** ALGERIA [non]. 7295, May 26 at 0458, no signal from RTA via FRANCE! South Africa 7285 and Tunisia 7275 are audible as usual; other RTA relay on 9535 is going with Qur`an. At 0459, 7295 is back on with tone test, 0500 join Arabic in progress, poor signal, not // 7295. Altho HFCC shows 7295 at 0400-0500 on 162 degree antenna, and 0500-0600 on 194 degrees, Aoki shows a break at 0458-0500 but both before and after on 162 degrees. Another good example of putting together info from two or three different sources to get the full, correct picture, i.e. they do take a break for the antenna change (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 28415-USB, May 25 at 1847, 5-kHz stepping thru 10 mb, the only USB signal found is this speaking Brazilian, PY2PJ in São Paulo contacting someone in Rio Grande do Norte. Not positive of call: there may have been a third letter but QRZ.com fits:
PY2PJ
PEDRO IANNI JUNIOR
Rua Angelo Steck, 104, casa 82 - Centro
Louveira, SP 13290000
Brazil
Apparently very selective opening; nothing had been heard on 12m, and then hardly anything on 15m except Puerto Rico, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. Channel A2, May 26 at 1530 UT, with antenna south expecting Mexico, some NTSC video fades in via sporadic E; graphic says In Touch, and then an apparent preacher at a lectern in and out. Could it be XHRIO, Matamoros? Still showing at 1615; 1622 audio fades in mentioning Global, so antenna rotated north! Discussion of the Ford Brothers in Toronto and allegations of crack. 1627 outro show as `Stand By` with Tom Clark; 1628 black/silent for a minute! 1629 series of ads/PSA, including McDonald House, Manitoba teachers; 1630 ``good evening``, and `Focus Manitoba` about sports, stadium. More or less gone after 1700 UT.
So it`s CKND-TV-2, 100 kW satellite of Winnipeg at Minnedosa, still on the air in analog, but its days are allegedly numbered, with plans to move to hiband for DTV. At ideal E-skip distance, a regular here which will certainly be missed.
Later jumping thru the hoops at TV Guide, we find that Minnedosa is not even listed among itty bitty towns with cable providers, so back to Winnipeg, Shaw: CKND cable 12 confirmed at 10:30 am Sunday emitting `In Touch with Dr Charles Stanley`, but the 11:00 am program is listed as `West Block`.
At 1625, MUF briefly reached ch 4, something religious in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 11600, Sat May 25 at 1837, poor signal with flutter in Chinese, not Arabic – blocking another attempt to hear LIBYA`s only SW frequency here. Neither is in HFCC, but in Aoki:
11600*R.FREE ASIA 1800-1900 ......7 Chinese 100 325 Agignan Point MRA 1507N 14541E IBB/RFA1 a13 Apr.27
Ha! I picked the one hour per week when RFA is on 11600, and consequently ChiCom jamming, presumably with CNR1 programming.
7325, May 26 at 1242, CRI Japanese service is back with song and announcement, still a fair signal tnx to 500 kW, 59 degree beam also USward from Jinhua-Youbu 831 site, despite having lost more nightpath during the weeks of maintenance silence which also allowed us barely to hear Wantok Radio Light, Papua New Guinea, now totally blocked again here, and surely in most of PNG too. Ron Howard confirmed that CRI resumed May 25, as promised via Japanese monitors. Aoki shows we may now anticipate another long maintenance break during the following 13-14 UT Japanese hour on 7325 via a different site, Xian, from June 17 to July 29, not that that will be of any help this deep into North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Watching channel 2 for sporadic E, May 25: 1717 UT fades in with an Azteca-7 bug in UR, from due south, likely regular XHTAU in Tampico. Below 7 logo are temp 27 degrees and CDT = 12:18. Video only so far, seems infomercial; 1721 Soriana (department store chain) ad. Video shows 40 HD Proyecto 40 --- will that be XHTAU`s DTV channel? W9WI.com still does not show any DTV channels for Tampico. The DTV transition deadline for that city is unknown; in fact it`s not shown at all on http://tvdxtips.com/mexstationlist2.html Could that mean: never?
Since Mexico, like Australia, has this absurd tradition of naming its national networks by the original channel number occupied in the source city, and remapping is now in the offing, will those start displaying the original network brand channel; or the former RF channel of the ex-analog relay transmitters, which have always been incidental and different in every city?
Some of the networks have been getting away from this, but Azteca remains branded to ``13`` and ``7``. It would be as if network TV in the USA had become known as ``2`` for all CBS affiliates, ``4`` for all NBC, and ``7`` for all ABC --- even tho that setup hardly extended beyond NY and LA, already nonsensical in Third City = Chicago.
I google the temp in Tampico as 28 degrees, close enough but hardly unique in the subtropix. 1724 MUF rises to color burst and some audio, now real estate commercial; 1734 again and better, now interviewing people outside, with a soccer ball in the lower left. 1803 mentions ``estado de Tamaulipas``. Some video & audio briefly now on ch 4, maybe Tampico too. WWV reports the K-index now at 5, i.e. very disturbed as far as HF is concerned, but maybe unrelated to seasonal sporadic E which would be happening anyway. 6m maps show only a few E-W paths, not N-S, presumably due to the paucity of Mexican 6m ham activity (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 960, May 26 at 0202-0205 UT, open carrier/dead air from KGWA Enid! Another Fox-hole of no news besides the one which usually happens at 0500-0505. Could well be many more at hourtops when I am not looking for them. But this time, nothing significant audible underneath. Next hole at 0502-0505 UT May 26 provides mostly blues music, i.e. WABG Mississippi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 92.1, May 25 at 2033 check, KAMG-LP Enid is open carrier/dead air, as it has been for a few days now whenever checked. Not unusual for this, supposed to be plugged into some Spanish gospel-huxter network since the local pastor-founder sold it off. Noticed that the stereo pilot is still on, anyway! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. RF 7, May 26 before 1500 UT, KOCO-TV is running continuous crawler that after 10 am, Indy 500 will be on 5.2 so 5.1 can cover Pres. Obama`s visit to Moore/OKC. Extremely unusual for KOCO to make use of 5.2 other than with ME TV. However, from 1500 UT, they are *both* on the silly carace, except 5.2 is in squeeze-o-vision. President does not really touch down at Tinker AFB until about 1645, AF1 first sighted at 1639. Governess Fallin, who snubbed the President the last time he visited Oklahoma, is on hand this time, and has been heard to say she hopes to cut thru red tape to get FEMA aid flowing. What??? From the nasty federal government?!?!?!
Channels 27 and 39 are in-and-out of Obama coverage as there`s really not much to show until he gets to Moore later to make a speech, but KOCO stays with it more than the others in the meantime. At 1758 he is on the ground in Moore and starts speaking, when the national cable networks join in for a few minutes. Meanwhile 5.2 KOCO-SD has fixed the squeeze-o-vision, since we cannot change the aspect ratio --- oops, back to SOV, depending on what`s being shown from ESPN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PERU [and non]. 5980, May 26 at 0059, R. Chaski audible better than usual in Spanish talk, maybe because some household noise sources are off, tho as usual monitored from the porch; still has splash from CRI/Cuba 5990 on air past 0100 when English is starting futilely. 5980 cuts off at 0100:54*, which is 5 seconds later than yesterday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PUERTO RICO. 21240-USB, May 25 at 1851, WP4AZT calling QRZ DX in English, quick contest-like 5-9 contacts. Like 10m from Brazil, this was the only SSB signal found on 15m as I stepped thru at 5-kHz intervals, but the bottom end of the band was crammed with CW signals, why? A mostly-CW contest? QRZ.com shows:
WP4AZT
JOSE A SANTIAGO
BOX 61
SALINAS, PR 00751
USA [sic] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA. 11975, May 25 at 1839, VG signal with disco beat music, YL singer, can`t tell if lyrix in English. Must be RRI, which likes to diffuse stuff like this in its so-called Romanian service, maybe domestic network relay --- yes, per Aoki, it`s Galbeni at 17-20 UT, 285 degrees. Certainly the best if not the only signal direct from Europe at this hour on 25m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA [non]. 11635, May 25 at 1837, French mixing with ute blapps and Cuban numbers YL, also making SAH. Per HFCC, the French is Voice of Russia, 16-21 UT, 500 kW, 235 degrees from PRIDNESTROVYE (a.k.a. KCH), i.e. for Africa, not France. And we know that 11635 is a very active Cuban numbers frequency, on the air most of the afternoons here. Without the QubaRM, VOR French would have been quite sufficiently audible. Are the Russians regretting ``encouraging`` their former(?) Commie comrades to engage in espionage broadcasting? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [non]. 11815, Sunday May 26 at 1246, mix of Japanese talk from NHK, and song in Spanish from REE/Costa Rica --- song??? And // 11910 via China. What about `Amigos de la Onda Corta` DX program? Fears soon allayed at 1249 as Antonio Buitrago comes on with mailbag from Cienfuegos, Cuba. Evidently he is now playing music requests or at least inserting music breaks, besides the neat electronic sounders. Now in the background is music from Japan. These two are always colliding here, outside the target of either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN [non]. 11750, Sunday May 26 at 1259, weak talk station stops, presumably BBC as scheduled via Thailand. A weak carrier continues, and at 1300 IS and sign-on of PCJ Radio International, Andy Sennitt starts, but very poor signal, 1301 RHC brings up Spanish audio, putting an end to it here. These are Sunday-only relays via Trincomalee, SRI LANKA, scheduled to continue another two weeks. Thus Keith Perron gets to QRM a former employer, RHC! As for no good reception in North America, he would probably not care, as not targeted here at all (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY. 9515, UT Sunday May 26 at 0315 I want to catch last repeat of `DX Corner` on VOT, but since I am at the computer, I instead try to bring up the live stream. Can`t get it. But via TRT WORLD I can play the 25.03 broadcast, including skipping into it, to find that DXC starts at :23 into the hour, presented by Omar with heavy accent, bit of opening theme music `Fanfare for the Common Man` by Copland. He reads the complete NASB press release on the Wewn meeting, and after a music break at :33, two more long stories I`d already read, ending at :44. The 25.03 show was still available past 1700 UT, but altho showing the full 50 minutes loaded, file is finicky when I try to skip to the middle to recall the other two articles; it does play on if I leave it alone. O yes, ``Why radio refuses to die`` (in the US) and ABC/Australia funding cuts. No real DX news on this show! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1670 monitoring: confirmed on WTWW-2 9930, Saturday May 25 starting at 2328:44, within one second of the same time as previously timed, apparently as programmed into automation now. Also confirmed on WTWW-1 5830, UT Sunday May 26 starting at 0400:30 as usual, both excellent signals. There could also be a variable-time play after 1800 on 9930. Next: Sunday 2328:44 on 9930 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9370, May 25 at 1836, WWRB is OFF, no Brother Scare here. Continuing to propagate despite K=5 at 18, are 9330 WBCQ, 9479 & 9930 WTWW, 9980 WWCR; 9370 still off at 2115 recheck (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 28415-USB, May 25 at 1847, 5-kHz stepping thru 10 mb, the only USB signal found is this speaking Brazilian, PY2PJ in São Paulo contacting someone in Rio Grande do Norte. Not positive of call: there may have been a third letter but QRZ.com fits:
PY2PJ
PEDRO IANNI JUNIOR
Rua Angelo Steck, 104, casa 82 - Centro
Louveira, SP 13290000
Brazil
Apparently very selective opening; nothing had been heard on 12m, and then hardly anything on 15m except Puerto Rico, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. Channel A2, May 26 at 1530 UT, with antenna south expecting Mexico, some NTSC video fades in via sporadic E; graphic says In Touch, and then an apparent preacher at a lectern in and out. Could it be XHRIO, Matamoros? Still showing at 1615; 1622 audio fades in mentioning Global, so antenna rotated north! Discussion of the Ford Brothers in Toronto and allegations of crack. 1627 outro show as `Stand By` with Tom Clark; 1628 black/silent for a minute! 1629 series of ads/PSA, including McDonald House, Manitoba teachers; 1630 ``good evening``, and `Focus Manitoba` about sports, stadium. More or less gone after 1700 UT.
So it`s CKND-TV-2, 100 kW satellite of Winnipeg at Minnedosa, still on the air in analog, but its days are allegedly numbered, with plans to move to hiband for DTV. At ideal E-skip distance, a regular here which will certainly be missed.
Later jumping thru the hoops at TV Guide, we find that Minnedosa is not even listed among itty bitty towns with cable providers, so back to Winnipeg, Shaw: CKND cable 12 confirmed at 10:30 am Sunday emitting `In Touch with Dr Charles Stanley`, but the 11:00 am program is listed as `West Block`.
At 1625, MUF briefly reached ch 4, something religious in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 11600, Sat May 25 at 1837, poor signal with flutter in Chinese, not Arabic – blocking another attempt to hear LIBYA`s only SW frequency here. Neither is in HFCC, but in Aoki:
11600*R.FREE ASIA 1800-1900 ......7 Chinese 100 325 Agignan Point MRA 1507N 14541E IBB/RFA1 a13 Apr.27
Ha! I picked the one hour per week when RFA is on 11600, and consequently ChiCom jamming, presumably with CNR1 programming.
7325, May 26 at 1242, CRI Japanese service is back with song and announcement, still a fair signal tnx to 500 kW, 59 degree beam also USward from Jinhua-Youbu 831 site, despite having lost more nightpath during the weeks of maintenance silence which also allowed us barely to hear Wantok Radio Light, Papua New Guinea, now totally blocked again here, and surely in most of PNG too. Ron Howard confirmed that CRI resumed May 25, as promised via Japanese monitors. Aoki shows we may now anticipate another long maintenance break during the following 13-14 UT Japanese hour on 7325 via a different site, Xian, from June 17 to July 29, not that that will be of any help this deep into North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Watching channel 2 for sporadic E, May 25: 1717 UT fades in with an Azteca-7 bug in UR, from due south, likely regular XHTAU in Tampico. Below 7 logo are temp 27 degrees and CDT = 12:18. Video only so far, seems infomercial; 1721 Soriana (department store chain) ad. Video shows 40 HD Proyecto 40 --- will that be XHTAU`s DTV channel? W9WI.com still does not show any DTV channels for Tampico. The DTV transition deadline for that city is unknown; in fact it`s not shown at all on http://tvdxtips.com/mexstationlist2.html Could that mean: never?
Since Mexico, like Australia, has this absurd tradition of naming its national networks by the original channel number occupied in the source city, and remapping is now in the offing, will those start displaying the original network brand channel; or the former RF channel of the ex-analog relay transmitters, which have always been incidental and different in every city?
Some of the networks have been getting away from this, but Azteca remains branded to ``13`` and ``7``. It would be as if network TV in the USA had become known as ``2`` for all CBS affiliates, ``4`` for all NBC, and ``7`` for all ABC --- even tho that setup hardly extended beyond NY and LA, already nonsensical in Third City = Chicago.
I google the temp in Tampico as 28 degrees, close enough but hardly unique in the subtropix. 1724 MUF rises to color burst and some audio, now real estate commercial; 1734 again and better, now interviewing people outside, with a soccer ball in the lower left. 1803 mentions ``estado de Tamaulipas``. Some video & audio briefly now on ch 4, maybe Tampico too. WWV reports the K-index now at 5, i.e. very disturbed as far as HF is concerned, but maybe unrelated to seasonal sporadic E which would be happening anyway. 6m maps show only a few E-W paths, not N-S, presumably due to the paucity of Mexican 6m ham activity (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 960, May 26 at 0202-0205 UT, open carrier/dead air from KGWA Enid! Another Fox-hole of no news besides the one which usually happens at 0500-0505. Could well be many more at hourtops when I am not looking for them. But this time, nothing significant audible underneath. Next hole at 0502-0505 UT May 26 provides mostly blues music, i.e. WABG Mississippi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 92.1, May 25 at 2033 check, KAMG-LP Enid is open carrier/dead air, as it has been for a few days now whenever checked. Not unusual for this, supposed to be plugged into some Spanish gospel-huxter network since the local pastor-founder sold it off. Noticed that the stereo pilot is still on, anyway! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. RF 7, May 26 before 1500 UT, KOCO-TV is running continuous crawler that after 10 am, Indy 500 will be on 5.2 so 5.1 can cover Pres. Obama`s visit to Moore/OKC. Extremely unusual for KOCO to make use of 5.2 other than with ME TV. However, from 1500 UT, they are *both* on the silly carace, except 5.2 is in squeeze-o-vision. President does not really touch down at Tinker AFB until about 1645, AF1 first sighted at 1639. Governess Fallin, who snubbed the President the last time he visited Oklahoma, is on hand this time, and has been heard to say she hopes to cut thru red tape to get FEMA aid flowing. What??? From the nasty federal government?!?!?!
Channels 27 and 39 are in-and-out of Obama coverage as there`s really not much to show until he gets to Moore later to make a speech, but KOCO stays with it more than the others in the meantime. At 1758 he is on the ground in Moore and starts speaking, when the national cable networks join in for a few minutes. Meanwhile 5.2 KOCO-SD has fixed the squeeze-o-vision, since we cannot change the aspect ratio --- oops, back to SOV, depending on what`s being shown from ESPN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PERU [and non]. 5980, May 26 at 0059, R. Chaski audible better than usual in Spanish talk, maybe because some household noise sources are off, tho as usual monitored from the porch; still has splash from CRI/Cuba 5990 on air past 0100 when English is starting futilely. 5980 cuts off at 0100:54*, which is 5 seconds later than yesterday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PUERTO RICO. 21240-USB, May 25 at 1851, WP4AZT calling QRZ DX in English, quick contest-like 5-9 contacts. Like 10m from Brazil, this was the only SSB signal found on 15m as I stepped thru at 5-kHz intervals, but the bottom end of the band was crammed with CW signals, why? A mostly-CW contest? QRZ.com shows:
WP4AZT
JOSE A SANTIAGO
BOX 61
SALINAS, PR 00751
USA [sic] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA. 11975, May 25 at 1839, VG signal with disco beat music, YL singer, can`t tell if lyrix in English. Must be RRI, which likes to diffuse stuff like this in its so-called Romanian service, maybe domestic network relay --- yes, per Aoki, it`s Galbeni at 17-20 UT, 285 degrees. Certainly the best if not the only signal direct from Europe at this hour on 25m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA [non]. 11635, May 25 at 1837, French mixing with ute blapps and Cuban numbers YL, also making SAH. Per HFCC, the French is Voice of Russia, 16-21 UT, 500 kW, 235 degrees from PRIDNESTROVYE (a.k.a. KCH), i.e. for Africa, not France. And we know that 11635 is a very active Cuban numbers frequency, on the air most of the afternoons here. Without the QubaRM, VOR French would have been quite sufficiently audible. Are the Russians regretting ``encouraging`` their former(?) Commie comrades to engage in espionage broadcasting? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [non]. 11815, Sunday May 26 at 1246, mix of Japanese talk from NHK, and song in Spanish from REE/Costa Rica --- song??? And // 11910 via China. What about `Amigos de la Onda Corta` DX program? Fears soon allayed at 1249 as Antonio Buitrago comes on with mailbag from Cienfuegos, Cuba. Evidently he is now playing music requests or at least inserting music breaks, besides the neat electronic sounders. Now in the background is music from Japan. These two are always colliding here, outside the target of either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN [non]. 11750, Sunday May 26 at 1259, weak talk station stops, presumably BBC as scheduled via Thailand. A weak carrier continues, and at 1300 IS and sign-on of PCJ Radio International, Andy Sennitt starts, but very poor signal, 1301 RHC brings up Spanish audio, putting an end to it here. These are Sunday-only relays via Trincomalee, SRI LANKA, scheduled to continue another two weeks. Thus Keith Perron gets to QRM a former employer, RHC! As for no good reception in North America, he would probably not care, as not targeted here at all (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY. 9515, UT Sunday May 26 at 0315 I want to catch last repeat of `DX Corner` on VOT, but since I am at the computer, I instead try to bring up the live stream. Can`t get it. But via TRT WORLD I can play the 25.03 broadcast, including skipping into it, to find that DXC starts at :23 into the hour, presented by Omar with heavy accent, bit of opening theme music `Fanfare for the Common Man` by Copland. He reads the complete NASB press release on the Wewn meeting, and after a music break at :33, two more long stories I`d already read, ending at :44. The 25.03 show was still available past 1700 UT, but altho showing the full 50 minutes loaded, file is finicky when I try to skip to the middle to recall the other two articles; it does play on if I leave it alone. O yes, ``Why radio refuses to die`` (in the US) and ABC/Australia funding cuts. No real DX news on this show! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1670 monitoring: confirmed on WTWW-2 9930, Saturday May 25 starting at 2328:44, within one second of the same time as previously timed, apparently as programmed into automation now. Also confirmed on WTWW-1 5830, UT Sunday May 26 starting at 0400:30 as usual, both excellent signals. There could also be a variable-time play after 1800 on 9930. Next: Sunday 2328:44 on 9930 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9370, May 25 at 1836, WWRB is OFF, no Brother Scare here. Continuing to propagate despite K=5 at 18, are 9330 WBCQ, 9479 & 9930 WTWW, 9980 WWCR; 9370 still off at 2115 recheck (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
