GLENN HAUSER'S SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-53, Nov 14, 1999 {Items from this and all our reports may be reproduced and re- reproduced only providing full credit be maintained at all stages} ** AUSTRIA. ORF's two media programs in German are no longer easily heard in NAm due to scheduling which omits them from any airings on 6015 or 7325 in our evenings. We are left with Sunday 1130 on 13730 for Intermedia, and try Fri 2354 for DX-Telegramm on 9870 and 13730 for Latin America (Glenn Hauser, OK) ** COSTA RICA. As promised, less than two weeks after it vanished with a broken antenna, RFPI's 6975 was back from 0000 UT Sun Nov 14, seemingly normal operations as before, off again around 1200*. 15049 continues to fade out, losing it as early as 0400, but traces of it before 1200 so may still be 24h; up to good level shortly after 1200, but poor by 1600, probably falling below the LUHF. DW usage of 21460 is even more than noticed before, already at 1357 with ID in Arabic, and scheduled 1300-1600 via Nauen, 135 degrees, meaning back-radiation directly to the northwest. Now would be a good time for RFPI to resume 11 meter band operation as at last solar peak when it was on 25945, as I recall (Glenn Hauser, OK) ** CUBA. Apparently rehabilitated, Manolo de la Rosa heard back as co-anchor on RHC's Revista Informativa de la Man~ana, Sat Nov 13 at 1100 on 6000 propagating the party line as if he means it. Arnie Coro on DXers Unlimited Nov 13 was promoting "hunting harmonics" now that the higher frequencies are propagating well, without ever referring to our pioneering promotion of this DX angle sesquidecades ago. He said a future edition of DXUL would be devoted entirely to this topic, with some recordings. What do you bet he never acknowledges either that RHC itself (and allied jammers) are prime producers of harmonics, as are Cuban MW stations? (Glenn Hauser, OK) ** ECUADOR. HCJB station manager John Beck was guest on DX Partyline Nov 13, updating Glenn Volkhardt's appearance on Oct 3, 1998 about the airport situation. Not much has changed; the possible new airport near Pifo which would put present HCJB antennas directly obstructing the flight path, is on the back burner with the government, due to more pressing issues such as vulcanism and the economy. It is doubtful that anything will be done in the next 4-5 years. However, HCJB is in the process of buying some property elsewhere, not pinpointed, and will dust off the contingency plan to install transmitters there if and when necessary. Guayaquil also wants a new airport, and it is doubtful Ecuador could afford new airports for both major cities. There could be a compromise, putting the main airport south of Quito at Latacunga, and connect to both cities by bullet trains. Nothing was said here about HCJB's overseas transmitter plans in Australia, Burkina Faso (Glenn Hauser, OK) ** MEXICO. New schedule for Encuentro DX on Radio Mil: Sat at 0000 UT on both 1000 and 6010; repeated on 6010 at: Fri 2330, Sat 2200, Sun 1500, 2230, 0330. This week's program will be repeated the following week; the next one will be in two weeks. Reports, suggestions and comments are wanted to: XEOI, Radio Mil Onda Corta, Apartado Postal 21-1000, 04021 - Mexico 21, D.F., Mexico (Julian Santiago Diez de Bonilla and Hector Garcia Bojorge, Nov 10, translated by Hauser) I think he may mean UT Sunday 0000 for the first broadcast, since the order of times indicates the final repeat would be UT Monday without being so specified. Too bad they don't have any overnight times or around 1200 when reception is best (Hauser) ** SPAIN. Thanks to a tip from Ruben Guillermo Margenet, I checked REE's Spanish media program for the first time in months, at its new time, Sun 1309:30-1330. Same program, Amigos de la Onda Corta with new host, Angel Rodriguez Lozano, up to old tricks, stealing our info: "la ronda de emisoras" segment at end had only two tips, one of which was Turkey's new Spanish service, an item I distributed to Spanish DX bulletins, but he quoted without any credit whatsoever. As usual, 21700 was best here, and if I read the B-99 REE sked via Ruben correctly, others are 21610, 21570 (both also audible), 17595, 15585. The Cariari, Costa Rica relays on 5970, 11815 and 15170 from 1300 evidently do not open until 1400 on Sundays. The only other time for ADLOC: UT Sun 0105, on 11945, 6125 (Guillermo Glenn Hauser, Oclajoma) ** TURKEY. Just when the world is eager to hear any news direct after another disaster, VOT self-defeatingly dumps English for even more Turkish: the scheduled NAm service in English at 2300 Nov 13 on 9655 in fact carried the Turkish service //9460 and 9445; at first a calm conversation, and later some excited fuss presumably from the quake area. Reminds me of R. Jordan dumping English when King Hussein died. The Nov 14 1330 17815 broadcast, however, was back in English, playing irrelevant rock music at 1404 check. BTW, this broadcast, supposedly for "SW Asia" is much better here than either of the so-called NAm English broadcasts, 2300 on 9655 and 0400 on 6010 (Glenn Hauser, OK) ** U S A. All is not well at the so-called University Network. People who can actually stand to listen to Dr Gene Scott for more than a couple of seconds report that he has been talking about having fired some of his top people recently for incompetence, disloyalty or worse. -- Just as he embarks on expanding his egotrip to Costa Rica (Glenn Hauser, OK) ** U S A. On Al Weiner Worldwide, UT Sat Nov 13 at 0100 on WBCQ 7415, Al reported that his medical tests for Lyme disease came back negative but he still has some unknown ailment and continues taking anti- biotics. For the new WBCQ streaming accessible via http://www.wbcq.com but actually via http://www.shoutcast.com, you may need to download a Winamp player; or the newest Netscape version 4.7 or latest version of RealAudio work. "The Album Zone," from Britain, will be back starting Dec 4, Sat 2100-2200. From Nov 27 a new program, "Planet Lavender" will run Sats 2200-2300, and Timtron will shift to 2300-2400, these replacing Saturday Morning Confusion. Tom & Darrel are still on Sundays 0500-0800. New on Sundays at 2230-2300 is a program called "Regeneration," with music and commentary. WBCQ-2 has now been authorized, and was tested earlier on Friday with new rhombic antenna on 7415 (notes by Glenn Hauser) Scott Becker, who is generously providing Allan with the Shoutcast feed, is also pumping out non-WBCQ programming on the channel when WBCQ is off the air. This appears to be confusing some listeners. I've also received complaints of lockups and poor quality from listeners to the Shoutcast feed. Is this the DX challenge of the new millennium (which really starts in 2001!)? (Dan Lewis, master of webmistress at http://wbcq.net - not involved in the streaming, Nov 14) ** U S A. Another check for the WWCR spur on 7461.8 Sat Nov 13 around 1300 turned up negative, tho fundamental 7435 seemed to be at the usual pounding level. Perhaps something was tweaked or JOOTT? Ditto Nov 14 (Glenn Hauser, OK) Nothing has been done to transmitter (George McClintock, WWCR, Nov 14) ** WALES [non]. Wales Radio, International, confirmed at new time and frequency Nov 13, UT Sat 0300 on 9735 starting with usual Merlin promotion (Glenn Hauser, OK) INTRUDER WATCH. Nov 13 I ran across two instances of USB Spanish 2-way in the middle of SWBC bands, no IDs heard, and probably none given. At 1555 on 15261; and after Turkey closed, at 2355 on 9656 (Glenn Hauser, OK) PROPAGATION OUTLOOK from Ottawa, issued Nov 3: in the auroral zone, geomagnetic field most unsettled (reaching 160 nano-Teslas) Nov 19, slightly less Nov 20. Most quiet Nov 14-17, 23, 25-26, 30 (NRC GSC via Hauser) ###