DX LISTENING DIGEST 11-01, January 5, 2011 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 2011 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html Searchable 2010 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid0.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 1546 headlines: *Reprieve for shortwave closures in Argentina, Blagovest, Slovakia *Program tips from Canada, New Zealand *More news from Algeria, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Guatemala, India, Iran, Kashmir, Korea North [non], Malaysia, Mexico, Oklahoma, Pakistan, Russia, Sarawak [non], Spratly Islands, Sudan, Ukraine, USA SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1546, January 6-12, 2011 Thu 0430 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Thu 1600 WRMI 9955 Thu 2000 WBCQ 7415 [confirmed] Thu 2200 WRMI 9955 Fri 0430 WWRB 3185 Fri 1530 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Fri 2130 WWCR1 7465 Sat 0900 WRMI 9955 Sat 1500 WRMI 9955 Sat 1700 WWCR2 12160 Sat 1830 WRMI 9955 Sat 1900 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 6090 Sun 0730 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0900 WRMI 9955 Sun 1630 WRMI 9955 Sun 1830 WRMI 9955 Mon 1230 WRMI 9955 Tue 1630 WRMI 9955 Tue 2000 WBCQ 7415 Wed 1630 WRMI 9955 Wed 2000 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 DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg without delay. When applying, please identify yourself with your real name and location, and say something about why you want to join. Those who do not, unless I recognize them, will be prompted once to do so and no action will be taken otherwise. Here`s where to sign up: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ WALT SALMANIW DXPEDITION, MASSET, HAIDA GWAII, BRITISH COLUMBIA LOGS This issue contains numerous SW and MW logs from Walt. The full list has appeared in the DXLD yg, in chronological order. Most of the SW and many of the MW are integrated below. Walt`s introduxion: (gh, DXLD) Happy New Year to you, Glenn! I've enclosed 2 selections of DXpedition loggings from my DX cottage in Haida Gwaii. The first is a SW logging list, and the second, if interested, is my MW report. Not sure if you're interested in the latter. First version, so there may be a few mistakes. They're done sometimes with very little sleep! The conditions were great! Had a wonderful time, "reconnecting" with all aspects of the hobby! Cheers (Walt Salmaniw, BC, Jan 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALASKA. 1080, 1459-, KUDO, Dec 31 Loop with information that KUDO ceases operations on Dec 31st. Invitation to tune in KOAN 1020 for great local progressive talk radio. Excellent reception. 1020 KOAN ID'd at 1506 as Fox Talk Radio KOAN, also at excellent level. 1080, 1602-, KUDO, Anchorage Jan 1 Despite announcing that KUDO will cease broadcasting as of Dec 31st, there they still were on the 1st. Will have to see when they actually pull the plug! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALASKA. 9920, KNLS (not), Dec 29 1810 - Checked various times and frequencies this morning and so far, have heard no signs of KNLS which normally booms into Masset. Sounds like both transmitters must be off the air? See my later postings. Thanks, Glenn! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. Have not seen KNLS reported lately, so wondering if both transmitters are currently down. I look for the English hour scheduled on 9655 at 15-16, Jan 2: as soon as Sackville 9650 is off, yes, there is KNLS IS on 9655, fair with flutter. But at 1500 Romania is on top in Arabic while KNLS is still ISing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9655, KNLS, Jan 3 1513 - Thanks for Glenn Hauser for pointing out that, indeed, KNLS is on. Not a very good frequency. First checked at 15:05, and was equal to someone else with an echoey signal. On recheck, clearly dominating with true stories from the bible in contemporary English. Not sure why they'd choose such a high frequency in the middle of winter. Despite that, good to very good at times (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA [and non]. 1394.855, 2112-, Trans World Radio, Jan 1. Good reception in I believe Croatian (that's what eibi has listed) with religious fare. Transmitter is quite a bit off frequency! I see another transmitter on the high side at 1395.183 as well. 1457.572, 2112-, Radio Tirana, Jan 1. Interval signal (that I don't recognize) started at 2112:20. Serbian is listed from Radio Tirana (perhaps that's their current IS). Off frequency fits Albania. A tough catch due to another, almost equally strong transmitter on 1458.007. My guess on that one is Romania Actualitatsi, in Constantsa (100 kW). (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. Dear Drita, First, let me wish you a merry Christmas, happy Holiday, and happy New Year! I hope you had a good holiday time! I want to give you some news about good reception yesterday on the two English transmissions, 03:30 and 04:30 UTC on 6100. This is a good frequency for Radio Tirana. There is no other station interfering. The reason reception was good yesterday was that the modulation was good, I.E. the audio was loud enough to be heard. It has often happened with radio Tirana that the signal is fairly strong, but, the audio is so soft that it cannot be heard. Whatever it is that the technicians do that makes the modulation loud enough, try to let them know to continue this. The strength of the signal was moderate here in Alabama, in the South. I am sure that it was even stronger in the Northeast, which tends to be the best location for receiving stations from Europe. I would give the SIO report as 3, 4, 4. I hope this information is useful. From Cold Huntsville, where it actually snowed on Christmas day, a VERY rare thing! (Tim Hendel, Dec 28 to R. Tirana via Drita Çiço, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. 7530, Radio Tirana, Dec 30 2104 - Good reception with national news in English. To UK, so pretty good reception. North American // listed on 9895 is not heard. 7465, Radio Tirana, Dec 31 1950 - Good to very good reception with Albanian folk music (sounds Greek to me). Transmission is to UK. The North American frequency of 11635 was not heard. 9895, Radio Tirana, Dec 31 2106 - Good reception in English. This transmitter is to North America, whereas the // 7530 is fair to good (for Europe). New Year's program (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. 11775-11795 and 11845-11865 to jerk on Perseus screen - two very broadband 20 kHz transmissions of CRI Cerrik-ALB relays at 0700-0857 UT on 11785 - English - and 11855 - Mandarin. Both at 310 degree main lobe towards Paris-London target at S=9+30dB strength. 11785 English program on Xizang province "on the road..." report, China Horizon. 11855 Funny family radioplay like comedian theatre transmission (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALGERIA [and non]. 253-odd, Algerien kommt im Moment mit franzoesischen Nachrichten, gefolgt von elektronischer Musik auf 253.0 kHz, 1 kHz zu hoch. Dementsprechend gibt es einen heftigen Het mit den Iren mit Klampfenballade auf 252.0 kHz. Algerien in USB und Irland in LSB ist aber prima zum Zuhoeren, je nach Musikgeschmack. 31.12.2010, 0104 UT (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, A-DX Dec 31 via BC-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) The attached audio clip file is self explanatory: a "heterodyne fight" between RTÉ on the correct channel frequency, 252, and R. Algérienne on 253 kHz like it was observed at least once this year. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Carlos, The last time I remember this happening was at the end of August and start of September 2008, when Algeria shifted to 250 exactly for a few days. Strange!! Happy New Year! (Chris Greenway, UK, ibid.) But tonight it appears to have been fixed, as far as I can tell from within lots of local noise. I can detect a carrier on 252 kHz only while the dominant modulation sounds like French. By the way, the Algerian 252 kHz facility uses two Tesla DRV 750 transmitters, a longwave version of the SRV 750 http://stredni.vlny.sweb.cz/Tesla/SRV_750_cz.html The only other transmitters of this model are the ones at Topolna, still in operation on 270 kHz, 17 years after the first announced closure deadline (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 31, ibid.) I'm convinced the "mess" as I called it was solved later in the night. Right now, 2138 UT, RTÉ is received at S9+, some QSB, while R. Algérienne comes with an S9+30 dB signal. Again, as far as I can remember, I found ALG on 253 some time this year. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, ibid.) ** ALGERIA. New Year's Eve in Algeria --- Algeria-531/549 kHz in at good level 2227-2235+ UT with Arabic pop music and a fairly lively male DJ in Arabic joking around with another guy in the studio. Unusually light programming for this network (Alger Chaîne I) which generally tends to be on the serious side. Now, at 2240, they seem to be playing a comedy record with silly voices. Most unusual, Captain! (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?t=228 Dec 31, WTFDA-AM via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. 4760, INDIA (ANDAMAN ISLANDS), AIR Port Blair, Jan 1 1719 - Excellent reception with Indian music. A very unusual morning propagationally. Highly variable. I'm getting hints of audio on // 684 as well. Bangladesh on 693 is propagating well, as well as the Arabian gulf area. Looking very promising! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGOLA. 7216.015-odd, UNID Angolan station? Heterodyne whisper heard at 1936 UT Dec 31, against even 7215.00 kHz of CRI Shijiazhuang in Mandarin, S=9+10dB. Angola was noted lately on 7216.76 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, LRA36 still absent Dec 31 at 1414, thus completing the year unheard since Nov 12. Will it ever come back? 15476, no sign of LRA36 Jan 3 at 1404, as another year starts without the presence on shortwave of Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA [non]. Novedades en AM --- Amigos de la Lista, Desde este 1º de Enero, la emisora "no oficial" que se halla activa en la frecuencia de 1310 KHz se denomina ahora RADIODIFUSORA ANTARTIDA ARGENTINA (Ex Radio AM-13-10 o "La Radio Sin Nombre"). Bueno, ahora si tiene nombre, después de estar en el aire varios meses en esas condiciones. - Vale señalar que esta emisora es una de las TRES (3) radios que pertenece al Sr. Alberto Ramón Soldera, junto con Radio Genesis (970 KHz) y Radio Popular (1090 KHz, ex Radio Nuestras Raíces); todas con QTH en la Avenida José María Moreno 1443, 1º Piso, (C1424ABB) Ciudad de Buenos Aires, y plantas transmisoras del otro lado del Riachuelo. Parece que esta gente no se conforma con tener una sola radio (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, Jan 1, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 11710.93, RAE, Dec 29 0239 - English program not particularly well heard, although better at the start of the program with mostly music at poor to fair level. I'm not clear whether they'll be leaving SW at the end of the year or not. 15344.908, RAE, Dec 29 2203 - Nice ID in Spanish at fair to good level. Spanish programming. 11710.790, RAE, Dec 31 0021 - Strong reception tonight with Portuguese programming. Also very powerful CNR1 on 11710, so needed to use USB to listen. Will this be the final day of broadcast? 11710.793, RAE, Dec 31 0159 - The MUF is dropping pretty quickly, so it's difficult to follow such a high frequency. The multilingual ID is easily heard. I wish it was on an hour or two ago. By now, conditions don't favour such a high frequency propagating during the winter! Not clear whether this is the last program or not. They did mention that this was the year-end program for 2010. Just barely above the noise floor when rechecked at 0240. 15345.050, RAE, Dec 31 2251 - Spanish programming at fair to good level, with many mentions of RAE and Argentina. Will see if 11711v is on tonight (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I was listening to RAE (Argentina) on the 31st and they reported that they will still be on shortwave. We’ll see if there will be any improvement in reception. Happy New Year! (Kevin O’Donovan, New Mexico, USA, Jan 1, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) David Zantow informs us that RAE has been announcing they will stay on shortwave after all in 2011; he had to listen to the webcast and a pertinent clip from their UT Dec 30 broadcast has been posted on the dxldyg and now also at http://www.w4uvh.net/rae2011.mp3 No explanation of how this has been achieved, vs the PCB problem in their transmitter and the new law against it. 15344.9, Dec 31 at 1850, I am getting a weak signal here, can`t tell whether it`s Morocco or RAE and whether it is in English, which is scheduled M-F 1800-1900; the other English, to NAm at 0200-0300 UT Tue-Sat on 11711v. 11710.8, approx., January 1, 2011 at 0023 UT, RAE heavily fluttered as usual, poor signal, but sounds like Portuguese with a Porteño accent. We fully expect to keep hearing RAE this year following its reprieve, but only wish it could attain reception worthy of it. Brazilian and Chilean signals rated no more powerful do a consistently much better job. General Pacheco needs upgrading --- or relaying. Yes, RAE continues on SW in 2011! 11710.8 approx., UT Jan 4 at 0237, English to NAm is fair with flutter and readable, announcer talking informally about upcoming visit of Brasil`s new president to Argentina. Kudos for doing that instead of everything scripted. WWV reports improved propagation: Solar-terrestrial indices for 03 January follow. Solar flux 92 and mid-latitude A-index 3. The mid-latitude K-index at 0300 UTC on 04 January was 1 (7 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours. More good news: On Jan 3, Takahito Akabayashi, Japan reported to DXLD: ``Mr. Marcello Carvajal of RAE telephoned to Mr. Kazuhiko Iwasa of JSWC the following on Jan. 2. Director of RAE announced that Argentine government will budget RAE's new shortwave transmitter this week. This is due to the many messages hoping the continuation of RAE's SW broadcast from the listeners in Japan, Germany, and Portugal.`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And strong signal at 2000 for the French programme (usually unreadable). Is it the new transmitter? I don't think so. Just a good propagation? (JM Aubier, France, Jan 3, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15345v Well, ¿just only from these countries? Several DXers in LA worked for this too (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I know that... But my question is - new transmitter on the air ? (surely no ! Not yet !) - remarquable propagation ? - transmitter outside Argentina (Chile ?) It's the first time I can listen to RAE with an excellent signal at 2000 (sometimes, the reception in better at 2100, but never like this). Coincidence? (J M Aubier, France, ibid.) 11710 - RAE broadcasts on tonight with good signals here on Cape Cod. Currently listening to French service at 0330 with sports report, several IDs and as always their wonderful tango music. They were on earlier, approx 0150 playing music but I was unable to listen for English program at 0200 due to Celtics/Timberwolves game that I got involved watching. Happy to see that they are continuing with shortwave for the time being (Steve Wood, Harwich, MA, UT Tue Jan 4, Drake R8B 50 x 25 E/W terminated Superloop antenna, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15345.00, RAE, 2205-2305, Jan 4. In Spanish; EZL LA songs; news; many “RAE” IDs; segment on “XERMX, Radio Mexico International, onda corta”; fair to almost good (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) v ANTARCTICA non ** ASIA [non]. RADIO FREE ASIA ISSUES YEAR OF THE RABBIT QSL CARD JANUARY 2011 --- Radio Free Asia (RFA) announces the release of our 35th QSL card. This latest card continues our series of Chinese Lunar New Year commemorative QSLs. 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit and begins on February 3, 2011 and runs through January 22, 2012 Those born in a rabbit year are said to be kind, sensitive, soft-spoken, gracious, good natured, reserved, cautious, artistic, thorough, self-assured, shy, astute, and lucky. This QSL card will be used to confirm all valid reception reports from January 1 – March 31, 2011. RFA encourages listeners to submit reception reports. Reception reports are valuable to RFA as they help us evaluate the signal strength and quality of our transmissions. RFA confirms all accurate reception reports by mailing a QSL card to the listener. RFA welcomes all reception report submissions at http://www.techweb.rfa.org (follow the QSL REPORTS link) not only from DX’ers, but also from its general listening audience. Reception reports are also accepted by email at qsl @ rfa.org, and for anyone without Internet access, reception reports can be mailed to: Reception Reports Radio Free Asia 2025 M. Street NW, Suite 300 Washington DC 20036 United States of America. Upon request, RFA will also send a copy of the current broadcast schedule and a station sticker (via Salahuddin Dolar, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, Jan 5, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. From the ABC Web site, it looks like they're doubtful of the ABC Rockhampton transmitter on 837 surviving the floods, and are increasing FM coverage: http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/01/03/3105658.htm?site=capricornia (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash., Jan 3, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hmmm, situation may warrant special SW broadcasts from dry Shepparton; wasn`t something like that done a few years ago in some other emergency? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Back in 2006 there were several special relays (ABC Brisbane, ABC Far North, etc.) regarding various cyclones, via Shepparton on 6020. Worth checking. http://www.abc.net.au/farnorth/ has audio of “ABC Local Radio’s emergency coverage streaming” (ABC Capricornia) of the current flooding situation (Ron Howard, 0545 UT, Jan 5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, the SW relays were to do with cyclones where a wide area needs to be quickly covered both at sea and on land. Doubtful if a SW relay will appear for the Capricornian Region floods (Robin Harwood VK7RH, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, Radio Monitor SWLR-KS001, Jan 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Oh, No, It's back on permanently!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was just too good to last. Two years ago Launceston lost its three MW stations as they shifted to FM. Great and was I pleased. The nearest sender was only 1.5 Kilometres from my QTH and puts out kW on 1008. This was the former 7EX later renamed Tasradio or TABradio. Recently the owner of the network running 7LA, now LAFM applied for a second commercial license for the city and Tasradio sold their FM license to this consortium and obtained a narrowcast license. And yes they have now re-appeared on 1008 and will vacate their 91.3 FM channel later this month, paving the way for another format for LAFM probably SEAFM. Tasradio also has LPFM relays on 87.7 in various country towns. After being a quiet MW band, I now have the 5 kW signal on 1008 back on. I can see the masts from my window. There is also a small 400 watt narrowcaster on 1611 from the same site but this has never worried me. I now have on 1008 nothing but 24/7 racing. Tasradio has a small audience with this format but this is no surprise because Tasradio is a subsidiary of the TAB (Robin Harwood VK7RH, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, Radio Monitor SWLR-KS001, Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 2368.5, Radio Symban, Dec 29 1342 - No sign of them this morning, so must be off the air at the moment (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 2485, VL8K Katherine, Jan 1 1512 - Not in parallel with 2325 and 2310. All three are excellent this morning. Just caught an apology for technical problems. They again reported the problem at 1533 and advised that listeners call the ABC technical advice line! 2485, VL8K Katherine, Jan 3 1358 - Back in sync this morning with the other two 120m transmitters (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 3210 kHz: Folks, last night 1st January 2011 from around 0710 to past 1100 UT, we heard the ex Pifo HCJB transmitter from Schofields, western Sydney. Running between 50 & 70 watts. It has a religious programme on a loop every 2 hours. This is just a pre tune and get it right phase, so the sked is not finalised. reports to dx1234 @ gmail.com If you want a snail mail QSL: to John Wright, 29 Milford Rd, Peakhurst 2210, NSW, Australia. Please include either 2 IRC's or 2 USD's. Always something new on shortwave, Cheers from Australia (Johno Wright, NSW, 2300 UT January 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3210, no sign of the just activated new private SW station of unknown name in NSW, January 2 at 1349, and I am not surprised, considering the very low power and testing may be intermittent. Should be quite a challenge to hear in NAm, but possible if Radio Symban can make it on 2368.5 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3210, Glenmorek, NSW, new private SW station, Jan 2 1357 - new station operated by Craig Allen. I've previously heard well both the old 5050 station and Radio Symban on 2368.5. At first tune-in, he's just above the noise floor, but I'm hoping for much better reception towards dawn. I'm measuring the transmitter on 3209.997. I can't quite read my own notes about the QTH, so I'll have to recheck that! Still no sign of Symban, by the way. 3210, Private SW broadcaster in NSW, Jan 3 1400 - Slightly better reception of John Wright's transmitter this morning with very weak audio. Did note some talk starting at 1400. Reported running 50 to 70 watts at the moment. Perhaps it'll improve to be able to get some content out of it (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 7240, Thu Dec 30 at 1405, RA starting ``Summer`` show from ABC Local Radio (paradoxically, a national network). RA is in summer-vacation substitute-program mode, but has failed to update: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/universal.htm which still shows ``Hindsight`` Thursday at 1405. This situation will probably last thru most of January. ``Summer`` host started discussing whether brains of liberals and conservatives are congenitally different, i.e. conservatives ruled by reptilian emotions (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZORES. I have just received my copy of the WRTH 2011, and unfortunately found some incorrect items: RDP Antena 1 Açores, Pico da Barrosa 837 10 kW, São Miguel island, is no more. The file with the RDP stns I have recently received from http://www.rtp.pt is the same RTP sends to the WRTH, and I'm sure the latter forwarded it to the Country Contributor, and 837 is no longer listed there. I take it WRTH Country Contributors should perhaps keep in touch with their colleagues handling the MW sections so as to avoid such discrepancies. History: One of the reasons why this outlet was terminated is the collapse of the tower during a storm. Commercial Stations: R. Club de Angra (909 kHz, inactive, tower collapsed years ago) and Estação Emissora do Club Asas do Atlântico (1566 kHz, inactive) are being listed separately instead of appearing under the "Other Stations" (VHF-FM only) list, but those two fqs are omitted. The fact is that they're both licenced MW stns that are simply not active [on MW] for certain reasons, but both remain active on VHF-FM. It is up to http://www.erc.pt ultimately to decide towards the removal of their MW licences, but then again this hasn't happened so far. On the other hand, ERC is usually swift in doing so regarding VHF-FM licences. History: As a matter of fact, RCA 909 vanished when their monopole collapsed a number of years ago, and increasing competition from the VHF-FM-only local stns and revenue decrease paved the way for halting MW operation, and it is almost they will remain silent on MW for the years to come. 1566 is silent not due to technical reasons, but for the same financial motive that caused RCA to suspend MW. Military Stations: Rádio Lajes - Voz da FAP. No mention of the [continuously postponed] planned reactivation on MW 1530 [formerly thought was 1584] (ex-648), no VHF-FM [93.5 MHz 150 watt] fq listed, stn director's name [currently, Lt. Colonel Carlos Mendes] also omitted. As a matter of fact, Lt. Col. Carlos Mendes' name should have been mentioned in the WRTH 2009 & 2010 editions (Carlos Gonçalves via Mediumwave.info via Medium Wave News 56/08 13 January 2011 via DXLD) ** AZORES [and non]. [Sidebar to PORTUGAL q.v. thread on Emissora Nacional IS] Yes, they [EN] had a service specially beamed to Açores that relayed EN 1 which lasted for some time even the RDP was created. That was via a Philips SSB tx, and the fqs are correct, but there was another pair of them, on the 25 m band, i.e. a daytime fq & a night time one. It was later made redundant when a satellite feed was put into use. The 4865 fq was used from Ponta Delgada, Açores, to cover this archipelago. Just in case one thinks turning EN into RDP was a mere name change, which was not, the former was a public service that became a government owned company comprising the EN plus all the privately owned stations (except these three: R. Renascença, R. Altitude and R. Pólo Norte - Emissora das Beiras, later R. Club do Centro - Emissora das Beiras) on mainland that were nationalised by all these "wise" chaps after Apr '74, hence the several networks that were thus created. The private stations in both Açores and Madeira were kept as they were. Why? Because the R. Club Português was nationwide and was possibly considered a threat (!). As to ISignals up to April, '74, there was this one I referred to, but others were used in the past, and the one Phil Finkle mentions was used some time in the 60s when the foreign language service was also adding the ID "This is the Voice of the West. The West can and will win!" The chimes IS is none other but the [rlgs.] melody out of the so called Fátima Sanctuary, slightly modified to provide a good punch on the air, so the YouTube video/audio clip doesn't give you an exact idea of, again, how grand it sounded. Quite a number of church bells still carry this tune. Now, did I understand you correctly, David: Soviets jamming R. Portugal after the April, '74 coup d'état some call "revolution"?! Maybe some jamming was used prior to that date, when the cabinet was indeed held by Prof. Marcello Caetano. I can tell you didn't need to be here in this country to realise they, i.e. the East Block and others were nothing but rejoicing about the prospects of securing a share of influence here as well as (and mainly) in Africa as they ultimately did shortly afterwards, particularly in Angola when they had their Caribbean bloodhounds doing the dirty work. Finally, the multi-[Portuguese] guitar IS; well, there have been several rather silly, inefficient ISignals since Apr'74. The worst of them all is, as far as I can remember, the one consisting of the first bars of our natl. anthem played in xylophone or some other instrument - it simply lacked a punch, it was easily choked by adjacent splash, noise or whatever. For some stupid reason, they never seemed to get one good, lasting IS. The one RDPi - R. Portugal has been using for some years now consists of a melody played in Portuguese guitar, but it's simply too short for an IS. I am including an attachment with a recording I have, but it's an audio file using an .rm extension my current Windows Media Player can't read - and until I manage to fix this, neither this nor many other similarly coded audio clips can be played. I hope some of you manage to play it anyway. 1 of 1 File(s) RDPi abertura de emissão.rm 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) There was a period not immediately following the permanent deactivation of the Ponta Delgada transmitter during which RDP broadcast _to_ the Azores on 4865 in SSB. It was initially and erroneously reported by some as a reactivation of the Azores tx, but was later shown to be directly from Portugal instead. I do not recall the exact dates without digging through my old (paper) log. Someday I'll have it all keyed into the computer. Yes, but only briefly. The jamming, as I recall, only happened on the day of the coup, not before, and not after. It targeted the 25 m Radio Portugal English program, and consisted of exactly one Soviet-type buzzsaw. I suspect, given the politics of the Brezhnev era, that the Soviet / Komintern role in the coup was not limited to that of being a passive observer, since the USSR wasn't a mere passive observer in anything then. The xylophone was indeed a strange-sounding one. Plays fine on Totem (Ubuntu media client). 73, (David E. Crawford, Indian River City, Florida, United States of America, 28.51N 80.83W, ibid.) ** BANGLADESH. 693, 1730-, Bangladesh Betar, Jan 3. Had good reception of Bangladesh about an hour ago, and while listening to the local news on KYUK, Bethel on 640 (in local native language), checked 693 again to hear what is presumably the Bangladesh national anthem at sign-off. Still fair to good reception. The transmitter is still on at 1733 with OC (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. External service is not broadcasting at time of publication but is expected to return in late 2011 (WRTH 2011 via Mike Barraclough, Jan World DX Club Contact via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 4750, Bangladesh Betar, 1403, Dec 30. Has been interesting to find they routinely have music of the bagpipes. Very distinctive! Still no sign of RRI (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS. 7390, Radio Belarus, International (Minsk / Kalodzicy) (presumed), 2327-2336, 1/3/2011, Russian. Talk by man. Pop music at 2334. Poor, noisy signal with fading. Nothing heard on listed parallel frequencies (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, G6 and whip antenna, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Spurs from 7360: see GREECE ** BOLIVIA. 3310, Radio Mosoj Chaski, 0833-0845, 28-December-2010, in Quecha [sic]. Program Details: 0833, Sign [sic] with Bolivian National Anthem followed by ID and frequency announcement, 0836 local type music. Signal: Fair (Ed Wlodarski, N2ED, New Jersey, Ten Tec RX340 & 100 Ft Long Wire, NASWA Flashsheet Jan 2 via DXLD) Most of Ed`s logs have program details so generic they are meaningless, but less so this one. Yet when he does report an ID he never quotes it (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.819, Radio Santa Cruz, 0931-0945 Jan 1. Noted a male in Spanish comments during the period. Signal is rather muffled which is not the usual. Generally, it is easy to hear. However, the signal strength was fair (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, WR-G31DDC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6165, Radio Logos – Santa Cruz, 1319, 12/29/10, in Spanish. Mellow Latin style ballad, segué to another similar ballad, announcer, woman with longer talk. Poor (Mark Taylor, Madison WI, Winradio g313e, Eton E1, Satllit 800, Kaito 1103; Flextenna, EWE, attic mounted Eavesdropper, NASWA Flashsheet Jan 2 via DXLD) Is that time correct? Sunrise in Santa Cruz was 0938 UT, so that`s 3 hours and 41 minutes later, and sunrise in Madison was 1330, so almost entirely a daytime path. BTW, RN is in Spanish via Bonaire on 6165 at 1100-1227 (gh, DXLD) ** BOTSWANA. 9885, VOA, Jan 4 0410 - My eibi list states that this is from Botswana. Excellent reception with English to Africa. Too bad it's been years since Botswana had its own SW service (remember the animal calls IS?). (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4885, R. Clube do Pará is one of the most reliable Brazilians on 60m, which runs all-night, but unheard for quite some time vs hi noise level here. 4985, R. Brasil Central is another, but nothing from it tonight, considerably more distant. At 0618 Dec 31, 4885 is the OSOB from South America, with pop music. 0621 announcement but rather distorted and reverberating; think I did hear Pará mentioned and two or three ``kHz``, so likely full ID. With BFO on, I discover that the carrier is unstable, wobbling slightly. 0633, ``Bom dia, Brasil``; Belém is on UT -3 with no DST there this summer, so local is only 3:33 am. 0644 playing original version of ``Corina, Corina`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4935.2, R Capixaba, Vitoria, ES, 0024, Dec 21, pastor in Portuguese with animated message, fair 4974.8, R Iguatemi (p), Osasco, SP, 0045, Dec 21, speakers in Portuguese, “Let It Be” by the Beatles, weak 5970, R Itatiaia, Belo Horizonte, MG, 2256, Dec 14, Portuguese talk, jingles, pop songs, good 6000, R Guaíba, Porto Alegre, RS, 0004, Dec 15, male singer with reggae, two speakers in Portuguese with chat, laughs, fading in 6010, R Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, MG, 0016, Dec 14, ads, IDs, songs, local events announcements in Portuguese, good 6059.9, Super R Deus é Amor, Curitiba, PR, 0005, Dec 14, Portuguese religious discussion, fair 6070, R Capital, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 2359, Dec 14, full ID in Portuguese with frequencies, // 6060 but with different ID ann on top of the hour, songs of praise, fair 6080, R Novas de Paz, Curitiba, PR, 0156, Dec 24, Portuguese with mentions of Curitiba, web address, frequencies, music clips, telephone numbers, fair 6160, R Rio Mar (p), Manaus, AM, 0035, Dec 19, male speaker in Portuguese with telephone numbers, web addresses, music clip, adv jingle, operatic song, weak 9515, R Novas de Paz, Curitiba, PR, 2104, Dec 26, male pastor in Portuguese with religious message, amens, piano music and song of praise, fair 9550, R Boa Vontade, Porto Alegre, RS, 0325, Dec 25, female pastor with sympathetic voice in Portuguese, gentle orchestral music, choir, fair 9629.9, R Aparecida, Aparecida, SP, 0027, Dec 19, female pastor in Portuguese, Ave Marias/Santa Marias, prayers, good 11815, R Brasil Central, Goiania, GO, 1958, Dec 16, electronic whistle, male speaker with animated ann in Portuguese, ID jingle, weak 11915, R Gaucha, Porto Alegre, RS, 2032, Dec 16, advs in Portuguese, web addresses, fair 11925.1, R Bandeirantes, São Paulo, SP, 1951, Dec 16, speaker with federal ann in Portuguese, advs, Al-Jazeera report, fair (Graham Bell, Cape Town, South Africa, DSWCI DX Window Dec 31 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL [and non]. 11765, Dec 29 at 0615 wacky wailing preacher David Miranda, almost breaking into song, via SRDA, Curitiba. R. Victoria, PERÚ, is now in the clear on 6019.3, where the same is holding forth, and by golly, they are // and even synchronized, so taking a multinational network feed. Both signals poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. R Inconfidência 15190 on air. Hola, 15190 kHz, 1128 UT, R Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, px mx samba !!! SUFF. Ciaoooooooo e buon 2011 (Mauro - Giroletti, Italy, Jan 2, -Swl 1510- -IK2GFT- -JRC525Nrd - Lowe HF150- Filter PAR Electronics - BCST-LPF + BCST-HPF -Eavesdropper SWL Sloper 11mt to 120mt Band- Loop LFL1010 -Lat. 45 25'0"N Long. 9 7'0"E -Locator grid. Jn 45 Nk- bclnews.it via DXLD) 15190, Radio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, 1140-1210, 02-01, Brazilian songs, at 1200 identification: "Inconfidência, o gigante do ar", "10 horas e 1 minuto". 34433 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, Radio Inconfidência, (Belo Horizonte), 2255-2310, 1/4/2011, Portuguese. Man talking. Musical theme followed by ID at 2259. Time by second man at 2300, ID, and talk (presumed to be news). Jazz vocal by woman at 2307. Good signal with some slow fading. Weak parallel noted on 6010 (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, G6 and whip antenna, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. Frequency change for Dem. Voice of Burma in Burmese from Jan. 1: 1430-1530 NF 9355 ERV 300 kW / 100 deg to SEAs, ex 11515 // 17790 MDC (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 Jan via DXLD) ** CANADA. YouTube: Eric Koch, Early days of CBC International Svce The Voice of Canada --- During 1943, the government of Mackenzie King decided that Canada should join the US and England as a shortwave broadcaster. The CBC and the Department of External Affairs set about creating the International Service (now called Radio Canada International). Eric Koch and Helmut Blume began broadcasting to Germany on late 1944. Although this was thought of as a form of "psychological warfare" in support of the war effort, it was really a promotion of democracy and information about Canada. In fact, after the war, arrangements were made with German broadcasters to provide educational programming about Canada. Additionally, visits were made to POW camps across Canada -- 32,000 people until repatriation was completed in 1947. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yliGTo2Glp8 The Cold War Begins in Ottawa --- In September 1945, Igor Gouzenko, a cipher clerk working at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, defected. Canada had its first genuine international scandal. This had many ramifications at the International Service, where Eric Koch was working at the time. The resulting "witch hunt" threatened the organization and changed the atmosphere considerably. Of particular interest is the story of Henning Sorenson, the head of the Danish section, who had helped Norman Bethune set up blood banks in Spain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usS2ayNjOxo (via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) My god! I remember meeting Eric Koch in 1990. I'm glad to see he is still alive. Mike, thanks for posting this. Today I contacted a friend who use to work in the German section of RCI to find out his phone number. We spoke for an hour. Eric has some very funny stories about the early days of the CBC International Service. This months edition of Media Network Plus will feature the interview as well as a look at international broadcasting from listeners. There is a survey Paulette and I posted on the MNP page at PCJ. If you guys have a chance take the poll. We have so much material to pick from I don't know how we can make the show 1 hour (Keith Perron, Taiwan, ibid.) ** CANADA. 17790, RCI, Dec 29 1804 - English to Africa with news at very good level. // 15365 even better. Relays not heard include listed: 9740 via Kashi, China and 11845 (Vatican). Into the Link program. A long time since I've bothered listening to RCI. Not what it once was! Much better conditions the following day (30 Dec). Still, could only just make out CRI relay (Kashi) on 9740. Both Canadian frequencies superb (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 9625, Jan 2 at 0608, CBC NQ is still on with tone test a few minutes after sign-off; good S9+18 signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6070, CFRX Toronto: having welcomed the appearance of the Phil Hendrie Show on SW, lately I`ve been hearing stand-up comedy instead after 0600, including Dec 29. Yes, the program schedule for CFRB at http://www.newstalk1010.com/schedule.aspx now shows: ``24-7 Comedy Overnight`` Mon-Sat 12-5 am = 0500-1000 UT, so it`s *5-6*, not 24-7! Unlike the originating source: http://www.newstalk1010.com/247ComedyOvernight.aspx http://www.247comedy.com/ On the website it`s impossible to tell whether this is based in Canada, but maybe CanCon does not apply to comedy broadcasting? So many `American` comedians are axually Canadian, it should not be hard to comply with that. But who wants to listen to five hours straight of stand-up in the nightmiddle? Not much else of obvious interest on the CFRB schedule, except they are carrying 60 Minutes, from CBS at the same time it is on TV, UT Mondays 0000 (but what about delays for stupid ballgames at least on TV?). CFRX also has CBS's Weekly World News Round-Up, Saturdays at 1000-1100 UT; or after current news? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6069.985, CFRX, Dec 29 0143 - Fair reception with CFRB programming. Remains very slightly off frequency (another station right on channel is present on the Perseus waterfall). (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6928.877, PIRATE, Radio Yellowknife, Dec 31 2256 - Excellent reception, with S9+10 signal with ID as, 'Radio Yellowknife, putting the sexy back into radio', and further oldies. Transmitter is north/east of me, so the Yellowknife area just might make sense. In either case, much stronger than in Victoria. ID again at 2300. Op said he had to go down to the auditorium shortly, but for now, sit back and relax. Later, at 2308, the Op stated, 'Don't you wish you learned to play an instrument in high school?', etc. He mentioned a live broadcast from the auditorium. Interesting! Then into the Jailhouse Rock. At 2311, he gave his address as radioyellowknife @ gmail.com and then went to his 'live' broadcast with: 'Welcome to the bottom of mine shaft 22 in Yellowknife', with lots of background noise, and more muffly audio noted. The program continued with music from the Alan Parsons Project. Lots of IDs. Transmitter drifts a bit. Now on 6929.305 at 2354. Still going strong at 0006 on the 1st. I rechecked at 0157, and he's way down in the mud, with just a poor to fair signal. I rechecked again much later at 0341, and he's still there, but down in the mud. Still drifting. This time around 6929.126 in AM, of course. 6928.228, PIRATE, Radio Yellowknife, Jan 4 0030 - Having given up on SAQ, I discovered Radio Yellowknife with a great AM signal, on the ALA100 NE/SW large diameter loop really pulling in the signal. I'm assuming this is Radio Yellowknife as he has all the characteristics of this op of late. No ID as of yet. Began with an Emerson Lake Palmer piece. Then read a poem (a bit muddy audio), then onto another oldie ('Hello, how are you?...'). Signed off about 10 minutes later. Not as strong as the New Year's Eve special. ID'd at the end with their email address (radioyellowknife @ gmail.com). (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 990, 0401-, CBC multiple transmitters: Yukon and ?CBW Winnipeg, Jan 2. A bizarre situation with several transmitters, slightly out of sync. After the news, the weather from the dominant station was for the Yukon (and not Winnipeg that I had thought!), so must have been one of the three 40w units there: CBQF Carmacks, CBQJ Ross River or CBDB Watson Lake. The weaker station had weather for Prince Albert, which is in Sask, so presumably the weaker station is CBW Winnipeg, the province next to Sask. Fascinating for sure! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. 7120, R Dif. Nat. Tchadienne, Gredia (Presumed), 1635-1640, Dec 10, vernacular, African chant, 23331-2 (Bernard Mille, Bailleul, France, DSWCI DX Window Dec 31 via DXLD) V. of the Broad Masses of Eritrea has been known to use this frequency, but not Chad lately (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 5050, Beibu Bay R, Nanning, Guangxi, 2319, Dec 22, female anchor in Vietnamese (?), bird coo-ing, sound of running water, music clips and IDs, good (Graham Bell, Cape Town, South Africa, DSWCI DX Window Dec 31 via DXLD) ** CHINA. 6060, PBS-2 Sichuan, 1527 + 1555, Dec 31. For New Year’s, running well past their normal 1515* (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Jan 2 at 1430 noted a rather strong Chinese station on 6488 (carrier plus LSB). After checking for parallels it appeared to be Xinjiang, same program on 3950 and 5060. The 6488 transmitter went off at 1500 after time pips. Some kind of temporary feeder or just ute transmitter test? (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jari, is there a coherence?? Ssuper Frequency List 2011 of Joerg Klingenfuss, Tuebingen Germany http://www.klingenfuss.org/homepage.htm shows close-by entry Frequency: 6484,5 [kHz] Call: XSV Station: Tianjin R Country: CHN Modulation: CW/DIG Details: GW-FSK; QSX 6235.5 kHz (C) 2010 by Klingenfuss Publications. All rights reserved. vy73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** CHINA. Presumed CRI in Chinese on 7250 just after 0100 Jan 2 and 3, when the signal climbed out of the noise for about a half-hour. Pretty choppy, and gone by 0145; might be back-of-the-beam from Urumqi to SAs (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash. Sent via Mojo Wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 9450, Jan 3 at 1524, good reception of a familiar balalaika tune, applause, 1525 Chinese ID; and // 7445 at 1531 in apparent `live` performance with much more music, 1550 with lots of percussion, not to be confused with Firedrake which continues to be audible here only on 6030 between 13 and 14. 9450 cut off after timesignal at 1600* sharp. CNR1 is only on these frequencies as a jammer! 9450 vs Sound of Hope, Taiwan, and 7445 vs R. Free Asia, Tinian, neither of which had any chance to be heard way over here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 9490, Jan 3 at 2220, fluttery Spanish discussing US/Mexico drug war; 2230 Chinese aid to Venezuela. Yes, it`s CRI, listed in HFCC and Aoki as Beijing site, 500 kW, 318 degrees to northern S America. You`d think they would use a much closer site such as Kashgar, EAST TURKISTAN, but apparently it works all the way from Beijing direct aiming northwest, and it even reaches here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 6030, Firedrake Jan 4 at 1327 percussion passage, atop a couple of Chinese language stations, i.e. Min Hui Radio, TAIWAN, and other ChiCom jamming. Haven`t heard FD anywhere else for weeks, but apparently it and Sound of Hope are now more active in the local mornings, our evenings (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Crash & Bang Chinese Opera Music Jammer, aka Firedrake From 2010 posted logs (various sources). All broadcasts originate from East Jammerstan. 5820 16, 17 6030 13 6180 16 6280 22, 23 7105 22, 23 7280 11, 12 7310 22, 23 7365 15, 16, 17 7520 23 7525 20, 22, 23 7540 22 7560 14 7585 14 7595 15 8400 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23 8600 (No time reported) 9000 13, 16, 20, 23 9040 11, 12, 13 9150 11, 12 9345 13, 15 9350 13 9355 12, 15, 17, 18, 19 9365 12, 13 9380 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17 9415 15 9450 14, 15 9495 16 9540 17, 18 9635 22 9685 16 9830 10, 12 9905 15, 16, 17 10240 13 10300 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19 10310 12, 13 10400 12, 13, 14 10410 13 10420 12, 13, 14 10440 13 10500 01, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 22, 23 10970 01, 02, 11, 12 11100 10, 12, 13, 14 11050 01, 02, 13 11400 23 11420 11 11460 13 11470 23 11500 01, 09, 11, 12, 13, 14 11540 00, 13 11560 16, 17, 18, 19 11575 16, 17 11590 12, 13, 14, 15 11605 11, 12, 13 11635 12 11700 18, 19 11720 16 11750 09 11760 09 11765 16 11780 15 11795 16 11840 12 11920 16 11945 16 12590 01 12600 01, 03, 13 12620 13 12680 12 12730 13 12950 12, 13 12960 12, 13, 14, 15 12970 01, 02, 03, 12 12980 13, 14 12990 13 13000 13 13060 11 13100 11, 12, 13 13300 01, 12, 13, 14, 18, 22 13320 12, 13, 15 13340 12, 13 13500 12, 13 13625 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 13680 01, 09, 12, 15 13710 13 13755 15 13830 12, 13 13950 04, 05 13970 00, 01, 02, 08, 09, 11, 12, 13, 14, 23 14400 13 14600 07, 11, 23 14700 01, 02, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23 14900 12, 13 14920 12, 13 14940 13 14960 13 14970 00, 13, 14 14980 13 15140 01, 09, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23 15150 04, 05, 06, 07, 12, 13, 14 15185 15 15200 15 15255 12 15265 05, 13 15285 12 15330 13 15430 13 15435 13 15490 05 15515 08, 09 15520 13 15530 13 15540 13 15545 12 15550 12, 13, 14 15555 13, 14 15560 13, 14 15570 13 15580 14 15670 12, 13 15705 14 15720 16 15730 13 15735 15 15760 15 15795 12 15850 10, 11, 12, 13 15900 01, 02 15970 00, 01, 13 16100 00, 01, 12, 13, 14, 15 16700 00, 12 16970 01 17300 01, 12, 15 17560 13 17645 00 17920 13, 14, 15 17970 00, 23 18100 00, 14 21550 09 Updated 4-January-11 (Harold Frodge, MI, Jan 4, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Por favor no dejen de visitar.... Hola Colegas, Los invito a visitar la pagina http://www.fonoteca.gov.co donde ya se encuentran disponibles muchas producciones realizadas por la Radio Nacional de Colombia (RTVC), ademas de audios historicos de la desaparecida Radiodifusora Nacional. Imperdible la produccion sobre Radio Sutatenza!! Un prospero y feliz año 2011, ojala colmado de buenas captaciones les desea su amigo (Rafael Rodriguez R. Bogota D.C. - COLOMBIA, Visite: http://dxdesdecolom bia.blogspot.com/ Dec 31, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. I happened to notice in HFCC that REE is shown in DRM on 3350 at 0000-0200 for B-10, same time as when we know it is in DRM on 9625-9630-9635. Really? Never noticed it, and still hear no change in the noise level as I tune across 3350 around 0001 and 0108 UT January 1. Perhaps is considered an alternative, or ¿is REE installing a second DRM transmitter in Cariari de Pococí? If activated, it would be the first invasion into 90m of this additional noise source (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Radio República: Heard a whistle interference tone on 5954.229 kHz at 0145 UT Dec 31 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30 via DXLD) 5954+, Jan 5 at 0618, Spanish from R. República is holding its own against DentroCuban jamming, mostly atop it at the moment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. Es ueberraschen immer wieder die verschiedenen Sender vom kroatischen Radio Zagreb aus Deanovec mit ihrer Frequenz- Ungenauigkeit. Am 21.12. 3985.114 kHz um 2335 UT. Heute morgen 6164.969 kHz um 0705 UT S=9+10dB - gestern genau auf 6165.000 kHz vom Techniker neu geicht, jetzt genau 7370.000 kHz um 0820 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Dec 24,, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 31 via DXLD) 3985.107, Voice of Croatia, Deanovec, Croatian pop mx, at 0445 UT Dec 30. S=9+15dB. Similar strength on 3985.114 kHz at 0205 UT Dec 31 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** CUBA. In relation to the announcement of the future use of 3365 mentioned in DX-Window no. 417, I asked Arnie Coro: “Most international broadcasters participate in the frequency coordination of the HFCC, so I wonder, why CUBA is not a member there? But of course that is a national decision”. Arnie Coro promptly sent me this national position: “The one and only, very solid reason why Cuba is not a member of the so called High Frequency Coordinating Committee is that the United States of America is a member of that group, so as you may understand, we will NEVER negotiate with the USA delegation to HFCC meetings as regards to frequencies that are used to broadcast the Radio Martí and Voice of America ANTI-CUBAN programs. Voice of America in Spanish came ""back to life"" after many years OFF THE AIR on 20th of March of 1960 ... in order to beam program against the Cuban Revolution, as admitted by a large number of now public US government documents. “Later on, in 1985, on the 20th of May at 0528 in the morning local time, the VOA relay station in Marathon Key, Florida, was disconnected from the VOA Spanish program feed and provided to the Radio Martí "station..." , to broadcast still more aggressive ANTI-CUBAN programs... “So when Cuba sends its frequencies to be registered in Geneva, we are dealing DIRECTLY with the International Telecommunications Union, in Geneva, Switzerland, the specialized United Nations agency, that compiles the frequency registrations and sends out the databases in CD ROM discs containing all the required data, including incompatibilities, like co-channel use, and adjacent channel levels.” (Arnie Coro, Dec 20, DSWCI DX Window Dec 31 via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. 13780, Dec 29 at 1501, RHC YL claims it`s ``exactamente las 10, ante meridiano``. More lies from the Commies. No frequency announcement, and cut off the air a few sex later. 11760, Dec 30 at 1531:40, RHC starting ``Formalmente Informal``, confirmed as one hour later than it used to be M-F. 11670, Dec 30 at 2219, I am surprised to hear RHC IS, and then an Indian language, certainly not the usual Radio Nacional de Venezuela transmission in Spanish, the only thing scheduled on this frequency from Cuba, at 22-23! Guaraní was deleted a year or two ago, so unless that has been revived, it must be Quechua. But per current schedule, Kichwa is supposed to be at 0000-0030 on 15370. That frequency appeared to be on now, but weak signal and dead air. Guarani used to be on the same frequency as Quichua (then 17705) at other times. At 2225 had to resort to Spanish words, talking about ``Costa de Marfil, ex-colonia francesa``. At 2230, 11670 switched to Creole, audio breaking up and undermodulated. That`s supposed to be at 2300 on 15370 per online sked presented in Spanish, while in WRTH, French is supposed to be on 15370 at 2230, except Sundays Esperanto, which we have never been able to confirm. This was definitely Kriyol-la, not French. However, at recheck 2256, 11670 had meanwhile switched to correct feed of RNV with IS and sign-off announcement. In other words, at RHC, it`s SNAFU. 6050, checking RHC English, Dec 31 at 0211, very strong, but it has co-channel QRM under from some music, and producing a subaudible heterodyne. Thus the negligible HCJB is capable of interfering with RHC in NAm! Maybe that will get Arnie`s attention, as his monumental failure of frequency management continues. 11670, Dec 31 at 2219 has RNV relay in Spanish, unlike yesterday when it was RHC Kichwa(?). Meanwhile, nothing on 15370 yet, but at 2244 that has RHC French, distorted, unlike yesterday when it was Kriyol. RHC always keeps us guessing how they will FU next. Here`s another in the long string of failures by the DentroCuban Jamming Command: 9490, noise grinding away at 0010 UT January 1, despite the R. República relay via Sackville having been suspended weeks ago. Finally heard RHC in Esperanto! UT Sunday Jan 2 at 0700 it`s already in progress on 6050, while 6060 and 5040 are in Spanish. SNAFU, the listed frequency for Esp`o at 0700 is 6010 per WRTH 2011, and the RHC online schedule presented in Spanish, but that was not on the air. At 0720 I find 6150 is also // in Esp`o with usual undermodulation, but at 0722 it`s over, both to RHC IS, and ``Ed Newman`` reopening the English hour for ``January 1``, 52nd anniversary of The Triumph Of The Revolution. Esperanto must have started circa 0653; English ordinarily is over at 0700, and per observations a night or two ago when all frequencies were in Spanish after that. Since I knew an Esperanto program existed for January 2, I looked again for it at the next scheduled time, 1500 on 11760: no, continues in Spanish // all the other frequencies, also at later chex in the semihour. 13750 et al., Sunday Jan 2 at 1438, RHC En Contacto, as Manolo had warned, is repeating last week`s Xmas show listing by name and location all 150 of his show`s ``oyentes activos`` during 2010y, with ``Jingle Bells`` in the background. USA has five, not including me, but he did include Héctor/Luigi Pérez who is really in Puerto Rico, so we now know that Cuba recognizes US sovereignty there. 13750 is the Sunday-only frequency originally for ``Aló, Presidente``, but it`s another no-show by El Hugazo. Checking at 1532, 1600 and 1800 UT, 13750, 17750, 15370, 13680 and 11690 are all // mainstream RHC on 11730, 11760. DXLD members have remarked that they haven`t heard a new RHC DXers Unlimited for weeks, and that Arnie has not updated his blog with scripts since the Nov 28 issue attacking gh. However, I ran across a new DXUL starting UT Monday January 3 at 0610 on 6150; at least he called it the ``New Year edition`` before I tuned out. 9725 and 9825 both had weak remnants of pulse jamming, Jan 3 at 1353, 1355. 9725 against nothing, and 9825 vs something in Chinese, i.e. ChiCom CNR1 jamming against VOA via Tinang, PHILIPPINES, Commies vs Commies! DentroCuban jamming on 9825 is only `necessary` at 00-03 when R. Martí is on. And 9725 at 00-02, which is VOA Spanish, but both presumably still doing the joint produxion ``A Fondo`` at 01-02, UT Tue-Sat only (however, this week`s R. Martí program grid shows Friday = UT Saturday is pre-empted by ``Baseball [sic] de las Grandes Ligas`` which I find hard to believe on January 7, unless the Cubans are so fanatic that they must hear playbacks off-season. 15230, Jan 3 at 1406 check, RHC weak but lacking CRI English via Sackville CCI. Not Commies vs Commies! See also VENEZUELA [non] 9955, checking whether the DentroCuban Jamming Command is blasting WRMI today, Monday Jan 3 at 2224: yes, wall of noise, while there was none on Saturday Jan 1 during this same semihour with `Wavescan`. 11760, RHC, Jan 4 at 1502:30, now Antonio Gómez does the honors of giving wrong time: ``exactamente las 10, 1 minuto, amigos``. So now a full sesquiminute off. Tune in Radio Reloj, Tony, which does a better job of synchronizing with WWV, and reset your studio clock once permission may be obtained from the party-member boss (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is it just me or does RHC have the English and Spanish audio on both 6000 and 6050 tonight at equal levels, plus Spanish on 6060? DUH! Cheers! (Bob Wylie?, 0441 UT Jan 4, ODXA yg via DXLD) Note: this was 25.6+ hours before my report of such: (gh) Today`s SNAFU report on RHC: Jan 5 at 0619, RHC English programming is doing voice-over translation with Spanish in the background --- except on 6050 there is equal mix of something else in Spanish! RHC has its wires crossed feeding both Spanish and English into this transmitter, as the Spanish is // 6120 but a reverb apart, synchronized with 5040. The other English frequencies, 6010, 6060 and 6150, do not have this problem. Ironically, subject of the Spanish was interviewing someone in Quito about the early history of RHC, as Arnie stix to his horrible decision to usurp HCJB`s only frequency 6050 (tho at the moment they are in overnight 3.4-hour break). 13740, CRI 1400 relay `open` carrier Jan 5 at 1356 really surrounded by squeal bothering VOA Spanish 13750. 13680 et al., Tony was finishing RHC frequency announcement Jan 5 at 1358; need to catch the whole thing, to hear whether he still thinx they are on 15390 and any other errors. 15230, Jan 5 at 1401, RHC mixing about equally with CRI English via Sackville making 3 Hz SAH, during degraded northern reception; normally CRI is way atop; anyhow, Commies vs Commies! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also COSTA RICA ** CYPRUS. 9760, best of three weekend channels from Zyyi site. CYBC R Cyprus Limassol in Greek, family radioplay, strong S=9+30dB. \\ 6180 also same strength, but modulation bit different. 3rd channel 7210 is useless, at least in western Europe, due of co- channel CRI Cerrik-ALB relay in Spanish - ahead. CYBC Zyyi Service only Fri/Sat/Sun 2215-2245 UT only. Unmistakable IS starts earlier around 2210 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. 17 Meter Wideband QRM. Wideband Hash, maybe Radar, from 18065 through 18085 kHz at S=7-9 at 1357 UT Dec 23; it went QRT at 1401 UT exactly (Dennis N3DG, IARU Intruder Alert mailing list, Dec 23 via BC-DX 31 Dec via DXLD) It was Akrotiri's PLUTO-II radar. (mike chace-ortiz.org) It is RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and is a NATO installation (Colin G3PSM, Dec 23, ibid.) 8160-8185, OTH radar pulsing, presumed from here Jan 3 at 2304 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNIDENTIFIED ** EAST TURKISTAN. Re 10-52: 4980, CHINA, Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi, Dec 29 0127 - Good reception in presumed Uighur, a language more resembling Central Asian, and not at all Chinese sounding. Good to very good reception. // 3990 fair with ham QRM, 7205 good reception, but cochannel with a National Anthem at 01:30. Not sure who that is. 6120 which is cochannel at least 2 other channels, including a channel with Koran (presumably VOIRI). Iran is dominant here (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 3810-LSB, Dec 29 at 0620, HD2IOA, Guayaquil, with time announcements in Spanish every ten seconds, and beeps correct compared to WWV. Only QRhaM at the moment was ACI, not CCI. I check for this just about every night around this time, but not logged since August 19 at 0514. WRTH 2011 shows schedule as 0000-1200 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 6270, R. Cairo is still mostly neglecting to apply modulation to sufficient carrier, Dec 31 at 0159 check, tho there is a lite whine, still 0210. By 0222 some modulation is barely audible but not at all readable, and also at 0246 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Hello DXers, Happy new year to all DXers worldwide. A new FM station started testing in Cairo, the title is Radio Al Turath (meaning Heritage in Arabic) on 105.3 MHz. The station will be 24/7 old Egyptian and Arabic music from the 50s, 60s and 70s. The station is the latest in the new established stations under the umbrella of NTN, the state owned network. Expecting a new station soon mainly for comedy series and plays, but more news later. Best 73s (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark, Jan 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. Last two mornings I have noted Eritrea on 5980 in parallel with 7175 and the rest of the gang. So the well modulated transmitters heard are on 4770, 5980, 7175 and the weaker and much undermodulated ones are on 7120, 7165, 7185. They went on at various time around 0400 this morning, with only 7175 starting early (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 31, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ESTONIA. 1035, 0342-, Tartuiskoye Semeinoye Radio Jan 2 Fair reception with Russian preaching. Plenty of QRM from 1040, Vancouver, though (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. 9559.7, approx., Dec 31 at 1527, considerable het against Chinese on 9560, i.e. R. Ethiopia, vs RCI via Japan or CRI via Kashgar (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. 7223-7225 Ethiopian Bubble Jammer against Eritrea 7220 kHz? ETHIOPIA/ERITREA, Til close-down 2002 UT Jan 4th, bubble jamming of typical oscillator bubbling on 7223-7225 kHz range. Much stronger than Sfax-Tunisia Arabic service on 7225 kHz even. Does Ethiopia change jamming sound against arch-enemy? 7220 kHz V of Broad Masses 2 (Dimtsi Hafas til 2000 UT Arabic 100 ND Asmara-Selae Daro-ERI? 'White Noise' jamming by ETH ended mid December, as Thorsten Hallmann noted recently. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. 9580, Africa Number One, Dec 31 1914 - Very good reception with African high life music and talk in French, over slightly less powerful Radio Australia. This makes for a real mess! Not pleasant to listen to either station as a result (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9580, Radio Afrika No. 1 from Moyabi, played very nice W African music, performed female French language singer in progress at 2255 UT Jan 1. S=9+20dB. Raised prop condition tonight on 49 to 25 mb. (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. By the way, here in Germany tomorrow will be the last day for Oldiestar on 603 kHz, as now a notice at http://www.oldiestar.de announces. Appears to have been decided at short notice, perhaps just two days ago (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 2110 UT Dec 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Right now I hear a strong French signal on 603 here, not far from Stuttgart. Happy New Year! (Sergei S., 0001 UT Jan 1, ibid.) This transmitter: http://tvignaud.pagesperso-orange.fr/galerie/am/69lyon.htm At night it dominates the frequency in Germany, together with the Romanian outlets. Good night! (Kai Ludwig, Germany, UT Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Lyon, 300 kW Hello, Oldiestar/Oranienburg, Germany on 603 kHz is now broadcasting in AM instead of DRM-Noise. To all of I wish you a good healthy new year with happy loggings. (Olaf C. Haenssler, Oldenburg, Germany, 1131 UT Jan 2, MWCircle yg via DXLD) Hi, Kai Ludwig wrote that Oldiestar is broadcasting since 2009 in AM on 603. 1485 kHz today still in DRM. But today will be the last day on 603 according to the website. 73´s (Olaf, 1412 UT Jan 2, ibid.) ** GERMANY. 6140, MV Baltic Radio, *1000-1015, 02-01, tuning music, male, identification in German and English: "This is MV Baltic Radio; we broadcast on short wave, 6140 kHz, 49 meter band", comments in English, pop music. 45444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) MV Baltic Radio relay service Schedule for Winter 2010 / 11 Channel 6140 khz - 1000 to 1100 UT 1st Sunday – MV Baltic Radio 3rd Sunday – European Music Radio (March) 4th Sunday – Radio Gloria International Good Listening 73s (Tom Taylor, Jan 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. DW signing OFF MW and SW in RUS/CIS Subject: [A-DX] DW stellt MW-Sendungen in Russland ein Die Deutsche Welle hat offenbar die MW-Sendungen in Moskau (693 kHz) und St. Petersburg (1188 kHz) eingestellt. An meinem derzeitigen Ferien-QTH in St. Petersburg ist auf 1188 seit gestern nur noch Rauschen (bzw. der übliche innenstädtische Störpegel mit S=9+) zu hören. Und auf der Homepage der DW ist zu diesen Frequenzen der Vermerk "31.10.2010-31.12.2010" zu finden. Der gleiche Vermerk gilt auch anderen KW-Relais-Ausstrahlungen aus Russland (Grigoriopol, Krasnodar). [...] 73 aus (SPB Udo, UA1/HB9ERD Deutscher, Jan 2, A-DX via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) So, - DWL shortwave and mediumwave radio relays via Russia and CIS states are now history? Udo hb9erd touring Russia, missed St. P. MW 1188 signal today. Today at 1300 UT Jan 2nd also missed powerhouse Almaty-Kazakhstan 500 kW relay signal on 6225 kHz too, and 9380 Dushanbe Yangi-Yul-TJK too, scheduled formerly 13-14 UT. Former DWL relay schedule 5830 1800 2000 28NE TAC 200 311 UZB DWL 5925 1830 1930 40 GRI 500 120 MDA DWL 6225 0000 0200 39E,40,41 GRI 300 105 MDA DWL 6225 1300 1400 33S,43,44 A-A 500 94 KAZ DWL 6245 1700 1730 40E,41NW GRI 500 105 MDA DWL 7470 1830 1930 40 SMF 250 131 UKR DWL 9380 1300 1400 43,44 DB 100 71 TJK DWL 11830 2300 2400 43,44,49N P.K 250 247 RUS DWL 13780 0400 0600 38,47E,48 ARM 250 188 RUS DWL 17800 0300 0359 40E,41,49 TCH 250 230 RUS DWL 17860 0000 0100 33,43,44 P.K 250 247 RUS DWL 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But DWL Persian is still heard tonight at 1830-1930 UT on 5925 formerly Grigoriopol-MDA, and 7470 formerly on Mykolaiev-UKR site. And via local FM at Kabul-AFG too? 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just like already shown in the original B10 schedules, sent out in autumn. The Persian transmission was supposed to be kept, as well as Chinese via Kazakhstan (1300-1400 on 6225), Tajikistan (1300-1400, too, on 9380) and Kamchatka (2300-2400 on 11830). All other slots on transmitters in the former USSR were scheduled to go away on 31 Dec 2010 and have, as we see, indeed been terminated. Two additional transmissions via Babcock facilities have been scheduled as replacements as of 1 Jan 2011: German via Rampisham 0000- 0200 on 7395 and via Al-Dhabbaya 0400-0600 on 13780. These scheduled closures have been met with some disbelief in advance, perhaps also due to the uproar about Moscow 693 kHz at yearend 2005, when the Oktod-run mediumwave transmitters have been closed (later the outlet moved to the RTRS facilities at Kurkino). But they really did it, and I assume that the radio channel on DVB-T in Moscow went away as well, something to which a possible argument that AM broadcasting is dead not applies. There have been talks about "strengthening the presence in Russia", but it is another question if radio was in mind here at all. Perhaps DW here considers TV and online only (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. Re 10-52: GERMANY +non B10 >> NOTE: this does not include all the broadcasts via GUF, i.e. by R. France Internationale, et al.? << --- It shows all shortwave transmissions arranged by Media Broadcast for their customers. This involves amongst their own Wertachtal and Nauen transmitters also facilities of other operators. Radio France Internationale has a direct transmission contract with TDF, thus will of course not show up in this list. The same applies to Babcock schedules: They are complete only for transmission facilities operated by Babcock itself (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. 7475, VOG, UT Sat Jan 1 at 0615-0647+, continuous singing by three or four Greek Orthodox guys, like one week ago on Xmas. Only rarely do they manage to harmonize. ERA5 continues to be in holiday mode relaying a domestic network. Also on weaker // 9420. [and non]. 7450, January 1 at 2204, ID for Radiophonikós Stathmós Makedonías, with het from the -15.6 kHz spur de WWCR 7465 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Last night noted usual Belarus spurious, broadband 7450-7464 kHz from fundamental 7360 kHz at 2255-2400 UT Jan 1 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7475, Voice of Greece, Jan 3 0324 - Excellent reception (about the strongest 41m channel) with Greek music. Greek program is listed. EiBi states this is for Europe, but the North American beam must still present. A good S9+ signal. Quite enjoyable listening (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. 5765-USB, AFN, Dec 29 at 1313, with military PSA, poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 5765, AFN, Dec 29 1439 - Heard loud and clear with a network call-in program and // to Diego Garcia on 4319U (poor to fair). (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5765 USB, AFN, 1509-1513 + 1740-1755, Jan 5. Back to their anomaly of playing “Z-Rock” music programming (not traditional AFN SW format of talk/news, etc.); fair; only // with AFN Diego Garcia for news segments. How long will this last, this time around? http://myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/RadioStation.aspx?c=11 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. 11965, UT Dec 30 at 2210 some nice seemingly secular music, then ID sounding like ``Radio Advent Suara Pangharapan``, and Christian hymn tune in presumed Indonesian. It`s KSDA, and one could hear the same here: http://as-se.awr.org/id/ind/38 But no sign of the proper Indonesian name or ID on the website or in the WRTH 2011: you have to find this under GUAM, while the other AWR transmissions are under USA, even tho none radiate from there; why? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA [and non]. 4052.5-, R. Verdad running late UT January 2, tune-in at 0616 to hear the national anthem playing until about 0620, and now with a considerable het from 4050, KWMO: see U S A. TGAV has been planning for weeks to move to 4055 once a new crystal has arrived and been installed, and this reminds us why they should. 4052.5, R. Verdad at 0556 Jan 4, now has some utility QRM: intermittent noises of various kinds, such as beeps, ``running water``, noise like jamming, vs talk and music from TGAV. Have not noticed this before, but always a risk, broadcasting in a fixed utility band. Seems to be on exactly same frequency. No 4050 KWMO audible at this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thank you, Glenn, for your new report, and for the information about some interferences. We have the crystal on hand for changing frequency into 4055 kHz, but won't be installed until sometime in February, God willing. We are facing a new problem with the transmitter, and it is that it delays about one and a half hour to bring up the RF frequencies, after putting power on. However, it works very fine after it comes on. Eng. Ralph Borthwick, from Canadá, is making profound and serious studies to situate the cause. We are receiving very good reports from different countries though. Thank you for you report, and may God bless you (Edgar Madrid, Radio Truth, Jan 4, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5 JAN 2011, 4052.5, Radio Verdad, Chiquimula; 0037z SP M with religious talk, mention of Guatemala and "La Familia" Fair signal (Steven C. Wiseblood, Harlingen, TEXAS EL16 26:12N 97:45W, BENMAR 555A-DF with Internal loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUIANA FRENCH. 21690, FRENCH GUIANA, RFI, Dec 29 1826 - French programming at just above threshold level. The MUF is quite good this morning. Perhaps the sun is waking from her long slumber? (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. Voice of Guyana in English, 3290 at 0354z Friday with "Duke of Earl" by Gene Chandler. Male announcer with station ID at 0400. Just above the noise level but audible at this time 2 of the last 3 nights with bedside Sony ICF 7600 using untuned 60' center fed dipole (J Lenamon, Waco, Dec 31, ABDX via DXLD) ** HAWAII. 940, 0505-, KKNE Waipahu, Oahu Dec 31 Good to very good reception with Hawaiian music, as the cold rain/snow showers rain down up here in Masset! Sure a joy to listen to! I'm very pleased that reception in Masset is possible to Hawaii. I have heard this station well at Rose Spit in September, but not aware of the same here. What makes it a better catch is that we're right next to KTKN Ketchikan which is the closest AM station to Masset. The antenna which worked was the Wellbrook phased array, switched away from Ketchikan. When switched north, KTKN is incredibly strong here! There again at fair to good level when rechecked in the morning at 1520, although only using the Wellbrook array aimed south. All other antennae, including the large diameter ALA100 aimed NE/SW did not pick them up! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. KGMB'S ICONIC TOWER COMING DOWN IN PIECES By Susan Essoyan POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 01, 2011 A longtime local landmark, the 432-foot KGMB broadcast tower on Kapiolani Boulevard, is slowly being dismantled, but after nearly 50 years in place, it isn't giving up easily. . . Continues [illustrated] http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110101_kgmbs_iconic_tower_coming_down_in_pieces.html (via Paul, NZ, HCDX via DXLD) A longtime local landmark, the 432-foot KGMB broadcast tower on Kapiolani Boulevard, is slowly being dismantled, but after nearly 50 years in place, it isn't giving up easily. Work began in late October, and the metal tower was supposed to be demolished by the end of the year. That date has been pushed back another month because of wind, rain and structural challenges, according to Rick Blangiardi, general manager of Hawaii News Now. For years the tower stood out at night in the Honolulu skyline, emblazoned with the neon call letters "KGMB" and "AKU," for KGMB's popular disc jockey J. Akuhead Pupule, aka Hal Lewis. "It's been such a landmark, and I'm sad to see it go," said Brock Whaley, radio personality and broadcast historian. "A lot of people think they're an eyesore, but I like towers." "It had the red neon Aku name, so kamaainas refer to it as the Aku Tower," Whaley said. "You knew where KGMB's tower was because it lit up at night. That's where everyone would aim their TV antenna, down that stretch of Kapiolani." The tower was erected in 1962 and required a massive concrete pour, with pilings reaching 66 feet underground to support the structure, Blangiardi said. Dismantling it requires methodical planning. Sky Jack Communications, which is handling the job, has removed the 70-foot mast, cutting it into 1,500-pound pieces and lowering them to the ground, and is now working on the tower itself. Its legs will be unbolted in smaller sections to be lowered to the ground. "They're taking it down very slowly and very carefully," Blangiardi said. "This is delicate. It's not like you're out in a field. We're taking this down in a neighborhood with people walking underneath on the sidewalk and cars going by on the street." Built as a television and FM radio tower, the structure carried signals for KGMB Channel 9, KHET Hawaii Public Television and FM stations KGMB (now known as KSSK) and KQMQ. Aku worked at the headquarters at the foot of the tower, but his show was broadcast from a separate AM tower, Whaley said. "As an AM station he was never broadcasting from that tower, but his name was on the tower," said Whaley, who believes the neon signs came down in the early '80s. Aku adopted his nickname after a caller derided him as an "aku-head" when the radio man announced the wrong time of day. He died in 1983. Once the tower comes down, KGMB's former headquarters at 1534 Kapiolani Blvd. across from Nordstrom will be transformed into the Shops at Kapiolani, a collection of stores and restaurants with glass frontage. The site has 17,000 square feet of space, and about 7,000 feet has already been leased, said Donna Walden, principal in Lionking II LLC, which bought the property in early 2008 for $12.35 million. "It has high visibility, lots of parking," Walden said. "It's near Ala Moana and Waikiki. It's a very attractive location, very desirable." The venerable red-and-white tower had kept up with the times, most recently broadcasting digital signals for KGMB and KHON before being forced into retirement. KGMB vacated the Kapiolani site in October 2009, when it combined news operations with KHNL and KFVE. The three stations now work out of KHNL's facility in Kalihi, and their signals are broadcast from towers at Palehua, in the mountains above Makakilo. "We have our towers at Palehua Ridge, where we have stronger signals," Blangiardi said. "We can reach and serve the homes better. We were really getting to a point where we were compromised in our abilities from a technical standpoint." COMMENTS Showing 7 comments euphrosyne18 KGMB has fallen a long way from its once proud origin. Good that a remaining symbol of the bygone days comes down. bakabomb Akela ben Aku didn't always do his broadcast from the tower grounds. He also aired from a little booth up in the big International Market Place banyan just off Kalakaua. After he went off the air, I think it was the same booth (or at least the same spot up in the banyan) that turned into a one-table romantic restaurant. I used to walk past there a lot, on my way to visit Mary Jane's way in the back ;-) Da_Neutral_Observer [Moderator] 10 hours ago Once this tower comes down, the tri-opoly of KGMB, KHNL, and KFVE will be complete. There is no turning back. They will permanently be Hawaii News Now, despite the fact that it should be illegal under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) law. Hmmm... maybe someone will someone finally will do something when we have just one television station, one radio station, and one newspaper left? I wouldn’t presume. jaymitchell in reply to Da_Neutral_Observer I think of the tower going down as not just the end of an era, but the start of one that's more restrictive. Hawaii Reporter isn't in print but is on the web, as are small number of other sources of local news (khon for one). It isn't the same, I know, but at least a little diverse from just one in-print paper (sad). kapena16 in reply to Da_Neutral_Observer Given the level of production and news investigation (especially this paper), it's not like we're missing much. Sadly, as you suggest, with "one" media outlet being the only source of TV and newspaper coverage, the single source of journalism isn't very demanding (professionally speaking) and therefore, the lack of competition begets a lower standard of service and work. I actually find myself watching KHON more often than not as I think their news department is more into local "news" and not the latest 'pulp' interest story of the day (also via Brock Whaley himself, HI, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. 3340, Dec 29 at 0622, open carrier, or maybe just barely modulated, likely HRMI on later than usual as occasionally happens (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 9690, AIR GOS, Dec 31 at 1427 reviewing India`s military achievements of 2010y, including a stealth ship, joining a small club of nations capable of such (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Hello! Happy New year to all Dx India members and readers! Many stations of AIR were monitored on SW & MW with extended special broadcasts past 1830 UT (Midnight Indian Time) last night to usher in the new year. On SW, the following stations were heard. 4775 Imphal 4800 Hyderabad 4810 Bhopal 4835 Gangtok 4940 Guwahati ? 4950 Srinagar 4965 Shimla 5010 Trivandrum Today 1-1-2011, Guwahati was noted back on 7420 from 0130 UT. They were on 7429 for long time. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad 500082, UT Jan 1, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDIA. Re Al Muick`s report of AIR Mumbai on 4844: was on 4847 kHz recently (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX Dec 31 via DXLD) ** INDIA. 4880, AIR Lucknow, 1328, Jan 5. More cricket coverage in English and Hindi; at times // 5010 and 5040. AIR Jeypore (5040) was on and off the air with transmitter problems (mostly off). 5010, AIR Thiruvananthapuram, 1510-1520, Jan 3. Another day with coverage of the India vs. South Africa cricket match in English and Hindi; best in LSB, as Madagascar was fairly strong in USB. Today AIR Jeypore (5040) was off the air (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 9575, Jan 5 at 1407, weak signal with nothing but rumble audible. Besides 24-hour Médi-Un, Morocco, only thing listed is AIR New Delhi/Kingsway site at the moment in Bengali, but domestic service mostly in Hindi, some English 1330-1740 per Aoki, plus same parameters with Tibetan at 1215-1315. AIR is certainly capable of such pointless transmissions; similar pitch to 9690 where the rumble is normally low enough not to impede readability. 13710, AIR GOS, Jan 2 at 1425 ID after talk about cloud computing, into song. Good here, and unusually better than // 9690. Third frequency 11620 has something else atop, AIR // barely audible under. HFCC shows KTWR in Korean, BBC Cyprus in Hindi! plus AIR all on 11620 at this time. At 1434, 13710 is temporarily overmodulated/distorted with YL/YL interview, plus background noise, bad recording but aired anyway. 1457 audio good again from studio announcer with closing newscast. I must say he has a pleasing lilt to his accent (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. ALL INDIA RADIO UPGRADE INCLUDES SHORTWAVE TRANSMITTERS | Text of report by Indian broadcast industry website Indiantelevision.com on 2 January Despite long agitation by various sections of staff in Prasar Bharati and even strong strictures by Parliamentary Committees, All India Radio and Doodarshan continue to suffer from massive shortage or sanction of trained manpower. It is learnt by indiantelevision.com that a total of 46 low power transmitters are presently relaying partial transmission (including ten each in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa) and activities at 22 Doordarshan studio centres are limited. Similarly, a total of 24 stations of All India Radio in different parts of the country are only working as relay kendras, while another five - Dharmanagar and Longtherai in Tripura, Dungarpur in Rajasthan, Rairangpur in Orissa, and Suryapet in Andhra Pradesh - are technically ready but not commissioned because of shortage or sanctioning of trained operational and maintenance staff. Doordarshan at present has 66 studio centres and 1,415 transmitters. In the case of AIR, stations are functioning at a total of 238 places. AIR has a total of 380 transmitters (177 FM, 149 MW, and 54 shortwave). Information and Broadcasting sources admitted to indiantelevision.com that some of the AIR transmitters were working sub-optimally as they had outlived their useful life of more than twenty years. Problems have also been faced in AIR because of shortage of staff. The old transmitters are being replaced in phased manner with state- of-the-art Digital Technology Transmitters. Replacement or upgradation of 34 FM transmitters, 40 mediumwave transmitters, and five shortwave transmitters have been taken up in the Eleventh Plan, and the quality is expected to improve after this work is completed. Early in 2010, Prasar Bharati had been reprimanded for its lethargy in not finalising recruitment rules and failing to make recruitment in the Indian Broadcasting (Programme) Service started in 1990 to train a separate cadre of employees for All India Radio and Doordarshan. Towards the end of the year following an agitation by employees, a task force was set up to go into manpower and recruitment problems. The Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women which had in 2009 given its report on "Working Conditions of women in Prasar Bharati" had in a strongly-worded Action Taken Report in February 2010 said it is "extremely unhappy with the callous approach of Prasar Bharati" and added that "after having a recruitment holiday of about twenty years, the organisation cannot afford to sink into further lethargy in finalizing recruitment rules". The committee viewed the delay seriously and reiterated that the recruitment process should not be delayed any further. All pre-requisites to initiate the process should be completed on a war footing," it added. While the committee welcomed the decision that all Central Government employees recruited for Akashvani or Doordarshan until 5 October 2007 are to be deemed as on deputation with effect from April 2000 until their retirement, it regretted that its recommendation in 2009 for finalization of recruitment rules to implement this within three months had not been complied with. It had observed in 2009 that there was a shortage of 44.8 per cent of the sanctioned strength in group 'A' and about 40 per cent in Group 'B' in Doordarshan, and 58.8 per cent of the posts in Group 'A' were vacant in All India Radio. As many as 4629 posts in Doordarshan and 6433 posts in All India Radio remain unfilled. It noticed that recruitment to the post of programme executives was last made 18 years earlier in 1991. The case is no different in various other categories of AIR and Doordarshan. It had noted that there were 105 SC/ST vacancies in Doordarshan and 289 in AIR, which was a 'matter of serious concern and anxiety' and should be rectified. The Action Taken Report had also sought a clarification from the Ministry with regard to casual employees as it found the reply of the Ministry about two different schemes for regularization of casual employees to be contradictory to the reply given last year when it had said there was no approved scheme. The Committee had held Prasar Bharati guilty of unfair practices in not regularizing and not giving adequate remuneration to around 680 employees in Doordarshan and around 2200 in All India Radio who had been working as casual employees for up to 15 years in different capacities including news editors and news readers. The Report has also said that the limit of 72 days of engagement on casual basis is exploitative and unfair. The disparities in remuneration for casual employees should also be removed. Referring to recruitment, it said employees should be kept in the grade for which they are selected and sufficient reasons should be given in writing to the candidates if there are any violations to this rule and appointees are taken at a lower grade. In all cases, persons who apply for a higher grade but are placed in a lower grade should be given their rightful grade within a period of three months of appointment. The Ministry should issue suitable directives to Prasar Bharati in this regard "with a view to ending exploitation of the hapless employees". Source: Indiantelevision.com website, Mumbai, in English 2323 gmt 2 Jan 11 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) ** INDIA. Re 10-52: Rajiv Takru, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, was today vested with all powers of the CEO of Prasar Bharti by its board. Full story at : http://www.deccanherald.com/content/125905/iampb-addl-secy-rajiv-takru.html (via Alokesh Gupta, Jan 3, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA [and non]. CHINA RADIO WANTS INDIA TO TUNE IN Saibal Dasgupta, TNN, Dec 29, 2010, 01.01am IST http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/China-Radio-wants-India-to-tune-in/articleshow/7181362.cms BEIJING: The state-run China Radio International is trying to buy frequencies to launch services in India in a move to widen its influence in the country. It currently broadcasts in four Indian languages - Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and Tamil - from Beijing. Seen to be building a web of influence across the neighbourhood, Beijing runs AM and FM stations in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and seven other countries. It has also been building ports across the region and boosting connectivity. "We've been trying to buy frequencies in India and are talking to some Indian companies who would like to work with us," CRI's deputy editor-in-chief Weigong Ma told TOI. "We help build bridges, open up new windows and tell the world about the real China, the true China. We attract tourists to China and also tell Chinese about the places they can visit abroad. We recently launched a special service to promote Chinese tourism." He said FM stations are crucial in expanding listenership in the changing media scenario. CRI broadcasts programmes in 61 languages and propagates the Chinese foreign ministry's point of view on international affairs. CRI also beams programmes for Tibetans in China, Nepal and India. CRI director-general Wang Gengnian said the radio service recently attracted more than 5 million foreign voters in an online poll to choose 10 most attractive tourist destinations in China. Indian diplomat Arun Sahoo was among the diplomats who gave prizes to the municipal heads of these cities at Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Tuesday. The destinations included Luoyang, which has an Indian temple. "Some of these cities are unable to communicate with foreign tourists directly. This is where we come in,'' said CRI director Peng Li. CRI has also ventured into Internet radio service to widen its reach. ``It's also a low cost option and easy to establish," said Peng (via Alokesh Gupta, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. Hello! Please read my article on visit to Ravenshaw Radio 90.4 MHz Cuttack at [illustrated] : http://tinyurl.com/337jpty or, download using this link : http://tinyurl.com/33rla5z With new year wishes! 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, Dec 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya. Dec 31 noted running past normal sign off time for New Year’s; past 1637. 9680, RRI Jakarta, random checks from 1433 to 1636, Dec 31. Special New Year’s program running past their normal sign off. A number of DJs seemed to be at a club with background sounds and played a wide variety of music (pop/rock, indigenous, etc.); fair-good (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9524.961, Voice of Indonesia, Dec 29 1346 - Very good reception this morning, even though it's still hours until local sunrise. A bit intermittent with cut-outs lasting fractions of a second. Music program (western music). Music Corner is the name of the program. A little difficult to follow the accent of the YL presenter, though (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525-, VOI still almost on-frequency rather than 9526-, Dec 30 at 1413, ending news in Indonesian. Good signal today but with some whine, and as always, IADs, more obvious when some music played. Off the air after 1500. 9525-, VOI, VG signal at 1528 Dec 31, while yesterday it was off after 1500, music with IADs. But off at 1603 check an hour before local 2011y. Meanwhile, RRI domestic on 9680 was much weaker with vocal music at 1530, still on at 1603 with excited live talk, 1622 still celebrating. 9525-, VOI missing Sunday Jan 2 at 1415, tho had been on in Indonesian the days before. Was it also missing during 13-14 English? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525, Voice of Indonesia (Cimanggis), 1337-1400, 1/3/2011, English. Local pop/ballad music with a female singer and Indonesian instruments. Announcements by a woman. Identification at 1355 followed by more Western sounding pop music. Identification at 1400, then switch to Indonesian with a male announcer. Good signal, the best in some time, with an occasional deep fade (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, G6 and whip antenna, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) You forgot to mention the IADs, which I was still hearing today (gh) [and non]. 9525-, VOI at 1345 Jan 3, on the air in English with IADs; checked after 1500, off the air, audiblizing a weak signal on 9525.0, only listee being CRI English via Kashgar, EAST TURKISTAN. 9525-, Jan 4 at 1306, VOI news in English about a volcano-watch, 1308 item from the Banjarmasin guy who outroed himself with names including ``Rachman``; in another Tuesday `Exotic Indonesia` co-produxion with RRI-B (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. 49 mb content is so much boring these days here in Europe, so I managed to listen to remote-RX station via software defined radio server in California this noon, at 1230-1330 UT Jan 1, and heard these stations: 5745 R Marti and accompanied jamming 5755 WTWW in English 5875 BBCWS THA 5890 KOR/KRE jammer 5926 unidentified spurious signal, similar on 6059 kHz. 5935 WWCR very strong 5940 Russian sce, Radio Rossii, Magadan - probably 5945 CNR BEI 5955 NHK Ins 5965 CRI Korean 5975 BBCWS SNG, and probably VoVTN 5980 R Marti and accompanied jamming 5986 strong het, probably Burma, program content readable, that Burmese stn never heard so strong here in Europe. 5995 YFR in Mandarin via P.K.-RUS 6000 RHC Sp, and CNR BEI, equal level. 6003 VOH + KRE jammer like pest. 6005 VoRUS Mandarin via K/A 6015 KBS + KRE jammer like pest. 6020 stronger RA SHP, but underneath probably Vatican Radio via PHL. 6030 CNR BEI 6040 VOA Mandarin UDO, + at least 2 jammer programs 6050 sounded like SoAS/CeAS program, probably PBS Lhasa-Tibet ??? 6059 unidentified spurious signal, similar on 5926 kHz. 6065 CNR BEI 6070 VoKOR in Jpn 6075 Motorboot R Rossii from P.K., terrible sound 6080 CNR Geermu - probably. 6085 RTI/TWN + various jammers. 6095 RHC Sp 6100 CRI Russian 6115 Orchestral music - New Year concert?, - puzzle, probably YFR Mandarin P.K.-RUS 6125 CNR BEI 6140 RHC, speech to the crowd, \\ 6095, 6150 6150 RTI/TWN + CHN jammer, also RHC Sp underneath 6155 CNR BEI 6160 domestic stn in English, from CAN. 6170 VoRUS Mandarin via KHB-RUS 6175 CNR1 BEI 6180 VoRUS Jpn via P.K.-RUS 6185 VoKorea, 3 langs sce 6190 NHK in Russian. 6195 BBCWS En Kranji SNG also 6285 KCBS Kujang, 28degr tremendous signal. vy73 de wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 1449 kHz, 1430- UT, VOIRI, Jan 4. I was suspecting that this was a central Asian station, and sure enough at 1430, I heard very clearly and powerfully: 'Govorit Tehran'! I'm very happy with this lucky [catch] (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tegran? ** IRAN. 15085, Probably the engineer on IRIB's Kamalabad site forget to switch over from 15085 German service to 21640 kHz Swahili frequency, this morning 0830-0927 UT Jan 2nd. Noted on S=9+15dB level in Germany. \\ Swahili on 17660 via Sirjan, Central Iran site. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 7510, GünAz Radio, clandestine for Southern Azerbaijan, scheduled to début Dec 29 at 1430, so I am looking for it at 1431, but no signal at all, just Chinese on 7505 = FEBC Iba, PHILIPPINES, and Vietnamese on 7515 = R. Free Asia, TINIAN. Had feared splash from WWCR 7490 would block it, but nothing to block, nor in further chex following hour. However, GünAz was confirmed on air by Wolfgang Büschel and Jari Savolainen in Europe (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Gunaz Radio on 7510 kHz --- A new target SW station Gunaz Radio started today and is currently audible here with fair reception on 7510 kHz. According to Ludo Maes of Transmitter Documentation Project, which is brokering this SW transmission, it is on the air daily at 1430-1930 UT. Gunaz Radio is an offshoot of Gunaz TV, based in Chicago, USA. This TV channel seems to be political, presumably opposition, targeting the Azeri-speaking population of the Iranian province of Southern Azerbaijan (Güney Azerbaycan in Azeri) as well as Azerbaijan itself. The gunaz.tv domain is registered to: Guney Azerbaycan Television Inc, 2835 N. Broadway, Chicago, Illinois 60657, USA. Weak signal on 7510 at 1430 tune-in but improved to fair by 1600. Programming is in a Turkic-sounding language, presumably Azeri. It sounds like a relay of the Gunaz TV audio channel. Transmitter site is probably Armenia. 73s (Dave Kenny, UK, 1720 UT Dec 29, BDXC-UK yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) Re 10-52, GünAz: I checked 7510 a little bit late around FROM 1435 UT ONWARDS; this afternoon Dec 29. Usually Ludo Maes keeps the TX location hidden. And heard some monitoring return information around Europe, weak signal in GB, only S=2-3 in Germany, only S=4 in Italy, stronger in Greece S=9+15dB, weak on RMS Armenia post. But always not as strong as Kurdish program 7540 kHz from Mykolaiev-Ukraine, for comparison. Neighbours are 7505 FEBC Manila S=7 7525 VOA Tinang-PHL + CHN jammer, S=8. Aoki list shows Dushanbe site, but guess that`s 'to read tea leaves'. Probably, coming from Armavir Krasnodar - or Samara, Russia site, probably directional antenna at 180 degrees southwards to the Southern Azerbaijan target. That why the signal is rather bad here in Europe (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Dec 30, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 31 via DXLD) Hi Everyone, just thought I`d listen for Gunaz R. 7510. First clip is music; second I presume news from about 1700 mixing with another at 1730: http://www.box.net/shared/46gc1mrh8f http://www.box.net/shared/0ihe3jtji5 (Mark Davies, Anglesey UK, Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Gunaz Radio on 7510 kHz: 7510 TDP registered Mykolaiev-UKR 250 kW 130 deg 1430-1930 z But as the signal is not much strength in CeEUR, the high front-to- back ratio of backwards curtain reflector lowers the signal really heavy. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But the updated HFCC file posted today shows a TDP notification for 7510, 1430-1930, to zones 39 & 40, via Simferopol, Ukraine, 250 kw, 130 degrees, starting 12/29. df (Dan Ferguson, shortwavelistening yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) Re Simferopol - ITU short call. --- transmitter location is really 252 kilometers westwards at Mykolaiev Luch, veiled at ITU transmitter site list, some 40 years ago by USSR communist government. 46 47'46.91"N 32 13'17.84"E (Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BELGIUM(non), Some changes of TDP stations: Gunaz Radio is new station in Azeri, from Dec. 29: 1430-1930 on 7510 SMF 250 kW / 130 deg to CeAs, co-channel FEBA Silte 1730-1800 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 Jan via DXLD) ** IRAN [and non]. DAILY SHOW'-TYPE SATIRE FINDS AN AUDIENCE IN IRAN, AND A BIG ENEMY --- By Tara Bahrampour Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, January 1, 2011; A01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/31/AR2010123103995_pf.html For the past 30 years, state-approved television in Iran has consisted largely of Islamic prayers, interviews with government ministers, melodramatic soap operas and talk shows in which mullahs expound on the depravities of the West and the righteousness of their own society. Iranians responded by jury-rigging satellite dishes to spice up their entertainment choices with offerings from abroad. "Baywatch" was a longtime favorite. But lately, a couple of irreverent expats in Washington have captivated Iranians with a show that pokes fun at the absurdities of life in the Islamic republic. Operating out of Voice of America's Persian News Network, Kambiz Hosseini and Saman Arbabi have started a weekly program, "Parazit," that has drawn comparisons to Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" for its satiric take on Iran's news of the day. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a favorite target. "His bloopers are fantastic," said Arbabi, 37, as he and Hosseini, 35, cozied up to pints of Guinness in a District bar. "The same way Bush was - he says a lot of dumb things without thinking about it, and at the same time he's president of one of the most important countries in the region. And they have nukes." Hosseini grinned. In one segment, he said, "Saman and I sort of reenacted how when his family's asleep, he goes under the blanket and has a flashlight and goes on Facebook," which is blocked in Iran. To the dismay of Ahmadinejad's government, the show has struck a chord in Iran. "Their following is incredible," said Steve Redisch, VOA's executive editor. Although VOA doesn't know how many people watch "Parazit" via their forbidden satellite dishes, posts from "Parazit's" Facebook page have been viewed more than 17 million times in the past month - a staggering number compared with other VOA programming. The show's YouTube channel generates another 45,000 hits each week. Iranians have coined a new term: "Paraziti," or "like 'Parazit,' " with fans dressing as Arbabi or sending in images of their families watching the show. "You'll see 18 Iranians of all ages - from an old bald man to teenage girls - all sitting quietly, watching 'Parazit,' " Arbabi said. It is a scene that couldn't have taken place if the two had not joined the exodus of Iranians who left the country after the 1979 revolution. The making of a hit The show's creators met in 2007, after Arbabi, a VOA videographer, had an Iranian-style music video accepted by the Tribeca Film Festival and Hosseini interviewed him for Radio Free Europe, where he was working at the time. Both were born in Iran, but their lives had taken starkly different paths after the revolution that ended the reign of the shah and brought the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power. Arbabi, who was 6 at the time, quickly learned to lead a double life, lying at his Tehran school about the fact that his family owned a VCR, played cards, drank liquor and listened to VOA radio. He left in 1985 at age 12, when 13-year-old boys were being drafted to fight in Iran's war against Iraq. His family eventually settled in Rockville, where Arbabi embraced American culture, playing varsity football, dating girls, playing drums and listening to Led Zeppelin. Hosseini, an actor, writer and stage director who grew up in the cities of Rasht and Mashhad, didn't leave Iran until he was much older. He immigrated to the United States a decade ago to follow a girlfriend and wound up at VOA as an art critic and the host of a cultural show. Both Hosseini and Arbabi became U.S. citizens, and neither has returned to Iran. But they also haven't left it behind. "We used to hang out and just vent," said Arbabi, who got his satirical bent from his late father, a chemist-turned-architect who loved dark comedy and biting political cartoons. Combining their frustration with Iran's status quo with their love for high-energy clowning around, Arbabi and Hosseini came up with an idea to satirize the Iranian news. It was a far cry from regular VOA fare, which is funded by the U.S. government. But they were given a 10-minute segment on another VOA show. They called it "Parazit," which means "static," a reference to the Iranian government's repeated attempts to jam foreign satellite programming. It launched shortly before the June 2009 presidential election in Iran. At first, their treatment of the election was lighthearted. Arbabi, who with his knit hat and fingerless gloves looks more like a grunge rocker than a world leader, declared his candidacy. But when the disputed election resulted in the largest and most violent anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution, "Parazit" took on a grimmer, more urgent cast. As stories came out of Iran of young people shot on the streets and raped and tortured in prisons, Hosseini and Arbabi tapped into their countrymen's growing cynicism and anger. "Those were my brother, my sister, my friends in the street," Hosseini said of the Green Movement, as it came to be called. Satire amid sadness "Parazit" "has been compared to 'The Daily Show,' but there's a lot of darkness to it. There's a lot of sad news," said Arbabi, who lives in Southwest Washington. "We have to walk a fine line. We come from that generation of kids who got up in Iran and protested the government. We share their politics, so we echo their voice." By 2010, the show was so popular that the duo were given their own half-hour slot. With about 200 employees, the Persian News Network is VOA's largest foreign-language service, reaching an estimated 19.5 percent of adults in Iran, according to VOA. (Those who don't have satellite dishes can view "Parazit" online or watch it on bootlegged DVDs.) Most Persian News Network programming is made up of straight news and commentary. The hosts are older than Hosseini and Arbabi and generally don't go on camera in Sex Pistols T-shirts, nose rings, and green-and-black-painted fingernails. "I don't know if VOA has ever done anything like this," said Redisch, who has been thrilled with the results. "Parazit" has more than 200,000 Facebook fans. Many of them write in to praise it, criticize it or offer up the latest unintentionally funny material from inside Iran. "We have 70 million correspondents," said Arbabi, referring to Iran's population. "They show us what the priorities are in Iran." It was viewers who urged them to cover a story in which the Iranian government promised to give a free apartment to any athlete who brought home a gold medal from the Asian Games in November. But when a woman won the gold for wushu, a Chinese martial art, they reneged, saying she had to be married to get the apartment. The announcement was not popular with Iranians, or with the show's hosts, who frequently dress down Iranian government ministers by name. "We were like, 'Dude, give her her house,' " said Hosseini, who lives in Shirlington. The government relented, though it is unclear how much "Parazit" was a factor. Fascinated and amused The duo's Western-style forthrightness, combined with their innate understanding of the East, mirrors the schizophrenic relationship many young Iranians have with their society. Sometimes it is enough to simply repeat the news from Iran, as Hosseini did in one segment: "The representative of the supreme leader at the University of Yazd said that since the skin of one's elbow is similar to the skin of a man's testicles, people should refrain from wearing short-sleeved shirts." Hosseini paused, a tiny smile tugging at his lips. "This is really real news," he said. "This guy really said that." For Hosseini, growing up in post-revolution Iran provides insight into what will connect with viewers. "I know the taboos," he said. "I went to school. I worked at newspapers. I was in theater. And honestly I was sick and tired of the lack of transparency of journalism in Iran." Persian culture, with its elaborate politeness rituals, is, after all, the furthest thing from the directness of Jon Stewart. "You have a half-hour [interview] with these people and the whole time the journalist is going, 'Oh, I'm sorry. . . . Can I get you something? . . . If you don't mind, I want to ask you this.' . . . No - I just sit in front of people and say, 'What the [expletive]?' " In Iran, his willingness to do that has fascinated and amused many. "I try to watch it every week, and if I miss it for any reason I download it from YouTube," said a 27-year-old army officer stationed in Tehran. A 29-year-old mechanical engineer in Karaj, a small city near the capital, was more critical, saying, "It doesn't add anything to one's knowledge, so it's only good for a laugh." Still, if he happens to be home when it's on, he watches. The format is not one that would work in all VOA markets, Redisch said. "Satire has got to find its audience," he said. "I don't know whether something like 'Parazit' would go over with an Afghan audience or a Pakistani audience or an Indonesian audience." But in Iran, he said, "it's almost a perfect program for a perfect audience. They're very skeptical, they ask a lot of questions, and they don't always take at face value what's being said." Iranian officialdom has been less gushing. The government has described Hosseini and Arbabi as "deceitful, belligerent spies who are enemies to the people of Iran," a line the show has gleefully incorporated into its teaser. Hosseini and Arbabi said officials also launched an anti-"Parazit" show. "The guy talks just like 'Parazit,' " Arbabi said. But, he added, "he's not funny." Special correspondent Kay Armin Serjoie contributed from Tehran (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Anyone else hearing this? 5000, 02 JAN, 0150 UT, 4XZ, Israeli Navy, Haifa. Banging away in CW on a time and frequency channel! No sign of BPM or WWVH this morning. Station was in its normal "V" marker, then went into 5 digit/letter groups and then back to its "V" marker now at 0227. At first I thought I had a spur or an image. Israel is bit too far away for most of that and I see nothing that can mix to produce this. The rest of the band is normal and I have no such effect anywhere else. My rx is not really susceptible to such. I mean, it is dead-on at 5000. This raises the question, WTF? Bad tx on their end? On purpose? Sure would make the signal easy to find. 73, (Al Muick, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Al, 4XZ has appeared on 5001 (and 6000) before: from 2010, DXLD 10-04: ** ISRAEL. Re Galei Zahal? on 5000, 10-02: Hi Ron, Jari Savolainen has heard today [Jan 21] an Israel army station 4XZ on 5001 kHz with CW. Maybe they were the ones relaying it. Some info about the station: http://www.astrosol.ch/53790397a40a2bb01/53790397a40a31504/index.html 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, via Ron Howard, DXLD) Hi Mauno, Thank you very much for this information. Wonder if that was the CW Glenn was hearing on Dec 3? Appreciate the feedback! Have not heard them again on 5000. Best regards, (Ron Howard, CA, ibid.) 1318 not a likely time to be hearing Israel in OK on 5 MHz (gh, DXLD) DXLD 10-09: ** ISRAEL. Haifa Radio heard on 6000 kHz --- Glenn: There was nice signal propagation this afternoon and night on the 3-7 MHz range I was listening to. Very good reception of many regional broadcasters. One anomaly I did note was 4XZ on 6000 kHz. Perhaps it has been reported before, but this is the first time I've heard it on this frequency. I don't think it was a receiver mixing product considering the Drake has a fairly stout front end, but perhaps a transmitter spur or maybe intentional? 6000, 4XZ Haifa Radio, Israel navy coastal radio station ship to shore communications. 2225, Feb 27, 4XZ given in Morse over and over in CW mode. First noted here before Cuba signed on. Weak to fair signal with rapid fading. I checked it a couple hours later and could hear it under Cuba in AM mode beating against Havana's carrier (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) David, Wasn`t this previously reported on 5000 or very close to that? Maybe they punched the wrong frequency. Interesting if you can hear it on 6000 again. Hard to imagine they would use 6000 intentionally. Was it just the marker you heard, never succeeding in any contacts? (Glenn to David via DXLD) Glenn: I did not hear any traffic, just the marker. I don't know if it was ever heard on 5000 kHz but I did find a little information on it, though it is a bit dated: http://www.astrosol.ch/53790397a40a2bb01/53790397a40a31504/index.html I would think 6000 kHz is a mistake or maybe a mixing product of some sort (David Hodgson, WORLD OF RADIO 1502, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6000, 4XZ, Israeli Navy, Haifa. 0426+ CW 4XZ repeatedly, atop weak Radio Habana Cuba (in English). (Terry Krueger, Clearwater FL, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1502, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Date? Probably Feb 27 or 28 [end of historical DXLD info] ** ISRAEL. 6973, Galei Zahal, Dec 30 2301 - Poor reception, but in the clear. Heard the same a couple of evenings ago. Just above threshold, so impossible to follow content. Sounds like news in Hebrew (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. Since this Saturday is only the very first day of the year, and new business often starts on the following weekday, I asked Alfredo Cotroneo of IRRS to confirm whether the deletion of WORLD OF RADIO, alternate Saturdays at 0900 on 9510, axually starts Jan 1. Yes, it does, but WOR ``will continue to be "regular" (as before) every Sat at 2000 CET (1900 UT/winter) on 6090 kHz, until further notice.`` What about DX Partyline after it at 0930; is the whole hour changed? ``Their 15 minute broadcast will be the same as before. ``FYI: we are dropping Mon-Thu 2000-2100 CET (1900-2000 UT/winter) on 6090 kHz effective Jan 1, 2011. New frequency & program schedules will be online on Dec. 31 at http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules `` That shows the new program at 0900 Sat is Outlook, at least this week. What about the alternating Radio City, etc., on other weeks? IRRS will not discuss its transmitter site, under any circumstances, registered as MIL for Milano with HFCC. Presumably this is due to contraxual obligations, despite the fact that previous independent DX research uncovered documents from SLOVAKIA confirming that it is in fact Rimavská Sobota. As we know, Radio Slovakia International is closing down its own SW broadcasts at yearend, thus raising the question of whether the transmitter site will be kept operational only for the limited schedule of IRRS? Starting Jan 1, would listeners monitor the IRRS schedule and note whether there has been any significant change in reception, or operational clues leading to the likelihood of the transmitter site having been changed. Other frequencies (for Miraya FM, from and back to Sudan) have been 9670, 15710: As of 1937 UT Dec 31, the transmission schedule on IRRS website http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/IRRS-SW_B10.html had not been updated to show deletion of Mon-Thu 19-20 on 6090 as mentioned above, still dated Nov 13 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello all, Happy new year, best wishes and good radio conditions for 2011. I am hearing World of Radio now at 1920 on 6090 via IRRS on January 1st 2011, this is a first for me; been many years since I've heard IRRS. WOR ended at 1930, they had ID as IRRS, Milan, Italy on 6090 kHz. Signal is fair, would be good if my noise level would be lower on 6 MHz. Even tough it's not supposed to be there, I will try DX block at 0300 on WWCR later today (Gilles Létourneau, Montréal, Canada, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://mp3.nexus.org:8000/irn.mp3.m3u yes usual program - also DX programs like WoR and DXPL, seems westwards transmission from the east, because reception is S=9+25dB in Holland, S=9+5dB in UK S=9+15dB in Stuttgart S=8 in SUI At same time Prague was on 5930 kHz from Litomysl, but very weak and distorted. No valuation from this location, because Solar Flux condition seem raised tonight a little bit (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Jan 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's hardly audible in winter nights here anyway. But instead I can offer my opinion about 9510, today scheduled to be on air until 1300, observed at 1250 with someone talking about the progress "of our new transmission facility in Madagascar" (so these guys are leasing airtime from NEXUS-IBA as well): I have no doubt that it are still the Rimavská Sobota transmitters (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Was just DX Partyline scheduled at 1245 (gh) On Jan 1st on 6090 kHz at 1859 the Triumphal March from the Opera "Aïda" as the beginning of the broadcast of IRRS and from 1900 World Of Radio, but both under unID talking and choir singing maybe the National Anthem (of Nigeria?) and close down. At 1945 the DX Party Line began. Same on Jan 2nd: Nat. Anthem and close/down at 1903 followed by religion in English. [later:] The station ending at 1902 on 6090 is most likely Amhara State radio from Ethiopia, because the Nat. Anthem is not of that of Nigeria. DXPL also was heard on Jan 1st from 0759 on 11750 (0900-1000 there was a mx station). [HCJB Australia] (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, 6090 kHz, 1900 UT booming in as I would expect from Slovakia, as Romania does on 6125 http://www.box.net/shared/d8d36k3iaj (Mark Davies, Anglesey UK, Sunday Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sign-on with Triumphal March from Aïda, religious news (gh) Nexus (ex. IRRS) relay service Schedule for Winter 2010 / 11 Channel 9510 khz - Time 0900 to 1000 UT 1st Saturday – Radio Joystick 3rd Saturday – Radio City Good Listening 73s (Tom Taylor, Jan 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -SLOVAKIA, 9510, Radio Joystick via IRRS Nexus, 0930-1000*, 01-01, pop music, male voice, comments in German, identification: "Radio Joystick", at 1000 male in English: This is IRRS Italy Radio Relay Service signing off". 44444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [and non]. 1575, 1440-, AFN, Dec 29. This is either Radio Farda or AFN Japan playing rap music, sometimes at good to very good levels, but with deep fades. A number of other off frequency carriers noted: 1575.033, 1574.991, 1574.943 and 1574.928, as well as the dominant 1575.000 (which Farda is always on-frequency). Not the VOA. No jingles at the TOH, but faded down to be sure. By 1502 faded back up to have US network news, so must be AFN. Haven't heard them in a long while! 1575, 1537-, AFN, Jan 1, Briefly dominating the channel with military news before being overtaken by VOA Thailand in Burmese, but conditions this morning are highly variable with wild swings in signal levels from minute to minute. 1575, 1409-, AFN and others, Jan 2. Looks like it may be an interesting morning once again, as within a couple of minutes VOA Thailand faded down, Radio Farda faded up, then down, and AFN became dominant to good to very good level. The ionosphere is doing its thing! 1575, 1704-, AFN, Jan 3. Wanted to see who would dominate after the sign-off of VOA Thailand. It's AFN, with very good reception, although Farda does fade up from time to time (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unlike 810, these 1575 AFN stations in Japan are low-power: 1000, 600 and 250 watts per WRTH 2010. And Thailand 1575 is 1,000,000 (gh, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. NHK can be depended upon for NYE celebrations in the hours before local midnight, and can also be depended upon to frustrate listeners wanting to hear the arrival of the next year at 1500 UT. 11655 via CANADA, VG Dec 31 at 1416 with apparent live music variety show; 1439 had 2-second clips of lots of different songs which probably made more sense if we had original video to go with them, as I suspect this is soundtrack of TV show. 1443 crowd starting singing ``Auld Lang Syne`` in Japanese, but then voiced over with talk. Sure enough, Sackville cut them off the air at 1458:55* just before the big moment. By 1504 I was hearing weak S Asian music on 11655, no doubt KSDA GUAM in Telugu (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. 9760, Radio Nikkei 2, Dec 30 0430 - Excellent reception with Japanese programming, and ads. Remember when this station was called Radio Tampa? // 6115 fair to good (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9595, UT Mon Jan 3 at 2227, unfamiliar chiming IS starting with four notes and then several others, the four notes repeating periodically; and then sign on by ``Radio Nikkei``. WRTH 2011 does show *2225 Sun- Thu, *2155 Fri & Sat, and describes the IS: ``slow tempo chime with Japanese instrument `koto` at sign-on and sign-off`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. TV CRITIC CONSIDERS WHETHER NHK'S "NEWSLINE" IS READY FOR LOS ANGELES PRIME TIME. Posted: 05 Jan 2011 Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan 2011, James Rainey: "KCET's daring and possibly foolish flight away from the PBS network has been in force only since New Year's Day, but it doesn't seem too early to guess that one program in the station's new lineup will not win a lot of fans. [NHK's] 'Newsline' takes the place of the dependable and time-tested [PBS] 'NewsHour,' the staple nightly news program that public television viewers see as the civilized antidote to the loud and contentious world of cable TV. ... We can all use an occasional view of the news as it appears from other points of view. And, to be sure, there are nearly 5 million people of Asian descent in California. But 'Newsline,' from Japan's NHK network, forces a form of total foreign immersion — with a Japan-based anchor introducing stories and pitching to correspondents who tailor their stories for audiences much closer to home. The problem is not language, at least entirely. 'Newsline' anchor Yuko Fukushima could give English lessons to a few news anchors here in L.A. But some of the NHK program's correspondents are not so facile — sounding like they are reading phonetically from flash cards." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** KASHMIR. 4950, R. Kashmir Srinagar, *0118-0225*, Jan 5. Open carrier and test tone noted at 0113 tune in; 0118 start of AIR IS followed by their national song, “Vande Mataram”; 0121 subcontinent songs; 0125-0135 seemed to be news; 0135 reciting from the Qur’an followed by Islamic singing and subcontinent songs; 0225* is rather a late sign off for them; went from poor to almost fair and back to poor by sign off (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AZAD: See PAKISTAN ** KAZAKHSTAN. 5835, Dec 29 at 1315, open carrier with flutter, or just barely modulated. Only thing scheduled per Aoki is YFR via Almaty-Nikolayevka, 200 kW, 121 degrees, in English at 1300-1400, and just started Dec 13. Evidently their act is not yet together a fortnight later. Less than 5 months till R-day! 6225, Sunday Jan 2 at 1408, screaming YL preacheress in North American English, poor signal. Aoki says it`s Bible Voice, 200 kW, 132 degrees via Almaty-Nikolayevka at 1405-1435, in English on Saturday & Sunday; Mandarin on Mondays; other days only until 1420 in Cantonese (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7510, YFR, Dec 31 2004 - Fair reception in English with a reading from the Book of Hebrews. Some ute interference on the low side. Actual frequency (which looks very broad on the Perseus waterfall) is 7509.902 (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 9335, VOK in English diatribe, Jan 4 at 1312 with co- channel QRM from something in Chinese under. Except none such is scheduled, and this was certainly not Pashto from R. Azadi, Kuwait, which is the only other thing listed on 9335 at this time. Since the level of the Chinese is also constant, I conclude it`s a mixture from another transmission by VOK itself. Wiggle those patchcords! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11735, Voice of Korea, Dec 29 0136 - Excellent reception, with English to Central America. Usual dribble about reunification. Audio is somewhat muddy, but otherwise clean, without the frequent hum. 15180 also excellent, but 13760 listed was not heard (doubt it was on the air at all). (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5985, Shiokaze, Dec 31 at 1408, YL in Japanese rather than usual English on Fridays. NYE must have persuaded them to switch to primary tongue for the occasion. Lite het from Myanmar 5986v (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5955, JAPAN, Shiokaze, Dec 31 2030 - Not often reported is the second program of the day. Open carrier for a few moments, and then into the Japanese national anthem, followed by the more familiar Shiokaze sign-on. Japanese only today, at good level. The anthem threw me a bit, as it's not usually heard during the 1400 broadcast (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 1566, 1731-, HLAZ, Jeju Dec 29 Checking at 17:30 when PAL lists Russian, it's still in Chinese, with an English language program (i.e. 'Detective, d-e-t-e-c-t-i-v-e, Detective, Cross, c-r-o- s-s, Cross, etc). At good level still. I can confirm that the Russian program now begins a few seconds before 18:30 (still audible at good/very good level at that time on the 30th, 10:30 AM local). 1566, 1949-, HLAZ, Jan 2. Still going strong at almost noon local. Korean as usual (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Walt, The current schedule of HLAZ on 1566 kHz. 1900-1100 FEBC Korean (inc. 20-21 Voice of Wilderness Korean Sat only) 1100-1230 FEBC Chinese 1230-1345 FEBC Japanese 1345-1730 FEBC Chinese 1730-1830 English LL px "New Dynamic English" in Chinese 1830-1900 R. Teos Russian Your received LL program seems to be "New Dynamic English" in Chinese. (S. Hasegawa, Japan, Jan 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [and non]. 711, 1700-, HLKA, Jan 3. Excellent reception. HLKA has been going back and forth with Vietnam at Thoi Long, also with 500 kW. Just happened that Vietnam faded down, leaving the frequency in the clear with a full ID including call sign. Excellent reception! I checked a few minutes later, and there was Vietnam cochannel, and a warbly higher pitched noise jammer. I wonder whether the jammer is intermittent, since it's now strong (1710) and was not present 10 min ago. Vietnam here is much stronger than 675, by the way (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 792, 1746-, HLCA, KBS Hanminjok Bangsong, Jan 3. Absolutely armchair copy. As close to a perfect '10' as I can imagine. Lovely modulation, and lovely voices too! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 11530, V. of Mesopotamia via UKRAINE, Jan 1 at 1443 M soloist with vocal pyrotechnics, usual flutter adding to other- worldly ambience; plucked instrument accompaniment. We remain indebted to the PKK terrorists for this unique musical service and to TDP for keeping it on the air (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 1548, 2113-, Radio Sawa, Jan 1. Heard with strong signal between some deep fades, and fighting domestic 1550 splatter. Well heard last year at the same time, as well. Measuring 1548.003. Interesting, since my most recent MW offset list shows them on 1547.988. Hmm (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. 9540, checked first thing Jan 1 at 1329, and no signal from WHRI, so tends to confirm that Hmong World Christian Radio is not really there at 1300 Saturdays as in WRTH 2011 page 493 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. BELGIUM (non). Some changes of TDP stations: Suaab Xaa Moo Zoo (Voice of Hope) in Hmong from Dec. 10: 2230-2300 NF 5930 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg to SEAs, ex 7530 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 Jan via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA/SARAWAK. 5030, Sarawak FM via RTM. Dec 28, noted already off the air by 1555. Dec 31 from 1556-1600*; // 9835. 9835, Sarawak FM via RTM, 1600, Dec 28. Pips (1+1), choral National Anthem (Negaraku – Lagu Kebangsaan Malaysia); in vernacular; pop songs; website given for online listening; many on air phone calls; asking each caller a question about Malaysia; fair to good till strong NHK sign on at 1655. Audio http://www.mediafire.com/?e7kdfmxnljj3nh5 9835 on Dec 31 continued on after 5030 signed off at 1600*; heard with extremely distorted audio. Still adjusting new transmitter? Unable to confirm which FM service was carried after 1600. Sarawak reception doing well until distorted audio found on the 31st. 9835, Sarawak FM (presumed) via RTM, 1603, Jan 3. In vernacular; presumed Sarawak FM, as earlier (1520) was // 5030; continued to have two audio feeds (one clear and the other that is out of sync and very distorted). A shame the audio is so poor, as otherwise the reception would be fair to good. 9835, Sarawak FM via RTM, 1308 + 1345 + 1440, Jan 5 noticeably off the air; no doubt working on their new transmitter and fixing problem with audio (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 7245, Radio Mauritania, Nouakchott, 1157-1204, 02-01, male, Arabic, comments. 44444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 1630, Baja California Norte (Tijuana) Dec. 30, 0745 MST [1445 UT], ballad music and very strong signal. Music sounded more South American than Mexican. reminded me of music heard on R. Nacional de Venezuela. nice departure from usual "toonka-toonka" norteno from south-of-the-border. 73 , Happy New Year, and Good Listening! (Rick Barton , El Mirage, AZ, Radio Shack DX-375, Panasonic RF-2200 Hammarlund HQ-120X , Palomar Loop, ABDX via DXLD) I.e., XEUT, R. Universidad, UABC, Mexicali per WRTH 2011, or did it move to Tijuana? (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. RADIO MÉXICO INTERNACIONAL VUELVE POR INTERNET La emisora del Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (Imer) reiniciará transmisiones el sábado 1 de enero vía Internet, después de seis años Sábado 01 de enero de 2011 La emisora Radio México Internacional, del Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (Imer), reiniciará transmisiones el sábado 1 de enero vía Internet, después de seis años de permanecer en silencio. En la dirección www.radiomexicointernacional.imer.gob.mx se podrá escuchar una programación rica en temas, para conocer y saber de México tanto en español, inglés y francés, como en algunas lenguas indígenas, además de que se difundirá música mexicana. En un comunicado, el Imer detalló que entre la programación que podrá escucharse se encuentran series, radionovelas, radioteatro, frases didácticas, cursos, cortes informativos y de análisis, arte sonoro mexicano, postales turísticas y programas de literatura mexicana. De igual forma difundirá programas de servicio y orientación, cápsulas, cursos de historia, rallies a través de México y su cultura, programas de concurso y hasta clases con valor curricular, entre otros. Aseguró que la emisora atenderá a quienes estén interesados en conocer, comprender y analizar a México, ya sea que se encuentren fuera o dentro del país, puesto que ahora tendrá cobertura realmente mundial por transmitirse por Internet. En 2004, recordó, la XERMX-OC concluyó sus emisiones puesto que los transmisores, las antenas y el equipo estaban sumamente dañados y el costo de reparación comparado con el alcance de población que se hubiera logrado era injustificable frente a otras necesidades de inversión del Imer. Sin embargo, en noviembre de 2009 se acordó que la emisora bicentenaria del gobierno federal http://www.radio2010.imer.gob.mx dejaría lista la infraestructura en red para el relanzamiento de Radio México Internacional. El Imer expuso que entre las ventajas de relanzamiento por Internet se encuentran estar a la vanguardia en tecnologías, aprovechar la posibilidad de contacto más directo con los radioescuchas y poder agregar a los contenidos radiofónicos mensajes visuales y de mayor contexto y permanencia como blogs, podcasts y micrositios. Otras de las ventajas son que brinda mayor cobertura y alcance con un menor costo frente al mantenimiento de una emisora de onda corta, puntualizó. FUENTE: http://bit.ly/h2wDUw ESCUCHAR: http://www.imer.gob.mx/phpwrappers/player-rmi/player-rmi.html (El Universal, Jan 1 via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) Here is a program schedule grid in UT -6, for Radio 2010, which seems to be the same as what is now RMI. http://www.radio2010.imer.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=20&Itemid=103 Around 0100 UT January 2, RMI ID, apparent live cast giving phone numbers, programming before and after matching schedule. This is the ``real`` Radio Mexico Internacional, not an unrelated web- only station set up by a ham radio operator. Is it still around? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Comparto con ustedes estos comentarios desde abajo respecto a la reactivación de Radio México Internacional vía Internet por gentileza de Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla... Se ha abierto la polémica respecto al término RADIO cuando solamente su difusión se sirve de Internet. Saludos! RGM (Ruben Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, condiglist yg via DXLD) Viz.: Se dice llamar Radio Mexico Internacional... pero no lo es. Hola, chicos y chicas del mundo diexista. Es irritante. Hace unos minutos gracias a información del conoxcido diexista Yimber Gaviria. "descubrí" otra vez a Radio México Internacional. Ahora en Internet, pero no es lo que es, es "Internet México Internacional", porque para ser radio se requiere de usar difundirse en las ondas hertzianas, y no por Internet. Pero no es Radio México Internacional, no lo es. Dicen que iniciaron a emitir el día de hoy, por primera vez, reemplazando en su espacio a Radio 2010. Ni siquiera pudo crear su propio espacio en Internet. Ni siquiera tuvo esta decencia. ¿Le será difícil adquirir, por ejemplo, un transmisor de radioaficionado, hacerle una modificación al componente que hace la frecuencia, y ponerle una antenas tipo monofilar o de tendedero? Con pocos cientos de vatios que transmita, sería un gran inicio en ondas cortas. Recuerdo que yo de pequeña los escuché alguna vez en el radio de mi abuelo, en una ranchería de la Sierra Madre Occidental, en donde no había ni siquiera energía eléctrica. Y aún, no la hay. A todos ustedes, y a los suyos, que este año nuevo 2011 les traiga dicha y prosperidad. 73 (Ana Cristina [former and final director of XERMX, I think --- gh], Jan 1, Club Diexista México via RGM, ibid.) Coincido plenamente contigo, Ana Cristina; el buen amigo Héctor García Bojorge lo denomina "Audio Internet", puesto que efectivamente no se emplea una radiofrecuencia. Como también dice el experimentado diexista Alejandro Morales Velasco, solo se le podría llamar "Radio" si como ocurre con muchas radiodifusoras se señal saliese tanto por alguna frecuencia (OM; OC; FM) y por internet. No sé si leíste lo que escribí hace unos días sobre una reunión con la directora del IMER a la que fuí invitado por la gran periodista de radio Claudia Segura. En la misma se trató de ver las posibilidades de volver a la onda corta, se le dieron algunas opciones, pero al "topar con ingeniería" todo era negativo. Esta reunión se efectuó en noviembre del 2009 y se suponía que para agosto del 2010 nos volveríamos a reunir para ver que había pasado. Aún sigo esperando la llamada de la directora. Y finalmente nos recetan este bodrio mal llamado "Radio México Internacional". Que tengamos un 2011 mucho mejor que el 2010. Saludos, (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, ibid.) Querido Julián: Efectivamente, la RADIO va pediendo su escencia a medida que deja las ondas e ingresa a INTERNET. ¿Alguna vez pudimos imaginar una transmisión sin antenas?... ¡Ni el genio de Marconi lo habrá soñado! En 100 años la radio surcó libre el espacio y hoy queda presa de Internet para unos pocos. Me gustaría difundir estos mails por la Lista de Conexión pero quisiera tu consentimiento. Que hayas comenzado bien el año!... Un cordial abrazo (RGM to JuSaDiez, ibid.) Rubén: con todo gusto difunde los correos que desees. Es cierto que la Internet nos ha atrapado y que es un medio sumamente útil, pero estoy convencido que la radio tomará pronto su nicho. Finalmente ni la radio ni el cine no acabarón con el teatro, la TV no aniquiló a los anteriores, asi que todo va tomando su lugar, su necesidad y su utilidad. Saludos, (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, 2 Jan, Club Diexista México via RGM, ibid.) ** MEXICO. Sporadic-E TV DX broke out Dec 29 at 1636 UT when channel 2 was suddenly occupied by signals from the SSW, net-2 dominating at first, promos with Canal de las Estrellas `star` logo; by 1645 net-5 bug in upper-right during cartoons. 1700 also mix of signals on 3 and signs of activity on 4, 5. Initially no activity at all showing on the 6m map; after 1700, a few paths over western US. This could also get into the FM band? But weakening at 1710. More from the sporadic E TV DX opening in previous report: channel 3 analog, Dec 29 at 1725 UT, ``Ensalada de Noche`` label at bottom, cooking demonstration, and tv3 bug in upper right, i.e. XHP Puebla (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO [and non]. FROM WAR PROPAGANDA TO GOSPEL OUTREACH: THE STORY OF TRANS WORLD RADIO MONTE CARLO On this occasion, we are presenting the story of Radio Monte Carlo, and we are also honoring Trans World Radio in Monte Carlo on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. The November issue of the American radio magazine, "NASWA Journal", reminds us that TWR Monte Carlo celebrated its 50th anniversary a few weeks ago; and some time back, Christian Ghibaudo in France provided us with much of the background information for this feature item. The small European country of Monaco is located against the Mediterranean coast of France, just ten miles from the border of Italy. This country is listed as the second smallest in the world, with only the Vatican being smaller. Monaco is a little more than two miles long, and at its narrowest point it is only 200 yards wide. The total area is just ¾ square mile, and almost a quarter of this total area has been recovered from the Mediterranean Sea. The capital city of Monaco is, Monaco; though another well known city in this tiny enclave is Monte Carlo. The total population of all of the country of Monaco is around 33,000. The country obtains much of its revenue from tourism, with 1½ million people flooding into the area each year. Their national flag shows a plain red banner on the top half and a plain white banner on the bottom half. Surprisingly, the Monaco flag is exactly the same as the flag of both Indonesia & the German state of Hesse, though the dimensions are slightly different. The country of Monaco is also well known for its Casino; and the Monaco Grand Prix car race; and its Tour de France bicycle race. Monaco issues its own colorful postage stamps, and also its own coinage, now in the Euro series. It was back in the year 1956, that the American Hollywood actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier in a highly publicized wedding ceremony. The reigning Grimaldi family traces their dynasty back to the year 1297, when the first of their clan took over the throne. This little southern European country was named by Greek seafarers who set up their own colony around the 600s. Another 600 years later, and the area was refounded as an Italian colony dependent upon the city of Genoa. Even though Monaco is an independent country, it is heavily dependent upon neighboring France. It was back in the year 1923 that initial consideration was given to establishing a radio station in Monaco, though nothing definite came of this matter until some 20 years later. During the year 1942, discussions for the establishment of a new international shortwave station took place between the government of Monaco, and the governments of both Germany & Vichy France. In May, a permit was issued for the construction of a powerful shortwave station that could give wide area coverage to German radio programming. Work on the new station moved slowly, though two shortwave transmitters, rated at 100 kW each, were ordered through the Indonesian government. A new transmitter building was constructed into the side of Mt Agel, behind Monte Carlo, and located actually in what is officially French territory. A temporary radio station was inaugurated in an official opening ceremony on July 17, 1943, with the well known French actor, Maurice Chevalier as the Host of Ceremonies. A small shortwave transmitter with just 200 watts was located in Monaco itself, and the mediumwave outlet was the already established transmitter of Radio Mediterranée on 1240 kHz which was located some distance away at Antibes in France. A little over a year later, this new Radio Monte Carlo was closed. In June 1945, Radio Monte Carlo was re-opened by the French, with a 300 watt shortwave transmitter on 6130 kHz; and a year later, a 10 kW mediumwave transmitter on 410 metres, 730 kHz. Both of these units were heard by international radio monitors in England. One year later again, a 25 kW shortwave transmitter was installed and this was noted on air in the United States, as well as in New Zealand & Australia. On two different occasions, Adventist radio programming was noted over Radio Monte Carlo. Beginning in 1957 and for a year or two, the French version of the "Voice of Prophecy" was heard on three shortwave channels; and for a few months in 1999, Adventist World Radio took out a relay via the mediumwave transmitter on 702 kHz for coverage into North Africa in both Arabic & French. In 1958, Trans World Radio signed a contract with Radio Monte Carlo for the establishment of a large shortwave station, and the transmitters would be installed in the disused building constructed into the side of Mt Agel during the German era. Trans World Radio was on the air previously from a site in Tangier, North Africa, but, with the changing political scene in Tangier-Morocco, it became necessary for them to re-locate elsewhere. The new facility for TWR Monte Carlo was inaugurated on October 16, 1960, with the use of a new 100 kW shortwave transmitter under the official callsign 3AM5. An additional 100 kW shortwave transmitter was installed during the following year, and a 500 kW transmitter in 1982. Their studios and offices occupied three floors in a multi-storeyed building in Monte Carlo. At the height of their operation in Monte Carlo, TWR was on the air from the three shortwave transmitters and ten curtain antennas, as well as on mediumwave from a high powered facility nearby. The main antenna systems are located in French territory rented to Monte Carlo, though one antenna for coverage into Europe is located on the northern slopes of Mt Agel in what is regular French territory. These days, with the usage of their own shortwave stations elsewhere, as well as with rental time on additional relay stations, the TWR station in Monte Carlo is in part time use only, just for the morning hours on the two 100 kW transmitters. QSLs from Radio Monte Carlo are quite evident, and multitudes of QSL cards have been issued over the years by Trans World Radio Monte Carlo (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for Dec 26 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. 9890-DRM, RNZI, Dec 29 1737 - 100% copy of RNZI news. 'Please send receptions reports to www.rnzi.com' on the DReaM window, as well as the schedule, and headline news (8 Vanuatu prisoners escape, 3 dead after PNG pirate incident', etc.) They were wrong with DRM frequencies: noted 11675 at this time! // AM 9765 good to very good. TC for 19 1/2 min to 7 o'clock. 26.5 dB SNR using the ALA100 NE/SW. Also very good on the Wellbrook array directed to the SW. Lots of drop outs on the NW BOG amplified. All makes sense! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15720, UT Friday December 31 at 2245, I hear the recognizable voice of Garrison Keillor telling a story. Must be Prairie Home Companion, via RNZI, finally getting shortwave exposure by this very roundabout method. Is it on the RNZI schedule grid? Of course not! Only ``RNZ National`` meaning domestic service relay, and on the RNZI schedule page you have to click on ``Radio NZ Domestic Services`` http://www.radionz.co.nz/ then go to the correct network, National, find the schedule, convert times and days from UT +13, to find what RNZI is really broadcasting on SW. That would be Saturday at 11:45 am local, yes: ``11:04 Garrison Keillor's Radio Show, Highlights from the award-winning show - A Prairie Home Companion (PHP)`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11725, RNZI, Jan 1 at 0657 started to play ``Be My Love``, Mario Lanza`s hit and was trying to decide whether that was he or an almost equally gifted tenor, when it was cut off rudely in less than a minute for frequency change announcement to 9765. After about a minute, 9765 came on at *0659 not with the rest of the song, but bell-bird IS until 0700 ``Radio New Zealand News at Eight``. At far too many SW stations, listeners come last, and program integrity next-to-last (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. New Zealand TV Carriers in Western USA --- AC7XP seems to be the only one monitoring for these signals in the US, they have been in again. http://dxworld.com/tvfmlookback.php Times GMT Dec31 00:35 All vid carriers gone now de AC7XP Dec31 00:24 Now just 45.250 MHz in de AC7XP Dec31 00:14 45.250 MHz and 46.240 MHz vid carriers in de AC7XP Dec31 01:17 Am I the only one listening for 45 MHz vids every evening? de AC7XP Dec31 01:16 I want to know if anybody has been actively monitoring these ZL/VK low VHF vid signals here in the US de AC7XP [Arizona] (via Mr Hugh Hoover, Portugal, Dec 31, WTFDA via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 4770, Radio Nigeria – Kaduna, 1814-1820, 27-December-2010, in English. Program Details: 1815, female announcer with station ID followed by Afro pop music. Signal: Fair strength, poor modulation (Ed Wlodarski, N2ED, New Jersey, Ten Tec RX340 & 100 Ft Long Wire, NASWA Flashsheet Jan 2 via DXLD) Sunset in Kaduna was 1717 UT, so this was only one hour after that, meaning almost all of the path to ENAm was in daylight, from tropical W Africa cross the Atlantic. Reception at such an early hour would be extremely unlikely, even at Solstice when northerly paths with a much lower sun angle might conceivably propagate. And is Kaduna even active? DSWCI Tropical Bands Monitor shows that as of Nov 2010, Kaduna 4770 had not been reported since last January. Nor have there been any reports of it in 2010 DXLDs, even at favorable hours. WRTH 2011 does show Kaduna on 4770 and no notation that it is inactive. In late December something on 4770 was reported from Europe about three hours earlier, but turned out to be Eritrea, which would be no more likely in New Jersey; see DXLD 10-52 (gh, DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 15120, VON, Dec 31 at 1534 in English about Zimbabwe, but muffled, distorted, and unstable carrier, plus splash from WYFR 15130 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 15120, Jan 2 at 1517 weak signal seems in English, presumed V. of Nigeria; however it may have some competition now as Victor Goonetilleke says Family Radio is testing in English on 15120 via 35 kW Ekala, SRI LANKA at 1330-1630 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15120, Voice of Nigeria, (Ikorodu), 1800-1815, 1/2/2011, English. Identification and announcements by woman. News by man. Identification by woman at 1805 followed by highlights of their program schedule for the week. Good signal (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, G6 and whip antenna, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 15120, Jan 4 at 1510, ``Voice of Nigeria, Lagos`` ID by YL amid 15- minute news block, then about bomb blast in Abuja; somewhat distorted and unstable carrier, but she is more readable than the axualities or other announcers with heavier accents who followed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. 17485, Hamada Radio International via RMI via GERMANY, Friday Dec 31 at 1411, fair signal with speech to a crowd (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The reception here is excellent. Clear signal here and most places. We have got reception reports from Cameroon, Niger Republic, Libya, Sudan, Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana. Some members of my team are of the opinion that we should broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays also with the type of goodwill the radio has generated across Africa, Libya, Sudan, Sengal, Gabon, Ivory Coast, where we just had a Hausa Radio reporter giving us an account of the political turmoil in that country. Also we have a reporter in Southern Sudan who had spoken with the leadership of SPLA as the country is about to be divided into two. In Nigeria and Niger it's almost FM reception. The same with Sudan, Algeria and Libya. Incredible. I just want to make sure that I guide the station along purely professional broadcasting ethics. It's important. You can't believe the type of response we are having. We are the only news organisation with a live correspondent in southern Sudan where a refrendum is scheduled for January. Our reporter was arrested by the Sudanese government but our appeal compelled them to release him. We asked all our listeners across Africa to pray for his release and the president of Sudan personally ordered that he be released (Yusufu Mamman, Director of Hamada Radio International, Nigeria, WRMI Listener Correspondence Summary January 2011 via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6950.565, PIRATE, Radio Ronin Shortwave, Dec 29 0200 - Good reception with blues music. No ID at the TOH. Still no ID by 0207. Occasional CW cochannel. ID at 0212, but missed it. A special program of blues music. ID faded just as he announced the ID (something USA), and Little Ed was the name of the Blues concert. Very good at times. AM mode. Had to narrow the bandwidth a bit to avoid the ute 2 kHz below. No, it was Radio Ronin Shortwave with a nice ID and asked to post to FRN. Signed off at 0218. Great reception! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. Two SSB pirates were active NYE with music, UT January 1 at 0423, on 6925 and 6950. Better signal on the latter, and shortly found that 6925 had gone off anyway. 6950 had song about Jesus Christ, then more heavy beat music; 0430 quick ID sounded like ``Wolverine Radio``, but not sure; I do know that is the name of one pirate. 0442 another tentative ID as above. Signal is strengthening; 0455 changes to tones, probably SSTV ID before closing. Atmosferix from the tornadic storms in the SE USA are noticeable (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tend to be confirmed by Walt: 6950, PIRATE, Wolverine Radio, Jan 1 0121 - While listening to the booming signal of Radio Yellowknife, I noticed another weak SSB signal. It's Wolverine Radio, with an ID at 0122. Not nearly as strong as the former, but still not a bad signal for being another 1000 km to the north of my home QTH. Glad to hear a few pirates on tonight. Perfectly copyable, if not armchair. Thanks to the pirates! Wow, Wolverine just faded up to a strong level at 0123:20. Vagaries of propagation, or did the op adjust something? Still fine propagation at 0159 recheck. 6925, PIRATE, WRRI, Jan 1 0154 - A new one for me, with a tuning signal on a flute, and 'This is WRRI, Random Radio International'. A tough copy, but perfect clarity. Just above the noise floor, which is very low here (often close to -130 dB!). (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. Happy New Year, folks! The Crystal Ship is currently going on the air, on or about >>>>> 6902 kHz AM, at about *2130 UT. We should be on running possibly as long as through 0000 UT. – John Poet The Crystal Ship, The TCS Blog http://tcsshortwave.blogspot.com/ (via gh, 0003 UT January 2, dxldyg via DXLD) GH: I just tuned in and listening on frequency. Thanks to you and John for this tip. 73's, (Noble West, Clinton TN, BMSS, 0009 UT Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, I did hear Crystal Ship earlier it was on 6903.5 with very good signal here in Montreal, around 2215 UT on Jan 1st, had some Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen music when I was listening. Also heard WHYP at 2100 on 6874.7 had a very strong signal; DJ was saying hello to everyone who had posted on the FRN (free radio network) message board in the A.C.E Loggings section. BTW for anyone who does not know .. it's a great place to look for Pirate Activity, you can see loggings of pirate almost realtime. Happy new year Glenn (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, ibid.) ** OKLAHOMA. 1000, KTOK, Oklahoma City – CP granted for a power increase to U4 5800/5800. Their patterns shapes are unaffected, only a slight increase in coverage area (AM Switch, NRC DX News Jan 3 via DXLD) up from only 5000 watts; why bother? (gh, Enid) ** OKLAHOMA. 1640, KFXY Enid OK; “We’re the new Faith 16-40” W 0800 27/12 (Andrew Brade, Holme-on-Spalding Moor, East Riding of Yorkshire. AOR AR 7030 plus and Perseus SDR, Wellbrook phased array 290 , 305m beverage at 220 . Recording on Sony MZ-NH1 minidisc + Total Recorder, Medium Wave News 56/08 13 January 2011 via DXLD) Our local X-bander is so rarely reported abroad that I am always on the lookout for logs of it, here among a very long list of DX from all over the world, and beg your indulgence for my outpicking it. W in the log probably means weak (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Finally tracked down the active 1670 kHz talking house, traces of which I have heard while driving around western Enid, Dec 30 at 2100+ UT. I figured it`s farther out in the NW quadrant, and so it is. Near Purdue and Oakwood I was hearing the swishy signal strong enough to copy the address: 3017 Falcon Crest; poor dixion of Greg Winkeljohn first made it sound like South Crest, no such street, but found the correct one on my map. Only way to access it was to circle around to the east and south and back west into a newish development. Did not bother to record, as it`s quite similar to the previous ones from same realtor, but did photo the house, with the 1670 sign afront: http://www.w4uvh.net/1670th3017a.jpg It`s also on his website, with a slide show of the interiors, price $439,900: http://www.enidhomes.com/homes/683286.htm But no shot of the radio station! And as usual, no antenna visible from the outside. However, there was this emblem embedded in the ground near the front door by the owners who want out: http://www.w4uvh.net/1670th3017b.jpg Mentioned in the spiel and on the site is a ``Jack & Jill bathroom`` which sounds ominous, if you know the kidsong --- no running water? You fall down and break your crown? There were many more houses of a similar style in the area, but surprisingly few inhabitants stirring in our record-warm midafternoon, 70 degrees. But 3017`s neighbors in their shorts were pulling up their Xmas lights. Driving away on caradio, losing 1670 within a semimile, and gone by one mile, while moving with the noise level increased. I suspect my tyres are generating static electricity against the dry, dry pavement (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 13592.5, Dec 29 at 1426, disgusted local CBer complaining about his neighbors; only heard his side of conversation while on 27185 could hear both sides: yes, he is radiating a semi-harmonic. I was checking 13590 where I heard the strange musical ``IS`` yesterday, with a clip at the end of this week`s WORLD OF RADIO 1545. CBer was quite distorted, somewhere between AM and FM. I assume this had no connexion with the 13590 unID. 13592.5, the previous unID reported as 13590, with the strange musical loop repeated, and a clip at the end of WORLD OF RADIO 1545, does turn out to be from a nearby CBer putting his semi-harmonic of 27185 on 13592.5. About the same time Dec 31, at 1451 he is active and playing the loop again, which matches much stronger signal on 27185. Words still hard to make out, but sounds like ``You`re an idiot, ha ha ha ha``, which seems appropriate for the CB culture (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 91.7, KOSU Stillwater-OKC legal IDs had been limited to this and KOSN 107.5 Ketchum-Tulsa, ignoring the 107.3 Tulsa-proper translator, another in Okmulgee. But the last few days they have been adding 88.3 KOSR Stillwater, e.g. at 1559 UT January 1. This is the fill-in transmitter on the OSU campus, needed since they moved the main transmitter halfway to OKC. Does this mean it has just gone on the air? In Enid it`s blocked by a YFR translator. KOSU 91.7 reception here has degraded itself a lot in last few years with addition of IBOC making main signal weaker, plus site further away such that now it is more subject to picket-fencing on caradio, and harder to penetrate restaurant walls and noise levels on walkman. Even some of my home radios no longer get 91.7 with a solid signal, and there is the Kansan gospel-huxter elbowing from 91.5. We really need a KOSU translator in Enid, which lacks any local public radio service, or preferably full-power relay in NW OK (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 15140, Radio Sultanate of Oman, 1435-1445, 02-01, English, male, news, sports: "The Premier League coverage here in the Radio of Sultanate of Oman", pop music. 44444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan noted on 7100 kHz (in middle of Amateur Band) with ID, etc. in Urdu at around 1130 today 25.12.2010 with clean signal. Off by 1200. Not heard or seen listed. Sounded like Home Service. Merry Xmas! (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, http://www.niar.org dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST 10-52) Radio Pakistan in Urdu again noted today on 7100 during check in at 1615 UT. With seasons greetings! (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Hyderabad, India, Jan 1, dx_sasia yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) At 1700 ID'ed as Azad Kasmir Radio followed by PBC Urdu news (Alokesh Gupta, ibid.) 7099.9 kHz PAK --- Following a tip from Jose Jacob found AKR via Rawalpindi from 1630z tune/in to s/off at 1811z with the full AKR Anthem. Fair reception. Happy New Year to everyone. I will be back amongst the logging from now on!! (G. Victor A. Goonetilleke 4S7VK, "Shangri-la"' 298 Madapatha Road, Piliyandala. Sri Lanka, Jan 1, via Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) Azad Kashmir Radio wurde früher oft über 6100v kHz gesendet. Ein Wechsel auf 7100 kHz kann nicht einem einmaligen Tastfehler am TX-PC geschuldet sein. Diese 7100v kHz Aussendung wurde auch schon in der Weihnachtswoche berichtet. AKR richtet sich an die Moslems im östlichen Kashmir-Teil in Indien. Bisherige Schedule 4790 Azad Kashmir Radio 0045-0215 Kashmiri 10 68 Rawalpindi PAK 4790 Azad Kashmir Radio 0230-0425 Kashmiri 10 68 Rawalpindi PAK =7265 4790 Azad Kashmir Radio 1330-1430 Kashmiri 10 68 Raw. API-8 PAK 4790 Azad Kashmir Radio 1445-1600 Kashmiri 100 ND Rawalpindi PAK alt. 3975 4790 Azad Kashmir Radio 1600-1615 English 100 ND Rawalpindi PAK 4790 Azad Kashmir Radio 1615-1815 Kashmiri 100 ND Rawalpindi PAK 7265 kHz Azad Kashmir Radio 0900-1215z Kashmiri 100kW 68deg Rawalpindi-PAK, (Wolfgang df5sx P11 Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Respected Jose Jacob, I also noted on January 2nd, while checking the 40 mb, Radio Pakistan's Urdu transmission on 7100 kHz with good signal from 0203 UT onwards. Heard Urdu News read by OM news reader. The news content was related to recent withdrawal of support by MQM party to federal government. This transmission is parallel to Radio Pakistan Urdu transmission on 15490. But the audio was very rough on 15490. I monitored the transmissions up to 0207 UT perhaps. This is for your kind info. I'll monitor again on 7100 kHz. With Best Wishes for a Happy, Prosperous & above all Safe 2011, 73 & 55 (Gautam Kumar Sharma(GK), Abhayapuri(Assam)(India), via Jacob, dx_sasia yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) 7100, PAKISTAN, Azaad Kashmir Radio, Jan 2 1718 - Thanks to a tip from Victor G. Good signal with regional music. I'm measuring them on 7100.006 compared to Victor's 7099.9 (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALAU. 9950, Dec 30 at 1458, Babcock IS, prior to what? Nothing: at 1459 ID by T8WH, cut off air before complete. This was instead the tail of the 1430 Furusato no Kaze broadcast, 100 kW, 345 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. I dozed thru the New Year in NZ, eastern Australia, and PNG, but started listening just after local UT+10 midnite at 1403 UT Dec 31: 3385 had an audible signal, something talking, likely R. East New Britain, Rabaul, on later than usual 1200v* as in WRTH for all these stations. I could also detect carriers on 3365, 3325 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU [and non]. 11765, Dec 29 at 0615 wacky wailing preacher David Miranda, almost breaking into song, via SRDA, Curitiba, BRASIL. R. Victoria, PERÚ, is now in the clear on 6019.3, where the same is holding forth, and by golly, they are // and even synchronized, so taking a multinational network feed. Both signals poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6019.257, Radio Victoria, 0920-0930 Jan 1. Noted two ladies in Spanish language conversation. This continues during the period. Needless to say, the frequency is covered with splatter as well as general interference. Signal was fair however (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, WR-G31DDC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 18058-, R. Victoria third harmonic of 6019.3+, Jan 4 at 1527, trace of audio, and apparently always there when propagation permits, obvious from its signature off-frequency. I expect it is well under 100 watts (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9430, looking around for some signal hitting 2011y at 1600 UT Dec 31, settled upon FEBC: at 1559 Chinese song, ID, but no timesignal or fireworx when it`s New Year both in China and the Philippines. 9730, Dec 31 at 2252, fair signal with ``Jesus Saves`` IS, alternating with ``This is FEBC Radio, broadcasting from Manila, Philippines``, in English. A headstart on the 2300-2330 Hmong broadcast, 100 kW, 293 degrees from Bocaue, in White Hmong M-F, Blue Hmong Sat-Sun, meaning local or UT days? They also have Black Hmong at another time. Are the Hmong color-coded by their traditional dress, dental discoloration or what? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9570, R. Blagovest is still on R. Veritas Asia, January 1 at 1507, despite Moscow DX Club report quoting engineer at RVA that they would no longer broadcast in Russian this year. In previous report this was filled under RUSSIA [non]. 9570, checking again whether RVA has abolished Russian and consequently R. Blagovest --- it was still on Jan 1, and yes, also Jan 5 at 1500, good signal opening hour-long broadcast with bells, ID --- but at next check 1521, nothing there. Now what? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still there Jan 6 ** PHILIPPINES. 11890, DZRM Radio Magasin simulcast via R. Pilipinas. 1821-1834, Jan 5 (Wednesday). Not on at their normal *1730; they signed on sometime after 1803; pop songs and conversation in Tagalog; IDs: “DZRM Radio Magasin”; poor; // 11730 (poor) and unable to hear // 15190. This makes a second Wed. I have heard this DZRM simulcast, so perhaps it is now their regular schedule (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. 9650, UAE, Polish Radio, Dec 29 1807 - Poor reception in English. Too weak to get much of the content. 9490, UNITED KINGDOM, Polish Radio, Dec 31 1946 - Ukrainian service at fair level. I have this listed via Rampisham, UK. The other UK frequency is 6040, and was not heard (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC blox PRES on 11860: see U K [and non] ** PORTUGAL. Rádio Comercial, WRTH info about L.P.: it seems some details here reveal some black humour joke or then witness a resurrection from the dead! Their Techn. Dir., Eng. Pinto Ventura, actually passed away more than year ago! Avanca 783 kHz 100 kW was dropped Belmonte (Benavente) 1035 kHz 100 kW is only nominal, 1/3 of the power is used, a note on this might well be useful, but there's none. Their other 9 [silent] MW outlets should be mentioned, and explained why they aren't used. History: The station owner actually keeps the licences on every single frequency (Carlos Gonçalves via Mediumwave.info via Medium Wave News 56/08 13 January 2011 via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. 9855 and stronger // 9455, RDPI to Americas, Dec 31 at 0152 with Portuguese music, but rather overmodulated/distorted. A bit better several minutes later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Vintage IS: Any guess? Does anyone still remember the IS (and/or the stn) using the tune found in this below? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PjnnSV-3mY&feature=related Needless to say it was repeated on & on prior to the time gong followed by the natl. anthem, and it was a majestic, a grand arrangement. A good IS... but, unfortunately, rlgs. related - but this is my opinion. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, Jan 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's similar to (but not the same as) the Radio Renascença IS, as used in the early 80s - see the 1983 example on the Portugal page at Interval Signals Online http://www.intervalsignals.net (David Kernick, ibid.) But it's not RR, which had a rather dull IS, but let me be a little naughty and confuse you a little bit: I didn't even say it's from my country. All I can say for now is that such IS was sort of banned (this is the appropriate word, I think) more than 30 years ago, and, unfortunately, it's not to be found in the IS webpages such as the one you mentioned (Carlos, ibid.) Radiodiffusão Portuguesa, foreign service (Radio Portugal), 1970s post-revolutionary vintage, followed immediately by "A Portuguesa" I believe. It wasn't really the interval signal, that was a rather Iberian-sounding guitar concoction not used on every service, with the chimes and anthem to open the program. How's my memory doing? dc (David Crawford, Indian River City FL, ibid.) David, You've got, I mean the country, but the name of the stn then was slightly different: Emissora Nacional de Radiodifusão, or Emissora Nacional for short, be it for its Serviço Ultramarino (overseas sce., Portuguese only) or for the foreign sce. (Castilian, French, German, Italian, Konkani) which was known as R. Portugal. Like the Vatican R IS, it was played for a minutes' time, then the gong, our anthem and anns. There was some sort of echo or drag of the last notes and then the repeat, so in a way the listener wouldn't miss it. I remember it vividly. The domestic sce. on EN 2 via 755 & 1061 kHz + VHF-FM stereo also carried 45 mins. foreign lang. prgrs at 2300 local: Engl., French, German, but not Castilian or Konkani. There was no IS for this, just an opening tune using the first bars of the Portuguese classical music piece "Suite Alentejana", by Luís de Freitas Branco, and here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23r8RrscQfE 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, ibid.) One frequently heard Emissora Nacional outlet here was the SSB feed, 6185 (?) kHz, and much later on 4865 KHz, directed to the Azores. I never did hear the 4865 relay out of Azores proper, dangit. Digging out my ancient WRTHs, the 1976 edition still shows Emissora Nacional de Radiodifusão, but by the 1977 edition it had changed to RDP. I don't recall that change affecting the "musical branding" of the foreign service. I do remember the Soviets briefly jamming the crap out of the Radio Portugal foreign service during the revolution in 1974, presumably while Caetano still held the station. Do you recall the multi-guitar interval signal, different from the chimes, and on what service(s) it might have been used? I recall both of us being active in DSWCI during that general time period also, no? Thanks for the memories. ;-) dc (David Crawford, ibid.) I remember Emissora Nacional in the old days (1950s). They had a four tone IS played twice I think Beethoven`s Fifth bit. They announced as ``The Voice of the West. The West can and will win!`` This was in the days of Salazar. Loved the fado music they used to play in those days! (Phil Finkle K6EID, ibid.) As I recall, the slogan about the West winning, etc., was used up until at least 1969 or 1970 exclusively on the actual International service. EN ran a separate Portuguese service mostly aimed at expatriates; each had its own distinct schedule listing in the 1969 WRTVH. Hello & 73z to old, old pal Phil K6EID (GREG HARDISON, CA, ibid.) Greg Hardison! Great to hear from you. Sure remember Pete and ur Mom. Well we’re in Marietta for the last 21 years, your old home. 73 (Phil, ibid.) David, As a matter of fact, I didn't want to mention that because I was not sure any more, but now that you mention it, I do remember having heard it with a vy strong, steady signal coming this which could only mean it was from EN's HF site just some tens of km east of me. This reminded me of their QSL: 4865, 04Apr'76, 1936 GMT, but it lacks the actual tx site, Açores. Curiously (…), the front of the card shows a garden of Lisbon, and that was indeed a second disappointment. I believe the jamming you heard on 25 m during the Engl. prgr might have been a mistake, not specifically targeted to POR. It was perhaps before Apr'74 that they would jam, and even so I think they didn't as there were no b/casts in any of the langs. of the eastern block. Nethertheless, there was jamming by POR upon the pest known as R. Moscow in the past, but it was short lived. I think the jammers were in the former EN HF site at Barcarena, where the CEI - Centro Emissor Imperial was installed until it changed the name to CEU – Centro Emissor Ultramarino when it moved to the brand new site at São Gabriel, east of the capital; the CEU was inaugurated in 1953 and as you know is still being used. O' no, they [Sov. Union & Co.] weren't a passive observer at all – but the same applied then and still very much applies today to the US, is it not? Dirty business dressed differently, just that. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, ibid.) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. 6240, MOLDOVA (PMR), Radio PMR, Dec 29 1809 - Russian programming at poor to fair level. English noted at 1836 recheck. Still at poor/fair level. Russian noted at fair to good level at 2200 after a NA. Headlines into the news. Good reception with English and holiday greetings at 22:45. 'Radio Pridnistrovye is on the air'. 6240, MOLDOVA Radio PMR, Dec 30 2225 - Excellent reception with their Russian program. Difficult to know exactly what their schedule is. I have English listed during this time frame. Program ended at 2230 exactly mentioning 999, and 6240. Into English at 2230. [now in half- hour blox ---- gh] 6240, MOLDOVA, Radio PMR, Dec 31 1927 - Tuned in to hear them at very good level, to hear 'We Wish you a Merry Christmas', being sung in English! Now, let's see --- it's not Christmas under either the Julian or Gregorian calendars. Hmmm. At 1929:20, into another non-Christmas tune. Into German at 19:30 (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio PMR advised at the end of its 2230 broadcast on 2 January on 6240 that the editorial staff are taking a holiday break for Christmas, so the "next five programmes" will be dedicated to the history of the Pridnestrovyen Moldovan Republic (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) PRIDNESTROVIE (non) - Radio PMR was noted last month to have gone to a Russian/English/French/German rotation of 1/2 hour blocks with news for 15 minutes and 15 minutes or so of folk music. This week the English block at 2230 has included a feature on the history of Pridnestrovie and its tenuous relationship with Moldova to fill out the half-hour block. Whether this is an overall change in programming remains to be seen but I'm learning a lot more about the area this first week of the new year (Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, Jan 4, NASWA yg via DXLD) It`s not `(non)` but really PRIDNESTROVYE (gh) ** ROMANIA. 6145, Radio Romania International, Dec 29 0156 - Excellent reception with an immediate cut in transmitter after 'Good Bye' at 0156. Dead air after that. RRI remains an inspiration for what a small country can still do on SW: Good programming, and excellent transmitters! 7330, Radio Romania International, Dec 29 2309 - Good reception with their English service (?to NAm), with a weaker cochannel. 7220 is stronger and in the clear. The two 49m channels are fair to good: 6015 and 5915 (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. La serie QSL 2011 --- Estimados amigos: Gracias por haber colaborado conmigo un año más. Muchas gracias a todos por el envío de vuestras noticias, de vuestras colaboraciones que han hecho posible que mi humilde Rincón Diexista siga adelante. Aprovecho para informaros que la nueva serie de tarjetas QSL de RRI para 2011 presenta palacios, edificios históricos, parques, iglesias y monasterios de Bucarest y de sus cercanías pintados por Vitalie Butescu, un pintor rumano oriundo de la República de Moldavia. Por lo tanto, los interesados en obtener las 12 tarjetas de confirmación de la serie 2011 de nuestra emisora, deberán enviar un informe de recepción mensual que indique la fecha y hora de la escucha, las frecuencias o campos de onda, las características técnicas de la emisión, según el código internacional (SINPO), y también sus comentarios personales acerca de lo escuchado. Los que nos manden durante 12 meses consecutivos un informe de sintonía, recibirán un Primer Diploma de nuestro Club de Oyentes. Contamos con un total de cinco diplomas – que corresponden al primero, tercero, quinto y décimo año de fidelidad - y dos Sellos de Antigüedad para el segundo y cuarto año de actividad. Espero, amigos, que mantengamos los lazos de amistad que nos unen también en 2011. ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Un afectuoso saludo, Victoria Sepciu (via Yimber Gaviría, Jan 2, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. LW 209 kHz channel: There was recently some discussion on Russian DX list about R. Mayak, Tynda from Amur area being actually on 209 kHz [listed 207 kHz, 150 kW in WRTH 2011]. This was mostly based on Japanese reports. I asked Hidetoshi Takashima from Sapporo about the matter and he confirms that he has heard the station on 209 kHz during several years. But even in Sapporo the co-channel Mongolians make the reception difficult. I checked the frequency again today and could detect the Mongolian transmitters sign off at 1500 UT on the following frequencies: 208.889, 208.959, 208.996, s/off at 1505 UT. Another, equally strong carrier continued on 209.000 kHz until 1600 UT, which is the scheduled s/off for Mayak, Tynda. It may have low modulation, because I haven't been able to get any audio from it, although at times it is rather strong (Mauno Ritola, Finland, mwoffsets Dec 27 via BC-DX Dec 31 via DXLD) Distance Tynda-RUS to Sapporo-JPN is 1800 kilometers, 55 05 13.52 N, 124 42 55.18 E (ITU list 75-124; Wolfgang Büschel, Dec 28, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 31 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. From the latest RUS-DX # 210 – A dated Sunday 2 January 2011, http://rusdx.narod.ru/bulletin/210-A.txt Sankt-Petersburg ---------------------------- Change since 01.01.2011: The termination of translation of the Voice of Russia on 1494 kHz during the period with 2000 to 2200 http://www.spb.rtrn.ru/info.asp?view=1553 (Victor Rutkovsky, Ekaterinburg / "open_dx") Regards (via Harry Brooks, North East England, UK, Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GERMANY [non] ** RUSSIA. Adygey Radio from Maykop heard on November 22 at 1800-1900 on 6005 in Adygeyan and in Arabic and not in Turkish as earlier. Adygey is on the air on 6005 Monday and Friday 1800-1900 and Sunday 1900-2000. No broadcasts from Kabardino-Balkariya Radio were heard in October and November (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria via Wolfgang Bueschel, Jan World DX Club Contact via DXLD) This is a special programme for Adygey expatriates in the Middle East. Kabardino-Balkar Radio scheduled 1830-1900 Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday on 6005. 6005 is 100kw from Armavir (WRTH 2011 via Mike Barraclough, ibid.) [Following portion of logs by Walt are in chrono order, so frequencies reappear later, also some by gh even later] ** RUSSIA. 5940, Radio Rossii, Arman, GTRK Magadan, Dec 29 0221 - Checking for the local program from GTRK Magadan. Not a great channel anymore since there's a cochannel on the low side (5939.863) which may be Voz Missionária, Brasil. Also some splatter from WWCR on 5935. USB works best. Sure enough, lots of mentions of Magadan at 0225. // 7320 is very good as well. Just not able to tell if the sick transmitter on 6075 is in //. Seems to be, although there's also some classical music playing in the buzz! Checked again the next night, and it's far better tonight compared to 7320. Not in // to 6075 at 0250, which is carrying a different program. Wonder whether 6075 still has the local Kamchatka fisherman's program? No sign of the Latin on the low side, and no splatter tonight either (30Dec2010). 6075, GTRK Kamchatka, Dec 29 0141 - Yeow, that is one sick transmitter. Very strong (I'm not that far away here in Masset), but nothing audible except for a very loud grumble! Someone needs to do something about this poor transmitter! Rechecked at 04:00...now I can hear some Radio Rossii programming at good level, but still awful growling! 6085, GTRK Krasnoyarsk, Dec 29 0439 - Not much happening on MW, so I decided to have a listen to some of the less commonly heard Russian regionals. Krasnoyarsk is heard at fair to good level with its listed 50 kW. Murmansk on 5930, also with 50 kW is just barely audible. 6075 is very strong from Petropavlosk, but with the awful hum, and not in //. 6100 Kyzyl [see also TANNU TUVA] with only 5 kW seems to be there at poor level, and in //, although I see that they're supposed to be slightly off frequency, but this transmitter was on 6100.00. Somebody very weak on 6195 which is listed as 50 kW from Ulan Ude. Can't be sure on that one as it's too weak. 5940, GTRK Amur, Dec 30 0257 - Lovely ID in Russian at 0257 as, 'Radio Rossii Magadan', and into 'Pogoda' (weather). Excellent level. No further IDs. Noted that 5940 joined the Radio Rossii feed // 6075 at 0300. 6085, GTRK Krasnoyarsk, Dec 30 0348 - Excellent reception tonight with Russian pop music and greetings for upcoming New Year. // 6075 for sure. Nothing on the frequencies I tried last night: 6195 is BBCWS, 6100 is Radio Tirana in English. 5930 has something there, but too weak. // 7320 of course, suffers from lots of splatter from very strong WHRI on 7315. They should try to be at least 10 kHz apart. 7320 is still stronger here, though. 7230, Radio Rossii, Yakutsk, Dec 30 0359 - Came across another strong RR transmitter from Siberia. Excellent reception, and // to growly 6075. 5940, Radio Rossii Magadan, Dec 31 0257 - Nice ID after a New Year's program with weather forecast (very cold!). Very good reception. End of program at 0259 with best wishes for the new year (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 9840, VORWS, Dec 31 0501 - Sign-on in English at good to very good level via Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka. Listed 9855 via Vladivostok is just an open carrier at the moment, and a bit weaker than 9840. 12030, also via P-K is fair to good, and nothing on listed 12040. A few minutes later, 9855 is present with very weak audio. Moscow Mailbag at 0505. 13735, VOR WS, Jan 3 0307 - Superb reception of their North American English service with commentary regarding Russia in 2010. Up to S9+20. From the Russian Far East. The signal spreads across almost 25 kHz! From 13723 to 13747! A bit messy, but with so little up there this time of the night, it's not a huge deal. Listed as from Vladivostok. 12030 in parallel with a nice clean signal (13735 has a bit of a hum to it). Also S9+20 strength. The preferred channel, as 13 MHz is too high for the winter. [non]. 7440, UKRAINE, Lviv Krasne, Voice of Russia World Service, Jan 3 0309 - There's something wrong with this transmitter. It's there at low modulation // to the FE transmitters, but there's also an awful growl, somewhat like (but not as bad as) the Petropavlovsk transmitter on 6075. I wonder if it's down with the same affliction? Or is it someone else with a problem there? The distortion is only on the lower side of the frequency. Nothing when tuning USB (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 6075, R. Rossii, Petropavlovsk/Kamchatsky, Dec 30 at 1359, nothing but motorboating, but 1400 timesignal made it thru, mb carrier on until 1401, and no 8GAL audible on 6074. 6075, the geniuses at R. Rossii decided we should have more hours of motorboating on NY Eve. Normally goes off at 1401* but UT Dec 31 at 1433 still there, but no significant program modulation, just Chinese mixing in from Taiwan and/or ChiCom jamming: an exercise in extended futility. In fact, at 1550, I could still hear the rumbling RR carrier from Petropavlovsk/Kamchatskiy where local time is UT+11, so midnight was already at 1300 UT. Perhaps the transmitter ops were out celebrating or had passed out. After all, allowing the motorboating to go on the air for months and months is not exactly a sign of taking responsibility. 6075, R. Rossii, Pet/Kam, Jan 1 at 1357 has heavy motorboating, but today there is also some musical modulation mixing in. 1400 timesignal 6 seconds late as Chinese CCI starts, PK stays on until 1401:15* while there is no sign of 8GAL on 6074. [and non]. 6075, at 0342 UT Jan 2 already has motorboating QRM to Deutsche Welle, i.e. the R. Rossii transmitter on the air until 1401*. Sunset Jan 2 in ``Kamchatka`` was 0520 UT per timeanddate.com which strangely does not pin it down to a specific city, not necessarily Pet/Kam. But even so, at that latitude at solstice, 6 MHz is obviously propagable eastward that early. 6075, R. Rossii is still totally unusable from Pet/Kam, nothing but motorboating roar, except timesignal barely makes it thru its own noise at 1400, and carrier off a minute earlier than usual at 1400:30* Jan 4. Still no trace of 8GAL V/CQ marker on 6074 which used to be audible at the same minute (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 7210.748, Odd frequency seldom happens on RUS/CIS tx sites. Unusual odd outlet of La Voz de Russia, Moscow, showed three signal peaks on Perseus browser. Dec 30 at 0515 UT, powerful S=9+35dB. Report about Russia's bank system, "Banco de Oro" and WikiLead report. \\ at same time Spanish service til 0600 UT for comparision, 6065.00 via St. Petersburg S=9+5dB, 7280.00 via Krasnodar Armavir S=9+10dB signal. (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30) 7210.725, centered frequency of three ODD PEAKS, seen on La Voz de Russia's Spanish service from Taldom site, tonight at 0220 UT. Peaks at 7210.641, .725 and .832 kHz. S=9+25dB in Germany. \\ 7280.00 Armavir site S=9+25dB (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 31 via dxldyg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. I missed being at the SW dials when it was Midnight in Moscow, but listening to VOR later, UT January 1, 2011 at 0005, 6240 via Pridnestrovye and a second later on 7250 via `Krasonodar`, YL was talking about end-of-year holidays, calendar, when Xmas is celebrated, etc.; and at 0024 replayed full strike of Kremlin chimes, marred however by mixing them with disco-beat music, demonstrating how decadent post-Soviet Russia has become. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7335, Jan 2 at 0334, surprised to find Golos Rossii instead of La Voz de Rusia, i.e. in Russian instead of Spanish, via GUIANA FRENCH. Listened for a while to be sure it was not just a clip about to be voice-overed into Spanish. Still Russian at 0351, 0434, 0551. Another mixup in Moscú, or Montsinéry? Or a 2011y sked change. Website still shows 7335 at 03-06 for Spanish: http://spanish.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/spa_schedule 7335, VOR via GUIANA FRENCH, UT Jan 3 at 0326 is back in proper language Spanish, instead of Russian the night before, with New Year greeting. Recheck 0558 was signing off with frequency-less schedule for Spanish starting at 2100 for Europe, 0100 for Latin America. TDF cut it off as the URL was being given, ``spanish punto``. Yes, the English word, ``Spanish``. After 0600, Vatican IS audible much more weakly on 7335, mixed with Tunisia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7335 via GUIANA FRENCH, VOR is in correct language Spanish instead of Russian for the second night in a row, Jan 4 at 0555 check. Keep it up! Or, rather: how about putting English on by mistake now and then so we can hear VOR? Direct 9840 and 9855 from DVR have been inaudible for weeks. Usual VG signal on 7335 but with some `generator hum` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. 9570, R. Blagovest via R. Veritas Asia, PHILIPPINES [see also], on what is presumably its last day on the air, Dec 31 at 1522, Russian discussion about Christ, etc. 1526 there is some lite musical CCI but I can find nothing else scheduled; maybe it was crossmodulation. 1545 now the speech is more deliberate, no doubt a scripted sermon (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Radio Tatarstan Wave from Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan Republic in the Russian Federation was received at 0510 hours on 15105 kHz with a program in Tatar and Russian. The station announced it broadcasts every day three 50-minutes emissions each: at 0510 on 15105 kHz; at 0710 on 9410 kHz and at 0910 on 11610 kHz; for the latter emission the spare frequency of 11915 kHz is provided (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX Dec 31 via Yimber Gaviría, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. It seems the new time zones there are fact. Radio Kamchatka 6075 and Radio Magadan 7320 are already UT + 11 hours and maybe their schedules are already similar. Presumed Krasnoyarsk 6085, Kyzil 6100 and Ulan Ude 6195 are also in one zone. It seems 4050 remains unchanged. Radio Rossii noted on Jan 1st at 1545 on 7310 // 5930 // 4050, but different programs on 5905 and on 4050 at 1745-1830 were (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Jan 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. UDXF monitoring guide to RUSSIAN "community" radio stations VOICES FROM THE TUNDRA Project consultant Trond Jacobsen, rsdn20 at yahoo dot co dot uk [from an illustrated pdf; the text is mostly captions] A Nenets reindeer herder in the Russian arctic in contact with his wife at home in the village. While monitoring this type of comms, one can hear almost everything from "love you my dear, -see you in the spring" to mom at home helping her son in the tundra with his schoolwork. All very interesting fragments of nomadic everyday life. Inside the traditional 'yurt', a semi-permanent tentlike stucture rather similar to the Sami 'lavvo'. A Chukchi reindeer herder in contact with his brother at a distant winter camp. His young son keeps the handriven generator spinning for power to the radioset. The rifle are always kept within arms length, in case of hungry wolfpacks coming near the camp. Antenna arrangements at a wintercp. The frozen soil of the tundra is making it difficult to get a good earth connection, therefore dipole antennas are used. The preferred antenna is a simple sloped horizontal dipole. As antenna tower is used two latched poles, leftover from the production of the 'yurt'. Frequencies in use Due to the nature of this type of radio communications, one can not expect neither rigid radio discipline, nor the use of callsigns or scheduled transmission times. A lot of these qso's are also performed using local dialects and languages, besides Russian. The preferred mode seems to be AM, but expect also SSB and NB FM. A lot of the radiogear used is ex-Soviet mil, - and the powersupplies are mostly hand crancked generators, so technical malfunctions are quite common. Look out for voices from the tundra in the lower 3 MHz range. As a start, these frequencies are often used: 02980.0 03005.0 03017.0 03028.0 03062.0 03069.0 03079.0 03086.0 03097.7 03110.0 03121.0 03133.0 03160.0 03173.0 03213.0 Some suggested reading; http://rkomi.ru/en/left/fu_mir/ With big thanks to Katerina "Cathy" Chapakova for images and interesting discussions (via Ary Boender, UDXF yg via DXLD) ** RWANDA [non]. 6055, ALBANIA, CRI, Dec 31 1922 - Looking for Radio Rwanda, and instead heard CRI presumed in French from listed Albania. Poor reception (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) One minute later:: [non non] 6055, 31 DEC, 1923 UT, Radio Rwanda with telephone call-ins in French and vernacular as well as some really nice African choral music. Fairly good signals but fighting a losing battle with China, also in French on the frequency. It was a multi-station pile-up, but confirmed with streaming audio (had to download Silverlight plugin for Linux!). Happy New Year to everyone! Let's hope 2011 brings better DX for all of us. 73 (Al Muick, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, WinRadio G303e, 100m longwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA. Hi Everyone, In the past I've tried to pick up Radio St Helena on shortwave. I discovered today that Saints FM are on the internet. (Maybe most of you already know?) They can be found at http://www.saint.fm/index.htm and have a live stream which works in Chrome, but not sure about other browsers. Nice to hear a 'rare' station! Best Regards (Steven Muster, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) competitor ** SAIPAN. Robert E. Kamosa`s defective transmitter is acting up again: 9715, January 1 at 1352, R. Liberty in Russian marred by hum, distortion and unstable carrier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SARAWAK [non]. 7590, Radio Free Sarawak, Dec 29, 2247 - Nothing heard today. Wonder whether they changed frequencies? (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [yes, and time, temporarily? --- gh] The current Aoki schedule file shows some changes in the Radio Free Sarawak schedule. 6205 Radio Free Sarawak 1200-1300, Daily, Malaysian, 100 kw, 117 , Dushanbe-Yangiyul, TJK, Dec. 26-Jan. 4 7590 at 2230-2330 off till after Jan 4. See the change file at http://www.hfskeds.com/hfskeds.com/aoki_changes_101229.htm Also the combined Aoki/EiBi/PTSW/HFCC schedule at http://www.hfskeds.com/skeds/ Or the original Aoki file at http://www2.starcat.ne.jp/~ndxc/news.htm The R. Free Sarawak website is at http://radiofreesarawak.org/ df (Dan Ferguson, SC, Dec 28, shortwavelistening yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) 6205, R Free Sarawak, 1236, Dec 30, Iban and/or Bahasa Malaysia, lengthy telephone conversation, pop songs, lots of IDs to 1300:24 carrier off. Perfect audio, improving to occasional S6 peaks. Splatter from 6209.96 Laser International was not too bothersome. Aoki says this is via Dushanbe. 73 & Happy New Year, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TAJIKISTAN (presumed), 6205, R Free Sarawak heard 12/31 at 1200 tune with nice S-3 signal, improving to nearly S-4 after 1230. Man announcer with deep voice at start to 1206.5, then carrying on a conversation with other man/men (sounded like remote feeds) throughout the broadcast. Pop vocals with male singer at 1225 to 1230.5 and with female singer 1237.5 to 1240.5. Announcer with deep voice seemed to be program host. Man announcer with background instrumental music at 1258.5, then just music at 1300 for 5 sec, carrier off at 1300:08. No QRM or noise. SINPO 3/45544. Best signal here from Tajikistan since a few years back on the old home service channel of 4635. The 2230-2330 broadcast on 7590 has not been audible here (although a distinct carrier can be seen on the Perseus). (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) For 1.1.11, 6205 RF Sarawak per Bruce Churchil's log in CumbreDX list: there was just a very poor carrier at 1210, as could be heard by SSB (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) New schedule of Radio Free Sarawak in Malay from Dec. 26: 1000-1100 on 15420 HBN 100 kW / 270 deg to SEAs, no change 1200-1300 on 6205 DB 100 kW / 117 deg to SEAs, ex 2230-2330 on 7590 same tx (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 Jan via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 11785, Dec 31 at 1435, the ``Sa`udi buzz`` is again audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA [non]. 6190, BOSNIA, International Radio Serbia, Dec 29 0150 - An unfortunate choice of frequencies. Quite good except for cochannel very strong Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi in Mongolian // to weaker 4500. The woman sounded a lot like the anemic one that we used to hear on Rai! English, of course! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. 9440, Radio Slovakia International, Dec 29 0149 - Fair reception in Slovak (to South America). // 6040 excellent. A shame another SW station is about to bite the dust. 6040, Radio Slovakia International, Dec 31 0112 - Reception is a touch down compared to a couple of nights ago. Still, good reception noted. After the news, a report on the Bratislava castle. 9440 tonight is not really propagating well tonight. It's present at poor/fair level. Slovak pop music piece at 0119. 'You are listening to Radio Slovakia International' at 0120:40, and into a Slovak folk song. Then, Slovakia is divided into 8 regions. They then describe a beautiful region bordering the Czech Republic. End of show at 0126. We hope that you enjoyed the show. Nothing indicating that this might be the final program. I'll have to recheck tomorrow (which will be UTC 1 January 2011, though). Multilingual IDs for RSI followed, but propagation began to deteriorate. At 0130 went into their Slovak program. 5915, Radio Slovakia International, Dec 31 1918 - Fair reception of the last day of broadcast, in German. 5915, Radio Slovakia International, Dec 31 1932 - Fair to good reception of the final day's broadcast of RSI in English. Best heard using the NE directed Wellbrook array (quieter than the ALA 100 loop). 7345 is cochannel probable Tunisia, and a bit weaker as well. Unfortunately, started to fade to just above threshold when checked at 1955. The schedule still shows another hour on this frequency in Slovak and then French, finishing at 2100. I'm not clear whether the North American program will be broadcast (after 0000 tonight), or whether last night was the final night. No, checked at 0100 UT 1 Jan and nothing at all on either 6040 or 9440, whereas Radio Prague was excellent on 7410, so it's not propagation. Nothing particular about the program last night, unfortunately (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RSI Says Goodbye to Its SW Audience in the Russian-Speaking World --- I listened to RSI's Russian SW broadcast today. It had a rather sad beginning. The host said that it's common for people to feel hopeful on New Year's eve but that isn't the case at RSI. Then there was an RSI directors' interview. (She speaks good Russian.) She tried to be a little more upbeat stressing new technologies and the fact that RSI's relays on WRN AM in Moscow will continue. Then she congratulated everyone with New Year and wished RSI's listeners a lot of happiness and... money! :) She didn't say anything about WRMI. Those relays are useless in E. Europe anyway. After director's interview RSI Russian ran a rather uninspiring New Year Eve (Silvester) program. 73! (Sergei S., Dec 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard the last English SW broadcast to Europe today. (1930–1957 UT, 7345 kHz). Before this, the interval signal mentioned that this was the last day of Slovak Radio in all the languages. From 19:30 there was an introduction, no mention of the end of SW, and then a look at the year’s biggest news stories from Slovakia. Still no mention of the end of SW at 19:54, but the announcer did mention that questions or comments can be sent to segretain @ slovakradio.sk (as opposed to englishsection@slovakradio.sk). After this a short piece of music was played. Overall, no mention of the end of SW broadcasts or the start of WRMI relays. Some QRM from either Tunisia or Voice of Russia in Arabic. 73 and Happy New Year! (Jon Pukila, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada, ibid.) In the case of German most of the programme was about New Year's Eve, too. But the last item were reflections on the situation, about the fascination of radio that will never cease. This was followed by a piece of Slovak folk music, an announcement "we hope that you will listen to us also in future", the IS played once, about ten seconds of open carrier and off, as heard until 1457 on 6055. Quite moving. Concerning WRMI I have to admit that I even got a bit angry earlier this day due to a headline I think, in all respect, is misleading: "Radio Slovakia International to continue on shortwave in 2011" --- has some last minute deal with Towercom (the Slovak transmission provider) being struck?! Of course not!! This WRMI deal is of interest in the western hemisphere only. Now the question is whether Towercom will still operate its shortwave facility for NEXUS-IBA, the other customer who used it so far. Probably not, considering what Glenn has just posted here (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) See also ITALY [non] Looks like Radio Slovakia International was on time with its shortwave closure; I'm hearing nothing on 6040 at 0100 UT Jan 1. English broadcast was there UT Dec 31 with a decent signal, but no mention of the impending demise of SW during the 27 minute program (Steve Luce, Houston, TX, ibid.) [non]. 6040, now a gaping hole in the band at 0101 UT January 1, where R. Slovakia International used to be in English. They didn`t even keep it going another sesquihour when the final Dec 31 program would normally have repeated to North America. However, WRMI immediately takes up the slack, relaying RSI in English at 0130 from the WRN NAm feed, as heard when webcast checked at 0140. 9955 was heavily jammed before 0100 during the R. Libertad hour UT Tue-Sat, but I think it abated after 0100. WRMI has a revised program schedule via http://www.wrmi.net/pb/wp_d12a1732/wp_d12a1732.html now dated Dec 30. It does show Radio Eslovaquia Internacional 7 days a week at 0330 UT (following R. Praga at 0300), but still shows other programs at 0130 UT Tue-Sat = 8:30 pm local when RSI is really being aired in English, as announced in a press release several days ago. Others have observed that RSI itself has said nothing about the WRMI relay. Checking for new RSI relay via WRMI, scheduled daily 0330-0400 in Spanish, UT January 2 at 0348: nothing but wall of noise Dentro-Cuban jamming audible on 9955. I did not check the webstream (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More under U S A Good news and bad news, I'm afraid. WRMI's sole transmitter beams south toward the Caribbean making reception here an almost insurmountable challenge. And just in case the propagation gods smile on us, the Cuban jammer is there to kill it (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ODXA yg via DXLD) I have to wonder why they agreed to this as WRMI really does not broadcast to the EE speaking world. Like John, it is next to impossible to hear WRMI in the US and when you can, Cuba finishes that off (Bob Montgomery, NASWA yg via DXLD) En nombre de la directora de RSI Maria Mikusova y en nombre de todos los integrantes de Radio Eslovaquia Internacional quiero expresarle nuestras gracias por la inesperada ayuda de su emisora y por el regalo inesperado tanto para nosotros como para nuestros fieles radioyentes. Juntos pasamos por una frustración del anunciado cierre de nuestras transmisiones en las ondas cortas. Esperamos, que gracias a vuestra oferta muy generosa, satisfagamos una parte de nuestros fieles radioyentes. !A todo el colectivo de su emisora les deseamos un Feliz y Prospero Ano Nuevo 2011! (Peter Sebacek, Redaccion Española, Radio Eslovaquia Internacional, Bratislava, WRMI Listener Correspondence Summary January 2011 via DXLD) LA RADIO Y TELEVISIÓN DE ESLOVAQUIA (RTVS) ESTARÁ DIRIGIDA POR MILOSLAVA ZEMKOVÁ El presidente del Parlamento eslovaco Richard Sulík ha decidido que la nueva institución, RTVS, que fusiona la Radio y la Televisión estatales, estará temporalmente dirigida por la exdirectora general de la Radio Nacional Eslovaca, Miloslava Zemková. Lubos Machaj estará al frente de la Televisión. Machaj ejerció hasta el 31 de diciembre como director de programación de la Radio Nacional Eslovaca. Por otro lado, la Radio será gestionada por Daniela Vasinová, quien fuera jefa de la sección económica de dicha institución. Peter Sabachek [03. 01. 2011,) FUENTE: http://bit.ly/f9omyU (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, Jan 4, DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. On Monday 13 December I heard SIBC on 9545 kHz around 0700 UT. I haven't heard them since. I asked a friend who is in the Solomon Islands serving with RAMSI (The Regional Assistance Mission To The Solomon Islands) if he can find out what it was about and he said after visiting SIBC, he was told it was a test transmission conducted by a Radio NZ technician who was there installing new equipment and repairing some problems. Unfortunately the 9545 kHz transmitter can't be used at present because a transmitter cooling unit has failed, but it is hoped it will soon be fixed and 9545 kHz will be used during local daylight hours (William Hague, Australia, NWDXC, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 11615, RNW, Dec 31 1939 - Superb reception with English to west Africa from Meyerton. S9+20 to 30 here. Should be well heard throughout North America as well! Parallel from Madagascar is fair to good on 11655 beamed to east Africa (a more Polar path). (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11655 much better here (gh) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 15235, Meyerton (500 kW) Channel Africa, Jan 2 1722 - Strong signal (S9+10), but lower modulation than ideal with an interview in English with the South African consul to China (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 9980 WWCR, and several seconds later 9385 WWRB, Brother Scare audio going into loops in short bursts Dec 29 at 1526, resolved around 1528 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) THE OVERCOMER MINISTRY ____________________ A Research Paper ____________________ In Partial Fulfillment of Course Requirements ____________________ By William E. Lauterbach, Jr. INTRODUCTION Ralph Gordon Stair of Walterboro, South Carolina is the leader of a cult which has dubbed itself “The Overcomer Ministry”. Stair has proclaimed himself to be “The Voice of the Last Day Prophet of God.” Stair insists there is a biblical foundation for a prophet to be sent by God in the final days, to alert or warn the people of the world about the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ. Joseph Chambers reflects; “When he finished airing Mr. Branham's sermon, R. G. Stair then laid claim to being this angel/prophet of Rev. 10.” However, one does not need to concentrate on the theological or doctrinal traits of “Brother Stair”, as he is known. Instead, all one needs to look at are the sociological and psychological traits of “Brother Stair” and his so-called ministry to firmly establish that R.G. Stair’s Overcomer Ministry is truly a cult; and a dangerous cult at that. In fact, documentation will show that there have been numerous criminal investigations, arrests and convictions relating to R.G. Stair’s activities. ------------------------------------------------------- SOCIOLOGICAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS The Difficulties One of the problems in firmly distinguishing that Stair’s group is a cult is the fact that Stair doesn’t use the money donated from others (from the sale of member properties; as well as gifts and offerings from listeners) to buy personal possessions, unlike many of the television evangelist ‘Prosperity Preachers’. Stair uses his donations for the purchase of extreme amounts of airtime on as many AM, FM and shortwave radio stations that he can possibly afford. Stair does not purchase television airtime since he believes televisions are a tool of the devil and do not belong in the homes of true believers. One has to wonder about Stair’s mental state and the fact that Stair might truly believe he is the last day prophet and is using all of these monetary resources to make his persona overwhelmingly well known. (In other words, Stair has a megalomania complex.) According to Stair’s broadcasts, he and his wife live a very meager lifestyle; on a farm commune that houses his family, along with members of the cult. -------------------------------------------------------- Sexual Improprieties It seems that Stair’s sexual improprieties (like so many other cult leaders) are one of many smoking guns that ultimately define his Overcomer Ministry as a cult for a sociological/psychological standpoint. From the Charleston Post and Courier; as reported in 2004: “Stair, 71, served 77 days in jail after he was arrested in 2002 and initially charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the second degree, authorities said. He was indicted on the lesser charges in August.” These are not the only incidents if one were to take into account all of the police reports filed against Stair. There are several reports from the Colleton (SC) County Sheriff’s Office linking Ralph Gordon Stair to “Sexual Assault – CSC W/Minor / Occult Circumstances”. Throughout (and many years after) these arrests and court trials, Stair constantly and consistently relays through his radio broadcasts that he has committed some sins, that the Lord has forgiven him of those sins and that the rest of his nefarious activities are nothing more than trumped up conspiratorial lies. ----------------------------------------------------------- Suspicious Deaths Besides the problems Ralph Gordon Stair has had with sexual improprieties, so goes the problem of injury and death at the commune. According to the Charlotte Observer and reprinted on The Watchman Expositor website; “Stair believes that God heals exclusively without medicine, and he pressurizes his followers to obey by not seeking out the medical profession.” This has led to the investigation of several deaths at the commune, two of which are very notable. The Press and Standard reported an incident in 2006 which involved a pregnant woman who was brought from the commune to an area hospital, suffering from severe medical difficulties related to a breech birth. (The baby did not survive the birth.) In another highly publicized incident covered in The Press and Standard, a twenty-seven year old male member of the commune died “from a cerebral herniation” after suffering from multiple seizures. The newspaper goes on to state that “because the community does not believe in medical care, (Bean) was not taken to a physician”. --------------------------------------------------------- The Control Aspects of the Commune Illegal activities were not the only issue that defines a cult using psychological and sociological classifications. The exercise of control over the residents of the commune has a huge impact on defining The Overcomer Ministry as a cult. In a lawsuit filed by eleven former cult members, they allege (according to an article in the The Press and Standard) that Stair bilked them out of donations and property under the threat of “divine retribution”. Stair’s defense is that “they turned over their assets, but they don’t have any bills. They live scot-free.” -------------------------------------------------------------- "Brother Stair "The Voice of the Last Day Prophet of God." The Overcomer Ministry. Available from http://overcomerministry.org/ Internet; accessed 28 November 2010. Chambers, Joseph. "The Doctrines of R.G. Stair." The Net Team. Available from http://www.thenetteam.net/doc.html Internet; accessed 28 November 2010. Ibid. Paras, Andy. "Religious commune leader pleads guilty in fondling case." The Post and Courier. Available from http://archives.postandcourier.com/archive/arch04/1204/arc12012045761.shtml Internet; accessed 28 November 2010. Ibid. "Police Reports." The Net Team. Available from http://www.thenetteam.net/policereports.html Internet; accessed 28 November 2010. Hux, Clete. "Apocalypse Now." The Watchman Expositor. Available from http://www.watchman.org/cults/endtime.htm Internet; accessed 30 November 2010. Stoner, Heather. "The Press and Standard." The Net Team. Available from http://www.thenetteam.net/psfeb17a.jpg Internet; accessed 30 November 2010. Roerig, Libby. "The Press and Standard." The Net Team. Available from http://www.thenetteam.net/psmay31a.jpg Internet; accessed 30 November 2010. Ibid. Stoner, Heather. "The Press and Standard." The Net Team. Available from http://www.thenetteam.net/psmay605.jpg Internet; accessed 14 November 2010. Ibid. (via Bill Lauterbach, Jan 6, for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx, Bill. We have referenced some of this info before. Apparently the footnote numbers were lost in the edit for DXLD (gh) ** SPAIN. Before the arrival of 2011y in western Europe, I gave myself the conventional choice of listening to DW or REE. Could not find a decent signal from DW in German, and besides I understand Spanish better, so also based on previous years` satisfaxion, I seek REE. 6055 at 2256 UT is in IS prior to French broadcast, which I don`t expect to be live, as there is an earlier one to Europe. So on to: 9620 good and 9535 VG in Spanish I reach just in time at 2300 to hear full strike of some reloj, then ``¡Feliz año, dos mil once!`` And right into a novelty song. Turns out most of this hour is novelty music in English, tho announced in Castilian, initially on a `monster` theme – is this All Souls` Eve, or NYE? At 2307, ``I`m a Monster, Rock `n` Roll``; 2312, ``Mommy`s Little Baby Loves Shortenin` Bread``; 2315 ``Steel Guitar Rag``; 2325 break for a song in Spanish, a Mexican corrido; 2326 yodeling song ``Tea for Texas, Tea for Tennessee`` (or is that just T?); 2332 more yodeling, not first-class, in ``I Want to be a Cowboy`s Sweetheart``. 2338 announcement break mentioned this is coming from Radio Tres, the `cultural` domestic RNE network, à la BBC Radio 3. As I recall, last year after NYE midnite they also had a fun music hour. Music kept going past 2345 when the token Catalan and Galician newscasts would have aired on an ordinary occasion. Recheck at 0012 January 1, 2011, now it`s a flamenco music show. See also COSTA RICA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi all, anyone have news on Radio Exterior España? It's missing from 6055 kHz at 2300 UT for the french program on january 1st 2011 (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, 2306 ut Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) OK, forget it. As I was writing this message, it just came on air at 2307, 7 minutes late! sorry! (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, ibid.) Hello Gilles, Spain is regularly late. And, at the same time, 5970 to Europe is rarely heard on Saturday & Sunday (but the reception is quite good at 0000 for the English broadcast) 73 (Jean-Michel Aubier, France, ibid.) 6055, open carrier at 0620 Jan 5 preventing a smooth tuning transition between RHC 6050 and 6060; presumably REE Noblejas was still on past 0600 but off at 0621*. No sign of the other possibility, Nikkei in Japanese (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9780drm, REE Noblejas digital transmission, Spanish at 0830 UT Jan 2. ID=4711. S=9+30dB, SNR 13 up to peak 22.1 dB. Program of "Murcianos emigrantes en Argentina y Manitoba", Noticias regionales. \\ 13720 in AM mode on very same S=9+30dB level (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPRATLY ISLANDS. DX0, Just a reminder that 37 operators from 15 countries will take part in a three teams effort to put DX0DX on air between January 6th and February 1st. Activity will be from Thitu Island on all bands and modes. QSL Manager is N2OO. For more information about the DXpedition, including pictures of the team arriving in DU-land and the list of suggested frequencies, please check out their Web site at: http://www.dx0dx.net AN INSIDE LOW BAND TIP FOR EASTCOAST STATESIDE: Don't look for them until the 9th at the earliest - but watch your LONG PATH from the S/SW at about 1030z for them on both 80 and 160 meters - this is BEFORE your sunrise. They may peak at your sunrise time again but it may be better earlier on at 1030z (which is just after the Eastcoast sunset). They will be on the SUNSET path around 2200z or so from the East/SE path or over Europe depending on the skew (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 992 January 3, 2011, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. SRI LANKA BROADCASTING CORPORATION COMPLETES 44 YEARS OF ITS OFFICIAL ESTABLISHMENT. Wednesday, 05 January 2011 07:25 Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation completes the 44th anniversary of its official establishment as a corporation. The Ceylon Broadcasting Department was transformed to a corporation by the then Prime Minister Dudly Senanayaka. After passing the new constitution in 1972 the National Radio was named as the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation conducts three Sinhala service channels two Tamil services one English service, Vidula children service and six regional services. In addition it has three community broadcasting services. The corporation broadcast programmes to the Middle East and to the entire Asian region as well. SLBC has the leading broadcasting archives library in the Asian region as well. (Source : SLBC) (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. The Sinhalese government in Colombo has decided to remove the outdated colonial "Ceylon" from Government and international titles. The ITU code is CLN. Could they use SRI without creating confusion with Sierra Leone - SRL? Given that this is a Government led push, I would expect something to happen soon - assuming they are in contact with the ITU. I open this out to the forum to "discuss". 73's (Dan Goldfarb, Brentwood, England, Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) SRI LANKA, the old Taprobana. I believe that in order to understand why the name "Ceylan" came to existence one ought to explain it derives from Portuguese "Ceilão". Period. And this was borrowed from "Sinhanlana", the "Land of the Lions" in the Pali language. "Sri Lanca" in Port., or Sri Lanka, meaning Shining Island, is the Sanskrit name, and it was this that was adopted in the early 70s by the government after Ceylan gained independence from GB < Holland < Portugal to mention the European rulers of the island. In Antiquity, it was known as Taprobana, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taprobana So, where is then the colonial connotation?! 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, Jan 1, ibid.) ** SRI LANKA. 7189.771, SLBC, Dec 31 0137 - Hindi programming at poor level. Last year I measured them on the high side of 7190, but they're now on the bottom of 7190. Not much above the threshold level at the moment (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA [and non]. 11905, R. Ceylon is being reported in English at 1530 so I try for it too. At 1518 Dec 30, something in Russian? No, Belarussian from Poland via Woofferton UK, say HFCC and Aoki. 1529:30 this stops, and a few sex later another carrier comes on somewhat weaker and fadier. I am afraid this is not SLBC, but another PRES broadcast via Woofferton in Ukrainian, having made a slight antenna change from 70 to 82 degrees. HFCC shows SLBC via Ekala site at 0800-1530 on 11905 in Hindi, but this is not in WRTH 2011; just 1530-1630 in English and Hindi on 11905 via Trincomalee (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just checked here in (finally) warm Clearwater, FL. Same results. 1524 tune-in today, 12/31, to presumed Belarussian, though no 1529:30 break or signal shift detected, into a similar language from 1530. No trace of any other signal over/under. Now wait a minute! At 1534, bubbling up and about equal level is subcontinental vocals. So yes, they are there, though can't tell yet if English. You hear? Yeah, 1536, accented English woman, back to SC music from 1537. [Later, more formal report:] 11905, SLBC, 1534 December 31, 2010. Per Glenn Hauser / DXLD, Radio Ceylon is being reported in English at 1530-1630 per the WRTH 2011 but initially, at least, he's hearing Belarussian from Poland via Woofferton UK, into Ukrainian from 1530 after a slight antenna shift. At first, essentially the same results here, and just as I was about to tune out, subcontinental music bubbled up from 1534. Accented English female briefly at 1536, back to subcontinental vocals. Mixing about equal with Woofferton, making reception of either pretty much junk (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Jan 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. 15205, Deutsche Welle, Jan 3 0256 - I had no idea whose DRM transmission this was. Too weak to demodulate except for the label, which stated DW in English. EiBi states this to be Sri Lanka to West Africa? Not sure if this is right or not (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HFCC says so (gh) DW Trincomalee photos http://www.arugam.info/2006/11/20/deutsche-dauer-welle-dw/ Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 7200.02, 0212-0242 23.12, Omdurman, Khartoum. Early sign on with non-stop Sudanese songs with drums, 0227 Arabic announcement and recitations from the Holy Qur'an, 35333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, made on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of frozen longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) ** SUDAN SOUTHERN. RADIO STATION FOR SOUTHERN SUDAN CAN NOW TRANSMIT FROM SOUTHERN SUDAN. Posted: 01 Jan 2011 Radio World, 29 Dec 2010, Daniel Braverman: "Since 2003, the Sudan Radio Service, an 'independent media service dedicated to peace and development in Sudan,' has broadcast balanced news and information in Arabic, English and several local languages in an effort to help promote peace and to help the country transition to democracy. Because conditions in Sudan originally were deemed too unstable for SRS to establish studios and headquarters in the country, it has operated from Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya, with MP3 audio files sent via the Internet for broadcast from offshore shortwave transmitters. However, conditions in southern Sudan have improved since the 2005 peace agreement that ended the north-south civil war; and in 2008 it was decided that the time had come to move SRS operations to Sudan and to supplement its shortwave broadcasts with a 2 kW FM transmission from Juba, the southern Sudanese capital." (kimandrewelliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) Good, but let`s hope this does not lead to a reduxion or elimination of SW (Glenn Hauser, OK, ibid.) ** SUDAN [non]. 17745, SUDAN, Sudan R., Khartoum. Vernaculars and Sudanese languages. 1538 OMs discussion and occasional music bridges. Drum-like feature then singing by group. 1550 local music, then prayers by group. 1559 YL ID, Sudan mentioned several times. Continued listening past 1600 with fades until 1630; at this time signal became very weak. Overall, reception was reasonably good, 12/31 (Jerry Ervine, KC5YRE, Mission TX 78572, HCDX via DXLD) Not Khartoum, but from outside in: (gh) 17745, Jan 4 at 1528, music with no echo, 1529 Arabish announcement with some echo self-imposed, including ``Sudan Radio Service`` pronounced in English; via Sines, PORTUGAL. As the referendum draws near for Southern Sudan secession, all ears should be on US-sponsored SRS which has been promoting voting, incessantly for at least the past year; only wish there were more English, which we rarely hear from SRS. Aoki shows 1500-1530 is in English/Sudanese, and 1530-1700 in Arabic/Sudanese as of b10. But WRTH 2011 shows 15-17 on 17745 is entirely in Juba Arabic, with English daily as follows: 0530-0600 on 13720 and 13720 [sic] via UAE; 1730-1800 on 9590 and 9840 also both UAE, i.e. less likely to be heard in NAm than Portugal site. Yes: nothing audible here on either at 1739 Jan 4 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. 4760, TWR Mpangela Ranch, Jan 3 1647 - Looking for AIR Port Blair, and instead came across African music, and vernacular talk. Clearly Swaziland instead of India. Good reception (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. There will be an extra transmission on the night between January 3rd and January 4th in order to give stations in North America a better chance to hear SAQ. Of coarse we are glad to also receive reports from other areas. EXTRA - GRIMETON RADIO/SAQ TRANSMISSION. There will be an extra transmission with the Alexanderson alternator on 17.2 kHz for, for primarily, listeners in North America, at: * 16:00 PST (Pacific Standard Time) in USA. Monday, January 3rd, 2011 * 19:00 EST (Eastern Standard Time) in USA. Monday, January 3rd, 2011 * 00:00 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) W Europe. Tue, Jan 4th, 2011 * 01:00 CET (Central European Time) LT in Sweden. Tue, Jan 4th, 2011 QSL-reports are kindly received: - E-mail to: - or fax to: +46-340-674195 - or via: SM bureau - or direct by mail to: Alexander - Grimeton Veteranradios Vaenner, Radiostationen, Grimeton 72 S-430 16 ROLFSTORP, Sweden Also read our web site: http://www.alexander.n.se Yours, Lars Kalland SM6NM (via Martin Elbe DD9MW - http://home.wolfsburg.de/elbe/ A-DX Dec 29 via BC-DX Dec 31 via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. Option Musique 765 kHz. Last day today? Most likely today is the last day for MW broadcasting out of Switzerland. I assume the loop announcement on 765 kHz will be off at 2300 UT. (It's still on right now.) IMHO running this announcement 24x7 for three weeks was a major overkill (Sergei S., 1434 UT Dec 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably not the last day, one hears that Voice of Russia is rather confident of starting mediumwave transmissions from Switzerland soon. For now the loop is still booming in on 765 kHz. And I agree, burning up money this way for three weeks is quite questionable (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 2110 UT Dec 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I forgot to tune to 765 shortly prior to 2300 UT, 0000 Swiss Time, but 765 was "Swiss free" about 2 mins. after 2300. All that is heard now on the fq is a cacophony of very weak signals getting some splatter from the nearby channels. Since approx. the 15th Dec., the continuous announcement had a male voice instead. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, ibid.) 765 loop announcement seems to be gone right now, at 2355 UT. I heard it last time at around 21 UT. I saw Wolfgang's mentioning 765 being sold to the Voice of Russia. But where is that news coming from? I'm not sure if that's such a great frequency - at least, not for SW Germany coverage. But QTH is sure good for those frequent business trips to Switzerland :) (Sergei S., ibid.) I did not pay full attention either, but the transmitter went off close to if not even exactly at local midnight, as it was to expect. Here in eastern Germany 765 is now also a tantalizing mixture of various faint signals, producing a fast SAH. It's perhaps a bit stronger than in Portugal, well atop the splash from 756 or 774. At one point I think I could make out European sounding music but was not able to determine who this could be. Later a female voice came out of the mud, apparently speaking Arabic. Most likely candidate for this would be IRIB external service, using 765 for its Arabic service with a 1000 kW transmitter. Actually one of the outlets I have expected to dominate the frequency in Central Europe from now on. Oh, by the way: Happy new year! (During all this I heard someone in the yard yelling twice "You have injured my wife!". Well, I have my reasons for not going out this night. And I found it unbelievable when I was told that this fireworks stuff is in the USA simply banned.) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0006 UT Jan 1, ibid.) Last night our widely neighbours brought an extensive firework to the sky, compared to previous years, the crowd spent much more EURO money to fire up Chinese made rockets this year. Shopping centers are allowed to sell the firework only two days before New Year's Eve here in Germany (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sottens 765 kHz now silent --- The recorded loop announcement that had been played since Switzerland' s RSR Option Musique ended its mediumwave transmission at 2300 UT on 5 December has finally been discontinued. The Sottens transmitter went silent at 2300, 31 December 2010. It leaves BBC Essex dominant here in Birmingham (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, UK, Eton E1 / AOR LA380 Loop, Dec 31, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) > I saw Wolfgang's mentioning 765 being sold to the Voice of Russia. > But where is that news coming from? I'm not sure if that's such a > great frequency And others say this is about 558 kHz. Such an item appeared online, in the fashion for which Hansjörg Biener coined the phrase "travelling report": Everybody copies from everybody, making it impossible to determine the original source and assess how trustworthy the item in fact is. I tried to find out in this case. No chance, with all the multiple reproductions of the very same text. So all that can be said so far is that Voice of Russia intends to use a mediumwave transmitter in Switzerland and is the only broadcasting organization interested in doing so with professional equipment (as opposed to low power experiments, as they are at present announced for 1566 kHz but apparently not on air so far). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, UT Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non] Hi all, with Sottens finally going off the air last night some interesting signals on 765. BBC Essex dominant here but a few fades this afternoon have revealed Persian and Arabic, with the Arabic station playing music with horn of Africa overtones so I'm thinking Sudan. Last night had two Arabic stations under Essex. Anyone hearing anything else? (Paul Logan, Lisnaskea, N. Ireland, Jan 1, MWC yg via DXLD) Hallo Paul, yesterday at 1715 UT a strong Arabic signal, I think it was IRIB 1, Chahbahar (1200 kW). In the night, 02.00 UTC, was BBC R. Essex (Px 5Live) dominant O=3/4. 73, (Friedhelm Wittlieb, QTH: Lünen / NRW (near Dortmund), Grundig Satellit 700 with Martens frame antenna (MW), Jan 3, ibid.) ** TAIWAN. 9745, Voice of Kuanhua, Kuanyin, 1347, Dec 15, female singer with local Asiapop, female speakers in Chinese with laughing and chat, fading in (Graham Bell, Cape Town, South Africa, DSWCI DX Window Dec 31 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Re: Total Number Of SW Transmitters Gone "Dark"? I think what would be interesting to find out is how many SW transmitters are in storage and ready to use in case of an emergency. In Taiwan a number of very old but working transmitters are in storage in the Central Mountains which divide the island by East and West. The problem is getting anything confirmed. In the late 1970s and 1980s when Taiwan was replacing some of it's old transmitters at the time they needed to be handed over to the military. Right after the KMT came to Taiwan after the civil war everything from rare paintings from the Forbidden City in Beijing along with priceless works of art were stored there. In the late 1960 the US military along with the ROC Military stored items of importance which included transmitters. In 1979 the KMT built an underground facility in case of an attack from China, which I was told in passing by someone at the NSB that it includes a few 50 and 100 kW RCA transmitters given to Taiwan after WW2 (Keith Perron, Taiwan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. 5130, R Hit Shortwave, Bishkek (presumed), 1742-1900*, Dec 15, songs, very weak, 15331 (Bernard Mille, Bailleul, France, DSWCI DX Window Dec 31 via DXLD) ** TANNU TUVA. 6100, RUSSIA, GTRK Tyva, Kyzyl, Dec 31 0208 - According to the DBS-12, this is the only Russian transmitter on 6100, and is listed as 5 kW. It's definitely there, and // to 5940 at this time at poor level. At 0210 they seemed to leave the // situation, and perhaps have their own local program. Other sources state 10 kW and not 5 kW (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also RUSSIA ** THAILAND. 5895, Radio Liberty, Dec 30 2106 - Superb reception with Russian programming to Siberia. Asia clearly continues to propagate well, despite it being 1:06 pm local (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) favorable 22 degree azimuth de Udorn (gh) ** THAILAND. 13745, Radio Thailand, Dec 30 0002 - Superb reception with National news (poor drivers over the holidays, etc). English to ECNA (I believe). Very strong but seems to have a weak het underneath. 7570, Radio Thailand, Dec 31 1945 - Excellent reception with English program to Europe, but Pyongyang is also cochannel with Spanish to Europe which occasionally fades up to good level as well. Poor planning here! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HFCC types tend to overlook NK which is not participating (gh, DXLD) 9725, Dec 30 at 1417, HSK9 in English discussing the dangers of second-hand smoke; fair (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUNISIA. 12005, Dec 31 at 1555 open carrier, 1556:36 join Arabic conversation in progress. Typical behaviour of RTT, which is scheduled here 1600-2010 per Aoki, 500 kW, 100 degrees from Sfax, while as usual registered in HFCC one hour off, 1700-2110. Aoki also shows that BBC Rampisham had Azeri at 1600-1630 for B-10, but it is ``off`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY [and non]. 12035, which would be our better frequency for VOT English at 1330, checked Jan 1 at 1403 has SAH of about 8 Hz from some CCI: HFCC shows both VOR via Samara, and KSDA GUAM in Chinese; Aoki only the latter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. 4750, Dunamis BC, Mukono (presumed), 1545-1620, Dec 08, songs, 1700 [sic] pips, talks, song, fade-out 1615, 15331 (Bernard Mille, Bailleul, France, DSWCI DX Window Dec 31 via DXLD) Does this little station really have time pips? Why not China, or if on that late, Bangladesh? (gh) Hi Glenn, From my recent observations I note Bangladesh with a very steady sign off time of exactly 1500; after which I note a stronger CNR1 and assume a weaker PBS Qinghai. Interesting that Bernard’s log doesn’t mention any QRM from CNR1 (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. 5030, Radio Ukraine International, 2011-2015, 01-January- 2011, in English. Program Details: News followed by item about preparations for the Soccer World Cup. Signal: Fair (Ed Wlodarski, N2ED, New Jersey, Ten Tec RX340 & 100 Ft Long Wire, NASWA Flashsheet Jan 2 via DXLD) Typo, tho filed between logs on 5010 and 5039.2, this RUI broadcast is (was?) on 6030 (gh, DXLD) Radio Ukraine International is again threatened to be closed due to financial reasons. It was last heard in Sofia on December 25 with a program in German from 18 hours on 6030 kHz. According to the time schedule of this station its broadcasts in English are one-hour long and are aired every day as follows: on 6030 kHz at 20 hours; on 7440 kHz at 01 and at 23 hours and on 9410 kHz at 08 hours. Please keep your ears open (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX Dec 31 via Yimber Gaviría, DXLD) 7440, Radio Ukraine International (not), Jan 1 0103 - No sign of RUI on 7440. This worries me a little, since there was all this talk about RUI leaving SW at the end of the year, and then denied. Coincidental? I hope so! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) more below Nothing here on 7440 at 2300 for the English programme. I heard RUI in German 2 hours ago on 6140. Is there a signal in North America on 7440? Regards (JM Aubier, France, Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I haven't heard 7440 at 2300 in weeks -- a great shame, since reception was excellent when it was operating. Interesting times indeed...73 and Happy New Year de (Anne Fanelli in snowy Elma NY, Jan 2, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, ibid.) But was it really off for `weeks`? (gh) Jean: Just checked 7440 at 2336 and nothing here either. Maybe we can check later at 0100 UT when they may be in English. 73's, (Noble West, Clinton TN, BMSS, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I usually don't listen RUI in our European morning, but no signal on 9410 today. Poor propagation or restricted schedule? (Jean-Michel Aubier, France, 0933 UT Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I live in Ukraine and also today I can not hear RUI at 9410! (Vitaliy Lisovskiy, 1019 UT Jan 2, ibid.) But Voice of Russia German service relay via Lvov Krasne site on 11655 kHz still on air today, 1000-1100 UT, S=9+10dB, in \\ but 2 seconds behind via 9720 kHz Kaliningrad enclave Bolshakovo with proper signal S=9+25dB. Undoubtedly the usual shortwave BUDGET problem on RUI. vy73 (Wolfgang wwdxc df5sx ibid.) Several DXLD ygroup members reported RUI missing from SW as of January 1, so I check 7440 after 0100 Jan 2: nothing heard. At least the big transmitter appears off, not renewed for 2011y? There was no warning about a yearend cutoff for it, but this has happened several times before, eventually resuming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re previous report, no warning that RUI would cut off SW at yearend: Kai Ludwig points out: ``Actually there was: ---------- From January 1, 2011 RUI will presumably be leaving SW for good. Therefore, the station is seeking other opportunities for delivering its broadcasts overseas in addition to its online streaming and Sirius 4 satellite. In particular, RUI is considering joining English and German streams of WRN network (Alexander Yegorov, Ukraine, open_dx via MIDXB 707, October 19, 2010)`` Hmmm, yes, but no warning lately as the date approached. 7440 to NAm is off, but monitors in Europe are still hearing some of the other frequencies (Glenn Hauser OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. And remember this: ``The December Hello from Kyiv read out an email from David Ansell who was sorry to read that: "Radio Ukraine International might leave shortwave at the end of the year and that it would be a big mistake." They responded: "No way, Mr. Ansell. We are not going to leave and never said we would." The same assurances were offered to American listener Tom Woodruff in Pulaski, New York. (Mike Barraclough, Jan World DX Club Contact via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) Well, so far they aren`t completely off SW so the above is strictly true, just turned off their main transmitter (gh, DXLD) Ukraine off LW. And SW? From the latest RUS-DX # 210 – A dated Sunday 2 January 2011, http://rusdx.narod.ru/bulletin/210-A.txt UKRAINE ======== Has come true! We say goodbye to long waves in Kiev. Transmitter UR1, In my opinion for the first time in a life, has earned on average waves. Though for The majority of colleagues it can be and anything especial does not mean, but I It is glad, since I am regular enough listener of some transfers of it The channel Ur and me is pleasant for noticing that besides reduction of problems with Choice approaching (pocket and even stationary) the receiver from Modern base, UR1 on 783 kHz (at least in the afternoon) it is audible much Better, than on 207 kHz. The matter is that level of local hindrances on LW above. It is enough to tell that on 207 kHz at our house there is a hooting harmonic from the electric system (pulse converters, and in the street are stronger Lanterns) crack, and nearby 783 kHz such hindrances considerably are weakened or No. The truth during dark time can be felt a hindrance from Syria, But it is pleasant that by the summer its influence will decrease on time. Now the main thing, That Ur at all have not disconnected on MW in couple of months because of all the same Financial problems (Alexander Egorov, Kiev, Ukraine / "open_dx") As well as it was supposed, since January, 1st RUI nevertheless, though while and partially, Has reduced an announcement on SQ. I do not hear them at least on two frequencies: 0800-1100 on 9410 kHz from Nikolaev (Luch) and with 2300 on 7440 kHz from Lvov (Krasnoe). Kharkov 100 kW like even works, at least in 2100 on 6140 kHz yesterday it was audible. I can not while to tell for others Translations: to Russia 1500-1800 on 7435 kHz, to Europe 1800-2100 on 6030 kHz. Also work of the Lvov transmitter on 7440 is still not clear up to the end kHz to 0300, and also translation here Voices of Russia in 0300-0400 (Alexander Egorov, Kiev, Ukraine / "open_dx") Regards (Harry Brooks, North East England, UK, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wish Olex, who speaks English and used to do the RUI DX program, would just translate his posts himself understandably (gh, DXLD) And what's behind this garbled machine translation? 207 kHz has been replaced by 783 kHz, a frequency to my knowledge not used in the Ukraine so far? I just checked out 783: The only other signal I have here behind the notoriously poor Wiederau, strong enough to ruin it, is what sounds like Syria. No trace of a possible Ukrainian transmitter. However, this does not say much (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 2019 UT Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RUI German heard on 6030 kHz again tonight, so Kharkov site outlets worked positively. Now we wait for Krasne and Mykolaiev again remain? (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) > to Europe 1800-2100 on 6030 kHz ---- It is on air right now, after 2000, with scheduled English, including a news item about gas supplies from the Ukraine to Poland being stopped on New Year's Day. The set-up has changed since I checked the last time, the audio is now rather heavily limited and compressed. I'm not completely sure what was between 1900 and 2000 (was away before 1900), due to co-channel Wertachtal, but it appeared that the transmitter in the Ukraine was not on air at this time. So RUI is not gone from shortwave completely, but the schedule has been much reduced (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LSIENING DIGEST) At 1900, I've heard RUI in Ukrainian, with BVB on the same frequency in English (Jean-Michel Aubier, France, ibid.) 6140 is in use from 2100 for German as well. Same modulation and signal behaviour than 6030 before, unlistenable due to lots of splatter from stronger Beijing on 6135. The 6030 transmission was at 2054 already ruined by Samara, transmitting the classical interrupted test tone before Voice of Russia in Serbian from 2100. This could be subject of heavy co-channel interference in its target area as well, since 6030 is also in use by Galbeni for RRI in French 2100-2130, drowning out co-channel Samara almost completely here (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) Alex, noted RUI Kharkov on air 6030 and 6140 kHz tonight. Also heard VoRUS Lviv Krasne 11655 at 10-11 UT, also heard DWL Persian via Mykolaiev Luch 7470 at 1830-1930 UT. NOT heard Lviv Krasne 7440 last night, NOT heard Mykolaiev Luch 9410 this morning. vy73 de (Wolfgang, 2120 UT Jan 2, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 7440 Krasne-UKR, I hear nothing tonight at 2330 UT. 73 wb http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=46%C2%B047%2746.91%22N++32%C2%B013%2717.84%22E&sll=51.151786,10.415039&sspn=19.308933,56.293945&ie=UTF8&ll=46.793802,32.220433&spn=0.010269,0.027487&t=h&z=16 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi dear Alex, this morning Jan 3rd: 11655 Lviv Krasne, VoRUS Ge program, S=9+40dB powerhouse, but some audio breaks up to 5 minutes. \\ Bolshakovo 9720 S=9+20dB. 1020 UT Jan 3. 9410 Mykolaiv, NOTHING from RUI Kiev program. ONLY co-channel CRI Beijing in Mandarin up to S=6 here in Germany. vy73 de (Wolfgang wwdxc to Alex Yegorov, cc to DXLD) Krasne and Mykolaiev outlets remain soon? But Voice of Russia German service relay via Lvov Krasne site on 11655 kHz still on air today, 1000-1100 UT, S=9+10dB, in \\ but 2 seconds behind via 9720 kHz Kaliningrad enclave Bolshakovo with proper signal S=9+25dB. Probably the usual shortwave BUDGET/CONTRACT problem on RUI (Wolfgang Bueschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also RUSSIA [non ** U A E. (TENTATIVE), 1152 kHz, 1530-, Ras al Khaimah Radio, Jan 4. I suspect that this is Ras al Khaimah Radio, although I couldn't exclude Radio Farhang, Tabriz Iran as well. Did hear an IS of sorts at 1530 followed by Saylum Aleychum [sic]. Faded down and then back up with news. Could be Urdu. Many short news clips followed by the same quick little musical bridge between stories. Only audible on the 10 deg BOG and not the NW wire. Good at times, but mostly in the mud. Measured on 1152.002, although there's another carrier on 1152.025 (weaker and no cochannel obvious). Sounds 'too western' to be Iran, so I'm thinking UAE. Later, a much more Hindi sounding YL came on, so I'm fairly certain that this is UAE. I suppose that another possibility might be Pakistan as well! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UNITED ARAB EMIRATES [and non]. 1575, 1575- [sic; oops, what was the correct time?], Radio Farda, Jan 1. Of course, the bellwether station for following trans-Polar pathways. Always strong when the path is open. When conditions are right, this station can be heard from morning to mid afternoon, and then again in the late afternoon/early evening for hours. I'm measuring 1575.003, so I'm thinking that the Perseus may have been off 3 or 4 Hz, since Farda is usually right on frequency! 1575, 1400-, Radio Farda, Jan 4. Conditions are different this morning. Definitely not as strong a start as there has been for a few mornings, and perhaps more disturbed as well. At 1400, a powerful Radio Farda ID'd. I'm assuming an Iranian jammer on 1574.241 today (?OC only causing a loud het). Several other carriers present including 1574.027 (this one seems to be there a lot). Also noted someone else on 1574.931 and 1574.947. Within a few seconds, there was someone there with a subcontinental accented English. I could make out something about Britain, and the Labour party. Big mystery! This station heard on the 10 deg BOG with amplification. Not the VOA for sure and not AFN nor Farda. Hmm! Ah, perhaps Toroa Radio, in Dunedin. PAL lists BBCWS from 12 to 18:00, so makes sense, except for the antenna beam I used! Perhaps the back side, although it is terminated into the ocean (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. 3950-3955-3960, DRM noise discouraging hams from using this segment of their band, Dec 31 at 0617. It`s BBC via Skelton, per HFCC, 05-08, 100 kW, 121 degrees. The AM transmitter at Skelton on 3995 carrying DW in German in commonly audible around here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [and non]. 7445, CYPRUS, BBCWS, Jan 3 0240 - While looking for RUI on 7440 (I've noticed as well that they've been gone for a few days now). Good reception, instead, in English with the World Service into sports headlines (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Latest HFCC says it`s SEYCHELLES at 02-03, ASCENSION at 03-04 (gh) 7490, Dec 30 at 2156, B-B-C- chimes, fair signal, 2159:30 opening Chinese service. It`s 250 kW, 25 degrees from Nakhon Sawan, THAILAND, so also USward. Don`t you believe the HFCC registration for WWCR on 7490 at 21-01. It`s really on 7465 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard the Full Strike of Big Ben, at 0000 GMT, heralding the New Year of 2011 on 9740 via Singapore. Happy New Year to all, and good DX (Steve Lare, Holland MI, 0008 UT Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9740, SINGAPORE, BBCWS relay. 2354-0001 December 31, 2010. English, clear but weak, time sounders into the annual long-running Big Ben chimes ringing in 2011, then into news. Sad that this is the only BBCWS English channel I could find progagating at this hour. There's still something special in hearing London chiming in the New Year's on shortwave, difficult though it is now (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Jan 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7445 with VG reception of BBCWS in English, Jan 2 at 0338 something scientific so guessed maybe ``Science In Action``, tho the primary webstream has ``Global Business``. It`s 114 degrees from ASCENSION during this hour only, but back-radiation does a good job for us. 5875 also often provides good BBCWS reception in the 05-07 period, 500 kW, 62 degrees via Rampisham, and so it was Jan 2 until 0658 until hit by DRM noise. At first I thought it was from an adjacent, but HFCC shows BBC itself switches from analog to DRM at 0700, now 40 kW, 300 degrees via AUSTRIA on 5870-5875-5880. 9740, BBCWS via SINGAPORE carries ``World of Music``, Sundays at 1432, as noted with Algerian music, closing announcements with address at 1455 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11860, station in English with news headlines, Jan 4 at 1331, then `Business Daily` at 1332, i.e. BBCWS, and 1351 already to sport with cricket news. Some ACI from WYFR 11855 especially when the latter in music; and also some CCI from music at 1354. I then check 9460, and find the same music. BBCWS is supposed to be on 11860 only until 1300 M-F, the GUIANA FRENCH relay // WHRI 9410. At 13-14, Woofferton is carrying Polish Radio External Service northeastward on 11860 // 9460, 300 degrees from AUSTRIA. Did TDF forget to turn off 11860 at 1300? It would not be the first mistake from Montsinéry. Will it be there tomorrow? 11860, re yesterday`s report of BBCWS in English here after 1300, presumably mistake by Montsinéry: indeed, no sign of it Jan 5 at 1352, just very weak signal vs WYFR 11855, likely Austria via Woofferton. 25m reception from northern Europe was not very good, but lower latitudes were fair at 1355 from RRI 11970 German, 11940 Romanian; poor 12035 Turkey. 6135, Jan 5 at 1436 poor signal in Vietnamese, quickly IDed in passing as BBC London. I had snagged Singapore`s 15-minute broadcast, 100 kW at 13 degrees, thus also USward and audible adjacent to Cuba 6140 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PORTUGAL, 9610 drm, BBCWS in English, Current Affairs programme, at 0815 UT Jan 2, ID: E1C238, S=9+15dB, SNR varies between 13 up to 19.8 dB. "Watch the Space", various philosopher discussion (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. "BBC RADIO 4 TO LAUNCH EXTRA STATION" Digital Spy, By Andrew Laughlin, Technology Reporter, December 30 2010 The BBC is preparing to forge ahead with plans to rebrand digital station Radio 7 as a spinoff network to Radio 4, but the move is expected to face opposition from the industry. As announced this summer, Radio 7 will be relaunched as Radio 4 Extra as a way to further bring together the BBC's analogue and digital radio services. According to the Daily Telegraph, the new station will launch next spring and broadcast a schedule more closely aligned to Radio 4. Industry sources claim that Radio 4 listeners will be tempted to use the digital spinoff with the prospect of additional content around favourite shows such as The Archers. The BBC has been encouraged by the power of spinoff content, following the successful launch of TV shows such as Doctor Who Confidential on BBC Three, featuring behind-the-scenes reports from the popular programme. "Think of what ITV does around The X Factor on ITV2, with the spinoff show The Xtra Factor," said one industry source. "You can expect that kind of thing on Radio 4 Extra." Radio 4 Extra is also expected to air archive editions of Desert Island Discs and may even carry new episodes of The Archers a day earlier than the main network. The BBC Trust is due to complete its service review of Radios 3, 4 and 7 in January, when the final decision will be made on the rebranding of Radio 7. A Trust spokesman said: "The Executive's proposal to rebrand Radio 7 as 4 Extra is under consideration as part of our current service review of 3, 4 and 7. We will publish the Trust's response to this as part of the review's conclusions. " However, there are expected to be calls for the Trust to run a "public value test" of the launch of Radio 4 Extra, due to its potential impact on commercial competitors. A commercial radio industry source said: "If you're changing what the station's called, what it broadcasts and how it's promoted, that sounds like more than a rebranding. The BBC really should jump through its own regulatory hoops on this one - otherwise why have them?" The launch of Radio 4 Extra is also likely to anger children's radio campaigners, as it would involve scrapping the four hours of daily children's programming aired on Radio 7. In August, the Sound Start Group - a coalition of teachers and education experts - called on the BBC to create a new radio network dedicated to young listeners, using the money gained from the proposed closure of the Asian Network. Susan Stranks, coordinator of the National Campaign for Children's Radio and a Sound Start campaigner, told the Daily Telegraph: "The BBC's wilful neglect of young listeners is indefensible. Children deserve public service radio just as grown-ups do and pushing them over to online access isn't a satisfactory substitute." http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/news/a295293/bbc-radio-4-to-launch-extra-station.html (via Mike Terry, Dec 30, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** U K. BBC WORLD SERVICE "OVER TO YOU" BBC World Service 2 January 2011 As we look forward to the New Year, Rajan Datar chairs a discussion about the future of radio. He is joined by three experts from the world of broadcasting who gaze into their crystal radio sets and reveal what they feel the coming months and years hold for those of us who love getting our news and information from the radio. In the studio are Mark Selby, Nokia’s expert on mobile radio, Jim Egan, director of strategy and distribution at the BBC World Service and James Cridland, a self-professed “radio futurologist. ...... The first question discussed is "Does radio really have a future at all?" You will be pleased to hear all the speakers agree that it very much does!! So that's a great start to 2011! This programme was last broadcast today. The audio is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00cpmxp (via Mike Terry, Jan 2, dxldyg via DXLD) For one week only? (gh) The question I would ask is what real value does a programme like this have? These 'experts' are technocrats employed by electronics firms, not really users of wireless/radio - if I worked for a firm involved in the production and marketing of a product am I likely to make an unbiased comment to the world which may or may not be in my boss's interest? I also fear that the Internet brought into the World Service discussion which as a pay-for service (i.e. Broadband ) as a distribution alternative to free off-air radio is hardly practicable for poor people listening in third world countries. Each nation closing its short-wave outlets to the world in favour of the Internet and Satellite is ignoring a whole chunk of overseas listeners. Perhaps the EU, UN and other international organisations could organise re- broadcasting of perhaps WRN on either Short wave or Medium Wave to prevent this growing risk of isolation? (Rog Parsons (BDXC 782) Hinckley, Leics., BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Couldn`t find a decent signal from BBC approaching 2400 UT Dec 31 = 0000 UT Jan 1, so settled for WWV 5000, which I would have had playing anyway simultaneously. Announcer was nonchalant as usual, no hint of celebration in his voice, as it became zero hours, zero minutes, Coordinated Universal Time. No leap second this year, of course, making it even more conventional. WWV will rebecome just as essential six hours later here in the UT-6 zone S. But see RUSSIA, SPAIN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. 17895, Dec 29 at 1529, VP signal from VOA São Tomé, but enough to // it with equally poor music on 12055 Lampertheim, so the African frequencies are also carrying Border Crossings. 17740, Dec 31 at 1412, open carrier. 15580, Dec 31 at 1413, another open carrier. Likely both IBB Greenville, tuning up for later broadcasts on these frequencies, both scheduled not until 1700 in Portuguese, English, respectively. 9310, Dec 31 at 1547, S9+20 open carrier, 1551 continuous tone test, 1555 back to OC; 1557 VOA YDD sign-on, 1600 into central Asian language. Once again this is scheduled as R. Liberty in Tatar/Bashkir via Tinang, PHILIPPINES at 16-17, 250 kW, 332 degrees, which should not be preceded by VOA sign-on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9760, via Tinang, PHILIPPINES, best frequency for VOA ``Jazz America`` is missing Saturday January 1 at 1354. The 13-14 hour has been scheduled Sat & Sun only. 9760 was on the air at 1505 for ``New Dynamic English``. Breakdown, or 2011y schedule change? See also SAIPAN 9725, Jan 2 at 1455 open carrier, 1459 VOA YDD sign-on, 1500 ``welcome to the Voice of America, in Vietnamese!``. Is the 50 kW ``PHX`` unit in the PHILIPPINES at 285 degrees but sufficient here. 9885, checking whether São Tomé and Meyerton relays of VOA would overlap again before 0600 Jan 4: at 0554, VOA is poor with Cuban pulse jamming, left way over from VOA Spanish on 9885 at 1230-1400 and 0000- 0200 (less on weekends; Arnie Coro considers VOA just as inimical as Radio Martí for broadcasting in Spanish audible in Cuba. Meanwhile, RHC broadcasts freely in English to the USA with constant anti- American propaganda, impeded only by its own SNAFUs.) 0558 retune 9885, now I hear only open carrier from SOUTH AFRICA; has VOA audio already ended from ST, or totally blocked? 0559:30 VTC theme music, still with Cuban jamming, 0600 opening `Daybreak Africa` with timecheck, today`s date (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5890, WWCR-4 missing, Dec 29 at 0618, no signal from Brother Scare, tho DGS is good on 5935, WWCR-2. So one transmitter is either off, or on the wrong frequency. Checked 9350 but not there. 15825, WWCR-1, Jan 1 at 1502 with preacher, poor signal but notable for the long-path echo, from some 39 megameters away. 9350, Jan 1 at 2155, surprised to hear a clarinet concerto on WWCR during scheduled ``Golden Age of Radio Theater``. Audio processing on this transmitter boosts everything to the max including quiet music passages. Maybe just fill provided by USA network; it was allowed to finish, but no back-announcement, WWCR ID, and 2159:40 starting USA- IRN `news` before hourtop! Is the whole thing pre-recorded? Caster was Precious Watson (f.), wow, what a name. ** U S A [and non]. Yes, the DX Block is gone as of UT January 2 from WWCR 4840, checked after 0300 and 0330, replaced by more remunerative gospel-huxtering. Altho WORLD OF RADIO was also missing from Sat 1700 on 12160, I confirmed it was still airing at 0730 UT Sunday January 2 on 3215, following a Girl Scouts PSA. The January 1 WWCR program schedule has been posted on January 2: http://www.wwcr.com/program-guides/WWCR_Program_Guide.pdf It still shows WORLD OF RADIO Fri 2130 7465, Sat 1700 12160, Sun 0730 3215. It no longer shows DX Partyline at all. The new Ask WWCR show explains why 5890 was missing one night recently. #4 transmitter was down for a routine maintenance check, as it had been running continuously since the flood in May (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9955, WRMI, Wednesday Dec 29 at 1637, first airing of new WORLD OF RADIO 1545 confirmed; fair signal and no jamming except bleed from 9965. Tnx a lot, Arnie! Next few repeats on WRMI are: Thu 0430, 1600, 2200, Fri 1530. On WBCQ 7415: Wed, Thu 2000; on WWRB 3185: Fri 0430. On WWCR 7465: Fri 2130. Complete schedule at http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html 7415, Wed Dec 29 at 2001, WORLD OF RADIO 1545 confirmed first airing on WBCQ webcast. 9955, WRMI, UT Thu Dec 30 at 0443 check, nothing but jamming audible when WORLD OF RADIO 1545 was airing. Tnx a lot, Arnie! However, at 0621, WRMI was holding its own against the jamming during DX Partyline. Pipeline then from SFL with WYFR 31m channels inbooming. Other nights these are JBA; you never know which will be the case. Dec 30 at 1628 check, the Thu 1600 airing of WOR on 9955 seems unjammed but poor signal. Next on WRMI: Thu 2200 (probably jamming wall-of-noise as this was on Wed); Fri 1530, Sat 0900, 1500, 1830. On WBCQ 7415: Thu 2000; on WWRB 3185: Fri 0430. On WWCR 7465: Fri 2130; 12160 Sat 1700. 9955, WRMI confirmed with WORLD OF RADIO 1545, Friday Dec 31 at 1543, losing out to pulse jamming fading up and down, not bleed from 9965 where wall-of-noise jamming against presumed R. República. Tnx a lot, Arnie! Next WOR airings on WRMI are Sat 0900, 1500, 1830, Sun 0900, 1630, 1830, Mon 1230. On WWCR: Fri 2130 7465; Sat 1700 12160; and will UT Sun 0330 on 4840 already be canceled as of UT Jan 2, or the following week? Plus Sun 0730 on 3215. WOR 1545 also confirmed on webcast of WWRB 3185, UT Friday Dec 31 after 0430. 9955, checking for WORLD OF RADIO on WRMI, Saturday Jan 1 at 1503, at first something else is heard, but proves to be in Russian, so that`s the co-channel from Family Radio via Tainan, Taiwan – and thus absent from HFCC but in Aoki. Makes fast SAH with WRMI which barely audiblizes enough to recognize my voice; at least no jamming at the moment. At 1505, YFR says ``s novym godom``. It would be happier if they would quit QRMing WRMI. 12160, WWCR-2, Sat Jan 1 at 1700, WORLD OF RADIO has been replaced by ``The Master`s Mission`` preacher. As usual we are in the dark about whether it`s a temporary make-good, or a permanent change. January program schedule has not yet been posted. Did anyone note whether WOR was on 7465, Friday at 2130? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WRMI 9955 at 1545 Sunday Jan 2: After decrying a lack of reception capability in North America last week [re SLOVAKIA], I decided to do some monitoring and reporting on WRMI. I learned from the WRMI web site that WRMI does adjust the beam of its antenna and targets North America (actually set on Vancouver) 1400-1600 UT daily. This morning I am getting a fair to good signal with no sign of jamming and only slight and soft fades on 9955 at 1545 hearing a religious program in English. Wish I had tuned in a bit earlier as WRMI has its own DX block of programs the previous hour. Will make it a point to try this next Sunday. [Later]: At 1650, still heard with "World of Radio". Signal still fair to good, but jamming is back unfortunately. I wonder what Glenn ever did to Castro? Schedule on site says this beam is held until 1600, but the schedule listed is for A10. So, recalibrating for the B10 season, maybe it's 1500-1700 UT (1000-1200 EST). Can still hear WRMI under the jamming, but the content is now indecipherable at 1701, so can't tell if the beam was swung around to Caribbean and South America as the schedule on the web site suggests (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, Eton E1-XM, A/D DX Sloper, NASWA and ODXA ygs via DXLD) As far as I know, despite what the schedule says, WRMI has not really been able to use the NW antenna since last February. I have asked Jeff White about this. Reception vs jamming (or not) does vary a lot, but probably based on other factors. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid. and dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jeff White had already replied to John about this: Hi John. I'm not sure where you saw 1400-1600 UT to the north on our website. If you click on Programming, it shows 1500-1700, as well as on the schedule you can click on to see in Excel format. Having said that, these were our plans for B10, and continue to be our plans. However, we have had some serious technical issues with the North American antenna for the past several months or so and we are currently airing this 1500-1700 block on the Caribbean/Latin American antenna. We have a consulting engineer who's currently in Panama who will be here in Miami in the coming weeks working on this problem. So hopefully we can have the North American beam operating again during the B10 season. Nevertheless, it's nice to hear that reception is OK at least from time to time up north, even on the Latin American beam. Thanks for letting us know this. Take care. Jeff. WRMI Radio Miami International (via gh, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) Glenn - I went to the "source" as well and Jeff confirmed that the NW beam is still not possible. So, it's 50 kW beamed toward the Caribbean and South America only. Daytime reception up here in NY has been pretty good that last couple of days. Sometimes I hear no jammer, sometimes it's fighting the jammer and other times (like right now -- 0345 UT) it's completely obliterated by the jammer (John Figliozzi, UT Jan 4, ibid.) 9955, WRMI, Saturday Jan 1 at 2203 surprised to hear Jeff White with historical talk about Curacao radio, i.e. Wavescan, without jamming! Previous days at this hour it`s been a wall of noise including against WORLD OF RADIO on Thursdays. See also SLOVAKIA [non]. At 0609 Sunday January 2, Encontro DX, in Portuguese was underway, mostly over the pulse jamming as Arnie continues to demonstrate his lack of respect for any DX program but his own. 9955, WRMI, UT Wed Jan 5 at 0627 concluding English version of `CDHD Brigade 2506` exile program, speaker who doesn`t seem like a Cuban giving his address of billmuir @ att.net and despedida by José Miranda without mentioning program name before WRMI ID. This is the one English program on WRMI that Cuba might justify jamming, yet they do so to countless others indiscriminately. Pulse jamming was running, but WRMI atop it at the moment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9385, WWRB with Brother Scare, surrounded by his buzz envelope out to 9365-9405, bothering mainly WTJC 9370v, Dec 31 at 1546. 3185, WWRB, supposedly running all-night from 0500 with Brother Scare, absent at 0727 Jan 2, but back on at next check 1349 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. The far-too-seldom updated WINB program schedule at http://www.winb.com/schedule.htm as of Dec 5, 2010 is already outdated: Friday Dec 31 at 2256 on 9265 instead of Overcomer at ``5-7 pm`` I am hearing Xmas music // but not synchronized to WBCQ 9330- CUSB, i.e. it must be the Good Friends Radio Network at an additional time on WINB. 2349 they are still // with preacher, 9265 running ahead of 9330 by a few sex. More changes at WINB: Saturday had been the only day 13570 was not on the air, but now it is, and earlier than ever: January 1 at 1405 with non-Brother Scare preacher in English. 1451 dead air except for hum. Indeed, the always undated Overcomer SW schedule at ftp://www.overcomerministry.org/RadioSchedule/Short%20Wave%20Radio.htm l no longer shows WINB at all, just WWCR, WWRB and WBCQ + unID frequencies, i.e. Germany. Ever-more-outdated ``Dec 5`` WINB program schedule at http://www.winb.com/schedule.htm still shows Overcomer at numerous times including 1430-2130 on Saturdays. Check at 1735, no, still not Scare on 13570 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WINB expanding schedule from 1st January America’s oldest private international shortwave station WINB is expanding its schedule as of 1 January 2010 (USA date, not UTC date). It will be using a new frequency, 9405 kHz, from 0330-1130 UTC carrying the Christian programme Radio 2:11. Radio 2:11 will QSL reception reports. They announce their address during the programme. WINB will also QSL reception reports of 9405 kHz with a special QSL card for those submitting sound recordings. (Source: Hans Johnson, WINB)(December 30th, 2010 - 19:02 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) 9405, new frequency and extended schedule for WINB: January 2 at 0450 poor with preacher, hum, distortion and clinching it, the unstable carrier. Media Network blog reported that as of UT Jan 1, WINB started overnight 0330-1130 UT on 9405 with ``Radio 2:11``, which has been adding more and more airtime during the day, and already on WBCQ-9330, i.e. part of the Good Friends Radio Network. Why not just extend 9265? No one else is there overnight. The imaginary WMLK is registered for 9265 at 04-09! And WINB has to respect that! It looks like 9405 is a good open frequency for WINB. But such a band puts it at a serious competitive disadvantage to WWRB and WWCR which go down as low as the 3 MHz band at night, 99% reliably propagating, and even WYFR which goes down to 5745. I suspect that WINB simply cannot operate on any band lower than 9 MHz; I can`t remember it ever doing so. The MUF varies around 10 MHz and you never know from night to night whether 31m will be hopping or dead. At 0607 check, 9405 was still very poor, but after 0700 had axually improved a bit. There is no reason to think that 9405 is on any other beam than 13570 and 9265, all transmissions at 242 degrees to CIRAF 10 and 11, i.e. Mexico, Central America and Caribbean, altho 242 really aims at Nashville, Houston, Laredo, and Tuxpan. Once again on Sunday Jan 2, 13570 is on the air earlier than before, already at 1414, YL preacher with strange accent, Filipina? At 1422 besides wobbly carrier, it`s evidently reduced so under-modulation makes the S-meter fluxuate. WINB website schedule still shows in ``EDT`!: 0630 - 1100 9265 kHz 1100 - 1700 13570 kHz 1700 - 2300 9265 kHz Obviously outdated and missing the latest news about 9405, earlier 13570. What`s left of 9265? 9405, Jan 3 at 0605 check, just barely audible signal, presumably the new for 2011y WINB all-night broadcast of Radio 2:11. Like I said, propagation on this band is very iffy in the nightmiddle. However, southerly signals from WYFR were still strong and WRMI also audible. Have yet to determine how early WINB 13570 is signing on now; but 9265 was missing at 1345 Jan 3. At 1603 I happened to tune across 9330- CUSB, WBCQ with Radio 2:11 ID mentioning WBCQ only. Does Rod Hembree himself not know his stuff is also on WINB now? Same thing appears 13 seconds later on 13570. 9405, Jan 4 at 0553, very poor signal, presumably WINB, unusable. Meanwhile, neighbors 9370 WTJC and 9430 1Africa Zambia were in quite well. Checking earlier and earlier for 9265, Jan 4 at 1307, 13570 is already on instead, and VG signal. Wonder if they are going directly from 9405 to 13570 around 1130 now. 9405, again Jan 5 at 0626 check, JBA signal, presumably WINB`s new and pointless overnight service with Radio 2:11. Meanwhile, 9370v WTJC was S9+20 but as usual undermodulated. 9410 BBC was much stronger than 9405; so far WINB is incapable of bothering it (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9370v, UT Saturday January 1 at 0106, Arabic from WTJC, undermodulated and somewhat muffled. Shall we try again to match this to WTJC`s program schedule, at http://www.fbnradio.com/weekday.htm --- That would be Friday 8 pm, EST --- nope, not there, only stuff in English the livelong day. Nothing but English on Saturday either. On Sunday same except for a couple of Spanish shows. FBN does link to its Chinese website, which I have trouble reading, but seems only about streaming audio, not SW programming. Yet Arabic is nothing new on WTJC SW, occasionally encountered, as well as Chinese despite absence from published schedule (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7506v, WRNO still missing January 2 at 0339 check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7415, WBCQ still on the air much later than usual, UT Sunday Jan 2 at 0703 with preacher, then Ted Randall saying it had been part of his QSO Radio show, antenna plug, WBCQ ID by Ted and then dead air. I assume WBCQ shortly signed itself off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 11715, Dec 29 at 1523, KJES in English with catechisms, adult OM, repeated by kids, S9+22 but just barely modulated. Sporadic E is building up, audiblizing this; see MEXICO. A day or two before I heard only traces of KJES (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15550, WJHR Milton, FL, Dec 29 1838 - Good reception with usual tinny audio with recorded old religious programs. About as good as I ever hear it in Masset Email wjhr@usa.com mentioned during sign- off announcements starting at 2156 UT. Still at very good level. Transmitter cut at 2157:45 (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7455, WYFR way over the RTTY which seems determined to live with it, Dec 31 at 0129, but FR self-inflicts some kind of double audio and then distorted single audio; once Open Forum starts at 0130 the audio clears up and I clear out. 15795, open carrier Dec 31 to 1553*. Probably WYFR tuning up for 1600 English broadcast to Europe, but unchecked later. 18930, WYFR, Okeechobee FL, Dec 29 1827 - The only station that I can see on this underused band. Spanish at good level (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Winter B-10 of WYFR Family Radio via BAB: 1800-1900 on 6090 RMP 500 kW / 095 deg to CeEu in Czech 1800-1900 on 7240 SKN 300 kW / 110 deg to EaEu in English 1700-1800 on 9430 SKN 300 kW / 110 deg to SEEu in Turkish 1800-1900 on 9885 RMP 500 kW / 105 deg to SEEu in Turkish 1800-1900 on 9660 SKN 300 kW / 140 deg to NoAf in Arabic 1800-1900 on 11875 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg to WeAf in Igbo 1830-1930 on 17660 ASC 250 kW / 085 deg to WeAf in French 1900-2000 on 9685 DHA 250 kW / 260 deg to WeAf in Hausa 2000-2100 on 11615 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg to WeAf in English 1900-2000 on 11665 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg to WCAf in Yoruba 1800-1900 on 9595 MEY 100 kW / 350 deg to CeAf in Kituba 1900-2000 on 9705 MEY 250 kW / 340 deg to CeAf in English 1900-2000 on 13740 DHA 250 kW / 225 deg to CeAf in Lingala 2000-2100 on 15520 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg to CeAf in English 2000-2200 on 15195 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg to CeAf in English 1700-1800 on 6045 DHA 250 kW / 225 deg to EaAf in Amharic 1700-1800 on 11665 RMP 500 kW / 120 deg to EaAf in Somali 1700-1800 on 21680 ASC 250 kW / 085 deg to EaAf in English 1800-1900 on 9895 DHA 250 kW / 230 deg to EaAf in English 1900-2000 on 9660 MEY 250 kW / 019 deg to EaAf in Swahili 1900-2000 on 9885 DHA 250 kW / 210/225 to EaAf in English 1600-1700 on 6225 MEY 250 kW / 076 deg to SEAf in Malagasy 1500-1600 on 21840 ASC 250 kW / 115 deg to SoAf in English 1600-1700 on 9795 DHA 250 kW / 215 deg to SoAf in English 1600-1700 on 17540 ASC 250 kW / 085 deg to SoAf in English 1700-1800 on 6225 MEY 100 kW / 076 deg to SoAf in French 1700-1800 on 12045 ASC 250 kW / 102 deg to SoAf in English 1700-1800 on 17505 ASC 250 kW / 102 deg to SoAf in Shona 1800-1900 on 6045 MEY 100 kW / 015 deg to SoAf in English 1800-1900 on 9770 MEY 100 kW / 007 deg to SoAf in Kinyarawanda- Kirundi 1900-2000 on 3230 MEY 100 kW / 005 deg to SoAf in English 1900-2000 on 3955 MEY 100 kW / 076 deg to SoAf in Portuguese 1900-2000 on 6100 MEY 100 kW / 335 deg to SoAf in Portuguese 1700-1800 on 9530 SKN 300 kW / 110 deg to N/ME in Arabic 1300-1400 on 17735 DHA 250 kW / 100 deg to SoAs in Kannada 1300-1400 on 17810 DHA 250 kW / 100 deg to SoAs in Telugu 1400-1500 on 9855 DHA 250 kW / 105 deg to SoAs in Marathi 1400-1500 on 15520 DHA 250 kW / 090 deg to SoAs in Hindi 1400-1500 on 17810 DHA 250 kW / 100 deg to SoAs in Tamil 1500-1600 on 9895 DHA 250 kW / 105 deg to SoAs in English 1500-1600 on 11995 DHA 250 kW / 090 deg to SoAs in English 1600-1700 on 11740 DHA 250 kW / 090 deg to SoAs in English 1200-1300 on 17505 DHA 250 kW / 090 deg to SEAs in Khmer 1200-1300 on 17545 DHA 250 kW / 090 deg to SEAs in Lao Winter B-10 of WYFR Family Radio via TAIWAN: 1500-1700 on 9955 TAI 250 kW / 352 deg to CeAs in Russian 1300-1500 on 11560 HUW 100 kW / 285 deg to SoAs in English 1500-1600 on 11560 HUW 100 kW / 285 deg to SoAs in Hindi 1500-1600 on 6280 TSH 300 kW / 285 deg to SoAs in English 1500-1600 on 6280 TSH 300 kW / 285 deg to SoAs in Hindi 0800-0900 on 11895 TAI 100 kW / 002 deg to EaAs in Korean 0900-1000 on 11565 TAI 100 kW / 310 deg to EaAs in Chinese 0900-1100 on 9545 TAI 100 kW / 310 deg to EaAs in Chinese 0900-1100 on 9945 TAI 100 kW / 310 deg to EaAs in Chinese 1000-1100 on 9920 TAI 100 kW / 310 deg to EaAs in Chinese 1100-1600 on 6240 BAO 100 kW / 310 deg to EaAs in Chinese 1100-1600 on 9280 YUN 100 kW / 335 deg to EaAs in Chinese 1200-1300 on 11535 YUN 100 kW / 335 deg to EaAs in Chinese 2100-2400 on 9280 YUN 100 kW / 335 deg to EaAs in Chinese 2200-2400 on 6230 BAO 100 kW / 310 deg to EaAs in Chinese 2300-2400 on 9540 TAI 100 kW / 310 deg to EaAs in Chinese 0000-0100 on 11630 PAO 100 kW / 225 deg to SEAs in Vietnamese 0000-0100 on 11865 PAO 100 kW / 180 deg to SEAs in Indonesian 0900-1100 on 9465 PAO 100 kW / 180 deg to SEAs in English 1000-1100 on 9455 TAI 100 kW / 267 deg to SEAs in Vietnamese 1100-1200 on 6220 HUW 100 kW / 265 deg to SEAs in Burmese 1100-1200 on 11550 TAI 300 kW / 205 deg to SEAs in Indonesian 1100-1200 on 11520 PAO 100 kW / 180 deg to SEAs in Tagalog 1200-1300 on 7460 PAO 100 kW / 225 deg to SEAs in Vietnamese 1200-1300 on 11520 PAO 100 kW / 180 deg to SEAs in Indonesian 1200-1300 on 11570 HUW 100 kW / 265 deg to SEAs in Burmese 1300-1400 on 7260 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg to SEAs in Vietnamese 1300-1400 on 9960 TAI 100 kW / 267 deg to SEAs in Vietnamese 1400-1500 on 9585 PAO 100 kW / 225 deg to SEAs in Vietnamese 1300-1400 on 11520 PAO 100 kW / 180 deg to SEAs in English 1400-1500 on 11520 PAO 100 kW / 180 deg to SEAs in Indonesian (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 Jan via DXLD) WYFR is an active member of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters (NASB). NASB is organizing a Caribbean cruise for its members, with the convenient dates 13-16 May 2011 (kimandrewelliott.com via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** U S A. 3160, looking for WPJK, SC harmonic from 1580, which in Dec was barely audible here going off around 2217 UT, legal sunset being 2215. In January it may operate until 2245, so does it? Jan 3 tune-in at 2219 and cannot detect a signal, so either off a bit before, or not propagating. If really on until 2245, it should have been detectable by 2240-2243, but was not. Sunsets grow later and later. Needs further chex, as well as whether January sign-on is still circa 1230. Did not manage to check that early Jan 4, but at 1303 it was inaudible, already outfaded? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 4050-, slightly on low side compared to 1050 and 6050, US commercial station Jan 2 at 0617 UT with het from TGAV 4052.5, see GUATEMALA. Previously IDed as third harmonic of KWMO, 1350, Washington MO. Now there is an adstring in English with 800 numbers, the first one by a YL about makeup; next one with 800-531-5376, or maybe 521- 5376; third one with 800-897-1987 or maybe 397-1987. Then into country music, but fading down. Despite frequent logs of TGAV, had not heard KWMO for a few months and was wondering if they had fixed the harmonic. Occasional appearances may be due to running day power at night, and/or unusually favorable propagation. 4050-, Jan 5 at 0611 country music, S9+12 vs. noise level of S9+8 when tuned aside to clear frequency. TGAV is already off, so no het. 0613 YL with celebrity tales about Ozzy Osbourne, Lindsey Lohan, etc., then OM ID ``13-50, KWMO``, 0615 adstring. So no doubt it is the third harmonic of the Washington, Missouri station. Better signal than last recent log, probably on fundamental day power 500 watts rather than night power of 84 watts, and only a fraxion of either could be radiating on 4050. Then it faded down (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 25910, Fort Worth TX, WJFP (not) --- Actually WBAP, Jan 2 1823 - Wow, the MUF is way up there. I'm hearing this feeder, which must be wide FM, as it sounds very distorted on normal FM, or maybe it's just too weak otherwise. I see various other feeders up here as well. First time in years, I've heard them! News at 18:31 noted (about a 911 call). Listed as 60 w, so not bad! Oops, another source (eibi) shows this one to be WBAP in Fort Worth, TX. Who's right? WBAP ID the following day at 19h19 with good reception. The trick is to use FM and a 12 kHz filter width. Newstalk 820 ID noted as well. Traffic for Dallas. Reception really improved and was totally listenable at 19:23 with local ads, news, then back to Rush at 19:24. Anyone know the power? (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WJFP hasn`t been reported in years, but WBAP/KSCS are a pair likely to propagate together (gh, DXLD) 25990, Arlington, TX, KSCS, Jan 2 1831 - C&W music at better level than the Fort Pierce (or is it Fort Worth) station. Also same FM mode. Rechecked on the morning of the 3rd. Quite good reception with ID for KSCS at 1915. Sometimes excellent reception, so better than yesterday. Nice ID at 1925. Not as strong as 25910, but still quite listenable. (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1240, ALABAMA, WULA, Eufaula. 1156-1201 GMT January 2, 2011. Sports talk, then male, "You're listening to ESPN... on WULA..." into unidentified network news, leading with the Cincinnati, AR tornado. Faded down and gone in the multiple co-channels. Listed as 600 watts Class C. If so, a pretty good graveyard catch here (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Jan 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1430, Jan 2 at 2126 UT on caradio, skywave is inbooming already, and some norteña music is atop the two Oklahomans and anything else on the channel. Retuned just in time at 2159 to hear illegal ID in Spanish as ``KRGI, 14-30 AM``. That`s a new one on me in Spanish, or English. Looked up later in the NRC AM Log 2010-2011, completed in August, KRGI is in Grand Island NE, and format then was NWS/TLK, i.e. in English. Evidently recent change, as find nothing about it in DX News AM Switch or log reports searched from January 10 issue back thru Oct 25. Checking its own website http://www.krgi.com/ you would think it is still in English, with a weekday talk lineup skewing to far right wackos. Except, as of 0040 UT Jan 3, ``Now playing`` displays ``LA MARIQUITA / LOS RAZOS DE SACRAMENTO Y REYNALDO``. Maybe it`s Spanish only on weekends or Sundays? Here we go: under WEEKEND TALK [sic] schedule for Sunday only, it admits: ``Spanish Programing with Jacinto Corona Noon-Midnight``, i.e. Sun 18-06 UT Monday. At the same hours on Saturday, ``Music (Seasonal Programming) Noon-Midnight`` which I suppose was just now Xmassy, but so vague it could also be construed to include norteña somewhen. As the low SW sun kept getting in my eyes, signals from the north were dominating, with KOZN-1620 NE, KXTR-1660 and KMAN-1350 KS also atop their channels on nondirexional car antenna (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. As usual near Solstice, MW skywave sets in before midafternoon. Dec 30 I was getting KOA 850 already at 2045 UT, and lots of others. Dec 31 at 2113 UT a quick bandscan on the caradio finds 1550 dominated by ``Branson Radio Live, 1550``, mentions 2009, so another two-year- old recording? Then ad for Titanic Museum. This is really KLFJ Springfield MO, which in daytime is 5 kW non-direxional. It`s completely devoted to promoting Branson, a tourist trap I am proud to say I have never visited despite relative proximity and a number of trips thru Springfield (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1700 (LPR), GEORGIA, "WTYB Tybee Island Community Radio", a Part 15-compliant station that will soon be de-listed from active/presumed active (bolded frequency) status. See FLPRS for details. Thanks to Mike Cooper, who checked 1700 a couple of times day and evening while holidaying on Tybee Island last week. 87.5 MHz (LPR), GEORGIA, "Freedom Path Radio", Savannah. Noticed this one listed at 87.5 (surely a pirate, if active) in Savannah: http://www.ontheradio.net/fpjr though his own website does not reference anything terrestrial radio http://www.freedompathradio.com/ Looks like he has a 'tude, too (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Jan 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 96.5 MHz, FLORIDA, WVVD-LP, East Tampa. I recall seeing this one listed 2-3 years ago with a pending LPFM application, and presumed it was never granted. But in the process of searching something else on 96.5 last week, I noticed this is listed as licensed. Indeed, audible (poorly) in south Tampa's Dale Mabry/Henderson Blvd. area around 1925+ GMT December 30, 2010, trading audio at times with WHTQ, Orlando (Classic Rock). WVVD-LP is Spanish Christian, mostly soft Christian-Latin ballads. Now the odd thing is the city of license: there is no actual city of East Tampa, and in fact the transmitter is located in Gibsobton, abouy seven miles SSW of what one may perceive as East Tampa (and the Iglesia Cristiana La Nueva Jerusalén address). (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W Florida Low Power Radio Stations: http://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/ Jan 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Paul Walker reports three DX tests scheduled for February: Saturday February 12 - At precisely 0100 and 0200 CST (0700 and 0800 UT): KHMO 1070 MO Hannibal --- Will test with morse code, sweep tones and voice announcements for 5 minutes at the top of the first hour with its 5 KW/3 tower day pattern and 5 minutes at the top of the second hour at its 1 KW/6 tower night power. Saturday February 12 - From 0300 to 0400 CST (0900-1000 UT: WLIQ 1530 IL Quincy, Will test for 20 minutes using morse code, sweep tones, voice announcement, special music, sound bites, etc, at its 1400 W Non-Directional Day Power, then for 20 minutes at is 290 W Non Directional Critical Hours Power, and then for the final 20 minutes it will test at its once-proposed 3 Watts Non Directional Night Power. Saturday February 19 -- From 1 am to 2 am CST (0700-0800 UT): WLRB 1510 IL Macomb, Will test for the first 30 minutes using morse code, sweep tones, voice announcement, special music, sound bites, etc, at its 1 KW Non Directional Day power and for the final 30 minutes with much the same content at its 250 W Non Directional Critical Hours Power. Snail-mail QSLs: Send a self addressed stamped envelope to the Chief Engineer at the following address: Gary Glaenzer c/o (Put the name of the station whose DX test your are reporting on this line) 325 East Douglas Avenue Jacksonville, IL 62650 Tapes or CDs will be accepted along with written reports but MUST be cued up to the point of where the best reception is. If sending in a report by mail, you MUST include a return, self addressed, stamped envelope. The reports are being sent to the engineers home address, not the station. So please be patient, as Mr. Glaenzer is the Chief Engineer for 16 radio stations in Missouri and Illinois. E-QSLs are available - Send to engineer at with both the station call letters and the words "DX test" in the subject line, as follows: KHMO DX Test WLIQ DX Test WLRB DX Test Finally, we ask that you please not telephone any of the stations or the engineer during the test. No one will be at the stations during the tests - everything is being done remotely by phone control. Of course, be sure to report any catches to the DX lists, to club bulletins, or to any of your regular communication channels. And please help the cause by forwarding this test information far and wide, and - if you can - by organizing a test of your own! With thanks to Paul for arranging and Gary for running (Saul Chernos, IRCA-NRC DX Test Committee, Dec 30, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. I wonder if Clear Channel station management even listen to their own stations. Their Atlanta station WGST is running a PSA supplied by the DOT and the Ad Council about buckling up children in the back seat. The dialog of the spot is by two children (a boy & a girl) telling of all the activities going on in the back seat. One of the activities the boy says (giggling) is "farting". Another is a promo for a Cigar Dave Show event (called Chix and Stix) at a local strip bar on Oct 21. Only problem is that it is in December that I am hearing this. And finally, on Sundays they have a call in talk show by a guy calling himself Jesus Christ, giving spiritual advice. Unbelievable (Lou Johnson, KF4EON, Jan 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glenn, On December 30, 2010, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in Docket PS 09-19 to expand the capabilities of TIS stations: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10-203A1.pdf The NPRM is the FCC's response to certain petitions filed, most notably by AAIRO, an organization of TIS advocates: http://aairo.org/fcc-petition.htm The FCC noted that: "The Commission has not undertaken a major amendment of the TIS rules since their inception. However, in an effort to address apparent operational limitations imposed by the current TIS rules, a few TIS operators have acted on their own accord to expand the scope of TIS content and operations. This has resulted in at least one Commission enforcement action." I anticipate opposition from conventional broadcasters, as this NPRM could increase the attractiveness or utility of a radio service other than their own. Although termed a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking," this FCC item seems to be missing the typical appendix that specifies proposed rules in detail. The item is more like a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) which responds to petitioners and asks questions, but does not propose exactly what to do. Because NOIs have a reputation of appearing to address matters without acting on them -- an FCC Chairman once candidly described NOIs as a "heat sink" -- what we may have here is a NOI wearing a NPRM hat. Wishing you a Happy New Year, (Benn Kobb, Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [DX-tip] FCC Notice regarding TIS expansion & public comment On the FCC web site there is a notice dated 12/30/2010 regarding an NPRM? (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) seeking public comment about expanded used of TIS on the BCB.?? Below is an excerpt: from FCC Web Site: Tom Jasinski, Joliet "Generally, the Order and NPRM seeks public comment on whether the FCC should significantly expand the scope of permitted communications and alerts by local governments on TIS stations and what limits if, in any, should be placed on those noncommercial messages. The FCC is also seeking comment on whether TIS power limits should be modified to reach a larger listening audience in their coverage area and to what extent TIS broadcast locations should be expanded without resulting in harmful interference to the communications of other licensed broadcasters." (via Tom Jasinski, NRC Dxtip mailing list via DXLD) Oh, good - more clutter. I think there are different questions to be asked - starting with whether or not the number of such stations broadcasting the same announcements 24/7/365 in continuous loops or rebroadcasting NOAA Weather radio in the same manner serves an purpose at all. It really ins't necessary for them to broadcast at all unless they have something to say, i.e. in the case of some sort of emergency. Then comes the question of whether every small municipality needs to have their own station (Russ Edmunds, 15 mi NNW of Philadelphia, ibid.) I have some suspicion what they're looking to do -- in terms of relaxing the regs for program content -- is to legalize what's already happening. I may be misreading the NPRM but it looks to me as if they issued a NOV to a TIS in California for the practice of relaying the local NOAA Weather Radio -- that apparently the FCC feels *it is not legal for a TIS to relay NOAA*. That doesn't speak to any proposed technical changes though (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Maybe the new TIS stations would broadcast the evacuation routes in the event of a nuclear detonation. Nuclear Detonation Preparedness http://www.nagc.com You can send them questions or comments. Thanks Curtis! 73, (George Sherman, MN, IRCA via DXLD) With the massive EMP wave sent out from a nuclear detonation, this leaves me to ask two questions, George: 1. Do you expect a transmitter that has been exposed to many Giga Electron Volts to survive that and keep transmitting? 2. Do you expect a common household receiver to withstand equal punishment from nuclear weapon EMP? I am sure that propagation would be a mess for a while, that the transmitters and receivers cooked and we would be worried about a lot more than the radio being off the air. If it doesn't have tubes, you can forget trying to use it (Kevin Redding, TN, ibid.) National Association of Government Communicators p. 1 says "stay tuned to television and radio broadcasts for important updates: If your facility (bomb shelter? gs) has a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio, this is a good source of information." I've been wondering why so many NOAA weather stations with coverage overlaps were built. Guess they could tell which way the wind was blowing the fallout, which they say could travel 400 miles. They don't seem to give any info as to how close to a detonation a transmitter or receiver might survive, or a person, either. Hope it never happens. 73, (George Sherman, MN, ibid.) ** U S A. COMMUNITY RADIO TO ADD HOURS ONCE DETAILS IRONED OUT Two stations need to agree on lineup Saturday, January 1, 2011 02:49 AM By Elizabeth Gibson THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/01/01/community-radio-to-add-hours-once-details-ironed-out.html?sid=101 Low-power community radio stations in Columbus and Bexley have big plans to expand their programming as soon as they agree on which one gets to broadcast during what hours. Bexley Public Radio and the Neighborhood Network share a frequency, which is available in pockets of Franklin County at 102.1 FM and 98.3 FM. The Bexley station airs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the Columbus group uses 3 to 8 p.m. Both stations bill themselves as alternatives to commercial radio and a way for the public to take ownership of the airwaves. The volunteer operations, which are run out of garages, have been broadcasting for about three years. "To an extent, we're a licensed pirate radio station," said Robert Ebright, a board member of the Neighborhood Network. "It's programming you'll never hear on a regular station, stuff that makes life interesting." But there's a lot of dead airtime because the two stations haven't been able to agree on how to split the broadcast day. The Columbus station was sold for $1 last week by Simply Living, a nonprofit group that promotes sustainable communities, to the Neighborhood Network. But it's primarily the same group of volunteers running day-to-day operations. The unused airtime was originally intended for three other radio groups that received licenses and assigned broadcast hours but never used them. The Columbus station, while run by Simply Living, persuaded two of those groups to sign their hours over to it. Bexley Public Radio objected, arguing that it should have been consulted. The Federal Communications Commission sided with Bexley in a September ruling but left it to the two stations to work out a broadcast schedule. "It seems rather ridiculous, I know," said Marilyn Welker, executive director of Simply Living. "It's just been kind of a dance between us and the FCC because the issue of timeshares is so new." Bexley Public Radio also tried to stop the sale of the Columbus station from Simply Living to the Neighborhood Network because its members thought they should have a say in any changes to the lineup. The FCC denied that request, and the Neighborhood Network took ownership on Dec. 21. Simply Living still believes in the radio station, Welker said, but the project was becoming overwhelming. She said she hopes the timeshare issue can be sorted out now that the transfer and FCC rulings are out of the way. But representatives of the stations said they aren't sure how long it will take. Each side said it is waiting on the other. The two broadcast groups have distinct personalities. The Neighborhood Network focuses on independent music and alternative voices, including programming in Somali. The Bexley station is a more-typical public-access channel, featuring discussions of Bexley government, gardening, the day's local lunch specials, the economy and other topics. "What's been at issue is that Bexley and Simply Living simply don't like each other," said John Anderson, the station manager for Bexley Public Radio. "They're all good people, but it's a personality issue." But Anderson said that even if he doesn't always agree with the other station's programming, both stations respect each other. They share the goal of giving the public a voice and providing radio experience to students and hobbyists. They just want time split fairly during peak hours, when people are commuting. Kurt Weiland, one of the founders of Bexley Public Radio, said volunteers already are preparing material for when they have more broadcast time. Some contributors have started recording books on tape to fill night hours. The Neighborhood Network wants to feature more local music talent and DJs, Ebright said. He'd also like to have programs in Spanish. "Every week, I report to the board that no progress has been made," Ebright said. "But maybe next week, eventually." (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) {As early in the story, they do not share `a` frequency but two frequencies, so what`s the problem?? And who cares what the calls are? FM Atlas XXI has nothing in the Ohio LPFM sexion under Bexley, but does show Columbus with two 6-watters on *102.1, WCRS-LP and WCRX-LP! Rather than hunt for a 98.3 under some other unfamiliar suburb, to FCC FM Query: but of the six licensed stations in Ohio on 98.3, which includes LPFM and translators, none of them are near Columbus, Franklin County, as quickly checked in the index of my Rand-McNally, nor do any of them have similar calls to the 102.1 pair. So what?? Then to Google. First hit for Bexley PR which is mainly about their limited program schedule last years, at one point says ``Bexley Public Radio WCRX-LP 102.1 FM (simulcast on 98.3 FM)`` without explanation. Also see http://www.shortnorth.com/WCRSRadio.html There are lots more stories about this by Googling, but nothing found yet to explain where and what the 98.3 signal is (gh)} ** U S A. LOW-POWER STATIONS TO GET A SPOT ON THE RADIO DIAL The electricity flickered in the basement offices at the Calvary United Methodist Church at 48th Street and Baltimore Avenue last week, and the heat wasn't so reliable either. But Brandy Doyle and Maggie Avener of the Prometheus Radio Project, bundled in heavy clothes, weren't complaining. After about a decade of lobbying and community organizing from these humble poster-filled rooms in West Philadelphia, Prometheus Radio finally had scored with federal legislation that will legalize hundreds of, and perhaps as many as 2,000 to 3,000, low-power FM radio stations in cities and rural markets. . . http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20110102_Low-power_stations_to_get_a_spot_on_the_radio_dial.html (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. If you never got around to listening to the Capital Steps` Hallowe`en special, half an hour, you can still get it altho no longer linked on the website, at http://www.capsteps.com/sounds/Radio-1010.rm And the New Year`s Eve hourlong is at http://www.capsteps.com/sounds/Radio-1012.rm (Glenn Hauser, Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Passing of DXer Marv Robbins --- Ernie Wesolowski just passed along word to me that longtime NRC member Marv Robbins died in Ocala, Florida on December 17th. He was two weeks short of his 79th birthday. Marv was the main host of the NRC's 1959 convention at the Downtowner Motor Inn in Omaha and was involved in starting the IRCA. He was also the lone survivor of the 1962 car crash in Nebraska that killed DXers Francis Nittler, Carroll Seth, and Hal Wagner, who were on their way from Denver to that year's NRC convention in Indianapolis. The obit can be viewed at http://www.robertsfuneralhomes.com/obituaries.html http://www.robertsfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/tribute.html?url=http://stei-23751.tributes.com/show/Marvin-Robbins-90333057 (Via Rick Dau, South Omaha NE via Phil Bytheway, Dec 29, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. "Live Sports Radio" Dave Hett on Radio-Info.com reported today on new LPTVs for this firm. A further check shows they own four digital LPTVs on channels 3 and 4 located at the football stadiums of Auburn University, Mississippi State, Kansas State, and Texas A&M. They've filed applications for channel 6 stations at the Universities of Missouri and Oregon. Their website http://www.livesportsradio.com/store/ suggests further transmitters at twenty other state universities and at the Detroit, Minnesota, and San Francisco NFL stadiums. Furthermore, the website suggests the NCAA transmitters *go on the road with the teams* -- that if you have an Auburn radio and you take it to Lexington to watch them play the Kentucky Wildcats, it will work there (even though Kentucky is *not* one of the teams normally broadcast). NFL transmitters carry only Detroit/Minnesota/SF *home* games (if Detroit travels to Green Bay, your NFL radio will *not* work there). They call the channels "E1" through "E5". You might presume those correspond to what we know as channels 2-3-4-5-6, except that LSR says E1 is *always* for your home games, regardless of which RF channel your home transmitter uses. They also indicate your radio must be reprogrammed at the beginning of each season. Their applications in CDBS don't say anything about unusual modulation schemes. They're filed as standard low-power DTV stations (always with identical facilities: 300 watts ERP -- the maximum permitted on those channels -- with an antenna 18.5m above ground. Google Maps show the coordinates are always at the football stadium - except for Mississippi State, where it's across the street...) The NCAA transmitters also apparently carry home games of the respective universities' men's basketball teams. Technical details are frustratingly scarce. =========================================== I would be curious if any of our members might be in a position to monitor any of these and determine what they're doing? My guess is that you'd have to be within a mile or two (further if you have a larger antenna system) of the facilities of one of the universities in question. Chances are these are only on the air during games, and since the football season is essentially over, only during *basketball* games. It is quite possible conditional access ("scrambling") is used. It's quite possible non-standard data formats and/or non-8VSB modulation are used. Given the small size of the radios, the low price, and the fact they're powered from button cells, I wouldn't even rule out the possibility the broadcasts are actually analog, despite using digital LPTV licenses. The universities in question: Alabama Georgia Michigan Penn State Arkansas Ga. Tech Minnesota USC (Southern Cal) California Iowa Ohio State South Carolina Florida LSU (La.) Oklahoma Virginia Tech Florida State Michigan State Oklahoma State Wisconsin Auburn Miss. State Kansas State Texas A&M (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, Jan 2, WTFDA via DXLD) I didn't realize Virginia Tech was included. I have a friend down that way and I can bother him about it, though he doesn't have TSReader I don't think (Trip Ericson, ibid.) ** U S A. KCET/KOCE PBS changes -- This in an email from Don Voegele near Santa Bárbara. I remember when KOCE first came on the air in Huntington Beach. KOCE-TV will take over as the leading PBS station in Southern California on Jan. 1, and to help make that point to viewers the Orange County-based station announced Thursday it is changing its name to PBS SoCal. The traditional call letters will remain, of course - they`re required to use them by law. But the new name will be used to help market the station and create a new brand for it as most PBS programming shifts to KOCE from KCET-TV after the Los Angeles station and the network had a falling out over dues. Starting in January, KOCE, which soon will move from Huntington Beach to Costa Mesa, will show nearly all of the best-known PBS series, shows such as `Masterpiece,` `Antiques Roadshow,` `Nova` and `American Experience.` A few shows, such as `Charlie Rose` and `Independent Lens,` will not appear on the station for now but instead will be broadcast by partner stations KVCR-TV in San Bernardino and KLCS-TV in Los Angeles. We`ll have more on the transformation of KOCE from a small Orange County station into the primary PBS station in the region in a few days, but for now you can check out the station`s new website at http://pbssocal.org (via Mike Bugaj, Jan 4, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. 17 FIRED AT RADIO PAZ; LOCAL PROGRAMMING CUT BY JAWEED KALEEM Pax Catholic Communications, the Archdiocese of Miami's multimillion- dollar media ministry, fired the majority of staff Monday at its flagship Spanish-language radio station, citing financial cutbacks. Seventeen employees of Radio Paz (WACC-AM 830), including several popular veteran on-air personalities, were laid off, leaving six employees at the 24-hour station that airs everything from local Masses and a ``Bible school'' to interviews with South Florida priests and commentary on international Catholic news. In a press release, the archdiocese said it was forming a ``programming partnership'' with Birmingham, Ala.-based EWTN, an international Catholic television and radio network, to replace lost programming at the station that has about 70,000 listeners. Almost half of the station's programming -- roughly 11 hours -- will now come from EWTN. . . Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/03/1999145/17-fired-at-radio-paz-local-programming.html#ixzz1ACq3cv14 (via Media Network blog via DXLD) Mr. Angelica`s empire expands (gh) ** U S A. CHARLOTTE AM STATION READY IN CASE OF TERRORIST ATTACK WBT-AM (1110) in south Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of a dozen US commercial stations fitted out by the US government with an underground studio and transmitter, and a generator with 30-day fuel supply, designed to withstand a nuclear or terrorist attack. WBT was selected because it reaches both of the Carolinas. At night, its 50,000-watt signal arcs like a blowtorch [sic] across the East from Canada to Cuba. The installation is a result of Executive Order 13407, issued in 2006 by President George W Bush, which called on the Department of Homeland Security to develop “a comprehensive system to alert and warn the American people in situations of war, terrorist attack, natural disaster or other hazards … and ensure that under all conditions the president can communicate with the American people.” ¦Read the full story from the SunNews.com http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/01/02/1898188/end-of-the-world-tune-into-wbt.html Andy Sennitt comments: That’s all very well, but in the event of an attack serious enough to require this facility to be put into operation, what about the antenna? I see no mention of that in the article. Presumably the bunker also contains a collapsible antenna which could be brought into service quickly. But would it handle 50,000 watts? January 2nd, 2011 - 13:02 UTC by Andy Sennitt. Comments on “Charlotte AM station ready in case of terrorist attack” #2 ruud on Jan 2nd, 2011 at 14:34 AM antenna’s are not an easy target for terrorists. As for me I would stay far away from them for their RF High voltage load. They are so thin that it is very hard to hit them with rockets or other munition, as has been proven in WW2 when to my knowledge no (AM) antenna’s in GB were demolished by the German air raids. In Holland the Lopik site was the back up location during (nuclear) attacks with spare AM transmitters and generators in bunkers (in fact the 675 AM TX still sits in a bunker). Will the Americans also install a 500 kW TX for 700AM WLW in Cincinnati, as there was in WW2? This one will cover almost all USA during darkness. When antennas got hit it is relative simple to construct emergency antennas, maybe not fit for the full 50 k, but even with a lower power the coverage still can be great. For FM you need height, and that is not easy to construct in no time during distress. Yes you can easy fit an antenna on a tall building but that is an easy target for terrorists etc. TV/FM antenna are more vulnerable as has been proved in Belgrade when allied forces bombed the propaganda Serbian TV station out of the air, after the TV studio was raided. #4 Peter Vrakking on Jan 4th, 2011 at 09:12 I would be not surprised if they have a spare antenna also in case of emergencies. Probably not a lattice version, but a wire connected to a balloon (MN blog comments via DXLD) ** VATICAN. Vatican Radio French 1700 and English 1715-1730 was not being heard on scheduled 9645 during monitoring to mid December (Edwin Southwell, England, Jan World DX Club Contact via DXLD) 7370, VATICAN CITY, Radio Vaticana, Dec 29 2305 - Almost able to copy this DRM broadcast, but just a little too weak. I'm able to copy the ID on DReaM, though (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13765, VR in English, Dec 31 at 1537 historical talk about Carmelites vs Moslems; 1540 VR ID as for S Asia, news of PBXVI. Had long-path echo. Is 500 kW, 95 degrees from SMG (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CANADA ** VENEZUELA [non]. 11680, RNV completes yet another year announcing almost totally outdated transmission schedule, just as I tune across via CUBA, Dec 31 at 1520. All we have to hear is the first entry in Spanish = ``to San Francisco at 11 am on 13740``. BTW, how is your own transmitter site at Calabozo coming along? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15250, CUBA, Radio Nacional de Venezuela, Dec 29 2300 - By far the strongest station on the 19m band at this time. I thought it was a DRM transmission (the signal occupies the entire 10 kHz, 5 kHz on each side), but alas, it was Cuba with the RNV program signing on in English. Whatever happened to the planned SW facility for them in Venezuela proper? (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15250, RNV via CUBA, Jan 2 at 2328, during music, with carrier cutting off, or rather down, timed at 96 times per minute; the rate varies a little bit. No such problem on // 13680. It`s one of countless technical deficiencies periodically plaguing RHC transmitters, and observed occasionally before (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 9840, Voice of Vietnam, (Hanoi-SonTay), 2331-2357, 1/4/2011, English. News by a woman. ID by a man at 2337 followed by more news. A brief musical selection at 2340, then talk by a man and a woman. Vietnamese pop music at 2354. Announcement by a woman at 2357, then either sign off, or the signal faded away. Poor to moderate signal with fading, degrading over time. Low side interference from HCJB via Chile (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, G6 and whip antenna, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. VOICE OF VIETNAM RADIO REVEALS PLAN TO BECOME INFLUENTIAL NATIONAL BROADCASTER | Text of report in English by Vietnamese radio text website on 2 January [?? You mean it is not already influential with a Commie monopoly? gh] [Unattributed report: "VOV Targets for 2020"] Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) aims to become an influential national radio broadcaster with regional and international recognition. With the Prime Minister's ratification on the plan for radio and television broadcast and transmission on February 16, 2009, VOV had already step up a development plan for the coming decade with the view to 2020 and beyond to establish a solid foundation for the development of the whole national broadcast system. General development targets VOV aims for development at a rapid but sustainable pace through improving its management and learning from regional and international experiences while adapting them to the country's conditions and customs. It needs to strengthen integrate with the world community and modernise its broadcasting and production to maintain its leading role in the national radio broadcasting. It will work to improve the profession quality of its staff and reward them accordingly. The national radio station will extend the radio and television coverage areas both at home and abroad to fulfil its political, diplomatic, defence and security tasks set by the Party and State and provide high quality programmes to its diverse audiences. It will comprehensively upgrade its infrastructure to provide all the radio, television and telecommunication services on the same technological basis and smoothly change from analog to digital transmission. The quality of programmes, especially those for ethic minorities need to be improved. VOV will maintain and expand its coverage on the islands and the border and remote areas. It will closely cooperate with local radio stations to develop the recording instruments, the radio broadcast systems and the public stations as well as assist production, transmission and extending the signal coverage to create a modern broadcasting system and train quality human resources. Specific policies and goals, Programme content The news provided by VOV must be lively, objective, and reliable and broadcast timely to effectively fulfil its role as an information channel for the society. VOV content departments will produce more diversified progammes to carter for all kinds of audiences. The external affairs section needs to focus on providing information on Vietnam's foreign policies and reflecting the course of national construction. VOV should extend its international cooperation and selectively develop its news agencies in foreign countries to obtain timely, reliable and relevant news. VOV will improve the quality, adjust the air-time and extend the coverage area of its 4 departments on domestic contents including the News and Current Affairs (VOV1), the Culture, Science and Education Channel (VOV2), the Music, News and Entertainment Channel (VOV3), and the Ethnic Languages Channel (VOV4) along with the Overseas Service Channel (VOV5), the VOV Traffic Channel and the Radio Image Broadcasting Channel (VOVTV). The national radio station will develop reflecting the demand for contents to be broadcast globally and consolidate the power of its media: radio, printed newspaper, online newspaper and television. Production VOV will strengthen the research and apply digital and computer network technologies by using professional production software. It will create a system to organize new channels, agree on a sole technology and start digitalise its audio and video archive. It will begin the construction of the Radio Broadcasting Building, the Building Complex for Editing Departments, the Centre for Programmes Production and Transmission using modern technologies in Hanoi. The national radio station will empower its Information Centre by linking VOV headquarters with its domestic and international correspondent agencies, other news agencies at home and abroad and national ministries and departments. VOV will intensify the exchange of information and programmes with local stations and international radio and television oranisations with regard to mutual benefits. Transmission and broadcast VOV will combine different channel for transmission and broadcast to extend and improve the quality of coverage both at home and abroad. It will increase the air time and the number of radio programmes in foreign languages via satellite, on the ground, on the internet as well as develop multimedia contents. By 2010, VOV has broadcast signal covered all the areas across the country, it will concentrate on improving the quality of its coverage in the mountain regions in the northern and central provinces, the highlands, the southwestern region and the sea and islands. In the coming year, VOV will continue establishing the FM system nationwide for the VOV1, VOV2, VOV3, VOV4, VOV Traffic Channel and the Radio Image Broadcasting Channel (VOVTV). The national radio station will broadcast information on entertainment and tourism in English 24 hours a day in the capital and major cities in Vietnam on VOV5. The channel will expand its coverage to other continents and key regions in the world via satellites from third countries. VOV will continue to explore and apply new technologies including Digital Right Management (DRM), High Definition Radio (HD Radio) FM/AM, and Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) and choose a suitable one for a digitalised radio in Vietnam. It will gradually develop the Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), the High Definition Television (HDTV), and the broadband mobile technologies including 3G and 4G for its mobile services. Human resources training VOV will train a high quality staff of officials, reporters, editors, artists and technicians to meet the demand of modern radio broadcasting. It will improve the quality of its colleges and upgrade them to universities and institutes as well as cooperate with domestic and international organizations. By 2020, VOV will employ about 4,000-5,000 staff. The modern radio broadcast technology requires 20-25 per cent of its staff to hold post-graduate degrees, 75-80 per cent with university certificates and 60 per cent with the knowledge of at least one foreign language. All of the staff must be familiar with the use of information technology. The structure of employee aims to consist of 55 per cent being reporters, editors and technicians evolved in production, 20 per cent technicians for transmission, 20 per cent services staff and the rest administrative officials. VOV aims to manage its budget independently, improve its organizational model to decentralise its administration both financially and in terms of human resources. It will create working quotas and norms and use them to control the progress of work and prepare long term and annual plans. The national radio station will raise its revenue to ensure sufficient capital for broadcasting by increasing the air time and the quality of advertisements and boost the socialisation process of other services, in line with its functions and tasks. By 2020, VOV will focus on import and transfer of new technologies for manufacturing radios, electronic and telecommunication equipments and audio and video devices to meet people's demand for cheap and user- friendly devices. It plans to self manufacture some equipment for replacement, small and medium capacity broadcast machines, simple recorders and music tapes and discs and develop its own professional softwares to reduce import. VOV will also develop services for building infrastructure for telecommunication, radio and television broadcasting, audio and lighting systems, and workstations for maintaining electronic equipment and transfer technologies to the regions with the demand. Source: Voice of Vietnam text website, Hanoi, in English 0000 gmt 2 Jan 11 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US. QSLs received: 1620, WDHP Frederiksted. At last! After many s-mail reports unanswered I tried the email way but it has not been an easy task. All my f/ups to the addresses of "reefbroadcasting.com" domain were bounced back. The same for my previous two attempts to "wrra@islands.vi". But this time all worked flawlessly. v/s: "DJ Luis". Wrra @ islands.vi Happy New Year 2011! (Mauricio Molano, Salamanca, ESPAÑA - SPAIN, RX site: Aldea del Cano, Cáceres. LAT: 39º17'09.70 N, LONG: 6º19'00 W RX: PERSEUS. ANT: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ http://moladx.blogspot.com/ mwdx yg via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 6297+, Jan 2 at 0725, SASASAM holding up nicely with chanting accompanied by percussion instruments, chorus (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 5915, ZNBC/R. Zambia 1, 0249-0251, Jan 5. They seemed rather late in starting the African Fish Eagle IS, which was not heard at 0245; heard under CRI; // 6162; after the distinctive IS was mostly unusable. 6162, ZNBC/R. Zambia 2, 0245-0251, Jan 5. Distinctive African Fish Eagle IS; poor with adjacent QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 6015, RTZ (presumed), Jan 5. 0256 - prominent open carrier with test tone; mixing with UNID 0258 – test tone ended and start of repetitive xylophone sounding IS 0300 – announcer 0301 - for the first time found they did not have reciting from the Qur’an at this time; instead played Islamic music and singing 0304 - sounded like a conversation 0327 - stronger unidentified station that was causing QRM signed off 0330-0340 - seemed to be the news followed by brief Islamic singing 0340-0359 - woman with reports from different people 0359 - drums till ToH Certainly a challenge to hear this, what with the QRM until 0327 and overall weak signal (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Hi Everyone, A couple of African clandestines from a quick tune at either side of 1800 UT 3/1/11: Shortwave [sic] Radio Africa, 4880 kHz 1805 UT http://www.box.net/shared/x5v56fg65a Zimbabwe Community Radio, 4895 kHz 1755 UT http://www.box.net/shared/nnelgtjuc4 (Mark Davies, Anglesey UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ZCR clip starts with VTC/Babcock theme music, then opening announcement claims they are broadcasting from United Arab Emirates!!! Disinformation? Why announce any site, but we know it is much closer, Meyerton, SOUTH AFRICA (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. Someone TESTING on 940 kHz at 0146-0200 EST Jan/03/2011? Heard a Station Testing on 940 Khz early this morning. No idea who it was??? Did anyone else hear this Test??? Or have any idea if a Station had a Test planned early this morning??? Any help appreciated. RADIO USED SONY SRF-T615 Ultralight Barefoot 940, UNID, UNID Location Jan/03/2011 0146-0155 EST [0646-0655 UT], FAIR, English. Test Tone heard at 0146 EST. Male Gave ID as "This is the ???????? Radio Service ??? and more Text that was not copyable??? @ 0146 EST. Intermittent Test Tones and variable SQUEAKY Test Tones til about 0155 EST. Then not heard any longer. Signal seemed best to the NW/SE from here. Help Needed?????? 73 (Robert S. Ross, London, Ontario CANADA, IRCA via DXLD) This sounds very much like the "CBS Radio Network, channel 43" tones that were/are frequently heard. When that happens, it's not a station testing - it's just automation gone wrong. What's usually going on is that a station is taking a network feed of a football game, and after the game the automation fails to switch the station back to its usual program source, so whatever's on the satellite channel where the game was just keeps playing, sometimes all night until someone comes in the next morning. Unless you can find someone local to the station that's running the wild satellite feed, the odds are pretty low that you'll ever figure out who it was - though at least you've narrowed down who it wasn't. Keep in mind that even the station itself may not know that they were broadcasting this loop overnight! s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Scott, you're right. I saw that happen on a number of occasions when I worked in radio. I can also remember times when the automation would misfire one or more events and the station would deny that there was a problem. The next day, the problem mysteriously disappeared. I wonder how that happened? I have my theories but they don't matter today. Unfortunately most stations are not monitored or checked out today especially after 7:00 weeknights and most of the time on weekends with the exception of remotes which usually take place during a midday daypart on the weekend. Otherwise, forget it and this is not about to change in my opinion (Larry Stoler, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. NORTH AMERICA, 1070, 0332-, Jan 1 Someone is way off frequency, causing for a wider than usual spike on the Perseus waterfall. With the Perseus at minimum spacing, there are all sorts of carriers within a Hz or two from 1070, but I also note an outlier at 1070.065 who's rather strong. Almost the strength of our CFAX in Victoria. Closer to 1070, there has to be at least 10 individual carriers as well! Any ideas who's so far off frequency? (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Maybe this, but not so far off when I estimated it: U S A. 1070, at 1238 Oct 11 both KNX Los Angeles news and KLIO Wichita oldies were about equal and easily nullable about 110 degrees apart; in between, they produce fast SAH of some 15 Hz. One is considerably off-frequency, and I bet I know which: Yes, in daytime groundwave conditions at 1545, on DX-398 10-kHz steps with BFO, several other stations in the 1000`s and 1100s agree that KLIO is on the hi side of its frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST 10-41)] UNIDENTIFIED. DX mystery on 1710 kHz --- Very late but, Heard mentions of this station on starchat a while back; tonight someone there heard it so I tuned in. Been listening now for almost an hour to The Big Q, as ID'ed, with great 60-70-'s music and commercials for the GE superadio, and instructions to go to EBay now and get one for less than 50 Bucks. Also Chicken Man, short programs, Announcer - Midnight Man. Any help? (Dean_0 Wayman, 0807 UT Jan 2, ABDX yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) "The Big Q" oldies station currently making an appearance on 1710.006 khz 0700+ UT with a solid signal into Michigan. Presumed pirate, not the usual ethnic variety. 1/2/2010 (Tim Tromp, West Michigan, IRCA via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) Presumed pirate? Absolutely is a pirate, there is no licensed station in the US or Canada on 1710 kHz (Paul B Walker, ibid.) ?? There is another possibility, part 15 compliant, which is neither licensed nor pirate, tho it would have to be nearby (gh, DXLD) Also being heard near Minneapolis "Happy New Year from The Big Q." & "Cranking out the hits, The Big Q." Weak to fair, played "Yellow River" by Christie. About 2 am CST. Using Icom R75 & 8" Quantum loop cranked to full, getting S-9 reading, crank down & essentially gone. I wonder if this is being heard in any more places? 73, (George Sherman, MN, WORLD OF RADIO 1546, ibid.) I had traces of it, but nowhere near as good as previous reception, and it was mixing with the Puget Sound Russian (Steve in NE Oregon Ratzlaff, ibid.) Big Q 1710 into Albany, NY --- Playing Christmas music, oddly. High noise floor and deep fades. 2011 01 02 2030 [EST] (Dave Hochfelder, Albany, NY, ibid.) Loops about due east/west (Dave, 0238 UT Jan 3, ibid.) Checked tonight at 0150 UTC, just the usual Radio Soleil & Radio Celestial battling for the dominant position on 1710. No trace of the "Q" here. Last night however I was able to loop the station to my SW/NE from western Michigan (Tim Tromp, ibid.) hehehehehe -- actually sounds more AMUSING than BROADCAST RADIO~ (Steven Wiseblood :) TX, ABDX via DXLD) I am not going to "Out" him, but I think I know who that was in Western North Carolina. :-) More than likely, it was 25 Watts from a LPB transmitter, but could have been up to a KW from a Harris MW-1A. 73, (Kevin Raper, KJ4HYD, CE WCKI WQIZ, ibid.) LPB ("Low Power Broadcasting") was a Pennsylvania-based company that made low-power transmitters used for carrier-current AMs, TISes, PSRA/PSSA operation and the like. They quietly faded out of business a few years ago - no announcement or anything, they just stopped answering the phones one day. They also made some pretty decent budget-priced consoles and automation. It's not uncommon to see LPB consoles in production rooms and news booths at smaller stations, even now. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Hearing Spanish station here tonight, 0236 UT, with a fair signal. Lots of Latin music and TC's for central time zone. No other announcements heard. Static levels rising over signal at times. Now playing yl rap/pop music in english, sounds like lady gaga, then back to more traditional Latin music. No announcements at top of hour. (Stephen Wood, Harwich, MA, UT Jan 3, ibid.) There is something there off the Eastern Beverage that sounds oldies rock, but buried in the noise and the Russian (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, 0306 UT Jan 3, IRCA via DXLD) Upon reviewing my recording, it's the Spanish pirate. Some of the music was in English and I posted before verifying what I was hearing. Sorry for the confusion (Dave, Albany, NY, 0603 UT 3 Jan, IRCA via DXLD) So never mind the E-W DF above (gh) Do I know who this is? (Powell E. Way III, SC, ibid.) You might, he has been in the business around these parts "forever". His last gig in this area was GM for a cluster in the Greenville- Spartanburg market. 73, (Kevin Raper, KJ4HYD, CE WCKI WQIZ, ibid.) Back in the Thanksgiving Holiday I started receiving the station on 1710 kHz in the 23464 area. Signal is strong in the Virginia Beach, VA 23464 area. The announcer did not ID himself and did not give out station name. I was still able to receive signal but very weak where I live in the 23462 area. The signal was able to be received with 3 bars on my Grundig G5 and 3 bars on my G4000A. It seems that this signal is using repeater transmitters on 1710 kHz and there is one around the 23464 area. Believe me I heard this station before. When I DX 1710 I turn on my BFO to detect the beat frequency and yes I hear the beat tone in the 23462 area. I stopped listening to it cause of the power supply noise in the apartment, but will go back to it when I get back to the 23464 area. RDF crew is needed in the 23464 area (Adam E., Virginia Beach, VA 23462, ibid.) Quite possibly more than one pirate on 1710 is involved! (gh, DXLD) I heard The Big Q from Minneapolis on Jan. 2. It was MUCH weaker than Tim's report from Michigan. I was using a 40m dipole and switching between my Icom 706 and a Icom IC-PRC100. Most of the time, I could not make out any lyrics, or clear announcer speech. In the past, it`s been heard in London, Ontario and western Michigan. Since it was strong in Michigan and so weak in Minneapolis, it must be to the E or NE of Tim in Michigan? I just got a LD-1B SDR from Lazy Dog Engineering. Next time The Big Q comes on, I hope to SEE the signal peaks on my pc screen. :) (Eric, ka0ywn, Koester, Minneapolis, MN EN43, Jan 4, IRCA via DXLD) Hi Kevin, Interesting, but when I heard "The Big Q" live a few nights ago, the signal was coming from the southwest (or northeast) - I'm in west Michigan. It was definitely not in the direction of the Carolinas. Audio clips of the broadcast can be heard here for anyone curious, just so we are all talking about the same sporadic pirate: http://midx.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/the-big-q-heard-again-on-1710-khz/ http://midx.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/am-1710-the-big-q-oldies-heard-well-this-morning/> If you're still convinced that you know the operator, then by all means, please talk him into QSLing his listeners! 73, (Tim Tromp, West Michigan, ABDX via DXLD) I just talked to him and that was NOT his "Super Q". His was on 94.3 FM only. 73, (Kevin Raper, KJ4HYD, CE WCKI WQIZ, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 1723, 4KPU Driftnet DAID beacon - 0014 12/31 - Very faint right at the noise floor, CW ID repeated 3x then silent for about 3 minutes, cycle repeats. 1756, 4OGK Driftnet DAID beacon - 0036 12/31 - Very faint right at the noise floor, CW ID repeated 3x then silent for about 3 minutes, cycle repeats. 1787, 4QEE Driftnet DAID beacon - 0442 12/19 - Very faint right at the noise floor, CW ID repeated 3x then silent for about 3 minutes, cycle repeats. 1792, 4OXI Driftnet DAID beacon - 0228 12/29 - Very faint right at the noise floor, CW ID repeated 3x then silent for about 3 minutes, cycle repeats. (Tim TROMP, Muskegon MI, MARE Tipsheet 31 Dec via DXLD) Is it possible to locate these, like at least which ocean or direxion? Or could they be in a Great Lake? What is DAID? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. "TMP45" Mystery CW station. Does anyone know who this may be? It was a CW marker on last night on 4079.6 kHz at 0527z. If they are following the call allocation, TM would be France. I Googled it and came up with nothing radio related. Thanks (Gary, WB7CAG, Glendale, AZ, Dec 29, ODXA yg via DXLD) I just did a quick search and found the following entry in a page of radio related logs: 012408 0634 4079 CW TMP Temperature beacon in Mojave Desert rpting TMP45 Not sure how much the above helps with an ID (Kevin Cozens, VE3SYB, ibid.) I also did a Google search for 4079 kHz and came up with the High Frequency Underground forum website: http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php?topic=2029.0 One of the items listed says: “TMP - 4079 KHz - Temperature beacon. I haven't heard it myself, but I think others have. Not on the master list, but assume an active beacon?” Maybe the 45 in the call is an indication that the temperature is 45 degrees? This certainly is a mystery! Another possibility at http://qrg.dk1ny.ath.cx/details.php?id=6748 Frequency 4.079 MHz Mode CW Location Kaliningrad, Russia Callsign RMP User/Usage Russian Navy, Baltic Fleet RMP and TMP could have been copied incorrectly (Colin VE3CMT Miller, Dec 30, ODXA yg via DXLD) The person who reported the signal was able to copied the letters and numbers. I think it unlikely they would confuse an R with a T even at high speed and most beacons operate with relatively slow CW. Also take in to account distance between the two possible locations, time of day, and band propagation (Kevin Cozens, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. Interference station noted at 0210 UT on 6136.007v kHz, het against PBS Xizang Lhasa-CHINA [TIBET]in Tibetan on even 6130.0 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 31 via DXLD) Did you mean the unID was on a closer frequency to 6130.0 Tibet? (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 6170.3, approx., het against VOR Chinese via Khabarovsk, Jan 4 at 1326. Suspect the sporadic 500-watt Radyo Magasin, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES, schedule 23-13v per WRTH 2011. Perhaps someone further west can split it off and pull some audio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) or further east! 6170.35, 1354, Jan 04, something weakly hetting VOR Khabarovsk to 1406 carrier off. Had been keeping an eye on this split freq since my log of Dec 06 last year. Untraced today, Jan 05, during random checks 1325 - 1402. If this isn't a spur then I still think we cannot completely exclude DZRM, R Magasin. It so happened that Glenn and I were listening to the same signal at about the same time, cf his UNID on 6170.3 approx. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, and I also agree that the het was unheard here around then on Jan 5 (gh, OK, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6950, CHINA? OTH Radar, Dec 29 1529 - I'm pretty sure that this is an OTH radar, perhaps from China. It occupies the 6850 to 6970 kHz region continuously, but might also extend down into the 49 meter band. At least this is what I see on my ALA 100 loop at a quiet location. Unable to confirm this extension on my NW BOG, though, so might be something in the shack! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6850+ range often audible here (gh, OK, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 7170, Jan 5 at 1438, sounds like DRM noise, making me suspect Ethiopian jamming long-path against Eritrea, but then it`s intermittent, so maybe some ham experiment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 7430, rapid pulsing centered here January 1 at 0032, atop some broadcaster. The pulses are quite different from the DentroCuban Jamming Command; estimated about 10 per second, very regular, and extending to 7435 and 7425 but no further unlike wider- band OTH radars. Only thing scheduled now on 7430 is V. of Russia in Russian via ARMENIA, 305 degrees to Europe, Caribbean, Central America and Mexico. Could be the Gavar transmitter is simply defective and this is not jamming. If heard before 0030 it could have been Myanmar jamming VOA Burmese via Sri Lanka on 7430. Now it also bothers R. Tirana on 7435 in Albanian // clear 6130 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Pedido de ajuda --- Amigos, fiz duas escutas a algumas semanas atrás. Uma foi feita em Palotina/PR e a outra aqui mesmo em Bandeirantes/ PR. Uma emissora foi ouvida em 7480, às 0029 UT, no dia 30/11, com programação em chinês. Não tenho ainda a identificação dessas emissoras. Chequei nas listas HFCC, Eibi, Aoki e também no BCLNews, mas não encontrei nada. Agradeceria se alguém me disesse quais as emissoras que ouvi, caso saiba. Desejo a todos um ótimo 2011 com bons DX (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso, Bandeirantes - PR, 29 dez, radioescutas yg via DXLD) 7480 could be CNR-1 jamming against Sound of Hope or Voice of Tibet, both of which jump frequencies around this area (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 11985: (BBC?), 1422-1459, 1/4/10. OM interview OM, theme (not familiar), "BBC", OM & YL quick sections through BoH (no other ID noted), 1430 program theme, OM announcer, 1445 stinger, YL announcement, same announcer, 1454 2 OM's in apparent call in's, 1456 excited talk, 1458 OM announcer, music (possibly a theme), OM announcement, 1459 off. SINPO: 34333 - Fair. I could not identify the language, although it might have been something in the Arabic family. Using the usual resources I have (EiBi, Aoki, DX Listening Digest, and those Yahoo groups) I couldn't find anything listed on this frequency at this time. I managed to record the BoH announcement, so I'm quite sure of the "BBC" then. Radio Liberty in Russian from Lampertheim came on at 1500 on the same frequency, significantly more weak (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, WinRadio g313e; Flextenna dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC Hindi from Cyprus probably, back/sidelobe towards US. 14-15 UT 1413 Oman, prob 5845 THA, 5865 TJK, 6030 Krasnodar Armavir, 7395 THA, 9505 Oman, 11985 Zyyi. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 15100 UNID OTH Radar ?, Dec 29 2212 - Extremely strong pulses up to -45 dBM lasting for about 15 seconds from different sites, since the pulses will be weak, and then get very strong. They also jump around in frequency. One lot is centered at 14.8 MHz, another at 14950, and another at 15100, each covering about 200 kHz. Ratchet sounding, but at a very rapid rate. Maximum strength using my NE/SW ALA loop, so northern Canada or Alaska, or Europe are possibilities. Not to the south (nulled in that direction with the Wellbrook array). Found the same thing at 11074, but with a narrower beam of only about 10 kHz. Noted in several locations here as well: 10.8 MHz, etc. Not sure whether these have been identified or not. At the same time [as 15235, SOUTH AFRICA, Jan 2 at 1722], noted a very strong OTH radar (presumed) extending into the 19m band, between 15017 and 15191, although the width seems variable. A most unwelcome visitor! It's centered around 15095, and the normal width seems to be 15040 to 15140. (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4400, VARIOUS, OTH Radar etc, Jan 2 1732 - Did a band scan at 1730 to see how many pests I could see on the Perseus. Here's my list: 4381 to 4427 CODAR (up and down sweeps). The lower portion seems to be from another site, as they're upswinging, and weak (up to 4400). 4536 to 4569: weak upswinging CODAR 4575 to 4590: up and down sweeps. Diamond pattern. 4772 to 4800: strong upswings. 5119 to 5153: OTH radar (weak) 5194 to 5256: OTH radar (stronger). 5327 to 5392: OTH radar (stronger). 5460 to 5496: weak upswinging CODAR. 6752 to 6855: OTH radar (medium) 6873 to 6913: OTH radar (medium) 6889 to 6982: powerful upswinging: either CODAR or another form of OTH radar. Note this one overlaps the previous and seems to have a gap between 6918 and 6923. 6934 to 7020: Horizontal OTH radar (weak). 7627 to 7659: upswinging pulses. 7665 to 7698: down swinging pulses. 7742 to 7781: horizontal pulses (medium) 7821 to 7858: down sloped steeply (weak) 7840 to 7903: down sloped slightly 7959 to 7998: down sloped slightly 8003 to 8095: down sloped steeply (weak) 9101 to 9136: horizontal pulses (medium) 9186 to 9213: complex upswinging pulses. Different from the lower frequencies and buzzing in quality. Very annoying! 10491 to 10512: very brief and varying in width and frequencies. Some can be very narrow (less than 10 kHz). Others much wider. Seem to be from same system. Definitely frequency hopping. In just a few seconds, I measured them hopping from: 10504 to 10510, then 10522 to 10549, then 10524 to 10533, then 10540 to 10544, etc. Probably more of a nuisance since they are very intermittent compared to CODAR. These same patterns seen higher as well 10500 to 10820 range as well. Narrow 5 to 10 kHz patterns also noted up to 11497 kHz. 12116 to 12225: 2 upswinging pulses. One more upswinging and stronger, compared to the less upswinging, weaker pattern. 12277 to 12328: very weak slight upswinging pattern. Same narrow frequency hopping as seen in the 11 MHz area. Also seen at 12346 to 12350. 13364 and up…darn, I got clipped by B-Log. More below. 15090, VARIOUS Intruders and pests, Jan 2 1812 - Moving on to higher frequencies, between 14900 and 15100 a sophisticated, frequency hopping system, with variable widths of 10 to 100 kHz is seen. Often very powerful. Intrudes into the 19 m band. ?Chinese OTH radar? The complex hash pattern seen lower (around 14 MHz) also seen at 15885 to 15894 kHz. Also lower, and brief at 1 to 2 seconds. So frequency agile. Not so much activity up here at the moment. Complex hash as before between 16330 and 16339. Another broadcast band intruder: Same complex hash seen at 17604 to 17614 and 17728 to 17740. Brief, though. There it goes again, 17736 to 17745. Complex hash between 19245 and 19254, and similar 19226 to 19237. Nothing seen higher (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. [continued from 7480] Já a outra foi ouvida em 17725, às 1700 UT, no dia 18/12. Não tenho ainda a identificação dessas emissoras. Chequei nas listas HFCC, Eibi, Aoki e também no BCLNews, mas não encontrei nada. Agradeceria se alguém me disesse quais as emissoras que ouvi, caso saiba. Desejo a todos um ótimo 2011 com bons DX (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso, Bandeirantes - PR, 29 dez, radioescutas yg via DXLD) 17725 was R. Y`abaganda, clandestine for Uganda, which operates via France Saturdays only at 1700-1715, and Dec 18 was a Saturday (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Enclosed please find a donation in appreciation for the work you do on World of Radio. Please keep it up! (Terese Sorenson and Michael Gorniak, Braham MN, with a check in the p-mail to Glenn Hauser, PO Box 1684, Enid OK 73702) This acknowledged on WOR 1546; the others later: I sold off a few of my many SWR's on e-bay and have (for the time being) a little money in the Paypal account, and thought it best to share. Thanks as always for providing DXLD (Tom Roche, Atlanta) This is my contribution to World of Radio, Glenn (Sean Traverse, via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) It`s awful they took off the DX Block. It was the highlight of my evening. I enjoy your show so much. You are dead right on about Neil Rogers; I knew him personally. He made fun of everybody; called me Blind Mike, but he apologized when my guide dog died. He was a real character, worked at WIOD playing music before WKAT. I enjoy your show, greatest thing yet. Keep up the good work (Mike Lantz, Miami FL, UT January 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Many thanks for all your work for the DX and SWL community - it is very much appreciated. There's still plenty to hear and discover on shortwave, and I look forward to DXLD/WOR continuing to cover it. My very best wishes to you for 2011 (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK) Best wishes for the New Year! Hope you will be able to continue your very much appreciated job on DXLD throughout 2011 as well (Olle Alm, Sweden) I take this opportunity to thank you for a very good job during 2010 and wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011! Kind regards (Tore Larsson, Sweden) Hello Glenn. Thank you very much for helping. I wish for you a great 2011 with peace, realizantions, health and good Dx (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso, Bandeirantes - Paraná - Brazil, radioescutas yg via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Info about List eMail address Dear friends, I want inform you that German DXer Hans Friedrich Dumrese has compiled a long list of e-mail address of International radio stations and asks me to inform all my friends that he would like to receive details of any changes or errors. The list can be found at this web site: http://www.email.dxer.info his email address to send corrections is: hf.dumrese @ gmx.de Hoping that this info is useful I say good bye and '73 (Dario Gabrielli, North of Italy, Dec 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) BDXC WEB SITE UPDATES The following surveys compiled by Tony Rogers have all been updated on the British DX Club web site for January 2011: Africa on Shortwave Afghanistan on Shortwave External Services on Medium Wave Middle East on Shortwave South Asia on Shortwave* UK on Shortwave (* Tony has expanded the South Asia survey from the tropical bands to cover all shortwave broadcast frequencies) The DX / Media Programme list and DX Diary are also updated. All of the above can be found as usual at: http://www.bdxc.org.uk - Articles Index (BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS --- see SRI LANKA ++++++++++++++++ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BROADBAND POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS MAKING A COMEBACK? January 1, 2011 --- Polluting Broadband Powerline Communications (PLC) - the technology that ruins peoples' enjoyment of radio - is to be trialled in Liverpool in 2011, five years after the technology was last used in the UK. Liverpool has announced plans for a 200Mbps ISP trial to supply 1,000 homes with broadband Internet access. It's understood that the trial is being run by Scottish Power and Plus Dane Homes. Read the full story at http://www.ukfast.co.uk/internet-news/broadband-powerline-communications-making-a-comeback.html and http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/12/31/liverpool-homes-could-be-first-to-get-superfast-broadband-via-electricity-line-92534-27911483/ Watch BPL Video - A Radio Amateur's Perspective - Nth Hobart, Australia http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2011/liverpool_bpl.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AmateurRadioNews+%28Southgate+Amateur+Radio+News%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail (Southgate via Mike Terry, Jan 1, dxldyg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See USA: Live Sports Radio [sic] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC/RDS/DRM +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re 10-52: >> Ibiquity (the HD Radio/IBOC folks) and the NAB have released an "AM Digital Data Service System Study Report". This report proposes a data system for AM radio similar to the RDS system available on FM. << Most important specification is that it has to be incompatible with what the Digital Radio Mondiale folks have been developed, I guess... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplitude_modulation_signalling_system Not that anyone would care about this AMSS (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See COSTA RICA; GERMANY; NEW ZEALAND; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SPAIN; SRI LANKA; UK; VATICAN; VENEZUELA and UNIDENTIFIED 7170 RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ WOODPECKER?? NEW YEAR SURPRISE?? Quite alarmed this morning to hear what sounded distinctly like the old Soviet OTH radar Woodpecker all across the upper end of the HF spectrum. From 1000-1015 UT, Dec 30: Weak on 12.5 MHz Strong 13.5-21 MHz Peaking and overwhelming 15000-15700 kHz. (e.g., making reception of RFI 15300 and Bulgaria 15700 very difficult) Weaker 21-23.5 MHz and beyond. A very big sweep of spectrum. Now, I know many countries have used HF OTH systems but this is the most obnoxious case since the 1970s and 1980s. Hope nobody is planning some terrible New Year’s surprise! (Dr Derek Lynch, Ireland, Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Anyone else in Europe notice this? See UNIDENTIFIED, Walt`s extensive monitoring from BC (gh, DXLD) The Woodpecker I heard in recent days – and reported in my last email - was audible at 02 UT when I was listening to RAE Argentina. But I noticed it had gone by 11 UT today (Dr Derek Lynch, Ireland, Jan 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Since that was UT Sat, RAE would be on 11711v (gh) THE KING'S SPEECH I saw this last night with my Wife, Erin, and I thought I'd pass along a heads up for anyone out there about seeing it. It has some great shots of old radios and a look at the BBC. It has a few historical speeches and some newsreels also. It's interesting to see the families gathered around the wireless to hear the latest news. It's also offers a nice look at history too. They used a BBC museum to gather the props or at least that's what I think after reading the credits. Give it a look if it's in your area. You might spot a radio or two you own or would love to own (Bert New, Watkinsville, Georgia, Proudly Serving You Since 1964! Dec 31, NRC-AM via DXLD) The "R" rating puts me and my family off. Another place you can see old radios is on any Dan Schneider production: - One episode of "Zoey 101" featured and the plot was centered around a famous Fada Bullet radio. - On "iCarly", their living room is chock full of old radios, including a fabulous looking multiband model. They also have what looks like a vintage Kenwood receiver, and several antique telephones. - On "Drake and Josh", there is a vintage reel-to-reel deck in their room. So far, I have not seen any of Dan's radios in his new show "Victorious". Dan is a well known collector of radios, specializing in those with Bakelite cases, mostly all American five types and their variations. He has a whole wall of them at his house. He also has at least vintage television set on display. Definitely - a man after my own heart - producing good clean family television of a type I haven't seen since the 60's, and that I never thought I would see again in my lifetime. Of course also a radio collector! What a decent fellow! (Bruce Carter, TX, ABDX via DXLD) The rating is only there as a result of the "F" Word being tossed around a few times. The King would use it to help overcome the stammering. Fortunately, he only said it when he [was] off the air. However, I doubt anyone would have said anything had he uttered it on the BBC. My Daughter watches iCarly form time-to-time. I've never watched the show in a serious manner. I usually read while she watches or I listen to the radio. Perhaps I'll give it a look see one of these days (Bert New, Watkinsville, Georgia, ibid.) HISTORICAL LOOK AT SW DIRECTION FINDING http://wireless-mesh-fm-radio-tv-media.blogspot.com/2010/09/shortwave-direction-finding.html (Ian Baxter, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SUNSPOT NUMBERS RISING Notice that 5.9-10 MHz reception from NE Asia in our mornings (0800- 1200 UT) is weaker than last winter; long-distance AM/MW loggings from US, SE Asia are also down significantly on the last two years. Derek (Dr Derek Lynch, Ireland, Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels from 27 December until 28 December at 1200 UTC. During 28/1200-2100 UTC, activity increased to unsettled to minor storm levels, with two isolated periods of severe storm levels observed at high latitudes. Activity decreased to predominantly quiet levels for the rest of the period. The increased activity on 28 December was associated with the CME observed on 23 December. During this period, the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) , as measured by the ACE spacecraft, reached a maximum deflection of -13nT at 28/1401 UTC, while total field (Bt) peaked at 14nT at 28/1315 UTC. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 05 - 31 JANUARY 2011 Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels with a chance for low levels from 05 – 13 January, as Regions 1141, 1142 and 1140 rotate off the visible disk. Activity is expected to decrease to predominantly very low levels for the remainder of the period. 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 05 & 09 January. Flux levels are expected to increase to high levels during 10 – 14 and decrease to normal levels for the remainder of the period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet levels on 05 January. Activity is expected to increase to quiet to unsettled levels during 06 - 07 January in response to a co-rotating interaction region in advance of a coronal hole high-speed stream (CH HSS). From 08-11 January, quiet to unsettled levels with isolated active levels are possible as the CH HSS moves into a geoeffective position. Activity is expected to decrease to predominantly quiet levels during 12-20 January. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected on 21-22 January in response to another CH HSS. Mostly quiet conditions are expected for the remainder of the period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2011 Jan 04 1950 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 2011-01-04 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2011 Jan 05 92 5 2 2011 Jan 06 90 7 3 2011 Jan 07 88 7 3 2011 Jan 08 88 10 4 2011 Jan 09 88 10 4 2011 Jan 10 88 10 4 2011 Jan 11 85 7 3 2011 Jan 12 85 5 2 2011 Jan 13 80 5 2 2011 Jan 14 80 5 2 2011 Jan 15 80 5 2 2011 Jan 16 78 5 2 2011 Jan 17 78 5 2 2011 Jan 18 78 5 2 2011 Jan 19 80 5 2 2011 Jan 20 80 7 3 2011 Jan 21 80 7 3 2011 Jan 22 80 5 2 2011 Jan 23 80 5 2 2011 Jan 24 80 5 2 2011 Jan 25 80 5 2 2011 Jan 26 82 5 2 2011 Jan 27 88 5 2 2011 Jan 28 88 5 2 2011 Jan 29 88 5 2 2011 Jan 30 88 5 2 2011 Jan 31 90 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1546, DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE "FAMILY" - WHO REALLY IS BEHIND THIS SECRET ORGANIZATION? Thursday 30 December 2010 by: Yana Kunichoff, t r u t h o u t | Book Review What if someone were to tell you that your Congressman routinely bandies around phrases such as "Jesus plus nothing," used to mean the complete rule of Jesus, and compares the desired reach to that of Hitler or Ho Chi Minh? If this makes you at all apprehensive, then Jeff Sharlet's "C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy" is a must-read. . . http://www.truth-out.org/c-street-review-is-fact-power-its-justification66406 (via DXLD) ###