domenica 11 novembre 2012

Glenn Hauser logs November 11, 2012

** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Strange propagation Nov 11 at 0615: 9 MHz virtually dead, not even NAm signals like 9330 WBCQ. So are all higher bands dead too? No, but only from below the Equator, with RA on 11945, 13630, and the OSOB on 15240; NZ on 11725, 13730-DRM; Brasil on 11780 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. 11736, 11744, 11752, 11768, 11776, 11784, Nov 11 at 1308, JBA carriers, spurs at 8 kHz multiples from the 11760 CNR1 jammer unheard under Cuba (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake Nov 11 after 1400:
15400, poor at 1416 along with something else; unusual spot. Nothing in HFCC between 13 and 15 UT, nor Aoki which has HCJB Australia finished at 1130. Presumably jumparound by V. of Tibet or Sound of Hope drew it to 15400. No other FD found 12-18 MHz.

Before 1500:
12500, fair at 1451 with flutter; none from 13 to 19 MHz
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COLOMBIA. 5909.92, Nov 11 at 0618, Alcaraván Radio ID immediately upon tune in. It`s habitually off-frequency to the low side, and this is as close as the DX-398 clicker can approximate it. Victor Goonetilleke in Sri Lanka was getting a carrier close to 5909.93 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CROATIA [non]. 7375, Nov 11 at 0345, rock music, presumably Croatian but with very fast SAH, estimated circa 20 Hz. Since VOC moved site from Wertachtal to Nauen, GERMANY, the MBR operators there must not have mastered the technique of zero-beating the two ``synchronized`` transmitters which are running to N & S America between 00 and 04, so I fear the same was happening for that entire period. Meant to check at 0400 whether the SAH stopped, but missed it; however there was none at 0459 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 6120, Nov 11 at 0504, RHC in English on wrong frequency, which is supposed to quit at 0500 after Spanish. It`s an echo apart from adjacent 6125 which is supposed to be in English, the latter just barely modulated by Arnie Coro, quoting Amy Goodman about Global Warming. Both frequencies are poor, unlike 6165, and 6010 very good in English, 6060 fair.

6270, Nov 11 at 0507, RHC English is clearly audible here, i.e. a leapfrog mixing product of 6060 another 105 kHz higher beyond 6165. This is new, since 6165 is also new.

Nov 9 at 0415-0430, Ralph Perry in IL had an unID in Spanish about ``imperialismo`` on 6270, not compared to RHC but says someone else did and it was not //. Normally when two different services are leapfrogging from neighboring transmitters and antennas, the further one is heard on the spur, beyond the fulcrum of the nearer one, or maybe a mixture.

At 0606 recheck, 6270 is still audible; 6120 is off, and no 9550 either in English unlike last night, just 5040, 6125, 6060, 6010.

15340, Nov 11 at 1420, VG signal but dead air from RHC, vs normality on 15230, 13780, 17580, 17730. Still DA at 1454. Probably related to the Sunday-morning confusion when some transmitters would be needed for `Aló, Presidente` if El Hugazo ever came back.

Meanwhile the modulated frequencies had `En Contacto` ending at 1450, from unDST shift to 1435 start instead of 1335, and this week apparently monohostessed by María Elena Calderín, no Manolo de la Rosa heard or mentioned (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA [non]. 7405, Nov 11 at 0613, VG signal from R. Martí and no jamming audible, unlike heavy jamming on 6030, playing rock music in English, hyper DJ in Spanish mentions ``El Exitazo``, but apparently promo for another show (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EGYPT [and non]. 13580, Nov 11 at 1452, huge mess between VOA Kurdish via Wertachtal, and R. Cairo via Abu Zabaal, already on air prior to 1500 Albanian, with wavering tone and noise; plus CODAR swishes too. Apparently IBB Monitoring is ignoring this problem which was also that way the entire B-11 season if not previous ones too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GUIANA FRENCH. 5994, 6076, 5844 approx., Nov 11 at 0251, spurblobs from 5960 transmitter relaying NHK Japanese are still here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KOREA NORTH. 2850, Nov 11 at 1257, poor signal with music; conditions worse than yesterday, nothing making it on 90m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ROMANIA. 7340, Nov 11 at 0254, wonderful music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, ``Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis``, and very good signal too, but gone at 0258. It`s RRI Romanian service, 300 kW, 307 degrees from Tiganeshti to E USA at 01-03 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** RUSSIA. 5930 & 5940, Nov 11 at 1259, very poor signals with music, timesignals to 1300 and stop, 5940 carrier off first, i.e. R. Rossii, Pet/Kam and Magadan, and there must not have been any local timechange, else they would be on an hour later until 1400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SOMALILAND. 7120, Nov 11 at 0346, R. Hargeisa fair with talk in presumed Somali (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SPAIN [and non]. 15170 via Costa Rica // equally good 17595 direct, Nov 11 at 1313-1355, REE `Mundofonías` this week with announcements by an OM in French, and a YL in Spanish. Focus seems to be music by foreign ethnic groups in different regions of Spain, e.g. Belarussians in Galicia. Closing indicated the French guy was with RTBF in Belgium; a co-produxion? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K [non]. SOUTH AFRICA. 6140, Nov 11 at 0253, surprised to hear dramatization in English here, must be BBCWS which is not supposed to start Meyerton relay until 0300, whence it is well heard in NAm on 100 kW, 330 degree beam beyond W Africa. Must be another example of slipshod operation by SENTECH. Per HFCC this would be clashing with another BBC transmission on 6140, tho inaudible here, Pashto & Dari, 02-03, 250 kW, 35 degrees via Oman!

The show was something about Islam & Pakistan; at first I thought it was a documentary until 0258 credit roll including actors, so a docudrama? 0259 BBC ID; 0300 continues with `World Briefing` headlined by resignation of the BBC Director General. (The WS is no doubt determined to cover this rather internal story objectively, and may even being giving it too much play, just to show they can handle it. Is this really the #1 news story in the whole world?)

Meanwhile I checked for other BBC frequencies. Before 0300, 6190 was not // 6140, but then joined it for `World Briefing`. This one is also via Meyerton, 100 kW, 15 degrees, not supposed to start before 0300 either. 9410 had Bow Bells at 0259, poor with flutter, just starting a 2-hour broadcast via CYPRUS.

7435, Nov 11 at 0347, BBCWS has very good signal which could easily pass for intentionally to NAm, mid-program ID as `The Bottom Line`. This hour only is 250 kW, 114 degrees from ASCENSION, so opposite would be 294 degrees, which is right across the Lesser and Greater Antilles, between Cuba and Yucatán, entering North America close to Monterrey, close enough for a broad back-beam (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 5085, further monitoring of WTWW-2 back on the air Saturday night, UT Sunday Nov 11: after an hour of Ted Randall DJ and prompting reports and music requests, at 0302 has started `Faith Factor`, a Rod Hembree program, still at 0346. Not checked much later, but at 0610 I hear me, as WORLD OF RADIO 1642 is in progress having reached Saudi Arabia item, so he must have started it at an odd time before 0600. That was in the 23rd minute, so start would have been 0547. Unfortunately the modulation is rather rough, including IADs, and unstable carrier. By 0617 it`s already back to a hymn. Meanwhile, WOR had also aired at its reliable but timeshifted hour of 0500 UT Sunday on WTWW-1 5745: axually from 0500:46 after the ID and partial QSY announcements, and by now this higher frequency is fading down unlike 5085 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. WHRI not found on any frequency after 0500 UT Sunday Nov 11 (except the NHK Spanish relay on 6195), so neither is `DXing with Cumbre`. I suppose it is on at some earlier hour.

21600, Nov 11 at 1457 piano hymn, and WHRI QSY announcement from 21600 to 17570; pause and modulation cut off 21600 after two notes of `Onward Christian Soldiers`; carrier on a bit longer, then off, and at 1500+ still nothing on 17570 tho did not stay with it. Per HFCC the latter is supposedly on the air Sundays only, starting in Russian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9330, Nov 11 at 1303, 1423, still 1448, WBCQ in dead air instead of Good Friends Radio Network (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** VATICAN. 7250, Nov 11 at 0612, no signal from Vatican Radio, nor was there 24 hours earlier, so presumably the Swedish service heard 48 hours earlier was a mistake, supposed to be banned from SW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. Trans-Pacific carrier search Nov 11 at 1240-1245 finds: JBA on 747, 774, 972, 1035; and something suspicious on 1512 but doesn`t null properly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 5841.5, Nov 11 at 0251, big open carrier here, probably ute, interfering with the GUF 5844 spur (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)