DX LISTENING DIGEST 13-19, May 8, 2013 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 2013 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html [also linx to previous years] 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 1668 headlines: *DX and station news about: Argentina, Ascension, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czechia non, Eritrea non, Kashmir, Kuwait, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua non?, North America, Oklahoma, Oman, Peru, Sarawak non, Serbia non, Somaliland, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan and non, Venezuela, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe non SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1668, May 9-15, 2013 Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 [confirmed on webcasts, but off the air] Thu 2100 WTWW 9479 [confirmed] Fri 0328v WWRB 3195 [confirmed] Sat 0130v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 [confirmed at 0137] Sat 0630 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 1430 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 1500 WRMI 9955 Sat 2330v WTWW 9930 [confirmed] Sun 0400 WTWW 5830 [confirmed] Sun 2330v WTWW 9930 Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Wed 0630 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Wed 1430 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 [or maybe 1669 if ready in time] Recent editions, such as 1665, have been airing in rotation at unpredictable times on WTWW 9930 between 17 and 24 UT. 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://www.wrn.org/listeners/#world-of-radio WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/customize-panel/addToPlaylist/98/10:00:00UTC/English OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org DAY-BY-DAY ARCHIVE OF GLENN HAUSER`S LOG REPORTS: Unedited, uncondensed, unchanged from original version, many of them too complex, minutely researched, multi-frequency, opinionated, inconsequential, off-topic, or lengthy for some log editors to manage; and also ahead of their availability in these weekly issues: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/index.php?topic=Hauser 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/ ** AFGHANISTAN. AFGHAN MEDIA: FREE AGENTS OR OBEDIENT SERVANTS? Experts offer sharply opposing views on progress since 2001. By Mina Habib, Hafizullah Gardesh - Afghanistan World Press Freedom Day - ARR Issue 453, 2 May 13: http://iwpr.net/report-news/afghan-media-free-agents-or-obedient-servants#1 (Institute for War & Peace Reporting via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, DXLD) ** ALBANIA. 9850, May 3 at *0126:30, R. Tirana comes on with IS which keeps going past 0130 until late sign-on with English schedule at 0131:18; strong enough signal, but WHRI 9860, aimed due NW from SC across all America with anti-US government programming toward its pretend-target western Canada, is so much stronger that it would be prudent for R. Tirana to get further away from it. Nothing is heard and nothing is listed in HFCC or Aoki during this semihour only on 9845 or 9840, which ought to be an easy shift for Shijak (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9850, 04/May 0152, R Tirana in English. Local pop music. At 0158 interval signal. 35433 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9850, May 5 at 0130, R. Tirana in English is sufficient with no QRM here from much stronger 9860 WHRI; but since 9845 is free, I still think it should get further away, for benefit of listeners with wider bandwidth and/or lesser relative signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALGERIA [non]. 7295, May 2 from 0450 put RTA via FRANCE on for background music, but 0459 it`s changed to tone test, 0500 drumming and military band, presumed national anthem (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, LRA36 has finally reactivated, heard May 9 and 10, circa 18-21 or 22 UT, as already reported in detail in the DXLD yg, and to be in next DXLD ** ARGENTINA. Radio Chubut (Trelew, Argentina), LU20, 580 kHz. Recibido correo electrónico de verificación confirmando escucha realizada el mes de febrero en la ciudad de Puerto Montt. Informe enviado a: admin @ radiochubut.com V/S: Sergio Vincenti, Operador Técnico de Control Central. Verificó en un mes. A continuación, parte del texto enviado por el señor Vincenti: "Estimado Sr. Eduardo Esteban Peñailillo Barra: (...) Le confirmo que efectivamente usted ha recepcionado, entre las 23:13 y 23:27 (hora argentina) del día 6 de febrero de 2013, la emisión de LU20 Radio Chubut, en la frecuencia de 580 khz. Estamos ubicados en la ciudad de Trelew, en la provincia del Chubut. El segmento al que usted hace mención corresponde al programa "Campereando por la 20" que fue emitido en el día que usted menciona entre las 22 y las 24 (hora local). El estilo musical de dicho programa es netamente folclórico, predominando las payadas y las milongas camperas. Actualmente, debido a un cambio de programación de la emisora, el programa se emite los martes y jueves en el mismo horario que anteriormente le mencioné. Espero que esta confirmación le sea útil. (...) En nuestro caso, por estar en cercanías del mar, nuestra mayor propagación está hacia la zona sur. Por ejemplo: la distancia en línea recta entre Trelew y Puerto Montt es de 657.74 km, y entre Trelew y Ushuaia es de 1304.19 km. En Ushuaia nos escuchan perfectamente cuando no hay actividad solar, es decir, de noche. (...) Sergio Vincenti, Operador Técnico de Control Central, LU20 Radio Chubut" -- Radio Chubut (Trelew, Argentina), LU20, 580 kHz. Received e-mail of verification, verifying listening done on February, 2013 in Puerto Montt (city located in Southern Chile). Report sent, in Spanish, to: admin @ radiochubut.com V/S: Sergio Vincenti, "Operador Técnico de Control Central" (Technical Operator of Central Control). Verified in 1 month. (Eduardo Peñailillo, Chile, May 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Hola. Ottimo segnale adesso su 13363.6 kHz relay Armada Argentina in LSB!!!! Ciaooooo (Mauro - Giroletti, -Swl 1510- -IK2GFT- -JRC525Nrd - Lowe HF150-, 2042 UT Sunday May 5, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 15345, RAE (100 kW, General Pacheco,) 2115 UT. Versión instrumental del tema "Alfonsina y el Mar", presentado en idioma alemán con baja modulación del locutor versus la música. SINPO: 54444 (Claudio Galaz, Rx: Tecsun PL-660; Antena: Cable de cobre de 5 metros unido a coaxial de 5 Ohms de 20 Metros. QTH: Centro de Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, Conexion Digital May 5 via DXLD) ! No dates on any of his many more logs, suppressed? (gh, DXLD) 11711-, May 7 at 0059, after usual chex of 15820-LSB and 13363.55-LSB turned up no LTA, fair signal from RAE is here with news in Argentine Spanish, ``RAE noticias`` saying Japanese is coming up; 3+1 timesignal ending about a semisecond late at 0100, and into multi-lingual ID loop, ending with Arabic, and finally Japanese. Arabic??? That`s no longer a RAE language for years, but they couldn`t bring themselves to edit it out? Nor was I expecting to hear Spanish at 0059, but must have reverted/defaulted during the break after the Portuguese hour on weeknights (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11710.77, RAE, 0205-0217, May 7. In English; announced that they would be adding programming in Chinese to their schedule; fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RAE begins broadcasts in Chinese! Check out new schedules The RAE is happy to announce that as of Monday, May 13, will begin broadcasting in Chinese from Mondays to Fridays, 10-11 UT (live) and 04-05 (recorded). The incorporation of transmissions in Asian language will change, albeit slightly, the timetable of morning programs in Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish: Also starting next Monday, Japanese begin to come out in the 11-12 UT; Portuguese have the hours 12-13 UT, and Spanish will leave outdoor 13-15 UT. The broadcasts will be by 6060 and 15345 kHz. However, the retransmission of Chinese, at 04 UT, is the 11710 kHz. We rely on your listening! http://rae.radionacional.com.ar/category/portugues/ 73 (ADXB via Jorge Freitas, dxldyg via DXLD) [and non]. 15345, May 8 at 1151, very poor signal in Spanish, seems slightly off-frequency; accent with that Argentine lilt, no doubt RAE; 1200 automatic timesignal, shortly Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior ID and ``RAE presenta ---``. Unusual time of day to hear it, and Spanish not scheduled until 1200-1400 M-F after Portuguese 11-12. On the VP signal earlier, could I have been hearing Portuguese with an Argentine accent? Nothing from HCJB Australia 15340, which doesn`t start now until 1225, after which it`s too much ACI for RAE, and even worse after 1300 with RHC added. But RAE will never change frequency, no matter what. BTW, Zacharias Liangas reported Morocco on 15345, April 28 at 1747 with Arabic pops, but must have been Egypt, the only thing in HFCC, in English at 16-18. IMM is gone from SW, a lucky break for RAE (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASCENSION. 7335, May 3 at 0513, BBCWS` best broadcast inadvertently for us, is on wrong frequency! Obviously slipped a punch-up, missing from correct 7355 during discussion of chem weapons in Syria; but recheck 0519 it`s back on 7355. BTW, HFCC shows that from May 5, 7355 will be extended another hour until 0700, but with a beam change at 0600 from 102 to 65 degrees, which should be less favorable for us; too bad they`re not extending it an hour earlier instead of later (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Transmitter Site Future - Radio Symban === There is a new suburban rail route & station that is being/to be constructed through the outer Sydney suburb of Leppington - the suburb where Radio Symban is currently broadcasting from on SW. ABC TV recently ran a story about compulsory land acquisitions in the area & poor financial compensation. I went looking at the rail route through Leppington & the current tx site for Radio Symban. I suspect the current antenna site "might just" escape the land acquisition required by a matter of meters. But that is just my belief & is not based on any specific official information. Looking at 2005 route plans it's a very close call. Certainly the area around the rail route will change in future. Currently there are several market gardens in the area & near to the site. This will all change in future & the area will change to medium & high density housing in the years to come. In those coming years I wouldn't be surprised to see the txer site location of Radio Symban close. Again this is speculation & it's certainly early days. But these are the changes occurring in the area that could affect the SW station. This station hasn't had a lot of luck with their choice of txer sites. [later:] Actually the real rail route clears the site by 500 meters as it turns out. The 2005 doc route info was wrong. But my previous comments about future higher density pressures & government plans in the surrounding area that includes Radio Symban are still valid in the years ahead. The rail link is due to open in 2016 (Ian Baxter, NSW, May 3, Shortwavesites YG via DXLD) 2368.48, Radio Symban, 1309-1317, May 6. Just above threshold level; could faintly hear singing of the Pacific region; by 1317 mostly unusable (just after my local sunrise) (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 2325, ABC Tennant Creek, May 3, 2013 at 1045, Aussie Domestic Service, Football coverage. 1057 into world news. 1100 story on NRA in America and their success in stopping legislation to require certain background checks. Good signal. Weather forecast at 1101. "This is ABC news." at 1102. Plug for their web site, "abc.net.au.com/alicesprings." Even though this outlet is Tennant Creek. Collingwood Magpies vs St. Kilda Saints. Break between quarters at game, certain recorded clips of other sporting events, in Australia, and other spots/sports. Strongest of the Aussie domestic services this morning. // 2485(fair) // 4835(QRM). 1115 third quarter began. Snow in Iowa all night and this morning makes for a quiet atmosphere and lack of static crashes. Continued well past my local sunrise--1103. 1137 began to fade into noise with 4835 peaking over WWCR splash on 4840 (Mike Gilchrist in rural EC Iowa, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2485, VL8K, Katherine NT, 1006 to 1040 threshold audio with music slightly better than 2325 VL8T Tennant Creek NT, on 1 May (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. 11945, May 3 at 1143, RA English with equal level CCI in Chinese, as this frequency is now colliding with RVA PHILIPPINES at 1100-1157. 9580, May 5 at 1306, `Sunday Night` religious show from RA has guest explaining the politico-ethnic backstory to the Malaysian elexions where the polls are closing. Seems the country is (only) 60% Moslem, and different faxions within that are vying for control. Ethnic identity is just as critical as religious. But soon on to other topix, Boston`s bombers, Anglican/Catholic dissension. 1327 music break with ``House of the Rising Sun`` --- except lyrix of ``Amazing Grace`` are set to it, a perfect fit metrically! Make that ``Rising Son``? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. ABC MAY PULL PLUG ON CHINA BROADCAST http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/abc-may-pull-plug-on-china-broadcast-20130508-2j7yu.html Rgds (via Craig Seager, Bathurst NSW, ARDXC mailing list via DXLD) Seems same in other paper: ABC may pull plug on China broadcast --- May 9, 2013 The ABC could soon abandon international shortwave radio broadcasts to China and Indonesia, ending more than 70 years of beaming news and current affairs on high frequency into Asia. But the public broadcaster's management insist it will not flick the switch on shortwave services of Radio Australia to Papua New Guinea and tiny Pacific nations for now. ABC international chief Lynley Marshall said the older shortwave technology was still relevant in the Pacific, despite a drive to make mobile and internet devices the ''primary'' way of delivering news. Staff had grown increasingly alarmed in recent months that the shortwave service to the Pacific would be canned - including a popular Tok Pisin service to PNG - raising fears expats and locals would be vulnerable to dangerous news blackouts during natural disasters or regional strife. Advertisement Radio is the cheapest and most widespread source of news in poorer Pacific provinces. Most nations run only a 2G mobile network with little coverage outside capitals. When Prime Minister Julia Gillard visits Port Moresby on Thursday almost twice as many locals will hear news of the trip on radio than see it on television or read it in newspapers. But with a contract to broadcast shortwave from a 240-hectare site near Shepparton - costing the ABC about $4.1 million this financial year - set to expire some time after 2014, fears had grown shortwave would cease in favour of streaming audio online and deals to broadcast on local stations. The ABC has been wrangling internally for months on how to best deliver international services, as mandated under its charter to provide an Australian voice on world affairs High-frequency services had not rated a mention in an internal ABC memo in February flagging an ''online and mobile strategy as the primary focus'' for international broadcasting. But Ms Marshall said there was no end in sight to shortwave broadcasts in the Pacific, and the Shepparton array was part of this strategy. ''One of the things we have to look at is what is the most effective way of reaching audiences?'' she said. ''You'd have to see a significant take-up in other devices to warrant moving away from shortwave.'' But the digital revolution accompanying the economic boom in Asia has led to a dwindling audience for shortwave. China also began jamming the Radio Australia signal in January, although that interference has since stopped. Ms Marshall confirmed the continued targeting of China and Indonesia with shortwave was up for debate. ''We haven't made any final decisions on that but a number of the staff here have questioned the relevance of shortwave into markets like Indonesia and China,'' she said. ''I think there is justification for re-evaluating what we are doing there based on the way in which audiences are consuming media.'' Social media is highly popular in Indonesia, while the Radio Australia audience in the mostly closed China market is difficult to gauge. Radio Australia was launched in 1939 on the eve of World War II, with prime minister Robert Menzies declaring in the first broadcast: ''The time has come to speak for ourselves.'' The service is intended to provide reliable, independent news and English-language training and also win goodwill for Australia. Ms Marshall said Radio Australia had great ''heritage'' value in the Pacific and would not be lost under plans to bring the ABC's international radio, television and online services under one brand. A confidential ABC research report for the Radio Australia audience in rural PNG shows at least 30 per cent of people rely exclusively on shortwave transmissions to listen to the station. A megabyte of data in Fiji costs about $3. An hour of audio streaming used about 30 megabytes. RADIO AUSTRALIA IN PROVINCIAL PNG Broadcast in English and Tok Pisin 8 in 10 adults listen to radio each week. 5 in 10 watch TV or read newspapers. 1 in 3 radio listeners tune in to Radio Australia. 8 in 10 Radio Australia listeners use short-wave. Men are twice as likely to tune in as women. 80 per cent of people have a mobile phone, but only 10 per cent of them can connect to web. Source: Confidential ABC regional research project, Oct 2010 Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/abc-may-pull-plug-on-china-broadcast-20130508-2j7yu.html#ixzz2SiXdgPDd (via Mike Barraclough, May 8, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) [re DXLD 13-18, May 1, 2013:] Editorial from Melbourne Age newspaper for May 9th 2013 http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/radio-australias-voice-must-remain-strong-20130508-2j7wc.html (via Robin VK7RH/vk7002swl, Tasmania, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO AUSTRALIA'S VOICE MUST REMAIN STRONG Date May 9, 2013 The very first voice heard on Radio Australia when it began on December 20, 1939, was not prime minister Robert Menzies, who officially launched the network, but the announcer who introduced him, John Royal. ''Australia calling, Australia calling the world. Station VLQ2: V for victory, L for liberty, Q for quality,'' Royal said, handing over to Menzies. It was on December 20, 1974, the network's 35th birthday, that Sir Robert said this: ''Radio Australia has told people something about us: something about what's happening here, something about what we think, something of the character of Australia. This has been a very remarkable contribution to Australia's foreign relations.'' He was right. The ABC's charter states the responsibility of the national broadcaster to transmit to the world ''programs of news, current affairs, entertainment and cultural enrichment''. Certainly, in its 74 years, Radio Australia's voice has been constant, reminding its millions of listeners that victory, liberty and quality are, in any language, bywords that should be heeded by all democracies. In terms of reach and influence, it is vital its voice remains strong and unimpeded. Any lessening of volume (as it were) could undermine the network's fundamental reason for existence: to tell the rest of the world about us. There are, however, disturbing indications that two major nations within Radio Australia's potential reach face restrictions imposed by the ABC itself. As Age senior correspondent Daniel Flitton reports today, the ABC seems set to abandon the network's shortwave broadcasts to China and Indonesia. This is in line with the corporation's policy that favours ''online and mobile strategy as the primary focus'', as distinct from high-frequency services. The ABC has given an assurance it will not yet - as was widely feared within the network - cancel shortwave services from Radio Australia to Papua New Guinea and tiny Pacific nations. We trust this will remain the case. Such places largely rely on shortwave reception. For example, an ABC research report on Radio Australia audiences in rural PNG shows almost a third rely exclusively on shortwave. This is not merely for light news and current affairs or entertainment value, but to keep people informed about matters of life and death, such as natural disasters. Are the ABC's reasons for switching off the shortwave to China and Indonesia purely technological, or is there an ulterior motive? Both nations are advanced in social media (at least in larger cities), but they are also significant trading partners with Australia and harbour long-standing objections to Radio Australia broadcasting in their territory. (As recently as January, China was jamming the network's signal.) To allay any suspicions, the onus is on the ABC to explain its motives fully. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/radio-australias-voice-must-remain-strong-20130508-2j7wc.html#ixzz2SnVcSS7Y (via Robin Harwood, Tasmania, dxldyg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Frequency change of HCJB Australia from May 1: 0730-0830 NF 15490 KNX 100 kW / 080 deg to Pac English, ex 11750 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Didn`t this change already occur at beginning of A-13? (gh, DXLD) 15340, May 3 at 1218, HCJB with song about Jesus, neat rendition with Swingle-singers-type vocalizing instead of instrumental accompaniment, then Indonesian announcement. 15400, May 3 at 1225 the other Kununurran starts with usual loop of English IDs about programming shortly, nondescript but supposedly inspirational music around them. 1230 sign-on to South Asia. First show is `A Different Perspective` about back-stabbing. Nothing said about imminent frequency changes! Nor can I find anything on their website, but Jorge Freitas forwards this info from Facebook: ``Shelley Martin, via Asia DX League: Hi all. Here's HCJB's updated broadcast schedule. These frequency changes will become effective from Sunday, May 5, 2013. Announcements regarding these changes will be made as often as possible on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to make listeners aware of the changes. To be clear, it is only the relevant frequencies which have changed. Your program times remain exactly as previously published. The short version is that: evening East Asia programs have been moved from 15400 to 15490; evening South East Asia programs have been moved from 15340 to 15490; and South Asia evening programs have been moved from 15400 to 15340. If you wish to send a QSL card to HCJB, you can do so to me at english @ hcjb.org.au`` ?? I think she has the QSLing idea backwards. This must be a result of the collision with IRAN to S Asia we pointed out weeks ago on 15400! Here`s the schedule grid, which as of May 3 still shows 15400, not 15490 in the evenings, just earlier to the Pacific: http://www.hcjb.org.au/docs/HCJB%20Australia%20A13%20Schedule.pdf The S Asian evening block means 1225-1530 on 15400. Moving that to 15340 will make it collide again with Cuba after 1300! 15400 is what they should move to 15490 which is still open, and leave 15340 as is until 1300. 15400, Saturday May 4 at *1225:10, HCJB comes on with usual prélude to S Asian service, nondescript music with ``about to start`` English announcements repeated. Still NOTHING said about this frequency changing, effective tomorrow, to 15340, as allegedly the plan. Regular listeners are in for confusion. And unlike weekdays starting in English at 1230, today it`s right into a S Asian language, presumed Nepali as a P O box in Kathmándu announced. Reception today on both frequencies is strong enough but with some flutter unlike recently. (Secret Sarawak 15500 is still steady with only slow fading.) The HCJB SE Asian service is on 15340 as usual, to be gone by 1300 when Cuba comes on, and that is to shift to 15490 from tomorrow; while the collision with Cuba will then resume after 1300 on 15340. Today`s Aoki has already moved the 15400 schedule to 15340 at 1230- 1530, starting on Saturdays only with Nepali at 1230-1300. And the former 15340 schedule moved to 15490 at 1000-1300. HFCC also made these changes by May 1 even tho they are not yet in effect, and furthermore don`t you believe the start dates retained of ``31 March`` instead of 5 May! KNX had to get off 15400 due to Iran in Urdu at 1300-1427, as I pointed out long ago, and which HCJB should have known about if they paid any attention to HFCC in the first place --- and now HCJB is trying to host the A-14 HFCC in Melbourne, altho some European members say they refuse to travel that far. Meanwhile, HFCC B-13 is set for Bratislava, Slovakia, 26-30 August: http://www.hfcc.org/B13/ As expected, HCJB made transmitter/frequency swaps today Sunday May 5: 15490, new frequency is on at 1158, presumably Indonesian, 1203 ``Softly & Tenderly`` hymn tune, and nothing on ex-15340. ``Malayalam`` is scheduled Sundays only 1200-1230, otherwise Indonesian; 1230-1300 daily in Rawang. 15490 is off at 1303 check, as now scheduled until 1300 only. As I said before, HCJB made exactly the wrong choice in jumbling frequencies. They had to get off 15400 due to Iran, but should have moved that service which runs until 1530, to 15490 instead of re- colliding with Cuba on 15340 after 1300. Of course, they may think CubaRM is irrelevant on the other worldside, but why take chances? 15340, ex-15400 at 1226 with ``commence shortly`` loop and same orchestral music as always, one segment of which sounds like it`s starting ``What`s it All About, Alfie?`` but turns into something else. 1230 sign-on in English mentioning this frequency correctly, then first program to S Asia continues in English, ``Family Care`` with YL Sheridan (or I suppose she must be an XYL). 1245 check now has switched to non-English, i.e. Hindi scheduled on Sundays. At 1258, RHC is already on 15340, covering almost completely what had seemed to be a strong signal from Kununurra, with conclusion of `Cuba Campesina` music (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Updated new frequency schedule of HCJB Australia, KNX, all 100 kW: -frequency change from May 1: 0730-0830 15490 100 kW / 080 deg Pac English, ex 11750 -frequency changes from May 5: 1000-1030 15490#100 kW / 340 deg EaAs Chinese Sat/Sun, ex 15400 1000-1030 15490#100 kW / 340 deg EaAs Fijian Mon-Fri, ex 15400 1030-1100 15490#100 kW / 340 deg EaAs Chinese, ex 15400 1100-1115 15490#100 kW / 340 deg EaAs English Mon/Wed/Thu, ex 15400 1100-1115 15490#100 kW / 340 deg EaAs Vietnamese Tue/Fri, ex 15400 1100-1130 15490#100 kW / 340 deg EaAs Japanese Sat/Sun, ex 15400 1130-1145 15490#100 kW / 340 deg SEAs English Sat-Tue/Thu, ex 15340 1130-1145 15490#100 kW / 340 deg SEAs Chinese Wed/Fri, ex 15340 1145-1200 15490#100 kW / 340 deg SEAs Indonesian, ex 15340 1200-1230 15490 100 kW / 340 deg SEAs Malayalam [sic] Sun, ex 15340 1200-1230 15490 100 kW / 340 deg SEAs Indonesian Mon-Sat, ex 15340 1230-1300 15490 100 kW / 340 deg SEAs Maynmar Rawang, ex 15340 1230-1245 15340 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs English Sun-Fri, ex 15400 1230-1245 15340 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Nepali Sat, ex 15400 1245-1300 15340 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Hindi Sun/Thu/Fri, ex 15400 1245-1300 15340 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Nepali Sat, ex 15400 1245-1300 15340 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Bengali Mon, ex 15400 1245-1300 15340 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Marwari Tue, ex 15400 1245-1300 15340 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Kuruk Wed, ex 15400 1300-1315 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Punjabi Sun, ex 15400 1300-1315 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Nepali Mon-Thu, ex 15400 1300-1315 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Dzongkha Fri, ex 15400 1300-1315 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Oriya Sat, ex 15400 1315-1330 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Bhojpuri Sun, ex 15400 1315-1330 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Tamil Mon/Tue, ex 15400 1315-1330 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Marathi Wed, ex 15400 1315-1330 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Malayalam Thu, ex 15400 1315-1330 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Hmar Fri, ex 15400 1315-1330 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Urdu Sat, ex 15400 1330-1400 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Hindi, ex 15400 1400-1430 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Urdu, ex 15400 1430-1445 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Chattisgarhi Sat/Sun, ex 15400 1430-1445 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Bengali Mon, ex 15400 1430-1445 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Marwari Tue, ex 15400 1430-1445 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Kuruk Wed, ex 15400 1430-1445 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Telugu Thu, ex 15400 1430-1445 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Gujarati Fri, ex 15400 1445-1500 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Urdu Sat, ex 15400 1445-1500 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Punjabi Sun, ex 15400 1445-1500 15340*100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Hindi Mon-Fri, ex 15400 1500-1530 15340 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs English, ex 15400 # co-ch BSKSA Radio Riyadh General Program in Arabic * co-ch Radio Habana Cuba in Spanish -unchanged transmissions: 2230-2300 on 15525 100 kW / 340 deg EaAs Chinese Mon-Fri 2230-2300 on 15525 100 kW / 340 deg EaAs Japanese Sat/Sun 2300-2330 on 15525 100 kW / 340 deg EaAs Chinese Sat/Sun 2300-2330 on 15525 100 kW / 340 deg EaAs Fijian Mon-Fri 2345-2400 on 15400 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Indonesian 0000-0030 on 15400 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Indonesian Mon-Sat 0000-0030 on 15400 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Malayalam Sun 0030-0100 on 15400 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Maynmar Rawang 0100-0115 on 15400 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs English Sat-Tue/Thu 0100-0115 on 15400 100 kW / 307 deg SoAs Chinese Wed/Fri (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) [Re 13-18 and above schedule:] ``15340, April 30 at 1217, HCJB is very good with gospel rock song, 1220 Indonesian talk, as confirmed in Aoki, daily 1145-1230 except Sundays 1200-1230 in Malayalam (which has nothing to do with Malay or Malaya or Malaysia, despite the scheduling).`` According to their schedule this programme is indeed meant to be in Bahasa Malaysia. Kind regards (Hj. Biener, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) With HCJB`s own pdf sked which says ``Bahasa (mly)``, so both Aoki and Ivo misinterpreted it; not the first time this Bharatian language has been confused with Malay (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. DEDICATION OF NEW SHORTWAVE RADIO SITE IN AUSTRALIA FULFILLS 24-YEAR VISION see for illustrations: https://www.hcjb.org/hcjb-global-news/asia-pacific/dedication-of-new-shortwave-radio-site-in-australia-fulfills-24-year-vision.html Australia dedication crowd2 lr --- Meg Shedley, 89 (and her husband, Don), who donated a 200-acre farm for the orginal broadcast site in Kununurra in 1997, takes in the dedication of the new transmitter site along with 100 others on April 21. [caption] (May 3, 2013 - by Harold Goerzen) David Maindonald seemed incredulous as he reflected on his 24-year vision to air the gospel via shortwave radio from Australia to the Asia Pacific Region. “Yes, the story of HCJB Global-Australia is truly a story of what God has done,” he told a crowd at the dedication of the ministry’s new international broadcast site in Kununurra, adjacent to the original site that had been used to broadcast since 2003. “And we want to give Him all the glory,” he commented, referring to an Old Testament Bible verse, “See what God has done” (Numbers 23:23). Others urged him to abandon what was called in 1989 his “far-fetched” vision, foreseeing obstacles in acquiring radio licenses and land for the site. When potential donors were approached with the idea, they predicted problems finding staff and money for the project. Programs Air in 26 Languages Australia dedication Maindonald2 lr David Maindonald [caption] “That wasn’t easy to handle,” related Maindonald, who led the mission’s Australia office for nearly two decades. Among the 100 attendees at the April 21 event, braving 105-degree (Fahrenheit) heat and biting insects, was HCJB Global President Wayne Pederson, who deemed as a miracle the station’s presence on the shortwave frequencies. The facilities broadcast the gospel in 26 languages from Kununurra near the northern tip of Western Australia. “It’s reaching some of the most populous and least-reached places of the world—going into Japan, China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia,” Pederson said later in an audio report. Australia Dedication Pederson and Stagg lr Wayne Pederson (left) and Dale Stagg at the inauguration [caption] Excerpts from listeners’ letters were featured in a brochure distributed at the ceremony. One listener had written from India’s Gujarat state, “We do not have a church. Radio programs are a blessing for us to know about Jesus. We listen to Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Punjabi programs. The reception is good. Pray that my family and I and would accept Jesus too.” A listener in Indonesia wrote, “Your station is totally different from any other I’ve ever known. It brings peace, joy and hope — things that have been lost in my life for quite a long time.” Multiple Challenges Overcome Pederson outlined some of the trials encountered along the way. “Through many years of overcoming regulations, federal permissions, local clearances, financial challenges and power line difficulties, this station is now a reality,” he said. Then he coupled those comments with explanations of bargains obtained to broadcast from the site. Australia dedication plaque lr Unveiling a plaque which reads, "HCJB Australia International Broadcast Facility. Dedicated to the glory of God. 21st April 2013. 'So that all may hear' (Romans 10:14)." Left to right: Ty Stakes, Stephen Sutherland, Wayne Pederson, Dale Stagg, David Maindonald, Derek Kickbush. [caption] “The curtain antenna came from Croatia. It was brand new but it was intended by the communists to send propaganda all across the former Soviet Union. The towers were bought from the Australian Army for 5 cents on the dollar. Those are scrap metal prices! The transmitters are the refurbished transmitters from Radio Station HCJB in Ecuador, now being repurposed to reach this part of the world.” Also attending the ceremony were HCJB Global Asia Pacific Executive Director Ty Stakes, Australian Member of Parliament Barry Haase and Meg Shedley, who turns 90 this year. Back in 1997 when the Australian government still wasn’t issuing international broadcast licenses, she and her husband, Don, donated a 200-acre farm in Kununurra in faith that it could serve as an international shortwave site. “This site has so many advantages,” John Stanley had said of the site at that time. An engineer who helped to staff the mission’s shortwave site in Ecuador decades ago, Stanley serves as an international broadcasting consultant. Australia dedication erecting tower lr Volunteers help erect a tower for the curtain antenna in 2008 [caption] “Assuming that a license can be obtained, it would be difficult to see it as anything other than God’s provision,” Stanley had concluded. After the towers were procured, staff members and countless volunteers began erecting them on the donated land that was also used to raise sugarcane. The applications for broadcast licenses were turned down three times however, according to Maindonald. Then an unexpected answer came on April 18, 2001. “The laws of Australia were changed, and we were given not one but four international broadcasting licenses, and we had to be on air within two years,” he recounted. “Suddenly the dream of international broadcasting came alive again.” Launching International Broadcasts An HC100 (100,000-watt) shortwave transmitter that had been shipped from Ecuador to the U.S. was in turn shipped to Australia just as U.S. dockworkers went on strike. In late 2002 it arrived in Australia, where station staff needed every bit of time to get it operational in time for the deadline. Negotiations with authorities resulted in more than $100,000 in duty and taxes being waived. The shortwave station went on the air on Jan. 5, 2003, with five hours of programming to the South Pacific. A month later the South Asia broadcasts to India began. Australia dedication cooking lunch lr Grilling lunch on the "barbie" for guests at the dedication [caption] Although well-suited to shortwave broadcasting, the original site was too small for expansion. “It was always intended to be temporary,” according to Dale Stagg, Australian director and CEO. “Basically, when the licenses were granted we had a two-year timeframe to get on the air so we had to get up and running as best we could and look to future development beyond that time. The new site is part of a 1,200- acre parcel of land leased from the state government about a mile from the original site.” The Shedley property is now used for staff housing. In 2005 a high-quality curtain antenna was purchased from a radio station in Croatia for a quarter of its market value and erected three years later. In 2006 a second HC100 was shipped to Australia. The 21- year lease from the Western Australia government for the 1,200-acre site was also signed in 2006. In 2011 the high-tension power line was installed along with a donated parabolic antenna from Ecuador. In 2012 one of the existing transmitters was relocated to the new transmitter building, and broadcasts began at the new site in July 2012. In March 2013 broadcasts commenced using both 100-kw transmitters. Australia dedication listeners lr Radio listeners in India hear a program in their native tongue [captioni] “India, one of our priority countries, has a population of over 1.2 billion people,” Stagg said. “Sixty percent of India’s population does not even have access to FM, so shortwave for India is still a crucial means of communication.” “A third HC100 coming in a few months will be digital, enabling us to reach a whole new audience with the clear, digital sounds of shortwave,” added Pederson. “[Our Australian partners] are dedicated people, and they've done a great job. You should see this impressive facility.” “Our broadcast site gives us great access to the Asia Pacific Region,” Stagg recounted. “Our region contains more than 4 billion people and many of the world’s unreached people groups.” Source: HCJB Global-Australia (HCJB PR via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) More [same] at : http://tinyurl.com/cr6a75s (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 15505, May 2 at *1358:48 BB carrier on, 1359:09 adding interval signal, some hum, and bumping sounds; timesignal ends at 1359:46.5, opening Urdu, poor. 15505, May 3 at *1356 carrier on, adding hum and tone, fair with flutter; 1357:46 starts IS which takes 21-22 seconds per iteration, so we hear it five times, more than usual, and the sixth stops incomplete to accommodate the mistimesignal ending at 1359:45, then opening Urdu, 15505, May 4 at 1359, BB already on with IS, as I deduct 70 kHz from KBS; timesignal consistently early now, but still varies, today ending at 1359:43.5, into Urdu, poor. 15505, May 5 at 1357, BB is on with IS on poor signal; off-time signal ends at 1359:49, opening Urdu. 15505, May 6 at *1357:19 with BB IS, seems not so hummy now, but too poor to be sure, and with flutter; timesignal ends at 1359:45, opening Urdu (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 3310, Mosoj Chaski, Cochabamba, 1010, YL in Quechua talk, fair signal, best I have had this in quite awhile, 1 May (XM, Cedar Key, South Florida, NRD 525D, R8A, E-5, via Bob Wilkner, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4795.8, Radio Lípez, Uyuni, 0950 early on; before 4700 Radio San Miguel, Riberalta and 4716 Radio Yatun Ayllu Yura, Yura, 4 May. First noted back on the air on 22 April at 1035 (XM, Cedar Key, South Florida, NRD 525D, R8A, E-5, via Bob Wilkner, and Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6105.48, Radio Panamericana, La Paz, *1049 to 1110 on 21 April; 1055 to 1105 on 25 April, 1045 on 2 May. Signal remains weak, not observed everyday and need narrow filter (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.8, Radio Santa Cruz, 1000 to 1002, "onda media ... onda corta, transmite Radio Santa Cruz desde Santa Cruz, Bolivia..." 1 May (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Santa Cruz, 6135 kHz --- On the air now (0351 UT) in an unusual time with continous salsa music. New extended transmission? Booming signal in Montevideo, Uruguay. Radio Santa Cruz at 0358-0402 UTC with big signal in Montevideo: http://youtu.be/Lz64nCs4M7U (Still on air now, 0435 UTC) -- (Rodolfo Tizzi, UT May 8, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 3375.1, Brasil, Rádio Municipal São Gabriel da Cachoeira presumed 1000 to 1020 Portuguese OM e música under T-storm racket 3 May, 0105 to 0125 weak signal 4 May, not on 1000 on 4 May (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4785, Brasil, Rádio Caiari, Porto Velho, RO, 1010 to 1030 "...kiloHertz" rooster crows and ID as Rádio Caiari, on 25 April (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [and non]. R Mil, 6010 still absent, and other details on this frequency --- With the continued absence of the Mexican R Mil, I have been trying to sort out the mess on 6010 for several days. This morning, with some band enhancement I came closer I believe. We have had reports of both a Brazilian and a Colombian close together around this frequency. The Brazilian lower, and the Colombian higher. Probable stations: Radio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil on 6010.120, and La Voz de tu Conciencia, Puerto Lleras, Colombia on 6010.210. At 0827 I began monitoring. The higher signal was slightly stronger. I tuned lower sideband, centered on 6010.120, which I suspect is the Brazilian. My logic is it should peak at their sunrise where I might get an ID, before they fade and the other, higher one peaks, which I suspect is the Colombian. The wandering modulation on the higher frequency is obviously not present the past few days. (8 min screen shot) There is however a noticeable drift on the lower frequency. It varies between 6010.120 and 6010.130, at least this morning. Sunrise in Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais, Brazil this morning was 0913 UT. By 0921 the lower signal had faded below the level of the higher one. It is fading more and at 0925 is barely above the noise. At 0925 I tuned to USB and 6010.210. A Spanish speaking man is now dominating the audio stream, as I have noted for a few mornings. At 0927 the lower frequency is a mere whisper of what it was. This could support the belief the Brazilian is indeed fading at their sunrise. 0931, an obvious Spanish Christian song starts. 0934 lower frequency barely visible in the SDR waterfall. And once again I wait to ID. Recorder on when Spanish speaking man talks, recorder off when another religious song starts. On and off—they don’t seem to ID! Sunrise in Puerto Lleras, Colombia is 0942. 0942 the signal indeed peaks for a few minutes with nonstop talking by Spanish man. Lower frequency is totally gone. 0951 the upper frequency is fading from its peak. 0959 I turn recorder on again. Signal obviously fading. 1000:30 short pause, then short accordion interlude, followed by what I believe is an ID, with mention of Puerto Lleras. Spanish man still talking from after TOH until 1008:30 when another man begins talking with soft flute music underneath. This continues through 1011:35. Signal fading quickly. 1013 piano/vocals with obvious FMing of signal now that music is present. 1018 it is fading below listening threshold now (Mike Gilchrist in rural EC Iowa, May 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Mike, Much more than a simple log, a real class técncia DX. Very good. Congratulations. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, ibid.) Thanks, Jorge. I have been bound and determined to figure it out for sure. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought about this before, but Jorge, is it possible to ascertain that the AM BCB station at 880 kHz carries the same programming as the SW outlet Radio Inconfidência on 6010v? How about this web location, does either the AM of FM BCB audio found here carry the same programming? [extract of program schedule] http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://www.inconfidencia.com.br/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DRadio%2BInconfidencia,%2BBelo%2BHorizonte,%2BMinas%2BGerais,%2BBrazil%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1059%26bih%3D596 A few times this morning, coherence was almost at the imagination level with this station. J 73, Mike Gilchrist, IA, ibid.) No, the transmissions are different. Here is the link for the FM and AM, http://www.inconfidencia.com.br/modules/wfchannel/index.php?pagenum=19 In the upper green is the link FM, below is the link for the same programming for AM and SW on 15190 and 6010. Yes, 6010 is active. 73 (Jorge Freitas, ibid.) Now I am confused. The link you sent takes me to the same streaming audio I posted. I’m not sure I understand your reply. I believe you are telling me the FM audio stream is different than the AM, but the AM one is what is broadcast live on 6010? (Mike, ibid.) Yes, 6010 and 15190 relay the program AM. 73 (Jorge Freitas, ibid.) 6010.111, R. Inconfidência (presumed), May 7, 2013 at 0857, I was surprised to find them alone on this frequency. Poor signal, peaking at times. No Conciencia, and no R Mil this morning. Splash from Martí powerhouse on 6030. Through TOH man in Portuguese. 0903 guitar vocal. 0909 same man. 0915 man talking about music in Brazil. 0917 vocal group with strong beat and percussion. 0920 guitar vocal. 0933 fading rapidly. Sunrise in Belo Horizonte is 0913 this morning. Still no ID heard. If both R Mil and Conciencia are off this evening, it might be a good catch. Sunset there tonight is 2030, and mine will be 0115 (Mike Gilchrist, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 6180.005, Rádio Nacional Amazônia heard on a distance of 14800 km across the southern Pacific Ocean on Brisbane Australia remote unit at 0847 UT May 4, S=8-9 fluttery signal. - Probably next door Radio Tawantinsuyo Cusco Peru on 6173.928 kHz at same time S=4-5. (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. QSL: Rádio Aparecida, 11855, full data station building card in 204 days for Portuguese email report and follow-up in Portuguese with US $5 in return postage. QSL arrived with stickers via priority mail 45 days after follow-up. A somewhat slow week! Hope everyone else's was good. 73 (Al Muick, Whitehall PA USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. Miraya FM, 11560, QSL in 17 days. For 2 Swiss Francs. Report sent to: Fondation Hirondelle, Avenue du Temple 19C, CH-1012 Lausanne, Switzerland. V/s : Jean Luc Mootoosamy (Christian Ghibaudo, France, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) See also SUDAN [non] ** CANADA. Just a small update here in Montreal. CJWI still testing with various music on 1410 kHz. They now say that their programs are from Montreal studios and that the transmitter is in Saint Constant, Québec. They have a much better signal than when I heard them a month ago; they probably have increased their power. Regular programs are still going on 1610. 73 (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, May 8, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) a.k.a. C.P.A.M. ** CANADA. THE CBC IS IN CRISIS. CANADIANS DESERVE TO KNOW WHY WADE ROWLAND Special to The Globe and Mail Published Thursday, May. 02 2013, 11:05 AM EDT Last updated Thursday, May. 02 2013, 3:24 PM EDT 509 comments http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/the-cbc-is-in-crisis-canadians-deserve-to-know-why/article11676193/ John Doyle Sexism, spite and Kirstine Stewart’s CBC legacy [link] BROADCASTING --- Why are taxpayers subsidizing private media via the CBC? SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter’s star Canadian hire faced with ‘incredible opportunity’ What does Kirstine Stewart know about the future of the CBC that the rest of us don’t? Why does anyone leave a job as the most powerful and influential media executive in the country to sell ads for Twitter Canada? And why leave immediately, without prior notice? Ms. Stewart has spent seven years as a senior executive at the CBC, hired by the much-maligned Richard Stursberg to head up CBC television. She wound up replacing her boss as vice-president of all English language services when Mr. Stursberg was fired by the current CBC president, Hubert Lacroix in 2011. That’s seven years on the public payroll, in charge of the country’s single most important cultural institution. As usual, the CBC is as forthcoming about the circumstances of her leaving as a mafioso is about a death in the family. All we get is the usual PR blather about how she “really understands the role of the public broadcaster and has been a fierce proponent of its distinctive place,” [Lacroix], and how she’s “proud of what we’ve done together these past seven years,” and how she’ll “miss the CBC family dearly [Stewart].” When it comes to public communication, the CBC itself is a lost cause, too deeply immersed in the issues of commercial secrecy and proprietary information to offer insight without a federal warrant. But we have a right to expect more of Ms. Stewart herself. She owes us. The citizens of this country need and deserve a full explanation of current conditions within the CBC, and how management is responding. The corporation is facing an existential financial and cultural crisis – a crisis of leadership and purpose – and the people who fund it need to know exactly what’s going on. It’s time for the silence and obfuscation to end. The country is in peril of losing its public broadcaster, in any recognizable form, and we need to know how to prevent that from happening. We need a say in the crucial decisions that will be made over the next year or two as to what direction our public service broadcaster ought to be taking in response to overwhelming financial pressures. Here’s what Mr. Stursberg says about his hiring of Stewart in his recent tell-all CBC memoir Tower of Babble: “We needed … someone who would manage the television schedule and define what was required from the drama, documentary and reality departments…someone with a deep knowledge of all the different genres, and excellent grasp of audience needs, a keen sense of flow within the schedule and brutal competitive instincts. We needed a programming thug.” During the hiring interview, Mr. Stursberg says, “we talked about audiences. We never talked about the mandate of public broadcasting or the trade-off between quality and popularity. We focused exclusively on audiences.” That phrase, “the trade-off between quality and popularity” is a cop- out that occurs repeatedly throughout Mr. Sturberg’s book, and was a mantra of his enormously destructive, six-year stewardship of CBC English-language programming on radio and television. It is a false dichotomy, a bogeyman. It is of course not the case that public service programming is either popular or of high quality. CBC radio proves the point – it’s both at the same time. And in television one need only look to the BBC and the many public broadcasters in Europe and around the world that produce TV programs that are both of exceptional quality and enormously popular. The problem that is killing the CBC is the fact that, on television, it is not a true and authentic public broadcaster. It is an unmanageable hybrid. It must serve a poorly-defined public service mandate, but at the same time it is saddled with commercial sponsorship for half its income. The commercial mandate demands that advertising revenue be maximized. The public service mandate demands excellence in information and entertainment – which means reflecting the country’s values, interests and aspirations in all genres of programming. The job of the public broadcaster is to make popular programming excellent, and excellent programming popular. The job of a commercial broadcaster is to do whatever it takes to maximize advertising revenue. Sometime within the next two years, the CBC is almost certainly going to lose its single largest source of advertising revenue, NHL hockey. It will be out-bid for the contract by one of the country’s enormously wealthy commercial broadcasters, probably Bell Media. That will mean a loss of 40 per cent of the corporation’s total annual ad revenue, but also a loss of something close to 400 hours of Canadian content programming – a hole that will have to be filled. Already bled white by decades of funding reductions from successive federal governments, the CBC is in no position to survive this blow. With a decidedly unfriendly sponsor in Ottawa, we can expect what will amount to a privatization of the public broadcaster. This is a process that has been underway now for nearly a decade, under the stewardship of former CBC president Robert Rabinovitch, the current president Hubert Lacroix, and vice-presidents Richard Stursberg and Kirstine Stewart. By privatization I mean the sidelining of the public service mandate for excellence in favour of the commercial mandate for ratings and profit. As Mr. Stursberg himself puts it in his memoir, under his reign the CBC was re-oriented in a purely commercial, ratings-driven direction, just like the surrounding hoard of commercial broadcasters. The standards by which programs would be judged at the CBC would be identical: “It would be a brutal standard,” he boasts. “It would no longer allow [programmers] to fudge the meaning of success by talking vaguely about ‘mandates,’ and ‘quality.’ It would be a standard by which shows, producers, stars and executives would be judged.” And then, of course, there’s the fact that the CBC has applied to the CRTC for permission to introduce advertising on Radio 2. The decision is imminent. It’s hard to believe that all of this did not play into Stewart’s decision to jump ship. Canadians need to know, and she has a duty to tell. Wade Rowland is author of the newly-released Saving the CBC: Balancing Profit and Public Service (Linda Leith Publishing). (via Noble West, DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. Re: Virginia cuts shrink Blue Ridge PBS; Marion, Norton shut down === This reminds me of how last year the CRTC allowed CBC-TV to shut down effectively all rural and small town TV re- broadcasters. So, if you live in a certain size city you can get over the air TV, otherwised, its got to be satellite TV or cable. I thought there might be some sort of outcry, but apperently not. The idea was that digital TV was being phased in, with it required in big cities and capital cities. So, just shut down all the analogue repeaters everywhere else, rather than require an eventual conversion. Big savings on operating expenses for what likely would be hundreds of repeaters across Canada. Maybe when cottage owners turn on their TV sets and can't see Peter Mansbridge standing and pacing there will be an outcry. The CBC apparently had some "deal" involving Shaw but I'm not sure how that worked. The sense given was that Shaw was going to provide free CBC to those who couldn't afford cable / satellite, but that was only my sense from the cryptic pronouncements from the CBC and the CRTC. I suppose that if every Canadian who didn't have cable or satellite was offered a completely free Shaw Direct dish providing CBC's TV services only that would be an acceptable substitute. I'm surprised that CTV and Global haven't applied to the CRTC for the same thing - maybe they have and it`s just under my radar (Phil Rafuse, VY2PR, Stratford PE Canada, ABDX via DXLD) The FCC's National Broadband Plan proposed providing "free" cable or satellite TV for life to households that lose OTA service due to spectrum refarming for broadband wireless. But I haven't heard much about that since the plan was released (Tim Kridel, ibid.) ** CANADA [non]. U.K.(non) Test transmissions of Bible Voice Broadcasting on May 6/7/8: 1530-1730 7485 KCH 300 kW / 116 deg WeAs Farsi SINPO 45544 in Sofia 1530-1730 15635 WOF 300 kW / 086 deg WeAs Farsi SINPO 55544 in Sofia 1600-1800 7535 NAU 100 kW / 110 deg WeAs Farsi from MBR, cancelled -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Firedrake/CNR1 jamming search May 2, after 1333: nothing certain found 11-18 MHz; east Asian propagation is quite poor, except: 13795, JBA carrier at 1341, could be the real Firedrake, or Kuwait 15610, hummy carrier at 1337 over presumed WEWN, or maybe WEWN itself dysfunxional; and a het on low side 15607 = V. of Tibet, Tajikistan. Firedrake, May 3: 7385, fair at 1149, mixing with CNR1 et al., making fast SAH; target on 7385 is R. Taiwan International in Chinese 13795, nothing yet at 1149 but fair at 1243 Non-Firedrake CNR1 jamming, May 3 before 1200: 12670, poor at 1153 13130, fair at 1153 13820, poor at 1152 13830, poor at 1151 13850, poor at 1151 13920, fair at 1151, first one found 14700, very poor at 1155 14750, very poor at 1155 16100, poor at 1156 16250, very poor at 1156; none in the 17s Non-Firedrake CNR1 jamming, May 3 before 1300: 13830, poor at 1243; none in the 12s 13970, fair at 1243 14700, poor at 1240 with hets 14750, very good at 1240, with hum 14800, poor at 1240 15900, very good at 1235 16100, very good at 1237 16160, poor at 1237 16250, poor at 1237 16920, fair at 1238 17170, poor at 1239 17250, very poor at 1239 17370, very poor at 1239; none in the 18s That`s a total of thirteen at once! Of course, there are many more CNR1 jammers but these are the ones on ex-FD mostly OOB frequencies. Non-Firedrake CNR1 jamming, May 3 after 1300: 15570, poor plus propeller noise at 1309, het on lo side 15610, under WEWN at 1307 & 1340, het on lo side Not a complete search elsewhere Firedrake May 4, before 1230: 13795, fair at 1218; All the rest are still CNR1 jamming instead: 13820, good at 1218 13830, good at 1318 14700, good at 1218 16160, poor at 1222 16250, poor at 1219 16360, good at 1219 17450, fair at 1222 Firedrake [non], May 4 before 1500, CNR1 jamming, all synchronized to within a slight reverb: 9845, poor at 1448; one of the perennials, not ex-Firedrake 11990, poor at 1445, SAH with target, i.e. VOA Chinese via Novosibirsk, RUSSIA at 13-15 as in HFCC; Aoki still hasn`t caught up with this one or *jamming we have been hearing for more than a week 12670, poor at 1445 14800, fair at 1440; none in the 13s 15800, good at 1440 15900, good at 1440 None now in the 16s, 17s, or 18s, tho CRI English 17630 Kashgar is still in well. Firedrake, May 5 before 1230: 13795, fair at 1224 with CCI. All the other `FD` frequencies still occupied by CNR1 jamming instead: 16600, very poor at 1220; none in the 17s, 16m almost dead anyway 14980, JBA at 1220; none in the 15s 14870, poor at 1220 14800, poor-fair at 1220 13970, fair at 1221 13920, fair at 1220 with flutter; really all are fluttery somewhat 13830, poor at 1220 12370, poor at 1226 After 1230 May 5, not a full search: 11500, very poor at 1239 Firedrake [non], May 6 before 1300, CNR1 jamming instead on incomplete search: 13970, good at 1255 14870, fair at 1259 CNR1 jamming on FD frequencies, May 6 before 1400, more complete: 13130, JBA at 1346; none in the 12s 13830, poor at 1345 with CCI 13920, good at 1345 with flutter 14700, fair at 1342 with hets 14750, fair at 1342 with flutter 15565, poor at 1341, CNR1 plus noise, het on lo side 15610, audible under WEWN at 1340, het on lo side 15920, very good at 1341 16920, good at 1342; none in the 17s, 18s ITU coordinates, of jamming location sites, direction finding bearings from Japan and Russia. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/docs/monitoring/files/pdffiles/337.pdf SOH 18250 kHz at 246 degrees from Dongfang, Hainan Island, in G.E. 18 54'18.73"N 108 39'37.81"E CHN Dongfang 3 - jamming site?, 11 curtains 17370 SOH, Urumqi jamming covered, but also from Dong Fang, Hainan Island location. 17250 SOH, jammed from Baoji or Xian, but also from Urumqi site. 16600 and 16920 jammed from Dong Fang, Hainan Isl. 16250 SOH, jammed from Urumqi site. 15290 TWN RTI, jammed by Xinjiezhen Hsin-Chieh-Chen Baoji 150kW 34 41'33.54"N 106 56'47.56"E 14800 SOH, jammed from Shijiazhuang Huikou. Pingshan County. Station 723, 38 27'52.00"N 113 59'06.00"E and Urumqi, but also on 3rd tx site location, modern antenna mast design, Xinzhaicun at 25 44'46.38"N 117 10'51.28"E 13850 SOH, Kunming 13710 RFA, Nanning or Dong Fang, Hainan Isl 13530 SOH, Qiqihar SW jamming site, 11 masts 47 21'25.99"N 124 14'54.78"E ITU 13970 SOH, jammed from Fuzhou ITU 13920 SOH, jammed from Xinzhaicun 14700 SOH, jammed from Xian 14750 SOH, westerly of Shanghai > 15565, poor at 1341, CNR1 plus noise, het on lo side > 15610, audible under WEWN at 1340, het on lo side > 15920, very good at 1341 > 16920, good at 1342; none in the 17s, 18s jammed from Dong Fang, Hainan Island (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) After getting CRI Urumqi & Kashgar [see EAST TURKISTAN] on at least 5 frequencies on the 17 MHz band in the nightmiddle, time to look for some CNR1 if not Firedrake jammers which may or may not be from the same region, May 7 before 0530: 17170, poor at 0525 with flutter 16980, very poor at 0525 15785, poor at 0528 with flutter Wolfgang Büschel points out that the ITU monitoring files pinpoint locations of such jammers, via DF bearings from Japan and Russia, if one wades thru these huge PDFs, the latest being 299 pages for the first quarter of 2013: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/docs/monitoring/files/pdffiles/337.pdf However, the first one I check, 17170 on page 280, has logs only for SOH itself from Taiwan; and no logs on 16980. CNR1 jammers, May 7 before 1400: 11500, fair at 1340 12370, good at 1341; none in the 13s 14980, very good at 1344 15800, very good at 1344; none in the 16s 17170, poor at 1348; none in the 18s (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, May 7 heard SOH in the clear on 11500 from 1203 till covered by CNR1 sign on at 1220. It is hard for me to believe that SOH is via a low powered tx; seems just too strong a signal! MP3 audio of CNR1 sign on at https://www.box.com/s/34emgp9zex6xuwi1majs (Ron Howard, May 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It could well be that any of the 0.1 kW nuisance ``placeholders`` in Aoki list could be replaced by a full-power SOH transmitter (gh, DXLD) Firedrake [non] CNR1 jamming May 8 after 1300: 15610, poor at 1313 plus propeller noise, and underneath WEWN, het on low side from V of Tibet via Tajikistan 15570, fair at 1315, het on low side, ditto No full search today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. VOICE OF PUJIANG WILL TERMINATE SHORTWAVE SERVICE THIS YEAR Hi Glenn, Just received the following email containing news that Voice of Pujiang will be ending their SW service, so now is the time to QSL them while they are still broadcasting. Most unfortunate to learn of yet another broadcaster leaving SW. As Victor says "This is the tide of our era, we can not resist it." (Ron Howard, San Francisco, May 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Dear radio friends of Voice of Pujiang, As early as last year, the director of China Business News Radio, of which Voice of Pujiang is a part, was considering terminate all the shortwave service to save money and put more fund to develop new media, especially social media. This year we also see that we have developed smartphone application for both android and iphone. For iphone users, the app can be installed here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.esa.pujiang&hl=zh_CN Now, I am authorized to announce that Voice of Pujiang will terminate all the shortwave service this year. This decision was promoting by our director and approved by Shanghai Media Group and several upper authorities. For the exact date, we don't even know, because it needs a complicated bureaucratic procedure to have the decision to reach into the telecom company's hand and implement by the transmitting site. The Zhenru transmitting site is a very historic one, built in the year of 1930, while the three transmitters were relocated and reorganized here in 1980s. In my opinion, it will end as early as in this May and as late as before the beginning of B13 time. As a DXer myself, actually, I very much favor with this decision. I deeply know that there is a much shrinking and very limited audience on the shortwave. But I am still very much sad to see Voice of Pujiang joining with other stations to say goodbye to shortwave. This is the tide of our era, we can not resist it. Still, I am very much pleased to verify reception reports before the closure of shortwave service, issuing QSL letters both regular and electronic. The schedule is: 1130-1600 UT on 3280 kHz, 4950 kHz and 5075 kHz. Some monitors say the 5075 will change to 9705 in early May. Again, I don't even know because we have no contact with transmitting site.It is totally their decision to change or not.For regular reception reports, an IRC is needed to cover the international postage and the address is as follow: Mr. Qian Xiaoyan Voice of Pujiang Floor 11, Radio Building No. 1376 Hongqiao Road Changning District SHANGHAI 200051 P.R. CHINA. At last, many thanks for your yearly support. For most BCLers and Dxers, I have to say goodbye to you, because I think you will less likely to listen to our programs on smartphones. Best wishes! (Victor Qian, May 3, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST, also via Ron Howard, dxldyg) Even the bean counters in China are trying to kill our hobby (Mark Coady, ODXA yg via DXLD) Update: VOICE OF PUJIANG HAS CLOSED ALL ITS SHORTWAVE SERVICE Dear Friends of Voice of Pujiang, As many monitors noted, Voice of Pujiang has already closed all its shortwave service since 2 May, 2013. That means, 1 May is the last day of Voice of Pujiang on the shortwave bands. In recent years, Voice of Pujiang has already transformed into a local station rather only focuses on Taiwanese audience. We still broadcast 18 hours daily on AM 1422. So, Medium wave DXers are still welcomed to submit their reception reports. Best wishes! (Victor Qian, China Business News Radio/Voice of Pujiang, Shanghai, China, May 6, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST; also via Ron Howard) Keith Perron, however, says they're being shut down due to a corruption scandal that is finally being dealt with by the new leadership in China (Mark Coady, ODXA Your Reports Express May 6 via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) But why shutting only SW?? (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 6060, Sichuan PBS-2 via Chengdu, 1158-1202, May 7. Indigenous music; no time pips ToH; nice ID in ENGLISH; “Nationality Channel. This is the People’s Radio Station. SW 6060, 7225, FM 88.1”; fair-good; extremely pleased to find this! MP3 audio at https://www.box.com/s/lddyz7i055wrh3ag4apm (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 7210, PBS Yunnan Kunming transmission heard with typical SE Asian Lisu tribe people music at 1245 UT May 2. S=9 signal on remote net receiver in Australia. 7419.988, Seldom heard ODD frequency China domestic radio unit. PBS Nei Menggu has - seemingly - older tx equipment in use under harsh weather condition in north-eastern China, and requires probably an alignment? Carried Chinese service at 1314 UT May 2, and accompanied by harsh BUZZ tones of 150/300 Hertz either side. 7269.986, PBS Nei Menggu in Mongolian from Hohhot tx site, S=8 flutter signal heard at 1320 UT May 2. 9519.979, PBS Nei Menggu in Chinese at 1007 UT May 4, some piano bar music and female talks (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CHINA. 9410, CNR-5 Beijing, 1002-1015 May 2, Chinese; M announcer with (presumed) news headlines between music bits; M & W announcers over music at 1010 with CNR jingle music; more announcer talk into different M announcer via remote; fair-good. (Barbour-NH) 9420, CNR-6 Beijing, 1016-1034 May 2; Ballad in unID language; listed Hakka; lots of announcer talk over music; URL at 1026 that I could not fully copy; more M & W announcers; no discernible ID noted at BoH; fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. About "National Emergency Broadcast - Lushan Earthquake Relief Emergency Radio" Hi, DXers, The first Chinese Emergency Radio opened on April 22, 2013, just after the Lushan Earthquake on April 20. The full ID of the station is "National Emergency Broadcast-Lushan Earthquake Relief Emergency Radio". The station is setting by co-operation of CNR, Radio Sichuan, Radio Ya'an, Radio and TV station of Lushan. The frequncies are SW 9800 and 12000 kHz; believed transmitted from Shijiazhuang with 100 kW towards southwest, and also use two FM frequencies: 92.7 MHz in Lushan County, and 98.8 MHz in Baoxing County. Official webpage of emergency radio is: http://www.cnr.cn/2013zt/yadz/yjgb/ you can listen on-line, and find many pics everyday. Full station ID and some programme recording: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/FjoSEmzmx-I/ The station also relays CNR programmes. Your listening conditions of 9800 and 12000 kHz worldwide would be appreciated in feedback to: Jonathan Short <2883752(at)163(dot)com> No QSL response at present time. 73, (Jonathan Short, China, May 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST; also via Ron Howard, dxldyg) 9800, May 5 at 0055, some Chinese music, poor with flutter. So is this the National Emergency Broadcast which started April 22 following the Sichuan earthquake? Aoki shows it 24 hours except Mondays at 1735- 1955; but also, already on 9800 was CRI Spanish via Kashgar, EAST TURKISTAN at 2300-0057, which would be more likely here. Did they really leave CRI on 9800 when they activated the NEB? And for how much longer if at all? Nothing audible on the other NEB channel 12000, not even Cuban jamming against defunct VOA Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 12000, Lushan Emergency Radio (LER) (presumed). First time I have monitored here during this time period; 1721 to 1800, May 8 found clearly LER programming (segments with either YL announcer with background piano music or playing EZL songs and instrumental music); positively not CNR1 programming; 1803 went to a dramatization (believe still LER); 1830 certainly sounded as if they switched over to CNR1 programs with news and usual CNR1 format (unfortunately had no known CNR1 // to check); fair-good; // 9800 poor-fair. During my recent checking during the 1200 to 1300 time period, have only heard CNR1 programs; never any LER programming (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. QSL - China Huayi, 6185 replied in one day with nice bilingual QSL certificate signed by Jonathan Short. An English report with MP3 recording was sent to 2883752 at 163.com. Many thanks to Ron Howard for tracking down the correct QSL route (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. QSL - Guangzhou Coast Radio, 17398, sent email confirmation in Chinese signed by Luo Mingbiao. The English translation of the QSL had a friendly tone to it and was specific as to date/time/freq. The reply was received after about a day, but it sat in my Spam folder for over a week before I discovered it! I sent the report in Chinese to lmb at gzrdo.com and attached a MP3 recording. Thanks to Ron Howard for info on the QSL address (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 17530, May 3 at 1126, M&W&W conversation with music, VG signal with some fading, before sunrise here; did not sound exactly like Vietnamese so suspected Cambodian, and CRI ID in passing, continuing past 1130, but listed as Viet at 1100-1200, 500 kW, 190 degrees from Xian, long-path? CRI does have Cambodian on other frequencies but ending at 1130 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Fuerza Aérea bombardeó emisora de las Farc en Nariño COLPRENSA | BOGOTÁ | Publicado el 6 de mayo de 2013 - 6:41 pm. http://www.eluniversal.com.co/cartagena/nacional/fuerza-aerea-bombardeo-emisora-de-las-farc-en-narino-118577 La emisora 'La voz de la Resistencia' estaba ubicada en Nariño. COLPRENSA [illusrated] Aviones de la Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (FAC) ubicaron y destruyeron la emisora 'La voz de la Resistencia', principal medio de comunicación del Frente 29 de las Farc 'Alfonso Artega', ubicada a 36 millas del municipio Magüí-Payán (Nariño). La operación ofensiva, realizada con base en datos de inteligencia que entregó el Ejército se efectuó este lunes hacia las 08:00 de la mañana, y tras un seguimiento técnico de las autoridades permitió establecer que dejó de funcionar. De acuerdo con un comunicado de la FAC, la emisora estaba integrada por antenas repetidoras, transmisores y equipos de radiodifusión, tenía una frecuencia que abarcaba los departamentos de Cauca y Nariño y era empleada por los guerrilleros para difundir sus mensajes hacia la población civil. La FAC también informó que en la zona del bombardeo continúan las operaciones de registro y control, que hasta el momento ha dejado como resultado parcial la ubicación de la antena repetidora, cables de radio y un área campamentaria. Según la FAC, este golpe es un gran resultado para las Fuerzas Militares y de Policía, ya que se afecta directamente la logística de comunicación clandestina, con la que los subversivos tratan de deslegitimar el trabajo realizado por la Fuerza Pública (via DXLD) WTFK? Presumably FM; years ago was also on SW. Various FARC radio stations are destroyed periodically (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6010+, May 2 at 0449, praise music in Spanish, no doubt La Voz de tu Conciencia, in the clear now with no XEOI, but about to get blocked by RHC English after 0500. See also JAPAN [non] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. R Mil, 6010 still absent, and other details on this frequency: see BRAZIL [and non] ** COLOMBIA. 14960, 2126, Salem Stereo, OM with slow religious Spanish talks, signal drifting above & below band noise, 232 13/04 (Michael L Ford, Newcastle-u-Lyme, Staffs, England, NRD515, NCM515, NRD545, 85' lw, Wellbrook 330ALA loop, May BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) Big news if correct as not heard since last mid-September; this not exactly legal SW station had been missing from many months. Why wasn`t such big news distributed immediately on the BDXC-UK yg? Delayed 2-3 weeks until we can start hunting it again. Had been on air 24 hours, but was mostly heard here in evenings (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 930, Radio Reloj, la Jaiba, Matanzas. 1107 May 6, 2013. Mediocre, under WLSS, Sarasota. Looping that way, vs. the other two allegedly 1 kW Reloj feeds on the channel. 1020, Radio Artemisa, Artemisa, Artemisa. 2308 May 6, 2013. Very good with fantastic classic Cuban vocals. Female and male canned ID’s and canned patter briefly between. Parallel 1000 very poor. The first Radio Reloj time sounders appearing at 2328 under this. Nice ID series 2330, into more awesome traditional call/response Cuban folk vocals. Wonderful listening (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, JRC NRD- 535; ICOM IC-R75; Hammarlund HQ-180A; Sony ICF-7600GR; Sangean PR-D5; Aqua Guide 705 RDF Marine Radio; GE Superadio III; JPS NF-60 Notch Filter; JPS ANC-4 Noise Phase; 1 X roof dipole; 1 X room random wire; Terk Advantage non-active portable loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 6165, RHC at 0230 with English and Spanish programs from different transmitters mixing talk and features audible in English // 6000 and news and music // 5050 [sic: 5040] - Very Good May 2 (Carlie Forsythe Madison, WI Realistic DX-398 and Kaito active antenna, ODXA Your Reports Express via DXLD) I'd like to see Arnie explain this goof up (Mark Coady, ed., ibid.) 6165, May 2 at 0406, RHC English has CCI in Spanish --- it`s also RHC! // 5040. Listening closely on 6165, it`s not a double audio feed into one transmitter, but a second transmitter underneath producing a slight SAH and individual fading. Leave it to the incompetent RadioCuba to come up with yet another anomaly! 6060 Spanish is missing, which is supposed to be on until 0500, so it may be that transmitter on the wrong frequency. (6100 is off too but is supposed to stop at 0400.) Still English over Spanish on 6165 at 0447 check; however, by 0533, 6165 is again alone in English. Otherwise: 6000, May 2 at 0448, RHC English during midweek mailbag quoting someone who was listening to this very frequency on his DX-32; here, but not on the others, RHC audio is distorted and crackling. 9965, May 2 at 1309, pulse jamming against R. Australia in Chinese via Palau, about same level as against 9955 WRMI. But at 1310 the 9965 jamming stops. The hyper-sensitive Jamming Command just can`t forget that Radio República was on 9965 years ago: jam first, ask questions later, if ever (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17720, 02/May 2004-2007, RHC in Portuguese, Or what it should be, only good carrier without modulation audible (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) me too: 11760, May 2 at 2018, open carrier, dead air from RHC supposed to be in French; then checked much stronger 17720 and found OCDA too. But by 2023, 11760 had started or resumed in French, 17720 in Portuguese. 11680, May 3 at 0018 tune-in, RHC good signal but open carrier dead air, then Spanish cuts on. // 11840 is undermodulated and distorted (but no buzz noise field audible); 11760 is nominal. 6060, May 3 at 0136, RHC is re-active here in Spanish rather than underneath their English transmitter on 6165 as mis-happened for a couple of nights. 11760, May 3 at 0516, RHC is still on the air here and in English; supposed to close in Spanish at 0500. English also on the usual quintet of 5040, 6010, 6060, 6125, 6165. 11760 will be cut off abruptly whenever RadioCuba gets around to it. [and non]. 11690, May 4 at 1235, RHC inferior channel has some CCI under, sounds like Asian language? HFCC shows it must be CRI English, 500 kW, 292 degrees from Xian at 12-13. 11680, May 4 at 1235 is lacking any lysdexic RHC appearance today instead of 11860, allowing weak Korean to be in clear from 50 kW non- direxional KCBS Pyongyang. 6110, May 5 at 0057, RHC Spanish is here // 6060 about Spain`s activities in Cuba. Still on 6110 at 0103. But 6100 is missing, where this was supposed to be. Perhaps punched double-1 instead of double-0? We`ll see what happen 24 hours later. Next anomaly: 6165 English is absent at 0103 May 5, but going on 6000 undermodulatedly; at 0107, 6165 has come on in English, and no CCI from a second RHC transmitter as had been mishappening. Circa 0500 is time for more mixups: 6010, which only starts at 0500 for English, is really in music from Spanish service at 0507 // 5040. 6000, where English is supposed to stop at 0500, is still on at 0507 // English on 6060, 6165, but 6125 is missing. 6010 goes off at 0509, but 6125 carrier does not come on until *0514:08, adding modulation finally at 0516. Meanwhile, 11760 has stayed on again past 0500 and switched from Spanish to English, VG signal still at 0510, unknown for how much longer. A higher channel in the summer makes sense, but they never seem to schedule it explicitly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, You probably already knew this one, but it was a surprise to me: 5040 kHz, Radio Havana frequency heard today 5-5-13, DXers Unlimited is missing but Radio Havana is broadcasting spy numbers in Spanish at 2300 to 2320 UT, lady repeats numbers, noise, numbers, noise. 555, strong signal, No station ID. I wonder if they will QSL (Victor Latavish, Florida, Sent from my iPad, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No, missed that one, but it happens from time to time (gh, ibid.) 15190-15275, May 6 at 1338, rough range of buzz field surrounding RHC 15230; peaks circa 15215, 15245, but constantly fluxuating. 6100, May 6 at 0102 check, RHC Spanish is back on proper frequency after jumping to 6110 last night. And also on 6100 UT May 7 at 0056. It`s always something wrong at RHC: 6125, May 7 at 0535, English marred by irregular noise bursts atop the modulation, which itself is OK. The other English frequencies are clear (except 6010 with its habitual squeal; and 11760 is off), but 6125 is still doing it at 0619, when I also can hear same on much weaker 6205, along with slightly echoing audio, i.e. mixture of 6125 and 6165 leapfrogging another 40 kHz higher. 11760, May 7 at 1303, this is now the squealing transmitter, along with heavy CCCCI, commies vs commies. 13800-13840, May 7 at 1341, the wall-of-noise jamming is bleeding at least out to here, while completely obliterating R. Martí on 13820. 11760, May 8 at 0445, RHC in wrong language, English instead of Spanish, during DXUL // 6165. Squeal and somewhat undermodulated compared to booming Brasil on 11780; RHC Spanish VG on 11840. Recheck 0516, both are off. I seldom tune before 0500, but on several occasions 11760 has continued with English after 0500. Meanwhile, other English frequency 6000 at 0448 is interrupted by self-imposed noise bursts, obviously same transmitter as on 6125 which was behaving this way last night before and after 0600. 15215-15245, May 8 at 1150, buzz from RHC 15230 transmitter audible in this range (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. 9490, May 5 at 0059 referring to Húber Matos of Cuba Independiente y Democrática, but it`s not La Voz del CID revived, as immediately followed by full ID for Radio República during the 00- 02 daily transmission via RMI via MBR via Issoudun, FRANCE. Vs wall- of-noise jamming but RR is somewhat above it, altho tends to lose out before sign-off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA [non]. 9955, UT Friday May 3 at 0121 tune-in to R. Prague`s only SW broadcast in English, courtesy WRMI relay, but already ending `Panorama` show and introducing fill music by Vladimir Mushik (sp?). Some pulse jamming courtesy Arnie, but mostly atop it. The following presumably applies to English, altho we`ve only heard about it in Spanish, via Horacio Nigro: R. Praga says May 18 will be celebrating the ninetieth anniversary of broadcasting in Czechoslovakia and will send a special QSL for reports of that date only. Following the Brother Scare onslaught, only surviving R. Prague relay via WRMI in English is UT Tue-Fri 0100-0130, but May 18 is a Saturday! (following Slovakia 0030 UT Tue-Sat); R. Praga in Spanish is only at 0200-0230 UT daily, followed by Eslovaquia, just like in the olden days, never Slovakoczechia. I suppose they liberally supply QSLs for webcast listeners, their #1 platform in the SW-is-outmoded era (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: Of course we will carry the Spanish program at 0200 UTC May 19 (which will be the May 18th program). We don't really have anywhere to put the English program that day. We might be able to download the English program and air it the following week sometime. If so, I'll let you know and put a notice on our Facebook page (Jeff White, May 8, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 90 YEARS CZECH RADIO, RADIO PRAGUE VIA RADIO 700, KALL-GERMANY 18 MAY GERMANY [CZECH REP] Sondersendungen von Radio Prag auf Kurzwelle. Am 18. Mai wird das Programm von Radio Prag anlaesslich des 90. Jubilaeums des tschechischen Rundfunks auch ueber die Sendestation Kall-Krekel via Radio 700 ausgestrahlt. Der Sendeplan lautet wie folgt: 14:00-17:00 Uhr CSET auf 7310 kHz (1200-1500 UT) Deutsch, Tschechisch, Englisch, Franzoesisch, Spanisch, Russisch. 16:00-19:00 Uhr CSET auf 6005 kHz (1400-1700 UT) Spanisch, Russisch, Deutsch, Tschechisch, Englisch, Franzoesisch. 21:00-24:00 Uhr CSET auf 3985 kHz (1900-2200 UT) Englisch, Franzoesisch, Spanisch, Russisch, Deutsch, Tschechisch. Auch fuer Empfaenge via Internet http://www.radio.cz/de und Satellit (WRN, Astra 23.5 degr Ost) wird Radio Prag an diesem Tag eine Sonder-QSL-Karte ausstellen. 2011 hatte der tschechische Rundfunks seine Kurzwellensendungen groesstenteils eingestellt. Verblieben ist nur eine Ausstrahlung via WRMI 9955 kHz nach Nordamerika (Dr. Hansjoerg Biener-D via Daniel Kaehler-D, ma-dx May 6 via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) RADIO PRAGUE BACK ON SW FOR ONE DAY Hi Glenn, on 18th May for celebrating the 90th anniversary of Cesky rozhlas, Radio Prague will be back via our shortwave transmitters for one day in Europe. Schedule: 1200-1500 UT on 7310 kHz (German, Czech, English, French, Spanish, Russian, each 30min) main lobe in East-West Direction 1400-1700 UT on 6005 kHz (Spanish, Russian, German, Czech, English, French, each 30min) main lobe in North-West Direction 1900-2200 UT on 3985 kHz (English, French, Spanish, Russian, German, Czech, each 30min) non-directional each 1 kW Transmitter output. Radio Prague has a special QSL card for that day. Best regards, (Christian Milling, May 8, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK. Re 13-18: 243 kHz --- Many thanks for this tip. I listened to this very interesting broadcast on P5's online stream (though the longwave signal was also audible). The recording of the famous 4 May 1945 broadcast was clearly made off- air, as jamming was audible. It starts with the V drum interval signal, then the Prince of Denmark's March (better known in the UK as Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary) and what I think was the announcement of three shortwave bands and a mediumwave or longwave channel. Googling, I found about 5 minutes of the recording is on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78pDhZb8hZo taken from a 78 rpm record issued in 1946. The broadcast was recorded in Copenhagen by Aage Schnedevik. Although the anniversary transmission yesterday was at 1800 GMT (2000 Danish time), it seems that the original went out at 2030 Danish time. No doubt Danish DXLD readers can tell us more about the broadcast, the anniversary of which is celebrated each year (Chris Greenway, England, May 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chris, you got it all right. The Kalundborg 243 kHz transmitter was on air last night from 1535 to 1905 UT, except from 1640-1657, when a router problem at DR in Copenhagen occurred. Back in the 40'ties during the German occupation of Denmark, BBC had a daily program in Danish in the mentioned SW bands and on 1500 m/199.8 kHz. That particular evening of May 4th in 1945 the news reader (a Dane) was reading the normal news bulletins, when he was suddenly interrupted. Someone told him that the German troops in The Netherlands, Northern parts of Germany and Denmark had surrendered. After a short pause (2036 local time then) the reader returned to the microphone and brought this message to the listeners in Denmark (and elsewhere). If anybody heard the transmission last night, do not hesitate to send a reception report to info @ teracom.dk 73 (Ydun Ritz, mediumwave.info ibid.) ** DIEGO GARCIA. 4319-USB, AFN, 2300 to 0100 "...in wall street the Dow Jones average..." - into music vocal, good signal, but 1.1k filter after 0000 29 April (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EAST TURKISTAN. May 6 after 0500, notice a number of weakish signals on 16m, a sure sign of northern summer influence by the midnight sun. Best of the lot at 0552 is 17820 in German, making me think of DW/Rwanda, which used to make it here in the nightmiddle, but wait --- DW not only does not broadcast from Germany, it doesn`t broadcast in German! Instead HFCC shows CRI, 500 kW, 308 degrees from Urumqi at 05-07. 17820, May 7 at 0522, CRI German is the SSOB, better even that last night, // weaker 17720 which is about 2 seconds behind. 17820 is 308 degrees from Urumqi, 17720 is 308 from Kashgar. Then looked for other CRIs on 16m: 17540, May 7 at 0523, weaker CRI English with horse meat story // 17505: 17540 is 173 from Kashgar, 17505 is 289 from Kashgar. One more on 17485, heavy flutter, talk, language uncertain, and music: HFCC shows CRI Arabic, 289 from Kashgar. There is now sufficient insolation over the north polar region, a sesquimonth from Solstice to support enough ionization for an 18 MHz MUF in our nightmiddle (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 17625, 02/May 1958, R Cairo in vernacular. OM talk. Modulating low, but audible. At 1959 YL in French and at 2001 goes down abruptly. 45443 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9965, Radio Cairo, 2251-2317 May 3, man and woman talking in English accompanied by some instrumental music. Apparent news at 2300. Booming signal but almost no audio. How can professional engineers manage to do this consistently over the years? (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing PA 19610, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 15710, 04/May 1915, R Cairo in Hausa. Om talk. The mysteries of the incompetence of Radio Cairo. Today, with a modulation audible, although some distortion. 35433 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO CAIRO HA BISOGNO DI NOI! Ciao a tutti, quella che vedete qui sotto è una mail inviatami da Radio Cairo, dove ad una mia precisa domanda circa la possibilità di trasmettere le loro trasmissioni anche su internet, Hanaa Kheir, ha risposto che c’è bisogno del nostro aiuto e di richiederlo il più possibile! Che ne dite? Lo so che molti di noi non amano ascoltare le radio in streaming internet, perchè viene tolto tutto il fascino del radioascolto, ma credo che arrivati a sto punto, in cui sono anni che i tecnici di questa emittente non fanno nulla (almeno secondo me) per risolvere il problema della modulazione, l’unica soluzione possibile per poter finalmente tornare ad ascoltare Radio Cairo è poterla sentire anche via internet! Spero che questa mia proposta venga presa in considerazione e si possa aiutare in qualche maniera la redazione italiana. Saluti, Francesco (Terni) From: Programma Italiano Sent: Friday, May 03, 2013 12:09 AM To: Francesco Subject: Re: rapporto di ricezione e lettera Gentile Francesco, Per quanto riguarda la possibilità di sentirci via internet ,ti comunico che finora non e` possibile, ma cerchiamo di farlo e l`abbiamo chiesto al Presidente della Radio e siamo in attesa di ricevere una risposta, solo abbiamo bisogno del sostegno di tutti voi!! Di ricevere piu` lettere ...piu` rapporti d`ascolto ...e piu` richieste di trasmettere i nostri programmi via Internet Cordiali saluti, (Direttore Radio Cairo, Hanaa Kheir, May 3, via Francesco, May 5, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) gh improved Google translation: Radio Cairo needs us! Hello to all, what you see below is an email sent to me by Radio Cairo, where a specific question about the ability to transmit their broadcasts on the internet, Hanaa Kheir, responded that they need our help and ask for it as much as possible! What do you think? I know that many of us do not like to listen to streaming Internet radio, because it is taken away all the charm of radio listeners, but I think I got to the point where there are years that the technicians of this station do not do anything (at least in my opinion) to solve the problem of modulation, the only possible solution to finally go back to listening to Radio Cairo which also can be heard via the internet! I hope that my proposal will be taken into account and we can help in some way preparing Italian. greetings Francesco (Terni) From: Italian Program Sent: Friday, May 03, 2013 12:09 AM To: Francesco Subject: Re: reception report and letter Dear Francis, As for the chances of feeding via the internet, I inform you that so far it is not possible, but we are getting close to doing it; `we asked the President of the Radio and we are waiting to receive a response, we only need the support of all of you! To receive more letters, more reception reports, and more requests to broadcast our programs via the Internet. Sincerely, Director of Radio Cairo Hanaa Kheir (via DXLD) New time for Swahili transmission of Radio Cairo from May 5: 1600-1800 on 17840 ABZ 250 kW / 170 deg to CEAf, ex 1530-1730 on same (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) ** ERITREA. Listed is Asmara Eritrea new on 4700 kHz, but heard lastly on 7174.991 -or- 7184.991 kHz, but also heard on 9705.027 kHz and covered 9698 to 9711 kHz range by WHITE NOISE JAMMING from Addis Ababa Ethiopia at 1515 UT Apr 29. On 9705.027 kHz at 1615 UT and also Ethiopian WHITE NOISE jamming co-channel (Wolfgang Büschel, April 29, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews 4 May via DXLD ** ERITREA [non]. Re: 11610 Sharooqa (Liangas, 13-18): WRN brokered FMO. 11610 kHz 1600-1700 UT to zone 48 KCH 100kW 160deg ant216 daily eri MDA WRN (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) This one is targeting Eritrea. No connection with Al Aqsa University. Check this link out http://www.hafash.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2526&Itemid=664 It's the same Organization for Radio Erena, and Radio Assenna. Mainly an opposition group against the current regime in Asmara. In the main page which is in Arabic and English you can see under Audio/Video link a list of their media activities and the 3 Radios Mentioned. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, ibid.) BUT really from Sofia /Kostinbrod (Secretbrod) 1600-1657 11610 SCB 070 kW / 195 deg EaAf Arabic Mon-Fri Radio Shorouq 1700-1730 11560 SCB 070 kW / 195 deg EaAf Oromo Dimtse Radio Erena (Ivo Ivanov, ibid., WORLD OF RADIO 1668) 11610, 03/May 1601, BULGARIA (Relay), Radio Shorouq in Arabic. Beep signal and OM talk. Seems to announce the headlines. At 1610 local music. Very good signal. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brasil, on SDR, Twente, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shorouq = Sunrise, new clandestine as in DXLD 13-08 ** ETHIOPIA. 9705.031 at S=9+15dB level, and 5950 kHz at 0515 UT. Some observation of Radio Ethiopia on April 29, heard around 0325 and 0500 UT, schedule listed 03-12 and 12-21 UT. The faulty signal of 7233.715 at 1520 UT morning time slot, but rather 100 Hertz up on 7233.815 kHz in the afternoon at 1625-1700 UT, wandered up and down to xx.795 kHz at 1625 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, April 29, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews 4 May via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 13810, Dardarsha instead of V Oromo, 1710 28/4 with discussions 1715 with qur`anic psalms, several IDs of Dardarsha and an ID as as `sawt al fran´ (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, R75 2x 16 inv V, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 28/4 was a Sunday. I wish people would specify days of week where significant, so we don`t have to look them up. Aoki shows only B12 info: 17-18 Sundays in Afar Oromo (is that meant to mean one dialect, or two mixed languages?), and 17-18 Wednesdays with Afar Oromo until 1731, then Amharic, all 100 kW, 135 degrees from Wertachtal, GERMANY. However, current HFCC May 6 shows no individual programs or languages, but during this hour both Wertachtal and Issoudun, FRANCE; Wertachtal also on Sun & Wed only, but a separate entry for Tue. Issoudun at 1700-1715 on Sat, 1700-1745 in Sun & Tue, 1700—1800 Mon/Wed/Thu/Fri. This is following some changes effective 7 April. EiBi lists only V. of Oromo Liberation during this hour on 13810, 1700-1800 Sun & Wed, languages as above, all via FRANCE. EiBi`s only entry for Dardasha is on 1233 MW from Cyprus, a BVB service. Aoki has several Dardashas on SW in Persian and Arabic, via MBR, but the pertinent one here is: 13720 BIBLE VOICE BCN Radio Dardasha 1700-1715 1234567 Arabic 125 120 Wertachtal D 01041E 4805N BVBN a13 So apparently this service was on wrong frequency when ZL heard it? No, the latest full MBR schedule in DXLD 13-18 shows all the 13810 broadcasts are now via Issoudun, with SBO (Oromo Liberation) on Sun & Wed, all others being BVB (which would include Dardasha). 13720 is no longer on that schedule at all (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS [and non]. FIRS Port Stanley on 530 kHz --- Good signal from Falkland Islands Radio Service, Port Stanley (Falkland Islands / Islas Malvinas) at 0059-0110 UT heard on a DX-weekend near Montevideo, Uruguay. Pop music program and news from BBC WS at 0100 without self ID. QRM from Radio Madres from Buenos Aires: http://youtu.be/Giu735OzXC4 (Rodolfo Tizzi, http://cx2abp.blogspot.com/ May 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Hello, heard with the net sdr at Twente, a time signal at 1142 UT on 25000 kHz AM. An idea? (Nicolas Delaunoy, France, May 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's MIKES from Finland, all info here: http://www.mikes.fi/documents/upload/ursi2004_sent.pdf (Andrea Borgnino IW0HK, ibid.) ** FRANCE. QSL - RFI via Issoudun 9790, printed out a blank eQSL form, filled it out by hand, and returned it via snail mail! 79 days for French report sent to Radio France Internationale, Relations Auditeurs, 80, rue Camille Desmoulins, 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux, FRANCE. No v/s (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [Re 13-18:]. ``Kai: Yes, I also hear the final sign of life of MDR Info on all three frequencies. They used to have a useful format and I did tune in at times (Olle Alm, Sweden)`` Well, I have finally been driven away in 2005, when the continuous dumbing down became unbearable to me. Since then I prefer Deutschlandfunk. Transmission contracts for the AM transmitters are in place until 2016 in this case; If not seen yet: http://www.wwwagner.tv/?p=21450 includes two just digitized videos of the Wilsdruff transmitter from 1992/1993, with the second one featuring the head of the station, explaining its equipment on the last regular day of operations with the 1953 vintage transmitter. Good night, (Kai Ludwig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The three mediumwave transmitters in Saxony are now silent. As last one left Wilsdruff the air at 0937 UT, as first one Reichenbach between 0805 and 0815. Wiederau has been turned off in between, also after 0900 or even 0910, I think. The whole closure turned into a funny mess, caused by the elaborated approach to air a retune loop. At 0400 sharp the playout of this loop stopped (must have been programmed this way), leaving open carriers on 783 and 1044 while at Reichenbach the silence detector kicked in and put MDR Info on air again. Shortly afterwards the 783 carrier went off. It is not known so far if this was done manually by an engineer or, as I assume, by an automated system that cuts the carrier when there is no program audio, perhaps related to the DCC system installed only on this transmitter. At 0700 sharp the playout of the loop resumed and Reichenbach rejoined the regular feed. So all three transmitters again carried that brainwashing stuff until they have finally been turned off as described above. And so ended the era of AM broadcasting in Saxony with a blunder that perfectly fits my opinion about MDR. Now we're curious what we may hear on 783 and 1188 (on 1044 it's San Sebastián anyway) when night comes (Kai Ludwig, 1209 UT May 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) There is Radio Damascus on 783 kHz. The signal is always powerful here in Bulgaria: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6iZLXjD06U ! (Georgi Bancov, ibid.) Last night after 2300 Syria was the dominating signal on 783 here as well. But earlier and again tonight Barcelona (// 1296) dominates. On 1044 it is of course San Sebastián, already known as badly ruining the Wilsdruff coverage at night. Sounds rather like 100 than the listed 10 kW. But what really intrigues me is that Arab station with somewhat distorted modulation on 1188. If Egypt it should be, if the lists are correct, // 819, but it isn't. Should this really be Sanaa, as a jingle appeared to say? (Kai Ludwig, May 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) continued under UNIDENTIFIED. 1188 ** GERMANY. Jülich 1956 pic http://www.dw.de/a-grand-achievement/a-16782016 (Ian Baxter, NSW, shortwavesites yg via DXLD 60 Years of DW Radio: From shortwave to audio-on-demand --- Three hours in German on shortwave: DW first went on air with this radio format in 1953. Sixty years later DW has become a multimedia organization, providing information in 30 languages to people on all continents. http://www.dw.de/radio-from-shortwave-to-audio-on-demand/a-16784459 More DW 60 links.... http://www.dw.de/about-dw/60-years-dw/s-100298 http://www.dw.de/top-stories/60-years-dw/s-100254 http://www.dw.de/a-grand-achievement/a-16782016 (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, May 2, dxldyg via DXLD) Take a look behind the scenes at DW! http://nl.dw.de/HM?a=FtX7Cqg1pi9G8SA9MKJVcDHnGHxKLJ38AwjtS5kGaOAz0bBhOG5mpqVsje_Hhe-g20u7 DEUTSCHE WELLE --- 360 - An inside look at DW Do you want to get an inside look at an international broadcaster? We would like to invite you to see where it all begins and learn about how we produce high-quality television and radio for a global audience every day. Attention: Recording in process For the first time, we will take you where only the producers and anchors have access so you can experience the exciting atmosphere in the control room. There you can see how people and technology come together at a first class news desk. Global challenges and diverse responsibilities Click through all of the departments at DW with us. Join authors and coordinators as they report on what makes the educational program Learning by Ear so special, how the DW Akademie is mastering challenges abroad, or how people all over the world are becoming more enthusiastic about the German language. Check it out! 60 years of DW – The big sweepstakes DW is turning 60 and we want you to celebrate with us! Set your imagination free and upload here a creative picture as your gift to us. You can win a digital SLR camera or one of five other digital cameras. Visit us online and get to know our locations, projects and people at http://dw.de/360/english Your My DW Team T +49.228.429-4000 mydw@dw.de http://www.dw.de/mydw/english (via gh, and Dan Say, DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. The HFCC schedule of Media Broadcast seemed to have some wrong, double or reserve entries, but this seems to be true also for their new pdf-file at http://www.media-broadcast.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Downloads/A13_operational_150413_MBR.pdf I am surprised to find Sofia as an MBR outlet, but on the other hand I wonder about the absence of Trincomalee which had broadcasts scheduled for AWR and BVB. Nor do I find any TWR broadcasts via Moosbrunn (Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, May 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Hansjoerg, to explain your comments in detail: > Nor do I find any TWR broadcasts via Moosbrunn. FMO for TWR Europe is own(!) frequency management organization at TWR Vienna office, the latter orders/rent some MBR shortwave requests at ISS/NAU/WER -- or directly requests at "ORS Moosbrunn Austria" site {not via MBR}. 6105 0657-0750 27 NAU 100 285 .234567 310313-271013 TWR 6105 0657-0720 27 NAU 100 285 1...... 310313-271013 TWR 7215 0827-0900 28 NAU 100 135 1234567 310313-271013 TWR 7215 1400-1428 28,29,30 NAU 100 65 .2..... 310313-271013 TWR 7215 1400-1428 28,29,30 NAU 100 65 1.34567 310313-271013 TWR - - - AWR via Trinco requests, no "between trade" of AWR with MBR anymore, MBR contract with SLBC Colombo as FMO - seemingly - ended now, but now direct request of AWR Guam to handle at SLBC Colombo/Trinco in future. - - - BVB still has a contract with MBR: former TRM site outlets to Korea and China replaced by 17650 NAU 13-14 Mon-Sat, 1300-1330 Sun, to Korea {ex 15180} 21480 MDG 1100-1158 to China, En, Jpn, Mandarin, Cantonese {ex 15270 / 15390 alternate} SOF Kostinbrod via Spaceline Ltd. seems a - very cheap - PLACEHOLDER "between trade" matter, also for future use especially during winter season to NE/ME, or backwards to Europe during nighttime on LOWER SUNSPOT years ! vy73 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid., ibid.) Concerning the double entries, check out the start and end dates. They usually reflect how the concerned transmissions have been moved away from Wertachtal, many of them with a start and end date of March 31, being moved as of April 1. And HFCC reflects/reflected the phasing out of Wertachtal not yet at all (thus Ivo recently reported some transmissions still as WER which no longer originate from there). The placeholder entries in the real operational schedule very much look as if they are meant for Family Radio, perhaps out of a hope that they could return while in reality it rather looks as if its remains will go down the hill, too. Concerning Trincomalee: I assume Media Broadcast is no longer involved in the operation of this facility at all. Concerning TWR from Moosbrunn: These transmissions are booked directly from ORS, without the Media Broadcast shortwave back-office in Cologne being involved. The same goes for AWR and the Babcock-arranged transmissions. It's the same also with transmissions from Issoudun that have not been arranged through Cologne such as Radio República, i.e. this list also does not show anything from Issoudun that is not RFI. What I find most stunning is how little bookings from secular broadcasters remain. I think it is no exaggeration to say that without the American (including the maple leaf Americans) missionaries the shortwave business of Media Broadcast would be dead now (Kai Ludwig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 15100, S1 spur of 15155 of S20 at 1736 28/4 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, R75 2x 16 inv V, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15155? So what is that? AWR Oromo via Nauen, per Aoki and HFCC; nothing on 15155 at this time in EiBi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GOA [and non]. 15410, May 3 at 1136, weak SE Asian language talk marred by tone/siren jamming; 1138 song. Only thing scheduled is AIR Thai service at 1100-1200 via Panaji, Goa, which should not provoke any jamming; or are the Vietnamese now interfering in the affairs of Thailand? A restive minority in Vietnam can understand Thai? AIR Tamil service via Delhi/Khampur 15050-AM is in better (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DGIEST) ** GREECE. 15630, 02/May 2018, Voice of Greece in Greek. Church music, celebration of Orthodox Mass. Almost local. 45444 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9420, May 5 at 0524, Byzantine chanting from ERT as usual on Sunday mornings, but should be somewhat special as this is Orthodox Easter (wow, their calendar is way off this year from the Romans a month earlier: must have been calculated on different moon phases a month apart). Unfortunately reception is subnormal tonight, only fair with fading (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: Next year Greek Easter falls on the same date for once with the Western Easter. The Christos Anesti chanting on Saturday was poor at 5 p.m. EST, Midnight Greece Time (John Babbis, bclnews.it via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4055, UT Friday May 3 at 0509, no Chinese now from R. Verdad, but instead Brazilian Portuguese with background music. It doesn`t take long to recognize keyword ``deus`` as repeatedly pronounced not as in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII [non]. 9930, PALAU, T8WH Koror, 0948-1000* May 2 English; M announcer with Jesus talk & Bible quotes; listed "Zion Teacher" program; materials offered via www.lesea.com at 0958 and ad re giving Bibles to Sudan; ID, which I swear sounded like "KWHR Hawaii...." with South Bend contact info at 1000 then off; fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Old continuity lives! (gh, DXLD) ** HONG KONG. 8828-USB, Cape d'Aguilar, 1045 to 1050 weather on 2 May (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Last night at 1530-1545 UT on 1071 kHz (Rajkot) Home Service News in English was heard. Usually External Service in Baluchi is broadcast at 1500-1600. Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, May 9, dx_india yg via DXLD) How about DRM? (gh) AIR Delhi testing in simulcast mode --- All India Radio is testing its new 20 kW DRM transmitter at Mall Road, Delhi in simulcast mode, analog on 1368 khz & DRM on 1377 kHz, tentative schedule 1100 - 1700 IST (0530-1130 UT). (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, May 3, dx_india yg via DXLD) So these two are 9 kHz apart following the bandplan, yet other DRM/AM simulcasts in India have been reported as 10 kHz apart. Which? Do they really think the DRM noise will not interfere with the adjacent AM signal on ordinary receivers? (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. 15040, May 4 at 1210, AIR Burmese service with hi-pitched squealing noise; sounds like a modulation input problem, can`t tell whether originally it`s speech or music; poor signal with carrier OK; next door 15050-AM Tamil service sounds normal. At 1213, 15040 modulation clears up, now drumming and proper music from rustic instrument(s); 1215 adds vocal to the screeching, then slow talk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [and non]. 9870, May 6 at 1254, AIR VBS good with vocal music, no CCI yet and no DRM either, but at 1306, CCI from CRI English underneath, but growing to equal level by 1321 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also GOA ** INDIA. The A-2013 Home & External Service schedule of All India Radio is now available in their official web site as follows: http://allindiaradio.gov.in/Profile/Radio%20Network There are lot of new FM stations listed in Home Service sections. Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, May 6, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4749.96, RRI Makassar, 1228, May 7 (Tuesday). End of the Jakarta news relay in Bahasa Indonesia with national song “Bagimu Negeri” (For You Our Country); RRI jingles; 1235 to 1245 - segment in English and playing pop songs; poor with QRM from Bangladesh Betar and CNR1. Another Tuesday with no KGI program! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL - Kangguru Indonesia (KGI) program, via RRI Makassar 4750, sent a friendly, non-specific reply from Ogi Yutarini (Ms), IALF-EPOS Coordinator, after 3 days. Among other things, she said "we are happy to know that someone in Seattle can pick up the radio program from Indonesia. It is not unusual though that people from other parts of the world can listen to our program. And surprisingly there have been a few from America." I had sent a reception report with comments on their program to kangguru at ialf.edu, and attached a MP3 recording (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9526, Voice of Indonesia, 1259 ending programming in Japanese with IDs and contact info to 1300, then unmodulated carrier to 1307+, when I gave up. Fair May 2 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening in my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525.888, Most probably V of Indonesia Cimanggis service noted on various Tokyo SDR units at 1005 UT May 4, but signal tiny weak under threshold. Better signal in Australia remote unit, lady given station ID in English at 1015 UT, times, frequency details given (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) 9525.9, Voice of Indonesia via Jakarta-Cimanggis, with Tuesday’s “Exotic Indonesia”; 1301-1314, May 7; chatting between Jakarta and “Julia” in Banjarmasin; news; fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 15400, May 5 at 1303, VIRI with Qur`an, poor with flutter but finally in the clear now that HCJB Australia has finally moved off, after colliding with IRIB since A-13 began; that should have been evitable if they had worked it out at the last HFCC meeting, or even figured out it would be a big problem. Not that it was as essential for Iran, as they have a // 15300 already in clear, and which is stronger here for the Urdu sesquihour from 1300. See AUSTRALIA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. 15000, Italcable, 1733 28/4 with signal S6 and the known format of music, tones, FSK ID. On 10000 signal is below S1 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, R75 2x 16 inv V, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. New Radio Rasant transmission Radio Rasant Städtische Realschule Sundern Rotbuschweg 28 D- 59846 Sundern Fon: ++49 2933 77021/22 Fax: ++49 2933 77073 Web: http://www.radiorasant.org Email: info @ radiorasant.org Dear listeners on Shortwave and Mediumwave, we would like to inform you about our next transmissions which will take place on Saturday, 11th May, by the following schedule: 2013-05-11 10.00–10.30 CET 9510 kHz [08-0830 UT] 2013-05-11 20.00-20.30 CET 7295 kHz [18-1830 UT] 2013-05-11 20.00–20.30 CET 1368 kHz [18-1830 UT, Challenger? Italy] Parallel in the internet at http://mp3.nexus.org Please visit our website to check the time slot for your local area and to receive further information about our station. We appreciate all kind of reception reports, especially sent by postal mail (snail mail) to the address mentioned above. These letters always let the students reflect on their programme and motivate them to go on trying to produce a better issue next time. Thank you very much for your support in advance. Best 73s from Germany, Reinhard Marx - station‘s chief editor (via Georgi Bancov`s blog, May 6, dxldyg via DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. 5910, May 2 at 0409, R. Japón news in Spanish, 290 degrees via Issoudun, FRANCE, with low audible heterodyne and QRM from HJDH COLOMBIA. NHK paid no attention to the presence of Alcaraván Radio when it decided to use 5910 not only for this but for two preceding hours in Japanese, wiping out primetime reception of HJDH no doubt even in Colombia, 500 vs 1 kW, really an even greater disparity considering the huge antenna gain at Issoudun. Meanwhile, antiquated station licensing laws in Latin America do not allow for frequency flexibility in the real world of ISWBC, nor does the government make any effort to protect its own stations at HFCC. 5910, UT Sunday May 5 at 0423, R. Japón in Spanish mailbag via FRANCE, replying to someone in Colombia who wants to learn Japanese. As always on this frequency vs. het and CCI from COLOMBIA!! Whence NHK ignored occupancy already by HJDH; not a hint of irony, but their Colombian listener should bring it up (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR. 4950, AIR Radio Kashmir, Srinagar (presumed) heard now that Voice of Pujiang (Shanghai) is gone (believe May 1 was their last day of actually broadcasting). I faintly heard subcontinent music at 1349 on May 5. My local sunrise was at 1309 UT (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, California, USA, dx_india yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 11680, 02/May 2049, KCBS in Korean. Instrumental music. What happened? No nationalist anthem, and without fiery speeches? 34333 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. [Re 13-18:] ``I recall that in the early 1970s I used to hear a neighbourhood ham on my tape recorder or stereo amplifier when he was transmitting.`` In Wilsdruff every phone call was accompanied by the 1044 kHz program audio until the old phone exchange system has been replaced in the early nineties. ``So that is the technical state of the art in today's North Korea.`` The radio audio on the Thaicom signal, as I heard it on recordings, is apparently fed through plain copper lines. There is not only the bleed-in, the lines are also quite badly equalized (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. KOREA D.P.R./PHILIPPINES, 7225, Korean jamming from Kanggye? site on broad 7218 to 7228 kHz wideband, noted at 1257 UT May 2. Aimed at VOA Korean service daily at 12-14 UT from Tinang-PHL. But VOA S=8 signal heard well on downunder remote SDR rx unit in Australia, language course Korean/English on air when tuned-in at 1255-1258 UT like "...so far, so good...", "...Good Bye..." (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. The Voice of Wilderness, 11860 kHz --- Primera vez que la escucho. Señal casi local aquí en Montevideo por 11860 kHz, desde el sitio transmisor de Trincomalee en Sri Lanka. No listada en Aoki, sí en Eibi: http://cx2abp.blogspot.com/2013/05/voice-of-wilderness-11860-khz.html (Rodolfo Tizzi, Uruguay, May 3, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6020, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze/JSR via Yamata (Japan), 1332, May 7 (Tuesday); stilted Chinese; poor underneath strong CNR8. Schedule 1330-1430 with second half hour clear of CNR8 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 15575, Saturday May 4 at 1349, KBS World Radio is propagating well today, so I catch the final segments on `Listeners Lounge`: Jeff in Balto with Tech Tips, this time about the ``four corners`` within Seoul Calling on different days of the week. No four corners from Farmington today; it`s Christer Brunström`s week for DX news from Sweden, and now he gets 6 minutes at 1352-1358: some AWR Wavescan times and frequencies; HCJB Australia`s English at 0730-0830 on new 15490; R. Japan to Europe at 0500 on 5975 via GB; Tatarstan at 0810 on 15195, music recommended; WJHR Florida, 15550-USB from 1500 must be underpowered, not 50 kW, very poor signal = John Hill Radio; Reflexions Europe, religious pirate ex-Radio Fax, since *1988y, Sundays only 6295 & 12255 heard from 1700, site unknown, but Ireland a good guess and also 24h webcast; R. Brasil Central back on 11815 after transmitter problems, good for sertaneja music circa 2145; CRI announced April 9 a new service, V of the South China Sea, MW 1008, FM 101, and supposedly SW but no SW frequencies known, in Chinese, English, Vietnamese, Filipino et al. There were a few glitches, in recording or in STL feed? This used up all the `LL` time, so no pointless summary of KBS reception conditions, just wrapup (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN. 4870, Clandestine, V of Iranian Kurdistan, 0230, doing battle with jammer, jammer in easy win with almost no VOIK getting through, both gone by 0300 25 April (XM, Cedar Key, South Florida, NRD 525D, R8A, E-5, via Bob Wilkner, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. Radio Kuwait in Arabic was observed on May 1 on strange frequency: 2000-2400 NF 7250 KBD 500 kW / 350 deg to NoAm General Service, instead of 17550. Powerful signal over 2040-2100 Vatican Radio Arabic and 2200-2400 CRI Spanish. 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Obviously a singular mistake. Tonight they are again on 17550, about to fade out here in Germany now, at 2030. NOT // 6050 which carries some other programming. And the English pop program is there on 15540, too. In fact this all is tentatively only, with no IDs heard. But who else should it be? And all three outlets have distorted modulation, to varying degree (6050 is worst, 15540 best) but always of the same pattern (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) 17550, 02/May 2011, R Kuwait in Arabic. Chat in studio. 35433. 15540, 02/May 2013, R Kuwait in English. American pop music. 45433 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 21540, May 3 at 1403, R. Kuwait good with music, Arabic talk; notable only in that for the past week or two, 13m has been pretty useless from that worldpart at this daypart; and 21505 Saudi Arabia is also buzzing in past 1438. WWV reported as of 1500 UT: ``Solar-terrestrial indices for 03 May follow. Solar flux 148 and estimated planetary A-index 6. The estimated planetary K-index at 1500 UTC on 04 May was 1. Space weather for the past 24 hours has been moderate. Radio blackouts reaching the R2 level occurred. Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be minor. Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level are likely.`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15540, 03/May 1758, R Kuwait in English. Start of transmission in English, anthem, then OM talk, but goes down soon after. Back to 1802. The modulation is a bit low. 35433. 15540, 04/May 1906, R Kuwait in English. OM and YL talk. Today, with very low modulation, compared to the signal. 45442 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15540, May 7 at 2050, R. Kuwait stops the rock music, for news in English with opening theme. To my surprise, lasts a full five minutes instead of two, concluding with sports item and local weather, but the rest of the news has little if anything to do with Kuwait. Fair signal with fading, about the same as Arabic music on RK 17550 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, R Nacionaly [sic] Malagasy, 0227-0305 signal fair peaking at times to almost good, tuned in to hear "Bye, bye, American Pie," some piano music, other more regional music, appeared to be in language, at 0300 time pips, brief anthem excerpt, and ID, definitely had two mentions of Malagasy, possibly mention of Comoros, 25 April (XM, Cedar Key, South Florida, NRD 525D, R8A, E-5, via Bob Wilkner, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. Speaking of Madagascar and BVB, I notice that tdp.info shows the two Thomson transmitters from Bonaire being moved to the MGLOB facility. I think there were three units moved from Hörby. Could MGLOB have as many as six transmitters operating, assuming the electrical supply will handle it? Might be as many as seven if the old "third" (ABB?) 250kw unit is also still running? I assume the original two Philips from 1972 were scrapped (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The situation with the ex-Bonaire transmitters is such that the equipment has been dismantled in last December and the usable parts been sent to Madagascar where the container arrived just last week. One of the original Philips transmitters at Talata Volonondry has been removed to make way for installing two ex-Hörby transmitters. The other one is still there, being kept as an aux. So not more than three 250 kW transmitters are in regular operation. And the situation in regard to the Wertachtal plant is indeed such as indicated by the operational schedule (Kai Ludwig, May 3, ibid.) I'm somewhat confused about Madagascar; there was a third 250 kW unit in operation for a number of years before the Horby transmitters showed up, as listed in the various old RNW and HFCC schedules. Someone in DXLD some years back thought it was an ABB unit, perhaps secondhand. The two Philips had been throttled back to 250 kW from the original 300, plus there was the 50 kW unit. Had thought there were three transmitters brought in from Hörby? (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, ibid.) Until 2011 there were the two Philips transmitters from 1970, a later installed 250 kW ABB and that 50 kW transmitter. None of them came from Bonaire; this confusion probably arose from the circumstance that the Bonaire facility had been extended in an almost identical fashion. In 2011, the three transmitters from Hörby have been obtained and two ones set up to replace the old Philips rigs, of which one has been removed to clear the space and the other kept as reserve. So three transmitters for 250 kW operation and one for 50 kW, plus another 250 kW as aux. And the container with the still usable equipment from Bonaire, shipped to Madagascar instead of going the Deutsche Welle approach, just arrived there, has not even been unpacked yet. So of course no ex-Bonaire transmitters installed there in any way at present (Kai Ludwig, May 4, ibid.) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, Traxx FM, 1147-1157, May 7. The daily Islamic program in English called “Reflections”; “brought to you by the Radio Broadcasting Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, JAKIM”; fair- poor (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) April was another interesting and exciting month for QSLs here: - Asyik 6050 and Wai FM 6100 were confirmed with a single card, all details shown for both broadcasts, signed by Othman Bin Md. Said, for followups to 2011 receptions. The report was emailed to zulrahim at rtm.gov.my and the card was received 29 days later. 73, (Tom DL8AAM Rösner, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11665 & 9835, R Sarawak, 1655+ 28/4 with a song `sayang´ of Amy Search [?]. 9835 has a delay of ca 3 seconds over 11665 as tested with R75 and HF150 (9835). Signals are: 11665 with S9 max, 9835 with S5. At 1719 there is QRM by FSK on 11665 !! (tested on both radios) (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, R75 2x 16 inv V, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also AUSTRALIA; SARAWAK [non] 11665, 04/May 1002, RTM Wai in vernacular. Local pop music. Signal almost local. 45444. 9835, 04/May 1004, RTM Sarawak in vernacular. YL presents newscast. 44444 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 783 | R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, APR 18 2315 - fast Arabic talk by man; good. (Mark Connelly, Duxbury, MA, USA (GC = 42.0464 N / 70.6512 W) (= 42 2.8' N / 70 39.1' W) (west end of Powder Point Bridge, near Duxbury Beach) map at http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/pictures1/powder_point_map.gif Receiver: Microtelecom Perseus; Antenna: cardioid-pattern Micro- SuperLoop on car roof, square, 2 m per side, with Clifton Laboratories Z10130A amp on east bottom corner to speaker wire to 2:1 transformer to W7IUV amp, and 9:1 transformer on west corner to speaker wire to 500 ohm null-adjust potentiometer, ABDX via DXLD) + [same] APR 23 0001 - man in Arabic with slight reverb; over others (Mark Connelly, Harwich, Cape Cod, MA, USA (GC= 41.668 N / 70.039 W) (= 41 40.08' N / 70 2.34' W), (Red River Beach), Receiver: Microtelecom Perseus; Antenna: cardioid-pattern Micro-SuperLoop on car roof, square, 2 m per side, with Clifton Laboratories Z10130A amp on east bottom corner to speaker wire to 2:1 transformer to W7IUV amp, and 9:1 transformer on west corner to speaker wire to 500 ohm null- adjust potentiometer, ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 650, May 8 at 1135 UT, birthday greetings including to someone in Angostura, 1137 ``Buenos Días, Yarderos`` program ID, i.e. the reliable XETNT, Radio 65, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, the lowband XE most likely to hold up past sunrise which was 1131 UT today; also had one on 710, but not 730. Our earliest Enid sunrise in a month will reach 1114; while our latest sunset in two months will reach 0152 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 660, May 2 at 0455 UT, choral multiverse NA is playing, looping SSW, ends at 0457 and nothing further heard from this one, presumed XEFZ Monterrey, while another one with Mexican music further west fades in, presumed XEACB Delicias, Chihuahua (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 700, May 2 at 0517 UT, YL in Spanish vs WLW but not in its null, so approximately opposite direxion: that points to XEGD, La Poderosa in Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua, 5/1 kW per Cantú, assuming XEETCH in Sonora is really a daytimer. I had just been nulling WLW and hearing a different station playing music in English, probably previously heard XEDKR, Radio Red AM in Guadalajara, but there`s also now-Spanish KHSE in The Metroplex TX (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 730, May 2 at 0519 UT, Spanish talking over and over about pelotas, presumably sports format XEX México DF as the DF fits; thought it might be a late béisbol game from further west, but then at 0521 talking about Barcelona. Tho they`re mad about soccer there, unlikely to be a live game this early in the morning. With XEX nulled, another SS about ``Las reinas de Radiorama`` and ``Ke Buena`` ID, i.e. XEHB in Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua. XEX is allegedly 100 kW at night, and XEHB only 1, but their 50 kW day transmitter may be getting some extra usage. On the Ke Buena slogan, be aware that there is another one on 730, per Cantú, XEEBC in Ensenada BCN, 1/0.25 kW. Its FM is 97.9 while XEHB`s is 107.1 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 990, May 2 at 0506 UT after NA and full XET ID, produced opening of `La Ruta Musical de la T`, address Apartado 203, Monterrey NL, then to live host welcoming 990 and internet listeners everywhere, referring to yesterday being workers` May Day, but no mention this time of his program number in the 18-thousands. His speech is quite slurred, not your usual glib radio announcer, but hey, he`s just turned 98 on April 15! Again could not copy his name. I wonder if he now has a home studio or goes to work at XET every night for 50+ years? The Multimedios website is no help for anything but streaming linx to its multitude of stations, http://www.mmradio.com/estaciones/ciudad but searching on the program title found this lengthy article about Don Chabelo Jiménez, beisbolista whose mother lived to 107: http://www.larocka.mx/sexion-dos/suciedad-dos/1684-chabelo-jimenez-el-cronista-de-todos-los-tiempos.html {Reading it all later, I see that he records his XET show at 8:30-11 am, starting what is sometimes a 14-hour day when there is a game in the evening to call} (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 990, May 7 at 0604 UT, choral NA from SW or so, and anyway this midnite is an hour too late to be XET in the UT-5 zone. Likely XEER, Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, in UT-6, tho there is another beyond it, XEHZ in La Paz BCS, way down there where they also set their clox the same in the summer as we do in the winter; XET soon resurged with music from south vs CBW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA [and non]. [FSM - Federated States of Micronesia] 4755.510, PMA Cross Radio noted at 0820 UT May 4, a fairly easy catch at S=6 -93dBm signal level in downunder Australia. Christian prayer music, followed by sermon and talk about children in English language. Compare strength ABC Northern Territory, Alice Springs on 4835, S=9+20dB during their sunset hour. Or 5019.881, SIBC Solomon Islands, Honiara fishery fleet local news at 0840 UT May 4, S=8 in Brisbane remote unit (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) 4755+, May 5 at 1159 I quickly tune here from the Sarawak stuff, to hear PMA The Cross carrier cut off about 1159.5* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. 15345, Morocco, 1744 28/4 with Arabic pops but garbled carrier. At 1817 only RAE is audible at S7 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, R75 2x 16 inv V, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NO, Morocco quit SW a couple years ago, a lucky break for RAE. Still scheduled at 16-18 on 15345 now is R. Cairo in English (gh, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. [Re 13-18:] 9730.831, ODD signal of Myanmar Radio Rangoon. Empty channel when tuned-in at 1024 til 1028 UT May 2. But Rangoon TX switched on into service, started at 1028:30 UT. Followed program by Burmese female announcer, at 1042 UT also male voice noted. Signal was tiny poor, S=4 = about -105 dB signal strength, but at 1105 UT increased to -90dB, like S=5-6 strength. Still on odd frequency at 1125 UT, but OFF the air when checked again at 1135 UT. For orientation heard on adjacent channels: 9725.000, CRI Hohhot in Russian language. 9734.985, RTI Taiwan, Hakka/Japanese services from Tainan-TWN site. 5915.000, Poor signal on THRESHOLD level, like Burmese typical music noted at 1120 UT May 2, originate probably from Naypyidaw. Nothing from Myanmar on 6030, 7110 and 7200/7185v kHz. But Naypyidaw heard with native ladies songs on 7345.0 kHz at 1133 UT on May 2 [1030-1330], on equal signal level of co-channel CNR Beijing in Chinese from 1100 UT. And on 5985.790 kHz noted a rather strong open carrier of S=8-9 in peaks, fluttery signal at 1122 UT, probably also odd Rangoon unit. Yes, heard on next tune-in check at 1136 UT in likely Burmese language. All monitoring done at remote SDR unit in downunder Australia. Rangoon schedule seemingly like probably this on Aoki 9730.0, 0230-0730 {English news at 0700 \\ MW 576 594 kHz} 9730.8, 0730-1100 9730.0, 1100-1228 according to Aoki list: Naypyidaw 9590 0130-0930 UT. CONTINUATION Myanmar log May 2nd. 7200.087, Myanmar Radio Rangoon noted here on odd frequency from 1200 UT May 2 onwards. S=6-7 fluttery signal at -90dBm. But also on TWO ACCOMPANIED spurious signals, some 14.283 kHz AWAY. Little less signals on both 7185.804 and 7214.370 kHz channels. On 9730.000 only CRI English program heard from Kunming in 12-13 UT slot (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 2, dxldyg via DXLD) 9730.842, Myanmar Radio, Rangoon, very very tiny - under threshold signal level - on remote Tokyo SDR unit at 0935 UT May 4 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) 9730.00, Myanmar Radio, 1131* May 7. In vernacular; usual format of indigenous theme music before going off; best in USB (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. Radio Nepal has re-launched its website, with new design and features, including a widget for online listening and access to archived radio programmes. Revamped http://radionepal.gov.np has a wider format, featuring more convenient and detailed content categorisation. The old url http://radionepal.org is no longer working. --- (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, May 8, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Hey. Now that the Netherlands has a new King, perhaps we all should write to him and ask if he could restore Radio Nederland back to its old self, at least partially. I had to follow the installation of the new King via the BBC (GEORGE THURMAN, TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fiat ** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9925, UT Sunday May 5 at 0049, rock music, very good signal but selective fading distortion. 0100, KBC jingle ID, ``rocking over the ocean and all over Europe, we are the mighty KBC``, back to music. A prudent move up from 7375 for the summer months, just like Croatia did, now via Nauen, GERMANY. Continues UT Sundays only at 00-02 with Kim`s Radiograms, digital text tests circa 0130 and 0159 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9925, 05/May 0101, GERMANY (Relay), The Mighty KBC in English. Good old rock. At 0105 ID by DJ. Signal almost local, almost perfect. 45444. Also good signal in remote SDR, Mojave Desert, California. https://www.box.com/s/w8cxx1u58tjagfyew8q9 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) MFSK modes also on The Mighty KBC, with new frequency 9925 kHz. Information at: voaradiogram.net/post/49587553626/mfsk-modes-at-various-speeds-on-the- mighty-kbc (Kim Elliott, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ====================================================================== The new 9925 kHz KBC I could also hear here in Germany. My position to Nauen ===> Petersberg (near Halle) 207 135 km/84 miles That means: reception via ground-wave, because in terms of the space-wave I was in the dead zone/skip zone. http://www.rhci-online.de/LATEST__2013125011500_Juliusruh.PNG http://www.rhci-online.de/PQ052_2013125011500_IO_Pruhonice.PNG http://www.rhci-online.de/DB049_2013125011500_IO_Dourbes.PNG The signal strength was good, but the modulation quality did not make me happy. This sounded tinny out as a metal tin. Significant problems I had with the MFSK64 mode. Here I took several runs in decoding, LSB, USB, with and without FLDIGI AFC .... etc. + "human text-correction" of valid lines (possibly distorted due to side-beam radiations of the ground-wave). The reception of the VoA from America/North Carolina (radiogram on 17680 kHz) was compared to a lot much better...... Here is the decoded text from the 9925 kHz: http://www.rhci-online.de/2013-05-05__KBC_Radiogram_9925kHz.htm QTH: D-06193 Petersberg/Germany ANT: Dipol for 40mBand RX: IC-R75 + STUDIO1 + FLDIGI (roger, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENNG DIGEST) Eric, The Mighty KBC broadcast of Mary 5, 2013 9925 kHz via Nauen, Germany 0000-0200 UT summary. WTWW is on 9930 kHz until 0000 UT. Good thing they leave 9930 otherwise would cause moderate QRM. Also, at 0150 carrier on 9930 kHz. At 0200, WYFR begins Spanish broadcast. Once again good thing no audio, otherwise would cause moderate QRM to the Mighty KBC on 9925. The signal on the new 9925 kHz is between fair and good. There is static in the signal, signal not as clear/clean as 7375 kHz. SIO 353. The "Giant Jukebox", all records played at once, console button is not working as desired, "A Day in History", "Dutch News", "KBC complaint line" staffed by Pink Ronny, "Hello to Listeners". Digital text at 0134 and 0159 UTC. Program Comments: Very funny, entertaining and enjoyable. Thanks. **************************************************** 2013-5-5 0134 UTC MSFK32 centered on 1000 Hz. Hello Eric and KBC listeners, We have been experimenting with various digital text modes. It appears that MFSK is the most successful. We can coin a new acronym: FUM — Fastest Usable Mode. Here is the rule of FUM: MFSK16 (58 wpm): when poor reception conditions are expected MFSK32 (120 wpm): when fair reception conditions are expected MFSK64 (240 wpm): when good reception conditions are expected MFSK128 (480 wpm): when near perfect reception conditions are expected Thanks to The Mighty KBC **************************************************** 2013-5-5 0134 UTC MSFK64 centered on 2000 Hz. Hello Eric and KBC listeners, We have been experimenting with various digital text modes. It appears that MFSK is the most successful. We can coin a new acronym: FUM — Fastest Usable Mode. Here is the rule of FUM: MFSK16 (58 wpm): when poor reception conditions are expected MFSK32 (120 wpm): when fair reception conditions are expected MFSK64 (240 wpm): when good reception conditions are expected MFSK128 (480 wpm): when near perfect reception conditions are expected This text transmission centered on 2000 Hz is in the MFSK64 mode because we are expecting good conditions on the new 9925 kHz frequency from Nauen, Germany, to North America -- or at least the eastern half of North America. Please let Eric know how your reception is on 9925 kHz, and how well you are able to decode today's digital text transmissions. His email address is themightykbc@gmail.com Thanks to... +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |T|H|E| |M|I|G|H|T|Y| |K|B|C| +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ **************************************************** 2013-5-5 0159 UTC MSFK16 centered on 1000 Hz. Please listen this weekend to VOA Radiogram. **************************************************** 2013-5-5 0159 UTC MSFK32 centered on 1000 Hz. Please listen this weekend to VOA Radiogram, a half hour from now, at 0230 UTC, on 5745 kHz via North Carolina **************************************************** 2013-5-5 0159 UTC MSFK64 centered on 1000 Hz. Here is the entire VOA Radiogram broadcast schedule: (all days and times UTC) Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz Thanks to The Mighty KBC **************************************************** 2013-5-5 0159 UTC MSFK32 centered on 2000 Hz. Sending Pic:129x70C; KBC logo, white letters on blue background see image here http://misc.kg4lac.com\2013-5-5-MightyKBC-9925kHz-0159UTC-MSFK32.jpg **************************************************** 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Manassas, Virginia, United States of America, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And the Saturday Night (Sun 0000-0200) is the only signal provided for the Americas? Just 2 hours? Why can't/won't they increase it? 2 hours is hardly enough to get noticed (B-T-M, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) How about the cost for a private station of buying SW time? Lots of people have noticed it as it`s been on for months with plenty of free publicity (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Then why do it at all? 2 hours once a week on a Saturday Night? Almost seems not worth the time/money (Although I am glad they do!) (BTM, ibid.) It seems to me that their 2 hours on Saturday has created a lot of "buzz" and they must be one of the most listened to shortwave programs, at least in N America. I always either catch it or set my sdr to record it. I see logs of the Saturday night program on every shortwave site I visit. Kim Elliott`s digital tests within the program have created a pretty big stir also. I thought that originally these shows were a test to see if broadcasting to N america was worthwhile. It seem like it is (Dave Hughes, KC MO, ibid.) QSL - Mighty KBC, 9500 via Nauen [GERMANY], sent F/D eQSL in 4 hours for email report sent to themightykbc at gmail.com (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 15720, May 2 before 0500, RNZI was fairly audible as usual, but at 0536 I notice a big hole at 11725 where RNZI is supposed to be now; then recheck 15720, nothing there either at 0538, but tuning back across at 0539 it has just cut on this wrong frequency! But at 0541, 15720 cuts off, so I go back to 11725 to wait for it there. 0542 false start for a split second and back off; finally *0542:35 comes on to stay. All this during `Checkpoint` news magazine, whose would-be listeners must have been extremely frustrated. Nor was there any noise on 11675, supposed to be the DRM channel after 0459. BTW, during this period I was getting nothing from Radio Australia on 13 or 15 MHz; could Shepparton have been all off, or no propagation from beyond Rangitaiki? 9700, May 2 at 1223, RNZI is VG on new frequency, interviewing Amanda Knox, author and non-murderess? 1248 discussion of racism as cause of troubles in Fiji, military government oppression. 9700 replaced 9655 yesterday during the 11-13 transmission, both supposedly on the 325 antenna toward Timor, but this is so much better than 9655 had ever been, that I`m sure it`s really on the 35-degree antenna today, much better for us, to be lost into summer noise not long after 1300 on 6170. 9700, May 3 at 1147, RNZI still third day with VG signal on new frequency ex-9655, and still has to be on NE rather than NW antenna, fine with me, but what about the Timorese? 9700, UT Saturday May 4 at 1245, RNZI still with VG signal ex-9655, so also ex-the NW antenna previously used and still claimed to be. Program about the March [really early April] 1940y railway funeral procession from Wellington to Auckland for Michael Joseph Savage, and some recordings of what was apparently quite an event, including Maori chanting laments; 1248 they sing ``Nearer My God to Thee``. Just as I adjusted headphones at 1252, narrator mentioned that there had just been some Morse code, concluding this segment, and on to next item about the Wellington PO destroyed by fire in 1883y. Sounds like it could be the show `Sounds Historical`, but that`s in our nightmiddle. No, RNZI schedule grid defers to RNZ National, which in turn shows at 1230 today, `History Repeated` segment of the All-Night Programmme. Unfortunately `HR` has no entry on the schedules in its own right, disallowing me from assuring the details I cited be correct. Wikipedia says: `` Michael Joseph Savage is revered from many sides of the political spectrum and is known as the architect of the New Zealand Welfare State. He is considered by academics and historians to be New Zealand's most loved Prime Minister. He was often called 'Everybody's Uncle' because of his kind and friendly nature``. 9700, May 5 at 1243, the Timorese are deprived for a fifth day of their RNZI signal, as obviously still on the Pacific antenna putting very good signal into deep North America instead, now reviewing Susan Sarandon`s latest movie. 9655, May 6 at 1250, RNZI back here after a week on 9700 during the 11-13 bihour --- and signal is weak again, back on the Timor antenna, while 9700 was obviously on the Pacific antenna, with VG signal here, regardless of what listings or Ivo Ivanov may think. RNZI website schedule http://www.rnzi.com/pages/listen.php still shows 9700 for Timor; so was 9655 a mistake? Who knows which will appear on which antenna tomorrow? Program today was about Fiji and Tonga, with drumming sounder between. 9655 off by 1258, and weaker 6170 on by 1300 with timesignal and news. 9700, May 7 at 1256, RNZI is back here on Pacific antenna USward with good signal, after one day May 6 back on 9655 during this bihour on Timor antenna with inferior signal here. Item about it no longer being illegal in Samoa to impersonate a woman! As usual, rudely cut self off amid at 1258 for QSY to 6170. Does this dispensation apply only to human males, or other creatures? And how about females who are really females but give the impression that they are female impersonators? It`s been done (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Frequency change of Radio New Zealand International from May 1 1059-1259 NF 9700 RAN 100 kW / 325 deg to Timor, NW Pacific, ex 9655 (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) But on May 6 it is back on 9655. While on 9700, as I reported repeatedly, it was obviously on the Pacific antenna instead, until May 9 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, RNZi today May 7th at 1207 UT on 9700 kHz, observed on SDR unit in Australia as S=9+20dB signal (not 9655). News items of Auckland "...gays priesthood, ... gays and priests...", now May 7 at 1310 UT S=9+25dB on 6170 kHz AM signal. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Frequency change of Radio New Zealand International from May 15 1551-1650 NF 5975 RAN 035 kW / 035 deg to Cook Isl/Samoa DRM, ex 7440 1651-1750 NF 5975 RAN 035 kW / 035 deg to Cook Isl/Samoa DRM, ex 7285 (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. 8989-USB, "El Pescador Preacher", 2305 with religion en español under T-storm racket, weaker signal than usual, thanks Mark Coady log, 29 April (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, and XM, Cedar Key, South Florida, NRD 525D, R8A, E-5, via Wilkner, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 8989-USB, UT Monday May 6 at 0010, very weak Spanish yelling, could well be revival meeting, presumably the ``Pescador Predicador`` reportedly in or near Nicaragua. 0011 had brief ACI from much stronger US military test count on 8992-USB, with reverb like Andrews cyphercasts, but ID sounded like ``Willigate, out``. Maybe it was really tactical call ``Intermediate`` others have reported in UDXF (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From the same source [as UNIDENTIFIED 7610, q.v., baseball from Nicaragua?], Pescador Preacher on another frequency: ``9007 La Voz del Predicador-Pescador, second AMS channel 0009 UT 06.05.2013`` http://youtu.be/yrBl4rO-Onc (via Rodolfo Tizzi, Uruguay, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, PDX LISTENING DIGEST) What`s AMS? ** NIGERIA. 15120-AM, May 4 at 0454 fairly good carrier from VON but hardly any modulation, barely hearing some drumming; 0456 more modulation but still low with announcer opening morning service with program previews. Some nights this propagates, most nights not; is it sometimes off the air too? 15120, May 7 at 0518, VON with sufficient signal, but some hum and scratchy modulation, news item from UN Radio about DR Congo; 0528 quick ``this day in history`` segment about events in 18XX, 1922, 1999, 2012 and 2012y, took only about a minute to conclude the news magazine (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6950-AM, May 5 at 0432, very poor signal with music, so not all pirates are skittish about transmitting, following the bust in Ohio. Especially if they are allegedly in Canada, as when rechecked at 0447, this now has peaked to a good S9+12 signal with a song the lyrix of which lead to: Sting`s inarticulate ``De Doo Doo Doo, De Da Da Da``. I hope I spelt that right. And 0449 ID by robo-voice YL as Radio True North, with gmail eddress and Merlin pddress. ``Free music on shortwave, Radio Truth North``, and next one sounds like Pink Floyd. At 0455 it`s sunk into the noise level again (assuming all these were the same station, as not monitored continuously) (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. TCS-SRN: Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead! Greetings, pirate radio friends (and others, if there are any such left on this list :-) ! With the intent on improving morale in the pirate radio community, which may be suffering due to the reduction in activity in the wake of the Radio Ronin bust, I am pleased to announce that we are expecting a relay transmission of The Crystal Ship some time this evening, starting sometime after 0000 UTC (8 pm EDT), and on 6925 or 6950 kHz. Of course, this is a prediction and not a certainty, but the word is to watch the pirate frequency spectrum this evening. If the expected station appears, the show will be "Buried Treasures of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers", featuring some of our favorite less well-known cuts, including numbers from the more recent albums which haven't received much (or any) airplay. We would like to dedicate this show to our good friend Henry Sheppard and his station, Radio Ronin. As always, we'd appreciate any loggings of this being posted on the Free Radio Café as well as elsewhere. 73s and FIGHT for FREE RADIO! John Poet The Crystal Ship /TCS Shortwave Relay Network http://www.tcsshortwave.com Join Our Pirate Radio Forum! Free Radio Cafe Pirate Radio forum http://freeradiocafe.com/forum/ FRC Home http://freeradiocafe.com Free Radio Cafe On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FreeRadioCafe Follow FRC Loggings on Twitter https://twitter.com/FreeRadioCafe YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/FreeRadioCafe The Free Radio Weekly: A weekly Email publication with the most current pirate loggings and information now being published anywhere! Send your free subscription requests to freeradioweekly@gmail.com and tell 'em that we sent ya! (John Poet, TCS mailing list May 5 via gh, 2224 UT, dxldyg via DXLD) Crystal Ship 6950.65 kHz --- Got it now with a signal peaking at 10 over and playing deep cuts of Tom Petty material. 0103 UT but have been monitoring since 0040 (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, Eton E1XM, A/D DX Sloper, UT May 6, NASWA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) See also UNIDENTIFIED ** OKLAHOMA. 930, May 5 at 1212 UT, WKY`s Sunday-only token English pubaffs show, `Sunday Morning Magazine` is back with discussion of taxes, need for CPAs, unlike last week when filled by Spanish ads earlier than this. By 1224 however, it`s back to that indominantable (indominable?) Mexican music (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1120, May 4 at 2102 UT on caradio, KEOR Catoosa is on again with what else but PMS - praise music in Spanish. Continues to be quite sporadic, unpredictably off or on. 1120, May 6 at 1919 UT and rechecked about an hour later, KEOR Catoosa/Sperry/Tulsa is on the air again with nothing but praise music in Spanish. It`s beyond me how anyone could or would want to listen to this stuff hour after hour; requires a certain kind of insanity, and I bet no one at the station is listening to it either, as long as the automation is in charge. This daytimer again definitely on at night, and not too embarrassed to proudly ID: May 7 at 0557 UT, PMS and 0559, ``La mejor música cristiana en KEOR, Radio Victoria, 1120 AM, Tulsa``. In KMOX almost- null, making SAH of 3.5 Hz (Glenn Hauser, Enid, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1120, May 8 at 0519 UT, KMOX has frequency to itself, no KEOR cheater audible unlike last night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1430, May 2 at 0559 UT, ``University of Nazareth, Jesus H. Christ`` --- ha, ha, it must be one of those rare stations with a comedy format? No, soon follows ``1430 The Buzz``, i.e. only KTBZ Tulsa, sports format, which doesn`t provide much of a signal here, day or night, which is fortunate if it`s still buzzing with IBOC (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 93.1 WBFM, May 4 at 1920 UT noticed local Enid translator is back on the air, without straw-sucking-on-almost-empty-cup sound, but clearly without the input being fully quieted, continuous hiss! ID as ``The Gospel Station network``, after ads including for something in El Reno; then full ID for KIMY 93.9 Watonga, and three translators including one in Enid, too fast to copy, so try again at 2100: ``K227AT`` in Enid, but that was for the former frequency of 93.3! Correct call for 93.1 now is K226BR per FCC. The others are in Edmond and OKC. Wikipedia shows: K297BB 107.3 Edmond, and K268BR 101.5 OKC. Another ID at 1515 UT May 5 starts with 101.5 in OKC as if it were the source. 93.1, May 6 at 0007 UT on DX-398, notice that the KIMY 93.9 translator, which they don`t know has moved from 93.3 and is now called K226BR, not only has noisy input, but also has its own stereo pilot on, making it even noisier unless deliberately changed to mono, on this rather weak signal (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN [and non]. Oman: Tue, Apr 30, 13600 at 0258z, R Sultanate of Oman, indigenous music ends, Western tune (from Broadway I think) into bells and English news at 0300. British accented female newsreader. Back to poppish sounding middle-Eastern music at 0310. Poor reception on bedside SW7600 with outdoor inverted L compared to fair to good signal from BBC A'Seela on 12095 with a similar path. Azimuth of 100kw @ 220 degrees not nearly as favorable as the BBC azimuth of 250kw @ 335 (Aoki). The azimuth from Thumrait to central Texas is 330, from A'Seela it's 337. The next night at 0256z I caught the close of CRI Tamil via Kashi, 100 kW at 173 degrees, very poor, no signal at all from CRI resuming Tamil service via Kunming at 0300. No sign of Oman either (JLenamon, Waco, May 2, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Summer A-13 of Radio Sultanate Oman: 0200-0300 on 13600*THU 100 kW / 220 deg to EaAf Arabic 0300-0400 on 13600#THU 100 kW / 220 deg to EaAf English 1400-1500 on 15560 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu English 1500-1600 on 15560 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu Arabic 1600-2200 on 15595&THU 100 kW / 220 deg to EaAf Arabic * unregistered frequency, co-ch CRI in Russian # unregistered frequency, co-ch CRI in Tamil & strong co-ch 1600-1630 Vatican Radio in French/English (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 11570, ?? 1718 28/4 with a theatrical like play. Bad modulation with fluffy carrier (disturbed), S10 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, R75 2x 16 inv V, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Frequency change of Radio Pakistan: 0045-0215 NF 15490 ISL 250 kW / 118 deg SoAs Urdu, ex 17710 // 11580 (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. [Re 13-17:] Concerning Radio Maria PNG I can add that currently they are working on establishing their FM network. But the tx technician told me, that they also want to reactivate shortwave (Harald Kuhl-Germany/DXplorer via May NASWA LN via DXLD) Interesting; thanks! It seems St. Gabriel Radio went off the air on SW sometime after January 2008 but not clear when exactly. The station’s history is at this old web site: http://www.voiceoftorot.com/news/catholic-radio-network-of-papua-new-guinea/ (Bruce Churchill, ibid) was 4960 (gh) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. [and non]. 7324.964, Wantok Radio Light, Port Moresby, at 0900-0910 UT on May 4. Heard in Brisbane Australia SDR unit fine S=8 signal, a selection of flute and violin music, followed by late newscast "NBC National News" start at 0903:20 UT, read by female announcer. Talk on "law and order", higher education programs, medical services and malaria deceased in PNG. Vice President of SIBC Honiara and English presenter died some days ago, by asthma attack. "Sunny and fine weather" report at 0914 UT. At 0915 UT another co-channel station came on air on exact 7325 kHz. Seemingly RFI Paris Chinese, which starts via Tainan, Taiwan relay at 0930 UT till 1030 UT. But noted very low! modulation level from 0930 UT on Tainan broadcast! (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) 7324.964, Wantok Radio Light in English. Pop music. At 1048 May 4, OM with ID. At 1049 more music. Weak signal with much QRM and noise, maybe electric, on remote SDR in Milpitas, California. On another remote SDR in Mojave Desert, California, the same noise and QRM. Seems the sound of a boat engine (Jorge Freitas, Bahia, Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could it be Chinese interfering sound of co-channel 7325.0 from Tainan Taiwan? 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) RFI relay 0930-1030 only (gh) 7324.96, Wantok Radio Light, 1232, May 6. It’s the start of a another weekday, so the beginning of the “Back to the Bible” show; poor (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3204.96, NBC Sandaun, 1303, May 6 with local ID (“NBC Sandaun, Maus Bilong Sandaun”) till 1304* (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3204.96, NBC Sandaun, 1316-1328*, May 7. Running later than usual; poor; sounded like NBC National Radio programming (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3205v QRMed by severely overmodulated "Overbearer" on 3185 [WWRB]. 3325 missing. 3356v [means 3365?] strong carrier with no modulation detectable. 3905v still missing. 3384.998, NBC, R East New Britain, May 7, 2013 at 1007, Strong signal this morning. World news in Pidgin. By far the strongest of the Papuans this morning, with the exception of WRL on 7324.963 which is now being QRMed by CRI on 7325, with modulation at this hour [or RFI/Taiwan?? See above]. (Mike Gilchrist in rural SE Iowa, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3329.5, Perú, Ondas del Huallaga, Huánuco, 1005 to 1030 OM en español y musica under thunder storm crackle, 1 May (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5921.2, Radio Bethel, Arequipa, 2330 to 0000 on 21 April. This the last time this station heard (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, and MR, Vero Beach, South Florida, NRD 515, Drake R8B, Timewave ANC-4, Quantum Phaser, via Wilkner, May 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5980, R. Chasqui (xx [power unknown], Urubamba, Perú), 2305 UT. ID de la emisora como Radio Integridad y comienzo de reflexiones cristianas en español. SINPO: 33333 (Claudio Galaz, Rx: Tecsun PL-660; Antena: Cable de cobre de 5 metros unido a coaxial de 5 Ohms de 20 Metros. QTH: Centro de Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, Conexion Digital May 5 via DXLD) ! No dates on any of his many more logs, suppressed? (gh) 5980, May 2 at 0052, R. Chaski is poorly audible in Spanish vs the noise level; by 0101.5 I am again hearing some Spanish after music; 0104 music and announcement including a number of numbers, cut off at 0104:58*, 5 seconds later than last night. We must remember that if an ID ever be heard around this time, it will likely be for Red Radio Integridad, which R. Chaski is reportedly relaying before cutoff. 5980, May 3 at 0024 I get a JBA carrier on the main FRG-7 rig with computer noise off, so this time I stay warm inside instead of DX- peditioning to the porch with the DX-398. R. Chaski signal gradually improves vs 5990 CRI/Cuba splash; at 0049 I can make out it`s in Spanish, but altho carrier is no weaker, no modulation heard after 0100; did it stop? But not cut off the air until 0105:02.5*, just about when expected at 4.5 seconds later than last night, but probably a +/- 0.5 second margin of error; anyhow, this time it has surpassed the previous 0105 reset mark. BTW, in A-13 HFCC there is nothing else on 5980 between 21 and 03, unlike in B-12 when we had Asian QRM until 0100. The Brazilian in Aoki on 5980 is probably inactive 24h. Not even Scandinavian Weekend Radio, monthly from Finland will be on 5980, but on its other 49m channel, 6170, during this period UT May 3- 4 (mislabeled April at http://www.swradio.net/schedule.htm site). 5980, May 5 at 0053, JBA carrier from R. Chaski vs the hash and noise; cuts off at 0105:13* which is 10.5 seconds later than two nights ago. [and non]. 5980, May 6 as early as 0009, carrier is detectable at about same level as later in hour, but buried in the noise. Back at 0103, it is a little better with some modulation making it, as I start monitoring with BFO to detect exact time of carrier cut, which is: 0105:18* which is just as expected, 5 seconds later than last night. BUT: very brief carrier cut and then it comes back! Has R. Chaski changed its procedure? Listening further, another somewhat stronger carrier goes on and off, and then at 0106 I now recognize the tones of DGS on the remaining 5980 signal as weak as Chaski had been! 5980 is always at risk for a leapfrog mixing product, transmitted or within receiver due to overload, when the two WWCRs are on 5890 & 5935, another 45 kHz higher, but normally 5890 is not on this early, so there is no problem in the Chaski window. DGS is indeed on 5935 now and checking 5890, a very strong open carrier, so WWCR must have turned on early just as Chaski was going off. On weekends, WWCR-4 is off the air from 7520 at 0000-0200, and 5890 does not start until 0300; in fact it goes off 9980 at 2200, so #4 is available for whatever in that interim. On weekdays = UT Tue-Sat, 5890 does not start until 0200, all per WWCR program (not transmitter) schedule. 5980, May 7 at 0055, R. Chaski carrier as usual, buried in the noise level but definitely there; and by 0104 enough signal to make out some talk modulation until a bit of music before chopped off the air at 0105:24*, six seconds later than last night (and no 5890 WWCR leapfrog over 5935 to confuse things this time; just lite pulse jamming against defunct VOA). 5980, May 8 at 0103, R. Chaski, Urubamba, audible with music and talk in Spanish, cut off at 0105:29* which is 5 seconds later than last nite (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. Yesterday at the end of the Russian language broadcast around 1800 (UT) N. Voroshilskaya announced that in response to complaints from listeners about poor quality, from May 21 to transfer to 1730 (UT) will be transferred to 9400 kHz (Oleg Panko / "deneb-radio-dx" via RUsDX May 5 via DXLD ``Transfer`` translates everything from ``broadcast`` to ``change``; so both time and frequency change, ex-what? Presumably via BULGARIA (gh, DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Back in January of this year, the top hat monopole at Miramar collapsed due to a storm: this may be old news by now. According to another piece of info I got yesterday, the site shows no wrecks, no trace of the antenna at all, just the concrete base. While all these months can be considered more than enough time to get the site active again, in a recent phone call to the RTP last week I learned the company has not ruled out the possibility of installing a new tower; but at the same time there are simply no plans for a new one. This sort of "action" has unfortunately become the typical reaction of the RTP whenever one of their MW antennae collapses. Examples thereof existed in Porto Santo & Madeira as well as in the Açores: in the former archipelago, the other two remaining transmitters, Ponta do Pargo 1125 & Sr.ª do Monte 1332, were shut down while in the Açores only two remain active, viz. on 828 and 837. This time, however, there were complaints from listeners in the Porto region, but in view of the sheer lack of response from the RTP in terms of reactivating the frequency, I wouldn't be at all surprised, if 720 Miramar (*) may be left on a long, very long stand by period or simply suppressed. *) 41º 04' 36.66 N 08º 39' 16.44" W. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, May 1, mwmasts yg via DXLD) ** PUNTLAND. SOMALIA, 13799.96, R Puntland, Garowe, (presumed), *1319- 1430, Apr 15, 16 and 19, typical instrumental Somali music and choral singing, continuous and so far no announcement (maybe a test broadcast), fine clear signals, but some fading, 25322 or even better! From *1430 till 1530* IRIB, Tehran in Russian is blocking the frequency! But R Puntland heard again 1530-1537*. It seems to test with 200 watts on 6140 in the mornings and on 13800 in the afternoons. (Mauno Ritola in DXLD and Johann Wiespointner, Schörfling, Austria, DSWCI DX Window May 1 via DXLD) Puntland not heard same time Apr 20 in Denmark (Anker Petersen, ed., ibid.) Who heard which? Has anyone heard either frequency lately? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** ROMANIA. 15210, May 8 at 1146, RRI English promoting its visit- Romania contest (but pay your own roundtrip fare!), fair signal intended only for western Europe. Four easy questions to answer by June 30, for a 10-day trip in September. Details finally found at http://www.rri.ro/art.shtml?lang=1&sec=16&art=359655 and probably on every broadcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ZANZIBAR ** RUSSIA. Frequency changes of Voice of Russia from April 30: 1300-1600 NF 7505 DB 100 kW / 137 deg SoAs Hindi/Urdu/Hindi, ex 7585 (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) 6035, Voice of Russia, 1730, May 8, English news headlines, all talk, improving to 1800:48 carrier off. Seems recent NF possibly replacing 6070 Novosibirsk which I could not trace anymore. Completely in the clear, decidedly better than // 6185 Irkutsk (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RECENT A-13 REQUEST. 6035 1600-1800 41,42,49 NVS 250 180degr 0 288 Eng RUS VOR GFC 18189 6070 1600-1800 41,42,49 NVS 250 180degr 0 288 Eng RUS VOR GFC 7223 6185 1500-1800 42,44,49 IRK 250 180degr 0 288 Eng RUS VOR GFC 1622 41 Pakistan, India, Bangladesh 42 China & Tibet, west of 90 East 44 China, East of 110 East, Korea 49 SoEa Asia 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Wolfy has lately taken to calling HFCC entries ``requests``, as if waiting for someone to grant them. But they are normally post-facto faits accomplis (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Russia via Novosibirsk, sent full-data including transmitter site for report sent to world at ruvr.ru. My original report was sent in February. In early April I sent a followup inquiry which produced a quick reply from Elena Osipova, who said "due to technical problems at the VOR post office the QSL card verifying your report of February 10th has been delayed for which we are sorry." The card arrived 77 days after the original report, 25 days after the followup. That seems to be right; over the last few days I got (so far) five letters from different VoR branches, some with QSLs (for quite old RRs) and several "Happy New Year 2013" greeting cards and calendars ;-) Interesting to see these envelopes were franked with a (for me) new metered postage machine from Pitney Bowes, which I even can't find in the International Postage Meter Stamp Catalog on http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/International_Postage_Meter_Stamp_Catalog/Russia It looks like a variation of the listed (older?) "AB12" version. I do collect postage meters in my second life... ;-) 73, (Tom DL8AAM Rösner, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. QSL - Radio Rossii Kamchatskaya, 5930, Petropavlovsk- Kamchatsky, sent signed and stamped F/D QSL card (v/s unreadable). I sent a report in Russian and attached a MP3 recording with local IDs and the start of a local program. The QSL was received 25 days after the report was sent to otk at kamchatka.tv (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RWANDA. 6055, Radio Rwanda, 0322, May 6. Fair (best in LSB); African/Calypso music; 0331 ID/news/sports (“Chelsea”, “Manchester United”, “Liverpool” - which were all teams that had matches on May 5) till 0345 in either French or vernacular (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SARAWAK [non]. 17840, the new R. Free Sarawak frequency heard the last few days, is missing! May 2 at 1227 and later in the hour, nothing there, but soon found its replacement, which is even better: 15500 at 1228, very good signal rivaled on 19m only by HCJB 15340 & 15400. A long conversation in presumed Iban, mostly talk by a guy on the phone, sometimes with kid noises in background. What about the other frequencies? 15430, something very poor at 1230, seems to be same but not in synch; nothing on 15460 yet, but 1241 now something with CCI, and a little better at 1251 sounding like same programming but not synch with 15500 either. Both far too weak. Meanwhile, I was listening closely to 15500 most of the time, and never heard a ``Radio Free Sarawak`` mention, but this was obviously it. 1230 a brief transmitter break, right back on. At 1238 a few seconds of guitar music, back to phone conversation. Tried to pick out a few words, such as ``kingpin``; ``kitai`` several times, like China in Russian? Probably not, altho also thought I heard a ``Chung kuo`` = China in Chinese. 1255 mentioned Fidel Castro? All this possibly misunderstood. Unlike 17840 cutting off at 1258, 15500 stayed on until 1259:55* and the final word was allowed to be completed. Now, where is 15500 coming from? Hardly any fading, and very strong signal eliminate a hi-latitude path. Could have been from Australia like HCJB, but no spare transmitters there (hmmm, Shepparton does have a standby not otherwise scheduled). But I bet it`s Madagascar, which can also put in very good signals here trans-equatorially far off from the target areas. Compared to other 19mb signals: 15450 Turkey English audible put poor; 15040 AIR Burmese is rather good despite being transpolar; east Asian signals are quite poor; 15775 VOA Korean from Philippines is only fair tho often quite good here aimed 21 degrees also USward. I also check a known Madagascar channel at next opportunity, 15525 at 1400 with V of Tibet, but it`s only poor today unlike some much better days. DX Re Mix News, Bulgaria, is again behind, just issuing today an update for RFS with 15430, 15460 and the now deleted 17840 as: ``1100-1300 on 17840 TRM 125 kW / 105 deg to SEAs Iban till May 5``. So they think the site is/was Trincomalee, SRI LANKA. If so, on 15500, we must have had a pipeline from it today. Or maybe 17840 was really still on but not propagating here, and 15500 a fourth frequency/site? As usual, http://radiofreesarawak.org/ pretends to be only on 15430. Let`s not forget the other Sarawak clandestine, Radio Free Kenyalang, which AFAIK is still on 15400 at 09-10 via PALAU, too early for us. I understand that with a different political outlook, it is not being jammed, unlike RFS, which accounts for the additional frequencies and abrupt changes in the final days before the May 5 elexion climax; altho no trace of any QRM on 15500 here, maybe as yet undiscovered by the government on this, its first day in use (and surely nothing to do with the Saudi test on 15500 April 28.) Say, what about Sabah? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Free Sarawak monitoring May 3: circa 1135, algo on 15430, maybe carriers on 15460, 15500, nothing on 17840. 1157 recheck 17840 and now there is a poor signal, presumably this, but it cuts off at 1158* halfway thru the 2-hour broadcast! So I retune to: 15500, at 1158.5 strong open carrier has just come on, shortly adding RFS modulation, presumably the transmitter which just quit 17840. 15500 continues to provide fine armchair reception the following hour, far from Sarawak. I can even hear a lite squeal on the signal, altho it could be from a local device. At 1202-1204, four or five Radio Free Sarawak IDs in passing, as different people are being interviewed, first on phone, and then in studio; mentions ``free media``. I keep hearing a word like ``kitay``, likely nothing to do with China. 15430, at 1207 now up to poor level, switch to a YL voice briefly which helps to calculate that 15430, the only frequency RFS acknowledges, is running about 20 seconds ahead of 15500. 15460, by 1209 is improved with bits of music, also helping to time its relation to 15500, i.e. 15460 is 6 seconds behind it. See my recent reports for speculation about the sites for each. That settled, except when tuning around for Firedrake, etc., I stick with best by far 15500, as if serving Iban-speakers in Oklahoma (if any?). At 1250 phone rings (beeps) and another interview starts with berita from someone who has birds chirping in background (could those be Kenyalangs?). 1259 wrapping up with ``OK``, bit of music, 1259:55 cut modulation and 1300:00 cut carrier, obviously adjusted after my notice that they were cutting off too early at 1258. 17840, May 4 at 1135, poor signal from presumed R. Free Sarawak in Iban via secret site; enough to tell that like yesterday, it cuts off at 1158.5*, and 15500 cuts on at *1158.8 with much better signal, re- joining talk in progress. The other pair of channels, 15430 and 15460 are also audible much more weakly at 1209. Back to 15500 just in time to hear modulation stop, carrier a few more seconds and off circa 1300*. All this may last one more day, May 5 being elexion day in Sarawak. Too bad they don`t include even a few minutes of English explaining to the rest of us what`s going on; but in general there are serious allegations of corruption in the current regime. NOTE: Sunday May 5 there will be a special broadcast of the Malaysian general election results at 1600-1700 on 15500 from PALAU, which probably means the previous 15500 transmissions have been from there. RFS on 15460 and Radio Free Malaysia on 1359 kHz MW will continue until May 10 and then take a break (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15430, 05/May 1231, SRI LANKA(?), R Free Sarawak in Iban. OM talk, then music. Very weak signal in my QTH, good signal in SDR, Twente. On 15460 very weak signal in my QTH and SDR, Twente. OM interviewing a man by telephone. At 1235 the interview ends. Transmissions are different or very desynchronized(?). In my QTH on 15460 modulation is understandable, but the signal is degrading. From 1245 improves the signal 15430. No signal in my QTH on 17840, also no signal in SDR, Twente. In SDR, Nakhabino, Russia, there was a weak signal modulated which ended at 1259, jointly with 15430 and 15460 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17840, May 5 at 1157, nothing audible if R. Free Sarawak was there from 1100; quick switch to 15500 to find that carrier already on at 1157:30, but if modulated, only just barely tho signal is very good; after 1200, normal modulation with rustic instrument music, ID mentioning London. I was not hearing 15430 or 15460 before 1200, but at 1202, 15430 is barely audible, and 15460 is just barely audible with algo. Amazingly, per quick E-mail search, since I first reported this new frequency 15500 at 1200-1300 for RFS on May 2, no one else had reported it or even referenced my log until Ron Howard today. It`s by far the best signal from RFS here, presumably PALAU. I listen for a while from 1206. The language sounds more like Indo/Malay than Iban now, as I recognize a few words, but they may have just been overflow from Malay. At 1206:50, 15500 dumps off the air; still on 15430, but 15460 sounds like something unrelated. 15500 back on at 1208 so I listen for a while and intermittently during the next hour: 1208, M&W discussing berita2, ``propaganda``. Unlike most days, songs are interspersed including at 1212. 1215, phone call put on air. At 1232, 15500 again in music, while 15460 has something weakly talking. 1234 discussing different parties by their English initials: SWP, PKR, also the word ``lima`` frequently, nothing to do with Perú and certainly not Ohio. At 1246, 15460 is very poor but now sounds like RFS too; at 1250, 15500 has another song, 1252 talking about BN (the ruling party nemesis). All off by 1300. It remained for R. Australia, q.v. to explain the politico-ethnic background to the Malaysian elexions. I also tried for the special RFS elexion broadcast scheduled on 15500 for 1600 today May 5 only (midnite in Malaya), but nothing audible vs the noise level (Jorge Freitas did hear it at 1558-1700, but on the Twente SDR with electronic music QRM from 15499.50). However, BBCWS news at 1700 via KCSC-FM said that with two thirds of the vote counted, the ruling party had won a simple majority. Looks like more clandestine radio activity is called for, if they are not too demoralised. See my yesterday`s report for plans (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15500, 1558-1700 PALAU, R Free Sarawak in Iban, (According to information from Glenn Hauser). Open carrier. At 1559 ID in English, then 1 kHz signal [tone]. At 1600 start transmission with OM and YL talk. At 1612 music. In SDR, Twente, there is QRM, possibly jammer, which interferes strongly with the reception. In my QTH the QRM is almost imperceptible. The QRM in SDR, Twente, is on 15499.50. The QRM has modulation of electronic music with distortion. The signal in SDR, Twente is degrading. The signal in my QTH is 34433. https://www.box.com/s/t2kofk5ecjfojuck6m9z At 1700 end of transmission. Audio of the last minutes of the broadcast: https://www.box.com/s/uxf45zxklpsvgx95hkmm (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The English ID at the start of his clip is only for World Harvest Radio; joined too late to hear if they said T8WH but surely did. At the very end of the closing clip, after RFS but before cutoff, WHR says ``we have a god`` twice! (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Glenn, The recordings of listening are from my QTH with my Degen 1103. (Jorge Freitas, ibid.) May 5 was an election day of the general election of Malaysia. I estimate that it was the special program of the general election. In addition, I think that the parallel service of 3 frequency until May 4 was for a general election (S. Hasegawa, Japan, ibid.) Certainly (gh) Temporarily schedule of Radio Free Sarawak: 1100-1300 on 15430 DHA 250 kW / 105 deg to SEAs Iban till May 5 1100-1300 NF 15460 TAI 100 kW / 200 deg to SEAs Iban, ex 15430 1100-1300 on 17840 TRM 125 kW / 105 deg to SEAs Iban till May 5 -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) NO, 15430 and 15460 were both in use for a few days till May 5; Victor Goonetilleke denies TRM was a site, and 17840 was probably Palau, and per my own monitoring [as above!] switched to 15500 just before 1200 for the second hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Schedule of Radio Free Sarawak on May 5: 1100-1300 15460 PAO 100 kW / 200 deg SEAs Iban 1200-1300 15430 DHA 250 kW / 105 deg SEAs Iban, ex 1100-1300 on same 1200-1300 15500 HBN 100 kW / 345 deg NEAs*Iban, ex 1100-1300 on 17840 1600-1700 15500 HBN 100 kW / 270 deg SEAs Iban, special on May 5 only * probably via T8WH Angel 5, not via T8WH Angel 3 or T8WH Angel 4, due to: 1200-1300 9930 HBN 100 kW / 318 deg EaAs English Sat/Sun, T8WH Angel 3 1200-1300 9960 HBN 100 kW / 270 deg SEAs Khmer Post Radio T8WH Angel 4 (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) There is NO ``T8WH Angel 5`` -- A5 is one of the WHRI transmitters in South Carolina. If that had ever been used, it would have been much stronger here (and hardly any good for Sarawak). So that theory won`t work. If not A3 or A4, must have been somewhence else completely. 17840 until 1158 and 15500 from 1159 were surely from the same site, whatever it was. Victor Goonetilleke denies Sri Lanka is a site for this. And why all the different targets above, even ``NE Asia``? Surely this was all for nowhere but Sarawak. Compare to my previous reports of day-by-day monitoring (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Schedule of Radio Free Sarawak on May 6: 1100-1300 15460 PAO 100 kW / 200 deg to SEAs Iban. No signal on 15430/15500 (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) PAO = Paochung, TAIWAN U.K.(non), New updated schedule of Radio Free Sarawak: 1100-1300 on 15430 DHA 250 kW / 105 deg to SEAs Iban till May 5 1100-1300 NF 15460 TAI 100 kW / 200 deg to SEAs Iban, ex 15430 1100-1300 on 17840 TRM 125 kW / 105 deg to SEAs Iban till May 5 (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) DHA = UAE, TAI = Tainan, Taiwan. 17840 until 1158 and 15500 from 1159 were surely from the same site, whatever it was. Victor Goonetilleke denies TRM Sri Lanka is a site for this (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15460, May 6 at 1225, fair signal with presumed Iban conversation like we were hearing much better on 15500 until May 5. After losing the elexion, Radio Free Sarawak has cut back to one frequency, and this one planned to continue only until May 10. Ivo Ivanov thinx the 15460 site is Paochung, TAIWAN, 100 kW, 200 degrees at 11-13 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SARAWAK [non]. Radio Free Kenyalang remains unchanged: 0900-1000 on 15400 from Palau and no plans to stop (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SARAWAK [non]. 9835, May 2 at 1316, Sarawak FM, as relayed back to Borneo from the Peninsula, numerous mentions of FM, perhaps frequency list, then ads and music, fair signal. Meanwhile the other relay on 11665, Wai FM, is still heavily QRMed by Radio Australia in Chinese. Note: this demonstrates two different usages of [non]: in this case, not a clandestine, but in the geographical transmitter location sense, altho really it`s all within Malaysia, West to East; in the RFS sense, definitely clandestine targeting Sarawak, surely from anywhere else (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9835, MALAYSIA, Sarawak FM, 1233 Bahasa Malay, man talking about Islam, 1235 promo announcement following by pop songs. Fair May 2 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening in my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA [non]. 9685, UT Thursday May 2 at 0058, bigsig IRS is talking in Serbian, while usually at this hour they are playing IS after English semihour; recheck 0105 still on with electronish music while Serbian is really scheduled until 0130 Tue-Sat. Their timings do slip. 9685, May 3 at 0015 and 0053, International Radio Serbia is missing! Nothing at all from what is normally the strongest signal out of Europe on 31m at the time including English at 0030; higher-latitude paths are somewhat weakened, with 9665, V. of Russia via PRIDNESTROVYE having a hard time against the off-frequency Brazilian het; 9490 France is also losing out to the wall-of-noise Cuban jamming which it usually manages to dominate; but 9700 Romania is quite sufficient, and I`m sure if Bijeljina were on at all it would be well audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello everyone, just noticed that Serbia on 9685 seems off the air, or did they change frequency? 73 (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, 0104 UT May 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) IRS are having trouble keeping 6100 on the air as well. Found missing at 1946 on May 1 allowing rare reception of KCBS opening in the clear with usual IS 1958 but overpowered by co-channel CRI which appeared that same minute. (Un)fortunately IRS suddenly returned 1959. IRS also off May 2 1858 check, unid weakish carrier noted here instead is who? (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, ibid.) Monitorei as transmissões da R. Serbia Int'l agora a tarde em 6100 e 9635 e não houve sinal de nenhuma das transmissões. Monitorei em meu QTH e em SDR, Twente. Em 6100 às 1830 apareceu uma portadora sem modulação. As 1832 modulação abrupta com OM apresentando notícias. Até as 1840 transmissão normal, sem interrupções. As 1837 uma ID da "Rádio Austrália" na voz feminina, mas parece ser parte de uma matéria jornalistica. Terminou a transmissões às 1858 com boa recepção pelo SDR, Twente. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, 1859 UT May 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9685, May 5 at 0048 check, IRS is still missing. What has happened? Was last heard here UT May 2, but missing on May 3, and not checked on May 4. 9685, May 7 at 0054 check, IRS is still AWOL. I hear that their other frequencies have also been missing or sporadic. 9685, May 8 at 0101, still no signal from IRS (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.881 kHz, SIBC, fishery fleet local news at 0840 UT May 4, S=8 in Brisbane remote unit. Nice audio quality (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SOMALILAND [non log]. 7120, Radio Hargaysa. May 6 checking for the usual reception at 0350 and 0412 (normal sign on time *0330), but nothing heard at all. One day event or what? (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 17660, at 0800 UT David Crystal from Israel heard Sundays only SARL club special program "Amateur Radio Mirror", via Sentech, English - noted on 7082usb, 7205, and new 17660 kHz channel, is replaced from 17570 kHz. Latter which is covered co-channel by IRIB German service from Sirjan Iran (David Crystal, ISRAEL, April 22, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews 4 May via DXLD) ** SPAIN. [Re 13-18]: PROGRAMMA SPECIALE EAJ62 RADIO VITORIA 30 APRILE 2012 CHIUSURA ONDA Ciao, è ascoltabile online dalla WEB "programas a la carta" di EITB Radio Vitoria 1602 kHz l'ultima emissione speciale dedicata ai 79 anni dell'emisora con molti jingles e souvenirs di storiche registrazioni. http://www.eitb.com/es/audios/detalle/1328648/agur-onda-media--ultima-emision-radio-vitoria-onda-media Nel caso che desiderate contattare l'emittente la loro email : radio_vitoria @ eitb.com E' la prima chiusura sulle onde medie di emittenti appartenenti ad una entità autonoma della Spagna, la EITB dall'Euskadi (Dario Monferini, Italia, May 2, playdx yg via DXLD) Hello, Don't know if this has already been mentioned here, but that programme can also be heard online at: http://www.eitb.com/es/audios/detalle/1328648/agur-onda-media--ultima-emision-radio-vitoria-onda-media/ A very interesting piece of radio history, 73s, (Rémy Friess, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Also (via Jose Bueno, dxldyg via DXLD) I tried sending a report from FEB 27 to radio_euskadi@ eitb.com and the message bounced, saying their mailbox is full (Jim Renfrew, Holley NY USA, MWCircle yg via DXLD) Hi Jim, Yes, after this call for reception reports I can imagine. This morning I got an automatic confirmation mail that my mail was read. So, I would try again the coming days. I just received a nice e-mail pdf QSL! 73 (Max van Arnhem, Netherlands, May 2, ibid.) EUSKADI: Radio Vitoria, 1602, Email-QSL special last day on MW, reply in 2 days. Report sent to radio_vitoria @ eitb.com V/s: Xabier Matxain (Christian Ghibaudo, France, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** SPAIN [non]. 07/May 0055, Extensive range of QRM, 11805-11830, of the [11815] transmission DRM from REE (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, Degen 1103 - All listening in mode of filter Narrow the 4 kHz, Dipole antenna, 25 meters - east/west, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 9505, L V Soudan, 1652 28/4 with talks in French, bad audio (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, R75 2x 16 inv V, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Omdurman identification in Arabic heard now on 7205 kHz many mornings. 7205.000, After some short news in Arabic at 0330 UT heard clearly identification "Radio Omdurman Sudan" ID at 0332 UT April 29, S=9+20dB signal in Germany. Omdurman heard also here in Germany in early afternoon time slot, and at times, when 7205 kHz is not covered by other big broadcaster (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews 4 May via DXLD) ** SYRIA. Radio Damascus has not been heard on SW for a long time, but the daily English hour can still be heard online via WRN at http://www.wrn.org/listeners/#stations The station’s opening announcement no longer refers to SW, only to various satellites and web sites (Dave Kenny, May BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) But no anti-Assad clandestines known in 2+ years of civil war! (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [and non]. 9410/9773.973/15373, Fu Hsing BS from Kuanyin is seemingly not on air today May 4. But heard a strange two-tone signal on 15373.225/15373.345 kHz, on remote SDR unit in Tokyo. Only CNR5 program heard on 9410 kHz in Tokyo at S=9+15dB level, \\ 5925 and 7410 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) RE: DXLD 13-17: “Fu Hsing BC, Kuanyin is reported inactive on 9410 and 15375 kHz, only 9774 kHz is in operation (WRTH National Radio Update 22 April via DXLD).” 9410 is in fact still broadcasting. Thanks to a Dave Valko alert; May 2 had Fu Hsing BC on 9410 (underneath a strong CNR5) clearly // 9774 (in the clear, but weak); *1100. Website: http://www.fhbs.com.tw Since July 1, 1995 this station has positioned itself as a “cross- strait information specialist” (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Eton E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. 7579.991, YFR time pips and YFR fanfare ID noted at 1300 UT. Transmission from Taipei-TWN relay til 14 UT in Vietnamese. Jamming from Vietnam interferes like CODAR WIPER audio wips (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) ?? Never heard time signal from WYFR; if on the Taiwan relays, it probably comes from RTI (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 11985, May 3 at 1144, piano music announced in Russian as Rakhmaninov, but also a Chinese name, performer? What`s this? Aoki shows RTI in Russian at 1100-1200, 100 kW, 2 degrees from Hu Wei site, which is one doomed for demolition shortly. I already confirmed it was not // stronger CRI Russian USward on 11935. [and non]. 15265, May 5 at 1237, open carrier with flutter, and continues until 1258 finally starts Chinese, 1300 timesignal and more Chinese now hit with het and jamming. Aoki shows: ``15265* R.TAIWAN INT. 1300-1400 1234567 Chinese 250 225 Tanshui TWN 12125E 2511N CBS2 a13`` but why run the carrier that early? The jammers need only a second to tune up on it once modulated (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [and non]. Back in the winter I begged Radio Taiwan International to put a transmission back in the evening where we could actually hear it instead of it being on while I and many people were leaving and coming home from work during the 2200 hour. I was pleased when I tuned by one night in A13 about a month ago and heard the broadcast at 0300 on 6115. I have listened most nights since. For the life of me, I can't understand why Family Radio is letting those transmitters sit idle when we have lost the Sackville relay station. Family Stations drove themselves in the ground with their silly doomsday and end of the church age nonsense and seems to be content just shutting the whole thing down. Call up some of the stations that put their eggs in the WRN on XM/Sirius basket and say, hey, we have some airtime at a transmitter site that will cover most of the western hemisphere! As much that is going on in the Korean Peninsula, and now we can't even hear KBS World Radio except on the dang internet and when 15575 propagates. Give me a break. There are those of us that don't want to be tied to our computers or using our cell phones to listen to everything. OK, I am done ranting (Ryan Ellegood, Union City, TN, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good on ya Ryan :-) I agree whole heartedly with what you are saying. Keep making your views & suggestions known directly to the radio stations concerned. Feedback from correspondence always welcome here. Cheers (Ian Baxter, NSW, ibid.) ** TAIWAN. [Re 13-18:] ``While it's true that the Huwei station is being taken off line. There is a good reason. First: This site is only of the older ones in Taiwan and has many technical issues. Second: These antenna and this site is and was used for targeting South East Asia. Never China . . . (Keith Perron, Taiwan)`` Literature specifies Huwei, together with Tanshui, as facility of the former CBS, the organization responsible for transmissions to the PRC in the old days. So is this not correct? I find it remarkable how the Epoch Times article uses the term "substation", otherwise related to the traction power supply of railways/subways/trams/trolleybuses. I have never seen it as term for "transmitter site" anywhere else, thus I strongly suspect that the quoted insider is an employee of RTI in whatever position (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now compare this to "RTI doesn't claim to know anything about new SW DRM txers." (Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavesites yg Apr 19) Left hand not knowing what the right one is doing. One could come to less kind conclusions as well. The core question here is whether or not RTI will continue to lease out shortwave airtime to third parties, in fact also to continue the exchange arrangements with Family Radio and Radio France Internationale, and, if that applies as well, Babcock. In the first place it would not be too much of a surprise if RTI is no longer interested in continuing its transmissions from Okeechobee, Issoudun and Woofferton. It seems to me that this got lumped together with transmissions to the PRC in general (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Kai, Just as a point of interest: RTI itself does use the term "substation" when referring to its transmitter sites (Ian Baxter, ibid.) And Tony Ashar sent a page from the 2011 RTI diary in Chinese and English saying `` substation`` (gh, DXLD) ** TAIWAN [and non]. 14400, Sound of Hope Radio International, Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, ??, Chinese, 26.04 2240. OM/YL: Talk, talk, and talk… 2300 UT, time signal, a estação deu sign-off nas transmissões, 25422. Rx: Kenwood R-1000, Ant.: PA0RDT Mini-Whip (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Are you sure it wasn`t CNR1 jamming instead of SOH? CNR1 jam typically signs off at hourtop with timesignal. I have to keep questioning such logs over and over by people who apparently are not aware of the severe but incomplete jamming the ChiCom impose on SOH (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) 11500, 02/May 2039, SOH in Chinese. OM talk and instrumental music. At 2040 OM talk. No Firedrake and no QRM CNR 1. 35333. 11500, 04/May 0956, TAIWAN (Relay), SOH in Chinese. OM and YL talk, external reviews. Good signal 35433 // 12500, 13530, 13850 and all with very good signal 45444 (Jorge Freitas, Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jorge, are you sure this was SOH and not CNR1 jamming against SOH??? It is very important not to assume SOH unless you are sure there is no CNR1 (or Firedrake) jamming. The jamming typically cuts off after timesignal at the top of the hour. Most of the SOH transmitters being jammed out-of-band, are rated at 0.1 kW by Aoki. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) Glenn, Um amigo que reside na China já identificou algumas de minhas escutas como sendo SOH e não a CNR1. Em anexo segue a última gravação dessa escuta no dia 22/Feb/2013. Agora pela manhã eu irei fazer nova gravação e solicitei ajuda com uns colegas da Ásia. Uma coisa eu sei: a CNR1 tem uma programação característica de muitos jingles, falas rápidas, músicas pop chinesas e geralmente as escutas que eu faço da SOH são de falas pausadas e músicas com estilo religioso, suave. Mas claro que pode ser a CNR1. Estou averiguando. Segue link da minha última escuta e hoje cedo irei fazer novas gravações, caso a propagação ajude. Um abraço, (Jorge Freitas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [later:] Glenn, bom dia. Hoje pela manhã a propagação está ruim. Ainda assim havia um sinal em 11500 e não estava em paralelo com nenhuma das frequências da CNR 1 que consegui sintonizar aqui, algumas com bom sinal. Em um rádio remoto em Manila, pelo Global Tuners, a transmissão era a mesma que eu ouvia aqui em meu rádio, mas com sinal muito fraco para gravação. No remoto o sinal estava justo e na hora cheia de 1100 não houve a tradicional ID da CNR1, somente as 1102 parece que houve alguma coisa que se assemelhasse a uma ID, mas com uma locução bem comportada e música instrumental suave. Em algumas das frequências da SOH eu realmente percebi o sinal da CNR 1 e algumas delas não estavam sincronizadas e com bastante atraso uma das outras, mas essa em 11500 estava totalmente diferente de qualquer coisa que se assemelhe a CNR 1 com as falas fortes, modulação alta e muitos jingles. Continuarei a pesquisar o assunto lhe informando sobre todas as situações. Um grande abraço (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil May 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [later2:] Glenn, Difícil é acreditar que as transmissões da SOH tenham apenas 0,1 kW. A gravação do Ron mostrou o sinal da SOH que depois foi sobreposto pelo jammer da CNR1. Aqui agora as 2220 em 14980 eu tenho recepção diferente da CNR1. Bem, por volta das 2220, me distrai e não sei precisar a hora certa, o jammer CNR1 passou a sobrepor os sinais da SOH em diversas frequências. Interessante é que no SDR, Twente, agora as 2229 em tenho um sinal diferente do que ouço em meu QTH em 14980. Em 14980 no meu QTH, as 2232 eu tenho um sinal com falas de Om e Yl, sempre com falas suaves, pausadas e ao fundo outra transmissão que é a CNR1, mas prevalece o sinal da suposta SOH. Já no SDR, Twente prevalece o sinal da CNR1, o mesmo das demais frequências em // da CNR 1. Resumindo: O que eu ouço em 14980 às 2245 é diferente do que eu ouço em 14980 no mesmo horário pelo SDR, Twente. No SDR, Twente é claramente o jammer CNR1 das demais frequências em // da mesma. Agora com certeza se não fizer uma comparação minuciosa de frequências da SOH e da CNR 1, dificilmente pode-se logar como sendo a SOH. As devidas explicações para chegar-se a essa conclusão deve ser incluída no log e com certeza uma gravação pode ajudar na comprovação da escuta. O seu questionamento é justo e o radioescuta deve estar atento para que esse procedimento esteja devidamente informado em seu log e uma gravação da escuta é muito importante. Assim sendo eu estarei seguindo esse procedimento ao logar a SOH. Segue em anexo a gravação em 14980 kHz. Um grande abraço, (Jorge Freitas, May 7, ibid.) Yes, I`d say the recording sounds more like SOH than CNR1 in this case. As for powers, SOH could move a 100 or 300 kW ``real`` transmitter onto any of these 0.1 kW ``nuisance`` or stand-by frequencies (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) 11300, Sound of Hope, 1212, May 8. This is still the best time to check for the SOH IDs in English; not used on all their frequencies; continue to spell out “w-w-w-s-o-u-n-d-o-f-h-o-p-e-o-r-g” with letters in English followed by “Sound of Hope” also in English; IDed while religious song playing in the background; poor-fair with no CNR1 present (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [non]. Beginning May 19th until June 9th, 2013. PCJ Radio International will be conducting some test transmissions from Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. Time: 1300 to 1400 UT Dates: May 19, 26; June 2, 9th – 2013 [SUNDAYS] Frequency: 11750 kHz – 25 meter band Target area: East and South East Asia Power: 125 kW Azimuth: 45 degrees For more information our email is pcj @ pcjmedia.com or you can also contact Victor Goonetilleke victor.goonetilleke @gmail.com (Keith Perron, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PCJ Radio International via Trincomalee, Sri Lanka The schedule, frequency and dates for the PCJ tests from Trincomalee have been posted by Keith Perron [as above]: http://www.pcjmedia.com/home/1-latest-news/234-pcj-radio-international-via-trincomalee-sri-lanka He has also posted the programming details on the Facebook group: "The content for the 1 hour broadcast will be a 10 minutes news and views. Followed by a special Happy Station Show for listeners in East and South East Asia. Frequency coming later." (via Steve Cooper, May 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN [re 13-18]. BBC's odd transmission via Tajikistan --- Although BBC Russian Service stopped producing most of its shows and news programmes along with broadcasting on short waves back in March 2011, there is still a mysterious medium wave transmission on 1251 kHz (which seems to be via Yangi-Yul, Tajikistan, 100 kW) at 1730-1800 UT (Monday - Friday), carrying back editions of BBSeva show hosted by Seva Novgorodsev. This broadcast has not been mentioned in BBC's official schedules for two years now, though several times I used to see it in WRTH pdf supplements, along with an odd broadcast on 1188 kHz (B11) in Kazakhstan. What is the point of carrying back editions on a regular basis? Maybe someone knows more on that. P. S. It should be noted that starting from March 2011, BBC Russian Service produces only three radio shows available as podcasts (Aleksandr Diadischev, Ukraine, May 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. QSL: Radio Free Asia 15195 (relay), full data 2013 Year of the Snake card in 9 days for online web form report. Transmitter is shown as "Asia" and not specific, BUT EiBi shows Tajikistan for this time frame. I wish they would put it on the card! A somewhat slow week! Hope everyone else's was good. 73 (Al Muick, Whitehall PA USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TATARSTAN [non]. 15110, May 4 at 0458, poor signal with flutter in non-Russian talk, no doubt Tatarstan Wave as scheduled from 0410; 0459 a bit of music and different talk, maybe a bit of Russian? Off 0500* before I could decide. Need to listen from the outset for the music. What is the real site now? HFCC, Aoki and EiBi all show Samara, RUSSIA which is also still in HFCC for many other transmissions. 15110, May 5 at 0446, Tatarstan Wave via Samara, narration with music, good but fluttery; 0457 the narration is quite emotional, in presumed Tatar, off by 0500. Christer Brunström says this is for the Tatar diaspora elsewhere in Russia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. 15608, May 7 at 1310 very poor signal with some modulation, no doubt V. of Tibet via TAJIKISTAN, while the CNR1 jammer on 15610 is under WEWN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUNISIA. 7275 & 7335, May 7 at 0622, IWT is still absent from SW, we hope not forever (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Summer A-13 SW schedule of Radio TV Tunisia [IWT] (currently not active): 0257-0507 17735#SFA 250 kW / 100 deg to N/ME Arabic, registered 13730 0357-0627 7275 SFA 500 kW / 340 deg to WeEu Arabic 0557-0807 7335 SFA 500 kW / 265 deg to NoAf Arabic 1557-2007 17735 SFA 250 kW / 100 deg to N/ME Arabic, registered 13860 1657-2127 7225 SFA 500 kW / 340 deg to WeEu Arabic 1857-2307 7345 SFA 500 kW / 265 deg to NoAf Arabic # till 0500 very strong co-ch Radio Free Asia in Tibetan (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Summer A-13 schedule of Radio Dniprovska Hvylya: 0600-0800 11980vZPR 0.3 kW / non-dir UKR Ukrainian Sat/Sun (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) ** U K [non]. ASCENSION: 11810 BBC; 2052-2100+, 1-May; English feature on cannibalism in pioneer America, right into feature on French wines (didn't say, but I'd guess that a red would have been appropriate). 2059 ID & programme promos; "BBC World Service, the world's radio station." ToH pips/tone & more promos. SIO=353 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7355, May 7 at 0621, BBCWS is sufficient from Ascension northeastward, in just expanded extra hour until 0700. Seems they are always doing news of some sort (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 11/05/2013: ANNUAL ARMED FORCES DAY CROSSBAND MILITARY / AMATEUR RADIO COMMUNICATIONS TEST - The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are co-sponsoring the annual military/amateur radio communications tests in celebration of the 63rd Anniversary of Armed Forces Day (AFD). Although the actual Armed Forces Day is celebrated on Saturday, May 18, 2013, the AFD Military/Amateur Crossband Communications Test will be conducted 11 May 2013 to prevent conflict with the Dayton Hamvention (17-19 May 2013), which is the same weekend as the actual Armed Forces Day. The annual celebration features traditional military to amateur cross band communications SSB voice and Morse Code tests. These tests give Amateur Radio operators and Short Wave Listeners (SWL) an opportunity to demonstrate their individual technical skills, and to receive recognition from the appropriate military radio station for their proven expertise. QSL cards will be provided to those stations making contact with the military stations. Full details can be found at: http://usamars.us/crossband_2013.htm [AF MARS] (I.C.P.O. Bulletin (03 - 10 May 2013) "Islands, Castles & Portable Operations", via editor Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) 2013 AFD. In celebration of the 63rd anniversary of Armed Forces Day (AFD), the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are co- sponsoring the annual Military/Amateur Radio Crossband Communications Test. Although Armed Forces Day is traditionally celebrated on the third Saturday in May -- May 18th -- the AFD Military/Amateur Crossband Communications Test will be conducted on May 11th to prevent conflict with the Dayton Hamvention, scheduled for May 17-19th. The annual celebration features traditional military-to- amateur crossband communications SSB voice and Morse code tests. These tests give Amateur Radio operators and short wave listeners an opportunity to demonstrate their individual technical skills and to receive recognition from the appropriate military radio station for their proven expertise. QSL cards will be provided to stations making contact with the military stations. Military-to- amateur crossband operations will take place on the dates and time in UTC on the frequencies listed for the Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps and Coast Guard MARS stations. Voice contacts will include operations in single sideband voice (SSB); some stations will use CW to provide the opportunity to check in by Morse code. Depending on propagation and staffing, some stations may not operate the entire period. Participating military stations will transmit on selected military MARS frequencies and listen for Amateur Radio stations in the amateur bands. The military station operator will announce the specific amateur band frequency being monitored. Duration of each voice contact should be limited to 1-2 minutes. The annual Secretary of Defense message will be transmitted via digital modes, including RTTY, PACTOR, AMTOR, PSK-31, MFSK and MT63 from certain stations. Check the MARS Armed Forces Crossband Test website for schedules and frequencies of participating military stations, including a list of stations that will be transmitting the annual Secretary of Defense message at: http://www.usarmymars.org/home/announcements Instructions on how to copy and submit the message are also included. (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1111, May 6, 2013, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** U S A. BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS – INFORMATION WAR LOST – DYSFUNCTIONAL, DEFUNCT AND UNGOVERNABLE – DAVID ENSOR SPEAKS – THE NEWSROOM AND THE FY2014 BUDGET By The Federalist on 07 May 2013 in Bureaucracy v. Strategy, Featured News, Hot Tub Blog, by The Federalist [see original for linx to videos, formatting] http://www.usgbroadcasts.com/bbgwatch/2013/05/07/broadcasting-board-of-governors-information-war-lost-dysfunctional-defunct-and-ungovernable-david-ensor-speaks-%E2%80%93-the-newsroom-and-the-fy2014-budget/ Bureaucracy Warning Sign(From Part One on the FY2014 budget) [caption] On Wednesday, April 10, 2013 the White House released its FY2014 budget request. For US Government international broadcasting and the employees who engage in the effort, it is more bad news. It is yet another sterling example that the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) is taking the US Government out of the business of international broadcasting to global publics. The agency’s FY2014 budget request is for $731-million dollars. By comparison, the agency’s enacted FY2013 budget was for $756-million dollars. Comparing the two, the FY2014 budget is for $25-million dollars less than its FY2013 budget. Blood On The Floor – By The Numbers: Greek Service: eliminated (4 positions) Georgian Service: 4 positions cut (including 1 unfilled vacancy) Cuts to broadcasts to Afghanistan (10 positions cut, 5 are vacant) Albanian Service (3 positions cut, 1 is vacant) Eliminate front office personnel for Near East and Central Asia divisions (6 positions) Cuts to Spanish to Latin America and Creole to Haiti (8 positions cut, between 6 and 9 vacancies) Urdu radio broadcasts: eliminated (4 positions) Persian News Network (PNN): radio eliminated (4 positions) And the main targets: Worldwide English: 11 positions cut including 7 vacancies VOA Central Newsroom: 24 positions cut, 20 which are vacant We note a portion of comments made by Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) member Michael Meehan as quoted in a press release dated April 10, 2013 regarding the FY2014 budget proposal: “Some of these changes, if enacted, will be very difficult on the men and women involved…” Part Two Here, we put the focus on the main targets: the VOA Central Newsroom and Worldwide English broadcasts. Senior International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) staff has made it clear that they intend to take the agency out of the business of US Government international broadcasting in significant way. They have put their agenda ahead of the national and public interest. Decimating the VOA Central Newsroom and making additional cuts to Worldwide English programs means that the agency is well on the way to no longer being a reliable source of news and information for global publics. All the IBB talk about creating a “global news network” is a diversion – intended to distract Congress and the American taxpayers from what we see as an entirely different outcome. US Government international broadcasts in English are being drowned out by English language programming from other international broadcasters including the Russians (“Russia Today”), the Chinese CCTV and Al-Jazeera English – all of whom have made it clear that English language broadcast programs to North America are a top priority as well as to other global regions. The IBB cabal has decided not to see the world as others do. They most certainly do not recognize English language broadcasts by the United States Government as a top priority. Coupled with what appears to be a visceral dislike for radio, and to a large extent also television broadcasts, they are more than willing to silence what has proven to be the most potent and effective media resource (broadcasting) in reaching global publics who speak English or are engaged in developing English as a second language. With intentions and decisions like these, it comes as no surprise that audiences for agency programs have not grown since 2008 (if one ignores the latest BBG gimmick press release announcing the sudden discovery of an audience in Latin America that was already there for some time – to the point where continued funding of the agency is now becoming an exercise in futility if the current International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) management is not replaced. A budget proposal for FY2014 that represents $25-million dollars less than its actual FY2013 budget facilitates the silencing of the agency’s core operations. [As anyone in official Washington knows, you never make it your official position to ask for less money for your agency even in difficult fiscal times. You let someone else make the decision to give your agency less money.] Senior agency officials putting their stamp of approval on a reduced budget connotes a whole lot of negativity. It demonstrates to the Congress that you don’t believe in your core mission, especially when you know large segments of world publics rely upon – or used to rely upon – the agency for credible news and information. If you know that large segments of global publics lack access to unfettered accurate news and information and that press freedom is a limited commodity, this move is beyond nonsensical and goes into the realm of unconscionable to US national interests. Within the Cohen Building, it is a clear signal that the fat cats on the Third Floor of the Cohen Building are tossing the agency’s mission overboard – along with the employees who support that mission. For global publics, it is a clear sign that you are being abandoned by the United States Government, opening up a variety of very unpleasant scenarios. Thus, we come to Mr. Ensor’s meeting with VOA Newsroom staff following announcement of the agency’s budget proposal. Relying upon individuals who were present, here are some things which caught our attention: Mr. Ensor acknowledged that 20 positions were vacant in the Newsroom and that represented a pretty serious problem for Newsroom work flow. He said the agency would use these vacancies (which represent a dollar amount because, even though vacant, the positions are funded) to offset or minimize the adverse impact of the FY2014 budget proposal on the staff. He also stated that he was grateful that the FY2014 is not as bad as FY2013. These statements leave us a bit perplexed. The FY2014 budget proposal represents a request for $25-million dollars less than the budget enacted for 2013. How can this be a good thing? If the Newsroom work flow is already compromised by not filling 20 vacancies how is the situation supposed to improve under the FY2014 proposal which will likely mean that the 20 positions will not only go unfilled, but will be eliminated outright? Some staffers have already described the Newsroom as “schizophrenic.” On its face, we can’t see the situation improving – at all. More than likely, it will get worse. In essence, this puts Mr. Ensor’s presentation off the rails right from the start. From here, the presentation continues to build on a skewed vision of reality. Ensor stated that VOA is making a huge difference for the US. He’s right. VOA is well on its way to becoming invisible, unreachable, un-hearable in many parts of the world. The IBB clearly intends for it to be so and is determined to make it so. Thus, the “huge difference” that Ensor referenced is, in reality, the opposite of what he meant: the increased absence of a US Government presence in the arena of international broadcasting. Ensor continues the drift into “The Twilight Zone” by repeating his mantra that he sees a good future for VOA. The reality is quite different: This is not a healthy organization. Its strategic vision is unhealthy. Its management philosophy toward its workforce is unhealthy (the lowest employee morale in the entire federal government). Its operational execution is unhealthy. That’s three strikes against the agency, folks. All the good reasons for having this agency have been compromised by IBB top executives. That means the only reason why the agency exists at all is because it is on artificial life support in the form of nicking the American taxpayer for just over $700-million dollars annually. With an overall BBG audience hovering in the neighborhood of 175-million across all media platforms, the agency costs more money than it has in audience by a wide margin. That puts the agency in the position of not being cost effective in US dollars. Just as bad, it is not cost effective in terms of global impact and effectiveness. [Note: The agency issued one of its press releases dated May 2013 alleging a 12 percent increase in weekly audience to 200 million. A new audience was suddenly found in Latin America. More likely, the audience was there before, but it was not counted because people cannot remember listening to short VOA reports on other stations that may not even be in some cases identified as coming from VOA (definitely the case in China and some other countries when it comes to the so called "placement" on "affiliate" stations that are not really affiliates of VOA. To make themselves look good without making any real effort, IBB executives decided to count this audience in Latin America with the help of the $50 million contract with Gallup, a company under investigation by the Department of Justice for alleged overcharging of government agencies. What about expanding audiences and more targeted news programming to Russia, China, Iran and the Middle East? This will be the subject of a forthcoming commentary.] Mr. Ensor then goes on to make the pitch for the impact of changes reflected in the Smith Mundt Modernization Act. We have dealt with this subject many times in detail. This is an agency canard. To reiterate our view: Agency vernacular language broadcasts have been heard in the United States even under the old Smith Mundt Act. It was not illegal for U.S. radio and television broadcasters to rebroadcast VOA programs in the United States if they could find them on the Internet or downlink from satellite transmissions. The “diaspora communities” (Ensor uses an example of what he refers to as “Somali Minnesota”) have also been able to access agency websites on the Internet for audio, video and text for years, all of it perfectly legally. What the modification of the Smith-Mundt Act did was to give agency bureaucrats the power to actively market programs to Americans and to do this at taxpayers’ expense. In truth, there is nothing new here, except exposure of agency programs to the mainstream American public. For us at BBG Watch that is a good thing: it increases scrutiny of agency programs which can lead to more accountability – something the IBB apparatchiks really do not want and do not like. Perhaps Korean Americans will be impressed with this Voice of America video repeating North Korean propaganda. One VOA executive was so proud of this video that he had a press release about it posted on VOA and BBG websites. Direct LINK TO VOA VIDEO. Since IBB executives claim that they can merge, produce and manage globally under their central control all of U.S. international media programming, we invite you to compare the VOA North Korean video with is video shot in Afghanistan by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. We don’t see RFE/RL, Radio Free Asia or Alhurra using the North Korean video from VOA and for a good reason. We do not think that Radio Free Asia or Radio Liberty now that it is under Kevin Klose would produce such a video. They know better, but their independence and specialization are being constantly undermined by power-hungry (“Soviet”) central planners at IBB. Direct LINK TO RFE/RL VIDEO. Voice of America broadcasters produce many outstanding radio programs and videos, but many services are under extreme pressure from IBB strategic planners and marketing executives to produce videos like the North Korean one. Anything fluff is easier to place. Remove politics and human rights, repeat propaganda from repressive regimes, and suddenly VOA can have a large audience for placed programs even in countries like China and Russia, perhaps even North Korea if they try just a little bit harder. If Korean Americans see the Voice of America North Korean video posted above, perhaps they will write to their members of Congress. Something tells us, however, that IBB executives will not be thrilled by what U.S. taxpayers may say in their emails, phone calls and letters to their elected representatives. A number of videos and VOA television programs is being produced under the leadership of IBB strategic planners and executives hired from the commercial media industry without any prior international broadcasting experience. They are the ones trying to decimate VOA Central Newsroom and language services that resist their Politburo directives. We can only hope that wider exposure in the United States will affect careers of managers who approve such programs. We wish it would, but we’re not holding our breath. [Message to the IBB: be careful what you wished for, you got it.] BBG members should really start worrying about domestic distribution of VOA programs. We recommend a wholesale review of top program managers before any VOA programs are released to the American public. Americans may be shocked by what they see, hear or read, and this may not be good news for BBG members or for BBG and VOA budgets. Again, be careful what you wished for. The country’s capital city Pyongyang is “vibrant and busy with activity,” Voice of America announced. Relative to what? — BBG Watch wonders — the Gulag? What are they smoking, or have we missed the opening of a new shopping mall with chic boutiques in downtown Pyongyang? Apparently, we did. The VOA press release, issued earlier, even has a photo of a well-stocked store. Keep in mind that North Korea has one of the most repressive regimes in the world, but you wouldn’t know it reading the press release on the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ website. At the BBG they have not yet heard of a Potyomkin village. Somehow, the IBB cabal seems to think these expatriate communities are going to save the agency from going under totally. It’s not going to happen. These communities have other priorities, the primary ones being to sustain themselves in the United States and provide greater opportunities for their children. To be sure, there are individuals and organizations within these communities who carry the torch concerning issues back in their respective homelands. However, in the age of the Internet, they have means other than reliance upon VOA broadcasts to get that work done. They have been able to access VOA news for years without any problems and without the modification of the Smith-Mundt Act. The talk of a domestic audience for an international broadcaster like Voice of America is a mystification designed to buy time for managers who can’t produce programs that matter for audiences abroad. [In fact, what the agency may be doing is having the opposite effect: reinforcing the decision by people in these communities that getting out of harm’s way in the old country and coming to the United States was a very wise move. When that realization strikes home, it’s time to turn off VOA and watch your favorite American local news station or improve one’s command of colloquial English to expand one’s education and other opportunities, or both!] A Russian scholar was hired by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) in 2011 to evaluate the VOA Russian website. In a report, which was not shared with BBG members, the scholar concluded that the Russian Service had a “pro-Putin bias” and downplayed human rights reporting. Perhaps Mr. Ensor should make sure that the “pro-Putin bias” no longer exists before he markets VOA Russian programs to Russian radio stations in California and meets with Russian Americans. At least Kevin Klose, the newly-appointed president of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is doing something about management problems at his organizations. A number of discredited managers have departed. What is Mr. Ensor doing about similar problems at VOA? So far, his only proposals are to eliminate broadcast services and broadcasting and journalistic positions, while bureaucrats and managers responsible for programs such as the North Korean video keep theirs. While we hear that the Voice of America Russian Service has improved its coverage after BBG Watch had published this study, IBB executives dismissed its findings, ridiculed outside criticism, and tried to keep the study hidden from BBG members. After this, Mr. Ensor waxes on about doing what we would describe as “The David Ensor Road Show,” in which he talks about doing more speaking engagements, including a West Coast swing in May 2013. Frankly, the only “road show” that counts is walking the three blocks up Independence Avenue to the Congress to make the case for the agency hanging on – and that walk – literally and figuratively uphill – gets a whole lot tougher when you have already proposed a budget that is $25-million dollars less than the year before. This isn’t an agency doing more with less. It is doing less with less and doing it badly. Before turning things over to questions, Ensor closed his presentation by saying he wants to help VOA and for the Central Newsroom “to be all it can be.” Excuse me?!? The agency’s budget proposal and the operational intent of IBB planning is the direct antithesis of the Central Newsroom “being all it can be.” The disciples of this plan, the Office of Program Review, have already advocated picking off the regional Newsroom “desks” and handing them over to the individual agency language divisions. The intent is to make the Central Newsroom go away, disappear, become non- existent. The Newsroom is already under-resourced and operationally disjunctive with predictable results. The only “to be all it can be” in the VOA Newsroom’s future is not to be: To render the Newsroom as a memory. A memory to be forgotten as soon as possible. The IBB has intentionally dispensed with the values, principles and standards defined in the VOA Charter. As a result much good work by VOA broadcasters, including those of the VOA Central Newsroom, has been squandered. (Next: Ensor Does Q and A with the Newsroom staff) The Federalist May 2013 (via DXLD) ** U S A. BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS - INFORMATION WAR LOST - DYSFUNCTIONAL, DEFUNCT AND UNGOVERNABLE - THE LATEST NUMBERS GAME By BBGWatcher on 09 May 2013 in Analysis, Featured News, Hot Tub Blog by The Federalist see original for grafix, video linx, formatting: http://www.usgbroadcasts.com/bbgwatch/2013/05/09/broadcasting-board-of-governors-%C2%A0information-war-lost-%C2%A0dysfunctional-defunct-and-ungovernable-%C2%A0the-latest-numbers-game/ Bureaucracy Warning Sign The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) issued a press release dated May 2013 on a lead topic which we always find interesting: the latest audience research. As usual when it comes to the BBG’s executive staff at the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), American taxpayers, members of Congress, Congressional staffers and foreign experts should take what you read with a grain of salt. These bureaucrats have been known to take liberties with the truth to make themselves look good. They often omit or hide critical information and material facts. They count on your ignorance. IBB executives have not expanded BBG’s global audience since 2008. Suddenly, they produce research showing a new audience in Latin America of 26.7 million. But is this a new audience or just a change in audience research methodology to make IBB look good? The following text was included in an email sent out to subscribers: BBG Audience Tops 200 Million a Week ”With substantial audience growth for VOA in Latin America, the Broadcasting Board of Governors now estimates its overall weekly audience is above 200 million people, up 12 percent this year. Click here for details on VOA’s growth. Read More“ The funny thing is that if you click on “Read More,” there is nothing there about BBG’s global audience, only information about a sudden discovery of a particular audience in Latin America. What is going on? We think that we might have an answer. 1. If you have not been able to increase your global audience since 2008 despite getting more money almost every year; 2. if you have destroyed your reputation and a large part of an important online and radio audience in Russia; 3. if you have failed to alert BBG members, your superiors, to a growing crisis at Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL); 4. if the latest Office of Personnel Management (OPM) survey again shows that you are the worst managers in the federal government responsible for the world employee morale; one way to try to redeem yourself would be to suddenly find a missing audience in Latin America — perhaps an audience that was there before but had not been counted. You change your research methodology just a bit, and a large audience suddenly appears out of nowhere. Note the following: the press release says that this is just an estimate prepared by Gallup which has a $50 million five-year contract with IBB and is under DOJ investigation for overcharging government agencies. The critical piece of information is that VOA already had 214 affiliates in the region and added 56 new ones in 2012. This is for the most part not a new audience. Much of it was there before. Miraculously, Gallup found it for IBB. It makes both of them look good. What about the rest of the world and the most strategic countries and regions like China, Russia, and the Middle East? Has there been any progress there? What about Afghanistan and Iran? We have not heard of any new large audience gains in those countries. Quite the contrary. But give it time and a new audience research methodology developed by IBB and Gallup might produce higher numbers. The question is are these new audiences or were they there before? If they were, then there is no progress. There was none between 2008 and 2012. IBB admitted that its higher estimate for 2011 was wrong and the audience was actually lower than what the graph shows. They made no progress between 2008 and 2012. With a new BBG chairman soon to be confirmed, they no doubt want to show that they are making progress when it fact the placement strategy for Latin America is nothing new. It has been the main activity of the VOA Latin American Division for years, if not for decades. These IBB executives are eager to take credit for something they had nothing to do with. This strategy was put in place by VOA broadcasters years ago. BBG Global Audience - No Progress Even if the numbers with regard to Latin America are accurate – and we believe they are not in terms of how much listening and viewing per week they really represent -– we need to put these numbers in a context: This is an audience of 200-million a week out of a global population of 7-BILLION. The 7-BILLION number is “the elephant in the room” for the BBG. We must also look at how long the agency has been in existence – over 70 years. That’s a long time – and it makes the 200-million number look not that impressive. In other words, there has not been much in the way of real growth when you put the numbers on a 70-year timeline. But, unlike International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) “strategists,” we are not hung up on the numbers alone. What we want to see is impact in the most strategic countries and regions. Impact with real news programs, not with fluff journalism that anyone can do and almost anyone can place, especially on the Internet. You need to measure these alleged audience numbers against US strategic interests – in other words, BBG audience penetration in areas with strategic importance to the United States. As a general principle, all of the world is strategic to US interests. However, some places are more important than others or are recalibrated in importance due to changing geo-political events. But clearly, countries like China, Iran and Russia have high, ongoing strategic value, while others rank higher in importance on a situational basis, such as the North Koreans. Others carry strategic value due to situational continuity such as the Arab and Muslim world because of international terrorism and radical jihadist movements prevalent in these regions. In short, what this means is that a spike in audience in Latin America, which may not be as sudden as the press release implies – while something to take note of – has less overall importance than other places in the world. VOA broadcasters to Latin America certainly deserve full credit for their market outreach, as does the Albanian Service, one of the most successful international broadcasting outlets worldwide, which celebrated its 70th anniversary this week. But Albania and Latin America or even much of Africa are not typical markets for the BBG. They are easy markets where talented journalists producing outstanding programs can achieve local placement when there are no government-imposed or market-imposed restrictions on such placement. Also keep in mind that these local conditions can suddenly change, with Putin’s Russia being a good example. More typical markets for BBG are in fact Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, South East Asia and much of the Middle East. These strategic markets are a completely different animal. The agency cannot construct its strategy on the basis of easy markets alone. It should not mislead Americans that it is doing great, just because it found a previously hidden audience in Latin America, when it fact it is “dysfunctional” and “defunct,” as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on the Hill before leaving her State Department post. It is dysfunctional and defunct in places where it counts the most because of IBB strategic planners and executives who should not be taking credit for achievements of VOA broadcasters, for which they are not responsible and whom in fact they want to hurt in their FY 2014 budget request, and whom they had hurt in the past. That’s the big picture. Now we get down into the weeds a little bit in terms of the agency’s approach to gathering audience data. In April 2013, the agency conducted a “retreat” of its senior and mid- level managers. The numbers game came up in the course of a presentation of other topics. As shared by a source, one participant made the following observation of the numbers presentation: “Total weekly IBB audience has topped the 200 million mark and now stands at 203 million. That total includes 112 million radio listeners and 91 million TV viewers. There are also 23 million web readers who were not counted into the total. Broken down by region, the audience is Southeast Asia 17 percent; Africa 27 percent; Eurasia 26 percent; Latin America 17 percent; Middle East/North Africa 26 percent. I don’t know why that adds up to 113 percent, maybe some countries were counted twice in two regions.” (Emphasis added) It would not be at all unlikely for the agency to group countries differently with the end result that the total percentage becomes something more than a clear 100 percent, as the agency employee surmises here. Thus, if you want to have some fun with the numbers game on a purely surface level, you can take the agency’s overage of 113 percent and subtract from that its claimed 12 percent weekly audience increase and come up with an audience decrease of 1 percent! But most important of all is how the agency lumps data to come up with its numbers for a weekly audience. The spectrum is obvious: anywhere from one time a week to several times a week are all considered to be positive data results in using a measurement of weekly audience. Thus, for example, a person may listen only once a week and still get lumped into the weekly total audience. Indeed, that person could be representative of a majority of the aggregate audience body – the very casual or infrequent listener, viewer and especially Internet user compared with someone who may be more of a regular consumer of news. Thus, if you are the IBB playing the numbers game, you use this sleight of hand to make it appear that you are making great strides in your audience. The assumption is that other international broadcasters are using the same methodology You have to go DEEP into the weeds of audience research to see what is going on. Why, for example, the Latin American audience was not counted before? Did it simply appear all of the sudden or were research methods modified to find it? IBB executives would like to confuse the public with this “new” Latin American data, but their own reports to Congress, which they may have been afraid to cook too much, tell a different story. They even admitted that they overestimated their audience in 2011. The overall global picture of the last few years is nothing but dismal and that does not even take into account the quality of the content and its impact. BBG’s DATA The following information and charts are from the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ (BBG) Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. BBG Performance Data, 2012 VOA Performance Data Broadcasting Board of Governors’ (BBG) Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. VOA – Target: 141.1 million Actual: 134.2 million VOA’s weekly audience declined from 141.1 million in 2011 to 134.2 million in 2012. This drop is largely due to significant apparent declines in Indonesia, Burma, and Nigeria. The drop in Indonesia likely results from a significant over-estimate in 2011 rather than a large decline in actual audience, while the drop in Burma probably reflects the considerable opening of that country’s media environment over the past year. Audience estimates in Nigeria have been notoriously volatile because the demographic diversity of the country makes reliable sampling a challenge. At the same time, VOA experienced very large gains in Iran, due to resumption of service on the country’s most popular satellite and the authorities’ cessation of jamming at the time of survey fieldwork. [Let’s remember too that we are in the FY2014 budget cycle. The agency asked for $25-MILLION dollars less than its enacted budget for FY2013. Among other things, the last thing you want to do at this juncture is to show negative audience numbers. We’ll have more on this below.] Is your head spinning yet? Here’s another angle to the numbers game played by the IBB and its one of their favorites: This involves the so-called “affiliate” stations. These stations are not really affiliated with the US Government or BBG. They do carry BBG programs. This is more a case of a station agreeing to placement of BBG programs. [Note: In some places, if you claim yourself to be an affiliate of the BBG – the existence of you and your station may be flirting with “endangered” status, as it happened in Russia where affiliates were pressured to stop carrying VOA and RFE/RL programs.] It all comes down to how survey questions are worded. For example, if you have a question asking, “Do you listen or watch station WXYZ within a certain time period?” and the agency has a program placed on that station, you get counted as part of the BBG audience, whether you listen to a BBG report or not. Such questions were not used before. We assume they are used now. Here’s another twist: If you ask the question, “Do you listen to ‘Good Morning Jakarta’ on station WXYZ?” between 9:30AM and 9:45AM and the respondent answers in the affirmative, the agency counts you as audience, whether you actually listen to the BBG content or not, whether you can distinguish BBG content within the program, whether the station identifies the content as BBG content or identifies the content as presented by someone in the Voice of America (VOA) Indonesian Service or as the station’s own “reporter” doing a story from the station’s “Washington, DC bureau.” This type of research does not reveal whether an “affiliate” station had asked that specific political or religious content be excluded from such reports or perhaps asked that only entertainment content be presented or even demanded that any reference to VOA be eliminated. We know that this happens and that IBB planners and marketers not only allow it but encourage such practices to achieve placement. They agreed that VOA English lessons in China be marketed without VOA logo or a reference to VOA. Such educational programs might just as well be produced for profit by the private sector and they are. The radio or TV stations may be playing their own game. It’s all in how program content is presented, how survey questions are asked and how the data is correlated. So many games the IBB can play. And one thing we do know about the IBB is their penchant for being – Loose with facts, misleading, sometimes outright deceitful. But wait, there’s more! Most certainly, the IBB would like to use this suspect data to demonstrate that its “affiliate strategy” is working worldwide when it is only working to a limited degree in a few markets that can be described as easy. And even beyond that, it would also like to use the suspect data as a ploy to demonstrate that its overall strategic direction is correct on a global scale. Let us point out that IBB could easily achieve a large audience in China by providing programs that the Chinese government does not object to and then use it as a justification for a presumably effective strategy. We know for a fact that IBB “strategists” think that way by pushing non-offensive and often totally irrelevant programming for countries like China and Russia. Anything to increase their numbers at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. And even with this twisted “strategy” they could not show any global progress since 2008 until the sudden discovery of a missing audience in Latin America. Well, Latin America is not China. With the exception of Cuba and Venezuela, one can usually place news reports in Latin America without getting in trouble with the local authorities. It’s not a big deal. If this is really new placement, then the question is why it was not done before. We suspect that most of this placement is not all that new but that IBB executives decided to include it in the count to make themselves look good. This is how they operate — never the whole truth. But there’s an irony in this: Let’s review the agency’s proposed budget for FY2014. It calls for cuts to broadcasts in Spanish to Latin America and Creole to Haiti (8 positions cut, between 6 and 9 vacancies). In the months ahead, this cannot be good for the supposed jump in its Latin America audience numbers. And then - Let’s talk about Afghanistan. Information shared with us anecdotally details an audience survey conducted for the IBB by Gallup in Afghanistan in late 2012. The agency declined to release the data on the grounds that there were “concerns about the quality and veracity of the results.” To outward appearances, the IBB didn’t get the results it wanted and decided to reject the survey. And what’s more, they want Gallup to redo the survey with different questions – questions more to the liking of the IBB clique that are intended to skew results toward their agenda (and they are putting it on Gallup to pay for this new “survey”). [Note: if you are a BBG member, you should be getting your hands on the Afghanistan survey the IBB canned.] This is the IBB we have come to know: deceit and skullduggery intended to cover up their failed strategic plan. But this has implications beyond the Afghan audience. Let’s walk ourselves through it - What sources report is that the Afghan audience wants a lot of news about Afghanistan – hard news, not soft “puff” pieces. But sources report that this does not comport with the “kumbaya” program format favored by the IBB types on the Third Floor of the Cohen Building. In the way the Third Floor likes to twist things around, they opined that the Afghan program content is “too political,” using a very broad, sweeping definition of the word “political,” and not at all solely in the context of partisan politics. AND – we should be mindful that the IBB FY2014 budget proposal includes cuts to broadcasts to Afghanistan (10 positions, 5 of which are vacant). What appears obvious to us is that the IBB wants survey results to support making those cuts. Look: The last time we checked, there was a war going on in Afghanistan. Battles are being fought, people are dying, including US combat and support personnel. More than likely, the fighting will continue after the US bugs out. And the clowns on the Third Floor of the Cohen Building want to do more “soft news” and to cut programs to Afghanistan! They also want to cut VOA radio to Iran. Perhaps they will then show another increase of their placement audience in Latin America and declare it a global strategic success. Nothing but numbers in the numbers game. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a sterling example why US Government international broadcasting has lost its credibility around the world – the IBB is going out of its way not to confront reality and to provide program content consistent with that reality or not to provide program content at all (cuts to broadcasts). With intended audiences, like the one in Afghanistan and Iran staring down reality on a variety of levels every day, these IBB cartoon characters want to peddle “soft” news. And that makes these IBB strategists and executive more dangerous and foolish than ever. Decisions by the IBB put US national security at risk. In turn, by attempting to skew the programming, these IBB decisions endanger US and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Afghans want hard news. They don’t want la-la happy news from the IBB global appeasers. The Afghans are entitled to hard news and US Government international broadcasting is required to deliver the goods. If necessary, BBG board members need to roll up their sleeves and order the IBB not to deviate from hard news as the bulk of program content. You can also get large numbers by offering all sorts of questionable or titillating material, which has been done, although it failed to produce a new audience but instead offended the old one, as in Kazakhstan. In the final analysis, it is the mission and the impact that counts, not how many Internet users per week saw a funny image or a video with semi-naked girls on a website. Granted, even serious news organization offer feature material and we are not arguing against it. Quite the contrary. But the whole programming strategy cannot be built only around such type of content or placement of short reports in easy to place countries, as IBB executives and strategists are doing. One last thing: The May 2013 press release reprised its “BBG Provides Bird Flu Reporting Workshops” which appeared not long ago in a previous press release. Bird flu reporting workshops – all fine and good. But what grabbed our attention was the picture accompanying this particular feature in the press release. In the picture, we see people sitting in a U-shaped table arrangement. On the back wall, lo and behold, there is a likeness of the late North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh and the communist hammer and sickle, both displayed prominently and unmistakably. Next, there is a banner along the top of the wall. We asked a contact to get a translation of the Vietnamese script. The translation reported back to us was this: BBG Photo - Bravo to the Communist Party in Vietnam “Bravo to the Communist Party!” Unbelievable. Apparently the IBB doesn’t bother to check these things. These are the people in charge of U.S. taxpayer-funded programs to counter anti- American propaganda and disinformation abroad with accurate and objective news. They do not inspire a lot of confidence. There may be another translation of the banner, but that’s the one we have. Maybe someone in the IBB thinks it’s clever that we are now doing some free advertising for the Vietnamese Communist Party. Perhaps it is a “news” philosophy promoted by the former CNN managers who run amok in the Cohen Building that seems to make US Government international broadcasting appeasers to the world, as in this VOA video which one of the top executives liked so much he had special press release issued about it. Direct LINK TO VOA VIDEO. We showed this video before because it illustrates how clueless these managers can be. If a North Korean dictator saw this VOA video he could only conclude that North Korean propaganda is working on naive Americans and may decide on the basis of this conclusion to take even more outrageous actions and make even more outrageous demands vis-à-vis the United States and other Western nations. All of this paid for by U.S. taxpayers and overseen by IBB and VOA executives. Most of the video is just a repeat of North Korean propaganda with almost no attempt to counter it or to present the real dismal state of the nation ruled by a cruel totalitarian regime. If you watch it, you might think that the North Koreans are both prosperous and happy despite some minor restrictions. Is this also part of the IBB soft core placement strategy to increase BBG’s global audience? What comes first: real objective and skeptical journalism and mission or counting the numbers using questionable methodology? We don’t like what we see and hear. We really don’t like it. Remember what we said in a previous piece: That entire contingent on the Third Floor of the Cohen Building has to go. The types who have no clue about international affairs, communist propaganda, public diplomacy and public affairs have to go. Those who don’t know how to treat journalists and other employees decently have to go. It’s either that or close the place entirely. It has become offensive and odious to the American Experience. It is – Dysfunctional. Defunct. Ungovernable. We already saw the departure of those who had fired experienced Radio Liberty journalists in Putin’s Russia. But that happened at RFE/RL in Prague. It’s a good start and BBG members should be applauded for making it happen. Governors Susan McCue and Michael Meehan visited Russia because they knew that they could not rely on the agency’s executive staff in Washington. They met with representatives of the fired Radio Liberty journalists who are now being invited to return. Earlier, they had appointed Kevin Klose to carry out reforms at RFE/RL. But what about IBB executives who knew about these firings and did nothing to stop his dangerous move and great injustice? They are still doing their damage at the BBG in Washington in defiance of the presidentially-appointed bipartisan Board. This has to stop. The International Broadcasting Bureau is still Dysfunctional. Defunct. Ungovernable. The Federalist May 2013 (via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. 9820, UT Friday May 3 at 0122, open carrier with constant het, i.e. Greenville-B warming up for the 0130 VOA Spe-cial Eng-lish, vs R. Nove de Julho, constant off-frequency Brazilian to the lo side. Is either station aware of this clash?? If so, does anyone care? 0130 first VOA story is about marijuana. This is UT Tue-Sat only and per EiBi, is now the only frequency instead of with one or two parallels (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Change to 9825 below ** U S A. 5745, VoA Radiogram with programme 6 still experimenting with various digital modes and this time playing with BPSK63F (which did not work as well as MFSK 64 which is over 4 times faster but which also uses a lot more bandwidth) and Thor, as well as various speeds & bandwidths of MFSK. The 'new' bit of fun tech they tried was something called 'FLAMP formatted' text using MFSK128 mode, which was very fast, but had such a high error rate that it was only 45% readable. (All these neato formats are cool, but I'm becoming an even stronger believer in the KISS principle I guess -- sending formatted web pages just doesn't seem worth the effort!) They also sent a photo of the 'phonesat' satellite they were were discussing, which was kind of interesting: a $3500 satellite the size of a coffee mug based on an android telephone that actually works. In well as usual, at this time, 4+54+4+4+ but the voice audio was a bit muffled as usual even though the data sounded crisp & clear. 0234- 0300* 28/Apr. 6095, VoA Radiogram repeat of programme 6, weaker and with more fading, but all the modes that were in well last night were in well again, and the ones (THOR50x2, PSK63F and especially MFSK128) that were bad last night were all much worse today. 2+5443+. *1300-1330* 28/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet 3 May via DXLD) Pretty much perfect reception of all modes tonight, as well as the image of the old transmitter panel. Accurate 100% copy, but no luck with the Flamp again, but all others came in just fine! Thanks, Kim! Transmitter cut tonight at 0300:20 UT May 5 on 5745 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC using my Perseus SDR and North directed corner fed loop tonight, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. More and more new frequency changes of IBB: Voice of America 0000-0100 9310 UDO 250 kW / 324 deg CeAs Tibetan Tue/Thu, ex 9480 0000-0100 9340 UDO 250 kW / 324 deg CeAs Tibetan Mon/Wed/Fri, ex 9480 0000-0100 9350 UDO 250 kW / 324 deg CeAs Tibetan Sat, ex 9480 0000-0100 9360 UDO 250 kW / 324 deg CeAs Tibetan Sun, ex 9480 0130-0200 9825 GB 250 kW / 172 deg SoAm English-Special Tue-Sat, ex 9820 [noticed my complaint about 9819v Brazilian QRM! --- gh] 0300-0400 21460 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Mon, ex 15605 0300-0400 21470 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Tue, ex 15605 0300-0400 21480 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Wed, ex 15605 0300-0400 21490 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Thu, ex 15605 0300-0400 21500 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Fri, ex 15605 0300-0400 21515 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Sat, ex 15605 0300-0400 21530 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Sun, ex 15605 0400-0500 21455 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Mon, ex 17605 0400-0500 21465 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Tue, ex 17605 0400-0500 21500 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Wed, ex 17605 0400-0500 21510 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Thu, ex 17605 0400-0500 21530 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Fri, ex 17605 0400-0500 21550 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Sat, ex 17605 0400-0500 21570 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Sun, ex 17605 0500-0600 21460 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Mon, ex 17605 0500-0600 21470 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Tue, ex 17605 0500-0600 21480 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Wed, ex 17605 0500-0600 21490 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Thu, ex 17605 0500-0600 21510 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Fri, ex 17605 0500-0600 21530 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Sat, ex 17605 0500-0600 21545 PHT 250 kW / 315 deg CeAs Tibetan Sun, ex 17605 1400-1500 17505 LAM 100 kW / 077 deg CeAs Tibetan Mon, ex 17505 1400-1500 17530 LAM 100 kW / 077 deg CeAs Tibetan Tue, ex 17505 1400-1500 17540 LAM 100 kW / 077 deg CeAs Tibetan Wed, ex daily 1400-1500 17560 LAM 100 kW / 077 deg CeAs Tibetan Thu, ex 17505 1400-1500 17570 LAM 100 kW / 077 deg CeAs Tibetan Fri, ex 17505 1400-1500 17580 LAM 100 kW / 077 deg CeAs Tibetan Sun, ex 17505 1400-1500 17590 LAM 100 kW / 077 deg CeAs Tibetan Sat, ex 17505 1600-1700 15630 BIB 100 kW / 085 deg CeAs Tibetan Mon/Wed/Fri ex 17485 1600-1700 15640 BIB 100 kW / 085 deg CeAs Tibetan Tue/Thu, ex 17485 1600-1700 15760 BIB 100 kW / 085 deg CeAs Tibetan Sat, ex 17485 1600-1700 15780 BIB 100 kW / 085 deg CeAs Tibetan Sun, ex 17485 Radio Liberty 1500-1600 11900 LAM 100 kW / 075 deg CeAs Avari/Chechen/Chercassian, ex 11825 Radio Free Asia 0100-0200 17665 TIN 250 kW / 313 deg CeAs Uyghur Sun, ex 17835 0100-0200 17670 TIN 250 kW / 313 deg CeAs Uyghur Sat, ex 17835 0100-0200 17700 TIN 250 kW / 313 deg CeAs Uyghur Tue/Thu, ex 17835 0100-0200 17760 TIN 250 kW / 313 deg CeAs Uyghur Mon/Wed/Fri, ex 17835 0400-0500 21455 TIN 250 kW / 313 deg EaAs Chinese Tue, ex 21475 0400-0500 21475 TIN 250 kW / 313 deg EaAs Chinese Mon, ex 21455 0500-0600 21470 TIN 250 kW / 313 deg EaAs Chinese Mon, ex 21460 0500-0600 21480 TIN 250 kW / 313 deg EaAs Chinese Tue, ex 21470 0500-0600 21490 TIN 250 kW / 313 deg EaAs Chinese Wed, ex 21480 0500-0600 21510 TIN 250 kW / 313 deg EaAs Chinese Thu, ex 21490 1400-1500 13785 SAI 100 kW / 285 deg SEAs Vietnamese Sat/Sun, ex 13640 1400-1500 13790 SAI 100 kW / 285 deg SEAs Vietnamese Tue/Thu, ex 13640 1400-1500 13825 SAI 100 kW / 285 deg SEAs Vietnamese M/W/F, ex 13640 1500-1600 13790 TIN 250 kW / 303 deg EaAs Chinese Mon/Wed/Fri ex 13805 1500-1600 13815 TIN 250 kW / 303 deg EaAs Chinese Sun, ex 13805 1500-1600 13820 TIN 250 kW / 303 deg EaAs Chinese Tue/Thu, ex 13795 1500-1600 13855 TIN 250 kW / 303 deg EaAs Chinese Sat, ex 13790 1600-1700 12130 TIN 250 kW / 303 deg CeAs Uyghur Mon/Wed/Fri, ex 11595 1600-1700 12140 TIN 250 kW / 303 deg CeAs Uyghur Tue/Thu, ex 11595 1600-1700 12150 TIN 250 kW / 303 deg CeAs Uyghur Sat/Sun, ex 11595 2330-0030 15620 TIN 250 kW / 279 deg SEAs Vietnamese Mon, ex 15170 2330-0030 15630 TIN 250 kW / 279 deg SEAs Vietnamese Tue, ex 15170 2330-0030 15640 TIN 250 kW / 279 deg SEAs Vietnamese Wed, ex 15170 2330-0030 15660 TIN 250 kW / 279 deg SEAs Vietnamese Thu, ex 15170 2330-0030 15675 TIN 250 kW / 279 deg SEAs Vietnamese Fri, ex 15170 2330-0030 15705 TIN 250 kW / 279 deg SEAs Vietnamese Sat, ex 15170 2330-0030 15710 TIN 250 kW / 279 deg SEAs Vietnamese Sun, ex 15170 (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06 via DXLD) To cause the jammers a lot more bother, but hardly escaping them by publishing this info unless it is disinformation (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1667 monitoring: first airing confirmed on WRMI webcast starting about 2 minutes late at 0332 UT Thursday May 2; usually the broadcast on 9955 is inaudible due to Cuban jamming, but checked anyway at 0358, is quite readable vs some remaining pulse jamming. Unfortunately, just as I get to the propagation outlook in the final semiminute, cut off to play a promo for `Maravillosas Palabras de Vida`, and 0400 Brother Scare. If WOR had not started late after some music fill, or the MPV promo were skipped, it could have been aired complete. Better luck on repeats? Saturday 1500, Tuesday 1100. Yes: Jeff promptly replies that he`s taken care of it. Otherwise, on WTWW: Thursday 2100 on 9479; Saturday & Sunday 2330v on 9930; UT Sunday 0400 on 5830. On WWRB: UT Friday 0328v on 3195 (and/or we hope, 5050); on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB: UT Saturday 0130v (but last week postponed to UT Sunday 0200); on HLR 7265v-CUSB: Sat & Wed 0630 & 1430. WORLD OF RADIO 1667 monitoring: confirmed Thursday May 2 after 2100 on WTWW-1, 9479, sufficient here but weaker than usual, reduced power, or propagation? Then at 2118 I check WTWW-2 on 9930, and guess what: not only is it stronger, but there is WORLD OF RADIO too --- can`t get enough gh! But it`s from a biweek ago, #1665 and must have started a bit after 2100 as it ends at 2134, on to a `QSO` playback. This is probably from Ted Randall`s continuous webcast alternating the two shows. I suppose previous WORs may have appeared at other random times on 9930. After checking Zanzibar on the Twente SDR, I also try 9479 and 9930 but, shux, they are inaudible in Holland; maybe there`s a bit o` the Bible on 12105. Back to the present: Next play of WOR 1667 also confirmed UT Friday May 3 on WWRB 3195 (no 5050), starting at 0329.8; an overassertive had been preaching until suddenly stopped, seemingly incomplete at 0329.5, amid which 0.3- minute pause Dave inserted a quick ID. Next2: UT Saturday 0130v on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB; Saturday 0630 & 1430 on HLR 7265-CUSB (Europeans, please reconfirm); Saturday 1500 on WRMI 9955; Saturday 2330v on WTWW-2 9930; UT Sunday 0400 on WTWW-1 5830; Sunday 2330v on WTWW-2 9930. WORLD OF RADIO 1667 monitoring: I was out to the Edgar Cruz classical guitar concert, (see http://www.edgarcruz.com/ for samples!) so missed confirming the UT Sat May 4 0130v airing on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v- CUSB, but have heard nothing to the contrary. When did it start? 9955, Saturday May 4 at 1448, nothing but a JBA carrier from WRMI? Boding ill for WOR at 1500. How was it in Venezuela? Is WOR still on C-JOY Internet Radio? It was not heard last Saturday when expected at 2000 UT. Current program schedule shows a gap from 2000 to 2130 so please check each half-hour for WOR via http://loudcity.com/stations/cjoy-internet-radio/files/show/lccjoyinternetradiopage.html and let us know if you hear it or definitely do not. Next: Saturday & Sunday 2330v on WTWW-2 9930; UT Sunday 0400 on WTWW-1 5830. WORLD OF RADIO 1667 monitoring: checking WTWW-2, 9930 as early as 2140 UT Saturday May 4, `Martha Garvin`s Musical Memories` is playing, 2159 dead air, 2202 ID and `Red Letter Edition` preaching. Around 2310 surprised to hear WORLD OF RADIO already playing, but it`s last week`s 1666, so will 1667 follow at 2330? No, 2331 dead air and at 2333, into `Unshackled`. Again a problem getting the latest edition. 0001 UT Sunday May 5, opening a `QSO` playback, but cut off air at 0002, and QSY to 5085, but by 0051 recheck that is playing `Red Letter Edition` again instead, with Spanish crosstalk weakly underneath, probably from the WTWW-3 12105 service. 0103 rerecheck, 5085 has gone off. Confirmed nominal at next time on WTWW-1, 5830, UT Sunday May 5 after 0400. Try again for 1667: Sunday circa 2330 on 9930. WORLD OF RADIO 1667 monitoring: again on Sunday May 5, 9930 WTWW-2 was again playing last week`s 1666 instead at 2330. Presumably QSY to 5085 around 0000, as that was on with music at 0009. So a reminder that anyone who may have missed 1667 on SW can get it via: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or via WRN podcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5085, May 2 at 0057, WTWW-2 is on again tonight, with a Ted Randall `QSO` show playback, subject at the moment being Echolink. 9930, May 6 at 1919, WTWW-2 is on this early, with C&W music, excellent signal. 5085, May 7 at 0058, a `QSO` show is playing. 5085, May 8 at 0057, WTWW-2 is on with promo announcement for the ``ten languages`` (NOT) of Bible broadcasting on WTWW-3, then opening Amateur Radio Newsline with a headline including rescinding the amateur of the year award at Dayton Hamvention. But recheck at 0101, it`s off the air. Apparently much WTWW-2 time is filled by plugging in to Ted Randall`s webcast, with rotating features such as this at unpredictable times. Intrigued, later searched out that story at ARNL and did not find it until I went back to the April 12 edition. It seems they weren`t sure the selexion vote was accurate, not that the Lufthansa pilot was undeserving: http://www.arnewsline.org/storage/scripts/nsln1861.txt Des Preston also noticed ARNL on 9930, then a two-week old WORLD OF RADIO #1665 on 9930, Tuesday May 7 at 1745-1815, and starting over at 1819. Besides the other mixups on WTWW we already noted, Richard Lemke in Alberta reports: ``5830 kHz, World of Radio, #1666, problem with audio tape computer failed, 0409-0420 just blank signal heard for ten minutes, (I went to break); 0429 show ends with usual propagation report at 0429 UTC, April 28 UT`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9330-CUSB, Saturday May 4 at 1447, no trace of a signal from WBCQ, while 9370 WWRB is sufficient, and WBCQ is too, on 15420-CUSB with Brother Scare`s Sabbath. 7490-AM & 9330-CUSB, May 5 at 0058, WBCQ with Rod Hembree pontificating about Philistines on both. With one receiver on the porch I can`t tell if they are synchronized, but probably not. On Sat/UT Sun, GFRN gets both transmitters, but originally for separate services. [and non]. 15420-ISB, May 6 at 1910 check, WBCQ`s androgynous anapaestic preachperson from Fence Lake NM is colliding as usual with BBCWS on DSB. On the porch with the DX-398, which has separate USB and LSB tuning, I compare the two. Theoretically, WBCQ on USB + carrier should leave BBC in the clear on LSB, but altho there is less QRM on the LSB, there is still some WBCQ audible. It seems to me that the LSB of the WBCQ transmitter is not totally suppressed as would be expected. How about the other transmitter on 9330? Altho there is no Syria audible to collide with, and WBCQ is much weaker in daytime absorption (and QRP?) here, I can also make out a weaker LSB component along with the dominant USB. Could it be the receiver`s fault? I don`t think so: tuning utility or ham or WJHR pure SSB (carriers totally suppressed), I don`t hear anything on the opposite sidebands. Back on 15420, there is also a rippling SAH as the carriers are considerably apart (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5050, UT Sunday May 5 at 0052, WWRB is NOT on this frequency as it had been for a few Saturday evenings, but is on 3215, sounds like same preacher as before when he had both frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15610, 02/May 2020, EWTN in English. OM talk. Modulation low compared to the signal. 45432 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Me too: 13830, May 2 at 2021-2024+, open carrier, dead air from WEWN, Radio Católica Mundial, trying to outdo Habana? Then checking the other two transmitters: 12050 has very good signal and modulation level, but severe IADs every second or two! 15610 English just barely modulated. The thing is falling apart, just in time to welcome the NASB Conventioneers in a few days. Until recently, 15610 WEWN English had been starting at 1300, and still shown as such on own schedule http://www.ewtn.com/radio/freq.htm but registered in HFCC from 1200, and now it is really on an hour earlier, already at 1212 check with mass which is also being translated into Spanish on 11550; this allows 15610 to collide another hour with CNR1 jamming (ex-Firedrake) vs V. of Tibet, observed today: 1222 with Chinese and noise jamming, het on lo side, under WEWN sermon; 1235 now WEWN in the clear; 1307 & 1340, CCCCI and het on lo side again. 12050 is missing at 1314, supposed to be WEWN Spanish, which is now only on 11550, and not yet on 13830 either. Own sked shows 12050 in Spanish at 10-17, and also from the other transmitter at 18-24. One WEWN transmitter is still down as of May 4: 12050, no signal at 1242, while Spanish as usual on 11550; 7555 used overnight is not on either. 15610 English is on with some sporadic-E boost. 13830, May 4 at 2141, one WEWN transmitter is still out of service, nothing here, but still on 12050 in Spanish, 15610 in English. Still one frequency missing at 0513 May 5: now nothing in Spanish on 11870, while English on 11520 is better than usual in the nightmiddle. And at 1241 May 5: 12050 Spanish is missing but 11550 is present; at 1254, 15610 English may be missing too; all I hear is a weak carrier and het, V of Tibet probably via Tajikistan. At 1304, WEWN open carrier is on 15610, still het on lo side. Modulation does not start until 1318 piano music. TDP reminds us that WEWN originally had four x 500 kW Continental 429C installed in 1992, but only three max have been on air for many years: ``WEWN Vandiver, AL 86.28W 33.30N 4 500 CON 420C 1992`` per history at http://www.swcountry.be/usa.html 11870, May 6 at 0555, one WEWN Spanish transmitter is still down, but heard well on 7555, plus English on 11520. 12050 also absent around 1230. Those attending the NASB meeting May 15-17 at WEWN, please find out what the problem and prognosis are --- and don`t forget to kick the English transmitter to knock the constant spurs out of it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Changes of WEWN: WEWN-1 0900-1200 on 11520 EWN 250 kW / 355 deg to SEAs English, ex 0900-1300 1200-2400 on 15610 EWN 250 kW / 040 deg to WeEu English, ex 1300-2400 WEWN-3 0500-1200 on 7555 EWN 250 kW / 220 deg to MEX Spanish, ex 0500-1300 1200-1800 on 11550 EWN 250 kW / 220 deg to MEX Spanish, ex 1300-1800 (DX RE MIX NEWS #779 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, May 06, 2013, via DXLD) And no WEWN-2 but it`s back on later: 13830, May 6 at 1916 check, WEWN`s third transmitter is back on the air after finding only two for several days whenever I checked. 13830 // 12050 in Spanish. and 15610 in English. 13830 is the one with squeal; 15610 the one with squishy spurs plus/minus 9, 18 and when extremely strong, 27 kHz away. Whenever one is off, I am hoping they are repairing it, but never. Other missing frequencies are also back later: 11870 Spanish, May 7 at 0534; 12050, May 7 at 1306 so weak at first I thought it off, but then // much stronger 11550. By 1353, 12050 has resurged to good strength, plenty to audiblize its squeal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9860, May 3 at 0124, WHRI with anti-Obama rant, ``the communists have taken over America`` from Rick somebody on the ``True [sic] News`` show, which is also on WWCR and KBXD. Tnx a lot, stations for propagating this garbage. Extremely strong signal here, and // WHRI 5920 but that is running a few words behind, why? True News has also just bought the 820 station in St Kitts & Nevis from TBN, so presumably R. Paradise will be renamed Radio Paranoia. Hunting for DXing with Cumbre, UT Sunday May 5: at 0101, WHRI is on 7315 // much stronger 9860, but not DWC. At 0211, 5920 sounds like a pirate relay, which makes up so much of DWC time these days, so presumably confirmed as from 0200. At this time, no 7 or 9 MHz frequencies found. Guess what, DWC is *not* a weekly program. At least it has not been for some months, with various excuses, apparently a low priority on ML`s workload. Looking at her download page, http://marie-onthelamb.blogspot.com/ we find 2-3 week gaps between editions: 745 1/31 746 2/14 747 2/28 748 3/17 749 4/4 750 4/18 751 5/2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15825, May 4 at 1400, WWCR is unusually strong, a sure sign that the sporadic-E DX season is starting; as indeed there are openings across America into TV and FM bands, which already started yesterday. So far none of that here, but my VHF antennas are still in disarray following ice damage (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 690, May 2 at 0458 UT, KGGF Coffeyville KS` outro to Jim Bohannon show, but cut to its sign-off announcement, 0458:50 taps start for a minute+, then open carrier/dead air facilitating audibility of KTSM El Paso. 690, UT Friday May 3 at 0459 UT, another check of what KGGF Coffeyville KS is doing: instead of immediate sign-off after Jim Bohannon, runs an ad for a business in Coffeyville-Independence, Utopia(?), and references own website http://www.radioresultsgroup.com plus an Ad Council PSA before sign-off ``until tomorrow``, taps starting at 0500:32 for another minute+ before stopping modulation, but not carrier. Searching directly for a KGGF website, I never found the above, but from it we do find some KGGF stuff among other stations in group, http://www.radioresultsgroup.com/id24.html but still no program schedule. 690, May 4 at 0500:15 UT, taps from KGGF KS ending while the carrier stays on making slow SAH with Fox `news` from KTSM TX. Before 0500, KGGF had a better signal than usual with JimBo, making me wonder if it were on 10 kW day power/pattern. 690, UT Sunday May 5 at 0500, sign-off announcement, 0500.5 UT, taps start from KGGF Coffeyville KS, to be followed by open carrier all night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 850, May 3 at 0144 UT, instrumental hymns, Rock of Ages, Blessèd Assurance, etc., dominant signal, certainly not KOA yet; 0150 fading but tentative ID as KFUO, which I was suspecting, LCMS mouthpiece in Clayton (St Louis) MO. FCC AM Query indeed shows this 5 kW daytimer may now funxion until 0100 UT in May, 0130 in June & July, and there is nothing about a PSSA or PSRA in its FCC correspondence folder, but it might be interesting to explore its history cards converted to pdf which start in 1925 or 1927y. Oops, according to FCC Sunset info, and no PSSA, KFUO should have been off the air before I heard this, 0144-0150 UT being correct. Their program schedule at http://www.kfuoam.org/programs/ shows just ``sacred music`` in the evenings, and these different ``Sign-Off Times JAN 6:00 PM FEB 6:00 PM MAR 7:00 PM APR 8:00 PM MAY 9:00 PM JUN 9:00 PM JUL 9:00 PM AUG 9:00 PM SEP 8:00 PM OCT 7:00 PM NOV 5:30 PM DEC 5:30 PM`` I.e. CDT = 0200 UT in May thru August, which doesn`t make sense in the usual pattern, so maybe they do have a PSSA, or influenced by Denver sunset? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KFUO stays on til sunset at KOA Denver which is 0200 UT in May. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL/WI, ABDX via DXLD) But Denver sunset can`t stay at 0200 for four months in a row, so there must be some other calculation (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) It could simply be that during those four months, when sunset is much later in the evening, KFUO simply chooses to "draw the line" at 9:00 p.m. Yes, they are entitled to stay on until Denver LSS in any month (and KFUO has made use of that privilege for MANY years), but that doesn't mean that they have to. 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska, ibid.) ** U S A. 1120, May 7 at 0600 UT, KMOX misses the CBS bong before the news, after ID as also on 102.5, KEZK HD3. Geez, who needs a cheezy HD3 simulcast when there`s 50 kW clear channel on AM? (Almost: just after I heard CCI from cheating daytimer KEOR; see OKLAHOMA) May 8 at 0519 UT, KMOX has frequency to itself, no KEOR cheater audible unlike last night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1210, TEXAS, KUBR, San Juan. 1032 April 30, 2013 (0635 ET). Spanish. Thought I had a Radio Visión Cristiana ID at 1035, which made no sense since there's no affiliate here (and per their website, not, but their stream was not to be trusted/launched -- I don't download oddball extensions for such). Into nondescript Spanish vocals, I suppose Christian themed but hard to tell. A couple XE tinged. Finally TOH ID by English female canned, but the 1210 kHz channel ID not pulled, however a long list of "K" calls, so a network of sorts. It's KUBR, San Juan, TX. "La Nueva Radio Cristiana" is the slogan I actually heard. Of course, they don't stream (or rather, it's broken). One site found on corporationwiki.com, which lists the network affiliates as KUBR, KMFM-FM, KJAV and KCZO-FM. Bingo! "KCZO" was one TOH call heard, so that makes this KUBR for certain. Almost think there were one or two more "K" calls in the TOH ID string. Rebelde co-channel mediocre and oddly, no trace of WNMA, Miami (also Spanish). Almost think there was a real XE there post 1110 (0710 ET), if so likely the Veracruz station, which I think I've logged once (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, JRC NRD-535; ICOM IC-R75; Hammarlund HQ-180A; Sony ICF-7600GR; Sangean PR-D5; Aqua Guide 705 RDF Marine Radio; GE Superadio III; JPS NF-60 Notch Filter; JPS ANC-4 Noise Phase; 1 X roof dipole; 1 X room random wire; Terk Advantage non-active portable loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1270, May 4 at 1203 UT, IRN-USA `news` is competing with Spanish from Tulsa, then at 1207 some local ads for Liberal KS, so KSCB, 5 kW daytimer is making it, only with some skywave, not groundwave (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1450, May 5 at 0527-0530 UT monitored 1452 with USB just in case some Morse code would be detectable from WKAL Rome NY, in last minutes of its DX test I never expected to hear this far away, and indeed I did not. Per NRC AM Log, had been silent since April 2011, ironically sloganed ``All Christian, all the time``, with address in Charlotte NC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WKAL-1450 DX test: Morse Code IDs heard in West Michigan at 0403 UT at the 1 kHz pitch tone, best with the Perseus tuned to 1451 kHz and engaging the very narrow CW filter. No code heard at the advertised 400 kHz pitch tone, but I wouldn't expect it on a graveyard channel - just too much white noise. Anyway this counts as a new one heard at 537 miles. Thanks to all who arranged this test! I also logged another new one on 1450 just prior to this test - KOKO at 498 miles with oldies. Not a bad night. 73, (Tim Tromp, West Michigan, Perseus SDR + phased BOGs, May 5, ABDX via DXLD) The WKAL QSL for the May 5, 2013 DX Test posted to the USA section of http://www.kg4lac.com 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, ibid.) ** U S A. 1570, May 2 at 0603 UT, promo for a demonstration at the Missouri State Capitol on the National Day of Prayer (what, only one?). This nails it as KBCV Hollister (Springfield), Bott station with gospel-huxter format, 3 kW at night; XERF was in a fade but soon came back up to dominate, altho somewhat nullable for this. Bott station list http://www.bottradionetwork.com/stations/all/ puts this instead in Branson, and they also own the other Missouri 1570, in Lexington. BTW, I later ran across Bott`s OKC station, KQCV 800 railing against homosexuality. This is sounding more and more like hate-speech, one day to be prosecutable? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. All logs made from Clearwater, Florida, USA, unless otherwise stated. Frequencies in kc/s and times/dates are GMT unless otherwise stated. JRC NRD-535; ICOM IC-R75; Hammarlund HQ-180A; Sony ICF-7600GR; Sangean PR-D5; Aqua Guide 705 RDF Marine Radio; GE Superadio III; JPS NF-60 Notch Filter; JPS ANC-4 Noise Phase; 1 X roof dipole; 1 X room random wire; Terk Advantage non-active portable loop. NOTE: Logs appended [DADE] were made mobile, on the car radio, between Clearwater, FL, then looping up the Suncoast Parkway, exiting at SR-52 through San Antonio, St. Leo, Dade City, Zephyrhills and Tampa via US- 301, and finally I-275 back home. I’ve been tipped off for ages front a good Dade City source regarding lots of presumably Part 15 FCC- compliant activity in this otherwise very rural area, and while some were not active due to seasonality or pending equipment repairs, I still managed to hear quite a few – along with one previously undiscovered one -- on 87.9 MHz. 1620, FLORIDA (UNLICENSED) “WBUL” University of South Florida, Tampa. 1830 (1430 ET) May 4, 2013. Strong while passing the campus on Fowler Avenue with the usual techno/electronica music. Carrier current though gets out fair past campus. [DADE] 1620, FLORIDA (UNLICENSED) St. Leo University, St. Leo. No trace of this while driving through the campus mid-morning May 4, 2013. And my source confirms it’s usually not active during the summer. [DADE] 1640, FLORIDA (TIS) WQOX737 FDoT, Suncoast Parkway FL-589, Mile Marker 33, Spring Hill, Pasco County (sic). 1310 (0910 ET) May 4, 2013. First audible about two miles south of the SR-52 exit and rapidly increasing in signal to very good level when exiting. Site is a little north of the SR-52 exit, site per FCC dB which errs in that it’s not really Spring Hill, and even if it was, Spring Hill is not in Pasco County (it’s in Hernando County). Running the usual compu-female generic Turnpike loop. [DADE] 1650, FLORIDA (TIS) WQQJ297 FDoT, I-275 at Exit 39 and Exit 44, Tampa. May 4, 2013. Confirmed these two new FCC Wireless Telecom Bureau entries are still not activated. [DADE] 1690 / 1690.029, FLORIDA (MIS) WQKP882, Clearwater and Largo. May 3, 2013. At least these two transmitters (listed with the same calls in the FCC Wireless Telecom Bureau) are revived and putting out huges signals, especially the Roosevelt Blvd., Clearwater (Bayside Bridge approach, south end). My contact a few weeks ago said the contractor was going to look at this broken network to see if be fixed in April. Currently running a telco audio compu-man loop, “From the Pinellas County Traffic Management Center, you are listing to WQKP882 and WQKP883, operating on 16-90 AM.” Audio from the Roosevelt site slightly over-driven. The Largo (Ulmerton Road) site remains off- frequency, always has been around 1690.03-05. A hunch this one is getting out very well, so I emailed the Florida DX News group, and indeed David Crawford -- opposite side of the state from me in Titusville – was hearing at least two (one on channel, and at least one slightly off-channel), that’s about 130 miles. And while mobile on May 4, the signal was weakly audible on a poor quality car radio at the St. Leo University, St. Leo, about 40 miles. Also audible fair in north Tampa on Fletcher Avenue, near the University of South Florida campus. 87.9 MHz, FLORIDA (UNLICENSED) unidentified, Land O Lakes/San Antonio area. 1320 (0920 ET) May 4, 2013. Checking for the Dade City low power I was tipped off to that was reported as “OTR” (Old Time Radio”) format. Something coming in on SR-52 eastbound, peaking around the Ehren Cutoff Road (about mid-way between US-41 and I-75), but never a great signal, and suspect this is either north or south of approximately this location which is mostly cattle ranch land. This one is “new” having never been reported by anyone I’m aware of. Format – today at least – was satellite-fed Republic Broadcasting Network, with paranoid/conspiracy “patriot” talk show, a break at the bottom of the hour with network spots for campingsurvival.com and a company selling “survival seeds” to grow post-Holocaust. [DADE] 87.9 MHz, FLORIDA (UNLICENSED) “Antioch Radio Network”/”Old Time Radio”, Dade City. 1357 (0957 ET) May 4, 2013. This one quickly overtook the Republic Broadcasting Network renegade heading east on SR-52. I parked acorss from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Dept. HQ and listened for a few minutes. Classical piano solo, male canned “You’re listening to AM 17-10 and 87.9 FM, the Antioch Radio Network…” Then into a radio network crime serial drama from 1949 as introduced. Signal remained pretty good throughout Dade City-proper, though definitely best on the western side. A presumed parallel on 104.5 MHz closer to downtown was unheard, however my source told me it’s not always active, and an update tells me it came back on late afternoon (after I had departed). Also, this is on 1610 kHz (not 1710 ) per the same source. The reason 1610 is off is due to antenna repairs. And my source clears up the “1710” reference on the ID: “That’s because the stream from AM-1710 in Illinois is being fed to the transmitter.” And yes, see: http://radio.macinmind.com/network.php [DADE] 89.1 MHz, FLORIDA (UNLICENCED) Dade City Raceway at the Pasco County Fairgrounds, Dade City. 1340 (0940 ET) May 4, 2013. My contact tipped me off that this is often active, weather permitting. Indeed, while no racing or Fairgrounds activity was in progress at this mid-morning hour, a signal covering about a half-mile along SR-52 was present, peaking in front of the grounds. Running nonstop Classic Rock (Blue Öyster Cult “Don’t Fear the Reaper”; Atlanta Rhythm Section “So Into You”; Mott the Hoople “All the Young Dudes” etc.) with brief gaps between, low modulation, poor audio and a very squeely/unstable transmitter output. [DADE] 93.1 MHz, FLORIDA (UNLICENSED) Joyland Drive-In Theater/Flea Market, Dade City. 1415 (1015 ET) May 4, 2013. My source told me this is often just an open carrier when the flea market is open. Indeed. Small signal but just a carrier. Located just north of the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village on US-301. But at least I can say I logged it. [DADE] 96.5, FLORIDA (LPFM) WVVD-LP, East Tampa. 1810 (1410 ET) May 4, 2013. Noted this one near the US-301 and Flowler Avenue intersection, battling it out with WDBO-FM, Orlando talker. Surprised this oneis still on, Licensed to Iglesia Cristiana la Nueva Jerusalem, Inc. and Spanish Christian vocals. Andof course, there’s no such city as East Tampa, just like some stations legally ID as “Tampa Bay” etc. [DADE] 96.7 MHz, FLORIDA (LPFM) WZPH-LP, Dade City. 1546 (1146 ET) May 4, 2013. A quick check in the parking lot of the Florida Pioneer Museum & Village parking lot. Fair with “WZPH” ID into The Beatles “Anna” and other oldies, canned weather for the day by female. Recheck driving south later, signal improved to local at Zephyrhills where this one actually nearer (vs. FCC city-of-license). Almost always automated Oldies, but a good listen when in the area. [DADE] **************************************** Florida Low Power Radio Stations: https://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/florida-low-power-radio-stations (Terry L. Krueger, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. President to nominate former CTIA chief Tom Wheeler to head FCC --- President Obama is expected to announce the appointment of Thomas E. Wheeler to be the new director of the FCC (via Rick, ABDX via DXLD) Yeah, I'll comment all right: another stinkin "lobbyist";, investor or lawyer running the damn FCC instead of a frickin ENGINEER! This IS crap; again. Like the stealing of TV frequencies for the greater financial gain of Verizon, AT&T and Comcast instead of the greater public good of free OTA TV broadcasts that reach millions for free and provide a public service! I'd rather have Dr. Evil run the FCC ("...sharks with laserbeams!. ..") . Editorial content / soapbox mode OFF. J ("Sam Quantum Leap" toledohamradio, ABDX via DXLD) ** VATICAN [non]. QSL - Vatican radio, 15110 via Tinang, Sergio Salvatori sent an email confirmation reply one day after sending an email report to gestfreq at vatiradio.va. The QSL was specific as to date, time, freq, site, languages, target area, tx power, azimuth and type of antenna! He also attached PDFs of their program schedule and coverage map. He didn't say anything about mailing a QSL card, so I'm not sure if this represents a new QSLing policy. I had asked to please send a "QSL card, letter or email" if the report was correct, so I may have received what I requested for rather than what I wanted (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Analog TV Skip Today: Several UNID Venezuelans. Hi Guys: An unexpected opening to [sic] Venezuela tonight. In and out for over hour with signals ranging from fair to very good. Unable to ID any specific station, only the networks. In any event a sign of things to come maybe, and anytime we can log anything from South America it's a Good Thing. TUNER is SHARP HD TV. ANTENNA is EL CHEAPO FM/VHF/UHF beam on tripod in backyard at 5 FEET high!! (Gotta watch you don't poke your eye out when you walk by it!!) 3, TVes Network UNID VENEZUELA May/04/13 1810 EDT SPANISH FAIR-VG. President Maduro of Venezuela with a long Spanish speech to a live audience, who were all in RED T-SHIRTS and BASEBALL HATS!! There was a banner in the background that said "Inspectores Socialistas". (Mixing with the siren station which is also believed to be from VENEZUELA). Several Mentions of Venezuela at 1820. Letters "SIBIC" ??? On Screen at 1821. This was in Parallel to the "TVes En Vivo Website" from Venezuela. 2, TVes Network UNID VENEZUELA May/04/13 1903 EDT SPANISH FAIR. Basketball game in SPANISH at 1903 EDT. Possibly between PAN and TOR?? whoever that is?? Panama maybe?? Also in // to the TVes en vivo live webfeed from Venezuela. I think the basketball game came on right after the president' s Speech?? TVes Network. 73 ROB VA3SW (Robert S. Ross, London, Ontario CANADA, ODXA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) double-hop sporadic E skip (gh) During Es yesterday afternoon, I managed to record the Venezuela siren on Channel 3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg0pIyBG6Do (Juan Gualda, Fort Pierce, FL, May 5, ABDX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. QSL - Mong Cai Radio (VISHIPEL), 7906 sent an email confirmation in about 8 hours, signed by "Mong Cai Radio". My report was in Vietnamese, pieced together using the Google and Bing translation tools, but the reply was in English. The report plus an MP3 recording was sent to mcai_radio at vishipel.com.vn (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 7220.015, VOV Russian service from Son Tay observed at 1247 UT May 2, S=9 signal strength on remote net unit in Australia, co-channel hit by CNR2 Geermu broadcast on even 7220.0 kHz frequency. 7435.516, Very odd frequency outlet from Son Tay, Vietnamese service of VOV, logged at 1307 UT May 2. S=7 signal downunder on remote SDR unit in Australia (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) 7435.50, Voice of Vietnam 1 still off frequency; 1237-1253, May 6; in Vietnamese and playing nice Vietnamese songs with 2nd best reception; // 5975 (best reception) // 7210 (4th best with QRM) // 9635 (3rd best). On February 14th Glenn in dxldyg first reported them off frequency! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non], QSL - Voice of Vietnam sent QSL cards confirming January report for Woofferton 9640 (82 days) and July 2012 report for Sackville 6175 (283 days). Both cards were specific as to date/time/freq but not site and were mailed in the same envelope, despite the reports being sent months apart to different email addresses (one to english at vovnews.vn, and the other to vovworld at vov.org.vn). The email address printed on the cards is englishsection at vov.org.vn (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6175, May 3 at 0521, VOV via WHRI goes from nice music to language lesson ``for Vietnamese living abroad``, i.e. presented in English during this Viet-language hour. So they expect expatriates/emigrants not fluent in the language to improve it thusly; not for total foreigners (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA. 711.11 | RTM, Laayoune, APR 18 2315 - bits of Arabic vocal on big carrier, stronger than 711.0 (France). + APR 18 2330 - shrieky female vocal (Mark Connelly, Duxbury, MA, USA (GC = 42.0464 N / 70.6512 W) (= 42 2.8' N / 70 39.1' W) (west end of Powder Point Bridge, near Duxbury Beach) map at http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/pictures1/powder_point_map.gif Receiver: Microtelecom Perseus; Antenna: cardioid-pattern Micro- SuperLoop on car roof, square, 2 m per side, with Clifton Laboratories Z10130A amp on east bottom corner to speaker wire to 2:1 transformer to W7IUV amp, and 9:1 transformer on west corner to speaker wire to 500 ohm null-adjust potentiometer, ABDX via DXLD) See also [non]: ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 1550.03 | ALGERIA | RASD Clandestine, Rabouni, APR 18 2315 - woman in Arabic; over WSDK (Mark Connelly, ibid.) ** ZANZIBAR. Hi Glenn, I'm just listening to a very nice signal on 11735 kHz with distinctive traditional music. Not heard in April at all. May 2nd, first caught at 1939 UT. No ID at 2000, just a short announcement. ID as ZBC Radio at 2004. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, http://www.africalist.de.ms WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx for tip; only a JBA carrier here at 2017; normally closes shortly before 2100. Poor propagation today with Kuwait weak on 15540, 17550 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) Zanzibar nuevamente activo en 11735 kHz --- Video del usuario 2010dfs en Japón (2 de mayo, 2017 UTC): http://youtu.be/qTOX3_rKBU0 -- (via Rodolfo Tizzi, Uruguay, May 3, condiglista yg via DXLD) 11735, May 2 at 2017, JBA carrier here, checked after tip from Thorsten Hallmann, Germany, who was getting ZBC reactivated after more than a month, not heard at all in April; then I tuned to Twente at 2055 and heard some music tho signal quite weak there by then, and off at 2059:50* (as presumably delayed to get it here via web, but how much as a correxion factor?). SDR Twente was hearing it again via Jorge Freitas May 3 after 1554 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) JBA here also but heard with good signal on Twente at 2039 UT. Dig those Zanzibarian tunes (Dave Hughes, Kansas City MO, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11735, 02/May 2044, TANZANIA, Zanzibar BC in Swahili. Back. Local pop music and at 2045 OM talk. At 2046 more local music. QRM from R Belarus on 11730. 33333. Good signal in SDR, Twente (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ZBC Radio, 6015 Dole. May 3, 2013 Friday. 0345-0408. Swahili talk, ID and 5+1 pips at 0400, into news. Fair-good. Jo'burg sunrise 0433 (Bill Bingham, Johannesburg RSA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 11735, 03/May 1554, TANZANIA, Zanzibar BC in Swahili. Local music. At 1555 OM talk, jingle. At 1557 Local music. QRM from R Belarus on 11730. 33443 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brasil, on SDR, Twente, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ZBC Radio, 6015 Dole. May 4, 2013 Saturday. 0425-0505. After yesterday's good start, not sure it was there today. But I was a bit late tuning in so it could be down to propagation. Jo'burg sunrise 0433 (Bill Bingham, Johannesburg RSA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ZBC Radio, 6015 Dole. May 5, 2013 Sunday. 0345-0355. All present and correct this morning. Good. Jo'burg sunrise 0434 (Bill Bingham, Johannesburg RSA, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6015, ZBC Radio. Thanks to Bill Bingham (RSA) for reporting in dxldyg their return after being off the air for a while; May 6 suddenly on at *0256 with non-stop pop music; assume intro segment from Spice FM; clear time pips; 0301 reciting from the Qur’an till 0305; animated monologue; one of their stronger receptions. Also noted the usual drums at 0359 and time pips. Nice to have them broadcasting again! 6015, “Radio Zanzibar”/ZBC Radio, *0301, May 7. Suddenly on with reciting from the Qur’an; no Spice FM intro; a second day of fine reception; clear “Radio Zanzibar” ID and several references to “Zanzibar.” Unusually clear reception! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. 11735, May 7 at 2055, no signal from ZBC, tuned in as soon as Kuwait 15540 finished news; others were hearing it today, so maybe just cut off already. Romania in English to ENAm was still in on 11745 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Radio VOP closed? Dutch-based Zimbabwe opposition station Radio VOP has not been heard when checked at its scheduled time (1800-1900 on 9435 [sic; see below]) during April. As of 27 April the Radio VOP news feed at http://www.radiovop.com and also their twitter feed, had not been updated since 21 February. Maybe SW went off around the same time? A report in the Zimbabwe Herald (via allafrica.com) dated 26 February stated that “Netherlands-based pirate radio station Voice of the People is in turmoil with its employees going for six months without salaries. Documents in The Herald's possession point to the imminent collapse of the radio station” (Dave Kenny, May BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) It was on 9345, not 9435, per website. HFCC: 250 kW via MADAGASCAR (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. [Continued from GERMANY, MW txs in Saxony turned off:] But what really intrigues me is that Arab station with somewhat distorted modulation on 1188. If Egypt it should be, if the lists are correct, // 819, but it isn't. Should this really be Sanaa, as a jingle appeared to say? (Kai Ludwig, May 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Did you record any of it? Are you sure, that it was an Arab station? Here in Finland the strongest is usually IRIB R. Payam in Farsi. Egypt is very weak and I haven't heard Yemen for a while; it may be inactive (Mauno Ritola, ibid.) Hello, I did not consider Teheran because the program format for Radio Payam is described as "actualities", giving me an impression that it would be talk around the clock. What I heard was music with some presentation in between, "actualities" being limited to news on top of the hour with short audio clips. And all this with noticeably distorted modulation. I made no recordings so far, but perhaps this description suffices to judge whether or not it could have been Radio Payam? Right now (2130 UT) I again can make out the Middle East music on 1188, but this time it penetrates the lightning crashes and the splatter from Galbeni on 1179 only during peaks. At the same time on 783 COPE again wipes out Syria (if on air at all) completely, dealing with SBG just as SER on 1044 does. All this as always simply portable indoor, with Sangean ATS-818 and its built-in ferrite rod (Kai Ludwig, May 8, ibid.) Hello, that doesn't exclude music, although I think there is much less of it during the day, when the programming is more according to the name Payam meaning "message". Wikipedia describes it as "music, traffic and general news". But the best clue is the language and maybe the mention of Sana'a was actually Payam (Mauno, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 1210, May 5 at 0520 UT, Spanish preaching separable from KGYN Guymon, ``US Country`` due west (and obviously on day pattern again). Suspecting KUBR 10/5 kW 24h Cadena Cristiana in San Juan (McAllen) TX, tried to // it with sibling station on 890, KVOZ (Laredo), but too much WLS. There are no 1210s in northern or western Mexico, so probably KUBR, tho 50/5 kW XEBCO in Colima2 would be nice, IMER station 24 hours, which would not be preaching, and which IRCA asks if it is really on the air? It`s NOT listed by Cantú or WRTH {and no XEBCO on any frequency in Cantú}. The SS had faded out completely by 0522 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1420, May 7 at 0550 UT, C2CAM discussion of Roswell, UFOs, dominant signal, seems ENE/WSW. C2C station list search turns up four on 1420, primary being WOC in IA; also KTAN AZ, KTOE MN, WACT AL; most likely WOC which has a lobe this way (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5015, UnID 0040 to 0050 in Portuguese on 26 April (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, NRD 535D, Icom 746Pro, Drake R7, Drake R8, 60 meter dipole, and MR, Vero Beach, South Florida, NRD 515, Drake R8B, Timewave ANC-4, Quantum Phaser, via Wilkner, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No Brazilians listed in WRTH on 5015 (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. The Crystal Ship notified that there might be a relay of TCS programming after 0000 UT May 6 on 6925 or 6950; checking at 0008, nothing on those frequencies, but maybe something JBA on 6931 AM? By 0101 there does seem to be algo on 6950-AM, too weak. In summer noise season, pirates need to operate further into nighttime on this band, or use a higher band (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Baseball game on 7610 kHz from Nicaragua Received by a Youtube fellow in Letonia [= Latvia, not Lithuania!]. Perhaps a feeder or broadcast to sailors in the style of Pescador Preacher on 8989 kHz? In six parts: http://youtu.be/lZSTfI0ivro http://youtu.be/ltEyzjVbBfo http://youtu.be/2KnuocJSUUM http://youtu.be/3TlAMkY9Grc http://youtu.be/zsDOKmBf6aY http://youtu.be/5nRiYG_hxfc 73 from Montevideo – (Rodolfo Tizzi, http://cx2abp.blogspot.com/ May 5, dxldyg via DXLD) [witih the first one above:] 7610, Nr 1 Baseball comments from Nicaragua 2348-2350 UTC 04.05.2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZSTfI0ivro&feature=youtu.be (Via Rodolfo Tizzi, DXLD) CX2ABP 19 minutes ago [on youtube]: I have send the links of complete serie of videos to DXLD mailing list to obtain more info about? this nice catch. 73! CX2ABP CX2ABP 24 minutes ago: Very nice stuff Mikhail, as usual on your videos! I have heard the complete combo of clips and can heard in video #4 many mentions of Puerto Cabezas in Nicaragua. In video #3 at 0042 presumed self ID "a través de Radio.." ("on Radio...???") but I can't hear the name of the station. Is a baseball game for sure, but I can't know the terminology because here in? Uruguay there aren't baseball activity. In the Caribbean basin is very popular due the USA cultural and military hegemony in the area (Tizzi, YT comments via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) O come on; no one forces the Caribbean area (including Cuba!) to be wild about béisbol; hegemony, indeed (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. OTHR signal seen on bar screen image in 9543 to 9553 kHz range at 2022 UT Apr 29, S=7 in Europe, but I guess origin is Israel, Russia, Ukraine, China or Iran? (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews 4 May via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 11820, 3/5 1344-1348, UnID, music, non ID: "you are listening to a test transmission", good, sign-off 1348. Heard in Milan, Italy. 73 (Giampiero Bernardini, playdx yg via DXLD) BaBcoCk? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 15400, probably one of these Malaysian opposite programs, noted mentioning Iban over and over again. S=9 signal in Tokyo Japan at 1010 UT May 4 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 4, dxldyg via DXLD) That would be Radio Free Kenyalang (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Sunday 5th May. Tuned in to 18180 at 1243 gmt and heard fairly strong Chinese male voice, SINPO=35433. Time pips at the top of the hour, then carrier off. Anyone know what this might be? A Chinese domestic perhaps? (Jonathan Kempster, London, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Might be station SOH Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, in either Mandarin or Cantonese, a low-power station. Seems to be a great catch. Regards, (Rémy Friess, Erstein - France, ibid.) 18180 is a common Firedrake frequency against Sound of Hope, but that jamming method has now mostly been replaced by CNR1 program jamming, which is probably what you heard instead of SOH, not a great catch at all. Compare to known CNR1 frequencies for //. The time pips and off is typical of that. If not, maybe you really had SOH. See DX Listening Digest for lengthy reports of Firedrake and other jammed channels. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ No, thanks this week for financial support, as none has been received since last week, by check or MO to PO Box 1684, Enid OK, 73702; or not necessarily in US funds by PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1668) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ BROADCASTS IN ENGLISH --- SUMMER 2013 Very handy 32-page booklet has just been published by the British DX Club. I keep it by the radio even when the computer is off. First 21 pages are comprehensive schedules by time, showing days of week, country, station, target area, frequencies, transmitter site if foreign, other notes. Shorter sections: BIE A13 – What`s New? MUSIC ON SHORTWAVE, time schedule by Alan Roe, 2+ pages. BIE AVAILABLE ONLINE: live 24-hour streaming linx by country; Streaming in English at scheduled times with linx, 3.5 pages. DX, Media & Mailbag Programmes, by day and time, 2 pages. WORLD RADIO NETWORK three schedules by time for English to North America; Africa, Asia, Pacific; Europe: 3 pages. While stox last, price including postage: to UK, 3 pounds; to Europe 4 pounds or 5 euro, US$6 or 5 IRCs; rest of world by airmail, 5 pounds, US$7 or 6 IRCs. PDF copy also available at UK price: British DX Club, 10 Hemdean Hill, Caversham, Reading RG4 7SB, UK http://www.bdxc.org.uk (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5ª ACTUALIZACIÓN DE LA LISTA MUNDIAL DE EMISIONES EN ESPAÑOL Hola, Estas son las últimas novedades de blog AER: http://aer.org.es/?p=376 La AER anuncia que ya está disponible la 5ª actualización de 2013 de la LISTA MUNDIAL DE EMISIONES EN ESPAÑOL que se ofrece gratis en forma de listados PDF y de páginas web con motor de búsqueda. La Lista Mundial de Emisiones en Español cubre un hueco existente en Internet referente a las emisiones en el idioma hablado por cientos de millones de personas en todos los continentes: el ESPAÑOL. La Lista comprende todas las emisiones internacionales en nuestro idioma, incluyendo emisoras clandestinas, piratas y oficiales; un total de emisiones, de manera que se trata de un amplio listado que esperamos os ayude en la escucha de la radio. Más en http://lista.aer-dx.es/ Los dos diexistas y socios de AER que ponen esta lista en la red, Martin Estevez y Pedro Sedano, se comprometen a su actualización al menos 9 veces al año, lo cual no es óbice para que se revise con mayor frecuencia, en función del volumen de cambios que se produzca entre actualizaciones. A fin de ganar en rapidez en la consulta, la lista es realmente una base de datos a la que pudes realizar consultas a fin de obtener la información que deseas. Pues bien, hemos preparado las siguientes consultas: a.. Todas las emisiones de una emisora internacional concreta desde un radiopáis concreto b.. Todas las emisiones que hay a una hora y día determinado Obviamente, todas las emisiones están ordenadas por la hora de comienzo, de final, emisora y radiopaís origen. Como complemento a estas búsquedas, te ofrecemos varios ficheros PDF con todas las emisiones ordenadas por varios criterios e incluso una que tiene también las direcciones postales y electrónicas Te hemos de informar que, a fin de facilitarte la impresión del resultado de la conuslta, la página de resultado se ha realizado con un diseño muy básico. Un saludo cordial, ------------ --------- --------- (Pedro Sedano, Madrid, España COORDINADOR GENERAL coordinador @ aer-dx.es ------------ --------- --------- AER http://aer-dx.es/ http://aer.org.es/ general @ aer-dx.es twitter @ aer_dx May 6, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) CBS RADIO NEWS AFFILIATES I found this and thought it might be helpful in identifying a station suspected to carry CBS Radio News. You can't search by frequency, rather by state, but it's a start. Disclaimer: I don't know how accurate/up to date the list is: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/25/broadcasts/main6518013.shtml?tag=cbsnewsTwoColLowerPromoArea (Paul Walker, May 8, NRC-AM via DXLD) it is dated May 25, 2010! (gh) Just doing a quickie spot-check I discovered one inaccuracy: there's a flag that's clearly in northeastern Oklahoma, but when you click on it they show it as KCTE-1510 Kansas City MO. Like Paul, I'm in no position to vouch for the rest of it, though I can confirm that KTXR- 101.3 carries the TOH CBS news (Randy Stewart, Arts Producer, KSMU, 901 S. National, Springfield MO 65897, ibid.) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ NON ?????? ** ALGERIA [non] --- Hi Glenn, Could you please tell me what [non] means in your listings? Thank you. -- Best Regards, (Keith http://home.comcast.net/kilowattradio/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good afternoon Glen[n], Sorry to bother you but it is driving me batty trying to figure out what "[non]" means on your reports? Please advise. Thanks in advance, (John Cooper, May 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`ve explained this over and over, and also expect readers to apply logic and enjoy the satisfaxion of figuring it out for themselves. One more try, and I should put this in a permanent place on the WOR website. Since items in DXLD (and my own log reports) are headlined by country, it follows that any deviation from the specified country needs to be flagged by [non] or [and non]. NON basically negates what it follows. Is this not obvious?? It crops up in several ways, however. 1, a broadcast originating in the country but transmitted from somewhere else. It might also be filed under the relay country if that is considered more significant, without a [non]. Broadcasts produced in one country and transmitted from another are quite common in today`s SW scene. The secondary country should always be specified within the item. Some listeners care only about the transmitter site for propagational reasons, accurate country-counting, etc. Others are more concerned with the socio-political origin of the programming. 2, a clandestine or target broadcast FOR the country, but from elsewhere INTO the country in question. In such cases the target is far more significant than the transmitter site(s), often only hired time (but we still want to know what they are!). It is also convenient to have all items about the same ``station`` in one entry, even if multiple transmitter sites are involved. 3, sometimes, reporting on unsuccessful attempts to hear the station 4, [and non]. The item concerns another country besides the main one, e.g., mentioning the source of interference; or a single station but involving transmissions both from within and without the country 5, sometimes: UNIDENTIFIED [non], means, you guessed it? An originally unID item has been identified (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE NEXT RADIO CAROLINE SOUTHAMPTON SUPPORT GROUP MEETING is being planned for Wednesday 12th June at The Netley Victoria Club, Netley near Southampton SO31 5DG. A £5 donation includes a buffet and all proceeds from the evening go towards the costs of restoration work on board the Ross Revenge. The Sales stall will be there where you will be able to buy the latest Radio Caroline merchandise and you could win something in the raffle. We also have special guests for you to meet. There is accommodation in the area if you want to stay the night; please contact me for details on rolandbeaney @ tiscali.co.uk or go to the following websites - Recommended accommodation websites http://www.theprinceconsortpub.co.uk/ http://www.netleyvillagebandb.com/ (via Mike Terry, May 8, BDXC_UK yg via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ MICRO DX-PEDITION Resumen de la micro DX-pedition del domingo pasado, con algunas captaciones de Onda Media y Larga desde el sureste de Uruguay: http://cx2abp.blogspot.com/2013/05/mini-dx-pedition-5-6-de-mayo-2013.html -- (Rodolfo Tizzi, May 7, condiglista yg via DXLD) Lotsa clips DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See INDIA; NEW ZEALAND; SPAIN; TAIWAN ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ SDR recommendations/advice? As you know, I can be a bit blunt with my recommendations. But I very strongly recommend to just pop down the grand for the Perseus so you can record the entire [mediumwave] band. Even if it had no recording available it would clearly be the best receiver I've ever used. I thought I'd nearly exhausted the DX possibilities from here in IL towards my west, but the amount of new ID's that can pop up near the ToH has shocked me since I record either the entire band or an 800 kHz segment (depending on antenna used). The only drawback is if running off of batteries, you need 5V. You may want to phase those Bevs to improve front to back. This should be broadbanded enough to cover the GY freq range 1230-1490. If aiming East, just phase null something in that range to the west and make sure that your phase setting isn't also nulling the desired eastern DX and vice versa to aim off the unterminated Bev`s back end. KAZ Buy from here for a grand: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/commrxvr/0122.html If running from the car receuver, make sure to make something to convert 12 VDC to 5 VDC. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, ABDX via DXLD) Either Perseus (which Neil and I use) or the Excalibur (which Bruce Conti uses) are excellent choices permitting full AM band recording and replay along with excellent sensitivity, selectivity, and dynamic range. These radios have revolutionized DX, especially for international DXers doing short duration beach DXpeditions on which it is impossible to log all stations of interest during primetime (East Coast sunset, West Coast sunrise) if using the traditional one-station-at-a-time approach (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, South Yarmouth, MA, ibid.) I have the RF Space SDR-IQ which is about half the cost of the Perseus. Plus, I bought mine pre-owned. For my needs the SDR-IQ is great - as I don't normally record swaths of bandwidth and I don't have any local MW stations which might overload a good but not exceptional front end. Plus, I have a stable of really good older tech receivers [my top two being a Collins R-390A and a Racal RA-6790/GM]. I'm a DXer who tends to be a radio collector - so I'd be hard pressed to give up my "real radios". For me, I use the SDR-IQ for its almost infinite number of brickwall IF bandwidths and its ability to visually show carriers. The brickwall filters are awesome for transatlantic work - say trying to get 1089 kHz in the presence of domestic 1090. The visual display of carriers makes it essentially a superb MW DX "fish finder". At a glance, I can tell if transatlantics are coming in, then use the Racal or the Collins to reel them in. Or even the Alinco DX-R8, my only "new" radio. Now, the Perseus can do all of the above of course. And more. In my case, I'm old school. I like having a tuning knob/old style receiver and while I appreciate an SDR as an additional DX tool, it couldn't replace a "real radio" in my radio room. Other DXers are more practical than me! The Perseus has a really good front end [Mark and Kaz like theirs a lot] plus the capability I understand to record the whole MW band at a time, as opposed to up to 200 kHz at a time with the SDR-IQ [I've had good luck with 100 kHz at a time but didn't push it beyond that]. The Perseus is so good that Dallas Lankford approves - and Dallas is not easily impressed. Dallas is a good part of the reason why I own, restored and continue to care for and feed my R-390A. The idea of getting one really good receiver that will do everything one needs and wants can be very appealing, rather than filling a room with gear. So, for those who are really serious about using an SDR receiver - who will be using it for much more than just a supplement to ordinary receivers - I'd cast a vote for the Perseus. Here is a good site to have a look at: http://arcticdx.blogspot.ca/ Actually, I bought my SDR-IQ from Bjarne who put it up for sale after getting, you guessed it, a Perseus! Better to spend a grand and be done with it than $500, then later another $500 and another, and then end up spending $1000 anyway. From a pragmatic perspective, it can save a lot of money and space to save up and go for the best (Phil Rafuse, VY2PR, Stratford PE Canada, May 2, ibid.) RFI REPORT FOR YOU FM DXERS - LED LIGHTS IN CARS AND TRUCKS I've been in the process of replacing various bulbs in my car with automotive LED "bulbs". Some of the lower power types simply have a resistor in them, and create no RFI. Great for dome lights, license plate lights etc. But, I put in some more exotic ones using a Cree Q5 chip as part of the package - these are as bright or brighter than the simple tungsten 7440, 7443 etc. and they create some bizarre RFI on weak FM signals. Put on the turn signal and it creates a pulsing in time with the turn signal flasher type RFI that will blank out a weak FM signal. It sounds like a crude, hissy FM transmitter with no audio programming is switched on and off in time with the turn signal. Now, although I do like to do a little FM DXing, especially in the car, having turn signals and brakes lights that really stand out even when the sun is shining on them is a definite plus [having been rear ended by a 19 year old female when stopped at a red light] and given the infatuation with tailgating among PEI drivers [how dare he only go 80 km/h in a 70 km/h zone] so I'll happily put up with the RFI. But, if you are a big time FM DXer and love to DX in your car, you might want to stick with old fashioned bulbs in your car or limit your upgrade to just LED brake lights - which responding 1/5 of a second faster do have a major safety advantage - and forego LED signal lights etc. where the advantages are not so major. In my case, the brake lights [using the same kind of LED "bulb" only red rather than amber] cause a bit of interference, but not as much as the signal lights - likely due to car wiring location vis-à-vis antenna and antenna coax etc. And of course, the interference only occurs when the bulbs are engaged, e.g. applying the brakes. In park light mode [e.g. "dim" , there seems to be no problem]. I'll have to switch the car radio over to AM to see if these bulbs I put in trash AM as well as FM. The AM band is exclusively a DX band here - no locals, no semi-locals. Now, if I wanted to get crazy I could try toroids etc, but car light housing areas are crowded enough already (Phil Rafuse, VY2PR, Stratford PE Canada, May 8, ABDX via DXLD) A warning for you about going LED-crazy too. My 2012 Dodge has every freaking electric circuit monitored by a computer (which you can't access of course) so I cannot change my turn signal bulb from a 3157 or whatever to an LED as the computer monitors every bulb for HI resistance, LO resistance, short and open and makes a 'ding' sound on the dash and 'strobes&` your turn indicator inside the car, even though it is working outside. Bizzaro. So they've made it super easy for someone to service a car, but I've yet to see a 'CanBus` computer reader that can read every bulb status (x5), or a way to program your computer to IGNORE that bulb filament detection warnings. Too high tech just makes it a pain. So you save power with an LED, but have to add a 50 watt resistor to keep the computer happy? A waste of power going into heat. So, with 2012 Dodge, caution is the word for LED bulbs, yet alone RFI issues to boot! J ("Sam Quantum Leap" toledohamradio ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Propagtion outlook from PIG Ondrejov: Weekly forecasts from Ondrejov for the period May 3 - 9, 2013 --- Solar activity forecast for the period May 3 - 9, 2013 Activity level: mostly low X-ray background flux (1.0-8.0 A): in the range B2.0-B9.5 Radio flux (10.7 cm): a fluctuation in the range 115-175 f.u. Events: class C (0-15/day), class M (0-5/period), class X (0- 1/period), proton (0-1/period) Relative sunspot number (Ri): in the range 50-130 Astronomical Institute, Solar Dept., Ondrejov, Czech Republic e-mail: sunwatch(at)asu.cas.cz (RWC Prague) ______________________________ Geomagnetic activity forecast for the period May 3 - 19, 2013 Geomagnetic field will be: quiet to unsettled on May 3 - 10, 13 - 19, quiet to active on May 11 - 12. High probability of changes in solar wind which may cause changes in magnetosphere and ionosphere is expected on May 4, 9 - 14, (17 - 18). Remarks: - Parenthesis means lower probability of activity enhancement. - If during present year solar activity will not reach a similar or higher level as in November 2011, then 2012 will remain to be the maximum of 24 cycle (R = 70) - and vice versa. F. K. Janda, OK1HH, Czech Propagation Interest Group (OK1HH & OK1MGW, weekly forecasts since 1978) e-mail: ok1hh(at)rsys.cz (via Dario Monferini, DXLD) :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2013 May 06 0122 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 29 April - 05 May 2013 Solar activity reached high levels this week when Region 1739 (N13, L=75, class/area=Dac/150 on 03 May) appeared on the east limb and unleashed an M5/Sf flare on 03 May at 1732Z. The flare was accompanied by Type II (1297 km/s) and Type IV radio emissions. A coronal mass ejection (CME) was subsequently observed in LASCO/C2 coronagraph imagery at 03/1748Z and also in STEREO-A and B COR2 imagery. Region 1739 was also responsible for an M1/Sf flare at 05/1756Z. The most prolific active region of the week was, by far, Region 1731 (N09, L=187, class/area=Dkc/420 on 28 Apr) with 17 C-class and two M-class flares to its credit. By 30 Apr, Region 1731 had developed beta-gamma- delta magnetic characteristics which it maintained through 03 May. During this period it produced an M1/1n flare at 02/0510Z and a long duration M1/2n flare at 03/1655Z. The 02 May event was associated with a tenflare (159 sfu), a Type II emission (703 km/s), and a CME first seen in LASCO/C2 imagery at 02/0524Z. The majority of the ejecta was directed north of the ecliptic, but output from the WSA-Enlil model suggested a possible scrape from the CME on 06 May. The 03 May event was not associated with a CME. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at high levels on 29-30 Apr and 03-04 May. Geomagnetic field activity reached unsettled to active levels beginning late on 30 Apr and lasting through 02 May. This activity was in response to the presence of a recurrent negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream. On 01 May, activity reached major storm levels at high latitudes. Activity returned to quiet levels early on 02 May. Conditions were quiet, with the exception of one unsettled period during the latter half of 05 May with the arrival of a corotating interaction region in advance of a positive polarity recurrent coronal hole high speed stream. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 06 MAY - 01 JUNE 2013 Solar activity is expected to be at low levels with a chance for an isolated moderate or greater event for the extent of the outlook period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be high on 8-10 May and again on 24-31 May in response to recurrent coronal hole high speed streams. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be quiet to unsettled for the majority of the outlook period. Active levels are possible on 21-23 May in response to a recurrent coronal hole high speed stream. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2013 May 06 0123 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2013-05-06 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2013 May 06 140 8 3 2013 May 07 140 8 3 2013 May 08 135 5 2 2013 May 09 135 5 2 2013 May 10 130 5 2 2013 May 11 125 5 2 2013 May 12 120 5 2 2013 May 13 120 5 2 2013 May 14 125 5 2 2013 May 15 125 5 2 2013 May 16 120 5 2 2013 May 17 120 5 2 2013 May 18 125 5 2 2013 May 19 130 5 2 2013 May 20 130 5 2 2013 May 21 135 15 4 2013 May 22 135 10 3 2013 May 23 130 15 4 2013 May 24 130 5 2 2013 May 25 135 5 2 2013 May 26 145 5 2 2013 May 27 155 5 2 2013 May 28 160 15 3 2013 May 29 150 10 3 2013 May 30 150 5 2 2013 May 31 145 5 2 2013 Jun 01 140 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1668, DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ SCOTTISH COUPLES SAY 'I DO' TO HUMANIST WEDDINGS By Karen Millington BBC Reporter 3 May 2013 Last updated at 09:23 Two swans face one another, creating a heart-shaped space between them [caption] Humanist weddings have become increasingly popular in Scotland, and they may outnumber Church of Scotland weddings if current trends continue, says the Humanist Society Scotland. Any couple in the UK can choose to have a Humanist ceremony, but outside Scotland marriage must also involve a legally recognised service. Since 2005 a humanist wedding has been a legal form of marriage in Scotland, one of only six nations where that is the case. . . http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/22271809 (via Gerald T Pollard, NC, DXLD) Also primer on Humanism ###