** ALBANIA. 13625, August 1 at 1431, R. Tirana inaudible, not even a carrier traced. Could be off air or late signing-on Monday, first day of Ramadan, but we are really in the doldrums, with nothing else from Europe making it on band, just North American signals and weakies from China. On 19m, nearby Greece very poor on 15630. Yet solar flux 119 for July 31, and K-index 2 at 1500 August 1 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake August 1, before 1300:
8400, JBA at 1252. Had not been able to detect this at all for weeks
10300, very good at 1254
12900, good at 1256
14700, very good at 1257; no others up to 19 MHz before 1300
After 1300:
14700, poor at 1314
15425, fair at 1315
After 1330:
13920, fair at 1339
12900, very good at 1339
12025, JBA at 1339;
11500 and 10300 absent at 1341
After 1400, some signals back earlier than usual:
15900, tune in 1409 to very good open carrier, one note of music, OC again, and restart to stay at 1410
14700, fair at 1412
10300, fair at 1410; still no 11500
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC SNAFU log: 17560, July 31 at 1938 in English instead of French! And much stronger here than on // 11760 despite 17560 for Europe, 11760 for America. Next check at 1952 had corrected to French. Meanwhile 15290 Venezuela relay during this hour still missing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [non]. 6250, August 1 at 0523, R. Japón in Spanish, leapfrog of 6080 Bonaire over 6165, with item during language lesson about ascensor/elevator etiquette; one minute later heard same thing in English on 6110 via Sackville! Basically, don`t block the door, lowest ranking passenger operates the buttons, and keep silent during trip lest reveal business secrets to unknown riders (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [and non]. 17850, REE via COSTA RICA, Sunday July 31 at 2026 with very strong signal, but music goes into distortion. Still very good on // 15110 direct, ``Breakfast in Belfast``, Basque music on accordion in `Mundofonías` show (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. 9740, August 1 at 1301 via SINGAPORE, BBCWS news continues despite 24-hour strike by journalists: no obvious effect here, but maybe read by a manager. Usual poor reception, but the best we can manage (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 4840, August 1 at 0527, dead air from WWCR-3. Did not hang around to find how long it would last.
9980, absent around 1300 August 1, as WWCR-4 has reduced schedule to 13 hours per day starting at 1400 with Brother Scare. Until then, WWV listeners no longer have to cope with that overload. Neither WWCR nor The Overcomer Ministry have yet updated their schedules to show this.
15825, August 1 at 1405, WWCR-1 with gospel huxteress has built up to S9+15, and listening carefully, no squeal audible. Seems after years of squealing, they have finally replaced defective modulator cards. But the plus/minus 15+ kHz spurs are still there, so unrelated problem, carriers barely detectable just below 15810 and above 15840. By 1412, 15825 has attained S9+22, still asquealous (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17520, August 1 at 1321, open carrier until 1322*, back on at *1323; 1324 a few sex of praise music, back to OC and off at 1324.5* not to return. Probably WHRI testing, registered 16-20 on 17520 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17900, the unexplained 1000 Hz tone tests are still going on after more than a month: August 1 at 1318, fading S4 to S9 peaks, stronger than Saudi on 17895. Did not notice any breaks, and still going past 1400. Recheck at 1414, now it`s only open carrier until off at 1418:42*. Then cuts on briefly twice, off, and back on at *1419:28. Tone resumes at 1419:52, then open carrier again; still S9 peaks. After 1430 open carrier, still at 1435 and at final check 1455. Meanwhile, other 16m signals were generally poor. At 1323, Saudi audible on 17615, stronger 17705; Libya poor on 17725.
Seems they never play Croatian music any more. Benelux club members were reporting that July 4-5 at various earlier, same and later hours, on 18900, 19000, 19020, 18966.70. I continue to check the 18-19 MHz band too, where HFCC currently has nothing at all scheduled (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
** CHINA. Firedrake August 1, before 1300:
8400, JBA at 1252. Had not been able to detect this at all for weeks
10300, very good at 1254
12900, good at 1256
14700, very good at 1257; no others up to 19 MHz before 1300
After 1300:
14700, poor at 1314
15425, fair at 1315
After 1330:
13920, fair at 1339
12900, very good at 1339
12025, JBA at 1339;
11500 and 10300 absent at 1341
After 1400, some signals back earlier than usual:
15900, tune in 1409 to very good open carrier, one note of music, OC again, and restart to stay at 1410
14700, fair at 1412
10300, fair at 1410; still no 11500
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC SNAFU log: 17560, July 31 at 1938 in English instead of French! And much stronger here than on // 11760 despite 17560 for Europe, 11760 for America. Next check at 1952 had corrected to French. Meanwhile 15290 Venezuela relay during this hour still missing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [non]. 6250, August 1 at 0523, R. Japón in Spanish, leapfrog of 6080 Bonaire over 6165, with item during language lesson about ascensor/elevator etiquette; one minute later heard same thing in English on 6110 via Sackville! Basically, don`t block the door, lowest ranking passenger operates the buttons, and keep silent during trip lest reveal business secrets to unknown riders (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [and non]. 17850, REE via COSTA RICA, Sunday July 31 at 2026 with very strong signal, but music goes into distortion. Still very good on // 15110 direct, ``Breakfast in Belfast``, Basque music on accordion in `Mundofonías` show (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U K [non]. 9740, August 1 at 1301 via SINGAPORE, BBCWS news continues despite 24-hour strike by journalists: no obvious effect here, but maybe read by a manager. Usual poor reception, but the best we can manage (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 4840, August 1 at 0527, dead air from WWCR-3. Did not hang around to find how long it would last.
9980, absent around 1300 August 1, as WWCR-4 has reduced schedule to 13 hours per day starting at 1400 with Brother Scare. Until then, WWV listeners no longer have to cope with that overload. Neither WWCR nor The Overcomer Ministry have yet updated their schedules to show this.
15825, August 1 at 1405, WWCR-1 with gospel huxteress has built up to S9+15, and listening carefully, no squeal audible. Seems after years of squealing, they have finally replaced defective modulator cards. But the plus/minus 15+ kHz spurs are still there, so unrelated problem, carriers barely detectable just below 15810 and above 15840. By 1412, 15825 has attained S9+22, still asquealous (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17520, August 1 at 1321, open carrier until 1322*, back on at *1323; 1324 a few sex of praise music, back to OC and off at 1324.5* not to return. Probably WHRI testing, registered 16-20 on 17520 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17900, the unexplained 1000 Hz tone tests are still going on after more than a month: August 1 at 1318, fading S4 to S9 peaks, stronger than Saudi on 17895. Did not notice any breaks, and still going past 1400. Recheck at 1414, now it`s only open carrier until off at 1418:42*. Then cuts on briefly twice, off, and back on at *1419:28. Tone resumes at 1419:52, then open carrier again; still S9 peaks. After 1430 open carrier, still at 1435 and at final check 1455. Meanwhile, other 16m signals were generally poor. At 1323, Saudi audible on 17615, stronger 17705; Libya poor on 17725.
Seems they never play Croatian music any more. Benelux club members were reporting that July 4-5 at various earlier, same and later hours, on 18900, 19000, 19020, 18966.70. I continue to check the 18-19 MHz band too, where HFCC currently has nothing at all scheduled (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
