** ANTARCTICA. 15476, LRA36 carrier barely detectable Oct 20 at 1323, much weaker than English transmitter on 15480 with Polish Russian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL [and non]. 15190, R. Inconfidência, not yet heard again here as well as I did the first time, after 0045 UT WYFR closed. Oct 19 at 1935, no trace of a carrier; 2125 now there is a JBA carrier which could be this. Strangely, R. Africa, Equatorial Guinea vanished from 15190 at the same time ZYE522 appeared. At 2125, no signal audible on 15195 either. Currently YFR Ascension 15195 is at 20-21 only. As of Oct 19, others are still reporting R. Inconfidência at times, however (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake Oct 20: nothing found 18-8 MHz from 1305 to 1310 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUATEMALA. 4055.0, Oct 20 at 0552, matches REE 6055.0, music weakly audible from TGAV. Next check 1151 can make out the notes of a familiar hymn. Dr. Madrid e-mailed me UT Oct 20 at 0251:
``GREAT, GLENN, OUR BIG SHORT WAVE TRANSMITTER WAS FIXED TODAY, AFTER A VERY INTENSE AND DIFFICULT TASK. IN A FEW MINUTES WE WILL LEAVE FOR CHIQUIMULA, AND TOMORROW, WE'LL START BUILDING A NEW ANTENNA. SO, WE MAY COME ON THE AIR VERY SOON. PLEASE SPREAD THE NEWS.``
So time is running out to QRP-DX R. Verdad with only 50 watts (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. 15795, Oct 20 at 1303, Indian vocal music on AIR Chinese service, flutter, but no jamming audible, not surprising since no Firedrake audible either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Circa sunrise DX Oct 20 on DX-398 with internal antenna, AC power indoors, UT, peaking from the WSW to the SW:
640, at 1220 accordion music, inserted ``Uno`` a couple times, so R. Uno, XEHHI, Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua.
680, at 1224, discussion of education ``en el norte del estado de Sinaloa``, soon overtaken by KNBR with Bay Area ads. Therefore it was XEORO, La Mera Jefa, 1 kW from Guasave, per WRTH.
730, at 1226, big signal with emphatic ID, ``7-30, Radio Viva Vida``, i.e. XEHB`s 50 kW from Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua.
800, at 1201 Mexican NA, 1202, XEROK ID or sign-on claiming 50 mil watts, rather than listed 150, Radio Cañón, belongs to Grupo 7; ads for El Paso including Twisters, tacos, tiendita with phone cards. No problem from KQCV OKC this early.
950, at 1232, discussing ratings of Mexican banks. One station each in Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Sonora, likely PTA (probable target area).
990, at 1235 YL discussing escuelas, fades, 1239 peaks with accordion music, slow sad song with refrain ``Yo quiero morir``; 1243 segué to frenetic tune with East European sound; 1246 segué to slow ballad by YL. Still no luck nailing R. Lobo, XEER, Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, which is most likely.
1030, at 1244, Spanish talk from east-west, definitely not KCTA = north-south. Most likely XEYC, R. Fórmula, Juárez, Chih. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9650, Oct 20 at 1326, way under CRI English via Sackville, with light SAH, Netherlands NA, pause, and at 1327 a song, so I couldn`t tell whether the 3-minute supplemental broadcast via Tinang, PHILIPPINES, was English or Indonesian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 1120, KEOR Sperry-Tulsa is off the air again. Had noticed it on the day before, but absent, not even a carrier around 1830 UT Oct 19; and still off at 1300 Oct 20, only KMOX weakly audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA. 15435, expecting another nice operatic aria to fill out RRI`s Chinese hour, Oct 20 at 1324, instead rock song in English with heavy beat, what a drastic disappointment! 1325 cut to Chinese sign-off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 3160, WPJK, Orangeburg SC, 2 x 1580, Oct 20 at 1154 gospel music, DJ mentions Gospel Train, weather forecast, 68 degrees. Meter says S9+20 but modulation level not commensurate. I suspect a considerable fraxion of the modulation and the 1 kW power is still outgoing on 1580, of no use here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 17920, KVOH for the second day is emanating its filthy spur here, Oct 19 at 2127, and now there is enough distorted modulation to match it with SSOB 17775, along with the whine on spur only. At this hour, RFI via Guiana French is on 17630, and can`t hear any QRM from the much weaker matching spur (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 12050, WEWN Spanish, Oct 20 at 1307 with annoying squeal they seem unable or unwilling to repair, during prayer. Me and God would prefer to listen to // 11550 without the squeal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1110, haven`t heard KFAB Omaha NE in daytime for a long time, but on caradio Oct 19 at 1941, talk is audible, 1958 I notice it fades a little, but 1959 mentions `huskers in passing. This is only one sesquihour after local mean noon, so could be first sign of daytime skywave as we are two months from winter solstice; however, at some 350 miles, 50 kW, KFAB can also barely make it here on groundwave. The fading could be caused by SAH from very weak KVTT Mineral Wells (The Metroplex) TX, which can exist only because KEOR Atoka OK was hijacked out of the way to the Tulsa market on 1120, sporadically active; see OKLAHOMA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Sunrise observations Oct 20:
660, at 1222 UT, national spot for Quicken in English, immediately followed by announcement in Navajo. I`ll bet it`s KTNN, but night pattern?
720, at 1251 UT, Heidi Harris again from KDWN Las Vegas, playing anti-Democrat, anti-Reid political ads apparently as program examples to comment upon, rather than paid commercials; how generous of her. Says she has been a longtime supporter of Sharon Angle as a viable candidate! Night pattern? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENG DIGEST)
** VATICAN [non]. 6020, Oct 20 at 1314 VR IS mixing with R. Australia`s Asia-Pacific news magazine, i.e. the end of the Chinese relay via RVA PHILIPPINES. Instead of going off at 1315, continues with a song of some sort; next check 1319 no more modulation, but suspect carrier still on causing slow SAH against RA. Enough is enough! But RA is not worried about this collision (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. MW TP carrier search Oct 20 at 1210-1216, up and down on DX-398 in both LSB and USB modes: none found, except: 1098 at 1214; 738-trace at 1216. Also tried the big `uns from Japan on 747 and 774 some more times, but not making it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 48, Univisión from somewhere northeast of Enid: UT Oct 20 at 0045 signal fades up enough to lock synch; 0145 video and audio, as OETA-38 Ponca City is solid; 48 peaks around 0230 then fades down some. At 1400, good but still snowy and ghosty. The ghostiness has always bothered me, as it looks as if I cannot aim right at the transmitter no matter where I turn the antenna. When I do aim toward KWDW in OKC, it`s not ghosty but always weaker (until evening and morning tropo enhancement burns off). Could it be that I have been seeing KWDW all along, but when aimed at OKC, the signal is degraded by co-channel DTV? That would require the existence of another unknown transmitter. There are some full power 48s in Texas, but certainly not in daily without a DX opening. Looked for another upper-right ID super at 1430, but invisible. And when I do a full 360 at 1435 UT Oct 20, watching both the DTV signal meter on 48, and the same antenna split to the
analog TV, there is no sign of any DTV signal, no matter how `bad` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** BRAZIL [and non]. 15190, R. Inconfidência, not yet heard again here as well as I did the first time, after 0045 UT WYFR closed. Oct 19 at 1935, no trace of a carrier; 2125 now there is a JBA carrier which could be this. Strangely, R. Africa, Equatorial Guinea vanished from 15190 at the same time ZYE522 appeared. At 2125, no signal audible on 15195 either. Currently YFR Ascension 15195 is at 20-21 only. As of Oct 19, others are still reporting R. Inconfidência at times, however (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake Oct 20: nothing found 18-8 MHz from 1305 to 1310 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUATEMALA. 4055.0, Oct 20 at 0552, matches REE 6055.0, music weakly audible from TGAV. Next check 1151 can make out the notes of a familiar hymn. Dr. Madrid e-mailed me UT Oct 20 at 0251:
``GREAT, GLENN, OUR BIG SHORT WAVE TRANSMITTER WAS FIXED TODAY, AFTER A VERY INTENSE AND DIFFICULT TASK. IN A FEW MINUTES WE WILL LEAVE FOR CHIQUIMULA, AND TOMORROW, WE'LL START BUILDING A NEW ANTENNA. SO, WE MAY COME ON THE AIR VERY SOON. PLEASE SPREAD THE NEWS.``
So time is running out to QRP-DX R. Verdad with only 50 watts (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. 15795, Oct 20 at 1303, Indian vocal music on AIR Chinese service, flutter, but no jamming audible, not surprising since no Firedrake audible either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Circa sunrise DX Oct 20 on DX-398 with internal antenna, AC power indoors, UT, peaking from the WSW to the SW:
640, at 1220 accordion music, inserted ``Uno`` a couple times, so R. Uno, XEHHI, Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua.
680, at 1224, discussion of education ``en el norte del estado de Sinaloa``, soon overtaken by KNBR with Bay Area ads. Therefore it was XEORO, La Mera Jefa, 1 kW from Guasave, per WRTH.
730, at 1226, big signal with emphatic ID, ``7-30, Radio Viva Vida``, i.e. XEHB`s 50 kW from Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua.
800, at 1201 Mexican NA, 1202, XEROK ID or sign-on claiming 50 mil watts, rather than listed 150, Radio Cañón, belongs to Grupo 7; ads for El Paso including Twisters, tacos, tiendita with phone cards. No problem from KQCV OKC this early.
950, at 1232, discussing ratings of Mexican banks. One station each in Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Sonora, likely PTA (probable target area).
990, at 1235 YL discussing escuelas, fades, 1239 peaks with accordion music, slow sad song with refrain ``Yo quiero morir``; 1243 segué to frenetic tune with East European sound; 1246 segué to slow ballad by YL. Still no luck nailing R. Lobo, XEER, Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, which is most likely.
1030, at 1244, Spanish talk from east-west, definitely not KCTA = north-south. Most likely XEYC, R. Fórmula, Juárez, Chih. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9650, Oct 20 at 1326, way under CRI English via Sackville, with light SAH, Netherlands NA, pause, and at 1327 a song, so I couldn`t tell whether the 3-minute supplemental broadcast via Tinang, PHILIPPINES, was English or Indonesian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 1120, KEOR Sperry-Tulsa is off the air again. Had noticed it on the day before, but absent, not even a carrier around 1830 UT Oct 19; and still off at 1300 Oct 20, only KMOX weakly audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA. 15435, expecting another nice operatic aria to fill out RRI`s Chinese hour, Oct 20 at 1324, instead rock song in English with heavy beat, what a drastic disappointment! 1325 cut to Chinese sign-off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 3160, WPJK, Orangeburg SC, 2 x 1580, Oct 20 at 1154 gospel music, DJ mentions Gospel Train, weather forecast, 68 degrees. Meter says S9+20 but modulation level not commensurate. I suspect a considerable fraxion of the modulation and the 1 kW power is still outgoing on 1580, of no use here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 17920, KVOH for the second day is emanating its filthy spur here, Oct 19 at 2127, and now there is enough distorted modulation to match it with SSOB 17775, along with the whine on spur only. At this hour, RFI via Guiana French is on 17630, and can`t hear any QRM from the much weaker matching spur (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 12050, WEWN Spanish, Oct 20 at 1307 with annoying squeal they seem unable or unwilling to repair, during prayer. Me and God would prefer to listen to // 11550 without the squeal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1110, haven`t heard KFAB Omaha NE in daytime for a long time, but on caradio Oct 19 at 1941, talk is audible, 1958 I notice it fades a little, but 1959 mentions `huskers in passing. This is only one sesquihour after local mean noon, so could be first sign of daytime skywave as we are two months from winter solstice; however, at some 350 miles, 50 kW, KFAB can also barely make it here on groundwave. The fading could be caused by SAH from very weak KVTT Mineral Wells (The Metroplex) TX, which can exist only because KEOR Atoka OK was hijacked out of the way to the Tulsa market on 1120, sporadically active; see OKLAHOMA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Sunrise observations Oct 20:
660, at 1222 UT, national spot for Quicken in English, immediately followed by announcement in Navajo. I`ll bet it`s KTNN, but night pattern?
720, at 1251 UT, Heidi Harris again from KDWN Las Vegas, playing anti-Democrat, anti-Reid political ads apparently as program examples to comment upon, rather than paid commercials; how generous of her. Says she has been a longtime supporter of Sharon Angle as a viable candidate! Night pattern? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENG DIGEST)
** VATICAN [non]. 6020, Oct 20 at 1314 VR IS mixing with R. Australia`s Asia-Pacific news magazine, i.e. the end of the Chinese relay via RVA PHILIPPINES. Instead of going off at 1315, continues with a song of some sort; next check 1319 no more modulation, but suspect carrier still on causing slow SAH against RA. Enough is enough! But RA is not worried about this collision (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. MW TP carrier search Oct 20 at 1210-1216, up and down on DX-398 in both LSB and USB modes: none found, except: 1098 at 1214; 738-trace at 1216. Also tried the big `uns from Japan on 747 and 774 some more times, but not making it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 48, Univisión from somewhere northeast of Enid: UT Oct 20 at 0045 signal fades up enough to lock synch; 0145 video and audio, as OETA-38 Ponca City is solid; 48 peaks around 0230 then fades down some. At 1400, good but still snowy and ghosty. The ghostiness has always bothered me, as it looks as if I cannot aim right at the transmitter no matter where I turn the antenna. When I do aim toward KWDW in OKC, it`s not ghosty but always weaker (until evening and morning tropo enhancement burns off). Could it be that I have been seeing KWDW all along, but when aimed at OKC, the signal is degraded by co-channel DTV? That would require the existence of another unknown transmitter. There are some full power 48s in Texas, but certainly not in daily without a DX opening. Looked for another upper-right ID super at 1430, but invisible. And when I do a full 360 at 1435 UT Oct 20, watching both the DTV signal meter on 48, and the same antenna split to the
analog TV, there is no sign of any DTV signal, no matter how `bad` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
