** GERMANY [non]. DW English, March 21 at 2019 concluding report from Jo`burg, ID in passing, on 15275, fair reception. What does PWBR `2009` say? Site is UAE. I don`t think so; doesn`t come in that well here, aimed at Africa from the other side. In fact it`s Sines, Portugal, 140 degrees off the back, the site having changed from UAE on January 1 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MADAGASCAR [non]. Seems I`m not the only broadcaster uncertain about the proper pronunciation of Malagasy names. BBCWS in English, March 21 at 2013 on 17830 via Ascension, edited together multiple attempts to pronounce the new leader`s name (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [non]. RNW is about to put the nail in the coffin of English via Bonaire; after abolishing SW to NAm, one English broadcast remained in B-08, 20-21 UT on 17810 for West Africa, tho easily audible back here in NAm --- but that is to be cancelled shortly in A-09, when this hour in English to West Africa will be on 11610 via France instead, along with Madagascar on 5905 and 7425 for the rest of Africa, neither of which is likely to propagate here in our summer.
So I felt a bit nostalgic as I heard Bonaire 17810, March 21 at 2006 beginning ``The State We`re In``, a co-produxion with WAMU Washington DC, Jonathan Groubert interviewing non-Americans about credit crunch, etc., so I`m not sure how much WAMU really had to do with it.
WAMU is one of hundreds of American public radio stations which could have started a shortwave station, enormously improving the program content of US SW, but saw no need for it, instead leaving it predominantly to the gospel-huxters, pushers of silver as food, and other right-wing extremists (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. VOA French to Africa, 15225, March 21 at 2016 seems quite undermodulated despite S9+20 signal. Watching the meter and listening more carefully, I soon realize that the big signal is rock-steady, but the French audio is fading up and down in normal shortwave propagational fashion. What`s really happening is that we have two transmitters, the stronger one open carrier, and the weaker one with the programming. What does PWBR `2009` say? Nothing. No VOA listings at all on 15225.
At 2030 the programming stopped briefly and then resumed after a couple of false starts at normal modulation level, for the ``English USA`` show of language lessons, nicely done and just as useful for learning French as English, as each sentence is translated one at a time. This turned out to be lesson four-score-and-eleven, part one, subject being modern life and the future tense, followed at 2041 by part two. At 2055, I found a USG editorial (in French) about Rwanda, off at 2059:30*
Unfortunately this waylaid me from Music Time in Africa which I had started listening to on also very good 11975, altho only 125 kW from Bonaire aimed eastward at 80 degrees; but then returned to it at 2041 while some percussion from Benin was playing. Announcer said show is scheduled Sat and Sun at 09 and 20 UT; but there are no SW frequencies at 09 (I think).
A quick check of registrations confirms it. This is another case of nonsensical transmitter-site switching in the middle of a broadcast. Until 2030 it`s Bonaire daily with 250 kW at 80 degrees, and after 2030 it`s Greenville Saturdays and Sundays only, 250 kW at 94 degrees --- I suppose the same transmitter which is on 15185 M-F with Hausa, just corrected from almost five months of English relays by mistake; nothing on 15185 today.
But why run open carrier for at least a quarter hour on the same frequency already carrying a program? Greenville should warm up somewhere else if really necessary, and crash-start 15225 just as the Bonaire relay is ending. Even an open carrier causes co-channel interference, as I just experienced. It could be equally bad with both of them aimed at the same target area, even tho they were quite zero-beat, with no SAH as a tip-off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. While checking out RNW Bonaire and BBC Ascension on 16m, March 21 at 2010, not a trace of KVOH on 17775, let alone its septuplet of spurs at 144 kHz intervals, so off the air? Chile and Costa Rica were also in well on the band (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. An MW bandscan on caradio at Arby`s parking lot in Enid turned out to be a pretty hot spot; March 21 at 1940 UT, slightly more than an hour after local mean noon at 1832, I was getting three very weak signals on 720. A slow SAH of 2.5 Hz fits for WGN Chicago and KSAH San Antonio, per numerous previous logs day and night, but there was also a very fast SAH overlain, too fast to count.
What could be the third station in the daytime? Nothing at all likely, but KDWN in Las Vegas NV is 50 kW nondirexional daytime, further than Chicago and over mountainous terrain, low ground conductivity. Or something spurious much closer, but have never had spurs or images from the three local MW stations on this frequency.
(By nulling KRMG-740 on a portable, however, some time ago in the daytime, I was startled to hear sports talk, which turned out to be a receiver image of KFXY-1640 minus 2 x IF 450 = 900 kHz.)
Also at 1943 March 21 I could just barely hear Spanish on 1250, i.e. KYYS Kansas City, which despite 25 kW is not normally audible here daytimely, almost 500 km (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** MADAGASCAR [non]. Seems I`m not the only broadcaster uncertain about the proper pronunciation of Malagasy names. BBCWS in English, March 21 at 2013 on 17830 via Ascension, edited together multiple attempts to pronounce the new leader`s name (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [non]. RNW is about to put the nail in the coffin of English via Bonaire; after abolishing SW to NAm, one English broadcast remained in B-08, 20-21 UT on 17810 for West Africa, tho easily audible back here in NAm --- but that is to be cancelled shortly in A-09, when this hour in English to West Africa will be on 11610 via France instead, along with Madagascar on 5905 and 7425 for the rest of Africa, neither of which is likely to propagate here in our summer.
So I felt a bit nostalgic as I heard Bonaire 17810, March 21 at 2006 beginning ``The State We`re In``, a co-produxion with WAMU Washington DC, Jonathan Groubert interviewing non-Americans about credit crunch, etc., so I`m not sure how much WAMU really had to do with it.
WAMU is one of hundreds of American public radio stations which could have started a shortwave station, enormously improving the program content of US SW, but saw no need for it, instead leaving it predominantly to the gospel-huxters, pushers of silver as food, and other right-wing extremists (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. VOA French to Africa, 15225, March 21 at 2016 seems quite undermodulated despite S9+20 signal. Watching the meter and listening more carefully, I soon realize that the big signal is rock-steady, but the French audio is fading up and down in normal shortwave propagational fashion. What`s really happening is that we have two transmitters, the stronger one open carrier, and the weaker one with the programming. What does PWBR `2009` say? Nothing. No VOA listings at all on 15225.
At 2030 the programming stopped briefly and then resumed after a couple of false starts at normal modulation level, for the ``English USA`` show of language lessons, nicely done and just as useful for learning French as English, as each sentence is translated one at a time. This turned out to be lesson four-score-and-eleven, part one, subject being modern life and the future tense, followed at 2041 by part two. At 2055, I found a USG editorial (in French) about Rwanda, off at 2059:30*
Unfortunately this waylaid me from Music Time in Africa which I had started listening to on also very good 11975, altho only 125 kW from Bonaire aimed eastward at 80 degrees; but then returned to it at 2041 while some percussion from Benin was playing. Announcer said show is scheduled Sat and Sun at 09 and 20 UT; but there are no SW frequencies at 09 (I think).
A quick check of registrations confirms it. This is another case of nonsensical transmitter-site switching in the middle of a broadcast. Until 2030 it`s Bonaire daily with 250 kW at 80 degrees, and after 2030 it`s Greenville Saturdays and Sundays only, 250 kW at 94 degrees --- I suppose the same transmitter which is on 15185 M-F with Hausa, just corrected from almost five months of English relays by mistake; nothing on 15185 today.
But why run open carrier for at least a quarter hour on the same frequency already carrying a program? Greenville should warm up somewhere else if really necessary, and crash-start 15225 just as the Bonaire relay is ending. Even an open carrier causes co-channel interference, as I just experienced. It could be equally bad with both of them aimed at the same target area, even tho they were quite zero-beat, with no SAH as a tip-off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. While checking out RNW Bonaire and BBC Ascension on 16m, March 21 at 2010, not a trace of KVOH on 17775, let alone its septuplet of spurs at 144 kHz intervals, so off the air? Chile and Costa Rica were also in well on the band (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. An MW bandscan on caradio at Arby`s parking lot in Enid turned out to be a pretty hot spot; March 21 at 1940 UT, slightly more than an hour after local mean noon at 1832, I was getting three very weak signals on 720. A slow SAH of 2.5 Hz fits for WGN Chicago and KSAH San Antonio, per numerous previous logs day and night, but there was also a very fast SAH overlain, too fast to count.
What could be the third station in the daytime? Nothing at all likely, but KDWN in Las Vegas NV is 50 kW nondirexional daytime, further than Chicago and over mountainous terrain, low ground conductivity. Or something spurious much closer, but have never had spurs or images from the three local MW stations on this frequency.
(By nulling KRMG-740 on a portable, however, some time ago in the daytime, I was startled to hear sports talk, which turned out to be a receiver image of KFXY-1640 minus 2 x IF 450 = 900 kHz.)
Also at 1943 March 21 I could just barely hear Spanish on 1250, i.e. KYYS Kansas City, which despite 25 kW is not normally audible here daytimely, almost 500 km (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
