May 2009 ABDX Journal
Vol 4. Issue 5
Editors Corner:
ABDX membership is 209 members! I thank all of you for being members of ABDX.
The May CME was as follows:
LF- 150-300
MW- 1300-1490
HF- 49 meters 5900 - 6250
FM- All Band
TV- VHF 2-6
Satellite- Any
WiFi or Internet - Out of the USA
I had this Journal go to poofness and it vanished into the bit bucket. I had to rebuild this
issue and I am sure I lost logs. If yours were lost, please accept my sincere apologies.
Next month we will all hear about the end of analog TV but there still will be some
around for night light service. I am sure that there will be some out there that will have
less TV after the digital switchover as in some areas there will not be enough coverage to
equal the analog reception prior. This is also the month in the southern regions that has
lots of lightning and this means a lot of people will begin to DX FM and TV. As to
DXing something besides AM radio, I would love to see a lot more HF/SW logs. Its good
to have varied interests in the hobby.
We have call sign changes this month!
And as always, if you have something to sell and want to have it on the ABDX list and
have it in the ABDX Journal, please join the ABDX list and you can post it there and I
will also make sure it gets in the Journal.
This is the site to join ABDX. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/
To join ABDX by mail here’s where to send the mail:
ABDX-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
The ABDX website URL is: www.abdx.org
The ABDX 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. We want as many as possible to see the
Journal so we can grow the DX hobby. Please do your part to keep our hobby viable.
You can get your copy of the journal at www.abdx.org
Thanks as always,
Kevin Redding, Phil Rafuse, Powell Way, Mike Richard, Jay Heyl and Martin Foltz the
ABDX crew.
Nothin’ But Net
(Editor – Martin Foltz)
This month we have several articles submitted by Kevin with some good discussion on the Wi-Fi Pocket
Radio followed by some logs from Bogdan Chiochiu
Kevin Redding – Cosmic Crump, TN, Center of the Known Universe
WiFi pocket radio
Posted by: kevin redding
Thu May 7, 2009 6:29 am (PDT)
Epoq Launches Wi-Fi Pocket Radio Line
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 04/30/2009
Boca Raton, Fla. - The portable, pocket-size six-transistor AM radio of the early 1960s has evolved into
a Wi-Fi-equipped Internet radio. Under its Epoq Multimedia brand, Paradigm Shift plans end-of-May
availability of its $149-suggested EIR-PW01, dubbed the world's first pocket-sized Internet radio. Via
Wi-Fi, it accesses more than 12,000 internet stations.
Epoq´s $149-suggested pocket-size Internet radio with Wi-Fi. radio stations. It also feature FM tuner,
1500mAh lithium-ion battery with up to 10 hours of listening time, a stereo minijack output, and a builtin mono speaker. The device uses a scroll wheel to access station presets, search for stations by genres,
and perform other functions. Its battery can be recharged by standard USB connection or AC adapter.
The company also plans additional WiFi radio shortly after the first model ships. They´ll include a
tabletop unit and a handheld AA-battery-powered model, the company said. The company is also in
discussion with Internet music services, free and subscription-based, to include access to their services.
The device will be available in white, pastel blue, pastel periwinkle, black and silver case colors. All
will be available online at Amazon.com and www.gadgetcraver.com. The supplier is looking for other
online and brick and mortar retailers.
Epoq also markets unlocked GSM cellphones, TVs, and portable media
players (PMPs).
http://www.twice.com/index.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_header_id=6598242&articl
eid=CA6655530
Re: WiFi pocket radio
Posted by: Michael J. Richard
Thu May 7, 2009 6:37 am (PDT)
Ha! Pretty darn neat-looking if you ask me. Now this is something I could see me having in my pocket
with a pair of earbuds listening while working out in the yard or something. Probably would be a little
more handy once Wi-Max availiablity comes around and wi-fi coverage blankets areas like cell towers
do but I still say it's pretty damn neat. I would hope it's user-programmable so you can also input your
own URL's for listening to streams if they are not part of the radio's on-board list. For instance....our FM
station has an online feed but I don't publish it anywhere so no one knows about it.
Michael n Wyo
Re: WiFi pocket radio
Posted by: kevin redding
Thu May 7, 2009 6:43 am (PDT)
On May 7, 2009, at 8:36 AM, Michael J. Richard wrote:
> Now this is something I could see me having in my pocket with a
> pair of earbuds listening while working out in the yard or something.
This could be a terrestrial and satellite radio killer.
Kevin
Re: WiFi pocket radio
Posted by: Phil Rafuse
Thu May 7, 2009 7:02 am (PDT)
I can see it eventually killing off all the non-locally oriented FM stations and all AM stations. I can also
see folks tuning in on its built in FM tuner good, locally oriented stations for news, weather,
cancellations and all the good stuff a radio station that is truly live, local and community oriented will
carry.
To put it in Maritime Canadian terms - it would destroy MBS Radio, but not hurt community oriented
chains like Newcap, and single station owners like Hector, Atlantic and MacEachern.
I can see myself doing a lot of station hopping on this one, from good local FM to internet stations and
back.
I can see a lot of people liking this type of thing.
Phil
Re: WiFi pocket radio
Posted by: Emily Keene
Thu May 7, 2009 7:22 am (PDT)
The only drawback to this thing that I can see is that access will depend upon wi-fi signal availability.
There are areas where I go routinely - remote camping areas, even one of my workplaces which is urban
but devoid of wi-fi signals, where traditional radio will work but wi-fi will not. I already have an internet
radio in a portable game system that I use all the time, but it and my laptop are useless where there is no
signal. The XM radios work almost everywhere, and of course, so do the traditional ones. I like the idea
of the portable internet radio, but am not too excited since I am so aware of the limitations.
Emily.
Re: WiFi pocket radio
Posted by: Harry Helms W5HLH
Thu May 7, 2009 9:15 am (PDT)
Big yawn. . . . . the iPod Touch also has WiFi capability and has been available since 2007. Why buy the
Epoq when the iPod Touch offers so much more?
---------Harry Helms W5HLH
Corpus Christi, TX EL17
http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/
Re: WiFi pocket radio
Posted by: Phil Rafuse
Thu May 7, 2009 6:51 pm (PDT)
--- In ABDX@yahoogroups.com, Harry Helms W5HLH wrote:
>
> Big yawn. . . . . the iPod Touch also has WiFi capability and has been available since
> 2007. Why buy the Epoq when the iPod Touch offers so much more?
That is true. The ipod Touch is pretty cool. My wife won one a couple months back and likes it, a lot.
Funny thing is, I never thought about being able to use it for internet radio. Wait until I tell her!
Phil
Re: WiFi pocket radio
Posted by: kevin redding
Fri May 8, 2009 6:34 am (PDT)
> Big yawn. . . . . the iPod Touch also has WiFi capability and has
> been available since 2007. Why buy the Epoq when the iPod Touch
> offers so much more?
Because a lot of people are out of work or work low paying jobs right now and the Epoq is a lot cheaper
than the iTouch. No doubt the iTouch is superior but it costs a lot more. Its cheaper WiFi for the masses,
I suppose.
Kevin
The Wacky World of Radio - Internet Radio Stations
Posted by: kevin redding
Mon May 11, 2009 5:52 am (PDT)
The Wacky World of Radio - Internet Radio Stations
Today’s Lesson: Internet Radio (Humor/Satire)
By Corey Deitz, About.com
Radio used to be just AM and FM until "Internet Radio" came along. Boy, is AM and FM mad about
that because AM and FM used to have a monopoly on “radio” until that “World Wide Internets” came
along - as some refer to it.
Watch Me Pull a Transmitter Out of My Hat Technically, Internet Radio isn’t really “radio” by
definition. AM and FM sends music and voice wirelessly through the air by a
procedure known as “magic”. (Yes: the same people who brought you the magic of invisible ink, x-ray
specs, and rubber vomit invented Radio. I’m right. Look it up.)
Internet Radio does not send audio through the air by magic. Instead, it sends audio through telephone
and cable lines (how mundane). Therefore, it is not really "radio" but an incredible simulation. We often
refer to Internet Radio as “streams” yet it has nothing to do with water either. So, to summarize: Internet
Radio is not really “radio” nor is it a “stream” but we still use both terms to refer to it.
Traditional radio stations require a lot of studio equipment, transmitters, broadcast towers, and
personnel. Also, by law AM and FM stations only cover a predefined geographic area. Internet Radio
requires a 14-year-old kid sitting his bedroom in Cow Nuts, Iowa who has a $299 netbook computer and
a $9.95 monthly subscription at
Live365.com to reach a global audience.
Oddly enough, some people who own AM and FM radio stations which they paid millions of dollars for
seemed threatened by this.
Huh.
Internet Radio: An Enigma Wrapped in a Bedroom
Many AM and FM stations now rebroadcast the content from these stations across the Internet. This
allows the traditional stations to pretend they are Internet radio stations. Why would the owners of
million-dollar AM and FM radio stations want to pretend they were 14-year-old boys broadcasting out
of their bedroom? Because for some reason listenership of Internet Radio has increased every year since
it was introduced.
This is perplexing to traditional radio station owners because they pay really smart people big salaries to
pick tiny playlists of songs for repeated broadcast. On the other hand, Internet Radio is run by a motley
bunch of know-nothing fans, hobbyists, and radio entrepreneurs who take chances with music and
formats. Did I mention Internet Radio
has increased every year since it was introduced?
Huh.
It’s almost as if these Internet Radio stations are providing some sort of unfulfilled service to listeners.
Do Not Feed the AM and FM Station Owners
Anyway, Internet Radio has made the jump from computers to cell phones. One day soon, it will be
readily available in all vehicles. That will also be the day that the owners of AM and FM radio stations
feel cornered and physically attack all the 14-year-olds broadcasting from their bedrooms, take them
hostage, and issue press releases condemning Internet Radio as a vast Left and Right wing conspiracy.
Three Important Facts About Internet Radio:
If you added up all the Internet radio stations in the world, they would stretch from the birthplace of
Guglielmo Marconi to Edwin H. Armstrong, whoever they were.
The letters in “Internet Radio” also spell “Trained Orient” which suggests Internet radio is yet another
lowdown trick by the Red Chinese.
Internet radio streams sometimes includes hidden and encoded sublingual messages. Those are the kind
of messages you put under your tongue.
This About.com page has been optimized for print. To view this page in its original form, please visit:
http://radio.about.com/od/radiohumor/a/aa051009a.htm
Radio wherever you want it, and static-free
Posted by: kevin redding
Tue May 19, 2009 5:25 am (PDT)
Radio wherever you want it, and static-free
Sunday News
Published: May 17, 2009
00:06 EST
By ERIC STARK, Stark Ravings
Last Friday I wore a headset and listened to '80s music on WROZ-FM 101.3 "The Rose" while
designing pages at work — and I didn't use a radio. I listened online through the station's Web site.
Internet radio allows you to listen to your favorite radio station anywhere you go. It's mobile and free,
and you don't lose the station's frequency when you leave the area.
Internet broadcasts present a continuous "stream" of audio, usually accessible anywhere you can get an
Internet connection. So you could travel to Europe and still listen to a central Pennsylvania station. Clear
Channel Communications, which operates more than 800 radio stations, restricts its listening to the
United States because of music licensing and advertising concerns, but most stations allow streaming
anywhere.
The signal is cleaner on the Net, although there can be some glitches with the programs that stream the
audio. It's not 100 percent foolproof, but neither is radio.
To listen to a station online, visit its Web page and look for a link that says something akin to "Listen
Live." Popular clearinghouse sites that specialize in providing Internet radio service include Slacker
(http://slacker.com) and Pandora (http://pandora.com).
Todd Toerper, general manager of WARM-FM 103.3 and WSOX-FM 96.1, said radio is perfect for the
Internet. While listeners with more advanced — and expensive — devices such as the iPhone can
currently listen to Internet radio on their phones, Toerper believes that all cell phones will soon have this
capability. When that occurs, he said, it will be even more popular and mobile than satellite radio.
The number of online listeners continues to grow. In January, a national survey conducted jointly by
Arbitron and Edison Research found that approximately 42 million people in the United States over the
age of 12 tune to online radio on a weekly basis, which is more than twice the number in 2005. Today,
in a week's time, 17 percent of
the population will listen to radio online, compared to just 2 percent in 2000.
According to the survey, an estimated 69 million Americans listened to Internet radio in the last month,
and Web radio reaches one in five people between the ages of 25 and 54 per week. The key radio
demographic of listeners ages 35 to 54 is growing, with men listening slightly more than women. The
survey noted that Internet radio attracts an upscale, well-educated, employed audience.
Radio stations are finding a second source of advertising revenue online. Although Internet listeners
hear the same songs that are played on the radio, stations are restricted to playing only local
commercials online because of royalty issues.
During commercial breaks on WARM and WSOX, an advertiser's visual ad appears simultaneously with
the airing of its commercial, allowing listeners to link to the advertiser's Web site. These types of online
ads can sell for as little as $1 or as much as $1,000 for a banner ad on a station's Web site.
Ronnie Ramone, promotions director and on-air personality at WROZ, said Internet is a great
companion for radio, as stations hold contests online and tie advertisers into packages in both formats.
Some stations even require online listeners to watch or listen to a 15-to-30-second ad prior to streaming
the radio broadcast.
It seems the Internet isn't just an emerging content stream; it's an important new revenue stream.
Staff writer Eric Stark discusses trends and tidbits in broadcast media each week in the Sunday News. E-
mail him at estark@lnpnews.com.
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/237690
The Ascendance of Internet Radio
Posted by: kevin redding
Sat May 30, 2009 5:38 am (PDT)
May 29, 2009, 12:05 PM
The Ascendance of Internet Radio
By SAUL HANSELL
Tivoli
Tivoli Internet table radio with zebra-patterned case
I’m starting to think that at the end of the day what will be the most common way of getting digital
music will be some new version of radio. Push a button. Get some good songs. Pay no money. Maybe
hear some ads. Sure, people will buy downloads, use social networks and get music lots of other ways.
But good enough and easy may well dominate.
That was one reason why I leaped at the chance to meet Tom DeVesto, the chief executive of Tivoli
Audio, which makes some well regarded and very expensive table radios. Mr. DeVesto has been making
radios since he joined Advent, the audio company Henry Kloss started decades ago.
The top of Tivoli’s line are designed to get Internet radio stations too. Hook it up to your WiFi network
and you can pull in any of the thousands of stations around the world that stream their programming on
the Web.
Tivoli introduced the Net radios last year, and was in New York to show off new versions with fancy
wood finishes created with Italian furniture designers. There are bright colored finishes (Carmine Red),
and bold textures (Zebra). I confess the zebra model reminded me of Glen Close as Cruella de Vil, but
the radios are quite attractive if you’ve got $600 to $1,000 to spare.
Indeed, that was my main question for Mr. DeVesto: How do the sort of people who have been buying
his luxury traditional radios see the digital music revolution?
Mr. DeVesto had a clear vision of his customer: someone who uses a computer at work, carries a
BlackBerry, but who doesn’t want to use ever more scarce leisure time to figure out some imperfect
gadget.
“He doesn’t want to make his wine; he wants to open a bottle,” he explained. Music is simply not an end
it itself, but something to accompany daily activities.
“The days of putting on an album, sitting down and listening to it are over,” he said. “Music is part of
living.”
So why not make a portable audio player? Mr. DeVesto said he simply doesn’t like ear buds. As Mr.
DeVesto sees them, Tivoli’s customers may well own iPods, but the process of downloading music and
assembling playlists is often more burden than benefit.
“People who download and burn CDs are probably not my customer,” he said. “My customer is more
likely to buy a CD.”
In that light, it’s not surprising that Mr. DeVesto argues Internet radio is the way to go. He thinks it is
better than subscription services, like the newly renovated Napster, which offers the choice of most any
song available.
“You don’t want to walk into a room with 10,000 CDs and have to look at them to pick out what you
want,” he said. “You want to turn on the radio, hear the song that comes on and say, ‘This is great.’ ”
Mr. DeVesto is building his products mainly around traditional radio stations that have online streams. I
asked about custom radio services like Pandora. He said that Tivoli has talked to Pandora, but said they
hadn’t been able to work out an economic deal. The displays on Tivoli devices can’t display advertising.
And users, he argued, won’t want to hear audio ads, nor will they pay a fee.
“Pandora with commercials is not Pandora,” he said.
I’m not entirely sure that’s right. Many of the radio stations that the Tivoli radio gets have commercials
(or public radio pledge drives). And I wonder whether typing the name of an artist into a service like
Pandora is in fact easier than scrolling through the Tivoli’s directory of thousands of stations arranged
by genre. (You can do this on the radio or on a Web site linked to your radio.)
But if you believe, as I do, that we will have wireless broadband everywhere and so we can have
streaming music anywhere, this is the right debate. Most people are in fact looking for the easiest way to
make music they like appear, just like they were switching on a radio.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/the-ascendance-of-internet-radio/
Web Radio Hits the Road
Posted by: kevin redding
Sun May 31, 2009 4:31 am (PDT)
Web Radio Hits the Road
By Rob Pegoraro
Sunday, May 31, 2009
It took a long drive over a holiday weekend -- a setting that should have played to all of radio's
traditional strengths-- to show how much trouble commercial FM stations may have in store.
The soundtrack for the trip along Interstates 66 and 81 to the Shenandoah Valley town of Woodstock,
Va., came not from FM, an XM or Sirius satellite broadcast or such recorded alternatives as CD or iPod.
Instead, our musical selection came from an Internet-connected smartphone that streamed Web radio to
the nearest speakers through a cheap tape-deck adapter.
And it cost nothing extra on top of the phone's regular service plan.
For people at a desk, Web radio has long offered a terrific upgrade over the playlist-choked monotony of
most FM stations. But a few things had to happen before people could order up Web radio to go.
First, wireless carriers had to offer data services fast enough for a digital stream of music -- then relax
the absurd restrictions they first imposed on this access, which in some cases explicitly banned Web
radio. Then phone developers had to make it easy for users to tune in, either through browsers on phones
or programs provided through such simple software catalogues as Apple's App Store.
All those developments only came together over the last 12 months: At one popular site, Pandora
(http://pandora.com), the share of listeners tuning in on a mobile device has gone from 1 percent a year
ago to 23 percent. Because this change hasn't been heralded by a splashy product launch, many phone
users may not realize how easily they can liberate Web radio from their computers.
I've spent much of the past two weeks trying out two of the best- known options in this category,
Oakland-based Pandora and San Diego-based Slacker (http://slacker.com).
Both run through their own extra software, easily installed on iPhones and newer BlackBerrys. They
also allow a choice between free versions with ads (Pandora's consisted of silent banners, while Slacker
occasionally inserted a brief, audible ad between songs) and premium, ad-free options ($36 a year for
Pandora, $47.88 a year for
Slacker).
These two services, however, differ in how you define your stations. In Pandora, you pick a song or
artist you like, and then the service cues up songs that fit, as determined by its music database. To refine
its selections, you can tap thumbs-up, thumbs-down or "skip" buttons (the last only works 12 times a
day in the free version).
Slacker can also cook up a station based on a favorite song or band, or you can just pick one of 128
preset stations, then customize it by approving, disapproving or skipping songs. It will also show the
artist of the next song in its queue, but not its title.
In practice, Slacker was more enjoyable to listen to, and not just because Pandora could only do mono
sound on a Verizon Wireless BlackBerry I used for much of this test. Slacker, with 2 million or so songs
in its catalogue compared with Pandora's 600,000, offered more variety -- a good thing behind the
wheel, where I had to ignore these customization options to focus on the road.
That experience also often left me guessing about what I'd just heard: These services (like the
comparable interactive Web-radio services iMeem and FlyCast, which I also auditioned) don't include a
human or electronic DJ to call out the names of songs.
This problem is something that Web stations will have to fix if more people tune in from places that
demand hands-free listening.
Mobile listeners also risk paying a price for tuning in too often. Most Web stations employ extremely
efficient compressed music formats; if you listened to Pandora on a phone for about six hours a day,
you'd still only eat up half of the 5-gigabyte monthly quota set by most wireless carriers.
But when you can listen to interesting music anywhere, and when you already use a smartphone for
other online tasks, you could theoretically hit that quota some day.
Webcasters also need to settle a long-running argument over the royalties they pay to performers of the
music they play. For years, the organization charged with managing these payments, a recordingindustry-backed nonprofit called SoundExchange, has demanded steep rates that Webcasters have said
would bankrupt them.
But the two sides now seem to be nearing a compromise, and once-despondent Web radio operators now
sound optimistic. Bill Goldsmith, who runs the popular station Radio Paradise
(http://radioparadise.com), wrote in an e-mail that he doesn't expect to have to pay more than 10 to 12
percent of his site's revenue, which he called "high . . . but not impossible."
Land-based broadcasters, meanwhile, may one day wish they had those problems. Commercial FM as
we've known it can't match the variety and creativity of Internet radio. Local stations' best hope may be
to focus on what Internet radio can't do well, but which they themselves have largely neglected -catering to the interests and tastes of their neighbors. If FM outlets can do that, they don't have to get left
off the dial. If they can't, they won't be missed.
Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro at robp@washpost.com. Read more at
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/29/AR2009052903711_pf.html
Bogdan Chiochiu, DXing from Pierrefonds (Montreal's West Island), PQ
http://fr.radiocontact.be/page/radio-contact-live-on-air/15.aspx
BELGIUM Radio Contact - French service, Bruxelles APR 27 2045 UTC - "Le Patoche
Club" -> inside this openminded talkshow known in French as "libre-antenne" a medium named Mohad
was calling on the station to say he saw the Iraq war before actually happening and was trying to tell the
Belgium gouvernment to give the USA's Bush administration an ultimatum for peace, but they didn't
listened him. Therefore, he was trying to obtain money from the Belgium's gouvernment ! Patoche,
amazed, was trying to understand him, asking him more details about other bad events the medium was
able to predict succesfully.
+APR 27 2115 UTC - "Le Patoche club"; with the jock Patoche at this station receiving a phone call
from a 15 years old youngster named Loïc who failed to merge a relationship with his loved one because
his "half" thought he was too smart for her. At the phone, Loïc seemed very shy and was almost crying.
Patoche was trying to understand him... One listener argued Loïc and Mohad were the same weird guy
trying to fool the jock ! Excellent Hi-fi stream ! SINPO 55555 ! (Chiochiu-QC)
http://www.radio21.ro/site/Radio21Live.m3u
ROMANIA Radio 21, Bucharest MAY 3 1847 UTC - playing "Desire" Intelligent Dance Music (IDM)
vocal smash hit by Morris & Play & Win, followed by the "We'll Be Burning" Sean Paul well-known
Dancehall ragga hit, then unknown "All I Want Is Your Kiss" dance-pop number, followed by an
English spoken ID "Radio 21, your fun station", then a commercial R&B number "I'm Taking Back My
Love". This station is famous for having an all-English jingle package ! Their only real show is their
normingshow "Fabrica Dementa"... Aside from it, they are a fully automated Rhythmic CHR station
which playes maybe 5% of rock, the rest of 95% of their music programming is either R&B, Dancehall,
Latin or electronic dance music ! Excellent Hi-Fi stream ! SINPO 55555 ! (Chiochiu-QC)
http://www.medi1.com/player/playlist.php?p=real_player
MOROCCO Medi Un, Tanger MAY 3 1922 UTC - End of the last U2 single, the the female jock was
talking about how U2 manages to build at the same time electric and melodic tracks, then introduced the
last song before their 1930 UTC lengthy French newscast ! In my WiFi DX repport, I wrote "Tanger"
instead of "Nador", because while the LW/SW transmitters are located in the city of Nador, the FM ones
are scattered through the country and judging from the Hi-Fi sound they put into my computer speakers,
they must stream the feed from a local Tanger-based FM transmitter ! Almost excellent Wi-Fi stream !
SINPO 45555 ! However at 1931 UTC, the connection went bankrupt and now I'm enjoying
silence...lol. (Chiochiu-QC)
http://200.6.157.20:8034/listen.pls
VENEZUELA YVNM, Radio Coro, Coro, estado Falcón APR 27 2230 - "La Informadora 7-80" with
the news announcer talking about several cases of porcine flu in Colombia and in Spain ! Average
stream, fairly Lo-Fi ! SINPO 45354 with a slight buzz in the background but the stream was in stereo;
apparently using the Motorola C-Quam AM Stereo system which enjoys a certain degree of popularity
in Venezuela ! A frequent catche DX wise, though lately conditions toward South America have been
inexistent... I don't have a Motorola C-Quam AM Stereo receiver at this time, but I beat at times they
will be strong enough to be picked up here in the Montreal area with a fairly clear stereo sound on 780
AM ! As far as this Wi-Fi log goes, entering the URL address into your
Winamp's URL fonction, is the only way to listen to the Radio Coro's stream. The stream link on
http://www.radiocoro.com/ has broken, as the web-site URL has expired since a few weeks ! (ChiochiuQC)
And that’s another month on the Net. Thanks to the reporters.
73’s, Martin
The Broadcast Band
Paul LaFrieniere – Grand Marais, MN
Chevy pickup at USCG station or as listed
DXing with Chev pickup radio from parking area at Coast Guard Station North Superior.
1480 KKCQ MN Fosston. 0812 CDT.
3 May 09. Ads for Blackduck Theatre
in Blackduck, MN and Bobcat of
Bemidji. Dominant. Relog.
1600 KPNP MN Watertown 0802 CDT.
3 May 09. Non-stop Hmong music.
Dominant. Relog.
1300 KGLO IA Mason City. 11 May 09.
0535. I.D. Temp 34.
1310 WIBA WI Madison. 11 May 09.
1330
1340
1350
1360
1370
1380
1400
1450
1450
1480
1490
1600
1400
1300
1300
1310
1320
1330
1350
0538. Local weather. Local ads.
WLOL MN Minneapolis. 10 May 09.
1812. Relevant Radio. EWTN.
KRBT MN Eveleth. 10 May 09.
1900. TOH I.D. ABC Nx. Weather.
Local ads.
WPDR WI Portage. 11 May 09.
0630. "Oldies 1350 WPDR."
WTAQ WI Green Bay. 10 May 09.
1814 Lou Dobbs. I.D. "Newsradio 1360
WTAQ.
WCCN WI Neillsville. 10 May 09.
1819. Beatles on "Your Timeless
Favorites Station." Local weather.
WOTE WI Clintonville. 10 May 09.
1830. "Oldies 1380." Local weather. Promo
for Saturday program on 960 WTCH.
WATW WI Ashland. 5-10-09.
1834. NOS. "Memories 1400."
WHRY WI Hurley. 5-10-09.
1848. "The digital sound of AM 1450
WHRY Oldies."
KFIZ
WI Fond du Lac. 5-11-09.
0643. Jingle I.D. "KFIZ channel 145
in Fond du Lac."
KKCQ MN Fosston. 3 May 09.
0812. Ads for Blackduck Theater & Bobcat
of Bemidji.
KQDS MN Duluth. 10 May 09.
1850. Local ads.
KPNP MN Watertown. 3 May 09.
802. Hmong music.
WPAY OH Portsmouth. 5/23 2034 CDT.
Broke through the mess with clear "1400
WPAY" I.D. NEW
WRDZ IL La Grange. 5-21-09.
1958 CDT. Radio Disney.
WOOD MI Grand Rapids. 5-21-09.
2000 CDT. I.D. Fox Radio News.
WCCW MI Traverse City. 5-22-09.
1911 CDT. Red Wings vs Blackhawks
hockey.
KOZY MN Grand Rapids. 5-27-09.
0725 CDT. Local sports.
WHBL WI Sheboygan. 5-27-09.
2030 CDT. "Newsradio 1330 WHBL."
WCMP MN Pine City. 5-21-09.
2006 CDT. Local ads. High school baseball.
1350
1360
1370
1380
1390
1400
1410
1410
1430
1440
1440
1460
1460
1460
1470
1480
1490
WARF OH Akron. 5-23-09.
2028 CDT. Akron baseball. I.D.
"WARF Sportsradio 1350."
KSCJ IA Sioux City. 5-27-09.
2016 CDT. Sioux City Explorers
baseball.
KWTL ND Grand Forks. 5-27-09.
0607 CDT. EWTN.
WPHM MI Port Huron. 5-27-09.
2020 CDT. Detroit Red Wings hockey.
WRIG WI Schofield. 5-27-09.
0701 CDT. Local news.
WPAY OH Portsmouth. 5-23-09.
2034 CDT. I.D. "1400 WPAY." NEW.
KLFD MN Litchfield. 5-27-09.
0717 CDT. Local "weather on KLFD."
Oldies.
WIZM WI La Crosse. 5-27-09.
0720 CDT. "Newstalk 1410 WIZM."
La Crosse Talk.
CHKT. ON Toronto. 5-23-09.
2042 CDT. Romanian program. TOH I.D.
WNFL WI Green Bay. 5-23-09.
2048 CDT. Fox Sports Radio.
KDIZ MN Golden Valley. 5-27-09.
0750 CDT. Radio Disney.
CJOY ON Guelph. 5-21-09.
2032 CDT. Oldies. I.D. "1460 CJOY."
KXNO IA Des Moines. 5-23-09.
2053 CDT. Promo for program "weekday
mornings on KXNO."
WBOG WI Tomah. 5-27-09.
0735 CDT. I.D. "1460 WBOG." Oldies.
KWSL IA Sioux City. 5-21-09.
2034 CDT. SS talk.
WLMV WI Madison. 5-21-09.
2038 CDT. SS. Mexican music.
WTIQ MI Manistique. 5-22-09.
1943 CDT. Ad for firm at junction
of US 2 and M94.
Mark Meece – Miamisburg, OH
SRF-59
Just a few this week to pass along. Several 50kW flamethrowers, a nice
400w at 331 AMP. Heard KOA 850 Denver, which I got years ago, but this
time its using a tiny barefoot walkman radio. A new state for me,
South Carolina with a 5kW regional. Up to 16 states logged with SRF-59.
4/26/2009
2000-2020 CDT 540 WAUK, Jackson, WI, ESPN Sunday Night Baseball
Yankees at Red Sox.
4/30/2009
0116-0122 EDT 660 WFAN, New York, NY, Call in talk show w/ discussion
of the new Yankee Stadium into ID and MLB scores.
0025-0036 CDT 720 WGN, Chicago, IL, prgm "Website Wednesday" with
computer help for callers. BOH TC and ID "It's 12:30
at Newstalk 730 WGN". Into news w/ David Jennings.
0138-0151 EDT 750 WSB, Atlanta, GA, prgm Neal Boortz Show w/political
talk. ID and promo at 0147.
0052-0058 CDT 820 WBAP, Fort Worth, TX, various ADs into an EAS for
north central Texas for a Thunderstorm Warning for
Wise County. ID w/Midnight Radio Network at 0057.
5/1/09
2334-2354 MDT 850 KOA, Denver, CO, Various ADs, into The Jon Caldera
Show w/ talk of campaign finance laws. ID at 2350
"Newsradio 850 KOA" into a Colorado Rockies promo.
0155-0203 EDT 1330 WYRD, Greenville/Spartanburg, SC, TOH ID into
Fox News.
Phil Rafuse – Stratford, PEI
As Listed
5/22
720 KHz Greenland is fairly strong and very steady here tonight.
And, here is the best part - it does not take a good desktop fed by a good
antenna to bring it in - I'm getting it on everything from nekkid Kaitos KA-2100
& KA-1103 to Sangean PR-D5 to my R-390A.
Kevin Redding – Adamsville, TN
Receiver and Antenna as listed
Heard on a Eton E-1 and 150 foot wire:
710 WAQI Radio Mambi 5/17 blast furnace hot SS from Miami.
I have another station SS on 710 from somewhere that I can't even begin to tell you where it is
from but it is smokin in also.
5/21
1310 WDXI Jackson, TN 1323 with a long stop set after business type show.
1340 WSBM Florence, AL 1324 Jim Rome Show talking about Jerry West.
1350 WKCU Corinth, MS 1325 woman preaching about Christians in Israel.
1370 WDXE Lawrenceburg, TN 1327 with some nice Patsy Cline music.
1380 WVSA
Vernon, AL 1417 with sports talk. NEW
1390 WTJS Jackson, TN 1329 as always flapping his gums with blather, Rush Limbaugh.
1400 WBIP Booneville, MS 1331 with bluegrass music. Woman lead singer. Good stuff.
1410 WSSA Tuscumbia, AL 1414 playing R&B.
1420 WKSR Pulaski, TN 1412 Styx then Crosby, Stills and Nash.
1430 WRMG Red Bay, AL 1348 with Country Gospel. NEW
1460 WJAK Jackson, TN 1356 with black people singing gospel music.
1490 WTUP Tupelo, MS 1407 with oldies from the 50s, 60s, 70s. Format apparently changed
from SPT.
Heard 5/23 on a Sony 2010 and Darwin Long antenna tuner with 200 foot wire:
1300 WNQM Nashville, TN 0804 religion program.
1320 WMSR Manchester, TN 0805 giving ID at end of stopset.
1330 WZCT Scottsboro, AL 0807 "We are the most powerful gospel station in Northeast
Alabama." NEW
1360 WIXI Jasper, AL 0812 song by Stonewall Jackson and into Trading Post.
1370 WDEF Chattanooga, TN 0816 ESPN talking NBA hoops. NEW
1380 WHEW Franklin, TN 0817 with SS music. NEW
1430 WFHK Pell City, AL 0819 "You're doing Saturday morning on WFHK." NEW
1440 WZYX Cowan, TN 0820 playing Elvis. NEW
1470 WNAU New Albany, MS 0823 spinning a Michael Jackson song.
1470 WVOL Berry Hill, TN 0826 with UC music and then "Really Big Check" ad for TN Lottery.
Heard on a GE SR III nekkid.
790 WQSV Ashland City, TN 5/28 2115 heard in the null of WMC with stopset and ID at the
end. NEW
WGSF 1030 Collierville, TN is not on the air 5/31 1240.
Not being a real fan of Mexican music, I am not terribly upset. Perhaps they are a victim of the
PPM.
John Cereghin – Smyrna, DE
Sangean DT-400W
5/2
Had to go to the Little League Park last nigtht as my son had a game, but took the DT-400W
with me and snagged a new station for the Ultralight log:
1320 WTKZ Allentown PA, 1900 on May 1 with Lehigh Valley IronPigs Baseball (International
League) pre-game show. The IronPigs were playing the mighty Toledo Mud Hens last night.
Also Lehigh Valley area ads. The signal faded at TOH so missed official ID but this was
probably them as WTKZ does carry IronPigs games. My 80th Pennslyvania station logged on
the Ultralights and my 533rd Ultralight station.
5/3
Got a new graveyarder for the ultralight log and my overall log last night:
1340 WHAP Hopewell VA, 2000 with Baltimore Orioles baseball, Hopewell ads and mentions,
but no official ID (I didn't hear one around 2000 for the TOH ID), but it matched their
webstream. A 167-mile catch on the DT-400W barefoot. Ultralight station 534 and my 37th
ultralight graveyarder.
5/8
Got a surprise last night with a new station on a usually-blocked frequency.
WRNJ-1510, Hackettstown NJ, at 1900 on May 7 with "OLdies 1510" and several good call
IDs, weather and local ads, into oldies music (of course). Heard on the E-100 barefoot. The
kicker is that 1510 is usually blocked during the day by WFAI in Salem NJ with their urban
gospel music, but they were nowhere to be heard last night. With WFAI gone, WRNJ came in
like a champ, at 121 miles.
My 535th ultralight station and my 800th station heard from the Smyrna DE-Elkton MD region,
where I've been DXing since 1976.
5/29
Since there is no FM DX to be had recently, I retreated to the AM bands and did some
gravedigging last night. I sat on 1240 and heard a full HOUR of a car ad for a "Rossi
Honda" in Vineland NJ on what I presume was WSNJ in Bridgeton NJ. Nothing but
two guys talking about all the great deals they had on used Hondas for a solid hour (1011 PM). It was worse than your standard infomercial since this lasted for a full hour,
was for a car dealership, and was run on a Thursday night???
Yuk...it was enough to make me turn off my radios and just go to bed
Craig Healy – Providence, RI
Receiver, Antenna
5/1
WRNI-1290 IBOC is still off. Haven't noted it in several days.
WHJJ-920 IBOC is still on. Since it's tied to the day/night pattern change, think they are still
on 5kw non-d. So, if you need RI, give 'em a shot.
Larry Wild – Aberdeen, SD
DX-396 Naked
During the day there are only three stations strong enough to light the
"tuning" LED: KOLY (1300), KQKD (1380), KGIM (1420). At night, with the
exception of KGIM, the signals just fade in and out. A few were on long
enough to get an ID but not to make pleasant listening. ID means I was
able to copy the call letters. Some were identified by slogan, others by
location.
This is my first CME. I vote to continue. It forced me to focus on a
very narrow portion of the AM broadcast band.
1300 KOLY Mobridge,SD 5Kw 90mi May 29 @ 7am ID "News Radio"
1300 KGLO Mason City, IA 5Kw 309mi May 17 @ 10:20p ID CBS news
1310 KNOX Grand Forks, ND 5kw 179mi May 26 @ 8:30am ID ABC news "TalkRadio
1310"
1310 WIBA Madison, WI 5kw 479mi May 26 @ 5:10a ID "News Talk 1310"
1320 KELO Sioux Falls, SD 5Kw 163mi May 31 @ 11:30p ID "When Radio
Was"
1330 WLOL Minneapolis, MN 5.1kw 254mi May 23 @ 2:30a "Relevant Radio in
the Twin Cities"
1330 CJYM Rosetown, SK 10kw 600mi May 23 @ 11:15p ID "Classic Hits"
1340 KIJV Huron, SD 1Kw 78mi May 22 @ 8:35a Ad for Huron Car
Dealership
1350 KRNT DesMoines, IA 5kw 364mi May 18 2 11:59p ID "Where the Legends
Live"
1350 KDIO Ortonville, MN 670w 99mi May 22 @ 8:35a Ad for Ortonville
Dairy Queen
1360 KSCJ Sioux City, IA 5kw 224mi May 28 @ 11p ID ABC news
1360 KKBJ Bemidji, MN 5kw 220mi May 30 @ 7:35a Ad for First Bank of
Bemidji
1380 KOTA Rapid City, SD 5kw 251mi May 23 @ 11:20p Rapid City
weather
1380 KQKD Redfield, SD 142w 39mi May 28 @ 11:10p ID "Family Radio"
1390 KXSS Waite Park (St Cloud), MN 1kw 204mi May 31 @ 1:07a ID as
"1390, The Fan"
1420 KGIM Aberdeen, SD 232w @ nite 3mi Local ID "ESPN Radio, 1420"
1430 KEZW Denver, CO 5kw 522mi May 27 @ 10:53p ID as "Studio 1430" Lenox
ad with phone number, heard under KGIM's splatter
1460 KDMA Montevideo, MN 1kw 138mi May 27 @ 4:56a ID, "Midnight
Trucking Network"
1470 WMBD Peoria, IL 5kw 563mi May 26 @ 5a ID, Local news
1470 KWSL Sioux City, IA 5kw 234mi May 27 @ 11pm ID "Music makes you
feel so good"
1480 KSDR Watertown, SD SD 1kw 76mi May 26 @ 9am ID, Watertown
weather forecast
1370 KSUM; Fairmont, MN; 1k; June 1 @ 11:10pm; 234 mi; ID; "Ag Country"
Down in the Basement
(Editor – Jay Heyl)
Bogdan Chiochiu – Pierrefonds, PQ – QC
Sangean CST-818, PK's Shielded Mag LW Loop
162 FRANCE France Inter, Allouis MAY 7 0152 - "Kiss" by Prince (1986) followed by chopped
French talk, then French chanson "Il suffirait de presque rien pour t'emmener à Saint-Germain" by Serge
Reggiani, then more French talk before the top-of-the-hour. Poor and chopped with some kind of
computer QRM, but not bad for mid-spring D layer absorption standards ! (Chiochiu-QC)
171 MOROCCO Medi Un, Nador MAY 7 0158 - religious Egyptian vocals (which are popular in
Morocco as well, as I have been told by Arabic friends at cégep). Very poor, but quite clear especially
when tuned to 170 kHz instead of 171 to avoid a high-pitched growl on the high side of the channel.
(Chiochiu-QC)
189 ICELAND Rikisútvarpid, Gufuskalar MAY 7 0345 - playing a wild (!) mixture of Europops,
including Romanian worldwide smash hit "Dragostea din Tei" by O-Zone followed by a Scandinavian
alternative rock cover of the same song (?), then Ukrainian and Dutch melancholic electropops with
short analysis in Icelandic of the songs played. Best between 0330 and 0430 UTC (SINPO 55454), but
still hanging on with a very poor signal after 0500 UTC ! At 0345 GMT / UTC, it was close to local-like
strength, excellent, really ! It came to a point the Paul Karlstrand statement brant "Clear ang Long Range
AM Radio Reception Everywhere" was 100% true... If I wouldn't have received the PK loop as a Xmas
present in order to exacerbate my interest in DXing, I would have been now a whole lot less active on
the dials ! One of my first DX dreams when I came to Canada were to catch on broadcasts on broadcast
bands not used elsewhere in the radio than in a very few countries, such as the LW broadcast band, the
SW tropical bands or OIRT-FM ! Is just that those frequencies seem more mysterious to me ! (ChiochiuQC)
Paul LaFrienere – Grand Marais, MN
Icom R-75, Antenna
11 May 2009
Freq I.D. UTC Offset Location
209 HCD 0106
1040 MN Hutchinson
221 RP
2157
400 WI Rice Lake
221 ARV 2158
1005 WI Minocqua
236 DO 2203 1020 WI Minocqua
243 TWM 2135 1040 MN Two Harbors
254 ENY 2131 1020 WI Ashland
260 SUW 2129 1020 WI Superior
275 CM 2128 1018 MI Hancock
282 ROS 2144
1018 MN Rush City AWOS
335 COQ 0151 1030 MN Cloquet
350 BFW 2133 1030 MN Silver Bay No AWOS
First time I have heard this one without AWOS.
Cycle now about 8 seconds.
350 CBG 0057 1030 MN Cambridge
353 IN 2139 1030 MN International Falls
358 CKC 2134 1030 MN Grand Marais
375 OGM 2146 1012 MI Ontonagon
379 DL 2206 1020 MN Duluth
385 SCG 0154
1020 MN Crane Lake AWOS
391 MFI 0136
1040 WI Marshfield
The Line of Sight and Beyond
Kevin Redding – Crump, TN
As listed
Heard on an Eton E1-XM and 150 foot wire.
90.3 WMAV Oxford, MS 5/2 1602 with NPR radio from MPB.
Heard in a gold 2004 Saturn Ion with stock radio and beatin' it with a 31" whip:
98.7 WHOP-FM Hopkinsville, KY 5/9 1019 with SID Lite 98.7 and Hopkinsville WX RPT. NEW
#80 for FM
5/31
I have Coast to Coast on 102.9 and have been listening for 27 minutes and there is NO way I
am going to get to the top of the hour to figure out who this is. KARN has it on 102.9 but they
are in Little Rock. I have no trop that I know of.
Anyone have any idea who is on 102.9 running Coast to Coast right now? [WMMR Tupelo,
MS]
Steven Wiseblood – Boca Chica Beach, TX
Receiver, FM-6 Antenna
5/30
0755 106.7 "SANTA 106.7" "It's beginning to FEEL a LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS, A VERY
HOT HUMID CHRISTMAS, SANTA 106.7",
"MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM KPWT TERELL HILLS-SAN ANTONIO"
0802 Instrumental version of "Away in the MANGER", "DO THEY KNOW IT's CHRISTMAS
TIME at ALL/FEED the WORLD" "JINGLE BELLS ROCK with Johnny Mathis"
0807 "Be listening MONDAY for a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT on KPWT-FM"
WOWOWOWOWOW, looks like we get to CHRISTMAS MUSIC ALL YEAR NOW
Thought it was late NOVEMBER for a brief MINUTE......
John Cereghin – Smyrna, DE
Receiver, Antenna
5/20
None of the Es from yesterday was heard here in Central Delaware but there was some tropo
this morning, bringing in two new stations.
95.9 WGRQ Colonial Beach VA, 0730, call ID, Fredericksburg ads, 110 miles. New log
97.7 W249BY, Bridgeton NJ, "Hope-FM", Christian Contemporary Music, mentions of their
home church in Marlton NJ. They are listed at only 1 watt (with a CP for 10 watts), but if they
were at 1 watt, it's a 29-mile log. Translator of WVBV-90.5. Even better since 97.7 is usually
dominated by one of my pests, WAFL in Milford DE. New log.
A few NYC stations were in too, such as WMGQ-98.3 New Brunswick NJ and WAXQ-104.3
New York City.
Tropo still in at noontime- WVEP-88.9 Martinsburg WV showed up, battling WEAA-Baltimore at
12:00. Lots of instability on other channels as well.
5/22
Some unusual tropo about 11:30 AM here in Delaware. 89.5, usually dominated by
WSCL in Salisbury MD, has competition from WITF-Harrisburg PA and WKVP-Cherry
Hill NJ, both of which are rarely heard here. 91.1 is absolute hash with probably at least
3 stations battling it out and WBGO-88.3 from Newark NJ is exceptionally strong.
Unfortuantely, I'm at work now so no DXing until mid-afternoon. :(
The Whole Earth
Martin Foltz – Mission Viejo, CA
HQ-180 and antenna
6925USB KPR 24Apr09 0038UTC tuned in to I Feel Good, other songs, male talked
about the constitution, KPR ID, into Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys, The Times
Are a Changin' by Bob Dylan, 0057 sign off announcements with mention of KPR
again. Fair to poor but drifting so hard to keep in tune.
Anyone know an address for a QSL for this one or Radio Carp International?
Pirate logs are rare here on the west coast.
Kevin Redding – Crump, TN
Eton E-1 and 150’ wire
11/24
11785 WHRI Cypress Creek, SC 2026 with the Indy 500 at the last few laps.
W. G. Hauser – Enid, OK
DX-398
** CHILE. Despite reports in April that the Brazilian service of CVC, A Sua Voz, would cease
SW at the end of the month, it was still there on 15410 May 1, at 1336 check, Portuguese
mixing with Hausa from DW via Rwanda, 5 Hz away.
Other collisions are 15-17 Radio Farda via Lampertheim, 1730-1900 VOA English via
Greenville, but after that should be in the clear until closing at 0100, or is it 0200? So did the
service get a reprieve because of Brazilian SW listeners` objexions, or what? (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. It`s a big day in Cuba, not only MayDay, but the official 48th anniversary of RHC
(which started earlier in 1961 as Onda Corta Experimental Cubana; I remember hearing that
from the outset.) At 1326 on 13780 I found a phone interview in Spanish with Arnie Coro in
progress, as he was recounting the foundation of RHC in which he was heavily involved, how
they started out without any studios but were provided space on the fifth and sixth floors of
Radio Progreso (where they still are??). Didn`t yet have steel towers in place for antennas at
Bauta. The first frequency was 11760, still beloved and still in use.
Arnie asserted that he had already received congratulatory messages from English speaking
listeners in the USA, where tnx to the journalistic quality of RHC, people are better informed!
He is missing the celebrations in the Plaza de la Revolución as he is staying home to monitor
to be sure everything is going well, and says all transmitters are well-modulated (if so, that
would be a first!). Ended at 1333 and more lo-fi phone reports from correspondents around the
country about local celebrations.
The interview with Arnie would normally repeat in the 17 UT hour on the webcast-only
playback of Despertar con Cuba, but might be pre-empted today for live coverage of the
festivities. Still one might tune in earlier than 1726 to try to hear the rest of it. I also would not
be surprised if there are additional SW broadcasts today when RHC normally takes a siesta
between 15 and 20 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. VOA News, 9760 via Philippines, VG May 1 at 1305 with in-depth report by Dan
Robinson, about Somali piracy, many clips of comments from Capitol Hill.
One of the many `improvements` in VOA`s website redesign is that a gallery of its Englishlanguage broadcasters is no longer to be found. Just these 12 mostly non-English despite the
word in the URL:
http://www.voanews.com/english/About/talent-gallery.cfm
This news hour is presented by one Philip Alexia (spelling?). But that name, nor any other
likely spelling, is not even on the long drop-down list of correspondent names where one can
search out text reports via http://www.voanews.com/english/search.cfm
But then, he`s an anchor, not a correspondent. He puts a lot of expression into his announcing,
so much that it may be a turnoff to some listeners; I wonder if he`s a refugee from commercial
radio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BIAFRA [non]. V. of Biafra International, 17520 via WHRI, routine weekly check Friday May
1 sometime during the 19-20 UT hour reconfirmed it is still airing there, sufficient reception
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHILE. CVC still running on 15410 in Portuguese, May 2 at 1344 check with SAH, two days
after projected closedown of Brazilian service on SW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CHINA. Besides 7185 each morning in the Taiwan/China radio war, another persistent
broadcaster in the 40m hamband is 7105, much weaker signal, but May 2 at 1315 I was
hearing what resembled scat singing in Chinese(?), W&M alternating, 1319 announcement
unseemed Chinese, and into vocal music ballad. Presumably this is PBS Nei Menggu, Hohhot,
Inner Mongolia, as in Aoki, 50 kW at 52 degrees favorable usward too.
Firedrake check May 2: at 1342 good on 13970 but no sign of it on 15600; at 1354 about equal
on 9000 and 8400; at 1459 still going on 13970.
11615, the other kind of ChiCom jamming, heavily echoing programming presumably
originating with the CNR1 network, at 1457 May 2. Victim is VOA Chinese via Saipan at 14-15
only, which was totally buried.
Perhaps it is about time for IBB to make a more aggressive response to ChiCom jamming, like
jumping frequencies up or down 5-10 kHz without notice, where this can be done without
affecting other stations. As it is, all IBB frequency usage and changes are immediately known
to the enemy thru HFCC, making it a piece of cake to keep them blocked.
Or use spare IBB transmitter capacity to jam CRI broadcasts, making it clear that this is
nothing but retaliation, not a US policy against China`s freedom, ha ha, of speech (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also NETHERLANDS
** CUBA. RHC on new 11770, May 1 at 2140 in Spanish; OK reception except het from
Anguilla 11775. This replaces 11820 where it had been since April 13, colliding with Saudi
Arabia which had already been using this frequency to Europe for sesquiyears (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR. HCJB enters yet another month announcing its own frequencies incorrectly;
caught the morning Spanish broadcast May 2 just before 1500* on 11960 with automated ID at
1459:30 promoting Ecuador as a cacao-producer and still claiming to be on ``11690, 21455 y
11960`` despite 21455 having been canceled years ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** EGYPT. 15255 with Qur`an, May 2 at 1502; I thought that would be handy for those
prevented by the buzzy Saudis from clearhearing the muezzin on 15435. 15255 turns out to be
R. Cairo`s Albanian service, also aimed usward, so I expect it was only a brief introduxion;
there are lots of Moslems in Albania of course, thanks to the Ottoman legacy, but do the
Orthodox get their due from Cairo? Fat chance (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9650, CRI at 1300-1400 via Sackville in English, 250 kW aimed 240
degrees rather close to my azimuth, puts in a big reliable signal, but as I have been noticing
ever since A-09 began, has considerable co-channel QRM from R. Netherlands in Dutch via
Philippines, despite the latter supposedly aimed 200 degrees from Tinang. Serves the ChiCom
right for all their deliberate blockage of Western broadcasts into China, to get creamed by this
unintentional collision!
RN is registered only at 1300-1327 but I have previously noted this staying on until 1330, and
May 2 it was strong enough to make out the content. After the Dutch NA until 1327, switched
to English for 3 minutes of The State We`re In, as I heard mentioned World Press Freedom
Day, the very topic shown in this week`s RN programme previewwes. And it cut off at 1330*
sharp. This is not the first time IBB has failed to match the exact times it should be relaying
RN, but hey, it`s two two additional sesquiminutes of well-deserved QRM to CRI (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. 7330 in English, May 2 at 1309 introducing a classical music excerpt, with heavy
QRM from RCI and CRI colliding on 7325. 7330 must be VOR in English to Asia via
Vladivostok as scheduled 12-15 in
http://www.ruvr.ru/files/File/WORLD_SERVICE/09_FREQUENCY_SCHEDULE.doc
And the Saturday 1300+ show is Music and Musicians, per the handy 24-hour grid at
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&w=225&p=
This raises doubts about my previous log of English before 1300 on 7330, which I assumed to
be Poland via Germany as it is also scheduled there. In fact I should retract that.
9850 with VOR news in English at 1403 May 2, beneath splash from ChiCom jamming on
9845; VOR 9850 was running about 1 second ahead of // 15605. The sites are respectively
Chita and Moskva, per Aoki. So like in the VOA 17585/9760 case, at VOR too it takes longer to
get the program to a nearby site than a faraway one (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** SAUDI ARABIA. Saut ul-Buzz, Riyadh, 15435, May 2 at 1501 with frying sound atop Arabic
talk leading into Qur`aning. Should be // 15225, but too weak to unearth from CRI Sackville
adjacent. However, those in need of a Qur`an fix could find one on 15255: see EGYPT (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. 17585 with open carrier, fair signal, May 2 at 1350. Finally at 1359 VOA
sign-on and English news // 9760 but 17585 running one or two words behind 9760. Does that
mean it is further from studios than Tinang? No! 17585 is in fact Greenville, 1400-1430 only in
that wacky split hour, continued after 1430 from Udorn, Thailand site (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WRMI, 9955, Saturday May 2 at 1455 with a Jesus show, listed as Zion Teacher, and
mixed with DentroCuban jamming. Do the Cuban Commies have it in for Jesus and Zion? No,
they are just totally incompetent (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWCR, 15825, assisted by sporadic E to reach an adequate signal level, May 2 at
1500 with James Hickey, back from surgery, to cite Revelation III: 1, which is about the Seven
Stars – Pleiades? Was strong enough to hear the squeal, one of the neglected legacies of
WWCR`s former CE.
The Saturday 1630 airing of WORLD OF RADIO on 12160 started on time this week, or maybe
even a bit early, as checked on webcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BULGARIA. Just tuned in 9800 at 2229 May 2 to hear the Minute Waltz played on a wind
instrument, weak signal off at 2230* without announcement. Since it`s an -00 frequency, the
prime suspect is R. Bulgaria, and indeed nothing but it is scheduled there, at 2130-2230 in
Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ISRAEL. 15785, weak mix of music and talk, fading out, modulation seems distorted, but
carrier is stable, May 2 at 2146 and still there at 2201 presumably in Hebrew as nothing else
known here but Galei Zahal, IDF station. HFCC ignores it; Aoki has it only at 07-16 with 5 kW
non-direxional, so I`ll have to go with EiBi showing time as 06-24. Only other station at any
time on 15785 is CRI via Xi`an not continuously between 0100 and 0700 in English, Chinese
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MOROCCO [and non]. 15345, RTM, fair with Arabic music, May 2 at 2148, no sign of
Argentina, altho Chile was VG on 15410; but RTM still on at 2201 with YL in Arabic news, and
now a low het barely audible, BFO confirming two carriers on slightly different frequencies.
Morocco still on at 2205, back to music, so suspended efforts to hear RAE at the moment
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA, non-buzzy 11820, again in the clear, May 2 at 2158 check with
Qur`an, tnx to RHC`s move away May 1 to 11770 after we exposed their big mistake in ever
going on 11820 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY. VOT, 9830, English to North America, Saturday May 2 at 2221 had Seref reading
letters from listeners; did not sound like mere reception reports, but hard to make much of it
due to severe co-channel RTTY QRM; yet it was indeed ``DX Corner`` as announced ending
at 2226. I tried various bandwidths on two receivers, USB and LSB, stepping up to 3 kHz either
side, and could not get rid of the RTTY which must be centered exactly on 9830.0.
Therefore VOT would be well advised to get off this frequency, which has been occupied by
RTTY for ages, and should never have been chosen in the first place. At this time there was
nothing on 9825 or 9835, so a 5 kHz shift should fix it. Per online listings, 9825 is clear during
this hour, altho VOA starts Spanish at 2300 from Greenville and probably would be running
open carrier long before then; I did not check. Portugal could run as late as 2300 on 9820,
which would be a problem, altho not today, off earlier.
Nothing listed on 9835. If Radio República were to resume 9840 at 21-23 drawing Cuban
jamming, that could be a problem, but no sign of that. Overall, the better choice would be for
VOT to shift up to 9835, unless they want to look for an opening further afield (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15600, WYFR preaching in Spanish bothered by squealing, extremely distorted
modulation, May 2 at 2149. At first I thought its own transmitter was defective, but then it
became clear the QRM was from an external source, since it did not match WYFR modulation
and worsened during WYFR fades. Same situation after 2200 when WYFR switched to
French.
Right next to it at S9+20 on 15610 is WEWN, 250 kW at 40 degrees in English, and guess
what --- matching spur on 15620 except it was not noticeable because it had nothing to beat
against, until I turned on the BFO. So this is the WEWN transmitter we have recently
complained about putting out plus/minus 10 kHz spurs, e.g. on 9330 and 9350 from exfundamental 9340, but the same problem goes back many years on many frequencies. Any
station daring to broadcast only 10 kHz away from WEWN is asking for it. Catholix vs
Protestants! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWCR, 13845, inbooming May 2 at 2154 evidently with HF sporadic E assistance,
so strong that under DGS I could hear modulation from another WWCR transmitter bleeding
thru, confirmed as // 7465 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake May 3: at 1353 on 13970, but not heard on any higher frequencies. At
1415 also on 9000 somewhat stronger than 8400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CUBA. 6110, with lite DCJC pulsing against nothing at 0636 May 3. Must be totally uncalledfor leftover jamming from the one hour VOA Spanish uses 6110 at 2300, when it is also
uncalled for, not being Radio Martí. Every frequency-hour Cuba jams VOA should be
answered by IBB jamming RHC English in retaliation.
Same leftover jamming pulses audible on 9545 and 9565 at 1411 May 3, nowhere near the
real times those are occupied by República and Martí respectively (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA [non]. VOI has become so reliable on 9525 in English at 13-14, but did not
check it before 1400 May 3; at 1419 nothing but CRI Russian was audible, when they are
usually colliding. So was VOI also gone during the previous hour? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS [and non]. More late-night trans-Pacific openings as high
as 13 meters: May 3 at 0631, 17880 with dialog in Chinese; 17510 with different Chinese,
woman speaking; 0633 also 21550 just barely audible // 17880 but slightly offset. Presumed R.
Free Asia on 21550 Tinian and 17880 Saipan, while Aoki shows 17510 as RFA in Tibetan via
Tajikistan during this hour only, so most likely I was hearing ChiCom jaming on that one, if not
the others (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Usual super signal from WWRB missing from 9385, May 3 at 1410, altho nearby
WWCR was in on 9980, and WTJC on 9370v. Presumably off the air, and consequently the
9317 and 9453 spurs also absent! At 1733 recheck, 9385 was audible but relatively weak.
Transmitter, or propagation problems? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. Aló, Presidente service via CUBA finally revived on Sunday May 3: at
1520 check with non-live Chávez speech mixed with music, best as usual on 13750; weak on
13680 mixing with Chinese, which is CRI via Kashi, East Turkistan, commies vs commies;
17750 undermodulated; 11690 an echo apart from the others; new 12010, undermodulated
with persistent RTTY on hi side 12015. 1732 recheck, still going with Chávez speaking, best
on 13750; and now 17750 mixing with WYFR which starts at 1700 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CYPRUS. CyBC, 9760, surely the source of unannounced Greek folk music, Sunday May 3
from 2240 to abrupt cutoff without a word of goodbye at 2244:30. How rude! Reception was
good. This is the Fri-Sat-Sun-only 2215-2244:30 transmission via BBC relay station; per EiBi, //
are 7210 and 5930, not checked, but surely best here on 9760 anyway. If there were any
announcements, they would be in Greek, as non-Turkish Cyprus misses a golden opportunity
for outreach to the English-speaking world and its potential tourists (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA [and non]. As feared the day before, VOI has made another abrupt frequency
change back to 11785, after many months on 9525 during the 1300 English hour. At least it`s
close to 11785 rather than 11786v, but they have shot themselves in the foot since there is
heavy QRM on 11785 during this hour, while 9525 was and is clear.
May 4 at 1302 I confirmed that 9525 was empty, so tuned to 11785 at 1309 and there it was,
VOI detectable in English, ID at 1316 along with ``sound of dignity`` slogan. Heavy collision
with at least two other stations, in Chinese, i.e. VOA via Thailand at 30 degrees also toward
us, and heavy CNR-1 ChiCom jamming.
They must be totally out of touch in Jakarta about what is really happening on the available
VOI channels, and this tends to confirm my assumption that the previous usage of 9525 when
it was clear during the 1300 English hour, was nothing but pure luck; and of course it collided
with CRI in Russian after 1400 in Malay.
Now the situation is reversed, as VOA and the ChiCom jamming quit at 1400, leaving VOI
more or less clear on 11785 but there is still a weaker co-channel audible at 1422 check. Per
Aoki this has to be BBCWS in Hindi at 14-15. The very strange thing about it is that on Sunday
the site is Chita at 230 degrees, while the other six days of the week it`s Singapore at 315
degrees; why?
Of course Hmong Lao Radio via WHRI totally blox everything here on 11785 at 13-14
Saturdays and Sundays. Anyhow, goodbye to good reception in North America of VOI English,
unless they wake up and go back to 9525. It is inconceivable that they would move to any
other frequency on either band (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 9541.5, BBCWS mid-news ID without even straining to make it out,
1304 May 4, the best SIBC heard yet, but would prefer to hear something local from SI as
there are a few other ways to hear BBC. If nothing else, they should play back some of their
earlier local programming overnight (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. VOA Greenville already on with open carriers at 2250 tune-in May 3 on 6110 and
9825, prior to Spanish at 2300. I was checking these in follow-up to previous reports on
nonsensical DentroCuban jamming in the middle of the night on 6110, and on a possible
frequency change for Turkey at 2200 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 17880 at 0559 May 4 in Chinese with that ``diamond`` commercial theme
music, which became a pop hit several months ago. Same music heard previously at exactly
same time on same frequency. I think it`s R. Free Asia via NMI rather than ChiCom CNR1
jamming. Does anyone recognize which station uses that music? And how does the RFA
Mandarin ID go? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWRB spurs on 9317 and // 9453 resumed, May 3 at 2250 check with Brother Scare
originating from 9385 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. WEWN, 11530 in English is the transmitter putting out plus/minus 10 kHz
dirty spurs, as noted May 4 at 1420. Unless more than one of them does that. Luckily, no
broadcasters audible on 11520 or 11540 at the moment, so not too obvious until BFO
onturned.
Meanwhile, WEWN, 11550 in Spanish had a lo het and music mix underneath, probably RTI
Taiwan in Vietnamese as in Aoki, altho at 1330-1430 R. Azadi in Dari via Kuwait is also
scheduled. Serves them right for the unnecessary QRM WEWN causes (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRALIA. 13660, May 5 at 1351 with heavily produced lively programming in Chinese,
caught ``bodiantai`` fragment of an ID; music had that gospel-rock sound, so suspect CVC.
Announcer did say ``CVC`` and immediately cut carrier at 1400*. Indeed looked up later in
Aoki, it`s CVC via Darwin, 250 kW, 340 degrees, 1000-1400 in Chinese (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGERT)
** CHINA. Firedrake, fair on 13970, May 5 at 1320. Getting to be reliable here tnx to Sound of
Hope staying out of 20m band. Scanned higher on 14-18+ MHz but found no others (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. RHC mixing product, 13580, May 5 at 1312 in Spanish interfering with R.
Prague in English to NAm, item on a ceremony at the station on this 64th anniversary of the
Prague uprising against the Nazis as WW II was about to end. Matching mix on 13880 was in
the clear with R5 reception from Habana. RHC will obviously do nothing about this upon my
complaint, so R. Prague ought to get on them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. VOI, day 3 on 11785, May 5 at 1300, detectable opening English hour with
heavy QRM from ChiCom jamming sending 5+1 timesignal, and VOA; 9525 still empty. I
notified VOI that they should go back immediately to 9525. Lacking that, could we get IBB to
move itself and consequently the jamming elsewhere? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH. 7140, just tuned in at 1248 May 5 as national anthem was playing, and off
1249*. Good signal from outlaw nation still broadcasting in the 40m hamband. VOK scheduled
00-04 and 07-13, rounded off; per Aoki supposed to run until 1257, the final hour in Korean,
200 kW non-direxional from Kujang site (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH. 11560 with dirty blob of noise, May 5 at 1340; fades so not of local origin.
Is there something here to jam? Yes! Aoki shows:
11560 Radio Free Chosun
1200-1300 1234567 Korean 250 70 Dushanbe-Orzu TJK
04511E 4025N _RFC a09
11560 North Korea Reform Radio 1330-1400 1234567 Korean 250 70 Dushanbe-Orzu TJK
06842E 3732N _NKRR a09
The 45E/40N coordinates in the first entry are obviously erroneous (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA [and non]. Some versions of the VOR schedule keep showing 9480 in English at
0000-0300 to Am. I keep looking for it and hearing zero, such as May 5 at 0003. Other
European sites were making it, 9665 Moldova stronger than 9890 Russia. If a German relay on
9480 were to be activated like last summer, it would greatly improve VOR reception and
reliability in NAm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** THAILAND. 9455 collision continues May 5 at 1331 check between R. Thailand in Thai, and
YFR via Taiwan producing a low het. I have notified YFR about this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** TIBET [non]. CVC Chile, 15410 had a good het from an unidentified carrier on 15412, May 5
at 1324. Must be V. of Tibet via Tajikistan as others have reported, and/or jamming against it.
Aoki shows both 15410 and 15425 for the 1300-1330 transmission in Chinese at 131 degrees,
so apparently VOT jumps around between these frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWRB, 9385 with Brother Scare, May 5 at 1342, splattering 9365-9405; e.g. his
screaming could be made out on 9365, in addition to separate spur on 9317, but not audible at
the moment on 9453. If he would speak in a normal tone of voice, this might not happen, but
that`s no excuse for WWRB not limiting him (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. Looking for VOI on reactivated 11785, May 6 at 1300 in English, but could not
unearth it below the barrage of at least two ChiCom echoing jammers starting with a 5+1
timesignal, and VOA Chinese. Tried for a few more minutes and again later in the hour but no
trace of VOI, so either totally buried, not propagating or off the air today.
Meanwhile 9525 remained empty as VOI foolishly abandoned what had been a good clear
frequency for them during the 1300 hour only. Tried 11785 again at 1400 when the radio war
stopped, but now could hear nothing but weak Hindi from BBC Singapore, which is no doubt a
big obstacle for Indonesia`s 1400 Malay broadcast when it is on 11785 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. VOA and NHKWNRJ aren`t the only SW stations with regular jazz shows:
Wednesday May 6 at 1356 was hearing jazz drumming on fluttery 12065, which must be VOR
as scheduled via Chita. Indeed their grid at http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&w=225&p=
confirms the Jazz Show is on at 1330 Wednesdays. Other times are: Wed 1930, 2230; Thu
0630, 1130; Fri 0230, 0830, 2030, 2230; Sun 1630; Mon 1030, 1630; Wed 0630. Has homegrown jazz improved since the Soviet era? Has anyone figured out a pattern to VOR program
repeat times, or is it just random? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. The DentroCuban Jamming Command continues to interfere with WRMI
9955 even when it is in English and even when it is broadcasting a new WORLD OF RADIO
for the first time, Wednesday May 6 at 0500 as I checked the last couple minutes at 0526.
WRMI is often inaudible in the nightmiddle, but this time it had a fair signal plus jamming
pulses rather than noisewall. WYFR 9680 and 9715 were meanwhile extremely strong. Yet
DXers Unlimited doesn`t get jammed; Arnie obviously has no sense of fair play. BTW, if you
listen to him in Spanish, he sounds a lot less ``friendly`` than he does in English (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WEWN`s dirty transmitters only 20 kHz apart, 11530 in English and 11550 in
Spanish, May 6 at 1403 effectively block anything else from 11510 to 11570, as they produce
mixing products on those two frequencies, and 11530 also has the spurs around 11520 and
11540 previously reported. The squealing sound could also be heard on 11510. Add to that the
general receiver overload and desensitization. There are a number of IBB broadcasts in this
range (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN. 15235 in Vietnamese, May 6 at 1351. What does PWBR `2009` say? Vatican
Radio in unknown language to SE Asia, but in Winter season only --- here it is Summer. HFCC
confirms it is in fact SMG beamed eastward in Vietnamese at 1315-1400. VR`s Vietnamese
services reach us well in NAm, making us wonder just how direxional their antennas really are
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. 6175 at tune-in 0528 May 8, VTC fill-music loop, non-`cello, until 0529* RCI IS
and ID once and off, following Vietnam relay which I think always runs short (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. Yet another mixing product from RHC transmitters, this time on 11520
fading in and out, at 1348 May 7. This computes as 12000 leapfrogging over 11760 another
240 kHz lower; however, did not find a match on 12240. The fundamentals were extremely
strong, S9+22. 11520 RHC spur was colliding with WEWN spur of a different kind, distorted
blob as recently reported, 10 kHz below their 11530 transmitter.
May 8 at 1305 on 12000, RHC promoted the day`s Mesa Redonda broadcast on 9640, 6000,
which would start at the odd time of 2215, a replay of something from TeleSur about the
usefulness of the OAS. RHC also had a report on Cuba`s growing good relations with Qatar.
Hmm, isn`t there a US base there? O yeah, Cuba has one too.
Dentro-Cuban Jamming Command pulsing against nothing on 9545, May 8 at 1318, roughly a
semi-day out of synch with when R. República is really using it. Forgot about getting Solomons
today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA [and non]. Altho could not detect VOI on reactivated 11785 May 6, recheck
May 7 at 1345 found its kind of music mixing with the USA/China radio war; 1356 VOI`s
recognizable YL host in English, and after war truce at 1400, new slogan ``VOI helps to make
the world green`` punxuated by birdtweets. After the hour in Malay, another check at 1501
found ID in English, still on at 1504, weakening signal, but apparently off by 1514 recheck;
typically on ex-9525 they would re-open English at 1500 for a few minutes, then chop it off,
and appear after 1600 in other languages on 11785.
Next day May 8, VOI axually atop the mess on 11785, but still plenty of QRM, at 1302 in
English, and at 1354 Indonesian music further atop. So far VOI has ignored my advice to go
back to 9525.
Anyhow, for what`s really going on in Indonesia, better to listen to R. Australia, e.g. May 8 at
1320 in Asia-Pacific, a report on how freedom of speech is threatened by three laws being
applied against the Internet, such as an anti-Megawati Facebook site being closed down
repeatedly and uppopping again.
Another RA item was on how some Melanesian countries are looking at how Fiji is controlling
the media, and thinking, we could do that too. In these countries where wantok prevails, there
is no tradition of criticising the leadership (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BIAFRA [non]. V. of Biafra International, via WHRI 17520, May 8 at 1941, another Friday on
the same frequency. The Orator was talking about the differences between Islamic and
Christian regions of Nigeria --- emirs had divine rights, but during the period of military rule, a
land use decree left eastern people landless, unlike the Yoruba and Hausa. Sufficient
reception (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 11935, CRI Russian with Chinese lesson, fair May 9 at 1253-1257*. This is intended
for DVR, 37 degrees from SZG site, so also USward (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** INDONESIA [non]. Sat on 11785 before 1300 Saturday May 9 to see what would happen. At
1258 could not really make out anything from VOI, just voanews.com spelled out, mixed with
CNR1 ChiCom echoing jamming; at 1259 on pops WHRI with OCS in progress, sign-on, and
1300 into Hmong Lao Radio overriding everything, so strong that it overloads the FRG-7 and
audio can be heard elsewhere on 25m unless attenuated. Meanwhile open 9525 goes begging
for VOI to return (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PHILIPPINES [and non]. During a routine check for possible reception of IRRS/IPAR via
SLOVAKIA on 7290, Friday May 8 at 2010, not really expecting to hear it in CNAm, I was
surprised to find Russian on 7285. The CRI relay via Albania to Europe is scheduled, but
supposed to be in English. I figured that must have changed, or got the wrong program feed,
but uplooking it later, there is indeed a Russian broadcast during this hour on 7285, from R.
Liberty via Tinang, to Siberia except the most easterly part, 21 degrees so also usward --something I would not be expecting to hear either, over a midday path. Meanwhile, IRRS has
cut back to stop 7290 at 2000* and WORLD OF RADIO at 2030 has been canceled, even on
their webcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOLOMON ISLANDS. SIBC, 9541.5, May 9 at 1240, American-accented YL being
interviewed about freedom of speech, Michael Savage being banned from the UK. This time I
was able to match it with BBCWS via Singapore 9740, running about one second behind that.
R4 readability on 9541.5, not bad; still het from weaker China 9540, and unlike other days, no
DentroCuban jamming on 9545 against nothing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. VOA Greenville, 17895, May 8 at 1938 in Spe-cial Eng-lish report on pope in Jordan;
modulation noticeably distorted. Is anyone paying attention at the site? Or being so close to
the transmitters, can they tell when something is amiss? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A. WTJC, 9370, May 8 at 2007 hymn, extremely distorted modulation with continuous
heavy crackle. A station their engineers(?) can be proud of (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. 11705, May 9 at 1303, RNV in Spanish with program summary, i.e.
opening the transmission hour, and then ``Cortes Informativos``. Has this been moved one
hour later to start at 1300 instead of 1200? No, chopped off at 1304:50*, frustrating bytuners
who must have been just getting into RNV`s program. Evidently the 1200 hour is played back
on the program feed line at 1300, and the sloppy Cuban engineers left it on past closing a few
minutes earlier. Hint: even if you can`t turn off the transmitter immediately the program is over,
you should at least turn off the modulation, which BTW was somewhat low and distorted
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA [and non]. 11775 missing at 1346 check May 11, and also at 1331 check May
12, tho some DentroCuban jamming pulses were audible against nothing since R. Martí uses
11775 only at 0000-0300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. Radio Brasil Central, 11815 fair with deep fades, ``Acontece na Madrugada``
mentioned as soon as I tuned in, May 12 at 0535, apparently program title, ``It Happens in the
Wee Hours``, phone number in Goiânia, 0538 timecheck for ``duas horas, 37 minutos `` --- so
nice to hear some genuine live local programming from Brasil in the nightmiddle instead of
gospel huxters. I was about to label this ``OBOB`` --- only Brazilian on band in my log
shorthand, as Bandeirantes missing from 11925, but then at 0539 I found 11765 also in with
the IPDA wacko, strangely interrupted for ``2:40`` timecheck from studio announcer, het from
11760 NHK if not RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 13970 fair Firedrake lento passage at 1335 May 12 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGESET) See also UK [non]
** CUBA. RHC missing from 13780, May 12 at 1334, so I kept tuning and found that the
frequency it replaced on April 13, 15370, was back on! But it cut off at 1356* so had the
engineers realized their mistake? Then tuned to 11760 to catch the frequency announcement
around hourtop by Antonio `Stacatto` Gómez --- at 1401 he still listed 13780 and not 15370
(and he also always mentions 6000 altho that is really closing down at 1400).
Anyhow, that takes care of the mixing products with 13680, landing on 13880 and 13580, the
lower one QRMing Prague. Oops, at 1404 check found 15370 back on, so it was just a normal
transmitter breakdown a few minutes earlier. Weaker 15360 was still audible but not usual //
15120, tho a weak carrier from something was detectable there. So the question remains
whether RHC has deliberately resumed 15370 instead of 13780 at 1300-1500? (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ETHIOPIA [non]. In a bandscan Monday May 11 at 1958 I came upon Amharic on 15665,
HOA music, the final word ``amen`` before WHRI ID in English and cut off before any
frequency could be mentioned. WRTH A-09 update reminds us this is: Dimtse Tewahedo,
Mondays only at 1900-2000; see http://tewahedomedia.org (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA [and non]. VOI remains on 11785 before and after 1400 facing heavy
interference from the China/US radio war during VOI`s English hour at 13-14, not to mention
WHRI/Hmong on weekends. Monday May 11 at 1359 heard a clip of former acting president
George W. Bush, something about home ownership, as nonsensical as that may be,
presumably from VOA Chinese --- don`t they have enough clips of current legitimately elected
president Barack H. Obama to use? Anyhow, that went off quickly, uncovering at 1401 VOI IS
and ID, still lite CCI from BBC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH. 11710, VOK in English, May 11 at 1350 talking about their imaginary
satellite and all the neat data they are getting from it! 1351 about a dance, ``The Cowboy and
the Girl``, which I thought was just introducing some music, but the talk went on and on, and
there were only a few sex of music at 1354 before transmitter cut off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 9385, WWRB, May 11 at 2011 found open carrier, a blessed
relief from the usual B.S. ranting; only slight hum and crackle to remind us a real transmitter
was there burning up 100 kW for nothing. I took the opportunity to enjoy the almost-silence and
listened to it for five minutes as modulation maintained its mumness still. So does The
Overcomer Ministry get a pro-rated refund? Or was it their own feeding failure (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. 15285, May 12 at 1405, good signal in Chinese operatic music, then M&W talk,
SAH over a weak signal. BBC Mandarin operates from Singapore at 1300-1530, 100 kW at 13
degrees, so also favorable for us, but I fear this may have been CNR1, as Aoki assures us
this, like all BBC Chinese frequencies, is jammed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. WEWN, 11550 with het, no doubt the perpetually off-frequency TAIWAN,
May 12 at 1413 in Spanish, voice-over translation of Arabic singing --- odd to hear the Arabic
with Latinate Catholic rather than Qur`anic intonations! Same thing // on 11530 English
frequency but without the Spanish, live event from Israel, 1417 alleluiahs. Then speech in
English by the RCC CEO.
I onturned EWTN TV and found same running about one second ahead of SW, plus video.
This was variously labeled as homily, eucharist from the Valley of Josephat [sic], an outdoor
mass before a crowd in casual dress. Now I could see that the pope was seated on an ornate
golden throne, wearing a golden mitre and golden robes in full regalia --- wow, this must be a
rich church --- or is it fool`s gold? Another thing you can`t get from radio: at 1501 in the
ceremony a line of subordinate priests was seen and they were racially segregated --- three
black guys at the end. I suppose the church would claim they were geographically segregated.
Coverage on TV lasted until 1530 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. Sunday morning May 10 only had time for a quick check at 1553 of the
Aló, Presidente frequencies via CUBA: all of them were on at widely divergent degrees of
audibility: 11690, 12010, 13680, 13750(best), 17750. WRTH A-09 update says all but 13680
are also on the air Saturdays from 1400 but I doubt it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. After several days` absence, DGS was back on 11775, May 14 at 2132 check
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. As I was checking RFI on 17620 and 17630 before 2130 May 14, did not notice any
RHC on 17660, scheduled in English until 2130. But at 2131 there it was, opening Kriyol as
scheduled, distorted. What is RHC doing on such a high frequency to a neighboring country?
It`s only about 720 miles from Habana to Port-au-Prince, and the optimum skip distance on
17+ MHz is longer than that --- except when sporadic-E may kick in unpredictably. But surely
Arnie knows this basic propagational fact. 17660 is designated for the Caribbean in all its
language services 2030-2300. It might be OK for the Windward Islands further away, and RHC
does have much lower // 5965 for the two Creole broadcasts at 2130 and 2230, but for
summer afternoons that may really be too low versus the absorption level.
At 2133 I found 11760 with RHC in real French, scheduled at same time as Creole on 17660;
while 11770, 11800, 13760 and 13790 were all in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** FRANCE [and non]. 11700, good signal in French at 0514 May 14, RFI Sport. Don`t usually
hear this with Europe not propagating. Is 500 kW, 155 degrees from Issoudun, so directly off
the back would be 155 + 180 = 335 degrees. Unseemed strike music fill at the moment.
17630, May 14 at 2123 with music unannounced except for ``RFI Musique`` interjexions, first a
chanson in French and 2127 a Cuban ``mueve tu cuerpo`` rap in Spanish. Same music was
running about two sesquiseconds behind on much weaker 17620. Normally these two, both
Guiana French, would not be // as 17620 is 75 degrees in French at 17-22, missing from
PWBR `2009`, while 17630 is Guiana French, 295 degrees in Spanish at 2100-2130 only. But
this was strike fill-music, crossing language service boundaries, and at 2130, 17630 did cut off
abruptly in mid-music while 17620 continued. KVOH was fair on 17775, but not super-strong,
so its spur on 17630v was not audible before or after RFI was transmitting (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 15110, REE with usual excellent signal direct from Noblejas, Thursday May 14 at
2109 with live program from studio 202 at Prado del Rey, YL host giving current timechex in
UT, local and Canary time. It`s ``Otros Acentos``, firstly dedicated to the maestro of the
vallenato of the Colombian coast, Rafael Escalona, who just died in Bogotá, with some of his
lively music; then interview about hard of hearing problems, using FM transmitters as hearing
aids, inviting phone calls to 91-512-04-58 or -02-42 or by e-mail; 2118 about the ``don`t forget
your ears`` campaign. All in Castilian. According to the current schedule grid at
http://www.rtve.es/files/70-14142-FICHERO/Parrilla_marzo_2009.pdf
the accuracy of which is questionable, Otros Acentos is M-F at 21-22 in its first edition ---- but
there is no ``second edition`` elsewhere on the schedule! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGST)
** THAILAND. 9455, R. Thailand, at 1330 May 14 in Thai ID, the first day heard without that
annoying het from off-frequency YFR via Taiwan, so maybe they have taken my advice and
moved, but where? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake observations May 15: at 1240, very poor, barely audible on 8400, while
very good on 9000 and as has recently been the case, not // any more but from separate
feeds. None audible today on 9400 under FEBC. Maybe they hit it by mistake previously,
overzealously blocking anything heard in Chinese. At 1322 FD on 15150 fairly good and not //
9000 either; all these presumably against inaudible Sound of Hope, Falung Gong via Taiwan.
Meanwhile lots of CNR1 jamming, such as on 19m, at 1323 on 15330 // 15285, but 15330
went off at 1330, and the victim on 15285 was also audible. BBCWS Uzbek via Cyprus is
scheduled until 1330 on 15330, // 17515 where I also heard CNR1 jamming two days before
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. Another screwup at RHC, but mitigated by brevity: May 15 at 0500 I
happened to be tuned to 6120, as the RHC Spanish service was closing for the night, distorted
and lofi. Then it re-opened in Portuguese, but cut off the air after a semiminute. Portuguese at
0500 seems to be a regular feature on their program feed line, who knows why, as it is the
middle of the night in Brasil and is not promoted as available even on webcast.
At 1221 on 6000 heard the voice of Arnaldo Coro with part of a `news` item within Despertar
con Cuba, saying that Cuba would not be adopting the US DTV standard ATSC, due to trade
restrixions(?) and anyhow, Cuba will have access to a superior DTV system when it is ready to
change. Take your time: we are looking forward to more analog Cuban TV DX once most US
lowband TV stations are gone June 12. It should be an interesting DX challenge to decode
Cuban DTV, whatever it may become.
RHC 12000 again hit by heavy distorted co-channel QRM in Chinese, at 1314 May 15,
previously tracked to the V. of Russia Khabarovsk transmitter as scheduled.
RHC 13880 leapfrog mixing product best yet, May 15 at 1318, S9+15 and not very distorted,
quite readable, in item from UN Radio citing infexion figures for H1N1 in various American
countries. Matching amphibian on 13580 was as usual weaker, only S9+10 or so, about the
same as R. Prague English to NAm, and thus plenty to ruin its reception. These are caused by
inadequate separation, physically and electronically, between the 13680 and 13780
transmitters and their antennas (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** FRANCE [non]. The strike at RFI must be continuing on May 15, as on 13640 at 1203
instead of news in Spanish I was hearing a version of ``Buena Vista`` mixing in rap, as if the
original version were insufficient these days. 1206 ``RFI Musique`` ID and more music fill. This
was SSOB --- strongest signal on band 22m, by far, eclipsing VOA, RHC, DCJC, etc., which
had not yet built up to full strength. Scheduled as 1200-1230 RFI Spanish at 295 degrees from
GUIANA FRENCH, following a semi-hour of French at 1130, 320 degrees, which I believe is
Météo Marine --- is that cut off by the strike too? How will the mariners manage? (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH. 11735 in Chinese with noisy buzz apparently emanating from same
transmitter, VOK Kujang as scheduled during this hour, preceded and followed by Korean on
same azimuth, 238 degrees with 200 kW per Aoki. VOK also audible more clearly in English
on 11710. One assumes the ChiCom would never jam Chinese from their good neighbor
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. I haven`t mentioned this in months, so for the record, the same old classical
music warhorses are *still* being used by BBC Mundo, the Spanish service relayed by WHRI
on 9410 weekdays at 1200-1300. Great reception of great music, but only excerpts, and never
identified as no announcements are permitted; listened May 15 1250-1300* abruptly off just as
one piece had fortunately ended on its own. These included O Mio Babbino Caro, and Sunrise
from Peer Gynt.
This is because BBC Spanish has been drastically reduced to nothing but a newscast at 1200,
and the rest of the hour has to be filled by archival material, and from 1233 nothing but music,
classical on M/W/F, pop hits on Tue/Thu. It would take only a minimum amount of effort for
BBC Mundo to produce a real classical music show with much more variety and IDs of the
music, but that is obviously beyond their capability or desire to do so (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake May 16: not heard on 13970 before 1300, but at 1313 a good signal from
it; became very good by 1340, and still audible at 1522 check. 15150 had FD weakly audible
mixing with something else at 1315 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CROATIA [non]. Confirming that VOC via Germany has belatedly replaced 7375 with 9925
for the summer, at 2353 UT check May 15, VG signal on 9925, rock music with Slavic(?) lyrix,
nothing on 7375. English segments presumably remain at 2215 and 0200 (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC`s big signals on 22m, 13680 and 13780 both missing at 1302 May 16; just the
weak one on 13760. So I checked the two frequencies they supposedly move up from at 1300,
6180 and 9600 --- yes, those were still running at 1304; I sat on 6180 to hear when it would
finally go off, and that was at 1307*, while 13780 finally came up at *1309 just as the `news`
was ending; presumably about the same for 9600/13680. By 1312 both 13680 and 13780 were
on as well as their leapfrog spurs on 13880 and 13580, which means that R. Prague was free
of that QRM for the first dekaminute or so of its English to North America on 13580.
I also checked the RHC 19mb channels: after missing a few days, 15120 was back on May 16
at 1304 check but JBA; by 1314 it had improved a lot and now // 15360 became JBA with
flutter. Quite a disparity between these and the inboomers just one band lower on 13 MHz
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR. HCJB, 9745, May 16 at 0500-0503* with several choral verses of the
Ecuadorian National Anthem, a good chance to hear it with good reception. They used to play
a bit of other music a few sex after it finished, before turning off the transmitter, in a persistent
bit of mis-programming; now that no longer happens.
But the big news is that HCJB has finally fixed their automated Spanish IDs in the morning,
removing the extinct 21455 frequency from the announcements, 10.5 months after it was
closed down June 28, 2008, as reported in detail in DXLD 8-074. In the meantime, we have
filed numerous log reports, most recently May 2, quoting outdated announcements at 14:30,
29:30, 44:30, and/or 59:30 past the hours until 1500:00, whenever there is a break between
programs, which insisted on saying ``11690, 21455, y 11960 kHz`` -- usually, except we
caught one saying only one of the 11 MHz frequencies twice.
Now on May 16, 2009, we find the announcements have been fixed, removing mention of
21455. Listening to 11960 at 1259:30, 21455 was omitted, 8 am TC, and into Cruzada con
Luís Palau. Another check at 1344:30 found no frequencies mentioned at all, but instead a
promo for Ecuador being one of 17 countries with the most ecological diversity, a jingle ID, and
1345 into BGEA`s Momentos de Decisión, contrary to the English version which is Hour of
Decision --- in Spanish, no time to waste in upmaking your mind. At 1359:30, just 11690 and
11960 given. After Aventura Diexista, at 1459:30-1500:00* the old cacao-producing promo, but
once again 21455 absent from the list. They are still uncoördinated, having to fade out the last
few sex of the previous program in time for the ID (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** GERMANY [non]. DW Russian via Rampisham, ENGLAND, on new 15510, May 16 at 1529,
scheduled at 1400-1559 since May 15. This replaces 15265, where it was equally well-heard
here, so why the change? Nothing else listed during this bihour on 15260, 15265 or 15270
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9650, KBSWR via Sackville, Saturday May 16 at 1250 in Worldwide
Friendship with a few minutes of ``listening tips from North America`` voiced by Kevin
O`Donovan, starting with VOA plans to cut three languages next fiscal year. Then info on how
to hear KBS via non-SW relays in UK, Canada, which you would think they would have been
able to tell us about directly from Seoul.
There were no SW/DX tips on this segment, but such were invited by Kevin who would resume
next week. He was also credited with sending KBS daily reception reports, which must have
led to his getting this gig. Never heard where he is located, and I don`t recognize the name
from any DX clubs or lists, so where did he come from?
Meanwhile, 9650 was bothered by continuous tone test underneath at 1250-1255, no doubt
IBB Tinang warming up for the R. Netherlands Dutch 1300-1327 and English 1327-1330* relay
which by then QRMs the 9650 Sackville relay of CRI English, even in mid-America, tsk2
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAUDI ARABIA. 15435, Saut ul-Buzz, still awful self-inflicted noise at 1530 check May 16,
atop talk in Arabic, which I doubt even a motivated native speaker could have comprehended
beneath the buzz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN. The spurs from RTI`s 9735 Japanese service were back, May 16 at 1323,
producing similar-pitched hets on BBC 9740 and CRI 9730. Most days the spurs are not there,
but they keep upsprouting irregularly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WEWN, 7555, May 16 at 0510 in Spanish, noticed some continuous utility QRM on hi
side, multiplex without a specific carrier. One could evade it by tuning to low side of WEWN.
Have not noticed this before; such are the risks of broadcasting on a fixed band. Especially if
it`s US-based, military or commercial, the ute might well complain and get WEWN removed,
since these 7.3+ MHz US SWBC stations are allowed only on a non-interference basis (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 11725 with YFR Chinese service at 1343 May 16 spelling out P-O-B-O-X
address in Oakland; letters pronounced in English, numbers in Chinese. In English, of course,
they never announce a box, just the zip code is sufficient. WRTH only shows a street address,
but spelling out H-E-G-E-N-B-E-R-G-E-R would just be too much to grapple with. The rough
audio processing is instantly recognizable as not coming from Okeechobee, so whence? PetKam, RUSSIA, 244 degrees. I was also hearing this an hour earlier.
R. Thailand, 9455, in Thai at 1330 May 16 still free of YFR Taiwan Vietnamese interference, so
I research in Aoki where it is now: during the 13-14 hour, moved May 11 to 9960 and is also on
7260 Taiwan, 11895 Irkutsk, none of them checked yet, but the important thing is that they got
off 9455 following my tipoff that they were colliding with Thailand. You`re welcome (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. 11715 at 1500 May 16: KJES big signal but just barely audible with kid
giving address in Spanish, as VOA was going thru sign-off routine in English; per Aoki the
latter being PHILIPPINES, Tinang 50 kW unit at 220 degrees used only at 1400-1500, but
nonetheless producing a clash, Americans vs Americans!
As for KJES, Aoki shows the 13-16 transmission as M-F only, but that is wrong, as this was
Saturday; also shows 13-15 English, 15-16 Spanish, but they were already in Spanish at 14.
Furthermore, they supposedly change azimuth each hour from 70 to 350 to 150 degrees. So I
wonder if they were rotating the hefty LP from 70 to 350 degrees as I listened. If so, it made no
difference, while bringing up the modulation to normal level would have made a big difference.
WRTH A-09 update says daily, 13-15 English, 15-16 Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 15375 at 1315 May 17 with Chinese talk, mixed with buzz; carrier also unstable; not
// 12000 so not Russia, but // 15330 and 12040 so is CNR1 jamming. Victim is R Free Asia,
Tibetan, 75 degrees via UAE at 11-14, inaudible. The buzz seems to be a defect in the
ChiCom transmission, but since it`s a jammer, that only helps. Heard a Windows logo go by at
1317.
Also checked 15375 May 18: at 1336 Chinese again with buzz, but not as bad as before, //
12040.
Firedrake May 18: at 1305, 8400 and 9000 but not //. At 1335, FD good on 15600, better than
// 9000, not // 8400. Nothing on 13970. At 1400 found 15600 in open carrier, but no SOH or
anything else audible. FD here resumed at 1404:40, and caused adjacent QRM to V of Russia
in English on 15605 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC missing from 12000 the last few mornings, including May 18 at 1330, when
occupied by RUSSIA, q.v.,; and at 1419 when the not distorted but a bit hummy Chinese on
12000 is instead CVC Darwin, then gospel rock at 1421. Cuba was certainly propagable, as
11760 was in well as usual during hoary Voces de la Revolución speech. Unless the RHC
12000 transmitter is simply down, it could be on the way to a new frequency, as RHC keeps up
with reports from its volunteer monitor in Oclajoma. It still shows on their online schedule as
11-15 to ``New York`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also VENEZUELA
[non]
** PHILIPPINES. 9700, May 18 at 1320, warbling het against something. Scheduled here at
13-14 is FEBC, Iba site with 50 kW due west in various SE Asian minolity languages, Muong
during this quarter-hour on Mondays, says Aoki, so either someone is trying to jam that or
QRM is self-inflicted defect (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA [and non]. 12000, extremely distorted and broad VOR Chinese via Khabarovsk,
May 17 at 1304, and no RHC even audible underneath; maybe off the air at the moment
and/or desperately seeking a new frequency. Also May 18 at 1330 check, Chinese talk voiceovering something briefly in Russian, mixed with noise bursts, unstable carrier, no trace of
RHC audible; see also CUBA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Not only is WYFR 15600 blasted by WEWN`s 10-kHz-away spurs from 15610
between 19 and 23 UT, but another case of too-close-for-comfort exists for WYFR on 11530 at
0400-0900 since WEWN is using 11520 during those hours, and beyond. May 17 at 0605, the
WEWN squealing spur was badly disrupting much weaker WYFR 11530. Could also hear it on
11510 with BFO on. Catholix vs Protestants! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. No sign of KJES on 11715, May 18 at 1417, allowing VOA Tinang 50 kW unit to
be heard well enough in report about school in Zimbabwe // 9760 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 15410, CVC A Sua Voz via Chile, fair May 18 at 1406 in gospel rock. As I tuned
by sometime during the previous hour, heard a PSA about child sexual abuse. Without CVC,
how are the Brazilians going to know about that? Célio Romais reports this service is closing
down completely at Junend, and announcements to that effect are being broadcast starting
today; but I didn`t listen long enough to confirm one. Anyhow, the Brazilian radio bands,
including domestic SW, are full of gospel huxters, so they hardly need any more in Miami
trying to reach them via Chile (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. Another week off for Hugo Chávez Frias, as no transmission found on
the ``Aló, Presidente`` frequencies via CUBA, such as 12010, 13680, 13750, checked Sunday
May 17 at 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. May 19 at 2135 I was checking 9330 to see if I could get a signal there // 12085
Syria, q.v.. Instead I heard a big blob of extremely distorted talk, extending roughly 9320-9360,
peaking around 9335. Figured it was most likely very strong WWRB 9385 which has done this
before, or weaker but still spur-producing WTJC 9370 --- but the modulation spike peaks did
not match either. So searched further on second receiver for a match.
There it is, on 9515! Which is RCI, currently in Chinese. That`s another transmitter which has
gone haywire in the past. Then looked for more spurious on hi side and found it even worse,
roughly 9650-9720, peaking around 9685. Forget about hearing any other stations in those
ranges.
9515 itself was somewhat undermodulated and distorted but nowhere as bad as the spurs.
9515 is scheduled to go off at 2159, and indeed it and the spurs were off after 2200. The next
language, Spanish, should start at 2205 on 6100, but I was hearing nothing there a few
minutes later. If it`s the very same transmitter it might also pollute the 49m band. I have
notified Sackville (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake, May 19 at 1350: 8400 stronger than 9000 and once again // rather than
different feeds. Also // 13970 but not audible on 15150 or 15600 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST) See also CUBA
** CUBA [and non]. 9805, May 18 at 1422, DCJC pulses QRMing weak signal in Vietnamese.
Per Aoki, that is Radio Free Asia, 14-15 at 285 degrees from Saipan. Nice of Cuba to help out
their Hanoi comrades, but jamming probably not very effective way over there! Axually, it`s
typically leftover incompetent Cuban jamming which on 9805 is ``needed`` only at 1000-1300
when Radio Martí is using it. Aoki does not have this RFA transmission a*terisked as jammed
intentionally.
Imagine how many Cuban people could have a decent meal merely with the money saved by
reducing jamming only to hours required against broadcasts hostile to the regime! Let alone
closing down the power-hogging jammers completely and letting chips fall where they may.
The Revolution really has no confidence in itself.
9565, DentroCuban Jamming Command pulses against nothing, May 19 at 1311; they`re there
because Radio Martí uses 9565 at a totally different time, 1700-2400. Well, not exactly against
nothing, since this was QRMing CRI relay via CUBA on 9570! Cuban Commies vs Chinese
Commies via Cuban Commies! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** FRANCE [and non]. 17620, May 19 at 1355 with jazz vocal by YL in English, but off at 1357*
This fits for RFI Issoudun to WAf schedule.
The strike must be in its 8th day, since May 19 at 2123 I was again hearing songs in French on
17630, instead of the scheduled Spanish semihour via Guiana French, and again cut off
abruptly at 2130* sharp, while the same music, a few sex apart continued on much weaker
17620, now to WAf from Montsinéry (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. Now that VOI is back on a clear frequency, 9525, I can confirm that they are
still doing a joint program in English with RRI Banjarmasin on Tuesdays; May 19 had give-andtake between Jakarta hostess and RRI-B guy, and at 1342 went to pre-produced program from
Banjarmasin. No QRM, but we still have to cope with accents, hum, undermodulation, and
propagational fading reducing readability. All I could tell was that the talk was full of numerical
statistics, probably MEGO-inducing anyway, tsk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SYRIA. 12085 with big S9+20 signal May 19 at 2133, but hum and just barely audible
extremely undermodulated ME vocal music. Has to be R. Damascus as scheduled during this
hour in English, and with its typical modulation problems. Then looked for possible // 9330 but
found it blocked by RCI spur; see CANADA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. Checked RCI 9515 again 24 hours later, May 20 at 2145 and no spurs in the 9.3
or 9.7 MHz area (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1461, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake May 20 at 1319: best on 13970, next best 9000, and just barely audible
on 8400, all // synchronized (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. DentroCuban Jamming Command pulses interfering with WORLD OF
RADIO on WRMI, 9955, May 20 at 0503. Excuse me if I continue to be upset about Cuban
jamming, especially against non-Spanish, non-exile broadcasts. How many of you can say that
you are jammed by the pals of ``your friend in Habana``, Arnie Coro, whose own DX program
is immune from jamming? This was a repeat of WOR edition 1460, as 1461 starts this week on
UT Thursday May 21.
9560 with hash against weakest R. Australia signal at 1300 May 20, from the Cuban relay of
CRI on 9570, and also traces of same audible under strongest RA signal 9580. These must be
what ruin RA reception in Ontario, as Andy Reid reminds us.
After missing a few days, RHC`s 12000 was back May 20 at 1318, despite V of Russia
Chinese service co-channel. The two were about equal levels here, despite Cuba`s extreme
proximity advantage, taking turns dominating. Still same at 1345, when Russian song being
played, but announcements in Chinese. At least the VOR transmission has been cleaned up to
lack all the dirty splash above and below. I suppose the clash is less of a problem in RHC`s
12000 target area of ``Nueva York``, while there are plenty of clear //s, 11760, 13680, 13760,
13780, 13880, 15120, 15360 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWCR, 15825, May 20 at 1324, tnx sporadic E inbooming so much that the squeal
was audible beneath the jailed Tony Alámo, whose child sexual abuse trial has been
postponed again until July, presumably another playback of an old program, ``if you serve
yourself, you are serving Satan``. Judging from occasional murmurs, prompted reaxion from
his small audience, he was preaching to children, which could explain his extremely
condescending tone, turning off an adult audience except for those ripe for condescension
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [and non]. VR, 9645 in Scandinavian language, UT Wednesday May 20 at 0505,
along with Brazilian het from 9645.3 or so. Wonder if this was in Danish, or is ever in Danish,
as it would be the only SWBC left in that language besides Greenland 3815. VR is not helpful
in breaking down which days of the week carry which Scand language; only native speakers
can tell (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRALIA. CVC Darwin, May 22 at 0536 with YL in Chinese on 17830; 340 degrees; next
to it on 17820 was weaker singing, which chex as CVC Indonesian service, 290 degrees
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRALIA [and non]. RA in English, 13630, May 22 at 0551 during interview, but QRM
from CW sending Vs, and then into brief message with DE but could not catch ID. At first I
thought it might be part of the program production with CW effect in the background, but not
present on // 15160, 15240.
After 0610, RA had an engrossing talk mentioning the threat of frozen methane melting at the
bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the dire effect on American and European climates if
the Gulf Stream stops keeping Europe mild and heat builds up in the Gulf. I wanted to hear all
of this again, but the RA program schedule shows Asia Pacific Business at this time on
Fridays, and its content does not match! I did find a web page about this potential devastation:
http://armageddononline.tripod.com/methane.htm
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRIA. Only a month from Solstice, Europe now making it up to 14 MHz in the
nightmiddle: 13730 in Austro-German at 0555 May 22, fair signal. I wanted to reconfirm the
token English newscast around 0608, elsewhen heard on 6155, but missed it as I was trying to
track down a local noise source, since the heavier line noise has abated; at 0614 however, I
barely caught OE1 going from French back to German. Solar flux had inched up to 72 on May
21 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BULGARIA. 11600 at 0559 May 22 with `space music`, IS and opening French as ``Radio
Bulgarie Internationale`` --- do they add International to their English ID now? If so, I have not
noticed it. Neither English nor French webpages put International(e) in the title:
http://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria/Emission_French/
So perhaps it should be rendered ``Radio Bulgarie (internationale)``. Then at 0601 on 11800
found R. Bulgaria in Spanish giving its entire transmission schedule in that language (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA [and non]. Firedrake, May 21 at 1333 on 11300, better than and not // 13970 or
9000, while inaudible on 8400, so ex-that? Good thing I bothered to scan that far out-of-band,
so I continued up to 19 MHz, and found something else interesting instead; see U S A.
Firedrake, May 22: at the very late hour of 0533, there it was on 18320 with a poor signal. 17
and 15 MHz were full of Asian signals, including CNR-1 jamming; see below. At 0544 also FD
poor on 15600 and not // 18320. At 0556 a trace of FD on 13970.
Not so good the next morning: at 1317, no FD audible on 11300. At 1350, none on 11300,
13970, 15150, 15600 or 18320, but poorly audible on 9000 // 8400. Also checked entire out-ofband ranges from 10000 to 19000 with no others found.
Unlike some previous mid-night openings, May 22 had both ChiCom CNR-1 jamming, and R.
Free Asia audible at same time; site and azimuth info from Aoki and/or HFCC:
0535 on 17880, mix of two different Chinese services, one of which is CNR-1 jamming. The
other, RFA SAIPAN, 310 degrees.
0536 on 17615, similar to 17880; one audio source was // 17880, and the other was not, i.e.
RFA with deliberate delay of a few seconds: RFA, TINIAN, 295 degrees.
0542 on 15635, Chinese audio with echo, // 17880. Target RFA via Irkutsk, RUSSIA, 152
degrees, itself not audible.
0549 on 15615, CNR1 jamming mixed with other Chinese audio. RFA TINIAN, 279 degrees.
0630 on 17880, Chinese talk with `diamond` music theme as heard a few times before,
mentioned Mei-Guo, good over other Chinese audio. I think it is RFA on top at the moment, but
either one could have been mentioning America, of course.
Other catches from China, altho not jammers:
0540 on 15785, Chinese M&W not // 17615, fair, since this is CRI itself, Xi`an 354 degrees
toward Mongolia and W Siberia. Not good news for Galei Zahal if it is really 24h on this
frequency; no sign of it.
0543 on 15665, M&W conversation in Russian, fluttery, CRI ID ``MPK``; Kashi 308 degrees;
0545 // 15445, same.
0547 on 15465, CRI English ID in passing, address. Kashi 209 degrees
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC absent again from 13780, May 21 at 1340, and not on its ex, 15370, either.
This also removed the 13880 and 13580 mixing products with 13680, still running, as well as
13760, 15120, 15360, all checked, plus 12000, this time somewhat atop the VOR Chinese cochannel from Khabarovsk.
May 22 at 1311, 13880 was back and therefore fundamental 13780 as well, at the moment
with clips of Obama vs Cheney speeches the day before. Today RHC had more advantage
over VOR 12000, still problematic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [non]. Happened to hear R. Martí promoting TV Martí, May 22 at 1301 on 7405,
saying people could see it on channel 20. The channels have changed from time to time, but I
wonder why this is seldom if ever reported by US TV DXers. You`d think Gulf tropo would bring
it in even if the signal is direxional and weakish usward. So is this now from the plane, or an
aerostat, or ground-based, and what hours is it on the air, surely not 24?
What else is on channel 20 in Florida? WBBH Fort Myers would have been the biggest
problem but it has already migrated to 15 for DTV. However, 20 is the permanent DT for
WLRN Miami, 625 kW with a CP for 870. There are also lower-powered stations in Melbourne,
Tampa-Saint Petersburg and faraway Panama City (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A. Looking for Firedrakes, May 21 at 1345, instead encountered weak signal with
singing on 18770, fading in and out and/or with modulation pauses. Must be a harmonic: yes, //
9385 WWRB in Brother Scare service but someone else singing and testifying at the moment.
18770 peaked at S4, and with the FRG-7 preselector peaked on 18770, not 9385, so despite
the usual extremely strong signal on the fundamental, I think this was a true transmitted
harmonic, usually inaudible but propagating now tnx to an increasingly frequent seasonal
sporadic-E opening, correlating evidence being WWCR 15825 inbooming (but no sign of it on
19960 = 2 x 9980), so once again WWRB is one-up on WWCR in the spurious department.
Hey Dave, how much power are you putting out on 18770? I think it must be a pretty good
QRP DX catch. Such a short skip distance, slightly over a megameter, is possible only with Elayer skip, not F-layer.
Next day May 22 at 1352, since WWCR was again inbooming via sporadic E on 15825, I
searched for the WWRB harmonic on 18770, but could not detect even the open carrier this
time:
WWRB, 9385, S9+22 at 1348 May 22, nothing but hum, having lost the Brother Scare feed
again; enough signal to put weak spurs detectable on 9317 and 9453 hetting 9320 and 9455
stations, but at least there was no modulation on the spurs either. Altho I could have heard him
on WINB 9265, I preferred 9385 for another enjoyable break from B.S. rants, so kept listening
to the hum; at 1357 and again at 1359 inserted WWRB IDs, but nothing else. Finally at 1404
joined in progress Alex Scourby Bible readings, via Walterboro, or default fill from Manchester?
Left the receiver running down low, not paying much attention, but realized at 1530 that it was
again modulation-less; fitfully resumed Scourby at 1539 at low level, taking another two
minutes to bring him up to normal level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWV, 20000, May 22 at 0534, correlating with a late sporadic-E opening in WNAm
still being reported into VHF, tho not much of that here. Time to check for KOA 25950 or
anything else on 11 meters, but nothing heard yet (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CHINA. Hunting for Firedrakes the morning of May 23: conditions depressed, and did not
find any between 8 and 19 MHz except:
14420 at 1316, good signal, // weaker 15600.
Note: some of these Firedrakes are likely coming from EAST TURKISTAN sites Kashi or
Urumqi, but since SAFRT refuses to register their jammers with HFCC, we can`t be sure. It
makes propagational sense for jammers targeting east or central China to be sending from an
appropriate skip distance in west `China` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC audio pretty distorted on 11760, May 23 at 1310 during Despertar con Cuba.
Wake up and fix it! // 12000 was OK, and well atop the VOR Chinese co-channel. Fortunately,
11760 was not splattering or putting out any detectable spurs; the 22 and 19-mb frequencies
were not distorted, either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EAST TURKISTAN. Middle-of-night 16 and 19m opening from China May 23 not nearly as
good as 24 hours before, but at 0622 on 17680 hearing Chinese-accented Spanish, fair with
deep fades, which checks as CRI via Kashi, 294 degrees for Spain (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST) see also CHINA
** NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. Unlike the night before, R. Free Asia in Chinese very
good on 17880 and 17615 at 0623 May 23, well atop the ChiCom CNR1 jamming if it was
audible at all, due to propagational variation. RFA 21550 also JBA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. On Saturdays only, 15170 is not blocked by REE Costa Rica, so May 23 at
1323 I was hearing HOA singing, S9+10 with fades, but undermodulated; still 1335 with weak
talk. Per Aoki this is the VOA Somali service via MADAGASCAR, 1300-1400, 250 kW at 359
degrees.
VOA English, 17585 Greenville, often barely audible, but assisted by sporadic E, loud and
clear on May 23 at 1426 with anti-AIDS PSA, the underlying assumption being that sex
otherwise is acceptable! This is one of those-split-hour transmissions, nonsensically switching
transmitter sites in the middle, both aimed at the same target from widely divergent direxions.
In this case it`s Greenville 250 kW at 94 degrees until 1430, then Udorn, THAILAND from
1430, 250 kW at 276 degrees, both for all of Africa except the North.
Normally I can`t hear the second half as 16m propagation from Thailand at that hour is not
exactly ideal, but this time I could. The next promo at 1429 for VOA`s hip-hop show was cut off
sharply at 1429:30 for the Yankee Doodle Dandy sign-off routine from Greenville, but barely
audible underneath I could hear a separate YDD as Thailand was signing on. Greenville left its
open carrier on until 1438:15* making a SAH of 200/minute = 3 and a third Hz, with the much
weaker Thai signal. This was a mixed blessing; the carrier helped to squelch the noise level,
but it was still too much to make Udorn readable. At 1450 recheck, Udorn alone was just
barely audible.
Now in Africa, assuming roughly equal propagation at that hour from NC and Thailand, the
modulation clash at 1429-1431 plus the additional 7 minutes overlap amounts to VOA
interfering totally unnecessarily with itself! If they insist on this nonsense of switching sites in
the middle of an hour, it should be DCI and CS == one drops carrier immediately and the other
crash-starts, so at worst there would be a brief interruption or overlap glitch in the progression
of the programming content, which goes on relentlessly. Is anyone paying attention at IBB
frequency management? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also NORTHERN
MARIANA ISLANDS
** U S A. Since thanks to HF sporadic E, WWCR was inbooming again May 23 at 1327, 15825
so strong I could hear the squeal, and 13845 so strong I could hear the crosstalk from 7490
modulation, I looked again for the WWRB harmonic on 18770, and there it was, weak but
fading up to S4, // 9385 with Alex Scourby biblical pontifications. But still, WWCR 9980
harmonic not making it on 19960 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake survey May 24: barely caught a few bars of it on unusual 9390 until
1300*, but back on at 1308, poor; fortunately, no WWRB 9385 on yet. Against what? Per Aoki,
at 12-13 on 9390 is R. Pakistan`s Chinese broadcast, so chalk up another neighbor to whom
the ChiCom demonstrate their hostility. Aoki does not yet show it as *jammed. Or has that
shifted one hour earlier due to DST in Pakistan? See original A-09 schedule in DXLD 9-039,
with // 11510 at 12-13. Apparently it has not shifted, as in WRTH A-09 update still showing 12-
13, unlike English at 16 which has shifted an hour earlier to 15.
More Firedrake May 24: at 1302, nothing on 8400, but 9000 was open carrier, resuming poorly
at 1305. At 1308, nothing on 11300. BTW, that`s a very bad spot due to aeronautical airground communications in Africa. Without Firedrake blockage, one could sit on that frequency
and hear planes contacting Khartoum, Tripoli, etc. At 1321, FD on 13970 // 9000. At 1324 also
on 14420, better than // 13970 but fluttery. At this moment the ``ramshorn`` is being blown. At
1325 also audible on // 15600.
Firedrake May 25: surprised to hear it on another unusual frequency, 7280 at 1249, mixing
with something in Chinese and // 9000. Aoki says 7280 bears Sound of Hope at 11-13, so that
explains it: in this case a 300 kW Taiwan transmitter, so one can axually hear SOH in the mix,
unlike their 1 kW jammer-spoilers elsewhere out-of-band. However, at 1354 on 7280 still
hearing a Firedrake mix with something, SOH prolonged? // 13970. Per Aoki, V. of Strait is
supposedly also on 7280 all along at 12-17 but WRTH does not have it; RFA Tinian does not
start Cantonese on 7280 until 1430 and that is not asteri*ked as jammed.
Back at 1249, no Firedrake on 8400 or 11300. 9000 made its usual break 1300-1305; nothing
there at 1352 recheck. At 1307, FD good on 13970, but even better on // 14420, which was still
going at 1337. At 1404, 13970 open carrier, resuming FD at 1405. At 1406 still on 14420 but
now very poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also EAST TURKISTAN
** CUBA [and non]. Not just REE, but also RHC has a pen-pal service for DentroCubans:
Sunday May 24 at 1319 on 12000 giving someone`s P- and e-mail address, in Amigos de
Cuba show. QRM de distorted VOR Chinese, making noise bursts every few sex on 12000.
RHC modulation OK, // 11760, and the VOR mess stopped at 1400*. Same QRM spurting from
Khabarovsk next day May 25 at 1304 and 1350 chex (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** EAST TURKESTAN. Not much making it from E Asia on 16m, May 25 at 0505, but on
17720 there was CRI in German, fair signal going from Nachrichten to ``Sie fragen, wir
antworten`` Q&A show. Via Kashi, central Asia, 308 degrees, 500 kW. Best signal on band,
except for 17880 RFA NMI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [and non]. Tnx to improved pre-solstitial conditions from other worldparts, decent
reception of NHKWNRJ is possible without resorting to Sackville. May 25 at 0523 I ran across
English on 11970, which per Eibi is via FRANCE for Africa; also at 1411 on 11985 direct from
Japan for S Asia, clear unlike // 11705, which was nothing but a weak pre-echo under Sackville
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. If you hear Spanish on 12040, it is not necessarily the second harmonic of R.
Victoria, Perú, as Yimber Gaviría reported from Colombia at 0053 May 19. At 0518 May 25 on
12040 I was hearing a fundamental REE // 6055, while 6020 was drowned by CRI via
Sackville. The Victoria harmonic must axually be on the low side of 12040, as its fundamental
was recently measured by Giampiero Bernardini, Italy, April 28 at 2330 on 6019.34v, so a
harmonic of that would have been on 12038.68v. To confuse matters further, REE Costa Rica
relay is also on 6020 at 00-04 and conceivably could produce its own harmonic, but those
would be a satellite-delay apart from Noblejas direct frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** SUDAN [non]. Bandscanning May 25 at 0514, came upon strange language on 13840, good
signal. Hmmm, PWBR `2009` shows it could be Palau, or New Zealand. But the answer came
only a minute later with singing ID repeating ``Radio Dabanga`` three or four times, and talk
following was interrupted frequently by stingers. Apparently the Darfurians are thought to be
easily bored by straight talk, which was certainly not in standard Arabic, or any kind of Arabic I
could recognize. This transmission is 0430-0527, 250 kW, 330 degrees via Madagascar
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WRMI, 9955, UT Monday May 25 at 0526, good reception toward the end of WORLD
OF RADIO 1461, and no jamming audible. I continue to marvel at WRMI NW antenna
reception vs S antenna: May 25 before 1400, no sign of it, just DentroCuban Jamming
Command. After 1400, R. Prague relay loud and clear, over jamming if any. After 1430
confirmed with that new infomercial instead of Studio DX for at least three weeks (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN. Bruce Barker in PA was hearing something in Arabic with Qur`an on 7250, May
24 at 0520-0600, while normally it`s Vatican in English and then Latin Mass, so I was sure to
check it May 25: at 0509 definitely Vatican in English as scheduled. At 0529 outro of VR
English, bells IS, 0530 into multi-lingual introduxion to Mass; a few sex of each marred by
static crashes, so not certain I IDed them all, but tentatively Romanian, German, Slavic,
Hungarian; 0532 into Latin.
The night before it must have been a total misfeed, as nothing is on the schedules to explain
Arabic/Qur`an. Altho it`s Vatican`s nearby Santa Maria di Galeria site, I wonder if they take a
satellite feed rather than landline or microwave STL? Possibly a mistuning of the satellite
receiver could have brought in some completely different station`s programming, but not
noticed at SMG for at least 40 minutes? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. I have accomplished the impossible: I have heard a local ID on the Caribbean
Beacon! Normally it`s 24/7 DGS/PMS with no local breaks built in or ever exercised. Here`s
how I did it:
May 26 at 1329 tuned in 11775 to hear a hefty mix of three audio sources. On the bottom,
something in Chinese, which disappeared at 1330. That`s CNR1 jamming against All India
Radio`s Tibetan service via Goa, which also ends at 1330.
That left not one, but two preachers in English mixing at about equal level. One was certainly
PMS, // WWCR 13845 where she was alone (almost, except for a bit of crosstalk), inbooming
tnx to sporadic E.
The other: an OM with a Caribbean lilt to his accent. At 1332 his show was upwrapping so I
strained to make out what was being said vs all the PMS QRM. Local YL announcer came on,
said his next appearance would be Friday at 9-9:30 am, time check for 28 before 10, and ID!!!!
``This is the Caribbean Beacon Radio``, and into next preacher, a YL.
Recheck at 1359: still a mix, jazz at the moment from the PMS service, and YL preacher,
outroing at 1400; 1401 local live YL announcer again with C. B. ID, and saying ``Music to Live
By`` would come next, and then three other shows named starting at 10:10, 10:15 and 10:30,
and into the music filling a bit of unsold time.
How could this happen? The Caribbean Beacon local audio, presumably what was supposed
to go out only on 1610 kHz, was just about equal level to PMS, so not bleedthru like we get on
WWCR, with the unwanted audio very much in the background. Probably not a transmitter
problem, but someone left a pot open on the audio mixing board. How long would it last?
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRIA. This time I was able to reconfirm that OE1 is still relaying the token English
newscast at 0608 M-F from domestic service: On 13730, poor but readable, Tue May 26 at
0611, some news in English mentioning California voters, then brief weather summary,
presumably for Österreich instead of Kalliforrnya, 0612 into French. Would be // 6155 if it were
propagating that long after LSR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. This was too easy. As soon as I tuned in 11925, May 26 at 0622, I heard a YL give
a Rádio Bandeirantes ID in passing, poor-fair signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake observations May 26: at 0614, JBA on 14420 and at 0619 also audible
better to fair level on 18320. At 1322, on 9000 stronger than 8400. Not sure if //. CNR1
jamming: see ANGUILLA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 13m still usually dead in the mornings except maybe for BBC Ascension 21470, but
May 26 at 1404 instead of that I was getting a very poor signal on 21570 in Spanish, just
enough to // REE on 17595. Should also be on 21610 but could not pull that one vs my local
noise level which is up again after a respite. A hopeful sign, anyway (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN. 9735, RTI Japanese service, again putting out those spurs producing hets of
almost but not quite the same pitch on CRI 9730 and BBC 9740, May 26 at 1325. This
indicates the 9735 transmitter itself is slightly off-frequency. The spurs are often absent. Don`t
BBCWS listeners in Asia complain? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Quite a collision on 11740, May 26 at 1326: VOA Korean service, 21 degrees via
Tinang, PHILIPPINES, so also USward, trying to teach an English lesson on the theme of
Memorial Day, but heavy interference from something in Chinese. Are the ChiCom jamming
this for their Juche pals?
I don`t think so. Checking Aoki, we find that R. Japan`s Chinese service via SINGAPORE is
also on 11740 until 1330 at an azimuth of one degree. If the clash is bad here, imagine the
way it must sound in East Asia! How was this ever approved? BTW, Vatican`s Iberian service
is also scheduled on 11740 until 1330 at 263 degrees from SMG (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILA [and non]. Re Caribbean Beacon local ID on SW 11775:
George McClintock tells me the cause was RF from the MW 1610 transmitter getting into the
SW audio processor. This has happened before. The reason it stopped at 1600 UT (1601 as
Brandon Jordan observed May 26) is that the SW and MW become parallel at that time (noon
AST), after the local programming on MW only. So the 1610 audio could still be mixing in
there, except it`s then the same as on SW anyway. It was not yet known whether the problem
had been fixed. It could happen again between 1000 and 1600, which are the hours WRTH
says 1610 splits away for local programming.
So I monitored 11775 again the next morning, May 27. At 1320 PMS was mixed with gospel
rock and the ChiCom jamming producing a SAH. After China quit at 1330, it was quite clear
that the Anguilla audio mix of two programs into one transmitter is still happening, and no SAH.
Shortly after 1330, the same local YL announcer as yesterday was heard in break between
programs while the University Network was playing revival music. 1333, Caribbean Beacon
started OM preacher referencing Matthew XIV, vs PMS preaching about something else.
At 1356 the LA announcer claimed ``You are watching the University Network`` --- I beg to
differ. I can`t possibly be watching it since I am listening to a shortwave radio! Does T.U.N.
ever acknowledge its SW broadcasts any more? Again running slightly late, at 1401
``Caribbean Beacon Radio`` ID by live YL, ``Music to Live By`` about to start, and again
previewing programs upcoming at 10:10, 10:15 and 10:30. If anything, the C.B. audio is now
louder than PMS. 1413 another Caribbean Beacon Radio ID, more music mixed with Melissa.
Meanwhile I was checking WWCR 13845 for // PMS programming. At 1352 she was
inbooming tnx to sporadic E, but the MUF was somewhere between that and 15825 where
WWCR was still weak. 13845 was strong enough to audiblize the crosstalk from WWCR 7490
programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. E Asian reception not so good the morning of May 27, but at 1326 heard weak
Firedrake on 15420, likely against V. of Tibet`s variable frequency via Tajikistan. Aoki,
however, puts that on 15425 and says it varies 15422-15427, but this was exactly on 15420,
despite BBC Seychelles scheduled in English, unheard. VOT runs 1300-1400, but at 1347
recheck neither it nor FD heard anywhere in this area. The only other FD found was 13970, fair
at 1349, nothing on 14420 et al. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [and non]. 11705, Sackville carrier already on at 1356 May 27, atop NHK direct at
end of Indonesian service with music; 1359:30 cut on fragment of RCI IS and ID, into a few sex
of NHK IS, 1400 timesignal perfectly out of sync with Yamata direct, and opening English relay
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH. V. of Korear, 11710: one is never sure just when the `hour` transmission
will end, but on May 27 I just caught ``Goodbye, this is P`yongyang`` until 1356 but carrier
stayed on. I did listen a bit earlier in the hour, but their crap gets old quick. At one point they
were saying war could break out at any minute again, tnx to the S Koreans` supporting US
initiatives against NK`s nuclear, missile tests; except their wording was not quite so polite
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. 13855 with on-and-off Russian tone tests, May 27 at 1352. Per Aoki, that`s a
Moscow site prior to Turkish service at 1400. Only poor signal and by 1403 recheck too much
splash from WWCR 13845 to make out 13855 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. 11775 fixed mix with local MW 1610 programming as heard the past two days:
May 28 at 1311, Pastor Melissa Scott all by herself; even the ChiCom jamming was barely
audible. A pity: 99% of SWLs would rather hear the Carib huxters along with live local
Caribbean Beacon continuity announcements between 1000 and 1600. PMS and DGS should
take a daily break and give us a chance to hear the real Anguilla unimpeded without leaving it
to technical breakdowns (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. 6030, CFVP, May 28 at 1249 with 6:49 = 11 till 7 timecheck; weak but clear, altho
not heard a few minutes earlier. Sunrise enhancement? No, Calgary sunrise is now 1130 UT.
1253 plug ``old time country favourites``, ``Classic Country`` ID, and they meant it with Johnny
Cash`s ``Walk the Line`` played next.
At this time not even a carrier from CFRX 6070, perhaps totally absorbed over summer
daytime path now, or off the air? WYFR 6085 weakly audible in Spanish with 100x the CFRX
power aimed south, 1000x the CFVP power (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA [and non]. For the last several months, RCI has been oblivious to the collision with
China`s Japanese service on 7325; at best, the two signals were roughly equal here, but by
May 28 RCI has weakened greatly, putting CRI on top, at 1259 check with Chinese traditional
music prélude, 1300 IS and opening in Japanese, way over RCI, so buried I could not even be
positive it was in Spanish as scheduled until 1305; and running another hour in Chinese, which
must be a total loss (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake check May 28: at 1239, 9000 kHz had not only FD, but atop it, `anvil`
pounding at the rate of six times a second. Additional jamming as June 3-4 approaches, so
one can`t even enjoy the jammusic? These were continuous bangs, no pauses like the
`bonker` heard on various other frequencies such as 11740. Could be a ute legitimately on
9000, but none such heard here before. Anvil still pounding at 1304, and Firedrake resuming at
1305 after hourtop pause. 1325 still anvil, but at 1353 FD in the clear. Only other FD noted was
13970 at 1352, just barely audible, but anvilless.
11605 a big mess of QRM at 1356 May 28; CNR1 jamming and het from something
deliberately off frequency. Aoki shows RFA Tibetan via Tinian until 1400; but at 1400 it all
cleared up as RFA introduced Vietnamese, which per Aoki is via Tanshui, Taiwan site. It
seems that Vietnam is not so afraid of outside ideas getting in; are they doing any jamming at
all of less benign clandestines? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC caught my ear May 28 at 0538 on 11760 as they were reporting on Western
Sahara. It seems Cuba hosts an ambassador from that non-country and supports the Polisario
in their struggle against Morocco for self-determination. Clips of the ambassador speaking
Spanish were included.
Yet for months and months, RHC blocked the only SW frequency of LV de la RASD, 6300, by
negligently putting a mixing product of 6060 leapfrogging over 6180 on there until 0700. Could
that have been a factor in Cuba switching 6180 to 6140, thus moving the spur to 6220? Naah,
too far-fetched.
The abysmal quality of the broken English RHC announcers speak these days is notable; are
they taking lessons from R. Nacional de Venezuela? The above item was presented by one
Alex Silva. The YL host of the broadcast, whose name I didn`t catch, is just as bad, not only
accent but bad grammar. RHC really needs to advertise for new hires, such as more hijackers,
or at least political refugees, whose native language is AmerEnglish.
The next item accused Wáshington of waging biological war against Cuba, such as viruses
released in 1952(?) to ruin the Cuban agricultural harvest, supposedly verified by US
government documents now available; 1979-1982, CIA released four plagues against Cuba,
including conjunctivitis and dengue, the latter affecting 340,000 people of whom 1,058 died; so
reports Juan-Carlos somebody. Can any of this be true? Then into some nice Cuban music.
For the second time this week, a WORLD OF RADIO airing on WRMI 9955 audible without
any DentroCuban jamming, Thursday May 28 at 0547 check, poor signal but in the clear. If the
DCJC has efforted to turn off the jamming when uncalled for at such times, thank you very
much. Further monitoring will show whether these were flukes. Cuba has had to start an
austerity program, but one would assume jamming retains its top priority for the fluid of
electricidad (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also KOREA NORTH,
RUSSIA: QRM
** JAPAN. R. Nikkei frequently plays synthesized classical music shortly before sign-off, Isao
Tomita? One such time was Thursday May 28 at 1241 on 6055; poor signal as too much
summer daylight on path now, and anyway at 1244 cut it off for Japanese announcements
and/or commercials. Also on // 9595 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH. VOK with usual bluster on 11710, which would be ludicrous if it weren`t a
serious situation --- no, it`s still ludicrous, May 28 at 1315, stronger than // 9335; bandscanning
further up at 1324, found same over/under RHC 13760. Perhaps the current crisis leads them
to add more frequencies? Altho this one is useless, Commies clashing with Commies. No,
checking the sked, the 1300 English broadcast is also on 13760 and 15245 for Europe (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. 12000, VOR Chinese at 1310 May 28 again heavily distorted and strong, ruining
reception of RHC. Is anyone paying attention in Khabarovsk, or Moskva? (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. It was `fixed` on May 28, but it`s unfixed again on May 29 at 1347 check: 11775
with two programs at once, PMS, and another YL preacher from the Caribbean Beacon local
service, at a slightly lower audio level. As previously explained, this can happen between 1000
and 1600 when 1610 kHz carries separate programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CANADA. Yes, CFRX appears to be off the air again, after a good run of several months. No
sign of it on 6070 May 29 at 0529 or at 1327. What`s the problem this time? (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. The DentroCuban Jamming Command is still attacking WRMI 9955; Friday
May 29 at 0519, Frecuencia al Día, the DX program had heavy buzz bursts on top of it during
reports from Julio Pineda in Guatemala, and Tony Herrera in Spain.
RHC missing from recent new frequency 6010 May 29 at 0530, just weak Spanish talk from
Mexico and/or Colombia, het. RHC still on 6000 as usual (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST) See also RUSSIA
** FRANCE [non]. RFI still on strike, renewed day after day by the union member votes. But
the fill music is very enjoyable. Good reception here during 2100-2130 via Guiana French on
17630, supposed to be in Spanish; May 28 at 2119 surprised by RFI ID in Russian, then
eclectic mix of songs in French, hilife, and English ``Like a King`` until abrupt cutoff at 2130*.
Meanwhile much weaker 17620 was not in // like it had been on previous days; other music
and talk mixed in via Guiana French to Africa, so perhaps that service was not en grève at the
moment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA [and non]. VOR Chinese service on 12000 via Khabarovsk the worst yet, May 29 at
1335, very strong, extremely distorted with buzz, unstable carrier; RHC theme music barely
audible underneath at one point (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. 11855 with heavy collision about equal levels from WYFR with Foro Abierto in
Spanish and BBCWS in Luso Portuguese, May 28 at 2038-2058:30* when BBC quit but WYFR
continued. WYFR is at 222 degrees for Central America, while BBC is 114 degrees from
Ascension for Angola and Mozambique. There is really no need for such a clash, with plenty of
open frequencies on 25m for the BBC semihour at 2030, but it must have been decided that
neither causes significant interference in the other`s target area. It`s quite a different story in
Oklahoma (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. Caribbean Beacon, 11775, still mixing local 1610 program audio with PMS, May
30 at 1308, at the moment gospel music from the former, and now much lower audio level than
PMS, but still obviously there. An hour later a male preacher could be heard underneath her.
The ChiCom co-channel jamming until 1330 was even weaker this date, but enough to cause a
SAH (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Something is very wrong at Shepparton: R. Australia absent from
the air, May 30 at 1249 check, nothing audible on usually inbooming 9580, nor lesser 9590,
nor lesser 9560, nor lesser 9475. Nor 6020 where Vatican Radio in Chinese via RVA
Philippines finally had the frequency to itself! Still not a peep out of RA at further chex during
the next hour, and nothing on 7240 which is supposed to open at 1400. Massive power failure,
or necessary maintenance break?
Propagation? SE Asian signals were pretty much normal, e.g. Indonesia on 9525. There is
nothing but New Zealand to compare with further S of the Equator, and it popped on 6170 a
few sex before 1400 with bellbird, timesignal and news, altho poor by now with sunrise almost
at its earliest here.
Is there anything about this on the RA homepage http://www.abc.net.au/ra ? Of course not!
When you are a modern multi-platform broadcaster, it is of little importance if one of them goes
down (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. After missing a couple days, CFRX back on 6070, May 30 at 0612 check in
Holder talkshow from CJAD Montréal; also audible at 1240 with another phone-in show (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake check May 30: E Asian conditions not so good; at 1313 fair on 9000 but
found nowhere else in 8-19 MHz range; at 1320 it was JBA on 13970.
CRI Japanese service, 7430, May 30 at 1400 with opening ID as ``Pekin Hoso``, so that
obsolete name is still politically correct in Japanese. Fair signal, 500 kW on 59 degree beam
from Jinhua-Youbu site #831 per Aoki. Many of CRI`s Japanese broadcasts greatly exceed
their necessary reach and here we are in North America, far beyond Japan in more or less the
same direxion (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PHILIPPINES. Here`s an odd juxtaposition. VOA from same site 5 kHz apart with two
different services at same time: May 30 at 1402 on 7550 there was a rock song in English, but
1405 Indonesian announcement mentioning ``VOA Direct Connexion``. Weaker on 7445 with
QRM from 7550 was VOA news in English. Per Aoki, 7550 Indonesian at 1400 airs only on
Thu/Fri/Sat at 200 degrees from Tinang; while 7545 English at 1400 is daily, 250 kW, 270
degrees from Tinang (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PHILIPPINES [and non]. On 9625, started to listen to CBC News at 1300 May 30, poor but
readable, but a minute later I had to be reminded that ``Jesus Saves`` as FEBC started its
Hmong service aimed westward, causing a fast SAH of 11 Hz, more or less and plenty signal
here to ruin CBC. Channel Africa in Lozi is also on frequency during this hour (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. VOR, 12000 in Chinese, still massively out of order with distortion, unstable
carrier, and noise bursts, May 30 at 1307, this time about equal level to Habana whose
reception was ruined. Is anyone paying attention at the Khabarovsk transmitter site, or Moskva
HQ? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWCR was inbooming on 15825 tnx to more sporadic-E, May 30 at 1407, so it`s
time to check 18770 for that WWRB harmonic from 9385. With BFO on, I could detect a
carrier, and by golly in the next minute it faded up enough to // 9385 while some psychophant
other than Brother Scare himself was testifying. Once the TV was fired up before 1500, found
the MUF up to at least channel 3, 60 MHz.
** ALBANIA. R. Tirana still doing well on 7425; checking English to North America UT Sunday
May 31: at 0143 already on the air with music, then RT theme, 0144-0146 IS, 0146 theme
again and opening English with full schedule. WBCQ 7415 was strong enough to cause a bit of
splatter but no other QRM, and RT somewhat undermodulated as usual (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRALIA. RA, which was missing from at least six frequencies May 30 around 1300, was
back on the air 24.5 hours later when 9580 was checked at 1325 May 31. It was already back
May 30 at 2206 discussing bushfires on 15560. But what caused the multi-transmitter outage?
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. What`s this distorted music centered on 6500, May 31 at 0630? No stable carrier,
and strong blubbering signal, maybe partly ute QRM mixed in. 0638 started talking and with
some strain, I finally determined it was in Brazilian. That makes the prime suspect R. Nacional
da Amazônia, and sure `nuff, it`s missing from 6185 leaving XEPPM in the clear, not usually
the case on UT Sundays when RNA runs all-night. And 6500 // 11780, clinching it. So the 6185
transmitter was VERY out-of-order. Is no one paying attention in Rodeador Park? When are
they going to get the new ones installed? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake check May 31 at 1354: best on 15600, then 13970, then 15150. Nothing
audible on 18320, 14420, 11300, 9300, 8400, but the lower ones may have been on sinking
into the noise level. At 1439, however, 14420 now audible // better 15600. T minus 3 days and
counting (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEEST)
** CUBA. Checked 6010 for RHC, May 31 at 0642 and it was back on as usual, much better
modulated than // 6000. 6010 had been missing a couple nights before. In English re what
else? The Cuban Five (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also VENEZUELA
[non]
** CUBA [non]. R. República, 9545, doing well May 31 at 0150 check with ID in passing and
closing ``Atrévete`` show [means dare, or take a risk --- as in opposing the regime, or fleeing in
a risky raft? Sort of like my parody motto, ``Patria o Suerte, ¡Pensaremos!``], well over the
DentroCuban Jamming Command (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. El Mandatario was doing a much-publicized 4-day Aló, Presidente
marathon starting Thursday May 28, but apparently that didn`t make it onto any special Cuban
frequencies. After a few weeks` gap, however, the finale got the Cuban five going again on
Sunday May 31, checked at 1415 with 13750 usward best as usual, in mailbag segment during
the prolog, and not // RHC mainstream on 13760, 13780. At 1437, 13750 service was // much
weaker 13680 which also had degraded audio during song, and detectable on 11690 and
better 12010, barely on 17750. Not checked again until 1613 when there was a Venezolana de
Televisión program promo, so I never axually heard Chávez (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
You don’t Need a Weatherman…
No Weather Reporters.
The Visible Universe
Glenn Hauser, Enid OK
Receiver, Antenna
On channel 3 before and still after 1700 UT May 15 (noon CDT) I am getting an Es station with
animation. Large-eyed humans, animals, could be biblical. Occasional color burst kicks in but
no audio yet, so unsure if Spanish. Spotted a 5 bug in a circle, upper right. Probably Mexican
network 5. Also Es CCI on 2 and 4. All analog. 73, Glenn Hauser, Enid OK
.
Extra, Extra!
Kevin Redding – Crump, TN
Whitehorse, Watson Lake, Mayo, Elsa, Teslin, Beaver Creek, Swift River, Carmacks, Ross
River, Atlin, Faro, Destruction Bay, Haines Junction and Dawson City, Yukon
Application No. 2009-0435-1
Application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to convert the Englishlanguage radio station CFWH Whitehorse from the AM to the FM band.
The FM station will operate at 94.5 MHz (channel 233C1) with an average
effective radiated power (ERP) of 3,300 watts (maximum ERP of
6,290 watts with an effective height of antenna above average terrain of
420.5 metres).
The applicant intends to operate the existing transmitters of CBDB Watson
Lake, CBDC Mayo, CBDD Elsa, CBDK Teslin, CBDM Beaver Creek, CBDX
Swift River, CBQF Carmacks, CBQJ Ross River, CBUA-FM Atlin, CBQK-FM
Faro, CBDL-FM Destruction Bay, CBDF-FM Haines Junction and CBDN
Dawson City as rebroadcasting stations of the proposed FM station.
The applicant is requesting permission to simulcast the programming of the
proposed FM station on CFWH for a period of three months from the date of
implementation of the FM station.
The applicant is also requesting, pursuant to sections 9(1)(e) and 24(2) of
the Broadcasting Act, the revocation of the licence of CFWH effective at the end
of the simulcast period.
The Commission may withdraw this application from the public hearing if it
is not advised by the Department of Industry, at least twenty days prior to
the hearing, that the application is technically acceptable.
This application requires the issuance of a new licence.
Applicant’s address:
181 Queen Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1K9
Fax: 613-288-6257
E-mail: regulatoryaffairs@cbc.ca
Examination of application:
3103-3rd Avenue
Whitehorse, Yukon
Bargain Barn
Nothing for sale this month
Show and Tell – New Toys
Nothing for this month
Testing, Testing…
No Tests this month
Call Sign Changes
Old Call
WENN
KNJT
KRTT
WBHB-FM
WOXM
WQHC
KGHI-LP
WGVT-LD
WJCG
WKYV
WCOP
KEDB
KPCW
WNJY
KHNA
KRAN
KRMG-FM
WJAM
WMRK-FM
KCFE
KHEV
KJLJ
KXWL-LP
WGJU
WXHZ
KJKT
KMBM
KOAR
KVWE
WAWA-LP
KCMW
KRGM
WEII
WRZE
KMJ-FM
Svc City State
New Call
AM BIRMINGHAM AL
WPSB
FM COLDWATER KS
New
FM GREAT BEND KS
New
FM WAYNESBORO PA
WFYN
FM MIDDLEBURY VT
New
AM HANCEVILLE AL
WLYG
FL ABERDEEN WA
KCFL-LP
LD GAINESVILLE FL
WSSH-LP
FM SUNBRIGHT TN
New
FM COLONIAL HEIGHTS VA
New
FM FARMINGTON TOWNSHIP PA
New
FM HARITON IA
KELR-FM
AM TOOELE UT
KCPW
FM NETCONG NJ
WNJY-FM
FM WAMSUTTER WY
KRAN
FM WARREN AFB WY
KHNA
FM SAND SPRINGS OK
KKCM
AM SELMA AL
WMRK
FM ORRVILLE AL
WJAM-FM
FM HOVEN SD
New
FM FAIRVIEW OK
KJLJ
FM SCOTT CITY KS
KHEV
LP KEOKUK IA
K46IH
FM TAWAS CITY MI
New
FM BRIDGEPORT OH
New
FM SPEARFISH SD
KOAR
FM POLSON MT
New
FM BEEBE AR
KBGR
FM FRENCHTOWN MT
KXGZ
LP ORLANDO FL
W47AL
AM BOISE ID
New
FM MARSHALL MN
New
FM DENNIS MA
WRZE
FM KINGSTREE SC
WGSS
FM FRESNO CA
KFJK
WSFF
KHFT
KUUP
KXDS
WICO-FM
WKTT
WMWI
WZKT
KZRP
KZTE-LP
WBYN-FM
WDRT
WJZZ
WFVL
WHLL
WMGU
WPLZ
KHAD
KHOI
KPLK
KXKW-CA
KZQL
WGCK-FM
WLOB-FM
WXMR
WCOH-FM
WKTB-CA
WKTB-LD
WNMR
WPKZ
WXXJ
KJZK
KJZP
KPLE-LD
WAZQ
WKZG
KTPM
KVCJ-LP
WGCK
WMIA-FM
KENU
KOJB
KPIO-FM
WCGO
WMWR
FM
AM
FM
FM
FM
FM
FM
FM
FM
LP
FM
FM
FM
FM
AM
FM
FM
FM
FM
FM
CA
FM
FM
FM
FM
FM
CA
LD
FM
AM
FM
FM
FM
LD
FM
FM
FM
LP
AM
FM
FM
FM
FM
AM
FM
VINTON VA
CHUGIAK AK
PALA CA
ST. GEORGE UT
POCOMOKE CITY MD
SALISBURY MD
DEMOPOLIS AL
LEWES DE
HOPE ID
FULTON AR
BOYERTOWN PA
VIROQUA WI
NORTH SALEM NY
LUMBERTON NC
SPRINGFIELD MA
SOUTHERN PINES NC
OOLTEWAH TN
UPTON WY
STORY CITY IA
MANSON WA
LAFAYETTE LA
MILLS WY
COEBURN VA
TOPSHAM ME
MINERVA NY
DU BOIS PA
NORCROSS GA
NORCROSS GA
DANNEMORA NY
FITCHBURG MA
JACKSONVILLE FL
KINGMAN AZ
PRESCOTT AZ
KILLEEN TX
LAYTON FL
KEY WEST FL
FALFURRIAS TX
INCLINE VILLAGE NV
NEON KY
MIAMI BEACH FL
DES MOINES NM
CASS LAKE MN
PLEASANTON KS
EVANSTON IL
LINCOLN ME
WZBL
New
New
New
WXMD
WICO-FM
New
WXJN
New
K64GT
WFKB
New
WJJZ
WFNC-FM
WMAS
WFVL
WHJK
KRUG
New
New
KLFT-LP
KHAD
WGCK
WGEI
New
WDBA
W38CU
W47DN-D
New
WEIM
WMXQ
New
New
K30JA-D
WNGY
WAZQ
New
K14AJ
WVSG
WLVE
New
New
New
WONX
New
WXSH
FM POCOMOKE CITY MD
KLPM
AM PORTLAND OR
KAUD
FM MEXICO MO
WEGI
AM FORT CAMPBELL KY
WEGI-FM FM GROVE KY
KGIO
FM ASTORIA OR
KQAC
FM PORTLAND OR
KQDE
AM COLUMBIA FALLS MT
WFHZ-LP CINCINNATI OH
KJXN
FM SOUTH PARK WY
WLVE
AM WINCHESTER VA
WZTH
FM TUSCULUM TN
KODT-LP LP SALT CREEK OR
KSLM-LD LD SALEM OR
KXPI-LP LP POCATELLO ID
KYPC
FM COLSTRIP MT
KYPF
FM STANFORD MT
KYPW
FM WOLF POINT MT
KNWG
FM GOLDENDALE WA
KQOC
FM KBPS GLENEDEN BEACH OR
KTBB-FM FM TYLER TX
WCIJ
FM LAPORTE PA
WKHW
KXMG
New
WJQI
WEGI
KORM
KBPS-FM
New
New
KRFD
WTFX
New
KSLM-LP
K16HT-D
KPPP-LP
New
New
New
New
KBPS-FM
KDOK
New
I Got The Bird!
No Satellite this month.
ABDX consists of:
Editor/List Owner: Kevin Redding
Webmaster: Michael J. Richard
Moderators: Phil Rafuse
Powell E. Way III
LW Editor: Jay Heyl
NBN Editor: Martin Foltz
And 208 of the greatest DXing contributors on earth!
Please pass the ABDX Journal to all the DXers you know. The dues are free and all we would
like to do is see you contribute your logs on occasion.
To join the DXers at ABDX either go to this URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/
Or email dc2daylight at gmail.com