mercoledì 31 dicembre 2014

Glenn Hauser logs December 29-30-31, 2014

** AUSTRALIA. 11945, Wed Dec 31 at 0631, RA `Religion and Ethics Report` visits Buenos Aires (and yet host Andrew West hasn`t learnt how to pronounce Aires), interviews thru interpreter about religion there from the source of a pope; fair but sufficient signal as customary here, tho it`s on 100-degree azimuth, better for S America than N. 13630, often VG, is now inaudible above the MUF if on. HFCC shows 11945 also at 12-15 on 70 degree beam toward N America, when we never hear it: that must be wooden.

As for this R&E program, RA online schedule shows `Radio Australia Wantok` in Pidgin during this semi-hour! But it`s only on certain frequencies, not this one, duh. It does show R&E Wednesdays at 2130:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/religionandethicsreport/
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** JAPAN. 9595, Dec 31 at 1457, there`s no NHK to be heard, as their New Year`s celebration has long since vanished from SW, so I settle on R. Nikkei where it`s almost local 2015y. Fair signal with pop music, 1459 ID ``kochirawa Radio Nikkei desu`` and sign-off citing JOZ- calls, 1500 dead air, no observance of the New Year whatsoever. Did hear a timesignal but probably bleeding from China on 9605.

BTW, there was a publicized NYE monitoring suggestion including midnight in eastern Australia at 1100 UT --- wrong, it was 1300 UT in NSW and Vic, 1400 UT in Qsld, but 1100 UT in NZ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SEYCHELLES [non]. 11900, Dec 31 at 1443, Urdu program closing with Pakistani addresses, 1444 BaBcoCk IS and off 1445*. Surprisingly good signal considering it`s FEBC via UAE, 250 kW aimed 60 degrees at 1400-1445 daily per HFCC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SUDAN [and non]. 15550, Dec 31 at 1524, R. Tamazuj with VG signal, trace of WJHR, and no tone jamming yet from Sudan.

Then I discover Arabish talk in // on also VG 15400, and synchronized! ID at 1526 pronounced ``Tamázuk``. At 1527, they are no longer synch, in fact not //, one with YL, other with OM. One has changed site and/or feed. And 15400 cuts off at 1528:23*.

15550 signs-off R. Tamazuj but scheduled R. Dabanga does NOT follow at 1530, instead dead air, audiblizing WJHR screamer. Still DA at 1531 when Sudanese tone jammer cuts on. Still the same situation at 1534. Next check at 1547, still no Dabanga, but WJHR is much stronger, in fact too strong for the carrier to be sufficient BFO, and slightly off-frequency, off-pitching the gospel huxter. Tone jammer still there. It seems Sudan was not so concerned about jamming R. Tamazuj, but will jam R. Dabanga even in its absence; why?

13800, finally at 1549 I check the other R. Dabanga frequency, and here it is funxional in Arabish with typical stingers, fair with flutter.

Per HFCC, 15550 is supposed to be Vatican relay at 1500-1630 --- FAIL! SMG staff celebrating NYE and not paying attention to feed inputs?

15400 is also Vatican, cryptically in Apd language per HFCC, a PNW service only at 1500-1530. I.e. non-cryptically in Aoki: R. Tamazuj in Sudanese Arabic at 1459-1527 (in neither case also for R. Dabanga afterwards, normally paired with Tamazuj.)

13800 is in HFCC as PNW via MADAGASCAR at 1500-1600, switching to VATICAN at 1600-1630 (apparently in the middle of the Dabanga hour, why?) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1753 monitoring: confirmed on Global 24 webcast, UT Wednesday Dec 31 at 0401, following `Wavescan` and preceding `Media Network Plus`. But when I check WRMI 9395 at 0410, it`s inaudible! While 9955 is JBA. If G24 had been on the 7 MHz band it would have been OK like other WRMI services on 7455, 7570. Propagation certainly depressed, as 11825 was also JBA; yet Cuba sufficient on 9710 and 9790, Martí Greenville VG on 7405.

WOR 1753 also confirmed Wednesday Dec 31 at 1415 on WRMI 9955, good and not jammed. Next:

Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7490v
Wed 2201 on Global 24 via WRMI 9395
We hope to have 1754 ready for first broadcast on WRMI, UT Thu 0430 on 9955; otherwise another play of 1753 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [and non]. 7490v, Tue Dec 30 at 2234, WBCQ with a playback of last Saturday`s live `Allan Weiner Worldwide`, same I was hearing before, as he is on phone with a Bill Smith in federal prison, a technician who really needs to be on the outside ASAP.

Fair signal and clear until *2258:10 hit by huge het from BBC Thailand with Bow Bells --- a monumental failure of frequency coördination. BBC is on 25 degree beam for E Asia, which carries right on across North America, but FCC and BBC apparently can`t believe a station on the far side of the world could possibly QRM a North American station in North America, and close to its own 245 degree azimuth toward Nuevo Laredo, no less. WBCQ signal had improved during the session; sunset in Monticello was already circa 2050 UT.

The het is WBCQ`s fault for always being off-frequency (no attempt to measure it now). The two signals are about equal level making both useless here. Fortunately, BBC English is scheduled for only one hour, and this ruins the M-F WBCQ show `Money Talk`, on Sundays `WGOD Presents` and on Saturdays the first hour of `Pirate Pizza Night`. Maybe that`s why `Money Talk` is simulcast on 9330-CUSB, otherwise little-used. As for the `AWWW` playbacks, the originals almost always run more than one hour, so I guess the playbacks in one-hour slots get chopped if not edited down.

Larry Will tells us ``We'll be doing a live New Year's Eve special tonight on WBCQ 5110 from 8 to midnight US eastern time (0100 to 0500 UT January 1) and webcast on
http://www.splatterbox.us:5110
Requests and listener reports always welcome at radio@zappahead.net
Regards, Larry Will``

Another WBCQ program worth checking out is `The Next Chapter`, UT Thursdays 0000-0100 on 7490v. Lots of thought-provoking discussion about where the world is going; and the host has the objective of establishing a ``Radio Alexandria`` ship in the mid-Pacific. It`s been going for a year now; transcripts and audio archive at
http://radioalexandria.net/
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 17775, Dec 31 at 1521, no signal from KVOH, taking another holiday break? Wait, there is a JBA carrier so maybe it`s on, but just not propagating or QRP. Rechecked at 1558: now it`s inbooming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 15825, Dec 31 at 1523, gospel huxter talking with big echo from WWCR, so long/short path again. Per NGS globe, the 39-megameter long path traverses: just off West Africa, Botswana, Indian Ocean, Perth, Cairns, Tarawa, Honolulu, Santa Bárbara. This transmitter is registered on a 46 degree azimuth; it should be even better by LP if it were taking off closer to 90 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also WEWN

** U S A. 15610, Dec 31 at 1524, WEWN with big echo, long path of 39 Megameters vs short path of one; sounds like could be M. Angélica herself. NGS globe shows this LP route: St. Peter & St. Paul Rocks in the Atlantic, RSA, Carnarvon, PNG, Lisianski Island (a little-known Hawaiian atoll on the way to Midway), Sacramento. This one starts out on a 40-degree azimuth which is hardly ideal for LP to here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also WWCR

** U S A. 92.3 WFM, Dec 29 sometime in the afternoon as I am driving up US 81/60/64 on the north side of Enid, down the overpass attenuating slightly 92.5 KOMA OKC from the south, but still with ACI from 92.1 KAMG-LP Enid, I am getting bits of a signal from 92.3 Norton KS, ex-KFTI, enough to hear a YL mention that a new format begins January 1 here on FM-92. (Such reception under dead conditions is about the best we can do without a little help from the troposphere.) That leads me to search out recent press about this change of ownership, also covered previously in DXLD (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

ENVISION PUTTING ITS STAMP ON WICHITA'S 92.3 FM
Dec 30, 2014, 2:42pm CST
http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2014/12/30/envision-putting-its-stamp-on-wichitas-92-3-fm.html

Q92 WICHITA ANNOUNCES MORNING SHOW [KKGQ is new call already]
Last Updated on December 30, 2014 at 2:55 pm
http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/netgnomes/91175/envision-sets-plans-for-92-3-wichita/
(via Glenn Hauser, DXLD)

UNIDENTIFIED. 15649.5-SSB, Dec 31 at 1535, 2-way in colloquial Spanish, long informal QSO but hardly a `puta` mentioned, heard only once in next dekaminute! I can`t really understand them, but do copy a keyword ``pescado``, implying that these are fishing poachers (in Spanish, pescado means a fish once it is caught, i.e. ``fished``, while a mere fish in the wild is a pez; yet there is no equivalence for land creatures such as ``cazados`` or ``cas``. And non-Castilians must be careful not to confuse cazar = hunt with casar = marry, altho there is a certain correspondence). Also frequent whistling, once talking during an obvious yawn. Stronger one has engine noise in background. ERTOPen must be off 15650, as no het from there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

This report dispatched at 1846 UT December 31; HNY!