** AUSTRALIA. 12365-USB, poor signal March 19 at 1333, marine weather mentioning Gulf of Carpinteria, i.e. VMC, Charleville, Queensland; on the FRG-7`s bandwidth, also scratchy ACI from much weaker signal on 12362-USB with more marine weather, i.e. sibling station VMW in Wiluna, Western Australia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BANGLADESH. 15505, March 19 at 1359, no signal from Bangladesh Betar: with BFO I soon hear the carrier cut on and off, but not back on until 1400.3 or so, missing any mistimesignal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BURMA [non]. 13735, March 19 at 1336, RFA certainly in Burmese, fair signal and no ACI yet from CRI/Cuba; via TINIAN. At 1400, 13735 switches to RFA Vietnamese via Saipan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 11635, March 19 at 1245, Firedrake music mixing with CCCCCCI, vs VOA Chinese via Thailand at 12-14; but at 1311 no Firedrake, just CNR1 vs VOA.
15375, March 19 at 1338, Firedrake and CNR1 jamming mixed, poor-fair, vs RFA Tibetan via Tajikistan until 1400
16100, March 19 at 1339, CNR1 jammer vs Sound of Hope, fair with flutter; no others way-out-of-band from 12 to 19 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EAST TURKISTAN. 15445, March 19 at 0517, Russian, fair with flutter and // 15615. 15445 is listed as CRI via Kashgar, but nothing ever listed on 15615. [Except EiBi with VMW fax, but not during this hour]. Also Russian on 15665, yet noted as not // the others, altho this too is Kashgar (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 3325, very poor March 19 at 1253, YL talk in presumed Indonesian, from RRI Palangkaraya; by 1257 no modulation audible past 1300 tho seems still enough carrier, so dead air? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA SOUTH. 15575, March 19 at 1343, KBS World Radio starting Wednesday feature `Sound of Korea`. Poor signal with heavy flutter, and can`t really enjoy it or copy all the commentary, but the folk music is interesting; this week`s theme: songs about farming. Maybe it`ll be better in 72 hours for Saturday`s `Listeners Lounge` including DX news (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 1700 new station: re my unID heard with Mexican anthem at 1245 UT, Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla in the DF writes: ``Hola Glenn, estoy nuevamente escuchando música mexicana [KKLF] en los 1700 kHz por detrás de la texana en inglés [KVNS].
Me informa mi amigo Héctor García Bojorge que, de acuerdo a la página del Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones de México hay el registro de una radiodifusora permisionada con el indicativo nominal XEFCSM ubicada en Mérida, Yucatán con autorización para emitir con 50 kW en el día y 1 kW en la noche. La fecha del permiso es a partir de abril del 2013 [sic] y está a cargo de la Fundación Cultural para la Sociedad Mexicana, A.C. Quizá sea esta emisora que esté realizando pruebas. El permiso para XEFCSM es en los 1700 kHz. Enviado desde mi iPad. Saludos, Julián``.
Mérida sunrise/sunset currently: 1203/0009 UT. I asked our correspondent in Yucatán about this, and he promptly replies March 19:
``Estimado Sr. Hauser: Posiblemente se trate de pruebas de una emisora católica (ver http://www.thestationofthecross.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Travel_Guide_111513.pdf
aunque recordemos que el gobierno mexicano ha sido muy restrictivo por lo que es probable que esté a nombre de una asociación civil (A.C.) y no asociación religiosa (A.R.); algunas organizaciones religiosas en el pasado se investieron de agrupaciones culturales a fin de operar sin acoso gubernamental en el pasado.
En el cuadrante (dial) en Mérida la mayoría de las estaciones están en la onda media en frecuencias bajas y medianas y la mayoría de los receptores solo llegan a 1600 o 1650 a lo mucho (me parece que tengo por ahí uno que llega a los 1700 tal vez; es algo viejo y voy a verificarlo).
Hace algún tiempo estuve conversando con la locutora Alma Estrada de Radio María y nos comentó que su estación dejó de rentar una frecuencia de 930 kHz XEUL debido a que pretendía migrar en Cadena Rasa Yucatán a la FM (cosa que al parecer no han completado y han tenido problemas con algunas frecuencias de AM y FM en su transmisión según le pregunté a una de sus locutoras) y luego rentaron 760 kHz XEYW al Grupo Rivas, aunque recientemente al parecer dejaron de hacerlo pues ya no se escucha. De todas maneras me he puesto en contacto con la locutora a ver lo que me contesta; apenas me diga le respondo. Atte.: Ing. Civ. Israel González Ahumada, M.I.``
That Catholic Radio Update Travel Guide dated November 15, 2013, does include this: ``Mérida, Yucatán XEFCSM † 1700`` the dagger meaning ``not on air yet, but may soon be`` and another symbol, an `m` with a tail, signifying Radio María (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TIBET [non]. 15520, March 19 from 1403 I am waiting for V. of Tibet via MADAGASCAR to jump frequency, which is usually around 1407-1408; but it keeps going on 15520, until finally 1412.5 jump to 15515, leaving the CNR1 jammer behind, which was really too weak to detect under VOT. At 1413 brief English clip, sounds like Dalai Lama himself (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1712 monitoring: confirmed Wednesday March 19 at 1400 on WRMI 9955, NW antenna with VG signal. Next: 0330 UT Thursday on 9955, SSE antenna, when I probably will not have 1713 ready yet, but surely by 1230 Thursday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9930, March 19 at 1408, WTWW-2 is off again, while 9475 and 12105 are on. Must still be repairing it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 17775, March 19 at 1340, music on VP signal, but increasing to P as I listen, KVOH starting to propagate here. Ray Robinson points out that listeners in Cuba are hearing it well earlier than I am, as the MUF is already up at the midpoint over TX, but takes a bit longer to build up at the midpoint to here, near Gallup NM. Habana is almost exactly twice as far from Rancho Simi than Enid is (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1330, March 19 at 1303 UT, C&W music atop KNSS Wichita making fast SAH (~15 Hz), which was dominant before 1300 UT; 1315 UT timecheck and more music; 1318 UT KNSS atop; 1321 UT KCKM Monahans TX regains dominance at SRS, with adstring including Quality Cleaners in Kermit & Robo Cleaners in Monahans; truckers needed in Pecos (pronounced PAY-kuss); 8:22 TC, plug Bob Martin news later [is that the ex? TV anchor in Albuquerque?]; headlines include mercury spill at a school, radiation in Carlsbad NM. Singing ID at 1324, back to music, by B J Thomas.
I can hear KCKM just about any morning as its 12 kW daytime ND gets out very well despite much closer and daytime groundwaver KNSS Wichita KS. Official SR/SS in March are 1300/0100 UT, as it`s way west of the meridian and should be in the MST zone UT -7 instead of CDT UT -5.
I`m checking it out today as prélude to the big DX test scheduled with same day facilities, UT Saturday March 22 at 0500-0530 UT including code IDs, sweep tones, SFX and IDs. This test is a direct outgrowth of an unsolicited verie I got from KCKM last year, and reported as in http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld1316.txt
as well as in my weekly MW log reports:
1330, KCKM: received an unsolicited e-mail verie April 12:
``Glenn, I noticed in your DX log that you received KCKM in early April, just minutes before we dropped power. Our recent upgrade to 12,000 watts non-directional day combined with our 1/2 wave tower has made KCKM a great catch in the final minutes of daytime power. Congratulations! Attached is our coverage map. [Axually it was am, not pm].
And one more thing, we will be switching to C-QUAM AM Stereo on 1330 kHz by the end of the year. A lot of my contemporaries think I'm insane and that's OK. It's about time other AM broadcasters revisit AM Stereo.
I bought this place 6 years ago. It was licensed for 5000 watts but was running 2200 watts. It was off-the-air and about to surrender the license to the FCC. What a mess! But, I could see the potential.
Two years ago, I discovered KOYL in Odessa was gone for good. They were at 1310 kHz. That allowed me to upgrade to 12,000 watts. Sadly, a lot of stand-alone AM's in smaller communities are gone.
It cost a lot to rebuild this facility. It was a labor of love as I'm not sure I'll be able to recover this investment.
If you belong to any DX clubs, I'd be happy to run 12,000 watts after midnight if they're interested. Bob Souza, Managing Partner`` (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1700, March 19 at 0531 UT, break in Mexican music, for ID in unaccented English, ``Reaching the Metroplex with a totally Tejano sound, Kick-1700``, right back to música which is by definition tejana, dominant at the moment. Still haven`t caught a legal ID at hourtop for presumed KKLF Richardson TX, ex-comedy, ex-sports, ex-KLIF simulcaster (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED [and non]. 11830, March 19 at 0513, open carrier, fair with flutter; next check at 0520, it`s off. Nothing at all is scheduled here, but possibly Sirjan, Iran, which is on 11830 at 1720 in Swahili, 2220 in Indonesian. Similar signal on 13680 at 0515 with JBM talk, Russian? Yes, that`s Sirjan until 0520 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BANGLADESH. 15505, March 19 at 1359, no signal from Bangladesh Betar: with BFO I soon hear the carrier cut on and off, but not back on until 1400.3 or so, missing any mistimesignal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BURMA [non]. 13735, March 19 at 1336, RFA certainly in Burmese, fair signal and no ACI yet from CRI/Cuba; via TINIAN. At 1400, 13735 switches to RFA Vietnamese via Saipan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 11635, March 19 at 1245, Firedrake music mixing with CCCCCCI, vs VOA Chinese via Thailand at 12-14; but at 1311 no Firedrake, just CNR1 vs VOA.
15375, March 19 at 1338, Firedrake and CNR1 jamming mixed, poor-fair, vs RFA Tibetan via Tajikistan until 1400
16100, March 19 at 1339, CNR1 jammer vs Sound of Hope, fair with flutter; no others way-out-of-band from 12 to 19 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EAST TURKISTAN. 15445, March 19 at 0517, Russian, fair with flutter and // 15615. 15445 is listed as CRI via Kashgar, but nothing ever listed on 15615. [Except EiBi with VMW fax, but not during this hour]. Also Russian on 15665, yet noted as not // the others, altho this too is Kashgar (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 3325, very poor March 19 at 1253, YL talk in presumed Indonesian, from RRI Palangkaraya; by 1257 no modulation audible past 1300 tho seems still enough carrier, so dead air? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA SOUTH. 15575, March 19 at 1343, KBS World Radio starting Wednesday feature `Sound of Korea`. Poor signal with heavy flutter, and can`t really enjoy it or copy all the commentary, but the folk music is interesting; this week`s theme: songs about farming. Maybe it`ll be better in 72 hours for Saturday`s `Listeners Lounge` including DX news (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 1700 new station: re my unID heard with Mexican anthem at 1245 UT, Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla in the DF writes: ``Hola Glenn, estoy nuevamente escuchando música mexicana [KKLF] en los 1700 kHz por detrás de la texana en inglés [KVNS].
Me informa mi amigo Héctor García Bojorge que, de acuerdo a la página del Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones de México hay el registro de una radiodifusora permisionada con el indicativo nominal XEFCSM ubicada en Mérida, Yucatán con autorización para emitir con 50 kW en el día y 1 kW en la noche. La fecha del permiso es a partir de abril del 2013 [sic] y está a cargo de la Fundación Cultural para la Sociedad Mexicana, A.C. Quizá sea esta emisora que esté realizando pruebas. El permiso para XEFCSM es en los 1700 kHz. Enviado desde mi iPad. Saludos, Julián``.
Mérida sunrise/sunset currently: 1203/0009 UT. I asked our correspondent in Yucatán about this, and he promptly replies March 19:
``Estimado Sr. Hauser: Posiblemente se trate de pruebas de una emisora católica (ver http://www.thestationofthecross.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Travel_Guide_111513.pdf
aunque recordemos que el gobierno mexicano ha sido muy restrictivo por lo que es probable que esté a nombre de una asociación civil (A.C.) y no asociación religiosa (A.R.); algunas organizaciones religiosas en el pasado se investieron de agrupaciones culturales a fin de operar sin acoso gubernamental en el pasado.
En el cuadrante (dial) en Mérida la mayoría de las estaciones están en la onda media en frecuencias bajas y medianas y la mayoría de los receptores solo llegan a 1600 o 1650 a lo mucho (me parece que tengo por ahí uno que llega a los 1700 tal vez; es algo viejo y voy a verificarlo).
Hace algún tiempo estuve conversando con la locutora Alma Estrada de Radio María y nos comentó que su estación dejó de rentar una frecuencia de 930 kHz XEUL debido a que pretendía migrar en Cadena Rasa Yucatán a la FM (cosa que al parecer no han completado y han tenido problemas con algunas frecuencias de AM y FM en su transmisión según le pregunté a una de sus locutoras) y luego rentaron 760 kHz XEYW al Grupo Rivas, aunque recientemente al parecer dejaron de hacerlo pues ya no se escucha. De todas maneras me he puesto en contacto con la locutora a ver lo que me contesta; apenas me diga le respondo. Atte.: Ing. Civ. Israel González Ahumada, M.I.``
That Catholic Radio Update Travel Guide dated November 15, 2013, does include this: ``Mérida, Yucatán XEFCSM † 1700`` the dagger meaning ``not on air yet, but may soon be`` and another symbol, an `m` with a tail, signifying Radio María (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TIBET [non]. 15520, March 19 from 1403 I am waiting for V. of Tibet via MADAGASCAR to jump frequency, which is usually around 1407-1408; but it keeps going on 15520, until finally 1412.5 jump to 15515, leaving the CNR1 jammer behind, which was really too weak to detect under VOT. At 1413 brief English clip, sounds like Dalai Lama himself (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1712 monitoring: confirmed Wednesday March 19 at 1400 on WRMI 9955, NW antenna with VG signal. Next: 0330 UT Thursday on 9955, SSE antenna, when I probably will not have 1713 ready yet, but surely by 1230 Thursday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9930, March 19 at 1408, WTWW-2 is off again, while 9475 and 12105 are on. Must still be repairing it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 17775, March 19 at 1340, music on VP signal, but increasing to P as I listen, KVOH starting to propagate here. Ray Robinson points out that listeners in Cuba are hearing it well earlier than I am, as the MUF is already up at the midpoint over TX, but takes a bit longer to build up at the midpoint to here, near Gallup NM. Habana is almost exactly twice as far from Rancho Simi than Enid is (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1330, March 19 at 1303 UT, C&W music atop KNSS Wichita making fast SAH (~15 Hz), which was dominant before 1300 UT; 1315 UT timecheck and more music; 1318 UT KNSS atop; 1321 UT KCKM Monahans TX regains dominance at SRS, with adstring including Quality Cleaners in Kermit & Robo Cleaners in Monahans; truckers needed in Pecos (pronounced PAY-kuss); 8:22 TC, plug Bob Martin news later [is that the ex? TV anchor in Albuquerque?]; headlines include mercury spill at a school, radiation in Carlsbad NM. Singing ID at 1324, back to music, by B J Thomas.
I can hear KCKM just about any morning as its 12 kW daytime ND gets out very well despite much closer and daytime groundwaver KNSS Wichita KS. Official SR/SS in March are 1300/0100 UT, as it`s way west of the meridian and should be in the MST zone UT -7 instead of CDT UT -5.
I`m checking it out today as prélude to the big DX test scheduled with same day facilities, UT Saturday March 22 at 0500-0530 UT including code IDs, sweep tones, SFX and IDs. This test is a direct outgrowth of an unsolicited verie I got from KCKM last year, and reported as in http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld1316.txt
as well as in my weekly MW log reports:
1330, KCKM: received an unsolicited e-mail verie April 12:
``Glenn, I noticed in your DX log that you received KCKM in early April, just minutes before we dropped power. Our recent upgrade to 12,000 watts non-directional day combined with our 1/2 wave tower has made KCKM a great catch in the final minutes of daytime power. Congratulations! Attached is our coverage map. [Axually it was am, not pm].
And one more thing, we will be switching to C-QUAM AM Stereo on 1330 kHz by the end of the year. A lot of my contemporaries think I'm insane and that's OK. It's about time other AM broadcasters revisit AM Stereo.
I bought this place 6 years ago. It was licensed for 5000 watts but was running 2200 watts. It was off-the-air and about to surrender the license to the FCC. What a mess! But, I could see the potential.
Two years ago, I discovered KOYL in Odessa was gone for good. They were at 1310 kHz. That allowed me to upgrade to 12,000 watts. Sadly, a lot of stand-alone AM's in smaller communities are gone.
It cost a lot to rebuild this facility. It was a labor of love as I'm not sure I'll be able to recover this investment.
If you belong to any DX clubs, I'd be happy to run 12,000 watts after midnight if they're interested. Bob Souza, Managing Partner`` (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1700, March 19 at 0531 UT, break in Mexican music, for ID in unaccented English, ``Reaching the Metroplex with a totally Tejano sound, Kick-1700``, right back to música which is by definition tejana, dominant at the moment. Still haven`t caught a legal ID at hourtop for presumed KKLF Richardson TX, ex-comedy, ex-sports, ex-KLIF simulcaster (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED [and non]. 11830, March 19 at 0513, open carrier, fair with flutter; next check at 0520, it`s off. Nothing at all is scheduled here, but possibly Sirjan, Iran, which is on 11830 at 1720 in Swahili, 2220 in Indonesian. Similar signal on 13680 at 0515 with JBM talk, Russian? Yes, that`s Sirjan until 0520 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
