domenica 7 giugno 2009

Glenn Hauser logs June 5-6, 2009

** BIAFRA [non]. V. of Biafra International, reconfirmed still on same frequency 17520 for several weeks now, via WHRI, Friday June 5 around 1915 with sufficient signal tnx to sporadic E (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. CBCNQ, 9625, weak in French with SAH from Novosibirsk and/or Meyerton, June 6 at 1406, unlike the morning before when all I heard was DRM-like noise 9620-9630. No reply from Sackville to my inquiry about that. The AM/DRM transmitter there has been known to switch into DRM mode on its own, so maybe that`s what happened (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake June 6: at 1411, good on 13970, zero on 14420, 11300, 9000, 8400 or any other frequency in bandscans 8-19 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ECUADOR. Something new on 11625, Sat June 6 at 1350, good signal with kid choir singing hymn in Spanish. Doubt it`s Radio Thailand, the only thing listed now in PWBR `2009`; besides, we know they are using 9455 at this time. 11625 is an HCJB frequency, but only in the evening at 0000-0200, and this is not // 11690 and 11960. At 1352 on 11625, reverb YL outroing show originating in Ada (pronounced as in Spanish), Michigan 49301.

Sure enough, at 1359 HCJB ID, no frequency mentioned, timechex for UT-5 and -6, and 1401 apparently live Saturday show, mentioning 690 and 6050 in passing. So this is a relay of the domestic service with separate programming, giving SWLs a chance during the 14-15 UT Saturday hour to hear something besides all that geeky mailbag and DX stuff on the external service! And they don`t even know about 11625 in the studio --- another station with a severe disconnect, lack of internal communication between transmission and programming offices.

Recheck at 1459, still going with timesignal and off, clearing 11625 for Chinese from RFA Tinian, along with SAH and ChiCom jamming. Per Aoki, 11625 is also used by R. Prague, 245 degrees in Spanish at 1400-1427, but no sign of that here under HCJB. Is this new transmission on the HCJB schedule? A one-off test? Programmed wrong frequency instead of 6050? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GERMANY [non]. Tuning by 15620, June 6 at 1503, instantly heard DW chords, and Russian, but severe QRM from WEWN-15610 ratchity spur, and DW no longer audible even during a WEWN mod pause which diminished the racket on 15620. DW Russian at 14-16 via Kigali is scheduled to move the antenna from 30 to 15 degrees at 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. KSBI-TV channel 52 in OKC is missing June 6, ahead of the nominal June 12 analog closedown date. And along with it the analog translator in Enid, K45EJ! I feared the translators would keep going, and this one blox both OKC and Tulsa network DTV affiliates. Is there anything about this at http://www.ksbitv.com ? Not that I can find, nothing about the digital transition at all. Still going on DTV 51. http://www.ksbitv.com/about has a history of the station, which BTW is now renamed Thunder TV, especially for its M-F 2230-2330 UT local newscast. KOPX still running analog on 62, DTV 50 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Scare check, Sabbath June 6 at 1421: on three stations-frequencies, WBCQ-15420, WWRB-9385 and WINB-9265v --- same kind of music, organish, but NOT //, far out of synch due to different feed routes (satellite/internet/telephone?). The medley went into ``Holy3`` at 1455 on 9385, at 1457 on 9265.

15420 is available to WBCQ between 12 and 23 UT, but on other days of the week per http://schedule.wbcq.com/main.php?fn=sked&freq=15420 it opens at 1700, and in fact the early start on Saturdays for B.S. is never shown. On Saturdays only(?) WINB stays on 9265 late for B.S. rather than switching to its midday frequency 13570. WWRB of course has him on 9385 plus spurs, harmonix, every day, all day. This was the musical prélude to TOM Sabbath service, so never heard B.S. at all, tsk3. Non-synchronized music still running at 1502 on all three, with audio dropouts (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SPAIN. REE`s mailbag program for worldwide listeners again dominated by DentroCubans: UT Sat June 6 at 0530 on 11890, Correo del Oyente started with two Cubans wanting pen pals, and at 0551 another Cuban. In between there was a musical request from someone in Argentina. They also announced several times a toll-free 800 phone number to reach REE from several countries including the USA, but I didn`t get it copied. Furthermore, the DX program in the previous semihour, Amigos de la Onda Corta, also featured a DentroCuban radio announcer. ¿Would REE ever grant such treatment to a FueraCuban exile with R. República or Martí? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. I was listening to REE on 15110 on the FRG-7, so preparing to tune up the 13 MHz band, I went down 2 MHz, and found an SSB weather broadcast on exactly 13110.0, June 5 at 2015. Never heard an ID or city mentioned except Miami once, and the forecasts were for segments of the high seas designated by their geo coordinates. Seemed they were in the Pacific rather than Atlantic due to the big 100+ longitudes. Rough copy as did not have all local noise sources closed down, but I repeatedly heard the robot YL say ``nautical smiles``, which certainly brought a nautical smile to my face. 2028 switched to traffic list, naming a few vessels, ID as WLO and KLB, and off, i.e. QRZ.

Apparently this is Mobile rather than Kent, at least per some previous logs in UDXF yg, including this one which also criticized the robot`s dixion: ``020308 2114 13110//13152 USB WLO WX, kept running words "knots" and "seas" together to sound like "nazis" -- Tom Sevart N2UHC, Frontenac, KS, on a Caribbean cruise``.

Heard the same robot YL June 6 at 1506 on 17362.0 SSB with marine weather, lots of millibars, positions of low pressure areas, ``nautical smiles``; once she pronounced `winds` of 25 kts with a long I, then later a couple times with a short I. Forecast areas on the hi seas defined by G.C., e.g. 41N-55N-179E-163E, which is in the north central Pacific. Maybe some mariners have a good grasp of seapatches by their G.C., but this is the type of info which would be conveyed much more effectively by fax maps or even by plain text, than by robotic voices which have no idea of the proper intonations or pronunciations. They also deprive a 24/7 shift of several real humans from having an announcing job, turning all this data into something with feeling, expression, even throwing in a few jokes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Instead of unID, I am so certain that these open carriers and intermittent tentative-sounding tone tests are coming from Greenville, despite lack of any ID, that I am filing them under USA: June 6 at 1405-1411, OC and 1408 brief TT; at 1504 same on 15390, both of which are VOA Greenville frequencies at other times; but why?

Greenville for sure on 17585, Saturday June 6 at 1420 interview about Tiananmen, 1425 wrapping as ``On the Line``, guest Gordon Chang, who was optimistic that ultimately the ChiCom will have to acknowledge what really happened; ``thanks for watching``, and music fill for a few minutes, sign-off, and carrier off promptly for a change at 1430:40*, uncovering no Botswana.

Watching? How can I possibly be watching, since I am listening to a shortwave radio?? This must originally be a VOA TV show, with radio only incidental, not worth mentioning. Shouldn`t that be View of America? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###