Blog Logs - DXpedition Part 3

Today's loggings conclude Walter Salmaniw's DXpedition to Queen Charlotte Islands in northern British Columbia. Thanks Walt for your contributions.
Gayle Van Horn

USA 780, 0545-, WBBM, Chicago Feb 16 Excellent reception with ID after weather, and into sports. Dominates when used with phaser. Oldies station dominates when phase is reversed. Still to be ID'd, but looking for KNOM, Nome, AK. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

TAIWAN 1557, 1746-, Family Radio Feb 15 Despite what I read in the PAL, they seem to be here still at this hour with a strong signal with hymns. Not sure who else this could be. Chinese programming, it seems. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

JAPAN 1287, 1914-, JOHR, Sapporo Feb 15 It's 11:15 am local, and I'm still hearing plenty of carriers and even some audio. For example HBC Hokkaido Hoso is coming in at fair levels. Mind you it's 50 kw from Sapporo. Still, something you never hear in Victoria! Other audio include JOLF 1242 in Tokyo, 972, and of course 1566 HLAZ. What fun!. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

ALASKA 920, 0531-, KSRM, Soldotna Feb 16 ABC news, followed by local ad for Soldotna therapeutic massage and chiropractic clinic. ID as AM 920 The One. Local Kenai weather. Initially good reception, then faded as they ID'd! Back to Mike Bohanan show. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
ALASKA 920, 0600-, KSRM, Soldotna Feb 16 Finally a nice ID as '920 KSRM Soldotna/Kenai/Homer', and into news. Good reception, though prone to deep fades, still. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

JAPAN 1287, 0629-, JOHR, Sapporo Feb 16 While searching for TA stations, came across audio from HBC, Japan at this early hour. They also happen to be one of the last audios to disappear in the morning, so obviously one of the first to appear. 1188 also quite a strong carrier, and I'm suspecting TP rather than TA. No signs of TA tonight. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

ALASKA 820, 0638-, KCBF Fairbanks Feb 16 Very good reception after trying all evening (and being spoiled mostly by KGNW, Burien-Seattle). Local Fairbanks ads for airlines, chiropractic, massage, sports medicine, etc. Post game show for a Western Washington vs Bellingham basketball game....Ahhh! I did hear this earlier, but assumed it was the WA station. KGNW is there, but easily phased out. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
ALASKA 780, 1354-, KNOM, Nome Feb 16 Good reception being able to null KKOH which would otherwise dominate the frequency with 'Lady in Black'. ID into ABC news at 14:00 with TC for 05:00. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
ALASKA 770, 1408-, KCHU, Valdez Feb 16 Good reception with NPR 'Morning Edition' news except for cochannel CHQR from Calgary. Fill music at 14:10 without a local ID. Darn. //870 McGrath KSKO but latter is delayed slightly. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

USA 1610, 1515-, WA State Highway Advisory Radio Feb 16 Weakly heard. Couldn't make out call letters or nature of the advisory, just the WA ID. A long way from WA, so not a bad catch. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

JAPAN 1575, 1524-, AFN Feb 16 Great reception this morning with no sign of VOA Thailand at all. Public service announcements (proper tire pressures, etc) and then into music. Not sure whether all 3 listed stations are in parallel. At 15:32 I'm hearing some talk about Japan, with music in the background, which I'm assuming is one of the other AFN Japan stations. Nope, it's VOA with special English. Oh, well. Rechecked at 16:00. No ID, but they're booming in with a S7 to S9 signal with modern American music. Just a short 'Happy Friday', and a mention of 'Guns and Roses' (not sure of the connotation for the latter). Occasionally I can hear VOA Thailand beneath, but mostly they have the frequency entirely to themselves. Into USA Network Sports at 16:20. At 16:22, I'm hearing PSA for military priority post, but with modern American music underneath, which isn't VOA. Perhaps the feeds are different for the 3 AFN stations. Sure wish they'd have local IDs! Incredibly long lasting! I've been listening to a steady, almost local-like signal for more than an hour, and they're still very strong at 16:44 (8:44 local) with mostly non-stop music, with occasional PSA, but nothing that I would call a definitive ID. At 17:00, heard the following: 'You are listening to the American Forces Network'. This was repeated a second time but much weaker, so I'm thinking this is another transmitter. Finally have something I would call a legal ID! I'm pleased. Sure is blasting in still! What a great dx site!!! At 17:19 still present with perfectly readable signal with a spot for smoking cessation. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

ALASKA 770, 15:56-, KCHU, Valdez Feb 16 Interesting programming. Earlier they were in // to 870, but broke off to local programming. After a very lengthy weather forecast, they went on to describe the lunches at the various schools. Interesting!. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
ALASKA 870, 1600-, KSKO, McGrath Feb 16 Finally got my full legal ID at 15:59 followed by the weather. I was worried that they would fade out before the ID, plus the DJ has a fairly monotone voice, but the signal hung in there. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

UNID 1512, 1712-, unid Feb 16 Sure like to know who's here. I'd be able to copy ok, except for splatter. Occasional English words heard, but the style seems very Filipino to me. Patrick, have you heard anything here? I see 2 Filipino's listed in PAL with one signing off at 16:10. Help please! Splatter is from 1520, so I'm trying LSB with notch. Anything's worth a try!. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

KOREA 1566, 1758-, HLAZ Feb 16 Excellent reception of their Russian program signing-off with Moscow address and mentioning the Korean transmitter on 1566. Carrier off immediately afterwards at 18:00. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

USA 1450, 2352-, KONP, Port Angeles, WA Feb 16 ID as Newsradio, 1450. Had to look this one up. Just across the water from Victoria, but a long way from the Queen Charlottes. Fair reception. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

ICELAND 189, 0552-, Rikisutvarpid Ras Feb 17 Presumed logging with modern music. Not often heard on the west coast, so maybe the TAs are returning. Poor to fair reception only. Weak audio isalso audible on 153, with the MW being pretty much a wipe-out. Well, here's hoping for a good morning!. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

ALASKA 1080, 1430-, KUDO, Anchorage Feb 17 Finally, a full ID for this station which just happened to fade up nicely. Seems to gradually fade up and down over the course of a minute. Normally all I've been hearing here is KFXX, Portland ('The Fan'), and occasionally KVNI, Coeur d'Alene, ID. Followed by PSA and back to network talk radio. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

RUSSIA 576, 14:49-, Radiostantsiya Mayak Feb 17 Surprised to hear Russian here. Mayak jingles at 15:00 and then signed-off immediately. This matches RV69 Khabarovsk which is listed as signing off at 15:00, although my PAL states this station to be inactive. Rechecked at 15:05 to see that there's still a strong OC present. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

KOREA 603, 1515-, HLSA, Namyang Feb 17 Good to excellent reception before fading down with Korean music. In parallel to 558 which was weaker. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
KOREA 711, 15:33-, HLKA, Sorae Feb 17 Superb reception with possibly a radio play in Korean. Parallel noted on 1503. There's also another cochannel station noted with what sounds like an English Christian hymn. Hmmm. Turned out to be a Chinese speaker. For a time the Chinese station actually rose above HLKA. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

INDIA 4990, 1555-, AIR Itanagar Feb 17 English panel discussion at good level. Well over cochannel Chinese. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
INDIA 4970, 1558-, AIR Shillong Feb 17 Very good reception with lovely Indian music through the TOH. Announcement by YL at 16:01 (not in English) and then an English ad by an OM about convergence of radio and television (apparently a TV that also picks up radio...something, Model 80). Full ID in English at 16:04, then into western music. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

KYRGYZSTAN 4050.02, 1606-, Kyrgyz Radio 1 Feb 17 Presumed logging with weak audio. A bit too weak to positively ID the language. 4010 is also present, but even weaker. Some of my older references has DW in Russian at this time. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

TAJIKSTAN 4635.05, 1610-, Tajik Radio 1 Feb 17 Good reception with central Asian vocal. They then went into some Russian by a YL (a little harder to hear the spoken voice...I did hear her say 'musey' or museum). Then an OM went on in presumed Tajik. Followed by more music. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

INDIA 4760, 1616-, AIR Port Blair Feb 17 An interesting frequency with two equally strong stations cochannel. One is an obviously Muslim station (with melodic central Asian chants), while the other is a male speaking, and I'm suspecting this could be TWR from Swaziland. The first station has to be either AIR Port Blair (which seems to be the most commonly reported) or AIR Leh in Kashmir. I rechecked at 16:53. Most obviously TWR Swaziland with a good strong signal way over the presumed AIR station(s). I checked again at 16:59 to see that TWR was gone, and now a single Indian station is strongly heard. Both AIR stations are listed as on until 17:30 on Saturdays, so I'll have to recheck in a few minutes. Stumbled upon 5010 which is in // to 4760, so that confirms Port Blair, at least after 17:00. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
INDIA 4775, 1621-, AIR Imphal Feb 17 Presumed logging with traditional Indian music. Fair to good reception. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

DJIBOUTI 4780, 1622-, R. dif. TV de Djibouti Feb 17 Happy to hear this one showing that it is possible to hear Africa in our local mornings. Typical horn of Africa music at fair level. Slightly marred by CODAR chirp. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

INDIA 4800, 1625-, AIR Hyderabad Feb 17 Good reception with Indian music, but marred by cochannel Chinese station at equal strength, so a bit of a mess!. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
INDIA 4810, 1626-, AIR Bhopal Feb 17 Fair to reception except for CODAR with Indian music by male vocalist. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
INDIA 4820, 1631-, AIR Kolkata Feb 17 A nice S7 to S9 signal dominating with Indian music, but cochannel, presumed Lhasa, Tibet audible underneath. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
INDIA 4840, 1633-, AIR Mumbai Feb 17 Must be the music hour. All of the AIR stations I've heard this hour have been playing a lot of music! Again, traditional Indian music at fair level. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
INDIA 4860, 1634-, AIR Delhi A Feb 17 Good reception with talk in presumed Urdu (FS is listed in DBS). Marred by a carrier on the high side producing a het, so LSB used. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
INDIA 4895, 1638-, AIR Kurseong Feb 17 I'm going out on a bit of a limb and assuming that this is an Indian station. Again traditional Indian music at good level. Doesn't seem to fit RTM and not sure whether they're still on the air. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
INDIA 4910, 1640-, AIR Jaipur Feb 17 Once again traditional Indian music at poor to fair level. No sign here of Zambia. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)
INDIA 4920, 1641-, AIR Chennai Feb 17 Good reception with Indian music, unfortunately cochannel to equally strong Lhasa with Tibetan (or Chinese) music. Too bad they each couldn't use their own frequency. There's plenty of space these days!. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

BOTSWANA 4930, 1643-, VOA Feb 17 Very good reception with African hi-life music. Interfered with slightly by some CW interference. I was hoping to hear Kenya, but realize that they're listed as a Monday to Friday operation only. Drats! Nightline Africa ID at 16:46. Went into their Nightline Africa mailbag. Accent made it a bit difficult to follow. Several calls from Nigeria. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

INDIA 4940, 1648-, AIR Guwahati Feb 17 Fair to good reception of what sounds like a radio play, not in English. Does not sound Chinese, so I'm quite certain it's Guwahati. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 4960, 1650-, Catholic Radio Network Feb 17 Just about forgot about PNG. English religious hymn at fair to good level. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

ZAMBIA 4965, 1706-, The Voice Africa Feb 17 A presumed logging with some preaching, but mostly under what sounds like an Indian station (?AIR Shimla?). Both fair at best. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

CHINA 4980, 1707-, Xinjiang PBS Feb 17 Chinese or minority music marred by a ute on USB, so best on LSB. Fair level. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

INDIA 5010, 1712-, AIR Thiruvananthapuram Feb 17 Very good reception with Indian music followed by a description of the piece in a local language, then presumably the same in English. Marred by a choppy ?OTH radar signal at multiple pulses /second. Also there must be a cochannel station on at 10 Hz variation, so careful tuning is necessary. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

USA 1020, 0330-, KCKN Roswell, NM Feb 18 Checked this frequency often looking for KAXX Eagle River, AK. No sign of them. Instead, ID noted for KCKN at good level. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

ECUADOR 3279.7, 0345-, La Voz del Napo Feb 18 Reasonably good signal except for a ute smack on the frequency spoiling enjoyable listening. Latin tunes, sounding quite Cuban to me. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

SOUTH AFRICA 3320, 0348-, SABC, Meyerton Feb 18 Good reception with classical music. Listed as Radio Sonder Grense. Probably the best I've ever heard them in the Pacific northwest. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

HONDURAS 3340, 0351-, HRMI, La Voz de Misiones Internacionales Feb 18 Poor to fair at best with Spanish religious programming. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

SOUTH AFRICA 3345, 0352-, Channel Africa, Meyerton Feb 18 Not as strong as Radio Sonder Grense, but still a fair signal with EZL music. Didn't wait around for an ID. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

ALASKA 970, 04:05-, KFBX Fairbanks Feb 18 Finally heard several IDs. A difficult catch with numerous cochannel stations including CFXE, Edson AB. Into a music bridge and then at 04:08 into Coast to Coast Live program. Fair reception. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

RUSSIA 720, 1352-, Voice of Russia,Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Feb 18 Strong signal with 'Here comes the sun' in Russian! Nice to see them back. This is the Japanese language service. VOR IS at 13:59, and then faded away with North American stations dominating again. Checked at 14:24 to notice a station causing a het from 719.9. I've been hearing them all week. Good audio at 14:27 now. This is the KCBS in Pyongyang with their usual Korean vocals. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

UNID 1476, 1524-, unid Feb 18 This is an interesting frequency. First, the Malaysian on1475 provides decent audio, so one must use USB. 1476 itself has a couple of stations audible. One is off frequency on about 1476.04 and seems variable. The other is playing some pretty strange oriental music. The closest I've heard is the Vietnamese regional Son La, but no Vietnamese listed. I'm thinking that this may be one of the Chinese regionals. The off frequency perhaps is a Filipino?. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

MALAYSIA 1475, 1531-, Suara Malaysia Feb 18 Decent audio in Tagalog with sign-off procedures by an undermodulated female. Off at 15:34:24 followed by presumed NA until 15:35 and then carrier immediately off. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

TAIWAN 738, 1614-, BEL2 Taiwan Area Fishery Brdcstg Stn Feb 18 Dominates this frequency with Chinese talk and // to weaker 1593 and 1143. Several other stations cochannel, but this one is strongest. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

CHINA 981, 1628-, CNR 1 Feb 18 Interesting sound. Multiple sites with slight delays between them producing an echo effect. Very good reception. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)

UNID 918, 1634-, unid Feb 18 A real mystery. American English but with a weird echo!!! What on earth is this? Multiple paths? Multiple locations? Good reception. Continued to improve. Solid S7 reception and in the clear. Story about George W. Bush. By 16:41 no longer in English. I did hear a www.xxx.com though, so maybe this is a Chinese station or Korean with an English lesson? Help please with this one! Yes this was a language lesson. I have the clip from 17:00, so would appreciate assistance on the ID. It's likely Chinese. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)