Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Blog Logs

Today's shortwave BLOG LOGS, represent a portion of additional logs recently cut from my SWBC Logs column in Monitoring Times magazine at http://www.monitoringtimes.com/ due to space constraints. Contributions are always welcome for the magazine or blog, and may be directed to my above email address. Thanks very much to the contributors and blog readers for your kind words and support.
Gayle VH

All times UTC, frequencies in kHz, English unless otherwise indicated // parallel frequencies.
* sign-on - sign-off *

Armenia
Russian International Radio Yerevan 7270, 0218-0232. Russian. Easy-listening pops into ID at 0220. Announcer’s talk and sound bites to dance music at 0224. Station ID at 0230 for good signal quality (Barbour).


Australia
HCJB Global (Kununurra) 15525, 2159-2215. Music and station ID followed at 2200 by another identification and opening announcements for English language service, talk to 2215 tune-out. Very poor signal, frequently fading into the noise. (Evans). 15400, 1203-1224. English service with talk on global warming. Spotlight program to ID and contact info. “HCJB Australia” ID and phone number at 1218 (Barbour).

Radio Australia (Brandon) 5995, 0946-1001. Tok Pisin. Lengthy interview regarding Fiji and human rights. Station URL and program schedule at 0958 with mentions of Pacific Service. Station ID at 1000 into news. Signal fair-good (Barbour).

Radio Australia (Darwin) 11840, 2235-2240. Announcers to field reporters with business news and weather at 2240. Poor signal, much better on parallel signal from Shepparton on 15560 (Evans).

Bhutan
BBS (presumed) 6035, 1402-1418. English service with usual BBS musical bridge, but lost to PBS Yunnan when they started playing traditional Chinese music (Howard).

Brazil
Rádio Bandeirantes 9645.34, 0715-0730. Portuguese religious sermon with very low-keyed delivery. No music observed throughout service (Barker).

Rádio Difusora do Amazonas 4805, 0905-0915. Portuguese programming of music, talk and canned commercials and station promos. Signal noted as poor (Barker).

Rádio Imaculada Conceicão (presumed) 4754.90, 0217-0235. Portuguese with religious songs including Handel’s Hallalujah and other songs. Rare that I heard this station above threshold level (Howard).

Rádio Nacional do Amazonia (Brasilia), 11780, 2246-2300. Male/female announcers Portuguese talk and brief musical bridges. Multiple station identifications at 2300. Good signal with slightly annoying fading on frequency. Noted on // 6185 with poor signal. (Evans).

Clandestine
Shinokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata 5910, *1400-1405. In English with special personal data about abductees. This is the second consecutive Wednesday in English (Howard).

Guam
AFN/AFRTS 13362USB, 0414-0422. Usual AFN programming with news, job hunting tips, a few good words about the Navy Seals and Health Care Matters from NIH. Station ID at 0422. Rather poor signal, but steady and readable, // noted from Hawaii on 10320 and from Key West on 5446.5 - very good 12133.5. (Evans).

Indonesia
Voice of Indonesia 11784.92, 1351-1435. Under a strong VOA in Chinese until 1400. Noted then under a strong BBC in Hindi after 1400. Clear “Voice of Indonesia” ID at 1435 (Howard).

India
All India Radio-Thiruvananthapuram 5010, 0038-0102. English/vernacular services. End of news with talks on Sri Lanka. Announcer at 0040 into Hindi vocal music. Poor signal at tune-in, weak by tune-out (Barbour).

Japan
NHK/Radio Japan 15195, 0357-0403. Japanese programming, interval signal and station ID at 0359. Time pips at 0400 followed by talk for a good signal. Also noted on // 5960 (Sackville) and 15325 (Evans).

Laos
Lao National Radio 6130, 1419. Noted station was running a little late. Announcers’ “hello I am Elizabeth Moore, welcome to Functioning in Business segment. Signal poor with Tibet interference // 6200 (Howard).

Malaysia
Suara Islam program 6049.60, 1529-1545. Vernacular service with ID as “Radio Suara islam, Kuala Lumpur.” Monday educational segment begins and ends with singing “Malaysia” jingle. Announcer gives info about a university professor to easy-listening music (Howard).

Mali
RTV du Mali 5995, 0635-0700. Knock your socks off signal with great selection of tribal tunes from DJ in French. Plenty of drums and wind instruments in the music, most of which sounded rustic. All music in vernacular language. Frequent station identifications, at 0700 as, “ici Radio Mali...Banako” plus the frequency (Barker).

Mauritania
Radio Mauritanie 4845, 0650-0725. Arabic at tune-in to musical bridge. Frequent mentions of “Salam” and “Mohammed.” Station ID at 0658, recheck at 0720. Music from stringed instruments. Fair signal, but the audio and carrier dropped off at 0725 and no further sign of the transmission could be deetcted after several rechecks (Barker).

Nigeria
Voice of Nigeria 9690, 0815-0845. Hausa programming and possible national news. Frequent station ID and English ID as, “ you’re listening to the Voice of Nigeria.” Tribal music at 0835 accompanied by drums. Tuned station out at 0845 during a fair signal quality (Barker).

Northern Marianas
Radio Netherlands (Saipan relay, presumed) 15280, 2220-2230. Announcers talk amid very poor signal, just above the noise level (Evans).
Peru
Radio Vision 4790, 0625-0635. Religious preaching in Spanish to occasional religious music. Signal was poor, just above the noise level. Station ID noted as, “la voz se Salvation ... Radio Vision.” (Barker).

Russia
Voice of Russia (Vladivostok) 13755, 0425-0430. Russian opera featuring male singer. Brief talk by lady at 0430. The Vladivostok transmitter has been consistently strong this year, unlike last year when it was mediocre at best (Evans).

TWR India (Novosibirsk) 12085, 0038-0045. Listed as Bhojjpuri service. Announcer until 0042 when TWR contact info given with Lucknow postal address, plus phone number and website URL. Brief wind instrument and announcer. Off during musical bits at 0045 for signal that was fair at best (Barbour).

Rwanda
Deutsche Welle Kigali relay 9735, 1935-2000.* German. Another newscast regarding the swine flu and news on Chrysler. Various reports including coverage of a live event. Signal fair-good (Barbour).

Slovakia
Radio Slovakia International 5930, 0109-0127. Several features regarding the prons and cons on the five year anniversary of Slovakia’s entry into the EU. Station contact info, interval signal at 0127. Signal fair-good (Barbour).

Tibet
CNR-11 (Tibetan service) 7350, 1430-1500. Holy Tibet program to “China National Radio.” Items on agriculture, animal husbandry, Tibetan farmers to segment on Tourism in Tibet and Eyes on Tibet. Plenty of Tibetan music // 6010, both poor-fair (Howard).

USA
WRNO New Orleans, LA 7505, 0109-0139. Contemporary religious music throughout to 0130 for fair-good signal quality (Barbour).

Contributors:
Scott Barber, NH
Bruce Barker, PA
Jim Evans, TN
Ron Howard, CA