2008 Camden, Maine, DXpedition Logbook

Bruce Conti - June 22: SDR IQ, MWDX-5, 18 x 12-m south Delta 1kΩ terminated, 13-m vertical.  October 4-5:  SDR IQ, MWDX-5, terminated Delta antennas 15 x 20-m east and 15 x 27-m south.  October 16-17:  SDR IQ, MWDX-5, 15 x 30-m terminated Delta south, 50-m long wire east.  All dates/times UTC.

Transatlantic DX

531      SWITZERLAND DRS Beromünster (47°12'N 8°10'E) OCT 5 0258 - Fair, over RNE5 Spain; polka-style Alpine instrumental, woman in German.  This station scheduled to be shutdown by the end of the year due to reported 'electromagnetic smog' concerns.

549      IRELAND Hot Country CIMR, Monaghan  OCT 5 0300 - Nostalgic vocal, canned ID in English, "This is Hot Country CIMR," a weak signal under heavy interference from 550 kHz.  Thanks to Jean Burnell of RealDX for help identifying this.

576      CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN RNE5 synchros  OCT 5 0300 - Poor, mixed with an unID signal; instrumental bumper music, time marker, and fanfare into news, parallel 684 kHz.

594      PORTUGAL R.Sim, Muge (39°05'N 8°41'W) OCT 4 2220 - Excellent; nostalgic Portuguese vocal.  OCT 5 0200 - Good; woman in Portuguese, fanfare and "Radio Sim..." into news.

603      SPAIN RNE5 synchros  OCT 5 0300 - Fair; time marker and familiar fanfare into news.

612      MOROCCO RTM A, Sebaa-Aioun (33°54'N 5°23'W) OCT 4 2210 - Presumed this with a huge signal; typical North African music, no parallels found.  OCT 16 2255 - Good; telephone talk, African music, 2300 fanfare and woman in fast Arabic.

621      CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN RNE1 synchros, Santa Cruz de Tenerife et al.  OCT 16 2300 - Excellent; "Radio Nacional de España, Informativos" parallel 585 kHz.

648      unID   OCT 16 2300 - Echoey speaker in Arabic; Libya or Saudi Arabia likely.

693      SPAIN RNE1 synchros  OCT 5 0259 - Fair; instrumental bumper music, time marker, and fanfare into news, parallel 684 kHz.

693      UNITED KINGDOM BBC Radio 5, Droitwich et al.  OCT 5 0150 - Good with synchro echo; in-studio discussion.  'RR' Morse code splatter from an unID R.Reloj Cuba.

702      IRAN VOIRI Kiashar-Rasht (36°24'N 49°56'E) OCT 5 0259 - Poor; choral Iran national anthem.

747      CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN RNE5 synchros  OCT 5 0100 - Good; time marker, fanfare, "Radio Nacional de España, Informativos."

765      SWITZERLAND RSR Option Musique, Sottens (46°39'N 6°44'E) OCT 3 0053 - Female country vocal, then Option Musique jingle; good. [Connelly-MA]  OCT 10 0300 - Good; Option Musique jingle and RSR ID in French. [Conti-NH]

774      SPAIN RNE1 synchros  OCT 5 0100 - Good; echoed time pips with half-second delay between stations, news parallel 747 kHz.

783      MAURITANIA R.Mauritanie, Nouakchott (18°07'N 15°57'W) OCT 5 0045 - Solid s9 signal; African guitar and wailing vocal.

819      EGYPT ERTU Batra (31°09'N 31°27'E) OCT 17 0145 - Fair, 820 R.Reloj Cuba interference; talk parallel 12050 kHz.

837      CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN COPE synchros  OCT 5 0100 - Good; telephone talk, time check, and "Cadena Cope, servicios informativos."

855      SPAIN RNE1 synchros  OCT 5 0100 - Fair with synchro echo; time marker and news parallel 747 kHz.

936      unID   OCT 4 2215 - Fair; North African vocal and flute, likely Morocco.

999      MOLDOVA Voice of Russia, Grigoriopol, Maiac (47°14'N 29°24'E) OCT 16 2200 - Good; "...Golos Rossii, Novosti" ID into news.

999      SPAIN COPE Madrid (40°28'N 3°52'W) OCT 5 0000 - Good; pips with Spain and Canaries time check, fanfare, "Cadena Cope, servicios informativos."  OCT 17 0100 - Good; "Mama Mia" bumper music into time pips and news.

1008    CANARY ISLANDS Punto Radio, Las Palmas  OCT 16 2158 - Fair, over unID signals; folk guitar ballad, "Punto" mentions.

1035    PORTUGAL R.Clube Português, Belmonte  OCT 17 0000 - Good; three ascending synthesized notes and announcement, fanfare, repeated notes and "Rádio Clube" ID, more fanfare and news in Portuguese.

1044    MOROCCO RTM A/C, Sebaâ-Aioun (33°54'N 5°23'W) OCT 4 2355 - Fair; over SER Spain; Koran.  2400 a quick announcement with Maghribiyya mention and off.  OCT 17 0000 - Good, over 1030 WBZ HD noise; a single Koranic recitation, "...Mamlaka Maghrib" ID, and choral anthem.

1044    SPAIN SER synchros  JUN 22 0020 - Fair; talk parallel 1116 kHz.  This and 1521 Saudi Arabia the first transatlantic signals to make a good showing.

1053.07           LIBYA Libyan Jamahiriya, Tripoli (32°50'N 13°00'E) OCT 4 2345 - Good; end of Koranic recitation, then a military anthem and off, leaving TalkSport in clear.  OCT 16 2349 - Good; thundering military anthem, 2351 off leaving TalkSport in clear.

1062    DENMARK Danmarks Radio, Kalundborg (55°40'N 11°04'E) OCT 17 0342 - Good; alternating between announcement and chimes, 0345 weather.

1062    ITALY Rai Radiouno synchros  OCT 17 0346 - Pre sign-on test tones under Denmark.

1088    ANGOLA R.Nacional de Angola, Mulenvos  OCT 16 2200 - News in Portuguese with fanfare interludes; distinct carrier hetting low side of 1089 TalkSport.  New log.

1089    UNITED KINGDOM TalkSport synchros  OCT 5 0000 - Excellent; "From the Sky News Center, TalkSport News."  OCT 16 2200 - "TalkSport News" with synchro echo; a tight squeeze between 1088 Angola and 1090 WBAL.

1098    SPAIN RNE5 synchros  OCT 5 0000 - Echoed time pips with half-second delay between stations, fanfare into news.

1107    SPAIN RNE5 synchros  OCT 17 0400 - Fair; time pips, Spain and Canaries time check and fanfare into news parallel 1098 kHz.

1116    ITALY Rai Radiouno synchros  OCT 17 0349 - Pre sign-on test tones under Spain.

1116    SPAIN SER synchros  OCT 17 0000 - Fair; "Radio Pontevedre y Radio Albacete" ID into "Cadena Ser, Servicios Informativos."

1125    BELGIUM RTBF VivaCité, Houdeng (50°29'N 4°08'E) OCT 16 2200 - Fair at best; presumed this with time pips (over unID pips), fanfare, and news in French.

1143    unID   OCT 5 0000 - Loud growl of an unID sub-audible het against COPE Spain.

1206    FRANCE France Info, Bordeaux (44°57'N 0°11'W) OCT 4 2300 - Good; music bed, France Info ID, fanfare, and news parallel 1377 kHz.  OCT 17 0000 - Good; fanfare, ID and UTC+2 time check into news by a woman in French.

1215    UNITED KINGDOM Absolute Radio synchros  OCT 4 2259 - Good, over COPE Spain; Absolute Radio promo and ad string.

1305    SPAIN RNE5 synchros OCT 4 2300 - Fair, synchro echo; time marker, fanfare into news.

1377    FRANCE France Info, Lille (50°31'N 2°59'E) OCT 4 2300 - Excellent; music bed, "Le... de France Info," fanfare into news.

1385.92           GUINEA R.Rurale, Labé  OCT 4 2230 - Fair; African highlife.  2330 announcement by a woman, then abruptly signed off.  OCT 16 2325 - Good; African vocal, 2331 off.

1422    ALGERIA R.Algérienne, Algiers (36°40'N 3°09'E) OCT 16 2337 - Good; Mediterranean-flavored pop vocal parallel 252 kHz.

1449    LIBYA Voice of Africa, Misurata (32°46'N 15°05'E) OCT 16 2340 - Good; presumed this with Koran.

1467    FRANCE TWR Roumoules (43°47'N 6°09'E) OCT 4 2225 - Good; English program, preaching the gospel of Matthew.  2230 TWR contact info.

1521    SAUDI ARABIA BSKSA Duba (27°20'N 35°45'E) OCT 4 2030 - Good, during receiver afternoon daylight; Middle Eastern music and a woman with Arabiya Saudiya ID, parallel 9555 and 9870 kHz.

Pan-American DX

530      CUBA R.Enciclopedia, unknown location  OCT 5 0300 - Excellent; "Transmite CMBQ Radio Enciclopedia, desde la Habana, Cuba," and intro by a soft spoken woman into easy listening instrumental music.  R.Visión Cristiana, Turks & Caicos, still off the air due to antenna damage caused by Hurricane Ike.

540      GRENADA GBN Klassic AM, St. George's (12°04'N 61°45'W) OCT 5 0300 - Presumed, under CBT; BBC World Service.  GBN relays the BBC after 0200 UTC.

550      COLOMBIA R.Nacional, two locations  OCT 5 0800 - Over/under presumed YVKE; distinctive top of the hour ID with sound effects similar to the intro from "The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly" theme song, parallel 680 kHz.

550      URUGUAY   CW1 R.Colonia, Colonia  JUN 22 0800 - Through Cuba, Venezuela, and possible Colombia; John Philip Sousa marching band music and intro to news with "Radio Colonia" ID.  According to Henrik Klemetz via RealDX, "R.Colonia uses this march when cueing into their news."

550      VENEZUELA   YVKE Caracas (10°32'N 66°55'W) OCT 5 0830 - Good; Radio Mundial news promo, "...por YVKE Mundial," and opera-like orchestral vocals.  OCT 17 0928 - Fair; Radio Mundial promo, merengue music.

555      ST. KITTS & NEVIS   ZIZ Basseterre (17°19'N 62°44'W) JUN 22 0800 - Fair; BBC World Service promo, pips and GMT time check into BBC news headlines.  OCT 16 2259 - Good; tail end of a report about Antigua and Trinidad & Tobago, then an R&B cover of Air Supply "All Out of Love."  OCT 17 0930 - Good; steel drum instrumental, ZIZ ID, and devotional music.

570      CUBA   CMDC R.Reloj, Santa Clara (22°24'N 79°56'W) JUN 22 0400 - Good; alternating between three-note chimes and world time checks at Cuba midnight.

580      PUERTO RICO   WKAQ San Juan (18°26'N 66°08'W) JUN 22 0330 - Under WTAG; talk and break parallel 600 kHz.  OCT 5 0200 - Good; multiple callsign IDs, "WKAQ cinco ochenta," in promo string.  OCT 16 2300 - Fair; "WKAQ 580" news promo and network ID.

600      BRAZIL   ZYK278 R.Gaúcha, Porto Alegre (30°02'S 51°12'W) JUN 22 0400 - Presumed this with fanfare into news in Portuguese through WYEL and WICC.

600      CUBA   CMKV R.Rebelde, Urbano Noris (20°35'N 76°08'W) OCT 17 1002 - Excellent, over unID Venezuela; IDs for Radio Rebelde and Radio Las Tunas in live announcement.

600      PUERTO RICO   WYEL Mayagüez  JUN 22 0800 - Good; in-studio discussion, then classic salsa in the style of El Gran Combo, parallel 580 WKAQ.  OCT 5 0300 - Fair; ad with "1-800" phone number, disclaimer for "programa pagado," network ID, "...WKAQ cinco ochenta AM San Juan, WUKQ catorce viente AM Ponce, WYEL seiscientos AM Mayagüez," then what sounded like a ring announcer for a boxing match.

610      CUBA   CMAN R.Rebelde, Bahía Honda (22°53'N 83°09'W) JUN 22 0800 - Rebelde sounder through WGIR and unIDs.  OCT 17 0900 - Fair, through Newsradio 610 WIOD; theme song parallel 600 kHz.

620      ANTIGUA ABS/One Caribbean Radio, St. John's  JUN 22 0330 - Good; "Havin' a Good Time" soca vocal with "Brand new!" voice-overs, DJ mention of Internet listeners in Barbados via "Triple W dot One Caribbean Radio dot com."

620      CUBA R.Rebelde, multiple locations  JUN 22 0800 - Rebelde sounder through WSNR and unIDs.  OCT 5 0200 - Good; pop music concert parallel 560, 600, and 670 kHz.  OCT 17 0900 - Good, over WSNR; theme song parallel 600 kHz.

630      PUERTO RICO   WUNO San Juan (18°26'N 66°07'W) OCT 17 0930 - Fair, over WPRO; promo, "WUNO... Uno 630."

640      CUBA R.Progreso, multiple sites  JUN 22 0800 - Good with synchro echo; "En Radio Progreso la habana..." and romántica.

640      GUADELOUPE R.Guadeloupe, Pointe-à-Pitre (16°15'N 61°32'W) JUN 22 0350 - Fair through 639 Spain het and lightning noise; lively DJ in French and compas (kompa) vocals.  OCT 17 0932 - Fair, over unIDs; announcer thanks listeners, mention of nouvelle and R.Guadeloupe ID, all in French.

640      VENEZUELA   VYQO Unión Radio, Puerto la Cruz (10°05'N 64°47'W) JUN 22 0328 - Fair, over R.Guadeloupe; "Unión Radio Noticias."

650      COLOMBIA   HJKH RCN Antena Dos, Bogotá (4°34'N 74°04'W) OCT 5 0800 - Good; merengue, "RCN la radio de Colombia" jingle, "Más música en la programación de Antena Dos Colombia," and salsa.

650      CUBA R.Rebelde, multiple sites  JUN 22 0800 - Rebelde sounder under WSM.

670      CUBA   CMQ R.Rebelde, Arroyo Arenas (23°00'N 82°30'W) JUN 22 0800 - Good; light instrumental music, then Rebelde sounder and ID into news.

670      CUBA R.Reloj, unknown location  OCT 5 0830 - Clock, minute marker, and RR code IDs, noted again at 0940; through R.Rebelde.

680      COLOMBIA   HJZO R.Nacional de Colombia, Sabanagrande  OCT 5 0800 - Theme song and ID under WRKO, parallel 550 kHz.

680      PUERTO RICO   WAPA San Juan  OCT 5 0200 - Over/under WRKO; multiple station ID, "WAPA 680 AM San Juan-Arecibo... AM Mayagüez-Aguadilla, la señal más poderosa..." into ad string, "...Wapa, cadena noticias ...en todo Puerto Rico."

690      CUBA R.Progreso, Jovellanos (22°49'N 81°10'W) JUN 22 0400 - Under CINF; Isao Tomita "Snowflakes Are Dancing" parallel 640 kHz.

700      JAMAICA Nationwide News Network, Hague, Trelawny  JUN 22 0801 - Fair; Gladys Knight & the Pips "The Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me" parallel 720 kHz.

700      VENEZUELA   YVMH R.Popular, Maracaibo (10°39'N 71°37'W) OCT 17 0930 - Fair; bells and time check, "La hora de Radio Popular, cinco en punto."

710      CUBA R.Rebelde, multiple sites  OCT 17 1030 - Good with heavy echo caused by delay between stations; jingle and time check into news parallel 670 kHz.

720      COLOMBIA   HJAN Emisoras Unidas, Barranquilla  JUN 22 0400 - Presumed this of the three possible Colombia stations, with nostalgia and UTC-5 time check; couldn't pull an ID out of the jumble.

720      JAMAICA Nationwide News Network, Innswood, St.Catherine (18°00'N 76°47'W) JUN 22 0300 - Fair, over an unID Latin American; reggae vocals parallel a much weaker 700 kHz.

720      VENEZUELA   YVQE Oriente, Porlamar (10°56'N 64°12'W) OCT 5 0127 - Good; "¡En Venezuela, Oriente!" with time check into ad/promo string ending with another time check, "¡En Venezuela, Oriente!  Nueve en punto," and an enjoyable mix of classic salsa, merengue, and llanera music.  OCT 17 0930 - Excellent; "Desde Porlamar, estado Nueva Esparta, transmite la nueva Oriente 720 AM..." and time check with jingle, "En Venezuela, Oriente, cinco en punto."

740      VENEZUELA   YVNQ R.Caroní, Puerto Ordaz (8°15'N 62°42'W) OCT 17 0900 - Under CHCM; "treinte minutos" time check and Radio Caroní theme song.

750      CUBA   CMHV R.Progreso, Trinidad (21°48'N 79°59'W) OCT 17 1022 - Briefly over WSB; "Radio Progreso, cadena nacional..."

750      VENEZUELA   YVKS RCR Caracas (10°29'N 67°00'W) JUN 22 0030 - Good; "Radio Caracas Radio 750 AM" ID in sports commentary.  OCT 17 0210 - Good; Navegantes liga venezolana baseball coverage, "Sintonia de RCR deportes."

760      COLOMBIA   HJAJ RCN Barranquilla (10°53'N 74°49'W) JUN 22 0900 - Good; promo, "RCN Antena Dos en todo el pais," into "RCN noticias."  OCT 5 1000 - Fair; "la radio de Colombia" jingle and RCN noticias.  770 WABC turned on its digital signal at this time.  OCT 17 0900 - Fair with WJR; la radio de Colombia theme and RCN ID.

770      COLOMBIA   HJJX RCN Bogotá (4°37'N 74°11'W) OCT 5 1000 - Under WABC; jingle and RCN news parallel 760 kHz.  OCT 17 0900 - La radio de Colombia theme under WABC.

770      CUBA R.Rebelde, Las Mercedes  JUN 22 0900 - Fair in lightning noise; romántica and ID into news.

780      VENEZUELA   YVMN R.Coro, Coro (11°23'N 69°40'W) OCT 5 0900 - Under CFDR; jingle, "Radio Coro, 780 AM" IDs.

800      NETHERLANDS ANTILLES   PJB TransWorld Radio, Bonaire (12°06'N 68°17'W) JUN 22 0200 - Good; "Radio Transmundial, transmitiendo desde Bonaire..."

820      ST. KITTS & NEVIS TBN/R.Paradise, Charlestown (17°08'N 62°37'W) JUN 22 0200 - Fair, through WNYC; TBN promo, "Celebrating 35 years..." into Billy Graham crusade program.  OCT 5 0900 - Fair, over WNYC; religious choir music, then "Chariots of Fire" theme.

840      HAITI   4VEH Cap Haitien  JUN 22 0200 - Fair; presumed this with orchestra instrumentals and greeting in French, "Bon soir..."

840      unID   OCT 5 1000 - Woman with news in Portuguese, RBC promo/ID; over unID Spanish.  R.Bandeirantes Brazil uses "RB" slogan, but it was more likely WRYM which per the website schedule broadcasts "Camino A Portugal" at this time.

860      CUBA   CMDB R.Reloj, Baracoa (20°21'N 74°29'W) OCT 5 0931 - In a mix with CJBC and an unID Latin American.

870      CUBA   CMDT R.Reloj, Sancti Spíritus (21°56'N 79°26'W) OCT 5 0900 - Weak through co-channel unID talk in Spanish and 880 WCBS HD noise.

895      ST. KITTS & NEVIS Voice of Nevis, Bath Village (17°07'N 62°37'W) OCT 5 0900 - Fair; light R&B/soul vocals.

900      BARBADOS CBC St. Michael  JUN 22 0150 - Presumed through Latin American pileup; high energy soca vocals.  OCT 5 0900 - Fair; sign on with announcement followed by choral national anthem.

900      VENEZUELA   YVMD Ritmo 900, Maracaibo (10°39'N 71°44'W) OCT 5 0930 - Fair; "Para Ritmo 900..." and time check with jingle.

910      VENEZUELA   YVRQ Caracas (10°32'N 66°55'W) JUN 22 0230 - Fair over an unID Latin American and 909 BBC5 het; folk music, "RQ 910, tu AM center..." promo with many more AM Center mentions.  OCT 5 0900 - Good, over unID talk in Spanish; llanera music, AM Center promo.

960      CUBA R.Reloj, multiple sites  JUN 22 0830 - Over an unID tropical music station.

1000    BRAZIL   ZYK522 R.Record, São Paulo (23°33'S 46°38'W) JUN 22 0144 - Portuguese talk briefly over WCMX.

1100    BRAZIL   ZYK694 R.Globo, São Paulo (23°32'S 46°37'W) JUN 22 0048 - Under WHLI; R.Globo ID.  OCT 17 0400 - Globo whistles under unID Spanish and WTAM.

1110    VENEZUELA   YVQT R.Carúpano, Carúpano (10°40'N 63°18'W) JUN 22 0100 - Good; "¡En Venezuela, Carúpano!"  OCT 5 0001 - Fair through WBT; "¡En Venezuela, Carúpano!"  OCT 17 0001 - Good; lively conga vocal, "¡En Venezuela, Carúpano!"

1140    BRAZIL   ZYH449 R.Cultura da Bahia, Salvador  OCT 17 0001 - Good; Brazilian country music, a music ad/promo, then a live announcement by a woman with "Salvador da bahia" mention, all in Portuguese.  New log.

1140    CUBA R.Cadena Habana, La Habana  OCT 17 0400 - Fair; signature synthesized music, then national anthem.

1140    VENEZUELA R.Porlamar, Porlamar (10°57'N 63°51'W) JUN 22 0830 - Through pileup and lightning noise; "La voz del caribe" ID.

1160    BERMUDA   VSB3 Hamilton (32°18'N 64°46'W) OCT 17 0000 - Good; BBC World Service.

1220    BRAZIL   ZYJ458 R.Globo, Rio de Janeiro (22°55'S 43°13'W) JUN 22 0001 - Fair; R.Globo promo/ID with signature reverb and whistles.  OCT 4 2300 - Fair; Globo promo with characteristic reverb.

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