** ANTARCTICA. 15476, a third week starts with zero signal from RNASG, checked
Monday Nov 29 at 1422 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENIING DIGEST)
** ARGENTINA. 13363-SSB, Nov 28 at 2326 again hunting for AFN Guam on listed
daytime frequency 13362.5-USB, instead heard sports in Spanish, very weak and
could not be sure which frequency, but no sign of English. Missing from Aoki,
but an Argentine broadcast feeder is occasionally reported here, by an
incredible coincidence on almost the same frequency, such as:
``13363-LSB, Tentative LS4 R. Continental, Buenos Aires. Lively music program
with announcements in Spanish. Fair strength amid noise and distortion of
voices. 2115 2/4 [2008] (Charles Jones, Castle Hill NSW (Sony ICF-2001D and 70m
long wire), DXpedition at Yeranda, near Dungog NSW [same equipment?], April
Australian DX News via DXLD 8-044)`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake Nov 28:
10500, good with flutter at 2330 // 11470; fair at 2353
14700, fair with flutter at 2325, also 2353
15550, Nov 29 at 2354 while I was getting Firedrake on 14700, 10500: Chinese
music and hyper talk here in CNR1-style, SAH over much weaker victim, so ChiCom
jamming against scheduled R. Free Asia in Mandarin via Tinian.
Firedrake Nov 29:
8400, JBA at 1355. No others found up to 18 MHz by 1425
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. As per my previous report, kept looking for a midday repeat of RHC`s
Spanish DX program on Sundays, En Contacto, Nov 28, circa 40 past various hours
since its known times are all in that part of the clock. At 1640, not on. 1740,
not checked, unfortunately. 1840, just RHC music (and no Aló, Presidente
either) on 17750, 15370, 12040, 11760, 11690. By now, the other AP frequency
13750 was off. 1942, still no En Contacto. Maybe it was at 1740 or in the first
half of some hour, unexpectedly. This monitoring is necessary since RHC has
failed to publish an all-day (and all-night) program schedule ever since going
24 hours some 15 months ago. Stephan Schaa`s monitoring of RHC between
0800-0825 UT Monday Nov 29 on HCJB`s 6050 (see below) happens to include a clip
containing En Contacto during that semihour too.
At 1942 Nov 28 I was also checking for the collision with Portugal on 12040:
yes, there they both are, with CCI, SAH, RHC on top. Did not check later
whether this lasted past 2100, the normal close of RDPI on Sundays, but with
the option of staying on up to three hours longer for extraordinary emissions
as it did on Saturday. At 2320, however, could only hear RHC on 12040 // 12010
an echo apart, and 11770.
Besides putting RNV back where it is supposed to be on 6180 instead of 6140
three days before [see VENEZUELA], RHC causes yet another collision. Spanish
frequencies heard at 1007 Nov 29 in // are 6150, 6050 vs HCJB, and 6120.
It so happens that at 1000-1030, NHK Spanish via Sackville is also on 6120, 250
kW, 227 degrees to CIRAF 8, 10 and 11, i.e. Mexico, Central America, Caribbean,
and USA east of 90 degrees west. Aoki thinx RHC is on 6120 until 1100 with 100
kW, 340 degrees, i.e. clashing over the USA at least, but no doubt in fact also
in the other zones. Once again, Cuba missing from HFCC, so NHK probably thought
6120 would be clear for them to use, as they have done in previous seasons,
when I believe RHC was somewhere else.
AND: Arnie devotes half of this Sunday`s DXers Unlimited to attacking yours
truly (tho the name Glenn Hauser must never be spoken on RHC). Tnx to Dan
Hensely for tipping us about this; he thinx Arnie owes me an apology. It`s
about the collision with HCJB (also never mentioned by name) on 6050. So I made
a point of recording it for posterity at 0612-0618 UT Nov 29, where else, but
on 6050! He already posted the script on his blog, and more about 6050 was on
the previous Nov 23 show. My replies so far:
For starters, I would never be so immodest as to proclaim myself an expert ---
When did I ever say that?
We`ll leave it to HCJB to decide whether RHC causes them any interference in
THEIR target area, regardless of where RHC is aimed.
The fact remains, that RHC did not NEED to move off 5970 where it was loud and
clear and not causing any problem.
Notice that he keeps referring to the ITU, not the HFCC, which is not the same
thing. Fine, if RHC sends its stuff to ITU, but the fact remains that NO RHC
registrations ever appear in the HFCC, which is the voluntary ADVANCE PLANNING
organization of the world`s international shortwave broadcasters.
It is true that I have no respect for Sr Coro, for many other reasons such as
his condoning and facilitating JAMMING of foreign broadcasts, INCLUDING MINE.
How could I feel otherwise?
Arnie admits in the Nov 23 edition that RHC may be putting out 8 kW off the
back of 6050, so more or less toward Ecuador. That is only theory, and we know
how out of whack RHC transmissions can get, with something going wrong as
monitored here just about every day. Could be more, maybe less.
Since HCJB is running only 10 kW, and the skip distance at night is rather
favorable, 8 kW from Cuba could well be enough to cause harmful interference in
HCJB`s target areas which *are* duly registered in HFCC as CIRAF zones 11, 12,
14, and 16. That is from the southern tip of South America to ---- CUBA!
Including all of Central America and the Caribbean, excluding Brazil. The
azimuths are dual, 18 and 172 degrees, so is it a dipole? But those degrees are
obviously not 180 apart. Apparently it is not an NVIS antenna as would work
best close-in. But is an unique type 761 antenna, whatever that is, used by no
other station in the HFCC.
A truly `expert` frequency manager would `think outside the database`:
Realize that stations not in the DB should be taken into consideration, in a
spirit of coöperation and avoiding mutual interference to the maximum extent
possible. If for no other reason than to avoid bad PR resulting from stomping
on a long-established and beloved station such as HCJB. Which IS in the HFCC
database, anyway, unlike RHC.
Not make excuses that there is no overlap in CIRAF target zones. Plenty of
signal also goes to adjacent or opposite zones.
BTW, this mindset is all too pervasive among those who do participate in HFCC:
Leave it to the computers to figure out collisions rather than accumulating
years of experience in monitoring how signals really behave, then applying it,
and actually turn on a radio (on hand or remote) to hear what is really
happening; and err on the side of caution.
I forwarded this material to Stephan Schaa, HCJB frequency manager, and he
replies:
``Hello Glenn! Thank you very much for forwarding the info to me!
There is indeed quite an amount of HF Energy in the backlobe of the RHC
Antenna. It`s that strong to the south side that in times where our transmitter
is off air you can listen to the RHC signal on 6050 kHz without any problems in
the middle of Quito. We put a remote receiver up there and I made some short
recordings this morning (at 0800 UT), half an hour before HCJB`s 6050 TX comes
on air again. Sadly RHC broadcasts some more hours and disturbs our
transmission in the morning hours as well.
I wrote begin of last week the last time to Arnaldo Coro Antich and got no
response from him. This is what I wrote (he already had complained to Allen
Graham that I didn't answer his last Email (which I got Friday afternoon and I
answered on Monday...) which he found disrespectful):
`Dear Arnaldo! I got your Email on Friday afternoon local time in Germany. Then
I immediately had a call with Horst Rosiak in Quito. He promised me to check
how the signals on 6050 kHz in the Quito region this weekend (by the way: did
you get Horst`s mail end of last week?)
So please acknowledge that the reason for not immediately answering to you is
not at all disrespect, but more in depth investigation of the problem from our
side, because I wanted more information before writing back to you. The rest is
probably a problem with the different time regions which you, Horst Rosiak and
me are living in.
As I told, I would have preferred to have a little bit more time to check the
problem in depth (we did not got an answer from our contact person to Ecuador`s
telecommunication bureau). But I can tell you already some of our observations
at this point, too:
The RHC signal on 6050 kHz is clearly audible with carrier at about -60 dBm,
about 40 - 50 dBm above the noisefloor in Quito city at the time just before
our transmitter gets on the air. (I'll attach a small mp3 recording that I made
with our remote receiver in Quito yesterday morning on this email.) When our
transmitter is on the air with the kitchwa indigenous programming, there is
RHC's programming also clearly audible in the background.
I made some simulations with our prediction software [VOACAP]: It shows that
the signal from Cuba should be at about 40 dBuV in Northern Ecuador and the
Andean region through the backlobe of a 4/4/.8 antenna from your site. It seems
that even with your excellent 4/4/0.8 antenna which is very precise in
directing the shortwave signal into a certain direction, the front back ratio
is not as perfect as antenna datasheets would like to tell.
As you can see, our signal is at about 40 - 50 dBuV in the Andean region in
Ecuador and around. So with your signal at about 40 dB uV it's almost the same
strength as our transmitter with 40 - 50 dBuV in the region. Because of that
our signal is almost unusable in the northern part of Ecuador and the countries
around.
HCJB has used the frequency of 6050 kHz for more than 60 years. And, as I
already wrote, unfortunately it's not possible for us to change the frequency
for some hours of the day at this transmitter and it's even very very difficult
to change it completely to another frequency at all. Also we distributed a lot
of solar powered fixed frequency radios to a lot of people in the region that
like to listen to the regional languages programming. These radios would become
worthless if we can't use the frequency anymore.
We now know that our use of the frequency of 6050 kHz is not registered
correctly with the ITU list this season, even if registered at HFCC and other
lists. Though it would be very kind of you, your colleagues and RHC if it would
be possible for you to move your North American transmissions to another free
frequency in the 49m Band. We at HCJB, our listeners in the Andean region and a
lot of DXers all over the world would appreciate this very much.
Yours truly, Stephan Schaa` (to Arnie Coro, via DXLD)``
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR [and non]. HCJB vs RHC 6050: see CUBA [and non]
** GUAM. 5765-USB, no show again from AFN, Nov 29 at 1417, tho my cable DTV
converter bubble-jammer has shifted far enough away from this frequency. Nor
was it heard on 13362.5 at 2325 Nov 28 --- but see ARGENTINA! (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 9526-, VOI still on the air Nov 29 at 1521, with music, VG except
for IADs, but cut off abruptly at 1522* and did not return next few minutes
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. 9830, fair and sufficient Nov 29 at 1430 in Arabic, mentioning
Jumuhiriya, brief news theme by cheesy military band, akin to Cairo`s but
different tune. Several mentions in Arabic of Islamic Republic of Iran, in
headlines so suspect it`s VIRI --- if it`s not in Farsi, that`s what it could
be. Indeed, so registered, 500 kW from Kamalabad at 1430-1730 178 degrees, plus
1730-1830 at 210 degrees in ``Sawahili``. No sign of RTTY QRM now (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [non]. RHC also collides with NHK in Spanish 6120: see CUBA
** LIBYA [and non]. 17800, V. of Africa in English still here ex-17725, Nov 29
at 1424, but today it is way under German from DW. Did MAQ have some beef with
Germany, and order his propaganda voice to sacrifice a transmitter for the
greater good of jamming Germany? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 960, local KGWA, Enid, open carrier Nov 29 at 0640, 0651 and still
at 0659 UT; next check at 1016, programming had resumed. Was Monday morning
maintenance, or automation failed and nobody noticed? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** SLOVAKIA. 9540, surprised to find RSI here with ID in English, Nov 29 at
1357, but followed by same in French, Spanish, Russian, German, Slovak, over
drumming and other instruments; then short versions of same IDs, before 1400
opening in Russian. Fair with no QRM. I tune around here just about every
morning, and first time I`ve heard this. 9540 is in use only at +1400-1430, 150
kW, 65 degrees from Rimavská Sobota.
BTW, per Roger Tidy`s monitoring, on the Sunday mailbag in English, RSI
confirms they will quit shortwave at yearend and we should be grateful they
will continue on the Internet rather than being abolished altogether; don`t
blame the station`s personnel but the European economic situation (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** THAILAND [and non]. 9725, Nov 29 at 1403, HSK9 with news in English by YL
about Burma, Cambodia. She speaks slowly and clearly but still hard to follow
due to heavy flutter (unlike AIR GOS on hummy 9690 which is much closer to
trans-polar from here). (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. 9915, Nov 29 at 1410, BBCWS with documentary on mistreatment of
Indonesian women going to work in UAE, Iraq, Jordan. One who finally made it
back home is leading a campaign to warn others not to accept such
human-trafficking jobs. This frequency fair but with `generator hum`, so is it
Ascension like at 21-23? No, during this hour only it`s CYPRUS, 250 kW at 64
degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1210 was bearing stations other than KGYN well after sunrise here
1323.
Nov 29 at 1501 UT, ``The Herd on ESPN Radio``, loops NW/SE, so likely 10 kW
KHAT Laramie WY, with that network per NRC AM Log.
But Nov 29 at 1510 UT, 1210 has an ad for Bosch (sp?) dishwaschers at Lowe`s,
1513 livestock sales report giving an area-code 605 phone number, and
mentioning Mitchell SD, ``Dakota Country weather``, forecast snow, low 8
degrees F. Then KOKK ID, commodity prices. Huron SD station I also logged a few
weeks ago.
1270, Nov 29 at 1501 UT, weather for the Sioux Falls area, from the KSFI [TV]
weather center. So it`s KNWC, religious format, major daytime lobe to the SW
(but nighttime to the NE, per NRC Pattern Book).
1510, Nov 29 at 1505 UT, ``Rudolf the RNR``, looping NNE/SSW, 9:05 timecheck,
two DJs promise to play nothing but Xmas music till Xmas, then talking about
Viking football. Tnx to KSTP, there are no 1510s in Minnesota itself, but one
on the periphery: KMSD Milbank SD, with an oldies format, and that call heard
mentioned in passing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Since Don Moore in MI reported the second harmonic of WDKN, Dickson
TN, on 2520, I have been on the lookout for it, but nothing so far. We need to
be aware of the sunrise/sunset times there, as WDKN 1260 is 5 kW day, but only
18 watts at night, plus pre-sunrise authorization of 500 watts; and what is its
direxionality, tho pattern on 1260 may be quite different than on unintentional
2520?
FCC AM Query: Daytime in November (for one more day) is 1230-2245 UT; in
December, 1300-2230 UT. PSRA always starts at 1200 UT. Simplifying matters,
it`s non-direxional day and night.
Of course, it`s always possible WDKN could be running day power at night. In
fact, it probably was, as Don logged them on 2520 more than a sesquihour after
official sunset! At 0010-0027 Nov 13 with fair signal, ``also in morning [time
not given] and following evening``.
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. My log of RNV via CUBA, Nov 26 in the 10-11 UT hour on 6140
turns out to have been a fluke, yet another mixup by the incompetents at RHC
and RadioCuba. Because Nov 29 at 1007 check, RNV is back on its previous
frequency 6180 (and 6140 is off the air rather than with RHC). 6180 somewhat
undermodulated and distorted. But that`s not all: see CUBA (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
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