LOGBOOK: VANUATU, CLANDESTINES and more

LOGBOOK: 

VANUATU, CLANDESTINES and more….

3945   VANUATU. R. Vanuatu - Port Vila. Kenny G. song at 1843, then the national anthem at 1845. Full ID in English and freq annct for MW, SW and FM. Good signal but listening was difficult due to high thunderstorm noise on the band. Gone by 1945 (6.45am Port Vila time). Runs // to 7260 kHz but not as good there, Mar 21. Also noted at 1120 with island music and an excellent signal in Bislama on Mar 22.

4005   IRAN. VOIRI - Kamalabad. Noted at 1923 just after s/on in Russian to EEu, good signal on Mar 21.

6155   INDIA. AIR - Bengaluru. Urdu service with pleasant female vocals at 1450. Weak signal under CNR 2, runs // 6045 via Delhi which was also weak but in the clear on Mar 23.

7260   VANUATU. R. Vanuatu - Port Vila. Noted at 1845 with the anthem and s/on anncts, then religious message in Bislama and English. Then good signal but difficult listening due to heavy QRM CRI 7255, Mar 21.

7590   UZBEKISTAN. North Korean Reform Radio - Tashkent. A fair signal and strong enough to make it through the grinding jammers at 1415, in Korean with a variety of speakers on Mar 23.

9265   USA. WINB - Red Lion, PA. English programming with preaching at 2005, very weak signal on Mar 20.

9390   THAILAND and FRANCE. VoA - Ban Dung with Korean to EAs underneath a strong R. Algerienne - Issoudun with Qur'an to CAf at 2015. I wonder if they'll fix this clash for the A14 transmission season. Mar 20.

9410   EGYPT. R. Cairo - Abis. Noted a big fat carrier at at 2020 but no audio. Then ID in French at s/on 2030 (WRTH and other lists indicate scheduled s/on as 2000). Usual distortion present on Mar 20.

9425   KOREA D.P.R. VoKOREA - Kujang. Songs of adulation in the Korean service at 2035. Nothing heard from AIR's National Hindi Service, but splash from an exceedingly strong Greece 9420 on Mar 20.

9465   PHILIPPINES. R. Teos (FEBC) - Bocaue. Vigorous preaching in Russian, sounded like he was giving the Ruskies a "jolly good ticking-off" for invading Crimea, but I suspect it may have been on a topic more enigmatic. Good signal on Mar 23.

9470   INDIA.  AIR - Aligarh. National Hindi Service with lovely songs at 2043, good signal but spoilt by some co-channel QRM from CNR 1 on Mar 20.

9490   THAILAND. RFE/RL - Ban Dung. Russian service with opinions on the Ukrainian crisis at 2050. Fair level and seems to be a NF at this time (ex 5885) with s/off 2100. Runs // 5925 via Kuwait, which was the better signal until CNR 5 s/on at 2055. Mar 20.

9545   SOLOMON ISLANDS. SIBS - Honiara. English news at 2105, fair signal on Mar 20.

9585   SWAZILAND. TWR - Manzini. S/on 1455 with Malagasy service and religious talks, good clear signal on Mar 23.

11595   GERMANY. R. Ashna - Biblis. Dari service to Afghanistan, fair signal at 1515 with frequent IDs, and // 11825 via Woofferton with a spectacularly strong signal, and also // 12140 via Kuwait with a good signal on Mar 23.

11720   BULGARIA. UNIDENTIFIED via Kostinbrod. Scheduled to be Voice of the Forum of Eritreans on Fridays, but I thought I heard an ID for R. Assenna instead, so I'm not 100% sure! Unusual programming at 1740 with repetitive instrumental music while talk (or perhaps storytelling?) in the Tigrinya language. Into Horn of Africa dance music at 1745. Beautiful big signal with no jamming on Mar 21. Sudden s/off at 1757.

15120   SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA - Riyadh. News in the Bangla service to SEAs at 1208, fair level on Mar 22.

15140   OMAN. R. Sultanate of Oman. Arabic service at 1910 with news. Strong signal on Mar 21.

15190   ROMANIA. R. Santec - Tiganesti. English preaching (Sundays only) at 1523, but sudden break in transmission at 1526, then back again 1528 in time for the ID and station address. Then at 1530, the IRRS relay ID followed by another R. Santec program, generally good signal on Mar 23. EiBi lists this station with Swahili at 1530 but not so on this occasion.

15360   SOUTH AFRICA. RFI - Meyerton. S/on 1500 with news in Swahili and plenty of RFI IDs. Fair level on Mar 23. Between 1430 and 1500, RFI via Issoudun is also here with the Urdu service where the signal is somewhat better.

15410   ENGLAND. R. Farda - Woofferton. Farsi service to Iran, booming signal at 1440 and // 13615 via Lampertheim which was also strong. Woofferton's relay was 4 seconds behind Lampertheim on Mar 23.

17500   UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. R. Ndeke Luka - Dhabbaya. 30 min service to CAf at 1710 with talk in the Sango language and occasional station jingles. Good ID at 1715 and 1720. Then lively African music to end the broadcast at 1729. Nice signal on Mar 21. Sango is a true African (Bantu) language and spoken primarily in the Central African Republic (along with French). But it can also be found in Chad, Congo D. R. and surrounding regions. For nearly half a million people, Sango is their primary tongue, but it is also a second language for up to 5 million people. The sound of Sango is at times quite "French-like" to the ear, and this is because it has a lexical similarity with French (i.e. there are many borrowed words from that language). It is also a tonal language with high, middle and low tones.

17540   MADAGASCAR. R. Impala - Talata Volonondry. Weak signal with long talks in the Kinyarwanda language from 1717 to 1738. Then a program of African songs plus John Lennon's "Imagine". Sudden s/off at 1758 mid-song without ID, Mar 21.

17860   TAJIKISTAN (perhaps….) Voice of Khmer M'Chas Srok. Site is unconfirmed at this time. Hummy transmitter on at 1125 then s/on 1130 in Cambodian with ID and opening anncts. Then a short burst of instrumental music before long talks with occasional mentions of Kampuchea, Khmer and Phnom Penh. Later, another short burst of music before ID, website and email anncts, and music to fade out at 1200. Big signal throughout with some slight txer hum from the beginning until 1150 when the hum just disappeared. The sound of the txer does smack somewhat of Dushanbe. Mar 22.

73's everyone and best of DX to you!

Rob Wagner VK3BVW