** CANADA. Following up my July 9 report on variable het on channel 2:
``1453 UT on 2, local ad mentions Sault Ste. Marie (do French Canadians pronounce it Soo too or really soh?), so CHBX. Nice to be sure I`m not seeing the other CTV station in Ont., CKCO2 Wiarton.
The whine caused by video co-channel QRM, wavers slightly, as if at least one of the participants has an unstable transmitter, if not some Doppler effect; from further afield? [see below]
1600 on 2, fades in stronger than any of the above, starting documentary about CFL football, ``The Extra ---` something. Listings show it`s from CTV, ``The Extra Yard: Inside the 2011 Argos``, whatever that means [see below]. That net goes back to CHBX or CKCO2. Mostly outfaded by 1630 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)``
This is neatly explained by a post I just found:
CKCO-TV-2 (Wiarton, ON) and its carrier frequency
CKCO-TV-2 Wiarton, Ontario (yes - it is still on, despite the fact that its closure was announced years ago) has been a semi-regular here since the analog shutoff in the US took local WJBK off the air on channel 2. It is nearly always too weak to produce sound nor picture on a TV set, but its visual carrier (and, less often, its audio) can be heard when I hook a TV antenna up to my amateur radio handie talkie (which has proven to be indispensable for checking offset frequencies, DXing while mobile, hearing audio when the video is useless, and detecting weak signals that may warn of Es on the way).
I was noticing every time Es brought in a channel A2- station, there would be a higher (then usual) pitch beat between the DX station and the video carrier of CKCO2. I has always taken it for granted that foreign stations from Latin America had very loose offsets.
Recently, I had a good signal from CHBX in Sault Sainte Marie by tropo (a very strange tropo - as nothing else to the north of me was showing the slightest sign of tropo), beating with CKCO2. Listening to the HT I heard the same higher-pitch beat, and, watching the video on a TV, it produced many thin bars, not a pulse or a few thick ones.
Just now, with CKCO2 fairly strong on tropo, I dragged a another radio to the living room and hooked up the TV antenna. It turns out that the visual carrier of CKCO2 is not only a little off - it is also a very slight "siren".
I pegged its carrier at right about 55.24075 (750 Hz above standard minus offset), and varying, irregularly, between 55.24073 and 55.24078 (but not in any consistent pattern). Something to look for when dealing with TAs of Canadian unIDs on channel 2 by Es.
BTW: CKCO2 is CTV (as is CHBX). I wonder how CHBX and CKCO2 were both assigned the minus offset, as they are the closest channel 2 stations to each other (Robert Grant, July 2, WTFDA forum via DXLD)
CKCO-2 also drifts around in frequency. I've had them measured as thus...
55.240.00 CHBX Sault Ste Marie, ON
55.240.66v CKCO-2 Wiarton, ON
BTW Glenn, the top level hockey team in Sault Ste. Marie is called the "Soo Greyhounds" http://www.soogreyhounds.com/ (yes it is also "soo" in French, except the Ste. is "saunt" in French - rhyming with "taunt" - rather than the English "saint". English translation is "St. Mary's Falls") wrh (Bill Hepburn, Grimsby, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST)
I know how SSM *ought* to be pronounced in proper French, and ``Sainte`` is like a short-a nasalized; but was wondering if English influence had modified that. There could also be a variation between English Michigan vs English Ontario. Pronouncing `Sault` in English as `Soo` (or Sioux? Hi) is really nonsensical. If you`re going to Anglicize it, why not `salt` as in somersault? Now, back to splitting hairtz (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
Glenn, You were originally correct in your assumption that Sault is pronounced 'soh' in French. Sault Ste-Marie translates to St. Mary's Rapids (and not falls) in English. I am a native French speaker, and have lived in Ontario all my life. Regards, Jon (Jonathan Hamilton, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
I am a native French speaker, and a lifelong Franco-Ontarian. Sault
Ste-Marie translates to St. Mary's Rapids in English. Sault is pronounced 'so' in French, and not 'soo'. Also, Sainte/Ste. is pronounced like the English 'saint', only with a nasal 'ain' sound. I know French-Canadians from that area, and have heard the city name pronounced numerous times in French. Jon (Jonathan Hamilton, version for WTFDA via DXLD)
The City of Sault Ste. Marie claims the nickname 'Soo' came from English-speaking sailors. English influence has not modified the pronunciation of Sainte in French.
http://www.saultstemarie.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=174&Itemid=138
(Jon Hamilton, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
The Extra Yard is a special program when a camera crew was filming during the training camp of the Toronto Argonauts ("Argos") of the Canadian Football League in 2011 (Terry Keyowski, Regina, Sask., Canada, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD)
** CHINA. Firedrake July 10:
15900, poor-fair at 1325
14700, poor-fair at 1325
13970, very poor at 1225, poor at 1325
13830, poor at 1154; target is RFA in Tibetan via Tajikistan; no others except 11500 before 1200, checking 7970-16100
12980, very poor at 1225
11500, poor at 1159; fair at 1225
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Bits and pieces of Es surpassed 55 MHz now and then on July 9-UT July 10:
1945 on 2, tune-in to Spanish from SSW, LR bug says EXCLUSIVO under a big W, so presumably net-2, tho did not see its regular UR bug.
2335 on 2, Spanish yelling peaking from SW, perhaps a lucha-libre dispute; then made out the seagull/XHI-TV bug in UR. Ciudad Obregón, Sonora.
2335 on 4, signs of something, then fade up briefly to good clear signal, no QRM, with net-2 bug UR, CANTANTE DE RANCHERO on screen, apparently a category in a game/quiz show, maybe 1-2-3 MEXICO as also seen. This stayed in briefly after XHI-2 faded, and was also peaking from the SW. Only 2 on 4 anywhere in that area is XHBS-TV in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, 100 kW.
0053 on 2, net-2 for a moment, weak
1459 on 2, fade-in just in time for ID? Spanish, gobierno federal PSA, with antenna SSW; I think I saw an X- ID go by in center screen, but unreadable.
1552 on 2, fade-in and out, and in at 1555, SpongeBob from net-5, SSW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [non]. 11880, July 10 at 1230, REE via COSTA RICA gives timecheck as ``14 horas``! Then `Amigos de la Onda Corta`. Maybe their TCs are on an out-of-synch automation system? Or that of RNE domestic which I think they were relaying before then (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SUDAN [and non]. 13620, July 10 at 0519, tone jammer is back as usual under R. Dabanga via MADAGASCAR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15420-CUSB, Saturday July 9 at 2140 checked whether `Radio TimTron Worldwide` was on again like last week, but no signal. I think WBCQ was really off tho propagation was rather poor; the other US SSB SWBC station, low-power WJHR in Milton FL, was audible on 15550-USB.
And it`s official: 7415 is totally off the air on Saturdays-UT Sundays. Could be why TimTron put his show on 15420 anyway last week
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.:
Happy Independence Day from the Planet --- Monday, July 4th, 2011
Greetings to all our listeners. Some schedule changes of note: Saturdays on 7415 is now all available time, as all the paid programmers have ceased production on WBCQ. Gone are "It Can Happen Here! with Dr. Ari Ben-Tzvi," "The Medical Conspiracy," and the "QSO Radio Show." Radio Timtron Worldwide will continue Saturdays 7 to 9 pm eastern time on WBCQ 5.110 MHz (from http://www.wbcq.com/?tag=schedule via DXLD)
** U S A. 15610-15730 and 15500-15570 approx., WWCR scratchy spurs from modulation spikes on 15825, which was extremely strong S9+25 July 10 at 1155, with sporadic-E boost not reaching VHF. All other signals on 19m were poor, including others in NAm, and hardly anything extracontinental arriving above 12 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15590, July 10 at 1212, VOA Spanish transmitter at Greenville has problems: continuous clicking, `Top 10 USA` music(?) and announcements fade down and up, silent for a while. Carrier itself seems OK on BFO, and then checking // 13750 and 9885, they sound OK, as does 15590 after 1215 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
``1453 UT on 2, local ad mentions Sault Ste. Marie (do French Canadians pronounce it Soo too or really soh?), so CHBX. Nice to be sure I`m not seeing the other CTV station in Ont., CKCO2 Wiarton.
The whine caused by video co-channel QRM, wavers slightly, as if at least one of the participants has an unstable transmitter, if not some Doppler effect; from further afield? [see below]
1600 on 2, fades in stronger than any of the above, starting documentary about CFL football, ``The Extra ---` something. Listings show it`s from CTV, ``The Extra Yard: Inside the 2011 Argos``, whatever that means [see below]. That net goes back to CHBX or CKCO2. Mostly outfaded by 1630 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)``
This is neatly explained by a post I just found:
CKCO-TV-2 (Wiarton, ON) and its carrier frequency
CKCO-TV-2 Wiarton, Ontario (yes - it is still on, despite the fact that its closure was announced years ago) has been a semi-regular here since the analog shutoff in the US took local WJBK off the air on channel 2. It is nearly always too weak to produce sound nor picture on a TV set, but its visual carrier (and, less often, its audio) can be heard when I hook a TV antenna up to my amateur radio handie talkie (which has proven to be indispensable for checking offset frequencies, DXing while mobile, hearing audio when the video is useless, and detecting weak signals that may warn of Es on the way).
I was noticing every time Es brought in a channel A2- station, there would be a higher (then usual) pitch beat between the DX station and the video carrier of CKCO2. I has always taken it for granted that foreign stations from Latin America had very loose offsets.
Recently, I had a good signal from CHBX in Sault Sainte Marie by tropo (a very strange tropo - as nothing else to the north of me was showing the slightest sign of tropo), beating with CKCO2. Listening to the HT I heard the same higher-pitch beat, and, watching the video on a TV, it produced many thin bars, not a pulse or a few thick ones.
Just now, with CKCO2 fairly strong on tropo, I dragged a another radio to the living room and hooked up the TV antenna. It turns out that the visual carrier of CKCO2 is not only a little off - it is also a very slight "siren".
I pegged its carrier at right about 55.24075 (750 Hz above standard minus offset), and varying, irregularly, between 55.24073 and 55.24078 (but not in any consistent pattern). Something to look for when dealing with TAs of Canadian unIDs on channel 2 by Es.
BTW: CKCO2 is CTV (as is CHBX). I wonder how CHBX and CKCO2 were both assigned the minus offset, as they are the closest channel 2 stations to each other (Robert Grant, July 2, WTFDA forum via DXLD)
CKCO-2 also drifts around in frequency. I've had them measured as thus...
55.240.00 CHBX Sault Ste Marie, ON
55.240.66v CKCO-2 Wiarton, ON
BTW Glenn, the top level hockey team in Sault Ste. Marie is called the "Soo Greyhounds" http://www.soogreyhounds.com/ (yes it is also "soo" in French, except the Ste. is "saunt" in French - rhyming with "taunt" - rather than the English "saint". English translation is "St. Mary's Falls") wrh (Bill Hepburn, Grimsby, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST)
I know how SSM *ought* to be pronounced in proper French, and ``Sainte`` is like a short-a nasalized; but was wondering if English influence had modified that. There could also be a variation between English Michigan vs English Ontario. Pronouncing `Sault` in English as `Soo` (or Sioux? Hi) is really nonsensical. If you`re going to Anglicize it, why not `salt` as in somersault? Now, back to splitting hairtz (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
Glenn, You were originally correct in your assumption that Sault is pronounced 'soh' in French. Sault Ste-Marie translates to St. Mary's Rapids (and not falls) in English. I am a native French speaker, and have lived in Ontario all my life. Regards, Jon (Jonathan Hamilton, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
I am a native French speaker, and a lifelong Franco-Ontarian. Sault
Ste-Marie translates to St. Mary's Rapids in English. Sault is pronounced 'so' in French, and not 'soo'. Also, Sainte/Ste. is pronounced like the English 'saint', only with a nasal 'ain' sound. I know French-Canadians from that area, and have heard the city name pronounced numerous times in French. Jon (Jonathan Hamilton, version for WTFDA via DXLD)
The City of Sault Ste. Marie claims the nickname 'Soo' came from English-speaking sailors. English influence has not modified the pronunciation of Sainte in French.
http://www.saultstemarie.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=174&Itemid=138
(Jon Hamilton, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
The Extra Yard is a special program when a camera crew was filming during the training camp of the Toronto Argonauts ("Argos") of the Canadian Football League in 2011 (Terry Keyowski, Regina, Sask., Canada, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD)
** CHINA. Firedrake July 10:
15900, poor-fair at 1325
14700, poor-fair at 1325
13970, very poor at 1225, poor at 1325
13830, poor at 1154; target is RFA in Tibetan via Tajikistan; no others except 11500 before 1200, checking 7970-16100
12980, very poor at 1225
11500, poor at 1159; fair at 1225
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Bits and pieces of Es surpassed 55 MHz now and then on July 9-UT July 10:
1945 on 2, tune-in to Spanish from SSW, LR bug says EXCLUSIVO under a big W, so presumably net-2, tho did not see its regular UR bug.
2335 on 2, Spanish yelling peaking from SW, perhaps a lucha-libre dispute; then made out the seagull/XHI-TV bug in UR. Ciudad Obregón, Sonora.
2335 on 4, signs of something, then fade up briefly to good clear signal, no QRM, with net-2 bug UR, CANTANTE DE RANCHERO on screen, apparently a category in a game/quiz show, maybe 1-2-3 MEXICO as also seen. This stayed in briefly after XHI-2 faded, and was also peaking from the SW. Only 2 on 4 anywhere in that area is XHBS-TV in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, 100 kW.
0053 on 2, net-2 for a moment, weak
1459 on 2, fade-in just in time for ID? Spanish, gobierno federal PSA, with antenna SSW; I think I saw an X- ID go by in center screen, but unreadable.
1552 on 2, fade-in and out, and in at 1555, SpongeBob from net-5, SSW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [non]. 11880, July 10 at 1230, REE via COSTA RICA gives timecheck as ``14 horas``! Then `Amigos de la Onda Corta`. Maybe their TCs are on an out-of-synch automation system? Or that of RNE domestic which I think they were relaying before then (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SUDAN [and non]. 13620, July 10 at 0519, tone jammer is back as usual under R. Dabanga via MADAGASCAR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15420-CUSB, Saturday July 9 at 2140 checked whether `Radio TimTron Worldwide` was on again like last week, but no signal. I think WBCQ was really off tho propagation was rather poor; the other US SSB SWBC station, low-power WJHR in Milton FL, was audible on 15550-USB.
And it`s official: 7415 is totally off the air on Saturdays-UT Sundays. Could be why TimTron put his show on 15420 anyway last week
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.:
Happy Independence Day from the Planet --- Monday, July 4th, 2011
Greetings to all our listeners. Some schedule changes of note: Saturdays on 7415 is now all available time, as all the paid programmers have ceased production on WBCQ. Gone are "It Can Happen Here! with Dr. Ari Ben-Tzvi," "The Medical Conspiracy," and the "QSO Radio Show." Radio Timtron Worldwide will continue Saturdays 7 to 9 pm eastern time on WBCQ 5.110 MHz (from http://www.wbcq.com/?tag=schedule via DXLD)
** U S A. 15610-15730 and 15500-15570 approx., WWCR scratchy spurs from modulation spikes on 15825, which was extremely strong S9+25 July 10 at 1155, with sporadic-E boost not reaching VHF. All other signals on 19m were poor, including others in NAm, and hardly anything extracontinental arriving above 12 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15590, July 10 at 1212, VOA Spanish transmitter at Greenville has problems: continuous clicking, `Top 10 USA` music(?) and announcements fade down and up, silent for a while. Carrier itself seems OK on BFO, and then checking // 13750 and 9885, they sound OK, as does 15590 after 1215 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###