domenica 3 marzo 2013

Glenn Hauser logs March 2-3, 2013

** ARGENTINA. 13363.56-LSB, approx., March 3 at 0105, rapid Spanish with SBG coverage on a Saturday night, 0110 mentions Argentina, a webstite in .com.ar with the ``ar`` pronounced as one syllable; score is 1-0, so what game in the world could that be? Every night around 0100 with my Chaski check I have also been punching in this frequency for LTA or slightly lower USB from AFN Guam, but first time in weeks I have heard anything. Odds are certainly better on weekends. (Also 12759-USB for AFN Diego Garcia, but nothing more from it since my original logs.) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL. 4877-, March 3 at 0058, fair signal with music, maybe religious. Chaski beckons so can`t stay with it, but off-frequency points to R. Roraima, Boa Vista, which varies; WRTH 2013 has it on 4878 but this was on low side of 4877, or 4876+ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 5955, March 3 at 0100, pulse jamming is here, despite no evidence that R. República, Costa Rica puny power has been active for months on 5954+; Harold Frodge also heard jamming Feb 23 at 1710 on 9965, an even more out-of-date República frequency. Same type of jamming against nothing heard on 5890 at 0101 March 3, the DCJC oblivious of the fact that evil VOA Spanish takes weekends off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EAST TURKISTAN. 6075, March 3 at 0103, CRI English with fair signal, whence? Kashgar southwards, so long or short path along grayline? Which is better here than on 60 meters now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INTERNATIONAL. Tho there is still snow/ice in shady areas from last Monday-Tuesday, I am warmed by the Sun on the porch Saturday afternoon March 2 as I try the 15, 12 and 10m hambands at 1913-1930. Plenty of signals on 15 so I go up to 12: plenty of CW below 24910, but not a single SSB signal up to top 24990. This is strange. So try 10m: it`s chockablock with SSB signals every 1 or 2 kHz from 28308 to 28615. There`s ACI to everyone I tune in, even narrow filter on DX-398 not narrow enough. Yes, it`s a DX contest, obviously not applicable to 12m so everyone is on 10m instead, and propagation is propitious. To expedite this, I will just summarize what I logged in 17 minutes as I mainly tuned up part of the band, kHz by kHz, [plus QRZ.com lookups]:

1913 on 28340, VP5H, QRZ Contest. Regular report is ``5-9-K-W``
[TURKS & CAICOS, no further info]
1914 on 28350, CE1DY, does not give call with each contact, a no-no
[Domingo Acevedo Altamirano, Antofagasta, CHILE]
1915 on 28490, HD2A [Sapo Loco Contest Team, Guayaquil, ECUADOR]
1916 on 28500, LU7YS [SERGIO LANDONI, SAN MARTIN DE LOS ANDES - PATAGONIA, NQ 8370 Argentina]
1917 on 28516, CR1Z, VG signal with accent, ``59K`` [RADIO ARCALA,
AZORES; which island??]
1918 on 28521, CR2X, VG signal with American accent [The Azores-Finland Friendship Consortium, SÃO MIGUEL Island]
1919 on 28525, TO22C, Guadeloupe, 5-9-500 [Gildas Le Cloitre, F6HMQ,
77380 Combs-La-Ville, Guadeloupe, active till March 3]
1922 on 28566, VP2EC, American accent [RAY SAWTELLE, Shoal Bay East, Anguilla BWI]
1922 on 28571, LQ7E [Grupo DX Noroeste, JUNIN 6000, Argentina]
1923 on 28575, FG8OJ, French accent, Florida Germany eight Oscar Juliet, mixing his fonetik alfabets. Very good signal with 100 watts, from Guadeloupe but his ``CQ Contest``s go unanswered for a while
[Bertrand Demarcq, Trezel, Saint-Francois 97118, Guadeloupe]
1925 on 28615, New York station was the highest before wasted spectrum
1928 on 28310.5, ZZ2T was the lowest SSB on 10m [WANDERLEY FERREIRA GOMES, IBIRAPUERA 04008-000 SAO PAULO - SP, Brazil]

With so many stations and such an opening, I could have spent full time for hours logging them, just as hams go wild making contacts, but I have other things to do. Recheck 10m at 2300, less packed but still several signals, including:
28583.5, PY2LED [FERNANDO CORDOBA, ZIP: 09541-150 SAO CAETANO DO SUL-SAO PAULO, Brazil] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NETHERLANDS [non]. 7375, UT Sunday March 3 at 0006, The Mighty KBC via new site Nauen, GERMANY, and on new frequency (ex-9450 via Bulgaria finishing last week), is a NO SHOW --- but recheck at 0012 now it`s on. Kraig Krist who trax this every week, says it came on at 0007. I imagine that is how long it could have taken for KBC to reach someone at Nauen on the phone to remind them to turn on the transmitter. Initially the signal here does not seem any better than 9450 was; KBC jingle, with Eric van Willigen, some fading; 0026 it`s the `Great Jukebox` with EVW. By 0036 signal very good but markedly weaker than its two bigger neighbors, 7365 R. Martí with its own rock music (quite a reduxion in anti-Castro propaganda time lately), and 7385 WHRI. 0130 I was finishing up my lime sherbet and could hear 7375 on the kitchen table radio, which speaks well for KBC and Nauen, as Kim Elliott came on to introduce this week`s digital text parameters, and play the
 tones, which he himself expected to miss, being the keynote addresser at the SWL Fest. It was over in a minute, back to rock music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NICARAGUA [non?]. 8990-USB, Saturday March 2 at 2355 I look for the ``Pescador Preacher`` I have not had much luck hearing on 8989-USB, maybe not listening at just the right time. Now there is some other 2-way in Spanish 1 kHz higher, same as I had another night.

At 2356 I can make out a much weaker USB on 8989, but too much QRM. Concentrating on what 8989 is saying, at 0001 March 3 I make out a few words, such as ``fortaleza``; 0005 his signal is gaining a bit, another ``fortaleza`` and ``señor Jesucristo``; it does sound like a monolog, i.e. sermon.

This strange station not listed anywhere and probably unlicensed, has been pinned on Nicaragua only by inference from stuff he has said before, and QSOs he has also engaged in. Being fisher-orientated, could well be aboardship even outside Nicaraguan waters, who knows? Anyhow, this is an aero, not marine band, and early in the 2300 hour we were hearing Andrews crypto on 8992-USB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** NIGERIA. 15115-15120-15125, March 2 at 1904, no trace of DRM or AM from VON, with REE CR 15125 unnoised. Other Africans are propagating on 19m, best: 15275 DW Rwanda English good; 15580 VOA Botswana fair; 15480 AWR South Africa poor; 15400 BBC Ascension very poor. But NOT 15190 R. Africa: see PHILIPPINES. Seems like VON is missing more than it is on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PERU [and non]. 5980, March 3 at 0035 I hear some Chinese, i.e. CNR1 jammer, mixed with something else under, i.e. Sri Lanka or Perú. I spend a few minutes looking for a // CNR1 legit or not but can`t find one propagating. (At 0037 I hear my nearest street light RF bursts as its dusk sensor turns it on.) This is on the main rx FRG-7, but by 0057 I am back out on the porch on the DX-398 where I have better results with R. Chaski, and CNR1 no longer audible, now into daytime fadeout?

And I am all set to record, which I should have done last night, but this time there is too much splatter from 5990 CRI Cuba at first, and still splatter from something (WWCR 5935?) after 0100 when 5990 is off. This noise is audible 5960-5990. No use trying to record or copy R. Chaski/Red R. Integridad tonight, but at 0106 it`s talk instead of music, to cut off obvious with BFO at 0107:29*. Or maybe 0127:28.5 as I glanced away from my watch at the wrong time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PHILIPPINES. 15190, March 2 at 1905, R. Pilipinas/V of Philippines, conversation with laughter in Tagalog, mixing in phrases of English as usual (required?), fair signal but much better than usual, and no sign of Equatorial Guinea, or Brasil. Gone at 1935 check, s/off being 1930 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SPAIN. 6055, March 2 at 2304, YL singing cabaret song in English, ``No Way Out``. What else would you expect from French service of REE?? Followed by French announcement. This hour is supposedly endangered, on borrowed time, like English on same at 0000-0100, both having been briefly canceled in November before resuscitation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TUNISIA. 17735, March 2 at 1910, IWT has good signal in Arabic, better than REE SPAIN 17755 fair, which are the OSOB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 6903.5-USB, March 3 at 0008, Army MARS led by AAM4TNC, also with AAT4YI; NCS says alternate frequency is ``KBE`` if conditions deteriorate here. Googling finds AAM4TNC was ``Bob Hanrahan, AF4QY, the State Training Officer with the Billet call AAM4TNC`` in the December 2001 issue of Ham Chatter, of the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club, Greenville NC:
http://www.w4amc.com/hc/pdf/hc0112.pdf
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9895, March 2 at 1934, no signal from WTWW-2, but when it resumes, this will be the frequency, ex-9905, George McClintock informs me, effective immediately per FCC orders. Still presumably 5085 at night, which was not on air either after 0000 UT March 3, but may be on UT Monday as lately the case, and maybe 9895 before then on Sunday? It seems full operation of WTWW-2 is now expected to start in April (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 7490, Saturday March 2 at 2308, WBCQ with rockinradio.com mention, references to WinterFest, but this DJ is not there; plays next ``Wild Party`` for those who are. 5110 is not on yet. 2311 it`s the `Lost Discs Radio Show` which has been on WBCQ a long time before. Then plays ``Sham-rock`` by Roberta Sherwood from 1956y.

2322 has covert message that this is being relayed at the Fest on 6925 and FM 89.0 (inaudible here in OK on both; but at 0011 March 3 I had something on 6925-USB, not // or at least not synched to 7490; and at 0046 there was an AM carrier on and off and on 6925).

Back at 2325, I notice that the apparently live 7490 programming has a hum on it; wiggle that patchcord? 2340 passing on a pizza order from Chris, gender ambiguous, in Room 640 at the Fest hotel.

0000 recheck, 5110v-CUSB is now on in // running a couple sex ahead of 7490, with no ID and same program continuing (altho on the Area 51 sked as Radio Timtron Worldwide, live at 00-02 UT Sunday March 3). 0002 mentions that songwriter Kevin Ayres (sp?) featured last week, has died in the meantime. Hope there is no correlation, or causality. Then my attention is split with Mighty KBC on new 7375, see NETHERLANDS [non], et al. Live from Fest programming continues past 0200 on A51 webcast and presumably the two SW frequencies. WBCQ`s online program schedule still shows nothing but GFRN`s `I Sing` program stream on 7490 Saturdays into UT Sundays.

As we reported in DXLD 13-07 about AWWW Feb 9: ``He also promoted new program starting a week from Sat at 7 pm on 7490, `Sonny`s Classic Country Radio Show` = 0000 UT Sundays; until now, the entire Saturday + UT Sunday schedule 2000-0500 UT on 7490 had been dedicated to `I Sing` from GFRN, as still shown on the website schedule.`` No show?
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1658 monitoring: confirmed on WTWW-1, 5830, UT Sunday March 3 at 0500, excellent signal.

Reminder in the Pacific Northeast to check for WORLD OF RADIO on its new affiliate, KFKB, 1490, Forks, Washington, Sunday at 1100 UT = 3 am PST this week. They confirm it did air at that time last week. See
http://www.forks1490.com/

BTW, FCC still lists this under its previous call KRKZ:http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=28209
an anomaly I can`t explain (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)