October 2008 ABDX Journal
Vol 3. Issue 10
Editors Corner:
ABDX membership is at 189 members!
We had the music format stations CME
last month, this one for November is on Spanish language stations. Brush up on
your Spanish language lessons and see what you can hear!
The baseball season finally came to an
end and so did the election, sweeping the Democratic party and Barack Obama into
the presidents office. Thankfully its all over and we don’t have to be buried
in political ads any longer.
The Rogues Gallery has a new picture! Rick Barton, eminent
Arizona DXer has added his photo to the DX Hall of fame at www.abdx.org
. We enjoy seeing our members who have made it to the “Hall of Fame” for
those of us with faces for radio! It has been a very long time since we have had
new additions to the Rogues Gallery. If you are a member and want to be in the
Rogues Gallery, send your pix to Michael Richard
at webmaster@americanbroadcastdx.com.
We would love to see you in the gallery.
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.abdx.org
The ABDX 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
Kevin Redding, Phil Rafuse, Powell Way, Mike Richard, Jay Heyl
and Martin Foltz the ABDX crew.
The Broadcast Band
10/4
KNX
1070 in Los Angeles is bouncing in and out this evening here in the North
Atlantic with decent signal at times
As
follows:
1070
khz - KNX Los Angeles, California 3:11 UTC 10/05/08 w/
temperatures along the beaches tomorrow , various California places;KNX 1070
News Radio ID by man ; news item about OJ Simpson (signal was pretty good then
faded a bit after)
5556.2
kms 3450.4 miles
This
was heard on my SRF-M37V Ultralight barefoot Incredible !
Hopefully others in the east will hear it also.
IEN-GA Ira Elbert New, III, Watkinsville - SONY SRF-M37
1420 WEMB TN Erwin - 10/13/08 1742 - Spot for the Gospel Music show
on the station and a local YMCA ad. Weak signal with fades above the late
afternoon static. "...on 1420, WEMB".
IEN-GA Ira Elbert New, III, Watkinsville - 2003 ISUZU Rodeo In-Dash
Audio System 4340
1320 WBOB FL Jacksonville - 10/23/08 1952 - The Bobby Bowden
Call-In Show. Decent signal with fades. "...Florida State Football on WBOB"
IEN-GA
Ira Elbert New, III, Watkinsville - SONY SRF-M37
1190 WBSL MS Bay Saint Louis - 11/06/08 1830 - The Darien Anthony Show with election results and what to expect from the new president. Good, steady signal for the most part with slight fades. "...on the Gulf Coast Radio Network, WBSL".
WXXI
1370 off air, 2331 ELT 10/13
Just got a call from Nolan Stephany, our engineer - he's headed
down to
the tx site to see what's wrong. Hearing a strong WKMC-PA on the
channel
right now, and sports talk (WSPD? WVIE?) behind that...
Had a
feeling this would be our choice this month so I did a daytime bandscan in the
car. Start with the easy stuff first, right?
Heard
on a Chrysler Corp AM Stereo / FM Stereo car radio w/whip antenna in a 2002
Dodge Stratus R/T (now blue…new paint job)
Band
checked at 15:10
550
KRAI CO Craig
Country – “55 Country” - Good
650
KMTI UT Manti
Country – fair
730
KSVN UT Ogden
SS – “La Mexicana” - Good
860
KKAT UT Salt Lake
City Oldies - “The True Oldies Channel – 860 AM – The
Wolf” – Good
910
KWDZ UT Salt Lake City
Childrens – “Radio Disney”
940
KMER WY Kemmerer
Oldies - fair
1060
KDYL UT South Salt
Lake
Oldies – “Real Oldies AM 1060” – Good
1120
KANN UT Roy
Rel – good
1240
KEVA WY Evanston
Classic Country – local
1360
KRKK WY Rock Springs
Oldies – “AM 1360 K-Rock” – weak
1370
KSOP UT South Salt Lake Classic
Country “Gold Country AM 1370” good
1450
KVSI ID
Montpelier Adult Standards –
fair
1490
KOGD UT Ogden
Adult Standards – very weak
1510
KLLB UT West Jordan
Gospel - fair
1550
KMRI UT West Valley
City SS –
weak
1600
KTUB UT Centerville
SS – fair
1640
KBJA UT Sandy
SS – fair
1660
KXOL UT Brigham City
SS – fair
All
stations heard on a Chrysler AM Stereo / FM Stereo car radio
870 KMZQ NV
Las Vegas 1915 10/17/08
NEW! Apparently a new station that's just coming in to being. Heard
Paul Simon, then Pat Benetar, then another 80s tune. Id'd as "The
Q". At 1922 they went POOF!!! And in came KBOI. Heard
about 20 miles west of Evanston on I-80.
1140 UNID 1646
10/19/08 Heard oldies coming in....better than weak, but not
quite fair. Tried my hardest to stay with them whilst they kept trading
places with KZMQ. KZMQ dominant most of the time. Listened for a
good 30 minutes on my way home from Utah on Sunday night. Only station
that radio-locator lists as oldies is KPWB in Piedmont, MO - a daytimer that's
1000 watts. That'd be one hell of a catch. Otherwise must be
somebody new or a recent format change that RL hasn't picked up on yet.
Heard them again tonight (Wednesday) on my way home from Rock Springs but alas,
no ID. Was actually listening at the top of the hour, however KSFN-Vegas
decided to step in a blast in with their legal ID instead. Heard on I-80
between Park City, UT and Evanston, WY
1140 KZMQ WY
Greybull 1700 10/19/08 As
mentioned above, heard classic country from ABC's "Real Country"
network and numerous "AM 1140 KZMQ" IDs. Fair to good at times.
Quite common late in the day here. Heard on I-80 between Park City, UT and
Evanston, WY
and the following from today's trip to Rock
Springs. Heard on I-80 between Rock Springs and Evanston.
1020
KOIL NE Plattsmouth 1731
10/22/08 Radio Disney blasting in quite well. Expecting
KCKN. Not new, but not very common either.
1580 KMIK AZ
Tempe 1739 10/22/08 Radio
Disney coming in fair to good. Quite common - heard just about every day
late in the day. POOF when the sun goes down.
1630 KRND WY
Fox Farm 1740 10/22/08
Spanish. Weak.
1660 KXOL UT
Brigham City 1741 10/22/08
Spanish. Weak.
660 KTNN AZ
Window Rock 1743 10/22/08
Country music starting to break through KLTT's IBOC hash. Nightly visitor
although a little less common while the sun is still up.
790 KGHL MT
Billings 1744 10/22/08
Country. Relatively common late in the day, especially in winter.
Good signal
800 UNID 1746
10/22/08 NO IDEA who this is.
Weak but there.....heard Sonny and Cher singing before XEROK crept in and took
over. Radio Locator only lists one station as oldies on 800 - CHAB in
Moose Jaw, SK. This is quite a possibility since I noticed the canadians
starting to appear about this time.
870 KLSQ NV
Whitney 1754 10/22/08
spanish music. Not 100% sure this was them but "pretty" sure it
was. Call it presumed. They visit here from time to time.
1020 KCKN NM Roswell 1757 10/22/08 classic country - this time around KOIL was gone and KCKN was in. Nightly visitor.
10/3
Rah rah ree, kick 'em in the knee! Some HSFB logs from last night,
all times Central:
680 KKYX, San Antonio, TX, assumed one with Alamo Heights Mules vs.
Boerne Chargers 9:13 pm, powerful atop channel
710 KGNC, Amarillo, TX, with Amarillo Sandies vs.
"Central" 9:23 pm, loud and dominant.
880 KRVN, Lexington, NE, post-game show 9:33 pm, Lexington
Minutemen had beaten Sidney/Sydney, very good signal.
920 KARN, Little Rock, AR, tune in to game with
"Cardinals" moving the ball 9:41 pm. time out and spots 9:43 for
University of Arkansas basketball season tickets and LittleRockRealEstate.com;
lots of QRM on channel.
10/7
650 XETNT, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, caught top of hour ID 7:00 am Central this morning (October 7) with killer signal, full call letter ID, "Radio Sesenta Cinco" slogan, "con la musica sinaloaese" (sp?) mention, street address and telephone number, into Banco de Mexico spot. Re-checked at 7:15 and it was 100% gone----that sunrise terminator really did its job!
I did some pre-sunrise listening this morning and KFI is about as
tough a catch as it was before its new tower came on-line.
At tune-in around 6:30 am Central and the channel was dominated by
Cuba's Radio Progreso with XENQ, "La Ennay Koo," in Hidalgo and XEHHI,
Chihuahua, "Radio Uno," underneath. No trace of KFI. But Radio
Progreso began to fade around 6:45 am and bits and pieces of English talk began
to surface, but I couldn't tell if this was KFI or WWLS in Oklahoma. At 6:50 I
began checking some other frequencies and returned to 640 around 7:05 am and
found XEHHI dominant with its "Radio Uno, la numero uno" slogan (BTW,
there were several Chihuahua mentions, so I doubt this was the other "Radio
Uno" station on 640, XEYQ in Zacatecas.) XETAM in Ciudad Victoria,
Tamaulipas, was also in nicely under XEHHI. However, the talk station began to
gradually build in strength while XEHHI faded, and by 7:18 am I caught
"more stimulating talk radio, 6-40, KFI" ID followed by a spot for
"the southland's largest computer discount warehouse." But by 7:30 am
KFI was gone, leaving only XETAM,
which is normally audible here during the day.
Frankly, KFI doesn't seem a bit stronger than it did back when it
was running reduced power into its temporary antenna.
10/10
Last night I tuned to 1110 kHz from 9:35 to 9:50 pm Central to see
if I could detect any sign of WBT through the usually dominant KFAB and XERED,
Radio Red. Both were in there----KFAB with Michael Savage sputtering about
something, and XERED with a serious discussion between a man and woman----but
way underneath was a Spanish, XE-sounding station with banda music. I managed to
twice catch a "La Ley" slogan, including a clear "Es la Ley"
but no other call, local ads, or anything else that would help ID this one.
Neither the Callarman nor Cantu lists show a station on 1110 using this slogan.
Anyone have any hints?
No WBT either last night, drat.
10/17
Thanks
to yesterday's tip from avid high school football fan Glenn Hauser, I managed to
snag the following last night (October 16):
1520
KOKC, Oklahoma City, OK, tune into some game featuring the "Mustangs,"
score was 55-7; at 9:46 pm Central caught two brief bursts (about three seconds)
of 1000 kHz tone about 45 seconds apart way down in the mess on channel----maybe
an EBS test or actual alert? Very crowded channel, and mainly notable for how
anemic KOKC's signal is. When it was KOMA, it used to blast into the San Diego
area when I lived there from 1987-97 and it was a nightly regular on my rental
car radio when I was last on the Big Island in 2002. Sic transit gloria. . . . .
.
1640
KFXY, Enid, OK, with OBA Eagles vs. Hennessey Trojans. Score was 45-7, so I hope
the Trojans did a better job of stopping any STDs than they did the Eagles
offense. 9:56 pm Central ID as "16-40 the score" and into ad for
Stewart Pontiac/Cadillac/Nissan "in beautiful downtown Enid" (their
words, not mine). Loud atop WTNI, so I suspect they were on day facilities.
10/18
Ye gods, the band was really crappy last night! Signals sounded
auroral, with rapid variations in signal strength that made it impossible to
identify many stations. For example, I had two HSFB games on 1460 amid the mess,
but neither would surface long enough for identifying details.
Nothing new logged, but there were two interesting situations. On
1640, WTNI, Biloxi, MS, was dominating the channel with Biloxi HS FM and KFXY
was way underneath----a complete reversal of the situation from Thursday night,
and a good clue WTNI was on day facilities. On 1540, KEDA in San Antonio was
carrying the Warren Warriors vs. Clark Cougars game. KEDA is a day and night
regular here, but their normal programming is Spanish! Are there any other
Spanish or other ethnic stations that revert to English for HSFB broadcasts?
1060 was dominated around 9:15 to 10:00 pm Central by a station
that played some weirdly atonal instrumental music from long stretches with no
breaks or announcements; from the programming, I suspect this was XEEP, Radio
Educación, in Mexico City. In the same period, 860 was dominated by a station
playing classical music without interruptions or announcements. This was almost
certainly XEUN, Radio UNAM, in Mexico City; this was exactly like their
programming on their former SW frequency of 9599 kHz.
10/19
Propagation last night was interesting; the combined skywave/groundwave
knocked WOAI-1200 down enough to allow an UnID Spanish broadcaster to sneak in
under WOAI's remaining analog signal and IBOC digihash. I first tuned in at
10:35 pm Central to catch symphonic instrumental music. At 10:37, there was a
lightning quick announcement by a male and I heard a definite "Costa
Rica" in it----but nothing resembling a station ID. This was followed by
Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" (!), and then by a set of 1970s hits,
including "That's How Much" by Climax, "Rock Me Baby" by
George Clinton, and "Remember I Love You" by Firefall. No other
announcements were heard, and by 10:55 pm WOAI was reasserting itself and the
station was lost.
The most likely XE is XEPW, "Tu Musica," in Veracruz
which the Callarman list says has some English pop music. TITQ in Costa Rica is
on 1200, but according to its web site their primary audience is Nicaraguans
living in Costa Rica, and I don't think they would be big fans of 1970s Top 40
hits.
At any rate, I'd welcome any ideas about what I heard!
As Listed
10/22
I was in Temecula on Saturday to pick up my grandson for the
weekend and listened to this new EAR station.
1610 WQIQ379 10/18/08 11:45 AM PDT announcements on construction
projects in Temecula by a woman, mentioned Emergency Advisory Radio, City of
Temecula and 24 hours a day. Call ID heard about 11:58.
Another one in the log. This has been heard but never an ID until
now.
860 KTRB San Francisco, CA 8:30-9:00 PM PDT 10/27, heard about
level with XEMO most of the time with sports talk, Cardinals Sports Network
(Stanford), ID just before ToH "KTRB 8-60 AM".
1320 KAWC Yuma AZ 5:26-5:46+ PM MST 8/28 t/in to NPR programmming,
NPR news, local news, weather, back to NPR programs. In and out in KCTC null.
WCPC-940
Houston, MS
They are POUNDING in here in a small null of WWJ's IBOC hash.
Heard Gospel mx, an ID, and now they're airing a religious talk
show.
If you need it, now's the time to go after it!
Mexico usually pretty tough from here. This was a
pleasant surprise the other morning.
540 MEXICO XEWA "W Radio", San Luis Potosí 30Oct08 0800 - "W-Radio servicio de informativo", mention Colonia San Marcos (district of mexico City) and other references to Mexico - Recorded - Good. ID verified by Andrew Brade via RealDX
10/2
I was listening to 940 CINW Montreal QC on the Hallicrafters SX-100
just minutes ago and happened to notice hearing C&W music in the background.
I've now switched over to the Palstar R30A to keep tabs on it.
October 8, 2008 at 7:15 a.m. ADT:
1070 KHz KNX Los Angeles CA with news, traffic etc. plainly audible
in the background of CHOK then bubbling up to parity with CHOK with "This
is KNX NewsRadio". NEW! According to Where's That Station, KNX is 2983
miles or 4800 KM from my QTH in Stratford PEI Canada!
This is my very first MW logging from the Pacific Coast or for that
matter from California or west of the Rockies. My previous farthest west MW logging was 960 CFAC Calgary AB.
Receiver: Palstar R30A [there is no better receiver in my opinion
for decifering an ID or clues out of a jumble of stations - the audio is so
good] Antenna: LF Engineering
M-601C
10/16
Greetings fellow ABDXers!
I have returned from Priest Pond PEI. We had an awesome time there yesterday and today - Brent
Taylor, Chris Black, Niel Wolfish, Geoff Rivet and yours truly.
Last evening the emphasis was on European and Middle Eastern
stations - and we got some pretty neat catches - including very modest powered
Radio Clyde from Scotland and not so modestly powered Radio Uno Italy on 900 KHz
[in spite of 900 CKDH Amherst NS]. We
kept coming back to 720 Greenland a lot as it is so distinctive and its signal
was so nice and solid most of the night - with WGN occassionaly bubbling up.
Early this morning the emphasis was on western targets.
I awoke to hear Brent say "I've got KNX!".
We went on to get several western USA stations and 8 out of 10 Canadian
Provinces. We were unable to make
it a perfect 9 out of 10 [the 10th Province is unobtainable as there are
no AM stations here in PEI] as we didn't get anything from BC.
But - we did get hets from Japan.
Chris Black's Flag antenna works superbly.
Chris, Geoff and myself left today - leaving Brent and Niel to haul
in more DX catches. They will be
using my homemade EWE [which really looks more like a rounded letter
"M" as the poles were bent toward each other somewhat and the wire
dipped in the middle]. Seems to
work pretty decent but nothing can compete with the mighty flag.
I'm already planning an improved EWE with better poles for next year.
unless I end up attempting to build a Flag!
But the best part of the DXpedition was DXing with four great DXers
who are also great people to hang out with!
I caught WLRB-AM 1510 Macomb, IL too last night!
First time I've heard it since I left southeast Iowa, where it was an easy catch
during the day. I caught a 3 new logs for me last night as well including
WOLF 1490 running radio disney, WBNW Concord with Ads then into an ID listing
them as Boston's financial news station and also listing a simulcast on 1390
WPLM, and WGHQ 920 from Kingston New York, dominating the frequency when
the radio faced south, with WHJJ only making an occasional appearance. WGHQ is
supposed to be running only 78 watts, WHJJ and CKNX are my usual catches on 920.
Heard on a Kenwood R-1000 and 300 foot wire:
1160 KSL Salt Lake City, UT 10/2 2331 news and ads for
yourldsneighborhood.com
1700 WEUP Huntsville, AL 10/4 1933 Gospel singing, "Jesus,
He's all that I need."
1690 WMLB Avondale Estates, GA 10/4 1936 UTC Mocs v. GA Southern
Eagles.
1690 WPTX Lexington Park, MD 10/4 1941 Popped under WMLB during
silent moment. "You're listening to Maryland football on WPTX."
1670 WVVM Dry Branch, GA 10/4 1944 SS music hammered by IBOC from
WFNA.
1660 WFNA Charlotte, NC 10/4 1946 "The Franchise"
mentioning HD broadcast.
1600 WFIS Fountain Inn, SC 10/4 1958 with legal ToH ID.
1580 WPMP Pascagoula, MS 10/4 2006 with news and ID.
1560 WQEW NYC, NY 10/4 2010 running R. Disney.
1521 BSKSA Saudi Arabia 10/4 2011 Big het beating against 1520
1500 WFED Washington,
DC 10/4 2017 with what sounded like a DC United football game.
1370 WGIV Pineville, NC 10/4 2037 UC "WGIV serving your
community for 50 years."
1260 KSGF Springfield, MO 10/4 2030 Fox News, Hannity ad, ad for
debate watching party.
1140 WRVA
Richmond, VA 10/4 2040 Cavaliers v. Terrapins.
990 KRMO Cassville, MO 10/4 2043 MO Tigers v. NE Cornhuskers.
960 WABG
Greenwood/Clarksdale MS 10/4 2054 oldies, "Twisting the night away."
950 WORD Spartanburg, SC 10/4 2055 ID Lars Larson show.
950 CMHI Havana, Cuba 10/4 2057 RR Sounder during news.
890 CMDZ Havana, Cuba 10/4 2001 playing Cuban Jazz
850 KOA Denver, CO 10/4 ID 2013 during time out in Texas v.
Colorado game. LOCAL like signal. S9+40
610 KCSP Kansas City, MO 10/4 2156 Fox Sports.
640 WGST Atlanta, GA 10/4 2200 ToH ID news.
Heard on a Sony ICF-2010
680 WCTT Corbin, KY 10/6 1910 playing NOS. Only in for a couple of
minutes then faded away.
Kenwood R 1000 and 400' wire:
830 KOTC Kennett, MO 10/6 1805 // 104.3 "The Quake"
playing rock from the 70s. Format change from C&W.
550 KTRS St. Louis, MO 10/6 1817 "The Big 550, KTRS"
1030 KFAY Fayetteville, AR 10/6 1830 with Rush Limbaugh ad.
1130 KWKH Shreveport, LA 10/6 1835 with NO Saints pregame.
1160 WCFO Atlanta, GA 10/6 1854 with Lou Dobbs.
1220 WAYE Birmingham, AL 10/6 1937 with UC music.
1310 WDCT Fairfax, VA 10/6 2000 with KK pgm
1430 UNID 10/6 2004 playing Caribbean music.
1550 UNID 10/6 2012 with old radio show Gunsmoke and William
Conrad.
1700 KKLF Richardson, TX 10/6 2017 with Trophy Nissan ad.
640 KFI Los Angeles, CA 10/6 John and Ken talking about the bailout
and Congressman Henry Waxman. O/U Cuba, weak.
Heard on a Sangean HDR-1 and RS loop:
840 WHAS Louisville, KY 10/10 1850 HD, stereo, and ad for Kroger
before UL Cardinals FB game. Beautiful stereo sound, solid perfect for about 25
minutes and putting in a 33.6 dB signal. Flawless, no noise, no flutter, no
fade, just like local.
1470 WRGA Rome, GA 10/10 1755 ID then gone! Poof!
1200 WJES Saluda, SC 1800 ID and into HSFB
If anyone wants to catch KGGF 690 from Coffeyville, KS HSFB is the
perfect time. For several weeks in a row, they have been running the full 10
gallons during the games. Its a great opportunity.
Heard on a Zenith Royal 755 nekkid:
670 WSCR Chicago, IL 10/12 2100 Cleveland Browns leading NY Giants.
ToH ID.
950 WORD Spartanburg,
SC 10/12 2105 ID // 106.3 then Sean Hannity.
Heard on a Zenith Royal 780 Navigator nekkid:
550 UNID sort of 10/12 2118 Now I know better than to do this so I
am skirting all around it. I was listening and heard an ad for Don's Chicago
Style Dogs. Now the only place I
know of by this name is in Phoenix and the odds on hearing it on a Royal 780,
and its a very good radio are very slim. I am not saying I heard KFYI at all but
it sure has that feel. I don't know who it was but would like to. If you want
the truth, it might have not even been on 550 since I was on an analog dial
radio.
560 WIND Chicago, IL 10/12 2120 with a weather report and ID.
Heard on a Kenwood R-1000 and 300 foot wire on the ground 10/17:
1660 WCNZ Marco Island, FL 1845 Naples HS FB
1660 KXTR KC, MO 1845 playing chamber music.
1640 WTNI Biloxi, MS 1850 ID during HSFB pregame show.
1580 WVKO Columbus, OH 1845 HSFB one team Hamilton Twp.
1440 WLWI Montgomery, AL 1900 ID CNN news about Obama / McCain
970 WGTK Louisville, KY 1905 with ID.
970 WTBF Troy, AL 1905 with HSFB. One team just threw a 45 yard
bomb for a TD.
960 WERC Birmingham, AL 1907 Hoover HS HSFB.
920 KARN Little Rock, AR 1913 Pulaski Academy Bruins 0 v. Robinson
Senators 7
910 WEPG S. Pittsburg, TN 1917 HSFB Silverdale 0 v. S. Pittsburg
Pirates. 15
870 WWL NO, LA 1920 giving HSFB scores.
830 WCCO Minneapolis, MN 1921 with Minnesota Wild Hockey.
730 WUMP Madison, AL 1922 with Jaguar HSFB.
950 KWOS Jefferson City, MO 1933 HSFB Jeff City Jays v. Troy
Trojans.
1370 WCOA Pensacola, FL 1939 ID during HSFB.
Six new ones tonight thanks to the HSFB STA.
Heard on a Kenwood R-1000 and a 309.375' wire on the ground,
unterminated 10/17:
1410 WIQR Pratt, AL 2130 with HSFB Trinity Presbyterian Wildcats v.
Marbury Bulldogs.
1620 WNRP Gulf Breeze, FL 2115 Booker T. Washington HSFB.
Heard on a DX398 nekkid and powered by a lantern battery:
1300 WMTN Morristown, TN 10/19 2134 ID Classic Country with an Alan
Jackson weekend.
1540 CHIN Toronto, ON 10/19 2141 really coming in with Ethiopian
[?] language programming.
Both new.
Heard on a Kenwood R-1000 and 266 foot wire ENE:
670 WMTY Farragut, TN 10/23 1705 ID after CBS News and into Jerry
Doyle talk show.
690 WJOX Birmingham, AL 10/23 1706 World's Series Baseball talk.
720 WGCR Pisgah Forest, NC 10/23 1709 with country style gospel MX.
720 WVCC Hogansville, GA 10/23 1710 with Fox Sports
870 WQRX Valley Head, TN 10/23 1735 SS REL MX.
1100 WWWE Hapeville, GA 10/23 1800 playing KK program about McCain/
Obama and election. Heard TOH ID and when I heard WWWE I thought I was in a time
warp.
All are new.
Heard on a Kenwood R-1000 and 266 foot wire:
660 WLFJ Greenville, SC 10/23 1657 talk about abortion and why you
must vote Republican or you may risk going to hell!!!!! Strangest thing I think
I ever heard on the radio. 1700 gave ToH ID.
1440 WGMI Bremen, GA 10/24 2006 Bremen v. Gordon Lee HSFB
Heard in Crump while driving a gold 2004 Saturn Ion with the car
radio and 31" whip:
1530 WSAI Cincinnati, OH 10/26 1506 with Bengals football fairly
strong. They were losing to the Houston Texans.
Heard 10/26 on a DX398 and 266 foot wire:
1650 WHKT Portsmouth, VA 1720 Radio Disney.
990 KWAM Memphis, TN 1800 News story about Flower Mound, TX.
1430 WOWW Germantown, TN 1921 "AM 1430, Radio Disney."
800 WMGY Montgomery, AL 2051 Orchestral religious music with lots
of brass.
1480 WGUS Augusta, GA 2100 ToH ID // 102.7 "Your Southern
Gospel Station."
Also had the het from BSKSA again on 1521 and have it also 10/27.
All except 1521 are new.
Heard on a Eton E-1 and whip 10/28:
1520 KOKC Oklahoma City, OK 0303 with news and ID. New for TN.
Heard on a DX440 and 266 foot wire on 10/28:
1540 KXEL Waterloo, IA 1730 with talk about IA HSFB and having 192
teams in the playoffs.
1480 WBBP Memphis, TN 1805 with some news about religion and then
ID.
1330 WEBY Milton, FL 1815 Michael Reagan Show then *poof* gone.
1300 KWCK Searcy, AR 1816 talking about Little Rock HSFB.
1210 WMPS Bartlett, TN 1819 NOS music and ID.
1170 KFAQ Tulsa, OK 1825 with FOX and John Gibson carrying on about
how an Obama victory would be the end of the world as we know it. Ad stopset
then an ID.
All new.
Heard on a nekkid DX440 on 10/29:
880 KLVN Lexington, NE 0811 farm report on ethanol production.
1190 WOWO Ft. Wayne, IN 0830 BoH ID and WOWO.com and into political
ads.
1600 KLEB Golden Meadow, LA 0841 with Cajun chanky-chank music,
fighting it out with an Asian language station.
1690 WVON Chicago, IL 10/30 1140 with African American call in show
and ID.
Heard 10/30 on a Sony ICF-2010 and 266 foot wire:
1360 UNID 1534 with "The Osgood File" The only one I can
find is in North Carolina on this frequency. I figured I would ask before
attribution.
1340 UNID 1603 with Paul Harvey.
1580 WLIJ Shelbyville, TN 1440 playing classic C&W.
1560 WBOL Bolivar, TN 1444 playing classic C&W.
1550 WCTZ Clarksville, TN 1445 Country gospel MX.
1490 WTUP Tupelo, MS 1450 Sports talk program.
1490 WJJM Lewisburg, TN 1452 ID WJJM then the Beatles Club.
1470 WVOL Nashville, TN 1455 talking about the McCain family
plantation in MS and the family get together and talking about how the McCain
family owned slaves.
1460 WJAK Jackson, TN 1302 urban gospel.
1420 WKSR Pulaski, TN 1505 Story about a dog running for mayor of
Jacksonville, OR.
1310 WDXI Jackson, TN 1606 talking about Triscuits [tm] .
1190 WSDQ Dunlap, TN 1624 "The New Q" C&W.
1180 WZQZ Trion, GA 1631 with REL NX then political ad.
1100 KKLL Webb City, MO 1640 with REL show and Brother
Somethingorother listing all the stations and states he is on.
890 KYAM Hartselle, AL 1652 SS playing ranchera.
880 WPEK Fairview, NC 1655 with the excellent Randi Rhodes Show.
580 WIBW Topeka, KS 1820 with directions to the stadium for
Saturday's football game.
620 CMDA La Habana, Cuba 1830 "Esta emisora es desde La Habana,
La Voz de la Revolucion!"
940 WMAC Macon, GA 2030 with ID and Channel 13 WX.
All new, Total from TN 207
Heard on a DX398 and 250 foot wire on 10/31:
1050 KMIS Portageville, MO 1255 Jim Rome interviewing Josh
Hamilton.
1250 WKBL Covington, TN 1305 with slogan US 51 country.
Heard on a Sony ICF-2010 and 300 foot wire on 10/31:
930 WFXJ Jacksonville, FL 1910 with HSFB and Underwoods Jewelers
ad.
1030 WEBS Calhoun, GA 1945 HSFB Calhoun local ads at the half.
1190 WIXE Monroe, NC 1953 HSFB Marion County Warriors playing
Sequatchie County Indians 14-0
I took advantage of WCOJ's temporary absence from the airwaves over
the past weekend. Many thanks to Bruce Collier for giving us the heads up on
this situation.
4-Oct-08 // 0200 local // 1420 khz. // WHK // 5 kw // Cleveland, OH
// End of promo for Mark Levine, Michael Medved and Hugh Hewitt:
"Intelligent hosts for Cleveland's choice for intelligent talk, Newstalk
1420 WHK. This is Newstalk 1420 WHK, a service of Salem Communications."
Into SRN news. // New. A 334 mile catch.
4-Oct-08 // 0304 local // 1420 khz. // WCED // 0.5 kw night // Du
Bois, PA // A quick "1420 WCED." // New. A 191 mile catch.
4-Oct-08 // 0500 local // 1420 khz. // WLIS // 0.5 kw night // Old
Saybrook, CT // Male with "1420 WLIS AM, Old Saybrook..." // New. A
204 mile catch.
4-Oct-08 // 0706 local // 1420 khz. // WLNA // 5 kw // Peekskill,
NY // Male with "...music weekend...1420 WLNA." Into Andy Gibbs' 'I
Just Want To Be Your Everything'. // New. A 142 mile catch.
4-Oct-08 // 2030 local // 1420 khz. // WACK // 0.5 kw night //
Newark, NY // Male out of the rumble with "...at 1420 WACK
[unintelligible]." // New. A 238 mile catch. The [unintelligible] doesn't
sound like 'Newark' though the call letters were clear. I'd appreciate some
input here. Thanks in advance.
10/20
I am 100 miles from 630 WBMQ, Savannah, GA, and as of 8:10 P. M. Eastern, they are blasting in, certainly not their licensed 47 watts. Must be the day power of 4,800 watts.
10/7
1540 Bahamas heard here from 7pm-9pm CDT usually near South Padre
Island TX!
Heard last night 10/6:
790 KGHL Billings, MT, 10/5@10:30p CDT, ID at the bottom of the
hour. 1.8kW, 489 miles. No sign of KFGO, Fargo.
770 WABC New York, NY, 10/6@12:00a CDT, ID at midnight, into news.
50kW,1264 miles. Some QRM from KKOB, Albuquerque
10/9
I'm probably the last DXer in this part of the country to hear the
"new" KFI. Finally got 'em this evening 2150-2155 CDT with "KFI
Newsroom" mention, traffic report and ads. Haven't heard them in *years*.
10/27
Daytimer WWAM is noted mixing with WBAP tonite with Gospel mx and
lots of
weather
reports and some ID's...
10-29
CX were VERY good to the west/WNW last night from here in IL...ie
CKWX in nicely with News 1130 slogan at 1953 CDT (37 minutes prior to their
sunset switch time) and was often in well later. CFUN 1410 was also noted around
2104 with ads and ID and into talk. Around 2315 there was some C&W on 890
u/phased WLS...likely CJDC but it faded before I could ID it. Utah also in there
at times.
New was KPTK 1090 "Seattle's Progessive Talk" with that
slogan about 90 seconds prior to pattern switch during a break from Randi Rhodes
2028 CDT. I was on 1090 hoping the Mexican sounding SS thru KAAY was Fortuna CA
but suspect it was just CO which once in a while is in there on night rig. 1560
KNZR in at times..IDed 2206 CDT. Also from CA KERI 1180 caught via sunset skip
with a break in their Money Life program 2021. KNX also in at times (less common
since KVKK came on) KOMO 1000 noted over an hour prior to pattern switch time.
1922 CDT !! u/phased WMVP KFLD 870 was in mixed with WWL/Reloj around 2005. Also
from Seattle KNTS 1680 is decent even on 1 kw night power. Lots of nice SSS
targets were hampered by IBOC, inspite of my phased BOGs. TA's were in, but were
a bit better the previous night.
Very nice western cx continue here from Barrington IL. Co-owned
KIGO 1420 and KRXR 1480 are
occasionally topping those channels in // with Mexican mx and the rare anmt and
Radio Fiesta ID both on day rig as is common.
Cx remain really good to the W/WNW. Sunset skip had KFXX 1080 OR and a better signal from KPTK
1090 WA (new last night) Bits of KPTK and also KOMO can be noted even on night
patterns tonite. KOMO WA was overpowering phased WMVP around 2010 CDT.
KERI CA 1180 was loud just
priot to a late power switch at 2034.
10/30
I find that the end of October is one of the best times for sunset
skip. Hint..ignore the trick or treaters tomorrow and DX sunset since come Nov
1, your targets switch to night rigs considerably earlier.
As usual this time of year, from IL I am working towards the west
where I can use my longest antennas. (From WI, I work towards the east, taking
advantage of my land towards the Lake Michigan shore).
Anyhow..out to the DX truck about 1850 CDT and it clear that cx are
slightly AU disturbed but only slightly. CO starting to come in well, but MB/SK
not so good. Really strange at 1907 to have KFLN 960 from eastern MT with 5 kw
stronger than CBW 990 from MB with 50 kw and closer but more northerly.
Slightly AU is weird..later getting KBMR ND on 1130 on low night
power but no Vancouver and little trace of AB on 1140 although the WY stn was in
well via SSS.
Anyhow..KNZZ was blasting out WTAM on peaks so,,, I remembered to
try for the new stn in Vegas on 1100 and was rewarded !! 1957 CDT..UNLV
sports promos..dial 739-FANS for tickets...ESPN Radio 1100 ID o/u phased
superpest WTAM. LSS switch at 2000:30 and as I tined down ..KNX 1070 allready in
decently. (No trace of needed SF or AZ on 1100....last night had XENAS which is
sometimes in)
1020 had SS Mex mx o/u cheating Groofy 1020 MN (KDKA phased to
death) and gone at 2030 switch (needed Yakima since unn KTNQ is Univision and
easy to ID and talk orineted) 1000 KOMO OK tonite but not awesome like last
night
10/13
WKMC is pretty strong here too.
38 Watts? I think not.
I also noticed that WKMC and WFEA are carrying the same Jones standards
feed, delayed a second or two apart. Conditions
don't seem that great tonight, but maybe I'll record 1370 overnight and see what
turns up.
10/30
Conditions to the west last night were decent here too, though
rather spotty. I won't be hearing
Idaho on a regional channel anytime soon, though!
I did try for KBOI, since WFAN had their accursed IBOC off for a change,
but no go - too much Cuba when WSCR was nulled (I did
have a Reloj outlet there, which was interesting, as I'm not sure
I've seen one reported on 670 before). KRCN
was in very early under KYW on 1060. I'm fairly sure I had KNTS-1680 before they dropped power,
but no ID. My only new catch was
KBHB-810 in SD, who peaked
nicely just before dropping power at 2014 EDT.
Alas, many western targets are non-starters here, due to the
presence of IBOC crud.
10/16
While
listening for Thursday HSFB per this afternoon's discussion, I stumbled across
KVEL-920 Vernal, UT seemingly running day power, way on top of the channel with
a talk program, ID, and a TIS-style ad encouraging people to hike up to the
mountain lakes in the Uintah mountains.
Very
strange conditions tonight. Higher freqs are terrible but the lower band
is pretty good. UNID on 820 (must be KUTR?) is running a man who almost
sounds like a preacher but isn't citing any Bible verses so who knows where he's
coming from...
10/17
960
KLAD-OR noted with Klamath Union Pelicans vs. Eagle Point Eagles. Rare
here.
10/25
Wednesday night just after 7pm Pacific / 10pm Eastern / 0200 UTC I heard a weak but steady signal with some Spanish-language songs followed by an XE anthem on 1610. The past few nights I have been working late so I haven't been able to try for it again. I have seen several reports of XEUACH signing off around this time so would have to suspect that's what I had. Now that it's dark before then, this station would be worth trying for from SoCal...
10/7
Got
ZNS Nassau Bahamas in Dallas! 8 PM
10/4
I
found out this morning that I don't have to go to the beach for TP DX,
although it may be better there. There's a small grassy area on the
apartment complex property that I go to for any serious
listening due to manmade noise indoors. It was good enough to log a
couple of TP's this morning. I just tried the ten frequencies listed
in Gary DeBock's "Receiving Your First Thrilling TP on a Stock Ultralight
Radio".
774
JOUB 1307 good to very good with JJ man and woman doing a
learning to speak English program.
972
HLCA? 1316 fair with man speaking what sounded like KK.
I
also had some other carriers with no audio; the best were 828,
1566, and 1575.
JOUB
was on the ICF-2010 barefoot. I needed the Select-a-Tenna for HLCA. The
synchronous detection sure helps but JOUB was strong enough that I didn't
absolutely need it.
I'm going to do this with the ICF-2010 for awhile then give it a try with ultralights.
At 0645 CDT 7 Oct 08 KMON
560 Great Falls in with big signal to N.E. MN.
Might be hearable farther east.
At 0700 CDT 7 Oct 08. KFI--640
in with "KFI 5 o'clock news."
At 0704 CDT 7 Oct 08. CBX--740
Edmonton completely dominating 740 with CBC
News.
No sign of "AM 740" CHWO."
At 0718 Q-91 910 in
Drumheller, AB in with what sounds to be Classic
Country.
Good conditions to the West this morning. All times CDT.
560 KMON
MT Great Falls.
10-14 0711 I.D.,
temp & time checks in Mountain time.
570 KVI
WA Seattle.
10-14 0707
Ad for Puget computer firm. "Right
here in
Seattle." Then
"National Anthem" at this strange time. I.D. Into talk
prog--host Kirby--didn't catch last name. NEW
580 KIDO
ID Nampa.
10-14 0650
Local ads. Firm had stores
in Mountain Home & Meridian among others.
At 0700 CDT !8 Oct 2008. CBC
Radio One British Columbia in nicely with I.D. & into CBC News.
Music 1st Installment: All Times CDT.
630 CFCO
ON Chatham.
10-3 1831.
C&W. "Country 92-9
FM" 630 CFCO.
740 CFMZ
ON Toronto.
10-3 1836.
Standards. "Friday
Night Bandstand."
850 WWJC
MN Duluth.
10-3 1850.
Cont. Christian music. "WWJC--The Light."
910 WFDF
MI Farmington
Hills. 10-3
1855. Radio Disney.
1050 CHUM
ON Toronto.
10-3 1900.
"Toronto's Greatest Hits.""1050 Chum."
1090 CKKW
ON Kitchener.
10-3. 1902.
Oldies. "Oldies
1090."
1150 CKOC
ON Hamilton.
10-3. 1909.
Oldies. "Oldies 1150
CKOC."
1290 WMCS
WI Greenfield.
10-3 1918.
Urban--Blues.
1290 CFRW
MB Winnipeg.
10-3. 0845.
Oldies. Many I.D.s
1340 KXPO
ND Grafton
10-3 0854
Oldies & C&W. Promo
for HSFB.
1350 WCMP
MN Pine City.
10-3 0858.
Oldies--NOS. I.D.
1390 WRIG
WI Schofield.
10-3 1810. Oldies.
"Big Rig 1390."
1400 WATW
WI Ashland.
10-3 0912.
NOS. "Memories
1400"
1440 KDIZ
MN Golden Valley.
10-3 0924.
Radio Disney.
1560 WQEW
NY New York.
10-3 1820.
Radio Disney.
1580 CKDO
ON Oshawa.
10-3 1821.
Oldies. Then into hockey.
590 WJMS
MI Ironwood.
10-4 1854.
"Real Country US
59."
850 WWJC
MN Duluth.
1850 10-3.
Cont. Christian music. I.D. "WWJC
The Light."
910 WFDF
MI Farmington
Hills. 10-3
1855. Radio Disney.
1050 CHUM
ON Toronto.
10-3 1900.
Oldies. "Toronto's
Greatest Hits--1050 Chum."
1090 CKKW
ON Kitchener.
10-3 1902.
Oldies. "Oldies
1090."
1150 CKOC
ON Hamilton.
10-3 1909.
Oldies. "Oldies 1150
CKOC."
1230 KGHS
MN International
Falls. 10-4
0800. TOH I.D. "The
greatest hits are here on KGHS."
1230 WKLK
MN Cloquet.
10-4 0923.
"This is your home for America's best music--AM 1230 WKLK."
1240 WMFG
MN Hibbing.
10-4 0806.
NOS. "America's best
music is here on WMFG."
1290 WMCS
WI Greenfield.
10-3 1918.
Urban--Blues.
1320 KOZY
MN Grand
Rapids. 10-4
0843. Oldies. Promo for
local news.
1350 KRNT
IA
Des Moines. 10-4
1843. Standards--Oldies.
"Here on KRNT."
1380 WOTE
WI Clintonville.
10-4 0925.
"Oldies 1380." Ads
for Shawano.
1410 KRWB
MN Roseau.
10-4 0856.
"The home of Classic Rock KRWB." Into song by 'The Doors.'
1430 KNSP
MN Staples.
10-4 0900.
"920 KWAD Wadena--1430 KNSP Staples."
Sounds like classic country.
1460 KKAQ
MN Thief
River Falls. 10-4
0907. "The one station
playing your kind of
country."
1470 KWSL
IA
Sioux City. 10-4
0954. SS music.
"La Preciosa."
1490 KQDS
MN Duluth.
10-4 0913.
"True Oldies."
1600 KPNP
MN Watertown.
10-4 0919.
Hmong chanting. Does that count as music?
Who is the station with Middle Eastern Music under WOR? 1815 EDT, 10/27
10/11
6;30 central, just before sunset : On the Kaito 1200 barefoot
CJBC 860 Khz
Toronto Ontario 50,000 watts French ? speaking host with the words Mercci
Boockoo? and then Canada. All i
could pick out as a non frenchy ? The net says it's CJBC the city's affiliate of
Radio Canada's Premier Chaine network. 7:51 Central :
drifting more now ,but still can copy some . 1000 miles distant
10/30
1690 khz WVON
'The talk of Chicago' News \Talk
1670 khz WTDY
'The pulse '
news\Talk Madison Wi.
1660 khz KQWB
'1660 ESPN' sports with
world series game 5 Fargo ND.
1660 khz KXTR
'Classical 1660' Kansas City Ks.
1660 khz ?
mystery station with mexican music and station ID's Possibles? KXOL Brigham City
UT. KTIQ Merced Cali. WGIT Canovanas Puerto Rico
All 10,000 Day , 1,000
Night Watts
Started about 7;00 Central, ended around 9;00
the three 1660's where battling it out for some time , so took longer to
id but finally got solid id on the first 2
4 new ones ........... good night ? [real good – ed.]
10/31
Tonight was much better , slower drifting and finally heard the
word Utah ,So i'm guessing the mystery station is KXOL Utah?, only thing that
makes sense ? ......to bad , i was hoping it was the PR one but , :)
Any way not bad for 2 sets with whip only ?Eton E10 KA-2100
10/7
Heard 1540 ZNS here in Central Texas last night.Poor signal under
hash but clear enough to catch announcements.
10/9
Pretty good signal coming from KFI this morning. Coast To Coast
into KFI ID, Rush minute. Several other stations on channel too but did not ID
them. 6:30-7am CDT.First time with the new tower.
10/14
610 WFNZ NC
Charlotte right before &:15 pattern change on VERY short skip. I have
never heard this station ever, even in the old WAYS rock and roll days down this
way. 1913
10/14/08 PEW -SC near Silverstreet with Sony M-37V while walking Jolene.
640
WFNC NC Fayetteville Talking about NC State Wolfpack football and
local commercial and at 1915..... POOOOOOOOOOOOF!!!! 1914 10/14/0 on the dog walk.
1010 WHIN Gallatin, TN
2030 running Gallatin Greenwave football, running at least 1000 watts ( the MW-5
won't go any lower ) and substantially off frequency.
10/17/08
10/19
noticed
@ 15:55EDT/19: 55Z today (10/19/08) that WARV/1590-Warwick, R.I. is off air.
Still off as of 16:05EDT/20: 05Z.
10/7
We were working late at the new business last
night, and had to stop at the market for a few minutes, so I took the
opportunity to spin the dials of the Windstar's HD equipped JVC radio.
It's always nice getting away from the RF jungle at home, and I thought that the
proximity to the ocean (about 3 miles - we were just north of LAX) might make
things more interesting.
It was a bit after 11:00 PM, so first I went
looking to see who has IBOC on at night. The only 2 that would decode were
KNX-1070, which was very strong (as would be expected, being that close to
50KW), and KFWB, which decoded ok while we were sitting in the parking lot, but
was flipping a lot between analog and HD later when we were driving.
I got a flashing HD light on KOGO-600 and KCBS-740,
but no decodes.
The only other notable reception was something, I
think in SS, underneath XESURF-540 (which never happens at home). I wasn't
able to stick around long enough to ID anything. I went looking for hets
to see if there were any TP's in, but nothing was heard. I guess I need to
get closer to the beach.
640 KFI
Los Angeles , CA - 0500 + (UTC)
KFI blasting in and burying any other stations on the frequency with news
and into "Coast to Coast". seems much much better here after the new
antenna fireup. Absolutely dominating atm.
The Whole Earth
10/19
This afternoon Maple Leaf aired some unhappy letters from listeners
who were not amused with Radio Canada's decision to drop SE to Europe at the end
of this month.
And just as i am starting to get good reception of them at my location on 17735.
3413 khz. USB // 0239 UTC // 26-Oct-08 // Shannon Volmet //
Shannon,
Ireland // Unknown power // Male with wx conditions for various
world
airports followed by repetitive 'Shannon Volmet' IDs. Strong
signal.
10/28
Just caught an English ID from XEPPM on 6185 kHz at 9:00 pm Central/0200 UTC. It was by a woman, and went "This is Radio Education broadcasting on six thousand one hundred eighty-five kilohertz in the international band of 49 meters." That was it----all Spanish before and after----and I happened across it during a bandscan. Is this something new? I haven't noted it before.
Heard at 23:45 UTC 10/2 on a R-390A set at 16 KHz bandwidth:
9715 KHz RDP Internacional with
some rather lively music and superb, wideband fidelity.
With the exception of a bit of fading, this brutishly strong signal is
remarkably FM like in fidelity.
Now, if only I could find FireDrake at this hour of the evening -
brash Chinese music complete with gongs would sound so nice on the R-390A on 16
KHz bandwidth :)
10/6
** CUBA [and non]. RHC`s English program at 23-24 UT is supposed to
be only on 9550 --- to Rio de Janeiro? To the Caribbean? Who know? But I was
monitoring 11800 at 2301 UT Oct 1, and guess what --- RHC opening English, not
unusual for this frequency to be running overtime past scheduled 2300* in
Spanish.
So I then checked 9550 --- just open carrier! Then I checked 9600
--- and there was RHC English // 11800. Modulation on 9550 came up around 2303.
It came to pass that 11800, bothered by QRDRM from 11790-11795-11800 HCJB with 4
kW aimed 110 degrees from Pifo, cut off sometime between 2305 and 2307, but 9600
kept going past 2330 as if it were intended.
BTW, RHC does not announce its frequencies at the beginning of
English hours, which is a very good idea since they change from day to day, and
the studionix are in no position to know them, unlike an axual monitor in
faraway Oklahoma.
Also, while listening to RHC on 9600, I could barely hear the
Vatican IS underneath at 2314, but did not notice whether they still had a 2.5
minute English service just before it; RHC was much stronger.
DentroCuban Jamming Command was busy jamming nothing the evening of
Oct 2, early UT: at 0010 on 9515 vs R. República which closes at 0000 (but
heavier jamming on its axual frequency 9640 to the extent that RR was
inaudible); also against nothing on 5890 and 6110, which are VOA Spanish
frequencies not opening until 0030 and then not exclusively for Cuba
** ECUADOR. HCJB`s Kulina service on 11920, Oct 1 at 2253 with
carefully enunciating preacher referring to Matthew XXIV, pronounced in
Portuguese, at 2253 and again at 2256. I figured they would have moved much
further into the NT by now, since my last log of this on May 10 found them also
citing Matthew XXIV.
Either they`re really hooked on this chapter, or more likely, they
have recorded only a few programs in this exotic language and play the same ones
over and over. And just like 5 months ago, the speaker was faded out rudely at
2259:30 with no outro or closing, just in time for the automated introduxion to
the Portuguese service which follows
** EGYPT. R. Cairo notes Oct 2: at 0012, 9360 with open carrier, or
almost so: straining to make out any traces of modulation I thought I heard ``Qahira``
mentioned; this is scheduled in Arabic to S America. Meanwhile, 9280 at same
time had good modulation with Arabic music; this is English to North America at
2300-2430, commonly mis-listed as Arabic, e.g. in Aoki, since schedules
emanating from ERTU repeatedly overlook this English broadcast and people are
also ignoring my correxions about it in DXLD! Here`s another chance to do so. At
0014, also checked 6290 and found that good in an Arabic drama, W&M
alternating
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. On Oct 1 I did not get around to checking
15190 for R. Africa until 2250, too late for modulation but not too late for a
big open carrier they had not yet turned off
** MEXICO. I finally had a chance to check XEPPM`s program with an
English title ``On the Road`` per their website SW schedule for 6185, at 0015
UT. Oct 2 at 0015 music, then segué into a romantic song in Spanish, but by
0019 the announcer was talking and it soon became clear that this is a series
presented in Spanish about Jack Kerouac`s ``On the Road``, at its fiftieth
anniversary. Plus hiway SFX, and even at 0020 the theme music to ``Ruta 66``.
Now we know. Wikipedia:
``On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written
in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely
autobiographical work that was written based on the spontaneous road trips of
Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a
defining work of the postwar Beat Generation that was inspired by jazz, poetry,
and drug experiences. While many of the names and details of Kerouac's
experiences are changed in the novel, hundreds of references in On the Road have
real-world counterparts.``
** PRIDNESTROVYE. Radio PMR still on 6040 to NAm, Oct 1 at 2339
check in German, which alternates every quarter hour with English and French. As
important as it may be, German is not a language native to Moldova or to North
America, but very much a minority language at best, not even worth DW`s trouble
to broadcast to NAm, so why does PMR aim it at us? Probably because they have
someone on staff capable of translating and reading their propaganda in German,
which is useful for the European service, so by golly, NAm gets it too
** VENEZUELA [non]. In the Oct issue of BDXC-UK Communication, page
39, appears this: ``RNV, English at 2300-2330 is now on 15250 (ex 13680) via
Cuba. Heard by Glenn Hauser (DXLD) on 6 September with the usual heavy-accented
translations from Spanish to English.``
I said no such thing. Here is that log item verbatim: ``**
VENEZUELA [non]. RNV, 15250 via Cuba, Sat Sept 6 at 2314 in English, YL with
tedious enumeration of constitutional articles concerning corruption, apparently
trying to dismiss such charges against Chávez in the 1990s, made only worse by
her didactic and heavy accent. . .
I
said nothing about 13680 one way or the other, but this transmission has been on
both frequencies for years, not one moving to another, and reconfirmed on both
Oct 1 at 2343 in Spanish. I also did not say English was at 2300-2330. Editors
are eager to pin RNV`s English to specific times, but in fact it appears at
irregular times, usually mixed in with Spanish segments
** CHINA [and non]. Trans-Pacific conditions were poor on 120, 90,
75 and 60 m the morning of Oct 2, but Firedrake was still making it on 49m, e.g.
at 1340 on 6095 // 6085 // 6030.
I see people still running across this ``traditional Chinese
music`` on many frequencies and wondering what it is in various DX publications,
despite discussions of this for years in DX LISTENING DIGEST, which I cannot
force people to read in order to be well-informed. Perhaps part of the problem
is that Firedrake is not listed as a `station` in WRTH or PWBR, even tho it has
become one of the world`s major `broadcasters`.
Interesting to compare CRI transmitter sites at 1346 Oct 2: 9570
via Habana had very low modulation, making squishing sound at peaks. 9650 via
Sackville, // but offset, had much better modulation but was
splattering/spurring out to plus/minus 10 kHz, and more weakly to plus/minus 20
kHz. No CRI audible on 9560 vs R. Australia, unlike a previous day, so maybe
that was a fluke or depends on unusual propagation
** GUAM. On 9900, Oct 2 at 1357 found VG signal in what sounded
like an Indian love song; 1358 ID in S Asian language with postal address, ``namaskar``
and off immediately at 1359* Is my PWBR next to the radio any help? Of course
not! I risked spraining my wrist for nothing. It shows something starting at
1400 but nothing ending at 1400. So as usual one must consult the much more
accurate and up-to-date online resources, once the computer is turned on.
Aoki shows KTWR Guam, daily 1345-1400 in Santali, 100 kW, 285
degrees. Eibi spells it Santhali and in the readme explains that it`s spoken in
India by 5.5 megapersons, and in Bangladesh by 150 kilopersons. WRTH says target
is E Asia rather than S Asia. All agree it is the only KTWR broadcast on this
frequency
** INDIA. AIR GOS, 9690, again making it Oct 2 at 1348, good
modulation, but over some co-channel QRM also producing a ripple-fast SAH. Woman
was speaking clearly in English in a tribute to Gandhi, pro-non-violence,
``dialogue is the only way to prevent terrorism``. Outroduced at 1353 by less
intelligible YL announcer, so could not copy the attribution, into rap music and
immediate tune-out
** JAPAN. Previously around 1300 on R. Nikkei, we have heard
English lessons and German lessons, and on Thu Oct 2 at 1302 there were French
lessons for Japanese listeners, on 6055, about goings-on in Paris
** KOREA SOUTH [non]. KBSWR, 9650 via Canada, Thu Oct 2 at 1240 in
English with Korean language lessons on the theme of bank transaxions. One
really needed printed material to follow it. And even better, some printed won
** MEXICO. Have barely been able to detect a carrier from XEXQ
lately, but heard much better Oct 2 on 6045: 1222 tune-in, good modulation with
classical cinema music from an epic western, familiar but I could not place it.
No announcements. Much better copy than under-modulated CFRX 6070 with 4x the
power; and also better than XEOI 6010 which is also 4x the power, nominally,
further than SLP and normally has the upper hand in this time period. At 1230 a
SAH of 72 per minute started from another 6045 station, = 1.2 Hz, but no
detectable modulation and not too obtrusive. However, online schedules do not
show anything starting at 1230 on 6045.
Rechecking at 1249: Spanish announcement in progress mentioning
Universidad Autónoma de San Luís Potosí, which is all one needs for a
definite ID, besides the paucity of classical music on SW, any other 6045
station in particular. Now the QRM had changed a lot with a fast SAH, flutter,
and het or tone: the latter no doubt from Vladivostok warming up for the VOR
Chinese broadcast at 1300. At 1257, XEXQ was playing Albinoni`s Adagio, an
extremely beautiful piece for which all other stations should QRX or QRT in
deference. But no! At 1300 Chinese talk started from VOR. Recheck at 1332, VOR
had faded down and XEXQ again dominant with some more classical music, and was
still stronger than 6010
** U S A. Brother Scare via WINB, 9265, Oct 2 at 1341, mixing with
``running water`` ute QRM for part of the 1343 minute; and not // Brother Scare
via WWRB, 9385 --- at least no // detected during a minute of listening to each
frequency. If you don`t like what he`s saying on one station, just tune to the
other! Then what?
Just when is B.S. on WINB? Their online sked displays it this way,
rather inconveniently, in EDT:
The Overcomer
Mon-02:00P, Tue-02:00P, Wed-02:00P, Thu-02:00P, Fri-02:00P
[= M-F 1800 UT, for how long? One hour]
The Overcomer - Bro. Stair
Sun-05:00P [2100 UT, for how long? 1 hour per sked by time, so why
isn`t this included in the following entry?]
The Overcomer (1 Hr.)
Sun-02:00P, Mon-05:00P, Tue-05:00P, Wed-05:00P, Thu-05:00P
Fri-05:00P, Sat-05:00P [Sun 18-19 so why isn`t this included in the
first entry? And Mon-Sat 21-22 UT]
The Overcomer (3 Hr.)
Sat-02:00P [1800-2100 UT]
The Overcomer (4 Hr.)
Sat-10:00A [1400-1800 UT]
Note that on Saturdays only, or rather The Sabbath, this adds up to
a continuous 8-hour broadcast 1400-2200.
Frequencies? At the top of the page it now shows:
Frequency Schedule (EDT)
0630 - 0800 9265 kHz
[1030-1200 UT]
0800 - 1700 13570 kHz [1200-2100 UT]
1700 - 1800 11520 kHz [2100-2200 UT]
1800 - 2300 9265 kHz
[2200-0300 UT]
11520??? I was almost convinced the 21-22 UT hour, which only
carries Brother Scare, came via DTK in Germany. WRTH, HFCC and EiBi do not have
this hour at all on 11520 from anywhere, and Aoki lists it as USA but no further
details. The latest FCC update as of August 14 does not have 11520 as WINB or
any US station.
We hear the broadcast just about any day, and it seems to us the
audio is appropriate for DTK and not WINB. However, the WINB schedule shows it
filling a one-hour gap between 13570 until 21 and 9265 from 22, so it would seem
to be their own transmitter.
Even so, another possible scenario is that it is WINB only in the
sense that WINB is being relayed via Germany. But the latest M&B/DTK
schedule dated Sept 5 does not show 11520, only 13810, 17485 and 6110 for TOM =
The Overcomer Ministry, at other times. Yet another scenario is that 11520 may
have been relayed from Germany for a while this summer, then transferred to Red
Lion.
We must listen closer to any IDs at beginning or end, and also
whether there is any overlap with 13570 and 9265. Furthermore, whenever we tune
13570 with BFO on, we find that the frequency is unstable with a pronounced
warble, and if it is the same transmitter, that should also happen on 11520 (and
9265). That may be the clincher once checked. But why doesn`t FCC have 11520 on
record??
While we are looking at the WINB program schedule, we find this for
Tony Alamo:
Mon-11:00A, Mon-03:00P, Mon-06:00P,
Tue-11:00A, Tue-03:00P, Tue-06:00P,
Wed-11:00A, Wed-03:00P, Wed-06:00P,
Thu-11:00A, Thu-03:00P, Thu-06:00P,
Fri-11:00A, Fri-03:00P, Fri-06:00P
Or put much more conveniently, converted to UT: M-F 1500-1600 &
1900-2000 13570, 2200-2300 on 9265. So we may hear how he responds to the
charges against him, and whether these broadcasts get canceled.
Let`s also check the Family Radio relay times on WINB, which can
cause confusion with Harold Camping & Co. showing up here despite his dozen
transmitters in Okeechobee and ever-expanding overseas relays. There can never
be enough droning from this unordained authority with seemingly limitless
broadcasting resources:
Family Radio - English
Sun-08:00A, Sun-09:00A, Sun-08:00P,
Mon-08:00A, Mon-09:00A, Mon-08:00P,
Tue-08:00A, Tue-09:00A, Tue-08:00P,
Wed-08:00A, Wed-09:00A, Wed-08:00P,
Thu-08:00A, Thu-09:00A, Thu-08:00P,
Fri-08:00A, Fri-09:00A, Fri-08:00P,
Sat-08:00A, Sat-09:00A, Sat-08:00P
[I.e., much more succinctly, converted to UT, one hour each and
with frequencies: Daily 12-13 9265, 13-14 13570, 00-01 9265.]
Family Radio - Spanish
Sun-07:00A, Sun-07:00P,
Mon-07:00A, Mon-07:00P,
Tue-07:00A, Tue-07:00P,
Wed-07:00A, Wed-07:00P,
Thu-07:00A, Thu-07:00P
Fri-07:00A, Fri-07:00P,
Sat-07:00A, Sat-07:00P
[I.e., much more succinctly, converted to UT, one hour each and
with frequencies: Daily 11-12 & 23-24 9265.]
** U S A [non]. VOA, 9510 via Thailand, Oct 2 at 1345 promo for
vice presidential debate ``Friday morning`` at 0100 UT. WTFK? Of course not! But
VOA is normally on the SW air anyway to Asia at this hour. See our previous
reports about special frequencies added for Africa, America.
VOA, 9760 via Philippines, Oct 2 at 1354 with USG editorial
delivered by YL, criticizing Malaysia`s Internal Security Act allowing jailing
of any opposition; mixing with CRI on 9760 but clear on // 9510
** VENEZUELA [non]. Since the relay was so fouled up the day
before, [see CUBA in previous report] I checked 11705 again Oct 2 at 1243. This
time RNV was axually being broadcast and in Spanish, but somewhat distorted and
with occasional audio dropouts for a fraxion of a second.
At
the moment, a sports segment, with listeners addressed as ``usuarios y usuarias``,
i.e. male and female users! I have never heard any other Spanish-speaking
station do this, so I wonder why RNV uses this terminology. Is it a Venezuelan
thing, or a Bolivarian thing with ideological implications like ``comrades``? Or
are they implying listeners should be addicted to RNV broadcasts?! Also for our
amusement, occasional Windows cues mixed with the talk
Wait
a minute: I got so carried away with the 11520 anomaly, that I failed to note
that per their sked, at 1341 on 9265, WINB is supposed to be carrying Family
Radio instead of Brother Scare! So the FR sked via WINB is further questionable.
Furthermore, WINB is supposed to be on 13570 after 1200 UT, let alone 1300, per
their own schedule, and online schedules. Could BS heard on 9265 be something
else? Nothing else listed except WMLK, which also uses 9265, but not scheduled
anywhere near that hour either, and has been silent for months. I did not check
13570 at that time
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [and non]. R. Africa, 15190, big carrier at
1954 Oct 2, just barely audible modulation. Why can`t some stations ever get
their act together and keep it together? If you don`t have any significant
modulation, can`t you tell that is the case at the transmitter and just turn it
off? What`s the point of burning the kWh? Bulletin: you can`t have one without
the other and claim to be `broadcasting`. Well, you can the other way around,
SSB modulation and no carrier, but this isn`t that. Maybe RA should consider
that if they can only rely on one of the two. Not that we really care, since all
they broadcast are gospel huxters, even those facing criminal charges of child
porn and sexual abuse. I listened to a few seconds of Tony Alamo on WINB and
right away heard him talking about fornication
** U S A [and non]. Observations of the US Vice Presidential
debate, starting at 0100 UT Oct 3: at the last minute, WBCQ announced it would
broadcast the debate live on 5110-CUSB. Audible here running 15 seconds behind
C-SPAN; I wonder what WBCQ`s source is. Kudos for being the only known private
US SW station performing this public service, while there were none at all for
the first Presidential debate.
With local noise sources running, I scanned all bands from 16 to 60
meters at 0118-0123 and could not find a single VOA frequency with the debate,
altho there surely were some on the other worldside. 15595, which was barely
audible for previous debate, could not be detected now. There was however, an
open carrier on 6040 at 0123, and it signed on as usual at 0129, but instead of
Spe-cial Eng-lish immediately joined the debate in progress. A minute later the
VOA announcer talked over the debate which did not pause for him, to say it was
``special simulcast coverage`` and invited e-mail reaxions to debate @
voanews.com Then found same on // 9820, also as before. And as I write at 0142
UT, I bet both of them go off again at 0200 in the middle of the debate.
Most surprising was discovering live coverage of the debate, with
immediate voice-over translation into Spanish, from REE, Spain on 9535 and much
better on 6055. Shames VOA Spanish which was not doing it. After 0200 these
should be joined by several other REE frequencies, 3350, 9630 via Costa Rica,
6125; and 6020 should already be on via CR as well.
BTW, I cannot detect any correxion in Sarah Palin`s lenses, making
me suspect she is wearing glasses for some other reason, such as to make her
look more intelligent. See my Tips for Rational Living Commentary in upcoming DX
Listening Digest 8-110
** U S A. Following up my earlier observations of WINB: silly me, I
assumed the schedule on the WINB website was correct. Well, stations are
entitled to the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise by axual monitoring,
which is extremely easy to accomplish, as RHC has also found out.
I had certainly heard 11520 between 21 and 22 with Brother Scare,
several times in past weeks, but not any more. At 2058:30, 13570v went from the
Fence Lake, New Mexico preacher to sign-off announcement, talking over the Star
Spangled Banner! And these gospel-huxters are supposed to be super-patriotic?
That`s equivalent to flag desecration. They don`t quite get what you are
supposed to do with the SSB, which is: play it all the way thru unimpeded, even
if it is a shortened version, when signing on or off.
Announced QSY to 9265, no mention of 11520, cut off with SSB still
playing at precisely 2059:08. Meanwhile I was standing by on both 11520 and
9265. Nothing ever came up on 11520, but a much weaker signal than 13570 came up
exactly one minute later on 9265. It had the same warbling unstable carrier as
13570 when monitored with BFO. Did not sound like Brother Scare programming;
signal built up a little bit by 2106 when I could be sure the singing on 9265
was not // the B.S. talking on WWRB 9385. If another site was carrying B.S. on
11520 during this hour, it was inaudible. Reception from Europe was not very
good, but Vatican to Africa was audible on 11625.
So
WINB is not using 11520, which the FCC has not listed anyway, and contrary to
its own claimed schedule, switches directly from 13570v to 9265v at 2059-2100
UT. Also, as noted earlier, it appears WINB stays on 9265 at least two hours
longer in the morning than the authorized 1200 switch to 13570. And then there`s
the YFR and BS programming which does not match the schedule either. Multiple
things are amiss here. Cf my comments under EQUATORIAL GUINEA about getting act
together
** CUBA. RHC, 13680, Oct 3 at 2106 in English, quite muffled audio,
and running about two words ahead of // 11760 which had good audio. My theory
now is that this 13680 broadcast is via one of the decrepit transmitters mostly
used for CRI relays with similar-sounding crummy modulation. Why not? It so
happens there are no CRI relays via Habana during this period, 2030-2130.
Meanwhile RHC Spanish at 2107, much better on 13760 // 11750 and //
11800 with SAH and audio mixing from R. Bulgaria Spanish
** ECUADOR. 3220, music and unID language, fair signal Oct 4 at
0120, so I first thought of Africa, but must be only HCJB in Quechua, supposedly
NVIS. BTW, the 90-degree ``azimuth`` shown in Aoki means straight up, not due
east! WWCR does not open 3215 until 0200
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [and non]. R. Africa, 15190, Oct 3 at 2153
with big carrier, fair modulation level, sounds like Tony Alámo conversing with
someone. 2159 WYFR sign-on in Portuguese. Any R. Africa ID at 2200? Of course
not! Roughly equal level at the moment and virtually zero-beat so couldn`t
really tell how much of the big carrier came from Bata and how much from
Okeechobee
** HONDURAS. R. Luz y Vida, 3250.0, Oct 4 at 0121, announcer in
Spanish with birthday greetings to someone in Guatemala. I see this station is
missing from Aoki listings, tho quite regularly reported. EiBi has it
** IRELAND [non]. RTE, via WRN via WRMI, 9955, Oct 3 at 2110, Irish
accent talking about the EU, good S9+15 signal and no jamming! For one minute.
Then at 2111 pulse jamming at the rate of 132/minute started, or maybe faded in.
RTE still rather readable as WRMI signal peaked and jamming dipped. This
broadcast is M-F 2100-2130, and there is another M-F at 1800-1830. At 2130
switched to Romania, q.v.
** MAURITANIA. R. Mauritanie, 4845, still on at 0118 UT Oct 4 with
speech in Arabic, strongest station on band below 5 MHz. Was not listening
closely but went off somewhere around 0130; however at 0156 check there was
still a carrier on about 4845.2, maybe this
** PALAU. 9965, Oct 3 at 1249, VT Communications test transmission
loop announcement with music, reference to website http://www.vtplc.com/communications At
first I thought it was exactly 60 seconds long, but more like 65 as it started
over later and later in each minute, until off abruptly at 1300* Was good with
some fades. KHBN scheduled before and after this hour on 9965, a.k.a. T8WH.
This station is really a one-of-a-kind hybrid, with two or three
callsigns, under both FCC and Palauan administration, relay business both from
IBB and VTC and being purchased (or part of it?) by World Harvest Radio
** ROMANIA [non]. After RTE relay [see IRELAND non], via WRMI 9955,
Fri Oct 3, at 2130 switched to R. Romania International, introducing North
American broadcast in English on ``11940``. Do they even know they are relayed
by WRMI? I figured this was delayed from an earlier transmission so did not
check 11940; it is on the schedule for RRI direct at 2030-2100
** U S A. Checked WINB again Oct 3 to reconfirm scheduling
anomalies contradicting own website: at 1235, 9265v with the warbling carrier,
Brother Scare instead of Harold Camping on 13570 where there was nothing. At
1300, B.S. continued on 9265 with no ID break.
A different Brother Scare not // 9265 was on WWRB 9385 at 1310;
however, he was just barely audible beneath a big hum. Wiggle that patchcord! I
then decided that 9385 was running about one minute behind 9265
** U S A [and non]. VOA French service, Friday Oct 3 at 2105 on
12035 in the clear and also on 12080 mixing with presumed R. Australia, Brandon
in English. At 2114 also found VOA French on 9830 mixing with the incessant RTTY
on this frequency which other broadcast stations are smart enough to avoid. At
this time 9830 was // 12035 but ahead of it; 9830 and 12080 were almost
synchronized. What are the sites?
9830 - São Tomé at
335 degrees
12035 - São Tomé at 20
degrees
12080 - Botswana at 350 degrees
One would have expected 9830 and 12035 to be synchronized, from
same site --- unless they are deliberately unsynchronized from same site, to
even out power consumption, as is done at other relay sites such as Tinian,
Bonaire
* U S A [and non]. Follow-up to monitoring during the UT Oct 3 Vice
Presidential debate: After 0200 I could hear REE/CR 3350 poorly but the other
frequencies Spain adds at this hour were not making it.
I should add that as you would expect, AFN was carrying the debate,
on 7811 at 0156 check, running a few seconds ahead of C-SPAN.
The
two VOA Greenville frequencies 6040 and 9820 did indeed sign off abruptly in the
middle of the debate, just before 0200, according to their usual Spe-cial Eng-lish
schedule of 0130-0200 only
** CANADA. CFVP, 6030, Calgary, Alberta, Oct 4 at 1254 with
``Country Gold Countdown``, mentioned a Canadian contest, fair with no jamming,
but over some weaker co-channel. After 1300 blown away by Firedrake
** CUBA [and non]. Propagation from Habana was very good Oct 4 at
1245 on 31m, such that very strong RHC 9600 mixed with CRI relay on 9570 putting
a leapfrog mixing product another 30 kHz below on 9540, where much weaker audio
from both could be heard at once.
DentroCuban Jamming Command attacking VOA Spanish, 5890 and 6110,
UT Sun Oct 5 after 0100 when VOA was talking about the embargo, but jamming
continued at 0130 in non-Cuban VOA program ``Club de Oyentes`` which started
with Mercedes interviewing on phone Ricardo ---, a Colombian photographer, about
Armenia, Quindío
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [non]. Sat Oct 4 at 2159, no trace of R.
Africa on 15190 as on previous days, just strong open carrier, and WYFR opening
Portuguese // 15665
** LAOS [non]. WHRI, 11785, with Hmong Lao Radio, Sat Oct 4 at
1348, with het from V. of Indonesia. Usually it`s on the low side, but this time
on the hi side, about 11786. This correlates with measurements by Ron Howard;
and Wolfgang Büschel, who says VOI has three different transmitters which
operate on three slightly offset frequencies from the nominals.
WHR now has a third Hmong program, which I ran across UT Sunday Oct
5 at 0112 on 5875, excellent clear reception, no fading or distortion and a good
time to record some more exotic music. This was singing accompanied by a
hi-pitched and repetitive drone on a string instrument bowed back and forth.
0117 announcement in Hmong and more music; ended at 0129, back into English.
Per online sked, this is Hmong North Radio, under the auspices of
one Liaj Sou Vang, UT Sundays at 0100-0130 and also UT Saturdays 0000-0030, both
via Angel 6, WHRI. On this time and frequency it must also be intended for
Hminnesota rather than Laos.
It`s not clear what organization is behind this, and none of the
Hmong programs are in the program links list at http://www.whr.org/Links.cfm
Even a Google search gets zero hits to ``Hmong North Radio`` so it must
be so new Google has not even found it on the WHR schedule pages. Ditto his or
her full name.
(The other shows are Hmong Lao Radio, Sat & Sun 1300-1400 on
11785, and Hmong World Christian Radio, Sat 1400-1430 on 11785, also Angel 6,
and all of them recommended for their exotic music
** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI`s current schedule at http://www.rnzi.com/pages/listen.php
still shows a gap in DRM service from 1158 to 1551 UT, but Oct 4 at
1257 there was DRM on 6165-6170-6175, surely RNZI; it stopped at 1258 and RNZI
AM came on at 1258:50 with bell bird, 1300 accurate 6-pip timesignal and into
the 2:00 news. Did not sign on as RNZI, but at 1307 gave full ID over music, and
then into Pacific news show ``Tagata o te Moana`` which was about a conference
in Wellington dealing with four underdeveloped countries in Melanesia. This show
is 1308-1330 UT Sat and Sun, instead of Dateline Pacific on weekdays. As far as
I listened, Tagata+ was really in English except for a greeting in some other
language, Maori?
Then scanning 41m at 1312 I found DRM on 7140-7145-7150, surely
RNZI as well; a frequency not currently scheduled for DRM at any hour altho it
has been in the past. Did Rangitaiki decide on its own to resume DRM during the
former break without telling the website?
** PALAU. VT Communications test loop in English heard again Oct 4
at 1249 on 9965, only fair and not as good as 24 hours earlier. VTC refers us to
their website, but anyone wanting real info about their SW operations will be
disappointed, no time and frequency schedule, and even in HFCC they are playing
games, not registering their transmissions of Radio República ** U S A. WWRB`s
FCC schedule has been revised to show the 340 degree antenna changing from 3185
to 9385 at 1200 UT. Nevertheless, Oct 4 at 1241, both were on the air, but not
//, R. G. Stair not speaking at the moment, but presumably The Overcomer
Ministry anyway. 3185 was much better than 9385 at this time as higher bands had
not yet opened up, e.g. WWCR 7490 and 9980 nearby geographically also poor. At
1249, Stair himself had started talking on the 3185 Sabbath broadcast.
UT Sun Oct 5 at 0132 found dead air on 3185, but not for long.
Pauses lasting from 6 to 15 seconds were interrupted by unintelligible
screaming, usually in two smaller segments. Occasionally the preacher lapsed
into quasi-normal speech, so that at 0144 I could make out that he was referring
to I Thessalonians, chapter 1, which looks like boilerplate to me, nothing
special to quote, refute or ridicule.
This screaming alternating with excessive pauses is the M.O. of E.
C. Fulcher, on The Truth House, as on the WWRB 3185 schedule for 8-9 pm
Saturdays, i.e. CDT, not EDT. It is as if he is recharging after each outburst.
WWCR has a link http://www.truthhouse.org/
Incredibly, this is at the top of the homepage: ``Dr. Fulcher feels that
his greatest accomplishment, whether it is in the music field or the ministry,
is when people say that he teaches God's Word in a way that they can
understand.``
His shortwave station listings at http://www.truthhouse.org/thvbn/pdf/radioschedule.pdf
include WWCR but fail to mention WWRB
**
U S A. WWCR, 13845 as always with Doctor Gene Scott service, Oct 4 at 2203,
quite strong signal tho with RTTY QRM audible. Also audible clearly underneath
DGS was another program which I soon paralleled to 7465, at 2205 starting Golden
Age of Radio Theatre, presenting `1984y` by George Orwell! I am still not clear
whether this pervasive problem at WWCR happens in the transmitters and antennas
right next to each other, or in the audio control boards (or both). If the DGS
modulation had stopped, I could easily have listened to the other program, altho
dubbing it undermodulated
** AUSTRALIA [non]. R. Australia, via WRN, via CBC Overnight, via
4-hour delay, via CBU via CKZU, 6160, Vancouver, Sunday Oct 5 at 1228 with Roger
Broadbent ending ``Australian Express`` program, and I do mean ending, since he
said it was time to give the show a rest and from next week, a new show called
``Australian Bus`` [? Not sure of second word] would ensue. He also mentioned
CBC Overnight, so the show was specially re-packaged for that even tho it is,
rather was, heard on RA direct at other times. 1230 into another RA show,
Innovations, with Desley Blanch. Weak but clear signal on 6160
** CANADA. ``CBC North Quebec`` is the ID, not ``Northern``, on
9625 heard after the news at 1310 Oct 5 and before starting The Sunday Edition
at 1311. Native-accented announcer included 800 phone number twice for contact.
TSE first hour was about the US economic crisis, the rest about global warming.
Listenable until 1330 with some difficulty due to SAH of approximately 9 Hz,
Sackville most likely the one more off-frequency, and mixing with religious
music from Asia which per Aoki is FEBC Hmanila in Hmong.
That`s a lot better than WYFR, also on 9625 and wiping out CBCNQ, a
collision between adjacent countries which should never have been allowed to
happen, but the frequency managers for both must keep agreeing it`s OK at HFCCs;
who cares about the listeners? Okeechobee is currently scheduled on 9625 at
1100-1245, not to mention a couple more hours via overseas relays
** CANADA [and non]. The revived CFRX is now performing this
funxion all night on 6070: If propagating at all, makes a rippling subaudible
heterodyne against CVC Chile, the stealth evangelical outlet in Spanish
originating in Miami, making it more unpleasant to listen to, so it is not a
total waste. At best, CFRX signal is accompanied by a bit of undermodulated
audio, as noted for example Oct 5 at 0541 check. I doubt that anywhere in the
CFRX `coverage area`, such as wherever its maximum signal skips down in the
middle of the night, the ratio is any more favorable for it, 100 vs 1 kW, tho
proximity counts for very little in the shortwave scenario. They can`t even hear
it in much of southern Ontario nor even a few miles away by groundwave in
Toronto
** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI, which was inexplicably in DRM the day before
until 1258 on 6165-6170-6175, missing again like it is supposed to be per its
own schedule, when rechecked Oct 5 at 1228
** PALAU. VT Communications test loop on 9965 via T8WH, tho never
identified on-air as such, which had been heard the past two days, missing
Sunday Oct 5 at 1247 check
** U S A. WWCR, 13845 with DGS service, Oct 5 at 1256, good signal
and no crosstalk audible, even during his pregnant pauses, unlike the previous
afternoon. Other programming on WWCR 15825 also good at 1303, so must be an
off-season sporadic-E opening. Otherwise 19m was pretty dead with not much
besides Sackville and Habana, and 16m was even deader. K-index at 12 was 2, and
solar flux for Oct 4 was still 67
**
U S A [non]. With little propagating on 19m, found open carrier on 15115, Oct 5
at 1259, so stayed with it. At 1300, ``VOA Washington`` ID in unID language,
poor with fades. Strangely, there was no YDD VOA sign-on nor any announcement in
English of the language to follow, altho possibly I missed the latter in a fade.
Turns out this is Somali via Madagascar. Do the RNW relays of IBB disallow the
standard VOA sign-on and sign-off procedures?
** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Normally loud and clear 9580 from R.
Australia had some weak co-channel from VOA in a SE Asian language, Oct 6 at
1237, as RA`s Late Night Live was interviewing a female doctor who had served in
Tennant Creek and other places. It was just barely audible and first thought it
might be receiver cross-modulation, but nothing like that elsewhere on 31m. Have
not noticed this before, so something new? Maybe not; per Aoki, Laotian began
April 14, Tinang at 283 degrees, 1230-1300 only. VOA Washington ID at 1259 and
off
** AUSTRIA. Surprised to hear some news in English on 6155, Monday
Oct 6 at 0610, giving temps in the Alps, 0611 into French. Had some splatter
from RHC music on 6140. 0615 into German talking about Pulcinella, and music
followed a bit later. This has to be OE1, but these newscasts are not accounted
for in WRTH nor in the page they refer us to: http://oe1.orf.at/service/international_en
In fact, there is nothing about French at all. If you change it to
_fr
it is nicht gefunden. Signal was rather weak, and I had to be sure
it wasn`t Croatia instead on 6165 which does have a bit of English at 0600.
Would it be too much to ask for Austria to provide an accurate and complete
schedule of its foreign-language broadcasts on SW? Well, yes, it would,
obviously. Which home service program is axually being relayed at this time?
According to EiBi, 6155 is totally in German from 0400 to 1205 when they start
doing the language rotations. Aoki is even less informative
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. Checking 15190 again Sunday Oct 5 at 2204,
all I could hear was WYFR in Portuguese, so presumably R. Africa still missing.
However, around 0600 Oct 6 I was hearing RNGE 6250 in Spanish
** NEW ZEALAND. Another anomaly from RNZI: Oct 6 at 1413, surprised
to hear YL with marine weather on 9615, mentioning knots and swells. Sounds like
the regular coastal forecast from RNZI. Are they on 9615 instead of scheduled
6170? No, they are on BOTH, and both in analog during what must again be a break
in the DRM service, so the DRM-capable transmitter can be run on AM via a second
frequency. 1416 time check as 15 past 3, RNZI ID, music, dramatic reading,
apparently.
Per RNZ National schedule for the All-Night Programme Tuesday 7
October 2008 or if you prefer, Ratu 7 Whiringa-a-nuku 2008, this is what I was
hearing: 3:15 The Year of the Horse, by Sam Mahon (RNZ); 3:30 NZ Books (RNZ); no
mention of the coastal weather forecasts.
Still audible poorly on both at 1432 final check. Per RNZI`s posted
schedule effective until Oct 18, 9615 AM is supposed to be on the air only at
0459-0658 and 1851-1950. Has the automation gone haywire again?
** U S A. Listened to a bit of the Bryne Edwards Show, new on WRMI,
9955, via webcast Sunday Oct 5 at 1634. It`s pronounced Brinn, short i. Started
with music rather than discussion of financial markets, so is that his main
focus? Hard-driving rock music continued uninterrupted past 1657. And I
interrupted listening to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, now on KCSC
Sundays at 16-17 UT, for this??? Promised ``more insightful commentary`` after
the top of the hour; meanwhile, more music.
After 1700, Bryne described his music as ``hard driving techno,
trance, even some chill-out music`` and promoted show called ``Power Learning``.
At 1702 he explained that his planned guests this week both cancelled, so more
music fill. Next week he said there will be a change in programming, first hour
Your World Your Way, followed by Power Learning and then the B.E. show, check
WRMI website for details. As of 1550 UT Oct 6, nothing about Power Learning on
WRMI site, where The Brynn Edwards show is filed under T. So these shows are in
fact related, coming from the same source. They appear to be thinly disguised
infomercials, but what are they selling, exactly? Enough of that music so I quit
at 1710. It seems they jumped the gun in buying all this SW airtime before they
were really ready to fill it. Reminds me of some previous short-lived WRMI
clients
**
U S A. Now that RNI has moved from 7415 to 5110 on WBCQ, what do I hear at 0045
UT Monday Oct 6 on 7415? Brother Scare, of course, assuring us that the USA is
about to go under. Much better signal on 7415 than 5110-CUSB, which was also
evidencing approaching thunderstorms, but those closer to Monticello evidently
prefer less coverage out here as it`s inevitably a tradeoff if you have to be on
only one frequency from one site. At 0157, BS was still going on 7415 and still
asserting the USA is about to collapse, but signal had weakened considerably,
still better than 5110
** AUSTRALIA. RA, 6020 and 9580, Tue Oct 7 at 1339, in ``Australian
Express`` show hosted by Roger Broadbent. This must have been the same one I
heard a few days earlier via CKZU, for it was the finale of the series after
three sesquiyears. One of the usual sub-features was in progress, Dr Kate
Burridge (sp?), professor of linguistix at Monash University, speaking about how
things have changed in English with an extra -g- pronounced after -ng- in some
words and not in other words.
Roger then admitted that she was not an intentional contributor on
RA, but he picked up her talks from a domestic network; then interviewed her on
phone about how pleased they were that she thus got an international audience,
especially in Canada via CBC Overnight. She used to do a separate show called
``Lingua Franca`` . But now referred to as ``A Way With Words``, not to be
confused with the public radio hour/podcast originating in San Diego. Or for
those who may be opposed to the whole idea of verbal communication, ``Away with
Words``.
Wrapping up show, Roger explained the derivation of ``swan song``,
and said from next week, a woman named --- Jarvis would present its successor
``Australian Bight``. This is what I previously said sounded like ``Bus``. But
the second word is still ambiguous until we see it in print. Bight was the first
spelling I thought of, since that is the name of the sea off the south coast,
Great Australian Bight, but it could also be Byte or Bite; hmm, or even Bait,
per Aussie pronunciation
** CUBA. Another day, another SNAFU at RHC, broadcasting contrary
to its own schedule:
Oct 6 at 2110 checked 13680 for the scheduled English broadcast.
Nothing there. However, at 2112, on came RHC in Spanish, not English. It was //
13760 and leading it by about two syllables. 13680 as usual with inferior
modulation and weaker signal, but no interference, unlike 13760 from 13755
Portugal.
At 2115 I checked the 25mb frequencies. 11800 was in English
instead of scheduled Spanish, SAH with R. Bulgaria in Spanish, and // RHC
English as scheduled on 11760, just a reverb apart, much stronger than 11800. So
basically, the programming on 13680 and 11800 was exchanged. Uncross those
patchcords or feedlines!
At 2118, 11750 in RHC Spanish was suffering from a SAH of roughly
10 Hz, as often happens from a station in Chinese, with hymns. Per Aoki at 21-22
this is KSDA Guam, aimed due northwest, but plenty problematical for RHC over
here, more like northeastward.
At 2136, 11800 had gone into Kriyol, while 11760 was in French;
11750, 13680 and 13760 in Spanish.
At 2208, 13680 still in RHC Spanish instead of scheduled French,
and this time over NHK if it was there at all; 11800 in French instead of
Spanish. Spanish very good on 11750, the co-channel now gone. 11760 was off.
At 2210, I checked 17705, and found RHC Portuguese quite strong,
but distorted.
That encouraged me to check for higher harmonics, and sure enough,
there was lite bubble jamming on 18090, 3 x 6030 against R. Martí, intruding
into the hamband
** ECUADOR. Surprised to find HCJB on a third frequency in Spanish
on the 25 m band, Oct 7 at 1308 on 11920, ``Cruzada con Luís Palau`` show,
going into hymn, much weaker but synchronized // 11960, and always-RTTYed 11690.
Will this be accounted for in the ID break to follow? Of course not! At 1314:30
still playing ancient outdated recording claiming to be on ``11690, 21455,
11960``.
Is 11920 a mistake? It so happens that HCJB does use that frequency
at a very different daypart, 2245-0230 in Kulina and Portuguese, so did the
automation erroneously bring it up in the morning, or did they decide to make
use of a spare transmitter at this hour? 11920 still audible at 1413 but now
with some lite QRM co-channel, and also splash from the DentroCuban Jamming
Command on 11930. QRM could be China in French via Albania, or BBC in English
via Thailand, both starting at 1400 per EiBi
** INDONESIA. VOI, 11786, Oct 7 at 1414 with quick ID in English,
then back into woman talking in presumed Malay. Poor signal, heavy flutter, but
at this hour no het or any other QRM. Lately they have been on 11786 rather than
11784-11785
** SPAIN. REE`s 100 Libros show, 17595, Tue Oct 7 at 1321 check was
Castilian mixed with English. At first I assumed they were unusually doing
voice-over translation, but the English was too loud, and did not match the
Spanish! Some kind of duplicate audio feed, I guess. They were later referring
both to Robin Hood and Don Quixote. The clash ended about 1323; meanwhile I
checked Costa Rican relay 15170 and it did not seem to be happening there. Maybe
instead it was a separate zero-beat station mistakenly on 17595, such as WEWN,
which is supposed to be on there at 19-22 only, when it also clashes with REE
part of that time
**
ZAMBIA. 1Africa, Lusaka, 13590, VG signal Oct 7 at 1317 with gospel rap after
Aussie(?)-accented English announcer. This does nothing for my spiritual growth.
Stronger than Prague intended for us on 13580
** ANGUILLA. PMS, 6090, Oct 9 at 0545 with big hum. No such problem
via // WWCR 5935, which still had a good signal at this late hour, so it`s a
problem at Anguilla, not at LA or the uplink. Wiggle that patchcord! See also
CUBA
** CUBA. RHC in English, 6140, UT Thu Oct 9 at 0547, ``Ed Newman``
with mailbag show, evading a question about what the qualifications are to
become president of Cuba. He also said the listener correspondence office is
across the street from RHC in another building, so when they bring the letters
over (shuffling of papers), they have to be careful not to get run over. Big hum
on this frequency, of slightly lower pitch than the hum on Anguilla 6090; no
such problem on // 6000 or weaker 6060. Wiggle that patchcord!
** ECUADOR. Rechecking 11920, where VozAndes appeared the day
before, nothing there Oct 8 at 1355, tho 11960 was on as usual. So 11920 must
have been a mistake. BTW, I was going to mention this on WOR 1429 as in the
headlines, but never got to it
** GERMANY [and non]. 15495 at 1410 Oct 8 in apparent S Asian
language, which per Aoki is Bondo on Wednesdays at 1400-1415 from Gospel for
Asia via Wertachtal at 90 degrees. Of more interest was the interference,
wideband noise I was hearing from 15490 to 15510. This buzz reminded me of the
defective Saudi Arabian transmitter, but nothing such scheduled around here, and
that has not been happening for several weeks where it used to. Nothing at all
scheduled on 15500 at this hour; Kuwait on 15505, but not heard. By 1425 the
noise was no longer heard, by which time 15495 was in Gamit
** INDONESIA. VOI, 11786, Oct 8 at 1359 with ID in English; 1400
hets from Firedrake and VOA 11785 go off, but VOI signal only poor with IS, 1403
opening presumed Malay
** MEXICO. Some mornings XEXQ is just barely audible, or inaudible
on 6045, but Oct 9 it was quite good at 1302, as YL announcer was identifying
music with opus numbers and key signatures in the do-re-mi style, then unusual
oriental-sounding piece with flute, chimes, gongs, narration, a companion to
Firedrake on 6030; 1307 segué into more traditional classical music. No more
announcements heard until 1345, but a one+ minute break in transmission at 1341.
Was running about S9+10, and with weak rippling SAH from E Asian transmitter.
Respectable modulation level too from San Luís Potosí, as heard on my main
receiver, FRG-7 with E-W longwire, but surprised it was also audible on the
DX-390 at the breakfast table which uses only the reel-out interior wire clipped
to the whip
**
U S A [and non]. Live coverage of the second presidential debate UT Oct 8: At
0135, 6040 just barely audible with het, 9820 inaudible, presumably unusually
poor propagation from Greenville. 6080 from Africa also very poor, barely
detectable with QRM. WBCQ confirmed with it on 5110-CUSB. REE Spain with Spanish
translation on 6055. I expect the same will happen for the third and final
debate, UT Thu Oct 16 from 0100
** ARGENTINA. Tnx Ron Howard tip, looked for reactivated RAE, Oct 9
at 2257, found very weak signal on approx. 15344.8 which must be it, music
playing, and accurate timesignal mixed in at 2300:00. A bit later music gave way
to announcement, language uncertain. Might have been able to pull it but was
inconvenient to close down TVs and computers at this moment. Earlier that UT day
around 0130, I could not confirm it on 11710v which also ought to be revived. So
I checked again Oct 10 at 0118 and could detect a very weak signal with music
around 11710.75 or so. 11 MHz and 9 MHz bands were almost dead, except for Chile
on 11665, Ecuador on 9745. 0249 recheck, still only a carrier detectable on
11710.7 or .8
** PHILIPPINES. 9445, FEBC Manila with IS and clear ID loop in
Bahasa Indonesia, 2223 past 2225 UT Oct 9, fair with some fades, grayline. But
the strange thing is, FEBC is not scheduled as such on 9445, per EiBi and Aoki,
just at 23-24 in Cambodian, while AIR GOS is supposed to be on 9445 until 2230!
EiBi:
9445 2045-2230 IND All India Radio E Eu benguluru
9445 2300-2400 PHL FEBC Manila
KH SEA iba
Should have kept listening, as I later found in WRTH summer update
that FEBC Indonesian is supposed to be on 9435 at 2230-2330, making me wonder if
I read the frequency wrong, but I don`t think so. It shows Indonesian is daily,
whilst EiBi and Aoki say on UT Saturdays this frequency-hour changes to Malay.
WRTH does not have any Malay on the FEBC schedule
** ROMANIA. RRI reliably with good signal in English to Europe and
North America beyond, Oct 9 at 2228 on 7185 and somewhat better 9790, both of
which must be new Galbenis with fine modulation, Romanian folk music, always a
treat; 2237 mailbag reading an entry in their ``fascination of radio listening``
contest. But better tune to the low side to avoid the QRDRM from Sackville
9795-9800-9805. Also found RRI fair in French on 6130, Oct 10 at 0124 with ID
and folk music
** VENEZUELA [non]. RNV CI, via Cuba, VG on 15250 // 13680, Oct 9
at 2300 with YL announcer in English giving program summary, and also at 2304
``Informative Short News``. She has a really heavy accent and her translations
are terrible, getting in the way of following the gist, with too-literal
cognates which aren`t really appropriate in English, like ``divulgation``, ``planification``
(or ``plannification``?); and ``appointed`` meaning ``he pointed out``. First
item was about how there is complete freedom of expression in Venezuela, and
then went on to attack the opposition, and their ties to ``oligarchic Colombian
families``. So how come we hear nothing but the Chavista line on RNV??
From
the intro you might think the whole hour would be in English, but at 2310:30
into Spanish, what a relief, properly enunciated and pronounced, but of no use
to monolinguals, and I had already heard plenty of propaganda. Still in Spanish
at 2323; at 2328 a bit of English, but just introducing a song in --- Spanish!
Thenceforward, I did not pay close attention but left it on in background and
did not notice any more English before sign-off around 2400
** CANADA. CFRX, 6070.0, weak but with somewhat improved modulation
and no QRM at the moment, Oct 11 at 1315 in talk program. Also seems to be
on-frequency, compared to KFTI-1070.0
** FRANCE. 7220, Oct 11 at 0623, African drumming and chanting,
interrupted by announcements in tonal language. Off abruptly at 0630* with no
perceptible ID. Don`t recall noticing this before; list logging, could it be
Central African Republic, or Eritrea? No, just RFI in Hausa from Issoudun as
scheduled at 0600-0630
** LAOS [non]. WHRI missing from 11785 at 1326 during Sat Oct 11
broadcast of Hmong Lao Radio, normally at 1300-1400. Just VOI 11786 producing
het with Firedrake and VOA. Recheck at 1423 found WHRI back on the air with
rustic music on Hmong World Christian Radio; 1430 DXing with Cumbre with Marie
Lamb – see U S A
** PHILIPPINES. VOA via Tinang, 9760, Oct 11 around 1405 with World
News Now, signal suddenly degrades to weaker with more fading, then comes back
to solid. No interruption in modulation; happened twice for a few seconds. It is
as if there are two transmitters or antennas running at once, and one of them
momentarily drops off the air.
Hey, looking it up later in HFCC, there ARE two transmissions from
Tinang on 9760 at same time! One is at 12-15, 21 degrees, and the other is at
13-16, 270 degrees. So the 21 dropped off for a bit, and the 270 stayed on.
Earth & Sky, now with only one presenter, runs at 1421-1423,
then at 1423 silly ballgame news, times apparently locked in to VOA WNN`s hourly
clock
** U S A. WHRI, 11785, Sat Oct 11 at 1430, het from Indonesia
11786, DXing with Cumbre, Marie Lamb saying she now worx for WCNY where the show
is recorded. It`s sister station to WAER Syracuse, her ex-employer. I expect
they are in same building with shared facilities.
Here she is on the WCNY staff list now,
http://www.wcny.org/content/view/63/120/
``Marie Lamb is a Central New York native and a graduate of the
Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University. Marie hosted classical and opera
programs at WIKE-AM, at the former Eisenhower College in Seneca Falls. She also
hosted a daily jazz program for many years at WAER-FM in Syracuse. Marie began
at Classic FM in 2002 as a staff engineer, and she can often be heard on the air
as a substitute announcer.``
with reduced image of her photo:
http://www.wcny.org/images/stories/Marie938small.jpg
Strangely enough, no mention of her SW broadcasting. See also LAOS
[non]
** U S A. WEWN, 11560 in English, Oct 11 at 1325 with very rapid
choppy flutter and frequency also fluttering from Doppler effect. Strange
propagation, not affecting other US signals on band, tho something similar on
CBCNQ 9625. Since this WEWN transmission is at an azimuth of 335 degrees, my
theory is that most of the signal I am getting, so disturbed, is not direct, but
backscatter from the auroral zone. Their other two frequencies at the time, 7425
and 17510, checked at 1328 and 1330, did not exhibit this. WWV reported the
mid-latitude K-index at both 1200 and 1500 as 5, but ``no space weather storms
in the past 24 hours``
** U S A. WINB, 9265, Oct 11 at 1448 with revival meeting, two or
more people shouting at once. Usual unstable carrier, warbling with BFO on,
confirming it`s WINB despite the fact that it is supposed to be on this
frequency only until 1200, per FCC and HFCC. And WINB`s own schedule at http://www.winb.com/schedule.htm claims it
changes from 9265 to 13570 at 0800 EDT = 1200 UT.
One
might have equally guessed 9265 was WMLK, on the schedules for 9265 from 1600,
but that has been inactive for many months and this was certainly no Elder Jacob
O. Meyer speaking. Furthermore, this station had modulation, unlike WMLK when it
was on
** ARGENTINA. It seems that R. Nacional is also back on the air,
15345v at 2114 Oct 11, hetting Morocco with sports, both weak
** BELIZE. V31BG, 14220-USB, Oct 11 at 2244 calling QRZ in a novel
way, for stations with a 4 in their call, then a 5, then a 6. I guess that helps
alleviate the pileups while not giving preference to any prefixes before the
number. Google search soon shows this is Bill, VE7ISV, visiting Belize from 3 to
13 October. 5 & 9 here
** CANADA. CBCNQ, 9625, Oct 11 until 2230 with CBC Radio 1, The
World This Weekend, in the clear and listenable; then CBCNQ ID, and 2231:30
starting Laugh Out Loud, season`s new comedy show
** CUBA. RHC, 13680, Oct 11 at 2126 after musical interlude
wrapping up English hour, // 11760 but an echo ahead of it. 13680 must have
stayed on, as at 2236 recheck it was RHC in Kriyol --- one way to tell this from
real French is the suffix -la frequently added to words. Now 13680 is an echo
apart from 5965. But Kriyol is not scheduled on 13680, just runover? Still there
at 2249 check, but soon overridden by much bigger open carrier.
This is RNV also via Cuba in preparation for their 2300 broadcast,
now aimed usward. Kriyol continued to be barely audible underneath and if the
relative strengths evened just a bit, I could detect a SAH of 132/minute between
them. So add one more anomaly to the SNAFUs at RHC --- two of its own
transmitters, presumably at two different sites, interfering with each other.
The left hand does not know what the other left hand is doing (there aren`t any
right hands in Castro & Castro`s Cuba). DentroCubans vs DentroCubans!
While I was at it, checked 17705 at 2239, where RHC Portuguese was
very strong but also very overmodulated and distorted as also noted a few days
before. It was so bad that at first I thought it was Guarani, until my mind
locked into this corrupted Portuguese.
Wait a minute, Guarani *is* the language scheduled during this
semihour on 17705 per own online sked at
http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/frecuencia/frecuencias-espanol.htm
So I must have heard Guarani when I tuned in, but then they
switched to Portuguese, which is supposed to precede until 2230 and follow
Guarani from 2300. Maybe the whole sesquihour is really a mixture, or they just
don`t have enough to say in Guarani to fill an entire semihour. Chalk up another
anomaly at RHC, where you can always expect the unexpected. Also strange:
Guarani is primarily spoken in Paraguay, not Brasil, so you would think the
mixture should be with Spanish. But for geographical reasons, the Guarani
service is coördinated with other minor languages (compared to Spanish, as RHC
sees it).
DCJC bubble-jamming vs nothing on 9885, Oct 11 at 2142. VOA Spanish
is on this frequency much later; same sound on 9640 against R. República which
doesn`t start till 0000, but now bothering CVC Chile on 9635.
9515 also being heavily jammed, Oct 11 at 2220, and that really is
in use by Radio República at 22-24. Like many other Cuban jammers, this puts
out spurs to at least 10 kHz on each side. Rather than the `bubbling` on the
main channel, which is really a mixture of many jammers with the carrier of the
victim, the spurs are distinct pulses, at the rate of 132 per minute, or 2.2 Hz,
and of course any station which feels 10 kHz separation from the DCJC is enough
has another think coming.
At 2255 check, nothing at all audible on 9820, where Brasil`s R.
Nove de Julho had been, but also reported lately to have disappeared again. It
would have had no QRM from Portugal, or from RHC, since this was a Saturday,
until 2300 when jamming against nothing on 9825 started even tho R. Martí does
not come up on that frequency until 0000
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. R. Africa, 15190, Oct 11 at 2115 with big
open carrier. No modulation detectable even when volume turned up to max. Left a
receiver on frequency and suddenly at 2125 started Word of Life program. In case
it was a quarter-hour, rechecked at 2140, but still going with woman preacher,
verging on screaming. 2157 recheck back to open carrier --- no, it isn`t. Soft
spoken preacher barely audible, probably the usual Tony Alámo at this hour.
This can be misleading, as now the OC is WYFR, and the two seem to be zero beat,
so you don`t realize two stations are mixing. WYFR sign-on in Portuguese 2159 at
full modulation level, so that`s the end of Bata monitoring for today
** INDIA. AIR GOS, 9445, 2159 UT Oct 11, ID by M and into news by
W, poor, 325 degrees from Benguluru
** OKLAHOMA. KOKC, 1520, OKC, UT Oct 12 around 0108 on the caradio
was weak and getting lots of co-channel QRM, leading me to believe that once
again they are on greatly reduced power instead of 50 kW, maybe 5?
** PHILIPPINES. FEBC Manila, 9435, Oct 11 at *2223 with ID in
Bahasa Indonesia and IS, programming from 2229. So my previous report of this on
9445 was probably in error
** U S A. WHRA, 11885, Sat Oct 11 at 2136 had a woman preacher with
an indeterminate Central European accent and a very limited vocabulary. She says
`vord` instead of `word` most but not all of the time. She interjects ``glory``
several times a minute, and was also praising God repeatedly for circumcision:
``the word of the gospel is a sharp two-edged sword`` suitable for the
operation, but our hearts should also be circumcised, whatever that means. I
don`t think she was talking about female genital mutilation. Per WHR online
schedule this is: ``Secret Of Eternal Life``, with Lilly Janian. She is not
going onto our Monitoring Reminders Calendar
** U S A [non]. 9355 with a heterodyne from something on the hi
side, about 9355.1, Oct 11 at 2222. Only thing scheduled here is R. Free Asia in
Cantonese via Saipan, which per Aoki is jammed, so perhaps this was CNR-1 or
some other kind of interference. By 2224 the QRM seemed like a hymn, so could
also be spur from some FE gospel huxter
**
U S A. Glad to note that KXTR, Kansas City, 1660, is back playing classical
music, Dvorak`s New World Symphony, UT Oct 12, in honor of Columbus? Please; at
0110, instead of stupid ballgames which have preëmpted its nominal classical
format a couple previous evenings checked. Not so enjoyable, tho, with all the
QRM from non-zero beat 1660 stations, producing multiple subaudible heterodynes.
There are 8 other US stations on this frequency, the most crowded X-band
channel, and it sounded like all of them were fighting KXTR for dominance via
non-direxional caradio antenna
** AUSTRALIA [non]. RA via WRN via CBC Overnight, delayed 4 hours,
via CBU via CKZU, 6160, Sunday Oct 12 at 1253 UT had Innovation program
interviewing someone from CSIRO, ending at 1255, and then at 1257 outro to CBC
Overnight. Poor with adjacent QRM on both sides. The trouble is, this slot was
previously occupied by Australian Express until it was canceled last week, to be
replaced by Australian Bight (?). So what became of that? I found it anyway on
the RA website, whence indeed Australian Express has vanished, once I stopped
looking for it in the program list under A:
``The Australian Bite --- A tasty spread of stories and music
coming to you from all around Australia. From cafe culture to crested cockatoos,
from arts and books to the mysteries of Australian rules football, there's
something for everyone here in the pantry. Presenter: Heather Jarvis. Universal
(GMT) UTC Offset 0.00 Hours English Stream
Tuesday 1330 1705 1730
Friday 1830
Saturday 0030 0505 0530``
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/99.htm
So they run it twice in a row at 1705 & 1730, 0505 & 0530?
I rather doubt that, but Tue 1330 matches when Au Express used to be on RA
direct, 9580. Maybe 1730 and 0530 are end-times, tho none such shown for other
airings. From the description, Au Bite seems to be much the same as its
predecessor, a grab-bag features magazine (
** CUBA [and non]. RHC, 6000, UT Sunday Oct 12 at 0534 starting
DXers Unlimited, with QRDRM from 5990-5995-6000. Nothing on current DRM
schedules at this hour, but formerly in use from Europe. Some reports show BBC
via Norway centered on 5990 now, but is it on the early, and if so, it should
not be interfering with 6000. The DRM I am getting now seems to be centered on
5995. Luxembourg stopped 5990 on March 14, 2008, per DRM DX forums.
RHC 6000 also has QRDRM at 1235 Oct 12, but we know that is from
Brandon, Australia 5990-5995-6000. Sounds very much like the Cuban jamming
against nothing on 5980. Maybe those with DRM should try to `decode` some Cuban
jamming.
I rarely tune across the whole 12 MHz range, but Oct 12 at 1316
encountered on 12582 rapid pulses like DentroCuban jamming but faster, clocked
at 270 per minute = 4.5 per second. If DCJC, must be quite spurious
** GERMANY [non]. 17610, Oct 12 at 1351, good signal with ID in
passing as DW in Hausa; this is via Sines, Portugal, 250 kW at 150 degrees
** INDIA. 5010, presumed AIR T`puram, Oct 12 at 1229 excited
talking which sounded like Australian accented English, maybe cricket? Weak and
fluttery right past 1230; at 1300 recheck still audible with music. Don`t see
how it could have been anything else at this hour
** INDONESIA. 4920, Oct 12 at 1302 with warta berita, still going
at 1307 and not // 4790. So must be RRI Biak; aside it a weaker carrier which
could be Jambi. BTW, I remember hearing Biak when it was still under Dutch
control; Netherlands New Guinea was in a disputed transitional period 1959-1969,
finally becoming fully part of Indonesia
** LAOS [non]. Hmong Lao Radio, missing Sat Oct 11, was back on
WHRI 11785, Sun Oct 12 at 1312 with Hmong talk, mentioning English terms ``People`s
Court`` and nine times in the next three minutes, ``Transportation Ministry``. I
wonder what country they were talking about where government institutions have
English names? Surely not Laos, Vietnam or Hminnesota
** U K [non]. Figured 13m would be pretty dead, but instead found
one very good signal at 1326 Oct 12 on 21470, BBCWS via Ascension, steady at
S9+10 with minor fading. The Ticket show, on a long-overdue dentroChinese TV
film about Bruce Lee which has been moved up from CCTV-8 to CCTV-1. 1329 broke
for promo about Assignment: South Ossetia starting Oct 23. 1330 promo rest of
Ticket; 1330:30-1332:30 news headlines, then more of The Ticket about composer
John Adams; recheck at 1347, much weaker
**
VENEZUELA [non]. RNV via Cuba, 11705, Oct 12 at 1241 check had very strong
signal, but modulation cutting off and on about once per second. Impeded
listening for content
** CHINA [and non]. 9845 in Mandarin, but mentioned ``VOA Chinese``
a couple times Oct 13 at 1323 and also at 1358. This frequency is normally
dominated by Firedrake jamming, but not audible today, just VOA via Tinang! FD
was appearing tho not as strong as usual at 1426 on 7445 vs R Taiwan
International in Chinese, but for a change the victim also audible with a SAH
between them (BTW, Deewa Radio in Pashto via Sri Lanka is also scheduled on
7445, surely bothered by the Chinese conflict). At 1428, Firedrake against Sound
of Hope 9450, and also becoming weakly audible under VOA on 9845
** EGYPT. 15080, weak with Arabic music, Oct 13 at 1415, no doubt
the scheduled R. Cairo. No buzz as previously heard around here
** INDONESIA. For first time in weeks, VOI actually listenable on
11786 during English broadcast, only lite het from 11785, Oct 13 tune-in at
1332, with Indonesian lessons, not much use without an accompanying text or
perfect reception, which this was not. Woman was reading Indo words and phrases
with English equivalents; 1336 outro of ``Let`s Speak Bahasa Indonesia``, to
return next Monday, into songs. 1358 recheck, improved quality during IS, 1401
ending English, 1402 starting Malay and now in the clear
** LIBYA. V. of Africa, 21695, trying to poke thru, Oct 13 at 1423,
with bits of woman in English audible at peaks. Not as good as Spain on 21610,
21570
** MOROCCO. 15345.0, adequate signal S9+10 at 1412 Oct 12, but JBA
modulation, seems Arabic music. Yet another station which puts far too little
power into the sidebands and far too much into the carrier by comparison
** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI missing from 6170, Oct 13 at 1427. Nothing
either on some other frequencies it might be on instead, 7145, 9615, 9655. I
should have checked at 1330 when Mailbox should have aired
** SAUDI ARABIA. 21640, Oct 13 at 1425, poor with drumming. Only
possibility listed is BSKSA in Arabic until 1500
** U S A. WINB already on 13570v at 1404 check Oct 13. Maybe just
switched from 9265v at 1400, tho supposed to do so at 1200. Preacher, neither
Stair nor Camping, QRMing multiple CODARs which extended from 13380 to 13605. I
sure hope no hostile submarines went undetected as a result
**
U S A. I was about to say: ``It occurs to me that I have not heard KVOH 17775 in
some weeks, in random tuning around during the daytime. Has anyone?`` Then I
checked once more at 1613 Oct 13 and there it was, inbooming with usual lo-fi
gospel huxter screaming in Spanish
** COSTA RICA. REE relay, 3350, with hum and whine, 0559 Oct 15
sign-off announcement said would be back to CAm at 1100 on 15930 and 15170 in
the 19 meter band. I think that`s what he said, in Spanish, but was not
recording. Should be 5930 and 15170. Must recheck
** CUBA. RHC, 6220, UT Wed Oct 15 at 0553, Arnie Coro wrapping up
DXUL; very poor signal and fading out. But then, there isn`t supposed to be any
signal on this frequency, a leapfrog mixing product of 6060 over 6140. The
latter, BTW, still has quite a constant hum on it. Why is that so hard to fix?
Maybe it`s not just a patchcord making a bad connexion
** INDONESIA [and non]. VOI is back on 9526 kHz for the local
evening broadcasts, morning here. On Oct 13 and 14 it was still on 11786, but
Oct 15 at 1216 tell-tale het with something on 9525, Suara Indonesia ID heard
immediately during the 1200 hour in Indonesian. At 1229 checked 11785 area and
detected nothing on 11786, but there were very weak carriers on 11785.0 and
another one slightly below, which could be Brasil rather than Indonesia. After
1246 mostly songs on 9526.
Anyhow, this puts English at 1300-1400 back on a good clear
frequency, long may it last. Around July 26 it had switched from 9526 to 11785v;
see DXLD 8-085. 1259 Oct 15 ending Indonesian hour, gave website. 9525 het went
off at 1300 sharp.
That was presumably Poland in English from 1200, via Wertachtal at
300 degrees. So that`s the downside of VOI going back to 9526, especially for
listeners in ENAm, but Poland has not been listenable here anyway all summer.
However, in B-08 Poland goes back to 9450 via Nauen an hour later in English at
1300-1400, // Nauen 7325.
1300 VOI with one more Indo ID, website, 1301:30 opening English
with good signal, http://www.voi.co.id
plugged, and as always does not attempt to announce one correct frequency but
all the possibilities: 9525 [sic], 11785 [sic] and 15150. 9526 has a continuous
lite hum on it but not too annoying. More annoying is the almost continuous
musical bed under the talk, impeding intelligibility; what a crutch, but VOI is
hardly the only station afraid to talk straight. The YL announcer`s accent does
not help, either.
But in honor of the QSY, I listened to most of the hour. After
program summary including Today in History and Indonesian Wonders, 1303 into
news. 1320 Today in History about Anwar Sadat; 1322 ID with slogan ``voice of
dignity`` --- what`s this dignity business, implying other stations do not have
it? Then commentary about World Wildlife Fund. 1324, VOI, ``keeping dignity
alive``! Thank God for VOI promoting dignity. And news headlines.
1327 contact addresses, VOI, P O Box 1157, Jakarta 10110 and
english @ voi.co.id Better put
INDONESIA in big letters, lest your letter go to US ZIP 10110, which of course
is in New York City. I see that WRTH 2008 does not show the postal code.
1328, Indonesian Wonders; 1334 Let`s Speak Bahasa Indonesia, which
on Wednesdays is about grammar, this time explaining active vs passive voice,
and transitive active vs intransitive active. 1339 Music Corner, songs of the
1980s. 1353 addresses again.
1357 as always happens, hit by big het from CRI warming up 9525 for
Russian service at 1400. This is at 37 degrees from Shijiazhuang site, which
means it`s aimed not only at DV Russia but also at NAm
** U S A. Tuned in 9265v Oct 14 at 1400 to hear last few bars of
Star Spangled Banner, so WINB was just signing off, to 1400:25; then parked on
13570v and it came on at 1402:25, first with buzz, hum, then cleared at 1403:30
for sign-on announcement. But another day they were still on 9265 well past
1400, and are scheduled to switch at 1200
**
VATICAN. 15235 fair with sad-sounding S Asian song, Oct 15 at 1440, didn`t sound
especially Catholic but immediately followed by Vatican Radio IDs (pronounced as
in English) in S Asian language, postal address I could not make out but
probably within India. 1444 talk about cardinals. Per EiBi this is Hindi at
1430-1450 to be followed by Tamil
** BRAZIL. With a little help from the solar flux level, which
reached 71 the day before, a few Brazilians were audible in the nightmiddle on
25m, Oct 16 at 0555, such as 11895 with closing credits to a drama and IDs as
``Super-Rede Boa Vontade``. Aoki has this fair signal as only 1 kW from Porto
Alegre, but it`s just a gospel-huxter from the country where domestic SW is now
dominated by them. However, WRTH 2008 lists it as 10 kW from ZYE856. A real
commercial SW relay of R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo, 10 kW, ZYE958, was better on
11925 at 0550, with ID and promos at 0601. 11780 RNA not yet on
** INDONESIA. For second morning in a row, VOI English at 1300 on
9526, and very good reception Oct 16. Tuned in around 1325 after Turkey, with
usual string of features, news headlines, Indonesian Wonders, Miscellany, music
from a Sumateran instrument
** MEXICO. XEXQ, 6045, detectable with fast SAH from FE station,
Oct 16 at 1349, but seems no better than before, altho Julián Santiago reports
they have just improved their antenna setup
** SPAIN [non]. See previous report under COSTA RICA. REE relay,
this time monitored on 9630 at 0600 sign-off Oct 16: announcer said it would
resume at 1100 for Central America on ``5970 y 15170 kHz en la banda de 19
metros`` so the frequencies were right but the implication was that both
frequencies are in the 19m band! Another SW announcer who really knows nothing
about SW, reads copy without fixing such obvious mistaxe. BTW, that applies to
M-F only; on Sat & Sun 5970 is not in use and 15170 opens at 1200 per EiBi.
And why didn`t he mention 5930 which comes on at 1000 M-F? Because that`s for
South America. As if no one in CAm, or CNAm for that matter, could hear it or
vice versa
** TURKEY. Live from Turkey coming in quite well on VOT 15450, Thu
Oct 16 at 1300+ tune-in, long phone/internet report from correspondent at the
Frankfurt Book Fair, where Turkey is the honored guest country, and also the
Turkish Nobel Prize winner in literature is present; seems his stuff is more
popular abroad (in translation, presumably) than in Turkey where his style makes
for tough reading
** U S A [and non]. Observations during the final presidential
debate, UT Oct 16: at 0110, WBCQ 5110-CUSB was playing music instead, and at
0112 nothing heard, so guess they did not carry it this time and Area 51 was
just running over a bit.
At
0110 weak unID signal on 15795, maybe VOA again with this from unknown site.
6055, REE Spain had it again with immediate translation into Spanish. 6040 VOA
Greenville as usual did not cut on until 0130
** ARGENTINA. RAE, 15344.9, Oct 17 at 2320 with song, fair
reception. Others have reported it varying on the hi side of 15345, but I find
it on the lo side compared to 9345.0 and 7345.0 stations on the FRG-7.
BTW, Buenos Aires is supposed to go on DST of UT -2 from Oct 19, so
from next week look for all the external services one UT hour earlier, even tho
that is nonsensical for the audience, including English hours at 17 M-F on
15345v, 01 UT Tue-Sat on 11711v. This means for example in DST-observing areas
of NAm such as the Central Zone, English has been at 9 pm. Next week will be at
8 pm. And from November will be at 7 pm local!
DST in Argentina is a matter of dispute, with some provinces opting
out of it but Bs. As. is what matters as far as RAE is concerned. See
http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/argentina-dst-2008-2009.html
** BIAFRA [non]. On Sept 26 I confirmed V. of Biafra International,
via WHRI was on 17650, tho just barely audible for the weekly Friday-only
broadcast at 20-21 UT. Rechecked Oct 17, zero on 17650, but could just be even
poorer propagation? No, there it was on 15280 again, which was the frequency
used in July and August. Unmistakable orator speaking, tho reception here also
very poor. I can only assume that these abrupt frequency changed are prompted by
monitoring in Biafraland. I see that the website http://www.biafraland.com/vobi.htm now
shows 15280 correctly; I don`t recall if they ever got around to showing 17650
during the brief period it was in use. BTW, for B-08 the plans are to go to
15665, but I`ll believe it if and when I hear it
** CUBA. RHC SNAFU report: 17705 transmitter even more out of order
than before, Oct 17 at 2330 IS, opening Portuguese; modulation extremely
distorted and cutting in and out. With BFO on, I can tell the carrier is not
cutting out, altho it is slightly unstable. RHC Portuguese also on much better
modulated 13760 but not // --- eventually found 13760 to be running 1 minute and
1 second behind 17705!
After months of colliding with Spain on 11680, RHC has moved to
11690, noted Oct 17 at 2346 in Spanish, an echo apart from // 9600. 11690
suffers the usual RTTY QRM from the lo side, but RHC almost overriding it at the
moment. Meanwhile, REE Spain much weaker and audible in the clear on 11680,
stronger on // 9535.
This collision lasted 6.5 months, and we have been pointing it out
almost as long. Did their frequency manager finally get around to reading old
DXLDs? RHC first appeared on 11680 at the beginning of March, and REE started
using it at the end of March with the A-08 schedule. REE duly registered it. As
an outlaw nation, Cuba does not register any of its frequencies with HFCC, so
other stations are on their own when unexpectedly hit by such collisions.
I see that the RHC transmission schedule at http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/frecuencia/frecuencias-espanol.htm
has been updated to show 11690 at 0000-0500 to SAm; close enough?
11680 was also noted previously on air well before 0000.
And 11690 is also shown instead of 11670 for Aló Presidente
Sundays from 1400 to Caribe. I haven`t checked that yet, listed // 11875, 13680,
13750, 17750, to find out whether RHC is still broadcasting anything now that Chávez
has supposedly suspended his show until after the late-November elexions. Remind
me to do that this Sunday, or please check it yourself.
Back to Oct 17: RHC English on 9550 at 2355 was poor, and also
bothered by spurious pulses from the DentroCuban Jamming Command centered on R.
Martí 9565. These pulses typically extend plus and minus 10 kHz from victim
channels, which is completely uncalled-for and a cynical exercise in
callousness; and were worst here on 9555 and 9575 Médi-Un, but now even
reaching into RHC 9550 itself. DentroCubans vs DentroCubans! Serves them right
** INDONESIA. VOI still on 9526 for the third day in a row, Oct 17
after 1300 in English, and good reception again. Advise everyone in NAm to enjoy
it while they can, as you never know when they will move again back to
11785-11786. I see that 9526 first appeared Oct 30, 2007, after a spell on 9525
(or slightly below). 9526 was also in use until late July this year, but English
time change from 1400 to 1300 was not until early July, so before then English
had the China 9525 clash at 1400, and in summer 9526 reception was not so good
at 1300 even if clear of QRM
** LAOS [non]. Hmong North Radio, 5875 via WHRI, confirmed UT Sat
0003 with Hmong talk. Sure sounds like the same announcer as on Hmong Lao Radio.
Loud and clear, presumably with rustic music later in the semihour but I
couldn`t stay with it this time. Other weekly broadcast is 25 hours later
** MEXICO. R. Educación, in the clear on 6185 tho squeezed by 6180
and 6190 transmitters, at 0000 Oct 18 giving contact addresses in Spanish and
English, each twice: Apartado/P O Box 44277, 03101 México DF. This may be new;
not as in WRTH 2008 which only gives a physical address
** PORTUGAL. RDPI, 11630 at 2349 Oct 17; this is 100 kW, 261
degrees to Mexico, CAm, Caribbean, NW SAm; at 2354 checked // 9715, and found it
extremely strong, and splattering plus and minus 30 kHz. Unlike Phil Rafuse on
PEI, who previously found this transmission almost hi-fi worthy of widest
bandwidth, I found it too distorted to qualify for that, but it is certainly
potent, 300 kW at 300 degrees to NAm. Both are scheduled only Mon-Fri 2300-0200
Tue-Sat
** U S A. Surprised to hear myself on WRMI 9955, WORLD OF RADIO
1430, Friday Oct 17 at 2352, mixing with the DentroCuban Jamming Command, but at
least audible. This is when Lan Lamphere`s Overnight AM show just re-started two
days ago at 21-24 weekdays. Is it gone already? No, Jeff White says today`s show
was inexplicably half an hour short, so what better way to fill the time (than
with another Okie?).
WOR 1430 also reconfirmed on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110 at 2300 Friday,
well-received even on the portable DX-375. 7415 was absent during the scheduled
Thu 2330 WOR broadcast Oct 16; 7415 was back on with B.S. at 0145 recheck Oct 17
** U S A. WWRB, 5050, with preacher in English Oct 18 at 0004
putting weaker distorted spur on 5034.0. As the modulation on the spur audibly
peaked, the S-meter visibly dipped. Is this what you call negative modulation?
Also could detect a matching carrier on 5066, i.e. 16 kHz on the other side, but
masked by too much WWCR 5070
** U S A [non]. CVC A Sua Voz, Miami via Calera de Tango, Chile,
15410, Friday Oct 17 at 2322 with John Williams music. This Mon-Sat hour at
2300, Sem Limites, is the only time CVC is worth listening to, altho the
classical music is interrupted for hard-sell promos every few minutes, even with
non-classical produxion music
**
U S A [non]. After checking out RHCuba Portuguese on 13760, noticed VOA Spe-cial
Eng-lish news about Somalia on 13755, Oct 17 at 2337; 2338 review news
headlines, into short story. Weak with heavy flutter. This is Udorn, Thailand,
at 30 degrees inadvertently toward NAm, while the R. Thailand 15275 at 0200 to
WNAm is on a 38-degree azimuth
** CUBA. SNAFU report Oct 18: tuned in RHC 12000 at 1430 as Antonio
was giving the last three frequencies in a list, presumably meaning those
currently on air, but two of them are not: he said 12000, 9600 and 6000, but as
any listener would know, 9600 closes at 1300 and 6000 at 1400. Then Cancionero
Iberoamericano, one of their better and less political shows, starting with
songs by Milton Nascimento from Minas Gerais
** INDONESIA. VOI still on 9526 in English at 1330 check Oct 18.
Day number 4 and counting
** LAOS [non]. Hmong Lao Radio, via WHRI 11785, altho missing last
Saturday, was back on the air Oct 18 at 1339 check, Hmong hmusic with chirps,
1345 into what sounds like Hmong via an artificial larynx; do they smoke or chew
a lot? 1346 a cappella tonal chanting. 1425 the other Hmong program was on, and
at 1430 recheck DXing With Cumbre already in progress so must have started
early. VG signal overloading nearby frequencies
** MEXICO. XEXQ, 6045, Sat Oct 18 at 1325 with Spanish talk rather
than classical music; made big rumbling lo-frequency het with E Asian
transmitter; by 1327 XEXQ was fading up, something about ``cultura deportiva en
esta capital potosina``, another contradixion in terms
** MONGOLIA [and non]. 12085 is V. of Mongolia`s only frequency and
per Aoki they only want to use it at 09-11 and 14-16, so could other stations
with frequency-agility give them a break? Of course not! Oct 18 at 1428 I was
hearing Russian on the frequency with a low audible het, but cut off at 1429.
Something came back on a semiminute later. After 1430 there was weak music with
flutter. Per Aoki, R. Sweden Russian service is on here at 1400-1430, and then
Iran in Bengali until 1527.
However, the WRTH A-08 update shows VOM on 12085 at 08-11 and
15-16, so maybe there is now a collision only at 1500-1527, and English in the
clear at 1530? It looks as if VOM has changed its language times trying to avoid
the worst QRM on the only frequency it can use, 12085. 12015 used to be an
alternative
** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Scare on WWRB, 3185, Oct 18 at
0605 was saying in addition to 7185 [sic], Brother Dave at WWRB was going to put
him on a lower [sic] frequency which might give better coverage at night, 3270,
maybe tonight. Well, nothing on 3270 at the moment; WWRB has used it in the past
but it is not currently coördinated there nor for B-08, but I suppose WWRB can
have it again if they want it.
B.S. went on to brag about how various brothers and sisters were
sending him tens of thousands of dollars at a pop, and how most of that was
going to buying more airtime; and gloating how his ministry eclipses such minor
players as Texe Marrs, etc., since B.S. purveys the True Word of God and they
don`t.
If not on WWRB yet, the money to burn was evident a few hours
later, it being The Sabbath, when his live service, where he gets even more
worked up than usual, appeared not only on WWRB 9385 and WINB 9265, but also on
WBCQ 15420 and 9330!
At 1402 found horrible mix on 15420 of Hammond(?) organ music and
DW Russian via UK, a collision I had warned WBCQ about as soon as they planned
to use 15420 last spring. WBCQ is as usual slightly off-frequency making the mix
worse. So much for being able to hear DW`s ``Muzprosvet`` avant-garde music show
Saturdays at 1430.
Not being able to get another frequency or to get DW to move, after
a few tests, WBCQ held off opening 15420 so early, but now with B.S. money to be
wasted, it`s on the air, and tough luck for anyone axually wanting to listen to
B.S. or DW on that frequency. If they could have waited another two weeks, DW
will be gone from 15420, altho BBC will still be using it in B-08 between 1200
and 1900 from Seychelles, Cyprus, South Africa.
While the two WBCQ channels were synchronized, 9265 and 9385 were
all out of synch with each other. It was not until 1414 that I noticed 9330 WBCQ
was also back on the air, and that 9265 was still on altho some days it closes
around 1400 instead of scheduled 1200
** SWEDEN [and non]. I had already noticed with alarm that
tentative B-08 skeds failed to show R. Sweden on 15240 any longer, either direct
or via Canada; an oversight, or not yet complete?
No, Radio Sweden is deleting its morning services in English to
North America! At the end of the Saturday Oct 18 broadcast, George Wood
announced the B-08 English schedule. I ran across it first at 1355 on 15735
direct, but that was fading, so reconfirmed an hour later on 11640 via Canada:
Europe/Africa/Mideast: 1430 on 9400, 1530 on 9360
plus MW 1179 at 1730, 1830, 2000
Africa also via Madagascar: 2030 on 9895, 2130 on 7395
Asia/Pacific: 1330 on 7465, 1430 on 9400
also via Madagascar at 0230 on 11550
North America: via Canada at 0230 and 0330 on 6010
That`s it. That`s all. Always positively spinning, George put it
this way ``Continuing relay from Sackville on 6010 at 0230 and 0330``.
NO: ``sorry, but no more service to North America at breakfast
time``.
Not a word about blowing off morning listeners in North America! I
for one frequently listen in the mornings, but never in the evenings. Could this
be because the Sackville antenna for 15240 supposedly failed a few weeks ago,
and 11640 had to be used instead? So if they can`t go back to 15240, just quit?
11640 is working just fine and 25m would have continued to do so all winter. Of
course the first broadcast on 15240 at 1230 has been direct from Hörby anyway.
North Americans can try for 9400 direct at 1330 or 1430, but results last winter
were not good here.
15735 cut off the air abruptly at 1358* when George was about to
give the mailing address for a printed schedule. After all these years, Hörby
still cannot get coördinated with the Stockholm studio or vice versa
** U S A. WWCR, PMS service on 5935, with big problems Oct 18 at
0557, ringing sound on each side. It seems there are spurs between 4 and 5 kHz
above and below, which intermittently beat against the main carrier as
modulation comes and goes. On the main channel one can also hear crosstalk from
Pastor Pete Peters on 5890. These two are very strong at the moment,
exacerbating the situation, and furthermore producing a mixing product on 5980,
also with the ringing sound. I suppose this could have arisen from an audio feed
without proper rolloff at higher frequencies. On 5890 itself, crosstalk
underneath could also be heard, but not from the 5935 service. Did not seem to
match 5070 or 3215 either; maybe 1300?
** U S A [non]. R. Free Asia, via Tinian, Oct 18 at 1420 in Burmese
on 9320, running two sesquiseconds behind // 7390 to even out power consumption.
Fair with no QRM or jamming audible
**
VENEZUELA [non]. You never know whether RNV via Cuba will be in English. Sat Oct
18 at 1459 the transmission was already beginning on 11680, fair signal with SAH,
presumably Turkey scheduled until 1530. Opening was entirely in Spanish, 1501
into a vals
** CUBA [and non]. RHC schedule still shows Aló, Presidente on
Sundays starting at 1400, including a changed frequency, 11690 ex-11670.
However, a few weeks ago Chávez said he was suspending his show until after the
late-November elexions in Venezuela. So what is RHC doing? I checked Oct 19 at
1400 and found nothing from Cuba on the listed A,P frequencies 11690, 11875,
13750 or 17750, but there was a huge carrier and huge hum on 13680, which on
other days is used for regular RHC until 1500. Further chex past 1431 still
found nothing on the A,P channels, and at 1431, 13680 suddenly switched from the
big hum to RHC // 11760, 12000, 13760 echoing, 15120, 15360, 15370. However,
WYFR Spanish is on 11670, and HCJB Spanish on 11690, so it`s just as well
Cubazuela is not really using either but will be a problem if and when resumed.
Another problem: at 1401, RHC 13760 was quite weak with some hum,
and mixing with a station in French, i.e. V. of Korear, 325 degrees per Aoki,
for Europe, and the two were close enough to SAH. Commies vs Commies!
** INDONESIA. Just time to catch the end of the VOI English
broadcast on Sunday Oct 19, so it`s day 5 still on 9526, mentioning ``dignity``
at 1356, and het from China starting at 1357
** ITALY [non]. Sunday Oct 19 at 1404 on 15725 heard preacher in
English about Noah and the slimy creatures. This is the Sunday-only IRRS
broadcast at 1400-1430 via Slovakia, 95 degrees to ME, C & S Asia, W & C
China. Per sked at
http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/sun.htm
it`s ``The Watchman`` on the European Gospel Radio service
**
LAOS [non]. Hmong Lao Radio, 11785 via WHRI, Sunday Oct 19 at 1357 with a bit of
closing Hmong hmusic, 1357:30 into some other fill music. Must have signed off
shortly, since 11785 gone at 1407 recheck. It appears that WHRI/WHRA/KWHR
transmissions have been considerably curtailed as people keep complaining they
can`t hear DXing with Cumbre when supposedly scheduled, such as Sunday 1430 on
11785
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. This will require further checking, but I
suspect R. Solh has finally changed its music after more than a year! Good
reception via UK Oct 20 at 1348 tune-in, when the CD is normally stuck/skipping
for another minute. Instead started some new music without skipping, and tho of
the same enjoyable genre, unseemed any longer to be exactly the same selexions
as played every day at the same times. Also before 1400 included an announcement
by a YL I had not heard before. This A-season transmission at 1200-1800 is
normally replaced in B-season by 15265 at 1200-1500, but so far unconfirmed, so
we better enjoy it on 17700 while we can (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 9565, Oct 20 at 0544, mention of ``Igreja Deus é Amor``
as soon as I tuned in, so tuned out. But not usually heard here; no residual
jamming against R. Martí, but some splatter from a strong RHC on 9550. WRTH
says R. Tupi, Curitiba, but it`s degraded into just another gospel huxter, like
so many other once distinctive Brazilian SW stations (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA [and non]. Shortly after sunrise I can usually detect
CFRX in clear on 6070, but at night it`s blown away by CVC Chile. At times,
however, CFRX manages to make its presence known by producing a SAH on CVC: Oct
20 at 0625 I counted one of 210/minute = 3.5 Hz. Make that presumed, as it could
have been from ELWA or something else (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISGTENING DIGEST)
** CONGO DR [non]. 11690, VG signal in French at 0555 Oct 20, ``Radiokapi``
jingles, ``des Grands-Lacs à la mer`` slogan, news about Brazzaville, but I
tuned in too late: cut off abruptly at 0558:25* in the middle of a sentence.
Geez, another station which fails to coördinate between studio and transmitter,
which is Meyerton, nominally 0400-0600, 250 kW at 342 degrees per Aoki; CIRAF
target is 52, i.e. per
http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/images/broad-ciraf2.gif
includes most but not all of both Congos, Zambia, Gabon, Angola.
Who draws these wacky boundaries, anyway? Previous inspection of Okapi`s
Hirondelle website indicated it focuses only on Congo-Kinshasa, not
-Brazzaville. SENTECH just says ``Central Africa`` as target, in French/various,
while Aoki says French and Lingala. For B-08 this transmission continues and the
other one will be at 16-17 on 9635
** CUBA. No respite from the DentroCuban Jamming Command this
Monday morning, when they normally take a break along with Radio Martí; still
grinding away on 6030 at 0627 Oct 20; this was a mixture of several sites making
a continuous buzz, rather than distinct pulsing from one site. So much for DXing
other stations on 6030 once a week. Also was still jamming nothing on 7405.
RHC relents a bit on Sunday nights with more music, less
propaganda; UT Monday Oct 20 at 0630, Lina Valverde was opening ``Jazz Place``
show in English to feature Emiliano Salvador, pianista, but talktalktalk before
getting to the music. Wonder of wonders, modulation was OK without hum on 6140,
and just about identical on all three, 6140, 6060 and 6000, with the last
slightly weaker; also audible weakly on mixing product 6220
** CZECHIA. R. Praga, 13580, Oct 20 at 1417 in Spanish, partly
translating something from Czech. Almost as good as English an hour earlier.
Somehow this transmission had escaped my notice; I see in Aoki they keep
changing azimuth on 13580: 1300 English 290, 1330 French 199, 1400 Spanish 245,
1430 Russian 80. In B-08 same pattern will shift one hour later, not including
Russian, so English at 1400, French 1430, Spanish 1500
** EGYPT. Surprised to hear Arabic on 6290, at the late hour of
0622 Oct 20, M&W dialog, with ute pulse QRM, and quite different modulation
from Polisario chanting neighbor on 6300. Surely it`s Cairo, which in A-08 is
scheduled on 6290 at 1100-0300 per all online schedules. However, in B-08, 6290
runs from 1900 to 0700, so looks like they have already gone to the new schedule
a week early. Was starting to fade down as it`s well after sunrise in Egypt
** INDONESIA. VOI, Day 6 on 9526, Oct 20 at 1302 opening English
late; previous hour in Indonesian had usual het from 9525, presumed Poland/Wertachtal,
but the het stayed on! VOI was still atop, but should be nothing else during the
English hour. 9525 signal also had some modulation but could not separate it.
Hope it`s not a precursor of something unexpected in B-08. Another possibility:
VOI QRMing itself with a second transmitter on air at same time. By 1342 the het
from 9525 was gone, but VOI still hummy during music
** KOREA SOUTH [non]. KBS World Radio in Spanish (pronouncing the
KBS as in Spanish, the World Radio as in English), 6045 via Sackville, Oct 20 at
0628 closing with Spanish transmission schedule, but cut off in the middle of it
at 0629*, this time without any RCI IS or ID. Yet another station which doesn`t
manage to coördinate programming from studio with axual transmission times. Is
no one paying attention? Does no one give a damn?
** NEW ZEALAND. It`s an off-week for Mailbox, but I checked RNZI
anyway Monday Oct 20 at 1330 on 6170 for the alternate program, listed as
Spectrum. But was already in a remote report from a reserve on the coast about
storm damage, seals, with plenty of location sound. Maybe National Radio relay
instead? Unseems so with BBC programme ``Let the Good Times Roll`` scheduled.
So what is Spectrum about? That was once the name of another DX
program. I listened via webcast for the repeat at 1630, and it turned out this
was indeed Spectrum, from the coast near Wellington, looking out on Cook Strait,
interviewing a ranger, except it too started early at 1629. Faded show out at
1650 for bell bird IS, frequency change on SW, irrelevant on web. 1652 to Maori
chant, drumming, ID and music, no mention of frequencies, opening morning
programme prior to 1700 news in English, 1708 French. Actually Pacific Press
Review, on schedule in French for Mondays only at 1708-1750. Or less? Searching
the grid for anything else in French we find only the same show UT Sundays at
2115-2135, or rather the next program starts 20 minutes after it starts. Oops,
already back in English at 1714, so the French is only about 6 minutes,
something you cannot tell from the way their schedules are presented.
Guess what, the current one-week schedule effective from Oct 19
does not show any frequency change break at 1650, but at 1550 and 1850! In the
next schedule, however, effective Oct 26 there will be a change at 1650; once
again, RNZI programming is out of synch with its own transmissions. And the B-08
is different from the one-week sked, not just an early start.
Here`s the upcoming B-08 schedule now posted on their website,
tidied:
26 Oct 2008 - 28 Mar 2009
0459-0658 11725 AM & 15720 DRM Pacific
0659-1058 9765 AM
& 9870 DRM Pacific
1059-1258 13840 AM & 9870
DRM NW Pacific, Bougainville, PNG, Timor
1258-1358 13840 AM
NW Pacific, Bougainville, PNG, Timor
1300-1550 6170 AM
Pacific
1551-1650 6170 AM
& 7145 DRM NE Pacific, Fiji,
Samoa, Cook Islands
1650-1750 9765 AM
& 9890 DRM NE Pacific, Fiji,
Samoa, Cook Islands
1750-1950 11725 AM & 11675 DRM NE Pacific, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa,
Cook Is
1951-2235 17675 AM & 15720 DRM Pacific
2236-0458 15720 AM & 17675 DRM Pacific
** PORTUGAL. DRM on 13655-13660-13665, Oct 20 at 1423, interfering
with some analog station on 13665, evidently Moldova site. DW via Sines is
scheduled with DRM at 90 degrees, 35 kW, On Oct 20, 23-25 only
** SOUTH AFRICA. 11640 with choral music Oct 20 at 0603, seems
English? only fair signal. 0605 into talk in English with African accent, deep
fades. Is PWBR any help? In this case, probably: shows TWR via South Africa in
English at 0600-0630. But this year+old stuff has to be confirmed with current
online info, and later found same but scheduled 0600-0645, 500 kW, 320 degrees
from Meyerton. Yet this was nowhere as good as Okapi a few minutes earlier with
250 kW at 340 degrees. Aoki clarifies schedule as M-F 0600-0645, Sat/Sun
0600-0615. SENTECH B08 shows TWR the same, target as Nigeria
** U S A. WRMI, 9955 with amazingly strong and clear signal Oct 20
at 0547, S9+20 and no jamming --- but that did not last long, as WRMI faded a
bit and jamming again audiblized. Wonder if they were on NW antenna, unlikely;
just enhanced propagation? Was a Cuban music program, gave street address in
Miami, but which? Trova Libre? WRMI program schedule is no help: for M-F 1-2 am
[EDT] says ``Repeats of DX and other programs/Repeticiones de programas DX,
etc.`
Later, Jeff White explains: Glenn: That's punto guajiro music. It
was a repeat of A Favor de la Justicia. We were on the corner reflector (south)
at that time. Jeff
**
U S A. WWCR with good signal on 15825, so must be off-season sporadic E, Oct 20
at 1320 when Tony Alámo was speaking. I listened for a few minutes to try to
get an idea of where he is coming from. Nothing about his sexual/legal problems,
but really talking down to his imaginary audience, faking `classy` British
accent now and then, really cynical-sounding, quite unpleasant
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Yes, R. Solh, 17700 via UK, has definitely
changed their music schedule after well over a year playing exactly the same
tunes at exactly the same time every day, obviously from a single master
recording or automation setup. The skipping/sticking CD which ran every day at
1346-1349 is no longer the case. Oct 22 I listened from 1339 to 1400, and
familiar but different music keeps playing thru the former stick zone, altho
there is an abrupt cutoff of one piece and startup of another at 1348. Good
reception in the last few days of this transmission
** INDONESIA. VOI, day 7 on 9526, Oct 21 at 1332 with Indonesian
Wonder show about the hitting-the-broom tradition in central Maluku; 1337 Let`s
Speak Bahasa Indonesia Thru Song. Continued good reception.
Also day 8, Oct 22 at 1322 with commentary on the impact of the
global economic crisis on Indonesian insurance companies. Good with usual lite
hum
** MALAYSIA. 5030 is normally an unlistenable mixture of Malaysia
and China with China on top, but tnx to a tip from Hiroshi and S. Hasegawa, NDXC
in Japan, this and many other CNR-1 frequencies from Beijing site are
unexpectedly off the air. Now Oct 22 at 1330 all I hear is one station with soft
``island`` vocal music, tho with the inevitable splash from Cuba-5025. The
Malaysian station is RTM Sarawak in Kuching
** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Scare is now on a reactivated WWRB
frequency, 3270 in the evenings, presumably ex-unheard 5745, around 0230 UT Oct
22, tnx to a tip from Steve Wood, NASWA. I had heard B.S. four nights earlier
saying 3270 was about to activate. Good thing Namibia is no longer on SW. Other
WWRB programming continues on 3185, and I suppose B.S. still takes over there
later in the night.
Rechecking 15420 to see if Brother Scare was again on WBCQ at 1406
Oct 22, good signal from DW Russian via UK had some lite QRM, but unseemed B.S.,
probably BBC Seychelles. B.S. was on WBCQ 9330-, slightly low in frequency as
ever, but no het from anything, same program as WWRB 9385 but many seconds out
of synch. Overcomer is now sked on WBCQ 9330 daily at 1400-1600, but latest WBCQ
sked update does not show 15420 for him at all, where we heard him the previous
Saturday. He also has 1, 2 or 3 hours on 7415 every night except UT Sundays
**
U S A. An odd language caught my ear on 5985, Oct 22 at 0619 from WYFR.
Cantonese from WYFR (not RTI) is scheduled during this hour, but it seemed more
exotic than that. Speaker was ending each sentence with ``yi ji`` several times
a minute, as if he were enumerating or reciting a list of something. I wonder if
they work segments in minolity dialects into this hour as well
** GUAM [non]. Oct 23 at 1310 found English broadcast on 15320 I
had not noticed before, about proverbs for children. After a sidetrack to
Turkey, resumed listening at 1321, examples: ``The pen is mightier than the
pig``, ``A penny saved is not much``, ``Two is company, three is musketeers``,
and other clever variants apparently produced by first-graders. Signal was fair
but with deep fades. 1326 closing with addresses, Debbie, Hong Kong, Kowloon,
Central PO Box 71030, or zhaoming at vohc. something; seems show was called
``Jewels from the Internet``. VOHC? Finally figured it must stand for Voice of
Hope, China. 1328 brief Chinese announcement also giving e-mail. After a pause,
finally at 1330 Adventist World Radio ID, in English and French, theme music,
web address, ``following program in ---`` fade, but must have said Chinese,
since I then heard more Chinese.
KSDA Guam at this hour? No such ID, and no site heard. Looked up
later, it`s AWR via Wertachtal, Germany, which is also even used for Chinese
broadcasts, in A-08 per Aoki:
15320 ADVENTIST WORLD R. 1300-1330 .23456. Chinese 250 75
Wertachtal D
15320 ADVENTIST WORLD R. 1300-1330 1.....7 Uighur
300 75 Wertachtal D
15320 ADVENTIST WORLD R. 1330-1500 1234567 Chinese 250 75
Wertachtal D 01041E 4805N AWR a08
However, these transmissions will move in B-08, to 11720 via Nauen.
KSDA is still on 15320 at 22-24, but in Indonesian, English,
Vietnamese. Except as noted, the program before 1330 was entirely in English,
presumably for advanced students, despite the fact that this semihour is
officially ``Chinese``
** INDONESIA. VOI, still on 9526 for day 9, Oct 23 at 1302,
Indonesian-to-English announcement, but then fragments in Korean, and dead air.
Finally at 1305 joined English news in progress. Good reception as usual, but
the hum was getting worse
** MEXICO. XEXQ, 6045, Oct 23 at 1340 check, classical music with
rumbling het from Vladivostok. Both of them stay audible later day by day as
Solstice approaches. But in B-08 Vlad should be gone, and the only co-channel
Delhi from 1315 in Nepali, 1430 in Urdu, both 334 degrees; that could be audible
along grayline for a while, but less of a problem than Vlad at 230 degrees = 50
degrees off the back
**
TURKEY. VOT, enjoying last few days of good 15450 reception on the 1230
broadcast to Europe which is also onward to N America: Thu Oct 23 at 1311
discussing their new web service, début of which has been postponed again until
Nov 20, tho the YL working on it thought they could use another 6 months of
testing. It will be multimedia, with podcasts, ``programs published`` -- meaning
transcripts? Covering 20 languages. There is a ``huge crew working on it
downstairs``. That finished Live from Turkey, plus a Did You Know That? feature
on how tulips had originated in Central Asia, brought to Anatolia by Suleiman
the Magnificent, and onward to Holland where they became big business. From Oct
26 this transmission moves to 1330 on 12035, // 11735 eastward, and we found out
last winter that 11735 was sometimes inexplicably better here than 12035,
reversed antennas, or strange long- vs short-path propagation?
** ANTARCTICA [and non]. I knew it would be a good day for LRA36,
when I tuned in Africa Numéro Un, 15475, Oct 24 at 1834 and heard a continuous
het from 15476. At 1900, ANO started news in French for a semiminute about
Mauritanie until its laggard engineer turned off the modulation and a few
seconds later, the carrier. During that brief period, despite some hum from
Moyabi, I could tell that 15476 was playing music. Then LRA36 was on its own
against the noise level, but no QRM whatsoever from other broadcast stations.
There were occasional Bronx cheers from some kind of ute, and LRA36 carrier
dropped off a couple times for a split second.
First I made sure the frequency was really 15476, or rather very
close to it. Initially Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel was playing guitar
music mixed with some talk. At 1929 announcement by YL following some more
music, but too weak to copy. I then spent some time on the ATS-909 trying to
decide whether modulation was on USB or LSB or both. Not certain because it was
so weak, but seemed to be as much LSB as USB, in keeping with some recent
reports, contrary to others. Maybe the proportion varies day to day? 1939
another YL announcement; by 1955 it was weaker and finally gave up for today.
Altho I never could copy a definite ID this time, I am positive
this is what I was listening to, from previous experience, and above all because
of its unique frequency. I wish other monitors would be as careful, for I
occasionally see a report of this logged before 1900.
Some advice: if you think you have LRA36 before 1900, you need to
explain how you were able to separate it from the incomparably stronger signal 1
kHz away, ANO Gabon. Was Gabon unexpectedly off the air? Could you employ
extremely tight selectivity or notching? Were you sure what you were hearing was
not in French? Gabon has an enormous propagational advantage as well, from the
Equator. Did very strange propagation give Antarctica an edge instead? But why
try to log Antarctica before 1900 anyway when you can listen after 1900 without
the QRM?
LRA36 would have been blown away for the rest of its three hours,
five days a week, a few seasons ago, if CVC Chile had gone ahead with its plan
to grab 15475. We spearheaded a successful effort to persuade CVC to go
elsewhere. It was another case of the big boys thinking a frequency is open
because the little ones don`t make the least effort to register their usage with
HFCC, and furthermore can`t conceive of changing frequency themselves, for
licensing or technical reasons.
Surely the management of LRA36 is aware by now from numerous DX
reports (or by turning on a radio themselves?) that Gabon is covering up one
third of their transmissions. If they can`t change frequency and can`t get Gabon
to move or close one hour earlier, why doesn`t LRA36 simply shift its own
broadcasts one hour later? Another station which doesn`t really understand the
basics of what`s necessary to be a successful SW operation
** ARGENTINA [and non]. RAE vs Morocco on 15345v: Oct 24 at 1904
while Antarctica was appearing on 15476: Morocco in Arabic dominating, the two
maybe 150 Hz apart, and hard to tell which was which, but more modulation from
Morocco, tho both are undermodulated. By 1946 the het was stronger as RAE was
evidently gaining by comparison.
RAE was off for a sesquimonth recently, and did they take the
opportunity to make any improvements? No, when they came back, same old variable
frequency colliding with Morocco. Neither of these participates in HFCC, but
surely RAE management has heard by now from numerous listener complaints, that
Morocco is blocking them in the European target languages. Yet all they do is
change transmission times by one hour depending on the local clock when what
they need to do is change frequency. Not vary by 200 Hz, but CHANGE 5 or 10 kHz
to get away from the collision. Some complimentary consultancy: in B-08 every
5-kHz channel from 15335 to 15360 should be clear for all the hours RAE is
presently using 15345 to Europe, 17-23 UT if not more. A simple switch to 15350
should do the trick, or should I say, forcing the transmitter to vary more than
it usually does. Anyone want do donate a new crystal?
** AUSTRALIA [non]. WRMI, 9955, Friday Oct 24 at 1939, fair-poor
with no jamming, discussion of nervous system; per WRN schedule it`s Radio
Australia during this semi-hour. The 18-21 UT stations on WRN to North America
weekdays, when WRMI is still relaying it are, half an hour each: Ireland,
Prague, Sweden, Australia, Poland, Korea. From Nov 3, with the end of DST in
North America, both WRMI and WRN should move all this one UT hour later
** BIAFRA [non]. V. of Biafra International, via WHRI, again this
Friday Oct 24 opening early from 1959 on 15280, The Orator ``bringing you
matters of interest to Biafra`` and at least twice claiming to be ``transmitting
on the 15.67 MHz frequency in the 19 meter band``, before and after playing
``God Bless Africa`` anthem in usual opening; 2006 into news by another speaker
with heavy accent. VOBI HQ hasn`t a clue what frequency they are really on, so
pity the poor listeners. In previous seasons I have heard them announce
``15.67`` which was never in use, tho in B-08 will supposedly be 15665. BTW,
when rounding numbers, if halfway between an even and an odd one, you are
supposed to go to the even one, not the odd one; but deliberate rounding is
unacceptable with SW frequencies, whether or not your listeners have digital
readout. 15280 signal was strong, much better than last week, but with a bit of
echo, probably backscatter
** COSTA RICA. REE HQ in Madrid has been notified that at least two
of its Cariari relay frequencies have been one kHz off for many months, but so
far no fix. Oct 24 at 1847 check, still 11814 instead of 11815, undermodulated
talk in Spanish with barely audible het from something on 11815. The other one
is 5964 at night
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. Have not been making regular chex of R.
Africa on 15190, but per reports seems to be on most of the time. It was on Oct
24 at 1916 with undermodulated preacher in English; at 1945 another preacher,
more distorted than undermodulated, talking about scarlet dyes. Usual good
signal, anyway, comparable to Nigeria on 15120
** GERMANY [non]. Nemetskaya Volna, VG and synchronized on both
15420 and 15700 via Rampisham UK, Oct 24 at 1409 giving contact address in Kiev,
Ukraine --- does that mean DW Russian service is not allowed to have a mail drop
within Russia? In B-08 this 1400 transmission moves to 1500 via Woofferton on
11720.
Also heard DW in Russian on 11885 via Woofferton, at 1854 to
1859:30*
15620 very good in tonal African language, probably Hausa, Oct 24
at 1832, enthusiastic dialog, drama? With village sounds, bits of hilife music,
laughing, children`s voices. Yes, this is DW via Portugal at 18-19. In B-08 this
broadcast moves to 9430
** GUATEMALA. R. Verdad hoped to be back on the air by Oct 20, with
replacement 600V transistors burned out by a lightning bolt, but still nothing
on 4052.5 at 0545 check Oct 24
** INDONESIA. VOI, day 10 on 9526, Oct 24 at 1342 check with YL ID
and slogan, ``Voice of Indonesia, the sound of dignity``, music. Good signal as
always but hummy. Fingers crossed things will not change in B-08
** IRAN. On 15555, heard a rather strange combination, Qur`an at
1333, and Japanese talk at 1349 Oct 24. I wonder how many Japanese are Moslems?
Doesn`t matter. What else but VIRI? At 1401 YL was still speaking in Japanese,
and Iran was being mentioned. Lower modulation than neighbors like 15550 VOR,
but quite intelligible. Sirjan site is scheduled 1330-1430 in Japanese at 60
degrees. Mideast/SW Asia propagation was quite good this morning. In B-08 this
transmission moves to 9905. Was PWBR `2008` any help; only with a lead, since it
erroneously shows VIRI in unID language on 15555 ending at 1330
** IRAN [non]. 17670 with pop vocal music in presumed Farsi, Oct 24
at 1404, good signal, better than Solh on 17700. It`s Radio Farda, as soon IDed;
via Wertachtal at 14-15 only
** JORDAN. 9830, station with Arabic music, Oct 24 at 1853, would
have been good but for constant RTTY QRM as always on this frequency. Presumably
R. Jordan, only thing scheduled, 1745-2000 at 300 degrees for Europe but onward
to us; in B-08 extends to 2100. This is the best we can do since Jordan quit
broadcasting in English in our mornings on 11690, another RTTY frequency
** KUWAIT. Those further east report good reception of R. Kuwait`s
English broadcast at 18-21, but not here. Checked 11990 several times on Oct 24,
but only poor, at 1842 in talk, not even sure it was English instead of Arabic
which sometimes substitutes
** RUSSIA [and non]. 7200 with heavy SAH of about 6 Hz, between a
station in Russian with pop music, and unID language. Russian must be Yakutsk at
45 degrees, on very long hours, and the other R. Bulgaria, scheduled in German
during this semihour at 295 degrees, so neither is aimed here, but both cross
somewhere in North America when extended. Yakutsk is also the one that used to
motorboat, but not currently
** SAUDI ARABIA. 17660, BSKSA in French at 1415 Oct 24 ending
Courrier des Auditeurs (letters from listeners), with E-mail address; fair with
flutter.
Oh, oh, the big buzz is starting up again from some BSKSA
transmitter(s) --- Oct 24 at 1510 there it was on 15435 mixing with Arabic talk,
soon into Qur`an. At this point, the Arabic was still intelligible if one wanted
to put up with the buzz, which months ago grew and grew until nothing else was
audible, yet they kept this mess on the air until officially notified by
monitors abroad, rather than Allah
** SYRIA [and non]. 9330, Oct 24 at 1852 while WBCQ`s weekday 18-19
broadcast of some financial program was still running, with big hum, but also
detectable het, WBCQ being slightly off-frequency to low side, yet transmitting
in CUSB, not CLSB. At 1908, WBCQ was gone leaving an S9+10 carrier on 9330, but
very low modulation in talk, maybe French? Yes, that`s scheduled this hour per
DXLD 8-114. If modulation were up to par, would have been readable. R. Damascus
frequency was on 9330.0 as far as I could tell compared to Wichita 1330.0 on the
FRG-7. At 1947 recheck, nothing on 9330, so Syria must have gone off, perhaps at
1945 for a half-sesquihour instead of full-hour transmission? R. Damascus fan
Kris Janssen in Belgium says the former English broadcast at 2000 has been off
SW for some time, but still on satellite, with SW resuming for the second
English broadcast at 2100, that not checked here yet
** U S A [non]. 15760, Oct 24 at 1828 with nice classical piano
concerto fragment, 1830 announcement in uncertain language, giveaway YFR IS and
music. Then looked up, it`s Family Radio in Turkish via Woofferton. I wonder how
many Turx care about the Biblical interpretations of non-ordained Protestant
Brother Harold Camping? Doesn`t matter. They will be regaled by him in
translation nonetheless
** VENEZUELA [non]. RNV, 11680 via Cuba, Oct 24 at 1507 in Spanish,
rumbling co-channel QRM, no doubt usual overlap with VOT in Turkish to Europe
until 1530. In B-08 TRT moves way down to 5980 and one hour later at 1400-1630,
so that will resolve that problem. Then another will arise, possibly worse, BBC
via Rampisham to Africa on 11680 starting at 1500. As an outlaw nation,
Venezuela refuses to register its transmissions with HFCC, or even accurately on
its own website, so BBC/VTC, not paying any attention to DXLD, are probably
unaware of the impending collision, as RNV does not habitually make any schedule
changes coinciding with A/B seasons either, so is likely to remain as is.
15290 on with big open carrier at 1858 Oct 24, 1911 recheck RNV via
Cuba in Spanish. 1958 ending ``De Primera Mano`` commentary by someone named
Vladimir [no, not Lenin, but an alive Commie], and sign-off with contact info,
Apartado 3979, Caracas 1010, Venezuela, or canalinternacionalrnv@gmail.com
--- 1959 open carrier for a few seconds and off.
This 1900-2000 transmission is the one they have wrongly announced
and webdisplayed for 3 sesquiyears as at ``11 am for San Francisco on 13740``.
Why S.F. and not L.A.? Probably Cuban antenna is traditionally aimed at the
former, originally for RHC itself, but if I were aligning it, would be at 300
degrees, splitting the 4-degree difference between the two cities. In any event,
puts huge signal into OK not far off the path.
Then tuned up to 17705 for next RNV broadcast, but not checked
until 2006 when it was going with much weaker signal by YL in broken English
**
ZIMBABWE [non]. SW Radio Africa, 12035 via Rampisham UK [tho Kvitsoy, Norway was
also available], Oct 24 at 1837, fair in interview between studio announcer and
someone in an outdoor location with background noises, not in English, so
Ndebele or Shona, but at 1839 they were conversing in English about developments
in Angola and Mozambique. 1840 ID as ``Newsreel on S-W Radio Africa``, gave
website, on to food shortage demonstrations in Zimbabwe, arrest and imprisonment
of some involved. Best I`ve heard it in some time; scheduled 17-19 UT, but in
B-08 switching to 11745 via Woofferton. Note: the ID says the letters S-W, never
the word shortwave, nor the word southwest, as some have assumed it means
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Enjoyed the last day of good reception from
R. Solh, via Rampisham UK, on 17700, Oct 25 from 1426 until fading after 1630.
Music at 1501 included the word ``whatever``; 1610 some rap partly in English
--- we recognized a music string which months ago was appearing 2 or 3 hours
earlier including at 1622 the bilingual one partly in English about ``Be my only
one``. But still haven`t heard for ages what we dubbed the ``Solh theme``.
Fortunately, we have that and a lot more on tape for replays at will.
Aside from the anti-Taliban messages several times an hour, I am
just about convinced the tactic of this US psyop is to get all the Afghans
dancing joyously and thus stop killing each other. From B-08 I expect Solh to
appear as follows, none of which are likely to come in so well here, so far from
the target area: 03-12 11675 via UAE, 12-15 13830 Rampisham, 15-18 9875
Rampisham. Last winter 15265 was used 12-15 and rivalled or exceeded 17700
reception. If Solh really uses 13830, it will collide with Gospel for Asia via
Wertachtal at 1330-1500 per the B-08 DTK schedule! 11675 during the early hours
may also collide with Kuwait which at least is scheduled to switch from DRM to
AM at 0300
** GUAM [non]. AWR, 15320 via Germany, monitored again on its last
transmission at the end of A-08, Saturday Oct 25 at 1330, just after scheduled
weekend Uighur service (how many Uighurs are potential Adventists??? Doesn`t
matter), with multilingual ID break in English, French, German, Italian. In
French the name AWR was properly translated but in German they said it in
English, ``Adventist World Radio``. What`s up with that? Then opening
``Mandarin`` with Grieg`s ``Sunrise`` melody
** INDONESIA. VOI, day 11 on 9526, Oct 25 at 1345 check with rock
music, English announcements, 1357 to gamelan vamp, and het de China did not
start until 1358
** LIBYA. V. of Africa, better than usual on 17725, Oct 25 at 1417
in English about how the Leader of the Revolution had established a man-made
river from the desert 4000 km to the northern regions in 1977. A bit of reverb
on the modulation; the lexure frequently paused for some music; 1422 talking
about Senegal. Recheck at 1616, only open carrier audible on 17725 when it was
supposed to be in French after 1600
** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Another Sabbath, so another check of just
how Brother Scare is appearing on four frequencies from three US stations, Oct
25. WBCQ 9330 cut on at 1355 joining organ music in progress as also heard on
WINB 9265 and WWRB 9385, but never synchronized. Then checked WBCQ`s other
frequency as heard last Saturday, also on air today at 1359 with same organ
music and fast SAH with DW via UK carrier, and modulation from that started at
1359:30, first with bells, then Russian 1400 overriding WBCQ. But last week
there was an audible het, and this week WBCQ is much closer to being on
frequency only making a subaudible het. And there is still no mention of this on
the annotated program guide http://schedule.wbcq.com/main.php?fn=sked&freq=15420
For B-08, no more DW collision at 14-16, just a much weaker BBC.
Recheck at 1613, 15420 was clear of DW, 9330 was off as it runs at 14-16 only,
and 15420 was close to matching WWRB 9385. At 1621, WINB was still running same
on 9265, long after its scheduled switch to 13570 at 1200; on some weekdays they
switch at 1400
**
SWEDEN [non]. The end of an era. Radio Sweden`s last morning broadcast to North
America, Oct 25 at 1430 on 11640 via Canada. I recall it was primarily a morning
station for many years before the Sackville relays started; reception direct
from Northern Europe to Central North America was much more reliable in our
mornings than our evenings (and still is). This was the usual Saturday review of
the week`s stories, no mention of giving up in the mornings, and no announcement
of new transmission schedule as had been run during the previous week. Items
about how fewer and fewer countries since WWII maintain the death penalty; and a
film festival in Uppsala; 1459 IS and into ``Radio Sweden, Lordag`` -- yes, in
Swedish IDs they pronounce the station name in English; what`s up with that?
The following report represents less than 3 hours of monitoring, a
semi-hour session around 0600 UT, and a bihour from 1248, plus some other bits.
Many other dayparts need to be scanned for B-08 changes, but doubt I will have
much time to do so.
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Radio Solh is still going and well heard on
new 13830 ex-17700, Oct 26 at 1303 with talk at the moment, soon the usual
lively dance music. Good signal but occasional splatter from Martí/jamming on
13820. After ``Salaam, Afghanistan`` song ending at 1329 I was monitoring
closely at 1330 when Bible Voice was scheduled to join them on 13830 in the B-08
schedule. I could hear the co-channel underneath, but Solh dominating here; the
QRM enough to mar good recordings of Solh music. Time will tell how this
sesquihour collision pans out for us, but surely in the targets one CIRAF zone
apart, 40 vs 41, the mix is unacceptable. Doesn`t VTC coördinate with its major
competitor DTK? BVB is 90 degrees from Wertachtal, while Solh is 85 degrees from
Rampisham, so look for one of these to move, that is, if anyone is paying
attention now
** AUSTRIA. 17855, Oct 26 at 1320 English discussion of airline
privatization in Austria, Germany, fair signal; 1321 still IDs as ``Radio
Austria International``, and then Post Box, in Report from Austria;
acknowledging reception reports such as a scholarly 4-page one from Japan. Did
not think to check whether much better signal heard earlier on 13730 was now //,
and 17855 gone after 1330 while 13730 was in German at 1332. It`s on only at
1300-1330, 90 degrees from Moosbrunn, which was mentioned in the mailbag in
answer to a question about where the transmitters are. So we don`t have to
wrestle with OE or O-umlauts to name this station in English
** CHINA [and non]. CRI English via Sackville at 1300 is now on
13675, very strong Oct 26, but now they have very strong RHC next door on 13680.
Commies vs Commies! The two splatter against each other, somewhat evitable by
side-tuning each.
In all my bandscanning for new B-08 info, Oct 26 between 1248 and
1438, it just dawned on me that I had not run across any Firedrake, tho I was
not looking for it specifically. I hope this is a good sign, but maybe just a
propagational fluke
** CROATIA [non]. VOC already on new 7375 ex-9925, UT Oct 26 around
0245 in Croatian via Germany. Finally out of the 40m American hamband, where it
had used 7275 in previous B-seasons, and part of A-season, pretending to target
Iceland
** CUBA [and non]. DentroCuban Jamming Command grinding away plus
pulses, Oct 26 at 0555 on 6100, but off at 0605 recheck. The jamming is
``needed`` only until 0400 when R. República closes. This bodes ill for R.
Tirana`s 0430-0500 English broadcast scheduled for B-08 on 6100, which should
otherwise have been clear for it.
DentroCubans who want to hear R. Martí without jamming should make
an effort to tune around on the first days of new seasons, when the Jamming
Command is lagging behind frequency changes, even tho they are rather
predictable from previous matching seasons.
Oct 26 at 1248 I found R. Martí on reactivated 5745, jamming-free
and // 5980 with had the usual jamming. RM was discussing something about
Spain`s cultural center. Recheck 1346, 5745 still going in the clear; at 1358
QSY announcement claimed that in a few moments RM could be heard on 9565, 11930
and 13820. Really?? Nothing on 9565 at this hour. Is RM giving out
disinformation, or just ignorant about its own schedule? 9565 is now supposed to
run at 20-24 UT, ex-17-24 in A-08, or was it *1730?
Here are my other logs of RM this date: At 1346, open carrier on
15330, which was not used all A-season, jammed anyway at times but not right
now. 1402 check, RM programming underway on 15330 as well as 13820, and at 1414
check on 11930 --- almost always runs three frequencies at any one time.
DCJC still pulsing and grinding against nothing on 9490, Oct 26 at
1255; is that still in use for República via RMI via Sackville at 10-11 only?
** CZECHIA. R. Prague usage of 13580 now starts at 1400, VG in
English to NAm at 1401 Oct 26
** EGYPT. Altho already heard a few days before B-08, R. Cairo in
Arabic Oct 26 at 0603 M&W dialog on 6290, scheduled all the way from 1900
until 0700 at 315 degrees toward us
** FRANCE. African language at 0601 Oct 26 on 6170, good; 0604
quick ID in passing as ``RFI``, the letters pronounced in French. This is a B-08
frequency for RFI in Hausa via Issoudun at 0600-0630
** GERMANY [non]. A strange program in English on 7240, Oct 26 at
0606, ``Learning by Ear`` with rather explicit drama about teen sexual
encounters, pregnancy at 0610. Some of the players had American accent, others
African. VG reception except occasional SSB ham QRM. DW was inviting letters to
the program and at 0616 gave website http://www.dw-world.de/lbe
Is this supposed to be teaching English, or how to manage sex?
Apparently it is a general education service, for 12-20-year-olds, claiming an
audience of 30 megAfricans, but I suppose that includes the Portuguese, French,
Swahili, Hausa and Amharic versions. In A-08 we heard RDPI Lisboa on 7240 at
05-08, but now in B-08 it`s DW at 0600-0629, 150 degrees via Sines, PORTUGAL;
followed by 0630-0659 Hausa, 160 degrees via Woofferton, UK.
DW on new 17630, Oct 26 at 1349 in German with strange accent so
first doubted it was DW, discussing orthodoxy, but 1355 DW jingle and ID in
standard German; was fading up and down in collision with Africa No. One, Gabon,
which has used this frequency for many sesquiyears. ANO does not register its
usage, however, so DW, not bothering to turn on a radio or consult DXLD or other
monitoring resources, assumed they had a clear shot on it, now scheduled at
12-14, 80 degrees via Rampisham.
13585-13590-13595 with DRM buzz, not to be confused with the analog
transmitter buzz on 13600, Oct 26 at 1436. DW via Sines, Portugal is scheduled
at 1400-1557, 90 kW at 30 degrees for Europe
** GREECE. ERT habitually registers lots of wooden frequencies,
such as both 15650 and 15630 thruout the day, but uses only one of them. Now in
B-08, Oct 26 at 1317 I find them on 15650 with Greek music, nothing on 15630,
and perhaps a trace of // 9420. John Babbis says they have yet to distribute a
definitive B-08 schedule
** GUAM. 11570, Oct 26 at 1309 with South Asian vocal music. This
is KTWR`s Boro language service
** INDIA. AIR good but with flutter at 1342 Oct 26 on 9870 with
music in VBS, 335 degrees from Bangalore; but GOS unheard on 9690, so wonder if
it was still on; still scheduled from same site but at 108 degrees
** INDONESIA. VOI did not make it to day 12 on 9526, which started
Oct 15 for the English broadcast at 13-14. Oct 26 at 1257 check, nothing at all
on 9526, nor at several chex during following hour. Surely not due to
propagation, as RRI was propagating very well on 9680 at 1340 atop the CCI. Has
VOI gone back to 11785v? Quick check there at 1259 before WHRI came up could not
detect it or even a carrier. 9525, however had very weak B-B-C chime notes at
1259, unID language opening, but nothing scheduled there unless they or I were
on 9520 by mistake, for Uzbek via Thailand. Normally VOI has only three
frequencies available, 9525v, 11785v and 15150v. Possibly they went to 15150
where not propagating at 1345 check, but in the B-season they should certainly
stay on the lowest frequency, in addition to the fact that it was loud and clear
until the day before! Hope it was just an off-day for 9526; what next?
** IRAN. 15545, Oct 26 at 1318 with ME singing, VG signal with some
flutter; also at 1347 in Arabic, talking about Bahrain, mixing with bits of
music. 1430 with VIRI`s theme music, and Arabic, news? Then looked up, it`s
Sirjan, 500 kW at 295 degrees with lengthy Arabic service 0530-1630
** LAOS [non]. WHRI, 11785 with Hmong Lao Radio, reconfirmed Sunday
Oct 26 at 1311; no het audible if Indonesia [q.v.] is back on there now. WHRI
was on 11785 only during this hour, nothing before 1300 or after 1400, unlike
Saturday when it stayed on with other programming past 1400, even 1500. From Nov
2, we expect HLR to shift one UT hour later to 14-15 on Sun & Sat
** LIBYA. Starting B-08, Voice of Africa still on 17725, fair Oct
26 at 1350 in Swahili, and presumably after 1400 in English
** NETHERLANDS [non]. RN via Nauen, GERMANY, 6120, Oct 26 at 0600
opening an hour in Dutch, fair
** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI was quite good on 9615, but now it`s moved to
11725 for B-08, heard Oct 26 at 0613, and only fair here, with report about
parliament, Hamilton; in fact it was the strongest if not the only station
audible on 25mb at the moment! Now scheduled 0459-0658
** POLAND [non]. PRES on new, or rather reactivated from B-07
frequency 9450 for English to Europe, now in B-08 shifted an hour later to
13-14, coming in well enough Oct 26 at 1300 with Slavek Szefs opening the hour
mentioning timechange, weather. Still OK at 1344 with mailbag. In A-08 was on
9525 at 12-13 under Indonesia. 9450 is via Wertachtal, Germany at 300 degrees
** PORTUGAL. RDPI, VG on 15560 with Abraço da Madeira show, Sunday
Oct 26 at 1316, giving phone numbers for live call-ins by listeners to greet
others. No sign of // 15690 scheduled for Africa; surely I would have heard at
least a trace of it if it were on. Madeira hug show is now scheduled 1311-1500
UT Sundays, tho their daily program schedule is as usual slow to recognize that
Portugal is back on UT, not UT+1. Scan of 13m as I was finishing the morning
monitoring session at 1444 found // 21655 to SAm/WAf audible, and nothing else
on that band
** ROMANIA [and non]. RRI, 11940, Oct 26 at 1312 with Romanian
talk, good signal but some distortion. At 1314 I found // 15170, but here
colliding with REE via Costa Rica, making a heavy SAH, RRI now playing music,
roughly equal signal level, but RRI winning due to REE undermodulation. At 1345
Romanian music well over REE, and still the case at 1433. RRI is Galbeni, 285
degrees to Europe at 13-15, now ruining REE reception at 340 degrees toward
North America
** RUSSIA [non]. VOR WS in English to NAm on new, or reactivated,
6135, G at 0558 Oct 26 in closing announcements, saying at 0600 would be on air
to Au/NZ on 16 mb, and to Europe on 190, 209, 227, 432, 476 metres. Get out your
calculators! Shades of the USSR. And ending NAm service to return at 0200 on the
22, 25, 41 and 49 mb. 6135 was quite strong but somewhat undermodulated, and
suffering from splash de RHC 6140.
I suspect 6135 is via Germany, as IIRC they used it in previous
seasons, but this is not on the DTK B-08 schedule, nor is the new VOR B-08
schedule available yet. Previously they did not have the Habana 6140 problem,
but now they do, even if 6135 is running for the entire four hours of VOR
English starting at 0200. Commies vs ex?-Commies
** RUSSIA [non]. As soon as I tuned in a good signal on 13660, Oct
26 at 1307 I heard an ID ``Govorit Radio Svoboda`` and into piano music. This is
via Lampertheim, Germany, 13-14 at 56 degrees
** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Not only was WBCQ on 15420-CUSB as early
as 1400 Sabbath Oct 25 but also Sunday Oct 26 with Brother Scare, weaker than //
9330-CUSB, but 15420 finally clear of DW Russian collision via UK. So maybe WBCQ
will be on 15420 daily this early? See also USA: WINB
** SPAIN [non]. REE via Costa Rica, reconfirmed with third
frequency 1 kHz off, not only 5964 and 11814, but 9764, as measured Oct 26 at
1302, weak modulation, hetting something on 9765.
** TUNISIA. RTT is such a regular on 41m that I rarely report it,
but often listen for the music, such as 0617 Oct 26 on 7275 stronger than //
7190. 7275 is at 340 degrees and thus better in NAm than 7190 at 265 degrees.
Both are now scheduled nominally at 0400-0800, but in reality 7275 has been
closing much earlier than 7190. WRTH 2008 with the schedule a year ago showed
0630* and 0810* respectively, and probably still so
** TURKEY [and non]. VOT World webcast via http://www.trt.net.tr/wwwtrt/canli.aspx
had made the one-hour-later change for standard time in Europe, UT Oct 26 with
English at 0400 instead of 0300. So I checked the shortwaves, for this
transmission supposed to be on new 6020 direct to NAm, and 7325 via Canada. And
what do I hear? CRI relay via Sackville on 6020, with usual Peruvian het and
very weak co-channel, presumably Turkey, and nothing on 7325. I`ll bet Sackville
turned on 7325 at midnight local time as usual, 0300 UT, and put on some other
language coming over the feed from VOT. So not only did Sackville not relay
Turkey as it should have at 0400 on 7325, but it blocked Turkey on its other
frequency which might otherwise have arrived direct!
