** CHINA. Firedrake Dec 19: none found 7-19 MHz around 1430. Ron Howard observes that ``FD is emphasizing their jamming of SOH during their local morning. Dec 18 scanned at 0030 from 19000 down to 8000,
finishing at 0048. All // [on 11 frequencies]`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EAST TURKISTAN. 11785, Dec 19 at 1425, Firedrake-like music but soon joined by operatic vocals, so not FD. CRI Chinese to Europe is scheduled 14-1457, 500 kW, 308 degrees from site Aoki now calls ``Kashi-Saibagh 2022 TKS`` a.k.a. Kashgar (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** FRANCE. 15360, Dec 19 at 1430, good with RFI ID and sounders amid Persian, fair signal // 17850. This 1430-1500 broadcast is to replace 15360 by 21580 on Feb 26, a nonsensical date when RFI plans many more upward spring shifts for one month before the A-12 schedules kick in (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [and non]. 6400, Dec 19 at 0630, P`yongyang BS is audible with sad music, ute QRM. 0650, YL in Korean sounds distraught about something or other.
6435, MND, from South to North, Dec 19 at 0631 with YL in Korean, 0632 into choral music closing, // weaker 6550.
6518 & 6600, V. of the People, from South to North, at 0633 Dec 19, lite jamming on 6518, no jamming audible on 6600.
Harold Frodge, MI, noted that VOK transmissions were missing earlier on Dec 17 and 18; that should have been a clue that something significant had happened! However, VOK was back when I checked:
9335, Dec 19 at 1414, French about Kim Jung Il [hereafter KJI], what else? Dead or alive. Poor signal but could still hear mixture with NK-style jamming noise bleeding into the broadcast. At this moment WBCQ was missing from 9330-CUSB, tho it was there a few minutes earlier. At 1441, it was back, impeding weakish signal from Kujang. // 11710 not propagating. At 1500 could make out VOK IS and English IDs on 9335, but too weak vs WBCQ and still no 11710 making it.
Here`s one convenient source of latest VOK info and scheduling, clips:
http://www.northkoreatech.org/2011/10/29/voice-of-korea-b11-schedule/
And as pointed out by Mark Fahey, NSW:
http://www.northkoreatech.org/2011/12/19/kim-jong-ils-death-monitoring-north-korean-tv-and-radio/#comments
Tnx to Martyn Williams in Tokyo.
By lucky coincidence, KJI garnered the top spot in this week`s issue of Parade magazine, Dec 18, printed far in advance, but who was the Second Worst Dictator in the World? Isaias Afewerkio. Who? Where? Eritrea. He`s certainly managed to maintain a lower profile abroad. Now must be temporarily #1 pending KJU making his mark. See http://www.parade.com/dictators (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, Dec 19 at 0637, IGIM is on with Arabic talk, singing, not chanting or Qur`an; weaker than Vatican Hungarian massbit on 7250 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SLOVAKIA [non]. 9955, Dec 19 at 1444, Spanish in strange accent, soon talking about Slovakia, and `Encrucijadas musicales`, Xmas tunes. So RSI relay, best I have heard WRMI in some time; only lite residual pulse jamming. 1459 apparently switches to RMI fill music, as hit by fast SAH, 1500 RFA opening Tibetan with English announcement, much stronger signal despite much greater distance and wrong direxion, 297 degrees from Tinian. The 1430-1500 period lucks into a gap after KTWR is on 9955 until 1430, before RFA at 1500.
Then WRMI goes off for its 8-hour siesta weekdays until resuming at 2300. But WRMI continues to register 24 hours on 9955, including the 15-17 UT segment as 317 degrees, altho that antenna has been down for almost two years; everything is really on the 160 antenna.
New WRMI program grid dated Dec 13 shows RSI as follows:
Spanish: 1430-1500 Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri [gospel huxter on Tue]; 1030-1100 Mon-Sat; daily 0330-0400. English: Tue-Sat 0130-0200. See USA for more about WRMI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 15385, Dec 19 at 1430, REE is already managing to modulate the Monday-only Sephardic service at 1425-1455, as usual too close for comfort to Habana 15380 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN [non]. 6875, Dec 19 at 0634 check, yep, RTI via WYFR still in German instead of Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY. 12035, Dec 19 at 1422, TRT closing English and into IS, poor with flutter. Interspersed Turkish IDs and still on past 1424. Insufficient, so I didn`t miss anything earlier from 1330. Previous winters this was often listenable but now barely makes it here beyond intended target Europe (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WRMI has a new program grid up dated Dec 13, via http://www.wrmi.net/pb/wp_d12a1732/wp_d12a1732.html
If you think that`s convoluted, you should see the axual URL for the program grid at http://spreadsheets.google.com!
New M-F at 1200-1300 is `Tempranito y de Mañana`, Early in the Morning. What`s that about? Exile show, ergo must be jammed? Replaces the 1230 Monday airing of WORLD OF RADIO. Another big block is `Cuba al Día`, M-F at 23-24, the Radio Martí program which WRMI trial-ran a few weeks ago, and which per RM`s own schedule is UT Tue-Sat at 0000 and 0400, so it gets advance play by one hour on WRMI?? Compare to Greenville frequencies to see if really // now. There`s also a `Noticiero` of unknown origin Wed-Fri at 04-05, suspect also originating with R. Martí. That takes care of the ex-0430 UT Thursday WOR broadcast.
So the remaining WORLD OF RADIO times on the 9955 SW schedule are:
Fri 0600, Sat 0900, 1600, 1830, Sun 0900, 1630, 1830.
On webcast only: Mon-Tue-Wed 1630, Thu 1600, Fri 1530. Mon 2230, Thu 2200.
Some of the newer shows are yet to be described in the list of programs, but here is one not yet started:
``Blues Radio International
Web Page: http://www.bluesradiointernational.net
Blues Radio International, beginning January 1, 2012, brings Blues music to the world, with a potential audience of many tens of millions. It is the only weekly international shortwave radio broadcast devoted entirely to Blues music. . .``
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 9930, Dec 19 at 1504, fluttery VOA news in English, a couple words behind Philippines 9760. HFCC shows it`s 25 degrees from SRI LANKA, filling a one-hour gap in Palau usage of 9930 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 6925.0-USB, Dec 19 at 1400, ``Tainted Love``, 1402 segué to another song by same YL. I have no idea whether it was the original by Gloria Jones, or someone else; too much info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tainted_Love
Some ute QRM; next check 1430 it`s gone, but a huge swatch 6750-6985 occupied by OTH radar presumably from China or vicinity; same sound on a weaker, smaller segment 5780-5830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 7000-SSB, Dec 19 at 1408 I am hearing bits of talk and North-Korean-like jamming; clandestine? pirate? ham? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
