** ANGUILLA. 6090, Feb 27 at 0701, DGS is off again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ARGENTINA [non]. 9395, Feb 27 at 2033, quick check of WRMI confirms it`s still in Italian this hour, i.e. the RAE relay (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 5995-6005, Feb 27 at 0658, RHC English 6000 is distorted and splattering plus and minus 5, bad for BBC ASCENSION and MALI which is so undermodulated it needs all the help it can get. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 15720, 15650, 15580, 15510, 15440, 15300, 15230, 15160, 15090, 15020, 14950, 14880, Feb 27 at 1450, RHC extremely distorted FMy spurblobs out of 15370-AM transmitter are spread at ~70 kHz intervals today. Even the closer ones provide only noisy modulation in FM mode. 15230 of course obliterates another real RHC AM frequency; and VOA is presumably underneath the weaker one on 15580. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1919, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 11950 & 11840, Feb 27 at 2306, huge open carriers from RHC, while Spanish programming is modulating only on weaker 11760. 11840 was supposed to start at 2300 for Chile (along with its much weaker parasites on 11830 & 11850, even 11820 & 11860 if you`re lucky); and 11960 not supposed to start until 0000 with `Mesa Redonda` to Chicago. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 5040, Feb 28 at 0038, RHC English with crackle on the modulation // weaker 9720 but no crackle there. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 0039-0050, `DXers Unlimited` runs almost 11 minutes this UT Wednesday, and could easily occupy 15 if Arnie would slow down and speak at a normal pace. Topix include: ham DXpedition to St. Brandon Island, 3B7A in April; another Bouvet DXpedition planned for next(?) southern summer, call 3Y0I, see http://www.bouvetoya.org (it opens with an ink spot in the corner, maybe a map? And thence you can sign up for their newsletter; understanding Polish may be helpful). Then about hamsats such as Oscar 7; low solar activity allowed Arnie to log on 6115 at 0600 UT, French from DR Congo, Brazzaville. Lucky him to get that rather than Nikkei, Japan; and it`s the *other* Congo, NOT the DR, a mistake Dave Valko also just made in his more credible log. One lonely sunspot lately, but more expected. Try 60 mb between local SS and SR, especially for the 3 Cuban frequencies; solar flux was below 70 for 8 days (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NIGERIA [non]. 5960, Feb 27 at 0503, I`m checking for R. Dandal Kura via ASCENSION, which some reports say has been replaced by Radio Ndarason International, or, the latter is something else to jam RDK. At first it`s dead air, then something undermodulated; no hum here as has been the case at times from the Ascension transmitter (but there is some hum on 6005 BBCWS in English). I cannot make out two stations colliding now on 5960. Mod level varies widely, sometimes much louder, then back to JBM. Intervals of light drumming and chanting. At 0506, it`s lo-fi amateur chanting; 0508 off-mike talk and chanting past 0513. Never hear an ID for either station. Another check at 0531: undermod off-mike talk. 0601 still that plus some music.
7415, no signal before or after 0602, supposed to be another frequency for this, via France, and which I had easily heard previously.
5960, recheck at 0656, now playing the BaBcoCk interval signal which implies it is really Ascension, not TDF/MBR France site. This cuts off at 0659:30; and still nothing on 7415.
There has been a lot of discussion about what`s going on here, in the WOR iogroup. Dr Hansjoerg Biener first concluded that Ndaráson was deliberately interfering with Dandal Kura. Or it may be that this is an intentional handover from one station name to another, as the website design is the same but with different contact and other info content --- but rather badly botched if two major transmission providers, MBR/TDF and BaBcoCk are not coordinated to avoid colliding with each other. Both are in latest HFCC registrations. Or it may be disinformation by the Nigerian government, which also tried to sow confusion about Radio Biafra. There is also an evening broadcast from 1800 on 12050, which is tough to monitor here because WEWN is also on it.
Kai Ludwig, Germany, reports on Feb 27: ``12050 kHz tonight: At 1759 one transmitter comes up with not further identificable programming. At 1801 a second transmitter comes up with programming // webstream at dandalkura.com. So as a matter of fact two transmissions with different programming, one of them being Dandal Kura, are clashing on this frequency.
Just got the idea to simply check the HFCC data: These Issoudun transmissions have indeed been registered by Media Broadcast, starting Feb 26. Language unspecified ("Mul") and remark "A.Niger". And 500 kW, so it does not matter how much this costs. Gross incompetence would really be the most favourable explanation for what's going on here.
Check out the whois data for ndarason.com: This domain has been registered just four days ago (Feb 23). I assume that name, organization etc. have simply been taken from publicly available sources like https://www.okapi.cc
On the other hand Dandal Kura still uses this name, just reconfirmed via their live stream at http://www.dandalkura.com --- While I see no audio content at the clone site at all, neither live nor on demand.
So looks like yet another counter action from Nigerian authorities, with SSS/DSS being the usual suspect of course. Same kind of stuff than "Radio Biafra, broadcasting from London". What's new this time is that, it seems, they now even have the nerve to deliberately blot out the existing transmissions.
Which, on the other hand, would not be a first for TDF. Years ago they already ran jamming transmissions for their esteemed Libyan customer.
Anyone having contact with David Smith? And will Babcock International put up with this or take appropriate action, if the situation is really as it appears to be? Kai``
Chris Greenway of BBC Monitoring says, ``Looks like a major snafu rather than anything sinister. I note that the website for Ndarason Radio - http://www.ndarason.com/ - has buttons for Twitter and Facebook which link to the accounts for Dandal Kura. And the Dandal Kura website - http://www.dandalkura.com/ - is clearly based on the same template. Could someone contact David Smith or Okapi? Chris``
Smith has instigated several target stations in Africa, and is listed as the CEO of NRI, with a 235+ phone number which is in Chad; but his email is still at Okapi, the no-longer-SW station for Congo DR. The DK website instead shows Faruk Falhatu as CEO with a 234+ phone which would be in Nigeria (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1919, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NORTH AMERICA. 6930-USB, Feb 27 at 2311 weak music from a pirate at S3-S5; 2314 announcement thanking listeners, time as 2313 UTC, and off. Maybe an ID but I could not catch it. This thread says it was Moonlight Radio:
https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,40739.0.html
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1918 monitoring: confirmed UT Tuesday February 27 at 0030 on WRMI 7730, VG; also on WBCQ 9330.3v-CUSB, Poor. Altho #1919 was ready 4 hours earlier, WBCQ replayed 1918 at 0030 UT Wed Feb 28 on 9330.299v-CUSB, JBA: straining to hear it with ECSS at S2-S3, I finally could copy some content from last week`s show.
WORLD OF RADIO 1919 contents: Argentina and non, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba and non, Czechia non, Ethiopia non, France, Germany and non, Iran, Kiritimati, New Zealand, Nigeria non, Russia, South America, South Carolina, Uganda non, USA, and the propagation outlooks
WORLD OF RADIO 1919 monitoring: ready just in time for first airing Tuesday, February 27 at 2030 on WRMI, 7780 JBA and 9455 fair, with no CCCCCCI audible. And again at 2130 on 9455 only, fair-good. Next:
Wed 1030 WRMI 9455 to WNW
Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW
Thu 0030 WBCQ 9339v-CUST to WSW
Thu 2230.5 WRMI 5850 to NW
Fri 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Sat 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Sat 0729 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW
Sat 1531 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW
Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND
Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 to NE
Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 to NE
Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND
Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW
Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW
Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE, 9455 to WNW
Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW
Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1920?]
Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 to WNW [or #1920?]
Full WOR schedule via all media, podcast access:
http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
This report dispatched at 0231 UT February 28
