** AUSTRALIA. None of the 120m VL8s were audible March 21 at 1312, but I checked 5025 again in case VL8K was still stuck on its daytime frequency at night. Yes, at 1317, R. Rebelde still exhibiting fades of 40 per minute, the same SAH as 24 hours earlier, 0.67 Hz presumably caused by Katherine. Anyone further west hearing it for sure on 5025 at this time? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA [non]. It`s jarring to be listening to an announcer speaking what seems to be perfectly good English, and then a common word is mispronounced. OM with CRI News on 6115 via Canada, March 21 at 0611, pronounced ``ally`` as if it were ``alley``! There was also another gaffe a few minutes earlier which I failed to note down. So you don`t have to speak perfect English to announce on the world`s greatest shortwave station where the talent pool must be enormous. Soon there will be more Chinese speaking some sort of English than Americans (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. Since I last reported RRI Fak2 missing from 4790, there have been signs of it on some mornings, but definitely back March 21 at 1320, lo-fi phone interview vs CODAR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [and non]. NHKWNRJ, 11705 via Sackville, Sat March 21 at 1410 with World Interactive, accompanied by lite pre-echo from Yamata direct. R. Japan plans to continue colliding with itself in A-09, despite my repeated complaints, and others noting the same problem, which is worst in western North America. The least they could do would be to delay the feed to Yamata just enough so it doesn`t echo with Sackville fed by satellite.
The hostess, whose name I can`t remember, and whose name still appears nowhere on the homepage for this show, http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/radio/wi/index.html
tho her smiling face does twice, said that from next fiscal year in April, she would not be losing her job, but the show would be moving to Sundays at 1410 JST/0510 UT instead of Saturdays at the same time. She announced this twice, and is apparently unaware of the several repeats later in the day such as the one I was listening to. So what will be aired on Saturdays? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH. Altho missing the day before, the whoop-whoop jammer very much in evidence March 21 at 1330 on 6350, tho the noise jamming seemed there too, and no sign of its victim (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MADAGASCAR [non]. Looking for the new pro-Ravolomanana clandestine, via WRN, R. Mada, 5895, scheduled 0400-0430: March 21 at 0405, something there but too weak to copy, probably this since nothing else scheduled on frequency; also some clicking which is surely not jamming already, but maybe leaking from some DentroCuban jammer. WWCR 5890 could be a big super-power problem, but not so strong at this time. R. Mada is also scheduled at 1700-1730 on 5895, from a Swiss NGO, Tiako i Madagasikara, http://www.tim-sfv.ch --- I suspect the transmitter site is Meyerton; if not, somewhere else close to Madagascar, not likely from Talata itself (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO [and non]. Someone reported R. Educación signing off 6185 at 0602 after anthem, which could happen, but they have to play the anthem at local midnight whether signing off or not (0500 UT from first Sunday in April according to Mexico`s slightly more sensible DST season). I hear XEPPM after 0600, and still do: March 21 at 0604 there was Mexican music underneath Vatican Radio; see VATICAN. The usual rippling SAH also points to the considerably off-frequency XEPPM. No sign of Brasília, but there would have been on UT Sunday when RNA runs all-night. Vatican finishes with 6185 at 0620 after which XEPPM should be in the clear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [non]. Maybe this is nothing new, but not noticed before: REE is ``pulling a BBC`` by keeping a transmitter on a bit longer than its scheduled span in order to broadcast one more newscast: The CR relay on 9675, supposedly 0200-0600 daily, still going at 0602 March 21 with news, 0605 sign-off announcement mentioning next frequency on 16m a few hours later, IS once and to open carrier.
At 0605 also checked 5965, and could hear the voice of Antonio Buitrago in Amigos de la Onda Corta at its true time on UT Saturday, but heavy QRM as always de Vatican co-channel. Was REE 6055 direct still on? No, now it`s BBC French via Ascension. So we are left without any decent frequency for the DX program and REE at 0605, unless we can get 11895 or 12035 for Mideast, Europe.
Note to other broadcasters, which I am sure they are not going to pay any attention to now, as they never have in the past: avoid co-channel with Vatican even if targets are wildly different, as VR really gets out in unintended direxions (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY [non]. VOT via Canada, 7325, STILL in the wrong language, Turkish instead of English, UT March 21 at 0408 check as YL was talking about Azerbaijan, Ankara – but this time unlike previous nights suffering heavy QRM from big dirty FMy blob spur. At first I suspected the Sackville transmitter was upacting, but the modulation peaks of the QRM were obviously coming from some other source. Could it be GUF, VOR`s big signal from 7335, only 10 kHz away? No, that`s clean and nothing like it on 7345.
Tuning a bit further up the band, I heard similar distortion on R. Martí via Greenville 7405. Ahá: another R. Martí transmission is on 7365, and 7405 is leaping over that to produce the spur on 7325. Then I confirm on a second receiver that the mod peaks on the 7325 QRM match R. Martí on 7405, so Greenville is definitely the source – but it doesn`t have to be, as none such ever noted before on my nightly chex of Turkey`s misfeed on 7325. The GB mix potentially happens 0300-0500, when both 7405 and 7365 are active, except UT Mondays when the weekly truce starts at 0300. For once, the DentroCuban Jamming Command is innocent. O well, we aren`t missing any English from VOT, and the handful of Turx in NAm who might be listening probably aren`t aware of this unintentional opportunity (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. R. Martí spur on 7325, QRMing Turkey via Canada: see TURKEY
** U S A. I hear IBOC noise on 1680, 1690 and 1710, which indicates at least two stations are running it, on 1690 and 1700, March 21 at 1343 UT. 1690 itself was dominated by ``The Talk of Chicago, WVON`` ID. 1700 had at least two talk stations mixing, their AM signals strong enough to override the IBOC on the high side of WVON. But which one on 1700 is radiating IBOC sidebands? At this hour, has to be Des Moines or one of the Texans, but nothing on 1700 shown as IBOC in the 2008-2009 NRC AM Log (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [and non]. R. Vaticana continues to be an annoyance, QRMing other stations by inept frequency management allowing co-channel clashes. See SPAIN for what it does to 5965, and MEXICO for what it does to 6185. VR 5965 at 0605 March 21 blocking REE`s DX program via Costa Rica on its only audible frequency here; VR with English report on papal visit to Cameroon. Second European program on 6185, March 21 at 0604 blocking XEPPM, in Scandinavian language, but which?
Current VR program folder is no help with such minor details, nor is WRTH! EiBi and Aoki show Finnish on Saturdays. There was a lot of QRM, but I was leaning toward a non-Finno-Ugric one. Of course it`s more politically correct to consider the Finns just `Nordic`, separate from the Scandinavian countries to the west whose languages are closely related, while Finnish is totally different, but VR lumps them all together; is VR keeping its options open, not to be tied down to specific days of week for each? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 15463, March 21 at 1429-1439+, two-way Spanish contacts on SSB, as always, hard to understand, but one of them kept whistling into the mike, which is not the sign of a polished operator, and also was heard to use the expression ``puta madre`` which is not polished either. For a while they were discussing things to do at midnight on the next few dates, perhaps arranging a rendezvous for drug shipments. I assumed it would be USB, but just in case I checked on the ATS-909 and they were using LSB, too bad since there was het from a broadcaster on 15460, but none on 15465. One never sees any logs of these intruders from Latin American DXers, who would have a much better chance of understanding the conversations, and perhaps picking up clues about what they are about, and even their locations (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA [non]. It`s jarring to be listening to an announcer speaking what seems to be perfectly good English, and then a common word is mispronounced. OM with CRI News on 6115 via Canada, March 21 at 0611, pronounced ``ally`` as if it were ``alley``! There was also another gaffe a few minutes earlier which I failed to note down. So you don`t have to speak perfect English to announce on the world`s greatest shortwave station where the talent pool must be enormous. Soon there will be more Chinese speaking some sort of English than Americans (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. Since I last reported RRI Fak2 missing from 4790, there have been signs of it on some mornings, but definitely back March 21 at 1320, lo-fi phone interview vs CODAR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [and non]. NHKWNRJ, 11705 via Sackville, Sat March 21 at 1410 with World Interactive, accompanied by lite pre-echo from Yamata direct. R. Japan plans to continue colliding with itself in A-09, despite my repeated complaints, and others noting the same problem, which is worst in western North America. The least they could do would be to delay the feed to Yamata just enough so it doesn`t echo with Sackville fed by satellite.
The hostess, whose name I can`t remember, and whose name still appears nowhere on the homepage for this show, http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/radio/wi/index.html
tho her smiling face does twice, said that from next fiscal year in April, she would not be losing her job, but the show would be moving to Sundays at 1410 JST/0510 UT instead of Saturdays at the same time. She announced this twice, and is apparently unaware of the several repeats later in the day such as the one I was listening to. So what will be aired on Saturdays? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH. Altho missing the day before, the whoop-whoop jammer very much in evidence March 21 at 1330 on 6350, tho the noise jamming seemed there too, and no sign of its victim (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MADAGASCAR [non]. Looking for the new pro-Ravolomanana clandestine, via WRN, R. Mada, 5895, scheduled 0400-0430: March 21 at 0405, something there but too weak to copy, probably this since nothing else scheduled on frequency; also some clicking which is surely not jamming already, but maybe leaking from some DentroCuban jammer. WWCR 5890 could be a big super-power problem, but not so strong at this time. R. Mada is also scheduled at 1700-1730 on 5895, from a Swiss NGO, Tiako i Madagasikara, http://www.tim-sfv.ch --- I suspect the transmitter site is Meyerton; if not, somewhere else close to Madagascar, not likely from Talata itself (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO [and non]. Someone reported R. Educación signing off 6185 at 0602 after anthem, which could happen, but they have to play the anthem at local midnight whether signing off or not (0500 UT from first Sunday in April according to Mexico`s slightly more sensible DST season). I hear XEPPM after 0600, and still do: March 21 at 0604 there was Mexican music underneath Vatican Radio; see VATICAN. The usual rippling SAH also points to the considerably off-frequency XEPPM. No sign of Brasília, but there would have been on UT Sunday when RNA runs all-night. Vatican finishes with 6185 at 0620 after which XEPPM should be in the clear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [non]. Maybe this is nothing new, but not noticed before: REE is ``pulling a BBC`` by keeping a transmitter on a bit longer than its scheduled span in order to broadcast one more newscast: The CR relay on 9675, supposedly 0200-0600 daily, still going at 0602 March 21 with news, 0605 sign-off announcement mentioning next frequency on 16m a few hours later, IS once and to open carrier.
At 0605 also checked 5965, and could hear the voice of Antonio Buitrago in Amigos de la Onda Corta at its true time on UT Saturday, but heavy QRM as always de Vatican co-channel. Was REE 6055 direct still on? No, now it`s BBC French via Ascension. So we are left without any decent frequency for the DX program and REE at 0605, unless we can get 11895 or 12035 for Mideast, Europe.
Note to other broadcasters, which I am sure they are not going to pay any attention to now, as they never have in the past: avoid co-channel with Vatican even if targets are wildly different, as VR really gets out in unintended direxions (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY [non]. VOT via Canada, 7325, STILL in the wrong language, Turkish instead of English, UT March 21 at 0408 check as YL was talking about Azerbaijan, Ankara – but this time unlike previous nights suffering heavy QRM from big dirty FMy blob spur. At first I suspected the Sackville transmitter was upacting, but the modulation peaks of the QRM were obviously coming from some other source. Could it be GUF, VOR`s big signal from 7335, only 10 kHz away? No, that`s clean and nothing like it on 7345.
Tuning a bit further up the band, I heard similar distortion on R. Martí via Greenville 7405. Ahá: another R. Martí transmission is on 7365, and 7405 is leaping over that to produce the spur on 7325. Then I confirm on a second receiver that the mod peaks on the 7325 QRM match R. Martí on 7405, so Greenville is definitely the source – but it doesn`t have to be, as none such ever noted before on my nightly chex of Turkey`s misfeed on 7325. The GB mix potentially happens 0300-0500, when both 7405 and 7365 are active, except UT Mondays when the weekly truce starts at 0300. For once, the DentroCuban Jamming Command is innocent. O well, we aren`t missing any English from VOT, and the handful of Turx in NAm who might be listening probably aren`t aware of this unintentional opportunity (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. R. Martí spur on 7325, QRMing Turkey via Canada: see TURKEY
** U S A. I hear IBOC noise on 1680, 1690 and 1710, which indicates at least two stations are running it, on 1690 and 1700, March 21 at 1343 UT. 1690 itself was dominated by ``The Talk of Chicago, WVON`` ID. 1700 had at least two talk stations mixing, their AM signals strong enough to override the IBOC on the high side of WVON. But which one on 1700 is radiating IBOC sidebands? At this hour, has to be Des Moines or one of the Texans, but nothing on 1700 shown as IBOC in the 2008-2009 NRC AM Log (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [and non]. R. Vaticana continues to be an annoyance, QRMing other stations by inept frequency management allowing co-channel clashes. See SPAIN for what it does to 5965, and MEXICO for what it does to 6185. VR 5965 at 0605 March 21 blocking REE`s DX program via Costa Rica on its only audible frequency here; VR with English report on papal visit to Cameroon. Second European program on 6185, March 21 at 0604 blocking XEPPM, in Scandinavian language, but which?
Current VR program folder is no help with such minor details, nor is WRTH! EiBi and Aoki show Finnish on Saturdays. There was a lot of QRM, but I was leaning toward a non-Finno-Ugric one. Of course it`s more politically correct to consider the Finns just `Nordic`, separate from the Scandinavian countries to the west whose languages are closely related, while Finnish is totally different, but VR lumps them all together; is VR keeping its options open, not to be tied down to specific days of week for each? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 15463, March 21 at 1429-1439+, two-way Spanish contacts on SSB, as always, hard to understand, but one of them kept whistling into the mike, which is not the sign of a polished operator, and also was heard to use the expression ``puta madre`` which is not polished either. For a while they were discussing things to do at midnight on the next few dates, perhaps arranging a rendezvous for drug shipments. I assumed it would be USB, but just in case I checked on the ATS-909 and they were using LSB, too bad since there was het from a broadcaster on 15460, but none on 15465. One never sees any logs of these intruders from Latin American DXers, who would have a much better chance of understanding the conversations, and perhaps picking up clues about what they are about, and even their locations (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
