martedì 25 ottobre 2011

Glenn Hauser logs October 25, 2011

** ALBANIA. 7425 and 9860, Oct 25 at 0038, R. Tirana inaudible on either; K-index would soon hit 5 in severe propagation disturbance; did not get 7425 checked for the subsequent broadcasts.

13625, Oct 25 at 1437, no R. Tirana detected now either, tho various other signals on band, still not fully recovered from disturbance. Earlier checking at 1406, there was some intermittent ute noise circa 13628 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ANTARCTICA. 15476, Tuesday Oct 25, no carrier detected from LRA36 at chex 1313, 1355, 1405. Yimber Gaviría found an article about their 32nd anniversary last Thursday Oct 20:

32 años de radio argentina en la Antártida
http://bit.ly/rjLLGW

First it says that LRA36 started in 1982 at a different base, Marambio; then later it says it started in 1979 at Esperanza! It may be the `first and only` Antarctic station now, but of course there was AFAN, the US station at McMurdo for a number of years on 6012, which the Argies like to overlook.

Says the schedule is Tue & Thu only at 13-15 UT, due to energy conservation restrixions. That appears to be current, but also says power is 10 kW, while other reports said it is a 5 kW unit, and run at much less than that (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. 15785, Oct 25 at 0535, Chinese with heavy flutter; HFCC shows CRI via Xi`an. Momentary pause in Firedrake/RFA search (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake Oct 25 before 0600 UT, during unusual propagation conditions, i.e. after 1 pm ChiCom time, all with heavy flutter:
16980, poor at 0532 
16700, poor at 0532
16100, poor at 0532
15900, poor at 0532
14700, poor at 0545
13960, JBA at 0548
13130, JBA at 0545
12230, JBA at 0548

Oct 25, before 1300:
12500, poor with flutter at 1246; none higher
12230, very poor at 1246
10300, good at 1249

Before 1400:
10300, good at 1357
12670, fair at 1357
13970, poor at 1358
14700, fair at 1358
15440, fair at 1358
15545, poor at 1359 with noise added
15970, fair at 1359-1400*
Started too late, so highers unchecked before 1400
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. Propagation proves the incompetence of the DentroCuban Jamming Command, leaving the nasties running all night and producing harmonix, spurs:
18090, Oct 25 at 0543, jamming, not just pulses, i.e. more than one, 3 x 6030 vs Martí
17865, Oct 25 at 0543, exactly same sound as 18090, 3 x 5955 vs. R. República, which is probably no longer on at this hour
13820, Oct 25 at 0546, pulse jamming long after R. Martí is off
 9805, Oct 25 at 0551, slow pulse jamming at rate of 2 per second, against another absent Martí
 9965, Oct 25 at 0552, pulses of 2 per second like 9805, but mixed with another faster one. Another non-used R. República frequency
 9955, Oct 25 at 0552, similar to 9965, but R. Praga via WRMI holding its own (a bit earlier I looked for jammers on x 2 = 19910 but unheard; in fact think I`ve never caught them there even in daytime).
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDONESIA. 9525-, Oct 25 at 1251, 1355, VOI still absent, so another Tuesday no-show for `Exotic Indonesia` with RRI Banjarmasin. Ishida
http://rri.jpn.org/ as of Oct 25 at 1515 shows no reception of 9525 since Oct 20 at 1035 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MAURITANIA. 783, Oct 25 at 0033, the only TA carrier I could detect, 9-kHz stepping down the entire band, likely IGIM, with higher paths blocked by CME (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. Checking MW early UT Oct 25 for TAs but not much heard; instead somewhat auroral conditions favoring southern signals. Facing south on the porch, little did I realize that by 0120, visible aurorae would be reported as far south as Tulsa and Edmond OK. But our northerly horizon is light-polluted, tree-blocked when checked later.

690, Oct 25 at 0059 UT, after a Gardel-like song, ``La 69.com.mx``, full ID for XEN, 690 amplitud modulada, Radio Rey, 100,000 watts, street address, etc. 0102 ``La 69, 6-90 AM`` promos. Cantú, then IRCA info:
690 XEN La 69 México, DF 100,000 5,000
690 XEN DF México 50000 5000 La 69 es noticias 24h NWS/TLK GRC announces ``cien mil watts``

780, Oct 25 at 0103 UT spacey sounders and ``la poderosa`` slogan, WBBM nulled, but heavy SAH from illegal KSPI Stillwater OK carrier never turned off. Slogan is too generic, but XESFT usually dominates.
780 XESFT La Triple T San Fernando, Tamps. 5,000 1,000
780 XESFT Tama San Fernando 5000 1000 La Triple T/La Caliente 1100-0600 CHR CORP/RAMA Notisistema news. Night power 01-06

810, Oct 25 at 0044 UT, ``Radio Rey, más música``
810 XERI Radio Rey Reynosa, Tamps. 1,000 100
810 XERI Tama Reynosa 1000 100 Radio Rey 24h BAL/NWS SOMER Stereo
At this late hour one would like to think they were really on 100-watt night power!

900, Oct 25 at 0045 UT, one can no longer assume the Mexican here is XEW, but heard the familiar from sesquidecades past four descending chimes of XEW, then #1562 in the series of ``La Colita`` programs.
900 XEW W Radio + FM 96.9 México, DF 250,000 250,000
900 XEW DF México 250000 250000 W Radio 24h NSP VAR/SPO/TLK TVR // 540 at times; also relayed on 900 XEWB Veracruz 50000 50000 with echo

Pre-sunrise MW DX Oct 25, UT:

680, Oct 25 at 1207 UT, 6:07 time = MDT, almanac informing us it`s the 297th day of 2011y, felicidades, 23 grados, saludos including to a 99-year-old lady, mentions Megamedios, ``noticias en punto``. 1212 emanates from Sinaloa and greeting listeners in Angostura as well as neighboring states. Therefore it is:
680 XEORO La Mera Jefa + FM 93.7 Guasave, Sin. 1,000 500
680 XEORO Sin Guasave 1000 500 La Mera Jefa, X-E-oro 1200-0600 RAN RDIO

690, Oct 25 at 1200 UT in KGGF null, local adstring but frustratingly without any gotcha names recognized; 1204 mentions 107.1 y 690; No such frequency matches on the 690s in Cantú or IRCA 
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. CME and geomag storm set off some very off-season sporadic E into VHF, Oct 25 UT:

1410 turn-on of channel 2 analog, there is the f network-4 from SSW: Large f bug in lower left, smaller one in upper right
1412 on 3, toons surely net-5, likely XHBQ, plus CCI
1417 on 2, net 4 fades in again, f talk show
1440 on 2, net 7 fades in, with soccer clips; 7 bug in LR plus digital time and temp; CARTA BLANCA sponsor bug in circle in UL; soon fade out; back at 1446 with some audio
1515 on 2, fade-in with net-5 bug UR, toon
1535 on 2, algo fades in with nasal remedy ad, map of facial innerds (at first I thought intestinal until zoomed out to a face).
1607 on 2, fade-in Colgate ad, hoy show from net-2, 11:07 clock LR
1635 on 2, another fade-in with CCI, some Spanish audio
1704+, weak signals on 2 continue to fade in occasionally
(Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NIGERIA. 15120, Oct 25 at 0610, VON is S9+18 way over CCCCI, in African news, undermodulated scratchy sound, some hum (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS [and non]. A few hours after CME producing geomag storm and visible auroras, SW propagation is bouncing back very abnormally. Oct 25 at 0530, huge S9+20 signal from Radio Free Asia in Chinese on 17855, SSOB by far, // second SSOB 17615, only S9+12, and desynchronized a bit ahead of 17855. 17615 had barely detectable CCI under, presumably CNR1 jamming. Then found other //s: 15660 at 0535, but also with CNR1 echo jamming, and // 15615 more unsynchronized. At 0537, even 21580 was propagating // 17855 but not synchro, and with some CNR1 CCI; // 21740 as well. 21580 would sometimes make it at midsummer with near-light paths, but not to be expected now. Sites per HFCC: SAIPAN on 17855 only; all others TINIAN.

21740 was scheduled at 06-07 Sundays only, so must be recent expansion. At 0605, 17855 is still VG and way over CCI, 15615 and 17615 still on and 17870 has been added, synchro with 17855. 17870 is not listed even in the latest IBB update on HFCC. Programming now is W in studio talking to M on phone. 13m channels off after 0600, 21580, 21740, but then at 0604 there`s RFA Chinese on 21755 which per HFCC is Tinian, Tuesdays and Thursdays only at 06-07; what luck!

21535 also has appeared at 0605 with poor signal, non-Chinese. Nothing whensoever in HFCC but Aoki shows RFA Tibetan 06-07 Tuesdays only via Tinian since Aug 30; what luck, again!

Checked 15m but hardly any activity, weak SSB on 21246 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 1600, KUSH Cushing still missing Oct 25 at 1437 UT check; instead still hearing skywave Vietnamese from KRVA TX, with SAH from something (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SINT MAARTEN [and non]. 18130-USB, Oct 25 at 0541, PJ7MF is giving 5&7 reports to numerous contacts including JA2IFF, also heard at 0542. QRZ.com shows:
PJ7MF
Marco Ferrante
Sint Maarten Island
IOTA NA-105
Saba, St Eustatius
Mentioning the other islands is only confusing, but presumably on StM.

He also worked W2ASS, pronounced alfa-sierra-sierra, a call I found questionable, but the contact was straight-faced. No, it`s for real per ARRL/FCC lookup:
DIAZ, RAFAEL A, W2ASS
7914 EUGENE DR
PORT RICHEY, FL 34668
Previous call sign: KB2MYM
I daresay IDs by fonetix only are mandatory, not optional. ``17m`` was really hopping with signals in the nightmiddle after CME (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 3215 // weaker 5051, Oct 25 at 0051, WWRB, Dave has resumed filling unsold time with repetitive barker loop offering airtime at $30 for 30 minutes, $60 for 60 minutes (= dollar a minute; where have we heard that before?), on prime frequencies 3215 and 3195. (3215 presumably switches to 3195 at 0100 when WWCR starts 3215.) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. One of my references to the R. Martí 11930 harmonic in previous report typoed 23960; of course it`s really 23860 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 770, Oct 25 at 1236 UT, ad for comedian George López appearing at the Inn of the Mountain Gods (which is near Ruidoso NM), in Nov; 1237 Albuquerque traffic report ``on the 7s``, mild 61 degrees in downtown Albuquerque. Weak but steady signal, presumably the KKOB Santa Fe filler with 230 watts until 1315*. How about traffic in SF? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 870, Oct 25 at 1157 UT in WWL null, instead of XETAR which is about to sign on, English reporter with NPR News outro credit, then 90.5 WKAR ID. It`s a rare day to hear any NPR on MW here, so thank you, MSU in East Lansing MI, even if you don`t want to mention you are still also on AM. Is 10 kW D3. Pattern favors the NW, but no deep nulls elsewhere. LSR/LSS are 1145-2300 UT in Oct; 1230-2215 in Nov
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1360, Oct 25 at 1258 UT, American Freedom Network, super-patriotic slogans, American News Network also mentioned, ID KHNC Johnstown-Denver. Johnstown is north of Denver, closer to Greeley and Loveland. 10/1 kW U4 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1530, Oct 25 at 1233 UT, local Kansas news by YL, 1225 OM ID as KQNK, weather, low to be 28 Thursday morning. 1227 YL with school breakfast and lunch menus; is 11 miles from Nebraska between Oberlin and Phillipsburg which were also mentioned. 1000 watt non-direxional daytimer plus 500 watt PSRA, dominating frequency for a while (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)