** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Check of R. Solh via Rampisham, UK, its second day on 13830, Oct 27: at 1308, music with excessive reverb on the drums, so at first I thought something was wrong with the playback, but cleared up with next piece. At 1443, no co-channel audible under Solh music, so BVB may have moved, or remains very much secondary to the RMP off-the-back signal, quite good here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ALASKA [and non]. 12-13 UT is the only KNLS English broadcast on both transmitters, now for B-08 on 6150 and 6915. Oct 27 at 1255 tried to catch at least the closing on 6150, but dominated by station in Chinese. Quickly checking weak 6915, I could detect the same music that was buried on 6150. Per Aoki A-08, and no doubt continuing, that`s RTI in Chinese, 100 kW at 310 degrees, and indeed at 1300 there was a 3+1 timesignal and ``RTI News`` altho the program was really in Chinese. KNLS never seems to get its frequency usage together avoiding stations in its Asian target! Do its donors know this? At least 6915 is in the clear for KNLS if we can get it on a good propagation day. The other KNLS English hours are now: 08 7355, 10 6150, 14 6150. The same blockage occurs on 6150 at 1000, but should be in the clear at 1400 if we`re not too far east for that to reach (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. Monitoring R. Tirana`s new 13720 on its first day, for English to NAm at 1530-1600: Oct 27 *1525 carrier on at S9+20, good and clear of any QRM. 1527 began IS, some distortion on modulation. 1530 sign-on undermodulated at first. As always to begin, YL reading complete B-08 transmission schedule in English, and was correct as I know it to be, but off the air abruptly just as she was about to give the frequency for 0330. Finally came back on at 1539 with programming in progress (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. R. Austria International, 13730, Oct 27 at 1313 in English discussing IMF, Hungary and its financial problems, good signal. Did not check 17855 until 1327 and then found them both in German, but not //, so apparently one was external service and the other domestic relay. 17855 went off at 1330* after the gong bong (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. 15700 in A-08 switched abruptly from Bulgarian to DW Russian at 1400, but now it`s R. Bulgaria from 1300 to 1500; enjoyed VG signal with some great folk music Monday Oct 27 from 1439 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. IBB doesn`t give a damn about North Americans being able to hear CBC on shortwave, for it periodically goes on 6160, and has just done it again for B-08. Oct 27 at 1252, R. Australia WRN relay buried by VOA Chinese, as quickly IDed by jingle and mention of Mei-Guo, and making a SAH, plus Chicom jamming, which now instead of Firedrake is at least two CNR-1 programs echoing against each other and everything else. Still going past 1300. So now we can forget about listening to CKZU between 11 and 14, when Tinang is running at 332 degrees to China. I bet this also wipes out CKZU in its target area of northern BC, and at 1100 could even bother CKZN`s area (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Who knows if this is a permanent change, but Chicom jamming has for now replaced Firedrake with the alternative: domestic programming, presumably CNR-1, usually with an offset echo to drive listeners batty and away from targeted services. Such was noted Oct 27 at 1300 on 6150, 6095; at 1344 on 6030, 6040, 6095; 1355 on 6085; 1402 on 9605 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. DentroCuban Jamming Command still running on 6100 at 0622 UT Oct 27; previously had noted it went off at 0600, tho it is apparently no longer needed at all with R. República gone from 6100 previously at 0200-0400. Radio Martí on reactivated 5745, still unjammed for the second day, Oct 27 at 1306; at 1359 QSY announcement again claimed to be on 9565, 11930, 13820 but 9565 remains imaginary at 1400. Earlier at 1311, I found jamming on 13820 but no R. Martí audible; instead something in a S Asian language, which per DTK B-08 is YFR, 500 kW, 84 degrees from Nauen at 1300-1459. At 1444, tho, R. Martí was atop 13820 with the jamming. At 1454 check, reactivated 15330 RM was also on over jamming. To confirm whether Cuba has reverted to UT-5 a week ahead of Yankee Imperialists, monitored RHC 13680, Oct 27 at 1357 and also copied first the always-misleading frequency announcement read live by Tony: 15120, 15360, from 13 UTC 15370; 13760; from 9 am also 13680; 11760, 12000; 9600; 6000. Why mix local and UT in the same announcement? And 13680 coming on at 13 UT now = 8 am local time! He also fails to say that 9600 ends at 1300, and totally omits 6180, also on the air until 13; and the fact that 6000 ends at 14. Why do I know so much more about RHC`s true schedule than the studionix? Then at 1359 he gave a live timecheck for ``9 de la mañana`` so Cuba is back on EST. Recheck at 1458 just before sign off: said would resume at 23 UT on 9600, 11680; at 00 on 13760, 11760, 11690, 9600 [so are they on 11680 for one hour, then 11690? I think not]; 02-05 on 9550, 5965, 6060, 6180; 24-01 on 6000, 6140. A bit of musical finale, but carriers stayed on and guess what: At 1500 started playing back Despertar Con Cuba, giving date 27 oct., and time as 6:03 am! Bárbara Betancourt (sp?) and Tony went on to talk about the time change, and how they would be on the air until 9 am. No, in the summer you were on until 11 am (EDT) = 15 UT, and now you are still supposed to run until 15 UT which is 10 am EST, minus the replay --- which went out on most of the frequencies, 15370, 15360, 15120, 13680, 12000, but not 13760 or 11760. Finally at 1505 someone woke up and cut the modulation and then the carriers, with 15120 and 15360 going off first, then a minute later 15370. I also noticed that 15120 had considerable co-channel QRM at 1456, but it went off before RHC did so could not ID it. Looks like that was most likely IBB Lampertheim, a non-VOA service (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. 7210-SSB, Oct 27 at 1246 heard polemic speech in Cuban Spanish, just as if it were a scripted, or well-memorized exile broadcast. Tuning by first in AM, the intonation caught my attention as it sounded like a broadcast orator, not a conversation. But this guy paused now and then for 2-way encouragement from others. ``Raúl Castro vive como un rey``, ``Viva la Revolución``, spoken ironically. I heard a W4 callsign go by but could not copy it, nor an N-something. Checking the final Nets to You, not updated for over a sesquiyear, the only item on 7210 was Old Goats, in eastern US, daily at UT 1230 ST/1130 DST, which this unseems altho the speaker may well have been a cabrón viejo by coincidence. Nor do I find anything likely on other frequencies around this time, nor is there anything with Cuba in its name on the entire list. O well; but might be a regular source of entertainment if tuned in earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA. R. Prague`s morning broadcast at 1400 in English to NAm is much appreciated and comes in well on 13580; Monday Oct 27 just caught the closing at 1428, which was music, IS once and off at 1429* not wasting time with reading entire transmission schedule in French. Back on at 1430 after beamchange with much weaker signal in French; interfering with CODAR at 1445 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE [and non]. ERT using 15650 instead of 15630 in B-08 is bad news for IRRS/NEXUS-IBA, since their Miraya FM service via Slovakia for Sudan is also on 15650 at 15-18. Oct 27 at 1508 I was hearing ERT with IDs in Greek atop co-channel QRM causing a fast SAH, which was surely Miraya. Meanwhile, nothing on 15630, which Greece might as well still be using. At 1830 recheck, however, Greek was back on 15630, so the current switch time needs to be determined. Whichever frequency Greece is on between 15 and 18, Miraya needs to be on the other one, or somewhere else entirely (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR, 9425, Oct 27 at 1433 caught with tail of news bulletin in English during Hindi service, about rupee/dollar exchange rate, ending at 1435; not // 9870 VBS which had better signal. Aoki A08 says 9425 is the National Service via Bangalore, 500 kW at 18 degrees, which has English segments of varying lengths every hour on the hour from 1330 to 2230 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Whew, altho VOI was absent from 9526 on Oct 26, it was back on Oct 27, at 1230 in Indonesian talking over music that was too loud by comparison. 1300 running late with vocal music continuing; 1302 gamelan and address in Indo, 1303 transition announcement Indonesian to English. 1337 recheck, Let`s Speak Bahasa Indonesia, this episode on what we wear – clothes, not applicable to nearly naked tropical natives, I assume. 1404 recheck into Malay with gamelan and now no het in this hour, with CRI moved elsewhere for B-08; a final recheck sometime after 1500 found 9526 off the air (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. Sweden may have abandoned us in the mornings, but a few stations retain English to North America, such as R. Japan, NHK World Network, 11705 via Canada at 1400-1429. Monday Oct 27 at 1417 they had a quite interesting discussion of space elevator technology (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 13620 with Arabic music at 1523 Oct 27, 1525 seemed a bit of Qur`an, 1527 back to other music. Suspect this is R. Kuwait`s Urdu service which per Aoki in A-08 was at 1505-1800, 310 degrees, a rather odd azimuth if trying to reach Pakistan; really for Europe (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEPPM, 6185, presumed the one playing Nat King Cole`s soft version of ``Quizás`` with heavy gringo accent, making vowels into diphthongs, Oct 27 at 0623, in the clear at this hour after Vatican and before Brasília. With DF back on standard time a week ahead of us, 6185 should now be running 0000-1200 UT instead of 2300-1100v (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI Mailbox, tuned in Monday Oct 27 at 1345 on 6170, when Adrian Sainsbury was giving new transmission schedule and explaining why the previous one was valid for only one week. Oct 26 is a holiday in NZ, so could not get engineers out to the site to adjust the aerial to handle 17675. Instead did that a week earlier. Then acknowledged letters from Costas in Cyprus, and a couple from Texas, all referring to reception on now defunct frequencies such as 7145, 9655, 9615; show ended at 1351 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Looking for R. Portugal on 15560, which has a VG signal on weekends to NAm, but Monday Oct 27 missing at 1508; I could hear a weak Portuguese signal on 15690. The B-08 sked in DXLD 8-114 says 15560 is definite on Sat and Sun, but indefinite on weekdays, for special occasions (like silly ballgames?). 15690 is scheduled M-F 11-13, 144 degrees to Africa and M-F 14-16, 81.5 degrees to India/ME (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. 13755 with pop song in Russian, Oct 27 at 1521. This is VOR via Wertachtal, GERMANY at 15-16, 115 degrees. BTW, the VOR B-08 English schedule, minus relay sites, has been posted a day late at http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&w=129&p= (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA, 15225, Oct 27 at 1455, with Qur`an, VG except for splash from CRI/Canada 15230. Qur`an still going at 1503 when I found that 15435 had joined it //. 15435 also very strong, and periodically developed some buzz, at 1506, gone at 1510, back at 1522. It`s there but not yet severe or constant. Wolfgang Büschel in Germany says he has not been hearing any Saudi buzz on the frequencies he has been monitoring. Another BSKSA program was on 13710, Oct 27 at 1524 with Qur`an by a different more melodic singer; at first I thought it was the Iranian guy heard previously on 15150 (and maybe it was, if these all really come from recordings.); 1525 BSKSA ID in Arabic, not // 15435 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Checking for Brother Scare via WBCQ, scheduled daily 14-16 on 9330v-CUSB: Missing Oct 27 at 1405, so could only hear him on WWRB 9385. Come on! We desperately need B.S. on three frequencies at once within 120 kHz in the 9.2-9.4 area. 9330 was on at 1432 recheck, but no 15420 as heard Saturday and Sunday; Oct 27 at 1441, BBC Outlook was weak but clear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. See GREECE [and non] ** SWEDEN. Now that R. Sweden has cancelled morning English to NAm, I tried to pick up the 1430 broadcast which has two transmitters at 70 and 100 degrees, but inaudible at 1432 Oct 27 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. HSK9 is back on 9725 for the English broadcast at 1400-1430 in B-08; checked Oct 27 at 1401, it was too poor to copy, but no QRM. At least it no longer has Defunct Gene Scott to contend with from Cahuita; so may make it on a better day (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. VOT, 15350, Oct 27 at 1323 with Turkish rock music, good signal. At 1334 checked reactivated 12035 ex-15450, for the time-shifted English to Europe, and OK beyond: good signal with jingle and ID amid news in English; nothing audible on // 11735 aimed eastward (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Found the replacement for 11740 in VOA`s Korean service: 9555, Oct 27 at 1403, running 3 seconds ahead of 5890. Site? That depends; they make it so complicated. The 12-15 UT Korean service on 9555 is from 3 different sites: 1200-1230 Saipan at 325 degrees, 1230-1400 Udorn at 38 degrees, 1400-1500 Tinang at 21 degrees, the latter being most favorable for us, spelt U-S. It`s also on Tinang 7235, 329 degrees for the entire broadcast, unchecked, but probably with plenty of SSB QRM here. And 5890 is Tinang 325 degrees thruout. Remember the American English music break at 1315 on this service (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. 11740, which on Oct 26 bore Vatican in Italian at 1310, occupied Oct 27 at 1332 by WYFR in French, and probably now blocked by YFR earlier in the hour as well (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WEWN is still ``the squealer``, audible in the background of Spanish on 11520, Oct 27 at 1517. Their B-08 schedules have still not been posted on website, Spanish or English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. WINB, 13570v, Oct 27 at 1527, sounds like Tony Alamo, but time for Tirana 13720 and could not stay with it. Per his website, is scheduled M-F at 15-16 on WINB, plus other times. I also wonder if he is still on European Gospel Radio, 5990, Mon-Thu at 0530? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. RNV CI via Cuba, 11680, Oct 27 at 1518 had broken English YL talking about a supreme court case involving articles 105, 42 and 55 and Mayor López. My ears glazed over (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9835, Oct 27 at 1340 with buzz, just barely audible modulation underneath verging on open carrier, flutter. I compared it to the buzz on 13600, and both were of the same pitch, which could be a useful clue. Now sked on 9835 at this hour is IRIB Kamalabad in Urdu, and maybe AIR Delhi (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 13600 again the next day Oct 27 at 1315 in Russian with buzz. In A-08, CRI Russian via Xian was on 13600 during this hour, but doubt that is it now. See also 9835 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ---[Start Commercial]--------------------- Order your WRTH 2008: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2008 ---[End Commercial]----------------------- ________________________________________ Hard-Core-DX mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ _______________________________________________ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
