** CHINA [and non]. 15615 and // 15660, March 28 at 0505 in Chinese, probably R Free Asia as scheduled via TINIAN, rather than CNR1 jamming which surely accompanies them.
11805, March 28 at 1357, English talk mixing with Chinese, but gone at 1358. VOA Chinese is scheduled 13-15, switching from SAIPAN to Tajikistan site at 14, always with CNR1 jamming, either one of which could have included bits of English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake March 28:
13970, poor at 1429; none in the 12s, 11s
15615, fair with flutter, CCI and het on lo side at 1424
15800, fair at 1427
15870, fair at 1427; none in the 14s, 16s
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** COSTA RICA [and non]. 11815.0, March 28 at 1356, NHK J-pop with no het from REE relay; by 1436 I am hearing only Spanish, no NHK, no het, so not off-frequency today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 5360v, March 28 at 0522, the stray and wandering DentroCuban pulse jammer soon varies to 5363 or so as I compare it to 7365 which is pulsing at the same rate but not exactly synchronized, likewise on 5745 and 5980, none of which need R. Martí jamming at this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. Morning of March 28, RHC has preëmpted all its wake-up programming for live coverage of Pope Benedict XVI`s big mass in the Plaza de la Revolución, as RHC turns into a religious broadcaster! Found at 1337 on 13780 and all the other frequencies.
Then also heard different coverage of same ceremony on WEWN Spanish, 12050 and 11550. Here the anchor was more excited. WEWN English on 9390 plus spurs at 1350 was not covering the ceremony directly, but discussing Ratzinger`s wardrobe.
Radio Martí joined in too, March 28 at 1341 on 11845 which was *not* jammed, but 11930 with heavy jamming, and 13830 with RM audible equal to the jamming level. Of course, 11845 is right next to 11840 RHC for at least a few more days, possibly discouraging them from jamming 11845, but as time goes on, 11840 overcomes 11845 anyway here.
Thence I started watching it on cable TV too, this time covered by both Telemundo and Univisión as well as with English commentary, EWTN.
At 1417, in prolog to the pope, a Cuban papist quoted from Daniel 3, a grisly story about a ``white-hot furnace``, like the Plaza, I suppose, judging from all the oversized parasoles.
At 1439 I compared the delays on the different stations:
Radio Martí, 29 seconds behind RHC
WEWN, 6 seconds behind RHC
What about America`s other `Catholic` SW station, KJES? No surprise that this offshoot yahweh cult is ignoring the Pope as usual, instead usual stuff barely modulated with hum on 11715v at 1435.
I searched the 9 thru 17 MHz bands for any special Vatican Radio frequencies, but none found, in keeping with none yet added to
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/trasm_spec.asp?cod=txs_2012_03_28_ing.asp
Why not for this major event?? However, I got a reply from Vatican Radio frequency management that 15470 in use late UT March 26 was via BONAIRE and 11945 from 0000 March 27 was direct from SMG:
``The 15470 kHz was broadcast from Bonaire beaming Brazil, the 11945 kHz was broadcast from Santa Maria di Galeria beaming to Mexico, 250 kW HER 4/4/.5 293°. Best regards. Sergio Salvatori, Vatican Radio
Frequency Management``
However2, per
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/trasm_spec.asp?cod=txs_2012_04_01_ing.asp
VR now has a special broadcast planned for Palm Sunday April 1 from 0725 UT:
``From St. Peter's Square, Benediction of Palm and Olive branches, procession and Holy Mass presided over by Pope Benedict XVI followed by the recitation of the Angelus. Live Broadcast from 09.25 a.m.
- in English for Asia on kHz 17590 SW, for the Rome area on MHz 93,3 FM and via Internet on Channel 1
-in French for Africa on kHz 15550 SW, for the Rome area on MHz 103,8 FM and via Internet on Channel 2
-in German for Europe on kHz 9645 SW, for the Rome area on kHz 1.611 MW and via Internet on Channel 3
-in Portuguese for Africa on kHz 21675 SW and via Internet on Channel 4
-in Italian for Italy on kHz 6075 SW, for the Rome area on kHz 585 MW, MHz 105,0 FM and via Internet on Channel 5
-in Spanish for Europe on kHz 13620 SW and via Internet on Channel 6`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GREECE. V. of Greece hasn`t put up an A-12 schedule, John Babbis says they don`t reply to E-mail, and their HFCC registrations are a joke, full of wooden entries. So only by monitoring can we figure out what their real schedule is.
15650, March 28 at 1359 I hear their haunting IS, presumed national anthem, and onward with Greek announcements and music past 1500 full ID and theme, all the while with co-channel QRM from another station producing fast SAH, registered as R. Liberty in Turkmen via Wertachtal, Germany at 14-17. Still the same at 1646, and Mauno Ritola heard VOG still on 15650 after 1700, but no 9420, where is it?
Sometime later they switch from 15650 to 15630. By 1913 they are on 15630 instead, sounds like sports coverage, which I have also noticed lately in their evenings (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA [and non]. 9526-, March 28 at 1316, zero signal from VOI. Yes, they might as well turn it off if they can`t modulate. Still off at 1438 check, unable to produce even a het upon 9525 CRI Russian.
Once again proving that propagation is not the problem, 9680 RRI domestic service is quite good over its Taiwan/Mainland CCI, canned ID right as I tune in March 28 at 1322, ``R-R-I [ee], Jakarta``, apparent credit roll with dramatic music for preceding show, 1323 different music, ID, announcing song ``I`m Sorry, Goodbye``(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. 15555, March 28 at 1333, Qur`an and then talk in Japanese, which means it has to be VIRI, yes, now scheduled 1330-1430, 500 kW, 60 degrees from Kamalabad. There is also a D-note het above hi C, = 587 Hz, matching that heard on 15340 between HCJB and Morocco. What are the chances of that? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [non]. 15720, March 27 at 1809, NHK English with sufficient signal at new time for Africa, 1800-1830, 250 kW, 295 degrees from MADAGASCAR, replacing 1400-1430 on 21560 via France (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KUWAIT. 15540, March 27 at 1810, R. Kuwait English very weak and unusable, but axually improved to sufficient by 2035 during western pop music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 940, March 28 at 0542 UT, something in Spanish dominates, with no audible het --- could this mean that XEQ or even XEMMM are back on-frequency?
850, in absence of KOA (off the air or QRP?), March 28 at 0545,, talk mentioning Rio Verde, San Luís Potosí, Bancómer ad, federal PSA about calentamiento global (global warming; why don`t we hear any like that from the USG? Mexican stations are required to carry government PSAs, unlike Americans, optional fillers), ``El Planeta Terra``, ``Milenio Televisión presenta`` more talk, i.e. XEM Chihuahua per Cantú, 500 watts at night. IRCA Log 2011 did not have this with Milenio, instead ``Renacimiento 850``, changed affiliation? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. March 28 at 1557 UT I notice that after months of snow, channel 2 suddenly has some analog TV DX from the south in Spanish, a rare VHF sporadic-E opening in March. Distracts me from compiling this report, further HF monitoring, and preparing for WORLD OF RADIO 1610, which I might not be ready to produce until Thursday morning.
1557, ch 2 in Spanish, and now just barely visible video on 4.
Antenna SSE aimed at OKC. I check the 6 meter skip map and see only one puny path from Mexico City to Costa Rica, but the TV/FM Skip Log has been active with unID TV Es for almost an hour.
1618, ch 2 with PSA from the Gobierno del Estado de Sonora, and signal improves as I rotate toward the SW. The leaning-2 with seagull logo bug is in the upper-right. This could be either Los Mochis or Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, both of which have an XHI-TV on channel 2 but with different programming. This confusing situation is explained at http://tvdxtips.com/mexlogosch2.html
And then there is XHQ-2 in Guamuchil, Sinaloa, part of the same group with same logo, relaying XHQ-3 from Culiacán.
1623, ch 3 with net 5 toons, audio soon following; 2 with CCI
1624, ch 3 is supering a local ID with small white letters in the upper right starting with X, but can`t make it out before it crawls offscreen!
1647, ch 4 mixing toon audio with other video; soon toon video too // ch 3, likely net-5 both
1647, ch 5, now video is starting to show 10 MHz higher
1648, ch 6, MUF builds another 6 MHz, some video and audio here; looks like the Búrguer-Rey circular logo flashing by midscreen
1700, ch 5, now there is zero-offset CCI, dominant being a weight-loss ad or infomercial
1701, ch 6, movie opening credits by FILMEX, then title ``Ojos de Juventud``; from title style and music, seems like an oldie; no CCI
1701, ch 4, CCI including a game show
1701, ch 3 and 5 // toons, net-5
1705, ch 4 with video CCI making a wavering audible het: one station has an unstable transmitter
1711, ch 4 audio mentions `Festival de Zacatecas` but not necessarily transmitted from that state; CCI
1744, after lunch of another home-grown asparagus omelet, opening has diminished to only weak CCI on 2, but rebuilds up:
1750, ch 2, gull logo of XHI-2 on mike in front of interviewee, and same in upper-right, tho partly cut off my overscanned screen
1750, ch 4, Smurfs from net-5
1809, antenna is still SSW, but audio on ch 2 says ``aquí en Mérida``, so rotating SSE it`s stronger, XHY. Clock shows 12:09 as most of México is still on CST for another few days, even tho further east than here. Has bug in LR of sunburst logo, and tv2; MILENIO and some other large wording across the bottom to the left, so are they Milenio TV network now, mostly heard as an audio soundtrack relayed by MW stations? Still going local(?) talkshow past 1830. 1842 audio ID in passing as SIPSE Televisión. Again at 1902 UT.
1811, ch 4 has net-5 Smurf toons, accompanying XHY-2 so suspect also from Mérida
1834, ch 3, from the SSW with male chef doing cooking show
1835, ch 4, from SW with novela, possibly Galavisión bug upper-right, zero CCI from Smurfs/Mérida still incoming from SE; soon fades, but opening continues past 1852.
1917, ch 2 still has some competing signals.
By 1830 the 6m skip map was full of signals mostly across S & W USA, but not much with Mexico (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MOROCCO [and non]. 15345+, March 27 at 2045, IMM making D# het below middle C, i.e. 155 Hz presumably with ARGENTINA, which is probably off-frequency too.
15340.6, March 28 at 1348, IMM undermodulated Arabic, but quite a het against weaker 15340.0 HCJB Austallia, hi-D on my keyboard nominally 587 Hz, strangely the same pitch as heard on IRAN q.v. 15555
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [non]. RNW never learned their lesson last A-seasons, nor CRI, big collision resuming on 9650: March 28 at 1308, CRI English `China Drive` via Sackville has heavy CCI from YL in Dutch, which is once again the Tinang, PHILIPPINES relay, 1300-1327, listed at 250 kW, 200 degrees, but so strong here I could easily believe it`s really on the 21-degree antenna. My heart bleeds for poor CRI, so hard to hear otherwise (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA [and non]. 15120.0, March 28 at 0501, good signal with open carrier, no hum, and no modulation from VON which normally starts around 0445 after tone test. Meanwhile other African signals were in well, 15400 Dabanga, 15580 VOA. 15120 cut off at 0507, then right back on, but at next check 0513 gone again as apparently they gave up at the old Ikorodu transmitter site on getting any audio from the Lagos studio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 1000, March 28 at 0540 I am not getting KTOK OKC at all, just something in Spanish from the SW. Next check after sunrise, KTOK is detectable but much weaker than it should be on daytime groundwave.
KTOK has been undergoing an antenna reconfiguration (eliminating the tall center tower of the antenna system pursuant to the construction permit BP-20100830ABU). See the third of four entries, the CP, at:
http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?state=&call=ktok&arn=&city=&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&facid=&class=&list=0&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9
The reduction from the electrically awkward 148 degrees to 112 degrees will be an operational benefit without any significant effect on coverage. This may result in some off air time while construction is occurring.
The reason for use of the original 148 degree tall center tower is not known, but is not an unusual characteristic. Taller center towers in the center of inline arrays with odd numbers of towers were not an uncommon design in the heyday of expansion of AM service post WW-II (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PHILIPPINES. 9430, March 28 at 1315, songs, distorted and unstable carrier, 1317, ``The best things come to you when you least expect them``, repeated, alternating with Chinese talk, from FEBC Bocaue, now tweaked a bit better (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. 15510, March 28 at 1332, VOR in Pashto, I think, good modulation, flutter. I am about to conclude they have fixed the modulation problems here since last summer, when at 1349 recheck during music, IADs occur. HFCC and Aoki agree it`s 250 kW, 140 degrees from Samara at 12-14 mixed with Dari.
15640, March 28 at 1500, English news starting with item axually negative about Syria, Assad government torturing children! After some items about Russia, news ended already halfway thru the 1603-1604 minute, VOR ID. Aoki A-12 still has only outdated A-11 info for this as VOR in Russian at 15-18 via Moskva site. HFCC A-12 only shows 13-18 without specifying languages (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SERBIA [non]. 9685, UT Wed March 28 at 0029, IRS IS, good with flutter, 0030 sign-on English to N America, 250 kW via Bijeljina, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, rather muffled audio, and could not copy the frequency announced after Europe`s 6100 (which does NOT apply to this hour). Confirms anyway new time and frequency, ex 0130v on 6190, but it`s supposed to be UT Tue-Sat, and was absent on Tue March 28, while VOR/PRIDNESTROVYE was in well on 9665. This time, disturbed propagation conditions make 9665 only poor with heavy flutter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOUTH AFRICA [and non]. 7285, March 28 at 0517, talk in Afrikaans mentioning Johannesburg, doubtless R. Sonder Grense, much stronger than usual and now rivaling 7275 Tunisia signal. Scheduled 05-08, 100 kW, 290 degrees from Meyerton, favoring US. At 0518, WWV reported K-index at 0300 was 4. BTW, Algeria via France still gone again from 7295 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 15080, 15090, 15100, 15120, 15130, 15140, approx., spurs emanating from REE 15110 transmitter, March 27 at 2037, progressively weaker the further out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SUDAN [and non]. 11650, March 28 at 0508, 1000 Hz tone jamming vs R. Dabanga via VATICAN, which ran a singing ID at 0510.
// 15400 via MADAGASCAR much better and unjammed, about 1 second ahead of 11650.
15550, March 28 at 0529, whine slightly oscillating jamming only with IADs, no Dabanga audible as usual on this way offbeam transmission, 225 degrees from UAE (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9980, March 28 at 0039, very strong open carrier. Has to be the WWCR-4 transmitter mostly dedicated to Brother Scare, and which per the WWCR website transmitter sked is on air from 12 to 01 UT, but according to the separate program schedule is ``signed off`` after 21 weekdays, 20 weekends, except back on UT Suns only at 0030 for `Unshackled`; why bother for that unpaid filler? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 790, March 28 at 0550 UT, Fox Sports Radio dominating from N/S. Only one around here that fits is KBME Houston, presumed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 850, March 28 at 0545 UT, no signal from KOA Denver which normally inbooms here at night, instead something in Spanish: see MEXICO. Can KOA be off the air? Further north signals are not aurorally diminished, WCCO 830 plus IBOC sidebands bothering 820 and 840, CBW 990. Next check at 1248 after sunrise, at first suspect KOA is still off, vs weak Spanish, probably KJON TX, but then fades in a bit interviewing a forest-fire victim in Jefferson County. Reduced power at KOA? (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1030, March 28 at 1244 UT, ``Thanks for listening to Gather Round Morning Show with Greg Harris on 1030 The Light``, gospel music. That slogan means KCWJ Blue Springs MO per NRC AM Log, rather than my first choice, KCTA 50 kW daytimer from Corpus Christi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VIETNAM [non]. 9555, March 28 at 0513, Vietnamese music, and announcement, mentioning Ho Chi Minh, with 6175 missing again; 0515 another song and talk; 0527:40 cut off VOV for BaBcoCk IS to 0529* after first note only of RCI IS.
Turns out this is not a mistake, but a deliberate change now shown at:
http://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A12&broadc=VOV
taking over from 6175 until 0428*
9555 0430 0528 6,7W Voice of Vietnam BAB Vietnamese Sackville 45N53 064W19 277 250 1234567 25-Mar-2012 28-Oct-2012
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 10000+, March 28 at 0511, utility noise hash QRMing WWVH from the hi side. What is this? Certainly does not belong in the Standard Frequency band. Shows up occasionally, also in daytime against WWV (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
11805, March 28 at 1357, English talk mixing with Chinese, but gone at 1358. VOA Chinese is scheduled 13-15, switching from SAIPAN to Tajikistan site at 14, always with CNR1 jamming, either one of which could have included bits of English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake March 28:
13970, poor at 1429; none in the 12s, 11s
15615, fair with flutter, CCI and het on lo side at 1424
15800, fair at 1427
15870, fair at 1427; none in the 14s, 16s
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** COSTA RICA [and non]. 11815.0, March 28 at 1356, NHK J-pop with no het from REE relay; by 1436 I am hearing only Spanish, no NHK, no het, so not off-frequency today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 5360v, March 28 at 0522, the stray and wandering DentroCuban pulse jammer soon varies to 5363 or so as I compare it to 7365 which is pulsing at the same rate but not exactly synchronized, likewise on 5745 and 5980, none of which need R. Martí jamming at this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. Morning of March 28, RHC has preëmpted all its wake-up programming for live coverage of Pope Benedict XVI`s big mass in the Plaza de la Revolución, as RHC turns into a religious broadcaster! Found at 1337 on 13780 and all the other frequencies.
Then also heard different coverage of same ceremony on WEWN Spanish, 12050 and 11550. Here the anchor was more excited. WEWN English on 9390 plus spurs at 1350 was not covering the ceremony directly, but discussing Ratzinger`s wardrobe.
Radio Martí joined in too, March 28 at 1341 on 11845 which was *not* jammed, but 11930 with heavy jamming, and 13830 with RM audible equal to the jamming level. Of course, 11845 is right next to 11840 RHC for at least a few more days, possibly discouraging them from jamming 11845, but as time goes on, 11840 overcomes 11845 anyway here.
Thence I started watching it on cable TV too, this time covered by both Telemundo and Univisión as well as with English commentary, EWTN.
At 1417, in prolog to the pope, a Cuban papist quoted from Daniel 3, a grisly story about a ``white-hot furnace``, like the Plaza, I suppose, judging from all the oversized parasoles.
At 1439 I compared the delays on the different stations:
Radio Martí, 29 seconds behind RHC
WEWN, 6 seconds behind RHC
What about America`s other `Catholic` SW station, KJES? No surprise that this offshoot yahweh cult is ignoring the Pope as usual, instead usual stuff barely modulated with hum on 11715v at 1435.
I searched the 9 thru 17 MHz bands for any special Vatican Radio frequencies, but none found, in keeping with none yet added to
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/trasm_spec.asp?cod=txs_2012_03_28_ing.asp
Why not for this major event?? However, I got a reply from Vatican Radio frequency management that 15470 in use late UT March 26 was via BONAIRE and 11945 from 0000 March 27 was direct from SMG:
``The 15470 kHz was broadcast from Bonaire beaming Brazil, the 11945 kHz was broadcast from Santa Maria di Galeria beaming to Mexico, 250 kW HER 4/4/.5 293°. Best regards. Sergio Salvatori, Vatican Radio
Frequency Management``
However2, per
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/trasm_spec.asp?cod=txs_2012_04_01_ing.asp
VR now has a special broadcast planned for Palm Sunday April 1 from 0725 UT:
``From St. Peter's Square, Benediction of Palm and Olive branches, procession and Holy Mass presided over by Pope Benedict XVI followed by the recitation of the Angelus. Live Broadcast from 09.25 a.m.
- in English for Asia on kHz 17590 SW, for the Rome area on MHz 93,3 FM and via Internet on Channel 1
-in French for Africa on kHz 15550 SW, for the Rome area on MHz 103,8 FM and via Internet on Channel 2
-in German for Europe on kHz 9645 SW, for the Rome area on kHz 1.611 MW and via Internet on Channel 3
-in Portuguese for Africa on kHz 21675 SW and via Internet on Channel 4
-in Italian for Italy on kHz 6075 SW, for the Rome area on kHz 585 MW, MHz 105,0 FM and via Internet on Channel 5
-in Spanish for Europe on kHz 13620 SW and via Internet on Channel 6`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GREECE. V. of Greece hasn`t put up an A-12 schedule, John Babbis says they don`t reply to E-mail, and their HFCC registrations are a joke, full of wooden entries. So only by monitoring can we figure out what their real schedule is.
15650, March 28 at 1359 I hear their haunting IS, presumed national anthem, and onward with Greek announcements and music past 1500 full ID and theme, all the while with co-channel QRM from another station producing fast SAH, registered as R. Liberty in Turkmen via Wertachtal, Germany at 14-17. Still the same at 1646, and Mauno Ritola heard VOG still on 15650 after 1700, but no 9420, where is it?
Sometime later they switch from 15650 to 15630. By 1913 they are on 15630 instead, sounds like sports coverage, which I have also noticed lately in their evenings (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA [and non]. 9526-, March 28 at 1316, zero signal from VOI. Yes, they might as well turn it off if they can`t modulate. Still off at 1438 check, unable to produce even a het upon 9525 CRI Russian.
Once again proving that propagation is not the problem, 9680 RRI domestic service is quite good over its Taiwan/Mainland CCI, canned ID right as I tune in March 28 at 1322, ``R-R-I [ee], Jakarta``, apparent credit roll with dramatic music for preceding show, 1323 different music, ID, announcing song ``I`m Sorry, Goodbye``(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. 15555, March 28 at 1333, Qur`an and then talk in Japanese, which means it has to be VIRI, yes, now scheduled 1330-1430, 500 kW, 60 degrees from Kamalabad. There is also a D-note het above hi C, = 587 Hz, matching that heard on 15340 between HCJB and Morocco. What are the chances of that? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [non]. 15720, March 27 at 1809, NHK English with sufficient signal at new time for Africa, 1800-1830, 250 kW, 295 degrees from MADAGASCAR, replacing 1400-1430 on 21560 via France (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KUWAIT. 15540, March 27 at 1810, R. Kuwait English very weak and unusable, but axually improved to sufficient by 2035 during western pop music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 940, March 28 at 0542 UT, something in Spanish dominates, with no audible het --- could this mean that XEQ or even XEMMM are back on-frequency?
850, in absence of KOA (off the air or QRP?), March 28 at 0545,, talk mentioning Rio Verde, San Luís Potosí, Bancómer ad, federal PSA about calentamiento global (global warming; why don`t we hear any like that from the USG? Mexican stations are required to carry government PSAs, unlike Americans, optional fillers), ``El Planeta Terra``, ``Milenio Televisión presenta`` more talk, i.e. XEM Chihuahua per Cantú, 500 watts at night. IRCA Log 2011 did not have this with Milenio, instead ``Renacimiento 850``, changed affiliation? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. March 28 at 1557 UT I notice that after months of snow, channel 2 suddenly has some analog TV DX from the south in Spanish, a rare VHF sporadic-E opening in March. Distracts me from compiling this report, further HF monitoring, and preparing for WORLD OF RADIO 1610, which I might not be ready to produce until Thursday morning.
1557, ch 2 in Spanish, and now just barely visible video on 4.
Antenna SSE aimed at OKC. I check the 6 meter skip map and see only one puny path from Mexico City to Costa Rica, but the TV/FM Skip Log has been active with unID TV Es for almost an hour.
1618, ch 2 with PSA from the Gobierno del Estado de Sonora, and signal improves as I rotate toward the SW. The leaning-2 with seagull logo bug is in the upper-right. This could be either Los Mochis or Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, both of which have an XHI-TV on channel 2 but with different programming. This confusing situation is explained at http://tvdxtips.com/mexlogosch2.html
And then there is XHQ-2 in Guamuchil, Sinaloa, part of the same group with same logo, relaying XHQ-3 from Culiacán.
1623, ch 3 with net 5 toons, audio soon following; 2 with CCI
1624, ch 3 is supering a local ID with small white letters in the upper right starting with X, but can`t make it out before it crawls offscreen!
1647, ch 4 mixing toon audio with other video; soon toon video too // ch 3, likely net-5 both
1647, ch 5, now video is starting to show 10 MHz higher
1648, ch 6, MUF builds another 6 MHz, some video and audio here; looks like the Búrguer-Rey circular logo flashing by midscreen
1700, ch 5, now there is zero-offset CCI, dominant being a weight-loss ad or infomercial
1701, ch 6, movie opening credits by FILMEX, then title ``Ojos de Juventud``; from title style and music, seems like an oldie; no CCI
1701, ch 4, CCI including a game show
1701, ch 3 and 5 // toons, net-5
1705, ch 4 with video CCI making a wavering audible het: one station has an unstable transmitter
1711, ch 4 audio mentions `Festival de Zacatecas` but not necessarily transmitted from that state; CCI
1744, after lunch of another home-grown asparagus omelet, opening has diminished to only weak CCI on 2, but rebuilds up:
1750, ch 2, gull logo of XHI-2 on mike in front of interviewee, and same in upper-right, tho partly cut off my overscanned screen
1750, ch 4, Smurfs from net-5
1809, antenna is still SSW, but audio on ch 2 says ``aquí en Mérida``, so rotating SSE it`s stronger, XHY. Clock shows 12:09 as most of México is still on CST for another few days, even tho further east than here. Has bug in LR of sunburst logo, and tv2; MILENIO and some other large wording across the bottom to the left, so are they Milenio TV network now, mostly heard as an audio soundtrack relayed by MW stations? Still going local(?) talkshow past 1830. 1842 audio ID in passing as SIPSE Televisión. Again at 1902 UT.
1811, ch 4 has net-5 Smurf toons, accompanying XHY-2 so suspect also from Mérida
1834, ch 3, from the SSW with male chef doing cooking show
1835, ch 4, from SW with novela, possibly Galavisión bug upper-right, zero CCI from Smurfs/Mérida still incoming from SE; soon fades, but opening continues past 1852.
1917, ch 2 still has some competing signals.
By 1830 the 6m skip map was full of signals mostly across S & W USA, but not much with Mexico (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MOROCCO [and non]. 15345+, March 27 at 2045, IMM making D# het below middle C, i.e. 155 Hz presumably with ARGENTINA, which is probably off-frequency too.
15340.6, March 28 at 1348, IMM undermodulated Arabic, but quite a het against weaker 15340.0 HCJB Austallia, hi-D on my keyboard nominally 587 Hz, strangely the same pitch as heard on IRAN q.v. 15555
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [non]. RNW never learned their lesson last A-seasons, nor CRI, big collision resuming on 9650: March 28 at 1308, CRI English `China Drive` via Sackville has heavy CCI from YL in Dutch, which is once again the Tinang, PHILIPPINES relay, 1300-1327, listed at 250 kW, 200 degrees, but so strong here I could easily believe it`s really on the 21-degree antenna. My heart bleeds for poor CRI, so hard to hear otherwise (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA [and non]. 15120.0, March 28 at 0501, good signal with open carrier, no hum, and no modulation from VON which normally starts around 0445 after tone test. Meanwhile other African signals were in well, 15400 Dabanga, 15580 VOA. 15120 cut off at 0507, then right back on, but at next check 0513 gone again as apparently they gave up at the old Ikorodu transmitter site on getting any audio from the Lagos studio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 1000, March 28 at 0540 I am not getting KTOK OKC at all, just something in Spanish from the SW. Next check after sunrise, KTOK is detectable but much weaker than it should be on daytime groundwave.
KTOK has been undergoing an antenna reconfiguration (eliminating the tall center tower of the antenna system pursuant to the construction permit BP-20100830ABU). See the third of four entries, the CP, at:
http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?state=&call=ktok&arn=&city=&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&facid=&class=&list=0&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9
The reduction from the electrically awkward 148 degrees to 112 degrees will be an operational benefit without any significant effect on coverage. This may result in some off air time while construction is occurring.
The reason for use of the original 148 degree tall center tower is not known, but is not an unusual characteristic. Taller center towers in the center of inline arrays with odd numbers of towers were not an uncommon design in the heyday of expansion of AM service post WW-II (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PHILIPPINES. 9430, March 28 at 1315, songs, distorted and unstable carrier, 1317, ``The best things come to you when you least expect them``, repeated, alternating with Chinese talk, from FEBC Bocaue, now tweaked a bit better (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. 15510, March 28 at 1332, VOR in Pashto, I think, good modulation, flutter. I am about to conclude they have fixed the modulation problems here since last summer, when at 1349 recheck during music, IADs occur. HFCC and Aoki agree it`s 250 kW, 140 degrees from Samara at 12-14 mixed with Dari.
15640, March 28 at 1500, English news starting with item axually negative about Syria, Assad government torturing children! After some items about Russia, news ended already halfway thru the 1603-1604 minute, VOR ID. Aoki A-12 still has only outdated A-11 info for this as VOR in Russian at 15-18 via Moskva site. HFCC A-12 only shows 13-18 without specifying languages (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SERBIA [non]. 9685, UT Wed March 28 at 0029, IRS IS, good with flutter, 0030 sign-on English to N America, 250 kW via Bijeljina, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, rather muffled audio, and could not copy the frequency announced after Europe`s 6100 (which does NOT apply to this hour). Confirms anyway new time and frequency, ex 0130v on 6190, but it`s supposed to be UT Tue-Sat, and was absent on Tue March 28, while VOR/PRIDNESTROVYE was in well on 9665. This time, disturbed propagation conditions make 9665 only poor with heavy flutter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOUTH AFRICA [and non]. 7285, March 28 at 0517, talk in Afrikaans mentioning Johannesburg, doubtless R. Sonder Grense, much stronger than usual and now rivaling 7275 Tunisia signal. Scheduled 05-08, 100 kW, 290 degrees from Meyerton, favoring US. At 0518, WWV reported K-index at 0300 was 4. BTW, Algeria via France still gone again from 7295 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 15080, 15090, 15100, 15120, 15130, 15140, approx., spurs emanating from REE 15110 transmitter, March 27 at 2037, progressively weaker the further out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SUDAN [and non]. 11650, March 28 at 0508, 1000 Hz tone jamming vs R. Dabanga via VATICAN, which ran a singing ID at 0510.
// 15400 via MADAGASCAR much better and unjammed, about 1 second ahead of 11650.
15550, March 28 at 0529, whine slightly oscillating jamming only with IADs, no Dabanga audible as usual on this way offbeam transmission, 225 degrees from UAE (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9980, March 28 at 0039, very strong open carrier. Has to be the WWCR-4 transmitter mostly dedicated to Brother Scare, and which per the WWCR website transmitter sked is on air from 12 to 01 UT, but according to the separate program schedule is ``signed off`` after 21 weekdays, 20 weekends, except back on UT Suns only at 0030 for `Unshackled`; why bother for that unpaid filler? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 790, March 28 at 0550 UT, Fox Sports Radio dominating from N/S. Only one around here that fits is KBME Houston, presumed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 850, March 28 at 0545 UT, no signal from KOA Denver which normally inbooms here at night, instead something in Spanish: see MEXICO. Can KOA be off the air? Further north signals are not aurorally diminished, WCCO 830 plus IBOC sidebands bothering 820 and 840, CBW 990. Next check at 1248 after sunrise, at first suspect KOA is still off, vs weak Spanish, probably KJON TX, but then fades in a bit interviewing a forest-fire victim in Jefferson County. Reduced power at KOA? (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1030, March 28 at 1244 UT, ``Thanks for listening to Gather Round Morning Show with Greg Harris on 1030 The Light``, gospel music. That slogan means KCWJ Blue Springs MO per NRC AM Log, rather than my first choice, KCTA 50 kW daytimer from Corpus Christi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VIETNAM [non]. 9555, March 28 at 0513, Vietnamese music, and announcement, mentioning Ho Chi Minh, with 6175 missing again; 0515 another song and talk; 0527:40 cut off VOV for BaBcoCk IS to 0529* after first note only of RCI IS.
Turns out this is not a mistake, but a deliberate change now shown at:
http://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A12&broadc=VOV
taking over from 6175 until 0428*
9555 0430 0528 6,7W Voice of Vietnam BAB Vietnamese Sackville 45N53 064W19 277 250 1234567 25-Mar-2012 28-Oct-2012
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 10000+, March 28 at 0511, utility noise hash QRMing WWVH from the hi side. What is this? Certainly does not belong in the Standard Frequency band. Shows up occasionally, also in daytime against WWV (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
