[HCDX] foreign DX catches logged (NOV 4 - DEC 20, 2008)

[aurel chiochiu <acq@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Reception repport from:
Bogdan Chiochiu DX'ing from Pierrefonds / Montreal's West Island, QC, Canada using the Sanyo MCD-S830 barefoot; also using the Sangean CST-818 rx with the Austrlian PK's Shielded Magnetic LW loop

Pan-American DX

530 CUBA,   Radio Enciclopedia, La Habana - is this station famous for instrumental music in the vein of the former YVRQ "Radio Aeropuerto" format on 910 (switched to Errey-Coo 910 in 1986) ? Heard occasionally at fair level (steady and fair during the best condx), though not as easy as one would think. RVC missing. (Chiochiu-QC)

540 unID   "Radio Cadena La Voz de la Victoria" DEC 12 0153 - live announcer playing SS christian vocals (some were vallenato sounding) ans talking about the birth of Jesus Christ the masochist and about several chapters in the Bible. Most likely guess would be HJKA, Radio Autentica with a brand new slogan, since it had Colombian sounding program. However, RCN-760 (Barranquilla) wasn't in at the time. I'm puzzled with this one ! Any help would be greatly appreciated ! Are there any domestics broadcasting in Spanish on 540 ? Nicaragua used to be regularly reported by DX'ers a tide older than me in the 70s and 80s, but it's definitively something else than YNOW Radio Corporación, Managua. Didn't sound like previously logged by me XEWA. (Chiochiu-QC - in it's null, of course, CBAF in Windsor, ON since condx were not even slightly auroral)

555 ST KITTS,   ZIZ, Basseterre DEC 20 0020 - playing a calypso song full of falsetto harmonies. Digusting, but even this kind of awful stuff has it charms when it is thrown in a bunch of slight splatter from 550 and 560 with a dark-edged remote sound, almost like trying to reach out a remote island somewhere very far. + DEC 20 0225 - with BBCWS. Fair-good. Probably more reliable than a lot of their SW transmissions since they aren't beaming toward NA anymore. (Chiochiu-QC)

570 CUBA,    CMEA, Radio Reloj, Pilón DEC 14 0043 - with woman complementing the real nature of socialism, then RR code ID and TC (time-check - this abbreviation is seldom used). Good over/under WSYR Syracruse and other pests. Regular and the only reliable Radio Reloj in the Montreal area. (Chiochiu-QC)

640 CUBA,   CMBC, Radio Progreso, Guanabacoa DEC 14 0227 - woman romatinc SS vocal, presumably part of the nightly "Nocturno" Adult Contemporary px that R Progreso is famous for. Noted in passing while tuning from 555 to 940 (local) for enjoying the Coast to Coast parapsychological show before falling asleep. (Chiochiu-QC)

750 VENEZUELA,   YVKS, RCR, Caracas, Distrito Federal DEC 9 0129 - Several adverts including one for a liquor store, then almost legal ID followed by programming announcement. SINPO 44444, unbelievable, almost as strong as a short-skip domestic regional pest such as WICC 600 in Bridgeport, CT. I almost should be damned for not having had my tape running when I caught this in order to provide a transcribed ID here. Huge ! The past night (DEC 19/20 UTC), as I showed what AM DX sounded like to an older friend, they were noted with apparent baseball mixing with WSB, as South Americans were almost nil. (Chiochiu-QC - Seems like the only YV that gives their call-letters with any degree of regularity is Mundial Y-V-K-E on 550 kHz, one that is inaudible during strong high-latitude condx despite the demise of CHLN-550 - Bogdan).

760 COLOMBIA,   HJAJ, RCN Cadena Basíca, Barranquilla NOV 5 0305 - "La música y sús artistas" px with a man interviewing another man who had the opportunity to meet a Cuban singer who succesfully escaped from Cuba, followed by an item about Michael Jackson. SINPO 44434-3, fairly deep fadings, but slow deep fadings and huge peaks in WJR null. The only HJ I seem to hear with any degree of regularity anymore. + DEC 17 0200 - completly obliterated, if there, by WABC-770 who forgot their IBOC hash all night, obliterating both Barranquilla-760 and possible Coro, estado Falcón on 780. (Chiochiu-QC)

Trans-Atlantic DX

153 ALGERIA, RT Al Jazairi Radio Wahad, Bechar DEC 17 0234 - Bits of AA male talk and AA music getting through local computer generated noise and overloading QRMing (mixing products). There are a lot of mixing products on the Sangean receiver. SINPO 22212-1. Quickly lost and too much noise to wait for a later fade-in. (Chiochiu-QC)

162 FRANCE,   France Inter, Allouis DEC 17 0230 - EE pop mx show with detailed announcements concerning the discography of some popular American group followed by the morning show. One of the items was about the FNLA (Front national de libération de l'Afghanistan) requesting French troups to comeback and to leave Afghanistan alone. Fair with some computer noise. SINPO 34232. (Chiochiu-QC)

171 MOROCCO,   Medi Un, Nador DEC 17 0335 - traditionnal plaintive Arabic music (not raï !) followed by male in arabic who mentioned "arba" (four / 4 - the only Arabic I could make out, not because of the poor reception, but because my knowledge of AA is almost nil). Fair-good, stronger than France-162 and the strongest LW broadcaster. SINPO 34333. //  9575 NOT audible, as with such low solar activity, the nighttime MUF is around or just below 9 MHz (anyway, 9575 kHz is usually heard here on mid-to-late afternoons, like know If I just had my Sangean turned on with the longwire connected). (Chiochiu-QC)

549 ALGERIA,   RT Al Jazairi Radio Wahad, Les Trembles DEC 17 0216 - TENTATIVE ! bits of audio trying to get through as I tuned on the low-side of 550, around 548.5 or 549 on the analog dial-ruled GE Superradio-like Sanyo MCD-S830 (barefoot !), could not get it when I tuned on the high side (551 or 552) of the 550 channel. A Drake R8B rx with the same antenna gear, but with LSB would have nailed down this one easily. (Chiochiu-QC)

585 SPAIN,   RNE Radio Uno, Madrid - what can I say about this one, very strong with fair-good modulation making readibility so-so especially when considering that my Spanish is slightly poorer than my English (although by a slight margin). Often heard with singing contest and one night in November heard with the announcer asking several of his listeners about the city capitals of the world. Often good, occasionnaly very good, sometimes weak-fair, the easiest TA for me ! During my chemo, they used to have a flamenco show on Friday late nights / Saturday early mornings "madrugada", but not anymore as last night heard only with chatter. My friend was astonished, but his noteworthy surprise didn't last for long, since the reception was poor by non-DX standards i.e. DEC 20 0040 - woman with small chat into a techno version of Mamma Mia by Abba, poor-fair though it peaked stronger thought the evening. (Chiochiu-QC) 

1134 CROATIA,   Hrvatski Radio, Zadar DEC 20 0020 - playing apparently a Croatian alternative rock song then male in Croatian. Occasionally huge, though mostly eaten by splatter and overspills from 1130 which it more or less overcame, also deep fadings, SINPO 41522 (a weird SINPO, but we are talking right now about the most distant station I've ever IDed, aren't we ?). Unheard on the Sangean CST-818 even in Narrow band position which is more selective than my Sanyo, but, unfortunatly, much selective than it. But things are about to change ! (Chiochiu-QC)

Comments: lots of things undergoing for me. Seems like my passion for DXing has reappeared with a lot of devotion to LW DXing, even though using the almost done Sangean / PK's Shielded Magnetic loop combo I only had usable audio on Tuesday evening.

I found that keeping the antenna close enough to the radio's ferrite bar improove reception. Connected it is hard, because the antenna jack is not of the same shape. But, we purchased this week, from Ontario, an Eton G5 AM/FM/SW protable which receives LW as well for which the critics are more than awesome ! The radio arrived Friday and tonight I will be setten up for a new era of DXing, LW broadcasters, something that has eluded me for years (I remember having an obsession with Atlantic 252, even though Aventure FM, la radio de l'armée overcame it easily, but that's another story...).

Also, we are looking today for an antenna jack, in the case we can't connect the antenna to the Sangean and/or to the Eton G5.

Maybe next year, we will purchase a Drake R8B or something like that, though budget can be a problem. I think, for the level of DXing I do (mostly foreign LW/MW Broadcasting with a VERY limited amount of domestic north-American listening, much less than a few years ago, since it don't impress me so much - for me it's more thrilling, more exotic and, most important of all, more unbelievable to pick up a HIGH POWERED BUT DISTANT station several thousand of miles away, than a low-powered relatively nearby station), I would need a Drake R8B, since the value of the Sanyo MCD-S830 is excellent as a back-up receiver, but has its share of problems - when it is overused or tuning very fast I heard noises while tuning which stops when I'm right on the frequency I want to listen to, suffers from low sensitivity on the 790-1000 kHz area, I don't know why, since it has communication receiver-level sensitivity around 530-780 and 1134 with fairly decent though not spectacular selectivity, etc. I'm sometimes ashamed I opted for a Grundigh Eton G5, instead of trying to find an used Drake on EBay. One of my idols, the charismatic, yet overhwelmingly patient Mark Connelly in MA is doing wonders with his Drake and is able to discern YVKE-550 and Algeria-549 with ease, yet we are interested in the same kind of stuff TAs and MW LAs with some very limited domestic NA DXing on mediumwave (I see the MC name popping every now and then in DDXD, but see it one issue out of two in IDXD, something I would perphaps never accomplish, since I'm more unstable and have other radio-related as well as unrelated hobbies aside from DXing).

The drawback of the Sanyo MCD-S830 as being a substandard performers in the 800s and 900s is still an important one and I have to use my critical sense for it. They were times when YVRQ-910 was huge on the car-radio and it was either threshold or inaudible on the Sanyo MCD-S830 barefoot. There are so many LAs in the 800s and early 900s, between CJAD-800 and CINW-940 just waiting to be logged and I can't really hear them. I do have a MW loop antenna, intended for use within the Sangean CST-818 that I'll probably connect to the Grundig Eton G5, but I lost one of the connecting cables. Anyone heard any good of the Justice AM antenna ?

As far as auroral condx, noone were noted this fall, not even the slightest one, even though some evenings the Latins tried to mix with the domestics and occasionally winned the battled, especially on 580 and, maybe, 540.

Well, sounds like I should try and see if some TAs are starting rolling over the MW band in the midst of IBOC hash...

May the good DX be with you !
Bogdan
Btw.: We finally found a connected for the LW loop antenna so instead of standing over the Sangean's barefoot I can connect it directly. I can do the same with the Grundig G5 Eton one... Unfortunatly, we couldn't find the Grundig Satellite 750 rx at La Source...
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