venerdì 25 settembre 2015

Glenn Hauser logs September 21-24, 2015


** ANGOLA. 4949.7, Sept 23 at 0127, JBA carrier, presumed the usual RNA, as always a weak carrier here evenings on the lo side of 4950. I did not think it varied much from 4949.9, but Rumen Pankov presumed it at 1840 Sept 9 on 4951.9. Sept 13 at 0128, Manuel Méndez put it on 4949.9. But Sept 17 at 2117, Carlos Gonçalves also reported 4949.7, somewhat low modulation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. 12065, Sept 24 at 1310, RA`s weakest VP signal here since it`s aimed 355 degrees, has CCI, i.e., Kamalabad, Iran, Dari 1150-1450 at 85 degrees, which must make for an awful collision in Asia; but who cares at ABC? // 12085 at 30 degrees from Shep is clear and fair (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL. 9724.4, Sept 23 at 0122, Brazuguese talk from RB2, further off-frequency than usual (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. 6165, Sept 23 at 1233, music mix with one or two other stations; the atop one now confirmed // 9420 which is fair with flutter, i.e. CNR6, the EZL music service from Shenzhou Easy Radio via Beijing site (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 5025, Sept 23 at 0522, R. Rebelde transmitter with severe problems, audio cutting out rapidly --- in fact, it`s not Rebelde audio but eventually recognizable as RHC English feed // 5040 et al. Then it`s more out than in. Next check at 1227, this is *still* happening, but now the audio cutting on and off is RHC Spanish // 11860 et al. Axually the carrier is OK; it`s just the modulation input that is wrong and breaking up --- and no one has noticed in the past 7+ hours! By 0601 UT Sept 24, back to normal Rebelde, ID (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1792, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** CUBA. 6100, Sept 24 at 0559, RHC English distorted and carrier unstable, then clears up. Normally their loudest and clearest frequency; I wonder if there was a transmitter swap at hourtop, tho no break noted.

9640, now it`s this RHC transmitter surrounded by a buzz field, from 9610 to 9670, Sept 24 at 1302, QRMing several other stations. Also audible on the fundamental itself. 

To boot, after canned frequency announcement that 15370 is opening for another bihour while 9550 and 9850 are closing, live RHC announcer claims at 1303:43 that the time is ``exactamente 9:02 en todo el territorio nacional`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EAST TURKISTAN. 9560.0, Sept 23 at 0117, classic rock tune catches my ear, on S7 signal, best with LSB to avoid China via Albania 9570. This too is CRI, 100 kW, 173 degrees from Kashgar, in Chinese service as per talk-over announcement at 0120; more or less grayline, longpath? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EAST TURKISTAN. 15410, Sept 24 at 1359, open carrier, good signal with flutter, 1400 opening CRI in Chinese. This is Kashgar, one of the countless 500 kW, 308-degree beams toward Europe (and onward). Really stands out as little else from outside N America is making it on 19m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDIA. 9800.0-AM, Sept 23 at 0123, S4 open carrier. HFCC shows AIR Delhi, non-DRM Nepali service at 0115-0230. These registrations include an extra 15 minutes of dead air before the real broadcast from 0130. But which Delhi site? For that we have to go to Aoki: Khampur (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDONESIA [and non]. 4750-, Sept 23 at 1230, two carriers making a LAH, one music, one talk. So reactivated RRI Makassar, Sulawesi, has some competition today, either from Bangladesh or China (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** IRAN. 9510.0, Sept 23 at 0116, poor S4 signal with Qur`an, as the IRIB Zahedan transmitter in Arabic is back on-frequency instead of one sesqui-kHz high as on last check 96 hours earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** JAPAN [non]. 11705, Sept 22 at 1346, J-pop music on good signal; HFCC shows this amid the Indonesian half-sesquihour from 1315, due west via PALAU. In fact it`s doubly registered both by NHK and by FCC (while many other broadcasts are zeroly registered; HFCC should proactively go after broadcasts from non-members to provide a more complete picture of the bands, for everyone`s benefit, not least, HFCC members themselves) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KURDISTAN [non]. 11600, Sept 22 at 1345, Denge Kurdistane is good with flutter during wonderful Kurdish music hour; also Sept 24 from 1320 until 1400 talk segment, still in and more music at 1426. Site during this portion is Grigoriopol`/PRIDNESTROVYE, a.k.a. KCH = Kishinev/MOLDOVA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 620, Sept 22 at 0534, La Norteñita ID with 11:34 time and 20 grados temp, greeting listeners in Colonia Ponce de León; i.e. XEBU, Chihuahua2, dominant signal with very little from KMKI Plano TX if it`s still called that, post-Salem takeover. The FCC thinx so (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NEWFOUNDLAND [and non]. 6160-, Sept 24 at 0559, moderate SAH estimated at 12 Hz, denoting two CBC stations, not only CKZU Vancouver, but also CKZN St John`s reactivated, as tipped from 0000 UT Sept 24 by Julian Smith, Stephen Cooper and Richard Langley (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1792, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NIGERIA. 9689.9, Sept 24 at 0556, VON with chanting and percussion, on lo side of channel as usual, and also with a big buzz on the modulation; // clear 7255- lacking it, prior to 06-07 UT Hausa hour. 

Tracking what VON is doing from different transmitter sites and different program studios is a never-ending task undertaken by Thorsten Hallmann of africalist, and discussed in the DXLD yg. Wolfgang Büschel found that at 11 UT, the VON frequency is really 9690.0 while off-frequency to the lo side then is Tainan, Taiwan, with the new Vietnamese service that the World Is About To End (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1792, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NORTH AMERICA. 6850.2-AM, Sept 23 at 0104, very poor S6 signal seems in English. This thread says it was the BBCWS pirate relay:
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 1240, Sept 21 circa 2110 UT on caradio, usual SAH between my two closests, KFH Wichita KS and KADS Elk City OK, timed at 240/minute = 4 Hz. The one on top, not sure which, mentions CBS Sports Radio, a network which is not listed in 2015 NRC AM Log as among those either be affiliated with. The sports network biz is getting more and more convoluted, as stations are not necessarily exclusive with any one network. Both these are sports talk, ESPN probably primary. The roster of CBS Sports Radio stations, however, http://radio.cbssports.com/stations/
does include both KFH and KADS! (KADS` former format was --- you guessed it? Classified ads; before that, KBEK, for Beckham County, when it was a real local radio station).

BTW, KFH is (voluntarily?) downgraded to only 630 watts instead of the usual 1000 for graveyarders (looking thru the NRC AM Log, there are quite a few others at less than 1000 now; why?). (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OMAN. 9500, Sept 23 at 0114, undermodulated S8 signal with ME music, i.e. RSO on proper frequency for a change (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PERU. 5980, Sept 23 at 0058, JBA carrier from R. Chaski until autocutoff at 0105:14*, which is 25.5 seconds later than last check Sept 19 until 0104:48.5*, i.e. averaging 6-3/8 seconds later per 24 hours (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 3185, Sept 23 at 0131, WWRBS is still AWOL, transmitter problem? But 5050 is on with VG signal. By 0526 Sept 23, 3185 is finally revived (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SRI LANKA. 11905, Sept 23 at 0114, open carrier has just come on; 0114:55 JBA music prélude, 0115:10 the 2+1 mis-timesignal ends and SLBC is opening (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [non]. 9815, Sept 23 at 0515, poor signal in English, mentions Merkel. HFCC shows VOA `Kin[yarwanda]` service, 100 kW, 10 degrees from BOTSWANA, M-F at 0400-0530; while Aoki refines this to Kirundi at 0400-0505, English at 0505-0530. Is VOA still in emergency Burundi-mode? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1791 monitoring: confirmed Wed Sept 23 at 1315 on WRMI 9955, good; also confirmed Wed Sept 23 at 2100 on WBCQ 7490 webcast, excellent.

WORLD OF RADIO 1792 confirmed first SW broadcast Thu Sept 24 at 1130 on WRMI 9955, good atop lite pulse jamming; tnx a lot, Arnie! Next:
Thu 2100   WRMI 7570 to NW
Fri 0100   WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Fri 2130   WRMI 15770 to NE
Fri 2130.5 WRMI 7570 to NW
Fri 2330   WRMI 5850 to NW
Sat 0630   HLR 7265-CUSB to SW
Sat 1430   HLR 7265-CUSB to SW
Sat 1930v  WA0RCR 1860-AM ND?
Sun 0315v  WA0RCR 1860-AM ND?
Sun 2300   WRMI 11580 to NE
Mon 0300v  WBCQ 5110v Area 51 to WSW
Mon 0330   WRMI 9955 to SSE
Tue 1100   WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 1315   WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 2100   WBCQ 7490v to WSW
Full schedule:
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 15770 or 7570, Monday Sept 21 at 2135 and 2155 chex, on caradio, one of the WRMI frequencies is playing fill music loop including the European Community medley with some talk segments. I`m afraid it`s 15770, which on Mon & Tue only is scheduled with Radio France International at 21-22; otherwise on 7570 missing would be `La Rosa de Tokio` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9955, Sept 22 at 1330, WRMI with `Viva Miami` in English about how Cuba and USA coöperate on hurricane warnings; then detailed advice for hurricane preparedness, reading from local Okeechobee newspaper? 

This is the same episode I have heard parts of for a few weeks now. Apparently Jeff White is still away, a month after the HFCC confab in Brisbane, on a world tour? I heard he was going to Cook Islands next. No doubt Jeff has accumulated a lot of interview and speech material on his trip, to appear later during `Wavescan` or `VM`. `VM` is plugged in at numerous times to fill out hours when there is another quarter-hour paid program (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9975.05, Sept 23 at 0057, KVOH is back on air with TruNews, after being off for a week or so awaiting replacement part (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Re a previous log from NM about XETX 540 MEXICO, I referred to KLMX 540 in Las Vegas NM; correct call is KNMX (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1270, Sept 23 at 1248 UT, fund-raiser from Fargo, 877-93-FAITH = 933-2484, mentions `Coffee Club`. No ND on 1270, but must be 5 kW KNWC Sioux Falls SD. This page confirms it`s in a network with ``Faith 1200`` in Fargo ND: http://myfaithradio.com/programs/
A semihour after Enid sunrise at 1220 UT, and tuning up the band, skywave is gone below 1 MHz, but Iowans 1040 WHO and 1540 KXEL are still in (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1560, Sept 23 at 1252 UT, promo for ESPN 97-5 and Yahoo Sports Radio 1560, i.e. KGOW Bellaire (Houston) TX and what must be a sibling station tho rival network. WTFDA FM database shows 97.5 is KFNC, 100 kW in Mont Belvieu [sic], which is a 4-kiloperson suburb east of Houston. WTFDA displays 21! TX stations on 97.5 --- many of them translators or LPs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** VATICAN [and non]. VR must have had special SW broadcasts covering the popal visit to Cuba, but I never ran across any; who needed them with extensive coverage on WEWN, Radio Martí, and even RHC, not to mention several cable TV networx?

As linked from Hitlist, 
VR is supposed to have a particular page with Rome times and SW frequencies for specials,
but as of 1440 UT Sept 22, it`s blank! Still blank on Sept 23.

We do find however, an extensive schedule of the ``Apostolic Journey to the USA`` with linx for online coverage of each event in several languages:
This runs thru Sept 28. i buttons lead to video players, some not yet enabled for future events. 

Sept 22 at 1343 UT, I come across Vatican Bells ringing on 9610, which is the Greenville relay frequency for VR in Spanish at 1130-1200, violating Separation of Church and State --- so it may well be that more specials are planned on this or other GB frequencies, as well as direct from SMG, but what and when are they? Recheck at 1354, 9610 is off. VR habitually tolls the bells *after transmissions.

I learn later that on this date Sept 22, the regular 1130-1200 Spanish relay broadcast was extended to 1345; also Sunday Sept 20 until 1515, but apparently not since. That covered Pope`s visit to Cuba. No 9610 on Sept 23 at 1238 check.

VR hardly needs to bother with SW during his US visit; there`s always WEWN, of course, but as of Sept 24, we have not heard a single other private US SW station covering his speeches, masses, etc., as all are controlled by, or indebted to, Protestants of various ilx.

During his address to Congress, Sept 24 after 14 UT, I tune AM, FM and basic cable to find where PopeFran is to be heard: on daytime AM dial, not a single station is broadcasting him! On FM, nothing but NPR via KGOU and KOSU. It`s biz as usual everywhere else with sports talk, required music formats (political talk remains mostly on AM in OK).

Cable TV is a different story. Of the basic channels we get in the single- and double-digits, there he is, live on 16! of them: KFOR/NBC, KOCO/ABC, KOKH/Fox, KWTV/CBS, Univisión (currently on C15 as well as C18*), KTUZ/Telemundo, EWTN English, CSPAN-1, Fox News, CNN, CNN Headline, CNBC, MSNBC, Gala, EWTN Spanish. 

His English is so halting that he should have spoken in Spanish and allowed a competent interpreter to be heard instead. It was odd to be hearing him interpreted back into real Spanish on 5 of the channels.

*Suddenlink cable made a major overhaul of their channel lineup in Enid on Sept 15, landing Univisión on C18 ex-C61. C15 most of the time remains ``NO SIGNAL`` for the past sesquiyear+ since the demise of KXOK-LD (yet continuing to display their imaginary programs), but occasionally, such as for a while Sept 18, and during the Sept 24 Popespeech, Univisión has also come up on C15 --- where it`s at normal correct aspect ratio, while on C18 it`s always been Squeezed. So far, the national satellite feed of Uni has been carried, even tho there is a local affiliate in OKC, KUOK, ``36-1`` via the KTUZ RF 29 transmitter. Maybe that`s what`s being tried sporadically on C15? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

UNIDENTIFIED. 2860 & 2440, Sept 23 at 0131, JBA carriers, hinting at MW harmonix out of 1430, 1220 or 610, calling for further digging. 

The 2600 possible 1300 or 650 harmonic carrier I noted before could also be Mazara Radio, Mazara del Vallo, Italy, with weather reports, logged Sept 15 at 2155 by Carlos Gonçalves in Lisboa; presumably on AM, as SSB not specified (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 11428 & 11432-SSB, approx., Sept 24 at 1310, weak presumed Indonesian QSO pirates; at 1319 one of them chanting ``unabaya`` or something like that, over and over; also clashes among them. On a whim, I try ``unabaya`` on Google Translate - and get ``you bad`` detected in Swahili! No translation if I force it to Indonesian. Hmmm. Of course, I may not have it spelt exactly right.

When these are in, you know SE Asian propagation has picked up --- yet 9526-, VOI remains nothing but a JBA carrier during the English hour we so crave. After 14 it only manages to make the usual weak het with 9525 China in Russian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 13555.5-SSB, approx., Sept 22 at 1348, 2-way in Spanish amid the ISM band, also vs CODAR; again 24+ hours later Sept 23 at 1402. 

That reminds me about HIFER beacons. I have not detected a single one in the 13550-13570 range for some two months since I acquired the NRD-545, nor on the FRG-7, despite frequent scans during almost every monitoring session. A few years ago, there were also some of these in the 3400-3500 and 4000-4100 kHz range, but apparently not any more. None heard or listed? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 15315-SSB, Sept 24 at 1401, INTRUDER, ``puta madre`` Spanish 2-way, whistling (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

This report despatched at 1938 UT September 24