giovedì 7 dicembre 2017

Glenn Hauser logs December 6-7, 2017


** ANGUILLA. 11775, Dec 6 at 2035 check, no signal from PMS or DGS on TUN via CB. But at 2041 recheck, PMS is on at S9+10/20. I force myself to keep listening to this know-it-all, and sure `nuff, cuts off abruptly again at 2045:50*; 2102 recheck, back on again. And so it goes. Seems they have a lot more trouble keeping this frequency going than 6090 at night, which continues to be on whenever checked. So are these now really from the un-destroyed Anguilla station? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BIAFRA [non]. 11530, Dec 6 at 1942 check, no signal from WRMI with R. Biafra. 11530, Dec 7 at 0553 check, Qur`anish music in World Music fill, but VP S2-S3. I need to check earlier in each hour in case RB is still on in the first half (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. 333 kHz, Dec 7 at 0708 UT, beacon QE and dash, but not listed. Must really be QT, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, dah instead of a dit.

341 kHz, Dec 7 at 0710 UT, beacon YYU, no dash, mixing at different pitch, so not exactly same frequency as my local on 341, EI Enid. YYU is in Kapuskasing, Ont., also per http://www.dxinfocentre.com/ndb.htm

That`s neat; I was not expecting anything so exotic on a rare foray into the LW NDB area. Kapuskasing was also the location of a hot analog TVDX target years ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA [and non]. 6180, Dec 7 at 1525, Firedragon jamming mixing with Chinese, averaging S9 combined, i.e. RTI in Chinese as scheduled from TAIWAN at 10-16 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COLOMBIA. 5910.416, Dec 7 at 0739, finally a signal again from Alcaraván Radio, unheard for some weeks at early or late evening chex. weak S7-S8 song and audibly varying slightly as I listen; and even further off-frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 15370, Dec 6 at 2048, RHC French is JBM, while English on 15140 is VG S9+30/20 and somewhat overmodulated. Retuning to 15370 shortly, the modulation has been turned up. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA [and non]. 11930 // 9565, Wed Dec 6 at 2106, `Contacto Cuba` is the Radio Martí program now vs jamming in the unceasing effort to prevent contact. Still have not found a third daytime frequency on anyband, besides new 7355 starting at 2300 and again until 1400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GERMANY [non]. 9719.991, Dec 7 at 1420 big hum with some modulation. Again it`s DW in Pashto via UAE until 1430, off at 1442 recheck leaving a JBA carrier from algo, listed IBB in Khmer via Tinian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** JAPAN [non]. 9855, Dec 6 at 2048, good S9+20 in French; not VOA. Soon mentions ``samurai`` and voice-overs some Japanese, clues: yes, NHK at 2030-2100, 250 kW, 310 degrees via MADAGASCAR, making it an outstanding signal on this band. Would that NHK could be heard as well intentionally in English to North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KIRIBATI. 846 kHz, Dec 7 at 0543, JBA carrier definitely here and very close to 846.00. Huge splash from both sides, WHAS and KOA. Also IBOC noise circa 843 from WCCO makes it better to listen on USB despite that being 1 kHz closer to KOA than WHAS. 

Some fade-outs like 0603, and back up, again at 0701 check, but I don`t expect it to rise enough for any modulation here. I`m getting it both on the R75 with E-W longwire, and the NRD-545 with ALA-330S loop E-W, not on the DX-398 internal. 

This has got to be the reactivated R. Kiribati. Several years ago it closed this frequency and moved to 1440 from Bairiki. New 846 was first reported as an unID by Nick Hall-Patch, Victoria BC, Nov 30 at 0500-0535, and then heard by others on the west coast, including Walt Salmaniw also in Victoria as early as 0330. 

Ace DXer Bryan Clark in New Zealand did some research and found out that this frequency now is coming from a different part of Kiribati, in fact, Christmas Island = Kiritimati! This news Dec 6 in the DXLD yg quickly spread to North American MW DX groups: 

``Appropriately as we approach the Christmas season, we learn that the reactivated transmissions of Radio Kiribati on 846 AM are in fact coming from a new location - London Village on Christmas Island, providing coverage of the Line and Phoenix Group, including Kanton Island. Long time DXers will recall the last radio station on Canton Island - WXLE on 1385 AM. See attached from the Radio Kiribati Facebook page. Thanks to Theo Donnelly for encouraging me to do some sleuthing on this one! --- Bryan Clark`` See 
https://www.facebook.com/RadioKiribati/posts/1734641830176128

``Broadcasting and Publications Authority added 2 new photos.
November 23 at 8:42pm ·

BPA COMMISSIONS NEW AM TRANSMITTER FOR LINE AND PHOENIX GROUP

TARAWA, November 24, 2017 (RADIO KIRIBATI) --- I-Kiribati living in the remote Line and Phoenix Islands can now for the first time listen clearly to Radio Kiribati broadcast from the Broadcasting and Publications Authority’s (BPA) main studio in London, Christmas Island following the installation of a new AM transmitter.

The newly installed transmitter was commissioned on Saturday, 25 November 2017 in London village.

BPA Board Vice Chairman Betarim Rimon said the launching was covered live on Radio Kiribati and was heard in the Kiribati islands (Gilbert Group) through AM1440 khz and in the Line and Phoenix Islands through the newly installed AM846 khz in London.

Mr Rimon said the people of Kanton (Canton), the only inhabited island in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) can now tune and listen clearly to the broadcast from Christmas Island, a barrier in radio communications which has plagued and isolated the island from the rest of the islands in the country for many years.

"The people of Kanton can now tune to this service as it will sufficiently cover the rest of PIPA. You are now no longer far but drawn closer to the rest of the nation and the world in terms of news updates and radio service," said Mr Rimon….RK News
……………………….
Kamaiuaki ana ‘AM transmitter’ te BPA ae e boou ibukin te Aono n Raina ma Rawaki

TARAWA, November 24, 2017 (RADIO KIRIBATI) ---- A kona ngkai te nati ni Kiribati ake a tionako ni maeka n aban te Aono n Raina ma Rawaki n ongora n te moan tai ni Bwanan Kiribati ae e itiaki man ana tabo ni kanakobwana te Botaki ni Kanakobwana ma Karekerongorongo (BPA) are i Ronton, Kiritimati imwin kanimwakin ana transmitter te BPA ae e boou ikekei.

E katekeraoaki kamaiuan te transmitter ae e boou aio n te Kaonobong 25 n November 2017 n ana tabo te BPA i Ronton Kiritimati.

E taku te Kauoman ni Tia Babaire n ana Baba n Tararua te BPA ae Betarim Rimon bwa e katanoataaki ao ni katabwenaki moan kamaiuan ke kabonganakin te transmitter ae e boou aio n te kanakobwana ae e maiu iaon Bwanan Kiribati are e ongoraeakinaki n aban te Aono ni Kiribati (Gilbert Group) rinanon te band ae te AM1440 kilohertz ao n te Aono n Raina ma Rawaki rinanon ana band te transmitter are e a tibwa kanimwaki ae te AM846 kilohertz.

E taku Betarim bwa ai akea ngkai aia kanganga kain Kanton, are bon ti ngaia aban te Aono n Rawaki ake a kainaki (PIPA) ae e kaainaki ni karekean Bwanan Kiribati ao n itiaki naba ongoraaia man te kanakobwana mai Kiritimati, te kanganga n te itoman n te rerio are e a tia ni kationakoa Kanton ma aban Kiribati ake nikabane inanon ririki aika a mwaiti.

"A kona ngkai kain Kanton ni karekea ao ni kabongana ana tieweti Bwanan Kiribati aio n akea aia kanganga ngkai e a kona n roko korakorana ao n ongoraeaki n aban te Aono n Raina (PIPA) ni kabane. Kam aikoa tionako ngkai ma kamwa kaaniaki riki ma aban Kiribati ni kabane ao te aonnaba ni kaineti ma rongorongon baika a riki ao te tieweti n te rerio," e taku Betarim….RK News``

Longitude is 157-29 WEST, i.e. in the western hemisphere, yet the dateline was moved east of there, and the timezone advanced to UT +14 which would be the same at UT -10 on the day before as in Hawaii, Tahiti.

Just as Kiribati is pronounced kiri-bas, the TI`s in Kiritimati are equivalent to S, so it comes out sounding a lot more like Ch-ristmas. Current sunset there is 0421 UT, and varies little at less than 2 degrees north of the Equator. It`s not clear when 846 sign off, but 1440 was listed as 0500-1000 for their evening broadcast.

So far on the IRCA and NRC lists I don`t see any reports of direct reception of 846 beyond the west coast, except for Alberta.

Before 0600 I also check 558 for Fiji, 1098 for Marshalls, but probably too early for them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6085, Dec 7 at 1355, JSR JAPAN, the Sea Breeze earnest YL in English on Thursday only, S9-S6, about some Japanese government activity, music background; 1356 typical sounders; briefly overridden by huge uteblapps at S9+20 but no jamming; 1358 contact info, spelling out website, off at 1400* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NEW ZEALAND. 7430, Dec 7 at 1357, RNZI on its second day here, S9+20 music, doing very well adjacent to 7435 Martí and Cuban jamming; 1400 Martí is off, and RNZ News, including a train strike expected to cause large disruptions in Auckland. Issue is safety, as reduxions to one driver per train are going into effect (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** RUSSIA. 9996, Dec 7 at 1409, RWM CW IDs repeated, very poor, 1410 resuming pips, from Taldom (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SAUDI ARABIA. 9695, Dec 7 at 1422, horrible humbuzz, with multiple carrier peaks, no program modulation audible, BSKSA Riyadh scheduled in Pashto: makes 9720 DW/UAE sound almost great (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1907 monitoring: more errors preventing this new episode from being heard ASAP on SW. Wed Dec 6 at 2200 on good WBCQ 7490, they are replaying last week`s 1906! This time it`s not my fault, as 1907 was first available 21.5 hours earlier. I reminded them to get it in time for all the subsequent airings such as UT Thu Dec 7 at 0030 on 9330-CUSB --- but there was *no* signal audible here. Next:
Thu 2230.5 WRMI 5850 to NW
Fri 0030   WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Sat 0030   WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Sat 0729   HLR  6190-CUSB to WSW
Sat 1531   HLR  7265-CUSB to WSW
Sat 2030v  WA0RCR 1860-AM ND
Sat 2230   WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Sat 2300   WRMI 11580 to NE
Sun 0200   WRMI 11580 to NE
Sun 0410v  WA0RCR 1860-AM ND
Sun 1130   HLR  9485-CUSB to WSW
Mon 0030   WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Mon 0400v  WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW
Mon 0430   WRMI 9955 to SSE
Tue 0030   WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Tue 0030   WRMI 7730 to WNW
Tue 2030   WRMI 11580 to NE, 9455 to WNW, 7780 to NE [or #1908?]

Full WOR schedule via all media, and podcast access:
http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 7780 // 9455 // 11580, Wed Dec 6 at 2050, WRMI with sermon before an audience, sounds like Bob Biermann pushing it a bit more than usual, i.e. `Your Weekend [sic] Show`, which is still not shown on WRMI skedgrid for 7780. YWS is listed for 11580-only, Wed at 20-21, but for longtime has also been // 9455 during this hour only. 7780 joins them at 2030 on some days, opting away from Brother Scare, when there is a half-hour program, but apparently at 2000 when there is a one-hour program like Wed (and also Thu for VORW).

Here`s what`s really happening during the following hour, contrary to schedule: 9455 only is carrying the ``15770`` program, `FG Radio` with their ``Travel Gazette`` repeated over and over from last April. (I have finally written directly to the program about this.) Contact info is on page 464 of WRTH 2017, where FG Radio somehow qualified as the #1 international broadcaster from Cyprus. I can`t wait to see what 2018 has about it.

9395 // 7780 at 2108 check are in `The Power Hour``. 11580 at 2103 is as usual in German from RAE Argentina (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 17775, Wed Dec 6 at 2035, KVOH is *on*, VG S9+20/30 with musicalabanza in Spanish; no spurs audible, still past 2103. Checking because we got this notice Tue Dec 5 at 1919 UT from Ray Robinson at KVOH:

``KVOH (17775 kHz) Off Air --- We have a high wind event here in Southern California today, with several large brush fires. At the KVOH transmitter site on Chatsworth Peak, sustained winds are now at 60 miles per hour with gusts to over 90. The microwave link between our studios and the transmitter site is unstable because the winds are blowing the microwave dishes off beam, and the power is very unstable too (there are currently about half a million people in Ventura County without power at all). Looking at the weather forecast, we may be off tomorrow also, but hopefully back by Thursday --- Ray Robinson, Strategic Communications Group / Voice of Hope, Americas / Africa / Middle East, http://www.voiceofhope.com`` [via WORLD OF RADIO 1907]

So they were able to get back by Wednesday afternoon. Apparently KVOH facilities not threatened by the wildfires themselves. 17775 also audible as JBA carrier Thu Dec 7 at 1504, 1524 chex.

Meanwhile, I have also heard from a ham in TX who has been experiencing white noise from KVOH extending even above 18068 kHz into the hamband, and had been discussing it with KVOH. He got this reply from John Tayloe in October:

``Glenn Houser mentioned this a few days ago. We made some changes to our audio chain as we suspect this is where the problem was. We are really interested in solving this. It’s not showing up on our test equipment and we are [asking] a few of our friends who listen outside of California to monitor and give feedback. John Tayloe, (805) 338-0075``

K5WLT wrote later: ``Things were great (no hash in 17 m amateur band) for about a month. Then around Nov 20 somewhere it came back, and I sent the following:

On 11-20-17 at 1500 UT I found that your problem with spurs had returned. White noise hash up into the 18 MHz amateur band, and your modulation on 17775 was badly distorted and splattering. Again upon sign-off on that frequency all spurious emissions ceased. This problem surely should be evident on a spectrum analyzer at your transmitter site. Hopefully you will find the cause and a final fix be in place soon. Ronnie V. Miller - K5WLT`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9370, Dec 6 at 2046 check, WWRBS remains nominal, S9 to S9+10 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ZANZIBAR. 11735, Dec 6 at 2055, ZBC music for a while, fair until cutoff at 2102* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

This report dispatched at 1822 UT December 7