** CHILE. 11880, July 3 at 2145 trying to reconfirm whether NHK Portuguese is still outgoing this semihour via CVC site; cannot pull it thru the noise at first but at 2155 I can barely hear some Sakura and Brazilian, so it`s still there. See also ECUADOR [non] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake July 4, before 1300:
13920, poor at 1257, none lower
14700, good at 1257
15555, fair-good at 1258
16100, fair at 1259
16920, good at 1259
After 1300:
15550, good at 1303, ex-15555 before 1300
15485, fair at 1303. These which are active right after hourtop are vs V. of Tibet via Tajikistan which is always on split frequencies, rather than Sound of Hope (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 17730, July 3 at at 1934, RHC on wrong frequency! In French discussion about Napoleon, ``Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité`` as if the Cuban commies were any authorities on those ideals; two YLs in echoey venue, plus background noise, 1936 back to studio where it`s obviously RHC, mentioning L`Alliance Française de la Habane.
Until now this transmission has been on 17750, while 17730 is their morning frequency in Spanish, when it is paired with 17580 after 1300. 17730 still on the air instead of 17750 at 2121 check in Spanish when it`s now // 17705. Possibly RHC decided to move off 17750 to avoid being squeezed between Romania and Spain, and no longer any ACI from 17735 defunct RCI. Time will tell.
9790, July 4 at 0445, CRI Chinese relay, bigsig accompanied by horrible squeals, more obvious by side-tuning to accommodate their high variable pitches.
13130-13160, July 4 at 1305, as I am tuning by hunting for Firedrake, modulation spike spurs in Spanish peaking around 13150, easily matched to 13780 bigsig from RHC. No others found closer or further (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR [non]. 11920, July 3 at 2300 checking the HCJB Portuguese relay which this week is reported to be testing Wertachtal, Germany, instead of CHILE, as Calera de Tango is being phased out? HCJB is to return there from July 8, but only until monthend when they will need a permanent replacement. Poor signal with fading, but I haven`t checked this from Chile lately to compare, and anyway it hardly matters here, far off-target. As I tune in, I am surprised to hear them mention Guiana Francesa, with contact info for QSL, so it appears they are testing via Montsinéry instead of Wertachtal.
Info about the 2245-2445 tests July 1-7 being via Germany came from Horst Rosiak of HCJB on the A-DX list via Kai Ludwig, and Horst ought to know. Arrangement no doubt made thru MBR which also operates the GUF relay with TDF, so switching around internally would be an easy matter. Wolfgang Büschel had already suggested they should use GUF instead of Germany to reach Brasil. Nothing to be found about this in HFCC registrations, nor in a frustrating search thru the HCJB websites, one of which still shows long-abandoned 15295 direct from Ecuador for the Portuguese service! (But I did discover prayerful plans for a new 1 kW SW station in Chazuta, Perú, near Tarapoto.) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CHILE
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190.0, R. Africa finally shows up again after a couple weeks(?) of absence, July 3 at 1929 with a hymn, 1930 mumbler sounds like the now-encarcerated-for-175-years Tony Alamo. Tnx to tip from Jorge Freitas in Bahia, I was looking for this again first at 1925 on the FRG-7, and heard a big het zero beat at F#5 on my keyboard = 740 Hz, but then on the DX-398 on the porch, no such het, so it was coming from an inside computer still running. Only outside could I detect a much weaker carrier about twice that far up, no doubt R. Inconfidência. Back inside at 1945 I`m hearing F# again, certainly an improvement over Tony Alamo (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Sporadic-E analog TV DX in progress July 4 when I turn on TV at 1348 UT:
1348 on 2, CCI from south with animation, so probably net-5; also signs of video on 5
1402 on 2, loud Spanish in tabloid show about movies
1410 on 2, zero-beat CCI, seems peaking SSE rather than SSW, so likely Mérida and Cancún
1418 on 2, f bug in LR, i.e. net-4, probably via XHY-TV Mérida
1432 on 2, net-5 promo
1433 on 4, PSAs from Gobierno Federal, letterboxed with open captioning in black strip abottom and other info atop
1433 on 4, bug in UR includes XV (as in fifteen), maybe part of ad rather than ID, then singing ad for 43 canales (a cable or satellite purveyor? Only 43?), now not letterboxed; canal 5 promo
1435 on 3, now // 4 with canal-5, audio slightly ahead of 4
1437 on 3, toons, net 5 no doubt
1513 on 2, net-7 bug LR in studio game(?) show
1529 still channels 2, 3 and 4, CCI in and out as opening continues (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA. 15120, July 4 at 0437, open carrier with some hum, heavy flutter, presumably VON already warming up. Unchecked further, but that would not necessarily mean the 05-07 English transmission managed to stay on the air thruout (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Happened to turn on C-SPAN at 1320 UT July 4, while breakfasting on our own grapes, and the subject was Voice of America, in a series on Foreign News Bureaux. Guest, Steve Redisch, Executive Editor of VOA, who as a federal employee, ex-CNN, has to admit that me makes $162K a year. But it`s a good backgrounder to what VOA does, taking call-in questions from mostly uninformed dentro-Americans; also brief clips of VOA TV shows. It`s a 45-minute segment, available here:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/SteveR
At closing gave schedule of others in the FNB series this week:
Mon Al Jazeera, Tue DW, Thu CCTV, Fri BBC America.
Who is the YL hosting this? Looks familiar as if previously on some commercial channel. Never saw her name on screen as CSPAN downplays personalities. Had to go back and play the start of another segment to see her name for a split second: Libby Casey. CSPAN is not the place to make a name for yourself (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 11715+, July 4 at 1307, KJES is back with Bible quotation in English by OM, then YL hymn; good but not great signal, and undermodulated. First time I`ve heard The Lord`s Ranch in over a month. It`s slightly hi, no more than 11715.1. Maybe assisted by sporadic E which is soon up to VHF from Mexico.
Last previous report of this I can find was by Harold Frodge, MI, 29 May at 1308 on 11715.2. Last time I heard KJES was May 30 at 1933 on 15385+, despite periodic chex for it since on all three frequencies, including 7555, and non-reporting of non-logs. So it took a holiday to get them back (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake July 4, before 1300:
13920, poor at 1257, none lower
14700, good at 1257
15555, fair-good at 1258
16100, fair at 1259
16920, good at 1259
After 1300:
15550, good at 1303, ex-15555 before 1300
15485, fair at 1303. These which are active right after hourtop are vs V. of Tibet via Tajikistan which is always on split frequencies, rather than Sound of Hope (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 17730, July 3 at at 1934, RHC on wrong frequency! In French discussion about Napoleon, ``Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité`` as if the Cuban commies were any authorities on those ideals; two YLs in echoey venue, plus background noise, 1936 back to studio where it`s obviously RHC, mentioning L`Alliance Française de la Habane.
Until now this transmission has been on 17750, while 17730 is their morning frequency in Spanish, when it is paired with 17580 after 1300. 17730 still on the air instead of 17750 at 2121 check in Spanish when it`s now // 17705. Possibly RHC decided to move off 17750 to avoid being squeezed between Romania and Spain, and no longer any ACI from 17735 defunct RCI. Time will tell.
9790, July 4 at 0445, CRI Chinese relay, bigsig accompanied by horrible squeals, more obvious by side-tuning to accommodate their high variable pitches.
13130-13160, July 4 at 1305, as I am tuning by hunting for Firedrake, modulation spike spurs in Spanish peaking around 13150, easily matched to 13780 bigsig from RHC. No others found closer or further (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR [non]. 11920, July 3 at 2300 checking the HCJB Portuguese relay which this week is reported to be testing Wertachtal, Germany, instead of CHILE, as Calera de Tango is being phased out? HCJB is to return there from July 8, but only until monthend when they will need a permanent replacement. Poor signal with fading, but I haven`t checked this from Chile lately to compare, and anyway it hardly matters here, far off-target. As I tune in, I am surprised to hear them mention Guiana Francesa, with contact info for QSL, so it appears they are testing via Montsinéry instead of Wertachtal.
Info about the 2245-2445 tests July 1-7 being via Germany came from Horst Rosiak of HCJB on the A-DX list via Kai Ludwig, and Horst ought to know. Arrangement no doubt made thru MBR which also operates the GUF relay with TDF, so switching around internally would be an easy matter. Wolfgang Büschel had already suggested they should use GUF instead of Germany to reach Brasil. Nothing to be found about this in HFCC registrations, nor in a frustrating search thru the HCJB websites, one of which still shows long-abandoned 15295 direct from Ecuador for the Portuguese service! (But I did discover prayerful plans for a new 1 kW SW station in Chazuta, Perú, near Tarapoto.) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CHILE
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190.0, R. Africa finally shows up again after a couple weeks(?) of absence, July 3 at 1929 with a hymn, 1930 mumbler sounds like the now-encarcerated-for-175-years Tony Alamo. Tnx to tip from Jorge Freitas in Bahia, I was looking for this again first at 1925 on the FRG-7, and heard a big het zero beat at F#5 on my keyboard = 740 Hz, but then on the DX-398 on the porch, no such het, so it was coming from an inside computer still running. Only outside could I detect a much weaker carrier about twice that far up, no doubt R. Inconfidência. Back inside at 1945 I`m hearing F# again, certainly an improvement over Tony Alamo (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Sporadic-E analog TV DX in progress July 4 when I turn on TV at 1348 UT:
1348 on 2, CCI from south with animation, so probably net-5; also signs of video on 5
1402 on 2, loud Spanish in tabloid show about movies
1410 on 2, zero-beat CCI, seems peaking SSE rather than SSW, so likely Mérida and Cancún
1418 on 2, f bug in LR, i.e. net-4, probably via XHY-TV Mérida
1432 on 2, net-5 promo
1433 on 4, PSAs from Gobierno Federal, letterboxed with open captioning in black strip abottom and other info atop
1433 on 4, bug in UR includes XV (as in fifteen), maybe part of ad rather than ID, then singing ad for 43 canales (a cable or satellite purveyor? Only 43?), now not letterboxed; canal 5 promo
1435 on 3, now // 4 with canal-5, audio slightly ahead of 4
1437 on 3, toons, net 5 no doubt
1513 on 2, net-7 bug LR in studio game(?) show
1529 still channels 2, 3 and 4, CCI in and out as opening continues (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA. 15120, July 4 at 0437, open carrier with some hum, heavy flutter, presumably VON already warming up. Unchecked further, but that would not necessarily mean the 05-07 English transmission managed to stay on the air thruout (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Happened to turn on C-SPAN at 1320 UT July 4, while breakfasting on our own grapes, and the subject was Voice of America, in a series on Foreign News Bureaux. Guest, Steve Redisch, Executive Editor of VOA, who as a federal employee, ex-CNN, has to admit that me makes $162K a year. But it`s a good backgrounder to what VOA does, taking call-in questions from mostly uninformed dentro-Americans; also brief clips of VOA TV shows. It`s a 45-minute segment, available here:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/SteveR
At closing gave schedule of others in the FNB series this week:
Mon Al Jazeera, Tue DW, Thu CCTV, Fri BBC America.
Who is the YL hosting this? Looks familiar as if previously on some commercial channel. Never saw her name on screen as CSPAN downplays personalities. Had to go back and play the start of another segment to see her name for a split second: Libby Casey. CSPAN is not the place to make a name for yourself (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 11715+, July 4 at 1307, KJES is back with Bible quotation in English by OM, then YL hymn; good but not great signal, and undermodulated. First time I`ve heard The Lord`s Ranch in over a month. It`s slightly hi, no more than 11715.1. Maybe assisted by sporadic E which is soon up to VHF from Mexico.
Last previous report of this I can find was by Harold Frodge, MI, 29 May at 1308 on 11715.2. Last time I heard KJES was May 30 at 1933 on 15385+, despite periodic chex for it since on all three frequencies, including 7555, and non-reporting of non-logs. So it took a holiday to get them back (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
