** AUSTRALIA. 19000, re previous report of RA on this frequency at unscheduled time after 0100: axually, it is now in the new operational schedule. I didn`t check that because supposedly it only updated changes to the overseas relays. At 0100, 19000 switches from transmitter F to transmitter E for another bihour, and from a 65 to a 70-degree antenna.
Another mystery from this arcane schedule: some of the frequencies are displayed in bold italic, such as 19000 after 0100 but not before. What does that signify? Not explained. This applies only to the transmitter-E lineup, possibly meaning not in daily use?? O, I bet these are the ones planned for DRM, target date delayed and unknown:
So bold-italic/DRM spans are: 01-03 19000, 07-09 7410, 09-11 9475, 11-13 6080, 13-17 5940, 9475 17-19.
Non-bold italic: 03-07 21725, 19-21 11660, 21-01 21740
19000, Aug 27 at 0039 check, now the first transmission on this frequency is back on the air, missing the previous day (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BANGLADESH. 15105, Aug 27 at 1325 checking for Bangladesh Betar during Nepali service, JBA carrier might be it, also at 1343.
15505, entirely different at 1359 with fair signal, not the BB IS as normal, but just a big hum, 1400 hint of a note from the IS, no timesignal, more hum; 1400.6 the hum goes down and Urdu announcement music, still some hum. 1420 check, talk with hum; 1421 big hum only; 1423 hum down again and bits of modulation cut on; 1423 change to a song with no hum. Maybe the hum comes from the weakest link, studio to transmitter? BB still doesn`t have its act together (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHAD. 6165, Aug 27 at 0521, RNT is on again, fair signal in French (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. I have finally been able to pin the multiple 8-kHz-spaced carriers on CNR1, as some modulation finally came thru on some of them Aug 27 around 1315. At least JBA carriers were detected on all these: 11728, 11736, 11744, 11752, 11768, 11776, 11784, 11792. One of them far enough from other stations not to have a het was 11768 and there I could make out Chinese talk, and soon found it matched 11990 CNR1 jammer, tho not synchronized. Then also some audio on 11744 in the clear; it was almost synched with CNR1 jammer on 11785. At 1320, even 11776 had some audio like the 11805 jammer, and then 11752 as well.
Still not positive is the source of these, but 11760 remains in the middle of them all, normally covered by RHC, and when not, CRI English via Kunming is scheduled there at 12-14, but the spurs only start at *1300 and end at 1500*. Aoki also shows a CNR1 on 11760 at 00-12, 100 kW, 165 degrees from Shijiazhuang 723 site, so maybe it`s really on at 13-15 too as the spur-producer? In that case it might also be doing so before 1200 when I am seldom monitoring and/or propagation is not so favorable (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake August 27, after 1330:
15490, good at 1346 with het on lo side, down from 15495:
15495, fair at 1332, het on hi side
16100, good at 1334
17170, good at 1334
17235, poor at 1335, with ute QRM. New frequency, thought maybe spur?
(At 1345, WWVH 10000 reported the K-index at 12 was 1)
Before 1430:
15495, good at 1420, het on hi side; none in the 16s
17565, fair at 1425 vs V of Tibet via Madagascar jumparound; none in the 18s, 16s, 14s, 13s, 12s
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. 15135-15145, Aug 27 at 1636 and still at 1701, DRM noise. At first suspected Ethiopian jamming of a clandestine. (There`s something wrong with your technology if such an assumption can be made.) But Aoki soon shows it`s intentional DRM at 1615-1715, the AIR Russian service, 250 kW (really?), 132 degrees from Delhi(Khampur). I could also detect an AM carrier in the middle of it, not a jamming target but it might as well be: Surely Oman being blown away during its 15-22 UT Arabic service which has been on this frequency forever. Wait a minute, why would AIR be broadcasting Russian to the southeast??? Unless no proper antenna available and hoping for back-coverage. No, 132 must be an Aoki typo, as HFCC shows same transmission at 312 degrees. That`s more like it, and also more fitting for such a signal way off in deep North America.
17670, Aug 27 at 1638, no modulation other than hum and whine or tone. Would has suspected Egypt or maybe Saudi Arabia, but HFCC and Aoki agree the only thing here is AIR, Hindi at 1615-1730, 250 kW, 245 degrees from Delhi(Khampur), same parameters for Swahili at 1515-1615 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [and non]. 7220-7225+, Aug 27 at 1303, buzzing bothering VOA Korean on 7225, which is via Tinang, PHILIPPINES. N. Korean jamming would be expected, but seldom heard on any of the VOA Korean frequencies, e.g. 15775 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, Aug 27 at 0518, IGIM is on and chanting (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. 5930 slightly stronger than // 5940 Aug 27 at 1240, R. Rossii with some weird music, often interesting stuff before 1300*; poor signals but getting better into fall, and no WWCR in between at this hour, from Pet/Kam and Magadan respectively (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non?]. 15410, Aug 27 at 1327, despite DW Hausa via RWANDA USward audible underneath, BBC is also transmitting on this unscheduled frequency in order to inform us that ``This is the BBC; there is no programme on this channel at present. Details of all our services are at bbcworldservice.com.`` Before each repeat, YL exclaims ``BBC`` and then an OM. Continues past 1330 but stops at 1331:30 and then off the air. Site? Purpose? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Checking for AFN Saddlebunch Keys FL, as Isaac is blowing around, Aug 27 at 0519, not heard on 7811 or 12133.5. At 1238 not heard on 5446.5; at 1305 not heard on 7811; but at 1322 audible on 12133.5-USB mentioning ``AFN Radio`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1631 monitoring: confirmed on WRMI 9955, Monday August 27 at 0515 check, but pulse jamming is slightly stronger, each fading independently. So both stations are still funxional despite Isaac. Tnx a lot, Arnie! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 5050, Aug 27 at 0523, narration about Nostradamus, predixions for May 2000, earthquake in California; it will be 1999 in 7 months when ``great terror will come from the sky``. All accompanied by ``space music``, and periodically there would be a pause for several seconds as if playing back individual modules. Very good signal past 0530. First assumption would be WWRB running this on the frequency they normally close at 0400, but nothing identifiable. Certainly a major transmitter, not a pirate.
Once one US station gets a SW frequency authorized, others can get it too at other hours. FCC finally updated A-12 file July 24, now URLed:
http://transition.fcc.gov/ib/sand/neg/hf_web/A12FCC02.TXT
but it still shows WWRB registered for this much longer span:
5050 2200 1300 WWRB 100 45 4,5,9 1234567 250312 281012
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 12105, Aug 27 at 1632, WTWW-3 is not on; while neighbor 12160, WWCR is inbooming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN. 15570, Aug 27 at 1643, HOA music and language, but which? First recognizable word is ``liberazione``, i.e. Italian-derived, so I figure an Ethiopian language is prime suspect. Later mentions Nigeria, Mozambique, Catholic, 1650 ``Vatican Radio``, alternating with bits of echoey rustic music. Uplooked later, it`s Amharic until 1645, then Tigrigna. Sufficient signal aimed oppositeward at 139 degrees, yet another instance of Santa Maria di Galeria`s terrific back-radiation capability. Meanwhile at 1652, coreligionist 15610 WEWN has priest who would never win a talent contest singing mass in Latin (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VIETNAM. 12000, Aug 27 at 1323 Vietnamese song, cut off the air at 1328*. Presumed VOV Chinese service, only thing scheduled, until 1330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 9860, Aug 27 at 1346, big open carrier with lo-level roar fading up and down until off at 1349*. Certainly not China or Saudi Arabia as in some schedules. Perhaps WHRI testing the transmitter which last week was putting out horrible spurs in the 01-02 UT period (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Another mystery from this arcane schedule: some of the frequencies are displayed in bold italic, such as 19000 after 0100 but not before. What does that signify? Not explained. This applies only to the transmitter-E lineup, possibly meaning not in daily use?? O, I bet these are the ones planned for DRM, target date delayed and unknown:
So bold-italic/DRM spans are: 01-03 19000, 07-09 7410, 09-11 9475, 11-13 6080, 13-17 5940, 9475 17-19.
Non-bold italic: 03-07 21725, 19-21 11660, 21-01 21740
19000, Aug 27 at 0039 check, now the first transmission on this frequency is back on the air, missing the previous day (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BANGLADESH. 15105, Aug 27 at 1325 checking for Bangladesh Betar during Nepali service, JBA carrier might be it, also at 1343.
15505, entirely different at 1359 with fair signal, not the BB IS as normal, but just a big hum, 1400 hint of a note from the IS, no timesignal, more hum; 1400.6 the hum goes down and Urdu announcement music, still some hum. 1420 check, talk with hum; 1421 big hum only; 1423 hum down again and bits of modulation cut on; 1423 change to a song with no hum. Maybe the hum comes from the weakest link, studio to transmitter? BB still doesn`t have its act together (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHAD. 6165, Aug 27 at 0521, RNT is on again, fair signal in French (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. I have finally been able to pin the multiple 8-kHz-spaced carriers on CNR1, as some modulation finally came thru on some of them Aug 27 around 1315. At least JBA carriers were detected on all these: 11728, 11736, 11744, 11752, 11768, 11776, 11784, 11792. One of them far enough from other stations not to have a het was 11768 and there I could make out Chinese talk, and soon found it matched 11990 CNR1 jammer, tho not synchronized. Then also some audio on 11744 in the clear; it was almost synched with CNR1 jammer on 11785. At 1320, even 11776 had some audio like the 11805 jammer, and then 11752 as well.
Still not positive is the source of these, but 11760 remains in the middle of them all, normally covered by RHC, and when not, CRI English via Kunming is scheduled there at 12-14, but the spurs only start at *1300 and end at 1500*. Aoki also shows a CNR1 on 11760 at 00-12, 100 kW, 165 degrees from Shijiazhuang 723 site, so maybe it`s really on at 13-15 too as the spur-producer? In that case it might also be doing so before 1200 when I am seldom monitoring and/or propagation is not so favorable (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake August 27, after 1330:
15490, good at 1346 with het on lo side, down from 15495:
15495, fair at 1332, het on hi side
16100, good at 1334
17170, good at 1334
17235, poor at 1335, with ute QRM. New frequency, thought maybe spur?
(At 1345, WWVH 10000 reported the K-index at 12 was 1)
Before 1430:
15495, good at 1420, het on hi side; none in the 16s
17565, fair at 1425 vs V of Tibet via Madagascar jumparound; none in the 18s, 16s, 14s, 13s, 12s
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. 15135-15145, Aug 27 at 1636 and still at 1701, DRM noise. At first suspected Ethiopian jamming of a clandestine. (There`s something wrong with your technology if such an assumption can be made.) But Aoki soon shows it`s intentional DRM at 1615-1715, the AIR Russian service, 250 kW (really?), 132 degrees from Delhi(Khampur). I could also detect an AM carrier in the middle of it, not a jamming target but it might as well be: Surely Oman being blown away during its 15-22 UT Arabic service which has been on this frequency forever. Wait a minute, why would AIR be broadcasting Russian to the southeast??? Unless no proper antenna available and hoping for back-coverage. No, 132 must be an Aoki typo, as HFCC shows same transmission at 312 degrees. That`s more like it, and also more fitting for such a signal way off in deep North America.
17670, Aug 27 at 1638, no modulation other than hum and whine or tone. Would has suspected Egypt or maybe Saudi Arabia, but HFCC and Aoki agree the only thing here is AIR, Hindi at 1615-1730, 250 kW, 245 degrees from Delhi(Khampur), same parameters for Swahili at 1515-1615 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [and non]. 7220-7225+, Aug 27 at 1303, buzzing bothering VOA Korean on 7225, which is via Tinang, PHILIPPINES. N. Korean jamming would be expected, but seldom heard on any of the VOA Korean frequencies, e.g. 15775 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, Aug 27 at 0518, IGIM is on and chanting (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. 5930 slightly stronger than // 5940 Aug 27 at 1240, R. Rossii with some weird music, often interesting stuff before 1300*; poor signals but getting better into fall, and no WWCR in between at this hour, from Pet/Kam and Magadan respectively (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non?]. 15410, Aug 27 at 1327, despite DW Hausa via RWANDA USward audible underneath, BBC is also transmitting on this unscheduled frequency in order to inform us that ``This is the BBC; there is no programme on this channel at present. Details of all our services are at bbcworldservice.com.`` Before each repeat, YL exclaims ``BBC`` and then an OM. Continues past 1330 but stops at 1331:30 and then off the air. Site? Purpose? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Checking for AFN Saddlebunch Keys FL, as Isaac is blowing around, Aug 27 at 0519, not heard on 7811 or 12133.5. At 1238 not heard on 5446.5; at 1305 not heard on 7811; but at 1322 audible on 12133.5-USB mentioning ``AFN Radio`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1631 monitoring: confirmed on WRMI 9955, Monday August 27 at 0515 check, but pulse jamming is slightly stronger, each fading independently. So both stations are still funxional despite Isaac. Tnx a lot, Arnie! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 5050, Aug 27 at 0523, narration about Nostradamus, predixions for May 2000, earthquake in California; it will be 1999 in 7 months when ``great terror will come from the sky``. All accompanied by ``space music``, and periodically there would be a pause for several seconds as if playing back individual modules. Very good signal past 0530. First assumption would be WWRB running this on the frequency they normally close at 0400, but nothing identifiable. Certainly a major transmitter, not a pirate.
Once one US station gets a SW frequency authorized, others can get it too at other hours. FCC finally updated A-12 file July 24, now URLed:
http://transition.fcc.gov/ib/sand/neg/hf_web/A12FCC02.TXT
but it still shows WWRB registered for this much longer span:
5050 2200 1300 WWRB 100 45 4,5,9 1234567 250312 281012
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 12105, Aug 27 at 1632, WTWW-3 is not on; while neighbor 12160, WWCR is inbooming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN. 15570, Aug 27 at 1643, HOA music and language, but which? First recognizable word is ``liberazione``, i.e. Italian-derived, so I figure an Ethiopian language is prime suspect. Later mentions Nigeria, Mozambique, Catholic, 1650 ``Vatican Radio``, alternating with bits of echoey rustic music. Uplooked later, it`s Amharic until 1645, then Tigrigna. Sufficient signal aimed oppositeward at 139 degrees, yet another instance of Santa Maria di Galeria`s terrific back-radiation capability. Meanwhile at 1652, coreligionist 15610 WEWN has priest who would never win a talent contest singing mass in Latin (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VIETNAM. 12000, Aug 27 at 1323 Vietnamese song, cut off the air at 1328*. Presumed VOV Chinese service, only thing scheduled, until 1330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 9860, Aug 27 at 1346, big open carrier with lo-level roar fading up and down until off at 1349*. Certainly not China or Saudi Arabia as in some schedules. Perhaps WHRI testing the transmitter which last week was putting out horrible spurs in the 01-02 UT period (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)