** ALBANIA [non]. 5850, July 29 at 2258, WRMI is on with IS & ID runup to
hourtop, 2300 R. Tirana IS and sign-on not mentioning any SW frequency, just
``from now on`` at the web address. Suspect this SW arrangement I proposed is
somewhat extra-official, with shortwaveservice in Germany as intermediary
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 6250, July 30 at 0005 check, no signal from RNRGE,
Malabo, so apparently done with the all-night testing. We should still be able
to hear them from sign-on which used to be 0530, but will they stay on later
than the old sign-off of 1830? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NORTH AMERICA. 6950-USB, July 30 at 0111, rockmusic at S8-S9, no doubt
Wolverine Radio, as confirmed by ID at 0115. Tonight`s key word is ``help`` per
numerous logs from 0033 to 0146 at
https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,36415.0.html
I didn`t listen long with all the other stuff going on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** PUERTO RICO. 5125.00, July 30 at 0006, extremely strong S9+15 to S9+30 open
carrier, something new. I`m checking since this news emerged via roger on the
DXLD yg:
http://bit.ly/2eNEhME
about ionospheric heating experiments from the Arecibo, Puerto Rico, radio
telescope, on behalf of the same guy who brought us HAARP last winter from
Gakona, Alaska.
``Arecibo ionosphere HF radio modification campaign!
[Excerpts:] 23 July: If you are reading this, then another radio event of
possible interest is the upcoming Arecibo ionosphere HF heating campaign during
24 to 31 July 2017. The new Arecibo ionosphere HF heater nominally transmits
600 kilowatts net power (100 to 200 megawatts effective radiated power) and has
a unique Cassegrain dual-array antenna design that increases gain of three
crossed dipoles for each band using the signature 1000 ft spherical dish
reflector.
During the upcoming campaign, the Arecibo HF transmitter is limited to two
frequencies, 5.125 and 8.175 MHz. Campaign HF transmissions will start at
approximately 1600 hours UTC and be active approximately 24 hours per day, with
some occasional downtime for maintenance and other activities lasting one or
more hours. Generally, the 8.175 MHz transmissions will occur in the daytime
when foF2 is expected to exceed that value, between approximately 1830 and 2230
hours UTC. Otherwise the HF transmissions will occur at 5.125 MHz. These
transmissions will be in the vertical direction so this is an excellent
opportunity to observe NVIS from a powerful transmitter in Puerto Rico.
24 July: Did you copy Arecibo during the 24-31 July 2017 HF campaign? Get your
QSL card! This morning I received the following information by email from Ángel
Vásquez, Head of Telescope Operations and Spectrum Manager at Arecibo:
I’m Ángel WP3R, president and trustee of KP4AO, the Arecibo Amateur Radio Club.
KP4AO has QSL cards that have been made because of our Special Event Runs and
the MoonBounce we did. My personal QSL manager, W3HNK does the QSL’ing also for
KP4AO. I can give him a call and have him send SWL QSL’s to the interested
parties. All that is needed is a SASE to W3HNK. His Address can be found on
QRZ.com or WM7D.net.
25 July 2017: I originally reported the Arecibo high-power HF operations to be
transmitted at either 5.125 or 8.175 MHz, depending on local foF2. Note that
these are just estimates and the actual transmitted frequency may be adjusted
slightly from those values for various reasons. Arecibo is currently
transmitting 5095 kHz at hours 25 July 2017 (UTC).``
So here`s what I hear: first at 0007, I compare the 5125 signal to nearby 5 MHz
transmitters:
5129.8, WBCQ, JBA carrier --- will get blown away by this thing
5085, WTWW not on yet [see separate log later]
5050, WWRB, S9+15
5040, RHC Creole, S9 to S9+25
5025, Rebelde, S7-S9, undermodulated
[see also USA: 6993]
Assuming 5125 will continue to be unmodulated, I tune around elsewhere, but at
0031 I notice that different ascending tones are now being transmitted in
steps. This is not unlike some proof-of-performance runs by AM broadcast
stations, but why would they be doing this? The huge ERP carrier alone is all
that`s needed to heat the ionosphere. And if they can transmit these tones,
they could also easily include some kind of ID! So I am not positive all this
is really Arecibo. If not, quite a spoiler!
The tone sequences start over from low to high about every two minutes, at
0034, 0036, 0038. The higher-pitched ones being pure tones, produce what amount
to distinct carriers on corresponding frequencies apart from 5125.00, in fact
landing far beyond poor WBCQ circa 5130.
At 0040 I start to follow the sequence with the NRD-545 on 0.1 kHz step tuning.
Each lasts just a few seconds. I suppose the same thing is happening on the
lower side but not listening there. 5133.2, 5133.6, 5134.0, 5134.4, 5134.8 ---
so these are 400 Hz apart.
Next run at 0043 I catch
