** BRAZIL. I first checked this evening Jan 14 at 2216 UT, and found NO signal on 11780, when RNB is normally quite audible. Not on AM nor with BFO. However, Brasil was clearly propagating as SRDA was audible on 11765 with wailin` Davi.
Recheck at 2238: now the wideband noise is on, and there is a noise blob on 11780. Elsewhere 11.5-11.9 MHz more or less with BFO can hear the same multiple carriers and noise while tuning across, rather like spread-out DRM. 11765 is still audible despite it. Surely someone near the Brasilia transmitter site could confirm whether that is the source.
I did not check for it again until 0525 UT Jan 15: yes, still noise, audible under 11725 NZ, and even under stronger NHK GUF 11740. 0614, still wideband noise on 25m; and at 0634.
Others in the DXLD yg were monitoring for this on a third night. Turns out, the 11780 signal and the noise were on-and-off; I had just missed it before 2216. Here`s a roundup of those posts (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.:
``Hello everyone, Checked about 30 minutes ago. 25 meter band at 2115 was OK --- Rádio Nacional Amazônia good modulation on 11780. Now at 2140 UT, RNA distorted and the 25 meter band is back in the wideband white noise interference for the 3rd day in a row.
Here in Montreal, wideband noise I can hear from about 11410 to 11910 kHz. It washes out many 25 meter band stations. Some of the stronger stations are heard, but you can hear the white noise in the background. 73 Gilles, 2208
Interesting to see the wideband noise is now stopped. It is 2214 UT and nothing right now; and RNA is off the air. Noise back at 2220 UT`` (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
``According to the screen capture with time stamps you can see a few bursts around 2144 and in full "bloom" around 2147. Not in this capture are a couple sharp transitions to quiet around 2200; but mostly steady since. For those not hearing it I will put up my Perseus server and you are welcome to check it there. The signal is VERY obvious here`` (Don Moman, VE6JY, Alberta, 2211 UT Jan 14, ibid.)
``Yes, visible now after 2200 UT on remote units in Alberta, Minnesota and Rochester, but not in Los Angeles, Europe and Japan. Has somebody in USA/Canada a telephone number of FCC bandwatch monitoring station to pressure the monitors to narrow DIRECTION FINDING the signal azimuth of 11360 to 11830 kHz, narrowed like 11600-11625 kHz? 73 wb df5sx`` (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, ibid.) Wolfy also suggested this could be first tests from the new Venezuelan SW site, but I doubt that
``Here the wideband noise is all over on 25 meters. The same intensity over the entire band. Feira de Santana ==> Brasília = +/- 1100 km in a straight line. Wideband noise stopped at 2226. On 11780 no signal from RNA. With this coincidence, the question falls upon RNA, unfortunately.
11780, 14/Jan 2346, Brazil, RNA in Portuguese. Very good signal, but at 2347 the signal starts getting bad and the bubble is back. YES, IT IS RNA. 73`` (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia - Brazil, ibid.)
``You can see in the attached screen grab that once ~11780 starts, so does the noise. Gradually it gets worse and 11780 carrier becomes more indistinct over a period of several minutes`` (Don Moman, AB, ibid.)
``Wideband noise is quite strong in Houston at an 0030 check Jan 15. Low end is around 11450, extending to around 11850. Tuning through the signal it almost sounds like DRM, just much wider. Oddly, when I heard it 24 hours earlier, it was more of an even hiss.
I did not hear any noise when checking around 0000. If the Brazilian
transmitter on 11780 is indeed the source, the fact that it is going on and off could indicate that their engineers are aware of a problem. Wish they would use a dummy load while diagnosing. This would be the most severely out of whack transmitter I've heard in almost 50 years of listening on SW.
At a quick check at 0415 the noise was very weak, only between 11650 and 11800. No audio on 11780. However at 0530 the noise was back to the stronger levels noted at 0000.
The noise peaks seem to change -- At 0000 the peak was around 11550. At 0530 there were two peaks at 11645 and 11680, but only low level on 11550. Still rather sounds like DRM, but spread out over a wide span of frequencies. Could this be a DRM test gone terribly wrong?`` (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, ibid.)
[From much earlier in the day]: ``11780, 14/Jan 1026 Brazil, Rádio Nacional da Amazônia in Portuguese. The suspicions of Glenn has meaning. A strong signal with distorted sound. The modulation is low, but clear, YL talk. Now at 1024 music of Tim Maia. ID at 1026. Link recorded http://www.ipernity.com/doc/75006/14124975/ ``
(Jorge Freitas, Brasil, ibid.)
``Hello Glenn, I sent the reports to R. Nacional da Amazônia and I hope to receive informations from Brasília in the next days. 73 and congratulations for usual astonishing job in SW monitoring news`` (Flavio PY2ZX Archangelo, Brasil, Jan 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 9665, Jan 15 at 0632, Brazilian music, the SSOB is R. Voz Missionária, which per Aoki is 10 kW, 30 degrees from Camboriú SC. Not much else audible at all on 31m except 9955 Cuban jamming/WRMI, and trace of Turkey 9700 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 6010, Jan 15 at 0621, RHC English with squealing, the hi pitches more noticeable by tuning slightly to the sidebands. Another transmitter needs some new modulation cards.
6125, Jan 15 at 0622, RHC English with good modulation level! Usually it`s quite low; now it rivals 6165 and 6010, altho 6125 signal is not quite as strong (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. 15160, Jan 15 at 1458 open carrier with lite whine, 1459 whine stops, then a few digital bursts and distorted voice accompanying only during the on-and-off bursts; QRM? The pitch of these slowly declines, suspected from another carrier crossing the open one. Finally at 1501:45 Qur`an starts, and 1504 the QRM stops; 1507 Qur`an stops, and dead air continues at 1520, 1527 chex past 1530. This is supposed to be the Uzbek hour of R. Cairo, 250 kW, 50 degrees from Abu Zaabal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GREECE. 7475, Tuesday Jan 15 at 0618, Greek music, not // JBA 9420, so R. Philia service is on today, and 0619 Albanian announcement (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, Jan 15 at 0619, still no signal from IGIM, which has been missing for months, as I tune across here virtually every night during this hour when it used to be active. However, Bruce Conti in NH reported 7245 was on the air Jan 7 at 0035, when as an MW DXer he was checking it merely to confirm as // to 783 kHz, and thus Mauritania there instead of something else such as Syria. What other hours is 7245 audible? Also need to check alternate 4845 from time to time despite WWCR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 540, Jan 15 at 0642 UT, ``La Ranchera de Paquimé`` frequent ID fired within a minute of tune-in, i.e. XETX, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, listed by Cantú as only 250 watts at night, and no problem from any XEWA SLP listed as 150,000 watts.
BTW, the ``250,000`` full-time non-direxional watts from 900, XEW are also obviously passé, as there is no dominance whatsoever of XEW at night; lucky to hear some Spanish amid the QRM. Has W Radio allowed its super-power outlets to fall into disrepair, or deliberately cut down the power levels? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 960, Jan 15 at 0601 UT, during local KGWA Fox-hole of dead air, mainly Mexican music; 0603 part of ID mentioning ``Chihuahua, México``, so it must be the only station in that state per Cantú:
960 XEFAMA Radio Fama, La Grandota + FM 97.5 Cd. Camargo, Chih. 10,000 1,000
which I have heard before. The precise null of KGWA carrier is more favorable for this than for also-heard XEK in Nuevo Laredo (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA. 7255, Jan 14 at 2219, VG signal from VON but somewhat distorted music, then announcement in English referring to the music having been in a language of southeastern Nigeria. Probably Igbo --- googling on nigeria languages map and then clicking on the jpg images link gets an incredible variety of colorful displays; one here shows the big four: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Nigeria
The 22-23 final hour of the day on 7255 is supposedly in Hausa, but VON is always mixing up languages on this frequency. What a third-rate operation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 780, Jan 15 at 0641 UT, KSPI Stillwater, 250-watt daytimer, has again left its carrier on all-night, groundwave-steady dead air clearly from here in null of WBBM (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN [non]. 15440, Jan 14 at 2214, RTI English relay via WYFR still has some light crackling (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 5830, Jan 15 at 0623, noticeable that WTWW has much stronger signal than Tennessee rivals 5890 WWCR and even weaker 5935 WWCR. Altho by now 5830 is not up to full blasting strength either. The MUF/skip zone must be on the margin between Nashville and slightly further Lebanon, and/or wide divergence in real power output, real azimuths, lobes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. 15635-15660 or so, Jan 15 at 1454, WWCR modulation spur spikes audible again, matching peaks on fundamental 15825, during `Inspiration Across America`. 15630 Greece barely escapes this on the edge, QRMed more at the moment by 15628 WEWN-15610 constant squishy spur (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN. 7250, Jan 15 at 0630, VR starting Latin mass with multilingual intro; was not on the air earlier, unlike some days, and now // 3975, 6075, not audible on 9645, with depressed MUF (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Recheck at 2238: now the wideband noise is on, and there is a noise blob on 11780. Elsewhere 11.5-11.9 MHz more or less with BFO can hear the same multiple carriers and noise while tuning across, rather like spread-out DRM. 11765 is still audible despite it. Surely someone near the Brasilia transmitter site could confirm whether that is the source.
I did not check for it again until 0525 UT Jan 15: yes, still noise, audible under 11725 NZ, and even under stronger NHK GUF 11740. 0614, still wideband noise on 25m; and at 0634.
Others in the DXLD yg were monitoring for this on a third night. Turns out, the 11780 signal and the noise were on-and-off; I had just missed it before 2216. Here`s a roundup of those posts (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.:
``Hello everyone, Checked about 30 minutes ago. 25 meter band at 2115 was OK --- Rádio Nacional Amazônia good modulation on 11780. Now at 2140 UT, RNA distorted and the 25 meter band is back in the wideband white noise interference for the 3rd day in a row.
Here in Montreal, wideband noise I can hear from about 11410 to 11910 kHz. It washes out many 25 meter band stations. Some of the stronger stations are heard, but you can hear the white noise in the background. 73 Gilles, 2208
Interesting to see the wideband noise is now stopped. It is 2214 UT and nothing right now; and RNA is off the air. Noise back at 2220 UT`` (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
``According to the screen capture with time stamps you can see a few bursts around 2144 and in full "bloom" around 2147. Not in this capture are a couple sharp transitions to quiet around 2200; but mostly steady since. For those not hearing it I will put up my Perseus server and you are welcome to check it there. The signal is VERY obvious here`` (Don Moman, VE6JY, Alberta, 2211 UT Jan 14, ibid.)
``Yes, visible now after 2200 UT on remote units in Alberta, Minnesota and Rochester, but not in Los Angeles, Europe and Japan. Has somebody in USA/Canada a telephone number of FCC bandwatch monitoring station to pressure the monitors to narrow DIRECTION FINDING the signal azimuth of 11360 to 11830 kHz, narrowed like 11600-11625 kHz? 73 wb df5sx`` (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, ibid.) Wolfy also suggested this could be first tests from the new Venezuelan SW site, but I doubt that
``Here the wideband noise is all over on 25 meters. The same intensity over the entire band. Feira de Santana ==> Brasília = +/- 1100 km in a straight line. Wideband noise stopped at 2226. On 11780 no signal from RNA. With this coincidence, the question falls upon RNA, unfortunately.
11780, 14/Jan 2346, Brazil, RNA in Portuguese. Very good signal, but at 2347 the signal starts getting bad and the bubble is back. YES, IT IS RNA. 73`` (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia - Brazil, ibid.)
``You can see in the attached screen grab that once ~11780 starts, so does the noise. Gradually it gets worse and 11780 carrier becomes more indistinct over a period of several minutes`` (Don Moman, AB, ibid.)
``Wideband noise is quite strong in Houston at an 0030 check Jan 15. Low end is around 11450, extending to around 11850. Tuning through the signal it almost sounds like DRM, just much wider. Oddly, when I heard it 24 hours earlier, it was more of an even hiss.
I did not hear any noise when checking around 0000. If the Brazilian
transmitter on 11780 is indeed the source, the fact that it is going on and off could indicate that their engineers are aware of a problem. Wish they would use a dummy load while diagnosing. This would be the most severely out of whack transmitter I've heard in almost 50 years of listening on SW.
At a quick check at 0415 the noise was very weak, only between 11650 and 11800. No audio on 11780. However at 0530 the noise was back to the stronger levels noted at 0000.
The noise peaks seem to change -- At 0000 the peak was around 11550. At 0530 there were two peaks at 11645 and 11680, but only low level on 11550. Still rather sounds like DRM, but spread out over a wide span of frequencies. Could this be a DRM test gone terribly wrong?`` (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, ibid.)
[From much earlier in the day]: ``11780, 14/Jan 1026 Brazil, Rádio Nacional da Amazônia in Portuguese. The suspicions of Glenn has meaning. A strong signal with distorted sound. The modulation is low, but clear, YL talk. Now at 1024 music of Tim Maia. ID at 1026. Link recorded http://www.ipernity.com/doc/75006/14124975/ ``
(Jorge Freitas, Brasil, ibid.)
``Hello Glenn, I sent the reports to R. Nacional da Amazônia and I hope to receive informations from Brasília in the next days. 73 and congratulations for usual astonishing job in SW monitoring news`` (Flavio PY2ZX Archangelo, Brasil, Jan 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 9665, Jan 15 at 0632, Brazilian music, the SSOB is R. Voz Missionária, which per Aoki is 10 kW, 30 degrees from Camboriú SC. Not much else audible at all on 31m except 9955 Cuban jamming/WRMI, and trace of Turkey 9700 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 6010, Jan 15 at 0621, RHC English with squealing, the hi pitches more noticeable by tuning slightly to the sidebands. Another transmitter needs some new modulation cards.
6125, Jan 15 at 0622, RHC English with good modulation level! Usually it`s quite low; now it rivals 6165 and 6010, altho 6125 signal is not quite as strong (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. 15160, Jan 15 at 1458 open carrier with lite whine, 1459 whine stops, then a few digital bursts and distorted voice accompanying only during the on-and-off bursts; QRM? The pitch of these slowly declines, suspected from another carrier crossing the open one. Finally at 1501:45 Qur`an starts, and 1504 the QRM stops; 1507 Qur`an stops, and dead air continues at 1520, 1527 chex past 1530. This is supposed to be the Uzbek hour of R. Cairo, 250 kW, 50 degrees from Abu Zaabal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GREECE. 7475, Tuesday Jan 15 at 0618, Greek music, not // JBA 9420, so R. Philia service is on today, and 0619 Albanian announcement (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MAURITANIA. 7245, Jan 15 at 0619, still no signal from IGIM, which has been missing for months, as I tune across here virtually every night during this hour when it used to be active. However, Bruce Conti in NH reported 7245 was on the air Jan 7 at 0035, when as an MW DXer he was checking it merely to confirm as // to 783 kHz, and thus Mauritania there instead of something else such as Syria. What other hours is 7245 audible? Also need to check alternate 4845 from time to time despite WWCR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 540, Jan 15 at 0642 UT, ``La Ranchera de Paquimé`` frequent ID fired within a minute of tune-in, i.e. XETX, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, listed by Cantú as only 250 watts at night, and no problem from any XEWA SLP listed as 150,000 watts.
BTW, the ``250,000`` full-time non-direxional watts from 900, XEW are also obviously passé, as there is no dominance whatsoever of XEW at night; lucky to hear some Spanish amid the QRM. Has W Radio allowed its super-power outlets to fall into disrepair, or deliberately cut down the power levels? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 960, Jan 15 at 0601 UT, during local KGWA Fox-hole of dead air, mainly Mexican music; 0603 part of ID mentioning ``Chihuahua, México``, so it must be the only station in that state per Cantú:
960 XEFAMA Radio Fama, La Grandota + FM 97.5 Cd. Camargo, Chih. 10,000 1,000
which I have heard before. The precise null of KGWA carrier is more favorable for this than for also-heard XEK in Nuevo Laredo (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA. 7255, Jan 14 at 2219, VG signal from VON but somewhat distorted music, then announcement in English referring to the music having been in a language of southeastern Nigeria. Probably Igbo --- googling on nigeria languages map and then clicking on the jpg images link gets an incredible variety of colorful displays; one here shows the big four: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Nigeria
The 22-23 final hour of the day on 7255 is supposedly in Hausa, but VON is always mixing up languages on this frequency. What a third-rate operation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 780, Jan 15 at 0641 UT, KSPI Stillwater, 250-watt daytimer, has again left its carrier on all-night, groundwave-steady dead air clearly from here in null of WBBM (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN [non]. 15440, Jan 14 at 2214, RTI English relay via WYFR still has some light crackling (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 5830, Jan 15 at 0623, noticeable that WTWW has much stronger signal than Tennessee rivals 5890 WWCR and even weaker 5935 WWCR. Altho by now 5830 is not up to full blasting strength either. The MUF/skip zone must be on the margin between Nashville and slightly further Lebanon, and/or wide divergence in real power output, real azimuths, lobes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. 15635-15660 or so, Jan 15 at 1454, WWCR modulation spur spikes audible again, matching peaks on fundamental 15825, during `Inspiration Across America`. 15630 Greece barely escapes this on the edge, QRMed more at the moment by 15628 WEWN-15610 constant squishy spur (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN. 7250, Jan 15 at 0630, VR starting Latin mass with multilingual intro; was not on the air earlier, unlike some days, and now // 3975, 6075, not audible on 9645, with depressed MUF (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
