** ALBANIA. 9850, April 5 at 0129, R. Tirana again with VG strength and no QRM, but with IS which is extremely distorted (does anyone have a better quality recording of it from the old days before RT`s own tape wore out?). 0130 Klara signs on with completely correct English schedule including UT days of week, but instead of program summary a minute or so of music, then joining the news apparently in progress, first about numerous government ministers being dismissed and replaced with new ones: quite a shakeup in the Albanian government. Second story: USA recognizes Kosovo/a as an independent nation; just now? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 11855-, April 5 at 0118, weak Portuguese sounds like a preacher, i.e. the 1 kW Catholic, R. Aparecida, seldom heard here, slightly on the lo side. 11765 SRDA stronger but too overshadowed by 11760 RHC while 11780 RNB/RNA is inbooming as usual (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 6100, April 5 at 0058, RHC Spanish has finally moved here from 6120, as per their A-13 schedule supposedly effective April 1 when a few other changes were really made. No doubt assisted by my several reminders in reports surreptitiously viewed by frequency mis-manager Arnie Coro. So now WYFR and RTI have no ACI on 6115.
15200-15260, April 5 at 0105 checking the defective RHC transmitter on 15230: now center channel has some crackling, and the buzz field as follows on the hi side, probably matching on the lo side: this time there is no clear segment right next to the fundamental, but buzz out to a peak around 10 kHz, diminishing to just about gone by 20 kHz away; but as I listen, it must fade up a bit, as now I am hearing the buzz up to 25 kHz, to the margin at 30 kHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** DIEGO GARCIA. 12759-USB, April 5 at 0052, JBA broadcast talk and music, i.e. AFN. Still hoping for another opening boosting it to readable level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. 13855, April 5 at 0111, huge hummy and fading open carrier, the SSOB, with some clix, occasional traces of talk or music modulation trying to break thru but to no avail. Of course, it`s another totally useless R. Cairo transmission, now per HFCC: 2330-0200 Arabic and Spanish, 250 kW, 286 degrees from Abis to Mexico, Central America and Caribbean.
13620, April 5 at 0113, another open carrier, with some fades and no modulation at all, quite weaker than 13855, but also of course, R. Cairo: 0045-0200 Spanish, 250 kW, 241 degrees from Abis to S America.
A few minutes later, however, there is some musical modulation on 9720, presumably also Spanish service which should have been //, i.e. 0045-0200, plus English 0200-0330, 250 kW, 330 degrees from Abu Zaabal to C & W North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR. 6050, April 5 before 0100, I am standing by with BFO for the dead giveaway HCJB timesignal. Otherwise there is nothing readable on frequency, but something very weak --- yes, there it is, four plus one, the final pip prolonged. HCJB recently told its German listeners that because of some transmitter problem they were on reduced power.
WRTH 2013 shows nominally it was only 8 kW, and it`s just another domestic station, #08 in Pichincha Province, furthermore with a blank in the callsign column, but HCJB in the station name column. Does that mean that HCJB is no longer its real callsign? Since it`s operated by Vozandes Media, not exactly the same corporately as the old World Radio Missionary Fellowship in Colorado Springs, now known as HCJB Global (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN. 9595, April 5 at 0129 poor signal with Japanese music, must be R. Nikkei, unusual time to be getting it here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PAKISTAN. 17710, April 5 at 0109 as I am bandscanning 16m, there are a few signals, including a het on the hi side of strong RHC 17705; it`s very weak vs the heavy splash, with Qur`an or perhaps some other chanting. HFCC shows: R. Pakistan in Urdu at 0045-0215, 250 kW, 118 degrees from Islamabad. Nice springtime propagation; see also SRI LANKA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PERU. 5980, April 5 at 0050, I start my eveningly ritual of Chaski-chasing on the porch with the DX-398 on battery power, few meters of external wire. It`s much more comfortable now with the rain over and clear skies, enough dusklight to see what I am writing in the log for half a sesquihour, not needing the porch light.
However, again I am losing contact with Urubamba: no carrier audible at first and the noise level is unreasonably hi in this part of the band. I think residual off-schedule Cuban jamming against non-Martí is part of it, as there is some weak pulsing among it. At 0057 now I can barely make out a carrier with BFO. On to check other stuff, including the HCJB timesignal at hourtop, Cuba finally on 6100. But when I get back to 5980 at 0101, no more carrier vs the noise, and still nothing changes at 0102:33.5 when it is projected to cut off.
Maybe R. Chaski has just reset their turn-off timer again to be closer to 0100, or off the air for some other reason, or just not propagating; however, the Bolivians on 5952+ and 6135- are at their usual sufficient levels. Until next night - (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SRI LANKA. 12115, April 5 at 0114, weak conversation in Burmese. HFCC shows IBB at 0030-0130, 250 kW, 57 degrees from Iranawila. However, this is not on the new VOA A13 schedule, which does have Burmese before and after this on other frequencies, ergo by elimination this hour must be R. Free Asia, a needlessly wasteful duplication of effort as I am sure Kim Andrew Elliott would agree (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SRI LANKA [and non]. 11905, April 5 at 0118, nice S Asian vocal music, fair with flutter; must be SLBC, Hindi service, which HFCC shows as the 300 kW Ekala transmitter at 350 degrees. Despite not being a low-power unit, it`s very nice to hear some programming originating in Sri Lanka, rather than all the relays of something else.
11620, April 5 at 0122 also has S Asian vocal music; it`s the All India Radio Urdu service with a stronger, clearer signal altho listed as 250 kW, 334 degrees from Delhi; but I`m still going back to 11905 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VIETNAM [and non]. 12005, April 5 at 0116, VOV English news by YL announcer with heavy accent, Woofferton UK relay to eastern N America, sufficient, but with ACI from the wall-of-noise jamming the incompetent DentroCuban Jamming Command still spews against 12000, formerly occupied by the defunct Spanish service of VOA, not even R. Martí. Serves Vietnam right for being a jam-country itself against various western broadcasts.
Which brings us to World Harvest Radio, happy to relay VOV via WHRI. Yet T8WH PALAU, a.k.a. Angels 3 & 4, a.k.a. HBN in HFCC, includes several broadcasts specified as in the Vietnamese language, which are surely religious or clandestine, on 9930, 9965, 15500, 17800, and the other WHR station is subject to being jammed by the same country it`s relaying to the Americas. So what? Clients pay the bills; the morality of this business is obviously not a problem. One broadcast to check for Vietnamese jamming is BRB`s Que Me Radio, scheduled Fridays only 1200-1230 on 9930 via Palau (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 5055-USB, April 5 at 0056, very poor Spanish two-way, YL saying ``adelante`` a few times, which means ``over to you`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BANGLADESH. 15505, April 5 at 1400, BB theme and opening Urdu, good strength and instead of the humbuzz now there is more of a crackling sound impeding the audio; it`s always something. I was enjoying the Firedrake so much on 15870 that I missed the timesignal, if any on 15505, jarred back to reality when 15870 cut off at 1400* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. 1610 kHz, April 5 at 0621 UT, heavy drama in Spanish from NE/SW, briefly ascendant over the KATZ IBOC noise, presumably CHHA, Voces Latinas, Toronto (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 6135, April 5 at 1238, not only CNR1 jamming against Taiwan`s new frequency, but also propeller noise.
6970, April 5 at 1233, good open carrier with flutter until 1240*. Very likely a Firedrake transmitter but apparently never needed to modulate with a no-show from a Sound of Hope 100-watt nuisance unit.
Firedrake April 5 before 1300:
11970, fair at 1237, as I tuned up 5 MHz from the carrier on 6970
12230, very good at 1257
12670: see TAIWAN
13920, very good at 1256
14980, good at 1256
15560, fair at 1251, het on lo side from V of Tibet, Tajikistan
15900, very good at 1253
16250, poor at 1253
16360, very good at 1253
16920, very good at 1253
17170, fair at 1254
17250, very poor at 1254
Total: 10 heard at once, maybe 11
Before 1400:
17080, fair at 1334
16360, very good at 1337
16250, very poor at 1337
15970, very poor at 1341; none in the 14s
15870, very good at 1341, -1400*
15570, fair at 1353, het on lo side, ex-15560; bothering KBS 15575
15560, poor-fair at 1340
13920, very good at 1344
12320, very poor at 1344; none in the 11s, 10s
Total: 8 heard at once (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 15215-15245, April 5 at 1338, the RHC buzzmitter on 15230 is now accompanied by weak noise out to this range (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CYPRUS. 21630-21655 or so and same sound on 21698-21723, OTH radar pulsing presumed from here, April 5 at 1407: the lower one QRMs BBC Hausa via ASCENSION on 21630, but nothing vs the upper one. Recheck a couple minutes later and the lower one is off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUAM. 12105, April 5 at 1257 and 1345 chex, KSDA Chinese in the clear, WTWW Russian not on the air today Friday.
15430, Friday April 5 at 1401, open carrier with some hum until 1401:45*. HFCC shows it must have been KSDA`s Thai broadcast at 1330-1400, except on days 5 and 7 in Lao, and day 1 = Sundays a day of rest (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 9526-, April 5 at 1247 with flutter, VOI speaking its usual slow or even spe-cial Japanese, as if from a script by a non-native, undermodulated, but at least there is something audible, so I am hopeful to hear English in the next hour. At 1301 heavy flutter, undermodulation, 1302 dead air past 1308! Or so little mod that I cannot detect it; 1327 now there is some mod, seems English intonation, but the flutter-sound is louder, so give up (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [non]. 5975, April 5 at 0515, NHK English is poorly audible here on Woofferton UK relay, // but an echo apart from much better Issoudun, FRANCE on 11970, the only two frequencies left at 0500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 630, April 5 at 0608 UT, Mexican NA by brass band, well-played, different version than usually heard, plays a few verses tho lyric-less; 0610 segué to ``Monterrey, Tierra Querida`` city anthem, ``entre montañas y tierra``. Heavy SAH with US talker nulled as much as possible. No doubt it`s usual XEFB, and then full ID at 0613 as ``La F-B, Romántica`` having flipped from news/talk a few months ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 650, April 5 at 1207 UT, presumed dominant Mexican here, XETNT, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, live ad for some store in the Mercado San Francisco, 5:06 timecheck, which fits for UT-7 until April 7 advance to UT -6, but then I double-take as he seems to say, ``Buenos días, Guerrero`` and into a song. Turns out there is a 650 in Chilpancingo, but I`m still sure it`s XETNT as there is a Mercado San Francisco in Los Mochis (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 700, April 5 at 0606 UT with WLW nulled, weak Spanish interview mentioning Guadalajara, which fits for XEDKR, but that one word is hardly sufficient to be sure, as it`s on the Radio Red network, 1/1 kW, tho I have IDed it before (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 710, April 5 at 1210 UT, full ID for XEDP and XHDP in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, ``La Ranchera de Cuauhtémoc``, and 1211 switch to hymn and then Low German preacher, for the Mennonites around. A common catch, but it`s always neat to hear this strange language coming out of the middle of Mexico. By 1220 UT, it`s faded and KCMO/KGNC are regaining 710. Our sunrise was 1211 today, and no TP carriers heard (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 770, April 5 at 0558 UT, tune in to ``Grupo Fórmula`` network ID and choral NA, i.e. XEACH Monterrey NL, supposedly 200 watts at night, 5 kW day per IRCA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UNIDs 810, 940
** OKLAHOMA. 21550-23550, April 5 at 1330 I am still getting that new constant noise source, which has a sharp cutoff below 21550, and can be heard barely up to exactly 2 MHz higher; along with chirps/beeps averaging 10.5 per minute. At 1406 the noise is still there, but not the chirps. Sounds rather like an auto idling with bad sparx, but surely not for this extended period and repeatedly; some other stationary bad motor in the neighborhood, perhaps. We are uncomfortably close to an industrial zone. Still haven`t spotted any electric fences. Fortunately there are very few broadcasters above 21550 to bother, and even so it is not extremely strong, but quite a mystery (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PAKISTAN. 17520, April 5 at 1403, distorted talk in SW Asian language, poor and fading. HFCC shows both Cairo eastward in Pashto and Pakistan westward in Urdu; incomplete Aoki as of March 31 listed neither; and EiBi dated April 5 which was 90% complete as of April 3 lists only Egypt. So that was my conclusion until reading Noel Green`s R. Pakistan monitoring report of April 4-5, confirming this one as:
``To Gulf and Middle East 1330-1530 on 15235 and 17520`` And also as reported by Ivo Ivanov (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. 17705, April 5 at 1335, weak BSKSA is accompanied by bird-chirping sounds out to plus/minus 10 kHz, like a springtime nest in the air-conditioner. Could be local but I doubt it; this particular sound only heard in this area (Glenn hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 21515, April 5 at 1332, REE is back on clear frequency today, out from under SSOB 21540 Kuwait where it reverted yesterday. Maybe it depends on different operators getting the message at Noblejas about what to put where. Still audible on 21515 at 1409 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN. 7688, April 5 at 1240, Chinese numbers by YL, 1242 announcement and stops, but carrier stays on; some SSB ACI on lo side. 1244 also some weak CW circa; 1300 resumes with flute music, 1302 more Chinese numbers, weakening but still audible at 1327. Aoki reminds us:
7688 XingXing guangbo diantai 4 1200-1230 1234567 Chinese 10 ND
7688 XingXing guangbo diantai 4 1300-1330 1234567 Chinese 10 ND Kuanyin TWN 12109E 2502N Random numbers b12 H3E
If the numbers are really random, the whole thing is pointless. If they are coded messages, they are anything but random. H3E means full carrier, single sideband; I did not notice which SB was absent. XingXing means StarStar. There are also versions 1, 2, and 3 at other times (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN. 12670, April 5 at 1258, weak talk and music, fading out. Presumed a Sound of Hope that Firedrake missed today! Where FD only has often been heard before. Neither audible at 1344 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. 11905, April 5 at 0518, English clips, 0519 ``Denge Amerika`` so VOA Kurdish ID in passing, fair signal. It`s yet another relay via VATICAN, 0500-0600, 250 kW, 113 degrees from SMG.
According to http://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A13&broadc=IBB
IBB relays via SMG Vatican add up to 58 hours per week
while SMG relays via IBB Greenville, Tinang and Tinian make 63:47 hpw http://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A13&broadc=VAT
Thus Separation of Church and State is a farce. Would it take a FOIA to find out exactly what the arrangement is between the supposedly secular USG and the Holy See? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1663 monitoring. Confirmed on WWRB 3195 (but no 5050), UT Friday April 5 at 0329, as first checked on webcast from 0315; this time our lead-in was Dave`s favorite big-band music filler. Next: UT Saturday 0130v on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB; Sat 0630 & 1430 on HLR 7265-CUSB; Sat 1500 on WRMI 9955; Sat 1730 on WRN via SiriusXM 120; Sat 2330 on WTWW 9930; UT Sun 0400 on WTWW 5830; Sun 2315 on WTWW 9930, usw. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 870, April 5 at 0617 UT, hard to pull out from under WWL tonight, but Vietnamese music still here with a SAH, i.e. KFJZ Ft Worth TX daytimer cheating (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 960, KGWA Enid failed to provide a Fox-hole for a couple of nites at 0500-0505 UT but it`s back April 5; nulling its hummy carrier finds a stronger signal than usual, easily readable with ABC News at 0502-0505, presumed usual KMA Shenandoah IA, with a slight echo from another ABC affiliate. I even tried to copy what followed at 0505 despite KGWA resuming modulation with that annoying lawn-care commercial which opens with banging on a counter-desk bell, but too much KGWA.
At 0538 the understation is still giving KGWA fits when nulled, so I again concentrate on trying to copy it; just national ads, but 0539, local ID! Sounds like ``Newstalk 960, KGAL`` ---? Uplooked later in the NRC AM Log, it must have been KGKL, San Angelo TX, which among its numerous network affiliations is A = ABC! It`s also close to the null direxion from KGWA, opposite from KMA.
Could this be what I have been hearing all along? KGKL is 5/1 kW U2 while KMA is 5/5 kW U2, meaning both are non-direxional day, direxional nite. NRC Pattern Book shows KGKL has a deep null toward Enid & Shenandoah! So now it must really be on day pattern and perhaps even day power. KMA has a minor nite lobe toward Enid while KGWA protects it. When I am hearing an echo on the 960 midnite ABC news, I now think it`s KMA & KGKL rather than KNEB in Scottsbluff NE. I would love to have heard the listed slogan for KGKL, ``Voice of the Concho Valley``. I once considered moving to San Angelo for a while, but decided it was too dominated by Christians who even run the public radio station (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [and non]. 11625, April 5 at 0520, ending one program of heavily-African-accented English, then ``news for young people`` announced by Festus Tarawali, starting with something about Pope Francis (who else? an old person); fair signal. A-13 ``July-October`` (but what about April-June) VR spreadsheet shows 0500-0530 English to Africa on 11625 SMG and 13765 Madagascar, while 0500-0530 separate English to Europe is supposed to be on local FM 93.3 only.
Then I check European frequency 7250, and find the carrier already on the air, only poor signal. Sometimes it broadcasts the FM-only European English, or Albanian, but this time it remains open until some piano music of unknown provenance at 0525; 0529 cut to bells before 0530 Latin mass with multilingual opening. Now it`s // barely audible 5980, which suffers from WWCR 5890/5935 leapfrog another 45 kHz higher. See also USA [and non] for exchange hours with IBB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VIETNAM [and non]. 9930, Friday April 5 at *1157 open carrier, 1159 persecution.org ad, T8WH ID with QSL address Box 12, South Bend; 1200 starts the weekly BRB clandestine broadcast ``Que Me``. Good strength signal but the audio feed is corrupt, cutting on and off constantly during Vietnamese opening, finally heard mentioning ``Que Me`, and http://www.queme.net and Houston, Texas.
I made a point of checking this following my rant yesterday about WHR relaying Voice of Vietnam, while Vietnam jams western broadcasts --- but not this one. No trace of jamming, while siren whooping against 9920 before 1300 continued there past 1300. Finally at 1221 recheck, 9930 dropouts have been fixed, during a speech in an echoey chamber.
Per EiBi [beware: day 1 = Monday for him], 9920 bears FEBC Philippines, Fridays during the 1230 semihour in BHN = Bahnar, spoken in Vietnam by 170,000, and then the 1300 semihour in BT = Black Tai / Tai Dam, spoken by half a million Vietnamese minority people, so the Viet Commies are more concerned with blocking those, than Quê Me, which means Action for Democracy in Vietnam! Properly spelt, not only with a circumflex over the first e, but a dot under the other e, beyond my typographical capabilities. Its English website http://www.queme.net/eng/index.php
linx to news from R. Free Asia and is pro-Buddhist, if not controlled by them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 810, April 5 at 0558, XE NA going to a state anthem, but I can`t recognize which, among the many, many Mexicans crammed onto 810 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 940, April 5 at 0605 UT, soprano singing Chihuahua state anthem amid heavy CCI. Or so I thought I had recognized it, but there are no Chihuahuans listed on 940! Maybe it was Coahuila, XEYJ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 11855-, April 5 at 0118, weak Portuguese sounds like a preacher, i.e. the 1 kW Catholic, R. Aparecida, seldom heard here, slightly on the lo side. 11765 SRDA stronger but too overshadowed by 11760 RHC while 11780 RNB/RNA is inbooming as usual (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 6100, April 5 at 0058, RHC Spanish has finally moved here from 6120, as per their A-13 schedule supposedly effective April 1 when a few other changes were really made. No doubt assisted by my several reminders in reports surreptitiously viewed by frequency mis-manager Arnie Coro. So now WYFR and RTI have no ACI on 6115.
15200-15260, April 5 at 0105 checking the defective RHC transmitter on 15230: now center channel has some crackling, and the buzz field as follows on the hi side, probably matching on the lo side: this time there is no clear segment right next to the fundamental, but buzz out to a peak around 10 kHz, diminishing to just about gone by 20 kHz away; but as I listen, it must fade up a bit, as now I am hearing the buzz up to 25 kHz, to the margin at 30 kHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** DIEGO GARCIA. 12759-USB, April 5 at 0052, JBA broadcast talk and music, i.e. AFN. Still hoping for another opening boosting it to readable level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. 13855, April 5 at 0111, huge hummy and fading open carrier, the SSOB, with some clix, occasional traces of talk or music modulation trying to break thru but to no avail. Of course, it`s another totally useless R. Cairo transmission, now per HFCC: 2330-0200 Arabic and Spanish, 250 kW, 286 degrees from Abis to Mexico, Central America and Caribbean.
13620, April 5 at 0113, another open carrier, with some fades and no modulation at all, quite weaker than 13855, but also of course, R. Cairo: 0045-0200 Spanish, 250 kW, 241 degrees from Abis to S America.
A few minutes later, however, there is some musical modulation on 9720, presumably also Spanish service which should have been //, i.e. 0045-0200, plus English 0200-0330, 250 kW, 330 degrees from Abu Zaabal to C & W North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR. 6050, April 5 before 0100, I am standing by with BFO for the dead giveaway HCJB timesignal. Otherwise there is nothing readable on frequency, but something very weak --- yes, there it is, four plus one, the final pip prolonged. HCJB recently told its German listeners that because of some transmitter problem they were on reduced power.
WRTH 2013 shows nominally it was only 8 kW, and it`s just another domestic station, #08 in Pichincha Province, furthermore with a blank in the callsign column, but HCJB in the station name column. Does that mean that HCJB is no longer its real callsign? Since it`s operated by Vozandes Media, not exactly the same corporately as the old World Radio Missionary Fellowship in Colorado Springs, now known as HCJB Global (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN. 9595, April 5 at 0129 poor signal with Japanese music, must be R. Nikkei, unusual time to be getting it here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PAKISTAN. 17710, April 5 at 0109 as I am bandscanning 16m, there are a few signals, including a het on the hi side of strong RHC 17705; it`s very weak vs the heavy splash, with Qur`an or perhaps some other chanting. HFCC shows: R. Pakistan in Urdu at 0045-0215, 250 kW, 118 degrees from Islamabad. Nice springtime propagation; see also SRI LANKA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PERU. 5980, April 5 at 0050, I start my eveningly ritual of Chaski-chasing on the porch with the DX-398 on battery power, few meters of external wire. It`s much more comfortable now with the rain over and clear skies, enough dusklight to see what I am writing in the log for half a sesquihour, not needing the porch light.
However, again I am losing contact with Urubamba: no carrier audible at first and the noise level is unreasonably hi in this part of the band. I think residual off-schedule Cuban jamming against non-Martí is part of it, as there is some weak pulsing among it. At 0057 now I can barely make out a carrier with BFO. On to check other stuff, including the HCJB timesignal at hourtop, Cuba finally on 6100. But when I get back to 5980 at 0101, no more carrier vs the noise, and still nothing changes at 0102:33.5 when it is projected to cut off.
Maybe R. Chaski has just reset their turn-off timer again to be closer to 0100, or off the air for some other reason, or just not propagating; however, the Bolivians on 5952+ and 6135- are at their usual sufficient levels. Until next night - (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SRI LANKA. 12115, April 5 at 0114, weak conversation in Burmese. HFCC shows IBB at 0030-0130, 250 kW, 57 degrees from Iranawila. However, this is not on the new VOA A13 schedule, which does have Burmese before and after this on other frequencies, ergo by elimination this hour must be R. Free Asia, a needlessly wasteful duplication of effort as I am sure Kim Andrew Elliott would agree (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SRI LANKA [and non]. 11905, April 5 at 0118, nice S Asian vocal music, fair with flutter; must be SLBC, Hindi service, which HFCC shows as the 300 kW Ekala transmitter at 350 degrees. Despite not being a low-power unit, it`s very nice to hear some programming originating in Sri Lanka, rather than all the relays of something else.
11620, April 5 at 0122 also has S Asian vocal music; it`s the All India Radio Urdu service with a stronger, clearer signal altho listed as 250 kW, 334 degrees from Delhi; but I`m still going back to 11905 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VIETNAM [and non]. 12005, April 5 at 0116, VOV English news by YL announcer with heavy accent, Woofferton UK relay to eastern N America, sufficient, but with ACI from the wall-of-noise jamming the incompetent DentroCuban Jamming Command still spews against 12000, formerly occupied by the defunct Spanish service of VOA, not even R. Martí. Serves Vietnam right for being a jam-country itself against various western broadcasts.
Which brings us to World Harvest Radio, happy to relay VOV via WHRI. Yet T8WH PALAU, a.k.a. Angels 3 & 4, a.k.a. HBN in HFCC, includes several broadcasts specified as in the Vietnamese language, which are surely religious or clandestine, on 9930, 9965, 15500, 17800, and the other WHR station is subject to being jammed by the same country it`s relaying to the Americas. So what? Clients pay the bills; the morality of this business is obviously not a problem. One broadcast to check for Vietnamese jamming is BRB`s Que Me Radio, scheduled Fridays only 1200-1230 on 9930 via Palau (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 5055-USB, April 5 at 0056, very poor Spanish two-way, YL saying ``adelante`` a few times, which means ``over to you`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BANGLADESH. 15505, April 5 at 1400, BB theme and opening Urdu, good strength and instead of the humbuzz now there is more of a crackling sound impeding the audio; it`s always something. I was enjoying the Firedrake so much on 15870 that I missed the timesignal, if any on 15505, jarred back to reality when 15870 cut off at 1400* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. 1610 kHz, April 5 at 0621 UT, heavy drama in Spanish from NE/SW, briefly ascendant over the KATZ IBOC noise, presumably CHHA, Voces Latinas, Toronto (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 6135, April 5 at 1238, not only CNR1 jamming against Taiwan`s new frequency, but also propeller noise.
6970, April 5 at 1233, good open carrier with flutter until 1240*. Very likely a Firedrake transmitter but apparently never needed to modulate with a no-show from a Sound of Hope 100-watt nuisance unit.
Firedrake April 5 before 1300:
11970, fair at 1237, as I tuned up 5 MHz from the carrier on 6970
12230, very good at 1257
12670: see TAIWAN
13920, very good at 1256
14980, good at 1256
15560, fair at 1251, het on lo side from V of Tibet, Tajikistan
15900, very good at 1253
16250, poor at 1253
16360, very good at 1253
16920, very good at 1253
17170, fair at 1254
17250, very poor at 1254
Total: 10 heard at once, maybe 11
Before 1400:
17080, fair at 1334
16360, very good at 1337
16250, very poor at 1337
15970, very poor at 1341; none in the 14s
15870, very good at 1341, -1400*
15570, fair at 1353, het on lo side, ex-15560; bothering KBS 15575
15560, poor-fair at 1340
13920, very good at 1344
12320, very poor at 1344; none in the 11s, 10s
Total: 8 heard at once (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 15215-15245, April 5 at 1338, the RHC buzzmitter on 15230 is now accompanied by weak noise out to this range (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CYPRUS. 21630-21655 or so and same sound on 21698-21723, OTH radar pulsing presumed from here, April 5 at 1407: the lower one QRMs BBC Hausa via ASCENSION on 21630, but nothing vs the upper one. Recheck a couple minutes later and the lower one is off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUAM. 12105, April 5 at 1257 and 1345 chex, KSDA Chinese in the clear, WTWW Russian not on the air today Friday.
15430, Friday April 5 at 1401, open carrier with some hum until 1401:45*. HFCC shows it must have been KSDA`s Thai broadcast at 1330-1400, except on days 5 and 7 in Lao, and day 1 = Sundays a day of rest (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 9526-, April 5 at 1247 with flutter, VOI speaking its usual slow or even spe-cial Japanese, as if from a script by a non-native, undermodulated, but at least there is something audible, so I am hopeful to hear English in the next hour. At 1301 heavy flutter, undermodulation, 1302 dead air past 1308! Or so little mod that I cannot detect it; 1327 now there is some mod, seems English intonation, but the flutter-sound is louder, so give up (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [non]. 5975, April 5 at 0515, NHK English is poorly audible here on Woofferton UK relay, // but an echo apart from much better Issoudun, FRANCE on 11970, the only two frequencies left at 0500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 630, April 5 at 0608 UT, Mexican NA by brass band, well-played, different version than usually heard, plays a few verses tho lyric-less; 0610 segué to ``Monterrey, Tierra Querida`` city anthem, ``entre montañas y tierra``. Heavy SAH with US talker nulled as much as possible. No doubt it`s usual XEFB, and then full ID at 0613 as ``La F-B, Romántica`` having flipped from news/talk a few months ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 650, April 5 at 1207 UT, presumed dominant Mexican here, XETNT, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, live ad for some store in the Mercado San Francisco, 5:06 timecheck, which fits for UT-7 until April 7 advance to UT -6, but then I double-take as he seems to say, ``Buenos días, Guerrero`` and into a song. Turns out there is a 650 in Chilpancingo, but I`m still sure it`s XETNT as there is a Mercado San Francisco in Los Mochis (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 700, April 5 at 0606 UT with WLW nulled, weak Spanish interview mentioning Guadalajara, which fits for XEDKR, but that one word is hardly sufficient to be sure, as it`s on the Radio Red network, 1/1 kW, tho I have IDed it before (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 710, April 5 at 1210 UT, full ID for XEDP and XHDP in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, ``La Ranchera de Cuauhtémoc``, and 1211 switch to hymn and then Low German preacher, for the Mennonites around. A common catch, but it`s always neat to hear this strange language coming out of the middle of Mexico. By 1220 UT, it`s faded and KCMO/KGNC are regaining 710. Our sunrise was 1211 today, and no TP carriers heard (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 770, April 5 at 0558 UT, tune in to ``Grupo Fórmula`` network ID and choral NA, i.e. XEACH Monterrey NL, supposedly 200 watts at night, 5 kW day per IRCA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UNIDs 810, 940
** OKLAHOMA. 21550-23550, April 5 at 1330 I am still getting that new constant noise source, which has a sharp cutoff below 21550, and can be heard barely up to exactly 2 MHz higher; along with chirps/beeps averaging 10.5 per minute. At 1406 the noise is still there, but not the chirps. Sounds rather like an auto idling with bad sparx, but surely not for this extended period and repeatedly; some other stationary bad motor in the neighborhood, perhaps. We are uncomfortably close to an industrial zone. Still haven`t spotted any electric fences. Fortunately there are very few broadcasters above 21550 to bother, and even so it is not extremely strong, but quite a mystery (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PAKISTAN. 17520, April 5 at 1403, distorted talk in SW Asian language, poor and fading. HFCC shows both Cairo eastward in Pashto and Pakistan westward in Urdu; incomplete Aoki as of March 31 listed neither; and EiBi dated April 5 which was 90% complete as of April 3 lists only Egypt. So that was my conclusion until reading Noel Green`s R. Pakistan monitoring report of April 4-5, confirming this one as:
``To Gulf and Middle East 1330-1530 on 15235 and 17520`` And also as reported by Ivo Ivanov (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. 17705, April 5 at 1335, weak BSKSA is accompanied by bird-chirping sounds out to plus/minus 10 kHz, like a springtime nest in the air-conditioner. Could be local but I doubt it; this particular sound only heard in this area (Glenn hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 21515, April 5 at 1332, REE is back on clear frequency today, out from under SSOB 21540 Kuwait where it reverted yesterday. Maybe it depends on different operators getting the message at Noblejas about what to put where. Still audible on 21515 at 1409 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN. 7688, April 5 at 1240, Chinese numbers by YL, 1242 announcement and stops, but carrier stays on; some SSB ACI on lo side. 1244 also some weak CW circa; 1300 resumes with flute music, 1302 more Chinese numbers, weakening but still audible at 1327. Aoki reminds us:
7688 XingXing guangbo diantai 4 1200-1230 1234567 Chinese 10 ND
7688 XingXing guangbo diantai 4 1300-1330 1234567 Chinese 10 ND Kuanyin TWN 12109E 2502N Random numbers b12 H3E
If the numbers are really random, the whole thing is pointless. If they are coded messages, they are anything but random. H3E means full carrier, single sideband; I did not notice which SB was absent. XingXing means StarStar. There are also versions 1, 2, and 3 at other times (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN. 12670, April 5 at 1258, weak talk and music, fading out. Presumed a Sound of Hope that Firedrake missed today! Where FD only has often been heard before. Neither audible at 1344 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. 11905, April 5 at 0518, English clips, 0519 ``Denge Amerika`` so VOA Kurdish ID in passing, fair signal. It`s yet another relay via VATICAN, 0500-0600, 250 kW, 113 degrees from SMG.
According to http://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A13&broadc=IBB
IBB relays via SMG Vatican add up to 58 hours per week
while SMG relays via IBB Greenville, Tinang and Tinian make 63:47 hpw http://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A13&broadc=VAT
Thus Separation of Church and State is a farce. Would it take a FOIA to find out exactly what the arrangement is between the supposedly secular USG and the Holy See? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1663 monitoring. Confirmed on WWRB 3195 (but no 5050), UT Friday April 5 at 0329, as first checked on webcast from 0315; this time our lead-in was Dave`s favorite big-band music filler. Next: UT Saturday 0130v on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB; Sat 0630 & 1430 on HLR 7265-CUSB; Sat 1500 on WRMI 9955; Sat 1730 on WRN via SiriusXM 120; Sat 2330 on WTWW 9930; UT Sun 0400 on WTWW 5830; Sun 2315 on WTWW 9930, usw. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 870, April 5 at 0617 UT, hard to pull out from under WWL tonight, but Vietnamese music still here with a SAH, i.e. KFJZ Ft Worth TX daytimer cheating (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 960, KGWA Enid failed to provide a Fox-hole for a couple of nites at 0500-0505 UT but it`s back April 5; nulling its hummy carrier finds a stronger signal than usual, easily readable with ABC News at 0502-0505, presumed usual KMA Shenandoah IA, with a slight echo from another ABC affiliate. I even tried to copy what followed at 0505 despite KGWA resuming modulation with that annoying lawn-care commercial which opens with banging on a counter-desk bell, but too much KGWA.
At 0538 the understation is still giving KGWA fits when nulled, so I again concentrate on trying to copy it; just national ads, but 0539, local ID! Sounds like ``Newstalk 960, KGAL`` ---? Uplooked later in the NRC AM Log, it must have been KGKL, San Angelo TX, which among its numerous network affiliations is A = ABC! It`s also close to the null direxion from KGWA, opposite from KMA.
Could this be what I have been hearing all along? KGKL is 5/1 kW U2 while KMA is 5/5 kW U2, meaning both are non-direxional day, direxional nite. NRC Pattern Book shows KGKL has a deep null toward Enid & Shenandoah! So now it must really be on day pattern and perhaps even day power. KMA has a minor nite lobe toward Enid while KGWA protects it. When I am hearing an echo on the 960 midnite ABC news, I now think it`s KMA & KGKL rather than KNEB in Scottsbluff NE. I would love to have heard the listed slogan for KGKL, ``Voice of the Concho Valley``. I once considered moving to San Angelo for a while, but decided it was too dominated by Christians who even run the public radio station (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [and non]. 11625, April 5 at 0520, ending one program of heavily-African-accented English, then ``news for young people`` announced by Festus Tarawali, starting with something about Pope Francis (who else? an old person); fair signal. A-13 ``July-October`` (but what about April-June) VR spreadsheet shows 0500-0530 English to Africa on 11625 SMG and 13765 Madagascar, while 0500-0530 separate English to Europe is supposed to be on local FM 93.3 only.
Then I check European frequency 7250, and find the carrier already on the air, only poor signal. Sometimes it broadcasts the FM-only European English, or Albanian, but this time it remains open until some piano music of unknown provenance at 0525; 0529 cut to bells before 0530 Latin mass with multilingual opening. Now it`s // barely audible 5980, which suffers from WWCR 5890/5935 leapfrog another 45 kHz higher. See also USA [and non] for exchange hours with IBB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VIETNAM [and non]. 9930, Friday April 5 at *1157 open carrier, 1159 persecution.org ad, T8WH ID with QSL address Box 12, South Bend; 1200 starts the weekly BRB clandestine broadcast ``Que Me``. Good strength signal but the audio feed is corrupt, cutting on and off constantly during Vietnamese opening, finally heard mentioning ``Que Me`, and http://www.queme.net and Houston, Texas.
I made a point of checking this following my rant yesterday about WHR relaying Voice of Vietnam, while Vietnam jams western broadcasts --- but not this one. No trace of jamming, while siren whooping against 9920 before 1300 continued there past 1300. Finally at 1221 recheck, 9930 dropouts have been fixed, during a speech in an echoey chamber.
Per EiBi [beware: day 1 = Monday for him], 9920 bears FEBC Philippines, Fridays during the 1230 semihour in BHN = Bahnar, spoken in Vietnam by 170,000, and then the 1300 semihour in BT = Black Tai / Tai Dam, spoken by half a million Vietnamese minority people, so the Viet Commies are more concerned with blocking those, than Quê Me, which means Action for Democracy in Vietnam! Properly spelt, not only with a circumflex over the first e, but a dot under the other e, beyond my typographical capabilities. Its English website http://www.queme.net/eng/index.php
linx to news from R. Free Asia and is pro-Buddhist, if not controlled by them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 810, April 5 at 0558, XE NA going to a state anthem, but I can`t recognize which, among the many, many Mexicans crammed onto 810 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 940, April 5 at 0605 UT, soprano singing Chihuahua state anthem amid heavy CCI. Or so I thought I had recognized it, but there are no Chihuahuans listed on 940! Maybe it was Coahuila, XEYJ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
