[HCDX] the most recent LW-MW BCB DX logs

[aurel chiochiu <acq@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Warm greetings to all of you !

Seems like this winter was a taste of Heaven in my life, a special loop that would tune into LW broadcasts, a frail and innocent young woman that needs a protector and, last but not least, Aventure FM jingles (yep ! but you can't download them - you need to be online for this - and I miss full airchecks, but even for these, it is just a matter of time; just check out http://www.schoop.fr/sons/75_aventurefm.php and see if you can save them somewhere, they are protected from download) !

Since falling in love over the past weekend and since beginning school, my DX activity slowed down a little bit, though I couldn't resist the temptation of tuning into LW the past few hours and it payed since I got a new one on 177 along with other oddities such as unreadable music and talk on 207 in the misdt of beacon interference. As I write this, RMC Info is having a decent signal on 216 with French chatter... Another MAJOR DX HIGHLIGHT was Poland-225, something that wasn't so far from entertainment quality and playing some refreshing Slavic rock selections... More on that below !!!

Very little time was spent on mediumwave lately, though weak talk was evident on 585 kHz. A few weak Latins were noted during some short DX sessions over the beginning of the past week, that barely worth being reported with the possible exception of Anzoátegui-640 !



Into the logs:

Trans-Atlantic DX

153 unID   JAN 25 2223 UTC - music and talk very weak and fluttery flashing S1 over S7 on and off on the Sangean reading meter ! It's rare for me to hear audio down there, as the PK's Shielded Magnetic LW loop doesn't show much gain below the France Inter frequency. Germany, Algeria and Romania are equally possible ! (Chiochiu-QC)

162 FRANCE   France Inter, Allouis JAN 25 0449 UTC - after French litterature chatter and analysis, they did play "Rue de la Paix" by Zazie, one of the most uplifiting French alternative rock diva, then the litterature program continued with a book dealing with wealthy Dutch man ("la bourgeoisi hollandaise") and how the narrator tried to fight against their socionarcisistic attitude. Very good at times with no computer-related growl, though the computer-like noise did comeback today. SINPO 45523. In France, this station is rumoured as being a favorite among mothertoungue general culture teachers and among the students who manage to obtain straight A on French, like a kind of general-service France Culture ! At times, this birdie was audible on the Sangean CST-818 barefoot with no additional loop ! (Chiochiu-QC)

171 MOROCCO   Medi Un, Nador JAN 24 0326 UTC - plaintive Arabic male vocals noted at a fair level. +JAN 25 2258 - with a raï number followed by a newscast in Arabic with computer-like growl on and off popping on this channel and on several ones too ! (Chiochiu-QC)

177 GERMANY   Deutschlandradio Kultur, Oranienburg, Zehlendorf JAN 25 0505 UTC - Woman talking in German leading into classical choral music that was fairly reminiscent of some dance-metal gothic artists such as Nightwish or Mylène Farmer ! Fairly annoying splatter was noted against Europe 1 on 183 kHz and it were these guys and not usual blaster Iceland-189 that were the source of this QRM trouble ! NEW ! Germany#2 on LW for me ! (Chiochiu-QC)

183 GERMANY   Europe 1, Felsberg, Saarlouis JAN 25 0446 UTC - playing "Comment Te Dire Adieu" by Jane Birkin, then announcer sayed it was from 1968, then changed topic and announced warmly Europe 1 was about to help the victims of the windstorm that did shake the southern France from Grenoble to the Pyréennées areas. Huge signal that had slow, but deep fadings and was sometimes splattered by Germany-177. SINPO 44332. (Chiochiu-QC)

189 ICELAND   Rikisútvarpid, Gufaskalar JAN 25 2215 UTC - Icelandic talk that leaded to music selections that sounded like a blend of Native American and African tribal music with primitive melodic aspects, yet full of authenticity ! SINPO 45544 until some computer-like noise moved up in frequency and rendered listenability more problematic. +JAN 25 2323 UTC - man talking in Icelandic with a dramatic voice, possibly reading an emotional full-filling story or a poem ! (Chiochiu-QC)

198 UNITED KINGDOM   BBC Radio 4, Droitwich JAN 25 0712 UTC - Talkshow regarding the need to continue the BBC international coverage of the Gaza conflict and other issues regarding the BBC's international coverage. Armchair copy ! SINPO 34543 with barely noticeable QRM from a much weaker beacon and splatter from 201 kHz (Montreal) eliminated with the receiver in AM Narrow Mode. (Chiochiu-QC)

207 MOROCCO   RTM, Azilal JAN 25 0703 UTC - Very tentative ! Bits of talk and music that sounded Arabic. Probably best audio I ever had on 207 kHz. SINPO 22222 (Chiochiu-QC)

216 FRANCE   RMC Info, Romoules JAN 25 2230 UTC - French chatter, sports related, regarding problems involved in the organisation of French soccer games; noted at a decent level (pretty fair) with, surprisingly, no beacon interference at all. SIO 353. (Chiochiu-QC)

225 POLAND   Polski Radio 1, Solec Kujawski JAN 25 2320 UTC - playing Polish rock music fairly similar to the Croatian rock selections Croatia-1134 was having prior to the switch from MW to FM and from the beginning of the Glas Hrvatska program which did replace the national domestic service on mediumwave and Polish talk by a young lady that was apparentlt the host of a talkshow as I heard Polish youngsters on the phone ! SINPO 34423. My furthest east catch below SW, so on LW-MW ! +JAN 25 2342 - with a flute based polka ! Nice ! SIO 444 +JAN 25 2354 - The only longwave broadcaster to produce audio ! Unbelievable, but truth ! Iceland-189 and all the others killed by buzz... Poor-fair right now with woman host chatting with her listeners on the phone ! This one gives real hope of hearing Romania-153 ! Sylvain Naud, what are my chances of logging Romania-153 ? +JAN 25 2359 - time pips, then "Polski Radio Mah program..." ID leading to news. Heard twice "Polski Radio" ! Is "Mah", "one" in Polish ? Almost armchair copy and still the strongest voice presence on LW in Pierrefonds ! As the short newscast ended, into an early 50s American number that was followed by the Brazilian bosa nova number "Mais que nada" ! SINPO 34444 ! +JAN 26 0021 - Still the only LW with audio right now with a falsetto Polish male vocal, then woman announcing in Polish something. SIO 444 with minimal hugh-pithced QRM. S5out of S7 on the Sangean CST-818's reading meter ! Best reception ever, though slowely but definitively faded down to SIO 222 at 0023 UTC during the course of just 2 minutes. At 0026 UTC, completly gone, SIO 000 ! LW is amazing ! (Chiochiu-QC)

234 LUXEMBURG   RTL, Beidweler JAN 15 2228 - playing "Steppin' Out" by Joe Jackson from 1983, then unreadable FF talk ! Forgot to submit that one earlier, though it is coming often, but rarely really strong unlike 162 and 183 which are real blockbusters ! +JAN 25 2240 UTC - Jazz-rock music selections and French male announcer talking about the music just played. SINPO 33342 with limited readability due to medium-level beacon interference and the understandibility was still little even in AM Narrow mode ! (Chiochiu-QC)

252 IRELAND   RTE Radio 1, Clarkestown JAN 24 0329 UTC - Irish-accented English talkshow noted at a decent level with receiver tuned to 253 kHz in AM Narrow Mode to dodge the UL beacon on 248 kHz. Nothing readable, as tuning to 253 kHz reduce the UL-248 QRM, but slightly increases QRM from a distant beacon around 254 kHz. SIO 322, probably my best reception of Ireland-252 yet ! No sign of Algeria, so far, during the last couple of days ! +JAN 25 2308 - again tonight at SIO 332, so improved from SIO 322 with the signal slightly stronger and the QRM very slightly weaker, almost readable ! +JAN 25 2312 UTC - imrpoved to a good peak (almost huge hein ?) with end of an instrumental jingle, male announcer sayed "Welcome" (so readable !) and leaded to a NOS female vocal likely from the 1930s. SIO 433, best ever reception of Ireland-252 ! Reception made in AM Narrow mode on 253 kHz like always ! (Chiochiu-QC)

585 SPAIN   Radio Nacional de España, Madrid JAN 24 0203 UTC - Very tentative ! Weak talk getting through medium-level splash from 580/590. Regular here, though you need to be patient in order to wait for this one to fade up to readable peaks ! Not audible on JAN 25/26 at all, so these TA openings were mostly confined to the LW frequencies in the Montreal area ! (Chiochiu-QC)



Pan-American DX

530 CUBA   Radio Enciclopedía, unknown QTH JAN 22 0540 UTC - playing an instrumental Cuban jazz number. Fair ! Slightly weaker than the former Radio Visión Cristiana Internacional powerhouse in Turks and Caicos that used this channel prior to the birth of both elements that mess up 530 kHz way down in the Caribbean (Marti/Enciclopedía) and render the former RVCI outlet ineffective ! Heard in CIAO null ! (Chiochiu-QC)

570 CUBA   CMDC, Radio Reloj, Pilón (Santa Clara area) JAN 22 0603 UTC - Woman doing news items, mainly political ones, with a very abrupt shift between this one and WSYR Syracruse (and this, without 
siwtching between E/W and N/S on the Sanyo MCD-S830 barefoot) and no sign at all of usual subdominant WMCA in New York City. I think WMCA is protecting Syracruse (and Montreal) and WSYR aim their night 
power straight at Montreal which is why, usually, I can barely copy the RR code ID through the WSYR blockbuster signal and, also, why WMCA is such a thrill to hear at my QTH ! In spite of this, 570 is the best 
channel for Radio Reloj in the Montreal area ! (Chiochiu-QC)

640 VENEZUELA   YVQO, Unión Radio, Puerto La Cruz, Anzoátegui JAN 20 0020 UTC - with Venezuelan basebal play-by-play ! Very poor at best, though veteran Venezuelan DXer José Eliaz Díaz Gomez was 
able to confirm this was the Tigres de Aragua vs Los Tiburanes de la Guaíra baseball game right on his local 640 kHz outlet ! Nice going, José ! ¡ Te agradecería una vez más la primera vez que sería capaz de 
escuchar a tú programa, Sintonía DX, con el sabor de nuestro hobby, SIN EL PODER DE INTERNET ! ¿Tiene usted programa durante este semana? 2nd time this season ! Used to be stronger in the past, but the condx toward Latin America on mediumwave have been misery ! (Chiochiu-QC) 

640 CUBA   CMBC Radio Progreso, Guanabacoa (50 kW) and/or CMBD Radio Progreso, Las Tunas (10 kW) JAN 22 0541 UTC - Noted in passing at a rather poor level. Seems like the Guanabacoa outlet of the 
Cuban Radio Progreso network isn't running full power (50 kW) as they did many years ago, such as back in 2000-2001 when they were slightly easier than YVQO on this channel ! Where is Guadeloupe ? (Chiochiu-QC)

750 VENEZUELA   YVKS, Radio Caracas Radio, Caracas, Distrito Federal JAN 25 2340 UTC - Man in Spanish speaking with a charismatic voice, but almost impossible to understand due to WSB. SIO 422. A 
strong signal, even though it is heavily QRMed and the only South American audible tonight ! Nulling 760 WJR Detroit, MI leaves nothing but a high-pitched growl along with weak residual WJR (deep nulls on 
midwestern pests are slightly more difficult during high-latitude conditions) ! 750 is quiet with WSB (Atlanta, GA) and YVKS fighting, so on some channels my QTH is a DXer Paradise ! (Chiochiu-QC)

750 CUBA   CMHG, Radio Progreso, Sancti Spiritus JAN 25 2343 UTC - Romantic male Spanish vocal getting through a weak co-channel WSB while YVKS completly faded out ! Cuba is the third easiest station to 
hear on 750 AM after WSB and Venezuela ! (Chiochiu-QC)

760 COLOMBIA   HJAJ, RCN Cadena Basíca, Barranquilla JAN 26 0037 UTC - Finally surfaced in WJR null for the prize of the 2nd South American to reach my QTH this evening with woman doing a news item 
about aggressive behaviour "la violencia", followed by man teletalk in a difficult to maintain WJR null ! Better on the low-side of 760 to avoid slops from local-like WABC on 770 (NYC) ! Initially: SIO 443 ! Total SINPO 44523 ! (Chiochiu-QC)



Domestic DX

1240 WOON Woonsocket, RI JAN 18 0200-0300 EST - code IDs and voice announcements "This is a test broadcast, WOON Twelf-Forty...distance..." part of the voice announcements such as "...distance..." clearly cut through the mush. Also heard a singed NOS 1940s / early 1950s jingle - nice to hear such stuff from a short-skip North American broadcast, especially on such a crowded local channel where there are many even closer ones such as WSKI trying to stole the WOON's signal which is a refreshing format on our rather ugly AM Broadcast Band ! Taped repport was sent to them ! This was right after falling in love... So it sames the sexual healing energy of love brought me: my first ever DX test, my furthest east reception on LW (Poland), Aventure FM jingles, Pacific FM ones and a couple of scoped airchecks from Radio Contact, a station I growed with (the second private station in Bucharest, badly damaged by Clear Channel who purchassed it in 2003 and rebranded it as the awful junk radio known by the nickname of KISS FM 96.1 in Bucharest, 91.1 in Constanta, 92.8 in Ploiesti and elsewhere on over fifty national frequencies - the original Radio Contact is still well and alive in Belgium, so check it out at http://www.radiocontact.be/splashpage/splashpage.htm, but the music charts and the hits that come along are getting worse every year, due to the moneymaking naricisistico-pragmatic attitude of many label managers - just check out the latest Britney and Rihanna tracks to understand why) ! The month of January of 2009 is a terrific one for me ! (Chiochiu-QC)


Additionnal comments: today was radio day ! After having complete the renewal subscription to the college radio activities, I decided to share with you my excitement, switching my position during the last few minutes between the radio shack and the computer, as the new computer doesn't seem to harm reception. I turn it off and the buzz or growls are still harming the same channels !

Friday night was airchecks time with some very limited DX early in the evening, before my mind switched to another radio-related hobby. I found airchecks from Radio Contact (Romania), Pacific FM and, most important of all, Aventure FM ! Unbelievable, but true ! The next show, I'm about to do at the college radio station will be a tribute to Aventure FM ! I have done 4 shows so far... Since getting beyond your own limits was among the topics on the Aventure FM's shows, I plan to air a few DX items on my show. Seems like the love healing energy is working, indeed, after the midas touch with the woman I breath, everything started to work for me: finding airchecks of stations having had a very small listnership, being less hyperactive when learning German and the day of the German class (yesturday) had late during the evening, after local midnight, Germany on 177 kHz LW ! Unbelievable ! As this is not enough, local Mix 96 rebranded it's self as Virgin Radio 96 (Montreal) and it is perphaps the most decent local FM outlet out there, sounding similar to the old Romanian Radio Contact... I wish everyday of my life could be lived during an endless beginning of January, 2009 and...

Love, love and...again love ! Aside from school, I will be very buzy during the upcoming months, so don't worry if you don't hear from me too often ! I will do my best to still involved in DXing, but I don't promise nothing ! Seems like my enthousiasm for DXing fades-in and out just like a distant radio signal !

The postal service between Canada and the USA is incredibly slow. Both my subscription to DX News and my reception repport to WOON-1240 went unanswered and I wonder why, but it does nothing to me, psychologically speaking, when compared to all the good things I'm going through !

This repport is brought to you by Bogdan Alexandru Chiochiu DXing from Pierrefonds (Montreal's West Island), PQ - QC using the Sanyo MCD-S830 / internal ferrite bar antenna combo for mediumwave
and the Sangean CST-818's PK's Shielded Magnetic LW loop combo for longwave ! A third combo might be his heart along with his hears as, at it's peak, he (me) has (have) a huge passion for everything radio-related or almost !

May the good DX be with you !
Bogdan Chiochiu
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