venerdì 14 gennaio 2011

Glenn Hauser logs January 13-14, 2011

** ALBANIA [and non]. A curious situation concerning R. Tirana, Jan 14 at 1530 opening English to North America on 13640: signal is fair with a lot of flutter; yet on 13765, Vatican Radio in English about earthquakes is better with no flutter, only lite normal fading, also a slight echo. The two are at almost the same azimuth from here and could be expected to follow the same path; RT should be superior since it`s aimed USward at 310 degrees, while Santa Maria di Galeria is aimed 95 degrees toward S Asia, yet the contrary is the case. Altho not exactly oppositely aimed, perhaps most of the VR signal is coming around the long way, avoiding auroral zone disruptions (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. The VL8s on 120m seldom surpass the hi local noise level here, but were detectable with some audio Jan 14 at 1356, better on 2485 than 2325 or 2310 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. 13630 fair and stronger than // 13690; also 15160 with same relation to // 15240, RA, Jan 14 at 0614 with report from Brisbane, that insurance claims have already reached 365 megadollars Oz. Ian Baxter in NSW says there was a sporadic E opening across the Tasman 24 hours earlier, which may account for RA missing here, i.e. the signals from Shepparton all being reflected back on short skip, prevented from reaching the F-layer for long hauls? I am not sure how serious he is, or whether Es could be that disruptive.

Next check at 1411 Jan 14, 5995 is playing sad song well atop sad Harold Camping, 1416 outroed as ``Brothers in Arms`` by Dire Straits [get it?], ``Happy New Year`` wishes in somewhat stale promo by RA correspondents concluding with Roger Broadbent; 1417 a survival story from the flooding; 1420 I have tuned up to much weaker // 6080, with plug for learning English at RA,
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/learnenglish/
and then ID as ``Summer`` from ABC Local Radio, so programming is returning to abnormal, until RA resumes its own ABC multi-program schedule when summer holidays conclude. Next item, interview on a movie about the mafia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL [and non]. 11925.1, Jan 14 at 0610, poor signal quickly with R. Bandeirantes ID in passing, TC for 3:10. A bit surprising as no other Brazilians audible on 25m which usually have better signals, not even 11765 or 11815 (and 11780 not yet on). Portuguese on 11830 during this hour is of course not R. Daqui, but RFI via SOUTH AFRICA, which should be in Ibero-African dialect anyway, also audible tonight (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. 9625.1, Jan 14 at 0605, after news in English, YL sign-off only in French by CBC-Nord-Québec; O, Canada, tone test starts at 0606:43 but carrier off at 0607*. Was S9+20, somewhat undermodulated. Definitely on hi side tho some other reports have found it on the lo side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 9490, wall of noise from the incompetent DentroCuban Jamming Command against the frequency R. República used to occupy via Sackville until mid-December, Jan 14 at 0246.

The bigsigs from RHC on 13680 and 13780 are scheduled to close at 1500, and normally do circa, but not Jan 14: still going at 1528, plus leapfrogs on 13880, and on 13580 atop mostly buzz from Cairo`s Albanian service (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also PAPUA NEW GUINEA

** CYPRUS. 15065-15085, OTH radar pulsing, presumed from here, Jan 14 until abrupt stop at 1437*, uncovering very weak AM signals on 15065, 15080, i.e. EGYPT.

13955-13980, stronger OTH radar, presumed from Cyprus, Jan 14 at 1442, keeping out of 20m as well as 19 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ETHIOPIA. 7235+, quite a het on hi side of VOA Korean via TINIAN 7235.0, Jan 14 at 1423, presumably one of the Ethiopian transmitters via longpath. In HFCC? Of course not! As an outlaw and jamming nation, Ethiopia refuses to participate, not a single entry despite all its SW transmitters.

BTW, Robertas Pogorelis visiting Ethiopia was hearing R. Ethiopia on 4910, which we compute to be a leapfrog mixing product of 9560v over 7235v, another 2325 kHz lower, including English at 1735. See his full reports in DX LISTENING DIGEST 11-02,
http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld1102.txt (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GUAM. 5765-USB, Jan 14 at 1407, country music barely detectable vs my cable DTV converter bubble-jammer, so AFN still not back to news/talk format. You never know from one day to the next (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GUATEMALA. 4052.5-, TGAV, checking just before sign-off Jan 14: it`s usually detectable but too weak for easy copy, and now at 0558 the intonation seems like Japanese: certainly possible as they do have IDs in various languages for benefit of DXers, tho best time for reception there would be sign-on, *1100/1130v.

New pennant package received Jan 13 in the p-mail. It`s the same design as the old yellow one, but now instead of rubberized plastic, it`s on finer fabric from which the lettering is not likely to pull off by sticking to itself or something else next to it, just as Dr Madrid had promised. It`s a darker more golden tone, and the frequency has been changed from ``4.0525 Mhz. 74.03 Mts Banda SW1`` to ``4055 Khz. 74.3 Mts Banda SW1``. The shape is slightly different; instead of a V at the bottom from which the fringe hangs, it`s a gentle curve, and the fringe matches the fabric. At the top, instead of a plastic tube thru which the hangstring goes, the string goes thru the pocket without a tube, which means it buckles if you hang it from a single point. It would be advisable to insert such a tube, perhaps removed from an old pennant, and restring the hanger thru it, which should not be difficult as tho of much heavier gauge now, it can easily be untied and
 retied.

Also in the bulky envelope we found another copy of QSL 8, the green one showing a quetzal for their 8th anniversary in 2008, for my multiple e-mail reports in Sept-Nov 2010, endorsed on the back for the various power levels involved, 50, 500 and 210 watts.

Also received were three (!) 2011 calendars. One is inside a Spanish tract emanating from Federal Way, Washington state, in lavender print, showing moon phases by symbols.

The other two are locally produced, both with a color portrait of Dr. Madrid and another unID evangelist, both of them with name tags around their necks, evidently shot at some reunion, captioned ``Nueva Radio Lwenge FM, Congo, África``. One of the calendars is a single sheet, showing all the months of 2011 with no more info about them.

The other has tear-off pages for each month, but the tearing would be messy with the three staples facing down. This one primarily shows moon phases not only by symbols, but ``Luna Nueva``, ``Cuarto Creciente``, ``Luna Llena``, ``Cuarto Menguante``. A few holidays are also specified, along with plenty of Bible quotations to fill in the blanx. All this is in Spanish, plus an insert in English which reads:

```Educational and Evangelical Station ``Radio Truth``
Y Programa ``Volviendo a Jesús``
Apartado #5,
Chiquimula, Guatemala, C.A.

Dear Listener:
Thank you for preferring ``Radio Truth``.
We are enclosing our new calendar and our Radio Pack. We trust that you will continue tuning our Radio Station, with high academic, musical and spiritual quality.
God bless you richly.
On behalf of Radio Truth,
/s/ Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid
Manager and Director.```

This time, the traditional slip showing the step-by-step devolution of a human being into a pig due to alcoholism, was not included; nor the roster of DX reports received from all over the world; nor the English form letter about the station`s history. The heavier calendar no doubt accounts for much of the postage cost.

On the airmail envelope, with the red and blue diamonds around the borders, the hand-stamp postmark is too dim to make out the date, but it is atop three postage stamps, two identical Q10.00, unfortunately both underneath the third stamp of Q5.00. They show very colorful fabric designs, with extremely small captions at the bottom edge, all attributed as ``obra Priscilla Bianchi``, and mixed with some alfanumerix, to Maria de León, the latter perhaps the photographer? Also unfortunately, one of the Q10 stamps is torn as it was not firmly attached to the envelope, which was sealed on the back by a large piece of cellophane tape (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5910, Jan 14 at 1408 YL in English with headlines about NK, interrupted by news sounders; 1409 ID by OM ``This is Shiokaze, Sea Breeze, from Tokyo, Japan``. Fair, registering S9+15, another Friday in English on ex-5985. No jamming audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. Signal Expansion Update --- KGOU is On the Air in Woodward! Thousands of radio listeners in Woodward and surrounding counties in northwest Oklahoma can now hear KGOU! KWOU, at 88.1 FM in the northwest corner of the state is now on the air for signal testing, and we anticipate getting the final approval from the FCC soon. KWOU simulcasts the same programming heard on KGOU and our network of repeater and translator stations.

Our remaining signal expansion project, a 2000-watt repeater for Ada, is nearly complete as well. We are working to put KOUA, 91.9 FM, on the air before spring. We thank those of you who have contributed financially to these projects and those who have recruited new listeners in those areas! (KGOU E-Newsletter January 13 via DXLD)

I hastened to try for this in Enid, then sent this report to KGOU:

``Congratulations on KWOU hitting the air. My preliminary report from Enid:

Can`t really get it on radios in the house. Some reception on car radio except near downtown Enid where overload comes from Broadway Tower transmitters. At first I was thinking 88.3 Family Radio translator was there, but FCC shows it west of Enid inside an Enid-Lahoma-Carrier triangle.

I haven`t yet tried out to the west side of Enid, but I suppose adjacent from that will become increasingly problematical. We can only hope that Family Radio will self-destruct on May 21.

In between, it`s in and out as we move around, picket-fencing, some good hotspots, but also competition from Oasis on 88.1, mainly Moore I suppose, but Coweta is sometimes echoing on it.

I was listening before and after 4 pm today, when NPR was heard part of the time, otherwise open carrier. At 6 pm I did catch a KGOU ID.

I expect with a good outside direxional antenna aimed toward Woodward I might get a fairly reliable signal, altho I see its 60 dBu contour goes only to Waynoka.

Now, how about a KGOU translator IN Enid? Regards, Glenn Hauser``

Further monitoring on various FM radios at home, DX-398 in the yard. Some signal if the selectivity is good enough and antenna positioned just right; frequent flyovers by Vance training jets boost signal in brief spurts, tnx to airplane scatter, but this is hardly satisfactory. Of course, occasional tropo enhancement will help if it favors Woodward area rather than Moore or Coweta (and there is a third Oasis relay on 88.1 near Fort Smith). (Glenn Hauser, Enid, Jan 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3365, Radio Milne Bay, Voice of Kula, Alotau, as listed in WRTH 2011, not that I have ever heard such a full ID, Jan 14 at 1359 with choral music; 1401 sign-off in English mentioning 90.3 (? WRTH says 90.7) FM, and something on ``90 meters``, ``until tomorrow morning``, 1402 brief NA until 1403, carrier still on at 1405 tune-out. Was S9+15. Then just as I tuned past 3275, another carrier went off.

Watch out for Cuba to activate 3365 as Arnie Coro threatens; let`s hope it`s only in the local evenings when it will not bother PNG (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SAUDI ARABIA. 17615 // weaker 17895, Jan 14 at 1427, BSKSA with Qur`an-yodeling, then YL(?) talking about Mohammed, Ibrahim (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 9385, Brother Scare via WWRB, Jan 14 at 1445, as I first tuned across, with an amusing pre-echo caused by overload from almost // WWCR 9980, until I engaged attenuation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TURKEY. Haven`t looked for VOT English to NAm lately at 0400 on 9655, so I check Jan 14: inaudible. The 1330 broadcast on 12035 continues to be quite marginal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K [non]. 11770, weak English with Strine accent, but surely not RA, Jan 14 at 0612. Is // but out of synch with BBC 9410, no doubt with report from Queensland. Yes, 11770 per HFCC is BBCWS via SOUTH AFRICA, 05-07, 100 kW, 335 degrees USward, and Meyerton was also in on 11830 with RFI; see BRAZIL [and non] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 7506v, WRNO still off the air, Jan 14 at 0248 check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1520, KOKC, OKC with farightwingnut Michael Savage, UT Jan 14 at 0312 has severe QRM making SAH of circa 10 Hz from a stupidballgame, 4th quarter of basketball, ergo NBA instead of NCAA (I am not supposed to know this; a friend explained it) including ``charge`` brass music punxuations; tuning down to 1500, I hear the same game on KSTP, which is fulltime ESPN now.

So what`s ESPN on 1520? Per the NRC-AM log, the only nighttimer is KOLM Rochester MN, ``The Ticket`` (how original), 10 kW day and critical hours, 800 watts night. It`s also with CNN and the Minnesota News Network. Night pattern is supposed to aim NNE, rather than non-direxional day, but from this reception I would say they were really running 10 kW ND, if really KOLM. The only other ESPN listed on 1520 is a 1300-watt daytimer, KMSR in Mayville ND. The station-finder at
http://www.espnradio.com makes you search thru each state individually; no thanx, except MN and ND to confirm these three. Of course, a particular SBG could be on non-fulltime affiliates, and I heard no ESPN ID really (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1547 confirmed on WWRB, 3185 and webcast, UT Friday Jan 14 starting a bit late at 0433. Next check at 0500 found the webcast had defaulted to King James, but WOR played to finish at 0501:32 on 3185.

Also starting at 0400 UT Friday, WOR on ACB Radio Mainstream webcast, to be repeated 2-hourly thru 2400,
http://www.acbradio.org

Next airing confirmed on WRMI, 9955, Friday Jan 14 at 1544, weak but not jammed except for bleed from the wall of noise on 9965.

Further chances for WOR 1547: Friday 2130 on WWCR 7465; but will it return Sat at 1700 on 12160 after missing all year despite still appearing on the January schedule? On WRMI 9955: Sat 0900, 1500, 1830; Sun 0900, 1630, 1830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9405, Jan 14 at 0600 check has YL legal ID as ``WINB, Red Lion, Pennsylvania`` interrupting gospel-huxter who makes no pause at hourtop. WINB attains S9+20, while other nights it`s JBA. And this time it is strong enough to bother BBC on 9410! Modulation continues to be bad from the Radio 2:11 program source (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. KRZA, 88.7, Alamosa CO-Taos NM, heard on webcast, as I often listen for the features at 1530 UT weekdays --- Jan 14 at 1540 instead of something about northern NM/southern CO, there is a scratchy lo-fi old-time radio show complete with commercials for Raleigh cigarettes, and Sir Walter Raleigh pipe tobacco! It`s a sitcom before an extremely amused audience, starring someone with a funny voice I do not recognize, revealed at 1559 closing as Red Skelton, on NBC, bong-bong-bong. Did not sound much like the R.S. I remember from his later TV show, but the visuals helped to ID him immediately, God-bless.

ID and right into NPR news joining slightly late, no explanation of why this program was on instead of scheduled ``Arts, Culture and Call-ins,`` Fridays 8:10-9 am MST, per
http://www.krza.org/programschedule.htm
which does not go into any more detail than the above, altho we have some more specific topix from previous schedules preserved in
http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html
Once upon a time the alternating Friday features were:
EAGLE WATCH/WOMENSPEAK/CROSSTALK/CONVERSATIONS IN ART

On occasion the last few weeks, KRZA`s Live365 webcast has been down (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** VATICAN. Now it`s clear why I had not noticed Vatican [non non] on 4005 lately as I did last night: Jan 14 at 0558 the frequency is blocked by RTTY (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ALBANIA

UNIDENTIFIED. 9340-SSB, Jan 14 at 1458, Spanish two way, Mexican accents, in conversation. Intruders, if you consider the 31m SWBC band extending this far (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###