mercoledì 29 aprile 2015

Glenn Hauser logs April 28-29, 2015


** ALBANIA [and non]. 9850-, April 29 at 0122, R. Tirana IS with good signal, still here, and during pause I can again hear that low audible heterodyne from an on-frequency 9850.0 station, presumably Qinghai, China. Apparently, R. Tirana is still considering whether to shift to 9855 as I suggested (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL. 11745 & 11815, April 29 at 0116, crackling spurs from 11780.1v RNA/RNB, but no second-order one to bother RAE on 11711-. However, the upper one is now QRMing another Brazilian, R. Brasil Central! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL. 11815+, very slightly on hi side, maybe 20 Hz, April 29 at 0117, music with heavy QRM from persistent crackling spur out of overdriven/defective 250 kW, RNA/RNB transmitter on 11780.1v, with a matching one around 11745. This must be Rádio Brasil Central, reactivated. I knew this was going to happen if they ever came back, but will they realize what`s going on and demand that RNA get fixed? Don`t count on it. 0123 it`s rock music and crackle gets worse, segué to song in Brazuguese; 0130 TC for ``dez horas, trinta minutos`` and right back to more music. Meanwhile at 0119 I had checked RBC`s other inactive frequency, 4985 and found a very poor carrier there too and slightly on its hi side (but certainly not as high as 4985.5 which is R. Voz Cristiana, Perú, BTW missing from Aoki unlike lots of dead stations).

Then I get a report from Wolfgang Büschel, that RBC was first back on 11815 last night as reported by Hans Pammer in Austria at 0350 April 28. wb was also hearing it via European SDRs at the same time as I tonight, 0105-0120, and measured it on 11815.023, 4985.010 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 17730, April 27 at 2232, 17730 is off. Supposed to be the frequency for Europe until 2300 including `Revista Nuestra América` the last two hours in Spanish. Certainly not due to propagation, as the spy numbers digital beeps and spoken numerals are inbooming on 17480. Other RHC frequencies are confirmed still on, including 15370, 15230, 13740.

This link
now leads to a pdf of the new A-15 schedule, much better organized and easier to refer to than previous seasons. If only it were followed.

Another very ragged start to the evening English to North America: at 0100 UT April 29, 6000 is on nominally, but the other frequency, 6165 keeps cutting off: 0100 OC then off; 0101 OC adds mod, then dead air, off; back on, carrier only. 0102 adds mod, dumps off again; 0103 ``now the news in detail`` and off again, back on with dead air; 0105 a few seconds of news, dead air, cut off and on, modulation, stays on, maybe now for good. It seemed that starting the modulation each time would cause the transmitter to dump off the air (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EGYPT. 11935+, April 29 at 0113, open carrier, slightly on the hi side but no het from no Brasil, i.e. R. Cairo. Some residual jamming bleed from 11930. Did not get around to checking the other Cairo frequencies this session (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GREECE. 15650, April 28 at 2236 tune-in, immediately ID for ``Radiophonikós Stathmós Makedonías``, not Athinai. This service seems to be occupying more and more of the sporadic SW airtime. Fair-good here, and almost as good as // 9420. Still no third transmitter to be heard on 9935 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** LITHUANIA. 9400, April 29 at 0112, ME music and talk, poor signal with ACI from TruNews/WRMI 9395. This is one of the few SW broadcasts left via Sitkunai, RFA Uyghur during this hour only, which is no doubt jammed but none heard here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. 1020, KOKP Perry, still off the air at 2238 UT check April 28 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. 1120, April 27 at 2246 UT, KETU Catoosa/Sperry/Tulsa is on! Not only with carrier, but romantic music programming, for first time in at least 3 months. I check it almost every day, and yesterday afternoon there was still no signal. Now it`s definitely this with Mexican music from direxion of Sperry, too early for KMOX. 

Last known name as KEOR was Radio Victoria, so I`m listening for such an ID and praiseworthy programming; 2251 UT brief announcement but no copy before back to music. I`m on the porch but still battling computer hash QRM from inside, so I move out to the end of the driveway where it`s less. I also switch from the PL-880 to the DX-398 which is definitely more sensitive if not more selective. 2257 UT I hear new slogan ``La Nueva Picuda``, next song includes lyrix ``sólo por ella``. 2301 UT ID: ``Está en sintonía con La Picuda; transmitimos desde Los Ángeles al mundo`` and back to music. NO LEGAL ID, no call letters or local location, nor any pause in the network feed for it! 

So I then search on that strange name, picuda, a feminine mexicanismo which means clever, crafty or sly. And first find this:

7/24 formato regional mexicano
Explains how to get it using Comrex or Barix automation systems. That linx to main site, mascot an anthropomorphic sombreroed chili pepper:
but really not much there except a webcasting link untried.

General searching on the name keeps hitting 107.1 in Dallas, KDXX as another Picuda affiliate. This aggregator site, http://www.worldtvradio.com puts KDXX and lots of other K-calls in North Carolina! What`s with that?? What nonsense. Furthermore, KDXX is really in Denton TX, north of Fort Worth, and really on 99.1, with the slogan Latino Mix, per WTFDA FM Database. However, it`s sibling station to 107.1 KESS Benbrook TX, suburb southwest of FW, not Dallas. 

FCC AM Query shows KETU is still licensed to La Zeta 95.7 (i.e. KSEC Bentonville AR). Legal SR/SS hours for Catoosa are: April, 1145-0100 UT; May, 1115-0130 UT. I tune in again at 0058 UT April 29 but it`s already off and KMOX is now in with silly baseball game, guess what team. Remains to be heard whether KETU will now stay on the air at least in daytime, or perhaps this was just a one-shot like otherwise silent stations often perform to avoid losing their license. (Our streetlite now fires up at *0130 UT, clear sky at sunset, which was 0117*.) (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PERU. 5980, April 29 at 0107, JBA carrier from R. Chaski, until cutoff at 0109:49* --- 18.5 seconds later than three nights ago, averaging six and a sixth later per (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 5110, April 29 at 0106, no signal, so the 40 hours per week of BS recently added to this WBCQ have been curtailed. Or transmitter broke down again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SRI LANKA. 11905, April 29 at about *0114:13, carrier on from SLBC, poor with flutter. Music lead-in from 0114:46, and 2+1 mistimesignal ends at 0115:14 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 11920, April 29 at 0112, typical WRMI fado music fill is playing, so once again, no Fámily Radio in Spanish as supposedly scheduled during this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 5085, April 29 at 0102, WTWW-2 is on with country music, then Ted-in-a-barrel ID, 0103 brings up `Radio Roundtable` from W5KUB.com an online program with video and chat, now adding SW and he thinks, but is not sure, the frequency is 5085. Also is down in a barrel as Ted runs everything thru reverb chamber. Host says he wants to includes segments about SWL and invites listener requests. This is a weekly show UT Wednesdays only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 9665.0, April 29 at 0109, something new, big steady open carrier with het and Portuguese from off-frequency Brazilian, Voz Missionária which is normally unimpeded. I keep on it, and no change past 0130+. Nothing else scheduled anywhere near this time, except KCBS N Korea, but at this hour certainly not that. Could easily be circum-European with many good signals from there on band. And 9665 was of course, an old longtime R. Moscow/RMWS/VOR/Sputnik frequency. They continue to register a lot of wooden/imaginary MSK VOR frequencies in HFCC A-15, but not this one (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 10000, April 29 at 0120, not much signal from WWV or WWVH, but I hear a different pip slightly ahead of WWV`s minute marker. Thought maybe PPE Brasil, but it should have pips every dekasecond and there are none; however, some additional pips appear leading up to the next minute. BPM China is sometimes off-time but would not expect much from it at this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

This report dispatched at 0349 UT April 29