mercoledì 17 ottobre 2012

Glenn Hauser logs October 16-17, 2012

** ARGENTINA. 13363.5-LSB, Oct 16 at 2346 fútbol game live coverage in Spanish, Ecuador vs somecountry, apparently only a few minutes left on the clock. Gilles Letourneau in Quebec had discovered it independently, I later found, refined to 13363.55-LSB, also heard in Georgia by Robert LaFore; and Rodolfo Tizzi, Uruguay, identified the station being relayed from Gilles` clip as LS5, Radio Rivadavia, 630. These LTA army feeds to Antarctica(?) pick up various Buenos Aires stations, so hearing an ID each time is necessary. Brian Alexander in Pennsylvania never heard an ID but is was still on past 0415 with non-sports programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ARGENTINA. 15344.8, Oct 16 at 2347, RAE with much better signal than usual in normal non-game Spanish programming; checked after hearing 13363.5-LSB, q.v. Considerable flutter on the AM signal unlike the SSB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BANGLADESH. 15105, Oct 17 at 1251, very poor signal with hum, but typical of BB`s English broadcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. 6175, Oct 17 at 0458, VOV relay VG signal on wrong frequency instead of 9555. The RCI Action Committee reports that dismantling Sackville has already begun. Tnx to Horacio Nigro for pointing out this entry of Oct 16:

``STOP CBC FROM DISMANTLING OUR TRANSMITTERS TO THE WORLD

In the next few days the transmission lines that allow Canada to broadcast to the world will be taken down one by one. For more than 67 years Radio Canada International's shortwave transmitters have guaranteed that Canada's voice would be heard despite the Cold War, despite natural disasters, and Internet blocking. Now this efficient, cost effective communications tool will be dismantled by Canada's public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada.

Those of us who understand how important this lifeline to the world is to world communication are sick to our stomachs at the rapidity with which the broadcaster wants to make the transmitters disappear. Shortwave broadcasts of Radio Canada International ended on June 24, 2012. Other countries' use of our transmitters will end on October 31.

But CBC/Radio-Canada has already started the process of dismantling unused transmitters, and will start taking down still functioning transmission lines very shortly. Why are they in such a hurry?

[read the rest of the illustrated article:]
http://rciaction.org/blog/2012/10/16/stop-cbc-from-dismantling-our-transmitters-to-the-world/

Please contact Canada's Heritage Minister James Moore james.moore@parl.gc.ca and tell him to stop CBC/Radio-Canada from dismantling our transmitters.``
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake October 17, before 1300, all with flutter:
16920, good at 1251; none in the 17s, 18s, 11s, 10s
16100, good at 1251
15550, good at 1250; none in the 14s
13920, very good at 1247
12980, good at 1248
12320, good at 1248

Before 1500: none found 18-11 MHz at 1452-1455
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COLOMBIA. 14950+, Oct 16 at 2348, still no sign of Salem Stereo, despite enhanced signals from even deeper South America on 13363.5-LSB, 15191.4v, and 15345 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 9955, Oct 17 at 1157 check, wall-of-noise jamming, even tho there is now nothing on WRMI before or after 1200 necessitating it.

9850, Oct 17 at 1257* RHC cuts off the air in mid-word just as I intune, uncovering CRI Chinese on 9855 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GREECE. 9420, Oct 17 at 0453, VOG with VG signal presenting Greek music, serenading me to dreamland. Previous nights was not making it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GUIANA FRENCH. 11995, Oct 17 at 0451, TDF carrier with hum, poor signal but still wasteful (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDONESIA. 9526-, Oct 17 at 1150, VOI poor signal with no modulation audible. 1300 still open carrier, maybe just barely modulated. Victor Goonetilleke in Sri Lanka heard more than that: ``1300 English is on 9525.86 but although normal VOI strength, the modulation level is low, about 40%``. Still on at 1415 making its het against CRI 9525.0 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 550, Oct 17 at 1202 UT after NA, Chihuahua state PSA with phone numbers to ``denounce delinquency``, i.e. crimestoppers. 1203 on to science feature from UNAM, `Radio Esfera`, i.e. not a station ID! So this is XEPC in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc again. Meanwhile, I see that John Kugellagers in Lakewood CO was surprised to hear some sort of German on 550, UT Oct 16 at 0454, which confirms what we found on their schedule. But 150 watts at night?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 560, Oct 17 at 0516 UT, EZ-listening Spanish music, with ID ``La Tremenda`` between songs; loops SW. Cantú shows it is:
560 XESRD La Tremenda +FM 89.3 Santiago Papasquiaro, Dgo. 10,000 1,000
Must be a new one for me (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 640, Oct 17 at 1205 UT, kid choral NA, 1206 XEJUA Ciudad Juárez ID with 5 kW. Not hard to separate from OK`s KWPN Moore, ex-WWLS, ex-WNAD Norman about 90 degrees away and KFI no problem either. Have they ever got their full signal back? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 720, Oct 17 at 1209 UT, talking about Morelia and Michoacán, suspect a national newscast e.g. XEJCC Juárez rather than:
720 XEKN La Z, Salvajemente Grupera, Huetamo de Núñez, Mich. 5,000 D
as in Cantú. This also looped WSW, vs a musical Mexican further to the south (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 860, Oct 17 at 1215 UT, ad for Partido del Trabajo (Workers` Party, commie?), not something you hear every day from XE-land. Quick singing ID as Radio Recuerdo, temp in Monterrey, and time 7:15, live DJ greeting callers on the air including a kidvoice. KKOW nulled. Cantú shows:
860 XENL Radio Recuerdo Monterrey, N.L. 5,000 2,000
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 1090, Oct 17 at 1220 UT, state-by-state headlines such as ``Milenio: Hidalgo``, and a few others, so per Cantú:
1090 XEAU Milenio Radio + FM 103.7 Monterrey, N.L. 5,000 500
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9895 via doomed BONAIRE, Oct 17 at 1154, R. Nederland Spanish quoting comments from listeners about human rights in Cuba, including two names we know: Israel González Ahumada in Yucatán, and Jorge García Rangel, Venezuela. Announcer said this only remaining SW broadcast from RN, `La Matinal` was in its final days, to be replaced from October 29 by `El Toque` (The Touch), and not at all clear whether that will still be on SW, or radio at all. After brief humburst, cut off the air at 1157*. No jamming, as 9885 VOA Greenville carrier already on about to become Spanish.

Searching for info about this on the RNW Spanish website, there is nothing about the SW question. Searching on ``El Toque`` gets no relevant hits! `La Matinal` has a neat multicolored rooster mascot. See it while you can.

But I do find this about a job vacancy for someone to head the Spanish department, closing date for applications October 20:
http://www.rnw.nl/espanol/article/vacante-editor-jefe

``Radio`` is mentioned as the last (and least?) of several platforms s/he will deal with, but nothing about onda corta. The latest HFCC data for B-12 has nothing at all from RNW. Earlier this year they were anticipating at least a token Spanish broadcast to continue via some other site. GUF would be the obvious choice, but I expect there is bad feeling toward it for taking away other relay business from Bonaire, contributing to the decision to close and demolish it, leaving nothing but a whitish cut in the rocks by a road which was required to enable trucking in some wide load of equipment when it was being built (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NIGERIA. 15120, Oct 17 at 0450, VON with drumming IS, fair signal, along with 15400 Dabanga/MADAGASCAR, the OSOBs. VON is often inaudible here at this time, but Thorsten Hallmann in Germany says it`s almost always on the air (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. 960, UT Wednesday Oct 17 at 0500, local KGWA Enid fails to transmit dead air for five minutes, instead Fox ``News``, so no understation DX tonight. Same thing happened last Wednesday Oct 10; and the previous Wednesday Oct 3 nothing was logged either way. Most nights, there continues to be DA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SAUDI ARABIA. 15120, Oct 17 at 1448, monotonous unison chanting with flutter, but unseems Qur`an; or rather bitonous, occasionally slipping one note higher. Not something VON would do, which may come up at 1500. For now per Aoki it is BSKSA, 1200-1457 in Bengali, 500 kW, 70 degrees from R. Riyadh (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SUDAN. 9505, Oct 17 at 0455 poor signal with talk and music. I am looking for R. Omdurman which is reported reactivated on this frequency after many years, altho it has continued to be HFCC-registered, currently 05-10 as 100 kW non-direxional in Arabic.

Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria reported October 16 that Sudan 9505 is aimed 270 degrees and heard at variable times around 04-07 and 16-19, with announcements: "Saut Afrikya min Idaa-tu Sudanya" in Arabic and "La Voix du Soudan, Radio National du Soudan" in French. Also announcement in third language, probably Somali or Swahili. It`s the same 100 kW transmitter heard on 7200 at other times from the site designated ALF, which despite no F in it, per HFCC stands for Al Aitahab, at 15N30 032E28.

Other 9505 registrants not to be confused with: 0330-0430 AWR Farsi via Austria; 1630-1730 Iran in Armenian, 19-20 YFR in Kikongo via Germany; 20-22 CVC Zambia in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 11715, Oct 17 at 1420, KJES in clear with undermodulation in English, mixing two audios: woman singing with guitar, and man reciting Biblicisms; the relative levels varied intentionally and both paused for a kID from The Lord`s Ranch, NM 88072 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 8990-USB, Oct 16 at 2343, QSOs in Spanish, not 8989-USB, so the `Pescador Preacher` net circaNica? I still don`t have time to sit and listen minute after minute for clues (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 12365-USB, Oct 16 at 2345, very weak talk, can`t tell if Spanish or a Chilean broadcast relay as previously heard; in while q.v. ARGENTINA 13363.5-LSB was being heard much better (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)