** BIAFRA [non]. After barely a month on 17520 via WHRI, V. of Biafra International found back on 15665 which it had used during most of the summer, Oct 9 at 1915 check and heard immediate ID by The Orator. This lower frequency is somewhat more reliable here, but what about Biafraland, where the audience is not even given the correct current frequency on website or in announcements? VOBI is Fridays only at 19-20 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake Oct 10 at 1318: very poor on 8400, JBA on 9000.
5075 at 1305 Oct 10, weak talk vying with ute beeps on hi side. Has to be V. of Pujiang, Shanghai, the only broadcaster on 5075 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC anomalies were especially rich on Oct 10:
At 0539, found 6000 in English // 6010, 6060, 6140 instead of Spanish. Normally, 6000 switches from English to Spanish at 0500.
``Travers DeVine``, circa Maryland had reported phone-ringing sounds on RHC frequencies as early as 0405, and I soon heard them too:
At 0541 on 6140 during English discussion of baseball, phone ringing mixed in, but not on // English channels as above; then also became audible on 6000. Meanwhile 6120 in Spanish without phone ringing. BTW, 6000 and 6010 when both in English were an echo apart as usual, from two different transmitter sites, while 6140 and 6010 were synchronized, from same site.
At 0547 also heard phone ringing on 5898! That`s the spy-numbers frequency which runs open carrier for long periods (not 5900 as you might assume without measuring it). So this had no RHC audio, just phone ringing and some hum. And the ringing was synchronized with that on RHC frequencies, so further clincher they are at same site!
At 0549, 6000 had switched to Spanish, signal was stronger, and no phone ringing. 6140 still in English with ringing.
At 0604, 6060 had phone ringing audible under English talk, and this transmitter also with a squeal. I quit for the night.
Next check at 1300, no phone ringing audible on 5965 or 6180, so it must have been `answered` sometime in the night.
Now RHC entertains us with a different messup: Oct 10 at 1325 I find RHC (all Spanish at this hour of course) on 11811.2. Is 11800 off frequency? No, it`s there too, and an echo apart. 11811.2 turns out to be a spur from 11760, and in next few minutes found numerous other spurs at multiples of approx. 51.2 kHz from 11760!
They all had the same tone on them plus RHC audio, not as I first thought making a het with victims, thus making them easier to spot. Found on all these frequencies: I did not measure each one, but calculated them later, and the further ones may be a fraxion of a kHz off depending on what the spur differential was exactly:
11708.8
11657.6
11606.4
11555.2
11504.0 - this one especially strong
11452.8
11401.6
11350.4
11299.2
11248.0
11196.8
11145.6 – the lowest detectable
Going upward:
11811.2 - where first discovered
11862.4 - blown away by WYFR 11865, but het detectable
11913.6
11964.8
12016.0
12067.2
12118.4
12169.6
12220.8
12272.0
12323.2 – highest detectable when I finished at 1405. So RHC has attained a new level of efficiency, providing 24 frequencies for the price of one! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. On Oct 9, the AIR Aligarh blob had been fixed, and ops were normal on 9470, but it was too good to be true. Next day Oct 9 checking just after sign-on at 1320: the blob again! Covering 9480-9490 at least, extremely distorted FMy but // clear 9425 Bengaluru, playing rustic wind instrument. And nothing on 9470. It was proven the day before that this transmitter is capable of operating correctly, but AIR allows it to go haywire yet again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA. 4770, R. Nigeria, Kaduna had not been heard in quite a while, but audible Oct 10 at 0552 with show choral lite music, bonker on the hi side, evitable by tuning to lo side, and not much CODAR. Just before 0600 went to announcement, timesignal seemed about right, and more talk, I think in English but too poor to be sure. Signal averaged S9, fluxuating S6 to S9+10, better than Perú 4790, but quite undermodulated. Kaduna could be quite listenable if they would modulate adequately (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAO TOME [and non]. 9600, as I tuned in at 0530 Oct 10 heard heavy SAH and mix of VOA YDD and R. Bulgaria theme, then opening in German. It was the tail of VOA Hausa overlapping which then went off; and I could still hear the mystery het from around 9600.4 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, SIBC, on reactivated frequency, Oct 10 at 1302 with BBCWS news in English, running about 2 words behind Singapore 9740; poor with Cuba-5025 splash. That`s all one needs for a definite ID of this, but rather unsatisfying; one must listen before 1205 to hear genuine Solomonic programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN [non]. Someone found it odd to hear RTI on 6915 in Chinese via WYFR. But I notice it`s in the B-09 schedule at 03-04 only, so that part is already in effect. Checked at 0343 Oct 10 and there it is, Chinese on 6915. Aoki says this only started on Sept 21, at 355 degrees, toward Toronto? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9370, WTJC with hymn and unusually strong signal for the nightmiddle when it is sometimes JBA or inaudible, 0523 Oct 10, S9+22, bringing with it spurs circa 9340 and 9400. O o, on 9340 I could also hear WYFR Arabic // also strong 9355, which means *this* spur could have been dentro-receiver FRG7 overload; and I really could not hear them on YB-400 or DX-398 with lesser antennas onclipped.
BTW at this time 25m was bearing only a few S Hemisphere signals, 11725, 11690, while 31m was open to Europe, e.g. Greece 9420 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** CHINA. Firedrake Oct 10 at 1318: very poor on 8400, JBA on 9000.
5075 at 1305 Oct 10, weak talk vying with ute beeps on hi side. Has to be V. of Pujiang, Shanghai, the only broadcaster on 5075 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC anomalies were especially rich on Oct 10:
At 0539, found 6000 in English // 6010, 6060, 6140 instead of Spanish. Normally, 6000 switches from English to Spanish at 0500.
``Travers DeVine``, circa Maryland had reported phone-ringing sounds on RHC frequencies as early as 0405, and I soon heard them too:
At 0541 on 6140 during English discussion of baseball, phone ringing mixed in, but not on // English channels as above; then also became audible on 6000. Meanwhile 6120 in Spanish without phone ringing. BTW, 6000 and 6010 when both in English were an echo apart as usual, from two different transmitter sites, while 6140 and 6010 were synchronized, from same site.
At 0547 also heard phone ringing on 5898! That`s the spy-numbers frequency which runs open carrier for long periods (not 5900 as you might assume without measuring it). So this had no RHC audio, just phone ringing and some hum. And the ringing was synchronized with that on RHC frequencies, so further clincher they are at same site!
At 0549, 6000 had switched to Spanish, signal was stronger, and no phone ringing. 6140 still in English with ringing.
At 0604, 6060 had phone ringing audible under English talk, and this transmitter also with a squeal. I quit for the night.
Next check at 1300, no phone ringing audible on 5965 or 6180, so it must have been `answered` sometime in the night.
Now RHC entertains us with a different messup: Oct 10 at 1325 I find RHC (all Spanish at this hour of course) on 11811.2. Is 11800 off frequency? No, it`s there too, and an echo apart. 11811.2 turns out to be a spur from 11760, and in next few minutes found numerous other spurs at multiples of approx. 51.2 kHz from 11760!
They all had the same tone on them plus RHC audio, not as I first thought making a het with victims, thus making them easier to spot. Found on all these frequencies: I did not measure each one, but calculated them later, and the further ones may be a fraxion of a kHz off depending on what the spur differential was exactly:
11708.8
11657.6
11606.4
11555.2
11504.0 - this one especially strong
11452.8
11401.6
11350.4
11299.2
11248.0
11196.8
11145.6 – the lowest detectable
Going upward:
11811.2 - where first discovered
11862.4 - blown away by WYFR 11865, but het detectable
11913.6
11964.8
12016.0
12067.2
12118.4
12169.6
12220.8
12272.0
12323.2 – highest detectable when I finished at 1405. So RHC has attained a new level of efficiency, providing 24 frequencies for the price of one! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. On Oct 9, the AIR Aligarh blob had been fixed, and ops were normal on 9470, but it was too good to be true. Next day Oct 9 checking just after sign-on at 1320: the blob again! Covering 9480-9490 at least, extremely distorted FMy but // clear 9425 Bengaluru, playing rustic wind instrument. And nothing on 9470. It was proven the day before that this transmitter is capable of operating correctly, but AIR allows it to go haywire yet again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA. 4770, R. Nigeria, Kaduna had not been heard in quite a while, but audible Oct 10 at 0552 with show choral lite music, bonker on the hi side, evitable by tuning to lo side, and not much CODAR. Just before 0600 went to announcement, timesignal seemed about right, and more talk, I think in English but too poor to be sure. Signal averaged S9, fluxuating S6 to S9+10, better than Perú 4790, but quite undermodulated. Kaduna could be quite listenable if they would modulate adequately (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAO TOME [and non]. 9600, as I tuned in at 0530 Oct 10 heard heavy SAH and mix of VOA YDD and R. Bulgaria theme, then opening in German. It was the tail of VOA Hausa overlapping which then went off; and I could still hear the mystery het from around 9600.4 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, SIBC, on reactivated frequency, Oct 10 at 1302 with BBCWS news in English, running about 2 words behind Singapore 9740; poor with Cuba-5025 splash. That`s all one needs for a definite ID of this, but rather unsatisfying; one must listen before 1205 to hear genuine Solomonic programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN [non]. Someone found it odd to hear RTI on 6915 in Chinese via WYFR. But I notice it`s in the B-09 schedule at 03-04 only, so that part is already in effect. Checked at 0343 Oct 10 and there it is, Chinese on 6915. Aoki says this only started on Sept 21, at 355 degrees, toward Toronto? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9370, WTJC with hymn and unusually strong signal for the nightmiddle when it is sometimes JBA or inaudible, 0523 Oct 10, S9+22, bringing with it spurs circa 9340 and 9400. O o, on 9340 I could also hear WYFR Arabic // also strong 9355, which means *this* spur could have been dentro-receiver FRG7 overload; and I really could not hear them on YB-400 or DX-398 with lesser antennas onclipped.
BTW at this time 25m was bearing only a few S Hemisphere signals, 11725, 11690, while 31m was open to Europe, e.g. Greece 9420 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
