DX LISTENING DIGEST 10-20, May 19, 2010 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2010 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1513, May 20-26, 2010 Thu 1900 WBCQ 7415 Thu 2100 WRMI 9955 Fri 0030 WRMI 9955 Fri 0330 WWRB 3185 Fri 1430 WRMI 9955 Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 9515 [second, fourth, fifth Saturdays, maybe] Sat 1330 WRMI 9955 Sat 1630 WWCR2 12160 Sat 1800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Sat 1900 WRMI 9955 Sun 0230 WWCR3 4840 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 Sun 1900 WRMI 9955 Sun 2330 WWCR4 9980 Mon 0330 WWCR4 5890 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Tue 1900 WBCQ 7415 Tue 2230 WRMI 9955 Wed 0030 WRMI 9955 Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1900 WBCQ 7415 Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html or http://schedule.worldofradio.org or http://sked.worldofradio.org For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://193.42.152.193/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN: http://www.wrn.org/wrn-listeners/world-of-radio/ http://www.wrn.org/listeners/world-of-radio/rss/08:00:00UTC/English/541 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** ALASKA. KNLS INTERNATIONAL (Rlg) kHz: 7355, 9615, 9680, 9795, 9920, 11765, 11870 Summer Schedule 2010 Chinese 0800-1200 daily EAs 11870nls 1300-1400 daily EAs 9795nls‡, 9920nls 1400-1500 daily EAs 7355nls 1500-1800 daily EAs 9920nls English 0800-0900 daily EAs 11765nls‡ 1000-1100 daily EAs 11765nls‡ 1200-1300 daily EAs 7355nls, 9680nls‡ 1400-1500 daily EAs 11765nls‡ Russian 0900-1000 daily RUS 9615nls‡ 1100-1200 daily RUS 11765nls 1500-1800 daily RUS 11765nls‡ Key: ‡ Inactive at time of publication. (WRTH Update May 14 & 19 via DXLD) So one of their transmitters is down! That could explain why we have not seen or heard any reports of KNLS on 11765. Or 9680?? That is the frequency currently registered at 1200, but the original, early KNLS A10 schedule as of March 10, as archived at bclnews.it showed English: 0800-0900 11765 1000-1100 11765 1200-1300 11765, 12105 1400-1500 11765 If and when they do activate 9680, it will be colliding with Indonesia, Taiwan, and ChiCom jamming, the latter two not in HFCC, so who cares? What genius picked that for KNLS? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA [and non]. 7425, R Tirana English news with items re Day of Justice recognition of the contributions made by Albanian lawyers & judges in their role as arbiters of disputes etc. (Awww, thanks!) into reading of headlines from Albanian newspapers. SIO 3+43+ with splatter from 7415 WBCQ huxter talking about how paper money is worthless because it isn't backed by anything 'real' like gold and silver -- but he never explained how real gold and sliver had any value either. Oh wait, they have value because people say they do, which is why paper money has value too. (Humf, maybe we need to get some of those crack Albanian lawyers working on this problem?) 0332- 0342 12/May (Kenneth Vito Zichi, powerless Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet 14 May via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Listener tour pictures of May 2010, by Radio Tirana German service listener. Click to 94 pictures on http://albanien.wwdxc.de/index.htm http://albanien.wwdxc.de/page-0001.htm click on "Weiter" (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nice travelogue including Roman sites, not just antennas (gh, DXLD) ** ANDORRA. 'Aquí Radio Andorra' --- MARTÍ CRESPO Noticia de VilaWeb, http://www.vilaweb.cat La cadena radiofónica comercial pionera de Europa. Una de las pocas emisoras de onda corta que ha emitido en catalán. La única emisora privada francesa que transmitió durante toda la segunda guerra mundial sin caer bajo el control ni los aliados ni del régimen pro-nazi de Vichy. Las tres afirmaciones son válidas para definir Radio Andorra, Una emisora que de 1939 a 1981 emitió en onda corta desde el pequeño país pirenaico para toda la Europa occidental. . . http://blogs.que.es/2634/2010/5/15/-aqui-radio-andorra- (via Yimber Gaviría, DXLD) Don`t lose the final hyphen; illustrated ** ANTARCTICA. 15476.0, LRA36 (presumed), 1454-1509*, May 14. Pop song; only music was above threshold level; clearly their sign-off time varies; went off about 1509, but hard to be exact (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This afternoon May 14 I saw a great carrier on 15476.040 kHz at 1500 UT. Perhaps this might be LRA36? Not sure!! Gr (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What else could it be? And wasn`t this offset about the same as when you previously heard it often in the 18-21 period? (gh, DXLD) 15476, Antarctica, RN San Gabriel. May 17, 1401-1421, Pop Spanish music, 1403 male “transmite LRA36 en su frecuencia 15476 kHz, para todo el mundo”, Mexican group Maná music, 1407 Pop Spanish music, 1411 female ID and talks. 45544 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 2006 UT May 17, 13363.5 kHz LSB Argentine Armed Force - Buenos Aires - relay px mx no ID- SUFF. 73 e buoni DX (- Mauro - Giroletti, Italy, -Swl 1510-, -IK2GFT-, -JRC525Nrd - Lowe HF150-, Filter PAR Electronics - BCST-LPF + BCST-HPF, -Eavesdropper SWL Sloper 11mt to 120mt Band- Loop LFL1010, -Lat. 45 25'0"N Long. 9 7'0"E - Locator grid. Jn 45 Nk-, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 15345.157 kHz, RAE Buenos Aires in Spanish at 2036 UT, SIO 344 (Nils Schiffhauer, Germany, DK8OK, A-DX May 16 via BCDX May 17 via DXLD) SW bandscan 18 May: 15345.111, R. Nacional Argentina, Spanish songs, German spoken 2145. Perseus SDR, Marconi antenna. 73, (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, HCDX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 21725, R Australia with English news features including a long report about the transition in power in the UK after the election. Mention Mr. Cameron is the youngest PM since the 1800s and talk re the Tory/Lib Dem coalition. I couldn't believe how well this 13 metre band channel was in -- SIO 1+42 but the other channels were more than listenable: // 17750 242+ 15415 1+41 15515 3+4+4+ and 15240 34+4. If I thought the power would be out longer, I would have listened to 15515 longer as it was REALLY nice to hear Australia this well in the evening! 0230-0240 12/May (Kenneth Vito Zichi, powerless Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet 14 May via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. MICHAEL McCLUSKEY NAMED NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF RADIO AUSTRALIA Australian Broadcasting Corporation press release, 18 May 2010: "Director ABC International Murray Green has announced that Dr Michael McCluskey is to be the new Chief Executive of ABC Radio Australia. Mr Green said Dr McCluskey would bring substantial experience in leadership, broadcasting and journalism to the Chief Executive position. In a career spanning over 25 years with the ABC, Mike has worked as a rural reporter, executive producer, radio presenter, regional program manager, international advisor, and local radio manager. His doctorate is in the area of media and development. ... His appointment succeeds Mr Hanh Tran, who is to take up a senior editorial role with the organisation. Mr Green thanked outgoing Chief Executive Mr Hanh Tran for his leadership over the past three years particularly in the areas of bilingualism, journalism and cross language cooperation. He also acknowledged the addition of Burmese as a new language service, leading Radio Australia news staff in the creation of the Asia Pacific News Centre, and the development of 'Pacific Break' a pan-Pacific music competition that has won international acclaim. Dr McCluskey will take up his position on 31 May. ABC Radio Australia is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s radio and online service broadcasting in 8 languages across Asia and the Pacific. It is the partner broadcaster to Australia Network television and media capacity building collaborator with ABC International Projects." Posted: 19 May 2010 (kimandrewelliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) ** BANGLASESH. 4750 at 1116 UT 18 May - Bangladesh BETAR - English Grammar Class; Regards (Arnab Ghosh, Durgapur, India, May 18, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** BELARUS. The reactivated 7265 noted signing on sometime between 1445 and 1455 on May 14. 6080 and 6115 were also reactivated at about the same time as 7265, and sign on one or two minutes before 1500, at this time (starting 1500) with the Stalica programme in parallel with 7235. 6010/6070 and 6040/7280 have regional programmes at 1500, at least on workdays. 7360/7390 have a different programme (Olle Alm, Sweden, May 15, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi dear Olle, many thanks re-7265 kHz 2nd program outlet. When I woke up this night: Noted this 7265 kHz transmission with different program and excellent ID, S=7-8 strength at 0330-0400 UT this morning May 15th, when compared to different 1st progr relay on 6010, 6040, 6070 (hit DWL 6075 strongly), 7280 latter the most powerful signal in 3-4 UT slot (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Re BLR: This morning I made a quick check at 0340. Not even a carrier on 7265, but 6190 was discernible with no delay compared to 7235, so appears to be co-sited (Olle Alm, Sweden, 16/5, ibid.) Thanks dear Olle, yes observed today May 16 too, that 7265 was OFF again. see my log below. Re 6190, not readable from Belarus. DLF Berlin co-channel is too strong at my place, latter up to S=9+30dB at my location. regards de Wolfy. Belarus seemingly schedule in A-10 season at 0300-0800 UT and 1500- 2100 UT. 7265 missed on May 16th again. In 0300-0800 UT slot noted 6010 6040 6070 7235, and best on 7280 kHz. 6040 and 7280 still on air at 0806 UT. Nothing on 6115 kHz anymore (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM. QSL Recebido - RTBFI - Depois de quase 04 anos do envio do I.R --- 9970, RTBF International - Wavre (BEL). Recebido 01 QSL. 1823 dias. V/S: ?? QTH: 52 Boulevard Reyes - BRR001 - 1044 Bruxelles - Belgium. I.R enviado para o e-mail: rtbfi @ rtbf.be Pessoal, fiquei muito feliz com o recebimento deste QSL, pois não esperava mais, mas nunca devemos perder as esperanças (Leônidas dos Santos Nascimento, São João Evangelista - MG, Brasil, May 14, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4409, R. Eco, Reyes. May,14 2302-2312 Pop ballad music in Spanish, male announcements in Spanish, male talks to an audience reacting with laughter, 2307 romantic Spanish music. Partially readable, 35433 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. SW bandscan 18 May: 5952.476, Em Pio XII, Siglo Veinte, SS talks and ID as "Pio Doce", 2207; 6150.753, R. Fides, La Paz, Poor, SS talks, 2216. Perseus SDR, Marconi antenna. 73, (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4974.8, R. Iguatemi, Osasco SP, at 0454-0515 UT on 07 Apr, pops, time announcements (UTC -3 hrs), IDs and jingles. (The station on this frequency is often reported also as Radio A Nossa Voz). QSA: 2-3 (Karel Honzik, Czechia, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 17 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Ondas curtas da Bandeirantes-São Paulo com harmônicos As ondas curtas da Rádio Bandeirantes -sp- de 49 metros, frequência de 6090 kHz está espalhando harmônicos para as frequências de 5995 e 6185 kHz nas quais se ouve até com certa regularidade a emissora paulista. Esse defeito do transmissor de 49m já perdura há meses. Enviei e-mail para a Band, porém nem deram bola. Não se ouve mais, pelo menos por aqui, as Rádios Senado e Nacional da Amazônia em ondas curtas de 49m, interferidas que estão pelos harmônicos. Talvez a pessoa que recebeu meu e-mail lá na Band, nem saiba o que seja ondas curtas. Vai da valsa (Luiz Chaine Neto, Limeira sp, 13-5-2010, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Luiz, Apenas multiplos inteiros exatos de uma frequencia são chamados de harmonicos. Como os dois sinais espurios estão a 95 kHz de cada lado da portadora, NÃO são harmonicos! e sim, produtos de intermodulação (IMD), onde sempre aparecem a soma e diferença das frequencias dos dois sinais que são intermodulados. A intermodulação ocorre em circuitos não lineares, como conversores de frequencia, detetores AM, diodos, etc. No seu caso, podem ser causados tanto por uma portadora de 95 kHz, situada nas proximidades (ou dentro) do transmissor, e assim muitas estações receptores diferentes vão ouvi- las, pois serão irradiados pela antena transmissora, como na proximidade do seu receptor, e nesse caso, somente você vai ouvi-las, pois são geradas apenas dentro de circuitos não lineares do seu receptor. 73 de Roland, PY4ZBZ, ibid.) Finally someone other than myself explains what is not a harmonic. But he raises question of whether these are transmitter- or receiver- produced, which should easily be resolved by LCN trying a different receiver or other listeners hearing them (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Canção Nova 9675. While the signals from the other 31 m band Brazilian stns were ranging from very poor to useless due to a number of factors, R. Canção Nova, Cachoeira Paulista SP, was found with an usually strong signal, and now with splendid modulation. Yesterday's obs.: 2138-2153, religious propaganda program No Coração da Igreja after which the station asked for donations since no ads are aired; the national news magazine A Voz do Brasil came at 2200; 45444. Today, 19th, they were airing the rosary until a few minutes ago. Their other // frequencies were inaudible. Their signal used to be distorted and/or overmodulated and spreading over a number of adjacent channels. Maybed the so called holy ghost blessed the tx. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, 2138 UT May 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11815, R. Brasil Central, with good signal May 15 at 0520, but modulation is a bit rough. With BFO on, however, carrier sounds stable. Really peppy music for the nightmiddle, 0524 timecheck as ``duas e vinte-quatro``, plugging some event coming May 28, 0525 another TC as 2:25, ID. I have the impression they are well aware of their nationwide audience on SW far beyond Goiânia. MUCH better signal than R. Bandeirantes on 11925v (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. SW bandscan 18 May: 11749.890, Voz Missionária, Florianópolis, Nice music and talks 2123 11780, R. Nacional de Amazônia, Brasília, Typ. mx 2129 11815, Central, Goiânia, Pr. info about 2137 11854.950, R. Aparecida, Aparecida, Pr. speech 2141 11925.218, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo, Info about 2143 9505, R. Record, São Paulo, Pr. Talks 2147 9565.241, Super R. Deus é Amor, Pr. Talks, bad modulation 2150 9629.940, R. Aparecida, Aparecida, Nice music 2153 9665.470, Voz Missionária, Florianópolis, Pr. songs 2158 5990, R. Senado, Brasília, Pr. about the socialist, strong S/off 2200 --- Perseus SDR, Marconi antenna. 73, (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, HCDX via DXLD) ** CAMEROON. 6005, 0725 14 February, [delayed by p-mail], RTV Cameroon, poor quality audio, no language specified, SINPO 33232 (Dzever Ishenge, Benue State, Nigeria, May World DX Club Contact via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) By the way, I am still hearing Cameroon on 6005 during local daytime hours (James MacDonell, Nigeria, 2140 UT May 14, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6030, Calgary - CFVP relaying CKMX (AM 1060), 1213, May 14. CNR-1 continues to be off; C&W songs; traffic report; segment about historical dates; IDs; weak (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. ENGINEERS INSTALL ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVE STATIONS IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Source: HCJB Global (written by Jean Muehlfelt) Imagine living in a country where you can’t access the Internet, watch television, read newspapers or even receive mail. Except in Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic (C.A.R.), that’s what life is like for most of the country’s 4.5 million residents. Their lifeline to the rest of the world? Radio. People in C.A.R., a country about the size of Texas, depend on radio broadcasts to keep informed. Almost every village has a radio, and some have more than one. The sets are affordable, costing as little as US$6, usually coming from countries such as Nigeria and Niger. The radios typically have FM, shortwave and medium-wave bands. Until 2005 there were only six private FM stations and one governmental shortwave station in this country where villagers have a life expectancy of just 44 years. It was then that Integrated Community Development International (ICDI), a partner of HCJB Global, was granted permission to open the country’s first privately owned shortwave radio station, Radio ICDI. In early 2006 the ministry acquired an eight-acre tract of land on the plateau above the town of Boali. A road to the transmitter site was built, and electricity was installed. Equipment was transported in large shipping containers, and eventually one of the 20-foot-long metal containers was converted into a studio and transmitter building. A year later a team from HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind., spent three weeks at the broadcast site, installed the first shortwave radio station. They also put in two satellite downlinks that provided access to the Internet and made it possible to receive French-language Christian programming from Trans World Radio, another HCJB Global partner. Last month HCJB Global engineers returned to C.A.R. to put in two additional regional shortwave radio stations in Boali, similar to the station installed in 2007. One of the new stations will help extend the broadcast hours of the existing ICDI station into the nighttime. Each station only works well during a portion of each day because of how shortwave signals travel through the atmosphere. The new ICDI radio stations will provide more programming opportunities for broadcasting the gospel across C.A.R. in Sango (the country’s trade language), French and various tribal dialects. Additional hours will also increase the opportunity to air more community development programs on AIDS prevention, orphan care, well- water repair programs and many other relevant humanitarian topics. Curt Bender, manager of broadcast services at HCJB Global in Elkhart, said, “I want to give the Lord recognition for sustaining our team through two difficult installations in the past three years and to praise Him for the success.” For more information visit http://www.icdinternational.org (HCJB Global News Update May 10-14, via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD; also via Alokesh Gupta) See previous DXLD report, from an HCJB blogger, who only talked about ONE new SW station at Boali for ICDI, later found by Jari Savolainen to be for 3390 kHz; while the second new SW station in CAR was to be for the government station at its own other site. So which is correct? If there are going to be three ICDI SW `stations`, what is the third frequency? BTW, if the purpose was to expand hours of the existing station, why not just use the same transmitter on the night frequency, rather than installing another transmitter (or two)?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I assume "station" means transmitter. HCJB's one-kilowatt TB 1000 is a fixed-frequency transmitter, hence the need for a new "station" to operate on a lower nighttime frequency. Posted: 17 May 2010 (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) Oh ** CHILE [and non] 11920, CVC relay of HCJB in Portuguese, May 17 at 2304 puts its spurs this time at plus and minus 23 kHz, big mushy blobs centered around 11897 and 11943. Among other things, this QRMs the 2-way SSB intruders on 11900 speaking what sounds like Vietnamese; ex-11899 and they may well have shifted to get a bit further from CVC; but CVC can vary that far after them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also ECUADOR ** CHINA. Voice of Shangri La on 6035 kHz --- I've been monitoring this with fair to poor reception (via Global Tuners Hong Kong receiver), from as early as 0945 on 15/5 and as late as 1305 on 14/5, with programming in Mandarin and Vietnamese. Some TOH ID's are in Vietnamese and English rather than Mandarin and English. According to Yunnan PBS website http://ynradio.net this is primarily an external service and broadcasts for five hours a day, three hours in Vietnamese and two in Mandarin, using 50 kW on this sole frequency (from my observations, transmission time seems to be 0900-1400 UT). There's also an FM service of the same name, on 99.0 MHz in Kunming and other FM frequencies (listed on the site) elsewhere, it's one of the seven live audio streams available on their website. However, this appears to be an entirely separate operation presented solely in Mandarin, and it was not observed in parallel with the shortwave frequency. There are audio clips of IDs for both these and seven other Yunnan PBS services available on the Interval Signals Online website - http://intervalsignals.net (David Kernick, England, May 15, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Dave, As a comparison to the Hong Kong reception, I have attached an audio clip I made today (May 15) here at Asilomar Beach, California. Also at http://www.mediafire.com/?i3mmw1tjkc1 Not as good as your recording, but still fairly clear: “This is the Voice of Shangri-La, brought to you by Yunnan Radio”. The same ID was also heard today at 1400. You picked a good time to record them, as recently they have been heard with better than their usual reception. Thank you for the additional information on Yunnan PBS and also for your great website! (Ron Howard, CA, ibid.) Hi Ron, thanks for that - I meant to mention (but forgot) that my research was prompted by your recent loggings, so I'm doing so now! (David Kernick, ibid.) ** CHINA. Xinjiang PBS now on summer schedule from at least 14 May. (Olle Alm, Sweden, May 15, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Xingjiang [sic] PBS started summer schedule at 1100 UT on May 13 Uighur: 2300-1800 (off the air Tu. & Th. 0800-1100) 6120 2300-0300, 1200-1800 9560 0300-1200 7205 2300-0230, 1400-1800 13670 0230-1400 7275 2300-1800 Chinese: 2300-1800 (off the air Tu. & Th. 0800-1100) 5960 2300-1800 7260 2300-1800 7310 2300-0300, 1400-1800 9600 0300-1400 11770 2300-1800 Kazakh: 2330-1800 (off the air Tu. & Th. 0800-1100) 6015 2330-0300, 1151-1800 9470 0300-1150 7340 2330-1800 Kyrgyz: 0330-0530, 1030(Tu. Th. 1100)-1230 9705 0330-0530, 1030-1230 11975 0330-0530, 1030-1230 de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Japan, May 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 7245, CNR-2/CBR, 1430-1459, May 18. “This is English Evening on China Business Radio”; program with Paul (British accent) and Chinese YL; item about Chinese college students make up the largest portion of foreign students in Canada; pop songs; business news; segment with language lesson (“Popular American”) explaining “it’s a snap” and “spaced out”; good reception; // 6065, 6155, 7265, 7315, 7335, 7375 and 9820 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Firedrake May 15; all in parallel, unlike yesterday. 9380, very good at 1223, HF audio even QRMing WWRB/BS on 9385; but 9380 gone at 1344 check 10300, good at 1237, fair at 1347 10420, good at 1347 11500, good at 1238 and at 1347 12730, good at 1349 12960, good at 1349 None others found higher or lower. Not much propagation from E Asia above 13 MHz today. Solar flux for May 14 was only 70, and on May 13 it dropped to 69! Despite SWPC predixions of 75, rising to a peak of 80 May 26-31, we can still hope (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So, are many of these Firedrakes aimed against those tiny kW Taiwan transmitters? Is the Chinese government that terrified of external information (which is probably unavoidably getting in anyway)? (Bruce Jensen, CA, ptswyg via DXLD) Yes, yes, and I hope, yes (gh) Firedrake music on 13950 ! kHz 4-5 UT on May 16, poor S=4. (31 to 16 mbands were open towards E Asia, SE Asia and Indian subcontinent this morning, like all Chinese sites, Yamata, Khabarovsk, Kajang, Udon Thani etc.) (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake May 16 was sparse: at 1307, good on 10300, but no other frequencies found 9-18 MHz, and this one was gone by 1345. CNR1 jammers were audible on 15265, 15285 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I am into satellite DXing and I have found that Firedrake is being broadcast on the Australia beam of Chinasat 6B; I have also found you a great article on Firedrake and free news and information broadcast into and out of China by a free and open minded Chinese Govenment. The link can be found at http://www.satdirectory.com/firedrake.html (Richard Fox, VK2UAL, May 19) [and non]. Firedrake May 17: at 1119, poor on 9350 with ACI from WYFR in Spanish on 9355. Nothing to account for 9350 in Aoki; probably another jumparound by Sound of Hope, or a mistake since 9350 cut off abruptly at 1122*. But not before I found it // 10300. At 1152 I also heard FD on 11500, but when I went back to 10300 to check for //, no FD there but instead poor signal with Chinese talk! First time I have heard anything but FD music on 10300, so it had gone off exposing apparently the real Sound of Hope. Kept listening until 1203 but there was no break or ID detectable at top of hour, so it was not a CNR1 jammer. Next search for FD at 1345, found good signal on 13970, and at 1352 fair on // 13000 even, unusual. None others in the 8-18 MHz range. At 1400 both went to open carrier, at 1410 both were back, and at 1440 both were gone. See also NMI Another sparse day for Firedrake, May 18 as propagation was subnormal, solar flux still stuck at only 69 as of May 17, and K index = 2 as of 1500 May 18. At 1323, found only on 10300 with fair signal, nowhere else 8-18 MHz. Firedrake May 19: 8400, poor at 1319; first time heard here in some weeks 10300, fair at 1326 12980, poor at 1432, not on 13000 now 13000, good at 1329 14940, poor with flutter at 1331 but not at 1432 15140, fair at 1432 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. CHINA'S GLOBAL MEDIA PUSH INCLUDES BROADCASTS TO SUBURBAN WASHINGTON At a time when Western media companies are cutting back, Chinese government-run news services are expanding rapidly. The Chinese effort includes weekday broadcasts from a small radio station, just outside of Washington. VOA's Laurel Bowman visited WUST-AM in Falls Church, Virginia and filed this report. DOWNLOAD MP4 VIDEO [3 min, 21.6 MB]: http://bbgvoa.edgeboss.net/download/bbgvoa/kickapps/videos/1042721.mp4 (via Dragan Lekic, Serbia, May 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ? This is not news; has been doing so for years on WUST (gh, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 5954.16, "ELCOR transmitter", 0012-0133, May 14, Spanish. Light Spanish pops; continuous thru BoH; fair at best with 5950-Okeechobee splash; tnx T. Krueger tips (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ELCOR, 5954.19/.18 --- Noted the station also easily yesterday night at 2330-2400 UT May 14th. S=7 signal in southern Germany (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Raul, I have a QSL from TIQ R Casino in Puerto Limón, CR on 5954 kHz (they're still listed on MW 1200 kHz). I wonder if the SW license may have been purchased by someone else with the allocation still assigned to Puerto Limón (Jerry Lenamon, Waco, May 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jerry, both frequencies were assigned to Luis Grau Villalobos, still the owner of Radio Casino. But they no longer operate there, just 98.3 FM or "radiocasinodelimon.com". English is at 2300 except Sunday, and Monday at 0300 with Soul and Caribbean oldies. To whom that short wave channel was granted is not clear yet. As soon as I know you can count on me to tell you. 73s (Raúl Saavedra, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, ibid.) 5954.18, unidentified ELCOR transmitter, Guápiles. 2334-0115 May 17- 18, 2010. EL having problems tonight. Tune-in to the usual loop music, but gone at 2356 recheck and still not there at 0020 check. But back on at 0109 check, but abruptly off 0115. Didn't make any further checks (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Does anyone have any transmitter site/location information on the alleged Elcor Transmitter tests being widely reported on 5954.2v, 2200-0300 UT lately? I would love to know what kind of antenna they are using, since they do seem to get out rather well. Latest "current" spreadsheet doesn't give coordinates, only lists "Guápiles, Cantón de Pococí" as location. Even a street address for Elcor might help (Earl Higgins, St. Louis, USA, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Hi Earl, Good to hear from you. I've been wondering (lately) about the location also. Sorry I've no idea on this one. You could try researching for us. There are DXer(s) in Costa Rica. Try a message in DXLD YG or attempt to Google info or ask some amateurs, local councils etc. Good luck (Ian Baxter, ibid.) ** CUBA. Anyone else hearing a big fat het on 700 over WLW? I hear it, Powell Way hears it and Bob Smoak hears it also (Kevin Redding, Crump, TN, 0138 UT May 16, ABDX yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) MONSTER HET, 0308 UT, 702.7 kHz but appx, not measured yet with a counter. Beams toward CUBA. Pitch changes every few minutes, so seemingly not very stable. Suspect someone having transmitter-exciter problems (Steven Wiseblood, TX, 0215 UT May 16, ibid.) 0320 UT, 702.7 apx, Hip-hop music, Woman in Spanish between songs "Musica Viva" (Steven Wiseblood, 0226 UT, ibid.) 0341z, 702.7 kHz (apx), CUBA, R. Rebelde apparently drifted down from nominal 710 kHz, hip-hop music and Cuban merengue-type music. Two Men dj's giving local "shout-outs", // 670. STRONG! (Steven Wiseblood, 0245 UT May 16, ibid.) They have really hammered the hell out of WLW for the last week with a nasty het. At least we know who it is now. Thanks for the great detective work, Steven (Kevin Redding, Crump, TN, 0258 UT May 16, ibid.) Steven, Tnx for tips. Looks like your UTs are one hour fast since as I write it is only 0308. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Thanks for the tip. Very weak here on 702v kHz with a slightly wobbly, unstable signal. I am hearing // 540, 670, 710. I believe this is Rebelde drifting up from 700 kHz. 73, (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A station on 700 khz is "blocking" out WLW Cincy is perhaps Cuba but not sure. There is a heterodyne audible that I was able to null out by switching to LSB and tuning to 699.20 kHz (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, 1024 UT May 17, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. 9885, VOA Spanish, open carrier already at 2253, hit at 2257 sharp by first pulsing jammer, quickly joined by others piling on until it`s a wall of noise by 2259 when VOA starts YDD sign- on. 2300 could still make out that the Saturday program doesn`t even feature news, but immediately ``De Capital a Capital``, an innocuous pop music show, ``música, música, y más música``, but which Must Be Jammed to Protect the Cuban People from Bomb-Making Instruxions, as Arnie Coro would have us believe. The jamming also bleeds over against Voice of Russia [q.v.] trying to get thru to North America in English on 9890. See also USA: Marti 15360, Sunday May 16 at 1337, caught part of RHC`s DX program En Contacto, with Pedro Sedano`s monthly DX report, including: LRA36 on new schedule M/W/F 12-15; and XEXQ reactivated on 6045, 12-04 UT with 450 watts. Trouble is, he spends gobs of time spelling out e- and postal mail addresses in languages such as Slovak, but won`t credit the sources of the items. For XEXQ, it was yours truly, and Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla; for LRA36 it was originally Manuel Méndez with the new schedule in early April, but as long ago as April 22 I found it also on the air Thursday, plus the following Tuesday, i.e. really M-F, but none of that made this report. Remember last fall when for several weeks the RHC transmitter used for 11760 most of the day was monitored every day putting out some 20 spurs at equal but slightly variable spacings matching on each side? And during an hour or two the same happened when it was used on another frequency. It`s back! Now the 15370 transmitter is putting out the same kind of spurs, RHC audio mixed with a whine of the same pitch on all the spurs, May 16 at 2134 during philatelic show, first noted around 15408, and then detected progressively weaker at 15332 and a few other multiples of 38 kHz further out: 15446, 15294, 15256, 15180. These are approximate as the spurs do not have any specific carrier to pinpoint but are mushy blobs. Fundamental 15370 read a steady S9+18. By 2243 it had declined to only S9+15, and the spurs were notably weaker, in fact only audible on the first order at 15332 and 15408 with a trace of the whine at 15294. Besides the obvious mathematical correlation, I knew the spurs were coming from 15370, as the // RHC frequency, weaker 15380, was an echo apart while 15370 was in synch with the spurs. 15370 is the Spanish service to Europe, used at 21-23 only, so it and the spurs were gone after 2300. Likely the same transmitter is used elsewhere for much of the remaining 22 hours per day, and may well be doing the same spurring; it`s just a matter of the strength surpassing a threshold to audiblize the parasites, which of course ought to be totally suppressed or removed. RHC 15370 again with whiny spurs, May 17 at 2104 shortly after opening European service in Spanish: big one centered at about 15407.9, and weaker ones circa 15446, 15484, 15522; and at 2107 also on 15332, 15284 and a trace of the whine on 15256, i.e. 38-kHz intervals. At that time, 15370 fundamental was needling S9+21 and a trace of the same-pitch whine could be heard on it, but the modulation there was otherwise OK. By 2215, however, 15370 was reading S9+20 but the spurs were no longer audible, so they are also sporadic as 1 dB less signal should not have been enough to disaudiblize them. I wonder if anyone is hearing these in Europe. It`s been a few weeks since I looked for RHC on 12020, where it started colliding with Portugal, both to SAm at 2300, shortly after A10 began. May 17 at 2255, RDPI is already on with NA, 2258 sign-on giving all frequencies and so far no RHC, so I wonder if they have found a new frequency. 2300 RDPI into news. But sometime during the next 7 minutes as I was tuning elsewhere, RHC came on, for there it was atop RDPI at 2307 making a slow SAH so almost zero-beat. RHC 12020 is // 12030 but an echo apart from two different sites. 0123 May 18 recheck, by now 12030 is off but 12020 is still a big collision. Note: Portugal does not use 12020 on weekends, so if you only check then, you may think there is no problem. This is one of those total failures of frequency management, tnx to Arnie Coro, who refuses to coördinate in advance with other stations in HFCC and does not pay attention to who is really on a channel despite waiting about a week after a new season begins to activate his own changes. Guess what, there are plenty of clear spots above 12 MHz if that is where he wants to stay. RHC 15370 transmitter again putting out whiny spurs, May 18 at 2103 around 15410, etc.; did not try to pin them all down again this time. See 15360 below. Lots of English frequencies from RHC, UT Wednesday May 19 at 0604 as Ed Newman was starting his weekly African music show, with drumming: not only 6010 and 6060 which are the only ones scheduled after 0500 as in http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm but also on 5970, 5040, and 5880, the latter being the leapfrog mixing product of 6060 over 5970. There could be a match on 6150, except that is an intentional frequency of another transmitter in Spanish, which however was very undermodulated compared to the only other Spanish, // 6120 with usual loud but clipped audio. BTW, just as I expected, if you go to the Frequencies page of the RHC English website, even tho it autodisplays the current date, it still has not been updated, showing long abandoned 13790, 6140, not 5040 or 5970: http://www.radiohc.cu/ingles/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm 15360 putting out same spur pattern in the morning as 15370 in the afternoon, no doubt same transmitter, landing them about 10 kHz lower: May 19 at 1334 strongest with // modulation mushily centered on 15400.4 so the displacement now is 40.4 kHz; also could hear at least the whine around 15440, 15320, and at 1431 on 15280. Another one could be on 15480, uncomfortably close to LRA36, especially if the offset declines to ~38 kHz. Fortunately, 15360 fundamental was not very strong or many more 40-kHz-multiples would have been audiblized (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. 13820, R. Martí Sunday May 16 at 1310 W&M discussing Mark Twain, ``A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur`s Court``. ¿¿Yanqui?? Now we understand which Cuba is totally justified in jamming the ***** out of R. Martí, with such subversive material (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MW 1180 back: see U S A ** CUBA [non non]. (PARECE QUE NO HA MUERTO) --- AUNQUE RADIALMENTE NO TIENE UTILIDAD, PARECE QUE EL CID ESTÁ OPERANDO DENTRO DE LA ISLA SEGÚN INFORMAN EN EL SIGUIENTE SUELTO: CORDIALES SALUDOS / GOOD LUCK / (JUAN Franco Crespo, Spain, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: COMPARTE Y DIFUNDE EL CID PROYECTO NUEVA REPÚBLICA 13-05-2010. Lisbán Hernández Sánchez Director del Centro de Información GIRALDILLA http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net - Katia Sonia Martín Véliz, Coordinadora Occidental del Partido Cuba Independiente y Democrática, sostuvo en la noche del 12 de mayo, una reunión preliminar con directivos de otros movimientos opositores, para divulgar y promover el Proyecto Nueva República, en su domicilio de Santo Tomas 359 azotea, entre Árbol Seco y Retiro, municipio Centro Habana. Martín Véliz explicó a los presentes, que el CID se encuentra en etapa de crecimiento, la necesidad de unidad dentro de la diversidad. Hizo entrega de ejemplares del Proyecto Nueva República para su difusión dentro de los miembros de las organizaciones representadas, habló del paulatino crecimiento del CID y de la aceptación que ha obtenido el proyecto dentro de personas desvinculadas del movimiento opositor interno. Neola Camila Araujo Molina, Jorge Félix Candelaria Martínez, Vacilio López Iribarne, Niurkis Rivera Despaigne, pudieron debatir con Abdel Rodríguez Arteaga, Vice Delegado de la Provincia Ciudad Habana; Ricardo Medina Salabarria, Secretario de Atención a Presos Políticos; Martín Véliz, Coordinadora Occidental y este reportero, que es a su vez Delegado del CID en el municipio Centro Habana (via Juan Franco Crespo, Spain, DXLD) This refers to what was once a major clandestine radio operation from multiple sites, La Voz del CID (Cuba Independiente y Democrática). If the organization now operates openly in Habana, we must suspect that it has become a sham ``opposition`` controlled by the government? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. 15488-15513, OTH radar pulses, May 15 at 2210, presumed from here with typical 25-kHz bandwidth; Voice of Greece still audible poorly on 15630 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CYPRUS vs CYPRUS at 0505 UT May 16. OHRadar system from Limassol on wideband 17638 to 17662 kHz hit BBCWS 17640 kHz to E Africa via Zyyi this morning. Radar S=9 but annoying vibrate rattle pulse signal, BBCWS back lobe S=9+10dB here in southern Germany (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Llevan de urgencia a Teo Veras a un hospital de Miami --- Ayer no se sentía bien, tenía problemas respiratorios y como en el 2000 le hicieron 4 by pass, los médicos que le vieron en Santo Domingo, dijeron que con los síntomas que mostraba, no estaban seguros si tendrían que operarle de nuevo, por lo que viajó a Miami donde hoy fué intervenido satisfactoriamente en el University of Miami Hospital, donde le colocaron dos stents http://www.umm.edu/esp_imagepages/9949.htm que le permitiran mejor circulación sanguinea, uno en la mamaria anterior y otro en la vena subclavia. Reportero de Dino Bloise (via Dario Monferini, May 14, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ECUADOR [non]. Here on 9835 kHz HCJB via Chile, ID in German at 2358 UT 14th May, S=9+10dB. Portuguese Christian content HCJB program via Chile also on 11920 at 0020-0030 UT 15th May, S=9+10dB (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Can you hear the spurs?? (gh) Not only do the invaders get three frequencies for the price of one after 2300 in Portuguese, but so do the native Kulina people of Brasil, on the only SW transmission in their language courtesy of the missionary impositioners at HCJB, unfortunately conveying no useful contemporary information, but tall tales from two kiloyears ago. I.e., the CVC CHILE transmission of HCJB on 11920 at 2245 UT May 16 clearly accompanied by mushy spurs around 11897.5 and 11942.5 with same modulation of the only preacher slowly and authoritatively speaking Kulina-as-a-second-language, presumably Bible translations as previously heard referencing a chapter in Matthew, pronouncing the number in Portuguese, as if the Kulina don`t have their own number- words?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. R. Cairo A-10: Arabic 0030-0430 daily NAm 11590abz 0700-1100 daily WAf 15800abz* [0600-1000] 1015-1215 daily WAs 15060abz 1300-1600 daily WAf 15080abs 1700-2300 daily SDN 9250abz*** [1600-2200] 1900-0030 daily CAf, EAf 9295abz** [1800-2330] 1900-0700 daily Eu, NAm 9305abs* [1800-0600] 2000-2200 daily Pac 6860abz 2330-0045 daily SAm 9250abs, 9360abz Key: * General prgr; ** “Voice of the Arabs” prgr; *** Home Sce, Nile Valley & Khartoum prgr. Note: These 3 programmes are 1 hour earlier from May-Sept). (WRTH Update May 14 & 19 via DXLD) Timeanddate.com says DST in Egypt: Friday, April 30 to Friday, August 6. So those should be the axual dates for the 1-hour-earlier shift, i.e. already in effect, so the times may as well have been shown shifted. We have [bracketed] them to the right. Confirmations of new sign-on/off times welcomed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. QUIZ sincero su Radio Cairo --- Salve a tutti. Oggi, caduto dal pero, ho fatto un esperimento. Stavo ascoltando Radio Cairo su 9305 kHz, qualità audio pessima, tutto distorto, segnale forte ma ascoltabile con molto fastidio, ma nessuno glielo dice di cambiare impianto TX? Poi mi sono detto, come forse passa per la testa di tutti gli appassionati radio: Se ci fosse qui qualcuno (difficile a quest'ora, sono le cinque e mezza) gli direi: Senti! Sto ascoltando l'Egitto, con quell'antenna tonda (ALA1530S+) sul balcone si sente l'Egitto, non ti sembra emozionante ? Ti rendi conto quanti chilometri sono? Con questa Radio ascolto l'Egitto! Risposta: NO, ma è tutto disturbato, non si capisce niente....ma guarda che su Internet Radio Cairo si sente benissimo! Infatti passo al PC, vado su Google, digito "Radio Cairo", e voilà, sto già ascoltando Radio Cairo in qualità stereo....differita di quasi 10 secondi. Quando dico che sono radioamatore la gente mi guarda strano. In effetti è così. Penso veramente che la radio stia tramontando, lo dico sul serio, ma non nel solito senso. Fra qualche anno sui banchi di scuola, alle lezioni di storia (non di fisica) ci sarà un capitolo dedicato alla Radio, come quando nei film di StarTrek Spark [sic] spiega al comandante che quello che hanno intercettato è il codice Morse, un'antica forma di comunicazione utilizzata dagli umani sulla Terra 3000 anni fa...... Ora ho due cuffie in testa. Quella del PC con Radio Cairo in qualità stereo e quella dell'NRD-515, con Radio Cairo in qualità "radio" QUIZ: quale cuffia scegliereste? Saluti, Andrea http://www.hb9gce.ch (Stumpf Carl Andreas, Switzerland, 18 May, playdx yg via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 6250, Castilian at 0555 May 18, so RNGE is active. Unfortunately, a local CBer on 27185 in love with his own reverberating voice is splattering not only all over 27 MHz, but all over the entire SW range at least down to 5 MHz! Must be one of my wonderful neighbors (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [and non]. 15190, R. Africa is STILL broadcasting tried, convicted and sentenced to 175 years for child sexual abuse, evangelist Tony Alamo, as noted his mumbling May 15 at 2212, making a slow less than 1 Hz SAH and atop WYFR in Portuguese, co-channel. By 2235 recheck, YFR had gained ascendancy, still SAH. And still no sign of R. Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, Brasil, which keeps promising to reactivate this frequency, despite the other occupants (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6030, Radio Oromiya, *1521-1529, May 19. Suddenly on with their usual repetitive xylophone-like IS. 1529 too weak to make out any audio; 1532 seemed to be HOA music mixing with Calgary’s C&W music; IS was in the clear, but weak. This reception made possible by the continued absence of CNR-1. Am pleased to have heard them again and to know they still have the same sign-on time (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. PIRATE. 7610.05, Radio Amica, 2325-2340, May 15, Italian talk. ID. Euro-pop music. Weak. Poor in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** FRANCE. RFI A-10: English 0400-0430 daily EAf 9805iss, 11995iss 0500-0530 daily EAf 11995iss**, 13680iss 0600-0630 daily EAf 15160iss, 17800iss 0600-0630 daily CAf, WAf 9765iss**, 11615iss* 0700-0730 daily CAf, WAf 13675iss 1200-1230 daily EAf 17800iss*, 21620iss** 1600-1700 daily CAf, WAf 15605iss, 17605iss * May-Aug; ** Sep-Oct (WRTH Update May 14 via DXLD) WRTH apparently was misled by RFI which fails to flag the morning broadcasts in English as M-F only, as we have outpointed several times. And we have no reason to believe that has changed to daily; but confirmations welcomed (Glenn Hauser, OK, May 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The revised WRTH Update of May 19, with correxions in red, changes all the broadcasts, including 12 and 16 UT to M-F only. We thought the latter were in fact daily. Is this not correct? (gh, May 19, ibid.) ** FRANCE [non]. 9750, excellent signal in Spanish, May 16 at 0115. Hard to figure out what station this is, based on program content. It`s about contemporary classical music in New York; except there are annoying voice-overs of people speaking what sounds like French, but some interesting music clips. Cut off at 0129* without any good-bye or ID, and uncovering a much weaker station which must be R. Liberty in Kazakh via Biblis, GERMANY, at 01-02, per Aoki. It is in fact RFI`s Spanish via GUIANA FRENCH at 0100-0130 on 9750 in A-10. So what is the program? Let`s look it up on the RFI Spanish website! Finally we find a link to programming, and on the link page this has a date of February this year, contrary to axual URL and xls file: http://www.rfi.fr/actues/images/110%5CPROGRAMACION2008b.xls ``Cuestiones de Hoy`` was the program on the Saturday 0100 (= UT Sunday) broadcast, but not a likely title for this. 13640, RFI Spanish, May 17 at 1225 with report on the film festival at Cannes (pronounced with two syllables), cut off abruptly incomplete at 1229* as the Montsinéry, GUIANA FRENCH operators have no flexibility or finesse. 17630, RFI Spanish via GUIANA FRENCH, May 18 at 2126 with a Laurie Anderson minimalist performance of ``Only an expert can solve this problem``. Will she be cut off rudely as usually happens? Yes! At 2129:20* despite nothing else pressing to do with this transmitter at 2130, as the next broadcasts from Montsinéry on any frequencies do not start until 2200. But the timer-clock rules! Expertise is obviously lacking at TDF (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. FM BERLIN: BBC, RADIO PARADISO --- The current licence of the BBC World Service for FM 90.2 in Berlin expires on Nov 7 2010. At present it is subject of a rather critical discussion within the media regulator MABB whether to renew it. MABB director Hans Hege says that it must be asked if foreign broadcasting is still as important as in the past, if the WWII allies have still close relations to Berlin and if such FM relays are still important in times of easy internet access. Thus the latest prolongations of the BBC and RFI licences were also issued with much shorter deadlines than the possible seven years. Comment: In regard to relations to Berlin the BBC does not appear to have good arguments anymore. If I recall correct the BBC studio in Berlin has been closed altogether, and their press office quite rudely rejected enquiries from German media on this matter. And then there are of course the looming budget cuts, so far reported by the Murdoch press only, but nobody appears to have challenged this single report. For now MABB took the surprising decision to not renew the licence of Radio Paradiso, a station run by organizations in the surroundings of the Protestant church, thus also seated in a building used by other such organizations. Instead the FM frequencies in question (Berlin- Scholzplatz 98.2 plus three ones in Brandenburg) have been allocated to Oldiestar, the station at present broadcasting on 603 kHz. The original press release, which is rather plain and unhelpful: http://www.mabb.de/presse-publikationen/archiv/2010/11052010.html MABB director Hege says that the full explanation of this decision is not ready yet and will be issued in late June, but what made the point was the circumstance that Oldiestar offers considerably more talk content than Radio Paradiso. Having an FM licence in Berlin "is a privilege" and all the other applicants have the right to get fair proceedings, no matter that "this may be an unusual approach", in particular elsewhere in Germany. A study found that only 72.5 minutes of spoken content per day were left on Radio Paradiso in 2008. Asked about this Radio Paradiso CEO Matthias Gülzow said that this was the result of an economically challenging time for his station. They have been asked by MABB about this, replied and never heard anything about it again. Thus the decision was just a shock, because it was not expected at all. Gülzow added the opinion that here a board of leftist people claims to be authoritative for determining what comprises Christian broadcasting. For reference: The quoted Hans Hege interview will be included in a podcast that will appear at http://www.radioeins.de/archiv/podcast/medienmagazin.html A long video version of the Matthias Gülzow interview is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAyL-lvMOGU It starts with some glimpses of the Radio Paradiso headquarters. Actually this is now a cluster to which also Jazz-Radio, Jam FM and Sender KW belong, with the exception of Sender KW using the same studio facilities. So this development can have implications for these stations, too. http://www.radiohaus-berlin.de Of course there are also reactions from the Protestant church: http://www.ekd.de/aktuell_presse/news_2010_05_12_4_radio_paradiso.html (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Filia Radio announcer, Angelika Timms, said at the end of the English programme of Filia Radio at 0555 UT this morning (19 May) on 11645 kHz that the programme would not be back until Friday because of the general strike in Greece tomorrow (Thursday 20 May). Presumably this will affect all public service broadcasts in Greece. I tuned in half way through Filia Radio's English hour on 11645 at 0530 UT, so thought at first it was a new frequency for BBC WS as was relaying BBC WS news (//648 9410) then a "World Today" ID before reverting to mix of pop and news items read by Angelika Timms. Similarly at beginning of French programme at 0600 UT on 11645 it carried a relay of RFI news (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, Sony 7600GR / telescopic, May 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. 4899.95, 12.5 2225, Tentative Familia FM in Guinea with news. Very weak compared to May 1 when I heard them for the first time. Often disturbed by Italian radio amateurs (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin May 16 via DXLD) Glenn, I was about to send an e-mail to say that I believe the station on 4900 is from Guinea. Was able to see the latest DXLD first to find that this is indeed the case. I was able to record several hours the other night and what I hear matches your reports from Europe. Reception is much poorer than good signal on 7125 which is not in parallel. Some highlights from recording on 12/05/2010: 2157, very brief ID which does sound like "Familia" 2220, news style jingle and international news in French (until 2240) 2245, announcement in local language mentioning several different names each preceded by "Radio" (perhaps this is a programme carried by several different stations?) 2301, few minutes of French talk with many mentions of "camara" and of "capitale Conakry" ending with musical jingle and the word "Familia" 2331, continuous music until 0004, tx off at 0005 (James MacDonell, Nigeria, 2140 UT May 14, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jari, Apart from the heading on the fq, let's hope this other heading "Des informations fiables L'un des objectifs essentiels de Familia est de fournir aux citoyens Guinéens de l'intérieur et de l'extérieur, des informations exactes et fiables dont ils ont besoin." won't mean the station is pressed by the régime to leave HF... 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, May 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jari, As said earlier in the day, I'd be trying to get them this evening. They started the news bulletin at 2210 as usual, this time with the lady announcer back, but what's heard on http://familiafm.streamon.fm/ is Guinean light music. Do we have a new puzzle in hands? 73, (Carlos, Gonçalves, Portugal, May 14, ibid.) Dunno, maybe they have at times different audio stream on SW and FM. Someone with better French than mine could try to contact them by e- mail. 73, (Jari, ibid.) Thanks to Jari Savolainen on DXLD this morning who has discovered the website of a station in Conakry, Guinea, Familia FM, which mentions using 4900 kHz. So this is very likely the Unid African on this frequency: "Nouvelle Station Bientôt écoutez la radio Familia en ondes courtes sur 4.900MHz dans tous le pays ... " i.e. New Station - you'll soon be able to listen to Familia Radio on shortwave 4.900 MHz throughout the country ... http://www.familiafm.com/index.php/home (Alan Pennington, England, May 14, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) It seems I've now made a connection with the technical dept. of Familia FM. The person I contacted is a bit busy at the moment but promised to get back soonest. So we'll see if we can get more info later. Stay tuned. Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxldyg via DXLD) [Later:] I'm still waiting for more info about Radio Familia SW from my contact. Meanwhile, I found this at http://www.hcjb.org/index.php?option=com_audiomanager&task=searchProgram&searchBox=%20hcjb%20global "For Beyond the Call this is Ron Cline! Wayne Pederson, President of HCJB Global brings us a story today from one of the least reached countries in Africa. Take a listen! Jeremy Maller is our person on the ground in Africa, tells us of a new opportunity in Guinea. Guinea is one of the least reached countries in West Africa. Radio Familia is a partner of HCJB Global that has run a local FM for several years now. They have much favor from the government and the new president. And now have been granted a low power shortwave license which is very rare in this region. They plan to reach the unreached Fula-Jalon people who have been very resistant to the gospel. Radio Familia already had donations for the equipment and HCJB Global is getting studios, transmitters and antennas for installation. Its a story worth repeating! In your life! Go Beyond the Call. For HCJB Global, I`m Ron Cline." So R Familia has a license for SW and HCJB is involved. The above story was dated Feb, 2010. 73, (Jari Savolainen, Finland, May 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Have all these new SW stations HCJB is involved with been revealed long ago on DX Partyline, or would it be news to them too? (gh, DXLD) Some additional info about 4900 Familia, from station director Colette Baudais: (Jari Savolainen, Finland, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Jari, Our station Familia SW just began broadcasting intermittently at the end of March. We had some equipment challenges and we have them repaired a week ago and now we can now have nightly stabile broadcasting. We are using what is called Low Power Short Wave. We use a 1000 Watt transmitter built by HCJB Radio in the US. As far as I know there are only 3 stations like this in the world. The specs say that our strongest signal would reach a 400 kilometre circumference around the antenna at midnight. We are using an antenna that is 40 meters X 60 meters - most being buried in the ground and reflecting upwards. It is a unique design. Our goal is to broadcast in the languages of the country we originate in. That would be French, Pular and Maninka for the beginning. We are beginning from 6 pm to midnight during our beginning period. There is no electricity where we are located so we are using solar and wind generators. Having enough energy for our transmitter and air- conditioner is proving one of our larger challenges. Thank you for letting us know we are being heard "out there". Mme Baudais, Directrice Générale Familia FM (via Savolainen, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, ibid.) Jari, Many thanks for all the tips re this new tiny West African station. No point dropping them a line now since you've got all the data we needed, including the [rough] description of the antenna. À propos the antenna, viz. "40 x 60 m", whose meaning I don't quite understand, I suppose it's some sort of NVIS type for your correspondent, Mrs Baudais, mentions a 400 km radius coverage, so they're almost surely wanting to avoid skip effect with little power. If so, then it explains the sort of QSB I get from their signal. As to being another religious project, well, it seems religious stations grow like mushrooms while official, government-owned ones often struggle for funds in order to stay alive. I refrain from other sort of comments, but this is enough to conclude they aren't exactly my cup of tea, hi! 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 3290, Voice of Guyana (presumed) with BBC Newshour with their familiar bumper music at the end of the hour, then promo for Global Minds in well above the mud, then time pips & what could have been a local ID at ToH, into something that had the cadence of a newscast & I could make out the word headlines by an OM (a local news bulletin perhaps?) then into a YL at :01:08 who clearly said BBC News into more of what sounded like a newscast but this was all WELL in the mud! SIO 222 at best, and frequently flirting with the noise level. 0758- 0802 9/May. Recheck at 0858-0931 had the old familiar Lilliburlero at :59:50 leading into pips & 3 minutes of talk that could have been news into vocal music for the rest of the half hour, but nothing that sounded familiar. Never did hear a real ID, but I can imagine I heard the word Guyana at 0800 announcements. FRUSTRATINGLY close to being copyable -- let's call this a strong (presumed). (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet 14 May via DXLD) 3289.98, V of Guyana, 0824-0847 11 May, nonstop M vocal Hindi music. A couple short talks later. 0847 nice canned V. of Guyana ID with AM and FM stereo frequencies by M over "Caribbean Queen" by Billy Ocean. 0848-0854 choral songs. 0854 ad, then what sounded like an inspirational talk segment with a lot of voice-over chatter by live M announcer over the same jazz song repeated over and over. 0908 farming PSA, then more of the same voice-over talk. Good signal but horrible local buzzing QRM and occasional thunderstorm static crashes. Nice to see this one back on. 73 (Dave Valko, PA, HCDX via DXLD) 3290, Voice of Guyana, 0942-0950 May 16, Signal still audible but starting to be affected by daylight at their end. Noted a male in English comments until 0946 when a female begins talking. At 0947 music is presented. No other details heard. Signal was poor (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, WinRadio G305e/pd, WJ HF1000, NRD545, 26.27N 081.05W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. New website of Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) http://prasarbharati.gov.in/ Some interesting links related to AIR : Digitalization http://prasarbharati.gov.in/Technology/Radio/Digitalization.htm Key Technological Projects http://prasarbharati.gov.in/Technology/Radio/Key+Technological+Projects.htm Research & Development http://prasarbharati.gov.in/Technology/Radio/Research+and+Development/ http://prasarbharati.gov.in/Technology/Radio/Research+and+Development/FM+Antennae.htm (Alokesh Gupta, India, May 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1230, May 16. News in English; 1235: local ID and PSA with security tips; “Well listeners, you are listening to the North Eastern Service broadcasting from Shillong on shortwave 60.36 meters, corresponding to 4970 kHz. It is exactly 6-0-6 PM by our studio clock and it’s time for our western music program: music for you. This evening we have for you Kenny Rogers, Don Williams, Tammy Tucker and lots more”; 40 minutes of C&W songs; very good propagation; reception would have been fair to good except for the usual strong hum (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 5040, AIR Jeypore (presumed), 1255-1310, May 18. Yesterday I noted they had resumed broadcasting again after a short absence. Today heard subcontinent songs; poor (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see UNIDENTIFIED ** INDIA. [tentatively] 11715. Unidentified station, English language newsreader at 0010 UT May 15. Many INDIA and PAKISTAN news items. Probably - my guess - the Panaji Goa engineer missed to change from 11715 to 9705 kHz at 2245 UT. To the Asian audience: "is that a regular English transmission at 0000 UT?" Other users are Taiwan and Tinian on this channel at other times of the day (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Andhra Pradesh Cyclone Alert *CYCLONE ALERT* *YELLOW * *May 18, 2010* A tropical storm formed in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, May 17, 2010, meteorologists said, and it could strike India’s east coast by Friday, May 21, 2010. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has detected a depression formed over southwest Bay of Bengal on Tuesday afternoon which lay about 930 km east-southeast of Chennai and 1,000 km southeast of Visakhapatnam. Andhra Pradesh government today alerted the district administrations of nine coastal districts to take preventive measures in view of cyclone warning issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). . . *Sources: * Indian Meteorological Department: http://www.imd.gov.in/ Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System http://www.gdacs.org/ (via Alokesh Gupta, May 18, dx_india yg via DXLD) Last night the following AIR stations were noted continously on air giving alerts about Cylone Laila which is active in the area. 738, Hyderabad 200 kW 837, Vijayawada 100 kW 900, Cuddapah 100 kW 4800, Hyderabad 50 kW 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, May 18, ibid.) ** INDIA. Are AIR Leh & Port Blair active still? Do they Broadcast in the same [frequency]? Hello everyone! This afternoon I tried to check out some familiar domestic radio stations that I used to listen sometime back and was surprised to find that I couldn't receive AIR Leh, Port Blair and AIR Jammu as well as AIR Sri Nagar in the same place where they used to be sometime back. So that triggered my curiosity and I searched for some more AIR domestic stations in that 60m band; some were still active. I will list my today's log below, but before that, can anyone of you please tell me whether you have heard those stations anytime recently or not? If so, how was the reception? I am particularly interested about AIR Leh, AIR Port Blair and AIR Sri Nagar. Can AIR Port Blair & AIR Leh be heard together? I think they both are on 4760 kHz. Here is my Log for 18th May, 2010 in UT:- 4775 at 1120 AIR Imphal - western music 4835 at 1122 AIR Gangtok - Some vernacular language songs; 5040 at 1139 AIR Jeypore - Oriya Film Song; 5050 at 1144 AIR Aizawl - Vernacular song; 4940 at 1200 AIR Guwahati - Central Bank Of India Probationary Exams in Job news - Assamese language; 6020 at 1205 AIR Shimla - Hindi Song on Rafi's voice; 4810 at 1208 AIR Bhopal - Phone in program in Hindi; 9870 at 1240 Vividh BHARATI - Hindi musicals playing; Hoping to hear from some of you soon. Regards (Arnab Ghosh, Durgapur, India, May 18, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. 9425, AIR Bengaluru - National Channel, 1435-1500, May 19 (Wednesday). “Vividha” program in English; EZL music; segment that starts with ID for “Earth Beat” and ends with ID for “Earth Beat India” (heard every two weeks); fair to good reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4789.96, RRI Fak-Fak 1250-1310 May 14. Vocal music, YL announcer; 1259 two minutes of SCI, then Jak program at 1301. Apparent closedown announcement at 1309 and carrier off at 1310. Also noted next day with closedown shortly after 1300. Poor signal - wonder if signal strength since reactivation is down from previously (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, May 19, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4789.8, RRI Fak Fak, 1206, May 16. The best reception so far since their recent return; Jakarta news feed; 1222 Anthem (choral); 1224 into their own music programming. The Jakarta news feed was // 3325 (RRI Palangkaraya) and 9680 (RRI Jakarta); by 1311 the signal was even better, but still bothered by strong CODAR and CW QRM [non]. 4789.8, RRI Fak Fak, May 17 not broadcasting today (checking between 1216 to 1347). Atsunori Ishida’s blog http://n-1.at.webry.info/ indicates today that RRI Fak Fak went off the air at 1140, which is why I did not hear them (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4789.8, RRI Fak Fak, 1209, May 18. Jakarta news relay; 1225: Anthem (choral); into their own music program. News relay and Anthem clearly // 3325 (RRI Palangkaraya) and 9680 (RRI Jakarta). Tentatively // 3344.96 (RRI Ternate) and 4869.93 (RRI Wamena), both very weak. CODAR QRM. At 1400 noted Love Ambon; still heard at 1414, but lost to CODAR and fading out, so I missed whenever they signed off. 9525.87v, Voice of Indonesia, 1340-1357, May 18. In English with Tuesday edition of “Exotic Indonesia”; cultural program from RRI Banjarmasin about the foods of South Kalimantan; almost fair, but still with hum. Today’s connection to Banjarmasin was better than usual; at 1357 totally blocked (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9526-, VOI, Exotic Indonesia on Tuesday May 18, sufficient signal without too much hum, at 1321 the Banjarmasin guy outroed one of his segments by naming himself something- Mahendra. Topic was something about development in South Kalimantan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. 'Zombiesat' hits Sunday By MAXINE SHEN Last Updated: 10:03 AM, May 17, 2010 Posted: 11:38 PM, May 16, 2010 An out-of-control satellite is threatening to interrupt cable TV reception in the U.S. Cable companies are scrambling to figure out what to do if the so-called "zombiesat" crosses into the orbit of another satellite that services some of the most popular cable channels. Communications company Intelsat lost the ability to steer its Galaxy 15 satellite remotely last month -- likely due to a solar storm. Now. it can't get the satellite to return to its assigned orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. Engineers says Galaxy 15 is drifting into the path of neighboring satellite AMC 11, owned by rival SES World Skies. . . Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/zombiesat_hits_sunday_NFEpVNqEr9Xw5y6E34f1aM#ixzz0oLE9Jesz (via Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) Article claims that channels on any satellite are confidential, so no one can plan for the collision. Nonsense (gh, DXLD) Just found the line up for AMC 11, about the only thing it doesn't carry is the kitchen sink: http://www.lyngsat.com/amc11.html (Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. An interesting little secret the people in Central Florida know - NASA audio is broadcast on WMIE 91.5 in Cocoa. Most of the time it is a little listened to traditional dollar for hollar Christian station, but during launches it carries mission control. And I think they stream! (Bruce Carter, TX, May 14, ABDX via DXLD) ** IRAN. Voice of the Islamic Revolution [sic], 7245, 15 May 2010 at 0225 UT. YL in English reading address for QSL, followed by repeated music jingle. ID at 0230 and off. Fair in moderate band scratchiness (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ?? Did they really use that slogan instead of V. of Justice, or merely V. of the Islamic Republic of Iran? (gh, DXLD) ** IRELAND. IRLANDA, 8957 Khz SHANNON VOLMET, E-QSL formato .doc V/S John Power - Officer in charge, Demoro 86 dias Informe enviando a través: http://www.iaa.ie/index.jsp?p=154&n=254 Imagen disponible en http://dxdesdecolombia.blogspot.com/ Buen DX (Rafael Rodríguez R., Bogotá D.C. - COLOMBIA, via playdx yg via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 5104-USB, relay of Galei Zahal at 1908 with HoA, then jazz music and signal S9 to S10, May 17-18 (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1945 UT May 17, 5104 khz USB // 6973, GALEI TZAHAL Lod Tel Aviv ISR-px mx -BUONO (- Mauro - Giroletti, Italy, -Swl 1510-, -IK2GFT-, - JRC525Nrd - Lowe HF150-, Filter PAR Electronics - BCST-LPF + BCST-HPF, -Eavesdropper SWL Sloper 11mt to 120mt Band- Loop LFL1010, -Lat. 45 25'0"N Long. 9 7'0"E -Locator grid. Jn 45 Nk-, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) ** ITALY. Improved conditions --- Radio Maria is just making it through the noise on 26000 kHz at 1625 UT here in Hull. This is the first time the station has been audible this year. Signal is about an S3 (Russ, AOR 7030+, 60ft long wire, Cummings, May 18, BDXC-UK yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) Thanks for the tip, Russ; good signal here at 1715 on 26 MHz. Occasional fades below the noise but its mostly holding up well around S4. Best on the long wire. I've been trying to [hear] R Maria since Giampiero reported it was back on the air at the beginning of May without any success - until today. 73s (Dave Kenny, Caversham, ibid.) ** JAPAN [non]. 15265, NHKWN, via BONAIRE, UT Saturday May 15 at 2237 with classic recording of YL performing ``Tennessee Waltz``, soon followed by announcements in Japanese. Second hour of this Sunday morning show always has western classical music, as reconfirmed at 2316 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) After successful test, Radio Japan Bengali service will replace its existing frequency 6155 to new 11965 from Sunday, 23rd May 2010. Broadcasting time 1300-1345 UT (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, May 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why wait? ** JORDAN. 11960. Radio Amman in Arabic observed again 0340-0400 UT, powerful S=9+35dB, nothing in \\ on 11810 kHz empty (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So contrary to new sked just out below (gh, DXLD) Viz.: RADIO JORDAN (Gov) kHz: 9830, 11810, 11960, 15290 Summer Schedule 2010 Arabic 0345-0715 daily ME, As 11810aka‡ 0500-0715 daily Eu 11960aka 1030-1130 daily Eu, NAf 15290aka 1030-1300 daily ME, As 11810aka‡ 1745-2015 daily Eu 9830aka Key: ‡ Inactive at time of publication (WRTH Update May 14 & 19 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 3975.55-3976.50v, KCBS Pyongyang, 1218-1306, May 15. Daily I check for the return of RRI Pontianak, but for the first time I found Korea wildly drifting around here with very poor audio; // 9665.41. Fortunately was no here on May 16, so hopefully was just a one day event. 3975.32v, KCBS Pyongyang, 1252, May 19. Heard again with poor audio and // 9665.41. This could prove to be a problem for RRI Pontianak whenever they return to the air again (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6135, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, *1400- 1430*, May 14. Was a very unusual Friday for Shiokaze; in Korean instead of the usual English; completely different format with a long talk/speech. Suspect this was probably the result of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights holding meetings with the Japanese Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, in which she said she is willing to press Pyongyang to resolve abduction issues. I noted one strange news item: “Japan recognizes 17 citizens as having been abducted to North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. Five of them were repatriated in 2002 but the whereabouts of the others are disputed with the North.” http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/base/international-30/127376500393920.xml&storylist=international After years of listening to Shiokaze, I assume there must be a lot more abductees that are not "officially" recognized as having been abducted! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. TWO-YEAR DELAY IN INSTALLING 600 KW MEDIUM WAVE TRANSMITTER FOR US BROADCASTS TO IRAN. CNN, 17 May 2010, Charley Keyes: "A 'high priority' part of U.S. efforts to reach out to Iranians has been silenced because of a two- year delay in building an important radio transmitter, according to a new government report. The State Department inspector general's report says the delays hurt U.S. efforts to broadcast news and information into Iran in crucial periods during the 2009 Iranian election and the following civil unrest. ... The 600,000-watt transmitter -- designed to reach a high priority audience in Iran -- was initially slated to be operational by May 2008. But a two-year delay of the $5.2 million project meant 'the powerful transmitter was not available following the June 12, 2009, disputed election in Iran, and it remains unavailable,' the inspector general report notes. 'Existing medium-wave assets at the Kuwait transmitting station can reach only a narrow band of the western portion of Iran,' the inspector general's report continues. Iran's government has increasingly limited internet and media access inside Iran. ... 'The contracting challenges at the Kuwait Transmitting Station have been resolved. Acceptance testing and final commissioning of the transmitter is scheduled for May 2010,' Broadcasting Board of Governors spokeswoman Tish King told CNN in an email response to questions. 'If the tests go as expected, the transmitter should be ready to go operational by the autumn of 2010.' The Kuwait site has been operating since 1983 and there already are already eight U.S. transmitters there." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) US international broadcasting achieves larger audiences in Iran through satellite television than through radio. On radio, medium wave is easier to jam than shortwave. Posted: 18 May 2010 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) SO --- exactly what were the ``contracting challenges`` causing the delays, would they care to tell us taxpayers?? (gh, USA, DXLD) ** KUWAIT. Re 15540, R. Kuwait in English: As always, thanks for these great logs & comments, Glenn. I tried this frequency yesterday (May 12) at about 1915, and here in California, *very* low audibility and only a weak carrier when heard on SSB. My guess is that their signal on this channel is directed more toward E NA rather than the whole, unlike their Arabic 13650 frequency at about the same time, which is for W NA (az = 350) and comes in really well out here (SINPO = ~3/45433/4 typical). Some of the music they play is really lovely! I just wrote and sent them (via snailmail) a reception report for this Arabic broadcast in both English and Arabic (using an online translator - I hope it caught the right-left convention used in Arabic) - I'll let folks know what happens (Bruce Jensen, California, USA, ptsw yg via DXLD) Altho I discovered 15540 as the new English frequency from R. Kuwait on April 19, as in DXLD 10-16, here is an earlier report, delayed by p-mail access only: (gh) 15540, 1810 14 April, R. Kuwait, OM talk, 1829 ID news OM pops, English, SINPO 43543 (Edwin Southwell, Basingstoke, Hants, Shortwave Logbook, May World DX Club Contact via DXLD) 17550, surprised to hear some ME music here at the late hour of 2240 UT May 16, soon followed by Arabic including ID for Kuwait. Good but with deep fades from S9+10 peaks. Mostly talk afterwards; at 2300 recheck still in but much weaker with flutter, 2301 ID again and music, program theme followed by more talk. Last check as 2326 could still detect the carrier. 17550 is another new frequency, scheduled 20-24 at 350 degrees for western and central USA, e.g. OK! A daring idea, considering it`s the nightmiddle from the originator, but obviously somewhat successful and should get even better with a little help from the sunspots and as Solstice approaches making the transpolar path mostly lit. 17550 is missing from Aoki and WRTH Update, but it was in DXLD 10-16 and EiBi has it. The first semihour should clash with VOA French via Bonaire eastward, which I happened to tune across earlier and did not notice any co-channel. 15540, May 17 at 2058 just in time to hear R. Kuwait signing off in English still claiming to be on 11990! 2059 brief NA by military band, finished in time for accurate 5+1 timesignal to 2100 as checked against WWV. (One has to do that since so many other SW services broadcast inaccurate timesignals and think nothing of it.) And into news theme, Arabic news for a minute or so // 17550, the Arabic-only frequency for C&W NAm, then 15540 cut off while 17550 continued. By 2211, however, the latter had faded to quite weak and fluttery between S3 and S9. 15540, R. Kuwait, May 18 at 2058 just caught sign-off announcement for ``11990``, timesignal 2100 and a bit of Arabic news before cutoff. Poor signal today, while 17750 Arabic to NAm was JBA and still so at 2134 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. 4412.61v, Lao National Radio via Sam Neua, 1233*, May 18. Anthem (choral) before going off; poor; 6130 continued on (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 6134.9v, RTV Malagasy, 1354, May 14. Tuned in before the sign-on of Shiokaze, to check if N. Korea had their jamming on today; no jamming, but was surprised to hear pop songs and program in French; // 5010 (USB + carrier mode); totally covered by strong Shiokaze (1400-1430); heard again after Shiokaze signed off, but by then was very weak; still with pop songs. 7105 was not heard. 6134.9v, RTV Malagasy, 1328-1359, May 17. Fair to poor reception, about the best ever heard here! Pop song in English; long segment of talking; Hi-Li music; // 5010 (USB + carrier mode), which was fair. Covered at 1359 by the open carrier of Shiokaze's Yamata (Japan) transmitter on 6135.0. Another day of good propagation (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 6174.42, RTM, 1222-1302 May 12. YL with vocal music program; 1230-1259 man in talk with occasional short music selections or music bridges; Bahasa Indonesia listed at this time; 1300 two pips, then possible news. Fair at tune-in; poor by 1300. Noted daily (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, May 19, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6045, XEXQ Radio Universidad de San Luís de Potosí. 1136- 1240 May 16, 2010. Carrier only, at least no audio making it here, then weak classical music apruptly up at 1230 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I bet they do leave the carrier on all night after ``sign-off`` 0400, when something seems to be there (gh, DXLD) 6045, May 17 at 1206, XEXQ sign-on mentioning 25 kW on 1190, R. Universidad, postal address; then talk segment seemingly about the patrimonio nacional but also mentioning west coast of USA. 1211 timecheck and into classical music. Usual weak but steady signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6185, well defined Mexican music noted here around 0005 UT May 15, S=4. Unheard here since half a decade or so (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Re 10-19, "Niños Héroes" --- Hola Glenn: Las edades de los cadetes fluctuaba entre los 16 y los 19 años. Coincido que no correspondería a llamárseles "niños", pero esto se hace para resaltar el valor que tuvieron siendo tan jóvenes, al dar su vida en defensa del Castillo de Chapultepec ante cientos de estadounidenses que lo rodeaban con mejor armamento del que ellos tenía. En Chapultepec, Ciudad de México, hay una gran columna de siete piezas que conmemora a los mencionados "niños" y es el 13 de septiembre el día que se les celebra. Saludos, (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, May 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. TVDX: see OKLAHOMA [and non]; PUBLICATIONS ** MONGOLIA. 7260, Mongolian Radio 2 (Ulaan Baadar), 0212, 5/16/10, in Mongolian. Very interesting indigenous singing pieces by single singers accompanied by stringed and bowed instruments and percussion. Announcer with very short introductions between songs. Mention of “Mongolitsk (?sp) Radio” at 0225. Abruptly off mid song at 0234. Fair, having to switch to LSB at times to escape hams chatting near (Mark Taylor, Madison WI, R-75, Winradio g313e, Eton E1, Satllit 800, Kaito 1103; 2 Flextennas, EWE, attic mounted Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, V. of Mongolia (tentative) 1031-1058* 16 May, W at opening of program and presumed news. Then into more modern Chinese- like music with same W as host occasionally. The inflection and tone seemed like English, but just not strong enough to copy. Also, there was some moderately high QRM from 12080. Have wanted to get a decent copy of Mongolia in English for a number of years and will continue trying (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, HCDX via DXLD) 12085, Voice of Mongolia; at 1043 UT May 18 in English; Female announcer commenting on Mongolian Museum; signed off air at 1058 (Arnab Ghosh, Durgapur, India, May 18, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. 15341, RTV Marocaine (Nador), 1203-1205, 5/18/2010, Arabic. Talk by woman. Poor signal, but definitely Arabic. Appeared to be somewhat undermodulated (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, IC-R75, RX-340, Random Wire (90'), ALA100M Loop (20'), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Amigos: Hace varios programas de Cartas@RN no tenemos la presencia de nuestro común amigo Jaime Báguena, que está siendo reemplazado por José Zepeda. Adjunto el único comentario muy escueto por parte de Zepeda sobre la salud de Jaime el pasado 18 de Abril. En los programas nada se ha dicho hasta ahora. Agradeceré podamos compartir la preocupación y estar al tanto de esta situación. Atte. (Hugo López, Santiago, Chile, May 14, condiglist yg via DXLD) Hace unos días ante mi inquietud, pregunté lo mismo a su colega Sergio Acosta y me contestó... "Estimado Horacio, Jaime está de baja médica por unas semanas. Nada grave por suerte. Pronto se reincorporará, espero. Si él desea decir algo lo dirá en su momento. Le preguntaré al jefe porque no lo dice, o si lo ha dicho, en fin no lo sé. Ha estado varias semanas fuera. Un saludo cordial." (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. SW bandscan 18 May: 6159.970, CKZN, St. John`s, Canada, And now news from Canada, 2219. Perseus SDR, Marconi antenna. 73, (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, HCDX via DXLD) ** NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. Ah, nice summer propagation, bands open from Pacific in the nightmiddle up beyond 21 MHz: May 17 at 0504 I find a spirited discussion between W&M in Chinese on all these frequencies in //, except for offsets of a second or two to even out power consumption: 21690, 21550, 17880, 17615, 15635, 15615, 15120, 13760. E.g. hear a couple words on 15615, tune up to 15635 and hear them again. Strength varied with 17880 the best, even tho it`s lower- powered. Radio Free Asia as scheduled from TINIAN, except for SAIPAN on 13760 and 17880, all at 03-06 per Aoki, plus another hour entered separately at 06-07 on all except 21690: 13760*R.FREE ASIA 100 300 Agignan Point MRA 14541E1507N IBB/RFA1 a10 15120*R.FREE ASIA 250 317 Tinian Island MRA 14538E1458N IBB/RFA1 a10 15615*R.FREE ASIA 250 295 Tinian Island MRA 14538E1458N IBB/RFA1 a10 15635*R.FREE ASIA 250 279 Tinian Island MRA 14538E1458N IBB/RFA1 a10 17615*R.FREE ASIA 250 295 Tinian Island MRA 14538E1458N IBB/RFA1 a10 17880*R.FREE ASIA 100 310 Agignan Point MRA 14541E1507N IBB/RFA1 a10 21550*R.FREE ASIA 250 304 Tinian Island MRA 14538E1458N IBB/RFA1 a10 21690*R.FREE ASIA 250 313 Tinian Island MRA 14538E1458N IBB/RFA1 a10 *indicates all jammed by the ChiCom, but tnx to much higher latitude paths, none of that audible here; except some co-channel on 13760 where nothing else is listed at this hour, altho V. of Korear uses it extensively elsewhen (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KEOR, 1120, Sperry-Catoosa-Tulsa, has been reliable for many weeks, but missing again May 18 at 1954 UT. Seems still off at 1545 May 19 tho heavy T-storms impede reception (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. I have now located the CB operator who is splattering all over shortwave far beyond 27 MHz --- a block away from me. Must be running a dirty linear. 27185, May 18 at 2135 all excited about working skip, whistling into mike a few notes of Beethoven, ludicrous since he speaks with exaggerated redneck accent, which all CBers are required to employ in order to be cool. Then he QSYed to 27025 at 2145. Even 6 meters was open over much of the USA, and sporadic E into VHF during the next hour; on analog channel 2, Spanish occasionally broke thru at 2228, 2240 during novela, bug in upper right looked like the star of Canal de las Estrellas, MEXICO (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Hi Glenn, May 15, 2010. Radio Pakistan Hindi service was monitored in Lahore today at 9340 kHz from 1045 UT. The signal was poor at the start of transmission, SINPO was 15111, was barely audible and the transmitter hum was higher than usual. At 12:24 UT [sic] the signal strengthened and attained SINPO of 55555 within a few minutes and transmitter hum disappeared. Such a strong signal is quite unprecedented for API-3 transmitter which is more than 40 years old. The signal remained stable at SINPO of 55555 till commencement of Gujrati service at 1145 UT on the same frequency and remained strong till close of Gujrati Service at 1215. Regards (Aslam Javaid, Lahore, Pakistan, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3290, NBC Central with relay of Radio Gadona, 1254, May 17. Pop song in English; ID for Radio Gadona 95.5 FM; island instrumental music; bird calls; “News Roundup” in English (item about next year’s ASEAN Summit to be held in Indonesia); DJ with music dedications for mostly island songs; many IDs for “N-B-C Central”; poor to fair. Always enjoyable to listen to their island music! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3905, Radio New Ireland (Kavieng), 1121-1138, 5/18/2010, Tok Pisin. Woman talking. Very weak signal with some ARO interference. Down to just a few words audible, essentially carrier only, at 1155 recheck. R. New Ireland has been the most reliable PNG station this year, while others have been absent most of the time (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, IC-R75, RX-340, Random Wire (90'), ALA100M Loop (20'), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Radio Visión, Chiclayo, 4790 kHz, ppc, 36 days. Addr.: Radio Vision E.I.R.L., Juan Fanning 457, Chiclayo. V/s illegible. (a nice surprise ...) (QSLs from Norbert Reiner, Germany, received between 12 January 2010 and 13 May 2010 via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** PERU. 5025, R. Quillabamba, Quillabamba. May 18, 2139-2149 folk music, male in Quechua talks, “Radio Quillabamba”, folk music. Het, 22432 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. A 5921.25, 15.5 0035, OID, Hört den flera ggr senaste veckan, men får inget ID. Varje gång, vid 00.50-tiden kommer en bärvåg på 5920 och gör slut på lyssnandet. Enl. uppgift är det Radio Bethel, troligen sänt från från Arequipa, PRU. Hörd första gången den 1/5, sedan 10, 12, 14, 15/5. (AN) A 5921.25, 15.5 0035, unID, Heard several times last week but get no ID. Every day at 0050 a carrier on 5920 [WHRI?] ends the possibility to listen. According to a message from Henrik Klemetz it might be Radio Bethel, probably transmitted from Arequipa, PERU. Heard the first time May 1, then 10, 12, 14, 15/5 (Arne Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin May 16, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5921.267, 15.5 2315, tentative R Bethel suffered from heavy QRN making ID impossible (Thomas Nilsson, ibid.) Radio Bethel presumably on 5921.27. Nothing much on SW these days. However, on a clip containing an unID heard by Karel Honzik in CZECHIA on 5921.27 I noticed what seemed to be a Radio Bethel feed, presumably relayed by their facility in Arequipa, earlier on about 5940 and 5950. Time of reception: 0029 to 0059, when clobbered by a megawatt operation. Date of reception: early May. This one would be audible in North America, so tally-ho everyone! Since programs originate in Lima, that´s where the reports should go. Anders Hultqvist, in Stockholm, was happy to receive a prompt reply in English for a report in Spanish. There is a reception report box on the Radio Bethel website menu (Henrik Klemetz in DXplorer/yahoogroup/, 10 maj 2010 via SW Bulletin May 16 via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) Bethel Radio, Arequipa, Perú --- Escuchada en la República Checa y en el Reino de Suecia, en 5921.27 poco antes de la 0100 UT, e identificada por el suscrito. La identificación, en voz de mujer, dice "Bethel, frecuencia celestial". Se retransmite la señal satelital desde Lima, la cual también se oye por http://www.bethelradio.fm (Henrik Klemetz, May 18, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** PERU. SW bandscan 18 May: 6019.279, R. Victoria, Lima, SS talks and songs // 9720. Perseus SDR, Marconi antenna. 73 (Maurits Van Sriessche, Belgium, HCDX via DXLD) no time but previous log in chrono order was 2219 UT ** PHILIPPINES. EARLY SHORTWAVE STATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES Thus far here in Wavescan, we have presented three programs on the radio story in the Philippines; their early Morse Code wireless stations, their early mediumwave stations, and the story of RCA Manila on shortwave. In our program today, we continue in the Philippine story with this information about their early commercial shortwave stations. We go back to the beginning, in the year 1930, and that was when RCA Manila began a relay on shortwave from mediumwave station KZRM. This was the beginning of radio program broadcasting on shortwave in the Philippines. The station was owned by the large departmental store Erlanger & Galinger, and the last two letters of the callsign KZRM stood for Radio Manila. This shortwave relay service was closed eighteen months later, though it was re-opened again three years later again, still as a service from one of the RCA communication transmitters located at their large radio station nine miles out from Manila. However, in the year 1937, a 1 kW transmitter was installed for the specific usage of mediumwave station KZRM as a shortwave relay unit. This transmitter carried the KZRM programming on any of five different frequencies up into the year 1942. The shortwave lead that was taken by mediumwave KZRM was followed up soon afterwards by several other mediumwave broadcasting stations in the Philippines. In 1938, two new radio stations made their appearance on the international shortwave bands and these were KZIB & KZRF. Shortwave station KZIB was owned by Mr I. Beck, hence the callsign KZIB, and the studios were located in the Crystal Arcade in Manila. This station, with its 1 kW transmitter, was first noted in Australia in July 1938. Programming was sometimes taken from the mediumwave station KZRD, and the two channels in use were 6040 & 9500 kHz. The other shortwave station that was inaugurated in 1938 was KZRF, which was actually a sister station to the well known KZRM mentioned just a little earlier here in this program. The studios for station KZRF, with the callsign indicating Radio Filipino, were located in the Insular Life Insurance Building, and it was owned by what was then known as the Far Eastern Broadcasting Corporation. They operated on 6140 kHz with 1 kW and the program relay was from mediumwave KZEG. During the following year 1939, five more shortwave stations were inaugurated, three as fixed land stations and two as mobile stations. Station KZEH was heard in the United States on 9585 kHz, but its appearance on shortwave was very short lived. Station KZHS lasted no longer, and it was heard in Australia on 9580 kHz. Perhaps the two shortwave stations KZEH & KZHS were in reality, just the one station. The new 1939 station KZRH fared much better. They installed their studios on the seventh floor of the Heacock Building with the transmitters on the roof. This station was inaugurated in July 1939 with 1 kW on any of three different shortwave channels. The callsign KZRH identified their slogan, Radio Heacock. On their second anniversary, they made a special broadcast with the Italian passenger liner, Benemato, which carried the Philippine callsign KZSN. The two mobile stations under the callsign KZRB and rated at 1 kW were owned by the Far Eastern Broadcasting Corporation, with which the afore mentioned KZRF & KZRM were affiliated. Station KZRB was noted in early November in Australia on 11850 kHz. The two mobile stations were established for the purpose of relaying programs from an outside broadcast back to the studios of the parent stations. If the full details were known, perhaps we could guess that the main mobile unit was licensed as KZRB, standing for Radio Broadcast, and the other unit was licensed with the sequential callsign KZRA. Finally, two more shortwave stations were added to the Philippine radio scene; KZRC Cebu in 1940, and a government defense station in Manila, KZND in 1941. Station KZRC was the only pre-war shortwave station located in a regional city in the Philippines; Cebu City on Cebu Island. It was first heard in Australia in March 1940 on 6100 kHz, a channel previously in use from the parent Manila station KZRH. Station KZRC, Radio Cebu, both shortwave & mediumwave, were inaugurated simultaneously, with 1 kW on each channel, and the studios were located in the Heacock Building in the southern city of Cebu. It should also be stated that radio station KZRC in Cebu remained on the air as the last independent Philippine radio station right up until June 1942, until taken over by the Japanese occupation forces. The last shortwave station to be inaugurated before the Japanese invasion was operated by the Department of National Defense in Manila under the callsign KZND. This was a low powered station of just 600 watts and it operated at first on 8790 kHz with subsequent test broadcasts on 9515 kHz. This station was on the air only during the last half of the year 1941. QSL cards and letters were issued by several of these exotic shortwave stations located in the Philippines. Cards from KZRM with the large red callsign letters were often reported by international radio monitors in the Pacific Rim. Stations KZRF & KZRH also issued QSL cards, and KZND verified by letter. The provincial station KZRC in Cebu issued a particularly attractive QSL card, printed in pink & black. It becomes evident that the increased activity with the bevy of new shortwave stations in the Philippines at the end of the 1930s and the beginning of the 1940s was in direct response to the bristling of political events on the part of the major powers across the Pacific. At the end of the year 1941, there were nine shortwave broadcast transmitters on the air in the Philippines. These were all rated at 1 kW, except for KZND at 600 watts, and one of the KZRH transmitters that was rated at 10 kW. In the interests of the historical events of the era, we list in alphabetic order, all of the shortwave broadcasting stations that were on the air in the Philippines at the end of the year 1941:- Manila KZIB 1 kW Mr. I. Beck KZND .6 National Defense KZRA (?) 1 Radio Broadcast, station A (?), mobile KZRB 1 Radio Broadcast (?), mobile KZRF 1 Radio Filipinas KZRH 1 @ 1 kW & 1 @ 10 kW Radio Heacock KZRM 1 Radio Manila Cebu KZRC 1 Radio Cebu (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script May 16 via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 6170.39, PBS Radyo Magasin-DZRM (possibly); 1239 + 1353, May 14. Recently have been checking here when RNZI is not on. Today had the strongest carrier yet, but still no audio. It also helps now that CNR-1 is off the air on 6175.0 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1353, did you mean 1253 or was RNZI really not on at that hour? (gh, DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. 12020 still colliding with CUBA: q.v. Even tho Cuba is at fault, RDPI is apparently oblivious to this problem. They should move if Cuba won`t (Glenn Hauser, OK, May 18, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. RDP com DRM nas ondas curtas --- Desde janeiro deste ano a RDP Radiodifusão Portuguesa vem fazendo experiências com transmissões em DRM nas ondas curtas, frequência de 9815 kHz, dirigidas para a Europa Central, das 9h30 às 11h (hora UT), nos fins de semana. A emissora vem tendo apoio da coirmã rádio A Voz da Alemanha. Se alguém conseguir sintonizá-la na frequência indicada, visto que a direção das transmissões é outra, comente a recepção aqui na lista. Isso que é prestigiar a permanência das ondas curtas e saber de sua importância na comunicação. 73 (Luiz Chaine Neto, Limeira -SP-, Brasil, 16-5-2010 - domingo, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Isto é atrasado, B-09? O horário A-10 agora, segundo HFCC e DRM DX: 0830-1000 sábados e domingos em 11995 (= 11990-12000), 80 kW, 52 graus via Sines. 73, (Guilherme Glenn Hauser, ibid.) DRM DX sked shows UT for this is 0830-1000 and frequency is 11995, so outdated info cited, for B-season? HFCC agrees, it is now: 11995 0830 1000 27,28 SINES 80 kw 52 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, translated by Glenn Hauser for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. A very weak signal noted on May 16 at 1959:47 UT til 2200 on 18120 amateur radio band. Was like harmonic, 3 x 6040 kHz RNW Dutch via Grigoriopol, Moldova, 500 kW 275 degrees at Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, Zurich, Dijon, La Rochelle Atlantic path. But strength is far down the strength limit. This service on 6040 ends May 30, then move to Rampisham site instead, but back to GRI-MDA on Aug 29th. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, May 18, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia A-10 English: 0200-0400 daily CAm 9665gri 0200-0400 daily SAm 15425ppk 0300-0500 daily As 15585vld, 15735kna+ 0400-0600 daily SAm 13775ppk 0500-0900 daily Eu 1323wbr 0600-0900 daily Pac 15405kna 0700-0900 daily As 1251dsb 0700-1000 daily SEA, Pac 17495orz 0800-1000 daily Eu 12060msk+ 0900-1100 daily SEA 15170tch 1100-1200 daily SEA 12065tch 1200-1300 daily As 11500orz, 11755orz [see below] 1300-1400 daily SEA 12065tch 1400-1500 daily As 11500orz 1400-1500 daily Eu 9750msk+ 1400-1600 daily As 9455ppk 1400-1600 daily SEA 6000vld 1400-1900 daily As 4975dsb 1500-1600 daily SEA 9660xia 1500-1600 daily ME 9735sam 1500-1800 daily ME, Af 11985msk 1500-2100 daily Eu 12040msk 1615-1630 daily As 1251dsb 1700-1800 daily Af 13855msk 1700-1800 daily As 1269xuw 1900-2300 daily Eu 1215klg 2200-0200 daily SAm 9890arm (WRTH Update May 14 via DXLD) It`s handy to have all this in one place, but is something missing? NO broadcasts shown to NAm! Yet, we thought 9890, 15425 and 13775 were for us, if not 9665, but these are all listed as to SAm! Sorry, HFCC regs show they are indeed to NAm with appropriate azimuths. The corrected 19 May edition changes SAm to NAm, and adds NAm to the 9665 targets; also changed: ``1200-1300 daily As 11500orz, 17495orz (ex11755orz)`` ditto for Hindi and Urdu (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. 9665, V of Russia World Service via Kishinev- Grigoriopol with English News in Brief; item about Bolivia nationalizing energy companies into a program about St. Petersburg history, particularly "Bloody Sunday" in 1905 where 96 were killed. Into Songs from Russia at :39, featuring songs from A Cappella Express doing a human beat-box thing in Russian -- pretty entertaining actually! The best part was the 70s medley including Money & Bang a Gong. Then IS & News at ToH into music programme with more modern atonal stuff that wasn't nearly as much fun as A Cappella Express! All this was in well, SIO 444. There was some minor QRM that sounded like some sort of humming, but not so bad as to mar reception much. Remember when Radio Moscow was on every 10 kHz in a band? This is one of TWO English frequencies at 0200 -- the other aimed at the WCNA from Asiatic Russia & not heard here (while the power is on anyway -- see below for Asiatic Russia!) This frequency is nominally aimed at Latin America per their announcement. I guess at least they make up in quality what they have lost in quantity! 0230-0320 2/May. 9665, V of Russia WS with English history talk about WWII then into a 'thought for the day' type religious programme, and s/off with ID and announcements by a YL. Better again SIO 4+4+4 0345-0400* 6/May (K index is 1 with an A index of 6 today!) (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet 14 May via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Unless it`s a mistake, VOR has taken pity on its poor North American listeners struggling to get a listenable signal out of Far East Russia. May 15 at 0411 I am astounded to find the excellent signal on 9735 from the GUIANA FRENCH relay in English instead of Spanish! Yet another program reminiscing about GPW/WW II; history must not be forgotten, but it seems the Russians are a little too reluctant to get on with the present, 65-70 years later. It`s // 13775 from DVR which is about one second ahead of 9735. 13775 is sufficient here at the moment, but markedly weaker and much less reliable. 0429 notice some audio dropouts on 9735. Next check 0516, 9735 is off. 9735 had been in Spanish at 01-05, and that`s what all the schedules still say, including the just published WRTH A-10 Update. VOR website still does not show 9735 in English as of May 15: http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/schedule/ Why am I not surprised? It`s at 320 degrees and one of the targets has always been conterminous USA, so it`s about time they put our primary language on this transmitter! But is it only at 04-05, or starting earlier? Further chex necessary. It would also be interesting to research and compute how many hours of NEW programming (other than news) VOR produces each day/week, since there are so many repeats scattered thruout the 24-hour schedule. I.e., if one listened every day for, say, two hours, would one hear everything? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AS always, Glenn, muchas gracias for the great reports. Speaking only for us leftcoasters, here in California VoR puts in a gangbusters signal on most local evenings on 11 and 13 MHz. Either Petropavlovsk- Kamchatskiy or Vladivostok, almost never a problem. We hear English on their Komsomol'sk- na-Amure transmitter (on the shores of Baikal) fairly well too (I wish Ulaan Baatar just a few 100 miles south came in as well). It must be that the 250 kW signals leap just fine across the water but stall over land. However, here's hoping that GUIANA FRENCH signal keeps up - what a dandy way to nab a new QSL in English! One of our U.S. religious broadcasters has a 7 MHz BC there around 0000z IIRC, but it's aimed elsewhere (Bruce Jensen, ptswyg via DXLD) Bruce, Appreciate your comments on my logs as so few bother to do. You must be thinking of Irkutsk which is on the shores of Lake Baikal. Komsomol`sk na Amure is as the name implies on the Amur river, in the Far East not too removed from the Pacific. (That`s to distinguish it from the original Komsomol`sk, just NE of Moskva, which I don`t think is a SW site anyway.) (It`s surprising this name has persisted, associated with the Soviet era, tho I don`t recall what it means.) 11 MHz? Am not aware of a 25 mb frequency for VOR in English to NAm currently. 15425 and 13775 from Asia. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) That's correct, and another member here kindly pointed this out - I read the rather tiny map wrong (oops!). Again, yes, and thanks - I was thinking perhaps of the season past (and actually, this was just above 12 MHz). (Bruce Jensen, ibid.) Voice of Russia on 9735 at 0400 UT 5/15/10 --- Coming in good, no interference, strong signal in English. Nothing on their website about them transmitting at this frequency during this time although they do use it at other times targeting the Middle East. Hopefully they are expanding their English to North America schedule and this will be a normal transmission during the A10 schedule (gpsblake, ODXA yg via DXLD) Huge here also at 0449 UT (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, AB, ibid.) Voice of Russia: May 16 at 0010 I notice that VOR 9810 in Spanish is not jammed! Until recently, a sesquimonth into the A-10 season, the DentroCuban Jamming Command had been blasting this frequency despite having been turned over from R. República to VOR in Spanish, which is 195 degrees from GUIANA FRENCH across America South, and only a poor signal here. Meanwhile, 9890 has VOR in English to North America. This one is 315 degrees from Armavir at 22-02, not much better than 9810. Checked at 2300, it`s getting noise jam bleedover from 9885 against VOA Spanish. At 0100 the 9885 jamming has declined to pulsing and not bothering 9890 so much. 9735 GUF in VOR Spanish used to start at 0100, but some time ago that was delayed until *0200. Last night we heard 9735 after 0400 in English instead of Spanish, so will English now start at 0200? Yes! On the air from *0159 with VOR IS, not synch with VOR IS on 9890, which went to open carrier and off shortly after 0200. 9735 signed on in English at 0200, with VG signal we finally get to enjoy until 0500. BTW, WRTH A-10 update shows BVBN via Wertachtal also on 9735 at 0430- 0500 Tuesday and Thursday in Arabic. Looking around for something to log early UT May 17 so I can date this report differently from the last one, soon found something significant: 9735, VOR via GUIANA FRENCH in English for the third night, so perhaps it`s here to stay; News now normally runs 8 minutes before features start (used to be 11), so at 0208 May 17 it`s end of news, start of News & Views. Trouble is, tho signal is excellent, audio keeps dropping out, making it unlistenable. Come on, TDF, or whoever is to blame, get your act together (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On here May 17 at 0250z, English with Russian lesson. Excellent potent signal and audio in California; I am thrilled :-) In addition, VoR's Moldova relay of this same English program is also fairly audible in California on 9665 kHz to Latin America, although obviously not with the same vigor as the 9735 reported by Glenn (instead, S7 fluttery and alongside ample sferics); however, on this transmission on May 17 at 0300 onward, there is a slight echo, probably multipath (which does not hurt my feelings a bit!). (Bruce Jensen, ptsw yg via DXLD) Found the VoR World Service in English on 9735 at 0210 5/17. Not listed in the new schedule; // 15425, which started to fade in at 0245. Really annoying amounts of digi drop-out of the feed (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash., DX LISTENING DIGEST) Followup to item re VoR on 9735 -- at 0400* 5/17, said it was the English Service to Latin America, and would return at 0200 "in the 31 meter band." (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash., ibid.) Chuck, Are you saying it signed off at 0400 UT last night? It had been running in English until 0500, and I heard it signing on at 0200, all ex-Spanish. ``Latin`` America, maybe if we include the USA, registered target for that frequency even when it was in Spanish (Glenn to Chuck, via DXLD) Glenn, 0400 s/off last night. When I got home a few minutes ago (0203 UTC) and flipped on the radio, VoR was in Spanish on 9735. Must have been the newbie running the board on the weekend (Chuck Albertson, UT May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9735 huge signal of VOR via GUIANA FRENCH, which had been in English instead of original Spanish the last three nights, is back in Spanish UT Tuesday May 18 at 0222, as announcer claims they are on 25, 41 and 49 meters! At least the audio is not cutting out. Boy, is VOR screwed up. So was English all a mistake --- or a power struggle over this superior frequency between the English and Spanish departments? Which language will it be in next? Chuck Albertson, WA, also noted that 9735 while in English last night, signed off an hour earlier at 0400 UT May 17, and that they were in Spanish May 18 after 0200. 9735, VOR via GUIANA FRENCH again in Spanish UT May 18 instead of English which lasted only three days; at chex 0223, during the 03 hour, and still at 0455 in Spanish so did not close at 0400 but usual 0500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) An update - as Glenn will also likely note, the 9735 frequency that has been English for the past several UT mornings / America evenings at 0200-0400z is now back to Spanish on May 18, 2010. Was that a test run? A Goof? WE may never know. So instead, I listened to the Moldova relay on 9665 - pretty rough going tonight with lots of noise (static crashes and etc), and the deep-voiced lady who seems to host many of the programs did not cut through the mess very well (Bruce Jensen, California, USA, May 18, ptsw yg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. TAJIKISTAN, 11510.04 odd. With high summer looming, this outlet of VOR in Spanish via Dushanbe Orzu noted with poor signal in 4-5 UT slot. I could hardly identify Spanish idiom. Waste of money to keep this service on air so far east in CIS (Wolfgang Bueschel, May 16, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 17 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 15510, VOR Pashto service via ``Krasnodar`` is often well audible here way off-target, such as May 16 at 1326. Even the Russians speaking Pashto have to resort to English terms such as ``technology``, ``aerodynamix``, ``pilot``, heh heh. By 1336 was playing a song in Russian. Audio quality of this is seldom unmarred -- - today it was not cutting out, but some hum continuously (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 15465, powerful S=9+40dB in southern Germany. Noted today Saturday May 15th again, VoRussia French at 1715 UT on 15291.86 kHz, tiny S=2 signal. Nothing noted on symmetric 15638.14 kHz though. (Wolfgang Büschel, harmonics yg via DXLD) 15291.9 kHz spurious signal 173.1 kHz away from V of Russia Moscow site in French on 15465 kHz at 1720-1740 UT, May 2nd. Auf der krummen fq 15291.9 kHz in French ... 1720 ... 1740 ... UT am Sonntag mitgehoert. O=2/3. http://adxc.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/vor-a10/French 1600-2000 11550 Yerevan ARM 500 Africa 1600-1800 11550 Yerevan ARM 500 Europe 1600-1800 9745 Chita RUS 500 Africa 1700-2000 15465 Moscow RUS 250 Africa <<< (Herbert Meixner, Austria, A-DX May 2 via BC-DX May 10 via Büschel, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** SERBIA [non]. BOSNIA, 9675, International Radio Serbia via Jabanusa near Bijeljina, Bosnia performed powerhouse S=9+40dB signal on 0010 UT, May 13. News read by woman, in a very speedy manner 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, dxldyg via DX LISTENNG DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE. 9585, BBC, *1342, May 14. In Burmese (yes, the same sounding language as I usually hear via Myanmar); on with IS; 1345 pips; brief bits of English (news items); tuned out at 1412; did not hear any other station here, certainly no hint of NHK Radio Japan testing in Hindi (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.96, SIBC, 1145-1201* May 12. Lite vocal music hosted by YL in English; took one phone call from listener; 1200 closedown announcement by same YL: "You've been listening to the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Happy Isles" and announced frequencies of 1035 and 5020 kHz; said would return at 6:00 AM; national anthem was followed by open carrier. Fair signal (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, May 19, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. The completed Radio Free Somalia (“Free for all to use” known later as Radio Galkayo) short wave radio antenna and the front wall of the Galkayo Police station, Galkayo, North East Somalia in August 1994. http://sites.google.com/site/somaliaamateurradio/somaliaphotos45 (Ian Baxter, Australia, May 15, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** SOMALIA [non]. QSL: CLANDESTINE RADIO, Bar-kulan Radio (to Somalia), 9960 kHz Email 1 day. Email-address : barkulanradio @ gmail.com first n/d answer after 10 minutes from Sunni Said Salah, Radio Bar-kulan Sports Chief Editor Email: sunnijournalist @ gmail.com Email verie after 1 day from David Smith (Director Bar-kulan Radio) (QSLs from Norbert Reiner, Germany, received between 12 January 2010 and 13 May 2010 via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) via SOUTH AFRICA ** SOUTH AFRICA. I received a QSL letter of verification from Sikander Hoosen, High Frequency Coverage Planning, Operations & Maintenance, Sentech, Ltd. This in response to my reception report of Trans World Radio, 6 April 2010 from 0219 to 0221 hours UT on 7310 kHz. He writes: "We are happy to verify these details. The transmitter is a 250 kW Brown Boveri, located at the Meyerton Transmitting Station in South Africa, geographical coordinates 26S35 28E08. Thank you for your interest in reporting on this test transmission." This is the most technically detailed verification in my collection. It is not often that a SWBC station will list the date, time, frequency, power, transmitter and geographical coordinates. And mention that this was a test transmission as well. Glenn, I am unsure if Sentech or Trans World Radio is using this frequency for transmissions. 73's, (Ed Insinger, Summit, NJ, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Surprised to find Channel Africa on unscheduled 4880 kHz last night at 2230 UT in Swahili (I think) followed by French at 2300-2355 and English from 0000 UT (i.e. the same sequence of languages they carry in their scheduled broadcasts). Couldn't stay awake to check further into the night! Fair strength signal on a clear frequency with moderate fading here - SIO 353. Channel Africa is not scheduled on their own or Sentech's website at this late hour. Meyerton does use 4880 of course for SW Radio Africa but earlier in the evening. Wondered if this was just a test or maybe Channel Africa is extending broadcasts with the World Cup in South Africa approaching in June? (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030+ / longwire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. 15110, REE with usual excellent signal direct, in fact the second strongest station on band, exceeded only by WYFR on 15440, and much stronger than WYFR 15130, May 15 at 2240 with Brazilian song, but 2242 announcement in Castilian. 15385, VG signal from REE in Spanish, May 17 at 2107, but nothing on 15110 which it normally inhabits. Must be a mistake or possibly a test but surely no change needed. Does a number on much weaker Cuba 15380. WRTH update shows REE is supposed to be on 15385 only at 15-17 M-F, to Africa. When we do hear it during those hours it is rather weak. 15110 is 302 degrees to North America, and surely that was the antenna being employed on 15385 at this time. Next check at 2212, it was back on 15110, not 15385. 15110, REE Castilian on proper frequency May 18 at 2105, instead of 15385 where it was yesterday around this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. Presumed. Sudan RTVC, 7200, 15 May 2010 at 0253 UT. Arabic music, vocal and drums. Thought I heard "Allah" in the lyrics. Good signal in scratchy and lightningy band conditions. Same or very similar music at 0325 check, with OM announcer in Arabic at 0330 followed by YL with presumably news. 30 minutes of talk followed at 0400 by talk. Smashed by a ham at one point, speaking "pig Arabic" followed by "blah blah blah blah blah." Signal noticeably fading by 0425. Off without announcement or faded out at 0429 (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. VATICAN CITY, Radio Dabanga, 5915, 15 May 2010 at 0311 UT. OM in Arabic with ID followed by YL and Arabic music. Very good signal in moderate band scratchiness (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Subject: Radio Dabanga QSL Card --- To DARFUR, SUDAN: RADIO DABANGA via SANTA MARIA DI GALERIA [VATICAN/ITALY] (presumed), 5915. Red boy- with-radio logo card with no data but with personal note from Anne Haalomor(?) confirming my report, in 3 weeks for an e-mail report to radiodabanga @ yahoo.com (Wendel Craighead, Prairie Village, Kansas, USA, May 16, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. via Slovakia, 9740, Miraya FM, 0320-0425, May 15, Arabic talk. “Miraya” jingles. English news at 0401-0411. Lite instrumental music at 0412. Arabic talk at 0415. Poor with adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) Re 10-19: Log of 17+18 May, Miraya on 3 freqs!! Thks to Wolfgang Bueschel I found today 18.5 that Miraya could be heard on 9480 (QRMed by another) // 10000 (clear at S9 )in parallel to main 9740 (S9+10 ) on 04xx (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. Re: ``At least it seemed like the first letter was B, as in Bonaire, but of course that is impossible.`` Yes, and what a shame - I really miss TWR Bonaire; and my Mom threw out that QSL too! AAARRGGHH! For those who want to get TWR Swaziland, their 0500-0600z hour on 9500 in English is usually quite good here in California before it fades, and, I suspect, also in Eastern NA. Their Monaco relay continues to be good on 9800 at 0700z too. I know it's kind of late for you NA folks, but if you really want to hear them... ;-) (Bruce Jensen, California, USA, ptsw yg via DXLD) see S AFRICA ** TAJIKISTAN. VOICE OF TAJIK (OVOZI TOJIK) (Gov) kHz: 1143, 7245 Summer Schedule 2010 Arabic 1200-1300 daily ME 1143dsb, 7245dsb Dari 0600-0800 daily WAs 1143dsb, 7245dsb English 1300-1400 daily ME 1143dsb, 7245dsb Farsi 0400-0600 daily ME 1143dsb, 7245dsb 1600-1800 daily ME 1143dsb, 7245dsb Hindi 1100-1200 daily SAs 1143dsb, 7245dsb Russian 0800-1000 daily CAs 1143dsb, 7245dsb Tajik 0200-0400 daily CAs 1143dsb, 7245dsb 1400-1600 daily CAs 1143dsb, 7245dsb Uzbek 1000-1100 daily CAs 1143dsb, 7245dsb (WRTH Update May 14 via DXLD) FYI, a very difficult external service to monitor. Can anyone hear them in English at 13-14 on 7245? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Can only hear the strong signal from CNR-2/China Business Radio after 1300, with no trace of anyone underneath (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, May 16, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. Not only 4920 and 6200 have been missing for some time, but also 5240 (Olle Alm, Sweden, May 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUNISIA. Tunisian Radio and TV, 9725, 15 May 2010 at 0256 UT. A minute of strong empty carrier, finally YL in Arabic at 0257. Main Theme from Star Wars, R2D2 beeping, Jabba saying "oh chuba," a dubbed Luke speaking in Arabic, followed by Augie's Great Municipal Band from Phantom Menace while YL mentions "Jedi." Top of Hour ID at 0301, followed by YL with news (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA [non]. via France, 15410, Radio Y’Abaganda, *1700-1715+, May 15, sign on with tape loop consisting of tones and tape loop saying “We’re sorry you've reached a station that is unavailable at this time. Please try again later". Talk in listed Swahili at 1704. Weak. Sat only (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** U K. Dear Listener, UK Rocks The World will be back on the air on Sunday 16th May at 15:00 GMT. Frequency: 15.760 MHz. Target Area: North America (but reception reports worldwide gratefully received) Please tune in and record MP3's of your reception. We look forward to receiving your feedback. ENJOY!!! Email: ukrockstheworld @ googlemail.com Regards, The UK Rocks The World Team (Tom Taylor, UK, May 13, and again May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nice signal in Buenos Aires, Argentina. QRK 3 I am listening "Yoshua`s tree" by U2 (Arnaldo Slaen, 1027 UT May 16, HCDX via DXLD) ? Someone`s clock is off: timestamp on this post as received here was 5:27 am, presumably CDT. Please include correct times within all posts! (gh, OK, DXLD) Came on a few minutes early with ID and Tom Petty with Freefalling. Excellent signal, like a local here. 1459 UT, 15760 (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Kenwood R-5000, KLM 7-30 MHz Log Periodic, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UKRTW 15760 - Already on air when I tuned in at 1459 UT, blasting here, 59+20db, site? (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Started at 1457 UT almost immediately after carrier appeared. It's a poor and fluttery signal at my location in NW England (Noel R. Green, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am hearing Rock music, no announcements, two numbers. I tuned in at 1501 seeing your report, Arnaldo. It`s as strong as BBC or any other 444 with my log periodic beamed in the general direction of Europe. Will check more for an announcement. On the Sony ICF 2010 and just only the whip 100% readable 333 some fading. What is the power, via Skelton UK? Regards (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, DXPlorer via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Hi Victor, I guess Woofferton-UK, the back main lobe [sic] 110 degrees goes towards Paris, Milan, Venice, Croatia, so minus 30 degrees is a fair S=6-7 signal here in southwestern Germany. Similar action we had Radio Oeoemrang Amrum, Germany 15245 kHz, Wertachtal 500 kW at 1557-1700 UT on Feb 21 only. Also azimuth towards North America - CAN, ALS, USA, MEX. 73 wb df5sx JN48OR (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WOF - they have only zone 11 target gear, at 238 and 250 degrees azimuth. But I guess for such a more or less SINGLE private action you may use a back lobe of 108 or 120 degrees array, back towards 290 - 310 degree target. Such reflector curtain barrier array is NOT leak- proof in back direction. [I`ll say! gh] Two masts looks like in 348 degrees too: BBC in 1995 year: 7325 0000-0230 smtwtfs Skelton 300 260 WSE AMERICAS C AM 7325 0000-0330 smtwtfs Rampisham 500 300 WSE AMERICAS N AM 7325 0000-0330 smtwtfs Woofferton 250 320 WSE AMERICAS N AM 9825 0245-0300 smtwtfs Rampisham 500 285 BBC ENGLISH C AM 9825 0300-0345 smtwtfs Rampisham 500 285 SPANISH C AM 9825 0345-0400 ..twtfs Rampisham 500 285 SPANISH C AM 6190 0245 0300 smtwtfs Woofferton 300 294 BBC ENGLISH C AM But VT group Rampisham has a lot more arrays towards CAN/USA, Carrib. Skelton serves other parts of the world, but not Americas (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX via DXLD) S-9 +10 to +20 at 1513 UT, in Carrollton, Texas, USA (near Dallas). Beautiful signal. Great music, too! 73, (Jim K5JG, Yaesu FT-2000, Cushcraft R-8 Vertical Antenna, Cumbre DX via DXLD) "UK Rocks the world" now on 15760 kHz, 1518 UT. Very good here in Sweden (Claes Olsson, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Not even a carrier at my location (Terry Wilson, MI, 1521 UT May 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) From no carrier at 1518 to very good signal at 1542 check with The Who followed by YL with ID. Signal strength 4.5 out of 5 on my Satellit 210 (Wilson, 1549 UT, ibid.) And 5 and 9 plus 20 dB here near Toronto on Perseus to K9AY (broadside). Very steady around 1600Z (Tony (VE3NO) ComputerViz, NYAA Starfest On-Line, http://www.nyaa.ca Now spending the BBQ Season channelling the Inner Carbon of Cows... dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I just heard UK Rocks the world playing rock music at 1528 UT on Sunday, May 16, 2010 using a Sangean ATS 818ACS receiver and 100 ft Coax dipole antenna. Signal was good at my QTH in TN. Announcer female accent giving name of transmission, followed by email addy, inviting reception reports, off by 1601 UT. A Great catch on Sunday DXing. 73's, (Noble West, Clinton TN, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could JUST hear but poor copy here in Central Florida 1515-1527 (Joe Strain aka Yodar, HCDX via DXLD) Hi Glenn, I sent this report to HCDX but it appears not too have shown up, so forwarding on to you!! Heard very well at 1457 carrier on then 1458 music begins with fluttery signal, but as the broadcast was in progress then signal improved. I stopped recording at 1530utc when I tuned elsewhere on the band (James Niven, Cedar Creek, Texas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15760, ``UK Rocks the World`` tested again Sunday May 16; did not check it here until near the end, 1555 with ID, more music; if there was any sign-off, I missed it since already gone at 1558 as I was comparing signal level to some other frequencies. 15760 was VG, somewhat stronger than Portugal 15560, about equal to Sackville/CRI 15220, and weaker than WHRI 15195. The site continues to be confidential, why? Other reports of good but spotty reception in North and South America, Europe and South Asia, but Noel Green in NW England found it ``poor and fluttery``, i.e. in skip zone, make a UK site likely. And what`s the point? There is not enough rock music already everywhere, including from the UK? BTW, the correct spelling of the name is ``UK Rock`s The World``. I know this because I see an e-QSL reproduced in May World DX Club Contact on page 22, from Greg Majewski, CT. So it really means, ``UK Rock Is the World``. The card also says Belfast UK, so it should really be UKOGBANI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: UKRTW sent me an E-QSL for the 4/4 Easter Test Broadcast. 15760 AM 4/4 1506-1549+. A killer signal of S9+20 on my smaller Radio System EMF antenna. Signal quality was like a local AM station. IDs were by male announcer as UKRTW, the fist at 1507. Show was a mix of new artists unknown to me and classics like th Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Rush (Majewski, CT, May World DX Club Contact via DXLD) 15760, ENGLAND, UK Rocks the World – Woofferton (?), *1458-1558* May 16, Opened with Tom Petty “Freefalling”, numerous IDs and asking for reception reports to ukrockstheworld @ googlemail.com Woman with slogan “more music, less talk”. Off with final ID. Fair to good with fading. Thanks to Don Jensen for the tip (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Heard in Tikizia with fair signal even before 1500 playing U 2 alike song. All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix at 1507, followed by a female "You are listening to UK Rocks the World, More music, less talk". U 2 was next with With or Without You. Off the air some three minutes before 1600. Nothing special, so what is the purpose with this transmission? 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) After UK Rocks the World, "Radio Black Arrow" signed on to the same frequency, 15760. Pretty good reception here in New Hampshire, SIO 244. Clean audio, well above the noise level. This may have something to do with my antenna: an 80m loop at about 50' high has a low takeoff angle at 16 MHz :) The Rado v2.0 mod in my Icom R75 dealt with the fading in the signal - the fading was visible in the S meter, but did not cause audio distortion (Rik Van Riel, NH, HCDX via DXLD) Not quick enough for most of us who had tuned out (gh, DXLD) ** U K. DIGITAL SWITCHOVER OF TELEVISION AND RADIO IN THE UNITED KINGDOM --- HOUSE OF LORDS Select Committee on Communications 2nd Report of Session 2009–10 Report with Evidence Ordered to be printed 18 March 2010 and published 29 March 2010 Published by the Authority of the House of Lords London : The Stationery Office Limited £price HL Paper 100 [279 pages] http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldselect/ldcomuni/100/100.pdf (via Ken Fletcher, BDXC-UK yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) Hmmm, guess the House of Lords does have some use after all (gh, DXLD) To me, reading the sections on radio, it seems the government were/are rather confusing those served with DAB transmissions (theoretically) with actual owners and actual listeners to DAB and rather naïvely failing to reason the outcry when BBC radio's 1 to 5 are 'migrated' to an admitted poorer service. Whilst digital TV has the great advantage of quantity of programming (the quality of programming regrettably often fails to be an advantage) - a definite plus after the relevant area has switched-off and digital transmitter power is considerably increased; Digital radio surely, on the frequencies used, cannot increase power per station beyond much further than now. Therefore the situation, where a station is OK in the bedroom but disappears in the lounge, will continue. I can't help but think some countries less committed to DAB or DAB+ will laugh at this 'change for change' sake, especially as we use an outdated DAB and few car radio importers will bother if the UK goes its own way. Far better if DAB (or DAB+) is insisted upon, for a transitional 5 year period to see how the real public choose to listen --- or better still faze out DAB, sit down and have a total rethink about a system (AM) which has served the UK in peace time and war, reliably, for over three quarters of a century! (Rog Parsons (BDXC 782), Hinckley, Leics., BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) "NOW TUNE INTO A SCRAPPAGE SCHEME FOR YOUR OLD RADIO" In my view radio in the UK is in a sorry mess with industry trying to hoist a digital technology that is outdated and does not work. I hope this article from today's Daily Mail is inaccurate; the introduction of the "charity element" is a great idea but seems totally impractical - who wants old analogue radios when new ones are inexpensive! The proposed scheme is (politely) crazy and a waste of millions of our £s when the country needs to bring its finances under control!! It`s beyond belief. Digital should be scrapped for many well documented reasons, it`s not just my opinion - it`s shared by millions! It makes me very angry indeed; surely the public's voice must he heard! This comment from a friend: "I hope that they will be telling the customers that the new digital radios are already out of date (no DAB+) and will probably have to be replaced again in 5 years." (Mike Terry, England, May 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Daily Mail 19 May 2010 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279541/Now-tune-scrappage-scheme-old-radio.html "The initiative, involving major electronic retailers such as Currys, will see customers offered a 20 per cent discount on a digital set if they hand in an analogue model. The aim is to persuade owners of around 100 million analogue radios still in use around Britain to buy the new sets. A source said: 'Retailers benefit by getting more sales. There is also a charity element.' However, industry authorities are expecting a potential backlash from loyal FM listeners, while the cost of disposing of millions of radios is also a potential problem. Digital Radio UK, the body managing digital-radio switchover, will announce the deal. Old radios will be given to charity and shipped out to Africa. In some parts of the continent, they are the main source of communication and the BBC World Service is particularly popular. The digital switchover will be announced two years in advance and not until half of all radio listening is digital. At the moment 20 per cent of radio listening is via digital. More than 10 million Digital Audio Broadcasting sets, which each cost less than £50, have been sold. The aim for an analogue turn-off date is 2015. The radio initiative is similar to the Government's car scrappage scheme, which gave drivers a £2,000 subsidy when they traded in their old vehicles for new ones." (via Mike Terry, ibid.) Mike, They have done this before with the Radio Amnesty scheme in 2005. The number of sets handed in was 2000. They then had to be reconditioned. The number of sets then sent out to Somalia was 1200. They went to Somali schools which use educational radio programmes transmitted by BBC World Service. The sets were of course battery operated which meant they had to come to an agreement with Duracell to supply batteries, which I presume is a permanent one. Any member of the public can, of course, donate to the BBC World Service Trust, and this could be publicised on 5 Live. The Trust could then buy a cheap FM radio on the local market and put them in schools. They may well be already doing this. Another thing people could do is donate to Ears To The World or Lifeline Energy, formerly the Freeplay Foundation, and put solar powered radios in the hands of Africans in the poorer countries so that they don't need to buy batteries (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) There are already 53 reader comments (from the UK and overseas) at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279541/Now-tune-scrappage-scheme-old-radio.html just click "All". It`s fascinating reading! Please post yours, thank you (Mike Terry, 1121 UT May 19, ibid.) VIDEO: RADIO'S DIGITAL FUTURE, A VISIT TO PURE HQ KING'S LANGLEY 25 minute video just posted by Jonathan Marks. It's a visit to Pure in King's Langley where he interviews and is shown around by Colin Crawford. Deals with the development and future of DAB, DAB+ and internet radio: http://vimeo.com/11802538 (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) The Daily Telegraph has just opened a reader comment facility: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7739085/Radio-scrappage-scheme-to-help-listeners-move-to-digital-sets.html?state=target (Mike Terry, ibid.) ** U S A. Rumor has it that R. Martí MW 1180 Marathon is now back in normal operation. Please check if you can hear it, day or night, north or south. And whether it is better or worse in your location following a month off for antenna rebuild (Glenn Hauser, 0115 UT May 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Members of the ARDXC spent this weekend from Friday 14 to Sun 16 May at Cataract Scout Camp near Appin NSW (South of Sydney). Heard something quite weak on 1180 possibly around 1000 UT. I presume it was Martí but no positive ID. 73 (Tony Magon VK2IC, May 16, MWC yg via DXLD) Well, it could then have been R. Rebelde just as well (gh) Yes Glenn, Caught them last evening our time, at 0547 UTC 14 May on 1180, fighting it out against Auckland (about 90 km way) station Radio Ake on 1179. Confirmed by parallel programming on 6030 shortwave. No better or worse than in the past here (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to North Central & South America, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bryan, Tnx for the R. Martí confirmation, from the other worldside, already, where it may well be easier to hear than in NAm as it is extremely direxional toward Cuba, but probably no more so than before the rebuild (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A. [Cuban jammer too]. Greenville broadcast Radio Martí in Spanish carried some live sports transmission from ?Anaheim California?, 6030 very weak, 9565 just above threshold, very tiny and poorly jammed, later at 0022 UT May 15 also on much powerful 11775 kHz, S=9+20dB, many IDs and temperature and humidity reports at 0031 UT May 15. Another US IBB propaganda station - total different in program -, is VOA Spanish with political general overview program to Latin America on 9885 and 11970 kHz, both S=9+20dB at 0000-0100 UT May 15 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wolfy, you are too unkind, dismissing VOA as merely propaganda (gh, DXLD) TWO VOA REPORTERS WIN BURKE AWARDS --- VOA Khmer Service and Deewa Radio reporters were awarded for their work in dangerous and difficult regions Washington, D.C., May 18, 2010 - Voice of America reporters Sok Pov of the Khmer Service and Rahman Bunairee of Deewa Radio have been honored with David Burke Distinguished Journalism Awards for their daring and thought-provoking broadcasts from two of the world's most dangerous and difficult regions. The awards, which recognize courage, integrity and originality in reporting, were presented at the Voice of America Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Sok Pov was cited for a series of reports that took him deep into the jungles of northern Cambodia for profiles of former Khmer Rouge leaders who face possible arrest for crimes against humanity in connection with the genocide that killed 1.5 million Cambodians in the 1970's. Sok was able to locate the former officials with the help of local chiefs who recognized his voice from VOA broadcasts. Rahman Bunairee was recognized for his reporting on the 2009 clashes between Pakistani troops and militants in Pakistan's tribal areas. Bunairee fled to the United States after militants, apparently angered by his coverage, set off a bomb at his family home and threatened him. The David Burke Distinguished Journalism Awards are named after the former Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent federal agency which supervises all U.S. government-supported, civilian international broadcasting. Also honored this year: Jin-Seo Lee of Radio Free Asia's Korean Service, Laura Juan Huang of RFA's Mandarin Service, Mohamed Mokhtari and Betty Ayoub of Alhurra Television, and Elena Rodríguez from Radio Martí (VOA press release via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. VOA LAUNCHES NEW ENGLISH PROGRAMS New VOA programs target English audience Washington, D.C., May 17, 2010 – Voice of America has unveiled a dynamic new lineup of interactive radio programs and Web features aimed at expanding its English-speaking audience around the world. Three new radio programs, Daybreak Asia, Crossroads Asia, and Middle East Monitor, focus on key developments in each region, with in-depth features, more newsmaker interviews and dynamic interaction with listeners, viewers and website visitors. Another program, International Edition, provides lively, fast-paced world news coverage, and American Café brings you stories about life in the United States. Listen to VOA programs and explore the new Web features at http://www.voanews.com VOA English Programs Director John Stevenson describes the new programs as, “for and about the people in the regions, providing the story behind the story, with more background and analysis, increased use of graphics on our website and more social networking with sites like Facebook.” VOA English has an estimated global weekly radio audience of more than 11 million people. VOA newscasts and programs are available on a host of platforms, including our website, via podcasting, social networking sites, radio and television affiliate stations around the world, and now on VOA’s upgraded mobile phone site http://english.voa.mobi Other languages are also available by going to http://www1.voanews.com/english/mobile/ and selecting from the list. (VOA press release May 17 via DXLD; also via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg) HARD LAUNCH MONDAY (TODAY) FOR NEW VOA ENGLISH REGIONAL NEWS PROGRAMS --- The "hard launch" of the new VOA English regional news programs for Asia and the Middle East is Monday, 17 May. See this schedule, an exclusive service of this website, because such a schedule is not available at voanews.com. http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/VOA_English_to_Asia_and_ME.pdf The shortwave schedule for East and South Asia is rather complicated, with frequencies available some hours weekdays only, other hours weekends only. The second evening edition of Crossroads Asia and International Edition, at 1305-1400, has no frequencies, but this hour is a repeat of 1205-1300 UT. No frequencies have been assigned yet for Middle East Monitor and International Edition at 1700-1800 and 1900-2000. All of the Asian and Middle East broadcasts are available as an audio stream at voanews.com. Click on Global Live at the top of the home page. Posted: 17 May 2010 (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) 17585, VOA Greenville still fires up for a semihour at 1400-1430, but instead of News Now, it`s Music Mix! May 18 at 1426, with a sporadic-E boost, a song by Canadian Michael Bouvlet (sp?), ``I Haven`t Met You Yet``, then YL DJ, ``VOA Music Mix Network`` jingle, and rapper about ``having sex with a boy who`s 16`` but ``no money for an abortion``, so VOA is doing its best to propagate American values and culture? This is the transmission which used to be a continuous news hour, but rudely interrupted in the middle for a totally unnecessary site change from Greenville to Botswana. Now the rap crap stops a few sex short of 1430, open carrier continues a bit and can hear weak signal under, presumably still Botswana, but now it really is news/talk instead of continuing with the `music`. So the recent VOA format change has apparently caused the two halves of this hour no longer to match. By 1435 check the GB carrier is off but Bots too weak vs noise level; the other carrier axually had helped to audiblize it. 17585 is intended for Africa from both sites, but what programming? The new sked provided by Kim Elliott at http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/VOA_English_to_Asia_and_ME.pdf ignores Africa, but for Asia at 1430 weekdays it goes from Crossroads Asia to International Edition. Possibly the latter is also now on 17585? But before 1430, it wouldn`t do to broadcast an Asian regional program to Africa, so have to stick something else in there! (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA Music Mix instead of VOA's Crossroads Asia --------------------- NOTE: This e-mail is bcc-ed to VOA monitoring, schedulers and Network Control Center --------------------- Dear DXers, I've noticed VOA Music Mix at 1405-1430 UT Monday-Friday on some shortwave frequencies SINCE MAY 03, 2010! I also checked today, MAY 19 AND STILL MUSIC MIX on 17740 kHz! At first, I thought that was a regular music program in a new program line-up of VOA English effective May 03, 2010, but after visiting Kim Elliott's schedule of VOA English at http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/VOA_English_to_Asia_and_ME.pdf I realized this was actually a WRONG FEED for 5+5+3 days now!!! After listening many audio samples from IBB Monitoring website http://realmonitor.com/rms/qth.php I can give you a list of which transmitters carry wrong feeds: 17740 BOT 010 VOA MUSIC MIX MO-FR, VOA English Sat&Sun 17585 GB 094 VOA MUSIC MIX MO-FR, VOA English Sat&Sun 15580 SAO 138 VOA MUSIC MIX MO-FR, VOA English Sat&Sun 15530 BIB 085 VOA English 12080 SAO 100 VOA MUSIC MIX MO-FR, VOA English Sat&Sun 9760 PHT 021 VOA English 9760 PHT 270 VOA English 7575 UDO 268 VOA English 7540 PHT 270 VOA English 6080 SAO 138 VOA MUSIC MIX MO-FR, VOA English Sat&Sun 4930 BOT 020 VOA MUSIC MIX MO-FR, VOA English Sat&Sun BOTSWANA, GREENVILLE, SAO TOME have wrong feed Mo-Fr only (VOA Music Mix). BIBLIS, TINANG, UDORN have correct feed daily (VOA English). This wrong feed anomaly is noted only MON-FRI 1405-1430 UT from May 03, 2010! Kind regards! (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, May 19, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. GERMANY/BOTSWANA, 7340/11905 Came across of strong VOA Kinyarwanda/Kirundi program on 7340 kHz at 0330-0430 UT today May 16, thought it was too strong for Iranawila propagation into Europe. But WRTH Update shows Lampertheim Germany relay instead, so my location was in the groundwave or somewhat vagabond lobe of the 132 degrees array at Lampertheim, some 107 kilometers away on 153 degrees angle. \\ fair on 11905 from Botswana at 0410 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Kinyarwanda/Kirundi Days Area kHz 0330-0400 daily EAf 11905ira 0330-0430 daily EAf 6095sao, 7340lam <<< 0400-0430 daily EAf 11905bot (WRTH Update May 2010, via Büschel, ibid.) see KUWAIT; N MARIANAS ** U S A. WTJC – FUNDAMENTAL BROADCASTING NETWORK (FBN) (Rlg) kHz: 9370 Summer Schedule 2010 English 0000-2400 daily NAm 9370tjc (WRTH Update May 14 via DXLD) It`s not English only. See our recent reports of Arabic and Chinese at certain hours. WRTH update2 May 19 added a remark about this (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WTWW (Rlg) kHz: 5080, 9479 Summer Schedule 2010 English 0100-1200 daily NAm, Eu, Af 5080tww 1200-0100 daily NAm, Eu 9479tww Key: Web: wtww.us (WRTH Update May 14 via DXLD) ?? QSY time is still 0000, as 5755 already on at 0007 UT May 15 check. It would make sense for it to be an hour later in summer, perhaps in June? Must have been going by FCC/HFCC listings which show 9480 until 0100 all season, but 5755 or 5080 starting at 0100 until June 1, then from 0200. Must be upmixed, as I am sure WTWW does not plan to go off the air for an hour or two in the summer evenings. WRTH Update Version 2 attempts to rectify this but still leaves a one hour gap which I doubt is intended (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9479, pleased to find WTWW transmitting unmodulated carrier at 2140 UT May 16; unfortunately, Mr Aryan Man cut back on at 2142. Usual overwhelming signal causing overload all over the 31m band, and desensitization in the vicinity of 9479 far beyond its 10-kHz bandwidth (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 3185, WWRB Morrison TN with ID at :03 Bro. Scare clone (I missed the name but it even sounded a little like him!) ranting about people who are working for the government if they take guvrnmnt benes & fitting that into the Bible predictions, Sigh. Dead air at 0103 after program ended and then back with Dr. Richard Kimball with the Last Voice of the Church Age, but sad thing is that both these guys sounded sane & sedate compared to the guy screaming on the Full Gospel Hour (which ironically is a 30 minute programme per the sked!) HE was just plain scary & impossible to understand to boot! Weird stuff! SIO 4+4+4 (muddy modulation for all these programmes -- it sounded like a phone line feeding the transmitter — what a waste!) 0055-0140 30/Apr Glenn Hauser with World of Radio at 0350 recheck. Dead air at 0401 into somebody talking about economics in USA, which was part of Bro Scare's overnight programme. Let's see GH, Brother Scare, Pastor Buddy, The Full Gospel Hour, The Last Voice of the Church Age, what's the old Sesame Street line? "One of these things is not like the others ..." :) Mayhaps GH should reconsider where he buys radio time! 0350-0405 30/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet 14 May via DXLD) Beggars 3215, WWRB, Morrison TN with The Overcomer Ministry of Brother Scare talking about the US real estate fiasco. He felt it necessary to define what an 'under water' mortgage was & went on to describe various locations like Las Vegas etc. where things are really bad. The "twin disasters" of unemployment & negative equity along with irrational loan underwriting rules was something he decried. OK -- when did Bro Scare actually start to make sense? I'm worried if there ever was a sign of the end times, Bro Scare making sense has got to be just such a sign!! :) Cut out abruptly at :54 for no apparent reason. This is sked until "10 PM" so I dunno. Maybe the transmitter operator turned it off worrying about the fact that BS was being rational. :) SIO 54+4+ 0045-0054 30/Apr Recheck at 0140 had a Pastor Butch talking about the UMich president who is 'openly sodomizing' ("gay" means happy, he said!). These folk are all working hard to make Pastor Pete Peters and Brother Scare sound sane, and that is truly scary! 0140-0150 30/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet 14 May via DXLD) WWRB (Rlg) kHz: 3185, 3215, 5050, 5745, 9385 Summer Schedule 2010 English 0000-1200 daily NAm 3185wrb 1200-2400 daily NAm 9385wrb 2100-0100 daily NAm 3215wrb 2200-0400 daily NAm 5050wrb, 5745wrb (WRTH May 14 Update via DXLD) !! WRTH apparently relies on registrations, not reality, as we have noted time and again that 3145 is in use at 0100-0400, not 5745. Also, there is some Spanish on 5050 (Glenn Hauser, OK, May 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The May 19 corrected WRTH Update changed to: 0000-1200 daily NAm 3185wrb 0100-0400 daily NAm 3415wrb (add) 1200-2400 daily NAm 9385wrb 2100-0100 daily NAm 3215wrb 2200-0100 daily NAm 5745wrb 2200-0400 daily NAm 5050wrb, 5745wrb (del) Unfortunately, that`s still wrong as it is 3 1 4 5, not 3415 (Glenn Hauser, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBCQ – THE PLANET kHz: 5110, 7415, 9330, 15420 Summer Schedule 2010 English 1200-0400 daily NAm, CAm 9330bcq** 1700-2200 daily NAm, CAm 15420bcq* 1800-0900 daily NAm, CAm 7415bcq* 2200-1000 daily NAm, CAm 5110bcq* Key: * USB/AM; ** LSB/AM ?? 7415 and 5110 are never on anywhere near that late, only until 0300 or 0400. Also, 9330 is now USB/AM like the others, as we recently noted. Is anyone paying attention? And Frecuencia al Día, Mondays at 1900 on 7415, makes WBCQ not all-English. WRTH UD version 2 changed times and LSB but not re Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ALBANIA ** U S A. 4840, WWCR with English paranoid/psychotic 'stocks are theft, buy our gold' programming designed to not sound like an ad, and including actual ads for quack products like "Edible Hemp" – certified THC free from HempUSA.org ('edible hemp' -- it is gluten free!) and Alkaline water drops (alkavision.com--BAD acids!) during the programme (which I never did catch the name of!) Why is this on 60 metres instead of 90? :) 0425-0450 8/May (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet 14 May via DXLD) 15825, WWCR-1 at 1330 May 18 with piano gospel music soon joined by singer, strongest station on band (SSOB), with sporadic-E enhancement, and not much else making it on 19m except weaker Sackville and Habana. Nothing significant by F2 from Europe; yet on 16m, Spain was still audible on 17595, plus WYFR on 17555, 17795, Chile on 17680, Ascension on 17800. Checking TV-FM Skip Log later, Es MUF did make it up to at least 60 MHz over eastern North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wanted to recommend that you be sure to listen to the current (#315) "Ask WWCR". VERY interesting and enlightening discussion of their experiences with the recent Nashville flood, and its effect on the station. http://www.wwcr.com/ask-wwcr_315.mp3 (Will Martin, MO, May 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. 9955, WRMI with WORLD OF RADIO 1512 at 1344 check Saturday May 15, mixed with pulse jamming. Tnx a lot, Arnie! Perhaps we are supposed to be grateful it`s only the pulsing, allowing some readability instead of the full wall of noise (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Re gh`s WYFR on new 11690, site unknown: 2100-2200 daily WAf, CAf 7425wer, 11690asc (add), 12055asc (WRTH Update May 19 via DXLD) 15190, FLORIDA, WYFR Okeechobee. 2324+ May 17, 2010. Clear and fair with Brazilian-Portuguese preacher, ID and Family Radio theme just before 0000. Initially thought it was a canned gospel program via Brazilian Radio Inconfidência. Proof that an ID is vital! (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And also faked out a Brasilian (gh) ** U S A. 11715, KJES, May 17 at 1438, S9+12 but just barely modulated with OM proclaiming dogma to the captive kids at The Lord`s Ranch (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 17362-USB, May 15 at 1300, robot YL advertising Shipcom, phone number and rates for calls to CONUS. Then notice of a missing vessel, last known position, callsign JE6BF, brief traffic list? QRZ and off at 1303. Per http://www.yachtcom.info/MarineSSB/index.html this is WLO Mobile AL. Marginal signal, and probably audiblized to this extent only tnx to some sporadic E short-skip (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Listening To WOR Online --- WOR 710 changed the URL for listening to their live audio stream. A few years ago Marc DeLorenzo sent me the URL so I could go directly to the stream and I wonder Marc, if you are still on the list and could do it again for the new one? For some reason the web designer of the WOR website has an aversion to using meaningful alt tags and it's impossible for my screen reader to know what a URL actually is. They seem to use the word "pages" and a bunch of numbers that means absolutely nothing to a screen reader. Come on guys, don't be so lazy! Thanks, (Tom Dimeo, May 19, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. I recall some past mention in DXLD (or the yg) of the sale of classical station KFUO here. I know that I wandered around the KFUO tower site over on Concordia Seminary's property across Wydown from the WU dorms when I was living there, but am not sure if that was when we both lived there or if it was in later years after you had gone. And of course, being brought up Lutheran and with relatives who left KFUO legacies in their wills, and being a frequent listener over the decades, I feel a connection with that station. Here's the Post-Dispatch article on the sale of KFUO: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/stories.nsf/stage/story/FEFCC9694080DD788625771C000353D4?OpenDocument In the light of that sale, and many public comments (Letters to the Editor, etc.) about losing St. Louis' classical radio, I sent the following to KWMU (NPR station here on 90.7): To Radio Station KWMU: There has been a lot of publicity locally about the soon-to-take- effect sale of classical-music station KFUO to a differently-formatted Christian-music organization. There have been a number of discussions about finding another source for classical music in St. Louis. One approach that I have not seen brought up by others is to use the KWMU- 2 HD channel to give this a broadcast home. What I am thinking of is for you to drop the "XPoNential Radio" program hours you now air on KWMU-2 and replace those with classical. I would think that you might find local unpaid volunteers to act as "classical DJs" and produce programming to fill those hours using their own classical-music recording collections or even that they'd be given access to the existing music library of KFUO itself. Alternatively, I'm sure that NPR has classical music available to use, but that would of course require you to reimburse the national, which would add to your expenses. I think a local source from among the classical-music-enthusiasts community in St. Louis would not cost you, and they'd be another source for member contributions in fund drives. I don't find "XPoNential Radio" to be compatible with your other programming, and frankly find it hard to conceive of what demographic or audience does appreciate it. But classical music is a traditional feature of public radio nationwide, and would fit well into your program lineup. Please consider this seriously, and, if you decide to accept the possibility, discuss it among the St. Louis arts & music community, publicizing it on-air and in print. You might get some financial support from electronics retailers that sell HD radios, too, since the large number of current KFUO listeners who do not currently own HD radios would need to buy one or more. (You might want to have some discussion about the technology and what specific equipment is available and some consumer reviews and comparisons of actual HD-radio models on "St. Louis On The Air" sometime; few non-techie types even know about the concept.) Thank you for your attention. William Martin, South St. Louis City ___________________________________________ In case you didn't know, "XPoNential Radio" seems to be some sort of service that sounds like mainly-vocal sort-of-pop music, always with songs and singers I never recognize, and excessive IDs between the songs (but never identifying the music itself). I'm sure I'm completely out of the intended demographic, and I just find it annoying when I try to listen to it as non-commercial background music. I am guessing that most NPR listeners also are more like me than the audience this is aimed at. So that's why I felt classical would be a better fit. So far, I've seen no response. I also posted this on the P-D's "culture" blog item about the KFUO sale, in the hope others would take up the idea. We'll see. (KFUO is still on the air playing classical now, by the way.) 73, (Will Martin, MO, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) De WXPN Philadelphia, get it? (gh) ** U S A. GCN FM Station in Austin, Texas --- Hi Glenn: Interesting article in the latest DXLD (May 14) concerning the pirate FM station operating in Enid OK. The FCC bust of the GCN FM station in Austin, Texas was mentioned. I just wanted to make the comment that this station continues to operate 24 hours a day on 90.1 MHz (for over a year now) and is easily received throughout the Austin area. It will be interesting to see how long this station remains on the air – the FCC bust has had no impact so far. Regards, (Mike Beu – KD5DSQ, Austin, Texas, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. ROSA RIO DIES AT 107 --- The Baltimore Sun, May 16, 2010 Rosa Rio was a much-admired theater organist who provided live soundtracks for silent films (an exceptional art form) and kept her career going after the arrival of talkies by switching to radio and eventually TV soap operas... She also offered a remarkable connection to history -- she played the sobering music in between NBC radio broadcasts of the German invasion of Poland in 1939... Full report at http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/classicalmusic/2010/05/rosa_rio_colorful_theater_orga.html On radio, she provided the background organ music for numerous programs, including Bob and Ray, Ethel and Albert, Front Page Farrell, Lorenzo Jones, My True Story, The Shadow, and When a Girl Marries. During World War II, she had her own radio show, Rosa Rio Rhythms. On some occasions, she went right from one program into another, as when Lorenzo Jones and Bob and Ray were both adjacent in NBC's schedule during the early 1950s. Sometimes she had less than 50 seconds to run from one NBC studio to another. During her 22 years in radio, she was responsible for the music on more than two dozen series. She made a smooth transition into television, playing for such shows as As the World Turns and The Today Show. However, television offered fewer opportunities for work in comparison with radio, so Rosa Rio moved to Connecticut, where she opened a school of music, teaching organ, piano, and voice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Rio (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) obit ** U S A. Potential LP DTVs via Es In attempting to determine what current low-power DTVs might be available to a number of DXers during the Es season, I was wondering if any of these stations approved with CPs are actually on the air. Any feedback would be appreciated. Sorry if I've missed previous posts relating to any of these stations. Thanks. Channel 2 --- W25DW Arbury (Chicago), IL .3 kW W02AG Brevard, NC .3 kW WZPA-LP Philadelphia, PA .3 kW K02QL-D Lubbock, TX .3 kW Channel 3 --- K03ID-D Flagstaff, AZ .3 kW WTMU-LP Boston, MA .3 kW WDVZ-CA Greensboro, AL .3 kW Channel 4 --- K04RA-D Clarksville, AR .3 kW WTCU-LD Traverse City, MI .3 kW K04QW-D Great Falls, MT .3 kW W41BQ Asheville, NC .3 kW WPXO-LD East Orange, NJ .3 kW K04QY-D Reno, NV .3 kW WWVX-LD Marietta, OH .250 kW Channel 5 --- WLUF-LP Gainesville, FL .3 kW KSXC-LD South Sioux City, NE .3 kW W05AA Roanoke, VA .3 kW Channel 6 --- W06CM-D Atlanta, GA .3 kW KXIT-LP Amarillo, TX .3 kW KBFW-LP Arlington, TX .3 kW K66GD Vidor, TX .3 kW (Steve Rich, Indianapolis IN, May 16, WTFDA via DXLD) See PUBLICATIONS WZPA-LP still analog on ch 33. No sign of ch 2 DT testing. Format changed this year from Aztec America to Cornerstone (REL). (John Zeis, Exton, PA, ibid.) W05AA in Roanoke is on the air, as I previously stated. But I can also confirm that WLUF-LD is NOT on the air (Trip Ericson, http://www.rabbitears.info ibid.) It'd be worthwhile to have a full list not only of low-power DTVs but also full-power DTVs as well as low-power analogs, on the actual channel they're on. With all the changes that have gone on, what is considered the go-to list that has everything listed as a DXer would find it (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) Note that in many cases, it's possible for a -LP to be operating in digital and analog simultaneously on two different channels (like the full-power stations did). Depends on whether they decided to do a "flash cut" or a "digital companion channel". – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) I don't belive W02AG in Brevard, NC has made the switch from analog to digital. Their parent station, WSPA, is converting some of their translators to digital, but I would expect the first will be W10AJ in Greenville, SC. It will move to channel 49, giving them a UHF signal for the largest city in the market. Their Weaverville, NC will also move to UHF to cover the Asheville area (Neil Griffin, Spartanburg, SC, ibid.) Funny, I was just working on updating some channel maps for the ES season. Channel 2 is complete: http://dxinfocentre.com/TV2.pdf It's 8 1/2 x 11 and printable. I'll keep working on 3, 4, 5 and 6 (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) Minor issue, you have WDTV listed on the map as being in north-central West Virginia. The proposed WDTV translator on channel 2 is in Parkersburg, somewhat west of where you've located it, on the West Virginia-Ohio border. Hope it helps. =) (Trip Ericson, ibid.) That's an awfully nice map, Bill!!! It's getting colour-coded with highlighters (analog - green, full-power DTV - pink, low-power DTV - blue. I'll then circle what I've logged and post a copy on my wall, next to your Canadian analog logos (Saul Chernos, ibid.) ``I am not aware that the LP stations use offset. You may want to check with Doug about this. I wonder if you are receiving something from out of the country.`` LP stations are not *required* to use offset, but they may *choose* to do so. LP stations that *don't* use offset, their signal must be at least 45 dB weaker than that of any co-channel full-power station at the interference-protected contour of the full-power station. If offset *is* used, the LP signal need be only 28 dB weaker. IOW to oversimplify, the LP station can run roughly 40 times as much power if it uses offset. WESL-LP *does* use offset. In my database, -LP stations *not* using offset are shown with an "N" (None) in the offset column. WESL shows a "Z", for "zero" offset. The two closest full-power stations to WESL were minus offset (WKRN Nashville) and plus (WETP Sneedville, Tenn.) Yes, the -FP stations don't exist anymore. But the WESL-LP license does still specify zero offset, so I believe the station is obligated to remain on zero offset. I can't really determine from the regulations whether LP stations are required to maintain offset *against other LP stations*. I don't think so (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) ** VATICAN. 4005, Vatican Radio, Vaticano. May 14, 2239-2259 female in studio and outside in English talks, religious music, organ music, Vatican Radio IS. Not listed in English in this time, 25433 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Axually it is now in the WRTH update, 2230-2300 (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Re 10-19: ``Venezuela on 6060 kHz at 0000 UT. Perseus SDR and super Kaz antenna + preamp http://www.4shared.com/audio/RWFWZP8y/Venezuela_6060khz_0000utc_9-5.html (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, 1604 UT May 9, HCDX via DXLD) Yes, clip is RNV standard ID with Apartado 3979 address. Not scheduled at this hour via CUBA. Could be switching error, tail end of 23-24 relay on 13680, 15250. Or was it the beginning of a new one-hour broadcast? Need to confirm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15245, R Nacional Venezuela, via La Habana, 0000-0008, May 01, Spanish and English, 55545 (Gordon Snedecor, Portland, Oregon, U. S. A., DSWCI DX Window May 5 via DXLD) ?? Has always been on 15250, so were they askew or you? Also is supposed to be at 2300-2400; did it run over, or time misconverted, or have schedules changed?? (gh, DXLD)`` I checked both these out UT May 14-15. 13680 was already on with OC at 2255; 2259 starts RNV IS, and by then // 15250 (not 15245!) was also on with equally bigsigs. This hour mixes elegant Spanish with broken English. Next check at 2403, both were already off as they were supposed to be. At 0003 I check 6060 and find a weak Spanish signal there which is // 6110, 12020, 5970, i.e. RHC not RNV. Since 5970 was in fact on contrary to sked, still a good thing RNW had saulted to 6140 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Version 2: As in DXLD 10-19, we found two reports of RNV on wrong frequency, wrong time; were there changes? Maybe this happened on the log dates in question, but not when I checked both these out UT May 14-15. 13680 already on with OC at 2255; 2259 starts RNV IS, and by then // 15250 also on with equally bigsig. This hour mixes elegant Spanish with broken English. Next check at 2403, both already off as supposed to be, rather than still after 0000 on ``15245``. At 0003 I check 6060 and find a weak Spanish signal there which is // 6110, 12020, 5970, i.e. RHC, not RNV as had been reported here after 0000 with a clip to prove it; I guess it was a switching error/runover of which RHC is so capable. Also, since 5970 was in fact on contrary to sked, still a good thing RNW had saulted to 6140 for the 0000 Dutch via Bonaire. 11705, May 15 at 1240, I think RNV is missing; only a weak signal in music, Asian? Much weaker than VOK on 11710. But at 1246 I can tell 11705 is in Spanish and 1249 RNV ID. It`s both undermodulated and underpowered. RHC normal on 11760, but 11730 and 12030 are also poor. Sunday May 16 another El Hugazo no-show, nothing on ``Alo Presidente`` frequencies via Cuba at 1537 check, 17750, 13750, 12010, 11690. Something else on 13680. RHC itself only weak on 11730, 12030, 15380? And missing from 11760, maybe not reconfigured yet after Esperanto at 1500-1530 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. Voice of Vietnam - 12020, 1400z - strong signal --- For those interested, V. Vietnam has a standard series of broadcasts on 12020 kHz each morning/afternoon UT to the Pacific Region, alternating languages. I happened to tune in this morning (my time - UT afternoon at 1400z), and their Japanese was inbooming here in California at S- 9+. SINPO = 45534, superb really when S-AM was used. That nighttime path across the ocean is a blessing. Just prior at 1330z is their English half-hour (Bruce Jensen, California, USA, May 15, ptsw yg via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. 4828, Voice of Zimbabwe, Gweru. May 17, 2141-2152 Pop music, female talks in English, 2146 slow pop, 2148 male and female talks “program…Africa…Zimbabwe”. Able to pick up few words. From 2152 strong QRM of presumed Chinese 4820 PBS Xizang blocking VOZ, 33533 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 4895, 11.5 1825, Zimbabwe Community Radio, bra styrka. Sänder från UAE, enl. ID. Irregular? Inte hört den tidigare men den dök upp igen 14.5. Finns nämnd i ett WRTH supplement. 4895, 11.5 1825, Zimbabwe Community Radio, good strength. Transmits from UAE, according to ID. Irregular? Not heard by me before but came up again May 14. Not in a WRTH supplement (Arne Nilsson, Sweden, SWB May 16 translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Really? It`s Meyerton, SOUTH AFRICA, much closer and better (gh, DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. via Madagascar, 9875, Radio Voice of the People, *0400-0457*, May 15, sign on with Afro-pop music and opening ID announcements in English and vernacular. Short breaks of Afro-pop music. Vernacular talk. English at 0443-0457 with ID and news concerning Zimbabwe. ID and email address. Good signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) UNIDENTIFIED. 4875.51, 1005-1030 May 16, Noted a program of steady music, very weak. The music sounded similar to what is normally heard on RRI stations. Unfortunately, the noise was making the music difficult to hear. But at 1015, heard a male in comments and it sounded as if he was speaking Spanish? So this is a big puzzle. The frequency is unique, so if it ever comes in better, we'll be able to track it. As time passed, the language sounded very Spanish. This possibly could be Radio Estambul or Radio La Cruz Del Sur, Bolivia, but don't take my word for it. I don't know the recent history of either of those. At 1021, flute music is heard. Signal was threshold and the noise never gave me a break (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, WinRadio G305e/pd, WJ HF1000, NRD545, 26.27N 081.05W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why not reactivated Rdif. Roraima, Brasil, per several reports on or around this frequency in DXLD 10-18, and also 10-19, as another unID?? Searching recent DXLD issues for an unID frequency could be helpful (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) See PUBLICATIONS UNIDENTIFIED. 5015.46, on May 18, from 1324 to 1331. Sounded like subcontinent type music and singing; very weak. Perhaps AIR Delhi being off frequency? Do not recall hearing anything before on or around 5015 at this time period (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. I am getting a weak Latin AM-mode signal at present on 6043.93. Noted at 0718 UT on 12 May and 0712 on 14 May. Best on the North American EWE so could this be the Mexican running overnight? (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to North Central & South America, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) If you mean 6044.93 that checks for the exact reported frequency of XEXQ. I have not noticed them varying much from that, certainly not 1 kHz lower. Was it classical music? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 6135 at 0315 UT. OM speaking, but can't ID language. Radio Yemen in Arabic? (Terry Wilson, MI, May 15, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not likely with Channel Africa also here from South Africa; in English (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 17721 approx., at first seems like CW, May 18 at 2136 on the lo side of WYFR 17725, but doesn`t make sense, so apparently some transmitter/spur carrier cutting on and off irregularly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 18528-SSB, 2-way Spanish with test count, 1306 May 15. I was looking for second harmonic of WINB on 18530, but despite Es boost on WWCR 15825 and 13845, WINB not audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 98.3, Light Cook's News --- Didn't have the tape rolling yet, but at 8:20 am this morning on 98.3 heard something sounding like "Today's light cook's news for AJ's Tuck Shop" ... which does not come close to anything I can find online. If this rings a bell with any of you, please let me know. Otherwise this goes into the dumpster along with the extra light olive oil, the fat-free sour cream, and other atrocities (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, WTFDA via DXLD) Meteor scatter. Seems to me ``A. J.`s Truck Stop`` would be more likely. If you Google on that, one is mentioned here: http://wikitravel.org/en/Great_Sand_Dunes_National_Park But there are probably others. You can take it from there --- 73, (Glenn Hauser, OK, ibid.) Thanks, Glenn. From whatever list I gather - if there are a few - I'll then have a station to check in to see if they carry anything like that. I do wonder what truck stop offers 'light' cuisine; but maybe there's some irony here, or a very healthy-eating joint en route from somewhere to somewhere (Saul Chernos, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Glenn, I would like to thank you for all the time and effort that you have put into our great hobby over the last few decades so we can enjoy our hobby and stay up to date with what is going on; it is greatly appreciated. That`s it for now have a great weekend, 73 (Richard Fox, VK2UAL, May 19) HF. SW. etc Feed Back --- Hello Glenn, I have listened to your broadcast on WBCQ at times and I do not understand why shortwave is so great now. It was, back in the 50s to the early 80s when there were no computers, cell phone, and other electronic devices that cause EMI, RMI, Radio Jamming, Atmospheric conditions, etc.; you what I mean. I am a retired avionics tech. from the United States Air Force, 33 years. It is hard to find things to enjoy in this world any more; I cannot justify expensive radio equipment to listen to dumb ass short wave stations that jump around the HF band all day. That is my opinion of SW (James93, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WRTH A10 UPDATE UPDATE An updated version of the recent A10 schedules file has been uploaded to the WRTH website: http://www.wrth.com which addresses some issues that have arisen since the original file was published. Changes have been highlighted in red text to enable easy identification. Regards, (Sean Gilbert, International Editor - WRTH (World Radio TV Handbook) May 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I can confirm that the much more compact Foxit Reader will 'decode' the WRTVH pdf Files; this will be of particular benefit to those on dialup net access (and those with little room left on their hard drives). It is available free by inserting Foxit Reader into Google (Ken Fletcher, BDXC-UK via DXLD) FM ATLAS #21 IS NOW AVAILABLE /FM Atlas-21 /has been printed and is ready to mail out. Price will be $19.95 plus shipping, but Bruce Elving hasn't figured out what shipping will be, so people ordering from this notice can buy the 288-pages book for $20 total. It is totally up to date, including computerized maps and directories showing FM stations, translators and low power FM stations of North America, including who is stereo and who suffers from the disease of being monophonic. Has HD, RDS and SCS information for each station. We have 900 of the books to sell; the printer did not quite supply all of the 1000 books we ordered, but they are ready now for the skip DX season! Payment by major credit cards, PayPal, at 1-800-605-2219, or check or money order to "FM Atlas," PO Box 336, Esko MN 55733-0336 (Bruce Elving, FM Atlas, May 14, WTFDA via DXLD) Highly recommended; it`s been 4 years and 7 months since edition XX came out; get XXI now while it`s hot, and it may be the last one ever. I can`t seem to find the FM Atlas website any more (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TVDX MAPS, NORTH AMERICA, BY CHANNEL, UPDATED http://dxinfocentre.com/TV2.pdf http://dxinfocentre.com/TV3.pdf http://dxinfocentre.com/TV4.pdf (William R Hepburn, Grimsby ON CAN 43 10 59.4 -79 33 34.5, http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/ WTFDA via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) Bill, your channel 2 and 3 maps look good. Thanks for taking on this project. Unfortunately, I found seven network errors on Mexico and two omissions. XEPM-2 CHIH Independent XHCH-2 CHIH Azteca-13 XEFE-2 TAM As far as I know, still independent (nobody has reported it in a while). XHLGT-2 GTO Independent XEWO-2 JAL Independent XEZ-2 QRO Canal Cinco XHQRO-2 QROO Canal Cinco Omission: XEZ-2 GTO Canal Cinco XEZ-3 QRO Canal Cinco Omission: XEZ-3 GTO Canal Cinco XHQ-2 Guamuchil SIN, a relayer of XHQ-3, is also missing from the map. I don't suppose it means anything to DXers who log stations by city of service rather than transmitter site, but XHCOL-3 Colima's tower is actually in Jalisco (per the supered text ID). My page probably does not contain all network changes, but it does show the ones I have seen and/or have been reported by others. http://www.tvdxtips.com/mexnetchanges.html (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA Mexico TV DX Tips http://www.tvdxtips.com WTFDA via DXLD) Ch 2 and 3 updated with Danny's changes... http://dxinfocentre.com/TV2.pdf http://dxinfocentre.com/TV3.pdf Because of space constraints, I didn't add the omitted XEZ's as they are rebroadcasters with nearby stations with the same calls. They are listed as LP (under 5 kW). All of the Mexican LP stations were left off - even though I realize that 100 W - 5 kW stations are "skipable". Hopefully the maps will at least help with the higher power stations. Hard to tell how many of the LP stations are 100+ watts since official powers are hard to come by, though the XEZ repeaters must be of decent power. I don't want to clutter the maps by including all the LP's listed, since some may only be 10 watts (Bill Hepburn, 18 May, ibid.) Bill, the Mexico information is better. I know you guys might think I'm just argumentive, but those repeaters apparently have a good amount of power, as they get out well. The channels in Mexico are so crowded that a station cannot pull through the CCI if it is weak. You definately should add XHQ-2 (XHQ-3 relayer). In this part of the country, XHQ-2 is received a lot more often than XHI-2 (which is listed as 100kW by some sources). XHI-2 and XHQ-3 display the Grupo Pacífico logo (without channel numbers) and carry some of the same programs simultaneously. It is difficult to distinquish between XHI-2 and XHQ-2, unless you see TOH IDs and XHQ-2's supered text ID at thirty minute intervals. XHI-2 does not run a supered text ID (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA Mexico TV DX Tips http://www.tvdxtips.com ibid.) OK Danny, I'll add the ones that you suggest (Hepburn, ibid.) LONG AGO, GH WROTE ABOUT TV DX Hi Glenn. I thought you and others would get a kick out of this. I was reading this before bed last night and saw your name along with a subject I haven't heard you talk about before until this morning. How cool is that! By the way, the name of the book is called "The Complete Shortwave Listeners Handbook" There should be a way to enlarge the picture on the site. http://www.flickr.com/photos/31159183@ N04/4603464225/ (Rocky R., Tampa Bay, ptsw yg via DXLD) Tnx for the memories (gh) DXLDYG ARCHIVE VALUABLE RESOURCE Both Aoki and EiBi are handy references, but as was just pointed out, they are not infallible. For myself, I frequently use the great archive of past dxldyg postings to double check my logs before I post them. The searchable archive represents countless hours of observations, as well as insightful comments. We now have this valuable up-to-date resource available, so we all should use it to the fullest! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks, Ron. In addition, a Google search with "site:http://www.w4uvh.net" and a frequency (e.g. 3290) turns up hits in Listening Digests for several years past (Terry Wilson, MI, ibid.) For even more thorough results do a second search on a frequency 1 kHz lower as it may have been reported ever so slightly below the nominal. DXLDs are archived in three different places if you really want to search deeply: Since June 2007: http://www.w4uvh.net 2002-May 2007: http://www.worldofradio.com 2000-2001: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio 1998-1999: GH DX reports, predecessors of DXLD, also angelfire (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) JORGE FREITAS` NICE QSL SLIDESHOW http://www.ipernity.com/doc/75006/album/189040/show (via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ AIRPLANE RADIO I arrived back in the US last night, only after tuning into radio stations for a lot of my flight home from Korea. I haven't sorted through them all yet, but all of them are clear and easy IDs. Nobody seemed to mind that I was listening to the radio on the plane either, at 37,000 feet, so it seems not to be of any concern. Japan was really uneventful. Not a single FM station picked up. I know they're all quite low power over there, but the whole Japanese band down in the 70s and 80s was silent as opposed to Korean and American radio that was really busy. However, two sets of frequencies in the FM band seemed to be broadcasting TV, both up in the American frequency range, one in the 107 MHz area. Does anyone know their TV frequencies? When I post some clips, I can find my now-MIA lists in my bags and mention what frequencies they were. Over the Pacific... total silence. Radio blasted open on the Pacific coast, clear local-like signals. Really nice. Air temp up there was -75 F at 37,000 feet as weather reports said it was currently 82 degrees. And a ton of Spanish stations over by Spokane for sure! Another interesting catch was my normal Pyongyang FM, listening in while waiting for my plane at the airport. Loudest station on the whole dial. Apparently even at 50 miles the frequency range for 97.8 is from about 97.5 to 98.0 (where it runs into local 98.1). Talk about overmodulation. It can be heard clearly on all of them. I'll post some later for those who are as interested as I was, listening to radio from far above while travelling at 600 mph (Chris Kadlec (currently in Elk Grove Village, IL), 16 May, WTFDA via DXLD) Airplane DX (Korea Japan US) Some DXing from an airplane on an international flight last Friday night into Friday afternoon (some time difference there...) I've posted 15 clips (of more than 50 total) here on the forums: http://wtfda.info/showthread.php?p=12788#post12788 You can download all 49 clips here if you're interested - most are pretty short: http://www.beaglebass.com/dx/temporary/AirplaneDX.zip Some interesting stuff I found while DXing on a plane with my MP3 player tuner: - almost all the stations came from my side of the plane - long distance catches aren't really that common - most stations are *really* strong within 100 miles or so - it's like listening to local radio, just travelling through town really fast - but... stations still last quite a long time The stations I recorded and logged (virtually all of them IDed right away and were simple catches) -- INCHEON-CHICAGO AIRPLANE DX - MAY 14 2010 BY CHRIS KADLEC http://www.beaglebass.com/dx Flight OZ236 / US5208 Boeing 777 Total Mileage: 6543 mi. / 12hr 36min Total recorded audio time: 1:06:39 Samsung Yepp Q2 MP3 player FM tuner Session 1: Korea and Japan (28500-33000 ft) 1. 1922 KST 94.3 MBC FM4U Gangneung (2:18) 2. 1930 KST 92.3 Green FM Ulsan (1:03) 3. 1934 KST 105.9 EBS Gyoyuk Ulsan (0:23) 4. 2008 JST 107.7 JOFC NHK-E Fukui (TV Ch 3) (1:14) 5. 2010 JST 89.4 Alpha Station Kyoto (0:47) * 6. 2014 JST 107.7 JOCK NHK-G Nagoya (TV Ch 3) (6:59) 7. 2023 JST 95.7 JOAK NHK-G Tokyo (TV Ch 1) (2:11) Session 2: Pacific Coast to Billings (37000 ft) 8. 1218 PDT 107.9 KHPE Albany OR (1:12) * 9. 1220 PDT 107.3 KFFM Yakima WA (0:50) * 10. 1221 PDT 107.5 KXJM Banks OR (1:14) * 11. 1223 PDT 105.7 KZBD Spokane WA (1:16) * 12. 1226 PDT 103.9 KBBD Spokane WA (0:27) * 13. 1229 PDT 103.3 KWLN Wilson Creek WA (2:12) * 14. 1233 PDT 97.9 KZTB Milton-Freewater OR (0:24) 15. 1234 PDT 97.1 KXRX Walla Walla WA (0:59) * 16. 1235 PDT 92.5 KZHR Dayton WA (0:45) * 17. 1237 PDT 106.1 KZFN Moscow ID (2:33) * 18. 1337 MDT 104.5 KKVU Stevensville MT (1:42) * 19. 1242 PDT 101.5 KATW Lewiston ID (2:42) * 20. 1246 PDT 96.5 KOZE Lewiston ID (0:28) 21. 1350 MDT 98.9 KAAK Great Falls MT (1:47) * 22. 1354 MDT 93.3 KGGL Missoula MT (2:07) * 23. 1357 MDT 96.3 KBAZ Hamilton MT (1:20) * 24. 1359 MDT 98.9 KAAK Great Falls MT (0:32) * 25. 1400 MDT 99.9 KBOZ Bozeman MT (0:45) * 26. 1401 MDT 102.1 KBMC Bozeman MT (0:36) * 27. 1402 MDT 103.1 KVCM Helena MT (1:04) * 28. 1404 MDT 105.3 KMTX Helena MT (1:10) * 29. 1409 MDT 103.7 KBBB Billings MT (0:58) * 30. 1413 MDT 103.3 KBEN Cowley WY (0:30) * 31. 1416 MDT 105.7 KKQX Manhattan MT (0:20) * 32. 1416 MDT 106.7 KPLN Lockwood MT (1:03) * 33. 1419 MDT 104.9 KLQQ Clearmont WY (1:14) * 34. 1423 MDT 98.3 KZZS Story WY (0:43) * 35. 1424 MDT 95.5 KMHK Worden MT (0:25) * 36. 1425 MDT 92.9 KLGT Buffalo WY (0:38) Session 3: Pierre SD to Spencer IA (37000 ft) 37. 1603 CDT 96.1 KINI Crookston NE (1:26) * 38. 1606 CDT 102.5 KZSD Martin SD (0:45) * 39. 1608 CDT 105.3 KGRD Orchard NE (2:41) * 40. 1611 CDT 106.7 KQKX Norfolk NE (0:41) * 41. 1614 CDT 101.5 KVCX Gregory SD (0:51) * 42. 1618 CDT 92.7 KBRB Ainsworth NE (1:01) * 43. 1619 CDT 91.5 KRNE Merriman NE (1:16) * 44. 1622 CDT 95.5 KGLI Sioux City IA (2:10) * 45. 1624 CDT 97.7 KBBX Nebraska City NE (2:17) * 46. 1628 CDT 97.9 KSEZ Sioux City IA (2:15) * 47. 1632 CDT 103.9 KUOO Spirit Lake IA (3:18) * 48. 1637 CDT 98.3 KUQL Ethan SD (0:39) * 49. 1638 CDT 96.9 KIAQ Clarion IA (0:28) * * Station IDed, as part of clip or before/after All times are local time on May 14, 2010 (Chris Kadlec, Muskegon, Mich., May 18, WTFDA via DXLD) DXPEDITION TO EASTERN HIMALAYA By Anker Petersen, Danish SW Clubs International www.dswci.org On April 16-27, 2010, I joined the first Danish guided tour by the Albatros Travel to visit Eastern Himalaya with stays in Darjeeling and Kalimpong (West Bengal, India), Gangtok (Sikkim, India) and Puntsoling, Thimphu, Punakha and Paro. (All cities in the Kingdom of Bhutan). With stays at hotels in these seven cities, I was able to monitor the broadcasting situation in this remote area. My receiver was a portable Sangean ATS909 with a whip antenna, often supported with an eight metres longwire put out of the window for shortwave (SW) reception. Daylight SW reception Band scans at 0200-1200 UT in Darjeeling, Gangtok, Thimphu, Punakha and Paro. Only audible stations on 60 mb: SINPO 4750 BGD Bangladesh Betar, Khabipur, Dhaka 35444 4800 CHN Voice of China, Ge’ermu, Qinghai 25433 4820 CHN Xizang PBS, Lhasa, Tibet 35444 4835 IND AIR Gangtok, Sikkim 35444 4905 CHN Xizang PBS, Lhasa, Tibet 35444 4920 CHN Xizang PBS, Lhasa, Tibet 35444 4970 IND AIR Shillong, Mawgrong, Meghalaya 35433 5005 NPL R Nepal, Khumaltar (very distorted) 35431 Irregular 5050 CHN Beibu Bay R, Nanning, Guangxi 25432. Please note the weak signals from Chinese stations far away on 4800 and 5050 kHz. Also heard in 49 and 41 mb at 0745-1400 UT in Darjeeling and Paro: 6020 IND AIR Shimla, Himachal Pradesh 34433 6030 CHN Voice of China, Beijing // 4800 34433 6030 IND AIR Delhi, Kingsway 43443 6035 BTN BBS, Sangaygang, Thimphu 45434 7210 IND AIR Kolkata, West Bengal 45434 7230 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi in Mongolian 25222 7260 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi in Mandarin 25333 7280 IND AIR Guwahati, Assam 45444 7295 IND AIR Aizawl, Mizoram 25443 7315 IND AIR Shillong, Mawgrong, Meghalaya 45444 7325 IND AIR Jaipur, Rajasthan 34333 QRM 7315 7335 IND AIR Imphal, Manipur 35333 7340 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi in Kazakh 25333 7430 IND AIR Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 35434 7440 IND AIR Lucknow, Utter Pradesh 35444 Evening and morning SW reception Band scans at 1530-1815 and 2300-0100 UT in Darjeeling, Gangtok, Kalimpong, Puntsoling, Thimphu, Punakha and Paro: 2850 KRE KCBS, Pyongyang 25443 3250 KRE PBS, Pyongyang // 3320 25333 3320 KRE PBS, Pyongyang // 3250 25333 3912 CLA Voice of the People, S. Korea 34433 Jammed 3945 IND AIR Gorakpur, Uttar Pradesh // 6045 43433 QRM CHN 3950 3950 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi // 5060 35434 3985 CHN China Business R, Ge’ermu 44444 3990 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi // 4980 45434 4010 KGZ Kyrgyz R, Bishkek 25322 4050 KGZ R Rossii, via Bishkek 25322 4330 CHN Xinjiang PBS,Urumqi // 6015 45444 4460 CHN Voice of China, Beijing // 4800 35333 4750 CHN Voice of China, Nanning // 4800 35333 4750 CHN Qinghai PBS, Xining, not // 4800 35433 S/off 1600* 4760 IND AIR Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar 33443 4760 IND R Kashmir, Leh, Jammu & Kashmir 33333 4765 TJK Tajik R, Yangiyul 35444 4775 IND AIR Imphal, Manipur 25433 4780 DJI R Djibouti, Arta 25343 4800 IND AIR Hyderabad, Andhara Pradesh 33443 QRM CHN 4800 4800 CHN Voice of China, Ge’ermu // 4460 44434 4810 IND AIR Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 35434 4820 CHN Xizang PBS, Lhasa, Tibet 55555 4820 IND AIR Kolkata, West Bengal 32332 QRM CHN 4820 4830 MNG Mongoliin R, Altay 25333 4835 IND AIR Gangtok, Sikkim 35444 Irregular 4840 IND AIR Mumbai, Maharashtra 45434 4845 MTN R Mauritanie, Nouakchott 25333 4860 IND AIR Delhi, Kingsway, in Urdu 25431 Distorted audio and irregular 4880 IND AIR Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 22222 QRM ZWE jamming + number station 4895 MNG Mongoliin R, Murun 25322 4905 CHN Xizang PBS, Lhasa, Tibet 55555 4910 IND AIR Jaipur, Rajasthan 43433 QRM CHN 4905 4920 CHN Xizang PBS, Lhasa, Tibet 55555 4920 IND AIR Chennai, Tamil Nadu 32433 4930 BOT VOA, Mopeng Hill 24332 QRM CHN 4920 4940 IND AIR Guwahati, Assam 35233 4940 CHN Voice of Taiwan Strait, Fuzhou 25433 4950 IND R Kashmir, Srinagar, Kashmir 35434 4950 CHN Voice of Pujiang, Shanghai 25433 4965 IND AIR Shimla, Himachal Pradesh 45444 4965 ZMB 1 R Africa, Lusaka 25333 4970 IND AIR Shillong, Mawgrong, Meghalaya 25433 4975 TJK Voice of Russia, via Yangiyul 44444 4980 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi // 3990 45434 5010 IND AIR Thiruvananthapura, Kerala 35433 5015 IND AIR Delhi, Kingsway 25211 Hum and irregular 5040 IND AIR Jeypore, Orissa 45434 5050 IND AIR Aizawl, Mizoram 33433 QRM CHN 5050 5050 CHN Beibu Bay R, Nanning 25443 5060 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi // 3950 45444 5960 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi // 3950 43433 5965 MLA RTM Kajang in Malay 24433 6015 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi // 4330 45444 6035 BTN BBS, Sangaygang, Thimphu 45434 Not always on the air on SW 6045 IND AIR Gorakpur, Uttar Pradesh // 3945 43433 6050 MLA RTM Kajang in Malay 23432 QRM Xizang 6050 6120 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi // 3990 45434 6250 KRE PBS, Pyongyang // 3250 25333 6398 KRE PBS, Pyongyang // 3250 25333 7205 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi // 3990 34423 7295 MLA RTM Kajang in English 24433 7310 CHN Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi // 3950 43433 Note 1. AIR Kurseong was never heard on 4895 or 7230 due to repair. Note 2. R Kashmir, Jammu never heard on 4830 during my stay. Off air. Note 3. AIR Kohima never heard on 4850 during my stay. Off the air. Note 4. AIR Ranchi never heard on 4960 during my stay. Off the air. Note 5. AIR Itanagar never heard on 4990 during my stay. Off the air.. Note 6. No North, Central or South American stations were audible on 60 mb at any time! My scarce MW-loggings: (Not many stations were audible in Himalaya!) 675 IND AIR Itanagar heard in Kalimpong 25333 693 BGD Bangladesh Betar heard in Thimphu 25333 729 IND AIR Guwahati Kalimpong/Thimphu 35433 846 IND AIR Ahmedabad heard in Thimphu 25322 999 BGD Bangladesh Betar heard in Thimphu 25222 1098 CHN UNID station heard in Thimphu 25222 1404 IND AIR Gangtok in Gangtok // 4835 55555 (Petersen) Source : DX-Window No. 402 from the Danish Shortwave Club International, Tavleager 31, DK-2670 Greve, Denmark http://www.dswci.org (via Alokesh Gupta, dx_india yg, tidied up by gh for DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ COSTA RICA: MESA REDONDA "REDES SOCIALES Y TELECOMUNICACIONES" 28 MAYO DE 2010 Cordialmente invitados a la Mesa Redonda "Redes Sociales y Telecomunicaciones", a realizarse el día viernes 28 de mayo de 2010 a las 0000 UT en el auditorio de la Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología (ULACIT) en San José y que será transmitida en vivo por la página web: http://www.ulacit.ac.cr Ademas cuenta con la participacion virtual del señor Henrik Klemetz, desde Suecia. Y que desde ya y en el mismo momento de la actividad pueden plantear sus comentarios y consultas a los correos: info @ ulacit.ac.cr y anavas @ ulacit.ac.cr Los Esperamos!!! Enviado por Berny Solano, Costa Rica (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ IF SHIFT ON ETON E10 Hi, Glenn! Saw your comment about not knowing of the Eton E10's "IF Shift" feature. I bought a couple of those and gave one to Abernathy. Don't use mine much (actually took out the batteries and put it back in the box a few months ago), but that feature *does* work. I found it of very limited utility, tho. There's a Yahoo group on those "Elite series" Eton radios that I'm on, but the traffic is light, since they haven't been made for a while. You can probably find all the info on that feature going to it and looking at the manual copy in the files section (Will Martin, St Louis MO, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TINNITUS AND DXING - CAUSE AND RELIEF [note: everyone is entitled to spell this disorder as they like, so no `correxions` have been made here --- gh] This has a DXer I've noticed for the past year or so up here (Burnt River) that I'm sometimes hearing a weak medium-pitched hum when I'm in absolute quiet surroundings. Until very recently, I've assumed it was some kind of background noise - perhaps the furnace prior to the fan coming on, possibly our fairly new electrical wiring, and I recently added the septic system to my list. It barely registered as a nuisance, and for the most part I've ignored it. To make a long story short, I now suspect tinnitus, as I've determined that only one ear seems affected. I'm wondering if this is something other DXers have noticed? I use headphones for AM; but for FM only when I'm actively working an Es or strong Tr opening using my portable Sangean radios. I'd describe the headphone volume as strong enough to hear IDs, but not overly loud. I will keep the volume up moderate to high when sitting on an empty channel waiting for meteor scatter. Usually it's just the faint hiss of static, and I leave it there because I'm working in the next room. It's no louder than people talking loudly, with a MS burst or troposcatter fade-up of music here and there. I did read online that people who have this sometimes find relief by using white noise, or having a fan on in the background - just enough to mask the tinnitus sound. I did that last night with a radio that I unhooked from the antenna, so there was just the light hiss, and it worked wonders. Is this common in DX circles? (Though I vaguely suspect mine to be sinus-related). And, no, I'm not hearing voices. ;-) (Saul Chernos, Ont., May 17, WTFDA via DXLD) Saul, I have tinnitus, not sure of the cause, but since I make a living in audio and rely on my ears on the job, it is of importance to me. Our local chapter of the Audio Engineering Society once had a seminar on tinnitus, the speaker was from the Ontology and Neurotology department of the Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore, said to be the largest center for tinnitus in the US. (I'll use "T" to abbreviate the word tinnitus) Here's a summery of what he said: 1. T is associated with hearing loss, but can also be present in ears with normal hearing (as in my case). 2. There are two broad types: objective and subjective. 3. Objective T is caused by an actual sound (which means it should be detectable with a microphone or an amplified stethoscope). There are a half dozen known causes, such as a small blockage in a blood vessel near the ear, sound created by an unusual concentration of blood vessels in the lining that protects the brain (and potential precursor of a stroke), and various muscle spasms in the mouth/palate. The hypertension of muscles could be triggered by dental problems or associated with migraines. 4. Subjective T is generated in the brain, and associated with hearing loss. Whatever causes the hearing loss can cause tinnitus. If the brain is accustomed to a particular noise, and that noise is removed, it might generate noise to replace it. Typically the pitch matches exactly the pitch where the maximum hearing loss occurred. (This has been proven objectively.) The common causes are: a.. Hearing Loss (most commonly reported, by far, basically trauma to the inner ear) b.. Meniere's Disease (alterations of fluid in the ear, buzzing sound, vertigo, can flare up and become more serious/louder) c.. Labyrinthitis (inflammation of the inner ear) d.. Ototoxicity (hair cells of the ear damaged by medications or drugs) e.. Acoustic neuroma (usually only in one ear, rare) f.. TMJ Dysfuction (TMJ is the joint that connects the jaw to the skull; in this form of tinnitus one hears a pure tone) 5. If T is caused by hearing loss, then it is permanent and there is no cure. In any event, medications are ineffective. Specifically, ginkgo biloba, certain anti-depressants, anxiolytics, and T patent medicines sold over the counter, do not work. Licocaine may temporarily give relief, as may novacaine or cocaine, if the concentration in the blood can be maintained high enough. 6. It is possible to get temporary relief from T by audio masking (i.e. playing white noise, or playing a tone that corresponds to the spot where the hearing loss occurred), or by "habituation" in which you wear a hearing aid like device that amplifies certain noises; see http://www.neuromonics.com So there you go. It's probably not caused by dx'ing (Tim McVey, Fredericksburg, VA, ibid.) I've had it for about 5 years; I'm 50, and have been a DXer since my early teens. I never listened to excessively loud stuff, but I have used headphones since my early days. Neither the doctor nor dentist can positively say what causes it. I recently had oral surgery and it's a lot louder since that, so I believe the claims that oral nerves/health can be a cause. Also heard that caffeine and stress (e.g. high blood pressure) are suspected. Both my wife and mother have it too, but neither has worn headphones at all in their lives so I wouldn't blame radio listening. It's frustrating at times but you do get used to it. When I notice it, I just use it as a reminder that I don't have (fill in a dreaded disease) instead. Using a noise machine or fan at night helped in the early days to mask the sound. Good luck with it, (Brett N3EVB Saylor, PA, ibid.) Hi Saul - I have tinnitis in both ears. It's a very high pitched tone. So far I have tried a number of pill and eardrop remedies with no success. I saw an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor about 6 weeks ago and he sent me to the audio lab at the local hospital and they recommended a Marsona 1288A noise machine. I'm supposed to listen to the white noise at a level just above the tinnitis noise but so far no success in getting rid of it. I'm not even sure how I originally got the tinnitus; although it has been bothering me for 10-15 years it has gotten worse lately. Sometimes I think doing all the CW DXing over the years has contributed to it, but I don't know for sure. They say loud noises causes it but I can't recall hearing any extremely loud noises before. I have started to lose my hearing (just the upper frequencies) and am now wearing a hearing aid. Are you losing any hearing at all? Supposedly that is also related to it. Good luck trying to cure it. If you find any success let me know. 73, (Jeff Kadet, Macomb IL, ibid.) I have tinnitus primarily in my left ear. It sounds like an ~10 kC tone. I think in my case, two things are to blame: 1. Years of being a disk jockey running my headphones wide open. 2. That's the ear I blew out when I was 12. I have seen an ENT about it. He ran a hearing test -- which showed some loss -- but said there was little to be done about it. I try to ignore it. Sometimes that works (Peter, N4LI, Baskind, J.D., LL.M. Germantown, TN, ibid.) I have had tinnitus for years and my advice is that you learn to live with it just like one does with other infirmities that come with advancing age (I'm 72). Nowadays I only hear it when I consciously listen for it; otherwise it's just part of daily living just like the floaters in my eyes. Regards, (Fred Laun, Temple Hills, MD, ibid.) I understand that there is nothing whatsoever that can be done for tinnitus. I have it from being a gun turret captain while in the Navy. The way it was explained to me is the theory was that the ears are trying to hear a signal and since the high frequency hairs in the inner ear are damaged the hairs for lower frequencies are trying to send the signals for higher frequencies. The electrical signals for high frequencies travel down the wrong nerves to get to the brain and the signal being in the wrong place is decoded as ringing. I don't know if that is still the theory or not but that`s what they tell me. If you don't want tinnitus and it sucks, then don't have your headset cranked up to hell and back and when you use power tools, wear hearing protection. You can't DX radio if you can't hear weak signals because your ears are screwed up. Also don't join the Navy and be a gun captain. You don't get any money for the hearing loss if it`s not bad enough. That might help you not to get tinnitus. The only way not to be driven to distraction by tinnitus is to have some background noise louder than the ringing. 73, (Kevin Redding, Crump TN, ibid.) Interesting reading the replies, and seeing that a few of us have it, though not all if any from DXing. I'm just back from the doc - I'm at Burnt River, so it was quite a hike to find one (Minden) - and since this latest surge in tinittus has been accompanied by what feels like a mild sinus-related infection I decided to get in all checked. Following that, and a quick call to my dentist, I'm now on antibiotics and a mouth rinse with the possibility all this is somehow the result of gum disease. The doc suggests the infection is possibly periodontitis. The doc says she understands this can be linked to tinnitis. My dentist says it isn't. So while all of you are cleaning up on massive skip Friday afternoon I'll be in the dentist's chair in Toronto. I have to admit I've never ever turned a radio on to an open channel to help me sleep. That was a DXing first, for me (Saul Chernos, ibid.) My tinnitus is a symptom of my CLL leukemia. When it gets worse I'll presumedly know that the leukemia has gotten worse sayeth the doctor. It's not from listening to hours of Cuban stations with my headphones on while AM dxing as a youth (Lenny Tone, ibid.) Aspirin can intensify tinnitus. When I take aspirin, the noise is worse (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See PORTUGAL ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB See UK ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ HD Data Are there any figures as to the percentage of HD capable radios in autos/home/portables as opposed to stereo FM units?? HD has been around for ??years (I don't know how many years). If HD penetration hasn't reached at least 25%, IMHO, it's a total failure. My question is, why have a translator in normal stereo if you have an investment / belief in HD. It's counter-productive to add more regular FM stereo stations in that market, especially when it's duplicating an HD channel you`re promoting. In other words, why bother buying an HD radio when you can get the same station on a radio you already own. Doesn't make sense. Another observation on HD, is when it kicks in, there seems to be a loss of highs-sounds a bit muted compared to the normal stereo, and maybe a little less separation (using Sony and Sangean HD radios). Supposed to be "CD Quality". CD if anything is a bit brilliant in high frequency sound. So, IMHO, HD fails in that too (Jim Pizzi, 11 May, WTFDA via DXLD) FWIW, this is excerpted from Wikipedia's subject matter on HD Radio --- "Awareness, coverage There is low awareness among consumers, and even lower uptake. According to a survey dated August 8, 2007 by Bridge Ratings, when asked the question, "Would you buy an HD radio in the next two months?" only 1.0% responded "yes". Some broadcast engineers have also expressed distrust or dislike of the new system. Also, a survey conducted in September 2008 saw a small percentage still confused HD radio with satellite radio. Most of the first-generation HD Radio tuners have been noted as being very insensitive, making reception problematic. The HD Radio signal is 20 dB below a station's analog signal. In addition it has been noted that the analog section of some tuners displays poor reception capabilities compared to older non-digital models." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio (via Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu, Milliken, Colorado, ibid.) You're overthinking this, Jim [Pizzi]. The presence or absence of HD on WYXL is totally irrelevant to Saga. What is very, very relevant to Saga is the ability to run a top-40 format on the 103.3 translator in order to compete with a new entrant in the Ithaca market, WFIZ (95.5 Odessa, ex-WFLR-FM 95.9). The FCC won't let Saga originate programming on 103.3, but there's a nice little loophole that says a translator can relay any part of the FM station it's licensed to rebroadcast. The 103.3 translator used to be on 103.1, relaying the main channel of WQNY 103.7. With a quick little bit of paperwork, Saga changed it to relay WYXL 97.3 - and it needed no special permission after that to relay 97.3-2 instead of 97.3-1. They're doing the same thing with 97.3-3 on 98.7. From Saga's perspective, the only important thing about HD on 97.3 is that it provides them with a way to increase their analog FM portfolio in Ithaca from three stations (97.3, WIII 99.9 and WQNY 103.7) to five (those three, plus "Hits 103.3" and "98.7 the Vine.") They're doing the same thing in several other markets, including Peoria [IL?], Northampton MA and Keene NH. The HD, in these cases, is effectively a studio-transmitter link for those translators. They don't care if you're listening (or not) to the HD subchannels, any more than we'd care at WXXI if you're hearing our WXXY feed on the 16.7 subchannel of WXXI-DT. As for the bigger question of whether HD, in itself, has been a success, the answer is, "it depends." It certainly has not become a mass-market medium. But it has found success in some niches, especially in public radio. We have a substantial listener base now listening to our WXXI 1370 programming via WXXI-FM 91.5-2 in areas that simply can't receive our AM signal when it's on its night pattern. To be able to serve those listeners at minimal cost (especially compared to what we'd have to spend to buy a second full-power FM signal) has been a huge boon to us. So to call it a "total failure," I think, is to miss at least part of the picture here. s (speaking, as always, only for myself and not for WXXI) (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) OK Scott, I'll accept the STL use of HD sub-channels in those markets, so hopefully they won't bump power to 10%. If all they want is an STL at 1%, no problem. I guess I'm still aggravated at the distance I've lost in that direction 97.1, 97.5 and now 103.3. There goes my chance to log southern Brazil. Maybe I just need more kids to chase off my lawn! HI (Jim Pizzi, NY, ibid.) In a sense, it's not much different from TV where some stations - more of them publics than not based on my limited exposure - have figured out good programming to put on their digital subchannels while others either repeat the primary or run all weather. Some FM's - WRTI-90.1 here for example, has very robust programming on their digital channels while commercial WYSP-94.1 rebroadcasts two AM's on their digital 2 and 3. Bottom line, whether it's TV or FM, I suspect we have too many channels and not enough unique programming. Translators as employed on FM often only increase that disparity (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) That's partially a function of the different business models at play here. If you're CBS Radio or Clear Channel, adding those extra program streams adds extra expense without doing much, if anything, to boost income. At best, you end up with the same number of listeners spread out across a larger number of streams, so it's no wonder that most commercial broadcasters have chosen to focus most/all of their programming energy on keeping listeners tuned to their main channels. But in public radio (and TV, to a lesser extent), the programming's already there - there's more coming down every day on the NPR satellite than any one station can use - and adding new listeners also adds potential new donors. We don't have to be top-rated on any particular program stream as long as we're being useful enough to someone that they're willing to donate/underwrite. > Bottom line, whether it's TV or FM, I suspect we have too many > channels and not enough unique programming. Translators as employed > on FM often only increase that disparity. Agreed, and this is equally true of some of the AM stations that are now nothing more than "nominal primaries" for FM translators. Over in Syracuse, WTLA 1200 and simulcaster WSGO 1440 Oswego now exist only to serve as origination sources for two translators on 97.7 and 100.1. All the on-air promotion is "ESPN Radio 97.7 and 100.1," with no mention of the AMs except at the top of the hour. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Not surprising, given that for many broadcasters today, unless they have a very successful local operation away from a major market or a very large major market AM, the FM is viewed as the preferred property and the AM is at best an orphaned stepchild (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Regarding Jim's original question - the new trend of feeding translators is if anything, an acknowledgment that consumers are generally not interested in HD. That being said, the idea is perfectly understandable. For a commercial station, why let your HD sit there with an insignificant amount of listeners, and continue to get no return on the investment you made in IBOC? Gobbling up a cheap translator and picking up a niche format from your HD-2 or -3 is a potential way to partially recoup your investment and make use of the IBOC that is already paid for. Also, I disagree with the assessment that this is not contributing to "variety" on the FM band. This may be one of the only situations where unique programming is remotely viable. For example, Cromwell Communications in Nashville is using their WPRT-HD 2 stream to feed a translator in the Nashville metro area with a Black Gospel format from one of their AM stations. No other remotely similar station exists on the FM band in the area. Having an FM signal is probably a great selling point for their station, particularly since demographics of FM listeners are generally younger and more favorable to advertisers than the aging AM listener base. Overall, I'm not sure these operations are profitable enough (unless the company already owned the translator) going HD, but for a station that's already made the investment in HD, why would you not want to try to profit at least somewhat on a technology that is largely a dud in other respects for commercial radio? Also an interesting side note - the aforementioned translator in Nashville (W271AB) is clearly not fed over the air per FCC rules for commercial translators. The HD2 stream on WPRT has been intermittent for the last several weeks, and the 102.1 translator is never affected when the HD2 stream is dead (as it is right now). Thus, the translator is probably being fed in some other way to bypass the notoriously reliable IBOC system (Bryce Foster - KG6VSW, Murfreesboro, TN EM65, ibid.) Depending on the market, a FM or TV translator can be very beneficial within a community, and competitive with high power services. In *some* cases I don't think the public really cares if a station is high power or low power, just so long as they meet the needs of the community. And except for the percentage of population that is highly transit, most people who are attracted to a station's programming tend to stay within the coverage area not knowing they are enjoying a low power (Fred Vobbe, Lima OH, ibid.) I don't think the public ever really cares whether a station is high power or low power. If you can hear it where you are, and the content is something you want to watch/listen to, you'll tune in. If you can't, or it isn't, you won't. That said, I've been having an interesting e-mail exchange with a friend who's one of the top FM engineering consultants in the country. He believes - and he should know - that there are only a handful of markets of significant size anywhere in the country where this sort of HD-on-translator (or AM-on-translator) can work. It requires a relatively compact population center and a significantly tall tower right in the middle of town, to take advantage of the FM translator rules that allow up to 250 watts of power without regard to antenna height. Put 250 watts up on a 1200-foot tower, like they're doing in Atlanta, and you get a signal that's better than a class A "full-power" FM would be allowed to have at that height. But, again, none of this can tell us anything at all about whether HD is a "success" or not. The use of HD subchannels as a nominal primary is just a convenient loophole. If the FCC allowed translators to originate programming (and I sure hope they never do), those HD subs would go away in a heartbeat. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Bryce Foster wrote: > Regarding Jim's original question - the new trend of feeding translators is if anything, an acknowledgment that consumers are generally not interested in HD. I disagree. It is, if anything, an indication that broadcasters will seek out any loophole in FCC rules they can possibly find. "HD," in this case, is a red herring... > That being said, the idea is perfectly understandable. For a commercial station, why let your HD sit there with an insignificant amount of listeners, and continue to get no return on the investment you made in IBOC? Gobbling up a cheap translator and picking up a niche format from your HD-2 or -3 is a potential way to partially recoup your investment and make use of the IBOC that is already paid for. Other way around, in most of the cases with which I'm familiar. The HD wasn't sitting there in Ithaca or Northampton or Peoria or Keene waiting to be used - it was installed specifically with the intention of creating subchannels to feed those translators. Saga, in particular, has been an amazingly aggressive user of translators. Before exploiting the HD loophole, some of those translators in Keene and Ithaca were being used to relay sister AM stations, some of them starting almost from the first day the FCC allowed AM-on-FM translators. > Overall, I'm not sure these operations are profitable enough (unless the company already owned the translator) going HD, but for a station that's already made the investment in HD, why would you not want to try to profit at least somewhat on a technology that is largely a dud in other respects for commercial radio? Again, I'm pretty sure Cromwell only put the HD on the air to feed the translator. I'm sure Doug will correct me if I'm wrong... :) s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) I fully concur with Bryce's comments here. HD is (indirectly) bringing Nashville a format that doesn't otherwise exist at night -- or at all, for listeners in typical noisy locations. As Scott has noted, HD has been a boon to public radio. The only station in Nashville promoting HD is Nashville Public Radio, and they're making the best of HD2 and HD3. Many of the programs of AM 1430, otherwise unavailable to most listeners at night, are now on HD3. So are the excellent Xponential Radio programs from Philadelphia. And they're able to offer a considerable extension of their spoken word programming on analog FM during the day, while continuing the classical music on HD2. Otherwise, I'd say the only other innovative uses of HD around here are the WPRT-HD2 Bryce mentions, and WLAC(AM) on WNRQ-HD3 (for the same reason many WPLN(AM) programs are on WPLN-HD3: because WLAC's nighttime signal is useless). If Arbitron published a HD-only ratings book for Nashville, I'm sure WPLN's channels would be #1 & #2 (and probably #3) with nobody else even close. In this case, Cromwell already owned the translator. They had been using it to relay WPRT-FM's main analog signal. The WPRT-FM transmitter is in northern Dickson County, roughly 35 miles from downtown Nashville (still, IMHO it has a pretty decent signal in the city -- and obviously Cromwell agrees or they wouldn't have dropped the translator!) Actually, non-OTA feed is legal for commercial *fill-in* translators. As long as W271AB's coverage is contained within WPRT-FM's predicted coverage, it's a fill-in translator and can use any terrestrial means of program delivery. Non-OTA feed is not allowed for *non-fillin* commercial translators, outside the protected contour of the primary station. It is also not allowed for non-fillin non-commercial translators operating on frequencies above 92 MHz. I would suggest the legality of leaving the translator on the air when the primary is off is somewhat ambigious. (sp): 74.1231(e): "An FM translator shall not deliberately retransmit the signals of any station other than the station it is authorized to retransmit. Precautions shall be taken to avoid unintentional retransmission of such other signals." (i.e., if a translator uses OTA pickup it should take steps to ensure it only relays the station it's intended to relay. If a private telco circuit feeds the translator, relay of the wrong primary is VERY unlikely!) 74.1234(a)(2): 'The transmitter shall also be equipped with suitable automatic circuits which will place it in a nonradiating condition in the absence of a signal on the input channel." (i.e., if there's nothing on the translator receiver, the transmitter should be turned off. Again, not a condition that's likely to happen if a private telco circuit feeds the translator.) 74.1263(b): "An FM translator or booster station rebroadcasting the signal of a primary station shall not be permitted to radiate during extended periods when signals of the primary station are not being retransmitted." (this one is a bit ambiguous, in that "extended periods" is not defined. I would imagine if the HD2 went away for a few months, the FCC would have a problem. A few hours, probably not.) The rules obviously didn't really envision other-than-OTA pickup. I have to say, I've found the IBOC-FM signals here in Nashville to be pretty reliable. The only outage I've heard in a couple of years was at the peak of the recent storms, when generator failure knocked WKDF off their main transmitter and over to their (not-HD-equipped) backup. HD on AM is, and has been, a disaster. HD on FM is a pain for the DXer. We could have had something better. All that said, I think overall HD on FM has, for the general listener, been a positive thing. Not a huge boon, but a positive thing. – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) I don't know for sure but judging from the timing I'd say Scott is right, that the HD was put on to feed the translator. The HD showed up 2-3 weeks before the translator format change. Now, the translator was NOT put on the air to relay the HD. It well predates that -- indeed, predates the invention of HD -- and has belonged to Cromwell for as long as it's been on the air (i.e., they didn't buy it from someone else for the purpose of relaying a HD subchannel). Ironically, Saga's group here in Clarksville (WEGI 94.3, WZZP 97.5, WVVR 100.3, WCVQ 107.9, and WKFN 540) do NOT run either HD or translators. I sure thought I saw WCVQ run HD for a few days; but they sure don't have it now (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) I stand corrected on multiple fronts. I got the impression that the execution of this loophole was a fairly new phenomenon, which thus led me to the conclusion that most HD installations occurred without the thought of feeding translators. Even in the scenario where the HD was put on the air to feed the translators, I'd still view that as showing that the commercial broadcasters who use this loophole aren't interested in HD, but rather the value of the analog translators. This scenario would then acknowledge the earlier point that low power signals can be effective. Obviously, these translators are viable enough to invest in an HD system to feed them with unique content. I'd be curious to know what kind of ROI the broadcasters are getting through these HD-fed translators (Bryce Foster, TN, ibid.) The translators are relatively less expensive to install and operate. That is the reason why so many of the NCE stations which have religious programming have multiple translators, many which have overlapping coverage areas. I'm sure many of you have them in your areas also such as K-Love, The Word FM, etc. (Bob Seaman, ibid.) Sadly, yes. The NCE band is taken over by the K-Love/Air 1/AFR/Calvary Chapel folk with the NPR/public radio stations being the minority below 92.1 in Southeast Arkansas (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, May 12, ibid.) I've worked in public TV, but never public radio. However, we have been avid listeners to NPR (especially KANU). KANU2 carries a lot of talk programming while KANU (91.5 in Lawrence, KS) airs a schedule which includes "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered." But they are also heavy with the classics and jazz and have a good following. My wife and I find ourselves listening to KANU2 as much as KANU's primary programming. Unfortunately, we do not have HD radio in the car and must go to KCUR from Kansas City, MO for many of the talk programs. Reception in Topeka, of course, is less dependable for KCUR. However, for KANU2's signal we need to use the outdoor antenna for a reliable signal. We now have three of the Acurian table model HD radios spread around the house so that KANU2 can be listened to easily (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, ibid.) MUSEA +++++ THE MOSCOW COUP ATTEMPT - THE FAILURE OF SHORTWAVE RADIO This piece of concept art may well have different meanings amongst its viewers. However its basis is the mix of genuine Cold War spy number station recordings set to moving video footage and music. It also has a strong resonance to those of us that entered radio via the SWL route, with spy number transmissions being de rigeur, the HF bands full of propaganda stations, and in particular the 7Mhz ham band being abused for the same purpose. The Moscow Coup Attempt is not something to viewed for a few minutes. It's more Pink Floyd, it's concept album time, and it's RADIO! Above all its creator Derek Whitacre makes this film freely available. His website is: http://www.moscowcoupattempt.com/about.html In David's own words TMCA is: The 2005 album "The Failure of Shortwave Radio" was the first release from TMCA. The album is a stream of unconscious interpretation of failures in communication of not just nations, but persons. A grand scale assessment of individuals. The artistic base of influence for the album lies in "Numbers Stations" and their influence on world politics, the cold war, espionage, and musical themes. Many of the motives of "The Failure..." are derived from the musical interludes of these Numbers Stations. "The Failure of Shortwave Radio" attempts to capture the creepy and mysterious essence of Numbers Stations as a broader outlook on humanity and breakdowns in communication wrapped up in the music. The purpose is to wrap the listener in an environment that is comfortable, yet unnerving... like a good suspense-thriller. On YouTube the there are 7 parts to TMCA, they are listed below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID_0j5NgJDY&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppM62t4OP_U&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdkicCx-APw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppM62t4OP_U&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cZGPNrrKHc&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xoZ8B4YKt4&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPDT_yHKrr4&feature=related Personally I use the free Any video Convertor to grab all parts and eventually join them together. The Moscow Coup Attempt really is best collected as one piece and viewed at leisure, just like a good 1970's concept album. Enjoy! 73 de Andy Foad G0FTD (via Southgate http://www.southgatearc.org/news/may2010/moscow_coup_attempt.htm via Mike Terry, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) 30 years later - previously unreleased St. Helens audio Tuesday, May 18, 2010 11:30 PM Never before released amateur radio traffic from May 18, 1980 + A radio news broadcast. http://tinyurl.com/2365ro5 Rites of Spring #16 - We remember Mount St. Helens from 1980 18.05.10 by colin newell Many of us over 35’s might remember that morning in May of 1980 when Mount St. Helens at 8:32AM on the 18th. For me, there was 2 distinct shock waves that rolled through Victoria. It sounded like heavy artillery to me – everyone had a different impression. We had the cassette tape running moments after the explosion of Mount St. Helens way back in May 18, 1980 – check out this out-take of ham radio operators and a newscast from CFAX 1070. You are there! http://coffee.bc.ca/canadiana/651/rites-of-spring-16-we-remember-mount-st-helens-from-1980 http://coffee.bc.ca/audio/Mount-Saint-Helens-May-1980.mp3 (Colin Newell, BC, HCDX via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ VOACAP SHORTWAVE PROPAGATION PROGRAM NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE The popular VOACAP (Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program) is now available online, free, at http://online.voacap.com In the 1980s, VOA engineers improved a program developed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to select good shortwave frequencies given transmitter and target location, time of day, and season. VOACAP has been widely employed by other international broadcasters, radio amateurs, and other users of the high-frequency (HF) (shortwave) spectrum. Posted: 14 May 2010 (kimandrewelliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY - NOW LIVE! The "keys" to the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) were handed over to the staff that is now delivering LIVE data and images/movies. Providing incredible high-resolution (the highest yet of any scientific solar observatory), SDO is the newest research tool in our scientific endeavor to understand the Sun, space weather, and the Sun- Earth connection. The "latest" images are now on display at http://prop.hfradio.org/ Sunspot Cycle 24 will be fun to watch! -- 73 de (NW7US, Tomas David Hood ( http://tomas-david-hood.com ) swl at qth.net via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) Re: GH`s EXTRAORDINARY DAYTIME MW DX OPENING FROM COLORADO, etc. to OK I wonder if Glenn is with us here, and regarding his unusual DX. Weather radar maps have also intermittently displayed some strange responses. Wonder if my .gif attachment will come through. The circular responses are around weather radar installations, but something unusual has caused the circular patterns to show (different ionisation concentrations or layer shifting?), and some large (150 mile estimated) circular cloud formations were observed at the same time in real-life too. Cheers (Graham Maynard, May 14, mwcircle yg via DXLD) Attachment did not come thru, but eager to see it (gh, ibid.) :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2010 May 18 1721 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 10 - 16 May 2010 Solar activity was very low. A few low-level B-class events were observed early in the week. The solar disk was void of sunspots throughout the period. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at high levels throughout the period. The geomagnetic field was predominantly quiet throughout the period, with the exception of some isolated unsettled periods and a single isolated active period at high latitudes on 11-12 May. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 19 MAY - 14 JUNE 2010 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal background levels for most of the period. However, increases to high levels are possible on 31 May - 06 June and 11-12 June in response to recurrent high speed streams. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be quiet for 19 May, and is expected to increase to mostly unsettled levels for 20-22 May in response to a favorably positioned coronal hole. Quiet levels are expected for 23-28 May. An increase to active levels is expected for 29-30 May in response to a recurrent high speed stream. Activity should decline to mostly unsettled levels for 31 May. Quiet levels are expected to predominate from 01-10 June. Quiet to unsettled levels are possible on 08-09 June in response to another recurrent high speed stream, and quiet levels should return from 10-14 June. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2010 May 18 1721 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2010 May 18 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2010 May 19 72 6 2 2010 May 20 72 13 3 2010 May 21 74 13 3 2010 May 22 76 10 3 2010 May 23 78 5 2 2010 May 24 80 5 2 2010 May 25 80 5 2 2010 May 26 80 5 2 2010 May 27 80 5 2 2010 May 28 80 5 2 2010 May 29 80 25 5 2010 May 30 80 20 4 2010 May 31 80 10 3 2010 Jun 01 80 5 2 2010 Jun 02 80 5 2 2010 Jun 03 80 5 2 2010 Jun 04 80 5 2 2010 Jun 05 78 5 2 2010 Jun 06 76 5 2 2010 Jun 07 75 5 2 2010 Jun 08 70 5 2 2010 Jun 09 70 5 2 2010 Jun 10 70 5 2 2010 Jun 11 70 5 2 2010 Jun 12 70 5 2 2010 Jun 13 70 5 2 2010 Jun 14 70 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1513, DXLD) ###