lunedì 4 ottobre 2010

Glenn Hauser logs October 3-4, 2010

** ALASKA. I was going to put this under UNIDENTIFIED, until researched: 2750, Oct 4 at 1214, strong signal and still but weaker at 1242 recheck: sweep and step tones, like you might hear from a MW station doing a proof; same thing over and over, from low to high pitches. What`s this? Previously as in DXLD 10-16:

``UNIDENTIFIED. 2750, 8 tones, each at increasingly higher pitches,
followed by ambulance siren like sound, then repeat. Heard 0930,and
rechecks 0940, 1000. Wanted to monitor, but found it too creepy and
irritating to do so. Sounded similar to testing tones used by phone
co. in the 60's. Very odd. Have heard before, usually in the dead of
night. I believe Glenn Hauser has reported some strange stuff on this
freq. also, but a different pattern. 4/14, 73 and Good Listening !
(Rick Barton, Phoenix, Arizona, (at the Sun City Shack), Hammarlund
HQ-180A, 70' l.w. strung out to Saguaro in backyard, ABDX via DXLD)``

See also DXLD 8-129, under ALASKA for HAARP reports on this frequency (mention of N Korea there erroneous as that was and is on 2850)
http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld8129.txt

UDXF posts of Dec 11, 2008 must have been the same thing, when tests from HAARP had been publicized:

``At 0615 utc "they" seem to be on 2750 with a wide signal taking up almost 100 khz with multiple swept frequencies making a nice pattern on the Perseus screen. Don VE6JY [Moman] near Edmonton Alberta.``

``Concur: 0630Z up to S8 on 2750 (and wider). Classic HAARP rising tones. I'm south of Vancouver, and north of Seattle. Brendan WA7HL [Wahl] Bellingham Wash.``

I thought what I was hearing today after sunrise, would unlikely be all the way from Alaska with such a good signal, especially if it`s aimed straight up; altho 2850 KCBS was also audible, and, guess what, the great circle path from Korea North passes right over Alaska, very close to Gakona! So presumably from the above it really was HAARP. However, it was certainly not taking up 100 kHz, just normal bandwidth (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ANTARCTICA. 15476, LRA36, Monday Oct 4: at 1254 carrier and some music audible; unusually, 15480 Rampisham not there to het it. But at 1401 Polish Radio relay was audible on 15480 now hetting weaker RNASG, likewise at 1414 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake Oct 4:
10500, fair with flutter at 1245, still at 1322
11050, good with flutter at 1247, gone at 1322
11100, also here // others and slightly weaker, at 1247. Still at 1322. No doubt complying with the peregrinations of nemesis Sound of Hope. All three gone at next check 1406.
13830, good at 1250 // lowers. This one contra RFA Tibetan via Tajkistan, inaudible. No others found 8-18 MHz.

However, some of the Kashgar, EAST TURKISTAN CRI transmissions to Europe were making it on 17 MHz: 17490 at 1256 English closing with Chinese lesson, off at 1258*; also barely caught Chinese on 17650 until 1257*.

15520, Oct 4 at 1333, noise and het which were not there before 1330, now to jam V. of Tibet via Tajikistan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. 9855, Firedrake-like music, Oct 4 at 1312, but soon added vocal, so no way it`s FD, soon found // 9540. Per Aoki these are CRI Chinese service via Beijing and Kunming sites respectively, not jammers (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. RHC anomaly Oct 4: at 0533, 6010 is off, but English is on 5970, 6060, 6150. One might conclude that 6010 is not really necessary and they should quit it completely in deference to Mexico and Colombia, but they know what a rotten neighbor Cuba is (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA [non]. 9965, DCJC noise against nothing(?), Oct 4 at 1412. Another theory: maybe it`s just parking here during the day while not needed on WRMI 9955, as there are no exile programs in Spanish at all 14-21 M-F, before jamming starts there at 2058. That does not keep some lighter jamming from appearing on 9955 anyway, and most of the jamming after 2100 is unnecessary, all a waste of precious fuel and electricity, ultimately pesos, which should be spent on food or an overall higher living standard for the People (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA [non]. 7210-LSB, Nelson, N1NR, the Cuban exile who incessantly rants against Castros, a de-facto clandestine broadcast, Oct 4 at 1220, all in CubanSpanish, saying he likes women, so why are dentroCubans always talking about homosexuality (do they?); lamenting hunger in Cuba; deriding those who only make rude noises instead of responding verbally.

He pretends to be calling other stations trying to make contact, as required of hams, but I think this is just a sham, as when no one answers, or even if they do, it`s right back to his rants. At 1227 and again at 1228, Nelson gleefully inserts clip with PA reverb of a recent Fidel speech in which he really said, ``el modelo cubano aun no funciona nisiquiera para nosotros``. N1NR calls for a general strike in Cuba, everyone staying home: that would lead to change?

ARRL search gets:
ROIG, NELSON, N1NR
41 PHEASANT RUN
BUSHKILL, PA 18324
Previous call sign: WQ3N

QRZ.com has the same plus this bio: ``I have been a radioameteur [sic] since 1957, when I was CO3NR at Cuba. Now I am N1NR and I do work every band from 160 meters to 430 MHz, all modes. I am very active at 40 meters, and 6 meters, most of the times. But still I do some DX on SSB and CW at the other bands. Last modified: Sat Aug 22 07:43:20 2009``. Nothing about his raison d`être (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDIA. 9870, AIR VBS, Oct 4 at 1317, Indian pop music, poor with flutter and CCI. It does better in our evenings as in previous log. Cochannel at 13-16 is CRI English via Xi`an, tho I could not confirm that for sure. 1410 still mixing but VBS atop.

9470 Aligarh and 9425 Bengaluru, // tone test at 1316 Oct 4, and both with flutter; 1321 both are playing Vande Mataram as AIR National Channel is signing on. Both have ACI, from 9479 WTWW, and from 9430 Chinese on FEBC Manila (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDONESIA. 3325+, RRI Palangkaraya continues to provide the best extracontinental signal on 90m in the mornings. When first checked around 1215 Oct 4, not much there, but after sunrise enhancement, at 1240 W&M conversation in Indonesian, S9+15, and now it`s equivalent to WWRB 3185 level, which however is starting to fade into the daytime D-layer.

RRI still good at 1259, but at 1300 no timesignal or break, continuing conversation. This station obviously has no respect for hourtops and the needs of DX listeners. Recheck at 1304 had changed to music. I then compared it on the FRG-7 to the China/Canada collision on 7325, and found that RRI was slightly on the hi side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KOREA NORTH. 2850, Oct 4 at 1242, KCBS with harmonious vocal music, from the workers` paradise, now registering S9+15, better than it was a semihour earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ALASKA

** OKLAHOMA. 740, KRMG Tulsa used to carry Dr Dean Edell, one of few nationally syndicated commercial talk shows worth listening to, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, but now it`s something else, Oct 3 at 2140 UT.

They still have some other non-rightwingnut shows. Weekend program schedule is here:
http://krmg.com/inside/krmgprogrambyhour.html
but I can`t find a full weekday schedule. They used to run Jim Bohannon replays after local midnight, but can`t confirm that by looking at the website (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. On an expedition a few miles north of Enid, just beyond the Grand National Gun Club firing range, to release a trapped squirrel banned from our pecan trees, hoping he can still find his mate trapped and released there last week, and not be killed by trigger-happy gun nuts after all our trouble, I took the opportunity to do a MW bandscan, altho I did not drive far enough down a dirt road to escape all the line noise.

Notable was a big roar on 1610, as heard recently even dentro-Enid, presumably the Great Salt Plains State Park TIS which used to relay Enid NWS, now totally out of whack, but I am sure they have not even noticed it at park HQ.

1430, the frequency occupied by two Oklahomans, KALV Alva, but with a null toward KTBZ Tulsa and also Enid, at 2155 Oct 3 nevertheless had KALV dominating, with Beatles`` ``Gimme Rock `n` Roll Music``. As I tuned on up, found // music on 1450, i.e. KGFF Shawnee, as both of them have oldies format while both frequency-competitors, 1450 being KSIW Woodward, are sportive (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. KXOK-LD, channel 31 in Enid, has finally activated its CP to increase power greatly from 40 watts to 3700. Analog on channel 32 was turned off several weeks ago, so it`s strange they allowed themselves to be virtually invisible during this period. Programming has been most if not all from RTV (Retro TV) despite A1 or other listings you may see.

For the past week or so, and definitely confirmed Oct 4, the signal has been much stronger. No longer is it hard to lock in, only a sesquimile away from the downtown transmitter, but in fact stays in lock the entire 360 degrees I rotate the antenna, and peaks at equal or stronger reading on meter than any OKC station, and none of them under normal conditions can be seen no matter where the antenna be pointed, here from 100+ km away.

So we must say goodbye to Univisi in Wichita and all other channel 31 stations, KXOK now our strongest DTV signal. Should no longer have any trouble getting into the Suddenlink cable headend just two blox away from it; that had been breaking up at times, presumably due to DX QRM.

BTW, Suddenlink also closed down all channels last week for a few minutes after midnight for an ``upgrade``, new software being installed in our boxes. Apparently all this amounted to was adding Daystar on channel 95, i.e. from KOCM-46 Norman, which is at the margins of reliable visibility on my antenna, at 50 kW ERP, but plenty high at 416m AAT; unfortunately there are nothing but gospel-huxters on it.

I wonder if KHCM made a must-carry demand in Enid as a result. It still breaks up on cable, but can`t be sure if that be an input problem, since various satellite-fed channels can also break up, producing an error message, if the signal is a little too weak getting into the converter.

Altho basic cable analog channels have been maintained, as I still feed that direct into one TV set, including home shopping nets on 97-98-99, which ZapTV has never caught up with nor the other channel changes months ago, ch 95 with Daystar comes thru only on digital cable, not analog (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SAUDI ARABIA. 17895 // 17625 // 17615, BSKSA HQS, Oct 4 at 1327, quite a nasal cantor; also // 15380 at 1335, mixing with RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SWEDEN. 15735, R. Sweden, Monday, still shortwaving as the clock is running out, Oct 4 at 1330 opening English, top story the Nobel Prize in Medicine announced; the Swedish-accented YL announcer pronounces it ``Nóble``, so have we been saying it wrong? But the next YL announcer says ``Nobél`` so whom are we to believe? What would Mr West in TN say? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 690, KGGF Coffeyville KS, Sunday Oct 3 at 2120 UT, audio cuts on and off a few times per second; impossible to tell what`s going on. At 2150 check, I caught the word ``Braves``, so seems to be about baseball.

Totally unlistenable and no one is minding the store. This is the same station that I also caught this summer during an entire baseball game with open carrier except for local commercial breaks!

This was on my expedition north of Enid; see OKLAHOMA. At the early hour of 2140 UT Oct 3, KXTR-1660 Kansas City was audible with opera; 1680 had a fast SAH between two very weak X-banders; traces of something on 600, CO or IA; 840 C&W music from NE; 870 Spanish from KFJZ, Metroplex but also a SAH, could it be WWL far beyond? Or low-powers in NE CO, NW MO.

1090, Oct 3 at 2152 UT, prayer with same refrain every few sex by another voice, ``We beseech you, hear us``. The fourth word was hard to understand; at first I thought it was ``fear``, but unlikely considering the context. I figured this would be KEXS Excelsior Springs MO, 8 kW EWTN affiliate, but if so it was not // to another EWTN, 1360, KAHS, El Dorado KS.

Wait a minute! The NRC AM Log 2010-2011,
http://www.nrcdxas.org/catalog/books/index1.html
shows KAHS has the same address in Excelsior Springs as KEXS. Apparently both operate out of there, but maybe deliberately differently programmed as 1360 slogan is listed as ``Holy Spirit Radio`` and 1090 as ``Catholic Talk``.

BTW, not to be outdone, I would like to take this opportunity to beseech everyone to hear me, on WORLD OF RADIO,
http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html
or
http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html
No imagination is required.

At this removal from local KCRC 1390, barely 15 km away, 1370 again became audible with baseball talk, no doubt KGNO Dodge City KS, which in Enid must be blown away by KCRC`s desensitization. I originally did not consider this, since 20 kHz on the other side, 1410 Wichita makes it thru routinely, but it does have a much stronger signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###