** ALBANIA. 13640, R. Tirana, good signal as usual at tune-in 1556 Feb 11, but it`s in Albanian instead of English! mentioning Balkan countries until off abruptly at 1600*. I wonder if the entire semihour was in Albanian by mistake, or if this just filled out the hour after the English part which usually ends a few minutes early. Wolfgang Büschel was also listening and says it was entirely Albanian from 1530; perhaps a feeder problem (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 6580, typical DCJC-style pulsing at 0650 Feb 11; it would cut off for a split second now and then as if for a monitoring check. Never could hear any target, but it bothered aero 2-way SSB communications around 6577 and another frequency on the hi side. I also compared it to DCJC on 7405 vs Martí, and by tuning to a sideband of that, the pulsing perfectly matched 6580. See also USA: WRMI
RHC missing from 15120, but weaker 15360 signal still there at 1324 check Feb 11. I was about to remark that the audio distortion on RHC 11800 had improved; until at 1359 Feb 11 I tuned plus and minus 6 kHz or so, encountering slush from this transmitter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [non]. 7210-LSB, exile hams with polemical remarx surely intended to be overheard as quasi-broadcasts, Feb 11 at 1308, primarily Raúl, N4RAU in Miami, as last heard Jan 14 in DXLD 10-03. This time he was saying that once communism is eliminated in Venezuela there won`t be a drop of oil for Cuba, where the economy will really collapse (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. 15710, Feb 11 at 1327, distorted music and talk in Indonesian, mentioning Indonesia, and Cairo, what else but R. Cairo itself with usual defective broadcast, but it has been worse (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 9526-, VOI with YL talking about IRI, universities, in ``Miscellany`` segment ending at 1333, another one tomorrow; on to ``Music Corner`` from Bali. Some hum and flutter, a bit undermodulated but sufficient. 1401 signing off in English, 1403 opening in Malay or Indonesian, hard to discern which, as heard no mention of BM or BI, then warta berita, with more hum vs audio than during English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5910, Shiokaze again in English on a Thursday, Feb 11 at 1407 via JSR JAPAN: descriptions of abductees, atop lite Juche jamming noise. So the DPRK dictator even fears people hearing this in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. WWCR 15825 and 13845 instead of the usual marginal skip-over or backscatter signals at our distance of only one megameter from Nashville, reached very good levels at 1518 UT Feb 10, a sure tipoff that off-season sporadic E is in play, which may or may not ascend into the VHF range.
Started monitoring channel 2 on analog TV, and nothing showed until finally at 2105 UT, a mixture of stations in Spanish on channel 2, which I am always too quick to assume are Mexicans, altho the probability is high. By 2130, channel 3 was also in with one dominant station showing cartoons in Spanish; by 2145 there was a Spanish drama on channel 4; and by 2147 the MUF was up to channel 5 video with signs of skip.
Hard to get any IDs but at 2150, channel 3 had a Mexican government PSA and mention of Televisa, which could be from many different locations. MUF declined somewhat, but still channel 2 at 2247. Meanwhile I checked the 6-meter DX map at
http://www.vhfdx.net/spots/map.php?Lan=E&Frec=50&Map=NA
which showed NO activity at all! Wake up, hams.
Around 0100 UT Feb 11, long after the TVDX had outfaded here, that map had lines all over it, from central to western NAm, with the Es patch around NW Kansas, too close to here, and then numerous other TVDXers were reporting activity in that area (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** POLAND [non]. 11675, PRES via AUSTRIA, Thu Feb 11 at 1335 with documentary on whisperers, supposedly performing natural healing, Slavonic folk magic. Unnamed program ended a 1348 until next week. ID by Swavek Chefs as the ES of PR, on to next unnamed show about eating offal, with harp music, culminating in a recipe for tripe soup. Glad I wasn`t eating breakfast yet.
May have been the Letter from Poland lady, which had been scheduled in this time segment, but what became of Multimedia before it, or rather Multitouch --- has that been completely canceled, or moved? The program grid still hasn`t been revised since 10.5 months ago: http://www.thenews.pl/static/Schedule.aspx
1356 sign-off announcement, with P-mail address, e-mail english.section @ polishradio.pl and fill with rock music postlude.
Went looking for text or audio archives, and found nothing on these subjects yet, not even under today`s date, nor the last few days in case the wrong hour was being played back; but under Multimedia link, a 16-minute file of the Feb 2 program, none since:
``February 1st marked 85 years of Polish Radio broadcasting activity.
Presented by Slawek Szefs --- Also, the latest comments on PRES reception and... should my name be spelled Swavek Chefs?`` Audio link: http://www.thenews.pl/radio/multimedia/artykul124866.html
Which I then listened to. Erik Køie on the outskirts of Copenhagen complained of QRM from R. Netherlands, also on 11675 until 1330. That`s eastward from UAE in Dutch scheduled until 1327, but certainly likely to get into Europe off the back, especially in the skip zone from Austria!
At end he does refer to a DXLD extract from 10-04, courtesy of Erik Køie, discussing spelling of Polish names, alfabet, searching for Multi-Touch. Hopes hybrid show will only be a transitory feature, and to regain funding to separate them; still have to look for audio under Multimedia on website.
Fortunately our respelling-his-name comment raised a smile on his face, and he will be glad for people to spell it that way when writing; just so they write (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. BBCWS, Connexion Haïti still on the air in Kreyòl, Feb 11 at 1242 check via Guiana French 11860. Next check at 1255 via WHRI 9410, operatic fill music, so this time CH must have started close to on-time at 1232:30 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9955, WRMI Radio Miami International and DentroCuban Jamming Command observations Feb 11: at 0615, ``pulse of the planet`` mentioned, not sure if a program segment but presumably from Israel Radio via WRN as scheduled this semihour, 0620 to electro-acoustic vamp music; it seems the last third of IR via WRN is always music fill. The solar flux is up, allowing the WRMI signal, still on the SSE antenna only, to be competitive with the DCJC pulses.
Previously DCJC was up and running a fifth of an hour before 1300 during UN Radio in French to Haiti, but this day monitoring from that minute, 1248, found it in the clear, first about Haiti, Radio des Nations-Unies ID and into magazine segment about something else. It was not until *1258:40 that DCJC cut on and overwhelmed WRMI in time to block Radio Libertad at 1300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 13570, WINB with preacher in Spanish, Feb 11 at 1555, with awful self-imposed buzz, very wobbly carrier even more obvious with BFO on, and interfering with CODAR.
Program schedule at http://www.winb.com/schedule.htm now shows a correct 5-hour difference between UT and ET, unlike last time we checked. Per it, does not start until 1600 with Alámo, so what`s this Spanish? All the programs flagged as Spanish, at other times, are from Family Radio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1160, KSL Salt Lake City UT, with delayed Jim Bohannon Show, Feb 11 at 0715 UT, but bad IBOC QRM. What could that be from? KFAQ Tulsa 1170 has stopped IBOC at least in the daytime, and still clear at 1715 UT check, but no other stations known on 1170 or 1150, much less 1180 or 1140, which would mess up 1160, where KSL itself is on the IBOC list at http://topazdesigns.com/iboc/station-list.html
Hmmm, could it have been out of whack, KSL QRMing itself too close to center channel? Besides, there was no IBOC bothering weaker signals on 1180, i.e. coming from 1170 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED [and non]. 9540, steady S9+20 open carrier, Feb 11 at 1254. Nothing significant scheduled now or after 1300 on frequency. Makes me suspect the new Radio Nacional de Venezuela site in Calabozo could be testing, as 9540 was the frequency of the original non-bolivarian RNV/Voz de Venezuela years ago. Zero news out of Venezuela about how the new project is going, but it is now two months past a previously publicized target date of December 2009.
Meanwhile, RNV via CUBA was running as usual on 11705 before 1300. It`s also conceivable that RNV would switch frequencies which have been Cuba relays without notice to direct transmissions, once possible. Since RNV announces imaginary times and frequencies, never admitting that they are via Cuba, it may be hard to tell the difference (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** CUBA. 6580, typical DCJC-style pulsing at 0650 Feb 11; it would cut off for a split second now and then as if for a monitoring check. Never could hear any target, but it bothered aero 2-way SSB communications around 6577 and another frequency on the hi side. I also compared it to DCJC on 7405 vs Martí, and by tuning to a sideband of that, the pulsing perfectly matched 6580. See also USA: WRMI
RHC missing from 15120, but weaker 15360 signal still there at 1324 check Feb 11. I was about to remark that the audio distortion on RHC 11800 had improved; until at 1359 Feb 11 I tuned plus and minus 6 kHz or so, encountering slush from this transmitter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [non]. 7210-LSB, exile hams with polemical remarx surely intended to be overheard as quasi-broadcasts, Feb 11 at 1308, primarily Raúl, N4RAU in Miami, as last heard Jan 14 in DXLD 10-03. This time he was saying that once communism is eliminated in Venezuela there won`t be a drop of oil for Cuba, where the economy will really collapse (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. 15710, Feb 11 at 1327, distorted music and talk in Indonesian, mentioning Indonesia, and Cairo, what else but R. Cairo itself with usual defective broadcast, but it has been worse (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 9526-, VOI with YL talking about IRI, universities, in ``Miscellany`` segment ending at 1333, another one tomorrow; on to ``Music Corner`` from Bali. Some hum and flutter, a bit undermodulated but sufficient. 1401 signing off in English, 1403 opening in Malay or Indonesian, hard to discern which, as heard no mention of BM or BI, then warta berita, with more hum vs audio than during English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5910, Shiokaze again in English on a Thursday, Feb 11 at 1407 via JSR JAPAN: descriptions of abductees, atop lite Juche jamming noise. So the DPRK dictator even fears people hearing this in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. WWCR 15825 and 13845 instead of the usual marginal skip-over or backscatter signals at our distance of only one megameter from Nashville, reached very good levels at 1518 UT Feb 10, a sure tipoff that off-season sporadic E is in play, which may or may not ascend into the VHF range.
Started monitoring channel 2 on analog TV, and nothing showed until finally at 2105 UT, a mixture of stations in Spanish on channel 2, which I am always too quick to assume are Mexicans, altho the probability is high. By 2130, channel 3 was also in with one dominant station showing cartoons in Spanish; by 2145 there was a Spanish drama on channel 4; and by 2147 the MUF was up to channel 5 video with signs of skip.
Hard to get any IDs but at 2150, channel 3 had a Mexican government PSA and mention of Televisa, which could be from many different locations. MUF declined somewhat, but still channel 2 at 2247. Meanwhile I checked the 6-meter DX map at
http://www.vhfdx.net/spots/map.php?Lan=E&Frec=50&Map=NA
which showed NO activity at all! Wake up, hams.
Around 0100 UT Feb 11, long after the TVDX had outfaded here, that map had lines all over it, from central to western NAm, with the Es patch around NW Kansas, too close to here, and then numerous other TVDXers were reporting activity in that area (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** POLAND [non]. 11675, PRES via AUSTRIA, Thu Feb 11 at 1335 with documentary on whisperers, supposedly performing natural healing, Slavonic folk magic. Unnamed program ended a 1348 until next week. ID by Swavek Chefs as the ES of PR, on to next unnamed show about eating offal, with harp music, culminating in a recipe for tripe soup. Glad I wasn`t eating breakfast yet.
May have been the Letter from Poland lady, which had been scheduled in this time segment, but what became of Multimedia before it, or rather Multitouch --- has that been completely canceled, or moved? The program grid still hasn`t been revised since 10.5 months ago: http://www.thenews.pl/static/Schedule.aspx
1356 sign-off announcement, with P-mail address, e-mail english.section @ polishradio.pl and fill with rock music postlude.
Went looking for text or audio archives, and found nothing on these subjects yet, not even under today`s date, nor the last few days in case the wrong hour was being played back; but under Multimedia link, a 16-minute file of the Feb 2 program, none since:
``February 1st marked 85 years of Polish Radio broadcasting activity.
Presented by Slawek Szefs --- Also, the latest comments on PRES reception and... should my name be spelled Swavek Chefs?`` Audio link: http://www.thenews.pl/radio/multimedia/artykul124866.html
Which I then listened to. Erik Køie on the outskirts of Copenhagen complained of QRM from R. Netherlands, also on 11675 until 1330. That`s eastward from UAE in Dutch scheduled until 1327, but certainly likely to get into Europe off the back, especially in the skip zone from Austria!
At end he does refer to a DXLD extract from 10-04, courtesy of Erik Køie, discussing spelling of Polish names, alfabet, searching for Multi-Touch. Hopes hybrid show will only be a transitory feature, and to regain funding to separate them; still have to look for audio under Multimedia on website.
Fortunately our respelling-his-name comment raised a smile on his face, and he will be glad for people to spell it that way when writing; just so they write (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. BBCWS, Connexion Haïti still on the air in Kreyòl, Feb 11 at 1242 check via Guiana French 11860. Next check at 1255 via WHRI 9410, operatic fill music, so this time CH must have started close to on-time at 1232:30 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9955, WRMI Radio Miami International and DentroCuban Jamming Command observations Feb 11: at 0615, ``pulse of the planet`` mentioned, not sure if a program segment but presumably from Israel Radio via WRN as scheduled this semihour, 0620 to electro-acoustic vamp music; it seems the last third of IR via WRN is always music fill. The solar flux is up, allowing the WRMI signal, still on the SSE antenna only, to be competitive with the DCJC pulses.
Previously DCJC was up and running a fifth of an hour before 1300 during UN Radio in French to Haiti, but this day monitoring from that minute, 1248, found it in the clear, first about Haiti, Radio des Nations-Unies ID and into magazine segment about something else. It was not until *1258:40 that DCJC cut on and overwhelmed WRMI in time to block Radio Libertad at 1300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 13570, WINB with preacher in Spanish, Feb 11 at 1555, with awful self-imposed buzz, very wobbly carrier even more obvious with BFO on, and interfering with CODAR.
Program schedule at http://www.winb.com/schedule.htm now shows a correct 5-hour difference between UT and ET, unlike last time we checked. Per it, does not start until 1600 with Alámo, so what`s this Spanish? All the programs flagged as Spanish, at other times, are from Family Radio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1160, KSL Salt Lake City UT, with delayed Jim Bohannon Show, Feb 11 at 0715 UT, but bad IBOC QRM. What could that be from? KFAQ Tulsa 1170 has stopped IBOC at least in the daytime, and still clear at 1715 UT check, but no other stations known on 1170 or 1150, much less 1180 or 1140, which would mess up 1160, where KSL itself is on the IBOC list at http://topazdesigns.com/iboc/station-list.html
Hmmm, could it have been out of whack, KSL QRMing itself too close to center channel? Besides, there was no IBOC bothering weaker signals on 1180, i.e. coming from 1170 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED [and non]. 9540, steady S9+20 open carrier, Feb 11 at 1254. Nothing significant scheduled now or after 1300 on frequency. Makes me suspect the new Radio Nacional de Venezuela site in Calabozo could be testing, as 9540 was the frequency of the original non-bolivarian RNV/Voz de Venezuela years ago. Zero news out of Venezuela about how the new project is going, but it is now two months past a previously publicized target date of December 2009.
Meanwhile, RNV via CUBA was running as usual on 11705 before 1300. It`s also conceivable that RNV would switch frequencies which have been Cuba relays without notice to direct transmissions, once possible. Since RNV announces imaginary times and frequencies, never admitting that they are via Cuba, it may be hard to tell the difference (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
