[HCDX] foreign LW/MW/SW DX logs (DEC 22 - DEC 26, 2008)

[aurel chiochiu <acq@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Repport from:
Bogdan Chiochiu DX'ing from Pierrefonds / Montreal's West Island, QC
using the Sangean CST-818 and the Australian PK's Magnetic LW loop, also using the Sanyo-MCD-S830 boombox AM-FM-tape-CD receiver barefoot as well as the Sangean CST-818 with 15m random wire on SW

Season greetings !

Trans-Atlantic DX

162 FRANCE   France Inter, Allouis DEC 25 0005 - End of newscast, then into a discussion w/ a religious zealot about what is the church's position on the economical crisis which is shaking the Earth right now. Fair-good and listenable in spite of some moderate growl, likely from a computer in the neighborhood. Best reception was on 164 in AM Narrow Mode to avoid the computer-QRM which was stronger around 161 kHz (Chiochiu-QC - LW is very sensitive to computer, TVI and powerlines, much more than MW - Bogdan).

189 ICELAND   RUV, Gufuskalar DEC 26 0628 - playing a wide variety of mx -> Xmas mx, alternative rock, then switched to classical mx selections that included Chopin, then a man was heard mentioning Reykjavik. Fairly good SINPO 35343. (Chiochiu-QC)

198 UNITED KINGDOM   BBC Radio 4, Droitwich DEC 24 0000 - giving weather forecast for various QTH's within the UK, then a news item about Russia which is "the biggest trade exporter in the World". The Russian news item, as well as the rest of the newscast was probably relayed from BBCWS. Fair. SINPO 35243-2. (Chiochiu-QC)

225 POLAND   Polish Radio External Service, Raszyn DEC 23 0015 - Tentative ! Slavic talk and unID music almost barely getting though powerlines-like noise. SINPO 25222. Surprised to get this, as almost anything else was burried in powerline-like noise. (Chiochiu-QC)

Bogdan speaks: after a brief amount of very slight solar activity, the solar activty went to extremely quiet once again, even though the Earth remained with a quiet high-spead coronal stream which in theory does enhance "mediumwave Latins", but instead it maked LW reception almost unbearable. I tentatively logged Poland-225, but nothing else interesting a few days ago, then the past night things improoved. The best was Sunday night and early Monday mornings, when Iceland-189 was excellent and unheard-since RTL-234 was quite good in spite of NDB QRM.

585 SPAIN,   Radio Nacional de España, Madrid DEC 22 0151 - female host talking very fast with his listeners in a rapid-fire way, very hyperactive chatter; couldn't pick up a word, maybe because of this and because in Spain the accents are tougher to follow on and to understand than in Cuba or Venezuela which I'm used to hear on MW and to a lesser extent on SW too. Very good signal though. SINPO 44422 faded away near the ToH to a very poor strenght. Best reception ever ! (Chiochiu-QC)

Bogdan speaks: no other MW TAs heard despite several checks, although something on 603 or 612 was having a high fluttery growl, not sure at all if a TA het and no audio other than Spain-585.

9575 MOROCCO,   Medi Un / Radio Méditerannée Internationale, Nador DEC 23 0556 - caught the end of the FF newscast with an item about a doctor judged for illegal practice of medecine, then music including "Miles Away" by Madonna and an AA rhythmic vocal by almost-certainly Nancy Arjam (a Libanese singer that achieved a certain level of popularity in North Africa as well in spite of the huge amount of raï listeners). Very good with little in the way of fades; I felt asleep listening to this and I when I woke before 11 AM local (before 1600 UTC) they were still hanging on at a fairly threshold level. An interesting phenomenon: when this is on, the supposed 171 // is either out or totally unreadable, when LW-171 is listenable, this one is absent. SINPO 44533. +DEC 23 2120 - playing sad R&B tunes; very good with only slight splatter from Gabon-9580 in AM Wide mode which was considerably weaker (at a poor and fadey level). (Chiochiu-QC)

Bogdan speaks once again: The nice presence of Spain-585 hasn't allowed me to go after the Europirates, even though LW and, especially, MW TAs are good beacons for lower-powered Europirates around 48m according to George Maroti.



Pan-American DX

750 VENEZUELA   YVKS, Radio Caracas Radio / RCR, Caracas, Distrito Federal DEC 23 around 0400 UTC - with a man announcer with a fairly serious voice talking about what the "angeles" did when they meet Jesus Christ at his birth, then, after this narrative rel. segment, a few canned IDs such as "Usted escucha RCR, Radio Caracas Radio, 750 AM, ..." during which it started to mix w/ WSB and fade away. SINPO 43523-2. How comes I couldn't follow the program content of Spain-585, yet Venezuela-750 was very listenable, at least for several minutes ? Spain-585 on DEC 21 at 0151 UTC was at about the same level as YVKS-750 on DEC 23 around 0400 UTC ! Are the "mediumwave euros" using slighter modulation than the NA and LAs ? Curiosity enquires ! (Chiochiu-QC)

760 COLOMBIA   HJAJ, RCN Cadena Basíca, Barranquilla, departamiento del Atlantico DEC 26 0358 - Man w/ mention of "R-C-N" then commercial ads; poor and very quickly lost. Heard on the Sanyo MCD-S830 barefoot in my room as at the sweet DX spot of my parent's room I placed the Sangean-CST-818 / PK's Magnetic Loop combo in order to catch up Iceland-189 and other LW Euros. (Chiochiu-QC)

770 CUBA   Radio Rebelde, unID QTH DEC 26 around 0248 - bits of Spanish audio trying to get through the WABC's non-stop Xmas mx broadcast. What must be annoying for those trying to listen to WABC using, for exemple, a car-radio's whip is that WBBM-780 is using the IBOC exciter all night long. (Chiochiu-QC)

780 VENEZUELA   YVNM, Radio Coro, Coro, estado Falcón DEC 23 0356 - slow LAm mx, fair and fadey in a more or less solid WBBM null. What maked this unusual is that when YVKS is strong, YVNM is totally absent and vice-versa. (Chiochiu-QC)


First of all, I'd like to thank the veteran BC DX'er Walter Silmaniw for complementing my new LW antenna and also to share his experience with Beverages...

I'm reporting mainly to keep in touch, since condx were far from spectacular, slightly below average as to the TAs (at least on LW, I have nothing for MW other than the Sanyo MCD-S830 barefoot which selectivity is above-average, yet not narrow enough for any serious TA DX) and awful toward Latin America. A full repport with some other details will be sent to all mwdx, hard-core-dx, cumbredx as well as the NRC's IDXD column as soon as possible !...

May the good DX bless your heart !
Bogdan
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Ich bin frei, veuglich, veuglich frei !

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