** ASCENSION [and non]. 17885, Dec 3 at 1955, BBCWS in Hausa with some hum typical of this site, generator signature? Good signal and the ONLY STATION ON BAND! Here it is mid-afternoon, the sun shining brightly, but nothing else from 17500 to 17900 to be heard. There is no blackout either, tho winter conditions could be keeping some eastern signals from propagating, like Tunisia if it is still on 17735 past 2000? No, not in B-12 HFCC at all.
There must be no other signals active on 16m at this time from the dayside --- no US, no Cuba, and of course, no South America. Yet 13m is still working with 21630 WHRI and 21690 RFI Guiana French audible.
However at *1958:15, 17885 is blown away by DRM noise from 17875 TDP via GUIANA FRENCH which has just come on for its one-hour broadcast, expanding beyond the touted 10-kHz bandwidth of DRM, so that path is propagating too. Now it becomes the OSOB and the SSOB, still so at 2017, despite BBC scheduled until 2030 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 6180, Dec 4 at 0259, RNA/RNB Brasília is reactivated here after a few weeks, // 11780 and now squeezed between WHRI and XEPPM. Still there at 0415 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake December 3, before 2000:
11945, good at 1946; vs RFA via Tajikistan at 15-22 but unheard. At
2019-2024+ no Firedrake but something in Chinese, RFA or CNR1?
11790, fair at 1946, mixing with something, RFA via Saipan at 18-20
9875, good at 1947 with SAH; RFA via Palau at 19-22 scheduled, but other frequencies have been reported missing and suspected to have been off for the typhoon; maybe recovering now
9455, fair at 1947, vs RFA via Saipan at 16-22, unheard
9355, fair at 1946, vs RFA via Saipan at 17-22, unheard
None in the 7s, 8s, 10s, 12s, 13s, 14s, 15s, 16s, 17s
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 6270, Dec 4 at 0249, weak signal in Spanish matches 6060 RHC, since this is a leapfrog of that over 6165 RHC English, another 105 kHz higher. The leapfrog in the other direxion to 5955 is blocked by jamming against R. República 5954v whether it be there or not (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CZECHIA [non]. 6075, Dec 4 at 0258, ID loop in English from ``Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Praha,`` and beeps. I always wonder whether this is ever meant to go on the air, but it makes for a definite ID, if lacking info about language to follow, i.e. Belarussian via VATICAN. Some QRM from the 6076 spurblob out of GUIANA FRENCH, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUIANA FRENCH. 5960, Dec 4 at 0247, NHK IS playing over and over, as Montsinéry has lost feed from R. Japan, Japanese service. This has been reported again some recent nights by others, so what`s the big problem? I don`t have all the household noise sources off, but on the porch can barely detect the spurs still on 5844, 6076, i.e. plus and minus 116 kHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. 9710, Dec 4 at 0419, argument in English about Palestine, Israeli nuclear weapons. VIRI probably found another American academic willing to take Iran`s side on ``Voice of Justice``, the only English service to North America, at 0330-0430, 500 kW, 333 degrees from Kamalabad. I`d forgotten that the // was 11770, 500 kW, 330 degrees from Sirjan, unchecked, and as I then tuned 41m, ran across a different //, 7270 with a hollower sound but no better overall.
Latest HFCC shows 7270 as 0430-0600 in Turki-Es, 500 kW, 289 degrees from Kamalabad. Suspect it was typical slipshod operation, turning that transmitter on too early with previous program feed into that site. Either that, or a late change for improved winter propagation under an 11 MHz darkside signal. At 0426 closing they were announcing the full(?) English schedule, so I wish I had heard what they said about 0330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN [non]. 7520 // 7580, Dec 3 at 2248, vocal music and at 2252 R. Farda ID as I expected; both fair via SRI LANKA. At 2351, 7520 is still on but not 7580 which closes at 2300. 7520 is 250 kW, 332 degrees from Iranawila; 7580 is 250 kW, 315 degrees. This is of course the middle of the night in Iran, where we imagine repressed citizens huddled under the covers with earphones secretly listening to the truth from outside their wacky theocracy (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO [and non]. 960, Dec 4 at 0601 UT atop the QRM briefly in the KGWA dead-air carrier null is a full ID mentioning Ciudad Camargo, Chihuahua, again, so XEFAMA. Then a couple of minutes of big band music, maybe WABG Mississippi if not an XE; by 0604 ABC news is gaining, with closing commercial, and just before 0605 KGWA blasts back on, the ABC stations starts to say ``partly cloudy skies ---`` (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [and non]. 15125, Dec 3 at 2001-2002* REE IS, as the CR relay is just closing; before 2000 this weak signal beamed away was useless next to Nigerian DRM, 15115-15120-15125. We surely miss 15110 direct from Spain in the afternoons, which normally had a tremendous signal, not to mention the also still absent CR relay for us on 17850.
6055, Dec 3 at 2344, REE French hour is back! After being canceled last week. And from 0000 UT Dec 4, so is ENGLISH! Justin Coe opening the hour with world news as if nothing had happened. Altho listener protests may have played a rôle, I suspect this reversal is more due to internal conflict between REE management and higher-ups at RTVE who apparently decided to kill SW to Europe and North America without even telling REE.
John Figliozzi, Halfmoon NY, however, fears it`s not back for good:
``Received this e-mail from REE late last week; The gist -- they got a temporary reprieve.
"Dear John, thank you so much for your letter, for listening and for thinking about us! It's been an awful week. We had no idea the broadcasts were cut, and apparently, neither did the REE director. Oh. But the good news - really good news - is that the broadcasts, at the same hours on the same frequencies are going to be restored, perhaps this weekend, definitely on Monday. That way, should it be decided that Spain can no longer afford its short wave world service, we should have time to warn our listeners and prepare ourselves for new media. We'll keep you informed and again, John, thank you!! All our best, Alison, Justin and Frank" (via dxldyg)``
However, Spanish to North America still hasn`t come back, which of course would be a lot more expensive if the full multi-hour schedule resumed. 17595 still missing Monday morning, and 15110, 17850, Monday afternoon. How about Monday evening? 6055 is off again at 0127 check UT Tuesday Dec 4, when it used to stay on for us in Spanish.
At 0248 check, also missing are: CR from 3350, 5995, 9630, 9675. Noblejas channels direct to S America but weak here are still heard on 6125, 9535, 9620. Sephardic to S America is still colliding with 11780 Brasil after 0115 Tuesday only. And still to North America at 0415 UT Tuesday on 9690. As usual, the hostess is speaking Ladino while her interviewee gets away with plain old Castilian; a discussion about flamenco at 0418.
After 0400, I do find the CR relay at 0415 on 5965 which is best here, missing from supposedly scheduled 3350, and also on unscheduled 9765 which is weaker even than 9535 direct. REE appear undecided about which 31m or 90m channel to use, previously on 9630, 9675 at this time. Program now is `Eureka` about science (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. 6040, Dec 4 at 0258, B-B-C- note chimes at fair level. HFCC shows Arabic about to start, from two sites at once: 250 kW, 101 degrees from Cyprus, and 300 kW, 140 degrees from Skelton. Or is it really either/or? Even if precisely synchronized in time and frequency, difficult to accomplish from two widely-separated sites, and propagational variations are bound to cause mutual interference. Did not notice anything double, but did not stay tuned to hear how the Arabic sounded after 0300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15580, Dec 3 at 2004, VOA Greenville with `African Beat` music but rather distorted; then a pause, music resumes with less distortion; 2005:30 another pause as music is starting to segué, then resumes; 2007 pause and resume again. It`s continuous hilife music with no announcements (unless they were very brief in the pauses).
At 2015 a fun rendition of ``Happy Birthday to You, Seychelles``. Now there aren`t so many interruptions. But, but, independence came to Seychelles on 29 June 1976, so this is hardly an anniversary. Playing back old program as test? But this is a regularly scheduled transmission at 20-21 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 11925, Dec 3 at 2246, Chinese with slightly variable het. VOA via Tinang, Philippines, is scheduled this hour only, and no doubt the het is perpetually off-frequency R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo, Brasil on the hi side. Still a similar het at 2352 with a weaker Chinese, which per schedules would now be CNR1, Lingshi 725 site, but which is also on long before 2300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. 9955, Dec 4 at 0251, neither WRMI nor Radio Liberty is audible, just some pulse jamming. Jeff White was worried that R. Liberty, which just moved to this frequency for a Tajik broadcast at 01-03 UT, as tipped by Kim Elliott, would cause big problems for WRMI, and Jeff asked Latin American listeners to monitor. They mostly reported noise, but didn`t call it jamming. RL site was unknown, but I found it in HFCC: Udorn, Thailand, 250 kW, 316 degrees starting 25 November. However, by the 3 December update of HFCC, it`s gone again, so apparently that potential problem was quickly solved. Now how about KHBN/T8WH which is also on 9955 at various times, not to mention all the unnecessary Cuban jamming, which is certainly a bigger problem, but less soluble (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 7506.5, Dec 4 at 0252, WRNO is back on with gospel huxter in a lather; there is also some buzzing/frying sound which comes up in the all-too-brief pauses, but the talk modulation itself is not too distorted. Counting the 40-Hz interval clix on the DX-398 fine tuning, I come up with 12 above 7506, i.e. 7506.48, which would put it closer to 7506.5 than usual 7506.4, but within margin of error (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 12105, Dec 4 at 0256, surprised to find WTWW-3 on the air, in Spanish, not strictly Bible-reading, and propagating well. It had been off the air at earlier chex in daytime (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1060, Dec 4 at 0559 UT, ``el este de Nuevo Méjico --- la palabra de dios``, i.e. KIJN Farwell TX, 10 kW daytimer cheating as always, and also a fast SAH as always off-frequency, much like KLIO Wichita on 1070 which however is legally on at night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 6980-LSB, Dec 3 at 2354, Brazilian accented QSO about VHF (ve-agá-efe), mentions 50 watts, over to a weaker station. I assume these are freebanders, would-be hams outside 40 meters (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
There must be no other signals active on 16m at this time from the dayside --- no US, no Cuba, and of course, no South America. Yet 13m is still working with 21630 WHRI and 21690 RFI Guiana French audible.
However at *1958:15, 17885 is blown away by DRM noise from 17875 TDP via GUIANA FRENCH which has just come on for its one-hour broadcast, expanding beyond the touted 10-kHz bandwidth of DRM, so that path is propagating too. Now it becomes the OSOB and the SSOB, still so at 2017, despite BBC scheduled until 2030 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 6180, Dec 4 at 0259, RNA/RNB Brasília is reactivated here after a few weeks, // 11780 and now squeezed between WHRI and XEPPM. Still there at 0415 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake December 3, before 2000:
11945, good at 1946; vs RFA via Tajikistan at 15-22 but unheard. At
2019-2024+ no Firedrake but something in Chinese, RFA or CNR1?
11790, fair at 1946, mixing with something, RFA via Saipan at 18-20
9875, good at 1947 with SAH; RFA via Palau at 19-22 scheduled, but other frequencies have been reported missing and suspected to have been off for the typhoon; maybe recovering now
9455, fair at 1947, vs RFA via Saipan at 16-22, unheard
9355, fair at 1946, vs RFA via Saipan at 17-22, unheard
None in the 7s, 8s, 10s, 12s, 13s, 14s, 15s, 16s, 17s
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 6270, Dec 4 at 0249, weak signal in Spanish matches 6060 RHC, since this is a leapfrog of that over 6165 RHC English, another 105 kHz higher. The leapfrog in the other direxion to 5955 is blocked by jamming against R. República 5954v whether it be there or not (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CZECHIA [non]. 6075, Dec 4 at 0258, ID loop in English from ``Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Praha,`` and beeps. I always wonder whether this is ever meant to go on the air, but it makes for a definite ID, if lacking info about language to follow, i.e. Belarussian via VATICAN. Some QRM from the 6076 spurblob out of GUIANA FRENCH, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUIANA FRENCH. 5960, Dec 4 at 0247, NHK IS playing over and over, as Montsinéry has lost feed from R. Japan, Japanese service. This has been reported again some recent nights by others, so what`s the big problem? I don`t have all the household noise sources off, but on the porch can barely detect the spurs still on 5844, 6076, i.e. plus and minus 116 kHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. 9710, Dec 4 at 0419, argument in English about Palestine, Israeli nuclear weapons. VIRI probably found another American academic willing to take Iran`s side on ``Voice of Justice``, the only English service to North America, at 0330-0430, 500 kW, 333 degrees from Kamalabad. I`d forgotten that the // was 11770, 500 kW, 330 degrees from Sirjan, unchecked, and as I then tuned 41m, ran across a different //, 7270 with a hollower sound but no better overall.
Latest HFCC shows 7270 as 0430-0600 in Turki-Es, 500 kW, 289 degrees from Kamalabad. Suspect it was typical slipshod operation, turning that transmitter on too early with previous program feed into that site. Either that, or a late change for improved winter propagation under an 11 MHz darkside signal. At 0426 closing they were announcing the full(?) English schedule, so I wish I had heard what they said about 0330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN [non]. 7520 // 7580, Dec 3 at 2248, vocal music and at 2252 R. Farda ID as I expected; both fair via SRI LANKA. At 2351, 7520 is still on but not 7580 which closes at 2300. 7520 is 250 kW, 332 degrees from Iranawila; 7580 is 250 kW, 315 degrees. This is of course the middle of the night in Iran, where we imagine repressed citizens huddled under the covers with earphones secretly listening to the truth from outside their wacky theocracy (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO [and non]. 960, Dec 4 at 0601 UT atop the QRM briefly in the KGWA dead-air carrier null is a full ID mentioning Ciudad Camargo, Chihuahua, again, so XEFAMA. Then a couple of minutes of big band music, maybe WABG Mississippi if not an XE; by 0604 ABC news is gaining, with closing commercial, and just before 0605 KGWA blasts back on, the ABC stations starts to say ``partly cloudy skies ---`` (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [and non]. 15125, Dec 3 at 2001-2002* REE IS, as the CR relay is just closing; before 2000 this weak signal beamed away was useless next to Nigerian DRM, 15115-15120-15125. We surely miss 15110 direct from Spain in the afternoons, which normally had a tremendous signal, not to mention the also still absent CR relay for us on 17850.
6055, Dec 3 at 2344, REE French hour is back! After being canceled last week. And from 0000 UT Dec 4, so is ENGLISH! Justin Coe opening the hour with world news as if nothing had happened. Altho listener protests may have played a rôle, I suspect this reversal is more due to internal conflict between REE management and higher-ups at RTVE who apparently decided to kill SW to Europe and North America without even telling REE.
John Figliozzi, Halfmoon NY, however, fears it`s not back for good:
``Received this e-mail from REE late last week; The gist -- they got a temporary reprieve.
"Dear John, thank you so much for your letter, for listening and for thinking about us! It's been an awful week. We had no idea the broadcasts were cut, and apparently, neither did the REE director. Oh. But the good news - really good news - is that the broadcasts, at the same hours on the same frequencies are going to be restored, perhaps this weekend, definitely on Monday. That way, should it be decided that Spain can no longer afford its short wave world service, we should have time to warn our listeners and prepare ourselves for new media. We'll keep you informed and again, John, thank you!! All our best, Alison, Justin and Frank" (via dxldyg)``
However, Spanish to North America still hasn`t come back, which of course would be a lot more expensive if the full multi-hour schedule resumed. 17595 still missing Monday morning, and 15110, 17850, Monday afternoon. How about Monday evening? 6055 is off again at 0127 check UT Tuesday Dec 4, when it used to stay on for us in Spanish.
At 0248 check, also missing are: CR from 3350, 5995, 9630, 9675. Noblejas channels direct to S America but weak here are still heard on 6125, 9535, 9620. Sephardic to S America is still colliding with 11780 Brasil after 0115 Tuesday only. And still to North America at 0415 UT Tuesday on 9690. As usual, the hostess is speaking Ladino while her interviewee gets away with plain old Castilian; a discussion about flamenco at 0418.
After 0400, I do find the CR relay at 0415 on 5965 which is best here, missing from supposedly scheduled 3350, and also on unscheduled 9765 which is weaker even than 9535 direct. REE appear undecided about which 31m or 90m channel to use, previously on 9630, 9675 at this time. Program now is `Eureka` about science (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. 6040, Dec 4 at 0258, B-B-C- note chimes at fair level. HFCC shows Arabic about to start, from two sites at once: 250 kW, 101 degrees from Cyprus, and 300 kW, 140 degrees from Skelton. Or is it really either/or? Even if precisely synchronized in time and frequency, difficult to accomplish from two widely-separated sites, and propagational variations are bound to cause mutual interference. Did not notice anything double, but did not stay tuned to hear how the Arabic sounded after 0300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15580, Dec 3 at 2004, VOA Greenville with `African Beat` music but rather distorted; then a pause, music resumes with less distortion; 2005:30 another pause as music is starting to segué, then resumes; 2007 pause and resume again. It`s continuous hilife music with no announcements (unless they were very brief in the pauses).
At 2015 a fun rendition of ``Happy Birthday to You, Seychelles``. Now there aren`t so many interruptions. But, but, independence came to Seychelles on 29 June 1976, so this is hardly an anniversary. Playing back old program as test? But this is a regularly scheduled transmission at 20-21 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 11925, Dec 3 at 2246, Chinese with slightly variable het. VOA via Tinang, Philippines, is scheduled this hour only, and no doubt the het is perpetually off-frequency R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo, Brasil on the hi side. Still a similar het at 2352 with a weaker Chinese, which per schedules would now be CNR1, Lingshi 725 site, but which is also on long before 2300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. 9955, Dec 4 at 0251, neither WRMI nor Radio Liberty is audible, just some pulse jamming. Jeff White was worried that R. Liberty, which just moved to this frequency for a Tajik broadcast at 01-03 UT, as tipped by Kim Elliott, would cause big problems for WRMI, and Jeff asked Latin American listeners to monitor. They mostly reported noise, but didn`t call it jamming. RL site was unknown, but I found it in HFCC: Udorn, Thailand, 250 kW, 316 degrees starting 25 November. However, by the 3 December update of HFCC, it`s gone again, so apparently that potential problem was quickly solved. Now how about KHBN/T8WH which is also on 9955 at various times, not to mention all the unnecessary Cuban jamming, which is certainly a bigger problem, but less soluble (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 7506.5, Dec 4 at 0252, WRNO is back on with gospel huxter in a lather; there is also some buzzing/frying sound which comes up in the all-too-brief pauses, but the talk modulation itself is not too distorted. Counting the 40-Hz interval clix on the DX-398 fine tuning, I come up with 12 above 7506, i.e. 7506.48, which would put it closer to 7506.5 than usual 7506.4, but within margin of error (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 12105, Dec 4 at 0256, surprised to find WTWW-3 on the air, in Spanish, not strictly Bible-reading, and propagating well. It had been off the air at earlier chex in daytime (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1060, Dec 4 at 0559 UT, ``el este de Nuevo Méjico --- la palabra de dios``, i.e. KIJN Farwell TX, 10 kW daytimer cheating as always, and also a fast SAH as always off-frequency, much like KLIO Wichita on 1070 which however is legally on at night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 6980-LSB, Dec 3 at 2354, Brazilian accented QSO about VHF (ve-agá-efe), mentions 50 watts, over to a weaker station. I assume these are freebanders, would-be hams outside 40 meters (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
