** AUSTRALIA. 15400, Saturday May 4 at *1225:10, HCJB comes on with usual prélude to S Asian service, nondescript music with ``about to start`` English announcements repeated. Still NOTHING said about this frequency changing, effective tomorrow, to 15340, as allegedly the plan. Regular listeners are in for confusion. And unlike weekdays starting in English at 1230, today it`s right into a S Asian language, presumed Nepali as a P O box in Kathmándu announced. Reception today on both frequencies is strong enough but with some flutter unlike recently. (Secret Sarawak 15500 is still steady with only slow fading.) The HCJB SE Asian service is on 15340 as usual, to be gone by 1300 when Cuba comes on, and that is to shift to 15490 from tomorrow; while the collision with Cuba will then resume after 1300 on 15340.
Today`s Aoki has already moved the 15400 schedule to 15340 at 1230-1530, starting on Saturdays only with Nepali at 1230-1300. And the former 15340 schedule moved to 15490 at 1000-1300. HFCC also made these changes by May 1 even tho they are not yet in effect, and furthermore don`t you believe the start dates retained of ``31 March`` instead of 5 May!
KNX had to get off 15400 due to Iran in Urdu at 1300-1427, as I pointed out long ago, and which HCJB should have known about if they paid any attention to HFCC in the first place --- and now HCJB is trying to host the A-14 HFCC in Melbourne, altho some European members say they refuse to travel that far. Meanwhile, HFCC B-13 is set for Bratislava, Slovakia, 26-30 August: http://www.hfcc.org/B13/ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BANGLADESH. 15505, May 4 at 1359, BB already on with IS, as I deduct 70 kHz from KBS; timesignal consistently early now, but still varies, today ending at 1359:43.5, into Urdu, poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake May 4, before 1230:
13795, fair at 1218;
All the rest are still CNR1 jamming instead:
13820, good at 1218
13830, good at 1318
14700, good at 1218
16160, poor at 1222
16250, poor at 1219
16360, good at 1219
17450, fair at 1222
Firedrake [non], May 4 before 1500, CNR1 jamming, all synchronized to within a slight reverb:
9845, poor at 1448; one of the perennials, not ex-Firedrake
11990, poor at 1445, SAH with target, i.e. VOA Chinese via Novosibirsk, RUSSIA at 13-15 as in HFCC; Aoki still hasn`t caught up with this one or *jamming we have been hearing for more than a week
12670, poor at 1445
14800, fair at 1440; none in the 13s
15800, good at 1440
15900, good at 1440
None now in the 16s, 17s, or 18s, tho CRI English 17630 Kashgar is still in well (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. 11690, May 4 at 1235, RHC inferior channel has some CCI under, sounds like Asian language? HFCC shows it must be CRI English, 500 kW, 292 degrees from Xian at 12-13.
11680, May 4 at 1235 is lacking any lysdexic RHC appearance today instead of 11860, allowing weak Korean to be in clear from 50 kW non-direxional KCBS Pyongyang (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. 15040, May 4 at 1210, AIR Burmese service with hi-pitched squealing noise; sounds like a modulation input problem, can`t tell whether originally it`s speech or music; poor signal with carrier OK; next door 15050-AM Tamil service sounds normal. At 1213, 15040 modulation clears up, now drumming and proper music from rustic instrument(s); 1215 adds vocal to the screeching, then slow talk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA SOUTH. 15575, Saturday May 4 at 1349, KBS World Radio is propagating well today, so I catch the final segments on `Listeners Lounge`: Jeff in Balto with Tech Tips, this time about the ``four corners`` within Seoul Calling on different days of the week. No four corners from Farmington today; it`s Christer Brunström`s week for DX news from Sweden, and now he gets 6 minutes at 1352-1358: some AWR Wavescan times and frequencies; HCJB Australia`s English at 0730-0830 on new 15490; R. Japan to Europe at 0500 on 5975 via GB; Tatarstan at 0810 on 15195, music recommended; WJHR Florida, 15550-USB from 1500 must be underpowered, not 50 kW, very poor signal = John Hill Radio; Reflexions Europe, religious pirate ex-Radio Fax, since *1988y, Sundays only 6295 & 12255 heard from 1700, site unknown, but Ireland a good guess and also 24h webcast; R. Brasil Central back on 11815 after transmitter problems, good for sertaneja music circa 2145; CRI announced April
9 a new service, V of the South China Sea, MW 1008, FM 101, and supposedly SW but no SW frequencies known, in Chinese, English, Vietnamese, Filipino et al. There were a few glitches, in recording or in STL feed? This used up all the `LL` time, so no pointless summary of KBS reception conditions, just wrapup (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KUWAIT [and non]. 21540, May 3 at 1403, R. Kuwait good with music, Arabic talk; notable only in that for the past week or two, 13m has been pretty useless from that worldpart at this daypart; and 21505 Saudi Arabia is also buzzing in past 1438. WWV reported as of 1500 UT:
``Solar-terrestrial indices for 03 May follow.
Solar flux 148 and estimated planetary A-index 6.
The estimated planetary K-index at 1500 UTC on 04 May was 1.
Space weather for the past 24 hours has been moderate.
Radio blackouts reaching the R2 level occurred.
Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be minor.
Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level are likely.``
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NEW ZEALAND. 9700, UT Saturday May 4 at 1245, RNZI still with VG signal ex-9655, so also ex-the NW antenna previously used and still claimed to be. Program about the March [really early April] 1940y railway funeral procession from Wellington to Auckland for Michael Joseph Savage, and some recordings of what was apparently quite an event, including Maori chanting laments; 1248 they sing ``Nearer My God to Thee``. Just as I adjusted headphones at 1252, narrator mentioned that there had just been some Morse code, concluding this segment, and on to next item about the Wellington PO destroyed by fire in 1883y. Sounds like it could be the show `Sounds Historical`, but that`s in our nightmiddle. No, RNZI schedule grid defers to RNZ National, which in turn shows at 1230 today, `History Repeated` segment of the All-Night Programmme.
Unfortunately `HR` has no entry on the schedules in its own right, disallowing me from assuring the details I cited be correct. Wikipedia says: `` Michael Joseph Savage is revered from many sides of the political spectrum and is known as the architect of the New Zealand Welfare State. He is considered by academics and historians to be New Zealand's most loved Prime Minister. He was often called 'Everybody's Uncle' because of his kind and friendly nature`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA. 15120-AM, May 4 at 0454 fairly good carrier from VON but hardly any modulation, barely hearing some drumming; 0456 more modulation but still low with announcer opening morning service with program previews. Some nights this propagates, most nights not; is it sometimes off the air too? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SARAWAK [non]. 17840, May 4 at 1135, poor signal from presumed R. Free Sarawak in Iban via secret site; enough to tell that like yesterday, it cuts off at 1158.5*, and 15500 cuts on at *1158.8 with much better signal, re-joining talk in progress.
The other pair of channels, 15430 and 15460 are also audible much more weakly at 1209. Back to 15500 just in time to hear modulation stop, carrier a few more seconds and off circa 1300*. All this may last one more day, May 5 being elexion day in Sarawak. Too bad they don`t include even a few minutes of English explaining to the rest of us what`s going on; but in general there are serious allegations of corruption in the current regime.
NOTE: Sunday May 5 there will be a special broadcast of the Malaysian general election results at 1600-1700 on 15500 from PALAU, which probably means the previous 15500 transmissions have been from there. RFS on 15460 and Radio Free Malaysia on 1359 kHz MW will continue until May 10 and then take a break (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TATARSTAN [non]. 15110, May 4 at 0458, poor signal with flutter in non-Russian talk, no doubt Tatarstan Wave as scheduled from 0410; 0459 a bit of music and different talk, maybe a bit of Russian? Off 0500* before I could decide. Need to listen from the outset for the music. What is the real site now? HFCC, Aoki and EiBi all show Samara, RUSSIA which is also still in HFCC for many other transmissions (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. One WEWN transmitter is still down as of May 4: 12050, no signal at 1242, while Spanish as usual on 11550; 7555 used overnight is not on either. 15610 English is on with some sporadic-E boost (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15825, May 4 at 1400, WWCR is unusually strong, a sure sign that the sporadic-E DX season is starting; as indeed there are openings across America into TV and FM bands, which already started yesterday. So far none of that here, but my VHF antennas are still in disarray following ice damage (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9330-CUSB, Saturday May 4 at 1447, no trace of a signal from WBCQ, while 9370 WWRB is sufficient, and WBCQ is too, on 15420-CUSB with Brother Scare`s Sabbath (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1667 monitoring: I was out to the Edgar Cruz classical guitar concert, (see http://www.edgarcruz.com/ for samples!) so missed confirming the UT Sat May 4 0130v airing on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB, but have heard nothing to the contrary. When did it start?
9955, Saturday May 4 at 1448, nothing but a JBA carrier from WRMI? Boding ill for WOR at 1500. How was it in Venezuela?
Is WOR still on C-JOY Internet Radio? It was not heard last Saturday when expected at 2000 UT. Current program schedule shows a gap from 2000 to 2130 so please check each half-hour for WOR via http://loudcity.com/stations/cjoy-internet-radio/files/show/lccjoyinternetradiopage.html
and let us know if you hear it or definitely do not.
Next: Saturday & Sunday 2330v on WTWW-2 9930; UT Sunday 0400 on WTWW-1 5830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Today`s Aoki has already moved the 15400 schedule to 15340 at 1230-1530, starting on Saturdays only with Nepali at 1230-1300. And the former 15340 schedule moved to 15490 at 1000-1300. HFCC also made these changes by May 1 even tho they are not yet in effect, and furthermore don`t you believe the start dates retained of ``31 March`` instead of 5 May!
KNX had to get off 15400 due to Iran in Urdu at 1300-1427, as I pointed out long ago, and which HCJB should have known about if they paid any attention to HFCC in the first place --- and now HCJB is trying to host the A-14 HFCC in Melbourne, altho some European members say they refuse to travel that far. Meanwhile, HFCC B-13 is set for Bratislava, Slovakia, 26-30 August: http://www.hfcc.org/B13/ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BANGLADESH. 15505, May 4 at 1359, BB already on with IS, as I deduct 70 kHz from KBS; timesignal consistently early now, but still varies, today ending at 1359:43.5, into Urdu, poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake May 4, before 1230:
13795, fair at 1218;
All the rest are still CNR1 jamming instead:
13820, good at 1218
13830, good at 1318
14700, good at 1218
16160, poor at 1222
16250, poor at 1219
16360, good at 1219
17450, fair at 1222
Firedrake [non], May 4 before 1500, CNR1 jamming, all synchronized to within a slight reverb:
9845, poor at 1448; one of the perennials, not ex-Firedrake
11990, poor at 1445, SAH with target, i.e. VOA Chinese via Novosibirsk, RUSSIA at 13-15 as in HFCC; Aoki still hasn`t caught up with this one or *jamming we have been hearing for more than a week
12670, poor at 1445
14800, fair at 1440; none in the 13s
15800, good at 1440
15900, good at 1440
None now in the 16s, 17s, or 18s, tho CRI English 17630 Kashgar is still in well (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. 11690, May 4 at 1235, RHC inferior channel has some CCI under, sounds like Asian language? HFCC shows it must be CRI English, 500 kW, 292 degrees from Xian at 12-13.
11680, May 4 at 1235 is lacking any lysdexic RHC appearance today instead of 11860, allowing weak Korean to be in clear from 50 kW non-direxional KCBS Pyongyang (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. 15040, May 4 at 1210, AIR Burmese service with hi-pitched squealing noise; sounds like a modulation input problem, can`t tell whether originally it`s speech or music; poor signal with carrier OK; next door 15050-AM Tamil service sounds normal. At 1213, 15040 modulation clears up, now drumming and proper music from rustic instrument(s); 1215 adds vocal to the screeching, then slow talk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA SOUTH. 15575, Saturday May 4 at 1349, KBS World Radio is propagating well today, so I catch the final segments on `Listeners Lounge`: Jeff in Balto with Tech Tips, this time about the ``four corners`` within Seoul Calling on different days of the week. No four corners from Farmington today; it`s Christer Brunström`s week for DX news from Sweden, and now he gets 6 minutes at 1352-1358: some AWR Wavescan times and frequencies; HCJB Australia`s English at 0730-0830 on new 15490; R. Japan to Europe at 0500 on 5975 via GB; Tatarstan at 0810 on 15195, music recommended; WJHR Florida, 15550-USB from 1500 must be underpowered, not 50 kW, very poor signal = John Hill Radio; Reflexions Europe, religious pirate ex-Radio Fax, since *1988y, Sundays only 6295 & 12255 heard from 1700, site unknown, but Ireland a good guess and also 24h webcast; R. Brasil Central back on 11815 after transmitter problems, good for sertaneja music circa 2145; CRI announced April
9 a new service, V of the South China Sea, MW 1008, FM 101, and supposedly SW but no SW frequencies known, in Chinese, English, Vietnamese, Filipino et al. There were a few glitches, in recording or in STL feed? This used up all the `LL` time, so no pointless summary of KBS reception conditions, just wrapup (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KUWAIT [and non]. 21540, May 3 at 1403, R. Kuwait good with music, Arabic talk; notable only in that for the past week or two, 13m has been pretty useless from that worldpart at this daypart; and 21505 Saudi Arabia is also buzzing in past 1438. WWV reported as of 1500 UT:
``Solar-terrestrial indices for 03 May follow.
Solar flux 148 and estimated planetary A-index 6.
The estimated planetary K-index at 1500 UTC on 04 May was 1.
Space weather for the past 24 hours has been moderate.
Radio blackouts reaching the R2 level occurred.
Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be minor.
Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level are likely.``
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NEW ZEALAND. 9700, UT Saturday May 4 at 1245, RNZI still with VG signal ex-9655, so also ex-the NW antenna previously used and still claimed to be. Program about the March [really early April] 1940y railway funeral procession from Wellington to Auckland for Michael Joseph Savage, and some recordings of what was apparently quite an event, including Maori chanting laments; 1248 they sing ``Nearer My God to Thee``. Just as I adjusted headphones at 1252, narrator mentioned that there had just been some Morse code, concluding this segment, and on to next item about the Wellington PO destroyed by fire in 1883y. Sounds like it could be the show `Sounds Historical`, but that`s in our nightmiddle. No, RNZI schedule grid defers to RNZ National, which in turn shows at 1230 today, `History Repeated` segment of the All-Night Programmme.
Unfortunately `HR` has no entry on the schedules in its own right, disallowing me from assuring the details I cited be correct. Wikipedia says: `` Michael Joseph Savage is revered from many sides of the political spectrum and is known as the architect of the New Zealand Welfare State. He is considered by academics and historians to be New Zealand's most loved Prime Minister. He was often called 'Everybody's Uncle' because of his kind and friendly nature`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA. 15120-AM, May 4 at 0454 fairly good carrier from VON but hardly any modulation, barely hearing some drumming; 0456 more modulation but still low with announcer opening morning service with program previews. Some nights this propagates, most nights not; is it sometimes off the air too? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SARAWAK [non]. 17840, May 4 at 1135, poor signal from presumed R. Free Sarawak in Iban via secret site; enough to tell that like yesterday, it cuts off at 1158.5*, and 15500 cuts on at *1158.8 with much better signal, re-joining talk in progress.
The other pair of channels, 15430 and 15460 are also audible much more weakly at 1209. Back to 15500 just in time to hear modulation stop, carrier a few more seconds and off circa 1300*. All this may last one more day, May 5 being elexion day in Sarawak. Too bad they don`t include even a few minutes of English explaining to the rest of us what`s going on; but in general there are serious allegations of corruption in the current regime.
NOTE: Sunday May 5 there will be a special broadcast of the Malaysian general election results at 1600-1700 on 15500 from PALAU, which probably means the previous 15500 transmissions have been from there. RFS on 15460 and Radio Free Malaysia on 1359 kHz MW will continue until May 10 and then take a break (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TATARSTAN [non]. 15110, May 4 at 0458, poor signal with flutter in non-Russian talk, no doubt Tatarstan Wave as scheduled from 0410; 0459 a bit of music and different talk, maybe a bit of Russian? Off 0500* before I could decide. Need to listen from the outset for the music. What is the real site now? HFCC, Aoki and EiBi all show Samara, RUSSIA which is also still in HFCC for many other transmissions (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. One WEWN transmitter is still down as of May 4: 12050, no signal at 1242, while Spanish as usual on 11550; 7555 used overnight is not on either. 15610 English is on with some sporadic-E boost (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15825, May 4 at 1400, WWCR is unusually strong, a sure sign that the sporadic-E DX season is starting; as indeed there are openings across America into TV and FM bands, which already started yesterday. So far none of that here, but my VHF antennas are still in disarray following ice damage (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9330-CUSB, Saturday May 4 at 1447, no trace of a signal from WBCQ, while 9370 WWRB is sufficient, and WBCQ is too, on 15420-CUSB with Brother Scare`s Sabbath (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1667 monitoring: I was out to the Edgar Cruz classical guitar concert, (see http://www.edgarcruz.com/ for samples!) so missed confirming the UT Sat May 4 0130v airing on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB, but have heard nothing to the contrary. When did it start?
9955, Saturday May 4 at 1448, nothing but a JBA carrier from WRMI? Boding ill for WOR at 1500. How was it in Venezuela?
Is WOR still on C-JOY Internet Radio? It was not heard last Saturday when expected at 2000 UT. Current program schedule shows a gap from 2000 to 2130 so please check each half-hour for WOR via http://loudcity.com/stations/cjoy-internet-radio/files/show/lccjoyinternetradiopage.html
and let us know if you hear it or definitely do not.
Next: Saturday & Sunday 2330v on WTWW-2 9930; UT Sunday 0400 on WTWW-1 5830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
