[HCDX] RE: XEBAL 1470 AND ESPACIAL 1390

[Jan-Erik.Osterholm@xxxxxxxxxx]

> RE: XEBAL 1470 AND ESPACIAL 1390 
> As indicated earlier in this list we would return to this subject after
> listening to the recordings made by Rocco et.al in Italy in early April
> this year. Andy Lawendel, on behalf of Rocco Cotroneo and Enrico Oliva,
> was kind to send provide us with a C90 cassette containing recordings of
> the unique reception of Peruvian Espacial, Otuzco 1390 and XEBAL Becal,
> México on 1470, both claimed heard in Italy in early April 2002. The
> recordings have been examined by Jan-Erik Österholm (JEÖ), and Pertti
> Äyräs in Finland, and by Henrik Klemetz (HK) and Björn Olsson (Olz) in
> Sweden - a combined cumulated LA-DX-experience of approximately 250 years.
> In the following we are addressing specific points of interest and
> importance.
> The C90-cassette provided contains recordings of XEBAL Becal, México 1470
> and Emisora Espacial, Otuzco 1390. The station ID's on the tape indicate,
> without doubt, that the stations are indeed the ones claimed by Rocco
> et.al. Both XEBAL and Espacial are definitely the stations contained in
> the recordings. Several questions remain, however, that would be
> interesting to clarify.
> As mentioned earlier, it is surprising that catches like these can be made
> in April in Europe especially during times without a grayline effect.
> After years of listening experiences in USA (the US Mid West and in
> California), in Spain, the Canary Islands and Latin America we have noted
> exactly the same significant changes in propagation conditions during
> grayline openings. So this is not a question of a phenomenon happening
> only in Scandinavia.
> To refresh our memories: XEBAL 1470 was received on two occasions on April
> 1 and April 3 between 0210-0310.
> Emisora Espacial was received on April 6, between 0020-0050.
> In the following we are only referring to what we hear on the provided
> tape:
> XEBAL: The signal is astonishingly strong over surprisingly long periods
> of time. The legal ID - the exact time of which has not been disclosed but
> does not appear to be the top of the hour legal ID as it should be -
> "XEBAL Radio Voz Maya, en 14-70 del cuadrante en amplitud modulada, una
> emisora de Cadena Cultural Becalena...." suddenly appears from nowhere to
> QSA 2-3 and disappears exactly after the ID. 
> The same phenomenon occurs a little bit later. From QSA 0 to QSA 3+, XEBAL
> fades in announcing "...las 8,25 minutos XEBAL Radio Voz Maya....a ritmo
> de salsa...". After this, the salsa part is booming in for long periods of
> time even though mixed with WMTW. Here the fading between XEBAL and WMTW
> sounds strange, if not abnormal. The stock exchange report from WMTW
> indicates, however, that the Dow Jones Industrial and Nasdaq closing
> points were 10313 and 1804, respectively. This coincides exactly with the
> closings on April 2, 2002 at 6 p.m. EST.
> The recording continues for many minutes with a mix of salsa and WMTW.
> Presumably at 02.52 UTC, WMTW announces "it's 8 minutes before the hour"
> and, on the tape, 1 minute 46 seconds later, WMTW announces "it's 1 minute
> before the hour" without an observable change in the "background" salsa
> from XEBAL. On the top of the hour WMTW suddenly disappears totally and
> XEBAL booms in with street address, phone number and "Radio Voz Maya".
> This top-of-the hour ID only includes the station slogan - no mention of
> frequency and call sign, which are almost mandatory for Mexican stations
> on top of the hour identifications.
> On the tape one can also hear an announcement referring to "the threshold
> of the new millennium". Arturo Tun Canul, one of the XEBAL operators, says
> on the phone that the ID tape where XEBAL says they are on the threshold
> of the new millennium is used by a friend of his, who works "from 9-12 pm
> local time, 4 times a week". "He likes it so much, but no one else would
> use it, and now we will definitely dispose of this tape", he said. The
> time when this ID might be aired, any time between 9 and 12 pm, does not
> seem to coincide with the April 1 recording, which was made, if we are not
> mistaken, at 0210 UTC. This is the time mentioned in conjunction with
> Rocco´s upload. 
> As for "Un mensaje a la conciencia", which can be heard at 0300 on the
> tape, Arturo Tun says that this slot would have been aired normally at
> 0230 (8:30 pm local time), not at 0300, "although sometime you have to
> wait" (!!??).
> Arturo Tun does some shortwave listening himself, and when asked if he had
> any info of the 
> local DX club, which was in the news a couple of years ago, he said that
> he was a friend of the chairman of the club, José Alfonso Acosta
> Gallareta. The club seems to be called Club de escuchas de onda corta de
> Bécal.
> Taking into account the time of reception, it is surprising that the
> recording, which covers some 20 minutes, does not show any signs of any
> other stations than XEBAL and WTMW. Not Vibración, Latina, CPN, Cristal
> del Uruguay, the dominant Brazilians etc. 
> Also, the atmospheric noise sounds strange for a reception made during the
> hours of darkness between Mexico and Europe.
> EMISORA ESPACIAL
> This recording contains Emisora Espacial, starting at 0020 UTC, with a
> stable signal for about 20 minutes and hardly no signs of any other
> station, and again reception time is during the dark period between
> northern Peru and Italy. 
> The atmospheric interference contained in the recording once again sounds
> strange for night time reception. 
> The most intriguing notice is the clear time check after the introduction
> of the program anchored by Roberto Robles "cero horas 36 minutos" which
> would indicate that the time in Europe at that time was 0536 UTC not 0036
> UTC as claimed. The correct frequency for Espacial might be 1390. However
> in a newly up-dated (February 2002) peruvian station list the frequency is
> given as 1540 kHz (see
> http://www.mtc.gob.pe/comunicaciones/tele/archivo/xls/sonora.xls)
> CONCLUSIONS
> In both cases it is clear that the stations on the cassette are XEBAL 1470
> and Espacial 1390. There are, however, question marks related to the
> recordings. Rocco et.al might have had a once-in a-lifetime-DX-experience,
> and if that is the case we are the first ones to congratulate Rocco, Andy
> and Enrico and at the same time we regret the previous heated debate
> related to these stations.
> From our perspective the issue is closed. We have no further comments.
> Best regards
> Jan-Erik Österholm and Henrik Klemetz
> 

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