DX LISTENING DIGEST 11-08, February 24, 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 1553 HEADLINES: DX and station news from: Algeria, Bahrain, Brazil, China, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iran non, Israel, Korea South, Liberia, Libya, Micronesia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Qatar non, Sarawak non, Turkmenistan, UK, USA SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1553, February 24-March 2, 2011 Thu 1600 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Thu 2000 WBCQ 7415 [confirmed on webcast] Thu 2200 WRMI 9955 [jammed] Fri 0430 WWRB 2390 and/or 5050 [NEW] Fri 1530 WRMI 9955 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 1566 1368 [and/or test 5775?] Sun 0730 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0900 WRMI 9955 Sun 1630 WRMI 9955 Sun 1830 WRMI 9955 Mon 1230 WRMI 9955 Mon 2230 WRMI 9955 Tue 1630 WRMI 9955 Tue 2000 WBCQ 7415 Wed 0200 WRMI 9955 Wed 1630 WRMI 9955 Wed 2000 WBCQ 7415 Thu 0430 WRMI 9955 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/ ** ALBANIA. QSL Recebido - Radio Tirana --- 7465 - Radio Tirana - Shijak ALB - QSL Full data com a foto de Madre Tereza de Calcutá - 17 dias - V/S: Drita Cico QTH: Rruga Ismail Qemali 11, Tirana, Albania - I.R enviado para o e-mail: drita.cico @ yahoo.com RX: Siemens RK 759 - Digital Antena: Long wire 7 metros (Leônidas dos Santos Nascimento, http://www.sokapo.blogspot.com 20 Feb, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Mother Teresa? Haven`t seen that one (gh, DXLD) ** ALGERIA. [re 11-06] Soon new TDA Algiers French service to Sahara / Sahel zone via two new 250 kW transmitter units at ORG Ourgla ALG and BEC Bechar ALG. Transmitter supplier not published yet, ? RIZ, Thomcast, Harris/Continental, China? Last year US supplier Harris delivered the new 600 kW units at MW 531 and 548 Ain Beida and Les Trembles in Algeria. New ORG and BEC registrations of TDA in French! Has substance, transmissions towards southern Sahara and Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Niger, CAF. Old site ALG Bouchaoui SW site til 2003, has still 14 curtains let on Google Earth/Maps image. In ALG Ouled Fayet site, only MW units, MW 891 d600/n300; 981 d600n400 158m / 1422 100/50 kW 90m mast, SW till 1995. Only two masts left for a single SW Curtain Antenna. New registrations on locations ORG and BEC, SW 250 kW unit each! ORG Ourgla ALG 31 55 N 05 04 E on G.E. Image of Jan 2008 only three longwave masts on 198 kHz visible. Azimuth should be 206 degrees to BFA/MLI, southwestern Sahara target. BEC Bechar ALG 31 34 N 02 21 W Azimuth 135degr towards Chad, Niger, CAF, south eastern Sahara target. (ITU / HFCC new site registrations Feb 7 via Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX 18 Feb via DXLD) Béchar 198 & Ourgla 153 not directional? Good (late) evening, Wolfgang! Yes, I read the "HF matter", but I wasn't referring to HF, just to the azimuths in the text, so aren't they applying to 198 & 153? If not at all, then it's my mistake - or perhaps the text isn't too clear, at least to me I mean (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, via Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: "text isn't too clear". I guess some misunderstanding on this item by some DXLD readers, the sentence "SW 250 kW unit each" overlooked maybe: SW - shortwave ! - new 250 kW txs each at Ourgla site {towards southwestern direction} and Bechar site {towards southeast}. Ourgla location fears sand storm and planed to erect like lowest dipole about 0.8 wavelength height above ground. Bechar only half wavelength above ground level. It`s the same location, as the longwave antennas of 198 and 153 kHz, and could be ready on March 27th this year, but may start broadcasting later in summer, or even probably in B-11? Algeria will use for the very first time since 2002/2003 o w n shortwave location to bring the TDA program in French language to Sahara and southern Sahel zone target audience! via two new 250 kW shortwave units, most probably from Continental?, because the new MWs 531 and 548 were made by Harris in USA. 4-7 UT, 18-23 UT antenna typ #146 AHR(S)2/2/0.5 antenna typ #147 AHR(S)2/2/0.8 7415 0400 0600 46NE,47NW BEC 250 135 146 FRA ALG TDA 9705 1900 2300 46NE,47NW BEC 250 135 146 FRA ALG TDA 9815 0600 0700 46NE,47NW BEC 250 135 146 FRA ALG TDA 11855 1800 1900 46NE,47NW BEC 250 135 146 FRA ALG TDA 7265 0400 0600 46NW ORG 250 206 147 FRA ALG TDA 9420 1900 2300 46NW ORG 250 206 147 FRA ALG TDA 9835 0600 0700 46NW ORG 250 206 147 FRA ALG TDA 11715 1800 1900 46NW ORG 250 206 147 FRA ALG TDA (Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, ibid.) ** ANGOLA. 4949.768, Rádio Nacional, fair with local vocals and excited DJ. Many local references to "Luanda." Readable, despite weak modulation. 18 Feb (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF-7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4950, R. Nacional de Angola, Mulenvos. February 19, 2338- 2349 music, female in Portuguese talks, Romantic music, male short talks, back Romantic music. Unreadable, low modulation 22322. 73’s (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA [non?]. 8867, 2106, ANTARCTIC DEEP FREEZ OPPS, ICE 54 AKL posn rept inc mileage check 2105 mils FL 290 block @ 260/340 + estimates AKL adv coms mac center pri 9032, 2nd 11290 28.1 (Roger Pryde, Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND - Sangean ATS 803A / Yaesu 7000, FRG7 UBC92XLT scanner, spouting mount VHF wip 30 metre long wire, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) Sic all the abbrs. AKL = Auckland? (gh) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, nothing yet from LRA36, Feb 21 at 1455. Expected to be back on the air by Feb 25. 15476, nothing yet from LRA36, Feb 23 at 1315, as we count down to the expected reactivation on Feb 25 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA [non]. ANTARCTIC ACTIVITY WEEK ---> The Worldwide Antarctic Program has announced that the eighth Antarctic Activity Week will be held from 21 to 27 February. The aim of this annual event is to promote worldwide interest in the Antarctic continent. Several special event callsigns from around the world are expected to take part in this year's AAW. Participating stations (QSL via operator's instructions) are announced from the following countries: Bulgaria LZ08ANT Canada VA3WAP, VA7AAW, VB3ANT England GB0ANT France TM0WAP, TM8AAW Germany DA0ANT India AU8ANT Italy II0AAW, II2ANT, II3ANT, II3MNA, II5ANT, II8AAW, IO2ANT, IO5ANT, IP1METEO, IP1NAVY, IP2ANT, IP3ANT, IP8AAW, IR0AW, IR1ANT, IR2IR, IU1ANT Lithuania LY100SP Romania YO8ANT, YQ2ANT Slovenia S50ANT Spain AO1AAW, EG1WAP Switzerland HB9ICE Ukraine EM15U USA K4K, K0ANT, N5T Complete information on AAW can be found at http://www.waponline.it (425 DX News 19 Feb via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 1610, R. Fósil new station "no oficial" from Rosario, Provincia de Santa Fé. Future web: http://www.radiofosil.com.ar -- Rubén Guillermo Margenet via ConDig 1620, R. Sentir, new station "no oficial" in the Province of Buenos Aires --Marcelo A. Cornachioni 1630, License for a new station has been issued to San Juan, Provincia de Entre Rios --- web (ARC South American News Desk, Feb, via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Dear Sir, It`s my honour & pleasure to report you the following DX Information for your DX Programme. On February 15th, I logged from 2032 UT, RADIO ARGENTINA EXTERIOR (RAE) French on 15345 kHz with good signal. And also heard from 2055 onwards RAE interval signal plus Station ID announcements prior to the beginning of German transmission of RAE from 2100. Also heard German transmission several times during 2100-2155 period with good signal. A few days back, I logged for the first time RAE in French later German. I was slightly in doubt whether it was RAE, but after listening to RAE's ID signal etc., I was satisfied it was none other than RAE, right from General Pacheco perhaps near Buenos Aires with, not sure about its power!!! Receiver: Grundig YB400 (Digital) Antenna: Long Copper Wire as external antenna Geographical Location of Reception Place (Abhayapuri): Longitude: 26º18´20´´North, Latitude: 90º37´50´´East (for all monitorings) I'm attaching a few audio files recorded during that monitoring period. All audio files are in mp3 format & self-explanatory in nature. Thanking you, Yours Faithfully, Gautam Kumar Sharma My Address: (Mr. Gautam Kumar Sharma Abhayapuri (Near Police Station) PO. Abhayapuri (Assam) PIN. 783384 (India) DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, the clips are RAE. Alokesh Gupta also heard this recently; apparently rather unusual to hear in that worldpart (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Sam Dellit forwards a PDF document with 1984 maps of directional antenna patterns for then-existing and proposed Australian MW stations, as well as maps for each MW channel that look like the Australian version of the NRC Pattern Book! If you’re interested in a copy, you can download it for free from (NRC DX News Feb 21 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 2485, VL8K Katherine NT 0950 rock and roll, 13 February. All three NTs in most days 1000 to 1100 (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Icom 746Pro Modified by Dallas Lankford, NRD 535D [Gilfer] Drake R8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2485, ABC NT Service, 1150-1200, 17February2011, in English. Ballad type music, weather report by male announcer at 1153, song by Abbie Dobson, "Horses" at 1155, followed by a George Michaels song. Excellent reception this morning, 2310 and 2325 also exceptional this morning. Thought Radio Symban would be good also this morning but that was not the case (Ed Wlodarski, NJ, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Hi Glenn, week in review: Only one good day of propagation, 2/20: Alice Springs, 2310 khz very loud with commentary; 2325M Tennant Creek same program also loud, both at 1115; 2485 Katherine, however, was just audible (Bill, W1OW, Smith, MA, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2325, VL8T, Tennant Creek NT, Feb 23 at 1323, YL talking and intonation sounds Strine; much weaker signal on 2310 and can`t be sure it`s //, and no signal on 2485. I checked 2325 conveniently right after 3325 Indonesia, and found their frequencies matched, 1.000 MHz apart. Haven`t heard these in a while (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. BBC Newshour on Radio Australia --- 6020, 9580, 9590 all carrying BBC Newshour at 0715 UT today (Feb 22) rather than a repeat of Australia Today due to the developments in Libya and the earthquake in New Zealand (Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, NASWA yg via DXLD) 6020, 9580, 9590 all carrying BBC Newshour at 1215 UT today (Feb 22) rather than a repeat of Australia Today due to the developments in Libya and the earthquake in New Zealand. I was obviously surprised to find BBC programming on RA. It seemed to be a relay of something like CBC's Overnight Service (Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, ODXA yg via DXLD) The domestic ABC Newsradio service normally airs Newshour at 1200 UT - - 2300 local time in Sydney. Perhaps due to the breaking news they made the executive decision to shift from their usual Late Night Live program (from Radio National on a one-hour delay; guess it should then be called Late Night One Hour Later) to what was on Newsradio. Like CBC Overnight, Newsradio carries several programs from other international broadcasters, primarily the BBC WS, NPR (not the VOA...), and DW. Interesting (to me anyway) is that domestic English Language public radio news sources in other countries get their USA perspective not from the Voice of America, but National Public Radio. That list includes: Spectrum Radio DAB (UK) RTE Choice (Ireland DAB) ABC Newsradio (Australia) World Radio Network (satellite and other platforms) (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA. 6230-USB, VMW, 1232-1244* *1245-1247*, Feb 18. First segment with marine weather (keeping track of two cyclones off the coast) and ending with VMW ID; second segment was full ID for both VMW and VMC, with all their frequencies listed; fair through the QRN. In light of all their recent weather activity, probably many people do listen to this to get an early alert about cyclones before they arrive on land (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. Merodiando por INTERNET me encontré con esta página donde Manuel Castro Vinagre, otro que vivió a pleno la epopeya de la ONDA CORTA, con su particular manera de escribir da su punto de vista acerca del fenómeno de destrucción de este medio que nos acompañó durante - en mi caso - cuatro décadas. Lean por favor su editorial y vean (los más veteranos se angustiarán) las imágenes de gente muy querida que hiciero de Austria un país que trascendió durante años gracias a ORF Radio Austria Internacional, otra que nos dejó! http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:usegW92I-GMJ:web.me.com/mundimedia/Mundimedia_press/CERRO_ORF.html+Arturo+del+Castillo+ORF+Austria&cd=1&hl=es&ct=clnk&source=www.google.com (Rubén G. Margenet, Argentina, condiglist yg via DXLD) Castillo was a pseudonym (gh) ** BAHAMAS. ESPN RADIO SIGNS ITS FIRST AFFILIATE IN THE CARIBBEAN http://www.radio-info.com/news/espn-radio-signs-its-first-affiliate-in-the-caribbean The station is "Sportsradio 103" ZSR-FM at 103.5, broadcasting from the Bahamian capital of Nassau on the island of New Providence. ESPN Radio says its current lineup "features 12 hours of programs, including call-in shows and interviews with special guests." The plans are to enhance the local schedule with coverage of local sporting events "such as regattas, the CARIFTA Games, high school nationals and adult softball leagues." The affiliation in the Bahamas was done through ESPN Caribbean, a part of ESPN International. Bernard Stewart is the VP, ESPN Caribbean and Maritime Media. "Sportsradio 103" is owned by Navetter Broadcasting and managed by Vann Ferguson (via Artie Bigley, Feb 23, DXLD) ZSR/Nassau, Bahamas Adds ESPN Radio NAVETTER BROADCASTING Sports ZSR (ZSR SPORTS RADIO 103.5)/NASSAU, BAHAMAS has affiliated with ESPN RADIO under a new two-year agreement. ESPN CARIBBEAN and Maritime Media VP BERNARD STEWART said, "This is another step in ESPN's goal to deliver to sports fans in the CARIBBEAN top quality sports entertainment wherever they are." NAVETTER BROADCASTING GM VANN FERGUSON said, "Bahamians are as fanatical about NBA, NFL and NCAA as Americans and enthusiastically follow sports on TV. Our carrying ESPN programming on radio is an added treat for fans to stay informed and hear games when they are unable to catch them on TV." (allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, HI, DXLD) What a waste; so much for local Bahamian content. What's next? Glenn Beck on ZNS? (Brock Whaley, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Don`t give `em ideas. ZSR? Is that a legal call? ZS- used to belong to South Africa (gh) ** BAHRAIN. With protesters demanding change, Bahrain can be heard with lyric Arabic music (sounds like songs about Bahrain, if I get the singer right) on 9745.0 kHz (20 Feb 2011, 0000 UT) with a weak signal, but in the clear. Just music, short news at TOH. While the carrier and USB are there, the lower sideband seems to be missing, or weaker. 73, (Eike Bierwirth, Leipzig / Germany, JRC NRD-525 / DX-10 Pro active antenna, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) 9745, Radio Bahrain, 0020-0050, Feb 21, carrier + USB, Arabic talk. Lite instrumental music. Local Middle Eastern style music. Weak (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX Listening Digest) 9745, 0511 Feb 21, talks by OM and music 0520 phone in, S2 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. Here is a monitoring report of ICC Cricket World Cup opening ceremony broadcasted via different frequencies of Bangladesh Betar here in my QTH at Jorhat, Assam located 26.75 N 94.22 E. 1155-1230 UT [Feb 17] -- 4750 kHz (Shaver) -- Strong Signal, but some noise -- SIO 444 (Live Commentary of opening ceremony heard) Also found interesting reception conditions of some following BDB Medium Wave stations between 1230-1300 UT. 558 kHz (Khulna) -- Inaudible 630 kHz (Dhaka-B)-- Not carrying cricket. 693 kHz (Dhaka-A)-- Loud and Clear, slight noise -- SIO 544 846 kHz (Rajsahi) -- Strong Noise --- SIO 222 873 kHz (Chittagong) -- Noise and Interference -- SIO 322 963 kHz (Sylehet) -- SIO 111 999 kHz (Thakurgaon)-- SIO 111 1053 kHz (Rangpur) -- SIO 222 1080 kHz (Rajsahi) -- SIO 111 1161 kHz (Rangamati) -- Inaudible 1287 kHz (Barisal) -- SIO 111 1431 kHz (Bandarban) -- SIO 111 Regards, (Prithwiraj Purkayastha, Jorhat, Assam, Feb 17, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 4750, Bangladesh Betar, 1157-1205, 18February2011, in Bengali. Sub continent type music followed by station ID at 1200, then a male singer with Muslim sung prayer. Fair signal (Ed Wlodarski, NJ, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 4750, Bangladesh Betar 1333-1400+ Feb 22. Sub-continental music, YL speaking occasionally. Poor but slightly better than a weak co-channel station and slightly better than RRI Makassar on 4749.96, which is almost always stronger. All stations deteriorating by 1400 (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Feb 23, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) Hi Everyone, Can anyone help with this, 4750 kHz signing off at 1725 http://www.box.net/shared/bfztkzitn9 (Mark Davies, Anglesey UK, Feb 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Language sounds South Asian to me, so Bangladesh in Bengali, at sign- off. Bit of music near the start also sounds Quranish (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Bangladesh Betar in Bengali (Alokesh Gupta, India, ibid.) Almost certainly Bangladesh Betar - mention of Bangladesh just before final music on your recording. 73 (Alan Pennington, UK, ibid.) Hi Everyone, 4750, Bangladesh Betar, Dhaka, signing off 1725 23/2/11. Thanks to everyone on DXLD for help in IDing; I was hoping for this as a first for me, thanks again (Mark, Anglesey, ibid.) ** BOLIVIA. 4699.92, R. San Miguel, 1032, fair with local music and talk by excited male DJ. Surprisingly, this one makes it through on days, other Latins are absent. 12 Feb (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD- 535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF-7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 5580.22, 2320-0025 19+20+21.02, R San José, San José de Chiquitos (0.250 kW) Spanish talk, Andean flute, music and songs. Reactivated after six months of instability. 15221. My reception confirmed by Robert Wilkner (Anker Petersen, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 5580.2, Radio San José, San José de Chiquitos 2310 to 2330, Thanks Anker Peterson tip and earlier log. 20 Feb (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, FL, Icom 746Pro, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [Re 11-07]. Continua o enigma dos 3355. O colega Thomas Nilsson, no sul da Suécia, gravou em 3355, às 2300 utc ontem, uma ID completa. E' da Rádio Difusora Acreana, A Voz das Selvas, do Sistema Público de Comunicacão. No entanto, segundo o WRTH, a Acreana emite em 4885. No site italiano http://www.mcdxt.it/LASWLOGS.html#Recent_reports informa-se que a Acreana foi ouvida em Janeiro 2011 nos 4885.02 com A Voz do Brasil às 22 horas utc. Gostaria que alguém da lista pudesse entrar em contato com a Educadora do Xapuri ou a Difusora Acreana para esclarecer se "A Voz do Brasil" das 23 horas utc for uma gravacão do sinal da Acreana. Sds. (Henrik Klemetz, Suécia, Feb 18, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) Olá, Em 14 de novembro de 2010 eu ouvi a Radio Difusora Acreana nos 4885 kHz e logo em seguida enviei um relatório de recepção, ainda não respondido. Entre as 0054 e 0130 UT, naquela data, a emissora tinha um programa musical: 4885 14/11 0054 Rádio Difusora Acreana (A Voz das Selvas), Rio Branco/AC, seleção de músicas sertanejas e boleros 25542 73 (Fabricio Andrade Silva, Tubarão - SC, ibid.) Olá amigos, Depois de algum tempo, os amigos dexistas escandinavos puderam gravar uma identificação da emissora brasileira em 3355 kHz, algo que comentamos há alguns dias, na identificação, bastante clara, se escuta Rádio Difusora Acreana, a Vóz da Selva. No entanto não existe qualquer informação sobre isto, pode ser uma retransmissão via Xapurí-AC através da Radio Educadora, ou alguma outra coisa. Radio Difusora Acreana era ouvida em 4885 kHz, mas sem relato há algum tempo. Alguém daquela região participante desta lista poderia ajudar? Obrigado, (Samuel Cássio Martins, São Carlos SP, ibid.) Olá pessoal, Ouvi a identificacão da Difusora Acreana em 3355. Não é da Educadora essa frequencia? A pergunta foi formulada por e-mail ao diretor da Educadora. Eis a sua resposta: Caro Henrik Klemetz, A Rádio Educadora de Xapuri faz parte de um sistema de emissoras denominado Sistema Público de Comunicação do Acre, do qual a "Voz das Selvas" é a nave-mãe. Em razão disso, parte de nossa programação (da Educadora) é retransmitida da Difusora Acreana, daí você ter ouvido a identificação desta em 3355 kHz. Saudações do Acre, (Raimari Cardoso, via Klemetz, radioescutas yg, via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) Re 3355 unID: It was nice to finally settle this log. I had great luck to capture the Acreana ID just when the station was heard at its best but still weak in noise. 73 (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So here are all the items about it in SW Bulletin Feb 20, most originally in English, but some translated from Swedish by TN --- 3355.021, Feb 10 and Feb 17 at 2300, R Educadora de Xapuri. No ID observed this time. Going direct from music into “A Voz do Brazil”. Strongest reception from 2245 to 2315 (greyline effect!). Has been more or less audible every day but it is very hard to get an ID. The station was heard again on Feb 17 at 2300, enough audible to get a nearly decent recording. This was sent to Henrik Klemetz and he immediately heard the ID for Rádio Difusora Acreana – a Voz das Selvas … mentioned before “A Voz do Brazil” was started. See his comments below and the reason why those two stations cooperate. TN (Thomas Nilsson) There is (or has been) some confusion regarding the name of the station, sometimes noted as R Difusora. WRTH says R Educadora. See also those old loggings: 3255, 3.1 2258, Rádio Educadora 6 de Agosto med stort ID: "Rádio Educadora 6 de Agosto de Xapuri. Ondas medias 820 kHz, Ondas Tropicais 3355 kHz - uma emissora do departamento de divulgação social da prefeitura municipal de Xapuri, administração Xapuri para todos". Märkligt nog tycks kortvågsfrekvensen annonseras som 3355 kHz. Oddly enough, the shortwave frequency is advertised as 3355 kHz. (CB, SWB 1528, 2004) 3255, R Educadora 6 de Agosto, Xapuri, AC, 0017, Dec 19, Brazilian music, Portuguese ann: "Comunicação com ‘opessoal de Xapuri’, oferecimento musical". (Grimm, Ibiuna-SP via DX-Window 340, 2008) There has been a lot of mail activity the last days regarding my recording from Feb 10 of this station. The people involved in trying hard to identify this station have been in particular Henrik Klemetz together with Samuel Cássio from Brazil. Also Mauno Ritola and Tore B Vik have been very helpful in different ways. Mauno Ritola also recorded the station on Feb 5 at 2300. Mauno’s recording was made with the help of the Perseus server at DL0AO located in an old military field east of Nürnberg where they use a 200 m Beverage directed towards LA. From the mails: Henrik Klemetz: Tore B Vik who has followed our discussion with interest - he is an old acquaintance of Sr. Cardoso's - sent me this message 20 minutes ago: Henrik - Fra Raimari Cardoso fikk jeg dette svaret: Dear Tore Vik, Radio Educator Xapuri continues to operate in the Medium Wave frequency of 820 kHz. Tropical Wave In it shifted to 3255 kHz to 3355 about 6 months. However, better informed of these technical details with the engineering department to be able to tell you better. Fraternal embraces of Xapuri. /ToreB A new recording made by SWB-editor Feb 17 at 2300 was sent to Henrik Klemetz, who comments: ooh, ooh, ooh - sounds like Rádio Difusora Acreana, a voz das Selvas .... The same recording, but now made in WRPlus, was sent to Henrik on Friday evening, Feb 18. Here you can hear clearly [the frequency information] 4885 kHz, Henrik says, who also picked up sounds and images from Difusora Acreana online. Postcards from listeners (someone who recognizes his own postcards?) http://www.oriobranco.net/acre/6227-uma-sala-de-memorias-na-radio-difusora-acreana-.html A professionally made video of Rádio Difusora Acreana is here: http://vimeo.com/10053168 Too difficult linguistically, Henrik says, but it has interesting pictures and examples of messages that are requested by listeners out in the fields. R Difusora Acreana can be heard from their web stream at this address: http://www.difusora.acre.gov.br/ On Feb 18 the Brazilian DXer Denis Zoqbi announced in a somewhat unclear message to Henrik that the technician Rubem Rebelo, uncertain if he works on Acreana or Xapuri, says that 4885 has transmitter problems and that the broadcasts for the moment use 3355 and that they are heard in the São Paulo area at 1100 UT, which corresponds to sunrise in Acre. On Saturday afternoon, Feb 18 came an email from Henry Klemetz with the final answer of the station that broadcasts on 3355: Educadora retransmits parts of Acreana’s programs because both belong to the Sistema Público de Comunicação do Acre. Thus, it is Xapuri that we have on 3355. Please note the somewhat "indirect" response ... Mission accomplished. / Henrik Klemetz Henrik has really worked hard to get the info for a station that almost nobody heard earlier on its new frequency. Once again a big thank you to the DX-detective Henrik Klemetz! / TN 4885.015, 18.2 2305, R Clube de Pará med ID, mx 2-3 Alltid stark.. TN 4885.023, 18.2 2305, UNID station, carrier almost equally strong as Pará but much weaker audio with music. What could it be in the same direction as Pará if Acreana now uses 3355 until their transmitter is repaired? Or is Dif Acreana back testing? TN (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Feb 20 via DXLD) [Summing up:] Re unID 3355: This is R Difusora Acreana (announcing MW and 4885), a move from 3255. Suspecting this was R Educadora, I wrote to that station's manager who has a blog called Xapuri Agora. From his reply I learn that Educadora and Acreana are joint members of the Sistema Público de Comunicação, and so Educadora sometimes will carry Acreana programming. Audible in Europe at sunset in Acre state, bordering to Bolivia, which is around 2300 UT. In North America, best try would be around their local sunrise, 1100 UT. Note: Xapuri is pronounced as sha-poo-REE (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, in Dxplorer, Feb 19 via DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) Rdif. Acreana, Rio Branco, 19 Feb 2011, 0200z 4885.0 KHz ID with local information by male DJ then Salsa style music. S5 signal. (Kenwood TS- 2000 with dipole at 18 meters) (Gary W. Froemming, CTC, Glendale, Arizona, USA, WB7CAG / Grid: DM33vn74vk, 33.56016N / 112.18416W, ODXA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) R. Clube do Pará usually dominates (gh) ** BRAZIL. 4885.02, R. Clube do Pará, 0232-0305 Feb 20. Last part of ID, then non-stop vocal music to ToH; another full ID at 0301 with call letters, etc., but tough to copy due to band noise. More music followed the ID (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Feb 23, Drake R- 8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Difusora de Macapá --- Alguém sabe alguma notícia da rádio difusora de Macapá no Amapá? Faz algum tempo que não a capto pelo RN (Elder vale Medeiros, 21 Feb, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Salve, Eu liguei para lá e eles me responderam. A nova administração disse que encontrou a rádio sucateada [scrapped] e tiraram do ar as transmissões das ondas tropicais. Disseram que iriam recuperar transmissores e melhorar a rádio. Não me deram prazo para isso. Abraços, Paulo Henrique Lima PU8YPL, PY80005SWL Santarém, Pará Projeto Saúde & Alegria Pontão de Cultura Digital do Tapajós + 55 93 3067 8000 Santarém - PA http://www.redemocoronga.org.br http://www.saudeealegria.org.br radioescutas yg via DXLD) Was 4915, 25 kW, 24 hours per WRTH 2011 (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. [Re 11-07]: 5055, 0602, Rádio Jornal a Crítica tentatively the station first noted running all night 6/1 on 5054.92m with non- stop vocals until morning program opening at 0700 with sung ident jingle mentioning Amazonas. Peaking at good level but barely audible at 0758. Regularly heard since but at poor level compared with early January (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Since it`s inactive on SW 9615, I was listening to R. Cultura FM São Paulo webcast for `Mapa Mundi`, world music hour this week from Lebanon, at 0000 UT Sunday Feb 20; announcement at end of it reminded us that DST terminates tonight --- so from next week that show will be at 01-02 UT Sundays. I`ve changed Utimes and updated all the RCSP programs listed at http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html Reverting from UT -2 to UT -3 in the SE/coastal states where daylight is shifted will also affect SW program scheduling, s/on/off times, e.g. RNA on 11780 should be coming on an hour later for the next octomonth, around 0745 instead of 0645 UT (except 24h UT Sundays); and the original airing of A Voz do Brasil, the detested must-carry government show will again be 22 instead of 21 UT for those stations which haven`t banished it to 3 am like RCSP has (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9675-, Feb 17 at 2226, ``Rede Canção Nova`` ID, ``para todo o Brasil``, ``rede católica``, flutter and lo het, as this reads slightly on the lo side compared to BFO zeroed on WWV 10000. Several more IDs followed in commercial-like enthusiastic unabashed self- promotion for the next four minutes, until 2230 programming resumed. This is ZYE971, 10 kW from Cachoeira Paulista. I wonder what its waterfall looks like (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If you really are wondering what the waterfall looks like, it is easy to find. Try the Panoramio website (Don Jensen, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Radio 9 de Julho now on air. --- 9820, Radio 9 de Julho, Sao Paulo, 2038-2050, 19-02, Portuguese, male and female voices, religious comments: "A casa pastoral", identification: "Você está ouvindo Radio 9 de Julho", "O povo brasileiro". 22332 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rádio 9 de Julho - ondas curtas --- A tradicional Rádio 9 de Julho de São Paulo, hoje emissora religiosa, tem transmitido também em ondas curtas de 31 metros frequência de 9820 kHz, com sinal muito bom. Em ondas médias transmite em 1600 kHz. O locutor anuncia a rádio assim: ---- Rádio 9 de Julho, "a primeira rádio à esquerda do dial" (depende do ponteiro do rádio analógico). 1600 kHz geralmente fica à direita do dial. No passado a 9 de Julho ficava bem à esquerda. Só que eles repetem esse slogan sem observar que houve mudança. O que posso dizer em ondas curtas é que ela é última à direita da faixa de 31 metros das emissoras brasileiras em rádios com ponteiro de sintonia. (9820 kHz). É o que há (Luiz Chaine Neto, Feb 20, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Re: 11805 kHz SRDA. Hallo OM Rudolf W. Grimm, Als ich am 25. Januar, als verhaeltnismaessig gute Brasilien Ausbreitungsbedingungen Richtung Sueden Deutschlands waren, auf die 11805 kHz schaltete, war ich ueberrascht um 2100 Uhr UT eine Ansage mit "Radio Capital de Rio de Janeiro" hier zu hoeren. Es wurden aber nur die Frequenzen MW 1030 und KW 6070 kHz angesagt. Das Programm davor, aehnelte jenen die zu gleicher Zeit auf 9565 und 11765 kHz ausgestrahlt wurden, dort sollte ja wie auch auf 11805 kHz "R Tupi" / "Super R Deus e Amor" senden. Handelte es sich hier um eine Fehlschaltung? Oder ist der Betreiber der 11805 kHz "Radio Capital Rio de Janeiro"? In den Meldungen der DX-Szene aus den letzten Tagen fand ich nichts dazu. Ich habe auch ein Mitschnitt den ich falls erwuenscht als mpg zuschicken kann (Erich Bergmann-D, an Rudolf Grimm in Brasilien, Feb 13, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews 18 Feb via DXLD) "Super Radio Deus e Amor" ist ein bekanntes technisches und strategisches Problem hier in Brasilien. Erstmal sind die ueberall in KW oder MW (in einige Staedten auch ueber FM/UKW). Und die Sendungen mischen sich oft. Die Hauptsendung laeuft hier in Sao Bernardo Stadt, wo ich wohne, ueber MW 1300 kHz. Das Signal wird ueber das grosse Land verbreitet, auch nach Peru, Argentinien, usw... In allen Empfaengen, immer die gleiche Stimme, falls zu beobachten ist, laufen fast alle \\. Es gibt wirklich ein "Radio Capital 6070 Rio de Janeiro" das auch von SRDA benutzt wird. Zu einigen Sendezeiten haben die Sender eigene lokale Ansager, die das realisieren. Wenn die ueber 11805 kHz Radio Capital uebertragen, ist das ein Fehler. 11805 von der Radio Globo organization, die den Sender an SRDA vermietet hat. Aber, wie gesagt, SRDA ist immer eine grosse Ueberraschung (Rudolf Grimm-SP BRASIL DX Clube do Brasil als Mail an Erich Bergmann-D, Feb 13 via BC-DX 18 Feb via DXLD) Google translation, which has a long way to go in unscrambling it: ** BRAZIL. Re: 11805 kHz SRDA. Hello OM Rudolf W. Grimm, When I 25 January, when Brazil relatively good propagation conditions towards the south of Germany, were on the 11805 kHz switched, I was surprised at 2100 UT Clock talking through "Radio Capital de Rio de Janeiro to hear here. There were but only the frequencies 1030 and KW MW 6070 kHz announced. Before the program resembled those which at the same time on 9565 kHz and 11765 were broadcast, there was supposed to and on 11805 kHz "R Tupi" / "Super R Deus é Amor" send. Is this a Circuit failure? Or is the operator of the 11805 kHz "Radio Capital Rio de Janeiro? In the reports of the DX scene from the last few days I found anything about that. I also have a recording if desired I can send as mpg (Erich Bergmann D, to Rudolf Grimm of Brazil, Feb 13, BC-DX TopNews wwdxc February 18 via DXLD) "Súper Rádio Deus é Amor" is a [well-]known technical and strategic problem here in Brazil. First are everywhere in SW or MW (in some cities also about FM / USW). And the programs often are mixed. The main program runs here in São Bernardo town where I live, about MW kHz 1300. The signal is spread over the vast country, also to Perú, Argentina, etc. In all receivers, always the same voice, if it can be observed running almost all the \\. There really is a "Rádio Capital 6070 Rio de Janeiro" is also used by SRDA. For some airtime, the station's own local announcer, realize that. When about 11805 kHz Rádio Capital transferred, that is a mistake. 11805 of the Rádio Globo organization, which has leased the station to SRDA. But, as I said, SRDA is always a big surprise (Rudolf Grimm-SP BRASIL DX Clube do Brasil as mail to Eric Bergman -D, Jan 13 via BC-DX via DXLD February 18) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL, 15190.01, R. Inconfidencia, Feb 11 2301-2335 25332- 25432 Portuguese, Talk, ID at 2303 and 2333 15190.01, Feb 12 2354-0010 23322-25322 Portuguese, Music, ID at 2359 15190, 2259-2310 25322 Portuguese, Talk and music, ID at 2302 15190, Feb 17 2255-2316, 25332 Portuguese, Talk, ID at 2256 and 2302 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium Feb 18 via DXLD) 15189.98, Radio Inconfidência, 2215-2245, Feb 17, Portuguese talk. Jingles. ID at 2234. Fair. Poor to fair on // 6010 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, Rádio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, 1720-1750, 19-02, male, Portuguese, comments: "Obrigado pela sintonía", Rádio Inconfidência", "Minas Gerais", Brazilian songs. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, 27 Km. W of Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, faced WSW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Estimados amigos de la lista: Necesito información sobre cómo enviar informe de escucha a Rádio Inconfidência, 15190 kHz. Envié e-mail a: diretoria @ inconfidência.com.br pero los mensajes eran regresados como ERROR PERMANENTE. Atte. (Profesor CESAR PEREZ DIOSES, PERU, 15 Feb, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Radio Inconfidência --- Buenas noches, amigo Pérez. Entré en contacto con el departamento de ventas de Radio Inconfidência y el correo electrónico me informó que es la delirio @ inconfidencia.com.br Un poco extraño este correo electrónico, pero esto fue lo que empecé. Espero que ayude. Cálido abrazo de su compañero brasileño (PY4018SWL Marcelo Freitas, 16 Feb, radioescutas yg via DXLD0 Someone else suggested that maybe including the circumflex on the e made the e-mail bounce. It seems to me that e-mail addresses never have accents on them, so are they really verboten? (gh, DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. NORWAY/MYANMAR, The Voice of Democratic Burma [sic] is closing down its Headquarters and radio production in Norway due to lack of financing. The new Headquarters has not yet been decided. The station, which has been active in Norway ever since the beginning, beams daily via satellites and short wave transmitters from its downtown Oslo studios to Burma. In Burma it runs a well-organized clandestine organisation of reporters who risk up to 20-40 years imprisonment, if they are caught by the junta. The station receives a part of its foundation from Norwegian human rights organisation. A spokesman for the Voice of Burma [sic] said, it is support from outside Norway, that has dwindled. The station needs more than one million US dollars to continue from Oslo. Norway is too expensive, he added. Its TV studios in Oslo will continue, however (Rolf Løvstrøm, Oslo, Norway, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) ** CAMEROON. I also heard TJ9PF, Cameroun on 1850 kHz 2/19 2312 UT. This DXpedition has been ongoing on the ham bands for at least a week (Bill, W1OW, Smith, MA, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CKMO WANTS TO GO OFF AIR AND ON THE WEB http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/ Dave Obee: First radio station goes from church to online -- The next time you are exploring the AM radio dial, pause for a moment at 900. That's where you will find the station known as Village 900 - officially, it's CKMO - broadcasting a mix of folk, roots and world music. For the time being, at least. Village 900 wants to move its signal off the air and onto the web. The non-profit station provides a multicultural alternative to the dozens of other stations serving this market. It's run by Camosun College, and has been on the air since 1993. Thanks to its frequency, however, you can trace its roots back to 1923. In April that year, Rev. Clem Davies brought radio service to Victoria when he set up a transmitter so he could broadcast his service from Centennial Methodist Church. His little transmitter became known as CFCL. The station was soon taken over by some church members, who turned it into a commercial radio station known as CFCT. For a quarter of a century, it was the only radio station in Victoria. That doesn't mean there was no competition. At the time, those lucky enough to have radios -and who had bought the licences needed to make them legal -could warm up the tubes and listen to stations from as far away as Denver, Los Angeles and Calgary. Schedules for a couple of dozen stations were published in the Daily Colonist and the Victoria Daily Times. But only one was in Victoria. There were several changes at the station over the years. In 1941, the station was sold to a new company that counted among its shareholders the Matson family, who also owned the Colonist. The station became known as CJVI and moved to 900 on the dial. A new building, to house the newspaper and the radio station, was planned for 2631 Douglas, where the John Alfred Manor is today. By the time construction started there were major changes. The Matsons sold their share of CJVI as well as the Colonist. With the Colonist and the Times under joint ownership, it made sense to put them together in the new building. When the Times replaced CJVI in the plans, the radio station had to find a new home. Its new owners chose the top floor of the Imperial Optical building at 817 Fort St., making the move in 1952. CJVI is still at that address, although you wouldn't recognize it. It has evolved into Jack, or CHTT if you prefer, and it is on the FM band. At one time, not that long ago, AM was where it was at, and AM licences were worth gold. FM, not so much. When Camosun moved its closed-circuit campus station onto the air in 1993, it did so using an FM frequency. But consumer tastes have changed over the years, and FM has become the preferred dial. In 2000, CJVI did a swap with Camosun, giving the college broadcaster its AM frequency and getting 103.1 FM in return. Strictly speaking, Jack is the direct descendant of the station that started in the sanctuary of Davies's Methodist church, but Village 900 is surely part of the family as well. After all, it is on the old CJVI frequency, one that has been serving Victoria for almost 66 years. But not for much longer, because the Internet is changing everything in yet another area. The college station is planning to move online, streaming its audio to a much larger potential audience while cutting its costs. Our world music station could end up with a worldwide reach, something that Davies would surely have dreamt about as he looked for ways to spread his message beyond the walls of his church. The good minister certainly saw the potential in that newfangled radio thing. The conversion to streaming audio will take time, so Village 900 will still be on the air for another couple of years. Listen while you can. And remember that when it finally signs off, it will be the end of an era in Victoria. © Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. CONFEDERATION BRIDGE FM RADIO SIGNS OFF http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2011/02/18/pei-confederation-bridge-radio-511-584.html When high winds close the bridge, it can lead to long queues at the toll gate. (CBC) [caption] The Confederation Bridge, which connects P.E.I. and New Brunswick, has shut down its small FM radio station that provided drivers information about bridge closures. For years, travellers approaching the Confederation Bridge could tune in to FM radio to get the latest bridge conditions, but now there's only dead air. Bridge officials say the reception was often iffy. "You could be in Borden and you wouldn't have reception, but you could be in Port Elgin and it worked great," said Strait Crossing general manager Michel Le Chasseur. "That's not sufficient for us, we want something that is reliable." Bridge officials now want P.E.I. to bring in the 511 system, a system that allows drivers to get the latest road conditions on their cellphones. After dialing 511, punching in the highway number tells you what the road is like. The system is already operating in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Le Chasseur expects that within 90 days the New Brunswick 511 system will include Confederation Bridge updates for drivers coming from that province. He's hoping P.E.I. will set up 511 as well. He noted in recent years the bridge is closing more often because of high winds. "I'm sure there's a solution because I'm sure the province wants to be part of a good communication plan if they can. Why not?" he said. Le Chasseur hopes P.E.I. will set up 511 before the summer tourists arrive, but the province is not ready to make a decision. "We continue to look at the benefits, the costs, and the province is not ready to commit to any time line on the implementation of 511," said Department of Transportation spokesman Andrew Sprague. Provincial and Strait Crossing officials hope to get together to discuss 511 in the next few weeks (via Kevin Redding, Feb 18, ABDX via DXLD) WTFK? ** CANADA. 6040, VG at 2309 Feb 19 continuous jazz instrumentals where CRI English is supposed to be, and // 11970 at 2319, so Sackville lost feed, but I`m not complaining as preferred this to non-lost feed via Habana 5990, usual boring propaganda quickly checked (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ECUADOR [non] ** CHILE. RADIO PORTALES FUERA DEL AIRE --- Amigos de La Lista: Desde hace un tiempo atrás que estaba echando de menos la transmisión de Radio Portales de Santiago AM 1180. En una primera instancia me imaginé que era una emisora más que se sumaba a la lista de radios AM que simplemente desaparecen del aire, lo cual es muy notorio en regiones fuera de Santiago. Sin embargo entrenado en la página web de esta emisora me encontré con una muy buena noticia: Radio Portales está cambiando completamente su planta transmisora y vuelve al aire el próximo 28 de Febrero con más potencia logrando una mayor cobertura... un poco de aire fresco para la alicaída banda de AM chilena. Un abrazo (Rubén González Valderrama, Feb 19, condiglist yg via DXLD) Viz.: Estimados auditores, amigos y miembros de la red: Informamos a ustedes que gracias al avance de los trabajos que mejorarán el sonido y potencia de nuestra señal, Radio Portales volverá con su programación habitual el próximo lunes 28 de febrero de 2011. Agradecemos a todos ustedes su paciencia, sus llamados y sus buenos deseos. Ya estaremos nuevamente juntos, para compartir aquello que durante años nos ha unido como buenos amigos. Atte. Plana Administrativa, Radio Portales, Santiago de Chile (via Valderrama, ibid.) Listed as 50 kW at 1030-0430 in WRTH 2011; so to be more than 50 kW, or just refurbished and effectively more? (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. Maoming Marine Meteorological Broadcasting Station (3360 kHz USB at 0943, opened on Dec. 30, 2010) sent me a PFC verification in Chinese, along with the Chinese New Year message card after 44 days for my reception report in Chinese. 10 yuan bill, enclosed in the report, was returned. PFC was signed (cannot read) and stamped by a member of Maoming Meteorological & Scientific Technology Information Center. The address of the station; Haiban road, Maogang district, Maoming city, Guandong province, China 525000 (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, Feb 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CNR8-Voice of Minorities Current sked on Feb. 17 (cf. DXLD 11-05) 2055-2100 Opening ID & Music 5955, 5975 2100-2300 Korean 5955, 5975 2300-0100 Mongolian 5955, 7445 0100-0200 Kazakh 9455, 11630, 11810, 15670 0200-0300 Kazakh 11630, 11810, 12055, 15670 0300-0400 Mongolian 9610, 11815 0400-0500 Korean 9440, 9610 0500-0600 Kazakh 11630, 11780, 12055, 15415 0600-0700 Korean 9440, 9610 0700-0800 Mongolian 11780, 15415 0800-0900 Mongolian 5955, 11780 0900-1000 Kazakh 11630, 11780, 12055, 15415 1000-1100 Korean 7410, 9785 1100-1200 Korean 5975, 6020 [these two are hilited in red:] 1200-1300 Mongolian 5955, 9615 1300-1400 Mongolian 6180, 7445, 9630, 9645 1400-1500 Kazakh 6180, 7445, 9630, 9645 1500-1700 Kazakh 6145, 7445, 9630, 9645 1700-1705 Closing ID & Music 6145, 7445, 9630, 9645 --- de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, Japan, NDXC, Feb 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6035, PBS Yunnan/Voice of Shangri-La, 1200, Feb 22. Nice ID in English; “This is the Voice of Shangri-La, brought to you by Yunnan Radio" (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 9355, ARMENIA. Democratic Voice of Burma assumed the weak station under Firedrake at 1453, Feb 17. Very poor (Harold Sellers, listening in Castlegar, BC for a second day, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It would be interesting if Firedrake could be correlated with jamming DVB besides services for DentroChina. Current Aoki and HFCC do not show DVOB here, but this was in DXLD 11-02; however, Feb 17 was a Thursday when per this, should have been on 11515 instead: BURMA [non]. Democratic Voice of Burma in Burmese from Jan. 1, correxion 1430-1530 9355 ERV 300 kW / 100 deg SEAs Sat/Mon/Wed/Fri // 17790 MDC 1430-1530 11515 ERV 300 kW / 100 deg SEAs Sun/Tue/Thu // 17790 MDC 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, Jan 6, WORLD OF RADIO 1547, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ERV = Armenia, MDC = Madagascar EiBi does have DVOB on 9355 at 1430, no days of week specified. However, Aoki does show that Sound of Hope could have jumped to this frequency, and thus provoked Firedrake: ``9370 SOH Xi Wang Zhi Sheng 1430-1500 1234567 Chinese 100 131 Dushanbe-Yangiyul TJK 06848E 3829N SOH b10 9300-9380`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 8400 // 11500, CNR1 jamming, 1530, Feb 17. First time I found this instead of Firedrake; not able to detect any echo as usual with this type of jamming. So was it just a solo CNR1 jamming the SOH? Feb 17 at 1335; back to normal with solo Firedrake on 8400; while 6030 had FD and CNR1 echo jamming, as usual. Seems that China was doing some recent experimenting to see which jamming would work best against RFA, SOH, etc. (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Following Ron Howard`s report of Firedrake after 19 UT on 9355, 9455, 9905 and 11945, all against R. Free Asia, I looked for these Feb 17 at 1907. I could hear some Chinese talk on 11945 and 9355, both poor, and traces of signals on 9455 and 9905, none of which sounded like Firedrake music. Either the jamming switched to CNR1 today, or I was really hearing RFA without either jamming, blotted out by the higher- latitude paths from China thru the auroral zone. RFA sites: 9355 and 9455 Saipan, 9905 Tinian, 11945 Tajikistan. 8400, Firedrake Feb 18 at 1337, poor with flutter, and no others heard except usual mix with other jamming on 6030 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake --- China resumed its government (radio) censorship this local morning with more Firedragon music crashing booming and banging. A sampling of frequencies observed 2/21/2011 in El Mirage, Arizona, just after 1700 UT: 11940, 9905, 9455, 9355*, 7445, 7415. * music and audio of intended target (R. Free Asia, via Mariana Islands) could be heard underneath. From 2/19, 1230 UT, 10300, no trace of target station (Sound of Hope, USA/HI). 73 and Good Listening! (Rick Barton , El Mirage , AZ, Feb 21, Hammarlund HQ-140X, Drake R-8, outdoor slinky and l.w., Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) What you mean /HI? Some Hawaii connexion? (gh) Firedrake Feb 23: 8400, poor with flutter at 1247 9355, poor at 1330. R. Free Asia, Saipan, is here at 17-22 but at this hour the target must be Xi Wang Zhi Sheng = Sound of Hope, listed in Aoki on 9360 at 1300-1330 via Tajikistan, but jumping anywhere from 9300 to 9380 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. SOUND OF HOPE EXPANDS BROADCASTS TO CHINA While the BBC is cancelling its Mandarin broadcasts in April 2011 and Voice of America (VOA) its Mandarin and Cantonese broadcasts in October 2011, the Sound of Hope Radio (SOH) Network [affiliated with Falun Gong, which is banned in China] has announced that it will be expanding shortwave broadcasting to China to meet the demands of its Chinese audience. According to China Internet Network Information Center’s recent statistics, China has 450 million Internet users and 730 million adult non-Internet users. Of the 450 million Internet users, 60 percent are under the age of 30, most are young people or urban residents. Most of the remaining population, which consists of citizens over the age of 50, residents of rural or small and mid-size urban areas, and a mobile population of up to 230 million people including migrant workers, either do not have access to or do not know how to use the Internet; they are the ideal audience for shortwave broadcasts. According to CCP statistics, there are a total of 500 million radios in Chinese households and many can receive shortwave or mediumwave radio. * Read more at theepochtimes.com http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/sound-of-hope-bucks-the-trend-and-expands-broadcasts-to-china-51736.html (February 22nd, 2011 - 10:23 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) 2 Comments on “Sound of Hope expands broadcasts to China” 1. #1 Jonathan Marks on Feb 22nd, 2011 at 12:40 I fail to understand the logic here. Because this group of older listeners have no Internet access they are an ideal target for shortwave? Just because people have a sw capable radio does not mean to say they use it to listen to crackly voices from abroad. This sounds like an argument from people who believe we should manufacturer typewriters again because they don’t crash like PCs. Will they bring about change if they manage to tune in? Are they naturally allies in wanting to help the Falun Gong? I do not. They are the most conservative part of the population. They do not have the technology to form groups. Hopefully we’ll get to learn how many people they are reaching now, so that when the broadcasts increase they will be able to judge if the plan was successful. 2. #2 Roy Sandgren on Feb 22nd, 2011 at 14:00 Most radios selling in China got several SW bands. 100 dreds of models aviable in China (MN blog comments via DXLD) Whew, was afraid the jammers would not have enough to keep them busy (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Dear friends: The Postal Administration of Colombia, issued a stamp (+ cancellation and FDC) to honor its national radio station HJCK. Date of issue: February 4th, 2011. For more details, in Spanish, please, click on COLOMBIA: http://www.4-72.com.co/content/emisora-hjck-el-mundo-en-bogota Have fun. (FABIO FLOSI, (BRAZIL), radiostamps yg via DXLD) Stamp: http://www.4-72.com.co/files/HJCK%20-%20Estampilla.jpg ** COLOMBIA. 2879.936, Radio Vida Nueva, Barranquilla, 1100 to "Radio Nueva Vida, Colombia y el Mundo" by om 17 February (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Icom 746Pro Modified by Dallas Lankford, NRD 535D [Gilfer] Drake R8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2 X 1440v 2879.935, Radio Vida Nueva, Barranquilla, noted with subdued signal at 0020 on 20 February (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, South Florida, US, Icom 746Pro NRD 535D Drake R8 Sony 2010 XA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Radio Marfil Estero, Puerto Lleras, 18 Feb 2011 0534z 5910.0 KHz. S6 signal with station ID and talk by man and woman. Seemed to contain religious content (Kenwood TS-2000 with dipole at 18 meters) (Gary W. Froemming, CTC, Glendale, Arizona, USA, WB7CAG / Grid: DM33vn74vk, 33.56016N / 112.18416W, ODXA yg via DXLD) Really? 5910 has been carrying their AM station the last few weeks, Alcaraván Radio; did they switch back to FM Marfil Estéreo? (gh, DXLD) 5910, Alcaraván Radio, Puerto Lleras, 0558-0650, 20-02, Latinamerican songs, identification at 0600: "Alcaraván Radio, 1530 AM, y en onda corta, 5910 kHz, banda internacional de 49 metros, Alcaraván Radio", religious comments in Spanish. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, 27 Km. W of Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, faced WSW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO. 6115, Rdiff. TV Congolaise, Feb 12 1810-1821 25322 French, News, ID at 1813; Feb 17 1802-1816 23332-24332 French, News, ID at 1807 and 1812 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium Feb 18 via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 5066.34, Radio Candip, presume the one with French talk at 1847, into hilife, much later than listed sign-off. Very weak but readable. 19 Feb (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF- 7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I heard this evening Radio Candip, Bunia on 5066.330 at 1850 to 1903 S/off. French talks by male about a new village. Reception was weak, but I could easily follow. Perseus SDR and Super Kaz antenna, (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, Feb 19, HCDX via DXLD) 20/02/2011 1837, 5066.3, R Télé Candip, Bunia COD, px local mx (low audio ) -Suff 73 good dx! (Mauro - -Swl 1510- -IK2GFT- Giroletti, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) 5066.35, R Télé Candip, Bunia, 1840-1859*, Feb 20, African music and songs, male French announcer with ID at 1859: "Vous êtes à l'écoute de Radio Télé ... émettent sur ...", short female closing announcement, 24432/3 (Max van Arnhem, Hoenderloo, The Netherlands, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) Hi Everyone, 5066.35 kHz, R Tele Candip, Bunia, COD, 1859, off 1900 21/2/11. Apparently talk about industry in the Congo (Thanks to Maurits for listening) http://www.box.net/shared/sgzag0zca4 (Mark Davies, Anglesey UK, Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 5952, ELCOR, R. República relay, 0715, presumed, with Spanish talk by a man. Heavily jammed and sandwiched between two other stations (though slightly better copy in LSB). 18 Feb (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF-7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) You mean 5954.2? (gh) ** CUBA. 1040/1190/1450 Radio Mayabeque, ex-Radio Güines. Also 104.7 FM. Fq 1040 heard by Bill Whitacre, Alexandria VA, identified by Henrik Klemetz in RealDX --- This is the result of the new administrative division of the Island. On Jan. 8th two new provinces were born from the old La Habana: Artemisa y Mayabeque. So this is the new provincial station born from the 40-year-old Radio Güines and adding the transmiter used until this moment for the old Radio Cadena Habana provincial station: 1040 (Güines 10 kW), 1190 (La Salud 25 kW) and 1450 (Güines 1 kW, old Radio Güines transmitter) (Mauricio Molano, Salamanca in RealDX, ARC LA News Feb via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. DentroCuban unjamming 1180? I have a report that Cuban jamming of Radio Martí 1180 has ceased --- at least the hi power Rebelde outlet near Habana. Could monitors nearer Cuba check that out? (Glenn Hauser, 0416 UT Feb 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) For the first time in "Forever" I can get WHAM 1180 perfectly. I am listening on a Grundig G5. Confirmed on a C Crane CCRadio-EP. 73, (Kevin Raper, KJ4HYD, CE WCKI WQIZ WLTQ, 0437 UT Feb 19, ABDX via DXLD) There is no limitation to the fidelity of AM radio. From a mathematical standpoint, AM does better in frequency response than FM. - Leonard Kahn [Kevin`s tagline] About 0945 GMT I hear the usual fare of Cuban music but If I turn the radio, I can barely hear WHAM under the Cuban music doing talk radio. Earlier about 0400 GMT, I hear the Cuban music which was not as overpowering as was usual, but turning loop due east I can hear R. Martí on 1180. The Cuban music, Radio Rebelde was weaker than usual. The local station, WJNT, 1180, Pearl-Jackson, MS was not audible at that hour at night. WJNT cuts power at night to 500 W and has a nighttime FM repeater on 103.3 MHz doing talk radio. Radio Rebelde has been a real problem at night and is the reason WJNT runs an FM repeater at night so it can cover the Jackson, MS market at night. By the way, if this development continues, those further north might pick up WHAM without the Cuban interference (Richard Lewis, Forest, MS, Grundig G4000A, Panasonic Stereo with external Loop Antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I'm trying to figure out what sort of Spanish-language I'm listening to. Doesn't sound very 'commercial'; and the last 10 minutes has been only music at this point. The signal is phenomenal, guessing in the 1 to 5 millivolt range (Ron Gitschier, Palm Coast, FL, ABDX via DXLD) Hi all, Cuba noted on 1180 in Finland, though much weaker than before. 73 (Markku Jussila, Karper?, Finland, 0712 UT 19 Feb, NRC-AM via DXLD) Cuba was huge on 1180 in Toronto last night. So was 620, like I've never heard it before; both Rebelde (Saul Chernos, ON, Feb 19, ibid.) Looks like Rebelde 1180 may have been off only until Friday, back Saturday. As for telling it apart from R. Marti, just check the numerous Rebelde MW frequencies for // or if too far away, SW 5025. And then the R. Marti SW frequencies for //. I was going to link to the frequency grid but seems to have been removed from their website! 6030 in the evenings is one. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ABDX via DXLD) 0245+ February 20, at least two slightly out of synchro Rebelde's (normal) and at the usual big strength (Terry Krueger, Clearwater FL, the next night, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe RR biggie was off yesterday, when I guess you did not check. 73, (Glenn to Terry, ibid.) Maybe so, as last night as I did not check (Krueger, Feb 19, ibid.) I listened last night on 1180 and heard two Rebelde signals about a quarter second apart. Martí is in there, but I don't think it puts much signal to the north (Juan Gualda, Fort Pierce, FL, Feb 20, ABDX via DXLD) I, too, heard the quarter second 'echo'/second Rebelde station. Didn't recognize Martí (Ron Gitschier, FL, ibid.) But let us also not forget that there are 3 and probably 4 Rebelde relay transmitters on 1180. At least two are very strong and slightly out-of-synch here. On rare occasions, one will be patched to Rebelde FM. So, is this person confirming that Arnie's Thugs brought down all 3-4 transmitters at the same time (any/all of which would be audible from the Keys)? I would find such brilliant de-activation coordination unlikely by these 1950's-minded ass-clowns (Terry Krueger, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See our previous report that Cuba `lists` at least low-power 1180 transmitters in virtually every province (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. 1620, Feb 18 at 0716, R. Rebelde atop the jumble, unusual but conditions are auroral, // 5025 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Estimado Glenn: leía su publicación 1552 del pasado 18, las fotos publicadas por Lev Lytovchenko sobre unas antenas en Quivicán. En realidad no es Quivicán, es cerca de San Felipe y La Julia donde pasa una línea ferrea y la carretera más al norte, rumbo a San Antonio de las Vegas. Hube de encontrar alguna coincidencia con las imágenes del satélite y una de las fotos que comparto con usted. Recuerdo cuando estaba en Cuba y viajaba por ferrocarril (línea sur) ver ese campo de antenas. Mis saludos y buenos deseos, (Oscar de Céspedes, FL, Feb 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Estimado Oscar, Gracias, hace tiempo que no veo colaboraciones de su parte. Las 4 torres indican que son para onda media dirreccional y no onda corta, donde habrán muchas torres más con `cortinas` entre ellas. 73, (Glenn to Oscar, via DXLD) SALUDOS GLENN: Efectivamente, he estado alejado de las colaboraciones. Primero fue la muerte de mi Madre y hace poco la de mi Padre, ambos en Cuba. Ahora estoy retomando las colaboraciones. He encontrado en Google Earth estas imágenes del 2005, donde se aprecian las torres de cortina en la zona comprendida entre "San Felipe" y "La Julia". Usted me comenta que las fotos del satélite, enviadas en el correo anterior corresponden a antenas direccionales de onda media. Entonces podríamos asumir, que pueden ser las de Radio Rebelde en 710 AM que el WRTH describe con 250 kW desde La Julia. Gracias por su pronta respuesta. 73 (Oscar de Céspedes, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Three GE shots of curtain towers, shadows attached (gh) Rebelde 1180 GE view --- CMBA 1180 50 RADIO REBELDE VILLA MARIA, SAN MIGUEL DEL PADRON, CIUDAD DE LA HABANA (Oscar de Cespedes, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) attached to dxldyg, shortwavesites OTRAS ANTENAS CUBANAS --- SALUDOS GLENN: He encontrado en Google Earth, algunos otros lugares con numerosas antenas parabolicas y otras antenas más pequeñas. Estas están más cerca a la capital Ciudad de la Habana. Próximas al Municipio Arroyo Naranjo, próximas a la Presa (embalse) "Ejército Rebelde". Desconozco el servicio que prestan, pero pudieran pertenecer a la Agencia "Prensa Latina". De todas formas, tal vez algún otro Forista, puede constribuir a descubrir el sitio real. 73 (Oscar de Céspedes, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have found in GE some places with numerous parabolic antennas and other smaller ones. These are closer to the capital Habana. Near the Arroyo Naranjo municipality, near the ``Rebel Army`` dam. I don`t know what service they provide, but could belong to the PreLA news agency. Anyway, perhaps someone else on the forum can contribute to discovering the true site. (xltn by gh) One of the views also has some non-parabolic antennas. I doubt it is productive to bother with ubiquitous parabolic dishes (gh, ibid.) ** CUBA. 12134, cut numbers Feb 17 at 1412 ruining AFN on 12133.5; strong signal in CW, A1 with carrier cutting on and off, but there is also a tone when the carrier is on, like A2. 5-character letter sequences as in coded spy transmissions, preceded by header TDIIN repeated (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. 11690, Radio Habana Cuba, 1302-1307, Feb 17, in Spanish. News with male and female presenters, SINFO 43443. // 6140, 11760, 54444 with bad hum and crosstalk from another broadcast on transmitter; 13780, 54444 with bad hum and crosstalk from another on transmitter, 13680, SINFO 55555, and 15120, SINFO 44444. The crosstalk apparently was at the RHC end as the crosstalk program content was identical on both 13780 and 11760 (Steve Handler, IL, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) +: 13780, Feb 17 at 1417, RHC on Paraguay vs imperialism, with hum and constant crosstalk from instrumental music underneath; format sounds like R. Enciclopedia. No such problem on otherwise // 13680. At 1540 I notice that 11760 has the same crosstalk; while // 11690 and 12040 must be at the other site, with degraded lo-fi audio an echo apart from the others, and no music underneath during `Formalmente Informal`. I was hoping to get an ID from the music, but both it and the RHC audio stopped simultaneously at 1559 as 13780 went into open carrier before closedown (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6140, RHC frequency announcement at 1359 Feb 18 is incredibly correct as per published schedule, except one of the frequencies mentioned, 12040 is not on the air, unimpeding weak Turkish English on 12035. Another Hugazoless Sunday morning Feb 20, so RHC was funxioning as follows, only with its own programming: At 1457 past 1500, Sunday-only frequency 13750 is on instead of 13680, but // 13780 15360 11690 11730 11760. The other `Aló, Presidente` frequencies, 15370 and 17750 were not on. Good for Sudan Radio Service via Portugal, unimpeded on 17745 past 1600. RHC 12040 also missing as usual on Sunday mornings. Furthermore, 11760 stayed with RHC Spanish instead of Esperanto, including 1510 `El Mundo de la Filatelia`. Recheck 1643, ALL RHC frequencies are off. Further chex for RHC anomalies Sunday Feb 20: 15370, at 2226 open carrier; 2231 cut on RHC IS and opening Esperanto as scheduled, even tho it was missing from the earlier time of 1500 on 11760 which stayed in Spanish. Radío Havano Kubo announced nominal Espo. Sunday sked: 1500 to N/C/SAm on 11760; 0700 [always out of order] to San Francisco, Usono on 6010; new 2230 to S America on 15370. Usual opening themesong, and listened a bit longer in case they mentioned current date, but did not hear it. 15370 was as usual overmodulated and distorted. Meanwhile, what is happening with RHC Spanish? I had missed the 1435 first airing of the DX program `En Contacto`, so expected it around 2240, best on 11770, but instead there was `Formalmente Informal`, with Ernesto Lecuona himself playing his great songs on piano, `Malagueña`, `Andalucía`, `Siempre en mi Corazón`, interspersed with brief interviews about Teatro Estudio, on its fiftieth anniversary (ergo program from 2008 since it was founded in 1958), narrated by Orlando Castellanos. It`s not clear what connexion Lecuona had with the theatre, if any. And what`s this doing on Sunday? FMIF is normally a M-F show at 1531 UT, maybe repeated weekday evenings. Still no DX program at 2306 when RHC went onto `news` about the Castro Bros. being named delegates to a Commie-con in April, congrats! Recheck at 2343, `El Mundo de la Filatelia` is opening with mailbag items from stamp-exchangers. FINALLY, at 2354 `En Contacto` starts, more than an hour late. After birthdays, Pedro Sedano`s monthly DX report on behalf of Spain`s AER; 2358 began a collaboration from Rubén Guillermo Margenet of Argentina, but the best frequency I was still listening to, 11770, cut him off abruptly at 2400 as it is scheduled to do. UT Feb 21, found EC continuing on 12040, 12010, 9820, but at 0001:30, 9820 also cut off. Then checked 5040, and that was opening RHC English as scheduled. Spanish did continue also on 6140, 15230, and at 0006 9770 was on. Some of these were an echo apart from each other. By then, Arnaldo Coro Antich was starting a propagation report on the recent abrupt increase in solar activity. Had not heard him for months within the Spanish DX program, and his outro was ``para esta revista informativa``, his usual sign-off for unDX spots within the news magazine shows, so this probably also appeared elsewhen, here as a bonus perhaps without his knowledge or intentional participation. `En Contacto` ended at 0008. When will it be on next Sunday? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is Arnie sinking into the mud??? 11760, RHC at 2015 Feb 20 with Arnie Coro's “Dxers Unlimited” with a good signal but low level audio with hum and het. Either the transmitter or audio link has a problem with it (Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, NASWA yg via DXLD) 6140, R Habana Cuba, Quivicán, 2340-0100, Feb 13 [Sunday], Spanish DX programme with many mentions of RAE and R Belgrano. This is not R Rebelde as stated in the Klingenfuss SWGuide; heard this one [on 5025 presumably] at the same time with a different program. 43443 (Kaj Bredahl Jorgensen, Greve, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) Klingenfuss still shows Rebelde on 6140?? Their extended SW broadcasts beyond 5025 ended several years ago! Klingenfuss is better with utility info, I hope. Was the DX program at 2340? Anyhow, it must have been an hour later than previous scheduling also the week before I heard it on Feb 20 straddling 0000 UT into Feb 21 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) The Radio Havana Cuba transmitter would be on 6140; also causes some slopover on Radio Romania International at 0100 on 6145. The RNW and RRI signals were listenable here in Houston, but the adjacent channel QRM was/is an annoyance on RHC signal peaks (Steve Luce, Houston, TX, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Closing Radio/TV Martí frustrated: see U S A ** CYPRUS [non]. 9440, R. Dardasha 7 via Germany [Christian]: Feb 10 *1700-1711 35333 Arabic, 1700 sign on with SJ, Opening music, Opening announce, Talk Feb 11 *1700-1710 35322 Arabic, 1700 sign on with SJ, Opening music, Opening announce, Talk Feb 17 *1700-1709 25322 Arabic, 1700 sign on with SJ, Opening music, Opening announce, Talk Feb 15 *1700-1710 25332-35333 Arabic, 1700 sign on with opening music, Opening announce, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium Feb 18 via DXLD) ** DENMARK [and non]. 18128-USB, Feb 17 at 1453, OZ5ONE, Ben, is working North American DX, but bothered by constant carrier on 18127, whence? Says he is running 1.8 kW to 6-element beam from Lolland Island #029 in southern Denmark; quite a jovial fellow, signs off with ``73 and 51``. 1457 working VA7DIN/mm, Dennis [no, not spelt thus] off the Pacific coast of Nicaragua whom I could also hear, and later a W6 I could not hear at all. QRZ.com shows: OZ5ONE, Bent Olsen, Gallevej 31, 4913 Horslunde, Denmark VA7DIN, Dinis C.G. Matias, RICHMOND, BC V6X 1A7, Canada, but currently cruising, in a 5-year circumnavigation of the world! See http://www.vidanova35.blogspot.com/ I hope they aren`t handing out Bibles around Somalia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see TESTIMONIALS ** DJIBOUTI. 4780, Radio Djibouti, *0300-0350, Feb 19, sign on with National Anthem. Arabic talk. Qur`an at 0303. Arabic talk at 0314. Local guitar music at 0341 along with rustic vocals. Horn of Africa style music. Fair. Had to use ECSS-LSB due to digital hash on high side (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 2280.02, Radio Anacaona, 1100 to 1115 español, cover of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34GX0gIg9M4 excellent signal followed by other covers. 19 February. Noted strong at 0020 on 20 February [Wilkner] 2310 noted well to 0005 [XM-Cedar Key] (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, South Florida, US, Icom 746Pro NRD 535D Drake R8 Sony 2010 XA, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2280.08, Radio Anacaona, 0145-0258*, Feb 20, 2nd harmonic of 1140v. Spanish music. Spanish announcements. ID at 0226. Appeared to sign off at 0258, but carrier remained on the air past 0320. Poor in noisy conditions but fair on peaks. Surprisingly good signal on occasional peaks (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX Listening Digest) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.02, R. Amanecer, Santo Domingo, 0106, 2/20/2011. Nice classical mx pgm. Fair with heavy splatter from 6020 and 6030 (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, Iowa, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook 330s Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EAST TURKISTAN. 4499.99, CHINA, Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi in local language 02/08 1754-1800* local song; YL announcement; local song; YL announcement; Chinese music; YL announcement over music with possible ID at 1758; continuing local music & sudden S/ off at 1800; heard in SSB with mild QSB & QRM ute; almost good (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy, JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper-S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 730, HCMG2, R. Guayaquil has been heard by Jim Solatie in Lemmenjoki. Closer examination has revealed that the station has been off the air for well over a year. It has close ties to the PRE party and the Bucaram family. The ex-president Abdala Bucaram is living in exile in Panamá, but his youngest son is a member of the parliament. Radio Guayaquil has become the party's mouthpiece. There is no "official" address to the station. Henrik Klemetz 1370, HC5RR, R. El Rocío sometimes calls itself "RR". The callsign, which is missing in the WRTH, is HC5RR. It is indeed announced from time to time (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, ARC South American News Desk, Feb, via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. [Re 11:07:] On February 4th the German Service of HCJB (Asociación Vozandes Media) got the permission of the Ecuadorian environmental authority to build a transmitting station on Mount Pichincha. They plan to use 3 transmitters and 4 antennas for this transmitting station, mainly for the coverage of the Amazonas area (Iris Rauscher, HCJB German Section, Feb 11, WWDXC DX News via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) Viz.: Neue Kurzwellenstation fuer Radio HCJB in Planung --- Ecuadors Umweltbehoerde erteilt die Erlaubnis fuer den Aufbau. Am Freitag, dem 4. Februar 2011 bekam der deutschsprachige Dienst von Radio HCJB die Genehmigung der Umweltbehoerde, eine Sendestelle am Berg Pichincha aufzubauen. Damit sind die Wege fuer weitere Planungen geebnet. Die Umweltbehoerde kategorisiert die Landschaften in drei Klassen A bis C. Fuer den deutschsprachigen Dienst von Radio HCJB, der im Land Ecuador als Asociacion Vozandes Media arbeitet, war nur die Klasse A als Option moeglich, da B und C mit hohen Auflagen, Kosten und regelmaessigen Inspektionen der Umweltbehoerde verbunden sind. Weitere Huerden stehen noch bevor, insbesondere die Frage, inwieweit das Kurzwellensignal die umliegenden Nachbarn stoert. Auch muessen detaillierte Bauplaene der Gebaeude eingereicht werden. Dringendstes Anliegen ist, dass ein Projektleiter fuer die Planung und den Aufbau gefunden wird. Freiwillige aus den USA und Europa haben schon ihre Mithilfe signalisiert. Geplant ist, vier Antennen und drei Sender aufzustellen. Schwerpunktmaessig soll das Amazonasgebiet erreicht werden, da durch die Unwegsamkeit die Kurzwelle eine besondere Bedeutung fuer diese Region hat. Iris Rauscher Radio HCJB - online Radio hoeren (Christoph Ratzer, Austria, OE2CRM, A-DX Feb 11 via BC-DX 18 Feb via DXLD) Google translation: ** ECUADOR. [Re 11-07]. New shortwave radio station HCJB in for planning. New short wave radio station for HCJB in Ecuador Umweltbehoerde granted planning permission for the construction. On Friday, the 4th February 2011 was the German-language service Radio HCJB the approval of the building Umweltbehoerde, a transmitter site on Mount Pichincha. So the roads are paved for further planning. The Umweltbehoerde categorized the landscape into three categories A to C. For the German service of Radio HCJB, who works in the country as Ecuador Asociación Vozandes Media, only the class A was possible as an option, since B and C with high-volume, cost and regular inspections Umweltbehoerde are connected. More hurdles lie ahead, especially disturbs the extent to which the short-wave signal, the surrounding neighbors. Also detailed construction plans must be submitted to the building. Most pressing concern is that a project is found for the design and construction. Volunteers from the U.S. and Europe have already signaled their assistance. The plan is to establish four antennae and three transmitters. Schwerpunktmaessig to the Amazon region can be achieved because of the inaccessibility for the short-wave has a special meaning this region. Iris Rauscher Radio HCJB - listen online Radio (Christoph Ratzer, Austria, OE2CRM, A-DX Feb 11 via BC-DX 18 Feb via DXLD) 6050, HCJB, Pichincha, relaying local BCB 690 kHz programming, 1040- 1110 on 2/19. Clear frequency and nice signal with HC folkloric music featuring groups of women in high-pitched yipping singing in Quechua or other local language, along with guitar accompaniment. Decent signal tho announcer muffled. Mentioned "Pastor Carlos" and "La Voz Campesina". Piano and vern singers in pasillo style hymn with guitar at 1158 to time pips on the hour. 1110 ID for "Radio H-C-J-B . . ." Great listening, a treat to hear the local stream so well, especially at this hour when they are playing such great music (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer, Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2, Longwire, HCDX via DXLD) ** ECUADOR [and non]. PARTNER VOZANDES MEDIA ADDS PROGRAMS IN TWO INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN ECUADOR --- (Feb 18, 2011 by Ralph Kurtenbach) Ecuador-based partner ministry Vozandes Media recently added two languages to its program schedule, airing from its shortwave transmitter on Mount Pichincha above Quito. Begun in mid-2009, Vozandes Media now airs 12 languages, the majority of those from South America. Programs in the Cha´palaa (also known as Chachi and Cha´palaachi) and Shuar languages, both indigenous to Ecuador, began airing in mid- January, according to Stefan Thiemert, a German computer scientist volunteering his time in Ecuador. Hymns with Shuar lyrics, for example, had already been recorded on tape, then later digitalized. “This music is used for broadcast a half-hour every day,” Thiemert said. The intended audience, members of the Shuar Indians of Ecuador’s Amazon region, was first evangelized by Protestant missionaries in the 1940s. Newly printed Shuar Bibles were presented last summer in jungle communities of Ecuador’s Amazon region. Likewise, a half-hour each day is dedicated to a broadcast in Cha´palaa for the Chachi (Cayapa) people group living in Ecuador’s northwestern province of Esmeraldas. The Chachi, numbering about 15,000, live mainly by agriculture, fishing and hunting. Using the Dalet system at Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Thiemert digitally mixes all parts of the daily half-hour programs even though he doesn’t understand either language. “We first have an announcement in Spanish, then in Cha´palaa, then come the readings—for instance at the moment we are broadcasting [a reading from] Exodus,” Thiemert explained. “Afterwards we broadcast some music and ‘A Verse to Remember.’” The recordings were done by an evangelical from Esmeraldas province, Mártires Tapuyo. He worked with missionaries Neil and Ruth Wiebe of Wycliffe Bible Translators on written texts, then began serving as a liaison between HCJB Global Hands water technicians and Chachi communities. He also took on the task of recording biblical texts from Genesis, Exodus and the New Testament. The Wiebes have since retired in Canada. In Ecuador since October 2010, Thiemert comes from Darmstadt, Germany, where he has studied computer science. He also posts programs to an Internet site for delivery to CVC International (Voz Cristiana) an international broadcaster with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Languages airing on 6050 kHz from Ecuador include Cha´palaa, Cofán, Quichua, Shuar, Spanish and Waorani. For a half hour respectively, Cha´palaa airs at 2130 UT and Shuar at 2330 UT Monday through Friday. Programming in German, Low German, Portuguese and Kulina (indigenous language in the Brazilian Amazon) airs from CVC International in Chile. (The Chile site is part of the organization, Christian Vision, with headquarters in the U.K.) German and Low German both air on 9835 kHz at 1630 and 2330 UT while Portuguese and Kulina air on 11920 kHz at 2245 UT. Additionally, a shortwave site in Sitkunai, Lithuania, airs programming in Russian and a Central Asian language on 9770 kHz. Vozandes Media has added satellite broadcasts in Europe as well as podcasts on the Internet to further spread the gospel. Program delivery on Phonecaster is also an option in which Europeans can select from a variety of German-language programs by calling a specific telephone number. The Low German program enjoys top popularity with a daily broadcast on Phonecaster. Recognized by Ecuador’s authorities, Vozandes Media works under the auspices of HCJB Global’s World Office in Germany. Formerly it was under the mission’s Latin America Region. Several staff members continue to work in the Quito office. Sources: HCJB Global, http://www.britannica.com and http://www.native-languages.org (HCJB Global News Update, week of Feb 14-18, via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) And this: Dear Glenn, AUSTRALIA/ITALY/USA: Heard on Feb 19th, Saturday DX Programs: World of Radio at 1700-1730 on 12160 WWCR and 1900-1930 on 6090 IRRS; DX Party Line at new time for me 1730-1745 on 12160 WWCR as repeat of 0758 11750 and 1316 on 15400 Australia and again at 1945 on 6090 IRRS, Italy (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Feb 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So it`s back on WWCR right after WOR (gh) ** ECUADOR [non]. 12025, HCJB via Sackville in Arabic, VG Feb 19 at 2130-2145 mostly nice exotic music with no particular Christian flavor to my ears; as I dozed, cut to RCI IS and ID around 2145* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Wireless came to Egypt quite early. The New York Times on March 8, 1912, stated that a large wireless station would be established in Egypt as part of the Imperial Wireless Scheme as outlined by the famous Guglielmo Marconi. This station was constructed at Abu Zaabal on the north eastern edge of Cairo during the year 1914. The 300 kW transmitter at Abu Zaabal was on the air on 55 & 66 kHz longwave under the callsign SUC and it communicated with a similar station at Leafield in England. This station, after successive upgradings and modernizations, was destroyed in 1954 during the Suez War. During the early 1920s, several small broadcasting stations were established in Egypt, mainly in Cairo & Alexandria; though in 1931, the government closed all of the irregular stations, permitting just a few well run stations to remain on air. The Egyptian State Broadcasting Service was established in 1934, and all radio broadcasting in Egypt has since remained under government control until more recent times. On the shortwave scene, new shortwave transmitters were installed at the longwave transmitting station at Abu Zaabal in the late 1920s, and it appears that initially two units rated at 10 kW were in use. These units were on the air for phone communication with Europe and the United States under callsigns in the SU series, such as SUV, SUX & SUZ. The first known usage of these shortwave transmitters with the broadcast of radio programming was in mid 1935, when station SUV was noted on 9570 kHz in both the United States & Australia. Over the years, the shortwave base at Abu Zaabal has been re-outfitted with numerous additional transmitters, and at the present time a total of 18 are listed at this site. Another shortwave station located at Mokattam, also near Cairo, was developed in the late 1950s, and at least four transmitters at 50 kW & 100 kW have been in use. This station is no longer on the air. A third shortwave base was developed at Abis near Alexandria also in the late 1950s with several Marconi transmitters rated at 250 kW & 500 kW. The Abis station is still in use today with 9 transmitters listed. Over the years since the mid 1930s, the statistics show that Radio Cairo shortwave has utilized a total of somewhere around 40 shortwave transmitters ranging in power from 10 kW to 500 kW. Although Egypt on shortwave was not always a reliable verifier, yet multitudes of colorful QSL cards, showing ancient monuments and current scenes have been issued (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for Jan 30 via DXLD) Incredibly, he does not mention the severe modulation and other problems of these transmitters (gh, DXLD) 9305, Radio Cairo (presumed); 2303-2340+, 15-Feb; Continuous wailing to 2325 with brief announcement by M in Arabic, to more poppish tune. Pips and tone at BoH, anthem into M news in Arabic with numerous mentions of Qahira (Cairo). SIO=4+54- with hint of distortion, more evident during voice than music. Heard BoH anthem on // 9900, but covered by Chinese -- probably CNR1 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re MOROCCO [and non]. ``15345.15, RTV Maroc (tentative), 1602-1705+, 4-Feb; ... Egypt sked for English here and 12170 at 1600; nothing on 12170 or on any of the other Egypt frequencies sked for 1600. Argentina not in EiBi at 1600; Morocco is, but lately heard on 15341 (nothing there). ... center-fed RW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Egypt sked on 15345?? Where?? (gh)`` EGYPT, ERU Radio Cairo: (B-10 schedule updated) 6270 0045 0330 7-9 ABZ 250 315 Spa,Eng 9315 0045 0330 7-9 ABZ 250 315 Spa,Eng 12170 1600 1800 47,52,57 ABZ 150 195 Eng 17870 1215 1330 41,49 ABZ 250 90 Eng 15345 1600 1800 47,52,57 ABZ 150 195 Eng <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 6270 1900 2245 27,28 (Harold Frodge, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Oh! I must have overlooked that 15345 entry, which must be wooden alternative to 12170, never reported, and would collide with Morocco, usually on 15345v after 1500, not that anybody would care about that (gh, DXLD) EGIPTO, 15065 kHz, Radio Cairo, Abu Zaabal, 20-02-11, 1443-1448. Locutor con comentarios, en pashto. SINPO 34333 15080 kHz, Radio Cairo, Abis, 20-02-11, 1448-1453. Música y comentarios de locutora, en árabe. SINPO 45444 (Javier Robledillo, Elche (Alicante), EA5-1028, Rx: Sangean ATS909, Ant: Telescópica, http://cuadernodebitacoradx.blogspot.com via Roberto Scaglione, shortwave yg via DXLD) So Abu Zaabal site is back in business? Or can we be sure the site has not been switched on 15065? (gh, DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005.01, Radio Nacional, fair with Spanish vocals. Massive het with someone, about 1.5 kHz, lowside (but couldn't pull any audio). Obviously, much better copy in USB. 18 Feb (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF-7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. via ETHIOPIA. 7235, Voice of Eritrea, *0359-0431*, Feb 19, sign on with Horn of Africa music. Talk in listed Tigrinya at 0400. Horn of Africa music. Poor in noisy conditions. Stronger on // 9559.96v - drifting up to 9560.07 by sign off. Tues, Thur, Sat only (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Ma Mystery R. e Playback, che fine hanno fatto? (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, BCLnews.it yg via DXLD) Per il momento non ci sono le condizioni, un periodo di riflessione; lo stesso per Radio Amica (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, ibid.) ** EUROPE. 14350, 0815, (Scandinavia?), Baltic Sea Radio pirate station with special transmission for Japan, poor to fair signal with frequent English idents, email address and pop songs. Announced imminent closure at 0851 but continued past 0903 tune-out. Quick email response advises I am their most distant listener and promises e-QSL to follow, 30/1, BCM 15052, 0821, NETHERLANDS, Radio Scotland International hobby-pirate good strength on special transmission to Japan, with regular idents, ‘Good afternoon Nippon’, announcer regularly complaining that ‘conditions are not that good’. Mentioned power of 250 watts. Signal level started to taper off after 0900, 30/1 (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** GERMANY. [A-DX] Radio Öömrang am 21.02.2011 --- Diese Mail erhielt ich gerade von Arjan Kölzow auf eine Anfrage zum diesjährigen Sendetermin von Radio Öömrang: quote: ------------------------------------ Sehr geehrter Herr Adam, vielen Dank für Ihre Anfrage, die ich gerne beantworte. bitte entschuldigen Sie, dass ich mich erst jetzt melde. Wie jedes Jahr, seit 2006, sende ich am 21. Februar um 1600 UT und um 17:00 MEZ. Wir haben in diesem Jahr eine neue Frequenz: 15215 kHz. Die Empfangsbestätigung kann nachgereicht werden. Mit freundlichen Grüßen Arjan Kölzow ------------------------------------------ 73 (Fritz-Walter Adam, Feb 19, A-DX via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) GERMANY, 15215, The "ONCE A YEAR" broadcast of Radio Öömrang towards GB&IRL, NoAM (CAN, USA) on 21 Febr only, 1600 UT 15215 kHz via Media&Broadcast, Wertachtal Germany, 500 kW. vy73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) That's a special "once a year" single day broadcast on Petri {St. Peter} Day, as broadcast always on February 21, every year since 2006 year. On air via Wertachtal TX site, 500 kW, which costs the guys 300 EURo lease cost, plus production cost. Program transmission can be heard on Internet as well as on SW 15215 kHz at 1557-1700 UT aimed towards North America, - I guess - in about 305 to 310 degrees main lobe azimuth. Best reception every year on Canadian New Brunswick coast and Maine like New England states etc. Program produced in Frisian/and some English language part in between at the Frisian school institute at Flensburg in order to protect the {North} Frisian dialect. Frisian is a LOWER GERMAN 'dialect', rather modified Dutch similar language family, divided in Frisland-Netherlands, "Eastern Frisia" in Germany between Emden and Bremerhaven, and "Northern Frisia" language area [divided in 12 sub-dialects] between Brunsbüttel - Amrum island - Sylt island up to the Danish border etc. Acc to the "Radio Öömrang" broadcast crew, there are living more "Amrum Island" citizens around NY and NJ now, than remained on the island lately. Öömrang (Amrum Frisian dialect) Öömrang is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the island of Amrum in the German region of North Frisia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Öömrang http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Öömrang http://www.amrum-news.de/2009/02/18/radio-oomrang-geht-wieder-auf-sendungto/ (of 2009). http://www.oeoemrang-hues.de/ http://www.oeoemrang-hues.de/museum/index.htm http://www.oeoemrang-hues.de/heiraten/index.htm At least 5000 North Frisian people emigrated overseas since but hidden in the early 17th century. See database of emigrants overseas: http://www.nordfriiskinstituut.de/indexausw_eng.html click to Stars and Stripes flag icon http://www.nordfriiskinstituut.de/englisch.html see also St.Peters/Petri Day, and Biike-Brennen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biikebrennen http://www.syltlinks.de/biike/b03_w.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pnEMIPP-Rk http://mborus.podhost.de/files/2004_tinnum_friesenlied.mp3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT3Vw2RoLKs http://mborus.podhost.de/files/2004_tinnum_ues_soelring_loen.mp3 after 19 seconds advert http://www.myvideo.de/watch/7341650/Biikebrennen_2010_in_Husum http://www.syltlinks.de/biike/b04_t.htm http://www.sylt-tv.com/biikebrennen-sylt-50919.html http://www.ndr.de/wellenord/media/friesisch696.html vy73 de (Wolfy Feb 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks to Wolfgang Bueschel for alerting us to the annual shortwave broadcast of Radio Öömrang from the German North Frisian Islands on Monday 21 February 2011 from 1600-1700 UT on 15215 kHz. Power is 500 kW from Wertachtal beamed towards the UK and North America. Why 21 February? Wikipedia says this: "There are two peculiar traditions on Amrum. On February 21 the Biakendai is celebrated, where a great bonfire is lit to dispel Winter. On the occasion people blacken each other's faces with soot. The festival originates from the old liturgical holiday of Cathedra Petri, which was originally celebrated on February 22. The custom is also popular in other North Frisian municipalities." See Wikipedia for more information about Amrun (Öömrang) and the Frisian Islands: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amrum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisian_islands (BDXC-UK yg 1244 UT Feb 21 via DXLD) 15215 Radio Öömrang via Wertachtal. Feb. 21.11 *1600-1700* Noted here with marginal signal at sign-on, gradually improved, that by 1635 signal was over s7 to s9 level! All talk, by male and female speakers, some bits of English words, but no ID heard. Off in mid-sentence. Was hoping for something special, for this once a year event; Best heard on the windom antenna with the MFJ-941B tuner (Edward Kusalik, Daysland, Alberta. Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This one is audible at very good strength on 15215 at 1600 today, the 21st. Female and male voices are heard. The language sounds very German to my ears - I don't hear any Dutch influence - but I think it would take a German speaker to tell if there really is (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15215 audible here with a good clear signal. It started rather abruptly at 1600. Sounds like a promotion for tourists to Amrun, all in German [sic] so far (up to 1620). 73s (Dave Kenny, England, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) 15215, Radio Oomrang [sic] via Wertachtal with expected powerful 500 kW signal. From 1557 carrier on. At 1600, opening announcement by man, then into man and woman speaking alternately in presumed north Fresian language. Sounds more like Dutch than standard German. No English as of 1618, just talk. Mentions of Oomrang and Flensburg and distances in kilometers. Certainly not anything resembling DX but as a once a year novelty, interesting (Don Jensen, WI, 1621 UT Feb 21, NASWA yg via DXLD) Hmm.... never was even an English ID. Surprised at that. Simply off at 1700. Totally talk, mostly by the young woman, but occasionally alternating with male speaker. Dull enough, except, I suppose, if one understands north Fresian and if one is in the diaspora and rarely hears it (Jensen, 1705 UT, ibid.) Other than the tradition of the broadcast itself, what's the motivation for it? How many are listening, especially in the target area? [Later:] It would seem the motivation is the Diaspora --- hence the use of SW; if those who spoke (speak?) North Fresian live in the region then it would seem a different approach than SW would be more cost-effective. But the fact they wanted to use SW for this -- and we get to listen -- is part of the magic of shortwave in the first place. RC (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, NASWA yg via DXLD Tnx to a reminder from Wolfgang Büschel, monitored the once-a-year broadcast of Radio Öömrang to North America, Feb 21 at 1607-1700* on 15215, 500 kW via Wertachtal. All in Frisian, to promote that dialect. VG signal, all talk, mostly by YL. One can recognize occasional German words. I wonder what percentage native speakers of Dutch or High German can understand. Read much more about it from last year in DXLDs 9-086, 10-07, 10-08 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 15215 kHz Radio Öömrang via WER 500 kW. Came home late around 1645 UT, so in rush checked some remote SDR-IQs til cl-down 1700 UT: NY S=9+11dB MA S=9+21dB KY S=8 WA S=7 GB S=6 GRC S=5 and a lot of noise Endless Amrum island touristic matter ... 73 wb Feb 21, 2011 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREENLAND. 3815 USB, KNR Tasiilaq, 2125-2205, Feb 07 and 09, songs, clear male Greenlandic talks, instrumental music, 24442 (Max van Arnhem, Hoenderloo, The Netherlands, and Bernard Mille, Bailleul, France, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD Not heard since! (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, ibid.) So they did not last until 8 am local Feb 11 as originally planned? You kept checking until then? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** GUAM. 5765-USB, AFN, 1304, Feb 23. Off the air; was able to hear AFN Diego Garcia (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5765-USB, AFN is gone again, Feb 24 at 1330 check, no trace of it. Ron Howard also found it missing yesterday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5765-USB, AFN, 1207 and subsequent checks till 1337, on Feb 24 was off the air for the second consecutive day, as also confirmed by Glenn today (thanks for checking!) (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4052.5, Radio Verdad, Chiquimula, 0540-0555, 20-02, religious songs in English. Very weak. LSB. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, 27 Km. W of Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, faced WSW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``LSB`` --- do you mean it was transmitting only on LSB, or that you needed to tune to the lower sideband to avoid QRM? (gh, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. La Nueva QSL 10, desde la emisora Radio Verdad en Guatemala, disponible ya para los radioescuchas y diexistas!!! [illustrated] http://entre-ondas.blogspot.com/2011/02/nueva-edicion-de-qsl-numero-10-de-radio.html 73's Amig@s de las ondas cortas y el diexismo: La emisora Radio Verdad, que después de más de dos años inactiva por problemas en su transmisor, volvió a la onda corta el año pasado, y desde entonces ha estado emitiendo por los 4052 KHz, sin embargo su intención, es la de trasladarse a los 4055 KHz, cosa que aún no han podido realizar ya que necesitan un técnico que haga las modificaciones necesarias al equipo, según el Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid, Director de la emisora guatemalteca, quien también nos invita a celebrar su 11o. Aniversario el próximo s'abado 26 de Febrero 2011, por la tarde, día en que estarán realizando transmisiones especiales por esa conmemoración muy especial. En vista de todo lo que han pasado, problemas técnicos y económicos, pero con su resolución en seguir en la onda corta, su nueva QSL lleva la frase "Nueva Etapa", es la edición número 10, y ya estará disponible a partir del mes de Marzo, a todos aquellos diexistas y radioescuchas que reporten su señal, sin embargo, es necesario recordar, que es de gran estima una colaboración para el pago del porte postal, ya que siendo muy generosos con los diexistas, Radio Verdad envía un paquete cuyo costo llega hasta los 6 dólares US en ocasiones. El Paquete de Radio Verdad, consta de Banderín, Calendario, Calcomanías y la anhelada QSL (via Magdiel Cruz Rodríguez, México, Feb 22, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) ** GUINEA. 4899.98, Radio Familia, 2335-0001*, Feb 17-18, Afro-pop music. French announcements. Fair level but poor overall signal due to strong CODAR QRM (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC- 7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4899.97, Radio Familia, 2030, weak, presumed with Afro music and talk by a man in French. Tough copy in summer static, but seems to be running full modulation (audio copy in the past has proved challenging). Tried for 7125 at the same time, without luck. 18 Feb (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF-7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4899.98, 2045-2300 18+19.02, UNID very weak carrier without audio, tentatively Family FM, Conakry, heard elsewhere. From *2050 splashes from Xizang on 4905 (Anker Petersen, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) Best reception I've had of Familia Radio, Timbi-Madina, Guinea last night on 4899.95 kHz from 2336 tune-in until transmission ended at 0003 UT. But was still very weak though - a couple of brief recordings are at: http://www.box.net/shared/402ffbvqf4 http://www.box.net/shared/c7qk297d89 (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030+ / longwire, Feb 21, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** GUINEA [and non]. 7125, RTG missing again Feb 18 at 0702 check, altho not much else making it on 7 MHz either, poor propagation; not even CFRX 6070 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7125, Radio Guineé, 0722-0745, Feb 18, French talk. Local tribal music. Afro-pop music. Fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7125, RTG still missing Feb 19 at 0630, 2310 chex. However, shortly after my previous non-log, Brian Alexander in PA was hearing it: Feb 18 at 0722-0745. 7125, RTG still missing at 0645 check Feb 20 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 3290, Voice of Guyana 1000 to 1020 soft jazz, 17 February (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Icom 746Pro Modified by Dallas Lankford, NRD 535D [Gilfer] Drake R8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3290, Voice of Guyana, 0926, Feb 19, English, report from a cricket match, mentioning India frequently. Also mention that Canadians could see the game via satellite. Big het from ute station, so best listened to off-channel on 3292. Fair (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3340, Radio Misiones Internacionales, Comayagüela, 0520- 0531, 20-02, male, Spanish, comments. Very weak, only LSB. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, 27 Km. W of Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, faced WSW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``Only LSB`` --- do you mean it was transmitting only on LSB, or that you needed to tune to the lower sideband to avoid QRM? In DSWCI DX Window my log and his were merged so it looked as if *I* were saying ``only LSB``. I continue to hear a carrier very weakly modulated, but have not yet tried LSB vs USB (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya, 1329 + 1338, Feb 18. Fair and // 9680 RRI Jakarta which was strong (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3325, RRI Palangkaraya, 1333-1406 Feb 19. YL taking phone calls; played two songs during the half-hour period, the rest was phone calls; local IS on calliope (or whatever) at 1359 was followed by berita lokal. Good signal but low readability due to persistent band noise here. Also good next day with same IS and news about the same time (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Feb 23, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) 3325, RRI Palangkaraya, Feb 23 at 1320, W&M conversing in Indonesian, poor but peaking about now; and also something on 4750 buried deeper in noise level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3344.96, RRI Ternate, 1450-1501*, Feb 17. Good propagation! In Bahasa Indonesia; phone conversation; pop music; 1459 ID for "R-R-I Ternate"; Love Amber (LA) and ID for “Radio Republik Indonesia Ternate" and more LA till off; about the strongest ever heard. Especially clear IDs! (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3344.96, RRI Ternate, 1318-1407 Feb 20. Amazing signal, about equal to Palangkaraya. Lite vocal music program hosted by man to 1400, then phone chat(s) to 1407 tuneout. Peaked around 1345 and went downhill after that. Nice to hear them at this level again (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Feb 23, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3995, RRI Kendari, 1545-1557*, Feb 13, Indonesian popular songs. At 1556 ann of FM frequencies, followed by ID “Radio Republik Indonesia Kendari”. The transmission signed off at 1557. 45444. Very well (Nobuya Kato, Fujisawa-city, Kanagawa, Japan visiting Cairns, Qsld., Australia, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4749.95, RRI Makassar, 1206-1232, Feb 17. Good propagation! In Bahasa Indonesia; 1206-1226 Jakarta news relay followed by usual song at the end of the news (What song is it? Or choral Anthem?); 1227 local ID and frequencies; fair. 1206-1226 noted // 3325, 3344.96, 3994.96, 4869.96 and 9680 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4789.96, RRI Fak Fak (tentative), 1039-1054, Feb 19. Clearly in Bahasa Indonesia; EZL pop songs; CODAR QRM; fair to poor; confirmed by Sei-ichi Hasegawa’s reception the same day; not heard during the next check on Feb 22 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4789.96, RRI-Fak Fak, 1113, surprised to hear this with EZL vocals, talk by woman and comments later, by a man. Good to past 1300, 19 Feb. Also heard on 20 Feb, but not the 21st (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD- 535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF-7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RRI-Fak Fak on 4790 kHz came back again. It is reactivated since last August. I received at 1145 UT on Feb. 19. According to Monitoring Report - Indonesian Radio Station by A. Ishida http://rri.jpn.org/ RRI Fak Fak s/off at 1456 UT on Feb. 19. And Morning service s/on at 2004 UT [sic; see below] on Feb. 19 (S. Hasegawa, Japan, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On February 19, 4790 RRI-Fak Fak is reactivated. -1000-1456* with Love Ambon and *2104 [sic] with opening chime, opening theme. Local news at 2130. Since August 21, 2010. However only this day ?? (Atsunori Ishida, http://rri.jpn.org/ Feb 24 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4869.92, RRI Wamena (presumed), 1333-1405* Feb 21. Vocal music, male announcer between songs; apparent s/off announcement at 1400, followed by "Love Ambon"; carrier off at 1405. Rather weak, as usual (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Feb 23, Drake R-8, 100- foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4920, RRI Biak, Biak, 1445-1505, Feb 13, Indonesian music program with short ann, 1500 ad, Indonesian song, 45444. Very well (Nobuya Kato, Fujisawa-city, Kanagawa, Japan visiting Cairns, Qsld., Australia, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) ?? Atsunori Ishida http://rri.jpn.org/ does not list Biak even as a `silent station` which had been on in last year. Chennai and Lhasa are on 4920 at this time, and Aoki shows Biak with 750 watts. However there was this in DXLD 10-47, so maybe it is active or occasional???: ``4920, RRI Biak (tentative), 1158-1201 Nov 22, thanks to a tip from Bob Montgomery I arrived just in time to hear Song of the Coconut Islands before buried under co-channel Chinese station. Very poor but definitely SCI. Any other possibilities? (D`Angelo/FCDX-PA)`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9526-, VOI English-fragment broadcast at 1500, Feb 17: good signal but with hum, het, IADs, 1505 news; 1509 about protecting Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia; 1513 Commentary about problem with importing aircraft parts for 24 F-16s, subject to embargoes. 1516 Today in History, an Islamic expert, author, politician, born Feb 17, 1908, died July 24, 1981. As I broke for breakfast, missed abrupt cutoff sometime between 1520 and 1530. 9526-, VOI mostly music, VG signal but with IADs during Indonesian hour Feb 18 at 1450, cut off a few sex before 1500* so no postscript in English today. Around 1345 during earlier English hour, signal was much weaker, barely making it. 9526-, VOI off the air at 1408 check Feb 22. I wonder if they were also off before 1400 during what would have been this Tuesday`s ``Exotic Indonesia`` excursion to Banjarmasin for a co-produxion? 9680 RRI was OK with music from the other Cimanggis transmitter. 9526-, VOI missing for the second day: Feb 23 at 1250, 1331 chex; while 9680 RRI was in normally. 9526-, VOI missing for the third day, before and after 1300 Feb 24 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. NDB stations or Non Directional Beacons. These beacons send out signals in Morse Code on a continuous loop. In the Americas they are found just below the BC band we all DX or just above it. In order to whet your appetite for these stations I am going to list some targets for you to try for: 510 FA Fairbanks AK 510 OF Norfolk NE * 512 HMY Lexington OK * 513 PP Omaha NE * 515 CL Port Angeles WA 515 ONH Jefferson City MO 515 OS Columbus OH 515 PN Ponca City OK 515 SAK Kalispell MT * 516 YWA Petawawa ON * 517 FN Clinton IA * 518 GCT Guthrie Center IA * 520 BHZ Belo Horizonte Brazil 520 F9 Miramichi-Chatham NB 520 IQS Sallisaw OK 521 DWH Houston TX 521 GF Cleveland OH 521 GM Greenville-Mauldin SC 521 INE Missoula MT * 521 ORC Orange City IA * 521 RPK Middlesboro-Bell KY 521 TO Topeka KS * 521 TVX Greencastle IN * 523 JJH Johnstown NY 524 5C South Venture Platform NS 524 AJG Mount Carmel IL * 524 HEH Newark-Heath OH 524 HRD Kountze Silsbee-Hardin County TX 524 MNL Valdez-Mineral Creek AK 524 OUC Iowa City IA * 525 ICW Nenana AK 526 OJ Olathe-Johnson County KS * 526 RWE Camp Roberts CA 526 ZLS Stella Maris Bahamas * 529 FDV Nome-Fort Davis AK 529 LYQ Morrison TN * [widely heard; at WWRB] 529 SQM Level Island-Sumner Strait AK 530 ADK Adak Island AK 1618 YPT Usiminas-Ipatinga MG Brazil 1620 ZZ Petrobras Xiv Platform Brazil 1635 ORI Orito Colombia 1645 MLZ Platform Merluza SP Brazil 1659 PNQ Macae/Platforma SS-18/Quinze RJ Brazil 1690 CXS Caxias do Sol RS Brazil 1700 CRJ Parauapebas-Carajas Brazil * Any NDB station with a * is one I have heard from Manitoba. These stations are from my logs as well as from the RNA Signals web site listed below and William Hepburn’s Radio & TV DX Information Centre located at: http://www.dxinfocentre.com/index.html There are others in Europe Asia etc. but the odds of them being heard in North America are slim unless you are close to the coast. If you do want a list for yourself from other parts of the world, you can go to The RNA Signals web site at: http://www.classaxe.com/dx/ndb/rww/?mode=signal_list The site has a ton of Beacons listed from all over the world. (Shawn Axelrod, DX Toolbox, NRC DX News Feb 7 via DXLD) ** IRAN. 3965.0, VOIRI, (Zahedan transmitter site), noted here at 0152 with M in Urdu. From 0153 to 0158, excerpts from 4 different Yanni piano pieces spaced with talking in-between. Talking went thru the hour, M and F talking at 0217. Heavy 'ham' QRM at times. Typical Middle East style singing with M voice, no instruments heard, from 0220 to 0224, then F announcements, into orchestral music to 0228:38*. This was best reception ever for this station! (Jim Young, Wrightwood, CA, ICOM IC-756ProIII + yagi antenna + tuner, ut Feb 23, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** IRAN [and non]. VOA PROGRAM TO IRAN, PARAZIT, DEDICATED TO FACEBOOK FRIEND KILLED IN PROTESTS --- Friday, 18 February, 2011 Press Release Washington, DC — February 18, 2011 — Voice of America’s popular Farsi language television program Parazit breaks with its satirical and sometimes comic format this week, to discuss the young Iranian pro-democracy demonstrators who died after being shot at Monday’s protests in Tehran. Parazit co-creators Kambiz Hosseini and Saman Arbabi learned Tuesday that one of the pro-democracy protesters who died this week was a Facebook friend and fan of their show, Mohammad Mokhtari. Kambiz, the host of Parazit, says this week’s show will be different because, “we decided that it was impossible to ignore what happened to our friend and there is nothing funny about what happened on Monday. We have lost a member of our family.” The Facebook page of 22-year-old Mohammad Mokhtari shows he was an avid fan of the satirical weekly program, which usually points a comic finger at the dark side of Iranian politics. Just hours after Parazit’s last show was posted on Facebook, the young man had clicked the “like” button and shared the program with his friends, who have been leaving expressions of sympathy on his Facebook page. This week’s program features an exclusive interview with the brother of another young pro-democracy supporter who was shot and killed on Monday. In the interview he tells VOA that his slain brother was a supporter of the pro-democracy movement and opposed the Iranian government. Also on Friday’s Parazit, an interview with exiled former founding father of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and now government critic, Mohsen Sazegara, and Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari, who was trying to cover the Iranian election in 2009 when he was jailed for several months. Parazit, which is produced at the Washington studios of VOA’s Persian News Network (PNN) is webcast and broadcast by satellite to Iran, where it is one of the country’s most popular shows. The title, Parazit, means static in Farsi, a reference to Iranian government efforts to jam VOA broadcasts and websites. Millions of the show’s fans use proxy servers to access the program through social media sites like Facebook and YouTube. In the last month, Facebook recorded more than 20 million impressions on Parazit's page. For more on VOA programs visit our website at www.voanews.com. For Parazit’s Facebook page, go to http://www.facebook.com/parazitparazit?sid=ST2011012103765 (VOA press release via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 7480, R. Payam-e Doost, Feb 12 *1800-1811 35333-35433 Farsi, 1800 sign on with opening music, ID, Talk and music. Feb 16 *1800-1811 35333 Farsi, 1800 sign on with opening music, ID, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium Feb 18 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Venerdì 18 febbraio 2011, 1523 - 7510 kHz, GUNAZ R. - Kopani (Ucraina), Azeri, proclami OM e IDs. Segnale sufficiente- buono Modulazione variabile (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) BUT::: I receive UnID station of the nonstop music on 7610 kHz from 1445 UT (tune in) on Feb. 21. QSY of Gunaz Radio in Azeri from 7510 kHz? (S. Hasegawa, Japan, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This one is a very good signal here in the north-west of England at 1545. It sounds very similar to what I've been hearing on 7510 - no signal audible there - so either a punch up error or a change in frequency is possible for Gunaz Radio. Radio Pakistan should come up at 1600-1615 on 7510 with English news and commentary (Noel R. Green, UK, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, ibid.) But see also PAKISTAN: 7615! (gh) TDP station Gunaz Radio in Azeri from today Feb. 21: 1430-1930 NF 7610 SMF 250 kW / 130 deg to CeAs, ex 7510* *to avoid R. Pakistan in English 1600-1610 and FEBA in Silte 1730-1800 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. via UKRAINE 7610, Gunaz TV, 1643 with talks by YL in Azeri with short music intervals. Too many mentions of Iran after the short musical breaks that made me thinking if this program came from VoiRI. Also mentioned Amnesty Intl, etc. Dull audio, S10, 44544 with co channel QRM from FSK (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Feb 21, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. 6973, Defense Forces Radio, 2030, very good with discussion by two men, into music at 2033. Not bothered today by the over-the- horizon radar. 19 Feb (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF-7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, I have been hearing Galei Zahal from Israel on the new frequency of 15810 starting February 13, switching to 15850 kHz on February 16. There is a digital utility station on 15815 up until 1500 UT in Europe, so they must have switched to 15850 to avoid this. A perfectly clear channel, heard in the UK from sunrise to sunset - the signal is weak, but improves after about 1400. I believe they are on 24 hours. They are still on 6973 kHz as well. Best regards, (Alan Holder, Cowes, Isle of Wight, U.K. PO31 8JP, Feb 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Originally 15785v 15850!!! Galei Zahal? 0825 Feb 19 with a lively discussion between 2 ppl and applauds / laughs S9 (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15850.007, And today Feb 20 morning around 0810 UT noted on DK3SML Michael's Perseus unit{remote access} fair signal of Israel's army forces radio sender Galei Zahal. S=6-7 in Germany and S=6 on SDR-IQ radio on the Greek islands. Extended live telephone interview in English heard from Bahrain, about the unrest and police clashes at the island, and accompanied worries by Israel. Interview content translated immediatelly into Hebrew for local audience in ISRAEL. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15850, tnx to a tip from Alan Holder, Isle of Wight, that Galei Zahal has been on this new frequency since Feb 16, after trying 15810 from Feb 13, ex-15785v --- 15850 had just barely audible signal here Feb 20 at 1459, a bit of modulation making it. Wolfgang Büschel in Germany had by then heard it earlier at 0810, partly in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. WOR 1552 via Challenger Radio --- Hi Glenn! Again audible this evening, but started a little bit late. Still music at 1905 UT but when I checked again at 1913, WOR 1552 was on // to 6090 kHz. The other frequency 1566 kHz is blocked by a Greek pirate. 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, Saturday, February 19, 2011 1923 UT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx, Patrick. I`d be interested to know, since it started late, whether it plays to completion or is cut off at 1930 on 6090, 1368. (Glenn to Patrick, via DXLD) Only 1368 kHz started late, 6090 kHz was on at 1900 UT. 73, (Patrick, ibid.) IRRS Nexus testa le onde medie --- Dopo la Voice of America, anche la IRRS approda al palinsesto di Challenger Radio Nord Italia per un periodo di test; le trasmissioni andranno in onda ogni giorno tra le 2000 e le 0100 ora locale. Di conseguenza, Studio DX andrà in onda quotidianamente alle 0100, alle 0300, alle 0600, alle 1200 e alle 1800 ora locale italiana. Roberto Scaglione, Feb 21, http://www.studiodx.net shortwave [sic] yg via DXLD) UT+1 now (gh) ** ITALY [and non]. IRRS-Shortwave tests on 5975 [sic] kHz Dear Listeners and Monitors, From Thursday Feb. 24 until Saturday Feb. 26, 2011, IRRS-Shortwave will be testing on the frequency of 5775 kHz from 1800-2000 UTC with 300 kW to Central & Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean. We will appreciate receiving your reception reports for these tests by email at reports @ nexus.org I would like also to mention that we are also on the air in English with the call-sign IRRS-Mediumwave on 1368 kHz in North/Eastern Italy (covering Padua, Venice, Vicenza, Verona and Bologna) and on 1566 in Rome, daily from 20:00-01:00 Central European Time [1900-2400 UT]. As 1368 kHz is quite clear in Europe, our broadcasts may be heard outside of our main coverage area in all neighbouring countries, including Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and up north in the Sweden, Norway and Finland with DX conditions. Our program and frequency schedules are online at http://www.nexus.org/schedules Due to severe budget cuts, we will be unable to reply to all reports by QSL, but we will acknowledge all reports and reply to any question by email. Thank you for your understanding and help, and stay tuned! Take care & best 73s. Ron & all the NEXUS-IBA staff in Milano -- Ron Norton NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association email: ron @ nexus.org http://www.nexus.org 1012 UT Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST; also via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg via DXLD) Subject line says 5975, body says 5775. It`s 1830 as I write, so this test should be underway. Please confirm whether it`s on 5775, and whether 6090 Slovakia is still on the air as well from 1900 to 2000. Don`t see anything about it on IRRS website, nor any reply yet from Ron to our inquiry (Glenn Hauser, Feb 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Wolfgang, Upcoming IRRS-Shortwave tests 1800-2000 UT on 5775 kHz is not through the transmitters in Bulgaria. No signal here in BUL for IRRS Milano on 5775 1800-1810 UT. UNID carrier on 5810 from 1800 UT, but no programm. 73! Ivo Ivanov (R BULGARIA DX MIX News, Ivo Ivanov, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Feb 24 via DXLD) Subject: 5775, IRRS Milano via Gavar Armenia or Armavir Russia --- Ex-Rimavska Sobota - SLOVAKIA. IRRS Milano rent Slovak Republic tx center outlet of Rimavska Sobota in recent seasons. But latter site closed now shortwave transmissions as of Jan 1st, but IRRS has got prolongation til March 26, 2011? So I guess IRRS Milano will rent transmission time in Gavar Armenia. Other sites of 300 kW SW power units limit are Grigoriopol Moldova, Armavir Russia, Mykolaiv Ukraine, as well as much expensive Babcock/VTC in Skelton-GB, Woofferton-GB, and Moosbrunn Austria (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 6015, KBS Hanminjok Bangsong 1 (presumed), Feb 17. The longest period of non-jamming I have ever heard. Was first noted sometime after 1200 in the clear and lasted several hours; jamming finally heard at 1414 check; in Korean; poor-fair with adjacent QRM; light QRM from China on frequency (// 4330); 1300 heard two sets of pips mixing (Korea and China); is rare to find them open like this (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT [and non]. 9750, R. Kuwait, Feb 17 at 1408 Qur`an making fast SAH with Japanese from NHK, Yamata. Ministry of Information, Kabd is scheduled 11-16, 300 kW 275 degrees. Apparently Kuwait is a theocracy, with the MOI propagating the Qur`an. 21540, R. Kuwait in Arabic, Feb 17 at 1428 way over Spain with SAH, and also much stronger than Spain 21570, making RK the SSOB along with Libya 21695. 1430 program closing with SFX of birds chirping and water running, a .com website, YL ID and into OM (natch) Qur`an, beautiful singing I can enjoy without the baggage of belief. By 1435 Spain [q.v.] was gaining ascendancy (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 12120, Feb 19 at 1439, Asian language under heavy RTTY. Aoki and HFCC show it`s VOA Burmese at 1430-1500, 250 kW, 94 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. TAIWAN, 5930, Suab Xaa Moo Zoo, gestern 2230-2300 UT in Hmong, SIO 242 (Nils Schiffhauer, Germany, DK8OK, WinRadio Excalibur, SDR-IP/GPS, Perseus, 2 x 20 m active quad loop (90 degr), 42 m windom, DX-One prof. A-DX Feb 12 via BC-DX 18 Feb via DXLD) Aoki: 5930 kHz Suab Xaa Moo Zoo(V of Hope) 2230-2300 UT Hmong- Blue/Njua 100 kW 250 deg Taipei-TWN HCM (BC-DX, ibid.) ** LIBERIA. 5470.01, 1915-2200* 19.02, R. Veritas, Monrovia (presumed), vernacular talk 1915-1925 24232. Later heard 2120-2200* in French with a conversation programme like: "Le Monde comme moi", talks and interlude music, 2200 closing announcement, but ID not caught. Deep fades, but when best: 35323. R Veritas has been off since Oct 2007. French is a new language (Anker Petersen, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) Inactive, but expected to return: 10 kW, 0445-0900 on 6090, 1745-2300v on 5470, in English, local languages (WRTH 2011 page 259 via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) ** LIBYA. 972 kHz, Libyan Jamahiriyah, Sirte, FEB 13 2344 - Fair peak with Arabic music and then talk parallel weaker 1053.1 kHz. Hard to believe that this is only 50 kW. Big signal present but undermod audio. 1053.1, Libyan Jamahiriyah, Tripoli, FEB 13 2345 - Poor past low growl from 1053 kHz; parallel 972 kHz. Both noted on past 2400 UT (Neil Kazaross, Grafton WI; Drake R8A, phased BOG system at 63 729 ft parallel 552 ft, NRC International DX Digest Feb 18 via DXLD) Just before this, he also had Algeria in well on 531 and 549 (gh) ** LIBYA [non non]. RADIO FREE LIBYA --- Hello Dxers, following the current situation in Libya, I noticed the following: Radio Free Libya on 1125, OM shouting Radio Free Libya from the Green mountain, the first freed station in Libya, 2245 UT and I can hear them asking the rest of the Libyan cities to join the revolution. I checked the rest of the Libyan MW frequencies; sounds like they are still transmitting pro Ghaddafi songs. More news to come. B. Rgds (Tarek Zeidan, Aalbrog, Denmark, 2249 UT Feb 20, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The question is from where this programming actually originates. To be assumed is one of the numerous local studios that LJB apparently operates, probably but not necessarily in Al Beida. This of course requires that the programming has to be put on the feed for the 1125 kHz transmitter, which does not appear to carry such local programming regularly, so something had to be done with the routing. Another scenario would be a mixer plugged in locally at the transmitter, but this appears to be a less likely variant, unless these guys seek primarily attention much beyond their region and do not care for FM. One could put the question also in such a way *what* has actually been taken over (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0001 UT Feb 21, ibid.) At my place I currently have Jamahirya Television (Libyan State TV) running full time on a monitor as to keep an eye out on what they are broadcasting. In the last few days they have pretty well dropped all their regular programs to broadcast coverage of "spontaneous" pro regime rallies and hours of patriotic and pro regime popular music videos. The videos are enjoyable as they feature very talented Libyan vocalists and musicians, but what has struck me is how close their formula is to the music videos that I see on DPRK's Korean Central Television. The basic format is pretty female singer in traditional dress then show Muammar al-Gaddafi, skyscrapers with lots of lights, traffic roundabouts, happy children playing, factories assembling sewing machines and tractors and then throw in a few shots of dam and bridge construction. This music video basic format is repeated hour after hour for most of the day. If you are in the Asian / Australian region tune in to Asiasat 5 3820 Vertical 27500 3/4 to tune into the State Television Channel and Iza'at Al Jamahiryah Al Outhmah Radio. Cheers, (Mark Fahey, Sydney, Australia, 0800 UT Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello, The latest news we got from Aljazeera, according to witnesses, the protestors managed to get into the TV Building in the capital and they started looting it. I'm trying to get the feed of Jamaheriya TV on line but no luck at the moment (0841 UT). I was picking up Libyian Radio on 1449 and 675 in the clear around 0630 UT rebroadcasting the speech of Saifulislam Ghaddafi, the son of Ghaddafi, stating that there will be lots of blood shedding if the protesters started controling the country. Followed by an interview with a member of the Egyptian Arabic Nassery party in Cairo. As I was listening to Radio Free Libya yesterday on 1125 around 2255 UT they started giving phone numbers to contact within Libya. In my following report will try to get these numbers, and will keep an ear on 1125 today from around 1700 UT. More news to come. B.Rgds (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark, 0846 UT Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I see that the BBC are also saying they have reports of the TV HQ being broken into. In the last hour I saw what appeared to be a live news broadcast (though of course it could have been recorded). At the moment they have just finished a repeat of Saifulislam's speech re evils of Al Arabyia, BBC and other satellite services and back into pro-Ghaddafi music videos. Perhaps it's now all coming off tape and the studios are off-line. I have the digital video and audio transport streams archiving to my network to preserve the next few days (or weeks if needed) at full broadcast quality. Cheers, (Mark Fahey, NSW, 0935 UT Feb 21, ibid.) Here's a clip of 1125 kHz with ID recorded via a Greek remote receiver at 1119 UT. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Feb 21, dxldyg attachment via DXLD) A minute in Arabic, starting with R. Free Libya ID (gh, DXLD) Neue Zürcher Zeitung quotes unconfirmed reports that the headquarter (that "El Fath Rd" mentioned in WRTH for radio?) is undamaged and heavily guarded, while it was another building at Nasr Street with "some TV studios" (sounds like a mere production facility) that has been looted: http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/politik/international/libyen_update_1.9624838.html However, it appears that a studio facility in eastern Libya (Benghazi would be a possibility of course) has been "taken over" already last night, as the programming now carried on 1125 kHz clearly indicates. Has any newsroom already considered or just seen this story or is it still locked in our nerd circle? Btw, what you see on Asiasat is a dedicated foreign service, which may also in the current situation not necessarily reflect what is carried on the domestically distributed networks (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 1207 UT Feb 21, ibid.) Tried tuning in to Swahili from LJB at 1200, possible weak carrier on 17725, no discernible audio, nothing on 21695. I'm stuck using portables due to local PLT and other QRM which is even worse on an external antenna. Will keep trying throughout the day. High pitched YL now audible on both frequencies at 1217 (Tim Bucknall, UK, ibid.) Re: ``However, it appears that a studio facility in eastern Libya (Benghazi would be a possibility of course)`` Sorry, forget Benghazi. I was too quick and overlooked that 675 kHz, for which the transmitter site is specified as Benghazi, this morning still carried the programming from Tripoli. So it one more time appears to be better to not jump to conclusions too quickly (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) Swahili started at 1300, English started 1405. 21695 much better than 17725, sounds like business as usual with mentions of "brother leader", etc. (Tim Bucknall, UK, Feb 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The English service from Radio Africa [sic] sounds perfectly normal on 17725 and 21695 at 1500 UT. Canned programming. Good signals. Plug pulled abruptly at 1558. No sign off announcement. -sw- (Scott Walker, New Cumberland PA USA, Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello everyone, yes, Voice of Africa well heard on 21695 and 17725 here in Montreal, signal is not as good as last week, but definitely good copy on 17725 in English at 1520 UT February 21 (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am quite amused that the son is as bald as a doorknob, while the father has a hefty mop of jet-black curly hair, or so it seems sticking out from under his fashionable Afrocaps (gh, DXLD) 21695, V. of Africa with normal programming in English, Feb 21 at 1546, still the bored announcer referring to the `Great Jamahiriyah``, ``unity of Africa has been achieved``. Yeah, right. If the revolution succeeds, uninterrupted broadcasting in English is not likely to be a priority, but this is the transmission we can understand, as long as it lasts, 14-16 on 21695 and 17725. Tarek Zeidan in Denmark heard one of the powerful MW frequencies, El Beida 1125, IDing as ``Radio Free Libya from the Green Mountain`` at 2245 UT Feb 20. What`s that in Arabic? And asking the rest of Libyan cities to join the revolution, but the other MW frequencies were still with pro-Ghaddafi songs. The other high-power at least 100 kW MW channels in various cities are: 648, 675, 828, 1053, 1251, 1449. I wonder what the double-dagger next to some of them in WRTH 2011 means? Should be interesting listening this evening in Eurafrica. 1251 and 648 are supposed to carry a different version of V. of Africa than on SW, including irregular English news segments. This fast-breaking news is being reported by experienced MW, SW and satellite monitors in the DXLD yahoogroup (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. 17725, Voice of Africa, - monitored English broadcast earlier this morning [Feb 21], 1505 UT, with fair/good signals, audio modulation fluctuating slightly and at low level but in the clear. // 21695 not as good. Commentary on "problem of democracy" equating western democracies with dictatorships. Followed with feature on formation of African Union. No change in usual programming or any mention of current unrest. I just heard on the BBC that national broadcasters headquarters in Tripoli has been set on fire by protesters. Also reports of airplanes bombing civilians in the streets and other aircraft defecting to Malta. It looks like 2011 may go down in history as a pivotal year in history akin to 1848 (Stephen C Wood, Harwich, MA, NASWA yg via DXLD) Voice of Africa from Libya had a five minute news bulletin at 1505. This was about how everyone was responding positively to last night`s speech from Gaddafi's son. At 1510 there was Readings from the Green Book. Today`s chapter dealt with the problem of democracy. It said that one man one vote led to a situation where a party could come in power with only 51% of the vote. This meant that 49% of the people had not voted for the government which was therefore a dictatorship. 21695 had been good in the UK the last two days, depends on conditions, sometimes barely audible if at all (Mike Barraclough, UK, 1616 UT Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello DXers, checking Radio Free Libya around 1730 UT on the usual frequency of 1125, but nothing on that frequency, so started checking the MW frequencies of Libya. I noticed 675 is having Radio Free Libya (ID in Arabic: Libya Alhurra), YL having phone calls from listeners within Libya. Some of the calls you can hear the echo of the radio in the back ground of the callers. 1449 and 972, both still having the normal Idhaat al Jamahirya al Ouzma, the pro-Ghaddafi network playing Libyan songs. More to come. B.Rgds (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark, Feb 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very fine monitoring, Tarek and Mauno. Unfortunately, here in southern England, 675 is more or less blocked by Netherlands. Nulling that out just brings up co-channel Norway. Similarly, 1125 has a mixture of Belgium and Spain (Chris Greenway, ibid.) LJBC Voice of Africa heard on old A-10 schedule: {in AUGUST ! } Swahili 1200-1357 on 17725 SAB 500 kW / 180 deg to NEAf 1200-1357 on 21695 SAB 500 kW / 130 deg to ECAf English 1400-1557 on 17725 SAB 500 kW / 180 deg to NEAf 1400-1557 on 21695 SAB 500 kW / 130 deg to ECAf French 1600-1657 on 15660 SAB 500 kW / 230 deg to WNAf 1600-1657 on 17725 SAB 500 kW / 180 deg to NEAf 1700-1757 on 11995 SAB 500 kW / 230 deg to WNAf (*) 1700-1757 on 15215 SAB 500 kW / 180 deg to NEAf Hausa 1800-1857 on 11995 SAB 500 kW / 230 deg to WNAf (*) 1800-1857 on 15215 SAB 500 kW / 180 deg to NEAf 1900-1957 on 11600 SAB 500 kW / 180 deg to NEAf 1900-1957 on 11995 SAB 500 kW / 230 deg to WNAf Note: Start & end of transmissions varies between 3-5 minutes minimum. 73! Ivo (R BULGARIA DX MIX News, Ivo Ivanov, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Aug 12) (*) often observed on 11800 kHz instead now, but not regularly. (wb) As per BDXC's Africa on Shortwave guide updated on 19 February, the current confirmed schedule for Libya's Voice of Africa is: 1200-1400 Daily Swahili Africa 17725 21695 1400-1600 Daily English Africa 17725 21695 1600-1800 Daily French Africa 11800 17725 1800-2000 Daily Hausa Africa 11800 Full document at http://www.bdxc.org.uk - Articles Index 73s (Dave Kenny, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dave, the 2nd frequency channel of Voice of Africa at 18-20 UT puzzles me, maybe on 9 MHz 31 mb instead? LIBYA, LJBC Sabrata at 1745-1800 UT Feb 21, noted on 11800 kHz in French, into Hausa at 1801 UT. S=6 signal on remote SDR-IQ receiver in Maine USA by Jon W1JHJ. http://www.jananews.ly/Index.aspx?Language=3 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Buschel, ibid.) NOTE: The Sabrata site for shortwave is on the coast west of Tripoli about halfway to the Tunisian border. When will it fall?? Above link leads to the Jamahiryah News Agency, which says as of 0033 UT Feb 23: `` Tuesday 22 Annawar (February) 1379 D.P (PBUH) / 2011 G - -- All entries expired/deleted and No New News Published Yet ,,,so Please Try again later`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Media Network blog now has an item on this; quoting Tarek Zeidan, the original source of which is this dxldyg, not attributed, picked up by mediumwave.info [Later corrected, and updated]. For further linx see: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/libya-1125-khz-now-in-the-hands-of-protestors#comments LIBYA: 1125 KHZ NOW IN THE HANDS OF PROTESTORS February 21st, 2011 - 17:17 UTC by Andy Sennitt. The English and French websites of the Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation (LJBC) have not been updated since Thursday 17 February. However the LJBC Arabic website has been updated today. It claims that President Gaddafi has received messages of support by telephone from the presidents of Senegal and Guinea. According to Tarek Zeidan reporting from Denmark to Ydun’s Medium Wave Info, the high power mediumwave transmitter at El Beida is now in the hands of the protestors, and was heard last night around 2245 UTC identifying itself in Arabic as Radio Free Libya from the Green Mountain. Tarek says that other Libyan stations he could hear at the same time appeared to be pro-Gaddafi songs, and at 0630 UTC this morning 1449 and 675 kHz were re-broadcasting the speech of the president’s son Saifulislam Gaddafi. The Foreign Policy blog refers to the Internet site http://libya.blog-video.tv/ and refers to it as a radio station called ‘Radio Free Benghazi’ with ‘breathless amateur announcers’. In fact, that site seems to be a chat facility enabling protestors to speak to each other, and as far as I know this is not the material being broadcast on 1125 kHz. It was in operation before protestors took over the LJBC facility. But since I only speak a few words of Arabic, I am willing to stand corrected. A good source of breaking news for those of us who don’t speak Arabic is the 17th February 2011 blog. I saw some video on Al Jazeera last night attributed to this source. Unfortunately this does not automatically refresh, but is constantly updated. I tried following events on Twitter, but there are too many time-wasters posting information that’s hours old, or simply irrelevant. My RNW colleague Ehard Goddijn has also found a live stream feed from the same people who produce the 17th February blog. This also appears to be a chat room using Skype. I heard some English as well as Arabic (Media Network blog via dxldyg via DXLD) REPORTS AND TWEETS SAY LIBYAN PROTESTORS ARE TAKING OVER RADIO STATIONS February 21st, 2011 by Paul Riismandel in international http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2011/02/21/reports-and-tweets-say-libyan-protestors-are-taking-over-radio-stations/ Logo for Libyan resistance online station. Right now it is very difficult to get confirmed news out of Libya due to the internet and phones being restricted and foreign journalists being kept out. Twitter is alive with reports from Libya, but with all the re-tweeting it’s difficult to following things back to a source and then determine if it’s credible. Earlier today the group called Libyan Youth Movement posting under the twitter name @ShababLibya tweeted that “BREAKING: Libya open first real radio called soot libya al hura (voice of free libya) frequencies and live feed to follow #Libya #Feb17?. This message was repeated all over Twitter and on blogs and websites covering the popular revolt in Libya, but with no additional information or citations. The Media Network blog from Radio Netherlands Worldwide today posted a roundup of reports about radio inside Libya. Blogger Andy Sennitt relays reception reports from Denmark of a high-powered mediumwave station (called AM in the US) in El Beida that apparently is taken over by protestors, while other Libyan mediumwave stations continue to air pro-Qaddafi material. The same Danish DXer reports receiving this station, identified as Radio Free Libya, broadasting at 1125 KHz. El Baida is about 125 miles east of Benghazi, which is the reported location of the internet station I reported on yesterday. This could be the same broadcast, or they might be separate — it’s hard to know. It’s also unclear if the mediumwave Radio Free Libya is the same station as the Voice of Free Libya that the Libyan Youth Movement tweeted about today. While mediumwave can travel great distances–from Libya to Denmark–these stations won’t be receivable in North America. I find no indications or reception reports of any Libyan shortwave broadcasts operated by protestors. Like in Egypt, it’s unlikely there are many ham radio operators, especially under Qaddafi’s even more repressive regime. However, I think it’s safe to say that broadcast radio is playing a more significant role in the Libyan uprising than it did in Egypt’s. In terms of tuning in English-language news of the situation in Libya, while BBC’s Five Live was airing constant Libya coverage at this time last night, today the station seems to be back to its normal program schedule. That’s too bad because I found the station’s coverage last night to be quite riveting, with many live calls directly from Libya. At the same time the host, Stephan Nolan, kept a very cool head, making pains to consider internet and twitter rumors with due caution, while also paying appropriate respect to the real violence and suffering being experienced by Libyans on the streets of Benghazi and Tripoli. For the most updated English-language news from Libya I’ve found Al Jazeera’s English service to be the most reliable right now. However, this evening CNN has the first Western TV journalist inside Libya. He confirms earlier reports that the resistance has control of eastern Libya. I hope for the best for the Libyan’s protesting and acting for an end to decades of totalitarian repression. Communicating their circumstances and showing the government’s brutality both to other Libyans and to the outside world I believe will aid their cause. Radio is one tool that may help (via Artie Bigley, Feb 22, DXLD) Hello DXers, listening to 1125, The Voice of Free Libya, they just announced that "you can tune in to our transmission on 1125 as the Voice of Free Libya, also you can pick Radio Free Libya from Benghazi on 675". So some kind of cooperation is going on between these 2 stations now; just a bit of a difference in the ID now: 1125, Idhaat sout Libya al Hurra - Voice of Free Libya radio 675, Idhaat Libya al Hurra - Free Libya Radio Around 1930 UT and both 675 and 1125 are silent now. More to come (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark, 1931 UT Feb 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello DXers, around 2155 UT, 1125 went back on the air, with ID as ``Idhaat sout libya al hurra``, giving the frequency of 1125, also referring to the twin station as they called it from Benghazi broadcasting on 675. I checked 675 but they are still silent. More to come (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark, 2201 UT Feb 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tarek, I notice Tripoli 1053 & 1251 and Al-assah 1449 (the strongest signal here) all in parallel. Benghazi 675 seems active too (too much QRM), and parallel to El Beida 1125. Time: 2215-2255. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1125: 500 kW Al Beida [Al Baida, Albayda] 32 46'52.05"N 21 47'50.87"E http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=32%C2%B046%2752.05%22N++21%C2%B047%2750.87%22E&aq=&sll=51.151786,10.415039&sspn=19.808511,57.084961&ie=UTF8&ll=32.781293,21.797533&spn=0.006467,0.013937&t=f&z=17&ecpose=32.77947849,21.79753345,1623.07,-0.001,11.571,0 675: 100 kW Benghazi 32 04'10.30"N 20 04'20.69"E http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=+32%C2%B004%2710.30%22N+++20%C2%B004%2720.69%22E&aq=&sll=51.151786,10.415039&sspn=19.752995,57.084961&ie=UTF8&ll=32.069989,20.072247&spn=0.006501,0.013937&t=f&z=17&ecpose=32.06459581,20.07224716,889.29,0,34.377,0 Al Assah site 1449 kHz 500 kW, Made in Croatia by RIZ Zagreb, 150 km west of Tripoli, 10 kms east of Tunisian-Libyan border at: http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=+32%C2%B050%2729.93%22N++11%C2%B036%2745.66%22E&aq=&sll=51.151786,10.415039&sspn=19.308933,56.293945&ie=UTF8&ll=32.842302,11.612621&spn=0.00315,0.006872&t=f&z=18&ecpose=32.83665807,11.61262132,417.22,0,57.862,0 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Hello DXers, Still monitoring the Libyan turmoil media wise. Around 0615 UT today I started checking the Libyan MW frequencies 1125 and 675. The two main Radio Free Libya frequencies were silent. 1449, 1215, 972 were all broadcasting Idhaat al Jamaherya al Ouzma. Around 0645 UT, I noticed OM on 675 kHz making a test, saying ``besm Allah al Rahman Alraheem,`` let's test, test test and another guy on a phone line talking. The guy in the studio asked him to repeat but suddenly the phone line went dead with the busy line tone. Silent for a while and then around 0655 I could hear the Windows shut down music. I waited for a while, but I had to run to work. Yesterday, 1125 had an English note to the French foreign minister, President Obama and Hillary Clinton. For about 10 minutes the announcer was talking to the three of them, criticizing the way they are handling the turmoil in Libya and asking for the international support to save Libyans from the mass killing taking place there now. Heavy accented English, but was worth recording. More to come (Tarek Zeidan, AAlborg, Denmark, 0932 UT Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And the musical programs keep playing out on Libyan TV, though the music has also been supplemented today with a calm, pleasant, motherly looking woman presenting a lightweight political chat show that invites viewers to ring 3407966. They are also featuring vox-pops with excitable people (usually men) on the street speaking of their frustration and disbelief with the current events disrupting their normal life. Cheers, (Mark Fahey, Sydney, 1207 UT Feb 22, ibid.) Tarek, There is a recording of 1125 at 1030 today that has just been posted to YouTube. From your information I believe the announcement 1 minute 40 into the recording is saying Voice of Free Libya and then mentioning the station in Benghazi. If you could confirm I will leave the poster a comment. I'd commented on a previous video of his of Voice of Africa 21695 and said that I'd heard a news bulletin at 1505 yesterday as mentioned earlier on the list. He's now posted that bulletin to YouTube as well as some other Libyan audio from 21695 and a brief announcement on Tripoli 1251 at 0256 today. The videos are here: http://www.youtube.com/user/DorsetRadio#g/u (Mike Barraclough, UK, Feb 22, ibid.) English news bulletin just started (1413) on 21695, people came onto the streets in many areas following Gaddafi's speech last night supporting him, all news from Al-Jazeera etc rejected, phone calls of support from Mali, Nicaragua, lasted three or four minutes. Maybe repeated in an hour or so? (Mike Barraclough, England, 1419 UT Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) V. of Africa is still from the `Great Jamahiriyah`, so not yet in hands of the revolutionaries unlike some of the MW transmitters: Feb 22 tuned in at 1424 and listened for rest of the sesquihour. Both 17725 and 21695 poor to very poor, sometimes 21695 better, sometimes 17725 better. Never heard anything about the current situation, but I would have earlier at 1413 as Mike Barraclough reported. News reports said MAQ was about to speak, but not heard here. At 1424 music is alternating with talk I could not be sure was English. 1445 mostly singing in African style. 1455 talk but too weak to tell. 1501 bumped up signal and/or modulation with Beethoven`s Ninth riff, now semi-readable, usual crap about the Green Book being the ``ultimate solution`` to the ``problem of democracy`` --- I`ll say, it`s a problem. MAQ`s angle is that 51% shouldn`t rule the 49% -- - so with his regime it`s been the 1% ruling the 99%; is that better? 1505 ID as VOA from the GJ, African drumming, then talk on history of the African Union; 1520 back to music; 1526 switch to YL announcer ``presents`` something. 1532 OM ID and announcing time of broadcast in GJ time and GMT, mentions 4 pm. 1533 YL with geographical talk about the area of Africa, longest rivers, etc. 1547 again about the African Union. 1554 ``we come to the end of our broadcast for today`` and modulation immediately cut on 21695, open carrier to 1556*; at 1559 I check 17725 and it`s still going with talk, English? Beethoven`s Ninth, 1600 becomes just barely modulated. As always, it`s mostly the same old canned programming played over and over (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17725, heard Feb 22, 1415-1500 in Swahili (in contrary to the above schedule!) with talk about Gaddafi and Tunisia, 55544 // 21695 (45544). At 1500-1557 English programme // 21695, but announced as 1400-1600 UT on 17850 and 21695!!! At 1502 talk about ”The Illusion of the Problem of Democracy” from Gaddafi’s famous ”Green Book”, at 1506 a talk about the African Union, e.g. promoting Human Rights! African songs, 1526 a talk about Senegal, 1539 a talk on ”Unity of Africa”, 1554 closing ann and abrupt s/off of 21695. 17725 continued with the French programme. A strange broadcast with no newscast from the center of the World’s attention and misinformation e.g. about its schedule. (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) English News bulletin now uploaded to YouTube by Dorset Radio, starts at 1 minute 23: http://www.youtube.com/user/DorsetRadio#p/u/0/wZRhb_Aw-14 Then went into Swahili then an hour of canned English programmes and music from 1500 (Mike Barraclough, 1822 UT Feb 22, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) Hello, According to the Libyan Radio and TV, Gaddafi is about to have a speech live from Tripoli. Keep an ear on SW and 1449, 972, 1215, the current Pro-Gaddafi working frequencies. Let's see what will happen next. B.Rgds (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg , Denmark, 1509 UT Feb 22, ibid.) Hello DXers, Around 1955 UT I noticed that 1449 kHz went silent suddenly. According to WRTH 2011 the location of the transmitter is Al Assah according to that map http://www.maplandia.com/libya/nuqat-al-khams/al-assah/ this city is in the northwest of Libya; could it be a new move by the protesters!! Only time will tell. The only pro-Gaddafi frequencies working so far is 1251 and 972. More to come (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark, 2005 UT Feb 22, ibid.) Hello DXers, with the latest update on the MW scene from Libya. 1449 kHz is still silent since around 1900 UT 22/2 675 kHz `Idhaat Libya al Hurra` - Radio Free Libya started their transmission with a test tone around 0715 UT, followed by ID and Qur`an recitation for almost 30 minutes. Then I had to leave to work. 972 kHz and 711 kHz were having Idhaat al Jamaheriya al Ouzma monitored around 0700 UT 1251 kHz was having Voice of Africa, monitored around 0645 UT More to come (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark 0943 UT Feb 23, ibid.) Tarek, your reports are fantastic!! When I get a bit of time, I'll post the full translations of some of the Arabic clips that have been posted to YouTube, etc in recent days (Chris Greenway [BBC Monitoring], dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) LIBYA: Transcripts of rebel broadcasts The translation of the clip of 1125 kHz recorded by Mauno Ritola at 1119 GMT on 21 February and posted to this yahoo group is: An announcer refers to the lengthy speech by Sayf-al-Islam, the son of Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, shown on state TV the previous night (2259 gmt on 20 February) and says: "This is Radio Free Libya. From the slopes of the great Al-Jabal al- Akhdar [Green Mountain], we greet you all. "Gentlemen, we witnessed last night's masquerade, and the speech by Sayf-al-Shaytan [Satan], not Sayf-al-Islam, son of the dictator, the young tyrant, who had also been hoping for the leadership. "So what do we read into this speech? Firstly, every Libyan must have understood that Sayf-al-Ahlam [dreams] had changed his speech style, from that of the liberal discourse to the language of threat and intimidation." The translation of the clip of 1125 kHz made at 1030 gmt on 22 February and posted to YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/DorsetRadio#p/u/3/R5ZaOq1qfjs is: One presenter says: "From the slopes of the great Al-Jabal al-Akhdar, gentlemen, we enjoy independence now, we enjoy peace, as we talk to you on these great waves, the waves of the Voice of Free Libya radio, which was launched with God's blessing hand in hand with the revolution since it started. "Gentlemen, our frequency is 1125 kHz on mediumwave, AM or MW, and we have been joined by our sister Benghazi, our beloved sister Radio Benghazi, on the frequency of 675 kHz which is now broadcasting from the studios of the local radio in Benghazi. This is the Voice of Free Libya, the voice of the grandsons of Umar al-Mukhtar [resistance leader during the Italian colonization of Libya]." A second presenter then says: "This is the Voice of Free Libya radio, from the slopes of the great Al-Jabal al-Akhdar. Dear brothers and sisters, especially in the liberated areas, by the grace of God. We now want to say, and want to say it more than once in our broadcast this afternoon, that we have appeared before the whole world to be the fastest revolutions in the world, calm and peaceful. We are now in the stages of calm, especially in the liberated areas. "Dear sisters, mothers at home, we have to economize a little now. People in the streets, at this time in the liberated areas, all armed forces, police and the support forces are all at their normal posts. We are now at a stage of pressure, not pressure [as heard] to remove this dictator from Tripoli, we are now in the final stages, we need to pray, to be calmer, we need to pray for those ahead of us. Which one of us has not visited Tripoli, which one of us has not shopped in Tripoli, which one of us does not love Tripoli, which one of us would not welcome the people of Tripoli, when they are in trouble and standing strong, these youth who yesterday went out to the 'Martyrs Square', which they [Al-Qadhafi supporters] call the Green Square or whatever." (Chris Greenway, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, ibid.) It should be pointed out that, throughout the conflict, the BBC have had an unnamed correspondent in Tripoli who has filed some interesting reports about the situation there. The Stephen Nolan programme on BBC Radio 5 has been especially good, not only for the coverage of events in Libya but of the previous revolution in Egypt with many live and often moving accounts phoned in by people on the spot. I have listened a great deal also to the coverage on BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4 but, frankly, I think Nolan's coverage has been the best on UK radio. His show airs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on Radio 5 Live between 22.00 and 01.00 (Roger Tidy, 1343 UT Feb 23, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 21695, V. of Africa, quite poor reception today Feb 23, 1451-1508+ but sounded like the usual canned stuff in English, music; meanwhile one of my cable DTV boxes decided to land some bubble jamming on 17725 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Africa in Arabic, 1251 kHz at 2334 Feb 23, mixing with Dutch station, SINPO 23332. Heard again at 0050 Feb 24 with SINPO of 34333. No other Libyan MW stations audible here (Roger Tidy, London UK, Feb 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Got in late today, began monitoring at 1506, best signal in ages on 21695 but very old taped program from 2006 "37 years of the revolution" (Tim Bucknall, UK, Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 21695, Voice of Africa from the Great Jamahiriyah ID heard immediately upon tuning in Feb 24 at 1439, into `Cities from Africa` talk with brief geo facts about a few, including one in NE Nigeria, and Bamako, Mali; then about Sénégal. Copy is difficult with only fair signal at best, deep fades, undermodulation, and accents. Generally better here than // 17725. 1456-1502 the `news` segment we had been hoping for, all about alleged widespread support for the Leader of the Revolution, mentioning various cities. 1503 back to canned stuff with Beethoven`s Ninth riff, ``Problem of Democracy``, 1509 outro as having been from the Green Book --- these all sound alike and I wonder if there is more than one episode? Then English schedule as for E Africa on 21695 at 4-6 pm GJ time = 2-4 pm GMT; and for Central Africa on 17850 at same times. 17850 of course, is totally wrong! 1517 beginning a ``special program`` but could not follow the topic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello DXers, here's a recap on the MW frequencies from Libya. 1449 kHz is still silent since around 1900 UT 22/2 972 and 1053 carrying Idhaat al Jamaheria al Ouzma, monitored around 0630 UT 675 started with a test tone 0655 that lasted till 0700 UT; the programme started at 0710 with OM starting the transmission with Besm Allah Alrahman Alraheem, In The Name of Allah. Giving ID, and the dates in Hijri which is the Islamic calendar, and in the western calendar ( which is not normal as Libya used to have its own calendar with strange names for the months that was known only in the Libyan media and newspapers) followed by Qur`an Recitation. 711 and 1251 due to severe QRM I wasn't able to pick both up. 1125 was silent till I left to work around 0730 UT Latest News: listening to the speech of Gadaffi on al Jazeera TV a few minutes ago, I can see that protesters are now approaching Az Zawiyah, which is a city of northwestern Libya situated on the Mediterranean coast about 40 km west of Tripoli. Az Zawiyah is the capital of a shabiyah (district) this is the closest city to Tripoli. Gadaffi asked the people there to go and fight the protesters! Among lots of other stuff. My main concern now is why 1449 is silent. I noticed that the transmitter of 1449 is located in Misurata. According to AlJazeera today the protesters are having severe times with the pro-Gadaffi supporters over there; the latest I heard that the protesters are controling the whole city now. So --- I guess we might --- Repeat, might, hear a new network of Radio Free Libya soon on 1449 kHz. Again this is just my trial to analyze why 1449 is silent. More to come, B. Rgds (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark 1505 UT Feb 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, 711 kHz has been silent since yesterday afternoon and it still is. It was probably from Jefren. The old 20 kW tx on 1449 kHz was in Misurata. The new high power transmitter, which has been now off for a couple of days, should be from Al-Assah. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, 1635 UT Feb 24, ibid.) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, RTV Malagasy, 0300-0315, Feb 18, local Afro-pop music. Malagasy talk. Carrier + USB. Poor to fair in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 9835, 0905, Radio TV Malaysia, NF, good with news in Malay. Frequent “RTM“ idents from reporters. “RTM Suara Malaysia” at conclusion of sports news 0915. Good signal but heavy QRM from powerful Chinese on 9845. Also heard 2250 20/1 when frequency measured as 9835.02. Good signal in Malay. At 2300, time pips and identification mentioning “Nasional, RTM” followed by news bulletin. Deteriorating reception and unreadable by 2400. On 25/1 heard clearly at 1955, 15/1, BCM 11665, 0157, RTM Kalang, NF, in Malay, very good in the clear with frequent mentions of ‘RTM’ and at 0205 ‘Radio Malaysia Wai FM’. Latter is Sarawak network so likely this frequency and new 9835 activated in response to recent launch of Radio Free Sarawak service, 26/1 (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 5964.68, Klasik Nasional (presumed), 1609-1618, Feb 17. In vernacular; some adjacent QRM; best in LSB; mushy audio, so unable to confirm ID, but language was correct to be them; this is the lowest frequency I have ever heard them on, but it had been a long time since I last checked here; earlier it is blocked by a strong station on 5965.0. 11665, Wai FM, 1545-1559, Feb 17. DJ on phone taking dedications; pop music; by 1559 I noticed they had already switched over to Sarawak FM programming and // 9835; fair to good. 11665, Sarawak FM, 1559-1605 + 1619, Feb 17. In vernacular; pop song; ToH pips (1+1); choral National Anthem; Sarawak singing jingle; pop songs; // 9835 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 15295, Voice of Malaysia, Kajang, 0722-0750, Feb 13, DJ program with popular music from Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. DJ at 0743: “This is the Voice of Malaysia” and 0750 “You are listening to the Voice of Malaysia”, 55444. Very strong signal even though the sun had not set early in the evening (Nobuya Kato, Fujisawa-city, Kanagawa, Japan visiting Cairns, Qsld., Australia, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA/SARAWAK. 7270.48v, Wai FM, 1113, Feb 23. In vernacular; pop song; // 11665. Recently this has been off frequency fairly regularly; best in USB to get away from stations on 7270.0. Another day of good propagation! (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SARAWAK ** MAURITANIA. 7245, R Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 2317, Feb 08, Arab pop song, ID in Arabic, music bridge with plucked strings and pipes and percussion, fair (Graham Bell, Cape Town, South Africa, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) May have been one of the last logs of this; 7245 and 4845, ORTM still missing at 0645 check Feb 20, and 24 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 783, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, weak (over here in Lisbon, strong on the south), audible despite the QRM de Spain & Syria. Nouakchott's off 7245 which had been their only HF outlet for many, many weeks. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6184.99, Radio Educación, 0742, fading-up nicely with light jazz. Finally, pre-recorded ID by man at 0800. 18 Feb (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF-7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6185, XEPPM in open carrier Feb 19 at 0627; by 0648 check had resumed with classical music. OC again at 2308. This is happening far too often, apparently no one paying attention to SW modulation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA. 4755.436-4755.444, 8.2 1352, The Cross with non stop music, ballad type, and several IDs a minute before top of the hour and also just before/after the half hour. Often a female announcer giving IDs. Station was heard up to about 19 o'clock but the signal then was very weak. 2-3. The station has not been heard after Feb 8. Screen dump of Bjurström's log of The Cross Feb 8. The frequency variation is very clear, between 4755.436 - 4755.444. [caption] OB (Olle Bjurtström, Sweden, SW Bulletin Feb 20, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST)) 4755.44, 8.2 1530, The Cross Radio, Micronesia heard in half an hour with religious songs and music. Weak signal but quite decent for a while. The day after nothing on the frequency. WIK (Rolf Wikström, Sweden, ibid.) 4755.39,, Pohnpei, The Cross, 0955 with some audio, 1010 off at re check, poor-fair reception on The Cross normal here, 17 February (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Icom 746Pro Modified by Dallas Lankford, NRD 535D [Gilfer] Drake R8, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4755.4, The Cross Radio, 0851, Feb 19, contemporary Christian music, 0900 “This is 88.5 FM, The Cross...”, into “Insight for Living” with Chuck Swindoll. Check at 0940 and they were off the air. Good (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4755.4, The Cross, 0741-0750, 20-02, male, English, religious. Very weak, only LSB. 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Friol, 27 Km. W of Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, faced WSW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Great catch! At this hour must have been long-path, approx. 16 megamiles, 26 megameters, path across New Zealand, Antarctica, up the Atlantic skirting W Africa. And a very brief window of possibility. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Curiously, not even a trace of the carrier in Aldea del Cano this morning at the same time (Perseus programed recording). At 1030z I was connected to some Perseus receivers in Japan searching for some activity from this station and they were off. After the reopening they were regular on 4755.44 at sunrise and sunset and in some moments with very weak audio. Aldea del Cano is 400 km south of Lugo. At this time (1805z) no traces of The Cross in Japan receivers. I´m sorry, Manuel, but I think you have catched some other thing. 73s (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/ ibid.) The exact off-frequency and the language do point to The Cross. What else is there on 4755.4? They have been signing off earlier than before, so not hearing them at 1030 or 1805 is not surprising or conclusive. They would certainly be on the air at 0741, their prime time, unless there was a power outage. Perhaps someone in North America, Pacific or east Asia can confirm whether they were on the air today at 0741. Note that Manuel was also getting Vanuatu 7260 around the same time. Assuming Mauricio would have intercepted The Cross further south, possibly it was really short-path along the grayline across eastern Siberia and the Arctic ocean north of Eurasia? 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Yes, Vanuatu is regular here too in an everyday basis. But in the past week I have only found (in Japanese receivers!) The Cross active at our sunrise only one day. Here the usual weak carrier. That carrier was not this morning. My recording ended at 0739 and some seconds; may be they started at 0740? The power supply is very problematic in the island so everything is possible. But the first days they were on the air later than 1030z. The Cross is in full AM and well modulated as Manuel heard only LSB; maybe some ute transmitter? Around this time it is easy to hear people talking (fishers, military...). I don´t know, but I should have detected the carrier at least. I suspect that they are more time OFF than ON these days, if ON at all. Now, the sun is rising in Pohnpei and The Cross is still off. 73s (Mauricio Molano, Salamanca, ESPAÑA - SPAIN, ibid.) I checked off and on for the between 0700-0930z this morning (UT Feb 20) and not even a carrier present. I had assumed they were off, as I have been receiving generally fair signals from them for the past week or two. Perhaps the solar flare was causing lousy conditions over the path. 73, (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN, ibid.) When I noted a station in this frequency, I checked it in SSB with my Satellit 500. The audio clarified exactly in 4755.4, then, I noted a man in English. I send my log at 0750, but the signal disappeared about 0810. Some songs and more talks till fade out. I think, but with very weak signal and I am not sure, at 0800 possible identification of The Cross. No Radio Imaculada Conçeição, exactly on 4755, station I heard in the past a lot of times and for the last months impossible to pick up here. About the doubts of my Radio The Cross log for one person who maybe thinks "If I`m not be able to pick up this station, others can't pick it up", to clarify the question I sent this message to the station: "Dear Sir: Today at 0740 UTC I have listened your Station The Cross. Please, can you tell me if you are on the air all days at this time?. Thank you very much and greetings from Spain, Manuel Méndez" Here is the reply from The Cross: "Dear Manuel, Thank you so much for your message. We broadcast 24/7 from the Island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. Am copying our Pohnpei station for their information. God bless! Melinda Melinda R. Espinosa PMA Headquarters P.O.Box 3209 Hagatna Guam 96932 Tel (671) 646-6464 Fax (671) 649-6066 Member: ECFA www.pmapacific.org" (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sorry, but in faraway Guam she is obviously out of touch with the recent reduction in schedule, no longer 24/7, as per info directly from the station and numerous logs of it signing off circa 0930/1100. The question is whether it was really on the air Feb 20 at 0740+, which they can answer only from Pohnpei. 73, (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No, Manuel, no. Simply, somebody who has been receiving a reasonable strong signal from that station on the first days after its reactivation. Sometimes with very weak audio. Simply somebody who has been unable to receive even a minimal signal from that station in the most recent days. Nor at sunrise, nor at sunset (as it was previously received). Somebody who has been checking that frequency in an every day basis from receivers in Japan (and from Australia when that Perseus server was online). Somebody that, yesterday, at the same time was unable to find even the slightest signal from The Cross (nor from my own site, nor from remote sites closer to the station). Somebody surprised by your hearing of music and English speech on a frequency empty for me and for the Japanese receivers checked. And somebody trying to maintain a polite and respectful interchange of opinions or discrepancies trying to conclude if The Cross was/is active regularly or not. It seems that this is not possible between Spaniards. The reply you have obtained is not from the station. It is from the Headquarters of PMA in GUAM, another island several hundred (thousand?) km away. Yes, they are 24/7 on the air --- on FM! and on SW they were 24/7 only when testing at the beginning. Today, receivers placed in Japan or NA West coast had been receiving a weak signal from The Cross. Better in North America (N1KEZ rx.) than in Japan (see attached screenshot). That's all from my side. 73s (Mauricio Molano, Salamanca, ESPAÑA - SPAIN, Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Manuel, Sorry that this became so contentious with Mauricio. I hope you have been trying for 4755 the following two mornings around the same time? Any luck? Also should try to get a reply direct from Pohnpei whether they were on the air when you originally reported them. 73, (Glenn to Manuel, via DXLD) Hello Glenn, unfortunately I can´t try again these days because I live in Lugo, and here I don't have good conditions to pick up The Cross. I must be staying in Friol to try. When I sent my e-mail to the station I sent a copy to the Pohnpei address pohnpei @ pmapacific.org and I sent another e-mail again, but no reply. About Mauricio, we have interchanged various e-mails and there is no problem between us. He tell me today in an e-mail sent at 0728 UT, that the Pohnpei station can be heard at that hour with weak-fair signal in the Perseus receivers on the US West Cost. 73,s (Manuel Méndez, Spain, Feb 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4755.44, PMA-The Cross Radio. Feb 22 at 0900 with ID; syndicated Christian programming; went off sometime between 1032 and 1040; mostly poor (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4755.44, PMA-The Cross Radio. Feb 24 at 1054 with contemporary Christian songs; ID at 1100 (“This is … and this is the Cross Radio, 88.5 FM”); into syndicated Christian show; almost fair in QRN; heard again at 1126 check, but gone by check at 1137. Believe recently they have been signing off a little earlier than this (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 4895.00, *2300-2310 17.02, Mongoliin R Murun IS, ann in Mongolian, National hymn sung by choir, 2303 ann, talk with lively music in background 35333 // 4830 Altay (35232) (Anker Petersen, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, Feb 18, playdx yg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4895, Mongolian R., Murun, 02/19 0013-0031, non stop local (Chinese like) pop song only; better heard in LSB with Rx inter audio filter; QRM lite rtty; strong statics crashes; poor/ almost fair (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy, JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper-S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, Voice of Mongolia, 1030-1100 UT 19 Feb. 2011, I listened English Service. Reception 433. News, Musical Art. A meeting of UNESCO in Nairobi, Kenya confirmed that the Mongolian Khoomii has been registered (Abid Hussain Sajid, Mailsi| (PK), Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. 711.04, SNRT-"R", El Aiún, 2202-2236, 19 Feb, Arabic, talks; Castilian program at 2230, news, western music; 44444, but this reflects the carrier for the modulation was extremely undermodulated, QRM de E & F. 1139.2, SNRT-"A", site?, 2321-, 20 Feb, Arabic, end of prayer, very short announcement and into Arabic songs & music, more on the classical side; 43442, adjacent QRM, noisy & weak modulation, sync. with the audio on 540 Tahadart, so, again, this is may be a spur from this site. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5985.0, Myanma R. via Naypyidaw, 1323, Feb 17. Continually better signal than formerly via Yangon (Is the difference that this transmitter is much newer than Yangon’s?); indigenous music; by 1339 the N. Korean jamming had already started for the 1400 start of Shiokaze. Feb 18 also via Naypyidaw at 1334 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5985.88/5985, R. Myanma, 1426-1440+ Feb 21. Gal talking in presumed Burmese to 1430 on 5985.88; switched to 5985.00 within a minute after Shiokaze left that frequency at 1430; played Burmese music after switching. Next day (Feb 22) noted again on 5985.88, switching to 5985.00 around 1445 per spot checks (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Feb 23, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) A reminder that clandestine broadcasts to the above country are filed under their preferred name BURMA [non], including in this issue (gh) ** NETHERLANDS. RADIO NETHERLANDS BOOSTS ARABIC BROADCASTS ON PROTESTS | Text of report in English by Radio Netherlands website on 20 February Radio Netherlands Worldwide has expanded its Arabic broadcasts to cover the protests across the Arab world. The programmes are focusing on Libya and Morocco but also report on demonstrations in Europe and include commentary and analysis by eyewitnesses and Dutch experts. The additional broadcasts can be heard via satellite in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. They can also be received via http://www.rnw.nl/hunaamsterdam and several social media, including the Radio Netherlands Worldwide page on Facebook. They are also aired on FM through Morocco's Medi-1, the biggest broadcaster in the Maghreb, and through several youth stations, including Tangier's Cap Radio, and Maroc Plus in Agadir and Marrakech. Source: Radio Netherlands website, Hilversum, in English 20 Feb 11 (via BBCM via DXLD) But on shortwave? Of course not! (gh, DXLD) See also QATAR [non] ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Frequency change for RNW Dutch to sAMn/Caribbean To avoid interference from a transmitter in Cuba, RNW’s Dutch transmission to sAMn/Caribbean at 2359-0027 UT from Bonaire has moved from 6145 kHz to 6110 kHz. (Source : Media Network Weblog) (via Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, Feb 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Must be 6140 where Cuba has been at least since Nov (gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND [and non]. 9765, Feb 18 at 0705, RNZI is VG, and RA 9710 is good, the only signals of any note on the 31m band otherwise blacked out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) New earthquake in Christchurch NZ ---Ciao ! I Maori lo avevano predetto ..... Per seguire le breaking news Channel 7 Australia ha una trasmissione in diretta "live" http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/national/watch/23188303/23188288/ Really dramatic to see the video reports (Dario Monferini, Italy, 0301 UT Feb 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Australian ABC coverage of New Zealand disaster --- Getting MUCH much stronger reception than usual of Radio Australia on 11880 here in Arizona. They're having non-stop coverage of the NZ/ Christchurch quake. They are still very strong as I post this at 1745 UT. Regards (Rick Barton, Feb 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also AUSTRALIA Check RNZI, of course; frequency schedule at http://www.rnzi.com and also lots of coverage on Radio Australia (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5950, Feb 24 at 1332, RNZI with news about Christchurch quake, missing foreign students including Chinese; 1334 back to `All Night` programme from National radio, instead of scheduled `Pacific Correspondent`. Suspect RNZI has been relaying RNZ National more than usual, pre- empting own programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NICARAGUA. PROTESTA SINDICAL POR RUINDAD EN RADIO NICARAGUA Jasmina Escobar Sandino, El Nuevo Diario Los trabajadores de Radio Nicaragua denunciaron las condiciones infrahumanas en las que trabajan; además de eso, aseguran que son víctimas de violaciones a sus derechos laborales, los que han sido pisoteados por los diferentes directores que han llegado, según la ideología política de los gobernantes que ha tenido nuestro país. Sin embargo, la gota que derramó el vaso, fue el aumento salarial que autorizó el director actual de dicha radioemisora, Alberto Carballo Madrigal, sólo a cuatro funcionarios, disposición que rechazan los sindicalistas, ya que no se les tomó en cuenta para este acto, violentando así el convenio colectivo laboral vigente. Carmen García, Secretaria General de Conflicto del Sindicato de Trabajadores de Radio Nicaragua, Sitranic, expresó que el viernes redactaron un comunicado y lo llevaron a los medios orteguistas (Radio Ya, la Sandino, El 19 y Canal 4), sin embargo, no les hicieron caso. “Estamos demandando al director de Radio Nicaragua, Alberto Carballo, que escuche nuestras peticiones”, insistió. “Sólo para cuatro” Lissette Galo Rodríguez, Secretaria General del Sindicato de Trabajadores de Radio, Sitra, aseveró que “desde hace varios años el señor Alberto Carballo viene incumpliendo el convenio colectivo laboral vigente. Actualmente, hubo un aumento salarial a cuatro personas, cuando el convenio estipula que tiene que llamar a las asociaciones sindicales, para que nosotros diéramos nuestros criterios sobre esos aumentos, pero se nos ignoró totalmente”. Aclaró que no están en contra de las personas que fueron beneficiadas con dicho incremento, pero objetan la forma en que se hizo y que el aumento no sea efectivo para el resto de trabajadores, porque hay unos que ganan poco, incluso rondan el salario mínimo. “Así como él hizo gestiones para cuatro personas, ¿por qué no gestionó para el resto?”, cuestionó. Además, denunció que “se están viendo medidas represivas, ya que amenazó al conductor que anduvo con nosotros entregando los comunicados el viernes, y le pasó un memorando, y lo amenazó con despedirlo. Ese día nos tomamos la cabina para emitir el comunicado. Creo que no estamos haciendo nada malo”. De igual manera, comentó que la flota vehicular que tiene Radio Nicaragua es deprimente, puesto que hay vehículos que están ahí desde el 86. “El director no se preocupa por esta situación, a él lo que le interesa es andar bien en su vehículo, con aire acondicionado, pago de celular, agua purificada, mientras nosotros tomamos agua del chorro”. “Tenemos ahorita un problema con los trabajadores de El Triunfo, es decir, los de la planta transmisora, que estos muchachos están tomando agua contaminada porque la bomba se dañó hace un año, uno de ellos ya está enfermo. Defecan al aire libre, porque la tubería del inodoro está descompuesta”, concluyó la sindicalista. EL NUEVO DIARIO buscó la versión del director de Radio Nicaragua, Alberto Carballo, pero no nos dejaron pasar del portón de la entrada, aduciendo que eran “órdenes superiores”, también llamamos a su celular y no respondió (via Marty Delfín, Spain, Feb 22, DXLD) R. Nicaragua is YNN, 50 kW on 620; governmental or commercial? (gh) ** NIGER. 9704.99, LV du Sahel, 2100-2301*, Feb 18, audible after Ethiopia 2100 sign off with vernacular and French talk. Wide variety of local tribal music, Euro-pop, and Afro-pop music. Qur`an at 2255. Short flute IS and National Anthem at 2259. Weak at 2100, but improved to a stronger level after 2200. Irregular. Not heard on Feb 17 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 917, R. Gotel (presumed, but what else, from the south?), Yola, 2211-2231, 19 Feb, English (presumed), western pop songs; 23441, QRM de Espanha on 918. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 9690, Voice of Nigeria, 0840-0910, Feb 19, tune-in to talk in listed Hausa. Local drums at 0858. Into English programming at 0900 with news. Program about weavers in Nigeria. Fair to good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. 9840 Hamada R. International via Germany, Feb 15 *1930-1945 23222-24222 Hausa, 1930 sign on with opening music, Opening announce, Talk, ID at 1938. Feb 17 *1930-1946 22332-24332 Hausa, Talk and local music, ID at 1945 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium Feb 18 via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. Pirate - President Day Radio, 6925 heard 19 February 2011 from 2111 to 2123 UT sign-off on 6925 USB. Played "Hail To The Chief," followed by the Oath of Office from Nixon to Obama. ID'd as "This is President Day 6925" and gave e-mail address presidentday6925 @ yahoo.com E-QSL received next day depicting American Flag and Mount Rushmore, along with inset for the POW/MIA logo. 73's, (Ed Insinger, Summit, NJ, Feb 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: WEAK busted ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. From the longer beacon list under INTERNATIONAL I have excerpted the ones in OK and vicinity for my own reference: 512 HMY Lexington OK 515 PN Ponca City OK 520 IQS Sallisaw OK 521 TO Topeka KS 524 HRD Kountze Silsbee-Hardin County TX [east-central TX] 526 OJ Olathe-Johnson County KS (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Whilst checking out Brother Scare`s station list, whether he`s on 1020, TURKS & CAICOS [q.v.], I couldn`t help but notice some imaginary info for this state: KTLA 690 AM OKLAHOMA CITY, OK NOON SUNDAY CENTRAL KERO 1120 AM TULSA, OK NOON SUNDAY CENTRAL KJMU 1340 AM TULSA, OK NOON SUNDAY CENTRAL ?? There is no 690 in OK, and certainly no KTLA other than ch `5` in Los Ángeles. I bet this was supposed to read KTLR on 890! KERO should be KEOR, which was simulcasting KJMU for a while, but silent lately. Does he have California on his addled brain? If he can`t get his own schedule info right, how can we trust him to be The Last Day Prophet Of God? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. I did some antenna work this afternoon. While doing a quick BCB scan to check results, noted KEOR 1120 off the air 1555 CST 20FEB11. What sounds like two very weak stations heard, KMOX one possibility but no ID heard across the 1600 CST TOH (Bruce Winkelman AA5CO, Tulsa, OK, Drake R8, Par EndFedz SWL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bruce, I think KEOR has been off the air for a couple weeks at least, not heard here on daytime checks. I would have to research when I last logged it for sure. When did you last hear it? (Glenn to Bruce, via DXLD) Can't remember the last time I scanned past 1120; had to have been around the first of the year tho. Still noted off this AM. 1270, 1530 and 1570 still simulcasting Spanish programming this morning as well (Bruce Winkelman, Feb 21, ibid.) ** OKLAHOMA. Radio Disney continues its selloff of medium-market stations: Tulsa's KMUS/1380 --- Radio Disney Disney took the station off the air in March 2010, saying it was negotiating with "a small broadcaster who is still working out financing." That deal was never consummated, and on November 18, Disney filed to extend its Special Temporary Authority for KMUS, Sperry, Oklahoma to remain silent. It also said "the prior negotiations were unsuccessful." Now it files to sell KMUS to a different small business. That is Antonio Perez' Radio Las Americas LLC, and the price is $300,000 cash. KMUS is licensed for 7,000 watts daytime and 250 watts at night, both directional. The broker identified in the filing is William Schutz. Other recent Radio Disney selloffs have included AMs in Jacksonville and Hartford (from http://www.radio-info.com/news/radio-disney-continues-its-selloff-of-medium-market-stations-tulsas-kmus138 via Artie Bigley, Feb 18, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KALV-1430 Alva, Oklahoma has been fined $7000 for operating the station after its license term had run out (July 6, 2006) (NRC DX News Feb 21, 2011 via DXLD) Oops; still, maybe worth it for only $1522 a year so far. Remains on the air, I think, here in the null toward Tulsa (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Bruce Elving of FM Atlas reports that one of our LPFMs, KAMG-LP *92.1 has changed hands from Amigos Ministry to Maranatha Radio Corp., and as a result format changes from Spanish gospel to plain old g=gospel. No, it`s still Spanish gospel music, even if under new ownership, at several chex Feb 19; legal ID in English interrupted at 1505 UT with time-check as 9:02. What`s the new owner? With a name like that, I thought it might be a group, but searching on that name got only ONE hit, http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/piratejim/lpfm4.html which already has it as Spanish contemporary Christian. Spelling out corporation leads to 4 hits, all from FCC concerned with voluntary transfer of ownership, which was apparently consummated Feb 17. Allaccess.com added last Nov 22 that this involved no consideration (payment). Meanwhile I`ve noticed that the church in NE Enid which was the address of KAMG has been converted into something else. The transmitter site which we tracked down and visited when it first started testing, almost four years ago, is NW of Enid: http://www.w4uvh.net/kamg1.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/kamg2.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/kamg3.jpg (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Of the Big Three commercial DTV stations in OKC, I`ve noticed that only KWTV-39 IDs as `KWTV-DT`, visually including on its lower-right bugs with a white 9 on a red background, alternating with News9.com. This is confirmed at FCC TV Query: KWTV-DT is the official call, while the others are KOCO-TV and KFOR-TV even tho they are just as Digital as KWTV is. Perhaps it was 39`s choice to keep the -DT since TV is already part of their four-letter callsign. At least that will reduce ignorant broadcast media references to it as ``KWTV-TV``, which happened frequently in the analog era! While looking at the FCC info about these I see that: KWTV-DT on 39 has a direxional antenna with full 100% power only headed due south, and reduced power of 81% at 320 degrees, which is not too far from Enid`s direxion, where we also get reduced power; why? Is there something else on ch 39 that must be protected out here? Not that I know of. KOCO-TV 7 is licensed with 47 kW at 370 meters AAT. But has a CP modification for 65.7 kW at 451 m. And an application for 101 kW back down at 370 meters So they want to increase power to what it was when in analog on channel 5, which of course is not equivalent to what you need on channel 7 analog, much less what you need for equivalent DTV coverage, but bound to be an improvement over 47 kW. Which power and height they are currently using is anyone`s guess. Licensed pattern plot shows max power at 30-40 degrees, a big null toward the SW reducing power to 25%. That was to protect KSWO-TV in Lawton while it was still on channel 7 analog during The Transition, but now it`s on 11, so that should no longer be necessary. The 65.7 kW CP mod is also non-direxional; but the app for 101 kW has the same direxional null toward Lawton which is no longer necessary, so perhaps the `final` version will be the 65.7 kW one. Fortunately, Enid is getting about 96% of the signal as long as it`s direxional. KOCO-TV also has a Grant for KOCO-DR on channel 7, ``Service Designation: DR. Petition for rulemaking to add or modify a digital allotment -- see Docket for details``, whatever that means. The docket is not linked from this Query search page. KFOR-TV 27 has no CPs or APPs for changes, just LIC as 790 kW, non- direxional at 489 meters AAT (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 7615, R Pakistan, 1718 Feb 19 with religious type Hindi songs. At 1730 man with Islamic type talks. Found to be // 7530. audio file: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dy4j6ttz9dkifjj (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see IRAN [non]: Gunaz, 7610! ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3275, Radio Western [sic] Highlands, 1205-1213, 17February2011, in Pisin. Local music, male announcer at 1210 with commercial followed by additional local music, abruptly off at 1213, poor signal (Ed Wlodarski, NJ, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Is that a typical cut-off time, like 3385 at 1226*? No; see below (gh, DXLD) 3275, R Southern Highlands, Mendi, 2002-2018, Feb 13, news on the bilateral relations between Japan and Papua New Guinea, “Tok Pidgin News” from 2005 on the Japanese vice Foreign Minister Makiko Kikuta’s visiting PNG, etc. The following talk program also mentioned the bilateral relations between PNG and Japan. 45444 – 35433. The signal was getting weaker as the time went on, because the sun was about to rise (Nobuya Kato, Fujisawa-city, Kanagawa, Japan visiting Cairns, Qsld., Australia, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) 3275, NBC Southern Highlands (presumed), at 1302 on Feb 24 was not carrying the news in English as the other PNG stations were; instead had program of pop songs (C&W, island, etc.). (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3290, NBC Central, 1211-1226, Feb 24. DJ with pop songs; Shakira singing “Waka Waka” (This Time for Africa/Esto es Africa), etc.; Waka Waka must be popular in PNG, as I also heard it yesterday on NBC East New Britain. At 1302 news in English (assume the usual “News Roundup”); // 3365 NBC Milne Bay. After 1306 not //. (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3365, R Milne Bay, Alotau, heard at 1205-1235, Feb 14, news in English on the trade relations between Japan and China, at 1207 weather forecast, and ID “That was the end of the news from NBC”. Then program preview, popular songs with short ann, 1221 time ann started with “On the Voice of Kula…”, then interviews on the phone with listeners followed (Nobuya Kato, Fujisawa-city, Kanagawa, Japan visiting Cairns, Qsld., Australia, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) 3385, NBC East New Britain. 1207-1225*, Feb 17. In Tok Pisin with the news; 1216 series of IDs ("Your Rock and Roll station, N-B-C East New Britain"; suddenly off at in mid-sentence at 1225, their standard sign off time; almost fair; no other station noted here, just PNG. Feb 22 also with 1225* (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Week in review: 3385, Radio East New Britain at 1120 occasionally breaking through the pulse utility station with music; also faint audio on 3325 kHz; my guess would be Radio Buka. It sounded like their woman announcer at 1125 UT. Recheck at 1130, little stronger with woman announcer barely audible (Bill, W1OW, Smith, MA, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3385, NBC East New Britain. 1205-1225*, Feb 23. In Tok Pisin; DJ playing requested pop songs; promo (“Listen to the music . . . more music on N-B-C”); different format than yesterday (1203 news in English followed by news in Tok Pisin; different DJ playing pop songs; promo for their Thursday evening music request show from “9:30 to 11:00”, with FM and SW frequencies). This certainly is the only regularly heard PNG and with the best reception even in QRN. 3385, NBC East New Britain. 1225*, Feb 24 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3329.537, Radio Ondas Del Huallaga, 1045-1109 Feb 18. Booming in this morning with a male in preaching mode. He is joined by a female in vernacular while the male is in Spanish. Both individuals are very excitable with their presentation. The comments are presented over music. Signal is really strong this morning from ODH. I have never heard this station so well before. It is actually blocking out CHU. I am wondering if the good reception might be the result of the Solar Flare that has been reported in the news yesterday? The Station still very strong at 1108 UT. Note: Signals were very good this morning for some stations, while other stations just didn't make it. Radio Ondas Del Huallaga was really booming in! I have never heard it so well as I did this morning. I would surmise that they had increased their power if I hadn't heard other stations doing as well? Finally, Radio Victoria was unusually good too, but I compared that with Bolivia's Radio Santa Cruz and they were 100 percent opposite. I could barely hear RSC while Victoria was booming in. Strange morning (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, WR-G31DDC, 26N 081W, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3329.544, Ondas del Huallaga, Huánuco, 1045 to 1105 fade, usual yl & om with announcement, "Buenos Dias ...Peru...en cuatro dias ..." 17 February *** note 18 February Charles Bolland log as well. 3329.53, Ondas del Huallaga, Huánuco, 1025 to 1100 enjoyable Peruvian vocals, music and announcements pumped though new sound system. Pure enjoyment! IDs by OM, both "onda media" and "onda corta" 21 Feb. 73s (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, FL, Icom 746Pro, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4986.833, Radio Manantial, Huancayo 1110 noted after four days silent 17 February 5039.223, Radio Libertad Junín, 1050 noted 16 February; 1030 to 1100 "en todos los días, 8 y cuatro..." 17 February 5059.9 [tentative], La Voz de las Huarinjas, Huancabamba, 1140-1150 on 14 February 5120.389, Ondas del Suroriente, Quillabamba 1030 to 1035, om en español, better than usual signal 17 February 5921.26, Radio Bethel noted at 1100 on 15 February 6047.2, Radio Santa Rosa, Lima, 1100 to 1125, ments de Perú, San Antonio "en familia...palabras de..."16 February, also noted 15 and 14th [Wilkner + XM-Cedar Key] 6173.8, Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cusco 1020 to 1029 on 17 February, buried in cochannel (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Icom 746Pro Modified by Dallas Lankford, NRD 535D [Gilfer] Drake R8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4775, Radio Tarma, also IDing at times as "R Tarma Internacional". 1102 tune-in to program already in progress on 2/17 with arpa musica, OM ID over "...4775 kiloHertz, Radio Tarma, la primerísima . . . Muy buenos dias, señoras y señores . . ." After OA folkloric music riff, then sound of siren wailing, explosion and into morning news program. Long electronic music intro, followed by OM who rambled on with news items including taped actualities, "Buenos días! Buenos días! Buenos días!! Radio Tarma, las 6 de la mañana con 6 minutos . . . amables oyentes, nuestra programa . . . (sounded like:) 'El Demoledor' . . . " Signal fading but held to 1125 (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer, Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2, Longwire, HCDX via DXLD) ** PERU. 4789.90v, R. Visión, Chiclayo in Spanish (frequency variable to 4789.89); 02/11 0502-0512 man talking & possible YL talk at times (all mostly unclear); loudspeaker prayer & talks; better heard in LSB with & without Nir 12 & rx inter audio filter; fast QSB with strong rustle & moderate CODAR; very poor (Serra-Italy) 4789.92, R. Visión, Chiclayo (approximately on this frequency) 02/20 0425-0430 man loudspeaker prayer: "...Gloria, gloria, gloria... Alleluia, alleluia..."; heard in USB with Nir 12; strong rustle & statics crackles; QRM CODAR; barely audible just above statics crashes (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy, JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper- S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer- Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 18057.6, Feb 17 at 1445, carrier detectable here instead of usual 18057.9, so apparently R. Victoria fundamental is more like 6019.2 today instead of 6019.3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 6019.236, Radio Victoria, 1010-1025 Feb 18. Noted the usual preaching by David Miranda until 1015. At that time a short period of music is heard. Can't hear what's going on after that since the noise is covering most of the signal up. I think I still hear David in there, but not sure? A recheck at 1025 reveals a clear signal as the preaching noted earlier, is easily heard. The signal improves from a poor to good level (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9310, IBB Tinang is still signing-on the `wrong` station. Feb 21 at 1554 tone, 1555 open carrier, 1558 `Voice of America, signing on``, Yankee Doodle Dandy, repeats ``Voice of America, signing on`` and more YDD. At 1600 no intro in English of language to follow, but a few words sound Russian, then join in progress some Central Asian language with Russian influence. It`s Tatar-Bashkir, ergo from R. Liberty, not VOA!! 1600-1700, 250 kW, 332 degrees per Aoki (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES [non]. 15350, RVA via VATICAN, Feb 17 at 1547, VG S9+20 in Taglish, hard-sell promos mentioning ``Two thousand eleven``, ``Proclamation 241(?)``, and ``no to contraception`` (as if Philippines isn`t overpopulated already!); 1539 mentions ``Veritas``. Mostly with annoying self-imposed echo on the audio. Meanwhile still nothing on 9570 during this hour when R. Blagovest used to show (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From DXLD 11-07: "9570, R. Blagovest via RVA still absent, Feb 14 at 1502. Wonder what the story is, if this service for Catholic Russians has been terminated?" At the end of 2010, there was an information in Moscow DX Bulletin # 716 http://dxing.ru/publikatsii/15-mdxb/1345.html "According to information received from the head of RVA Technical department, the station will cancel its Russian broadcasts in the beginning of 2011". No exact dates were given (Aleksandr Diadischev, Ukraine, Feb 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** QATAR [non]. AL JAZEERA AGAIN STREAMING LIVE ON RNW WEBSITE Due to the ongoing situation in Libya, RNW is again providing a live stream of Al Jazeera English. You can watch Al Jazeera on this page, http://www.rnw.nl/english/video/middle-east-unrest-live-footage which also includes a live Twitter feed. Having watched Al Jazeera extensively in recent days, I can highly recommend its coverage for a more in-depth analysis and less repetition than I have seen on other news channels. An RNW correspondent (whose name we cannot publish for safety reasons) is also reporting from inside Libya. Al Jazeera has published comprehensive country-by-country information on its worldwide satellite frequencies and full details of carriers on cable and ADSL. All the details are on this page of its website. http://english.aljazeera.net/watchaje/20091022172112636517.html (February 23rd, 2011 - 11:36 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) ** ROMANIA. 17540, Feb 22 at 1542, ``I could have danced all night`` by big-voiced mezzo-soprano. What else would one expect to hear during RRI`s Arabic service? As Arabic announcements followed, then to disco- beat rock music. Perhaps the performer was Romanian, but couldn`t they at least translate the lyrix into Arabic if not Romanian? That would be a bit of a culture-clash (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. 9965, Feb 17 at 2259 tune in, weak with IS, pips, news in Portuguese, alternating man and woman. Next day, February 18, tuned in little earlier and heard the same station 2245 UnID language, then into similar routine at 2259, IS, pips, Portuguese. Checked, seemed // (delayed)web stream. Aoki, HFCC, EiBi all have this as signing on at 2300, so what was the UnID language before? Too weak to even tell what type of language. Listed via Armenia to South America (Earl Higgins, St. Louis USA, TenTec RX-321, Wellbrook ALA-1530L, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I finally remembered to check this on Feb 24: 2255 some very weak and fluttery talk, but cannot determine the language, also with residual Cuban pulse jamming since 9965 is the R. República daytime frequency altho by now it is on 5954.2v instead; and also splatter/overload from WWCR 9980; 2259 VOR IS starts. Anyone else with better luck by now? KHBN = T8WH is also registered on 9965 from 2200 past 2300 but the two transmitters there are really on 9930 and 13590 per WHR sked, and the unID does seem to be from the same VOR transmitter (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAIPAN. Let it not be said that KFBS does not broadcast in English, as its schedule would have us believe, while more important languages such as Udmurt are included. 11580, Feb 24 at 1308, discussion in English of infidelity for a few minutes, then suddenly switches to YL in Chinese, apparently consecutive translation, but a lot more than one phrase piled up before doing so. 11580 at 1300-1400 is listed only as Chinese (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SARAWAK. 7270.51, Wai FM, 1435-1448 Feb 22. Off-frequency again with indigenous droning, // 11665. 7270 fair/good with splatter, 11665 fair at best with co-channel QRM (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Feb 23, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) see also MALAYSIA ** SARAWAK [non]. TAJIKISTAN, 6205, R. Free Sarawak via Tajikistan Feb 07 1204-1210 44433 Iban, Talk, ID at 1205. Feb 12 *1200-1214 44444 Iban, 1200 sign on with IS, Opening announce, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium Feb 18 via DXLD) But not any more: Radio Free Sarawak on 6205 kHz via Dushanbe QSY to 15420 kHz at 1100- 1200 UT, same frequency as the Palauan transmission at 1000-1100 UT from Feb. 16. de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, Japan, Feb 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) and also ex: 1200-1300, seems (gh) According to HFCC B10 Operational Schedule, Feb. 20 version: 15420 1000 1100 54E HBN 100 270 1234567 311010 270311 D 13500 Iban USA HBN FCC 19237 15420 1100 1200 54NE HBN 100 270 1234567 311010 270311 D 13500 Iban USA HBN FCC 19477 However, it is at 1100-1200 UT with the monitoring until yesterday was the transmission from Dushanbe. R. Free Sarawak plans 1200-1400 UT extension of the service. de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, Feb 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ridiculous: this did NOT start already on 311010; too many HFCC entries just plug that in and leave it in instead of showing true effective dates. Anyhow, goodbye to 6205 audible here (gh, DXLD) I confirmed that R. Free Sarawak was transmitted by Palau T8WH Angel 4 on Feb. 22, received it successively from 1000 to 1200 UT. de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, Japan, Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) An interesting article in this evening`s London Evening Standard (22 Feb) about Radio Free Sarawak: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23925368-gordon-brown-sister-in-law-tackles-corruption-in-borneo.do (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: GORDON BROWN'S SISTER-IN-LAW TACKLES CORRUPTION IN BORNEO David Cohen 22 Feb 2011 Life & Style “Rather than hide, we’ve decided to come out fighting”: Clare Rewcastle Brown and Peter John Jaban are revealing their identities as the campaigners behind Radio Free Sarawak [caption] In a flat above a restaurant in Covent Garden, an investigative reporter called Clare and a tribesman from Borneo covered in tattoos prepare to transmit their daily revolutionary radio broadcast deep into the Borneo jungle. They make for an unlikely double act - she is a white, middle-aged Englishwoman, and he the proud grandson of a Dayak headhunter who broadcasts under the pseudonym Papa Orang Utan. Their aim is no less outlandish: to expose the alleged corruption of Taib Mahmud, chief minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo 6,500 miles from London, and bring an end to his 30-year rule. "This is Radio Free Sarawak," begins Papa Orang Utan, donning his headphones to interview a village headman who has been forcibly removed from his land and who, quite remarkably, speaks to them on a mobile phone from the edge of the Borneo rainforest. Clare briefs Papa: "Make sure you ask if he knows that it's chief minister Taib who has stolen their land? And get who he'll be voting for!" Until now the identity of the "pirates" behind Radio Free Sarawak has been a closely guarded secret - and for good reason. Scandal-plagued Taib, 74, is one of the world's most ruthless and wealthiest men - richer allegedly than the Sultan of Brunei, whose independent country lies alongside - and locals who oppose him can feel the full force of his retribution. But today is a watershed: the duo have bravely decided to out themselves ahead of the upcoming Sarawak elections, expected in April. Indeed, the Evening Standard can reveal that the mystery Englishwoman who set up Radio Free Sarawak four months ago and who brought out the tattooed tribesman - real name Peter John Jaban - to front her broadcasts is in fact Clare Rewcastle Brown, sister-in-law of former prime minister Gordon Brown. The last time she was in the public eye was in May 2009 when she published a letter defending the then prime minister's cleaning arrangements in the wake of the expenses scandal. Her piece, "The true story of Gordon Brown, the cleaner and my husband", laid out their "very ordinary shared cleaning arrangements" and explained why The Telegraph's front page "scoop" was groundless. "My poor husband Andrew," she recalls, "was the face on the front page on the first day of the expenses scandal, which was pretty damn unfair given that Gordon's arrangement with the cleaner was later judged wholly legitimate. The reporters arrived on our doorstep thinking they'd 'got Gordon' but they hadn't done their due diligence and when we presented them with the truth, they didn't want to hear it." Today she sees less of her husband's older brother, "Gordon and Sarah being mainly up in Scotland", but they are "a close-knit family" and "Gordon is hugely supportive," she says. Rewcastle Brown, 51, born in Sarawak to British parents in the days before the former British colony was handed over to Malaysia, lived in the region until the age of eight, and she is the author of the hard- hitting Sarawak Report, a hitherto anonymous blog that gets 18,000 hits a day. "English is still the unifying language in Sarawak and I use my blog and broadcasts to expose the outrageous deforestation which has seen 95 per cent of Sarawak's rainforest cut down and replaced by logging and palm oil plantations which have enriched Taib and his family," she says. "What's more, my investigations indicate some of the Taib family money is right here in London and includes a lucrative property portfolio in the heart of our capital." Her work, she adds, is also about "giving the 2.5 million oppressed people of Sarawak a choice". "The leader of the opposition party, a charismatic human rights lawyer called Baru Bian, inspires hope of real change in the upcoming election, but scandalously only one-third of the electorate are registered to vote and the corrupt Malaysian government turn a blind eye because Taib always delivers them Sarawak, their richest state." She says their decision to go public was prompted by death threats posted to the Sarawak Report website and by the mysterious fatality of her chief whistleblower in America. "Before Christmas, Taib's disaffected US aide Ross Boyert was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room with a plastic bag around his head. The inquest is still pending but there was a sense that Peter and I could be in danger. Rather than hide, we've decided to come out fighting." She kicks off her leather boots and laughs. "The irony is that Taib and his people think we're a huge operation but there are just five of us with a couple of laptops and a mixer. Advances in MP3 technology mean that these days shortwave radio is cheap and easy to do. We've been so effective that Taib's people believe we're funded by George Soros, whose foundation funds Radio Free Burma." Her outfit - started in October from the dining room of her loft in Victoria where she lives "in shabby dilapidation" with Andrew and their two teenage children - costs less than £10,000 a month, she says. Initially she funded it herself but she's since roped in some "better-off friends" who help out "anonymously". "Not Gordon," she hastens to add. "His support is strictly moral!" Her passionate dedication to a cause 99 per cent of Londoners have never heard of sometimes causes strains, she admits, with friends and family. "But I honestly believe that Taib is probably one of the worst environmental criminals on the planet and that he has taken huge amounts from the country of my birth." She smiles. "He never saw me coming. When he set up his property companies in 1982, he could never have imagined that some mad woman sitting in her kitchen in London would unravel his property empire simply by scrutinising company reports online." As an investigative journalist who started with the BBC World Service in 1983, she is better equipped than most to uncover the wealth of the Mahmud family. "My investigations have indicated that Taib and his family have a property empire in Canada, the US and the UK. Funds have been generated by Taib selling off rainforests with some of the money going through the British Virgin Islands." The Evening Standard put these allegations to those who are behind the companies and they were denied. Rewcastle Brown's passion for the rainforests of Sarawak was kindled as a child when she accompanied her mother, Karis, a midwife, into the jungle. Back then, Sarawak had the most biodiverse rainforest in the world with 3,000 species of trees, 15,000 plants, 420 birds and 221 mammals. "My mother would drag me to remote clinics to show the indigenous Dayaks what a healthy baby should look like," she recalls. "Everyone in those villages sleeps in one long-house and my mother frequently saved the lives of their sick babies. As a kid, my first friends were the local children and we used to climb trees and run barefoot, dodging the odd scorpion." The family came to the UK when Rewcastle Brown was eight and she attended a private boarding school and later finished her masters in international relations at the LSE. It would be 38 years before she returned to Sarawak on a media trip where the degradation of the rainforest - so evident from the air - shocked her to the core. In 2008 she went back to report on a by-election and secretly film companies clearing rainforest for oil palm. That was when she "fell into a peat bog and nearly died", and it was also when she met Jaban, 46, an election monitor fired from Taib's state-controlled radio for allowing callers to criticise the chief minister. Last year she invited Jaban to become the voice of Radio Free Sarawak in London. It was a drastic step because it meant that while Taib stays in power, Jaban can never go back. "I miss my four children, I miss my home," he says, tears streaming. He looks vulnerable, like a fish out of water, but he suddenly straightens. "I am prepared to die for this cause," he says. "In the days of my grandfather, you had to bring a decent clutch of heads as a sign of your masculinity when you got married. Today things have changed but you still have to be a man." What are their chances of success? Rewcastle Brown ponders for a moment. "People say our man hasn't got a prayer in the election and that Taib will intimidate voters as he always does but I think our reports are having a huge effect and that there's a groundswell for change." She smiles thinly. "You've got to take heart from what is happening in the Middle East to rulers who seemed equally immovable until just a few weeks ago." (via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. 11985, Thu Feb 17 at 2146 unID station in French with heavy flutter, but then in something like Arabic, mostly talk with bits of music here and there. 2200 ID starting ``Huna --- akbar - -- something`` so must be Arabic, gives a dot.com website also containing akbar (or is it akhbar?), jingles, and ``Vous êtes à l`écoute de ---`` but could not recognize the name in French either; 2202 back to music, then more talk; was on at least until 2210 tune- out, but gone at 2221 recheck. What in the world? Uplooked later in HFCC, it`s FEBA listed in Pulaar, 250 kW, 27 degrees via Babcock from Ascension, 2145-2215 on Mon-Tue-Thu-Fri only. I was thinking it must be an official/government station, as I heard nothing to hint it was Christian, or Islamic for that matter. Nor any FEBA IS tho I missed both opening and closing. Other signals from Ascension, such as YFR 15195, and Brasil also had that heavy trans-equatorial flutter. I had a much more thoroly researched log of this in DXLD 10-48, with date incorrectly as Dec 30 instead of Nov 30, also about the language. There we are also reminded by Aoki that the first half is in Hassania, which is an Arabic dialect, only the second half in Pulaar, not to be confused with mere Pular. We are still lacking the correct full IDs of this service/program/ministry in Hassania, French, Pulaar. WRTH really ought to publish full IDs of every station in every language. If not, a project someone else, a language buff/DXer, should take up on the web (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIKKIM. 4835.0, AIR Gangtok, 1512, Feb 17. In Hindi with the Delhi audio feed; ads; 1515 news in Hindi; good propagation; one of their better receptions; // 4760, 4775, 4810, 4840, 4880, 4895, 4920, 4965, 4970, 5010, (only strong hum on 5015 from Delhi), 5050, 9425 and 9470 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA [non non?]. RSI IN TALKS WITH IRRS REGARDING SW BROADCASTS? The following was heard in "Listeners' Tribune" on Radio Slovakia International today: First Presenter: I know that there have been attempts to stay on shortwave at least in some areas and I'm really glad that we succeeded in doing so with our English and Spanish broadcasts [via Radio Miami International]. Second Presenter: Exactly, and I think there is also a request from this service that keeps broadcasting shortwave in Italy, so I think our bosses are just handling that kind of thing: we got emails. So I hope that's going to go well, too. (end of excerpt) This is almost certainly a reference to the International Radio Relay Service, Milan, which actually broadcasts from transmitters in Slovakia. It would be ironic if RSI returned to sw in Europe over transmitters in its own country via an organisation in Italy - but stranger things have happened (Roger Tidy, England, Feb 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ridiculous (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, ibid.) Perhaps, but how do you interpret the quoted text. You can check it yourself on the website (Roger Tidy, ibid.) BTW. The I in IRRS stands for Italian; and I see on page 456 of the WRTH 2011: ``SW: Leased from Towercom, Slovakia``, altho IRRS itself never acknowledges this (gh) And IRRS is testing new 5775, 300 kW from somewhere Thu-Fri-Sat 1800-2000 Feb 24-26 (gh) ** SLOVAKIA [non]. Dear Friends, Last Saturday night, i.e. on 19-02- 11, I had a very interesting DXing experience with my Degen DE1103 receiver and W31MS Loop antenna at my QTH at Jorhat, Assam. I logged some interesting stations for the first time ever in my life. Here is a quick summary. [including:] 1925 UT --- 6225 kHz --- R. Slovakia Int. via WRN --- SIO 222. Thanks & Regards,(Prithwiraj Purkayastha, Jorhat, Assam, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Prithwiraj, 6225 is supposed to be RTE (Ireland) relayed from South Africa starting at 1930. SENTECH must have turned on the transmitter early, and WRN Africa service does have Slovakia at 1900-1930. This may happen all the time (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, Solomon Islands BC, Honiara, heard at 1133- 1204*, Feb 14, local songs and short announcement in English. At 1200 closing with notice of the programs. Then ID as “God blessing everyone”, “You are listening to Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Hapi Isles”. The transmission ended with the national anthem of Solomon Islands (Nobuya Kato, Fujisawa-city, Kanagawa, Japan visiting Cairns, Qsld., Australia, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) 5019.89, SIBC, 1157-1201*, Feb 18. In English; Christian religious sermon; full ID with frequencies; on again "tomorrow morning at 6 o'clock"; National Anthem; Cuba QRM from 5925, so best in LSB; almost fair. 5019.90v, SIBC, 1157-1203*, Feb 23. In English; “Good evening friends. This is Reverend …, with the evening devotional”; Christian sermon and prayer; full ID with frequencies; National Anthem; Cuba QRM from 5925, so best in LSB; almost fair (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5019.90, SIBC, 1052, Feb 24. Christian sermon in English. Also from 1104 to 1128. All in English; 1104-1117 with news (Denty Tuke of the Ministry of Finance office testified at the trial of Gela Mark Kemakeza [member of parliament], which started Monday, etc.); ID (“You are listening to the news from the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation in Honiara”); weather and sports (Solomon Islands has defeated Fiji today at the “Beach Soccer Championship Tahiti 2011”) and ending with news headlines again; ID “S-I-B-C”; 1117 family members provided obituaries that were read out; 1120 interview with pop singer/song writer from the Solomon Islands, played his “Submarine” song; noted 1203*. Cuba QRM from 5025 usually hampers the reception here, but today 1104 to 1128 was especially QRM free, with fair reception. Very nice to finally be able to enjoy a long segment of their programming in English! (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA [non]. 11740, CLANDESTINE/OPPOSITION, Radio Damal to Somalia, 1908-1929 sign off, Feb 12. Presumed in Somali. The program consisted of music. At the end there was chanting/prayer. Radio Damal is apparently also known as "the voice of the Somali people" ("odka bulshada Somaliyeed"). [+] 1918, [Feb 17?]. Music song in Somali (presumed), Sinfo 44534, transmitter reported as Woofferton. Radio Damal to Somalia: They have been reported to be based in Nairobi, Kenya using the KBC studios for its programs. Six hours of daily Somali transmissions are also reportedly broadcast via Babcock transmitters, 0400-0700 Daily on 15700 kHz from Dhabayya using 250 kW, 1830-1930 Daily on 11740 kHz from Woofferton using 300 kW and 1930-2130 Daily on 11970 from Dhabayya [UAE] (Steve Handler, IL, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) For the past few days I've been hearing what I believe to be Radio Miraya and Radio Damal. IDs elude me because of faint reception. ENGLAND: R Damal (presumed) 11740 at 1858. Somali. 14-16 Feb. 73/Liz (Cameron, MI, Feb 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [and non]. 5965 via COSTA RICA, Feb 17 at 0733, news about Paraguay from R. Vida FM; 0737 on to Radio Internacional de China. I wonder what other stations participate in this `Informativo en Cadena`, from REE, which per http://www.rtve.es/radio/radio-exterior/programacion/ is scheduled at this time only, 0730-0800 M-F, when I am seldom monitoring. By now, no Vatican QRM on VG signal. Propagation conditions were very depressed, mostly signals from low latitudes on low bands. Things were much better after sunrise on 13m; 21540 coming up from under Kuwait, q.v., Feb 17 at 1435 during `Españoles en la Mar`, when I retuned to clear 21610 with report on keeping down ferry fees for the 14-km Straits of Gibraltar crossing to Ceuta & Melilla, where I gather lots of Europeans go to shop. 21610 and // 21570 still in with fair signals at 1602 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) REE`s Basque broadqast, Fri Feb 18 at 1341 on 11815 without NHK QRM, and on 15170 atop RRI QRM, both via COSTA RICA. 5965, REE via COSTA RICA, UT Sunday Feb 20 at 0653, wrapping up `Mundofonía` hour of world music, was from Baluchistan just now; SAH but well atop Vatican. 9765, as I tuned by REE via COSTA RICA in Basque, Feb 23 at 1333, multiple gunshots rang out, and then talk re Rey Juan Carlos; I assume the gunshots may have been unrelated, from Libya? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. [re 11-07:] Glenn Hauser draengelt schon eine Woche, sich mal die Frequenz anzuhoeren ... Da bleiben eher mehr Fragen als Antworten. In remote SDR rx unit soeben nur duenne Bindfaeden gesehen, eine auf even, die andere minus 670 Hertz in der Schweiz und Engeland, - also circa 15209.330 kHz. 15210 FAMILY RADIO 1330-1430 Marathi 300 350 Colombo-Ekala CLN WYFR 15210 FAMILY RADIO 1430-1530 Hindi 300 350 Colombo-Ekala CLN WYFR 15210 FAMILY RADIO 1530-1630 English 300 350 Colombo-Ekala CLN WYFR I guess not former NHK 300 kW unit at Ekala, rather old VOA Collins 35 kW Schaetzchen-Poppet in use. Um 1557 UT war's dann aus, Riyadh begann nebendran auf 15205 knueppeldicke (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 12, wwdxc BC- DX TopNews Feb 18 via DXLD) Google translation: ** SRI LANKA. Glenn Hauser crowded already a week to hear the times the frequency ... Since rather more questions than answers remain. In remote SDR rx unit only just seen thin twine, even one on the other minus 670 Hertz in Switzerland and England, - that is about 15209.330 kHz. I guess not 300 kW unit at former NHK Ekala, rather old VOA Collins 35 kW honey-Poppet in use. Around 1557 UTC it was then, Riyadh started next to him on 15 205 knueppeldicke (Wolfgang tufts, Feb 12, BC-DX TopNews wwdxc Feb 18 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. 11905.0, SLBC (Presumed) February 23, 0115Z Sub- Continental music with female announcer and rapid polar flutter. 34333 into SE VA (Chuck Rippel, VA, Microtelecom Perseus, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. For the past few days I've been hearing what I believe to be Radio Miraya and Radio Damal. IDs elude me because of faint reception. Miraya FM, 15710 at 1440 with HOA music. Faint. Sounds like Arabic. Talk. Faint. At 1610 recheck moderate. Gone at 1700 (presumed) 15-17 Feb. Via Slovakia as per EiBi. 73/Liz (Cameron, MI, Feb 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Via SLOVAKIA. 15710, IRRS - Radio Miraya, *1400-1430, Feb 18, sign on with English program about UNICEF. English IRRS ID and address at 1402. Only a loud hum at 1403. Into Arabic talk at 1404. Many mentions of Sudan. Some African music. Poor to fair. Via SLOVAKIA. 15710, IRRS, *1400-1515+, Feb 19, abrupt sign on with English discussion about credit card useage, hacking into Facebook and hassles at US border crossings. Music at 1432. ID at 1435 that sounded like WBAI? news. IRRS ID and address at 1435 announcing “You are listening to programs relayed by IRRS.” Into Spanish talk at 1438. Yes, Spanish. Lite music. English PSA about using 911 phone service. Some Spanish style music. IRRS ID again at 1458. Possible Arabic talk at 1500. Local African music. Not the usual Radio Miraya programming today. Fair to good signal. Via SLOVAKIA. 15710, Radio Miraya, *1400-1435, Feb 20, sign on with African music and Arabic talk. IDs at 1403 and 1421. Some local Horn of Africa style music. Fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. via GERMANY. 13740, Radio Dabanga, 1615-1627*, Feb 20, Arabic talk. ID jingles. Fair to good. Weak on // 11515 - via Madagascar. 11515 about 1 second ahead of 13740. Via GERMANY. 11615, Radio Dabanga, *1629-1640, Feb 20, sign on with ID jingles and Arabic talk. Fair to good. Weak on // 11515 - via Madagascar. 11515 about 1 second ahead of 11615 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. via Ascension, 17700, Southern Sudan Radio Service, *1559-1659*, Feb 19, sign on with opening theme music and into Arabic talk at 1600. Some African music. Into vernacular talk at 1630. ID at 1640. Radio-drama. Fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. The very first DX Program in the history was aired on Feb 28th, 1948 on SW via Radio Sweden (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Feb 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And look what it led to --- ** SWEDEN. COMPLETE SW STATION FOR SALE IN SWEDEN Hello Glenn, how are you doing nowadays?? As you know Radio Sweden finished broadcasts of SW and current on line only. Here is the station now for sale, including buildings, land 114 acres, transmitters, mast and antennas. 3 x 500 kW. Do you know any organisation wanted to buy a SW station in Europe??? Let me know, please. Yours, (Roy Sandgren [Broadcast Invest Ltd.], Malmö, Sweden, http://www.starwaves.se Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. Golos Rossii relay Cima di Dentro on MW 558 kHz at 200 kW power level. 3 involved parties 1 Bakom (Swiss Frequency Control Authority) 2 SwissCom (Swiss technical transmitter provider) 3 VoRussia - Golos Rossii (not GRFC Moscow or RTRN tx provider in Russia) Swiss agent is ELREC AG. 5 years contract, mediumwave Cima di Dentro 558 kHz at reduced power of 200 kW. Former 558 kHz RSI-Rete 1 program of 1996 year was registered by ITU Geneve plan with 300 kW "carrier power", maximal radiation non- directional at 26.9 dB antenna (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 14, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Feb 18 via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. DRM trial II in Sottens http://www.opendigitalradio.org/index.php/DRM_trial_II_in_Sottens (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Feb 17, dxldyg via DXLD) Was Feb 13 & 20, ham radio ** SWITZERLAND [and non]. Update on Radio Gloria 1566 kHz: According to a letter and a QSL card received from Radio Gloria, Switzerland, the test transmission on 1566 kHz (250 W) will end on March 2nd, 2011. There is a possibility that from March they will resume broadcasting on 6085 kHz (QTH Kall, Germany). 73 (Harald Kuhl, Germany, Feb 17, MWCircle yg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Listener of the Season --- How would you like to be RTI's Listener of the Season?! Write us a thoughtful letter about what you think of our programs. Every season, RTI's We've Got Mail! will choose a letter writer to be our Listener of the Season. You will receive a personal phone call from We've Got Mail! hosts Natalie Tso and Shirley Lin, to be played on the program, special RTI souvenirs, and an introduction of yourself and your letter on RTI's homepage. Just write to us at P.O. Box 123-199, Taipei, Taiwan or email us at rti @ rti.org.tw Hope to hear from you soon! (RTI Web Site via Mukesh Kumar, Muzaffarpur, INDIA, Feb 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [non]. NEW SHORTWAVE SERVICE TO BE LAUNCHED FROM PCJ February 21, 2011 For Immediate Release PCJ Media announces the creation of a new international shortwave radio service with targeted programming to Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific. PCJ sees an opportunity to fill a void being left by large publicly funded broadcasters. In the last few months a number of well-respected international broadcasters have dropped their shortwave transmissions to these regions in favor of internet and podcasts. Most notably are the significant cuts to the BBC World Service and the Voice Of America transmissions. To fill this void, PCJ's new service would broadcast in five languages, with programming targeted to the audiences of those specific languages. New distribution platforms such as the internet will also be used. The five language groups which PCJ Radio would target are: Farsi – Middle East Mandarin – China Spanish – Latin America Ukrainian/Russian – Eastern Europe English - to regions mentioned above Launch date TBA. For more information please contact Keith Perron of PCJ Media. Email: pcjmedia@gmail.com Tel: +886 938 408 592 (Perron, Feb 20, dxldyg via DXLD) And the money to pay for all this will come from --- where? I suspect this will be a brokered time business/production model, with PCJ acting as a middleman between programmers and transmitter operators (Steve Luce, Houston, TX, ibid.) No, it would be original programming working with different producers in different countries (Perron, ibid.) How is that a `no`? (gh, DXLD) ** THAILAND. The first radio transmission in Thailand was 80 years ago on Feb 25th, 1931 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Feb 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTFK? ** TIBET. 4820, Xizang PBS, Lhasa in Chinese, 02/07 1707-1731 nonstop Chinese fine music; man / YL announcements over music pause (at 1719); some promos over brief songs; again non stop Chinese fine pop music; best heard in USB to avoid lite RTTY; mild statics & QSB; brief utes at times; fair (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy, JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper-S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [and non]. 9875, Feb 19 at 2314, extreme motorboating distorted talk in Chinese(?). Aha, uplooked later, this hour is scheduled as R. Free Asia in Tibetan, 100 kW, 79 degrees via Sitkunai, Lithuania, so this was probably the jamming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUNISIA. Just before the beginning of World War 1, the French navy established the first wireless station in Tunisia, under the callsign TZF. After the war, the French were operating three wireless stations with just two internationally regularized callsigns, FUA & FFT. Radio broadcasting came to Tunisia in the mid 1920s, with a longwave station operated by the French army, TUA on 205 kHz with 500 watts. During the subsequent years, in the 1920s & 1930s up to the time of World War 2, a half a dozen mediumwave broadcasting stations were established in different cities in Tunisia, including Tunis itself, as well as Sfax and the modern Carthage. However, none of these stations demonstrated any form of long term permanency. However, in August 1938, the French government established an official radio station which was named Radio Tunis and broadcasts from this station were inaugurated soon afterwards with 30 kW on mediumwave 868 kHz. Back around the end of the 1920s, there were a couple of attempts at shortwave broadcasting in Tunisia, from stations TUA & 8KR, and perhaps some others. Then, soon after the new Radio Tunis became stabilized on mediumwave, shortwave broadcasting was also inaugurated with the use of 15560 kHz as the main channel. However, when France came under German occupation, the shortwave outlet in Tunis was closed. Then, in January 1943, Radio Tunis was again heard on shortwave; the channel was 7280 Khz and the programming was noted by an international radio monitor in the United States. During the year 1959, work was completed on a new shortwave station located at Djedeida, some 20 miles west of the capital city Tunis. This station operated with just one transmitter at 50 kW and it was first noted in late December 1959 on 6125 kHz. A second shortwave base was established near Sfax on the central Eastern coast of Tunisia. This station was inaugurated in 1968 and it operated with three Telefunken transmitters at 100 kW each, and a series of curtain antennas. A third shortwave transmitter base was installed at Sidi Mansour, very near to the Sfax facility, and this station was inaugurated in 1997 with four transmitters at 500 kW each. This is the only shortwave station in Tunisia still on the air today, though current scheduling shows only three transmitters in operation at any one time, with a reduced power output of 250 kW each. QSL cards from Tunisia are not common, and usually they were tourist picture cards with the QSL text typed onto the reverse side. Early Voice of America Relay Stations in Tunisia Back on May 7, 1943, during the North Africa campaigns, American forces captured two mediumwave radio stations in Tunisia, both of which were taken into service as relay stations for the Voice of America. One was a low powered station in the city of Tunis, and we could guess that this was a 700 watt station on 1402 kHz. This station was active on air at the time of its capture, and on the same day, it was taken over with a relay of programming from the Voice of America. The other station was the higher powered Radio Tunis with 30 kW on 868 kHz, with studios in Tunis and the transmitter 20 miles distant at Djedeida. Early records from the Voice of America show this station with 240 kW, but apparently reliable lists show this station at the time with 30 kW. Perhaps the 240 kW is the total usage of electricity at the station. During the six weeks after it was taken over by the Americans, Radio Tunis was renovated and restored, and it was was re-launched a little past mid June 1943 as a relay station for the Voice of America. VOA Tunis was also used at this stage to beam special programming into Italy. The VOA programming was taken off air shortwave from east coast transmitters in the United States. It would be suggested that the VOA usage of Radio Tunis lasted for just a few months at the most. There is no evidence that there were any shortwave broadcasts from Radio Tunis during the short era of VOA usage (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for Jan 30 via DXLD) ** TURKEY. 9700, nice Turkish music Feb 20 at 0640, good signal, VOT first time heard here in several weeks; propagation is looking up. Is at 05-0655v*, 250 kW, 310 degrees from Emirler for Europe but also USward. A more reliable chance for this is 15350 until 1355v*, 500 kW also at 310 degrees. 17755, VOT in German, Feb 24 at 1320, into Turkish music to 1323 very brief sign-off referring to next broadcast at 18.30 Weltzeit, only seven notes of IS before cut off the air; fairly good signal, better than English which follows at 1330 on 12035 on same azimuth. Obviously they should stay on 16m for that broadcast too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKMENISTAN. 5015.00 USB, 2345-0010 13+16.02, Turkmen R, Asgabad, Turkmen ann, time signal at 0000, native instrumental music. Not audible in AM! 35333 (Anker Petersen, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, Feb 18, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or LSB?? --- February 12, 2011, 1905-1908 UT, 5015 kHz, oriental music and commentary OM. Presumably Turkmenistan, ID not heard. Yes, and some problems with the transmitter, anything can be dismantled only in the LSB. 25442 (Dmitry Puzanov, Kazakhstan / "open_dx", N53.2126 E63.8803, Grundig Satellit 750 tuner MFJ-959S, long wire ~ 63 meters, via RusDX Feb 20 via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) ** TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS. 1020, tentatively the station carrying Brother Stair’s ‘Overcomer’ program 0819 15/1, mixed KTNQ Los Angeles in Spanish (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) Nice wish, but ftp://www.overcomerministry.org/RadioSchedule/AM%20Radio%20Stations.ht m shows the only 1020 station is: KCKN 1020 AM Roswell, NM 12 - 5AM Mon - Sat Central even tho NM is on Mountain Time, not Central. And Caribbean Christian Radio has been inactive, still as such in WRTH 2011. Jerry Kiefer, who is with both stations, would know current status (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA [non]. via FRANCE. 17725, Radio Y’Abaganda, *1700-1715*, Feb 19, sign on with crowd noise and yelling. English announcement at 1701. Local vocal music at 1702. Choral music at 1708. Speech in local language at 1711 with many mentions of Uganda and Baganda. Sat only. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** U K [and non]. BBC Caribbean service - ref DXLD 10-07 Hi Glenn, Although not on SW, there's more to the Caribbean service than what you hear at 1215. As their website - http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/ - says, their flagship programme is the evening edition of BBC Caribbean Report (1715 Eastern Caribbean time - 2115 GMT). Indeed, as their morning edition goes out at 0705 ECT (1105 GMT), is what you hear at 1215-1300 specifically the Caribbean service or just the WS Americas stream? A list of their many FM relays and partner stations is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/institutional/frequencies.shtml Best regards, (Chris Greenway, UK, Feb 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I haven`t listened much to the 9410 BBC relay, especially in the winter, as it`s over by 7 am local, but I never heard anything Caribbean about it. Silly me, assuming there was no longer a separate Carib service, since if there were, they would have put it on SW while this relay was available. I suspect the 1215-1300 broadcast then, will also end after this Friday 25 Feb (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. ÚLTIMA TRANSMISIÓN RADIAL DEL SERVICIO LATINOAMERICANO DE LA BBC EN ESPAÑOL Este viernes 25 de febrero es la última transmisión radial del Servicio Latinoamericano de la BBC en español, de 1200 a 1215 UT - El espacio de 15 minutos, estará disponible como podcast: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/servicios/2009/03/000000_podcast.shtml No se prevé ninguna mención especial, más allá de que es la última transmisión. Puede haber una mención en el blog de los editores: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/mundo/blog_de_los_editores/ Estos son los detalles de frecuencias y sitios transmisores: 1200-1215 UTC Dirigida al Caribe. 9410 kHz, via WHRI Cypress Creek, Carolina del Sur 11860 kHz, via Montsinery, Guayana Francesa No va a haber ningún cambio con respecto a la política QSL (Roberto Belo, BBC via Horacio Nigro, Feb 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ¿Qué otra cosa se podía esperar? A principios de la década de los años '90 el Servicio Latinoamericano en Español tenía este esquema de transmisión: 1100-1130 (9690//15190/ /21490) 1300-1330 (9690//15315/ /17850) 0000-0200 (5875//6110/ /9825//11620/ /15390) 0300-0430 (5875//6110/ /9515//9825/ /11820//15390) Además los Cursos de Inglés para Sudamérica: 1130-1145 (15190//21490) 2300-2330 (6110//9825/ /11765//11820/ /15390) Transmitía las 24 horas todos los días del año en inglés y en otros 38 idiomas alrededor del mundo en decenas de frecuencias. Mantenían un contacto regular respondiendo la correspondencia de los oyentes, con folletos de programación, material alusivo, tarjetas QSL... Un recuerdo especial para la revista "London Calling" bien al estilo inglés y otra mención para dos programas emblemáticos: "El Circuito" para oyentes de onda corta y "Radio Club Latinoamericano" para diexistas, los días jueves y domingos con Jorge Wolodarsky, Carlos Gerardo Cortiglia, Luis Felipe Atce, Cristina Lerner, Julio García, Andrea Machain, María Dolores Gándara y Williams Márquez. Fueron años de gloria para la onda corta; Hoy la crisis no es solamente económica, creo absolutamente que existe una crisis de valores "arrastrada" por la voragine de la tecnología brutalmente aplicada sin pensar en el hombre, el dinero vale más y la comunicación que fue la escencia de la RADIO a distancia se apaga con ella. RGM (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, condiglist yg via DXLD) Esperaba tus recuerdos hechos palabras, que de alguna manera suenan a epitafio; pero al menos tenemos los recuerdos y en ellas hacemos justo, ENORME homenaje a estos gigantes de la Onda Corta, nuestras voces amigas y cotidianas de cada noche, junto al receptor. Yo recuerdo: "Pregúntele a Juan" (Juan Peirano respondía a los oyentes sobre temas insólitos); la revista "Actualidades" , "Al Pie del Big Ben", "Londres esquina Tango" del uruguayo Walter Acosta, "La Peña Latinoamericana" de Ricardo Valenzuela. Nombres: Guillermo León Ruiz (el Nº 1 de los locutores, para mis oidos). Juan Blessa, María Elena Etchegaray, Jackie Richards... Ya me van a salir más nombres (con qué se pueden resucitar las algunas neuronas que como pixeles muertos comienzan a llenar mi televisor LCD mental? Algún vinillo de los que recomiendan Uds. en cada DX Camp... o tocar algun metal chassis con el polo vivo... puahh... ni esto hay ahora! (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) Demasiados recuerdos juntos que anudan la garganta, Horacio. Te nombro a otro locutor de voz inconfundible ¡Jamás le escuché un furcio!: Eliud Porras y sus "Efemérides BBC" Wikipedia ya está informando la muerte de la que fuera -sin dudas- la emisora más representativa de Europa http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Mundo Por cuestiones laborales no podré grabar el viernes el último programa, lamento mucho. Ojalá alguien de esta Condiglist pueda hacerlo (Rubén, ibid.) Más nombres y gloria para los presentadores: Raul H. Ampuero, Juan Blesa, María Elena Echegaray, María E. Segave, Jackie Richards ("Ritmo"), Juan Clímaco Arbelaez (quien antes estuvo en la VOA y que fallecio repentinamente leyendo las noticias), Teodoro Mahler, Hugo Estenssoro, Pablo Aguirre, Jorge Mora, Xavier Celaya, Luis F. Arce, Julia Zapata, Thelma Ortíz, Robinson Retamales, Domingo Valenzuela, Silvia Cristina Lerner, Eduardo de Benito, Luis Felipe Restrepo, Guillermo Beltran, Aracely Uriarte (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) Coincido contigo, Rubén, muchos nos formamos escuchando el Servicio Latinoamericano de la BBC. La nostalgia nos invade y para mi el recuerdo de la entrevista que me hizo mi compatriota Araceli Uriarte en los estudios de Bush House hace 11 años fué una cereza en el pastel de mi afición, asimismo y utilizando sus facilidades la entreviste para el programa "Encuentro DX" que hacía con mi amigo Héctor Garcia en XEOI Radio Mil. Muchas voces, acentos, giros y editoriales se van, a el otro mexicano Eliud Porras lo escucho todavía con sus efemérides en un noticiario de Radio Fórmula 1500 por las mañanas en México. Confiemos que algo se recuperará de ese estupendo servicio Latinoamericano (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, ibid.) En 2001 tuve oportunidad de visitar a mi amigo Roberto Belo en Londres, quien me dio la oportunidad de conocer gran parte de las instalaciones de Bush House, especialmente las dependencias destinadas a alojar los servicios internacionales. Recuerdo aún la entrevista que tuve con Julia Zapata, por entonces Jefa del Servvicio Latinoamericano, quien ya por ese momento, justo una década atrás, avisoró el pronto final de las ondas cortas y la intención de la BBC de poner toda su fuerza de trabajo en Internet. El tiempo le dio la razón. Evidentemente, las grandes corporaciones mediáticas, ponen sus intereses también más allá de las razones fundacionales de su existencia. Así, justamente ayer, el diario "La Vanguardia" informó que el conocido sello editorial de guías de viaje Lonely Planet pasó a ser íntegramente propiedad de la cadena británica BBC después de la salida de sus fundadores, la pareja australiana Tony y Maureen Wheeler, informaron medios locales. "Otro icono australiano es ahora controlado por extranjeros", se lamentaba el diario "Sydney Morning Herald" después de que los Wheeler vendieran el 25 por ciento de participaciones que aún poseían. La cadena británica, accionista mayoritario de Lonely Planet desde 2007, pagó 67 millones de dólares australianos (también 67 millones en dólares estadounidenses) por el porcentaje de los Wheeler. Lonely Planet es uno de lo sellos editoriales más exitosos en la venta de guías de viaje. La BBC pagó en 2007, 201 millones de dólares para comprar la mayoría de acciones. Evidentemente hay campos de actividad más redituables que transmitir por la onda corta (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, ibid.) ** U K. Anuncio del final en el Blog de los Editores (BBC Mundo) Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:47 am (PST) [+ many comments] http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/mundo/blog_de_los_editores/2011/02/el_final_de_la_radio_en_espano.html (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, condiglist yg via DXLD) Viz.: El final de la radio en español --Hernando Álvarez | 2011-02-22, 13:23 El peruano Juan Peirano entrevista a su compatriota Madeleine Hartog- Bel en el Miss Mundo de 1967. [caption] "El último que se vaya, que apague la luz". Esta frase se ha usado en muchos contextos y esta semana quiero usarla para despedir las transmisiones de radio del servicio latinoamericano de la BBC. Pues bien, me tocó apagar la luz que se encendió en la noche del 14 de marzo de 1938. En una gala inaugural, el entonces director general de la BBC Sir John Reed, saludó por primera vez a los oyentes de América Latina. "Nuestros boletines serán verídicos y exactos", aseguró Reed en un breve mensaje que se escuchó en el contexto del inminente estallido de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, en el que la Italia de Benito Mussolini y la Alemania de Adolfo Hitler impulsaban una fuerte campaña propagandista. Y la propaganda sigue, aunque vestida con trajes diferentes a los que usaba en ese entonces. Pero también continúa el esfuerzo de la BBC por contrarrestarla y ofrecer un lugar en el que la información este libre de presiones políticas y de intereses comerciales. Quizás es por esta razón que no me dejo ganar por la nostalgia. Y es que cuando pensé en cómo estructurar esta entrada de blog, mi cabeza se llenó de sonidos y recuerdos y pensé en escribir un elogio a la radio a manera de despedida. Se me ocurrió describir entonces cómo fue que me enseñaron a mirar a oscuras, sólo con base en sónidos. Cómo es que un productor podía pasar horas buscando un sonido de diez segundos que le daba más textura a su pieza radiofónica o cómo fue que nos inculcaron la obsesión por la nitidez de un sonido. Podría también haber hecho un listado casi interminable de momentos brillantes que marcaron nuestras carreras periodísticas, desde la pelea con el gobierno británico para mantener la objetividad en la Guerra de las Malvinas o Falklands hasta el desafío de encontrar información imparcial en la invasión a Irak de 2003. Pero no, no vale la pena quedarse mirando para atrás. Al final "el pasado es arcilla que el presente labra a su antojo", como diría el maestro Borges, y si queremos saber cómo fue, para eso están los archivos, los historiadores y los especiales como este sobre la historia de BBC Mundo. Por eso es que decidí utilizar al inicio la tan apocalíptica frase del "último que se vaya que apague la luz" porque precisamente en esta ocasión no me parece apocalíptica. Sí, cerramos radio, pero mantenemos nuestra oferta digital y nuestro periodismo independiente. Tenemos claro que el consumidor de noticias digitales de hoy busca lo que algunos llaman "un periodismo Martini": presente y disponible en cualquier lugar, en cualquier momento y a cualquier hora. Y eso es precisamente lo que ofrecemos en nuestra página de internet y a través de los teléfonos celulares. Además tendremos un Podcast semanal que estará disponible todos los jueves y en que se analizarán los principales temas de la semana. Me da una profunda tristeza que dejemos de hacer radio pero entiendo que los tiempos cambian y que por más que apagamos una luz, dejamos encendida la energía periodística de cada uno de los que trabajamos en la oficinas de BBC Mundo en Londres, Miami, México y Buenos Aires, además de todos los corresponsales y colaboradores de la BBC alrededor del mundo (via Nigro, ibid.) Reino Unido: No QSL por BBC Mundo --- ¡Hola a todos! Respuesta recibida y en la cual reportan: "Estimado lector: A partir del 25 de febrero ya no contaremos con ninguna emisión de radio. Tampoco podemos confirmar con QSL". Atte. BBC Mundo (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, Feb 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) see also AUSTRIA ** U K. Re: BBC World Service: The closure of 648 kHz medium wave A letter from Ofcom, replying to an MP's request for information about Radio Caroline's request for access to a medium wave frequency, has been posted to the files on the Radio Caroline Yahoo group. The BBC has confirmed to Ofcom that it no longer requires 648. They are checking the legal position but if it's available Ofcom say that they could licence it for a local commercial radio service (awarded by beauty contest), national commercial radio service (auction) or a service targeted only at listeners outside the UK. In the latter case Ofcom would licence the frequency and not the content. They say that they are aware that other international broadcasters would like to use this frequency. They are going to run a public consultation setting out the options for the use of 648 and invite expressions of interest (Mike Barraclough, Feb 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Re: Dates for closures of BBC WS services --- In all self respect, now the BBC has, in effect, cut the information life-line to these countries it should stop calling the World Service as such, as any claims of the Internet/Satellite replacing short-wave and medium wave in hills mountains and vast open plains is ludicrous (Rog Parsons (BDXC 782) Hinckley, Leics., BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** U K. BBC WORLD SERVICE COULD RETURN ON SHORT WAVE TO COVER MAJOR EVENTS --- Peter Horrocks tells staff corporation could buy up capacity in areas affected by cuts if there is need for urgent coverage Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk, Thursday 17 February 2011 12.09 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/feb/17/bbc-world-service-short-wave Peter Horrocks: 'What we can not do, is find new money.' Photograph: Jeff Overs/BBC [caption] The BBC is considering plans to reinstate axed short-wave World Service radio broadcasts on a short-term basis to regions where major events are taking place, following the revolution in Egypt. Short-wave radio broadcasts of the BBC Arabic service, which has around 400,000 listeners in Egypt, will be shut down within weeks as part of plans to save £46m from the World Service budget, a 20% cut from its £253m annual budget. World Service broadcasts in short wave are being cut back in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia as part of the cost saving drive. An email sent to Bush House staff on Wednesday by Peter Horrocks, the BBC's global news director, revealed plans to respond to major events in particular regions by buying up short-wave radio capacity, against a backdrop of violent political uprising sweeping across the Middle East. "We also said in January that there would be changes to distribution, in particular changes to SW [shortwave] distribution," Horrocks said in the email, which has been seen by MediaGuardian.co.uk. "We are looking into the possibility of buying SW capacity at short notice to ensure we can react quickly should we need to, as highlighted recently in Egypt," he added. "I must stress that any changes we make to our original plans have to be made in the context of the tight financial settlement – what we can not do, is find new money." The BBC is being forced to implement the cuts after the World Service's funding from the Foreign Office was reduced by 16% in the government's comprehensive spending review in October. From 2014 the World Service is to be financed from the licence fee, rather than by direct Foreign Office grant, and the BBC has said it intends to reverse some of the cuts from that point. Horrocks also revealed the timeline for service closures across the World Service. Four services are to close this month. The BBC Portuguese service for Africa, BBC Serbian and BBC Mundo radio will cease broadcasting on Friday 25 February, and BBC Albanian will air its last transmission on 28 February. Three services – BBC Caribbean, BBC Russian Radio and BBC Chinese Radio – will stop broadcasting on 25 March. BBC Vietnamese radio and BBC Azeri radio will close on the final weekend of March. Short-wave radio distribution for the Indonesian, Kygryz, Nepali, Swahili, Great Lake and Hindi service will also end on the weekend of 26 and 27 of March. Staff from these services will continue to be employed by the BBC until at least 1 August, unless they have requested to leave earlier, Horrocks said in the email. The BBC earlier this month defended its decision to cease some of its World Service broadcasts in the Middle East. "With satellite TV becoming virtually ubiquitous in the Arab-speaking world, and the success of its own TV channel, the BBC has decided to stop its short wave broadcasts to some countries in the Middle East," the corporation said in a statement. "However, BBC Arabic will continue to serve its radio audiences on medium wave, through its network of FM relays and via existing and new rebroadcasting partnerships. "It will also continue to serve its most sensitive audiences in Sudan and Arabic peninsula with short wave and medium wave broadcasts." SOURCE: http://bit.ly/gZL8gu (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD, and Mike Terry, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) "We are looking into the possibility of buying SW capacity at short notice to ensure we can react quickly should we need to, as highlighted recently in Egypt," he added." I would be curious to find out how such arrangements would work with transmitter operators. Would the BBC have to have in place contingency contracts for certain amounts of time, which would be an expense regardless of any actual use? And what about the operators bumping other broadcasts to make room for the special BBC transmissions? Do providers such as Babcock, TDF, etc. have "preemptable" and "non- preemptable" rates? With a lot of transmitter time about to be freed up by the BBC and Deutsche Welle, this might open the door for more expatriate political movements to purchase (cheaper, more plentiful) transmitter time and produce programming for broadcast back to their home countries, which would mean some fascinating new voices on the shortwave bands. A modernized version of clandestine radio? (Steve Luce, Houston, TX, Feb 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 8 Comments on “BBCWS could return on SW to cover major events” 1. #1 ruud on Feb 17th, 2011 at 14:18 The BBC is beginning to see the Light. You can do SW more cost effective by shopping around, no need for so many outlets, no problem when some edges of the desired coveraged area the signal is below standards (they are very high). Also powering down instead of switching off completely is a much better strategy. 2. #2 Chris Greenway on Feb 17th, 2011 at 14:35 As the original Guardian article makes clear, SW broadcasts of BBC Arabic are being “significantly reduced” next month, not “shut down”. 3. #3 Andy Sennitt on Feb 17th, 2011 at 14:46 Well spotted, Chris. I see the article has been updated since I posted this item and they have corrected it. I saw it a few moments after it was published, and what appeared here is what the Guardian originally said (I know that because I copied and pasted it without making any changes). I didn’t notice the error because I am doing a current affairs shift. Still, having spent 19 years at the WRTH, I am used to being blamed for other peoples’ errors :-) 4. #4 Chris Greenway on Feb 17th, 2011 at 15:13 Thanks, Andy. I should have guessed that was the explanation! I’m a member of BBC staff and so received yesterday’s email from Peter Horrocks that is cited by the Guardian. He didn’t specifically mention BBC Arabic at all, though he did say the Egyptian story was an example of how the BBC might buy SW capacity at short notice to react quickly to events. 5. #5 hku [Harald Kuhl, Germany] on Feb 17th, 2011 at 17:21 OK, nowadays you can always hire transmitters if you need additional SW airtime. But for how long will operators keep their facilities in good shape when international stations reduce their SW output more and more? Bonaire f.e. will be shut down because it will become too expensive for maintaining the facilities. This may happen to other sites too and then it will become more and more difficult to find the needed \\ [sic, cut off] 6. #6 Richard Cuff on Feb 17th, 2011 at 18:03 That’s all well and good that the BBCWS will contemplate using SW for major events --- but as each day passes, the percentage of audience having access to SW will drop. Back in the early 1990s I remember my first visit to the UK (from the USA). I was surprised how frequently small portable radios still had one or two SW bands on them. By comparison, it was probably the late 1960s when it was no longer common to see SW bands on general coverage portable radios. And, to that point, SW was axed to North America first. The problem won’t be transmitter capacity, it will be audience access to SW frequencies. 7. #7 Roy Sandgren on Feb 17th, 2011 at 21:27 The massproduction of small multiband radios has suddenly increased. The crank-up radios are selling more and more. The Arabic wave will not end for a months or years. 8. #8 Mark F on Feb 18th, 2011 at 11:08 Would it not cost them more to hire such transmitters at short notice? The transmitter owners would have them over a barrel. At least ‘reduce’ means they can be turned on again (Media Network blog comments via DXLD) BBC WS JOURNALISTS HAVE SET UP A FACEBOOK GROUP, SOS BBC WORLD SERVICE. Any Facebook member is welcome to join. Jenny Horrocks has posted this yesterday (Friday 18) from a management email: BBC World Service has explored the possibility of retaining shortwave for the Great Lakes Region to maintain the service to the refugee audience in displaced persons camps in the DR Congo and elsewhere which does not have access to our FM distribution. The cost of these transmissions are relatively small because they come from transmitter sites that are being retained for other services and therefore it has proved possible to retain the Great Lakes shortwave broadcasts by finding some extra savings elsewhere in our distribution budget. SOS BBC World Service Facebook group is at: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/home.php?sk=group_178252875543182 (Mike Barraclough, UK, Feb 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Coalition may put clocks forward two hours: WORLD OF HOROLOGY ** U S A. Re 11-07: Obama to close shortwave to China from the VOA Hi Everyone, I know it's currently "hard economics" in the USA, but this is about the most short-sighted decision of all time (and I did read the article). One would think, with the popularity of shortwave radio in China, that possibly the LAST service to be cut from the VOA, would be Chinese. As alluded in the article, it does beg the question, as to whether this is just "economics" or if politics are playing a role. It's true that the Chinese are spreading their propaganda at an alarming rate, not just in the USA, but in Australia as well. 73s (David Sharp, NSW Australia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is the Washington Times, well known for its right wing viewpoints -- sort of a Fox News in print. Odd that U.S. conservatives are all for slashing the budget until their pet projects come under the axe. Notice the article finally gets around to Radio Free Asia more than halfway through. Perhaps future American shortwave efforts should be focused there, particularly broadcasts to Tibet or Xinjiang. I think we are all familiar with the arguments for shortwave, but with a colossal federal budget deficit (financed in part by guess which country) VOA is going to have to make cuts. One group's "essential service" is another group's "government waste." Also, how many times can you work the word "propaganda" into a single article? The Chinese government almost certainly thinks of VOA as just that. Depends on your perspective. Notice the Chinese seem to be rethinking their own shortwave output in favor of more rebroadcasts on local AM/FM stations (we have TWO such outlets here in Houston) as well as a higher profile on satellite / cable TV and the Internet (Steve Luce, Houston, TX, Feb 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA'S CHINA BROADCAST CUT NOT A BUDGET MATTER, SAYS CONGRESSMAN --- `Anti-freedom' propaganda advances as freedom propaganda recedes By Matthew Robertson Epoch Times Staff Created: Feb 18, 2011 Last Updated: Feb 18, 2011 http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=51564&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=1 US Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican from California. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) [caption] The decision to cut VOA's shortwave broadcast to China is not about fiscal responsibility, but instead about appeasing the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, according to Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California. "This is clearly not a budget cut, this is clearly an effort to gain favor with dictators by catering to their desires," he said in an interview. "And their desire is: no criticism." The timing was also troubling to Mr. Rohrabacher, who spoke to Kitty Wang of New Tang Dynasty Television, an Epoch Times media partner. "The fact that our leadership has proposed this reduction in the broadcast services in VOA to the people of China so shortly after a visit paid here by a leader of the Communist Party of China, Mr. Hu, should let people understand that this is not simply something that was in the works and it was a budget cut," Mr. Rohrabacher said. "What we're seeing is the product of a deal between the President of the United States, and a dictator who holds power with an iron fist." Online commentators have pointed out how the BBC's decision to sideline its China shortwave service also corresponded with the visit to England of Li Keqiang, the apparatchik next in line for the premiership. Both lines of speculation are unconfirmed. Whether the product of a backdoor deal or not, the implications bother Mr. Rohrabacher: "They are still suppressing religious believers," he said, "whether it's the Falun Gong or the Muslims, or Tibet with the Buddhists out there." The people who live under a regime of that sort need ready access to the news America provides, he said. It also one part of an international dynamic where communist China is pushing vigorously outward with its propaganda, while America is in retreat. "It's a horrible situation when you have a dictatorship like that in Beijing dramatically increasing its communications budget with the rest of the world, expanding its propaganda campaign, greatly spending much more money on trying to create a false image of itself, while at the same time in the United States we are pulling back, spending less resources," Mr. Rohrabacher said. "The fact that we're pulling back at a time that they're expanding is a horrible message to the world. What it says is that America is in retreat and in fact we should be saying that freedom is on the move and the people who run China with an iron fist, their days are numbered," he said. "How we do that of course is to make sure we're on the side of the people of China, and now we can't even tell them that." Zhang Kaichen, a former propaganda official from Shenyang, China, sees some of the same problems. "The Chinese people really want truthful and fair information, but the CCP uses a massive amount of human and material resources to basically blind and deafen the people. VOA and Western society should take the lead--not only should they not cut the service, but they should strengthen it." At the same time, there was another side to it, according to Mr. Zhang. "In VOA there are many people put in there by the CCP, you can call them spies, or pro-CCP employees, so when they do programs they've already twisted VOA's perspective, and they're promoting the CCP, and sometimes having a negative effect on the views of Chinese people," he said. "I paid a lot of attention to VOA programs when I was in China," he said. "At that time, whether in their programs or guests, what they said had already gone against the facts, and was helpful to the CCP's so-called `maintaining stability' and wasn't speaking on behalf of the people." He gave as examples their reporting on the Olympics, the Sichuan Earthquake, the persecution of Falun Gong, and mass protests, like the Weng'an and Shizhou incidents. "And China's so-called `peaceful rise' and the `China model,' these are basically anti-freedom models, but VOA brings experts with delusional perspectives on the matter, and basically promotes the CCP, which is deceptive to the Chinese people." The purpose of the U.S. government funding VOA is about propagandizing freedom, democracy, and truthful news, Mr. Zhang said, "it's not about promoting the CCP on U.S. soil." Better to resolve the manpower problem separately, rather than cancel the whole broadcast, he said. As chairman of the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Rohrabacher plans to make the decision a major area of investigation within the next 60 days (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA CHINESE SERVICE EMPLOYEES ‘FURIOUS’ AS END LOOMS - REPORT The Taipei Times quotes an employee at the Voice of America (VOA) Chinese service as saying “There’s a lot of anger,” at plans to drastically cut its funding. Under a proposed restructuring plan, the US Broadcasting Board of Governors’ (BBG) budget submission for the VOA Mandarin service for the next fiscal year would include a US$8 million cut, which would be achieved in large part by eliminating traditional radio and TV broadcasting and shifting to a Web-only platform utilizing new media technologies. In addition, VOA’s Cantonese service would be eliminated altogether, with Radio Free Asia continuing broadcasts in the language. Read the feature from the Taipei Times http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/02/19/2003496275 (February 18th, 2011 - 16:45 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) Re plan to drop VOA Mandarin shortwave: "So do you just want me to apply for a job at Xinhua?" Posted: 21 Feb 2011 [numerous stories:] http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=10741 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA WEBSITE HACKED BY IRANIAN CYBER ARMY http://www.voanews.com/ checked at 0005 UT Feb 22. I captured the screen before VOA got it back, attached (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strange, I still see the hacked home page, even after forcing a full reload of the page (--Larry Cunningham, Gahanna, Ohio, 0052 UT, ibid.) Same here at 0100; however in the interim we had VOA back for a while. Kim Elliott has an item about this with a screen capture as early as 18 UT, so going on for 7+ hours? (gh, ibid.) VOA website http://www.voanews.com found hacked at 0005 UT Feb 22, by the Iranian Cyber Army: Message at top says ``Mrs. Clinton Do you want to hear the voice of oppressed nations will from heart of USA? [sic] Islamic World doesn`t believe USA trickery. We call on you to stop interfering in Islamic countries.`` Below that this, a long list which I copied and paste: voanewscom@gmx.com [not a valid VOA address, I assume] List Of Hacked WebSites: amerikaninsesi.com amerikaninsesi.net amerikaninsesi.org amerikaovozi.com amerikaovozi.org amerikayidzayn.com amerikayizayn.com amerikiskhma.com amerikisxma.com artekultura.com ashnadari.com ashnapashto.com chastime.com darivoa.com deewaradio.com dengeamerika.com dengiamerika.com engo.mobi glasamerike.net glasnaamerika.com goenglish.mobi goenglish.us golosameriki.us holosus.us insidevoa.com karwantv.com lavoixdelamerique.com myvoa.com myvoa.net myvoa.us myvoanews.com nbtna.com nouvelvoa.com pashtovoa.com radioaapkidunyaa.com radiyoyacu.com sashenhausa.com smokinginafrica.com somalivoa.com specialenglish.net specialenglish.org specialenglish.us studio7news.com studiosevennews.com tourvoa.com urduvoa.com usavotes2008.com uzmobil.com vijestiglasaamerike.com visitvoa.com voa.mobi voaafrica.com voaalbanian.com voaamericanlife.com voacambodia.com voacep.com voadeewaradio.com voaexpress.com voahausa.com voahp.com voaindonesia.com voaindonesian.com voakorea.com voakurtce.com voamobil.com voamobile.com voamobilni.net voamusicmix.com voamusicmix.net voanews.com voanews.info voanews.mobi voanews.net voanews.org voanews.us voanoticias.com voapn.net voapnn.com voapnn.org voapnn.tv voaportugues.com voasamachar.com voasomali.com voaspecialenglish.com voaspecialenglish.org voaswahili.com voatiengviet.com voatour.com voatours.com voaurdutv.com voavjcafe.com xinwencn.com zeriamerikes.com zeriiamerikes.com Three screen captures of this were attached to the dxldyg and the top one is also available at http://www.w4uvh.net/VOAiranhack.jpg Kim Elliott reports the hacking started as early as 1800 UT Feb 21, and was still/again happening at 0100 Feb 22. Between 00 and 01 I was sporadically getting the real VOA website again. STILL hacked at 1500. Much more about this here, with further linx: http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=10751 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: VOA website still hacked as of 1500 UTC (updated with more reports). Posted: 22 Feb 2011 Nextgov.com, 21 Feb 2011, Aliya Sternstein: "The website of U.S.- funded broadcaster Voice of America Persian was attacked by an Iranian pro-government group, according to a correspondent for sister station Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. The main VOA site also appeared to have been hacked, as of 9:04 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. 'Website of VOA Persian Service was Hacked today by #Iran's Cyber army #Iranelection,' Golnaz Esfandiari wrote at around 5:30 p.m. Eastern on the social media tool Twitter. One VOA story now states that the incident may have been prompted by the U.S. State Department's recent Arabic- and Persian-language Twitter campaigns in support of pro-democracy opposition groups overseas. ... Here's a Google-translated recap of the VOA article: ... 'It seems that this action in response to remarks on Sunday (20 February) that Hillary Clinton in a television interview with BBC America, while talking about opening accounts in Arabic and Persian Tweeter by America's Foreign Ministry, had said : "We want young people like the young Americans who seek to express their rights are believed to be associated."'" Washington Times, 21 Feb 2011, Bill Gertz: "Iranian computer hackers on Monday hijacked the website of the Voice of America, replacing its Internet home page with a banner bearing an Iranian flag and an image of an AK-47 assault rifle. ... It then listed more 90 websites of VOA it claimed has also been hacked. A State Department spokesman could not be reached for comment. ... The hacking takeover of the website of VOA, voanews.com, followed the announcement last week by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, VOA’s parent agency, that it was canceling all shortwave radio broadcasts of the VOA’s Chinese-language service in favor of Internet broadcasting." The Tech Herald, 22 Feb 2011, Steve Ragan: "So what happened this time? The short answer is that no one knows yet. Many of the domains listed by the ICA as hacked share a common thread, Network Solutions. However, voanews.com, the master domain, does not appear to use Network Solutions at all. At the same time, voanews.net, voanews.org, voanews.info, voahp.com, voanews.us, as well as many others, resolve to a Network Solutions holding page or point to the ICA message on voanews.com. In addition, they use DNS hosting from WorldNIC, a Network Solutions company. It is possible that the Network Solutions account was compromised, and then with that access, voanews.com was defaced thanks to a shared password. However, most of the domains pointed to the main URL before the defacement. So this could be a case where single compromise covered 93 additional domains simply due to the nature of their hosting. We’ve reached out to Network Solutions, as well as the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the organization that manages Voice of America, for comment on the incident. If we hear back from them, we will update this story." Blogger News Network, 21 Feb 2011, Ted Lipien: "Americans for U.S. International Broadcasting, a group of current and former VOA and BBG employees and free media advocates, have started a petition drive to convince Congress to reject the BBG’s and the Obama Administration’s proposals for eliminating shortwave radio broadcasts to China." Fars News Agency, 22 Feb 2011: "An Iranian cyber group announced that it has hacked the Voice of America (VOA) and all its affiliated websites. The move came in response to the false reports released by the VOA and other websites on the spread and progress of seditious moves in Iran. VOA and its affiliates have long been supporting anti- Islamic Republic groups and sought to provoke unrests in Iran. The Voice of America is the official external radio and television broadcasting service of the United States' federal government, but it acts as a complementary and media arm of the US spy agencies." RFE/RL websites, including radiofarda.com, are accessible. See previous post about same subject (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) TARGETED ... HACKERS DISPLAYED ABOVE MESSAGE AFTER BREACHING VOICE OF AMERICA SECURITY --- 22/02/2011 00:00:00 By Staff Reporter http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-4521-Iranian+hackers+target+VOA+website/news.aspx THE Voice of America (VOA) website was attacked by Iranian hackers on Monday, disabling its internet news service to more than 30 countries, including Zimbabwe. VOA’s main website, http://www.voanews.com which houses the Studio 7 website dedicated to Zimbabwe, displayed a message on a blue screen, and under a logo of an outfit known as the Iranian Cyber Army, proclaiming: “We have proven that we can.” VOA is funded by the US State Department [sic], and the hackers appeared to send a direct message to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “Mrs. Clinton,” it said, “do you want to hear the voice of oppressed nations will (sic) from heart of USA? Islamic world doesn’t believe USA trickery.” The attack began just before 2PM EST and the website had not been restored at 6PM EST. The hackers listed 93 domain names owned by the Voice of America, including studio7news.com for Zimbabwe, which they said had also been hacked. VOA runs news services dedicated to more than 30 countries which include Indonesia, Somalia, Cambodia and a Persian service which covers Iran. In 2009, the Iranian Cyber Army disabled the Twitter website for close to an hour. They replaced the website’s welcoming screen with an image of a green flag and the caption: “This site has been hacked by Iranian Cyber Army.” Arabic writing in blue said, “Hezbollah is victorious,” and a message on the flag said, “Ya Hussein,” referring to Prophet Mohammed’s grandson (via Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, shortwave yg via DXLD) IRANIANS HACK INTO VOA WEBSITE; ‘CYBER ARMY’ CLAIMS CREDIT http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/21/iranian-hackers-break-voa-deface-web-sites/ By Bill Gertz [excerpt:] Little is known about the group. It was credited with hacking and defacing Twitter in December 2009, replacing the social networking site's home page with a message that the site was hacked by the Iranian Cyber Army. Cyber security specialists have said there are suspicions that the Cyber Army is part of the Iranian government after the hacker group was critical of the pro-democracy Green Movement in Iran. PBS' "Tehran Bureau" reported in February 2010 that "a review of the political messages published by the Cyber Army in recent months and official statements in its defense made by a government administrator of Iran's aviation industry prompt a closer examination of the group, which previous reports have claimed is composed of Russian hackers based outside of Iran." In January 2010, the group broke into China's main search engine, known as Baidu, and redirected users to a banner identifying the Iranian Cyber Army. China's official Xinhua News Agency said at the time that Baidu was "tampered with, leading to inaccessibility." (via Bill Harms, dxldyg via DXLD) How do we know they are Iranians or in some way connected to the Iranian government? This could be a 'false flag' operation by someone with ulterior motives (Roger Tidy, UK, Feb 22, dxldyg via DXLD) VOA website hacked again? (Or is it just my PC?) Posted: 23 Feb 2011 I've been reporting most of the day that the VOA website was still hacked by the Iran Cyber Army. Actually, the VOA site was back up earlier today, but I had to shut down my router and turn it back on to flush the DNS cache. Now I'm seeing the real voanews.com again. Update at 0800 on 23 Feb: The Iranian Cyber Army is back on my PC when I type www.voanews.com. Update at 0810 on 23 Feb: I just did an ipconfig /flushdns, and VOA is back. Actually (updating the update), refreshing voanews.com sometimes brings up Iranian Cyber Army, and sometimes the VOA home page (Kim Andrew Elliot, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) This was a Domain Name System (DNS) attack redirecting the VOANews.com website. This was not a breach of internal systems or servers. No data was lost or compromised as a result of this event. An investigation is underway to determine who is responsible (BBG via Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) Hacking of VOA Web site is lead story on the 1230 UT International Edition (Mike Cooper, GA, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s updated ``ten times a day``, so no longer available when I check at 2052, with the latest podcast, not hacked: http://www.voanews.com/mp3/voa/africa/engl/ENGLISHTOAFRICA_INTL_EDITION.mp3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) IRANIAN HACKERS ATTACK VOA INTERNET SITES William Ide February 22, 2011 Radio-info.com Graphic that was displayed after hackers temporarily redirected VOA's web traffic Feb. 21, 2011 [caption] Related Links * Broadcasting Board of Governor's Press Release on Hacking http://www.bbg.gov/pressroom/press-releases/Hacking_and_Signal_Interference_of_US_International_Broadcasting.html A group of computer hackers hijacked websites run by the Voice of America this week, sending its online traffic to an Internet website claimed to be run by the Iranian Cyber Army. The attack comes as the U.S. government is renewing its push to promote freedom in cyber space and as protests spread across the Middle East - some with the help of the Internet. In a statement Tuesday, the Voice of America says the attack redirected traffic from numerous websites - including the international broadcaster's main site: voanews.com. Instead of seeing VOA's website, visitors saw a page with an anti-U.S. message addressing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and an Iranian flag along with an AK-47 assault weapon. Large bolder letters read: "We have proven that we can." The group claiming responsibility for the attack - the Iranian Cyber Army - is said to have ties to the Iranian government. Cyber security expert Jeffrey Carr says the Iranian Cyber Army should be taken seriously. "There are a few hacker crews operating out of Iran that do have allegiances or ties with the Iranian government. The Iranian Cyber Army is one of them. They have a good skills set. These are not script kiddies [inexperienced hackers]," he said. The Fars News Agency, which is closely affiliated with the Iranian government, praised the attack and said it was made in retaliation for what it called "false reports" about Iran. The State Department recently launched a Twitter feed in the Farsi language. Iran has criticized the initiative and accused the United States of using the Internet to organize opposition forces. In a speech on Internet freedom last week, Secretary of State Clinton made specific reference to Iran. "In Iran, the authorities block opposition and media websites, target social media and steal identifying information about their own people in order to hunt them down," she said. It is unclear how the attack against the Voice of America was carried out. Industry experts note that the hackers who are behind the disruption most likely chose Monday to launch the attack because it was a U.S. holiday and most federal employees were not at work. In late 2009, the Iranian Cyber Army claimed responsibility for an attack on Twitter, which was used widely by Iranian government opponents in post-election protests that year. Last year, the Iranian Cyber Army launched an attack on the Chinese search engine Baidu. Both attacks were domain name system, or DNS attacks, like the one on VOA. Cyber security expert Jeffrey Carr says attacks such as these should not to be taken lightly. "This type of an attack actually can be quite serious because if [hackers] have DNS access, they can collect your mail. They essentially can own your entire online presence," he said. The Voice of America says no data have been lost or compromised and that most of the sites affected are returning to normal (via radio- info.com via Dale Park, DXLD) And here`s an article about hacking in the other direxion: http://www.rferl.org/content/iran_hackers_anonymous_cyberarmy_opposition_internet/2313350.html (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. 13600, Feb 21 at 1603, good signal from VOA with news in English, but Dave DeForest wraps it up by 1605 referring us to voanews.com for more news, while SW goes into English Teaching and Special English hour. Is there really more demand or need for this on SW than for news??? This is São Tomé, 100 kW, 126 degrees, 13600 currently used this hour only by IBB. See also PHILIPPINES. 15580, VOA news in English mainly about Libya, Feb 22 at 1603, and I braced myself for a dump to English Teaching at 1605, but no! Continued with ``Africa News Tonight``, mainly about Libya; unlike 13600, 24 hours earlier. Current IBB site usage of 15580, all VOA English of one sort or another is: 03-07 Botswana, 14-16 South Africa, 15-17 São Tomé, 17- 1730 Greenville, 1730-1930 Botswana, 1930-21 Bonaire, 21-22 Botswana. 9325, Feb 23 at 1328 Yankee Doodle Dandy and VOA sign-on announcement, 1330 ``Welcome to the Voice of America in --- Khmai`` which is how VOA pronounces Khmer; I suppose they are right and we are just too influenced by colonial French, but let`s compromise on Cambodian, as Aoki does showing this as due west from Tinang, PHILIPPINES (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There`s a new website to Save VOA Shortwave, containing a petition to Congress: http://www.voashortwave.org (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. EE.UU: FRUSTRAN CIERRE DE RADIO Y TV MARTÍ RADIO TV MARTI LOGO Fracasa en el Congreso de EE.UU. intento legislativo que buscaba eliminar las transmisiones de radio y televisión a Cuba. Enmiendas legislativas que buscaban eliminar las transmisiones de radio y televisión del gobierno de EE.UU. dirigidas a Cuba fueron desestimadas en el Congreso en Washington, tras fuerte oposición bipartidista de republicanos y demócratas. Las enmiendas colgadas a una resolución que garantiza fondos para las operaciones del gobierno federal, pretendían suprimir “Radio y Televisión Martí”, la única fuente de noticias e informaciones sin censura de que disponen los cubanos residentes en la isla, donde el gobierno controla todos los medios de prensa. Según un comunicado difundido por la oficina del congresista republicano por Florida, David Rivera, el rechazo se logró gracias al apoyo de varios legisladores, entre ellos Mario Díaz-Balart, Albio Sires, Debbie Wasserman Schultz e Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, presidenta del Comité de Relaciones Exteriores de la Cámara de Representantes. Rivera cabildeó y obtuvo el respaldo de otros congresistas recién electos a la Cámara de Representantes: Austin Scott (Georgia), Kristi Noem (Dakota del Sur) y Tim Scott (Carolina del Sur), a quienes envió una carta pidiéndoles defender, a raíz de lo acontecido en Egipto, el libre flujo de información para promover el activismo democrático en Cuba. “Después de 52 años de dictadura comunista totalitaria en Cuba, este no es el momento de dar al régimen de (Raúl) Castro una concesión unilateral como la eliminación de las transmisiones estadounidenses promoviendo la libertad y la democracia”, según la misiva. El congresista también citó en la carta que Cuba figura en la lista del Departamento de Estado de los países considerados promotores del terrorismo , y mencionó el caso del ciudadano estadounidense Alan Gross, que visitó Cuba con fines humanitarios y desde hace más de un año está encarcelado en la isla. FUENTE: Noticias | Spanish http://bit.ly/hSYI1e (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, Feb 19, DXLD) Clicking on the above short-link, Feb 22 around 00 UT got the hacked http://www.voanews.com homepage instead which started our reporting on that (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. Flickr Images of USA SW sites. IBB Greenville, Site A (via Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavesties yg Feb 1 via BC-DX 18 Feb via DXLD) Nice slide-show and long may it exist (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Flickr Images of USA SW sites. WMLK (via Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavesties yg Feb 1 via BC-DX 18 Feb via DXLD) One low-res photo; billboard seems to say 9465, their ancient frequency; channel it is really not on is 9265 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 9479, WTWW with blessèd dead air instead of Pastor Pete Peters, Feb 17 at 1406, 1504 and 1538 (but some hum). But he`s baack at next check 1641. 9479, WTWW, Feb 19 at 2104, constant hum upon Pastor Pete Peters: wiggle that patchcord! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: WTWW at 9479: you must have just missed it: Approx. 2050 UT: Two management types from WTWW talking about new 100 kW transmitter on 9480 (this frequency) and 5755; talked for about 5 -7 minutes about YOU --- accolades for the job you do and your commitment to accurate info, and dedication to WORLD OF RADIO. Sadly replaced by Pastor Pete Peters just before your hit at 2104. Keep up good work --- people notice!! Congrats RW (Rick Wald, AB, primetimeshortwave yg via DXLD) That would have been QSO with Ted Randall, Sats 19-21 on 9479, Ted talking with George McClintock, probably a repeat. AFAIK the other 166 hours per week on WTWW are still PPP, including his dead air. 5755, WTWW once again in open carrier, at 0641 Feb 22. Nice & clean too, no hum or anything from Pastor Pete Peters. I had to side-tune from the extremely strong carrier to be sure I had the volume turned up (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WRMI relaying Radio France International and DX News with Allen Graham and [censored], 16 February 2011 from 1523 to 1600 UT on 9955 kHz. Audible despite jamming from Cuba today, LSB mode helped readability. Sadly, I haven't heard WRMI in a while, due to the Cuban jamming. 73's, (Ed Insinger, Summit, NJ, Feb 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That was a Wednesday, so DX Partyline was at 1530, but from 1545 should have been CDHD Brigade 2506 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1552 monitoring: 9955, first SW airing Thursday Feb 17 on WRMI starting at 1601 after Romanian folk music fill and ID, as DentroCuban pulse jamming has also started, not noticed during previous half-hour with Wavescan. Tnx a lot, Arnie! The motivated listener could however still follow most of what I was saying, meanwhile cursing the Cubans; also atop SAH from Taiwan. Next chances for WOR 1552 on WRMI 9955: Thu 2200, Fri 1530, Sat 0900, 1500, 1830, Sun 0900, 1630, 1830. On WBCQ 7415: Thu, Tue and Wed at 2000. On WWRB: UT Fri 0430 on 5050 replacing 3185! On WWCR: Fri 2130 on 7465, Sat 1700 on 12160, Sun 0730 on 3215. On IRRS: Sat 1900 on 6090, 1566, 1368. 9955, nothing much before 2200 Feb 17, as WRMI is off the air weekdays 17-22, but at 2213 check, when WORLD OF RADIO is underway, there is wall-of-noise heavy jamming by the DentroCuban Jamming Command; with BFO I can detect the WRMI carrier underneath, but not a recognizable word of modulation. Tnx a lot, Arnie! The morning airings on WRMI usually fare better, such as Fri 1530, Sat 1500, Sun 1630, Tue 1630, Wed 1630, Thu 1600. WORLD OF RADIO 1552 confirmed on new frequency 5050 from WWRB, UT Friday Feb 18 at 0430; some fading, not as strong and clear here as 3185 was, but I hope still has good coverage beyond the skip zone from TN. WWCR airings: Fri 2130 on 7465, Sat 1700 on 12160, Sun 0730 on 3215. WORLD OF RADIO 1552 monitoring Sat Feb 19: confirmed on WRMI 9955 at 1500, some jamming bleed from 9965; confirmed on WWCR 12160 webcast at 1700; confirmed on WRMI 9955 webcast from WRN starting at 1831, and on 9955 at 1850, poor signal but no jamming; confirmed on IRRS 6090 webcast until 1930. Sunday airings: WWCR 3215 at 0730; WRMI 9955 at 0900, 1630, 1830. WORLD OF RADIO 1552 monitoring, Sunday Feb 20: confirmed at 1644 on WRMI 9955, poor signal but no jamming. WRMI further repeats are: Sun 1831, Mon 1230, 2230, Tue 1630, Wed 0200, 1630, Thu 0430; WBCQ 7415: Tue, Wed 2000. Unless 1553 is ready in time to start Wed 1630. WORLD OF RADIO 1553 monitoring: first SW airing confirmed Thursday Feb 24 at 1600+ on WRMI 9955; poor signal, some SAH, but no jamming. Next WRMI airings are: Thu 2200 (probably jammed), Fri 1530, Sat 0900, 1500, 1830, Sun 0900, 1630, 1830. On WBCQ: Thu 2000 on 7415. Also WWRB UT Fri at 0430 on new 2390? Or almost-new 5050? Ex-3185. On WWCR: Fri 2130 on 7465, Sat 1700 on 12160, Sun 0730 on 3215. IRRS is testing a new frequency, 5775 or 5975, perhaps carrying WOR Saturday at 1900 and/or on 6090. Probably 5775 as 5975 is already in use by VOR in Arabic from Novosibirsk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15825, WWCR-1, Sat Feb 19 at 1853, good but not solid signal during `Sing for Joy`, non-commercial, non-proselytizing sacred music show I have long enjoyed on FM, scheduled Saturdays 1830-1900 only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WWCR. The radio station of the United States leads the religious programs in Russian: Saturdays 1100-1200 UT on 9985 kHz; Mon 1200-1215 UT on 15825 kHz. Reception Report confirmed QSL-cards. Postal address: WWCR Shortwave 1300 WWCR Avenue Nashville, TN 37218 USA There is also an email address, but I do not know what their business address in this moment. Can someone tell me? (Dmitry Kutuzov, Ryazan / "deneb-radio-dx" via RusDX Feb 20 via DXLD) What do you mean, business address? That`s its postal address above. I checked the Feb sked and found the R or RU, presumably meaning Russian, but not keyed as such, consists of `Focus on the Family` at 1100-1115 Sat, and 1200-1215 Mon-Fri, not just Mon; `Spoken Word of God` with Earl Poyste Sat 1115-1200. And, followed by Arabic: Mon-Fri 1215 Bible Pathway, 1220-1230 Living Words - Arabic Scriptures (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Greetings: WWRB lost the use of 3145 so we had to shift our programming: Brother Stair has 3185 all night long now. The other programming on WWRB such as WORLD OF RADIO had to shift to 5050 for the time being. 3215 is off the air for a week or two: Reason: We are making antenna insulator modifications to allow the use of 2390: During a 10 kW carrier test, we noted arcing at the insulators suspending the 190 foot high, 340 degree azimuth rhombic antenna we plan on using for this 'new' frequency. We also noted that the 2390 insulator arcing caused the integrity monitors of our aircraft LOCALIZER & GLIDESLOPE facilities to alarm. We are making the changes and will do more Carrier & Flight testing on 2390 kHz (Dave Frantz, International Radio Station WWRB, Feb 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You may recall that WWCR used 2390 several years ago, pioneering its availability to US SWBC stations. Fortunately, Guatemala and Mexico have long since abandoned it too (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Hi Glenn: 2390 is up and running. Can you hear it? We have some additional work to do on the antenna, add to the grounding screen at the rhombic tuning network. Check it out, let us know (Dave Frantz, WWRB, 0220 UT Feb 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Loud and clear here at 0253. Some hum, but you often have that (Glenn to Dave, via DXLD) Why did CR give this frequency up? Do you know? We have received VERY good reports so far. We still have some minor antenna issues, we hope to resolve in the next day or so. Had some light rain tonight. The arcing became steady so we turned off 2390 until tomorrow (Dave to Glenn, 0603 UT, ibid.) Not sure, but I don`t think it was an interference complaint. WWCR was still using 2390 in 2001, but I don`t find reports of it after that, in quick search of DXLD archive. So is your plan to move 5050 programming down to 2390, including World of Radio? (Glenn to Dave, ibid.) Not sure yet. We might use 3215 till 0200, then switch to 2390. 5050 may go back to Bible on tape. again not sure (Dave to Glenn, ibid.) 2390 is working VERY well for WWRB shortwave! We have it booked all night long. GREAT reception reports. It took a lot of work to get the 340 degree rhombic antenna to take full power, arcing like Tesla coil! In addition, messing up the integrity monitors of our private airport ROSEANNE Co-located with the WWRB transmitter facility: The ILS: Localizer & Glideslope AND the DME system. We found the problem(s), got it worked out. Wonder if this is the reason the other station quit 2390? The Harris SW-100F transmitter had ZERO problem tuning for 2390 --- took ten seconds to tune and BAM, ready to go! (Dave Frantz, WWRB, UT Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Listening to 2390 now (0330-0345 UT) here in central Maryland, booming in full blast with hardly any fading. I can crank the RF gain down and collapse the antenna and still get S5 signal on my Sony 2010. Definitely the most powerful Tennessee shortwave station tonight. Programming is gospel huxter parallel to 5050 (Travers, UT Feb 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello everyone, Great signal here in Montreal, from WWRB on 2390 at 0355 UT on February 24th UT, very good copy on Tecsun PL-600 portable receiver and telescopic antenna (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, ibid.) The 3215 frequency should be back on next day or so. We plan on using it for station advertising (Dave Frantz, 1542 UT Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. On the WWRB official website it could be found lots of photos of the WWRB The Overcomer Ministry Station, Manchester- Morrison, TN, USA. These are just some of them. [Manchester, TN, USA, WWRB, The Overcomer Ministry.1] [Manchester, TN, USA, WWRB, The Overcomer Ministry. 2] [Manchester, USA, TN, WWRB Tx site. 5] [Manchester, USA, TN, WWRB antennas. 4] (Lev Lytovchenko, Western Canada, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) It is not correct to call WWRB ``The Overcomer Ministry Station`` --- it is one of (currently) three US SW stations which sell time on one transmitter to TOM, and is not part of TOM itself. To make this somewhat pertinent you would need to single out the antennas actually used to broadcast TOM rather than other programming. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A. 5109.74 USB, 0115-0125 12.02, WBCQ, Monticello, Maine, English comments on the events in Egypt, thanks to modern media. Back in USB only 35333 (Anker Petersen, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, Feb 18, playdx yg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wow, WBCQ has a spur that goes from 7390 to about 7435 kHz. Listening to Radio Bulgaria on 7400 I can hear the interference from WBCQ from time to time. It's not my receiver. I am listening with my Kenwood R- 5000 at the moment (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, 2130 UT Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) On remote rx SDR-IQ in Maine, covers 7409 to 7421 kHz, program content 2 x 3.5 kHz = 7 kHz, sideband scratch-buzz 2.5 kHz each on 7409 to 7411.5 and 7418.5 to 7421 kHz. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, 2146 UT Feb 21, ibid.) ** U S A [and non]. 9405, Feb 20 at 0642, WINB with VG signal tonight during GFRN`s `Quick Study` of Bible TV soundtrack. So good, that it`s splattering over BBC 9410. If you think that`s bad, wait till A-11, when WINB tentatively plans to move onto 9410 itself! 9405, WINB, Feb 22 at 0649 very poor signal, just as it should be, less than BBCWS 9410 and no problem to it, unlike 24 hours earlier, as nightmiddle propagation on 31m makes wild swings. 9405, WINB further declined to a just-barely-audible carrier, Feb 23 at 0620, whilst BBCWS on 9410 was in well (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. PAN AMERICAN BROADCASTING CELEBRATES THEIR 75TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2011 --- http://radiopanam.com/ It is with great honor that we congratulate Pan American Broadcasting as they celebrate their 75th anniversary, serving ministries worldwide by helping them expand their mission’s Outreach internationally and domestically. Carmen Jung, Vice President of Pan American Broadcasting states, “We realize that we are but a small fraction of a large team serving to support ministries and helping them broadcast their spiritual messages of God’s Word globally. Our prayer and hope is to change lives forever with God’s amazing love. During our 75 years of service, we have been blessed to work with amazing ministries along with radio, television, and satellite Outreach services whom we consider “team members” and “friends”, all with a mission to broadcast the Gospel worldwide serving a greater awareness of the blessings of Jesus Christ! We thank each and every person whom we have had the blessing to partner with and help along the way.” (via Abid Hussain Sajid, Mailsi (Pakistan), dxldyg via DXLD) This is attributed to something called Ambassador with multi-signed greeting card, at http://radiopanam.com/Ambas75yrs.pdf PanAm is just a broker for gospel-huxters, placing programming on R. Africa, Equatorial Guinea, M&B, various US SW stations, etc. (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 17775, KVOH was again on the air Thursday Feb 17, VG at 2138 check and it was also on before 1600. 17775, nothing from KVOH at 1852 check Sat Feb 19, while it was heard sometime on Friday, so the WRTH Update listing as Tue-Fri only is holding up. 17775, KVOH absent again on this Sunday, Feb 20 at 1526 check. 17775, KVOH, VG with gospel rock in Spanish, Tue Feb 22 at 1541. It was not heard on Sat, Sun or Mon, so its curious Tue-Fri only schedule is reconfirmed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also Wed, Thu ** U S A. 15550-USB, WJHR, Sat Feb 19 at 1851, VG signal with screaming `last-day` preacher other than BS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KJES Radio, 16 February 2011 from 1425 past 1500 UT on 11715 kHz. Nice signal in comparison to the barely audible 7555 frequency used nights. Religious program and ID's made by a young child. SINPO=35434, solid S8 dB signal despite moderate fading today. 73's, (Ed Insinger, Summit, NJ, Feb 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11715, KJES, was not heard over the weekend, but it`s back Monday Feb 21 at 1558 with singing in English, guitar accompaniment, undermodulated but S9+22 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. YFR direct with Psalms readings on 15115 was running 29 seconds behind the `relay` on 15195 via ASCENSION. Why? BTW, 15115 had crackling sound, and so did 15440 later at 2208 during `Open Forum`; loose connexions in antennas? 15250, Feb 21 at 1551-1552* open carrier. Probably WYFR which is scheduled for German from 1600. Some WYFR frequencies continue to have a lite crackling sound. Hard to be sure whether it`s an Okeechobee problem, such as antenna shorting, or an audio feed problem from Oakland. Feb 22 at 1452 this is affecting Harold Camping on 17760, and also on // 11855, as he reminds us that rapture-day May 21 is only 15 weeks away. We can hardly wait for the self-destruxion of Family Radio`s infestation of our SW, MW and FM spectra (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9310, Feb 23 at 1328, Family Radio in English talking about translators (FM relays in USA), and 800 number, none of which is likely to be too helpful or pertinent to the audience in SE Asia for this frequency via Almaty/Nikolayevka, KAZAKHSTAN. But neither is any of the rest of their BS, and I don`t mean Brother Scare (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In a letter received from Dr. E. C. Fulcher, Jr. (Abingdon, MD 21009 address) dated February 16, 2011, he writes: "Dear Global Short Wave Member: For the first time since 1979, we are not broadcasting on shortwave, but we are negotiating with a station, so I will be on again shortly and I'll be sure to send you the details as soon as I have them." 73's, (Ed Insinger, Summit, NJ, Feb 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I believe he issued his own QSLs (gh) ** U S A. WSBA 2730 (3 x 910) [York PA] still very readable here. 2-4 inches of snow predicted for tomorrow (Bill, W1OW, Smith, MA, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Special News: It has been stated that WEAK Radio has received a visit from the FCC. The FCC has given the station a "Notice of Apparent Liability" and requested the station to stop transmitting. For those with an interest, here is the FCC Enforcement Bureau website for unauthorized operations: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/sed/ulo.html Here is a good independent site that provides summary information by year: http://www.diymedia.net/fccwatch/ead.htm Additionally, Outhouse and Sycko may have had visits from the FCC about their activities. There seems to be no official notices posted at this time (Free Radio Weekly Feb 23 early edition via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) We generously file pirates under NORTH AMERICA in order to include the possibility of CANADA, but these have apparently been downnarrowed to USA. WEAK was quite active lately, its downfall (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. KVTT TX Mineral Wells – 1/14 0940 [EST = 1440 UT] Seguéd older C&W songs, some rather obscure; no announcements until legal ID at 1004:45, followed by more music. Noted same ID again at 1102. On 50 kW transmitter now? Good signal at 1000 and weak but still readable at 1100 ELT [1600 UT], waaay past sunrise (John Wilkins, CO, NRC DX News via DXLD) 1110, KVTT, Mineral Wells (The Metroplex) TX: re my previous comments about lack of a daytime groundwave signal except for a SAH of 0.6 Hz vs KFAB: Artie Bigley put me in contact with the consulting engineer who designed the new 50 kW facility with a highly direxional pattern, Charles Staples, who gives me the exact bearing of a northward null, which is within a fraxion of a degree of the same true bearing toward Enid: 358 degrees. So if I go a little east or west I should start getting more traces of it. This null is not toward Omaha, as you would expect, which is somewhat east of north from the site which is about halfway between Fort Worth and Wichita Falls. Radio-locator map for entertainment shows it gets into OKC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CUMULUS MEDIA LAUNCHES NEW ALL-COMEDY RADIO STATION IN KANSAS CITY By Associated Press 1:45 PM CST, February 19, 2011 http://kspr.com/sns-ap-mo--kc-comedyradio,0,4447123.story KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The owner of several Kansas City radio stations has launched an all-comedy station that will spotlight national comedians as well as those appearing on local comedy stages. The Kansas City Star reports Cumulus Media started the station to fill a void in the Kansas City market. The station is called Funny 102.5 and will feature continuous stand-up comedy. The station that went on the air Monday is part of a national network of comedy stations produced by 24/7 Comedy Radio Network. The city's first comedy station was the All Comedy Network that started up in 2004 on KCKN-AM 1340. That venture didn't fare well, and a year later the format changed and the station began playing regional Mexican music. Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) KSPR = Springfield MO ** U S A. In reading Gary Siegel's Forum on the destructiveness of "HD Radio", or IBOC, the approval of the inefficient "HD Radio" system is part of a bigger problem. For the past 30 years, we've had an FCC that has rubber-stamped the questionable agenda of the National Association of Broadcasters. The spectrum-destroying approval of "HD Radio" is not the only problem. The concentration of ownership in too few hands has led to a rapid decline in the quality of commercial radio programming. Listeners demand quality programming from their radio stations, and they're not getting it through their commercial radio outlets. Quality programming is now the exclusive domain of non-commercial radio. The broadcast industry should have never let the courts or the Reagan Administration abolish the Fairness Doctrine, which preserved and protected freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is now forbidden on American talk radio. Under the excuse of "free speech", the FCC has allowed secular, for-profit broadcasters, like Clear Channel and CBS, to own Christian radio stations. This should never have been allowed in the first place. Christian broadcasting should be the exclusive domain of the church and religious, not-for-profit broadcasters. Secular, for-profit ownership of Christian radio and Christian faith are not compatible, according to The Holy Bible. Concentration of ownership in fewer hands has also been job-killing. Tens of thousands of on-air positions have needlessly been eliminated, localism taken away from our radio dial, and there are too few opportunities for young broadcasters to get in on the ground floor at a small town radio station, such as WSMI 1540 Litchfield, IL, WJBM 1480 Jerseyville, IL or KWRE 730 Warrenton, MO. In addition, stations aren't recruiting new air talent where they should be doing it: at local colleges and universities. College radio is the only legitimate source of new on-air talent. The NAB's Employment Clearinghouse also does not place people in broadcast jobs in the right places. When I was living in Woodstock, GA during 1990 and 1991, I tried to find work through the NAB Employment Clearinghouse. I was looking in northwestern Georgia, as well as in the St. Louis area and the Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA area, where I had family. My tape and resume packages were not sent to the markets indicated. I had mine sent to Des Moines, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Santa Rosa (the latter being north of San Francisco). The practice of voicetracking has also killed jobs and severely limited opportunities for young broadcasters to get in on the ground floor out of a local college or a university. Voicetracking is also illegal, according to FCC rules. The biggest lie I ever saw in 22 years in broadcasting was on nearly every application I filed for employment at a radio station: "an equal opportunity employer." Broadcasters have never been equal opportunity employers. For example, many stations won't hire qualified people with even minor disabilities. In all the years I worked or looked for work in commercial broadcasting, I never saw a single wheelchair rolling around a station's studio and office complex; rarely did I go into a station that was accessible to folks in wheelchairs, under the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Most broadcasters also won't hire anyone who isn't known to the station's General Manager. The policy of "it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know" is antiquated, leaves out many qualified applicants (most who are hired are less qualified than those not known to station management), and is incompatible with 21st Century employment policies. All the radio jobs I found were on my own; before I came to work for the stations I worked at, I did not know a soul at these stations. If a broadcaster is to tell the truth about their employment policies, then "an equal opportunity employer" should be omitted from their job applications. It has become very clear to me that the deregulation of the commercial broadcast industry in the United States, as well as the NAB agenda, is a massive failure. What we need is an FCC that is not a slave to the NAB's spectrum-destroying and job-killing agenda. We need one that supports a total ban on secular ownership of Christian radio, restricting local radio ownership to local companies only, permanently bans voicetracking, and supports much stronger anti-discrimination policies. I don't see commercial radio getting better anytime soon. A good start, from a technical standpoint, is to take "HD Radio" off AM, and return to mandating the C-QUAM system as the only system for stereophonic broadcasting on AM. The next step would be to remove "HD Radio" from FM, and ban DRM from shortwave stations. The next thing is to find spectrum for a separate digital radio band. When will the NAB realize that deregulation is a massive failure? America's broadcasters are living in some kind of fantasy world, not in the real world. 73. (Eric Bueneman (NØUIH), 631 Coachway Lane, Hazelwood, Missouri 63042-1347, IRCA DX Monitor Feb 12 via DXLD) ** U S A. 99.9, checking caradio this Saturday afternoon whether the GCN pirate in Enid is on, no, Feb 19 at 2248 UT I get a marginal but sufficient signal with ID as 910/99 KG, KINA storm tracker, from Salina KS. Unraveling this, 910 is KINA, and 99.9 is KSKG; did not hear at this break anyway, the `Eagle Country 99.9` slogan in FM Atlas XXI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. DISNEY RADIO: FLORIDA'S IN-CAR WELCOMING STATION AND THE DISNEY/AAA WELCOME CENTER KA2XXZ lives on via the Internet --- Check this out. Someone sampled (and credited) the old KA2XXZ 107.9/107.9 from my site, complete with an old page screen shot. And there's even archived audio of the complete loop, all the way down to the experiential calls at the end. http://forums.tannerworld.com/showthread.php?t=20469 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W Florida DX News and "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" are at: http://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re: ``UNIDENTIFIED. 3325/USB, NNN0AKT net control from somewhere north, including lots of check ins from stations all having the NNN0 prefix including one from NNN0KBP w/digital comms ("MP63"?) in addition to the voice contacts. Stations heard included NNN0BON, AKT, AHH (from NW Arkansas) AJB, BOK, TFL, XES, and NNN0WZET (why this station has 4 letters rather than three like all the rest, I don't know.) Any idea what this service is supposed to be for? 1045-0155 30/Jan (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI DXpedition, MARE Tipsheet Feb 5 via DXLD) NNN0 means US Navy MARS nets, of course; or did you mean something more specific beyond that? (gh, DXLD)`` Sorry for the late reply; four-letter-suffix Navy MARS callsigns indicate a trainee (the fourth letter is always "T"). Very 73 de (Anne Fanelli, ex-NNN0IHP-T, ex-NNN0IHP (quit after Tailhook :-)), in back- to-winter Elma NY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I can`t help but watch the stunningly beautiful photography on PBS` NATURE, such as the current Himalayas episode, but I am really put off by the phoniness of it. Foley artists insert sounds that aren`t really there, for effect, like the ``thump`` of a jumping spider landing. Foxes and other creatures are anthropomorphized in the narration, in their facial expressions, assumed motivations for behaviour, etc. Sadly, this probably does help humans to save other species (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BUDGET CUTS THREATEN PUBLIC RADIO Opinion 6:03 p.m. Thursday, February 17, 2011 By Kim Hodgson http://www.ajc.com/opinion/budget-cuts-threaten-public-843597.html Last fall, listeners to Atlanta’s WABE-FM heard some of the best, some of the most truly fair and balanced coverage of local candidates and issues in the run-up to the November elections. This kind of local programming is expensive to produce. Sadly, if Republicans in Congress have their way, coverage of such quality and depth may not be heard on the public airwaves again for a long time, if ever. Once again, Republicans in Congress are bent on eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or CPB. Shades of 1995 and Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America, but with an important difference: Gingrich put the issue squarely on the table, prompting a spirited debate on the issue on its merits. This Congress, however, is attacking under the cover of the continuing budget resolution, which the House took up this week and which Congress must pass before March 4 to keep the government funded for the remainder of fiscal 2011. Without the usual hoopla of public debate on the subject, the Republican majority in the House has stated that it intends to excise funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from the continuing resolution, betting that the Democrats will go along in order to keep the government in business. And should this ploy not succeed, Republicans are determined to use any other legislative means available to achieve this long-standing goal. While this year’s rationale for cutting CPB’s funding (a vanishingly small percentage of the total federal budget) is couched in the rhetoric of “difficult choices” and “fiscal responsibility,” this is really about ideology. House Speaker John Boehner made that clear recently when he told The National Review, “It’s reasonable to ask why Congress is spending taxpayers’ money to support a left-wing radio network.” Yet studies have shown that public radio, far from being a bastion of liberalism, has broad appeal for those in the political middle, and even for many who consider themselves conservative. When I lived in North Carolina, my next-door neighbor described himself as “only slightly to the left of Attila the Hun.” Yet NPR was the only news source that he considered trustworthy. To understand the implications of the proposed elimination of CPB better, let’s look in our own back yard. In fiscal 2009, CPB gave WABE an unrestricted Community Service Grant, or CSG, of nearly $700,000, while co-licensed TV station WPBA received about $730,000. These grants, which are allocated on a matching basis, stimulated more than $9 million in community support from listeners, viewers and program underwriters. WCLK, one of the few stations in the country devoted to the preservation and promotion of jazz, received a CSG of just over $180,000 from CPB in fiscal 2009, nearly 19.5 percent of that struggling station’s total cash revenues. My background is in public radio, so let me talk about what I know. First of all, it is important to understand how CPB funding works. CPB does not directly fund NPR. The vast majority of CPB funding goes directly to local stations, who spend it on local programming and operations and to acquire programs from NPR, as well as other providers (programs like A Prairie Home Companion, This American Life, Marketplace, and The World, for example, are not NPR programs). Make no mistake: the elimination of CPB funding will hurt NPR and other producers badly, because it will diminish stations’ ability to pay, but it will hurt local stations far worse. Stations like WCLK, which provide vital services to niche audiences and/or rural communities, will be hardest hit of all. Some almost certainly won’t survive. This year’s attack on CPB funding is not merely some annual ritual on Capitol Hill. It is a genuine existential threat to CPB and many stations. Yet there is little that stations themselves can do. So it’s up to us, the listeners, to take matters into our own hands. The only thing a member of Congress fears is the prospect of losing the next election. If constituents care deeply about public broadcasting, members need to know. If you are one of the nearly 600,000 listeners in metro Atlanta who depend on public radio each week, the time to act is now. The future of this precious medium is in our hands. Kim Hodgson of Atlanta served on the board of directors of National Public Radio from 1994 to 2000; he was chairman from 1996 to 2000 (Atlanta Journal Constitution via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) Re: Defunding public broadcasting WE ARE NOT GIVING UP | 170 MILLION AMERICANS Saturday, February 19, 2011 9:37 AM The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1 early this morning, which eliminates federal funding for public broadcasting. This is a blow to public radio and television stations across the country and the 170 million Americans who tune in every month. But we are not giving up. You have already had a powerful impact in Washington. We heard directly from Members of Congress that the hundreds of thousands of calls and emails in support of public broadcasting have created momentum that may yet save federal funding for this vital public service. Now the bill heads to the Senate. You will get a message from us in the next few days when it is time, again, to send a clear message to Washington: Funding for public broadcasting is too important to eliminate. What can you do today? Please reach out to your friends and family and encourage them to sign up at 170MillionAmericans.org and at Facebook.com/170Million over the coming week. This is going to be a marathon and we will need any many supporters as possible to prevail in the end. THANK YOU for all that you are doing! Jeff Nelson and Stacey Karp 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting (via Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) The trouble is, public broadcasting is only one item among many in the bill, covering defense spending, etc. Vote was almost strictly along party lines, all Democrats against it, all but three Republicans for it --- and boy, are they in trouble. Now it`s time to pressure senators not to pass the bill with that in it (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A. Odessa's KOCV for sale --- I've heard it from two different sources that the Public Radio station at Odessa College, KOCV-FM, is now up for sale. No word on what it's selling for. Evidently the college, facing massive budget cuts along with everyone else, has finally decided to get rid of it. The station has been in a very bad state for the last decade since the local public television station was sold off. The TV staff did many functions for the radio station and when they left, there was no one on the radio side to do them, so it quickly fell into disrepair. There was very little fundraising, some underwriting and little support from the college. They aired some NPR programming but were not a full NPR-member station. KOCV originates from the OC campus, but their signal just barely covers Odessa, and doesn't reach the majority of Midland 10 miles to the east. Their transmitter is also in very bad shape. They went to a 24-hour broadcast schedule just so they could leave the transmitter on, fearing that if it was shut-off, it wouldn't come back. Before the economy tanked, several outside entities expressed an interest in buying or otherwise helping the station, but OC was holding out for big money to come calling and it never did. Now it appears Midland/Odessa will be the largest market in Texas (and the US) not to have direct public radio service. There is a translator from Eastern New Mexico University just NW of Midland, but its coverage is sporadic at best, and they offer nothing in the way of local programming... (DG, Dec 7, 2010, radio-info.com via Artie Bigley, DXLD) BOARD SELECTS MARFA PUBLIC RADIO February 22, 2011 9:58 PM BY GEOFF FOLSOM The Odessa College Board of Trustees said thanks but no thanks to more experienced radio operators from San Antonio and Lubbock Tuesday evening, opting instead to sell the school's license for KOCV-FM to Marfa Public Radio. Trustee Bruce Shearer, who spoke for the board's finance committee, said the committee recommended selling the financially troubled National Public Radio affiliate to Marfa Public Radio because the entity was the only one of three main bidders to agree to pay to move KOCV's tower off OC's campus, which will save the school between $30,000 and $50,000. It also agreed to a $300,000 deal, half of which will be paid to OC in cash, the other half in sponsorships during the next 10 years. Shearer pointed to the five-year-old Marfa station’s track record for fundraising in a sparsely populated area as another reason for the selection. “Instead of being a small fish in a big pond, we'll be a big fish in a small pond,” Shearer said of the decision to go with the smaller station. As KOCV’s tower has deteriorated, it has seen its fundraising go dark as well. In 2003, the station raised over $100,000, dropping to less than $15,000 last year. OC spokeswoman Cheri Dalton said the college, which is facing budget cuts from the state legislature, has put $95,000 into operating it since Sept. 1. Marfa Public Radio also agreed to provide internship opportunities for Odessa College students, Shearer said. Marfa Public Radio plans to build a tower north of Odessa to replace KOCV's aging signal. Shearer said the signal would cover Andrews and come close to reaching Crane and Stanton. “We are also gonna cover Midland!” Trustee Ralph McCain exclaimed, addressing one of the main concerns with KOCV in recent years. “Or they are gonna cover Midland.” A Permian Basin resident will be placed on Marfa Public Radio’s board, and KOCV, 91.3 on the FM dial, will have its own local advisory board, Shearer said. Marfa Public Radio general manager Tom Michael said a six month waiting period is likely before the deal closes. In the meantime, the station will prepare for construction of its new tower. It will also consider ideas for new local programming. “We can tell you we will continue the same NPR programming already in place, and add some great West Texas programs,” Michael said. Three main bidders emerged for KOCV. Along with Marfa Public Radio, Texas Public Radio and South Plains Public Radio, owned by Texas Tech University, made presentations at a public forum last week. Of the station representatives to make a pitch then, Michael was the only one to appear at Tuesday’s board meeting. Trustee Gary Johnson didn’t attend the meeting. (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) More on same: http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_416963be-8b22-5182-bee8-8b1f691196d8.html Glenn, A few more(older) of interest to you: http://www.oaoa.com/news/three-60398-bidders-kocv.html http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_f38f75ee-83fd-5664-a0b2-971e2467bd19.html http://www.mywesttexas.com/news/opinion/article_bdc0d964-8a01-551e-82e8-c0b43a6f4792.html http://www.oaoa.com/articles/trustees-60625-college-expected.html (via Bigley, DXLD) UPDATE FROM MARFA PUBLIC RADIO Wednesday, February 23, 2011 Dear Radio Friend, We wanted to share some breaking news at Marfa Public Radio, your regional broadcaster. These are critical times for public broadcasting, especially for a rural station like KRTS. Last night, Odessa College selected Marfa Public Radio as the winning bidder for KOCV, the public radio station that serves Midland / Odessa. We were chosen over the networks South Plains Public Radio (Lubbock / Texas Tech) and Texas Public Radio (San Antonio). This is a bold move for our non-profit organization, but we believe in a robust public broadcasting network, especially in West Texas. It's important we broaden our base of support to help us ensure the independent future of public broadcasting in our region, particularly against the threat to national funding. Over the weekend, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, which eliminates federal funding for public broadcasters. The bill will next go to the U.S. Senate. About one-third of our funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Much of that funding is used to purchase national programs, such as "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered." But it's not a done deal. To get involved, visit 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting. We know that our West Texas community is resilient and will help support us during these challenging times. We also want our 93.5 FM listeners know the character of KRTS remains intact. We're proceeding with our local improvement projects: upgrading our transmitting power to the highest possible and installing a backup generator for greater reliability. Please know that the Staff, Board and Volunteers of Marfa Public Radio work hard every day to share the unique spirit you've grown to expect from your regional broadcaster. This is truly "Radio For A Wide Range." Tom Michael, General Manager, Marfa Public Radio UPCOMING EVENTS: Enjoy our live radio remote from the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine on Friday (February 25) at 10 AM, and join us at the Crowley Theater in Marfa at 8 PM on Saturday March 12 for the Bel Cuore Quartet, a unique concert of classical saxophonists. Marfa Public Radio PO Box 238 Marfa, Texas 79843 http://marfapublicradio.org 432-729-4578 (MPR mailing list Feb 23 via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 3945, R. Vanuatu, Port Vila. February 20, 0824-0834 Pop music, female in an uncertain language, male seems in local language talks. This time Vanuatu was prevailing over R. Nikkei 2, wich was with Beatles’ selections (songs of Abbey Road album); 32333, (lob-B). 7260, R. Vanuatu, Port Vila. February 20, 0835-0844 male seems in local language talks, police siren noise, (which must be a police news space), female talks. 33333, 73’s (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7260, Radio Vanuatu, Port Vila, 0720-0736, 20-02, songs, English, male, comments. Very weak. 13221 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, 27 Km. W of Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, faced WSW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Cf. MICRONESIA, 4755+ reported immediately after this (gh, DXLD) 3945, R. Vanuatu, 1052-1155. Feb 23. In vernacular; segment of non- stop on air phone calls; DJ playing EZL pop songs (Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive”, etc.); one spot with “Vanuatu, I Love You!”; ID “You are listening to Radio Vanuatu, the Voice of the ….”; ham QRM (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. ALGERIA: 6297.2, Radio Árabe Sahuari Democrática; 2257-2303+, 16-Feb; Afro music to ID spots 2300-2302. Heard Sahuari Arabeeya, but no Democratica, then La Voz de la Revolución in Spanish followed by same in Arabic? Then into Spanish program with pop tune I Did It My Way in Spanish. SIO=4+43 with ute trill; as good as ever heard (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ALGERIA, 6297.18, Polisario Front, 2040, good with local acoustic music and excited talk by a man, best in LSB to escape ute, high side. 18 Feb (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF-7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6297+, Feb 19 at 2307, poor signal, intermittent ute QRM, in Spanish news about EE.UU. So for once I can report this as La Voz de la República Árabe Saharaui Democrática rather than SASASAM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLANDESTINE. 700, Polisario Front, Rabouhni, ALGERIA, has been absent for a few days' time, but 6297.15 is regular, and strong as usual, despite some occasional signal break downs. Their evening program in Castilian remains at 2300-2330*, but now there is one earlier in the day, viz. 1200-1230; music normally fills the rest until s/off at 1300. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 6165, ZNBC, 0249-0250, Feb 20, very weak Fish Eagle IS heard under Radio Nederland. Only heard the distinctive Fish Eagle IS for a minute before disappearing under a strong Radio Nederland (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 4828.022, Voice of Zimbabwe, 1950, good signal strength, but lousy modulation. Brief hilife, with talk by a man about how bad things are in Egypt (as if it's so much better in Mugabe-Land) 18 Feb. (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, PR-D5, ICF-7600GR, Timewave 599zx and other accessories, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 4880, SOUTH AFRICA, SW Radio Africa, Meyerton in English, 02/08 1813-1823 music pause; man long talking mentioning Egypt, Zimbabwe, South Africa & Radio Africa; heard in USB, strong rustle mostly nulled with Nir 12; crackles at times; almost fair/poor; (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy, JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper- S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer- Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Tnx to a tip from nearby Richard Allen, near Perry OK, that he was getting 774 Japan audio for the first time this year on Feb 21 at 1306-1311 UT, I resumed performing a 9 kHz trans-Pacific carrier bandscan Feb 23 at 1305-1307 in USB, 1307-1310 in LSB. This is with the DX-398 on 9-kHz steps, using only its internal antenna indoors; its BFO happens to be misaligned about 0.4 kHz low so if there is a carrier I hear a tone around that pitch. Seldom are any strong enough to provide audio with this setup. On USB I found carriers here: 693, 738, 774, 828, 972, 1116, 1125, 1134, 1242, 1278, 1323, 1404, 1413, 1422, 1566. Altho it was a bit later and signals may have faded somewhat, hardly any of these were heard on the way back down in LSB mode. I usually have better results with USB than LSB for some reason, altho certain frequencies ought to do better on LSB depending on which side of 10 kHz channels they are on. Today`s sunrise was 1310 UT, and it`s moving about one minute earlier every day. These signals indicate we are pulling out of the `mid-winter anomaly` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Oklahoma TP's 2/23/11 --- Carriers heard on 972 (strong) and 1566 (barely) prior to local sunrise at 1308 (Richard Allen, 36?22'51"N / 97?26'35"W, (near Perry OK USA), IRCA via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. AT 23:30 CST [0530 UT Feb 18] noted 1 kHz het on low side of 1590, N/S loop bearing. Anyone else hearing this? (Tom Jasinski, Joliet, IL, 0557 UT Feb 18, IRCA via DXLD) 1590 TT'er?? At 22:15 [CST?] there is a 1 kHz test tone on 1590 kHz. Same N/S loop bearing as last night and a slightly stronger signal. Last night I thought it was 1 kHz low but tonight there is clearly modulation +/- 1 kHz (Tom Jasinski, Joliet, IL, 0426 UT Feb 19, ibid.) TT'er on 1590 is back again --- At 2215 noted tone tester on 1590 again. Was heard on two evenings last week.? Always testing between 10pm and midnight CST. Same N/S loop bearing as before. Anyone else hearing this? (Tom Jasinski, Joliet, IL, UT Feb 22, ibid.) Boffo signal here too at 12:40 EST, also on a N/S bearing. Gotta be a 5000 watter to be that loud (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) I've emailed someone I know who`s connected to WVNA and might be able to find out. But I wonder if it's them. They lost their tower site some time ago. A Special Temporary Authority request filed just about 1 1/2 weeks ago indicates WVNA-AM is running 2 kW Day and knowing most Directional stations get 25 percent power non directional would mean their nights are about 250W Watts (Paul Walker, IL, ibid.) At 2349 CLT, I'm hearing the same tone on 1590 that Tom is, and it's looping SE from here and coming in quite well. I suspect WVNA (Rick Dau, South Omaha, NE, Sony ICF-2010 + Quantum Loop, Feb 21, ibid.) I have CONFIRMED that the station broadcasting with the tones on 1590 IS NOT WVNA. They are broadcasting at only 200 W with a temporary antenna and can barely hear it locally, let alone elsewhere. Plus, I've been told, they haven`t been broadcasting any tones, intententionally or unintentionally. Direct from the horse`s mouth, sorta kinda. (I know someone who knows the Chief Engineer at WVNA) (Paul Walker, ibid.) Tone test on 1590 noted again this evening at 9:15pm CST, off at 10pm and back on a few minutes later. This is the fourth day it has been heard up here. If this is not WVNA, then it must be a station close to Steve Francis in Alcoa, Tenn. who reported it last night as STRONG and in a N/S direction. Perhaps in west Georgia?? South of Steve are two possibilities (from old NRC Log) WALG Albany, WTGA Thomaston with a third, WQCH Lafayette less likely, which is more westerly (Tom Jasinski, Joliet, IL, Feb 22, IRCA via DXLD) Finally, I hear it as well on the west coast. Clearly visible on 1589 and 1591 on the Perseus waterfall. This is using a corner fed loop aimed to the west. Not so well heard/seen on the ALA 100 N/S loop (all this at 0458 UT) (Walt in Victoria, BC, Salmaniw, 0450 UT Feb 23, ibid.) I can hear it aurally, too, 0513 UT, USB clearer, sometimes at decent level for a few seconds. It's doing well! (CW mode, 250 Hz filter, tuned to 1591.) 73, (Steve Ratzlaff, NE Oregon, R75, heard on all the antennas, ibid.) Tone also being heard here in Calgary AB at 10:25 MST, way under KVGB and presumed KLFE, on PL-380 barefoot. Too weak to get a bearing on. 73, (Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, Calgary AB, ibid.) Tom: I heard WZRX, Jackson MS, broadcasting a test tone last evening. I first heard it at 0459 UT, then ABC news at 0500-0503, after several PSA's, then identification at 0506 followed by test tune. It was a dated ID, "Everyday is Valentine's Day in Jackson, right here on Newstalk 15-90, WZRX, Jackson" (Richard Allen, 36?22'51"N / 97?26'35"W (near Perry OK USA) Feb 23, ibid.) I believe the 1590 test tone mystery has been solved. Yesterday evening Rich Allen in Perry, Okl., heard WZRX 1590 Jackson, Miss. with tones, news, an ID and then more tones around 0500 UT. This matches the loop bearing and times for what I have been hearing the past few days. I was hoping for a new catch but that didn't happen. Thanks to all who had comments about this one (Tom Jasinski, Joliet, IL, ibid.) I'd like to think that I can agree with Rich that this is WZRX for sure. The test tone is back tonight at 2324 CLT and is definitely looping in that direction. Someone who's a lot closer to Jackson, Mississippi (hint, hint) would be able to get a much better fix on this. 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, NE, Sony ICF-2010 + Quantum Loop, Feb 23, ABDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 1710 kHz, "The Big Q" pirate --- Back again right now at 1020 UT with oldies intermixed with classic ads for Coca-Cola, Remco radio kit, etc. Coming in strong the majority of the time with slight fading (Tim Tromp, Western Michigan, Feb 19, IRCA via DXLD) Same here, Tim. Seems to come in best with the Wellbrook array pointed 'north' (Bill Whitacre, Alexandria, VA, 1107 UT 19 Feb, ibid.) I lost the signal about 1102 UT here. I also heard it a bit weaker on a remote Perseus in Pennsylvania (N3EVB). (Tim Tromp, Western Michigan, 1118 UT, ibid.) Happened to have the Perseus on some overnight recordings last night, and indeed "The Big Q" was in there, quite nicely at times, on the 0900, 1000, and 1100 UT recordings. As someone mentioned, the signal dropped off shortly after 1100 (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore, Alberta, 1519 UT, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 4885.40, Presumed Near or Middle East clandestine radio in unidentified middle East-Arabic-like language, 02/13 0307-0320 some men talking (mentioning Tehran); some slow local music pauses & woman announcements; heard in USB with Receiver inter audio filter nulling strong het; QRM lite almost co-channel R. Clube do Pará; strong audio & signal till 0318, then increasing fading, rustle and QRM Brazil; re- checked at 0332, but heard only usual strong R. Clube on 4885.02; almost good/ fair / poor (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy, JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper-S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5001, UNID, 2129-2145, Feb 17 and 18, talks (East Europe language or Russian ??), 24332, Harmonic? (Bernard Mille, Bailleul, France, DSWCI DX Window Feb 23 via DXLD) This has already been explained more than once in DXLD; how about reading it? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5865 NO ID, 0720-0735, escuchada el 20 de febrero emisión de extraña señal de tonos musicales formada por tonos ascendentes y descendentes, la señal es en AM, parece una escala musical, “do, re, mi, fa, sol ....”, SINPO 44444 (José Miguel Romero Burjasot (Valencia), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Don`t know; 5865 is used until 0700 by Algeria via France (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Domenica 20 febbraio 2011, 1025 - 9395 kHz, Musica popolare greca. Segnale buono-insufficiente, Piratas ellenikas? (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, BCLnews.it yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 15161.5-USB, Feb 23 at 1515-1520, INTRUDERS, 2-way in Spanish, ``cambio``. Heard several previous times around here; at least there is no broadcaster on 15160 at the moment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Wish every $$ I spent gave me as much enjoyment and value as this one does! (Jan R. Schrader, Republic MO, with a check in the p-mail to Glenn Hauser, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702, WORLD OF RADIO 1553) Your own amateur station (true?). Glenn, This report of yours [see DENMARK] together with the fact that you seem to have a call sign, calls me to ask (and please forgive me my curiosity) whether you don't you feel more interested in amateur radio contacts and equipment experimentation than in the material that falls within the scope of DXLD, DXLD yg and World of Radio. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Carlos, I don`t know how you conclude this --- but no, I do not have a ham call and never have. Far too busy listening/monitoring to spend time on transmitting and talking. {Also, you learn twice as much if you`re not talking half the time.} Besides, I get to do that over some big SW stations. I have mused that if I ever found myself living in a rare DXCC entity I might get a license; and/or to explore VHF DX. But there isn`t enough time for all that, including equipment experimentation, so I still have rather ordinary antennas and receivers. Once in a while I do log some ham stations just like any other DX. I don`t feel I have to specialize in only one aspect of SW/DX/monitoring. 73, (Glenn to Carlos, via DXLD) Glenn, Thanks for your mail. Please forgive for having almost assumed you were a licensed radio amateur, but it must have comments and/or reports you posted that made me suppose you had a station too. Yes, I agree that liking things radio on one hand and, on the other hand living in an exotic place would perhaps lead me to do likewise. 73, (Carlos, ibid.) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ HFCC B10 - Updated 20th Feb 2011 http://www.hfcc.org/data/b10/b10allx2.zip (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) PRACTICAL WIRELESS, FIRST EDITION Someone on DX Listening Digest was having problems with a link so I uploaded my copy of the pdf to Mediafire. It can be downloaded from: http://www.mediafire.com/?9qfplygdr9dhrj8 (Mike Barraclough, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Seguramente muchos de ustedes ya habrán comprobado las bondades de la página WEB Short-Wave.Info: http://www.short-wave.info/index.php Yo la acabo de descubrir y es realmente extrordinaria. Eligiendo una frecuencia te barre +10 y -10 kHz respecto a dicha frecuencia elegida. Muestra en el planisferio las frecuencias ubicadas en los puntos geográficos de cada estación y los horarios, días, idiomas, potencia, azimut, estaciones transmisoras, latitud-longitud... Me parece una información completísima y útil a la hora de identificar qué estamos escuchando. No he visto algo mejor !!! (Rubén G. Margenet, Argentina, condiglist yg via DXLD) Es una buena idea, pero `garbage in, garbage out` --- Base de datos con fecha 14 de noviembre, = 3 meses en atraso. Parece igual a Aoki en formato, aunque no lo dicen. Errores que acabo de hallar con facilidad: 15550 WJHR en CA = California en vez de Florida 9480 WTWW frecuencia registrada en vez de la realidad: 9479 La hora ``actual`` que muestra en GMT es 2 horas en avance para mi! Utilizar con precaucion. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Es verdad Glenn. Tampoco registra los 9900 kHz de Radio Cairo en español 0045-0200 UTC con excelente señal en Rosario. Sin embargo, es una muy buena iniciativa. Ojalá actualicen datos! (RGM, ibid.) Hola Rubén: en verdad es una buena página, sin embargo también encuentro algunos errores. Por ejemplo XEOI Radio Mil onda corta 6010 kHz refieren con una potencia de .25 kW siendo que desde 1990 es de 1 kW, asimismo XEPPM Radio Educación onda corta 6185 kHz tiene una potencia de 10 kW desde hace unos 8 años y no de 1 kW. Actualizando datos sin duda será de gran ayuda, Saludos, (Julián Santiago, DF, ibid.) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ COALITION MAY PUT CLOCKS FORWARD TWO HOURS http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/8335839/Coalition-may-put-clocks-forward-two-hours.html Britain is set for longer and lighter summer evenings as ministers prepare to shift the nation's clocks forward by an extra hour in what would be a historic move. A new 'tourism strategy', to be published by the Coalition within days, is expected to contain plans to move the country to 'double summertime', The Sunday Telegraph has learned. Putting the clocks forward by an hour to British Summer Time +1 (equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time +2) would mean lighter evenings in the summer months, but darker mornings. The plan already has influential support among Conservative MPs, safety campaigners and environmentalists. Supporters believe it would boost outdoor events, particularly in late summer when the nights are drawing in. Ministers have up to now taken a cautious approach, saying that any change must be approved by a consensus of opinion. The appearance of the plan in the Coalition's tourism strategy will greatly encourage campaigners for a change. It was not clear last night whether the proposals would mean a two- hour shift every spring and autumn, or whether winter time would also advance from GMT to GMT+1, bringing Britain into line with most of the European continent year-round. The latter option would meet with fierce resistance in Scotland, where politicians argue that the resulting darker winter mornings would increase the number of road accidents and put children's lives at risk. Tourism chiefs in England say the number of overseas visitors would increase if summer evenings were lighter. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) also backs the move, which would delay lighting-up time in late June to 11pm in the south of England, and 11.30pm in Scotland. Rebecca Harris, the Conservative MP for Castle Point, Essex, said: "The tourism industry has been crying out for extra daylight saving for years. It could extend the tourist season and boost the economy by up to £3.5billion a year. "And we would have longer, lighter evenings." David Cameron, who last year committed the Government to considering plans to shift the clocks forward, has nevertheless said Britain should continue to be a 'united time zone', apparently ruling out any solution which allowed northern areas to stick to the current system while the rest of the country shifted. Mrs Harris has brought a backbench Bill to parliament calling on the Government to conduct a cross-departmental analysis of the costs and benefits of putting the clocks forward for all or part of the year. Her Bill received its second Commons reading, clearing its first main parliamentary hurdle, late last year and is currently in its detailed committee stage. Putting the clocks forward by an hour for the whole year, putting the UK into the continental time zone, was tried between 1968 and 1971, but following this three-year trial it was decided to revert to the current system. During the Second World War Britain's clocks went forward an hour to help save electricity and preserve more working hours in daylight (via Brock Whaley for DXLD) COULD THE UK WORK WITH TWO DIFFERENT TIME ZONES? By Denise Winterman BBC News Magazine 23 February 2011 Last updated at 22:00 ET Plans to change UK time to improve tourism have been floated but have prompted objections in Scotland. So why couldn't Scotland and the rest of the UK have different time zones? And what are the other logistical issues? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12536056 (via Terry Krueger, FL, which has two timezones, DXLD) Ridiculous (Krueger, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ READING INTERNATIONAL RADIO GROUP The next meeting of the Reading International Radio Group will be on Saturday February 26 in Room 3, Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Street, Reading at 2.30 p.m. The meeting will include a look at a newly published book on German wartime propaganda stations focusing particularly on their black propaganda stations and broadcasts to North America and supplemented with audio material and other research, a demonstration of the Degen 31MS active shortwave/mediumwave loop aerials, stations going off and continuing on shortwave, the current radio scene in Libya as well as other current and historical radio related items and audio extracts. All are welcome. For more information email me or phone 01462 643899. (Mike Barraclough, worlddxclub yg via DXLD) SHORTWAVE RADIO MEETINGS - 2011 [UPDATED] Date: February 26 (1430-1700 BST) Location: Reading International Solidarity Centre (RISC), 35-39 London Street, Reading RG1 4PS, England Organization: Reading International Radio Group Expected attendance: 20 More info: http://www.bdxc.org.uk Note: these Reading DX meetings are held with 1-2 months interval. Dates: March 4-5 Location: Plymouth Meeting (near Philadelphia), PA, USA Description: Winter SWL Fest More info: http://www.swlfest.com Expected attendance: 150 Dates: March 16-20 Location : Holzerbachtal in Solingen-Wald, Germany Description: DX-Camp Organization: Kurzwellenfreunde Rhein/Ruhr More info: dx-camp @ kwfr.de Dates: May 13-16 Location: Miami, FL, USA (cruise to Bahamas and back) Description: Annual NASB Conference Oganisation: National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters+DRM Consortium, USA More info: http://www.shortwave.org Dates: May 14, 2011 Location: Ottenau im Murgtal, Germany (Gasthaus Strauss, Marxstrasse 12, D-76571 Ottenau) Description: 30th ueberegionales DX-Treffen mit RTI Hoererklubtreffen. Oganisation: Kurzwellenhoererklub Murgtal & RTI Hoererklub Ottenau. More info: preuti @ aol.com Dates: May 20-22 Location: Dayton, Ohio, USA Organization: Dayton Hamvention Expected attendance: 20,000 More info: http://www.hamvention.org Dates: May 20-22 Location: Vejers Beach, Jutland, Denmark Description: The annual general meeting of DSWCI and listening camp Organization: Danish Short Wave Club International Expected attendance: 30 More info: http://www.dswci.org kaj.bredahl @ mail.dk Dates: June 23-26 Location: Colorado Springs, CO, USA Description: 2011 IRCA Convention More info: http://www.ircaonline.org Dates: June 24-26 Location: Friedrichshafen, Germany Description: Ham Radio, biggest annual hamfest in Europe Expected attendance: 20000 Dates: July 1-3 Location: Motala, Sweden Description: DX-Parlamentet 2011, the annual meeting of the SDXF Organization: The Swedish DX-Federation (SDXF) More info: http://www.sdxf.se Dates: July 9-24 Location: Döbriach, Austria Description: DX-Camp More info: http://www.dxcamp.org [don`t forget the Mexican DX meeting at end of July --- gh] Dates: August 5-7 Location: Korpilahti (Jyvaskyla), Central Finland Description: The Annual Summer Meeting Organization: The Finnish DX Association Expected attendance: 70 More info: http://www.sdxl.org NOTE: tentative, hopefully to be confirmed soon! Dates: August 18-22 Location: Melnik and Sofia, Bulgaria Description: European DX Conference, the annual meeting of EDXC Organization: European DX Council Expected attendance: 50 More info: http://www.edxc.org tiszi2035 @ yahoo.com Dates: August 27-28 Location: Tokyo, Japan Description: Big ham fair with a SW sector (Japan SW Club stand & lectures) Organization: Tokyo Ham Fair Expected attendance: 30000 More info: ohtaket @ live.jp Dates: September 2-7 Location: Berlin, Germany Name: IFA Internationale Funkausstellung Description: Consumer Electronics Fair - Including Radios Dates: September 14-18 Location: Germany Description: DX-Camp of the Oldenburger Kurzwellenfreunde More info: Karl-J.Conrads @ t-online.de Dates: September 21-25 Location: Holzerbachtal in Solingen-Wald, Germany Description: DX-Camp Organzation: Kurzwellenfreunde Rhein/Ruhr More info: dx-camp @ kwfr.de November 5 Location: Hannover, Germany Description: Interradio in the hall 20 of the Hannover Messe (with ADDX stand) (Risto Vähäkainu, tietotekniikka-asiantuntija, Helsingin yliopisto, Tietohallinto, p. 09-191 23133, mp. 050-529 2909, Feb 21, HCDX via DXLD MUSEA +++++ ONLINE VIDEO SHOWS HISTORY OF VOA BROADCASTING MUSEUM The National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester Township is in need of financial support, and a video has been produced to shed light on the Bethany Relay Station’s history and reasons for preservation. http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/online-video-shows-history-of-voa-broadcasting-museum “From defeating Hitler and Nazi Germany, to reaching behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union, VOA carried the message of truth to the people under the rule of oppressive regimes,” reads the video’s tagline on YouTube. “This historic building is being preserved as a museum …” The museum is currently undergoing restoration funded by The Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission and is presently unavailable to visitors. (Source: Middletown Journal) (February 20th, 2011 - 13:21 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ ``100 DB SIGNALS ``ALBANIA --- He habitually cites signals in terms of dB, but compared to what? First time I recall seeing one reported in the three-digits, and also this month for WTWW USA, q.v. I suppose with all that equipment he gooses the signal meter readings, but does this mean anything in absolute terms? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Some receivers, typically higher end military/commercial designs express the signal in db as referenced to 1 microvolt (uv). In a 50 ohm system an S9 signal would equate to +34 dbuv. So his +100 db signal reference is a very strong signal at S9+66db. That`s about 0.2 milliwatts of power. How accurate the reading is depends on signal meter calibration and other devices in the signal path, like any other S meter. The dbuv is more common in the 75 ohm television world. You may also see receivers (and most test equipment) that use db readings referenced to 1 milliwatt - dbm. For typical received signals these values are usually negative. S9 = -73 dbm. Some receivers will allow the user to select which db reference is used. It is OK to use db when referring to a signal level change but when you state that a signal level is xx db you need to add the reference - uv or m or many others and at some point you need to state the impedance as well - 50 or 75 ohms typically. 73 (Don VE6JY Moman, AB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ETON/GRUNDIG G3 Ciao, I posted in my Info blog few notes about Eton G3 (Grundig G3), SW MW LW FM e AIR receiver: http://radiodxinfo.blogspot.com/ It's in Italian, maybe you need Google translator or other. 73 (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See OKLAHOMA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See USA: Eric Bueneman`s rant +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See SWITZERLAND; USA; CONVENTIONS & CONFS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ FM LOG January 2011 Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, All dates/times quoted in UT. Sony XDR1-HD and rotatable 5 element FM Yagi at 7.5 metres height. [gh excerpted Pacific islands only; also had extensive reports of tropo from Australia in late January; modes not otherwise specified but presumably Es; no distances given] 4 January New Caledonia – 89.5 Radio Nouvelle Calédonie Première vgd at 2150 // 88.0, 89.0. Fiji – 88.2 BBC World Service traces 2156, improving. 5 January New Caledonia – 88.0 RNC vgd at 0017. 6 January Fiji – 88.2 BBC at 0051, 89.8 new Radio Fiji 2 in Hindi, 93.0 another Hindi station, 93.6 American religious program would be Radio Light, 104.2 Fiji briefly over South Auckland Chinese at 0103, 96.0 “FM96” ident // 96.4, 95.4, 92.2 Radio Fiji 1 in Fijian, 93.6 possible spurious signals from Radio Fiji 2 // 89.8 now mixing with religious station. BBC 88.2 and Hindi 89.8 still about at 0211, 104.0 rap song, 102.8 vgd in Fijian, 102.0 Bula FM, 101.6 UNID, 95.4 “FM96” vgd on peaks // 96.0. 95.0 Fijian covering BFM Auckland 0221, 105.0 Hindi peaking fair, 88.2 BBC poor to fair 0231. Still there at 0443 recheck. 10 January Fiji - 88.2 BBC English relay sneaking through, fair on peaks 0236. 12 January New Caledonia - 88.0 ‘Radio Nouvelle Calédonie Première’ peaking vgd 0130 but distorted. // 88.5 poor, 89.0 fair, 89.5 good. 91.5 very good – RDS displayed “RNC” at 0133. 93.0 French here with music format not parallel to RNC frequencies 0135. 93.5 NRJ Pops peaking strong 0136. 95.0 music station fair at best. 96.0 Djiido here // 97.0, 97.4 vgd, 98.5 exc. 100.0 RRB fair // 101.0 weak. Fiji - 102.0 coming up over New Caledonia 0139, then first traces of CRI Vanuatu for the year with BBC-accented talk. “Bula FM” ident, time pips and news in Fijian on the hour. Vanuatu - 102.0 only peaked twice during monitoring 0145 to 0225. Fijian & New Caledonian signals still about at 0225 – Fiji 103.0, NCL on 102.5 // 101.0 // 100.0, 102.0 // 103.0, 88.0 // 89.0. Stopped monitoring at 0230 UT. New Caledonia still audible at 0506 retune. 88.0 peaking good // 89.5 poor. Fiji - 88.2 BBC World Service weak at 0510. 13 January Fiji – 88.2 at 0335, also Bula FM 102.0, Viti FM 102.8 with ident 0401, 104.0 on pops past 0406, 103.0 Fijian exc 0402, EE news on 104.0, 105.0 weak talk at 0408, 93.0 in Hindi. New Caledonia – 103.0 exc 0421 // 102.0, 102.5 Loyalty Islands 0427. Vanuatu – 102.0 taped for 80 minutes from 0443, during which CRI in English peaked briefly twice, but Fiji and Djiido New Caledonia dominated, the latter being held till 0558 (Bryan Clark, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) An intellectually stimulating 16-page scientific paper that suggests that the outer planets Neptune and Uranus might be responsible for Solar Grand Minima and Solar Cycle Modulation, and of course the vagaries of long distance radio receptions. Check it out: ARE URANUS & NEPTUNE RESPONSIBLE FOR SOLAR GRAND MINIMA AND SOLAR CYCLE MODULATION? Sharp G.J., Melbourne Australia. Email: gs_qad @ hotmail.com Abstract Detailed solar Angular Momentum (AM) graphs produced from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) DE405 ephemeris display cyclic perturbations that show a very strong correlation with prior solar activity slowdowns. These same AM perturbations also occur simultaneously with known solar path changes about the Solar System Barycentre (SSB). The AM perturbations can be measured and quantified allowing analysis of past solar cycle modulations along with the 11,500 year solar proxy records (14C & 10Be). The detailed AM information also displays a recurring wave of modulation that aligns very closely with the observed sunspot record since 1650. The AM perturbation and modulation is a direct product of the outer gas giants (Uranus & Neptune). This information gives the opportunity to predict future grand minima along with normal solar cycle strength with some confidence. A proposed mechanical link between solar activity and planetary influence via a discrepancy found in solar/planet AM along with current AM perturbations indicate solar cycle 24 & 25 will be heavily reduced in sunspot activity resembling a similar pattern to solar cycles 5 & 6 during the Dalton Minimum (1790- 1830). Introduction Solar system dynamics have been postulated as the main solar driver for many decades. Jose (1965)[4] was the first to associate a recurring solar system pattern of the 4 outer planets (179 years). He suggested this pattern correlates with the modulation of the solar cycle. New research via this study suggests that over the past 6000 years the 179 year cycle cannot be maintained and is closer to a 172 year cycle which aligns with the synodic period of Uranus & Neptune (171.44 years). Later Landscheidt (2003)[5] progressed the planetary influence theories further by associating quasi-cyclic negative torque readings or “zero crossings” (AM readings going below zero) that can occur near grand minima. It has been found since that the negative readings occur in the general region of most grand minima but such records are not a reliable method of predicting the timing and strength of grand minima at the solar cycle level. . . [16 pages, lots of graphs] http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1005/1005.5303.pdf (via Ray Crawford, Kingaroy, Queensland, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) GEOMAGNETIC SUMMARY JANUARY 1 2011 THROUGH JANUARY 31 2011 Tabulated from email status [almost] daily. Date Flux A K Space Wx 1 91 4 2 no storms 2 91 2 1 no storms 3 x x x x 4 x x x x 5 x x x x 6 x x x x 7 86 11 2 no storms 8 85 8 2 no storms 9 83 5 2 no storms 10 83 6 1 no storms 11 83 6 2 no storms 12 80 7 2 no storms 13 80 4 2 no storms 14 79 6 1 no storms 15 80 6 1 no storms 16 80 4 2 no storms 17 82 5 2 no storms 18 81 4 2 no storms 19 81 7 1 no storms 20 81 7 3 no storms 21 88 2 1 no storms 22 88 4 0 no storms 23 84 1 0 no storms 24 83 3 2 no storms 25 81 5 1 no storms 26 80 3 0 no storms 27 80 3 1 no storms 28 81 5 2 minor 29 81 4 1 no storms 30 83 2 1 no storms 31 81 6 2 no storms (Phil Bytheway, IRCA DX Monitor Feb 12 via DXLD) RESEARCH ON THE FLARE The highly-touted CME arrived, but the IMF stayed mostly north, so the geomagnetic storm effects were rather minimal from what had been hoped/expected by some. It's not the first time one of these has fizzled. ---- Whoever said that 1958 was "slow" for sunspots needs to check out the archival records of counts/SFXs. Some of the months were "down" vs the fall of 1957, but the SFX stayed above 200 for more days in a row than any string in Cyc 20-23 ever did. Also, the number of days that it was over 300 make the subsequent cycles dwarfish in comparison. Cyc 24 predictions like these are depressing - a rerun of Cyc 20 http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/f107_predict.txt (or worse) ? 73, (Pat - WA5IYX - Dyer, TX, Feb 18 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) High Solar Flux --- just a quick message to have everyone go higher in frequency, solar flux beeing at 125, high frequencies are propagating much better. Ham radio stations coming in well in the 10 meter band (28 MHz); hearing KP3A in Puerto Rico on 28475. I think it would be a great idea to see what's above 20 MHz this weekend. There was not many times signals were so good in the past few years! (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, 1851 UT Feb 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) SOLAR STORMS POSE RISK TO TECHNOLOGY Wednesday, 23 February 2011 Carl Holm ABC Image of the Sun, taken by the SECCHI Extreme Ultraviolet Imager The Sun is coming out of a 'very long, deep solar minimum', says one expert (Source: NASA) The solar storm that grazed the Earth last week, disrupting communications across parts of the Northern Hemipshere, was caused by the most powerful solar flare to reach us in four years. But scientists say the flare, which created a huge coronal mass ejection, was mild compared to what we might see in the near future... http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/02/23/3145837.htm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2011 Feb 22 2026 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # HIGHLIGHTS OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 14 - 20 FEBRUARY 2011 Solar activity ranged from low to high levels. The period began with moderate activity levels due to an M2.2/1F flare from Region 1158 (S21, L=33, class/area Ekc/620 on 16 February). Associated with this flare was a Type II Sweep with an estimated shock velocity of 1479 km/s and a 150 sfu Tenflare. A slow-moving, faint, full-halo CME was observed in LASCO C2 imagery, first seen at 14/1812Z, and was associated with the M2.2 event. Activity increased to high levels on 15 February as Region 1158 produced an impulsive X2.2 at 15/0156Z. Associated with this event were multi-spectral radio emissions spanning 25 MHz to 15.4 GHz including Type II (556 km/s) and Type IV Sweeps, a 250,000 sfu Burst measured at 410 MHz and a 1300 sfu Tenflare. In addition, a fast-moving, full-halo CME was observed, first seen in LASCO C2 imagery at 15/0236Z with an estimated plane-of- sky speed of 747 km/s. The X2.2 was the largest x-ray event since December 2006. By 16 February, solar activity decayed to moderate levels. Region 1158 produced an M1.6/1F at 16/1425Z with associated Type II (1386 km/s) and Type IV Sweeps and a 330 sfu Tenflare. Earlier on the 16th, Region 1158 produced an M1.0 at 16/0139Z. Region 1161 (N11, L=331, class/area Ekc/260 on 20 February) produced an M1.1 at 16/0744Z. This region emerged on the disk on 14 February and grew rapidly through the period. By 17 February, activity further decayed to low levels. A C1.1 x-ray event was observed from Region 1158 at 17/2135 with an associated Type II Sweep (1695 km/s). Activity increased to high levels on 18 February due to an impulsive M6.6 x-ray event at 18/1011Z observed from Region 1158. New Region 1162 (N18, L=336 class/area Dai/260 on 18 February) emerged rapidly on the disk and produced three M-class x-ray events, the largest an M1.3 at 18/2104Z. 19 and 20 February saw a return to low solar activity levels. A greater than 10 MeV proton enhancement was observed at geosynchronous orbit. Proton flux began a slow rise at about 15/0700Z, peaked at 15/1115Z (2.5 pfu) and decayed to background levels by about 16/1500Z The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at high levels on 14 and 20 February and at normal levels 15-19 February. Geomagnetic field activity ranged from quiet to minor storm levels during the period. Activity was quiet until 14/1800Z when activity increased to unsettled to active levels. Solar wind data indicated a shock arrival at the ACE spacecraft at 14/1456Z. A 12nT sudden impulse, measured at the Boulder magnetometer, was observed at 14/1600Z. Following the shock, solar wind velocities increased from about 300 km/s to near 410 km/s while the total magnetic field (Bt) increased to near 20 nT. The source of this transient was likely an east limb event from late on 11 February. Quiet to active levels persisted through 15/1500Z. Thereafter, and through the end of 17 February, the field was quiet. Early on 18 February, activity increased to unsettled to active levels, with isolated high latitude minor storm periods. A shock passage at the ACE spacecraft was observed at 18/0049Z and shortly after at 18/0136Z, a 33 nT sudden impulse was recorded at the Boulder magnetomter. After the shock passage, solar wind speeds rapidly increased from about 325 km/s to near 500 km/s and reached a maximum velocity of 706 km/s at 18/1203Z. Coincident with the shock, the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field dipped south between -8 to -15 nT, and remained so for a period of about 12 hours. This activity was due to the effects of the CMEs observed from solar activity during the 13 - 15 February timeframe. By 18/2100Z, geomagnetic activity decayed to mostly quiet to unsettled levels, and remained so through the balance of the summary period. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 23 FEBRUARY - 21 MARCH 2011 Solar activity is expected to be at low to moderate levels through 25 February when Regions 1161 and 1162 rotate around the west limb. Very low to low levels will persist until 04 March. Low to moderate levels, with a slight chance for high levels, are expected from 05 - 21 March when old Regions 1158 (S21, L=31), 1162 (N18, L=335) and 1161 (N11, L=331) are due to rotate onto the disk on 05, 09 and 10 March respectively. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be normal to moderate levels from 23 February - 04 March. High levels are expected from 05 - 13 March. A return to normal to moderate levels are expected from 14 - 18 March followed by high levels from 19 - 21 March. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels from 23 - 24 February due to a recurrent coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Quiet levels are expected from 25 - 26 February. An increase in activity to quiet to unsettled levels are expected from 27 February - 02 March due to another recurrent CH HSS. Quiet levels will persist from 03 - 06 March. Quiet to unsettled levels will return from 07 - 10 March due to a recurrent CH HSS. A brief period of quiet levels are expected from 11 - 13 March. Another recurrent CH HSS will raise activity levels to quiet to unsettled from 14 - 15 March followed by a period of quiet conditions from 16 - 21 March. 27-day predicted solar flux, A- and K-indices: February March 23 90 8 3 09 105 8 3 24 88 8 3 10 110 7 3 25 85 5 2 11 110 5 2 26 85 5 2 12 110 5 2 27 85 8 3 13 110 5 2 28 85 8 3 14 110 7 3 March March 01 85 8 3 15 110 7 3 02 85 8 3 16 105 5 2 03 88 5 2 17 105 5 2 04 90 5 2 18 100 5 2 05 95 5 2 19 100 5 2 06 100 5 2 20 100 5 2 07 100 7 3 21 100 5 2 08 100 8 3 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1553, DXLD) ###