logs: 1-2 FEB 1997
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
logs: 1-2 FEB 1997
This is a message from wa1ion@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Mark Connelly )
to hard-core-dx@xxxxxxxxxx list. To unsubscribe the list, send
"unsubscribe hard-core-dx" in mail body to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxx
[*H-MA] = East Harwich, Cape Cod, MA (GC= 70.02 W / 41.71 N)
<near jct. Routes 39 & 137: pitch pine forest 2 km from ocean>
Receiver: Drake R8A
Antenna system: remotely-tuned loop, 25 m. sloper
======================================================
*** TRANS-ATLANTIC DX ***
~
549 ALGERIA, Les Trembles, FEB 1 0408 - AA news by man, through
Venezuela/Cuba-550 slop. + FEB 1 2246 - LOUD w/ AA male group chorus
& drums; destroying 550. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
549 SAUDI ARABIA, Qurayyat, FEB 1 2316 - // 648 w/ AA Koranic
vocal. Algeria, which was atop, luckily had talk at the time.
This made paralleling the music easier. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
558 SPAIN, RNE5 synchros, FEB 1 0407 - // 585 w/ bits of ragtime
jazz, voice-over by man in SS; fair. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
567 IRELAND, RTE R.1, Tullamore, FEB 1 0401 - fair w/ man reading
news in EE. + FEB 1 2325 - woman in EE, C&W music including Buck
Owens; huge S9+40 signal completely crushed WMCA/CJEM-570 w/ the
receiver in wide bandwidth. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
576 SPAIN, RNE5, Barcelona, FEB 1 0428 - // 738 w/ man in SS; fair.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
585 SPAIN, RNE1, Madrid, FEB 1 0358 - // other RNE1's w/
instrumental orchestral music (possibly a movie theme); excellent.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
603 SPAIN, RNE5, Sevilla / Palencia, FEB 1 2250 - man & woman in
SS; good. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
612 MOROCCO, Sebaa-Aioun, FEB 1 2249 - woman in AA; o/ others.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
621 CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN, RNE1, FEB 1 0422 - // 738 w/ romantic
female SS vocal; excellent. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
639 SPAIN, RNE1, La Coruna et al., FEB 1 0355 - // 855 w/ acoustic
guitar, then SS talk by woman; loud. + FEB 1 2313 - man in SS;
killing CBN/WNNZ-640. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
648 SAUDI ARABIA, Jeddah, FEB 1 2316 - // 549 Qurayyat w/ AA
Koranic vocal; good to excellent ! Low-band Middle East signals
were very good on the new sloper. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
657 SPAIN, RNE5, Madrid, FEB 1 2303 - SS news by man & woman;
good, generally getting through WFAN slop. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
666 PORTUGAL, RDP, Lisboa, FEB 1 0627 - female PP vocal; fair.
+ FEB 1 2247 - PP sporting coverage; local-like ! [Connelly*H-MA]
~
675 NETHERLANDS, R. Ten Gold, Lopik, FEB 1 2328 - this one
"duking it out" w/ France and eventually winning: oldies music
topped the FF talker. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
684 SPAIN, RNE1, Sevilla, FEB 1 0349 - // 855 w/ SS vocal; fair.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
693 UNITED KINGDOM, BBC, Droitwich et al., FEB 1 2306 - BBC EE
news w/ man & woman and a report from an overseas correspondent;
rising o/ Azores. + FEB 1 2318 - now up to LOCAL-LIKE strength
(mauling CBF) w/ talk about the upcoming Pakistani election.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
702 MOROCCO, RTM, Sebaa-Aioun, FEB 1 2335 - AA talk by woman;
barely o/ a mushy pile-up of others. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
711 WESTERN SAHARA, Laayoune, FEB 1 2320 - AA vocal; very strong
signal, but either AC hum on carrier or a bad growl from someone
about 50 Hz off frequency. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
729 SPAIN, RNE1, Oviedo et al., FEB 1 2321 - SS talk by man; fair
o/ several others (but too much CKAC slop to analyze the subdominant
stations' audios). [Connelly*H-MA]
~
738 SPAIN, RNE1, Barcelona, FEB 1 0417 - // 639 et al. w/
operatic / romantic style SS pop vocal; good. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
747 CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN, FEB 1 2329 - SS talk by man briefly
dominant o/ others during a fade of Netherlands. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
747 NETHERLANDS, Flevoland, FEB 1 0418 - man in Dutch, then jazz;
o/ others. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
756 GERMANY, Deutschlandradio, Braunschweig/Ravensburg,
FEB 1 2330 - massive signal here w/ cocktail-lounge jazz
piano & bass. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
765 SENEGAL, Dakar, FEB 1 2308 - energetic African singing &
yelling; initially good & over Switzerland's classical music.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
765 SWITZERLAND, RSR, Sottens, FEB 1 2309 - classical music
noted u/ Senegal. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
774 EGYPT, Abis, FEB 1 2336 - AA vocals & violins; giving Spain
serious competition. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
774 SPAIN, RNE1 synchros, FEB 1 0433 - // 738 w/ light orchestral
music; to excellent peak. + FEB 1 2310 - HUGE (15 dB stronger than
adjacent WABC !): SS talk mentioning US football stars visiting
Barcelona; atop AA music station. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
783.06 SYRIA, Tartus, FEB 1 2331 - woman in AA getting through
tough growl. 827 also coming in, but audio there wasn't as good.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
819 EGYPT, Batra, FEB 1 2333 - Koranic vocal surfaced over "the
mother of all pile-ups" on this channel. Two other identifiable
and several unID stations were noted popping in & out over the
course of a minute. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
819 MOROCCO, Rabat, FEB 1 2333 - // 207 w/ man & woman in AA;
briefly making it through a colossal multi-station jumble w/ Egypt,
Spain, & others. This channel's graveyard-like amalgamation of
international RF held the S-meter at a steady S9+25 or better.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
819 SPAIN, EI, San Sebastian, FEB 1 2333 - SS teletalk bubbled
out of the co-channel stew for a few seconds. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
837 AZORES, RDP, Pico da Barossa, FEB 1 2337 - strong w/ fast
PP talk o/u Canaries-Spain COPE stations. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
837 CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN, COPE synchros, FEB 1 2337 - SS
talk o/u Azores; good peaks. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
837 FRANCE, Nancy, FEB 1 0606 - // 864 w/ rustic carnival /
circus type music w/ accordion & other instruments; fair o/
jumble. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
855 SPAIN, RNE1, Murcia et al., FEB 1 0349 - SS talk, old-
style pop vocal; good on peaks, but w/ deep fast fades.
+ FEB 1 2337 - local-like w/ man in SS; at least as good as
adjacent WEEI-850. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
864 EGYPT, Santah, FEB 1 2338 - AA vocal mixing w/ Spain.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
864 FRANCE, Paris, FEB 1 0603 - // 945 & 1206 w/ FF female
vocal; fair to good. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
864 SPAIN, RNE1, Socuellamos, FEB 1 2338 - SS teletalk o/u Egypt.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
873 SPAIN, SER R. Zaragoza, Zaragoza, FEB 1 2339 - excellent w/
fast SS talk; well o/ unID that had jazz-style vocal. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
882 CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN, FEB 1 2340 - SS talk by man /
teletalk; o/u BBC UK. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
882 UNITED KINGDOM, BBC Wales, Washford, FEB 1 2340 - woman
in EE evenly mixed w/ Canaries-Spain synchros. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
891 ALGERIA, Algiers, FEB 1 2349 (890.97 kHz) - AA talk by man
including telephone news interview. This was running S9+30, but
w/ rather light modulation. Parallel 549, running S9+20, had
better audio quality and, therefore, superior overall reception
merit. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
909 UNITED KINGDOM, BBC R.5 synchros, FEB 1 0604 - fair w/
EE news. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
918 SPAIN, R. Intercontinental, Madrid, FEB 1 2342 - man in SS;
o/ AA-sounding station & others; tough CJCH/WHJJ slop at times.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
945 FRANCE, Toulouse, FEB 1 0601 - Caribbean-influenced female
FF vocal; excellent, almost local-like. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
954 SPAIN, R. Espana, Madrid, FEB 1 2343 - SS talk mixed w/
several others. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
981 ALGERIA, Algiers, FEB 1 0600 - AA vocal; poor to fair.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
981 PORTUGAL, R. Renascenca synchros, FEB 1 2345 - fast PP talk
(sports coverage ?) o/ two other audios; all under a big open
(or poorly-modulated) carrier that was likely from the Algerian.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
999 SPAIN, COPE, Madrid, FEB 1 0640 - HUGE w/ SS teletalk,
completely annihilating the stations on 1000. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1008 CANARY ISLANDS, R. Las Palmas, FEB 1 0644 - non-SER
program w/ folk/pop music & SS talk; in jumble. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1017 TURKEY, Istanbul-Mundanya, FEB 1 2350 - // 1062 w/ serious-
sounding Islamic-vocal music; in mix w/ Germany & Spain. This
was on after normal the 2300 sign-off time, probably because of
Ramadan. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1026 SPAIN, SER synchros, FEB 1 2346 - // 1044 w/ SS teletalk;
some WBZ slop. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1044 MOROCCO, Sebaa-Aioun, FEB 1 2347 - AA talk was under Spain at
first, then it came up and blew away the SER stations. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1044 SPAIN, SER synchros, FEB 1 0645 - SS talk by woman; good.
+ FEB 1 2346 - SS teletalk; excellent. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1053 MOROCCO, Tanger, FEB 1 2348 - // 1044 w/ AA talk by man;
briefly o/ stew of stations. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1062 DENMARK, Kalundborg, FEB 1 0558 - folk music, then man
in Danish; fair. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1062 TURKEY, Diyarbakir, FEB 1 2353 - // 1017 w/ Middle Eastern
type vocal; to strong peaks and apparently on late for Ramadan.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
1071 SPAIN (t), FEB 1 2354 - Spanish classical guitar music
(maybe Andres Segovia); hammered by CBA slop. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1089 UNITED KINGDOM, Talk Radio synchros, FEB 1 0647 - EE talk
by man, phone calls; fair. + FEB 1 2355 - EE teletalk o/ others;
good on peaks. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1098 SLOVAKIA, Nitra, FEB 1 2356 - woman in Slavic language
w/ teletalk; loud S9+30 signal, well o/ Spain. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1098 SPAIN, RNE5 synchros, FEB 1 0649 - man in SS through low-
pitched growl & slop. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1107 SPAIN, RNE5 synchros, FEB 1 0650 - woman in SS; to good
peak. + FEB 1 2356 - SS teletalk; good. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1134 CROATIA, HR, Zadar, FEB 1 2357 - strong w/ Slavic talk;
but under assault from bad WBBR slop. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1179 SPAIN // CANARY ISLANDS, SER synchros, FEB 1 2358 - SS
talk mixed w/ possible Romania and an AA music station.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
1179 unID (possibly EGYPT), FEB 1 2358 - AA music mixed w/
Spain & others. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1206 FRANCE, R. Bleue, Bordeaux, FEB 1 0553 - female FF vocal;
good. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1206 ISRAEL (t), FEB 2 0000 - Hebrew-sounding talk (news);
poor, hammered by WPHT slop. AA-sounding music surfaced about
3 minutes later: not certain if from the same station or from
something else. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1215 SPAIN, COPE synchros, FEB 1 2300 - SS news, in mess.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
1251 LIBYA, Tripoli, FEB 1 2259 - AA male vocal; fair.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
1467 FRANCE, TWR, Roumoules, FEB 1 2258 - religious music;
fair. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1554 GABON (t), FEB 1 2252 - fair carrier here was probably
this, but the audio was hopelessly shredded by out-of-control
WQEW slop. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1620 NETHERLANDS, Scheveningen, PCH, FEB 1 2256 - "PCH" Morse
code and data bursts; way atop CT Department of Transportation
TIS station. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
1698 SPAIN, utility station, La Coruna, FEB 1 2254 - SS talk
by man on upper sideband; very good. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
*** PAN-AMERICAN DX ***
~
535 GRENADA, GBC, St. George's, FEB 1 0408 - // 555 w/
cricket match; good. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
540 MEXICO, XEWA, Monterrey, FEB 1 0625 - SS "X-E-W-A" ID,
then dance-music female SS vocal; good, rolling in o/ the
rest of the pack. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
550 VENEZUELA, Mundial, YVKE, Caracas, FEB 1 0718 - slow SS
group vocal & strings // YVYM-880; dominant o/ the Cuban.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
555 ST. KITTS & NEVIS, ZIZ, Basseterre, FEB 1 0405 - good w/
cricket coverage. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
595 DOMINICA, DBS, Hillsborough, FEB 1 0411 - // 535 & 555
w/ West Indies cricket match broadcast; fair through 594 TA
het / QRM. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
670 CUBA, R. Rebelde, CMQ, Arroyo Arenas, FEB 1 1140 -
R. Rebelde ID mixed w/ other SS station & WMAQ just before
sunrise. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
673.4 unID (CANADA ?), FEB 1 2305 - a whopper of a buzz here
(but no intelligible audio): possibly the Newfie drifter (CKXB)
previously heard on 672. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
690 COLOMBIA, R. Recuerdo, HJCZ, FEB 1 0629 - R. Recuerdo ID;
o/u CBF. No sign of the Cuban "buzz" at the time. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
810 COLOMBIA, CARACOL, HJCY, Bogota, FEB 1 0638 - // 960 w/
SS vocal, accordion music; o/u WGY. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
830 ST. KITTS & NEVIS, TBN, Basseterre, FEB 1 0635 - // to
(weaker) 7510 w/ US EE preacher; excellent, blowing out WCRN &
the others. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
880 VENEZUELA, Mundial, YVYM, Puerto Ordaz, FEB 1 0718 -
// YVKE-550 w/ slow SS group vocal & strings; u/ WCBS.
[Connelly*H-MA]
~
960 COLOMBIA, CARACOL, HJOP, Magangue, FEB 1 0638 - // 810 w/
SS vocal, accordion music; dominant. [Connelly*H-MA]
~
Comments section (with corrections from earlier version):
I installed a sloper of about 25 m length at a "take-off" angle
of 45 degrees from a window of the Harwich house to one of the
nearby pine trees. The orientation of the wire, with the low
end located northeast of the high end, gave some directivity to
enhance European / Middle East reception and to reduce interference
from New York City and other stations to the west and southwest.
During the early evening of Saturday (1 FEB) the sloper was put
to the test. Routine TA's were noted at first, then things got
a bit more interesting with some good "fetch" from the eastern
Mediterranean zone. With Ramadan in progress (10 JAN to 8 FEB
this year), some Middle East stations were on beyond their normal
closing times. A "drop you in your tracks" signal popped in
on 1062 from Diyarbakir in eastern Turkey: Islamic music parallel
to Mundanya-Istanbul (1017 kHz) at 2353 UTC. Normally these TRT
stations sign off at 2300. Other good signals from the region
included Syria-783, Egypt-819, Egypt-864, and Saudi Arabia on 648.
The seldom-heard Saudi on 549 was heard behind dominant Algeria
with music parallel to strong 648. The opening was primarily
low-band: the usual "blowtorch" on 1521 was poor at the time and
VOA Kuwait - 1548 was just a het. 827 had a bit of Syria, but
audio was inhibited by slop from strong (but incoherent) clusters
of stations on 828 and 830. At 2358 UTC on 1179 there was some
Arabic-sounding music mixing with Spain-Canaries, maybe Egypt ?
On 1206 there was possible Hebrew talk (Israel) at 0000 UTC (2 FEB)
and then a Koranic-sounding vocal briefly in at 0003 (no ideas on
this one). Usual low-band Europeans were very strong on the sloper:
Ireland-567 hit S9+40 with just the unamplified wire straight into
the R8A's 500 ohm input. Some listening the previous night with a
loop revealed only mediocre TA DX results, so the new antenna was
proving its worth. The next thing I'll have to try is phasing the
sloper against a loop or another wire. Since I don't own the house
I can't string out a spiderweb of wires and make the place look
like Navy Radio Annapolis or the Menwith Hill, UK site described
in the latest issue of Monitoring Times.