** CHILE. 17680, July 1 at 1230 and later, a big hole on the 16m band as CVC La Voz has disappeared. It was also missing during the day on June 30, and maybe June 29. Normally it has been the most reliable 16m signal all day long, aimed toward Mexico and US; unfortunately of zero interest since it`s constant gospel-huxtering hype aimed at the younger generation, hardly SW enthusiasts.
This is no accident, as Wolfgang Büschel and Kai Ludwig point out HFCC registrations show the 17680 transmission at 1200-2300 is drastically reduced to 2100-2300 only; and HCJB is having to search for another relay site, testing Wertachtal on its same frequencies as from Chile.
The HFCC CVI as FMO schedule shows the 17680 21-23 usage started 29 June; along with further cuts: 9635 at 21-22 only; 9780 continues at 22-02, and 11665 at 23-02. The Spanish broadcast at 16-18 on 17640 is shown as on the air from 19 to 21 June only; HFCC is unable to indicate in these schedule versions that it was DRM.
NHK World Radio Japan has also been using Calera de Tango, and its own schedule still shows those transmissions in effect until Oct 28; the easiest one for us to check is 2130-2200 in Portuguese on 11880.
So is the Calera de Tango station being phased out? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake July 1, before 1300:
17450, very poor at 1233
16980, poor at 1233
16100, poor at 1233
15980, poor at 1233
15970, good at 1257, ex-15980
15900, JBA at 1233
15555, good at 1256
15545, fair until 1236*
14950, fair at 1237 [no Colombia]
14870, very good at 1237
13130, fair at 1237
12320, very poor at 1237
11500, very poor at 1239
Before 1330:
17450, fair-good at 1327
16980, good at 1327
16920, good at 1327
16100, fair-poor at 1326
15565, good at 1326, ex-15555 before 1300
15495, fair at 1326
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9650, July 1 at 1250, KBS World Radio via CANADA continues, about a Korean singer named Kim – and no clicking audio artifacts for a change! A fluke, or have they finally fixed it? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Sporadic E analog TV DX June 30: turn on TV at 2305 UT to find signals on channel 2, 3, and 5; 2 is mostly CCI; 3 has a movie dubbed in Spanish; continued most of the hour but nothing more definite (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PHILIPPINES. 15190.0, June 30 at 1910, yet another attempt to hear R. Africa, Equatorial Guinea, which seems to have gone silent again, only a weak signal with YL speaking neither American nor Brazilian, but sounds like Tagalog, so I assume it is the third possibility at this frequency-hour, V of the Philippines (until 1930) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. 15000 & 10000, June 30 at 2359, I record the Leap Second from WWVH and/or WWV, but reception is poor on both, and even fades out in the middle of the minute. After all the promotion for months, they just do it without any announcement about it now. I should have recorded CHU 14670 which turned out to have a better signal the next minute as I checked to find it was indeed in synch with the WWVs after inserting a leap second too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1623 monitoring: confirmed on WTWW 5755, UT Sunday July 1 at 0400, with the now to be expected upcut during my opening, the first part of which is overridden by the legal hourtop ID. Strong signal but heavy fading here, as I suppose the skip was lengthening to favor points further west.
Next airings on WRMI: Sunday 1530, 1730, Monday 0500, 1130. On WRN via SiriusXM 120: also Sunday 1730. On HLR 5980 Germany: Tuesday 0930 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 7555, July 1 at 0516, WEWN Spanish is on tonight, and still at 1254. It was off the night before, June 30, as well as June 24 and 25. On the air June 26 and not logged on 27, 28 or 29, so probably on then too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [non]. 13730, Saturday June 30 at 1203, VR English news via CANADA still on until 1214*. Was not listening closely, but noticed more bits of music interspersed than usual. They kept announcing on this transmission that SW would end as of July 1, yet HFCC registrations show VR via Canada will continue one more month until July 31. Unfortunately, I woke up too late on July 1 to check whether this frequency (Sundays all in Spanish 1130-1214) was still on air.
Must check this Monday and also UT Monday 0250-0400 whether 7305 & 9610 are still on in English and Spanish and from Sackville. The 0100-0230 Spanish via Bonaire has already changed from 15470 to 9610, so listen for a site switch around 0250, and maybe a fleeting RCI IS & ID at start and/or finish. Portuguese via Bonaire at 0030-0100 is still listed on 15470 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
This is no accident, as Wolfgang Büschel and Kai Ludwig point out HFCC registrations show the 17680 transmission at 1200-2300 is drastically reduced to 2100-2300 only; and HCJB is having to search for another relay site, testing Wertachtal on its same frequencies as from Chile.
The HFCC CVI as FMO schedule shows the 17680 21-23 usage started 29 June; along with further cuts: 9635 at 21-22 only; 9780 continues at 22-02, and 11665 at 23-02. The Spanish broadcast at 16-18 on 17640 is shown as on the air from 19 to 21 June only; HFCC is unable to indicate in these schedule versions that it was DRM.
NHK World Radio Japan has also been using Calera de Tango, and its own schedule still shows those transmissions in effect until Oct 28; the easiest one for us to check is 2130-2200 in Portuguese on 11880.
So is the Calera de Tango station being phased out? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake July 1, before 1300:
17450, very poor at 1233
16980, poor at 1233
16100, poor at 1233
15980, poor at 1233
15970, good at 1257, ex-15980
15900, JBA at 1233
15555, good at 1256
15545, fair until 1236*
14950, fair at 1237 [no Colombia]
14870, very good at 1237
13130, fair at 1237
12320, very poor at 1237
11500, very poor at 1239
Before 1330:
17450, fair-good at 1327
16980, good at 1327
16920, good at 1327
16100, fair-poor at 1326
15565, good at 1326, ex-15555 before 1300
15495, fair at 1326
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9650, July 1 at 1250, KBS World Radio via CANADA continues, about a Korean singer named Kim – and no clicking audio artifacts for a change! A fluke, or have they finally fixed it? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Sporadic E analog TV DX June 30: turn on TV at 2305 UT to find signals on channel 2, 3, and 5; 2 is mostly CCI; 3 has a movie dubbed in Spanish; continued most of the hour but nothing more definite (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PHILIPPINES. 15190.0, June 30 at 1910, yet another attempt to hear R. Africa, Equatorial Guinea, which seems to have gone silent again, only a weak signal with YL speaking neither American nor Brazilian, but sounds like Tagalog, so I assume it is the third possibility at this frequency-hour, V of the Philippines (until 1930) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. 15000 & 10000, June 30 at 2359, I record the Leap Second from WWVH and/or WWV, but reception is poor on both, and even fades out in the middle of the minute. After all the promotion for months, they just do it without any announcement about it now. I should have recorded CHU 14670 which turned out to have a better signal the next minute as I checked to find it was indeed in synch with the WWVs after inserting a leap second too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1623 monitoring: confirmed on WTWW 5755, UT Sunday July 1 at 0400, with the now to be expected upcut during my opening, the first part of which is overridden by the legal hourtop ID. Strong signal but heavy fading here, as I suppose the skip was lengthening to favor points further west.
Next airings on WRMI: Sunday 1530, 1730, Monday 0500, 1130. On WRN via SiriusXM 120: also Sunday 1730. On HLR 5980 Germany: Tuesday 0930 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 7555, July 1 at 0516, WEWN Spanish is on tonight, and still at 1254. It was off the night before, June 30, as well as June 24 and 25. On the air June 26 and not logged on 27, 28 or 29, so probably on then too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [non]. 13730, Saturday June 30 at 1203, VR English news via CANADA still on until 1214*. Was not listening closely, but noticed more bits of music interspersed than usual. They kept announcing on this transmission that SW would end as of July 1, yet HFCC registrations show VR via Canada will continue one more month until July 31. Unfortunately, I woke up too late on July 1 to check whether this frequency (Sundays all in Spanish 1130-1214) was still on air.
Must check this Monday and also UT Monday 0250-0400 whether 7305 & 9610 are still on in English and Spanish and from Sackville. The 0100-0230 Spanish via Bonaire has already changed from 15470 to 9610, so listen for a site switch around 0250, and maybe a fleeting RCI IS & ID at start and/or finish. Portuguese via Bonaire at 0030-0100 is still listed on 15470 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
