lunedì 20 settembre 2010

Glenn Hauser logs September 19-20, 2010

** AFGHANISTAN [non]. 15680, Sept 20 at 1327 enjoying some music reminiscent of the late, lamented R. Solh, but cut off rudely without announcement at 1329*. Scheduled as R. Azadi (R. Free Afghanistan) due east from Wertachtal, GERMANY 250 kW at 1230-1330 [sic]. Uplooked later, 15680 turns over to R. Farda via Lampertheim from 1330, but only 100 kW, and by then I had tuned on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ANTARCTICA. Tho it was missing last Monday, LRA36 definitely on this Monday Sept 20, on 15476. Altho nothing is ever scheduled on 15475, except one-off specials from RNW, I always confirm the frequency is not 15475, by comparing it to RA 9475, which is usually but not always BFO-detectable in the splash from WTWW 9479.

And so at 1233 I get a carrier on 15476 stronger than Rampisham 15480, and music at 1242. 1250-1257 as it was relayed in Enid on 90.7 Part 15 FM since I needed to hear it in another room, RNASG had YL talking, then back to music past 1301. 1321 still audible with music but now 15480 is stronger (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL. Until RHC activated 5040 last spring, we were enjoying reliable good reception from R. Cultura do Pará, 5045. Since then too much Cuba splash, but RCP appearing again Sept 20 at 0534 with Brazilian music, strong enough to hold its own against 5040, the latter perhaps a bit weaker than usual. Or since we don`t usually listen before 0500, maybe RCP had not been staying on late (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHILE. 17680, normal big signal from CVC La Voz, even when not much else is propagating on 16m, absent Sept 20 at 1236, tho WYFR was in well, even Saudi Arabia on 17705; and CRI Kashgar on 17490.

17680 still open at further chex 1306, 1408, 1507. At 1439 I looked for their other frequency 9635, which is sometimes weakly audible in daytime, but only a carrier detectable, inconclusive. Anyhow, a breakdown at Calera de Tango, or have they decided to delete their Spanish SW service too? The former: 17680 back on the air at 1702 check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA [and non]. Firedrake Sept 19 circa 1200: none found

Firedrake Sept 20:
 8400, fair at 1217; nothing audible on 9380, 10500

13755, good at 1510 mixing equally with Chinese talk which was not // 15285. At this hour no FD //s to match, but percussion sure sounded like it. During this semihour, both VOA Uzbek via Kuwait, and CRI Chinese via Kashgar, EAST TURKISTAN are scheduled on 13755, so the ChiComs have to jam themselves too whilst interfering in the internal affairs of Uzbekistan; but why should they care, with countless other unjammed frequencies? Fortunately, this radio war erupts after Albania is finished with 13755.

14700, FD JBA at 1229 Sept 20 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also TIBET [and non]

** CUBA [and non]. Our friend in Havana continues to allow jamming of DX programs other than his own: 9955, WRMI with Studio DX in Italian from Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, Monday Sept 20 at 1432 but with pulse jamming generally atop him as each signal faded up and down independently.

11690, RHC on the air vs RTTY on lo side, at 1508 Monday Sept 20 // 11730, 11760, 12030, despite schedule at
http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm
not showing 11690 at all except for Aló, Presidente on Sunday mornings
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also VENEZUELA [non]

** GUATEMALA [and non]. 4055, no carrier traced from R. Verdad, Sept 20 at 0530, so suspect it was not on; earlier Sunday sign-off as well as -on? There was however, a carrier on 4050, presumed KWMO X 3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDIA. 15050, Sept 20 at 1446, fair signal fading from S5 to S9+10 but not much modulation. What I did hear was chanting, which seems to be a staple of AIR`s Sinhala service via Delhi-Khampur site; is there some religious significance? This reminded me to check AIR GOS on 9690 for ``Faithfully Yours`` mailbag, but too little signal and too late for the Monday 1430 broadcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDONESIA. 9526-, VOI, Sept 20 at 1306, VG signal with hum, news in English by OM with heavy accent hard to understand, about eco-tourism; also OADs but not too frequent and only for split-seconds (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KOREA NORTH [and non]. 2850, KCBS, Sept 20 at 1206 with triumphal music, fair peaking S9+12; no VL8s on 120 this morn, but Korean radio war het also audible on 3480. Similar triumphal music at 1210 on 6600 and 6518, V. of the People from S to N, vs noise jamming from N to S; different programming, Korean talk on 6348, Echo of Hope from S to N (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ROMANIA. 15435, RRI Chinese service, seems to be a regular thing to fill out the hour with an operatic aria, Sept 20 at 1322, excellent performance by a tenor, seems Italian, but do not recognize it. 1325 cut off without any back-announcement identifying it! Instead YL with ID and sign-off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SWEDEN. 15735, R. Sweden in English, Sept 20 at 1332-1359* all about yesterday`s inconclusive elexion. Fair signal NE toward Asia but mostly readable here, despite R. Sweden`s blowing off its morning audience in NAm, and about to delete SW entirely in 5 weeks; so enjoy it while we can (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TIBET [and non]. 15520, at 1301 Sept 20, V. of Turkey eastward signal poor, but unusually about as good as the // westward one in English on 15450. Plus, a het against 15520 but that went off at 1302* before I could decide from which side.

Thus I suspect it is another ChiCom jammer in the cat-and-mouse game with V. of Tibet in this range, which probably just jumped somewhere else. Aoki does show VOT via TAJIKISTAN on 15521 at 1330-1342.

Then at 1302 I scan up toward 15600 and find another off-frequency het, from 15568, vs R. Svoboda on 15565, Russian via Rampisham. The latest Aoki, dated Sept 18, does show VOT on 15568 via TAJIKISTAN at 1235-1307.

And an hour later at 1406, a 15578 carrier makes a het against VOA Music Mix, São Tomé on 15580. Aoki also shows 15578 as VOT via TAJIKISTAN at 1330-1407.

It`s impossible to tell whether these weak carriers are VOT itself or ChiCom jamming, but my money is on the latter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Two-thirds of Tennessee`s SW stations could be compared at a cusp, Sept 20 at 1219: 9479 WTWW with PPPP was already super-strong, overloading the band forcing us to attenuate to clear other frequencies; while 9980 WWCR with BS was only poor, but beginning to solidify with peaking fadeups. WTWW is slightly further east than WWCR, so has the advantage of a slightly longer skip path as the ionosphere is building up after sunrise. From a few minutes later, both are indistinguishably supersignals (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 17775, had not heard any signal from KVOH over the weekend Sept 18-19, but Sept 20 at 1503 it had just come on with Spanish sermon, plus the distorted, whiny spur on 17920, much weaker than the good signal on 17775 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** VATICAN [non]. 9830, VR via CANADA, mixed RTTY, still in Spanish instead of scheduled English at 1201 Monday Sept 20, NB EiBi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** VENEZUELA [and non]. 11705, RNV via CUBA, just as I tuned by Sept 20 at 1237 was announcing for the millionth time its years-out-of-date transmission schedule, only the last entry of which is still by chance correct, 17705, once the unspecified local timezone be changed to UT. And I was doubly blessed, as when I tuned by 11680 at 1507, they were doing it again! Bolivarian broadcasting bureaucracy is unequaled in its severely disabled internal communication.

BTW, a call for bids has been issued for contractors to construct bases and anchors for RNV`s own new SW station in Calabozo, deadline Sept 29, as found by Yimber Gaviría on the RNV website:

``Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV) hace un llamado a Concurso a todas las empresas que quieran ser contratadas para la construcción de las bases y anclajes para la estación de onda corta de la emisora en Calabozo, estado Guárico.``

I assume this refers to concrete antenna bases and anchoring/guying, so perhaps the station is nearer completion, a year past its original target date (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 15250-SSB, intruder 2-way in Spanish, Sept 20 at 1408, whistling into mike, but only heard one side of conversation and no more (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###