** ALBANIA. 7425, R. Tirana, July 3 at 0329 IS, 0330 sign-on, undermodulated with A-10 English schedule (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL [and non]. 11780, RNA, still on at 0318 UT Saturday July 3, VG signal but some CCI underneath: only listed is DW in Russian, 30 degrees via RWANDA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. Had lots of analog Canadian TV DX many hours morning into afternoon of July 3, ch 2-6, from Ontario to Alberta: CBC with World Cups; others with Global carrying CBS golf complete with American-patriotic comments. Haven`t sorted it all out yet, and some of it cannot be with more than one possibility (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake July 3 at 1451-1458 bandscan: none 8-18 MHz.
15170, CNR1 with usual hard-sell tone, VG signal but some fading, July 4 at 0127. To jam VOA Chinese, 250 kW, 30 degrees from Thailand so also USward, yet no VOA audible underneath. Also strange is that I was not hearing any other CNR1, CRI, or Firedrake anywhere from 12 to 19 MHz at this time. Maybe selective opening. What is the transmitter site, please? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 12240, as I tuned across July 4 at 0133, heard some RHC Spanish, VP fading in and out; quickly confirmed by // 6120 of which this is the second harmonic; also // but an echo apart from very strong fundamental 12020 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ETHIOPIA. 7110, HOA music fair at 0327 July 3, ham CWQRM. Radio Ethiopia still broadcasts in the 40m hamband. I suppose there are not many Ethiopian hams with any clout to get them out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [non]. 11655, NHKWNRJ via CANADA, like on Friday also goes American songbook on Saturday nights: July 3 at 1425, ``On the Street Where You Live`` by Eddie Fisher? 1427 ``Raindrops`` by YL; 1430 ``Cabaret`` by Lena Horne? 1432, ``Days of Wine and Roses``, Andy Williams? 1435 YL announcement in Japanese; 1435 unknown chanson by Edith Piaf; 1439 OM DJ takes over talking over music; 1443 Chopin piano, but more talkovers past 1451; cuts off air at 1458* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LIBERIA. 4025.0, July 3 at 0609 I find the JBA carrier is now matching 5025.0 R. Rebelde, rather than being a tad lower. Presumed Star Radio. I wonder if Jamie has noted the off-frequency logs and got them to touch it up. It was much more distinctive when off a bit; we`ll see if it stays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Lots more sporadic E TVDX, to be enjoyed while it lasts. Here I am just mentioning a few items, not the total logbook for July 2-3, which I may get together later. All times and dates UT.
UT July 2 at 0000 on ch 2, fade in something about rayos, but before fade-out, can make out bug UR of a stylized seagull in a circle, and below it, XHI-TV. Nice to see a real callsign! See it here under Ciudad Obregón, Sonora: http://www.tvdxtips.com/mexlogos.html and not to be confused with sister station XHQ over in Sinaloa.
UT July 2 at 2038 on ch 4 from SSE, game show in pesos, uncertain bug in UR maybe net-2, but nothing on ch 2 from same direxion, rather more to the SSW. 2043 Ting ad for foot odor; Quintana Roo political ad, IFE PSA, 2045 Instituto Electoral de Quintana Roo.
This seems exotic to me, since I don`t think I ever DXed this state (territory) during my previous TV activity sesquidecades ago – probably weren`t any lowbanders there then. W9WI now lists two ch 4 stations in QR:
XHCEN Cancún, 50 kW, net-5
XHCQR Chetumal, 41.82 kW, net-2
BUT, there is no ch 2 at Chetumal, while there is a 100 kW at Cancún, so that makes what I am getting on 4 Chetumal, at 1366 miles.
UT July 2 at 2212, ch 4 has bug in UR I have queried before, with a dark circle at the bottom of which are the askew letters tv. Checking the Televisa website, http://www2.esmas.com/canal4tv I`m pretty sure it`s like the 4TV logo of the XHTV network. It`s just hard to make out the big black 4 against the backgrounds. It`s also on this page http://www.tvdxtips.com/mexlogos.html but under the channel 4 local stations rather than as a network at the bottom.
W9WI does not show any relayer of XHTV on 4, so it`s presumably the DF station itself --- tho we know that some Televisa independents elsewhere in country do take some programs from 4TV and some of them could be on 4 too.
Anyhow at this hour there are opening credits in Spanish to an old movie, including a list of songs to come. TV Guide says it`s ``Pasiones Infernales`` set on an island, which fits the opening scenes, Samoa mentioned. By 2230 on ch 4, movie audio is distorted; hope it`s not that way on XHTV itself. Skip zone may have moved on.
UT July 2 at 2218, ch 3 is briefly // with same movie! But with a different bug in UR covering 4TV: tv3 italix, which is XHP Puebla.
UT July 3 at 0139, ch 3, XHBC Mexicali, curvy bespectacled weatheryl wraps up forecasts and her segment in Notivisa Vespertina.
UT July 3 at 0142, ch 5, XHAQ Mexicali, IEPC PSA, 0144 PSA for Tribunal Electoral de Baja California. What are we going to do for all these local references after 4 de julio?
UT July 3 at 0157, ch 4, ads for Suburbia, Soriana, local vote promo mentioning Sinaloa and Sinaloenses. Unfortunately there are two ch 4 there, each 100 kW: XHBS Los Mochis, offset minus, net-2; and XHMAF Mazatlán, offset zero, net 5.
UT July 3 at 0400, ch 2 fades in while antenna is SSW, with bug in lower right:
28 10:00 pm --- and below that
LAS NOTICIAS
So local newscast; 28 would be the temperature, and the clock reveals it`s in the UT-6 zone, which if I have sorted out DST and non correctly, applies to only four states. Checking W9WI for full-power targets:
Baja California Sur: 3 stations
Chihuahua: 3 stations
Nayarit: 1 station
Sinaloa: 0
That narrows it down, and if we only knew which one(s) do local news at 10 pm, or at all, we might nail it. Chihua2 most likely (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. I`m sure I have missed a lot of domestic FM DX, as I have to break away from TV DXing to do it. There are few relatively open channels and cookie-cutter formats, non-local commercials and lowbrow music make most of the DX rather boring to listen to. When Mexico was in on TV, July 2, I hoped for some FM from there too but instead had to settle for Ohio during a brief 2316-2330 UT session:
2316 on 96.3, Scioto Downs in Central Ohio ad, so WLVQ Columbus. Thought it was like ``Sayota`` till started Googling for it.
2318 on 97.9, ad for show ``Wicked``, Ticketmaster. Generic Chrysler-Jeep ad, ending with disclaimer so long, rapid and so unreadable they must have put it on just for laughs – but still legally binding? 2320 RDS just reads: HITS. Ad for H.H. Gregg electronix 4th of July sale. Must be WNCI Columbus, which per FM Atlas is one of those grandfathered super-powered FMs: 105 kW vertical, 175 kW horizontal. Does the RDS fit? Never heard of Gregg stores but per http://www.hhgregg.com/storeLocator.asp they are all over from Indiana eastward including Columbus area. 850 mile range. Had another hhgregg ad on unID 100.9 at 2324.
2321 on 97.7, ad for something at 212 N. Main in downtown Butler; then another Butler ad on Sarah Street; some motorco.com. Well, well, this one is not Ohio, but Pennsylvania, and a real local station: FCC FM Query says the only Butler on 97.7 is WLER [the W obviously is shot for But], 4.6 kW, between Slippery Rock and Saxonburg, NNE of Pittsburgh. 1000+ mile range.
2330 on 90.3, Capitol Steps July 4 special starting, probably WCPN Cleveland, fitting sked at http://www.capsteps.com/radio/ but their station list is incomplete and frequencies are haphazard. This reminded me to suspend the DX and go listen to it on KOSU at same time. Laughful. Go hear it on demand if necessary (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 1580, KOKB Blackwell OK once again loses modulation on another Saturday morning, giving me another chance to try to pull in the daytime-DX Spanish speaker underneath. July 3 at 1351 UT I can just barely make it out, fades in some at 1351 and 1401, enough to tell it`s Spanish, but nothing more. Tried the caradio in garage at 1414 and heard a bit more Spanish before fadeout.
XEDM Hermosillo if nothing closer possible? There was a sporadic-E opening into VHF already but not from that part of Mexico. However, Es effects on lower frequencies than VHF become broader and broader geographically.
KOKB was still OC at 0127 July 4, but by now lots of skywave stations are possible; July LSS is 0145 UT when they ought to cut power from 1000 to 49 watts, but since they can`t even remote-control their modulation, I have my doubts about that (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 15244.5, intruder, Spanish SSB 2-way July 4 at 0130; quickly checked on the DX-398 and it`s LSB, not USB. I recently heard this at a very different time in the 13 UT hour, so it may be in use brazenly any time of day or night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17450, center of the wide-band whine, made up of multiple close-spaced carriers beating against each other, as becomes obvious only with BFO on, at 0320 UT July 3, fair with fading. Band was open westward, e.g. RA fair on 17750.
And also UT July 4 at 0127, 17450 still audible tho not as strong as it usually is in the daytime, such as 1452 July 3. Hearing it at evening hours indicates it is westward from CNAm; could not really tell which way from previous logs in full day. We are still waiting and hoping for someone to identify what and whence this is (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** BRAZIL [and non]. 11780, RNA, still on at 0318 UT Saturday July 3, VG signal but some CCI underneath: only listed is DW in Russian, 30 degrees via RWANDA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. Had lots of analog Canadian TV DX many hours morning into afternoon of July 3, ch 2-6, from Ontario to Alberta: CBC with World Cups; others with Global carrying CBS golf complete with American-patriotic comments. Haven`t sorted it all out yet, and some of it cannot be with more than one possibility (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake July 3 at 1451-1458 bandscan: none 8-18 MHz.
15170, CNR1 with usual hard-sell tone, VG signal but some fading, July 4 at 0127. To jam VOA Chinese, 250 kW, 30 degrees from Thailand so also USward, yet no VOA audible underneath. Also strange is that I was not hearing any other CNR1, CRI, or Firedrake anywhere from 12 to 19 MHz at this time. Maybe selective opening. What is the transmitter site, please? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 12240, as I tuned across July 4 at 0133, heard some RHC Spanish, VP fading in and out; quickly confirmed by // 6120 of which this is the second harmonic; also // but an echo apart from very strong fundamental 12020 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ETHIOPIA. 7110, HOA music fair at 0327 July 3, ham CWQRM. Radio Ethiopia still broadcasts in the 40m hamband. I suppose there are not many Ethiopian hams with any clout to get them out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [non]. 11655, NHKWNRJ via CANADA, like on Friday also goes American songbook on Saturday nights: July 3 at 1425, ``On the Street Where You Live`` by Eddie Fisher? 1427 ``Raindrops`` by YL; 1430 ``Cabaret`` by Lena Horne? 1432, ``Days of Wine and Roses``, Andy Williams? 1435 YL announcement in Japanese; 1435 unknown chanson by Edith Piaf; 1439 OM DJ takes over talking over music; 1443 Chopin piano, but more talkovers past 1451; cuts off air at 1458* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LIBERIA. 4025.0, July 3 at 0609 I find the JBA carrier is now matching 5025.0 R. Rebelde, rather than being a tad lower. Presumed Star Radio. I wonder if Jamie has noted the off-frequency logs and got them to touch it up. It was much more distinctive when off a bit; we`ll see if it stays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Lots more sporadic E TVDX, to be enjoyed while it lasts. Here I am just mentioning a few items, not the total logbook for July 2-3, which I may get together later. All times and dates UT.
UT July 2 at 0000 on ch 2, fade in something about rayos, but before fade-out, can make out bug UR of a stylized seagull in a circle, and below it, XHI-TV. Nice to see a real callsign! See it here under Ciudad Obregón, Sonora: http://www.tvdxtips.com/mexlogos.html and not to be confused with sister station XHQ over in Sinaloa.
UT July 2 at 2038 on ch 4 from SSE, game show in pesos, uncertain bug in UR maybe net-2, but nothing on ch 2 from same direxion, rather more to the SSW. 2043 Ting ad for foot odor; Quintana Roo political ad, IFE PSA, 2045 Instituto Electoral de Quintana Roo.
This seems exotic to me, since I don`t think I ever DXed this state (territory) during my previous TV activity sesquidecades ago – probably weren`t any lowbanders there then. W9WI now lists two ch 4 stations in QR:
XHCEN Cancún, 50 kW, net-5
XHCQR Chetumal, 41.82 kW, net-2
BUT, there is no ch 2 at Chetumal, while there is a 100 kW at Cancún, so that makes what I am getting on 4 Chetumal, at 1366 miles.
UT July 2 at 2212, ch 4 has bug in UR I have queried before, with a dark circle at the bottom of which are the askew letters tv. Checking the Televisa website, http://www2.esmas.com/canal4tv I`m pretty sure it`s like the 4TV logo of the XHTV network. It`s just hard to make out the big black 4 against the backgrounds. It`s also on this page http://www.tvdxtips.com/mexlogos.html but under the channel 4 local stations rather than as a network at the bottom.
W9WI does not show any relayer of XHTV on 4, so it`s presumably the DF station itself --- tho we know that some Televisa independents elsewhere in country do take some programs from 4TV and some of them could be on 4 too.
Anyhow at this hour there are opening credits in Spanish to an old movie, including a list of songs to come. TV Guide says it`s ``Pasiones Infernales`` set on an island, which fits the opening scenes, Samoa mentioned. By 2230 on ch 4, movie audio is distorted; hope it`s not that way on XHTV itself. Skip zone may have moved on.
UT July 2 at 2218, ch 3 is briefly // with same movie! But with a different bug in UR covering 4TV: tv3 italix, which is XHP Puebla.
UT July 3 at 0139, ch 3, XHBC Mexicali, curvy bespectacled weatheryl wraps up forecasts and her segment in Notivisa Vespertina.
UT July 3 at 0142, ch 5, XHAQ Mexicali, IEPC PSA, 0144 PSA for Tribunal Electoral de Baja California. What are we going to do for all these local references after 4 de julio?
UT July 3 at 0157, ch 4, ads for Suburbia, Soriana, local vote promo mentioning Sinaloa and Sinaloenses. Unfortunately there are two ch 4 there, each 100 kW: XHBS Los Mochis, offset minus, net-2; and XHMAF Mazatlán, offset zero, net 5.
UT July 3 at 0400, ch 2 fades in while antenna is SSW, with bug in lower right:
28 10:00 pm --- and below that
LAS NOTICIAS
So local newscast; 28 would be the temperature, and the clock reveals it`s in the UT-6 zone, which if I have sorted out DST and non correctly, applies to only four states. Checking W9WI for full-power targets:
Baja California Sur: 3 stations
Chihuahua: 3 stations
Nayarit: 1 station
Sinaloa: 0
That narrows it down, and if we only knew which one(s) do local news at 10 pm, or at all, we might nail it. Chihua2 most likely (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. I`m sure I have missed a lot of domestic FM DX, as I have to break away from TV DXing to do it. There are few relatively open channels and cookie-cutter formats, non-local commercials and lowbrow music make most of the DX rather boring to listen to. When Mexico was in on TV, July 2, I hoped for some FM from there too but instead had to settle for Ohio during a brief 2316-2330 UT session:
2316 on 96.3, Scioto Downs in Central Ohio ad, so WLVQ Columbus. Thought it was like ``Sayota`` till started Googling for it.
2318 on 97.9, ad for show ``Wicked``, Ticketmaster. Generic Chrysler-Jeep ad, ending with disclaimer so long, rapid and so unreadable they must have put it on just for laughs – but still legally binding? 2320 RDS just reads: HITS. Ad for H.H. Gregg electronix 4th of July sale. Must be WNCI Columbus, which per FM Atlas is one of those grandfathered super-powered FMs: 105 kW vertical, 175 kW horizontal. Does the RDS fit? Never heard of Gregg stores but per http://www.hhgregg.com/storeLocator.asp they are all over from Indiana eastward including Columbus area. 850 mile range. Had another hhgregg ad on unID 100.9 at 2324.
2321 on 97.7, ad for something at 212 N. Main in downtown Butler; then another Butler ad on Sarah Street; some motorco.com. Well, well, this one is not Ohio, but Pennsylvania, and a real local station: FCC FM Query says the only Butler on 97.7 is WLER [the W obviously is shot for But], 4.6 kW, between Slippery Rock and Saxonburg, NNE of Pittsburgh. 1000+ mile range.
2330 on 90.3, Capitol Steps July 4 special starting, probably WCPN Cleveland, fitting sked at http://www.capsteps.com/radio/ but their station list is incomplete and frequencies are haphazard. This reminded me to suspend the DX and go listen to it on KOSU at same time. Laughful. Go hear it on demand if necessary (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 1580, KOKB Blackwell OK once again loses modulation on another Saturday morning, giving me another chance to try to pull in the daytime-DX Spanish speaker underneath. July 3 at 1351 UT I can just barely make it out, fades in some at 1351 and 1401, enough to tell it`s Spanish, but nothing more. Tried the caradio in garage at 1414 and heard a bit more Spanish before fadeout.
XEDM Hermosillo if nothing closer possible? There was a sporadic-E opening into VHF already but not from that part of Mexico. However, Es effects on lower frequencies than VHF become broader and broader geographically.
KOKB was still OC at 0127 July 4, but by now lots of skywave stations are possible; July LSS is 0145 UT when they ought to cut power from 1000 to 49 watts, but since they can`t even remote-control their modulation, I have my doubts about that (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 15244.5, intruder, Spanish SSB 2-way July 4 at 0130; quickly checked on the DX-398 and it`s LSB, not USB. I recently heard this at a very different time in the 13 UT hour, so it may be in use brazenly any time of day or night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17450, center of the wide-band whine, made up of multiple close-spaced carriers beating against each other, as becomes obvious only with BFO on, at 0320 UT July 3, fair with fading. Band was open westward, e.g. RA fair on 17750.
And also UT July 4 at 0127, 17450 still audible tho not as strong as it usually is in the daytime, such as 1452 July 3. Hearing it at evening hours indicates it is westward from CNAm; could not really tell which way from previous logs in full day. We are still waiting and hoping for someone to identify what and whence this is (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
