 30 at 1321; jamming
against nothing
on 11930
** JAPAN [and
non]. March 30 at 1313 heard NHK IS, fair signal on 11705, so I
wondered if
there was a mixup at Sackville, but 1315 opened in Indonesian. This
is Yamata, 300
kW at 235 degrees. I hope this transmission ends at 1400 rather
than 1430 as in
one schedule version, since otherwise it would collide with R.
Japan English
to NAm via Sackville, which remains at 1400-1429 on 11705 ** RWANDA. DW Hausa,
17800 via Kigali, 310 degrees, now one of the few decent
signals on 16m,
until 1357* March 30 in Hausa; another being Gabon 17630
** U S A. WRMI
is now supposed to be on 9955, 24 hours, ex-7385 at certain
hours, but
presumably switching between NAm and SAm antennas as before
depending on
language and programming. If you hear a US station on 7385 now,
it`s WHRI.
However, 9955 had nothing but jamming at 1455 check March 30. The 1400-1600
block is mostly in English and mostly non-exile; scheduled at
1445-1500
Sundays is Harvest Time, hardly worth jamming, but hey, why not do it anyway! In
fact, the only exile program in the 14-16 block is the CDHD Brigade
2506 – in
English, Sundays at 1500-1515. I couldn`t bear to check at 1515
whether WORLD
OF RADIO was also jammed, but even free of jamming, WRMI 9955 is a marginal
signal. Needs further checking in the 14-16 period, tho, when
presumably on
NAm antenna, and couldn`t be worse at midday than 7385 was,
absorbed rather
than propagating
** U S A
[non?]. The VOA Hausa service was heard very well again March 30 on
9605. Open
carrier already on at 1454 mixing with weaker signal, something FE?
1502 recheck,
program in progress. As reported before, this is listed as São
Tomé site, but
I still find that very hard to believe, due to strong, steady
S9+22 signal,
and nothing else from Africa on 31m at this hour. Instead,
suspect
Greenville, perhaps a temporary backup. Furthermore, the 9605 SAO
scheduling
applied only to B-07 but now it`s A-08, when this transmission is
supposed to be
only on 11890, 11905 and 13750, which are São Tomé, São Tomé and Botswana,
respectively, not checked
** VENEZUELA
[non]. Checking for ``Aló, Presidente``, Sunday March 30: not sure when it
really starts now, but 13750 was on at 1450, VG with music // 11670
(which earlier
had RHC programming: see CUBA). 11670 also had a SAH and some weaker co-channel,
which at 1459 turned out to be WYFR in Spanish, scheduled 14-16 at 222 degrees.
May I suggest that it is never a good idea for Florida and Cuba stations to be
on the same frequency? Yet it`s not the only case, e.g. 6000 and 17750 at least
in past season. At 1450 A,P also on 11875, but did not find any other A,P
channels on 13, 15 or 17 MHz, talking about the Cinco Héroes, which has nothing
to do with Venezuela, so probably RHC-produced runup to A,P. Checked again at
1500 on 11875, the A,P frequencies were announced as 13680, 13750, 11670, 11875,
17750. Finally at 1503, 13680 joined in but much weaker than 13750
** AFGHANISTAN
[non]. Looking for Radio Solh on A-08 frequency 17700 via
Rampisham UK,
ex-15265: March 31 nothing audible before 1500, but at 1504 had started to fade
in with usual great mix of music, but different selexions than
we had been
hearing before 1500 on 15265 in B-07. Some fadeouts, but still
going past
1542. Scheduled until 1800, but not audible at 1733 recheck
** ALBANIA. R.
Tirana, still on 13640 in English to NAm, but one UT hour
earlier at 1430
exc Sundays. Checked March 31 at 1432, finishing announcement of English
schedule, into news. SINPO 25332 with some deep fades. If I could get rid of my
line noise level, it could be listenable, but Tirana is doing the best it can
under the circumstances, and at least there is zero interference from broadcast
stations. There is some CODAR, which became audible toward the end and was
clearly on 13640 when Tirana closed at 1458*
** AUSTRALIA. A
bit of welcome classical music at tune-in 1329 March 31 on
15400; must be
a BBC program closing. Imagine my horror when at 1330 I heard an ID for HCJB
Global Voice, Australia, and into Chinese! A-08 scheduling shows BBC Ascension
breaks on 15400 between 1130 and 1500, and HCJB is on there from 1030 to 1430.
HCJB Kununurra was also heard with gospel rock on 15540 until 1328*. CVC Darwin
in English on 13635 was much stronger than either HCJB frequency
** CANADA. Just
like yesterday`s report of Sackville mixing products on 15220
and 15280
produced by the too-close transmitters on 15240 and 15260 until 1330 --- March
31 at 1502 the CRI Chinese relay on 15260 and the R. Sweden Swedish relay on
15240 did the same to 15220 and 15280
** CHINA [non].
The CRI relay via CVC Chile in English at 1300 in A-08 is on
new 15440, as
fairly heard March 31 at 1326, instead of 15540 where it was last
A; there now
until 1328* is HCJB Australia. CVC Portuguese 15410 was stronger
than CRI 15440
** HAWAII [and
non]. KWHR, 9930, audible in presumed Chinese with Sound of
Hope, Monday
March 31 at 1417, under Firedrake. Before 1400 when in Korean
there was no
jamming audible
** INDONESIA
[and non]. VOI has been active on 9526 the last several days but
now in A-08
after 1400 March 31 there`s a big collision and 1-kHz het as there
were in
previous seasons, with equally strong station in Russian on 9525.
That`s CRI from
SZG site at 35 degrees to zones 33 and 34, i.e. southeast
Russia, and
incidentally onward toward NAm. So much for VOI`s
Indonesian-language
hour, but should be OK for Korean until 1400
** JAPAN [non].
NHK World Network, R. Japan, 11705 via Canada, Monday March 31 at 1411 had YL
introducing new daily (meaning week-daily?) segment, ``Today`s Angle``. This one
was about, what else, cherry blossoms, sakura. 1414 into ``technical``
sub-segment with Robert Jefferson, a native speaker of English,
on non-pink
sakura existing and being developed, notably yellow ones. 1423-1427 another new,
or reactivated, sub-segment, easy Japanese lessons, starting with the essential
particle ``ano``, which I gather can mean ``hey, you``, altho
more politely,
to attract someone`s attention, or ``I am about to say something
to you``. (No
snickering from the SS, please!). 1429 cut to RCI IS & ID before
closing
announcement could give the frequency for next English broadcast, just
the time, 2200,
as we are left destitute for 7.5 hours
** MEXICO. XEYU
has been missing again for the last few days, sought at various times of day and
night on 9599.3v; it had come back only briefly as last
reported
** NETHERLANDS
[non]. RNW, on A-frequency of 9890 via Madagascar in English to S Asia at
1400-1600, also making it here, fair signal at 1417 March 31 with news about
Turkey. We can forget about // 11835 next to WYFR
** SAUDI
ARABIA. BSKSA, Call of Islam service, remains on 15435, March 31 at
1502 good with
muezzin. If the // is 15225, it`s blocked by CRI/Canada 15220
** SPAIN [non].
REE is still running classical music in the 1300 hour weekdays,
ex-1400 during
standard time, as checked at 1310 Monday March 31 on muffled
15170 via Costa
Rica, 17595 direct not having faded in yet. 1330 announcement
about Ataulfo
(one must avoid thinking ``that`s awful``) Argenta. Not sure it
is the same
listener-participation show any more; hope not. At 1409, 17595 was
in, with El
Vestuario = the Locker-room, sports talk
** SWEDEN
[non]. R. Sweden relay via Canada in English to WNAm now one UT hour earlier,
despite WNAm except Arizona and Saskatchewan having gone on DST two sesquiweeks
before, i.e. at 1430 on 15240. Checking March 31 at 1429, George Wood opened
transmission, but 1430-1431 dead air. 1431 ``technical difficulties``
announcements in Swedish and English, and some annoying music. 1434 cut to news
already in progress. Seasonal transitions are never smooth for RS and RCI
relays. ** THAILAND. Have not yet checked R. Thailand transpolar to ENAm
0030-0200 on
A08 new 12120
ex-12095, but I could not help but notice at 1336 March 31 there
was strong RTTY
on 12120; let`s hope not during the HSK9 sesquihour.
Also noted VOA
Special English, quite good but somewhat fluttery, March 31 at
1347 on 9465.
This is the same 6-degree beam from Udorn used on 12120 to ENAm, but I wonder if
they employ a much lower take-off angle for NAm?
** TURKEY. VOT,
15450, March 31 at 1310 with good signal in A-08 English
frequency at
1230 for Europe, and thence NAm, ex-12035 which was seldom
listenable
earlier in March. // 13685 eastward is out of question here with
Cuba 13680
adjacent
** U S A [and
non]. The A-08 frequency for VOA English to Africa from
Greenville is
15410, at 1730-2000, aimed 94 degrees but with great off-the-back
coverage into
C&W NAm beyond the skip zone. The trouble is, CVC Miami
Portuguese via
Chile is already on 15410 all the way from 1100 to 2400. Checked at 1734 March
31, VOA was way atop Santiago here, in discussion of beautiful African women
being ``full-bodied``, but undercurrent of CVC audible. Closer to Greenville in
skip zone, or depending on daily, hourly propagation variations even here, the
QRM will be more equal, or even with CVC dominating
** U S A. KTBN
Salt Lake City appears to be history. Nothing on 7505 at 1350 UT check March 31,
nor on 15590 at 1805. I suppose the QRT was at 0600 or 0700 UT March 31, as
ambiguous info from station was that it would be at ``midnight March 31``,
instead of UT April 1. BTW, they had been missing for a few days in a row more
than once several months ago, and I bet these were temporary deliberate closures
to assess whether anyone noticed and the SW station wasworth keeping. Now we
know the answer. Keep an ear, however on 15590, 7505, plus 7355 in case WRNO
really reactivates in April
** U S A [and
non]. Looking for WRMI on new 9955 to NAm at 1400-1600, March 31 at 1416, no
trace of it even tho unneeded Dentro-Cuban jamming level was
lightened
** VATICAN. VR,
13765, March 31 at 1502 with South Asian music, and at 1523.
Good after
Habana closed 13760 around 1600
** ALBANIA [and
non]. Monitoring for R. Tirana`s new 9390, Albanian to NAm at
2300-2430,
March 31: Israel appears to be gone from 9390, but WWRB with Brother Scare,
supposed to close at 2300, stayed on 9385 until abrupt closedown at 2352. Tirana
music could barely be detected aside the much stronger Tennessee signal at 2305,
// better 7425.
Finally no WWRB
problem, but rechecked at 0033 when the first evening English
broadcast from
Tirana is supposed to be on 9390 only, all I heard was pop music
for a few
minutes, and again at 0044, still going at 0046, no announcements
heard. Ditto
during the second transmission at 0155 check.
I understand
that March 31 from 1930 the R. Tirana program feed to Shijak
transmitter
site was lost, so instead they relayed a domestic service,
apparently
still the case. I have notified WWRB that they are interfering with
Tirana by
staying on 9385 past 2300. WWRB came up on 5050 a few minutes later and signed
on at 2358, maybe the same transmitter, which earlier in March I had heard as
early as 2259 on 5050, even tho that was not supposed to open until 0000
** CUBA [and
non]. Noticed HCJB news in Spanish on 12000 at 2316 March 31 had some co-channel
interference underneath, also in Spanish. Who else uses 12000?
RHC, of course,
but not supposed to during HCJB hours. Yes, 12000 QRM was // 9820, the Mesa
Redonda service separate from mainstream RHC, also // 6000.
There was a
reverb between 9820 and 6000, different feed routes and/or
transmitter
sites, but hard to tell about 12000 under HCJB. One might think
12000 could be
an unintentional harmonic of 6000, but since RHC deliberately
uses
fundamental 12000 at other times, I fear this is no accident, but one of
their cancerous
growths. The B-07 sked on RHC website (no A-08 yet, of course)
shows 12000
only at 1100-1500, while HCJB is on 12000 at 2100-0100
** RUSSIA [and
non]. VOR belatedly posted their A-08 English schedule March 31, including to
NAm, with August 1 changes removed here:
13775,
9665, 7250
0100-0200
13775, 13635,
9860, 9665, 9480
0200-0300
13775, 13635,
12065, 9860, 9800, 9665, 9480, 9435
0300-0400
13775, 13635,
9860, 9800, 9665, 9435
0400-0500
So far I only
made a quick check around 0226 UT April 1, and found: 13775
inaudible,
13635 fair but in Russian! 9860 fair, 9480 second best, 9665 audible
but worst.
Azimuths and
sites are:
13775
50 Vladivostok
13635
65 Petro-Kam
12065
35 Komsomol`sk/Amure
9860
295 Vatican
9800
315 ``Armavir``
9665
295 Moldova/Pridnestrovye
9480
300 Wertachtal
9435
65 Petro-Kam
7250
305 Armenia
So if we want
to hear VOR in English to NAm after 0200, we`d better hope bands
above 7 MHz are
open. VOR has moved the Wertachtal relay from excellent 6155 to 9480, which we
can only hope will improve as summer comes on
** THAILAND.
Earlier I noticed that there was RTTY on 12120; would it interfere
with R.
Thailand`s new frequency to ENAm at 0030-0200? Yes, Brian Alexander in
Pennsylvania had alreldy reported that independently UT March 31. I did not get
around to checking until 0155 UT April 1, when there was no signal audible from
Thailand or RTTY either, but instead CODAR.
Meanwhile a
weak and fluttery signal on 12095, no CODAR there, which would be DW Sri Lanka
in German, and after 0200 in Urdu, the reason Thailand had to
move; but
assuming the RTTY is around NAm, DW should have been the one on
12120, leaving
Thailand alone. Maybe they could still swap. Thailand`s WNAm
service still
on 15275 but inaudible at 0225 check April 1
3/31
On Sunday R
Solh was on 17700 as late as 1750z.
Good signal, S7
or better.
Keith
McGinnis – Hingham, MA
SDR-IQ/Wellbrook
ALA 1530
ORE
205 khz Orange MA
77 miles
25 watts
QI
206 khz Yarmouth NS
296 miles 500 watts
MJ
209 khz Merrimack NH
53 miles
SJ
212 khz St John NB
325 miles 1000 watts
CLB
216 khz Carolina Beach NC
685 miles
Y9
220 khz Digby NS
310 miles NEW
IHM
220 khz Mansfield MA
25 miles
QM
224 khz Moncton NB
410 miles 400 watts
BG
227 khz Bangor ME
210 miles
TAN
227 khz Taunton MA
25 miles
SZO
227 khz Fryeburg ME
125 miles 25 watts
AC
230 khz Pleasant Lake NS
310 miles
UL
248 khz Montreal PQ
260 miles 1000 watts
SKR
251 khz Bedford MA
30 miles
5B
254 khz Summerside PEI
455 miles 250 watts
FFF
257 khz Plymouth MA 22
miles
ESG
260 khz Rollingsford NH
70 miles 25 watts
TOF
269 khz Topsfield MA
30 miles 25 watts
BST
278 khz Belfast ME
178 miles
RS
279 khz North Brookfield MA
61 miles
CQX
279 khz Chatham MA
63 miles
FC
326 khz Fredericton NB
335 miles 1600 watts
LC
328 khz Laconia NH
97 miles
BH
330 khz Bar Harbor ME
200 miles 25 watts
BE
332 khz Bedford MA
30 miles
RM
334 khz Rockland ME
160 miles
PV
335 khz Providence RI
40 miles
GF
341 khz Greenwood NS
357 miles
HY
342 khz Hyannis MA
51 miles
LI
346 khz Hull MA
5 miles
AR
356 khz Providence RI
40 miles
SUH
356 khz Rockland ME
160 miles 25 watts
AS
359 khz Nashua NH
47 miles 25 watts
FMH
362 khz Falmouth MA
50 miles
FIT
365 khz Fitchburg MA
55 miles
IMR
368 khz Marshfield MA
15 miles 25 watts
BO
375 khz Milton MA
10 miles
LQ
382 khz Revere MA
18 miles
6E
387 khz Grand Manan NB
275 miles 50 watts
PVC
389 khz Provincetown MA
40 miles 25 watts
JT
390 khz Stephenville NL
720 miles 450 watts
ZST
397 khz Saint John NB
325 miles 50 watts
OW
397 khz Norwood MA
18 miles
LW
402 khz Lawrence MA
35 miles
EK
417 khz Worcester MA
47 miles
ORE
205 khz Orange MA
77 miles 25 watts
QI
206 khz Yarmouth NS
296 miles 500
watts
MJ
209 khz Merrimack NH
53 miles
SJ
212 khz St John NB
325 miles 1000 watts
CLB
216 khz Carolina Beach NC
685 miles
Y9
220 khz Digby NS
310 miles NEW
IHM
220 khz Mansfield MA
25 miles
QM
224 khz Moncton NB
410 miles 400 watts
BG
227 khz Bangor ME
210 miles
TAN
227 khz Taunton MA
25 miles
SZO
227 khz Fryeburg ME
125 miles 25 watts
AC
230 khz Pleasant Lake NS
310 miles
UL
248 khz Montreal PQ
260 miles 1000 watts
SKR
251 khz Bedford MA
30 miles
5B
254 khz Summerside PEI
455 miles 250 watts
FFF
257 khz Plymouth MA
22 miles
ESG
260 khz Rollingsford NH
70 miles 25 watts
TOF
269 khz Topsfield MA
30 miles 25 watts
BST
278 khz Belfast ME
178 miles
RS
279 khz North Brookfield MA
61 miles
CQX
279 khz Chatham MA
63 miles
FC
326 khz Fredericton NB
335 miles 1600 watts
LC 328 khz Laconia
NH
97 miles
BH
330 khz Bar Harbor ME
200 miles 25 watts
BE
332 khz Bedford MA
30 miles
RM
334 khz Rockland ME
160 miles
PV
335 khz Providence RI
40 miles
GF
341 khz Greenwood NS 357
miles
HY
342 khz Hyannis MA
51 miles
LI
346 khz Hull MA
5 miles
AR
356 khz Providence RI
40 miles
SUH
356 khz Rockland ME
160 miles 25 watts
AS
359 khz Nashua NH
47 miles 25 watts
FMH
362 khz Falmouth MA
50 miles
FIT
365 khz Fitchburg MA
55 mil
IMR
368 khz Marshfield MA
15 miles 25 watts
BO
375 khz Milton MA
10 miles
LQ
382 khz Revere MA
18 miles
6E
387 khz Grand Manan NB
275 miles 50 watts
PVC
389 khz Provincetown MA
40 miles 25 watts
JT
390 khz Stephenville NL
720 miles 450 watts
ZST
397 khz Saint John NB
325 miles 50 watts
OW
397 khz Norwood MA
18 miles
LW
402 khz Lawrence MA
35 miles
EK
417 khz Worcester MA
47 miles
Jay
Heyl – Orlando, FL
AR7030+/PA0RDT
Mini-whip/Ratzlaff audio filter
After
hanging five feet off the ground for a year and basically doing nothing, I
finally assembled some of the mast sections I bought off ebay and got my PA0RDT
mini-whip antenna up in the air where it can do some good. It's about 19 feet
above ground; four feet above the top of the screen room that surrounds the
pool. If I can get a ladder and secure the mast to the top of the screen room
supports I should be able to add another section or two, getting the antenna up
another four to eight feet. I don't know how much that will help, but it can't
hurt.
Unfortunately,
we've had storms almost non-stop since I erected the mast. This is supposed to
be the driest time of the year here in Florida, but you sure can't prove it by
this year. I've had little but lightning crashes on LW for weeks now, so the log
is quite short. I did nab a few news ones though.
The
Thunder Bay logging, $04P, is a Navtex station. On the nights when it hasn't
been storming in the immediate vicinity I've been leaving SeaTTY running to see
what it can collect. I've been seeing strong hints of quite distant reception.
Thunder Bay is one. I also got a few fragments that looked like they were from
the San Francisco Navtex station, but they were so broken up that I'm reluctant
to claim it as a reception.
Log showing first reception of each signal between 20080301 and 20080331
Daytime: 15:00-19:59, Night: 20:00-14:59
Output sorted by Frequency
----------------------------------------------------------------------
YYYYMMDD UTC kHz Call Pwr. Miles + Location
----------------------------------------------------------------------
20080322 02:00 260 MTH 0 255 MARATHON, FL, USA
20080321 23:40 263 DA 0 55 Y TOMOK, FL, USA
20080329 06:22 432 IZN 25 494 Y Lincolnton, NC, USA
20080322 04:47 450 PPA 0 908 Puerto Plata, DOM
20080322 06:31 518 $04P 0 1445 Y Thunder Bay, ON, CAN
20080322 04:35 526 ZLS 0 507 Stella Maris- Long Island, BAH
----------------------------------------------------------------------
6 stations shown listed, including 3 stations new to log (shown in + column).
No FM DX this
month
No WX DX this
month
No TV DX this
month
This month we have some
articles on Internet radio sent in by Kevin, Paul and Barry with comments thrown
in by Glenn Hauser and Phil Rafuse. Thanks to all for the submissions for this
month’s column.
Re: Slow Mail
Sat Mar 1, 2008 10:18 am (PST)
I can listen to WK Dee
K all night perfectly here in AZ. All I have to do is go to
www.WKDK.com
Sat Mar 8, 2008 5:33 am (PST)
AOL, CBS Team Up For
Radio, Advertising
By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 8, 2008; Page D01
AOL's Internet radio division and CBS Radio yesterday announced a content and
advertising partnership that will allow AOL's listeners to access CBS content,
including University of Maryland basketball games through CBS-owned WJFK-FM
(106.7).
The deal will end AOL Radio's partnership with XM Satellite Radio, as of May 1.
XM offers 20 of its commercial-free channels through AOL Radio to lure listeners
to subscribe to XM's service. Seven of the top 10 radio channels on AOL Radio as
of yesterday were XM stations.
The AOL-CBS agreement will combine AOL Radio's 200 Internet radio programs with
CBS Radio's 150 terrestrial radio stations from all over the country, including
WTGB-FM (94.7) and WJFK.
CBS Radio will take over advertising sales for AOL Radio, which is run from
AOL's former headquarters in Dulles. The two companies will split revenue from
ad sales. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In response to the AOL-CBS deal, XM announced a free 14-day trial for its
Internet-based radio service, which will include 80 of its 170 satellite
channels. It also reduced its six-month subscription price to its XM Internet
radio site by half, to $2.99, through May.
"XM's presence on AOL Radio was a valuable way to introduce consumers to
our service free of charge," and the company will continue to offer free
trial services on its own Web site, said Vernon L. Irvin, executive vice
president and chief marketing officer of XM.
XM is awaiting regulatory decisions on its proposed merger with Sirius Satellite
Radio, which was announced in February 2007. Both companies continue to add
subscribers, but neither is profitable, and analysts say both will suffer if the
merger is not approved.
AOL's Internet radio has an audience that listens to about 1.2 million streams a
week, but AOL has had difficulty translating those listeners into revenue
growth. With CBS Radio's advertising sales force, AOL hopes to sell more local
ads.
AOL Radio "has not been as lucrative to AOL because we don't have the local
market sales force, and in the radio business, most of the money comes from
local," said Fred McIntyre, senior vice president of AOL Radio. As much as
two-thirds of all advertising revenue comes from local ads, he said, and AOL
Radio's content is mostly music aimed at a national audience.
Mark R. Fratrik, vice president of media consultant BIA Financial, said the AOL
deal solves problems for CBS, which is trying to stay relevant as more people
get music, news and other entertainment from the Web.
"Radio has been challenged for the last few years and has been looking for
new revenue. This gives CBS a much broader audience, particularly young
people," Fratrik said.
Things are looking up for KFI
Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:05 am (PDT)
Article Launched: 03/20/2008 04:19:40 PM PDT
The KFI (640 AM) replacement tower is on its way up, with construction expected
to be completed by the end of March. Operationally, it won't be ready until some
time in April due to all the extra work needed to connect the new tower to the
transmitter.
In the meantime, the top-rated talk station is operating on substantially
reduced power, even lower than it was with the backup transmitter KFI was using
until construction began. The station had
to turn off the backup transmitter at its regular site because the radio
frequency radiation was too high to be safe for the tower construction workers.
Now it's using a transmitter originally designed for 1150 AM (now KTLK).
Only 14,000 watts are currently being used to transmit, but the signal in much
of the coverage area is still good.
When KFI is able to go to its full 50,000 watts in April, it will once again be
a "local" signal in half of California during the day and half of the
United States at night. Expect its digital HD Radio signal to return then as
well.
Speaking of HD
KABC returned to the FM band for the first time since 1969 when KABC- FM became
KLOS (95.5 FM) via the magic of HD Radio.
I know, I've been writing too much about HD Radio lately, but hear me out just
one more time before I give it a rest.
Designed partly to appease regular listeners when Dodger games are on the air at
KABC (790 AM), the normal talk programming that is being pre-empted on AM will
move to FM on KLOS' digital HD-3 stream, and also will be available at http://kabc.com.
The simulcast already is happening, so I suppose you could say KABC- FM already
has returned.
Richard Wagoner is a freelance writer based in San Pedro. Send
questions to him via e-mail at rwagoner@cox.net.
http://www.sbsun.com/living/ci_8641618
Nothing But Net... WWFM 89.5 Koror, Republic of Palau
Sat Mar 8, 2008 3:47 pm (PST)
I'm listening to WWFM
89.5 which is a miture of International Music and Local music. Some
announcements (live dj's and comemrcials) are in their native tounge, others,
like Beer commercials, are in English.
They have a sister station, KDFM 98.5 which broadcasts all American music,
everything from Country to Oldies to Pop/Current Music
Their stream is running at 20K/22hz Mono and actually sounds pretty good
*"The feed is live but the quality is directly proportional to the amount
of traffic on the link. The signal originates from Palau and goes via satellite
to a downlink in Canada. From there it is routed to the NetEnterprise Windows
Media Servers in Hawaii for live streaming. "*
To check out the station online, go to http://www.palauradio.com
The listen live link is in the Upper right hand corner of the screen, in Windows
Media Player streaming format. For those of you who don't have or don't like
WMP, just take the MMS address and if you have Winamp 5.x or better, it WILL
work
in that!
The Station is owned by Retired US Army Sergeant (27 years of service, he is now
57) Alfonzo Diaz who is also a Sentor in Palau who says, "dissemination of
information to the public is of the essence".
Both his FM stations utlize Crown 500 Watt Transmitters with Omnia 3FM audio
processors, Electrovoice RE 27 Microphones and a 12 Channel Mackie 1402 VLZ Pro
in the studios. Automation is "DJ PRO" from Italy.
He has a Sister in Augusta, Georgia (about an hour from me, to the Southwest).
When he visits her later this year, he has promised to stop by and visit me here
at WABV!
Re: Nothing But Net... WWFM
89.5 Koror, Republic of Palau
Posted by:
"wghauser"
Sat Mar 8, 2008 4:29 pm (PST)
WWFM? Must be a made-up
callsign. The prefix for Palau is T8 --- just ask KHBN!
Seriously, Palau is really a hybrid place, partly USA and partly not.
The real WWFM is noncommercial in New Jersey, classical and also satellite feeds
some translators in Colorado, I believe.
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=41194
73, Glenn Hauser
Re: Nothing But Net... WWFM
89.5 Koror, Republic of Palau
Posted by: "Paul
B. Walker, Jr."
Sat Mar 8, 2008 4:31 pm (PST)
Yup, I'm very aware of
the 'real" WWFM.
Their other FM is KDFM 98.5 and the "real" KDFM is on 103.3 in
Falfurrias,
texas owned by Paulino Bernal.
Paul
Re: Nothing But Net... WWFM
89.5 Koror, Republic of Palau
Posted by: "kevin
redding"
Sat Mar 8, 2008 4:35 pm (PST)
Glenn, when you are on
the net you can call yourself anything. Hell on the over the air radio you can
call yourself by any call sign until the top of the hour.
Times are changing, brother. Might not be what we are used to but it sure ain't
the same.
Kevin
Re: Nothing But Net... WWFM
89.5 Koror, Republic of Palau
Posted by: "Phil
Rafuse"
Sat Mar 8, 2008 5:08 pm (PST)
A classic almost local
example of this is 780 CFDR Halifax [HRM] NS which calls itself KIXX. Wrong
country, wrong coast.
http://www.780kixx.ca/
I'm of the old school - I like call letters, not cute animal names like Big Dog
[CKTO], Kat Kountry [CKTY], The Fox [CFXU, where I worked a million years ago
:)], The Hawk [CIGO] etc.
Phil
The
Same Song On Two Stations At Once
Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:11 pm (PDT)
Ok, so this isn't
something that hasn't happened before.
But.
I was listening to the webstream of WKDK 1240 Newberry, SC and heard "Stuck
In The Middle With You”.
I then tuned into the webstream of "Dunes 102fm" WGTX
Truro/Provincetown, Massachusetts which runs ABC's Oldies Radio Network and
heard. THE SAME SONG.
(www.dunes102fm.com for those who care, it's in 128K Stereo and if you're into
jingles, you'll like theirs, from TM Century)
Both stations had the same song at about the same point in the song.
Kinda cool!
Re:
No More RTE MW xmissions
Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:42 am (PDT)
Atlantic 252 you say?
Only I could find something like this...lol
http://www.realradiousa.com/BIGDAtlantic252MIX.mp3
It's a mix of the jingles from BIG D 103 Hartford, CT and Atlantic 252. The
basic package is Thompson Creative's Oldies Combo Package that was re-sung
and re-presented under other names for different formats.
Final moments and loop
message from MWC member Paul Logan
Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:31 am (PDT)
Paul Logan <yogi540@yahoo.com>
wrote:
Hi all,
for those who missed it I've put the final moments of RTE on Medium Wave on
youtube.
sign off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGfYH8cWxBA
later service announcement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mljF0OShYEw
Paul Logan,
Lisnaskea, N. Ireland.
And that’s it this
month.
73’s, Martin
** OKLAHOMA. As
a result of a listener survey,
http://tinyurl.com/2lxmuk and a new manager
wanting to make his mark,
KOSU is
revamping its program schedule effective March 31 --- from
one extreme to
another, too much classical music (which was from MPR,
not locally
presented), to far too little, as they pick up many
popular(?)
NPR/APM syndicated shows. The fine but overpriced
Performance
Today survives at 7:06-9 pm CT weekdays.
There is still
very little local production. 4-minute commentaries
have been moved
into NPR news breaks at :30 past the hours, which is
an improvement,
instead of blotting out whatever Morning Edition/ATC
reports had
been at :35 or :44. National Native News has disappeared
from the
schedule. So much for our Indian heritage, and the
significant
Oklahoma Native American population.
The old grid
has already been removed, but take my word for it, was
straight
classical from 9 am to 3 pm weekdays, among many other
times. The new
schedule is also confusing, not accurately showing
start times
which for most but not all programs are :06 past the hour
after NPR news
--- why round them off when the station has to know
the correct
start times, accurate to the second? And some are even
more incorrect.
Is Pipedreams,
moved to 10 pm Sunday [it does start on the hour; too
bad for news
junkies], really for only one hour? That show is about
the only public
radio program which has been a full sesquihour
against
pressure to `standardize` it, which was done indirectly by
adding an
unnamed post-Pipedreams fill half-hour of non-organ music,
but also
presented by Michael Barone, carried on a number of stations
to make it a
two-hour block instead of an inconvenient one-sesquihour
block.
Incredibly, the
morning and afternoon news magazines from NPR, each
two hours long,
continue to occupy more than two hours each! Morning
Edition for 4
hours, and ATC for 3 hours. This means that two hours
of one and one
hour of the other are repeats (minus local cutaways
and newscast
updates). These three hours per weekday could have been
used to further
diversify programming, or keep a little more
classical. A
few other programs get more than one airing.
Here`s the new
KOSU schedule:
http://www.kosu.org/media/KOSU%20program%20grid.pdf
Note that the
Saturday lineup does not start until May 11, apparently
awaiting the
end of the Met Opera season --- but will it be back next
winter? Or does
part of it start in April, minus the Met hours? Some
of the new
programs are explained here, along with odd start dates:
Trying to cram
as much new stuff in as possible, we get only one of
the two hours
of Talk of the Nation, so that the inferior The World
can be
accommodated before ATC, despite the first and last hours of
ATC being the
same!
KOSU has
already been counterprogramming itself on the IBOC channel
``KOSU-2``, but
this is hardly worth mentioning as hardly anyone is
or can be
listening to it, and if you really want to hear something
other than
KOSU(1) on the web, there are countless other public radio
stations
available.
We wonder to
what extent the existing programming of other Oklahoma
public radio
stations was considered in constructing KOSU`s new
schedule. Its
coverage overlaps considerably with Public Radio Tulsa
KWGS/KWTU, OU`s
KGOU/KROU+, and even Lawton`s KCCU+, not to mention
Edmond`s KCSC
which presumably will remain predominantly classical.
These are the
stations which should be counterprogrammed, but some of
LPTV Industry Files Suit To Stop Distribution
of
Illegal DTV Converter Boxes
Marietta, GA. (March 26, 2008) The Community
Broadcasters Association
(CBA), the trade association of the nation's
Class A and Low Power
Television (LPTV) stations, will today file a
Petition for a Writ of
Mandamus with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit, formally
seeking an order to the Federal Communications
Commission to enforce All
Channel Receiver Act and to stop the
distribution and marketing of digital
television
(DTV) converter
boxes that do not permit users to view analog television
signals.
These converter boxes, intended to allow the
display of digital television
(DTV) signals on analog receivers, violate
the All-Channel Receiver Act
(ACRA), 47 U.S.C. §303(s), and Sections
15.115(c) and 15.117(b) of the FCC's
Rules if they block reception of
analog over-the-air television broadcast
signals, because they do not meet
the statutory requirement that they be
"capable of adequately
receiving all frequencies allocated by
the FCC to television
broadcasting."
The mandamus petition notes that the when it ordered that all TV sets and other TV receiving devices include digital tuners, the FCC emphatically acknowledged the importance of displaying all programming,…[and] held that the ACRA requirement entails not only that all channels be received but also that all formats, including analog and digital, also be received. The FCC said that '[t]he ACRA was intended to ensure that the viewing public has access to receivers which are capable of receiving all broadcast signals. Thus, to suggest that the statutory requirements are somehow satisfied simply where a receiver picks up the frequency but is incapable of displaying the signal in a viewable format strikes us as an absurd reading of the ACRA.'" CBA points out to the Court that it is just as absurd to allow devices without analog tuners as it is to allow them without digital tuners.
A bunch of new
format/slogan changes took effect around SW Ontario
today. Here's a
brief rundown:
CFCO-630
Chatham, ONT has dropped its AC Gold format (And Classic
Gold name) for
Country. They now ID as "Country 92.9, CFCO," with no
mention
whatsoever of the AM station. Making me wonder if Blackburn's
planning on
taking the 630 signal dark in the future?
CJSP-92.7
Leamington, ONT officially launched today with a Country
format. They'd
been testing with Country for the past few months, now
they're a
"Real" station.
CKSY-94.3
Chatham, ONT has dropped "Chatham's Perfect Music Mix" and
started calling
its format Lite Hits. Records still sound pretty much
the same.
CHYR-96.7
Leamington, ONT has dropped its "Cheer FM" positioner and
started calling
itself "Mix 96.7." They still play Hot/Modern AC.
Looks like I'll
have to find a new station to listen to while I
sleep, since
CFCO's no longer an option. I suffer from tinnitis, so I
have to have
music playing when I sleep...preferably AC Gold. Maybe
CHYR might be
an option...
Nothing
for sale this month
I've had my
KA2100 for a few days now and while knawing on a sandwich, offer the following
comments.
Hot as a
firecracker on FM, but shows mixing problems with strong locals popping up
several places on the dial. Maybe this is a function of all locals being up on
the CBC tower in Churchill PEI, sharing panel antennas.
Sound, superb.
Lots of audio wallop. Wide on AM is
quite wide.
MW - fairly
sensitive, quite selective on narrow. Narrow is good for 1134 Croatia, Virgin
1215, Switzerland 765 all coming in last night with just the built in ferrite
bar. sensitivity is the same as my
Sony 2010, except the sony pulls ahead at the low end - say 590.
Hot as a
firecracker on MW when used with a select-a-tenna. When I compared the Kaito
using the SAT with the Sony 2010 also using the SAT, the Kaito came way out on
top sensitivity wise.
Oddities - poping and chirping while tuning, sometimes skips a notch - tuning slowly - 1600, 1610, 1630 - oops - skipped 1620, must backtrack. No problem with up/down buttons - must be an en
