March 2007 ABDX Journal
Vol 2. Issue 3
Editors Corner:
ABDX is still growing. In March, we grew by 5 to 152.
ABDX has had some additions…
Powell Way III has accepted a position as the third moderator on
ABDX. Phil, Mike, and I thank Powell for accepting this position.
The ABDX team now consists of:
Kevin Redding - List Owner/Moderator
listowner@americanbroadcastdx.com
Phil Rafuse - Moderator
Powell Way III - Moderator
Michael Richard - Webmaster webmaster@americanbroadcastdx.com
We enjoy seeing our members who have made it to the “Hall of Fame” for
those of us with faces for radio! If you are a member and want to be in the
Rogues Gallery, send your picture to
webmaster@americanbroadcastdx.com.
The big news for this month was the FCC deciding to open up the MW band
to IBOC digital 24 hours a day. Needless to say this caused a tremendous
amount of commenting on the ABDX mail list. We have a large number of
IBOC logs. They will be in the regular “The Broadcast Band” and “The
Line of Sight” segments of the Journal but they will be in RED.
ABDX is STILL looking for those who would like to edit a section of the
Journal. If you are interested, email listowner@americanbroadcastdx.com .
Only submissions from ABDX members will be accepted unless the editor
decides the information is so important that it should be added. This will
probably be very rare, Should you receive this and you are not a member, go
to this URL and tell us a little about you and we will consider you for
membership.
This is the site to join ABDX.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/
The ABDX website URL is:
www.americanbroadcastdx.com or www.abdx.org
The ABDX CME Journal is available to all at no cost. Please pass it around
to your DXing friends and also post it on other lists as well.
You can get your copy of the journal at www.abdx.org
The March CME announcement:
ABDX is announcing the March CME.
LW - Any broadcast station or beacon
MW - Back per popular demand by one of our favorite Florida DXers the range DX
segment. This month will cover 900 - 1190 kHz.
HF - Per request, logging of DX programs on such as World of Radio, DXers
Unlimited, Bulgaria's DX Program, DX Corner from Japan, DXing With Cumbre,
Allan Weiner Worldwide, Radio Weather, etc... For a good look at the times and
frequencies please visit Glenn Hauser's
URL http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html .
FM/TV - This is your time of year. FM and TV should be SMOKIN HOT with Trop
Ducting. Any log anywhere on the band.
Satellite - Any logging or program note.
NOAA WX Band - Any logging. Should be a good month for it with Trop season
starting.
Nuthin' But Net - Internet Radio logs and URLs are gladly accepted.
ABDX will accept all loggings but these are the preferred areas for the month.
This CME starts 1 MAR 0000 and ends 31MAR 2359. Report LOCAL TIME for
LW, MW, FM and TV, UTC for HF broadcast [SW].
You may use any format to compile your logs that You wish. We hope to see your
logs this month.
What are you hearing?
The April CME announcement:
This is the Morris Sorensen CME which remembers Morris, an early member of
ABDX in Winnipeg, Canada. Morris was a great person and DXer. We at ABDX
remember him every April with a CME in his name. We have the Morris
Sorensen CME at this time as it when we heard of his passing last year.
This CME is focused on HF reception. This is the time of year when MW
reception is poor and soon we will go into the lightning storm season. FM is not
yet on for Es but ok for Tr ducting. Because of this, we are all looking for as many
HF logs as we can get on any meter band or frequency. Get out that HF portable
of yours, clip a wire to the antenna and toss it in a tree. You can easily hear the
entire world.
On MW, since professional baseball starts, we are looking for logs of baseball
games, baseball scores, baseball advertisements, and sports talk about baseball.
On FM, we will accept baseball logs and any other unusual catches via Tr, Es.
Ms, and even Au reception.
We are looking for baseball and unusual catches on the TV as well.
WX logs are always accepted, let us know what you hear.
NBN - Nothing But Net logs, let us know what you find, we get some very
interesting streams from listeners on ABDX.
LF -Send in your beacons. This is the band that you can actually get that 400W
station from Tahiti or Iceland from inside the North American Continent. This is
what I call the real DX band.
Morris, here's 73s wherever you are!
Kevin Redding, Phil Rafuse and Mike Richard, the ABDX crew.
The Broadcast Band
Scott Fybush – Rochester, NY
Drake R8A, McKay Dymek / DA-5 amplified ferrite rod
Lots of electrical noise here making anything useful on 740/860
difficult, but with CHWO and CJBC both off, I have WAMO-PA on 860, with
a promo at 0000 EDT 3/2 promoting the "Bev Smith Show," and a lot of
noise so far on 740.
HD – Sangean HDT-1 / supplied Loop
3/24
990 WLGZ Rochester standards "Legends 990", 18 mi (weak)
1180 WHAM Rochester news-talk, 8 mi
1280 WHTK Rochester sports-talk, 2 mi
Keith McGinnis – Hingham, MA
Sangean HDT-1 / RS Loop
1030 WBZ
Boston MA 6 miles (decoded fine...something tells me it would
decode with a paper clip)
1260 WMKI
Boston MA 10 miles
1430 WXKS
Medford MA 17 miles (took the longest of the locals to decode)
IEN-GA Ira Elbert New, III, Watkinsville – GA
DRAKE R8B 135' N/S Wire / SR III
570 WIDS KY Russell Springs - 03/10/07 1904 - Gospel Music. Weak, but
steady signal above the mix. "570, Southern Kentucky Gospel".
970 WFSR KY Harlan - 03/10/07 2003 - Gospel Music. Good signal with the
occasional fade under WGTK, Louisville, KY. "You're listening to 970,
WFSR".
1600 KLEB LA Golden Meadow - 03/10/07 2205 - Zydeco Music, Oldies and
The Blues. Decent, steady signal above the mix of stations on the frequency.
"The Rajun' Cajun, KLRZ, 100.3" and "1600, KLEB. Golden Meadow".
Kevin Redding – Gilbert, Arizona
Rx As Noted Below – Q-Stick +
Heard on an RCA Superadio III nekkid:
580 WIBW Topeka, KS 3/4 2325 with ad about KS State HS BKB coverage
and ID. Surprisingly good signal and on for quite a while. Still don't know if I am
going to keep this radio. Its hot but has two real bad spots. I fear the others will
be the same.
1270 KDJI Holbrook, AZ 3/7 0830 running G. Gordon Liddy, going into
"No Name News" // 970 Show Low, AZ.
1170 KCBQ San Diego, CA 3/7 0835 giving ID.
1160 KSL Salt Lake City, UT 3/7 0837 Grant and Amanda running a
radiothon.
970 KVWM Show Low, AZ 0855 "You're listening to the G-Man on 970
KVWM Show Low and 1270 KDJI Holbrook" Heavy QRM from KKNT 960.
930 KAFF Flagstaff, AZ 3/7 0857 C&W "A Modern Day Romance."
3/11
Was playing with the Digital Superadio last night and found remarkable CX for EW reception and KOMO 1000 which was an outlier but a huge signal.
All the usual eastern/midwest stations were in such as WGN, WBBM, WLS,
WHO, WHAS, WSM and so on. N-S was fairly unremarkable except for KOMO
1000 being smokin' hot. Nothing from Canada since as soon as I hear KOMO I
start looking for Canadians as its my bellwether.
Sangean HDR-1 and RS Loop
3/24
Here's what I get off a Sangean HDR-1, Radio Shack VU75XR antenna for
FM and Radio Shack Loop for AM here in Gilbert, AZ.
550 KFYI News - 60 dB
620 KTAR Sports but off today
860 KMVP Stunting and off today
Phil Rafuse – Stratford, PEI, Canada
Collins R-392 and 6’ copper pipe antenna or Pontiac Vibe Radio and whip
3/7
1521 Saudi Arabia is very strong and clear tonight on the Collins R390A set to 2KC bandwidth, in spite of a strong WWKB on 1520.
567 RTE 1 Ireland very strong also
1134 Croatia strong as usual
864 France coming in fairly well
These three on the R-390A using 4KC bandwidth.
3/21
After watching 2 hours of the R-390A video [9 more to go as I have the
addendum too] I fired up the R-390A for a quick bandcruise from 530 to
1700. The MW band is very lively - TAs, LAs, USA and Canada.
Put in a DVD burner and a firewire card in Dell #2 too, while a 14
month old boy was watching and "helping" and a 4 year old girl was
playing video games on Dell #1. And, got them to bed too.
A busy night, and now I'm listening to a very clear 800 VOWR on the R390A. RTE 1 on 567 is coming in very clear as well. Same goes for
1630 KCJJ. The Cubans own 670 as usual.
Alan Willie – Newfoundland, Canada
Yaesu FRG-100 and 60’ wire
909 - BBC Five Live, England , March 1 - 23:39 UT w/ Prgm on Sport
Development in UK , Five Live Id followed by Las Vegas tennis news
930 - CJYQ -St. John's, Newfoundland , March 2 - 00:15 UT w/
Miser.ca promo, Radio Newfoundland ID , PSA on drinking and driving
945 - Radio France , Toulouse France March 1 - 23:40 UT w/ Radio
France id by woman followed by a commentary in French
950 - CKER - Sydney, Nova Scotia , March 2 - 00:38 UT w/ Max -950
ID , Sydney Photography Shop Ad, Government PSA followed by an
oldies song
970 - WZAN - Portland, Maine , MARCH 3 - 2:00 UTC w/ CNN Radio
news "9-70 WZAN" ID , weather
990 - CBY - Cornerbrook, Newfoundland March 2 - 21:58 UT w/
interview of winner on Deal or No Deal program, World At Six News ,
CBC ID
1008 - R. Punto ,Canary Islands March 2 - 21:00 UT w/ Abba song,
station id "Radio Punto, jingle, News,song by Rolling Stones
1026 - SER Spain March 2 - 22:38 UT w/ Radio Exterior Espana Id,
Political commentary in Spanish
1089 - Talk Sport Radio - England , March 1 - 23:50 UT w/ ID and
Prgm promo, Coca Cola UK Football promo
1130 - WBBR New York, NY , March 3 - 2:19 UT w/ "Bloomberg 11-30 ,
Worth Every Minute " ID, ING Direct Ad
1134 - Hrvatska Radio - Croatia , March 2 - 23:26 UT w/ News in
English You're listening to Croatian Radio, The Voice of Croatia
ID , weather report , program on Croatian heritage
1140 - CBI - Sydney, Nova Scotia , March 1 - 23:46 UT w/CBC id's ,
Prgm on the play , "Babes In The Woods"
1010 WINS - New York, NY , March 6; 1:05 UT w/ News, Weather ,
Visiting Nurse Service of New York PSA , "10-10 WINS Newstime ID"
1010 CFRB - Toronto, Ontario , March 6 ; 1:08 UT w/ News, Sports,
CFRB ID, Weather and Dionne Warwick Concert promo
1030 WBZ - Boston, Mass , March 5; 1:48 UT w/ Disney Institute
promo / WBZ ID, Hair Loss Ad followed by Boston Bruins hockey
broadcast
1053 Talksport Radio , England , March 5; 0:00 UT w/ News , Football
News , Talksport ID, Promo for John Gault Show
1062 R. Danmarks , Kalundborg , March 3; 21:44 UT w/ interval signal
with announcement in Danish, then into commentary in Danish
1070 CBA - Moncton, New Brunswick , March 4; 1:00 UT w/ CBC News/
weather forecast/ CBC Radio One 1070 Moncton ID, show about The
Beatles
1080 WTIC - Hartford, Connecticut , Mar 6; 00:18 UT w/ Ad for
Nationwide Insurance with mention of Connecticut office, back to game
broadcast from Civic Center
1100 WTAM - Cleveland , Ohio , March 5; 00:05 UT w/ "News On Demand"
ID / Weather / "Newsradio WTAM 1100 " ID / mention of WTAM.com
1107 RNE 5 - Spain , March 3 ; 21:39 UT w/ Report in Spanish about
United Nations and Pakistan
1110 WBT - Charlotte, NC , March 5 ; 1:35 UT w/ "Newstalk 11-10 WBT "
ID, morning news promo, Clarke Howard Show
1120 KMOX - St. Louis, Mo., March 3 ; 21:35 UT w/ promo for Jazz at
the Bistro, I Love Jazz prgm, St. Louis Jazz Orchestra
1150 CHGM - Gaspe, Quebec , March 4 ; 5:16 UT w/ CHGM ID in french,
Hot Country promo, country songs in french
1179 Sweden, Radio Sweden , March 3 ; 21:50 UT w/ program in English
on women's rights in Iraq
1190 WLIB , New York, NY , Mar 6 ; 00:53 UT w/ Ads for Ovaltine and
Advil, Mental Illness PSA, "1190 WLIB Your Praise and Inspiration
station" ID
900 - CKDH - Dartmouth, Nova Scotia - March 10; 00:30 UT w/ ID "900
CKDH" ,weather forecast ,local ads
920 - CJCH - Halifax, Nova Scotia - Mar 10; 00:00 UT w/ Halifax Moose
Hockey broadcast, real estate promo
940 - CINW - Montreal , Quebec - March 7; 00:30 UT w/ "News940
Montreal" ID , news,sports,morning show promo, traffic and weather
972 - NDR - Hamburg, Germany - March 6; 22:45 UT w/ news type program
in German with audio clips in English.
981 - RTA - Algeria - March 9; 22:34 UT w/ arabic music and chants
1040 - CJMS - Montreal, Quebec - March 10; 00:05 UT w/ "Looking For
Love" song in french and numerous other country vocals in French
1050 - WEPN - New York, NY - March 9 ; 2:00 UT w/ Sports scores
followed by sports talk show "1050 ESPN " ID
1053 - LJB Tripoli Libya - March 9; 20:50 UT w/ Arabic music and
vocals
1098 - RNE5- Spain - Mar 10; 0010 UT w/ "Radio Nacional de Espana' "
ID , commentary by man
1160 - WSKW - Skowhegan, Maine - March 6; 22:24 UT w/ ESPN Radio ID,
sportstalk show
1170 - R. Farda , United Arab Emirates - Mar 10; 00:25 UT w/ various
pop hits in English and Arabic, Radio Farda id , program of news in
Arabic
Jay Heyl – Orlando, FL
Kaito 2100 / Panasonic RF-2200
I was using the RF-2200 before turning out the light and started upward from
900. There was quite a cacophony on 920, but then, out of the muddy mess I
clearly heard a male announcer say, "KYST". These weren't familiar call letters
so I had to get out of bed to go look it up. Texas City, TX. A distance of over 800
miles at 1kW.
I think this may be my best distance/power logging, assuming they weren't using
daytime power. I probably benefited quite a bit by most of the trip being over
water.
This is my cumulative MW log of the CME frequencies for the month. I
tended to concentrate toward the lower end of the range. A couple of
the frequencies I think I could have worked every night and come up
with something different.
No loggings from the car this month. My new Kaito KA-2100 proved
useful, though switching between it and the RF-2200 I was often
reminded of just how useful the gyro ferrite antenna is on the
RF-2200. It makes the whole experience of hunting for stations up and
down the dial so much better. I can't believe no one has put a gyro
antenna on a portable radio in 25 years.
3/4/2007 0745- 910.0 WTWD, Plant City, FL UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Kaito KA-2100 - Orlando, FL
"Tampa Bay's Christian Talk"
3/7/2007 0005- 940.0 WMAC, Macon, GA UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Acura TL Factory Radio - Orlando, FL
ID during news
3/8/2007 0500- 970.0 WFLA, Tampa, FL UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Kaito KA-2100 - Orlando, FL
C2CAM. ID at TOH.
3/9/2007 0521- 1,060.0 KYW, Philadelphia, PA UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Kaito KA-2100 - Orlando, FL
Sports, news
3/9/2007 0530- 1,080.0 WHOO, Kissimmee, FL UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Kaito KA-2100 - Orlando, FL
ESPN Radio
3/9/2007 0534- 1,040.0 WHO, Des Moines, IA UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Kaito KA-2100 - Orlando, FL
"News-radio 10-40" into Mike Reagan
3/9/2007 0600- 1,120.0 KMOX, St. Louis, MO UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Kaito KA-2100 - Orlando, FL
"The Voice of St. Louis"
3/15/2007 0430- 1,040.0 WHO, Des Moines, IA UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL
"News radio 10-40, WHO"
3/15/2007 0435- 1,060.0 KYW, Philadelphia, PA UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL
ID coming out of traffic report.
3/15/2007 0438- 1,080.0 WHOO, Kissimmee, FL UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL
ESPN radio
3/22/2007 0454- 1,130.0 WBBR, New York, NY UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL
"Beneath the Sea" at Meadowlands Expo. "Bloomberg 11-3-0". ID presumed
3/29/2007 0443- 920.0 KYST, Texas City, TX UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL ID popped out of the
mud.
3/29/2007 0449- 930.0 WFXJ, Jacksonville, FL UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL
Fox Sports, Jacksonville.
3/29/2007 0450- 930.0 RR, Unknown CUBA
33333 - Spanish (SS) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL
Radio Reloj, clock and di-dah-dit di-dah-dit heard. No ID.
3/29/2007 0456- 950.0 WTLN, Orlando, FL UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL
Religious talk. ID presumed.
3/29/2007 0459- 950.0 RR, Unknown CUBA
33333 - Spanish (SS) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL
Radio Reloj clock and di-dah-dit di-dah-dit.
3/30/2007 0505- 920.0 WGKA, Atlanta, GA UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL
ID coming out of weather
3/31/2007 0800- 940.0 WMAC, Macon, GA UNITED STATES
33333 - English (EE) - Panasonic RF-2200 - Orlando, FL
ID coming out of ad for weather forecast.
Norbert Ansay – Warwick, RI
Accurian HD Radio supplied loop
630 WPRO providence R.I. IBOC decodes but SQ is horrid and HD sounds like a
streaming web page with dial up. WPRO sounds better in ANALOG !!!!!!
920 WHJJ Provience R.I. HD decodes SQ better then WPRO but i am not
impressed. A good tube radio with wide analog will run circles around this.
710 WOR NY NY is almost deaf can hardly hear the analog signal never mind
dream of decoding the hd signal.
1030 WBZ Boston MA Noisy analog signal no luck with the HD signal.
Heard on Kaito 1103 nekkid from Warwick R.I.
1370 WDEA Ellsworth Maine 7:58 EDT playing song by Neil Diamond then
slogan music of your life followed by TOH ID WDEA . Notes: signal faded up
strong at time of TOH ID !!!!! Also note they are sending their signal away from
me towards the SE over the Alantic on night pattern.
Bruce Carter – Galveston, TX
GE Superadio III and ground rod
I did it right, with a GE SR-3 and grounding rod driven deep into damp sand. My
goal was to (1) replicate observations from 30 years ago, and (2) see if the
saltwater / barrier island effect works as well at Galveston as it does in Daytona
Beach shores.
A bit of background - from my home in Daytona Beach shores, using a GE
Superradio 2 (there was no 3 at the time), I was able to hear every 50 kW clear
from the East coast as well as a fair number of Midwest stations - daytime. This
was absolutely dependable over a year period. When I moved inland a couple of
miles, the effect was gone.
Galveston DX was supurb, but NO clears over 500 miles away were heard.
WWL was a strong as a local, so was 50 kW daytimer KCTA in Corpus Christi.
New stations on 1050 and 1070 made it difficult to replicate my previous
reception of 1060 from new Orleans. While it was clear that there was some
saltwater effect with station along the Gulf coast, WBAP from Ft. Worth was
badly degraded, as was WOAI San Antonio. There was no trace of midwest
stations such as KMOX, WHO, or any of the Chicago clears. WLS - by the way was heard on my trip 30 years ago unusually early in the afternoon for skywave.
I did note a high level of ambient noise on the AM band - much more so than I
did 30 years ago (granted a Radio Shack tuned RF model from that era is not as
sensitive as a GE SR-3, but I had extensively improved the Radio Shack to make
it a respectable DX radio). I attribute the noise more to IBOC sidebands from
distant stations than to increased man-made noise. An example - KLIF 570
sidebands were much louder than its main analog signal, effectively obliterating a
distant 580 I heard 30 years ago. WOAI's analog signal was fairly strong - but
much less so than in Houston, but its were as loud as local stations. I can only
wonder if the salt water effect was bringing in IBOC hash from greater distances -
it would take a while to figure out candidate stations. I still say - if they ever cut
loose with this stuff at night - the AM band will be unlistenable world wide
because the sidebands will propagate much further than the analog portion. This
does, though, open an interesting possibility for when stations go full digital DX'ing of full digital stations may be phenomenal.
There was no trace of stations from Tampa Bay or Key West that I was targeting
- although that was mainly because there were closer stations on those
frequencies. Given the strength of WWL - I think it is very possible to have
daytime reception across the Gulf. Galveston may be the wrong location because
of nearby IBOC from Houston, crowding the band, etc. I may try South Padre
Island on a future trip.
Harry Helms – Smithville, TX
Sony ICF 2010
3/23
I tuned around last night to see if I could spot any AM stations running IBOC, and
I found none. I started with my two semi-local IBOCers, KTSA-550 and WOAI1200, and then slowly scanned the entire band using the narrow Kiwa filter in the
ICF-2010. No trace of IBOC digihash at all.
Without trying to put anyone down, I think there's some massive overreaction
going on here. It remains to be seen whether night AM IBOC is widely
implemented or whether it survives at all. There is this entity called "the public"
and there is concept called "a market," and those two are going to have far more
to do with the ultimate prospects of AM IBOC, or the survival of the AM band,
than anything the FCC, the NAB, or DXers do. As I wrote yesterday, I've yet to
see one compelling reason why the public should give a damn about AM or even
FM IBOC. I doubt we'll hear "I'm getting that iPod and FM modulator out of my
car, because with AM IBOC I can listen to Gold Bond Medicated Powder ads in
near-FM quality!" from too many people.
Everybody relax. Do some tequila shots and watch the NCAA tournament. This
play has several more acts before its conclusion.
David Slate – Hendersonville, TN
DX398 nekkid
6:02 950 WORD Spartanburg, SC Fox News radio and id "......on newstalk
950 W- O- R- D" New !!!!!!
6:07 630 WLAP Lexington, KY Lexington area ads (UK sports med center...
etc) NEW!
5:27 PM 1660 WFNA, Charlotte, NC w. local ads ment the Piedmount and
Charlotte areas NEW!
5:34 940 WMAC, Macon, GA Gun store ad, concert promo ment Macon (for
a bluegrass band no doubt ) NEW!
5:37 680 WCNN, Atlanta, GA with Thrashers radio network pre game show
looked up the radio network list on the team site i have the flagship NEW!
Brent Taylor – Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
Sony 2010 barefoot
3/4
Virgin 1215, Saudi 1521, and Croatia 1134 all yielding audio here on Prince
Edward Island this evening. Many other carriers/hets noted while casually
toodling the dial here.
3/22
While tuning the dial this morning just before 6 a.m. local time I checked WFAN
660 to get the 20/20 sports scores at 4:40, and heard an all-news station with
male anchor waaaay in the background. I spun the radio to knock down WFAN a
bit and the reception of the other station improved. At 4:45 the station was going
through sports scores also, and at 4:50 it faded up to a clear "traffic and weather
together on the ones" and gave a forecast, with a temperature check mentioning
Calgary.
Never heard the CFFR ID, but I have little doubt.
Gear was a barefoot ICF-2010, on a turntable. There was yet another station
playing music in the background, that eventually faded up to be as strong as
the all-news station. Never IDed it, but the format appeared to be C&W.Also
noted Chicago better than usual on 670 (usually dominated nightly by Cuba
here).
If Calgary, it was my best domestic DX from this temporary location in
Charlottetown so far. I move into the new house across the river in Stratford on
March 30, and I'm anxious to see if it's as electrically quiet at night as it is here in
downtown Charlottetown.
I'm stoked!
Martin Foltz –Mission Viejo, CA
RS TRF barefoot
3/5
Listening on the kitchen table with the TRF.
910 KNEW Oakland, CA 8:51 PM PST, Bill O'Reilly, ID at ToH, the most
dominant but has deep fades
910 XEAO Mexicali, BCA 8:52 PM PST Spanish music weak and in/out, 8:58
faded up for an ID
910 KGME Phoenix, AZ 8:52 PM PST Fox Sports Radio in KNEW null, didn't
hear calls but heard Phonenix and an AZ ad.
910 KECR? El Cajon, CA 8:56 PM PST rel faded up briefly so a tentative. They
are a daytime regular but nights are tough.
Only missing the Hesperia station. This is a crowded frequency here.
920 KBAD Las Vegas NV 9:35 PM PST ESPN Radio 9-20 slogan, sports talk,
the dominant station tonight, no calls heard
920 KXLY Spokane WA 9:59 PM PST faded up to ToH with ID, into ABC news,
NEW ONE!
920 Ensenada?9:47 PM PST Spanish music in occasionally
920 UNID 9:35 PM PST NOS station in there occasionally
920 UNID 9:35 PM PST Talk station in there, could have been KXLY.
Keith Beesley – Seattle, WA
RCA Superadio III
Heard 850 KHHO, Tacoma WA today between 12:30-1300 PST with IBOC test.
Classical violin concerto with tell-tale hash on either side of the
main signal. Normally they run Fox Sports format.
960 CFAK Calgary, Alberta, "The Fan 960," with play-by-play of FlamesWild NHL game, local commercials at 1950 PDT 3/17;
1010 CBC Radio One, Calgary, Alberta, with relay of Voice of Russia
program "Kaleidoscope," mention of Russian Far East, Vladisvostok, @
0020 PDT 3/18; heard clearly on SR III despite being right next to
local powerhouse KOMO 1000;
1130 "News 1130," Vancouver BC, all-news format with local traffic,
weather, mention of upcoming St. Patrick's Day parade 3/17.
Paul LaFrienere – Grand Marais, MN
GE Superadio III
1400 WLJN MI Elmwood Township. 1728 CDT. Fair signal for about two
minutes with calendar of events for Traverse City. 1730 I.D. "WLJN Elmwood
Township--WLJW Cadillac." Into REL program. NEW.
Tim Hall – Chula Vista, CA
Receiver/Antenna
3/20
KURS-1040 noted with oldies tonight. DJ's name was C.J. Stone, I think.
Probably a syndicated program. I suppose this means the LMA with a local
Baptist church has expired.
Noted with a nice big signal as I was driving across the San Diego-Coronado Bay
Bridge Sunday night 9:30pm PDT - "The big 8-70, WWL, New Orleans." Just like
the good old days! WBAP-820 was stronger than usual too.
Jay Rogers – East Providence, RI
Receiver/ Antenna
Received: overmodulated SS on 570, 710 & 890. Must be Cuba. 570 def. Radio
Reloj/The Voice of Satan (when I was in Florida 570 was really strong and the
male voice sounded like how you'd imagine the devil to sound: really growly.
Bob Foxworth – Tampa, FL
Accurian HD Radio/supplied loop
Here are my logs from northwest Tampa on the Accurian, using the stock usergrade antennas, loop (AM) and dipole (FM) made around 6 pm local time. This is
just about status quo from a survey I did a few weeks ago.
AM there are the same four...
620 WDAE display shows just (date-time) sportstalk
820 WMGG display scrolls website address, Spanish mx
970 WFLA display shows just (the words "artist-title")(no actual data)
newstalk
1250 WHNZ display shows just (date-time) Today has pad data but
would not decode at all, This signal is always a problem decode, and is
a local.
AM stations which the rcvr should get, even in analog, are 1380 and 1590
(this market) and 540 Orlando. None of those could be made audible due to the
rcvr-generated noise on those freqs even with the loop at max distance from the
rcvr.
The Whole Earth
Jerry Lenamon - Waco, TX
Drake R8B and Sloper
Malagasy Republic: RN Malagasy 5010, sign on at 0257z with anthem and
voices. I don't know if it is intentional but the audio was way down on the lower
sideband. Good quality on the upper sideband.
India: AIR (Bangalore) 15175 at 1530z 500 kw to Ea Africa in Gujarati (couldn't
prove it by me). Gujarati is not a local language in Ea Africa so there must be an
expatriate community as the target. I seldom hear trans polar signals at this time
of day (midmorning here GMT -5) with the 9000+ mile path from India about 55%
darkness - 45 % daylight. //11620 was not quite as strong as 19m with a slight
delay in audio.
Mauno Ritola – Finland
SDR-IQ AOR 7030
3/15-16
I checked the frequency by SDR-IQ and AOR 7030+ with Spectrum Lab between
1000-1700,both with listening and observing carrier traces and found the
following stations:
6099.72 presumed Voice of Malaysia. Thai sounding language at 1405, also
Arabic at 1630. Sign-off at 1700.
6099.97 International Radio of Serbia. ID at 1430. The wobbling (±1Hz) carrier
visible already at 1200. First audio at 1403, probably Serbian, definitely not
English. Long carrier breaks, and when carrier was on, audio was often missing.
More continuous since 1430 and languages acc. to the lately publicized
schedule. Maybe Dragan could check what programming they have before 1400,
6100 CRI 1100-1357
6100 UNID after 1400, presumed KCBS, right on frequency, which is really
exceptional for this station.
6100.02 Radio Vo Kashmir 1415-1535
6100.55 R Rossii, Kyzyl until s/off 1400.
3/17
Today a slightly different pattern for some stations:
6099.72 Vo Malaysia signed off at 1534.
6099.97 Int. R. of Serbia did not have carrier on before 1400.
6100.55 R. Rossii, Kyzyl still on at 1610.
J. Armani – Denver, CO
Radio/Antenna
9580KHz Radio Australla. News Update. Talking about the Tornado in Alabama
on Early Friday morning. & About Land Slides on some Islands. Great Reception.
Steven Wiseblood – Boca Chica Beach, TX
Degen DE-1102 / 100’ wire
2310 AUSTRALIA VL8A ABC Alice Springs;
Woman announcer in English @1220, "You are Listening to ABC...",
interview program //2325, 2485
2325.0 AUSTRALIA VL8T, ABC Tennant Creek;
Woman announcer in English @1220, ABC ID, playing song "This LAND is
MINE", strongest of all 3 ABC outlets this morning, //2310, 2485
2485 AUSTRALIA VL8K ABC Katherine
Interview program between two women @1215, mention program originated
from "ABC Melbourne"; ABC ID, playing song "This LAND is MINE" //2310,
2325
3250 KOREA NORTH R. Pyongyang
orchestral song @1202, annoouncements by man in Korean,
3260 PAPUA NEW GUINEA R. Madang
island/reggae vocal music @1145; 1150 news by Man in pidgin
3266.6 INDONESIA RRI Gorontalo, Sulawesi;
Light island vocal ballads @1148; 1158 IS, Woman in INDO with ID; news by
man in INDO @1200
3315 PAPUA NEW GUINEA R. Manus
light vocal/reggae ballads @1139 3320 KOREA NORTH R. Pyongyang Light
instrumental-orchestral music @ 1134, Woman in Korean with local
announcements
3335 PAPUA NEW GUINEA R. East Sepik
News by woman in pidgin @1130; light reggae-island vocal ballads;
3345 INDONESIA RRI Ternate; talk by Man in INDO @ 1132;
S. ASIAN vocal ballad @1206
3365 PAPUA NEW GUINEA R. Milne Bay, Alotau;
Good carrier but weak audio @1207, talks by man in pidgin, light island/vocal
ballads
3385 PAPUA NEW GUINEA R. East New Britain, Rabaul;
Island/reggae vocal ballads @1135; 1208 Two men in English with Christian
sermon "From the OLD TESTAMENT as well as the NEW"
Kevin Redding – Gilbert, AZ
DX398 nekkid
Heard on a nekkid DX-398:
2500 WWV Ft. Collins, CO 3/19 0345 time pips and announcements.
3185 WWRB Manchester, TN 3/19 0346 REL pgm.
3215 WWCR[p] Nashville, TN 3/19 0348 black man preaching, poor
modulation.
4316 NMN [USB] Chesapeake, VA 3/19 giving WX for Mariners.
5000 WWV Ft. Collins, CO 3/19 time pips and announcements.
5025 R. Rebelde Havana, Cuba 3/19 0407 playing Cuban style guitar music.
5070 WWCR Nashville, TN 3/19 0408 with preaching.
5755 KAIJ Dallas, TX 3/19 0410 preacher complaining about money.
5765 WWCR Nashville, TN 3/19 0411 more preaching.
5810 WEWN Vandiver, AL 3/19 0412 talking about psychologists looking for
God.
5850 WHRI Greenbush, ME 3/19 0413 weak with REL music.
5920 WBOH Newport, NC 3/19 0414 very weak more preaching.
5935 WWCR Nashville, TN 3/19 0415 Gene Scott who is still dead and
preaching.
5950 Radio Taiwan[?] Taipei , Taiwan. 3/19 0417 with CC b'c'st.
5960 R. Japan Sackville, NB, Canada 3/19 0418 with JJ pgm.
5975 R. Nederland Netherlands Antilles 3/19 0419 with DD pgm.
6055 R. Exterior de Espana Noblejas, Spain 3/19 0421 with classical
spanish guitar and saxophone in a jazz duet.
6090 The Caribbean Beacon The Valley, Anguilla 3/19 0422 more
preaching by the ever dead Gene Scott.
6165 R. Nederland Netherlands Antilles 3/19 0424 with DD news.
6175 Voice of Vietnam Sackville, NB 3/19 0426 with Asian type music and man
whistling.
6180 Radio Havana Havana, Cuba 3/19 0427 with SS Cuban music.
6190 China Radio Int'l Sackville, NB, Canada 3/19 0428 giving WX for Chinese
cities. 1C in Shanghai tonight.
6855 WYFR Okeechobee, FL 3/19 0430 Harold Camping preaching.
7205 Yakutsk Radio Yakutsk, Russia 3/19 0433 with RR news.
7315 WHRI Greenbush, ME 3/19 0435 barely above the noise floor.
9840 Voice of Russia Petropavlovsk, Russia 3/19 0439 Russian history lesson in
EE about Alexander the 2nd granting freedom to 23 million Russians.
Harry Helms –Smithville, TX
Sony 2010 with Kiwa Mods
Some "World of Radio" loggings made for the March CME and my pursuit of the
coveted HAG (Heard All Glenn) DX award (all days/times UTC):
5070 WWCR, Nashville, TN, tune-in 0321 3/4 with "DX Party Line" with Alan
Graham in progress; "Tip for Real Living" (maybe I should contribute my own
"Tips for Surreal Living" based on my expertise in that area), 0330 ID and
mention of "Saturday Night DX Block," into WOR #1348. Super strong signals
even with antenna totally retracted.
9930 WBCQ, Monticello, ME, WOR in progress 0411 3/5; weak signal, much
fading, copyable only with ECSS and LSB selected. I wouldn't have been able to
identify this save for Glenn's voice and subject matter
9955 WRMI, Miami FL, tune-in to WOR in progress 2231 3/3, good signal with
light fades. 7385 WRMI, Miami, FL, 1430 UTC 3/8; absolutely no trace of signal
at this scheduled World of Radio time. 9480 KAIJ, Frisco, TX, 1600 UTC 3/8;
again, no trace of signal at this scheduled World of Radio time.
Receiver for above two was Sony ICF-2010 with Kiwa filters. I used every trick in
the book---USB, LSB, ECSS, etc.---but couldn't pull even a hint of signal on
either frequency.
7305 Tried for WOR via WRMI 1339 3/26, but only an imagination-level "rumble"
that produced no definite ID.
7415 WBCQ, Monticello, ME, WOR in progress 0421 3/26, fair to good signals
but fady.
9330 WBCQ, Monticello, ME, WOR in progress 0311 3/26, fair signals when
tuned with LSB synchro detection and 2.4 kHz filter.
Glenn Hauser – Enid, OK
Yaesu FRG 7
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh, 15265, plays some great music which we often
listen to until 1500* But there is a lot of repetition; must have a limited library.
One song we hear over and over ran again March 1 until 1457 for about 5
minutes. It has a rapid and increasing beat, with clapping and shouting,
refrain played on an accordion-like instrument, the performers obviously having
a great time. Sure would like to get this off a webcast if there were any, but
I wonder if anyone knows more about it, or could even translate the lyrix, at
least give us an idea of what it`s about. It reminds us of an Irish reel (
** COSTA RICA. TIRWR, 5030, was distorted and splattering plus and minus 10
kHz, at 0739 March 1, bothering Rebelde on 5025, which normally has no
problem with it
** ECUADOR. Cervantes, like Einstein, would turn over in his grave if he knew
that HCJB were quoting him every day to further its Protestant evangelical
mission, in connexion with totally erroneous frequency announcement in ``el
idioma de Cervantes``, as heard March 2 at 1429:30 on 11960 claiming to be on
11760 and 9745
** GREECE. Hellenes Around the World, on VOG, Sat March 3 at 1407 was
audible poorly on Avlis 17525, so I checked // relay via SVO 15630. Barely
audible there so I switched on BFO to look for carrier dropoffs. Yes, one
happened in a few seconds. Audio on the two was unsynchronized, an echo
apart due to the different transmitter sites and/or feed routes
** GUINEA. While on Feb 26 around 0730 I was hearing R. Nederland in Dutch
on 7125, on March 1 at 0732 it was hilife music, going on for at least 10 minutes,
surely RTG; maybe RN was somewhere underneath it. Nominal sign-on for
Guinea is 0600
** MICRONESIA. Pacific Missionary Aviation is testing its new SW transmitter on
4755.16 to 4755.17, as discovered in Japan by H. Yokoi and S. Hasegawa, first
as an unID, heard there as early as 0830 and as late as 1300; only 500 watts.
It`s in the UT +11 timezone, so darkness hours are approximately 07-19 UT.
Frequency seems to be clear so should make it beyond Pacific Rim; too high
noise level here so far. This is a new SWBC radio country!
** U S A. Totally different propagation conditions from one night to the next
for the 7455 collision. Feb 28 it was WEWN on top, but March 1 at 0730 check it
was WYFR on top with WEWN barely detectable under it
** CUBA [and non]. RHC March 4 at 2330 with RHC IS and opening Esperanto,
Sunday only, on 9600, but heavy CCI from Vatican via SMG in Vietnamese;
Commies vs Catholix! There was no het so I assume XEYU was not on the air at
the moment. A bit later also found RHC Esperanto on // 5965. Looked up later in
EiBi, shows 9600 and 6140, which I had not checked, but 5965 may replace it.
He has 5965 in Creole during this semi-hour, and who knows, that may be the
case other days of week. Also, Praga Spanish via Canadá 6000 was in the clear
at 2334, no CubaRM from RHC or Rebelde or whatever is or was there
** GABON. Afropop Music Distraxion, 17660, went off much earlier than usual,
March 4 at 1445*, just after I had checked it and could already detect the
Saudi SAH at 1444; very poor propagation this day. Did not recheck to see if it
came back on before usual 1531*
** GUINEA. 7125, March 24 at 2332 had Conakry ID in French and timecheck,
music
** PHILIPPINES. Just as I tuned in a good signal on 11820, March 4 at 2327,
heard YL ID in English as Radio Veritas Asia, Quezón City, and that next
broadcast at 2330 would be in Kachin on 9645; a bit of horn music followed, but
off abruptly at 2328
** U S A. VOA News Now putting in a fine signal on 11725, March 4 at 2326
when it was my misfortune to tune in during their silly ballgame segment. This is
Tinang, Philippines at 150 degrees, nowhere near our direxion. Some problem
from WYFR 11720
** U S A. KVOH 17775 spurs again audible March 4 at 2318 as filthy gobs of
noise, or should I say, awful blobs of buzzes, around 17920 and 17630. At one
point I was able to correlate modulation peaks on 17920 and 17775. 17775 was
running S9+25 on the generous FRG-7 meter, while 17920 was peaking at S9+5,
with 17630 slightly weaker, both of them fading perceptibly unlike 17775
** U S A. In DXLD 7-026, Jeff White said WRMI is now relaying WRN M-F 22000200 UT Tue-Sat, on 7385, tho it may be harder to hear until the antenna is fully
repaired. Here`s what those four hours contain on the WRN NAm service:
2200 RTE Ireland, 2230 R. Romania International, 2300 R. Netherlands, 0000
Voice of Russia, 0030 Kol Israel, 0100 UN Radio, 0115 Vatican Radio, 0130 R.
Slovakia International
So Ireland is back on SW thru no effort of its own! Just wait, reports will
start to appear of these stations on 7385, not aware they are really listening
to WRMI. Who knows what will happen to the schedule from March 12 with DST
here and not there
** CUBA. Rapid clicking believed to be spur from one of the Cuban jammers
against R. Martí was found March 5 at 1325 on 11878, which is 52 kHz below
11930; however, nothing audible to match on 11982. Same type of pulsing also
found March 5 at 1436 on 15278, which is also 52 kHz below jamming on 15330,
and if there was something at +52, 15382, it was masked by huge RHC 15370
signal. The pulses on 11878 were again heard March 6 at 1610, bothering CRI
English on 11875
** MEXICO. XEYU is missing again; still no trace of 9599v March 5 at 1310;
however, XEXQ was audible on 6045 with classical music at 1329
** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. Looking for BSKSA in English at 1615 March 6 on
17660, it was nothing but an occasional SAH against an S9 + 17 dB signal from
WYFR in Portuguese via Ascension, wasting a lot of watts in this direxion
instead of Brasil
** TAIWAN [non]. RTI in English, fair and clear signal on 11995 March 6 at 1607
with news of Taiwan, also weather for Taiwan, Beijing and Japan. Per HFCC this
is now via Issoudun, France, at 75 degrees, having switched February 25 from
RFI French at 204 degrees:
11995 1600 1700 41,49 ISS 500 75 250207 250307 English F NEW TDF
11995 1600 1700 37W,46W ISS 500 204 291006 250207 French F RFI
(** MICRONESIA [non]. Have not yet seen any reports of PMA 4755 from North
America. Bad timing during my usual sleep cycle, but March 5 I was checking at
1248, and could hear no trace of it, just Indonesia on 4750. Also beware of R.
Imaculada Conceiçao, Brasil, also varying just above 4755
** U S A. Rapid steady pulsing, maybe 15 or 20 per second, unlike the Cuban
jammers, heard on 5890 and matching on 5950, March 5 at 0611. 5890 QRMing
VOA French via Greenville, and 5950 QRMing RTI Spanish via WYFR. I
seriously suspect the ailing WBOH transmitter is the source of these, since it is
halfway between 5890 and 5950, and this is typical of spurs to match equidistant
from center frequency. 5920 itself did not have any of this noise on it, tho
modulation is degraded.
I was again hearing the pulses at 1253, when 5920 was barely modulating with
music, now interfering with VOA Korean via Philippines on 5890, and after 1300
seriously wrecking RNZI on 5950, including during Mailbox after 1330. I could
also hear a trace of the same noise 30 kHz further down on 5860 at 1332, but
not on 5980 which had a station in Russian. At 1330, 5920 starting broadcasting
another long-dead preacher, Bob Jones, Sr.
** U S A. During an idle moment, I checked three SW frequencies carrying the
Power Hower, from GCN, and found them unsynchronized, March 5 at 1428:
5850 WWRB was first, followed a split second later by 5765 WWCR one or two
words behind, but it took 75 seconds before the same audio came across 9480
KAIJ!
George McClintock explains: KAIJ gets this program from an internet feed,
unlike the other stations; and there is an additional 36-second delay in the
program feed from KAIJ studios near Nashville to transmitter near Dallas
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh, 15265 via UK, March 7 from tune-in at 1454
until 1457 again playing our favorite song as in previous report. Maybe they run it
every day around 1450, some sort of station staple or theme? Propagation was
poor today, however
** CUBA. RHC, 15370 with usual big signal, March 7 at 1452, but lacking in
modulation; just some weak noise and traces of audio. Wiggle that patch cord!
OK on 15190 with usual much weaker signal aimed toward SSAm
** MEXICO. XEYU remains MIA from 9599.4v on various chex, including March 7
around 0720 and 1448. XEXQ, 6045, is still heard during favorable conditions,
altho much weaker than XEYU was, such as March 7 at 0722 with classical flute
music
** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI DRM again being heard, such as at 1504 March 7 on
7145; not sure if they are still taking a break not shown on schedule, in the 14-15
UT hour. Also noticed around 0630 on 9890 along with analog on 9870. Note the
currently posted schedule no longer shows DRM on 15720 at any time, but it also
omits any DRM at 1059-1259. Since 13840 was previously shown erroneously as
2259-1259, we cannot be sure this be totally correct either, and 13840 is now
not specified as either AM or DRM, at http://www.rnzi.com/pages/listen.php --``26 Feb 2007 - 26 Mar 2007 UTC kHz band Target Azimuth Days
0559-1058 9870 AM 9890 DRM Pacific 0°
1059-1259 13840 NW Pacific, Bougainville, PNG, Timor 325°
1300-1750 5950 AM 7145 DRM Pacific 0°
1751-1850 9765 AM 9890 DRM NE Pacific, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands 35°
1850-1950 11725 AM 11675 DRM Pacific 0°
1950-2258 17675 AM 11675 DRM Pacific 0°
2259-0558 15720 AM 17675 DRM Pacific 0°``
** U S A. Now it`s certain that the pulsing spurs around 5889 and 5951 are
indeed coming from the WBOH 5920 transmitter. March 7 at 0720, when there
were no other stations on 5890, I could detect some music along with the pulses,
and it matched what was playing on 5920 at the time. On 5950 a very strong
signal from RTI in English via WYFR almost overrode the pulses, but they were
still audible.
** U S A. Note that WORLD OF RADIO has been rescheduled on KAIJ, 9480,
from Friday at 2000 UT to Thursday at 1600 --- this week; from next week, March
15, time will have shifted to 1500. The other broadcast, on 5755, remains Friday
1130, shifting to 1030 with DST, altho subject to change.
WORLD OF RADIO on WWCR was missing again, Saturday March 3 at 1730
from 12160 where it had been for a few weeks. Various paid programming has
been appearing there sporadically, so we are not sure whether WOR will be
back. If so, the time will have shifted by March 17 to 1630 UT.
A projected time-shifted WOR schedule from March 11 now follows the nonshifted one at http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html
** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Have never had much luck with RN de la RASD
here on 48mb, but March 7 at 2303 on 6300, better signal than before altho still
wanting, on the ATS-909 in the yard, during brief check when playing music. How
long will this last? Others report the signal has definitely improved since its
previous appearance after a few weeks off
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. The Solh Theme, as we may as well call it, is indeed
appearing every day at the same time, it seems; at least on March 8, there it
was again starting at 1451, until 1457, on 15265 via Rampisham UK
** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Some more comments on that new
missionary station on 6030. They say the antenna is almost as large as a football
field --- is that as in American football, or as in soccer? Surely the latter would be
more apt in the CAR. This is probably a ``lazy H`` NVIS antenna, which the
HCJB engineers have been pushing and installing at various other remote
missionary stations, the anti-DX design which maximizes vertical incidence and
minimizes low-angle radiation suitable for long-distance reception. Nevertheless,
some DXers will eventually pull it in, no doubt. Since NVIS works in the daytime
in the tropical bands, it could be that most or all of their 8-hour broadcast day
is in the daytime, thus also avoiding DX QRM. If I were picking a frequency for
my new station, 6030 would be close to my last choice with megawatts of
dentroCuban jamming and R. Martí on it for much of the day --- unless I could
be sure those would not be propagating when I`m on the air.
Note also that the press release on this does not specify the name of the station,
just the organization running it, ICDI. So what will it actually be called on the air?
All ears on 6030, UT Monday at 0400 or whenever the R. Martí jammers go
silent, which should be our best shot at it propagationally, until somewhat past
local sunrise 0500 or so, IF it is on the air then. There might be another window,
especially in Europe, at 2100 after BBC Oman closes 6030, but is VOR
Kaliningrad really colliding with BBC for hours and hours, and running another
hour until 2200 when Martí comes on?
[Later:] With DST in effect in both Miami and Cuba by this coming UT Monday,
the Martí/DCJC silent period should start at 0300 UT, tho CAR unlikely to be on
that early
** ECUADOR. DRM has appeared on 15135-15140-15145, March 8 at 1458
check and continuing past 1500. HCJB has done this on 15140 before, and
Media Network confirms that`s what it is from a DRM forum.
That will ruin reception of Oman`s only English hour at 14-15 on 15140. I
wonder if the super signal from WYFR all day on 15130 will be a problem for
this. From HFCC it looks like 9820 will not bother much on 9815, 9820 or 9825,
however
** GREECE. ERA5 via SVO, 15630. Is it still testing and still cutting off every
few seconds? Yes, as it took only that long to confirm at 1500 March 8 before
and after a time signal
** NEW ZEALAND. Yes, RNZI is still turning off DRM during at least one hour
they claim it is running on their revised schedule: no sign of it on 7145,
March 8 at 1430; the day before I heard it back after 1500
** U S A. Re: WBOH CAUSING HARMFUL INTERFERENCE --- Dear Mr.
Hauser, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are passing this
information on to our engineers. We would welcome future feedback. In Christ's
service,
Checking further for WBOH spurs: March 8 at 0656 UT, 5920 was back on altho
weaker than usual and undermodulated, distorted, inferior reception to Colombia
on 5910. And the pulsing spurs were back too: on 5889 after 0700 I could
recognize the woman newscaster`s voice from USA Network as also on 5920.
The pulses could also be heard on 5951 interfering with Radio Taiwan
International in English via WYFR.
Another check at 1433 UT: 5920 was on but spurs not audible
Rapid pulsing noise heard here Mar 8 on both 5890 and 5950 in the Buffalo area
at about 1450, when I briefly tuned away from R Solh's great music on 15265 to
check. No stations interfered with at this time and no audio recovered from the
spurs, but WBOH loud and clear on 5920 so they indeed are the most likely
culprit. Wonder what they are using for a transmitter? 73 de Anne Fanelli
** U S A. R. Martí audible on 15290, March 8 at 1502, much weaker signal than
15330 but no jamming audible on 15290; maybe one of those spurs which
appear periodically. However, I could hear it on the FRG-7 with external antenna
but not on the YB-400 with internal. The huge RHC carrier was still open on
15370, so this may have been some kind of mix with that, strangely enough
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Another day in a row that R. Solh plays our favorite
tune at exactly the same time on 15265 via UK, March 10 at 1451-1457, but poor
reception compared to March 8 and 9. Olle Alm suspects that the entire
broadcast replays the same recording every day. That sure must cut down on
produxion, and feed costs. All they have to do is spin the same CDs at
Rampisham. We must admit we`re hooked on this tune, but what about the
intended audience? Surely it`s not effective PsyOp to play the same stuff every
day without variation, or is there some kind of mind-control theory to the
contrary? But the audience presumably is not captive, forced to listen. Or do
they pipe it into the prisons?
** CUBA. Rapid clix, buzz on 6080, March 9 at 0715, and also on 5930 are
explained thus: leapfrog mixing products of heavy dentroCuban jammers against
R. Martí on 5980 and 6030, 50 kHz above and below.
RHC, 5965, March 9 at 2230 opening Portuguese service which is not supposed
to be on this frequency! Per confusing schedule on website,
http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/frecuencia/frecuencias-espanol.htm
5965 at 2230 is Creole. Then checked 17705, which is supposed to be in
Guarani, but it was in French, and not Creole. FUBAR.
March 10 at 0620 check, too early for Polisario, RHC spur was still there on
6300 in English, 6060 leapfrog over 6180. Wonder how hard Arnie is trying to
fix it.
March 10 at 1500 on 15190, a couple of Beatles trax, ``Baby, won`t you drive my
car`` and something else more familiar to me from Sgt. Pepper. I know RHC had
been on 15190 as usual before 1500 in Spanish, and should then have signed
off, but I was not listening continuously to know whether the carrier ever went off.
Beatles music ended at 1505* so likely RHC fooling around unless some pirate
decided to ride on their coattails. Meanwhile, 15370 had gone off by 1500
** CUBA [non]. R. Martí don`t get no respect from the dentro-Cubans and not
much from me, but I can`t fault them for quoting from the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, which the previous Cuba ratified, about free elexions, March
10 at 1429 on 13820; then plugging TV Martí being visible on channel 20, and
quoting José Martí. 1432 into Perspectiva Económica with a guy in Wáshington,
and fading under the dentroCuban jamming
** GUINEA. RTG, 7125, 0718 March 9 with hilife music, no sign of co-channel
RN Flevo. Tropical paths have the advantage, but wonder if RN is still there
** JAPAN. We can depend on NHK Warido R. Japan for a wide and entertaining
variety of tunes, some of them funny or for children, on Music Time, or
whatever they call the mandatory 5-minute music break between the 10-minute
news at hourtop and Asian Top News at :15 or on weekends whatever follows.
Such as at 1510-1515 UT on 9505, 9875 March 10
** SOUTH CAROLINA. A reminder of the website of Brother Scare detractors,
http://www.thenetteam.net/ including 146 pages of testimonials, ever-growing,
starting at the very strange URL of
http://htmlgear.tripod.com/guest/control.guest?u=tammymcallaster&i=6&a=view
** SWEDEN [non]. R. Sweden, 15240 via Canada, March 10 at 1443 playing
announcement that they *will* change March 5 from 11550 to 12070 at 1330 due
to QRM. Time warp
** U S A. Following our discussion with WBOH, the spurs have indeed
disappeared, when checked March 9 at 0709, nothing on 5890 or 5950, but their
own carrier on 5920 had continuous swishing noises, and under-modulation.
Again the case March 10 at 0630, altho there was some unID humming and
pulsing around 5870, not interfering with anything, which might have been
WBOH but not the same noise as before. If there was a match around 5970 it
was obscured by Costa Rica 5965
** U S A. Another quick check of the collision between WYFR and WEWN on
7455: March 9 at 0719, WYFR was way on top, with WEWN barely audible
underneath, and RTTY not audible at all. And another one March 10 at 0613
before WYFR comes on, found WEWN atop the also audible RTTY
** VENEZUELA. So much for YVTO being a standard frequency station. March
10 at 0624 on 5000 I was hearing WWVH with a SAH of about 10 Hz between
the pips, easier to count that way, and also the higher-pitched pips from YVTO
and minutely Spanish announcements audible underneath. WWV was also in
there but weaker than WWVH and stronger than YVTO. I cannot imagine WWV
or WWVH being 10 Hz off frequency, so therefore it must be YVTO
** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. RN RASD, 6299.9, March 9 at 0717 in Arabic
singing, fair against noise level. On the FRG-7 with BFO on I compared
frequency to MW 1300 and found it slightly off. However, also audible March 9
around 2225, closer to 6300, it seemed
** ANGUILLA. Defunct Gene Scott missing again from 11775, no signal audible
March 12 at 1501
** CANADA. Audio of all six episodes of Spin Cycles is available, in case you
missed any of them during the final hour of The Sunday Edition on CBC Radio
One in Jan, Feb: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/spincycles/index.html
** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC [non]. Not really expecting to hear Radio
ICDI, 6030, at its published sign-on 0500 Monday March 12, and I did not;
instead, vocal rock music across hourtop fading in and out, presumably CFVP
Calgary, which at 100 watts is always a notable catch itself, even if much closer,
but enough to block a signal from CAR if there was any. Much stronger Arabic on
6025 and something on 6035, Russian? did not help, either, tho the dentro- and
fuera-cubanos did coöperate by suspending their radio war for the occasion. As
for ICDI`s M-F 16-20 UT broadcast, it looks like that will be blocked in Europe
by BBC Oman, if not VOR Kaliningrad as well, but no problem in the target?
** COLOMBIA. R. Líder active again, tnx for Manuel Méndez tip, on 6139.8 or so,
March 12 at 0510 with music on a frequency otherwise vacant, but for how long?
Previous active periods lasted less than a week, then silent for months
** CUBA. Reception from RHC has really declined on certain bands for some
strange reason, maybe solar flux bottoming out at 70. March 12 at 1430 I had
just about decided RHC was off the air on several frequencies, but by 1444 in
Formalmente Informal music, it was audible on 15370, which is normally a
behemoth here overloading the receiver, but now so weak as to be mixing with
some other signal. Still could not hear it on 15190, and 11760 was totally
blocked by something in Chinese from Asia, but RHC audible on 12000, 11805,
and poorly on 9550
** CUBA [non]. R. Martí, 7405, March 12 until 1400 without a trace of jamming,
and OC on until 1403* Maybe the dentrocubanos are confused by DST shift, or
the strange propagation conditions noted under Cuba
** ECUADOR. HCJB DRM to NAm now being heard on 9590-9595-9600, such
as Sunday March 11 at 0614, could not hear any Nikkei on 9595; also March 12
at 0525 QRMing something on 9600 in an African language. HCJB DRM also still
going on 15195-15200-15205, Monday March 12 at 1445 check, long after
Kulpsville returned to normal
** GABON. Others have noted that ANU and the Afropop Music Distraxion are
not always on air at same time, but they were March 12 at 1500 on 17630 with
accurate timesignal, ANU ID; and music continuing on 17660
** GREECE. As Wolfgang Büschel also noted on 11645, VOG via SVO on 15630
seems finally to have eliminated the transmitter dropoffs. March 12 at 1414-1422
I left the BFO on the very weak signal and never heard an interruption; by 1442
it was better in Greek talk
** LAOS [non]. Hmong Lao Radio confirmed shifted one UT hour earlier, for DST
in Hminnesota, 1356 UT Sunday March 11, still on WHRI 11785 as it was about
to close. So Sat & Sun 1300-1400
** RUSSIA [and non]. The Yakutsk Warbler chirping away on 7200, badly
QRMing R. Japan news in English, March 12 at 1405; also ham SSB and CW
QRM; same situation at 1449 recheck
** SWEDEN [non]. Radio Sweden supposedly shifts the times of its morning
broadcasts in English to keep in step with DST in North America, but March 12
it was still on the air at 1430 via Canada on 15240 with a feature on a movie
about a Cambodian brothel. Are they waiting until March 25, or just haven`t got
around to it, the message not thru several layers of bureaucracy down to the
Sackville transmitter?
** U S A. We remain on 7385 daily at 1300-1600 UT (which will become 1400-
1600 on March 25) and 2100-0300 UT weekdays (2100-0100 with WRN).
Re 7385, the antenna manufacturer still hasn't returned from Germany, so we're
still using the dipole. However, I think they've made some improvements to the
matching system, so perhaps reception is better now
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh continues to play that catchy theme tune
without fail every day at 1451-1457 UT on 15265. In A-07 this transmission from
Rampisham makes the usual switch to 17700 and expands to 1200-1800, so
we`ll see if the same music keeps running on that frequency
** ANTARCTICA. Checking for LRA36, March 14 at 1910, I was only able to
detect a carrier on 15476 (not 15475), occasionally reaching S4 above the local
S3 noise level, but this marks another day it was evidently on the air
** CUBA. Closing Despertar con Cuba, March 14 at 1400 on 9550, Manolo de la
Rosa mentioned that it starts at 1100 UT = 7 am hora de verano de Cuba, thus
confirming that they indeed are already on DST like the USA. RHC sensibly
keeps its SW programming on UT without shifting, which means Manolo & Co.
have to get up an hour later in the morning during DST
** GERMANY [non]. DW loud and clear here on 15275 in English news at 1902
March 14, despite being 142 degrees from Sines per HFCC, and only a semihour
broadcast now, roughly off the back
** SOUTH AFRICA. Channel Africa, March 13 at 0517 on 7240 with ID giving
frequency as 9620! --- which does not take over until 0700 per WRTH, then news
of Zimbabwe, mistreatment of the opposition by Mugabe
** U S A. Power Hower, March 14 at 1328 on KAIJ 9480 was lamenting that their
affiliate R. Free Austin is down in that city and also in Dallas; hope they can
get back on the air. Then into 9/11 conspiracy nonsense. So Power Hower
condones illegal pirate broadcasting. RFA was also the source of RBN (and
GCN?) programming on the OKC 107.1 pirate
** U S A. VOA in French, March 14 at 1912 on 17580 with a big long-path echo.
Big, because this is Greenville per EiBi (not in original HFCC B-06), so long
path is some 38 megameters, since short path is only two, one of my best
terrestrial DX catches, strictly speaking. It`s aimed east toward Africa but
also with the usual back-radiation, which however at the moment was not strong
enough to override the signal coming the long way around
** CANADA. CHU was inaudible on 7335, March 15 at 1310, altho RCI was in on
7325. Apparently another all-too-frequent outage. Then checked 14670 and the
pips were just barely audible, the latter coming in well by 1349. Back to
business, timesignals only, no announcements about licensing, etc. March 16
around 0530, 7335 was on again with a VG signal
** CUBA. RHC missing from 15370, March 15 at 1315 while it was well heard on
15190; at 1337 recheck, 15370 was on, VG
** GERMANY [non]. DW Hausa, 17800 via Rwanda, March 15 at 1346 was
spelling out address in Bonn, ``Germany``. Isn`t there a Hausa word for
Germany, perhaps totally incognate like in Hungarian, Portuguese, Finnish?
Former British colonial influence in Nigeria must have led to this oddity. Or is it
just that English country terminology is encouraged in international mail?
** GUIANA FRENCH [and non]. Most of the all-day-long TDF DRM transmission
on 17870-17875-17880 seem to be getting by without interfering, but March 16 at
1327 I found R. Japan`s Swahili service via Ascension on 17870 was bothered
by QRDRM, as it was IDing before closing
** INDONESIA [and non]. The primary threesome of 60mb RRI stations were
coming in well March 16 at 1322, no doubt better earlier than almost an hour
after sunrise now, each with a different variety of ``island`` music: 4605 Serui,
stronger than another local mixing product // KCRC 1390 on 4600; 4750 stronger
than 4605; and 4790 somewhere in between marred by CODAR. No trace of
MICRONESIA 4755
** MOROCCO. RTM, 15335, March 15 at 1338, YL speaking very expressively in
Arabic; QRM de clix leaking over from DentroCuban jammer on 15330 ** SPAIN.
REE, 17595, Fri March 16 at 1330 in Castilian, introducing ``informativos en
Catalán, Gallego y Vasco``, and immediately into Catalan news; no mention of
``lenguas co-oficiales`` --- I wonder whether this term is no longer politically
correct? At 1335 into Galician with its sea-shanty musical intro. So I conclude the
triad are finished by 1345, then back into the fourth co-official language. In A-07
these shift about an hour earlier, but it`s not clear if they will be exactly at 12301245 M-F. (A sked via José Bueno says they will be at 1240-1255.)
Really, these three languages deserve a lot more on REE than 5 minutes a day
each, which can only be considered token. I enjoy listening to Catalan and
Galician, to see how much I can understand from my knowledge of Spanish and
Portuguese; and Basque for the occasional Spanish words
** BRAZIL. Carlos Gonçalves has reported R. Cultura, São Paulo active, but I
had not been able to pull this low-power station above the home QTH noise
level. So looked for it on low-noise Meadowlake Park DXpedition, Enid, and
could detect some vocal music on 17815, March 17 at 2324-2330+, still weak
and not enough signal to light up any strength bars on the DX-398 and whip.
Unfortunately, the reel-out antenna I brought along didn`t work as when plugged
into the jack, there was no connexion but the whip was bypassed. Next time:
bring alligators to clip onto whip
** CANADA. March 17 at 1332 on 6754-SSB was hearing terminal forecasts for
places such as Zagreb, Split, Ancona - something; at 1334, ID sounded like
``This is Transamerica, Inc.,`` and then to Shannon, Prestwick. However, per
numerous logs in UDXF on 6754, this must have been just Trenton Military, Ont.
I would not have expected to hear weather for Croatia on this station, but I
guess they have some flights headed there, and at this hour it would not have
been something directly from Europe
** COLOMBIA. R. Líder, 6139.8, still running March 17 at 0609 ending news;
audio is somewhat distorted
** CUBA. Dentro-Cuban Jamming Command was already in full swing March 18
at 0028 on 9480, against VOA`s open carrier prior to Spanish service, which is
not totally about Cuba. For this, RHC in English deserves to get jammed, since
so much of its programming is anti-American. Lucky for them, the US, even
under Bush accepts freedom of expression on SW.
At 0027, RHC on 6000 // 9600 with a gringo-accented item about Chávez. Since
it was on RHC, it must have been pro-, since no opposing viewpoints exist
** CZECHIA [non]. R. Praga, 6000 via Sackville, March 17 at 2353 concluding
Panorama Checo which was about a Cuban, colliding with big open carrier and
SAH from RHC. At least RHC seems to be holding off modulation until 0000
** ECUADOR [and non]. HCJB Spanish service going into spe-cial Eng-lish
program Spotlight, Sat March 17 at 2345 on 11700.
HCJB DRM still going on 15200, March 17 around 2326; at 0027 found it much
weaker on evening frequency 9595, but still enough to mess up some unID
analog station on 9590, but not RHC on 9600
** EGYPT. R. Cairo, 11950, English to NAm broadcast doing better than before,
March 17 at 2333 in Arabic choral music, almost as strong as Arabic service
12050, but some ACI from Spain 11945. 0025 recheck March 18, 11950 was
almost gone tho 9360 to LAm was in well with more Arabic music
** GREECE. ERA via SVO, 5865, with nice arrangement of IS, multilingual IDs
already at 2355 March 17; no dropouts. Considerably weaker than // Avlis 7475,
which was weaker than 9420
** JAPAN [non]. NHK Warido, 17605 via Bonaire, still with Western classical
music show on Sat, March 17 at 2318 and still at 2346
** NORTH AMERICA. Pirate on 6925, March 18 at 0018 Young America, 0023
Let the Good Times Roll; only music heard as I tuned around, still going past
0100 with no illegal ID, but closing at 0110 by YL as WTPR (I think, tho nothing
about tire pressure heard), and Belfast address. Good signal on USB
** RUSSIA. VOR, 9840, closing NAm service March 17 at 0558 with G signal, tho
fading. Said they were about to open to Australia, and to Europe, listing a
bunch of MW lengths, NOT frequencies. Apparently they believe their European
audience are still using old radios calibrated only in metres. I have never
seen or heard of a digital readout radio that displayed metres (other than SW m
bands); are there any?
** TAIWAN [and non]. On 11635 something in Chinese, and a het of less than 1
kHz, March 17 at 2343. Per PWBR `2007` this would be the RTI Taiwan Network
to SE Asia, which is jammed
** TURKEY. VOT, 5960, March 17 at 2354 closing English to NAm, poor with ACI
from Habana 5965 in music. In one week this broadcast will move to 2200-2255
on 6195
** U S A. WBCQ, 7415, UT Sunday March 18 at 0005 had a speaker who was
making sense about religion and tolerance. Listened for a while. Looked up later,
it`s ``Cut the Crap with A.J.``
** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. R. Nacional de la RASD, 6300, poor March 17 at
2349 in Spanish talk, 2358 hi-pitched singing past hourtop to 0002 martial music,
anthem? 0003 announcement and off
** COLOMBIA. R. Líder, 6139.8, may have missed a day, but it was back on
March 19 at 0545 check with music
** CUBA [and non]. Commies vs Catholix! March 19 at 1332 I was getting a quite
readable altho not very strong signal from RHC in Spanish on 11715, which is of
course a leapfrog mixing product between the very strong // signals on 11805
and 11760; on 11715 there was also a fast SAH and some audio I could
recognize as Ave María, so surely KJES as scheduled: another victim of
dentroCuban engineering.
BTW, RHC was promoting a Mesa Redonda that evening from 6:30 pm local,
which is 2230 UT, on 6000, 6180. These roundtables appear on an irregular but
frequent basis, almost always to bash the U.S., and on these occasions, stations
such as R. Praga, 6000 via Canadá at 2330, better watch out
** ECUADOR [and non]. HCJB`s DRM, 15195-15200-15205, which they insist on
running in heavily populated inband areas, was QRMing Arabic on 15195 March
19 at 1515, which HFCC says is V. of Turkey. See also MEXICO
** GERMANY [non]. DW, 9755 via Rwanda toward WAf and CNAm, Monday
March 19 at 0518 had a fascinating African Focus program about now Eritrea is a
nation of poets, interviewing a scholar from Penn State
** GUIANA FRENCH. 17870-17875-17880 got a respite from QRDRM over the
weekend, tho allegedly daily per
http://www.baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/drmdx/main&sort=kHz,UTC
and at 1300-2000. Nevertheless, Monday March 19 at 1408 it was still missing,
but on when I retunedby at 1432. Seems they turn it on whenever they get
around to it cavalierly, and feel no obligation to follow a published schedule. But,
the less, the better
** ITALY. Rai is still favoring North America with the squealing transmitter,
on 17780, in Italian, March 19 at 1408
** LIBYA. V. of Africa, 17725, March 19 at 1408 with hilife music; tho
modulation was low, signal was roughly equal to Gabon on 17660, 17630, as it
has been suggested VOA could also be transmitted from there, what with Libya`s
aid to Gabon`s transmitters. However, by 1420 with YL talking, I think in
English, 17725 was quite a bit weaker
** MALAYSIA. Following Mauno Ritola`s measurements around 6100, I checked
carefully again March 19 at 1318 and the het was on the lower side at approx.
6099.7 --- slightly above middle C in pitch, 256 Hz, I judged it; he says the
station off-frequency here is V. of Malaysia
** MEXICO. XEXQ not heard well lately, but classical music detectable on 6045,
March 19 at 1310, JBA amid stronger Asian signals.
XEYU 9599v is back on the air after a couple of weeks, from mid-day March 19,
says Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF. I did not hear it earlier that morning in
usual 31m bandscan. Checked at 0015 UT March 20, tell-tale het against RHC
9600.0, and HCJB DRM 9590-9595-9600 is already on. No chance for XEYU,
but let us hope at certain daytime or early morning hours will still be in clear **
NETHERLANDS [non]. Happened across RN, 6165 via Bonaire, March 19 at
0544 when Robert Chessell was trying to defend referring both to Suriname and
Netherlands as ``tiny`` (altho Suriname is a lot larger than Netherlands, it is
tiny compared to other South American countries). No it isn`t; it is merely
smaller. Someone else caught him in the Tiny Trap, but he tried to wiggle out.
Apparently was the new mailbag show Echoes, which is not listed as available
ondemand here http://www.radionetherlands.nl/listenonline/weeklyarchive
tho supposedly all programs are. Since I tuned into the middle of this
discussion, I wanted to hear exactly what was said
** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. Monitored 17660 again March 19 with Afropop
music distraxion from Gabon at 1430; by 1438 I could hear some SAH on it;
strangely, Afropop ran open carrier from 1440 and I wondered if they were about
to close down, but resumed music at 1446. At 1448 the Saudi SAH became quite
heavy as their French broadcast was joined
** SOUTH AFRICA. Channel Africa`s morning announcer seems to be under the
very mistaken impression she is broadcasting on 9620. Once again March 19 at
0518 on 9685 the ID mentioned only 9620 for ``V. of the African Renaissance``!
Going by EiBi, I previously remarked that 9620 would not be on the air until 0700.
Correct, but not really in English. Confirmed at Channel Africa`s own site
http://www.channelafrica.org/portal/site/channelafrica/menuitem.55105713e1490
5292aca35505401aeb9/
9620 at 0700 will be in Chinyanja, and no English on it until 10-12 and 14-16
** TURKEY. VOT managed to bring up the correct frequency, March 19 at 1329,
IS heard on 12035 prior to opening English. Nothing audible on // 11735,
however, so maybe that transmitter was still on the previous hour`s frequency.
** U S A. WTJC, 9370, March 19 at 1325 with a preacher, was overmodulated,
distorted and splattering; worse, putting out a distorted spur around 9270;
recheck at 1519 it was centered at 9280, and 9370 even more distorted than
earlier. At neither time did I find a spur to match on the hi side around 9460
or 9470. So I notified the FBN CE who promptly replied he was working on it.
Not rechecked here until 2200 when the spurs were not audible
** VATICAN [non]. March 19 at 1313 I noted the perpetual collision between
Vatican Radio via RVA Philippines and Radio Australia on 6020, VR IS just
before closing; tuning on up the band, VR IS again on 6140 at 1314. This was
not a Paluig QSY, but instead via Chita, Russia, per HFCC. WRTH 2007 shows
6020 is Mandarin until 1330, but they must have guessed wrong since VR
refuses to publish the ending times of its broadcasts; 6140 Vietnamese
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh reception was better than usual, 15265 via
Rampisham UK, March 20 at 1430, so was looking forward to another replay of
the Solh Theme Song which has been appearing without fail every day at 14511457. But not today! Some urgent speaking was going at 1450, and it was not
until 1453 that the song which always precedes it started; and not until 1458 till
the Solh Theme began, 7 minutes late. And of course was cut off abruptly at
1500 when the transmitter must close down. However, they had the courtesy to
fade it down in the last few seconds before cutoff
** ECUADOR. I occasionally run across HCJB closing down its all-evening-long
Spanish service on 9745, and always the same thing happens. After the national
anthem at approximately 0500, and a pause, they start playing some nice
Andean music, and that is always interrupted abruptly at precisely 0504* when
the transmitter cuts off the air. Why do they do this? Yet another instance of
automation gone wild and no human minding the store to control what actually
goes on the air. NA traditionally means the end of transmission, so they should
not start playing more music after it. If they do, they should at least let it
run until it finishes!
** GUIANA FRENCH. DRM test, 17870-17875-17880 on March 20 was already
buzzing at 1355 check, unlike the day before
** INDIA. Only AIR Delhi is supposed to be using the aeronautical band
frequency 15050, for Sinhala at 1300-1500. Nevertheless, March 19 at 1352 I
found a heavy mix of two different services, one of them with Indian vocal
music, and the other speaking in an unknown language. Both continued past
1400 without a break, and still at 1408 recheck. At 1411, it sounded like there
were THREE different audio streams mixing. By 1440 one speaker mentioned
``Bharat``and Sri Lanka, so likely the Sinhala service, also at 1449 with the usual
chanting closing that service as heard previously on other frequencies. At 1500
everything was off.
Meanwhile, I looked up what other external language services AIR has at this
time supposedly on various other frequencies. Dari switching to Pashto at 1415;
Sindhi; Nepali. The two (or three?) transmitters were well synchronized in
frequency as I could not detect any beat. The relative audio levels did vary
somewhat, so I think there were at least two on the air, rather than a horrible
audio feed mixup radiated from a single unit. Somewhat better coordination
among multiple transmitter sites is needed. Can anyone figure out exactly what
was happening here? I seem to recall a previous instance of the Dari/Pashto
service being on the wrong frequency
** MEXICO. I was expecting to hear XEYU, 9599+, March 20 at 1343 check,
since it had been reported back on the air the previous afternoon, but nothing
** RUSSIA. March 19 at 1349 I noticed some hi-pitched time pips on 15000, on
top of WWV/H. There was no announcement until 1350, but some pips were
doubled or skipped. Then from 1350 added rapid pips between each second,
maybe 10 of them –-- I think this is some kind of binary code, which some time
signal stations do. This was still the case until 1400 when replaced by a
continuous carrier. Meanwhile, I realized this was actually centered on 14996, so
it must be one of the Russians. Finally at 1409:20 ID repeated several times in
code as RWM, which is Moscow. From 1410 the pips every second, some of
them double, resumed
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh`s 7-minute-later timeshift in musical
programming seems to have stuck; still on March 24 the Solh Theme on 15265
Rampisham did not start until 1458 so it would be cut off at 1500. What a pity.
From tomorrow, however, try 17700, which will run all the way until 1800, but less
likely to propagate well over here, I fear
** CHINA. Firedrake, VG with flutter, March 21 at 1348 on 10200 against Sound
of Hope; nothing on 9200 at this time
** ECUADOR [and non]. March 24 at 1403 with K=3, conditions were pretty poor
on 19m, but I couldn`t help but notice that HCJB DRM on 15195-15200-15205
sounded an awful lot like the DentroCuban Jamming Command on 15330; same
pitch, no analog audible
** INDIA. AIR self-collision on 15050 was still going 24 hours later, March 21
at 1349 check; drum music on one, presumed Pashto talk on other; not as strong
as the day before. Jose Jacob confirmed it was still going March 21 and that it
was indeed Pashto interfering with Sinhala. He notified AIR and the next day is
was just Sinhala. Also March 23 at 1355 check I was just hearing one program,
music. I`m still wondering if two transmitters were involved or only one
** LAOS [non]. Hmong Lao Radio, 11785 via WHRI, was barely audible Saturday
March 24 at 1330, with the frequency occupied by VOA Thailand in Mandarin,
which means it is even more dominated by Chicom jammers. At closing 1359,
HLR was audible, but still with QRM on what had previously been a huge signal
from WHRI. The broadcast is just too early before the MUF builds up, since it had
to shift a UT hour earlier to compensate for DST in Hminnesota, but should get
better as summer approaches. You might think that this collision was due to The
Fortnight of Confusion, but according to HFCC it was already colliding at
1400-1500, and furthermore both will still be colliding in A-07 at 1300-1400.
Another instance of false assumption that US SW broadcasts from opposite
sides of the world will not interfere with each other and may safely share
frequencies
** MEXICO. Still not much luck hearing XEYU which reportedly has been active
again lately. March 21 at 1342 could hear some Spanish talk on 9599.4 with het
from 9600, also splatter from RA 9590. March 24 at 1406 check I could just hear
the het it was causing, but now they have even more QRM: 2-way Spanish SSB,
quite possibly Mexican-related, on 9600; the usual very idiomatic and poorly
enunciated conversation, hardly comprehensible here, one station weaker than
the other
** SAIPAN. 11650, March 24 at 1359, Russian ID and frequencies for Radio
Teos, and off. Per HFCC this is really:
11650 1100 1400 30-33,42-44 FBS 100 323 1234567 291006 250307 Mul
According to WRTH, and EiBi, this quarter-hour is actually in Kyrgyz:
11650 1345-1400 Fr-Sa MRA KFBS Saipan KG CIS
Can it be that FEBC is still running announcements in the former colonial
language Russian on its broadcasts to FSU countries?
Radio Teos is St. Petersburg-based with website http://www.teos.org.ru/ or
http://www.teos.org.ru/engl/ but they are inaccessible or under construxion
** CHINA [non]. As usual in A-seasons, CRI relay via Canada in English at 1300
has shifted from 15230 to 15260, as noted March 25 at 1354; a minute later
found it on 17625, which is via Chile ex-15540 during B-seasons ** CUBA. Now
that it`s an hour `later` by the local clock, I will be more likely to catch RHC`s
Spanish DX program, Sundays at 1335. March 25, on 11760, Manolo Ortega
Romero was interviewed, or rather it was edited into a monolog, about a
precursor of all Revolutionary Cuban broadcasting today. It was La Emisora del
Pueblo, informally ``La Mil Diez`` which was on a clear channel 1010, and
covered the whole island, especially during béisbol games, between the years of
1943 and 1948 when it was closed down by the then government. It was run by
the Partido Socialista Popular; had its own orchestra, dramatic and comic actors.
Ortega said he was a writer but occasionally also acted.
The closure came on May 1, 1948, International Workers` Day. I wonder if
anyone remembers DXing this station, and what were its calls?
** MEXICO. XEYU coming thru again, 9599.2 approx., March 25 at 0535 with
Beethoven, good but fades; 0549 outro announce as a Romance, and current
time as 23:49, confirming they are still on CST another week, chime and ID as
Radio Unam, pronounced as a word. Also audible with classical music at 1334
** NETHERLANDS [non]. Our morning frequency for RN is once again as in
previous A-seasons, 9890 via Madagascar at 14-16, intended for S Asia, but
longpathing over here rather well, as March 25 at 1416 with docu mentioning Joy
FM in Accra; not too much QRM yet from WEWN 9885
** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI on new 6095 ex-5950, March 25 at 1401 with news
about dog attack in Hamilton; DRM was still running on 7145
** SPAIN. REE in Spanish on 15350, Sunday March 25 at 1411 talking about
baloncesto, a few syllables ahead of // 15170 Costa Rica relay. 15350 is not in
schedules, but must be a change from planned 15345 service to Lebanon, which
on Sundays only starts this early.
Did they get our message that 15345 would collide with Morocco? However, at
1843 recheck, REE was definitely on 15345, // and ahead of 17850 CR, and with
a\slow SAH on 15345, presumably uncoördinated Nador, Morocco; but no
audible het from Argentina which may not have been on or propagating. Since
my earlier log was made only on the FRG-7 analog dial, I began to doubt
whether it was really on 15345 at that time. Recheck on following days, weeks
** U S A [non]. VOA Tinang, Philippines, in Korean on 9555 is still
maladjusted; March 24 at 1412 check its splatter was audible out to plus/minus
25 kHz, 9530-9580
** U S A [and non]. A bit surprised to hear Yankee Doodle Dandy IS at
1359-1401* March 25 on 7405 after a R. Martí broadcast. I thought YDD
pertained to VOA only, and RM had nothing to do with it! This was underneath
jamming. Also noticed R. Martí back on its A-season channel of 11845, at 1414;
only lite jamming as not all the DCJC transmitters had retuned there yet
** VENEZUELA [non]. Since Chávez decided to go back to Sunday mornings
with Aló, Presidente, I checked the previous Cuban relay channels March 25 at
1404: yes, 11670 // 11875 // 13750 and JBA on 13680, with Spanish
programming not // to regular RHC frequencies 11760, 11805, 12000. However,
11670 was in a big collision with WYFR in Spanish which is now scheduled
1400-1600!
Too bad these stations don`t coördinate with each other; or rather, Cuba
doesn`t coördinate formally with anyone, preferring to play the outcast, while
claiming to adhere to ITU regulations. I have plenty else to monitor on Sunday
mornings, so did not recheck until 1645 when indeed it did sound like Chávez
pontificating on the same frequencies
** MEXICO. XEYU, 9599.3v, March 26 at 0540 with classical. But at 1256 it was
only a het against powerful RHC 9600.0 during Agenda 21 item on basura.
XEYU may as well turn off the transmitter whenever Cuba insists on using 9600;
however, at 1302 recheck Cuba was off and XEYU in the clear.
XEXQ, 6045, also audible around 0540 March 26 with classical; and at 1244 with
SAH from FE, deep fades, inferior to Nikkei classical on 6055
** SPAIN [non]. REE via Costa Rica, 5965 with usual low and muffled
modulation, March 26 at 1240 starting Catalan news, so that confirms the new
1240-1255 M-F timing for co-official language services, also on many other
frequencies
** THAILAND [and non]. R. Thailand on new 9835 in English, March 26 at 1252
with time check for 7:20, so must have been recorded half an hour earlier, news
of quake in Japan. Clear frequency for a change.
** TURKEY. Looking for VOT`s 1230 UT morning English broadcast to NAm
[non], March 26 at 1311, 13685 was out of the question with super signal from
Cuba on 13680; // 15450 was poor at 1314, presumed with Turkishish music.
Maybe will be listenable on better days
** U S A [non]. VOA`s 9760 via Tinang, Philippines, is sounding rather
overmodulated and distorted lately, such as March 26 at 1255 with USG
editorial; also at 1330 with headlines. Really needs some adjustment. Similar
sound to 9555 in Korean, but at least 9760 is not splattering 25 kHz above and
below
UNIDENTIFIED. 15340 (measured), March 26 at 1315 in Arabic, nothing on
15345 at the moment, as Spain to Lebanon doesn`t open until much later on
weekdays. HFCC would lead one to conclude this is WYFR via UAE, at 12301330, but no language specified and there are no Arabic-speaking countries at
85 degree azimuth from Dhabayya! Perhaps it was really the unregistered RTM
Nador, Morocco, as in WRTH for B-season at 09-15 to Europe
** CUBA [non]. Prompted by Yimber Gaviria`s observations, I checked out R.
República, UT March 28. Some changes have been made concerning the topsecret VTC relays via Rampisham, UK, which are withheld from HFCC.
At 0020 UT, 6155 ex-6185 was already being jammed, but just in case, some
jammers were still running on 6185. After 0200 they were jamming something in
Spanish, presumably poor XEPPM. Cubans vs Mexicans!
At 0021, RR via RMI via Germany 5910 was free of jamming, which was still on
the vacated 5970. 5910 seemed to be // or almost // 6155, but with one receiver
in hand could not be certain.
At 0158, I tuned to 6100 to confirm Yimber`s report that RR was now opening
this frequency at 0200 instead of 0300. Yes, but collides with RCI in Mandarin
which runs until 0205; fast SAH between them. At least this rules out Sackville
as the current site for RR on 6100; I suppose it`s back to Rampisham for
summer. Recheck at 0232 found French mixing with RR on 6100! At first I
thought the French was another RCI broadcast, but instead it is a new relay via
Sackville of Vatican Radio at 0230-0400 in French, English presumably at 0250,
and Spanish, in exchange for RCI transmissions via Sta Maria di Galeria. O yes,
Cuban heavy jamming on 6100 thruout, vs. Canada and Catholix as well.
At 0202, RR via RMI via Sackville on 9735 was loud and clear, no jamming
audible, but some was still on vacated 9630, and now that`s hitting REE Costa
Rica // Spain 9620. Cuban commie collateral damage by jamming spreads wider
and wider against countries it ought to try to befriend
** VATICAN [non]. R. Vaticana has a new relay via Sackville, on 6100 at
0230-0400, 100 kW, 240 degrees daily in French, English and Spanish. Heard in
French at 0230, March 27 as I was checking out R. República, with which this
collides, along with the jamming. Way to go. Catholix vs Commies again!
** VENEZUELA [non]. RNV CI relay via Cuba, 11705, March 27 at 1240 caught
my ear, since it was partly in English. A YL was consecutively translating Chávez
(who else??) talking about ethanol. Then at 1242-1246 Contacto con los
Diexistas, brief acknowledgments of reports, first from Torre-someone in Oslo,
who heard them on 1310 kHz at 0215; then Eike in Finland, at 1057 on 6180;
then someone in Hiroshima who heard 13680 at 2259, but the audio was cutting
out during this. Gave the age of each writer. Then explained very briefly what
SINPO stands for, and UTC, ex-GTM [sic], e-mail address once as
canalinternacionalrnv@ something.com; there was a continuous music bed,
some of it very bassy but well-reproduced; 1247 back to Chávez propaganda.
Contacto was obviously the very same program reported in DXLD 7-037 on
March 18 also mentioning 1310 kHz. Per WRTH 2007, R. Nacional has regional
outlets in Barcelona and Guri on 1310, so I seriously doubt it was the Canal
Internacional that Torre heard, so why are they acknowledging it here?
** CANADA. More problems at Sackville with the R. Sweden relay on 15240,
March28 at 1335, cutting off the air every few seconds. Finally at 1338
modulation stopped, then carrier off and stayed off until 1340, when it came back
and stayed on. They fixed something in the meantime. And the CRI relay just up
the band at 15260 continued with no such interruptions
** COSTA RICA [and non]. DGS via TIRWR, 9725, March 28 at 1852 was weak,
but also with a fast SAH from something. Not much from outside NAm was
audible on 31m at this hour, but per schedules, this was likely V. of Vietnam via
Austria, at 17-19 on 9725 at 300 degrees, right at us tho intended for Europe
** CUBA. I noticed that RHC was missing from 13680 at 1300 UT Check March
28. Carrier finally came on at 1305 and modulation a few seconds later,
programming joined in progress. I felt jipped, as would the programmers had they
known. Not unusual behaviour for RHC
** EUROPE. Must have been an important silly ballgame going on in Europe (or
more than one at once?), as I heard play-by-play in four languages from four
stations, March 28:
1833 on 15630, V. of Greece, F-G, with no breaks, so Avlis, not Pyrgos; 1908
sure sounded like a commercial break, in Greek 1834 on 15560, RDPI, VG; also
at 1850 on this and much weaker // 11905 as announcer was giving SW
transmission sked during a break, 1851 back to game. I credit the Portuguese
with speaking the most rapidly
1856 on 15530, Rai in Italian play-by-play, or should I say ``tutto il calcio
minuto per minuto``
1911 on 17850, REE via Costa Rica, mentioning game taking place in Palma de
Mallorca, also on 17595 direct, which earlier at 1841 was running a Spanish
lesson for Brazilians with a lot of sounders.
No luck in getting any live game coverage from BBC, DW or RN, tsk tsk
** GABON. Afropop music jammer, which after 1400 is usually just distracting on
17660, heard on 17675 instead, at 1343 March 28, abutting much stronger CVC
17680. 17675 agrees with José Miguel Romero`s monitoring, and also Sawt alAmal on 17672.5 and 17677.5, not identifiable here. SAA runs until 1400 so
Afropop is really trying to jam it then. BTW, a press report from Ivory Coast says
Col. Ghaddafi now owns Africa Numéro Un; so hence also spare transmitters he
can use for his own nefarious jamming
** GERMANY. Add another DW transmission in English we can get, far from its
target: March 28 at 1905 fair on 15620 opening Newslink. This is Nauen at 150
degrees, so opposite direxion would be 330 toward NAm
** GUAM. After ``Time to Say Goodbye`` song, very surprised to hear ID for R.
Nikkei, on 9805, March 28 at 1321; nothing on 9750, 9595 and not parallel
Nikkei on 6055. Surely not really Nikkei. Kept listening to Japanese program
and at 1325 AWR ID in passing, 1328*. So it`s KSDA as scheduled. Maybe they
were mentioning R. Nikkei in a DX program or something
** ITALY. Rai service to Toronto in Italian (just for CHIN? Do they have any
need for SW feed any more??), March 28 at 1833 on 15380, G with no squeal!
Must have had to use a non-defective transmitter. At 1845 it was over but carrier
was still on, and then birdchirp IS until 1847* // 17780 which was not
squealing either tho it does during the 1400 UT broadcast. See also EUROPE for
sports special ** JAPAN. Japanese on 9835, March 28, at 1854 music, 1855 talk;
poor signal in NHK Warido service aimed eastward toward Hawaii; wonder how
much of signal make it on to secondary target area, the Southern Cone, over T-E
daylight path** OMAN [and non]. Noted two weak signals producing a SAH on
15355, March 28 at 1838. Per registrations, these would be NHK via Gabon to
South Africa, and R. Oman to E Africa, which overlap on 15355 at 1800-1900.
It`s hard to imagine these two not in a big collision in their target areas **
** SPAIN [and non]. REE service to peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, 15345,
March 28 at 1838 in Spanish, weak with barely audible het on 15344.8, which
would be the unfortunate RAE, Argentina, trying to reach Europe. No sign of
Arabic/Morocco at this time, anyway.
** U K [non]. Looking thru BBCWS program schedules online for various parts of
Africa, I notice that 17830 no longer displays over the long hours it formerly
occupied, and often audible here off the back from Ascension. However, it is
still registered all the way from 08 to 21 at 65 degrees. Hmmm, make that off
the side. And indeed audible here March 28 when checked as early as 1310 and
still at 1846 with a panel discussion // 21470 at 1848
** U S A. While 15580 had been the afternoon Greenville frequency in B-06
season, putting great signal into CNAm off the back, now 15580 is Botswana 350
degrees at 1800-2100, and still audible but not so great. The big 94-degree
signal from GB has moved to 15445, the two // at 1918 March 28 with discussion
about Mali. 15445 is scheduled only at 1900-2100, so that misses the music hour
which follows. 15580 then remains on but at 2100-2200 switches to Morocco at
132 degrees
** CUBA [non]. Altho the VTC site at Rampisham, UK, was previously etermined
to be the likely source of R. República transmissions daily at 2200-0400 UT,
which have been on a variety of frequencies, usually two hours at a time, VTC
has never acknowledged them, and they continue to be from uncertain
location(s).
** EGYPT. Checking 9460 for the previously noted collision between Cairo and
Tirana, March 28 at 2355, I heard only Cairo, and it was in English! With
program summary by YL, usual muddy modulation, and then some Arabic,
probably language lesson. So it appears this replaces 11950, where nothing was
audible and nothing is registered in A-07.
9460 should work better propagationally, and perhaps Tirana will not be staying
there at exactly the same time, 2300-2430 in Albanian.
** GABON. Afropop music jammer, March 30 at 1343 was on 17637.0 (not
17637.5), flanked by weaker carriers on 17635.0 and 17640.0, perhaps Sawt alAmal
** INDONESIA. VOI back on 9525.0 (not 9526), March 30 at 1354 with John
Denverish music, 1359 NA and off, but SAH, overlapping with CRI in Russian,
same as last A-season
** SWEDEN [non]. It`s always, or at least often, something to mess up the R.
Sweden relay via Sackville. On 15240 March 30 at 1330 just as the English
broadcast was starting the modulation ceased and we had dead air until 1337
when a courtesy announcement in Swedish and English came on about technical
difficulties, then music fill. I listened for a few minutes and gave up until
1349 recheck when programming was back, but seemingly from the beginning
with news and weather, 1351 opening Inside Sweden, about Swedish
involvement in the slave trade, which I could swear I heard earlier this week, so it
may be an old program grabbed in an emergency; it was still in progress when
rudely cut off at 1359*. BTW, this frequency also suffered from periodic rapidly
chirping data burst QRM. Meanwhile, no such problems with the neighboring CRI
relay on 15260, except it had ACI from China itself on 15265, no doubt jamming
Taiwan, same as last A-season
** TURKEY. VOT audible on 15450, March 30 at 1320 already wrapping up
transmission with multilingual IDs, into several minutes of IS
** U S A. VOA Greenville is now scheduled with Special English on 6000, UT
Tue-Sat 0130-0200 at 174 degrees. You`d think everyone, especially IBB, would
know by now that Habana makes extensive use of 6000, but it`s not in HFCC, so
it doesn`t exist!
** U S A. WYFR via WINB: Harold Camping on 13570, March 30 at 1349; sounds
OK on AM, but flip on the BFO and you hear the carrier wobbling
** VATICAN [non]. Vatican R. via Sackville on 6100 is still colliding with R.
República from secret location. UT March 30 at 0230, VR IS and French could be
heard starting up, well underneath RR and jamming. Surely one of them will be
moving soon, most likely Vatican.
** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh, 17700 via UK, audible from 1405, and coming
in well by 1420 with improving conditions, March 31 at 17700; mostly solh music,
but some speeches in Pashto lasting a few minutes. Their playback is still
skewed so that the Solh Theme once again did not start until 1458, and was
interrupted at 1500 for ID and then into other music. Still some enjoyable music
before then, always the same artist and group from day to day and it too
is getting to be familiar
** GREECE. VOG this A-season retimed Hellenes Around the World, as John
Babbis predicted, noted half-way thru during music break, but then Katerina
talking, Sat March 31 at 1330 on 15630. This frequency had some roaring noise
in background, not sure what, while // 9420 was inaudible tho India 9425 was
inbooming
** IRAN. Those Adventists expecting their regular dose of evangelism in Turkish
at 1500 on 15150 are now plied with Qur`an in Arabic service from Iran, as
usage of this frequency has transitioned from B-06 to A-07, noted March 31
** IRAN [non]. R. Farda no longer heard on 15410 in our mornings, but on 17510,
such as March 31 at 1400, first with multi-lingual R. Liberty IDs, then into R.
Farda programming, music before long. This is via Morocco, 14-17 UT
** LIBYA. V. of Africa from the Great Jamahariyah, ID in English just as I
tuned 17725 in, March 31 at 1406, into Afropop music, rather like that heard on
17660 but not //
** NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. March 31 at 1515, found strong Mandarin
talk, speech by one perusasive guy, both on 12025 and 12005, but 12025 was
about 3 seconds ahead of 12025. No jamming audible. These are Radio Free
Asia:
12005 Tinian 250 kW at 309 degrees
12025 Saipan 100 kW at 325 degrees
** SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA must be opening 17660 earlier, despite almost daily
blockage by Afropop Music Distraxion, such as March 31 at 1421, SAH between
the two and bits of French detectable.
Holy Qur`an Service still to be heard on 15435, March 31 at 1506, but no longer
on 15425; instead found // 15225
** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Sabbath-only Brother Scare broadcast via
Guiana French, 17810, March 31 at 1404 with caterwauling; // WWRB 9385 but
several seconds unsynchronized, and I could not take it long enough to measure
how much
** U K. March 31 at 1507 found two similar signals on 15325 and 15335; 15325
was in Russian, and 15335 in Turkish. Turns out these are both via Woofferton,
the first RCI, and the second BBC; no sign of R. Martí or DCJC between them,
moved to 11845
** U S A. WBOH must now be very close to on-frequency 5920.00, since at 1309
March 31, it was producing a SAH with some other station, probably FE, and the
odds are slim that it too would be the same couple hundred Hz off-frequency
Down in the Basement
Jay Heyl – Orlando, FL
Panasonic RF-2200/AOR 7030 QX Pro DSP-599zx
20070317 23:48 204
20070317 23:44 206
20070317 18:59 221
20070317 18:58 227
20070317 18:55 242
20070319 02:08 245
20070317 18:51 245
20070317 18:47 253
20070317 18:38 257
20070317 18:43 260
20070317 18:36 261
20070319 02:27 263
20070318 00:23 269
20070317 18:28 270
LCQ 25 142 LAKE CITY, FL, USA
VNC 25 110 VENICE, FL, USA
OR 0 8
HERNY, FL, USA
LA 0 50
WIREY, FL, USA
PJN 0 173 'Plantation' Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
JYL 25 294 Sylvania, GA, USA
SR 0 97
RINGY, FL, USA
RHZ 25 46
ZEPHYRHILLS, FL, USA
SQT 0 49
'Satellite' Melbourne, FL, USA
MTH 0 255 MARATHON, FL, USA
CHN 0 67
WAUCHULA, FL, USA
DYQ 25 542 Y DULANEY, TN, USA
GN 25 99
WYNDS, FL, USA
TPF 0 71
'Knight' Tampa, FL, USA
20070317 18:25 275
20070319 02:36 280
20070319 03:32 326
20070317 18:05 332
20070317 18:02 335
20070317 17:47 338
20070319 03:09 340
20070319 03:02 340
20070317 17:50 341
20070317 03:19 344
20070317 03:16 346
20070317 03:12 356
20070317 03:10 357
20070319 03:17 360
20070317 03:04 368
20070318 07:10 373
20070318 07:01 376
20070318 06:59 376
20070317 03:00 379
20070317 02:58 388
20070318 06:50 390
20070317 02:55 392
20070318 06:44 392
20070318 06:35 395
20070318 06:26 400
20070318 06:10 404
20070318 06:16 407
20070317 02:50 408
20070318 06:01 410
20070318 05:43 412
20070318 05:44 412
20070318 05:57 414
20070318 05:56 414
20070318 05:36 415
20070317 02:44 417
20070318 05:27 420
20070318 05:23 424
20070318 05:13 426
20070318 05:05 430
20070318 05:07 432
20070317 02:24 435
USA
FPR 49 90
Fort Pierce, FL, USA
MQW 25 270 Mc. Rae, GA, USA
FC 1600 1455 Y Fredericton, NB, CAN
FIS 0 266 'Fish Hook' Key West, FL, USA
LEE 25 37
LEESBURG, FL, USA
FJ 0 85
Luuce, FL, USA
BOG 0 1692 Y Bogota (Cundinamarca), CLM
BIJ 25 291 'Early County' Blakely, GA, USA
FM 0 133 CALOO, FL, USA
JA 400 145 'Dinns' Jacksonville, FL, USA
PCM 25 52
Plant City, FL, USA
PB 0 139 'Rubin' West Palm Beach, FL, USA
EYA 25 141 'Eastport' Jacksonville, FL, USA
HIT 0 332 SANDERVILLE, GA, USA
TP 0 70
COSME, FL, USA
AEA 0 601 'Jones' South Hill, VA, USA
BHC 0 236 Baxley, GA, USA
ZIN 400 707 Matthew Town (Great Inagua Is, BAH
TL 400 221 'Wakul' Tallahassee, FL, USA
AM 400 77
'Picny' Tampa, FL, USA
JT 450 1841 Y Stephenville, NL, CAN
VEP 49 79
Vero Beach, FL, USA
BKO 0 336 Y Barnwell, SC, USA
XEN 25 795 Y Xenia, OH, USA
UWI 25 488 Y WHITFIELD, GA, USA
CKI 25 380 Kingstree, SC, USA
BZ 25 278 'Bullo' Statesboro, GA, USA
SFB 0 29
SANFORD, FL, USA
JU 25 556 Y Ashee, NC, USA
CTZ 25 489 Y Clinton, NC, USA
JHH 0 370 Y Griffin, GA, USA
AZE 0 252 Y Hazlehurst, GA, USA
FDW 25 410 Y WINNSBORO, SC, USA
CBC 1000 609 West End (Cayman Brac), CYM
EVB 0 55
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL, USA
CFY 25 390 Y 'Evans' Lake City, SC, USA
RVJ 25 257 Y 'Prison' Reidsville, GA, USA
FTP 25 492 Y Fort Payne, AL, USA
VA 0 373 Y VARADERO, CUB
MHP 25 278 Y Metter, GA, USA
IIY 25 381 Y 'Washington-Wilkes Co' Washin, GA,
The Line of Sight and Beyond
Scott Fybush – Rochester, NY
HD – Sangean HDT-1 / CM 1110
92.5-1 WBEE-FM Rochester country (9 mi)
92.5-2 country (temporary simulcast of HD1)
93.3-1 WFKL Fairport adult hits "Fickle" (9 mi)
93.3-2 smooth jazz
94.1-1 WZNE Brighton modern rock "Zone" (1 mi)
94.1-2 rock, not // HD1
95.1-1 WFXF Honeoye Falls classic hits "Fox" (12 mi)
95.1-2 classic rock "Deep Cuts"
96.5-1 WCMF Rochester classic rock (1 mi)
96.5-2 "Brother Wease" diverse rock
97.9-1 WPXY Rochester top 40 (1 mi)
97.9-2 "Nina @ 97.9" modern AC
98.9-1 WBZA Rochester classic hits "Buzz" (8 mi)
98.9-2 "Beale Street" blues
100.5-1 WDVI Rochester hot AC "Drive" (12 mi)
100.5-2 "Music Summit" AAA (this is where I leave the radio parked when
not otherwise in use)
102.3-1 WVOR Canandaigua soft AC "Sunny" (30 mi)
102.3-2 70s pop
102.7-1 WRCI Webster religious (8 mi)
102.7-2 contemporary Christian
106.7-1 WKGS Irondequoit top 40 "Kiss" (10 mi)
106.7-2 top 40, not // HD1
107.3-1 WSNP South Bristol Township rhythmic AC "Snap" (35 mi)
107.3-2 "classic alternative rock"
107.7-1 WLKK Wethersfield Township classic hits "Lake" (55 mi)
107.7-2 // HD1
107.9-1 WWHT Syracuse top 40 "Hot 108" (70 mi)
Rick Lewis –Seattle, WA
Accurian HD Radio
I haven't gotten any AM IBOC, but here's the FM from north Seattle.
88.5 KPLU-1
88.5-2 KPLU. Mainly simulcasts with HD1, but carries jazz when main channel
has NPR programming. Sometimes runs separate jazz programming from main
channel.
92.5-1 "Movin',." No supplementary HD channels.
93.3-1 KUBE.
93.3-2 Xtreme hip-hop.
94.1-1 KMPS.
94.1-2 "Future Country," "The Fault." (The comment line is the "Fault Line.")
Really more of a rock country than a place to find future hits.
94.9-1 KUOW-1. University of Washington public radio station.
94.9-2 Simulcast of co-owned Tacoma station on 91.7.
94.9-3 BBC World Service.
95.7-1 KJR-FM, Classic Rock, mostly 70s.
95.7-2 80s.
96.5-1 KJAQ "Jack FM." No supplementary channels, although some websites
claim they also have a progressive talk channels, probably a 1090 simulcast.
Nope, not yet at least.
97.3-1 KBSG, oldies.
97.3-2 Urban adult contemporary.
98.1-1 KING-FM, classical. No additional channels.
98.9-1 Smooth Jazz simulcast. No additional.
99.9-1 KISW.
99.9-2 Live classic rock. (All concert recordings.)
100.7.1 KKWF, The Wolf, country.
100.7-2 All Comedy Radio. (Not blues, as reported on some websites.)
102.5.1 KZOK, classic rock.
102.5.1 Classic rock deep tracks.
103.7.1 KMTT, The Mountain. Adult alternative.
103.7-2 "The Delta," blues. Not comedy as reported on some websites.
105.3.1 "Spirit 105," Christian contemporary. No additionals.
106.1-1 Kiss FM.
106.1-2 Future Hits. Automated, but songs announced at start or finish.
106.9-1 "Warm," adult contemporary.
106.9-2 Simulcast of KIXI-880 Music Of Your Life," stereo
107.7-1 "The End," alternative.
107.7-2 International Hits.
Kevin Redding – Gilbert, AZ
Sangean HDT-1 and VU75XR antenna
IBOC FM from Phoenix 21 miles
92.3-1 KTAR News - 71 dB
92.3-2 No programming
95.1-1 KYOT Jazz - 73 dB
95.1-2 Rock
96.9-1 KMXP Adult Hits - 70 dB
96.9-2 Adult Hits
98.7-1 KPKX Adult Hits - 68 dB
98.7-2 Adult Hits
100.3-1 KQMR Regional Mex - 66 dB
100.7-1 KSLX Classic Rock - 72 dB
102.5-1 KNIX Country - 70 dB
102.5-2 Country
104.7-1 KZZP Top 40 - 71 dB
104.7-2 Regional Mex
IBOC FM from Tucson - 135 miles
90.5-1 KUAT Classical - 57 dB
90.5-2 Jazz
Bob Foxworth – Tampa, FL
Accurian HD Radio and supplied antenna
89.7 WUSF 1 and 2 different, display "wusf.org" "your NPR station"
93.3 WFLZ 1 and 2 different, 1 had "Kane has more music next" scroll, 2
rap
94.1 WSJT 1 and 2 identical, 2 lags 1 by 28 seconds!! (why?),
smoothjazz, no data
94.9 WWRM 1 and 2 different, both pop mx, no data
95.7 WBTP 1 only (no 2), scroll "Hannah's baby boy Stu next"
97.1 WSUN 1 and 2 different, both pop mx, no data
97.9 WXTB 1 data "98ROCK 98ROCK", links to -2 but no decode of a -2 ever
99.5 WQYK 1 and 2 different, both country, no data
100.7 WMTX 1 and 2 different, 1 display "Mix 100.7 Tampa Bay), 2 is
rock, low-Fi, no data
101.5 WPOI 1 and 2 both pop, different, no data
102.5 - spoken ID "the bone", rx tries to link to a spurious unheard -2
(with no -1 present)
104.7 WRBQ 1 and 2 different, both pop mx, no data
105.5 WDUV 1 and 2 different, both pop mx, no data
107.3 - rx tries to link to a spurious unheard -2 (with no -1 present)
This makes 12 FM ID with HD using antennas intended for average listener use.
Of the entire bunch of FM's, just the single station WUSF offers a meaningful
alternative on their -2. WSJT is the only one who has the SAME program on
both 1 and 2, when the -2 is active. It was once 7 seconds behind, now about 28
seconds behind the -1. Is this just done to fool the casual listener??
It's all pretty bland if you ask me. But I did keep the radio, so there you have it. I
don't even turn it on that much, just for surveys like this, and so I can comment
with some "authority" at SBE meetings. My interest is in what the AM's do. As far
as I can tell, all these secondaries on FM just split a fractured pie further.
I don't know if the wierdness on 102.5 and 107.3 is a receiver problem or a nonfunctional transmitted problem.
Norbert Ansay – Warwick, RI
Accurian HD Radio and supplied whip / rabbit ears
3/26
89.7 WGBH Boston MA analog a little weak HD trys to decode HD-2 cuts in and
out.
92.3 WPRO Providence R.I. HD decodes on HD -1 no HD-2
94.1 WHJY Providence R.I. Decodes HD-1 and decodes HD-2 strong signal.
94.5 WJMN Boston MA Really gotta play with the antenna for this can struggle
the analog but right now DREAMING of the HD streams.
101.5 WWBB Providence R.I. Strong signal decodes HD-1 and HD-2 .
105.1 WWLI Providence R.I. Strong signal decodes HD-1 there is no HD-2 .
106.3 WWKX Woonsocket R.I. fair anlog signal unble to get a lock on the HD
signal.
3/30
Yesterday I conducted some experiments with a good indoor TV antenna. In
spite of having a strong analog signal on 94.5 Boston MA i could not detect a HD
signal.
A closer station 106.3 also yielded a strong clear analog signal unable to detect
any HD signal. Here is a wrap up of what i could hear with a decent indoor
antenna. Please note i spend a few hours switching antennas around etc which a
normal person will not take the time to do.
FM
89.7 HD-1 HD-2 can get pad data audio cuts out unable to get a good lock. PBS
92.3 HD-1 only Top 40 hits
93.3 HD-1 Adult hits - pop
HD-2 Disco
94.1 HD-1 rock
HD-2 more rock
101.5 HD-1 70s 80s hits
HD-2 comedy
105.1 HD-1 only adult hits
As you can see there wasn't much available I could get a lock on. The only
Boston station I could come close on is WGBH 89.7.
Historically the Providence radio market has always overlapped with the Boston
market. Just about any car radio halfway decent or good house radio can hear
analog Boston even with indoor antennas. I am sure if I put an outdoor long
range antenna up results should go up
3/29
93.3 WSNE Taunton MA HD-1 with main channel programming
93.3 HD-2 WSNE playing disco hits from 70s / early 80's .
Note: their HD must have been down other day as no HD was detected.
Powell Way III – Silverstreet, SC
89.3 WLFJ Greenville, SC main HD AC Christian
HD2 Christian rap
HD3 talk
WLFJ is normal reception
91.5 WUNC Chapel Hill, NC only PAD data
WESC 92.5 Greenville, SC not decoding to to
interference and exceptionally strong enhancements on
adjacents. Normally decodes all the time. At 1 PM
it's decoding fine
93.7 WFBC Greenville, SC same as above
! PM no decode no PAD. I wonder if it's off?
96.1 WIBT Charlotte, NC pad data enhanced
reception
100.5 WSSL Gray Court SC (Greenville market)
decodes fine..
106.9 WMIT Black Mountain, NC PAD only, not normally
good enough for PAD or decode.
None of the Columbia stations running HD come in at
all. Outside antenna instead of cheap rabbit ears
would make a difference.
Glenn Hauser – Enid, OK
** OKLAHOMA. Pirate in OKC on 107.1 was reportedly busted, so March 2
around 1830 UT I drove up to the address reported on okctalk.com Indeed there
was a pole behind the house maybe 10 meters high, with no elements on it, and
no signal on 107.1. House has US flags prominently and permanently displayed.
However, later that day when I was driving on I-44 some miles west in its
fringe area, 107.1 was back on the air with GCN, Genesis Communications
Network, paranoid adstring at 0225 UT March 3
You don’t Need a Weatherman…
Jay Heyl – Orlando, FL
Reecom 1630
03/28/07 1830EDT 162.500 WXK83A Sebring/Avon Park
03/28/07 1835EDT 162.550 WXJ70 Melbourne/Vierra
03/28/07 1838EDT 162.400 KIH26 Daytona Beach/Bumcombe Hill
03/28/07 1842EDT 162.475 KIH63 Orlando/Orlando
Harry Helms – Smithville, TX
Yaesu FT-60 and Rubber Duckie
162.450 KWN34, Palestine (pronounced pal-uh-steen) TX, 7:03 am Central 3/9
with weather info for north Texas;\only tropo signal this morning.\
BTW, my local Austin NOAA station was still giving\automated time checks in
Central standard time this\morning, although last night's flash flood and tornado
watches had Central daylight times. Odd!
Kevin Redding – Gilbert, AZ
CCRadio and whip
162.400 Tucson, AZ WXL30 broadcasting from Mt. Lemmon 130 miles.
162.425 Payson, AZ WWG41 advertising open house on Earth Day 74 miles.
162.500 Globe, AZ WWG42 giving ID as two words for the letter W,
"Double You, Double You, Gee, forty two." 62 miles.
162.550 Phoenix, AZ KEC94 Giving ID as Kay East See Ninety Four. 23
miles.
The Visible Universe
No TV DX logs this month…
Nothin’ But Net
Kevin Redding - Gilbert AZ
http://www.cbc.ca/listen/index.html#
If you want to watch or listen CBC radio or TV, this is the place.
Pick the town you want and listen or watch to your hearts content.
www.weqx.com
Nice station from Vermont
David Slate – Hendersonville, TN
http://www.nova969.com.au/
Nova 96.9 in Sydney, Aus, a personal fave of mine. Morning show is so
Funny.
http://www.wunderground.com/wxradio/index.html
Varies NOAA weather radio feeds. You NOAA weather Radio DXers will love
this.
Jim Masters – New Haven, CT
Hi everyone!
Subject: Listen to the live stream from www.960weli.com!
The WELI Home Shopper Show with Jim Masters. On-air and On-line!
Live Saturdays from 8am-noon and Sundays 8am-1pm (eastern standard
time).Broadcasting live from the Radio Towers Park studios of Clear Channel
Broadcasting's News/Talk 960 WELI.
To play the media please click on the link below or paste it into
your web browser.
http://www.960weli.com/cc-common/streaming_new/launchpage.html
Regards,
Jim Masters Host/Producer/VP Marketing & Sales
Glenn Hauser – Enid, OK
** ALGERIA. Tnx to tips from Mike Cooper and Andy Sennitt, Media Network, I
checked out the revived R. Algiers International, which is not on SW, but with
a new webcast including English:
http://www.algerian-radio.dz/Radio-International/indexfr.asp
leads to this streaming audio link: mms://80.246.5.162/internationale
The stream came right up when I tried at 1816 UT March 20, just as Qur`an
recitation was starting. I kept listening and it was partly in French, but
interrupted by Arabic announcements between segments. 1846 news, 1849
international press review, 1851 a surprise English ID mentioning ``coverage of
events across the borders``; more French. 1900 5+1 time signal, opening English
with news from R. Algeria International; 1910 weather including for some
locations in South and North America, and their winds with a long I; 1912
national press review; announcement about this new service in Arabic, French,
English Spanish; 1917 Hilites of the day, events in Iraq; 1920 call to prayer
time in Algiers area; 1923 Economic Review, 1926 Sports Magazine, 1928 news
headlines, 1929 closing half-hour broadcast until same time tomorrow; by 1931
it was in Spanish with a strange accent. I suppose each languages is aired
several times a day, but when exactly for English? The linx at the top
including ``grille`` do not work. Overall I would give this service good marks
for objectivity
Extra, Extra!
Kevin Redding - Gilbert, AZ
Public radio station widens coverage
Friday, March 09, 2007
By MARCIA BLOMBERG
mblomberg@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - Public radio station WFCR will shift its 24-hour news and information
programming on AM radio from a small Amherst station to 50,000-watt WNNZ in April.
The shift will mean WNNZ-AM, 640, owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc.,
will drop its all-sports format, which includes local and syndicated sports talk shows as
well as broadcast of local high school basketball games and Springfield Falcons hockey
games.
The public radio station in Amherst, WFCR-FM, 88.5, has provided commercial-free
news, information, talk and entertainment programming from National Public Radio
through WPNI-AM, 1430, in Amherst for 10 years, said Martin C. Miller, WFCR's
general manager.
WPNI operates at 5,000 watts during the day, covering Hampshire County and most of
Franklin County, Miller said. It does not operate at night.
By contrast, WNNZ broadcasts at 50,000 watts from Westfield during the day, which
provides "one of the most powerful AM signals in this market," he said. WNNZ's
daytime signal covers an area with a population of about 1.9 million. At night, it operates
at 1,000 watts.
"We've wanted to serve the Springfield audience with this programming for a long time
and WPNI has been for sale for quite awhile," Miller said. "We were concerned if it were
sold, we wouldn't have a place to put this programming."
Miller declined to say how much WFCR will pay Clear Channel for use of the WNNZ
frequency.
Shaun T. Davey, Clear Channel's vice president and market manager, said partnering
with WFCR "wasn't so much about sports in this market" as it was about making sure the
public radio news and information WPNI carries could continue.
"I always thought that programming would be better suited for us than sports," Davey
said.
He said the advent of WVEI-FM, 105.5, in Easthampton last October did not play into
the decision to move away from sports programming. WVEI simulcasts Boston sports
radio station WEEI's programming, including Red Sox and Patriots games.
"I actually started working on this long before WVEI came on the air," Davey said. "I'm
not a fan of looking over the fence at what other people are doing. I look at how we can
be better, how we can grow our cluster of radio stations, so it was a better way to go with
this partnership."
The deal allows Clear Channel to sell some of the underwriting announcements, Davey
said. Miller said the paid announcements will be no different than those from local
businesses now carried on WFCR.
The broadcasting shift will occur on April 2, Miller said.
Miller said WFCR will be obligated to carry the Falcons games on WNNZ until the
team's contract with Clear Channel lapses, which he believes is at the end of the season in
April.
Damon Markiewicz, director of media relations for the Springfield Falcons, said last
night that he was unaware of the impending change.
Meanwhile, WFCR is raising funds to build a production studio in space it leases at
WGBY, channel 57, the public television station in Springfield, Miller said.
WFCR, which now operates a one-person Springfield news bureau at the television
station, plans to expand it by adding a reporter who speaks both Spanish and English, he
said.
"We want to and need to be in Springfield and cover Hampden County and surrounding
areas better than we have been," he said.
Miller said WFCR will not need to hire any staff to make the switch, and Davey said
Clear Channel, which shares staff among its five local stations, will not have to lay
anyone off.
WPNI is owned by Pamal Broadcasting of Albany, N.Y. Officials at Pamal could not be
reached for comment yesterday.
In related news, Clear Channel is completing its purchase of radio station WRNX-FM
100.9 from Pamal. Davey said the Holyoke-based station is scheduled to move next week
into Clear Channel's facility in Springfield.
Clear Channel owns five stations in Greater Springfield. In addition to WNNZ, the others
are: WHYN-FM, 93.1; WHYN-AM, 560;WPKX-FM, 97.9; and the newly acquired
WRNX-FM, 100.9.
Station shift expected for UMaine sports radio
rights
By Pete Warner
Thursday, March 15, 2007 - Bangor Daily News
University of Maine sports are likely to have a new radio home beginning in July.
Black Bear Sports Properties, the official multimedia rights holder for UMaine, is
expected today to announce that WVOM radio of Bangor (103.9 FM) has signed an
agreement that will make it the flagship station for Black Bear sports for the next few
years.
WVOM, a news/talk station that calls itself "The Voice of Maine" and is owned by Clear
Channel Broadcasting, on Wednesday ran a promotional spot teasing a Thursday "major
announcement that will make headlines and have some people going Bananas," an
apparent reference to Bananas the Bear, the mascot of UMaine athletics.
Mike McCollum, general manager of Black Bear Sports Properties, was unavailable for
comment Wednesday evening, but UMaine athletics spokesman Brent Williamson said
some news is forthcoming.
"We will be making an announcement regarding radio broadcast rights on Thursday,"
said Williamson, who would not provide any further details.
WVOM on-air personality George Hale, who is on vacation in Florida, said Wednesday
night he has not been told the nature of today’s announcement. However, he has been
asked to join an on-air conference call on WVOM’s "Maine in the Morning" show today
at 7:36 a.m. at which time the details are expected to be made public.
"All they said was it will involve the station and it would involve [me] to a degree," Hale
said. "I don’t know anything about it. I was never brought into the discussion."
The agreement is expected to give WVOM/Clear Channel broadcast rights to UMaine
men’s hockey, football and men’s and women’s basketball.
An affiliation between BBSP and Clear Channel likely would mean an end to the
relationship between UMaine athletics and Bangor sports station WZON (620 AM), "The
Sports Zone."
WZON, owned by Bangor authors and UMaine benefactors Stephen and Tabitha King,
has been airing UMaine football and basketball since 1993. Shortly thereafter, it became
the flagship radio station of Black Bear athletics.
WZON has provided extensive coverage of UMaine men’s hockey, football, men’s and
women’s basketball and baseball, along with some softball games, and has aired
approximately 125 contests per year since 1997.
WZON program director and sportscaster Dale Duff could not be reached for comment
Wednesday night.
Duff late in 2005 estimated the station had broadcast 1,500 live UMaine athletic contests
since 1993.
Black Bear Sports Properties is a subsidiary of Learfield Sports, a Missouri-based
multimedia rights company that handled the bidding and decision process for that awards
TV and radio rights to UMaine sports.
The company, which last April signed a six-year agreement with UMaine, is responsible
for overall management of the university’s athletic corporate partnership effort, which
includes corporate sponsorship sales, print advertising in athletic department
publications, signage at UMaine athletic facilities, game sponsorships and corporate
hospitality events as well as overall consulting and management with the entire athletic
media rights package.
HD Radio on the Offense
HD Radio promises clarity and diversity. What it delivers is a whole
different story.
By David Downs
Published: March 7, 2007
Driving across the Bay Area every day, you can't help but hear the great news: HD
radio has arrived! There are now secret stations hiding between the stations you
can hear. All you have to do is go out and buy a new HD Radio and you'll hear
your old stations in crystal-clear digital, plus secret ones that you've never even
heard before. All with no subscription!But after an investigation of HD Radio
units, the stations playing HD, and the company that owns the technology; and
some interviews with the wonks in DC, it looks like HD Radio is a high-level
corporate scam, a huge carny shill. Do not tune in until your unit comes standard
on that used Honda Civic you buy in 2015.
Between the high prices, poor listening options, homogenized content, and a
decade and a half of FCC dealings that went into this monopoly, critics are calling
the move to digital radio a "catastrophe" and a "complete giveaway" to
behemoths such as CBS. Moreover, HD is pretty much a done deal.
Let's start at Emeryville's Circuit City, where sales rep Joel shows the one HD
Radio model in stock. This $200 beauty should net you 22 Bay Area stations
broadcasting their regular feeds with a clearer digital signal hitchhiking on it. It
also promises to decode fifteen of their all-digital cousins.
Problem is, when you hit "seek" on the JVC unit, the HD tuner cycles and cycles
as if we're in the wilds of Idaho. Very impressive.
Joel will assure you that Circuit City merely needs a new antenna on its roof to
pick up this digital signal, but somehow your regular car antenna will manage to
pick up all 37 stations just fine. You're not so sure anymore.
KFOG program director Dave Benson says the digital footprint, or signal
coverage, is indeed smaller than the analogue one, but because digital radio is so
new, nobody knows by how much. Still, Benson can receive HD in his office, and
he reports that 104.5 FM not only sounds cleaner, the new technology lets KFOG
share its bandwidth with an all-digital HD2 signal that carries a second KFOG.
What's on it? How about Dave Morey's 10@10 — 24/7.
This digital sidekick and eleven other Bay Area HD2 stations duplicate the
existing airwave dross with formats like "Wild Hispanic," "'50s/'60s Oldies," and
"KCBS News." They seem to be underfunded, unoriginal dumps of existing
content from their analogue brethren, or consist of some playlist cut together by a
decent DJ like Aaron Axelsen. Big whoop. That's not the real scam.
These local stations multicast using a technique known as In-Band On-Channel
broadcasting, whose patents are held by a fifteen-year-old private corporation
called iBiquity. CEO Bob Struble says iBiquity arose from next-gen radio research
at corporations such as Lucent. These big boys figured out how to squeeze four
channels into each existing one, and have poured more than $200 million into
controlling them all with help from the FCC. The esteemed commissioners
responded by granting iBiquity exclusive rights to digital radio.
Struble says nobody owns the rights to analogue radio, but everyone who wants
to broadcast in digital or make a receiver has to pay iBiquity. Fees start at
$10,000 per new digital channel. "It's a new phenomenon in consumer
electronics," he says. "There's aspects of HDTV that are proprietary; the MP3
format is owned by one company. The DVD technology is owned by a
consortium." Struble thinks it's a fair system: "We have to license to anybody on a
fair, nondiscriminatory basis. You, David, are going to get the same terms Sony
did."
Great. But here's the catch: All the major radio players, such as Clear Channel
Communications, are iBiquity investors. Which means Clear Channel is paying
itself for the right to broadcast, and every mom-and-pop station that wants to go
digital also has pay the big boys. Nice setup!
IBiquity's monopoly on this closed-source system is a catastrophe, says Michael
Bracy, a lobbyist for the Future of Music Coalition, whose goal is diversity on the
airwaves and higher pay for artists. "It potentially is a great thing, but it feels like
the government really botched this," he says.
The new technology, he says, has opened up more real estate on the spectrum,
but the same land barons are homesteading it all. "The first question is, 'Who gets
to control these streams?'" he asks. "Is this an antidote to consolidation or is it a
complete giveaway to radio chains? It looks like it's a complete giveaway."
Radio spectrum analyst JH Snider is research director for the Wireless Future
Program of the New America Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan DC think
tank. He affirms that a public broadcasting license is virtually a license to print
money, and the FCC's fourfold expansion of Big Radio's mints offers no public
payback. "There's nothing special about the technology except that the
broadcasters control it and basically they took technology that others invented,"
Snider says. "They should've opened it up to competition."
FCC sources claim the path to digital audio broadcasting has been open and
inclusive. The public can access records going back to 1999, and read voluminous
comments. "This was the most thoroughly tested system in broadcast history,"
Struble says.
Snider, however, says the whole way the United States doles out the spectrum
favors broadcasters over common sense. "Just look at free satellite radio," he
says. "North America is the only continent on Earth besides Antarctica that
doesn't have free satellite radio stations. That's the power of the provincial US
broadcaster."
The deal isn't closed yet. The five-member, Republican-led FCC still has the
power to write some local obligations into Big Radio's digital expansion. The
commission has yet to authorize blanket approval that would let any station
deploy high-definition radio at will. The public, Bracy suggests, might ask the
FCC to ensure one community channel for every three the bigwigs get. But
somehow the public-interest groups are totally asleep at the wheel. "Nobody
understands spectrum," Snider notes.
Furthermore, FCC sources say the commission could vote on blanket
authorization at any time without informing the public.
Welcome to New Radio, boys and girls. It stinks just like Old Radio, except the
smell comes in clearer and there's more of it. Stay tuned.
Posted Mar. 22, 2007
Local group buying WRNI public radio for
$2M
For the first time in Rhode Island history, the state will have its own
locally-owned and operated public radio station.
WBUR (90.9FM), Boston’s NPR news station, yesterday announced it
would sell WRNI (1290AM) to Rhode Island Public Radio for $2 million,
to be paid over 10 years. The Boston station will continue to provide
WRNI with sports services programming, engineering and support.
Rhode Island Public Radio – formerly the Foundation for Ocean State
Public Radio – also announced it will purchase WAKX (102.7FM) in
Narragansett, thus expanding the NPR station’s coverage throughout
most of southern Rhode Island.
“We have traditionally been without South County,” said Joe O’Connor,
WRNI’s general manager. “This allows for us to finally reach
Narragansett … for the very first time and consistently get to
Jamestown, Newport, Little Compton … It’s a 25-percent increase in
population alone.”
He added: “We’re going to get a good 70 to 75 percent of the state –
but my public-service mission is to cover every acre, so we still have
some challenges.”
http://www.pbn.com/stories/24506.htm
FCC Declines To Set Mandatory Conversion Date For
Digital Radio
03-23-07
RTO Online - The rent to own industry's trade website
Since the Commission first authorized Digital Audio Broadcasting
(“DAB”) on an interim basis, over 1200 stations have notified the
Commission that they have commenced or intend to commence hybrid
digital broadcasting.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced new
policies that they say will advance the offering of digital radio services
to American consumers, as part of the broader digital migration that is
underway across all media. Unlike HDTV, the FCC said it will not set a
mandatory conversion date for digital radio broadcasting.
XM Satellite Radio and SIRIUS Satellite Radio issued a joint statement
in support of the new rules: "The FCC decision underlines that HD
radio on the AM/FM bands provide a real alternative to satellite, and
that the current audio entertainment market is broad, robust and
competitive. The decision will raise competition to a new level by
stimulating the growth in HD radio stations (now 1200), enhancing its
offerings to consumers and establishing a process for free radio to
offer a paid subscription service for the first time."
In October 2002, the FCC selected IBOC as the technology enabling
AM and FM radio broadcast stations to begin digital operations. IBOC is
a method of transmitting near-CD quality audio signals to radio
receivers along with new data services such as station, song and artist
identification, stock and news information, as well as local traffic and
weather bulletins. With IBOC, a radio station is also capable of splitting
its digital channel so that it may broadcast multiple streams of digital
audio programming. Importantly, IBOC allows broadcasters to use
their current radio spectrum to transmit AM and FM analog signals
simultaneously with new digital signals.
Since the Commission first authorized Digital Audio Broadcasting
(“DAB”) on an interim basis, over 1200 stations have notified the
Commission that they have commenced or intend to commence hybrid
digital broadcasting. Radio stations broadcasting in a digital format
using in-band on-channel (“IBOC”) technology are able to offer
listeners enhanced sound quality, improved reception, as well as new
multicasting and datacasting services.
In today’s Order, the Commission:
Refrains from imposing a mandatory conversion schedule for radio
stations to commence digital broadcast operations;
Allows FM radio stations to operate in the extended hybrid digital
mode;
Requires that each local radio station broadcasting in digital mode to
simulcast a digital signal of at least comparable audio quality to
its analog signal;
Adopts a flexible bandwidth policy permitting a radio station to
transmit high quality audio, multiple program streams, and data
casting services at its discretion;
Allows radio stations to time broker unused digital bandwidth to third
parties, subject to certain regulatory requirements;
Applies existing programming and operational statutory and
regulatory requirements to all free DAB programming streams;
Authorizes AM nighttime operations;
Dismisses several pending Petitions for Reconsideration and Petitions
for Rulemaking that asked, inter alia, the Commission to
reconsider the adoption of iBiquity’s in-band, on-channel (IBOC)
system as the technology chosen for DAB transmission;
Seeks further comment on appropriate limits to the amount of
subscription services that may be offered by radio stations; and
Seeks comment on whether the Commission should adopt any new
public interest requirements for digital audio broadcasters.
Keith McGinnis – Hingham, MA
http://dhdeans.blogspot.com/2007/03/hd-radio-cant-solvebroadcaster.html
HD Radio Can't Solve Broadcaster Problems
Wal-Mart Stores recently announced that it will sell receivers that support HD
Radio programming. HD radio is a technology that delivers digital audio quality,
advanced data services, and more content choices to terrestrial radio listeners.
The car radio receiver will be JVC-branded and will be priced at $190, according
to In-Stat. HD Radio programming is free once the consumer has purchased the
receiver, which can be an attractive selling point to the price-sensitive Wal-Mart
consumer.
The giant retailer's support of HD Radio is an important step in the radio
industry's conversion to digital. More and more consumers are ignoring terrestrial
analog radio in favor of digital satellite radio and portable MP3 players. However,
the number of HD Radio receivers sold to date has been very low.
Consequently, broadcasters are hoping that HD Radio will revitalize terrestrial
radio listenership. Wal-Mart's agreeme nt to free up shelf space for HD Radio
receivers will allow HD Radio supporters to expand the technology's reach and to
further drive consumer awareness.
Another key driver behind the promotion of HD Radio is the HD Digital Radio
Alliance. Major media companies, including Clear Channel and Infinity
Broadcasting, formed this alliance in 2006 with the intent to accelerate consumer
awareness and HD Radio technology adoption.
The group is allotting $250 million in 2007 in support of HD Radio, a portion of
which will fund a series of 15 and 30-second radio spots advertising Wal-Mart's
roll-out of HD Radio receivers in 2,000 of its 3,500 stores.
Regardless, I believe that the problems that broadcasters face with terrestrial
radio can't be solved with HD Radio technology alone -- because the core
challenges are related to poor content programing and excessive commercial
advertising. Public radio is the sector's primary bright spot. That said, I question if
there are e nough public stations in most markets to justify the investment in a
HD Radio receiver.
In-Stat's latest primary research on the Digital Radio market suggests that there
has been a notable increase in U.S. consumer awareness of HD Radio in the
past 12 months. However, actual ownership of receivers that support HD Radio
programming amounted to less than 1 percent of respondents in their survey.
Meaning, improved awareness has had little impact on consistently low interest.
In contrast, 20 percent of respondents own a receiver that supports satellite
radio. So, despite the Alliance's $250 million campaign, and Wal-Mart's
announcement to sell HD Radio receivers, In-Stat expects satellite radio receiver
shipments to out-pace HD Radio receiver shipments over the next five years.
Bargain Barn
Nothing for sale this month
Show and Tell – New Toys
Kevin Redding – Gilbert, AZ
RCA Superadio III
I went to Frys Electronics and paid my $54.99 for the RCA version of the SRIII.
I got it home and put some rechargeable NiMH batteries in it and it didn't seem to
like it. I might try them later though. I got out some Duracells and turned it on and
it was a little better but at first I was beyond pixxed off. The radio was unstable
popping in and out with stations on MW.
I played with it tuning around and as it ran, the radio seemed to straighten out
somewhat the longer it ran. There are still two kind of rough spots where therare
birdies but if I am lucky, the longer I play it the thing may straighten out.
Now that I don't want to smash it with a hammer, I have found that the radio is
hotter than my other SR IIIs and the dial is calibrated with 550 being 550 and
1700 being 1700 but all the numbers in the center of the dial are printed off.
The radio is hotter than a firecracker. It is a DX machine as close as the width of
a razor with the SR III that Bruce Carter modified. This radio was made in
China and it seems they fixed somethings on this. If it wasn't for the two birdies,
this radio would be exceptional.
Sangean HDR-1 HD Radio
Although I railed against the implementation of digital radio and hoped that it
would be placed in the UHF band where things are far more stable than on
frequencies below 30 MHz, I always said I would get an HD Radio just out of
morbid curiosity if nothing else.
Well, hearing the FCC say they were going to night IBOC was enough of
an impetus to get up and go to the store and pick one up. I went to Fry's
Electronics in Phoenix. Yeah, I took the big trip to the state capital to get an HD
Radio. Traveled all 19 miles one way.
When I got there I saw three examples, the Boston Acoustics offering, the
Sangean HDT-1 tuner, and the Sangean HDR-1 radio. I can't remember what the
Boston Acoustics version went for but it was about $300, I believe, The HDT-1
was $200. and the HDR-1 had $249 on the box. While I was looking at the
different units I remembered the reports on the BA unit and that it was so-so. I
remembered that some people said that the HDT-1 was a nice set and no one I
know of got the HDR-1. Well, there was a big red tag on the shelf that said the
HDR-1 was on sale for $149 and at $100 off, that sounded like a smokin deal to
me.
Grabbed a box and headed off to the checkouts where literally, there are 64
registers open each with someone running it. When I tell you that Fry's is a big
store, I ain't jokin. I got to the register and the girl went to ring it up and it showed
$249. I explained to her that there was a sign on the end cap for $149. After
about 30 minutes, and managers, and all kinds of people looking at things,
they finally sold it to me at the end cap price and took the red tag down as it was
a misprint. I will be the only one to get this radio at that price.
I have been playing with it and can tell you that it comes with a whip for FM
attached to an F connector and also a dinky piece of junk AM antenna that
wouldn't receive an AM station if it was sitting on the senders antenna. I have no
idea what Joe Schmuckatelli is going to do when he gets an HD set since it
really needs real external antennas to work. I have an outdoor TV/FM antenna
and connected it and also used a Radio Shack loop for AM.
Surprisingly, with the RS loop and outdoor antenna, reception is pretty good. The
biggest difference is in the sound of AM. It does sound better. We had a lightning
storm today as it was rainy and there were no dropouts or noise from the storm.
FM well it just doesn't jump out at you too much. The secondary HD channels
sound like crap low bit rate internet stations. There is nothing much to
get excited about here in Phoenix when it comes to regular or secondary
programming on HD. Seems they still haven't figured it out that people went to
satellite and iPods and the like because frankly, the programming sucks.
The radio is certainly very good at decoding analog RDS and is not too bad at
decoding stations from Tucson on HD on FM. I can't say how much I like it so far
because of only having a few moments to play with it. I believe that it also
decodes AM stereo.
I can say one thing for sure, if you are an FM DXer, you will like the HDR-1. Its
good with adjacents, not as good as an analog radio with 110 kHz filters but it
acts like it has 150s or 180s.
Its a pain to tune and actually is easier to tune with the remote than the single
knob on the front but so far so good.
Jay Heyl – Orlando, FL
Kaito KA2100
I was just about to leave for lunch when our receiving guy came by with the
package I was expecting from Universal. So I delayed my departure to check out
the contents. Included were some connectors I'm hoping will let me finally get to
use my PA0RDT Mini-whip antenna, and a new Kaito KA-2100 radio. This is the
US version of the Redsun RA-2100.
What follows are my first impressions of this radio, without benefit of having even
opened the manual.
Physically, the radio is a nice size. Roughly the same size as the Eton/Grundig
S350. It does have a built in handle, though it feels a bit on the flimsy side. Not
obviously insufficient, but it doesn't give me a very warm feeling about its
probable longevity.
The face of the radio seems rather busy. Lots of knobs and buttons. With the
exception of the band selectors, the knobs are all pretty straightforward. The
band knobs are kind of odd, combining AM filter width with the band selection.
Not difficult to get use to, but it does kind of make you wonder what the
engineers were thinking. SW is split into three bands. I would assume this is
more for tuning convenience and to make the use of the 50 memories more
consistent. Tuning convenience, you're asking? The radio has no direct
frequency entry buttons, so splitting SW into three bands allows you to jump
around a bit easier.
I also need to give special mention to the tuning knob. It's a good size -- about
1.75 inch in diameter -- with knurled edges and a finger dimple. The reason it
deserves special mention is the feel -- very smooth, with just enough resistance
to make small tuning adjustments easy. The resistance does hinder large
movements within a band, but not to a great extent. Anyway, I have the
impression of a better feel with the tuning knob than one generally sees in a radio
in this price range. It's not a heavy flywheel, but for a cheap plastic knob it feels
very nice.
While the knobs are pretty simple, the buttons are a bit overwhelming. Well,
maybe not overwhelming, but not exactly straightforward and obvious. Though, I
must admit, the buttons I used all did exactly what I thought they would. Still
haven't figured out the Q.Tune button. I may have to actually RTFM on that one.
The Up/Down buttons do exactly what one would expect, and, as I also
expected, performed a scan function when held in for a couple seconds. And I
have to say it's one of the better scan functions I've seen. It didn't catch all the
broadcasts, but it only missed the very weakest of them.
I spent most of my brief listening time on SW. The first impression was not good.
When I switched to SW1 it was tuned down low and I was clearly getting lots and
lots of images of local MW stations. As long as the images stay down at the low
end it won't have much practical impact for me, but it was a bit disconcerting as a
first impression.
Moving up to SW2, starting at 10MHz, showed what seemed to be very good
sensitivity. WWV came in quite clearly. Not a huge thing, but it doesn't always put
in a good daytime showing here in Orlando. On 15MHz I even heard a bit of
WWVH, which I've never heard in the day time here before. I'm not sure if that
says more about conditions today or the KA-2100. I haven't spent a great deal of
time surfing SW during the day time here, so I can't really say if what I heard
today was spectacular or not. There were lots and lots of signals, many of them
very strong and clear.
Tuning, beyond the feel of the knob, is a bit different than other radios I've used.
The radio does not squelch when changing frequency and it apparently takes the
PLL a short while to settle in. This results in odd noises sometimes, chuffing or
chirping, depending on what signals are in the vicinity. It also sounds like the
AGC gets reset to nominal every time there is a frequency change. With weaker
stations in slow tuning mode (1kHz step) this means you have to wait a bit for the
AGC to come back up after each frequency change. I suppose this is a
reasonable approach if the AGC isn't very fast (it's definitely not adjustable).
The sound is pretty good for a radio this size. One thing that bothers me is that
the amplifier appears to be very much oversized for the speaker. The volume
knob goes to 10, but on a good signal you can drive it into very audible distortion
at about 3. I don't have a good feel yet for whether this is mostly due to the
speaker or to inadequate electronics in the amp section. If Kiwa comes out with
an audio upgrade for this one I may have to think about doing it.
Other minor points -- the buttons light up whenever one of them is pushed. In the
fluorescent lighting of my office the button lighting appears uneven, though I'd
guess it's probably sufficient in the dark. There is a "Light" button on the top of
the radio that allows you to momentarily light up the display and all the buttons
with a quick push. A longer push locks the display light in the on position.
Another push turns it off. There is also a "Snooze" button on top. I'm assuming it
does the obvious thing.
That's it for now. I'll write more after reading the manual and taking it head-tohead with my RF-2200.
I spent some more time with the KA-2100 when I got home tonight. Even did a
little head-to-head comparison with my RF-2200.
Let me get the rest of the control issues out of the way first. I read the manual,
which turned out to be far less daunting than I first thought from the size of it. It
includes English, French, and Spanish sections, so you only have to read a third
of it. The manual was obviously translated by someone who speaks English, but
only scores about an 85 of 100 on the true fluency test. Lots of curiously worded
phrases, some kind of funny.
The Q.Tune button turns out to be rather handy. It jumps through the bands,
making large frequency movements a lot simpler. For MW and FM it moves a set
amount with each press of the button. For SW it jumps to the beginning of the
next "band" within the current segment. I don't know how accurate their
beginning of band point is (I've never quite gotten the whole "band" thing
memorized, and since many broadcasters seem to ignore it entirely, I've never
felt much the worse for my lacking), but it appears to be in the ballpark.
I've noticed a couple oddities with the lighted dial. It you press and hold the
"Light" button for a few seconds it is supposed to lock the dial light in the on
position. It does, but only until you changed the frequency (or probably press any
of the other buttons). Then it goes back to its normal timeout mode, turning the
light off after a few seconds. Strange implementation.
The buttons all require a very firm press and hold to take effect. Even with all the
batteries in the radio you still need to hold on to the back to activate any of the
buttons without tipping the radio over. One thing it took me a while to notice is
that all the level knobs (RF gain, volume, treble, bass) have just a very small
indent at the indicator position. There's no contrasting color to mark this position
and the indent if impossible for me to feel with my fingers. I suppose it shouldn't
matter since you should just turn all these knobs to whatever position sounds
best, but I still like to know where the neutral position is supposed to be for the
tone controls.
I put some NiMH AA batteries in tonight in addition to the D cells. I'm not sure in
reality how useful this dual battery feature will be, but, living in hurricane alley, I
find it comforting to know I can use the radio on battery and still keep a "fresh"
set of D cells inside, ready to go in an emergency. The radio will allegedly
recharge the batteries when plugged in and not being used. It's a manual thing,
requiring you to press a button to start the recharge cycle. The manual didn't
specify, but I'm assuming it only recharges the batteries you have switched in at
the moment. I'd hate to have my radio explode because it started recharging the
alkaline D cells I have in it.
The AA cells were recharged a couple weeks ago and have been setting unused
since then. They read two out of three segments on the battery meter as soon as
they were installed. I'll have to recharge them overnight and see if I can get three
segments lit.
Okay, on to performance. In a couple words, pretty impressive. I informally
compared it to my RF-2200 on a few rather poorly received SW stations. I would
have to give a slight edge to the RF-2200 on sensitivity, but it was very close.
The RF-2200 was better able to resolve the very marginal signals. Though, when
you add in the accuracy and ease of tuning on the KA-2100, it would almost tip
the scale in its favor. I had to recalibrate the dial on the RF-2200 several times
during my testing to be sure I was tuning the same station on both. Dial
recalibration is obviously something you don't need to worry about with the KA2100.
The 1kHz tuning on the KA-2100 results in what seems rather unusual filter
performance. As you tune away from a station, it fades a bit with the first jump, a
bit more with the second jump, then it just disappears with the third jump. It
probably seems odd because I've never had a SW receiver with true digital
tuning and 1kHz tuning steps. I know it's just a combination of the narrow filter
and the wide tuning steps, but it still seems odd. I think it also speaks to
Redsun/Kaito spending the extra few cents to put some halfway decent
filters in these radios.
While I've only had the radio a few hours, my initial impression is mostly positive.
My biggest concern is with the audio. It can play plenty loud, but the audio is very
quickly driven to distortion. This really bothers me since one of the reasons I
bought this was it was reviewed as having very good sound. To me, clearly
audible distortion when turned to 3 out of a max of 10 is not very good sound.
Hopefully, I'll only have to turn it to 2.5 to hear it over the shower.
Keith Beesley – Seattle, WA
RCA Superadio III
Well, I took the plunge and picked up my first Superadio, one of the new RCAbranded ones, at my local Fry's Electronics.
The report: at first I thought there was something wrong with the radio, because I
was hearing so many stations! (at my local sunset). I thought surely I must be
hearing some spurious "images" from stations at the wrong place on the dial.
I finally realized that you have to give the tuning knob a tiny tweak, listen
carefully, and then tweak again (much like analog shortwave sets, for those of us
who remember these or still use them). My first i.d. was KBOI 670 Boise ID (50
kw, 400 miles), which is a regular here in the evenings/overnight, but usually not
until much later in the evening.
Overall, it's probably a tad more sensitive, but less selective, than my GE "TRF"
portable from the 70s (sometimes you get two equally-strong signals on the
same channel, and it's hard to separate them). The audio sounds great; it's easily
the best- sounding portable I've ever owned. FM is great, too; it easily picks up all
my local and "fringe" stations, even the tiny high-school and college stations.
I'm very happy with this purchase :-). Well worth the $.
Testing, Testing…
Les Rayburn – Helena, AL
3/18
KMTI 650khz test heard very well in Central Alabama. WSM continues to prove
to be impossible to null here,despite trying a variety of antennas as inputs into
the Quantum Phaser. Best reception proved to be using the Wellbrooke
ALA1530 loop alone (unphased) and adjusting it for minimum signal from WSM.
These revealed Columbia along with an UNID SS preacher (male). Any idea who
this one might have been? Several folks seem to have reported it.
Icom 746 Pro transceiver with it's wonderful IF DSP has become the primary MW
receiver here these days... and it proved it worth again. Using LSB mode, I
selected a 1.3khz filter that was centered on the carrier frequency...this basically
reduces the sidebands which provide modulation for music, leaving only the
"sweet spot" near the carrier. Morse code and sweep tones just jumped out of
this setting. Easy, armchair copy at times during the test.
WSM, along with WSB 750khz in Atlanta remain the two most difficult stations for
me to null with any success. Moving into the new deed-restricted home at the
end of the month. Over the summer, I hope to install two BOG antennas in a
drainage ditch next to my home, each about 600 feet long. They will only be
separated by about 10 degrees, but I'm hoping that combination works some
magic. I'll still be able to use the active whips and the ALA 1530, though perhaps
not as high and clear as now.
As usual, the best time was had by visiting the chat room at #mwdx on
Starchat.net. If you haven't tried this yet, you need to. It's amazing how much
easier it is to ID stations while cooperating in real time with others.
Now, if someone can help me with that UNID SS Preacher...my night will be
complete. Utah #2 here in Alabama, and only my third station ever logged on
650khz.
Thanks to Jim, Doug, and everyone who made it possible.
Eric Berger – Detroit
3/18
Here in my QTH of Detroit, I was unable to hear KMTI. When I nulled
WSM, I had some sort of whiny-buzzing noise in, which I have no clue as
to where it's coming from. (I've also noted it down around 530 kHz for
much of this season.)
There was one point where I could hear bits and pieces of someone
talking in the WSM null, which I believe was unneeded WNMT Nashwauk, MN.
Thanks to everyone for putting this together -- too bad it didn't make
it in here.
Neil Kazaross – Barrington, IL
3/18
First noted in house on 2010 with WSM nulled about 0102 with code and sweeps
and is easy outside using phased BOGs again with code and sweep tones etc
with talk stn QRM . I don't need CKOM nor KGAB so to sleep with me.
Martin Foltz – Mission Viejo, CA
3/18
KMTI DX test in at 11:01 PM PDT tune-in, lots of sweep tones, voice & code IDs.
They are somewhat of a regular here with KSTE and XETNT also there
depending on conditions (all are in there tonight.)
Bruce Winkelman – Tulsa, OK
3/18
Finally had the opportunity to review overnite recording on 650. KMTI
cutting thru the jumble nicely with CW ID and sweep tones 0104-0109 CDT.
Utah #2 here. Thanks to all that put on the test!
Brian Leyton – Valley Village, CA
3/18
I finally got a chance to listen to the recordings I made of the DX test.
I'm pleased to announce that the test came in loud & clear here, starting at
10:59:44 PDT when a country song abruptly cut in, then into a TOH ID and ABC
News.
I'm not too surprised - I've heard them before, and 10Kw at about 500 miles
should be pretty strong. And it was. KSTE was there underneath the tones
and morse with Leo Laporte, and there was some music too, which I could not
identify - probably XETNT.
Later recordings from after the test have C&W music in there - dominant but
weak, along with TOH IDs from KMTI. So they're getting out pretty well even
on their regular night power/pattern. After 6:00 AM they were coming in
reasonably well - do they have a PSRA?
I Got The Bird!
Harry Helms –Smithville, TX
Sirius Xact receiver
Sirius channel 140, international vacuum, 1839 3/4,
tune in with WOR #1348 in progress; perfect reception,
natch. Sirius receiver channel display simply said
"Sirius" and no program info or ID was displayed.