** ALBANIA. Further monitoring of R. Tirana, Monday August 29, on webcast if not SW: No English at 1845, but Turkish continued to 1900. I think there are two different feed lines as the MW site is not // the SW site. Since the unofficial stream was set up by German friends, they are partial to the one containing German (at 1800).
I re-`tuned in` to stream at 1957, dead air until IS started at 2002:30. `Perfect` reception only reveals the flaws in this old worn-out lo-fi and distorted recording. But I kept listening to it until 2013 stepped out to be sure 13735 was still off the air; it was, and couldn`t hear it way out here on // 7465 if it were on.
Back to the stream just in time to hear theme at 2015 and opening in Serbian! So this is still the feed to MW 1458 Fllakë. Maybe after 2030 when there is only one external program at a time, Albanian or English, we will hear those on web? No!
I left a winamp player running for hours and hours until past 0400, and no audio from R. Tirana ever came back. What a waste. Next check at 1440, webcast had resumed, again in Albanian, not English, and 13625 still off.
However, Harry Brooks in NE England tells the dxld yg that some English broadcasts are still being produced: ``Radio Tirana's English broadcasts are available via podcasts made by Radio 700 in Germany. The previous week`s podcasts have been a bit irregular. The 20th, 23rd and 24th August are silent and the 25th August is all interval signal. It's not unusual for the Radio Tirana webcast to be silent though and Radio 700's webcast recording software sometimes accounts for a silent podcast. The podcasts are available at
http://www.radio700.info/podcasts/en/al/tirana/tirana.php
and judging by the filenames are probably recorded from the 0330-0400
English broadcast which is 0530 in Germany`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ALGERIA [non]. 7295, Aug 30 at 0545, RTA via FRANCE with nice harmonious singing, an Eid celebration? Rather than usual Qur`an, which had resumed a few minutes later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BONAIRE. 6250, leapfrog Aug 30 at 0526-0527* Japanese song cut off the air abruptly while fundamental 6080 NHK relay continued another biminute; because fulcrum 6165, RNW Dutch had gone off the air as always at 0527.
So these transmissions are the same as always, altho Horacio Nigro found a cryptic notice on RN`s Spanish Facebook, which I translate, ``RNW SW transmissions will be affected in the next days due to ruptures (roturas, or breakages), in the Bonaire relay transmitters. Broadcasts toward Cuba and the Caribbean region will be heard with lessened quality. Please accept our apologies for this inconvenience``.
So what exactly has happened to them and how have the parameters changed on which times and frequencies? I asked Andy Sennitt about this, who promptly replied:
``Hi Glenn, The transmitters are fine. There was a lighting strike on Saturday that damaged one of the antenna switches, so they used a backup antenna. The signal into North America was already back to normal on Monday, and everything should be normal again today. I presume the reason for the cryptic note was that whoever wrote the Facebook item is not a technical person and didn't understand the exact nature of the problem :-) Andy`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake Aug 30, around 1230:
7970, poor at 1222
10300, good at 1231 with flutter. Most of them are rather fluttery
13130, good at 1237
13850, good at 1237
13920, good at 1238
13970, poor at 1238; none in the 14`s
15555, poor at 1245 with het
15900, good at 1239 with flutter
16100, good at 1243
16980, good at 1243
Before 1400:
16100, very good at 1342. None in the 15`s until this:
15425, fair at 1351 also with noise jamming
14720, very good at 1344
13970, very good at 1345
13920, very good at 1345
13830, fair at 1345
13130, very good at 1344
12270, fair at 1345
12025, very poor at 1345 under CNR1 jamming; none in the 11`s, 10`s
After 1400:
10300, fair at 1435, back on this hour; did not look for others
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** COSTA RICA [and non]. 5954+, Aug 30 at 0530, I hear a less than 1 kHz het against 5955 = RNW via Sines, PORTUGAL, underneath all the Cuban noise jamming, i.e. only evidence that ELCOR is still on the air with R. República (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ITALY [non]. 15610, monitored the entire hour of IRRS relay via Tiganeshti, ROMANIA, Aug 30, which is supposed to be Brother Scare. 1259, ``Triumphal March from Aïda`` by Verdi which serves as IRRS theme music (I thought, how incongruous, we are about to hear the lowest of brows, Brother Scare`s). But instead:
1300 American-accented ``IRRS Shortwave, signing on``, minute of dead air; 1301 initially Firedrake-like percussion, then into modern jazz; 1306 harp music and talk in French! 1308 cut to English, 1309 outro news, mention San Francisco Chronicle, bits of Vivaldi, discussing events in the Bay Area, with Susan at 1315, bit of rock music; 1322 mention public radio, poor and fading. 1324 subject is the three-strike law in California, its pros and cons. One guest name sounded like Michael Rushforce. 1330 reception improves. Same subject continues, later with call-ins, e.g. from Oakland at 1355. Never could figure out which radio station originates this.
[Three strike law refers to severe penalties, mandatory long prison terms, even life, for those convicted of a third offense; it alludes to American baseball, ``three strikes and you`re out``, i.e. your chances to hit the ball are over for the time being. A strike can be either a swing at the ball and missing it, or not swinging at it when it is within the specified area, all as called by the umpire. The analogy is a bit strained, since the strike count includes doing nothing!
California is most notorious for 3-Strikes, which overburdens the prison system, but several other states have this too; see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_strikes_law for more]
1358, the WEWN 15610 carrier comes on, but IRRS still readable. 1358.5 Regina Cœli IS starts, followed by IRRS cutting off the California talkshow, with own ID, asking for reports to Milano, then Aïda theme again, mixing with WEWN sign-on at 1359.5, news, while IRRS music lasts until 1400:20*.
What`s going on here? On August 3 I had a similar log of a public radio talkshow from California during this hour instead of scheduled Brother Scare. Automated default to fill programming when the BS feed is lost? Accidental punchup in Romania of wrong satellite channel? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, Aug 30 at 0523, IGIM with characteristic chanting; as Ramadan is about to end, I assume it will shortly revert to previous schedule ex-24 hours, of signing on later around 0600. At 0548 had switched to lively music, so maybe the Eid celebration was already underway (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Sunrise skip Aug 30:
610, Aug 30 at 1156, ``estás escuchando `Así Suena Sinaloa`, por G-S``
610 XEGS La Ley Guasave, Sin. 1,000 500 as in Cantú
660, Aug 30 at 1157, mentions Ciudad de Santa Rosa, and then ``aquí en Delicias``, i.e.:
660 XEACB Radio 660 Cd. Delicias, Chih. 3,000 1,000
900, Aug 30 at 1159 Mexican NA, 1201 sign-on but only snatches copied, mentioned ``oeste del estado``, ``Grupo Divertida``, BZ? And right into rather radical political speech for several minutes until fade-out. Cantú shows the only 900 in NW Mexico is this:
900 XEDT La Reina Cd. Cuauhtemoc, Chih. 5,000 1,500
and linx to website http://www.lareina900.com/ credited at the bottom to ``Grupo Radio Divertida, Chihuahua, Chih. México``. Divertida = fun
Mexican NAs were playing around 1200 UT on several other frequencies, but can`t catch them all with simultaneous sign-on IDs, as I log everything in real time with my own ears (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA [non]. 11500, as if to answer my recent question, ``no, this is not Bulgaria,`` instead of open carrier, Aug 30 at 1233, good modulation in American English, W&W discussion of American brands such as P&G, CocaCola, by Donna West and another YL, on ``In Between on Voice of Russia``.
Altho latest HFCC does not show any VOR on 11500, Aoki still does, Dushanbe relay, so congrats to the Tajix for turning up the volume for a change. Oh oh, next check at 1346, 11500 is back to open carrier with flutter, or maybe just barely modulated, or is that CCI? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1270, Aug 30 at 1217 UT, thought I was getting Tulsa in Spanish, but traffic report was for Irving and other parts of DFW Metroplex, ID as La Voz del Pueblo, i.e. KFLC Fort Worth. Also with IBOC noise on the sides, which is not the case from Tulsa (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 11535, Aug 29 at 1249, Acts II being read at dictation speed in English, YFR via Paochung site, TAIWAN, per Aoki, supposedly Chinese service during this hour. [Date is correct: omitted by mistake from previous report] {if publishing this item later, remove the parts in [] and {} since they will be irrelevant anywhere but here} (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 15750, Aug 30 at 1241, new YFR relay still here with hymn, 1244 in English, reference familyradio.com. Ivo Ivanov tentatively assigns this to Almaty, KAZAKHSTAN, at 11-13, testing 200 kW, 132 degrees to SE Asia, along with another new YFR test, 14-15 on 7530 tentatively Gavar, Armenia, 300 kW, 125 degrees to S Asia which I have not heard (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. VOA Greenville B confirmed back on air also for African services, Aug 29 at 1810 in Portuguese on 17820; 2013 check in French on 15730, very good. I understand they are again running at full power after the storm.
13750, Aug 30 at 1236, Greenville back with VOA Spanish instead of mistaken Martí 24 hours earlier; // 9885 with report from Tripoli by an accented correspondent (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1510+, Aug 30 at 0533, KCTE Independence MO is still illegally on the air at night and illegally far beyond frequency tolerance for at least the fourth night in a row, hetting proper 1510 signals (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Keith, of foodnotbombs was the guest interviewed on KRZA 88.7 Alamosa/Taos via Live365 webcast, Aug 30 at 1430-1500 UT. Says he has a 45-watt FM transmitter on hand and invited contacts from people who would like to work with him on putting it on air. Says he was a co-founder of the longtime but now defunct pirate, San Francisco Liberation Radio. He`s now in Taos awaiting copies of his new book to organize a book-signing. Contact via http://www.foodnotbombs.net/ --- avoid .com and .org! Address on site is really nearby Arroyo Seco NM (Dry Wash). Has a neat animated opening about the Food Not Bombs ethic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
I re-`tuned in` to stream at 1957, dead air until IS started at 2002:30. `Perfect` reception only reveals the flaws in this old worn-out lo-fi and distorted recording. But I kept listening to it until 2013 stepped out to be sure 13735 was still off the air; it was, and couldn`t hear it way out here on // 7465 if it were on.
Back to the stream just in time to hear theme at 2015 and opening in Serbian! So this is still the feed to MW 1458 Fllakë. Maybe after 2030 when there is only one external program at a time, Albanian or English, we will hear those on web? No!
I left a winamp player running for hours and hours until past 0400, and no audio from R. Tirana ever came back. What a waste. Next check at 1440, webcast had resumed, again in Albanian, not English, and 13625 still off.
However, Harry Brooks in NE England tells the dxld yg that some English broadcasts are still being produced: ``Radio Tirana's English broadcasts are available via podcasts made by Radio 700 in Germany. The previous week`s podcasts have been a bit irregular. The 20th, 23rd and 24th August are silent and the 25th August is all interval signal. It's not unusual for the Radio Tirana webcast to be silent though and Radio 700's webcast recording software sometimes accounts for a silent podcast. The podcasts are available at
http://www.radio700.info/podcasts/en/al/tirana/tirana.php
and judging by the filenames are probably recorded from the 0330-0400
English broadcast which is 0530 in Germany`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ALGERIA [non]. 7295, Aug 30 at 0545, RTA via FRANCE with nice harmonious singing, an Eid celebration? Rather than usual Qur`an, which had resumed a few minutes later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BONAIRE. 6250, leapfrog Aug 30 at 0526-0527* Japanese song cut off the air abruptly while fundamental 6080 NHK relay continued another biminute; because fulcrum 6165, RNW Dutch had gone off the air as always at 0527.
So these transmissions are the same as always, altho Horacio Nigro found a cryptic notice on RN`s Spanish Facebook, which I translate, ``RNW SW transmissions will be affected in the next days due to ruptures (roturas, or breakages), in the Bonaire relay transmitters. Broadcasts toward Cuba and the Caribbean region will be heard with lessened quality. Please accept our apologies for this inconvenience``.
So what exactly has happened to them and how have the parameters changed on which times and frequencies? I asked Andy Sennitt about this, who promptly replied:
``Hi Glenn, The transmitters are fine. There was a lighting strike on Saturday that damaged one of the antenna switches, so they used a backup antenna. The signal into North America was already back to normal on Monday, and everything should be normal again today. I presume the reason for the cryptic note was that whoever wrote the Facebook item is not a technical person and didn't understand the exact nature of the problem :-) Andy`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake Aug 30, around 1230:
7970, poor at 1222
10300, good at 1231 with flutter. Most of them are rather fluttery
13130, good at 1237
13850, good at 1237
13920, good at 1238
13970, poor at 1238; none in the 14`s
15555, poor at 1245 with het
15900, good at 1239 with flutter
16100, good at 1243
16980, good at 1243
Before 1400:
16100, very good at 1342. None in the 15`s until this:
15425, fair at 1351 also with noise jamming
14720, very good at 1344
13970, very good at 1345
13920, very good at 1345
13830, fair at 1345
13130, very good at 1344
12270, fair at 1345
12025, very poor at 1345 under CNR1 jamming; none in the 11`s, 10`s
After 1400:
10300, fair at 1435, back on this hour; did not look for others
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** COSTA RICA [and non]. 5954+, Aug 30 at 0530, I hear a less than 1 kHz het against 5955 = RNW via Sines, PORTUGAL, underneath all the Cuban noise jamming, i.e. only evidence that ELCOR is still on the air with R. República (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ITALY [non]. 15610, monitored the entire hour of IRRS relay via Tiganeshti, ROMANIA, Aug 30, which is supposed to be Brother Scare. 1259, ``Triumphal March from Aïda`` by Verdi which serves as IRRS theme music (I thought, how incongruous, we are about to hear the lowest of brows, Brother Scare`s). But instead:
1300 American-accented ``IRRS Shortwave, signing on``, minute of dead air; 1301 initially Firedrake-like percussion, then into modern jazz; 1306 harp music and talk in French! 1308 cut to English, 1309 outro news, mention San Francisco Chronicle, bits of Vivaldi, discussing events in the Bay Area, with Susan at 1315, bit of rock music; 1322 mention public radio, poor and fading. 1324 subject is the three-strike law in California, its pros and cons. One guest name sounded like Michael Rushforce. 1330 reception improves. Same subject continues, later with call-ins, e.g. from Oakland at 1355. Never could figure out which radio station originates this.
[Three strike law refers to severe penalties, mandatory long prison terms, even life, for those convicted of a third offense; it alludes to American baseball, ``three strikes and you`re out``, i.e. your chances to hit the ball are over for the time being. A strike can be either a swing at the ball and missing it, or not swinging at it when it is within the specified area, all as called by the umpire. The analogy is a bit strained, since the strike count includes doing nothing!
California is most notorious for 3-Strikes, which overburdens the prison system, but several other states have this too; see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_strikes_law for more]
1358, the WEWN 15610 carrier comes on, but IRRS still readable. 1358.5 Regina Cœli IS starts, followed by IRRS cutting off the California talkshow, with own ID, asking for reports to Milano, then Aïda theme again, mixing with WEWN sign-on at 1359.5, news, while IRRS music lasts until 1400:20*.
What`s going on here? On August 3 I had a similar log of a public radio talkshow from California during this hour instead of scheduled Brother Scare. Automated default to fill programming when the BS feed is lost? Accidental punchup in Romania of wrong satellite channel? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, Aug 30 at 0523, IGIM with characteristic chanting; as Ramadan is about to end, I assume it will shortly revert to previous schedule ex-24 hours, of signing on later around 0600. At 0548 had switched to lively music, so maybe the Eid celebration was already underway (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Sunrise skip Aug 30:
610, Aug 30 at 1156, ``estás escuchando `Así Suena Sinaloa`, por G-S``
610 XEGS La Ley Guasave, Sin. 1,000 500 as in Cantú
660, Aug 30 at 1157, mentions Ciudad de Santa Rosa, and then ``aquí en Delicias``, i.e.:
660 XEACB Radio 660 Cd. Delicias, Chih. 3,000 1,000
900, Aug 30 at 1159 Mexican NA, 1201 sign-on but only snatches copied, mentioned ``oeste del estado``, ``Grupo Divertida``, BZ? And right into rather radical political speech for several minutes until fade-out. Cantú shows the only 900 in NW Mexico is this:
900 XEDT La Reina Cd. Cuauhtemoc, Chih. 5,000 1,500
and linx to website http://www.lareina900.com/ credited at the bottom to ``Grupo Radio Divertida, Chihuahua, Chih. México``. Divertida = fun
Mexican NAs were playing around 1200 UT on several other frequencies, but can`t catch them all with simultaneous sign-on IDs, as I log everything in real time with my own ears (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA [non]. 11500, as if to answer my recent question, ``no, this is not Bulgaria,`` instead of open carrier, Aug 30 at 1233, good modulation in American English, W&W discussion of American brands such as P&G, CocaCola, by Donna West and another YL, on ``In Between on Voice of Russia``.
Altho latest HFCC does not show any VOR on 11500, Aoki still does, Dushanbe relay, so congrats to the Tajix for turning up the volume for a change. Oh oh, next check at 1346, 11500 is back to open carrier with flutter, or maybe just barely modulated, or is that CCI? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1270, Aug 30 at 1217 UT, thought I was getting Tulsa in Spanish, but traffic report was for Irving and other parts of DFW Metroplex, ID as La Voz del Pueblo, i.e. KFLC Fort Worth. Also with IBOC noise on the sides, which is not the case from Tulsa (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 11535, Aug 29 at 1249, Acts II being read at dictation speed in English, YFR via Paochung site, TAIWAN, per Aoki, supposedly Chinese service during this hour. [Date is correct: omitted by mistake from previous report] {if publishing this item later, remove the parts in [] and {} since they will be irrelevant anywhere but here} (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 15750, Aug 30 at 1241, new YFR relay still here with hymn, 1244 in English, reference familyradio.com. Ivo Ivanov tentatively assigns this to Almaty, KAZAKHSTAN, at 11-13, testing 200 kW, 132 degrees to SE Asia, along with another new YFR test, 14-15 on 7530 tentatively Gavar, Armenia, 300 kW, 125 degrees to S Asia which I have not heard (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. VOA Greenville B confirmed back on air also for African services, Aug 29 at 1810 in Portuguese on 17820; 2013 check in French on 15730, very good. I understand they are again running at full power after the storm.
13750, Aug 30 at 1236, Greenville back with VOA Spanish instead of mistaken Martí 24 hours earlier; // 9885 with report from Tripoli by an accented correspondent (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1510+, Aug 30 at 0533, KCTE Independence MO is still illegally on the air at night and illegally far beyond frequency tolerance for at least the fourth night in a row, hetting proper 1510 signals (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Keith, of foodnotbombs was the guest interviewed on KRZA 88.7 Alamosa/Taos via Live365 webcast, Aug 30 at 1430-1500 UT. Says he has a 45-watt FM transmitter on hand and invited contacts from people who would like to work with him on putting it on air. Says he was a co-founder of the longtime but now defunct pirate, San Francisco Liberation Radio. He`s now in Taos awaiting copies of his new book to organize a book-signing. Contact via http://www.foodnotbombs.net/ --- avoid .com and .org! Address on site is really nearby Arroyo Seco NM (Dry Wash). Has a neat animated opening about the Food Not Bombs ethic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)