sabato 25 ottobre 2014

Glenn Hauser logs October 24-25, 2014

** ALBANIA. 9845, Oct 25 at 0126, still no signal from R. Tirana, but it`s on by 0127 with IS once, 0128 stops with carrier only, then off and on, no more IS, and shortly after 0130 theme, at 0130:15 signing on in English. This is the penultimate broadcast of the year on 9845, to be replaced by 7425 at 0230 from UT October 28 (and on WOR 1744 I neglected to specify that this and the 2100 English to Europe on 7465 take local Sundays off) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA [and non]. 6070-, Oct 24 at 2246, ``News-Talk 10-10`` ID from CFRX, good signal and in the clear, some 24 hours after first heard reactivated, and some 10 hours since I found it missing again in the morning; maybe erratic.

By next check 0033 UT Oct 25, heavy QRM with CUBA which was already using 6070+ all-evening, before CFRX last crashed. At this time here, the pair are about equal levels, making them equally useless, with a SAH of about 8 Hz as Wolfgang Büschel observed yesterday: CFRX is 4 Hz lo and RHC is 4 Hz hi. This is rather remarkable, considering that RHC is allegedly aiming 250 kW plus many dB of hi gain right at us, while CFRX is but 1 kW non-direxional. By 0126, CFRX has lost out to RHC dominance.

So much for friendlier relations between Cuba and Canada. 6070 has been CFRX`s frequency forever (it was old already when I got my first QSL in 1957y), and Canadian SW stations do not have any frequency flexibility. RHC has lots of choices on the 49m band; for instance, there`s nothing much (except maybe Brasil) on 6080, if RHC really needs another frequency so close to 6060. O yeah, some lite intermittent pulse jamming against nothing, so Cuba already knows 6080! In B-14, IBB/VOA usage of 6080 ends at 2200, resumes at 0300 from eastern hemisphere sites, so the 03-04 hour could be a problem with VOA English via Vatican to Africa. Keep looking?

With B-14 seasonal adjustments coming up shortly, now would be an excellent time for Prof. Arnaldo Coro Antich, frequency manager of RHC, to put this right and move off 6070 --- but don`t count on it, even tho it would also be to RHC`s own advantage to avoid this interference (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 6060, Oct 25 at 0106, RHC is in wrong language, English instead of Spanish, so // 6000 & 6165; 6060 weaker than the others. Aoki says it`s 100 kW on 10 degree azimuth up the east coast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CANADA [non] re collision with 6070 CFRX

** EGYPT. 9965, Oct 25 at 0040, R. Cairo, Arabic with Qur`an, whine, fair with flutter

9315, Oct 25 at 0045, R. Cairo opening Spanish with theme music, not distorted but undermodulated

11710, Oct 25 at 0045, R. Cairo Spanish is just the het with Argentina on the hi side; and its pitch varies as one or both stations are affected by ionospheric Doppler following the blackout a few hours earlier (See USA).

12070, Oct 25 at 0045, R. Cairo Spanish, music // 9315 but here it is very distorted with humwhine (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GREECE. 9935, Oct 25 at 0041, ERTOpen, good with Greek music, and no breakup tonite on this transmitter ---- and // is back on 9420 at 0042 check, none heard in the 11s or 15s. The 9420 transmitter had been on 9415 instead the past three nights; why? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDIA. 9380, Oct 25 at 0043, open carrier/dead air, fair with flutter, no doubt AIR Aligarh warming up for the 0100 Vividh Bharati service as per
http://qsl.net/vu2jos/sw/freq.htm rather than Aoki which still mislabels it the National Channel (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. 1510, Oct 25 at 0112 UT, with WLAC nulled, romantic song in Spanish, YL really belting it out, but fades out and in; 0117 DJ introduces next tune as ``tiempo de vals`` and it certainly is, vocal with a strong 3/4 beat almost matching the meter of the pumping subaudible heterodyne with WLAC, or a third station? 0121 another announcement, and next a rock song in English, or is that another station? 0130 another longer announcement by OM DJ conversing with a YL who laughs, about compositores, then a polca.

Nowhen is there anything resembling an ID, ad or local reference, which furthers my assumption that it`s cultural XEQI, Monterrey NL; but I am almost to the point of pining for an intrusive super-hype voice actor to shout an ID every three minutes like on many other Mexicans. Last year`s IRCA Mexican Log showed power as 50/0.25 kW, but this year, it`s 10 kW period in the day-power column, but ``24 hours``. WRTH 2014 also showed 10 kW fulltime; and Cantú currently has it at 10 kW days only. The slogan to be caught is ``La Nueva Radio`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NORTH AMERICA. 6925-USB, Oct 25 at 0034, poor pirate signal with variety of music, beeps, dramatization of something, mentions radiation level; 0040 overridden by CW sending V`s and then SALLO--- something a few times. Pirate had stopped by 0046. This thread
http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,19060.0.html
says it was Rave On Radio about a zombie attack (ahem, we`re still a week from Hallowe`en, when there should be a lot more pirate activity, plus WBCQ) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. 1640, UT Sat Oct 25 at 0109, local KZLS Enid-Hennessey-Oklahoma City is obviously another Friday-night ``STA`` cheater running day power to enhance its coverage during a silly ballgame, breaking its mostly talk-radio format, which judging from a mention during an adstring is ``Yukon-Miller football`` (Yukon is a western suburb of OKC, not a territory, but Miller?). The big sig of 10 kW direxional is splattering upon adjacents 1630 & 1650 just like in the daytime! No chance of nulling it now for WTNI like really with 1 kW last night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OMAN [non]. 9500, Oct 25 at 0059, no signal from RSO where it should be; 15140 occupied only by CRI with music fill and 0100 IS; nothing on 15355, but RSO may be unpropagating on one of these alternate 19mb channels.

HFCC B-14 has all these registered on the 315 antenna USward at 00-02: 9500, 9545, 11650 (pick one, only one); plus earlier in the day still 15140, 15355 likely to be prolonged (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PERU. 5980, Oct 25 at 0035, JBA carrier from R. Chaski. After 0100, heavier splatter ACI than usual from 5985 WRMI BS, so I can barely make out the carrier with BFO, until cutoff at 0104:34* which is 47.5 seconds later than my last check an octonite ago, i.e. averaging 5.94 seconds later per uninite (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SRI LANKA. 11905, Oct 25 at 0114 I have one ear on the PL-880 while bandscanning on the DX-398, but tonight no carrier cuts on during this minute with music; instead, cuts on just in time for the last mistimepip at 0115:19.5 and sign-on of SLBC. Also seems to be powering up during these initial seconds to a fairly good level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [and non]. SW blackout from a major solar flare --- Checking for World of Radio at 2130 Oct 24 on WRMI 15770 and 7570 --- JBA carrier on 15770, and all other US-based SWBC signals are either inaudible or greatly attenuated. WWV reports:

``:Product: Geophysical Alert Message wwv.txt
:Issued: 2014 Oct 24 2100 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather
Prediction Center
#
# Geophysical Alert Message
#
Solar-terrestrial indices for 24 October follow.
Solar flux 218 and estimated planetary A-index 13.
The estimated planetary K-index at 2100 UTC on 24 October
was 2.

Space weather for the past 24 hours has been minor.
Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level occurred.
Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be
moderate.
Radio blackouts reaching the R2 level are expected.``

By 2157, 15770 has recovered enough to tell that latest WOR 1744 is on there. Meanwhile, unusually at 2217 UT, WWV reissues the 2100 Geophysical Alert Message with some changes to the last part:

``Space weather for the past 24 hours has been strong.
Radio blackouts reaching the R3 level occurred.
Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be moderate.
Solar radiation storms reaching the S1 level are expected.
Radio blackouts reaching the R2 level are likely.``

And later the details of the event:

``Space Weather Message Code: SUMX01
Serial Number: 106
Issue Time: 2014 Oct 24 2236 UTC

SUMMARY: X-ray Event exceeded X1
Begin Time: 2014 Oct 24 2107 UTC
Maximum Time: 2014 Oct 24 2141 UTC
End Time: 2014 Oct 24 2213 UTC
X-ray Class: X3.1
Optical Class: 3b
Location: S12W22
NOAA Scale: R3 - Strong

NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales

Potential Impacts: Area of impact consists of large portions of the sunlit side of Earth, strongest at the sub-solar point.
Radio - Wide area blackout of HF (high frequency) radio communication for about an hour``.

Further airings of WORLD OF RADIO 1744:
Sat 0630 & 1430 on HLR 7265-CUSB
UT Sun 0131 on KVOH 9975
Sun 1000 on WRMI 5850
Sun 2300 on WRMI 11580
UT Mon 0300v on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB; etc.
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9330+CUSB, UT Sat Oct 25 at 0044, `Allan Weiner Worldwide` on WBCQ, slightly on the hi side, as AW is mentioning that `Marion`s Attic` Sundays at 5-6 pm [EDT = 21-22 UT this week, 22-23 UT from November], is on 7490 AND 15420. We knew he agreed to add 15420v-CUSB one week, but now it is apparently regular (and indeed has been added as the only non-GSP program on this schedule
http://schedule.wbcq.com/main.php?fn=sked&freq=15420
of 15420). He also alludes to ``another network coming on SW`` as a good thing, apparently referring to Global 24 which starts in exactly one week via WRMI 9395. Now there`s nothing audible on 15420, but weaker 7490 is // and synched, while 5110v-CUSB is // but 35 seconds behind the others. I suppose that signal has to be routed by internet thru the Radio Free Mount Airy studio in Maryland, then back to the Monticello transmitter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 7505.2 approx., Oct 25 at 0054, WRNO is already on with gospel huxter, big hum, and parasitic noise spurs spreading out each side as far as 7493 and 7515. WBCQ on 7490 barely escapes the mess, and the hi side is stopped short of 7517 only by the equally bigsig from 7520 WWCR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1680, UT Sat Oct 25 at 0108 UT, silly ballgame instead of country music, Panthers football, a Friday-night aberration from KRJO Monroe LA; also some CCI talk underneath as seldom the case audible during music. Normal good signal level, probably really 1 kW. Some months ago when it first reactivated in August? I suspected it was underpowered, but that recovered quite a while ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 1690, Oct 25 at 0109 UT, KDDZ Arvada (Denver market) CO must still be going as Disneyc music is heard, stronger than further WVON Berwyn (Chicago market) IL with ID and talk; and the two are mutually nullable on the rotatable DX-398 with no trace of the other. Eyeballing a US map, they look to be 100-105 degrees apart from the angle of Enid (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

This report despatched at 0417 UT October 25