domenica 11 febbraio 2018

Glenn Hauser logs February 10-11, 2018

** ALASKA [non]. MADAGASCAR. 9810, Feb 10 at 1956, ``KNLS`` theme music, poor with flutter, i.e. MWV Russian hour concluding, 100 kW at 355 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. 223 kHz MCW, Feb 11 at 0709 UT tuned to 224, I get a dash and beacon ID starting with Y-, but too weak to be sure of next two letters. Dxinginfocentre.com shows the only one around here is YKA in Kamloops BC. If it`s 3 letters starting with Y and a dash, chances are it`s Canadian.

245 kHz, Feb 11 at 0712, MCW dash and YZE, which is at Gore Bay, Ontario. Where`s that? On the north shore of Manitoulin Island, between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. I`m pulling it under a stronger signal from FS, also on 245 but a different pitch; see U S A (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. 15579, 15510, 15443; 15298, 15229, 15159, 15094, 15023, 14952, 14881, 14810, 14740, 14670! Feb 11 from 1503, RHC-FM spurs out of AM 15370 transmitter, at these very approx. centers, each spreading up to 10 kHz wide. Intermittently, clear FM program audio cuts on the closer ones, otherwise mostly noise --- wiggle that patchcord! Fortunately, the tenth-order 14670 one is very weak and CHU can still be copied. That leads to an average separation of 70 kHz, a bit more than usual (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ERITREA. 7181.55, Feb 11 at 0515, S7 talk and drumming, as VOBME is still propagating on its signature split frequency; no QRDRM jamming audible, and nothing heard from the other one on 7140. 

As in WRTH 2018 page 514, the ``7180asm`` transmitter also carries clandestine for Ethiopia, Ginbot 7 Dimts Radio, at 0300-0330 Tue/Thu/Fri, and 0330-0400 Sunday; 1500-1530 Thu/Fri/Sun and 1530-1600 Tue, all // MW 837/840 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NIGERIA [non]. 11530, Feb 10 at 1942 check, R. Herwa International 1930-2000 via WRMI is VG on the air this Saturday, unlike last weekend. Also JBA carrier on 9580, presumably other relay via FRANCE (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SAUDI ARABIA. 9675, Feb 10 at 1952, Türkish recitation with musical background, good modulation, S9 fading to S6, 2000 ``Burasi ---`` ID. It`s BSKSA at 18-21, 500 kW, 340 degrees from Riyadh also USward, overkill for a nearby target (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SWAZILAND. 6120, Feb 10 at 0509, M&W in English scripted dialog, fair, from TWR scheduled 0501-0700, 50 kW, 233 degrees from Manzini. There is nothing but South Africa in that direxion, included in CIRAF 57 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K [non]. I am seldom monitoring during the 05 UT hour, but it proves to be a rich one for BBCWS offbeam reception. A bandscan starting at 0504 Feb 11 finds news on all these: 5875 S9+10, 5925 S9+25, 6005 S9+15 with RHC 6000 splatter, 6190 S8; none found on 7, 9 or 11 MHz bands until 0521 even 12095, averaging S5 and the SSOB on an otherwise almost dead band. Despite the over-generous S-meter readings, none of these are armchair as would be the case if BBCWS were still deliberately broadcasting to North America. Sources:
 5875, 125 kW,  65 degrees from ASCENSION
 5925, 125 kW, 114 degrees from ASCENSION
 6005, 250 kW,  27 degrees from ASCENSION
 6190, 100 kW,  15 degrees from SOUTH AFRICA
12095, 250 kW,  19 degrees from SOUTH AFRICA
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 245 kHz, Feb 11 at 0712, beacon FS, which is Sioux Falls - Rock SD, per dxinfocenter.com; underneath it at a different pitch I pull out YZE in Ontario; see CANADA. Is Rock the name of an airport? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1916 monitoring: Not confirmed, Sat Feb 10 at 2235 & 2257 chex, on WBCQ 9330: no signal. Usually it would be audible at this hour if on the air. This transmitter reported to be down with problems, so there may be no 0030 otherday broadcasts either TFN. 

Confirmed, Sat Feb 10 at 2300 on WRMI 7780, fair S9-S6. Also confirmed UT Sun Feb 11 at 0200 on WRMI 7780. Also confirmed on WA0RCR, MO, 1860-AM, S9+10, UT Sun Feb 11 ending at 0449, so started circa 0420.

Next:
Mon 0030   WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Mon 0400v  WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW
Mon 0430   WRMI 9955 to SSE, 9455 to WNW
Tue 0030   WRMI 7730 to WNW
Tue 0030   WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW
Tue 2030   WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1917?]

Full WOR schedule via all media, podcast access:
http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 5130, Feb 10 at 2257, WBCQ audible with BS, presumably having been on air all day. By 0005 UT Sunday Feb 11 check, Timtron is heard, so BS still cedes to Area 51 programming rather than the ``24 hours`` he claims. Recheck at 0458, 5129.85 with a song not BS and unreadable announcement with a crowd, S9+5/15, perhaps `Lost Discs Radio Show` as on 5130 sked, no ID, 0500 cut back to BS in progress. Now he`s praying someone will give him 10 megadollars, not just one, so he can ``finish his work``. Hey, me too! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9455, Sat Feb 10 at 1948-1950, VOA news, 1950 ID and 1951 back to Oldies on WRMI. From 2000 it should switch to diverse programming block // 7780 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 7780, Sat Feb 10 at 2258, WRMI ending VOA News relay with Ann Ball, so must be in Oldies service, 2259 ID and a minute of ``It Had to Be You`` before cutting to WORLD OF RADIO at 2300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 17775, Feb 10 at 1943, YL preaching in English, undermodulated but strong, KVOH reconfirmed with new Saturday-only English broadcast, unlike a week ago when it was JBA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. Trans-Atlantic JBA MW carriers: not a complete bandscan but checked a few spots and heard carriers or hets, Feb 11 at 0521+ on 621, 0530+ on 1044(2), 1125(2), 1215.

BTW, Absolute Radio, surely source of the 1215 signals, has applied to ``reduce AM coverage by 5%``. Try to figure out what that mean from this 22-page pdf via Hansjoerg Biener:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/111003/Absolute-Radio-proposals-to-reduce-AM-coverage.pdf
WRTH says they have 14 stations on 1215 totaling 560 kW on this ex-BBC frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

This report despatched at 1723 UT February 11