lunedì 26 marzo 2018

Glenn Hauser logs March 25-26, 2018

** ANGUILLA. 6090, March 26 at 0054, PMS is on again, but with some humwhine (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BIAFRA [non]. WRMI 9955 webcast, from 0400 UT March 26 plays the same old Zombiafra file yet again, ``broadcasting from London``, but not on SW anywhen (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COLOMBIA. 5910.33, March 26 at 0049, Alcaraván Radio music, poor but clear signal. They and we are in luck for A-18 as HFCC has nothing scheduled on 5910 between 20 and 05 --- and at 05-11 it`s a JIC MIC frequency direct from Yamata, Japan, probably only an alternate wooden standby. And, except for RDR, at 21-01 on 5910, Vatican placeholder in case IRDR ever be activated.

{Then my streetlight ignites at 0053 with an RF noise burst, 5 minutes after our sunset of 0048; optical switch would have been a few minutes later if the western horizon were not partly cloudy} (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 11760, UT Monday March 26 at 0135, RHC `En Contacto` which I monitor in its 15-minute entirety. Arnie unsounds like on the telephone, better audio quality, but not studio either with some reverb and I think I hear some traffic noise underneath. This frequency soon fades down so I change to 9640, before it fades down too and I wind up on 5040. Arnie notes Daniel Wyllyans` log in Brasil of R. Educação Rural de Coari on 5035 and laments that RHC itself prevents him from hearing it adjacently. 

About the nominal 200 kW transmitter of R. Progreso on 890 in central Cuba: it`s reduced to 80 kW non-direxional due to hurricane damage yet still gets DX reports from Europe; soon will be back up to 200 kW direxional with two new masts 120 meters high. After a bit by Marta, saying he`s connected by fibre-optic, final segment back to Arnie for propagation forecast and now he sounds more lo-fi telephonic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA [and non]. 7355 & 7375 & 7435, March 25 at 2204, jamming on all these, despite Radio Martí no longer using any of them this hour. 

7435 & 7375 & 7355, March 26 at 0104, still heavy jamming all three non-Martí frequencies; while RM is really on 7335 loud and clear S9+48, and weaker 7365 but atop jamming, sounds like the RCC pope criticizing Maduro. Something`s always wrong at the DentroCuban Jamming Command.

Furthermore, the 7375 jamming is now disrupting something in French, i.e. ROMANIA. At least it`s pulsing rather than full-bore. RRI is now scheduled four hours straight on 7375, 00-04 in English, French, Spanish, English. Picking a previous Radio Martí frequency is not a smart move (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EAST TURKISTAN. 9470, March 26 at 0110, S4-S6 discussion of Trump and American politix by American accents; could it be VOA? Of course not! It`s CRI as scheduled via Kashgar, and about two words ahead of much stronger 9580 Cuban relay (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ROMANIA. 9760, March 25 at 2203, poor AM signal in English from RRI new A-18 frequency and time. What about the other frequency to Europe, now 7315? JBA AM carrier there, so apparently not DRM. In the B-17 season, its predecessor 5980 was also supposed to be AM, but after a few days of indecision, stuck with unscheduled DRM. This hour has two other AM frequencies, to FE, 7325 & 9620, ex-7325 & 9790 until yesterday at 23 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CUBA

** SPAIN [non]. 17855, March 25 at 1845, no signal from REE, which had been arriving well enough at last check 1707. Still pre-sunset at site, but MUF dropping or just off? Only significant signal on band is 17640 Madagascar WV at S7, which always has the trans-equatorial advantage (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SRI LANKA. 11905, March 26 at *0114:19 carrier on from SLBC, but can`t hear any prélude or mis-timesignal nor any sound in the next two minutes; just too weak or not modulating? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TIBET [non]. 9370, March 26 at 0108, VP S3 signal with music, about equal to noise level. HFCC shows it`s IBB in Tibetan via TAJIKISTAN at 01-03, but could also be ChiCom jamming if they have found it already. And why not? Both IBB and SAPPRFT participate in HFCC without overtly registering jammers (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TURKEY [and non]. 9830, March 25 at 2159, VOT has made the move for English to North America, ex-5960 at 2300; last bit of IS and ID loop, timesignal ending at 2200:03, only poor S4-S5 mixed with continuous RTTY co-channel, as it has been every A-season for years; altho sometimes off by 2200 or during the hour. 

What is it? Quick search on 9830 at the UDXF iog gets an immediate answer: ``UNID RTTY on 9830 --- That would be NAU, Isabella [sic], Puerto Rica [sic]. NATO-75/75/850. Continuous cipher. 73 de Jim (MPJ) By Jim · #69885 · 3/26/16``. The VOT sign-on with English schedule also seems to have been updated for A-18, including 9830 at 22-23 for Europe (and not North America?)(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 14300-USB, March 26 at 0125, Judi, N6LSO in San Diego is running the Maritime Mobile Service Net, bigsig, virtually the OSOB and certainly the SSOB, as I can only hear one of her simplex contacts at all, a regular QSO chat, nothing to do with MMS, who invited her to another net on 40m, but she`s awaiting someham to put up her new antenna for that band (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [non]. Re this log: ``9320, March 25 at 1253, S9+10/20 of English lesson for Koreans, obviously VOA, but NOT listed here in B-17 or A-18 HFCC schedules! Surely from Philippines or NMI site``

Wolfgang Büschel replied, evidently from IBB Monitoring:
``Tinang PHL 2018-03-25 12:04:31 capture: AM  9320 (PHT) VOA KORE
AM 12080 (PHT) VOA KORE
AM  9490 (TIN) VOA KORE - 1300-1500 UT, 12045 kHz instead.
AM  1188 (SEO) VOA KORE
73 wb`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1922 monitoring: confirmed by Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria: ``GERMANY, Reception of World of Radio via HLR on 9485 CUSB, March 25
http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/03/reception-of-world-of-radio-via-hlr-on_25.html
1031-1100 9485 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg CeEu English Sun, weak to fair``

I confirm on Area 51 webcast from 0302 UT Monday March 26; and very poor on WBCQ 5129.8 at 0323 check. Also confirmed on WRMI webcast at 0350 UT March 26, the Monday 0330 on 9955, which was but a JBA carrier at 0348. Next:
Mon 2330   WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Tue 0030   WRMI 7730 to WNW
Tue 2030   WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1923?]
Tue 2130   WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1923?]
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 7490+, UT Monday March 26 at 0102, there`s Blalock the Blaster. Still not on the WBCQ schedules, but `The Full Gospel Hour` seems to have a regular slot most nights now on 7490, whether or not he`s still on 9330 an hour earlier. As Matt_B commented on HF Underground: ``Whoa. Somebody get that man a straitjacket!! LOL`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. About WEWN-FM, Ron Howard forwarded this on the WOR iog preceding my previous quote from him: 

``Hi Glenn, Dave Valko wrote - "FMing spurs of 12050 WEWN throughout the 25mb. All day today [March 23], I was getting them every 87 kHz out in both directions from 12050, as low as 11528 and as high as 12487. And since the spurs are wide, they pretty much destroy the whole band. It's a potential killer and I'm sure others are going to complain about it if the spurs continue. Here's what it looked like when 12050 and the spurs went off at 2355 this evening."

Dave's attached screenshot shows just how bad it was. 
http://www.w4uvh.net/WEWNspurs.jpg
Thanks very much to Dave for passing this along.``

12050, March 25 at 1839, JBA carrier so WEWN Spanish is off, let`s hope for repairs. Must instead be Radio Dandal Kura, target for Lake Chad area of Boko Haram influence, via Ascension, which otherwise is quite blocked here by Vandiver. Cannot hear even a carrier on 15610, so WEWN English may also be off.

5970 & 12050, March 26 at 0052, neither night nor day Spanish RCM frequency is on. But 11520, March 26 at 0119 achieves a JBA carrier, presumably WEWN English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 3185, UT Monday March 26 at 0131, gospel huxtress at S9+40, so I`ve finally caught an evening transmission from WWRB; after 0100 can`t be on 3215, occupied by WWCR, so Dave has chosen 3185 instead of 3195. About equal signal levels from both, but 3185 sounds louder, tnx to the emphatic know-it-all. It`s A-18, when he might have reactivated 5050, but not yet. I assume it would still be a waste of time to seek an axual program schedule on WWRB website (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 9771-USB, March 26 at 0117, 2-way INTRUDERS, very poor, can`t tell if the brief bits I hear are in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

This report dispatched at 0501 UT March 26