** ANTARCTICA. 15476, no sign of LRA36 May 3 at 1309, 1358. It was audible 24 hours earlier. This timing is no good for Australia and NZ, but Bryan Clark in NZ has been hearing non-stop Latin music on 15476, two consecutive UT Tuesdays: 19 April at 1908-2050* and 26 April at 1936-2004*. I haven`t been looking for it at that hour, but we should all seek it again Tuesday May 3, and maybe other days (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BULGARIA. 11600, R. Bulgaria, May 3 at 0546, nice folk music interrupted by German announcement, good signal better than 9600, easy to // with a 2.0 MHz step downward on the FRG-7. 11600 is one of the transmissions RB wants us to monitor until May 15, since they are using the 100 kW Kostinbrod transmitter instead of the 300 kW Plovdiv. (Apparently the idea is to keep using the 100 kW if that`s sufficient.)
Listeners were to compare this with reception April 18 to May 1 on the 300 kW. It would have been more obvious if they alternated during a single hour between the two, or day to day, rather than a fortnight on each, since longer-term propagation variations can be more significant than power variations.
The full schedule of this test from Kostinbrod:
``to West Europe
0430-0500 in Bulgarian on 7400 kHz
0530-0700 in German, French and English on 11600 kHz
1300-1400 in Bulgarian on 15700 kHz
1630-1800 in German, French and English on 7400 kHz
1900-2200 in German, French and English on 7400 kHz
to North America
2300-0300 in English, Bulgarian, French and English on 11700 kHz
``We expect your opinions on the possible difference in the strength and quality of the signal from the two transmitters. You can contact us by e-mail and send us sound files in the MP3 or MP4 format at the
following address: <frequencies @ bnr.bg>. Thank you in advance and
73! (Ivo Ivanov, Frequency Manager, Technical Department, R. Bulgaria,
DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 11 April via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD 11-15)``
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENIN DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake May 3, all presumed vs Sound of Hope, u.o.s.:
10300, good at 1254
10965, good at 1254
11500, very poor at 1256 but detectable with CCI, het, // 10300
12240, poor at 1257
12600, very poor at 1257
12980, fair at 1258
13920, fair at 1257, better than 12980
14700, good with flutter at 1259; no others before 1300 up to 18 MHz
This time I will make a separate list for the next batch by time; I rechecked all the above frequencies and most were absent at first:
10300, good with flutter at 1331
10965, good with flutter at 1331
11500, poor at 1317
13920, good with utility QRM including CW at 1354
15430, poor at 1357 and also with grinding jammer, vs V of Tibet/UAE
15535, poor at 1310; switch to 15545 below; back to 15535 at 1358 // weaker 15430. May 2 Aoki shows V of Tibet/Tajikistan on 15537, 15543
15545, very poor at 1318, not 15535; vs V. of Tibet as above
16100, very good at 1359; not heard earlier
16980, very good at 1359; not heard earlier
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA [non]. A report from Australia of R. Jordan in Arabic on 11775 at 0625 --- CRI via ALBANIA is also scheduled here in Arabic, so I check it out again a bit earlier. While some nights nothing but pointless DentroCuban jamming is heard, on May 3 at 0536 I am getting Arabic atop the pulses which do become more audible during fades. Several ``Idha`at`` IDs go by but I am not sure what the Arabic name for China is. Clinched at 0552 when there is a Chinese lesson, 0600 CRI theme and IDs also in Chinese at hourtop.
Jordan was a list-log, as both are in HFCC at 05-07! Trouble is, Jordan has lots of wooden registrations, having really curtailed its SWBC, not yet abolishing it altogether (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 15360, RHC, May 3 at 1325 promoting ``all Cuban networks`` including RHC available on Hispasat, 11,884 MHz. Except inside Cuba, of course, where if you`re caught with a satellite receiver capable of getting TV from abroad, you`re in big trouble (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GREECE. 11645, May 3 at 0543, V. of Greece not in English or Greek during the R. Filia hour, talk with a brief Greek music break, and not // 9420 and 15630 which was also barely propagating. At 0546 she is speaking about UBL, also mentions Kosovo, so I think it is in Albanian, which supposedly is scheduled at 0445-0515 Saturdays, 0455-0530 Sundays per Aoki, but this was Tuesday. 11645 was off the air a few minutes before 0600 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUINEA. 7125, RTG, good May 3 at 0613 with the lovely chanting they habitually air around this time. God is great, by definition, but likes to be reminded (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9500, May 2 at 2159 weak signals, language uncertain, perhaps R. Australia direct scheduled to end English via Shepparton at 2200. After 2200 clearly one weak station, and it`s R. Netherlands ID opening English, still English past 2202, but too poor to copy.
Trouble is, this transmission via RWANDA is supposed to be in Dutch, per HFCC and RNW`s own schedule, 2159-2227, 250 kW, 280 degrees to WAf. (Not listed at all in Aoki.) 9500 certainly not // VG 15540, RNW really in Dutch via Bonaire.
Shhh, don`t tell anyone, as we need to keep all the English we can get from RNW before it self-destructs. They haven`t had any intentional English on SW after 2200 for years, but there must be some on the wrong satellite channel. Tnx to Harold Frodge in MI, who had reported same in English on 26 April (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGESTS)
** NEW ZEALAND. 9655, May 3 at 1247 I deliberately look for RNZI on scheduled frequency since the day before it was on 9615 by mistake. Yes, there is a station in English, poor vs KBS/Sackville on 9650, and nothing on 9615 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 91.7, KOSU apologized at 1819 UT May 2 that for the past two weeks, transmissions have been disrupted on the relay 107.5 KOSN Ketchum-Tulsa, due to the storms at the transmitter site near Nowata, also interrupting the T1 line (apparently that is how programming is fed to it). Nothing about this found on the KOSU website. Since purchasing this failing commercial transmitter, KOSU has had continuing problems with it (Glenn Hauser, May 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 89.5, as I was parked at the Braum`s dairy store at 4202 W. Owen K. Garriott in Enid, May 2 at 1850 UT, stepping thru the FM channels, came to a quiet 89.5 -- a signal strong enough to muscle aside the semi-local on 89.7. No modulation whatsoever, but the STereo icon is displayed. This rules out a spur from a security system, garbage which infects the FM band around many stores, e.g. Walgreens.
I drove a block or two in each direxion, and the signal certainly peaked at Braum`s, not even at the adjacent stores. Less than a mile to the east, 89.5 instead had Radio Kansas, which must have been in a hotspot (and no sign at the moment of KWGS Tulsa 89.5 which sometimes makes it to Enid). IIRC, in the same general area some months ago I was hearing a music loop on 89.5. Apparently someone is operating (or forgetting) a part 15 very low-power FM transmitter around there. Next time I should take my DX-398 with a signal meter into Braums and see if I can locate it, tho eyebrows may rise if I try to get behind the counter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PORTUGAL. Enjoy RDPI while we can: there are moves in Portugal to close down the SW service as too expensive for too little audience. A petition against this has been set up online; of course, only Portuguese-speakers need participate. This has been discussed extensively in DXLD.
17575, May 3 at 1322 with pop music; 1401 weather introducing multi-network combined newscast, into item about Finlândia, vis-à-vis Portugal`s economic crisis. Somewhat distorted modulation. 13m`s 21655 not making it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA. 17600, RRI opening in Chinese, May 3 at 1301, in the clear thanks to stronger Spain [q.v.] not coming on 17595 until 1302:15; RRI remained audible with ACI. HFCC shows 1300-1330, 300 kW, 67 degrees from Tiganeshti (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 17595, looking for REE, May 3 at 1300, but nothing there, audiblizing ROMANIA [q.v.] on 17600. Finally cut on the air late at *1302:15 amid news about, what else, UBL. Also with token English news at 1435 by same announcer as yesterday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY. 9830, May 2 at 2201 check, weak broadcast signal obliterated by RTTY which is constantly on this frequency. V. of Turkey still hasn`t caught on that they have such a problem with their preferred summer channel in English to North America, this being at least the third year they have stuck to it. Do they do any monitoring, or even look at reception reports, let alone DX publications???
15450, May 3 at 1304 VOT filling time with multi-lingual IDs during what should be the English broadcast; 1308 `Question of the Month`, but poor reception and I could not copy anything but the deadline of 31 May. Found it on website:
http://www.trt-world.com/trtworld/en/newsDetail.aspx?HaberKodu=71aff990-a2d1-4c4a-8b0b-75fd89a20ab3
which is for January! Altho ``posted 28.04.2010, updated 31.12.2010``. Anyhow, three listeners get a small present, not just by answering correctly whatever the May question is, but also by being luckily drawn. I`d rather win a trip to Turkey, but the essay contest is kaput (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 17530, May 3 at 1320, R. Sawa going from Arabic news back to music, still here with good signal via KUWAIT. The schedule changes at least every week. The latest from Ivo Ivanov as of May 1:
0800-1100 on 15780 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg
0800-1100 on 17880 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg
1100-1300 on 15780 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg
1100-1300 on 17840 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg
1300-1430 on 13690 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg
1300-1430 on 17530 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg
1430-1500 on 17530 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg
1430-1500 on 17785 BOT 100 kW / 350 deg
1500-1600 on 17540 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg
1500-1600 on 17785 BOT 100 kW / 350 deg
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9370, WTJC still spurring, May 3 at 0545 with spikes audible around 9345, 9395 at music modulation peaks; 0556 noticed a song about Jesús in Spanish, tho I am not aware of a definite Spanish broadcast from them at this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15825, WWCR, May 3 at 1311 has VG signal during black gospel music hour, S9+15, but not enough to audiblize the plus/minus 15.6 kHz spurs. A sporadic-E boost, but weakened again at 1326. The 6m QSO maps a couple hours later showed Es openings over SE USA. Nothing seen on channel 2 here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 13570, WINB, May 3 at 1313 is signing off with ID, contact info including phone number, big hum also goes off at 1313:40*. This is the usual closing on weekdays, and I have not discovered when they come back on, contrary to their still displayed schedule claiming 24/7, including `Good Friends Radio` at 12-19, but GFR seems to have escaped from WINB. Maybe the resumption is at 19 for `Global Spirit Proclamation` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. That master mathematician and prophet, Harold Camping, has refined his Rapture schedule --- it will start at 6 pm local time around the world on May 21. All eyes on Tonga at 0500 UT, where there are plenty of Christians! But are they that gullible? I was listening to him for a few LOL minutes at 1334 May 3 on WYFR 11910 // 11830 over RHC. He was also talking about 5 foolish virgins and 5 other (wise?) virgins, and Rev. 18:8 onward. Bonus: *another* non // Harold Camping on 11865 with other Bible stuff (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** BULGARIA. 11600, R. Bulgaria, May 3 at 0546, nice folk music interrupted by German announcement, good signal better than 9600, easy to // with a 2.0 MHz step downward on the FRG-7. 11600 is one of the transmissions RB wants us to monitor until May 15, since they are using the 100 kW Kostinbrod transmitter instead of the 300 kW Plovdiv. (Apparently the idea is to keep using the 100 kW if that`s sufficient.)
Listeners were to compare this with reception April 18 to May 1 on the 300 kW. It would have been more obvious if they alternated during a single hour between the two, or day to day, rather than a fortnight on each, since longer-term propagation variations can be more significant than power variations.
The full schedule of this test from Kostinbrod:
``to West Europe
0430-0500 in Bulgarian on 7400 kHz
0530-0700 in German, French and English on 11600 kHz
1300-1400 in Bulgarian on 15700 kHz
1630-1800 in German, French and English on 7400 kHz
1900-2200 in German, French and English on 7400 kHz
to North America
2300-0300 in English, Bulgarian, French and English on 11700 kHz
``We expect your opinions on the possible difference in the strength and quality of the signal from the two transmitters. You can contact us by e-mail and send us sound files in the MP3 or MP4 format at the
following address: <frequencies @ bnr.bg>. Thank you in advance and
73! (Ivo Ivanov, Frequency Manager, Technical Department, R. Bulgaria,
DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 11 April via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD 11-15)``
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENIN DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake May 3, all presumed vs Sound of Hope, u.o.s.:
10300, good at 1254
10965, good at 1254
11500, very poor at 1256 but detectable with CCI, het, // 10300
12240, poor at 1257
12600, very poor at 1257
12980, fair at 1258
13920, fair at 1257, better than 12980
14700, good with flutter at 1259; no others before 1300 up to 18 MHz
This time I will make a separate list for the next batch by time; I rechecked all the above frequencies and most were absent at first:
10300, good with flutter at 1331
10965, good with flutter at 1331
11500, poor at 1317
13920, good with utility QRM including CW at 1354
15430, poor at 1357 and also with grinding jammer, vs V of Tibet/UAE
15535, poor at 1310; switch to 15545 below; back to 15535 at 1358 // weaker 15430. May 2 Aoki shows V of Tibet/Tajikistan on 15537, 15543
15545, very poor at 1318, not 15535; vs V. of Tibet as above
16100, very good at 1359; not heard earlier
16980, very good at 1359; not heard earlier
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA [non]. A report from Australia of R. Jordan in Arabic on 11775 at 0625 --- CRI via ALBANIA is also scheduled here in Arabic, so I check it out again a bit earlier. While some nights nothing but pointless DentroCuban jamming is heard, on May 3 at 0536 I am getting Arabic atop the pulses which do become more audible during fades. Several ``Idha`at`` IDs go by but I am not sure what the Arabic name for China is. Clinched at 0552 when there is a Chinese lesson, 0600 CRI theme and IDs also in Chinese at hourtop.
Jordan was a list-log, as both are in HFCC at 05-07! Trouble is, Jordan has lots of wooden registrations, having really curtailed its SWBC, not yet abolishing it altogether (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 15360, RHC, May 3 at 1325 promoting ``all Cuban networks`` including RHC available on Hispasat, 11,884 MHz. Except inside Cuba, of course, where if you`re caught with a satellite receiver capable of getting TV from abroad, you`re in big trouble (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GREECE. 11645, May 3 at 0543, V. of Greece not in English or Greek during the R. Filia hour, talk with a brief Greek music break, and not // 9420 and 15630 which was also barely propagating. At 0546 she is speaking about UBL, also mentions Kosovo, so I think it is in Albanian, which supposedly is scheduled at 0445-0515 Saturdays, 0455-0530 Sundays per Aoki, but this was Tuesday. 11645 was off the air a few minutes before 0600 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUINEA. 7125, RTG, good May 3 at 0613 with the lovely chanting they habitually air around this time. God is great, by definition, but likes to be reminded (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9500, May 2 at 2159 weak signals, language uncertain, perhaps R. Australia direct scheduled to end English via Shepparton at 2200. After 2200 clearly one weak station, and it`s R. Netherlands ID opening English, still English past 2202, but too poor to copy.
Trouble is, this transmission via RWANDA is supposed to be in Dutch, per HFCC and RNW`s own schedule, 2159-2227, 250 kW, 280 degrees to WAf. (Not listed at all in Aoki.) 9500 certainly not // VG 15540, RNW really in Dutch via Bonaire.
Shhh, don`t tell anyone, as we need to keep all the English we can get from RNW before it self-destructs. They haven`t had any intentional English on SW after 2200 for years, but there must be some on the wrong satellite channel. Tnx to Harold Frodge in MI, who had reported same in English on 26 April (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGESTS)
** NEW ZEALAND. 9655, May 3 at 1247 I deliberately look for RNZI on scheduled frequency since the day before it was on 9615 by mistake. Yes, there is a station in English, poor vs KBS/Sackville on 9650, and nothing on 9615 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 91.7, KOSU apologized at 1819 UT May 2 that for the past two weeks, transmissions have been disrupted on the relay 107.5 KOSN Ketchum-Tulsa, due to the storms at the transmitter site near Nowata, also interrupting the T1 line (apparently that is how programming is fed to it). Nothing about this found on the KOSU website. Since purchasing this failing commercial transmitter, KOSU has had continuing problems with it (Glenn Hauser, May 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 89.5, as I was parked at the Braum`s dairy store at 4202 W. Owen K. Garriott in Enid, May 2 at 1850 UT, stepping thru the FM channels, came to a quiet 89.5 -- a signal strong enough to muscle aside the semi-local on 89.7. No modulation whatsoever, but the STereo icon is displayed. This rules out a spur from a security system, garbage which infects the FM band around many stores, e.g. Walgreens.
I drove a block or two in each direxion, and the signal certainly peaked at Braum`s, not even at the adjacent stores. Less than a mile to the east, 89.5 instead had Radio Kansas, which must have been in a hotspot (and no sign at the moment of KWGS Tulsa 89.5 which sometimes makes it to Enid). IIRC, in the same general area some months ago I was hearing a music loop on 89.5. Apparently someone is operating (or forgetting) a part 15 very low-power FM transmitter around there. Next time I should take my DX-398 with a signal meter into Braums and see if I can locate it, tho eyebrows may rise if I try to get behind the counter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PORTUGAL. Enjoy RDPI while we can: there are moves in Portugal to close down the SW service as too expensive for too little audience. A petition against this has been set up online; of course, only Portuguese-speakers need participate. This has been discussed extensively in DXLD.
17575, May 3 at 1322 with pop music; 1401 weather introducing multi-network combined newscast, into item about Finlândia, vis-à-vis Portugal`s economic crisis. Somewhat distorted modulation. 13m`s 21655 not making it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA. 17600, RRI opening in Chinese, May 3 at 1301, in the clear thanks to stronger Spain [q.v.] not coming on 17595 until 1302:15; RRI remained audible with ACI. HFCC shows 1300-1330, 300 kW, 67 degrees from Tiganeshti (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 17595, looking for REE, May 3 at 1300, but nothing there, audiblizing ROMANIA [q.v.] on 17600. Finally cut on the air late at *1302:15 amid news about, what else, UBL. Also with token English news at 1435 by same announcer as yesterday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY. 9830, May 2 at 2201 check, weak broadcast signal obliterated by RTTY which is constantly on this frequency. V. of Turkey still hasn`t caught on that they have such a problem with their preferred summer channel in English to North America, this being at least the third year they have stuck to it. Do they do any monitoring, or even look at reception reports, let alone DX publications???
15450, May 3 at 1304 VOT filling time with multi-lingual IDs during what should be the English broadcast; 1308 `Question of the Month`, but poor reception and I could not copy anything but the deadline of 31 May. Found it on website:
http://www.trt-world.com/trtworld/en/newsDetail.aspx?HaberKodu=71aff990-a2d1-4c4a-8b0b-75fd89a20ab3
which is for January! Altho ``posted 28.04.2010, updated 31.12.2010``. Anyhow, three listeners get a small present, not just by answering correctly whatever the May question is, but also by being luckily drawn. I`d rather win a trip to Turkey, but the essay contest is kaput (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 17530, May 3 at 1320, R. Sawa going from Arabic news back to music, still here with good signal via KUWAIT. The schedule changes at least every week. The latest from Ivo Ivanov as of May 1:
0800-1100 on 15780 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg
0800-1100 on 17880 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg
1100-1300 on 15780 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg
1100-1300 on 17840 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg
1300-1430 on 13690 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg
1300-1430 on 17530 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg
1430-1500 on 17530 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg
1430-1500 on 17785 BOT 100 kW / 350 deg
1500-1600 on 17540 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg
1500-1600 on 17785 BOT 100 kW / 350 deg
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9370, WTJC still spurring, May 3 at 0545 with spikes audible around 9345, 9395 at music modulation peaks; 0556 noticed a song about Jesús in Spanish, tho I am not aware of a definite Spanish broadcast from them at this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15825, WWCR, May 3 at 1311 has VG signal during black gospel music hour, S9+15, but not enough to audiblize the plus/minus 15.6 kHz spurs. A sporadic-E boost, but weakened again at 1326. The 6m QSO maps a couple hours later showed Es openings over SE USA. Nothing seen on channel 2 here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 13570, WINB, May 3 at 1313 is signing off with ID, contact info including phone number, big hum also goes off at 1313:40*. This is the usual closing on weekdays, and I have not discovered when they come back on, contrary to their still displayed schedule claiming 24/7, including `Good Friends Radio` at 12-19, but GFR seems to have escaped from WINB. Maybe the resumption is at 19 for `Global Spirit Proclamation` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. That master mathematician and prophet, Harold Camping, has refined his Rapture schedule --- it will start at 6 pm local time around the world on May 21. All eyes on Tonga at 0500 UT, where there are plenty of Christians! But are they that gullible? I was listening to him for a few LOL minutes at 1334 May 3 on WYFR 11910 // 11830 over RHC. He was also talking about 5 foolish virgins and 5 other (wise?) virgins, and Rev. 18:8 onward. Bonus: *another* non // Harold Camping on 11865 with other Bible stuff (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
