** AUSTRALIA. 9580, Dec 31 at 1817, music at S8-S5, must be R. Australia still
propagating later than usual, midday here.
12085, Jan 1 at 1353, R.
Australia discussing religious aspects of Bob Dylan`s music and the man. Also //
much weaker 12065 and much stronger 9580. Looks like they are still doing
religion on `Sunday Nights`. Yes, recheck at 1405 after news, this ``final hour
of our summer series`` intros ``John Cleary on ABC Local Radio and Radio
Australia``, an interview by guest Rachel Kahn(?) with a gay Catholic
theologian/poet originally from Belfast about the `Spirit of Things`.
That`s ``final hour`` in terms of today`s 3-hour broadcast, rather than
forever. I hope there was not a misunderstanding last week when it was reported
that `Sunday Night` had been canceled. Anyhow it appears to be rerunning until
Janend when RA itself is canceled. That led to an enlightening thread in the
DXLD yg discussing the merits of public service broadcasting, vs commercial, and
how it is NOT the same as government-controlled broadcasting (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BOTSWANA. 11850, Sat Dec 31 at 2100, YDD and VOA
ID cut off before ``signing off``, for dead air until 2101:30* It`s Hausa at
2030-2100 daily except Sundays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
**
BRAZIL. 11780, Jan 1 at 0143, standing by for another New Year transition, which
in the BDT area will be at 0200 UT. Normal programming from RNB/RNA, music, MPB,
0155 mentions Gilberto Gil, outro program `Acervo Origens`, about which
scheduled at 01 UT Sundays:
``Acervo
Origens --- As raízes da música brasileira com base nas pesquisas e na coleção
musical do pesquisador, músico e colecionador Cacai Nunes.``
0159 ID for
300 kW on 980 kHz (SW not worth mentioning), PSAs, 0200 more PSAs with `Jingle
Bells` in background, no timesignal, no announcement but then starts `Alô
Brasil` show which is apparently live as YL DJ does say it`s primeiro de
janeiro, 2017. I might have heard something more exciting, had I tried one of
the few non-gospel-huxter private SW stations (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CHINA [and non]. 9900, Dec 31 at 2250, rechecking after Egypt
would have quit at 2245*, now I hear one station in Chinese. HFCC shows nothing
until *2300, IBB via Saipan. But Aoki has the answer: since Dec 1, RTI via Kouhu
in Chinese has also been on 9900 at 2230-0030. Both it and RFA are subject to
ChiCom jamming, but they are also colliding with each other (unless RFA has
evacuated?). And listings from Taiwan, of course, are banned by the ChiCom from
HFCC. (And please don`t tell me it`s offensive to refer to the Chinese as
Communists, since that is exactly what they proudly are) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 6060, Jan 1 at 0030, RHC Spanish is S9+40 of
dead air, still at 0055 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA.
5040, Jan 1 at 0704, again this Sunday, RHC Esperanto is on this unscheduled
frequency, but this week 6100 is off. 6165, at 0705 Jan 1 is still on with
music, maybe from Spanish webcast, but shortly both of them are off. So much for
Esperanto scheduled until 0730 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
**
EGYPT. 9900, Sat Dec 31 at 2156 after Romania has failed to come thru at its New
Year, I`m trying Cairo`s English broadcast. Poor as usual talk I can`t be sure
is even English, with crackle, but certainly no timesignal or notice at 2200
when the UT+2 zone welcomes 2017y (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** ERITREA [non]. 11670, Sat Dec 31 at 1525, HOA music, good
S9+10, from the twice-weekly R. Adal broadcast via FRANCE (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN [non]. 12005, Jan 1 at 1426, nice pop music, S9
to S7, Radio Farda ID and 1430, 4-pip timesignal about 5 seconds late, into
presumed news. HFCC claims this is 100 kW, 105 degrees from the Biblis, GERMANY
site all the way from 0630 until 1800. A quick look thru HFCC shows Biblis used
only for services in SW and central Asian languages (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN. 6055, Dec 31 at 1500, nothing but dead air
from R. Nikkei I --- in the past several NYE`s I have learnt that R. Japan is a
bust if you can even get it at local midnight, but so is RN1. NHK used to
welcome the western NY with pop song performances and bell-ringing (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA SOUTH. 1566, Jan 1 at 1332,
FEBC/HLAZ, Jeju Island is the only TP MW carrier audible, enough to tell that it
cuts off again at 1344:31.5* for beam switch from Japan to China; and back on
weaker before 1345 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MADAGASCAR.
17640, Dec 31 at 1812, MWV English is S9-S6, as usual the 16m SSOB. Also Jan 1
at 1834 with `This Day in History` capsule ending with introduxion of the Euro
in *1999y, slickly morphing into something about Romans trying to trick Jesus
with coins?? Tune-out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PERU.
5980, Jan 1 at 0054, JBA carrier from R. Chaski, off at 0103:33.5*. That`s 12
seconds later than last check two nights ago, Dec 30 until 0103:21.5*. It was
expected to be more like 13 seconds later = 2 x 6.5 on average. But in the
meantime a leap second has been inserted to WWV. Timings of Chaski cutoffs are
done on my watch, but always having to subtract a correxion factor by then
checking WWV, as watch keeps gaining slowly and is difficult to reset. Since
last time, the WWV vs watch correxion is a full second more, accounting for the
leap! So should the Chaski slippage now be adjusted to 13 seconds or 11? Now I`m
confused. Adelante (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA.
7345, Dec 31 at 0723, S5-S9 signal with pop music, as I am checking for the
extended NYE schedule of R. Sakha, Russia, as monitored by Ron Howard --- but
it`s RRI as evidenced by the 0724 ID in German, long list of transmissions, 0725
IS, and clear at 0728, no sign of Sakha here (nor on 7295) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA. 7310, Dec 31 at 2152, now I am trying RRI
for some NYE celebration, 8 minutes before midnight there. This English
transmission appears to be yelling in Romanian, drumming, maybe HS relay, so
here we go --- NOT. Cut to canned English sign-off at 2155. I am hardly
surprised, as most stations are automated to change programming before hourtops.
Manually overriding that would be too much trouble (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** RWANDA [non]. 15420, Sat Dec 31 at 1808, R. Itahuka
via MADAGASCAR is just barely modulated (JBM) but S9+10; by 1818 is it
modulating Kinyarwanda with long pauses, fair (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, Dec 31 at 1459, music audible as SIBC
is on late, and the latest I think I have heard them, almost a sesquihour after
sunrise here and a bihour after midnight there. Ron Howard reported quite a NY
celebration on that station; see his report and hear his audio (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 9690, Dec 31 at 2205, NO signal from
REE, nor later. Past NYEs, this has been a reliable & loud & clear
celebration to monitor in the final hour of the year, inexplicably playing lots
of songs in English; but this year it`s off the air to North America! The
others, 15500 and 15390, are JBA by this hour. Pfui (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY. 5960, Dec 31 at 2300, no signal in English
to North America from VOT, where it`s already next year; but on fairly at 2305
check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY. 12035.008, Jan 1
at 1417, VOT fair in English playing unusual music, sounds like Bach with a
Turkish twist; Allah forbid it should imply something Christian! Soon wishes us
Happy New Year, peace and love; brief headlines I can`t make out, but should
have been about the latest massacre in Istanbul. Sign-off and several IS
iterations until 1425* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** UGANDA
[non]. 15240, Sat Dec 31 at 1730, P signal with talk and music, presumed R.
Munansi via WWRB on weekends only. Recheck at 1808, now it`s inbooming at S9+20!
in Luganda talk. 1819 recheck music, weaker at S8-S5. By 1825 it`s poor at
S7-S5, no signal at 2033, off already?
It had been hit by a short-skip
sporadic E enhancement which also strengthened some other eastern US SWBCs at
1809: 15610 WEWN S9+20-30; 15710 WHRI S9+30; but not WRMI, and not WWCR, close
neighbor of WWRB, which on 15825 was only S7-S4, but on 13845 boosted to S9+20.
Both are normally quite weak here in daytime, skipping over.
15240, also
Sun Jan 1 at 1837 check, very poor with African music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. 7490.0, Dec 31 at 2330, BBC Thailand is
nothing but a lo het under WBCQ, `SW Saturday Night`, which is slightly on the
hi side. This is among the contradictory rosters of BBCWS frequencies from
different listings before and after 0000 where I would like to hear the
leap-second-expanded Greenwich timesignal and full strike of Big Ben. At 2358
not blocked but JBA since they are all intended for morning in Asia, are 5875
and 9740 via Singapore and/or Thailand, but too weak to detect anything at
*2017y; and meanwhile I have missed counting the 61 seconds on WWV (but later
confirmed the leap indirectly; see PERU) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A. 5000, Jan 1 at 0104, WWV is still announcing that a
leap second *will be* inserted, which already happened more than an hour ago.
Oops. A station whose raison d`être is hyper-accurate timekeeping has difficulty
distinguishing future from past. See also PERU (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A. 15220 & 11720, Sat Dec 31 at 2104, NO signals from
VOA Creole service, which has been defaulting to English on weekends. So,
canceled Sat & Sun, or canceled all? I know I still heard real Creole
opening at 2100 one day this past week, but not logged (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1858 monitoring: not
confirmed, Saturday Dec 31 at 1555 on HLR 7265-CUSB Germany via UTwente remote:
only S Asian music from CRI Hindi via East Turkistan. HLR is sticking to 7265 as
a German legacy frequency, no matter what. WBCQ 9330v-CUSB not confirmed UT
Sunday Jan 1 at 0003, so likely not on either last year at 2330 Sat (9265 WINB
is now S8-S9; however, 9330 is on and audible at 0057, and after 0100; see
separate log). WOR 1858 confirmed, UT Sunday Jan 1 at 0429 on WA0RCR, 1860-AM,
MO, about RCW in Chile, 5 minutes in, so started about 0424 this week. Next:
Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to
WSW
Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Tue
0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW
Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Tue 2130 WRMI 15770
to NE
Tue 2300 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Wed
1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW
Thu 0030 WBCQ
9330v-CUSB to WSW
Note: Allan Weiner says that WOR will also be airing at
variable unpredictable times during his Radio Jennifer service on expanded hours
of WBCQ 5130v (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 5129.823,
Jan 1 at 0003, this WBCQ with `Radio TimTron Worldwide`, and still at 0101
recheck. As sked now 00-02 UT Sundays.
Rather, Timtron, without another
capital T, per sked: ``One of the most entertaining programs on WBCQ, Radio
Timtron Worldwide combines rock music, comedy, and the occcasional skit into a
show always worth tuning in to``. A.k.a. Tim Smith, WA1HLR, active in AM on 80m
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9330.016v-CUSB, Jan 1
at 0042, WBCQ is now on at S7-S5, with DJ about dancing to groovin` music,
singing along with ``At the Copa---``; 0049 mentions this is on WBCQ 7415!
Friday nights, by operations manager Mike, to be followed at 9 o`clock M-F by
Financial Survival 2000, also mentions Ed Bolton show, fadeouts. 0057, it`s
apparent Mike was substituting for Allan Weiner that week Worldwide since AW was
away on a road trip; 0059 cut to current ID, and 0100 Blalock the Blaster. Mike
is the guy who died last week, and no doubt this AWWW was pulled out of the AWWW
Y2K archives in memoriam (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S
A. 15770, Dec 31 at 2253, WRMIBS is still on at VG S9+10, past nominal 2200*.
Still haven`t caught when this close if ever, as it may just stay on all night,
faded into nothingness, lest successfully QSYing to 7780, which it does not.
Recheck at 0015 Jan 1: no signal on 15770, 7780 or 2 x 7780 = 15560 (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 12050, Jan 1 at 1352, WEWN
Spanish is dead air again except for humwhine, and barely audible CCI talk
under, which is RFA Tibetan via Kuwait this hour only and/or CNR1 jamming (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1560, Jan 1 at 1345 UT, ID in
passing sounds like KLAV, religion. Closest fuzzy match, very likely is KLNG,
Council Bluffs IA. 10 kW daytimer. 1345 UT is its official sunrise in January,
but it also has a Critical-Hours power of 2.1 kW, which should keep it down to
there until 1545 UT, both non-direxional (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** ZANZIBAR. 11735, Dec 31 at 2040, nice Ungujan music from ZBC,
so this should be a good one for Jahrwechsel on UT+3. At 2051 begins some
excited talk in presumed KiSwahili, and music, but cut off the air at 2058.7! No
countdown or timesignal here. And so go the rest of my unsuccessful attempts to
hear special NYE celebrations on SW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
This report despatched at 1946 UT January 1, 2017
