** ALBANIA [and non]. 13635, CVC Darwin, Nov 11 at 1526 with music, fading S3-S8 only, no comparison to big steady S9+20 carrier from Tirana about to start English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA [non]. 11775, open carrier only Nov 11 at 1508 and still at 1515, missing my PMS fix. Out of habit, one goes to WWCR 13845 instead, but that`s now ceded to Brother Scare daily at 15-19. Say, lacking PMS, why not put local Caribbean Beacon programming from 1610 on 11775 for a while, as was done inadvertently a few months ago tho not by itself? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake Nov 11 at 1449: 10210 poor, 9000 fair, 8400 absent.
CNR1 jamming: Nov 11 at 1535 on 9440 vs RFA Mandarin via Tinian during this hour only also producing fast SAH approx. 10 Hz; same songs from CNR1 on // 9450, 7445, 7385, 7365 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. Answering my own question of 24 hours earlier: yes, RHC is still using 13790 for French at 0000. UT Nov 11 propagation had not quite dropped out, so RHC IS was to be heard on 13790, not // 13770 and all the other Spanish frequencies. Then opening in French from the intonation, altho it was too poor and fading out to be certain it was not Creole instead.
6140 was both on the air and in English, UT Nov 11 at 0645 and to boot, DXers Unlimited was just starting at this odd time. It`s supposedly at 0535 UT Weds, so tape playback mixup? Or just play it whenever they feel like it. // 6060, 6010, while 6150 and 6120 were in Spanish.
11760 is now in its eighth day of not producing two dozen spurs, at 1507 Nov 11. Perhaps decided they were unnecessary as at this hour it`s accompanied by plenty of fundamentals in a 110 kHz span: 11690, 11730, 11800. It`s also somewhat remarkable that we have not heard any leapfrog mixing products among these (and Venezuela, q.v. relay on 11680).
Unlike on 22m, where RHC 13770 leaping over CRI 13740 relay could be clearly heard on 13710 at 1527 atop Saudi Arabia Arabic and making a varying SAH averaging 88 per minute, or 1.47 Hz.
11600 with typical DentroCuban Jamming Command, Nov 11 at 1530. While not a heavy wall of noise like on 11930, this was more than just standby-mode, with pulses plus noise atop some weaker victim.
But nothing here Cuba needs to jam --- or is there? 1500-1530 is R. Prague in Spanish to Europe, and 1530-1600 is R. Slovakia International, also in Spanish to Europe. Further punishing Prague for doing business with WRMI? Cannot explain it as a mixing product or other spur (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR. HCJB definitely still active on 6050, Nov 11 at 0329 with automated ID for 690 and 6050 kHz, automatic timesignal and 0330 into remnant English program Spotlight. They are due to switch this frequency from Pifo to Pichincha MW site any day now, and presumably signal will weaken considerably, especially abroad.
What about HCJB DRM? Not much has been said about exactly when that would be closed down from Pifo, but using lower rhombic antenna, not so critical for air traffic safety. Here`s the answer from Eric Earl, Atlanta on the DRM NA yg Nov 6:
``Just received a letter from HCJB Pifo/EQ. that their 15280 DRM
transmissions (2000 UTC) will finish as of the 15th of November.
Regards, Eric// Atlanta.``
Yet, the DRM DX schedule at
http://www.baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/drmdx/main&sort=Country,UTC
as of Nov 11 has already removed all Ecuador entries from their list!
There was another HCJB DRM in Portuguese at 15-17 on 11700-11705-11710 which will presumably close on same date. I could not detect it Nov 11 at 1632, but at 110 degrees on a lower frequency it is harder to hear than the DRM noise on 15275-15280-15285 at 20-22, 35 degrees even tho only 4 kW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. AIR Aligarh blob again Nov 11 centered about 9460, mushing up adjacent channels too, at 1340 check, but pretty weak along with 9425 Bengaluru. At 1451, the latter in English, YL speaking deliberately, but hard to understand, adding to accent the somewhat distorted undermodulation and reverby studio ambience (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. VOI, 9525.9, Nov 11 at 1350 fairly good modulation but by this late in the English hour it`s just music fill. RRI, 9680 had more interesting music an hour later, overlapping chanting voices with wind instrument, sounded sorta reverent, but qan`t qall it Qur`an, unless that really varies in Indonesia. Irreverently cut off the air abruptly at 1457:20* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5985, JSR check Nov 11 at 1424, YL in Korean --- wait a minute! She is speaking English, but the intonation/heavy accent is Korean, with particulars about an abductee. Piano background constantly. Shortly into close-down announcement mentioning repeatedly by OM and then by YL again, ``This is Shiokaze, Sea-Breeze, a shortwave program from Tokyo, Japan`` and off at 1430*. Only fair signal but still no jamming or QRMyanmar at all audible here. So this was a Wednesday in English (more or less), not always the case, as English more reliably is on Fridays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LIBYA. 21695, Voice of Africa in English, Nov 11 at 1518 interviewing someone about the languages of South Africa, of which eleven are official, including some which are more associated with neighbors, such as Ndebele and Tswana.
It`s OSOB, the only station on band that is audible, nothing from the regulars Spain or Saudi Arabia; and // 17725 at about the same level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Just after getting KQWB 1660 from the north, tuned down to 1570 and there was XERF from the south, where the sun is not so low, Nov 10 at 2100 UT ID with local address, phone number, atop US QRM on the nondirexional caradio antenna, then norteña music with accordion (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO [and non]. Checking 6185 for XEPPM and co-channel QRM, Nov 11: tune-in 0619 already in the clear, so now I need to determine when Vatican really finishes; however, propagation from Europe varies quite a lot from night to night. To my surprise, 6185 remained XEPPM-only with jazz guitar music e.g. at 0645, until RNA Brasília finally cut on at *0659 rather than the usual 20+ minutes earlier, overtaking the frequency but XEPPM still capable of rumble-hetting the Amazonians.
6105, XEMQ Mérida in the clear with no het, Nov 11 at 0703 with peppy music, fading up and down, believe heard `Candela` ID thrown in over music at 0707. At 0711 live DJ came on with phone number, for requests? Mentioned Valladolid, another town in Yucatán. Then excitedly assured us thrice the time was 1:13, even tho it was only 0712. Did not want to bother to pin down off-frequency at this time, but at next check 1435 the Chinese on 6105 had the usual het from approx. 6104.8.
According to B-09 schedules, the clearest times for XEMQ, i.e. no major broadcasters on 6105, are: 0600-0800 (or 0745 or 0815 depending on day of week and when TWR opens from Nauen), 1130-1200, 1300-1400, 0000-0300. These times are totally fortuitous, as HFCC members care nothing about protecting little stations like this, even if, off-frequency, they can at least impose an annoying het on the big guns.
See Aoki list. That is, disregarding Bolivia, Brasil, Paraguay which are inactive or too weak, far away to matter much, and Costa Rica which has been gone for years. Of course, circa midday as well for those who are close enough and when extracontinental QRM is not propagating (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NEW ZEALAND [and non]. RNZI is working on resolving the collision on 6170, but meanwhile it continues, Nov 11 at 1406 with local weather from National Radio, but cut off the air at 1407-1410, making it easier to hear VOR in Chinese. Meanwhile, nothing on alternate 7440. By 1436, VOR was about all one could hear on 6170 even with NZ on. At 1459 check on 6170, nothing but VOR IS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAUDI ARABIA. Instead of blasting away as usual, the Buzzing Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was relatively weak on 15435, Nov 11 at 1511, measured only S9+8 at 1523 as the Arabic underneath was almost readable by comparison. But all signals from the region were weakened today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WRMI usually has good clear modulation on 9955, but Nov 11 at 0625 I noticed the Wire Light women conversing were both somewhat distorted, maybe an input rather than output problem; the carrier remained stable. Since it`s UT Wednesday, WRMI was on the NW antenna, audiblizing it here with the coöperation of the MUF and the DentroCuban Jamming Command (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Nice low-sun but full-daylight X-band opening, Nov 10 at 2100 UT, with KQWB, West Fargo ND on 1660 way over classical from Kansas City. Legal ID also mentioning ESPN, but for news it`s CNN. On caradio ergo nondirexional antenna; XERF 1570 was in at the same time from the opposite direxion; see MEXICO. Omaha was also in on 1620 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. 11680 via CUBA tuned in at 1458 Nov 11, RNV CI giving Apartado 3979 address, seemed like closing transmission, but not supposed to be on in the 14-15 hour. Continued past 1500, so apparently the next scheduled transmission was turned on early; at 1505 stirring up war hysteria in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 870, Nov 10 at 2110 weak signal in Asian language, heard ``Salaam`` mentioned, possibly part of program name if not just a greeting. KFJZ Fort Worth is the usual daytime groundwave occupant of 870 here, but skywave may have started as it had in the X-band. Trouble is, KFJZ is supposedly Spanish religion, and the 2009 NRC AM Log does not show any other ethnic formats on 870, let alone from the nearer stations to the north and east of here. Ideas? (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 6135 or maybe 6134, TADIL-A bonker quite active now intruding in the 49m exclusive (ha) SWBC band, noted around 0000 Nov 11 and also at 1436. Broadcasters, beware of using 6135. And most of them do avoid it; nothing major from the western hemisphere, but VOR in Portuguese and Spanish via Tajikistan to SAm at 00-03. Victimized by both VOR and TADIL-A is R. Santa Cruz, Bolivia, which Aoki lists as 0900-0100 only, and it`s slightly on the lo side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 6159, something sending irregular beeps, carrier on and off, Nov 11 at 1439, QRMing CKZU; plus some Spanish 2-way SSB slightly lower about 6158.5, accursed intruders (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 8001, at 1448 Nov 11, regular time-signal-like beeps at the rate of 80 per minute. If not propagation research station in Japan, could be a HIFER, secretly-located low-power automated transmitter for hobby purposes, and the rate of beeps could indicate the ambient temperature or some other meteorological observation, but not directly, as 80-F-degree temps unlikely around here now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 15115-15120-15125, DRM noise Nov 11 at 1525. Is anything listed on any of these frequencies in HFCC, Aoki, EiBi or DRM DX schedule? Of course not! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** ANGUILLA [non]. 11775, open carrier only Nov 11 at 1508 and still at 1515, missing my PMS fix. Out of habit, one goes to WWCR 13845 instead, but that`s now ceded to Brother Scare daily at 15-19. Say, lacking PMS, why not put local Caribbean Beacon programming from 1610 on 11775 for a while, as was done inadvertently a few months ago tho not by itself? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake Nov 11 at 1449: 10210 poor, 9000 fair, 8400 absent.
CNR1 jamming: Nov 11 at 1535 on 9440 vs RFA Mandarin via Tinian during this hour only also producing fast SAH approx. 10 Hz; same songs from CNR1 on // 9450, 7445, 7385, 7365 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. Answering my own question of 24 hours earlier: yes, RHC is still using 13790 for French at 0000. UT Nov 11 propagation had not quite dropped out, so RHC IS was to be heard on 13790, not // 13770 and all the other Spanish frequencies. Then opening in French from the intonation, altho it was too poor and fading out to be certain it was not Creole instead.
6140 was both on the air and in English, UT Nov 11 at 0645 and to boot, DXers Unlimited was just starting at this odd time. It`s supposedly at 0535 UT Weds, so tape playback mixup? Or just play it whenever they feel like it. // 6060, 6010, while 6150 and 6120 were in Spanish.
11760 is now in its eighth day of not producing two dozen spurs, at 1507 Nov 11. Perhaps decided they were unnecessary as at this hour it`s accompanied by plenty of fundamentals in a 110 kHz span: 11690, 11730, 11800. It`s also somewhat remarkable that we have not heard any leapfrog mixing products among these (and Venezuela, q.v. relay on 11680).
Unlike on 22m, where RHC 13770 leaping over CRI 13740 relay could be clearly heard on 13710 at 1527 atop Saudi Arabia Arabic and making a varying SAH averaging 88 per minute, or 1.47 Hz.
11600 with typical DentroCuban Jamming Command, Nov 11 at 1530. While not a heavy wall of noise like on 11930, this was more than just standby-mode, with pulses plus noise atop some weaker victim.
But nothing here Cuba needs to jam --- or is there? 1500-1530 is R. Prague in Spanish to Europe, and 1530-1600 is R. Slovakia International, also in Spanish to Europe. Further punishing Prague for doing business with WRMI? Cannot explain it as a mixing product or other spur (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR. HCJB definitely still active on 6050, Nov 11 at 0329 with automated ID for 690 and 6050 kHz, automatic timesignal and 0330 into remnant English program Spotlight. They are due to switch this frequency from Pifo to Pichincha MW site any day now, and presumably signal will weaken considerably, especially abroad.
What about HCJB DRM? Not much has been said about exactly when that would be closed down from Pifo, but using lower rhombic antenna, not so critical for air traffic safety. Here`s the answer from Eric Earl, Atlanta on the DRM NA yg Nov 6:
``Just received a letter from HCJB Pifo/EQ. that their 15280 DRM
transmissions (2000 UTC) will finish as of the 15th of November.
Regards, Eric// Atlanta.``
Yet, the DRM DX schedule at
http://www.baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/drmdx/main&sort=Country,UTC
as of Nov 11 has already removed all Ecuador entries from their list!
There was another HCJB DRM in Portuguese at 15-17 on 11700-11705-11710 which will presumably close on same date. I could not detect it Nov 11 at 1632, but at 110 degrees on a lower frequency it is harder to hear than the DRM noise on 15275-15280-15285 at 20-22, 35 degrees even tho only 4 kW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. AIR Aligarh blob again Nov 11 centered about 9460, mushing up adjacent channels too, at 1340 check, but pretty weak along with 9425 Bengaluru. At 1451, the latter in English, YL speaking deliberately, but hard to understand, adding to accent the somewhat distorted undermodulation and reverby studio ambience (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. VOI, 9525.9, Nov 11 at 1350 fairly good modulation but by this late in the English hour it`s just music fill. RRI, 9680 had more interesting music an hour later, overlapping chanting voices with wind instrument, sounded sorta reverent, but qan`t qall it Qur`an, unless that really varies in Indonesia. Irreverently cut off the air abruptly at 1457:20* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5985, JSR check Nov 11 at 1424, YL in Korean --- wait a minute! She is speaking English, but the intonation/heavy accent is Korean, with particulars about an abductee. Piano background constantly. Shortly into close-down announcement mentioning repeatedly by OM and then by YL again, ``This is Shiokaze, Sea-Breeze, a shortwave program from Tokyo, Japan`` and off at 1430*. Only fair signal but still no jamming or QRMyanmar at all audible here. So this was a Wednesday in English (more or less), not always the case, as English more reliably is on Fridays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LIBYA. 21695, Voice of Africa in English, Nov 11 at 1518 interviewing someone about the languages of South Africa, of which eleven are official, including some which are more associated with neighbors, such as Ndebele and Tswana.
It`s OSOB, the only station on band that is audible, nothing from the regulars Spain or Saudi Arabia; and // 17725 at about the same level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Just after getting KQWB 1660 from the north, tuned down to 1570 and there was XERF from the south, where the sun is not so low, Nov 10 at 2100 UT ID with local address, phone number, atop US QRM on the nondirexional caradio antenna, then norteña music with accordion (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO [and non]. Checking 6185 for XEPPM and co-channel QRM, Nov 11: tune-in 0619 already in the clear, so now I need to determine when Vatican really finishes; however, propagation from Europe varies quite a lot from night to night. To my surprise, 6185 remained XEPPM-only with jazz guitar music e.g. at 0645, until RNA Brasília finally cut on at *0659 rather than the usual 20+ minutes earlier, overtaking the frequency but XEPPM still capable of rumble-hetting the Amazonians.
6105, XEMQ Mérida in the clear with no het, Nov 11 at 0703 with peppy music, fading up and down, believe heard `Candela` ID thrown in over music at 0707. At 0711 live DJ came on with phone number, for requests? Mentioned Valladolid, another town in Yucatán. Then excitedly assured us thrice the time was 1:13, even tho it was only 0712. Did not want to bother to pin down off-frequency at this time, but at next check 1435 the Chinese on 6105 had the usual het from approx. 6104.8.
According to B-09 schedules, the clearest times for XEMQ, i.e. no major broadcasters on 6105, are: 0600-0800 (or 0745 or 0815 depending on day of week and when TWR opens from Nauen), 1130-1200, 1300-1400, 0000-0300. These times are totally fortuitous, as HFCC members care nothing about protecting little stations like this, even if, off-frequency, they can at least impose an annoying het on the big guns.
See Aoki list. That is, disregarding Bolivia, Brasil, Paraguay which are inactive or too weak, far away to matter much, and Costa Rica which has been gone for years. Of course, circa midday as well for those who are close enough and when extracontinental QRM is not propagating (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NEW ZEALAND [and non]. RNZI is working on resolving the collision on 6170, but meanwhile it continues, Nov 11 at 1406 with local weather from National Radio, but cut off the air at 1407-1410, making it easier to hear VOR in Chinese. Meanwhile, nothing on alternate 7440. By 1436, VOR was about all one could hear on 6170 even with NZ on. At 1459 check on 6170, nothing but VOR IS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAUDI ARABIA. Instead of blasting away as usual, the Buzzing Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was relatively weak on 15435, Nov 11 at 1511, measured only S9+8 at 1523 as the Arabic underneath was almost readable by comparison. But all signals from the region were weakened today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WRMI usually has good clear modulation on 9955, but Nov 11 at 0625 I noticed the Wire Light women conversing were both somewhat distorted, maybe an input rather than output problem; the carrier remained stable. Since it`s UT Wednesday, WRMI was on the NW antenna, audiblizing it here with the coöperation of the MUF and the DentroCuban Jamming Command (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Nice low-sun but full-daylight X-band opening, Nov 10 at 2100 UT, with KQWB, West Fargo ND on 1660 way over classical from Kansas City. Legal ID also mentioning ESPN, but for news it`s CNN. On caradio ergo nondirexional antenna; XERF 1570 was in at the same time from the opposite direxion; see MEXICO. Omaha was also in on 1620 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. 11680 via CUBA tuned in at 1458 Nov 11, RNV CI giving Apartado 3979 address, seemed like closing transmission, but not supposed to be on in the 14-15 hour. Continued past 1500, so apparently the next scheduled transmission was turned on early; at 1505 stirring up war hysteria in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 870, Nov 10 at 2110 weak signal in Asian language, heard ``Salaam`` mentioned, possibly part of program name if not just a greeting. KFJZ Fort Worth is the usual daytime groundwave occupant of 870 here, but skywave may have started as it had in the X-band. Trouble is, KFJZ is supposedly Spanish religion, and the 2009 NRC AM Log does not show any other ethnic formats on 870, let alone from the nearer stations to the north and east of here. Ideas? (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 6135 or maybe 6134, TADIL-A bonker quite active now intruding in the 49m exclusive (ha) SWBC band, noted around 0000 Nov 11 and also at 1436. Broadcasters, beware of using 6135. And most of them do avoid it; nothing major from the western hemisphere, but VOR in Portuguese and Spanish via Tajikistan to SAm at 00-03. Victimized by both VOR and TADIL-A is R. Santa Cruz, Bolivia, which Aoki lists as 0900-0100 only, and it`s slightly on the lo side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 6159, something sending irregular beeps, carrier on and off, Nov 11 at 1439, QRMing CKZU; plus some Spanish 2-way SSB slightly lower about 6158.5, accursed intruders (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 8001, at 1448 Nov 11, regular time-signal-like beeps at the rate of 80 per minute. If not propagation research station in Japan, could be a HIFER, secretly-located low-power automated transmitter for hobby purposes, and the rate of beeps could indicate the ambient temperature or some other meteorological observation, but not directly, as 80-F-degree temps unlikely around here now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 15115-15120-15125, DRM noise Nov 11 at 1525. Is anything listed on any of these frequencies in HFCC, Aoki, EiBi or DRM DX schedule? Of course not! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
