mercoledì 20 febbraio 2013

Glenn Hauser logs February 18-19, 2013

** ANGUILLA [non]. 11775, Feb 19 at 1307, no Caribbean Beacon, just CCI in the China/India radio war over Tibet which DGS/PMS normally covers incompletely. Frequency changer from 6090 at night may be indisposed or overslept (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ANTARCTICA. 15476, Feb 19 at 1358, 1415 chex, no signal from LRA36. Juan Franco Crespo, Spanish philatelist, reminds us that (Friday) Feb 22 is ``Argentine Antarctica Day`` commemorating the first base established 109 years ago:
http://www.marambio.aq/diaantartida.html
Says nothing about radio, but that would be the day, if ever, when LRA36 might come on the air for the festivities. IIRC we have been disappointed in previous years, but keep checking, including possibly warming up on Feb 21 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. 11660, Feb 19 at 1348, strange Chinese song, 1350 mentions Roman letters A-B-C and continues talking, // 9475 so definitely R. Australia, both Shepparton. 11660 has some fast fading, at first thought flutter, but unlikely from RA and too regular, so then it`s a SAH. However, the Big 3 online skeds show nothing else at this hour. Could it be incipient ChiCom jamming, at least from a carrier? RA normally escapes this fate, making one wonder what concessions they may have made (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 6270, Feb 19 at 0609, RHC music doesn`t match English on 6165 and 6125 --- that`s because the source of this leapfrog, 6060, is still in Spanish service instead of English, leaping across 6165 another 105 kHz higher. Meanwhile, the other leapfrog on 6205 is in English, since it`s 6125 over 6165 another 40 kHz higher (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [and non]. 15190, Feb 19 at 1831, heavy CCI from gospel music and talk in unID language, presumably R. Africa, and R. Pilipinas, making SAH of about 6 Hz, altho not precise because of additional propagational fading (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** FRANCE. 12000.9, Feb 18 at 1940, RFI in French on strange frequency // 11995, with same conversation, RFI jingle, discussion of Côte d`Ivoire. I was monitoring on the porch with one receiver DX-398 only, but needed to check whether the two were synchronized, and both were so weak that could not hear both by adding the DX-375 from the car, so instead tuned 12000.9 on the inside FRG-7 and rebroadcast it on my 88.1 MHz FM feeder to the porch. Yes, they are synchronized. Reception is slightly stronger on 12000.9, both with good modulation. Still monitoring both at hourtop to hear what happen: 12000.9 cuts off just before the 2000 timesignal on 11995 which stayed on! So this is NOT a spur and anyway, there is nothing to match on the lower side of 11995.

HFCC as of Feb 18 has no RFI on 12000 or 12005, but does show this:
11995 1800 1900 37W,46W  ISS  500 204 0 216 1234567 281012 230213 D 17000 Fra F RFI TDF 7151 AF_F_18
11995 1900 2000 37,46    ISS  500 185 0 216 1234567 281012 230213 D 17000 Fra F RFI TDF 7152 AF_F_19
11995 2000 2100 37,46    ISS  500 185 0 216 1234567 281012 300313 D 17000 Fra F RFI TDF 7153 AF_F_20
which means that the 18-20 UT portion of the 11995 broadcast is due to end on Feb 23, when RFI makes its usual off-season changes, leaving only 20-21 UT.

This is not the first time RFI has been heard on another frequency above 11995; from DXLD 13-06 on Feb 6: ``UNIDENTIFIED. Hello everyone, just noticed French language broadcast with sports coverage on odd frequency of 12001 kHz at 1940 UT. Listening in trying to get ID; anyone know what it could be? Nothing in French at this time either on 12000 or 12005. The broadcast ended abruptly at 2000 UT with no ID so don`t know what it is. Sounded like a soccer match description (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, Feb 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

``At present football preparation match of both national teams France vv Germany held in Paris stadium, started around 1950 UT, til approx 2125  UT. In South Africa held Ghana vv Burkina Faso national soccer teams on Afrika Cup around 1800-1930 UT though, also on EUROSPORT TV
transmission. vy73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, ibid.) [On air live coverage transmission from Paris soccer stadium on RFI outlets AT PRESENT, 7205, 9790, and 11995 kHz. 73 wb (Büschel, 2038 UT, ibid.)
If I had a guess, It sounded like Radio France, but, there was no ID 
73 (Gilles, ibid.)``

So why in the world is RFI adding another broadcast, apparently also from Issoudun, 5.9 kHz above the scheduled one?

Recheck the next day Feb 19 at 1847: yes, two RFI signals again, poor, on 11995.0 and now 12001.0.

Related: Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria reports: `` FRANCE, Radio France Internationale in French was observed on Feb. 18: 1700-1758 on 17853.35 ISS 500 kW / 155 deg to CeAf, instead of 17850.0`` – and:

``FRANCE, Radio France Internationale in French was observed on Feb. 19: 1700-1758 on 17858.2 with good audio and up to 17860 with very bad audio. Many faulty transmitters from ISS, 500 kW / 155 deg to CeAf on nominal 17850``

I checked 17858, Feb 19 at 1813, but nothing audible here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GUIANA FRENCH. See KOREA SOUTH [non]

** INDIA [non]. I always try to listen to `Tangents`, the world music show from KALW San Francisco, ondemand for 4 hours rather than Saturday nights live. This week, one of the selexions had a familiar theme, which I would call ``Variations upon the All India Radio Interval Signal`` --- WRTH no longer describes these at all, let alone musical notation, and the 1991 edition merely mentioned some instruments, not the title. It was approx. 72 to 83 minutes into the 240-minute file via
http://kalw.drupal.publicbroadcasting.net/local-music-player

From playlist http://www.tangents.com/playlists/
for 2/16/13, last item before 8:25 pm PST:

Label Artist       Album        Selection
BHM   Trilok Gurtu Massical (I) Kuruksetra
As also per back-announcement by Dore Stein, unaware of AIR connexion.
Only the latest show is available ondemand, so hurry to hear this.

The original AIR IS can be heard here, the first two and the last two clips, the same since at least 1965:
http://www.intervalsignals.net/countries/india.htm

BTW, another show on KALW well worth listening to is `Music from Other Minds``, only one hour, of new music by sponsors of a festival which is now underway (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Interesting article on signature tune of AIR:

Up in the AIR --- All India Radio's caller tune has been heard by hundreds of millions of people since it was composed in 1936. Somewhat improbably, the tune, based on raga Shivaranjini, was composed by the Czech : Walter Kaufmann. He was the director of music at AIR and was one of the many Jewish refugees who found a haven in India from the Nazis. More at :
http://www.tajmahalfoxtrot.com/?p=2407
(Neeraj Sharma @nrjshm, VU2NTT via twitter via Alokesh Gupta, Feb 16, dx_india yg via DXLD) This includes 2-minute clip recorded off air

** ITALY [non]. 15160, Tuesday Feb 19 at 1826-1831, and at 1846, no signal today; yesterday, Monday Feb 18, Steve Handler, IL, inquired: ``Hi Glenn, I was listening on 15160 today from 1855 to 1900 to a broadcast in French. The sign off music was Verdi's Grand March from Aïda. The only station I can think of that uses the Grand March is IRRS but they use it for a sign on. This was for sure a sign off. Any idea who is using 15160 until 1900 sign off in French? If it helps, I have attached the last 50 seconds or so of the broadcast including the music as an MP3. Thanks, Steve``

Hi Steve, Sounds like the very same version of the march from Aïda that IRRS uses. I suspect it is a new or unannounced test transmission from IRRS. May well be related Jorge Freitas` recent log. IRRS has been known to relay obscure US programs/stations, mainly on their webcasts but sometimes on the air. Let`s try to get more of it earlier in the hour tomorrow (Glenn to Steve, via DXLD)

The other log I referred to was the previous Monday as in DXLD 13-07:

``UNIDENTIFIED. 15160, 11/Feb 1827, in English. OM talk, ID at 1830, but I did not understand because of the failure of propagation. Then pop music. At 1835 old American music. Weak signal in my Degen (QTH), only JBA carrier in SDR from Twente. At 1837 YL talk, then instrumental music. Nothing in Aoki, Eibi and HFCC. American pirate? At 1843 the signal is degenerating. Still in air at 1848. Went off the air at 1900. 25332. Glenn, A gravação da escuta em
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/75006/14248145/
73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil,
dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

``Jorge, I tried to hear it before 1900, but a JBA carrier at best.
Your recording does seem to include an ID just past the mid-point :
``thank you for joining us`` ... ``WUSP, 6 o`clock``, and some more
talk which might have some clues. Except I am not sure of the letters, could be something similar like WUFP or WUST or WUFT. What do others think?

Searching hfunderground, we find that pirate Undercover Radio was
reported on 15160 in October:
http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,8471.0.html
73, (Glenn, ibid.)

But the pirate connexion was likely a red herring.

Hi Alfredo, I have had a couple of reports of an unID on 15160 between 1830 and 1900  UT, once in English, today in French and it closed with your Aida march. Can you enlighten us? Are you testing for a new service? (Glenn to Alfredo Cotroneo, IRRS, via DXLD) His reply is just:

``We are testing`` -- (Alfredo E. Cotroneo, CEO, NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association, reply to gh via DXLD)

Of course the transmitter site he will never divulge, and the tests may be on Mondays only or sporadic (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9606, Feb 19 at 0102 check, usual +116 kHz spurblob from R. República 9490 transmitter in GUIANA FRENCH. NOTE:

On Feb 15 (only, apparently), KBS World Radio tested Spanish to S America on 9605 at 01-02, which produced excellent results judging by reports from many monitors on the condig and radioescutas lists, and better than the old frequency 11635 via GUF. Everyone assumed this too was via French Guiana, but I have my doubts. If they axually go with a permanent change to 9605, it will be fighting its own spur from the 9490 transmitter! Unless TDF get that fixed, which is in progress, awaiting a part. As Wolfgang Büschel points out, 9605 is already in use by WHRI during this hour but only on UT Mondays, 250 kW at 260 degrees, so I would not be at all surprised if the KBS test on 9605 was also really via WHRI.

11635, meanwhile had a fair signal here in KBS Spanish, Feb 19 at 0109, but some Chinese ACI from 11640. Still a lot better than any KBS English we can get since they refuse to use any relays to North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KURDISTAN [non]. 11510, Feb 19 at 1937, poor signal in presumed Kurdish. Ivo Ivanov reported Feb 18, that since Feb 14, Denge Kurdistan is here at 16-20 instead of 7390 from secret site, i.e. same frequency 11510 which is known to be via Pridnestrovye at 0400-1600 --- so need to monitor at 1600 whether there be any break in transmission or obvious change in reception quality.

11510, Feb 19 at 1558:30 tune in to presumed V. of Kurdistan, poor signal unlike a couple hours earlier, and with BFO I monitor whether there is any break in transmission, or change in signal quality: No, but there is a 63-second-late timesignal at 1601+!

Ivo Ivanov reported Feb 18:
``KURDISTAN(non)   Frequency change of Denge Kurdistan from Feb. 14:
1600-2000 on 11510 secret transmitter site WeAs Kurdish, ex  7390
0400-1600 on 11510 KCH 250 kW / 116 deg to WeAs Kurdish unchanged``

So unless they switched before I tuned in (should start checking as early as 1555), it seems that now they are the same site before and after 1600, i.e. Pridnestrovye (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KUWAIT. 13650, Feb 18 at 1935, Arabic music from R. Kuwait, but still zero signal on 15540 with English. Ivo Ivanov says 13650 is on the air now at 18-20 instead of 17-20, 500 kW, 350 degrees, General Service to North America. I wonder if they are still switching to 17550 at 20-24, even more inaudible in winter.

15540, Feb 19 at 1828, however, R. Kuwait English is audible poorly, announcer mentioning on 25 m band for Europe! So still imagining the frequency is 11990? I haven`t head a full mis-ID in months, normally before 2100* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 570, Feb 19 at 0700 UT, ``570 AM, La Grande de Tabasco``, i.e. XEVX, Comalcalco, 10/1 kW, 24 hours per IRCA Log. Nice to hear something this deep into Mexico. By 0703, KLIF has resurged (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGET)

** MEXICO. 650, Feb 19 at 0656 UT, polka making fast SAH with WSM which is just about nullable, 0657 segué to choral Mexican NA. It`s probably my regular XETNT, but haven`t relogged it for some time, so I keep checking. Long version NA still going past 0701; finally 0702 full ID for XETNT Radio 65, 106.5, Los Mochis, Grupo Chávez, and the mysterious nickname ``Radio K`` --- or is it? Now it sounds more like ``Radio Caos``???

Searching on that plus Mochis leads to an interesting website with lots of clips of stations around there even tho it`s headlined in Arabic, with a domain in Israel! It seems there is a Radio Caos somewhere on 107.3.

Here`s a R. 65 ID, but not the one I heard, nothing about K/Caos:
http://www.wen.co.il/play.php?id=kW3hbEhuxbg
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 1010, Feb 19 at 0715 UT another try at my recent unID here, romantic music in Spanish, upbeat and female singers (only?), NE-SW, 0720 catch slogan ``Exa FM`` plus 100.algo FM, y ``10-10 AM``. That makes it XELO in Chihuahua city per IRCA Log, 500 watts night with a BAL/SPO format and FM on 100.9 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NEW ZEALAND. Correcting: Mailbox ended at 1351, as I heard it, not 1551 as originally typoed:

5950, Monday Feb 18 at 1342, it`s an on-week for `Mailbox` as I catch the end of David Ricquish`s feature on radio in American Samoa, about KSBS. Only two letters mentioned, to maintain the name of the show, both glowing DRM reports from Pennsylvania and Oregon. Adrian Sainsbury also referred to having tested 15720 [AM] at 11-13 and decided to keep it instead of 17675; no mention of 11725 where we also heard it testing before 1300. Program over at 1351. Need to go listen to it all via
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/audio.php
First attempt to play it had every word repeated, no good (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. 960, Feb 19 at 0600-0605 UT, second night in a row local KGWA Enid fills the Fox-hole with Fox news; yet so far despite such sporadic reactivations, the hole eventually comes back for a DX window from Canada to Mexico (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. 1210, Feb 19 at 0632 UT and later, surprise, no bigsig from ``US Country`` KGYN Guymon, tho it may be in the mix with WPHT, so must be running night pattern for a change if on the air at all (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 1650, Feb 19 at 0654 UT, altho it`s STA expiration date for KYHN ``Fort Smith AR``, still on with boring program promo loop, yet again the Dennis Miller one with his snack-provider guest making Cheetos knock-offs, donating no less than 11% of profits to veterans. (Can I have some?)

However, next check at 1329 UT, shortly after sunrise here, I am hearing nothing but Radio Iowa, ad for an official fungicide, winter storm about to hit, so conclude KYHN is finally off again.

However2, Fritze Prentice on the other side of Arkansas in Star City was listening a few minutes later: ``Hearing after local sunrise February 19, 2013 at 7:38 am CST (1338 UT) the daytime signal (via skywave) of KYHN 1650 Fort Smith AR, and this loop of upcoming programming is soooo getting old. I'm suspecting that this zombie of a radio station is going silent again soon, but I've been wrong before`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PERU. 5980.0, Feb 19 at 0103, R. Chaski in talk, seems Spanish, after frequency cleared by CNR1 jammer but now marred by T-storm noise. Timed carrier cut at 0106:28.5 so the precession is not quite 5 seconds later each night, or subject to slight variations (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SARAWAK [non]. 11600, Feb 19 at 1253, poor signal in talk, presumed Iban from R. Free Sarawak. Some report this as from SRI LANKA site, which is based only on an assumption by Ivo Ivanov, which may well be correct, but not confirmed, so don`t list it as certain. Another fine application of my [non] nomenclature (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TIBET [non]. 7414-, Feb 19 at 1255, the roaring blob with no programming intelligible yet, from V. of Tibet, Chinese service, via Tajikistan, or where? Other reports say it starts as early as 1230, until 1330*; Wolfgang Büschel put it on 7413.9, and I agree it is slightly on the low side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 5050-USB, Feb 19 at 0103 check, third night in a row WWRB is in pure USB here instead of AM. Is there anything about this on their website? Of course not: homepage
http://www.wwrb.org has no new news since a year ago, altho it autodisplays the current date. The ``Global One`` undated schedule grid for 5050 http://www.wwrb.org/schedule/global_1/combined.pdf
in ET does not mention it, and really also applies to 3215/3195 still in AM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1050, Feb 19 at 1317 UT, XEG still in, but nicely nullable to produce promos for Ever-Increasing-Faith, and various programs later in the day including Joyce Meyer (sp?) at 7:45 on ``Radio 10-50, KJBN``, i.e. Little Rock AR, 1 kW nondirexional now past sunrise (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1090, Feb 19 at 0627 UT, know-it-all Roy Masters, fair and steady signal no doubt from KAAY Little Rock. I assume the ``Full Station Program Schedule`` link to
http://www.1090kaay.com/common/more.php?m=10&mode=schedule&r=2
remains a ``work in progress`` as it still claims time available 24/7.

Regarding speculation about whether the STA for only 5 kW is still on their tight direxional antenna pattern, Ben Dawson points out:

``Glenn, See last line (Exhibit 16) in this STA application by KAAY:
https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101541001&formid=911&fac_num=33253
It was granted Friday according to CDBS. So 5 kW non-DA it is, unless somebody complains of interference`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1220, Feb 19 at 0633 UT, gospel harmony from E/W, so WHKW Cleveland OH? No! 0645 ad for Family Pharmacy in southwest Missouri, a carpet service/store at 334-6049, 0648 local weather from ``1220 KOMC radar``, so it`s Branson MO, not bad if legal night power of 44 watts instead of 1 kW daytime, both ND. Meanwhile, I was getting another station on 1220 at a right angle (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1220, Feb 19 at 0637 UT in null of KOMC Branson MO, a station with soul music, ``You don`t have to be a star to be on my show``, 0640 ``America`s Best Music``, singing ID for KLVL (? Sounded like), then doo-wop rhyming ``Don`t you cry``, ``lullaby``, ``hush-a-bye``. Also with usual LAH (low audible heterodyne) from off-frequency station. Must be KMVL, the Nostalgia outlet in Madisonville TX which has previously been identified as the cause of the het.

Hmmm, this is interesting, per NRC AM Log 2012-2013: besides its alleged night power of only 11 watts, instead of day power 500 watts, also: ``Synch KM2XVL Huntsville U1 170/11 watts``! So they have an experimental co-channel booster, but unlike KKOB & KKOB this one has its own clearly related callsign! Which one am I hearing, or both? And is only one of them off-frequency, or do they synchronize them so they don`t het each other in the local areas, even if both are off? Questions, questions (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1370, Feb 19 at 1324 UT, ``News-talk Radio 96.3 and 13-70`` and Texas mentioned. That makes it KJCE Rollingwood (Austin market), per NRC AM Log, a.k.a. ``The Right Choice``, and the 96.3 is only a translator, K242CE. 5 kW AM day pattern is broadly tangent northward (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** VIETNAM [non]. 11605, Feb 18 at 2357, RFA in Vietnamese as scheduled 2330-2430, 250 kW at 250 degrees from Tanshui, TAIWAN, per Aoki but such listings are banned from HFCC by the ChiCom. Het audible, but not siren jamming, which Jorge Freitas in Brasil was hearing a few days ago, altho RFA modulation then did not start until 0000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 1100, Feb 19 at 0628 UT, WTAM `C2C` has some musical CCI with a SAH which is hard to null, making me suspect it be from near-opposite direxion. The AZ station talk format looks unlikely, and the NM station is silent, so that leaves maybe XENAS Navojoa, Sonora, which is CHR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 1340, Feb 19 at 0650 UT, just above the graveyard QRM level I can hear ``AM 1340 and 97.9 FM`` and lost in the mush before any hint of format. DX-398 was aimed NE/SW, but cannot be at all sure of the direxion. Manually searched the 181 entries on 1340 in the paper-only NRC AM Log (including Canadians, LPRTs, why not?), and found no mention of an FM // on 97.9. Or course that info cannot possibly be complete as AM stations embarrassed by their own band are adding FM relays all the time, only translators if necessary, yet branding them as the primary for ignorant local listeners, instead of making their AM sound as good as FM by good engineering, even stereo. At least this one still put AM first. Probably no further than an adjacent state, but no fit for new KGGS Garden City KS, or KGHM OKC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 2250 kHz, Feb 19 at 0615 UT, JBA carrier and trace of modulation from presumed third harmonic of some station on 750; weaker than 2660 presumed KGLD. These two the only `active` MW harmonic frequencies on the 2 MHz band. I know there must be other DXers with better antenna gain, S/N ratio or geographical advantage who could pull enough audio to ID this and other harmonic mysteries. Where are they? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)