** BOTSWANA [and non]. 15580, Jan 3 at 0629, surprisingly bigsig from VOA African service, with program promos for `Hip-Hop Connection` and then for `South Sudan in Focus` at 1630-1700 on ``9675 on 31m, 121-5 on 24.9 m, and 13870 on 21.6 m`` 121-5??? That`s how the announcer, who obviously knows nothing about SW, pronounced 12150?
The trouble is, none of these are in the B-11 schedule for this `special service for Sudan` in the VOA English listings on page 489 of the 2012 WRTH: instead, 9790 bot, 11905 wer, and 13635 wer, M-F at 1630-1700 --- and the latter are still shown in the latest HFCC. So that promo was hardly helpful to anyone axually trying to hear the service.
At 0630, 15580 continued with VOA`s `International Edition` news, whilst BBC on 15400, also a good sig via SOUTH AFRICA, was concentrating on African news in English. This opening did not affect Nigeria on 15120, which was JBA at 0636. 15440 DW Rwanda in Hausa was also in well at 0637, and CVC 1Africa Zambia was also good at 0632 way up on 17695 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL [non]. 9725, Jan 3 at 1249, still no sign of Portuguese from possibly reactivated R. Clube Paranaense; just a weak signal in something else, presumably still Iran in Pashto (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** FRANCE [and non]. 7220, Jan 3 at 0620, RFI is still in Hausa, so I try to hear English on 9765, but not there, just propagation? Doubt it, as e.g. RNW via further PRIDNESTROVYE is in well on 9895. More RFI frequencies are missing, so I fear there have been unexpected cutbacks for 2012y:
17690, RFI Spanish missing via GUIANA FRENCH at 1403, 1627 for the 1400 and 1600 broadcasts. Will it also be missing at 2100 from 17630?
17620 and 15300 direct from Issoudun also absent at 1403, 1644; 21560 at 1403 with the NHK relay was barely audible, so the site is still funxional. Also need to check 21690 which is scheduled for RFI Issoudun, and at 17-20 from Montsinéry. Nothing on it so far before 17.
No news of any strikes at the moment, and besides, during previous strikes the frequencies stayed on the air with RFI Musique fill (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 9526-, Jan 3 at 1435, VOI in drama with great emotion, gamelan background, fair signal with no QRM during Indonesian hour, while English at 13-14 is still a total loss (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH. 9665, Jan 3 at 1420, beautiful harmonious music from soprano and chorus on KCBS, which must mean the DPRK is full of harmony, right? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, Jan 3 at 0614, IGIM is still not on unlike the day before. 0646 next check, it is on with YL wailing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 710, Jan 3 at 1346, gobierno federal PSA with whistling, but didn`t catch from which department; `Noticiero 7-10`, timecheck before 7 am local = MST, negative-C temp, mentioning several Chihuahua cities, so it`s the usual dominator XEDP in Cuauhtémoc, supposedly 7 kW, and occupying the frequency instead of much closer 10 kW KGNC Amarillo, which makes it here on daytime groundwave some 400 km away. A bandscan found little else from Mexico at this hour except XEG-1050 and XERF-1570 --- not even XETNT-650, still occupied by WSM. Today`s Enid LSR is 1343 UT, almost to our yearly latest of 1344 in a few days, when the Sun is closest (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MOROCCO. 15349.1, Jan 2 at 2147 check, IMM is back on, making ~4 kHz het with RAE 15345v, and off during the following hour. It`s been missing in our mornings, fortunately: no het against RVA/Vatican 15350.0 Jan 2 at 1504, 1539, and Jan 3 at 1316, no het against TRT on 15350.0. Nor is IMM to be found anywhere in the vicinity (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PHILIPPINES. 9760, Jan 3, VOA is on before 1501 with news, but cuts off the air for a few sex, quite undermodulated with some hum from Tinang #2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOUTH AFRICA [non]. 9955, Jan 3 at 0618, WRMI is now relaying WRN relaying Channel Africa M-F at 0600-0630; talk about the UN and the Arab Spring; compared to propagating 15255 ChAf direct, but not the same program (or so far out of synch I could not tell); 0621 on 9955 the program brought to you is `Rise & Shine`. 15255 continues past 0630 in English, while WRMI goes on to R. Praga in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 5890, well, what do you know! UT Jan 3 at 0120 check, WWCR is NO LONGER on this frequency, colliding with Cuban jamming and VOA Spanish. It`s not due to propagation, as DGS is inbooming on 5935. Someone must have noticed my report last Friday night that WWCR has been colliding with VOA for an hour at 01-02 on 5890, probably since DST went off November 6.
The transmitter schedule, still dated 19 Dec hoping no one will notice it`s changed, now shows instead of 12-01 and 01-12:
Transmitter #4 - 100 KW - 90 Degrees
9.980 1200 – 0200 (6:00am – 8:00pm CT)
5.890 0200 – 1200 (8:00pm – 6:00am CT)
But I can`t hear them on 9980, altho WYFR is weakly audible on 9985. Of course, staying on 9 MHz one hour *later* during the winter than in the summer doesn`t make any sense propagationally, but that`s what they get for trying (and failing) to make schedule changes according to DST clox rather than Propagation 101. The WWCR-4 pdf program schedule dated 1 January now shows 9980 with programming until 0200, 5890 from 0200 --- even tho that means an insolated half-hour broadcast on 9980 at 0130-0200 UT Sundays following the hiatus starting at 2100. (And UT Mondays still not opening 5890 until 0400).
Tsk2, if WWCR had treated me civilly and ever asked me, I would have helped them out privately with their frequency management, instead of exposing their mistakes in this instance. (As any competent monitor could have noticed.)
On 5890, VOA still has DentroCuban jamming to cope with, and it`s way underneath the noise, same as 9885. Third frequency 12000, however, is well atop the jamming in `De Capital de Capital` pop music show with announcer ranking female singers. Why is VOA wasting OUR money with this crap instead of meaningful programming in Spanish? Well, at least it is threatening enough to keep some jammers occupied.
9885, 13750 and 15590, VOA Spanish in the mornings, Jan 3 at 1312 remain unjammed, during nonsensically-named `Estudio 45` 1300-1329 show with US news. Modulation on 13750 was rather rough. Gave some temps around the US and below, such as 20 in Acapulco, -12 in Des Moines (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 7490, Jan 3 at 0613, 0623 open carrier, presumably WBCQ has not been turned off following `Financial Survival` at 04-05. Maybe to keep the transmitter from freezing; low Wednesday morning in the area is forecast to be -7 F (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 11714.8, Jan 3 at 1410, 1643, no signal from KJES, this being the deadline for them to reply to the FCC Notice of Violation about being too far off-frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1550, Jan 3 at 1324 UT as I tune in, a dominant signal as ``News New Mexico on KIVA AM 1550``; trouble is, there wasn`t any news during the following dekaminute as the signal faded in and out vs multiple SAHs from countless QRMers. 1330 promo for Dennis Miller at 1-4 pm on ``KIVA 1550, The Truth``; various ads; 1334 promo for Dr Joy Browne; finally back to a live show at 1335, two guys with local talk, still not news; 1337 lamenting long construxion period disrupting traffic on the main drag in Santa Fe, Cerillos Road.
KIVA is a 10 kW non-direxional daytimer (plus 27 watts at nite), address at 1213 San Pedro NE in Albuquerque. `News New Mexico` is their weekday 6-9 am show ``Hosted by Jim Spence and Michael Swickard`` per their blog, http://1550kiva.blogspot.com/ which is titled The ``Truth``, the quotation marx tacitly admitting that their truth = far-right wingnut opinion, not only Dennis Miller but Michael Savage, Alex Jones.
FCC info at
http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=4705
shows January sunrise in ABQ is not until 1415 UT, so is this 27 watts? Hardly! However, per
http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=3811
KIVA does have a PSRA starting at 13 UT of: 89 watts! Is this 89 watts? Hardly!
When 1550 was starting up with Program Test Authority, FCC also sent them a letter dated June 25, 2009
http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=12836
warning KIVA of intermodulation products on 450, 550, 2100, 2150, 2550, 4100 kHz which had not been demonstrated to be suppressed by at least 80 dB,
Call sign history
http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=4705&Callsign=KIVA
shows KIVA since 5/18/09, and this facility had *eight* previous calls dating back past 1994y --- but most of them were not on 1550, I know, since this frequency appeared only a few years ago when the ABQ MW band was reconfigured.
I also know that the calls KIVA have applied to numerous other stations over the years mostly in New Mexico, but also in Yuma AZ. For the uninitiated, they`re desirable because of a SW reference to kivas, the circular religious ceremony pits of the Pueblo Indians and Hopi, which have long since been adopted by the Anglos. For instance, there is a general-purpose sunken class/meeting building at UNM called The Kiva.
NRC AM Log 2011-2012 says KIVA programming is also on KQNM 1100, which is a 250/20 watt station in Milan NM (near Grants, W of ABQ), but I don`t see anything about that on the KIVA blog (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 17486, approx., Jan 3 at 1402, distorted talk, won`t demodulate on SSB, more like FM, and I then match this spur`s modulation peaks with 17365-USB, WLO in traffic list, off a minute later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
The trouble is, none of these are in the B-11 schedule for this `special service for Sudan` in the VOA English listings on page 489 of the 2012 WRTH: instead, 9790 bot, 11905 wer, and 13635 wer, M-F at 1630-1700 --- and the latter are still shown in the latest HFCC. So that promo was hardly helpful to anyone axually trying to hear the service.
At 0630, 15580 continued with VOA`s `International Edition` news, whilst BBC on 15400, also a good sig via SOUTH AFRICA, was concentrating on African news in English. This opening did not affect Nigeria on 15120, which was JBA at 0636. 15440 DW Rwanda in Hausa was also in well at 0637, and CVC 1Africa Zambia was also good at 0632 way up on 17695 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL [non]. 9725, Jan 3 at 1249, still no sign of Portuguese from possibly reactivated R. Clube Paranaense; just a weak signal in something else, presumably still Iran in Pashto (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** FRANCE [and non]. 7220, Jan 3 at 0620, RFI is still in Hausa, so I try to hear English on 9765, but not there, just propagation? Doubt it, as e.g. RNW via further PRIDNESTROVYE is in well on 9895. More RFI frequencies are missing, so I fear there have been unexpected cutbacks for 2012y:
17690, RFI Spanish missing via GUIANA FRENCH at 1403, 1627 for the 1400 and 1600 broadcasts. Will it also be missing at 2100 from 17630?
17620 and 15300 direct from Issoudun also absent at 1403, 1644; 21560 at 1403 with the NHK relay was barely audible, so the site is still funxional. Also need to check 21690 which is scheduled for RFI Issoudun, and at 17-20 from Montsinéry. Nothing on it so far before 17.
No news of any strikes at the moment, and besides, during previous strikes the frequencies stayed on the air with RFI Musique fill (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 9526-, Jan 3 at 1435, VOI in drama with great emotion, gamelan background, fair signal with no QRM during Indonesian hour, while English at 13-14 is still a total loss (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH. 9665, Jan 3 at 1420, beautiful harmonious music from soprano and chorus on KCBS, which must mean the DPRK is full of harmony, right? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, Jan 3 at 0614, IGIM is still not on unlike the day before. 0646 next check, it is on with YL wailing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 710, Jan 3 at 1346, gobierno federal PSA with whistling, but didn`t catch from which department; `Noticiero 7-10`, timecheck before 7 am local = MST, negative-C temp, mentioning several Chihuahua cities, so it`s the usual dominator XEDP in Cuauhtémoc, supposedly 7 kW, and occupying the frequency instead of much closer 10 kW KGNC Amarillo, which makes it here on daytime groundwave some 400 km away. A bandscan found little else from Mexico at this hour except XEG-1050 and XERF-1570 --- not even XETNT-650, still occupied by WSM. Today`s Enid LSR is 1343 UT, almost to our yearly latest of 1344 in a few days, when the Sun is closest (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MOROCCO. 15349.1, Jan 2 at 2147 check, IMM is back on, making ~4 kHz het with RAE 15345v, and off during the following hour. It`s been missing in our mornings, fortunately: no het against RVA/Vatican 15350.0 Jan 2 at 1504, 1539, and Jan 3 at 1316, no het against TRT on 15350.0. Nor is IMM to be found anywhere in the vicinity (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PHILIPPINES. 9760, Jan 3, VOA is on before 1501 with news, but cuts off the air for a few sex, quite undermodulated with some hum from Tinang #2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOUTH AFRICA [non]. 9955, Jan 3 at 0618, WRMI is now relaying WRN relaying Channel Africa M-F at 0600-0630; talk about the UN and the Arab Spring; compared to propagating 15255 ChAf direct, but not the same program (or so far out of synch I could not tell); 0621 on 9955 the program brought to you is `Rise & Shine`. 15255 continues past 0630 in English, while WRMI goes on to R. Praga in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 5890, well, what do you know! UT Jan 3 at 0120 check, WWCR is NO LONGER on this frequency, colliding with Cuban jamming and VOA Spanish. It`s not due to propagation, as DGS is inbooming on 5935. Someone must have noticed my report last Friday night that WWCR has been colliding with VOA for an hour at 01-02 on 5890, probably since DST went off November 6.
The transmitter schedule, still dated 19 Dec hoping no one will notice it`s changed, now shows instead of 12-01 and 01-12:
Transmitter #4 - 100 KW - 90 Degrees
9.980 1200 – 0200 (6:00am – 8:00pm CT)
5.890 0200 – 1200 (8:00pm – 6:00am CT)
But I can`t hear them on 9980, altho WYFR is weakly audible on 9985. Of course, staying on 9 MHz one hour *later* during the winter than in the summer doesn`t make any sense propagationally, but that`s what they get for trying (and failing) to make schedule changes according to DST clox rather than Propagation 101. The WWCR-4 pdf program schedule dated 1 January now shows 9980 with programming until 0200, 5890 from 0200 --- even tho that means an insolated half-hour broadcast on 9980 at 0130-0200 UT Sundays following the hiatus starting at 2100. (And UT Mondays still not opening 5890 until 0400).
Tsk2, if WWCR had treated me civilly and ever asked me, I would have helped them out privately with their frequency management, instead of exposing their mistakes in this instance. (As any competent monitor could have noticed.)
On 5890, VOA still has DentroCuban jamming to cope with, and it`s way underneath the noise, same as 9885. Third frequency 12000, however, is well atop the jamming in `De Capital de Capital` pop music show with announcer ranking female singers. Why is VOA wasting OUR money with this crap instead of meaningful programming in Spanish? Well, at least it is threatening enough to keep some jammers occupied.
9885, 13750 and 15590, VOA Spanish in the mornings, Jan 3 at 1312 remain unjammed, during nonsensically-named `Estudio 45` 1300-1329 show with US news. Modulation on 13750 was rather rough. Gave some temps around the US and below, such as 20 in Acapulco, -12 in Des Moines (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 7490, Jan 3 at 0613, 0623 open carrier, presumably WBCQ has not been turned off following `Financial Survival` at 04-05. Maybe to keep the transmitter from freezing; low Wednesday morning in the area is forecast to be -7 F (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 11714.8, Jan 3 at 1410, 1643, no signal from KJES, this being the deadline for them to reply to the FCC Notice of Violation about being too far off-frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1550, Jan 3 at 1324 UT as I tune in, a dominant signal as ``News New Mexico on KIVA AM 1550``; trouble is, there wasn`t any news during the following dekaminute as the signal faded in and out vs multiple SAHs from countless QRMers. 1330 promo for Dennis Miller at 1-4 pm on ``KIVA 1550, The Truth``; various ads; 1334 promo for Dr Joy Browne; finally back to a live show at 1335, two guys with local talk, still not news; 1337 lamenting long construxion period disrupting traffic on the main drag in Santa Fe, Cerillos Road.
KIVA is a 10 kW non-direxional daytimer (plus 27 watts at nite), address at 1213 San Pedro NE in Albuquerque. `News New Mexico` is their weekday 6-9 am show ``Hosted by Jim Spence and Michael Swickard`` per their blog, http://1550kiva.blogspot.com/ which is titled The ``Truth``, the quotation marx tacitly admitting that their truth = far-right wingnut opinion, not only Dennis Miller but Michael Savage, Alex Jones.
FCC info at
http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=4705
shows January sunrise in ABQ is not until 1415 UT, so is this 27 watts? Hardly! However, per
http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=3811
KIVA does have a PSRA starting at 13 UT of: 89 watts! Is this 89 watts? Hardly!
When 1550 was starting up with Program Test Authority, FCC also sent them a letter dated June 25, 2009
http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=12836
warning KIVA of intermodulation products on 450, 550, 2100, 2150, 2550, 4100 kHz which had not been demonstrated to be suppressed by at least 80 dB,
Call sign history
http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=4705&Callsign=KIVA
shows KIVA since 5/18/09, and this facility had *eight* previous calls dating back past 1994y --- but most of them were not on 1550, I know, since this frequency appeared only a few years ago when the ABQ MW band was reconfigured.
I also know that the calls KIVA have applied to numerous other stations over the years mostly in New Mexico, but also in Yuma AZ. For the uninitiated, they`re desirable because of a SW reference to kivas, the circular religious ceremony pits of the Pueblo Indians and Hopi, which have long since been adopted by the Anglos. For instance, there is a general-purpose sunken class/meeting building at UNM called The Kiva.
NRC AM Log 2011-2012 says KIVA programming is also on KQNM 1100, which is a 250/20 watt station in Milan NM (near Grants, W of ABQ), but I don`t see anything about that on the KIVA blog (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 17486, approx., Jan 3 at 1402, distorted talk, won`t demodulate on SSB, more like FM, and I then match this spur`s modulation peaks with 17365-USB, WLO in traffic list, off a minute later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)