domenica 7 novembre 2010

Glenn Hauser logs November 6-7, 2010

** ALBANIA. 6100, checked at 0358 Nov 7, R. Tirana IS still running. Normally transmission would be off the air by then; good reception, no QRM audible altho BBCWS in English via Cyprus, 250 kW, 175 degrees has now appeared on schedule at 0300-0400. Maybe will not bother us in North America, but likely to in Europe if anyone is listening at that hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. 15340, HCJB, S Asian service weak but in the clear Nov 7 at 1325 tnx to Morocco shifting earlier to 15345, as I have been suggesting for months that they should do; HCJB English service 15400 also poor but enough to hear the Melbourne ID announcement at 1328 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRIA. 17620, Nov 7 at 1619 check, the special to NAm has good reception, about the Austrian Military Radio Society, interview in eastern-empire accented German, not English. To be repeated next Sunday at 1600-1630 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. RHC observations Nov 7, now that Cuban and US EST are back in synch: At 1216 UT, 6180, 6150 and 6110 plugging philatelic show`s 50th anniversary contest. Still nothing on 6095, 6140 or 6000, which are in Arnie`s tentative B-10 schedule from 1100 UT as in
http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com/2010/10/radio-habana-cuba-
spanish-language.html
and in DXLD 10-42. Nor has that schedule been updated on his blog. Somewhere else, however, Nov 8 was mentioned as the change date for RHC so maybe we`ll hear the new frequencies tomorrow, including 6050 evenings in English despite HCJB. Making seasonal changes 8 days late is typical for RHC, since they refuse to participate in HFCC advance coordination.

Last Sunday, Oct 31, we figured RHC was confused about timezones, since the DX program En Contacto appeared at 1435 instead of its usual 1335 UT. But it happened again Nov 7. I figured something was still amiss earlier: on 11760 et al. at 1234, instead of Cuba Campesina, program was ``Para una vida mejor``, not sure if that was the title; 1255 closing credits for ``Entre Cubanos``.

At 1337, no En Contacto, but instead discussing music and dance, apparently now Cuba Campesina an hour later than it is scheduled. And at 1435 En Contacto starts with human birthdays, then anniversaries of Radio Enciclopedia, and more importantly, Radio Cadena Habana; at 1446 read outdated note from Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid of Radio Verdad about their reactivation in September with 50 watts.

Since En Contacto was airing an hour later, it gained additional frequencies, the Sunday-only ones for ``Aló, Presidente`` just in case it`s coming up later: 17750, 13750, 12010. These were already on the air // other RHC at 1412, 13750 being the squealer instead of 13680.  1435 time for EC also avoids clashing with Spain`s Amigos de la Onda Corta which is now at 1330 Sundays; see SPAIN. So maybe Cuba is maintaining the shift for that reason? We shall see.

1745 check for Aló, Presidente --- no, still RHC programming // on all frequencies heard, 17750, 15380, 13780, 12010, 11760, 11730, 11690, another plug for philatelic fiftieth anniversary contest (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA [and non]. DCJC and R. Martí check Nov 7: at 1212, 5745 RM plus jamming, which Cuba had mostly missed for a week. But R. Martí programming during this hour is still violating Separation of Church and State, by broadcasting a Christian (presumably Catholic) service, to the exclusion of all other religions; YL preacher. At 1214 I check // 5980 and now there are aleluyas over the jamming, and lauding Jesús. 6030 again has jamming only, no RM. At 1218, 7415 has no jamming, just the predicatress (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: WRMI

** JAPAN [and non]. TP MW carrier search Nov 7, on DX-398 with BFO in US mode, upwards from 1247 UT: 557, 594, 693, 702, 747, 774, 828, 891, 1008, 1242, 1332. Back to 747 at 1253 and could make out a bit of audio, no doubt JOIB, NHK Sapporo 2. Several of these made it the morning before to a DXpedition in northern Alabama (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 730, Nov 7 at 1303, R. Viva Vida ID by super-hype voice actor, poor, i.e. XEHB, Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua.

770, Nov 7 at 1241, infomercial in Spanish for a médico, phone 55- something, promoting medicina natural, shilling a book. Name sounds like Dr. Abel Cruz. 1246 breaks for ID as R. Fórmula, 103.3 and 970, (970 is XERFR, net HQ in the DF), Grupo Fórmula, phone for Dr., 55-25-28-70; 1314 still Grupo Fórmula, with its phone 30-08-33-27 (I think). The R. Fórmula affiliate on 770 is XEACH, Monterrey NL, 25 kW day power (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MOROCCO. 15345+, RTM again here instead of 15341v, Nov 7 at 1325, undermodulated Arabic with lite whine, splash from Turkey 15350; leaving 15340 free for a weak HCJB Australia [q.v.], presumed. Morocco a shade on the hi side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. 930, WKY OKC, a previous Sunday morning before 7:30 am CDT had something in English instead of Spanish, but only Spanish music this Sunday from 1305 UT and some other chex following semihour, i.e. same time in CST (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 1580, KOKB Blackwell off the air, not just open carrier, Nov 7 at 1501. Dominating signal at the moment instead from E/W playing theme from ``Have Gun, Will Travel`` to open gun show. KHGG Fort Smith? KOKB still off at 1745 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PERU. 18058-, JBA carrier very slightly on low side, Nov 7 at 1443, i.e. R. Victoria, Lima, 3 x 6019+ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PORTUGAL. 17840, RDPI, Sunday Nov 7 at 1318 opening ``Abraço da Madeira`` show with contact info, fair with fading, and surprisingly better on // 21655, but best by far, since beamed to NAm, is 15560, 1323 live timecheck, phone number (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PRIDNESTROVYE. 6240, what happens with Radio PMR, confirmed the first week of B-10 as 1800-2400 alternating Russian, French, German, English? Missing Saturday Nov 6, no signal at 2320 check, but carrier on by 2358 about to pick up Voice of Russia relay. So PMR remains M-F, and absent Sat/Sun (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ROMANIA. 11970, RRI German, Nov 7 at 1345 ID, and just uncovered by WYFR sign-off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SAIPAN. 9715, IBB, with R. Svoboda in Russian hour, Nov 7 at 1347, good modulation and stable carrier, in whack today. A previous report typoed frequency as 9725; it`s always been 9715 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SPAIN. Tnx to a tip from Steve Luce, that REE English at 00 UT was back on 6055 as of Nov 6, after starting the season on 5970 --- I check UT Nov 7 at 0000 and find 6055 still running the previous hour in French, no timesignal, unusual, BUT also starting English on same frequency! And overlapping for several minutes as if two transmitters are running here by mistake. In the self-QRM manage to hear 6055 announced as the English frequency. Soon starts feature about flamenco, but REE French is still QRMing, made even worse by playing the mind-numbing IS over and over after the French feed is finished.

But both vanish simultaneously from 6055 when the single transmitter cuts off at 0002:40*. So far, 5970 has been vacant, but now I retune and wait for REE to show up there, which it does at *0003:20. There is STILL a mixture of English and the IS but both modulations are faded down briefly and back up as the tech tries to figure out where the mixture is coming from --- evidently upstream at Pozuelo del Rey studios! I check some other things and when I get back to 5970 at 0006, English is running solo, at last. Another sad example of how uncoördinated a station can be. So what will happen 24 hours later?

One current program schedule version claims Amigos de la Onda Corta is now scheduled Saturdays at 0700, Sundays 1330. A-10 timings had been 0600 and 1230. The latter is definitely at 1330 Nov 7 on 15170 et al., Antonio Buitrago beginning with full schedule for the show which he claims is still at 0600 Saturdays on 9780 [DRM!], 12035, 11895, 17770, via CR 5965; 1330 Sundays on 13720, 15585, 17595, 21610, 21570, 21540; 11910 via Xi`an, China; 9765, 15125, 15170 Costa Rica.

Timing of the first airing has been confusing. IIRC, it was 0500 in A-09, went to 0600 in B-09, but did not go back to 0500 in A-10, stayed at 0600+ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TAJIKISTAN. 6105, Nov 7 at 1352 tone test, 1355 just open carrier; 1402 recheck is in Chinese. Only thing listed is VOA via Dushanbe, 14-15, 250 kW, 95 degrees. I would not have expected that good a signal here. Or is it some other site now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TURKEY. 9655, VOT audible poorly Nov 7 from 0359 on this service to W NAm, opening English with usual full schedule announcement, somewhat weaker than Vatican via Madagascar on 9660, but best have heard Turkey yet. Of course, it would be so much better on 6 or 7 MHz provided the frequency is clear. Then at 0625, I find the Turkish service with music fair on 9700, so the MUF is upward tonight (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K [non]. 9605, Nov 7 at 1221, BBC news report in English on gays having to pretend to be straight in Shanghai, even marrying opposite tho they can`t procreate, no sex (Couldn`t they make an exception, just once? Or there`s always AI), onto next topic, elexion in Myanmar. Am used to hearing BBC Chinese with ChiCom jamming on 9605, but now at 12-13 English is scheduled via Thailand, 25 degrees; 1300-1530 Mandarin via Singapore (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. VOA Spanish has made its usual shift one UT hour later according to local time in Wáshington, not the external target areas. Nov 7 at 1341, C&W music in English presented in Spanish on 15590, 13715, 9885. Overall span should now be 1230-1400, with this off-topic fill music on weekends (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 3215, Sunday Nov 7 at 0638, WORLD OF RADIO 1537 is in progress, VG but the WWCR-1 transmitter is the one with squeal, audible in the background. This was the final airing at 0630 UT Sunday for the next four months, the ultimate semihour of CDT. Whether it played again at 0730, = 1:30 am CST, I don`t know.

As of 1555 UT Nov 7, WWCR still hasn`t put up its timeshifted B-10 transmitter schedule following the Week of Confusion, but some frequencies are running an hour later, such as 4840, which had been closing at 1200, still on the air at 1210 with preacher. Now instead of 7465, will they really be back on the frequency tested in October, 3255, at 2300-0200? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [and non]. 9955, WRMI, Sunday Nov 7 at 1228, English discussion of US selling food and medicine to Cuba not only allowed, but Cuba`s major source of those supplies, (contrary to what the DentroCubans would have us believe is a ``genocidal`` blockade, which I heard RHC say again this morning; how`s that for gratitude?) Must be the English version of the CDHD Brigade 2506 show. The xls grid linked from
http://www.wrmi.net/pb/wp_d12a1732/wp_d12a1732.html
is now dated Nov 4, pre-standard time, but since it`s in Eastern, not UT anyway, we can just read it now as UT-5, and yes, at 7:15 am Sunday is CDHD. No jamming audible at the moment, but ramped up during the following hour, plus on 9965 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9540, Nov 7 at 1349, VG with preacher in English, new frequency for WHRI, not // another gospel huxter on WHRI 9840; 9540 off when next checked at 1402. HFCC shows this as available 7 days a week at 1300-1500 in English, Hmong! And 315 degrees toward Hminnesota. So if Hmong World Christian Radio or Hmong Lao Radio ever come back, they should be here instead of last-used 11785, no longer listed for WHRI at any hour. Searching
http://www.whr.org on specific program criteria ``Hmong`` gets only this on Angel 3, Palau: ``2200 - 2230 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM Fr,Sa Hmong World Ministries Gia Tou Lee 9.930`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 15550-USB, WJHR`s preacher barely audible Nov 7 at 1502, raspy modulation, Iran no problem, maybe trace of a carrier, while splash from weekend-only Portugal 15560 more of a problem (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 3160, WPJK, Orangeburg SC: what will it do on the first day of standard time, having failed during the first week of November to sign on at the correct legal sunrise time of 1200 UT? Just as I suspected, they keep signing on at 7:30 am local, regardless of DST or sunrise changes. Nov 7 at 1203 UT, no signal, but open carrier at 1228, S9+20. 1231 usual canned sign-on message as 1580 kHz, 1000 watts, by authority of the FCC (not including 3160), address, station manager gives his name, but I have never been able to copy it, and into gospel music. No toots, so maybe on Sunday the program is not called Gospel Train.

If it keep signing on a semihour later than it needs to the rest of November, that will compensate for the illegal semihour early during the first week, but diminish its DXability. Nevertheless, I could still detect a carrier at 1257. This situation will only improve as we have two months to go until the latest sunrises, tho only one month until the earliest sunsets. Now will it really be signing off at the correct November and December time of 2215 UT? Please check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 770, Nov 7 at 1354 UT, ``The Talk Monster, KKOB`` Albuquerque NM, then report on Auto-Tune, the computer process messing up vocal music, outro as Perspective from ABC News, so still scheduled at 1305 UT Sundays, but KKOB doesn`t go to day pattern until 1345, after which it dominated the frequency for a while (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1350, Nov 7 at 1459 UT, big band music from N/S, fade for ID, but 1500 bong and CBS news. Direxion, nostalgia format and news network all converge upon KRNT Des Moines IA per NRC AM Log 2010, so presumed. Skywave still incoming in upper end of band, KOZN Omaha also in a few minutes earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1620, ``The Zone, ESPN radio for Omaha``, still audible at 1452 UT Nov 7; KOZN; no WTAW as northern paths with lower sun favored (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** VATICAN. 13765, Nov 7 at 1414 VR IS, VG, 1415 music and opening S Asian language, scheduled Urdu on Sundays and Wednesdays only, due east from Santa Maria di Galeria (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 11960-SSB, Nov 7 at 1403-1407, US military-sounding intruder contacts between Jayhawk and Guarddog, mentioned switching over to satellite; this frequency Delta 31 is primary, agreed?

Searching the 29,413 posts so far at the UDXF yg, got zero hits on 11960, seven on Jayhawk, as a USCG helicopter, and none on Guard Dog or as a single word. Google searches even less productive (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 15303-SSB, Nov 7 at 1450, 2-way colloquial Spanish vs RFI 15300 splash; poacher intruders perhaps hoped they would go unnoticed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###