** ALASKA. RHC blox KNLS on 6150: see CUBA [and non]
** AUSTRALIA. These fall nitemiddles, we are lucky to hear anything from RA on 13630, let alone anywhere higher, but Nov 9 at 0613 was more like August, VG English signal on 15160, and progressively somewhat weaker on // 15240, 13630, 13690. See also SAIPAN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9475 blob QRM: see INDIA
** CHINA. Firedrake Nov 9: at 1310, poor on 8400 and 9000, nothing on 10210. At 1435, 10210 had become JBA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also MALAYSIA
** CHINA. 5175-5225, OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, Nov 9 at 1430 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. Unlike many nights inaudible, RHC 11760 was inbooming Nov 9 at 0610 in Spanish, S9+22, and still no spurs! Also spurless at 1504 check.
However, propagation from Cuba was so pipeline at 0611 that remnant DCJC jamming pulses were also clearly audible on 11930 against non-Radio Martí, enough to bother Brasil on 11925. Just another example of Cuba`s cynical attitude about jamming, not bothering to restrict it totally to when really `needed`. See also USA: VOA.
11435.0. huge S9+22 open carrier plus hum, Nov 9 at 0612, correlating nicely with opening from RHC on 11760, so likely a spy transmitter at same or nearby site. See previous report in DXLD 9-007. Another suspicious open carrier on 9085.3 at 0627.
6180 was one of the RHC frequencies listed on En Contacto (see my previous report) as deleted. That may be so in the evenings, but not in the mornings --- still there until 1257* Nov 9, presumably from at least 1100 for Despertar con Cuba. Also 10-11 for Venezuela relay.
At tune-in 1255 all three were running, 6110, 6150 and 6180. 6150 cut off less than a minute later at 1258* audiblizing praise music ending KNLS`s English hour now being crushed by the Cubans; while 6110 continued as usual, to be on all day and evening. It was quite undermodulated compared to the other two (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CYPRUS. OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, Nov 9 at 1334 on 13935-13960 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. 15710, R. Cairo Indonesian service, Nov 9 at 1335 check, quite weak, but as best I could tell the modulation was not too bad unlike most days and should have been comprehensible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** HAWAII. AFN`s ``format change`` to country music via Pearl Harbor 10320-USB was short-lived, and I suspect ad-hoc, so no telling if or when it will change back, but Nov 9 at 0622, back to news/talk feature bits, Osgood File from CBS, about Ft Hood. Also at 1433 news update from AP about American hostages in Iran, AFN ID (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA [and non]. Where will the AIR Aligarh blob be today, Nov 9? At 1317 I find mush centered right on top of 9475, R. Australia in Chinese. It`s so distorted that I cannot recognize AIR IS or Vande Mataram // weak 9425, but no doubt this is it. 1437-1500+ the same (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. After an 8-day absence, VOI is back on 9525.9, Nov 9 at 1317 during English, but no improvement in modulation, still just enough to recognize the YL announcer, so why bother? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5985, Shiokaze, via JSR Japan, Nov 9 at 1420, sad Japanese YL talking with mandatory piano background, ultimately IDing as ``Kochira wa Shiokaze desu`` before 1429. No QRM at all here, unlike Myanmar and Juche jamming washing up onto Asilomar Beach (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MALAYSIA SARAWAK [and non]. 5030, Nov 9 at 1429, fast rippling SAH with CNR1 Beijing in Chinese pop music // much weaker 4460. By now Cuba 5025 had weakened enough not to be a problem, but China is always on top of 5030, and hardly ever free of the SAH. The co-channel on 5030 has to be RTM Kuching, 10 kW, but all we can do is wait and hope for a CNR1 transmission break (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NEW ZEALAND [and non]. Nov 9 checking for RNZI vs QRM: No sign of DZRM on 6170.4, but on 6170.0 at 1259, VOR IS quite good; RNZI cut on with a SAH a few sex before 1300, no bellbird or sign-on routine, right into news. Now the two signals were roughly equal, or a slight advantage to NZ as VOR went into Chinese opening, pronouncing a URL in English.
Then at 1313 I find that RNZI has taken my advice and reactivated the second transmitter due to the 6170 clash: there it is // on 7440, not DRM, but AM too with report from Saipan.
This was an off-week for fortnightly Mailbox Monday at 1329, so no chance to hear any explanation from Adrian until next week. Instead, a report about thousands of weed-eaters. I think this was about devices rather than fauna.
7440 was the frequency originally planned for the 1300- period in B-09, but avoided due to potential clash with IBB via Sri Lanka. Did NZ get IBB to vacate? At first it seemed so, as no QRM on 7440. But by 1411 the co-channel QRM had grown as NZ was talking about birdwatching.
On the FRG-7 with longwire aimed toward NZ, RNZI remained dominant, but on the YB-400 with interior randomwires, it was a very different story, at best an even mix. At 1445 found NZ even weaker on 7440 vs Udorn, and 6170 was nothing but Chinese from Chabarovsk.
7440 has the VOA Urdu service at 13-15, but the first hour is via Sri Lanka at 315 degrees, while the second hour is via Thailand at 300 degrees. NZ has a choice of 35 or 325 degrees on 7440 at 1300-1600. After 1500, IBB is finished with 7440, so at 1517 NZ in clear again but declined to poor signal by now, and with splash from 7445 RFA Chinese via Tinian + ChiCom jamming.
Is there anything about adding 7440 during this time period on the RNZI website? No, not under what`s new, and the grid still shows 6170 only at 1300-1549. But I did find this:
``Notice for DRM Europe Listeners, 01 Nov, 2009 21:55 UTC: RNZI is no longer broadcasting on VT Group's DRM digital service in Europe. DRM listeners in Europe can access RNZI through the World Radio Network (WRN).`` ?? Well, so can AM listeners in Europe, of whom there are a lot more (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** POLAND [non]. 11675, PRES continues to be a VG reliable English hour in our mornings, even tho we benefit only accidentally by being beyond the true British Isles target in the same direxion from AUSTRIA. Nov 9 at 1345 with Soundscapes feature about how Poland is homogeneous with only 2% resident foreigners, so most Poles have never met a nonPole; and they have a negative opinion especially of Russians, Ukrainians and Jews (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAIPAN. A nightmiddle opening up to 18 MHz, unusual now but common in summer: Nov 9 at 0615, RFA Chinese on 17880 and 17615 but deliberately unsynchronized, poor signals; surely this rather than ChiCom jamming. See also AUSTRALIA. Nothing unusual per SWPC:
``Geophysical Alert Message # Solar-terrestrial indices for 08 November follow. Solar flux 71 and mid-latitude A-index 7. The mid-latitude K-index at 0600 UTC on 09 November was 1 (9 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours.`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Checked for DXing with Cumbre at 0345 UT Nov 9 on both 7315 and 7385, WHRI and WHRA as in the WHR online schedule for 0330 UT Mondays: no signals, no surprise due to their imaginary SW scheduling, perhaps fooling paying customers who never turn on a radio (Glenn Hauser, OK, D LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Checking the morning VOA Spanish frequencies, Nov 9 at 1323: VG on 9885 and 13715, but the third Greenville channel, 15590, much weaker as the MUF had not built up. Notable that no DentroCuban jamming could be heard on any of them, maybe just a fluke, as they are still jamming the 23-24 broadcast on 5890, 9885. Propagation from Cuba was certainly open, e.g. RHC on 15120 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 13706, intruding 2-way Spanish on SSB, Nov 9 at 1510, wedged between 13695 WYFR splash, 13700 algo and 13710 Saudi Arabia and Cuban leapfrog. Slightly off 13706 to the lo side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** AUSTRALIA. These fall nitemiddles, we are lucky to hear anything from RA on 13630, let alone anywhere higher, but Nov 9 at 0613 was more like August, VG English signal on 15160, and progressively somewhat weaker on // 15240, 13630, 13690. See also SAIPAN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9475 blob QRM: see INDIA
** CHINA. Firedrake Nov 9: at 1310, poor on 8400 and 9000, nothing on 10210. At 1435, 10210 had become JBA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also MALAYSIA
** CHINA. 5175-5225, OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, Nov 9 at 1430 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. Unlike many nights inaudible, RHC 11760 was inbooming Nov 9 at 0610 in Spanish, S9+22, and still no spurs! Also spurless at 1504 check.
However, propagation from Cuba was so pipeline at 0611 that remnant DCJC jamming pulses were also clearly audible on 11930 against non-Radio Martí, enough to bother Brasil on 11925. Just another example of Cuba`s cynical attitude about jamming, not bothering to restrict it totally to when really `needed`. See also USA: VOA.
11435.0. huge S9+22 open carrier plus hum, Nov 9 at 0612, correlating nicely with opening from RHC on 11760, so likely a spy transmitter at same or nearby site. See previous report in DXLD 9-007. Another suspicious open carrier on 9085.3 at 0627.
6180 was one of the RHC frequencies listed on En Contacto (see my previous report) as deleted. That may be so in the evenings, but not in the mornings --- still there until 1257* Nov 9, presumably from at least 1100 for Despertar con Cuba. Also 10-11 for Venezuela relay.
At tune-in 1255 all three were running, 6110, 6150 and 6180. 6150 cut off less than a minute later at 1258* audiblizing praise music ending KNLS`s English hour now being crushed by the Cubans; while 6110 continued as usual, to be on all day and evening. It was quite undermodulated compared to the other two (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CYPRUS. OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, Nov 9 at 1334 on 13935-13960 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. 15710, R. Cairo Indonesian service, Nov 9 at 1335 check, quite weak, but as best I could tell the modulation was not too bad unlike most days and should have been comprehensible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** HAWAII. AFN`s ``format change`` to country music via Pearl Harbor 10320-USB was short-lived, and I suspect ad-hoc, so no telling if or when it will change back, but Nov 9 at 0622, back to news/talk feature bits, Osgood File from CBS, about Ft Hood. Also at 1433 news update from AP about American hostages in Iran, AFN ID (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA [and non]. Where will the AIR Aligarh blob be today, Nov 9? At 1317 I find mush centered right on top of 9475, R. Australia in Chinese. It`s so distorted that I cannot recognize AIR IS or Vande Mataram // weak 9425, but no doubt this is it. 1437-1500+ the same (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. After an 8-day absence, VOI is back on 9525.9, Nov 9 at 1317 during English, but no improvement in modulation, still just enough to recognize the YL announcer, so why bother? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5985, Shiokaze, via JSR Japan, Nov 9 at 1420, sad Japanese YL talking with mandatory piano background, ultimately IDing as ``Kochira wa Shiokaze desu`` before 1429. No QRM at all here, unlike Myanmar and Juche jamming washing up onto Asilomar Beach (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MALAYSIA SARAWAK [and non]. 5030, Nov 9 at 1429, fast rippling SAH with CNR1 Beijing in Chinese pop music // much weaker 4460. By now Cuba 5025 had weakened enough not to be a problem, but China is always on top of 5030, and hardly ever free of the SAH. The co-channel on 5030 has to be RTM Kuching, 10 kW, but all we can do is wait and hope for a CNR1 transmission break (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NEW ZEALAND [and non]. Nov 9 checking for RNZI vs QRM: No sign of DZRM on 6170.4, but on 6170.0 at 1259, VOR IS quite good; RNZI cut on with a SAH a few sex before 1300, no bellbird or sign-on routine, right into news. Now the two signals were roughly equal, or a slight advantage to NZ as VOR went into Chinese opening, pronouncing a URL in English.
Then at 1313 I find that RNZI has taken my advice and reactivated the second transmitter due to the 6170 clash: there it is // on 7440, not DRM, but AM too with report from Saipan.
This was an off-week for fortnightly Mailbox Monday at 1329, so no chance to hear any explanation from Adrian until next week. Instead, a report about thousands of weed-eaters. I think this was about devices rather than fauna.
7440 was the frequency originally planned for the 1300- period in B-09, but avoided due to potential clash with IBB via Sri Lanka. Did NZ get IBB to vacate? At first it seemed so, as no QRM on 7440. But by 1411 the co-channel QRM had grown as NZ was talking about birdwatching.
On the FRG-7 with longwire aimed toward NZ, RNZI remained dominant, but on the YB-400 with interior randomwires, it was a very different story, at best an even mix. At 1445 found NZ even weaker on 7440 vs Udorn, and 6170 was nothing but Chinese from Chabarovsk.
7440 has the VOA Urdu service at 13-15, but the first hour is via Sri Lanka at 315 degrees, while the second hour is via Thailand at 300 degrees. NZ has a choice of 35 or 325 degrees on 7440 at 1300-1600. After 1500, IBB is finished with 7440, so at 1517 NZ in clear again but declined to poor signal by now, and with splash from 7445 RFA Chinese via Tinian + ChiCom jamming.
Is there anything about adding 7440 during this time period on the RNZI website? No, not under what`s new, and the grid still shows 6170 only at 1300-1549. But I did find this:
``Notice for DRM Europe Listeners, 01 Nov, 2009 21:55 UTC: RNZI is no longer broadcasting on VT Group's DRM digital service in Europe. DRM listeners in Europe can access RNZI through the World Radio Network (WRN).`` ?? Well, so can AM listeners in Europe, of whom there are a lot more (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** POLAND [non]. 11675, PRES continues to be a VG reliable English hour in our mornings, even tho we benefit only accidentally by being beyond the true British Isles target in the same direxion from AUSTRIA. Nov 9 at 1345 with Soundscapes feature about how Poland is homogeneous with only 2% resident foreigners, so most Poles have never met a nonPole; and they have a negative opinion especially of Russians, Ukrainians and Jews (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAIPAN. A nightmiddle opening up to 18 MHz, unusual now but common in summer: Nov 9 at 0615, RFA Chinese on 17880 and 17615 but deliberately unsynchronized, poor signals; surely this rather than ChiCom jamming. See also AUSTRALIA. Nothing unusual per SWPC:
``Geophysical Alert Message # Solar-terrestrial indices for 08 November follow. Solar flux 71 and mid-latitude A-index 7. The mid-latitude K-index at 0600 UTC on 09 November was 1 (9 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours.`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Checked for DXing with Cumbre at 0345 UT Nov 9 on both 7315 and 7385, WHRI and WHRA as in the WHR online schedule for 0330 UT Mondays: no signals, no surprise due to their imaginary SW scheduling, perhaps fooling paying customers who never turn on a radio (Glenn Hauser, OK, D LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Checking the morning VOA Spanish frequencies, Nov 9 at 1323: VG on 9885 and 13715, but the third Greenville channel, 15590, much weaker as the MUF had not built up. Notable that no DentroCuban jamming could be heard on any of them, maybe just a fluke, as they are still jamming the 23-24 broadcast on 5890, 9885. Propagation from Cuba was certainly open, e.g. RHC on 15120 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 13706, intruding 2-way Spanish on SSB, Nov 9 at 1510, wedged between 13695 WYFR splash, 13700 algo and 13710 Saudi Arabia and Cuban leapfrog. Slightly off 13706 to the lo side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
