[HCDX]: Glenn Hauser's SW/DX 98-10

["Glenn Hauser" <wghauser@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

        GLENN HAUSER'S SW/DX REPORT 98-10, March 12, 1998

THIS WEEK ON WORLD OF RADIO 932. Pocket SW radio for $50; House 
votes to outlaw cell phone eavesdropping; new Peruvian moves 
onto old frequency; Angolans, VORGAN and non; Iraqi clandestines 
and press teletype; Vietnam via Russia; Media Zoo to go on SW; 
mystery on 1680; and many of the stories below (Hauser)

AUSTRIA. Want to be the next Jonathan Marks? ORF has an opening 
in the English department for native speakers with a good 
knowledge of German. Details are at
http://www.orf.at/roi/uk/uk_stelle.htm 
(via Larry Nebron, REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING)

BARBADOS. Carl Moore, chairman of the Barbados Broadcasting
Authority, is calling for a SW service to be established, in
order to promote the island's development and for the Bajan
diaspora. Two four-hour services in the European and North
American evenings would suffice; it might cost $1 million to set 
up but would be well worth it. The Government Information Service 
should run it; in the last four years there was one application 
for a SW service, but it was withdrawn (Barry Alleyne, Daily 
Nation, Feb 12, via John Ebeling, WORLD OF RADIO 932)

CHILE. Voz Cristiana continued testing March 6 during the daytime 
with the same music and announcements as previously reported on 
March 4 and 5, but has not been heard March 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 
upon frequent checks. No doubt it will be back. When on, the 
frequency was always exactly 21551.0, not 21550 as claimed by the 
station and Media Network, nor 21555 as reported from Chile 
(Glenn Hauser, OK)

COSTA RICA. The March CONTINENT OF MEDIA should start on the 14th 
via RFPI only, Sat 0330, 1030. An additional time March 8 was 
0130 UT Sun, just before WOR, and presumably also Sat 1730, Sun 
0830. Other times are Fri 1930, and perhaps still Wed 2300, Thu 
0700. RFPI plans to swap modes soon so that 30 kW AM will be on 
6980, lower power SSB on 7385 (Glenn Hauser, OK)

CUBA [?]. I've complained before about noise bursts marring
reception of RKI 9650 at 1137 via Canada. I'm now 99% certain
these are generated by the lousy RHC transmitter on 9550; on
March 6 at 1140 check, the bursts were again extremely regular,
now 12 seconds on, 13 seconds off, appearing at just about any
empty spot plus or minus 100 kHz or more from 9550, such as 9555, 
9545, 9535, 9515, 9635, 9650, 9655, 9660, 9490, 9455, 9460. The 
bursts come on abruptly, decrease slightly in intensity during 
the cycle, and slightly change pitch in the last couple of 
seconds before cutting off. Continued to be audible during the 
following hour, but after 1255 when 9550 had signed off, they
were no longer heard. Meanwhile, at 1218 I checked another RHC
frequency, 6000, and found similar-sounding noise accompanying
it around 5990, 6005, but this was continuous. Then March 7  
during an extended local power failure, at 1125 the bursts were
back, to the previous 9 seconds on/16 seconds off pattern. March 
12 at 1150 check, the bursts were gone, and 9550 itself sounded
rather sickly. I had E-mailed an early version of this item to
Arnie Coro a few days ago, but as usual there was no reply and
I am not drawing any conclusions. I'd fall off my chair if this 
were ever a topic on DXers Unlimited. RHC is a technical marvel, 
and any problems can be blamed on the embargo (Glenn Hauser, OK)

INDIA. Checking 15140 as a possible additional frequency for
Chile, March 7 at 1655 found very strong Indian music, over-
modulated and breaking up; 1659 less distorted announcement by
woman continued past 1700 with no break or timesignal, but ID in
Russian as Indiska Radio, Delhi; 1707 back to music (Glenn 
Hauser, OK)

IRELAND [non]. New weekly RTE relay of Worlds Apart program on
foreign aid was fair Tue March 10 at 2305-2350 via Germany 260d 
on 9925, starting with report about Burundi, during one-hour
transmission starting with English news and ending with Gaelic.
(Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 932) Sites for repeats on
Wednesday are: 1330 12015 152d from Irkutsk, Russia to SE Asia;
1500 15120 19d from Meyerton, South Africa, to EAf; 1600 11605
160d from Juelich to N/C/SAf; 1700 11605 200d from Juelich to
WAf. The series runs 13 weeks (Wesley Boyd, RTE via Finbarr 
O'Driscoll, RIB and WORLD OF RADIO 932)

MONGOLIA. Signals from Ulaanbaatar are improving with the season.
Heard recently several days fair to good on 12085 with Japanese
from 1100, Chinese 1130, English 1200, Peaks around 1115; on 5 
Mar was S7 -- flux 102/A6/K3. Trend should continue as grayline
propagation to ENAm comes into play; for my QTH, maximum window
is 2 April at 1052-1152 UT. Reception via long path is possible
during this period, approx. 15 Mar-20 Apr. I am using my R71A and
an 80-foot Windom about 40 feet high, off-center fed with a 
single wire and tuned with a shunt C/series L hombrew tuner (John
H. Cobb, Jr., GA, March 6, WORLD OF RADIO 932) 12085 at 1200 here
is so far weak, fluttery and heterodyned, unreadable (Hauser, OK)

NEW UTOPIA. Interesting story on David Bresnahan show "Talk USA"
0500 UT Feb 26 on WHRI 5770. The guest was Prince Lazarus of New 
Utopia, a new country which will soon appear in the Caribbean.
Construction will begin in April on a group of submerged islands
halfway between Cayman and Belize. (I assume he was referring to 
the Rosario Reefs north of Swan Island). A complete city will be
built on concrete pilings, including an airport, apartments,
condos, shopping malls, hotels and a medical center. The
Principality of New Utopia will be primarily a tax haven, banking
and medical centre, and has already applied for UN membership.
Anyone can become a citizen by donating $200 to Prince Lazarus,
although the local population will be limited. No, this is not an
April fool's joke. To contact the Prince, or to apply for
citizenship, a phone number in Oklahoma was given. (I wonder if 
that new radio ship is planning to broadcast from New Utopia). 
(Ernie Behr, Kenora, Ont., March 2, RIB and WORLD OF RADIO 932)
My NY Times Atlas of the World shows both Rosario Bank and
Misteriosa Bank in this area; surely the latter due to name 
(Hauser)

NIGERIA. V. of Nigeria, 15120, seems to have settled into a
regular pattern including a newsmagazine in English, "Sixty
Minutes" at 2000, as noted March 5 and other days; closing 2058
said this frequency is for NAf/Eu/Am, asked for reports. BTW, 
this clashes with VOA's sole Greenville-to-Europe frequency at
1650-1800; must VOA move again? BTW, BBCM says both 7255 and 
15120 are in use for all external broadcasts, and the language
at 2100-2200 is Fulfulde (Glenn Hauser, OK)

NIGERIA [non]. V. of Free Nigeria [Sat 1900-2000 on 11645] has
been confirmed as coming from DTK Juelich, Germany, with the help 
of DF bearings from several other European monitoring stations, 
rather than Africa as previously suspected. It appears that 
signals from Germany are hitting the ionosphere over Africa and 
bouncing back towards Europe from a southerly direction, hence 
the false southerly bearings from the UK (Dave Kenny, BBCM, via 
WORLD OF RADIO 932) So, beware of backscatter! (Hauser)

PERU. 7746.0, March 6 at 1155 lively music and Spanish, light
WLO CW QRM--which I get in so many places I suspect it is getting
into the rx IF--, 1204 mentioned San Hilarion in cerveza, mueble
ads, and 1206 R. Cristal ID in passing; starting to fade, static
crashes, but relatively clear of interference. Next day March 7
at 1130 check had 2-way SSB QRM nearby (Glenn Hauser, OK)

TAHITI. On 15170.0, Mar 7 at 1710, France-Inter ID, weak, 
presumably RFO. Better than nothing, but this is no powerhouse,
and usually inaudible local evenings (Glenn Hauser, OK)

UNIDENTIFIED. On 15283.9v, unstable carrier with hum, March 6 at 
1712 muezzin; suspect Libya? (Glenn Hauser, OK)            ###


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