** CHINA. Firedrake July 5: started too late before 1300 for a thoro band scan, but hustled to check the usuals before 1300* and found:
10300, fair at 1259
12980, fair at 1259
15900, poor at 1259
16980, very poor at 1259
After 1330:
10300, fair at 1335
11500, nothing here nor earlier
12025, poor at 1336 mixing with Chinese, CNR1 presumed
12270, good at 1337, best one by far today; none in the 13s or 14s!
15275, very poor at 1339 but // 12270
15525, very poor at 1339
15900, fair at 1338; none higher
High-latitude/higher-frequency propagation quite degraded today
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, July 5 at 0603, unlike last night, IGIM is already on with usual soporific wake-up chanting, good signal, and no ACI from 7250, Vatican absent, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Some sporadic E analog TVDX the morning of July 5, UT:
1420 on 2, fade-in some CCI with antenna S; checked N and it goes away
1422 on 3, suddenly a snow-free signal in Spanish, Tostitos ad, then vanishes, but back at 1428 with Notivisa news, i.e. XHBC Mexicali, so I rotate to WSW and it peaks at snow-free. 1430 Notivisa with soccer news, also net-2 star-60 bug in UR. 1436 about boxing, including women pummeling each other (do they agree to avoid breasts? Heads are fine!). 1436 Large N bug in LR with NOTIVISA in tiny letters below it; plus clock at 7:36 = PDT. Soon fades out, still bits here and there and CCI on 2, more from the SSW.
1428 on 5, horoscope segment ``Los Astros`` with YL spouting nonsense, Azteca-13 bug in UR, i.e. XHAQ also Mexicali BCN. Bug in LR has a large AM [name of program], digital clock below that, as 8:28 --- hmmm, that`s MDT/CST, not PDT! There are A-13s on 5 in BCS and Chihuahua, but I still think it`s XHAQ matching reception of XHBC-3. Also has snowfree peaks and below the clock is rotating list of city abbrs. with presumably current C temps; I copied several of them before fading out again:
MTY
OAX
PACH 14
VALL 26
TIJ 16
TOL 13
TORR 22
TUX 23
VER
ZAC 16
ACA 34
AGS 19
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. Enid low-power part 15/pirate update: 1670, have been hearing on caradio in western parts of Enid a weak talking house again on this frequency. Even in central Enid, parked with engine off, I was able to copy the loop July 4 at 1918 UT: yes, it`s still Greg Winkeljohn, for 3017 Falcon Crest in NW Enid --- as previously reported in DXLD 11-01, 11-13 with photos, so a quarter later that house still hasn`t sold! OR, somebody forgot to turn off the TH and/or even moved it to another location without changing loop. I have not yet gone back to that address to assure that`s whence it still emanate.
99.9, the GCN pirate on S side of Enid, has not been heard for several weeks in random chex.
(From its new site slightly closer to Enid than Mustang was, 99.7 KZLS is now a regular here, altho not solid, with True Oldies satellite format, giving 92.5 KOMA a run for its money, KZLS with a larger playlist. Now I am not quite so pissed that Chisholm Trail Broadcasting `hijacked` the Alva-Enid 99.7 frequency to OKC market.)
97.7, ``WECS`` at Emmanuel Christian School on West OKG, ran a summer-oriented loop for a while but has also been off the air lately (Glenn Hauser, OK, July 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 9780, July 5 at 0540 surprised to hear REE in AM instead of DRM noise, // and a few words ahead of much stronger COSTA RICA 9630. 9780 is HFCC-registered as Numérique at 05-08, 350 kW, 50 degrees. Really? Normally DRM powers are only a fraxion of equivalent AM; anyhow it`s in AM this time. Mistake or have they come to their senses? WRTH A-11 update v2 shows it as 05-09 with that harmless-looking little + after 9780 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SWAZILAND. 9500, July 5 at 0551, poor signal in English I don`t usually hear, so listened a while even tho it is clearly a gospel huxter talking about the Ark of the Covenant; 0557 into ``Abide with Me`` hymn theme for show, 0558 closing program, back at ``same time, same station tomorrow``. 0559 different announcer mentions ``TWR Today``. Yes, it`s really Swaziland, not South Africa, scheduled 05-08, 100 kW, 5 degrees from Manzini (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWV spurs from 10000 kHz continue for a second day; is anyone paying attention at Fort Collins? July 5 at 0538, both 10099 and 9901, and measuring them as closely as I can with the 1-kHz-step-up-and-down method on YB400`s BFO first zeroed to 10000, they are precisely 9901.00 and 10099.00 as if intentional! But WWV is known for its precision. Furthermore, modulation quality is fine, unlike the dirty spurs previously output. Still at 1259 check on 9901, 1306 on 10099 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [and non]. 7250, 24 hours after hearing DRM here, July 5 at 0544 there is none, and not any AM either that I can detect; while 7255 Ascension, 7275 Tunisia, 7285 and 7230 South Africa, 7295 France were audible. Was VR really off 7250, or higher European paths just not propagating? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17880, July 5 at 1341, poor signal sure sounds like DRM noise centered here. Nailing the center frequency is tricky for this weak wideband crud, and nothing scheduled; instead 17875 is available from GUIANA FRENCH between 13 and 21, but only activated sporadically for mostly unpublicized tests (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 19000, re the Spanish? gospel music heard at 1343-1348 July 4: Bandscanning frequently for Firedrake has a great side-effect of discovering stuff like this. I asked Dan Elyea at WYFR about it:
Hi Dan, I hope things are going OK for you in this new era. I suppose there must have been lay-offs with the drastic reduction in WYFR operations. I appreciated getting the new schedule promptly, tnx also to Evelyn.
Today I was surprised to hear a good signal on 19000 kHz, July 4 at 1343 UT playing slow gospel music in Spanish (I think), but off 5 or 6 minutes later. Was this by any chance WYFR testing? I don`t know of any other US station which ever operated on that band. Thanks, (Glenn to Dan Elyea, WYFR, via DXLD)
Well, Glenn, we don't presently operate on any of the 18.9 MHz frequencies. One of the techs, testing, did have a transmitter up briefly on 17725 kHz this morning. Doesn't seem quite the right spacing for an image response, unless it's an oddball IF.
Yet, it seems possible that some offbeat combination of circumstances may explain what you observed, since we did do the brief testing this morning. The tech couldn't speak to the exact time of the testing. He's been buried in repairs all morning. Yes, FSI has hit a rough patch. Best regards, (Dan Elyea, Okeechobee, July 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Somewhat inconclusive; you`d think the tech would know if he put a transmitter on 19000; this was certainly not a receiver IF image. I did not notice anything on 17725 other than extremely weak presumed Libya, but maybe not at that moment (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
10300, fair at 1259
12980, fair at 1259
15900, poor at 1259
16980, very poor at 1259
After 1330:
10300, fair at 1335
11500, nothing here nor earlier
12025, poor at 1336 mixing with Chinese, CNR1 presumed
12270, good at 1337, best one by far today; none in the 13s or 14s!
15275, very poor at 1339 but // 12270
15525, very poor at 1339
15900, fair at 1338; none higher
High-latitude/higher-frequency propagation quite degraded today
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, July 5 at 0603, unlike last night, IGIM is already on with usual soporific wake-up chanting, good signal, and no ACI from 7250, Vatican absent, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Some sporadic E analog TVDX the morning of July 5, UT:
1420 on 2, fade-in some CCI with antenna S; checked N and it goes away
1422 on 3, suddenly a snow-free signal in Spanish, Tostitos ad, then vanishes, but back at 1428 with Notivisa news, i.e. XHBC Mexicali, so I rotate to WSW and it peaks at snow-free. 1430 Notivisa with soccer news, also net-2 star-60 bug in UR. 1436 about boxing, including women pummeling each other (do they agree to avoid breasts? Heads are fine!). 1436 Large N bug in LR with NOTIVISA in tiny letters below it; plus clock at 7:36 = PDT. Soon fades out, still bits here and there and CCI on 2, more from the SSW.
1428 on 5, horoscope segment ``Los Astros`` with YL spouting nonsense, Azteca-13 bug in UR, i.e. XHAQ also Mexicali BCN. Bug in LR has a large AM [name of program], digital clock below that, as 8:28 --- hmmm, that`s MDT/CST, not PDT! There are A-13s on 5 in BCS and Chihuahua, but I still think it`s XHAQ matching reception of XHBC-3. Also has snowfree peaks and below the clock is rotating list of city abbrs. with presumably current C temps; I copied several of them before fading out again:
MTY
OAX
PACH 14
VALL 26
TIJ 16
TOL 13
TORR 22
TUX 23
VER
ZAC 16
ACA 34
AGS 19
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. Enid low-power part 15/pirate update: 1670, have been hearing on caradio in western parts of Enid a weak talking house again on this frequency. Even in central Enid, parked with engine off, I was able to copy the loop July 4 at 1918 UT: yes, it`s still Greg Winkeljohn, for 3017 Falcon Crest in NW Enid --- as previously reported in DXLD 11-01, 11-13 with photos, so a quarter later that house still hasn`t sold! OR, somebody forgot to turn off the TH and/or even moved it to another location without changing loop. I have not yet gone back to that address to assure that`s whence it still emanate.
99.9, the GCN pirate on S side of Enid, has not been heard for several weeks in random chex.
(From its new site slightly closer to Enid than Mustang was, 99.7 KZLS is now a regular here, altho not solid, with True Oldies satellite format, giving 92.5 KOMA a run for its money, KZLS with a larger playlist. Now I am not quite so pissed that Chisholm Trail Broadcasting `hijacked` the Alva-Enid 99.7 frequency to OKC market.)
97.7, ``WECS`` at Emmanuel Christian School on West OKG, ran a summer-oriented loop for a while but has also been off the air lately (Glenn Hauser, OK, July 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 9780, July 5 at 0540 surprised to hear REE in AM instead of DRM noise, // and a few words ahead of much stronger COSTA RICA 9630. 9780 is HFCC-registered as Numérique at 05-08, 350 kW, 50 degrees. Really? Normally DRM powers are only a fraxion of equivalent AM; anyhow it`s in AM this time. Mistake or have they come to their senses? WRTH A-11 update v2 shows it as 05-09 with that harmless-looking little + after 9780 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SWAZILAND. 9500, July 5 at 0551, poor signal in English I don`t usually hear, so listened a while even tho it is clearly a gospel huxter talking about the Ark of the Covenant; 0557 into ``Abide with Me`` hymn theme for show, 0558 closing program, back at ``same time, same station tomorrow``. 0559 different announcer mentions ``TWR Today``. Yes, it`s really Swaziland, not South Africa, scheduled 05-08, 100 kW, 5 degrees from Manzini (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWV spurs from 10000 kHz continue for a second day; is anyone paying attention at Fort Collins? July 5 at 0538, both 10099 and 9901, and measuring them as closely as I can with the 1-kHz-step-up-and-down method on YB400`s BFO first zeroed to 10000, they are precisely 9901.00 and 10099.00 as if intentional! But WWV is known for its precision. Furthermore, modulation quality is fine, unlike the dirty spurs previously output. Still at 1259 check on 9901, 1306 on 10099 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [and non]. 7250, 24 hours after hearing DRM here, July 5 at 0544 there is none, and not any AM either that I can detect; while 7255 Ascension, 7275 Tunisia, 7285 and 7230 South Africa, 7295 France were audible. Was VR really off 7250, or higher European paths just not propagating? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17880, July 5 at 1341, poor signal sure sounds like DRM noise centered here. Nailing the center frequency is tricky for this weak wideband crud, and nothing scheduled; instead 17875 is available from GUIANA FRENCH between 13 and 21, but only activated sporadically for mostly unpublicized tests (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 19000, re the Spanish? gospel music heard at 1343-1348 July 4: Bandscanning frequently for Firedrake has a great side-effect of discovering stuff like this. I asked Dan Elyea at WYFR about it:
Hi Dan, I hope things are going OK for you in this new era. I suppose there must have been lay-offs with the drastic reduction in WYFR operations. I appreciated getting the new schedule promptly, tnx also to Evelyn.
Today I was surprised to hear a good signal on 19000 kHz, July 4 at 1343 UT playing slow gospel music in Spanish (I think), but off 5 or 6 minutes later. Was this by any chance WYFR testing? I don`t know of any other US station which ever operated on that band. Thanks, (Glenn to Dan Elyea, WYFR, via DXLD)
Well, Glenn, we don't presently operate on any of the 18.9 MHz frequencies. One of the techs, testing, did have a transmitter up briefly on 17725 kHz this morning. Doesn't seem quite the right spacing for an image response, unless it's an oddball IF.
Yet, it seems possible that some offbeat combination of circumstances may explain what you observed, since we did do the brief testing this morning. The tech couldn't speak to the exact time of the testing. He's been buried in repairs all morning. Yes, FSI has hit a rough patch. Best regards, (Dan Elyea, Okeechobee, July 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Somewhat inconclusive; you`d think the tech would know if he put a transmitter on 19000; this was certainly not a receiver IF image. I did not notice anything on 17725 other than extremely weak presumed Libya, but maybe not at that moment (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###