sabato 7 aprile 2012

Glenn Hauser logs April 6-7, 2012

** AUSTRALIA. 15340, April 7 at 1507, S. Asian music, no doubt HCJB Kununurra, long path? Now scheduled 1145-1530, and blocked by RHC at 1300-1500. At least Morocco is sticking to 15349.1v avoiding both of them. HFCC uncharacteristically shows all the language details for HCJB: 1500-1515 on Saturdays it`s Nepali, but all other days in English, as well as every day at 1515-1530*, 100 kW, 307 degrees. No English on 15340 before 1300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA [non]. 17495, April 7 at 1433, gospel huxter screaming about Jesus, not Brother Scare who is no longer scheduled here or on 17485. Aoki shows it`s Bible Voice via Wertachtal, GERMANY, 1430-1500 Sat, 1400-1500 Sun, off weekdays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Checking out the new inband (or less out-of-band) frequencies for CNR5 and CNR6 as scheduled in my previous report:

9420, April 7 at 1229, instrumental music, YL in Chinese, poor signal but no QRM with voluntary curtailment of Greece --- no CCI, that is, but some second ACI from 9430 FEBC Chinese splash. Could barely make it // weaker 6165, the only other CNR6 SW frequency on at this time; ex-9170. CNR6 service is partly in Hakka and Amoy, but Mandarin now.

7410, April 7 at 1242, Chinese talk, just barely //able to weaker 9410 and 5925, the only other CNR5 frequencies on at this time; ex-7620. 9410 suffers from the WEWN 9390 squishy spur circa 9408. So CNR 5 and 6 are conveniently right next to each other now on 31m.

The next thing to check out, if possible as late as 1358-1400 now, is whether the CRI Nepali service from 1400 is still preceded by the REE IS from Spain mistakenly on the Kunming transmitters, as it had been thruout in B-11 and B-10, at least. Now in A-12 the listed frequencies are 7415, 7445 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake April 7, before 1300:
12980, fair at 1257. Did not have time for a full bandscan.

After 1300:
13795, good at 1303: target is RFA Tibetan via Kuwait at 12-14
15795, very poor at 1305, under AIR Chinese service; but within China?

After 1400:
15615, good at 1414 with heavy flutter, hets on both sides, from VOT
12980, good at 1419

Before 1500:
15940, fair at 1436; none in the 16s, 17s. 15940 is in Aoki as one of countless 100-watt nuisance transmitters of SOH Taiwan, along with others in this area: 15800, 15870, 15900, 15970, 16100

15870, very good at 1436
15800, very good at 1436
Then distracted by and concentrating on 15250 pirate rest of the hour+, see NORTH AMERICA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA [and non]. 17750, April 6 at 1938, RHC is still here in French to ``Europe``, VG signal to CNAm 90 degrees off. *1958:45 hit by QRDRM from 17755, The Disco Palace via Guiana French, 2000 RHC IS, opening in Portuguese without any frequency given, but the date. Lacking any reply or action from the bully Arnie Coro, Ludo Maes of TDP tells me he will be shifting the TDP DRM hour to 17875 ASAP.

17875 has been used previously for special DRM broadcasts from GUF, but not currently HFCC registered. Its nearest neighbor will be:
17885 at 1930-2030, BBC Hausa, 250 kW, 55 degrees via Ascension.

BTW in the seconds before DRM cut on, I was hearing a weak tone on RHC 17750, both sides of center carrier, not a het; originating from GUF?

11760, April 6 until 2029* RHC in French; on the first Sunday of their new schedule, April 1, it continued after 2030 with Esperanto, but still does not appear as such on schedule; assumed but not for certain to have replaced 2230 on 15370. Need to check both April 8.

9810, April 7 at 0513, RHC is off again, clearing frequency for Vatican in Finnish [Mondays & Saturdays per Aoki]. And RHC 5040, 6120 were also off, presumably around 0500*. Could be that when 9810 stays on later, like last night, it`s a different transmitter operator believing the schedule with -0600 typo in it; or just normal slipshoddiness.

17580, April 7 at 1417, RHC absent, but still on 17730, tho both are supposed to be on until 1500 per own new schedule. Same thing used to happen with ex-13670 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, April 6 at 1940, American English sermon, flutter, and frequency wavers slightly, hard to zero-beat; is it Doppler or transmitted that way? 1953 outro `Let the Bible Speak`, mailing address repeated in US but couldn`t tell where, ``till the same time next week``; no 5-minute pause this time but 1955 right into next show! opening with small female group singing ``Jesus Saves``, and `Gospel Tidings` to endure 30 minutes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** JAPAN [non]. 15745, April 7 at 1437, very poor signal in S Asian language, I hope Sri Lanka`s 10 kW Ekala transmitter --- but no, that`s only on air in English at 0100-0300 (except Sun 0300-0500 for those who sleep in) per Aoki, while now it`s R. Japan in Hindi via MADAGASCAR at 1430-1515 daily (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9650, April 7 at 1250, KBS World Radio via doomed Sackville, Kevin O`Donovan in Farmington is already into his 3-minute `Listening Tips` segment, with new R. Japan schedule in English and S Asian languages; SiriusXM keeps adding services, such as MLB now online, and for phone apps; propagation outlook for April from SWPC (the text part rather than the numerical part I usually cite).

Immediately followed by another American contributor, I hadn`t heard before, Jeff Bolognese (sp?) in Baltimore, with Tech Tips, all about what to find on the KBSWR website, and what is most popular per his own poll of listeners --- er, readers: info about KBS `special` programs.

I could safely monitor these bits of `Worldwide Friendship` this Saturday, an off-week for Turkey`s simultaneous `DX Corner` (and then found 15450 wasn`t propagating, anyway). What, o what, will KBSWR do without these Sackville relays from the end of June? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KUWAIT. 15540, April 6 at 1822, R. Kuwait is both on and propagating, good signal with rock music; 1936 check, Today-in-History feature, US into WW I on April 6, 1917 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NIGERIA. 15115-15120-15125, April 6 at 1939, no doubt that VON is back and in DRM, noise easily heard in AM mode. Ergo it`s the new transmitter, but which in the AM mode was about .13 kHz low in frequency, unlike the old transmitter really on 15120.0. Would that necessarily also apply when they are in DRM, or is there any way to tell exactly where channel center is? There`s something about another digital mode, IBOC, which requires stations to be right on the exact MW frequency, its only redeeming quality (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NORTH AMERICA. 15250.0, April 7 at 1440 in bandscan I come across something unexpected: sounds like a pirate, boldly RSD in the middle of the 19m legal SWBC band! Yes, he is talking about getting busted, being pursued by a government van, with dramatic music. 1442 ID as ``Undercover Radio, broadcasting from the middle of nowhere``, then rock music.

This could not be a clip on `Pirating with Cumbre`, no WHR scheduled here! Peaks to S9+10, but audible only on my longest antenna, the 110` E-W longwire normally in use for the FRG-7. Speech audio is a bit lo-fi, like run thru a telephone mike, but modulation level is good and clear.

1445 ID as ``Undercover Radio, pirate radio`s alternative music station.` And ``this week`s DX bulletin`` from Sept. 18 & 22 some other pirate logs.

1448, says he is in a 1000-watt mobile unit, address undercoverradio at mail.com Or P O Box 294, Merlin, Ont., etc. Says he has been on air for over 20 years, now playing old tapes, also of Progressive Music Radio; with spooky music, talking about his equipment and how things have changed in 20 years, now with instant feedback via internet. Refers to ``tonight`` which leads me to believe this is not live unless he is on the other worldside, unlikely. Likes to experiment with different modes, maybe DRM. Internet hasn`t killeld pirate radio, where there is ``complete and total creative freedom`` without worrying about rights to use someone else`s material; just do what you want. Except for possibility of getting caught. ``Legal broadcasting is not for me.``

1455 ``I`m Dr. Benway``, special 20th anniversary QSL package available. 1457, See also his website
http://freewinds.com/undercoverradio
I thought he said, but nothing found beyond freewinds.com hoster.

Closing with the song he used to play at end of every Progressive Music Radio broadcast, but didn`t catch title or recognize it. ``Thanks for listening, catch you next time``.

By now signal has improved to S9+15. After last music, final announcement at 1502 says ``Here`s to free listening, pirate radio fans wherever you are``.  And carrier stays on until 1519*, helpful for DFers hustling to find him?

BTW, I was not tipped off about this, but discovered it myself. Searching my recent e-mail later, nothing with 15250 in it. Unfortunately, I usually can`t offer real-time tips, with computer necessarily off while DXing. I`ll be interested to see if anyone else caught this, not a place where pirate-chasers would be looking unless tipped. It`s not in Brian Alexander`s latest report. And who knows if Dr Benway will ever use 15250 again?

This was a good clear frequency choice; except while modulating I noticed a constant very lite het, which might have been from a local device. After 1500 there was ACI from 15255 I noted as Chinese, but listed as AWR Punjabi via Germany. If there was also YFR Bengali via Germany on 15255 before 1500, I did not notice it.

BTW, Dr Benway`s signal was infinitely better than ex-pirate WBCQ which was inaudible on 15420-USB if on the air as scheduled to be on Saturday mornings (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 15700, April 7 at 1501 I can detect the dulcet tones of Brother Scare, on this new Saturday-only frequency for the extended Sabbath service via IRRS via ROMANIA, ex-15190, which continues daily 1300-1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SPAIN. 17595, April 6 at 1820, REE in Spanish with very good signal direct. Seems this is regular contrary to schedules at this hour, at least on weekdays; or maybe some kind of holiday. EiBi shows only:
17595         1300-1500 Mo-Fr E   Radio Exterior España    S   NAm
17595         2100-2200 Mo-Fr E   Radio Exterior España    P   SAm
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TURKEY [and non]. 15450, April 7 at 1308, VOT is JBA unlike yesterday and quite overshadowed by 15445 with Burmese intonation, i.e. really Kachin from KSDA daily at 1300-1330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K [non]. 15370, April 7 at 1334, Horn-of-Africa music, good with flutter, 1340 talk in presumed Somali, 1344 mentions ``Somali, BBC``; 1411 recheck, silly ballgame coverage in Somali with crowd noises; I just wonder where such games originate, Britain, Somalia, Somaliland, or ??? 1434 found // 17840 synchronized. Both are via CYPRUS: 15370 Saturdays only at 11-16; 17840 daily 13-16, and Saturdays also 11-13. These have often defaulted to English instead (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [and non]. Comparing AFN Florida and Guam, April 7:

5765-USB, Guam, April 7 at 1230, ``AFN News``, PSAs, promo for more AFN News, 1238 Chief of Naval Operations held a luncheon at Jacksonville FL NAS, etc.

7811-USB, Florida, April 7 at 1246, `NPR Weekend Edition Saturday`, interview with Texas book author, as usual repeated a few sex later on KOSU-91.7`s delayed analog channel to match their IBOC noise (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 17530, April 7 until 1331* strong open carrier, tone before off; also earlier in the hour. No doubt Greenville B tuning up for much later use of 17530, i.e. 1700 in Portuguese; altho São Tomé is coming up at 1400 in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [and non]. 9955, April 7 at 1424, singing hymn(?) with guitar, uncertain language with poor reception, lite Cuban pulse jamming fades up and down vs WRMI fades. 1430 missed any WRMI ID, but then R. Prague in English, with `Czech Lines`, very poor. I don`t think the show before 1430 was `Historias de Radio` as on the WRMI program grid as of March 31.

How about WORLD OF RADIO, long scheduled Saturdays at 1500 on WRMI? Yes, confirmed starting then, poor signal with no jamming, but at 1509 some pulse jamming could again be heard, fading independently of WRMI. Remaining repeats are Sun 0800, 1530, 1730, Mon 0500, 1130.

The Area 51 WBCQ broadcast of WORLD OF RADIO 1611 started close to 0130 UT Saturday April 7 on 5110v-CUSB/LSB, as monitored on webcast.

Next best chance: UT Sunday 0400 on 5755 WTWW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 15110, April 7 at 1412, open carrier with good signal. Nothing is scheduled here 13-15, but could be REE Noblejas tuning up for the *1900 broadcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 15725, April 7 at 1506, 1 kHz tone test. Nothing scheduled now, but until 1500 it was IBB Kuwait, and from 1530 it`s PNW Trincomallee, Sri Lanka, not to mention from 1700 R. Pakistan, all per HFCC. Aoki clarifies what services these really refer to: Kuwait is R. Aap ki Dunyaa; Sri Lanka is R. Dabanga; and no listing for Pakistan after 1104 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)