DX LISTENING DIGEST 10-36, September 8, 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1529 HEADLINES: *DX and station news from: Albania, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Guatemala, Guinea, Indonesia, International Vacuum, Kuwait, Laos, Mexico, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Pridnestrovye, Russia, Pennsylvania, Vatican SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1529, September 9-15, 2010 Thu 1500 WRMI 9955 Thu 1900 WBCQ 7415 Thu 2100 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 1600 WWCR2 12160 Sat 1730 WRMI 9955 Sat 1800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Sun 0230 WWCR3 4840 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 Sun 1730 WRMI 9955 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/09:00:00UTC/English/541 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** AFGHANISTAN. PROMOTING TRUTH WITH COMMANDO RADIO KABUL, Afghanistan -- If information is power then the commandos just became more powerful as their radio station here at Camp Morehead celebrated the opening of their new facility and increased coverage area with a ribbon cutting ceremony Sept 1. . . Read the full story here : http://www.dvidshub.net/news/55842/promoting-truth-with-commando-radio Pics : http://www.dvidshub.net/image/316191/promoting-truth-with-commando-radio http://www.dvidshub.net/image/316190/promoting-truth-with-commando-radio http://www.dvidshub.net/image/316192/promoting-truth-with-commando-radio http://www.dvidshub.net/image/316193/promoting-truth-with-commando-radio http://www.dvidshub.net/image/316194/promoting-truth-with-commando-radio http://www.dvidshub.net/image/316195/promoting-truth-with-commando-radio http://www.dvidshub.net/image/316196/promoting-truth-with-commando-radio http://www.dvidshub.net/image/316197/promoting-truth-with-commando-radio http://www.dvidshub.net/image/316198/promoting-truth-with-commando-radio (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DXLD) WTFK? 95.1 FM ** AFRICA [non]. Sahara Radio, an internet-based radio station broadcasting from Columbus (OH), has been launched and is available via the station’s website, sahararadio.com, as well as on Ghanaweb’s live radio feed. Dubbed, Columbus’ African culture and lifestyle home, Sahara Radio offers an eclectic line-up of programs featuring various African music including afrobeat, highlife, hiplife, soukous, makossa, and African gospel; talk and discussions; and independent programming offered by churches and community groups. Since its establishment, the station has served up programs such as Asem No, a discussion program focussed on topical issues related to the Christian faith, Sahara Lunchbox, a mid-day compilation of music from around the world and laced with inspirational commentary, as well as Ade Akye Abia, a daytime variety presentation of news, music, and interviews. With a mix of English and indigenous African languages, Sahara Radio’s programming, according to its management, promotes the rich cultural heritage of Africa and invites people from all walks of life into the African experience. Sahara Radio’s website, among other things, provides a directory of service providers in the Central Ohio community, as well as a calendar of events related to all stakeholders in Columbus’ African community, with the hope of providing life-enriching and community-building resources. The calendar, the directory, as well as a complete line-up and description of programs are available at http://www.sahararadio.com Sahara Radio is operated by Sahara Communications LLC. Source: Sahara Radio Launches in Columbus, OH http://bit.ly/apmgPB LISTEN: http://www.sahararadio.com/Listening_to_Sahara_Radio.html (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) Seventh Day Adventists behind it! ** ALASKA [and non]. Watching Ice Road Truckers on History and they showed Michael Dukes on KFAR 660 doing weather for the interior of Alaska. KFAR used to be common in the Winter back in the 60s & early 70s. Ah, the good ol' days. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside, Oregon, "Come visit us for the 2010 IRCA convention held Sept 24-26 at the Inn At Seaside.", IRCA via DXLD) Patrick, The original series of Ice Road Truckers took place in the Northwest Territories and had a couple snippets of someone doing a weather report at CFYK Yellowknife. KFAR is indeed quite tough these days, thanks to all the other stations on the channel [660]. CFFR is quite potent here, plus KAPS and KTNN are also in the mix. I managed to hear KFAR from Walt's place on Haida Gwaii in 2007, but it was difficult considering the distance. I've never heard it at Grayland, even though I've heard KCBF-820 KFBX- 970 and KJNP-1170 multiple times. KFAR's nighttime signal may simply not be what it used to be, as I too heard it regularly in the late 60s and early 70s (Bruce Portzer, WA, ibid.) Bruce - Check your recordings from our Grayland trip last Oct 3 and 4. KFAR was in both nights although not so good. One ID managed to almost reach a fair level (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) KFAR is 10 kW non-direxional day and night from Fairbanx, 24 h ``Talk Radio`` per NRC AM Log. I was thinking it used to be 50 kW? (gh, DXLD) Bruce, This episode was about the Dolton Highway from Frairbanks up through Coldfoot to Prudhoe Bay. CFFR is a powerhouse here too, dominating the channel most nights, unless there are auroral conditions, then AZ, CA, others are heard. WA is heard well days and under CFFR at night. The most common AK's here are KYUK, KNOM, KBBI, KFQD, KICY, etc. The last Fairbanks station heard here was 970 a couple years back. KCBF 820 was back in the 80s or 90s. 73, (Patrick Martin, OR, IRCA via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Haven't seen this reported elsewhere, but for the past few days the 2000 R. Tirana English broadcast on 13640 seems to have been replaced by their domestic service in Albanian. Went to their website, but it's Albanian-only and I couldn't find a link to their external service to check for changes. Anyone have an email address for their English service? Hope this broadcast isn't gone for good, since reception quality is usually excellent here and it's a convenient time to listen (for me, anyway :-)). Tnx and very 73 de (Anne Fanelli in Elma NY, Sept 4, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Yes, during the last days we had some technical problems with radio/relay link between studio and transmitting station in Shijak. So, instead the transmitter is fed with FM signal of Radio Tirana 1-st program. Sorry for the trouble. All the best from lovely Tirana, (Drita Cico, RTSH-Head of Radio Tirana Monitoring since 1981, & HF Manager from 2005, RADIO TIRANA, Sept 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Over the past week, the Albanian transmissions at 2030 and 2300 have been broadcasting continuous music with no sign of the news block that usually opens the broadcasts. The music continued straight through into the English segment at 0030 on 9860. First thought was maybe a strike but the technical problems mentioned must be the reason (Will Flynn, Pennsylvania, USA, Sept 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13755, checking whether R. Tirana is back in scheduled English Mon-Sat at 1430-1500: Sept 6 at 1430 nothing audible vs Cuban overload from 13680, 13740, 13780; 1431 a carrier, and can barely make out Klara`s voice with English transmission schedule. Registers S9 but also with low modulation, unusable. European propagation very poor today. Last week, Anne Fanelli in NY found the 2000 English broadcast on 13640 instead in Albanian. Drita Çiço reports that there was a problem with their STL to Shijak for a few days so instead it relayed the domestic program I, picked up off the air. Does this mean all English broadcasts were replaced by Albanian, even all foreign-language transmissions? Shijak should keep some evergreen recordings on hand to play back from there in such emergencies, or better yet, have a backup feed route (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello, Drita, Thank you for answering my question, which Glenn Hauser forwarded to you. Although I enjoyed the FM programming in Albanian, it was good to hear the English-language program again today at 2000 UT on 13640 kHz. I live near Buffalo, New York in the northeast United States, and that broadcast is at a convenient time on a frequency with no interference and excellent signal strength; the 22-meter band is a fine choice. I have enjoyed listening to Radio Tirana for many years and hope to do so for many more. Wishing you all the best as we go into the fall season, I remain Sincerely yours, (Anne Fanelli, Sept 7 via Drita Çiço, R. Tirana, DXLD) 13755, R. Tirana, Sept 7 at 1427 carrier, 1428 IS, 1430 schedule announcement. Slightly improved from yesterday, holding up better versus the CubaRM, at S9+12 but very undermodulated and not productive to keep listening (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANDORRA. RADIO ANDORRA --- I am pleased to send you the stamp recently issued in Andorra (May 24th 2010). --- TONY LEGENDRE I also enclose some information about this station from the Internet --- re-written by Arthur Ward from Wikipedia and http://f5nsl.free.fr/andorre/ THREE MAGIC WORDS THAT CHANGED PEASANTS INTO RICH BUSINESSMEN This is the title of a long article published by "Le Journal de Genève" signed Tibor Denes, We can't resist to the pleasure of quoting for you some extracts of this article. Presented with this poesy and this romantism inspired by our Principality to most of our foreign visitors, the history of our station is quite accurate and most of all, shown with humour. "One day, the airwaves transmitted across the world the magic words "AQUI RADIO ANDORRA". The first commercial radio station in Europe was born. Andorra was an ideal place for such an enterprise. No railways, no planes, no industrial plants, no noise to break the silence of the mountains, or the voice of the speaker". "Then, hour after hour, a little, everywhere in the world people were listening to these words: "AQUI RADIO-ANDORRA" and many opened their atlas to re-discover this little place, nearly unknown until now. The tourism managers, willing to serve their increasing number of customers, also looked at their maps. Their agents soon invaded the Co-Princes' kingdom: They discovered splendid mountain for skiers, radious sky, pure air, picturesque places and even, a fountain supposed to have health benefit effects, but hotels and comfortable rooms were missing, as well as souvenir shops, pubs, restaurants: in a word, most tourism facilities. But hopefully this was not to be missing for long. "Something else: One day I was standing in front of the hill where the RADIO ANDORRA station is located. Many cars were passing by without stopping (one car for every three inhabitants). There were also pedestrians in the street; all were having a brief devotional look at this dark grey building as if it were a church. Actually the vassals of the Co-Princes will never forget that misery time ended the very moment when the world heard for the first time the magic words "AQUI RADIO-ANDORRA", since then no one will pronounce the name of Andorra without thinking of its miraculous radio station. That's the legend of the fifth smallest state on our continent" Radio Andorra is the name of one of the oldest French private radios, which from 1939 until 1981 had a broadcast license in Andorra. Broadcasting began on 7 August 1939 by Jacques Tremoulet, who was also the owner of the broadcasting company Radiophonie du Midi, which was already broadcasting in Toulouse, Montpellier, Bordeaux and Agen. Within the location of Andorra it bypassed the state monopoly on broadcasting by not operating on French soil. On its first broadcast Radio Andorra was exclusively a music program interrupted only by the famous greeting "Aqui Radio Andorra." During the Second World War the music program was broadcast to soldiers in France and North Africa. Both German and Allied forces attempted to control the radio without success because the neutrality of Andorra served as a protective shield. By the end of the war Jacques Tremoulet was sentenced to death by the French judiciary because of collaboration. He first fled to Spain, then to Switzerland, and finally to France, where he was acquitted in 1949. During this time Radio Andorra was massively hindered as it was hard to receive transmissions in France. After a slow climb in the 1950s and early 1960s Sud Radio competed with Radio Andorra as it was supported by the French government since its foundation in 1968. The last years of Radio Andorra were characterized by a lack of funds and a reduced transmitter power so that only in the vicinity of Andorra could it be heard. Because of the desire for the establishment of a separate broadcasting network the Principality of Andorra broadcasting license expired in 1981. However, the transmission towers on the lake of Engolasters in Encamp are still standing (Sept WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. With the family out of town for a few days this weekend, I had the rare opportunity to do some late afternoon/early evening DXing. I took advantage. 4949.82, RN de Angola, Mulenvos, 2342-0002, Sept 4, Portuguese. Ballad at tune/in; M announcer in Portuguese with presumed ad; more music from 2345 with occasional W announcer between selections; pips/ID at ToH followed by W with news; poor-fair with notch filter getting a workout due to huge het, (Presumed) via 4950-India (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4949.7, RNA-Canal "A", Mulenvos, 2221-2236, 05 Sep'10, Portuguese, extensive sports news magazine; 34342, fair modulation but adverse conditions (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGUILLA. 6090, DGS/PMS/TUN/CB still off the air another night, Sept 3 at 0613 check; and likewise day frequency 11775 at 1223. 11775, back on the air Sept 4 at 1326 with PMS, but seems weaker than before; perhaps only able to resume at reduced power (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, RN San Gabriel. September 2, 1405-1419 Spanish Pop music, male and female ID, slow music, female “tiempo de noticias, servicio metereológico.. ley del tabaco.. pedido del auxilio desempleo.. noticias deportivas”, talks about World Cup in Brazil in 2014, U.S. Open. 34333, 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m; Longwire 22m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476.0, LRA36 (presumed), 1443, September 2. In Spanish, pop songs; better reception than recently heard, but still poor; still going at 1503, but did not hang around for their sign off (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, March 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, LRA36, Fri Sept 3 at 1228 fair with music, ranging S3-S9, stronger than hetted 15480. Never heard anything but pop, romantic music at further chex 1230, 1249, 1304, 1328. RNASG could be doing so much more to promote and disseminate Antarctican culture (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, R. Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, 1402-1421, 03 Sep'10, Castilian, songs, [unreadable] talks; 13431, adjacent QRM (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, LRA36 barely audible Sept 6 at 1316 with pop music, a bit stronger than hetted 15480 Rampisham. 15476, LRA36, Sept 7 at 1312 pop music, deep fades, somewhat stronger than Rampisham 15480. [and non]. 15476, LRA36 check Sept 8 at 1307 audible with talk but very poor, weaker than hetted 15480 Rampisham; 1345, still weak but Ramp stronger with Poland in Belarussian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 15344.10, RAE, Buenos Aires, 2310-2335, Sept 3, Spanish ballads. Spanish talk. Very weak. Stronger on // 6060 - but with adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) RAE Argentina, September 4, 2010, 0200, 11710. Coming in with fair signal this evening. If one has not heard RAE in awhile, try tonight. Multi language signon. Program highlights given by OM. Much better than the last time I reported RAE. Geez, I enjoy hearing RAE :) 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Manassas, Virginia, United States of America, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UT Tue-Sun only; more like 11711v (gh) 15345, R. Nacional, 2301-0006, September 5-6. In Spanish; excited sports coverage; R. Nac. IDs; fair; frequency approximate as I was sitting on the beach with my E5 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 2368.5, Radio Symban, 1110 music noted till 1115 when faded out. 1 September (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro-DL - NRD 535D, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) 2368.5, Radio Symban, 1250 UT Sept 01, 10, Greek music with brief announcements by a man, 1302 Announcements by both a man and woman with music in background, 1313 clear ID by man "Radio Symban" and then into more Greek music. Good signals this morning at local sunrise. Signal about equal to Aussies 2310, 2325 and 2485 kHz. E-mail reply from Tom Tsamouras at Radio Symban, says station serves Greek expats and started in 1997 using other frequencies but settled on 120 meters for better coverage area. Used E-mail listed in NASWA Listener's Notebook August 2010 by Rod Pearson (Jim Fedor, Wells, Nevada, Icom R- 70, various longwires, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 2368.5, R. Symban (presumed). 1343, September 2. Greek songs; 1356 announcer; 1400 back to Greek songs; poor with QRN (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2368.5, Radio Symban, 1027-1035, 04-September-2010 in Greek. 1027, Ballad type song followed by male announcer with a commercial and commentary followed by more ballad type music. Signal: Poor but just above the noise this morning (Ed Wlodarski, N2ED, New Jersey, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 2367.49, 4.9 1825, Most likely R Symban weak with music in the background noise. Mauno Ritola in Finland heard this one the same day quite strong but one hour earlier and also heard up in the north at Kongsfjord at 1817 according to messages in NORDX (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 5 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. QSL: Radio Australia - ABC (Brandon, 10 kW) in English, 9660, signed f/d card by airmail in 143 days for English report (11 April 2010). Photo of East Indonesian villagers using SW receiver in 1966. Also included frequency & program sked & application for Australian Radio DX Club (Bruce Jensen, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Guam: The two new Thomson transmitters of the Cox ("Darwin") site were, guess what, TRE 2326. So the plans to move them to Shepparton have indeed been killed by lack of money for the transportation, as it has been feared. What remains is the question about the destiny of the ex-Carnarvon transmitter (a somewhat older Thomson, model TRE 2320) and the Continental transmitters Christian Vision had brought in. And has the CBC secured the old Collins gear as spare parts collection for Sackville (the only kind of reuse I could imagine) or did it just end up on the scrap yard (most likely I think)? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See below ** AUSTRALIA. Flooding of homes (at least) in Shepparton, Victoria. Just heard about it on the news. Google Shepparton floods for more, such as http://www.abc.net.au/shepparton/ So is the R. Australia transmitter site affected? Any transmissions missing? At its own website, http://www.abc.net.au/ra the top story is flooding in Pakistan! (Glenn Hauser, OK, 1714 UT Sept 6, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Flooding near Shepparton, any effect on R. Australia? I don't know where the antenna is. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/up-to-700-homes-in-shepparton-at-risk-20100907-14yzd.html (Dan Say, BC, Sept 7, DX LISTEING DIGEST) 9634+, spur from R. Australia, Sept 7 at 1216, putting big slightly less than 1 kHz het to roughly equal strength CVC Miami via Chile in Spanish on 9635, with Late Nite Live interview // 9590, 9580, 9560, 9475, so impossible to tell which Shepparton transmitter it`s coming from, but doesn`t compute as a mix among any of them. Maybe something has been disrupted by the floods in Shepparton. Is the RA facility on high ground? SW sites tend to be, for least horizon blockage, but if the whole area is rather flat, there may not be much difference. Then I was hearing same-pitch het circa 9615, 9535, 9515, but no audio to compare. By 1225, 9634 and the other hets were gone, except on 9535 I could hear a bit of audio matching. Some of this could be local receiver overload, not including 9634 which I have never noted before, and could not be attenuated out. I had my fill of V. of Indonesia [q.v.] audio dropouts by 1337, so switched to RA, best on 9580, during Australian Bite, Tuesdays. Discussion of slang, and how originally offensive words lose their bite, such as ``ratbag``, now applied affexionately to one`s kids. Guest assured us that overuse of ``awesome`` will die out soon, hopefully. Another one which has moderated is ``carrying on like a pork chop`` (originally adding ``in a synagogue``), now merely meaning lunatic behavior. 1347 song about taboos, ``Peek-a-Boo``. 1351 next topic; traffic in child slavery, so I move on again (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RA Flooding, Spurring, Jamming --- Hi Nigel, We are of course wondering whether the RA site is threatened by the Shepparton flooding, or is it on high enough ground? This morning around 1216-1225 UT (Sept 7) I was getting a spur from RA on 9634+ kHz, but could not tell which transmitter it was coming from, 9475, 9560, 9580 or 9590. Later, one around 9535 and some other spots. Matched the audio to 9580. Something out of order due to the water? Also, Cuba has started heavy noise and pulse jamming against something on 9965 from 1400 UT. I.e. RA via Palau. I can`t tell what else is there, but maybe clandestine Radio República. Another thing --- have rumors that the deal to ship Darwin transmitters to Shep is off. Can you confirm? Regards, (Glenn Hauser, Oklahoma, to Nigel Holmes of RA, via DXLD) Total bollocks (like most good rumours). A Continental 418E and a 418F both third-hand from Christian Voice ex-Cox Peninsula are being installed at Shepparton IHFTS. A new 418G is undergoing acceptance testing in the factory before being shipped to Shepparton. You can quote me. The transmitting station at Shepparton is quite safe at the moment. It was flooded in 1993, but this time around it's only the flood channels adjacent to the rivers that are filling up. After ten years of drought, we need the water so we’re not complaining. Paste these co-ordinates into Google -36.3243 145.4235 and you'll be centred on the Shepparton IHFTS. The Goulburn River is to the west (left) of the station by about 6 km and flows to the north. Zoom out to about 50 km high and you'll see the station relative to the river and the town. I'll have a look at the output of the tx at Shepparton and see if something is amiss. Usually the output is clean with the Harris/Gates senders except when slightly misaligned - then spurs will appear at +/- the pulse-duration modulation frequency. This is around 65-75 kHz (depends on particular transmitter) above and below the carrier frequency. Thanks for the advice on crap out of Cuba - something else to annoy us along with the CRI relay [9570]. Good listening. Kind regards, (Nigel Holmes, Transmission Manager, Radio Australia, GPO Box 428G Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia, Sept 8, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's beyond me how this qualifies the conclusion about the 250 kW Thomson transmitters being taken away by TWR as "total bollocks". It were these transmitters that have earlier been discussed as candidates for being moved to Shepparton, with the Continental rigs, moved in by Christian Vision from (an)other unknown location(s), had a low profile since all transmissions have been listed as 250 kW, which would suggest that this Continental equipment has not been used for routine operations. While this now appears to turn out as misunderstanding the question still remains what became of the ex-Carnarvon transmitter. I can not find closer descriptions of what's behind the TRE 2320 model designator, beyond being rated at 300 kW, but it appears to be a more recent design, too, no ancient gear with plate modulation (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Collins and the 300 kW Thomson were sold as scrap metal. The Thomson was in good working order. Two of the Collins 821 were working with some effort. The fate of the two Thomcast senders is unknown to me. Broadcast Australia didn't buy them (Nigel Holmes, RA, Sept 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB: see MOROCCO [non] ** AUSTRIA. Polish Radio 3890 - mix --- Sep 7th at 1745 noted a station in English on 3890. After scanning the bands noted it was Polish Radio Warsaw in parallel with 9770 MOS. Both frequencies went off at 1800. This must be a mixing product with 13660 MOS which is listed with BBC Arabic 1700-1900. Another mixing product should be on 17550 1700-1800 with Arabic or both audios. Moosbrunn has often these mixes, usually in the 6 MHz area when two transmitters are in use on that band (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHAMAS. Bahamas ZNS Radio AM1540 off air --- Copper Stolen – ZNS officials confirmed in a statement yesterday that 1540AM is currently off air due to theft of the copper. BCB's engineers are doing everything possible to restore transmission as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, ZNS management apologizes for the break in 1540AM's transmission and advises listeners on New Providence to tune into 104.5 FM or 107.9FM and the family island listeners can join us on TV Channel 40 for programming. http://www.znsbahamas.com/index.php?p=latestnews 73s (via Steve Whitt, Sept 6, MWCircle yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DXLD) also see http://bahamaspress.com/?p=17559 http://www.tribune242.com/news/09032010_alzns_news_pg1ld If you are interested in why ZNS is a somewhat variable DX catch, it is worth reading this item from June 2008: Madam President, I would like to address the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas. The transformation of the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas is critical to the growth and development of this country. After more than 70 years of service we are still struggling to create an organization that is committed to excellence, one which all Bahamians can boast and be proud, a National Broadcaster that has the same kind of national appeal and credibility, like the BBC in the United Kingdom, the CBC in Canada, NHK in Hong Kong [sic] and ABC in Australia. That is the challenge we face as we move to further develop the country’s broadcasting industry. In light of the global realities of Digital Television and the potential pressure it could place on small developing countries like The Bahamas it is a serious challenge. But it is one that we are currently addressing to ensure that the BCB can survive in this rapidly changing landscape and not only compete locally, but become the pacesetter, setting new standards of excellence through the production of high quality programs executed by a highly motivated staff that understands the value of the service the BCB must provide to this country. Madam President, to some it may seem like a hopeless case, but having had the responsibility for broadcasting during the past year, I am optimistic that it is achievable. We are making progress, Madam President that may seem insignificant at this time, but we believe will pay major dividends in the future. We are developing an Executive Management team that will provide the vision and leadership required to transform this organization. This team will demonstrate the ability to better manage its budget and bring fiscal prudence to an organization that has historically been considered a drain on the public purse. One of the current projects is the cleaning up of the accounts at ZNS. By the way I heard the former Minister for Broadcasting in the House of Assembly talking about what I was saying in the Senate about the condition of BCB’s accounts and that I was wrong when I said that BCB’s accounts were not audited in five years, but that it was in fact audited in 2006 and he would address this issue in his budget debate. Well [sic] I was waiting, I did not hear him try to justify he was right and I was wrong so I guess someone told him “don’t bother with that.” Madam President Again, the last audited report was done in 2002 which makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to effectively manage an organization. So I can understand why ZNS is in the financial dilemma that it’s in today, because fiscal responsibility was never a priority. The last audited accounts for the Corporation was 2002. Now if the former Minister for Broadcasting knows something different then stop me now because the 2003 accounts are currently being completed. Madam President it may seem like a daunting task, but I am happy to report that we are on the way to achieving that. The Chairman and the Board of Directors are working with Executive Management to ensure that we create an organizational structure that causes the organization to become more efficient and productive in the execution of its duties. We will be able to justify the new structure and which will be in line with the BCB’s corporate vision. We are in the process of upgrading our AM Radio Antenna and Transmission system. In May of this year, we completed the upgrades to the Northern Service Antenna System, replacing a condemned tower and installing ground radials to re-establish our signal pattern to comply with our internationally approved directional array. Unfortunately, all of the copper used to establish the signal pattern has already been stolen. Fortunately, that transmitter has been tuned to help provide the output necessary to temporarily service the islands in the Northern Service’s coverage pattern. Madam President, the 1540AM portion of our network is in dire need of an upgrade. Currently, the obsolete 50 Kilowatt transmitter is only producing 8 kilowatts of power making it impossible to service a portion of the central and all of the southeast Bahamas. Further, the vandalism of the tuning hut for our directional tower at South Beach last November is compounding the problem, making it impossible to reach the southern islands. We are now embarking on the New Providence Upgrade Project. We have already purchased the replacement directional tower and the required material to re-establish the signal pattern. The new state of the art 50 kilowatt transmitter is on order and is scheduled to be delivered by mid-July and we have engaged the contractor to ensure that the work gets done within the eight week period specified in the agreement. So, we are optimistic that before the end of the summer, the AM Network of the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas will be fully restored and providing the essential service to the entire country. In this budget, Madam President, we are emphasizing our commitment to transforming the BCB. Understanding the global realities of Digital Television and recognizing the deteriorating television infrastructure that consistently results in the delivery of sub-standard or poor quality television programs, we are making available 3.7 million dollars to begin the phased transition to a modern state of the art digital television facility. The first phase which involves the re-development of the News Department and aspects of our television programming and production areas will begin this year and will be completed before the end of the fiscal year. This upgrade, Madam President will introduce new methods of television production and will require all editorial, production, engineering and information technology staff to acquire new skills. Training of staff is a major feature of the upgrade but it requires BCB staff to be open to change and willing to learn. This upgrade will eliminate the manual methods of television production and introduce a new digital workflow system that is designed to encourage creativity and promote productivity and efficiency. This, Madam President will provide the initial test for our people to see if we are prepared for the technological advances. Not only will staff have to change, but so will management. Our management team must embrace the new technology and understand the distinct differences of managing in the new environment. And while we look forward to the major infrastructural changes that will take place in the BCB during the next nine months, we must also acknowledge the fact that there is an ongoing debate in our country about the possible transition of the BCB to a National Public Service Broadcaster (source? Who is speaking? To parliament? via Whitt, ibid.) ZNS 1540 SIGNAL RESTORATION LIKELY TO TAKE 30 DAYS The Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB) has announced that the initial assessment of the damage caused by thieves to 1540 AM’s transmission facilities suggests restoration of the signal is expected to take around 30 days. The corporation has therefore discontinued normal programming of 104.5 FM for the time being and is providing 1540 AM’s signal on 104.5 FM. Programming on 107 FM is unchanged. Police are actively investigating the theft of copper from the Broadcasting Corporation’s South Beach transmitter site that disrupted the national radio station 1540 AM transmission shortly after 10 am on Thursday. The broad daylight robbery occurred when two men in a truck reportedly with BEC markings pulled up and advised the security officer on duty that they were there to check the transformer. Immediately upon the departure of the vehicle, the station went off air. It was discovered that copper bands around the tuning huts had been removed. The stolen copper links the tuning huts to the transmission tower. The police were immediately contacted and are investigating. This is the third theft of copper from the South Beach site since 2006. Each time, transmission of the 1540 AM signal to the Family Islands has been disrupted. Three persons were charged and convicted in connection with the last theft. In a statement issued yesterday, the Broadcasting Corporation said: “Management again takes this opportunity to apologise for the break in 1540 AM’s transmission and advises its loyal listeners in the Family Islanders that they continue to enjoy 1540 AM programming on Channel 40 on the Cable network and wishes to assure listeners that everything possible is being done to restore normal service as speedily as possible (Source: tribune242.com)(September 6th, 2010 - 10:48 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DXLD) ** BAHRAIN. 9745, Radio Bahrain, 2357-0045, Sept 8-9, reduced carrier USB. Audible after Radio Romania sign off at 2357. Presumed with local Middle Eastern music. Middle Eastern pop ballads. Arabic talk. Fair to good at tune-in. Deteriorated to weak level by 0045. Thanks to Richard D’Angelo tip (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BELARUS. 6040, Beloruskaje Radyjo 1 – Hrodna, 0318-0443, Sep 1. Man and woman announcer in Belarusian with news features programming seemingly mixing with a Brazilian station. At 0400 5+1 time pips, ID followed by a man with news. At 0404 a woman began hosting a music program. Reception slightly better after 0400 (Brazilian sign off?) but nevertheless poor overall throughout. Heard again two nights later at *0259-0316 Sep 3, with instrumental opening, time pips at 0300, ID and news. Fair signal (Rich D'Angelo, 2216 Burkey Drive, Wyomissing PA 19610, 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) ** BELIZE. Re ST. KITTS & NEVIS --- No, not a pest. Belize was nice to hear on 834 in California, bringing Top Of The Pops from the BBC on Saturday nights in the 1960s. I can only imagine what a huge signal it must have had in the southeastern U.S. I was in Miami in 1979 but don't recall hearing it (Rick Lewis, IRCA via DXLD) [and non] Ah, for one more chance to hear their distinctive sign-off, which included the National Prayer of Belize. Ditto the sign-off of Radio Sutatenza-810 Bogotá, which had an instrumental version of "Misty" as its theme music (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) If my memory is correct, it was about 2004, just as the VOA was shutting down their Belize transmitter site, when I was contacted by some investors who were interested in both moving to Belize for retirement and in establishing a new AM station in Belize. They were looking for a chief engineer for the station who would also be an investor and willing to relocate to Belize. I believe the discussion included talk about using the former VOA transmitter site in Punta Gorda - at least the antenna system which I believe consisted of two horizontal wire rhombics suspended from very tall wooden poles. The rhombics were directional and as I recall one was aimed pretty much north right across the middle of Belize (Punta Gorda is at the far south end of the country) and the other was aimed slightly east of south down the middle of South America. I believe one was on 1530 and the other on 1580. The VOA was running two fairly new 100 kW transmitters which was definitely beyond our budget to operate and maintain, especially in a climate that averages 170 inches of rain per year. Lots of problems with humidity. (By contrast the north end of the country averages about 60 inches per year.) We would probably have used the north rhombic on its former VOA frequency to avoid retuning. But the VOA had urgent need for the transmitters elsewhere. I later heard that the VOA completely razed the Punta Gorda site and took down everything including the antenna array. The investors had also apparently discussed the idea with government officials in Belize and again had a favorable response. But somewhere somehow the plans fell through and I eventually lost contact with the gentlemen. As to the former Radio Belize on 834 kHz with 20 kW, it was long gone at that time and the country had no AM stations. It seems to me that back in the day (70s) Radio Belize also had 4 or 5 synchronous transmitters located around the country. I think that they were all on discreet frequencies in the 900 to 1000 kHz range and were each running 1 kW (Patrick Griffith, N0NNK, IRCA via DXLD) I`m pretty sure neither of the VOA antennas was aimed north from Belize --- no point in covering that area; and they were not easy to hear in CONUS (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 3309.98, Radio Mosoj Chaski, Cochabamba, 1020-1030 music de Bolivia, ments de las palabras de Dios... y saludos de ? ..." . ute on top part of the time 1 September [Wilkner] 4700, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta, 1035 to 1046 slow Ballad, ments de Riberalta and "toda vida en Santa Cruz..." 28 August. [Wilkner] 4795.87, Radio Lipez [sic], Uyuni, 1000 orchestral music, good signal 30 August; 2 September Laser sounds with partial ID "banda de ... metros" (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro-DL - NRD 535D, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) ** BOLIVIA. Comparte con Angel Oquendo su emoción al sintonizar él, en la noche veraniega de Estocolmo, las lejanas voces de su patria. http://www.youtube.com/user/Angeldx2009?feature=mhum#p/u (Henrik Klemetz, Suecia, radioeoscutas yg via DXLD) I.e., Radio Pio XII, 5952+ (gh, DXLD) A Bolivian in the diaspora tunes in to Radio Pío XII --- Bolivian DXer Angel Oquendo wants to share his listening enjoyment with us at http://www.youtube.com/user/Angeldx2009?feature=mhum#p/u ID at 3:48, reception report at 4:25... (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6025, R. Patria Nueva, La Paz. September, 04 0344-0407 Spanish romantic selections, male talks “que ustedes.. buena semana.. institución política de Bolivia.. Patria Nueva”, end of transmissions announcements “banda internacional de 49 metros.. gracias por habernos escuchado”. 0407 audio off, 33422. 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m; Longwire 22m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [and non]. Escutas em Paracatu - MG: Caros amigos, Neste fim de semana estive visitando a fazenda da minha comadre na zona rural de Paracatu (MG), distante 262 Km de Brasília. Para a minha surpresa, a freqüência de 3325 kHz (Radio Nossa Voz) estava ativa no sábado e transmitindo programação regular, por volta das 22h00min, hora local. [0100 UT] Também procurei sintonizar a Radio Educadora de Limeira em 2380 kHz por volta de 23h00min, hora local [0200 UT], e não consegui sucesso algum. Para a minha surpresa, foi possível sintonizar uma emissora aparentemente argentina que estava transmitindo futebol. Gostaria da ajuda dos membros desta lista para tentar identificar esta emissora, pois nas listas internacionais não há citação de uma emissor da Argentina neste canal. Equipamentos usados: ICOM 75, Antena longwire de 30 metros (George Henrique - Brasília, 6 Sept, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Sem uma gravação fica difícil dizer certamente quem seja, mas com certeza trata-se de um harmônico (2 x 1190 kHz = 2380). Neste segmento e até mesmo superior é bastante comum encontrar harmônicos de emissoras da faixa de ondas médias. Há alguns meses ouvi com bastante clareza uma emissora da cidade do Corinto/MG em 3140 kHz (2 x 1570). 73 (Ivan Dias Jr. - Sorocaba/SP http://ivandias.wordpress.com ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 3375.34, Brasil, Rádio Municipal São Gabriel da Cachoeira 0925-0950 lively Brasilian music, vocals 1 September (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro-DL - NRD 535D, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) Cachoeira = waterfall ** BRAZIL. 4807.98, Radio Difusora Do Amazonas (presumed), 0945-1000 Sept 6, Noted a very weak signal here with a male in Portuguese language comments. Signal doesn't improve at all from this point. It remains threshold (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4808, R. Difusora do Amazonas, Manaus AM, 2136-2149, 02 Sep'10, religious propaganda program including a few football news (!); 45342. Still off frequency on 03/9. [WORLD OF RADIO 1529] 4825, R. Canção Nova, Cachoeira Paulista SP, 2147-2158, 01 Sep'10, religious propaganda, program announcements, political propaganda campaign (this seems to be compulsory [why on earth?] on every station); 24331, co-channel QRM de another B station, adjacent QRM de CHINA 4820. Better reception on 04/9 at 2100. 6135, R. Aparecida, 2039-2058, 04 Sep'10, songs program Sertanejo bom de mais, advertisements; 55433, QRM de CRI in Serbian at 2100. 9587.4, SRDA, São Paulo SP, 2105-2123, 03 Sep'10, music, affiliated stations list at 2107, political propaganda campaign slot; announced parallel frequency 6120 only; 45433. 9629.9, R. Aparecida, 2109-2122, 03 Sep'10, religious propaganda program Caminhando com Maria; 45433. 9665.1, R. Voz Missionária, 2117-2129, 02 Sep'10, reliigous propaganda, phone-ins; 54433; \\ 5940, 11749.8. 11724.9, R. Marumby, Curitiba PR, 2104-2116*, 04 Sep'10, music during some religious program, then suddenly off; 34443, QRM de NZ; \\ 9515, 6080. 11735, R. Transmundial, St.ª M.ª RS, 1846-1923, 05 Sep'10, songs followed by program Mulheres de Esperança after which they aired the usual DX program Amigos do Rádio; 44433, no [adjacent] QRM after 1900; announced 5965 & 9530, but the latter wasn't audible, and the former simply doesn't seem to be active, or then it's inaudible. 11749.8, R. Voz Missionária, Camboriú SC site too, or another?, 2116- 2128, 02 Sep'10, religious propaganda, phone-ins; 34443, adjacent QRM; \\ 5940, 9665.1. 11765, SRDA, Curitiba PR, 2130-2143, 01 Sep'10, talks about the Super Campanha Divina, testimonials, IPDA propaganda; 44443, sometimes overmodulated. 11815, R. Brasil Central, Goiânia GO, 2111-2132, 02 Sep'10, sports program, advertisements, interviews; 54444, adjacent QRM; \\ 4985 weak, noisy. 11815, ditto, 1429-1446, 04 Sep'10, talks about foot/ball; 24432, adjacent QRM; it was better on 06 Sep at 1215. 11830, R. Daqui, Anhangüera GO (isn't this their site for 11830 ?), 1937-1955, 02 Sep'10, music, IDs, foot/ball program Futebol 2010 at 1943; 44433, adjacent QRM. 11855, R. Aparecida, Aparecida SP, 1427-1439, 04 Sep'10, talks; 13431, adjacent QRM. 11855, ditto, 2041-2057, 04 Sep'10, songs program Sertanejo bom de mais, advertisements; 44433, QRM de WYFR. 11895, R. Boa Vontade, Pt.º Alegre RS, 2124-2139, 01 Sep'10, religious propaganda; 15331; inaudible on \\ 9550. 11925.2, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo SP, 2135-2152, 05 Sep'10, foot/ball match report São Paulo vs. Tricolor (not fully sure about those team names), advertisements; 23442; \\ 9645.3 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Carlos` full logs, including many more Brazilians appear in the dxld yg ** BRAZIL. Nacional da Amazônia terá novo site [web] Olá amigos, Passei o domingo inteirinho dando manutenção em algumas partes de meu rádio antigo e hoje logo pela manhã, véspera de feriado, fui tentar ouvir alguma coisa. Consegui captar aqui em BH depois de muito tempo a EBC - Rádio Nacional da Amazônia. No programa de variedades e interação com os ouvintes (recados entre familiares), uma carta de uma ouvinte reclamava sobre o sumiço da emissora. A rádio explicou que o transmissor ficou um período longo desligado, mas não falou por quanto tempo. O fato é que agora está funcionando. Ouvi também que a partir do próximo dia 20 eles contarão com novidades no site, onde podcasts poderão ser baixados, dentre outros recursos que não chegaram a detalhar. Nunca tive sucesso na confirmação desta emissora por e-mail, mas hoje tentei uma nova estratégia, encaminhando para o endereço ouvinte @ radiomec.com.br me dirigindo à Sofia Hammoe - Gerência Regional Amazônia e À Luciana Couto - Coordenação, solicitando que enviassem meu informe aos técnicos da emissora (Carlos Moraes, Chiquinho, Edson Nery, Maan Kaiabi, Marcílio, Marco Antonio Moreira, Marcos Tavares, Messias Melo, Reginaldo Fonseca, Reynaldo dos Santos) Enviei ainda o e-mail com cópia para a Ouvidoria da EBC - ouvidoria @ ebc.com.br Como geralmente fazem em ouvidorias, eles verificam junto ao setor ao qual a carta se destina, se aquela solicitação foi cumprida. Espero que funcione. Enfim, as informações de recepção foram estas: 06/09/2010, 14:10 UTC, 6180 kHz, SINPO 4,5,3,3, Telefunken Opus Hi-Fi 6060, Longwire (L invertido) 12 metros. Latitude: 19 54`17.19`` S Longitude: 43 56`34.63`` O 73s, (Rodrigo de Araujo http://www.ondasderadio.wordpress.com SWARL PY4-004SWL, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil Sept 6, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DXLD) Note he reports it on 6180, not 6185; hope it stays there instead of back to 6185 colliding with Mexico, but don`t count on it (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, ** BRAZIL. BRASIL: 9587.40, Rádio Super Deus Dios es Amor [sic], Curitiba, PR, 2105-2110, September 04. New frequency!!! ! Ex 9565. Thanks DXer Marcelo Cornachioni, Argentina. He told me the information for catch this tip. Religious announcement. Preacher with religious talk, SINPO: 3.4.4.4.3/4 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxld yg via DXLD) I doubt it: SRDA crap is all over the place. Just recently we had it reported on BOTH these frequencies at same time: ``9587.32, Súper Rádio Deus é Amor, 0510-0530+, August 14, Portuguese preacher. Weak but readable. // 9564.56, 11765 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` 9585 was originally R. Globo, São Paulo, yet another station succumbing to the SRDA gospel huxter cancer. This had already been dealt with in DXLD 10-25: ``BRASIL, 9564.5, Súper Rádio Deus é Amor, Curitiba, 2115-2127, 17-06, portugués, religioso, predicaciones. 24322. (Méndez) 9587.1, ???, Súper Rádio Deus é Amor, Curitiba, 2145-2157, 17-06, portugués, religioso: "A Voz da Libertação", "Estado de São Paulo, reunião às 9 de manhã". En paralelo con 9564.5. Extraña frecuencia de esta emisora, ¿debido a algún problema técnico? 23332 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You may as well assume the 9587.1 signal comes from the 9585 station, which was reported last October to have been taken over by the SRDA pentecostal gospel-huxter steamroller gang (gh, DXLD) Viz.: BRASIL – Com a compra das freqüências do Sistema Globo de Rádio, a Súper Rádio Deus é Amor, de Curitiba (PR), aumentou sensivelmente sua penetração nas ondas curtas. Na faixa de 31 metros, a programação evangélica da Igreja Pentecostal Deus é Amor pode ser ouvida em canais próximos: 9565 e 9585 kHz. O último canal era da Rádio Globo paulista. (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Oct 18 via DXLD 9-077 via 10- 25)`` And this was reported even earlier in 10-23: ``9587.11, SRDA (Super Radio Deus é Amor, ex Globo), São Paulo, SP, at 2100 UT on 2 + 3 May. Extremely weak signal on 2 May but a bit stronger on 3 May which allowed me to confirm that the program was in // with 9565 (SRDA in Curitiba). (Karel Honzik, CZECHIA, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1516, DXLD 10-23)`` Perhaps Curitiba 9565v was off the air at the latest log, leading to the misconception that it had moved/varied to 9587v. BTW, I suspect Karel meant June instead of May since this came over in early June (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9665.12, Voz Missionária, Camboriú, Santa Catarina. 2340- 2350 September 2, 2010. Presume the one (no ID) with Brazilian Portuguese kiddie music and male announcer. Blocked by Radio PMR. Fair (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 10000, Brasil, Observatório Nacional, Rio de Janeiro. September 2, 1401-1404 female local time announcements in Portuguese in every ten seconds “Observatório Nacional, onze horas, um minuto, cinquenta segundos (11:01:50)” one time pip, “Observatório Nacional, onze horas, dois minutos, zero segundo (11:02:00)” three time pips. Stronger than it was in last months, 45444. 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m; Longwire 22m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11805, Super Radio Deus é Amor, 0010-0020, Sept 5, Portuguese religious talk. Weak. Stronger on // 11765, 9587.37 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** CANADA [and non]. One issue in the news lately that could have implications for SW enthusiasts, indirectly, is the increasing slant of right-wing-biased “reporting” and commentary coming out of the U.S. We can hear some of this ourselves when we’re finding different stations to record in our logbooks. I’ve noticed I’m picking up more stations from the U.S. that are either zany evangelical, survivalist broadcasts or the VOA, which is joining the rant-slant of the right wing. Shortwave listeners may be warned that some broadcasters may want to join the voices clamoring for spaces on the bands: a “Fox News” style. The Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), thankfully, denied an application from Sun Media to set up a “Fox News North” channel that would be along the lines of its American cousin. What would a Fox News North be like? For starters, this hypothetical station with a hate-on for people and organizations that don’t belong to the right-wing Judeo-Christian camp. That means not much space for our Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist or feminist friends. No strong political analysis, either. “There’s been a tendency in the Canadian media to dismiss the threat of a Fox News transplant, on the grounds Canadians wouldn’t fall for that sort of nasty, right-wing extremism,” stated columnist Linda McQuaig. “But that comforting notion may be naive. Most citizens don’t have time to follow political stories in detail. If they hear constant sound-bites suggesting global warming is a hoax or public health care just doesn’t work, after a while the message starts to seem believable.” She also observed that much media, including Canada, already blasts citizens with right-wing, narrow commentary. That’s television. How far behind will radio be? These are the times where we should appreciate our shortwave radios. They’re giving much more choice than the mainstream media offers. I wonder how long it will take the Prime Minister – who backs the “Fox News North” – to pressure the CRTC to allow a Fox News-style radio station? (There may be one already!) I tell people I love my radio because it offers choice. It offers variety, a chance to explore cultures. (I’ve been interviewed by the Iranians at least seven times!). And it’s handy when you’re traveling around the globe, which I have done!) Pay attention, though – Fox’s cousins may try to take over our radio waves. 73. (Sue Hickey, CIDX Forum, Sept CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** CANADA. TRANSPORT QUEBEC TO LAUNCH RADIO STATION Transports Québec Quebec's Transport Ministry will spend $2-million dollars to launch a radio station that will provide traffic information to drivers in the greater Montreal region. The ministry will set up 13 antennas which will allow drivers to tune in to a broadcast on 910 AM, though it remains unclear whether the information will be provided live. Similar services already exist in some other areas around the world. While those in Europe tend to be staffed by on-air personalities, in the United States they tend to feature recorded messages. Radio-Canada traffic reporter Yves Désautels said the latter would be a mistake. "I don't see what interest there would be in a radio station that would provide recorded messages 24 hours a day on the state of traffic, because it changes so quickly," said Désautels. Transport Quebec has declined to comment on the story, adding that an official announcement is expected in the coming days. Source: Transport Quebec to launch radio station http://bit.ly/cio8dF (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) Well, I don't listen to CJAD/800 kHz that much anymore -- only twice a day, at noon and at 6:00 P.M. for the news, down from a total of several hours a day whan CJAD was in its prime. Tonight, however, after the newscast had ended I was busy; thus didn't have time to put the radio back on one of the interesting stations. Thanks to this apparently unfortunate situation I was able to catch a few minutes of their evening-drive show, and the host mentioned there was a plan afoot for the Department of Transportation to start operating a 16-station network of T.I.S. (Traveler Information Service) on 910 kHz, mediumwave band, throughout the Greater Montreal, mentioning that the antennas, which will be erected on people's property, had already been purchased for a cool two megabucks! Of course, since most national communication agencies mandate, for a given local area, a minimum 40-kHz separation between two local mediumwave stations this 930 business -- if for real -- could only throw a monkey wrench in the Tetiolman Group's plan to restore the all-news stations on both 690 and 940 kHz since 940-910 equals only 30 kHz, in other 10 kHz short of the "ideal" separation parameters for QRM-free reception in a given city. (Sorry, Jordan!). Also, the CJAD talkshow host pointed out that, since the CRTC won't grant "bilingual licenses" that 930 net would probably operate in French only. Well, here's a solution to that French-only problem: 16 stations is overkill anyway. So, why not use ONE station with moderate power and locate it in a spot where the CRTC has no jurisdiction (for instance, the Mohawk Sovereign Territory of Kahnawake or somewhere in the North Country area) and provide listeners with a toll-free phone numbers for listeners and motorists to call-in accidents, detours, and road closures, etc. Then, the information could be updated, say every few minutes, and radio veteran Marty Lamarre (formerly from "FM 96" and "Mix 96", and now on Hits FM (94.7 MHz). Then, Marty could put his undeniable professionalism into doing flawlessly bilingual traffic reports on that new station just as he already does for Montreal area listeners (both French- and English-speaking on 94.7. So, both of Montreal's linguistic communities could be reached LEGALLY, albeit from out-of- province transmitter sites. But then, that's just me! (Pastor Frank, Sept 2, radioinmontreal yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. [Re 10-35:] St. Catharines' 1220-CHSC is still on the air this morning. The CRTC had denied the application to renew the CHSC's broadcasting licence held by Pellpropco Inc. Apparently, CHSC was to cease broadcasting by no later than the end of the broadcast day on 31 August 2010. The programming this morning didn't sound any different than any other day (before they start doing Italian programming). Local news at 7 and 8 a.m.... a few local commercials... and (Canadian artist) Shirley Eikhard's version of Fleetwood Mac's "Say You Love Me" (Niel Wolfish, Toronto, Sept 1, NRC-AM via DXLD) CHSC lost its licence for a variety of reasons, including effectively moving its studio to another city (from St. Catharines in Niagara up to Woodbridge just north of Toronto) without asking for permission from the CRTC, and then maintaining it even after the CRTC asked CHSC to serve its community of licence. The Italian programming was (is still, I guess) aimed at the largely Toronto-based Italian community. The CRTC maintained they were not serving St. Catharines, something which seemed pretty obvious from listening. Heard it at 4:20 pm [EDT = 2020 UT] with Radio Uno programming, including an ad. I've put a call in to the CRTC to see if CHSC has been granted a stay or if an appeal is underway. I'll report back with anything I hear. Will be interesting to see what's up (Saul Chernos, Ont., Sept 1, NRC- AM via DXLD) [Later] CHSC update --- My CRTC contact in communications has e-mailed me a copy of the order allowing CHSC to remain on the air pending the appeal. I can e-mail anyone who wants one a PDF copy of the order, which really does not say a lot beyond a phrase or two about Pellpropco's general case - it is essentially maintaining the CRTC decision was based in one or more errors of law. The order is a public document (Saul Chernos, Sept 2, amfmtvdx at qth.net via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DXLD) ** CANADA. LATEST APPOINTMENTS TO THE ORDER OF CANADA On September 3, 2010, 53 people were appointed to, or promoted within The Order of Canada. A number of these appointees were/are involved in the media and music industries. Member of The Order of Canada Jay Ingram, C.M. Toronto, Ontario Member of the Order of Canada Jay Ingram is a master at making complex science accessible. In his roles as a radio (Quirks and Quarks -fw) and television host, author, and public speaker, he makes developments across the spectrum both interesting and relevant to the public, and builds bridges between scientists and the media. He has pioneered programs devoted entirely to science on both national radio and television, and has been sought out to train new generations of journalists as chair of the Banff Centre`s science communications program. He has received broad recognition for his work, including the first annual Award for Contributions to Public Understanding from the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science. Margaret Lyons, C.M. Toronto, Ontario Member of the Order of Canada Margaret Lyons has played a pioneering role for women in Canadian broadcasting. As the first female head of current affairs at CBC radio, she oversaw the genesis of programs such as ``Quirks and Quarks,`` ``As It Happens`` and ``This Country in the Morning.`` She went on to become the first female director of the AM radio channel and the first female vice-president of the entire English radio network. Proud of her heritage, she has shared her love of Japanese language and culture within her numerous volunteer positions, which include roles with the Canadian Association of Japanese Language Educators, the McMaster University Senate, Mackenzie House, and Ontario Heritage Connection. . . http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=13843 (via Fred Waterer, Ont., ODXA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DXLD) ** CANADA [non]. BIBLE VOICE BROADCASTING = All our Shortwave Programs are available for internet listening at http://www.biblevoice.org (Select Listen and then Language and/or the Broadcaster Name). Programmers love to hear from you directly! Send your reports to or mail to: BVB P. O. Box 425, Station E Toronto, Ontario Canada M6H 4E3 NEW!!! Dunamis Shortwave 4750 kHz - 60 meter band 06:00 - 10:00 p.m. local Uganda time! 1500-1900 UTC. Broadcasting from Mukono, Uganda [NOT NEW!!!! gh] PROGRAMME SCHEDULES - A10 Summer MIDDLE EAST All times in UTC (Universal Time) ... Local times... Jerusalem +2 W +3 S Amman +2 W +3 S Cairo +2 W +3 S Ar Riyad +3 W/S Damascus +2 W +3 S Dubai +4 W/S Tehran +3.5 W +4.5 S Addis Ababa +3 W/S Baghdad +3 W +4 S Asmera +3 W/S MIDDLE EAST 1 13590 kHz; 22 meter band; 100 kW 127degr; Nauen Day Time Language Sunday 1530-1815 English Monday 1545-1600 English Tuesday 1545-1620 English 1700-1715 English 1715-1800 Hebrew Wednesday 1545-1600 English Thursday 1545-1645 English Friday 1545-1615 English Saturday 1545-1730 English MIDDLE EAST 2 9430 kHz; 31 meter band; 250 kW 120degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Sunday 1800/1815-1845 English Saturday 1800-1900 English MIDDLE EAST 3 9645 kHz; 31 meter band; 125 kW 120degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Sunday 1700-1800 English Saturday 1700-1800 English MIDDLE EAST 4 9735 kHz; 31 meter band; 250 kW 105degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Tuesday 0430-0500 Arabic Thursday 0430-0500 Arabic Friday 0500-0515 Arabic MIDDLE EAST 5 11645 kHz; 25 meter band; 100 kW 115degr; Issoudun Day Time Language Monday 1615-1700 Arabic Wednesday 1615-1700 Arabic Friday 1615-1630 Arabic MIDDLE EAST 6 13580 kHz; 22 meter band; 250 kW 115degr; Issoudun Day Time Language Monday 1655-1715 Arabic Tuesday 1655-1715 Arabic Wednesday 1655-1730 Arabic Thursday 1655-1715 Arabic Friday 1655-1715 Arabic MIDDLE EAST 7 11860 kHz; 25 meter band; 125 kW 120degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Monday 1730-1800 Arabic Tuesday 1730-1800 Arabic Wednesday 1730-1800 Arabic Thursday 1730-1800 Arabic Friday 1730-1800 Arabic Saturday 1730-1800 Arabic Sunday 1730-1800 Arabic EGYPT All times in UTC (Universal Time) ... Local times... Cairo +2 W +3 S Tehran +2 W +3 S Egypt 1 17535 kHz; 16 meter band; 125 kW 135degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Friday 0900-1000 Arabic IRAN All times in UTC (Universal Time) ... Local times... Tehran +3.5 W +4.5 S IRAN 1 11855 kHz; 25 meter band; 100 kW 105degr; Nauen Day Time Language Sunday 1830-1900 Farsi Monday 1800-1830 Farsi Tuesday 1800-1900 Farsi Wednesday 1800-1830 Farsi Thursday 1800-1900 Farsi Friday 1800-1830 Farsi Saturday 1800-1815 English IRAN 2 12140 kHz; 25 meter band; 250 kW 105degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Sunday 1530-1730 Farsi Monday 1530-1730 Farsi Tuesday 1530-1730 Farsi Wednesday 1530-1730 Farsi Thursday 1530-1730 Farsi Friday 1530-1730 Farsi Saturday 1530-1730 Farsi IRAN 3 11955 kHz: 25 meter band: 250 kW 91degr: Issoudun Day Time Language Sunday 1530-1545 Farsi EAST AFRICA All times in UTC (Universal Time) ... Local times... Addis Ababa +3 W/S Asmera +3 W/S Khartoum +3 W/S EAST AFRICA 1b 13810 kHz; 22 meter band; 100 kW 131degr; Issoudun Day Time Language Sunday 1600-1630 Oromo 1630-1800 Amharic 1800-1830 Somali Monday 1600-1630 Oromo 1630-1700 Amharic 1700-1730 Tigrinya 1730-1800 Amharic Tuesday 1600-1700 Amharic 1700-1730 Tigrinya 1730-1800 Amharic Wednesday 1630-1700 Amharic 1700-1730 Tigrinya 1730-1800 Amharic Thursday 1600-1630 Oromo 1630-1800 Amharic Friday 1600-1630 Oromo 1630-1700 Amharic 1700-1730 Tigrinya 1730-1800 Amharic 1800-1830 Somali Saturday 1600-1800 Amharic 1800-1830 Somali SUDAN All times in UTC (Universal Time) ... Local times... Khartoum +3 W/S SUDAN 1 13720 kHz; 22 meter band; 100 kW 150degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Sunday 1630-1700 Nuer 1700-1730 Dinka Monday 1630-1700 Nuer 1700-1730 Dinka Tuesday 1630-1700 Nuer 1700-1730 Dinka Wednesday 1630-1700 Nuer 1700-1730 Dinka Thursday 1630-1700 Nuer 1700-1730 Dinka Friday 1630-1700 Nuer 1700-1730 Dinka 1730-1745 Fur Saturday 1630-1700 Nuer 1700-1730 Dinka CENTRAL AFRICA All times in UTC (Universal Time) ... Local times... Lagos +1 W/S CENTRAL AFRICA 1 11830 kHz; 25 meter band; 100 kW 180degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Sunday 1830-1845 Swahili WEST AFRICA All times in UTC (Universal Time) ... Local times... Lagos +1 W/S WEST AFRICA 1 11830 kHz; 25 meter band; 100 kW 187degr; Nauen Day Time Language Saturday 1930-1945 French 1945-2000 Adja WEST AFRICA 2 9485 kHz; 31 meter band; 125 kW 210degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Sunday 2045-2115 Arabic Monday 2045-2115 Arabic Tuesday 2045-2115 Arabic Wednesday 2030-2045 Arabic Music 2045-2145 Arabic Thursday 2045-2115 Arabic Friday 2045-2115 Arabic Saturday 2045-2115 Arabic INDIAN SUBCONTINENT All times in UTC (Universal Time) ...Local times... Delhi +5.5 W/S Karachi +5 W/S Kolkata +5.5 W/S Kabul +4.5 W/S Dhaka +6 W/S Kathmandu +5.75 W/S INDIA 1 15265 kHz; 19 meter band; 250 kW 83degr; Issoudun Day Time Language Sunday 1415-1500/1515 English Saturday 1430-1500 English INDIA 3 13740 kHz; 22 meter band; 250 kW 90degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Sunday 1500-1515 English INDIA 4 7405 kHz; 41 meter band; 250 kW 90degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Sunday 0030-0100 English Monday 0030-0100 Hindi Tuesday 0030-0100 Hindi Wednesday 0030-0100 Hindi Thursday 0030-0100 Hindi Friday 0030-0100 English Saturday 0030-0100 English INDIA 5 13740 kHz; 22 meter band; 100 kW 82degr; Issoudun Day Time Language Wednesday 1530-1600 Urdu Thursday 1530-1600 English Friday 1530-1600 Urdu Saturday 1515-1545 English WEST EUROPE All times in UTC (Universal Time) Local times... London 0 W +1 S Stockholm +1 W +2 S Lisbon 0 W +1 S Oslo +1W +2 S Paris +1W +2S WEST EUROPE 1/UK 5945 kHz; 49 meter band; 100 kW; Wertachtal Day Time Language Sunday 0700-0730 English Saturday 0700-0745 English SPAIN 9435 kHz; 31 meter band; 125 kW 230degr; Nauen Day Time Language Sunday 1800-1830 Spanish EAST EUROPE/RUSSIA All times in UTC (Universal Time) Local times... Moscow +3W/+4S Warsaw +1W/+2S Prague +1W/+2S Kiev +2W/+3S Budapest +1W/+2S EAST EUROPE 1/RUSSIA 6130 kHz; 49 meter band; 125 kW 55degr; Wertachtal Day Time Language Sunday 1800-1900 English Tuesday 1800-1830 Russian Thursday 1800-1815 Ukrainian Friday 1800-1815 Russian Saturday 1830-1845 English CHINA All times in UTC (Universal Time) Local times... Beijing +8W/S Shanghai +8W/S Hong Kong +8W/S Seoul +9W/S CHINA 1 9345 kHz; 31 meter band; 200 kW; Alma-Ata [rather Tashkent 100 kW 131 degr, wb.] Day Time Language Sunday 1405-1430 English Monday 1405-1435 Mandarin Tuesday 1405-1420 Cantonese Wednesday 1405-1420 Cantonese Thursday 1405-1420 Cantonese Friday 1405-1420 Cantonese Saturday 1405-1435 English KOREA All times in UTC (Universal Time) Local times... KOREA 1 15500 kHz; 41 meter band; 100 kW 71degr; Dushanbe Day Time Language Sunday 1230-1300 Japanese 1300-1400 Korean (BVB via Drita Çiço, Albania, Aug 31 DXLD; corrected by Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. I was vacationing in Eastern Canada and managed to work in a tour of RCI`s Sackville transmitter on the Tantramar marshes. Mr. Cantin, the chief engineer graciously gave my friends and me a tour of the facility. If you are ever in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, this is worth doing; they need advance notice to make sure that someone is available (a small staff runs the facility now), but they are very friendly and informative. Also, if you listen to any of the programming relayed by RCI, it`s worth taking a moment to write and express your support. Like most of the facilities left on our planet, RCI`s international transmitter is a favorite target for politicians to consider budget cuts (Bill Tilford, Chicago IL, Sept NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** CANADA. 1983 Radio Canada International TV Ad --- Take a trip back in time! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILfn0QOcssI&p=A66F97DEAEE1DC6B&playnext=1&index=17 (Harold Sellers, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** CHAD. 6165, RNT, *0442-0459, Sept 3, abrupt sign on with French talk. Afro-pop music. Hi-life music. Sign on usually at 0430. Fair to good signal but covered by Radio Nederland at their 0459 sign on (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 6165, RNT, N'Djamena, 2219-2301*, Sept 4, French. "Live" hi-life music; occasional talkover though hard to determine if part of music or studio announcer; two announcers over crowd noise at 2259; NA at 2300; fair; tnx B. Alexander tip re Saturday 2300* s/off; all other days 2230* (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6165, RD. Nationale Tchadienne, Gredia, 2212-2230*, 05 Sep'10, French, news bulletin, sports infos, Afr. pops at 2217, s/off announcements, closed with the national anthem; 53433, splatter de CRI 6175 via Euro- relay (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6165, RNT, *0427-0459, Sept 8, sign on with Balafon IS. National Anthem at 0428. French talk at 0430. Afro-pop music at 0433. Poor. Weak in noisy conditions and low modulation. Covered by Radio Nederland at their 0459 sign on (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** CHILE. 17640 CVC DRM as received in Brasil: see DRM sexion abottom ** CHINA. Firedrake Sept 3: 8400, poor at 1217; no other found Firedrake Sept 4: 8400, good at 1316 10500, very poor at 1323 11500, very poor at 1336, slightly weaker than // 10500 16100, good at 1333. Firedrake Sept 5: 8400, very good at 1235 9380, good at 1236; WWRB/9385 not on yet 10500, fair at 1242. No others heard up to 18 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jamming. 11605, Firedrake along with CNR1 echo jamming against RFA in Tibetan, 1344, September 3. It seems to me that whenever there is a significant event happening that China especially doesn’t want reported, they double jam the station/language reporting the event. Tibetans living-in-exile celebrated the 50th anniversary of Tibetan Democracy Day in Dharamsala, India, hence the double jamming just to be sure the story was not heard in Tibet or China. September 5. Firedrake; all // at 1236 on 8400, 10310, 10500, 11500, 13680 and 14700. At 1315 noted // on 8400, 10500 and 14700; with 11500 for some reason not //. At 1431 all // on 8400, 10500, 11500 (back to //), 14700, 15705 and 16100 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake Sept 6: 8400, very poor at 1256. No others found up to 18 MHz after 1300; E Asian conditions were generally poor today. 9855, Sept 6 at 1344 heard some FD-like music, but soon with vocals, so rules that out. Not // 9845 CNR1 jammer; gone at 1408 recheck. It`s really CRI Chinese service at 12-14, 500 kW, 215 degrees from a Beijing site, per Aoki (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 8400, 07 SEP, 0917 UC, Firedrake jammer heard with the traditional jug band doing the mashed potatoes over Sound of Hope, which may or may not have actually been there! (Al Muick, visiting Pattaya, Thailand, WinRadio G303e, 100m Longwire / Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) 8400, Firedrake, 1035-1040 Sept 7, Noted steady Chinese type music during the period. Signal was good. 9379.98, Firedrake, 1035-1040, Noted Steady Cinese type music during the period which was parallel with 8400. Signal was good (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, WinRadio G305e/pd, 26.37N 081.05W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake Sept 7: None found 8-12 MHz around 1230 8400, JBA at 1354 10500, very poor at 1354 No others found up to 18 MHz by 1400 Firedrake Sept 8: none at all found 8-18 MHz between 1255 and 1400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 7210, 07 SEP, 0837 UT, PBS Yunnan (Tentative) heard with male/female announcer, but I could not ID the language. Possibly vernacular? Not supposed to be here at this time, but definitely NOT AIR Kolkata. Plenty of traditional Chinese-style music, so doubtful CRI. Fair signals, no QRM (Al Muick, visiting Pattaya, Thailand, WinRadio G303e, 100m Longwire / Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) 1300 km distance Kunming to Pattaya. ex 6937 ? 7210 PBS Yunnan Shalang 0630-0830 Vernac 20kW ND Kunming CHN YNDT a10 From Aoki list: 0630-0830 Vernacular 20 ND Kunming CHN 1100-1145 Dehong Dai 20 ND Kunming CHN 1145-1230 Kachinic 20 ND Kunming CHN 1230-1315 Lisu 20 ND Kunming CHN 1315-1400 Xishuangbanna Dai 20 ND Kunming CHN 1400-1445 Lahu 20 ND Kunming CHN 1445-1500 Chinese 20 ND Kunming CHN btw. on 7210 broadcast also a 20 kW small Vietnam station; see Aoki list (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Wolfie, This is possible, but I doubt it because it did not sound like Vietnamese or Chinese. I will check again tomorrow. The maps are nice, but do nothing to resolve the issue. If you speak Vietnamese or Chinese, I would be pleased to record a few minutes via MP3 and forward it to you. Best, (Al Muick, ibid.) see VIETNAM ** CHINA [non]. 15220, CRI Mandarin via Sackville at 14-16 provides a VG signal on 272 degree azimuth, and this transmission is good for a lot of Chinese music, in case you would like something other than Firedrake. Sept 5 at 1435 was playing traditional music including vocals, perhaps to be called opera, not necessarily Pekinese (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Can Chinese media rule the airwaves? By Lara Farrar, for CNN September 3, 2010 Updated 0604 GMT (1404 HKT) http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/09/03/china.media.expansion/index.html Beijing, China (CNN) -- At a time when many Western media outlets are contracting, Chinese media outlets are expanding, rapidly. Beijing is pouring billions into the country's state-run media machine, which is churning out new TV networks, radio stations and newspapers aimed at foreign audiences. But there are gaps emerging for non-state broadcasters to operate. One such TV station is Blue Ocean Network (BON TV) that is owned and operated by Chinese from within China. It hopes to offer American cable TV viewers a new perspective on the world's most populous country. The key difference between BON TV and its state-owned counterparts is that, well, it is not state-owned. According to its co-founder Justin Ku, an ethnic Chinese who holds an American passport, the project has not received government money. "At the very beginning, we realized that is probably our lifeline -- to be totally independent and non-government funded," Ku said. Even so, the story of how BON TV came about, the challenges it has faced and its plans for expansion raise questions about the future of Chinese media abroad. Can it win over audiences and is it indicative of a greater sea-change taking place within China's heavily government-controlled media? "[The Chinese government] believes that China's whole international image has become a major problem for the country," said Li Cheng, a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations at the Brookings Institution. A recent BBC/Globescan poll of 28 nations showed that only in Africa and Pakistan is China viewed positively while in Asia, North America, Europe and Latin America, public opinion is either neutral, poor or negative. "They believe part of this misunderstanding is the lack of knowledge of China, and the Chinese," Li said. "And they also believe as China's economic power continues to grow, it should also have cultural and political influence as well. That is the mindset." It is a mindset that has resulted in big makeovers for many of the country's major state-run media outlets. Some are now recruiting Western reporters and editors to help reshape content. There also is a push to hire from the pool of Chinese journalists who have been trained abroad or in a number of recently- launched international journalism programs at Chinese universities. These media outlets have also been busy launching global endeavors. In July, for example, Xinhua News Agency, the country's largest news service, started a 24-hour English-language channel and announced it would open offices in the heart of Manhattan. Meanwhile, China Central Television (CCTV), which already broadcasts in English, Spanish and French started an Arabic channel airing in 22 countries last year. The China Daily newspaper is creating U.S. and European editions, and China Radio International (CRI), continues to expand its reach on stations from Texas to Thailand. According to Ku, who once produced programming for CCTV through an independent company, what differentiates BON TV from its state-run counterparts is not only its independence from the government but also the content that it offers. "Of course, we want to reflect China, including the negative side of China," he said. "We will not shy away from that. If you purposely censor yourself without reporting those things, you are not providing a full picture to Western audiences. Anything that is fundamentally important to what China is now, we will report it." The satellite network, which celebrates its first year in operation this week, now only has contracts with cable operators in New York, New Jersey and Hawaii. The company, however, is in negotiations that Ku hopes will have it available in most major U.S. cable markets within a year. Ku says the network, located in a high-rise only minutes away from CCTV's Beijing headquarters, has run sensitive stories on prostitution, abused children and black jails. Last June, he said, BON TV reported on "media reaction" to the anniversary of the military crackdown on demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989 -- a taboo topic that is rarely, if ever, mentioned by government news agencies. Like state-run agencies, it has hired a number of foreign staff to anchor and produce its shows, including Susan Osman, a former BBC anchorwoman who also hosts programs on CRI. Yet many question whether any Chinese news operation, state-run or otherwise, will ever appeal to Western, particularly American, audiences. "Americans are suspicious of them," said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of the Beijing-based Danwei.org, a site that covers media in China. "No one is going to take them seriously." Instead China stands to make in-roads with its media in the developing world where it is also aggressively expanding its reach. BON TV has plans to launch in Africa where Xinhua is already "becoming the principle source of news," according to David Shambaugh, director of the China Policy Program at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, in a recent New York Times op-ed. "If they do have success with soft power, it does sound more likely they could develop a voice in the developing world," said Goldkorn. "[The Chinese media] don't have the structures to compete in America or Europe." Ku, however, sees it differently. "We think this thing has very big potential," he said. "There is a huge demand for information about China, and we feel there is nobody that has fulfilled that need satisfactorily, so we think the time is ripe for us to launch this big mission, this big undertaking." In July, BON TV received a $10 million investment from CDH Investments, a Chinese private equity fund. "China is misunderstood, and we can easily be misunderstood by a majority of people," he added. "When they first heard about this kind of thing, they cannot imagine that China would allow it to exist. But the mere fact that it is existing speaks a lot about China today, you know." (via Sergei S., dxldyg via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, Marfil Estéreo, Lomalinda, 0642-0651 Sept 4, Spanish. Usual fare of music with IDs between selections; good (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5910, R. Marfil Estéreo, via La Voz de tu Conciencia, Lomalinda, 2209- 2223, 03 Sep'10, Castilian, advertisements, IDs, ballads; 35332. 6035, La Voz del Guaviare, S. José del Guaviare, 2152-2206, 03 Sep'10, Castilian, local rhtyhms, exhalted announcements; 25431 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6035, LV Guaviare, 0110-0120, Sept 5, local pop music. Spanish announcements. ID. Weak. Poor with adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** COSTA RICA. 5954.22v, ELCOR (Radio República relay), Guápiles. 2139 tune-in August 26, 2010. Programing already in progress. Big signal increase at 2151, ID at 2153, and Cuba jammer up seconds later. On August 27: excellent level 2121, off at 2128 recheck. On August 28: carrier up at 2100:15, Radio República programming up at 2100:23, abruptly off 2121, back on 2122, off again at 2135 and never returned. Cuba jammer up at 2158. On August 30: 2155 programming in progress, jammer up at 2158. Seemingly a second pulser jammer joined at 2159. So, República relay is currently up at 2100 daily -- albeit with lots of transmitter breaks -- before the jammer(s) are up. Well, that will be checked once Arnie reads this (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA [non]. Re 10-35: As noted on 9/6 Croatia used 9925 for SAm and ECNA from 2200; however on UT-9/7 I heard the transmitter for WCNA back on 7375 from 0100. Tonight (9/7 and 8) 7375 will be used for the entire span at 22-05. Why can't DTK make it easier for listeners and make the switch entirely on the same day -- and better yet, why not do it on the first Sunday in May and September? (Joe Hanlon, NJ, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Croatia via Germany --- 7375, GERMANY Voice of Croatia at 0201 on this new frequency (ex-9925) with a man and woman with news of “Croatia Today” - Very Good Sep 8 (Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, Sept 7, NASWA yg via DXLD) Ah, so that's what it was! Thanks, Mark. I'd been following this one for a couple of days, at 7374.91 on the Eton E1+ANLP1, but couldn't snare an ID. They actually came out with NAm-accented English on 7 Sept at 0329 with "This program brought to you by (unintelligible)" and off-air sharp at 0330. 0401 with news in (presumed Croatian --- I thought it sounded Czech-ish) and 0408 with big band set and various lounge-lizard music that faded into static by 0469 [sic] with another abrupt sign-off on 7 Sept 10 ("Seur D'Armadilleaux", Stewart, Hamilton Ont., ODXA yg via DXLD) Yep - the English accent from Voice of Croatia is much more North American-sounding than one would expect from a southeastern- Europe broadcaster. I find I tend to enjoy the broadcast more as a result -- because I don't have to work as hard to understand it (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** CUBA [and non]. 5880, Radio Habana (Presumed), 0710, 9/5/10, in Spanish. Man giving a speech at length (probably Raul Castro). Poor with QRM from Cuban numbers station (V2a) on 5883 which was booming in (Mark Taylor, Madison WI, Winradio g313e, Eton E1, Satllit 800, Kaito 1103; 2 Flextennas, EWE, attic mounted Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 5880 = leapfrog, 6060 over 5970 another 90 kHz lower (gh, DXLD) RHC, Sept 5 at 1412 on 13750, same VG signal as on // synchronized 13780 --- so 13750 is the transmitter normally on 13680, which was missing. 13750 is nominally used only on Sundays for Aló Presidente from circa 1530 (not 1400 as displayed on schedules), but El Hugazo has suspended his show until October in order not to compete with a women`s baseball championship! Thus RHC really does not need to mess around with its own schedule on Sundays. I was also hearing distorted spurs circa 13813 and 13720, which don`t work out to be leapfrogs; the VG signal from the CRI English relay was also on, 13740, producing an overload of RadioCuba signals in this area. At 1415, RHC 13680 had also come on the air with a much weaker signal, and not synchronized with the others, so today it`s from the other site; and at 1437 had heavy CCI, SAH of about 5 Hz from R. Liberty, Russian via Rampisham. 9965, new frequency for DentroCuban Jamming Command, Sept 6 at 1408, heavy grind over something modulating. Or is it DRM? So hard to tell them apart. Then I also hear 4 pulses per second, so it`s jammer; later mixed with weaker 3 pulses per second, approx. Still going at 1501. Gone at 1638 check; but heavy jamming on 9800 --- oops, that`s really DRM from Sackville. Suspect 9965 a new R. República frequency; is that right, my friend in Havana? Meanwhile 9955 WRMI with Prague was not being jammed at 1408+. 9965 could not be a punch-up error for 9955 as there are multiple jamming sites involved. The collateral victim is R. Australia via Palau, previously audible here altho no comparison to Shep on 9580, 9590; 9965 at 11-13 in English, 1300-1430 in Chinese. 13880, RHC leapfrog, Sept 6 at 1328, S9+10 mixed with jamming clix. 13880 had not been audible a few minutes earlier as I tuned by; now fundamentals 13680 and 13780 are extremely strong, S9+25 plus; weaker `frog on other side 13580 also audible mixed with VOA Somali via Madagascar. RHC feature was ``Figuras en la Historia``, someone who could imitate flutes and contrabass with his mouth, but never heard an example. RHC anomaly Sept 7: 6060 English missing, leaving 6055 Spain Spanish clear, at 0536 and later; English still on 5970, 6010, 6150; Spanish on 6120, 5040. Absence of 6060 also prevents the leapfrog over 5970 upon 5880. Following yesterday`s discovery of a new jamming frequency, 9965, tuned in earlier Sept 7: at 1212, still clear for R. Australia, whilst 9955 WRMI heavily jammed as usual during this hour. At 1352, 9965 still clear for RA now in Chinese, and jamming off 9955 too, probably since 1300. However, at 1400 now 9965 has heavy jamming and 9955 remains clear for R. Prague relay in English. Should monitor 9965 continuously from just before 1400 in case there be a clue of what is being jammed besides RA, R. República low-power transmitter in Central America, ex-11600 et al.? 13921, RHC Spanish spur, Sept 7 at 1356, weaker than leapfrog on 13880. Also with hum, like the ~50 kHz multiple spurs one transmitter has put out before on 11 and 15 MHz bands, but no others like it found on 13 MHz despite all the strong intentional Cuban signals on 13680, 13740, 13780. Maybe tomorrow. 6060, RHC English, missing last night, is back Sept 8 at 0557 with music // 6010, 5970. Checking the DentroCuban Jamming Command vs 9965, Sept 8: 1355 still clear for R. Australia Chinese via Palau, while 9955 WRMI in French had lite pulse jamming. 9965 jamming cut on at *1358:25, typical sesquiminute headstart, rapidly building up to full level roar by 1359 blowing away RA. Past 1400 I still cannot detect anything else there which may be target of jamming. Apparent spur of this jamming also heard pulsing much more weakly around 9752 at 1402, briefly shifting onto VOA English 9760, then back to 9752 bothering Japan 9750 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. 14840-14865, OTH radar pulsing, presumed from here, Sept 8 at 1342 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.07, Radio Amanecer, 1015-1030, Sept 3, Spanish religious talk. Christian music. ID. Poor in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ECUADOR. 4814.95, Radio El Buen Pastor noted 2340 on 3 September, troubled by ute, narrow filter to tune (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro-DL - NRD 535D, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) ** ECUADOR. 6049.92, at 0320 8 Sept 10 in Spanish on AM Sync (LSB) to avoid QRM; news on Israel; Miami Fla address; "R Trans Mundial" ID at 0325 and into choir (so TWR via Swaziland?) E1+ANLP1 (Bob Stewart, Hamilton Ont, ODXA yg via DXLD) Must be HCJB carrying a RTM program. They cooperate. Certainly no Spanish from Swaziland (gh, ibid.). 6050, 0350-0400 03.09, HCJB, Pichincha, Spanish religious talk about Cristo, Dios and El Señor with organ music 44434 (Anker Petersen, from sunny Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** EGYPT. 9304.80 at 0405 on 8 Sept 10 with Koranic prayer in Arabic; metronomic drum-tap accompaniment; long pauses between phrases; no listing for this frequency in current '10 WRTH; E1+ANLP1 (Bob Stewart, Hamilton Ont, ODXA yg via DXLD) R. Cairo. Refer to the WRTH pdf update from May. http://www.wrth.com (gh, ibid.) Harold Sellers suggests his frequencies may not be carrier 13580, Sept 4 at 1452, continuous 1-kHz tone test, poor signal. Fortunately, RHC 13680 was off, so no leapfrog on 13580 mixing with 13780 still on, as heard earlier on other side 13880; 1459 to open carrier; then timesignal ending early at 1459:32! And R. Cairo opening presumed Albanian as scheduled; heard Qahira, kHz mentioned. This is 250 kW, 330 degrees from Abu Zabaal, consequently also USward just a bit beyond Albania. Modulation seemed sufficient in this unusual case (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DGIEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, RNGE/"R. Bata", Bata, 1838-1857, 02 Sep'10, vernacular, African pops, talks; 44332. This is simply not heard on a regular, daily basis (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6250, Radio Nacional, Malabo, *0539-0605, Sept 5, sign on with Afro- pop music. Spanish announcements. Talk. Fair, but occasional rtty QRM (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 6250.0 was not on around 0540 Sept 7, but fair at next pass 0558, in Spanish, 0600 información matinal, Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial ID, panorama nacional; ute beep QRM. Was expecting major newscast but at 0603 back to hilife music. Then better than Polisario signal on 6297.1, but by final check 0633 the reverse was true as RNGE had faded considerably into equatorial daylight (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And no sign of Brian Alexander`s 6248.30 unID [WORLD OF RADIO 1529] ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, Radio Africa (presumed); 2116-2131+, 2- Sep; Bible thumper with Mississippi addy ended at 2128, then one sesquiminute of D.A. SIO=4+54 to this point. Next thumper program came up at 2129:26 with Milwaukee addy, but very poor mod -- tough copy. Strongest sig I ever recall from them (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW [random wires], DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, R. Africa, 2242-2259*, September 5. Usual programming with Tony Alamo along with a woman reading from a letter; requested money to send bibles to China; QRM from WYFR, but almost fair; while sitting on the beach (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. 5955.01, VOBME-2, Asmara, 1737-1758, Sept 05, Arabic news on clear frequency but ousted by co-channel Romania DRM 1758. Same program also noted on // 7130.02, 7174.98, 9710.02, all four unjammed. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some days there's also one VOBME transmitter on 5945 in parallel with 5955. 73, (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Sept 6, ibid.) Boa propagação para a África: 7220, Voice of the Broad Masses, Asmara, AA, 04/09 1946. Canções em árabe, OM/YL: talk, 1958 YL: ID “... Broad Masses...”, OM: talk, canção por crianças, 2001 sign/off, 35443. Rx: Kenwood R-1000; Ant.: Horiz 20 m + TEB STA-1 + MFJ-1040B. 73, (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP, radioescutas yg via DXLD) So VOBME axually IDs with that name in English, tho has no English broadcasts? I had been wondering about that, but how do you say VOBME in Arabic or national languages? I laboriously copy letter by letter from the WRTH 2010 fine print on page 183, and proofread it, so I will never have to do it again: Amharic: ``Yeh be Asmera ketema yemigegne yesifiw Yeritrea hezeb demts yeamarigna agelgilot new`` Arabic: ``Huna Asmera, Idha`at Sawt al-Jamahir al-Iritriyyah`` Tigrigna: ``Ezi kab Asmera Zemehalalef Medeber Radio Demtsi Hafash Eritrea Eyu`` I couldn`t say about Amharic & Tigrigna, but I don`t think there is anything about ``Broad Masses`` in the Arabic version, so what`s with that? Nothing about any English there except the VOTBMOE heading; hmmm, seems if we are going to put in all the words, that`s they way it should be, or just the prime words, VBME, not VOBME (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, some more on the recent changes in the region: Sept 5, 1730-1800 VoBME Arabic on 7175 // 9710, almost equally strong; 9710 must have been signed off not much after 1800. 7175 signed off at 2002 UT, same time as the other channel on 7220 kHz. Sept. 6, 1730-1800 VoBME Arabic on 5955//7160, the latter much stronger, but 5955 also clearly audible. 5955 off not much later, 7160 still on after 1900. Approx. 9710.1 had something else before 1800, probably East African, but no // found. 73 (Thorsten (Hallmann, still in Münster, Germany, http://www.africalist.de.ms - just updated!), Sept 6, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ETHIOPIA ** ETHIOPIA: August 31 + Sept 01, 1800+ R. Ethiopia very strong and well modulated on 9705.0, so probably another transmitter than the one that used to operate on 9704.2 kHz. Not heard on Sept. 2 + 6 at 1900 UT or later, not heard on 7110 or 5990 for several weeks. 73 (Thorsten (Hallmann, still in Münster, Germany, http://www.africalist.de.ms - just updated!), Sept 6, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ERITREA ** ETHIOPIA. 6030, R. Oromiya, Geja Jawe, 1701-1726, 03 Sep'10, Oromo (listed), news, music, western & local; 34433, adjacent QRM (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6030, Radio Oromiya, *0322-0335, Sept 6, sign on with xylophone-like IS. Opening announcements at 0330 in listed Oromo. Local Horn of Africa music at 0332. Weak. Poor with adjacent channel splatter but no co-channel QRM with Radio Marti and jammer off the air on UT Mondays (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ETHIOPIA. 6090, Amhara State Radio, *0256-0330, Sept 3, sign on with IS. Talk in unidentified language at 0300. Local flute music. Rustic local music. Anguilla 6090 off the air. Weak at sign on, but improved to a fair level by 0315. Overall poor signal though with QRM from Nigeria (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** EUROPE. EURO-PIRATE. 7610.05, Radio Amica, 2345-0010, Sept 3-4, Euro-pop music. Italian ID announcement. Very weak but fair on peaks. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) EURO-PIRATE. IRELAND. 12255, Reflections Europe, 2150-2205, Sept 5, presumed with English religious talk. Christian music. Gone at 2226 check. Very weak but occasional peaks up to fair levels. Threshold signal on // 6295 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) EURO-PIRATE. NETHERLANDS. 6324.98, Black Bandit Radio, 0010-0025*, Sept 6, pop ballads. Local oldies music. English ID announcements. Said they were playing “local music from Amsterdam.” Fair signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** FINLAND. 6170.00, 1150-1350 Sat 04.09, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, Finnish talk and Finnish pop music 35333 (Anker Petersen, from sunny Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) Only one log of it this month?! ** FRANCE. 7340, something new here, Sept 7 at 0546 continuous music fusing hip-hop, rap, Bollywood, ska, pop with English lyric; 0548 brief RFI ID in French; from 0553 marred by carrier from Tunisia 7335; 0555 Radio France International ID in English, and off by 0557. This frequency has just been reactivated as of Sept 5, also having been used in the spring until May 2, for French to Africa (where else?) at 0500-0600, 500 kW, 160 degrees from Issoudun; ditto 0600- 0700 at 204 degrees but apparently not resuming the latter, or did I not keep listening long enough to hear it come back on? As for the music fill, looks like another general strike in France, also affecting RFI programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GAMBIA. 648, GRTS, Bonto, still with its powerful, clear modulation, 2140-2149, 04 Sep'10, Vernacular, talks; 54433, QRM de ESPAÑA (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re BOTSWANA 909: Good evening, first, many thanks for your explanations! One raises a specific question: > in Regions I and III each station's protected contours > day and night are a part of the notification data Are you probably aware of these contours for the 177 and 183 kHz transmitters here in Germany? The GE75 schedule provided the 182, now 180, kHz frequency for both, unavoidably resulting in a big clash although Felsberg has a tight directional pattern. Thus some special agreement has been struck under which Zehlendorf shifted -3 and Felsberg +3 kHz from the designated channel. This matter came in the mid-nineties in the news when attempts had been made in the Netherlands to activate the GE75 allocation for 171 kHz there with a private station, and I have been told that the Dutch authorities hinted that they would no longer tolerate the Zehlendorf signal on 177 kHz. Of course these attempts led to nothing, and both operators agreed to keep the current frequencies until the regulation authority forces them off, something that did not happen until today. And an easy question: What is actually the proper English term for Dreieckflächenantenne, and is this design in use on any facility that is not East German-built (this includes the now closed 594 kHz facility in Bulgaria, too)? As an example: http://www.senderfotos-bb.de/leipzig.htm "Dreieckflächenantenne (783 kHz, MDR Info)" is new, built just a decade ago when the current Thomson transmitter has been installed, simply because there was no money for a classic self-radiating mast. The Wiederau MW mast ("Rohrmast 2") had to be taken off its insulator in the mid-eighties, leaving only two pieces of Dreieckflächenantennen and a small, 51 metre mast ("selbststrahlender Gittermast", still available for 20 kW operation; this is another classic East German design). Of the one depicted partly (2003) and fully (2004) dismantled under "Flößchenantenne" (rather Flüßchen = brook) the antenna tuning unit is still intact. For operation on 1323 kHz the incoming 50 ohms coax line had to be adapted down to a mere 23 ohms here. This reminds me of our conversation some months ago, when you reflected the steam radio with classic, plate-modulated transmitters in the FSU. One opinion I heard at Wiederau is that such classic signals with continuous full carrier still offer the best transmission quality, because DAM/DCC makes interferences and noises more pronounced. Here this is obviously the case, at night, when the signal suffers from ground-/skywave congestion anyway, the few distant signals and the background noise can become quite annoying. For a 100 kW outlet in just 80 km distance the reception is rather disappointing, also during daytime, when the coverage of the groundwave signal is not really exciting, quite different from the old days on 531 kHz. It was apparently a mistake to leave this frequency, since Beromünster is gone now. Another one, dismantled in 2007: http://www.senderfotos-bb.de/zdorf.htm Understood to be the only Dreieckflächenantenne ever built for longwave. It could be fed with 500 kW on 179/177 kHz and 250 kW elsewhere in the LW BC band. The bandwidth was really poor, noticeably degrading the audio quality. Thus the actual mast, with had been taken off service in 1992 for reasons that are a bit of a mystery to me, has been revived when the transmission facility had been made DRM-capable (Kai Ludwig, Germany, to Ben Dawson, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 6140.00, *0900-0910 Sun 05.09, R Mecklenburg - Vorpommern Baltic R, via Wertachtal, German/English. Fanfare, ID by Roland: "Hier ist MV Baltic Radio auf 6140 kHz", English ID, web address, 6th Birthday transmission, Birthday song in English 55555 (Anker Petersen, from sunny Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Summer A-10 of Media Broadcast (ex DTK T- Systems). Part 4 of 4: WYFR (Family Radio): 1800-1900 on 9635 WER 250 kW / 225 deg to SoEu Spanish 1800-1900 on 7330 WER 100 kW / 105 deg to SEEu Romanian 1800-2000 on 3975 WER 250 kW / non-dir to SEEu Hungarian/Serbian 1700-1900 on 9565 NAU 250 kW / 065 deg to EaEu Russian 1800-1900 on 11955 WER 250 kW / 150 deg to NoAf Arabic 1900-2000 on 9590 WER 250 kW / 150 deg to NoAf Arabic 1900-2000 on 11840 WER 500 kW / 210 deg to WeAf French 2000-2200 on 6115 WER 250 kW / 210 deg to WeAf Arabic 2200-2300 on 7420 WER 250 kW / 210 deg to WeAf Arabic 1800-1900 on 13750 WER 500 kW / 180 deg to WCAf English 1800-1900 on 13790 WER 500 kW / 180 deg to WCAf Hausa 1900-2100 on 9610 WER 500 kW / 180 deg to WCAf English 2100-2200 on 7425 WER 500 kW / 180 deg to WCAf English 2000-2100 on 9595 NAU 500 kW / 180 deg to WCAf French 2100-2200 on 7290 NAU 500 kW / 180 deg to WCAf French 1800-2000 on 9925 WER 500 kW / 165 deg to CeAf English 1800-1900 on 9880 WER 500 kW / 165 deg to CeAf English 1900-2000 on 9505 NAU 500 kW / 170 deg to CeAf Englis 1700-1800 on 13840 WER 100 kW / 180 deg to NEAf Arabic 1600-1700 on 15160 NAU 500 kW / 140 deg to EaAf Oromo 1600-1800 on 15750 WER 500 kW / 150 deg to EaAf Amharic/Swahili 1800-1900 on 9600 ISS 500 kW / 155 deg to SoAf English 1600-1700 on 13645 WER 250 kW / 120 deg to N/ME Arabic 1700-1800 on 11885 WER 250 kW / 120 deg to N/ME Arabic 1600-1700 on 11670 NAU 500 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian 1700-1800 on 11760 WER 500 kW / 105 deg to WeAs English 1700-1800 on 11850 WER 500 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian 1400-1500 on 13730 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to CeAs Uzbek 1300-1500 on 17580 WER 500 kW / 090 deg to SoAs Bengali 1400-1500 on 13635 WER 500 kW / 090 deg to SoAs Oriya 1400-1600 on 17800 WER 500 kW / 090 deg to SoAs Sindhi/Kannada 1400-1600 on 15670 WER 500 kW / 090 deg to SoAs Hindi 1500-1600 on 13830 WER 500 kW / 075 deg to SoAs Gujarati 1500-1600 on 13790 NAU 500 kW / 095 deg to SoAs Tamil 1600-1700 on 11680 WER 500 kW / 090 deg to SoAs Hindi 1400-1500 on 15690 WER 500 kW / 105 deg to SoAs Malayalam 2200-2400 on 9935 GUF 500 kW / 215 deg to SoAm Spanish 2200-2400 on 7360 GUF 500 kW / 170 deg to SoAm Portuguese 0000-0100 on 7360 GUF 500 kW / 170 deg to SoAm English 0000-0100 on 5930 GUF 500 kW / 215 deg to SoAm Spanish 0200-0300 on 6100 GUF 500 kW / 215 deg to SoAm English Gospel For Asia (GFA): 0030-0130 on 9445 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs 1230-1500 on 15350 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs 1330-1530 on 15390 NAU 250 kW / 085 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs 1530-1630 on 15215 ISS 250 kW / 085 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs 2330-0030 on 9520 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs Lutheran World Federation Voice of Gospel 1330-1345 on 15160 NAU 250 KW / 082 deg to SEAs Burmese Mon-Sat 1330-1345 on 15160 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to SEAs Burmese Sunday 1830-1900 on 9655 WER 500 kW / 180 deg to WCAf Fulani Radio Dabanga 1530-1725 on 13730 WER 500 kW / 150 deg to EaAf Arabic FEBA Radio 1900-1930 on 7230 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Arabic N-TV/Echo des Tages 2200-2330 on 11805 NAU 100 kW / 135 deg to EaAf German DRM mode Democratic Voice of Burma (DVOB): 2330-0030 on 9490 WER 125 kW / 075 deg to SEAs Burmese (DX Mix News, Bulgaria 08 Sept, Sept 7 via DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. DW via Komsomolsk-na-Amur, Russia --- September 4, 2010, 17525, via Komsomolsk-na-Amur, Russia, 0016-0059. Barely heard. SIO 151. However did manage to hear "DW European Business". Why torture myself with barely heard reception? No, I'm not a sadist [sic]. I miss DW since DW no longer broadcasts on shortwave to North America. I have been a listener to it since the Voice of Germany times in the 1970's. The other reason? I'll admit it. Purely, DX. Komsomolsk-na-Amur, Russia is in the Far East. This is fantastic and amazing reception. So, I have a bonus of hearing DW once again and fantastic DX. I must be getting old. LOL. Reminiscing and nostalgic about stations, things heard, etc. Comedian Steven Wright had a great line about inventing a time machine, going into the future and then sitting around being nostalgic. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Manassas, Virginia United States of America, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Kraig, Have you tried also 15595 Vladivostok on same schedule? Both heard here SIO 343 or 344. Regards, (Tony Ashar, West Java, Indonesia, ibid.) Tony, Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, I tried 9885 via Sri Lanka and 15595. Neither heard. Was able, barely, to hear 17525 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, ibid.) ** GUAM. Re 10-35, KTWR moving in 250 kW transmitters from somewhere: see AUSTRALIA [non] ** GUATEMALA. On Aug 17, I received a cc of a reply from R. Verdad`s Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid to a message from Ralph (Wayne) Borthwick, apparently an American engineer who likes to help out religious stations, offering to assist getting them back on SW, and was inquiring about various technical matters. Borthwick analyzed various aspects of the antenna system and transmitter and made recommendations for improvement. Borthwick was willing to donate his time to come and fix the transmitter, upgrade the antenna, but would need travel and accommodation costs covered. Lodging would be no problem, Madrid said, and he would try to get funding for travel expenses. I mentioned this briefly on WORLD OF RADIO, but no further info about this has yet been received. Borthwick also mentioned something about Wayne Berger at R. Cultural having the Omni transmitter operating, at 600 watts, but there were still problems with it, and R. Cultural was busy celebrating its own sixtieth anniversary. Apparently this refers to the R. Verdad transmitter which Berger has been trying to fix, consulting with Borthwick. I don`t know whether it could axually have been heard testing on 4052.5, but probably not if it was really in Guatemala City without a proper antenna (Glenn Hauser, Sept 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thank you, Dino Bloise [who forwarded the above] and Glen Houser [sic] (a long time friend of Radio Verdad). Yes, it's true that Wayne Berger, from TGN, has been repairing Radio Truth's transmitter, with the guidance of the Canadian Ralph Wayne Borthwick, who is acting like a father to us. We are receiving very much help from Lee Afflerback too, a radio man from the United States. He is also acting as if Radio Truth were another one of his own radio stations. May God reward them. Our transmitter's situation has not been an easy task. Guatemalan technicians gave up long ago. Ralph Borthwick has brought very fine ideas for our antenna. If everything comes all right, we may be back on the air by the end of October, after over two years of being off from short wave (and just transmitting over two Internet channels). But, let's be sincere: Internet transmissions come very short if we compare them with short wave. Short wave is a marvelous thing. You can imagine how I have felt all these two years. But I never give up. That's my nature. We are expecting to celebrate the day when we'll come back on the air, as well as, so many of our good friends and DX'ers in the whole world, from whom I appreciate their friendliness and backing. May God bless you all (Édgar Amílcar Madrid, Manager and Director, R. Verdad, Sept. 7, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4052.5 ** GUINEA. 4899.95, 27.8 2315, R Familia unusually strong this time. 2-3. No sign of the usual out of band Italian radioamateurs [sic] blocking the frequency (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 5 via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DXLD) 4900, presumed Familia FM, Conakry, 2303-2337, Sept 4, French. M announcer with talk; hi-life music at 2311; announcer at 2323 between music bits; presumed ad string at 2328; more hi-life music after BoH; M announcer over wind instruments at 2337; poor-fair at best with CODAR level varying throughout, from just audible to obliterating (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -Conakry, 4900, Familia FM, Timbi Madina, 2157-2216, 05 Sep'10, French, folk songs, a few announcements, pops, webpage info, no news bulletin at 2210 as it was more or less usual; 35332 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 560 kHz BBC World Service --- I heard the BBC World Service on 560 kHz at 0500 this morning. Is there any obvious station I am overlooking other than Voice of Guyana? I note in the all-time lists it is noted as 'temporarily off Dec 04" and hasn't been reported since, but it is listed in the BBC Caribbean Service http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/fm2.shtml (Paul Crankshaw, Troon, Scotland, Aug 24, MWC yg via DXLD) A few logs from this morning, all noted on the 279 degree beverage. From toth recordings at 0200 and 0500. Still some way to go to complete my check of the recordings, so more may follow in due course. 560, NCN, Georgetown, Guyana (presumed); BBC WS News Fair/Good peaks 0500 29/8. 73s (Martin A Hall, Clashmore, Scotland. Perseus SDR, RPA-1 preamp, MFJ-1026 phaser (modified), beverages: 490m at 233 degrees, terminated; 500m at 279 degrees, terminated; 550m at 338 degrees, terminated. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/clashmoreradio/ MWC yg via DXLD) 3290, GBC, 0900 OM DJ with pop vocal from 70s, 28 August; 0855 to 0937, time pips on hour, Orchestral music, best audio on R8 (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro-DL - NRD 535D, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) see PAPUA NEW GUINEA ** HONDURAS. 3250, Radio Luz y Vida, San Luis, 1017 first noted on fade-in en español (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro-DL - NRD 535D, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) Date? 3250.05, R. Luz y Vida, 1133-1140+ Sep 2. Local off-key choral group, followed by man & woman with Spanish religious chat; quotes from Timoteo. Good signal but considerable static noise (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 80-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. Libro sobre la radio en Honduras MARTES 07 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2010 03:15 Fue presentado el libro “GARGANTAS DE ORO DE LA RADIODIFUSIÓN HONDUREÑA” del autor Mario Hernán Ramírez. Resumiendo parte de sus 57 años de carrera, el locutor, historiador y periodista Mario Hernán Ramírez presentó su libro “Gargantas de Oro de la Radiodifusión Hondureña”. El auditorio campus de la Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras (UTH) sirvió de marco para la importante presentación literaria, adonde asistieron personalidades del mundo literario, autoridades del centro educativo e invitados especiales. Esta obra hace sinopsis de los personajes de la comunicación radial y televisada que han dejado huella en la historia de los medios de comunicación de Honduras. El libro describe en sus páginas parte del legado de más de cien hondureños dedicados a la radiodifusión, anécdotas, historia en las cabinas de radio e igualmente subraya a figuras de la literatura, el arte y la cultura nacional. Ramírez, a sus 76 años recalca en su histórico libro su bondad, huida de egoísmo, afecto a sus colegas locutores de la vieja y nueva guardia, pero con gran énfasis en los actores del micrófono de antaño. Seguido a la presentación se realizó un concierto musical y se ofreció un ameno cóctel. Ismael Zepeda junto al escritor Mario Hernán Ramírez y el rector del UTH, Luis Alonso Discua. [caption] Fuente: Libro sobre la radio en Honduras http://bit.ly/dgu0o4 (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** INDIA. 4800, *0020-0040 05.09, AIR Hyderabad, Telegu (presumed), AIR IS, ann: "Vande Mataram", hymn played, ann, drums and song, 0030 Hindi and 0035 English news from Delhi about hostages, World Cups play in Shanghai, 44444. Voice of China had still nearly faded out here during our summer (Anker Petersen, from sunny Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI, Palangkaraya, 2140-2153, 01 Sep'10, Indonesian, talks; 25241 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3325, 2.9 2010, RRI Palangakaraya. My first thought was that it was a Papua station but suddenly a very clear ID was heard just after the news. 2-3 (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 5 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9525.9, Voice of Indonesia, 1539-1604, September 2. Non-stop EZL instrumental music; 1604 ID and Anthem; 1607 reciting from the Qur’an; fair; did not notice the hum today. This was an anomaly, as usually they sign off shortly after 1500 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525.9, VOI, Sept 3 at 1316, Focus segment on monitoring emissions of gh gases (with a long A). VG signal unlike yesterday, but with hum, and split-second audio dropouts every few sex. It`s always something. Also again hearing lite het from nothing scheduled on 9525.0 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) V. of Indonesia also has a 1000 broadcast in English on 9525v which should be worth trying for during ECNA sunrise period -- but signal might change later in the month. At 1030 heard pop/rock music show with fair level on 9/4 (Joe Hanlon, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525.9, VOI, Sept 4 at 1312 still suffering frequent audio drop-outs more annoying during music than talk; Today in History mainly about ex-colonial mistress Queen Wilhelmina and her long reign. Again am hearing slight het from something unknown on 9525.0. 9525.9, VOI Sept 5 at 1238 during Japanese hour playing songs, but still with annoying audio dropouts every few sex as also noted during English the last few mornings and later today. Still on the air well after 1400 with presumed Indonesian, heavy het from CRI Russian on 9525.0. 9526-, VOI, Sept 6 at 1337 in English hour, Indonesian lesson marred by continuing audio dropouts every few sex degrading comprehension further; otherwise VG reception with barely audible 9525 het from unknown. 9526-, V. of Indonesia, strange behaviour Tuesday Sept 7: in English instead of Japanese at 1222, interview with someone in Bali about plans to demolish and replace the airport. 1230 songs, 1236 apparent live YL DJ in English inviting us to stay tuned to her till 8:00 Western Indonesia Time (1300 UT). Plugs its Facebook, Twitter, but then quotes report that students who keep networking socially while studying, make grades 20% lower, drawback of multitasking. 1242 plugs Exotic Indonesia coming up at 8:00. Quick audio dropouts are still happening several times a minute; they get worse at 1257. Music continued until 1301 and during the 1300-1301 minute I count ten of them, very irregularly spaced. 1301 VOI, Sound of Dignity ID and open Exotic Indonesia, a special network program with RRI Banjarmasin. Introduced anchor there as Satur (? Now we are getting closer to his name), while the anchorette in Jakarta is Rachma (Raxma? Middle consonant as gutteral h [j]). Once again I go to the RRI Banjarmasin website where they have pix of the Crew on the Air, and for Pro 2 http://www.rribanjarmasin.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=80 I look at every one of them, with their Nama Udara (air names, which are often quite different), and then all the other Pros, and still no Satur or anything similar, anywhere! Back to program notes: it`s raining or drizzling in both Banjarmasin and Jakarta. Only one day until Eid and Ramadhan will be over. A topic later will be about astronomy. 1304, Jak YL ID mentions only one frequency, 9525! Finally they have dumped listing 11785 and 15150 which have not really been on at this hour for years. Did they finally read my previous reports pointing this out?? 1305, news from alternating studios, starting as ever with activities of the president, much like RHC and VOK: visiting Medan and people displaced by volcanic eruption of Sinabung last week. The audio dropouts continue, equally affecting originations from Banj and Jak, so the problem occurs downstream from them; also, the hum is downstream from the dropouts, since it continues uninterrupted. 1317, YL reports on the volcano, its first eruption, unexpectedly, since 1,600y; hard to follow with dropouts plus her halting accent. 1321, a ``Dignatorial`` about minimizing earthquake damage; most quakes there have shallow epicenters causing heavier damage on the surface; making seismic zoning maps. But this segment outroduced as ``Commentary``. 1324, ID again with 9525 only, contact info. 1325, Today in History, from Jak studio: the 1999-2001 president was born in 1940; also an Islamic official, he wrote an article in the 12/30/2005 WSJ against Islamic extremism. 1822y, Dom Pedro declared Brasil independent; borders all SAm countries except Ecuador [wrong: Chile too, unless audio dropped that word out]. 1330, Focus, government to stop using newspapers for goods and service procurement announcements when contracts expire in 2011. 1332, from Banj: differences in determining the exact dates of Ramadan (why is this so important? Will Allah get `em if they are a day off?). This must have been the previewed astronomy bit, but by 1337, the dropouts are getting so bad that I bail out, while congratulating myself for having stuck with them for 60 percent of the broadcast, and retune to R. Australia [q.v.] which has 100 percent readability and comprehension. 1402, recheck, however, now with the CRI Russian 9525.0 het, and VOI is STILL in English! with YL news, but only a few words heard as another dropout starts but it`s a long one, still silent carrier at 1407. 1424 another check, now back with music vs the het, dropouts, 1425 ID, ``keeping dignity alive``. Apparently all the defects of VOI`s transmission have no effect on its Dignity. But who`s to know in the studios without axually monitoring the SW frequency? 1431, final check, now 9526 is in an Indo-Malay language. One has the impression that Studio Jakarta operates on an ad-hoc basis insofar as nominal language scheduling. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9526-, VOI check Sept 8 at 1300, opening English, still with the frequent audio dropouts, and that`s enough for me today (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. NASA Sets Media Deadlines For Next Space Shuttle Flight --- Shuttle Discovery and six astronauts are targeted to launch on the STS-133 mission on Nov. 1 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 11-day mission will be the 35th flight to the station and the 39th and final scheduled flight for Discovery. The mission will deliver and install the Permanent Multipurpose Module, the Express Logistics Carrier 4, an external platform that holds large equipment, and critical spare components for the station. Discovery also will deliver Robonaut 2, or R2, to become a permanent resident of the station as the first human-like robot in space (NASA via Mike Terry, UK, Sept 2, dxldyg via DXLD) Barring delays, that means circa Nov 11 for the glidedown, possibly replaying the anomalous daytime MW propagation I was getting in April, for those near the path to KSC. I hope we can find out with more advance notice the nominal and backup routes (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. What's happened to Worldspace? Hello list, does anyone know, what is going on with the Worldspace satellite radio system at the moment? I tried to find them on the net a couple of days ago, to get the positioning details for the Worldspace outdoor aerial, but could not find them. Not only could I not find the info I was after, I couldn't find any web pages for them at all! (Simon Wilkes, UK, Sept 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Quickest response --- Try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1worldspace - that will give some insight. It says Worldspace went bust! i.e. bankrupt / ceased operating. There are apparent attempts to reuse the satellites, and the company was sold 10 weeks ago. Most of the direct web references in the list given in that article, just DON`T WORK (password on a front page?) Ergo, if "1worldspace" were active, then one would expect some official web presence, given all those references. I have found some traces of "1worldspace", operating TV channels on standard broadcast satellites, but don`t know if this is relevant (Keith Bradbury, ibid.) There are still a few free-to-air signals on the Worldspace AfriStar Satellite, and there is a CRI Test tone and a few data channels still on AsiaStar, but yes Worldspace is no longer operating. They closed down on December 31st last year much to the distress of listeners, particularly in India. I use to listen to Worldspace at home in Australia which was well outside of his published footprint. My experiments in receiving the system are documented here: http://www.satdirectory.com/--worldspace.html Cheers, (Mark Fahey, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, ibid.) Worldspace Afristar West is still transmitting about 6 stations, including WRN, RFI and BBC World Service. I used it yesterday to listen to "World of Radio" (via WRN at 0800 UT) (Dave Kenny, UK, Sunday Sept 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, ibid.) ** IRAN. 9780, VOIRI Kamalabad, 2120-2128, Sept 4, Spanish. Hoping for Yemen, got Iran instead. W announcer with talk between Arabic music bits; mentions of Kor'an and Tony Blair; off at 2128 with carrier still present at 2133; booming signal (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. via Moldova, 7460, Radio Payam-e Doost, 0240-0315*, Sept 6, Mid-east style music. Farsi talk. ID. Some instrumental classical-religious music. Good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** IRAN [and non]. FARSI 1 SATELLITE TV CHANNEL TAKES IRAN BY STORM | Text of report by London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting website, on 3 September; subheadings added editorially A satellite TV station broadcasting from Dubai is now so popular in Iran that it has the authorities seriously worried, even though its content is entertainment, not politics. Farsi 1, which has been on the airwaves for just over one year, is now much part of the social fabric that the shows it airs are popular all across Iran, even in the remotest villages. In the current month of Ramadan, families gathering will commonly have Farsi 1 on in the background as they sit down for the evening meal that ends the daily fast. In the shops and on public transport, people are discussing the latest twists in the American action series 24. Second Chance, a Hispanic TV serial made in Miami, is so popular that it has inspired a hairstyle for women known as the "Isabel" after the heroine, while the main character - who has come back from the dead to set the world to rights - is idolised for his looks and upstanding moral behaviour. Glimpse of life in other countries The mix of romantic drama, crime and police serials, and comedies also offer Iranians a rare glimpse of what life is like in other countries. The station is the brainchild of Moby Group, a media firm run by the Mohseni family, Australian nationals of Afghan origin whose media outlets in Afghanistan, including Tolo TV and Arman Radio, have been a runaway success in Afghanistan. International media mogul Rupert Murdoch's investment in the enterprise has drawn hostility from Farsi 1, who say he is a Zionist. Ahmad Komeyl, international relations manager and senior advisor at Moby Group, has told the Iranian monthly "Modiriat-e Ertebatat" that the Farsi 1 channel has 35 million viewers in the country - in other words half the entire population. One possible indicator of the station's growing popularity is a report from the frontier guards service showing a massive increase in interceptions of smuggled satellite receivers in recent months. Satellite dishes and receivers are banned in Iran and anyone found with one installed has to pay a fine. Some Iranians believe that the government tolerates Farsi 1 because its standard fare of entertainment does not present a political challenge, and may offer a useful distraction from the troubles facing the country. But that does not seem to be the case, judging from the multiple sallies launched by various sections of the ruling establishment. For some officials, Farsi 1 is just another weapon in the armoury of Iran's foes in the West, who are engaged in what is often described as a "soft war" to undermine the country. In mid-May, the strategic studies centre of the Expediency Discernment Council convened a meeting to look into the "covert aims" of Persian- language satellite TV coming from abroad, and Farsi 1 in particular. The council plays an informal advisory role for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but is not supportive of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration. Speakers at the meeting noted the "extraordinary welcome" these TV stations had received from viewers in Iran, and were highly critical of the state-run national station IRIB Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, IRIB, for making programmes so unappealing to Iranian audiences that it drove them into the arms of Farsi 1. Farsi 1 "serious" competition to state broadcaster IRIB's head Ezatollah Zarghami later dismissed such accusations, saying the foreign satellite networks did not present much of a threat. But in an internal meeting with IRIB directors, Zarghami admitted that Farsi 1 was serious competition for Iranian TV, the Fararu news website reported. IRIB is a massive state institution which last year received some 480m US dollars in government funding plus another 300m US dollars from commercial advertising. This dwarfs Farsi 1's start-up budget of 2.5m US dollars. Another event, this time hosted by the provincial government in Shiraz, had an even more specific focus on "studying the effects of Farsi 1 TV". During this meeting, Sheyda Nikuravin, a researcher with the Supreme Leader's office for pilgrimage affairs, argued that Farsi 1 was promoting feminism in Iran. Farsi 1 plans to launch more satellite channels News that Farsi 1 plans to expand with more satellite networks broadcasting music as well as children's programmes has caused further consternation. The Tabnak website, linked to Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, described this as a deliberate plan to promote immorality and undermine the foundations of family life. In much the same vein, Mohammad Taghi Rahbar, head of the clerical faction in the Iranian parliament, has accused Farsi 1 of airing content that "seeks to destroy the chastity and morals of families and encourage young Iranians to have sex and drink alcohol". In reality, Farsi 1 moulds its programming to suit Iranian tastes. The racier bits of romantic dramas like Second Chance are cut out and the specifically Shia variant of the Muslim call to prayer has been broadcast at the end of each day's fasting period during Ramadan. Whatever officials may think of Farsi 1's content, the vast majority of viewers do not seem offended by it. At the Expediency Discernment Council meeting in May, Mohsen Banihashemi, a communications expert at IRIB's university, said a survey had shown that 94 per cent of Farsi 1's Iranian audience did not believe its programmes promoted immoral behaviour. The focus on pure entertainment seems to have given Farsi 1 TV the edge over other rivals - even the BBC's Persian TV service launched at the beginning of 2009. IRIB recently conducted a confidential survey which - at least according to the excerpts published on the Jahan News website - indicated that BBC Persian's audience had fallen by 30 per cent since Farsi 1 was launched. If the Iranian authorities do not like Farsi 1, they have yet to devise a way of curbing its influence. Jamming satellite transmissions and confiscating receiver dishes are the most obvious solutions, but neither has proved very effective in the past. IRIB has adopted a more constructive course - improving its own television output with a range of drama serials every night so that viewers stay tuned. The broadcaster's international department is also negotiating with Syria's iFilm network about setting up a joint entertainment channel in Arabic. The decision to focus on Arab audiences abroad seems to stem from a failed attempt to stir up interest in Afghanistan for a Persian-language channel that would also be shared with Tajikistan. The Gerdab website, linked to the IRGC, has characterised these plans as Iran's serve in a game of "media ping-pong" against the West, in the shape of Farsi 1TV. Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting website, London, in English 3 Sep 10 (via BBCM via DXLD) ``By storm`` implies rapidity; but this has been building up for over a year (gh, DXLD) ** IRELAND [and non]. Ireland "reception" report Hi all, I and my family spent the past two weeks in beautiful and sunny (!!) southwest Ireland (county Kerry). I did not take a receiver with me as we went by plane and then rental car, but I did scan the MW band on the car receiver, which was pretty sensitive. However, during the day there were very few stations to be heard on MW. Yet, I did find one thing peculiar. I could hear Radio Cornwall on both expected 630 and 657 kHz but also on 801 kHz. Does anybody know what transmitter is on this frequency with this programme? I don't have it in my EMWG and I could not find it in the BDXC's Radio Stations in the UK, which I had bought for this trip (and which was very useful when tuning to Irish FM stations). Perhaps a bit off-topic, but I would like to share with you a few things that we, a Flemish family, found odd: * The main news on public broadcaster RTE1 at 9 o'clock in the evening was interrupted halfway by ... advertising! Even commercial stations would not dare do this in Flanders. * The whole morning until lunchtime radio stations in Ireland are constantly babbling and chatting with little interest in music. In the afternoons this luckily improved. Is there some kind of law saying that 90% of the morning programmes should be talk talk, and talk? And I'm talking about so-called music stations as RTE 2FM and 4FM. * The news consists mainly on the country itself - there is little foreign or political news. * As for sport and entertainment, it sometimes seemed as if Ireland had none as all focus was on the UK (Premier League & X factor). We found this a pity. We did enjoy the Rose of Tralee broadcasts. * There are no bakers in Ireland (but we did find butchers). How come? Do Irish people all buy their bread in supermarkets as Tesco or Supervalu (which we were obliged to do as well)? * In food stores the main focus seems to be on sweets and all kind of soda drinks. We did not find a great variety of vegetables. No wonder people in Ireland are more and more overweight! ;-) * Many stores had a lot of Polish food to sell, something one cannot find in Flanders. * The Irish have a wonderful sense of irony. When driving the narrow countryside roads, it is kind of weird to find signs which say you can drive 100 kph (which is in itself ironical because driving 100 kph is suicide) and an underneath sign saying 'drive safely'. Don't take this the wrong way. We loved Ireland enormously and the Irish people are extremely friendly and helpful, even if the economic situation is very grim indeed. 73 (Herman Boel, Aug 30, MWC yg via DXLD) Interesting travelogue there, Herman. My wife and I visited Ireland in 1977 and enjoyed our stay. You are right about the driving, however. Way too much speed for the size of the roads and then those "Accident Black Spots": signs where wipeouts had occurred. The area of Kerry, Dingle, etc. is indeed beautiful. We drove around the whole country over a two week period and saw the Waterford Glass Works, Glendalough, the Powerscourt Gardens near Dublin, and the Guinness Brewery among other attractions. A real highlight was an afternoon tea visit with MWC member Mike McGovern in Dublin. I had only brought a Realistic TRF portable radio with me but found it quite easy to hear stations from New York City, Boston, and Canada's Atlantic Provinces just before local dawn along Ireland's western coast. Sligo, Westport, and Clifden were excellent locations for DXing. The country still had some AM's on back then, with the big RTE outlet on 566 which did have quite a lot of talk but some music too. The low- power Radio Na Gaeltachta outlets were the true gem, serving up the fiddling and other traditional music I thoroughly enjoy. For rock I listened mostly to BBC R. 1 on 1214 and Luxembourg on 1439 at night. Punk / new wave scene was going big then with the Adverts, Sex Pistols, and Irish group Boomtown Rats. U2 broke out a couple of years later. From south-facing shore sites out around Dingle, it was easy to hear some stations from Spain and Portugal all day. Irish food (I suppose like English food) is not as world-renowned as Italian or French but we did enjoy some of it. But we also went to a Chinese restaurant and an Italian one during our stay for a little more variety. The people were friendly to us and those in smaller towns thought that because we were from the Boston, MA area we would know all of their relatives there. They seemed to think that the local population back home for us was something like a few hundred (so everyone knew everyone) instead of several million. My ancestors were from Ballyporeen (near Cork), from Tipperary, and also from county Antrim in the North (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, Billerica, MA + South Yarmouth, MA, USA, ibid.) Hi Herman, To answer your query about 801 kHz I expect that would be BBC R Devon from Barnstaple on the north Devon coast - probably a strong signal in parts of Ireland. Do you remember what time you heard it carrying the same as Radio Cornwall? Devon & Cornwall, being adjacent counties, are likely to share programming at various times, especially evenings, although most shared programming is also carried across a wider network including Wiltshire, Jersey, Guernsey etc when it usually IDs as "BBC across the south west" rather than the specific local station. The actual schedule of shared programming is rather complex but certainly after 6 or 7pm you can expect to hear shared regional programming on most BBC local stations. 73s (Dave Kenny, England, ibid.) Hi Herman, glad you enjoyed your trip! I got a laugh out of some of your comments so I will try to address some of your observations. * The main news on public broadcaster RTE1 at 9 o'clock in the evening was interrupted halfway by ... advertising! Even commercial stations would not dare do this in Flanders. Very odd, I've never really noticed this. * The whole morning until lunchtime radio stations in Ireland are constantly babbling and chatting with little interest in music. In the afternoons this luckily improved. Is there some kind of law saying that 90% of the morning programmes should be talk talk, and talk? And I'm talking about so-called music stations as RTE 2FM and 4FM. Yes, the Irish like to talk, and then talk some more. I actually prefer this on radio rather than mostly music. In particular Ireland has very healthy local radio with plenty of regional news and views. In fact I'd go so far as to say Ireland has far too many radio stations, mostly on FM of course. * The news consists mainly on the country itself - there is little foreign or political news. I don`t really recognise that. * As for sport and entertainment, it sometimes seemed as if Ireland had none as all focus was on the UK (Premier League & X factor). We found this a pity. We did enjoy the Rose of Tralee broadcasts. In Ireland soccer is a minority sport with the main interest being Gaelic football, Hurley, and Rugby in that order so I'm surprised too at the level of media interest there is in the premier league. As for the dreadful importation of X - Factor and other such garbage - I try NOT to see any of that stuff but it is incredibly popular (sadly) * There are no bakers in Ireland (but we did found butchers). How come? Do Irish people all buy their bread in supermarkets as Tesco or Supervalu (which we were obliged to do as well)? Hahaha, no, most towns have bakers, I think most towns have their own bakeries. * In food stores the main focus seems to be on sweets and all kind of soda drinks. We did not find a great variety of vegetables. No wonder people in Ireland are more and more overweight! ;-) Did you notice all of the women "walking off" those sweets (and white supermarket bread) around 7 pm? Check any Irish town around that time and you will find squads of fast walking ladies! * Many stores had a lot of Polish food to sell, something one cannot find in Flanders. Same here in Fermanagh. Its interesting trying all the new foods of the "new" Irish. Pity you didn`t have a roll of wire and receiver with you, I imagine Kerry would be a great location for DX'ing. The problem with Dx'ing on the island of Ireland though is the sheer number and strength of all the Spanish stations. Dawn can bring some nice opportunities though toward the Atlantic Islands and the Americas. Hope you get an opportunity for some of that next time :-) (Paul Logan, Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, ibid.) ** IRELAND. 6295, Reflections Europe, 2115-..., 05 Sep'10, English, "canned" religious propaganda programs; 43442, overmodulated, very poor readability, adjacent QRM de CLANDESTINE Polisario Front 6297. Fair to good on \\ 12255. 12255, Reflections Europe, IRL, 2113-..., 05 Sep'10, English, "canned" religious propaganda programs; 35343 via the N-S wire (about 50 or so m now), simply inaudible via any other antenna; \\ 6295 overmodulated, adjacent QRM (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also EUROPE Pirates ** IRELAND [and non]. The Sunday Sept. 5 All Ireland final between Clare and Kilkenny started at 1300 UT. 252 LW is on air loud and clear but 15400 via Meyerton is only weak and under stronger co-channel HCJB Australia (Noel R. Green (NW England), Sept 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) AUSTRALIA/SOUTH AFRICA, 15400 Instead of expected RTE Dublin live sports Meyerton-AFS relay, I heard HCA Kununurra Australia's religious program in English only. 1300-1330 UT, Sept 5th. English religious talk, poor S=7 fluttery signal. At 1346 UT noted HCA Kununurra in Mandarin, scheduled 1330-1430 UT, fair S=8 fluttery signal. Very tiny weak signal UNDERNEATH, probably RTE Dublin sports transmission via Meyerton AFS. 73 wb in southern Germany (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) 5th Sept 1345 UT, 15400 kHz carrying commentary, 59+20 db with slight co-channel QRM from HCA Chinese. English News at 1400-1402 followed by commercials of Toyota & Irish Red Cross Society requesting donations for Pakistan floods. 7265 completely blocked by VOIROI Urdu & CRI Sinhalese at 1400. Here's the reply from RTE received last week regarding the txn dates ..... ----Quote ------ The Hurling final is on Sunday 5th September. This game is uniquely Irish and is generally not known very well outside the Irish community. The game is played with a small leather ball and is hit by wooden sticks called 'hurleys' about the same length as hockey sticks but much different in shape. For better images and information try http://www.gaa.ie The Gaelic football final is on Sunday 19th September. This game is also an Irish variation, not related to soccer or rugby, but uses a big ball like a soccer ball. Best wishes, Seán. ----Unquote-------- (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, ibid.) See 10-35 for the 5 Sept frequency schedule, repeated 19 Sept (gh) I have only a faint signal from Meyerton, just barely sufficient for making out what this should be. And nothing at all on 252; it gets completely overridden by local noise. But then neither 252 nor RTÉ via Meyerton are exotic anyway. Btw, these RTÉ sports specials also used to include a DRM transmission to Europe from a UK site. Not so anymore. But this could be a simple result of a change of transmission providers/resellers, from what used to be Merlin to WRN (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 1427 UT Sept 5, ibid.) The reason why Alokesh is hearing RTE Meyerton 15400 so well would seem to be due to the azimuth in use being 19 degrees to East Africa and onwards, while Kununurra is beaming at 340 degrees to East Asia. The 19 degree beam is not good for reception in Europe, while 340 from KNX seems to reach Germany and the UK well. RTE-MEY 15445 is a much better signal from 1430 UT at 330 deg to West Africa and peaking to 9+ on the meter. BBC English via Ascension has taken over 15400 from 1500, and only fair at 27 degrees. RTE-MEY via 11695 at 19 deg from 1500 is not audible, and there is no trace of 7265 either, so far (Noel R. Green (NW England), ibid.) RTE-Meyerton 15445 at 1545 UT, signal 9+10 here in Barcelona Spain Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez, QTH: El Prat de Llobregat-Barcelona España, Coordenadas 41º 19' 26" N- 02º05'25" E, ibid.) At 1504 UT: 7265 - Blocked by CRI Chinese 11695 - 59 + 10 dB 11805 - Not heard ---- (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, ibid.) ** ISRAEL. Re: Israel Persian. 15760, Kol Israel in Persian the stronger one here in Germany, S=9+10dB at 1445 UT, Sept 5. The other on 13850 kHz very tiny S=2 only signal, traced only when Eton E1 synchronous detection option on. No Iranian jamming observed today, but IRIB 15150 from Sirjan in Arabic was similar weak as Meyerton 15400 S=3. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, via Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DXLD) I can confirm that Kol Israel in Persian is now on 15760, noted around 1400/1410 with an endless monologue of a somewhat unsure announcer, reading out one item about Israel vs. Palestine after another. Strong signal with no trace of Iranian jamming. And no trace of a signal on 13850 or 11595 or 9985. A bunch of frequencies is registered for this service, but as far as I'm aware never more than two transmitters have been used for it (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 1427 UT Sept 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. 6973, Galei Tzahal, 2320-2350, Sept 5, US pop and Euro- pop music. Hebrew announcements. No sign of 15785. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** KASHMIR. New 4950.00, 2255-2320 03.09, R Kashmir, Srinagar, Kashmiri (presumed) talk, muslim singing and Ramadan preaching in a Mosque 45434 (Anker Petersen, from sunny Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) Not new frequency but was new time for Ramadan only (gh) 4950, R. Kashmir (tentative), 1341, September 5. Briefly heard under Voice of Pujiang; non-stop chanting/singing; rare that I hear this (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR [and non]. Jammu, Ranchi on SW --- Radio Kashmir, Jammu & AIR Ranchi has been off SW for several years now. The good news is that they may be back on air. According to information in AIR website http://www.allindiaradio.gov.in AIR has floated tenders for their spares last year. More info on this is in: Jammu: http://allindiaradio.gov.in/NIT/Central%20Store/16-9-09---11.pdf Ranchi: http://allindiaradio.gov.in/NIT/Central%20Store/06112009_3346.pdf http://allindiaradio.gov.in/NIT/Central%20Store/06112009_3373.pdf 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, Sept 5, dx_india yg via DXLD) Jammu notice specifies certain spare parts needed for 50 kW SW transmitter, not an entire new transmitter (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. For some NK video coupled, with hilarious results, with some very un-NK music, type: http://www.urlesque.com/2010/08/25/north-korean-dance-party (Kim Andrew Elliott, International Broadcasting, Sept NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 5910, heavy jamming at 1404, September 2; intended for Shiokaze which was not here, but has moved up to 6135 to escape this jamming noise. ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6135, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, 1425, September 3 (Friday). In English with “This is a message from the Japanese government” per attached audio file, regarding the Japanese abducted by North Korea (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://www.mediafire.com/?ih663gnbg28bzbf The music underneath the female voice was an interesting contrast. Thanks for sharing! (Richard Cuff, NASWA yg via DXLD) Ron, Great clip; thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed the excellent quality reception which is a "dream" on the east coast. 73, (Rich D`Angelo, PA, ibid.) 6135, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, 1423, September 7. Tuesday is still the best day to try to catch this programming in stilted Chinese, which is not used every week; fair with no jamming yet (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. Re 10-35: 6015, KBS Hanminjok Bangsong, Aug 26 0539- 0548, 44444, Korean, Talk and music, ID and address announce at 0539 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9650, KBSWR via Sackville in English, Sept 7 at 1252 with QRM from continuous 1 kHz tone, i.e. IBB Tinang, PHILIPPINES, warming up for RNW Dutch relay from 1259, which caused even greater interference to 1300 CRI English relay via Sackville. Will these stations ever get their acts together, or rather separated? Of course not! No one cares in A-10, altho in B-10, CRI should no longer be on 9650 at 1300, and RNW at 1300 via PHT will be on 12065 with KBS staying on 9650, only colliding with North Korea, if they are lucky (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. Re 10-35: In an earlier report, CNN mentioned the former contractor of the 1386 kHz project as Defense Contracting and Consulting, some company from California. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/17/iran.radio.transmitter/ Do broadcasting projects really need to be mixed up with the military field? In my opinion BBG should better stay away from it, especially since the Kuwait transmitter site was in the past involved in black propaganda, a kind of activity that not really distinguishes a stronghold of reliable journalism (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxlydg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT?? 7130, Radio Kuwait? 0515-0534*, Sept 6, Kuwait testing here again as they were doing back in Jan-April? Talk in unidentified language. Some Mid-east style choral music. Abrupt sign off. Strong. Too strong to be Eritrea or Ethiopia. No //s found. (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX Listening Digest) See also UNID 6248.3 ** LAOS. 7145, Lao National R., Vientiane, 1306, September 8. After a considerable absence they have returned again; news in French followed by Laotian songs till 1331 theme music; usual canned ID (“This is the Lao National Radio, broadcasting from Vientiane, the [Lao?] Democratic Republic. Our English language is broadcast twice daily at 1300 hours and 2030 hours local time, which is 7 hours ahead of GMT. It is transmitted on a frequency of 97.25 MHz. on FM”); "local news" (the President of India to visit Laos tomorrow; Laos won the most prizes at an ASEAN competition recently held in Bangkok; news of crop damages, etc.); 1350 Laotian music and segment about a Buddhist festival held in Laos; 1356 ID and “Now come to our International News”; 1400*. Very nice to have them broadcasting again! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. 7530, Suab Xaa Moo Zoo, Aug 25 *2230-2240, 35232-35333, Hmong, 2230 sign on with opening music, Opening announce, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) Aoki sez: 7530, Suab Xaa Moo Zoo (V of Hope) 2230-2300 1234567 Hmong- Blue/Njua 100 kW 250deg Taipei TWN 12124E 2509N TDP-HCM a10 (gh, DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. Hmong World Christian Radio missing from WHRI 11785 during its previously scheduled Sat 1300-1330 transmission; just hearing // 11805 etc., CNR1 jammer against VOA Chinese via Thailand during this hour (not Tinang as in Aoki). Indeed this has disappeared from WHR online program skeds; WHRI-6 on 11785 at 1300-1330 Saturday now shows Lester Sumrall Teachings, but when it`s only unpaid WHR filler they don`t bother to turn on the SW transmitters. Searching on Hmong, one gets only this via Angel 3, 9930, i.e. T8BZ Palau {oops, make that T8WH}: 2200-2230 6:00-6:30 PM Fr,Sa,Su Hmong World Ministries Gia Tou Lee That presumably means local Sat, Sun, Mon mornings in target area; goodbye, Hminnesota (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. 3960, Star Radio. September, 05 0655-0705 male and female in English talks “Liberia..operation..15000 dollars”, sometimes short African music. At 0659 sudden lower signal level changing to an unreadable condition, 25332 until 0659. 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m; Longwire 22m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA [and non]. I must have been sleeping --- when did R. Vilnius end its Internet audio service? RV had ended its use of SW for a daily English language program as of early 2009 but had maintained an English language webcast --- which ended as of October 30, 2009, according to the online archives of DXLD. Unfortunately, that shows you how compelling I found the service --- I didn`t know it was missing. Don`t let this happen to you, especially as other broadcasters contemplate their futures in uncertain economic times. If you enjoy hearing a broadcaster on SW, send them an e-mail or a post card --- not just to request a QSL, but to encourage them to continue to use SW, explaining *why* you prefer them on SW versus other easy to listen (Rich Cuff, Easy Listening, Sept NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, 07 SEP, 0810 UT, RTM Traxx FM, heard with R&B, Soul and DJ patter in English with good signals. Second check at 0900 reavealed almost 6 dB increase in signal level. Possible change in antenna or transmitter power? (Al Muick, visiting Pattaya, Thailand, WinRadio G303e, 100m Longwire / Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) ** MALI. 5995, RTVM Bamako, 2247-2303, Sept 3, French. W announcer with brief talk between native music; talk over wind instrument at ToH; poor-weak (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5995, R. Mali, Kati, 2205-2219, 03 Sep'10, vernacular, talks, folk songs; 45433, very weak modulation, but a bit better on 04/9 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 783, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 2148-..., 03 Sep'10, Arabic, prayer; 54444, QRM de ESPAÑA, but inaudible at times, so nearly 55444 rating; \\ 4845. 7245, ditto, 1207-..., 06 Sep'10, Arabic, news bulletin; 35443 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7245, R Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 1841-1909, Sept 07, Arabic in the clear at first but losing out to co-channel CRI Russian 1900. Usually they are not on this frequency so late if at all. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, ibid.) ** MEXICO. 6010, Radio Mil, techno rock 0938 followed by two IDs by YL, español cover of pop music 2 September. 73s de Bob (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro-DL - NRD 535D, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) ** MEXICO. Cambio drástico "en la OM (MW) en" Mérida, Yucatán. Así es, Sr. Hauser, algunas estaciones del Grupo Rivas han cambiado de frecuencia y las pertenecientes a Sistema Rasa están fuera del aire (¿Candela FM desaparecida temporal o definitivamente de la OM?). La FM sin cambios. [luego:] Estimado Sr. Hauser, ya recibí respuesta del departmento técnico de Sistema Rasa Yucatán; he aquí lo que me dijeron: ``Hola Israel: Esperamos pronto tener al aire la señal de la onda corta; estamos trabajando en eso y en verdad agradecemos el que estén al pendiente de nuestras estaciones. Tan pronto estemos al aire yo me encargo de avisarles para saber si nos pueden escuchar y tener nuevamente noticias suyas, muchas gracias. Ing. Orlando Balam`` Atte.: (Ing. Civ. Israel González Ahumada, M.I., Sept 6, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Re 10-35: CAMPAÑA DEL C.DX.A - INTERNACIONAL PARA PEDIR LA REACTIVACION DE RADIO MEXICO INTERNACIONAL EN ONDAS CORTAS!!!. Si quieres sumarte a esta iniciativa de nuestro club, envìa tu opinion directamente a: http://www.radio2010.imer.com.mx/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=2%3Acontactanos&catid=12%3Acontacts&Itemid=82 Y también, pueden responder nuestra encuesta y dejar sus comentarios en nuestro blog: http://diexismomexicano.blogspot.com/ Agradecidos por su colaboracion! CDXA - INTERNACIONAL - VENEZUELA. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: sábado 4 de septiembre de 2010 CARTA ABIERTA AL IMER: PIDIENDO LA REACTIVACION DE LAS TRANSMISIONES EN ONDAS CORTAS DE RADIO MEXICO INTERNACIONAL !!! Colegas de RADIO MEXICO INTERNACIONAL INSTITUTO MEXICANO DE LA RADIO - IMER Ciudad de Mèxico. Saludos cordiales desde Barinas, Venezuela, sede del Club Diexistas de la Amistad, agrupaciòn internacional que reune a radioescuchas y Diexistas de las ondas cortas en todo el mundo!!! En nombre de nuestra club, queremos dejar constancia que nos llena de alegrìa saber que Radio 20-10 retransmitirà los programas de Radio Mexico Internacional a travès de internet, pero mucho màs nos alegrarà saber el dìa en que vuelvan a transmitir por ondas cortas. Añoramos escuchar de nuevo a XERMX, con su programaciòn en esas frecuencias , tal como ocurria hasta hace algunos años. Creemos que fuè un grave error suspender estas trsnsmisiones y nunca es tarde para rectificar esa dràstica medida. Ademàs es un deseo de la audiencia internacional que tenìa su estaciòn. Dios quiera y las autoridades del IMER recapacitaran y pongan de nuevo al aire las transmisiones en bandas internacionales de ondas cortas. Nuestro razonamiento es muy simple: no todos sus potenciales oyentes en el mundo disponen de una computadora y una conexiòn a internet. Sin embargo, muchos oyentes si cuentan con radioreceptores ecònomicos que disponen de bandas de onda corta donde donde si podràn escucharlos . Este argumento es muy vàlido para paises subdesarrollados como los Latinoamericanos, donde Mèxico tiene una fuerte presencia a travès de su mùsica y rica e interante cultura. Si en verdad quieren tener una sòlida audiencia de Radio Mèxico Internacional, no desechen por supuesto las ondas cortas. A la espera de una respuesta escrita a nuestra inquietud, deseamos saludarles y abogar por el pronto regreso de las transmisiones de Radio Mexico Internacional a travès de las ondas cortas. Desde Venezuela, 34 años...escuchando al Mundo!!! CLUB DIEXISTAS DE LA AMISTAD Ing. Santiago San Gil Gonzalez Locutor Profesional / Productor Radial (((AMERICA EN ANTENA)))) http://americaenantena.blogspot.com RADIO MUNDO 88.9 FM - Barinas, Venezuela. Editor de 11 Blogs dedicados a la radiodifusiòn, entre ellos: http://diexismomexicano.blogspot.com http://diexismovenezolano.blogspot.com Telèfono Celular: 0424-5837916 americaenantena @ yahoo.com Nota del Editor: Què buena noticia, aunque mas interesante serìa saber que Radio Mexico Internacional regresa a las ondas cortas!!!. Añoramos un regreso futuro al dial donde modestamente transmitìa a una audiencia que siempre le dispensò tantas horas a su programaciòn. De todas formas aquì les dejo el enlace de la emisora virtual del IMER http://www.radio2010.imer.com.mx (CDXA Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XHI-2 Los Mochis does not relay XHI-2 Obregón --- DXers generally don't appreciate my Mexico TV DX tips. I realize that the truth about Mexico TV usually hurts the log book. However, if you have an open channel 2 and are in DX range of Sonora and Sinaloa, you need to know this. I was wrong. Cantú was wrong. Everybody was wrong. Nevertheless, the truth is on the Grupo Pacífico Website. The schedules of the Pacífico stations proves that XHI-2 Los Mochis does *not* relay XHI-2 Cd Obregón. A few weeks back, I recorded a big animated XHI ID that has Los Mochis listed as the location. You can see the pictures and read more about this on the WTFDA Forums: http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?t=4865 (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, 31 Aug, Mexico TV DX Tips http://www.tvdxtips.com WTFDA via DXLD) Be careful about Mexico state promotions, etc. I wouldn't count any Mexico TV station if all I had to go on was "...ésta es México... Sinaloa." There are two major problems with that. First, two independent Grupo Pacífico stations operate on channel 2 in Sinaloa: XHI-2 Los Mochis and XHQ-2 Guamuchil (a full-time, 100 kW relayer of XHQ-3 Culiacán, Sinaloa). Both of these stations display the Pacífico logo [sea gull], so the only way to distinguish between them (and XHI-2 Cd Obregón, Sonora) is to match the programming on the Web pages (via schedules or live streams). Second, long before Mexico started celebrating their big anniversary this year, the Televisa networks were running short features about the various states of Mexico during some commercial breaks. They have a feature for each state, and these are relayed all over the country. (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, Mexico TV DX Tips http://www.tvdxtips.com Sept 7 WTFDA via DXLD) ** MICRONESIA. Attention TP DXers: Old AM Signal returning! I just got word that V6AI at 1491 [sic] kHz from Colonia on the island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia will be back on the air with 10,000 Watts of non directional power as soon as Tuesday but no later then a week from today. The station has been operating as 500 Watt FM only KUTE 88.1 since the AM transmitter broke down in January 2009 leaving residents of outer islands without radio service. If anyone hears the new AM signal and wants a QSL or some kind of letter confirming the reception, I'm sure V6AI will be happy to reply... they are very nice folks over there and LOVE hearing from listeners overseas! Mailing address: Sebastian Tamagken V6AI Radio Post Office Box 117 Colonia, Yap FM 96943 Email address: s_tamagken @ yahoo.com Warmest Regards, (Paul Walker, Marion IL, Aug 23, IRCA via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DXLD) Colonia with a C, not to be confused with Kolonia with a K, the town on Pohnpei, some 1300 miles to the east of Yap at the other end of the FSM (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is a press release direct from the Government on The Island Of Yap in The Federated States Of Micronesia. The station they are referring to is V6AI at 1494 kHz *NEW AM TRANSMITTER TESTED* At exactly 9:00 am today, the Media Division began a simulcast through both AM and FM stations and informed people who were tuning in on the FM to switch to the AM and monitor how they are receiving the signal. At the same time the Governor`s Office also contacted the neighboring islands and requested them to check on their area reception and report back so the Media Division could do fine-tuning adjustments on the new AM transmitter in order for better reception. Because of the lengthy distance between the Yap main islands and the neighboring islands, AM transmission is required for better reception in the neighboring islands; with AM the neighboring islands can tune in to important government information and other broadcasted matters. Most of the neighboring islands have responded back to the Governor?s Office within one hour from the call this morning and reported that they each have received fine reception on the radio signal in their respective areas; but in the meantime the Office is still waiting for confirmation from those islands that have not been able to send in their reports via SSB Radio. Following a thorough inspection of the new AM transmitter by technical engineer who installed the transmitter, nothing suspicious has yet been detected as a sign that something could be wrong; but he will continue to monitor the AM transmitter until he is sure that there will be no problem. In the meantime, the AM radio will not be in full operation and may discontinue broadcasting from time to time until such new programs are produced and an approved schedule is in place. The AM station stopped broadcasting on January 20, 2009 after the former AM transmitter malfunctioned. Since then, the majority of the people of Yap, especially those in the outlining villages and the neighboring islands, have had no radio reception from the government for over 19 months now. The Department of Youth and Civic Affairs had acquired the new XR-12 Transmitter with capacity to broadcast at 1500 watts from Nautel, Inc *Paul's note: The XR12 is capable of 12,000 Watts so I don't know if they are only running 1500 Watts or just got something wrong (Paul Walker, Aug 24, ibid.) If using a full 12 kW this may be heard far and wide, but with 1.5 kW I won't be expecting them to do nearly as well. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL/WI, ibid.) I'll be looking for this one. If 12 kW, it should be a piece of cake on the coast, as the 1 kWers from that area have been heard, like Koror, Palau, Marshalls, etc. 1494 is a good channel too. Not much on 1500, so little splash, except 1490, a regular graveyarder, and out closest at 50 miles (Patrick Martin, Seaside, Oregon, "Come visit us for the 2010 IRCA convention held Sept 24-26 at the Inn At Seaside.", ibid.) I suspect the 1.5 kW may be a mistake, an earlier press release several months ago mentioned 10,000 Watts. However, with power being somewhat unstable and very expensive there, they may operate at only 1.5 kW. I have contacts at V6AI and I'll get ahold of them to see what they say. I encourage DX'ers to email or write the station by postal mail to confirm reception. As I said before, the staff at V6AI are extremely friendly and love overseas listeners! If you think you've logged V6AI they have a webstream, albeit low quality that is a simulcast of their live programming so that makes it easy to verify what you heard. 1494 will be operating on an irregular schedule for right now till testing phase is complete (Paul Walker, ibid.) ** MOROCCO [non]. Morocco is again missing from both 9575 and 15340 today. I assume it's HCJB Australia that I hear at 1315 via 15340 in an Asian language - listed as Malayalam on Sundays at this time, and Hindi from 1330 (Noel R. Green (NW England), Sept 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15341.1, Sept 6 at 1435, poor with Arabic music. Not only is RTM off- frequency from 15340, it is off-the-off-frequency by about 0.1 kHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5770, Myanmar Defense Forces Br. St. (presumed), 1425, September 2. In vernacular; pop songs; always enjoy their usual BoH format of brief indigenous musical selection followed by military marching band; recently reception has been improving for Myanmar and in another month or two should have fairly good reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. Myanmar minorities programme had moved from 5915 to 5920 noted today for the 0930 past 1330 transmissions. Could be to avoid the evening BBC cochannel (G. Victor A. Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, date? via DXPlorer via SWB Sept 5 via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DXLD) 5920, Myanma Radio. Thanks to a tip from Victor Goonetilleke (Sri Lanka), who first noted them on this new frequency September 3. I checked September 4 to find them back on their normal 5915 (under CRI), with 5920 totally clear of anything. On September 5, Myanmar was indeed on 5920 from 1330 to 1500*, with random listening. Noted their usual indigenous theme music before the start of their non-stop educational lectures provided by the Minorities and Distance Learning Services; indigenous theme music again just before sign off. Time will tell if this is a real change in frequency to get away from the strong QRM from CRI on 5915. 5915, Myanma Radio. 1330, September 6. Back on their normal frequency under CRI; nothing heard on 5920. Needs more monitoring (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5915, Myanma Radio. Heard here on both September 7 and 8. There are now THREE stations mixing together here; a strong CRI along with Myanmar and an unidentified station. Is unfortunate they do not permanently move up to 5920, which is a completely clear frequency for the 1330 to 1500 time period. Myanmar’s 2-3 day move up to 5920 was perhaps a frequency entry error, or perhaps an experiment to see how well they were heard there? Will keep checking (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. For those of you interested in shortwave, we made a few changes on 1 September which are reflected in our frequency schedule (link on the right). http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/rnw-frequency-schedule-summer-2010 (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Sept 2 via DXLD) Viz., all 1234567 = daily. The only entries in the current schedule involving a start or end date in August or September: 1959 2200 KCH 6040 275 29-08-2010 31-10-2010 500 RNW Dut w+swEU+CIsl 0229 0250 BON 6040 341 05-09-2010 31-10-2010 250 VAT Fre nAMe 1959 2200 NAU 6125 225 31-05-2010 29-08-2010 500 RNW Dut swEU 0229 0250 BON 9610 350 28-03-2010 05-09-2010 250 VAT Fre nAM 0559 0703 NAU 9895 190 01-09-2010 31-10-2010 500 RNW Dut sEU 0703 0757 SIN 9895 40 01-09-2010 31-10-2010 250 RNW Dut sEU (extracted by Glenn Hauser, Sept 4 for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 11725, RNZI with coverage of the quake around Christchurch (whose name seems not to have been a deterrent), Sept 4 at 0533, interviews with people and officials in the area. I expect a lot of regular programming got preëmpted, and fortunately Rangitaiki is unmarred on the North Island. By 1339 check of fair 6170, however, it was back to music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 6089.85, Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, *0257-0330, Sept 3, sign on with test tone at 0257. Drums IS at 0300. Choral anthem at 0301. Religious recitations at 0303. Talk in listed Hausa. Qur`an. Anguilla 6090 off the air. Fair signal but slight QRM from Ethiopia (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 6089.9, R. Nigeria Kaduna, 2109-2136, Sept 3, listed Hausa. Various announcers with short talks and music bits; ID in passing; Kor'an-like vocals from 2129; announcer at 2135 and Call to Prayer-like vocals; poor-fair at best listening in ECCS-USB, which the signal kept slipping in/out of (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 7255, V. of Nigeria, Ikorodu, 2013-2022, Sept 3, French. W announcer with talk and music bits; Hi-life music at 2019; fair listening in ECCS-LSB; over presumed co-channel CRI-Xinji (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 7275.00, FRCN Abuja, 0628-0652, Sept 03, English news reports fading out on clear frequency. Appears to have been reactivated, last time I heard them here was on 7274.88 in B07 period. Can't remember seeing any recent logs anywhere. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, After an absence of several years I think, I have just observed the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria station in Abuja back on shortwave. Noted today 03/09/2010 at 1900 on 7275 with domestic news in English and identifying as "Radio Nigeria National Station Abuja". The news was followed by music and then a programme in Hausa at 1930 (James MacDonell, Nigeria, Sept 3, DX WORLD OF RADIO 1529, LISTENING DIGEST) 7275, FRCN, Abuja, 0628-0645, Sept 5, Reactivated. Audible after Tunisia signs off at 0628 with English news. “Radio Nigeria” ID. Poor in noisy conditions. Thanks to tips from Martien Groot and James MacDonell. 7275, FRCN, Abuja, 0601-0635, Sept 6, audible under Tunisia at 0601 tune-in. Weak but in the clear at 0627 when Tunisia signs off. English news program (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX Listening Digest) Re 7275, Gwagwalarda, Nigeria. MW 909 kHz 08 55'52.10"N 07 04'23.38"E but two smaller masts in south-north-angle visible on the lower left corner at 08 55'44.42"N 07 04'22.33"E The 3 new 250 kW Thomson TXs at Abuja Lugbe site are ready since mid Dec 2009, but not on air yet. Studio installation at Abuja downtown were still in progress. Thomson technician Bodo Fritsche 5NOCH / DU9 / DL3OCH told us in Nov 2009: 7275 kHz transmitter site is Radio Nigeria in Gwagwalarda. He visited that site in November 2009 and made an EXPERTISE on this site equipment for the Thomson management + VoNigera. The site is in very bad shape. 2 x 100 kW transmitter need to be overhauled / repaired in January 2010 by Thomson engineer colleagues of his Swiss/Mannheim group, in transmitter and antenna division. 7275 Gwagwalarda shortwave site facility will get the same modern control system unit like at Lugbe site. He assumes the 7275 kHz Gwagwalarda site will be ready in regular service again in mid 2010. He feel not certain of exact date, but the Gwagwalarda site is out of service some years now, he guess they stopped service in late 2005?" (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews / SW TXsite Dec 23, 2009) Re Broadcasting aus Abuja, Nigeria. Hi, I suppose Gwagwalada 7275 kHz is then co-sited with the MW 909, but the SW antenna is not visible. (Mauno Ritola-FIN, SW TXsite Dec 24, 2009) NIG FRCN Abuja (Gwagwalada) 909 kHz. History. 7275 ended approx. 12 Feb 2008, according Carlos Gonçalves in Portugal 12 Feb 2008 log. Last log in my archive, 7275 at 0810 on Oct 31, FRCN Abuja, in English, easy talk. 33333 (Wolfgang Büschel, visited Algarve cliff coast, Portugal, wwdxc BC-DX Oct 29-Nov 4, 2006) and Odd frequency [indicator] approx. 7274.86 kHz. (wb, wwdxc BC-DX Jan 18, 2008) QSL in 127 days. Radio Abuja 7275 kHz. QTH: Broadcasting House, P.O.Box 377, Gwagwalada / P.M.B.71, Gark1, Abuja, Nigeria. v/s Ben Obeta. (Patrick Robic-AUT, A-DX Nov 8, 2005) 7275, FRCN-Abuja, nice looking date + fqy verie letter confirming Abuja transmission and giving hrs. as 0430-2130 UT (not sure if all on the same fqy) in English and Nigerian langs. V/S Ben Obeta for Exec. Director; in 20 weeks for CD report and $1. Letter is dated Aug 4 but postmark is illegible, so I can't tell if it was really en route for 3 months or not. Address on letter: FRCN Abuja National Station, Broadcasting House, P. O. Box 377 Gwagwalada P.M.B. 71, GARK1 ["GARK one"], Abuja, Nigeria. tel. 09-8821065 & 8821341, Fax 09-8821040. (Jerry Berg-MA-USA, DXplorer Nov 6, 2005) 7275, Radio Nigeria - Abuja verified with a date/frequency letter in 108 days from v/s Ben Obeta for the Executive Director. Address from letter: Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (Abuja National Station), Broadcasting House, P.O.Box 377 Gwagwalada, Nigeria. P.M.B 71, Gark1, Abuja, Nigeria. The verie letter provided the schedule as 0430-2130 UTC (0530-2230 Nigerian time). (Rich D'Angelo- PA-USA, DXplorer Nov 13, 2005) (ALL via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg) ** NIGERIA. 15120, Voice of Nigeria at 1845 UT, August 28/2010 in English. Local music program and ID's. Sign off announcement at 1859. Good but low modulation of the voice portions of the broadcast (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Kenwood R5000, KLM 7-30 MHz Log Periodic, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. Happy Labor Day from TCS --- Good evening, folks. We're going on the air shortly on 6876 kHz AM, about 0030 UT, with labor movement music and songs about jobs. Happy Labor Day! (John Poet, The Crystal Ship, 0024 UT Sept 7, The TCS Blog http://tcsshortwave.blogspot.com/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. Pirate QSLs from over the summer: BabyTime Radio: 6925U p/d baby on towels e-QSL for a report on the FRN. V/s Little One Barnyard Radio: 6930 f/d 2 eQSLs: Chimp with gun & Mexican border. Nice note, v/s Chuck Manson, in a few days for e-mail report Captain Morgan: 6925 2 f/d e QSLs: Bulldog playing guitar & skeleton playing guitar, in a few days, with nice e-mails. V/s Captain Morgan CHKN: F/d glossy color chicken card, for a report on FRN or in FRW. v/s Helen Hen. FYI, CHKN is a WBNY program Disco Demolition: 6925U f/d Comiskey Park color photo card #7, with information letter about Disco Demolition Night in 1979. In 13 months for report to FRN Grapevines or FRW newsletter. V/s Auntie Disco Hard Tack Radio: 6925U f/d Civil War soldier e-QSL + nice note in a day for e-mailed report. Liquid Radio: 6925 f/d Garfield & Arlene e-QSL in a few months for e- mailed reception report. 10 watts into an inverted V Radio Casablanca: 6940 f/d Casablanca movie poster e-QSL in 5 months for e-mailed report. V/s Rick Blaine Radio Free Euphoria: 6925U f/d upset cat color photo eQSL #338 in a day or so. V/s Captain Ganja Silverfish Radio: 7417 p/d silverfish copied sheet in 19 years(!) for report in Pirate Pages or maybe ACE? Lots of crazy ramblings on the sheet. V/s Ms. Lepisma Saccharina Voice of Next Thursday: 6899.5 f/d cat brain-fishing card (hard copy & via e-mail) for e-mailed report. Nice e-mails as always from Gabriel Syme WBNY: F/d glossy microphone card, for a report on FRN or in FRW. v/s Commander Bunny. Also received professionally designed & printed mousepads, a magnetic calendar, & even a Commander Bunny for President mug! A great example of a station that’s going way above & beyond in these days when many SWBC stations don’t QSL anymore. WEAK Radio: 6930U f/d prehistoric rock transmitter color e-QSL for report on FRN Grapevines & nice e-mail in a few days. QSL #454. The best eQSLer around! WFUQ: blank eQSL in a few days for e-mail report. V/s DJ Jack Hammer (Andrew Yoder, POB 109, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214, Drake R-8 & 75’ random wire antenna, Sept 8, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. 1120, KEOR, Sperry-Catoosa-Tulsa has been on most of the time but signal seems weaker than before, such as Sept 2 around 2030 UT; sometimes hard to tell on caradio. But Sept 3 at 1952 check it was definitely missing, no carrier or modulation (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And back since ** OKLAHOMA. 1340 Sand Springs back on the air, noted this AM (9/4/10) at 9:55 am CDT [1455 UT] while running Saturday AM errands. Spanish music and talk, no call letters heard across the TOH. The announcer sounded "live" rather than recorded. Heard one mention of "música norteña" and frequent "la ley (sp?) ocho ochenta". That would be 8-80 if my imperfect Spanish knowledge is correct. More monitoring needed. (Bruce Winkelman, Tulsa, OK, Honda Civic car-radio, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1340 was KJMU with soul format, relayed for a while on sporadic KEOR 1120 (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. 1430 KTBZ(T), Tulsa, 1900 MST Sept 4 / 0200 Z, 24-7 score, really solid signal on verylight (not quite "ultra"), with onboard ferrite loop. Sleepless night the night before, I wasn`t participating in CME [coordinated monitoring event for ABDX, currently high school football on Friday nights]; woke from nap, turned on DX- 375 still tuned to 1430 from that morning, clear ID and game heard right off "AM 1430, The Buzz". Could this be one of Kevin's "cheaters"? Station really strong for night power of 5 kW coming from NE-Oklahoma! Or is it still using day power of 25 kW? 73 and Good Listening! (Rick Barton, El Mirage, AZ, Radio Shack DX-375, ABDX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. 1580, KOKB, Blackwell, continues to lose modulation for large amounts of airtime, but carrier stays on. Noted that way sometime on Sept 2, but at 1950 UT on Sept 3 (over)modulated sports talk was back. Back to OC Sept 4 morning, reaudiblizing the no longer unID Spanish sportstalk: see U S A (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1610, WQCL720, Great Salt Plains State Park, as it never IDs, just relaying Enid NWS from 162 MHz, marginally audible in Enid, but on a Labor Day DXpedition to NW Garfield County near Nine Mile Canyon (much less impressive than the name implies), closer to GSP, marred by heavy noise on frequency. I think its own transmitter is now defective, but it could be some Talking House as at least three of those still pollute 1670 similarly. Since I didn`t recollect the callsign, did FCC TIS search for all 1610 in OK and found: Callsign: WQCL720 Licensee: Alfalfa County - OSU Extension Service Radio Service: Public Safety Pool, Conventional (PW) City: Cherokee, OK Status: Active Grant Date: 04/04/2005 Expiration: 04/04/2015 Site: 1 Address: 9 miles north of Jet, OK on SH38 City: Jet, OK County: ALFALFA Coordinates: 36 44' 33.6" N, 98 7' 56.4" W Frequency: 1.61000000 V Callsign: WNWU499 Licensee: Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Communications Radio Service: Public Safety Pool, Conventional (PW) City: OKLAHOMA CITY, OK Status: Active Grant Date: 04/28/2001 Expiration: 07/11/2011 [presumably for hiway reconstruxion] Site: 1 State: OK Frequency: 1.61000000 Callsign: WQBX491 Licensee: Arbuckle Mountain Area Tourism Assn Radio Service: Public Safety Pool, Conventional (PW) City: Sulphur, OK Status: Active Grant Date: 01/03/2005 Expiration: 01/03/2015 Site: 1 Address: Turner Falls Park at US Highway 77 City: Davis, OK County: MURRAY Coordinates: 34 25' 29.9" N, 97 8' 36.4" W Frequency: 1.61000000 V [is this one really active? Too far from Enid] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. On Facebook, the new KEIF General Manager posted the following as his Status: It is such a shame, The Rocket will most likely have to go off air soon. Troubles with antennae location and other problems call for a possible "off-air" scenario. This is really a shame that Enid's Public Radio Station may have to go down (Ron Anderson, Sept 7 via DXLD) Cf. Previous reports about a myriabuck FCC fine for operating from too high an antenna for an LP license, running advertising. Still on the air 104.7 Sept 7 check with hard rock, PSAs instead of commercials. Public Radio, my foot (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. OETA is too safe --- I often wonder if the people who work at TV stations actually watch their own station very much. Those of us out here who do watch, can get fed up with seeing the same promos hundreds of times. Like Lindsey Roberts, the UCO student who likes OETA because it is ``safe``, and others like her. The next time I see her, if I don`t reach the mute button first, I`ll scream! Please give this stuff a rest. In fact, the ``My Source`` promotion is run into the ground. Please turn it off. Instead fill time with those animated music videos. Never get tired of them. Or pull some cuts off Classic Arts. BTW, I don`t want ``conservative``, ``safe`` public television. I want challenging intellectual stimulation and high culture. Regards, (Glenn Hauser, Enid to OETA, Sept 3, via DXLD) Glenn: I could not agree with you more. The promotion staff that started the My Source spots have run out of steam and need new spots. They also need to be shuffled. We have several more that I have not seen and they are good spots. I will pass your message along (Mark Norman, OETA Deputy Director, Sept 5, via DXLD) Mark, Glad to hear that. Another thing to consider. All this My Source is preaching to the choir, your viewers already. Where those really need to be placed is on other stations, cable systems. Unfortunately, that might not be financially feasible, but maybe you could get some friendly stations to run them as PSA. Like the ones cooperating for ONR, or quid-pro-quo. Cable systems should have less of a problem with them ``taking away viewers``. Might look into that. BTW, I have already screamed (Glenn to Mark, ibid.) Glenn, We all agree with you on this one. We are preaching to the choir with most of or promotional material but getting other stations to air it has been impossible because of funding. I can not get the cable systems to carry our OKLA Channel which is free. I think we run these My Source ads to try and get viewers who do watch us to contribute to keep us on air. We only have about 15% of our viewers who give us any support which is not enough yet in Oklahoma we are the most viewed public television network in the entire NATION. We have over 1 million viewers each week. Thanks for your comments. PS: I passed along your comments also about the repeat programming (Mark to Glenn, ibid.) OETA OKLA, 13-2, has added Newsline from NHK World, M-F at 1600-1630 UT. Missed the first one Sept 6, but got the second one Sept 7. A very welcome addition, as World Focus was not replaced with any other world news source, e.g. Deutsche Welle or Al-Jazeera, after its demise last spring. It seems NHK does not need its anchors to be native speakers of English; however, the weatherwoman around 1620 has no accent, tho dressed in red and white. Even included Oklahoma forecast thanks to Hurricane Hermine, rainy remnants destined to cross around Woodward by 0600 UT Thursday. At closing, NHK World said would be back in half an hour --- but not on OKLA. Saw no time bug, so was this live? Unlike BBC World News which we get via OKLA a sesquihour delayed at 2130 M-F only, as nothing ever happens at weekends. OKLA also fulfilled our request to add a repeat of Charlie Rose, on weekdays: noon CDT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. Re 10-35, 9760 log at 0200: Hi Glenn, I didn't record it, so I can't be sure it was Arabic. What I remember is being pretty sure it was Arabic rather than a Turkic language. I listened for some time, although not exclusively. Since I didn't make out an ID (why it is "P") it is certainly possible I was hearing RL and I just missed it in the schedules (Mark Taylor, WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Sunrise was at around 1030 UT on Sept. 4 so I decided to take my Grundig G5 portable out to an open area in coastal NJ and see what's going on from the 25mb on down, with some 19mb signals picking up after the sun rose. Haven't heard this in several years: R. Pakistan with Urdu program, 9/4 at 1040 on 15100, signal rising from weak to fair level by 1100 when English newscast starts with headlines, stories, but rough copy - -poor audio in transmitter? Then into Urdu announcements and ID, anthem, off at 1105 (Joe Hanlon, NJ, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3290, 05/09 0752, R. Central, Port Moresby, English, OM like priest talking, add, beautiful vocal music. Some QSB and not strong co-channel utility RTTY. 33242 (Flávio Archangelo, em uma rápida visita a Ilha Comprida/SP, eu e Luiz Tresso realizamos algumas escutas em LF e a porção inferior do HF, especialmente em NDBs e Ondas Tropicais. http://www.japydx.org/temp/lf/PY2OC_PY2ZX_LF_sep2010_IC.htm radioescutas yg via DXLD) Maybe, but you need to rule out much closer GUYANA on 3290, also on the air all night with similar programming (gh, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3334.96, R. East Sepik, 1302-1325+ Sep 3. English news in progress; ID and disco music at 1305; chatty M between songs with occasional mention of East Sepik, still in English. Good signal (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 80-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) 3334.97, 2.9 1955, R East Sepik with a very good signal and English px. ID at 2000. TN 3344.98, 2.9 1957, tentative R Northern also music and English at this time. Weaker than 3335. TN 3364.985, 2.9 2000, tent R Milne Bay also this one weak but clear with typical NBC style. 1-2 (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 5 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3335, NBC East Sepik (presumed), 1354-1359*, September 5. Pop songs till suddenly off; poor. 3385, NBC East New Britain, 1208-1225*, September 5. Usual Sunday Christian religious program in English till suddenly off a few seconds before 1226; weak (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3385, R. East New Britain, Rabaul, only one audible Sept 7 at 1206, news with Aussie accent, occasionally mentioning NBC, Port Moresby, and bilong; ergo it was really in Tok Pisin; poor past 1211, straddling today`s local sunrise of 1208 UT (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3915, Radio Fly (presumed), 1411, September 2. Signal improving just after my local sunrise; pop songs; reception went downhill quickly; unable to confirm // 5960 due to PBS Xinjiang dominating there (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7324.96, Wantok R. Light, Aug 25 0811-0835, 25332-35333, Pidgin, Talk and music, ID at 0820 and 0833 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) 7325, 07 SEP, 1010 UT, Wantok Radio Light, with English/Pidgin religious programming but being hit hard by CRI in Japanese. Fair signal level (Al Muick, visiting Pattaya, Thailand, WinRadio G303e, 100m Longwire / Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) ** PARAGUAY. RADIO NACIONAL SE DENOMINA DESDE AHORA RTN El Poder Ejecutivo decretó el cambio de la denominación de Radio Nacional a Radio y Televisión Nacional del Paraguay (RTN). Igualmente, estableció la creación de un Consejo Asesor para la Sicom. Luego de casi 70 años, la Radio Difusora Z.P.A.1, conocida como Radio Nacional, cambia su identificación a RTN, de acuerdo al decreto 4.982, que se dio a conocer el jueves 02 de Septiembre.. Mediante el decreto 4.982 de la Presidencia de la República, la radioemisora estatal cambia de denominación. Además, se reestructura a la Secretaría de Información y Comunicación (SICOM), que estará a cargo de organizar el proyecto de creación del futuro canal de televisión pública. La emisora ZPA 1, anteriormente Radio Nacional del Paraguay, cambiará a Radio y Televisión Nacional del Paraguay (RTN). Más información en http://www.elmundodelaradio.com (via Arnaldo Slaen, dxldyg via DXLD) No longer on SW, anyway (gh) 68 AÑOS ZP1 RADIO NACIONAL DEL PARAGUAY POR los 68 años de la RNP!! MUCHAS FELICIDADES! Fuente: Radio Nacional se denomina desde ahora RTN http://bit.ly/beMWx7 http://senalnacional.blogspot.com/ (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** PERU. 4857.368, Radio La Hora, Cusco noted with weak audio 1130 on 30 August; 2330-2345 on 3 September with ID [Wilkner] 4986.862, Radio Manantial, Huancayo, 2340 noted weak under thunderstorm, 3 September [Wilkner] [see also below] 5039.21, Radio Libertad, Junín, 1125 fading out on 30 August, 1105 with poor signal on 1 September. [Wilkner] 5460.33, Radio Bolívar, Cd. Bolívar, 2340 to 0000 noted weak in espanol on 3 September (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro-DL - NRD 535D, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) 4986.92, 27.8 2320, tentative R Manantial with music. Always weak here (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 5 via DXLD) ** PERU. Speaking of hets [gh`s 6043 unID], this reminds me that that racket has disappeared in the vicinity of 6020 in the early evening Pacific time. I've had no sign of R. Victoria for a couple of weeks that I can recall (Theo Donnelly, BC, Sept 3, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Haven't heard Radio Victoria on 6019.30 kHz for more than a week. I am wondering if they are on the move? Anyone hear them around? (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, NRD545, 26.37N 081.05W, Sept 4, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now that you mention it, I haven`t either. There goes the 18057.9 third harmonic, which I haven`t heard for a longer time (gh, DXLD) [and non]. As Chuck Bolland and Theo Donnelly have pointed out, R. Victoria has been missing from 6019.3 for more than a week, but it`s back Sept 8 at 0553 putting het on CRIEnglish via Sackville during Chinese lesson. CRI off by 0559 clearing frequency for a few words from David Miranda, then station announcement in Spanish, could not hear ID due to RHC 6010 splash but no doubt about it. 0600 VV message from Beethoven`s Fifth. There is still a het from a much weaker signal on 6020.0, but OAX4Q is atop it; nothing likely listed. Maybe Gaúcha, Brasil if running all night. Anyhow, this annoyance to CRI reception serves the accursèd ChiCom jammers right. And now we again have a chance at the third harmonic of R. Victoria on 18057.9, but still no sign of it around 1350 Sept 8, even when Chile 17680 is inbooming (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. DRM: The UniWave Di-Wave 100 DRM Receiver was reviewed very well in Popular Communications June 2010. It is no more: the manufacturer is gone. I hate DRM, but want to help the Polish Radio Hebrew Service. So I was thinking of buying this DRM receiver, because I was told the Hebrew Service next season will be back on 6085 kHz where it was jammed, and WRTH informed us there is 'domestic' DRM there. So I wanted to hear that DRM. Polish Radio is served by the VT Group and they intend to solve the problem by using 500 kilowatts. [Later:] About the frequency to be used by Polish Radio Hebrew Service in the coming winter 1900-1930 UT. Transmitters and frequencies are the responsibility of VT Group. Last winter the result was very bad. The frequency was 6085 kHz and it was jammed out all season long. WRTH informed me a station in Germany was broadcasting DRM domestic channel. How do you broadcast DRM domestic? The head of Hebrew at Polish Radio is Michael Hermon and his job is only to prepare programs, but he wants people to be able to hear these programs on short wave. He does not want to use 6085 kHz again and 7265 kHz was suggested. I monitored it recently. My S-meter was very high. There is a co-channel station. There is a lot of noise and there are strong stations on 7260 and 7270 kHz. At 1930 UT China Radio International signs on with a very strong signal. SIO is 533 or 523 with voices interference and this is not good enough for me to listen to it for a whole half hour every day. Should VT Group broadcast Polish Radio Hebrew with 300 kilowatts on 7265 kHz, they will murder the two adjacent frequency stations and commit suicide themselves? They won't do this because frequency managers are gentlemen. I suggested that 7505 kHz should be used. This is the frequency of WRNO. The 41 meter band needs to be enlarged and the way to do this is to use slightly out of band frequencies. This is the way the broadcast bands have been enlarged, when the frequencies were not being used by utilities: in time the illegal frequencies became legal. It is also the only way to give me good reception, and 100 kilowatts will do (David Crystal, Israel, Sept WDXC Contact via DXLD) The 6085 DRM is axually from Ismaning, Germany, the `jamming` currently at 0400-2210, 10 kW non direxional and the bane of European analog 49m listeners. WRNO is not on the air at that hour, so don`t worry about it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non non]. See MUSEA ** PRIDNESTROVYE. 9665, PRIDNESTROVIAN MOLDAVIAN REPUBLIC, Radio PMR. *2350-0018 September 2-3, 2010. Carrier up at 2350, slight Commie hum. Commie-era five-second test tones from 2354, abruptly off 2355:29. Tones back up 2358:04, English ID 0000:26, into lame news items (they like the word "informational" for some reason), with such exciting topics as corn prices; Ukraine-bashing; East Slavs are good; nice things to say about other breakaway regions such as "Arkhangelsk" (not sure if they were referring to the Oblast or somewhere else). Amusing conclusion to the English program: "That's all for today. Our program is over." Into French at 0015 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could this have been its final final broadcast? See RUSSIA [non] (gh) MOLDOVA. 6240, R. PMR, Aug 30 1810-1832, 33333, French and German and English, News, IS at 1816 and 1830 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) So is this transmission still on the air? Was M-F 1700-1900 (gh, DXLD) Voice of Russia now has 9665 to itself, heard as early as 2300 and running past 0200 with English, per check at 2300 9/7. That's the case now because: Radio PMR has a transmitter to itself, now on 6240 at 00-02, UT M-F (Sun to Thu evening in NAm). Language order for the 15-min. blocks is EG at 00, then FR, GM, EG, FR, GM, EG, then FR at 0145-02* (Joe Hanlon, NJ, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6240 observation apparently UT Sept 8, but it all changed Sept 9 (gh) 9665, MOLDOVA, Voice of Russia with OC from 2257 on Sep 8 then IS and "This is Moscow. You are tuned to the Voice of Russia" ID at 2300 - seems to be 2300 - 0000 and 0000 - 0200 on weekends. 9665, MOLDOVA-PRIDNESTROVIE, Radio PMR, at 0000 on Sep 9 with a man with "This is Tiraspol, capital of the Pridnestrovie Moldavian Republic" ID then news. I wonder if someone was asleep at the switch earlier this week at Grigoriopol and forgot that Radio PMR came on at midnight UT rather than Voice of Russia (Mark Coady, ODXA yg via DXLD) Or a power struggle among the faxions. Joe Hanlon, NJ, had PMR on 6240 last night 00-02, when VOR was still in English on 9665. UT Sept 9 at 0024 I find French from PMR on 9665, and 6240 now in Russian, not sure which service. VOR English is on 5900 ex-9890 at 22-02; audible here at 0030 but rather poor, while PMR on 9665 had gone into English. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) A re-check at 0057 showed the Voice of Russia on this frequency so maybe Radio PMR simply goes through the language rotation (English, French, German) only once these days. More monitoring is required (Coady, ibid.) ** ROMANIA. 15435, excerpt from Mme Butterfly, Sept 6 at 1324, cut to RRI outro in Chinese, IS to 1327*. So was the singing in Romanian, Chinese, or Italian? Heard too little of it to tell. Also had weak het on low side around 15434 --- probably ChiCom jamming and/or V. of Tibet via UAE varying from nominal 15430, at 1330-1400. AFAIK, the ChiCom are not deliberately jamming RRI in Chinese, the lucky former allies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Hello, so, I finished checking ITU MW & LW file GE175-24 of April 11, 2010, and the location coordinates in G.E. and Google Maps. For the very first time RUSSIA has new MW transmitters registered with 100, 20 kW, and a lot of 5 kW senders. Mysterious is also a new registration for St. Petersburg 1494 kHz, 1000 kW beast at the St. P Krasnoye Selo-Mikhaylovka suburb, next to a large secret radio service mast field. vy73 de Wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Glenn, Long time SWL and listener to your show - first time submission (shame on me). Right now (0000-0100 UT Sunday Sept 5), catching PMR - Moldova on 9665. Very Strong Signal. Lots of Editorial content regarding Obama and US politics. Thanks for all you do! [later:] Glenn, The station that I assumed was Moldova actually ID'd as Voice of Russia shortly before 0100 UT and said they were continuing their English broadcast to North America; IS followed (Dan Ervin, Fort Dodge, Iowa, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dan, Thanks for reporting. This is rather confusing; I was not listening myself this evening. Normally, the 9665 transmitter in Pridnestrovye / Moldova carries Radio PMR at 0000-0200 UT Mon-Fri, and used to be off the air during that period on UT Sat & Sun. Then at 0200-0400 daily it carries V. of Russia. The PMR broadcasts are 15 minute segments in English, German, French, but the order varies. So you were hearing 9665 entirely in English at 0000-0100? Then apparently VOR is occupying the channel on weekends at 0000-0200, assuming PMR is still operating at that time M-F. We should check tomorrow night (UT Monday) to be sure which one is being carried. Regards, (Glenn to Dan, via DXLD) Glenn, yes, there was English the entire hour, with strong Russian accent. My first assumption was that it was VOR, but when checked known schedules, Moldova was the only one that made sense - that's why I was surprised when they continued with English until 0057, and Id'd as Voice of Russia and said they were continuing their English to North America. I will attempt to verify this tomorrow evening and let you know what I find. Have a good evening (Dan Ervin, ibid.) Tnx to tip from Dan Ervin in IA, UT Sept 5, Voice of Russia now using 9665 in English at 0002 check UT Monday Sept 6. Previously, 9665 had carried Radio PMR alternating quarter-hours in English, German, French in unpredictable order, at 0000-0200 only on UT Mon-Fri, and off the air Sat-Sun, while VOR used the same transmitter for English daily starting at 0200. Now PMR is gone (to somewhere else, or off?), and VOR appears to be using 9665 from at least 0000 to 0200. It was previously also in use at 02-04 for `Central` America, and maybe still so. The Moldovan use of 9665 at 00-02 officially ended on Sept 4, anyway. I also checked 9890, which had been in use for VOR English to NAm at 2200-0200, and could not hear it at all at 0004 UT Sept 6. Usual DentroCuban jamming from 9885 against non-VOA, but should have been some trace of 9890 if on. So maybe 9665 replaces it for at least those two hours. 9665 itself was only fair with flutter, and with lo het from presumed Brasil, no comparison to solid signal from Serbia [non] on 9675. We suggested long ago that VOR should use 9665 on Sat & Sun at 00-02 rather than letting it go to waste, but now they have apparently taken it over seven days a week. Have these changes been entered on the VOR English schedule at http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/schedule ?? Of course not! They haven`t even fixed the `15000` typo we pointed out months ago. This is probably one of a number of unpublicized VOR changes for the no longer extant `S-10` season, made in early September (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Last night (UT Monday), Voice of Russia continued in English straight through until 0400 UT on 9665, even though just prior to 0300, the frequency announcement stated that VOR was closing down to North America on 31 meters, but continuing on 19 meters. Not sure if the extra hour was just a mix-up at French Guyana or intentional. Worth checking again tonight (Will Flynn, Pennsylvania, USA, Sept 6, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) French Guiana not involved here (gh) Further chex for the revised schedule of VOR in English to Am: Sept 6 at 2243, nothing on 9665, very weak and fluttery signal on 9890, cannot discern language or identity. 2259, 9665 now on with big signal and tone tests on and off, 2300 opening VOR English, but program modulation level lower than expected compared to preceding tone level. Now nothing audible on 9890, vs spread from DCJC and VOA Spanish 9885. RUVR online English sked still not updated by Sept 7 at 1700, showing 9890 at 22-02 to NAm --- can anyone further east confirm whether 9890 remains on the air at all during any of these hours, especially 22-23? And sked still shows 9665 only at 02-04 to `Latin` America. Previous night, UT Sept 6, Will Flynn in Pennsylvania, found 9665 stayed on with VOR English until 0400, despite announcement at 0300 that it was closing down on 31m, continuing on 19m [15425]. So it seems the total span for 9665 is now 23-04. Later: Joe Hanlon in NJ found 5900 replacing 9890 for VOR Sept 6-7 at 22-02 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX WORLD OF RADIO 1529, LISTENING DIGEST) Viz: VOR English to NAm now using 5900 ex-9890 at 22-02; 5900 starts off at fair level at 22 but improves by 2330. Also hearing 9665 from 00, as noted UT-Mon 9/6, and also next day -- where's Radio PMR which is supposed to be aired on 9665 at 00-02, UT-Tu to Sat? (Joe Hanlon, NJ, Sept 7, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Rusia, 0125 tonight, 08 Sept., 9665 // 5900 in English YL feature on Bolshoi theatre adaptation of Pushkin play performed in UK. Into news 0030. Nothing on 9890. Best on 9665 but both frequencies are clear and strong here in SE Mass. (Steve Wood, Harwich, MA, Drake R8B, 30x60 Super Loop antenna, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9665, MOLDOVA, Voice of Russia with OC from 2257 on Sep 8 then IS and "This is Moscow. You are tuned to the Voice of Russia" ID at 2300 - seems to be 2300 - 0000 and 0000 - 0200 on weekends. 9665, MOLDOVA-PRIDNESTROVIE, Radio PMR, at 0000 on Sep 9 with a man with "This is Tiraspol, capital of the Pridnestrovie Moldavian Republic" ID then news. I wonder if someone was asleep at the switch earlier this week at Grigoriopol and forgot that Radio PMR came on at midnight UT rather than Voice of Russia -- (Mark Coady, ODXA yg via DXLD) Or a power struggle among the faxions. Joe Hanlon, NJ, had PMR on 6240 last night 00-02, when VOR was still in English on 9665. UT Sept 9 at 0024 I find French from PMR on 9665, and 6240 now in Russian, not sure which service. VOR English is on 5900 ex-9890 at 22-02; audible here at 0030 but rather poor, while PMR on 9665 had gone into English. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) A re-check at 0057 showed the Voice of Russia on this frequency so maybe Radio PMR simply goes through the language rotation (English, French, German) only once these days. More monitoring is required (Coady, ibid.) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Radio Rossii in Russian observed on Sept 2-5. The Kyrgyz transmitter on 4050 is with s/on at 2300 and close down at 1900 and from 1800 is // 7215. Krasnoyarsk transmitter on 6085 also was noted with s/on and off 2100- 1700 but the programmes on 4050 and 6085 are different despite their registration as program RR3. Most likely there are 5 versions of RR for every hour after the news at around xx11 and before the ads from xx57. No signals from 5930 and 6160 kHz from NW Russia (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sept 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 5930, R. Rossii, Pet/Kam, 1240, September 8. The first day I have noticed the absence of the awful motor-boating sound produced by their transmitter; instead just a persistent hum. Now if they could just clean up the hum this would indeed be enjoyable reception, as they do have a strong signal (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT KITTS & NEVIS [and non]. VON likely moved to 860 from 895 The streaming audio site http://www.streamingthe.net/VON-Radio-Voice-of-Nevis-860-AM-Charlestown-St.-Kitts-and-Nevis/p/4431 has 860 for the frequency of the Voice of Nevis. This is probably why I have noted nothing on (what is likely) former 895 recently. Who'll be the first to bag 'em on 860 with CJBC, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, and others already slugging it out there? (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, Billerica, MA + South Yarmouth, MA, Aug 23, The NRC AM mailing list, via Paul B Walker, IRCA via DXLD) Probably you, Mark (gh) They probably moved to 860 to get off the 9 kHz channel that wasn`t on a 9/10 kHz channel split; since some 9 kHz channel splits also fall on 10 kHz channels and radios today are made for 10 kHz channels. Checking their website, http://www.vonradio.com/ they are indeed on 860 --- must be fairly recent. I got stuff from them in the mail just a few months ago and they were on 895 (Paul B. Walker, IL, ibid.) Progress marches on. Now ZIZ-555 is the last split left in the Americas. Looking through IRCA Foreign Logs of the 70's, there were once scores of Western Hemisphere splits on the air and being DXed in the U.S. and Canada. I even heard a few of 'em myself. Hope ZIZ can stick around for a while (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) ?? Eurasian domestic radios, especially for cars, certainly tune 9-kHz steps (gh, DXLD) I've never had any luck with ZIZ, thanks to my local splatter generator known as KWTO-560. One of my most prized QSLs is a verie letter from Dominica Broadcasting Service-595, logged on a late-model (#12-656) Realistic TRF in April of 1990 (slightly hot-rodded with a 4-kc MuRata ceramic filter, and inductively coupled to a 4-foot spiral loop).... Show of hands, how many folks remember when Radio Belize was a huge pest on 834? [ME! gh] I did manage to re-log them during those ultra-hot auroral conditions of the early '90s after they moved to 830. Now they're off mediumwave altogether (sigh). (Randy Stewart, KSMU Arts Producer, Springfield MO, ibid.) See BELIZE We already news of this in the Aug 4 issue of DX LISTENING DIGEST, 10- 31. Altho replete with SW info, DXLD also tries to cover significant developments on MW and other bands, so I would encourage you to read it regularly. And/or listen to my WORLD OF RADIO, where this was also reported. http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html 73, (Glenn Hauser, Sept 4, IRCA via DXLD) Glenn - VON-860 was logged by Mark Connelly about a week ago (Friday 8/27 I believe) from Orleans, Cape Cod, MA with his Perseus & car rooftop antenna. I don't recall the exact time but probably around 2330-0000 UT. I'm sure details will be in DXM & DXN soon (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Sept 4, IRCA via DXLD) Viz.: 860 Voice of Nevis log - S. Orleans, MA === with typical soca / calypso is on the Perseus captures from last Friday at South Orleans, MA a couple of times. Sort of a wimpy signal. QRM mostly from Brazil and Cuba with occasional CJBC. The station was formerly on 895. The South Orleans site is the Town Landing which is about a quarter mile north of the junction of Tar Kiln Road and Route 28. Geographic coordinates are 41.7347 N / 69.9911 W = 41 deg 44.08 min N / 69 deg 59.465 min W if you want to use Google Earth / Google Maps. It is the most southerly of the four Orleans DXpedition sites shown at http://chowdanet.com/markc/webpage/WA1ION/orleans.gif There are a couple of site photos at http://chowdanet.com/markc/webpage/WMEX1510/dx_orleans_ma.htm (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, Billerica, MA + South Yarmouth, MA, 1 Sept, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 9870, BSKSA Riyadh, 21236-2151, Sept 4, Arabic. Continuous format of W & M announcer with brief talks between music, and sometimes over; a few mentions of Israel; "Ramadan..(?)" over strings at 2148; tentative ID in passing with "..mamlaka alarabiya.." noted; bit of Call to Prayer-like vocals at tune/out; good listening in ECCS-LSB to avoid het of sorts (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA [non]. 6100, "BOSNIA", International Radio of Serbia, Bijeljina, 2056-2105, Sept 4, French/English. Pop music; W announcer with French service s/off announcement; IS followed by English service at 2100; M announcer with s/on announcement; news re Serbia & Albania, though signal too weak for details; poor (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEYCHELLES. BBC Indian Ocean Relay Station, full/data card in 1 month, v/s Herve Cherry, Senior Transmitter Engineer. E-mail; herve.cherry @ vtgroup.sc (Edward J. Nawrocki, NC, Sept NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, Solomon Islands BC, Honiara. September 06, 0946-1000 two male in English comments “program.. Solomon Islands.. listeners.. recognizing.. are welcome”. From 1000 started splash of 5035 R. Aparecida annoying SIBC, 23332 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m; Longwire 22m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Our 9545 transmitter was just restored at the time you picked us up (winter of 2009). The transmitter is an ELCO [sic; ELCOR?], 10 kW tube transmitter. We completely rebuilt it as it never operated to spec when it was first obtained in the year 2000. 9545 is off the air again because of its poor MUF at this time of year. It will come on again around November of 2010 (Cornelius Rathamana, communications engineer and CEO of the National Radio Station, via Mike Rohde, OH, Sept NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 7285, Radio Sonder Grense, *0459-0510, Sept 6, sign on with talk in Afrikaans. Very weak in noisy conditions. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Listen to Radio RSA (South Africa) signing on in German while watching a slide show of QSLs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgygUdA1x9U Another great memory! (Harold Sellers, ODXA yg via DXLD) Thanks for this link, Harold. Now this brings back some memories. I loved that IS they used. Radio RSA had a set of books for an Afrikaans language course they would send that was free for the asking. Using it, I wrote them a letter and got a response that included my original letter with corrections. They were impressed with how well I had done (Mark Coady, ibid.) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 9980, Brother Scare during Sabbath service after amateur Hammond(?) organ performance, circa 1350 UT Sept 4 asking if anyone is hearing 9980, please phone report! Shows how little BS still knows about SW: of course we are hearing this super- signal from WWCR; in fact, we have to attenuate the entire 31m band to avoid hearing crosstalk from BS underneath Indonesia or anything else! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: WINB/WBCQ ** SRI LANKA. 11750, Sri Lanka BC, Colombo-Ekala, Sinhala, 07/09 1820. Canção regional, mx instrumental, OM: talk ID?: “... Sri Lanka...”. OM: boletim de nx, YL: reportagem externa. Várias referencias a Sri Lanka. 1830: Canção por OM, sign-off. 45444 (excelente sinal!!!) Rx: Sangean ATS-909, Ant.: Loop blindada VS, Amplif RF VS (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP, BRASIL, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 7200, SRTC, *0239-0431*, Sept 6, sign on with Qur`an. Local tribal music. Arabic talk. Local pop music. Fair signal but mixing with a weak Iran until Iran’s sign off at approximately 0330 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** SUDAN [non]. via Sines, Portugal, 17745, Sudan Radio Service, 1500- 1530, Sept 4, IDs. “Let`s Talk” program with radio-drama and discussion about problems in southern Sudan. Short breaks of Afro-pop music. Into Arabic at 1530. Poor to fair in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** SWEDEN. R. Sweden replied with two QSL cards and sent back my $2.00 return postage noting that there are no plans for a ``farewell`` QSL card. The text of card reads: ``Please find enclosed QSL card and the 2 dollars. Thank you for listening to our porgrammes and perhaps you can listen/read about our news and views via the internet in the future. No ``farewell QSL cards`` exist so I hope these two cards are OK. All the best! Best regards, Greta Grandin / SR Int.`` (Edward J. Nawrocki, NC, Sept NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND [non]. Switzerland in Sound with Bob Zanotti and a guest is currently (2148 UT 6 September [Monday]) on the WRMI.net stream. It is presumably replacing Jack Van Impe who is listed as being on now per the last wrmichart.xls schedule. At 2158 Switzerland in Sound was cut abruptly and 2 minutes of a Spanish lady talking was broadcast. This was followed by WRMI ID at 2200 then "This is PCJ Radio" closely followed by both "Bobs" on Switzerland in Sound talking to Jeff White about the HFCC and then WRMI. So, at least 2 new programmes there on WRMI, both very welcome (Harry Brooks, North East England, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) New WRMI program grid as of Sept 7 shows SIS for one hour at: Mon & Wed 1100, Mon 22, Thu and Sat 01 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Full grid attached to dxldyg post ** TAIWAN. Puyallup, WA Ultralight TP's for 9-1 --- BEL2 is the official name for the 100 kW, 738 kHz station in Penghu, Taiwan. You may remember the buzzing signal it had this time last year, as in this recording using a 3' bedside loop last September: http://www.mediafire.com/?njno91gntme For some bizarre reason this station seems to come in very well at this modest DXing location (in comparison to what the other TP-DXers reported last year). Around October it is often the strongest TP on the band here. 73, (Gary DeBock, WA, IRCA via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 7244.88 at 0350 on 8 Sept 10 in Arabic with call to prayer or similar; o/m with quavering voice, never seems to stop for a breath; (possibly Tajikistan V of Tajik? Not the right time for Arabic but maybe because of Ramadan?) Still going at 0400 but fading into the static floor E1+ANLP1 (Bob Stewart, Hamilton Ont, ODXA yg via DXLD) Likely Tajikistan. Islamic stuff will be done in Arabic everywhere. Scheduled to go from Tajik to Persian at 0400 (gh, ibid.) The normal practice is to quote the carrier frequency, rather than what your display shows when you believe it sounds the best. Keep up the good listening (Harold Sellers, ibid.) So really 7245.00? (gh) ** THAILAND. 15275, Radio Thailand, *0000-0029*, Aug 30. Opened English Service with Asian instrumental music followed by “Live from the public information department …” opening ID. News headlines followed by National News with a man and woman announcer alternating; ID at 0014, PSA followed by Global News. Usually antenna pattern change at bottom of hour ending reception. Poor to fair (Rich D'Angelo, 2216 Burkey Drive, Wyomissing PA 19610, 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) Use to be Public Relations Dept., not Information Dept (gh, DXLD) ** THAILAND. DAYTIME MEDIUMWAVE BAND SCAN FOR PATTAYA 558, 08 SEP, 0759 UT, Radio Thailand, (presumed Kanchanaburi due to distance and signal strength). OM and YL talks with ID and lively news program starting on the hour. Good signal strength. 10 kW 594, 08 SEP, 0808 UT Phon. Por. Thor. Or. from Bangkok with great signals. Had like about 20 commercials and PSA's in a row. This one supposedly belongs to the military as well (Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division) with supposedly only 5 kW. 675, 08 SEP, 0818 UT, Sor Thor Ror 2 (Voice of the Navy), Bangkok station with YL talk and interviews. Extremely strong signals here in Pattaya (S9+) so 5 kW power may have been increased or a directional antenna towards the South China Sea. 720, 08 SEP, 0824 UT, Sor Thor Ror 5 (Voice of the Navy), Chon Buri station, about 20 km away, with YL talk show with many callers, ringing phone sounds, etc. Regional Station and NOT // 675 above! Local strength signals, no QRM. 747, 08 SEP, 0830 UT, Ror Dor, Territorial Defense Dept. Bangkok, with OM phone calls and some pop Thai music (actually quite nice!). A couple of slow, echoing dramatic IDs on the half-hour as well. 5 kW with good signals here in Pattaya. 792, 08 SEP, 0841 UT, Wor Phor Thor Defense Energy Dept. Radio Station, with a long string of commercials and PSAs plus several canned IDs. S9+ signal with 20 kW from Bangkok. It seems so strange for these military stations to have commercial announcements, but AFRTS does the same with PSAs and I guess funding has to come from somewhere. There was even a cool singing jingle at 0851. During those 10 minutes it was nothing but commercials, IDs and PSAs. Finally a female announcer came on after the singing jingle and intro'ed a piece of really nice Thai pop music. 819, 08 SEP, 0854 UT, Radio Thailand Program 2 Pathum Thani, with long talks by a man with an incredibly raspy voice (move over, Lemmy!). Tone and ID on the hour. Then talks continue. Good signals with 10 kW. 837, 08 SEP, 0905 UT, Radio Thailand, Educational Radio Program 2 (presumed) Pathum Thani with young lady in a long discussion with older-sounding man. No real breaks or IDs. Fair signals only at 5 kW. 873, 08 SEP, 0910 UT, Wor Khor Thor Mor Bangkok Radio Station, with PSAs featuring children, into a spritely march piece sung by mixed children and adults (almost like a Disney piece!). Positive ID at 0912 then more commercials/PSAs. Good signals with 5 kW. 891, 08 SEP, 0914 UT, Radio Thailand Saraburi. Woman in long talks. Excellent and constant reception, but this is a megawatt according to WRTH! 918, 08 SEP, 0918 UT, UNID, Two Thai stations listed here as well as National Khmer Radio with 120 kW. Right now there is a carrier but no audio even with synchronous mode on, so I am hoping that the Khmer station will materialize later tonight. There are a 100 kW Radio Thailand and a 10 kW Sor Wor Phor station here, but no sign of anything resembling them. 1071, 08 SEP, 0923 UT, Sathaani Witthayu Rattasapha (Parliament Radio Station) Bangkok heard with a speech being given by a man and occasional clapping. Good signals with some power line QRM at 10 kW. 1107, 08 SEP, 0925 UT, Mor Khor Samut Sakhan, Kasetsart University with traditional Thai music and occasional announcements in Thai. Good signals with 10 kW 1143, 08 SEP, 0941 UT, Or. Sor. Mor. Thor, Mass Communications Organization of Thailand "Modern Radio", Bangkok with male and female talks in monotone and occasional piece of traditional music. Only fair signal with cell site and power line QRM. 1161, 08 SEP, 0945 UT, Wor. Sor. Thor. Educational Radio, Bangkok with traditional Thai music sung by a male/female duet and occasional announcements. 20 kW puts in a very strong signal here in Pattaya. 1251, 08 SEP, 0951 UT, Thor. Or. 6 Royal Thai Air Force Bangkok, with long talk by woman and man in Thai. Good signal with only 5 kW despite cell site and power line QRM. 1287, 08 SEP, 0955 UT, Sor. Or. Thor. Meteorological Dept. Radio, Samut Prakan (Bangkok) with a group of two men and a woman in talk with a lot of laughing, fading into some Thai pop music by a man. Very strong signals with 10 kW. 1386, 08 SEP, 0958 UT, Sathaanii Witthayu Pheua Kaan Kaset, Agricultural Radio Station with Thai pop music, ID finally at one minute after the hour (they waited for the song to end!). 10 kW and strong signals here in Pattaya. 1440, 08 SEP, 0545 UT, Wor. Por. Thor., Samut Sakhon with Thai talks and slow IDs about every 10-11 minutes. This is a pretty much local station with 10 kW, great signals. Apparently belongs to the Signals branch of the Royal Thai Army. 1467, 08 SEP, 1003 UT, Radio Thailand (not sure which program) Pathum Thani, heard with talks and some Thai music. Into what seemed like a very bubbly female announcer who might have been reading something aimed at Children. 100 kW and very strong signal. 1494, 08 SEP, 1010 UT, Or. Sor. Mor. Thor Mass Communications Organization of Thailand "Modern Radio", Bangkok with PSAs, commercials and jingles. // to 1143 and certainly 100% more lively than they were at 0941. Into argumentative discussion between group of men and women. 10 kW with a good strong signal. 1521, 08 SEP, 1018 UT, Nor. Thor. Phor. Post and Telegraph Dept. Bangkok, with woman in Thai talk and traditional Thai music. 10 kW but only fair signal with power line QRM. 1593, 08 SEP, 1022 UT, Radio Thailand Ratchaburi, with female announcer interviewing a very excited/upset young lady. 10 kW and strong signals without QRM. I have discovered a cell site on the roof of the hotel next to me that causes some significant QRM until the early morning hours when it quiets down, as well as a slightly increased electrical noise when all the neon lights go on. Thankfully, this all dies down a lot after 2 AM local time. I did this mediumwave band scan today and the electrical/cell site QRM wasn't too bad, but it could have been a lot better. I may have to be satisfied with QSLing all the local mediumwave stations. ;-) The 90 and 75 meter bands are pretty much a wash, but 60 mb is OK as are the 49 and 41 meter bands. 73s (Al Muick, on R&R in Thailand, WinRadio G303e, 10m Longwire / Randomwire DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUNISIA. 7335, *0554 with open carrier, 0558 modulation on with music // 7275 which has been on for some time. RTT needs to rethink use of 7275 now that Abuja, Nigeria [q.v.] has reactivated there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. (?) 7195, R. Uganda (?), Kampala, 1637-1655, 03 Sep'10, English (tenrative), talks, African pops; 14341, occasional amateur QRM. This was off shortly after 1700. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So did the intruder watchers just get 7195 off in the night hours, still day into evening? (gh, DXLD) ** U K. South Herts Radio tomorrow --- SHR international on shortwave this Sunday from noon/1100 UT try 6255 or 7445. http://www.southhertsradio.com (Roberto Scaglione, Sept 4, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) Presumably included WORLD OF RADIO at 1200 UT; believe 7445 is a new one for SHR; anyone hear us on either? Will this be done again? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. 6144.90, at 0338 on 8 Sept 10 in English with African accent deep fades; YL with Brit accent; ID at 0340 "from the BBC" so BBC Af service; poor; E1+ANLP1 (Bob Stewart, Hamilton Ont, ODXA yg via DXLD) via Meyerton, South Africa (gh, ibid.) ** U K. BBC WORLD SERVICE BROADCASTS IN BURMA FACE AXE --- BBC has been warned by Foreign Office that cuts could force pullout from several countries --- Rajeev Syal and James Robinson. Wednesday September 8 2010. The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/07/bbc-world-service-burma-axe The BBC is locked in talks with the government over drastic cuts to the World Service budget which could force it to withdraw from Burma and several other countries. The Foreign Office, which funds the World Service through an annual ?272m grant, has told executives to prepare for a possible budget cut of 25% from April 2011 as part of the public sector cutbacks. The BBC service in Burma is one of those identified by the government as under threat, according to a diplomatic source. "The Burma office is up for grabs. It is a question of costs. It is very expensive and has relatively few listeners. The 'human rights' argument doesn't hold much sway with the new Foreign Office." The World Service Russian presence, which reaches about 700,000 listeners and a further 1 million through its Russian-language website, may also be vulnerable to cuts, according to BBC insiders. BBC sources said talks with the government would continue for six weeks, however, and claim no final decisions have been made. The outcome of the consultation will be known on 20 October, when the chancellor, George Osborne, outlines the scale of the government cuts in the Treasury's public spending review. The apparent threat to a Burmese service that has been used by dissidents to monitor the ruling military junta and learn of the outside world has angered Labour. David Miliband, the shadow foreign secretary, called on the government to confirm it will ringfence the BBC Burmese service. "The World Service is a steady, credible voice in parts of the world where the only other messages blend threats and propaganda. Scrapping the World Service in Burma would be a gift to the military junta, and an insult to political prisoners locked in Burma's jails for no crime." The BBC first broadcast in Burmese 70 years ago at the start of war in the far east. Since then the BBC Burmese section has witnessed and recorded all the political events, including military crackdowns and the election victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in May 1990. It broadcasts for over an hour every day and attracts an audience of 8.5 million, according to figures released by the BBC earlier this year. Although best known for its radio broadcasts the World Service also runs websites and TV stations in 32 countries in dozens of languages. It has a global audience of 241 million across TV, online, radio and mobile phones. The World Service was criticised for pulling out of eight countries in eastern Europe three years ago to fund new services in the Middle East, including a new Persian TV service. The BBC argued that audiences in the former Soviet bloc were falling while the Foreign Office believed its resources could be better employed in a region where Britain is attempting to effect change. The Russian service was maintained, however, and any move to close or reduce it would also be controversial. Asked to comment on claims that the government plans to cut BBC Burmese, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: "As part of the spending review we are in discussion with the Treasury about all aspects of the FCO's future budget, including the FCO's grant in aid to the British Council and World Service. "The outcome of the spending review will be announced to parliament on 20 October. It would be wrong to comment on the details while the review is under way. "The foreign secretary [William Hague] has repeatedly made clear the importance he attaches to both the British Council and the World Service. He has also made clear the need for all parts of the FCO family, including the Council and World Service, to contribute to efforts to boost efficiency and cut public spending," she said. BBC sources stress that executives are examining a number of scenarios in an attempt to reduce costs, including reducing investment in some platforms as an alternative to ending their presence in some countries. A spokesman for the World Service said: "Like all publicly funded bodies, we have been asked to consider the likely impact of significant funding cuts and applying them to a wide range of scenarios. "It is important to note that no decisions have been made; and we will discuss any confirmed impact on our services with staff first. "We will continue to argue confidently that the BBC World Service is one of Britain's most effective and vital assets in the global arena; particularly at a time when other governments are increasing, not reducing, their own investments in international broadcasting." (via David Cole, Bâton Rouge LA, DXLD; also via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg) The debate that ensues in the comments after the article are both edifying and entertaining as well. A good place for us to weigh in given the longstanding experience many of us have with the WS (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. The problem public international broadcasters face, no matter the BBC, RNW or DW, is the same. No one in the countries cares. If you ask most people within countries where International broadcasters are based, most of the local population would ask, why are my tax dollars being spent on a service I don't listen to? When you have cuts in health care, education and other public services, it's very difficult for a country to justify funding an external service. Here in Taiwan there is a debate over RTI. A study from the National Stats Bureau found that 87% of Taiwanese think the money used to fund RTI would be better used for health care, education, and other social services. So the question is, how to change this? Well, one idea is to open up local channels so people locally can tune in and have a chance to listen in. The other option being floated around is to turn 70% of RTI into a privately funded company. This is what happened here 15 years ago. Taiwan has no more public broadcaster; it was privatized. The only thing left now is RTI. This is a challenge faced by almost every international broadcaster out there. In Canada RCI has had this challenge for years. But I'm sure if you ask most Canadians what they feel about the CBC or RCI, they would say cut it. In the Netherlands it's the same (Keith Perron, Taiwan, ibid.) NO DECISIONS HAVE BEEN TAKEN ABOUT POSSIBLE FUNDING CUTS TO THE BBC WORLD SERVICE, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt says. . . http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/entertainment-arts-11227896 (via Ed Gardner, Sept 8, DXLD) Viz.: 'NO DECISIONS' OVER WORLD SERVICE CUTS 8 September 2010 Last updated at 10:19 ET Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt The government was "absolutely committed" to the World Service's global reach, Mr Hunt said No decisions have been taken about possible cuts to the BBC World Service's annual £264m grant, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said. It follows newspaper reports that some of the BBC's language services - including in Burma - are under threat because of Foreign Office cuts. Government departments have been told to shave at least 25% off budgets to tackle the UK deficit. The World Service is funded by grant-in-aid rather than the licence fee. It is paid for by the government - its funding allocated by the Foreign and Commonweath Office (FCO). Mr Hunt said the coalition government was "absolutely committed to the global reach of the World Service and the very important job it does as a beacon for democracy around the globe". Click to play [video] Sir Michael Lyons: 'World Service is value for money' But he said it was still looking at budgets to see if better value could be achieved for taxpayers. An FCO spokesman said: "Any proposal to open or close a language service requires ministerial approval - no such approval has been sought or given." All aspects of the FCO's future budget was being considered as part of the government's spending review, he added. He said it would be wrong to comment on details while the review - the outcome of which will be revealed on 20 October - was under way. Meanwhile, BBC director general Mark Thompson, speaking to MPs on the culture, media and sport committee, said the World Service grant-in- aid was "absolutely in scope for the comprehensive spending review". "Manifestly, these are some of the most cost-effective and leanly-run parts of the BBC and significant cuts in grant-in-aid would have a very significant and deep effect on services," he said. BBC Trust chairman Michael Lyons, speaking at the same meeting, added that the service was "amongst the most valued parts of the BBC's output both in terms of its standing in this country but certainly across the world". "We're talking about an audience of 180 million in the last year so a very modest expenditure for the BBC and Britain to have its voice heard by that larger audience." He added: "The BBC is inhibited from using licence fee payers money for the world service so any cut that is imposed here actually will be a cut in service - there is no way to avoid that." Foreign Secretary William Hague told MPs earlier this summer the World Service played "a crucial role in our soft power" but that there was "great pressure across the whole of the public sector". (via DXLD) ** U K. BBC Radio 3 has introduced an experimental high quality internet stream, 320 kbps AAC, until the end of the Proms [Sept 12] They say you will need a high speed internet connection, fine here on 10MB. They say on their blogs that it's for live broadcasts from the Royal Albert Hall but it's showing 320 kbps at the moment for a studio based programme. Link to the webstream: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2010/audioexperiment/ (Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I vote to keep it (gh) ** U S A. 17585, VOA Greenville, worth listening to only on weekends when instead of Music Mix, to deprive African targetees of hearing anything off-topic about Asia, they bring real talk programming: On the Line, axually a TV soundtrack, Saturdays at 1405-1427. Sept 4 tune-in 1410 about the IPCC and whether it should be decapitated. Never explained what IPCC stands for after initial reference I missed. Video/audio autolaunches from http://www.voanews.com/english/programs/tv/64969652.html where you have to right-click on the image even to find a pause control, as I was listening to Beethoven`s Ninth from BBC Proms! IPCC = the UN`s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 1427-1429 USG editorial about Al-Shabaab not observing Ramadan, tsk2, by attacking Aug 24 in Somalia. Axually, both Shia and Sunni are exempt from Ramadan if they are in jihad --- look it up. This must be the one: text, and audio does not auto-launch: http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Violence-During-Ramadan-102029918.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 1314 to 1400 UT Sunday Sept 5th, 9760, VOA, Jazz America, Signal S5 to S9 with considerable fading. Grundig G3, Random Longwire (Dan Ervin, Fort Dodge, IA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This hour via PHILIPPINES is on the air weekends only, VOA abandoning what should be a valuable prime-time hour in Asia weekdays (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. 13680, in absence of RHC which supposedly stays here until 1500, altho 13780 was still on, Sept 4 at 1452 was hearing CNR1 jammer, presumably against Sound of Hope as in Aoki only until 1300, and also trouncing R. Liberty Russian via Rampisham, this hour only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Jan Edh in Sweden received this shot of the interior of WJHR, 15550-USB, Milton, Florida, from George Mock, as published in Sept. 5 SW Bulletin, sent on to us by editor Thomas Nilsson http://www.w4uvh.net/wjhr.jpg (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9370-, WTJC off the air for a second day, Sept 3 at 1220 check. Back on Sept 4 at 1317, overconfident preacher somewhat undermodulated but not very distorted; and still off frequency a bit to the low side. 9370-, WTJC, Sept 6 at 1339, quite distorted during a rendition of Amazing Grace. Can`t imagine anyone listening to that voluntarily. Even worse during another hymn at 1421: only for masochists. Time to shut the transmitter down again and fiddle with it, but they never get that homemade POS back into proper funxioning for long (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The sidebands of WWCR are something else. 9980 with Brother Scare, such as Sept 8 at 1355, accompanied by huge continuous noise down to 9970 and up to 9990 whether BS is modulating at the moment or not (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9479, WTWW airing, what else? PPPP, ``Rawhide`` tune with new anti-government lyrix, like ``tax the hair off their hide``. Ha, ha. Axually we need MORE taxes to get out of the mess we are in (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Allan Weiner has become aware of WINB encroaching with adjacent interference from 9335 to WBCQ`s 9330-CUSB with Good Friends Radio Network all day, and says he is working with WINB to resolve it. As we first reported, WINB finally got rid of Tony Alamo in July and replaced his hours with Brother Scare. (Tho WINB online schedule still shows Alamo, of course.) But BS wanted to be on 9 MHz instead of 13570. But WINB`s 9 MHz channel, 9265, is registered for WMLK during the daytime except Saturdays, when EJOM piously went off the air for Sabbath. But WMLK has not really been on the air at all for years and is unlikely to return. Nevertheless, WINB was obliged to find another frequency than 9265 for BS M-F at 15-16 and 18-20 UT. This turned out to be 9335, despite adjacency to WBCQ, and co-channel North Korea until 1750, plus VOA/Radio Ashna, Kuwait until 1830 (and perhaps another two hours via Thailand)! How in the world could WINB`s frequency manager have come up with this, and the FCC OK`d it? On Saturdays only, WINB keeps BS`s own extended Sabbath broadcasts on 9265 instead, since WMLK is not pretending to use it. Believe it or not, The incompetent Overcomer Ministry SW schedule at ftp://www.overcomerministry.org/RadioSchedule/Short%20Wave%20Radio.htm l still shows these three weekday hours as being on BOTH 9330 and 9355, both of which are WRONG. It has always been on 9335, but it remains to be seen as of Monday Sept 6, whether Allan will have persuaded them to go somewhere else, like 9265! As of Sept 5 past 1500 and 1547 chex, WINB remained on 13570 with other Sunday gospel huxters who do not require 9 MHz band transmissions. [and non]. Monitored WINB Sept 6 to see whether they would evacuate 9335 following WBCQ 9330 protests. At 1422 still on 9265 with Brother Scare. At 1457 to ID and address, but heard no mention of next frequency, off at 1458*. Then I sat on 9335 which had open carrier, but that turned out to be VOK opening at 1500. Then tuned further and at 1501 found BS on 9355, not synch 9385 WWRB, so 9355 must be new WINB frequency for him M-F at 15-16, 18-20, and now the erroneous listing of 9355 on The Overcomer Ministry website becomes correct! No QRM heard on 9355 initially, but scheduled for IBB Tinang at 15-16, Saipan at 17-21, with VOA Vietnamese at 15-16, RFA Chinese (consequently jammed) at 18-20. Meanwhile, 9265 is totally available during this period too. One might wonder why, if Brother Scare is such a good friend to WBCQ, he would ever allow himself to QRM it from 9335 to 9330 for a sesquimonth. Of course, 9330 is currently carrying competing gospel huxters. The buck is passed to FCC for choosing 9335. At 1638 check, WINB back on 13570 vs CODAR for the interval between BS and BS consisting of the androgynous anapaestic preacher/ess from Fence Lake NM at 16-18, and presumably again 20-21 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 11550, WEWN, 1427 Sept 7 Spanish noted with self- flagellating squeal, a continuing problem with one of their transmitters (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Not much of note in my Labor Day DXpedition to NW Garfield County OK, on dusty dirt, sometimes washboard roads, with high winds from the SW, but I figure a long-time resident of the county should explore all its roads eventually. 850, more so than at home QTH, I can detect KOA English talk in daytime mixing with Spanish KJON in N Texas, Sept 6 at 2024 UT. 1370, marginal KGNO Dodge City KS, JBA with talk in English at 2026 UT Sept 6, unlike in Enid, off the cliff, and/or suppressed by KCRC 1390 desensitization (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also OKLA ** U S A. 990, WNTP Philadelphia PA; "The home of Michael Medved, weekday afternoons at 3 on WNTP Philadelphia intelligent ."; difficult under CBY; personal first - last reported in the UK in 1970 F/P 0500 29/8 mah 73s (Martin A. Hall, Clashmore, Scotland. Perseus SDR, RPA-1 preamp, MFJ-1026 phaser (modified), beverages: 490m at 233 degrees, terminated; 500m at 279 degrees, terminated; 550m at 338 degrees, terminated. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/clashmoreradio/ Sept MW News via DXLD) Hi Rene, In case you did not see this from the Mediumwave Circle (I am not sure if he reports to stations for QSLs): 73, (Glenn to Rene Tetro, CW of WNTP, via DXLD) Thanks, Glenn. I missed that on the MWC. That was a great catch. We were running non-directionally last week due to work on the antenna system, so that may have helped. We were, however, only running 2.5 kW at night during that time (and 12.5 kW days, just for the record). 73, (Rene' Tetro, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1580, Saturday Sept 4 at 1324, incompetent KOKB Blackwell OK once again wasting watts with open carrier, audiblizing the formerly mysterious Spanish sports talk I had been hearing almost every Saturday (only) for months, mentioning deportes. Tnx to Bruce Winkelman in Tulsa, who was able to hear it last Saturday by nulling his local on 1570, and by his Googling, we now know it`s coming from KHGG Fort Smith AR (city of license Van Buren): [as in 10-35] http://www.bridgingthegapconsultinginc.com/Release.pdf http://www.bridgingthegapconsultinginc.com Following their denial of such Spanish sports, previously had virtually ruled out KGAF Gainesville TX, which is almost exactly the same distance from here as KHGG, another prime suspect --- but never found anything about KHGG switching to a bit of Spanish Saturday mornings only, on their own website. 1580 gets short shrift compared to the other four stations in the Fort Smith Radio group`s website http://www.sportshog1031.com/ --- still can`t find anything about the Spanish diversion, let alone a program schedule for 1580 in particular. So there are two other AR frequencies doing it too. 1140, KLTK Centerton (studio Rogers), 5 kW daytime 1440, KTUV Little Rock, 5 kW Both of which are already full Spanish, per NRC AM Log 2010-2011. So I no longer need to chase the 1580 Spanish as unID. Since the press release refers to 1580 as `ESPN Deportes 1580`, I wonder if there are other Spanish hours under different sponsorship; whenever else I have heard KHGG, has still been in English sports talk, or gospel huxter Sunday morning, not CNN Headline News 24h as in NRC AM log. Coördinates in FCC AM Query indicate it is definitely on the AR side of the border, 1 kW non-direxional, but of course no longer any Tiger Maps; Radio-locator shows it: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KHGG&service=AM&status=L&hours=D (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Congratulations on solving this mystery español station. Was very interesting following your attempts over the last several months. (Don Kaskey, CA, IRCA via DXLD) Tnx, Don. I`ve seen little reaxion so wondered if I was talking to myself. Also enjoy your reminiscences, logs of 60 years ago, even before I started (Glenn to Don, via DXLD) KHGG 1580 has always been a rough one to track; they've bounced from SPT //FM, SPT stand alone and all NWS with CNN and now back to SPT // FM (or alone with SS ESPN maybe?). It's been the lonely step child of Pharis for as long as I can remember. 73 (Wayne Heinen, AM Radio Log Editor, Sept 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Russian on 1710 --- I have not seen anyone report the Puget Sound Russian 1710, but it is alive an well with YL talk and Russian music tonight. Noted at 0600 UT. 73, (Patrick Martin. Seaside Oregon, "Come visit us for the 2010 IRCA convention held Sept 24-26 at the Inn At Seaside.", Aug 26, IRCA via DXLD) Hi Pat, I hear it most every morning, not very well, but in there. 73, (Steve, NE Oregon, Ratzlaff, ibid.) Thanks Steve. They continue to operate. I am a bit surprised, being unlicensed too. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Patrick & Steve, Our local Russian station on 1710 kHz appears to be off the air. On my 3 most recent visits to the East Vancouver area the station has been off the air. I have not heard the Seattle area Russian station lately (Dennis, Grayland, WA, Vroom, ibid.) Dennis, Thanks for the update on your local Russian. So far, I don't think I have heard that one. The one I have heard is the Puget Sound one as it is strongest off the NE EWE. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside Oregon, ibid.) ** U S A. Of the 30 or so radio stations in the Tucson market, most are owned by giant corporations, namely Citadel Broadcasting, Clear Channel Radio and Journal Broadcast Group. Hudson Communications, on the other hand, owns just one station: KJLL (1330-AM), known as the Jolt. "Local ownership of FCC-licensed radio is a dinosaur," said John C. Scott, KJLL's general manager. The Jolt was on the brink of extinction not too long ago. Scott hosted a show on the Jolt from 2005 to 2008, but left citing a schizophrenic management. He returned in April 2009 after the station's owner, Aldona Sprei, asked him to manage the station. Sprei died about three months later, Scott said. "The station was her life, but she didn't have people in here that worked in her best interest," Scott said. Her husband, Stanley Sprei, resuscitated the station by opening his checkbook and paying off debt accumulated since the couple bought the station in about 1996. It had been dark four or five years before the Spreis purchased it, Scott said. Stanley Sprei, a pathologist in Yuma who still owns a home in Tucson, wrote checks to the IRS and the FCC, Scott said. "He made the commitment to keep the station and pay off its major debt," Scott said. The Jolt pulled in as little as $7,500 a month when Scott arrived and is now doing about $30,000 worth of business each month, Scott said, through ad sales and fees charged to local hosts, who pay between $600 to $1,200 a month for airtime. "Stabilizing is a good word for what we did," he said. "The future is one, we assume, that if we continue down this path will be profitable and the owner will want to keep it on the air." Seven full-time employees and three part-time workers make things happen at the Jolt. The station operates out of a second-story building at 4433 E. Broadway, near North Columbus Boulevard. KJLL airs 14 local shows. Fifteen if you count Scott's talk show. The local lineup includes businessmen, former politicians, real estate experts, foodies - an eclectic mix of Tucsonans with something to say. "We represent a microcosm of the community," said Chuck Aubrey, a host and producer. "One of the things I enjoy about KJLL is we're not wedded to a certain view. There's room for all viewpoints." Then you have syndicated hosts. Some of the top talkers in America are heard on the Jolt, including Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz, Dr. Laura and Don Imus, whose brother, Fred, started out at the Jolt before his show was picked up by satellite radio. But it's the local content that sets the Jolt apart from other talk radio stations in town. "We really haven't changed the philosophy of the station because we want to be Tucson-oriented," Scott said. "We want to play a role in hat Tucson says, does, is and will be." Most of the Jolt's listeners are 35 and older, Scott says. "Business people listen to us because we follow local politics," he said. Scott would like the station to be more visible in the community and one of his goal's includes hiring a marketing director. The station has never dominated the ratings like KNST (790-AM), which is a news-talk radio station owned by Clear Channel and features "The Rush Limbaugh Program" and "The Sean Hannity Show." The Jolt's ratings stay steady at about 1 percent of the Tucson listening audience, Scott said. Scott and the others don't mind just getting by as one of the last independently owned radio stations in Arizona. "If you just keep your head above the water, you're successful," Scott said. Listen to the Jolt at AM 1330 or at the Jolt's website - http://www.tucsonsjolt.com - where shows stream live. Some shows are rebroadcast on the weekends. The Jolt's website also offers a complete radio schedule and links to some local shows (Arizona Daily Star, date? via IRCA DX Monitor Aug 28 via DXLD) ** U S A. I was listening to the radio last night and discovered a station on 87.7. I thought it might be a spur of a legitimate station or a wayward XM/Sirius. It identified itself as KBKF-LP, and was one of the evil K-Love stations. For anyone who doesn't have the joy of K-Love in their area, they apply for translators on EVERY available frequency, get market saturation with multiple translators in any given area, then do nothing to serve the community. As you can tell, I hate them with a passion. Anyway, their web site confirms the station, and checking my LP resource, I see that they have a license for this frequency as a LOW POWER TV or TV TRANSLATOR. They don't do video, only audio. On top of that, their city of license is San José CA, and their transmitter location is on the other side of the Santa Cruz Mountains in a location that would be virtually impossible to serve San José. Is this legal? (Mike Hawkins, 2 Sep, WTFDA via DXLD) Mostly. The FCC has ruled they must have a video signal (a station in Anchorage tried operating only their aural carrier, and got called on it). The video does NOT need to be related to the audio -- they can just put up an ID slide. The "city-of-license" rules are different for LPTV stations. The FCC figured that because of the frequently rather low power of LPTVs, it might not always be *possible* to cover the entire community -- and indeed, on occasion it may not be *necessary* to cover the entire community. They are not required to cover the entire community -- or for that matter, *any* of it (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) I guess it`s hardly worth having a city of license. Does FCC have any rules which allow multiple translators to be covering the same service area as a main station, which is NOT the station the translators are relaying, but relaying the same program content? If you do an FCC search for "Educational Media Foundation", you can see just how many of these puppies are on the air, with at least 10 times more applications. They all broadcast the same thing, and the only time a community is mentioned is during their ID breaks. I'd love to know how to get a bunch of them off the air (Mike Hawkins, ibid.) For translators it's not really as much a city of license as it is an "area served". A translator really doesn't have the same nature of public service obligations as a full station -- it can't, because all it can do is relay whatever programs the primary station offers -- and ostensibly, that primary station is obligated to serve the public in its city of license, not the area served by some translator which may be located well outside the primary station's city of license. Some public service obligations do apply to LPTVs and Class A TV. But again, it's not really reasonable to hold these to the same set of obligations as full-power stations -- they simply cannot comply due to their low power -- and the Commission did recognize the possibility a -LP station might wish to serve a *portion* of a community. A Hispanic community concentrated within a larger city. The campus of a major university, located within a large city. Something like that. All that said, deregulation has indeed made the city-of-license regulations pretty much meaningless with regard to full-power stations as well. ``Does FCC have any rules which allow multiple translators to be covering the same service area as a main station, which is NOT the station the translators are relaying, but relaying the same program content?`` In brief, yes. Or to put it more clearly, there are no rules to prohibit such a practice. They anticipated the situation where translators might be needed to cover areas that are *predicted* to receive coverage from the primary station, but which *in practice* do not receive coverage. Coverage prediction (for FM radio) doesn't take terrain into account. An area on the "wrong" side of a ridge might appear within the 70 dBu circle on the prediction maps, but due to terrain blockage the station might only deliver 50 dBu in that neighborhood. The Commission anticipated the possibility a translator might be desirable in this area. And the possibility there might be multiple such areas within the predicted coverage area of a main station. ``If you do an FCC search for "Educational Media Foundation", you can see just how many of these puppies are on the air, with at least 10 times more applications. They all broadcast the same thing, and the only time a community is mentioned is during their ID breaks. I'd love to know how to get a bunch of them off the air.`` For better or worse, this is legal. Really the only obligations to the city of license are the legal ID, the local EAS plan, a city-grade signal across the city, and access to the public file. They could be bumped from the air by new full-power stations. If you could find SEVERE misconduct -- in violation of FCC regulations -- at EMF's stations, you could get them found "unqualified to be a Commission licensee". Serious felony convictions of those controlling the Foundation could have the same result. I would be VERY surprised if you could find problems rising to that level. I think any move by the FCC to strip EMF licenses would result in such a political firestorm that in the end, no action would be taken (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Doug, that's part of the problem with the translator mills operated by EMF and AFA. There is so much political pull by their entrenched interests and fellow travelers in and out of the FCC and Congress. The COL has become a joke. The only local radio station licensed to a town in Lincoln County AR is nothing more than a glorified translator of a radio station in Stuttgart AR. No local news, ads, targeting the town of Gould AR. The same for the only station licensed to nearby Dumas AR, again itself a glorified translator of another station in nearby Arkansas County (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, EM43aw http://tvdxseark.blogspot.com http://www.twitter.com/KC5KBV ibid.) When it comes to K-Love, their programming (from one end to the other) is identical except for the 15 seconds that they give station IDs and a few of their translators. They offer no programming of any type that is unique to any area that they serve. The same is true for their sister station (Air 1). I have listened to a bit of CSN when DXing, and they will insert something about religious services that is unique to the station they are broadcasting on. Not so for K-Love. Family Radio is the same as K-Love in this regard. ALL programming is geared towards "I give you music and you give me money." As far as the city-grade signal, I could almost guarantee you that the specific station I am talking about couldn't make it into San José at all. San José is anywhere from 20-200 feet above sea level, with 4000- foot mountains to the east and to the south. San José broadcasters are fond of the 4000-foot mountain to the south for their towers, and they serve the area well. This LP station is on the backside of those mountains, and in a deep notch. Their only audience to the north would be mountain lions, squirrels and dope growers. Their new Stockton station (107.3) gets out with a powerful signal to the entire Bay Area and Central Valley. When I tune to that frequency from 50 miles out, I get an immediate RDS signal --- one of only three RDS signals that trigger from the Central Valley. In my holier-than-thou opinion, I think they should be forced to forfeit every translator within the range that is covered by the 107.3 signal (Mike Hawkins, ibid.) ** U S A. OFFICIALS SILENCE PIRATE STATION --- The Pride of Kenwood, 88.3 FM, was silenced on Tuesday morning with a visit to a 1930s-era bungalow. Agents from the Federal Communications Commission, escorted by detectives from the intelligence division of the St. Petersburg Police department, shut down the low-powered radio station. Working covertly for the past few weeks, the federal agents, based in Tampa, camped out in the leafy neighborhood and traced the pirate radio signal to 2351 Fifth Ave N. For the past month, the station had been broadcasting mostly techno and disco music, with a little bit of talk from a male DJ. It could be heard for about a square mile. The station wasn't broadcasting when the raid took place at 6 a.m. Federal authorities confiscated radio equipment and a 25-foot antenna on the roof. The owner of the equipment, a resident of the house, cooperated with authorities and was not arrested, said St. Petersburg police Maj. Melanie Bevan. The case has been referred to the State Attorney's Office, which will decide about filing charges. A man who answered the door at the home Wednesday afternoon declined to comment. Owner Joseph Duhamel, of Land O'Lakes, said the residents are renters. Typically, pirate broadcasters use a remote spot on the dial and get away with it for longer than a month, as the FCC only investigates complaints from a station or government agency. But in this case, Tampa-based WMNF 88.5 complained about interference. The station manager there could not be reached for comment. . . http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/officials-silence-pirate-station/1119069 I didn't DF the exact location, but it peaked on my handheld scanner on 5th Ave N between 22nd and 24th Streets N (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Sept 2, Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. MEDIUMWAVE WOR IN NEW YORK ON SHORTWAVE The 88 year old mediumwave radio station WOR in New York City is one of the well known mediumwave stations in the United States. Among its achievements is the fact that it has retained its original callsign all the way through, and it is the only three letter callsign still in use in New York City. However, in spite of its high profile throughout its long and illustrious history, there are very few people today who are aware that this notable mediumwave radio station was also involved in experimental shortwave broadcasting back in its earlier years. Radio station WOR was launched by Jack Poppele, of subsequent VOA fame, back on February 22 in the year 1922. At the time, the station was licensed to Newark New Jersey and it was installed in the sixth floor of the fourteen storey Bamberger Store in Newark. The original transmitter was a 250 watt unit constructed by De Forrest and it was allocated the congested 833 kHz channel. In the license application, request was made for the callsign WLB, but that had just been taken up by another station so they were granted the sequential call WOR. At the time, this call had just been relinquished by the Orient Line passenger vessel, S S “California”. This call, WOR, had meaning as the first two letters in the name Orient Line, but it had no meaning whatsoever to the Bamberger store. Soon afterwards, the transmitter was removed from the sixth floor and re-installed on the roof of the Bamberger building; and shortly afterward again, a 500 watt Western Electric transmitter was installed. During the following year again, WOR moved from the highly undesirable 833 kHz channel to the more open channel 740 kHz. At this stage, studios were opened at Chickering Hall on West 57th Street in New York itself, though shortly afterwards, these were moved to a more prominent location at 1440 Broadway. When station WOR was just five years old, a more impressive transmitter facility was constructed on a lonely plot of land four miles away at Kearney, still in New Jersey. The power level here was raised to 5 kW, and the frequency was changed to 710 kHz. A colorful old postcard shows an attractive aerial view of this ornate facility. When station WOR was twelve years old, another transmitter facility was constructed, this time at more distant Carteret, though again still in New Jersey. The property here was thirty four acres against the Rahway River. The new building was planned to house several transmitters, including the 5 kW mediumwave unit from Kearney, a new 50 kW mediumwave, an airways beacon, and also a shortwave transmitter. The counterpoise system for the mediumwave antenna was made up of thirty five miles of buried copper wire covering an area of ten acres, some of which was buried beneath the flowing waters of the Rahway River. The president of the United States at that time, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, performed the opening ceremony for the new WOR on March 4, 1935 during a special event at the White House. In 1967, a new transmitter facility was constructed near Lyndhurst, and the previous Carteret site became a community park. Almost forty years later again, another new transmitter facility was constructed for station WOR at Rutherford, and the Lyndhurst property became a golf course. These days, station WOR can be heard widely with 50 kW, still on 710 kHz. They have always been a reliable verifier of reception reports. In addition to the main mediumwave transmitters, station WOR has also been involved in other forms of radio transmission. Back in the year 1928, they operated a mobile shortwave transmitter, W2XAQ, which was installed in an airplane for a remote broadcast. Eight years later, they performed another significant remote broadcast out in the Atlantic with the usage of their mobile shortwave transmitter on the new luxury passenger liner, the “Queen Mary”. During the late 1930s, station WOR operated a high fidelity shortwave transmitter on 11 metres under the callsign W2XJI. In spite of the low power for this experimental operation, just 100 watts, yet it was often heard in Australia and New Zealand. During the experimental era of fax broadcasting in the late 1930s, station WOR was on the air mediumwave with the late night transmission of a fax newspaper. They also operated a shortwave fax transmitter during this same era with the callsign W2XUP. Sometimes this transmitter on 11 metres was also heard in Australia and New Zealand, and at times with the occasional broadcast of musical programs. Then too, they were also involved in FM broadcasting from several locations under half a dozen different callsigns; and of course, they were also involved in early TV transmissions as well. OK, now back to their involvement in the shortwave scene. It was in the year 1928, that a 50 watt shortwave transmitter was installed at their new transmitter base near Kearney in New Jersey. This was an experimental unit, on the air under the previously used callsign W2XAQ, and subsequently as W2XCX, with the intent of installing a higher powered unit in due course. In the early part of the year 1933, it was announced that WOR was ready to install a powerful new shortwave transmitter. The transmitter itself was already constructed, the announcement stated, but the building was not yet readied for this purpose. During the following year, WOR announced the date for the inauguration of their new shortwave service. Their new shortwave transmitter, W2XHI, would be inaugurated on December 1, 1934, at the same time as the inauguration of their new mediumwave transmitter base at Carteret, New Jersey. Subsequent news statements indicated delay after delay, until finally in November 1935, the shortwave project was abandoned, it was stated. However, that was not the end of WOR on shortwave. In April 1937, international radio monitors in the United States noted WOR as a shortwave relay from the Press Wireless station at Hicksville, under the callsign W2II. On several occasions during the year 1937, the programming from WOR mediumwave was heard on relay from PWI Hicksville. The Hicksville callsign was W2XGB and the shortwave channel was usually 17310 kHz. PWI issued QSL cards confirming these broadcasts. On two occasions, the high profile Jack Poppele of station WOR attempted to communicate with the planet Mars with the usage of transmitters at Hicksville; once in 1924, and again in 1939. These attempts were notably unsuccessful, due probably to the fact that Mars is uninhabited. (!!!) The final occasion when WOR was noted with a shortwave relay was in September 1942, around the time when Hicksville was conducting experimental broadcasts in anticipation of their coming relay service on behalf of the Voice of America. International radio monitors in New Zealand and Australia sent reception reports on these shortwave broadcasts to mediumwave WOR in New York City. Official reply letters stated that WOR new nothing of the relay of their programming over callsign WJQ on 10010 kHz at Hicksville. However, they suggested, keep on listening to the same shortwave channel, and you will hear WOR again. Thus it was, that mediumwave WOR was involved with shortwave broadcasting in, shall we say, four different eras:- * Between the years 1928 & 1936, they are known to have operated their own 50 watt shortwave transmitter W2XAQ/W2XCX on several occasions. * In the mid 1930s, they planned and prepared for a shortwave station, W2XHI, that never eventuated. * In 1924 & 1939, WOR was involved in unsuccessful relays to the planet Mars via shortwave transmitters located at Press Wireless Hicksville. * In the late 1930s & early 1940s, WOR was often noted on air via the shortwave facilities of PWI Hicksville (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script Aug 29 via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 3945, R. Vanuatu, Port Vila. September 06, 0933-0943 male and female in discussion seems in their dialect, male announcements on music, male outside. 25332 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m; Longwire 22m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN [non]. See NETHERLANDS [non], above: RNW schedule shows relay of Vatican Radio in French via Bonaire to NAm at 0229-0250 has changed 5 Sept from 9610 to 6040; also changed azimuth from 350 to 341 degrees, and target from ENAm to simply NAm, why? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 7210, VOV-1, quick check at 1316, September 8 found them in Vietnamese. At my location only VOV heard with no trace of PBS Yunnan; clearly // 5975, 7435 and 9635; all mostly fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. September 7, 2010 --- Every five years, Radio Voice of Vietnam (VOV) holds a contest entitled 'What do you know about Vietnam?' for overseas Vietnamese and foreign listeners. The contest has attracted a wide range of participants from around the globe. The Contest's Organizers have so far received nearly 200 entries from 28 nations. The oldest entrant is a French man, Rene Durand, aged 77 and the youngest is 18-year-old schoolboy Daniel Kahler, from Germany. A number of foreign listeners took part in the contest in groups, such as those from an Indonesian DX club and a group of Cambodian students from Friendship 80 School in Son Tay, Hanoi. The longest entry was written by Argentinean listener Rolando Ariel Pepe Reggiardo, who compiled 80 pages with many documents and images portraying Vietnam's land and people. Apart from answering the contest's questions, the listeners also expressed their feelings toward Vietnam and VOV. . . http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/VOVs-audience-considers-Vietnam-strong-and-dignified/20109/119329.vov (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 6297.1, SASASAM, chanting at 0614 UT Friday Sept 3; fair (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6297, "ALGERIA", RASD Rabouni, 2230-2246, Sept 3, Arabic. Two M announcers in discussion until 2244; brief "live" talk with crowd noise at 2245 into M & W announcers between mx bits; good (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) NEW [sic] 6297.10, 2355-0020 04-05.09, RASD, Rabouni, Arabic/Spanish. Arabic prolonged talk due to Ramadan, ID: "Huna el-estudiohaay al- markaziya al-wataniya, Sowt al-sha'ab a-Sahraui al-mukafa", 0000 Spanish ID: "Ésta es la Radio Nacional de la República Arabe Saharahui Democrática", pop song, 0006 news about territorial issues, 0013 Spanish romantic songs. Was off on recheck 0035 45333 (Anker Petersen, from sunny Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 6297.1, SASASAM, Sept 7 at 0558 open carrier, 0600 anthem, poor, but held up better than RNGE on 6250.0 by 0633. In case you missed my explanation of SASASAM in DXLD 10-32: short for the ID in Hassania/Arabic, Sowt al-sha`ab a-Sahraui al-mukafa (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6297, 05/09 0737, ALGERIA, RASD (Clandestine), Rabouni, Arabic, OM talk, music like jingle, reference for "Saauri" that sounds like |Chauii|, very good signal, some local noise, 54355 (Flávio Archangelo, em uma rápida visita a Ilha Comprida/SP, eu e Luiz Tresso realizamos algumas escutas em LF e a porção inferior do HF, especialmente em NDBs e Ondas Tropicais. http://www.japydx.org/temp/lf/PY2OC_PY2ZX_LF_sep2010_IC.htm radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 6065, R. Christian Voice/CVC, 1507, September 7. Pop African songs, 1514 start of a religious sermon by an excited African preacher in vernacular; via long path. Recently I noticed that CNR- 2/China Business Radio has abandoned this frequency, leaving it clear for reception of Zambia; almost fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 4828, ZBC (Gweru), 0357-0405, 9/7/2010, English / vernacular. Slow pop music. Stringed instrument at 0359 alternating with short announcements by a man. Talk by man at 0400, possibly news. Poor signal with CODAR interference. Best signal strength this year, but still difficult to understand spoken segments. At times the language sounded like English, but at other times more like a local dialect (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, IC-R75, RX-340, Random Wire (90'), ALA100M Loop (20'), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. ZIMBABWE RESUMES JAMMING OF OPPOSITION SW RADIO AFRICA BROADCASTS | Text of report by London-based Zimbabwe independent SW Radio Africa website on 2 September Robert Mugabe's regime has resumed jamming news broadcasts from SW Radio Africa, despite the existence of the coalition government with the MDC, that is supposed to guarantee freedom of expression. On Wednesday evening the first half hour of our broadcast featuring Newsreel was drowned out by a heavy noise, sounding like a slow playing record. SW Radio Africa listeners told us that soon after the news ended the jamming noise stopped and the rest of the broadcast featuring current affairs programming could be heard clearly. Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa told Newsreel he was not aware of the jamming. He said; 'We will have to start gathering our facts on the matter before coming up with our position.' Deputy Information Minister Murisi Zwizwai's phone went unanswered the whole day. But a source told us the Central Intelligence Organisation, which falls under the President's Office, is running the operation. In 2005 Mugabe's regime began jamming SW Radio Africa frequencies just before the controversial Operation Murambatsvina. It was reported that the jamming equipment and expertise was provided by China and at the time we spoke to a soldier who says he was sent to China to be trained in jamming techniques. The jamming was then extended to include signals from Voice of America's Studio 7, in clear violation of international laws. In March 2007 then Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga admitted they were jamming our broadcasts. Speaking in parliament Matonga boasted that the government was generating electronic interference to prevent reception of the broadcasts. "We cannot allow foreigners to invade our airwaves without our authority. We will continue to do it. We need to protect our sovereignty. If you go to England you will not receive any foreign radio station." SW Radio Africa is run by exiled Zimbabweans who, because of repressive media legislation, were not allowed to broadcast from home. In 2000 the station, then called Capital Radio, challenged government's broadcasting monopoly and won its case in the Supreme Court. But after just 6 days of broadcasting from a local hotel the station was shut down by Mugabe using his presidential powers. While the initial jamming in 2005 was done when Zimbabwe was under the sole rule of Mugabe and ZANU PF, the situation is now different and, in theory, we have a unity government where responsibility must be shared by the MDC. The national chairman of the Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa Loughty Dube said; 'It's quite surprising because this inclusive government has made a commitment to promote a diversity of views and a diversity of media. It is imperative that they do not select which voice they want in this diversity.' As for the MDC not knowing about the jamming Dube said; 'It clearly tells us they are junior partners in the government'. In a related issue it was also this week that co-Home Affairs Minister, Theresa Makone, said she was unaware of an order issued by her Permanent Secretary banning paintings done by Bulawayo based artist Owen Maseko depicting the Gukurahundi era. Source: SW Radio Africa website, London, in English 2 Sep 10 (via BBCM via DXLD) SW RADIO AFRICA BROADCASTS JAMMED DESPITE UNITY GOVERNMENT Jammed SWRA broadcast – 7:45pm, 1 September 2010 Get Adobe Flash player [:24 clip of the music loop jammer] The audio clip above reveals what Zimbabweans heard yesterday when they tuned into SW Radio Africa (SWRA) to hear impartial objective Zimbabwean news. It is a further act of censorship, another effort to suppress free speech and the right of Zimbabweans to access information. SWRA have done an incredible job ensuring news-deprived Zimbabweans still have access to impartial objective information despite the Zanu PF government’s passing of repressive legislation like the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). This oddly named piece of legislature has served to deny independent media sources permission to operate newspapers, radio or TV in Zimbabwe. SWRA, broadcasting from outside Zimbabwe on short wave, have managed to provide independent news to parts of the country that email and online news sources cannot reach. As such they have been a lifeline of information to oppressed Zimbabweans. It has also made SWRA a thorn in the side for members of the political elite who feel most threatened by a critical and enquiring press that seeks to expose corruption and human rights abuses. SWRA have been jammed before, but their article on their website about this instance conveys shock at the fact that, this time, the jamming is happening under the inclusive government which includes former opposition parties that have supposedly fought for democratic principles. In fact, just last week, the MDC-T party launched a new party card, describing it as the ‘master card for real change‘. What’s worse, this is the second act of censorship occuring under the unity government this week. . . http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/5988 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Andy Sennitt adds: There is a 25-second recording of the jamming on Sokwanele, the blog of the Zimbabwe Civic Action Support Group. I am not an expert on jamming, but I have never heard jamming noises like these before. 3 Comments on “Zimbabwe resumes jamming SW Radio Africa” 1. #1 Bill Whitacre on Sep 3rd, 2010 at 11:26 Yes, that is the ‘usual’ sound of Zimbabwe jamming. You remember Radio Botswana’s ‘farmyard’ IS? This is similar — car horns, street sounds, guy trying to sing, etc. I think it was probably made pretty quickly but it is effective. 2. #2 Andy Sennitt on Sep 3rd, 2010 at 11:45 Ah, that’s what it is! Thanks Bill. Yes, I recall Radio Botswana’s interval signal. I believe Jonathan played it on one of the Media Network shows. Having watched the World Cup from South Africa, I imagine vuvuzelas would do the job pretty effectively too :-) 3. #3 Keith Perron on Sep 3rd, 2010 at 18:07 Wow, I have not heard that in a while. It reminds me a type of jamming that once came from somewhere in the former Eastern Bloc that would use a tape loop running in reverse (Media Network blog comments via DXLD) MUGABE'S REGIME REPORTEDLY JAMMING SW RADIO AFRICA | Text of report by London-based Zimbabwe independent SW Radio Africa on 6 September Since Wednesday [1 September] there has been intermittent jamming by Robert Mugabe's regime of short wave broadcasts from SW Radio Africa. Using a heavy noise like a slow playing record, some of our programming and news bulletins have been drowned out. Experts say jamming radio broadcasts is expensive to do and you need a lot of power. Last week our sources said the Central Intelligence Organization, which falls under the President's Office, is running the operation. The Zimbabwe National Students Union criticized the jamming describing it as "an attempt to subvert a people's right to receive and impart information as prescribed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Zimbabwe is a signatory". The union said it had hoped the inclusion of the MDC [Movement for Democratic Change] in government "was a buffer against such authoritarian tendencies" but it seemed "politicians are of the same make, no matter which political organization". As yet no government official has issued a statement on the jamming. This has been the trend over the years where they choose not to say anything. It was only in March 2007, after jamming had begun in 2005, that the then Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga admitted they were jamming our broadcasts. Speaking in parliament at the time Matonga boasted the government was generating electronic interference to block the broadcasts. But what is different this time is that we now have a government of national unity, made up of two formations of the MDC who have clearly stated a commitment to freeing the media. This is the perfect opportunity for them to prove their commitment. And if they can't put a stop to the jamming, it is then made absolutely clear to everyone that the unity government is nothing more than a sham. Newsreel tracked down the controversially appointed Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe [BAZ] chairman, Tafataona Mahoso, and asked him if they were taking applications for independent radio stations. "I can't answer that question" he told us before referring us to "the media centre at the Harare Sheraton". He said the Chief Executive of BAZ, a Mr Muganyuka, would answer our question. Mahoso then launched into a vitriolic attack against SW Radio Africa, describing it as a "pirate radio". Reminded that we were Zimbabweans broadcasting from exile because of repressive media legislation, Mahoso hung up his phone. Source: SW Radio Africa, London, in English 0000 gmt 6 Sep 10 (via BBCM via DXLD) The "bagpipe" type jammer had been on 4880 against SWRA already in the end of August. Then rather irregular and weakish, but audible here in Finland (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Sept 4, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17-19 on 4880 via RSA ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. RADIO VOP ENCOURAGED TO STAY ON SW http://news.radiovop.com/index.php/permalink/4460.html (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Sept 7, dxldyg via DXLD) Radio VOP Turns 10 Radio VOP has been commended for its resilience and continued broadcasting of diverse views in a difficult situation. Women Affairs Gender and Community Development Deputy Minister Jessie Majome said this at the 10th Anniversary celebrations of Radio VOP held in Harare and and castigated Global Political Agreement (GPA) principals for delaying freeing the airwaves. It broadcasts every morning between 6 and 7am on 9875 kHz on shortwave via the RNW Madagascar relay station, and plans are under way to re- introduce an evening bulletin. It also has a 24 hour website http://www.radiovop.com attracting readers from all over the world. Zanu (PF) has labelled Radio VOP and other similar stations broadcasting from outside, pirate radio stations, and has listed them among the outstanding issues of the GPA talks. Radio VOP Board members Nhlanhla Ngwenya (treasurer) and David Masunda said the radio station remained committed to serving the people of Zimbabwe by telling them stories without fear and favour. “We are disappointed that two years after the formation of the inclusive government, which we thought was going to bring democracy in the country there is still no movement and attempt by the government to open up the airwaves. Radio VOP is more than ready and keen to broadcast and tell the Zimbabwe story from Zimbabwe any time. We want our radio station to be an information factory where citizens get all the information they deserve .We want to channel information in different ways, like through YouTube. via cell phones and Facebook,” said Mr Masunda. Guest speaker at the occasion Lumko Mtimde, the chief executive of the Media Development and Diversity Agency in South Africa said it was not easy for a country coming from a dictatorship rule to give broadcasting licences. “Players in the broadcasting sector should write proposals to the government and demand the opening of the airwaves. That is the situation we went through in South Africa when the country was transforming from the former apartheid to a democratic rule. The process is not easy but you have to soldier on till the battle is won,” he advised. Established in 2000, the private radio station was forced to close shop in the country when its Harare studios were raided by police in December, 2005. Following the raid the station’s reporters and the chief executive officer were arrested and detained for some days. They were later released when the entire board was called to appear in court to answer charges of contravening the Broadcasting Services Act by broadcasting without a licence. The case was however dismissed as a “circus” by a Harare magistrate. The station was also bombed in 2002 by unknown assailants. The radio station employs more than 30 journalists most of whom were victimised by the former Zanu (PF) government through the media draconian laws such as the notorious Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). Several panellists drawn from the media, civic society and business also attended the occasion and called on Radio VOP to work in partnership with others to fight repressive media laws and the opening of the airwaves (Source: Radio VOP)(September 4th, 2010 - 12:37 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) Via MADAGASCAR. 9875, Radio Voice of the People, 0423-0459*, Sept 8, vernacular talk. Short breaks of African music. Into English at 0442 with news about Zimbabwe. IDs. Contact information. Very good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) UNIDENTIFIED. 3600, 05/09 0822, long instrumental music, not listed (intermod? harmonics?) 33233 (Flávio Archangelo, em uma rápida visita a Ilha Comprida/SP, eu e Luiz Tresso realizamos algumas escutas em LF e a porção inferior do HF, especialmente em NDBs e Ondas Tropicais. http://www.japydx.org/temp/lf/PY2OC_PY2ZX_LF_sep2010_IC.htm radioescutas yg via DXLD) The hi-power Cuban on 600 used to put a sixth harmonic here, but have not seen it reported for years (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4080, 2310-2318, Sept 3. Lite acoustic/vocal music in unID language; very weak-poor; buried under band noise (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX LISTENING DIGEST) nothing listed; 1360 x 3? 1020 x 4? 680 x 6? (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 4900, 1130 fading out 30 August, 1105 noted on 1 September [Wilkner] 4900.03, Unid 2330 to 2340 on 2 September (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro-DL - NRD 535D, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg) UNIDENTIFIED. 6248.30, 0635-0755+, Sept 6, Middle Eastern music. Religious recitations at 0646 in unidentified language. Lite instrumental music after 0700. Good. Strong. No //s found. Kuwait testing? Perhaps Western Sahara 6297 off frequency? (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DX Listening Digest) See EQUATORIAL GUINEA UNIDENTIFIED. Trying to identify 11070 --- Sounds Brazilian on 11070 right now? 1845 UT. A good signal - can someone please identify. Thanks. (Gary Deacon, South Herts, Sept 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wish I had been around to try at that hour, but it is extremely unlikely Brazil would be on 11070 --- or any broadcaster. Most likely another image produced only in your receiver, 900 or 910 kHz below the real frequency (twice the intermediate frequency --- is it 450 or 455 kHz?), which I urge everyone to check out when something like this appears so far out of band. Scheduled at that time on 11970 is Romania, in Romanian. You don`t say what the language was, but they do play a wide variety of music, some of which might be Brazilian. Check tomorrow at the same time for a match (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I tried it at the same time yesterday and still heard some kind of South American talk. I checked for Romania but could not get 11970 here. I also heard another station which sounded Mexican on 11150. I realise this is outside of the 25 meter band which usually starts at 11400 on most receivers. In fact the 25 meter band proper was mostly silent from after 18 UT. I used an Eton G3 globe traveller and a Roberts R9921. I did some research on-line and it seems that 11000 - 11100 is in a satellite band used for weather data and such like. I'm sure you will know more about this and thanks for the advice Glenn. 73. (Gary Drew, ibid.) Maybe your dial or readout is way off and you are really hearing proper 25m frequencies? Nothing beats an ID or something more definite than ``sounds like``. You mean you were hearing 11070 and 11150 on both the Eton and the Roberts?? I don`t think there are any `satellite bands` on HF. The 11000-11100 listing you saw was probably in MHz, not kHz. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 15679, Sept 4 at 1406, intermittent 2-way Spanish SSB, het something on 15680, listed R. Farda via Lampertheim (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHORTWAVE MUSIC +++++++++++++++ UTILITY AUDIO MAKES SOUND ART Robert Gauvin of Ottawa, Ontario is putting together a sound-art project using the audio from the utility stations he hears. He does this in his rare spare time off from work. He listens on his Sony ICF 2002 (Robert Ellis, ed., Ute -- The Worldwide Utility Column, Sept CIDX Messenger via DXLD) MORSE IN MUSIC Other examples of morse used in music composition include the theme to BBC comedy "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" and the Rush instrumental classic "YYZ" (YYZ being the call letters of Toronto Airport). http://www.neilpeart.net/movies/yyz_vid.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7026637.stm 73, (Tom Read M1EYP, Macclesfield, England, http://tomread.co.uk Sept 2, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) See also RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM below MUSEA +++++ POLISH RADIO'S 85 YEARS OF BROADCASTING EXHIBITION thenews.pl 4 September 2010 http://www.thenews.pl/culture/artykul139010_polish-radios-85-years-of-broadcasting-exhibition.html An exhibition on Polskie Radio's 85 year history of broadcasting has began at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The exhibition was opened by Andrzej Tarnowski, grandson of Zygmunt, the founder and first director of Polish Radio in the years 1925-1935. The 1925-2010 Polish Radio exhibition presents a history of Poland's public broadcaster including developments in technology and some of the personalities and programmes that became part of the daily lives of listeners throughout the eight and a half decades. The exhibition, which runs till October 17, contains 390 photographs, dozens of posters and multimedia presentations based on the Polish Radio archives (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via dXLD) Re: [Tvfmdx] UNINTENDED TRIBUTE TO KANSAS RADIO HISTORY??? I note with some amusement that a new religious FM station in Girard, Kansas has taken the call letters KFKB. These call letters have a checkered history in Kansas..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Brinkley Arguably, after KFKB was sold, "Dr." Brinkley became the father of the Mexican AM "border blaster". KFKB today is probably better known as KFDI-1070, Wichita (actually, the calls are now KLIO but I'd bet most Kansans know it better as KFDI). – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN? EM66, August 6, WTFDA via DXLD) Hello Doug, Yes, KFKB is an infamous Kansas radio station. I once worked on a documentary about "The Goat Gland Doctor" and visited the XERF transmitter in Ciudad Acuña and did some taping at the Brinkley mansion in Del Rio as well as in Milford, KS. I did meet Brinkley's widow Minnie and their son ``Johnny Boy" who committed suicide not too much later. It is indeed a fascinating, strange story and a real part of Kansas history as well as of the country as a whole. Dr. Brinkley had a national impact on medicine and broadcasting. KFKB -- "Kansas' First, Kansas' Best." KFKB was once the nation's most listened to radio station with listeners from Maine to California. By the way, a new book about Dr. Brinkley has just been released (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, Sept 5, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ 6 UNIQUE USES OF MORSE CODE http://blog.promomachine.co.uk/morse-code (via Pete Costello, DXLD) HIDDEN COMMUNICATIONS USING LSB ON USB SIGNALS? We have a man who our organization Ordained as a minister. He had a real change in his life about 15 years ago. He used to work for the CIA and was an intellegence officer in the field. He told me that the DOD was experimenting with hidden communication and data in the LSB sides of EXISITING signals. They had figured out a way to HOP ON TO exsiting HF AM single side modulated signals using about 1/8 the nessessary power and the ORIGINATING signal would provide a kind of SKYWAVE Bias for the smaller invisible signal. I do not know why LSB was the mode preferred if the rumor is true. The communication was intentended for high altitude servailence baloons. If this rumor is true then that would explain why FCC prefers HF Broadcast stations to be on USB. I don't know? It's just interesting tidbits. "Andy" is the mans name. I just saw him about a week ago in Phoenix. He still insists the experimentation on invisible HF signals is continuing (Rod Hembree to and via Allan Weiner, via DXLD) Hi Glenn, What do you know of this? (Allan Weiner, to gh, via DXLD) Allan, News to me; sounds far-fetched. Anyhow, only you and WJHR want to use SSB. Besides, I can hear some of your audio tuning LSB, so it must not be 100% USB. Why have something like this which applies to only two broadcast stations on four frequencies? Same could be done with countless utility transmitters (Glenn to Allan, ibid.) 1400 MW POWER CABLE NEARBY Yesterday I attended a presentation of NorGer who plan to lay a 1400 Megawatt power cable from Norway to Germany starting in a year. That cable will come ashore 6 km from here and will run 50 km further south underground, 150 cm deep. I was scared about possible RF noise as my beverage points toward that cable. Especially I was scared about RF for signaling purposes impressed on it using higher power as you often see with overground power lines. But I was relieved to hear that this 'old technology' isn't used anymore. Instead a glass fiber is interwoven in the cable that also is used for monitoring the temperature along the entire stretch. Actually there are 2 separate cables with one thick wire each carrying ~ 500kV DC, each is shielded to prevent electric fields. Both are laid very close together to minimize the resulting magnetic field. This structure is called bipolar, in contrast to monopolar were the return path is ground, which causes huge magnetic fields that even irritate the compass of ships nearby. So it looks reception will not be impaired. Let's hope nothing else show up. http://www.norger.biz/norger/project/article44193.ece (Jurgen Bartels, Suellwarden, N. Germany, 11-element 45-87 MHz antenna horz. TV: Winradio G305 / Fly2000 + video noise filter & variable IF BW FM: 15.11 horz Ant. Downconverter + Perseus + Speclab as WFM demod. http://dx.3sdesign.de/tv_offset_list.htm http://dx.3sdesign.de/station_list.htm http://fewo.3sdesign.de - Vacation home: DX right at the Northsea coast, Sept 3, MWDX yg via DXLD) EXCALIBUR RADIO My new Excalibur is one fine radio, the best I have ever used and that includes Icoms, JRC 545, Eton E1 and many others. This Excalibur is a real winner, expensive, but worth it. The sensitivity is great, you can use squelch if desired, set AGC however you like, set RF gain you desire and has three VFOs that can be selected with a mouse click. I especially I like the continuously variable demodulator band width, passband tuning, the choice of AM, Sync, LSB, USB, CW,FSK, FM, and DRM. Being able to record 3 separate audio channels simultaneously to help in identifying stations at TOH is great! Being able to see RF activity across a full 30 MHz with your choice of a waterfall or spectrum display is very nice. In the window called "DDC Window" you can monitor a variable bandspread of 20 kHz to 2 MHz and with a mouse click select whichever one you want to hear. On top of all of that you can record any RF spectrum up to 2 mHz wide for as long as you like and select frequencies to listen to later on demodulating them as you prefer (AM, SYNC, LSB, USB,etc.). Amazing technology (Neil Bell, KJ6FBA, Sept 3, ptsw yg via DXLD) I already purchased the g305 and was very disappointed (Chuck Bolland, FL, ibid.) Here it is: http://www.winradio.com/home/g31ddc.htm Also see the independent review I added to the files section (Neil Bell KJ6FBA, ibid.) Neil, what was the cost of your new Excalibur receiver? (Chuck Bolland, FL, ibid.) About $850 (Neil KJ6FBA, ibid.) Hi Charles, surprised you did not like the G305, mine works just fine If you were not aware of or do not use the Winradio website then you would not avail yourself of the free software updates http://www.winradio.co.uk/ Also the Excalibur is a very good receiver and in use every day alongside my QS1R. 73 (Dave G8SZX http://www.g8szx.co.uk IO92jp ibid.) Dave, I have been to the web site a number of times, but never found any downloads that are free. For the cost of the G305e/pd, I was very disappointed with the receiver. Of course the company said I could upgrade if I paid more money. No notch filter, no tone control, poor filtering, tons of receiver noise, and poor audio. I would not recommend the G305e/pd for serious DXing. Please point me to the free downloads (Chuck Bolland, ibid.) Hi Chuck, URLs below for software updates and xrs downloads http://www.winradio.co.uk/home/download.htm http://xrs.winradio.com/ Filtering on the basic model can be improved with an outboard filter MFJ or similar. With good matched aerials for the required listening area the signals were fine. I can monitor 50 MHz, 144 MHz and 70cm amateur signals over the UK using adequate aerials of suitable gain and well designed preamps, etc. Same with any receiver I have, the old Realistic 2004, Fairhaven RD500, Yaesu FT847 transceiver for TX on HF and VHF. I sold my Icom 8500 when I bought my G305i-internal version. So I have plenty of other units to compare against and have been working VHF for many many years. http://dx.3sdesign.de/index.htm?station_list.htm is a site worth perusing and shows 305e measuring frequencies and TV carrier monitoring. My G31DDC was £650.00 UKP. 73 (Dave G8SZX, ibid.) Dave, Nice to hear from you. First you and I are on two different bands. I listen to shortwave while you are on VHF and UHF. There's a difference between the two in my opinion. For shortwave, a receiver needs to have better filters and at least a notch filter. Next I went to your links (URL) that you provided for the "free" software and found only software that cost money. See the list of prices below. Yes, I was using an outboard audio filter. It is the Timewave DSP-599x unit, but that isn't really the best choice for DXing in my opinion. Anyway, I should not need to use other gadgets to facilitate a $1200 unit. If the WinRadio people had sold me a better unit, I probably would invest in their newest unit, but I don't trust them at this point and don't want to be "taken" again. see below: Please select software you would like to purchase by direct download: Description Price Purchase Two-Dimensional Tuning Tool (MRS. Plug-in) US$29.95 Advanced Search (XRS Plug-in) US$19.95 Digital BridgeT for Windows 9x, ME, 2000 and XP (32 bit) (Virtual Sound Card) US$49.95 Digital BridgeT for Windows 2000, XP (32/64 bit), Vista (32/64 bit) and Windows 7 (Virtual Sound Card) US$49.95 APCO P25 Decoder for G305 receivers US$99.95 APCO P25 Decoder for G315 receivers US$199.95 Advanced Trunking Option for G305 Receivers US$199.95 Advanced Trunking Option for G315 Receivers US$199.95 WaveBase 3 Database for G3-Series Receivers US$99.95 Dave, I must apologize to you. I found the free stuff you mentioned. I have been searching for it since I purchased my g305e/pd unit. Unfortunately, there's nothing there that interests me. Thanks for your help. I've been using my g305e/pd this morning, having some decent results. If you ever get on the shortwave bands with your new unit, let me know what you think of its performance. Thanks (Chuck Bolland, ibid.) Hi Chuck, Fine on your HF requirements. I use the QS1R, Winradio G313i and G31DDC for HF reception A cheaper alternative is the RF Space SDR- 14 or IQ and use software by WINRAD or SDR-Radio. http://sdr-radio.com/ They are more specialised that a wide coverage unit. I will be adding my reception findings to my website in the future. Enjoy 73 (Dave G8SZX ibid.) Dave, I went to your web page and read your reviews. Very interesting. I noticed you mentioned the Griffin Rotary Knob in one of your reviews. Can you tell me where you purchased it? I have been interested in getting one for my WR unit. Thanks (Chuck Bolland, ibid.) http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powermate (dave G8SZX ibid.) PERSEUS REVIEW - FROM THE UTILITY PERSPECTIVE Jörg Klingenfuss has compiled a review of Perseus based on the demands of utility listeners. He is not as positive of the receiver as a utility receiving tool as it is for plain dx-ing. Go to this link and read his comments: http://www.klingenfuss.org/persuser.pdf There are also lots of software pictures and software for those interested in receiving various types of utility stations. (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 5 via DXLD) Excalibur – Ein scharfes Hör-Schwert Niels Schiffhauer’s praxistest in Radio-Kurier – Weltweit Hören 8/2010 is now available. The article is in German and describes the new Winradio and it’s pros and cons. There is also a link to the screencasts (12 short videos) showing the difference in reception and signal handling between Perseus and Excalibur for about 25 stations. These screencasts were published at his own website some months ago, see http://bit.ly/ccA8v7 The whole article can be read at http://www.addx.org/textarchiv/10-08-24-26.pdf (Thomas Nilsson, ibid.) G31DDC Excalibur opinions When discussing sound quality you really have to consider the sound card used and the amplifier / speaker system used. For my location I use the same Creative Labs PCI 512 in each radio oriented computer. The line out of that goes to a Bahringer 16 channel mixer (for the PCs that have SDR's on them, other radios go directly into a separate 24 channel mixer). The Main out of the 16 channel mixer goes to a dedicated decode and record PC and an external stereo audio amplifier, and the amp drives a pair of Infinity monitors. "Sound better" is very opinion oriented. What follows is my opinion. Using this setup I find that the Excalibur often, but not always, sounds a little better than the Perseus, it is mode and condition dependant. When a signal is right down in the noise floor and in AM mode the Perseus sounds better. In CW the Perseus has a very slight advantage. In SSB, AM-Sync, or AM with a better SNR the Excalibur sounds better. I have never really compared them in FM. However, I find the SDR-IQ and SDR-14 sound better than both the Excalibur and the Perseus for most signals, but of course SpectraVue does not have an AM-Sync (or SAM) mode. It does, however, have DSB, something the other two lack. With all of that said I am finding the Excalibur to be my most used radio while searching for new signals, and one of my SDR-IQ's or my SDR-14 my most used when I am doing scheduled spectrum recordings of frequencies. (T! Mohave Desert, California, USA in http://forums.radioreference.com/all-other-receivers/185098-winradio- excalibur.html ibid.) MEASURING MW OFFSETS TO .1 HZ ACCURACY WITH THE PERSEUS SDR September 4th, 2010 | Author: Brandon Today I discovered an easy method for accurately measuring MW offsets to .1 Hz accuracy with the Microtelecom Perseus SDR receiver using the SoDiRa Software Radio application and thought I would share my discovery with other Perseus users. As Perseus users are aware, one can only measure carrier frequencies to 1 Hz accuracy using the Perseus software. Using the AM Radio mode of SoDiRa in ECSS AM synchronous mode, the software measures and displays the frequency offset of the carrier to .1 Hz accuracy. When I first noticed this feature, I was not confident that it would be accurate but with subsequent testing by measuring local AM stations of known offset, I have found it to be 100% accurate. As an example, here is a screenshot of the AM Radio mode display of the SoDiRa software while the Perseus is tuned to a local Highway Advisory System (HAR) network here in Memphis on 1660 kHz. The network consists of multiple synchronized low power transmitters that are exactly on 1660.0000 kHz. SoDiRa measures this carrier accurately every time: http://www.bcdx.org/?p=240 (Brandon Jordan, TN, via SWB Sept 5 via DXLD) ATS 909 X ON DISPLAY AT IFA [Berlin Radio Exhibition] Sangean presents the new ATS 909 X on IFA, advising that the set on display is a prototype and not the final product, a statement that presumably applies in particular to the design. It's impossible to say anything about its capabilities because reception in the hall is terrible; AM is just unusable altogether while on FM the PS code even of a 100 kW outlet just eight kilometres away does not get through, thus the empty field in the photo. The set behaves like an ATS 909 in any regard, also in having a set of wide and narrow AM filters. Thus it seems that it is basically the same receiver circuitry in an upgraded shell. In case somebody expects a report about DRM on IFA: Nothing to report at all. A booth of the Hannover university, presenting the results of their field trial, is announced for the TecWatch section, but I could not spot it on my tour in this crowded and confused location. How is a system that has been "commercially launched" five years ago still a subject for this section anyway? I had also some off-the-record talks and, well, you can guess the conclusions I have drawn. Of note is Pure, a UK-based manufacturer widely recognized as "the DAB company". The focus of their IFA presentation is clearly on online radio, involving an own service platform that makes 16,000 radio stations available to their sets. One of them just blared out the morning show of some station from the other side of the great pond when I walked in. <*>Attachment(s) from Kai Ludwig: [in the dxldyg only] 1 of 1 Photo(s) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/attachments/folder/1177924414/item/ list (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See also CHILE; CUBA; ERITREA; GERMANY; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ IRELAND; POLAND; RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM PRIMEIRA ESCUTA EM DRM Olá pessoal, Hoje (06/sep) pude efetuar minha primeira escuta em DRM, onde recebi a CVC La Voz em 17640 kHz, por volta das 1810 UT, com um sinal muito bom, apesar de um pouco de fading que causava a interrupção do áudio. O áudio em DRM é excelente! Stereo e inclusive muito bom para ouvir música. Apesar da qualidade muito boa, tive que efetuar uns pequenos reparos em um dos cabos coaxiais da antena, devido um mal contato, o qual interrompeu a escuta por alguns minutos. Ainda no final da tarde tentei receber a All India Radio em 9945 kHz, porém o sinal não estava chegando com intensidade suficiente para a decodificação, somente recebi o id da emissora. Se alguem interessar, coloquei uma gravação desta escuta no meu blog http://bsbdx.blogspot.com e as screens do DREAM no momento da recepção. 73's a todos!! (Thiago P. Machado, Sept 6, http://bsbdx.blogspot.com Brasília-DF, Brasil [GH54XC], radioescutas yg via DXLD) Thiago, Qual o equipamento ultilizado?? ?? 73s (Renato Strauss, ibid.) Parabens Thiago, Pela exelente recepcoa em DRM. Me fale qual a antena que voce usa. (PY4ID - PY4030SWL Mauricio Logicamax Pimenta, ibid.) Olá pessoal, Eu estou utilizando um SDR-IQ, com uma antena ativa Stoner Dymek DA100E. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xnchn6B0ZXA/S- yt5jHfuNI/AAAAAAAAIow/2kI6kt_n-7c/s320/DSC00249.JPG Ainda tenho que me acostumar com o SDR, não é tão simples como o Degen, onde basta sintonizar e ouvir. Desde já, muito obrigado pelo apoio! 73's!! (Thiago P. Machado, http://bsbdx.blogspot.com Brasília-DF, Brasil [GH54XC], ibid.) DRM SIMULCAST MODE WITH AM MAKES NO SENSE Re 10-35: The discussed DRM simulcast mode has been tested for an extended period in Germany, on the Zehlendorf (Oranienburg) transmitter on 693 kHz until it has been switched back to plain AM as new regular Berlin and Brandenburg relay of Voice of Russia. To put it short: The analogue component has compromised modulation depth with less punch and under real-world conditions, non-linearities always result in the digital component producing an obvious background hiss. The digital component itself is limited to 11 kbps or thereabouts, which with AAC audio coding produces pretty much AM quality. It can be decoded only under better reception conditions, under which a plain AM signal could be received without much noise. I have seen no dissent over the conclusion that this mode simply makes no sense (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ FM DXING IN WEST BENGAL During the 3rd week of June 2010, I had an opportunity of experiencing sporadic E condition in FM band. Earlier, Noticing various distant FM logs, I tried several times from my hometown Kolkata with available receivers. But strong local FM channels & their image frequencies all over the FM band, prevented me to log any distant FM channels. Then dismantling newly home brewed Quad Loop antenna, shifted to another 100 km north of Kolkata, a place called Taherpur under Nadia district of West Bengal state. Erected a 20 mtr. longwire targeting southeast & northwest. The very first day Quad miserably failed and later on detected that there was no continuity. Then the magic started with the longwire which later on found performing excellent. I used a tiny Tecsun PL 757A portable receiver. Many of the distant FM stations coming like our local FM channels, specially from Pakistan, as if I am sitting in a city of Pakistan. Most of the private FM channels of Bangladesh like Radio Foorti, Dhaka, Radio Amar, Radio Today Dhaka, were coming very clear. Most surprisingly received BBC Bengali programme via FM at Comilla, Bangladesh. Many of the stations carrying programme in CIS language, could not be identified. Indeed, it is not so easy to perfectly identify a distant FM channel just crosschecking their frequency in the available gadgets. Because various programmes run in the same channel in various city of the same country. Although Indian private FM channels could not disturb the band much but some channels from central to northwestern India were available. Many of the Thai & Vietnamese channels remained unidentified. Below you can listen to some of the audio files recorded with my mobile phone recorder. Unidentified Chinese 92.4 MHz @ 0519 21.6.2010 http://tinyurl.com/2veufsu 102.6 MHz 0741UTC 21.6.10 AIR DELHI http://tinyurl.com/2w46ddg FM 93 Pakisatn 93.0 MHz 0417 UTC 21.6.10 http://tinyurl.com/3yj6s8l FM Sunrise Sahiwal Pakistan 96.0 MHz 0701 UTC 21.6.2010 http://tinyurl.com/3yt46zp Local pirate in Bengali http://tinyurl.com/348jp4n Local Pirate 95.6 MHz 1605 UTC 20.6.10 http://tinyurl.com/38br6zd Local Pirate 96.4 MHz 1558 UTC 20.6.10 http://tinyurl.com/3297d7d Mast FM Lahore Pakistan 103.0 MHz 0352 UTC 21.6.10 http://tinyurl.com/3x5jq2v Power FM Islamabad 99.0 MHz 0728 UTC 21.6.2010 http://tinyurl.com/3xvztmf Punjab University FM Lahore 0.1 kW 104.6 MHz 0824 UTC 21.6.10 http://tinyurl.com/36derh6 Pyinsawadi FM Burma 88.0 MHz 0501 UTC http://tinyurl.com/2u9ynto R News Network Pakistan 99.0 MHz 0300 UTC 21.6.10 http://tinyurl.com/38z55ql Radio Today Bangladesh 89.6 MHz 0537 UTC 21.6.2010 http://tinyurl.com/33v65sa Sichuan R China 91.3 MHz 0400 UTC 21.6.10 http://tinyurl.com/33akpts Unidentified 90.1 MHz http://tinyurl.com/32bozyr Unidentified stn 97.8 MHz 0430 UTC 21.6.2010 http://tinyurl.com/33kdzp4 Unidentified 101.3 MHz Presumably Tibetan http://tinyurl.com/2vnskkq Unidentified Bengali 100 MHz 0323UTC 21.6.10 http://tinyurl.com/3ygg7ya Unidentified Chinese stn 21.6.2010 http://tinyurl.com/33ab6vm Unidentified Chinese stn 92.4 MHz @ 0519 21.6.2010 http://tinyurl.com/2veufsu Unidentified Chinese stn 96.0 MHz 0539 UTC http://tinyurl.com/367jwg3 Unidentified Indian station http://tinyurl.com/2vgjqvp Unidentified Kazakh or Uighur language 92.2 MHz 0800 21.6.10 http://tinyurl.com/32dfhme Unidentified Turkish language on 93.2 MHz 0418 UTC 20.6.2010 http://tinyurl.com/38x545t Unidentified Uighur language programme http://tinyurl.com/2w6l9xg But coming back in Kolkata tried several times but nothing fruitful so far. Quad Loop antenna was also erected perfectly. Definitely this was the first experience of sporadic E. Next one will must be a planned FM DXpedition. Thanks, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Swopan, Some very interesting DX there. Unfortunately, my players can`t handle these odd-format audio files (tried winamp, real, windows media, quicktime). It seems to me that quad and longwire are really not suitable for FM DX frequencies. I suspect your results would have been just as good using the built-in whip antenna only, with the advantage that you could quickly manoeuvre it to avoid interference and/or pick up maximum signal. 20 m longwire certainly is not right for FM band of about 3 meters wavelength. The Es signals were probably so strong that they overcame the antenna wire anyway. One is entirely dependent on when an opening occurs, not so much with having good antenna gain. Or a yagi cut for the middle of the FM band should give good gain and directionality, but I don`t know if it could be matched properly to that receiver. Perhaps you have already looked into how to do that with the quad, or maybe not with the bad results there. Typical minimum distance for Es is about 500 miles = 800 km, and most common distance is more like 1000 miles = 1600 km, so you would not be getting nearby Bangladesh via this mode, but rather tropo (weather- related) or groundwave. Maybe parts of Myanmar are far enough away, and of course further parts of India and Pakistan. With FM DX it is very important to be aware of the distances involved. It might be helpful to draw circles of 500, 1000 and 1500 miles around your location a map. Most of your Es would come from 500-1500 with a peak around 1000. Altho occasionally beyond 1500 is possible by multiple-hops. So-called trans-equatorial propagation is another matter, which you also might get, outside the summer Es season. Signals are generally steadier but weaker and not fully quieted. I am basing my comments on some DX I got in Thailand 40 years ago, and on lots more experience here in OK, 36 degrees north, about the same as J&K or northern Tibet, but at least not too far north of you and in the same hemisphere. Good luck on planning your DXpedition, but if there is not a rather unpredictable Es opening, you may be disappointed. Of course the odds will be much better in May-July. Or if you become aware of an opening, perhaps a rush trip out to the remote location. 73, (Glenn to Swopan, via DXLD) But if it takes a couple of hours, opening could be over by then (gh adds) TRANS-ATLANTIC MEDIUMWAVE TARGETS IN NORTHEAST U S A Saudi Arabia on 1521 is the 'transatlantic monster' here into the northeastern USA, frequently showing an hour or more before sunset (up to 3 hours pre-sunset autumn / winter at seashore sites). It has good audio before most other stations from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East even show carriers. Kuwait on 1548 and UAE on 1575 are other huge signals from the Middle East. North Africa has Mauritania 783, Morocco 612 & 1044, Algeria 549 / 981 / 1422, Egypt 774 & 819, and Libya 972 / 1251 / 1449 among the bigger signals. From Europe, the parallel French outlets on 945, 1206, 1377, and 1557 are quite consistent. UK is best represented by 693, 882, 909, 1053, 1089, 1215, and 1458. Spain has more stations of good strength than any other European country. Some have parallel outlets in the Canary Islands so look for local ID's when available. Best German here tends to be 1422 with 756 a runner-up. Switzerland 765 does pretty well for an inland station. A posting of logs at http://home.comcast.net/~markwa1ion/granite_pier_2008.htm gives a reasonable list of TA targets to get you started (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, Billerica, MA + South Yarmouth, MA, USA, Aug 25, MWC yg via DXLD) SEEMINGLY SKEWED VHF/UHF TROPO SIGNAL PATHS Read this over at least two times. It says that during the passage of Earl someone with suitable gear and decades of TV-FM DXing experience found something never previously reported - Roy on Cape Cod - do you copy? (Bob Cooper in New Zealand, Sept 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Subject: Re: Hurricane induced VHF tropo Gene, With the tower not up yet, and the 2M/70cm yagis up only 15 feet, I decided to see what I could do TV DXing while Hurricane Earl was moving up the Atlantic coast. I replaced the 15 ft high 70cm yagi on the temp porch mast with a 15 ft high UHF TV yagi. Using a Hauppauge WIN TV-D PCI based receiver I was able to receive numerous UHF stations in the Tidewater/Richmond/Charlottesville VA areas as well as a number of stations in North Carolina. The enhanced conditions even allowed viewing of a number of DC areas stations which are normally not seen because of the low antenna and blockage to the east in the form of a ridge between Amissville and Warrenton. I did experience two anomalies that you might find interesting. Thursday evening, when I saw the NC stations, the beam headings were right on as expected. However as Hurricane Earl moved further north, the only way I could see the NC stations was to beam almost 45 degrees EAST of the normal heading. A little later I was able to see a number of strong DC stations, but not at the normal beam heading of around 60 degrees, but instead at a heading of 110 degrees. This is 50 degrees SOUTH of normal DC headings from here in Amissville, VA. Since it was such an anomalous beam heading, I had to go out on the back porch and confirmed that the rotator control box was indicating properly. I finally got to sleep around 2 AM with UHF conditions still enhanced. When I checked the UHF channels again around 7 AM, the NC stations were gone and the DC stations that I could detect were weaker and in the normal direct beam heading. I wonder if you or others have ever noticed this beam heading anomaly associated with enhanced tropospheric conditions caused by a hurricane. BTW, using the 15 Ft high temp porch yagis, the beams look through the house from SE through SW directions and into 40 ft high trees in all other directions. But that hasn't hurt my 6M DXing and apparently didn't prohibit seeing UHF DX in those directions either. 73, (Rich - K1HTV Zwirko, via Cooper, ibid.) One thought... is that by setting his beam heading away from DC, he was NOT improving the strength of the DC signals. Rather, he was *weakening* signals on the same channels from the Tidewater area and/or North Carolina - pointing antenna nulls at the interfering signals. I note all DC stations except WDCA have a Tidewater or Raleigh/Durham station on the same frequency: WRC "4": RF 48 WRAL "5", Raleigh WTTG "5": RF 36 WUNP "36", Roanoke Rapids NC WJLA "7": RF 7 WHRE "21", Virginia Beach WUSA "9": RF 9 WSKY "4" Manteo NC WDCA "20": RF 35 (nothing) WETA "26": RF 27 WLFL "28" Raleigh WHUT "32": RF 33 WTVZ "33" Norfolk WDCW "50": RF 50 WGNT "27" Norfolk I might suggest the same effect was the reason he had to beam off- heading to receive the NC stations -- in this case because DC and Maryland stations were clobbering the NC signals. The disappearance of the interfering NC signals would have allowed DC to return to the normal beam heading. This is only a theory. I can't say this is the first time I've ever heard of "skew path" tropo. (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) This happens to me all the time. When Channel 17 DT Syracuse is blasting in, the only way I can get Channel 17 DT Cleveland is to point the antenna closer to the null of Syracuse (180 degrees) rather than peak of Cleveland (220 degrees). I could come up with many other examples if I scanned through my logs. For e-skip on local channels, I often point the antenna into my local null rather than the e-skip direction, especially on Channel 3. In 2001, when I heard that people had Channel 2 Trinidad by F2 skip, I decided to let my VCR run while I was at work. I had to decide where to leave the antenna pointed. I decided to aim it into the null of my local Channel 2 Buffalo at 220 degrees, and ended up receiving Channel 2 Caracas Venezuela ... which would be a bearing of 157 degrees. There is no way Venezuela would have come in at the proper bearing, 157 degrees, with Buffalo being 137 degrees. As the street cop says --- 'Nothing to see here folks, move along.' wrh (Bill Hepburn, Grimsby Ont., ibid.) When a large powerfull energy force is close by it will effect you. But when that powerfull energy force is at a distance it will have less effect. This is why my antenna heading toward said stations were right on. The main thing being you do what needs to be done to bring in the DX. The most interesting statement and amusing at that was when Bill says, As the street cop says,'Nothing to see here folks, move along.' (Old Roy Barstow, Cape Cod, ibid.) I had the a similar thing happen when I received WRAL 101.5 from Raleigh, NC at 218 miles over local WBQB 101.5 Fredericksburg, VA at 24 mi in 2008. Both stations are more-or-less SSW from me. I was only able to get WRAL while aimed to the NW in a null spot that I usually can get WBQB in. I guess WRAL's signal was very strong, and that it happened to overpower WBQB. It surprised me, as WBQB was very strong when aimed elsewhere, and WRAL was fairly weak. I have aimed away from a local station to get another signal over it, but that DX signal is usually from the opposite direction of the local signal (where my antenna is pointed at), not in the same direction as the much-closer, strong local signal. – Thanks, (David Pierce, Woodbridge, VA FM18 http://home.comcast.net/~dlp85x/ http://www.davidpiercenews.com/ ibid.) Nulling one station to get another with a MW loop is old-hat, even tho the understation is nowhere near the direxion of the necessary null. Similar things could happen with analog TVDXing, but it seems more remarkable with the all-or-almost-nothing nature of DTV. Maybe this explains why I cannot get my extremely lowpower local DTV (still 40 watts?) KXOK-31 by aiming directly at it. There are numerous other 31 translators/LP in OK, notably one in Stillwater, almost the same direxion, and 1000 kW KOET in Eufaula, (neither of which I have IDed). There is also full power 31 Univisi in Derby/Wichita KS in totally different direxion, but it`s not normally visible without some tropohelp. Instead I can sometimes get KXOK by carefully aiming about 45 degrees away, perhaps where the KOET/KWEM signals, weak as they normally would be, are not enough to bother KXOK. Whoever came up with these allocations made some serious mistakes. 73, (Glenn Hauser, Enid, WTFDA via DXLD) SOLAR MAX CLAIMS 'OVERSTATED': EXPERT > News in Science (ABC Science) Re 10-35: ....Phil Wilkinson, assistant director with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Ionospheric Prediction Service, says claims that this coming solar maximum will be the most violent in 100 years are not factual. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/08/27/2995543.htm Friday, 27 August 2010 Stuart Gary ABC __________________________________________________________________ The upcoming solar maximum is 'nothing to loose sleep over' says one expert (Source: TRACE Team, NASA) Australia's leading body responsible for monitoring space weather has dismissed claims that a massive solar storm could "wipe out the Earth's entire power grid". One report quotes an Australian astronomer as saying "the storm is likely to come sooner rather than later". But Dr Phil Wilkinson, assistant director with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Ionospheric Prediction Service, says claims that this coming solar maximum will be the most violent in 100 years are not factual. "All this talk about gloom and doom has selling power, but I'm certain it's overstated," says Wilkinson. "[It's] going far beyond what's realistic and could be worrying or concerning for people who don't really understand the underlying science behind it all." "The real message should be that the coming solar maximum period could be equally as hazardous as any other solar maximum." 11-year cycle The Sun goes through an 11-year solar cycle moving from a period of low activity called solar minimum to a time of heightened activity called solar maximum. During solar maximum there's an increase in sun spot activity, which are dark patches on the Sun's surface caused by magnetic field lines breaking through from deep below. Because the Sun isn't a solid object like the Earth, different parts of the Sun rotate at different speeds, which cause these field lines to twist and stretch, eventually snapping like elastic bands. When they snap they produce an eruption of electromagnetic energy called a solar flare, which can be accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME). If directed at Earth, charged particles within the CME slam into the magnetosphere, resulting in the northern and southern auroral lights. Previous CME events have damaged spacecraft, interfered with communications systems and overloaded ground-based power grids. Aware of the problems Despite the potential threat, Wilkinson says authorities are aware of issues and are taking precautions. "We monitor solar activity and give out warnings if something is heading our way," says Wilkinson. "That will be at least a few hours [in advance], enough time to prepare." He says while some satellites could be damaged by a future CME, others could be protected by being placed in 'safe mode'. Wilkinson adds the impact on power grids would be minimal. "At worst, it's a regional thing, not a global thing as these reports imply." He says high frequency communications may also be affected, but it would be temporary. Low maximum According to Wilkinson, the Sun has been through a long solar minimum and appears to be heading into a low solar maximum. Previous observations have shown this could result in high spikes of CME activity. "It means we could see auroral activity over all of Australia rather than just the higher latitudes," says Wilkinson. "It's unusual, but not unprecedented. James Cook made mention of just such an event off Timor." (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) Geomagnetic field activity was predominantly quiet during the period. Isolated unsettled levels occurred during 02-03 September. Solar wind observations from the ACE spacecraft showed an enhanced interplanetary field (IMF) intensity (peak 9 nT at 05/2305Z), combined with intermittent periods of southward IMF BZ (maximum deflection of -8 nT at 05/2104Z), with a slight increase in velocities (peak 400 km/sec). FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 08 SEPTEMBER - 04 OCTOBER 2010 Solar activity is expected to be predominantly very low. Low levels are possible from 23 September to the end of the period due to the return of old Region 1105 (N19, L=048). No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels from 08-12 September. Low to moderate levels are expected for 13-20 September. High levels are expected to return for 21-29 September. Low to moderate levels are expected for the remainder of the period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be predominantly quiet for 08-18 September. Quiet to unsettled levels, with isolated active periods, are expected for 19-21 September due to a recurrent CH HSS. Quiet levels should prevail for 22 September through the remainder of the forecast period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2010 Sep 07 2251 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 Sep 07 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2010 Sep 08 79 5 2 2010 Sep 09 78 8 3 2010 Sep 10 78 5 2 2010 Sep 11 80 5 2 2010 Sep 12 81 5 2 2010 Sep 13 81 5 2 2010 Sep 14 80 5 2 2010 Sep 15 78 5 2 2010 Sep 16 78 5 2 2010 Sep 17 76 5 2 2010 Sep 18 76 5 2 2010 Sep 19 75 8 3 2010 Sep 20 75 12 4 2010 Sep 21 75 8 3 2010 Sep 22 74 5 2 2010 Sep 23 74 5 2 2010 Sep 24 74 5 2 2010 Sep 25 74 5 2 2010 Sep 26 74 5 2 2010 Sep 27 74 5 2 2010 Sep 28 78 5 2 2010 Sep 29 78 5 2 2010 Sep 30 78 5 2 2010 Oct 01 78 5 2 2010 Oct 02 80 5 2 2010 Oct 03 80 5 2 2010 Oct 04 79 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1529, DXLD) ###