--- Begin Message ---
- Subject: Glenn Hauser logs September 9-11, 2016 including KC Gathering
- From: Glenn Hauser <wghauser@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2016 14:17:03 +0000 (UTC)
- Delivered-to: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Dkim-signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=yahoo.com; s=s2048; t=1473776405; bh=miDAFLnoF7TaC3R648Hhl6u5HCVy2ngNb3gt2hoQeEA=; h=Date:From:Reply-To:To:Subject:References:From:Subject; b=JM4iBPM/BIKxhXnBeoIRNmZkbaw/aRIdRvKonVjhtAnqFegFNbM4Fae6zObHranNM+Rma6BjKuQP32tv5RFF0M0mIK0nuQwX2gUWreoENkvHvW75F8YqHlBxlseaQCZ8K1qjKVMh2mnPPmdosMWUVR2IOXSQKut0U//Aq/a6gvvOPX++TfMLwj4UOBf4s8R6Vgs+85Q09ji5OjF1BRJftTvLOFXb2OAc+HLCC6wn7pcFo8gNSi+bRw6pElkyrSNpzBdSxguZBIbKrjhxauetG+G5HBC8jtmLglXgg/wRix3YFCp7eLLZMGn7OZRbfYMQnt3lq9RbNv2v8kykAxquPg==
All times and dates strictly UT [4 hours ahead of `ELT` during EDT; when changing times one
must also change the dates for events in the 00-04 UT period to the previous date by ELT].
This report, with one exception, covers what I heard on the way to, during, and on the way back from The Gathering, joint convention of IRCA, NRC, WTFDA and Decalcomania in Kansas City MO, Sept 9-11.
There was not much opportunity to monitor SW during the event, but for sake of completeness I am leaving in my SW observations. Please disregard if you find them too off-topic.
I really enjoyed attending my first DX convention in many years, renewing old acquaintances, matching faces to names I knew but never had met. Tnx to Ernie Wesolowski and crew for organizing it all! And to Carl Mann for inviting me in particular.
Several blind people attended from as far away as Miami and Los Angeles. Surely a greater proportion than in the general population. They and we were pleased that several sighted people were always there to assist them when needed.
Tech talks Saturday morning were especially interesting, mostly about MW and FM antennas; and the FCC`s Grand Island NE monitoring station, which may be still in use altho remote controlled (but where are the antennas?)
** MEXICO. 710-, Sept 11 at 0138, DKAZ antenna nulling the east is sufficient to audiblize the tell-tale het from XEDP Ciudad CuauhtÃmoc, Chihuahua, while using their off-frequency transmitter site, as frequently noted back in OK --- where KCMO on 710.0 is not a local!
720, Sept 11 at 0140, Spanish music, likely XEJCC Ciudad JuÃrez, Chihuahua, rather than anything from WGN Chicago, tnx to the DKAZ antenna aimed west (Glenn Hauser, Kansas City MO, DX-398, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNIDENTIFIED far below for Trans-Pacific carriers
** NETHERLANDS [non]. 6145, UT Sunday Sept 11 at 0057, no signal from The Mighty Farty KBC, new frequency via GERMANY, but there it is, good signal with rock music at recheck 0110; and off the air at re-recheck 0209. Did it not start until 0100 instead of 0000? No, Kraig Krist says it was on for the entire bihour. Maybe a monetary transmission break during my brief first check? Or did I mispunch frequency? This was on the whip into PL-880 outside the KC Airport Hyatt, whence it was impossible to listen to MW or SW inside with large-screen TVs, etc., all over the place (Glenn Hauser, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SLOVAKIA [non]. 13695, Sunday Sept 11 at 2109, RSI with two YLs conversing, about a radio exhibit in lobby of their Bratislava building, more about radio history. Evidently their mailbag program, as relayed by WRMI, so VG signal, better than it ever was direct.
15770, meanwhile, was WRMI carrying Hobart Radio International, Sunday Sept 11 until 2130. See also USA (Glenn Hauser, KS, BST-1 caradio, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** UGANDA [non]. 15240, Sunday Sept 11 at 1630 check, weak language talk, presumed R. Munansi still active via WWRB TN (Glenn Hauser, Kansas City MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Another check on the road at 1830: trace on 15240. Next check at 1903-1905+, should be off, but still hearing some VP talk, running over? Nothing scheduled until Australia at *2100 (Glenn Hauser, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1842 monitoring: confirmed Thursday Sept 8 at 2100 on WRMI, 13695, VG. Also confirmed Thu Sept 8 at 2330 on WBCQ, 9329.97-CUSB, good (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
WOR 1842 also confirmed Friday Sept 9 at 2130 on WRMI, 13695 as I demonstrated briefly during my Q&A session at The Gathering of DXers in Kansas City MO --- strong enough to penetrate the hotel meeting room on the ground floor, north side, with a bit of help from a reel-out antenna into the PL-880.
WOR 1842 also confirmed Saturday September 10 at 2230 on WBCQ, 9330v-CUSB. Also confirmed UT Sunday Sept 11 at 0324 on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, Wentzville on the other side of MO from Kansas City (altho at earlier check 0136 there was dead air). (Glenn Hauser, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 5130-, UT Sunday Sept 11 at 0315, I notice that WBCQ Area 51 is running `Jean Shepherd`. It seems that the 02-04 UT Sunday slot presents rotating programs, including episodes of `Church of the Subgenius Hour of Slack`, according to John Carver in IN (Glenn Hauser, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 13695, Sunday Sept 11 at 1707, WRMI has once again bumped Brother Scare during this hour only for a very enjoyable hour of `World Music`, and on a bigsig aimed NW across North America. We hear the same tunes over and over, but most of them hold up well, not so much the one on now, ``Up2 and Away in your Beautiful Balloon``. 1742, `Chariots of Fire`. I listened to the rest of the hour, and the Council of Europe/Ode to Joy/rap did not appear this time. I renew my plea for someone with a music-ID app to try it on WRMI World Music, which never announces or identifies the tunes in any way..
15770, meanwhile continued carrying Brother HyStairical this hour, and with a much better signal than I get in OK: perhaps in an antenna null there, less so here, but still way off-beam from 44 degrees toward Europe (Glenn Hauser, KS, BST-1 caradio on the I-35 road from KC back to OK, Sept 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 530, Sept 9 morning on my way to The Gathering in Kansas City, the Kansas Turnpike Authority HAR, somewhere around Wichita or south of there, is 100% relaying NOAA Weather Radio, Wichita (as usual, JBA in Enid), during flood warnings in the Winfield KS area, after very heavy rains. The Turnpike is elevated enough not to be inundated unlike some hiways, such as US 77, but large lakes of water were right alongside the right-of-way. Never heard a KTA ID or a NOAA ID during this. Nothing about any radio, let alone 530 at
https://www.ksturnpike.com/ Get your weather info some other way.
Two days later, Sept 11, on the way back along the same route, back to more normal weather radio, but still including flood warnings, as rivers are above flood stage for at least another day or two, e.g. at 29 feet, flood stage being only 18 feet. Guess what, this list
http://www.mwlist.org/mwlist_quick_and_easy.php?area=3&kHz=530
does not include a single Kansas 530 among the hundreds of HAR/TIS on it. I also checked 1610 frequently along the Turnpike, but no other HARs heard (Glenn Hauser, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 570, Sept 11 at 1930 UT, ``KFAN Minnesota Vikings Radio Network``, so it`s really WNAX Yankton SD, still making it easily as far as El Dorado area of southern KS, and atop anything from KLIF, unlike in Enid (Glenn Hauser, Kansas Turnpike, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 640, Sept 11 at 1912 UT, near Cassoday KS on I-35, 5 kW KWPN Moore OK is dominant with stupid sports talk, but fast SAH from understation, which must be 5 kW WOI, public radio in Ames IA. Wish I had thought to check for it while in Kansas City, where presumably WOI would be audible at least weakly, the ONLY public radio left on AM anywhere around here, since Kansas State saw fit to sell out share-timer KSAC>KKSU 580 to WIBW so it could be full-time (Glenn Hauser, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 920, Sept 11 at 1937 UT, religious music as KYFR Shenandoah IA is still making it as far as mile 64 of the Kansas Turnpike between El Dorado and Andover (Glenn Hauser, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1130, Sept 11 at 1923 UT, open carrier/dead air, still at 1939, but music modulation at 2010 check. It`s KLEY Wellington KS, which I also get at home in Enid, sibling station to KKLE 1550, both of them horribly managed/operated (Glenn Hauser, KS Turnpike, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1550, Sept 11 at 1842 UT, overmodulation/distortion, program cut off for a Wounded Warrior/USO PSA. At 1927 UT, still O/D in talk show. It`s KKLE, Winfield KS, which I also get on groundwave at home, sibling station to KLEY 1130, both of them horribly operated/managed (Glenn Hauser, along the Kansas Turnpike = I-35, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1610, Sept 9-10-11, at the Kansas City Airport Hyatt, so not far from KCI, continuous TIS from KCI with IDs as WQI284, info on parking, etc. But also audible on the freeways at considerable distance.
1690, Sept 9-10-11, signs along the KC freeways say ``tune 1690 for traffic info when flashing`` --- but never active when I check. There are also lots of electronic signs along the way with info on lane closures, how many minutes to this and that exit, etc. I haven`t seen anything like that in Tulsa or OKC (Glenn Hauser, Kansas City MO & KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1630, Sept 11 at 1943 UT unexpected station here, surely not KCJJ from Iowa in early afternoon. It`s a mixture, the dominant audio being a talk show, soon found matching 1330 KNSS Wichita, so this is a leapfrog mixing product over another Wichitan, 1480 KQAM, another 150 kHz higher! Audible only between miles 54 and 50 on the Turnpike, near Andover on E side of Wichita; presumably closest to shared(?) transmitter site? No, sites and ownership are different, per FCC:
KNSS: 37-42-47 N, 97-14-51 W, Entercom
KQAM: 37-44-21 N, 97-16-14 W, Steckline
(Glenn Hauser, KS, Nissan caradio, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1680, Sept 11 at 1824 UT, I find two signals on the X-band at mile 107-106 on the Kansas Turnpike, where I finally find a place to pull off with undivided attention to the Nissan caradio. Historical lecture by non-professional announcer about Chase county history: ``welcome to Chase County --- long and illustrious railroad history``, a onetime cattle-shipping location. Then also about Tallgrass Prairie, National Scenic Byway.
No call letter ID heard on the first one, but says there are three transmitters on 1680, in Council Grove, Cottonwood Falls and Cassoday (from north to south along state hwy 177, not hearing the first one). The other two are making a SAH with each other of 110/minute or 1.83 Hz, and are programmed completely separately, self-QRM.
At 1831 UT, I can hear the understation with a YL ID. I drive on a bit further and by mile 99-100, the Cassoday station is overtaking Cottonwood Falls. Talking about walking tours along the Flint Hills Scenic Byway; several different amateur voices, some lo-fi with clix as if recorded off a phone; and not the same ones heard on C.F. The YL ID is better produced, appearing every few minutes: ``You are listening to Flint Hills Scenic Byway Radio Broadcasting System at 1680 AM on your radio dial. The callsign is WQC-W625`` [the - indicating a pause in the wrong place].
At 1848 UT, I stop at the Kansas Turnpike service area a few miles north of Cassoday, where of course, the Cassoday transmitter rules. One of the repeated spiels begins, ``Here it is, spring of 2007, wild flowers in bloom ---``. This thing hasn`t been updated in almost a decade! But I am not complaining; it`s new to me, and kudos for keeping the transmitters operational all this time.
They must have been operative two days earlier on my way up to KC, but I must not have been X-bandscanning at the right time. There is NO sign notifying us of these along the I-35/Kansas Turnpike. Sounds like an interesting side trip, but I allowed no time for such, coming or going. Maybe next time.
BTW, I have never heard any trace of these back in Enid, at least 213 km or 133 miles away. Has anyone ever reported them as DX or as travel catches? No hits on the call in the IRCA mail archive. I Google search on the call WQCW625 and find them in mwlist.org, each with a different call (not always the case with TIS), and 10 watts:
WQCU480 Council Grove KS near girl scout building @ 23 River Walk
WQCU481 Cottonwood Falls KS 322 S. Walnut
WQCW625 Cassoday KS 610 S. Washington
(Glenn Hauser, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 89.3, Sept 9 at 1658 UT, a CSN station with a FULL COMMERCIAL lasting about a minute for Trinity Debt Management, complete with testimonials, urges to action; followed by various Calvary Satellite Network promos. I`m on I-35 near Emporia KS on the way to Kansas City, and this lasts a considerable distance northeast, blocking what should be a growing signal from KC public radio, KCUR 89.3. WTFDA Database shows it is:
K207EI // KAWZ 89.9, 89.3 EMPORIA KS 0.0 0.25 0.0 55.7 38-31-47 96-05-09 CSN INTERNATIONAL RELIGION, i.e. 250-watt vertical-only translator with antenna up at 55.7 meters above average terrain.
These things infest the entire country even tho they violate non-commercial licensing (Glenn Hauser, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 93.9, Sept 11 at 1817 UT, as I am FM bandscanning on the Nissan caradio, sore thumb stands out as it is just barely modulated, altho fully quieting. Turning volume all the way up: PSAs including DHS on diabetes, Meryl Streep(?) on colorectal cancer; 1819 UT back to American Indian Horizons(?) program, ``divine outreach``. From mile 113 of the Kansas Turnpike, just SW of Emporia, so of the four Kansans on 93.9, this one must be KOTE in Eureka, south of there, which is due east of El Dorado on US 54; 3 kW at 98 meters, ``Coyote Radio`` with country format per WTFDA FM database. This sparse website I googled, however, http://www.kotefm.com/ says it is `Christian`, currently. This one, https://www.facebook.com/kotefm/ however, says it`s ``Flint Hills Country`` but no activity there since last January. Radio-locator also still thinx it is Coyote Radio.
This story from almost two years ago may explain the confusion:
http://rbr.com/eureka-fm-headed-for-new-owner/
``Eureka FM headed for new owner
By admin on Oct, 31 2014 with Comments 0 image:
http://rbr.com/wp-content/uploads/Sold5-225x180.jpg
Sold --- A contract and application has been filed for the sale of KOTE-FM Eureka KS. The station is in the process of moving to a new spot on the dial as well as to a new owner.
The dial move will take it from 93.5 MHz to 93.9 MHz. The seller is David E. Niemeyerâs Niemeyer Communications LLC. The buyer is Business Services Management LLC, headed by Larry J. Cook. The price is not going to be one of those that causes major ripples on Wall Street. The deal is valued at a modest $37,500 cash.
KOTE-FM is a Class A on 93.5 MHz with 3 kW @ 322â. It has a CP to slide a little ways up the dial to 93.9 MHz at the same power. The station is still licensed to broadcast on 93.5 per the FCC database, but testing of the new facilities must be under way, since the stationâs database says itâs already using its new 93.9 dial position.
The station calls itself Coyote Radio, and under the seller it plays Country spiced with agricultural news, general news and information and Christian programming at various times, particularly on Sunday``
(Glenn Hauser, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. Pre-sunrise bandscan for TP carriers, Sunday Sept 11 at 1147-1159 UT on the DKAZ antenna into DX-398: 765, 774, 828, 837, 882, 1035, 1098, 1548. Intriguing 765 still in at 1207. No DFing with this, to distinguish between DU and FE, but I suppose DU more likely now? But generally much higher powers from Asia.
1098 is of particular interest, likely V7AB Marshall Islands, with new 25 kW Nautel transmitter as reported by Brian Clark, NZ; he says it signs off circa 1130 but leaves carrier on. Neil Kazaross, DXing at the same time from his DX truck was getting more of these with his SDR. The DKAZ had three hookups available simultaneously. Nick Hall-Patch from BC was on the other one. And I am indebted to Mark Durenberger who came up with a proper adapter so I could use it. That antenna really too much for the DX-398, but at least it has an RF gain control to minimize the overload, including SW signals such as CW from WLO (Glenn Hauser, at The Gathering, Kansas City MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 1230, Sept 11 at 0127 UT, enumerating roster of tall sports players, but surely not BKB, mentions New Mexico, making me wonder if it`s KFUN Las Vegas? But then also mentions Nebraska. Probably the closest 1230, KTNC Falls City in the SE corner, altho format listed as OLD.
BTW, as revealed in the Sunday morning quiz at The Gathering, 1230 is the one graveyard frequency lacking any Kansans, tho there are such right across the borders, e.g. WBBZ Ponca City OK (Glenn Hauser, Kansas City MO, DKAZ antenna aimed west into DX-398, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 27025, Sept 11 at 2024, CBer with heavy accent as ``number one in Jamaica``. Along the KS Turnpike, I assumed it was one of the heavy trux, but lotsa hets and did not go away, so either going in same direxion as I, or really skip from Jamaica the island. 27025 is a frequency originally programmed into the BST-1 caradio memory, which I probably would not have chosen, but have not deleted, in case CB ever provide anything useful rather than manic wackos on ego trips (Glenn Hauser, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
My only diversion from The Gathering was a couple hours at the great Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which I last visited many years ago:
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/
I also noticed a TV newscaster (KCTV?) pronounced Santa Fe, as a name around KC, as ``Santa Fee`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
--- End Message ---