** ALBANIA. 13625, August 8 at 1433, no signal from R. Tirana again this Monday, scheduled English to NAm, but nothing else from Europe propagating either on this band. Is one of the two Shijak transmitters still down? Only one of them is scheduled at this time, anyway (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ARGENTINA [and non]. 15344+, August 7 at 2003, het with dominant MOROCCO is higher-pitched than usual. This fits with Chuck Bolland`s Florida measurement of RAE on 15344.168 a sesquihour later at 2132-2145 August 7.
I was checking this because in SW Bulletin, Christer Brunström in Sweden had reported RAE on approx. 15505, August 4 at 2100, ``obviously problem with the transmitter on 15345 kHz. It was difficult to measure the exact frequency``. Nothing audible around 15505 here. The questions are:
When CB heard 15505, was it also on 15344v, or instead of that? And, did RAE finally get the message to try a different frequency, altho nothing so far away from 15345 is necessary? Let`s all keep an ear on 15505, and also around 15185 in case there be a matching spur.
6060, August 8 at 0954, RAE IS mixing and producing lo het with wacky wailing Brasilian gospel-huxter David Miranda, i.e. ZYE726, SRDA Curitiba which a few minutes earlier was in the clear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake August 8:
12980, poor at 1230; no others found including 10300
After 1310: none found 18-12 MHz
After 1330:
14950, fair at 1340; none up to 19 MHz
14720, good at 1341
12980, good at 1342; none in the 13`s, 11`s or 10`s
After 1400:
none from 12 to 18 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 9790, August 8 at 0435, CRI Chinese relay is on one of the squealing transmitters, like 13740 in the mornings; also undermodulated.
Wall-of-noise jamming check August 8 at 0942: on 9805 vs Martí, 9955 vs WRMI; before 1000 also found on 6030 & 5980 vs Martí, 5955 vs República, the last replaced by 9965 after 1000. Martí audio could be heard only on 6030.
At 0930-1000 six days a week, WRMI has R. Eslovaquia Internacional, and on Sundays another program in English, so has Cuba something against Slovakia, like gaining its freedom, becoming non- and post-Communist? More likely stupid incompetence in scheduling jamming.
6050, August 8 at 0955, HCJB in indigenous language is no longer blocked at this hour by RHC which for its own reasons quit all-night broadcasting, but Cuba is still jamming it tnx to bleedover from the roar on 6030, pulsing heard on 6050.
7320, August 8 at 1008, VG signal on AM with cut number tones in code, Cuban spy transmission, probably on regular Monday schedule (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUIANA FRENCH. 15515, August 8 at 1233, RFI`s Spanish service, 250 kW, 295 degrees to eastern Mexico and Caribbean is supposed to end at 1230, but transmitter still on with RFI Musique, nice variety of generally soft pop music, mostly in French and English, including ``Smooth Operator`` by Sade a few minutes later: (Wiki: Helen Folasade Adu OBE (born 16 January 1959; better known as Sade)), which I am told is pronounced Shar-day.
Kept a receiver on 15515 to hear how long this overtime would last from laissez-faire TDF Montsinéry opérateurs/opératrices. 1300 had 4-pip timesignal 6 seconds late; usual occasional IDs in French, English, Spanish but no music announcements. Still going at 1308, 1335, finally cut off abruptly at 1344:18*, a 75-minute bonus. We`ve caught them running way past 1230 before. I haven`t heard of any new strike prompting more musique even filling the Spanish time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, August 8 at 0439 singing rather than chanting, presumed IGIM on extended Ramadan schedule, squeezed by stronger 7240 DW English via Rwanda and 7250 Vatican in French (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 6185, August 8 at 0959, XEPPM is playing the national anthem at unusual hour, just before 5 am local; usually happens at 6 am and midnight (and sometimes noon and 6 pm?). 1000 full ID for XEEP 1060 with 100 kW, internet, and SW 6185 with tabla and sitar background, more station promotion, then into unannounced modern classical music; still totally without QRM at 1015 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Fitful sporadic E occasionally visiblized some channel 2 analog DX from the south, UT August 8 from around 0000, bits now and then. Or slow Perseids might be in play around now.
0138 on 2, +V promo, i.e. Más Visión from XEWO-TV, Guadalajara. In and out quickly.
0147 on 2, Acuvue commercial, // but not synched with KOKH-24, `Fox 25` in OKC, i.e. XHRIO-TV Matamoros, soon gone.
0155 on 2 from SW, bug in UR with 37 degrees, a blob to the right of it I have guessed is a cloud, but on Danny Oglethorpe`s photo it looks more like a sun; below that the word CANAL. I can`t see the the word TU before it since it`s in a darker shade. And below that, MDT=CST clock at 7:55, so everything fits for XEPM-TV, Ciudad Juárez, Chihua2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 11810, August 8 at 1345 encountered S9+18 open carrier here, stronger signal than adjacents on 11805, 11815. 1000 Hz tone test came on at 1346:38 until 1347:23 back to open carrier. So checked 17775 where I had heard same a few minutes earlier, and it was off, so same transmitter moved down? On 11810, irregular carrier on-and-off, tone on-and-off continued past 1436 when I quit monitoring.
Weeks after these mystery tests started, you`d think they would have the new transmitter(s) all tuned up, and we have also learned never to expect any announcement, ID or even Croatian music any more. I did log some times which are probably meaningless, but since I took the trouble this time, here they are, accurate to a couple of sex:
1345 OC, 1346:38 TT, 1347:23 OC to 1347:48*
1349 TT, 1349:55 OC, 1351:38 TT on and off to 1353:18*
*1355:38 OC, then TT, OC, TT to 1356:50*
*1358:36-1358:45* OC
*1359:13 OC and TT to 1401:26*
1412 still off
*1416 OC and TT 1417, OC, 1419 TT on and off
1432 still OC on and off, TT on and off past 1436
The source of the 11810 tests is still mystifying. Only other signals on 25m were from N America and E Asia, rather than Europe, ME or Africa. No listings for 11810 at these hours in HFCC, Aoki, EiBi or WRTH (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17775, August 8 at 1337 despite generally degraded propagation, mystery 1000 Hz tone test is here with S9 peaks; compared to Saudi 17705 with S+10 but undermodulated; DW Rwanda 17800 S9+5; Libya 17725 zero signal. Off at next check 1345 after I found another tone test going on 11810, q.v. Same transmitter?
Altho nothing can usually be found in HFCC on the numerous other frequencies doing this for the past bimonth, 17775 has this entry:
17775 1230 1400 37N,38NW DHA 500 300 1234567 270311 291011 D UAE ADM
But it`s surely wooden like so many other UAE ones, with nothing shown in WRTH, Aoki or EiBi. It might be a clue to the origin of the tones, but probably not (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** ARGENTINA [and non]. 15344+, August 7 at 2003, het with dominant MOROCCO is higher-pitched than usual. This fits with Chuck Bolland`s Florida measurement of RAE on 15344.168 a sesquihour later at 2132-2145 August 7.
I was checking this because in SW Bulletin, Christer Brunström in Sweden had reported RAE on approx. 15505, August 4 at 2100, ``obviously problem with the transmitter on 15345 kHz. It was difficult to measure the exact frequency``. Nothing audible around 15505 here. The questions are:
When CB heard 15505, was it also on 15344v, or instead of that? And, did RAE finally get the message to try a different frequency, altho nothing so far away from 15345 is necessary? Let`s all keep an ear on 15505, and also around 15185 in case there be a matching spur.
6060, August 8 at 0954, RAE IS mixing and producing lo het with wacky wailing Brasilian gospel-huxter David Miranda, i.e. ZYE726, SRDA Curitiba which a few minutes earlier was in the clear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake August 8:
12980, poor at 1230; no others found including 10300
After 1310: none found 18-12 MHz
After 1330:
14950, fair at 1340; none up to 19 MHz
14720, good at 1341
12980, good at 1342; none in the 13`s, 11`s or 10`s
After 1400:
none from 12 to 18 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 9790, August 8 at 0435, CRI Chinese relay is on one of the squealing transmitters, like 13740 in the mornings; also undermodulated.
Wall-of-noise jamming check August 8 at 0942: on 9805 vs Martí, 9955 vs WRMI; before 1000 also found on 6030 & 5980 vs Martí, 5955 vs República, the last replaced by 9965 after 1000. Martí audio could be heard only on 6030.
At 0930-1000 six days a week, WRMI has R. Eslovaquia Internacional, and on Sundays another program in English, so has Cuba something against Slovakia, like gaining its freedom, becoming non- and post-Communist? More likely stupid incompetence in scheduling jamming.
6050, August 8 at 0955, HCJB in indigenous language is no longer blocked at this hour by RHC which for its own reasons quit all-night broadcasting, but Cuba is still jamming it tnx to bleedover from the roar on 6030, pulsing heard on 6050.
7320, August 8 at 1008, VG signal on AM with cut number tones in code, Cuban spy transmission, probably on regular Monday schedule (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUIANA FRENCH. 15515, August 8 at 1233, RFI`s Spanish service, 250 kW, 295 degrees to eastern Mexico and Caribbean is supposed to end at 1230, but transmitter still on with RFI Musique, nice variety of generally soft pop music, mostly in French and English, including ``Smooth Operator`` by Sade a few minutes later: (Wiki: Helen Folasade Adu OBE (born 16 January 1959; better known as Sade)), which I am told is pronounced Shar-day.
Kept a receiver on 15515 to hear how long this overtime would last from laissez-faire TDF Montsinéry opérateurs/opératrices. 1300 had 4-pip timesignal 6 seconds late; usual occasional IDs in French, English, Spanish but no music announcements. Still going at 1308, 1335, finally cut off abruptly at 1344:18*, a 75-minute bonus. We`ve caught them running way past 1230 before. I haven`t heard of any new strike prompting more musique even filling the Spanish time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, August 8 at 0439 singing rather than chanting, presumed IGIM on extended Ramadan schedule, squeezed by stronger 7240 DW English via Rwanda and 7250 Vatican in French (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 6185, August 8 at 0959, XEPPM is playing the national anthem at unusual hour, just before 5 am local; usually happens at 6 am and midnight (and sometimes noon and 6 pm?). 1000 full ID for XEEP 1060 with 100 kW, internet, and SW 6185 with tabla and sitar background, more station promotion, then into unannounced modern classical music; still totally without QRM at 1015 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Fitful sporadic E occasionally visiblized some channel 2 analog DX from the south, UT August 8 from around 0000, bits now and then. Or slow Perseids might be in play around now.
0138 on 2, +V promo, i.e. Más Visión from XEWO-TV, Guadalajara. In and out quickly.
0147 on 2, Acuvue commercial, // but not synched with KOKH-24, `Fox 25` in OKC, i.e. XHRIO-TV Matamoros, soon gone.
0155 on 2 from SW, bug in UR with 37 degrees, a blob to the right of it I have guessed is a cloud, but on Danny Oglethorpe`s photo it looks more like a sun; below that the word CANAL. I can`t see the the word TU before it since it`s in a darker shade. And below that, MDT=CST clock at 7:55, so everything fits for XEPM-TV, Ciudad Juárez, Chihua2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 11810, August 8 at 1345 encountered S9+18 open carrier here, stronger signal than adjacents on 11805, 11815. 1000 Hz tone test came on at 1346:38 until 1347:23 back to open carrier. So checked 17775 where I had heard same a few minutes earlier, and it was off, so same transmitter moved down? On 11810, irregular carrier on-and-off, tone on-and-off continued past 1436 when I quit monitoring.
Weeks after these mystery tests started, you`d think they would have the new transmitter(s) all tuned up, and we have also learned never to expect any announcement, ID or even Croatian music any more. I did log some times which are probably meaningless, but since I took the trouble this time, here they are, accurate to a couple of sex:
1345 OC, 1346:38 TT, 1347:23 OC to 1347:48*
1349 TT, 1349:55 OC, 1351:38 TT on and off to 1353:18*
*1355:38 OC, then TT, OC, TT to 1356:50*
*1358:36-1358:45* OC
*1359:13 OC and TT to 1401:26*
1412 still off
*1416 OC and TT 1417, OC, 1419 TT on and off
1432 still OC on and off, TT on and off past 1436
The source of the 11810 tests is still mystifying. Only other signals on 25m were from N America and E Asia, rather than Europe, ME or Africa. No listings for 11810 at these hours in HFCC, Aoki, EiBi or WRTH (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17775, August 8 at 1337 despite generally degraded propagation, mystery 1000 Hz tone test is here with S9 peaks; compared to Saudi 17705 with S+10 but undermodulated; DW Rwanda 17800 S9+5; Libya 17725 zero signal. Off at next check 1345 after I found another tone test going on 11810, q.v. Same transmitter?
Altho nothing can usually be found in HFCC on the numerous other frequencies doing this for the past bimonth, 17775 has this entry:
17775 1230 1400 37N,38NW DHA 500 300 1234567 270311 291011 D UAE ADM
But it`s surely wooden like so many other UAE ones, with nothing shown in WRTH, Aoki or EiBi. It might be a clue to the origin of the tones, but probably not (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###