** AUSTRALIA. 4835, June 15 at 1158 immediately after WWCR cuts off 4840, with BFO I can detect a JBA carrier here, no doubt VL8A on its extended 60m schedule. Earlier around 1120 shortly after sunrise, I could also detect a JBA carrier on 2325, no doubt VL8T. BTW, the NT frequencies are still absent from HFCC along with RA Shepparton and Brandon. I wonder if ABC just didn`t want to pay the HFCC dues; who needs it? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 6180, June 15 at 0448, RNA is reactivated here with Brazilian music, // 11780, much stronger than 6185 XEPPM, and much, much louder, as XEPPM continues to just-barely-modulate (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. 9625, June 15 at 0459, ending of the ``Midnight Edition of As It Happens`` from CBC Radio One, which I assume is just an edited-down version of the original sesquihour (or is it back to only one hour now as in most summers?); CBC NQ ID, frequency and contact info, even 877 toll-free phone number --- is that valid continent-wide? ACI from always stronger REE via CR on 9630. 0500 into CBC News in English prior to sign-off.
It remains unclear whether this service will go off shortwave after June 24 like RCI, but plans are to replace it by strategically placed LPFM transmitters in the isolated NQ communities which need it. I thought they already had those, and SW was to reach even further into the outback.
15455, no signal June 15 at 0508, unlike 24 hours earlier, when RCI Spanish service via Hotbird satellite was being relayed from somewhere (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake June 15, before 1200:
12230, poor at 1131
12320, poor at 1131
13920, good at 1128; none in the 14s
15900, poor at 1133
16100, very poor at 1134
16980, very poor at 1134; none in the 17s
After 1200:
15435, fair at 1211
Before 1300:
16980, good at 1247 just as a bad edit in the music occurs
16100, very good at 1246; none in the 17s
15900, poor at 1247
15555, fair at 1247; het on the lo side [when I say this, I am alluding to presumed target V. of Tibet 2 or 3 kHz off-channel]
13920, fair at 1250; none in the 14s
12230, very poor at 1251; none in the 11s, 10s
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 9526-, June 15 at 1215, VOI very poor and undermodulated but sounds like scheduled Japanese; also heard before 1200 in presumed Chinese. One can never rely on their broadcasting the correct language; see the log at http://rri.jp.org
As always, frequency is very slightly on the lo side of 9526. BTW, I neglected to mention the VOI frequency on WOR 1621 this week, but surely everyone knows it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [and non]. 6110, June 15 at 0501, NHK World Radio Japan, VG in English via Sackville, finally reactivated after a biweek. (Steve Luce heard it first 24 hours earlier, a rare occasion when I did not check for it.) Lead news item: arrest by Tokyo police of the last Aum Shinrikyo fugitive, Katsiya Takahashi, of the 1995y serin attacks. Never mentioned that they were a fellow SW broadcaster, via Russian transmitters!
We`ll miss very much this very good and again reliable signal with the closure of Sackville. But something has to be amiss with NHK relays, and now it`s 6080 in Spanish via Bonaire that is absent at 0504 June 15. Another automation mixup??
11815, June 15 at 1125, C&W song in English ``love, it is a flower``, 1127 segué another starting ``it must have been cool there in my shadow``, from NHK Japanese service direct. This early, it`s nice to hear it without Costa Rica colliding which starts at 1200; // 9750. The NHK ID at 1159 again is accompanied by steel drum music; how eclectic, and then the accurate timesignal ending at 1200:00 just as REE starts their delayed TS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 6185, June 15 at 0505, XEPPM is nothing but a 5-kHz het to both 6180 Brazil land 6190 CRI via Canada, as the unmodulated transmitter has not been turned off quite yet. They might as well leave it off if they aren`t going to modulate (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Es analog TV DX, June 15, UT:
1355 on 2, turn on the TV to find opening in progress, CCI of various signals ranging from SSE to SSW. G7IZU map doesn`t show any 6m activity around here so I also check north, but it`s not from Canada. G7IZU later crashes, apparently from overuse, as does DX Sherlock.
1326 on 2, bits of audio finally as MUF creeps up to 59.75 MHz, but not positive yet it is Spanish. Signals in and out, mostly out.
1356 on 2, stronger CCI now with audio in Spanish including zero-beat video CCI, which I associate with Mérida vs Cancún.
1352 on 4, signs of video briefly, 67.25 MHz
1353 on 2, news about soccer; 1356 cycling; clock in LR says 8:56 = CDT; can`t make out bug in UR
1515 on 2, brief resurgence with hoy bug in LL, i.e. the Net-2 program
1552 on 2, some video starts to show again; 1554 adding Spanish audio, info/commercial for exercise machines; and so it goes
(Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MYANMAR. 7110, June 15 at 1115, JBA music, no doubt Kachin Radio. Aoki now unravels this frequency as all 356 degrees from a 50 kW transmitter at Naypyidaw capital but under three different identities:
1030-1430 Kachin Radio in Burmese/dialect
1430-1500 Thazin Radio Pyin Oo Lwin, in English
2330-0030 Rakhine Broadcasting Station in Chin
0030-0130 same in Kachin
Rakhine has been the site of sectarian violence in the news, e.g.:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18449264
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA. 15120, June 15 at 0454, VON with native instruments over the whine, in prélude to the 0500 English broadcast in analog. By 0509 during news, the signal had weakened considerably vs storm noise approaching from Kansas (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 93.1, the POS Enid translator, K227AT, ex-93.3, is again distorted and splattering between 92.7 and 93.5, June 15 at 1235 UT. Tnx a lot, Donald Williamson, licensee! (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 10790-FM, approximately, June 15 at 1255 UT, very distorted mostly talk show. Any wideband FM broadcast signals heard around 10.7 MHz are emanating from the IF of somebody`s FM receiver. Certainly none of mine, but some neighbor`s. On my FM, I start tuning for a match, and finally find it at 101.1, i.e. KWOX Woodward. Of course, on another occasion the unknown radio receiver-cum-transmitter could be tuned to any other station to relay (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 91.7, Friday June 15 at 1235 UT, KOSU continues a 5-minute segment from yesterday at 1235, conservative commentator Neva Hill, and a guest from the ACLU. Friday 1235 (and repeated at 2144 UT), had been the sole spots for an Oklahoma liberal, Frosty Troy, of the Oklahoma Observer, and this is now billed as part one and two of a Neva & Frosty `special`, but Frosty is never heard this week! Announcer mentions that he is taking a break for the summer. What? Just as we are getting into primaries and a political year? What`s really going on here? Of course, public radio funding is always under threat from the Republican-controlled legislature and most of the rest of the OK state government. Frosty is untiringly critical of the Republicans. Format for his segment has been a discussion with KOSU`s Michael Cross, in which Frosty comes across as rather incoherent. It must be a nightmare to edit. He still writes coherently so KOSU ought to just let him
read a prepared commentary each week (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA. 17510, best of // 15210, 15430, 17670, Friday June 15 at 1136, RRI with folk music, 1137 opening `Listeners` Letterbox`. Only one name I recognized for sure, Christer Brunström in Sweden, more evidence that there are still *lots* of SWLs out there who are not in organized groups. Said they QSL and send other material only by post, not e-mail. Several new voices are heard on the service. ``Listeners` feedback is essential``; ``Don`t worry; we have no intention to give up on shortwave broadcasts``. But also promoted increased number of programs on demand at their website http://www.rri.ro now for one week, starting about two hours after broadcast, in all languages; times shown are local. Broke for a folk tune at 1142. 1149 closing with some bilingual rap (ugh), and 1151 on to a sports show about some game in Ukraine.
I was listening carefully for any reference to the recent discovery by WOR/DXLD contributor Tudor Vedeanu in Romania that terminating the SW service is under consideration. Kai Ludwig investigated further and says that the RRI staff were assured in May that the SW service would continue at least until yearend. All the government cares about is whether Romanians abroad are served, not the rest of us. What a pity it would be if this station closes too, a few years after installing all those new transmitters and antennas which provide such great signals direct from Europe with RRI`s excellent programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1621 monitoring: first airing confirmed on WTWW 9479, Thursday June 14 at 2100. Axually, playback starts slightly before 2100 instead of half a minute later, and my opening was interrupted by the WTWW ID. I`ve asked them to adjust the automation clock so the ID plays just before WOR starts.
Second airing confirmed on WWRB 5050, UT Friday June 15 at 0329. Axually I was listening at first to the webcast. The SC preacher ended a bit early, circa 0327:30, followed by a respectful pause of more than a sesquiminute, including some hum, before WOR started.
Further transmissions: UT Saturday 0130v on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB; UT Sunday 0400 on WTWW 5755; on WRMI 9955: Saturday 0800, 1500, 1730, Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730, Monday 0500, 1130 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 13570, June 15 at 1130, no signal yet from WINB, nor on 9265, but at 1205 it`s on 13570 with Brother Scare. Still not on WINB`s program schedule; and TOM website still shows time incorrectly as 8-10:30 am, and not in the afternoon when we have also heard BS on 13570. Anyone who wants to be on that frequency must enjoy the soothing swishes of CODAR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN. 13730, June 15 at 1130, no signal from VR in Spanish via Sackville, but it cuts on before 1131 with programming already in progress. (They are scheduled to make an antenna switch from 163 to 189 degrees after the Portuguese broadcast until 1130.)
At 1159, VR IS is cut off abruptly, news theme and 1200 opening English, top story being Egyptian parliament dissolved. As ever, before the quarter-hour is over, there is sectarian RCC ``news``, around 1210 about bishops in Atlanta vs the US government`s health insurance requirements.
In case you haven`t heard, Vatican Radio is cancelling most of its SW broadcasts to America and Europe on July 1, reducing the load at Santa Maria di Galeria by 50% so it can then be reconfigured to serve remaining audiences in AfroAsia. No doubt the imminent demise of Sackville contributed to this decision; the only other English to Americas is 0250-0315 on 9610 and 7305, also Sackville, and the 1200 we have confirmed is daily except Sundays when Spanish continues another 15 minutes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 6180, June 15 at 0448, RNA is reactivated here with Brazilian music, // 11780, much stronger than 6185 XEPPM, and much, much louder, as XEPPM continues to just-barely-modulate (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. 9625, June 15 at 0459, ending of the ``Midnight Edition of As It Happens`` from CBC Radio One, which I assume is just an edited-down version of the original sesquihour (or is it back to only one hour now as in most summers?); CBC NQ ID, frequency and contact info, even 877 toll-free phone number --- is that valid continent-wide? ACI from always stronger REE via CR on 9630. 0500 into CBC News in English prior to sign-off.
It remains unclear whether this service will go off shortwave after June 24 like RCI, but plans are to replace it by strategically placed LPFM transmitters in the isolated NQ communities which need it. I thought they already had those, and SW was to reach even further into the outback.
15455, no signal June 15 at 0508, unlike 24 hours earlier, when RCI Spanish service via Hotbird satellite was being relayed from somewhere (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake June 15, before 1200:
12230, poor at 1131
12320, poor at 1131
13920, good at 1128; none in the 14s
15900, poor at 1133
16100, very poor at 1134
16980, very poor at 1134; none in the 17s
After 1200:
15435, fair at 1211
Before 1300:
16980, good at 1247 just as a bad edit in the music occurs
16100, very good at 1246; none in the 17s
15900, poor at 1247
15555, fair at 1247; het on the lo side [when I say this, I am alluding to presumed target V. of Tibet 2 or 3 kHz off-channel]
13920, fair at 1250; none in the 14s
12230, very poor at 1251; none in the 11s, 10s
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 9526-, June 15 at 1215, VOI very poor and undermodulated but sounds like scheduled Japanese; also heard before 1200 in presumed Chinese. One can never rely on their broadcasting the correct language; see the log at http://rri.jp.org
As always, frequency is very slightly on the lo side of 9526. BTW, I neglected to mention the VOI frequency on WOR 1621 this week, but surely everyone knows it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [and non]. 6110, June 15 at 0501, NHK World Radio Japan, VG in English via Sackville, finally reactivated after a biweek. (Steve Luce heard it first 24 hours earlier, a rare occasion when I did not check for it.) Lead news item: arrest by Tokyo police of the last Aum Shinrikyo fugitive, Katsiya Takahashi, of the 1995y serin attacks. Never mentioned that they were a fellow SW broadcaster, via Russian transmitters!
We`ll miss very much this very good and again reliable signal with the closure of Sackville. But something has to be amiss with NHK relays, and now it`s 6080 in Spanish via Bonaire that is absent at 0504 June 15. Another automation mixup??
11815, June 15 at 1125, C&W song in English ``love, it is a flower``, 1127 segué another starting ``it must have been cool there in my shadow``, from NHK Japanese service direct. This early, it`s nice to hear it without Costa Rica colliding which starts at 1200; // 9750. The NHK ID at 1159 again is accompanied by steel drum music; how eclectic, and then the accurate timesignal ending at 1200:00 just as REE starts their delayed TS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 6185, June 15 at 0505, XEPPM is nothing but a 5-kHz het to both 6180 Brazil land 6190 CRI via Canada, as the unmodulated transmitter has not been turned off quite yet. They might as well leave it off if they aren`t going to modulate (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Es analog TV DX, June 15, UT:
1355 on 2, turn on the TV to find opening in progress, CCI of various signals ranging from SSE to SSW. G7IZU map doesn`t show any 6m activity around here so I also check north, but it`s not from Canada. G7IZU later crashes, apparently from overuse, as does DX Sherlock.
1326 on 2, bits of audio finally as MUF creeps up to 59.75 MHz, but not positive yet it is Spanish. Signals in and out, mostly out.
1356 on 2, stronger CCI now with audio in Spanish including zero-beat video CCI, which I associate with Mérida vs Cancún.
1352 on 4, signs of video briefly, 67.25 MHz
1353 on 2, news about soccer; 1356 cycling; clock in LR says 8:56 = CDT; can`t make out bug in UR
1515 on 2, brief resurgence with hoy bug in LL, i.e. the Net-2 program
1552 on 2, some video starts to show again; 1554 adding Spanish audio, info/commercial for exercise machines; and so it goes
(Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MYANMAR. 7110, June 15 at 1115, JBA music, no doubt Kachin Radio. Aoki now unravels this frequency as all 356 degrees from a 50 kW transmitter at Naypyidaw capital but under three different identities:
1030-1430 Kachin Radio in Burmese/dialect
1430-1500 Thazin Radio Pyin Oo Lwin, in English
2330-0030 Rakhine Broadcasting Station in Chin
0030-0130 same in Kachin
Rakhine has been the site of sectarian violence in the news, e.g.:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18449264
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA. 15120, June 15 at 0454, VON with native instruments over the whine, in prélude to the 0500 English broadcast in analog. By 0509 during news, the signal had weakened considerably vs storm noise approaching from Kansas (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 93.1, the POS Enid translator, K227AT, ex-93.3, is again distorted and splattering between 92.7 and 93.5, June 15 at 1235 UT. Tnx a lot, Donald Williamson, licensee! (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 10790-FM, approximately, June 15 at 1255 UT, very distorted mostly talk show. Any wideband FM broadcast signals heard around 10.7 MHz are emanating from the IF of somebody`s FM receiver. Certainly none of mine, but some neighbor`s. On my FM, I start tuning for a match, and finally find it at 101.1, i.e. KWOX Woodward. Of course, on another occasion the unknown radio receiver-cum-transmitter could be tuned to any other station to relay (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 91.7, Friday June 15 at 1235 UT, KOSU continues a 5-minute segment from yesterday at 1235, conservative commentator Neva Hill, and a guest from the ACLU. Friday 1235 (and repeated at 2144 UT), had been the sole spots for an Oklahoma liberal, Frosty Troy, of the Oklahoma Observer, and this is now billed as part one and two of a Neva & Frosty `special`, but Frosty is never heard this week! Announcer mentions that he is taking a break for the summer. What? Just as we are getting into primaries and a political year? What`s really going on here? Of course, public radio funding is always under threat from the Republican-controlled legislature and most of the rest of the OK state government. Frosty is untiringly critical of the Republicans. Format for his segment has been a discussion with KOSU`s Michael Cross, in which Frosty comes across as rather incoherent. It must be a nightmare to edit. He still writes coherently so KOSU ought to just let him
read a prepared commentary each week (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA. 17510, best of // 15210, 15430, 17670, Friday June 15 at 1136, RRI with folk music, 1137 opening `Listeners` Letterbox`. Only one name I recognized for sure, Christer Brunström in Sweden, more evidence that there are still *lots* of SWLs out there who are not in organized groups. Said they QSL and send other material only by post, not e-mail. Several new voices are heard on the service. ``Listeners` feedback is essential``; ``Don`t worry; we have no intention to give up on shortwave broadcasts``. But also promoted increased number of programs on demand at their website http://www.rri.ro now for one week, starting about two hours after broadcast, in all languages; times shown are local. Broke for a folk tune at 1142. 1149 closing with some bilingual rap (ugh), and 1151 on to a sports show about some game in Ukraine.
I was listening carefully for any reference to the recent discovery by WOR/DXLD contributor Tudor Vedeanu in Romania that terminating the SW service is under consideration. Kai Ludwig investigated further and says that the RRI staff were assured in May that the SW service would continue at least until yearend. All the government cares about is whether Romanians abroad are served, not the rest of us. What a pity it would be if this station closes too, a few years after installing all those new transmitters and antennas which provide such great signals direct from Europe with RRI`s excellent programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1621 monitoring: first airing confirmed on WTWW 9479, Thursday June 14 at 2100. Axually, playback starts slightly before 2100 instead of half a minute later, and my opening was interrupted by the WTWW ID. I`ve asked them to adjust the automation clock so the ID plays just before WOR starts.
Second airing confirmed on WWRB 5050, UT Friday June 15 at 0329. Axually I was listening at first to the webcast. The SC preacher ended a bit early, circa 0327:30, followed by a respectful pause of more than a sesquiminute, including some hum, before WOR started.
Further transmissions: UT Saturday 0130v on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB; UT Sunday 0400 on WTWW 5755; on WRMI 9955: Saturday 0800, 1500, 1730, Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730, Monday 0500, 1130 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 13570, June 15 at 1130, no signal yet from WINB, nor on 9265, but at 1205 it`s on 13570 with Brother Scare. Still not on WINB`s program schedule; and TOM website still shows time incorrectly as 8-10:30 am, and not in the afternoon when we have also heard BS on 13570. Anyone who wants to be on that frequency must enjoy the soothing swishes of CODAR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN. 13730, June 15 at 1130, no signal from VR in Spanish via Sackville, but it cuts on before 1131 with programming already in progress. (They are scheduled to make an antenna switch from 163 to 189 degrees after the Portuguese broadcast until 1130.)
At 1159, VR IS is cut off abruptly, news theme and 1200 opening English, top story being Egyptian parliament dissolved. As ever, before the quarter-hour is over, there is sectarian RCC ``news``, around 1210 about bishops in Atlanta vs the US government`s health insurance requirements.
In case you haven`t heard, Vatican Radio is cancelling most of its SW broadcasts to America and Europe on July 1, reducing the load at Santa Maria di Galeria by 50% so it can then be reconfigured to serve remaining audiences in AfroAsia. No doubt the imminent demise of Sackville contributed to this decision; the only other English to Americas is 0250-0315 on 9610 and 7305, also Sackville, and the 1200 we have confirmed is daily except Sundays when Spanish continues another 15 minutes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
