XingXing guangbo diantai 1 (V13)

[glimmer twin]

I've been spending alot of time lately on various Japanese remotes trying to copy JJY (I've always wanted to copy the English language news fax and have never been able to even come close from my QTH in Missouri)  while waiting I've stumbled across V13 a few times
I'm my local mornings:
July 9. 9276 KHz 12:01-12:26 under strong FEBC on 9275. Also on at:

12:30 - 12:55, actually starts a minute late and goes a minute long 12:31 - 12:56

13:00 - 13:26. I missed the start but the sign off was at 13:26 so sign on was likely 13:01

13:31 - 13:56

All on 9276 KHz H3E. With very strong FEBC all but obliterating the signal. During the occasional lulls in FEBC I could see some modulation on LSB. Not enough to be considered full AM but not fully suppressed either. Sometimes the carrier is dropped in the 5 minutes between broadcasts. This happened at 12:26 but didn't happen at 12:56. Carrier was dropped at 13:26 also. Not heard on usual parallel 7502 KHz.

Local evenings
UTC July 10.
  00-30-01:00 18040 KHz (H3E) // 11430 KHz AM I missed the actual start (with the flutes) and the sign off so I'm not sure about the minute late start thing although that seems to be the pattern.
Rechecked at 01:11 and both frequencies were on again in the same modes.
 
2020-07-11 , 01:31z 13974kHz until 01:56z carrier off at 01:57z
2020-07-11 , 02:03z 9276kHz carrier but no modulation. carrier off at 02:56z
2020-07-11 , 03:01z 7502kHz until 3:26z carrier stays on
2020-07-11 , 03:31z 7502kHz until 3:56z carrier off at 03:57z

[Token]

I've been spending alot of time lately on various Japanese remotes trying to copy JJY (I've always wanted to copy the English language news fax and have never been able to even come close from my QTH in Missouri)  while waiting I've stumbled across V13 a few times
I'm my local mornings:
July 9. 9276 KHz 12:01-12:26 under strong FEBC on 9275. Also on at:

12:30 - 12:55, actually starts a minute late and goes a minute long 12:31 - 12:56

13:00 - 13:26. I missed the start but the sign off was at 13:26 so sign on was likely 13:01

13:31 - 13:56

Over the last few months I have received and recorded essentially every V13 transmission on 9276 kHz and 7502 kHz in the 1200, 1230, 1300, and 1330z time slots.  I have done this trying to determine if there is a pattern to what days / times what frequencies or combinations of frequencies are used.

After 3 months of looking, I will have to say it appears there simply is not a pattern.

Most days 9276 kHz (and 15890 kHz) is used in the 1200z and 1230z time slot and 7502 kHz (and 13974 kHz) is used in the 1300z and 1330z time slot.  However, it is not always that way, and there seems to be no pattern to the variations from this.

I have seen days with no transmissions at all, although only a very few such days.  I have seen days with the "normal" 9276 kHz at 1200/1230z and 7502 kHz at 1300/1330z.  I have seen days inverted, so that 7502 kHz is during 1200/1230z and 9276 kHz is 1300/1330z.  I have seen days when 1200/1230z transmit and 1300/1330z does not.  I have seen several days when 1200z does not transmit, but all three other time slots, 1230, 1300, and 1330z, all do.  I have seen days when 9276 kHz was used in all four time slots, and other days when 7502 kHz was used in all four time slots.

I have seen one day when both 9276 kHz and 7502 kHz were used simultaneously and in all four time slots, 1200/1230/1300/1330z.  But with different traffic on each freq.

As for start times, they seem to vary a bit.  Two months ago the start times were slightly before 1200/1230/1300/1330z, say 20 or 30 seconds before the top and bottom of the hour.  Today 9276 kHz started at 1201:36z.  It is as if the clock they are using looses a couple seconds a day, and no one has resynced the clock in a while, so the start time has gotten later and later since the last time it was synced.

All on 9276 KHz H3E. With very strong FEBC all but obliterating the signal. During the occasional lulls in FEBC I could see some modulation on LSB. Not enough to be considered full AM but not fully suppressed either. Sometimes the carrier is dropped in the 5 minutes between broadcasts. This happened at 12:26 but didn't happen at 12:56. Carrier was dropped at 13:26 also. Not heard on usual parallel 7502 KHz.

The mixture of H3E and full DSB AM seems somewhat random.  9276 kHz is sometimes, possibly most often, H3E and sometimes full AM.  7502 kHz is normally full AM but sometimes is H3E.

The carrier on / off between messages seems to be frequency dependent.  Typically 9276 kHz will turn off the carrier between messages, but 7502 kHz seldom does.  If I had to guess, and it is clearly just a guess, it may be that different people/techs may be running each transmitter, and one person turns it off between messages, the other person does not.  There are other minor activities that may support this, such as transmitter tuning for each frequency.  It just feels like they (the two transmitters) are not run by the same person.

You said "Not heard on usual parallel 7502 KHz".  7502 kHz is not in parallel with 9276 kHz.  In the past 2+ months I have seen them both active at the same time only one time, and that time they had different traffic on the two frequencies.  Typically there are at least two frequencies active at any one time, but it is not 9276 / 7502 kHz.  Most often when 9276 kHz is active you will also find the station on 15890 kHz.  And when 7502 kHz is active you will also find 13974 kHz active.  However, these second outlets are not carrying the same program, 9276 / 15890 kHz may be active at the same time, but different traffic on each, the same with the 7502 / 13974 kHz pair, active at the same time but different traffic.

T!

[glimmer twin]

I'm not sure why I said that 7502 is parallel with 9276, I've never seen that happen, my bad. I've spent lots of time monitoring them lately but mostly during the 00:00-04:00 time period. I've seen everything you describe, in other words no pattern that you can count on.  I usually find number stations pretty dull but find myself compelled to follow this one.
Thanks for your always helpful insights.

[Token]

For the most part numbers stations are a passing interest for me.  I mean, if I am setting at the radio I may try to catch one that I know will be on the air, but I don't really pursue them.  The exceptions are V24 and V07, both of those I record / look for attempting to catch every transmission.  The same with V30, when it was active.

I tend not to use remotes for the stations I focus on.  Nothing against remotes, and I use them to catch what can't be caught directly here, but when I am looking hard at a station it tends to be a station I can receive first hand.  And that is why I looked hard at the 1200-1330z V13, because that is the time period I catch here first hand.  I guess I should look for the 0000 - 0400 time slots, just to see how well they are heard here.

The lack of consistency on V13 is very odd to me, and pretty much the only reason I focused on it recently.  It just does not make a lot of sense.  Of course, the V30 activity, sending the same message on apparently random days for months on end, was probably why I paid attention to that one.

T!

[glimmer twin]

18-July-2020 V13 observations
via various East Asian remotes

13974 kHz AM  01:02utc
15890 kHz H3E 01:01utc 
Both frequencies start with interval signal flutes but drop carriers after ID but before numbers begin.

13974 kHz AM  01:32utc
15890 kHz H3E 01:31utc  Both frequencies--interval signal then ID and off at 01:33utc

9276 kHz  unmodulated carrier   I tuned in at 02:05 and promptly fell asleep so I have no idea how long they were on with no modulation.

I checked for them during the 00:00-01:00 time but they weren't on any of the "scheduled" frequencies.

Correction: I now know that V13 was on 18040kHz from just before 00:00 until at least 01:00 18-July-2020 with the malfunction that I describe below

[glimmer twin]

19-July-2020

11430kHz AM  2020-07-19  00:01z interval signal, ID then numbers. Gone at 00:20z recheck
18040kHz  2020-07-19  transmitter is apparently defective with carrier on and off every second or so. During interval signal the flutes can be heard each second and bits of numbers are sometimes audible (in usb, lsb and am ) also. I saw this last night too but didn't realize what it was.

11430kHz AM  2020-07-19  00:31z interval signal ID and numbers until 00:51z
18040kHz   2020-07-19  00:31z continued defective transmitter. recording below

 https://app.box.com/s/co1f355b51tjqci8n5e90jq9rx1cplh6

13974kHz AM  2020-07-19  01:01z IS  ID  and numbers until 01:21z
15890kHz H3E 2020-07-19  01:01z IS  ID  and numbers co-channel SOH until 01:21z

13974kHz AM  2020-07-19  01:32z IS  ID  and numbers until 01:43z
15890kHz H3E 2020-07-19  01:31z IS  ID  and numbers until 01:43z

not found at 02:00-3:00 or 3:00-4:00

[glimmer twin]

20-July-2020 via Daejeon, South Korea remote:

11430kHz AM  2020-07-20 00:05z tuned in to numbers in progress until 00:20z

11430kHz AM  2020-07-20 00:31z IS ID into numbers until 00:50z

13974kHz AM  2020-07-20 01:01z IS ID into numbers until 01:20z

13974kHz AM  2020-07-20 01:31Z IS ID into numbers until 01:50z

[glimmer twin]

22-July-2020. Observations:

11430kHz AM  00:01z-00:20z
18040kHz H3E 00:01z-00:20z carrier stays on

11430kHz AM  00:31z-00:50z
18040kHz H3E 00:31z-00:50z

15890kHz H3E 01:01z-01:20z
15890kHz H3E 01:31z-01:50z

9276kHz  H3E found in progress at 2:04z until 02:20z
9276kHz  H3E 02:30z-02:51z
9276kHz H3E 03:00z-03:21z
9276kHz H3E 03:30z-03:51z  carrier remains on past 04:20z when I tuned out.

[Token]

Just an FYI, it appears there might have been a schedule change.  This station has not been seen on 9276 kHz or 7502 kHz in the 1200 - 1400 time period since 18 July, 2020.  However, it is still active on those frequencies in other time slots, so the facilities do not appear to be inop.

13974 kHz and 15890 kHz still appear to be in use during this time period.

I have been looking for other frequencies below 13000 during that time period that might have taken their place, so far no joy.

T!

[glimmer twin]

Observations from 2020-07-30
via various South Asia remote receivers:

00:00utc-0:30utc  not found   except carrier on 18040kHz

00:31utc-00:56utc     18040kHz H3E

01:01utc-01:03utc     18040kHz H3E

01:03utc-01:26utc     15890kHz H3E  co-channel weak SOH

01:31utc-01:56utc      15890kHz H3E  co-channel weak SOH

02:00:52utc-02:25utc   9276kHz  H3E 

02:30:53utc-02:55utc   9276kHz  H3E  qrm from CNR 1 jamming SOH on 9280kHz (20Khz wide)

03:00:50-03:24:43utc   9276kHz  H3E

03:30:54utc-03:55utc   9276kHz 
All broadcast consist of Interval signal followed by ID and numbers in Chinese

Note the abrupt change at 1:03 from 18040kHz to 15890kHz. I've seen this happen several times when they don't broadcast at 00:00utc, the expected 15890kHz program appears on 18040kHz for a few minutes and the switches to 15890kHz.
I also find it interesting that while V13 is on 15890kHz at the same time as SOH that frequency is not jammed by CNR1 although every other SOH nearby, there's 4 or 5 of them, is covered by huge CNR signals. Most of them are about 20 kHz wide. (!) V13 was covered by the splatter from 9280kHz while it was on 9276kHz but only for a few minutes then the CNR signal remained but was much smaller allowing easy reception of 9276

[Token]

Note the abrupt change at 1:03 from 18040kHz to 15890kHz. I've seen this happen several times when they don't broadcast at 00:00utc, the expected 15890kHz program appears on 18040kHz for a few minutes and the switches to 15890kHz.

I have seen them do this on every frequency set they use at one time or another.  It appears they sometimes forget to shift off the last time slot frequency, or they come up in the wrong frequency for the time, and then shift to the right one, mid transmission.

It appears the 1200-1330 slots on 9276 and 7502 have not been active  for a while now, almost 2 weeks since they were last used (I think the 18th of July was the last day those were active, but don't have a log in front of me so that is from memory).  The higher freqs in these time slots, 13974 and 15890 kHz, are still active.  I have been looking for other lower frequencies, to see if they have shifted to a new combination of freqs, but so far no joy.

T!

[glimmer twin]

Note the abrupt change at 1:03 from 18040kHz to 15890kHz. I've seen this happen several times when they don't broadcast at 00:00utc, the expected 15890kHz program appears on 18040kHz for a few minutes and the switches to 15890kHz.

I have seen them do this on every frequency set they use at one time or another.  It appears they sometimes forget to shift off the last time slot frequency, or they come up in the wrong frequency for the time, and then shift to the right one, mid transmission.
 
Perhaps HM01 and V13 are managed by the same people.🤔😂😉

T!

[glimmer twin]

I heard them using 7502 in the 12-13 time period again. Heard on August 2 at 12:19 utc. I am usually not able to listen at that time so I only caught them for about 2 minutes, dx'ing on my phone waiting in line at the grocery store. I checked again this morning at 12:32 utc and did not find them.

btw, here's my logs from midnight to 04:00 utc last night:
Via Daejeon, South Korea remote

2020-08-03

00:00-01:00  not found

01:00utc-01:20utc  15890kHz  H3E

01:30utc-01:50utc  15890kHz  H3E

02:00utc-2:21utc    9276kHz   H3E

02:30utc-02:51utc   9276kHz   H3E

03:00utc-03:02utc   9276kHz   H3E  interval signal, ID and off

03:02utc-03:21utc   7502kHz  H3E

03:30utc-03:51utc   7502kHz  H3E

I see that they are again 4-5 minutes shorter than they have been recently.
 
Here's the same time period 24 hours earlier:

2020-08-02

00:00utc-00:30utc not found

found in progress at 00:53utc until 00:56 18040kHz H3E (I almost missed it entirely)

01:01-01:03  18040kHz H3E

01:03utc-01:26utc 15890kHz H3E

01:31utc-01:56utc 15890kHz H3E

02:01utc-02:25utc 9276kHz  H3E

02:31utc-02:55utc 9276kHz  H3E

03:01utc-03:25utc 7502kHz  H3E

03:31utc-03:55utc 7502kHz  H3E

[sat_dxer]

7688kHz USB 19 Oct /20  CC numbers until 1321z (w/wide band 7680kHz qrm)
--------
7688kHz USB 19 Oct /20 1330z oriental flute music, CC numbers until 1351z
------------
7688kHz USB 18 Nov /20  CC numbers until 1321z
--------
7688kHz USB 18 Nov /20 1330z oriental flute music into CC numbers until 1351z

[sat_dxer]

7502kHz 12 Apr /21  CC numbers until 1323z
--------
7502kHz 12 Apr /21 1329z oriental flute music into CC numbers until 1353z