What seemed like a routine session this morning turned somewhat wacky when 657-Pyongyang's bizarre programming started pounding in with ocean coast strength around 1323, peaking with thunderous martial music and 3 + 1 pips at 1330 (its strongest signal here in six years). The low band in general received a serious sunrise enhancement boost around this time, with 531-JOQG (fair), 594-JOAK (excellent), 603-HLSA (good), 639-CNR1 (poor) and 738-BEL2 (fair to good) also showing up with above average signals after 1330.
My session started off with the daily track of the 1566-Pulse Jammer, and once again, at its customary peak time of 1255 it was pestering HLAZ's anemic signal, often in the clear at a fair level. The Jammer stuck around until around 1300, when it bailed for the 7th time in 7 days. My impression is that this bizarre transmitter is some kind of jamming test, since whichever government is using it doesn't seem very serious about all-out jamming (it would seem more logical for China to jam HLAZ's Chinese broadcast from 1200-1230, rather than the Japanese service, which no doubt blasts into Japan at S9+ strength). After the 1300 TOH it was primarily the big gun Asians with energetic signals on 594, 693, 747, 774, 828, 972 and 1053, with very few second-tier TP's except 603-HLSA showing much strength (at a good level). This changed dramatically with increasing daylight, with both 594-JOAK and 657-Pyongyang going on monster runs around 1330, and 531-JOQG, 639-CNR1 and 738-BEL2 comin g out of the noise. Such a huge signal from 657-Pyongyang hasn't been heard here since the 2010 season, when it was recorded at similar strength during a 1400 TOH in December (back when it used the common time system, like the rest of the world). Overall the session was pretty interesting, with many low-band TP's coming out of the noise at unusual strength. 657 Pyongyang BS Pyongyang, N. Korea Thunderous martial music and 3 + 1 pips at their 1330 "TOH," extremely rare strength for this mediocre location https://app.box.com/s/ehp07hngsssi6i2jb2bvzrar3fdlma9u 1566 Jammer + HLAZ For the 7th day in a row, the pulse jammer shows up to pester HLAZ's Japanese service at 1255, but doesn't stick around past 1300. As typical during these bizarre competitions, neither the Jammer nor HLAZ were able to dominate the frequency https://app.box.com/s/cii9o3j004pazmozxwtvax4q0sgq9beh 73 and Good DX, Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA) 7.5" loopstick C. Crane Skywave Ultralight + 15" FSL antenna _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com
