sabato 19 novembre 2011

Glenn Hauser logs November 19, 2011

** CHINA. Note: a great many of our Firedrake logs are likely from the Kashgar, EAST TURKISTAN site, based on propagation similarities to registered overt CRI transmissions, but we have no way of knowing for sure, and SARFT isn`t telling. Nov 19, before 0700:
 9200, fair at 0655
11500, fair at 0655
14700, poor at 0653
15900, poor at 0650
16100, very poor at 0651
16700, poor at 0650
16980, poor at 0650
17170, very poor at 0651

Before 1500:
 9200, good at 1434. Did not perform a complete bandscan at this time
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. Nov 19 at 1600 on 11760, I catch the complete RHC Spanish frequency announcement, which says the are ``continuing`` as follows:
15380, 15230 until 16
 9540 until 16
13-16 on 9850
13670 to 16, and also 13780, 13670 [sic]
11760, 11840, 11690 until 16
From *13 on 11750 until 16* plus ``audio Real`` [non]

1601 into NA and off the air from all frequencies. This was apparently a generic announcement which should have been played earlier in the 4-hour morning block, not when they are finishing it, duh! At least it deals with the new frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EAST TURKISTAN. 15620, Nov 19 at 0649, 19m is hopping in the nightmiddle, Italian here from CRI, sufficient signal with Chinese language lesson via Kashgar. There were also a number of CRI signals on 16m, probably same site in morning services for Europe (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CHINA re Firedrake

** FRANCE [non?]. 15220, Nov 19 at 0643 good signal with song in Russian(?), then Nat King Cole`s ``Quizás`` in Gringo Spanish, outroed in French with R-F-I ID. Seems like RFI Musique service, perhaps anomalous as strike-filler, but the trouble is, no RFI scheduled on 15220 whensoever in HFCC or Aoki; instead they have a French broadcast from CRI, 500 kW, 308 degrees via URU = Wulumuchi, East Turkistan at 06-08. Could I have misunderstood ``RCI`` as ``RFI``? Does the French service of CRI ID as ``RCI``? (Radio Chine Internationale). But surely they would not be playing western pop music of yesteryear. Further chex needed. Kashgar was certainly propagating; See EAST TURKISTAN 15620 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GUIANA FRENCH. 17690, Nov 19 at 1429 I tuned in RFI Spanish during a report on cacao, bracing myself for a rude interruption at 1430 close-down time: yes, the Parisians are starting to give the web URL, but cut off the air after ``rfi.`` Aren`t they paying any attention to the incoming programming at Montsinéry where they could easily leave it on a minute or two more? Aren`t they paying any attention to the clock in the studio, so they finish the programming before it is likely to be cut off at transmitter sites? Of course not! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** LIBYA [and non]. 11600, the revived single broadcast by the newbies in Tripoli at *16v-18v* in French I have not yet logged, since they scheduled it at an inconvenient time for me when I have usually turned off the radio and turned on the computer to compile my previous logs. But Nov 19 I start trying to hear it at 1600: nothing but DRM noise from BULGARIA until I give up at 1610. No trace of an AM carrier with BFO on. The DRM noise was only slightly louder than the band noise, but with BFO I could make out its characteristic swishing as I tuned across the 10-kHz bandwidth. So was Libya on the air today, or another sporadic day off? Should be clear of DRM after 1700. Yes: at 1720 I can detect an AM carrier but much too weak against the non-DRM noise level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MOROCCO. 15349.5, Nov 19 at 1505, IMM with Arabic music and talk, rather muffled modulation, making a big het against stronger Radio Veritas Asia, Philippines [q.v.] via VATICAN 15350.

Morocco refuses to participate in HFCC, but Aoki B-11, now available in plain text at
http://www1.m2.mediacat.ne.jp/binews/bib11.txt
shows it shifting from 15341 to 15345 at 1410. By 1557, RVA is off and Morocco is in the clear.

We can only hope 15349.5 is a deliberate permanent change lasting until 2200* since that would get it off Argentina, stuck on 15345v, also refusing to participate in HFCC, where the two have been colliding for many years. HFCC shows only one item on 15350 later in the day: Oman at 18-20, but we suspect that is one of their many wooden entries. Aoki omits it.

There are some other broadcasts in the next hours on 15345, but 15340 is open after HCJB Australia finishes at 1530; Morocco 15341 had been horribly colliding with that until switching to 15345 at variable times; what will happen later today and tomorrow? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PHILIPPINES [non]. 15350, Nov 19 at 1505, RVA via VATICAN, VG signal off the back since it`s aimed 130 degrees to NE Africa and SW Asia, in Engalog (or is it Taglish?), Tagalog but with lots of English mixed in; 1519 segment mostly in English. Trouble is, there is a BIG het from 15349.5, where MOROCCO, q.v., has now jumped up. RVA is strong enough that can eliminate the het by sidetuning upward even with rather broad FRG-7 selectivity. Off by 1557; Aoki says -1553 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TAIWAN [non]. 6875, Nov 19 at 0653 check, RTI via WYFR still in mistaken German instead of Spanish. Have any of their regular listeners in Spanish informed master control in Taipei about this? Apparently not (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 15810, 15825, 15840, Sat Nov 19 at 1425, `Musical Memories` with Martha Garvin belting her hymns and piano, with good modulation, producing nothing more than the weak spurs from WWCR-1, altho it is a rather wide signal from the central fundamental --- NOT splattering over half the 19m band as WWCR was doing 24 hours earlier. It`s almost as if these were two different transmitters.

Another factor may be the quality of the program source --- as the ultimate gatekeeper before the ionosphere, any station ought to guard against terribly defective programming being put on the air which would overdrive its transmitter out of whack, if that is what happens periodically, especially during the weekday hour `Inspirations Across America` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 15182-USB, Nov 19 at 1607, intruder 2-way in colloquial Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)