** AUSTRALIA. 15560, RA in English Jan 11 at 2318 in news interview. This is new for B-08, 70 degrees from Shepparton to Pacific; that means it is also aimed toward NAm, same as 9580 at 08-14, which has barely been making it lately (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA [and non]. After checking out Cuban jamming against VOA 9885, I noticed RCI fairly good on 9880, UT Mon Jan 12 at 0024 with music, then Maple Leaf Mailbag and RCI ID. This should have been // but 5 minutes ahead of 9755, which is Sackville to NAm with same program, but instead 9755 checked at 0028 was in Brazilian Portuguese! And had a warble on the carrier, not sure if Sackville-caused or from interference. Anyhow, 9880 was better here in CNAm even tho it`s via Kunming, China, beamed 175 degrees, nowhere near our direxion and from much further away!
Others have reported for months that 9755 is in Portuguese (UT Sun and Mon) one hour earlier than the schedule shown at http://www.rciviva.ca/rci/PDF/2008Fall/RCI-TECH-B08-ENG.pdf
and this still hasn`t been corrected. By 0105, when 9755 may have really been in English, signal had just about vanished. Because azimuth changed? No, same 268 degrees is supposedly in use for both English and Portuguese, not for Brasil, but for all the Portuguese-speaking immigrants in northern USA and western Canada, one of a few extreme-minority language groups who are so fortunate to have SW broadcasts especially for them; but how many of them are axually aware of and listen to Radio Canada Internal, if they can even get it? Something is terribly wrong with RCI frequency management when a broadcast to SE Asia via China is better heard here than one direct from Sackville; but those who really want to hear it should try 9880 at 0000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. CHU, 7850, 2348 UT Jan 11, noticed that has finally eliminated the futurely QSY announcements which were running at :15 past every minute for many days following the Dec 31 transition. While I was there, with BFO on, compared frequency to 6850 Radio Cairo and found they matched nicely. I wonder if CHU makes any claims for tight frequency accuracy on this or the others, like WWV does on its (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also EGYPT
** CHINA. Firedrake is usually on 8400 or 9000 but not both. However, Jan 12 at 1457 it was on both, perhaps to cover two bases even if Sound of Hope was on only one of them at a time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. Re previous report Jan 11 of echo on 11760 during 1500 Sunday Esperanto broadcast, and before that, echo on 9550 during the 2300 English: it happened again, Jan 11 at 2324 check, more obvious echo during brief fades of stronger signal. This time I looked for a SAH as further proof that two transmitters are in use. There were fades amounting to about 36 times per minute, i.e. 0.6 Hz, but it was hard to be sure they were not just propagational fading.
RHC with weekly Esperanto broadcast, Sunday Jan 11 at 2339 with ID in passing on 6180. This is now on the schedule at http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/frecuencia/frecuencias-espanol.htm
as 2330 for CAm, // 9600 for SAm, but in fact 9600 was not //, and was in Spanish when checked a few minutes later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. Renconfirming whether the DentroCubans are still jamming not only R. Martí but also Voice of America in Spanish: UT Mon Jan 12 at 0008 found VOA with innocuous pop music program ``De Capital a Capital`` on 5890, 5940 and 9885, all from Greenville. 5940 was slightly stronger than 5890 while 9885 was much weaker, fighting the dropping MUF. Jamming could be heard underneath 5890 and 5940, was at roughly equal level to VOA on 9885; and at 0022 recheck, jamming was way on top of VOA 9885. Have also noticed jamming against nothing on 9885 at many other times of day.
According to http://www.voanews.com/spanish/programas_de_radio.cfm Ventana al Caribe is at 0000 UT Tue, Thu, Fri and Sat, but that is not necessarily up-to-date, and does not make clear what is on SW and what is only on satellite. VaC is the program which might include info about Cuba since the cancellation of the previous Ventana a Cuba show, which got the DentroCubans started jamming VOA; but changing the name has not mollified them.
BTW, don`t you believe PWBR `2009` which misses 5890 and 5940, and shows 9885 at the wrong time, 0030-0200, and furthermore without the jamming wavylines, tho VOA Spanish has been jammed for a long time by the Cubans who don`t give a damn whether they also impede non-Cubans from hearing it. Meanwhile RHC broadcasts without any fear of payback from the USA, too principled to jam, even in retaliation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. R. Cairo, Jan 11 at 2340 on 6290 in Arabic, extremely overmodulated and distorted as YL was reading news. 2344 was just as bad when mixed with music. Meanwhile, 6850 was as usual undermodulated, slightly better during music than talk segments, which unseemed English tho scheduled 2300-2430 to NAm. 6290 is supposed to change transmitter site at 0000, from ABZ to ABS, but at next check 0006 Jan 12, sounded exactly the same with distortion, so no change any longer. When they did change as monitored several months ago, the two overlapped with SAH, and the improvement in audio quality was painfully obvious (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. Found W`s final press conference in progress on 9480, Jan 12 at 1440; VOA preëmpting normal programming. Kept an ear on it while firing up TV and finding it also on ABC, CBS, NBC plus the usual cable news channels and C-SPAN 2. Figured that if he ran past 1500, which he did by a few minutes, VOA would chop even the POTUS off at scheduled closing time for that transmission, 14-15 only via Lampertheim, GERMANY. But it was already missing at 1458 check. Since FEBC Manila comes in so well on 9430, one might have assumed this VOA relay was coming TP rather than TA, but Germany is listed. However, Poland still does well via Germany 9450 during the previous hour. The only other SW frequency found with live coverage of this was AFN 12133.5-USB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. Presumed OTH radar pulsing, Jan 12 at 1433 covering 9315 to 9345, and badly bothering VOK in French on 9335. Next check 1456 found it on 8955-8985 instead. Why don`t they find a clear 30 kHz segment somewhere and stick to it? Is there any operational or funxional necessity to keep shifting around? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** CANADA [and non]. After checking out Cuban jamming against VOA 9885, I noticed RCI fairly good on 9880, UT Mon Jan 12 at 0024 with music, then Maple Leaf Mailbag and RCI ID. This should have been // but 5 minutes ahead of 9755, which is Sackville to NAm with same program, but instead 9755 checked at 0028 was in Brazilian Portuguese! And had a warble on the carrier, not sure if Sackville-caused or from interference. Anyhow, 9880 was better here in CNAm even tho it`s via Kunming, China, beamed 175 degrees, nowhere near our direxion and from much further away!
Others have reported for months that 9755 is in Portuguese (UT Sun and Mon) one hour earlier than the schedule shown at http://www.rciviva.ca/rci/PDF/2008Fall/RCI-TECH-B08-ENG.pdf
and this still hasn`t been corrected. By 0105, when 9755 may have really been in English, signal had just about vanished. Because azimuth changed? No, same 268 degrees is supposedly in use for both English and Portuguese, not for Brasil, but for all the Portuguese-speaking immigrants in northern USA and western Canada, one of a few extreme-minority language groups who are so fortunate to have SW broadcasts especially for them; but how many of them are axually aware of and listen to Radio Canada Internal, if they can even get it? Something is terribly wrong with RCI frequency management when a broadcast to SE Asia via China is better heard here than one direct from Sackville; but those who really want to hear it should try 9880 at 0000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. CHU, 7850, 2348 UT Jan 11, noticed that has finally eliminated the futurely QSY announcements which were running at :15 past every minute for many days following the Dec 31 transition. While I was there, with BFO on, compared frequency to 6850 Radio Cairo and found they matched nicely. I wonder if CHU makes any claims for tight frequency accuracy on this or the others, like WWV does on its (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also EGYPT
** CHINA. Firedrake is usually on 8400 or 9000 but not both. However, Jan 12 at 1457 it was on both, perhaps to cover two bases even if Sound of Hope was on only one of them at a time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. Re previous report Jan 11 of echo on 11760 during 1500 Sunday Esperanto broadcast, and before that, echo on 9550 during the 2300 English: it happened again, Jan 11 at 2324 check, more obvious echo during brief fades of stronger signal. This time I looked for a SAH as further proof that two transmitters are in use. There were fades amounting to about 36 times per minute, i.e. 0.6 Hz, but it was hard to be sure they were not just propagational fading.
RHC with weekly Esperanto broadcast, Sunday Jan 11 at 2339 with ID in passing on 6180. This is now on the schedule at http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/frecuencia/frecuencias-espanol.htm
as 2330 for CAm, // 9600 for SAm, but in fact 9600 was not //, and was in Spanish when checked a few minutes later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. Renconfirming whether the DentroCubans are still jamming not only R. Martí but also Voice of America in Spanish: UT Mon Jan 12 at 0008 found VOA with innocuous pop music program ``De Capital a Capital`` on 5890, 5940 and 9885, all from Greenville. 5940 was slightly stronger than 5890 while 9885 was much weaker, fighting the dropping MUF. Jamming could be heard underneath 5890 and 5940, was at roughly equal level to VOA on 9885; and at 0022 recheck, jamming was way on top of VOA 9885. Have also noticed jamming against nothing on 9885 at many other times of day.
According to http://www.voanews.com/spanish/programas_de_radio.cfm Ventana al Caribe is at 0000 UT Tue, Thu, Fri and Sat, but that is not necessarily up-to-date, and does not make clear what is on SW and what is only on satellite. VaC is the program which might include info about Cuba since the cancellation of the previous Ventana a Cuba show, which got the DentroCubans started jamming VOA; but changing the name has not mollified them.
BTW, don`t you believe PWBR `2009` which misses 5890 and 5940, and shows 9885 at the wrong time, 0030-0200, and furthermore without the jamming wavylines, tho VOA Spanish has been jammed for a long time by the Cubans who don`t give a damn whether they also impede non-Cubans from hearing it. Meanwhile RHC broadcasts without any fear of payback from the USA, too principled to jam, even in retaliation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. R. Cairo, Jan 11 at 2340 on 6290 in Arabic, extremely overmodulated and distorted as YL was reading news. 2344 was just as bad when mixed with music. Meanwhile, 6850 was as usual undermodulated, slightly better during music than talk segments, which unseemed English tho scheduled 2300-2430 to NAm. 6290 is supposed to change transmitter site at 0000, from ABZ to ABS, but at next check 0006 Jan 12, sounded exactly the same with distortion, so no change any longer. When they did change as monitored several months ago, the two overlapped with SAH, and the improvement in audio quality was painfully obvious (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. Found W`s final press conference in progress on 9480, Jan 12 at 1440; VOA preëmpting normal programming. Kept an ear on it while firing up TV and finding it also on ABC, CBS, NBC plus the usual cable news channels and C-SPAN 2. Figured that if he ran past 1500, which he did by a few minutes, VOA would chop even the POTUS off at scheduled closing time for that transmission, 14-15 only via Lampertheim, GERMANY. But it was already missing at 1458 check. Since FEBC Manila comes in so well on 9430, one might have assumed this VOA relay was coming TP rather than TA, but Germany is listed. However, Poland still does well via Germany 9450 during the previous hour. The only other SW frequency found with live coverage of this was AFN 12133.5-USB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. Presumed OTH radar pulsing, Jan 12 at 1433 covering 9315 to 9345, and badly bothering VOK in French on 9335. Next check 1456 found it on 8955-8985 instead. Why don`t they find a clear 30 kHz segment somewhere and stick to it? Is there any operational or funxional necessity to keep shifting around? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
