DX LISTENING DIGEST 10-42, October 22, 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 1535 HEADLINES: *New season schedules of English from Albania, Cuba, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Taiwan *More DX and station news from Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Europe-pirate, Greece, Guatemala, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, UK, USA, Zambia SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1535, October 21-27, 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 1400 WRMI 9955 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 1530 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 [non]. 15680, good with talk, mentions of Iran, Oct 15 at 1303; 1305 ID as Radio Azadi, into music, then with slow talkover it. A.k.a. Radio Free Afghanistan, which alternates Pashto and Dari from 0230 to 1330 with lots of site changes, but the final hour is in Pashto via Wertachtal, GERMANY, before ceding 15680 to Radio Farda for another four hours (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. POPULAR VOA RADIO PROGRAM TO AFGHANISTAN GETS NEW SOUND --- More breaking news, call-in shows, sports, and features Washington, D.C., October 15, 2010 – Voice of America's popular Ashna Radio hits the airwaves in Afghanistan Monday with a refreshing new sound that will include more news, sports, music, call-in shows and features. VOA Executive Editor Steve Redisch says, "After years of coverage focused mainly on the day-to-day progress of the Afghan war, our listeners want to hear more about life for ordinary people, and to hear what they are saying about issues like health care, education, sports, the economy and entertainment." Exciting new stories in production look at the shortage of playgrounds for children, a new ski resort in Bamiyan and life in a drug clinic, stories that describe Afghanistan's struggles and the way people are coping after decades of war and strife. An in-depth education series is planned that will look at the challenges and success stories that often go untold. Monday's program will feature an interview with former First Lady Laura Bush. The new format for Ashna Radio, which is on the air two hours each morning and six hours each night, will also have more live coverage of breaking news and call-in programs. On Friday, satire will be introduced with a segment that will feature a well-known Afghan comedian. VOA Afghanistan Service Chief Beth Mendelson says, "This is a new chapter for Ashna Radio, which plays an important role in Afghanistan because listeners and viewers place high trust in our broadcasts. Radio is an important vehicle to strengthen the relationship and understanding between the United States and the Afghan people." Voice of America has a three-decade history in Afghanistan, and Ashna Radio, which broadcasts in both Dari and Pashto, reaches more than 50% of the country’s people. Ashna is heard on 100.5 FM in Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, Khost, Gardez and Kunar. They are also broadcast on 1 mediumwave and 3 shortwave. In addition to Afghanistan, Radio Ashna can be heard in Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Visit VOA online at: http://www.voanews.com (VOA press release via DXLD) ** ALASKA. 7355, KNLS makes a rare appearance here during English hour. I tune by this frequency just about every morning and can`t hear it either due to propagation or sporadicity. Anyhow, Oct 17 at 1210, fair signal talking about Charles Russell, western painter, ``tribute to cowboy life in Oklahoma City, just another stop along the American highway``, i.e. Rte. 66. As always, the secular segments are too short, segué to ``True Stories from the Bible in Contemporary English``, about Xerxes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. 13640, R. Tirana, Oct 22 at 2006 in English to NAm with S9+12 signal peaks, but so undermodulated that the propagational fading was loud enough to make it uncopiable. BTW, Christian Milling of Radio 700 has performed a new hi-fi version of variations on RT`s IS, accessible via the dxldyg (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. Tentative Radio Tirana B-10 schedule from Oct 31st: 5970 2130-2300 100 0 1234567 ALBANIAN 6000 1800-1830 100 0 .234567 ITALIAN 6000 2001-2030 100 300 .234567 ITALIAN 6040 1900-1915 100 0 .234567 SER/CRO 6100 0330-0400 100 300 1.34567 ENGLISH 6100 0430-0500 100 300 1.34567 ENGLISH 6130 0000-0130 100 300 1234567 ALBANIAN 6130 0130-0145 100 300 1.34567 ENGLISH 6130 0245-0300 100 300 1.34567 ENGLISH 7390 0730-1000 100 0 1234567 ALBANIAN 7425 0000-0130 100 310 1234567 ALBANIAN 7425 0130-0145 100 310 1.34567 ENGLISH 7425 0245-0300 100 310 1.34567 ENGLISH 7435 2130-2300 100 310 1234567 ALBANIAN 7465 1830-1900 100 310 .234567 FRENCH 7465 1945-2000 100 300 .234567 ENGLISH 7465 2001-2030 100 310 .234567 FRENCH 7465 2031-2100 100 310 .234567 GERMAN 7530 2100-2130 100 300 .234567 ENGLISH 9895 2100-2130 100 310 .234567 ENGLISH 11635 1945-2000 100 310 .234567 ENGLISH 13640 1530-1600 100 310 .234567 ENGLISH (RT Drita Çiço, Oct 15, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 17 via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Re 10-41: ``I had this tune on my double CD set from Deutsche Welle – Shortwave Radio interval tunes. But unfortunately I lost Vol. 1. It is nice to hear this delicate little tune again. Another one I liked was the interval tune from Radio Yugoslavia – does anyone know how I can get it now? (Sue Hickey, Newfoundland, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` You can download interval signals easily here, the best archival site around: http://www.intervalsignals.net/ (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Agreed, but only one of the eight clips here features the current R. Tirana external service IS. And the distortion is awful, no better than currently heard on the air, as someone was looking for a better quality recording. We are reminded that the previous one was called ``With Pickaxe and Rifle`` (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I much-preferred the former IS. All eight very grading [grating?] notes. It was pure Commie at peak. The current one is weak, not unlike Albania's Air Force (Terry Krueger, ibid.) Hi Drita, this is really a wonderful interval signal you use. It inspired me to the attached chill-out version I made in our studio as a draft. One could sure make it more perfect, as I know the original tune has some variations in it with the music being played higher with slightly different notes and chords, but unfortunately I don't have a record with all the variations here, so my version only has the main theme of the melody. Hope you like it. Best regards, (Christian Milling, Germany, via Drita Cico, R. Tirana, DXLD) His new version, along with the old, and a photo of him, Drita et al., are in a dxldyg post attachment Oct 21 (gh, DXLD) ** ANGOLA. 4949.76, 10/10 1942, Rádio Nacional Angola, Mulenvos, weak- fair, talks (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4949.8, RNA-Canal "A", Mulenvos, 1846-1905, 15 Oct'10, talks on agriculture, news at 1900; 35322, deteriorating. 73 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Modulation OK? 4950, 17/10 0435, Rádio Nacional, Mulenvos, programa A Voz das Forças Armadas Angolanas, com resposta a uma ouvinte que enviou carta clássica, 25232 (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Receptor Degen 1103, Antena Loop Blindada confeccionada por Alexandre Deves Sailer, Base de Dados: EiBi http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Last update: 13 October, 2010), radioescutas yg via DXLD) 4950, R. Nacional de Angola, Mulenvos. October 17, 0455-0507 African music, top of the hour Portuguese announcements by male, time pips, news program “Assembléia Nacional autorizada..” male ID “R. Nacional de Angola!”. Deterioring, 25333 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec – Embu SP Brasil - Sony SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m, Longwire 22m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4949.9, Rádio Nacional, Mulenvos, 0503-0510, 17-10, locutor, portugués, comentarios. Muy débil. 15321 (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) ** ANTARCTICA [and non]. 15476, LRA36 carrier detectable Oct 14 at 1350, usually easy to pin down by quick comparison to RA on 9475, WTWW permitting. 15476, LRA36, Friday Oct 15 carrier detectable at 1309, much weaker than 15480, Poland in Russian via Woofferton UK (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, RN San Gabriel. October 15, 1326-1337 Spanish romantic music, female in Spanish talks segment "continuamos con nuestro programa.. información general", back Spanish romantic music. 44333, 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec - Embu SP Brasil - Sony SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m, Longwire 22m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, Oct 18 at 1304, carrier enough to confirm LRA36 is on the air this Monday. 15476, LRA36 carrier barely detectable Oct 20 at 1323, much weaker than English transmitter on 15480 with Polish Russian. 15476, LRA36 carrier detectable Oct 21 at 1324, much weaker but hetting UK with Russian audio on 15480. 15476, LRA36 carrier just barely detectable Oct 22 at 1348, weaker than UK on 15480 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ARGENTINA: ANIVERSARIO 31 DE RADIO NACIONAL ARCANGEL SAN GABRIEL Hoy 20 octubre 2010 es el aniversario 31 de Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, de la edición 1394 de Actualidad DX (27 octubre 2010). Le dedicaron una reseña sobre la emisora más austral del mundo. Mensajes a: lra36 @ infovia.com.ar lra36esperanza @ yahoo.com.ar Pueden verlo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2TZf-Ta_Mc En Memoria a Gabriel Ivan Barrera, QDEP --- Yimber Gaviria, Colombia (via Dino Bloise, FL, condiglist yg via DXLD) The YouTube is a 7 minute Actualidad DX show from LAST year, 27 Oct 2009, for the previous anniversary, with some still video shots added (gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 6060, Radio Nacional, General Pacheco, 2134-2145, 16-10, transmisión partido de fútbol Colón-Estudiantes de La Plata, locutor: "Uno a cero gana Colón". 34433 (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) Probably // on 15345v, a Saturday (gh) 6060, R. Nacional, General Pacheco, 2211-2223, 16 Oct'10, f/ball match report; 33431, co-ch. & adj. QRM; \\ 15345.19 vy. good (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15344.90v, RAE, 2348-2357*, Oct 19. In Spanish; tango music; 2354 IS and IDs. Several days ago noted this with some very significant drifting in frequency. 11710.6v, RAE, *0000, Oct 20. Was about three minutes for them to make the change over from 15344.90v. On with pips and IDs; into French. Have never found these two frequencies on at the same time (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15344.84, Radio al Exterior (tentative); 2129, 20-Oct; M in German with commentary & many mentions of Argentina. German is obviously not his first language --- sounds like French at times; many hesitations. SIO=3+53 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Last summer, this country stayed on UT -4, not observing DST of UT -3 as it had previous years. According to http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/argentina-dst-2009-2010.html and more recent entries there, Argentina will not observe DST this summer either --- except for San Luís province, but that`s irrelevant for SW purposes. So we may expect RAE transmissions to stay at the same UT, i.e. for English M-F 18-19 on 15345v, Tue-Sat 02-03 on 11711v. See also EQUATORIAL GUINEA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 120 m logs: 2310, 1835 14 Sept, VL8A, ID, TC, program preview, 34333 2325, 1825 13 Sept, VL8T, sx tk sx ID nx [sic], 24322 2368, 1810 16 Sept, R Symban, Greek style sx anns, GR, 22222 2368, 1815 19 Sept, R Symban, ID 1830, tk ann ID mx tk, GR, 23332 2485, 1820 13 Sept, VL8K, tk ABC ID sx tk sx nx, 34433 (Arthur Miller, Llandrindod Wells, Wales, JRC nRD-545, 40 m longwire, G5RV, Oct World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Note that all but two of these were on different dates; you`d think all the VL8s would be in at once (gh, DXLD) VL8 check Oct 18 at 1249: some audio on 2485, stronger than 2325, stronger than 2310 carriers (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. HCJB, Oct 14 at 1352, fair in Chinese on 15400; and MOROCCO 15340.0 in Arabic had a subaudible heterodyne (SAH) no doubt from HCJB in Hindi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15400, HCJB, Oct 18 at 1325 fair with instrumental hymn, 1326 plug http://www.christianmedia.net.au and 1327 HCJB ID in English. Other transmitter to S Asia on 15340 was weaker, underneath Arabic music making SAH of 5 Hz, since Morocco finally got religion and standardized channel from ex-15341 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB Australia B10 http://www.hcjb.org.au/docs/B10_Schedule_HCJB_Australia_20101031-20110326.pdf (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Color-coded grid format showing language blox, some program titles, especially when in English. Frequencies and content look about the same as in A-10 (gh, DXLD) ** AZORES. AÇORES, 1503, AFN, Base Aérea das Lajes, Terceira island, 2138-2156, 16 Oct'10, English, some talks, but mostly music; 22441, QRM de E. Reception of this one was quite regular if one had the means to receive the signal and "turn around" the QRM from the RNE 5 Todo Noticias tx in Galicia, but the adding of the tx at La Línea, near Cádiz, seriously compromised reception as no adequate nulling is achieved, so only propagation and the equipment can help here (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHAMAS. ZNS WORKERS WALKOUT http://www.znsbahamas.com/index.php?p=latestnews About 80 workers at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (ZNS) took to the streets of downtown Nassau on Wednesday to protest mass upcoming layoffs as part of a restructuring exercise. The action began around 9:15 a.m. when fire alarms went off in the building. Workers following the usual emergency procedure left the building and the majority did not return until about three o' clock that afternoon, despite orders by General Manager, Edwin Lightbourn to do so. Fire trucks had to come to ZNS at least twice to check that there was no fire. Workers walked from ZNS to the Cabinet Office where they waited to see the broadcasting minister, Tommy Turnquest. Minister Turnquest failed to come out but did speak with the media later in the day. Leaders of the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) and the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) say that similar action could take place on Thursday. The unions want ZNS board members to renegotiate better retirement and redundancy pay packages for ZNS workers but the board and Minister Turnquest maintain that there are no funds to increase their offer. ZNS workers could be separated as soon as Friday. (ZNS Bahamas News Network Oct 14 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ZNS WORKERS MARCH ON CABINET OFFICE 10/14/2010 By BRENT DEAN Deputy News Editor http://www.nassauguardian.net/ZNS-Walkout The head of the union representing line staff at the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB) yesterday vowed to help defeat the governing Free National Movement (FNM) at the next general election as a result of what he perceives as the mistreatment of his members during the restructuring of the state broadcaster. "We are your fathers, we are your mothers. And you should honor your mother and father for your days to be long. Don't forget it. Call election soon, so we could deal with y'all the way y'all deal with us," said President of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union Bernard Evans yesterday during a march to Parliament Square from the BCB's administration offices. Staff at the BCB, who are represented by the BCPOU and the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU), walked off the job yesterday morning and demonstrated outside their Harcourt "Rusty" Bethel, Centerville facilities before marching to the Cabinet Office in the Churchill Building on Bay Street. The BCB board is seeking to reduce staff at ZNS by 80. The BCB has offered what it has termed as a 'sweetener' to those accepting the voluntary separation package to leave the corporation. This includes an extra three to four months pay in addition to what is owed departing workers under the industrial agreement between the board and the unions. The unions, however, argue that the 'sweetener' is inadequate. The BCPOU and BCPMU assert that those employees who qualify for full retirement benefits should also receive six months pay, while those who qualify for early retirement should receive eight months pay. They also said those employees who have served 25 to 29 years should receive 12 months pay and those who have served less than 25 years should receive six months pay. The protesting employees were met by police at barricades when the arrived at the Cabinet Office. They requested a meeting with Tommy Turnquest the minister responsible for the BCB. However, Turnquest was attending the weekly Cabinet meeting. He did not travel to the corporation, prompting the march to meet with him. Yesterday, Turnquest did not meet with the unions. Though, he has had meeting with them in the past regarding the future of the BCB, BCPOU executives attempted to break through the barriers at the Cabinet Office, but police prevented this. Turnquest told The Nassau Guardian that the unions' actions were unfortunate, as the government has been generous, offering packages over and above what it is required to. The minister said what is being offered to the workers could cost the government up to $4 million. The government is transitioning ZNS to public service broadcasting, necessitating the staff reduction. Turnquest emphasized that pulling staff off the job is not something union leaders should do. "We are in the fight for our lives," exclaimed BCPOU Secretary General Denise Wilson at Parliament Square. The bulk of the BCPOU's power comes from its Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) members. The union has said that it would bring out additional support for the ZNS workers if necessary. "We will not stop until such time as justice has been served," said Wilson. BCPMU President William Carroll has called the government's separation offer a slap in the face. ZNS staff initially walked into the parking lot of their Centerville buildings, off Collins Avenue after a fire alarm was activated around 9 a.m. Firefighters were called to the scene. There was no emergency, however. Armed police also visited the area as staff spoke in the parking lot. BCB Chairman Michael Moss has pledged to meet with the unions today before their board meeting. The board is expected to release the new organizational chart at the corporation along with the names of the people who will fill those posts. Those not on the list, will not be part of the new ZNS. It is unclear if the first separation checks will be issued today or tomorrow. ZNS staff returned to work after the protest, but The Nassau Guardian understands that more industrial unrest is likely at ZNS today. Yesterday the one-hour special ZNS anchor and executive Jerome Sawyer was to host on the plane crash last week at Lake Killarney had to be cancelled because some of the program was 'mysteriously' deleted from a computer. One staffer, who did not wish to be named, said there could be "serious problems" at the corporation today if people are sent home and the packages offered are not satisfactory. Turnquest confirmed that 33 people applied for the voluntary separation packages 17 managers and 16 line staff. The deadline for applications was last Tuesday (Nassau Guardian Oct 14 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) UNIONS FORCE ZNS SHUTDOWN 10/15/2010 By BRENT DEAN Deputy News Editor http://www.nassauguardian.net/ZNS-workers-take-over-building Industrial action at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (BCB) yesterday, including the occupation of the ZNS newsroom by unions, led to the ZNS television evening news being cut in the middle of a live broadcast. The Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) and the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) took control of the newsroom of the state broadcaster yesterday and were joined by staff and representatives of other unions. Two assistant commissioners of police (Glenn Miller and Hulan Hanna), officers from the Security and Intelligence Branch, the Central Detective Unit and scores of uniformed officers were inside the BCB headquarters for most of the day attempting to ensure that order was maintained. The unions and staff staged the industrial action in protest of the disengagement process at the BCB. The BCB board had promised to present to the unions and staff yesterday the new organizational chart and the names of those to be retained at the corporation. The board met yesterday, but the names were not released. BCB Chairman Michael Moss declined comment to the media after the board meeting, as the process was not finalized. The BCB board is seeking to reduce staff at ZNS by 80. As Moss attempted to leave the BCB headquarters at Harcourt "Rusty" Bethel Drive, staff attempted to block him. After a day of protest, the staff remained in the ZNS newsroom into the evening. As some staff attempted to prepare the evening news, union members were adamant that no news would be produced. Printers were disconnected and hallways were blocked by sitting union members. ZNS general manager Edwin Lightbourn entered the newsroom after 6 p.m. urging staff that did not work in the area to leave. To those that did, Lightbourn demanded that they return to the job. "Please vacate this area. That's all I'm going to ask, "exclaimed a frustrated Lightbourn to his staff. Despite Lightbourn's request, and requests from BCPOU President Bernard Evans, BCPOU Secretary General Denise Wilson and BCPMU President William Carroll, the workers would not leave. "I respectfully ask all of you to leave this area now," said Assistant Commissioner Glenn Miller as he made an attempt to move the workers. Police stood at the ZNS newsroom door and in the newsroom as numerous attempts was made to clear the room in order for the live newscast to take place at 7 p.m. After behind-the-scene discussions between management, the union and police, the workers left the newsroom at 6:45 p.m., and ZNS anchor and executive Jerome Sawyer took the anchor chair. Part of the group moved to the ZNS Sales Department. The newscast began at 7:03 p.m. and Sawyer presented the lead story about the industrial unrest at ZNS. But as soon as the story was finished, as the newscast shifted to non-ZNS news, a fire alarm was activated as Sawyer read live. Staff sitting in the Sales Department cheered before leaving the building. Once outside, more armed plainclothes police arrived at the BCB Headquarters and assembled in the parking lot. Police could be seen filming the staff. ACPs Miller and Hanna attempted to speak with the union leaders in the parking lot around 7:55 p.m. after fire trucks arrived at the scene. A tense situation emerged as ZNS staff accused a police officer of aiming his weapon at another staffer who came close to Miller and Hanna while they were speaking to the union bosses. Hanna had to pull aside one irate ZNS employee to calm the situation. It is unclear if the officer made such a move. After consultations with the unions and ZNS management, Hanna recommended that staff disburse from the ZNS parking lot around 8 p.m. so that police could take custody of ZNS for the night. Police offered to escort those who needed to return to the building for personal items. ZNS did not return to regular programming after the fire alarm was activated and police took charge of the building overnight. Evans commended staff at ZNS for their actions after they assembled in the parking lot last night. "For those of you who remain, no matter what happens, I want you to know that I have witnessed the birth of the new BCPOU in ZNS," he said to loud cheers from staff. The BCB has offered what it has termed as a 'sweetener' to those accepting the voluntary separation package to leave the corporation. This includes an extra three to four months pay in addition to what is owed departing workers under the industrial agreement between the board and the unions. The unions, however, argue that the 'sweetener' is inadequate. The BCPOU and BCPMU assert that those employees who qualify for full retirement benefits should also receive six months pay, while those who qualify for early retirement should receive eight months pay. They also said those employees who have served 25 to 29 years should receive 12 months pay and those who have served less than 25 years should receive six months pay. Evans pledged to continue the effort today to agitate for increased benefits for ZNS staff. "We will not relinquish, we will not stop until justice reigns down," he said. Carroll said: "The struggle continues 9 a.m. in the morning[today]I want to see each and every one of y'all back here strong in the morning." The government has said the separation packages offered to departing workers will not be increased. On Wednesday at a protest at Parliament Square, Evans threatened to go after the governing Free National Movement at the next general election. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham responded to Evans' comments while answering questions from reporters yesterday morning at the Atlantis Resort. "I read in the newspaper this morning that the union leader said that if I want a long political life I would do what they demand that I do. Well, I do not want a long political life. I do not seek a long political life. I seek to do the best I can while I'm here for as long as I can or as long as people would have me do it," said Ingraham. "So if he or others think that decisions, which I take are taken with a view to an election, they are dead wrong. I'm doing the best I can under the circumstances and if that endures to the benefit of my party, fine. If we are punished because we have done what we think is right, then that's fine. But I do not like people threatening me. I don't like it at all." When asked about the process surrounding the ZNS disengagement, Ingraham said he is not interested in the process, as there is a board at the BCB and a minister (Tommy Turnquest) responsible for the matter. "There is absolutely no need for interference by the prime minister of The Bahamas - none whatsoever," he said. Earlier in the day, an incident involving a line staff member and a senior supervisor at the BCB nearly ended in a physical confrontation. The staff member alleged that he was pushed by the supervisor and another supervisor had to intervene (Nassau Guardian Oct 15 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ZNS BIG NAMES AXED Published On: Saturday, October 16, 2010 By NOELLE NICOLLS Tribune Staff Reporter http://www.tribune242.com/news/10152010_nkn-zns-Dday_news_pg1 THE scene at ZNS was described as an "emotional disaster" yesterday, as scores of workers - including many household names - waited like "sitting ducks" to know their fate. The board of the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB) completed its new organisation chart yesterday, generating a list of workers to lose their jobs, and those set to receive possible promotions or demotions. Police officers were escorting workers out of the building immediately after they received their dismissal letters until union leaders successfully intervened. One employee of 28 years said executives would not allow her to wait inside the building until her daughter arrived to pick her up. She said they would not allow her to tell her fellow employees goodbye, unless she wished to have a police escort out of the building. She said she was at a loss for words at how management treated the employees. Several ZNS big names were dismissed, including reporter Charlene Ferguson, sports anchor Marcellous Hall, camera woman Laura Lowe, and television makeup artist Rudolph Minnis. "We are feeling defeated. Everyone is crying. They are just waiting around. I told the chairman, don't call me in for no letter, send it to me. He said, 'well I can leave now then'," said Mr Minnis. He said he refused to accept his cheque, saying he would wait until receiving legal advice. During Thursday's demonstration, Mr Minnis said he filed an official police complaint at the Quakoo Street police station because a senior executive allegedly pushed him and called him an "idiot." Late yesterday afternoon, sources say, the executive called the police to have Mr Minnis removed from the newsroom. However, it is claimed that other staff members blocked the police when they showed up. Mr Minnis eventually left the premises, under police escort. Former news editor Beverley Curry was moved to head the parliamentary channel, according to sources. Reporters Syann Thompson and Betty Thompson-Moss will form her team. Altovese Munnings, who recently joined ZNS from Island FM, and Opal Roach were promoted to fill the two editors' posts in the new structure, according to our source. Former editors were demoted to reporter status. All, but one of the VPR editors were let go. Workers were asked to continue working while the names of employees were called one by one, according to a Tribune source. They had no idea if a systematic process, such as an alphabetical list, was being used to inform those receiving dismissal letters. Although the list had been ready from 10 am, no one had been called in until after 1 pm, according to a source. Leaders from the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) and the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Unions (BCPMU) were presented with a copy of the list of sacked workers. "It appears they have pulled out who they feel like letting go, the people who they don't like, with no clear process that we could see," said William Carroll, BCPMU president. Some union members were upset about the union's decision to withhold the names until management had completed its process of informing workers. One union executive said: "We don't know how the people will react. Some of them could use violence, or they might have a stroke. We don't want to take on that kind of responsibility." A senior police officer said the heavy police presence was a preventative strategy. "We don't know if anyone could get irate," he said. He was speaking about the possibility of someone receiving a $10,000 cheque when they were expecting $30,000. Mr Carroll said informing the workers was a management function, and the union had decided to let management do its job. He said management planned to inform dismissed workers first and then call in other staff. Reader Comments - 14 Total Posted By: Grouper Mouth Wisdom On: 10/17/2010 Title: Nasty is just plain nasty @ WIL --- A DIRTY JOB, BUT SOME HAD TO DO IT! Will there is hardly a Bahamian that does not think that the downsizing is long overdue. Some of us think it was done in a cruel public way. Why the rush to heard them together like wounded sheep? No, Mr. Moss you did wrong. Posted By: fish bone in ma troat On: 10/17/2010 Title: watermelon done rottin on da wine Dem ZNS people's dem shuuda been gone long time man. Great Gawd frum Zyon. From da days a the twisted pictures that keep jumpin, ta da bad word proununciatoins, dem clownish wardrobes and makeup, dem long waits in the community announcement sections while dem people eat dey berl fish and dem sales people waht neva sell nuttin, dem camera man dem what like to focus on empty seats and sleeping people at the function they coverin nothing about ZNS shouted meritocracy, da handn was writin on the wall so long , wrist broke man!!!! If one politician did open da door fa yinna, da least you'll could a do was try go to nite school or sumtin. Only dat spritely mature dark skin, skinny receptionist need ta stay...she was coverin da rest a yinna fa years Na ya have to get out there and struggle like errybody else. Velcum ta my worl!! Centreville hill stinks of all the good ideas that died of loneliness. NEXT Posted By: WIL On: 10/17/2010 Title: A DIRTY JOB, BUT SOME HAD TO DO IT! This downsizing is long years overdue. Finally and thank God, it is done. A dirty job indeed, but man someone had to do it. Kudos to the PM for appointing Mr. Moss chairman of The BCB. He has done a yeoman's job, in being the fall guy. I do not envy his position. There is no way, regardless of how nice it was done, anyone would receive applause for cleaning up this disgusting mess created by The PLP. Posted By: Grouper Mouth Wisdom On: 10/17/2010 Title: Last time I checked the PM is still the only boss in he FNM Last time i checked ZNS has been around for many years, meaning since the employee problems were not created overnight, then why the mean rush to fire a bunch of your employees in such a harsh manner. I guess some of you think it's cool to both fire and insult the dignity of your many years of service employees, at the same time. This is un Christan and so wrong. if the PM is willing to take all the credit when his government does well, then likewise he must accept the blame when his representatives act in poor taste. Posted By: Roger On: 10/17/2010 Title: Wake Up Most of us as Bahamians only work for others. When you do that, u must realize that the employer (be it private or government) has the right to let you go, with pay as pertains the laws of the land. So when you work for someone you are at their mercy. The time has come for us to be owners of our own businesses. That way, you don't have to cry about another mad firing you. Let's wake up in our communities and Be OWNERS and stop being content to be a WORKING SLAVE for someone else. Posted By: A Bahamian On: 10/17/2010 Title: Failed Government Corporation The Government have to now address the other failed Corporation starting with Bahamasair, B.E.C. Bahamas Electical Corporation and Water&Sewage. These failing Government Corporation have added half a Billion dollars to the 4 Billion dollar debt. If the Government is serious about saving the treasury which broke then it have to start downsizing Government employees at these failing Corporation because borrowing money to pay these employees is creating more debt to the Bahamas treaury. So the Government already layoff workers at Z.N.S they need address these failing Corporation downsizing and prove that they are not playing politic to save themselves foe the 2012 election. So the Government have to prove they are serious about the 4 Billion debt and downsize these employees now not after election. Posted By: DMoe On: 10/17/2010 Title: ZNS Without a doubt, change is coming to ZNS. Some people are going to be let go and the most important thing for those unfortunate ones is the PORPER management of the monies they receive. Now is not the time to run off to Miami or Vegas because you got a chunk of cash. Stash the cash and think very carefully about your situation, try as much as you can to save as much of it as possible, spend as little as you can and try to find a job asap regardless of the pay so that you can stretch your payoff and men, do not put it into that other bank. Good luck to all of you. Posted By: Fishing 4 Pro News On: 10/17/2010 Title: @ Grouper Mouth A grouper anchoring the news would be more exciting than anything I have seen on ZNS. Schoolmasters would be better technically as well. Posted By: Fed Up On: 10/17/2010 Title: News I watched the Bahamian news on another cable station and I will never go back. Attractive female anchor and well spoken reporters. Who the hell do these people at ZNS think they are? Posted By: Tired of the ignorance On: 10/17/2010 Title: Politics Again Why is it that so many people use these stories to express some demented political opinion. How does this become a PLP vs FNM issue? ZNS has long been functioning ineffectively and losing money. It would be irresponsible of any government(PLP or FNM) to allow this to continue given the current economic climate. Why is this difficult to understand? All over the world, in countries bigger and wealthier than ours the same is taking place. The FNM/PLP did not create the global recession. ZNS needed change a long time ago. Stop bashing the government for trying to survive in a very difficult situation. Many people will lose before this recession is over in both the private and public sector. It is no one`s fault. We do not like to see people lose jobs but what would you have the government do? Had the PLP been in power they too would have had to make cut backs. What few of you realize is that they probably agree with all that is taking place. They see a bigger picture than the average person. This is an issue of economics not politics Posted By: Quincy K On: 10/17/2010 Title: On Target Jersey Bahamian is right on target in his comments about what just happened at ZNS. The actions of the employees gives new meaning to the word "professionals". The down-sizing and re-structuring of ZNS is long overdue. Maybe, for the first time, they will make a profit for the people of the Bahamas. Any private company that was run in a similar manner to ZNS would have had to close its doors many many years ago. Posted By: Independent supporter On: 10/17/2010 Title: Brain Washed Obviously Jersey Bahamian is out of touch. Please accuse the comments of this person who has not been affected by or knows anyone affected by Papa's dictatorship. Posted By: ESQ On: 10/17/2010 Title: BCB I still wondey why is it necessary for one man to be the head of two state-run corportations. Stupid! Everybody and they "ma" know that the chairman is heartless. As for the general manager....plz....its fair to assume he was not formally trained at the tertiary level, and if was, what a poor reflection. At the end of the day, ZNS is the way it is, due to bad management...from the top. Now those same people, placing the blame on those lower, and once again in our history, the small man has to pay Posted By: jail f On: 10/16/2010 Title: Amaze One day ago they disputed ZNS in it duty to the Bahamian public when the Bahamas tonight news came on, and this was the second time they did it so to make sure it did not happen again the police was there to protect the Public Property. And people was escorted of the property. Posted By: Observer On: 10/16/2010 Title: BCB Holocaust This does resemble north-eastern Europe prior to the 1970's. We should have progressed beyond this. Fear seems to be the new weapon of war-fare. It is very effective. Posted By: Jersey Bahamian On: 10/16/2010 Title: Warped Reasoning Grouper mouth, I usually don't respond to the opinion of others, but your comments regarding the ZNS fiasco is so outrageously out of line. Only a small-minded mentality could begin to suggest that the PM ordered the names of those to be fired and the manner in which it was done. We don't live in a dictatorship, nor does our PM, who is doing a great job by the way, insert himself into every detail of government operations. According to news reports, since I wasn't there, no one was singled out or paraded, or humiliated. Maybe, based upon their recent behaviour, they should have been made to feel humiliated, but there was nothing retaliatory in management's actions. We Bahamians need to understand that no one has a inalienable right to any job. Those of us who work serve at the pleasure of management. The Bahamas Government, and the Board at BCB, have been more than fair in their treatment of the employees. The employees have not been reasonable in their demands and behaviour. However, it is commentators like you who can't move beyond your anti-Ingraham bias, and encourage our people to be more responsible, and set a positive example for our young people. Posted By: Grouper Mouth Wisdom On: 10/16/2010 Title: I see the PM's hands in this? What an unprofessional and intentionally embarrassing way to end the long serving careers of our public broadcaster's employees, than to make then line up like wounded sheep, for no other reason than to single them out, to later be paraded for public humiliation. Is this the PM's way of sending a clear and loud message to all others, that you best not step out of line in making your demands? Is the government also now giving a green light to private companies, that they too can just go ahead and fire with their employees? If you think the government is being tough, you just wait until the Chinese government is your boss? (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ZNS STAFF SEPERATIONS IN GB TODAY 10/16/2010 By KEVA LIGHTBOURNE Guardian Senior Reporter http://www.nassauguardian.net/kl-second-phase-ZNS-restructuring The second round of separations at the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas(BCB)will take place today at its Grand Bahama location, where some 15 staffers are to be axed from the state-owned entity. This follows Friday's exercise in New Providence where scores of employees either voluntarily resigned or were given their walking papers. Yesterday, BCB Chairman Michael Moss confirmed that today's exercise is expected to take no more than an hour and a half. "We will go through a similar process like the one we did in New Providence. We will meet for a brief period with the individuals who are being separated, that is those who have requested to be separated as well as those who will involuntarily be separated. We expect the process to last about an hour and a half. At which time these individuals will be given letters of separation and will be given compensatory checks in respect of their separation," Moss explained. He said of the 15 employees who will leave the corporation for good today, five signed up for the voluntary separation package. The media firm's board has decided to cut 80 people from the staff of about 230 at ZNS Network's New Providence and Grand Bahama locations. Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) President Bernard Evans does not expect the corporation's employees in the nation's second city to stage any kind of protest. "News travels fast, and ZNS Freeport staff I guess would have already gotten an idea and would not be in shock or in awe like those who did not know in Nassau," Evans said yesterday." By now they would know who it is that would be impacted and I guess they are now prepared. I think they would be in a better position, certainly in terms of receiving their letters. We expect that things would be a little bit calmer but no less disappointing. We would do our best to see how we can cushion and console them, but also encourage them and let them know that all is not lost and it is not over, and the union is still pursuing avenues to seek better packages than were offered. We also stand with them to provide any other assistance whether it be counseling, certainly we still offer benefits like medical and financial assistance where possible," he said. Evans foreshadowed that legal action against the government may result as the union forges ahead in its fight to obtain more monies for those terminated workers. "If we have to take it that far we are prepared to do so, because we have that avenue available to us, and we are going to pursue all of them until we get this resolved. We will take all the avenues that are available to us under law to pursue this matter for the people, and that includes through the Ministry of Labour if we file a labor dispute, and the Industrial Tribunal and if we need to take it to the Court of Appeal we will," he said. The government has said the separation packages offered to departing workers will not be increased. The BCPOU and the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) assert that those employees who qualify for full retirement benefits should also receive six months pay, while those who qualify for early retirement should receive eight months pay. They also said those employees who have served 25 to 29 years should receive 12 months pay and those who have served less than 25 years should receive six months pay. But National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest, who has overall responsibility for ZNS, has said the separation packages offered by the government is fair, and labeled last week's demonstrations as "unfortunate." "We have been going through this process now for many months. The unions have asked us to hurry up and get on with it. We finally did it and they are disagreeable with it, "Turnquest told The Nassau Guardian yesterday. "That is most unfortunate, the actions that they took. We have a union industrial agreement, which has terms better than the Employment Act. We fulfilled all of the obligations under those union agreements, plus we offered a three-month sweetener and 12 months health insurance, all of which have a cost," Turnquest said. "The separations that took place on Friday and what will take place today in Grand Bahama - those persons received letters and two checks. One check for accrued vacation pay and one for notice of redundancy. Those amounts total some $3.2 million. I thought it was most fair. I think that the government has fulfilled its obligation. We have been fair. We have tried to do it in a transparent and accountable way. Unfortunately, there is no happy way to do what had to be done but it was necessary," he said. Moss had earlier confirmed that the government had allocated$4 million to complete the exercise, with the majority of the funds,$3.5 million, being shared between the 80 released employees. "In terms of direct cash payments into people's hands it is probably somewhere in the order of $3.5 million, and in terms of the payments that will take place to cover employees in the insurance scheme for a further year it is probably $400,000 to half a million," Moss said. Questioned as to what is the next move for the corporation, Moss explained: "One aspect would be to move our television signal from an analogue platform that currently exists to a digital platform at a cost of somewhere close to around $3 million. Concomitant with that will be a gradual change in the programming format of ZNS to make it more representative of what one would expect from a public service broadcaster." (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) 1 pm ZNS Radio newscast today said Employees of Northern Service are learning today "who will stay and who will go." The Deputy Director for Human Resources, the Manager for Sales and "line staff" were let go, the report said (Mike Cooper, Oct 18, DXLD) Host of a talk show this morning on ZNS mentioned that they were working on getting 1540 back on the air again and that they would "cut the fingers off" of the next person they catch stealing copper (Mike Cooper, Oct 19, DXLD) PM: GOVT MORE THAN FAIR ON BCB PACKAGES 10/19/2010 By KRYSTEL ROLLE Guardian Staff Reporter http://www.nassauguardian.net/PM-on-ZNS The separation packages offered to employees of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (BCB) were "more than fair," according to Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. "The government feels that it acted most honorably and most fair and quite frankly we were very disappointed at the attitude of some people in terms of what we offered. Because we offered far more than we are legally or contractually obliged to do," Ingraham told reporters yesterday during a tour of the Albany project. On Friday dozens of employees either voluntarily resigned or were laid off from the government-run broadcasting company. The exercise came one day after scores of workers invaded the BCB compound and disrupted radio and television news broadcasts. The scene was so chaotic, police had to be called onto the premises to restore order and escort some employees off the property. Many workers protested the conditions of the disengagement and union officials representing the BCB employees agitated for more attractive packages. However, their pleas fell on deaf ears. Defending the government's actions yesterday, Ingraham said the government did more than was required. "The government has to find$4 million or so to fund the separation of the persons from [BCB], in addition to the $1.5 million the government has to give to [BCB] this year, in addition to the $1.5 million to $2 million the government has to give to upgrade the facility of [BCB]. The only way we can do that is to have the separation that we did." Ingraham said BCB's board of directors and the unions agreed on the amount of money disengaged workers would be paid and honored that in full. "We've paid on top of that. Additionally we'll pay for health insurance for all the disengaged workers for the next 12 months. We would have paid $700,000 more than we were legally or contractly obliged to pay in respect of 80 persons and I really believe that the ingratitude was not a good thing for people to have." The Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) and the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) met with board members on Friday. Last week BCPOU President Bernard Evans said if the government failed to meet some of the union's demands it would face repercussions when the next general election is called. The National Congress of Trade Unions of The Bahamas(NCTUB)has declared that it is prepared to stage "massive" demonstrations and protests in support of employees of the BCB. But the PMa said he is unfazed. "I'm not worried about what many people are demanding," he told reporters." They could only get what we have - no more, no less. We got elected as the government of The Bahamas. That's what we are. When the people no longer want us they will vote us out. And so no group in the society can force us to do foolishness. No group... no matter how many times we are threatened." Ingraham said he is very pleased with how BCB's board handled the exercise. Eighty persons were let go on Friday. The second round of separations at BCB took place yesterday at BCB's Grand Bahama location. Eleven persons left-five of whom signed up for the voluntary separation package (all via Mike Cooper, summarized on WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) News [sic] Sports Radio Station 10/16/2010 By KELSIE JOHNSON NG Sports Reporter http://www.nassauguardian.net/KJ-Sports-Radio-launched The newest radio station in the country, ZSR 103.5 FM, will be officially launched at the end of October. The all sports radio station will cater to both local and international sports. On Friday, Minister with responsibility for broadcasting Tommy Turnquest gave his stamp of approval after taking a tour of the station, which is located in the Dewgard Plaza. "It really makes me feel good especially when you look at the pool of journalists and the opportunities in terms of the broadcast media," Turnquest said after confirming that the government will be giving its support to programs such as the sports radio. "We may be going through a restructuring exercise where we downsized a number of employees at ZNS, for an example. But here you have Sports 103.5 that is providing opportunities for additional persons and that is really the whole vision behind private broadcasting. We want to ensure that we provide opportunities for persons who have studied journalism, broadcast media and this is doing just that. "There is no question about the fact that sports is used as a motivational tool. Human nature, as is, everyone loves to talk about what they are interested in. You have a large cadre of sports personalities in The Bahamas who even after they passed their prime, like to continue to the sports run. Myself included," said Turnquest, who drew illustration to the Old Timers Softball League. "Sports people, they love to talk trash." Four local sports shows will be aired on the 24-hour sports radio. The shows include Sports Guys, Sports Bubble, Last Shot and Game Time with Showtime. The Sports Guy show will be aired at 7 a.m. to 10 a.m, and will be hosted by former ZNS employee Marcellus Hall and Kevin Taylor. Veteran athlete, Jeanie 'Bubbles' Minus is the host of Sports Bubble, which will get on the way at 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Starting at 1 p.m. will be the Last Shot followed by the Game Time with Showtime. All other programs will be courtesy of the affiliate station ABC Sports. Former Love 97 and ZNS employee, Vann Ferguson believes that the sports radio station is very timely. In fact he believes that the station will become the catalysts for a lot of sports that have become inactive. "We are still in the phase of doing things to the tower, the technical end of it," said Ferguson. "In terms of the staff here, these guys they've been ready. "It was hard from the point of view that it is a new business. Just like how all new businesses go, that is where the difficulties lie. It is not so much (hard) from putting the talent together or the aspect together. But when it comes to starting a new business, that is where the problems come in and that has been the difficulties. In the last final months, Ia must say that things started to smooth out and we are ready to go on air. "Sports, all the time and that its going to be interesting. A lot of folks come to us and ask us, you are not going to play any music? They can't imagine a radio station that does not have music as a main stay. Ours is conversation as the main stay. You have open phone lines, guests on top of guests, international and local. We are an ABC affiliate so we have the ability to draw guests from international sources. So it is going to be a lot of conversation." The radio personalities at the station includes Hall, Minus, Troy Feaste, Shavender Watkins and Kevin Taylor (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) PLP: SECRET FNM PLAN TO CUT PUBLIC SERVICE 10/19/2010 By KRYSTEL ROLLE Guardian Staff Reporter http://www.nassauguardian.net/perry-on-zns Opposition Leader Perry Christie yesterday condemned the government for what he categorized as the "callous and heartless" manner in which it handled the downsizing exercise at ZNS Network, suggesting that the Ingraham administration has a "secret agreement" with the International Monetary Fund to downsize the entire public service. "This government continues to demonstrate an uncanny lack of respect for ordinary working Bahamians, a commitment for putting things before the welfare of people, and placing the desires and ambitions of special interests above the needs of the many," said Christie, who was addressing the media during a news conference yesterday in the Opposition Room of the House of Assembly. On Friday dozens of employees either voluntarily resigned, or were laid off, from the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, which operates ZNS Network. One day earlier, workers invaded the BCB headquarters and disrupted radio and television news broadcasts. The scene was so chaotic police were called to the premises to restore order and escort some employees off the property. "I, as I am sure many Bahamians did, watched in horror as a large majority of those terminated, who had given so much of their lives to the nation through the corporation, were treated like common thugs and criminals," Christie said. "Even though they acted professionally and non-violently, they were being escorted to their desks to collect their belongings and then escorted by the police out of the gate, creating the specter of criminality. This undermines the essence of human existence-dignity." Christie said if the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) was in power it would have handled the disengagement exercise much differently. He criticized Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham for going ahead with the downsizing at a time when the country has still not rebounded from the economic downturn. Ingraham could have used the$4 million spent to lay off around 80 people from ZNS to retain them for another year, Christie argued. "Further, the politically convenient excuse given by the government that it is fiscally challenged is wearing thin and is duplicitous at best," the opposition leader said. "The government can find monies to support special interests in the form of generous subsidies for a container port (some $26 million), the purchase of private buildings and docks, and $10 million per mile for a highway to accommodate foreign special interests, an amount that is excessive by international standards." Christie added: "The PLP publicly questions whether this downsizing exercise is part and parcel of some secret agreement the government has entered into with the International Monetary Fund to reduce the size of both the public service and public corporations. If this is so, the government is duty bound to come clean and advise the Bahamian people." Asked if he had any evidence to suggest the government may be hiding something regarding the public service downsizing claim, Christie said all 'the facts' caused the opposition to question the government's motives. "What is the urgency to move people out of jobs?" he asked. "We have to ask the question, are you hiding something? If you are, tell us." In response to Christie last night, Ingraham said the claim was "outrageous" and untrue. Christie added that Ingraham continues to make "major mistakes" in governance to the detriment of the country and his governing Free National Movement. "We felt, and we feel now, that we are a better alternative to them and we believe very strongly that we will form the next government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. And we believe that the people of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas have had ample reasons to date to see why the Progressive Liberal Party is better suited to be governing the country at this time than the current government," said Christie. Christie's remarks comes one day after Ingraham said the separation packages offered to ZNS employees were "more than fair." "The government feels that it acted most honorably and most fair and quite frankly we were very disappointed at the attitude of some people in terms of what we offered. Because we offered far more than we are legally or contractually obliged to do," Ingraham told reporters on Monday. However, Christie said, notwithstanding Ingraham's comments, "the severance packages offered to the severed and disengaged workers of ZNS were not comparable to the packages offered to other civil servants who were fired or separated." Reader Comments - 2 Total Posted By: On: 10/20/2010 Title: DUUUH I was just about to say the same thing. Whoever doesn't know that more layoffs and cutbacks in the public sector are inevitable in the near future, is just not in touch with the world news and economic developments. I mean its no secret! From Europe to city and local govt's in the US, and even Canadian provinces are laying people off, because they just can't afford it. Even teachers are being laid off in some places in the US!! Politicians in the western world in general in the post war period grew the size of govt. to a level that was unsustainable, unfourtnately now seems to be the time when the stuff, finally hits the fan, were not only paying for the sins of a couple years of bad fiscal management but basically for two generations since the post war period, when western countries in general decided to grow the govt. and its means. Posted By: "Bigsid" On: 10/20/2010 Title: DOWNSIZING IS GLOBAL Mr. Christie, Have you lose touch? There is a Global financial crisis, In every corner of this world , except maybe China. My labour union just last 6/30/11 was faced with the lose of 2800 members and non members jobs. Next 6/30/11 we are looking at a huge reduction in staff. What do the IMF have to do with how the Bahamas Government operates it agencies? I know that one should never trust the IMF. Do the Bahamas Government needs the IMF? HELL NO. Lay offs are unavoidable in this climax (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) CHRISTIE CRITICIZES PM'S TONE ON BAHA MAR & ZNS WORKERS 10/19/2010 By BRENT DEAN Deputy News Editor http://www.nassauguardian.net/Christie-on-Ingraham-s-tone The tone of Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham towards the workers at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (BCB) and Baha Mar has been "inappropriate", according to and Opposition Leader Perry Christie who has reminded Ingraham that he is the country's leader and not a "papa with a belt beating people." "A government can be firm, can impose discipline but it could do so in a way that is consistent with the Bahamian character and that is protecting the dignity of the people you are dealing with. That is a role of government and governments fail when they do not perform that role and when they are seen not to perform that role," said Christie yesterday at a news conference at the House of Assembly. "And this government, and the tone of which you speak, we think is totally inappropriate in all of the circumstances. This ain't no daddy with a belt in his hand beating people, or papa with a belt beating people." During a tour of the Albany development on Monday, Ingraham spoke candidly about his view of the response of some workers at ZNS who were not satisfied with the severance packages being offered by the government. Ingraham said the BCB's board went above and beyond what it was legally required to do. "We've paid on top of that. Additionally we'll pay for health insurance for all the disengaged workers for the next 12 months. We would have paid $700,000 more than we were legally or contractually obliged to pay in respect of 80 persons and I really believe that the ingratitude was not a good thing for people to have," he said. Ingraham also said he was not satisfied with Baha Mar's new managerial partnership arrangements. "Managers come dime a dozen. You see them all the time. They are the easiest thing to pick up in the world managers because they have nothing in it other than collecting their money at the top," he said. The government prefers Baha Mar to have equity partners with hotel experience. Baha Mar has announced that it signed a letter of intent with Hyatt Hotels Corporation to operate and manage the planned 700-room Grand Hyatt. Baha Mar also selected Hyatt as its timeshare partner in the project, which will initially include 50 units as part of the first phase, with plans for expansion in subsequent phases. It is also planned that Rosewood Hotels and Resorts will operate and manage the 200-room luxury hotel Baha Mar will construct and Morgans Hotel Group will operate and manage the planned 300-room luxury lifestyle hotel. Referring to Ingraham's tone towards ZNS Network workers and Baha Mar, Christie said: "It is not good for the country. A prime minister is supposed to be, not a divisive instrument, someone that is dividing, someone that is causing investors to raise questions as to how he is dealing with them, you frighten people. And in this country confidence is based on being able to know that you can come to a government and not be frightened, not be beaten upon. If a government disagrees a government disagrees and you articulate your disagreements." Ingraham and National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest, who is responsible for ZNS, have expressed disappointment at the behavior of the unions representing workers at ZNS during the disengagement process. Last Thursday the unions and workers occupied the news room at ZNS in protest. Christie said workers, within the law, have a right to protest what they perceive as unfair. "As we said, in all of these matters, you expect workers within the constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to try to protect themselves and speak to(their)best interests," he said. "The whole tradition of this country and the Progressive Liberal Party as we came into power in 1967 was to usher in a period where people could seek their rights and that governments must recognize it. And even when the behavior might be considered excessive, you are the Government of The Bahamas and at the end of the day your job is to be able to have a country that falls behind the government and not people who are hating, people who are angry. There is enough anger and bitterness in this country as it is now. And trust me on this, you have people who go around hating." (all via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 4750, Bangladesh Betar, 1255-1311 + 1500*, Oct 20. Assume in Bengali; subcontinent music; ToH news with several mentions of “Bangladesh”; 1309 reciting from the Qur’an; mixing with CNR1; clearly just the two stations are here now; RRI continues to be off the air and as confirmed by Atsunori Ishida’s website; also no hint of PBS Qinghai, which has not been heard in a long time. When was the last time anyone did hear PBS Qinghai here? (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see INDONESIA ** BARBADOS. Re 10-41: Começa a temporada de escutas pela TEP --- Alexandre, Sim, também ouvi em 12 de Outubro, assim como você, a melhor recepção foi da Voice of Barbados em 92.9; comecei a ouvir já às 2312 UT e pelo que percebi foi além da 0130, ou seja, um longo tempo. Normalmente não tenho este horário livre durante a semana; ontem foi feriado. Se possível, acompanhe por aí e divulgue os resultados. 73 (Samuel Cássio, São Carlos SP, 13 de Out de 2010, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 3310.05, R. Mosoj Chaski, 1110, weak but readable with talk by a man, flute music bridges, mentions of "Cochabamba." 15 October (David Sharp, NSW Australia. FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-2010, ICF-SW7600GR, MW-550P, Timewave 599zx, etc., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4699.96, R. San Miguel, 0936 LA romantic pop music. 0943 live M announcer with song and TC. Pause, ID, then back to music. Voice audio sounded like he was talking inside a cardboard paper tube!! 0944 short canned promo by W, M returned with TC and ID again, then more music. 0937 M again, TC, and mensaje to families. More music past ToH. (24 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6135, 09/10 2206, Radio Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, início de programa de variedades com a identificação, informando que transmite em FM, AM e ondas curtas, 42442 (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Receptor Degen 1103, Antena Loop Blindada confeccionada por Alexandre Deves Sailer, Base de Dados: EiBi http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Last update: 13 October, 2010), radioescutas yg via DXLD) 6134.79v, R. Santa Cruz, 0105-0109*, October 20. Series of IDs and their nice “Radio Santa Cruz” song, along with flute music. In the past I thought the song was just about “Santa Cruz”, but today clearly heard it was actually their station song (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 5045, R. Cultura do Pará, Belém PA, 2149-2202, 15 Oct'10, football followed by a relay of R.Nacional da Amazónia at 2151 for Jornal da Amazónia (2.ª edição) up till 2200 when they relayed A Voz do Brasil. So the "mystery" on why RNA is sometimes heard on 5045 is solved. 6010, R. Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte MG, 2224-2140, 15 Oct'10, folk songs, infos, advertisements; 3442, co-channel QRM de UNID station. 6059.9, SRDA, Curitiba PR, 2136-2150, 15 Oct'10, wailing preacher; 35433. 6070, R. Capital, Rio de Jan.º RJ, 2052-2102, 14 Oct'10, religious program from SRDA, but not parallel to SRDA fqs until later (2100); 44432, adjacent QRM, stronger at 2100. 6120, SRDA, São Paulo SP, 2140-2152, 15 Oct'10, wailing preacher, surely the "one & only" David Miranda; 24432, adjacent QRM de Family R on 6115. 9820, R. 9 de Julho, São Paulo SP, 2108-2121, 15 Oct'10, station slogan/ID "Rádio 9 de Julho - a rádio da Igreja", lecture by a priest "spiced" with religious songs; 34422. 11765, SRDA, 2054-2110, 14 Oct'10, religious propaganda, donations request, TCs, frequency announcement (1210, 9656, 11765, 6070 in this order), station slogan and then into preaching (see 6070, 6120); 35444. 11915, R. Gaúcha, 2035-2057, 14 Oct'10, 2035-2057, 14 Oct'10, advertisements, infos, news magazine program Chamada Geral (2.sª edição); 25443, deteriorating. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chamada Geral means CQ; strange to name a BC news show that. Excerpted from a much longer log of Brazilians et al., in the dxldyg (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5990, Radio Senado, Brasilia DF, *0851-0915, Oct 14, sign on with Portuguese talk and lite instrumental music. Local pop ballads. ID announcements at 0901-0902 and local pop ballads. Good. Strong (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BRAZIL. 6070, 17/10 0304, Rádio Capital, Rio de Janeiro (RJ), identificação com slogan: "Esta é a Rádio Capital do Rio de Janeiro, a serviço de Deus e ao seu lado!", 45444 (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Receptor Degen 1103, Antena Loop Blindada confeccionada por Alexandre Deves Sailer, Base de Dados: EiBi http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Last update: 13 October, 2010), radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9587.67, Super Rádio Deus é Amor, 2335-2355, Oct 14, Portuguese religious talk. Announcements. Promos. Poor with adjacent channel splatter. // 11764.98, 6070. // 6060 - weak under Argentina. // 9565 - weak under noise (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 9587.7, SRDA, São Paulo SP, 2123-2144, 17 Oct'10, shouting preacher before a pathetically excited audience, Castilian translation after each sentence in Portuguese, but poorly audible because of the shouting. Back on 03 Sep, they were on 9587.4 - maybe they slide to 9590 some day (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9629.94, R. Aparecida, 0930 End of ZY Pop song, M with Bom Dia, then ad block, and live M over music. Finally "Aparecida" jingle ID at 0944 before going back into music. Strong but very little modulation. Got full ID on 9645.34 Bandeirantes just before tuning here at 0929. (19 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9820, Radio 9 de Julho, Sao Paulo, 0655-0717, 16-10, portugués, locutor, programa religioso, entrevista con oyentes por teléfono. 24322. También, 0420-0550, 17-10, programa: "Com a mãe aparecida", "Hoje vamos a falar do nosso Senhor", canciones religosas, "A proteção de Deus", "São Paulo", "A nossa Senhora Aparecida de Brasil", "Horário brasileiro", a las 0534: "3 horas e 34 minutos. 24322 (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) the first day of DST = UT -2 Rádio 9 de Julho - 11 anos de retorno --- A rádio 9 de Julho foi criada em 1953 e transmitia em 540 kHz e ondas curtas de 31 metros. Acompanhou a revolução musical dos anos 50's. Em todos os seus programas musicais havia o ritmo rock'n roll e a bossa nova. E eu, como jovem radioescuta, estava lá na escuta com meu rádio valvulado marca Empire. Em 1973 ,desgraçadamente, o governo militar de Médici lacrou seus transmissores e a emissora se calou. Porém, em 23 de outubro de 1999, retornou ao ar em outras frequências. Em ondas médias 1600 kHz e ondas curtas de 31 metros 9820 kHz, cuja sintonia é feita com facilidade, com áudio "limpo e cristalino". No próximo sábado, dia 23, a Rádio 9 de Julho fará 11 anos de retorno ao ar. 73 (Luiz Chaine Neto, Limeira sp, 21 Out, radioescutas yg via DXLD) But the SW 9820- did not return until a couple years ago. It`s tough to hear in NAm, and religious now, isn`t it? (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11764.97, Super R. Deus é Amor 2355-2405 Oct 16. Religious program winding down; canned ID at 2359, giving frequencies of 1210, 9585, 11765, and 6060; into more Portuguese religious talk and music at ToH. Fair at best on this frequency; also heard on // 9587.72 with fair signal and splatter; 6060 was QRM'ed (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 25-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 12175 and 11355 spurs mentioned elsewhere (gh) ** BRAZIL. Brazilian DXers in radioescutas are reporting that Radio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, Brasil, has finally reactivated 15190, as of 1700 UT Oct 13. Reports, please. Possibly could be // to 6010 if that be active. Aoki shows this is what it is up against, especially WYFR also in Portuguese at 22-01: 15190 R.AFRICA 0630-1300 1234567 English 50 164 Bata GNE 00946E 0148N RAN a10 15190 CHINA RADIO INTER. 1000-1057 1234567 English 100 173 Kashi-Saibagh 2022 TKS 07545E 3921N CRI a10 15190 VO ISLAMIC REP.IRAN 1200-1257 1234567 Chinese 500 64 Kamalabad IRN 05127E 3546N IRIB a10 15190 R.AFRICA 1415-2300 1234567 English 50 164 Bata GNE 00946E0148N RAN a10 15190 R.PILIPINAS 1730-1930 1234567 English/Filipino 250 283 Tinang PHL 12037E 1521N PBS a10 15190 FAMILY RADIO 2200-2400 1234567 Portuguese 100 142 Okeechobee USA 08056W 2727N WYFR a10 15190 FAMILY RADIO 0000-0100 1234567 English 100 142 Okeechobee USA 08056W 2727N WYFR a10 At 2352 UT Oct 14, there is definitely a het on WYFR, approximately 15190.2? Not there before and presumably R. Inconfidência. (And YFR continues in Portuguese past 0007, not switching to English at 0000 as in Aoki). YFR should go off at 0045, so can we hear Belo Horizonte then? BTW, HFCC is also wrong with YFR in Spanish at 22-01 on 15190. {And NB: WYFR leaves 15190 for the B-10 season from Oct 31. It might be back for A-11, until Family Radio self-destructs in May.} Yes, in the clear at 0046 Oct 15 as I hear a bit of classical music, seems Mozart, before announcement, and then more music. Now with WYFR out of the way it`s easier to count the 40-Hz clix on the DX-398 once synched with WWVH 15000. It`s about 15190.5. Poor signal, with fading. Pleased to hear classical music on this! But it`s not the full format. AM 880 is indeed in a classical music hour, per schedule and then heard online: http://www.inconfidencia.com.br/modules/programacao/players/pop_am.php ``Mestres da Música, 21h às 22h, Com Pedro Lobato, Biografia e obras mais conhecidas dos grandes gênios da música clássica.`` Final piece of music sounded like someone`s national anthem. I could even hear scratches on the LP (webcast, not SW). Outro at 0100 plugs this show as audible worldwide on the website, but no mention of SW! Here`s the AM 880 program schedule, but you have to click on each show to find out the times (UT -3). (From Oct 17, UT -2!) http://www.inconfidencia.com.br/modules/programacao Seems to be a `full-service` station with a little of everything, including news, sports, talkshows, and some other classical music. News and ads followed after 0100. Still listening to webcast, 0107 full ID includes ZYE521 on 6010 AND ZYE522 on 15190, as well as 880 AM and 100.9 FM. (I suspect they have been announcing 15190 all along despite years of inactivity.) There are separate AM and FM streams, and apparently different programming tho some of the shows are on both at different times. WRTH says 880 is ZYL275, one of a handful of Brazilian MW stations rated 100 kW, while 15190 is only 5 kW. Will it be running 24 hours? What is the schedule on 6010? It has big QRM problems from Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia for starters. 15190+ had a very weak carrier at 0358 Oct 15, so maybe it was on overnight. This is the only Brazilian active on 19m, tho there have been occasional reports of 15325, R. Gazeta. It`s also the highest Brazilian SWBC frequency, unless R. Cultura São Paulo ever reactivates 17815. It should be noted that the R. Africa schedule varies widely, so it may not be colliding with ZYE522 at all possible hours listed. My differing off-frequency estimates correlate with those of Brian Alexander, in Pennsylvania who was hearing this tentatively Oct 14 at 2125 on 15190.49, drifting down to 15190.12 by 2150 (and no R. Africa being heard). Now that I`ve had a chance to read all the radioescutas posts about this, it was first heard Oct 13 around 1855 UT by Paulo Michelon in Porto Alegre. Danilo Nonato contacted the engineer at R. Inconfidência the next day, Marcus Starling, who said the transmitter was fired up around 1700 UT Oct 13, after 20 years off the air. The website has a `fale conosco` form for contacting the station, but Starling was offering to QSL e-mail reception reports to directoria @ inconfidencia.com.br I sent one, but no reply yet. He was quite satisfied by the reports received so far, and compared the resuscitation of this transmitter with the rescue of the Chilean miners from near-death; shortwave lives! Danilo Nonato suggests this e-mail instead: mstarbhz @ gmail.com Wolfgang Büschel provides: Radio Inconfidencia, Av. Raja Gabaglia, 1666 - Gutierrez - Cep: 30441- 194 Belo Horizonte / Minas Gerais - Brazil. Telefax: (31) 3298-3400 Google Earth imagery. Transmitter location unknown yet. Radio Inconfidencia, 880, 6010, 15190 kHz ?? probably at 20 00 21.95 S 43 58 04.96 W vy73 wolfy Édison Bocorny Jr., in Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, was getting it at 2130 Oct 14, but strong QRM and het from WYFR. Also says he heard Gazeta only last week on 15325, tho we never see any reports of that from outside Brasil. Next day Oct 15 on 15190 I am looking for R. Inconfidência earlier. At 1633: nothing audible on or near the frequency. Next check 1815, now there is something, all-talk, barely audible. Does not sound Portuguese, or English from R. Africa, but at 1831 ID as R. Pilipinas [see PHILIPPINES], on 15190.1, and signs of a very weak second signal. At 2115, something JBA on 15190; if R. Africa were on, it would be easily audible, so is this R. Inconfidência again? South America is propagating, as on 15345 Morocco has QRM from slightly off-frequency RAE. Apparently it was, as Mark Davies, UK, sent us a clip including Inconfidência mention at 2120 [as below] (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi everyone, 2120 UT (approx), 15190, R Inconfidência. This is what I heard with IDs at beginning and end (especially) http://www.box.net/shared/0s63n07xzz 73's (Mark Davies, Anglesey, UK, Oct 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Colegas radio escutas e dxistas, Escutei ontem a tarde 13/10/2010 a Rádio Inconfidência de Belo Horizonte em 19 metros na frequência de 15190 kHz com ótimo sinal, SINPO 43444, aqui em Porto Alegre RS. Fiz esta escuta por volta das 1855 UT; estava dando o programa Inconfidência Noticias. Esta é a primeira vez que escuto a Rádio Inconfidência em 19 metros; sempre que escutei esta emissora foi em 49 metros na frequência de 6010 kHz, só que esta última de 49 metros é muito difícil escutar aqui em Porto Alegre e quando da o sinal, é muito ruim com interferência e batimento de emissoras próximas. Que bom que tem uma alternativa para escutar melhor a Inconfidência em ondas curtas em outra faixa. 73 a todos, boas escutas, (Paulo Michelon, Porto Alegre RS, meu blog http://blogdomichelon.blogspot.com receptores usados na escuta rm pf 121 ac 12 faixas da Motobrás e o motoglobe com leitura digital também da Motobrás, Oct 14, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Olá Paulo e demais do grupo, Neste momento, 1530 horas UT, estou escutando á Rádio Inconfidência em 19 metros, 15190 kHz, com SINPO 44545, em pleno semi-árido bahiano. Este transmissor deve ser novo; a propagação não está boa mas o sinal da Inconfidência está chegando forte, limpo e cristalino. Para nós, adeptos das ondas curtas, são momentos de alegrias. Um forte 73, (Edson Kaphussú, Receptor - Tecsun S-2000, Antena de ferrite Rgp3 para ondas curtas com amplificador do DXCB, ibid.) Caros, Hoje conversei com o amigo Marcus Starling; ele é engenheiro da Rádio Inconfidência. Ontem por volta das 17 horas UT foi ligado o transmissor da banda dos 19 metros; há 20 anos a rádio estava fora do ar. Gostaria de destacar a escuta por Paulo Michelon, de Porto Alegre RS. Mais algum amigo escuta a Rádio Inconfidência em 15190? Aguardo informações (Danilo Nonato, MG, Oct 14, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Colega Danilo, Ja mandei um relatório de recepção para o Marcus engenheiro; até fiz outro relatório ao constatar que o primeiro mandei para você enganado; depois é que vi que o engenheiro era o Marcus. Hoje a propagação está fechada aqui em Porto Alegre e não da para escutar como foi ontem mais escuto muito fraco. A emissora continua no ar em 19 metros. Será que a Inconfidênçia paga QSL? Abraço grande, (Paulo Michelon, Porto Alegre RS, ibid.) Boa tarde, Aqui em Cuiabá chegando com bom sinal. 15190 - R. Inconfidência - OM talks, ID, hora certa 17:18 BSB [?], notícias, px "Hora do Fazendeiro", mx "A coisa tá feia", "flor do cafezal" com Cascatinah e Inhana. 45544. 73, RX: IC-R75, Antena: LW 15 metros (Itamar Nunes - PU9TRT, Rua José Luíz Borges Garcia, Qd. 22, Casa 03 - Jd. Araçá, 78035-200 Cuiabá - MT, ibid.) Caros, A Rádio Inconfidência vai responder todos os relatórios de QSL Simples mande um e-mail para diretoria@... Foi dessa forma que recebi e-mail do Engenheiro da Emissora: "Peça ao pessoal para mandar relatório de recepção para diretoria@... para enviarmos os QSL. Abraços, Marcus Starling" Aqui na grande Porto Alegre, sinal local às 20:33 hrs de Brasília [2333 UT]. Entretanto, há uma forte interferênia de outra emissora de fundo em 15190 emitindo 1 apito. [WYFR] (Edison Bocorny Jr., Novo Hamburgo - RS, ibid.) Boa tarde a todos. A Rádio Inconfidência em 15190 está com ótimo sinal 54333, apresentando o programa A hora do Fazendeiro, mas com QSB [sic] da WYFR Family Radio em 15195 [via ASCENSION], apresentando programa religioso. Está de parabéns os técnicos da Inconfidência que a recolocaram no ar nesta frequência e com qualidade. Abraços a todos. (Wagner .'. Guarulhos SP, GG66RM, 23º 27' 07" S, 46ª 31' 37" W, PY3005SWL, ibid.) 15190.49v, Radio Inconfidência? 2125-2150, Oct 14, Inconfidência reactivated? Tentative with Portuguese talk. Brazilian style music. Was on 15190.49 at tune-in, drifting down to 15190.12 by 2150. Fair signal. I was tuning around looking for Radio Africa but heard this instead. No sign of Radio Africa (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) Depois dos e-mails de amigos que escutaram a Rádio Inconfidência nos 19 metros, recebo essa informação: Que legal, Danilo. Estamos muito satisfeitos. Isso mostra como as ondas curtas são vigorosas. Um colega meu na rádio comparou o resgate dos mineiros no Chile com o "resgate" das transmissões em 19m da Inconfidência, num tempo em que muitos preconizavam sua morte, constato que está mais viva do que nunca. Abraços, Marcus Starling (via Danilo, radioescutas via DXLD) Muito prezado Sr. Starling, Gosto de informar que a ressuscitada freqùência de 15190 chega até Oklahoma nos Estados Unidos. Mas com interferência péssima de WYFR na Florida, que ocupa 15190 das 22 até 0045 tempo universal. (Hora de BH + 3). Desgraça que Family Radio transmite também em português para o Brasil neste horário. Começando o 31 de outubro eles abandonam a 15190, até março. Foi possível ouvir o heterodino da sua emissão em frequência pouca elevada, em 15190.2 mais ou menos, às 2352. Depois de sair WYFR, às 0045, a Rádio Inconfidência sem interferência em 15190.5 (variável), com música clássica, Mozart? Muito agradável! Mas sinal fraco. Tem outras emissoras em 15190, segundo a lista Aoki: kw graus 15190 R.AFRICA 0630-1300 1234567 English 50 164 Bata GNE 00946E 0148N RAN a10 15190 CHINA RADIO INTER. 1000-1057 1234567 English 100 173 Kashi-Saibagh 2022 TKS 07545E 3921N CRI a10 15190 VO ISLAMIC REP.IRAN 1200-1257 1234567 Chinese 500 64 Kamalabad IRN 05127E 3546N IRIB a10 15190 R.AFRICA 1415-2300 1234567 English 50 164 Bata GNE 00946E0148N RAN a10 15190 R.PILIPINAS 1730-1930 1234567 English/Filipino 250 283 Tinang PHL 12037E 1521N PBS a10 O problema principal vai ser Guiné Equatorial, mas com horário variável, que se costuma chegar ainda ao meu receptor até fechar depois das 22 horas TU. Receptor principal é FRG-7, mas para ouvir a ZYE522, foi com DX-398, antena de alguns metros de fio. Gostaria de receber uma confirmação QSL. Ou espero nos dias a seguir poder captar mais detalhes. Boa sorte, Glenn Hauser P O Box 1684 Enid OK 73702 USA WORLD OF RADIO http://www.worldofradio.com (gh`s e-mail report to station engineer, via DXLD) No answer by Oct 22 Actually it is 15,190 of Conspiracy in Khz. I could see now the night here in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre (New Hamburg) at 21:30 UTC good signal, but with strong QRM from Your Family background beat sending one followed by "whistle." Last week I picked up the Gazette on 19 meters emitting at 15325 kHz. However, the Culture of Brazil has not complied with the promised return of its new park in place with better transmission characteristics of the soil to wave reflection and further away from the major urban area, so reducing the interference. The new TX 16 meters (17815 kHz) will be 10 kW solid state, besides the frequency 9630 kHz in the traditional 31 meters with 7.5 kW, that although there is no db gain, also won a new TX 100% transistor. Sincerely 73. (Bocorny Edison Jr., Novo Hamburgo, RS Brazil, computer translation sic, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BRASIL, 15189.7, Rádio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, 1620-1707, 16- 10, escuchada en este momento, locutor, portugués, comentarios: "Apresentamos. . . (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, escucha realizada en Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. Following a tip from Manuel Méndez, Friol, Spain, that he was getting R. Inconfidência on 15189.7, 16 Oct at 1620-1707, I looked for it at 1808. But 15190 was totally dominated here by discussion in another language, with bits of English, presumably R. Pilipinas as also heard yesterday, but stronger now. Inconfidência is only a het. Wonder if R. Africa will continue to be absent until 2200 when WYFR takes over? By 1830, however, I am not hearing anything on 15190, using a different receiver and antenna. Did Pilipinas go off much earlier than scheduled 1930? Anyhow, we know now that ZYE522 can vary both sides of 15190 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola Glenn, ayer, Radio Inconfidência, en 15189.7, estuvo buen rato eclipsada por otras emisoras en 15190, aproximadamente entre las 1715 y las 1930. A partir de las 1930 se volvió a escuchar bien. Ni rastro ayer de Radio Africa. Cordiales saludos, Manuel Méndez BRASIL, 15189.7, Rádio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, 1620-1950, 16- 10, locutor, portugués, comentarios: "Apresentamos... o nosso Brasil", música, canciones brasileñas. A las 1700 anuncios comerciales, identificación: "... onda média, ... , ondas curtas, 49 metros, 6010 kHz, Rádio Inconfidência", "Boa Tarde", "A Rádio Inconfidência". A partir de las 1715 eclipsada por fuerte interferencia de otras emisoras, luego, a partir de las 1930 cesa la interferencia, y se vuelve a escuchar con señal aceptable, por lo menos hasta las 2030. A las 1935 clara identificación, locutor: "4 horas 35 minutos, Seja bemvindo a Rádio Inconfidência". 24322. También escuchada 0925-0958, 17-10, locutor, locutora, comentarios, anuncios comerciales, canciones, identificación a las 0938: "Onda media, 880 kHz, ondas curtas, 6010 kHz..., 15190 kHz... Radio Inconfidencia", "Bom día". A las 0958 eclipsada por China Radio International en 15190 kHz. 24422 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, escuchas realizadas en Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, 16/10 1625, Rádio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte (MG), Chico Lobo apresenta o programa O Canto da Viola; excelente qualidade de sinal durante toda a tarde e início de noite brasileira no Sul do Brasil; às 2300, sofre interferências da Family Radio, emitindo justamente em português para o Brasil, 45544 (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Receptor Degen 1103, Antena Loop Blindada confeccionada por Alexandre Deves Sailer, Base de Dados: EiBi http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Last update: 13 October, 2010), radioescutas yg via DXLD) WYFR starts at 2200 (gh) Ainda sobre a Inconfidência em 15190 --- Tive a oportunidade de escutar ela agora às 13:30 hrs de Brasilia [1630 UT Oct 16] com bom sinal, inclusive melhor que a Nacional da Amazônia em 25 metros. Lembrando que neste horario a propagação fica fechada melhorando apenas ao entardecer. Vejam o que a Record perde com seu TX de 7.5 Kw desativado em 15135, pois poderiam cobrir praticamente todo territorio nacional, a Timbira de São Luis do Maranhão com 2.5 kW nos 15215 poderia abranger toda região nordeste e partes do norte e centro oeste. Creio que com estes 5 kW em 19 metros, a Inconfidência deve alcançar em torno de 3000 km durante o dia (Edison Bocorny Jr, Novo Hamburgo RS, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Glenn, Fair strength here on Anglesey with IDs (Mark Davies, UK, 2021 UT Oct 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Inconfidência on 19 m --- They're now airing the folk music program Sertanejo Moderno. Frequency measured here 15189.65, rating 25433, // 6010 under moderate to strong adjacent interference. I believe this will be short lived. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, posted at 2122 UT Oct 16, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST). 15189.64, Rádio Inconfidência, 2141-2200, Oct 16, local music. IDs at 2143 and 2200. Portuguese talk. Fair to good signal but fairly well covered by WYFR at their 2159 sign on (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) De nuevo Rádio Inconfidência, 15189.7 ahora por la mañana, 0926 UT, sin interferencia en 15190. BRASIL, 15189.7, Rádio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, 0926-0933, 17-10, locutor, locutora, portugués, comentarios, anuncios comerciales. 24322. (Manuel Méndez, Friol, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BRAZIL, 15190, Rádio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, MG, 1340-1400, October 17, Portuguese. Announcement by male as: "....em cualquer parte do país ligado na Rádio Inconfidência.... ". Another ID & ann. as: "Inconfidência apresentou Delírio e Cia", Complete ID at 1400 UT: "ondas curtas de 19 metros, 15190 kHz, emissora da Rede Inconfidência de Radio.... ", SINPO: 34432. Best reception on LSB mode (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, HCDX via DXLD) Radio Inconfidência, 15190 kHz, contact to send information about listening: mstarbhz @ gmail.com [or] diretoria @ inconfidencia.com.br 73 (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP BRAZIL http://radioways.blogspot.com DX Clube do Brasil http://www.ondascurtas.com Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15189.633, Rádio Inconfidência back [on] 19 meters. Yesterday afternoon I had a carrier at 15189.633, but never enough signal to pull any audio. Nothing at all so far today (Dan Ferguson-USA, K4VOA, Oct 17? Via BC-DX via DXLD) 15189.65, R. Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte MG, 2112-2225, 16 Oct'10, folk musc prgr Sertanejo Moderno,..., advertisements, then pop oldies program Máquina do Tempo. 15189.65, ditto, 1352-1424, 18 Oct'10, lengthy segment filled with political propaganda campaign aimed at the 2nd round of the presidential elections scheduled 12 days as from the 18th inst. (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, straining to detect R. Inconfidência, at the daypart I originally heard it, after WYFR 0045* --- Oct 22 at 0050, there is a trace of a carrier, maybe this, maybe not. Nothing at all active on 19m from South America to compare it with! Cuba 15380 is poorly audible; SRDA extremely distorted spur from 11765 on 12175v is inbooming, plus the much weaker twin on 11355v; Argentina good on 11711v (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Olá à todos da Lista! Muito boa a atitude da Radio Inconfidência em retornar as transmissões nos 19 metros, é uma ótima oportunidade para levar a rica cultura de Minas para o mundo! A propósito, alguém de Belo Horizonte ou lugares próximos tem escutado a emissora nesta Frequência? Aqui em BH não estou conseguindo escutar a emissora, já sintonizei nos 15190 KHz várias vezes, em vários horários, mas apenas uma vez escutei um sinal bem fraco, na última quarta-feira, por volta de 1500 UT, que na verdade nem sei se era a emissora. 73's a todos! (Davi Lucas, Belo Horizonte, Oct 17, radioescutas via DXLD) Quem escutar a Inconfidência em 15.190 kHz, a pedido de seu engenheiro Marcus, mande um e-mail para a emissora reportando a escuta e ela lhe enviará cartão QSL. Diretoria @ inconfidencia.com.br Ainda não consegui escutá-la no meu QTH. Falta propagação ou é a chamada zona de silêncio para esta frequência. Geralmente frequências altas em ondas curtas propagam-se a longas distâncias. Dentro do Estado de Minas, talvez não haja escuta. 73 (Luiz Chaine Neto, Limeira sp, 17-10-2010, ibid.) Luiz, Só consegui agora há pouco, 0100 UT, ouvir a Inconfidência nos 15190 kHz e com recepção ruim, tentei vários horários durante o domingo, estamos em uma zona morta para esta frequencia na maior parte do dia. São Carlos está por volta de 600 km de Belo Horizonte, coisa parecida aí de Limeira também. 73 (Samuel Cássio, São Carlos SP, ibid.) Radio Inconfidencia on 15189.56 kHz at 0720 UT with moderate signal into Central Europe. Music program with ID. Now at 0730 signal getting weaker. 73 (Harald Kuhl, Germany, Oct 18, Dxplorer via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) At 0820 UT Radio Inconfidencia noted on 15189.65 kHz, but heavily hit by 250 kW Radio Tatarstan signal via Radio Rossii provider at Samara Russia on 15195 kHz 8-9 UT, on powerful level S=9+20dB. Even with 2.6 kHz filter. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Você pode escutar a Inconfidência aí no sul de Minas Gerais com sinal local em 6010 Khz nos 49 metros, que pode operar até 25 Kw quando o TX estiver completamente restaurado. Para a a faixa de 19 metros, dificilmante se sintoniza algo a menos de 700 Km de distância em linha reta. Abraço (Edison Bocorny, Jr., Oct 18, radioescutas via DXLD) Palavras do Engenheiro Marcus Starling - Rádio Inconfidência Graças ao entusiasmo e apreço pela rádio Inconfidência, onde comecei minha vida profissional em 1979, e o apoio do atual presidente, Valério Fabris, resolvemos recuperar o tx e antena de 19m. O tx, um CCA de procedência americana, instalado em 1982, havia sido desmontado e a antena original, tipo dipolo dobrado com três condutores e balun, não mais existia. O tx ficou pronto em março, quando da reinauguração do centro transmissor de AM, época em que o transmissor de OM foi também recuperado e passou a operar com potência plena de 100 kW, em 880 kHz. Nessa época foram feitas vinhetas e prefixos novos, incluindo a freq. de 15190 kHz. Confesso que subestimei a dificuldade de ajuste que a antena apresentaria. Existia uma antena dipolo de alumínio, com acoplador gama, que revelou-se de impraticável ajuste, devido à dificuldade de acesso à antena, a 11,5m de altura. Construimos então um dipolo dobrado com 3 condutores e um balun com transformação de impedâncias de 650 para 50 Ohms. Levamos menos de 1 hora para fazermos os ajustes e entramos no ar. A primeira confirmação de recebimento foi feita por um radioescuta do RS. E ficamos admirados com a vitalidade das ondas curtas ao receber, desde então, vários relatórios de recepção por parte dessa confraria de radioescutas, a quem muito agradeço. Abraços, Marcus Starling (via Danilo, Oct 18, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) Is anyone still hearing R. Inconfidência on 15190v? (Glenn Hauser, 1749 UT Oct 19, dxldyg via DXLD) Audible yesterday's evening; it seems to be off now. Perhaps what I anticipated on Sat. (message 48594) is true after all? 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, 1803 UT Oct 19, ibid.) That it may not last long I left the rx on, and a heterodyne suddenly appeared around 1816: they're on, mixed with some other station on 15190, so maybe the tx was only temporarily off for some reason. However, today's trend doesn't indicate such an operation [15 MHz] is to live long. I hope I'm wrong though. PS: I bet "inconfidência" will show up garbled again (Carlos Gonçalves, 1826 UT, ibid.) Last heard R. Inconfidência on Oct 17, with a slight drift around 15189.66v. Heard at 2244 with pop music; clear IDs; after 2300 went to classical music. At the beach today (Oct 19) I heard a strong signal from R. Pilipinas on 15190, from 1805 to 1831, in Filipino, with frequent IDs (some in English); scheduled sign off for 1930. So no chance for me to hear R. Inconfidência when R. Pilipinas was broadcasting. The only good news is I heard no hint of Radio Africa being on today (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, USA, ibid.) Ron, So that's the station interfering Brazil then, I mean R. Filipinas. It was not a fair signal at all, rather mediocre I'd say, yet strong enough to disturb the reception of Belo Horizonte. That was via my 41 m inv. V up here in Lisbon; quite a difference via the 300 m long, SoAm Beverage at my other place. At this time, 2100 UT, no signal, but it was audible yesterday's evening, again with the inverted V. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, ibid.) Well this is what I`m getting http://www.box.net/shared/ckjb6csvqq (Mark Davies, Anglesey, UK, 1951 UT, ibid.) This is of course, R. Pilipinas. What time did you really record it? The URL time says 15190 Oct 19 2010 8 44 49 PM.mp3 which I guess would be 1944 UT, but they should have been off by 1930. Please, everyone, explicitly state times of observations and clips in UT (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Glenn, I recorded over the top of the hour at 1900. Will ensure time is clearly stated (Mark, Anglesey, ibid.) Mark, You do realise what's in the recording is not Brazil; it must be R. Filipinas (in Filipino I presume): a lot better than during my today's evening (1800+ UT) reception. Your location, Ynys Môn, must be formidable for DX! 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, ibid.) 15190, R. Inconfidência, not yet heard again here as well as I did the first time, after 0045 UT WYFR closed. Oct 19 at 1935, no trace of a carrier; 2125 now there is a JBA carrier which could be this. Strangely, R. Africa, Equatorial Guinea vanished from 15190 at the same time ZYE522 appeared. At 2125, no signal audible on 15195 either. Currently YFR Ascension 15195 is at 20-21 only. As of Oct 19, others are still reporting R. Inconfidência at times, however. 15190v, no sign of R. Inconfidência, Oct 20 around 2005 when it should have the frequency to itself, after Philippines phinishes, and with Equatorial Guinea still missing. Nor Oct 19 around 1935. The 5 kW really needs a propagational boost, and also I suspect it is only sporadically on the air. Others are reporting it periodically. I need to recheck around the time of day I first heard it, 0045+ after WYFR QRT. Oct 23 at 0057 with clear frequency I have a very poor signal on 15189.9 or so, YL talking, after 0100 mixed with music. Has that ``Brazilian sound``, intonation Portuguese. Some spikes from incomparably stronger North Korea on 15180 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXL ISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Bom dia. Desejo saber em que faixa e frequência transmite a Rádio Timbira do Maranhão. Aguardando resposta, desde já agradeço (Raimundo Batista de Souza, Oct 19, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Em ondas curtas de 15215 kHz em 19 metros, eles não transmitem mais, faz cerca de 8 anos. Também estão inativos nas ondas tropicais de 60 metros. Há 2 anos, prometeram retornar mas até agora nada. 73´s (Édison Bocorny Jr., Novo Hamburgo- RS, ibid.) [veja:] http://www.ma.gov.br/timbira/ (Aparecido Francisco Morato, PY5AAP, gg46qu, Cornelio Procopio PR, http://www.ipernity.com/home/py5aap.morato Oct 19, ibid.) ** BULGARIA. All DRM of BNR/R. Bulgaria will resume on October 21, 2010: 0400-0700 9400 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg WeEu BNR Horizont HS-1 Fri 0600-0900 11900 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg WeEu BNR Horizont HS-1 Sat/Sun 0900-0930 11900 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg WeEu BNR Euranet English Sat/Sun 0900-1200 11900 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg WeEu BNR Horizont HS-1 Mon-Thu 1530-1600 9400 SOF 050 kW / 030 deg EaEu Radio Bulgaria in Russian 1630-1700 9400 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg WeEu Radio Bulgaria in German 1700-1730 9400 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg WeEu Radio Bulgaria in French 1730-1800 9400 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg WeEu Radio Bulgaria in English 1800-1900 9400 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg WeEu Radio Bulgaria in Bulgarian 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. Winter B10 of Radio Bulgaria from Oct. 31, 2010 to March 27, 2011: ADDR: 4, Dragan Tsankov Blvd., 1040 Sofia and P.O.Box 900, 1000 Sofia. Tel +359 2 933 66 33; fax +359 2 865 05 60; Website http://www.bnr.bg Transmitter sites: MW: PET=Petritch (G.C: 41N28/023E19): 1 x 300 kW VDN=Vidin (G.C: 43N50/022E43): 1 x 300 kW SW: PLD=Plovdiv (G.C: 42N23/024E52): 2 x 300 kW, 3 x 170 kW SOF=Sofia (G.C: 42N49/023E11): 2 x 100 kW, 1 x 050 kW DRM mode Albanian / e-mail: albanian @ bnr.bg 0630-0700 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu Mon-Fri 0630-0700 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Mon-Fri 0700-0800 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu Sat/Sun 0700-0800 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Sat/Sun 1700-1730 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu 1700-1730 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu 2000-2100 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu 2000-2100 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Bulgarian / e-mail: bulgarian @ bnr.bg 0100-0200 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to NoAm 0100-0200 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to NoAm 0100-0200 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 260 deg to SoAm 0100-0200 on 7300 PLD 170 kW / 245 deg to SoAm 0530-0600 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu Mon-Fri 0530-0600 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Mon-Fri 0530-0600 on 5900 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu Mon-Fri 0530-0600 on 7400 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu Mon-Fri 0530-0600 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu Mon-Fri 0530-0600 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu Mon-Fri 0500-0600 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu Sat/Sun 0500-0600 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Sat/Sun 0500-0600 on 5900 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu Sat/Sun 0500-0600 on 7400 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu Sat/Sun 0500-0600 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu Sat/Sun 0500-0600 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu Sat/Sun 1400-1500 on 5900 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 1400-1500 on 7400 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 1400-1500 on 11700 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 1400-1500 on 15700 PLD 300 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 1600-1700 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu 1600-1700 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu 1600-1700 on 5900 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 1600-1700 on 7400 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 1600-1700 on 7400 PLD 170 kW / 115 deg to N/ME 1600-1700 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 078 deg to CeAs 1600-1700 on 7400 PLD 170 kW / 045 deg to CeAs 1600-1700 on 15700 PLD 300 kW / 185 deg to SoAf 1900-2000 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu 1900-2000 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu 1900-2000 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 1900-2000 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 115 deg to N/ME 1900-2000 on 9700 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu DRM 2200-2300 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 260 deg to SoEu 2200-2300 on 7300 PLD 170 kW / 245 deg to SoEu English / e-mail: english @ bnr.bg 0000-0100 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to NoAm 0000-0100 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to NoAm 0300-0400 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to NoAm 0300-0400 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to NoAm 0730-0800 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 0730-0800 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu 1830-1900 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 1830-1900 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu 1830-1900 on 9700 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu DRM 2200-2300 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 2200-2300 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu French / e-mail: french @ bnr.bg 0200-0300 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to NoAm 0200-0300 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to NoAm 0700-0730 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 0700-0730 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu 1800-1830 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 1800-1830 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu 1800-1830 on 9700 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu DRM 2100-2200 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 2100-2200 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu German / e-mail: german @ bnr.bg 0630-0700 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 0630-0700 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu 1730-1800 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 1730-1800 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu 1730-1800 on 9700 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu DRM 2000-2100 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 306 deg to WeEu 2000-2100 on 7400 PLD 300 kW / 295 deg to WeEu Greek / e-mail: greek @ bnr.bg 0600-0630 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu Mon-Fri 0600-0630 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Mon-Fri 0600-0700 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu Sat/Sun 0600-0700 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Sat/Sun 1730-1800 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu 1730-1800 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu 2100-2200 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu 2100-2200 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Russian / e-mail: russian @ bnr.bg 0400-0500 on 5900 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 0400-0500 on 7400 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 0400-0500 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 078 deg to CeAs 0400-0500 on 7400 PLD 170 kW / 045 deg to CeAs 0600-0630 on 5900 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 0600-0630 on 7400 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 1500-1600 on 5900 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 1500-1600 on 7400 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 1500-1600 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 078 deg to CeAs 1500-1600 on 7400 PLD 170 kW / 045 deg to CeAs 1630-1700 on 9800 SOF 050 kW / 030 deg to EaEu DRM 1700-1730 on 5900 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 1700-1730 on 7400 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 1900-2000 on 6200 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu 1900-2000 on 7400 SOF 100 kW / 030 deg to EaEu Serbian / e-mail: serbian @ bnr.bg 0700-0730 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu Mon-Fri 0700-0730 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Mon-Fri 0800-0900 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu Sat/Sun 0800-0900 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Sat/Sun 1800-1830 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu 1800-1830 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu 2200-2300 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu 2200-2300 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu Spanish / e-mail: spanish @ bnr.bg 0000-0100 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 260 deg to SoAm 0000-0100 on 7300 PLD 170 kW / 245 deg to SoAm 0200-0300 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 260 deg to SoAm 0200-0300 on 7300 PLD 170 kW / 245 deg to SoAm 0700-0730 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 258 deg to SoEu 0700-0730 on 7300 PLD 170 kW / 260 deg to SoEu 1730-1800 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 260 deg to SoEu 1730-1800 on 9400 PLD 170 kW / 258 deg to SoEu 2100-2200 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 260 deg to SoEu 2100-2200 on 7300 PLD 170 kW / 245 deg to SoEu Turkish / e-mail: turkish @ bnr.bg 0600-0630 on 6200 PLD 170 kW / 115 deg to N/ME 0600-0630 on 7300 PLD 170 kW / 126 deg to N/ME 1830-1900 on 747 PET 300 kW / non-dir to SEEu 1830-1900 on 1224 VDN 300 kW / 205 deg to SEEu 1830-1900 on 5900 PLD 170 kW / 115 deg to N/ME BNR "HORIZONT HS-1" in Bulgarian 0500-0800 on 9400 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu DRM Fri 0700-1000 on 11900 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu DRM Sat/Sun 1000-1300 on 11900 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu DRM Mon-Thu BNR "EURANET" in English 1000-1030 on 11900 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu DRM Sat/Sun DX PROGRAMS: Bulgarian 0545-0600 Sun 747 1224 5900 7400 1445-1500 Sun 5900 7400 11700 15700 1945-2000 Sun 747 1224 5900 9700 DRM English 2230-2240 Fri 6200 7400 0030-0040 Sat 5900 7400 0330-0340 Sat 5900 7400 0740-0750 Sat 5900 7400 French 2130-2140 Tue 6200 7400 0230-0240 Wed 5900 7400 2130-2140 Sun 6200 7400 0230-0240 Mon 5900 7400 German 2050-2100 Tue 6200 7400 0650-0700 Thu 5900 7400 2020-2030 Sat 6200 7400 Russian 1540-1600 Sat 5900 7400 1640-1700 Sat 9800 DRM 1710-1730 Sat 5900 7400 1940-2000 Sat 6200 7400 0440-0500 Sun 5900 7400 0610-0630 Sun 5900 7400 0610-0630 Mon 5900 7400 Spanish 1750-1800 Sun 5900 9400 2120-2130 Sun 5900 7300 0020-0030 Mon 6200 7300 0220-0230 Mon 6200 7300 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 22 via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. 1130 BC-OR / CKWX lowered power Monday night for testing CKWX can't just apply for a new frequency. You make this out to be a lot simpler then it really is (Paul B. Walker, IRCA via DXLD) I did not say it was simple, but 600 is clear and may be a possibility. But unless CKWX wants to say goodbye to many listeners, this problem has to be solved. Mt. Angel is getting into CKWX's grade A coverage area (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) ``I suspect they're actually doing field-strength measurements to confirm that Oregon really is dropping power when it's supposed to. (After all, *they* don't have Patrick's monitoring station on the coast to tell them that!) (Scott Fybush, ibid.) I can just imagine what the QRM must be like in their area, considering I cannot get CKWX clear enough to listen to, even with a NE EWE that somewhat nulls the SE. Even with phasing on top of that, it is still useless until after LSS. CKWX is probably at best 30% of Mt. Angels signal. On the car radio, it is all Mt. Angel and I used to get CKWX in places during the day (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) That's not true. Patrick's suggestion of 600 is interesting. CKWX could very easily apply for a new frequency. There's a few potentially open channels in Vancouver. Like 1570, or perhaps 600 as Patrick suggested. And not only could they apply, the CRTC would likely be receptive if CKWX does its homework and presents a clear picture - and if this would truly best solve the problem. If CKWX is getting hammered and listeners are affected, the station needs to consider its options. Options could include a new channel, power and pattren modifications to the existing channel, one or more FM repeaters, a full move to FM. But let's step back, because one should always take a considered, stepped approach to solving problems. Changing one's channel is a bit of a hassle, perhaps the last of many potential steps. If I was the owner, my first tack would be to speak with an experienced engineer and a lawyer. Their advice notwithstanding, my preference would be solve this diplomatically by (a) contacting the station and (b) if need be the CRTC / Industry Canada. I don't want to lose listeners. So I would not wait long for diplomacy to work, unless the U.S. station makes determined efforts to modify its signal (if this is reasonable to expect) and/or behaviour (if the U.S. station is doing anything inappropriate). My next step (I'd probably get a head start in terms of research while any diplomacy is going on) would be to look at technical options (described above) or legal measures (I'm not convinced there are many, but a lawyer might help CKWX persuade the Canadian authorities that somehow they need relief; and I am confident the CRTC would care if CKWX took appropriate steps to prove that listenership is being significantly hampered). (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) CKWX is surely 99% interested in groundwave coverage, so 600 would be a lot better for them than 1130, let alone 1570 (gh, DXLD) Here in Calgary AB I tuned into 1130 last night at 7:20 MDT and it was all Mt. Angel, not a trace of CKWX to be heard. Mt Angel powered down at exactly 7:30 MDT (= 6:30 PDT) leaving CKWX in the clear. Perhaps the idea of using 600 is good, with Montana (KGZZ) gone here it is all CJWW day and night with WMT sometimes heard at night with CJWW nulled. Besides CJWW the closest stations to Vancouver would be the three California stations. 73, (Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, (who has a QSL from the 10 watt shortwave relay of CKWX that was on 6080 for many years but is now long silent), IRCA via DXLD) 600 had good coverage in the NW, but I don't know if the frequency is available to use, even though it is open (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) According to Michael Yule in Kitselano (west end of Vancouver), CKWX dropped power at 6:05 PM PDT so they would have had 25 minutes for testing while KPWX was still on day power. From his location there was no sign of any Mexican music (Bill in Vic BC Kral, IRCA via DXLD) But there were reports of SS music in Burnaby. So I guess it depends on where a person is in the Metro area. Commuters going from Vancouver out to Burnaby, or NewWest, Langley, etc., may find interference nearer LSS (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Saul says... ``But let's step back, because one should always take a considered, stepped approach to solving problems. Changing one's channel is a bit of a hassle, perhaps the last of many potential steps.`` Agreed. Here's my read on the situation as it now stands: First, it's not clear to me that CKWX *is* in fact being seriously hammered over a large portion of its primary listening area. Much of the Fraser Valley was already in somewhat fringe territory for CKWX's signal, receiving less than 0.5 mV/m. The core of the Vancouver market gets much more CKWX, and there's no reason to believe that listeners in Richmond or even New Westminster are hearing KPWX at all. (There is, of course, every reason for CKWX to overstate the amount of interference it's receiving in order to help make its case.) Second, CKWX has an established interest in remaining on 1130. The plight of an AM station today is bad enough without trying to persuade listeners who've grown accustomed to "1130News" to suddenly switch to "600News." Third, as I understand it, the CRTC has nothing at all to do with any of this. It's entirely up to Industry Canada to determine what technical modifications CKWX might be allowed to make domestically, and it's the purview of the U.S. State Department and its Canadian counterparts in the diplomatic realm to handle international negotiations. As for negotiations, it's my understanding that there *are* talks happening across the border, and I suspect these "tests" now underway are somehow related to those discussions. I don't know what the resolution will be, but I think it's pretty safe to say that when the dust settles, CKWX will still be on 1130. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) ** CANADA. Another Canadian MW station flips to FM (CFGT 1270) Hi! To all medium wave DX'ers, please note that CFGT (1270 kHz) located in Alma, Quebec, has ceased its regular programming yesterday. The only thing you can hear is a message, read by a masculine voice and repeated over and over again, to go to the new frequency of 104.5 MHz on FM. Since I'm living in the area, I can tell that the FM-AM transition was a bit weird; the station began testing the 104.5 MHz signal about a week and a half ago, then, new programming (soft rock and middle of the road songs), with nothing in common with the usual AM program, began yesterday morning on the FM frequency (October 13), while the AM frequency was still carrying the usual morning oldies; and, at the end of the day, there was only the message saying to go to FM. Here is the message : "Présente à Alma et au Lac Saint Jean est depuis 1954 sur la bande AM, CFGT diffuse maintenant à la fréquence 104,5 FM. Merci de votre fidélité tout au long de ces années. 56 ans plus tard, CFGT prend un tout nouveau départ. L'objectif: toujours être la voix d'Alma et du Lac Saint Jean Est. Rendez-vous sur "Planète 104,5", votre nouvelle station RNC média." So, it is like this that the last AM radio station of all the area of Saguenay and Lac Saint Jean "lives" its last moments. From now on, the only AM station we can catch here in the day is "Quebec 800", with some noise. I guess that "this is life"! (Eric Laberge, Oct 14, ODXA yg via DXLD) CFGT 1270 AM no longer on the air --- I verified this afternoon if the signal of CFGT 1270 Alma (Quebec) was still there and it wasn't. They probably cut the AM transmitter this morning (Monday October 18th), 6 days only after the new FM signal went on the air. So, in this case, we can forget the 3 month of simulcast programming on AM and FM that usually ensure transition between the new and old frequency of a radio station. Since that station was not on a clear channel, maybe some DXers never received it, but, if you have, don't search for it any more (Eric Laberge, Oct 18, ibid.) ** CANADA. 6070, CFRX modulation finally seems back up to par, Oct 14 at 0630 with talkshow phone number 877-876-PHIL --- yes, now carrying the syndicated Phil Hendrie Show, and I guess it`s live, at 10 pm - 1 am PT, i.e. 05-08 UT, soon to be 06-09. However, signal soon faded. Next check at 1323, CFRX still audible over daylit path (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hendrie is known for put-ons. UT Oct 23 I listened for a few minutes to a caller about shark attax (gh) ** CANADA. 6160, CKZU: 0930, CKZN was fading deeply like an AM [MW] signal allowing CKZU to come in easily readable at times. CKZU had the talk segment focusing on regional subjects, including one mention of CBC Vancouver, and the University of British Columbia. CKZN has consistently been on 6159.95 for a while now, and CKZU is on 6160 if not about 10 Hz higher. (2 Oct.). Also: 6160, CKZU, News "CBC News Roundup" program to 1004. (3 Oct.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) Can anybody please tell me if Radio Canada's domestic service on 6160 QSLs? I know I can listen on-line, but, as a veteran DXer, to do that when trying to acquire a QSL card is cheating. And, I don't cheat. A couple years ago I sent a very detailed reception report to the station and followed up at 3 and 6 months and never got any reply at all. Any suggestions? Thanks (Tim, KD8GZ, Norton, Ohio, USA, Oct 21, ODXA yg via DXLD) Tim, you didn't mention whether it was CKZN, St. John's, NL or CKZU, Vancouver, BC. For CKZN contact CBC Radio One at either St. John's at: P.O. Box 12010, Station "A", St. John's, NL, A1B 3T8 TEL: (709) 576-5000 or Happy Valley/Goose Bay at: P.O. Box 1029, Station "C", Happy Valley - Goose Bay, NL, A0P 1C0 TEL: (709) 896-2911. While the transmitter for CKZN is in St. John's, it carries the programming for Happy Valley/Goose Bay. For CKZU contact: CBC Radio One, P.O. BOX 4600, Vancouver, B.C., V6B 4A2 TEL: (604) 662-6000 (Mark Coady, Ont., ibid.) A quick Google search didn't bring up any QSLs from CKZU in recent years, but CKZN seems to be verifying (Harold Sellers, BC, ibid.) ** CANADA [and non]. Sackville relay observations Oct 15: on 6175, after a few sex of dead-air at tune-in, following Vietnam relay, VTC fill music loop starts at 0527:30 and cuts off at 0529:00, but first the ``a-da`` portion of the RCI ``O, Canada`` IS. I happened to be monitoring two receivers, the other on 6110 at the end of the NHK relay, and could not help but notice that both 6110 and 6175 went off the air at the same instant. That might explain why 6175 stays on until 0529 with the music loop fill, so they can Pull the Big Switch on both of them at once. 6175, instead of Vietnam in Vietnamese, Oct 17 at 0513 via CANADA, the VTC music fill loop was already running instead of waiting until 0527:30. Babcock master control in London (on BBC premises) must have lost incoming programme feed. Meanwhile, the NHK relay via Sackville on 6110 was normal: that`s a direct exchange with RCI, maybe not routed thru London. 9650, Oct 19 at 1312, the CRI English relay still has co-channel QRM from RNW Dutch via Tinang, PHILIPPINES, but today Sackville is on top, and there is no audible heterodyne, just a SAH. As closely as I can tell, RCI transmitter is no longer off-frequency, but 9650.00 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. FORMER CBC CEO ASKS: WITHOUT PROPER FUNDING, IS THERE A POINT? http://www.cartt.ca/inDepth/details.cfm?featuredNewsNo=1003 "I really doubt that the CBC is going to be able to compete in the future," says former CEO. He also talks about Stursberg, the inevitability of CBC losing its sports properties. Posted to sowny.ca by Greg O'Brien (via Fred Waterer, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It will all depend on what it means for the CBC to "compete". Who will the CBC be competing with? What areas does the CBC want to compete in? What areas of media should the CBC leave to private enterprise? How should the CBC be funded? The CBC should be asking itself these questions every day --- and seeking the answers to these questions (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** CHINA. 5050, 16/10 2335, Beibu Bay Radio, Nanning, Guangxi, locutora em mandarim, músicas românticas imitando o estilo ocidental, às 2339, música pop norte-americana de sucesso; emissora regional chinesa com melhor sintonia no Sul do Brasil nos últimos tempos, 45444 (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Receptor Degen 1103, Antena Loop Blindada confeccionada por Alexandre Deves Sailer, Base de Dados: EiBi http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Last update: 13 October, 2010), radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. [NORTHERN] MARIANA ISLANDS [Tinian], 5820, RFA Mandarin service 1600-1800 UT noted covered by Firedrake music on Oct 11 around 1730-1800 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 17 via DXLD) TAIWAN/CHINA --- Firedrake music jamming. 15850 Heute frage ich nochmals nach der 15850 kHz. Ich hoere dort an der Grasnarbe, meistens drunter, sehr schwach einen Sender. RX der DE 1103, daher ist ein Produkt von ihm nicht auszuschliessen. Kann sein 1145 UT sign off. Vielleicht wurde in anderen Listen irgendetwas gemeldet (Ralf Ladusch, Germany, A-DX Oct 12 via BC-DX via DXLD) UNID, 15850 kHz, 12.10.2010, 11:40 UTC --- Hallo, Ralf siehe hier http://www.mail-archive.com/hard-core-dx@hard-core-dx.com/msg25340.html (3. Pos) mal (Theodor Averbeck-D, A-DX Oct 12, ibid.) 15850. Tentative SOH, Sound of Hope Taiwan in Mandarin, tiny signal on S=5-6 level (and local noise around my house) at 1025 UT Oct 13. Rather original SOH Mandarin program heard today, than CNR spoken jamming from Beijing. At same time slot 1015-1045 UT original FD music jamming on 14700 kHz, S=6-7. More FD music jamming at different times of the day on 8600, 10500, 11100, 13680, 14400, 14700, 15850, 15970, and 16100 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Oct 13, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via DXLD) Firedrake Oct 14: none found 8-18 MHz between 1330 and 1353 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and diverse] Firedrake and Echo jamming from China --- 11 channels of Firedrake (FD) jamming noted today Oct 15th. EJ = echo jamming. 7365 TERRIBLE channel. 1500-1705 CBSC Taiwan sce, plus CNR1 regular program, plus 2 x EJ jamming, plus FD music! 7595{!} FD mx, 5 kHz up against SOH via Yerevan-ARM 1530-1600 on nominal 7590, latter not heard here. 9370 EJ at 1505 RFA Tibetan Dushanbe-TJK. Same bassy buzz jammer as of against BBC Uzbek 15330NAK 1300-1330. 9415 FD mx underneath VOA Uzbek via Tinang 1500-1530. Uzbek ahead, weak Firedrake mx underneath. 9455 TERRIBLE channel. Three progrs at least at 1500, S=9+10dB, RFA Mandarin SAI 1500-2200, CRI Kunming regular in Chinese, CNR echo jammer. 9605 EJ at 1348, BBC SNG Kranji in Mandarin, S=8-9. 9845 EJ at 1345, S=9+10dB. VoA Mandarin SAI/TIN at 1000-1500. S=9+10dB. 9985 EJ at 1342, S=7, VoA Saipan in Mandarin. 1300-1400. 9670 EJ against VOA Uzbek via Udornthani-THA, 1500-1530. But ahead of these noted Voice of Russia via Dushanbe-TJK in Hindi, S=9+10dB 11590 FD + EJ jamming S=7-8, against RFA Kuwait in Tibetan, 1200-1600. FD is weak, EJ is stronger. 11605 FD mx S=9+10dB against RFA Tinian in Tibetan, 1100-1400 11665 RTI Taiwan Tanshui, covered by an echo jammer, S=8 at 1338. 11780 FD + EJ jamming, against VoA Uzbek Wertachtal, S=8-9 1500-1530. 11785 2xEJ jammer against VoA Mandarin Tinang-PHL 1100-1400, S=8-9 11805 2xEJ jammer against VoA Mandarin, UDO/TIN at 1230-1500, S=7-8. 11990 2xEJ jammer against VoA Mandarin, 1000-1500 via TIN/NVS-RUS. S=9+15dB at 1335. 12040 2xEJ jammer, S=7-8, against VoA Tinang-PHL 1000-1500, 1333. 13755 FD + EJ jamming, S=9+30dB, nothing heard here of IBB KWT Uzbek due of sidelobe angle. 14700 FD mx at 1020 , S=6-7 weak. 15185 EJ at 1525 S=9+20dB, jamming against VoA Uzbek, which is low underneath. 15265 EJ + some ignition spark like type jamming against CBS2 Taiwan Tanshui 1300-1400, noted at 1320. 15285 BBC Mandarin from Kranji-SNG. at 1318, is totally covered by at least 2-3 EJ stations, S=9+20dB, 1300-1530. 15330 BBC Uzbek from NAK-THA - but BBC Uzbek content not traced here. FD + EJ jamming - both S=9+30dB powerful. Special bassy buzz EJ jamming, later that day at 1500-1530 on 9370 kHz channel. 15548 VoTibet Dushanbe-TJK 1230-1430, S=9+10dB at 1314, stronger than FD jammer on even 15550 kHz. Only fair S=6-7. 15670 FD + EJ jamming, against VoA Tibetan from Al Dhabbaya at 1250 and 1315. VoA is ahead of the jammers, S=9+20dB. \\ 13830DB-TJK 15850 FD mx, against SOH Mandarin at 1025-1100, S=5-6. Also 1300, S=4 tiny. 17515 BBC Uzbek from NAK-THA, EJ - both equal level, S=9+30dB powerful. 17695 BBC Uzbek from Rampisham-UK, not jammed, at least not here in EUR S=9 signal. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake Oct 15: 10500, JBA with flutter at 1254. Axually, it was so poor it could have been Sound of Hope instead, but certainly I will not conclusionjump. By 1300 I had bandscanned up to 15000 and found no others. 15521, het against Turkey 15520, Oct 15 at 1301-1302*, no doubt ChiCom chasing V. of Tibet via Tajikistan. Firedrake Oct 16: 10500, poor with heavy flutter at 1242. There is also heavy flutter on all East Asian signals 9-12 MHz, including the CNR1 jammers. No other Firerakes found up to 18 MHz by 1249. The heavy flutter certainly does not correlate with WWV: ``Solar-terrestrial indices for 15 October follow. Solar flux 82 and mid-latitude A-index 4. The mid-latitude K-index at 1200 UTC on 16 October was 0 (3 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours.`` Firedrake October 17: none found 8-15 MHz between 1248 and 1255. However, I see that plenty of it is being reported at other times and from other places, e.g. Wolfgang Büschel in Germany, so my lack of it must be primarily propagational. Firedrake Oct 18: 10500, JBA at 1349. No others found 18-8 MHz by 1354. However: 13670, Firedrake-like music Oct 18 at 1347, but doesn`t fit the usual medley, and 1349 adds vocals both sung and spoken in opera, so NOT FD. Later found // on 9855 at 1350, i.e. CRI Chinese hour via Urumqi, EAST TURKISTAN, and Beijing sites respectively. Firedrake Oct 19: none found 1315-1325 between 8 and 18 MHz, and the most likely spot, 10500, has some bubble jamming from local cable DTV converter boxes. Firedrake Oct 20: nothing found 18-8 MHz from 1305 to 1310. Too busy with MW DX for a thorough Firedrake search earlier on Oct 21, but a quick scan of 8-15 MHz at 1348-1351 found none. Firedrake Oct 22: 10500, poor but definitely there with drumming segment, fluttery at 1340. No others found 8-18 MHz in the next few minutes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 6009.74, La Voz de tu Conciencia. Nice canned ID with AM and SW frequencies by M at 0920. Into religious program at 0921. Weaker but with less XE QRM on the longwire Tee. (19 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) 6010, La Voz de tu Conciencia, Lomalinda, (probable), 0402-0500, 17- 10, locutora, programa "Tu historia preferida", historia sobre una niña llamada Florencia, que quiere ser enfermera. "Escriba a nuestro programa: Apartado 260, San José 2120, Costa Rica o para nuestros oyentes en Sudamérica, Casilla 1423, Cochabamba, Bolivia"; a partir de las 0430 canciones religiosas en español. 24322. 5910, Marfil Estereo, Lomalinda, 0506-0735, 17-10, canciones latinoamericanas, identificación: "Marfil Estereo", a las 0730 comentario religioso, por Martin Stendal. 23322 (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) ** COSTA RICA. Re 10-41: Sigh, Chuck, you have forgotten about all the reports of ELCOR, Costa Rica, carrying Radio República on 5954.18v. Radio Casino has been gone for years from this frequency (gh, DXLD) Glenn, I am sorry. I never really read those reports you mentioned. I can't understand why our database publishers keep putting these silent stations in their database without some sort of flag so that those like me don't report them? So I will remember your warning from now on. I hope. There was so much QRM on that frequency from WYFR and others that it was almost impossible to hear the details (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chuck, OK, but I must ask myself why should I spend hours and hours compiling all this info if people don`t really read it? Or at least search an archive on a certain frequency. 73, (Glenn to Chuck, via DXLD) Glenn, thanks for your work (Chuck Bolland, ibid.) 5954.22, (CLANDESTINE) ELCOR (Radio República relay), Guápiles. October 8, 2010. Not on at 2050 check, but there at 2057 recheck (so on a little early today). Drifted down to 5954.18 at 2133 recheck at which time they were playing Bert Kaempfert instrumental. Cuba jammers up at 2158:37, :41 and :49. After three, impossible to tell in any more came up. On October 9: ELCOR's carrier up at 2155:00, into República program start with theme and ID at 2159:29 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also on 9965 daytime: see CUBA [non] 5954.18, 0240-0300 12.10, R República, via ELCOR, Guápiles. Spanish ann mentioning "Radio República" twice, Cuban songs in the program "Voz de la Noche" 33323 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, heard in Skovlunde on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 5954.22, (CLANDESTINE) ELCOR (Radio República relay), Guápiles. 2056:35 October 15, 2010. Drifted down to 5954.18 by 2155 recheck. First jammer up 2158:03, then seemingly others at :17, :23, :26, :31, :34. On October 16: ELCOR carrier and audio up at 2055:47 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA [non]. Voice of Croatia at 0300, Oct. 21, on 7375 via Germany with "Croatia Today" in English. Alternating male and female announcers with Croatian news about politics, the economy, EU membership, and visit of Serbian president to Croatia. Sports and weather followed. Finally there was a segment on caper bushes, which grow in rocky areas of the Mediterranean. Used in cooking, in Roman times they were traded almost as a currency. At 0314, full shortwave, satellite, and internet transmission info. SINPO of 45444 (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 610, Radio Rebelde, Bahía Honda, Pinar del Río. October 2, 2010, 2145. Thanks to Paul V. Zecchino tipping, local WSUN on 620's IBOC was mysteriously off for several days (back now), allowing for easy reception of this one daytime, something not possible with the IBOC on. 861, Radio Reloj, Colón, Matanzas. 0029-0035 October 10, 2010. Thanks Paul V. Zecchino tip, this one is exactly 1 kHz up now. Despite loud and local WGUL, Dunedin, FL on 860, clear enough to pull the top-of- minute tone and "RR" effects. 861, Radio Reloj, Colón, Matanzas. 1003-1005 October 17, 2010. Still 1 kHz up, poorly audible with local WGUL on 860. 870, Radio Reloj, Sancti Spíritus. 1005-1006 October 17, 2010. Very good, listed 1 kW in WRTVH. 930, Radio Reloj, La Jaiba, Matanzas. 1006-1008 October 17, 2010. Very poor, mixing with Radio Surco. 930, Radio Surco, Ciego de Ávila. 1006-1024 October 17, 2010. Male and female announcers, traditional Cuban vocals. Fair-good, sometimes mixing with "930 The FOX" WFXJ, Jacksonville, FL and the weak Reloj. 960, Radio Reloj, Cienfuegos. 0953-0955 October 17, 2010. Very good, listed 1 kW in WRTVH. 1050, Radio Victoria, Las Tunas. 1024-1045 October 17, 2010. Nice oldie Cuban vocals. Good, but eventually overtaken by XEG 1045+ 1070, Radio Guamá, Pinar del Río, Pinar del Río. September 28, 2010, 1105-1107 good with oldie vocal, female announcer, parallel 990 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 861 mystery - possible Cuba > ON --- I have something on 861 at 2150 EDT. Very faint. May be Spanish, not sure. Does not seem // Reloj. It's spoken word, and I'm noting four music sounds or climes roughly every minute or so. On my south wire, which was poorly laid and has not produced what I'd otherwise expect (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, Oct 17, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) I'm now hearing the chimes occasionally on 790; the musical chimes seem to come in betwen the two (male and female) speakers. And I'm hearing the usual Reloj noises on both channels. No sign of it on 860 proper. Does anyone know if this is the usual 860 station decidedly off-channel, or another / different one? Not a bad signal at times, and cx seem mildly auroral, though some of the usual TA suspects are in (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, 0206 UT, ibid.) Saul, RR does chimes on Sunday night, even in communist Cuba Sunday is special (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton IL, ibid.) Re: 861 is Reloj - Cuba > ON --- I've been getting it almost nightly and very strong most nights. I've positively ID'ed Radio Reloj. It was never heard before 10/8 on 861. Members of the S. Fla DX group of which Milspec390 (Paul) is a member who closely monitor Cuba were not sure if it was from 860 but confirmed it had never been on 861 before that night. I don't think anyone knows if it's intentionally off frequency or not although it would seem intentional as the signal sounds very good here in MA and has not migrated up or down at all (Bob Young, Millbury, MA, 18 Oct, IRCA via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. Tho REE 6055 was super-strong Oct 15 at 0531, could not even detect a carrier from RHC on 6060, so chalk up another anomaly; while 5970 and 6010 were going strong in English, 6150 as usual undermodulated by comparison. BTW, the MUF was around 10 MHz at this time, nothing at all audible above that even if RHC was running 11760 again. RHC check Oct 16 at 0538: English on 5970, 6010, 6060 and 6150; Spanish on 6120, 5040. Altho usually the case, this is anomalous in the sense that the RHC schedule at http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm continues to claim that after 0500, English is only on 6060 and 6150! The even more outdated schedule of English in English at http://www.radiohc.cu/ingles/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm shows 6010, 6060 and 6140, the latter replaced months ago by 5970. 9965, wall-of-noise jamming underway at 1402 Oct 16. Now we know for sure what is going on here. Radio República has been announcing this frequency as well as 5955: daily at 7 am to 5 pm Cuban time (1100-2100 UT) on 9965, and 5 pm to midnight (2100-0400 UT) on 5955, in addition to the weeknight relays via Sackville and weekends via WRMI. 2100 fits as the earliest time 5954 has been reported, and the end of jamming I have observed on 9965, but I doubt if RR is on before the jamming in the morning starts at 1358. I have still, NEVER been able to detect it on 9965, nor has anyone else I am aware of, unlike many reports of RR vs jamming on 5955. It looks as if this is the same transmitter which changes frequencies at 2100, but if it`s ELCOR it doesn`t have much punch, so could just be a ham unit in Costa Rica or vicinity. With BFO on 9965, I could tell there was a carrier underneath the noise, but likely collateral victim R. Australia in Chinese until 1430 via Palau. ``KHBN`` continues on 9965 until 2200 with other clients and some more RA later in our daytime. Why bother? Only to tie up some jammers which could do more damage elsewhere, and to hold high the flag of freedom. RR really ought to jump around to some different frequencies to keep the DentroCuban Jamming Command on its toes, as long as they are carefully chosen not to interfere with anyone else. I assume the DCJC heard these announcements long ago, if not axually RR, since the jamming has been on 9965 now for months. Meanwhile on 9955 there was weaker jamming at 1402, but still plenty to inaudiblize the Saturday morning airing of WORLD OF RADIO on WRMI, itself weak; confirmed on webcast. Tnx a lot, Arnie! We may try again at 1730, Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730; or WWCR UT Sunday 0230 on 4840, 0630 on 3215 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17705, Oct 14 at 2101, I realize that RNV relay which I had on before 2100 but not paying attention to, has just re-opened a new hour of transmission. It`s supposed to conclude by 2100; still going around 2105, but off the air at next check 2114. RadioCuba asleep at the switch again, but interesting that the RNV program feed automatically(?) started repeating. RHC anomalies Oct 18: at 0532, 6150 has open carrier, then cuts off and back on, 0533 adding modulation in English, better level than usual, an echo apart from // 6060 de the other transmitter site. English was best tho hummy on 5970, and surprisingly weak on 6010, mixing with Mexico(?), and close enough to produce a SAH, not an AH! Seems like they swapped transmitters around, as 6010 is normally as huge a signal as 5970. Ananomaly check Oct 18: 17705, at 2058 wraps up RNV relay hour with a minute of IS, and off at 2059* instead of starting over and going on and on as it did a few days ago. Anomalies Oct 19 at 0521, English only on 6150, 5970; both 6060 and 6010 were absent; the latter had two stations mixing with low het, music and talk, no doubt LV de tu Conciencia and Radio Mil. Arnie has released the tentative B-10 schedule for RHC [below], English only, showing 6050 at 01-07, which would replace 5970 --- but that would blot out HCJB`s only remaining frequency. Way to go. Spain has 5970 planned at 2300-0200 in French, English, Spanish, surely just backup/alternate to 6055. RHC Oct 20 at 0555: English service with music on 5970, 6010, 6060 and undermodulated on 6150. Arnie Coro`s just-released tentative B-10 schedule shows FIVE frequencies in English at 0500-0700: 6000, 6010, 6050, 6060, 6150 (and 6050, 6000 also on at 01-05, the former colliding with HCJB if really implemented). 0616 check Oct 21: English on 5970, 6010, 6060, 6150. That`s enough. 1110 check Oct 21 (ooh, I only got 5 hours sleep), more overkill on 49 m, in Spanish: 6110, 6120, 6150, 6180 (plus Venezuela relay on 6060, in English). I was amusing myself by tuning to 6115 with just enough bandwidth to tell that 6110 and 6120 were an echo apart, when 6120 quit modulating at 1123, and off a few minutes later. This may or may not have been the transmitter soon found on 9600. Per sked at http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm 6120 is supposed to end at 1100. But 6150 is supposed to be on only at 05-07 in English! (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9965, surprised to find no jamming here at 1430 Oct 22, as I was checking out WOR on 9955. DCJC has been wall of noise on 9965 from *1358 for many weeks, against R. República as announced. This did not mean we could hear R.R. on 9965 at last; zilch. DCJC wall of noise missing from 9965 as previously reported Oct 22 at 1430, and still missing at 2003 UT. The jamming used to last from 1358 to 2058. This could mean that R. República has moved to a new daytime frequency, or off; look for otherwise unexplained DCJC during those hours. Previously it was on 11600. Is there still Cuban jamming on 5955 in the evenings vs R. República / ELCOR on 5954.2v, 22-04? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. RADIO HAVANA CUBA TENTATIVE B10 SCHEDULE English only English language programs schedule --- [as of] OCTOBER 18, 2010 Coverage area Frequency Time slots North, Central and South America 11760 Khz 20 - 21 UTC NVIS coverage * 5040 Khz 23 – 24 UTC [later: 23-24 broadcast to move to 00-01 --- Yimber Gaviria, DXLD] Pacific Coast of North America 6010 Khz 05 – 07 UTC Central North America 6050 Khz 01 - 07 UTC East Coast of North America 6000 Khz 01 – 07 UTC East Coast of North America 6060 Khz 05 – 07 UTC North, Central and South America 6150 Khz 05 – 07 UTC *NVIS = Near Vertical Incidence Skywave antenna system *Note: Tentative schedule, subject to modifications as required Source: Arnaldo Coro: RADIO HAVANA CUBA. TENTATIVE B10 SCHEDULE - http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com/2010/10/rhc-tentative-b10-schedule-english.html (via Yimber Gaviría, Colombia, Oct 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) Major change is 6050 at 01-07, ex-5970. That will be bad news for HCJB on its only remaining Ecuadorian SW frequency, on the air until 0500. RHC can certainly override it in CNAm, but will also cause severe interference around Ecuador. What was Arnie thinking? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tuesday, October 19, 2010 Radio Habana Cuba Spanish Language programs B10 Schedule PERIODO B10 Octubre 2010 a Marzo 2011 TRANSMISIONES EN ESPAÑOL RADIO HABANA CUBA. ITU Broadcast period B10 October 2010 to March 2011 Spanish Language Programs Beam to: Buenos Aires 15120 Khz / 19 m 11 – 15 UTC North, Central, Southamerica 11760 Khz / 25 m 11 – 20 / 24 - 05 UTC North, Central, Southamerica 6140 Khz / 49 m 11 – 05 UTC New York 6000 Khz / 49 m 11 - 13 UTC San Francisco 13780 Khz / 22 m 13 - 15 UTC New York 6060 Khz / 49 m 24 – 05 UTC Río de Janeiro 15360 Khz / 19 m 11 - 15 UTC Chicago 6095 Khz / 31 m 11 – 13 UTC Chicago 13680 Khz / 22 m 13 – 15 UTC Chicago 6050 Khz / 49 m 07 - 11 UTC North, Central, South America 6150 Khz / 49 m 07 – 13 UTC Central America 11730 Khz / 25 m 13 – 23:30 UTC Central America 12040 Khz / 25 m 11 – 24 UTC Antilles 6120 Khz – 49 m 23:30 – 11 UTC Buenos Aires 9770 Khz / 31 m 23 – 05 UTC Buenos Aires 6060 Khz / 49 m 07 – 10 UTC Chile 12010 Khz / 25 m 23 – 05 UTC Antilles 11690 Khz / 25 m 14 – 20 UTC Europe 11770 Khz / 25 m 21 – 23 UTC Tropical Band NVIS 5040 Khz / 60 m 21 – 23 y 02 - 11 UTC Antilles 9820 Khz / 31 m 20:30 – 23 UTC (from http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com/2010/10/radio-habana-cuba- spanish-language.html via DXLD; also via Yimber Gaviría, DXLD) New or reactivated frequencies are 6140, 6095, 6050, 12040, 9770, 12010, 9820. As for English, 6050 will partly collide with HCJB. Not yet researched are likely collisions of any of the others. Among the frequencies being vacated are 15370, 12030, 9660, 6110. Now what about all the other languages? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 24935-USB, Oct 17 at 2132, one of several DX signals on 12m, with QRZ, quick contest contacts in Spanish and English, 5-9 readings, one being WB9CDE. QRZ.com says CO8LY is: Eduardo Somoano Cremati P.O. Box 104 Santiago de Cuba, 90100, Cuba (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CURACAO [and non]. Re 10-41: Wireless World 'Guide to Broadcasting Stations' revised edition of July 6 1951 lists: Willemstad 3 kW on PJC-2 5010, PJC-1 7250, PJC-2 12015, PJC 17777 SURINAM or DUTCH GUIANA Paramaribo had PZC 15405 5 kW. None were heard as I didn't possess a receiver capable of receiving them back then. (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See SURINAME Re 10-41: "It looks like Curom left the air c.1952. Some Curom programs were heard on SW in the early 1970s, but these were via utility transmitters on out-of-SWBC-band frequencies, apparently using Curom as an audio source." (Jerry Berg, MA-USA).`` To amplify Jerry's comment on Radio Curom's SW usage, WRTH 1952 lists Radio Curom's "Juliana Zender Curacao" (PJC2) on shortwave (only) 2460 and 5017 kHz. The following year's edition has it on mediumwave 722 kHz, and the only other frequency given, 5017 kHz, is listed as inactive (David Kernick, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. 14895-14920, OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, or somewhere around Europe, Oct 15 at 1259. Conditions from that area are much improved today around 15 MHz. 21420-21445, rapid OTH radar pulses Oct 19 at 1354 and still after 1400, presumably from here. The ``15m`` hams will be having a fit, justifiably. At this time, 13m was open from all over the area: Kuwait, Saudi, Spain, Portugal, Ascension, Libya and after 1400, BBC Cyprus 21470 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC Cyprus snail mail address. PLZ sind jetzt 5-stellig. Foreign & Commonwealth Office web page The address you are looking for is: P.O.Box 54912, Limassol, Cyprus QSL Cyprus radar --- Vielleicht will mal jemand das britische Ueber- Horizont-Radar OHR auf der Insel Zypern bestaetigt haben wollen, das muesste dann, - wenn ueberhaupt -, hierueber gehen: fax defence: (357) (22) 861325 Defence (Wolfgang Büschel, Oct 14 wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 17 via DXLD) 18745-18770, over-the-horizon radar rapid pulsing Oct 21 at 1348, presumably from here or vicinity. Same sound at 1350 on 14585-14610 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. 4780, 10/10 1936, RTV Djibouti NOT on air. 4780, 11/10 1900, RTV Djibouti, news, fair, better in LSB (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 12 and 10m open Oct 17 at 2137. On approx. 28339.5-USB heard ``PU2DWL`` a few times, but that turned out to be the station called rather than the station heard. Would it be too much trouble to say ``this is`` or ``calling`` to make it clear? Of course! Those would take up two valuable syllables each, resulting in lower scores. Listening longer, concluded that the station heard was HI3TEJ. QRZ.com says: TED Jimenez John F. Kennedy 77 Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.0, R. Amanecer, 0306-0330, Oct 20. In Spanish; series of monologues/sermons; religious music; full IDs “Radio Amanecer Internacional”; tuned away and just missed their sign off which must have been around 0330 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. RHC plans to collide with HCJB 6050: see CUBA ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [and non]. 15190, R. Africa, which conveniently went missing last week just as ZYE522 reactivated 15190, heard again for the first time Oct 22 at 2008, lo-fi gospel singer, S9+18 and no QRM, not even a het detectable during music. At 2013 YL preacher allowed a very lite het to be audible, but so weak I could not tell with BFO whether it was on the hi or lo side of R. Africa, which maintains a tight frequency, whatever its other failings, such as long periods of dead air between huxters. I left one receiver on WWRB`s 9385 dead air, and another here, and took a bit of a nap. At 2030 VOA, surely still Greenville backup, signed on 15185 in Hausa after its own open carrier and no more 15190. So a few minutes before then, R. Africa went off while I was dozing. YFR Ascension continued on 15195 with Harold Camping in English until almost 2100, and VOA went off at 2101. Now without side-QRM or co-QRM I can concentrate on 15190 once again: very weak carrier there, maybe R. Inconfidência. At 2102, Morocco 15345 had a slightly variable het from weaker Argentina, so there was some propagation from South America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [and non]. 7165, 12/10 1808, Voice of Eritrea (from Ethiopia) and Voice of Broad Masses (from Eritrea) mixed. One talks, the other songs. Just jamming each other. Strong signals. 7175, 11/10 1910, Voice of Broad Masses, Eritrea, talks, good (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 5950, 12/10 1843, Voice of Tigray Revolution, Horn of Africa music, talks, fair 6030, 12/10 1815, Radio Oromiya, Horn Africa Music, songs, few talks, fair/good 6110, 12/10 1830, Radio Fana, Ethiopia, ID at 1830 and news read by man, songs. Fair (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7210, Radio Fana, *0257-0340+, Oct 16, sign on with IS. Vernacular talk at 0301. Horn of Africa music. Covered by BBC at *0300-0329*. Fair signal after BBC 0329 sign off but occasional ham QRM. Also heard // 6110 - very weak under Cuba (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. /USA, 5935, WWCR + UNID, 0355 UT, English + vernacular Tigrinya/Afar, Oct 13. Am 13.10.2010 0634 UT, schrieb Herbert Meixner: Anfangs ziemlich ebenbuertig mit O=2/3. Spaeter WWCR vordringend. \\ Station mit HoA-mx und Tigrinya/Afar tx. Sollte V of Tigray Revolution sein (\\ 5950 kHz). (Patrick Robic, Ausria, A-DX via BC-DX Oct 17 via DXLD) ** EUROPE. 4026, 10/10 1930, Laser Hot Hits, Pirate, music, weak (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) EUROPirates: 4026, Laser Hot Hits, UK? 2035-..., 16 Oct'10, English, pops, some talks; 25332. I was actually trying to identify a faint signal coming from SW/NE (my Beverages are unterminated) when a stronger signal suddenly came in, so maybe what remained under Laser HH was that Liberian station Star R. [see LIBERIA: still on 3960] (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. 5044.990, 15.10 1950 English station som kallade sig R Central. Spelade pop non-stop och IDade på American English. Var inte kvar 45 min senare (Arne Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Oct 17 via DXLD) [Google translation enhanced by gh]: 5044.990, 1950 15 Oct, English station that called itself Radio Central. Played pop non-stop and IDed in American English. Nothing was left 45 minutes later (Arne Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Oct 17 via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) Pirate, also reported on 5050; see UNIDENTIFIED; USA: WWRB 5045, Central R, UK? IRELAND?, 2152-..., 15 Oct'10, pops; 34433, QRM de Brasil. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Pirate: 7610, R. Amica, ITALY, 1009-..., 16 Oct'10, Italian, news bulletin (!), music; 25442. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Atlantic 2000 will be on the air this Sunday, October 17, from 1500 to 1700 UT (17:00 to 19:00 CEST) on 7610 kHz, with the courtesy of our friends of Radio Amica. At the same time, we will be streaming on our website. As usual, we will play music. Our show includes the story of the French free radio stations on shortwave (part 2). visit our website: http://radioatlantic2000.free.fr (via Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, 1005 UT Oct 17, shortwave yg via DXLD) ** FIJI [non]. News on that Pacific ocean pop pirate ship that was planning to bombard Fiji with news and pop music, reminiscent to the golden oldies days of off-shore England broadcast tubs has 'dried up'. The President of the Fiji Democracy and Freedom Movement, based in Sydney, Australia, says the idea was to put an antenna on a ship anchored in international waters, outside Fiji's legal jurisdiction. It had been suggested in some quarters they had been planning to position a Dutch-registered merchant vessel in the international waters off the coast of Fiji to defy censors in the military dictatorship and fire up on both AM and FM (WIA via http://www.southgatearc.org/news/october2010/ship_that_rocked.htm via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Budget cuts loom, stakeholder changes --- There is a feeling of gloom among many public broadcasters in Europe as the threat of budgetary settlements far below those of the past few years looms. And some PSBs aren't helping their own cause. In Finland, MPs are saying that YLE has broken promises given to parliament by planning to reduce the number of regional broadcasts. The Centre party parliamentary group agreed in March that YLE should receive an additional EUR 480 million in 2011 to guarantee the current level of broadcasts. Timo Kalli, the parliamentary group's chairman, says: "If YLE carries out the planned broadcast schedule cuts in the regions Parliament may for its part reconsider the level of funding that was agreed in March.” (AIB Media Briefing 14 Oct via DXLD) ** FRANCE. New broadcasts of an unknown program/station via TDF from Oct. 14: 2100-2158 5910 ISS 500 kW / 191 deg to NWAf in ??, for B-10 on 5920 2100-2158 5950 ISS 500 kW / 191 deg to NWAf in ??, for B-10 on 6200 73! Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, Oct 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Similar entry in HFCC A-10: ISS 15315 kHz from 1100 UT for new organization 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** GAMBIA [non]. GERMANY, 15225, Baati Rewmi R. (via Germany) Carrier on at 1814. Program start at 1815 with hi-life music and opening announcement in English by W as "Hello citizens of The Gambia and friends of The Gambia, this is ?? speaking, wanting to talk to you on Baati Rewmi, The Voice of Our Nation. Today`s episode is clearly a discussion about the role of the citizen in nation building and nation development.". Continued with music, then talk by same W in English with sound bites. Mentioned "So Gambians, ask not what Gambia can do for you, but what you can do for Gambia". Closing announcement over hi-life music again at 1829, and off. Nice to hear an entire program in English. (18 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) Canceled at end of Sept as in 10-41 (gh) ** GERMANY. BBC World Service can stay on FM in Berlin. They have even been allowed to add up to two minutes of commercials each hour to cover the transmission costs, at their explicit request I think, speaking volumes about the apparently bleak prospects of the service. But they will move away from 90.2, which is the oldest FM usage that still exists in Berlin, in force for more than 40, rather 50 years. The new BBC frequency in Berlin will be 94.8 from the Schäferberg tower in Berlin-Wannsee, until now used by Radio Metropol, a commercial Turkish-language station. Radio Metropol of course seeks to reach the Turkish community in Berlin-Neukölln and Berlin-Kreuzberg, thus wanted to move to 101.9 which reaches these districts better although running a mere 0.5 kW. Jazz Radio is still in business, with a new operator instead of the old one that went bankrupt, and will move from 101.9 to 106.8, where the merry-go-round completes: Radio Teddy moves from 106.8 to 90.2. However, both Jazz Radio and Radio Teddy (for which it is apparently a challenge to run its children`s format from advertisement revenues) got licences for two years only. The MABB media release also states that they regret not being able to offer new allocations, because some very interesting and promising concepts have been proposed. This could be read as a hint at RFI, which still occupies 106.0, since January violating the conditions of its licence by no longer offering the required programmes in German. The RFI licence expires in 2012, and under these circumstances their chances for getting a renewal in a competitive process appear to be non-existent (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Check out http://www.dxaktuell.de for two items about the DRM transmissions of DW and BBC. One says that DW will cancel its complete DRM service after Oct 30. The other gives a tentative schedule for BBC WS in DRM as of Oct 31, showing only a few hours via Sines and Moosbrunn. This in theory leaves the possibility of more transmissions via Babcock facilities in the UK, so perhaps some clarification is still required here. But the end of the common DW-BBC DRM service appears to be a matter of fact, and it is said that it has been announced already at the HFCC conference for B10 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Welle has not yet released their B10 frequency schedule on their website at http://dw-world.de BUT the new schedule is now available at http://www.bclnews.it (it can also be accessed via the World of Radio website at http://worldofradio.com scroll down to the BCL NEWS updates). When you get to the bclnews site look to the left and some B10 skeds are there: AWR, DW, Tirana, KNLS and WYFR... more skeds to come... In regard to DW the highlights of the new B10 schedule include: only one SW channel available for the morning broadcast to South Asia at 0300 // MW from Sri Lanka; no more SW in Hindi and Bengali, only on FM (but Urdu to Pakistan continues on SW). (Joe Hanlon, NJ USA, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. DW B10 South Asia --- Dear Friends, Sad News from DW to South Asian Listeners. DW ceases Hindi from B10 and also Bangla from SW Dial. Bangla (Bengali) only available on MW 1548 kHz UT 1530- 1600. Urdu will be only on MW and SW dial. Here please find details. -------------------------------------------------- Deutsche Welle B10 South Asia 31.10.2010 – 26.03.2011, UT: German 0000-0200 1548 (MW) , 6225 (until 31.12.10) 7285 0200-0400 6075 0400-0600 17800 0800-1000 17520 1000-1200 17520, 21780 1200-1400 1548 (MW), 13780, 15640, 21780 1400-1600 1548 (MW- 1429 UT), 13780, 15275, 17800 Urdu 1430-1500 1548 (MW), 12065, 15620, 17860 Bengali 1530-1600 1548 (MW) English 0000-0100 9445, 9785, 11855 0300-0400 1548 (MW), 11695 0900-1000 17710, 21780 1600-1700 1548 (MW), 5965, 9560 ------------------------------------------------- Nothing to say for this extra-ordinary planning (Ashik Eqbal Tokon, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. DW Deutsche Welle Bonn - Schedule B10 - valid from October 31, 2010 to March 26, 2011 [Original complete sked was in dxldyg. FM relays in targets are mixed in with SW from outside. All the FM has been deleted by gh for this listing, reduced to only 322 entries! BTW, FM items are like this: ``00097 MHz`` even tho they have five digits available they delete the last one, showing only the MHz] Start End Freq. Station Power Azi Target Begin End Date [if earlier than conclusion of B-10 season] ALBANIAN [FM only] AMHARIC 1400-1457 11645 KIGALI 250 030 Ethiopia 1400-1458 15640 TRINCOMALE 250 270 Ethiopia ARABIC [FM only!] BELORUSS 2005-2030 06030 RAMPISHAM 500 062 Belarus [Little remark: Actually this program is in Russian, don't know why they indicate it as a program in separate language. It differs from DWL main Russian broadcast but still it's in Russian. --- Aleksandr Diadischev, Russia, dxldyg via DXLD] [DW Belarus Service does contain occasional - albeit rare - interviews and reports in Belarusian language since some "opposition" figures insist on speaking Belarusian only. DW sounds very mild as compared to the Voice of Russia that has turned into the most anti-Lukashenko media outlet in the world in recent months --- Sergei S., Russia, ibid.] BENGALI 1530-1600 01548 TRINCOMALE 400 035 South Asia BOSNIAN [FM only] BULGARIAN [FM only] CHINESE 1300-1330 12010 KRANJI 100 013 China 1300-1358 11945 TRINCOMALE 250 045 China 1300-1358 13735 TRINCOMALE 250 060 China 1300-1400 06225 ALMA ATA 500 094 China 1300-1400 09380 DUSHANBE 100 071 China 2300-0000 06090 KIMJAE 250 275 China 2300-0000 09865 KRANJI 250 013 China 2300-0000 11830 PETROPAVL. 250 263 China DARI 0830-0858 17710 TRINCOMALE 250 335 Afghanistan 0830-0859 15640 DHABAYYA 250 045 Afghanistan 1330-1400 12065 TRINCOMALE 250 345 Afghanistan 1330-1400 17860 RAMPISHAM 500 076 Middle East DA/PASHTO [FM only] ENGLISH 0000-0057 09445 TRINCOMALE 250 105 SoEaAS 0000-0058 09785 TRINCOMALE 250 075 SoEaAS 0000-0100 11855 KRANJI 100 013 Far East 0300-0358 11695 TRINCOMALE 250 345 South Asia 0300-0400 01548 TRINCOMALE 400 035 South Asia 0400-0457 09450 KIGALI 250 0ND Central Africa 0400-0458 15600 TRINCOMALE 250 255 East Africa 0400-0459 05905 SINES 250 180 West Africa 0400-0459 05945 SINES 250 155 West Africa 0400-0500 06180 KIGALI 250 0ND Central Africa 0500-0527 09755 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 0500-0530 06130 SINES 250 180 West Africa 0500-0530 06155 SINES 250 155 Central Africa 0500-0530 06180 KIGALI 250 0ND Central Africa 0500-0530 12045 KIGALI 250 180 South Africa 0600-0629 05945 WOOFFERTON 300 184 West Africa 0600-0630 07240 SINES 250 150 West Africa 0600-0630 15205 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 0900-0958 21780 TRINCOMALE 250 060 Far East 0900-1000 17710 TRINCOMALE 250 045 Far East 1600-1658 05965 TRINCOMALE 250 015 South Asia 1600-1658 09560 TRINCOMALE 250 345 South Asia 1600-1700 01548 TRINCOMALE 400 035 South Asia 1900-1928 15275 SINES 250 115 Central & East Africa 1900-1930 09735 KIGALI 250 210 Africa 1900-1930 13780 TRINCOMALE 250 240 South Africa 2000-2057 09735 KIGALI 250 210 Africa 2000-2058 13780 TRINCOMALE 250 255 Central & East Africa 2000-2058 15275 TRINCOMALE 250 285 Central & East Africa 2000-2059 09690 WOOFFERTON 250 160 West Africa 2100-2157 11865 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 2100-2157 13780 TRINCOMALE 250 270 West Africa 2100-2159 07280 SINES 250 160 West Africa 2100-2200 09545 TRINCOMALE 250 270 West Africa [Some English recommended for NAm reception excerpted by gh in WORLD OF RADIO 1535] FRENCH 1200-1257 15275 KIGALI 250 0ND Central Africa 1200-1259 15440 KIGALI 250 325 North & West Africa 1200-1259 17520 RAMPISHAM 500 168 North & West Africa 1200-1300 17800 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 1200-1300 21550 SINES 250 170 North & West Africa 1700-1757 09535 KIGALI 250 0ND Africa 1700-1757 17800 SINES 250 150 West Africa 1700-1759 12035 WOOFFERTON 250 158 North & West Africa 1700-1759 13625 TRINCOMALE 250 285 Africa 1700-1759 15275 WOOFFERTON 250 182 North Africa GERMAN 0000-0100 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 0000-0100 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 0000-0100 01548 TRINCOMALE 400 035 South Asia 0000-0100 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 0000-0100 06225 GRIGORIOP. 300 105 South Asia 31.12.2010 0000-0100 07285 TRINCOMALE 250 345 South Asia 0000-0100 07395 RAMPISHAM 250 085 South Asia 01.01.2011 0000-0100 09655 KIGALI 250 295 Central America 0000-0100 11665 ASCENSION 250 282 Central America 0000-0100 12025 KIGALI 250 265 Central America 0100-0158 07285 TRINCOMALE 250 345 South Asia 0100-0159 01548 TRINCOMALE 400 035 South Asia 0100-0159 11665 ASCENSION 250 282 Central America 0100-0200 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 0100-0200 06225 GRIGORIOP. 300 105 South Asia 31.12.2010 0100-0200 07395 RAMPISHAM 250 085 South Asia 01.01.2011 0100-0200 09655 KIGALI 250 295 Central America 0100-0200 12025 KIGALI 250 265 Central America 0200-0300 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 0200-0300 06075 RAMPISHAM 500 095 Middle East 0300-0359 06075 RAMPISHAM 500 095 Middle East 0300-0400 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 0400-0500 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 0400-0500 06075 WOOFFERTON 250 126 Central & East Africa 0400-0500 13780 DHABAYYA 250 225 Africa 01.01.2011 0400-0500 13780 KRASNODAR 250 188 Africa 31.12.2010 0400-0500 17800 TRINCOMALE 250 240 South Africa 0500-0559 06075 WOOFFERTON 250 126 Central & East Africa 0500-0559 06075 SKELTON 300 160 Europe 0500-0600 03995 SKELTON 250 106 Europe 0500-0600 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 0500-0600 13780 KRASNODAR 250 188 Africa 31.12.2010 0500-0600 13780 DHABAYYA 250 225 Africa 01.01.2011 0500-0600 17800 TRINCOMALE 250 240 South Africa 0600-0659 07410 WOOFFERTON 250 170 North Africa 0600-0700 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 0600-0700 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 0600-0700 03995 SKELTON 250 106 Europe 31.01.2011 0600-0700 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 0600-0700 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 114 Europe 0600-0700 09545 WOOFFERTON 250 078 Europe 01.02.2011 0600-0700 12005 KIGALI 250 210 South Africa 0600-0700 15275 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 0700-0759 09545 WOOFFERTON 250 078 Europe 01.02.2011 0700-0759 09545 WOOFFERTON 250 170 North Africa 0700-0800 03995 SKELTON 250 106 Europe 31.01.2011 0700-0800 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 0700-0800 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 114 Europe 0700-0800 12005 KIGALI 250 210 South Africa 0700-0800 15275 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 0800-0900 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 0800-0900 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 0800-0900 06075 SKELTON 300 110 Europe 0800-0900 09450 BONAIRE 250 230 Australia & New Zealand 0800-0900 09545 SKELTON 300 110 South Europe & Middle East 0800-0900 13780 SKELTON 300 125 South Europe & Middle East 0800-0900 17520 TRINCOMALE 250 120 So-Ea Asia & Australia 0900-0955 09545 SKELTON 300 110 South Europe & Middle East 0900-1000 06075 SKELTON 300 110 Europe 0900-1000 09450 BONAIRE 250 230 Australia & New Zealand 0900-1000 13780 SKELTON 300 125 South Europe & Middle East 0900-1000 17520 TRINCOMALE 250 120 So-Ea Asia & Australia 1000-1100 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 1000-1100 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 1000-1100 05905 BONAIRE 250 0ND Central America 1000-1100 06075 SKELTON 300 110 Europe 1000-1100 09865 CYPRESS CR 250 152 Central & South America 1000-1100 13780 SKELTON 300 125 South Europe & Middle East 1000-1100 17520 TRINCOMALE 250 120 SoEaAS & Australia 1000-1100 21780 TRINCOMALE 250 090 SoEaAS 1100-1158 17520 TRINCOMALE 250 120 SoEaAS & Australia 1100-1158 21780 TRINCOMALE 250 090 SoEaAS 1100-1159 17770 ASCENSION 250 245 South America 1100-1200 05905 BONAIRE 250 0ND Central America 1100-1200 06075 SKELTON 300 110 Europe 1100-1200 13780 SINES 250 080 South Europe & Middle East 1200-1300 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 1200-1300 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 1200-1300 01548 TRINCOMALE 400 035 South Asia 1200-1300 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 114 Europe 1200-1300 13780 SINES 250 080 South Europe & Middle East 1200-1300 15640 TRINCOMALE 250 355 South Asia 1200-1300 21780 RAMPISHAM 500 085 SoEaAS 1300-1358 15640 TRINCOMALE 250 355 South Asia 1300-1359 13780 SINES 250 080 South Europe & Middle East 1300-1359 21780 RAMPISHAM 500 085 SoEaAS 1300-1400 01548 TRINCOMALE 400 035 South Asia 1300-1400 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 114 Europe 1400-1429 01548 TRINCOMALE 400 035 South Asia 1400-1500 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 1400-1500 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 114 Europe 1400-1500 13780 TRINCOMALE 250 300 South Europe & Middle East 1400-1500 15275 KIGALI 250 030 South Europe & Middle East 1400-1500 17800 SINES 250 080 South Europe & Middle East 1430-1500 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 1500-1555 15275 KIGALI 250 030 South Europe & Middle East 1500-1557 17800 SINES 250 080 South Europe & Middle East 1500-1558 13780 TRINCOMALE 250 300 South Europe & Middle East 1500-1559 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 114 Europe 1600-1657 12070 KIGALI 250 0ND Central & South Africa 1600-1700 03995 SKELTON 250 106 Europe 1600-1700 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 114 Europe 1600-1700 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 075 Europe 1600-1700 09545 WOOFFERTON 250 140 East Africa 1600-1700 12055 KIGALI 250 180 Central & South Africa 1600-1700 13780 RAMPISHAM 250 125 South Europe & Middle East 1700-1757 12055 KIGALI 250 180 Central & South Africa 1700-1758 12070 TRINCOMALE 250 255 Central & South Africa 1700-1759 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 075 Europe 1700-1759 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 114 Europe 1700-1759 09545 WOOFFERTON 250 140 East Africa 1700-1759 13780 RAMPISHAM 250 125 South Europe & Middle East 1700-1800 03995 SKELTON 250 106 Europe 1800-1858 13780 TRINCOMALE 250 270 West & East Africa 1800-1900 03995 SKELTON 250 106 Europe 1800-1900 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 105 Europe 1800-1900 09545 RAMPISHAM 500 180 North & West Africa 1800-1900 11725 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 1800-1900 12070 WOOFFERTON 250 160 Africa 1800-1900 15640 SINES 250 145 Africa 1900-1955 15640 SINES 250 145 Africa 1900-1957 11725 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 1900-1959 06075 WOOFFERTON 300 105 Europe 1900-1959 09545 RAMPISHAM 500 180 North & West Africa 1900-1959 12070 WOOFFERTON 250 160 Africa 1900-2000 03995 SKELTON 250 121 Europe 2000-2055 12070 KIGALI 250 360 Europe 2000-2100 03995 SKELTON 250 175 Europe 2000-2100 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 2000-2100 09510 TRINCOMALE 250 120 SoEaAS & Australia 2000-2100 11605 KIGALI 250 115 SoEaAS & Australia 2100-2155 11605 KIGALI 250 115 SoEaAS & Australia 2100-2158 09510 TRINCOMALE 250 120 SoEaAS & Australia 2100-2200 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 2100-2200 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 2100-2200 03995 SKELTON 250 120 Europe 2100-2200 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 2200-2300 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 2200-2300 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 2200-2300 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 2200-2300 11865 SINES 250 230 South America 2200-2300 11875 KIGALI 250 085 SoEaAS 2200-2300 12025 KIGALI 250 265 Central America 2200-2300 15640 CYPRESS CR 250 152 Central & South America 2300-0000 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 2300-0000 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 2300-0000 06075 SINES 250 040 Europe 2300-0000 11875 KIGALI 250 085 SoEaAS 2300-0000 12025 KIGALI 250 265 Central America 2300-0000 15640 CYPRESS CR 250 152 Central & South America 2300-2355 11865 SINES 250 230 South America 2300-2358 06050 TRINCOMALE 250 105 SoEaAS HAUSA 0630-0700 07240 SINES 250 150 West Africa 0630-0700 12045 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 0630-0700 15205 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 1300-1357 15275 KIGALI 250 310 West Africa 1300-1400 17800 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 1300-1400 21550 SINES 250 145 West Africa 1800-1857 09430 KIGALI 250 310 West Africa 1800-1857 11690 KIGALI 250 295 West Africa 1800-1857 15275 SINES 250 150 West Africa HINDI [FM only] INDONESIAN 1200-1258 09655 TRINCOMALE 250 120 SoEaAS 1200-1258 15620 TRINCOMALE 250 105 SoEaAS 1206-1300 00603 JAKARTA68H 001 0ND Jakarta 2200-2258 00603 JAKARTA68H 001 0ND Jakarta 2200-2258 07380 TRINCOMALE 250 105 SoEaAS 2200-2300 09720 KIGALI 250 085 SoEaAS 2200-2300 11605 TALATA VO. 250 085 SoEaAS MACEDONIAN [FM only] MUSIC [FM only, fill between various languages in Sofia, Kosovo, Bucarest [sic], Tirana, Kabul] PASHTO 0800-0830 15640 DHABAYYA 250 045 Afghanistan 0800-0830 17710 TRINCOMALE 250 335 Afghanistan 1400-1430 12065 TRINCOMALE 250 345 Afghanistan 1400-1430 17860 RAMPISHAM 500 076 Middle East PERSIAN 1830-1930 05925 GRIGORIOP. 500 120 Iran 1830-1930 07470 SIMFEROPOL 250 131 Iran PORTUGUESE 0530-0557 09800 KIGALI 250 210 Central & South Africa 0530-0557 12045 KIGALI 250 180 Central & South Africa 1930-1957 15275 SINES 250 145 Central & East Africa 1930-1958 13780 TRINCOMALE 250 240 Central & South Africa 1930-2000 09735 KIGALI 250 210 Africa ROMANIAN [only on FM] RUSSIAN 0100-0158 15640 TRINCOMALE 250 025 Siberia 0100-0158 17700 TRINCOMALE 250 045 Siberia 0100-0159 07405 RAMPISHAM 500 047 Siberia 0100-0200 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 0100-0200 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 0200-0259 05905 SINES 250 060 Central Asia 0200-0300 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 0200-0300 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 0200-0300 15640 TRINCOMALE 250 345 Central Asia 0300-0357 09800 SINES 250 060 Central Asia 0300-0359 05905 RAMPISHAM 500 080 Central Asia 0300-0400 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 0300-0400 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 0300-0400 15640 TRINCOMALE 250 345 Central Asia 0400-0457 13810 KIGALI 250 015 Central Asia 0400-0458 17700 TRINCOMALE 250 345 Central Asia 0400-0500 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 0500-0600 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 0500-0600 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 0500-0600 05915 RAMPISHAM 500 048 European CIS 0500-0600 15640 KIGALI 250 360 European CIS 0500-0600 17700 TRINCOMALE 250 335 European CIS 0600-0627 15640 KIGALI 250 360 European CIS 0600-0629 05915 RAMPISHAM 500 048 European CIS 0600-0630 00999 GRIGORIOP. 500 0ND European CIS 31.12.2010 0700-0800 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 0700-0800 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 0900-1000 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 0900-1000 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 1100-1200 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 1300-1400 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 1300-1400 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 1500-1559 11720 RAMPISHAM 500 048 Western CIS 1500-1600 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 1500-1600 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 1500-1600 09715 WOOFFERTON 300 058 Western CIS 1500-1600 13625 WOOFFERTON 250 075 Western CIS 1500-1600 15640 SINES 250 040 Western CIS 1600-1659 09715 WOOFFERTON 300 058 Western CIS 1600-1659 11865 RAMPISHAM 500 048 Western CIS 1600-1659 13625 WOOFFERTON 250 075 Western CIS 1600-1700 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 1600-1700 00999 GRIGORIOP. 500 0ND European CIS 31.12.2010 1600-1700 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 1600-1700 15640 SINES 250 040 Western CIS 1700-1757 15640 SINES 250 040 Western CIS 1700-1800 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 1700-1800 09715 WOOFFERTON 300 045 Western CIS 1700-1800 09715 WOOFFERTON 300 082 Western CIS 1700-1800 11605 KIGALI 250 015 Western CIS 1700-1800 11645 TRINCOMALE 250 345 Western CIS 1800-1900 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 1800-1900 05830 TASHKENT 200 311 Western CIS 31.12.2010 1800-1900 09635 TRINCOMALE 250 345 Western CIS 1800-1900 09715 SINES 300 040 Western CIS 1800-1900 11605 KIGALI 250 015 Western CIS 1900-1957 11605 KIGALI 250 015 Western CIS 1900-1958 09635 TRINCOMALE 250 345 Western CIS 1900-2000 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 1900-2000 00999 GRIGORIOP. 500 0ND European CIS 31.12.2010 1900-2000 05830 TASHKENT 200 311 Western CIS 31.12.2010 1900-2000 09715 SINES 300 040 Western CIS 2000-2005 06030 RAMPISHAM 500 062 Belarus 2000-2058 07425 TRINCOMALE 250 345 Western CIS 2000-2059 06180 RAMPISHAM 500 076 Western CIS 2000-2100 00693 MOSKVA 010 0ND Moscow 31.12.2010 2000-2100 01188 ST.PETERB. 010 0ND St.Peterburg 31.12.2010 2000-2100 06180 RAMPISHAM 500 047 Western CIS [As noted by Russian DXers: it appears that according to this schedule, DW will be dropping its German and Russian MW relays in Moscow (693), St. Petersburg (1188) and Grigoriopol (999) from January 1, 2011. RFI is leasing 1188 from DW for an hour or two of its Russian and (presumably) French broadcasts in St. Petersburg. --- Sergei S., Oct 21, dxldyg] SERBIAN [FM only] SWAHILI 0300-0357 09855 SINES 250 140 Central & South Africa 0300-0400 05925 KIGALI 250 180 Central & South Africa 0300-0400 06180 KIGALI 250 0ND Central & South Africa 0300-0400 09485 ASCENSION 250 085 Central Africa 0300-0400 15600 TRINCOMALE 250 255 Central Africa 1000-1100 09800 KIGALI 250 0ND Central Africa 1000-1100 12045 KIGALI 250 265 Central Africa 1000-1100 15410 KIGALI 250 180 Central & South Africa 1500-1557 07300 KIGALI 250 0ND Central Africa 1500-1557 09800 KIGALI 250 265 Central Africa 1500-1557 11645 KIGALI 250 180 Central & South Africa UKRAINIAN [FM only] URDU 1430-1458 12065 TRINCOMALE 250 345 South Asia 1430-1500 01548 TRINCOMALE 400 035 South Asia 1430-1500 15620 MOOSBRUNN 300 095 South Asia 1430-1500 17860 RAMPISHAM 500 076 South Asia (DWL via ADDX Andreas Volk-D, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 8, 2010 via DXLD) Comment: Still a puzzle, question on many END? date items on Russia location entries. wb. I am glad to see they are keeping 11865 in English at 2100. It usually does well here in Ontario (Andy Reid, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But down to one hour from two, alas (Anne Fanelli, NY, ibid.) From a Texas perspective, disappointed there is no 19 meter outlet at 0000; Petropavlovsk did quite well in B09. However 9755 at 0500 and 11865 at 2100 from Kigali should do well. Will have to check 15275 at 1900 to see if back-of-the-beam from Sines puts in a usable signal here (Steve Luce, Houston, TX, ibid.) ** GREECE. NO RECEPTION ON 15630 --- Dear John, after an absence of some years here I am again assuming frequency management responsibilities. On the current subject I was informed that indeed one of Avlis transmitters (the one assigned mainly to 15 MHz band frequencies) has been, since September 24, OFF THE AIR due to equipment mulfunctioning. Maintenance colleagues estimate that the transmitter will be repaired and back ON AIR (hopefully) early next week. I will keep you informed, accordingly. Best regards, (Demetri Vafeas, Dipl. Electrical Engineer, Supv., Frequency Management Dept., R. & D. Directorate, General Directorate of Technical Services, ERT S. A. Oct 14, via John Babbis, MD, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) Good afternoon Demetri: Best news I've heard all week! Regards, (John Babbis, ibid.) Re 10-41: Glenn: Since the past Frequency Manager of The Voice of Greece Babis Charalampopoulos did not have the courtesy of informing me about the 15630 transmitter being off the air for all that time, I assumed that the Voice of Greece's signal was buried under all that noise. Next time, they will get SINPO 00000 unless I hear from Demetri Vafeas who was, and still is, the best man for that job. I am delighted to hear that the powers who be at VOG have finally reawakened. I am glad that Mauno Ritola in Finland, Wolfie Bueschel in Germany, and Noel Green in England assisted me in verifying that there was no signal there, which probably helped in bringing Demetri Vafeas back into his old job as Frequency Manager. Regards, (John Babbis, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15630, 15650, 7450 from downed transmitter were back as of Oct 23 (gh) ** GUADELOUPE. The MUF is finally making some progress, with 12m and even 10m opening up. Oct 17 at 2127 on 24965-USB, FG5DH calling CQ, and making several quick K-contacts, sounds like in contesting mode. Handle is Christian, confirmed by qrz.com lookup: CHRISTIAN COMBET RUE ALTHEY THEOGENE MON REPOS 97130 CAPESTERRE BELE EAU, Guadeloupe (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4055-USB, R. Verdad, *1059 on with long vocal NA, 1104 opening religious music and English announcement. Religious music then. Fairly strong for 50 watt temporary replacement ham transmitter in USB. (27 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) 4055-, R. Verdad carrier detectable Oct 15 at 0517, ever so slightly on low side vs REE 6055, some talk modulation. 4055.0, R. Verdad just barely audible at 0542 Oct 16, matching frequency with Spain 6055.0. At 1143 music is audible, now matching Nikkei on 6055.0. On Oct 15 received this from Dr. Madrid: ``Thank you, Glenn. Your report digest is very valuable to us. No, we are not with our big transmitter yet. It's the small one. But, next Sunday 17th, I am leaving for Guatemala City to meet Eng. Ralph Borthwick, from Canada, and he will finish to repair our big transmitter, and install a much better antenna (I have started such installations already). God willing, we may be on the air around the 25th of October with our whole power. You can understand that the damage of our transmitter was severe, as no Guatemalan technician was able to repair it. Thanks God for the recent help of Eng. Ralph Borthwick, who was the designer of our transmitter, and is helping us so kindly. I just received a report from Russia (October 9th), and it provides very much data, as a proof of his fair noisy reception. As soon as I have time to do so, I will send you your QSL Card and our "Radio Pack". Thank you again. Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid, Manager and Director`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. May I share with you a report from Russia of our small 50 watt transmitter. The Lord willing, we may be coming on the air with our full power by the 25th of October. May God bless you (Édgar Amílcar Madrid, Manager and Director of Radio Truth, Oct 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Reception report Sábado, octubre 9, 2010, 1:02 am De: "Dmitriy Kutuzov" A: "Radio Verdad" Reception report To: Radio Verdad Date: 09.october.2010 Time: 02.00-02.35 UTC Frequency: 4055 kHz Language: spanish SINPO: 24332 Program details: identification, talks religious theme on spanish language, broadcaster male voice, religious song, talks. Very weak in noisy conditions with religious music. Spanish talk. Mentions of Guatemala. Receiver: R-250M2 professional Antenna: outdoor 20m Long Wire If this report is correct, please your verification QSL - card My name: Dmitriy Kutuzov My address: Kasimovskoe shosse, d.44, kv.33, City Ryazan 390037 Russia. -------------------------Traducción--------------------------- Reporte de Recepción Sábado, octubre 9, 2010, 1:02 am De: "Dmitriy Kutuzov" A: "Radio Verdad" Reporte de Recepción A: Radio Verdad Fecha: 09.october.2010 Hora: 02.00-02.35 UTC Frecuencia: 4055 kHz. Lengua: Español SINPO: 24332 Detalles de Programa: Identificacion, pláticas con tema religioso en Español, locutor voz masculina, canto religioso, pláticas muy débiles con condiciones de ruido, con música religiosa. Habla en Español. Mencionaron a Guatemala. Receptor: R-250M2 profesional Antena: Externa de 20 mts., hilo largo. Si este reporte es correcto, envíeme por favor su verificación con una tarjeta QSL. Mi nombre: Dmitriy Kutuzov Mi dirección: Kasimovskoe shosse, d.44, kv.33, City Ryazan 390037 Russia. (via Madrid, DXLD) The details are rather generic (gh) 4055.0, R. Verdad JBA at 0514 Oct 17, matching 6055.0 REE. 4055.0, Oct 20 at 0552, matches REE 6055.0, music weakly audible from TGAV. Next check 1151 can make out the notes of a familiar hymn. Dr. Madrid e-mailed me UT Oct 20 at 0251: ``GREAT, GLENN, OUR BIG SHORT WAVE TRANSMITTER WAS FIXED TODAY, AFTER A VERY INTENSE AND DIFFICULT TASK. IN A FEW MINUTES WE WILL LEAVE FOR CHIQUIMULA, AND TOMORROW, WE'LL START BUILDING A NEW ANTENNA. SO, WE MAY COME ON THE AIR VERY SOON. PLEASE SPREAD THE NEWS.`` So time is running out to QRP-DX R. Verdad with only 50 watts (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good evening! Thought you'd like to know, was able to pick up Radio Verdad on 4055 kHz this evening (0015-0020 UT 21 October) here in Fort Walton Beach FL. Noise levels were high, but music was quite audible, and while I could hear Spanish spoken, it wasn't quite understandable. Still, the signal was a surprise to hear. Receiver is a Yaesu FRG-100, using a simple long-wire antenna. Mode was LSB in order to cut down on the noise, AM was totally unreadable. 73's! (Raymond Lang, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Seems R. Verdad`s morning person doesn`t always get TGAV on the air by scheduled 1100. Oct 21 at 1110, nothing audible on 4055, but some music is heard at 1134. Soon it will be even harder to be late to work without the whole world knowing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4055.21, Radio Verdad, 2320-2335 Oct 22, Noted two males in Spanish conversation until 2325. At that time a third male talks possibly religious topic? This is followed by music which sounds religious. ".... Radio Verdad ... punto .... metros onda corta ... Radio Verdad ... numero cinco, Guatemala ..." Music continues as signal improves from a very poor to fair (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, WR- G31DDC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Frequency drifts way up by evening? (gh) ** GUIANA FRENCH. 21690, RFI via TDF, Oct 17 at 2153 still in with fair signal in French. It is registered at 17-22, 500 kW, 75 degrees to CIRAF 37 and 46, i.e. Tunisia, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria and all countries westward in Africa. I wonder if it`s still audible at 10:59 pm in Niamey? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. 4899.97, Familia FM, 2137-0001* a lot of music, and talks in French. Again, went over 0000 ToH without any announcements and off suddenly at 0001. Not very good and QRMed from CODAR. (18-19 Sept.) Finally got Guinea verified, and not RTVG as I'd hoped for years. Got a no/data e-confirmation from Luarent Koulemou at Familia FM in 27 days. Here's the text: [sic] "Dear Dave My name is Luarent KOULEMOU i'm the technical director of the radio station that you listen. I confirm that radio you year is our radio sation, and we broadcast every night between 6 o clock PM to 00 oclock. Our transmitter is 1000 watt because we have not a lot off money for the big transmiter. Our frequency is 4.900MHZ. If you like telle more abote your appreciation.Our focus is only to couverge our country Guinea. we broadcast in Pular,susu, maninka and kpèlè language. there are our country language. Execuse for the more time to reply, I was in intreior of the country. Thank and God bless you." According to the NASWA radio country list (if anyone still uses it), I believe that's Country/Verified #56 in Africa. Think I'm averaging about 1 new country verified every 10 years now!! (15 October) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) 4899.97, Familia FM, 0000-0002*, Oct 15, just caught the end of the transmission with National Anthem at sign off. Weak. Very poor (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) -Conakry, 4900, Familia FM, Timbi Madina, 2146-2207, 15 Oct'10, French, end of some program, some classical music and immediately into local pops until 2200 when the Journal in French was aired; 25321. 7125, R. Guinée still silent. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 3290 Voice of Guyana at 0727 with promos for several BBC programs and BBC news at 0730, all in English. Poor Oct 19. (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, listening after midnight from my car with Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3250, Radio Luz y Vida, 1055, noted as het against Pyongyang B.S. (on 3250.05. Partial copy of Spanish man in LSB. Pretty rare to get any copy on this at my QTH. 15 October (David Sharp, NSW Australia. FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-2010, ICF-SW7600GR, MW-550P, Timewave 599zx, etc., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Commonwealth Games --- Dear Ron, I heard an announcement on AIR Chennai on 4920 that the running commentary of the closing ceremony of the Common Wealth Games, New Delhi is at 1255 to 1530 UT today, 14 Oct 2010 (Jose Jacob, dx_india yg via DXLD) http://highintheair.com/commonwealth-games-closing-ceremony-broadcast-on-dd-sports/1516/ Hi Jose, Probably with a review of all the happenings at the Games, then the closing ceremony starting at 1330, per above website. I will tune in to enjoy all the great festivities. Has been a wonderful time for me to delight in all the coverage via some of the regional AIR stations. Has been especially nice to find AIR Shimla (4965) with such decent reception. Congratulations to India for not only hosting the Games, but for doing so well in them! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, California, ibid.) ** INDIA. 5040, AIR Jeypore, randomly from 1236 to 1436, Oct 20. Live coverage of the second ODI cricket match between India and Australia; in English (announcer sounded Australian) and Hindi; cut away for news in Hindi from 1345 to 1355; frequent ads (Allen Solly’s “My World, My Way”, etc.); // 5010 (AIR Thiruvananthapuram). I always enjoy the AIR Jeypore reporting of the major cricket matches, as it gives me a chance to hear some English from them (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 6280, 09/10 2140, AIR GOS, Bangalore, emissão em inglês para a Europa, música típica, 45333 (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Receptor Degen 1103, Antena Loop Blindada confeccionada por Alexandre Deves Sailer, Base de Dados: EiBi http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Last update: 13 October, 2010), radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. 9425, AIR Bengaluru - National Channel, 1442-1456, Oct 18. “Vividha” program in English; “Earth Beat” (jointly produced by AIR and RNW); item about re-introducing cheetahs into India at the Kuno Palpur and Nauradehi wildlife sanctuaries; fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9425, AIR National Channel, Oct 22 at 1432 during brief news in English, something about Pakistan; flutter and too poor to follow, but much better than GOS on 9690; worse than VBS on 9870 with music; all from Bengaluru site (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Hi Glenn, As always I hope things are going well in Enid, OK. After searching recent DXLDs I can only assume AIR in English on 9445 to Europe is -so- common here in N. America, that it does not bear mention often among our more rarified loggings. However, yesterday afternoon (10/14 22:00) I recorded a bit, nothing extraordinary, but very good strength. 6 x 500 kW (!) transmitters according to EIBI, but I certainly do not know how those are allocated per broadcast. Some adjacent channel QRM, mild fading, still, a good signal from AIR for a Central TX afternoon. // 11620 GOS-V to AUS/NZ - of course virtually unintelligible, assumed parallel from matching sequence of audio. Cheers, rm (Robert McEntee, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Robert, Tnx for the nice clip. It`s certainly worth mentioning, one of our better chances to hear AIR. It`s only one 500 kW on the frequency, aimed 320 degrees for Europe, so not too far off North America too (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** INDIA. Re 10-41: ``9690, Oct 10 at 1328, annoying pop music instead of wonderful AIR IS; 1330 formal opening, ``Namaskar, welcome to the General Overseas Service of All India Radio``, announcing as on 9690, 11620, 13710, and into news; poor signal, hum and flutter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Dear Glenn, With reference to the info given above, I have also often noticed AIR Bangalore broadcasting other service for a few minutes just before the offical sign on at 1330 on 9690 & 13710. I have tracked it down as the AIR Tibetan service which ends at 1330 on 7420 9575 11775. It seems they are using it for tx warming / checking up/ Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 15795, Oct 20 at 1303, Indian vocal music on AIR Chinese service, flutter, but no jamming audible, not surprising since no Firedrake audible either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 855, RRI Medan now appears to be inactive, but RRI Medan Pro 4 is now heard in local evenings with strong signals on 801 kHz and it seems their 50 kW transmitter has moved from 855 to 801. RRI Medan used to have a 1 kW transmitter carrying Pro 1 on 801 kHz in local daytime only, but I'm not sure of the current status of the 1 kW unit (Alan Davies, ARC Information Desk 11 Oct 2010, via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya, 1022 Koran, music at 1027 recheck and W in Indonesian at 1030. Pop music program then. W at 1100 briefly, music bridge, then M with very brief probable ID with mention of Indonesia, IS played 3 times, time ticks 1101, W with RRI ID, then news began with another ID. Best heard in a while. (10 Oct.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) 3325, RRI Palangkaraya, 1332-1400+ Oct 16. Mix of MoR vocals and one long indigenous song/chant; YL announcer took one phone call; organ IS at 1358, then talk at 1400. VG signal at tune-in but weak at 1400. Also VG next day (17 Oct) around 1315 UT. With Serui, Manokwari, and Makassar still off, Palangkaraya is now the best low-band Indo at this location (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 25-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 3325, RRI Palangkaraya, Oct 18 at 1248, poor with W&M conversation in Indonesian. I`m still not hearing any other tropical RRIs, nothing audible on 4750. Unless 3345 was Indo instead of PNG, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9525.96, V. of Indonesia, 2002 soft Indo pop music. 2004 possible program outro by M, then W with nice Indonesian ID and song announcement, and talk in French for about 1 minute, then W in English over Gamelan music with nice ID, frequency, web site, and mailing address. 2006 into news starting with ID by W, "Voice of Indonesia with the news", and said news by M. 2019 end of news and press program. 2024 canned ID. 2031 full ID with web site. Music program after 2040. 2105 same canned English ID heard at beginning of English service, then off at 2106*. Fair signal and clear for the first half hour, then bleedover QRM. Didn't really expect to hear this when I tuned in. (27 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) 9526, V of Indonesia, 1810 13 ott 2010, in German (woman speaker) fair signal, clear modulation, QRM from 9520 kHz sometimes Radio Liberty transmitter in Germany REC IMG 2 (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) REC IMG 2?? (gh) 9525.96, Voice of Indonesia, *0949-1015, Oct 14, sign on in listed Korean programming with talk and local music in progress. Opening English ID announcements at 1000. English news at 1005. Weak but readable (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 9525.9, Voice of Indonesia, 1212-1240, Oct 18. Anomaly of two audio feeds (Japanese and English) simultaneously being broadcast. Rather a mess with both feeds about equal strength; audio hiccups continues as Glenn has often reported recently; a check at 1306 found just one audio feed in English (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9526-, Oct 19 at 1326, VOI about Mother Teresa on This Day in History, 1327 Banjarmasin guy talks about instant noodles, how Taiwan had withdrawn some from Indonesia, but they`re OK as long as put in boiling 100-degree water. (But what about at higher elevations? Did not get into that.). Another Tuesday, so another joint `Exotic Indonesian ``produxion with RRI Banjarmasin. 1336 answering listener question about good spots for photography in South Kalimantan; find the announcer at his office in the RRI building at km 3.5 on Jalan- something, and he will show you. It would also help if we could ever find out his true, correct and complete name. Then he and a YL announcer presented a pre-produced scripted feature describing mosques for religious tourism. The IADs continue thruout, but VG signal otherwise and not much hum. I did not pay any attention to VOI the previous morning Oct 18, when Ron Howard found double-audio in Japanese and English during the 12-13 hour! 9526-, VOI Music Corner featuring some folk style with usual VG signal would have been great to listen to Oct 21 at 1351, if it were not for the IADs (intermittent audio dropouts) averaging about once every five seconds. Won`t they ever fix this? Are they not even aware of it? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL Recebido - Voice of Indonesia Enviado por: "Fábio Mattos" vaifalandoqueeuvouescutando @ yahoo.com.br Seg, 18 de Out de 2010 5:14 pm Amigos, Novamente compartilho com os senhores a satisfação e alegria do recebimento de mais um cartão QSL, desta vez da Voice of Indonesia. Maiores detalhes abaixo. 73 e boas escutas, (Fábio Mattos, Garopaba - SC, Oct 18, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Viz.: INDONÉSIA, 9525, Voice of Indonesia, Jakarta. 151 dias. Recebido: cartão QSL (Blue Crowned Pegeon [sic] - Papua). V/S: Ilegível. QTH: Jalan Merdeka Barat 4-5, Jakarta 10110, Indonesia (via Mattos, ibid.) ** IRAN. 7295, V. of Islamic Republic of Iran (presumed), 1518, Oct 18. Traxx FM (Malaysia) only running an open carrier today with no audio; faintly heard Russian under the carrier; only possible without Traxx FM audio (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND [non]. 6225, 11/10 1936, RTE, Meyerton, S. Africa. In English, talks, good signal but some QRM from utility (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. 6973, 12/10 1803, Galei Zahal, Israel, talks in Hebrew, fair (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. IRRS-Shortwave B10 / Winter 2010 schedule Effective Oct. 31, 2010 - 27 Mar, 2011 IRRS-Shortwave (Milano, Italy) Last update on Oct. 13, 2010 in parallel with Internet Radio NEXUS (IRN) (24 hrs) Freq(kHz)Time UTC Days ITU Zones Power Target Area Language 7290 1900-2100 daily 18-20,27-30,37-39 150 kW Eu,ME,Af English(1) 9510 1030-1300 Sun 18-20,27-30,37-39 150 kW Eu,ME,NAf English(2) 9510 0900-1000 Sat 18-20,27-30,37-39 150 kW Eu,ME,NAf English(2) 7385 0300-0600 daily 37,38,47,48,52,53 150 kW Africa English Arab(3) 15710 1400-1700 daily 18,27-30,37-40,46-48,52,53,57 150 kW Af English, Arabic(3) (1) To Europe, Middle East and Africa (2) To Europe, Middle East and North Africa (3) to Africa See program schedule for language and program details. Information on any additional test transmission will be available on our Web site http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules UTC: Universal Time Coordinated equivalent to GMT For more information: IRRS-Shortwave, PO BOX 10980, I-20110 Milano, Italy. ph: +39-02-266 6971 fax: +39-02-706 38 151 email: info at nexus dot org (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India dxldyg WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) So WORLD OF RADIO will as usual shift one UT hour later from November, some Sats 0900 on 9510 ex-9515; almost every Sat 1900 still 7290 (gh) ** JAPAN. Oklahoma TP's 10/14/10 --- Effects of the recent geomagnetic activity continue to linger at my inland listening post. Signals were noted on only three frequencies. Receiver: Modified Tecsun PL-310 with 7.5-inch loopstick. Local sunrise occurred at 1236 UT. 594, JOAK, Tokyo, 1235, weak JJ speech. Barely audible at 1238, fading away at 1240. 774, JOUB, Akita, 1143, weak het. Fading in and out through 1244, no audio. 828, JOBB, Osaka, 1225, fair het. Barely audible talk at 1236. Good DX (Richard Allen, 36?22'51"N / 97?26'35"W (nr Perry OK), IRCA via DXLD) Arizona TP's for 10-14-10 --- Listened from 1305 to 1325 UT and conditions was better than the last few days. 594, JOAK Japan very poor at 1307. 693, JOAB Japan very poor at 1310. 774, JOUB Japan good at 1320 with ID in English "NHK JOUB" than 5 minute English. 828, JOBB Japan poor at 1315. (Bill Block, Prescott Valley, AZ, Drake R8, IRCA via DXLD) [and non]. Following almost always involved some Japanese stations, aggregated here for convenience rather than under UNIDENTFIED. TP MW bandscan Oct 15: on the DX398 in USB position, upward from 1213 UT: carriers detected on 747, 774, 783, 828, 972, three of which are likely to be the usual NHK super-powers. Whenever I hear JOBB 828, it brings back fond memories of my visit to Osaka for Expo 70 (tho it was then on 830). Downward in LSB position from 1218, did not hear those or any others. So over to MEXICO on 10-kHz channels (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, The station on 972 is probably South Korea. Not sure about 783. (Bill Harms, Maryland, mwdx yg via DXLD) TP carrier scan Oct 16 at 1158 with DX-398 in USB: only audible on 774, 747 and 567. 747 is as usual best, NHK-2 Sapporo, JOIB. That makes 567 likely NHK-1 also Sapporo, JOIK, tho only 100 kW compared to 500. There are some higher-powered Asians further inland on 567, unlikely. Closer to sunrise at 1223 I do it again, this time with DX-398 in LSB: carriers on 1053, 828, 774, 747, 594, 567 and 1134. TP bandscan for carriers, Oct 17 just before sunrise: from 1217 upward in USB mode on the DX-398 at 9-kHz steps: 594, 693, 774, 792, 891, 1053, 1098, 1134. From 1223 downward in LSB mode, could hear only 1098, 774; no audios, so flip to 10 kHz for Mexican SRS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Oklahoma TP's 10/17/10 --- I knew before DXing this morning not to expect much and it turned out to be the worst this autumn. The only TP signals audible here were weak hets on 558, 612, 702, 747 and 774 kHz in the minutes before local sunrise at 1239 UT. Usual JOUB 774 was heard with a weak carrier, but no audio. It appears the sun is kicking up its heels again. I'm hoping those to my west and northwest have better luck. Good DX (Richard Allen, 36?22'51"N / 97?26'35"W, (near Perry OK USA), IRCA via DXLD) TP MW carrier scan Oct 19 at 1212-1215: only very weak ones from NW on 792, 774, 747 and more like SW on 738. See MEXICO 730 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UNIDENTIFIED. 738, Tahiti? Propagation favored southerly senders this morning, as reception of TP signals continues to deteriorate here. It was made worse by local thunderstorms. Receivers: Etón E100 (barefoot) and Tecsun PL-310 with 7.5-inch loopstick. Local sunrise was at 1241 UT. 738 unID, 1200, carrier (het), faded away at 1202. Unable to determine direction due to heavy QRM from KRMG 740 (Richard Allen, 36?22'51"N / 97?26'35"W, (near Perry OK USA), Oct 19, IRCA via DXLD) MW TP carrier search Oct 20 at 1210-1216, up and down on DX-398 in both LSB and USB modes: none found, except: 1098 at 1214; 738-trace at 1216. Also tried the big `uns from Japan on 747 and 774 some more times, but not making it. TP MW carrier search Oct 21 at 1153 down the band on the DX-398 in LSB: only found 774 very weak at 1154. Then up the band in USB mode, from 1156: 747, 774, 1116, 1242. Afterwards I was too busy DXing Mexicans and Americans on 10-kHz channels. TP MW carrier search Oct 22 at 1230: very weak ones detectable on 648, 666, 747, 828, 882, 972, 1008, 1035, 1044, 1098, 1125, 1134; and at 1235 on 1566. I see the last one has been of particular interest to Pacific Northeast DXers (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. HLAZ, FEBC, Jeju, KOREA SOUTH. ** JAPAN. 3925, R. Nikkei, Tuesday Oct 19 at 1305 with German lesson, concentrating on the word ``mehr``, explained in Japanese, but I also heard ``more`` as if they were explaining German in English as well. Mostly free of QRhaM, but a little SSB on the hi side; // 6055 better (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. 21560, NHK World, Oct 22 at 1427 with classical guitar music fill, 1429 outro weekday program Focus to 1430*. Poor-to-fair, should be better in ENAm. What other choice do we have for English at 1400, since R. Japan cancelled Sackville for that? 21560 has been via FRANCE, but will be gone in B-10, as the complete English schedule extracted by Alan Roe for DXLD shows: 0500-0530 EU/AS/NAM 5975uk 6110sa 15205ta 17810 1000-1030 AS/OC 9605 9625 9840 11780ta 1200-1230 NAM/OC/AS/EU 6120sa 9625 9695 9790ge 1300-1330 AS 9875 1400-1430 AS 5955 9875 uk = UK, sa = Canada, ta = Uzbekistan, ge = Germany; otherwise direct (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. NHK B10 sked available on their website: http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/radio/shortwave/all.pdf 73! (Alexey Zinevich: a DXer from Minsk, Belarus, Oct 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) English looks about the same, as previously radically curtailed, but we still have Sackville relays to NAm at 0500 on 6110, 1200 on 6120 (gh WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The two 30 minute English broadcasts for North America (0500 and 1200) survive for another five months (Steve Luce, Houston, TX, dxldyg via DXLD) NHK World R. Japan B-10 schedule Arabic 0400-0430 ME 6035ar 0700-0730 ME 11905is Bengali 1300-1345 AS 11860ta Burmese 1030-1100 AS 11740sn 1430-1500 AS 11740sn 2340-2400 AS 13650 Chinese 0900-0930 AS 6090 1200-1230 AS 6090 1300-1330 AS 6190 11740sn 1430-1500 AS 6190 1530-1600 AS 6190 1600-1630 AS 9540 2230-2250 AS 9560 2240-2300 AS 13650 2340-2400 AS 15195 17810 English 0500-0530 EU/AS/NAM 5975uk 6110sa 15205ta 17810 1000-1030 AS/OC 9605 9625 9840 11780ta 1200-1230 NAM/OC/AS/EU 6120sa 9625 9695 9790ge 1300-1330 AS 9875 1400-1430 AS 5955 9875 French 0530-0600 AF 9850ge 13840ma 1230-1300 AF 17690ma Hindi 1345-1430 AS 11825ta Indonesian 0945-1030 AS 6140sn 1315-1400 AS 5955 2310-2340 AS 17810 Japanese 0200-0300 AS 11860sn 17810 0200-0400 SAM 11935bo 0200-0500 CAM/AS/ME 5960sa 15195 15325 17560 0700-0800 AS/Rus 6145 6165 0700-1700 AS 9750 0800-0900 SAM/AS/AF 9825 11740sn 15290is 0900-1000 SAM/AS/AF 9795sa 11740sn 15290is 1000-1700 AS 11815 1300-1500 CAM 11655sa 1500-1700 AS/AF 12045sn 17735is 1700-1900 AS/SAM/ME/AF 6035 7225 9575dh 9835 11945is 1900-2200 ME 9670 2000-2100 OC 9625 2000-2200 AS 6085 11910 2100-2200 AS/OC 6075 13640 2200-2300 ME 9620ge 2200-2400 AS/SAM 11665 11910 17605bo Korean 0915-0945 AS 6160 1130-1200 AS 6090 1230-1300 AS 6190 1400-1430 AS 6190 1500-1530 AS 6190 2210-2230 AS 9560 Persian 0330-0400 ME 6155is 1430-1500 ME 12045ge Portuguese 0230-0300 SAM 6145cl [new site for NHK --- Wolfgang Büschel] 0930-1000 SAM 6145cl Russian 0330-0400 EU 6130ge 0430-0500 EU 5980lt 0530-0600 AS/Rus 11715 11760 0800-0830 AS/Rus 6145 6165 1130-1200 AS/Rus 6185 1330-1400 AS 6190 Spanish 0400-0430 SAM 6195bo 0500-0530 CAM 6195bo 1000-1030 C+SAM 6120sa 6195bo Swahili 0315-0400 AF 7395ma Thai 1130-1200 AS 11740sn 1230-1300 AS 9695 2300-2320 AS 13650 Urdu 1430-1515 AS 6200ta Vietnamese 1100-1130 AS 9695 1230-1300 AS 11740sn 2320-2340 AS 13650 Transmitters: ar=Armenia bo=Bonaire cl=Chile dh=UAE ge=Germany is=France lt=Lithuania ma=Madagascar sn=Singapore ta=Uzbekistan uk=UnitedKingdom (pdf file on NHK website via tip from Alexey Zinevich in dxldyg, retyped and formatted by Alan Roe, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. PDR, 2349.72, KCBS Sariwon, 1247, very weak carrier and almost no modulation, but strong enough to parallel with very strong Pyongyang (2850.022). Also noted at this time: 3350.05- Pyongsong, 3959.728- Kanggye, 3970.55- Wonsan, and 5700.044- weak 2nd harmonic of 2850.022. 15 October (David Sharp, NSW Australia. FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-2010, ICF-SW7600GR, MW-550P, Timewave 599zx, etc., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 2850, KCBS, Oct 18 at 1154, usual choral music reaching S9+10; at 1249 it had ascended to S9+15, more choral music, 1250 Korean talk. Carrier again detectably slightly unstable. 3250, weak signal with talk here at 1248 Oct 18, presumably VOK Japanese service, as it`s too late for Honduras, HRPC fading more than an hour earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTEING DIGEST) see also KOREA SOUTH ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. Breaking away from MW DX session on internal antenna only due to storms, by 1300 Oct 19 it was safe to reconnect the 110-foot east/west longwire to the FRG-7, but a bit too late to get much on 120-60 meters; nevertheless, at 1304, KCBS 2850 was still audible in Korean, and different Korean on 3480 from V. of the People, south to north (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. JAPAN, 6135, Shiokaze, *1400-1405 Oct 15. Noted with usual Friday English. Also noted on Saturday with Korean and Sunday with Japanese. VG signal each day (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 25-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 6135, Shiokaze via JSR JAPAN is beginning to show up again, Oct 18 at 1402, but now I have DTV cable converter box ``bubble jamming`` to cope with, spreading from 6132 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. U.K.(non) Frequency change of Radio Free North Korea via BABCOCK (ex VTC): 1200-1400 NF 7505 DB 100 kW / 070 deg to KRE in Korean, ex 15645 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 22 via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. 3480, Korean talk Oct 18 at 1247; 1257 at S9+15 with slow song, presumed Voice of the People, clandestine from South to North; always weak het on hi side 3481, from Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front KOREA NORTH jammer, per Aoki. Same audio on 4450 from VOP at 1259, no jamming audible. At 1300, 3480 had fanfare and march music, assertive Korean announcement, but not as overblown as the ballsy DPRK TV anchorette (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 11530, V. of Mesopotamia, Oct 15 at 1335 with great concert of minor-key music, few if any announcements until 1400 5-pip timesignal, 9.5 seconds late, into talk, news? Once again we have the terrorist PKK and TDP to thank for some fine Friday-evening entertainment, good but fluttery signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 21540, R. Kuwait, strongest station on band (SSOB), Oct 18 at 1332 in Arabic with drama, including music, narration, atop Spain making 4 Hz SAH with it, but the latter in the clear on // 21610, 21570. 21540, R. Kuwait, Oct 19 at 1357, music after drama, well over REE Spain, making SAH of about 5 Hz; see also SAUDI. 21540, SSOB S9+18, way over collision with Spain, Oct 21 at 1330 in Arabic drama with exaggerated emotions, music, child`s voice. 1335 break for Kuwait ID, more drama, starting with music reminiscent of the buildup to ``Oklahoma``. Still unable to hear any trace of R. Kuwait on 15540, where English has been running at 18-21, checked at 2050 Oct 22; nor Arabic to NAm on 17550, clear of VOA after 2030. Could be RK will go back to 11990 for another B-season in English, or already has, but nothing audible there yet either. We still get a good Kuwait MOI signal some mornings around 1330 on 21540 but only in Arabic, and colliding with weaker Spain (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. KUWAIT TV STATION MOBBED --- A mob stormed the offices of a private television station in Kuwait on Sunday after it broadcast a programme critical of the country's ruling family. Mohammed Talal al-Said, executive manager of Scope TV, said some of the attackers were armed with pistols and knives, and injured several employees. The station said $1m (£600,000) of damage was done to its studios. On Monday, Interior Minister Sheikh Jabir al-Khalid al-Sabah said some of the assailants had been arrested. "We will not accept an attack against anybody," he told the Arab Times newspaper. "This is an offensive act and it is not in line with our customs. We are on top of the situation to forestall further degeneration." Scope TV, a small station with about 70 staff, has come under fire for airing programmes critical of religious leaders and the al-Sabah family. Its owner, Fajir al-Said, was questioned by prosecutors on Thursday over a complaint by the information ministry about the comedy show, Sawtak Wasal (Your Voice Has Been Heard). ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11570876 (via Clara Listensprechen, dxldyg via DXLD) Not the first time: While on the page with the article about the mob, I found an article [28 Oct 2005] about tribesmen storming a TV station about what was said by a comedian there. It must be the most direct way of getting an audience response. The tribesmen article is here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4385634.stm (Clara Listensprechen, ibid.) ** LIBERIA. Liberia still on 3960 --- Star Radio. October 13 0540-0605 male in English talks “democracy”, outside talks “Liberia”, short music. 25322. 3960, Star Radio. October 17, 0543-0551 male in English talks. Very weak, 25322 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec – Embu SP Brasil - Sony SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m, Longwire 22m, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. 21695, V. of Africa, Oct 16 at 1250 in Swahili, has a ripple on the modulation and with BFO the carrier is also unstable. Same situation at 1320 on // 17725. Altho E Asian signals have heavy flutter, Libya does not, so I think the ripple is really emanating from their transmitters, not Doppler-affected propagation (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17725 at 1304 16 Oct with drums and AA-ish lyrics; sounds like ym announcer with "Li-BEE-yah" in Arabic; tons of short music bridges between news headlines (presumed), and grumbly signal (or is it grumbly jamming?? On today's session, I've heard grumble alone or Libya signal with no grumble, or mostly both at the same time) E1+ANLP1 (Stewart, Hamilton Ont, ODXA yg via DXLD) 21695, Voice of Africa, 1513-1531, Oct 16, surprisingly strong signal booming in but with some distortion. English news about African Union. ID. Afro-pop music. English news at 1531. // 17725 - also very strong and slightly distorted (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX Listening Digest) 21695, VOA, Oct 18 at 1333 in Swahili, with ripple both on the modulation and carrier, especially noticeable during music; same at 1345 on // 17725, not quite so pronounced. Equipment is in sad shape 21695, V. of Africa, Oct 19 at 1324 in Swahili, and 1355, music sounds awful due to rippling modulation, as if there were CCI from another station maybe 20 Hz off, but this is just their own defective transmitter. 1402 ponderous English announcer also degraded by this (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010.01, Radio Madagasikara, *0212-0310 Oct 14, reduced carrier USB. Sign on with local music. Malagasy talk. 25 second IS at 0231 followed by choral National Anthem. Local guitar music. Malagasy talk. Local music. Poor to fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 5010, carrier + usb, R. Madagasikara, Ambohidrano, 1839-1905, 14 Oct'10, Malagasy, talks, light music & songs, newsbulletin (presumed) at 1902; 25342. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 15295, V. of Malaysia, 1115-1200 program in apparent Chinese with E-Z Chinese music and rare announcements. IDs and promos including one for Voice of Malaysia in English at 1200, then into Indonesian program. (19 Sept.) (Dave Valko, PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. 783, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 1833-1854, 15 Oct'10, Arabic, football (presumed) match report; 54444, adjacent QRM, co- channel QRM de ESPAÑA + SYRIA successfully nulled. They were silent on 14-15-16 Oct on \\ 4845 & 7245. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4845, 10/10 1938, Radio Mauritanie NOT on air (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Mauritanie remained silent after my 16th inst. report, no signal on their daytime frequency of 7245, ditto on the evening frequency of 4845 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7245 was on early Oct 23 at 0605 rather than 4845 (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. 920, MÉXICO unidentified. 1104 September 27, 2010. "Radio Informa" slogan but that seemingly was the news program name. Poor and quickly faded. On October 2: XE anthem at 1100, nothing else clear in the mud. 950, MÉXICO unidentifieds (four). September 28. 2010. XE anthem at 1100, and a second station with anthem at 1111, into rancheras. On October 2, only one anthem heard, beginning at 1101. On October 3: first anthem at 1052, another at 1055 followed by Spanish man, and a third at 1100 followed by clarinet/male jazzy vocal. Then, at 1116, a fourth station with anthem into nonstop ranchera vocals, fade. So, presumably four Mexican stations are making it here, or else someone just likes to play the anthem a lot. 900, UNIDENTIFIED(S). October 10, 2010. 1129-1148 fade. Hootie & the Blowfish "I Only Want to Be With You" into (of all things to hear on AM radio) a New Order song, then a Coldplay song. Spanish man mentioning, "... tremenda... Monterrey..." at 1144. Not sure if the same station (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 900, XEW "W", Veracruz and México DF. 1058-1102 October 17, 2010. Anthem from tune-in, "W" slogan after, and audio out of synch between the two, sounding quite messy. Same thing happens on 800 kHz. 940, unidentified. Anthem ending at 1102 but too weak after to get an ID. Maybe just XEQ. 1500, XEDF Radio Fórmula, México DF. 1125-1140 October 17, 2010. Very good with promo for a ranchera show, commercials, "Grupo Fórmula" at 1138. Fading down by 1140 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XE sunrise skip window Oct 15: I concentrate on the lower half of the band, where there is much less stateside QRM. [these logs are day by day, then in frequency not time order] 610, at 1223 UT, ads mentioning Sinaloa, mixed with federal government PSAs, one about the constitución; something selling for 125 pesos por litro. Ad mentioning Guasave; that price resung several times. 1226 singing ID sounds like ``--CM, La ---``, automated YL TC for 6:26, music. WRTH 2010 has this as XEGS, LaGS/La Ley, Guasave, 1/0.5 kW. Cantú http://mexicoradiotv.com/listsina.htm agrees on the slogan, the logo being a 6-pointed Star-of-David-like badge. I assume that`s just a gimmick, rather than axually being run by law-enforcement. 800, at 1234, news with W&M alternating about latest local murders and other crimes, 1236 6:36 TC. Nulling KQCV OKC, which puts far too much signal here at only 2.5 kW, with which it makes a slow SAH of somewhat less than 1 Hz, fortunately close to a right angle away. Surely XEROK Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, the only Mexican on 800 between Coahuila and a peanutwhistle in Tijuana, but are they really running 150 kW any more? Note my results on groundwave from NM in August, not penetrating like it should with that much power. WRTH spells it Radio Cañon, perpetuating the erroneous aversion, even by natives, to putting an accent on the ó as required orthographically; same problem with R. Marañón, Perú. They love their enyes, but ignore their acutes. 870, at 1228 YL in Indian language, could be Tarahumara or a couple of others, pronouncing calls in Spanish, XETAR, and then mentioning town Guachochi a few times in passing. Fair signal but no QRM, as usual during SRS peak. 990, at 1230, ID but missed, just ``5 mil watts de potencia`` and street address too fast to copy; no Rosary. Per WRTH 2010, that power fits only for XEER in Cuauhtémoc, Chih., previous prime suspect, and for XEHZ in La Paz, BCS. 1050, at 1244, Spanish music from WSW so can`t be XEG; UNAM PSA, so can`t be American. Per WRTH, best bet looks like XEBCS La Paz, R. Cultural Surcalifornia, but could be XED Mexicali BCN, both 10 kW day power (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Circa sunrise XE MW DX Oct 16: 580, at 1202 Mexican NA from WSW, vs WIBW nulled as best I can; most likely XEFI Chihuahua where it`s 6+ am. Lost it at sign-on time. 1204 talking about festival de sandía, (watermelon fest). 760, at 1209 from WSW, Spanish W&M discussion of alcoholic support groups. One possibility in Chihuahua, two in Sonora. 800, at 1236 doing better against nulled OKC than yesterday, same YL recounting recent murders in various colonias, such as Melchor Ocampo. Of course, every Mexican city probably has one named that, but surely this is Ciudad Juárez, murder capital, XEROK. 850, crooner with nice song in Spanish, from WSW in KOA null, making SAH of about 6 Hz, but 1216 goes to Cruzada con Luis Palau, who says he will take only 8 minutes to discuss II Corinthians: 10. He`s perhaps the most widely-syndicated gospel huxter in Latin America. Losing signal by the time it`s over around 1230. Very likely XEM, Chihuahua, Renacimiento 850 per WRTH. 1040, at 1218 UT, 6:18 TC, then string of government PSAs, such as for CNDR (Comité Nacional de Derechos Humanos), Cámara de Senadores (can you imagine the US Senate providing PSAs about the good work it does?), IFE (Instituto Federal Electoral), and here`s the clincher, Instituto Electoral de Chihuahua. Makes SAH with WHO, nullable. Only hear ``Mil Cuarenta`` not full IDs, 1221 to rock song in English. The only 1040 Chihuahuan in WRTH is XEHES, Radiorama Siglo XXI, Chihuahua city, and Cantú http://mexicoradiotv.com/listchih.htm agrees Another search for sunrise skip MW DX, Oct 17. Around 1225, usual suspects on 610, 650, 730, 870, probably relogs so kept seeking elsewhere. Strangely, I was not getting much from XEROK 800. 700, at 1231, Mexican NA from the WSW; 1233 quick jingle ID with call letters but could not copy, ``Buenos días de XE--``, TC for 27:7 so is in CST/MDT zone, into canned show ``Consejos para un mejor vivir``, maybe about astrology? At least that was mentioned, soon fading out. Per WRTH, the only fit is XEGD, 5 kW, La Poderosa, Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua. All others are in the wrong part of Mexico except XEETCH, 5 kW daytimer, La Voz de los Tres Ríos, Etchojoa, Sonora, but that`s in the UT-7 zone (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Pre- and post-sunrise (1241 UT) MW DX Oct 18: 620, at 1218, PSA for Chihuahua electoral, promo Día de los Muertos specials running daily at 7 pm; jingle, 6:20 TC, OM DJ, more mentions of Chihuahua, so it`s XEBU, La Norteñita, Chihuahua city, 5 kW day. 660, at 1229, Spanish TC for 6:30, US béisbol lineups. Probably XEACB in Ciudad Delicias, Chih. 710, at 1220 TC for 6:20, jingle mentioning Cuauhtémoc, promo for a giveaway, so XEDP, La Ranchera, 7 kW, in that Chihua2 hi-elevation town. Where`s KGNC Amarillo? Its 10 kW day and night patterns do not favor us, but instead the Llano Estacado, tho we still get it over 400 km away by daytime groundwave, as does OKC. Long live sunrise skipover! 730, at 1221, VG signal with singing ID ``Radio Viva Vida``; has frequent IDs and even the songs seem to be as short as possible; 1230 fed PSA for Constitución, Poder Judicial, full ID as XEHB, 730 kHz, 50,000 watts de potencia, street address on tercer piso, [Hidalgo del] Parral, Chihuahua; norteña music; 1234 SID ``Ésta es Radio Viva Vida``, then slower tune by YL singer featuring accordion and tuba. At first copied call as ``XEACV`` which sounds a lot like XEHB. 760, at 1203, XEES, Antena 7-60, apparent sign-on with street address, in Chihuahua, watts, then ``Antena 7-60 presenta: Al Amanecer``, (At Dawn), TC ``las seis, tres``. Am getting a weak lightning crash every 5 minutes or so as a storm tries to build up over Enid, dissipates. WRTH 2010 shows this as ``Antena Musical 7-60``, 1 kW in Chihuahua capital, but heard slogan several times without the Musical. Cantú agrees on the slogan, and linx to website, http://www.antena760.com/ where we see it is one of the seven-station Grupo Radio Divertida; logo is a car whip with a broken circle around the ball on top, and claims to be 10 kW. Sounds like it to me. 800, after a poor showing the day before, XEROK is back with a vengeance, at 1222 with news of latest secuestros (kidnappings), KQCV OKC no problem at the moment. 820, at 1236, Spanish in WBAP null, making SAH of 108/minute = 1.8 Hz; one guy talking, occasional comments by another. Los Mochis most likely, or Mexicali, or maybe Durango. To repursue elsewhen. 870, at 1201 NA, 1202 XETAR sign on by usual morning YL announcer in Spanish, mentioning Guachochi, Chihuahua, then Indian language, Tarahumara presumed. Remains audible until several minutes past SR. This one has the least QRM, as WWL is gone, and KFJZ Fort Worth, weakly audible here full-daytime on groundwave, seems negligible, tho it does have a 250 watt PSRA. XETAR has 870 to itself, no worries even about SAHs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) T-storms in the area Oct 19, so even more reason to concentrate on sunrise MW DX, only with internal antenna in the DX-398; not too many lightning crashes per minute, and diminishing. Prime reference is the WRTH 2010; Cantú if necessary: 540, in CBK null, at 1230 TC as 6:30, temp 12 grados, SID ``XETX, 5-40 AM, 5 mil watts, La Ranchera de Paquimé, . . . Sonora, y el sur de Nuevo Méjico y Tejas``. But it`s axually in Nuevo Casas Grandes, the NW part of Chihuahua, and could also claim to reach another state, Arizona. 610, at 1233, ``el noticiario más informado de Sinaloa``, soon mentioning Guasave too: so it`s XEGS. 640, at 1219 music, 1222 ad for what sounded like Iluminaciones Loya, but that does not Google; CNDR PSA, ID mentions 640, Radio Vivo (?), definitely ended in -o, CCI from another Spanish; with WWLS nulled. Most likely Radio Uno, XEHHI, Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua, tho there is another Uno in Zacatecas. 650, at 1225-1228 ad/PSA string, finally Radio 65 ID in passing, 1228 music: i.e. XETNT, Los Mochis, Sin., a regular. 1234 more journalists found executed, risky profession. By now WWLS 640 IBOC bothers but can be nulled. 710, at 1220, ``la mejor programación, XEDP, La Ranchera de Cuauhtémoc`` singing ID, TC, music, from hi-elevation Chihua2. 730, at 1238, XEHB canned ID by super-hype announcer, 50 mil watts (Parral, Chih.); by now KRMG 740 splatter is a problem with its own 50 kW day power. XEHB and Tahiti 738 listeners note: KRMG official sunrises, UT: Oct 1230, Nov 1300, Dec & Jan 1330, Feb 1315. 760, at 1208-1210, Mexican NA playing late; op overslept? UnID roughly from WSW direxion, then mixing with Antena 7-60, plus more Spanish from the south (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Circa sunrise DX Oct 20 on DX-398 with internal antenna, AC power indoors, UT, peaking from the WSW to the SW: 640, at 1220 accordion music, inserted ``Uno`` a couple times, so R. Uno, XEHHI, Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua. 680, at 1224, discussion of education ``en el norte del estado de Sinaloa``, soon overtaken by KNBR with Bay Area ads. Therefore it was XEORO, La Mera Jefa, 1 kW from Guasave, per WRTH. 730, at 1226, big signal with emphatic ID, ``7-30, Radio Viva Vida``, i.e. XEHB`s 50 kW from Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua. 800, at 1201 Mexican NA, 1202, XEROK ID or sign-on claiming 50 mil watts, rather than listed 150, Radio Cañón, belongs to Grupo 7; ads for El Paso including Twisters, tacos, tiendita with phone cards. No problem from KQCV OKC this early. 950, at 1232, discussing ratings of Mexican banks. One station each in Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Sonora, likely PTA (probable target area). 990, at 1235 YL discussing escuelas, fades, 1239 peaks with accordion music, slow sad song with refrain ``Yo quiero morir``; 1243 segué to frenetic tune with East European sound; 1246 segué to slow ballad by YL. Still no luck nailing R. Lobo, XEER, Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, which is most likely. 1030, at 1244, Spanish talk from east-west, definitely not KCTA = north-south. Most likely XEYC, R. Fórmula, Juárez, Chih. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Lots of sunrise skip Oct 21 on the DX-398, UT; prime reference is WRTH 2010: 620, at 1201 Mex NA, too much QRM. Likely XEBU in Chihuahua, only other NW Mexican being XESS Ensenada, where it`s 5 am. 1209, definitely XEBU: DJ greeting with date 21 de octubre, mentions Chihuahua, phone numbers for complacencias; CCI (co-channel interference). 770, at 1238, lots of talk, laughter, bits of music, SFX, several speakers in studio, sort of a morning zoo in Spanish, 1242 doorbell, 7-40-40, ``llámenos``. That`s a bit short for a phone number these days, and Googling does not connect it with XEREV in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. But Wikipedia does show 74040 as the SMS number for the network program that station carries, Los Cuarenta Principales. 800, at 1238, XEROK, Juárez, with government PSAs for Ejército y Fuerza Aérea, IFE, soon back to local crime news. What would Benito say? Also with NA after 1200, way over KQCV OKC. 870, at 1235, XETAR with ID, time 25:7, local avisos of fallecimientos (obits) and other family news. Guachochi, Chihuahua. 900, at 1228 mentions ``la junta de Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua``. So XEDT. WRTH shows slogan ``La Reina`` which I have not yet heard them say. 970, at 1202 Mex NA, heavy SAH, 1203 fading but mentioned Chihuahua, no doubt XEJ Juárez. 1180, at 1229 romantic music, 1230 ID claims ``5 mil watts`` but hit by IBOC from KFAQ 1170 Tulsa going to day pattern. Per WRTH, 5 kW day power fits only for XEDCH, Ciudad Delicias, Chihuahua, and that state is our prime SRS DX area. At 1231 blown away by Omaha, double-whammy; see U S A. 1300, at 1221, 6:21 TC ``en Radio México Noticias``, dominating frequency, looping WSW. 1223 PSA for Tribunal Electoral de Chihuahua, website for it, ``Radio México Noticias en Radio Trece``, weather, 13 degrees. It`s the 50 kW XEP, Ciudad Juárez (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. Henrik Klemetz: På KV har jag glatt mig åt att kunna höra Mongoliet igen på 12085, engelska kl 1230 sv t. Stationen svarar snällt om man skriver till densmaa9 @ yahoo.com Tyvärr är ljudet inte det bästa och några av hallådamerna är svåra att förstå. Men stationen lägger nu ut sina sändningar på nätet med en veckas försening. Anledningen kan vara att många skriver och påstår sig ha lyssnat utan att lämna programdetaljer. Jag har fått besked om att mitt brev kommer att redovisas i sändningen nästa måndag. Swedish to English translation by Google, enhanced by gh: Henrik Klemetz: On SW, I looked forward to hearing Mongolia again on 12085, English at 1230. The station responds nicely if you write to densmaa9 @ yahoo.com Unfortunately, the sound is not the best and some of hello ladies are hard to understand. But the station is now putting out its broadcasting on the net with a one-week delay. The reason may be that many write and claim to have listened without leaving the program details. I have been told that my letter will be reported in the broadcast next Monday (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, SW Bulletin Oct 17 via DXLD) 12085, V. of Mongolia (tentative). Went off right at the end of what sounded like a 1940's-like vocal song by W in Chinese or similar language at 1058. (19 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) 12085, V. of Mongolia, 0958 end of song, unintelligible announcements by W, then usual IS played 3 times. Announcement by M, then W, and music. Very weak with 12080 [Australia?] slop QRM, so had to use USB. Still waiting for this to get stronger with the new solar cycle. (8 Oct.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. 711.1, RTM, or SNRT as it is now called, El Aiún, 1345- ..., 16 Oct'10, Arabic, folk songs; 45454. 1080, RTM-"R", Casablanca site?, 1116-1450, regional program (parallel to 540), Arabic, interview,..., talks; 14352, QRM de SPAIN; bad audio noted on both 1080 & 540, so probably this emanates from the studio. At 1730, no trace of them due to heavier QRM. This is listed in the WRTH as the "Q", Koran network, but the fact is that I heard this on 1089 as reported this Summer, when no signal from Morocco was received on 1080. At present, 1089 is getting too much QRM from Algeria, with the UK coming next in the list of interfering stations over Morocco. Also according to the WRTH'10, the Koran channel airs no regional prgrs, so maybe 1080 was reactivated recently. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1080 could be second harmonic of 540, intentionally or not! (gh, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. (Burma), MW Schedule of MRTV (Radio Myanmar) monitored in early September: . National (Main Service) on Yangon 576 kHz (200 kW) and Naypyidaw 594 kHz (200 kW): 0030-0730, 0930-1630. English program: 0230-0330, 0700- 0730, 1530-1630. Yangon audio is delayed a second or two behind Naypyidaw. . Music Service (Padauk Myay Service) on Naypyidaw 711 kHz (400 kW): 2300-0130, 0730-1000, 1130-1530. Also on Yangon 576 kHz 2300-0010v. The Naypyidaw transmitter must be the one first reported by Jose Jacob in February on 693 kHz, now shifted to avoid interference with Dhaka. . Yangon Service (I'm not sure what the official name of this service is) on Yangon 729 kHz: 2330-0530, 0730-1500. I haven't seen any confirmation of the power for this transmitter, but the signal is similar in strength to 576 kHz so may well be 200 kW also. At 1330- 1500 729 kHz carries distance learning programmes in parallel with 5915 kHz (Alan Davies, ARC Information Desk 11 Oct 2010, via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5770, 16.10 1500, Tentative Myanmar Defense Forces Radio with decent signal level but low modulation. Difficult to hear but probably news until 1507 then into music. O = 2-3. Also heard by Al Muick in Kabul the same day at 1448 (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Oct 17 via DXLD) On-air now, as of 1448 UT: 5770, 16 OCT, MYANMAR, Myanmar Defense Forces Radio, with talks by man in presumed Burmese interspaced with light female vocals. Fair signal with moderate fading, but only about 42% modulation as measured here. I had to use synchronous AM, and could still barely make out what was going on. No QRM. Supposed to be on until 1530. Go get 'em! 73s (Al Muick, Kabul, Afghanistan, WinRadio G303e, 100m Longwire/Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5985.84, R. Myamna, 1329-1355 Oct 15. Usual IS on Burmese instruments; usual chimes at 1330, followed by usual news. Transmitter cut out for about 20 minutes but came back on at 1354. Fair at tune-in but weaker by 1354 (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 25-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 5985.858, MRTV, 1128, noted as het against UnID on low side and presume Nay Pyi Taw site, due to unstable, warbly transmitter. Fair with local vocals and scant comments by announcer. Best in USB. 15 October (David Sharp, NSW Australia. FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-2010, ICF-SW7600GR, MW-550P, Timewave 599zx, etc., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. The new coalition government has moved the financing of Radio Netherlands Worldwide to the Development Co-operation department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Up until now, RNW has been funded through the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. RNW Director-General Jan Hoek is pleased at the change, which he believes is logical. He told staff that “It is good that the importance of an international broadcaster for an internationally oriented country like the Netherlands is recognized and acknowledged. 70% of every euro is earned abroad, so the Netherlands has a responsibility and an interest in maintaining an active presence on the international stage." Hoek notes that with the Foreign Affairs Ministry needing to find EUR 1 billion of savings, it's possible that RNW's budget will be cut (AIB Media Briefing 14 Oct via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Radio Netherlands winter season --- The schedule as of Oct. 31 is available by going to the Radio Netherlands Worldwide main page and clicking on frequencies on the upper right. The schedule for other languages, such as Dutch, can also be obtained by going to that language's main page and clicking on frequencies (Harry van Vugt, Canada, Oct 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RNW Dutch in total: http://cdn.sites.radionetherlands.nl/pdf/freq/RNW-NL-FreqFolder-Winter20101.pdf (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) The B10 Spanish schedule shows only one frequency for the 0000-0157 block, 6165 via Bonaire. No additional frequencies as in the past, and no Greenville. So basically 6165 0000-0357 and 1100-1227, with 9810 as a second frequency 1200-1227, all Bonaire. For English we once again have 11655 to West Africa from 2000-2057, which will give decent reception in North America. But I notice (I think) no Bonaire frequency for English in this time period, unlike past winter seasons (Steve Luce, Houston, TX, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, ibid.) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9650, Oct 20 at 1326, way under CRI English via Sackville, with light SAH, Netherlands NA, pause, and at 1327 a song, so I couldn`t tell whether the 3-minute supplemental broadcast via Tinang, PHILIPPINES, was English or Indonesian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES [non]. ZCZC AE42 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 42 ARLD042 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT October 14, 2010 To all radio amateurs DISSOLUTION OF NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CREATES FOUR NEW DXCC ENTITIES The dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles has caused changes to the DXCC List. As per the DXCC rules, the two Netherlands Antilles DXCC entities will be deleted and moved to the Deleted Entities List. Four new entities will be added to the DXCC List: (1) Curacao; (2) Sint Maarten; (3) Saba and St Eustatius, and (4) Bonaire. The event date and time for these changes was 0400 UT, October 10, 2010. Confirmations for these new entities will be accepted for credit starting January 1, 2011. Other administrative changes and actions will be announced as they are finalized. [why wait? gh] NNNN /EX (via I.C.P.O. Bulletin (15-22 October 2010) "Islands, Castles & Portable Operations", via editor Dave Raycroft, Oct 14, ODXA yg via DXLD) Countries new or not new? A couple of DXers have noted the recent changes in the Dutch islands in the Caribbean. Here are some additional comments to muddy the water further: Aruba had previously moved to a separate status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, so for strict country counters it had already become ATN and Aruba as separate "countries". The NRC list had long ago separated the eastern portion of the Netherlands Antilles (Sint Maarten and Eustacia)from ATN because of an arbitrary "water separation". By arbitrary I mean that the club set a standard distance - 75 miles I think - so that portions of a country separated by that much water were deemed two "radio countries". This standard distance is a pure fiction that has no basis in international law or boundaries, it's just a hobby convention. Hawaii and Alaska are well beyond that standard distance also, and have long been considered seperate "radio countries". With the official change in the relationship of the different Netherlands Antilles to the home country and to one another there is some rationale to add new radio countries to the list. I don't have all that info in front of me (I'm out of town right now), but new degrees of autonomy coupled with water separation creates new countries if we use traditional club standards. The big philosophical question, though, is whether a DXer can count having heard one of these new entities when the actual logging preceded the new arrangement. Does a logging of Bonaire in 1973 now count in your book as Netherlands Antilles, ABC islands, or Bonaire? Questions like this have long slowed my effort to rewrite the NRC country list, and the anticipated but uncertain changes in the Netherlands Antilles have been a major sticking point. Only Aruba is truly independent, the other islands now have different shades of autonomy, as I recall, some with a strong link to the Netherlands, and some weaker. Should my logging of a station in the former East Germany now count as Germany or is "East Germany" still considered a separate radio country? I heard it earlier this year for the first time - seems a stretch to call in East Germany, since that country has not existed politically since 1990 or so. But Ben Dangerfield heard it long before then, and it doesn't seem right to take it away from him. But that leaves me unable to match Ben's country total, even though we actually heard the very same station. Yikes, who knew that a simple hobby like DXing could become such a philosophical exercise! (Jim Renfrew, Holley NY, IRCA via DXLD) I know there is some disagreement about this within the clubs, but IMHO there is a LOT to be said for working with the American Radio Relay League's DXCC Entities List. The ARRL maintains this list for pretty much the same reason BCB DXers want a list. Hams consider it an accomplishment to contact many countries; we consider it an accomplishment to *hear* many countries. The term "country", as defined in the dictionary, is not particularly suited to use in the radio DX context. Places like Hawaii and Ibiza would never be recognized as "countries" by the State Department, but it makes perfect sense to call them "countries" for radio purposes. (If you're in, say, Chicago, it's a whole lot harder to contact Anchorage than it is to contact, say, Toronto. But if you go by dictionary definitions, Toronto would be a foreign country -- and Anchorage wouldn't be!) The League has established criteria for adding entities to the list (they're no longer called "countries", they're "entities'). 1. Political entities. UN Member States, for the most part. Also, territories assigned a prefix block by the ITU. (I believe Palestine is currently the only physical territory to hold an ITU prefix block that isn't also a UN Member State.) And overseas territories of a UN Member State that appear on certain lists maintained by the State Department or UN. 2. Geographic separation. If a "country" is split into two or more parts by either land controlled by a different country, or by open water, the two parts may be listed as separate "radio countries". Alaska is a good example. Politically it's part of the USA, but it's separated from the rest of the USA by hundreds of km of Canada and even more open ocean. And for ARRL purposes, Alaska and USA are two different countries. Madeira vs. Portugal; Ceuta & Melilla vs. Spain; Russia vs. Kaliningrad are more good examples. East and West Pakistan, before the latter [sic] became Bangladesh. There are specific mileages set for separation. 100 km minimum separation by land of a foreign country; 350 km minimum separation by water; something like that. 3. "Special areas". Mostly, places placed on the list under old criteria that wouldn't qualify today. ITU HQ in Geneva, Switzerland; Antarctica (the whole continent is one entity); the Spratly Islands in the China Sea (disputed by at least four UN Member States, some of whom are willing to fire shots); Western Sahara (independent, or Moroccan, depending on who you ask); and a number of other places like St. Paul Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (even if Quebec doesn't secede, Canada is three countries...) Entities can be deleted from the list, if the criteria under which they were listed cease to exist. East Germany no longer exists on the list; it was absorbed by West Germany. The League keeps track of both "current" and "deleted" countries. If you had contacted the USA, England, East Germany, and West Germany in 1980, you would have had four countries. Today, you'd have three "current" countries (USA, England, and Germany) and one "deleted" country. (East Germany) Your status might be listed as "3/4". (3 current, 4 total) The entity a contact counts for depends on when you contacted it. I contacted Bonaire in 1985, and that contact counts as "Netherlands Antilles (which is now a "deleted" country, the criteria under which it was created no longer exist). I also contacted Bonaire on Saturday afternoon. That contact counts as "Bonaire". (and believe me, the shortwave ham bands have been a madhouse this week, with people rushing to contact the four new countries on as many frequency bands as possible as quickly as possible -- even though none of these places are particularly rare or difficult to contact on the ham bands...) The criteria are in Section II of the DXCC Rules on http://www.arrl.org/rules-1 I really think it would make a lot of sense to simply adopt the ARRL list. Let them handle it. They take DXCC VERY seriously (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, NRC-AM via DXLD) My objection to the ARRL list over the years had been that the ARRL's criteria have employed some very tenuous logic in some places, to the point that their lists were, IMO artificially enhanced. I haven't paid attention for so long (having not had to be faced with the prospect of adding a new MW country in decades), so I don't know how much some of that might have changed (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ) [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia, WTFDA via DXLD) I like the ITU's list. It does include Alaska, Hawaii & Palestine... http://www.itu.int/online/mms/glad/cga_list.sh?function=1&lng=E Plus it's an official list maintained by a non-DX entity, so no DXing bias. wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) ** NEWFOUNDLAND [and non]. 3485-USB, Oct 15 at 0521, VOLMET for Canadian cities such as Toronto, Ottawa, Gander, Montreal. Per http://www.dxinfocentre.com/volmet.htm this is VFG, Gander, which starts at :20 and :50 minutes past each hour, frequency shared with New York Radio, WSY70, starting at :00 and :30, but that has been inactive (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Regarding New York Radio VOLMET, this Notice to Airmen is current: A2755/10 - QSVAS VOLMET 3.485 U/S. WIE UNTIL UFN. CREATED: 24 JUN 16:26 2010 U/S means unserviceable or not working. WIE means with immediate effect or effective immediately (Mike Cooper, Oct 14, DXLD) And UFN means until further notice. See also CANADA for CKZN ** NEW ZEALAND. Re: ``6170, surprised to run across RNZI here with news about Auckland at the unscheduled early hour of 0531 Oct 7. I had just heard them a few minutes earlier on 11725 as I was checking 25m for RHC. So I go back to 11725 and find they are indeed missing from there (it`s possible they could be running both transmitters in AM), but when I get back to 6170 at 0533, it`s gone from there. Back again to 11725, and voilà, RNZI has resumed on that frequency, and also audible DRM noise 11670-11675-11680. I guess they were again checking out their frequency-switching, and yes it worx, but disrupting programming and listening. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have caught them in this anomaly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` The occasion you refer to was a routine Maintenance Day which happens usually on the first and 3rd Thursday every month. The transmitter site is not manned so it is important to check all the automatic switching is working correctly before the Maintenance crew leave site. During the period 2230 - 0600 on Maintenance Day it is not unusual for short duration unscheduled RNZI test transmissions. Regards (Adrian Sainsbury, Frequency/Technical Manager, Radio New Zealand International, P O Box 123, Wellington, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. B-10 schedule of R NZ International from Oct 31. 1200-1550 no DRM service 1300-1550 5950 050 kW 000 deg AM All Pacific 1551-1650 7440 050 kW 035 deg AM NE Pac, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Isl 1551-1650 5950 025 kW 035 deg DRM Cook Islands, Niue, Fiji, Samoa 1651-1750 9765 050 kW 000 deg AM NE Pac, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Isl 1651-1750 9890 025 kW 000 deg DRM Niue, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Isls 1751-2150 11725 050 kW 000 deg AM All Pacific 1751-1850 11675 025 kW 000 deg DRM Tonga 1851-2150 15720 025 kW 000 deg DRM Solomon Isls, Niue, Fiji, Samoa 2151-0458 15720 050 kW 000 deg AM All Pacific 2151-0458 17675 025 kW 000 deg DRM All Pacific 0459-0658 11725 050 kW 000 deg AM All Pacific 0459-0658 13730 025 kW 000 deg DRM All Pacific 0659-1058 9765 050 kW 000 deg AM All Pacific 0659-0758 11675 025 kW 000 deg DRM Tonga 0759-1158 9870 025 kW 000 deg DRM All Pacific 1059-1258 13660 050 kW 325 deg AM NWPac, Bougainville, PNG, Timor, Asia (RNZI via NZ-DX Times transformed from .pdf file into ASCII pure text by wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 19 VIA WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) ** NIGER. 9705, 11/10 2020, La Voix du Sahel, Niger, songs, weak-fair, fading (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Re 10-41: ``If 7350 is the new Abuja site, why isn't it an overpoweringly strong signal? (gh, DXLD)`` Glenn, I featured the refurbishing work at Abuja in many items before. Thomson erected a new station with 3 x 250 kW SW units and various antennas at Abuja Lugbe, for Voice of Nigeria. Work finished in late November 2009! Then they had also worked out an expertise for the old Radio Nigeria site at Abuja Gwagwalarda with 2 x 100 kW domestic power - in 2010 -, at the MW 909 kHz location. Some 33 kilometers westwards at 08 55'44.42"N 07 04'22.33"E. http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=08%C2%B055%2744.42%22N+07%C2%B004%2722.33%22E&sll=51.151786,10.415039&sspn=18.754035,55.942383&ie=UTF8&ll=8.930162,7.073704&spn=0.003598,0.006829&t=h&z=18 SW antenna is on the lower left corner of the area. According to the masts direction seen in Goggle Maps, the dipol direction of this domestic network is approx. 85/265 degrees, not the best angle to reach Europe properly. The Albions in GB&IRL have always a benefit to listen WeAF stations, due of the long path on salt water anyway ... Refurbishing work at Abuja Gwagwalarda site by the Thomson staff ended now in Sept 2010. And Noel heard the station on new 7350 kHz on Sept 26, 2010 again. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Oct 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ah, Ah --- so that's why 7350 is only producing such a weak signal here in western Europe. The beam angle is ideal for most of Nigeria but not for Europe. And BTW - what can have happened to the other 100 kW transmitter at Abuja Gwagwalarda? Perhaps dismantled for spares? Thanks for this interesting information, Wolfy. 73 from (Noel Green, ibid.) 7350-, Oct 14 at 0622, best audio yet from R. Nigeria, Abuja, 0624 tentative ID in passing. Slightly on the low side compared to signals on MW 1350. Wolfgang Büschel explains the poor reception in Europe and North America: altho both near Abuja, this is separate from the new VON 3 x 250 kW site at Lugbe; Thomson also put in 2 x 100 kW for domestic service at the old site Gwagwalarda, some 33 km westward, same as MW 909 kHz. Looking at Google map, has dipole oriented 85/265 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7350, Radio Nigeria, Abuja, *0543-0630, Oct 16, carrier on at 0541 but actual sign on at 0543 with test tone. Possible National Anthem at 0546. Talk at 0548. Local music at 0549. “Radio Nigeria” IDs at 0558 and 0559. English news at 0600. Very weak. Too weak in noise to pull out many program details, but signal improved somewhat at 0600. 7350, Radio Nigeria, Abuja, *0539-0615, Oct 17, sign on with test tone and local tribal music. Opening English ID announcements at 0540. Choral music at 0541. Religious talk. ID and English news at 0600. Weak. Poor in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX Listening Digest) 7350, R. Nigeria, Abuja. October 17, 0558-0615 male in accent English talks, top of the hour announcements by male and female, seems news program, sometimes outside talks with prominent lower level audio than studio, “Nigerians”, many mentions of “R. Nigeria”, canned male on music sounding like ads. 35443. 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec – Embu SP Brasil - Sony SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m, Longwire 22m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7350, R. Nigeria, Abuja, previously did not start with NA before 0555, but UT Monday Oct 18 tune-in at 0544 open carrier best yet at S9+8, brief tone test, and starts playing music on rustic instruments. 0548 retune had already signed on, in English program summary concluding at ``1 pm`` = 1200 UT, previously reported sign-off time. Announcements somewhat undermodulated. 0548 into YL vocal music, seems like in English. 0556 announcement blocked briefly by ``running water`` ute bursts; talking about Nigeria, jingle, doze, 0600 news? 0637 still audible as I awoke again before QRT (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7350, Radio Nigeria (Abuja), *0541-0603, 10/20/2010, English. Carrier with tone at 0541. Tribal music at 0544 followed by national anthem. Low audio talk by man at 0546. R&B type music at 0548 followed by more low audio talk by woman at 0555. Fanfare and possible prayer or religious talk at 0556. Drums at 0559, fanfare, and ID by woman at 0600. News of Nigeria and Africa followed with both in-studio and remote reporters. Fair to good signal, improving over time, with better audio starting at 0600 (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, IC-R75, RX- 340, Random Wire (90'), ALA100M Loop (20') WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) [and non]. 7350, R. Nigeria, Abuja, back to near-inaudibility, Oct 22 at 0553 just a very poor carrier, no comparison e.g. to 7340 RFI 500 kW in French, 160 degrees from Issoudun (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Hello everyone, just testing out my new shortwave antenna 50 foot outdoor wire in the backyard and while tuning came across great signal this afternoon of Radio Nigeria on 15120 in English from 1800 to 1900 UT, had some news and music from African artists (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, Oct 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15120 at 1757 on 16 Oct 10 mx w/drums and wavering vocals; yl ancr in lang for a few secs; V of Nigeria, Ilorodu (pres); gone by 1800; back at 1809 w/short story about call center yl with 2 different ax, and changing ax in mid-call; in EE this time; V of Nigeria ID, & "imagine the possibility of an HIV-free generation"; leaves you a bit shocked; E1+ANLP1 (Stewart, Hamilton Ont, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. PIRATE - 11092.00-USB, Pirate R. St. Helena, 2307- 2323 Oct 16. Found them on this frequency, not on advertised 11092.50, at 2307 with music; e-mail address was given after the song; continued alternating songs and announcements to 2323 when I lost them. Generally poor and less than 50% readable. Have not seen too many reports of this one, in spite of the advance notice (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 25-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Yeek! Even I forgot about it (and the webcast from RMRC just before it). Was the programming anything about St Helena, or just another offthewall NAmpirate? (gh, DXLD) 11092-USB, Pirate Radio Saint Helena, location? - UT 10/16/2010 2305- 2317 - Signed on with pirate speak "Arrrggg... Good old pirate ship XXP..." and into song "Radar Love". Solicited reception reports to piratesainthelena @ gmail.com Faded out (or pulled the plug?) at 2317 during Cream song. Signal just above S5 noise floor here with warbly audio starting out (Tim Tromp, Muskegon MI, MARE Tipsheet Oct 22 via DXLD) PIRATE - 11092, Pirate Radio St. Helena. F/D e-QSL with pirate ship/skull & crossbones design, along with an e-form letter. Said they were heard in CO, WI, PA, MI, FL, NE, GA, and NFLD. Received in 3 days. E-mail address is piratesainthelena @ gmail.com (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Oct 20, Drake R-8, 25-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. 1120, KEOR Sperry-Tulsa is off the air again. Had noticed it on the day before, but absent, not even a carrier around 1830 UT Oct 19; and still off at 1300 Oct 20, only KMOX weakly audible. 1120, KEOR Sperry-Tulsa, off the air again Oct 21 around 1900 UT, but back on the air at 1915 UT Oct 22, usual R&B music format (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Musical call-signs in the OKC market, even for talk stations: I would never deliberately listen to an outlet dedicated to stupid ballgames; thus it was solely fortuitous that on caradio I happened to pause on 1340 at an hourtop, 1900 UT Oct 18, and heard a new legal ID: ``The Game, KGHM, Midwest City-Oklahoma City``, on to Fox Sports Radio news. (Don`t some ESPN or Fox Sports affils default to real non-sports news on the hour from some other net, even CNN?). FCC AM query confirms KGHM is now the call for this old graveyarder which like most OKC market stations has gone thru convulsions of callsign and/or format changes. To us, 1340 is the original KOCY, which in its 60s heyday was a major rocker. FCC callsign history, which does not go back nearly that far for any station, just shows: Call Sign Begin Date KGHM 10/02/2010 KEBC 08/23/1996 KXXY 08/05/1985 KCNN 11/03/1984 KXXY 08/29/1983 I`d forgotten about KCNN – or was out of state during that gestation period, but KXXY was also the call on 96.1 FM (and still is, I think, glibly contracted to ``KXY``). KEBC was also on FM 94.7, a C&W force for many years. Then the KOCY call came back on 1560, the station hijacked to The Metro from poor little Chickasha, originally KWCO as Women`s College of Oklahoma; now Radio Disney, but how much longer? What has Midwest City to do with this? 1340 KOCY was not attributed to that SE suburb as city of license, so why should 1340 KGHM be now? [ex-]KEBC address per NRC AM Log is in NW OKC on NW Expressway and Penn and 50th at the towering Clear Channel building, topped by its logo, across from deadly Penn Square Mall, along with KTOK-1000, et al. Still no Tiger maps from Census available via FCC, but http://www.radio-locator.com linx to Google maps pinpointing KGHM site still at NE 29th St, 3 blox east of N Santa Fe, and just a bit further from I-235, i.e. appropriately for an ND graveyarder, close to the center of OKC, not MWC. If it were out there, would have a hard time getting to the NW side at night vs hundreds of other kilowatters. I wonder if CC ``needed`` the KEBC call somewhere else? FCC currently has it nowhere on AM or FM; someone else should go get it, preferably an educational station. ``KGHM`` will encourage some misundereducated Okie sportsnuts to misspell the word ``game``, I am afraid --- or is ``ghm`` already textese for the word, saving a hefty 25%? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1670, the 1317 Cansler Drive talking house on the west side of Enid continues to be heard much stronger than before, as far east as downtown Enid, well atop the co-channel hash from other THs. So Oct 14 around 1815 UT I drive to that address to confirm whether it`s still there. Previous photo: http://www.w4uvh.net/1670th1317ca.jpg Nothing parked there now, and yes, no doubt about it, same old spiel at local level, nothing about renting it but a new sign has been added, so it`s also for rent. Realtor Greg Winkeljohn, on behalf of his hungry family of nine, must be getting desperate to dispose of this property, turned up the power on the unit inside, so a wider radius will hear about it, but forget about any DX on 1670 or listening to WTDY at night. Looked around the outside for any signs of an antenna, but nothing visible besides cable TV runs. And a bonus hornets` nest by one of the windows. [later:] I am still hunting for new photo of the hornets` nest, as Paul Swearingen requested; if I can`t find it, will go back and take another one, altho it was rather prosaic. I have now located the photo of the wasp nest (not hornet; I misspoke), at the 1317 Cansler talking house on 1670 (which continues to be well heard over much of Enid): http://www.w4uvh.net/1670th1317wasp.jpg I have no reason to believe it is a disguised antenna exceeding Part 15 parameters. Even at night now, its QRM can be heard upon WTDY Madison WI (Glenn Hauser, UT Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. The GCN pirate in Enid has remained more or less active on 99.9, never again caught on alternate 99.7 since the one time I heard it there; but checking Oct 16 at 2047 UT, it`s not on either frequency. Weak signal on 99.9 turns out to be KLUR Wichita Falls TX, despite being parked on the north side of a 2-storey storefront, which ought to block it compared to clear shot eastward toward KTCS Fort Smith AR at about the same distance, which otherwise tends to be the occupant of 99.9. 2048, Country 99.9 KLUR ID, 2052 another KLUR ID, plug a concert going on now in Wichita Falls on Market Street, and apparently a live remote from it. Meanwhile 99.9 on the caradio was getting meteor bursts of some other music for split seconds about once per minute, at 2048, 2049 and 2052, a reminder that it`s about time for the Orionids, peaking Oct 21, these being precursors? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Tropo up from OKC area, UT Oct 15 at 0320 bringing in the analog LPTVs, not only 36, but weaker 48, 19, and signs of something on 21, but --- nothing on channel 17, one of the usual 17/19/21 triumvirate. And KLHO-17 has been missing for a while, so I suspect it has been turned off and reactivated as DTV on channel 31, KLHO-LD, a CP which has been on the books; and thus it is buried under local KXOK-LD 31 Enid, like several other OK 31`s (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and/or non?]. More morning tropo Oct 15 produced some analog CCI on channel 48, 10 kHz offset apart, just like the good old days, at 1448 UT. Original 48 being KWDW, the Univisión relay in Nichols Hills duplicating much stronger ch 36. But what else could it be on 48? Rotating antenna away from OKC direxion, I get a peak on this from the northeast, much stronger than KWDW now, but the NE station is also carrying Univisión, and including OKC ad breakaway unlike otherwise // but unsynchronized direct satellite feed of UV on Enid cable 61; plus OKC ID slide at 1459 including KWDW. I rotate the antenna full 360 to be sure I am not fooled that it`s really from some other direxion. Yes, peaks from northeast, but the video is ghosty, sometimes with vertical sync problems, as if a translator is picking up the wrong signal off the side of its receiving antenna. W9WI.com shows 48 lowpowers in OK are in Altus, Buffalo, Elk City, McAlester, none in this direxion, and not a single 48 in Kansas. Looks like it has to be KELF-LP in Miamuh, the NE corner of OK, with a respectable 98.4 kW. KRSC-36 is also in from Claremore not too far away, with Classic Arts on virtual 35-1, own programming on 35-2. KELF is licensed to Family Media, Inc., with a local Miami address. This is similar to but not identical to KSBI-51 and its widespread translator network, Family Broadcasting Group, Inc. But per http://www.ksbitv.com/news/coveragearea it does not extend to Miami. Trouble is, the direxion of this 48 is really northeast from here, too far north of the Miami and Claremore azimuth. There is a 48 in Kansas City with a U-in the call, might be Univisión, but surely not including OKC ID and ads! Also, KWTW is offset-zero, so the unID is offset plus or minus. KELF is listed as plus. Started to fade out at 1520 UT and gone a few minutes later. A real mystery! (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 10-41: Hello Glenn, Yes, there is a channel 48 Univisión station in Kansas City, MO. I don't know where their transmitter is. It was unusually strong last night along with analog channels 35 (Daystar) and channel 45 (HSN). I don't remember the call letters although I saw them again last night. All of the break was local to Kansas City. Much weaker tonight. It most likely is 60-65 miles east of me (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Analog ch 48, the Univisión relay, continues to be seen here, but never with perfect video; has ghosting and sync problems. Peaks from NE direxion, where nothing is known on that channel. Can`t be too far away, as when in, stays steady signal. Oct 16 from 0030 UT a weakish signal steadily builds up to good level by 0430. Also even better, checked next morning from 1300 UT, with kidvid. I was all set at 1359 to photo the local OKC/KUOK ID, but it didn`t appear. Again at 1459 did not see it, but signal was fading down, gone by 1530. Earlier both Wichita and Tulsa DTVs were in including both KSNW-45 and KOTV-45, separable by rotation. For the third evening, I am again getting Univisión on analog ch 48 from the northeast. Already at 2315 UT Oct 16, the signal is beginning to show without horizontal synch (my old B&W TV set does that on very weak signals, and no horizontal hold!). By 2330 it synchs up and I reconfirm it`s // but not time-synchronized with Univisión direct feed on Suddenlink cable 61. As before, the signal is extremely steady, strengthens little by little; by 0050 it is still snowy and audio is not making it, but rock-steady. I had asked Trip Ericson and Doug Smith for their evaluation of this, based on my previous reports: ``The only station that fits the profile, as far as I can tell, is KUKC-LP [Kansas City MO]. I recall hearing, at one time, that several stations owned by Equity Broadcasting carried a single Univision feed which I distinctly remember included the affiliate in Jackson MS. I don't recall if it included KUKC. - Trip, http://www.rabbitears.info`` ``Agreed. The only Univisions I know of on 48 in Oklahoma or states bordering it are KUKC, KWDW OKC, and KVSN Pueblo, Colorado (which is not only the wrong direction but a DTV station) -- Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View, TN EM66`` BTW, rabbitears.info for KC Market 31 does not include KUKC-LP, even when expanded. I get my info on it from W9WI.com and FCC TV Query. The ch 48 relay call of KUOK in OKC (Nichols Hills) is indeed KWDW (alluding to Woodward?), not KWTW as I was writing it before. Once again I compare by rotating the antenna between the SSE and the NE, and the signal from NE is much stronger, than from SSE (KWDW). Including at 0041 UT Oct 17, when I had just seen an OKC ad cutaway on 48 from the NE, during Sábado Gigante. And more of that later. When I previously saw OKC ID and ads when looking at 48 from the NE, could it have really been KWDW at the moment instead of the mystery? This check indicates not so. Here are the arguments against it being KUKC-LP, Kansas City MO, the closest known Univisión station in that direxion from here: 1, It`s 249 miles away (401 km), with only 12.7 kW ERP. It might be DXed with a very good tropo opening, but steadily every night and morning? This is the kind of reception one would expect from 100 miles max, a station on the verge, which fades out in the daytime, but with a little humidity in the evenings and mornings, comes back up. Possibly there is a very stable duct between KUKC and here? That seems extremely unlikely, at least on an overland path. Hepburn`s tropo maps for Saturday morning showed we were along the edge of an enhanced tropo area (only purple) to Kansas City, but that also includes points closer. 2, Any station in Kansas City would not be carrying Oklahoma City ads and IDs. 3, offsets: when I originally saw this, KWDW was getting 10-kHz offset QRM from the other station carrying UNI. KWDW is zero offset, and W9Wi.com shows KUKC as ZdH, which I assume means it is also zero, so that does not fit; dH meaning direxional, horizontally polarized? These abbrs. are not explained anywhere I can find at W9Wi.com. BTW, KUKC-LP will eventually move to channel 39 as KUKC-LD for which there is a CP. Then we can forget about ever seeing it, vs KWTV-39 OKC. 4, If this is coming in, why aren`t other much more powerful Kansas City market stations? Initially I was not looking for them specifically, but I am tonight, manually tuning thru all the RF channels. None of the KC channels on Trip`s market 31 list show any signal at all (other than the ones blocked by OKC); except something on 18, KCPT? No, that`s probably Ponca City OK KTEW-LD, as OETA-38 is also in from there and decoding, about same direxion as KC. I do another full UHF manual tune at 0122, and now some channels correlating with Tulsa and Wichita are showing signs, but not decoding, as the antenna is aimed about halfway between them, yet nothing from e.g. WDAF-34 in KC, while I am looking at the snowy but steady mystery 48 on my analog set. Is my C-490 antenna fooling me, with very strange lobes at ch 48? This would have to be pulling in a stronger signal from about 120 degrees off than when aimed directly at the OKC station. I have not noticed it doing that in any other case. Beamwidth is typically most narrow at the top end of UHF. Could it be cable leakage? No, RF channel 48 does not equal a cable channel 61, where UNI is in Enid, and after all, that is direct, not via KUOK. Could it be someone`s home distribution system in Enid? That would not be fading in and out according to area tropo enhancement. And besides, would it be exactly tuned to offset plus or minus? It seems to me this has to be an unknown transmitter much closer than Kansas City but in that direxion, perhaps somewhere around Ponca City OK. Was there ever a channel 48 translator or LPTV there? Perhaps someone forgot to turn it off, or figured they would keep Univisión into Ponca without going to the trouble of licensing, etc. Maybe someday I will try visiting PC with a portable analog TV set, tho my old Radio Shack 5-incher is the worse for wear. The question is, how the KUOK-35 Woodward DTV signal is getting to this channel 48 analog relay. Certainly not off the air direct from Woodward, too far away. And also too far for reliable pickup of the lowpower in OKC on channel 36. And why does the signal I see have ghosting on it? A DTV input could not have that, of course. If there is an affiliate list at http://www.univision.com it is well hidden; only seems to concentrate on major markets. Searching site on KWDW and KUOK produced zero results. Searching KUKC only led to several stories about Eslovaquia en el Mundial! Maybe I should ask KUOK itself. But would they give me a straight answer, if they should know about this? Continuing monitoring of steady but snowy analog signal on channel 48 from the northeast with relay of KUOK-35, DTV Univisión from Woodward/OKC: strength did not increase much toward local midnight 0500 UT Oct 17, but the channel 18 DTV ``bad`` signal I was getting from same direxion did turn out to be Ponca City`s KTEW, decoding at 0248 with RetroTV // KXOK-31 Enid, as we also see joint IDs with it on the latter. Was Saturday night B&W horror movie with color breaks by costumed studio hosts and macabre puppets. KTEW PSIP displays as 18-1 KTEW-DT. That rules out KCPT Kansas City reception on 18, further evidence that the ch 48 is not KUKC. Better reception on 48 tnx to morning tropo enhancement. More Univisión with OKC ad breaks; at 1430 I catch a supered ID in tiny letters at the upper right, of two lines. The second line says Canal 13 de Cable (not sure of the number), and the first line is mostly off-screen! due to the permanent over-scan of the old Zenith 12-inch set I use for analog DX. Maybe the solution to this is on that invisible line. At 1500 ran regular KUOK ID slide showing calls of ch 36 and 48 relays in OKC, not this one, plus 5-day forecast. Perhaps the UR supered IDs appear only on the half-hour? Unfortunately had faded too far down by 1530. Must keep an eye on that. 674-680 MHz, the mystery channel A-48 analog relay of KUOK, Univisión for OKC, UT Oct 18 faded up from the snow after sunset, 0000 UT but this evening did not build up much by 0500, still weak. Better next morning, with stronger but ghosty, jittery signal from the near northeast where there is not supposed to be any such transmitter. Area tropo favored the Tulsa market on several DTV channels. At 1323 definitely peaking NE, not SSE from the other relay KWDW in OKC, but still quite ghosty. Strong enough at 1529-1532 to tape in case the super ID(?) appear in the upper right, but it does not. Just about faded out by 1600. Lacking any hint of sporadic E on channel 2 for months now, I typically leave the analog TV tuned to ch A-48, northeast, tracking the mystery Univisión relay. UT Oct 19, however, the signal remains very weak, not building up during the evening, nor the following morning, so something is changing, probably just where and how area tropo enhancement occurs. This is the case even when OETA-38 in Ponca City is decoding, making it less likely that 48 is in the same place. 48, Univisión from somewhere northeast of Enid: UT Oct 20 at 0045 signal fades up enough to lock synch; 0145 video and audio, as OETA-38 Ponca City is solid; 48 peaks around 0230 then fades down some. At 1400, good but still snowy and ghosty. The ghostiness has always bothered me, as it looks as if I cannot aim right at the transmitter no matter where I turn the antenna. When I do aim toward KWDW in OKC, it`s not ghosty but always weaker (until evening and morning tropo enhancement burns off). Could it be that I have been seeing KWDW all along, but when aimed at OKC, the signal is degraded by co-channel DTV? That would require the existence of another unknown transmitter. There are some full power 48s in Texas, but certainly not in daily without a DX opening. Looked for another upper-right ID super at 1430, but invisible. And when I do a full 360 at 1435 UT Oct 20, watching both the DTV signal meter on 48, and the same antenna split to the analog TV, there is no sign of any DTV signal, no matter how `bad`. I continue to get KUOK, Univisión for OKC on channel 48 from the northeast, unknown transmitter, generally stronger than when aimed directly at OKC for KWDW relaying the same. Until recently, the other KUOK relay in OKC on channel 36, KCHM-CA, had always been stronger than KWDW-LP, but for the last several days I have not been getting 36 at all. It had been my most reliable analog TV signal left. I see in W9WI.com that KCHM at 12.53 kW has an APP for 30 kW from a slightly different site, and a CP for DC (digital) 7.33 kW from yet a third site, all on channel 36: LIC: 12.53, 35-24-52, 97-30-32 APP: 30, 35-27-10, 97-27-41 CP : 7.33, 35-24-54, 97-30-36 So it may be off the air in process of installing DTV transmitter, or could already be on DTV but no longer receivable here without tropo help. Oct 22 at 1500 UT, I am not getting any signs even of a `bad` DTV signal on 36 from that direxion, but conditions are dead if not impaired while it`s raining. Unlike some other LPs or CAs, KCHM is not moving to another channel as DTV (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Until now, KOCB-33 OKC has not had any subchannels, but one has appeared UT Oct 15 at 0401, nothing but rock music videos, with bug lower-right as THECOOLTV, and PSIP Cool TV as 34-2. Website is http://thecooltv.com/ and here is the station list: http://thecooltv.com/ChannelGuide.php and it does already list KOCB OKC 34.2, but most of the [cable?] channels are ``TBA``. Looks like some of the videos are oldies, axually on film! E.g. Rock Me Amadeus, by Falco; Fine Young Cannibals. Later caught a KOCB 34.2 ID inserted. How nice to have a channel with music videos only, unlike MTV or VH1. There remain lots more potential virtual channels on OKC stations going to waste (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KWTV OKC has finally turned off RF channel 9, which since the beginning of Sept had been running nothing but a silent slide that programming is no longer available. Oct 15 at 0405 UT, punching in: 39-1, displays as 9-1 News 9 39-2, displays as 9-2 News 9 39-3, displays as 9-1 News 9 While direct tuning to RF9 confirms there is nothing there. Now maybe I will be able to DX WFAA, or have they moved back to RF8 now, as they had an APP and CP for? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. SULTANATO DE OMÃ, 15140, 09/10 1926, Rádio Sultanato of Oman, Tamarit, emissão em árabe para a Europa, com correspondentes em várias cidades, 45343 (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Receptor Degen 1103, Antena Loop Blindada confeccionada por Alexandre Deves Sailer, Base de Dados: EiBi http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Last update: 13 October, 2010), radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. PBC Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation. Frequency Management Cell, PBC Hqrs, Islamabad, Pakistan HF BROADCAST SCHEDULE B-10 Effective from 31st October, 2010 to 26th March 2011 Language Freq Transmiss Target Area TX TX kHz UTC Location Power(kW) Far East Chinese 9670 1200-1300 41,42, 43, 44, Islamabad 250 Chinese 11510 1200-1300 41,42, 43, 44, do 250 SoEaAsia Urdu 11580 0045-0215 41,44,45,49,50,51 do 250 Urdu 15490 0045-0215 41,44,45,49,50,51,54,55 250 South Asia Bangla 11570 0900-1000 41 do 100 Bangla 9345 0900-1000 41 do 100 Nepali 11570 1000-1030 41 do 100 Nepali 9345 1000-1030 41 do 100 Sinhali 15540 1230-1300 41 do 100 Sinhali 11880 1230-1300 41 do 100 Tamil 15540 1300-1330 41 do 100 Tamil 11880 1300-1330 41 do 100 Hindi 11570 1045-1145 41 do 100 Hindi 9345 1045-1145 41 do 100 Gujrati 11570 1145-1215 41 do 100 Gujrati 9345 1145-1215 41 do 100 Balti 7470 0445-0530 41 do 100 Sheena 7470 0530-0615 41 do 100 Iran, N&ME Irani 7470 1700-1800 40 do 100 Irani 6235 1700-1800 40 do 100 Urdu 15100 0500-0700 40 do 250 Urdu 17830 0500-0700 38, 39,46, 47 do 250 Urdu 7530 1330-1530 37 - 39 do 250 Urdu 11575 1330-1530 38, 39,46, 47 do 250 English 7510 1600-1615 37 - 39 do 250 English 11575 1600-1615 38, 39, 46, 47 do 250 West Europe Urdu 15100 0830-1104 17,18SE, 27-29 do 250 Urdu 17700 0830-1104 17,18SE, 27-29 do 250 Urdu 9340 1700-1900 17,18SE, 27-29 do 250 Urdu 7530 1700-1900 17,18SE, 27-29 do 250 Afghanistan Pushto 6235 1345-1445 39E, 40 do 100 Dari 6235 1445-1545 39NE, 40 do 100 PST = Pakistan Standard Time -- PST = UTC + 5 hrs (PBC via ADDX Andreas Volk-D, Oct 18, transformed via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews; English via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3345, the best of the lot, (3385 having cut off earlier), Oct 18 at 1255 lo-key and somewhat muffled talk by M, 1256 music, weaker than RRI 3325. Tentative R. Northern, Popondetta. Also carriers on PNG channels on 3365, 3315, 3290, 3275; however, Ishida reports RRI Kendari has been active on 3345 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3385, R. East New Britain. Nice ID at 1113 ending the news by W, then canned "NBC East New Britain" ID by M, music bridge, then more announcements. Good and clear. (27 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3905, R. New Ireland, 1349-1405*, Oct 21. In Tok Pisin; interview with older man talking about the 1950s and many mentions of “New Ireland”; poor with hams on frequency. 5960, Radio Fly (presumed), 1246-1341, Oct 21. Non-stop pop songs in English, but song titles unknown to me; poor; unable to make out any announcer. John Herkimer in NY is also monitoring this daily with about the same results as I have; just too weak to get an ID. Their 3915 seems to be off the air (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3329.51, Ondas del Huallaga, 1047, huaynos, then mensajes by a man. First noted as strong het against CHU, but readable in LSB. 15 October 4774.959, Radio Tarma, 1027, superb reception with huaynos and upbeat man and woman talking over the top of the songs. Peaking at S9+30dB. 15 October. 5120.48, Ondas del Suroriente, 1035, comments by a man, local time check, into huaynos. Best in LSB to escape ute, high side. 15 October. 5486.54, Reina de la Selva, 1042, presumed with huaynos, talk by a man. KO'ed by Over-the-Horizon radar at 1045. 15 October (David Sharp, NSW Australia. FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-2010, ICF-SW7600GR, MW-550P, Timewave 599zx, etc., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4986.9, 11.10 2220, R. Manantial, Huancayo quite strong this evening, ”transmite Radio Manantial desde la ciudad de Huancayo”. Normally most just above noise level. TN (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin via DXLD) ** PERU. 4790, Radio Visión, Chiclayo, 0621-0650, 17-10, locutor, español, comentario religioso. Muy débil. 14321. 4974.8, Radio del Pacífico, Lima, 0635-0650, 17-10, canciones religiosas en español. Muy débil. 14321. 6019.4, Radio Victoria, Lima, 0643-0655, 17-10, locutor, español: "Nuestro pastor David Miranda", "La Voz de la Liberación". 34433. 9720, Radio Victoria, Lima, 0536-0620, 17-10, locutor, español, programa: "La Voz de la Liberación". 24322 (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) ** PERU. 18057.9, Oct 14 at 1357, just barely audible (JBA) carrier, first time detected in many weeks; by 1404 some modulation could be heard. No doubt it`s R. Victoria, Lima, 3 x 6019.3. 18057.9, Oct 17 at 1343, very weak carrier, then bits of audio, only music past 1353. R. Victoria, Lima, 3 x 6019.3. 18057.9, R. Victoria, 3 x 6019.3, Oct 18 at 1330 with threshold audio, carrier definitely on signature off-frequency. 6019.38, Radio Victoria, 1015-1030 Oct 18, Prior to 1015, couldn't hear any chatter, however, at that time a moments of Spanish language faded in which turned out to be the regular preacher, David Miranda. So much splatter on the band which covers many of the weaker signals. Consequently Radio Victoria remained threshold. 6019.34, Radio Victoria, 1038-1030 Oct 19, This is a toughy this morning since there's a strong het produced by the signal on 6020. As for Radio Victoria, David Miranda, the Preacher, is preaching in his usual way and manner. Tried to log this earlier in the morning, but the signal hadn't developed yet. It seems to be much better at this time which leaves it at a poor level (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, WR-G31DDC, 26N 081W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Whenever I hear the third harmonic well after sunrise, it is on the low side of 18058, so the fundamental must be below 6019.333 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6019.6, Radio Victoria at 0746, Spanish, man with numerous IDs for “Radio Victoria” with classical music background, also time check and frequency. At 0822 re-check there was an emotional preacher in a presumed Indian dialect. Fair-good Oct 19 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, listening after midnight from my car with Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6019.3, R. Vitoria [sic], Lima, 0840-0851, 17 Oct'10, Portuguese, wailing preacher; 24332; the signal was blocked by R. Australia shortly prior to 0900. 9720.7, ditto, 2131-2153, 16 Oct'10, Portuguese, wailing preacher, surely "priest" David Miranda of IPDA with another relay of SRDA in Brazil (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 18057.9, Oct 21 at 1344, very weak but with the unmistakable intonations of wacky wailing gospel huxter David Miranda, from this third harmonic of R. Victoria, OAX4Q, 3 kW on 6019.3 from Lima. No one else seems to report the harmonic, but some put the fundamental on a somewhat higher frequency. Whenever I hear the harmonic, I carefully check the frequency on the YB-400 by zero-beating the BFO with WWV, then stepping between 18057, 18058 and 18059, always reconfirming that it`s on the low side of 18058, making a higher pitch het when on 18059 than when on 18057; ergo fundamental cannot be higher than 6019.333+. Possibly the frequency varies by time of day; would not be a daily warmup factor if it is on 24 hours as I think it is. 18057.9, Oct 22 at 1350, weak signal with David Miranda wailing fading up recognizably, and once again this third harmonic of R. Victoria, 6020.3, is definitely on the low side of 18058 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 15190.1, Oct 15 at 1831, had been straining to hear if a very weak signal here was in Portuguese, ergo R. Inconfidência, see BRAZIL, but now it gets a little stronger with music, then ID as ``Philippine Broadcasting System, Radio Pilipinas``, but before and after it sounded like Filipino/Tagalog as scheduled here 1730-1930. Also very lite het, with this one slightly on the hi side. Is Equatorial Guinea or Brasil also on at this time? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well this is what I’m getting: http://www.box.net/shared/ckjb6csvqq (Mark Davies, Anglesey UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Mark, One of the reasons I tuned in today was to hear if R. Pilipinas was running any special programming as the result of Typhoon Megi hitting the Philippines, but all I heard was the normal R. Pilipinas, with frequent IDs. Seems the damage done was not as severe as expected, hence no need for special coverage. So lucky you! Sometime after 1830 they must have started relaying Radyo ng Bayan (DZRB – 738 Khz. AM) that you heard (another nice recording!). It is fairly rare to hear one of these R. Pilipinas relays. http://www.pbs.gov.ph/new/site/ has audio streaming (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, USA Oct 19, ibid.) Mark, This is of course, R. Pilipinas. What time did you really record it? The URL time says 15190 Oct 19 2010 8 44 49 PM.mp3 which I guess would be 1944 UT, but they should have been off by 1930. Please, everyone, explicitly state times of observations and clips in UT (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Hi everyone, R. Pilipinas relaying Radyo ng Bayan last night at 19.00! Bayan is usually on 738 kHz, I believe. Here is a recording of what I heard http://www.box.net/shared/ckjb6csvqq (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Oct 20, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 15285, R. Pilipinas, *0200-0250, Oct 20. Heard with usual English programming; no relay of any AM station; typhoon was only a minor story; fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Radio Veritas Asia B10 October 1[sic], 2010 to March 27, 2011 Time (UTC) Language Frequency (kHz) 0000 - 0027 Sinhala 11730 0000 - 0027 Karen 11935 0000 - 0027 Sinhala 9865 0030 - 0057 Hindi 11710 0030 - 0057 Bengali 11945 0030 - 0057 Tamil 11935 0100 - 0127 Urdu 15280 0100 - 0127 Urdu 17860 0100 - 0127 Telugu 15530 0130 - 0130 Vietnamese 15530 0130 - 0157 Zomi-Chin 15520 0130 - 0157 Khmer 15280 (Test broadcast) 0200 - 0300 Russian 17830 1000 - 1030 Khmer 11850 (Test Broadcast) 1000 - 1157 Mandarin 9615 1030 - 1127 Vietnamese 11850 1130 - 1157 Myanmar 15450 1200 - 1227 Hmong 11935 1200 - 1230 Karen 15225 1230 - 1257 Kachin 15225 1300 - 1327 Vietnamese 11850 1330 - 1400 Sinhala 9520 1330 - 1400 Hindi 11870 1400 - 1427 Tamil 9520 1400 - 1427 Bengali 11870 1430 - 1457 Telugu 9515 1430 - 1457 Chin 9520 (Test Broadcast) 1430 - 1457 Urdu 15435 1500 - 1553 Filipino 15350 Wed, Fri, Sun Ext 1500 - 1600 Russian 9570 2100 - 2257 Mandarin 6115 2300 - 2327 Filipino 9720 2330 - 2357 Myanmar 9720 2330 - 2357 Vietnamese 9670 2330 - 2357 Kachin 9645 (via Ashik Eqbal Tokon, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, Oct 21, dxldyg via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. 6135, 11/10 1945, Polskie Radio, DRM, in German, S=9, sometimes no audio (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11980, UNITED KINGDOM, Polish Radio at 1237, English, man and woman reading listeners’ reports in “Multi Touch” program, ID. //11675 via Austria was fair. Good, Oct 14 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, listening in the pre- dawn hours, lakeside, from my car, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. 1584, R. Altitude, Guarda, 1 kW, est. 1948, http://www.altitude.fm In a recent call to the station, once more, no information whatsoever was obtained on whether their MW outlet is already active, or was terminated, which is most probably the case! The typical reply to this question by anyone answering the phone at RA always shows their MW operation is kept under a cloak of [silly, even stupid I'd dare say] secrecy, and that any questions about it should be addressed to the station director. My own experience after talking with him several times tells me he is also keen in avoiding this issue. So the more important or bigger the station is, the more information you (easily) get; it simply goes the other way round when it comes to petty, sorry, small [MW] stations here, here on mainland or in the islands (Carlos Gonçalves via Ydun Ritz medium wave info 18.9.2010 via ARC Information Desk 11 Oct 2010, via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. In 13m bandscanning I usually tune up to 21850 just in case, but seldom hear anything above 21695. Oct 18 at 1335, weak talk on 21810+ (slightly on hi side), non-English, undermodulated but S9 peaks; nothing here in final PWBR by the radio. 1340 I can tell it`s Portuguese, so RDPI registered M-F 13-15, 82 degrees to Mideast/S Asia, the only station in the world on 21810, and the second highest SWBC channel now in use (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. PRIDNESTROVIE - 6240, Radio PMR. Nice color F/D e- QSL with data and photo of curtain antenna. Also sent several photo attachments of an historic area that I had mentioned in my report, as described in their broadcast. V/S Anatoly Kirsa, Director. In about 24 hours for report to radiopmr @ inbox.ru (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Oct 20, Drake R-8, 25-foot RW, Cumbredx via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. 7350, Radio Romania International; 0419-0456*, 17-Oct; Variety program with news, ads, phone calls, pop music in languages. Off abruptly. SIO=353. *0357:32-0421+, 18-Oct; On abruptly with pop tune in progress; news after pips at 0400; ID at 0415 into pop music. SIO=3+43 with minor splash from 7345 & ute bursts. EiBi lists Romanian; sounded like French on the 17th and like Italian on the 18th. This is not at all like the typical RRI broadcasts (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If it was really in Romanian, probably resulting from plugging into the domestic service, which is not configured for smooth pickup by the external service (gh, DXLD) 15435, RRI keeps up its tradition of filling out the Chinese hour with obscure but well-performed operatic arias, Oct 18 at 1323, then chopped off coloratura soprano at 1325 for close-down announcement. 15435, expecting another nice operatic aria to fill out RRI`s Chinese hour, Oct 20 at 1324, instead rock song in English with heavy beat, what a drastic disappointment! 1325 cut to Chinese sign-off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM: see TUNISIA [and non] ** ROMANIA. Glenn, Radio Romania International's English service has announced that, on Monday October 25, its history series 'Pro Memoria' will carry a feature 'on radio as the only form of fighting against communism available to the Romanian diaspora' prior to 1989. Apparently, the programme will put the spotlight on Radio Free Europe and other American-backed stations. 'Pro Memoria' is carried in all of RRI's English transmissions (Roger Tidy, UK, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Nizhniy Novgorod, Vasilsursk Sura Ionospheric Heating Facility. Sura Ionospheric Heating Facility, Nizhny Novgorod Vasil'sursk Radiophysical Research Institute, NIRFI, Russia. It is situated a few kilometers from the small town of Vasil'sursk, Nizhny Novgorod rayon. No details visible on the Russian map yandex. Translator Russian - English Former LF Kriegsmarine Kalbe Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany tx, reparation after 1945-1947, and built up again in Nizhny Novgorod in 1954 Not far from an antenna field the inhabited settlement is visible Picture shows the transmitter room at Sura facility, Russia. imprecise G.C. coordinates 56 07 N 46 00 E and/or 56 13 N 46 10 E Nothing visible yet close to 56 07 58.65 N 46 04 02.85 E View of antenna array at Sura site. The Sura Ionospheric Heating Facility, located near the small town of Vasilsursk about 140 km eastward from Nizhniy Novgorod in Russia, is a laboratory for ionosphere research. Sura is capable of radiating about 190 MW, effective radiated power (ERP) on short waves. This facility is operated by the radiophysical research institute NIRFI in Nizhny Novgorod. The Sura facility was commissioned in 1981. Using this facility, Russian researchers studied the behaviour of the ionosphere and the effect of generation of low-frequency emission on modulation of ionosphere current. In the beginning, the Soviet Defense Department mostly footed the bill. The American HAARP ionospheric heater is similar to the Sura facility. The HAARP project began in 1993. Transmitter room at Sura facility. The frequency range of the heating facility is from 4.5 to 9.3 MHz. The facility consists of three 250 kW broadcasting transmitters and a 144 crossed dipole antenna-array with dimensions of 300 m x 300 m. At the middle of the operating frequency range (4.5 - 9.3 MHz) a maximum zenith gain of about 260 (~24 dB) is reached, the ERP of the facility is 190 MW (~83 dbW). page 935. First HF radar measurements of summer mesopause echoes at SURA. Page(s) 935-941. SURA radar for atmospheric studies. Observations of mesospheric echoes were carried out at the SURA facility of Radiophysical Research Institute (NIRFI, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia). It is situated a few kilometers from the small town of Vasil'sursk about 140 km eastward of N. Novgorod (geographical coordinates 56.13 N, 46.10 E). The Mesospheric radar was created at SURA using the heating facility antenna array designed for artificial modification of the ionosphere by powerful HF radiation. This antenna array consists of 12 x 12 crossed dipoles divided into three identical sub-arrays in the magnetic north+south direc-tion (about 9 degrees to the east from the geographical north) and can be operated in the frequency range of 4.5+ 9 MHz with both left and right circular polarizations. It is steerable in the north+south direction up to 40 degrees from the vertical (Belov et al., 1983). The main parameters of the antenna array are shown in Table 1. Each antenna sub-array is fully independent, and one of the sub-arrays is used as a transmitting antenna, while another is used as a receiving antenna. This same radar was used for magnetospheric sounding (Gurevich et al., 1992) with one of the main heating transmitters. These broadcast transmitters were designed for continuous operation and were not very suitable for our mesosphere investigations, due mainly to high electricity costs and limited pulse characteristics. Therefore another transmitter was connected to one of the antenna sub-arrays for mesosphere sounding, namely a pulsed transmitter with about 50-kW peak power. The transmitter parameters are shown in Table 2. The radar receiver is a modified professional receiver with a wide filter bandwidth to operate with short pulses and with a quadrature detector that provides phase measurements. The facility at Vasil'sursk. The laboratory was founded in 1965 in Vasil'sursk located at latitude 56 07 N, longitude 46 00 E, about 140 km East from Nizhny Novgorod. The low frequency facility has an antenna array, comprising three sections. Figure 1 shows the system of 12 by 12 crossed dipole elements, which covers an area of 300 by 300 metres. Each of the three sections has an set of 4 by 12 elements; each section can be pointed independently. The beams may be steered manually or electrically, in steps of three degrees, to point at angles between 12 and 85 degrees. Each section has a 300-metre aperture, and its radiation pattern approximates to a sin(x)/x shape. Radiated signals are circularly polarised. Figure 1. The transmitting antenna system at Vasil'sursk. A separate 250 kW transmitter is connected to each of the three antenna sections. Transmitter frequencies are stable to one part in 10(exp 7). Amplitude or phase modulation (or both together) are available, and external synchronisation is possible. Emissions may be a continuous carrier or a pulsed emission whose shortest pulse is 50 milliseconds. The operating frequency range is 4.6 - 9.3 MHz. Table 1 and Table 2 give the parameters of one antenna section whose beam points to a zenith angle of 34 degrees (the Sun position in July) and transmitting 250 kW. Table 1 Frequency Half-power beam Time for Sun width (calculated) within the beam --------- ------------------ --------------- 9.05 MHz 6.3 by 22.8 deg. 18.5 minutes 9.31 MHz 6.1 by 22.1 deg. 18.0 minutes Table 2 Frequency Measured-Gain Eff. area Eff. radiated (using Moon) power ---------- ------------ --------- ------------- 9.05 MHz 77 (+10%) 6700 sq m 19.2 MW (+1dB) 9.31 MHz 77 (+10%) 6400 sq m 19.2 MW (+1dB) (wb, Oct 14, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 17 vi DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 5930, the motorboating Pet/Kam transmitter already audible at 0540 UT Oct 16 in Russian. To find Pet/Kam at gaisma, you have to look under EUROPE, for all of Russia! http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/petropavlovsk-kamchatskiy.html It shows local time as UT+11, but DST is in effect, with local time sundown for Oct 16 at 18:27. Yet when I am checking this at 1515 UT, the local time clock shows 04:15! That would be UT +13, not +12. So was sundown at UT 0627 or 0527? Perhaps it`s confused by my having to set my computer on Azores Daylight Time in order to make it = UT. Gaisma also has a grayline map for the current time, but not clear how to reset it, so go to http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Earth where the terminator map may be set for any date and time. At 0527 UT Oct 16, it was still day in Pet/Kam, at 0627 UT sunset, so my log was an hour before SS. At 6 MHz, of course, it should get out considerably earlier than that, especially with lowering solar elevations. 5930, mostly motorboating rather than Russian programming audible, R. Rossii, already at 0516 UT Oct 17, even earlier than the night before. Would be interesting to detect just how early it can be heard, as winter solstice oncomes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 13665, Oct 15 at 1257 as soon as I intune, ID in passing for R. Rossii. Per HFCC this is Moskva site, 200 kW, 265 degrees at 0830-1300. After 1300 this area gets overloaded by Cuba 13680 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Re 10-41: Test transmissions of KRTPC from Armavir / Krasnodar in DRM to WeEu on 6050 kHz in various languages. Transmissions are not broadcast every day and are of varying lengths between 0400-1600 UT (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 13 via DXLD) > What's KRTPC? KRTPC is the short call of RTRS -- Rossiyskaya Televizionnaya i Radio Veshchatel`naya Cet` [transliterated by gh from the Russian in dxldyg post] branch at Armavir Tbiliskaya. Called at present under "Kubanskiy radiotsentr". Images on Victorcity http://www.vcfm.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=348 http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32516838 http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32822899 http://www.rtrs.ru/ - but you need Cyrillic skill ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Television_and_Radio_Broadcasting_Network vy 73 de wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ex-DDR, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) For Glenn: KRTPC is the Krasnodar branch of the Russian transmitter operator RTRS. The DRM tests from their Tbilisskaya site run already for some time, earlier on 75 metres, with program content reportedly being Vesti FM. The DRM consortium apparently threated this information as confidential for whatever reason, thus these Tbilisskaya tests remained widely unknown (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. FRANCE / KAZAKHSTAN «Orthodoxy voice» Expensive Listener, Radio station RADIO-AGENCY-M in Alma-Ata informs us that for the reason unsatisfactory audibility of frequency 7.430 kHz during winter time, an announcement our transfers it will be carried out on frequency 7515 kHz with 31/10/10. Please check up quality of audibility of this new frequency and, on possibilities, for comparison that occurs on former frequency in those hours, when we broadcast. We thank you and it is warmly welcomed. (Has sent Dmitry Kutuzov, Ryazan / “open_dx”) I can confirm that now transfers "Orthodoxy Voice" are conducted on Tuesdays and Fridays in 1430-1500 UT on frequency 9950 kHz through a transmitting centre in Alma-Ata. Orthodox programs are broadcast. In a coming nearer winter season the station plans to use frequency 7515 kHz in 1530-1600 UT also on Tuesdays and Fridays (Igor Jaremenko, Novosibirsk / “open_dx ’, both via RusDX Oct 17 via DXLD) I like that, computer translator, ``expensive listener`` --- yes, we are, but I am sure they only meant ``dear`` (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. International channels expand --- Moscow-based RT (formerly known as Russia Today) has gained carriage in one of the most important cities in the US. More than 1.7 million subscribers to Comcast Chicago can access the news and current affairs channel as part of the cable system's expanded basic system on channel 103. Chicago is the second largest financial centre in the US, and the country's third most populous city. "We are happy that we managed to expand significantly the broadcast range of our channel in the US recently and reach such major cities as Los Ángeles and Chicago,” RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said. “But merely expanding the broadcast is not enough to attract viewers. That’s why we focus on making RT programmes interesting specifically to our US audience and covering the subjects that appeal to American viewers.” According to a market study conducted by Nielsen Media Research in 2009, the Washington DMA TV audience prefers RT news in prime time to similar channels from other countries including Al Jazeera English, DW-TV, France 24, euronews and CCTV-9. Nielsen reported that RT’s daily audience is 6.5 times bigger than that of Al Jazeera English, while RT’s monthly audience is 5 times bigger than that of DW-TV (AIB Media Briefing 14 Oct via DXLD) ** RWANDA. RUANDA, 6055, 17/09 0301, Radio Rwanda, Kigali, discurso inflamado em idioma desconhecido, com menção a Ruanda; músicas típicas; interferência da REE, 42232 (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Receptor Degen 1103, Antena Loop Blindada confeccionada por Alexandre Deves Sailer, Base de Dados: EiBi http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Last update: 13 October, 2010), radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** SAINT HELENA [non]. Re 10-41: Real DX happening, program content is also excellent. Sitkunai 79 degree antenna is centered towards Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Hainan Isl, Philippines, but JPN and KOR situated like 45-50 degrees further north, from Lithuania. Some 35-40 degr difference away of main lobe from Sitkunai-LTU. vy73 de (Wolfy, wwdxc bc-dx topnews (Oct 13) via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. 21505, BSKSA, Oct 19 at 1325 drama with music, while Kuwait 21540 is airing another Arabic drama; a favorite late-afternoon local time for such? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SCOTLAND [and non]. 24947, Oct 19 at 1404, GM4WZL, John in southwest Scotland making lots of US contacts, a W-zero at 1407. QRZ.com lookup shows, along with his dog Lucky: JOHN SCOTT 5 Barrwood Gate NR GALSTON IN AYRSHIRE, KA4 8NA Scotland Maybe a rather localized opening as the second-best signal on 12m, Oct 19 at 1408 on 24972 approx., was G0DBE in Liverpool, yes, with a Beatles accent. LEE MARSLAND 154 MOSS LANE, LITHERLAND Litherland, LIVERPOOL, L21 7NN England When 12m is open like this, one laments the lack of any nearby BBCWS UK transmitters on 11m, which inboomed to NAm circa 1958 in the big solar peak we`re unlikely ever to experience again. OTOH, 11m CB and 10m ham were not open. Perhaps more realistically, when 12m is open from Europe, we ought to get some equally low-power broadcast harmonix, so I scanned 23-25 MHz, but no results yet. Prime sources would be: 23000-24320 = 2 x 11500-12160 23020-25188 = 4 x 5755-6297 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. Tentative RSI Bratislava B-10 schedule via Rimavska Sobota. + new frequency UTC Target Language Freq Azi kHz 0100-0130 NoAM englisch 6040+ 305 Ce&SoAM 9440 245 0130-0200 NoAM slowakisc 6040+ 305 Ce&SoAM 9440 245 0200-0230 NoAM franzoesis 6040+ 305 Ce&SoAM 9440 245 0230-0300 SoAM spanisch 6080 265 SoAM 9440 245 0700-0730 AUS&SoEaAS Englisch 13715 75 PAC&SoEaAS 15460 85 0730-0800 AUS&SoEaAS slowakisc 13715 75 PAC&SoEaAS 15460 85 0800-0830 WeEUR deutsch 5915 275 6055 305 1400-1430 EaEUR&AS russisch 9540 65 13625 50 1430-1500 WeEUR deutsch 6055 305 7345 285 1530-1600 WeEUR spanisch 9445 265 11600 245 1600-1630 EaEUR&AS russisch 6190+ 65 7240+ 50 1630-1700 WeEUR slowakisc 5915 275 6055 285 1700-1730 WeEUR deutsch 5915 275 6010+ 285 1730-1800 WeEUR englisch 5915 275 6010+ 285 1800-1830 WeEUR franzoesis 5915 275 6055 285 1830-1900 EaEUR&AS russisch 5915 50 9485 65 1900-1930 WeEUR deutsch 5915 275 7345 285 1930-2000 WeEUR englisch 5915 275 7345 285 2000-2030 WeEUR slowakisc 5915 275 7345 285 2030-2100 WeEUR franzoesis 5915 275 7345 285 2100-2130 WeEUR spanisch 9460 245 SoAM 11610 245 (modified from last winter season, RSI B-10 by Wolfgang Büschel, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, SIBC at 1158 in usual sign-off routine, man in English with devotional, woman with ID and announcements and anthem at 1202. Poor, Oct 14 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, listening in the pre-dawn hours, lakeside, from my car, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Rádio-escuta (plane spotter) preso na África do Sul Radio listener arrested South African plane spotter Julian Swift was arrested earlier this year for the alleged illegal possession of an airband receiver and for listening in on several radio frequencies. A South African press report quotes the Chair of the Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society Ashley Goosen ZS2AG as allegedly saying that they need to be licensed to possess an airband receiver legally. The press report fails to say precisely which type of license would be required since there is no "airband listening" license in South Africa. It appears this could turn into a classic case of the state determined to crush an individual. The press report says: “The state has five witnesses – including the woman who sold Swift the receiver. They are not just determined to throw the book at Julian – they are still writing a telephone directory and War and Peace to throw at him.” "Last week the state amended the charge sheet against Swift to include every frequency on his receiver." Read the South African Weekend Post story at http://www.weekendpost.co.za/article.aspx?id=613870 Fonte: Southgate Amateur Radio News (via João Gonçalves Costa, Portugal, Oct 14, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [and non]. Brother Scare --- Glenn: Moving on to my Master's work now. I have a class about "cults". I am doing my research paper on Brother Stair, proving that his group is a cult simply by applying sociological and psychological evidence. Therefore, part of my research involves listening to Stair. This can get quite humorous. For instance, early this morning (15 Oct. 2010) at around 5:30 am EDT, I decided to tune in WWCR-4 and listen to what R.G. was up to. It seemed startling that every caller who phoned in, Stair ridiculed in some manner. Whatever the listeners were doing/saying just wasn't good enough for Stair. Someone called in asking for advice on where to put the money from her CD's and IRA's. Stair called them "riches", belittled the woman and told her to give the money to her family. Someone from Australia called up and said he was doing as Stair said, getting rid of all of his possessions, securing a place to live outside of the city and he will soon be on his way. Stair replied it wasn't fast enough, that he should leave immediately! Then came the part that had me rolling out of bed laughing myself fully awake. Stair starts to complain that here it has been over an hour and he has had to re-play phone calls because no new callers have phoned in. His reasoning as to why nobody has phoned in? He thinks there are no listeners! Does he ever stop to think that maybe people aren't calling in because they don't want to be ridiculed by Stair? Nothing satisfies this man! He's just like Dr. Laura. Why would any sane person call in to her show, just to be chewed up and spit out? Oh! I also heard God speaking though Stair once again. I thought God would at least know how to speak proper grammar, wouldn't you? 73, (Bill Lauterbach - WA8MEA, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) For folx in masochism community (gh, DXLD) See USA: WWRB, WWCR, WINB ** SPAIN. 21610, not accustomed to hearing REE on 13m well past local noon, but Oct 16 at 1854 I hear good signal with announcements of e- mail address arabe @ rtve.es being spelt out with the letters in Spanish (never mind the accent), then English, then French! Well, yeah, you can`t spell it in Arabic, so poor monolinguals are out of luck unless they can spell in one of those three foreign languages. 1856 the REE fanfare once, IS once and off at 1856:30*. It`s 250 kW, 110 degrees from Noblejas at 17-19 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. According to the information from Svetlana Demidovoj (REE), in the near future it is possible there will be on Russian service of this station a program which will conduct Yina Krasnopolsky. The format, the maintenance and other details will be declared later. Yours faithfully, (Vasily Guljaev. Astrakhan, Rossija./“open_dx” via RusDX Oct 17 via DXLD) WRTH 2010 has Russian from REE, M-F 1700-1730 on 11755; May update same but on 15325. In fact, I believe we have had reports that this service was suspended long ago, but kept on the schedules anyway! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably well known Tina Krasnopolskaya from DWL Russian service Bonn? (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, it's she. Her previous DX program on Radio Slovakia International Russian service was cancelled in June 2006 (because of RSI decision to leave short wave). After that not too much has been heard from her (except few infos and interviews on DRM related topics to the Voice of Russia DX program called "Club DX"). Hope she will conduct DX program on REE Russian service. Actually, there are only 4 DX programs in Russian (presented by Voice of Russia, Radio Bulgaria, Radio Romania International and Trans World Radio). (Aleksandr Diadischev, Ukraine, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Today 16.10.2010 noted Sri Lanka BC English at new sign on time of 0130 on 6005, 9770, 15745. [later:] More changes noted at SLBC, Sri Lanka. Now they are only at 0930-1215 on 11905 7190. Earlier they were at 0830-1230 At 1000-1100 it`s Malayalam and at 1100-1215 Tamil. Must check what`s at 0930-1000. I heard announcement at sign off that they will be back at 0930 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, ibid.) Today I listened at 0945, language was telengu [sic] or kannada. Only 7190 propagating, 11905 was in skip (C. K. Raman, Oct 16, dx_sasia via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Today morning (14 Oct 2010) I followed TWR, Puttlam, Sri Lanka sign off on 882 kHz at 0130 UT and then tuned to 873 kHz. Within a minute the carrier appeared and Family Radio program in Tamil started. Thanks to the tip by Mr.C.K.Raman who heard them at 0230 in Malayalam at 0400 in English. Tamil & Malayalam are languages used in South India which is located just North of Sri Lanka. I searched in the WYFR website but could not get any info on this new transmission. (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) Also logged their evening transmission 873 kHz 0930-1030 WYFR in Malayalam 1030-1130 WYFR in Tamil (C. K. Raman, Holiday QTH - Palghat, Kerala, ibid.) ** SUDAN. 7200, 11/10 1915, Sudan RTVC, Arabic, traditional songs, phone talks. Fair (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7200, SRTC, *0218-0431*, Oct 15, sign on with Qur`an. Arabic talk. Chirping bird. Local music. Poor. Mixing with a strong Iran. Fair signal after Iran signs off at 0328 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) SUDÃO, 7200, 17/10 0335, Sudan RTVC, Ondurman, locutora em árabe, como se fosse oração, voz de criança, vinheta bem elaborada e menção ao Sudão, 45343 (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Receptor Degen 1103, Antena Loop Blindada confeccionada por Alexandre Deves Sailer, Base de Dados: EiBi http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Last update: 13 October, 2010), radioescutas yg via DXLD) 7200, SRTC, Ai-Aitahab, 1516-1529, 17 Oct'10, Arabic, news report; 24442, deteriorating, occasional amateur QRM (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 9815, 13/10 1820-1830*, Afia Darfur, Arabic reports mentioning many times Darfur IMG REC 1829 song mentioning Darfur and off, good (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SURINAME. Re CURACAO: SURINAM or DUTCH GUIANA Paramaribo had PZC 15405 5 kW. None were heard as I didn't possess a receiver capable of receiving them back then (Noel R. Green (NW England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I do remember getting AVROS, Surinam and got a QSL, for 15405, Nov 15, 1959, v/s Agnes J. Fredriks, and will add it to my gallery. Obverse is a B&W photo of a building labeled Postkantoor, Kerkplein, Paramaribo. Trying to remember what AVROS stood for --- something, Radio Omroep Suriname. I see that there are still some AVRO stations, streaming at least. [later:] I have just uploaded my AVROS, Suriname QSL from 1959 on 15405: http://www.worldofradio.com/QSL.html The last two entries at the bottom (Glenn Hauser, Oct 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. EXTRA GRIMETON RADIO/SAQ TRANSMISSION There will be a transmission with the Alexanderson alternator on 17,2 kHz on “United Nations Day” October 24 2010 at 11:00 UTC. Start up and tuning from about 10:30 UTC. This time we do not require any QSL- reports and will not verify. Regards. SM6NM/Lars P.S. We intend to continue with our annual transmission on Christmas Eve (morning), Dec 24, at 08:00 UTC with tuning up from 07:30 UTC. D.S. (via Steve Whitt, MWC yg via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [non]. While R. Sweden via Sackville booms in on 6010 at 0230, the Madagascar relay to South Asia at same time comes in with fair signal on 9510, noted UT-Oct. 20. Program in English on the two channels are not in sync, rather there is a 10-second delay with Sackville compared to Madagascar (Joe Hanlon, NJ, Oct 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9495, sufficient reception of R. Sweden in English, Oct 22 at 2056, about to sign off the 2030 relay via MADAGASCAR at 320 degrees for West Africa, and hence USward too. Only 8 more days left for this or any SWBCs from R. Sweden (except unacknowledged relays likely to continue in the nightmiddle via WRMI 9955, from WRN, M-F at 0630/0730). (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA. 9330, 12/10 1850, Radio Damascus, Syria, talks in German, good signal but low modulation (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAHITI. See UNIDENTIFIED. 738 ** TAIWAN. I had an HF station (Radio Taiwan International) send me a real nice key chain several years ago. I blinks their logo (is solar powered and blinks faster with more light). Not gotten anything (but emails) from MW stations though as I don`t even bother to QSL most of them. I`ve found that the HF guys do a lot better with this then do the MW guys these days. (Too bad) 73 and good DX to all, (Robbie in Wyoming, Oct 18, IRCA via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 9734.88, R. Taiwan International (presumed) In Asian language at *1100. Apparently RTI in Japanese to NE Asia at this time per sked. Adjusted to 9735 by 26 Sept. (24 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [and non]. Radio Taiwan International B10 Mandarin 0000-0200 NEm 860 WBGR N/A 0000-0100 CHN 1422 TWN 50 0000-0300 CHN 9660 TWN 100 0300-0400 NEm 5950 WYFR 100 0300-0800 CHN 1557 TWN 300 0400-0500 NwA 6875 WYFR 100 0400-0500 CHN 1008 TWN 600 0400-0600 CHN 11885 TWN 100 0400-0600 CHN 11640 TWN 100 0400-0600 SeA 15290 TWN 250 0400-0700 Sacramento 1210 KEBR N/A 1000-1100 CHN 6105 TWN 100 1000-1100 CHN 1422 TWN 50 1000-1500 CHN 6085 TWN 300 1000-1200 CHN 1503 TWN 600 1000-1400 CHN 9780 TWN 100 1000-1400 CHN 6150 TWN 100 1000-1700 CHN 11665 TWN 300 1000-1700 CHN 603 TWN 500 1000-1700 CHN 7385 TWN 100 1000-1700 CHN 1008 TWN 600 1100-1300 CHN 11710 TWN 300 1100-1700 CHN 9680 TWN 100 1300-1330 CHN 1503 TWN 600 1300-1400 SeA 15265 TWN 250 1300-1500 SeA 7445 TWN 100 1400-1500 CHN 7270 TWN 300 1300-1700 CHN 1098 TWN 300 1400-1800 CHN 6075, 6145 TWN 100 1500-1700 CHN 7365 TWN 300 1600-1700 CHN 1503 TWN 600 2200-2400 CHN 11710 TWN 300 2200-2400 CHN 11885 TWN 100 2200-2400 CHN 6105 TWN 100 2200-2400 SeA 11635 TWN 100 2200-2400 CHN 6150 TWN 100 2300-2400 CHN 9685 TWN 100 2300-2400 CHN 9660 TWN 100 2300-2400 CHN 7270 TWN 100 Hokkein 0100-0200 TWN 1422 TWN 50 0500-0600 TWN 1422 TWN 50 0500-0600 CHN 1008 TWN 600 0900-1000 TWN 1422 TWN 50 1000-1100 CHN 15465 TWN 100 1200-1300 CHN 1206 TWN 100 1200-1300 SeA 11715 TWN 250 1300-1400 CHN 11625 TWN 100 Hakka 0200-0230 CHN 1422 TWN 50 0230-0300 NwA 15440 WYFR 100 0230-0300 NEm 860 WYFR N/A 0430-0500 SeA 15320 TWN 100 0730-0800 NwA 1210 WYFR N/A 1030-1100 SeA 15270, 11625 TWN 100 1230-1300 NeA 6105, 11915 TWN 100/250 1530-1600 SeA 11550 TWN 100 Cantonese 0200-0230 NwA 15440 WYFR 100 0200-0230 NEm 860 WYFR N/A 0400-0430 SeA 15320 TWN 100 0700-0730 NwA 1210 WYFR N/A 0900-1000 SeA 15465 TWN 100 1000-1030 SeA 15270, 11625 TWN 100 1200-1230 CHN 11915, 6105 TWN 250/100 1500-1530 SeA 11550 TWN 250 1500-1600 SeA 7380 TWN 100 English 0100-0200 Sas 11875 TWN 250 0200-0300 NEm 5950 WYFR 100 0200-0300 CNm 9680 WYFR 100 0230-0300 TWN 1422 TWN 50 0300-0400 NwA 6875 WYFR 100 0300-0400 SeA 15320 TWN 100 0500-0600 NwA 6875 WYFR 100 1100-1200 SeA 11715, 7445 TWN 250/100 1600-1700 CHN,SAs 11550 TWN 100 1600-1700 SAs 12055 Issoudun 500 1700-1800 CAf 11850*,15690** Issoudun 500 1800-1900 Weu 3965 Issoudun 250 * 11850(31.10.10~26.02.11) **15690(27.02.11~26.03.11) [English via WYFR given on WORLD OF RADIO 1535] French 1900-2000 Af/W.Af 9365*, 11875** Issoudun 500 1900-2000 wEu 3985 Skelton 250 * 9365 (31.10.10~26.02.11) **11875 (27.02.11~26.03.11) Spanish 0200-0300 SAm 7570 WYFR 100 0400-0500 CAm 6890 WYFR 100 0600-0700 NwA 6875 WYFR 100 2000-2100 WEu 3965 Issoudun 250 2300-2400 SAm 11885 WYFR 100 0200-0300 SAm 11995 Montsinery 500 German 1900-2000 Eu 3955 Skelton 250 2100-2200 wEU 3965 Issoudun 250 Russian 1100-1200 NeA 11985 TWN 100 1400-1430 Moscow 738 Moscow N/A 1400-1500 CRu 15225 Issoudun 500 1700-1800 Moscow 6120*, 9840** Issoudun 500 * 6120 (31.10.10~26.02.11) **9840 (27.02.11~26.03.11) Japanese 0800-0900 NeA 11605 TWN 250 1100-1200 NeA 9735 TWN 250 1300-1400 NeA 9735 TWN 250 Vietnamese 0000-0030 SeA 11655 TWN 250 0900-1000 SeA 15270 TWN 100 1100-1200 TWN 1422 TWN 50 1200-1300 SeA 11765 TWN 100 1300-1400 CHN,TWN 1206 TWN 100 1400-1500 SeA 9625 TWN 250 2330-2400 SeA 11655 TWN 250 Thai 1300-1500 CHN,TWN 1422 TWN 50 1400-1500 SeA 11635 TWN 100 1500-1600 SeA 7555 TWN 100 1500-1600 SeA 1503 TWN 600 2200-2300 SeA 1503 TWN 600 2200-2400 SeA 7445 TWN 100 2300-2400 SeA 1422 TWN 50 Indonesian 0300-0500 TWN 1422 TWN 50 1000-1100 SeA 11520 TWN 100 1000-1100 SeA 11550 TWN 250 1200-1300 TWN 1422 TWN 50 1200-1300 SeA 11625 TWN 100 1400-1500 SeA 11875 TWN 250 Code for Area and Countries : Af-Africa CAm-Central America CHN-China Eu-Eruope ME-Middle East NAm-North America NEm-North East America RUS-Russia SAm-South America SAs-South Asia SeA- South East Asia TWN-Taiwan RELAYED VIA: WYFR, USA; Skelton, UK; Issoudun, Montsinery, France AM KEBR AM 1210 kHz, Sacramento CA, USA Mandarin: 2000-2300, Cantonese/Hakka: 2300-2400, local time WBGR 860 EST DST Mandarin A 2000-2100, Mandarin B 2100-2200, Cantonese/Hakka 2200-2400 (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India. Dxldyg via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. TADJIQUISTÃO, 4765, 13/10 0153, Radio Tajiquistan, Dushambe, locutora em idioma tadjique e músicas típicas, 35333 (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, Receptor Degen 1103, Antena Loop Blindada confeccionada por Alexandre Deves Sailer, Base de Dados: EiBi http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Last update: 13 October, 2010), radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** THAILAND [and non]. 17515, something here I don`t usually find, Oct 21 at 1326, heavy flutter in central Asian language? Cut off at 1329* after a bit of music I did not recognize, but was not the DW theme. Uplooked later in HFCC, it`s BBC in Uzbek via THAILAND, 250 kW, 325 degrees at 1300-1330. Normally this language is jammed by the ChiCom, but none heard now. Unusual opening. Also fluttery was Saudi Arabia on 17615, 17625, 17895, also high-latitude path over the other side of the north or south pole (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 1098. A strong signal in Tibetan on 1098 kHz was noted in early Sep 2010, parallel with Xizang PBS Lhasa 594 kHz. It's possible that 1098 is a new Xizang PBS frequency, or that it's something else and both it and Lhasa happened to be relaying CNR in Tibetan when I heard them. Perhaps 1098 could be Golmud relieved from jamming duties and shifted from 1134, now that AIR's Mogra transmitter on 1134 kHz is inactive and no longer carrying AIR External Services in Tibetan. (Alan Davies, ARC Information Desk 11 Oct 2010, via DXLD)) 1098 noted at 1955 and 2145 with CNR1 and audio in reasonable synchronism with Golmud 4800. Also from 2155 and at 1530 with CNR11 in Tibetan, not in parallel with Lhasa shortwave. I agree with Alan that this seems be Golmud ex 1134. The Russian stations in the Vologda region on this frequency seem to be off the air (Olle Alm, Sweden, ARC, ibid.) 1134, The 1200 kW CNR-1 transmitter on 1134 kHz at Golmud seems to have been inactive for several months at least. My last note of hearing it is from September 2009 (Alan Davies, ARC Information Desk 11 Oct 2010, via DXLD) ** TIBET. 6200, Xizang PBS via Lhasa, 1530-1600, Oct 18. “Holy Tibet” show in English; items about Tibet (during the National Day Holiday about 250,000 tourists came to Lhasa); “Tourism of Tibet” (60th anniversary of the liberation of Chamdo in eastern Tibet Autonomous Region of southwest China; info about Chamdo almost verbatim from < http://www.chinaembassy.org.in/eng/focus/t736967.htm >); no musical selections today; with their recent reactivation, now heard again with routine reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUNISIA [and non]. 9725, soprano with Arabic song, Oct 17 at 0506, good signal. Figured it might be Tunisia so checked 7275, and found that // just in time, as 9725 cut off the air in mid-song at 0507:30 after a few sex of dead air, which is the typical pattern when RTT deliberately goes off. Then at 0511:05*, 7275 also cut off the air. That must have been unexpected. Next check at 0605, 7275 was back on along with // 7335 in Arabic talk, news? Per WRTH May update, nominal closetime for 9725 is 0500, along with 12005. HFCC registrations for this read roughly one hour later than reality. Why would RTT go from higher bands before sunrise to lower bands later? 9725 is aimed east, 100 degrees, while 7275 is aimed NW, 340 degrees. 7225, surprised to find Arabic music here Oct 19 at 0513, but nothing on 7275, the correct spot for RTT. 0517 YL announcement, more music; 0530 ``Tunis`` mentioned at least thrice in apparent next program title, more music. 7335 not yet on which would be an easy //. It so happens that 7225 IS the scheduled RTT frequency in the evenings, at 1700-2110 per WRTH May updater. So operator obviously forgot to change the frequency after that, or re-entered the wrong one by mistake, and likely will be back on 7275, 24 hours later. Fortunately, was not colliding with any legitimate occupant of 7225; nothing scheduled after VOR finishes with Pridnestrovye at 0300. 7275, RTT was back where it is supposed to be, Oct 20 at 0557, after having been on 7225 by mistake the night before. BUT, Oct 21 at 0618 check it`s on 7225 once again! And now there is QRDRM from 7225-7230- 7235. That`s RRI, Romania in German, fortunately 0600-0630 only, 300 kW, 307 degrees from Tiganeshti, and hence USward. Are they really running full analog-like power with DRM? Most stations cut it back. I trust the Tunisian interference upmessed RRI DRM reception, like vice versa. RTT continues to alternate between 7275 and mistaken 7225 from one night to the next. Oct 22 at 0551 check with Arabic music, it`s back on 7275, and a few minutes later joined by // 7335 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also 7275 on Oct 23 ** TURKEY. 9460, nice Turkish music, brief announcements Oct 22 at 2047-2057* from TRT, fair signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA [non]. Special transmission via MBR --- Hi all, Special transmission of Radiyo Y'Abadanga Ababaka in Swahili to EaAf on October 16 only: 1700-1900 on 15410 ISS 250 kW / 140 deg Sat, ex 1700- 1730. 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. RUI expected to leave SW at end of 2010: see next issue or posts already in dxldyg ** U K. BBC Bangla still announces the wrong GMT! Almost a month after Swapon Chakrabarty alerted the BBC authorities about wrong time announcement BBC Bangla continues to announce the wrong GMT. At 0030 UTC on 20/10/2010 this faulty announcement gave out the time as "6.30 am in Bangladesh, 5 am in India and 11.30 pm GMT". In an attempt to cover up, the live broadcast which followed gave out the correct Indian local time as "6.30 am in Bangladesh and 6 am in India". GMT was not corrected. So here was a funny situation where BBC Bangla gave out two different Indian local time announcement within a gap of few seconds and each differing by 1 hour! This mix up happened because Bangladesh Government scrapped the Daylight Savings time in March this year. The faulty BBC Bangla time announcement is based on the the erstwhile Bangladesh daylight savings time and lingering in a relay transmitter recording. arlier BBC Bangla website is on record to have carried backdated and incorrect frequency information for well over 18 months in spite of reminders. So much for information mess in the digital world of podcasting, mobile feed and DTH where the BBC continues to announce the wrong GMT days after days (Supratik Sanatani, West Bengal, Oct 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non?]. 11680, fair Oct 22 at 2051, strange mixture of Arabic and English comments, mentioning Price-Waterhouse-Cooper, and a little later, ukuleles. BBCWS in Arabic is scheduled here until 2100; HFCC, EiBi and Aoki all show both Rampisham at 168 degrees, and Moosbrunn, AUSTRIA at 115 degrees, but presumably only one or the other at any time; no echo audible, at least (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [and non]. Check out http://www.dxaktuell.de for two items about the DRM transmissions of DW and BBC. One says that DW will cancel its complete DRM service after Oct 30. The other gives a tentative schedule for BBC WS in DRM as of Oct 31, showing only a few hours via Sines and Moosbrunn. This in theory leaves the possibility of more transmissions via Babcock facilities in the UK, so perhaps some clarification is still required here. But the end of the common DW-BBC DRM service appears to be a matter of fact, and it is said that it has been announced already at the HFCC conference for B10 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Re: BBC's DDG Mark Byford, ex WS director, made redundant Here's a copy of the internal BBC Memorandum on the matter, courtesy of "The Guardian": http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/13/mark-thompson-bbc-executive-board Funding source change for the BBC World Service? Apropos to Mike Barraclough' s mention of the pending BBC reorganization: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/spending-review/8062238/Spending-Review-what-it-means-for-the-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Office.html or http://snipurl.com/1b1oj8 The Department for International Development ("DfID") will be picking up a greater portion of the operating cost of the World Service. It's a separate UK government ministry, split off from the FCO in 1997, so says Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_for_International_Development My take on this is that the English language interests of North America, Australia, and New Zealand will likely be deemphasized, with increased focus on Africa and South Asia -- essentially continuing the evolution away from being the UK's cultural and ideological emissary (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** U K. BBC DG interviewed on On The Media See http://www.onthemedia.org/episodes/2010/10/08 Mark Thompson, the BBC's Director General, is interviewed; a good discussion covering several topics including the World Service. Worth a listen (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** U K. CHILE MINERS REPORTING BY BBC SQUEEZES COVERAGE OF OTHER EVENTS --- G20, Nato and climate summits, and even the Oscars ceremony coverage could be trimmed as Chile miners broadcast bill tops £100,000, says BBC memo James Robinson and Damian Carrington guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 October 2010 20.52 BST http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/13/bbc-chile-miners-rescue-bill/print BBC coverage of the Chile miners rescue has topped £100,000, threatening other events, says an internal corporation memo Photograph: Ho/REUTERS The BBC has spent so heavily on its coverage of the Chilean miners rescue it is being forced to reduce its coverage of other major events, including next month's G20 summit in Seoul and the Oscars. A memo written by the BBC's world news editor, Jon Williams, and sent to fellow executives, says the cost of reporting the rescue will exceed £100,000. It will also result in cuts to coverage of the Cancún climate summit, which begins in November, the Nato summit in Lisbon, and the Davos World Economic Forum. BBC News has sent 26 people to cover the dramatic rescue of the San José miners, pushing its annual budget far beyond its agreed limit. "The financial situation is serious", Williams warns. "We are currently £67k beyond our agreed overspend of £500k; newsgathering's costs for Chile will exceed £100,000." In the memo, which has been seen by the Guardian, Williams also outlines the "consequences for other events in the coming months". They include sending either the BBC political editor, Nick Robinson, or business editor, Robert Peston, to the G20, but not both. "We will scale back editor deployments to the G20 – so either Robert or Nick, not both," Williams wrote. The memo was sent last week and it is not clear whether a decision has been made on who to send, but both Robinson and Peston could normally expect to report on the G20. The BBC will also send just one correspondent to cover the Cancún climate summit, in November and December. "Clearly when a major unforeseen story happens, especially in a remote location, we have to be responsible and look at how this affects our longer term plans," said a spokeswoman for the BBC. "We have been providing round the clock coverage of the miners story across numerous outlets on radio, TV and online, ensuring we meet the huge interest our audiences have in the story. We will continue to cover all the other major stories coming up such as G20, Cancun, Lisbon etc but we are constantly reviewing how to provide the best coverage for our audiences with the resources we have." Environmental campaigners expressed concern about the plan. Friends of the Earth's executive director, Andy Atkins, said: "It's vital that the BBC doesn't compromise the quality of coverage when ministers meet in Cancún this December." Coverage of the Lisbon Nato summit will now be characterised by "much reduced ambition", according to Williams. Live Oscar coverage next February will run mainly on BBC1's Breakfast show (via Brock Whaley, HI for DXLD) ** U K. More about BBCWS plans -- Nigeria-specific programming See http://www.newsonnews.net/radio/5111-bbc-launches-dedicated-content-for-nigeria-at-africast-2010.html or http://snipurl.com/1behij The BBC and PRI have used "The Changing World" as the title for re- airing of BBCWS documentaries on US public radio stations; a new version called "The Changing World For Nigeria" will air documentaries and features specifically for a Nigerian audience. There is no mention above regarding the use of shortwave for this (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Oct 18, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** U K [non]. BBC World Service on FM in Berlin --- According to information on the website of Berlin's equivalent to Ofcom, BBC World Service is about to give up its long-time FM frequency allocation of 90.2 MHz in favour of one with an inferior area coverage. As far as I can tell from a press release at the following URL: http://www.mabb.de/presse-publikationen/archiv/2010/12102010.html The move will be to 94.8 MHz and will cost them less to run. There is even the suggestion that they will be allowed to employ up to two minutes an hour of advertising on this frequency! 90.2 MHz will in turn become the outlet of the region's only Children's radio station, "Radio Teddy" (Aftett, Oct 18, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) See GERMANY ** U K. FUNDING OF BBC WORLD SERVICE CAN'T COME FROM RADIO BUDGET, SAYS BBC CHIEF --- Beehive City By Adam Sherwin October 19, 2010 The £230 million burden of funding the World Service, the price the BBC must pay for a new six-year licence fee deal, shouldn't fall on the radio division, the BBC's Head of Audio has said. The World Service bill, along with other commitments the BBC has agreed to undertake, amounts to the cost of running its five national radio stations. Tim Davie, the BBC radio boss, told Beehive at the Radio Festival in Salford: "I don't think anyone is proposing taking £300 million out of the Audio & Music budget. There wouldn't be a lot left." He added: "Obviously this is a decision taking place at a pan-BBC level rather than just looking at radio services. As the guy in charge of Radio I would say that our portfolio delivers value for money for the licence fee. I think Radio stacks up very well." Was Davie involved in the discussions over the agreement to take World Service funding away from the Foreign Office? "I don't want to go into detail about discussions at this point in time. It remains speculation until we see what comes out in the Comprehensive Spending Review." Full story at http://www.beehivecity.com/radio/300-million-world-service-bill-cant-come-from-radio-budget-says-bbc-boss4568/ (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Today, October 20 is the big day for the budget. Although any major cuts to BBCWS shortwave output probably won't come until the A11 season, I'm curious to see if any anticipatory early trimming might happen with the B10 schedule, due out any time now (Steve Luce, Houston, TX, ibid.) ** U K. BBC Funding === Interesting discussion with Sir John Tusa and Jocelyn Hay on BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning at 08:34 (0734 UT). John Tusa was managing director of the BBC World Service from 1986 to 1993. Jocelyn Hay founded the Voice of the Listener & Viewer (VLV) in 1983. This will be available via Listen Again later today (Mike Terry, UK, Oct 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC BUDGET CUT BY 16% IN SPENDING REVIEW, GEORGE OSBORNE CONFIRMS The Guardian By James Robinson and Mark Sweney 20 October 2010 The chancellor, George Osborne, today said the BBC will see its budget cut by 16% - "similar to the savings made by government departments" - as he confirmed that the government has "struck a deal" that will see the licence fee frozen for six years. Osborne told MPs the agreement would "help every family" in the country. He also confirmed the BBC will take on responsibility for funding the World Service and BBC Monitoring, and part-funding S4C, as well as helping to meet the cost of rolling out broadband internet access to rural areas. He said this will save the government £340m from general taxation. "To ensure the cost is not passed on the the licence-fee payer... the licence fee will be frozen for the next six years," Osborne added. Together with the licence-fee freeze, that is the equivalent of a 16% cut, Osborne said. The average cut to Whitehall departments in the comprehensive spending review is 19%. The BBC World Service budget will fall by 16% over four years. Its annual foreign office grant is £272m but that has already been reduced to £261m following earlier government cuts. The World Service will now be forced to make "tough cuts", according to a senior BBC source. Osborne said he had approached the BBC to ensure the corporation "made their contribution" to the savings being made by other parts of the public sector. He also confirmed the BBC had agreed not to expand its presence in local media and would cut back the size of its online operation. Those measures were both outlined in the BBC's strategy review earlier this year. Sir Micheal Lyons, the BBC Trust chairman, described the licence fee settlement running until April 2017, as "tough". But he added it would provide the BBC with "certainty" and stability". Senior executives at the BBC are privately insisting that having certainty over future funding is a good outcome. They feared they would have faced several years of licence-fee cuts if talks over a deal had begun next year as originally planned. He added that taking on responsibilities including the World Service and S4C "brings with it new obligations for the BBC". "They are all obligations that are relevant to the BBC's mission and purpose - to be a public service broadcaster of the highest quality that serves all audiences," Lyons said. "There is no doubt that the settlement will present us with some difficult choices but, importantly, these choices will remain firmly in the hands of the BBC Trust." Mark Thompson, the BBC director general, added: "This is a realistic deal in exceptional circumstances securing a strong independent BBC for the next six years. It means that efficiency and reform will continue to be key issues for us. But our focus remains providing distinctive, high-quality programmes valued by the public. This deal will safeguard that until 2017." http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/20/bbc-cuts-spending-review (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) Bonham Carter delighted at new BBC agreement with Government | Press Releases Detail] From the minority party in the UK Conservative coalition. http://www.libdems.org.uk/press_releases_detail.aspx?title=Bonham_Carter_delighted_at_new_BBC_agreement_with_Government&pPK=7f433beb-a1fc-49b1-a748-1ba7171a6cb3 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 "The Liberal Democrats are the BBC's strongest supporters and, like the BBC itself, we are delighted at its new agreement with the government." Baroness (Jane) Bonham Carter, co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Culture, Media and Sport said: "The Liberal Democrats are the BBC's strongest supporters and, like the BBC itself, we are delighted at its new agreement with the government. "The new arrangement sees BBC funding guaranteed for six years, a secure future for S4C and the BBC World Service, and more support for the roll-out of high speed broadband. "We can be confident that this agreement marks the best possible outcome for the Beeb. "Anyone who counts themselves as a BBC supporter can be pleased as well." (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) Over at Bush House on the other side of London, Peter Horrocks, the director of the World Service and BBC Global News, and his team were also involved in the process. Thompson met Hunt again yesterday and by the afternoon the idea of the BBC funding the World Service from 2014/15, rather than the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was on the table. One source said: "The plus side for the World Service being funded by the BBC is that often people around the world don't like the fact it's funded by the UK government. There will be streamlining that would come about anyway moving in with the rest of news into the new Broadcasting House, but at least it won't be squeezed by the FCO any more and it can be more integrated into the BBC." Importantly for the BBC, MediaGuardian.co.uk understands that the deal will also essentially ensure the future of the BBC Trust is safeguarded until the end of the charter in 2016. And the DCMS will not put any new financial burdens on the corporation or its scale, leaving that for the trust to decide (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) HOW THE BBC LICENCE FEE DEAL WAS DONE | Media | guardian.co.uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/20/bbc-licence-fee-negotiations Talks took place at breakneck speed, as the corporation was dragged into the government's spending review As recently as late August Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, and BBC director general Mark Thompson were both saying publicly that licence fee negotiations would not start until the spring of next year. So how did the government and the BBC go from that to tying up a licence fee deal within the past two weeks - including a frantic final 48 hours of negotiations from Sunday? The process that led to last night's deal to freeze the licence fee at ?145.50 for six years, with the BBC taking on extra funding commitments including the World Service and S4C, began about a fortnight ago when the Department for Culture, Media and Sport started talking to the corporation about what part it could play in the coalition's comprehensive spending review. The DCMS asked the corporation what "contributions" it could make. The DCMS was in turn being asked by the Treasury for a savings figure to put in its comprehensive spending review, announced today by the chancellor, George Osborne. A game of hardball ensued, with the BBC realising that Hunt was not bluffing when he warned, at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival in August, that "The BBC has to live on the same planet as everyone else." And so came a potential killer blow: shifting the cost of paying for free TV licences for over-75s from general taxation to the BBC licence fee, an idea the corporation first heard about at the end of May. At the time, the government denied to MediaGuardian.co.uk it was looking at the idea. BBC sources admitted it was clever, as the corporation could not be seen to be denying the over-75s free TV licences. The principle of the Department for Work and Pensions paying for TV licences for the over-75s and then passing on the ?566m cash to the BBC was introduced by the last Labour government. By the weekend the government had also asked the BBC to consider taking over funding of the World Service, S4C and BBC Monitoring. However, on Sunday the outgoing BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, drew a line in the sand, sending a letter to the prime minister, David Cameron, and his deputy Nick Clegg saying the corporation would not agree or accept shouldering the burden of the over-75 TV licences - essentially a "welfare payment". Lyons shocked colleagues and the industry when he announced last month that he would be stepping down next year - after earlier saying he would seek a second term as BBC Trust chairman. But now he could afford to be more bullish in negotiations with the government. The Liberal Democrats, led by Don Foster MP, were also concerned about the impact on the BBC's services and the principle of the corporation's independence being eroded if the corporation was lumbered with funding free TV licences for the over-75s. But on Monday evening as Thompson was on the train home to Oxford it appeared there was no deal. Then came a call that the DCMS wanted to talk and he returned to London to speak to Hunt. Yesterday talks with the government were being led at the BBC by Thompson, chief operating officer Caroline Thomson, strategy chief John Tait and Lyons. Over at Bush House on the other side of London, Peter Horrocks, the director of the World Service and BBC Global News, and his team were also involved in the process. Thompson met Hunt again yesterday and by the afternoon the idea of the BBC funding the World Service from 2014/15, rather than the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was on the table. One source said: "The plus side for the World Service being funded by the BBC is that often people around the world don't like the fact it's funded by the UK government. There will be streamlining that would come about anyway moving in with the rest of news into the new Broadcasting House, but at least it won't be squeezed by the FCO any more and it can be more integrated into the BBC." Importantly for the BBC, MediaGuardian.co.uk understands that the deal will also essentially ensure the future of the BBC Trust is safeguarded until the end of the charter in 2016. And the DCMS will not put any new financial burdens on the corporation or its scale, leaving that for the trust to decide. In return the BBC has had to swallow a licence fee freeze but was given the security of a six-year settlement, an outcome that "both sides were comfortable with as it was a similar length to previous ones", according to one insider. However, there are many questions still left unanswered following the settlement. Last month Hunt warned that public disclosure about top stars' pay would form part of talks about the next licence fee settlement. Is that now off the agenda? Thompson said in Edinburgh in August that he would be staying at the BBC to see through the next licence fee deal. He also told TV festival delegates in his MacTaggart lecture: "A pound out of the commissioning budget of the BBC is a pound out of UK creative economy. Once gone, it will be gone for ever." Now that the director general has secured a six-year settlement - although at a price - will he leave earlier than expected? (via Dan Say, DXLD) A VERY DIFFERENT BBC --- The Guardian === Jean Seaton 20 October 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/20/bbc-survives-spending-review The last time that such aggressive policy, apparently made on the hoof, was directed at the BBC (before this week), was during the Suez crisis in 1956. Then, the Conservative government threatened to cut the corporation's funding by 20%, on the spot, unless its overseas services immediately complied with government policy over the ill- fated invasion of Egypt. This week's threat to the BBC was similar in speed, equally ad-hoc, but far more radical. Of course the corporation could not be isolated from the economic blizzard: but it's the constitutional threat we should worry about. The good news in 1956 was that the BBC refused to cave in. The good news in 2010 is that in the heat of frenzied horse trading the BBC salvaged vital principles, and provided solutions. Jeremy Hunt did not get the sacrifice of the licence fee he was looking for. The BBC is a broadcaster and not a welfare provider: so the government's attempt to make the corporation responsible for the licence fee payments of the elderly was not just a matter of cash but a much larger issue of core purpose. By resisting that (no one has slept much in Mark Thompson's office recently) the BBC has protected the integrity of the licence fee. By folding other bits of the BBC family, the World Service, Monitoring and Welsh language broadcasting into the homeland of the corporation, and by accepting hugely reduced but secure funding until 2017, it has also seen off other future coalition raids on BBC funding. Managing cuts is horrible: managing settlements that have to be re-negotiated every year could be lethal; they would have left the BBC open to political pressure and non-stop trench warfare. BBC editorial and operational independence has been preserved in the teeth of opposition. The - sort of - good news is that some of the threats had been in the pipeline and the BBC has been preparing for them. The bad news is that this is an attempted constitutional revolution. The process makes a mockery of pious government calls for BBC "transparency" and "accountability" when it was in opposition, if policy can be bandied about on the back of (secret) envelopes. The role of the World Service and BBC Monitoring is now fundamentally at question, even if the changes are defendable. The World Service is a jewel in the BBC's crown but is also a national strategic asset and international resource. It is of greater not lesser importance now that we are battling for hearts and minds all over the world. Foreign Office funding recognised that international value - but was so daintily arranged that it did not compromise independent news production. Will the domestic licence-fee payer be a wise guardian of national strategy and international policy? Will the World Services' magnificent news values be compromised by having to sit within a domestic framework? Digital broadcasting is breaking down national boundaries but people in Africa still have different news needs from those in Britain. Hungry international media corporations eye the BBC resentfully and armed with the hostility of our domestic press towards it - what do they care about our national interest? Monitoring, which listens to the world on our behalf, feeds BBC news, but it also feeds intelligence - surely better at arms length from the BBC? Eighty years of fastidious attention to how a great national and international institution, the BBC, should be governed have nearly been overturned in 48 hours. All the babies might not have been thrown out with the bathwater, but the corporation is one of the things we collectively think with: lose it and we lose intelligence in a volatile world (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Words well considered, well chosen, well written. Tell me, why is it that lately -- both in experiencing events in my own country (US) and in circumstances like this one repeated too many times overseas--I am beginning to feel more and more a kinship with the saner citizens of ancient Rome as they watched with increasing apprehension the Visigoths storming the gates? (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, dxldyg via DXLD) I'm still waiting for what should be two separate and thorough discussions: Specifically what programming should a revamped BBCWS provide, and where shortwave fits in to the distribution plan. A complete answer to the first question must happen before dealing with the second. Still curious as to what (if any) preemptive cuts will be made to the SW output for B10, even though the new BBCWS budget (supposedly) comes into effect next April (for the A11 season.) (Steve Luce, Houston, TX, ibid.) World News Blog - SIGH OF RELIEF AT THE DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT – CRY OF ANGUISH AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE. http://blogs.channel4.com/world-news-blog/sigh-of-relief-at-the-department-for-international-development-%E2%80%93-cry-of-anguish-at-the-foreign-office/14280 What was interesting is that as recently as last week, the DfID was deemed likely to fund a greater portion of the World Service in the years ahead. Much of "Newshour" on Tuesday looked at the consequences of shifting funding to the Licence Fee instead of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) What remains to be seen is how much of the BBC World Service will be left after the dust settles. It's hard to imagine that the BBC is going to want to spend a lot of money on the World Service (Mr. Sandy Finlayson, Director of Library Services & Professor of Theological Bibliography, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA, ibid.) The World Service and domestic operations were in the process of consolidating their physical locations; already much of what the World Service "spends" is simply to reimburse the domestic operation for programming and services. So, one expense that should be avoidable is the cost to maintain the intra-BBC accounting. Those of us interested in preserving the World Service should monitor the activities of the BBC Trust, as that now becomes the entity responsible for WS oversight. In the "Newshour" segment I mentioned, Sir John Tusa stated his opinion that the World Service has built up substantial goodwill amongst Brits and he believed that goodwill would help keep an organizational focus on the World Service. I would think that "Over to You" and "World Have Your Say" would be interesting programs to monitor over the next few weeks as this continues to play out (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) One dynamic mentioned in The Guardian was how the everyday Brit would react to having some of the license fee go to an Urdu or Arabic service. I'd posit that we might -- once again -- hear more domestic fare (e.g. from Radio 4) on the WS in English. But, in the main, I think this is good at first blush (and certainly much better than it might have been). If you remember back to some of our other discussions, one of the laments with VOA and to a lesser extent RCI is that these stations had no domestic constituency to fight for them during the budget wars et al. WS definitely has this going for it at least. I agree with Rich -- there is pride on the street in the UK over the WS. And that's not a bad place to start. BTW, the switch doesn't kick in until 2014 (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K. "BBC WORLD SERVICE IS AT RISK OF BECOMING A POSTCOLONIAL LEGACY" --- The Guardian, Balaji Ravichandran, 21 October 2010 When I was 10, I inherited an old-fashioned analogue radio from my grandmother's sister. It would remain untouched for four years, but from the age of 14 until 20, when I moved to England from India, almost every evening I would take this radio to the terrace of our apartment complex and listen to the BBC World Service on shortwave. The reception was never compelling, the signal would undulate between sheer noise and ill-concealed clarity, and more often than not, the news would leave me depressed and fulminating. None of that mattered. The signature bulletin, the announcement of various city names and then the news read in received pronunciation opened up worlds and possibilities I would otherwise never have imagined. In India, a country with an unquenchable appetite for news and information, the local and national media devoted hours to jingoistic self-congratulation, economic stardom and, of course, the lives of superstars, east and west. Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction dominated headlines for nearly a week in India, whereas the loss of innocent lives in territories east, west, north and south of the country barely made it to the headlines. The World Service was, and remains, the voice of intellectual sincerity - the voice of Indian Maoists was heard just as easily, and just as readily, as those caught up in the Sudanese civil war, or the American-led campaign against Iraq and Afghanistan. In a land where sexuality was a taboo and homosexuality unmentionable, the BBC highlighted gay rights groups with which I, and hundreds of others in India, could get in touch. The World Service, for all its flaws, remains an unparalleled space for suppressed and unheard voices around the world. I can only imagine the difference the shortwave (and digital) services makes to those souls living under the opaque shadows of oppressive theocracies and murderous dictatorships. If I speak and write English well, that's down to the World Service. If I don't suffer from political and historical amnesia, that's down to the World Service, too. I could continue in this vein, paying tribute to the World Service, but, limited as I am by words, let me say this. Within weeks of moving to England, I soon tired of BBC News 24 and the terrestrial channels. At home, the corporation insistently appeals to the lowest common denominator instead of using the licence fee towards programmes that inform, educate and enlighten. BBC News, I painfully discovered, repeatedly lets its agenda be set by the tabloids and its broadcast competition rather than existing, head held high, as an independent body that serves as a model for public (and commercial) broadcasting around the world. Dare I say it - apart from the World Service and its radio stations, I cannot see merit in the BBC's broadcast enterprise. But now the World Service is to be funded by the licence fee, which in turn is frozen for the next six years. Inevitably, the BBC will make significant cuts in the budget. Regional services, already on the decline, will surely be axed. Shortwave services will be terminated. And soon the service itself may be funded by the commercial arm of the BBC, BBC Worldwide, making it no longer a "service". Why should the taxpayer, the selfish argument will run, pay for a "world" service? If that should happen, the institution with which some of the finest minds in the world grew up, and which gave voice to people around the world, will no longer be anything but a postcolonial legacy. And what a shame that would be. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office should know that the investment in the World Service is likely to be of greater use to the world per pound than all the developmental aid it channels every year. After all, hunger is not purely physical. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/21/bbc-world-service (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) If I remember correctly, back in the good old days of Goon Shows, live "silly" football matches, and Ted Heath music, the foreign office did not fund BBCWS. It all came from the license fee. It was pressure from license fee payers who forced the foreign office to pick up the tab. Today BBCWS is on MW 648 kHz and I am told it has quite a domestic following around SE UK. I heard it quite well recently in Germany, Holland and Belgium on the coast in the daylight. So if BBCWS has a big domestic audience they might be willing to have some of their TV license fee go for international news and features (Joe Buch, swprograms via DXLD) That's essentially what John Tusa also said on "Newshour" (Richard Cuff, PA, ibid.) Prior to the setting up of the Arabic and Spanish-Portuguese service the Empire service was partially aimed at the diaspora. Quoting from Arab Voices, the history of the BBC Arabic service by Peter Partner when foreign language broadcasting was set up in January 1938: "no special payment was to be made to the Corporation by the exchequer for broadcasting in foreign languages but any representations for financial assistance were to be submitted on the basis of the existing agreement and would be considered by the Treasury and the Post Office on their merits. Of course the Kingsley Wood Committee's report to the Cabinet neglected to say that the Treasury and Post Office would have to turn to the Foreign Office for advice on the BBC's requests. It was in one respect a disdvantageous arrangement for the BBC, which failed to secure a permanent Government commitment for the new service. On the other hand some of the ambiguities of the financial situation could be used to the advantage of the Corporation. The Foreign Office did not become directly responsible for adminstering the grant-in-aids to the BBC foreign broadcasting services until 1977; only after that date did some of the illogicalities of the financial arrangements become fully evident." ``Today BBCWS is on MW 648 kHz and I am told it has quite a domestic following around SE UK. I heard it quite well recently in Germany, Holland and Belgium on the coast in the daylight.`` That's because it's on a tight 130 degrees directional beam from Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast. 648 did get decent coverage of SE UK off the back of the beam, helped by the low frequency. However I would guess many like me are now getting problems because of increasing urban noise level affecting the signal. You can get BBC World Service on DAB and digital television. It's relayed overnight on Radio 4 from 1 a.m. to 5.30 a.m. Last RAJAR figures showed a weekly domestic reach of 1.285 million, 2%. They listen for an average of 4.7 hours a week giving it a 0.6% share of listening. I'd be interested to know if RAJAR counts the overnight Radio 4 listening as for World Service or for Radio 4. Some comments in the press about the implications of the new agreement for the World Service: (Mike Barraclough, UK, ibid.) BBC WORLD SERVICE CONSIDERS HOSTING ADS ON SOME FOREIGN-LANGUAGE WEBSITES BBC's director of global news Peter Horrocks says move is part of 'seismic shift' for corporation following licence-fee deal Josh Halliday, Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/21/bbc-world-service-advertising WHAT NOW FOR BBC WORLD SERVICE Neil Midgley, Daily Telegraph I argued in today's paper that the deal is a good one overall for the BBC, but things are looking pretty bleak for World Service. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/neilmidgley/100008247/what-now-for-bbc-world-service/ (via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. BBC RADIO TO LAUNCH HD SOUND Radio Today 18 October 2010 Not to be confused with HD Radio, the BBC is to launch a new enhanced radio listening service called HD Sound. BBC Radio 3 will be the first station to benefit from the facility, which was announced by BBC Director of Audio and Music Tim Davie. From the beginning of December, the BBC will offer "HD Sound" on the Radio 3 website. Writing on his blog this morning, Tim said: "We will quickly assess the performance of this before making the higher quality stream available on iPlayer and the proposed radio industry player. Radio 3 listeners will get the benefit of the highest quality broadcast available anywhere. Interestingly, it was Radio 3 that led the charge in 1971 as radio moved to stereo, and once again it is excellent to see it at the forefront of innovation. "As with Stereo, I would expect to see further roll-outs of HD Sound over time and we have already announced that we will be trialling it for Radio 2 at the Electric Proms. I am expecting that the performances by Elton John, Robert Plant and Neil Diamond will all be available." Tim Davie will be appearing at the Radio Festival tomorrow in the Meet the Bosses section from 9:15am (08:15 UTC). http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.6370 (Not sure whether websites outside the UK will have access). (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) BBC LAUNCHES HD SOUND FOR RADIO BBC Press Office: The BBC today announces plans to launch an extra high quality audio stream for live online listening, called HD Sound. From December, BBC Radio 3 will be available in HD Sound through its website and special events on other networks will also be offered in extra high quality – starting with the Electric Proms on BBC Radio 2 later this month. Full press release: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/10_october/18/hd_radio.shtml The Radio 3 test Proms stream was at 320 kbps AAC. From the BBC Internet blog: Unlike the XHQ experiment, the HD Sound Radio 3 stream will only be available in the UK I'm afraid, although we are looking at options to further improve the sound we offer to the international audience. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2010/10/hd_sound_for_radio_3.html (Mike Barraclough, UK, Oct 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC RADIO 3 WILL BE AVAILABLE IN HIGH DEFINITION, A HIGHER QUALITY AUDIO FEED, VIA ITS WEBSITE, FROM DECEMBER ONWARDS. By Emma Barnett, Digital Media Editor Published: 3:46PM BST 18 Oct 2010 The classical music station will become the corporation’s first radio station to be broadcast in so-called 'high definition' sound. Tim Davie, the BBC director of audio and music, made the announcement via the BBC radio blog, ahead of his speech at the Radio Festival tomorrow morning, during which he is expected to provide an update on digital radio switchover. He wrote: “This summer, BBC Radio 3 completed a trial of a higher quality online audio stream at the Proms. A positive listener response led us to look at a permanent launch. Therefore, from the beginning of December, we will offer 'HD Sound' (as we are calling it) on Radio 3 when you visit the station website and listen online.” A BBC spokesman added: “HD Sound uses improved encoding and higher bit rates to offer the BBC's highest audio quality broadcast to date. It also offers a wider dynamic range, accentuating the difference in volume between quiet and loud sounds. “Appreciation of the improved sound quality will depend on the equipment used – those using small speakers built into a laptop may not notice a big difference, but listeners with a computer connected to a good-quality sound system or high-quality headphones should be able to appreciate the extra clarity and detail in the sound.” HD Sound will be broadcast at 320 kilobits per second, which is almost twice the quality of sound offered by DAB. Other special events from different radio stations, such as BBC Radio 2's Electric Proms, will also be broadcast in HD online, later this month. Roger Wright, controller of Radio 3 and director of BBC Proms, said: "Online listeners to Radio 3 were able to enjoy the final week of this year's BBC Proms in extra high quality audio and I'm thrilled that we can now offer this streaming permanently across our full schedule." Davie said that if HD sound performed well that the BBC would make it available across all of its stations via the new radio industry web player, UK Radioplayer, set to go live next February and be incorporated across mobile platforms and web TV services. BBC Radio 3 was chosen as the first station from the corporation to be broadcast in HD because its musical content was thought to be the most varied and therefore would best show off the audio benefits of HD. Source: BBC launches 'HD radio' http://bit.ly/aN2Hop (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia) More Information and a demonstration of the Player are here: http://www.ukradioplayer.info/ (Tony Boreham, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** U S A. ‘WE CAN’T ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE OUT-COMMUNICATED BY OUR ENEMIES’ 10.20.2010 The new BBG board holds its September meeting. New Chairman Walter Isaacson is at center. Photo courtesy Broadcasting Board of Governors WASHINGTON — The story of U.S. international broadcasting is getting something of a fresh start, or at least opening a new chapter. Eight new board members sit on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which sets funding and gives direction to those efforts. The board will face a diverse set of challenges, observers say, thanks to geopolitical upheaval as well as the fast-changing influence of social media. The BBG is the federal entity with oversight responsibilities for broadcasting activities of Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio/TV Martí and the Middle East Broadcast Networks, which includes Radio Sawa and Alhurrah TV (see sidebar). Critics say the BBG wastes taxpayer money. For instance, they say, most Radio and TV Martí broadcasts to Cuba simply are jammed. Others say its programs are nothing more than a propaganda arm of the U.S. government. Supporters believe U.S. international broadcasting is critical to maintaining independent reporting of worldwide events to foreign countries. And a primary reason for the existence of BBG is to put U.S. policies in front of people in countries that do not have independent media, according to the board. “The BBG services provide fair and balanced news; effectively explain the United States, its policies and its culture; and provide a direct avenue for international audiences to communicate with America,” it states in its annual report. Its funding has grown since 2001 from $425 million to nearly $750 million for fiscal 2010. The BBG asked for more than $760 million for FY2011. The president’s request for FY2012 will go to Congress in February. (The 2011 budget had not yet been acted upon by Congress as of early October. After the mid-term elections in November, lawmakers were expected to return to Washington and pass a continuing resolution to keep the government running. The resolution would be effective Oct. 1 and restrict BBG’s funding to previous levels, according to a BBG spokeswoman.). . . [much more] http://www.radioworld.com/article/108140 (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) VIDEO OF THE BBG OCTOBER PUBLIC MEETING IS AVAILABLE BBG Highlights, 12 Oct 2010: Link to video of the public portion of the Broadcasting Board of Governors meeting in Prague on 13 October. http://www.bbg.gov/highlight.cfm?uid=102 (kimandrewelliott.com 14 Oct via DXLD) ** U S A. Willis Conover would have been 90 this month. The VOA has just published an article and 4 minute video tribute at: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/arts-and-entertainment/Remembering-Willis-Conover-104987609.html (Mike Barraclough, Oct 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And everyone please feel free to visit his grand-niece's Facebook tribute site at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Willis-Conover/116189471105?v=wall (Marie Lamb, NY, ABDX via DXLD) see also UZBEKISTAN ** U S A [and non]. 15185, Saturday Oct 16 at 2045, fair signal with English lessons for French, much weaker than // 15730. The VOA schedule has Hausa M-F at 2030-2100 on 15185, French Sat/Sun at 2030- 2100 on 15185. Originally both were from Botswana, but French aimed 20 degrees further east. As we reported a few days ago, one of the Botswana transmitters broke down, so on weekdays, 15185 had Greenville backing it up, resulting in a much stronger signal here. Now on Oct 16, the big signal is on 15730, Greenville as usual, so this 15185 must be back to Botswana, or somewhere else (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also EQUATORIAL GUINEA ** U S A [non]. Frequency change for Voice of America in Special English: 0030-0100 NF 12005 UDO 250 kW / 154 deg, ex 15560 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 22 via DXLD) ** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1534 started airing Wednesday Oct 13 at 1530 on WRMI 9955, 1900 on WBCQ 7415, confirmed on webcast. Also confirmed on ACB Radio webcast UT Friday Oct 15 after 0100 [repeated 2-hourly thru 2330], and on WWRB 3185 from 0333 UT Friday Oct 15, also on webcast. Next airings are Friday 2030 on WWCR 15825; Saturday 0800, 1430, 1730 on WRMI; Saturday 1600 on WWCR 12160; Saturday 1800 on IRRS 7290; Sunday 0230 on WWCR 4840, 0630 on WWCR 3215. Sometimes the 5 MHz WWCR channels inboom in the nightmiddle, sometimes they are JBA. Oct 16 at 0540, 5890 and 5935 are very poor, so no problem for 5930, see RUSSIA; WTWW 5755 was somewhat better but non- solid, tnx to its rhombic being a little further away. However, I am equally totally uninterested in listening to Brother Scare, dead Doctor Gene Scott, and paranoid Pastor Pete Peters, respectively. First airing of new WORLD OF RADIO 1535 should have been Thursday Oct 21 at 1500 on WRMI 9955 plus webcast. Second airing at 1900 Thursday on WBCQ 7415. After that, UT Friday 0330 on WWRB 3185; 1430 on WRMI 9955, 2030 on WWCR 15825. Full schedule is at http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html Audio on demand: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1535 confirmed on ACB Radio webcast, UT Friday Oct 22 after 0300, repeated 2-hourly to 2330; also on WWRB 3185 webcast at 0330, long dead air after me, as usual. 1430 Friday Oct 22, gh audible on 9955 WRMI, no jamming, fading in and out, weaker as usual than Taiwan transmitters on 9950 and 9960; also blasted by overload from WWCR 9980 BS. Next SW airings of WOR are Friday 2030 on WWCR 15825; Saturday 0800, 1400, 1730 on WRMI 9955; Saturday 1600 on WWCR 12160; Saturday 0800 on IRRS 9515 (we hope, since it`s fourth Sat), and 1800 on IRRS 7290 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 10-41: "There is a top-secret CD listing frequencies reserved by US military, but the FCC does not have it." Actually the FCC does have access to the listed frequencies but the military, FBI, and others do not always list all of their usage (George McClintock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 13845, Oct 18 at 1408, Joyce Riley on WWCR is getting smothered by Mother Angelica speaking on her mushy spur-producing 13835 WEWN transmitter, which was much stronger. But why should I care? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MOTHER ANGELICA TELLS IT LIKE IT IS? http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=152548&catid=45 WKYC-TV (Cleveland), 8 Oct 2010: "'We're on television, radio, AM and FM, shortwave, the internet,' [Mother Angelica, founder of Eternal Word Television Network] once said. 'Wherever there is rot, we're there!'" (kimandrewelliott.com Oct 14 via DXLD) 12050, WEWN Spanish, Oct 20 at 1307 with annoying squeal they seem unable or unwilling to repair, during prayer. Me and God would prefer to listen to // 11550 without the squeal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 11715, KJES, Oct 14 at 1340, M with religious exhortations, then harmonious singers with guitar accompaniment. Excellent signal like S9+30, modulation only fair but sufficient at that level, some hum. Not a chance to hear Pyongyang on 11710. My last log of KJES was Oct 5, so rather sure it had been absent ever since in daily morning bandscans. I should report on this every day like LRA36? Naah. 11715, Oct 15 at 1313, weak and fluttery carrier peaking at S9+12, KJES? Kids seem JBA, as it`s JBM, unlike 24 hours earlier. But at 1407 check today now it is inbooming, S9+25, YL citing what Jesus ``said`` and robokids reflecting her words. Fair modulation; then mixing in singing for full cacophony (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7415, surprised to find WBCQ still on much later than usual, UT Sunday Oct 17 at 0602 as who else would be playing the Star Spangled Banner? Version by barbershop quartet, nice. I had previously lamented that WBCQ never played the SSB, so hope they make a habit of it, in multiple versions. Now how about all other US SW stations?? Before the last note could resolve, however, cut to buy-some-airtime promo by Allan Weiner; and then to his generic sign-off of ``Free Speech Radio``, which never mentions any frequency or schedule times, carrier cut immediately at 0604*. I wonder what they were running until 0600? Online guide shows off at 0400 after four hours of QSO Radio Show, UT Sundays only (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Me on "Le Show" --- Just posting to brag -- Harry Shearer read part of my e-mail on this week's "Le Show" (aired on various stations around the country and on WBCQ shortwave (7415 at 2300 UT Sundays)). In last week's show, he had asked anyone who listened to the program on HD radio to let him know. Since I do listen to it here in St. Louis on KWMU HD-2 at noon on Sundays, I sent in a note via his website: http://www.harryshearer.com/news/le_show/ I must be the only person in the country that does; at least I'm the only one who responded. I also made sure to reference the WBCQ shortwave broadcast to give an acknowledgment to the SWL community, which he reiterated at show's end. 73, (Will Martin, St Louis MO, Oct 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 17920, the dirty KVOH 17775 spur easily audible with whine and garbage, but no intelligible modulation, Oct 18 at 2055 while fundamental was S9+25+, about what it takes to audiblize the spur which is probably always radiated if not propagable. And also as usual, the match around 17630 was much weaker, just detectable at peaks with same-pitch whine. Why should it be so assymmetrical? Please tune up yours spurs, Voice of Restoration. 17920, KVOH for the second day is emanating its filthy spur here, Oct 19 at 2127, and now there is enough distorted modulation to match it with SSOB 17775, along with the whine on spur only. At this hour, RFI via Guiana French is on 17630, and can`t hear any QRM from the much weaker matching spur. As I tuned down the 17 MHz band, Oct 22 at 2010, first hit 17920 with whine and distorted Spanish modulation, immediately // to 17775 KVOH on another receiver. 17920 registered S4-5, 17775 S9+19. Did not hear anything from it on 17630 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 18530, WINB, 2 x 9265, Oct 18 at 1330 with Brother Scare at no-strain level, S3 to peaks S7; compared to fundamental 9265 there seemed to be a very slight reverb caused by slightly different propagational paths. At 1344 with BFO I compare the carriers: 18530 does seem to be twice as wobbly as 9265, tho modulation bandwidth is not doubled. Good to hear the MUF picking up like this; better than my last barely-log on Sept 22. 18530, Oct 21 at 1347 I can barely hear the ponderous pontifications of Alexander Scourby`s canned Bible readings, which a number of gospel huxters throw into their broadcasts as fill, including Brother Scare; sure enough, can // it with WINB 9265. The transmission on 18530 has quite a warbly carrier with BFO on, presumably twice as much as on 9265 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5050, 10/10 1950, WWRB, Morrison, TN, USA religious, songs, English. Weak. Not reported by EIBI at this time (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, dxldyg via Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Awfully early for them; did you get ID? The Euro-pirate is around here, Radio Central: see EUROPE (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 9385, WWRB with open carrier at tunebies (tunebys?), Oct 22 around 1335, 1433, 1632, so was it unmodulated for 3+ hours by Brother Scare, or was I just lucky? Not only was 9385, WWRB dead air the morning of Oct 22 whenever checked, but also the afternoon: at 2002 UT, still open carrier, with usual hum instead of Brother Scare. Left a receiver on frequency; still DA at 2027, 2043, but at 2100 standard telco-quality canned ID by Dave, asking for reports, back to OC, still the case at 2110, 2119. Meanwhile, The Overcomer was ranting on as usual on WWCR 9980. So it looks like WWRB was burning 100 kW for nothing during at least 8 hours, evidently on autopilot still putting out ToH IDs but nothing else (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15550-USB, Oct 18 at 1400 gospel chords, WJHR probably just signed on; dead air, then preacher. Audio a bit choppy, maybe backscatter involved? Tuned by again at 1411 when he was explaining the distinxion between red and white horses; of the apocalypse? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glenn, Current time (0143 UT Oct 20), WRNO is on 7505 with a pop music format. Actually, it sounds like the majority of pop FM stations in format with a tagline of "7505 WRNO Worldwide" with similar announcing that one would find in the FM world. ID announcement is as one song fades out and the next one starts playing, on every song. Testing again? New format with a departure away from the Christian format it previously held? New owners? Thanks and 73, (Jeramy Ross / W5XTL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jeramy, I have not been listening, but surely not. Maybe they are just letting down hair a bit. Or is it really gospel rock? Any religious content in the music? I think they have always been playing mostly music, with a few preacher segments at times. Have you been listening to them enough to conclude anything is really different? (Glenn to Jeramy, via DXLD) I picked them up at around 0130ish, with a Audioslave's "Like a stone" playing. Definitely not Christian fare, and no mistaking the song. Armchair copy. After the strange ID, they then went into some bubble gum pop stuff that would be at home on a Radio Disney outlet. Then another ID, and played a Creed song which gets as much air time on neo-pop Christian outlets as it does on top-40 formats. Another ID, and enough QSB to keep me from recognizing the song so I can't comment on it at that time. BUT, as of right now (0222) it's a preacher segment (pastor Ray Bentley AKA Pastor "Ray") on right now. But the Audioslave song and the pop song definitely have lyrics that one wouldn't find on a typical Christian outlet (then again, I tend to avoid those like the plague... so..). Honestly, I thought it was a feed from Sirius. The line up sounded almost exactly like one of the Top-40/Adult Alternative format channels that I let fill some of my time on a recent road trip back from Yuma, AZ. Perhaps it was a feed mixup? Someone snuck in some of their personal music into the lineup? I dunno; guess I was hoping things were going back to a "World Rock of New Orleans" kinda format (Jeramy Ross, ibid.) ** U S A [and non]. Unusual propagation Oct 17 at 0506 prevented WYFR from being heard at all on its 9 MHz channels, 9985, 9715, 9680; the last two usually inboom in the nightmiddle. But still VG on 7520, 6985, 6875, 5985, 5950. Further signals on 9 MHz band were still incoming, e.g. TUNISIA. 11 MHz was almost dead except for weak 11725 NZ, 11780 Brasil. At 0517, even 5985 started weakening, but recovered. WWV reports: ``Geophysical Alert Message # Solar-terrestrial indices for 16 October follow. Solar flux 87 and mid-latitude A-index 5. The mid-latitude K-index at 0600 UTC on 17 October was 3 (26 nT). Space weather for the past 24 hours has been minor. Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level occurred. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours.`` 12155, Oct 22 at 1342, heavy flutter, instrumental Christian hymn, 1343 brief announcement unseems English, more music. Early A-10 schedules had Family Radio via Tajikistan, English to S Asia at 13-14. However, Eibi has YFR site as Almaty, Kazakhstan, language unknown. Perhaps they switched sites when ready to go with another language than English? Meanwhile, 12140, RFA Burmese via Tinian, was flutter- free (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, Do you know where to find WHRI? I used to hear Kimberly Ann's broadcast every day. I even looked at their website last week and checked the schedule, but I can't seem to find them. Did they stop transmitting stateside? Many Thanks, (Franny k1yi, Oct 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Franny, They are still broadcasting some on SW, but nowhere near the hours you would be led to believe by looking at their online schedule. I hear WHRI in the mornings on 7315, for instance, evenings on 5920. If you keep trying the frequencies shown, you will no doubt find some others on the air (Glenn to Franny, via DXLD) Thank you Glenn, that was really fast. I didn't expect an answer right away. Thanks again. I'll keep listening. 73 (K1YI, ibid.) ** U S A. Re 10-41: 3160 check Oct 15 around 0535: no trace of anything, as expected. Did not awaken until after 1130 when WPJK must sign-on 1580 as a daytimer. At 1143 there it is again, not quite as well as two days before, again with Gospel Train show. 1147 PSA mentioning Advertising Council. Gospel harmony OM singer backed by quartet(?), ``Don`t Know Why He Loves Me``. 1152 a bit of SSB QRM from hi side (so maybe this harmonic is not so harmless, but the SSB can do their own complaining). WPJK signal is beginning to weaken. 1158 ad for something with a lifetime guarantee. 1159, ``This is WPJK, 1580, - --``. 1200 another ID, train(?) whistles, back to music. 1206 still audible, this second harmonic from Orangeburg, South Carolina. Finally I am standing by to catch the sign-on of WPJK, 3160, Orangeburg SC: Oct 16 at 1128 open carrier is on; 1131 brief opening of only some 30 seconds mentioning FCC authorization, address and station manager. And immediately into gospel music until 1137 when YL Saturday DJ ``Lady B`` spoke, vs OM on weekdays, more music. S9+18. When you think about it, of the several thousand US AM stations on 860 and above, it`s rather incredible that only an occasional one like this manages to get out on the second harmonic band 1720-3400 kHz. I suppose their harmonic filter slipped off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3160, WPJK harmonic, 1129, 10.18.10, in English. 1129 carrier on, 1130 Something like: "This is WPJK now signing on. WPJK is authorized by the FCC to operate on the frequency of 1580 Kilohertz with (?) watts" Mention of Orangeburg S.C. Another announcement which was not clear. Start of "Soul Train" program with train whistle and male announcer with gospel music. Thanks to Glenn Hauser for noticing this & reporting it (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, WinRadio g313, Flextenna dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) 3160, Oct 18 at 1152, WPJK, Orangeburg SC, still harmonicizing from 1580 with gospel music. I see that Mark Taylor in WI has now heard this too. 3160, WPJK Orangeburg SC, 2 x 1580, not heard Oct 19 as local T-storms kept me off SW till it was too late, so I submit this instead of a relog: Some might have better luck hearing it in the evening, just before official local sunset and sign-off, UT: Oct 2245, Nov & Dec 2215, Jan 2245, Feb 2300. Per FCC AM Query for WPJK`s coordinates. Like the sun, these are not dependent on DST, which means that in terms of Eastern time, Nov 1 thru 6, it should go off at 6:15, but from Nov 7, 5:15. Some stations get mixed up, or don`t reset their clox/timers, and stay on an hour too late during the Week of Confusion. Morning sign-on during that week is supposed to be at 1200 UT = 8 am EDT, becoming 7 am EST Nov 7. 3160, WPJK, Orangeburg SC, 2 x 1580, Oct 20 at 1154 gospel music, DJ mentions Gospel Train, weather forecast, 68 degrees. Meter says S9+20 but modulation level not commensurate. I suspect a considerable fraxion of the modulation and the 1 kW power is still outgoing on 1580, of no use here (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3160, started monitoring at 1127 Oct 21 for the sign-on of daytimer WPJK 1580 Orangeburg SC on its second harmonic. I was getting worried as nothing showed past 1130, just occasional utebursts on lowside; could they have suppressed it? Still nothing at 1135 but I stick to 3160. Finally at *1137 carrier comes on, 1138 sign-on ``beginning another broadcast day``, ``All Aboard!`` two toots of a train whistle, which sounded suspiciously like they were also produced by the announcer`s mouth? And another pair a bit later, into Gospel Train wakeup music show. S9+12. At 1150 with BFO, I compared it to KSL on 1160, by down-tuning 2 steps on the FRG-7 MHz dial, and found the 3160 frequency just a touch on the highside. KSL is renowned for its frequency accuracy (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The Obit Report - The Grand Ole Opry's Unsung Stars October 18, 2010 This month, as the Grand Ole Opry celebrates its 85th anniversary, we look back at its history and a few of the musicians who have graced country music's most famous stage. On October 18, 1925, Nashville radio station WSM premiered a program featuring "Dr. Humphrey Bate and his string quartet of old-time musicians." Not long after, George Hay was hired to bring his National Barn Dance radio program from Chicago to Nashville. The two programs combined to form the WSM Barn Dance, and a legend was born. "Barn Dance" was a great name for a program featuring music by the likes of the Fruit Jar Drinkers and the Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers, but it didn't last long. The program typically aired just after an hour of classical and opera music. One day, Hay - the early Opry host who would later be known as the "Solemn Old Judge" - quipped, "For the past hour, we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opera. From now on we will present the Grand Ole Opry." Over the years, the Opry has weathered many changes and a few hard times - it's gone from a radio-only program to one with a live audience, to television, traveling concerts, a theme park, and more. It's moved from stage to stage and recently endured a devastating flood. Throughout, the Grand Ole Opry has remained committed to showcasing the best of country music. The list of Grand Ole Opry members - those who perform regularly, often weekly, on the stage - has included country music's biggest names, from legends like Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, to current stars like Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire and Garth Brooks. But the Grand Ole Opry isn't just about superstars. At the heart of the show has always been good old country music, and the musicians who make it aren't always household names... More at http://www.legacy.com/ns/news-story.aspx?t=the-grand-ole-oprys-unsung-stars&id=134 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Circa-sunrise MWDX from this country, besides all those from MEXICO [q.v.], most mornings in mid-October, originally reported daily, have been merged here into one by-frequency list, plus my other MW logs, not including OKLAHOMA [q.v.], all times strictly UT; prime reference: prime reference is the NRC AM Log 2010, http://www.nrcdxas.org/catalog/books/index1.html Also FCC AM Query. Using DX-398 with internal antenna only. 660, Oct 17 at 1235 UT, Dineh drumming and chanting, no doubt from KTNN, Window Rock AZ, with KSKY Dallas nulled. Is this really on night pattern with null toward New York and us? Of course, it`s already sunny eastward from OK, so why not day pattern? No way at this hour it could be degrading WFAN in the Atlantic Northwest. 660, at 1222 UT Oct 20, national spot for Quicken in English, immediately followed by announcement in Navajo. I`ll bet it`s KTNN, but night pattern? 720, again fair but steady with no QRM, KDWN Las Vegas NV, at 1252 Oct 15 with 257-KDWN phone, Heidi Harris Show. Is this really night pattern?? 720, at 1252 Oct 19, KDWN Las Vegas NV, talkhostess Heidi Harris defending Sharon Angle, so that`s all we need to know about Heidi. Has channel to herself, yet at 1317 she`s gone and am hearing Cubs talk from WGN. WORLD OF RADIO 1535, 720, looking for KDWN, Las Vegas NV, at 1243 Oct 21 but no signal. Next check at 1245, there it is, ``KDWN, News-talk 720, K-dawn``. Therefore I conclude they are switching to day pattern at 1245 UT in October. That`s a full hour before official LSR per FCC AM Query for KDWN: 1345 UT! I wonder if KDWN thinks ``5:45`` at their page http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/srsstime?dlat=36&mlat=4&slat=22.00&dlon=114&mlon=58&slon=20.00&tzone=D means PDT instead of PST!? Or could they have special dispensation to go-day at sunrise Chicago? No, that is at 1200 UT in October, not that unlimited WGN has to take any notice of it. So it looks like KDWN is taking an extra hour of undeserved daypower. Can I be the first to have noticed this, probably going on all summer, in DX, broadcasting business or engineering, or enforcement circles? 720, at 1251 UT Oct 20, Heidi Harris again from KDWN Las Vegas, playing anti-Democrat, anti-Reid political ads apparently as program examples to comment upon, rather than paid commercials; how generous of her. Says she has been a longtime supporter of Sharon Angle as a viable candidate! Night pattern? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) To reconfirm that KDWN Las Vegas is illegally switching to non- direxional 50 kW day pattern one hour too early, I am waiting for it on 720 at 1243 UT Oct 22 --- no signals. KDWN pops on at 1244:39 amid Heidi Harris talking: she does not even greet all her new undeserved listeners to the east, mainly me. Soon over to traffic report, even tho it`s only 5:45 am PDT there. October official sunset is 5:00 pm PST = 0100 UT. So is KDWN an hour fast then too, cutting to night pattern at 0000 UT? That would be hard to tell from here. In November, LV SR & SS are 6:15 am and 4:30 pm PST = 1415 and 0030 UT. During the first week of Nov when silly DST is still in effect, KDWN might still be an hour early in the mornings, i.e. 1315 UT to day pattern, but from Nov 7 back in step?? If they think all that matters is the local clock. Still in at 1300 UT when ID claims she is ``Las Vegas`s only live local talk show host``. Period, without qualification as to time. Is this true? If so, poor Las Vegas, getting Harry Reid trashed and Sharron Angle built up. However, in news on the hour, K-Dawn had some clips of Reid denouncing Angle, from his appearance on MSNBC`s The Ed Show, yesterday originating from Henderson. Heidi has allegedly appeared on The Ed Show from time to time [22-23 UT M-F], but I don`t recall ever seeing her. FCC entry for KDWN at http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=54686 shows they have a CP for some changes both day and night, but I haven`t tried to figure out what the point of them is. Can anyone? Parameters superficially look about the same, before and after. 760, at 1256 Oct 19, central Arkansas weather, on Morning Express, 66 degrees; in Kansas City null. Lo key ad for auto sales in Camden (? that`s down in south-central AR) --- anyway, wonderful to hear a car lot which doesn`t scream at us. ``AM 760, KMTL Radio, Sherwood - Little Rock - North Little Rock, Arkansas, United States of America, Inspiration Radio``. This is 10 kW nondirexional daytimer, Sherwood being a suburb NE of NLR. 770, standing by again for KKOB Albuquerque NM to appear on day pattern, Oct 15 from 1314. Pops on one sesquisecond before 1315 UT; could tell that it took about 5 seconds for signal to build up to full bore in quick steps. Joined local sports talk in progress. No greeting to all their new day-pattern listeners! Back in the studio they ramble on, unaware or uncaring that a major change has just occurred. I suppose they also cut to night pattern without saying goodbye to points eastward, currently 0030 UT; 0000 in Nov and Dec; 0015 in Jan; 0045 in Feb. 770, at 1239 Oct 19, Albuquerque ad, mixing with something in Spanish. Perhaps the Santa Fe 230 watt relay as this is more than a semi-hour before Albuquerque primary cuts to day pattern. Standing by again at 1314, and comes on a few sex before 1315, saying that NM governor candidates` debate will be Thursday 7 pm on KOB-TV ``4``, repeated on KKOB 770 Friday night, same time. Signal now is fair and steady. 770, at 1318 Oct 21, no KKOB, NM, just a very weak SAH (subaudible heterodyne). Late switching to day pattern? As heard several days at 1315 sharp. Since I did not hear 770 KKOB Albuquerque NM yesterday when it normally cuts to non-direxional day pattern at 1315 UT, I am standing by for it Oct 22: and so it does appear today, amid discussion of magnifying hardware in elexion booths for tiny-print ballots. Even tho it is half a timezone east of Las Vegas, KKOB goes to day pattern a semihour later as it should (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 790, at 1247 Oct 21, Tucson ad, ``News-talk 790, KNST``, Wall Street Journal This Morning. October sunrise there is 1330, so should still be on PSRA of 500 watts instead of 5000, but was it? By 1252, it loses out to: 790, at 1252 Oct 21, political ads for Rogers, NW Arkansas, i.e. KURM; mixed with KFYO Lubbock TX ID, overcoming KNST. 840: Having heard 720 KDWN Las Vegas a few times around sunrise here, I find a similar weak signal east/west on 840, Oct 16 at 1232 UT, hoping it`s KXNT. Rand Paul clip in cast from ``Newsradio 84``, poor with KOA IBOC, but shux, this is still WHAS as IDed at 1235 from Louisville KY, over full-day path, so not such a bad catch itself 870, at 1243 Oct 19, WWL dominating with NOPD PSA. It seems eastward stations are making a comeback after sunrise today, tho XETAR may have been in earlier. 940, at 1215 Oct 21 YL traffic report, on ``Praise 940``, join us at the cathedral Oct 30 (counter-Hallowe`en service?), in Des Moines. So this is what has become of KIOA, now 10/5 kW KPSZ, the closest they could come to evoking ``praise``. 950, at 1217 Oct 19, 50s and 60s music, playing Pet Clark, loops NW/SE, holding its own so far against local KGWA-960 which is also to the NW. By format and time, most likely KRWZ Denver CO, except they supposedly have a day and night null SE toward us. What was once KIMN. 950, at 1244 Oct 19, in local KGWA null, ``Radio 950, KWON``, sounded like, sports talk. But can`t be KWON as that is 1400 in Bartlesville OK. Searching 950 listings, closest match is KWOS in Jefferson City MO, which NRC AM Log says is News/Talk, but includes ESPN among its networx. 950, at 1216 Oct 21, KWOS ID immediately I tune in, Tigers sports talk, Newsradio 950, KWOS = Jefferson City MO. 990, at 1314 Oct 21, Trading Post on KSWM, also AM-990, phone numbers, callers with stuff to sell in Springfield MO. Must be a simulcast, since the real KSWM is on 940 in Aurora MO, while nearby, also SW of Springfield, on 990 is KRMO in Cassville. Googling confirms these two are related, both in the Talon Group: http://www.krmo.com/KSWM/Program+Schedule/default.aspx At 1317, ad for Bob`s Garage in Springfield. 1060, at 1233 Oct 15 Spanish with 806 AC phone number, postal address in Farwell TX, KIJN @ email.com spoken by presumed preacher, accent not exactly gringo, but not the Spanish you hear from real Mexican stations. [what could call mean in Spanish? In Jesus` Name, English] 1110, haven`t heard KFAB Omaha NE in daytime for a long time, but on caradio Oct 19 at 1941, talk is audible, 1958 I notice it fades a little, but 1959 mentions `huskers in passing. This is only one sesquihour after local mean noon, so could be first sign of daytime skywave as we are two months from winter solstice; however, at some 350 miles, 50 kW, KFAB can also barely make it here on groundwave. The fading could be caused by SAH from very weak KVTT Mineral Wells (The Metroplex) TX, which can exist only because KEOR Atoka OK was hijacked out of the way to the Tulsa market on 1120, sporadically active; see OKLAHOMA. 1140, at 1255 Oct 21, Mexican music from E/W, so not XEMR Monterrey; in OKC null, fades out and in. 1302 in Spanish discussing California marijuana legislation; 1303 ``La más mexicana``, K--- and US PSA; mentioned Bakersfield, so figured I had a California station, but Googling leads immediately to http://www.lamasmexicana1140.com/ I.e., KLTK Centerton AR, 5 kW daytimer as in NRC AM Log only as SS:MEX, but not that slogan. Is the programming really coming out of Alta California? In any event it is certainly *less* Mexican than XEMR! Centerton does not even make the index of my Rand McNally. Must be near Rogers, address in the NRC AM Log. Temporarily loses out to KCXL (see next log), but back in at 1307, M&W discussing today being the day of San Hilario, joking about how it resembles Hillary. ``La estación de la Raza``, phone 631-4016 and enter to win mil dólares, super-hyped canned ID by the same voice actor/announcer we hear everywhere from both sides of la frontera, who must be doing excellent business. 1311 fades out again. Next check 1320 it`s back with Mexican music, but KRMP OKC is gaining on it. 1140, at 1304 Oct 21, Spanish from KLTK loses out to English from KCXL, Liberty, Missouri, both calls and location mentioned in passing, religious talk, 1305 ``bluegrass gospel``, mentions I-70, various businesses at Old Town, Green Valley. 1307, KLTK resumes dominance. 1180, trying to DX XEDCH [see MEXICO], but US station blasts on at 1231 Oct 21, with Omaha steak ad, Vanguarding ad, YL with Koil traffic report. FCC AM Query for KOIL confirms 1230 UT is official October sunrise in Bellvue NE, so that`s when they ramp up from 1 to 25 kW, and day pattern has major lobe to SW, but still plenty of signal toward us to the SSW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1280, KSOK, Arkánsas City KS, after beer/tear C&W song Oct 22 at 1945 UT said ``Drop by our station, and you`ll see cars in the parking lot and people outside`` ---- OK, but how about inside? Still sounds like it`s automated like almost all stations are these days, and has had failures logged before, off the air the afternoons of March 13 and August 10, 2010. 1330, at 1246 UT Oct 15, Osgood File from CBS. We`re seeing him on the radio! But can he really see us? This one interviewing about the safety and necessity of flushots (got mine the other day, free tnx Medicare). 1247 ad for Sirius in car radios; 1249 rest of Osgood and then ``Newsradio 1330, KNSS``. I knew it was my Wichita KS semi-local, but Osgood got me to stop and listen, unlike the cretins they propagate later in the day, making all their `news` suspect, Limbaugh, Hannity and Savage: http://www.knssradio.com/pages/311219.php 1590, WGBW DX test --- see separate entry below. 1650, Oct 16 at 0459 UT, Spanish ad for Bible study course, ID for ``1650 AM, Radio ---, KB-``, ergo Radio Luz, KBJD Denver, per NRC AM Log. Spanish on the X-band grabs my attention, but chances of anything being foreign are remote (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1590, the 1 kW day-power non-direxional WGBW DX test was intermittently audible here, from Two Rivers WI (just north of Manitowoc on Lake Michigan, not far from Green Bay ---- hmm, maybe that`s what the calls stand for: they have a CP to move to Denmark, closing in on GB) --- but always with severe QRM from dozens of other 1590 stations, plus cacophony of SAH fading as they can`t all agree to transmit on 1590.000. Bits of WGBW would occasionally slightly overcome the QRM. Oct 16 at 0508 UT, heard WGBW ID; 0513 brief tone; 0519:40 longer tone till about 0520, then calliope tune; 0523:30 ``WGBW, AM 1590 . . . This is a test. We will return to regular programming . . .``; 0526 sounds like phone caller on the air, a DXer somewhere? Or could have been from the QRM. 0533:40, bugle tune denoting ``charge!``. I was getting this on the DX-398 inside with AC power, internal ferrite antenna only, aiming NNE. (The FRG-7 with E-W longwire had 1590 dominated by something else, in regular schedule with weather at 0534.). Thanks for running the test, as hearing WGBW here otherwise would be unlikely, unless tuning up to radiate on second harmonic 3180 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sent this to WGBW too RE: Heard test in Oklahoma Hi Glenn: Glad to have Enid join the cast of folks out west who reported our test last night. Bugle tune and calliope came from us, as well as the ID's... didn't put callers on the air, as we did this from transmitter building. You were right, we had two tones, same frequency, different duration. Amazing this was picked up by an internal ferrite antenna! All the musical selections were unusual, including the Mickey Mouse March, National Anthem, Harmonica polka, Calliope, Soupy Sales Theme (top register of piano, then sped up). Aurora, CO checked in, earlier tonight, and Winnipeg, Manitoba sent an e-mail this morning. Thank you, for your accurate report. 756 miles, as the crow flies, I figure. (Yes, we were WTRW and snatched up WGBW for our move towards Green Bay very soon. I really want to try out our new 10 kW daytime signal for a test, once it's completed! This was kinda our 'swan song' from this site at a kilowatt.) (There are NO 1590's between us, and the North Pole and the new array is pointed mostly north) Best wishes, (Mark Heller, WGBW Radio Station, Two Rivers, WI, Oct 16, to gh, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So I am further than Winnipeg but closer than Aurora (gh, DXLD) WGBW DX test heard here in Tulsa. Bugle calls around 0010 CDT 16OCT10, test tone 0013 CDT followed by two clear call-letter IDs, 0019-0021 CDT calliope music mixed with with a test tone and 0026 CDT another clear WGBW call-letter ID. Email reception report sent along with some audio files. [Later:] Just received an email QSL from Mark Heller at WGBW for the DX test. I included in my written report the instrumental SSB I heard at 0000 CDT. His email QSL says "everything you sent us, matches" so the SSB I (and others heard) *was* from WGBW (Bruce Winkelman, Tulsa, OK, R8, Quantum Phaser, 2 50-foot wires, NRC-AM via DXLD) Yes, I heard that tone around 0019 that went on for a long time and I will check out the tape again tonight. Thanks. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, KGED QSL Manager, ibid.) Hi all, Reply today from Mark Heller at WGBW confirmed my MP3 of the Caliopy music and test tone. 4th new station of the season. 73 (Wayne Heinen, Aurora CO, ibid.) ** U S A. KOZI QSL package --- Responses from US and Canadian stations to reception reports have generally been nothing to write home about the last few years, so it was a pleasant surprise to get something out of the ordinary. In response to my report and CD to KOZI in Chelan, WA I received a verie letter, two canvas tote bags, a pen, two licence plate holders, two cup holders, three key chains, and a T-shirt. Cost them over $20 in postage, and needless to say I made a point of responding back to thank them. It's those exceptional replies that make up for all those non-replies. 73, (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore, Alberta, Oct 15, IRCA via DXLD) 1230 kHz ** U S A. FIRE DESTROYS TWO SAN JOSE AMS Radio Journal October 13, 2010 "The most extensive and thorough destruction of any site I have seen in forty-two years of being in this business." That's how veteran Bay Area engineer John Higdon described the fire that wiped out the site shared by KSJX, San Jose, CA (1500) and KZSF, San Jose, CA (1370) on Saturday (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Occasionally I listened to KSJX (1500) to enjoy their Vietnamese music. The station had Vietnamese programming 24/7, playing such programs as Little Saigon Radio. San José has the largest population of Vietnamese in America as the result of 20 years of rapid growth. They now account for about 9% of the San Jose population. In 2000 their population there was about 80,000. Story and pictures of the damage of the Oct 9 fire, in Vietnamese, are at http://www.nguoi-viet.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=121167&z=1 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Oct 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 3985-LSB, Oct 16 at 1145, Badger Weather Net, NCS KB9GO with lots of check-ins; instead of all communicating only with NCS, he tells each one to call another station, in a round-robin. One was N9HR; another KC0CXV or CXB? There was a weak AM carrier on frequency, but still needed BFO; per Aoki that would be Echo of Hope, and/or Juche jamming. The final April 1, 2007 edition of Nets to You showed this with Not- DST and DST UTs: 1100 1000 3985 BADGER WEATHER (Wisconsin) Daily Plus a number of other Wisconsin nets later on same frequency. ARRL`s FCC lookup finds: WILTSE, JOHN R, KB9GO, 4571 COUNTY TRUNK M, RUDOLPH, WI 54475 Wrensch, Thomas J, N9HR, N7900 Hillcrest St, Oconomowoc, WI 53066 But KC0CXV is in Nebraska and there is no -CXB, maybe misheard (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 18125-USB, at 1335-1339 Oct 17, ham speaking Yiddish with American accent mixed with some English. Or was it Low German? Certainly not High German. Did not hear the other side, duplex? Finally IDed at closing as N2II. ARRL lookup shows: Weber, Siegfried, N2II, 718 Colgate Ave, Lanoka Harbor, NJ 08734 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RIP DANIEL SCHORR AT THE AGE OF 93. A LIFE WELL LIVED. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128565997 (via Clara Listensprechen, Oct 18, dxldyg via DXLD) obit ** U S A. PACIFICA'S KPFK/L.A. PLANS SPANISH STREAM, AM PART 15 STATIONS October 19, 2010 at 4:26 AM (PT) Launching New Stream En Espanol PACIFICA noncommercial Variety KPFK/LOS ANGELES will add a Spanish- language service for AM, and LA OBSERVED's KEVIN RODERICK reports that the service will be launched as a Internet stream but ultimately offered on AM via a string of Part 15 low-power stations. "(W)e can relay the signal as far and wide as we can, so long as each transmission complies with Part 15 regulations," a memo to staff from PD ALAN MINSKY said. "Of course, once we establish ourselves at a place on the dial, it should make things much easier if we choose to raise money to have a more powerful signal." MINSKY said that the Spanish-language programming on KPFK's primary FM signal will remain in place "at least until the Spanish-language station's listenership exceeds that of KPFK in the hours that KPFK is also broadcasting in Spanish." (allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, HI for DXLD) Part 15? Really? (Brock) ** UZBEKISTAN. Has received QSL a card from station Tashkent VOLMET for the electronic address. A usual card with a kind of Tashkent, on an underside all details are printed. Frequency 6730 kHz. The address: grenad [@ presumably] rambler.ru. I some times wrote to them usual mail to the address: 13 Locomotive, Tashkent 700167, but to me and have not answered. 73! Yours faithfully, Vladimir. (Vladimir Rozhkov / “open_dx ’ via RusDX Oct 17 via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN [and non]. VOA CONCERNED ABOUT CONVICTION, FINE FOR REPORTER IN UZBEKISTAN --- Hopes he will be able to continue reporting without fear of retaliation Washington, D.C., October 15, 2010 – The Voice of America is expressing continued concern about a VOA Uzbek Service journalist who was fined more than $10,000 Friday by an Uzbek court that convicted him of slander, insult and publishing information harmful to the public peace. VOA Uzbek Service reporter Abdulmalik Boboev had faced eight years in jail on the charges. A lawyer for Mr. Boboev, who pled not guilty and has denied doing anything wrong, says his client is considering an appeal of the verdict. VOA Director Danforth W. Austin said Friday, "We are reviewing the decision by the Uzbek court. We are pleased that Mr. Boboev wasn't sentenced to jail. However, we remain concerned that his work as a journalist has resulted in a substantial fine. We will continue to follow his case, and hope that he will be able to continue providing fair, comprehensive and accurate reports to our audience without fear of retaliation." The 41 year-old Mr. Boboev was among several journalists summoned by the Prosecutor-General's Office last year for questioning about their journalistic activities. After the judge's decision Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent released a statement saying it was, "Concerned about the implications of this case for the state of media freedom in Uzbekistan." U.S. officials had raised the case with the Uzbek government and sent American diplomats to observe the trial. Over the last two years, Uzbekistan has jailed eight reporters. On Wednesday, an Uzbek court convicted a Russian news website editor of defamation charges. Press freedom experts say that the eight journalists in Uzbek jails serve as a warning to reporters that they face the threat of imprisonment if they do not practice a high degree of self-censorship. Visit VOA Uzbek at: http://www.voanews.com/uzbek/news/ (VOA press release Oct 15 via DXLD) ** VATICAN. 4004.38, 10/10 1928, Vatican Radio, news, signal modulated on upper side band only. Start French program (Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca di Magra (La Spezia province, Italy) with Dario Monferini, Perseus & SDR-IQ, Wellbrook LFL 1010 loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN [non]. 6020, Oct 20 at 1314 VR IS mixing with R. Australia`s Asia-Pacific news magazine, i.e. the end of the Chinese relay via RVA PHILIPPINES. Instead of going off at 1315, continues with a song of some sort; next check 1319 no more modulation, but suspect carrier still on causing slow SAH against RA. Enough is enough! But RA is not worried about this collision. 11625, something in French, Oct 16 at 0452, i.e. Vatican via MADAGASCAR, 295 degrees at 0430-0500 (after which VR switches to its own SMG site for English). 11625 was almost the OSOB, joined only by French on 11690, i.e. R. Okapi via SOUTH AFRICA. A selective opening with bands above 10 MHz otherwise dead (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. ``Aló, Presidente`` check Sunday Oct 17 at 1632: special frequencies via CUBA are on the air, 17750, 13750 and 12010, but only with RHC programming // 15380, 13680, 11760, 11730, 11690, report from Canadá about béisbol; is a Cuban team playing there? Maybe El Hugazo will show up later? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 9840, Voice of Vietnam at 1242 in English, woman talking about Vietnam, 1250 Vietnamese music. Poor, Oct 14 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, listening in the pre-dawn hours, lakeside, from my car, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 12019.4, V. of Vietnam, 1232 English news read by M and W. Break for ID as "You're listening to the Voice of Vietnam's English news" by W at 1236, then more news to 1240. Poor to fair with QRM from 12020. Was // 9839.9 which was as strong but clearer. (26 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Oct 15, HCDX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. CANADA: 6175 V. of Vietnam; 0128, 15 October; Voice of Vietnam via Canada. Decidedly un-Vietnamese sounding classical music cut off mid-song and then into ID and programming in Vietnamese. In English at 0230 with news (Bill Carney, Grand Ledge, MI, MARE Tipsheet Oct 22 via DXLD) Probably usual VTC fill music loop (gh, DXLD) See also CANADA ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 6297, Algeria, RASD, Rabouni. October, 13 2131-2141 male talks in an uncertain language, short music back male, music with some Arabic style, male segment. 23332; October, 15 2206- 2216 male and female talks, short music. Statics, deterioring 23232. 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec - Embu SP Brasil - Sony SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m, Longwire 22m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) SASASAM, Oct 14 at 0615, not on either 6297.1 nor 6248.3 --- but at next check 0628, 6297.1 was musical (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6297.12, RASD, 0020-0033*, Oct 15, Spanish talk. Local music. Sign off with National Anthem. Fair signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 6297.1, SASASAM confirmed on this frequency Oct 18 around 0610 chanting (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ARGELIA, 6297.3, Radio Nacional de la República Arabe Saharaui, 0712- 0720, 17-10, árabe, comentarios. 34433 (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) ** ZAMBIA. ZNBC TO GO SATELLITE Information Minister, Ronnie Shikapwasha has maintained that the ZAMBIA National Broadcasting Corporation -ZNBC- will soon place all its channels on satellite, for effective transmission countrywide. Lieutenant General Shikapwasha told Parliament that government has in next years national budget allocated fifteen Billion Kwacha to enable the corporation secure satellite space for five years. He said the corporation will further buy 48 FM transmitters which will be installed in rural areas in 2011. Lieutenant General Shikapwasha added that the development has been necessitated following the break down of ZNBC Radio One and Two Shortwave signals in February 2010. Sat 16/10/2010 Source: http://bit.ly/9z2m9Q (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD, and via Arnaldo Slaen, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DXLD) giving up SW? ** ZIMBABWE. 4828, Voice of Zimbabwe (no ID, but then what else?), Guinea-Fowl, hardly perceived modulation, it seemed more as if there was an empty carrier; 25331. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Trans-Pacific MW carrier search Oct 18 at 1212-1214 UT on 9 kHz DX-398 steps from bottom up to 1260 found nothing from the NW, but at 1213 a very weak 738, null indicating a much lower angle. Also at 1228, with plenty of splash from KRMG 740 Tulsa. This of course should be the much sought-after TAHITI, a very different direxion from here than East Asia, and low-latitude trans- equatorial likely to propagate when high-latitude TPs do not. Tahiti is 8 megameters from here at 232 degrees, close to SW = 225, and about the same azimuth as XETAR-870. Japan ranges 317-322 degrees, and more like 10 megameters, but with a lot more power, up to 500 kW vs only 20 kW from R. Polynésie, the only MW in that aqueous insular radio country. WRTH does not venture to guess what its hours are, 24? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Many more TP carrier searches are filed under JAPAN [and non] UNIDENTIFIED. 1539, during WGBW 1590 test tuned around and detected a weak carrier here from the NE/SW, Oct 16 at 0528. An hour earlier and a few weeks later than last log, this could really be from Europe, i.e. 700 kW Evangeliumsrundfunk, Mainflingen, Germany. A weaker carrier on 1557, which would be 300 kW Nice, France. Nothing audible on 1521 or any other high-band TA frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 2855 approx., Oct 16 at 1142, SSB with speech inversion so uncopiable, tho sounded like a YL voice. Was checking the North Korean on 2850, which only had a JBA carrier today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 10-41, 5050: UNIDENTIFIED. EUROPirate: 5050, Central R, UK? IRELAND?, 1741-..., 10 Oct'10, English, pops, talks; still active at 2020; 35332. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: WWRB I heard this station myself the same day at 1727, jingle and Stooges records, SINPO 34433. I believe it's this station: http://www.centralradio.info E-qsl received by a French DXer: http://www.easyshopdiscountzone.com/radio/pirate/pic/central02.jpg (Mike Barraclough, UK, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Striking design. See also EUROPE 5045 UNIDENTIFIED. 5130, 15 OCT, 1718 UT, possibly Radio Maranatha, Kyrgyzstan. Heard with long winded religious-sounding soft talk by a man. The language was not oriental, and sounded more like Farsi. At 1730, short pieces of gospel music were played, done by a mixed chorus to guitar and piano. After that there were two long selections done by a woman and then dead air after 1743. AOKI lists this from 1457 to 1743. I guess they just keep the carrier on or make adjustments, etc. Perfect signal with no QRM except for about 30 seconds at 1730 due to 4-level FSK bursting about 3 kHz down. With this signal strength it should easily make it to Europe and Asia. Had a really bad power line noise since yesterday which finally went away this afternoon. I spent most of my free day today watching my favorite horror movies, and cleaning my side arm. Hope everyone else's DX day went better than this! 73s (Al Muick, Kabul, Afghanistan, WinRadio G303e, 100m Longwire / Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 10-41, 5840: According to the monitoring of Mauno and me, I seems to be new station for Iran. Mauno says "ID sounded something like "Radyoe Rahoye Iran" or similar. It must be via CIS transmitter, maybe Armenia." and "I think it is a political station, not religious. They talked all the time about Iran." This station sends an intermittent test tone from 1625 UT and *1630- 1730* UT mainly speech of the Persian by OM. It operates only on Mon., Wed. and Fri. Cannot copy of ID with badly condition in Japan. I hope for additional information of DXer which can understand Persian (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Oct 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Oct. 15 started at 1630 UT, too. ID as "Inja Los Angeles, Radyo-e Rahoya Iran" by OM. http://ani.atz.jp/DX/bbs1/img/9273.mp3 by Hiro in Akita at 1630 on Oct. 15. Is this broadcast of a group of U.S. origin? (S. Hasegawa, Japan, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Must be; LA is a hotbed of Iranian exiles (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 8840-SSB, Oct 15 at 1413, the come-back guys have come back with another hicky QSO; wanted to be sure I copied frequency correctly the first time. 8815 is the boundary between marine and aero bands, so what are they doing in the latter? I can`t imagine them piloting aircraft while chewing this rag (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 10-41, 9575: Thanks to Glenn Hauser for his observations on Oct. 12 of romantic Western music. It is certainly possible that what I heard was Medi 1 and there was a sudden improvement of signal at ToH which made it sound like a s/on. The language didn’t sound Arabic, but the conditions were poor and my ears have been wrong before! (Mark Taylor, WI, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 15261-SSB, 2-way (or 3-way?) colloquial Spanish contacts, mentioning geo coordinates, barcos, so probably poachers, Oct 17 at 1254; blown away a few minutes later by Sackville 15260 with CRI English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Monitorando 6 m (48.380 MHz) --- Olá pessoal, Ontem à noite (0236 UT) enquanto eu estava monitorando a banda de 6 metros, escutei alguns beacons e logo após fui tentar escutar as tradicionais emissoras de FM do Chile que operam no segmento entre 47 a 49 MHz para verificar as condições de propagação. Não escutei nenhuma das estações do Chile, porém me deparei com uma transmissão que eu ainda não havia copiado em 48.350 MHz. A transmissão em FM tocava somente rap, em inglês e em português. Em uma vinheta o locutor falou "O que você gosta de ouvir". Não ouvi nenhuma identificação da emissora, somente rap e mais rap, hihi Aqui em Goiânia e região não existe nenhuma emissora com este tipo de programação e fiquei curioso para descobrir de que se trata esta transmissão e de onde transmitem. Seria link de alguma estação de FM? Harmônico? Estação pirata? Por um momento tive a impressão de escutar o locutor falando "zona leste". Hoje à noite voltei a escutar a transmissão com a mesma programação. Segue links com os vídeos que gravei: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbURdInHR-8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjjIM3BExYM Agradeço qualquer informação. 73's Ron PP2RON (Ronnan Werneck, 17 October, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Jorge e Ren, Hoje estou escutando novamente a transmissão de músicas (a maior parte do tempo transmitem rap) e um locutor mencionou sobre a região do ABCD. [what`s that? gh] Vamos ver se algum colega da região sudeste que conheça bem o segmento de FM possa nos passar alguma informação. É importante descobrir o local da transmissão, porque temos poucos beacons em 6 metros no Brasil e conhecendo sua origem, podemos monitorar a propagação na banda para aquela área. 73's (Ron, PP2RON, 17 Oct, ibid.) Ron, você não acha que pode ser um link de uma rádio pirata entre o estúdio e o transmissor? 73, (Renato - PY2UNX, ibid.) Boa noite, Ronnan, provável que seja a 105FM de São Paulo. http://www.radio105fm.com.br/aradio/programacao.php (Ivan Gazin, São Paulo, ibid.) Boa tarde Ivan, Grato pela dica da 105FM de São Paulo. O interessante seria uma gravação desta emissora para podermos comparar com a transmissão ouvida em 48.350 MHz, é possível? Das ocasiões que escutei era só música (rap) sem anúncio de prefixo ou nome da emissora. Está me parecendo emissora pirata, mas necessito de mais escuta/informação para fechar o " diagnóstico ". Mais uma vez obrigado. 73's (Ron, PP2RON. Goiânia-GO, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. The KUOK-35 Univisión relay on analog ch 48 from unknown site continues to be observed; filed under OKLAHOMA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks to Tom McLaughlin, Lubbock TX, for his annual check in the mail to World of Radio, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702, ``in memory of Gigi Lytle`` SWL who died October 17, 2000. Real name was Gloria. WORLD OF RADIO 1535, If you`ve been with us for more than ten years, you will remember Gigi Lytle, SWL and valued contributor to WOR, RIB and DXLD. Her companion Tom McLaughlin reminds us of her every year at this time. She died in Lubbock, TX, ten years ago today. How time flies (Glenn Hauser, Oct 17, 2010, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for the reminder, Glenn; she certainly hasn't been forgotten. 73 de (Anne Fanelli in Elma NY, dxldyg via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Ham Radio Bandwatch Region 1 latest Newsletter. IARUMS Region 1 Newsletter September 2010 now available! Written by DK2OM, Sunday, 10 October 2010. Many broadcasting station entries on 7.1 - 7.2 MHz range, still ... (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX Oct 17 via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ ACCENTS BEING GARBLED IN SOME YAHOOGROUPS Há escassos dias, após ter feito um breve relato acerca da R. Inconfidência nos 19 m, não neste grupo, mas no DX Listening Digest, apercebi-me de que o o nome "inconfidência", que usei como título dessa mensagem, apareceu truncado, quiçá por causa do -ê-, mas sucede que nesse grupo como neste e noutros grupos Yahoo! o meu nome tb. aparece truncado: o -ç- surge em forma de vários símbolos e letras que variam em forma e número. O mesmo sucede com nomes de alguns outros membros do grupo Radioescutas, onde tb. já vi, por ex., aquele mesmo nome de emissora," inconfidência", aparecer truncado. Venho notando este "fenómeno" há já uns bons meses; antes, tal não acontecia. Há alguém que possa dar-me uma razão plausível para isto, e como corrigir? Os meus agradecimentos antecipados. (Carlos Gonçalves [as his name was garbled as received here --- gh], radioescutas yg via DXLD) Olá Carlos! Veja se este link lhe ajuda: http://www.guiadousuario.net/artigos/firefox-sites-onde-os-acentos-e-o-cedilha-aparecem-de-forma-errada 73's! (Davi Luca, Belo Horizonte - MG, ibid.) Caro David: Obrigado pelo seu correio em resposta à m/ mensagem priv. Sim, tentei a opção que me sugeriu, mas ainda foi pior! Escolhi essa opção quando vi o seu correio na cx. do servidor, e logo apareceram símbolos. Agora, mantenho a Codificação na opção "Europa Ocidental (Windows)", e vou ver como as coisas ficam. É possível que tenha sido eu mesmo a mexer - ainda que inadvertidamente! - nesses botões virtuais da Cofificação [de texto] já que, como expliquei, o fenómenos, se assim se pode chamar tal, só vem acontecendo há uns meses, talvez desde Fevereiro, não me recordo. E tb. noto que há mais membros deste n/ grupo c/ o mesmo "problema", pois os seus nomes tb. surgem estropiados, sempre que contêm vogais acentuadas. 73 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, ibid.) Carlos, no meu email também está acontecendo tudo isto, muitas palavras que têm letras com acentuação, cedilha, etc. aparecem desta maneira, o seu nome e o de alguns participantes da lista bem como algumas palavras aparecem com os codigos, creio eu que seja problema no Yahoo Grupos, pode ser também o tipo de layout do teclado selecionado em seu computador ou até mesmo estas duas coisas em conjunto. 73s! (Davi Lucas Pinto de Sousa, Brasil, Oct 19, ibid.) Creio que é ajuste de pagina de codigo. Alguns utilizam UTF-8 que nem todos os leitores de email traduzem bem. Ajustem os leitores de email para ISO-8859-1 que é mais "universal". Logico que a dica é para quem lê via cliente de email. Para quem lê direto na pagina do Yahoo não sei como faz (Mauro, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ Re 10-41, Loggings and possible off-frequency results As another E1 owner, I'm curious as how one can register EXACT frequencies? Unless there's a control I've yet to discover after almost four years as a user, any reading is a measured guess against "audible" zero LSB/USB beats. My ears can't bring that down to +/- mebbe 20 Hz, so it is guessed. My own E1 seems to read ~40 Hz low when tuned to WWV 5/10/15 MHz. The vast majority of tx's are obviously going to be on their claimed or assigned frequencies, though the common drifters (such as say Victoria/~6020, Santa Cruz/~6135, RRI/~9526) mean I can take a guess at their actual frequency, and likely will get fairly close... but not exact (Theo Donnelly, BC, ODXA yg via DXLD) In that case, simply add ~40 Hz to any estimated frequency reported, a correxion factor (gh) NEW C. Crane CATALOG, Oct 2010 to May 2011, Catalog 21F: https://www.ccrane.com/instruction-manuals/ccrane-catalog.pdf Audio of previous edition: * Catalog 20F Tape 1 Side A: https://www.ccrane.com/audio/Catalog-20F-Tape1-Side-A.mp3 * Catalog 20F Tape 1 Side B: https://www.ccrane.com/audio/Catalog-20F-Tape1-Side-B.mp3 * Catalog 20F Tape 2 Side A: https://www.ccrane.com/audio/Catalog-20F-Tape2-Side-A.mp3 * Catalog 20F Tape 3 Side B: https://www.ccrane.com/audio/Catalog-20F-Tape2-Side-B.mp3 (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- RDS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Chicagoland RDS changes in 2009-10 For anyone who pays any remote attention to RDS or stations outside their general area (realizing most of the Great Lakes people are on the AMFMDX list, which I am no longer with, and don't pay much attention to FM), here is an update on some changes in the local RDS in the Chicago market, cumulatively within the past 12 months or so: With 10 watters and 100 watters running RDS throughout the area, keeping track of them all is getting ridiculous. 89.7 WONU came on with RDS in the past year. The Christian Contemporary station is running PTY Top 40 with the traffic symbol (not sure what traffic exists where they are though!) and plenty of other text. 91.5 WBEZ expanded their traffic hotspots RDS info to include traffic time info in the PS field as opposed to just the RT field. They're not perfectly identical and both still have some glitches, still tends to skip around a bit and with over 30 traffic times running on both PS and RT, it's just barely possible to take it all in within an hour. This change was within the last year or so and they are absolutely, clearly, trying to be the FM alternative to WBBM-AM, which leads the market in almost everything, especially traffic. Some examples of the traffic hotspot RDS is "WBEZ IKE IB Woodfld to Congress: 48 min" ... "WBEZ TRISTATE NB B.Ford to WI State Line: 203 min" ... and "WBEZ LSD NB Balbo to Hollywd: 13 min" 92.3 WPWX turned their RDS off for a while. They're back with a static RDS as opposed to the old RDS which changed depending on the DJ. Disappointing downgrade. 92.7 WCPT had RDS when they were Nine FM but I never received it after the format switch to talk. It may possibly be a somewhat weak signal. Either way, they're on with PTY Talk, even when they switch to electronic after 9pm. 95.9 WERV turned its RDS off in the past year. Confirmed four times... it's no longer there. 96.3 WBBM was running a static RDS but has switched from PTY Top 40 to PTY None very recently, and is now including song and program information as they did back in 2009. Not sure why they ever stopped. 96.7 W244BQ is on with the same generic K-Love RDS that is running on 94.3 (main), 94.3 (booster translator), and 97.5. The 96.7 translator is taking local WSSR off the air in the area. 97.5 W248BB added RDS within the past year. Not sure when this translator appeared on the dial, but its RDS is exactly identical to both local K-Love stations, WJKL and its booster W232BL, both on 94.3 (and the RDS of just about every other generic one across the nation). 102.3 WYCA added RDS in the past year on a frequency that is extremely packed and crowded (butting heads with WXLC all throughout the metro area, one in the north suburbs, the other in the south). They run the static PS "REJOICE". 105.1 WOJO has turned its RDS off seemingly for good in the past year, meaning its one of the only major FMs in the market without RDS. The RDS had an extremely poor signal on a HUGE analog signal, so it's just as well they ditched it. At times it was only received within a few miles of the transmitter in the Loop. But this year, the RDS has been in nowhere in the past few months. It's gone. 105.9 WCFS has changed to PTY Rock from PTY Personality in the past two months. Nothing about the station itself or the other details of its RDS readout have changed. 107.1 WIRX in St. Joseph has added RDS very recently. It's rock, but running PTY Classic Rock. One of the rock stations who struggle to decide how to classify what they play, a little like those contemporary-leaning Hot AC stations. -- College stations 88.7 WLUW (100 watts), 88.7 WRSE (320 watts), and 89.3 WNUR (7.2kw) are all running RDS. No word on how long they've had it on as 89.3s RDS tends to be extremely weak at times, especially in such an urban area, and the two 88.7s can be touch catches as well given their power as well as the urban environment and the fact their transmitters are all likely pretty low to the ground. -- Is WBNQ on 101.5 running PTY Classic Rock now, or did I happen to catch a quick RDS decode of WIBA in Madison? Got a "WBNQ" ID a moment later with CHR music as normal. Now and then I talk with some of you who haven't a clue what PS, RT, PI, or PTY mean or that they have anything to do with RDS, a lot like I don't know anything about ham radio, towers, technical stuff, or ... well, anything I don't mess with. This interesting article may help, at least somewhat to acquaint you with what otherwise may sound like pointless babble (some of it actually is): http://www.rwonline.com/article/96998 (Chris Kadlec, MI, in Naperville, IL, (27 mi ssw of the Loop), 18 Oct, WTFDA via DXLD) Hi Chris, Being from Chicago, I actually understand all of that. To the probable surprise of all here, I spent nearly a year on LSD. Yes, for eleven months I worked at the Field Museum on Lake Shore Drive. Here's some mood music for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0saZiLV7-7E (Curtis Sadowski, IL, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I do not share the optimism about AM HD. I have never had reliable lock at night from anything not even local. And in Dallas I could see the AM 620 towers out my 2nd floor window - the station that goes close to 350 miles in the daytime, and only drops a little at night so they won't fight with 620 Milwaukee. Not even on WBAP when they experimented with it - the moment nighttime hit, they were gone in HD. This was with two different receivers so it wasn't the receiver, in a house that I purged of RF interference sources. Just not reliable. In Houston, I am less than 160 miles from WOAI - the flagship IBOC station. No decode daytime or nighttime, good loop, no loop, broadband loop - nothing on either radio. Again in a quiet environment. AM IBOC - I'd have to say is irrevocably flawed. AM needs to go back to C-Quam to get any sort of reliable stereo signal. I simply cannot believe the average listener would ever take the care I have to try to get it working. The real shocker to me was a DX-pedition to the Crosbyton Canyon, 290 miles from Dallas, based on posts by David Eduardo that C-Quam reflections off mountains in LA were limiting range. You can't get a worse case canyon / reception situation than the Crosbyton Canyon and 290 miles from Dallas. C-Quam on a portable Sony SRF-A1 came right in with no problem at all, and with a modest loop there was no static! Two C-Quam stations, one on 620 and the other on 770. If 290 mile range isn't enough I don't know what would be!!! The 620 and 770 both switched to HD - and both were MUCH weaker afterwards. Stereo decoded about 35 miles with 620, and less than 10 miles with 770. From 290 mile stereo range to less than 10 mile stereo range - HD sucks!!!! NO other conclusion is possible. Oh and 770 that used to have an audience in NW Houston - lost it when they got weaker. It went from a fairly strong rim signal to absolutely nothing. The small, but loyal group of 620 listeners in Lubbock noticed a weaker signal as well. WBAP wanted their daytime and nighttime signal back and canned HD for good (Bruce Carter, TX, Oct 18, ABDX via DXLD) I get a decode at night from WOAI when 1190 and 1210 are quiet. Not strong enough for stereo (but they are stereo, as I confirmed while driving through San Antonio last month). Most iBOC receivers use a 2- tier decoding system - when it's weak or the sidebands are noisy, a lower bitrate is processed (monaural and more 'gritty' sounding), and when it's stronger, the radio 'shifts gears' into the full decode mode that gives you a much wider and less 'gritty' audio quality having stereo audio decoding capability. I know some iBOC radios are far fussier than others, both on AM and FM. ``I'd have to say is irrevocably flawed. AM needs to go back to C-Quam to get any sort of reliable stereo signal.`` I agree AND would go further to say that AM needs to go back to a MULTI-FORMAT SYSTEM that allows for different modes for different scenarios, and receivers that detect the different pilot tones to decode the appropriate system. If your station was on a channel that has lots of cochannel interference at night, you might want to use C- QuAM during the day, and switch to Kahn ISB at night. The receiver can detect whether a 25 Hz C-QuAM or a 15-Hz Kahn pilot is present. Modern DSP programs could easily take care of the intra-exciter encoding phase-angle changes between C-QuAM and Kahn at the transmitter, and do the same in the decoder on the receiver end. Some stations could just opt to stay with either Kahn or C-QuAM full time. ``If 290 mile range isn't enough I don't know what would be!!!`` I have decoded WGN 720 in C-QuAM in the 80's from Los Angeles when KDWN used to go off. I only got a little platform motion from Hawaii at times. That's over 1800 miles tripping the C-QuAM detector into stereo. I used to regularly listen to KBOI 670 from L.A. (700 miles) when KWNK 670 (now KIRN) in Simi Valley used to sign off overnights in the 80s and early 90's - I still have great stereo recordings with solid reception. KBOI was all soft-rock music with no commercials through the overnight hours, with only hourly ABC News at TOH. My friends were amazed when we'd be driving around in the car with solid stereo music from a station IDing as from Boise coming in. ``WBAP wanted their daytime and nighttime signal back and canned HD for good.`` Did they also can their C-QuAM? I hope not (they sounded great in analog AM stereo). The one really bad thing about AM iBOC is that those stations that turned off C-QuAM 'to upgrade to iBOC' never seem to switch it back on when they decide to throw in the towel on iBOC -- - basically tossing their AM back into the 50's again for nothing here in the 21st Century. You lose out worse when an ex-AM stereo station decides to adopt iBOC and then quit iBOC (left with just mono). (Darwin Long, Empire, LA, ibid.) Unfortunately Darwin, I believe they did drop their C-quam. Seems like it's been a while too. I know for sure I checked about a month ago when I was on a trip back from Rock Springs Wyoming where I was far enough away from KUTR to not have any interference and I had a pretty solid signal from WBAP. And no stereo pilot. Is WLS still running C- quam at night? I want to say that back in August when I was in Binghamton, NY I checked and I didn't get a pilot but it seems it they weren't coming in very well. I did have a definite pilot on WTTM 1680. But that was about it (Michael n Wyo Richard, ibid.) Part of a long thread titled ``depression`` about what`s wrong with AM radio. It started here but not all the replies are in the thread list after this post: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/message/47375 (gh) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM BULGARIA; GERMANY; NEW ZEALAND; POLAND; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ROMANIA; RUSSIA; SPAIN; TUNISIA; UK DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM+ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DRM+ tests in VHF band I and band II FM In Torino area (North Italy) tests of DRM+ broadcasts are starting on VHF band I and band II FM thanks to Radio Maria World Family. More info (in Italian) on my blog: http://radiodxinfo.blogspot.com/ 73 (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, Oct 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See also OKLAHOMA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Virtual 25 NYC For the record: WASA 'Port Jervis, NY' broadcasting from Manhattan has changed its virtual channel from 64 to 25 (it's actual transmission channel.) Now NYC has two 25.1s and 25.2s - WASA and WNYE broadcasting on actual 24 (formerly on 25.) Also, WASA now has added a third virtual channel. 25.1 is the usual infomercial loop. The still pictures of NYC on their second channel are now gone. 25.2 is now ICN Chinese 'Information Culture News' and 25.3 is called IAVC but 25.2's and 25.3's programming is currently identical (a promo loop for ICN.) They have a lower third banner that reads 'coming soon on ICN UHF Ch. 64.2 (Chinese characters) UHF Ch. 64.3 coming soon...' Let's be confusing! WNYE has PBS and homebrew programming on 25.1 and a round-robin of traffic cams with a PSA audio track on 25.2 (Karl Zuk N2KZ FN31eh, Oct 20, WTFDA via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BROADBAND OVER POWER LINE GETS SURGE FROM STANDARD Apps could open up in smart energy, transportation and LANs after IEEE ratifies 1901 for data rates exceeding 500 Mbps. By W. David Gardner, InformationWeek, October 19, 2010 08:00 AM Broadband over Power Line is expected to get a new lease on life after the IEEE ratified a new standard on Monday. As a result, the technology could move more aggressively into smart energy, transportation and local-area network applications. The IEEE 1901 standard establishes standard data rates in excess of 500 Mbps in LAN applications, promising to open up a new era in delivering audio visual apps in transportation (airplanes, trains cars, etc.) as well as to connect wireless devices in homes and businesses. “There is a huge potential in Smart Grid applications,” said Jean- Philippe Faure, chair of the 1901 Working Group, in an e-mail. “Today, the pilot projects mostly used low-data-rate communication solutions, but IEEE 1901 is developed to support the quantity of information and response time that will be necessary to manage an effective smart grid.” Faure added that 1901 is expected to benefit companies with a stake in smart grids, including utilities, service providers and consumer electronics companies. The new standard is also designed to help spur the growth of BPL in home applications. . . http://www.informationweek.com/news/smb/network/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=227900187 1 Comments -- Most recent comment -- RF Leakage Comment by ANON1241555794094 Oct 19, 2010, 08:38 AM EDT I wonder if they have resolved the issue of RF leakage from BPL systems that interfere with radio communications in some public safety and amateur radio segments of the spectrum? (ibid.) IEEE 1901™ Broadband Power Line Standard for 500 Mbps Communications Approved === New standard is enabling technology for Smart Grid, transportation and LAN applications Contact: Shuang Yu, IEEE-SA Marketing Manager PISCATAWAY, N.J., USA, 18 October 2010 -- IEEE, the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology, today announced the ratification of the IEEE 1901™ Broadband over Power Line (BPL) standard. Sponsored by the IEEE Communications Society, this globally recognized BPL standard will be a key enabling technology for a wide range of applications including smart energy, transportation and Local Area Networks (LANs) in both the home and the enterprise... http://standards.ieee.org/announcements/2010/1901.html (both via Benn Kobb, DXLD) BT TO REPLACE COMTREND PLT UNITS Southgate October 16, 2010 BT is to replace the Comtrend PLT units that have been causing widespread radio interference citing safety reasons, but their replacement could interfere with even more of the radio spectrum. There are fears the replacement may have an even wider bandwidth than the original Comtrends, ruining the reception of yet more radio signals. See various links at http://www.southgatearc.org/news/october2010/bt_to_replace_comtrend_units.htm (via Mike Terry, UK, Oct 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ THE SUNRISE-EFFECT (in English for foreign members) I have studied this phenomenon since last winter, when I began to run high-resolution 70-minute-long waterfalls of interesting frequencies. Always the same resolution / settings in order to make meaningful comparisons with the same frequency on other occasions. If you use a lower resolution, the information is not interesting enough - mostly just straight lines. I have not seen anyone else think about this phenomenon yet. You see many things in these pictures. Have signals specific peculiarities (wobbles, commute, driving, etc.)? You even see when stations have close/down, or open or have problems with the transmitters. You can also see the exact frequency. But you can actually even see if a signal comes from the northern part of America, or if the signal is from further south. A signal from NA, such as WBBR 1130, does not give the same impression in the waterfall during the sunrise as a station from LA. WBBR remains basically just a line, however, essentially symmetrical wider as the sun rises. But a station from LA which is affected by sunrise goes from being a thin line, to flow out and become wider and wider, but with a clear tendency to float out to the right. LA signals during sunrise look apparently very strong in comparison with the NA signals. My observations and thoughts, however, are purely empirical, and do not claim to be scientifically substantiated. I am pleased to receive views and comments. Enclosed are 3 screenshots showing 3 x 70 consecutive minutes of 1130 kHz Sept 26, 2009. First screenshot: starts 0203 and ends 0313 UT. Strongest WBBR that this can be seen in 1130.0014 (the errors in the recording is thus 2 Hz as measured proper frequency considered 1129.9994). Other relatively strong signals that behave the same way as WBBR should be KFAN seen on 1130.002, and KWKH more than 3 Hz higher. Even higher up the supervisory 2 blurry lines that might be signals from LA. No influence of the approaching sunrise yet. The sun rises at the date on Dalarö 0439 UT. WBBR is making steady very strong all the time (-80-85 dBm most of the time). Other screenshot: No difference in the NA signal appearance. The same signal strength on these also. The suspected LA signals grows slowly in size and the "misty smoke” gets wider. But the signals are weak (about -120 dBm). Third screenshot: Sunrise is approaching and the sunrise comes and goes. WBBR will not increase in signal strength, but may be a symmetric "sunrise-coat", which decreases when the sun is up. LA signals grow and become quite strong and now you can see quite a number of similar signals which ought to be from LA, but all look stronger than they actually are. The “sunrise coat” is asymmetrical and is growing rightwards. Why be like this I do not know. But it is good to know like at least I am. Maybe it looks totally different in the north? (73 Anders Hultqvist, SW Bulletin Oct 17 via DXLD) (Translation by Google + only a few minor corrections despite the technical content – amazing result! /Thomas Nilsson, ed., ibid.) AN INTRODUCTION TO GRAY LINE PROPAGATION By Kelly Jones, NØVD [starts on page 14 of pdf] Now that fall is upon us and cooler temps are here, there is a good chance you’ll have a little more free time to spend in front of the radio. And with all of your newfound radio time – you now have extra time, right? – perhaps you’ll have more opportunities to chase those new and rare ones. After spending the past few years in the sunspot doldrums, it is certainly nice to have the bands in a little better shape when you actually do sit down and tune around. That said, the bands are far from the days of 10 meters being open around the clock. Typically, by mid-evening the higher bands have closed for the night. However, all is not lost. There is another phenomenon similar to the solar cycle that happens every day – actually, twice per day. It’s called the gray line. . . http://www.worldradiomagazine.com/wro_issues/2010/WRO_11_2010.pdf (November '10 WorldRadio Online via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Space Weather News for Oct. 16, 2010 SOLAR FLARE: The strongest solar flare in nearly three months erupted from sunspot 1112 on October 16th. Remarkably, the M1-class event did not disrupt a huge magnetic filament passing right by the blast site. Future eruptions might, however, if this active sunspot continues to grow as quickly as it has in the past few days. Visit http://spaceweather.com to view movies of the event from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. (via Mark Coady, ODXA yg via DXLD) RIP to sunspots? Science Mag. is a pop science rag? http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/09/say-goodbye-to-sunspots.html (Franklin Seiberling, IA, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit began the week at normal background levels. An increase began mid-day on 12 October, and moderate levels prevailed for 13-15 October accompanied by a brief interval of high flux levels on 13 October. Normal background levels resumed late on 15 October and continued through the remainder of the interval. An initially quiet field became somewhat disturbed around 0600 UTC on 11 October with unsettled to active levels at mid-latitudes and some isolated major to severe storm levels at high latitudes. Quiet to unsettled levels, with some isolated active periods at high latitudes, prevailed for 12 October as the disturbance diminished. Quiet levels predominated for 13-16 October. A short-lived increase to unsettled to active levels, with some minor to major storm periods at high latitudes, was observed on 17 October from 0300 UTC to 1500 UTC, after which conditions returned to quiet levels for the remainder of the day. Solar wind data from the NASA ACE spacecraft indicated a possible CME passage on 11 October, mostly likely from the filament eruption and associated partial-halo CME that were observed on 06 October. Density values reached a maximum of 45 p/cc at 0547 UTC and the IMF z- component Bz showed an extended negative interval from 0824-1805 UTC with peak negative values around -13 nT. An additional transient-like feature was observed at ACE on 17 October between 0111 UTC and 1150 UTC as Bz went through an extended negative period with peak negative values around -7 nT. A possible source for this transient may have been the slow CME observed on 14 October. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 20 OCT - 15 NOV 2010 Solar activity is expected to be predominantly at very low to low levels. The possibility for intervals of low level activity depends on the emergence of new sunspot groups. Recurrence would suggest a possible increase for 05-15 November as old Region 1112 will return at that time. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal to moderate levels during the period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be quiet to unsettled for 20-22 October. An increase to unsettled levels with a chance for active periods is forecast for 23-25 October due to a favorably positioned coronal hole. Quiet levels should prevail for 26-30 October. A small increase is possible due to a recurrent coronal hole for 31 October - 02 November. Quiet levels should prevail for the remainder of the outlook interval. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2010 Oct 19 2055 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 Oct 19 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2010 Oct 20 90 8 3 2010 Oct 21 90 8 3 2010 Oct 22 90 5 2 2010 Oct 23 88 10 3 2010 Oct 24 86 12 3 2010 Oct 25 86 12 3 2010 Oct 26 85 5 2 2010 Oct 27 85 5 2 2010 Oct 28 85 5 2 2010 Oct 29 85 5 2 2010 Oct 30 80 7 2 2010 Oct 31 80 7 2 2010 Nov 01 75 8 3 2010 Nov 02 75 5 2 2010 Nov 03 75 5 2 2010 Nov 04 75 5 2 2010 Nov 05 80 5 2 2010 Nov 06 80 5 2 2010 Nov 07 80 5 2 2010 Nov 08 80 5 2 2010 Nov 09 80 5 2 2010 Nov 10 80 5 2 2010 Nov 11 80 5 2 2010 Nov 12 85 5 2 2010 Nov 13 85 5 2 2010 Nov 14 85 5 2 2010 Nov 15 85 5 2 (SWPC via World of Radio 1535, DXLD) ORIONID METEOR SHOWER - METEOR SCATTER COMMUNICATIONS Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, and this is causing the annual Orionid meteor shower. Bright moonlight is reducing the number of visible meteors; nevertheless, sky watchers are reporting some bright Orionids. The best time to look is during the hours before local dawn on Thursday, Oct. 21st, and again on Friday, Oct. 22nd. More at http://spaceweather.com Meteor scatter communications has been used by ham radio VHF enthusiasts for many years. It enables radio communications contacts to be made over distances up to about 2000 km on the VHF bands, although it does require the use of high performance radio stations and some specialised operating techniques. Apart from being used in ham radio circles, meteor scatter communications is also used in professional and commercial radio communications applications. It provides a relatively low cost and reliable form of radio communication for medium distances provided that real time data transfer is not required. As such it is used for radio communications applications such as sending data from remote weather stations and for oil rigs where it provides a useful element of their data communications structure. The use of meteor scatter communications, whether for ham radio or other applications, requires the use of specialised techniques as the meteor trails only last for a short time. The bursts of signal created by such trails are commonly referred to as "pings", due to their characteristic sound and these pings may only last for as little as a tenth of a second. Nevertheless this is sufficient to carry some information, although several pings may be needed to complete a contact. Although high speed Morse used to be popular, newer modes including WSJT with its FSK441 mode are now very popular. More at http://www.electronics-radio.com/articles/ham_radio/amateur-propagation/meteor-scatter-burst-communications.php (via Mike Terry, Oct 20, dxldyg via DXLD) JETS VS SHARKS It's not a revival of "West Side Story". It's an observation that blue jets -- the bigger cousins of red sprites, an electrical phenomenon in the space between thunderstorm tops and the ionosphere, which may be involved in LF/VLF natural radio signals -- seem to be sighted over the open oceans more than over land. On Sept. 28th at 7:01 am EDT, Joel Gonzalez photographed a gigantic jet shooting up from a storm near NASA's Kennedy Space Center. A video capture of one can be viewed in a recent article at http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=02&month=10&year=2010 (scroll half way down page) (via LWCA http://www.lwca.org/news via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** F/TEP on 50 MHz ** Just a further note to say that the F/TEP continues for South EU - and for me I still RX AF TV - 5Z was in last night late on pure TEP III mode for about an hour - but nil on 50. I hope more will look - we have very few indicators to the south - but at long last we can see the very few TV TX's that are on there - so let`s use them and report our observations. Hopefully hams will come on & try the band on not be alarmists or tourist SOURCE: Ken, G4IGO via UK Six Metre Group Announce [MMMonVHF] All necessary details you be able to find at the Make More Miles FORUM http://www.mmmonvhf.de/minibb/index.php?action=vtopic&forum=3 As well please visit the Visual VHF DATABASE and check your area - if you find faults please do report to us! The Visual VHF DATABASE can be found here: http://www.mmmonvhf.de/vdb.php [DL8EBW] (via ICPO via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg Oct 22 via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Remember, don`t vote Republican! They got us into the mess we`re in, and don`t deserve another chance to make it even worse (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###