sabato 14 luglio 2012

Glenn Hauser logs July 13-14, 2012

** AUSTRALIA [and non]. 15160, July 14 at 0230, RA English no longer has CCI from Spain, but CCI from China, i.e. CRI Chinese, 500 kW, 59 degrees via Jinhua, at 01-05 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. 9625.0, July 14 at 0230, poor signal in incomprehensible language, presumably CBCNQ in Inuktitut, badly squeezed between stronger REE 9620 Spain and much stronger almost // 9630 REE Costa Rica --- at least the latter finishes DRM circa 0200, which totally wipes out CBC. All three are right on frequency, per 5-kHz BFO stepping on the DX-398 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA [and non]. Firedrake July 14, no full bandscans, just noted:
13970, good at 1259

14700, very good at 1259-1300* plus a few syllables of Chinese starting with ``Bei-jing`` before cutting off, and then uncovering very weak signal, presumably Sound of Hope, Taiwan

15445, fair at 1202; not checked before 1200
15485, poor with flutter at 1302
15560, fair with flutter at 1302
17450, poor at 1357
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COLOMBIA. 14950+, July 14 at 0132, Salem Stereo in usual preaching segment rather than music, very poor but recognizable; and also at 0226, back to music by 0240. A little better at 0511, music peaking S9+5. Also poorly audible at 1300 citing a versículo, back to music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COLOMBIA. 6010+, July 14 at 0237, religious discussion in Spanish, no music, poor signal, presumed La Voz de tu Conciencia, in the protracted absence of R. Mil; but nothing audible on the other HJDH frequency 5910, Marfil Estéreo. 6010 slightly on the hi side; 500 kW, Sirjan, Iran and 5 kW from Belarus are also registered on 6010 at this time but no sign of them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA [and non]. 9810, July 14 at 0233, RHC Spanish is undermodulated and suffering from heavy DentroCuban Jamming Command bleeding over from adjacent 9805, where it has no need to be at all, since R. Martí uses 9805 only at 09-13. Commies vs Commies!

9885 also has lighter pulse jamming against nothing, as VOA Spanish is on there only at 2330-0100 except weekends, and 12-13 daily.

9503 approx., July 14 at 1146, distorted spur in Spanish with hum, hetting 9500 something, soon matched to 9550 RHC, except an echo apart, so it must be the missing 9540 transmitter, extraviated to this frequency around where IIRC there have been spurs before.

15340 was way late coming on July 14, still audiblizing HCJB in some Asian language at 1303 for many more minutes tho 15230 was running; first noticed RHC had come on 15340 at 1322 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ECUADOR [and non]. Re my previous query about HCJB: ``I wonder when they will get that 100 kW transmitter going again inside the country?`` Kai Ludwig replies:

Never. They had to give up this project, cf.
http://www.andenstimme.org/index.php?id=353
and here is part of that Google-translated, improved by gh:

``Department Newsletter May - June 2012 by Horst Rosiak ---
Dear listeners of Radio HCJB family and friends, Three years ago we had big plans in Ecuador, we wanted to build our own transmission site! Following the closure of HCJB transmission site in Pifo the German-language service took over responsibility for regional frequency 6050 kHz. In February 2010, we had a large donation from HCJB including a 100 kW transmitter, transmission towers, antenna cable and everything you need to build a transmitter site. The condition: Within two years accomplish this project. Despite all the efforts, we now have to abandon this plan. There was no technical missionary who wanted to be responsible for leading this project``.

Maybe that anyway encouraged them to assist setting up the 1 kW, 4810 missionary station in Chazuta, Perú, target date August 8 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EGYPT. 9315, July 14 at 0226, R. Cairo with decent modulation for a change, as occasionally happens, showing that it`s possible if they would just get their acts together. YL in English introducing a song; a far cry from the horrible Arabic-service blob on neighboring 9305, very strong signal, undermodulated yet extremely distorted, plus hum. Still nothing on 9720, allegedly about to replace 9315. At 0243, 9315 was starting a new program with some distortion compared to what preceded it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDONESIA. 9526-, July 14 at 1140, VOI with very undermodulated orchestral music, cut off the air at 1142:30*, but back shortly; 1145 vocal music sounds like Chinese. At 1217 now the undermodulation sounds like special Japanese. I listened for a while but could detect no IADs. Those are the languages scheduled, and as always, slightly on the low side of 9526 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9650 via CANADA, Saturday July 14 at 1249-1252, Kevin O`Donovan`s ``Listening Tips`` segment following KBS World Radio`s mailbag; he mentions VR relays via Canada about to end July 31, with the English schedule, and CVC`s reduced schedule via Chile; something about SiriusXM as I was distracted. Still no annoying audio artifacts on the feed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** LAOS [non]. 9325, July 14 at 1151, intriguing rustic Hmongish music, singing with 2?-string accompaniment, fairly good signal. It`s R. Free Asia in Lao, 100 kW, 285 degrees from SAIPAN at 11-12; North Korea does not start 9325 until 1300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX ILSTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. Some sunrise MW DX July 14:

680, July 14 at 1117, ``en L-G, la Grande``, i.e. per Cantú
680 XELG La Grande + FM 95.5 León, Gto. 10,000 3,000
So the L-G has a double meaning. Also with IFE PSA, same heard on several other stations, congratulating themselves on carrying out the elexion, and with an artificially sped-up disclaimer at the end, something about not representing any particular party.

770, July 14 from 1120, a weak Spanish station with no QRM unlike all the other frequencies; 1128, promo for 1,110 Radio Red, i.e. relay of México DF, and by now there is a weak SAH from something else. As this signal is weakening, a mention of Grupo Radio Centro, i.e. per Cantú:
700 XEDKR Radio Red AM Guadalajara, Jal. 10,000 150
Site axually Tonala, Jalisco. Standard remark about day vs night power

770, July 14 at 1126, ``Los 40 Principales`` slogan and ID sounded like Radio Ka (the letter K), with an FM ID I could not copy, but also definite 5:25 timecheck, so the only one fitting is, per Cantú
770 XEREV Los 40 Principales + FM 104.3 Los Mochis, Sin. 5,000 100
Standard remark about day power vs night power

860, July 14 at 1112, ``Radio Frecuencia`` which sounded like a station name rather than a generic mention, into a balada. But nonesuch listed in Cantú, IRCA or WRTH. KKOW Kansas no problem yet.

990, July 14 at 1105, XET Monterrey NL, ``La T Grande`` with morning newscast, temp 24 and pleasant, child electrocuted, as he was wet, barefoot and grounded when he touched something.

1320, July 14 at 1059, unfamiliar presumably state anthem in progress, 1101 segué to familiar choral NA, heavy QRM and lost by the time any ID would follow (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTIENING DIGEST)

** PHILIPPINES [and non]. 11945, July 14 at 1155 tune-in, IS and English ID as R. Veritas Asia, the following broadcast at 1200 UTC would be in Hmong on 11935; then 11945 off at 1155:43*. It was way over R. Australia, then uncovered; this was end of 2-hour Chinese broadcast on 11945, 250 kW due north from the PUG site. So then I retune to:

11935, July 14 at 1158, CRI fill-music, 1200 theme and IDs in Chinese and Russian, each twice, once by a man, once by a woman. If RVA Hmong was on there too, it was only weak CCI under CRI. That is listed as 250 kW, 280 degrees from Palauig, so the azimuth change made a big difference here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SRI LANKA [non]. Is anyone still hearing the Tamil Tigers clandestine, 12140 at 1530-1630? Since first reported over a week ago, I have been trying for it almost every day at 1530 with not even a carrier, including today July 14, but that`s not surprising considering it`s from the opposite worldside during very poor propagation, blackouts. If it could be propagating to your location, look around other 12 MHz frequencies in case it changed --- and look out for the SL jammer too. As earlier reported in DXLD and the yg by David Kernick, schedule in Tamil shows 2100-2200 local time on 12140, at
http://votradio.com
and also see Voice of the Tigers,
http://pulikalinkural.com
(Glenn Hauser, 1537 UT July 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Early answers: David Kernick in England has not been hearing it either July 8-13 but S. Hasegawa in Japan got it today as well as some other days by other Japanese DXers. Andrea Lawendel says Davide Borroni gets it in Italy, sounds like a DX signal, and who`s the broker? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SUDAN SOUTH [non]. 15725, July 14 at *0503:27, I was waiting for V. of South Sudan Revolutionary Radio to come on with carrier. At 0504 started sign-on routine with chanting in Arabish, 0505 ID, drumming and `CW` whistling (not by mouth but some instrument) --- the rhythm spelt out ``KX``, of some significance? 0506 Arabic ID ``Huna Idha`at ---``, 0507 English ID with motto. Peaks only S9+3 tonight.

Would be nice if someone could get a quality recording of this opening. How about
http://www.intervalsignals.net/countries/sudan.htm --- not yet, tho David Kernick has quite a good collexion of other Sudanese stuff, domestic, extraterritorial and clandestine clips.

Where is this, anyway? VOSSR has settled on this frequency (only?), which would seem a bit high for good propagation from north to South Sudan. Just how far is it from Omdurman to Juba? 1205 km or 749 miles, says Distances-between-cities, std disclaimer, after it first tried to put Juba in Bolivia! Yes, a bit close for ideal F-layer skip distance at this frequency, unless sporadic E is often in play, which could well be the case near the Equator.

Then I tried the latest ITU monitoring report at:
http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/docs/monitoring/files/pdffiles/334.pdf
but on 15725 it only has R. Dabanga at an earlier hour from Sri Lanka (which is obviously the reason VOSSR chose this same frequency, perhaps trumping propagational theory, if they know anything about it). The question remains whether 15725 is really emanating from further than Sudan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [and non]. 13750, July 14 at 1204, I notice that VOA Spanish is missing from this frequency, and on 9885 I only hear jamming. But at 1205, 15590 is operational with the usual off-topic ``Música Country`` show, and so is 9885. Left a receiver on 13750 the rest of the hour, and it never came on, so one of the GB transmitters is down. 15590, however stayed on with open carrier until 1306:32*

9510, July 14 at 1229, only 50 kW, 285 degrees from the PHX site, VOA is concluding `American Café`, a show new to me, 1230 into `Press Conference USA`, a very old show. Why is it, searching the entire VOAnews.com website on ``American Café`` with or without the acute, I get only one generic hit on that phrase, not program title. But looking at the list of programs, I do find it:
http://www.voanews.com/archive/american-cafe/latest/706/1440.html

``Join us at the American Café on the Voice of America. Every weekend, host David Byrd introduces you to stories from and about the United States of America - whether it's a topic making headlines, a discussion of new trends, or just sharing a slice of life as it's lived in the U.S. American Café provides you with just the right mix to keep you interested and informed. Join the conversation, by submitting questions and comments, via email, telephone, or through the post.
Broadcast Schedule
Friday @ 2305 UTC/GMT
Saturday @ 0105, 0505, 1205, 1505, 1705, 2305  UTC/GMT
Sunday @ 0305, 1405, 1905 UTC/GMT
Listen to Our Latest Show MP3  | Windows Media``
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 12105, following up previous July 13 WTWW report: still in Arabic at 1905, and 1959 past 2000, but at 2002 pause and English ID by Ted Randall with reverent music, saying ``daily broadcasting the word of God to the entire world in ten different languages`` and then into French.

I assume that announcement is ``forward-looking`` since we only know of six, tho seven are on the website schedule; not sure I have ever caught them in German. Rather, I think I have heard Portuguese in our afternoon, not just in the Brazilian nightmiddle. WTWW just started the Russian segment, and as noted, Arabic really runs from 15 to 20, while 12105 is off the air from 05 to 12 UT. And Central time probably rules, which means the +6 UT conversion below applies to winter, not summer; they can`t both be correct now:

``Transmitter 3 Scripture readings 12.105 Mhz
New schedule to start shortly:

Central                       UTC     
6 - 9 am     Russian      1200 - 1500
9 - 12 noon  Arabic       1500 - 1800
12 - 3pm     French       1800 - 2100  
3 - 6pm      German       2100 - 0000
6 - 9pm      Spanish      0000 - 0400
9 - 12 midn  Portuguese   0400 - 0600
12MN - 3am   English      0600 - 0900
3 - 6am      English      0900 - 1200``
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1625 monitoring: confirmed on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB, UT Saturday July 14 from 0130.

WRMI 9955 times: Saturday 1730, Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730, Monday 0500, 1130.
WTWW 5755: UT Sunday 0400
Also on WRN via SiriusXM 120: Sat & Sun 1730, Sun 0830
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 13570, July 14 at 1204, WINB is missing tho Vatican/Sackville 13730 is well audible. It was on by 1359. That`s to be expected as the Saturday schedules shows a start at 1245, unlike 1200 on weekdays with Brother Scare, and much earlier on Sundays. Program schedule now at
http://www.winb.com/schedule.htm is dated effective July 22! Anticipatory, or did they mean June 22? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)