Warm greetings to all of you !
A lots of things going on, some good, other bad... I haven't DXed in a
while, except randomly, and while the propagation wasn't extra-good, it was
nice to enjoy DXing with a friend who was astonished at how good Venezuela
was received on the mediumwave AM broadcast band... I live with him
nowadays, so I seldom have access to the Internet right now... That being
said, I will still try to get in touch with you as often as possible !
Some topics of interest: Medi Un is stronger than ever on 9575 kHz SW, while
LW 171 seems off. When the awful computer generated noise is off there is
NOTHING on 171 kHz other than static... However, despite the crisis,
Iceland-189 is often huge !
On MW, some snippets of TA audio here and there, mostly on 585, 594 and 1134
but nothing compared to LW (which even that TA band is slightly below par),
but most of the regular Latins are quite good... However, I badly miss a
huge aurora - one that would take away all that awful IBOC hiss -> all that
unbearable hash !
As for the Aventure FM airchecks, I found some 99% music airchecks with the
recording stopped while the jock is talking... It isn't really what I was
looking for but it's better than nothing ! I haven't received them
officially yet, but they lead toward mainly late 80s Dance Music from the
pre-MaXXimum era !
Into the logs now:
Trans-Atlantic DX
162 FRANCE France Inter, Allouis OCT 16 0410 - discussing contemporary
French litterature. Fair and improoving with transmitter site grayline dawn
enhancement. (Chiochiu*P-QC)
171 MOROCCO Medi Un, Nador (no) OCT - no reception of this station during
the last couple of nights. However, on late afternoons, 9575 kHz SW has been
fair to good, so apparently they increased power on SW while working on
their LW transmitter ? (Chiochiu*P-QC / Chiochiu*MtlEST-QC)
183 GERMANY Europe 1, Felsberg AUG 6 0310 - playing "Elle a les yeux
revolver" 1985 French variety classic by Marc Lavoine, then the man
announcer talking about the birthday of this great singer ! Very good
reception, one of the best showings of Europe 1 the past summer !
(Chiochiu*P-QC)
189 ICELAND Rikisútvarpid, Gufuskalar OCT 16 0340 - playing some hard rock
music selections done by a man in Icelandic. Poor-fair with static
scratches; the only LW broadcaster audible then. (Chiochiu*MtlEST-QC) +OCT
18 0450 - playing some psychedelic classic rock with some "Ruv Fur" jingles
interspersed in beetwen. At 0600 had a short IS followed by nx in Icelandic.
Powerful signal, but disturbed by static scratches with the PK's Shielded
Magnetic longwave loop on a SW-NE bearing ! SINPO 45252 (Chiochiu*P-QC)
198 ENGLAND BBC Radio 4, Droitwich OCT 16 0407 - Very poor with talk in
British accented English. Destroyed at home in Pierrefonds by an awful
computer-like buzz ! (Chiochiu*MtlEST-QC)
216 FRANCE RMC Info, Romoules OCT 16 0425 - French soccer-related chatter.
Good. SINPO 34454 (Chiochiu*P-QC)
234 LUXEMBOURG RTL, Junglister / Beidweler OCT 16 0412 - French weather
reports. Poor, but readable ! (Chiochiu*MtlEST-QC) +OCT 18 0430 - two men
discussing in French. Fair signal, but completly destroyed by a computer
growl... Unlike the beacons who are using NEARBY frequencies, the COMPUTER
GROWL WAS RIGHT ON 234 kHz. SINPO 31241 (Chiochiu*P-QC)
252 ALGERIA Alger Chaîne 3, Tipaza OCT 16 0410 - Algerian weather repport.
Briefly up at a poor-fair level with almost no QRM. (Chiochiu*MtlEST-QC)
+OCT 18 0440 - talking about the morning show going on until 9AM local time.
Fair with a high pitched growl other than local UL 248 NDB QRM. SIO 322.
(Chiochiu*P-QC)
585 SPAIN Radio Nacional de España, Madrid OCT 6 0444 - Morning show
announcement. Fair to nil with the Sanyo MCD-S830 analog dial tuned in
between the 580 and 590 kHz domestics... Unfortunatly, during the upcoming
days this one was unreadable ! It isn't as reliable as one might think...
Adjacent channel semi-local CFRA dropping power from 50 kW days to 10 kW
nights certainly helps ! (Chiochiu*P-QC)
594 unID OCT 3 2207 - Man talking in unID language. Very weak, essentially a
threshold signal. (Chiochiu*P-QC)
1134 CROATIA Glas Hrvatska (600 kW), Zadar / SPAIN COPE synchros (around
10 kW) OCT 16 0410 - Man talking in Spanish mixed with Slavic talk. Poor in
huge WBBR splatter. Best reception was on 1137 kHz in AM Wide mode, as on
1136 kHz in AM Narrow mode the audio was too Low-Fi - hi !
(Chiochiu*MtlEST-QC)
1215 unID OCT 16 0415 - bits of very threshold audio. Unreadable !
(Chiochiu*MtlEST-QC)
9460 TURKEY Voice of Turkey, Çakilar OCT 17 2149 - playing a wonderful
dark-edged Turkish vocal Eurotrance track followed by a cheap Turkish pop.
Good signal with some fading. SINPO 45543 - an overall of 4 or 3 over 5
depending on a good but less than stellar signal and a good but less than
stellar propagation mixed together, so SINPO 45543 ! (Chiochiu*P-QC)
9575 MOROCCO Medi Un, Nador OCT 17 2245 - news in Arabic. Fair to
sometimes good, better than during the last few months ! Have they improved
their SW transmitter in order to allow 171 to become silent... I like them
better on LW than on SW since it's more challenging to get them !
(Chiochiu*P-QC)
9580 GABON Africa Numéro Un, Moyabi, Gabon OCT 17 2110 - After the
continental nx, a program of French Caribbean zouk music started. Before
2110 UTC, major QRM from Radio Romania International while playing trad.
African music ! (Chiochiu*P-QC)
Pan-American DX
550 VENEZUELA YVKE, Mundial, Caracas, DF OCT 17 0415 - mention of
"República Bolivariana de Venezuela" with TALKOVER effect over a
traditionnal YV mx selection. Fair in mess. First time this season !
(Chiochiu*P-QC)
555 ST KITTS ZIZ, Basseterre OCT 17 0330 - soca and calypso music.
Fair-good. Covered by a weird noise at the Montreal-East cottage !
(Chiochiu*P-QC)
600 CUBA CMKV, Radio Rebelde, Urbano Norrís OCT 18 0305 - playing some
atmospheric salsa. Good in CKAT null with WICC semi-nulled (way over
semi-nulled WICC !). (Chiochiu*P-QC)
640 CUBA CMBC, Radio Progreso, Guanabacoa OCT 18 0320 - with an easily
recognizable Ritmos jingle in a big pile-up ! (Chiochiu*P-QC)
670 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Radio Guarachita OCT 17 0345 - Presumed with
bachata music over Radio Rebelde in WSCR null, while adjacent channel
megapest WFAN was carrying sports play-by-play and had it's IBOC exciter off
! (Chiochiu*P-QC)
670 CUBA CMBA, Radio Rebelde, Arroyo Arrenas OCT 17 0345 - Apparent
Deportivamente sports chatter under Dominican Republic, in WSCR null.
(Chiochiu*P-QC)
710 CUBA CMW, Radio Rebelde, La Julia OCT 17 0322 - Cuban salsa over /
under WOR. Usually fair ! (Chiochiu*P-QC)
750 VENEZUELA YVKS, Radio Caracas Radio, Caracas, DF OCT 14 0044 - RCR
Deportes sports coverage with a man announcer that just mentioned Caracas.
Huge, annihilating WSB ! Heard on a Koss oldschool broken radio with an
intact ferrite bar close to the PK AM loop. (Chiochiu*MtlEST-QC)
760 COLOMBIA RCN Cadena Basíca, Barranquilla OCT 13 2330 - with some
ranchera music followed by some Spanish comments. Difficult to follow in a
tough WJR null ! (Chiochiu*MtlEST-QC)
780 VENEZUELA YVNM, Radio Coro, Coro, Falcón OCT 16 0030 - La Discoteca
del Pueblo px with announcements regarding citizens sealing some products in
beetwen some romantic, tropical (cumbia, salsa, etc.) and trad. YV mx
selections (joropo, etc.). Huge at times, fading in and out. SINPO 43323.
WBBM was easier to null out than on other evenings and it was easier to deal
with bothersome splatter from local-like WABC-770 than during the other
evenings too ! (Chiochiu*MtlEST-QC)
Additionnal comments:
I don't live in Pierrefonds anymore, except on week-ends. DX-wise, this has
been excellent, as the cottage in Montréal-Est is way much less noisier and
many frequencies like 234 kHz (LW) are DXable. Otherwise, I sometimes miss
the Internet, because it's the only reliable way for trying to find Aventure
FM airchecks from where I live !
Since 2007, when I was rejected by someone (more precisely a chick) working
on an autistic camp (I have ASPERGER), I had some mild depressions and have
been active in this hobby on and off... I found something to fight against
that and now I feel, at least, slightly better ! That being said, I should
be able to hear some interesting things during the upcoming weeks, as we get
deeper and deeper into the trad. DX season ! However, I was so depressed
last summer that I MISSED a double-hop Es FM opening toward Dominican
Republic and I really feel uneasy for this, as someone barely 300 km next of
me (kyru rex) got HUGE Dominican, Haitian, Cuban and Puerto Rican FM
signals, overpowering some of his semi-local !!!... My next deepest dream
after Aventure FM is to hear something outside North America on the FM
broadcast band (ultrashortwave) via double-hop sporadic E layer skip ! I
should be more patient during the 2010 summer !
If you would like to reply to this report, you'd better phone me at
1-514-422-4555 ! Where I will be moving during the next few minutes is a
very quiet QTH with very few spots having computer QRM !
Where I live right now, there is someone that got me into WiFi DXing (this
isn't hard-core DXing, ain't it ?) and I was hooked at first... Right now,
however, I seem to find it cold for not hearing the slightest Doppler-shift
scratch as we move. I listened to KYS FM, Radio Coro, Radio Top Congo, Radio
Okapi and... Romanian Vibe FM 92.1 MHz in Bucharest ! I didn't took any
specific notes while I was listening ! Well...
This report is brought to you by Bogdan Alexandru Chiochiu, DXing from
Pierrefonds, QC using a Sangean ACS-818 CST / random wire combo for SW,
Sanyo MCD-S830 / PK AM loop for MW and Sangean ACS-818 CST / PK's Shielded
Magnetic LW loop combo for LW ! Also DXing from Montréal-Est using the
Sangean ACS 818-CST / PK's Shielded Magnetic LW loop for LW and a broken
Koss AM-FM portable with the PK AM loop for MW !
May the good DXing be with you !
Bogdan Chiochiu
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