TP greatness today...including more NEW stations! 10/26/18

[crainbebo]

Conditions to Asia were great again this morning, and I actually took the 3-foot loop and G5 out to the local park to DX for a half-hour prior to sunrise. Log from 0645-0740 PT...

531 - Big carrier/het over WQMZ999/WPVW565 HARs but not enough for audio. Likely needed JOQG in Morioka, Japan; 10KW.
540 - KVIP Redding with ID at 0730 PT, CBK a little bit earlier. Nothing from the Far East heard.
550 - KBOW Butte with local news 0705 PT mixing with KOAC, and big het from 549 but no audio.
558 - Tentative HLQH Daegu, with very faint music // 603.
567 - JOIK Sapporo in and out, NHK-1 programming in Japanese // 594khz
576 - Carrier, too weak for audio.
585 - JOPG Kushiro City, Hokkaido Japan; // 594 JOAK NHK-1, weak with piano tune at 0730 PT. NEW #764, 10KW at 4,370 miles!! I have never heard an Asian station with less than 100KW of power, if I recall, so this is awesome! Going out to the park there's no RFI. This wouldn't be possible in my indoor apartment. This only popped up for 20 or 30 seconds, and by the time I hit record on the Olympus, it was gone.
594 - JOAK Tokyo loud with NHK1
603 - Tentative HLSA Seoul, with music // 603, but not strong enough to get a SoundHound match. I'm 95% sure but if I can't get a song identification or some type of Korean talk on this channel, I can't log it. They are KBS, 'Happy FM'. Music format is mostly K-Pop with some Classical, and news updates.
612 - Weak het, but too much of the semi-local KONA for ID. Maybe 4QR Brisbane, maybe JOLK.
621 - Huge het, too much KPOJ to ID.
639 - HUGE het and heard faint Asian audio, not // to NHK (so it wasn't JOIP in Oita), likely CNR1. Around 7:10AM PT
640 - KFI, and unID 'our NPR correspondent...' maybe my most-wanted KYUK?! This was just after TOH and it faded down under KFI on several checks up to the bottom of the hour. Disappointing.
650 - KSTE, CISL etc. too strong for a chance at KENI.
657 - Pyongyang Bangsong with male tirades and musical salutes to the Great Leader himself, a little weaker than yesterday but still holding on well.
666 - JOBK Osaka, NHK-1 // 594 JOAK. 100KW.
670 - KBOI at 30 over S9 prevented any chance of hearing KDLG Dillingham
675, 684 - Hets only
693 - JOAB Tokyo strong, NHK2.
702 - Mess of stuff + 700s bleeding in. Couldn't ID anything.
711 - Loud 1khz het likely South Korea, right under KIRO.
729 - Het only, probably JOCK Nagoya, but CHMJ too strong. I still need them, and would be // to 594 and 567 with NHK1.
738 - Female talking in Chinese (so BEL2/Taiwan Fisheries again), mixing with unid male speaker on co-channel. Suspect HLKG, Daegu.
747 - JOIB of course, with a loud signal.
750 - KXTG and KERR both battling it out with no chance whatsoever for wanted KFQD.
756 - At 0715 PT, Chinese talk by female. Not able to find a Shortwave // in time for CNR-1. There's a 100KW often heard on the coast, located in Harbin, northeast part of China.
765 - Het but no audio
774 - JOUB S9++, with Japanese talk and ENGLISH segment on teens & smartphones around 0725 PT that was fed to the whole NHK-2 network.
780 - KKOH dominate the whole time. Very faint music around 0730 way under KKOH, what else could it be, but KNOM? No ID.
783, 792, 801 just hets but 801 got pretty strong briefly.
810 - KGO of course, but UNID CHINESE underneath 0700 PT!!! Strongest one is Zhejiang People's Broadcasting Station, 200KW and based in Hangzhou which is SW of Shanghai.
819 - Very loud het with no ID, KGNW in the way. The normal one on the coast, from what I know, is KCBS North Korea, which airs very similar programming to the 657 Pyongyang.
828 - JOBB Osaka, NHK2 loud
837 - Weak mix early on, but around 0710 PT - JOQK Niigata, Niigata Japan weak with music sweeper // 594-JOAK. They air NHK1 programming. Lasted 10-15 seconds, too little to get a recording but easily parallel. NEW #765, 10KW at 4,831 miles!! Another weaker Japanese signal, nice to hear. Gotta love that park and the RFI-free environment.
846 - Mix of Asian stuff. Asiawaves lists tons of stuff - South Korea commercial station, a 5KW NHK, several Chinese...
850 - 99% sure I have KICY Nome AK. Religious music, at times, S9+!! Especially at 0725 PT where I recorded a minute of Rel music, and will email Re: song playlist for the segment of music that aired between 6 and 6:30AM Alaska time. They would be NEW. By 0730, when Insight for Living was scheduled, KHHO went to day power and obliterated the tentative Alaska signal.
855 - A mess with no one dominating. North Korea probably one of them.
864 - Big carrier, faint Asian audio. I suspect HLKR.
873 - JOGB Kumamoto, Japan with NHK2 a couple times in the session and always // 774 and others.
Hets from 882-999khz but didn't have time to really check. 972 HLCA was holding the fort, however.
1134, 1143 faint audio. 1134 not like yesterday, just a wisp of Asian audio. Hardly anything on 1206 either, wish I would've gotten an ID yesterday. Yanbian is needed.
1323, 1422, 1503 almost in audio. 1323 I suspect is China Radio International's Russian service, 1422 probably the commercial Japanese in Yokohama, 1503 maybe JOUK.
1566 - HLAZ Jeju, Religious program in Japanese, strong.
1575 - Kept checking this one, even indoors prior to park session, female speaking in unknown language, possibly Thai or Burmese. VOA has a big transmitter in Phra Nakhon, Thailand (1000KW) and would break an all-time distance record for me at 7,500+ miles. I have two clips to upload to WTFDA and here on Radio Discussions.
1593 - Carrier but no audio, likely CNR1.

WOW, what a morning!!

Audio here (plus a bonus from last night)
1250 KNEU from 12:30-ish last night, 129w supposedly with mention of 93.5 translator. - https://www.mediafire.com/file/nwb2kf55gm2osm8/KNEU_1250_UT_102618_1245am_PT.WMA/file
693, 747, 774, 828 NHK-2 - https://www.mediafire.com/file/ybl2xp4wswmdt19/JOAB_JOIB_JOUB_JOBB_NHK-2_blaster_102618.WMA/file
Tentative KICY Clip 1 - https://www.mediafire.com/file/yfes3d3kmsjvn0f/tentative_KICY_850_AK_102618_clip_1.WMA/file
Tentative KICY Clip 2 - https://www.mediafire.com/file/b5tc5fh8p0prxlz/tentative_KICY_850_AK_102618_clip_2.WMA/file
UNID 1575 clip 1 - https://www.mediafire.com/file/b7or6op2dyoo665/UNID_1575khz_102618_Clip_1.WMA/file
UNID 1575 clip 2 - https://www.mediafire.com/file/gpr3pizmugw8gfy/UNID_1575khz_102618_Clip_2.WMA/file

 

[tomservo]

Wow!

 

[cyberdad]

@crainbebo.... You must've felt like the kid in the candy store! Great stuff! Congratulations and thanks for posting.

 

[crainbebo]

Makes a difference three blocks away, doesn't it? I love my QTH because it's just a five minute walk. I've only taken it out one other time, when the total eclipse happened on August 21st, 2017. I wanted away from all RFI for the AM DX at 95% totality. Half of this stuff wouldn't make it indoors with the computers, TVs, lights, and other stuff that make an S7 noise level.
And keep in mind, this is somewhat normal DX if you live on the west side of the state...closer to the ocean the better. I've always wanted to go TP-DXing at Pacific Beach/Moclips. DXpeditions are always happening at Grayland, about 35 miles south of my old vacation stomping ground.
Even in the Seattle area, I never heard Religious programming on 850 in the AMs. But I was closer to KHHO. I also didn't hear any sign of AK on 800 or 890. I've heard KINY Juneau in the past, and tentative on KBBI on the westside. Too much slopping up - Sacramento, St. George, Meridian ID...

EDIT - After an email was sent back to me by the KICY staff with the playlist for 6AM Alaska time (7AM PT), I can now confirm Jason Crabb's 'Daystar' was the song I heard in clip 2, and it matches on SoundHound. NEW #766!!! This is 50KW at 2,077 miles and only AK #4!

 

[asugeorge1]

Any chance of ever hearing a Russian station up there Crainbebo? If you can get KICY from Nome, Alaska, maybe even some trans polar signals are possible from Norway!

 

[crainbebo]

I've heard TA hets a few times but never enough to capture audio. 1215 Absolute Radio UK is probably my best chance as they are often reported in BC when conditions are good. High-power far east Russians used to be on the MW dial but not anymore. Radio Mayak used to have a 500KW 549khz transmitter at Vladivostok, far east area, that got out well, and when Radio Rossii was on Longwave, they were widely reported in the Northwest especially on 279. There are still a few MW stations but they are low-power.

 

[radioman148]

Outstanding!!

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Any chance of ever hearing a Russian station up there Crainbebo? If you can get KICY from Nome, Alaska, maybe even some trans polar signals are possible from Norway!

When i lied in alaska, i never even heard russia on AM that i know of and i had a huge antenna

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

What do you use for dxing and recording? I can tell it';s a recorder held up to the speaker. I assume your radio has a headphone jack... get a digital recorder like the zoom h1m 3.5mm cable from headphone jack to line in of the zoom h1 then a pair of headphones in the line out port of the zoom h1...your recordings will be even better.. i can hear background noise and you moving around

One of your 1575's, the first one almost sounds english, but im not sure, is that right? if so, its one of the AFN signals from Japan....

 

[tomservo]

I don't think are many, if any, AM stations left in Russia to hear.

SRG or David Eduardo would probably know for sure.

 

[davideduardo]

I don't think are many, if any, AM stations left in Russia to hear.

SRG or David Eduardo would probably know for sure.

There are only about 20 remaining AM stations, the power in the 5 kw to 20 kw range and nearly all in Khabarovsk Krai and the immediate surrounding oblasts. This krai is in the SE corner of Russia, bordering on China.

Russia has a second FM band, from 63 to 74 MHz, and that is where it seems most of the AM stations went.

 

[CTListener]

There are only about 20 remaining AM stations, the power in the 5 kw to 20 kw range and nearly all in Khabarovsk Krai and the immediate surrounding oblasts. This krai is in the SE corner of Russia, bordering on China.

Russia has a second FM band, from 63 to 74 MHz, and that is where it seems most of the AM stations went.

Is the government subsidizing production and distribution of radios to receive those frequencies, or do existing Russian-made FM receivers already cover both hands?

 

[davideduardo]

Is the government subsidizing production and distribution of radios to receive those frequencies, or do existing Russian-made FM receivers already cover both hands?

I don't know the timeline on the "other" FM band, so can't answer that. Remember that limited commercial broadcasting began in Russian not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the USSR. So there has been commercial radio there for over 25 years... in fact, one of the early entrants was a subsidiary of Metromedia from the US!

The lower band has greater coverage than "our" FM band, so it's still in considerable use in Russia, although the former republics have pretty much abandoned it. It originated pre-independent radio, and most receivers were made in state-owned Soviet factories, so the band was part of the state-run economy. Most OIRT (what the system is called) is government owned. The system, particularly the method of generating stereo (using the "polar modulation" system) is very different, too.

 

[tomservo]

Is the government subsidizing production and distribution of radios to receive those frequencies, or do existing Russian-made FM receivers already cover both hands?

I am not sure if any new radios are made that can even pick up the OIRT band. It was chosen primary because it was incompatible with the standard FM band, as a means of restricting information from the other side of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. Russian radios had the OIRT band and AM, but not our 88-108 MHz band.

My understanding is that the OIRT band is slowly fading into obscurity since fewer and fewer radios are out there that can tune it; since the fall of communism, the regular FM band has been in widespread use in Russia.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I am not sure if any new radios are made that can even pick up the OIRT band. It was chosen primary because it was incompatible with the standard FM band, as a means of restricting information from the other side of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. Russian radios had the OIRT band and AM, but not our 88-108 MHz band.

My understanding is that the OIRT band is slowly fading into obscurity since fewer and fewer radios are out there that can tune it; since the fall of communism, the regular FM band has been in widespread use in Russia.

In Russia, the saying is "You dont listen to radio, radio listen to YOU!"

 

[davideduardo]

I am not sure if any new radios are made that can even pick up the OIRT band.

The band is standard in many Russian made radios, but those are not the preferred ones by consumers... just as the Lada was never the preferred car!

It was chosen primary because it was incompatible with the standard FM band, as a means of restricting information from the other side of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. Russian radios had the OIRT band and AM, but not our 88-108 MHz band.

That was in part true in the areas bordering on non-USSR territory. But the band began to be used in Russia long before FM was much of a factor in Western Europe. I was told that there were radio that did not have SW or MW, but only OIRT, since that way listeners could only hear official Soviet stations.

My understanding is that the OIRT band is slowly fading into obscurity since fewer and fewer radios are out there that can tune it; since the fall of communism, the regular FM band has been in widespread use in Russia.

There are still a huge number of stations, as a quick glance at WRTH will show. But they are "official" stations; unlike places like the UK and Canada where the BBC and CBC are strong competitors for listening, state run radio in Russia is far less popular.

 

[Mediafrog+]

The OIRT band is still used in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan. I think there are a couple of other former Soviet republics that just recently shut down their remaining OIRT stations.

There are some FM DXers in Western Europe that look for OIRT E-skip from Eastern Europe, as the distance is optimal.

Besides the greater signal range, the band is somewhat less susceptible to multipath.

The OIRT band runs from 65.8 to 74 MHz. I understand that in China there are some low power college-run FM stations that transmit between 50 and 87 MHz, but I have never seen a specific listing of these.

 

[boombox4]

OIRT FM is available on a lot of new radios. It is a feature that a lot of radio owners probably aren't aware of. My Grundig G2 has the capability, and I think many of the Tecsun radios have the capability as well. Of course, the only people who buy Tecsuns and Grundigs (with the DSP chip that has OIRT capability) are SWLs and similar radio aficionados.

Joe and Jane Sixpack probably don't even know what a Tecsun is -- even in Russia.