sabato 9 novembre 2013

Glenn Hauser logs November 8-9, 2013

** BOLIVIA [and non]. 6135-, Nov 9 at 0054, music playing here sounds like that on 11855, i.e. R. Aparecida, BRAZIL which also has a 6135 transmitter --- but instead it`s R. Santa Cruz, since offset to the lo side, and there is no het at all from the ZY; furthermore, at 0059 they are definitely not //, one talking, one musicking.

BTW, I am still often hearing, including tonight, R. Pio Doce, Bolivia on 5952.4v, but both of them are a lot weaker than they were in our summer, when in their winter the signals were getting a better head-start northward (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 4765, Nov 9 at 0130, open carrier from R. Progreso, adding music in progress at 0131:20, so signing on an hour later than before. Presumably off circa 0500, as gone by 0505 check. Haven`t run across it on any RHC frequencies yet again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA [and non]. Some further chex of RHC in B-13, as they *still* as of Nov 8 have not put up their new website schedules, just blank pages:

17720, Nov 8 at 2115 has VG signal but open carrier/dead air. This must be because the European service in Spanish bihour has moved a unihour later to 22-24 instead of 21-23, while the preceding languages, 1930-2100 in French/Portuguese/Arabic, have stayed at the same UT; explain that?

Leaves a one-hour gap at 21-22 with nothing for the 17720 transmitter to do. Well, it could duplicate the other French broadcast on 11760, which has moved an hour later from 2000-2030 to 2100-2130 and // on 11880 to Africa now an hour earlier at 2100-2130 instead of 2200-2230. 17720 is in fact the SSOB, and nearly the OSOB as 16m is of little interest to any broadcaster: just 17850 Spain, fair signal; and barely audible 17675 DRM from NZ. At 2129, guess what, if I turn the volume way up on 17720, I can barely hear traces of French bleeding thru, enough to match it // 11880. Well, that`s a start.

11600, Nov 9 at 0055, somewhat distorted music, immediately nailed as yet another RHC leapfrog mixing product, matching 11760 over 11680 another 80 kHz below. Don`t recall catching it here before.

11760, Nov 9 at 0503, RHC English is here, presumably late turning off transmitter after Spanish to 0500; could cut off at any moment. 6125 not yet on at 0503, or maybe a carrier mixing with Spain for another hour. 6165 and 6060 on in English, nothing audible on 6000, yet. Spanish audible at 0504 on 6100, not on 9810 and higher bands are dead.

5990, Nov 9 at 0100, CRI English relay is opening, undermodulated, as RadioCuba is late again turning off the transmitter after Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EAST TURKISTAN [and non]. 9420, Nov 9 at 0108, CRI English has strong signal but seems very undermodulated --- NO! It`s merely suppressed underneath an open carrier from GREECE; and // weaker but louder 9410 in the clear. HFCC shows both are via Kashgar at 308 and 174 degrees respectively (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GERMANY [non]. 12070, Nov 8 at 2118, VG signal from Deutsche Welle in English, via RWANDA, of course. This 21-22 broadcast aims 295 degrees from Kigali, close enough to USward; earlier 12070 English at 1900-1930 & 2000-2057 is at 210 degrees, further southward.

This may well be our best bet for DW, but it`s marred by continuous lite squealing, the pitch varying depending on the modulation, but becoming steady during very brief pauses, which proves it`s coming out of the same transmitter: DW need to swap out some ailing modulator cards (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GREECE. 9420, Nov 8 at 2112, something is still here in Greek talk, and he`s rather calm; fair signal. Next check at 0108, it`s open carrier/dead air, audiblizing CRI English underneath; see EAST TURKISTAN. By 0118, Greece is modulating music on 9420 and // weaker 7475 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDIA. 9445, Nov 8 at 2111, AIR GOS with commentary in S Asian accent, fair signal, weaker than // 11620. At 2136 I find a third, 7550, weakest at this hour. At 2136 they are playing Indian classical music and on two receivers, 7550 has strengthened, producing a stereo effect with 9445 as they are slightly unsynchronized. At this hour in A13 per Aoki, 7550 was Delhi-Khampur and 9445 Bengaluru, probably still the case. At 2137 there`s a fourth, 11670 which is much better than 11620 except for ACI from 11665 Japan and 11670 also has a transmission break as I tune in (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ROMANIA [and non]

** JAPAN. 11665, Nov 8 at 2137, NHK in Japanese surprisingly good despite being beamed oppositeward from Yamata, 235 degrees at 21-23. Perhaps this will still include western classical music on weekends, such as local Sunday morning (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 1180, Nov 9 at 0148 UT, Spanish from NE/SW, and no Cuba/Martí problem from the SE. ``Los 40 Principales y La Ke Buena``, plug event ``domingo 17 de noviembre a las 8 pm, en el centro de la ciudad``; fortunately the next ad for a mueblería mentions what city: Delicias. So it`s per current Cantú:
1180 XEJK Ke buena + FM 95.3 Cd. Delicias, Chih. 5,000 1,500
But XEDCH in WRTH 2013 and IRCA 2012, latter with 250 night power.
I assume the ref to Top 40 was about joint sponsorship by sibling station XEBZ 1590 as in Cantú (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 6185-, Nov 8 at 2152, there is already a JBA carrier here, at the typical lo-side offset of XEPPM, which supposedly does not start until 0000 UT, when we recently heard a sign-on anthem. Can`t tell yet whether it`s modulating, but why not? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NIGERIA [and non]. 9690-, Nov 8 at 2107 is the first time I have rechecked the V. of Nigeria Hausa collision with VOA Hausa, as I discovered on November 4, registered until 2100 via France, from 2100 via UK. Now I am only hearing VON on its signature off-frequency 9689.9, so has VOA moved by now, or is Europe just not propagating? Somewhat: Greece is fair on 9420; India better on 9445.

I look around the 31m band for a new VOA Hausa channel; nothing obvious. 9800 has DW English via Rwanda rather poorly; 9815 has a poor signal from algo --- that`s listed as VOA French M-F until 2130 via São Tomé, but also in Hausa at 2030-2100 on Saturdays only. The Nov 8 HFCC still has VOA Hausa on 9690 at 2030-2130 M-F. Maybe by Monday Nov 11? Or they could have just deleted 9690 without replacing it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NORTH AMERICA. 6935-AM, Nov 9 at 0121, very poor signal with music, right on frequency compared to 6115 WWCR, and adjacent to the only other pirate activity, also in AM on 6940. 0126, some pulsing dance music on 6935, now a bit stronger than 6940. Maybe Liquid Radio, on from 2241 Nov 8 per this thread, but could be something else now:
http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,13706.0.html
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NORTH AMERICA. 6940+AM, Nov 9 at 0121 very poor signal with music, slightly on the hi side, and adjacent to the only other pirate activity, also in AM on 6935. At 0125 an announcement on 6940, mentions ``90s to the 70s``. This thread IDs it as Radio True North:
http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,13714.0.html
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
 
** PERU. 5980, Nov 9 at 0053, enough carrier to make out some modulation, probably R. Chaski; and certainly R. Chaski by the time it cuts off at 0103:25.5*, which is 16 seconds later than last check three days before.

Meanwhile, Ian Baxter of shortwavesites says ``I found the approximate TX location of: Radio Chasqui, SW: 5980 kHz, here at:
-13.359307°
-72.111240`` --- ``Approximate`` --- to six decimal places??

BTW, as of tonite with colder weather, I am moving my evening monitoring on the portable DX-398, off the porch to inside, but as far from household noise sources as possible, with the main computer off; also a different short random wire running north-south but higher off ground that the usual one. The S/N level turns out to be better on some bands, worse on others (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ROMANIA [and non]. 7340, Nov 9 at 0119, RRI Romanian bihour to E North America has a LAH [low audible heterodyne]; now what could that be? Possibly a ute, and nothing else scheduled in HFCC, but Aoki shows AIR Urdu service from Mumbai at 0015-0430, which is certainly capable of being off-frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [and non]. 15255, Nov 8 at 2131, fair signal with flutter in Bambara --- this must be one of VOA`s B13 frequencies for their newest language, to Mali. One can make out some French words mixed in. I soon find it`s // inbooming 13670 which was also the A-13 frequency for this via Greenville; yet it`s not strong enough to muscle aside the TADIL-A bonker which has invaded the 22m SWBC broadcast band on the lo side of 13670. Continuing my all-bandscan, at 2134 I come across another VOA Bambara on 9620. Now comparing the DX-398 and the G-8 easily tuned to Greenville, I find none of them are synchronized: 9620 is 3 seconds behind 13670, while 15255 is 4 seconds behind 13670.

Looked up later, HFCC confirms these: 15255 via Ascension, 9620 via São Tomé, and 13670 via Greenville. There are very few Bam entries in HFCC B-13, but one more for this M-F only at 2130-2200 from VOA is 7325 via Ascension; that one should match the 15255 delay. In fact the *only* other Bambara broadcast is Saudi Arabia on 17650 at 16-18, which needs to be confirmed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
See also NIGERIA [and non] re 9690 et al.

** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1694 monitoring: confirmed on Area 51 webcast, UT Saturday Nov 9 at shifted time of 0302, after a bit of entertainment concerning Mister Ed; and presumably on 5110v-CUSB, which was certainly on a bihour earlier. Next WOR chances:
Sat 0730 & 1530 on HLR 7265-CUSB
Sat 1600 on WRMI 9955
Sun 0030v on WTWW 5085 (or maybe 9930)
Sun 0501v on WTWW 5830
Mon 0030v on WTWW 5085 (or maybe 9930) (maybe)
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9904 & 9956 approx., November 8 at 2007, JBA hum spurs at same pitch as on 9930 along with Brother Scare, equidistant from WTWW-2.

12105, Nov 8 at 2015, open carrier, poor level like around 1430, not what you would expect from WTWW-3 in the daytime, yet nothing else scheduled. Yet2, neighbor 12160 WWCR is blasting in at 2015 as usual. Same at 2115, 2128. Suspect only the exciter of the WTWW-3 transmitter is on, or testing at much reduced power for some reason. It`s also weak enough that fading is noticeable.

QSY to nite-band time has been 0100 UT, but Nov 9 at 0109, 9475 is still on; 9930 is *much* weaker with something else? No, it too is WTWW in the Brother Scare service as soon heard after a clip of some other voice. Neither 5830 nor 5085 is on yet. 9930 is so weak compared to 9475, that I think it too like 12105 must be on exciter-only or drastically reduced for some reason. By next check 0135, both have made the switch, and are at usual very strong levels on 5085 and 5830.

I`m told the plan is to move the QSY time to 0000 UT for both; maybe from tomorrow, and that will affect whether WORLD OF RADIO 1694 is heard on 9930 or 5085 at the expected shifted time of 0030v UT Sunday (and maybe Monday) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 3215, Nov 9 at 0058, The Dave Frantz Show again on WWRB; now he`s pointing out that lots of missionary broadcasters want to reach Europe, Mideast, Africa, and other US SW stations will say, sure we can do it, when they really can`t, reliably, because of the noise level. When they approach WWRB, Dave says he tells them to buy time on closer transmitters, such as `DTK` or BaBcoCk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 7490, UT Sat Nov 9 at 0113, it`s time for `Allan Weiner Worldwide` but sounds a lot different than usual with other voices and reverb. Mentions Area 51 and recalls that Johnny Lightning has been on A51 or WBCQ since 2007y. They can`t hear 9330-CUSB and wonder if it is on the air? Maybe skipping over. I *am* hearing it and time the delay after 7490 as 30 seconds later. Also // 5110v-CUSB, the Area 51 frequency; it`s about one word behind 9330. Asks for contacts to radio @ zappahead.net (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1430, Nov 9 at 0153 UT, KZQZ St Louis is again dominating this crowded regional channel with classic rock from the northeast, like it was last night on the caradio; surely still on 50 kW day pattern favoring us, rather than 5 kW nite pattern with a null toward us (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1530, Nov 8 at 2140 UT, ``Downtown`` by Petula is playing; what`s this? Don`t normally hear music in English here. Loops roughly east-west, mixing with sports about Cincinnati --- wait: at 2143 into a country-rock tune, and it`s ``ESPN Radio`` which is playing songs, i.e. WCKY! What`s this? It`s a lot easier to find cheesecake than a plain old program schedule at
http://www.espn1530.com  Anyhow, the hi-band mid-afternoon skywave is ramping up as Sol sinx closer to the horizon (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ZANZIBAR. 11735, Nov 8 at 2016, vocal music on fair signal from ZBC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. TA carrier search looping NE/SW, Nov 9: 549 at 0144; 882, 945, 954, 1053 at 0145-0146; 1215 at 0150; 1512 at 0151 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

This report dispatched at 0530 UT November 9