[HCDX] Glenn Hauser logs July 8-9, 2009

[Glenn Hauser <wghauser@xxxxxxxxx>]

** CANADA [and non]. CFRX, 6070, July 9 at 1245 with QRM from a roar, no doubt the N. Korean transmitter, VOK in Japanese which probably went off a few minutes later leaving what little summer daytime signal remained of CFRX in the clear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA [and non]. Firedrake check July 8 at 1311: audible on 14430 for the second day instead of 14420, but not audible on any other of the usual frequencies 8-19 MHz. Conditions quite poor today plus local T-storms in the morning.

July 9: at 1250 JBA on 8400, not on 9000 but at 1322 JBA on 9000. At 1327 JBA on 13970 but good on 14430, better than // 15730, JBA 17500, not on 18320. 15730 is the transmitter that has been jumping around in the 15.7s, presumably tracking Sound of Hope. 

July 9 edition of Aoki explains:
15750*Xi Wang Zhi Sheng SOH 1230-1300 1234567 Chinese 100 131 Dushanbe-Yangiyul TJK 06848E3829N SOH a09 May 25- 15720-157 
15750*Xi Wang Zhi Sheng SOH 1400-1430 1234567 Chinese 100 131 Dushanbe-Yangiyul TJK 06848E3829N SOH a09 May 25- 15750-157 

Isn`t Tajikistan relay new for SOH? But my log was during the 13-14 UT break in Aoki listings. Timing and frequency probably change every day (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. RHC check July 8 at 1650 found 11760 still on at midday; too much local noise to confirm the others. 

Next check at 2032: any English starting this hour? No, both 11760 and 17660 in Spanish, an echo apart. 13760 also echoing vs 11760, audible on much weaker 11800; and just barely on 12000, which seems to have been abandoned in the mornings, and if it stays on past 2100 will collide with HCJB Spanish. At 2103, yes, HCJB over another signal with a SAH. The RNV relay was operating normally on 17705 at 2038 check.

Meanwhile, at 2043 also found RHC on 11770 // 11760. At 2104 the program on 11760 announced as ``Revista Iberoamericana de Radio Habana Cuba``, and still // 13760 and 17660, while 11770 and 13790 now on the air with open carrier only. At 2105 those two joined Spanish // the others.

The confusing transmission schedule at http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm
still has not been updated to show any of these changes, altho it`s been a sesquiweek since the Honduran coup. From this you`d never know that RHC is staying on the air after 0700, and 1500-2000+. Presumably the takeover by RHC Spanish of RHC English and other language transmissions is ad-hoc and may revert to original sked at any time. But don`t count on it: once RHC has an obsession, they milk it to death; just ask the Cinco Héroes.

UT July 9 observations: at 0618, nice classical guitar music, but did not last long, on 11760 // 6140, 6120 echo apart, 6000, with English on 6010, 6060. This seems to be a reliable pattern at the moment instead of all frequencies in English after 0500.

Big discrepancy at 1317: on 9570, the CRI relay in English overridden by RHC Spanish // all the other frequencies. Same buzzy spurs as always against R. Australia on 9560, 9580. Hard to decide whether this was an audio feed/mixture problem, or two transmitters by mistake on same frequency 9570. At 1325 I noticed a `slow SAH`, irregular deep fades, maybe averaging about once every 4 seconds, or 0.25 Hz, which points to two transmitters. Mix still going at 1334 check, but at 1336 both dumped off the air simultaneously, so that points to two audios/one transmitter. Maybe they noticed the problem? No, just a normal failure at RHC, as both came back two minutes later. Meanwhile I checked all the other usual frequencies at 1335 to find if any of them were missing: no, confirmed on: 15360, 15120, 13880, 13780, 13760, 13680, 11800, 11760, 6000, 5965. Final check at 1354: still the mixture on 9570, Commies vs Commies for sure! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
 DIGEST)

** INDONESIA. VOI still on 9526- instead of 9525-, July 9 at 1316 with English talk, only poor signal but luckily nothing on 9525 to het it during the English hour unlike before and after (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. There was sporadic E DX from here for many hours July 8 into UT July 9, channels 2-3-4 loaded with signals in Spanish, mostly too much QRM to make much out, and at times poking up to channels 5, 6, and into FM. The best we could do in most TV cases was identify the network by bug and/or TV Guide program listings, rather than individual stations call letters. All times UT. Originally compiled in chrono order, then re-sorted into frequency order.

Channel 2: 1413 UT, studio show with `hoy` lower-case bug in lower right (LR) --- that`s the Mexican version of ``Today`` on the XEW-2 network, not to be confused with a Panamanian callsign starting with HO! It could be XEW-2 itself from DF or one of several relays. Unfortunately an unexpected thunderstorm was about to hit and that closed down all external-antenna TV DX activity almost until local noon.

Channel 4: at 2205 UT, could make out Spongebob on 4 and 3, as well as 5, so XHGC-net but too much QRM most of the time on 3 and 4. 

Channel 4: at 2306, GUADALAJARA, JAL. Supered below talking head, so likely XHG.

Channel 4, at 2334, a large 4 bug in the upper left with small letters under it; and at the bottom of the screen at the left large NX plus more letters to the right. TV Guide shows NXclusivo as the show on the XEQ Galavisión network at this time. Per W9WI the only two for this on 4 are XHBO in Oaxaca and XHGK in Tapachula.

Channel 4, at 2326, 5 net logo UR on novela? with hischool kids. At 2333 saw SPELLING BEE ROUND 7 behind characters in a sitcom, maybe same one, soundtrack language unknown.

Channel 5: at 2158, same-offset CCI to KOCO-5 nightlight, occasionally overriding video but not audio, with Spongebob Squarepants (forget the surname in Spanish; is he syndicated OTA anywhere in USA or only on NIK cable?), and kept running past 2200. This checks with schedule for XHGC-5 network, and on 5 it could be XHGC México DF itself, which is also zero-offset; but so are about five other full-power repeaters around the country. BTW, all of Mexico is within single-hop E-skip range from here. Same CCI seen again July 9 at 0155.

Channel 6: 87.75, channel 6 audio as monitored on FM radio: at 1731, world news in Spanish, about Italy; CCI. At 1743 SS YL with word game show. On caradio at 1829, Azteca-13 promos. At 1944, Spanish game/quiz show about Michael Jackson. MUF just to here, nothing making it thru above 88 MHz at this time. 

Later had several ch 6 events with video and/or audio. At 2217 Rumbo a la Final, promo for some silly ballgame, I suppose; 2225 novela with Azteca 13 bug in upper right. This consists of two vertical lines, and to their right 3 shorter dots. Maybe that`s Aztec for 5+5+3. Unfortunately there are about eight full-power Azteca-13s around Mexico on channel 6. 2232 audio, ads in pesos, including for hair conditioner. 

Into UT July 9: 0025 on 6, talk show around table, A-13 bug in UR, and below it ``en vivo``. To clinch it, crawler across lower part of screen mentioning AZTECA 13. 

At 0155 on 6, fútbol, which matches TVG listings for XEQ Galavisión net, live, US vs Honduras --- but W9WI.com does not have any XEQ relay on 6, hi power or lo! Could it be extra-Mexican? Mixing with Novela showing A-13 bug.

At 0225 on 6 audio 87.75, A-13 promo, CCI.

FM: 1700 UT, heavy Es on channels 2-5 and more. 1720, unfortunately, the storm has bumped up tropo, which makes finding a clear FM frequency for Es even more difficult. Wichita and Tulsa are inbooming along with OKC stations and all around these areas. Mostly I look for standout Spanish tho we have some local Spanish such as 92.1 in Enid, 92.7 in Wichita (a ``Hydraulic`` street address is a dead giveaway), and some OKC-area toward the top end.

I head to the porch with my DX-398 portable, as I manoeuvre the whip to minimize local QRM. DX seems to improve with it horizontal, minimizing the vertically-polarized component of locals.

93.9: at 1722, first Spanish found is on 93.9, song, fading. At 1726 I am getting at least two SS here, one talk, one music. Ad with a weight in onzas, so maybe US origin. 1727 singing ID as ``Estéreo Milenio, 93.9 Digital, sólo éxitos``. No match for that slogan in 2009 Emisoras de FM (hereafter EFM). Or in Google search. At 1736, again two stations mixing with talk and music; YL talk discussing relationships. 

At 1739 I was hearing some of the same audio on 93.3, along with CCI, via the local Enid translator K227AT which relays KIMY 93.9 Watonga, and anything else overriding it on 93.9!

Back to 93.9 itself: 1754, once again at least two SS stations mixing, song and talk. 1755, ad for Puerto Vallarta, but probably promoting it elsewhere as destination, no station listed there; timecheck for 5 before the hour, ``93 punto 9`` by YL, Monterrey mentioned, and ad for a technical institute. Once again, no NL station on 93.9 so another dead end. 1757 ad string, one for some event taking place July 11 on the campus universitario, and Universidad Michoacana mentioned on the other station. Now we have an abundance of riches as two stations are listed in Michoacán, one in the capital Morelia, XHMO which does at least use ``digital`` in its slogan. So tentatively that.

97.7 is another frequency that passes for ``clear`` around here. (Enid`s part-15 ``WECS`` has been inactive since last report in April or May but too far from the home shack to matter anyway.) At 1823 heard Spanish talk. 1743, PSA for suprema corte, CCI from YL DJ, 12:44 timecheck, mentioned Chihuahua, and a bit later ``97-7, La Número Uno en éxitos``. CCI at 1745 had ad for ropa. 1745 ``#1`` slogan again, Cine-Mex and Wal-Mart ads. I really can`t be certain which ads came from which station. Guess what: there are no Chihuahua stations in EFM on 97.7; but just hearing a state mentioned could also be part of a street address, or even a business name anywhere else. The slogan above does not match anything on 97.7 in EFM either. 

How about Cine-Mex? I was afraid it`s a national chain everywhere, but http://cinemex.com/cartelera/complejo.php shows it only in DF and six other cities. The only match in EFM is DF, which is XERC. Another tentative log?

At 1752 on 97.7, ad for Servi-Llantas which carries Goodyear, Café-W, pesos, local street addresses unrecognized, one mentioning Obregón, which is a national name applying to streets, etc. everywhere. But next ad mentions `potosina` and San Luís Potosí, so this one is definite, XHSNP. And the RDS was displaying TEMP 24C even after it had faded out.

Then at 1758 on 97.7, ads for Banco de México, and for Cinemas Henry. Per http://www.cinemashenry.com.mx/ we have a match for Tampico, XHRW.

At 1801 on 97.7 ad for some event, school? running 20 July to 7 August in Tampico, ``Arcoiris Mágico``, promo for something at 3-5 pm on ``Los 40 Principales, 97 punto 7``. VG signal for a while. Los 40 Principales is indeed the slogan of XHRW Tampico, per EFM. Means Top 40 and there`s probably one in every market. MUF dropped down around 1805 so I quit for a while.

95.3, briefly at 1830 some SS music. Both Tampico and SLP, heard earlier, have stations on this frequency. Plus several others. Now I`m on the caradio.

105.9, at 1750, briefly SS conversation with YL. AFAIK, the OK stations in Hobart and Seminole are not SS. So maybe this was MexDX at MUF spike? No, KSSA near Garden City, Kansas fits (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** NIGERIA. Don`t often hear VON 15120 at 0626, but there it was July 9 with news in English about Africa, poor-fair, fades (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. As I was hunting for FM DX from Mexico, noted the following non-DX. July 8 at 1730 UT on 96.5, heard ``The new Mix 96`` slogan, from Tulsa. What`s new about it? However RDS at 1734 displayed MIX 96.5 amid scrolling song titles. So is it 96 or 96.5??

At 1724 found steady signal on 99.7 stereo, gospel rock. Is Mustang, SW of OKC, finally on the air, KZLS moved from Alva/Enid? Never heard any ID or other talk as I tuned by several more times. Later at 2230, however, no significant signal on 99.7, so maybe an early/irregular test, or fooled by something else tropping in at midday (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also 93.3 under MEXICO

** RUSSIA. 12000, VOR via Khabarovsk, July 8 at 1256 distorted during music, Chinese announcement, carrier motorboating obviously with BFO on; finally went off at 1401:25* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SPAIN. REE making it thru on 13m again, July 9 at 1333 on 21610, 21570, weaker 21540, poor with fades, maybe sporadic E-assisted on final hop (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TAIWAN. RTI Japanese service, 9735, again accompanied by buzzy spurs around 9730 and 9740 July 9 at 1314. The higher one was of slightly higher pitch than the lower one indicating the fundamental was a smidgin on the low side. These spurs appear only occasionally. I should think the 9730v one would be a problem for those monitoring Myanmar on 9731v, not a chance of it here, but have seen no mention of it in that connexion. However, RTI is on 9735 only at 11-12 and 13-14 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** U K [non]. July 8 at 2051, slow SAH between two stations on 11855: one in Luso Portuguese, no doubt BBC to Africa via Ascension, 250 kW at 114 degrees during this semihour only M-F; and WYFR which is on 11855 2000-0200 in Spanish, 100 kW at 222 degrees, so theoretically no collision. In the clear at 2100 with YFR IS. BTW, WYFR in English during the previous hour 19-20 on 11855, is via Ascension too, 250 kW at 65 degrees. And Portuguese on 11855 not to be confused with Brazilian from low-power R. Aparecida at 0800-0300 per Aoki (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 18770, WWRB 2 x // 9385 audible July 9 at 1331, fading up to S9+5, and down to S3 or less, non-BS talker at the moment, but soon turned over to the Voice of the Last Days Prophet of God. Ralph sure knows how to make up apocalyptic titles for himself! Was expecting this, as usual tipoffs, nearby WWCR 13845 and 15825 were inbooming a few minutes earlier; however, sporadic E MUF had still not built up to 56 MHz by 1530 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. Haven`t heard the spurs from WWRB 9385 lately around 9458 or 9322, so July 9 at 1316 as I bandscanned downward, looked for 9458. Well, there was a very weak unstable carrier on 9459.4, so is that it? No! 9385 itself not on yet, as Dave changes 3185 to 9385 whenever he gets around to it sometime between 1300 and 1330. See also USA WWRB. What could 9460v be? No stations at all scheduled at this hour, but Aoki says V of Turkey will resume it on August 2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###


      

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