DX LISTENING DIGEST 15-45, November 11, 2015
Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING
edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com
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[also linx to previous years]
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WORLD OF RADIO 1799 CONTENTS: *DX and station news about:
Armenia/Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Biafra non, Bolivia,
China, Czechia, East Turkistan, Europe, Finland and non, Germany non,
Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kurdistan non, Madagascar, Mali,
México, Micronesia, Mongolia, Netherlands non, Papua New Guinea,
Somaliland, South Africa, Spain, Sudan South non, USA and non, Western
Sahara
SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1799, November 12-18, 2015
Thu 1230 WRMI 9955 [confirmed]
Thu 2100 WRMI 7570 [confirmed]
Fri 0200 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [confirmed]
Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 [confirmed]
Fri 2130 WRMI 7570 [confirmed but truncated]
Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio
Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [confirmed]
Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM
Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM [confirmed]
Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v Area 51
Mon 0430 WRMI 9955
Tue 1200 WRMI 9955
Wed 1415 WRMI 9955
Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v
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
WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS:
Tnx to Dr Harald Gabler and the Rhein-Main Radio Club.
http://www.rmrc.de/index.php/rmrc-audio-plattform/podcast/glenn-hauser-wor
ALTERNATIVE PODCASTS, tnx Stephen Cooper:
http://shortwave.am/wor.xml
AND ANOTHER PODCAST ALTERNATIVE, tnx to Keith Weston:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/GlennHausersWorldOfRadio
Also via [but still not back in service]:
http://tunein.com/radio/World-of-Radio-p198/
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
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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:
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** ALBANIA. 7470, R. Tirana (nf), IS and s/on in English with News at
BoH, and into talx re Albanian history. At 0240 ID and into Albanian
pop music for the rest of the broadcast. IS again at 0257 and carrier
off. This is a test frequency based on tip from DXLD which complained
7425 was too QRMed. Rather poor reception especially when compared to
how CRI from Albania POUNDS in here earlier in the evening. 34443 with
my local QRM making things difficult. Using Heath SB-310 *0229-0257*
31/Oct (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet Nov 6 via
DXLD)
Yes, a pity Albania turned over the best equipment to CRI. R. Tirana
broadcast time has diminished so much that CRI/Cërrik ought to be able
to spare them a few hours of transmitter time over there (gh, DXLD)
7470 - R. Tirana tune/in at 0230 s/on to YL in English with opening
ID’s followed by OM with apparent news. Signal is poor at best with
significant extended fades. Bands are still severely depressed as they
have been over the last few days. Lots of static just about
everywhere. Meanwhile MW conditions are at fair levels with some good
TA openings to N. Africa & Spain (Stephen C Wood, Harwich, Mass.,
Perseus SDR, 25 x 50 variable terminated superloop antenna (N/E 60º &
SW 225º), UT Nov 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Very bad shortwave propagation conditions in past two days. Similar
bad like Radio Tirana English to the North America audience on
7469.978 kHz fingerprint started 0229 UT tonight on Nov 6 as S=7-8 or
-84dBm in remote SDR unit in MA/NY/NJ eastern coastline area (Wolfgang
Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
7470, Nov 7 at 0229, R. Tirana is JBA with IS, so has stayed here for
a week now, ex-7425, where the Greenville leapfrog is just as
strong/weak.
7470, Nov 10 at *0225, R. Tirana IS is barely audible, still here ex-
7425 (and a good thing too: see VATICAN). Unlike via the NRD-545, now
I`m checking on the FRG-7 and find so much overload from 7455 and
other strong signals nearby that I have to ATT to LOCAL in order to
dig out Albania.
In Nov BDXC-UK Communication, Alan Roe reviews R. Tirana programming
and has put together a program schedule grid I`ve never seen from them
direct, here transformed into plain text:
``Here is the complete programme schedule for R Tirana – note that a
music break is often, but not always, heard prior to the day’s feature
block, which may then start slightly later than shown.
0230, Daily News
0235, Sun Mosaic of the Week
Tue-Sat Press Review
0240, Sun Folk Music
Tue Albania in a Week
Wed Music
Thu Albania & the EU Integration Process
Fri Albanian Economy and Facts
Sat Profile
0245, Tue Cultural Activities
Wed Mailbag
Thu Hits Through the Years
Fri Around Albania
Sat Music
0250, Tue Sport
Fri Music
0255, Tue Music
0257, Close``
[Same programming at equivalent times the previous UT days to Europe
from 2100 on 7465] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Radio Tirana --- This month I have listened rather more regularly to
the programmes of Radio Tirana than I would normally and in particular
during the period from 5th to 17th October I listened most days at
2000 UT on 7465 kHz. Reception here has been very variable - from
fairly good to virtually inaudible – along with generally poor
conditions throughout the bands. Here is a brief look at some of the
programmes that I enjoyed during that period.
All programmes start with a five minute news broadcast followed with a
Press Review each day except Saturday (Sunday in North America), when
there is a recap of the top stories of the week in Mosaic of the Week.
These are then sometimes followed by a brief music break, then the
day’s feature programme and usually some more Albanian music to end
the transmission.
Daily News/Press Review block
I have to confess here that I am not a regular listener to the
news/press review block, and usually tune-in around 10 minutes into
the programme for the features which follow. However, I did hear some
news broadcasts such as these ones noted over the period 15-17
October:
Thursday 15 October
1. Judiciary reform
2. Economic, trade and industry co-operation with Czech Republic
3. Supreme State Audit report
4. Health reform and accusation of slander against a Minister
Friday 16 October
1. Golden Eagle honour to police officer killed last year
2. Report on decriminalisation in Albania
3. Foreign debt in Albania
4. New draft law on meterology
5. Albanian football federation and the Secret Police co-operating on
closer ticket checks
Saturday 17 October
1. Brussels meeting on EU enlargement process, treatments of
immigrants, and judiciary reform.
2. Public administration reform.
3. Economic, trade and industry co-operation with Czech Republic
4. Swedish tourism in Albania
5. Electoral reform
As can be seen, the focus is on Albanian news (which in my view is as
it should be - although it would be nice also to hear from time to
time Albania’s take on the major world events of the day). I have
often found that their news broadcasts are quite difficult to follow
as items tended to run into each other without much of a pause between
items. Also, the language used is quite stilted and the news subjects
tended to be perhaps a little dry.
For example on Friday 16 October, the report on decriminalization in
Albania sounded quite interesting, but making sense of the news item
is quite a challenge, as perhaps these opening sentences of the news
item demonstrate:
“The Special Parliamentary Commission for Decriminalisation stayed for
three hours to reach nothing. The Democrats advanced with difficulties
to the point of presenting the draft for the constitutional amend for
interrupting of terms of people with criminal records. ‘Criminals
should not be in institutions – they will not be there in the future.
This is the objective for which we have established criteria so that
criminals stay away from the institutions’, {I?name?...} from the
Democratic Party declared. The meeting went on for three hours after
the request of the Socialists followed by the debate between the
parties if they should follow or not the method that was being
proposed by the majority. One of the requests was to make a report
about the report of the Venice Commission and how decriminalization
can be done in Albania [//]”
Profile – Friday 9 and 16 October
The feature on 9 October was about the famous Albanian writer and
nationalist: Faik Konica; someone unknown to me and whom I’m sure is
unknown to most people outside of Albania. He is introduced in the
programme as:
“[Isomeone who gave...] Albanian prose a modern image; the
intellectual who brought the proper western mentality to the Albanian
culture”.
Wikipedia, by the way describes him more succinctly as:
“/one of the most important figures of Albanian culture in the early
decades of the twentieth century”.
I do find it is interesting to hear about famous people in other
countries that people outside those countries have most likely never
heard of. It’s the same as hearing about someone in your own country
who was hugely famous in their day, but has since been all but
forgotten.
I tuned in again to Profile on 16 October – however this turned out to
be simply a repeat of last week’s episode about Faik Konica. It took
some time for me to track down the actual spelling of the name via
internet search – a few attempts with phonetic spellings failed to
produce results; however, finally I found what I was looking for
following a Wikipedia search on Albanian Writers.
Music Selection - Friday 9 and 16 October
This will be one to add to my Music Listing next month. This selection
of back-to-back songs each week generally features modern Albanian
Easy Listening/popular music and makes for pleasant listening. I would
have preferred some titles or other background information about the
music, but I suspect it’s all a question of time and resource. The
selection on 16 October seemed quite familiar, and when I checked back
to my recording of 9 October I found that, like Profile, it was a
repeat of last week’s music selection.
Folk Music – Saturday 10 and 17 October
I always enjoy folk music programmes from around the world, and R
Tirana’s Folk Music programme is no exception, and I am a regular
listener. On 10 October was an interesting selection of songs
described as “patriotic” songs with titles such as “I Love Albania
Most” and “Snow Whitening the Mountains”, whilst on 17 October the
songs were all from the Tirana region by Artola Tiosca (at least
sounding something like that) with some music that sounded rather
more Asian – Indian almost – than East European. None of the track
titles were announced.
Mailbag – Tuesday 6 and 13 October
R Tirana makes a good job of presenting an interesting Mailbag
programme. It’s very easy to get bogged-down into just reading a
series of reception reports and, frankly, just hearing other people’s
reception reports does not make for entertaining listening to anyone
except for the person who submitted the report – although I admit to
still getting a thrill to hear my letters and reports read out on air.
Sadly, most listeners’ reports contain very little comment about the
programmes themselves. I only send three or four reports a month (at
most, and often less) to stations and I do try to include at least a
paragraph commenting about the programme, but I also could probably do
better.
The format of R Tirana’s mailbag comprises the reading of a few
reception reports, then a “response to listener’s questions” and
finally some music. I found the “response” section for both these
broadcasts to be very interesting. On 6 October there was a short talk
about Albanian iso-polyphonic music, followed by some examples of such
music, and on 13 October there was a short history of Radio Tirana.
Notably, neither of these “responses” was attributed to specific
questions from named listeners, so I guess it is likely that they were
simply made up by the staff. Whilst listening to the item on the
History of Radio Tirana, I noticed a definite “third-person” bias in
the way the history was presented, for example these paragraphs - as
read out on air:
“Despite the country's tiny size and isolationist policies, Radio
Tirana was a fairly major international broadcaster during the Cold
War. Its programmes had a reputation for being little more than dull
propaganda.
“During Albania's alliance with China in the 1960s and 1970s, Radio
Tirana had to walk a fine line between being anti-West whilst also
being anti-Soviet. As such, Radio Tirana kept close to the official
policy of the People's Republic of China, which was also both anti-
West and anti-Soviet whilst still being socialist in tone. Following
the break with China, programming still remained Marxist-Leninist in
nature.
“During the 1970s, the station broadcast to Europe on 1214 kHz,
causing interference problems for the British BBC Radio One on the
same frequency. During the 1980s and early 1990s the international
service was broadcast on 1395 kHz (along with various short wave
frequencies) and was received throughout Europe during the evening and
through the night. Radio Tirana also upset many amateur radio
operators in Europe by operating transmitters in the 7 MHz (40 metre)
amateur band.”
On a hunch, I looked up the Wikipedia entry for Radio Tirana, and
found the whole item to be virtually word for word. Similarly large
portions of the iso-polyphonic music item were also found word for
word in Wikipedia. I should add, however, that this is not a complaint
– merely an observation. I’ve noted frequent verbatim extracts from
Wikipedia read out by other stations on all manner of features and
reports, so R Tirana is by no means alone in this matter.
From 26 October, Radio Tirana is scheduled to broadcast from Monday to
Saturday to Europe at 2100-2130 UT on 7465 kHz and from Tuesday to
Sunday at 0230-0300 UT on 7425 kHz [changed to 7470]. Please check DX
News for the latest information in case of any changes (Alan Roe,
Listening Post, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD)
ADXB - Radio Tirana - special QSL
Dear friends, I will remind all members of the list, that we from ADXB
are still until End of November open for reports to Radio Tirana. You
will get a special QSL-card for a report - every frequency used from
Radio Tirana foreign language Programm can be used by one report. Send
reports from Programm latest 30th November 2015 including 2 IRC, or
2 EUR, or 2 US $ to the following address:
ADXB - Austrian DX Board, c/o Harald Suess, P. O. Box 1000, A-1081
Vienna, Austria. The special QSL comes directly from Tirana.
Here the schedule:
GERMAN: Monday through Saturday : 2030-2100 / 7465 kHz
ENGLISH: Monday through Saturday : 2100-2130 / 7465 kHz
ENGLISH: Tuesday through Sunday : 0230-0300 / 7425 kHz
FRENCH: Monday through Saturday : 1830-1900 / 7465 kHz
ITALIAN: Monday through Saturday : 1900-1930 / 7465 kHz
SERBIAN: Monday through Saturday : 2115-2130 / 1458 kHz
TURKISH: Monday through Saturday : 1930-2000 / 1458 kHz
GREEK: Monday through Saturday : 1645-1700 / 1458 kHz
MW – Transmitter Fllaka – 500 kW ; SW – Transmitter Shijak – 100 kW.
Souvenirs from Albania will be drawn for the participants. Winners
will be published on the ADXB website http://www.adxb-oe.org in
December 2015. See also the English tender script:
http://www.adxb-oe.org/adxb/ALBQSL-englisch.pdf
We know that in the UK the MW 1458 kHz is occupied by Lyca Radio, so
it will be very difficult or unpossible to catch it there. But you can
try on shortwave. Good luck (Harald Suess, ADXB - Austrian DX Board,
P. O. Box 1000, A-1081 Vienna, Austria adxbsuess@aon.at Nov 7 MWCircle
yg via DXLD)
** ALBANIA. 5960, China Radio Int'l; 2110-2120+, 6-Nov; "Round Table
on EZ FM"; English feature on Nobel peace prizes. SIO=3+34; brief hiss
about every 2'15'', SSB no help (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE
DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage,
All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** ANGOLA. 4949.8, Rádio Nacional at 0350 in Portuguese with a woman
with talk, then African Hi-Life music to 0358 and a woman with talk
and a number of promos to time pips at 0400 and into a man and woman
with apparent news with correspondent reports ending with “Rádio
Nacional” – Fair Nov 6 (Mark Coady, ON, ODXA YRX via DXLD)
4949.726, Rádio Nacional, Port, S=5, poor signal (Wolfgang Bueschel,
fingerprints, quick log in Colombo CLN on Victor's remote SDR unit,
circa 0118 UT, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ARGENTINA. 15345.17, Nov 6 at 2216, RAE has an S9 signal, but it`s
just barely modulated, can`t determine the language, but should be
Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
15344.770, probably Radio Nacional Spanish signal peak 'visible' at
0200 UT, threshold level only peaks visible (Wolfgang Büschel, some
log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton,
Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ARMENIA/AZERBAIJAN. Starting 2nd November 2015, the Stepanakert
Nagorno Karabakh Radio is on the air in Azeri and rarely in Russian
(during the interviews): Mon-Sat on 11760 at *0420-0610* and on 9677
*0820-1410*. Broadcast times vary 5-15 minutes. I listened to their
"FM" frequencies which are in ranges 11754-11761 and 9671 to 9681 kHz
(Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Nov 10, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** ASCENSION. 6005, Nov 11 at 0519, BBCWS `Newsday` with noticeable
hum on this frequency only --- I`ve heard it before on various other
channels, presumably defect of only one of their six transmitters? I`m
also hearing BBC on 5875, 7445, so I compare them on two receivers ---
- no synchrony despite all from Ascension: 5875 is about 1 second
behind 6005; 7445 is ahead of 5875 and behind 6005. IOW, first 6005,
second 7445, third 5875 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRALIA [non-log]. 2368.47, Radio Symban. Since mid-July they
have been off the air, through Nov 8. Will they return again? (Ron
Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD
OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRALIA. B15 schedule for Reach Beyond Australia (ex HCJB) in
English:
1115-1130 smt.tf. As 15430 (Spotlight)
1130-1145 XXs As 15430 (Family Care) [Sat only]
1330-1400 X..f. As 9720 15340 (Hindi/English) [Fri only]
1445-1600 Daily As 15340
(Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) So contrary to previous info,
there are still bits of Enlgish other than 1445-1600 (gh, DXLD)
** AUSTRIA. We hear from Rémy Friess, who writes: “I've just read your
column in Communication. That list of music programmes is very
interesting. My favourite music programme on SW remains the relay on
6155 kHz of a programme called Guten Morgen Österreich that goes out 7
days a week on Ö1, the main Austrian domestic channel. Between 0535
and 0552 UT (possibly 0635 & 0652 during winter time) they play very
nice light-classical music. I listen to it every morning. A pity they
only relay the third and final part of the programme on SW (Alan Roe,
Listening Post, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD)
** BAHAMAS. 1540. ZNS-1 Nassau, 0128 UT 10/10/2015 - Finally able to
cross this one off my list with occasional decent peaks lasting for
several minutes with talk mentioning the Bahamas and music // to 810
during mild auroral conditions, on South D-KAZ, new (Tim Tromp,
October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna
used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD)
** BALEARIC ISLANDS. And now the bonus log: 1755 kHz, Valencia Radio,
Palma, Baleraric Islands of Spain - 2236 UT 10/29/2015 - Very weak
reception of Valencia Radio, part of a network of coastal maritime
stations located in Spain, broadcasting in upper-sideband. This
particular station, 1755 kHz, is located in Palma, the capital city of
the Balearic Islands in Spain. Although extremely weak, two mentions
of "Valencia" can be heard in the clip which was also parallel to an
even weaker transmission heard on 1767 kHz from Cabo Gata during the
same time. Heard on the North D-KAZ, video clip here:
https://youtu.be/N2FA9tzSa10?list=PL2CDEDA7EB969E66D
(Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus
SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1799,
DXLD) So why not consider it a separate radio country (gh)
** BANGLADESH [non-log]. 4750, Bangladesh Betar (HS), Nov 9 not heard
at all at 1200 and subsequent checking; normally heard around this
time. Off the air today? Fairly good overall conditions. Very unusual
to not have any trace of them here! (Ron Howard, San Francisco at
Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
4749.943 Noted - tentatively - weaker RRI Makassar, much lesser signal
strength than 3904.981 kHz RRI Merauke. On same channel noted CNR1
Chinese top ahead on 4749.994 kHz fingerprint.
Some notings of remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at
1010-1110 UT: as always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3
Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
4750, Bangladesh Betar (HS), Nov 9 through Nov 11, not hearing any
trace of them about 1200 and subsequent checking. Off the air or is it
just poor conditions? (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA,
E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BELARUS [and non]. After not having heard Polish Radio on Long Wave
225 kHz in a while, I checked mediumwave.info and found that it's
merely a scheduled downtime: POLAND 225 kHz scheduled downtime from
Nov 2 to Nov 22 2015 - via Jarod Middelman 2015-11-04.
LW: Currently, we can still hear quite a bit on Long Wave in central
Europe - and due to the longer hours of darkness, this is the season
to check it out! 153 Antena Satelor (ROU), 162 France Inter (F), 171
Médi 1 (MRC), 184 Europe 1 (D), 189 Ríkisútvarpid (ISL), 198 BBC Radio
4 (G), 207 SNRT (MRC) & Ríkisútvarpid (ISL), 216 RMC (F), 225 Polskie
Radio - currently on maintenance (POL), 234 RTL (LUX), 243 DR specials
at certain times during the day (DNK), 252 RTA (ALG) & RTE Radio 1
(IRL), 270 CR1 Radiozurnál (CZE), 279 BR (BLR).
By the way, 279 from Belarus is only barely modulated, can't be more
than a few percent of audio modulation level, while the carrier
nominally 500 kW is quite strong and even audible during the day at
times. 270 from CZE is the opposite, heavily compressed but thus well
audible audio on a relatively weak carrier of only 60 kW, not exactly
a powerhouse on LW, but outperforms the BLR audibility by lengths!
Best regards (Tobias (T²), Germany, Nov 10, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** BHUTAN. 6034.95, BBS, 1109, Nov 2; clearly in English; seemed gone
after 1121(?); poor; mixing with PBS Yunnan. BBS, 1149, Nov 3. Pop
song under PBS Yunnan; seemed off at 1200(?).
BBS, 1142-1327, Nov 5. Running past normal sign off; in English till
1200; 1219 & 1221 usual indigenous music; 1223-1231 singing; long
interview; 1315 & 1318 usual indigenous music; off the air sometime
after 1327(?); again QRM from PBS Yunnan (China) [q.v.].
6034.95, BBS, running late Nov 9; still on at 1345; usual format;
clearly two stations, with the other being PBS Yunnan (China).
Hiroyuki Komatsubara (Japan) reports BBS doing well here as late as
1430 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg
via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
6034.952, fingerprint odd frequency of weak tiny undermodulated BBS
Thimpu, but suffered a lot of ahead co-channel PBS Yunnan "Voice of
Shangri-La" program from Kunming CHINA site, latter which was S=9+20dB
strong. At 1105 UT. Some notings of remote SDR log at Brisbane
downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as always [selected SDR options,
span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via
WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BIAFRA [non]. Re: FRANCE Open carrier/dead air plus weak Denge
Kurdistan on Nov 4: from 1820 on 15560 ISS 250 kW / 170 deg to WeAf,
instead of Radio Biafra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51e5T1UqDuY
And tonight no signal could be traced on 15560 kHz anymore.
http://www.thebiafratimes.co/2015/11/attention-british-nigeria-lied-again-fg.html
"Our current limitation on Shortwave was as a result of the dirty game
of the British-Nigerian Government who went to those carrying our
shortwave signal to threaten and induced them with a mouth-watering
bribe to agree to drop our signal. In place, British-Nigeria implanted
their propaganda message to give the impression that they have taken
over the operations of Radio Biafra.
Of course, this is not the first time they have played out the old
game of deceit which they are excellent at orchestrating – impostor
per excellence. Therefore, all our esteemed listeners should
henceforth desist from tuning into the Shortwave Frequency 15560 kHz
in the 19-meter band. The Hausa-Fulani cloned Nkemdidi Chukwuemeka
(The female announcer) is not a Biafran and do not have any connection
with IPOB or Radio Biafra. [...] Moreover, we pledge to announce to
the general listening public our different Shortwave listening post as
soon as the logistics and testing of the new frequency is concluded."
Sounds as if a revival of Nigerian Forces Radio or maybe even
Issoudun/Okeechobee relay bookings for Voice of Nigeria have been
promised (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Keith Perron had a piece on the demise of the recent Radio Biafra SW
broadcasts in the latest Media Network Plus show. Said the contract
with the SW broker came to an end and wasn't renewed. Didn't identify
the broker or transmitter facility (widely assumed to be TDF and
Issoudun) but because of the hate-mongering tone of the broadcasts,
many SW facilities are now shunning Radio Biafra. Listen here:
http://www.radio4all.net/files/kperron@gmail.com/3101-1-Media_Network_Plus_PRG251_November_6_2015_30min_edition.mp3
(Richard Langley, NB, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BOLIVIA. RIESGO DE CIERRE DE 450 RADIOEMISORAS EN BOLIVIA
El presidente de la Asociación Boliviana de Radiodifusoras (Asbora),
Raúl Novillo, ha vuelto a poner en el tapete de la discusión un tema
de alta importancia. La reducción del "espectro de frecuencias” para
las radioemisoras bolivianas. Según su cálculo, al menos 450 radios
bolivianas podrían desaparecer. Entre ellas dos que han sido
catalogadas como "enemigas” por el gobierno, Fides y ERBOL, y que
figuran entre las más importantes del país.
Lo que sucede es que la ley de telecomunicaciones establece que solo
el 33% de las radioemisoras bolivianas pueden ser privadas. Y como
actualmente son entre el 70% y el 80% del total, deben reducirse para
encajar en el 33% determinado por la ley. Por lo tanto, cree Asbora,
unas 450 de ellas podrían perder sus licencias de funcionamiento.
El artículo 10 de la norma establece la distribución de frecuencias
para radiodifusión: 33% para estaciones comerciales, 33% para medios
del Estado, 17% para pueblos indígenas y 17% para emisoras de carácter
comunitario.
Las primeras son en realidad de tipo gubernamental, no estatal. Las
comunitarias e indígenas son casi siempre proclives al oficialismo. En
el mundo privado es donde se encuentra más diversidad.
La ley faculta al gobierno, mediante la ATT, administrar, autorizar y
supervisar el uso de las frecuencias de radiodifusión en territorio
nacional a través de un plan nacional de frecuencias, que todavía no
está definido.
Haber colocado esos arbitrarios porcentajes en una ley no es parte del
azar: todo parece indicar que es un elemento estratégico para acallar
a los medios de comunicación que no comulgan con el gobierno. Por
tanto, el gobierno, sin control de nadie, autorizará o rechazará los
permisos de acuerdo a su criterio.
Muchas de las licencias de las radios terminan entre 2016 y 2017. Las
de Fides y ERBOL concluyen en octubre del próximo año y, tres meses
después, en enero de 2017, la de Panamericana, otra radio boliviana de
alcance nacional y alta influencia.
La norma no solo afecta a las radios sino también a los canales de TV,
que se encuentran en la misma situación de inermidad y vulneración.
El actual sistema mediático boliviano está ya muy debilitado. El
actual gobierno ha logrado controlar, mediante distintos mecanismos, a
una buena parte de los medios.
La aplicación de la ley de telecomunicaciones podría implicar el golpe
de gracia contra éstos y, por tanto, contra el pluralismo democrático.
El cierre de 450 radios, entre ellas algunas de alcance nacional, y
otras decenas de canales solo señalaría el empeoramiento de la salud
de la democracia (tomado de http://www.paginasiete.bo/ via GRA blog
via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
** BOLIVIA. 6135. R. SANTA CRUZ, 09/11 1026 UT. ID: “Radio Santa Cruz,
la primera…”, y luego avisos del comienzo del programa “Maestro en
casa” con el desarrollo de un módulo de autoinstrucción y una
cartilla, acompañado con pequeños espacios de música. SINPO: 35433
(Claudio Galaz Toledo, RX: Realistic DX-160, ANT: 45 metros de antena
de hilo, más antena de tierra y balún de ferrita 9:1, QTH: Ovalle, IV
Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD)
** BRAZIL. [contrary to item via 15-44:] RÁDIO APARECIDA 5035 kHz
Olá, Cássio. a QRG de 5035 kHz, 62 metros da Rádio Aparecida continua
muda. Pelos menos tentei sintonizá-laneste dia 5/11/2015, quinta-
feira, logo de manhã e não ouvi modulação - (lembrando que hoje é Dia
do Radioamador, Radiocidadãoe aficcionados). Talvez você tenha
sintonizado espúrios da QRG de 49m.
A frequência que está com boa sintonia e qualidade de áudio nítida, é
a Rádio Canção Nova, de Cachoeira Paulista, frequência de 4825 kHz. 62
metros.
Neste mês de novembro o programa Encontro DX da Rádio Aparecida está
completando 29 anos no ar. Lembro-me do primeiro dia de apresentação
do programa que foi em 3-11-1986, sempre às 19h (de Brasília). Forte
73 (Luiz Chaine Neto, LIMEIRA - SP, 5-11-2015 - quinta-feira,
radioescutas yg via DXLD)
Rádio Aparecida ondas tropicais de 62m [sic: 59 m] -- Parece que a
frequência de 5035 kHz da Rádio Aparecida, há muito fora do ar, deve
entrar na fila das ondas tropicais e curtas que são desativadas pra
sempre. Quem pode confirmar são os apresentadores do Encontro DX
Macedo e Moura. As ondas curtas são a pedra no sapato de empresários
de rádio mal informados. 73 (Luiz Chaine Neto, Limeira sp, 7-11-2015,
ibid.)
Luiz, Se fosse dono de uma emissora e tivesse que optar em desativar
algum transmissor, seja em FM, ondas médias ou curtas, certamente
desativaria o transmissor de ondas curtas. Por mais que a Rádio
Aparecida não vise lucros e mesmo que possua ouvintes em locais
distantes, será que compensa mesmo numa evetual situação de contenção
de gastos manter um transmissor de ondas curtas? Fora do círculo de
Dexistas/radioamadores, você conhece pessoalmente alguém que ouça
ondas curtas? Eu nunca vi nenhum nesses anos de hobby. Espero estar
errado quanto a você e que possa afirmar conhecer alguns milhares
deles.
Lembrando que diversos países muito mais pobres e com populações muito
mais isoladas que aqui já não transmitem em ondas curtas/tropicais, em
alguns casos há várias décadas. Me custa crer que a situação de um
nômade ou morador de áreas rurais no Níger ou República Centro
Africana seja melhor quanto a acesso a comunicações que a de um
seringueiro na Amazônia.
Prestigiemos e aproveitemos o que ainda existe, pois vai acabar mesmo.
Já li estimativas que afirmam que até 2020 não haverá mais NENHUM
transmissor em ondas tropicais ativo no mundo. Não adianta chorar. 73
(Ivan Dias Jr. - Sorocaba/SP, https://www.youtube.com/regionaldx
http://ivandias.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/ivandiasjr ibid.)
Ivan: Boa a sua reflexão caro Ivan, mas a direção da RA sempre diz que
tem ouvintes nas onda curtas e sendo uma emissora católica que deve
seu sucesso as queridas ondas curtas e tropicais.
A questão são os gastos dos transmissores que são altos,
principalmente na atual conjuntura do setor elétrico. Se nós
consumidores pessoas físicas estamos sentindo como esta isso, imagine
as rádios, que no Brasil ficam com algo em torno de 5% a 6% do bolo
publicitário. É muito pouco.
Agora concordando com você, se eu fosse um empresário do ramo, eu
também em momento de crise, fecharia as ondas curtas, chorando é
claro. Agora com relação as ondas tropicais eu não tenho ainda
informação oficial da emissora.
Como nossos amigos sabem, somos voluntários e não estamos em contato
com a emissora diariamente como os funcionários da emissora. Em geral
estamos na emissora a cada 40 dias.
Assim que tiver informação precisa sobre a onda tropical eu informo.
Para encerrar, nesse momento o programa não está indo ao ar e acredito
que foi porque a missa deve ter encerrado num horário que caso o
Encontro DX fosse colocado no ar, ultrapassaria o tempo previsto.
Saudações a todos (Cassiano A. Macedo, Programa Encontro DX, Nov 7,
ibid.)
Cassiano, Apenas para complementar: como você bem sabe (até por me
conhecer pessoalmente), sabe que gosto muito do rádio e do que ele é
capaz. Sinto muita tristeza quando percorro as faixas de 90 e 60
metros e não consigo encontrar praticamente mais nada. Apesar de
gostar de praticar Dexismo Utilitário, FM e TV, sei que tais
modalidades talvez nunca trarão a mesma variedade das ondas curtas,
mas foi a forma que encontrei para não abandonar o hobby que tanto
gosto. Tudo isso é parte de um processo evolutivo natural. Se até
mesmo o homem evoluiu ao longo de milhões de anos, creio que seria
difícil nos mantermos presos ao passado (por mais que eu ainda goste
de fazer caminhada vez ou outra usando um walkman com toca-fita).
Da mesma forma eu vejo um futuro igualmente sombrio para as emissoras
que operam em ondas médias. Certamente a sobrevida será maior, mas não
muito.
Quer ficar mais triste ainda? Leia os livros do Gerry Dexter que
tratam da radiodifusão em ondas curtas de 1929 a 2008. Dá vontade de
ter uma máquina do tempo e de chorar ao mesmo tempo. As ondas curtas
foram um meio usado amplamente usado e com milhares de emissoras mundo
afora. Infelizmente é um ciclo que está chegando ao fim. Nada é
eterno. Vida que segue. 73 (Ivan Dias Jr. - Sorocaba/SP, ibid.)
Me dá tristeza pensar na redução e nas dificuldades das transmissões
em ondas curtas e tropicais. Devo o fundamento da minha formação
acadêmica às ondas curtas. Lembro-me de um senhor evangélico,
analfabeto, que escutava a Rádio Transmundial, para memorizar e
repassar aos membros de sua comunidade. Certo dia, ele chegou em nossa
casa e disse aos meus pais que eles precisavam comprar um radinho de
ondas curtas e me dar para escutar a Rádio Transmundial.
Eu morava na roça, interior do Paraná, filho de pequenos agricultores,
e o radio que ganhei estava arrebentado e eu precisava amarrá-lo para
pressionar as quatro pilhas grandes.
Arrumava a cama, apagava o lampião de querosone e ficava movimentando
os ponteiros até achar a Rádio Transmundial, o rádio não era digital,
nem sabia que existia. Como não queria perder os programas, eu ficava
fuçando as diferentes ondas e assim, fui sintonizando, Voz da América,
Rádio Pequim, Rádio Tirana, Berlim Internacional, Rádio Áustria,
Central de Moscou, HCJB, Rádio Aparecida, PRB-2, Bandeirantes,
Copacabana, Rádio Relógio Federal, Difusora de Londrina, tantas
emissoras em 62 metros, 120 metros e 41 e outras. Dali para frente,
minha paixão pela ciência política e relações internacionais só
aumentou. O rádio me levou a literatura, aos livros e depois ao curso
universitário. No caso da Rádio Aparecida, escutei muito o famoso e
saudoso Padre Victor Coelho e troquei cartas com Padre Zezinho.
“Os novos postulantes querem a universidade não para se doutorarem, no
sentido pedante e ocioso da expressão, mas para adquirirem
conhecimentos que os qualifiquem para o trabalho futuro, útil, que
terão de produzir. Nisto está o essencial do problema: os estudantes
compreenderam a essência alienada da universidade brasileira, sua
função desambientadora, sua quase nula atuação progressista, sua
inadequação às tarefas exigidas pelo país, e a querem precisamente
como instrumento para revogar e por termo a toda essa alienação. É
neste sentido que se estabelece no presente momento o problema da
reforma da universidade: trata-se de transforma-la não na superfície,
não na superestrutura pedagógica, no cerimonial didático, nas
qualificações jurídicas, no enriquecimento de recursos financeiros, no
aprimoramento das instalações materiais levadas às vezes á
suntuosidade, pois tudo isto, agora se compreende, por mais útil que
seja é secundário. Trata-se de transforma-la na essência, isto é, de
faze-la deixar de ser um centro distribuidor de alienação cultural do
país, para convertê-la no mais eficaz instrumento de criação de nova
consciência estudantil, direta e exclusivamente interessada em
modificar a estrutura social antiga e injusta, substituindo-a por
outra humana e livre”. Álvaro Vieira Pinto, médico cancerologista e
professor de Filosofia da UB (Acir ibid.)
Apenas para corroborar: Vai acabar sim, antes no Brasil que em outros
países (se bem que sobrarão apenas as chinesas e religiosas, pelo
andar da carruagem), só nos resta aproveitar os últimos momentos de
"degustação". Estou escutando muita OM, que só não acabou ainda porque
a burocracia (felizmente) atrapalhou. Mas quando (e se) acontecer,
pelo menos teremos a faixa livre para boas escutas noturnas de outros
países e continentes. Em suma, aproveitemos bem o pouco que resta.
73 (Arthur Antonio Raimundo, Recife PE Brasil, Nov 8, ibid.)
Acredito que devem estar com alguma dificuldade técnica já que
compraram transmissores novos para OC e OT, sempre falo com o pessoal
de lá, e me dizem que esse de onda tropical está dando trabalho demais
pifa direto. 73 (Ariovaldo Lobrito, P.Pte, 8 Nov, ibid.)
Acir, Sua história se confunde com a de milhares de pessoas que
seguiram o mesmo caminho que você! O rádio tem esse poder mágico que
muitas pessoas desconhecem mesmo o usando! Roquete Pinto dizia que o
rádio é o instrumento que educa o analfabeto, pois um jornal das mão
de um analfabeto é como uma navalha nas mãos de uma criança, enquanto
que o rádio educa sem caderno, sem livros, sem jornais, pois basta ter
boa audição e as informações são compreendidas! Um instrumento que
educa a quem é cego, ou analfabeto é extraordinário! Pena que nem
todos, principalmente os nossos governantes enxergam isso! (Wilson,
Itaúna MG, Nov 9, ibid.)
Sei que muitos não concordam com um possível fim das emissoras AM em
SP, principalmente na região onde trabalho, Tatuapé, Carrão, Radial
Leste, esta impossível sintonizar essa banda. Como os demais colegas
do hobby eu amo o AM, mas as interferências nas grandes cidades
impedem as pessoas ouvirem esse tipo de transmissão, principalmente
se estiverem num carro. Além disso tem os aparelhos celulares que
possuem apenas a banda de FM e o AM perde audiência. Para a
sobrevivência dos radiodifusores não resta outra alternativa a não ser
o FM, mas mesmo assim vão perder audiência, porque vão perder alcance
de suas emissoras. Sei que nos EUA eles tentam evitar a ida do AM para
o FM e criaram uma série de artifícios técnicos, autorizados pela FCC,
mas não sabemos se esta dando certo. Ao que tudo indica perderemos o
dexismo em AM que é tão bacana. Grande abraço (Cassiano A Macedo,
ibid.)
Cassiano, A migração de emissoras que operam em ondas médias para o FM
pode trazer a oportunidade de captações de emissoras de outros países,
por mais que também já existam países que abandonaram as ondas médias
por completo. Como a faixa estendida de FM também é ainda mais
suscetível a aberturas por determinados mecanismos de propagação que a
faixa convencional, mais uma oportunidade para DX pode surgir.
Como já repeti inúmeras vezes, quem se adaptar ainda terá muita
diversão por muitos anos. O que não dá é abandonar o hobby ou ficar
chorando diante de um paciente terminal e sem chance de recuperação
que é as ondas curtas. 73 (Ivan Dias Jr. - Sorocaba/SP, Nov 9, ibid.)
[originally all-CAPS:] O DRM é a solução para o AM, ou seja
digitalizar as ondas medias, mas como nosso governo é só trambique
resolveram migrar para FM, dai em São Paulo só vai ser FM quem for
para a faixa estendida, detalhe o ruído está presente por culpa também
dos radiodifusores que deixou juntar lixo no seu quintal, como
lampadas ruidosas que as emissoras colocaram nas suas dependências,
redes de energia com vazamentos e geram ruídos, redes telefônicas
arcaicas com trafego de internet, mas e ai nenhuma emissora reclamou
sinal que concordaram, deixaram o lixo juntar no seu quintal. A
migração vai existir se as emissoras aguentarem pagar a nova
concessão, detalhe só vai migrar porque foi um trambique do governo
com ABERT e suas afiliadas, o HD radio ou IBOC como queiram, que
pretendem implantar aqui não funciona em onda media, OC, OT, meia boca
em FM, por isso fizeram a migração, sabem quem estava por trás a tell-
HD comunicações, pegue o CNPJ e vejam quem são os donos, vão se
assustar. 73 (ariovaldo lobrito, ibid.)
No radioamadorismo as Ondas Curtas sempre terão diversão garantida!
DX todos os dias. 73 (João Ricardo Bergamini, PY4TW, CW ENTHUSIAST
http://radioentusiasta.blogspot.com/ ibid.)
Cassiano, A migração de emissoras que operam em ondas médias para o FM
pode trazer a oportunidade de captações de emissoras de outros países,
por mais que também já existam países que abandonaram as ondas médias
por completo. Como a faixa estendida de FM também é ainda mais
suscetível a aberturas por determinados mecanismos de propagação que a
faixa convencional, mais uma oportunidade para DX pode surgir.
Como já repeti inúmeras vezes, quem se adaptar ainda terá muita
diversão por muitos anos. O que não dá é abandonar o hobby ou ficar
chorando diante de um paciente terminal e sem chance de recuperação
que é as ondas curtas. 73 (Ivan Dias Jr. - Sorocaba/SP, ibid.)
Perfeitamente PY4TW. E as oportunidades de escutas dos rincões mais
isolados do planeta serão possíveis por muito tempo ainda por meio dos
amadores mundo afora.
Infelizmente eu sei do sentimento quanto ao declínio do rádio
broadcasting. Sou um entusiasta há muitos e muitos anos e hoje o que
vemos é uma caricatura do que realmente foi o rádio em ondas curtas e
médias. Além do avanço tecnologico, acelerado nos ultimos dez anos,
veio tambem o atual ciclo solar que provocou uma má propagação nunca
vista nos ultimos anos. Assim não há como o rádio tradicional se
defender. A migração para FM, que atende principalmente os interesses
locais, acabará se sobrepondo às ondas médias, e para nós dxistas, o
vazio que causará no espectro, não será garantia para podermos ouvir
verdadeiros DX nesta banda, sumidos há algum tempo aqui entre nós, o
fechamneto das ondas médias é mundial. Quanto às ondas curtas, este
processo vem há longo tempo. Com tudo isso, o rádio através da
Internet (ai não é mais rádio) certamente dominará, muito, mais que o
FM. Isso tudo separou 100% a radioescuta de programas do DX, aqueles
que apenas se interessam por programas não dependem do rádio, os
DXistas sim. Hoje vejo,, sem dúvida nenhuma, a escuta de estações de
amadores continuarão nos possibilitando os verdadeiros DX, uma das
únicas formas atualmente. 73 (Samuel Cássio Martins, São Carlos SP,
ibid.)
Em virtude de problemas técnicos, o Encontro DX não foi ao ar dia 07
de novembro e 2015. Pedimos desculpas aos que são ouvintes do
programa. Quanto à frequência que não [sic] está fora do ar, ainda não
tenho a posição oficial da emissora. Como somos voluntários e vamos
gravar a cada 40 dias, nosso contato com a direção da rádio não é
constante. Grato (Cassiano A Macedo, Programa Encontro DX, ibid.)
** BRAZIL. 5939.928, Rádio Voz Missionaria, only weak tiny S=4-5
signal, at 0307 UT on Nov 8.
5964.976 BRA Rádio Transmundial from Brazil, weak S=5 signal tonight.
Just above tiny weak threshold level. (Wolfgang Büschel, some log
noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta
remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 9723.40, Nov 8 at 0049, Radio RB2, very poor S6 in
Brazuguese, continues its drift ever-downward from nominal 9725 (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. 11780.097, Nice Brasilian singer group heard on RNB/RNA
channel at 0215 UT, only S=8 signal heard tonight (Wolfgang Büschel,
some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton,
Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Yes, always circa 11780.1 when I check it, and still spurless; way to
go! (gh, DXLD)
** BRAZIL. 11934.947, Rádio RB2 at 0221 UT on Nov 8, only threshold
level (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on
western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, always off to low side when I tune by (gh)
** BRAZIL. BRASIL: 15190.07, ZYE622, Rádio Inconfidência (presumed);
0208-0216+, 7-Nov; M&W announcers in Portuguese with PP pop music.
SIO=253 peaks with QSB; 6010 not audible (Harold Frodge, Midland MI,
USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated
beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL [non]. 15325, Nov 6 at 2215, no signal from R. Gazeta, which
had been reported reactivated with futebol, by Cassio Secundino Borges
Santos Secundino on Nov 3 but without specifying the time heard.
Argentina is S9 on 15345.17 at this time, and a JBA S3 signal on
15190.00 may not be R. Inconfidência since it`s not off-frequency
altho nothing else scheduled (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. I just caught part of the announcement -- it seems that
next Sunday 15th (or Saturday 14th), CBU-690 will be off the air from
0910 to 1210 PST [1710-2010 UT]. I was distracted and could not focus
on the whole of it, but think I have it right. Their other signal
(88.1) will remain on. FWIW. ef (Eric Flodén, BC, Nov 8, IRCA via
DXLD)
This is an important event! Not sure on what level, but it would allow
us crystal clear reception of whatever else is on 690 kHz.
And now for a slight exaggeration: When there is a technical failure
of virtually any AM or FM transmitter in B.C. (and likely in any other
Province...) resources for our stately CBC are so stripped down and
cut to the quick that there are few technicians to respond to any
issue.
Recently there were some hardware issues in Ucluelet / Tofino with
the FM transmitters - they had to send someone from Vancouver B.C. -
as one of the few techs that still work for Canada's mother network
radio. Issues like the current flakey behaviour of CBC 6160 kHz on the
West Coast will likely continue for some time as there are simply no
staff resources to look after the trouble (Colin Newell, BC, ibid.)
So what would've changed in the Tofino case (has FM even started yet
in Ucluelet?)? How has Mother Corp 'serviced' outlier transmitters in
the past, say on Vancouver Island before there was even a local
originating studio in Victoria?
As for 6160, both CKZU and CKZN danced around the frequency for a
couple of years, though the Newfoundland transmitter was the worse of
the two. When I phoned CBC Vancouver a number of years ago on the
subject, I had a tussle to get beyond switchboard, and eventually gave
up when having to deal with a PR person who insisted that all
shortwave activities were the responsibility of RCI in Montreal.
<sigh> A late-morning off-air has to be a first? No overtime; but,
hang on, it's Saturday (Theo Donnelly, BC, ibid.)
I wonder if that "time off" is an error. Seems very strange to shut
off a transmitter in morning prime time. Worth looking into! (Colin
Newell, ibid.)
I'm thinking that they'll be doing antenna, and/or transmitter
repairs. For this, I'm sure they'd prefer daylight hours, so with 690
secondary to 88.1 (remember, the plan had been to close 690
completely, when they brought 88.1 on), I don't think it's such a big
deal to the CBC brass. 73, (Walt Salmaniw, BC, ibid.)
** CANADA. Discussion of all-traffic stations on 730: see USA: 1550
KBUD Denver thread
** CANADA. The CBC got approval to add an FM repeater in Sydney, NS
for CBI 1140. It is intended to address reception issues in downtown
Sydney, but will not replace the AM station. Interestingly, the CRTC
did grant the CBC approval to move CBI to the FM dial back in 2007,
but it never happened (Nigel Pimblett, AB, November CIDX Messenger via
DXLD)
** CANADA. Re: New Log -- CBI 1140 Sydney NS: CBI is a very nice
achievement from Albany NY, congrats! 1140, CBI runs 10 kW omni by
day, cardioid facing east by night. Most nights they are pretty weak
and messy here in PEI, not very far away at all in DX terms.
Occasionally they are strong at night - either due to pattern change
issues or some sort of skywave "foldback"; due to so much power being
directed over salt water. [please explain this phenomenon further -gh]
1140, CBI was scheduled to be flipped to FM, but after receiving CRTC
approval the CBC got cold feet due to the CJFX effect [a station
flipping from AM to FM and losing much of its coverage in an area of
rugged terrain, and also losing audience and revenue]. Duplicating the
1140 coverage via FM would have been tough in rural Cape Breton, a
land of many hills and valleys. While ad revenue is not an issue for
the CBC, audience and coverage is.
IIRC, 1140 CBI runs oversized towers, e.g. taller than 90 degrees.
Same goes tower wise for 1270 CJCB, also 10 kW omni by day, east
facing cardioid by night. CJCB also has a very poor signal here most
nights, but occasionally it`s very good. Interestingly, when CJCB is
good CBI is also good, making me strongly suspect that there are no
pattern issues and its just skywave "foldback". So once again, a very
nice catch for your QTH, and congrats! (Phil Rafuse, VY2PR, Stratford
PE Canada, Nov 5, ABDX yg via DXLD)
** CANADA. 1610, Nov 10 at 0140 UT, ads in Italian including one for
cheeses, with 905 area code. My phone book doesn`t list it, but
internet check leads right to S Ontario, Mississauga, Niagara Falls,
etc., new? Getting this instead of Anguilla, i.e. CHHA Toronto, Voces
Latinas. This page has a program schedule in embedded pdf format:
http://chha1610am.ca/programming/
As before, the language I`m hearing does not match up with what is
shown: Mondays at 8-9 pm ET [01-02 UT Tue], `A Drink of Water [ENG]`.
They do allegedly have Italian elsewhen: `Bella Italia` at 11 pm-
midnight M-F [04-05 UT Tue-Sat] and 9-10 pm Sunday [UT Mon 02-03]
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. 1710, CHIM-FM - Timmons, Ontario (presumed) - 2253 UT
10/24/2015 - With Christian pop music and unintelligible modulation
that I believe to actually be FM. Audio is terrible in AM mode, but
switching to FM during good signal peaks actually produced decent and
rich audio during the music selections. ID's as "CHIM-FM 92.7", best
on North D-KAZ, relog (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West
Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX
via DXLD)
** CANADA. IBOC in Canada? Yes, it’s true. Corus has announced it is
the first multi-market radio operator to offer HD Radio (to use its
brand name) in Canada. Listeners with access to HD Radio technology
can tune into CFMJ (AM 640 from Toronto) under Hamilton’s 95.3 CING-FM
(Fresh Radio) on sub-channel 95.3 HD2. It will be interesting to see
if Corus expands this into other markets where it operates (Nigel
Pimblett, AB, November CIDX Messenger via DXLD) See also DIGITAL: DTV
** CHINA. 9860, 29/10 1900-1905, F I R E D R A K E; penetrating flute
and drums music, 44333, USSD (Uwe Sennewald, RX: Tecsun S 2000 with
Grahn GS3-SE+ML 2, vy´s 73 from Germany, via Dario Monferini, playdx
yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
7470, Firedragon (music jamming) and CNR1 jamming (// 6125), at 1243,
on Nov 11; strong FD, with weaker CNR1; against Radio Free Asia (Ron
Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD
OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 4940, Voice of Strait, 1500-1530, Nov 7 (Saturday). They
continue with their Sat. only English program "Focus on China";
started with pop song in English; only two news items (China/Taiwan
summit in Singapore & the roll out of the new C919 aircraft that has
been designed and manufactured in China); ID: "You are now listening
to Focus on China, Voice of Strait Broadcast Station"; 1530 ID "This
is the Voice of Taiwan Strait News Radio"; very readable; my audio at
https://app.box.com/s/m21vvz3z5khe293peb5oic9imkl3p6bx
(Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via
WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 5000 kHz. BPM, China time station, 2157-2207, heard with a
marker each second, and a longer one before each 10th second; a
higher-pitch beep on the minute. ID in Morse Code, repeated several
time in the minute before the TOH. CNR-1 (which is apparently here to
jam the listed Taiwan) was good on 5010 at the same time (Art
Delibert, Maryland, 11/8/15, N. Bethesda, RACAL 6217E, Pennant Antenna
facing east (more or less) with DX Engineering pre-amp, Hard-Core-DX
mailing list via DXLD)
** CHINA. 6035, PBS Yunnan noted Nov 4, at 1155 & 1355, with former
English ID; clear “This is the Voice of Shangri-La, brought to you by
Yunnan Radio,” instead of the recently heard "Yunnan Radio and
Television International, The Voice of Shangri-la"; actually seems
like no English ID at ToH (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach,
CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. CNR2 returned to 6155, on Nov 6, after being off the air
for a while. (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1,
dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 7215, China Radio International – both Jinhua and X’ian. CRI
Japanese from Jinhua dominates with female announcer. CRI in Mandarin
under with male then female announcer. Overall a mess. Why interfere
with yourself? That must be a mess in Asia too (Mark Taylor, Madison,
Wisconsin, Perseus, SDRPlay, Eton e1, Grunding Satellit 800, Sangean
909X w/ clear mod, Tecsun PL 660 and various other portables; 40
meters dipole, 100’ long wire, Flextenna NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD)
Oops, time and date missing; per Aoki must be 1300-1357 UT. Don`t
knock it: one less frequency-hour occupied by the ChiCom. Azimuths are
widely divergent, 190 and 59 degrees, so in theory could share, and
possibly each overrides the other in target areas (gh, DXLD)
** CHINA [non]. [re 15-44:] CHINA'S `SOFT' POWER EXPOSED --- MORE THAN
A DOZEN U.S. RADIO STATIONS TURN OUT TO BE BEIJING MOUTHPIECES.
The G&E Studio office in West Covina, Calif. Photo: Reuters
By L. Gordon Crovitz Nov. 8, 2015 4:58 p.m. ET [caption]
Some American radio listeners might have been surprised last year to
hear a news account explaining how pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong
"failed without the support of the people of Hong Kong." In fact, a
large percentage of local residents joined the demonstrations until
they were forcibly suppressed under orders from Beijing.
Listeners would have been less surprised if the stations had disclosed
that the communist government in Beijing controls their content. More
than a dozen stations across the U.S. are among a total of 33 globally
that operate covertly, with Beijing hiding behind front men.
Last week it came to light that Beijing's state-run China Radio
International secretly owns 60% of a U.S. company, G&E Studio, which
leases stations and airtime in Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and
San Francisco, among other cities. Beijing uses similar subterfuges in
Europe and Australia.
China went to great lengths to hide its role. Reuters broke the story
after deploying 39 reporters to investigate in 26 countries, including
the review of "scores of regulatory, zoning, property, tax,
immigration and corporate records, including radio station purchase
contracts and lease agreements."
Beijing's involvement was discovered via a footnote in a Federal
Communications Commission filing on behalf of a separate company also
affiliated with James Su, a Shanghai-born naturalized U.S. citizen,
whom Reuters exposed as Beijing's minority partner in its American
radio operations.
The U.S. government apparently didn't suspect a thing, but the FCC and
Justice Department have both now opened investigations. Federal law
bars foreign governments from holding radio licenses or owning
stations and requires agents for foreign countries to disclose their
roles.
These stations routinely air pro-Beijing propaganda. A report on
Beijing-controlled WCRW in Washington last month on the cyber hack of
the personnel records of more than 20 million federal employees failed
to mention that U.S. officials blame Beijing. Another report, on talks
between U.S. and Chinese naval officers about artificial islands
Beijing built in the South China Sea to narrow international sea
lanes, blamed "the tension the U.S. created this week."
Beijing's ability to operate secretly in the highly regulated
broadcasting industry may be surprising, but its officials are open
about their ambition to spread propaganda. President Xi Jinping last
year urged: "We should increase China's soft power, give a good
Chinese narrative and better communicate China's message to the
world." The head of China Radio International boasts of a "borrowed
boat" strategy of using existing media outlets in foreign countries to
spread Beijing's party line.
Laws prohibiting foreign control apply only to traditional
broadcasting. Foreign-owned cable and satellite channels -- China's
CCTV, Russia's RT and Qatar's Al Jazeera -- are perfectly legal. The
U.S. should mandate transparency by requiring these channels to make
announcements every 15 minutes disclosing, "This programming is
controlled by the government of China/Russia/Qatar."
Americans would at least be on notice that they're getting foreign
propaganda billed as news (WSJ via Mike Cooper, DXLD)
** COLOMBIA. 5910.061, Alcaraván Radio, sermon prayer in Spanish
language, no music program, long sermon on orden matter! S=6-7 in
Canada [What is ``orden matter``? -- gh]
6009.946 - PROBABLY -, not \\ 5910v kHz, S=7 signal, music group
performing at 0320 UT on Nov 8, probably La Voz de tu Conciencia,
Lomalinda. Frequency not stable hopping some Hertz up and down again.
73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on
western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
Manuel Mendez comment: ``I think 6010.1 or 6010.2 kHz is LVTC and
6009.94 kHz is Rádio Inconfidência Brazil. Two days ago Inconfidência
heard well at 0720 UT, and I can't pick up LVTC at this time but
Inconfidência signal deteriorated later, and at 0800 LVTC appears
strong and Inconfidência very weak`` (wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Nov 8 via
DXLD)
5010.065 approx., Nov 11 at 0515, ID for La Voz de tu Conciencia
immediately followed by Alcaraván Radio, 1530. One is a subsidiary of
the other? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 1020, Radio Artemisa, 2359 UT 10/8/2015 - Heard over Radio
Reloj and a weakened KDKA with "Radio Artemisa" ID by YL during mild
AU CX [auroral conditions], on South D-KAZ, new.
1110, Radio Angulo, 0000 UT 10/8/2015 - Over WBT when "Radio Angulo"
ID was given with mentions of Cuba over musical sound effects. Heard
during mild AU CX on South D-KAZ, new (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW
logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in
the log, ABDX via DXLD) Note: this name is not ángulo (gh, DXLD)
** CUBA. 6005 & 6055, Nov 5 at 0706, pulse jamming spurs peaking
around here against nothing much, roughly 25 kHz above and below
pileup on 6030; the upper one is stronger.
11910-11990, Nov 6 at 1405, DentroCuban Jamming Command not only
attacks 11930 Radio Martí with a wall-of-noise, but allows it to
splatter spuriously far beyond the `necessary` frequency. It`s
particularly heavy around 11990. The bane of shortwave, and don`t give
RHC a pass for it when their own signals, such as 11950 in between,
remain clear of any jamming. The mess on 11930 also degrades one of
our few chances to hear R. Japan in English, 11925 via Palau.
15370, Nov 6 at 1359, RHC is already on here with canned announcement
that 9850 and 9550 are closing, and 15370 is opening. Modulation on
15370 is breaking up. Then the live announcer, still well before 1400,
claims it`s ``exactamente las 9 de la mañana``! There`s nothing wrong
with approx. timechex within a minute, but there is something wrong
when you repeatedly claim them to be ``exact``. Furthermore, 9550 is
*not* going off at 1400, still on at 1440 check. RHC has failed to
make its announcements accurate during the Two Sesquiweeks of
Confusion until their own B-15 sked kicks in on Nov 15; but don`t
count on them to be correct then, either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
9535, Radio Habana Cuba; 0405, 7-Nov; Spanish music; SIO=454 and
putting out +/- 70 kHz spurs on 9465 & 9605.
13740, Radio Habana Cuba; 0218, 7-Nov; Spanish at S10 on 13740,
putting out +/- 115 kHz spurs on 13855 & 13625 (Harold Frodge, Midland
MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S
unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real
time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) Congrats! Haven`t noted those, myself (gh)
13605, Nov 8 at 1434, residual pulse jamming against nothing, as the
entire DentroCuban Jamming Command network has not yet caught on that
Martí has moved to 13820; or, just in case it should move back, which
it won`t. Meanwhile, any otherstation contemplating using 13605 would
be well-advised not to, forevermore.
5040, Nov 11 at 0512, RHC in English this hour as well as 06-07; at
least tonight as schedules conflict about whether 5040 is in Spanish
or English at 05-06.
9535 & 9710, Nov 10 at 0632, RHC Spanish is still on past normal sign-
off, both undermodulated; asleep at the switch? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST) see also RADIO PHILATELY below
** CUBA [and non]. 7210-LSB, Nov 10 at 0125, raucous music in Spanish
is S9, jamming N1NR and his anti-Castro net. 0126 switch to different
weaker music, from another CO station, also mixed with broadcast-
intoned talk. Thought it might be relay of Rebelde, but not // 5025,
so could be any other Cuban program. More music soon grows to same
level as before. BTW, Arnie, music is prohibited on ham radio, not to
mention deliberate interference. 0158 recheck, no music at the moment
but probably N1NR talking (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EAST TURKISTAN. 4850, PBS Xinjiang, 1212, Nov 3. First day I have
heard their seasonal change back to this frequency; please do not
think this is AIR Kohima (through Nov 5, it`s not).
Also 4980 & 5060 are again being heard (Ron Howard, San Francisco at
Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. Radio Cairo 9800 kHz: QSL card received in 53 days for e-
mail report to station. I sent to 4 e-mail addresses, and I'm sorry
that I don't know which resulted in the QSL. Addresses sent to were:
englisheuropeservice@gmail.com
freqmeg@yahoo.com
enginfo@ertu.org
radioinfo@ertu.org
Sender`s address on envelope is Propagation Department, P.O. Box 1186,
Cairo 11511. The face side of the QSL features an un-captioned museum
exhibit of a man holding a walking cane (Alan Roe, UK, November CIDX
Messenger via DXLD)
That is awesome, Alan. Nice to see Radio Cairo stills sends QSL cards
out even if the audio needs some work (Mick Delmage, QSL ed., November
CIDX Messenger via DXLD)
9900, R Cairo with OM in English reading what must have been news and
with the usual mush-mouth modulation making it impossible to really
understand. WHY do they bother? WHAT will it take to get them to fix
it? WHEN will it happen? WHO should tell them, and WHERE will Hell
first freeze over when that fix does happen? (I'm practicing my
journalism skills!) Clear(ish) "R Cairo" ID by OM amidst the mush at
2147. Music and more mushmouth talk -- every once in a while you could
catch an English word or two word phrase, but not listenable. 44+541+
2135-2150 31/Oct (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet
Nov 6 via DXLD)
9900, Radio Cairo; 2203, 1-Nov; English, "Radio Cairo Presents" into
historical feature. SIO=3+33- with buzz, SSB no help (Harold Frodge,
MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
9900 & 9800, Nov 6 at 2229, no signals from R. Cairo English to
Europe, on the usual or alternate frequency. Don`t think that
propagation is that bad, so off? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** EUROPE. Radio Waves International 32ND Birthday continue, just
update website for complete schedule visit http://www.wrwi.fr
Good DXs, good weekend, the terrible twins, Peter HILLS & Philippe
(via Robert Scaglione, Sicily, Nov 6, bclnews.it yg via WORLD OF RADIO
1799, DXLD) Viz., as of Nov 10, all Sundays:
RADIO CHANNEL 292
8th of November: 0700-0800 UT on 6070
8th of November: 1100-1200 UT on 6070
&
MV BALTIC RADIO
8th of November: 1000-1100 UT on 7265 & 1100-1200 UT on 9485
15th of November: 1000-1100 UT on 7265 & 1100-1200 UT on 9485
22th of November: 1000-1100 UT on 7265 & 1100-1200 UT on 9485
29th of November: 1000-1100 UT on 7265 & 1100-1200 UT on 9485
-----------------------
+ Our own TXs on 48 or 41 meters bands. During November‘s weekend stay
tune & send your reports to us.`` (via gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005.00, Nov 11 at 0511, JBA carrier,
suspecting, RNGE, Bata (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** FINLAND [and non]. RUSSIAN TROLL ARMY TARGETING ONE OF OUR OWN
Wednesday, November 11, 2015 6:15 AM
While reading some articles on FB tonight, I focused on an article
about a young journalist employed by YLE in Finland, and how she was
targeted by despicable trolls who have done everything to discredit
her and YLE. What caught my eye, was that one of our own, Mika
Makelainen, has also been targeted. Hits close to home. A sickening
turn of events.
http://kioski.yle.fi/omat/my-year-as-a-pro-russia-troll-magnet
(Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
** FRANCE. Via C. GHIBAUDO: ’alsacien sur France Bleu? A la poubelle!
ARTICOLO PUBBLICATO DA UNA AGENZIA DI STAMPA LOCALE DI STRASBURGO IN
FRANCIA PER PROTESTARE CONTRO LA PROSSIMA DISATTIVAZIONE DEL
TRASMETTITORE DI RADIO FRANCE BLEU ALSAZIA OPERANTE SULLE ONDE MEDIE
1278 CHE AVVERRA A FINE ANNO. DI FATTO TAGLIERA DIFFUSIONE DELLA
PROGRAMMAZIONE IN LINGUA ALSAZIANA DALLE ONDE RADIO.
RINGRAZIO CHRISTIAN GHIBAUDO PER LA SEGNALAZIONE.
http://hewwemi.net/alsacien-sur-france-bleu-a-la-poubelle/ [dustbin]
A l’époque, Adrien Zeller s’érige contre cette façon de faire, mais il
est vite calmé par les arguments de Paris : Vous aurez plus d’heures
de diffusion en ondes moyennes ! Mais à quoi sert l’augmentation de la
diffusion sur un émetteur désuet, à des horaires sans audience et dont
Paris ne veut pas ? Et pour ce qui est de capter la chaîne, on te
souhaite bonne chance camarade dialectophone. A Strasbourg par
exemple, c’est quasiment impossible !
Et bien entendu, aucun des directeurs qui se succèdent depuis 1992 n’a
l’idée de sortir le dialecte de son ghetto, de le laisser se
développer sur une antenne digne de ce nom en lui accordant ce à quoi
il a droit : vivre dignement en étant accessible ! Le dégueulis
germanique des Alsaciens heurte leurs oreilles. L’envie de valoriser
les cultures alémaniques et franciques ne les effleure pas : ils
s’occupent de l’antenne française en FM, sans faire de vagues, en
attendant d’être mutés ailleurs, avec si possible une promotion à la
clé.
Le résultat? Depuis 1992, les auditeurs francophones ont été habitués
à une antenne expurgée de langue alsacienne, et depuis 3 ans, nous
avons tout juste droit à quelques mots d’alsacien chaque jour sur
France Bleu Alsace (la francophone exclusive).
Et voilà comment ça se passe: la première minute de chaque heure
d’animation, après les infos et le bulletin météo (à 7h05, 8h05, 9h05,
10h05 et 11h05), l’animateur FM est en duplex avec l’animateur ondes
moyennes pour que celui-ci annonce une manifestation liée à l’Alsace,
en disant quelques phrases, en français bien sûr, et quelques mots en
alsacien, awer Achtung! surtout pas une phrase complète, car cette
langue est une insulte à l’oreille française. Il doit s’en tenir à
quelques mots qui servent d’alibi à cette politique de l’édredon: Vous
le voyez bien qu’on fait la promotion du dialecte, il passe même en
FM!
http://hewwemi.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/FBElsass.jpeg
Et pourtant, de la part d’un Etat qui affirme vouloir promouvoir les
langues régionales, on est en droit d’attendre une radio de service
public qui s’engage pour l’alsacien, pour l’allemand et qui se tourne
vers les jeunes! Au lieu de ça, Radio France met l’alsacien sur
l’émetteur historique de Radio Strasbourg, créé avant guerre, qui émet
en ondes moyennes, 1278 kilohertz ou 235 mètres, en sachant
parfaitement qu’ainsi, la langue se retrouve sur une voie de garage et
que cette radio fantôme sera un bon alibi pour les politiques : Vous
le voyez bien qu’on fait la promotion du dialecte, il a une station
pour lui tout seul!
Il aurait été facile pour Radio France d’obtenir une longueur d’onde
en FM pour l’alsacien, les radios associatives y arrivaient plutôt
aisément. Ces longueurs d’ondes sont redistribuées tous les trois ans
par le CSA, et lorsque les radios dialectales privées (RTA, Radio 67
entre autres) ont successivement fermé dans les années 90, Radio
France loupait à chaque fois volontairement le coche qui leur aurait
permis de récupérer les auditeurs en mal de dialecte.
Ceux-ci n’ont plus guère que Radio Dreieckland pour écouter la langue
de leur région et de leurs racines avec le confort d’écoute de la FM.
Difficile, non, impossible de croire que la radio de service public
ait pu échouer à chaque fois: il s’agit là d’une volonté délibérée de
ne pas aboutir, car vu de Paris, l’alsacien doit crever, point barre.
Et ce qui devait arriver arrive!
Lors de la longue grève du printemps 2015, on découvre brutalement le
déficit monstre du groupe Radio France. A se demander comment on a pu
le cacher toutes ces années! Une des mesures qu’annonce le PDG,
Matthieu Gallet – celui qui, a peine arrivé de l’INA, a fait refaire à
coût exorbitant son bureau pourtant fraîchement restauré de la Maison
ronde – consiste à supprimer des émetteurs en ondes moyennes. Il faut
économiser. Et c’est qui qui passe à la trappe ? Bravo, t’as deviné,
c’est pour le 1er janvier.
Tout cela est parfaitement normal, depuis Louis XIV, nous sommes là
pour payer les nouveaux bureaux, les limousines, les beuveries et les
putes des chefs à Paris. Mais attention, hein! On n’est pas un peuple!
On l’a jamais été ! Le lupanar français est indivisible!
Paris justifie ainsi la suppression: l’émetteur des ondes moyennes,
qui est à Sélestat, revient plus cher que celui de la FM. On parle
d’un coût de 13 millions d’euros pour les antennes FM et OM. Sur un an
ou sur plusieurs années ? Personne n’a pu vérifier ces chiffres auprès
de Télé Diffusion de France. Et puis, si l’émetteur des ondes moyennes
coûte si cher, pourquoi l’avoir payé pendant 23 ans? Pourquoi la
direction n’a-t-elle pas trouvé d’émetteur en FM, moins cher et
valorisant à tous points de vue, pour France Bleu Elsass? Pendant 23
ans, elle a donc sciemment payé plus cher ce qu’elle savait être un
tombeau herzien pour le dialecte!
http://hewwemi.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/7.jpg
Paris fait miroiter que France Bleu Elsass deviendra la première
webradio du groupe Radio France, vaste fumisterie! Toutes les radios
de Radio France, donc également les 45 du réseau France Bleu, sont des
webradios depuis plusieurs années, y compris France Bleu Elsass!
Radio France justifie la suppression de cette antenne en raison de sa
désuétude. Mais à qui la faute si ce n’est à Radio France elle-même,
qui a mis ce système en place? Il est parfaitement dégueulasse de
priver d’écoute les auditeurs de France Bleu Elsass qui, vu leur âge,
ne sont pas versés dans le numérique. Les fringants directeurs
s’exalteront: on forme le public à la modernité! Une nouvelle appli
permet d’écouter France Bleu Elsass sur smartphone!
Sauf que les jeunes, abandonnés par Radio France depuis 1992, ne se
tourneront pas vers la webradio Elsass, et ce sont donc les derniers
Mohicans, ceux qui s’accrochent aux derniers lambeaux de langue
maternelle sur leur vieille radio à qui on crache à la gueule. Belle
leçon de démocratie française.
Car il faut savoir que rien n’a été fait pour la promotion de France
Bleu Elsass. La chaîne n’a été associée à aucune des campagnes
publicitaires menées régulièrement pour France Bleu Alsace. Sa
longueur d’ondes n’est jamais apparue – de 1992 à 2015 ! – sur aucun
flanc de bus lorsque France Bleu Alsace y étalait ses longueurs d’onde
en blanc et bleu.
Pire: on n’a aucune idée à Radio France du nombre de personnes qui
écoutent les ondes moyennes. Aucun sondage n’a jamais été réalisé pour
France Bleu Elsass, alors que France Bleu Alsace en achète plusieurs
fois l’an!
Jean-Pierre Cluzel, PDG de Radio France de 2004 à 2009, avait dépêché
un observateur qui devait l’informer sur l’état de la langue
régionale. On n’a jamais connu son compte-rendu. Mais certains se
souviennent avec effroi du passage en 1992 d’une agente de Radio
France qui avait pour mission de transmettre un rapport sur la langue
alsacienne: ce rapport concluait que les Alsaciens avaient honte de
leur langue et que le mieux était de la supprimer des programmes
radio!
Paris laisse aussi miroiter l’arrivée de la RNT (radio numérique
terrestre), mais pour laquelle rien n’est sûr, et surtout pas que
Strasbourg sera ville expérimentale si cela devait se faire. Quand?
Aucune date n’a été fixée ni même avancée. Et si la RNT devait
arriver, et si elle était la panacée, n’eut-il pas mieux valu attendre
son arrivée effective avant de supprimer l’émetteur de France Bleu
Elsass?
Car c’est certain: la radio va sauter, mais Radio France ne communique
pas sur le sujet, elle t’emballe ça façon faux derches, on va pas vous
l’annoncer tout de suite bande de cons d’Alsaciens, faut d’abord que
vous alliez sagement voter pour les partis nationaux les 6 et 13
décembre prochains (PS, Républicains, FN, extrême-ceci, ultra-cela, du
moment que leur siège est à Paris). Radio France pousse le cynisme
jusqu’à fêter le 11 novembre les 85 ans de la radio régionale, sans
préciser que 6 semaines plus tard, l’antenne sera supprimée! Mon
enquête ne m’a pas permis de déterminer si le budget de la fête
prévoyait un poste «vaseline pour anciens auditeurs».
En attendant, à compter du 1er janvier, plus besoin de sondage: on
saura minute par minute, clic après clic, combien d’Alsaciens écoutent
la webradio France Bleu Elsass. Et gare à vos fesses si les chiffres
ne sont pas bons, j’entends déjà la complainte des Tartuffes: On a
fait tout ce qu’on a pu pour l’alsacien, mais vous voyez bien que ça
n’intéresse plus personne !Et hop! A la trappe, la langue de merde.
Quant aux animateurs dialectophones, ils passeront au français ou
iront bouffer aux restos du cœur.
Finalement, il faut peut-être se réjouir de cette nouvelle félonie du
pouvoir français. A force de se comporter ainsi, il renforce et
justifie l’émergence d’un véritable mouvement séparatiste alsacien.
Car de plus en plus de compatriotes ouvrent les yeux, font le bilan,
et se rendent à l’évidence: que l’Alsace devienne un canton suisse, un
Land allemand, ou qu’elle arrache son indépendance, aucune de ces
trois solutions ne peut être pire que sa situation actuelle. ---
Joseph Schmittbiel / 20 octobre 2015 (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg
via DXLD)
** FRANCE. Re: Medium wave closures in France --- As far as I know,
1467 TWR Roumoules will remain active (Bruce Conti, NH, Oct 31, mwdx
yg via DXLD)
** GERMANY [non]. While the English press release does not mention
short wave, the German press release does.
"Crime Fighters": DW's new audio crime thriller for young Africans
Four young detective teams are the protagonists of "Crime Fighters."
DW's gripping new series of radio dramas tackles challenges and perils
faced by African youths. The plays address listeners in five
languages.
Each team's story has eight ten-minute episodes during which the
juvenile investigators try to clear up murders and drug fraud, hunt
down professional landgrabbers and big-scale poachers. One of the
dramas also deals with terrorist recruiting strategies and suicide
attacks.
The stories aim to examine the perils and challenges young listeners
face in their everyday lives and to offer them encouragement. "This
format of crime stories allows us to address controversial news and
issues and to turn them into exciting and educational fiction," says
Claus Stäcker, DW's head of African programming, adding, "'Crime
Fighters' is educational radio entertainment."
All of the authors are African. Pinado Abdu works on DW's Haussa team
and writes about the terror of Boko Haram troops in Northern Nigeria
on a daily basis. US-Kenyan crime writer Mukoma wa Ngugi contributed
the case "Drugs to Cure, Drugs to Kill." Helon Habila from Nigeria and
Andrew Brown from South Africa supported DW's editorial team as script
advisors.
Audio samples provided to DW partner stations in Tanzania, Kenya,
Ghana and Nigeria received unanimously positive responses, leading DW
to record "Crime Fighters" in five languages – English, French,
Portuguese, Haussa, and Kiswahili. The production with local actors
took place in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Tanzania and Mozambique. Only the
planned Amharic production was prevented by Ethiopian authorities.
Actress Wanjiku Mwaurah from Kenya stresses the importance of the
plays for youths: "'Crime Fighters' addresses the huge challenges
young women and young men in particular are facing in our countries."
"Crime Fighters" is broadcast by DW - online and on the AfricaLink
podcast - as well as by more than 250 FM partner stations throughout
Africa. The series will also feature prominently on DW's social media
platforms.
DW RECOMMENDS
Crime Fighters
Date 04.11.2015
Author Vera Tellmann
Permalink "Crime Fighters": DW's new audio crime thriller for young
Africans | Press Releases | DW.COM | 04.11.2015
Four young detective teams are the protagonists of "Crime Fighters."
DW's gripping new series of radio dramas tackles challenges and perils
faced by African youths....
http://www.dw.com/en/top-stories/crime-fighters/s-32392
http://dw.com/p/1GzHy
(via Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
** GERMANY. B15 schedule for Deutsche Welle in English
0400-0500 Daily Af 9800-me 11800-md
0500-0600 Daily Af 7425-me 9800-me 15275-md
0700-0800 Daily Af 15275-me 17800-dh (HFCC via Nov BDXC-UK
Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) Madagascar, Meyerton,
Dhabayya
** GERMANY. ALEMANIA. 9560, DPO7, Seewetterbericht, Kall-Krekei, 1220-
1223, escuchada el 8 de noviembre de 2015 en alemán, mala señal aunque
se intulle emisión con comentarios por un hombre, SINPO 14421 (José
Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, antena
hilo de 10 metros, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GERMANY. Add to the schedule of MB in B-15: I listened to the
programs in English "Day of Decision Ministries" by pastor Paul Groman
on 1st & on 8th November 2015 (on Sundays) on 5980 kHz from 0445 to
0515 by BVB Middle East Services & via MB transmitter in Nauen,
Germany - it is after program in Arabic maybe from Dardasha Ministries
(Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GERMANY [non]. Special EDXC Broadcast 5-7 December: Rhein Mein
Radio Club will be broadcasting on shortwave about EDXC - Conference
at St. Petersburg. Special QSL-Card for reception reports to RMRC
mail@rmrc.de or by post Rhein-Main-Radio-Club e.V., Postfach 700849,
60558 Frankfurt, Germany.
via Lithuania:
5 December 0800-0900 on 11690 to Asia (Japan) in English
5 December 0900-1000 on 11690 to Russia in Russian
via WRMI, USA:
5 December at 2200-2300 on 11580 may be audible in Europe
6 December at 0100-0200 on 11580 may be audible in Europe
6 December at 2300-0000 on 5850 to North America
6 December at 0500-0600 on 9955 to Caribbean and Latin America
7 December at 2100-2200 on 7570 to North America. This may also be
audible in Europe.
7 December at 2100-2200 on 15770 to Europe and North America.
(Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Fri-Sat-Sun, to be clear (gh)
** GREECE. Greek pirate and others from remote Calabria and Greek
posts --- Strongest Greek pirate, 1619.831 kHz at 0040 UT on Nov 11,
\\ harmonic 3239.661 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GREECE. And now at 0645 UT Nov 5, V of Greece is totally in the
clear, no QRM either side, far away adjacent broadcaster 9400
Grigoriopol Maiac / Kudrdistane program, and other side 9440 kHz BBC
Ascension Hausa. So I enjoyed the songs of amore light music singer
from Athens, GREAT MUSIC! Fingerprint 9420.005 kHz this morning, in
Germany observed powerful signal of S=9+25dB or -47dBm strength. 73
wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Helliniki Radiophonia --- Good signal this evening on 9420 kHz at 2158
UT here in New Brunswick using just the whip antenna on a Tecsun PL-
880 receiver with pleasant Greek music. Nothing heard on 9935 kHz.
Time check, ID and IS a little late, but within the first minute after
2200 (Richard Langley, Nov 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GREECE [non]. Small Planet Productions | AGORA international
screenings in November - Scroll down for the greek version |
The international tour of AGORÁ continues with screenings in the UK,
Germany, Poland and Guatemala during November. Online distribution
through Vimeo On Demand continues while the collector’s AGORA DVD Box
Set including the original soundtrack is coming soon!
AT THE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL MEMORIA VERDAD JUSTICIA IN
GUATEMALA --- AGORÁ travelled to Latin America to participate in the
7th International Film Festival Memoria Verdad Justicia in Guatemala.
The film was screened on Thursday, November 5 at 18:30 at Cine Lux in
Guatemala City.
AT LEICESTER DOCFILM FESTIVAL --- Leicester Docfilm Festival in
association with the Media & Democracy Research Group, University of
Leicester organizes a screening of AGORÁ in the context of the
Documentary Media Month hosted at the Documentary Media Centre in
Leicester. The screening of AGORÁ is scheduled on Friday, November 20
at 18:00 and will be followed by a Q&A session via Skype with film
director Yorgos Avgeropoulos.
AT MUNICH GREEK FILM WEEK --- AGORÁ will screen at the 29th Munich
Greek Film Week (November 12-22). This year’s event will showcase 13
recent Greek fiction and documentary feature films as well a selection
of short films. AGORÁ will screen on Sunday November 22 at 17:00 at
the Gasteig Cultural Centre in Munich.
AT HUMANDOC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IN WARSAW --- AGORÁ has been
selected to participate in the International Competition of HumanDoc
International Film Festival (November 20-22) in Warsaw. This year’s
festival will present 17 films recently produced in 31 countries all
over the world. AGORÁ will screen on Sunday, November 22 at 12:30 at
Kinoteka.
WATCH AGORA ON VOD --- While the film’s international tour continues,
AGORÁ is also available worldwide through online streaming at Vimeo On
Demand in five languages: Greek, English, French, German and Spanish.
Watch it at http://agora.smallplanet.gr
MORE --- Visit the film’s official website: http://www.agorathedoc.com
Facebook: facebook.com/agorathedoc Twitter: twitter.com/agorathedoc
(Small Planet Productions, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GUYANA. 3290, Voice of Guyana; 2346-0006+, 6/7-Nov; Oldies,
standards such as; Andy Williams' Butterfly, Doris Day's Que Será
Será, Elvis' Jailhouse Rock, Jambalaya, Mills Bros?, Nat King Cole;
0000+ W in English mentioned FM96? into what sounded like a community
calendar & ID. Poor with copiable peaks (Harold Frodge, Midland MI,
USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated
beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** HAWAII. HAWAIIAN REPORT --- My wife, DX-398 and I spent the last
two weeks in Kailua - Kona on the west coast of the Big Island. All
Hawaiian AM stations were audible. Comments:
1. KRTR-650 was off the air from our arrival 10/26 through 11/5. It
was noted back on with Filipino programming on 11/6.
2. KEWE-1240 was the weakest of all Hawaiian stations 10/26-11/5. On
11/6 it was noted at good level, comparable to other Maui stations. I
believe I read in someone?s earlier post that they were temporarily
operating at reduced power. My guess is that they got the 5 kW rig
operational. Format is Christian Contemporary. IDs are frequent.
3. KHBC-1060 Hilo is off the air. Confirmed during our visit to Hilo.
4. KKON-790 was the only local. It carries ESPN and usually has a hum
on its signal.
5. KHNR-690 is the strongest signal out of Honolulu. Format is talk.
Promotes itself as ?The Answer.?
6. KPHI-1130 was one with which I had no familiarity. Filipino
programming with frequent mention of its 96.7 repeater. Not a very
potent signal. I do not see it cutting through CKWX and KRDU with any
regularity.
As soon as I find my notes, I will report on what I heard outside of
the Islands (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, Nov 8, IRCA via DXLD)
** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1250-1405, Nov 6. Special live broadcast
to mark the silver jubilee of the North Eastern Service of All India
Radio, Shillong; mostly in English; series of speeches, most important
one by the chief guest, Meghalaya Governor, V. Shanmuganathan, who had
to leave during the celebrations, so as he left the National Anthem
was sung; then continued with cultural performances by groups from the
Northeast (music, dance, etc.); many AIR promos; thanked listeners,
"who made it all possible." Very enjoyable programming!! The whole
celebration will be rebroadcast again at 9PM IST (1530 UT) over the
North Eastern Service; many IDs; “North Eastern Service of All India
Radio broadcasting from Shillong on shortwave 60.36 meters,
corresponding to 4,970 kHz. and an additional FM 100.1 MHz” (Ron
Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
There is a weak signal, not above the noise level, on 4970 at tune in
1540 UT that I assume is AIR Shillong - nothing else listed on this
frequency. The signal appears to be improving slightly, and a man`s
voice is heard, but no music as yet at 1550. Thanks for the
information, Ron (Noel Green, ibid.)
Hi Noel, News story at: North Eastern Service of All India Radio
completes 25 years, celebrations tomorrow
http://www.radioandmusic.com/biz/radio/air/151105-north-eastern-service-all-india-radio-completes-25-years
(Ron, ibid.)
Thanks Ron, and very interesting. You certainly seem to find these
special celebrations as they take place! Unfortunately, 4970 'took a
dive' soon after 1600 UT, and it hasn't reappeared. 73 from (Noel
Green, England, ibid.)
Hi Noel, Sorry you were not able to enjoy Shillong as I did today.
Reception was decent enough to enjoy their programming.
AIR Shillong audio -
https://app.box.com/s/88ib50rcejgkjz7zyw8bdi063nj86a69
(Ron Howard, ibid.)
4970.014, AIR Shillong, 0117 UT, only S=6.
4895.994 (!!) very odd frequency, maybe keyboard glitch by engineer?
AIR Kurseong, Hindi, S=5 weak (Wolfgang Bueschel, fingerprints, quick
log in Colombo CLN on Victor's remote SDR unit, Nov 9, DX LISTENING
DIGEST) Maybe significant to some, but I have skipped several others
within 10 Hz of nominal (gh, DXLD)
** INDIA. All India Radio has a new special weekly series (started on
31 October) called "Stumped" and is all about cricket and is a 24 part
series. It's an AIR production in collaboration with the British
Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The broadcast times are Saturday 1350, 1910, 2130 and Sunday 0005 UT.
I don't follow cricket myself, but I know many do so hopefully some
will find this of interest (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, Nov 6, dxldyg
via DX LISTENING DIGEST) That must be the one I heard on AIR with the
ABC/BBC joint produxion credit (gh)
Its also on the BBC WS, not sure if it`s on shortwave as this page
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02gsrmh
states: EXCEPT EAST ASIA, EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST, WEST AND CENTRAL
AFRICA. So perhaps only on to Southern Africa and South East Asia
(Stephen Cooper, ibid.)
I know countries have cut back on SW programming sent to the USA, but
on occasion I could pick up All India Radio here in the Boston
suburbs. If I recall correctly about 1745 hrs on 11670. Has anyone
been picking them up lately? If so, what time/frequency? Again, I am
on the East Coast USA, near Boston. Thanks for your help! Posted by:
(B-T-M, Nov 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
According to AIR's B15 schedule which I downloaded from
http://allindiaradio.gov.in/profile/radio%20network/Pages/Default.aspx
11670 is still used from 1745-1945 but 25 meters is still too low a
frequency for eastern North America. I still hear them pretty well at
2045-2230 on 11670 and 9445. Good listening and very 73 de (Anne
Fanelli in Elma NY (near Buffalo), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Not long ago I was getting 11670 surprisingly well on the 1745+
transmission, so keep trying. Until RHC on new schedule blox 11670
after 1900, starting Nov 15? Of course anything from AIR is not
intended for N America at all (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
9445 kHz with a weakish signal this evening right now at 2145 UT here
in New Brunswick with just a Tecsun PL-880's whip antenna indoors.
But stronger than 11670 kHz (Richard Langley, ibid.)
AIR comes booming in on some of the European receivers of
GlobalTuners.com (Mike Bryant, KY, ibid.)
** INDONESIA. 3324.88, RRI Palangkaraya on Nov 9, too weak to hear at
1200 (if on the air?); unable to hear a carrier; by 1339 noted
decent level open carrier, but no audio. Recently has been very poor
(Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
3324.891 UNID weak tiny signal 'visible' and fragments of music, maybe
Palangkaraya under threshold level at 1020 UT, Nov 10. Some notings of
remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as
always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb
(Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA [and non-log]. 3905, Pro 1 RRI Merauke, through Nov 5,
this continues to be silent; seems to really be gone (Ron Howard, San
Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
3905, Pro 1 RRI Merauke, 1140, Nov 9. On the air again after being off
for a while; radio drama; 1159 usual pre-news theme music; Jakarta
news which ended at 1225 with "Bagimu Negeri"; still on at 1330. Happy
to hear them again! (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
I was hearing a het this morning on 3905 kHz, between 11:30 and 12:00
UTC, for the first time in several weeks. With the magnetic field
going crazy, there was no chance for any audio. Does anyone know if
RRI Merauke is back on the air on that frequency? Thanks (Art
Delibert, North Bethesda, MD, Nov 10, Hard-Core-DX mailing list WORLD
OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
Hi Art, Yes, everyone in the DXLD yg knows this --- 73, (Glenn Hauser
(with Ron`s latest report above), ibid.)
3904.981, Nice fair to strong signal of RRI Merauke SOUTH-SEA-like
smooth music played at 1010 UT, S=9+ or -65dBm signal strength. Some
notings of remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-
1110 UT: as always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3
Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
3904.981 (thanks to Wolfy for measurement), Pro 1 RRI Merauke. They
continue to air their multiple newscasts at 1200, 1300 and 1400; at
1258, Nov 11, with RRI jingle; usual pre-news theme music; 1301 pips
(full minute late); news (local?), commentary(?) and economic news(?);
ending at 1323 with usual patriotic song "Bagimu Negeri"; followed by
"Pro Satu RRI Merauke" ID; ham QRM; poor. Later at 1403, news
(headlines?) ending at 1406 with the normally played patriotic song
"Bagimu Negeri"; followed by RRI jingle and another "Pro Satu RRI
Merauke" ID; almost fair, as my local sunrise was coming up at 1445 UT
(Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via
WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 4750, Pro 4 RRI Makassar // 3324.88, RRI Palangkaraya
// 4869.88, RRI Wamena, 1218, Nov 3; Jakarta news; ending news at 1226
with patriotic song "Bagimu Negeri" (Ron Howard, San Francisco at
Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
4750, Pro 4 RRI Makassar, 1200-1232*, Nov 9. Seemingly with technical
problems today; pop music; 1203 local ID followed by filler music,
instead of the normally aired Jakarta news; at 1205 finally joined the
Jakarta news, which was already in progress; became // 3905, Pro 1
RRI Merauke; 1227 local RRI Makassar ID and music till suddenly off,
leaving CNR1 in sole possession of this frequency, as Bangladesh Betar
seemingly was off the air today. Random checking till 1324 found
only CNR1 here (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
4749.943 Noted - tentatively - weaker RRI Makassar, much lesser signal
strength than 3904.981 kHz RRI Merauke. On same channel noted CNR1
Chinese top ahead on 4749.994 kHz fingerprint. Some notings of remote
SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as always
[selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang
Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
4749.943 (thanks again to Wolfy for measurement), Pro 4 RRI Makassar.
Nov 9 through Nov 11, still hearing only RRI and CNR1, with no hint of
Bangladesh Betar (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 &
CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 4869.88, RRI Wamena. Nov 9 noted clearly off the air at
1200 & 1246, but by 1337, they were broadcasting again (Ron Howard,
CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
4869.914 Threshold signal string 'visible' on Perseus screen, at 1030
UT on Nov 10. Probably RRI Wamena program there? Some notings of
remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as
always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb
(Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. 9525.98, VOI, 1318, Nov 9 (Monday). Unable to confirm if
scheduled "Exotic Indonesia" program; VOI-Jakarta and Pro 2 RRI
Bukittinggi, West Sumatra due to weak signal; "Today in History" (this
date 1953, Cambodia, which had been a French protectorate for 90
years, gained independence); at times the audio cutting off and on
(Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
9525.978, VoI, S=9 or -67dBm signal strength noted at 1055 UT, played
light Indonesian music singer, but heavily disturbed by VoA Chinese
from Tinang-MRA islands and accompanied word spoken CNR jamming by
China mainland on even 9530 kHz. Long path ride of the Chinese
programs, heard time pips 6 seconds late at 1100 UT. Some notings of
remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as
always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb
(Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. 11730, Nov 9 at 1421, IRIB IS, good with flutter, but
suffering from slight IADs; 1423 brief sign-on in listed Hindi via
Kamalabad, still intermittent audio dropouts during NA.
11880, Nov 10 at 1450, fair signal in Russian, but undermodulated.
HFCC reveals it`s VIRI, 500 kW, 320 degrees from Sirjan, carrying on
to here, at 1420-1520 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRELAND. CHURCH LOGS --- Nov 3 1120 UT:
27631, St. Stephen & St. John Church Castleisland, Co. Kerry
27635, Church of the Nativity of Our Lord Beaumont, Dublin 5
Nov 4 1020 UT:
27631, SS Mary & Peter Church Arklow, Co. Wicklow
Nov 5 1100-1200 UT:
27601, Daniel O´Connell Memorial Church Caherciveen, Co. Kerry
27608, Holy Trinity Abbey Church Adare, Co. Limerick
27991, St. Mary´s Cathedral Killarney, Co. Kerry
73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Keeping track: IRELAND NORTHERN consists of six counties:
Antrim, Armagh, Derry (Londonderry), Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone.
All the others are in the Republic.
This is not the same as Ulster, which is an historically larger
region, with three more: Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, per
http://goireland.about.com/od/bsics-ireland/tp/Counties-In-The-Province-Of-Ulster.htm
It would also be interesting to know which, if any, church broadcasts
from IRELAND are not Catholic (and which, if any, from I.N, are
Catholic) (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
** ITALY. PRIMO ELENCO EMITTENTI ATTIVE IN ONDA MEDIA IN ITALIA, TNX
R. SCAGLIONE: Emittenti:
567, Challenger Radio
http://www.challenger.it/challenger/ita_radio_challenge.html
(Villa Estense, PD)
846, Challenger Radio
http://www.challenger.it/challenger/ita_radio_challenge.html
(Villa Estense, PD)
1017, Media Veneta Radio http://www.mediavenetaradio.eu/
(Piove di Sacco, PD)
1035, Media Veneta Radio http://www.mediavenetaradio.eu/
(Vigonza, PD) http://www.mediavenetaradio.eu/1071 Radio Marina
(irregolare)
1323, Radio Base 101 http://www.radiobase101.it/
(Peraga di Vigonza, PD)
1350, I AM Radio (Milano, MI)
1359, Radio Time
1359, Radio Settanta (Casalborsetti, RA)
1359, Radio Stereo 98 http://stereo98.it/ (Zero Branco, TV)
1360, Challenger Radio
http://www.challenger.it/challenger/ita_radio_challenge.html
(Villa Estense, PD – test)
1368, Challenger Radio
http://www.challenger.it/challenger/ita_radio_challenge.html
(Villa Estense, PD)
1386, RAMradio (test)
1395, Radio Activity
1404, Radio Luna http://www.radiolunanelmondo.eu/
(Casalgrande, RE – irregolare)
1476, Cosmo Radio (Milano, Mi – irregolare)
1476, Skate Radio
1476, Radio Briscola
1476, Musictime Radio
1476, Gold 14-76 Hit Radio http://gold1476.caster.fm/
1476, Radio Treviso
1500, Stazione Sperimentale 1500
http://stazionesperimentale.ondemedie.am/ (irregolare)
1512, Progressive Radio
1512, Free Radio AM (Barcola Bovedo, TS – irregolare)
1512, Radio Fioretta
1548, Radio Junior
1566, Radio Ghost
1566, Radio Melody (irregolare)
1566, Radio Macondo (irregolare)
1566, Radio AM Stereo (irregolare)
1566, Radio Settanta (Casalborsetti, RA)
1584, Radio Studio X http://www.radiostudiox.it/
(Momigno, PT – stereo C-Quam)
1593, Gold 15-93 Hit Radio http://gold1593.ondemedie.am/
(stereo C-Quam)
1597, Radio Galaxy (Napoli, NA – non verificata)
1602, Golden Radio Italia http://www.goldenradio.it/ (Sarego, VI)
1602, Radio Crystal (irregolare)
1611, Gold 16-11 Solo Musica Italiana http://gold1611.caster.fm/
a cura di Roberto Scaglione http://www.bclnews.it/ e DX FANZINE
https://dxfanzine.wordpress.com/
Emittenti | Onde Medie Italia
http://www.ondemedieitalia.it/emittenti/
567, Challenger Radio (Villa Estense, PD)
846, Challenger Radio (Villa Estense, PD)
1017, Media Veneta Radio (Piove di Sacco, PD)
1035, Media Veneta Radio (Vigonza, PD)
1071, Radio Marina (irregolare)
Ver en
http://www.ondemedieitalia.it
http://www.ondemedieitalia.it/emittenti/
https://dxfanzine.wordpress.com/
DX FANZINE https://dxfanzine.wordpress.com/ Active DXers from Italy
(via Dario Monferini, Nov 10, playdx yg via DXLD)
** ITALY [non]. IRRS now via Bulgaria? IRRS transmissions since 17-18
October are believed to be via Secretbrod [i.e. Spaceline] Bulgaria
instead of via Tsiganeshti, Romania:
0930-1200 on 9510 - European Gospel R in English - on 17 and 18 Oct.
1500-1530 on 15515 - Radio Warra Wangeelaa -ti in Oromo - on 17 Oct
(Observer SW News via Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD)
Explains why IRRS was weaker than usual when heard at 0930 on 17
October on 9510 with an unscheduled broadcast; it is scheduled only on
Sundays at this time. Possibly a test? (Dave Kenny, UK, ibid.)
B15 schedule for IRRS Shortwave:
0900-1000 Sat 9510
1030-1300 Sun 9510
1500-1530 Sun 15190*
1500-1530 Sat 15515**
1900-2000 Fri/Sat/Sun 7290 *= Radio Santec in English; **= Radio
Warra Wangeelaa (IRRS web site/DK, ibid.)
** ITALY. Re: [dxld] Experimental Italian Time Signal Station JN53DV
Well, at least it is not reported as a time and frequency station in
the WRTH (the 2015 edition specifically).
On the matter of whether the minute-marking pips are actually on time:
I did compare the lateness of the pips via the U. of Twente SDR
receiver as heard on my computer for both CHU and the Italian station,
and they were both about 4 seconds late. So it looks like the Italian
station's pips are at least within a second of UTC. But, as mentioned
earlier and confirmed by Wolfy, we can't using the carrier frequency
as a standard.
Also, the name of the station is not really JN53DV although some call
it that. That's just the Maidenhead locator code given on the
station's website, presumably as the location of the transmitter (to a
precision on the order of 10 km). The station actually identifies
itself on the half and full hours as "Stazione del Segnale Radio
dell'Associazione Italcable" if I copied it correctly or Radio Signal
Station of the Italcable Association. There might be a better
translation. Can any Italian speakers offer one? Note that Italcable
as a separate company ceased to exist some time ago and the station is
actually operated by Associazione Amici di Italcable or Association of
Friends of Italcable or just Friends of Italcable (Richard Langley,
Nov 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
put in the locator JN53DV
into small window, and click
http://qthlocator.free.fr/index.php
73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.)
Good suggestion, Wolfy, for resolving Maidenhead locators with a map
display. There are several sites on the Web for converting between
geographic coordinates and locators and displaying locator grid
"squares" on a map. There is a partial list here:
http://www.arrl.org/grid-squares
I use the Python script "edist" from the "upoints" package. It
provides the centre coordinates of the grid "square." For example:
Richard-Langleys-MacBook-Pro:~/upoints-0.12.2$ python edist.py display
JN53DV
Location 1 is 43 53.75'N, 010 17.50'E
To really pinpoint the location of the transmitter, we would need two
or four more (extended square) characters. For the approximate
location of one of our GNSS tracking station antennas at UNB, the
locator is FN65QW28XB. See, also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenhead_Locator_System
(Richard Langley, NB, ibid.)
** ITALY. Schedule of new Marconi Radio International's test roadcasts
Greetings from Italy! After two weeks of stop we resume our test
broadcasts on 11390 kHz with power in the region of 30 watts. Here is
the schedule for this week’s test broadcasts of Marconi Radio
International:
11th November 2015, from 1600 to 1900 UT
14th November 2015, from 1300 to 1430 UT
15th November 2015, from 0900 to 1300 UT
Test broadcasts consist of non stop music and station identification
announcements in Italian, English, Spanish. MRI encourages reception
reports from listeners. Audio clips (mp3-file) of our broadcasts are
welcome! Until now reception reports, found to be correct, have been
received from 10 countries: Italy, Spain, Germany, Ukraine, Belgium,
Finland, France, Netherlands, Romania and Switzerland. We are anxious
to receive feedbacks from more countries!
We QSL 100%. Our E-mail address is:
marconiradiointernational@gmail.com
We hope that you will share this information with your members.
Thank you very much for your cooperation – (Marconi Radio
International (MRI), Short wave test broadcasts from Italy on 11390
kHz, Nov 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN. Hi Glenn, Conditions here on the West Coast certainly better
than you have inland. 774, JOUB Akita (NHK-2), 1345-1410, Nov 2.
Chinese language lesson and of course also in Japanese; again
confirming that this station not only has the often heard English
lessons, but other language lessons as well; ToH into English lesson:
"How was your weekend?," "Today's vocabulary," "For breakfast I
usually have rice, miso soup and grilled fish," "For breakfast, would
you like some bread?," "I had fresh bread every morning at the hotel,"
"Freshly brewed coffee"; QRM, but fairly readable. Certainly this is
the easiest Trans-Pacific for me to hear.
https://app.box.com/s/c62s5tgf5rjcjf15jeiz5fbsceklkhj7
contains my three minute audio (poor/fair quality) (Ron Howard, San
Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** JAPAN. Glenn, I was also listening to this one today. Thanks to you
for the original tip. 8785-USB, Itoman Marine Radio (call sign: JFE),
1212, Nov 5. In Japanese, assume giving the haul information of each
fishery ship. This is well heard on a daily basis. Thanks again to
Takahito Akabayashi (Tokyo, Japan) for his excellent info about this
station. My audio (good quality) at
https://app.box.com/s/yngdd3miewrfpetu2fbv0tsuss7q0u9v
(Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via
WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KAZAKHSTAN. Kazakh Radio has appeared on new frequency of 1557 kHz,
heard in Finland at 1430, and continues at 2100, so seemingly 24 h.
http://kazradio.kaztrk.kz/ru
(Mauno Ritola WRTH 19 Oct, via Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD)
** KOREA NORTH. POLISH RADIO AMATEUR MAY BE A STEP CLOSER TO
ACTIVATING NORTH KOREA === ARRL November 10, 2015
http://www.arrl.org/news/view/polish-radio-amateur-may-be-a-step-closer-to-activating-north-korea
Polish radio amateur Dom Grzyb, 3Z9DX, has indicated that he’s moving
forward with his plans to operate from North Korea early next year.
Earlier this year Grzyb announced that he had secured written
permission to operate from North Korea in January or February 2016 and
that he would be going to the capital, Pyongyang, for a final meeting
to discuss guidelines for the operation. Grzyb now has informed DX
News.com that he will head to North Korea in December, radio gear and
GP7 vertical antenna in tow, to pin down the details of his ham radio
plans.
Grzyb is said to have already procured a license to operate as
P5/3Z9DX on three bands with 100 W. If he succeeds in being allowed to
operate from North Korea, the P5/3Z9DX operation would be for 5 days,
SSB only, on 20, 15, and 10 meters from a secured location with 24/7
government supervision. He has said he plans to concentrate on 20
meters.
The last DXCC-approved operation from North Korea took place more than
a decade ago. Ed Giorgadze, 4L4FN, of the Republic of Georgia operated
on SSB and RTTY as P5/4L4FN in 2001 and 2002, making more than 16,000
contacts before being asked abruptly to cease transmitting and pack up
his gear. Giorgadze, who was not on a DXpedition but working for the
UN World Food Program in Pyongyang at the time, had tried for more
than 2 years before obtaining oral permission from North Korean
authorities to operate.
The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea remains the most-
wanted and elusive DXCC entity on the globe. -- Thanks to DX News.com
Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD)
** KOREA NORTH. 11710, Voice of Korea; 1520-1525:57*, *1530:00-1533+,
7-Nov; Tune in to M in French; W singing & sitting on something very
sharp. IS from 1530 to English VoK ID at 1531 into anthem, then W in
English with music. SIO=253-; // 1205 [sic] poor & // 9435 poor; not
heard on listed 7570 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition,
Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by
my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST)
7580. VOK. 09/11 1001 UT. Servicio en Japonés. Música juche,
especialmente de coro de mujeres. SINPO: 45444 (Claudio Galaz Toledo,
RX: Realistic DX-160, ANT: 45 metros de antena de hilo, más antena de
tierra y balún de ferrita 9:1, QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile,
condiglista yg via DXLD)
A Recent QSL Request --- I paid $7.10 to mail a reception report to a
station that contains nothing more then a 3 page letter and 1 CD.
Check out the picture at the link below to see where my QSL request is
going to.
http://onairdj.com/qslrequest.JPG
(Paul walker, AR, Nov 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Good luck. After trying multiple times in the 80's to get a real QSL
from them including mailing via Mexico & Canada, I prepared a
reception report and mailed it personally from Munich, Germany on a
trip there in the early 90's. When I returned stateside 2 weeks later,
I had a F/D QSL, letter, pennant and lapel pin in the mail direct from
N Korea. It seems the Euro postal path worked best. 73, (Don W8SWL
Hosmer, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. Hi Glenn, Yes, 7400, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via
Yamata, *1300-1400*, Nov 5 (Thursday), in English; "Today's
Newsflash"; "Today's News on North Korea Issues"; segment "Message
from the Japanese government" about the screening of a movie in Tokyo,
about abduction issues; same half hour program repeated; good signal,
but some CRI QRM till 1357. Pulsating noise jamming from N. Korea.
Shiokaze had a news item today that the BBC was going to start
broadcasting to North Korea, in an expansion of BBC World Service. To
be via SW!!
https://app.box.com/s/3t5at38mqnybmjnbu65ceitfjpxudztf
contains my audio (good quality) (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean
Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 7620, UZBEKISTAN, Voice of Wilderness presumed
with Korean at 1345, woman speaker, music bridge. - Very weak, Nov 6
(Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, listening in my car, parked
by the lake, and using the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg
via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
I note this is not in HFCC: nothing on 7 MHz above 7600 (except WOOB
7730 from WRMI) And site reported by Ivo as DB = TAJIKISTAN, not
Uzbekistan, so where did you get that? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
** KOREA. UNIDENTIFIED. 3276.90, Asian station?, noted signing off Nov
4 & 5, about 1340; weak; if I had to guess I would say in Korean(?).
First time I have noted this. Needs more work and better conditions.
Spur or what?
3276.9, Random Numbers station (spy station), 1335-1338*, Nov 7. YL
with numbers in Korean; much better reception than my Nov 4 & 5 log.
Thanks again to Hiroyuki Komatsubara for his help.
3276.9, Random Numbers station (spy station), 1341*, Nov 9. YL with
numbers in Korean; seemingly a regular station here now (Ron Howard,
San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO
1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
So you`re non-comittal as to where it`s NORTH or SOUTH. I requibble
about the term ``random`` --- if they convey a secret message, they
are anything but random (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
** KURDISTAN [non]. 9400, Nov 5 at 1359, Denge Kurdistane somewhat
atop CCI from presumed FEBC Philippines in Chinese, which goes off at
1401 clearing up DK, which is playing a march, unnational anthem? Then
a 6-pip timesignal ending at 1401:18! Before 1500, has faded way down;
site presumed PRIDNESTROVYE during this span (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
Comment 9400.700 kHz carrier from unknown location: re Wojtek, Poland:
UNIDENTIFIED Denge Kurdistan jammed? There's now strong carrier on
9400.70 kHz making severe het to Denge Kurdistan on 9400 kHz.
Switching to LSB is resolving the problem. Is it jamming or something
else? (Wojtek Zaremba, Legionowo, Poland, 1808 UT Nov 2, Icom IC-R75
with T2FD, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
> 1700-2000 on 9400 ISS 250 kW / 090 deg to WeAS Kurdish #
# Yes, a strong carrier of 700 Hertz distance away on 9400.700 kHz
heard today on Novemer 5th at 1730 UT, here in western Europe, /
southern Germany as signal strength S=9+30dB or -47dBm
At Zakynthos Greece SDR unit location only S=9 strength only,
S=9+15dB in Moscow Russia monitoring post.
I guess the Turkish secret service of President Erdogan's police set a
strong Carrier these days - next to the Kurdistani radio program to
jam that service, after the recent Turkish parliament election AKP
winner action. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via WORLD OF
RADIO 1799, DXLD)
** KUWAIT. 17550, R Kuwait, Oct 22 at 1550 with a story possibly being
told by YL followed by man and YL talking Arabic (Mike Yohnicki,
London, ON, DX394, Antron 99 antenna, Hallicrafters SX110, 60 ft
longwire or 102" whip, November CIDX Messenger via DXLD)
Kuwait has been gone from SW for over a year. 17550 was one of their
frequencies, but never at that time, instead 20-24 UT to North
America. A-15 HFCC showed Iran with a long 17550 broadcast in Arabic,
but supposed to end at 1430; and Pakistan in Urdu at 1330-1530, altho
that has been quite unreliable. Are you sure it was in Arabic? (Glenn
Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KUWAIT. 19010. RFE [RL]. 09/11 1103 UT. Servicio en Dari. Un hombre
habla avisos. SINPO: 55444 (Claudio Galaz Toledo, RX: Realistic DX-
160, ANT: 45 metros de antena de hilo, más antena de tierra y balún de
ferrita 9:1, QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD)
** LIBERIA. Photos: ELWA Radio 4760 kHz Tropical wave and FM 94.5 MHz
and now in short wave 6050 kHz from Monrovia, Montserrado - Liberia.
Photos of the engineers working on the antenna tropical wave 4760 kHz
Photo ELWA Radio Web site: http://www.elwaministries.org/
http://dxbrazilsw.blogspot.com.br/2015/11/photos-elwa-radio-and-antennas-parque.html
73 (Daniel Wyllyans, Nova Xavantina, MT Brazil, Hard-Core-DX mailing
list via DXLD)
** LUXEMBOURG. RTL, 1440 kHz, closure confirmed. On 31 December 2015
the transmitter of Radio Luxemburg on 1440 kHz will be closed. By 1
April 2016 all steel constructions shall have been removed. Some works
have already been started. All info via Christian Milling referring to
the newspaper Luxemburger Wort of 3 October 2015 (Bengt Ericson, ARC,
Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD)
The full schedule of Manarch 1440 since time change is (all times UT):
0355-0400: Interval Signal
0400-0600: Sun: RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0
0400-0700: Mon-Sat RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0
0600-0630: Sun Missionswerk Freundesdienst
0630-0700: Sun RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0
0700-1200: Radio China International (in German)
1200-1210: RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0
1210-1655: Off air
1655-1830: Thu-Tue: RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0
1655-1825: Wed: RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0
1825-1830: Wed Lutherische Stunde
1830-1900: Missionswerk Freundesdienst
1900-0000: Radio China International (in German)
0000-0001: Luxembourg National Anthem
0001-0355: Off air (James Robinson, mediumwave.info, 25 Oct, ibid.)
** MALI [and non]. 17630, China Radio Int'l; 1437, 5-Nov; English
Round Table discussion, now on colleges in China. SIO=2+52+, // 15700
via Cuba (Harold Frodge, MI, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
B-15 schedules no longer show spoiler duplicate CRI English
transmission via East Turkistan on 17630, just Mali at 14-16, so now
you can be sure it is Mali, and I won`t have to correct mislogs. I
expect E.T. will be back in A-16 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
** MEXICO. Mexican DX notes --- This year at the beverage site I tried
to pay more attention to XE stations (last year with my old laptop I
could only record 400 kHz at a time, so I emphasized 1220-1620 kHz to
hunt for GY and TIS stations and didn't spend much time on XEs which
have been gravitating to lower frequencies over the years).
A few years ago we were blessed with the emergence of two very
helpful trends: the state anthem and the FM simulcast. These two
things really helped us get good IDs because we could avoid mixing up
stations like XEBN and XEVM which are on the same frequency [1240]
with phonetically very similar calls.
This year we have a not-so-good trend: never-ending network newscasts!
I can't tell you many stations on this year's recordings just droned
on and on with news (on some channels it was hard to distinguish them
from a co-channel Cuban). Not only does it frustrate our attempts to
ID the stations, but I fear it will also lead to mis-IDs. We all know
folks who don't understand a word of Spanish and say things like
"heard mentions of Chiapas, so it must be the Chiapas station...".
Kind of like the folks who can't read Morse code yet constantly claim
to have heard "Morse code IDs" from a DX test clear across the
country. You can see where this might go.
Another interesting thing this year was some kind of a baseball
playoff between the Chihuahua Dorados and the Guasave Algodoneros (the
Golden Boys vs. the Cotton Pickers?!). This game seemed to be carried
on at least one station from each city in the state of Chihuahua, but
I don't recall hearing it on any Guasave or Sinaloa stations at all.
What was even more odd about this was that the broadcasts from the
various Chihuahua stations were mostly not // each other. It was as if
each station group owner sent his own guys to cover the game(s). That
Chihuahua stadium must have an enormous press-box complex! 73 (Tim
Hall, CA, Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone, Nov 8, ABDX via DXLD)
** MEXICO. Who runs "Amanecer Norteño" on 800 kHz during the 6 am hour
(CDT)? In my Border Inn recordings, I'm getting one or two other
Spanish stations under XEROK. The most widely-heard stations after
XEROK are usually XEDD and XEZR. One of the stations under XEROK was
running the program "amanecer norteño" during the hour of 6 am CDT [11
UT --- this was in late September --- gh]. XEDD web page seems to
indicate it would not be them, so I would suspect XEZR. Does anyone
know? I'll probably re-scour my recordings later, to see if this
station was audible at other times. 73 (Tim Hall, CA, Nov 9, ABDX via
DXLD)
** MEXICO. 880, XEAAA, Zapopan, Jal., 1101 UT 10/14/2015 - With legal
ID after Mexican National Anthem "X-E-Triple A" and "Ultra Radio"
slogans by YL, on Southwest phased BOGs, new (Tim Tromp, October, 2015
MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted
in the log, ABDX via DXLD)
** MEXICO. Surprise: XEJ-970 is back on the air (with lower power and
getti [sic, truncated] --- XEJ-970 is back on the air (or never
actually left?) as "Pancho" // 99.1 with only 1 kW. The signal is very
weak compared to their old signal. I caught their national anthem and
ID in my Border Inn beverage site recordings at 1104 UT on Sept 26th.
Most nights XESW is audible instead. Web page:
http://www.gradiomex.com/estaciones-por-ciudad/
Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pancho970am/timeline?ref=page_internal
73 (Tim Hall, CA, Nov 8, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
Reading some of their older FB posts, it appears XEJ Ciudad Juárez was
off the air from 970 for a while last year. With XEROK 800, that makes
two CiJz stations with strange downsizing (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF
RADIO 1799, DXLD)
** MEXICO [and non]. 1650, Nov 6 at 0655, as KYHN OK is not too strong
at the moment (really 1 kW night power?), I null it and try to pull
something else thru, aiming N/S, especially some Spanish music. 0656
tentative ID in passing as Radio Zer, which would finally get me the
México DF 5/5 kW XEARZ which has been eluding me. Trouble is, there
are also two US SS stations on 1650, CO & TX, and adding to the mix is
KCNZ IA. I can forget about the two Canadians and other UStations
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT this week:::
Have a transmitter site:
Televisa Tapachula
https://www.google.com/maps/@14.9284666,-92.2723403,3a,75y,1.7h,91.78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7oWtIiFXhgXKrOsVmXlohg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1
An absolute gem of a sign! The most elaborate design I've seen on a
Televisa tower. The sign itself dates to the 90s or so, including the
calls and channel numbers of its two stations (XHTAH-5 and XHAA-7),
proudly emblazoned with "Televisa, S.A. de C.V." and "Est. Rep.
Tapachula, Chis." (Estación Repetidora Tapachula, Chiapas). (Raymie
Humbert, Phœnix AZ, Nov 5, WTFDA Forum via DXLD)
The IFT has approved the first social-community radio concession in
the country. It will be for Autogestión Comunicativa, A.C., which will
set up shop in Hermosillo, Sonora.
http://www.ift.org.mx/comunicacion-y-medios/comunicados-ift/es/el-pleno-del-ift-aprueba-el-acceso-multiprogramacion-del-instituto-politecnico-nacional-en
Also, four multiplexing authorizations were given, all to the IPN, for
its Chihuahua stations and in Mochis. These were the last four to be
built in digital.
It looks like this, the UJAT TV station, and the XETNC and XETEB
renewals would have come up in April if a spectrum availability study
didn't need to be conducted.
http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/conocenos/pleno/sesiones/ordinaria/vi-sesion-ordinaria-del-pleno-22-de-abril-de-2015/acta6aord220415.pdf
The UJAT item was delayed a month, and the XETNC and XETEB items were
tackled this week along with Autogestión Comunicativa. The only
missing station from that list now is located in Tlaxcala.
——
We also received the full list of station modifications authorized by
the IFT for Cadena Tres. I have compiled that information and all the
authorizations into one document.
http://jmp.sh/b8rfA1q
Last edited by (Raymie; 11-06-2015 at 03:03 PM, ibid.)
APAGÓN ALERT: December 11.
http://www.ift.org.mx/comunicacion-y-medios/comunicados-ift/es/el-11-de-diciembre-sera-el-siguiente-apagon-analogico-ift-comunicado-942015
In Baja California, San Felipe*. In Coahuila, Ciudad Allende, Saltillo
and Parras de la Fuente. In Guanajuato, León and Celaya*. In
Querétaro, Querétaro. And in Sonora, Caborca* and Agua Prieta.*
*A permit station is exempt in these cities. In San Felipe, the Punta
Estrella trio; in Celaya, XHCEP-11; and in the Sonora cities, Telemax.
Their digital transmitters are operating there, too (Raymie, Nov 6,
ibid.)
I wonder why they changed Reynosa's channel from 18 to 22. 18 had
already been approved by the FCC so it's almost like they did double
work changing it to 22. KTLM has a low power translator in Harlingen
on 22. I assume it will have to go off the air (mismac7, south Texas,
ibid.)
The change was approved in the FCC-IFT repacking agreements. C3 went
to the IFT and said "we have 31 stations in 600 MHz that need to
move". The IFT came back and said "and we need to move 14 additional
stations", half of which were in the border zone. The others were:
Campeche, Valle de Bravo, Zitácuaro, Tehuacán, Ciudad Valles, and
Cerro Azul Ver.
In Campeche, four of their five transmitters (Campeche, Carmen,
Escárcega and Hopelchen) will form a single-frequency network on
channel 20. The exception is Xpujil on 28.
In fact, there are many more moves that will be happening where
stations exist above 36, even though Televisa has been vociferous in
moving a lot of its station builds below channel 37. The only case in
which I know repacking-related spectrum replanning has had an effect
is that Azteca's shadows in Guadalupe, Nuevo León, reflect new channel
placements for the stations in question. I believe that is also the
case with their León shadows which do not match channel-wise to their
Celaya parents, but I cannot be sure (Raymie, Nov 6, ibid.)
Article roundup
Postura de la CIRT ante frecuencias ilegales de radio en Oaxaca
https://oaxaca.quadratin.com.mx/Postura-de-la-CIRT-ante-frecuencias-ilegales-de-radio-en-Oaxaca/
Pirates are sailing the airwaves of Oaxaca with abandon, and the CIRT
is none too happy about it. They also helpfully include a list of
every licensed station in the state.
Juan Omar Fierro, El Universal: "Avala SCJN dar tiempo de
radiodifusión al Estado"
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/articulo/nacion/politica/2015/11/7/avala-scjn-dar-tiempo-de-radiodifusion-al-estado
The Supreme Court of Mexico has ruled that commercial stations must
offer 30 minutes a day to the government. Impulsora Radiofónica, in
the state of San Luis Potosí (XHXR-FM Ciudad Valles), was the
plaintiff in this case.
Rosa María Morales, Pulso SLP: "Ancianita se desmaya esperando su
televisión"
http://pulsoslp.com.mx/2015/11/06/ancianita-se-desmaya-esperando-su-television/
One 93-year-old woman in Matehuala waited so long for a TV that she
fainted while in line and had to be brought to a hospital.
Veneranda Mendoza, Proceso: "Radio Calentana exige al gobierno
mexiquense retractarse de acusaciones"
http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=420124
The community radio station in Luvianos, Edomex (the one that got
seized while approval was pending with the IFT for a new frequency) is
demanding that the state government retract accusations that the
station incited support for criminal groups (Raymie, Nov 7, ibid.)
I think I get it now. If I'm understanding the tables correctly, it
looks like channel 18 (as well as 14, 16 & 17) will now be available
for stations on the US side (mismac7, TX, ibid.)
How backed up was Cofetel when it came to requests for new radio
stations? Well, one IFT commissioner says that there were more than
400 requests for new radio stations backed up under the old agency.
https://twitter.com/LabardiniA/status/663580998597132288
Holy cake.
———
Seeing some new shadow channel authorizations in the RPC today,
probably 40 or more, mostly Azteca. For instance, we now know that
XHIC and XHCPE have digital shadows at Orizaba with more than 30 kW
ERP. In San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco, Azteca has XHJCM/XHLGA shadows
with 25 kW ERP, higher than the main stations. Many, many small towns
that I'd never heard of before.
Surprisingly for a local station, XHBO has shadows too, including this
one in Ejutla de Crespo, Oaxaca, authorized for 5 watts on channel 32.
http://rpc.ift.org.mx/rpc/pdfs/190815-EQ_COMPLEMENTARIO-010539.pdf
Last edited by (Raymie; 11-09-2015 at 12:54 PM, ibid.)
A few days on we have a little more information on the new community
radio station at Hermosillo. It is the successor to "Política & Rock &
Roll" 97.7, which operated from 2012 to 2014. Historically it is
related to Radio Bemba, which became XHCD-FM "Zoom FM" and received a
permit in 2005.
It will likely move frequencies: this article suggests 104.1,
http://mediazoom.news/node/573
but I expect 104.3 instead as that is an allotment available there.
103.5, 105.9 and 106.7 are the only other allotments available to
Hermosillo through the FCC database.
The FM database is a similar mess to TV, but not as bad. (There are
many, many missing callsigns, especially from the AM-FM migration.)
Try decoding these errors:
Baja California
-XHBCE-FM 92.1 Ensenada. This isn't XHHC; in fact, this became
105.7 XHPRS-FM in Tecate thanks to a two-step move-in. XHHC was put on
the frequency later. (XHBCE is also listed in Tecate.)
-XHTIJ-FM 97.7 Tijuana. Oh so close: this is XHTIM, which moved to
90.7. Even worse yet this callsign used to be on 91.7 XHGLX.
-Two callsigns listed for 99.3: XHKY-FM (that one's now clear
across the country at Huixtla, Chiapas) and XHATE-FM. The second one
became XHHIT 95.3. The first one is now XHOCL.
Sonora
-"XHIMS" Magdalena de Kino: Yes, this was originally XHIMS, in
IMuriS (get it)? It signed on in 1997, but as XHLDC-FM. If you wonder
how you get XHLDC from Magdalena de Kino, its most famous product is
probably a certain Luis Donaldo Colosio.
-There's an "XHSIT" 99.1 Sonoita (this was apparently put out for
bid in 1992, awarded to Carlos Caballero Ávila in 1994 but never
operated), and on the same frequency, "XHNZ1FM". That should be
"XHNZI".
Coahuila
-XHHCC is listed. It's a miracle, as this is a real new station,
dating to 2012.
-But then they misspell "XHAAL" as "XHALA". There is no XHALA.
-"XHMCL" Monclova and XHCCG Cuatro Ciénegas. Somehow we wound up
with (in reality) XHCCG Monclova. XHMCL must have failed or never been
put out for bid and then XHCCG moved.
Nuevo León
-If you think 94.9 in Monterrey is vacant, you've been wrong since
1998.
Tamaulipas
"XHNVA-FM" 89.5 Valle Hermoso. Mexico loved to fill the AM and FM
databases with NueVA, and this is a case of that. The callsign is
XHRV. The station moved from San Fernando, where it was XHSAF-FM;
that's listed too, because I think at one time the callsign and
frequency were reopened for the state radio network.
"XHCDL-FM" 93.9 Ciudad Alemán. This was the original callsign for
XHRAW. As prior experience should attest, this is one of those Carlos
Salinas de Gortari-era callsigns. You know the type; there are a bunch
of them here (Raymie, Nov 11, ibid.)
There's Room in Saltillo, But the IFT Doesn't Seem to Notice
We've been covering on and off over the last few months the potential
future permit failure of XESAL-AM 1220 in Saltillo, the station of the
Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro (UAAAN). The university had
a bad rector that kind of forgot to renew the station's permit. Even
worse, XESAL didn't get the opportunity to migrate to FM.
This year, one potential applicant approached the IFT and put in a
request for it to include a Saltillo FM in its 2016 PABF. It was
denied, with "lack of spectrum availability" cited as the main reason.
Well, here's me coming in and refuting that. There are five open
frequencies for a new FM radio station in Saltillo. We know this
because we have the FCC allotment tables.
Saltillo has 13 licensed FM radio stations. The most recent was built
two years ago when XHUACS-104.1 came to air. But it has five
additional allotments: 92.1, 96.7, 100.1, 101.7, and 107.3. The
closest Mexican 92.1 is 116 miles away. The nearest 96.7 is at 231
miles. The nearest 100.1, at over 300 miles. For a 101.7, 161 miles.
And the closest 107.3 is 174 miles out.
These are frequencies that meet the 800 kHz current spacing limit
(91.3-92.1-93.5, 94.7-96.7-97.7, 99.3-100.1-100.9-101.7-102.5, 106.5-
107.3). These are frequencies allotted to Saltillo more than 40 years
ago.
And yet the IFT says "no spectrum available". Come on. Give the Narro
an FM station so they can migrate and resolve their permit woes. Give
the social use applicant the station they requested. Perhaps put one
or two more out for bid. But don't let five unused frequencies just
sit there (Raymie, ibid.)
The last of Chihuahua's commercial television stations is on air, as
XHAUC-TDT 32 (9.x) has finally hit the airwaves as of yesterday.
There aren't many missing stations left. This was one of the big ones
and one of the last remaining missing commercial stations nationwide.
(XHENB in Ensenada is my most immediate concern in the category.)
State networks are another concern entirely.
In Campeche,
http://www.campechehoy.mx/notas/280236/no-tiene-fondo-social-apagon-analogico
they're wondering why some municipalities that lack any television
service are getting TVs when there's no OTA television to be had.
On Ciro Gómez Leyva's radio show, IFT President Gabriel Contreras said
that unready broadcasters will face sanctions if they don't get to air
by year's end.
https://twitter.com/CiroGomezL/status/664813759093829632
That would include some 30 public stations. He also said that the
focus right now is getting shadow channels on the air.
These are networks that I consider ready that were in analog: Edomex,
Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León (Monterrey only), Oaxaca,
Campeche, Yucatán, Sonora, Morelos, Puebla, Guanajuato, Jalisco,
Veracruz. In some cases only some transmitters are operating in
digital at the moment, but that still leaves big gaps (Raymie, Nov 12,
ibid.)
Sometimes you look at cities and wonder "where's the full network
service"? For instance, Tenosique, Tabasco, has a local station, a CE
transmitter, and the state network. But then we get the shadow
authorizations, which are filling in the picture. For instance, Azteca
operates shadows of its Cd. del Carmen stations there (at 930/920
watts).
Also: a couple of authorizations for full stations appeared!
XHCDC-TDT 39 at 31 kW (Google Maps; note that for digital Televisa
installed a new, 51 m self-supported tower to replace the old guyed
stick)
http://rpc.ift.org.mx/rpc/pdfs/020915-FREC-ADICIONAL-010531.pdf
XHPCE-TDT 33 at 159.97 kW
http://rpc.ift.org.mx/rpc/pdfs/020915-FREC_ADICIONAL-010616.pdf
— This is one of the highest-powered digital TV stations in rural
Mexico. Azteca's other transmitter here was at 8 kW.
And speaking of high-powered, XHTVM was authorized for final digital
facilities and will be raising its power to 513.05 kW from the analog
channel 40 site (instead of the Azteca tower). That is the highest ERP
in Mexico and the first digital television station to exceed 500 kW
ERP. Azteca's Mexico City stations, all three of them, now surpass
Televisa's C. de las Lajas transmitters as the highest-powered in
Mexico after being authorized for new final facilities this year.
———
Also, the apagón declaration hit the DOF today. XHLEG and XHPAC do not
have full digital service in their analog coverage area but, as
service is guaranteed by other stations, they will be able to shut
down. The XHLEG coverage area overlaps with those of a whopping 25
digital television stations based out of Querétaro, Guanajuato,
Aguascalientes, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí and Michoacán, according to
the document.
Some shadows are spared: XHPAC-7 at Melchor Ocampo, Zac. and XEZ-4 and
XHZ-8 at Landa de Matamoros, Qro., as they are not in digital and are
the only available television services in their areas. Last edited by
(Raymie; 11-13-2015 at 02:04 PM, ibid.)
The IFT's third quarter report is out, including an inventory of
numbers of requests for various sorts of telecommunications
applications.
http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/contenidogeneral/transparencia/ita3-2015-acc-13112015.pdf
On page 95 is the broadcasting one, showing that there were hundreds
of pending requests for shadows, 37 radio modifications, and so on
(Raymie, ibid.)
** MICRONESIA [non-log]. 4755.54, PMA-The Cross Radio. Since May 10,
the date Cyclone Dolphin hit them, has been silent through Nov 8 (Ron
Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD
OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MOLDOVA. Rumors confirmed at last: As of February 2015, Radio
Moldova Actualitatsi on 873 kHz (Codru transmitter site) are employing
a new Nautel NX50 (50 kW) transmitter. Curious turn of events, given
earlier reports of a 100 kW Transradio unit delivered, installed,
tested and sent back to the manufacturer.
Then again, as a sidenote - no idea which source the WRTH were using
when showing 150 kW for 873 / Codru in their 2015 edition. Wishful
thinking? The older (DSV-150) unit wasn`t being used at full power for
quite a while, with just one of the two 'semi-blocks' in use at 75 kW
only. WYSI-N-WYG [sic]. Posted by: (Leo Barmaleo, Moldova, UT Nov 7,
dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MONGOLIA. Voice of Mongolia announces its English Service airs to
South East Asia from 0900 to 0930 on 12035 (a change from 12015) and
to Europe from 1530 to 1600 on 12015 (Bill Matthews, OH, Nov 6, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** MONGOLIA. 4830, Mongolian Radio 2, at 1054, Nov 2. They are back
here again; in past years was easy to confirm ID via // 4895, but no
longer so; am only hearing AIR on 4895 and Aoki no longer listed
Mongolia there. Sign off time varies a lot; Nov 3 off the air by 1210
check; Nov 4 off the air at 1151 check; Nov 5, first heard 1140; still
on the air 1209. Hiroyuki Komatsubara noted 1459*, on Nov 5. No
routine schedule yet? (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA,
E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
2015 11 05, 1400 UT, 4830 kHz Mongolian Radio active again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTvW38gWlqE
I don't know when they came back. No signal on 4895 and 7260. I found
7260 active on Aug 23, 2015 but I haven't heard them on 7260 since
then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwwFkXgZvNY
(pesnyaozemle) QTH: Yokohama, Japan (via Daniel Wyllyans, Nov 6, HCDX
via DXLD)
4830.00, *2302-2315 6.11, Mongoliin [sic] R, Altay, Mongolian talk and
songs. Thanks to Daniel Wyllyans for alerting me on this reactivation.
However the signal was much, much weaker than when it disappeared in
January 2015 using 10 kW! 15211. No carriers noted on 4895 or 7260 AP-
DNK Best 73, (Anker, Dear DX-friends, A few unusual stations were
heard in Skovlunde on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire,
via playdx via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
** MOROCCO. MW: See WESTERN SAHARA
** MOROCCO [and non]. MUSIC ON SHORTWAVE --- We start this month with
a quick update from Rafael Martínez, who writes: “I have seen on a
quick view of October’s Communication that you have already detected
the new programme Selection Reggae on Medi 1. Sanae also produces
Sundays at the same time (2000 UT) a Bossa Nova programme that until
now was only available online. Note the new sked for Medi 1 Ritmo
Latino is Saturdays 2115-2158 and repeated Sundays 1503-1558 UT on
9575 kHz.
As a curiosity, RTA Alger Chaîne 3, 252 kHz has a programme on
Saturdays 1303-1358 UT with the same name (El Rythmo Latino) and
format!”
// Thanks for those updates, Rafael - I hadn't yet spotted the Bossa
Nova programme by Sanae, and also hadn't yet checked the new times for
Ritmo Latino. I do get a little confused with the Medi 1 website and
have never quite managed to fully match up La grille des programmes at
http://www.medi1.com/radio/programme.php
with what I hear on 9575 kHz. The two are frequently different. I
assume that these programmes times will change by an hour from the end
of the month. Thank you once again for your support for Listening Post
(Alan Roe, Listening Post, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD)
** MYANMAR. 7200.00, Myanmar Radio, 0920-0948, Nov 10. Long interview
and breaks for pop songs; phone ringing and chatting; brief QRM from
CNR1 testing their transmitter at 0941 & 0945, before the full-time
jamming at 1000, to block RTI (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean
Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [non]. From Kim Andrew Elliott: "The Mighty KBC digital
transmission this weekend will be different. Instead of the usual
image with some text in MFSK32, the minute will be text in Olivia 64-
2000, mixed with music. This will be Sunday at 0130 UT (Saturday 8:30
pm EST) on 7395 kHz, via Germany. Last weekend’s KBC transmission was
on 7350 kHz, but Eric tells me that was an error at the transmitter
site. This weekend, if you don’t hear the KBC broadcast to North
America Saturday 2300 to Sunday 0200 on 7395, tune around the 41 meter
band! Reports to themightykbc (at) gmail.com" (via Richard Langley,
NB, Nov 6, dxldyg via DXLD)
I'm told Nauen engineers made a mistake last weekend and used 7350
kHz. Reception at my QTH on 7350 was good. 2300-0100 UT S9+20dB to
S9+30dB. After 0100 UT signal "fell" to S9+10dB to S9+20dB
I'm also assured the Mighty KBC will use 7395 kHz 2300-0200 UT for the
November 7/8, 2015 broadcast even with R. Romania Int, China Radio Int
and BBC all using 7395 kHz.
Interesting, the EiBi B15 skeds as of November 4, 2015 don't even list
the Mighty KBC on 7395 kHz. The EiBi sked shows 7350 kHz.
If, broadcast problems happen again, one can always listen to the
studio quality audio at my website. I endeavor to post within 1 week
of actual airing. http://www.kg4lac.com
On this week's "Forgotten Song" I feature an artist born in 1942 whom
I've not heard on the radio for a long time. I play a song from 1975.
I hope, with last week's frequency problem and this week's potential
QRM mess, everyone is able to hear and enjoy the broadcast. Thanks to
Eric Van Willegen for keeping shortwave alive for those of us who
still care about radio. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Nov 6, dxldyg via
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
7350, UT Sunday Nov 8 at 0037, looking for The Mighty KBC on the
frequency it unexpectedly had to use last week --- no, all I get is a
weak signal from CRI English, which was already there at 23-02 via
Kashgar, EAST TURKISTAN, to Europe (also on 7425 for S Asia at 00-01).
Is KBC back on 7395?
7395, Nov 8 at 0037, JBA carrier, can`t tell what it is, but maybe KBC
via Nauen, GERMANY, where it was a biweek ago. Nothing on 7375, the
frequency before that. At 0131 Nov 8, still only CRI on 7350; but on
7395, the giveaway beeps of a VOA Radiogram, and then the unmistakable
voice of Uncle Eric, but it`s still very poor, S6. Kim Elliott quickly
reported to the DXLD yg that they were replaying last week`s program
instead of a new one (for those who never found it on 7350 without
notice?)
Propagation from Europe is still very degraded; moving down to 6 MHz
band might help a little, but transmitting via a US station such as
WRMI or WBCQ would help a lot more. Why does KBC have to emanate via
Germany? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
And of course we subsequently found that quite aside from the
collisions on 7395, propagation was so poor that we could barely hear
it. Kraig, why don`t you ask Uncle Eric about this? (Glenn, dxldyg via
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Glenn, Please realize I've been trying to convince a frequency change
since the October 31/November 1 broadcast. Once I became aware of R.
Romania Int using 7395 kHz I knew there would be problems. The mistake
of 7350 kHz provided very good reception at my QTH. I checked 7200 to
7455 from 2300 to 0200 UT. Not many open frequencies. Add to this
propagation problems (for example 7395 kHz was basically dead November
7/8).
It's easy to get frustrated. Put a lot of time and effort into a show.
Write and produce funny comedy bits, do features, etc., and then no
one is able to actually hear. We should all listen and show our
appreciation for Eric keeping shortwave alive even thru hurdles.
I don't believe WRMI is a valid option. Both Kim and I suggested WRMI
years ago. Deals were made and contracts signed with Nauen. Can't just
simply "walk away". I believe Nauen was picked as it was stronger than
Lithuania and, at the time, more reliable than Bulgaria. I believe the
switch to Germany happened around the time Radio Bulgaria
transmissions were ending.
I do know a frequency change is coming. At this time I do not have the
details. Believe it or not, the target is Chicago, IL as this is
considered as the middle of the USA. 73, (Kraig Krist, dxldyg via
WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Not exactly. Chicago is 306 degrees from Nauen, while 7395 is HFCC-
registered as 300 degrees, which is more like Montréal-Pittsburgh-
Bâton Rouge (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
It would also be nice to have something like the Giant jukebox coming
from the US (Glenn Blum, dxldyg via DXLD)
WBCQ's coverage in my part of the US sucks, quite frankly. I would
choose WRMI if it were up to me. And why do they broadcast from
Germany? Because they can, they want to, and the US isn`t their sole
target, I`d bet (Paul B Walker Jr, AR, ibid.)
The Saturday evening broadcast is certainly for North America. KBC
does have another broadcast in the daytime for Europe via Germany
which presumably works OK there (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
They have a lot of listeners in places other then Germany and the rate
for the Nauen transmtiter may be more affordable then WRMI or others
(Paul Walker, ibid.)
The Mighty KBC difficult to hear 8 Nov on 7395 kHz via Germany due to
poor propagation. And the site in Germany transmitted last week's
show, so the digital text mode was MFSK32 rather than the advertised
Olivia 64-2000. MFKS32 image and text are as decoded from a receiver
in Germany at 0130 UT --- 1 of 1 Photo(s) KBC_081115_Florida.png
(Kim Andrew Elliott, 0146 UT Nov 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Between 2300-2400z, KBC under a strong signal of: Radio Romania Int.
in English language (2340z DX mailbag) ===> Japan, KBC: O=1-2 between
0100-0130z KBC in QRM with BBC/Hindi from Oman ==> South Asia KBC O=2-
3. between 0000-0100z + 0130-0200z KBC solo on QRG, weak O=3 here in
Central Germany/skipzone. KBC MFSK-32 at 01.30z quality: OK, useful
Yesterday also bad conditions for 17580 kHz VoA, so I had to make a
nightly recording for 5745 kHz - nevertheless a lot of work for the
SSTV-pic-denoiser:
http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/VoA_Radiogram_2015-11-08.htm
(roger Thayer, Germany, ibid.)
** NEW ZEALAND. New Zealand radio masts taken down
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/73859014/53-metre-porirua-radio-mast-toppled
Anyone [know] which stations are off air? 73 (Steve Whitt, Nov 9,
MWCircle yg via DXLD) See recent DXLDs; is this a.k.a. Titahi Bay or
somewhere else? (gh, DXLD)
** NIGERIA. 6090, Radio Nigeria Kaduna (presumed); 2050-2101:57*, 6-
Nov; M in LL [unknown language] with lite Afro-pop music; Brief
announcement to 2101:10 sung anthem & off. SIO=2+43- (Harold Frodge,
Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S
unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real
time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably off-frequency? (gh, DXLD)
** NORTH AMERICA. 3230, PIRATE, WJD, 0210, 11/7/15. SSTV (couldn’t
decode it due to local noise), voice ID, into George Carlin routine,
off 0116 then problems with transmitter coming on and off with ID at
0220, 0226, SSTV at 0231 that was vague, illegible words but mostly
abstract impressionism. Poor (Mark Taylor, Madison, Wisconsin,
Perseus, SDRPlay, Eton e1, Grunding Satellit 800, Sangean 909X w/
clear mod, Tecsun PL 660 and various other portables; 40 meters
dipole, 100’ long wire, Flextenna NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD)
Does one happen upon such an anomaly, or get a tip-off? (gh, DXLD)
** NORTH AMERICA. PIRATE-NA. Amphetamine Radio, 6925 USB, 2354-0005+,
11-8/9-15, SIO: 343. OM playing rock such as "Turbo Lover" by Judas
Priest, IDs, SSTVs, etc. (Chris Lobdell, Box 80146, Stoneham, MA
02180, Receivers: Eton E1, NRD-525, Aerials: G5RV, 40 Meter Dipole, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 530, Nov 7 at 0637 UT, EZL music from R.
Enciclopedia (overdue for a new name), CUBA, can be heard without
K530AM Vance AFB QRM if I null the latter, far enough away from the
10?-watt pointless TIS, still playing in rotation same old stale off-
topic PSAs from Ad Council as in previous years. If not completely
nulled, makes fast SAH, as reactivated K530AM is slightly off-
frequency to low side. If there is ever an emergency at the base, I`ll
be listening whether the nonsense be overridden for something useful
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 960, Nov 7 at 0727-0730+ UT, local KGWA Enid is open
carrier/dead air with some hum, and nulling it as much as possible at
0729 UT I can hear one or two English stations, but no ID. The ones I
used to get most in the midnight Fox-hole were KMA IA and KGKL TX. No
telling how long before or after this KGWA was moribund (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 1210, Nov 10 at 0143 UT, KGYN Guymon is buried in QRM,
and has been for the past several nights, implying that finally after
months they have resumed proper night pattern with a null toward
Philadelphia and almost toward Enid.
1210, Nov 11 at 0451 UT, KGYN Guymon is again dominant, so back on day
pattern, ``From the 90`s till now, Today`s Country, 1210, KGYN`` and
``Today`s Country for Elkhart, 1210 KGYN``. That means nearby Elkhart
KS, but tonight including Elkhart IN (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 1270, Nov 8 at 0115 UT, KRXO Claremore (Tulsa), ID for
``NBC Sports Radio on 1270 AM and 107.9 FM, KRXO The Fan`` --- huh?
They were an outgrowth of 107.7 KRXO in OKC; while 1270 goes on and on
with national ads, PSAs, NBCSR promos at least until 0121 UT, 107.7 is
amid play-by-play of some SBG. Originally 1270 was // 107.7 but way
out of synchrony. Now it`s independent with its own FM, but wonder of
wonders, the 250-watt translator is not getting top billing (yet?)
Here`s the info about 107.9 in Broken Arrow, K300CY:
http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_det.pl?Facility_id=157502
showing its primary as KTUZ, all owned by Tyler Media; this page not
updated for KRXO call-change on 1270 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. 1650, Nov 6 at 0659 UT, KFSW Sallisaw, still claiming to
be with its singing ID, ``Arklahoma`s talk radio, KYHN Fort Smith``.
Probably paid a pretty penny for their jingle package which the call
change will obsolete, if they ever admit new identity (why not
``Oklansas``?) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OMAN. R Sultanate Oman on 15140 kHz when checked back at 1525 UT is
continuing in English with its relay of 90.4 FM transmission well past
scheduled end time of 1500. Nominally should be Arabic programme now.
Strong signal here (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, Nov 7, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
Right you are, mate, same here checking around 1510 and I can still
hear English hits instead of usual Arabic programs (Tarek Zeidan,
Cairo, Egypt, Sent from my iPad, ibid.)
9540.0 - When checked 31 mb at remote SDR station in Doha, Qatar, came
across light pop music station in English on that channel. According
to B-15 HFCC list, scheduled 02-03 UT Arabic, 03-04 UT English RSO
Radio Oman from Thumrait site, at 220 degree azimuth towards East and
Central Africa. Noted on air still at 0425-0435 UT Nov 7. S=8-9 on
sidelobe in Qatar remote SDR post (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX
TopNews Nov 7, dxldyg via DXLD) Or was it Nov 8?
** PAPUA NEW GUINEA [and non-log]. 3260, NBC Madang seems to be the
only semi-active NBC station currently being heard.
Nov 2 noted 1215*; only open carrier. No 3275 nor 3365.
Nov 3, at 1202 with "NBC News in brief"; best reception in a while;
news, sports & weather ("showers"); 1207 "NBC National Radio" ID;
1208* suddenly off. No 3275 nor 3365.
Nov 4, at 1148, with no 3260, 3275 nor 3365 (Ron Howard, San Francisco
at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** PERU [and non] 5980, Nov 8 at 0055, JBA carrier from R. Chaski;
0059 joined by a weaker one from BBC UAE, making the usual double-
pitch het with BFO since they are a few Hz apart. Restoring a weaker
single-pitch carrier from UAE only, R. Chaski cuts off at 0110:08*,
which is 32.5 seconds later than last check Nov 3 at 0109:35.5, or an
average of 6.5 seconds later per diem (noctem?). By the time it
precesses to as much as 10 minutes ``late``, R. Chaski should be about
to reset the slippery clocktimer closer to 0100*. 0138 recheck, no
carrier as BBC runs only until 0130.
5980, Nov 10 at 0108, two very weak carriers beating against each
other as made obvious by BFO USB offtuned about 0.3 kHz below on the
NRD-545; at 0109:22.5, one goes off early, but only briefly as a
temporary failure. Chaski goes off for good at 0110:20.5* which is
12.5 seconds later than a binite ago, Nov 8 at 0110*08, i.e. 6.25
seconds later per; while BBCWS via UAE remains (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
5980. R. CHASKI, 11/11 2336 UT. Programa “Momento Decisivo” sobre la
reina Esther y su petición contenida en el capítulo 5 de su libro.
SINPO: 54444. RX: Realistic DX-160. ANT: 45 metros de antena de hilo,
más antena de tierra y balún de ferrita 9:1 QTH: Ovalle, IV Región,
Chile (Claudio Galaz, condiglista yg via DXLD)
** POLAND. Whither Poland 225 LW?? Several recent checks across all
hours of the day & night, via the Twente SDR remote receiver, have
failed to produce any signal whatsoever from Poland's LW monster on
225 kHz. Is it gone for good, or down for some long-running
maintenance? Perhaps we've lost yet another LW-AM signal to the
ravages of history? (- - GREG HARDISON, CA, Nov 9, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST) Temporarily off for maintenance; see DXLD 15-44 (gh)
** RUSSIA. Recently surfaced theme "Hummer ..." 01/11/2015 took it
with great quality at 4625 kHz and 6998 kHz in parallel on. In the
final frequency - the signal was weaker. But at first glance it seemed
to synchronous transmission. I tried on two receivers. Reception hours
from 0900 to 1200 UT (Konstantin Aseev, Kursk, Russia / "deneb-radio-
dx" via RusDX Nov 8 via DXLD)
** SLOVAKIA [non]. 9955, Nov 6 at 1350, REI in Spanish, for at least
the third day, instead of scheduled RSI in English from 1330, via WRMI
9955, Nov 11 at 0530, WRMI with Radio Eslovaquia Internacional, VP at
S3. Sked now shows 4 daily (or almost) REI Spanish relays, at 0330,
0530, 1130, 1330, but NO English, leaving that and Slovak for other
frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOMALILAND. 7120.0-LSB, Nov 9 at 0333, S5 carrier presumed R.
Hargeisa just after sign-on, and I find no modulation if tuned in the
USB mode on the NRD-545, but just barely modulated when tuned in LSB
mode, altho that also picks up CW QRhaM. Is this station habitually on
LSB only? Recheck at 0355, now there is a Spanish ham on 7120-LSB,
still a JBA carrier too (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOUTH AFRICA. 5980, R. Sondergrenese, 0328 Oct 3. Man in English
with station info, noisy signal but heard South Africa mentioned
followed with YL with weather, weak signal on 3320 separate program in
Afrikaans at 0335 but heard name Richard Marx during the music program
(Mike Yohnicki, London, ON, DX394, Antron 99 antenna, Hallicrafters
SX110, 60 ft longwire or 102" whip, November CIDX Messenger via DXLD)
3320 is Sonder Grense, but 5980 is Channel Africa, different SABC
services (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
** SOUTH AFRICA. 6155, Nov 9 at 0335, Channel Africa with long promo
for its coverage of some summit in Jo`burg 29 Nov to 3 Dec; 0336 `Rise
& Shine` program ID. Good at S9+25, even tho azimuth of the 250 kW
from Meyerton is 19 degrees during this hour only in English; a few
minutes later a much weaker signal on 3345, presumably same, which is
100 kW at 5 degrees from 03 to 05, both M-F only as nothing happens on
weekends (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
B15 schedule for Channel Africa (all Mon-Fri only)
0300-0400 English 3345-me 6155-me 0400-0500 English 3345-me
0500-0600 English 7230-me 0600-0700 English 7230-me 15255-me
0700-1200 English 9625-me 1200-1400 Nya/Loz 9625-me
1400-1500 Portugu. 9625-me 1500-1600 English 9625-me
1500-1600 Swahili 17770-me 1600-1700 French 15235-me
1700-1800 English 15235-me
(HFCC via Nov BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 9980, Overcomer Ministry via WWCR Nashville
TN (presumed); 2150-2202+, 7-Nov; Bro. HyStairical totally blowing a
gasket claiming to be "the only prophet", then interrupted his
gasketblowing with an Overcomer spot; No ToH ID break into Alexander
Scourby Bible reading; B.S. interrupted him; as he usually does to
continue his propheteering. S10 (Frodge-DXP)
11825, Overcomer Ministry via WRMI Radio Miami Int'l (presumed); 1429-
1440+, 7-Nov; Bro. HyStairical on a stream of consciousness rant; "The
Japanese Empire was becoming militarily militant", "People will ride
in driverless, egg-shaped cars", "Women will adopt the clothing of
men", "A cruel woman will seek power in the U.S.", "If she's elected,
the last days won't be far behind us" (far ahead of us?) and regarding
the Russian airliner crash, "Who done this?" (All this & more in 11
minutes!) S15 peaks (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition,
Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by
my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. 1755 kHz: See BALEARIC ISLANDS
** SPAIN. AS SPAIN'S MEDIA INDUSTRY CHANGES RAPIDLY, SOME WORRY ABOUT
OBJECTIVITY --- By RAPHAEL MINDERNOV. 5, 2015
[. . .] Pablo Casado, a conservative lawmaker who is a spokesman for
Mr. Rajoy's Popular Party, said he was unaware of any complaint from
journalists about political interference. "I don't see a problem with
the press in Spain," he said.
Still, the government has taken steps to increase its control over
RTVE, Spain's public television and radio broadcaster. In 2012, Mr.
Rajoy's government introduced a law that allows the government to
appoint RTVE's boss without the consent of other political parties.
While the management denies editorial interference, Alejandro
Caballero Mateos, a journalist who is president of RTVE's newsroom
committee, listed a dozen examples this year of news items that, he
said, RTVE purposefully played down or ignored.
Those included RTVE's coverage of a report by Amnesty International,
without citing its criticism of Spain, including its gag law. RTVE,
the committee found, ignored news about a possible conflict of
interest between Cristóbal Montoro, Mr. Rajoy's budget minister, and
contracts signed by a company he founded.
In July, the committee also found, RTVE played down a judge's report
about one of Spain's largest corruption investigations, involving a
group of conservative politicians accused of negotiating kickbacks on
250 million euros, about $272 million, in public contracts.
In an emailed response, RTVE denied any censorship. While Amnesty
International's criticism of Spain was not reported on its main
afternoon news report, RTVE said it was mentioned in other programs
and on its website.
The past business dealings of Mr. Montoro, the budget minister, were
not under court investigation, which justified not reporting on them,
the station said.
Newsroom conflicts have also heated up at El Pais, which established
itself as Spain's leading newspaper in the late 1970s when it
chronicled Spain's transition from dictatorship to democracy.
The newspaper's editor, Antonio Cano, recently quashed an attempt by
members of its newsroom committee to organize a vote of confidence
over his leadership. [. . .]
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/06/world/europe/as-spains-media-industry-changes-rapidly-some-worry-about-objectivity.html?ref=todayspaper
(via Mike Cooper, DXLD)
** SPAIN. Strong signal on 9690 kHz this evening around 2045 UT. //
15390 and 15500 kHz much weaker. 11530 kHz not heard at all. But the
signal on 9690 kHz ended abruptly at 2051 and did not come back (at
least not by 2150). – (Richard Langley, NB, Nov 10, dxldyg via DXLD)
** SRI LANKA. 11905, Nov 10 at *0114:10.5 JBA carrier on from SLBC,
0114:49.5 music prélude starts; a single mis-time pip audible at
0115:09.5 before sign-on announcement (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** SUDAN SOUTH [non]. 15400, Nov 6 at 1514, YL ID for R. Tamazuj and
several ``kHz`` mentions in Arabish, no doubt citing own frequencies
rather than a DX program; fair here and also on poor 15550, which is
about a sesquisecond ahead, i.e. two different transmitter sites. HFCC
will not break out specific services under the PNW registration, but
shows 15550 is VATICAN at 1500-1630, i.e. followed by R. Dabanga,
while 15400 is via FRANCE at 1500-1530 only Tamazuj.
Trying to remember the third frequency, I try 15150, but that`s AWR
via Germany. HFCC shows 13800 is also PNW at 1500-1630, switching from
Madagascar to Vatican at 1600. Which means that siteswitch still comes
in the middle of the Dabanga broadcast rather than between Tamazuj and
Dabanga. One might be amused by observing any overlap around 1557-1600
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SUDAN SOUTH [non]. Re: FRANCE, No signal of Radio Miraya effective
from November 25 [sic]:
0300-0600 on 11560*ISS 250 kW / 130 deg to EaAf Eng/Ara in B-15
[SIC: means 11560 in A-15]
0300-0600 on 9940 ISS 250 kW / 130 deg to EaAf Eng/Ara in B-14
(Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
Means certainly October 25? Would be a closure after exactly eight
years, and it would be no surprise, considering that they claim to
meanwhile have 26 FM transmitters: http://radio-miraya.org/about/
Their shortwave run started in 2007 at Rimavská Sobota, and when they
left for another transmission provider in 2011 it spelled the end for
this facility because operating it only a few hours on just three days
a week, for what's left at Nexus-IBA, was of course not viable. Then
they were for a year one of the very last shortwave transmission
customers in the Ukraine until the SW transmitters at the Luch
facility had been decomissioned in 2012 as well. Next stations were
Kostinbrod, Grigoriopol and finally Issoudun if I recall correct (Kai
Ludwig, Nov 5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN. RADIO TAIWAN INTERNATIONAL SEEKS YOUR MEMORABILIA
Via Thomas Witherspoon, The SWLing Post
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), for
sharing information about this initiative by Radio Taiwan
International:
http://events.rti.org.tw/big5/2015Activity/2015collect/en/index.aspx
Radio Taiwan International began broadcasting in 1928. In an era when
information did not travel as quickly as today, RTI programs could be
heard thousands of miles away by people like you. If RTI has touched
you in any way over the years, let us travel back in time together to
look back at the voices, letters, and memorabilia of RTI’s history.
RTI invites you to take part in piecing together the history of RTI
with any sounds and memorabilia you may have collected throughout the
years. Your participation will help us commemorate RTI’s precious
history.
[…]RTI is inviting listeners to lend/donate RTI memorabilia from 1928
to 1998, including QSL cards, sounds, and other items from the Central
Broadcasting System, Voice of Free China, Voice of Asia, and the
Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC). Items to be collected?
Sounds: Tapes of programs, news broadcasts, and records from the above
stations can be sent or e-mailed to RTI.
Items: Station gifts to listeners, letters, QSL cards, pennants, and
other souvenirs. Mailing the items is preferred. You can also send
pictures of the items.
Historical pictures or videos related to RTI.
If material is received from the 1928-1982 period, and is perceived to
have historical significance to the station, there will be the
following feedback: The official station site will list those who
donated and the items donated. RTI will send a thank you letter and
souvenir. If the item is from 1983 or later, RTI will send a nice
souvenir to thank for the item. If the donated item cannot be put in
our archive, the station will send a thank you letter. (RTI reserves
the right to make final decisions on the collection) Full details
about the archive initiative are available at Radio Taiwan
International (Nov CIDX Messenger via DXLD)
** TAJIKISTAN. Location in map antennas Tropical wave Radio BBC Uzbek
4790 kHz relay from Dushanbe, Yangiyul - Tajikistan
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.478933,68.805778,855m/data=!3m1!1e3
Note that these same antennas airs the radios:
- Tajik Radio 1
- Radio Free Asia
- Voice of Tibet
- CMN Khmer Radio
- National Unity Broadcasting Station. UBS
(Daniel Wyllyans, Nova Xavantina MT Brazil, via RusDX Nov 8 via DXLD)
4 radio towers, rectangle or //ogram in the middle; could be MW array.
I rather doubt that these would serve for multiple SW frequencies and
bands. How many transmitters are there at Yangiyul? WRTH 2015 page 487
says Teleradiokom has SW: 1 x 50 kW, 5 x 100 kW, as well as on MW, 150
and 100 kW. (The other site, Orzu, on SW: 2 x 1000 [sic] kW; and
operated on behalf of IBB/USA: SW, 1 x 250, 1 x 500 kW; On MW, 1000,
300 and 500 kW; for IBB, 800 kW) (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** THAILAND. 13745, HSK9 Radio Thailand; 0009, 7-Nov; Thai travel spot
into English commentary re economic development in Thailand. Need USB
due to heavy splash from Cuba in Spanish on 13740 (Harold Frodge,
Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S
unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real
time! DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY. 12035, Nov 6 at 1351, VOT English, poor, but much better
than usual, into `Eco-Friendly Turkey` segment; 1407 recheck nice
Turkish music, as the second half of broadcasts are mostly music.
Transmission break of less than a minute at 1413, but when it cuts
back on, seems noticeably weaker; what happened? Maybe discovered
belatedly to be on wrong azimuth? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
5960, Voice of Turkey; 2321-2327+, 6-Nov; English Turkish news to 2322
"Eco-Friendly Tips", nothing specific, all philosophical; 2325+
"Question of the Month". SIO=3+54- (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA,
MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated
beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
Hi All, For some reason, today's 1330 UT broadcast by the Voice of
Turkey came up on 12040 and not the usual 12035 kHz. There was some
interference from another station on the channel (probably Iran), so I
suspect this might have been a mistake rather than a frequency change
as 12035 was clear at that time. They still listed 12035 in the
schedule at the end of the programme, so it will be interesting to see
if things are back to normal again tomorrow (Alan Gale, Nov 10, dxldyg
via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 26110/FM, KMK282, KOVR-TV Sacramento CA studio relay; 1602,
7-Nov; Good Day Sacramento; Sacramento & CA news; local weather --
snow down 4500' & 10" above 8000'. VGood peaks to zilch (Harold
Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B +
500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver,
in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. Very depressed propagation conditions around 0630
UT Nov 6: 9 MHz almost dead; 11 MHz not much but usual VG signal from
11725 NZ, with 11780 Brasil much weaker than usual; US stations on 6
MHz weakened, and even 4840 WWCR. But VOA English news inbooming on
6080, tnx to equatorial SAO TOME site, and despite seemingly
unfavorable 20 degree azimuth at 05-07.
6080, Nov 7 at 0627, very strong open carrier, as VOA is about to
start; 0630 recheck with rock music, evidently JIP as this is
Saturday, instead of news, and as everyone knows, nothing ever happens
on weekends. Registered as SAO TOME as I noted in Oct 30 log, and
still as such in latest HFCC B-15 info. However, this is so strong
that I am now suspecting that Greenville is substituting, perhaps for
maintenance at Pinheira; also that should have been on continuously
from 0500 to 0700.
6080, Nov 8 at 0634, VG signal from VOA with rock music. I can now
confirm that contrary to B-15 scheduling, this is indeed Greenville,
substituting for São Tomé which has transmitter or antenna problems.
On weekdays the 0630-0700 segment broadcasts news.
6080, Nov 10 at 0630, VOA still good signal but some of that dratted
Cuban pulse jamming also audible; Greenville instead of Pinheira, with
`International Edition` news magazine. But I must wonder if it`s up-
to-date, as BBG Watch critix have charged some of these are reruns.
6080, Nov 11 at 0630, now VOA is very poor, if that`s what I am
hearing, weaker than 6005 BBC Ascension, so apparently handed this
transmission back to SAO TOME. Closer US signals, however, from TN are
quite degraded, on 4-5-6 MHz, while Anguilla and Cuba remain VG (Glenn
Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later back to GB
** U S A. 7425.01, Nov 10 at 0154, Vatican Radio in Italian-accented
Spanish about You Know Who, almost 100% readable at S9, much stronger
than R. Martí audio on this leapfrog from Greenville, violating
Separation of Church and State, of 7305.01 intentional Vatican relay,
S9+40, over 7365 Radio Martí at S9+45 (including jamming). Bits of RM
audio can also be heard underneath VR on 7305 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. B15 schedule V of America English on SW to Africa:
0300-0400 909-bo 1530-sa 4930-bo 6080-va 15580-kt
0400-0500 909-bo 1530-sa# 4930-bo 4960-sa 6080-sa 15580-kt
0500-0600 909-bo 4930-bo 6080-sa 15580-bo
0600-0700 909-bo 1530-sa 6080-sa 9550-sa 15580-bo
1400-1500 4930-bo 6080-bo 15580-bo 17885-sa
1500-1600 4930-bo 6080-bo 15580-bo 17895-sa (mo-fr Border Crossings)
1600-1700 909-bo 1530-sa 4930-sa 6080-bo 9915-ud 15580-bo 17895-va
1700-1800 6080-sa 9915-ud 13590-kt#sa## 15580-bo 17895-va
1800-1830 909-bo(SaSu) 4930-bo 6080-sa 13590-la 15580-bo
1830-1900 909-bo(SaSu) 4930-bo 6080-sa 13590-la 15580-bo
1900-2000 909-bo 4930-bo 6080-sa 13590-sa 15580-bo
2000-2100 909-bo 1530-sa 4930-bo 4940-sa(SaSu)## 6080-sa 15580-va
2100-2200 1530-sa 6080-sa 15580-gr (HFCC)
B15 schedule for VOA Studio 7 to Zimbabwe in Shona/Ndebele/English
1700-1800 909-bo 4930-bo 13860-sa 15460-sa
1800-1900 909-bo 13860-sa 15460-sa (HFCC)
B15 schedule for VOA Sudan in Focus in English to Sudan/South Sudan
1630-1700 Mo-Fr 11900-me 15180-va 13865-wo (HFCC via Nov BDXC-UK
Communication via DXLD)
# and ## not explained! Sites not explained here either, and are not
standard as in other references. bo = Botswana; sa = São Tomé; va =
Vatican [violating Separation of Church & State]; kt = Kuwait; ud =
Thailand; la = Germany; gr = USA. Note: substitutions may be made
without notice, e.g. 6080 Greenville instead of sa at 0630 (gh, DXLD)
** U S A. Hopefully conditions will improve again soon, since this
past weekend, for the first time this year, I wasn't even able to get
an audible signal from the VOA Radiogram via Greenville on 19 or 16 m
due to unusually poor reception. Best regards (Tobias (T²), Germany,
Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
VOA Radiogram changes to 5865 kHz Saturday 0930-1000 UT --- The VOA
Radiogram broadcast Saturdays at 0930-1000 UTC will change to 5865 kHz
effective 14 November. This should alleviate any interference
experienced by the Colombian audience of Alcaraván Radio on 5910 kHz.
This Saturday 0930-1000 UT transmission uses a dipole intended for the
Caribbean, but it is often heard and decoded in the Asia-Pacific
region. And in the weeks surrounding the winter solstice, this
broadcast is also occasionally heard (or decoded, even if not heard)
in Europe. VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UT):
Sat 0930-1000 5865 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina
(Kim Elliott, http://voaradiogram.net Nov 10, dxldyg via WORLD OF
RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1797 monitoring: confirmed Thu Nov
5 after 2100 on WRMI 7570, good. NOT confirmed UT Fri Nov 6 at 0225 on
WBCQ 9330v-CUSB --- Should have shifted to 0200 UT, but I did not have
a chance to check until 0225, and on two portables, no signal at all.
Was it off? Or blotted by K-index of 3 at 00, 4 at 03 per WWV, altho
no spaceweather storms before or predicted at that time. Could/did
anyone hear this broadcast? Next:
Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 to NE
Fri 2130.5 WRMI 7570 to NW
Fri 2330 WRMI 5850 to NW
Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW
Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW
Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND?
Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND?
Sun 2300 WRMI 11580 to NE
Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW
Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW
(Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
7570, WRMI Radio Miami Int'l; 2122-2200+, 6-Nov [Friday]; Wavescan
hosted by Jeff White with segment from the Japan SW Club; 2129+ WRMI
ID in English by Rudy Espinal; 2130 Glenn Hauser's World of Radio
#1798; quoted an item by Ken Zichi regarding Channel Africa &
mentioned MARE's tour of the VoA Bethany site conducted by John
Vodenik, who passed away recently. 2200 into Bro. HyStairical. SIO=444
with brief warble QRM. W.O.R. was // 15770, SIO=3+54- and apparently
went off at 2200 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition,
Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by
my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST)
WORLD OF RADIO 1798 monitoring: confirmed Friday Nov 6 after 2130 on
WRMI 15770 & WRMI 7570. The latter continues to be the better one here
now. NOT confirmed Friday Nov 6 at 2330 on 5850, where had been for a
few months.
The WRMI frequency/program grid has now been updated to show this slot
occupied by R. Ukraine International and // 11580 which is what I was
hearing at 2357 check, but cut off in progress at 2359:30 for Keith
Perron ID, and 0000 Nov 7 into RSI in Slovak.
Another WOR broadcast dropped is Sunday 2300 on 11580.
WOR also NOT confirmed Saturday Nov 7 at 1538-1557 on 7265-USB
Hamburger Lokalradio; Utwente SDR is getting nothing but S Asian music
from CRI Kashgar. (Last week WOR was well atop.) 1540 during talk
segment I can now hear another station under but unsounds like me!
Aoki shows Azad Kashmir Radio, 100 kW from Pakistan is also on 7265 at
this time, but suspected it was imaginary. Next for WOR:
Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND?
Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND?
Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW
Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW
(Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
GERMANY, 7265, Hamburguer LokalRadio, Göhren, 0740-0755, 07-11,
English, Glenn Hauser's program "World of Radio". 14321 (Manuel
Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante and Lugo, Sangean ATS-090X,
Tecsun PL880, Cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Should you be reading this in time, have a try at WA0RCR, 1860-AM,
Wentzville MO, carrying WORLD OF RADIO 1798 at approx. 0415 UT Sunday
Nov 8; otherwise, UT Monday 0400 on WBCQ 5109.7-CUSB or 0430 on WRMI
9955; etc. (Glenn Hauser, OK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
WORLD OF RADIO 1798 monitoring: confirmed UT Sunday Nov 8 at 0429 on
WA0RCR, 1860-AM, Missouri, at Egypt, which is 9 minutes into the
program, so started circa 0420 this week. Next:
Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW
Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Hello Glenn, 2015-11-10 --- Yet another (final I would think) note on
the IRRS rebroadcasts of your show: it's unfortunately back to
"business as usual", in other words, this past Sunday 2015-11-08, I
have recorded the 846 kHz broadcast from about 2200z and the latest
World of Radio was on past 2204 or so, but it ended abruptly again by
2215z (about 21 minutes into the attached recording, which suffered
heavily from the poor propagation, heavy adjacent channel splatter and
local QRM, yet slightly improving toward the end). So not really an
option for us Europeans to get your updates reliably. The signal on
1368 kHz is usually a bit stronger but on the other hand has more co-
channel interference. Best regards (Tobias (T²), Germany, WORLD OF
RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
WORLD OF RADIO 1798 monitoring: confirmed UT Monday November 9
starting at 0401:08 on Area 51 via WBCQ 5109.70-CUSB, right after
Johnny Lightning finished. But very poor propagation tonight, S5 only
here. WOR sounded a little louder than JL.
Checked at 0340 Nov 9, WRMI 9955 is a JBA carrier, S3, very degraded
propagation; likewise KVOH on 9975.0. By 0430 UT Monday Nov 9, I`m
back on the WRMI webcast to confirm WOR 1798 still airing then. Next:
Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW
Complete WOR schedules, not only SW:
http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html
WORLD OF RADIO 1798 monitoring: Confirmed Wed Nov 11 after 1415 on
WRMI 9955. Also confirmed Wed Nov 11 at 2200 on WBCQ 7490 --- now with
a low audible het, from BBC Thailand, with WBCQ slightly off-
frequency.
WORLD OF RADIO 1799, ready for first SW broadcasts on Thu Nov 12:
Thu 1230 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Thu 2100 WRMI 7570 to NW
Fri 0200 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [please confirm; unheard last week]
Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 to NE
Fri 2130.5 WRMI 7570 to NW
Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW
Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW
Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND?
Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND?
Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW
Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW
WORLD OF RADIO 1799 monitoring: confirmed first SW broadcast, Thu Nov
12 after 1230, on WRMI 9955, atop some pulse jamming; tnx a lot,
Arnie! Also confirmed Thu Nov 12 at 2100 on WRMI 7570; and UT Fri Nov
13 at 0200 on WBCQ, good signal but still way off frequency, approx.
9331.5-CUSB; the latter two on the PL-880 portable while in Oklahoma
City. Next:
Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 to NE
Fri 2130.5 WRMI 7570 to NW
Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW
Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW
Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND?
Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND?
Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW
Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 7490.00, Fri Nov 6 at 2214, WBCQ seems right on-frequency
during `Behaviour Night` = ancient music recordings, and VG signal
with no BBC Thailand QRM audible. If/when WBCQ fades, skips over part
of N America, BBC will likely appear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
5109.7 [CUSB], WBCQ Monticello ME; 0057-0109+, 7-Nov; Two different
repeated IDs to 0101:33 intro to Alan [sic] Weiner Worldwide to Wm.
Tell Overture; fill-in host failed to ID himself. SIO=3+54 (Harold
Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B +
500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver,
in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST)
9330.1-CUSB, Nov 8 at 0046, hard rock music, but soon softer
instrumental rock until 0059 with no announcements whatsoever. I
assume it`s Radio Northern Ireland, which was planning to broadcast
every Saturday night to North America on this frequency at 2300, I
thought, evidently shifted to start at 0000 UT Sundays, but no such
listing yet appears on the WBCQ 9330 program schedule. On a previous
program, Jordan had said goodbye by :45 with nothing more but music
then either. When it stops at 0059, WBCQ ID & IS loop plays for a
minute, marred by some uteblaaps, 0100 sign-off announcement and off
(Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
5109.698, carrier peak like, but audio portion heard on 5109.8 to 5113
kHz range, in peaks measured up to 5115.8 kHz. USA very odd frequency,
pop hard rock concert heard from WBCQ Monticello at 0230 UT, USB mode
signal (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on
western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, haven`t noted their other transmitter closer to
5110.0 on AM lately (gh, DXLD)
** U S A. Should Ramsey's Roadhouse cease at the end of this month as
scheduled, that will be the end of me on the air anywhere. My recorded
bits were on the old Trailer Trash Radio show years ago until almost
the end of the program when there was a falling out between the host
and myself. Was introduced to Jim Reynolds via email in the latter
days of Trailer Trash Radio. He started Ramsey's Roadhouse about that
time and I soon found out that he lived about forty miles away from
me. We met eventually and have been to each others houses and
eventually I filled half a cassette with little bits for his show and
he has been using them for breaks in programming for several years
now. Since there haven't been many other programs like this on WBCQ, I
imagine that when Ramsey's Roadhouse goes dark I will also. It's been
a hell of a run and a lot of fun (John H Carver, Jr., Mid-North
Indiana, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
It`s UT Tuesdays 0000 on WBCQ 7490v --- I tuned in at 0045 Nov 10 but
discovered some other program as R.R. is only 30 minutes (Glenn
Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
9331.465 approx., CUSB, Nov 10 at 0132, WBCQ with Blalock the blaster,
way off-frequency this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9955, Nov 5 at 1334, WRMI is in Spanish, presumably R.
Eslovaquia Internacional still in wrong language contrary to scheduled
English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SLOVAKIA
[non]
9955 WRMI Radio Miami Int'l (p); 1451-1500:07*, 7-Nov; Chipmunk-voiced
huxtress ragging about using too much sugar; Amazing Facts on 3ABN.
Program over at 1459:25, into Arabic music, then flute music and off
without ID. SIO=3+44, no jamming (Chipmunk-voiced huxtresses are
apparently acceptable)
+++ 1139, 8-Nov; Non-B.S. huxter said, "We're mortal and one of these
days, we're going to get a glorified body". (I look forward to that!)
(Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake
R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my
receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST)
9955, WRMI revised program grid as of Nov 6 shows R. Eslovaquia
Internacional in Spanish not only at 1130-1200 daily except Sundays,
but also at 1330-1400 M-F! So my logs last few days of RSI in
``wrong`` language Spanish instead of English at 1330 are now
contradicted by the schedule, as if intentionally changed, tho doesn`t
make sense. Presumably R. Prague at 1300-1330 except Sundays remains
in English; it`s shown as R. Praga Mon-Thu at 1100-1126. 9955, Nov 9
at 1303, WRMI with good signal playing big band music, presumably
filler lacking R. Prague.
11580, Nov 10 at 0112, WRMI with drumming music, presumably more fill
with the scheduled preacher program `Steve Weeks`, AWOL. BTW, the
latest non-9955 program schedule grid now shows 11580 with identical
shows every day at 0100-0200 and repeating at 0200-0300 UT too! BTW,
you have to keep checking, as the ``effective date`` at the top of the
page does not necessarily change from ``Nov 1`` with each modification
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. Important Announcement from Adventist Word Radio
The time has come for change. For the past quarter century and more,
the Indianapolis address for Adventist Word Radio has received
listener mail and reception reports from more than 100 countries all
around the world. It has been our privilege to respond to all of the
incoming mail, both postal and email, and to send out uncounted
thousands of QSL cards.
However, because of major health issues for us both (my wife as well
as myself) and due to our advancing years (we are both nearing our
mid-80s) it has become necessary for me to reduce my work load, just
as soon as possible. It is with great reluctance that therefore I
announce the fact that the processing of listener reception reports
will be transferred from Indianapolis to a new address in Silver
Spring Maryland.
Staff at AWR headquarters will take over the processing of all
reception reports addressed to Adventist World Radio. They are located
in the building complex at the world headquarters of the Seventh-day
Adventist denomination on the edge of suburban Washington DC.
Effective at the end of the year, the Indianapolis post office box
address will be closed, and emails addressed to the Indianapolis
address will no longer be received. Likewise, postal mail addressed to
the AWR street address in Indianapolis will no longer be processed
locally. The new address for all reception reports addressed to
Adventist World Radio worldwide is:-
Box 10188, Silver Spring, MD 20914, USA.
Every item of postal mail received at the Indianapolis box address up
to December 31 will be processed here and QSL cards will be sent out
in the usual way from this location. It will take some time, well into
the New Year, to complete the processing of all pending mail, but each
item will be processed and all QSL cards will be posted out.
We might add that a new QSL card has just been received, and this card
will be the last QSL card ever issued from this address. In addition,
a new batch of many different types of AWR curios and souvenirs has
been received, and these items will be sent out to listeners who enter
our big annual DX contest. These souvenirs and curios will never
become available again.
Remember to enter our big annual DX contest which has been extended
till the end of November. Many awards, and souvenirs, and new QSL
cards are available, as well as a new award for listeners in New
Zealand and Australia; a copy of the colorful Australian Radio History
by Dr. Bruce Carty.
In this year’s contest, you are invited to design the details for your
own contest entry. You are invited to tell what is your best QSL since
our last contest, and to provide three AWR reception reports.
Complete details are available from many DX club magazines, and from
various websites. You may also contact Wavescan in Indianapolis for an
email version of the contest details.
In order to grant opportunity for listeners in Australia and New
Zealand, the closing date for the 2015 DX contest has been extended by
one month. All entries worldwide now need to be postmarked by the end
of November, and received at the Indianapolis postal address by the
end of December. Details regarding the results of the contest will be
announced in Wavescan in mid January.
It is intended that the AWR DX program, “Wavescan”, will continue as
usual in the same regular way. We are grateful for the DX reports from
our DX reporters in India, Japan, Bangladesh, Philippines and
Australia. We are grateful for the professional production of this
weekly broadcast by Jeff White in the studios of WRMI in Okeechobee
Florida, and for the reading of regular features by Ray Robinson in
the studios of KVOH in Los Angeles, and for the widespread broadcast
of Wavescan via the shortwave facilities of Adventist World Radio,
WRMI, WWCR and KVOH. Dr. Adrian M. Peterson (via Tony Ashar,
Indonesia, Nov 10, dxldyg via DXLD)
Prayers to Adrian; he has been a SW QSL friend forever. 73, (Brandon
Jordan, WA4230SWL, Fayette County, TN EM55gc http://www.swldx.us DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 15610, Nov 9 at 1411, WEWN English with long-path echo. This
occasionally happens when the direct short-path is weak enough but
propagation the other way around is hopping. As one of my closest SWBC
stations (about the same distance as WWCR), that also makes it my
farthest possible --- about 39 Megameters. In rough figures, the delay
is 0.127 second, i.e. 38/300. It would be interesting if one could
axually measure it.
Per HFCC B-15, original azimuth for this is 335 degrees, which is
close to usward but mostly skipping over as normally the case without
Es enhancement or heightened F2 conditions. Come to think of it,
instead of long-path minus short-path distance, considering the
original beam angle, it could also be long-path plus short-path, minus
short-path, i.e. the long route not coming from the opposite direxion,
but from the same direxion, a little more than a full circuit of the
globe, in which case the delay would be 0.133 second. Precise timing
could confirm this one way or the other.
BTW, 15610 allegedly employs three different azimuths: 335 at 14-15,
40 at 15-19, and 85 degrees at 19-24. One might detect considerable
changes in strength at changeover times (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 3185, Nov 8 at 0101, WWRB is S8 but suptorted, modulation
not making a connexion: wiggle that patchcord! Still same at 0142,
nothing but scratching on 3185, while 5050 is VG, loud & clear (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
5049.992, TOM BS program of WWRB, latter scheduled here 22-13 UT,
noted at 0228 UT, also station address given at later check 0250 UT.
S=8-9 medium level strength from Morrison TN (Wolfgang Büschel, some
log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton,
Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
``Scheduled`` somewhere maybe, but 5050 not on the air much later than
0300, and quite variable before then; Viz.: 5050, Nov 10 at 0111, no
signal from WWRB --- you never know whether this will be on or not, or
for how long into the evening. 9370, VP signal still here, and I think
3185 was also on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 3215.000, WWCR noted at 0235 UT, alignment exactness checked
against Canadian CHU time signal station 3330 kHz. S=9 signal strength
observed in Alberta Canada remote SDR unit post. Sermon on devil,
Kingdom of God, book of James, intelligence salvation stories given.
Soundcaster service, - all strange to European ears ... phone #1 - 800
...229 9965 (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov
8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST) Also strange to rational American ears (gh, DXLD)
4839.9935, WWCR Nashville TN, at 0129 UT, tiny, S=3-4 seldom odd
frequency from TN-US (Wolfgang Bueschel, fingerprints, quick log in
Colombo CLN on Victor's remote SDR unit, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
It`s only 6.5 Hz off (gh, DXLD)
** U S A. 6219.99, Nov 10 at 0152 UT, ranchera music makes S8, and
soon ID as ``La Ranchera``. So the relay of WMDB 880 Nashville TN by
WNQM 1300 Nashville TN is still getting shortwaved as a parasite to
7520 WWCR, 1300 kHz away from it (but nothing exceeding the noise
level on matching 8820). 7520- is also very slightly on the low side
while blasting at S9+55. Fortunately, on 6220, very little WWCR audio
comes thru. There is intermittent ute QRM for which switching LSB/USB
makes little difference. In B-15, the span on 7520 has expanded to 00-
03 UT Tue-Sat only, all of which is now after 1300 supposedly cuts
from 50 kW ND day to 5 kW direxional night. Just before 0300 the same
#4 transmitter changes to 5890, so one might find a corresponding -
1300 kHz spur on 4590 or maybe + 1300 at 7190 for the rest of the
night, but so far I have not: filters might have been installed for
those but never for 6220/8820 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799,
DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNIDENTIFIED 4590
** U S A. 5830, WTWW Lebanon TN (presumed); 1129, 8-Nov; Profusely
Perverted Pastor Pete Peters; ran excepts from huxter Beane/Beame?
shouting fire & brimstone stuff; PPPPP retorted that he was surprised
that the audience seemed to be swayed & said, "You just can't get deep
with certain people." S10 peaks (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE
DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage,
All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
5085, Nov 11 at 0512, WTWW-3 with Ted delivering a commercial for C
Crane, 1-800-522-5863, about a radio with a ``cadimum`` battery, back
to Art Bell`s `Midnight [sic] in the Desert` where it`s 9+ pm in
Nevada. Original affiliation info from M[sic]ITD indicated breaks for
local commercials are just before tops and bottoms of hours. I would
assume C Crane is a national advertiser on M[sic]ITD, so Ted must be
overriding one of those so he can mention WTWW, for a kickback? (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Re: Good signal of WRNO New Orleans on Nov 4, 0200-0500
7504.8 RNO 50 kW 20 deg to NoAM English (Ivo Ivanov-BUL, hcdx via
wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Nov 4)
Yes, before I went to bed on local 0330 am CET time: 7504.748, odd
frequency broadcast of WRNO New Orleans noted at 0228 UT on Nov 6, at
S=7-8 signal level, bad propagation figures tonight (Wolfgang Büschel,
Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWBS Site --- Hi Ian and members, I don't know if this will
be of any interest to this group, but I have just written and
published a post about WWBS, Macon GA for my blog, the Mount Evelyn DX
Report. It came about after some correspondence I had with Mike N3MCU
who recently took some photos of the yagi antenna, still standing
after all these years. There's a bit of station background info
included as well. Anyway, you are welcome to check out the post at:
http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/whatever-happened-towwbs.html
And if you have any further information that you think might be of
value or interest to other readers, I'd gratefully receive that to
share with other MEDXR readers. Best 73, (Rob Wagner VK3BVW, Nov 6,
shortwavesites yg via DXLD) 11900 kHz, only limited hours; viz.: (gh)
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ---- WWBS?
It's interesting to look back and reflect on the disappearing
shortwave broadcasters from our past. Down in Macon, Georgia, USA
there was once a private shortwave radio station with the callsign
WWBS.
Its programming largely consisted of religious content, and it
maintained a schedule of weekend operation for approximately 2 hours
on both Saturday and Sunday evenings (local Georgia time). Mostly the
station schedule was 0000 to 0200 UTC, although sometimes it was noted
opening up at 2300 UTC.
WWBS began transmissions in December 1998 and continued till February
2003. The station was owned, built and operated by amateur radio
operator Charles C. Josey K4LNL and his wife Jo Ann Josey K4LHO.
Charles was an enthusiastic and extremely proficient constructor of
ham radio equipment, and his residence was filled with old home brew
transmitters, receivers and auxiliary equipment.
One of Charles Josey's home brew transmitters
You can still see some of the well-made home brew equipment Josey
built by going to the following website:
http://www.jamminpower.com/eBay/TMC/K4LNL.html
So, I guess it was logical that Charles would also build and maintain
the 50kW transmitter that broadcasts programs from WWBS. I believe the
signal transmitted was upper sideband and carrier (no LSB), although I
can't confirm this fact.
In just over four years of operation, WWBS transmitted mainly on 11900
kHz, but was also known to swap to other nearby outlets of 11905,
11910 and 11915 kHz. The large 4-element rotatable yagi antenna on the
roof of a building in downtown Macon was also designed and constructed
by Josey, who is reported as saying it was 140 feet high (42 metres).
In a recent Facebook forum, Charles Pennington reports that the
antenna is delta fed with 450 ohm balanced line for broad bandwidth.
It's SWR was measured good from around 9 MHz to 13 MHz enabling it to
cover both the 31 and 25 metre bands.
The transmitter operated from 300 Poplar Street, Macon, GA.
(Coordinates: 32 49 56 N Latitude 083 37 34 W Longitude). Pop the
address into Google Maps and you can still see the antenna (and its
shadow) sitting high on top of this old building, which is labeled on
the map as "Christ Chapel The Warehouse"!
Google Street View
Today, the huge yagi antenna still remains, as can be seen from these
closeup photos below, taken last year by Mike Doughney N3MCU (and used
with his permission - thanks Mike!) Click on each image for a closer
view.
Mike Doughney N3MCU (used with permission)
Mike Doughney N3MCU (used with permission)
Mike Doughney N3MCU (used with permission)
Mike Doughney N3MCU (used with permission)
The station appears to have been a regular verifier of reception
reports with a large QSL Certificate, although it seems that for some
listeners, a reply could take many months to arrive! The verification
signer was usually Jo Ann, however, Charles was also known to sign the
odd QSL, too. The station address was given as Radio Station WWBS, P.
O. Box 18174, Macon, GA 31209. However, in response to one listener,
Charles suggested that mail to this address was unreliable and that a
better address for reception reports was 965 Hickory Ridge Drive,
Macon, GA 31024 USA. This may have been the home address of the Josey
family.
So why did WWBS suddenly disappear from the shortwave bands? Well,
Charles died on February 28, 2003. And as he was the owner/operator of
the station, WWBS died along with him. We don't know what happened to
the transmitter and studio equipment. I believe it was later sold, but
the antenna still remains. I would be interested if readers have any
further information.
Never heard WWBS before? Well, over at IntervalSignals.net, there is a
recording of the opening announcement. Check it out:
http://www.intervalsignals.net/Files/usa-z-wwbs_ga_270200.m3u
73, and have a great weekend, everyone! Rob Wagner VK3BVW (via DXLD)
Yes, very interesting reading, several bits of info I didn't know. I
recall commenting to members in the past when SV first become
available that it was noted that the SW antenna still remained. I
guess it would cost a significant about of money to remove the
antenna, but it was nice to be able to see clearer SV pics of the site
each time Google did a combination of new SV passings & camera
resolution upgrades. I have however wondered about the current usage
of the building, though. Contributions like this Rob are always
welcome. Stories of TX sites & the people employed at the sites etc.
(Ian, shortwavesites yg via DXLD)
** U S A. WTJC Shortwave, 9370 kHz. QSL card, sticker + FBN card
received in 16 days from Mrs Robinson. Reception report sent to
Fundamental Broadcasting Network, 520 Roberts Road, Newport, NC 28570,
USA (Tom Read, Macclesfield, Cheshire, Yaesu FT-897 + 25m Inv-L,
Citroën car radio, Eton Global G3, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD)
!! WTJC has been off the air for years. WWRB quickly glommed onto same
frequency, ex-9380. An annoying thing about most QSL report columns is
NOT publishing the date or time of the original logging being
verified, sometimes not even the frequency. They also excessively
employ abbrs. There is nothing to indicate that this and many other
QSLs from same reporter are not current, but possibly was a long-
delayed follow-up. If not, FBN is still cluelessly verifying a defunct
station! We last heard WTJC in Dec 2011, as in DXLD 11-49 and by Sept
2012, it was being scrapped, as in DXLD 12-37 and 12-39 (Glenn Hauser,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. In local radio news, KFNS, 590, Wood River IL, is back on
the air as of November 5; the station is now broadcasting a mix of
sports and local talk from Internet station Inside STL; they simulcast
KXFN 1380 (the station never did change to KRFT) during daylight
hours. Both stations are being leased by Inside STL from Grand Slam
Sports. The on-air lineup is anchored by two of the more controversial
personalities in St Louis radio history: JC Corcoran and Kevin Slaten
(Eric Bueneman, 631 Coachway Lane, Hazelwood, Missouri 63042-1347, DX
Forum, IRCA DX Monitor Nov 14 via DXLD) Was originally WRTH (gh)
** U S A. 600, Nov 8 at 0127 UT, ad for Kelowna Auto! Has me going,
but isn`t the BC station on 600, CKBD, in Vancouver, and also gone for
good? No, it must be merely WMT Cedarapids IA, as they continue with
``on highway 1 south of Iowa City``. However, I don`t find any such
hiway around Iowa City, but the Trans-Canada Hiway is not too far
(north) of Kelowna; hmm. I must suppose this Auto bizness in IA is
otherwise spelt too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 670, Nov 5 at 0722 UT as I tune across, ID for ``98.9 FM,
Caddo Country``, i.e. KHGZ, 5 kW DAYTIMER in Glenwood AR, having
abandoned its porcine identity. Nevertheless, FCC AM Query thinx its
call remains KHGZ, since Feb 1, 2013, ex-KWXI, ex-KQAC. Makes SAH of
about 4 Hz with WSCR, but quite mutually nullable at close to right
angles. I first reported the flip from silly sportstalk to country
music on Oct 28; Paul Walker says they were also on air earlier this
UT day well after sunset.
[non]. 670, Nov 6 at 0640 UT, Cuban music from R. Rebelde is now
unimpeded by cheatin` daytimer KHGZ Caddo Country, Arkansas. What
happened?
670, Nov 10 at 0148 UT, ``Caddo Country, FM 98.9 and AM 670`` IDs,
country music. Dominating WSCR Chicago unless I null this, from
Glenwood AR, daytimer resuming on late and maybe to be all-night
again. The name probably derives from the Caddo River in the ARea, as
the Caddo Nation/Tribe HQ is in Binger OK. I`ve yet to hear them utter
KHGZ, but presumably do so at hourtop legal ID time only (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 690, KEWI, Benton AR - 1100 UT 10/13/2015 - With very fast
rapid-fire multi-call-letter ID, too fast to comprehend with at least
three calls given in quick succession, mention of Arkadelphia and
Malvern and then into ABC News at TOH, prominent on the Southwest
phased BOGs, new (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan
on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD)
690 has been KAFN for about 3 months now. The other towns mentioned
are stations they simulcast with (Paul B Walker, Jr., Nov 9, ibid.)
Paul, this may be true. But just to be clear, KAFN wasn't the call
sign used when I heard them on the morning of October 13th. "690 KEWI"
was clearly announced, for what it's worth to anyone trying to log
them. Thanks (-Tim, ibid.)
Well, interesting; then they are [NOT] ID'ing properly (Paul, ibid.)
** U S A. 770, Nov 9 at 0350 UT, national adstring culminating in
fleaspray.com at 0353 UT, presumably from KKOB and KKOB, and this time
I detect a very slight reverb, as if the two transmitters are not
precisely synchronized --- which they really need to be, to avoid
self-QRM between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Also another station in
English QRMing, KAAM TX?
770, Nov 10 at 0147 UT, mention of Sandoval County, i.e. KKOB New
Mexico, and with a light reverb, again implying I am getting both
transmitters, the 50 kW main one in the north valley of Albuquerque,
with a null toward WABC and almost toward me; and the ND 230-watt
night-only fill-in for Santa Fe. Unless, of course, they are
deliberately introducing reverb for effect in the studio, but I doubt
it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 780-USB, Nov 11 at 0453 UT, country music, but on 780-LSB,
no country music, just WBBM without QRM, unlike on the hi side.
Therefore KCEG Fountain CO is another station with suppressed LSB (but
full carrier, presumably), like KHAC 880 NM. 0459-0500 UT going from
bluegrass to country tune, pause but no ID at all. Does anyone know of
others? Guess we always need to switch LSB/USB with any new catch.
Yes, I made sure the passband tuning on the NRD-545 was neutral, and
L/U`d it several times to be certain (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO
1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Doing another review and found that 880 WPIP [1800 W D1, Winston-Salem
NC] is AM with LSB ONLY (no USB component), just like 870 WPWT 10000 W
D1, Colonial Heights TN] Interesting (Dave Valko, PA, Nov 13, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. KOA 850 AM simulcasts on FM 94.1 ---- For all of the AM
radio DXers in the crowd, I shouldn't even have to ask you if you've
ever heard powerhouse AM broadcaster KOA 850 Denver, Colorado. They
are among the original clear channel AM broadcasters.
On November 1, 2015, sportscaster Dave Logan (Denver Broncos
announcer) announced in their pregame show that KOA is OFFICIALLY on
FM radio. They also unveiled their new station logo, reflecting the
addition of the FM frequency.
Here is the story from the Denver Business journal:
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2015/11/01/koa-radio-expands-to-fm.html
The story is rather vague, though, about who the station at 94.1 is.
They don't say the call letters are actually KOA-FM. For the longest
time it was a low powered translator near Boulder (K231AA, 205 watts).
Does anyone know the scoop on how they are going to manage a full
power station on 94.1? If not a full power signal to cover all of the
metro area, it seems a waste of effort. The last time I checked, 93.9
had KCWA Loveland CO at 40 miles north of Denver, and KYSL Frisco CO
at 72 miles west of Denver; and on 94.3, there is KMAX Wellington-Fort
Collins CO, 50 miles north.
I was just listening to the Broncos-Colts game yesterday on AM 850 and
Dave Logan and the promos kept repeating that KOA is now also at FM
94.1 (Jim Thomas, Springfield, MO, Nov 9, WTFDA Forum via DXLD)
They bought K231BQ (250 watts) Golden. They also have a lease
agreement to take control of it immediately. The intermediary is KBCO
HD3 and KBCO is listed as the new originating station in the pending
FCC application to sell to iHeart (Raymie Humbert, AZ, ibid.)
It seems rather odd they would make such a move to get KOA's signal on
FM, by way of two translator stations. And they spent almost a million
dollars for K231BQ (Golden).
When I lived SW of Greeley (45 miles N of Denver), I could receive
K231AA (Boulder) at my house IF I turned the yagi directly toward
them. I could turn the antenna from the SE to the N and completely
lose their signal. In the car K231AA was barely audible. I can't see
how iHeart managers think two translators that are technically in the
Foothills are going to offer any type of service to a market of two
million people. And to think, Boulder is right next to the Flatiron
Range (small strip of the Front Range), which really contains a high
concentration of iron ore. The Flatirons work wonders with creating RF
hell for radio listeners in the Boulder Valley (Last edited by Jim
Thomas; 11-09-2015 at 11:51 PM, ibid.) MORE about KOA: see 1550, KBUD
below
** U S A. 880-CUSB, Nov 5 at 1301 UT, hymn in Navajo, 1302 UT English
ID as KHAC, Tse Bonito NM, and reciting Psalm XXIII in English. Seems
always on 10 kW day power ND, penetrating far to the east at night
unlike compliers 770 KKOB and 660 KTNN (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF
RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 910, Nov 8 at 1319 UT as I tune in, promo for NPR All Things
Considered on Iowa Public Radio, so ex-WOR affiliate WSUI Iowa City
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. CONSTRUCTION PERMITS FOR EXISTING STATIONS
Applications for CPs filed:
1120, KLIM, CO, Limon – Applies for D5 50000 (CH 3000) from two new
sites; main day directional from two new towers at 39-12-07/104-20-44
and CH non-directional from the existing tower of K210CC and K220IK at
39-22-34/103-41-41 (David Yocis, AM Switch, NRC DX News Nov 16 via
DXLD) Wow, bigsig if approved, but still not at night, pace KMOX (gh)
** U S A. 1150, Nov 8 at 0122 UT, promos for programs on ``Newstalk
1150, WHBY``, at least three of them so three such IDs, then mentions
Wisconsin Badgers; surprised to hear this dominating 1150 as I tune
across, rather than KSAL KS. NRC AM Log shows WHBY is 20/25 kW (yes,
more at night), so no wonder it gets out, from Kimberley (Appleton)
WI, U4. NRC Pattern Book shows very tight day and night patterns with
huge lobe to the northeast! Must be out of whack, like non-direxional
now; no wonder I haven`t heard it before. Looks like it should barrel
into Europe if on proper patterns (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
It does come in well into Europe when conditions are good. I've not
heard it for a while here, though (Andrew Brade, UK, MWCircle yg via
DXLD)
** U S A. NRC AM Log Updates: 1160, KVCE, TX, Highland Park – Format
to REL (ex-BIZ); slogan to “The Word,” delete nets, add // KWRD-FM-
100.7 (Bill Hale, NRC DX News Nov 16 via DXLD)
So that answers our question, what format 1160 wound up with; since
Salem moved the BIZ format to newly acquired KEXB 620; but the 620 ex-
KMKI transmitter was briefly heard carrying KWRD programming during
the transition (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
** U S A. 1290, Nov 6 at 0707 UT, Jim Bohannon show about the National
Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago, with guest Bruce DuMont, as tuxed JimBo
has just emceed their annual awards show. DuMont founded the Museum of
Broadcast Communications and is the nephew of Allan(sp?) DuMont, TV
pioneer who started the first TV network (until 1955*; I remember
seeing it during my earliest TV DXing days in NM). {or rather,
probably in OKC 1954-1955, affiliate one of the early UHF stations,
KMPT-19 or KTVQ-25.}
Presumed this 1290 is Wichita Falls, but uplooked later in the
station-finder, no, it`s from the opposite direxion, KOIL Omaha NE.
Anyhow I soon switch to KSL 1160 UT where I know reception will be
better, once I evade the IBOC from 1170 KFAQ (take that! KSL throws
the same noise on KFAQ). Anyhow, it`s too late to keep listening, but
this JimBo show should be of especial interest to broadcast
historians, and they are available OD: not yet as of 1640 UT, but
click on November 5 here:
http://www.jimbotalk.net/programhighlights?pid=42031
http://www.radiohof.org/
for some details, and
http://www.museum.tv/index.htm
Before 0700 UT I was also hearing Bohannon on 680, i.e. KFEQ St Joseph
MO, which plays the first hour at 0607 UT instead of live at 0307 UT
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rather, not: see next issue
** U S A. 1380, Nov 11 at 0500 UT, USA ``news``, ``Good Gospel music
on WKJV Asheville and WKJW Black Mountain [1010],``, local weather,
0501 UT into gospel huxter from Idaho. Quite a surprise, as I was just
experimenting with trying to pull anything past my strongest local,
1390 KCRC and here`s something in NC, 859 miles away and beyond four
other 1380s in between; LSB helped as well as the east-west Wellbrook.
Only later did I see other reports of this, such as in NRC-AM list:
``At 2200 CST on Tuesday night 11/10, I am hearing WKJV Asheville NC
dominating a very crowded 1380 kHz. This station has a day power of 25
kw ND and a night power of 1 kw and its night pattern throws its
signal away from my QTH in Madison WI. This is a new station for me.
Currently the station is carrying "The Gospel Hour" with Dr. Oliver B.
Green. 73 Bill Dvorak Madison WI``
Yes, night pattern is supposed to throw southeast. I assume all
broadcasters on WKJV must suppress/forsake all other versions of the
Bible; but I doubt King James would recognize the American gospel
music of today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Wanted to thank Bill Dvorak for posting this last night to both the
IRCA and NRC list. WKJV was an easy catch on my bedside portable last
night, running a long list of local religious events such as revivals,
gospel singing events, etc. It does appear that they had an automation
issue, and were on day power/pattern. I tuned in around 3:15 AM [CST?]
so the problem seems to have lasted overnight. Thank you for helping
to put a new one in my log, Bill. My "DXing" hobby has become
increasingly limited to these kinds of opportunities, as the pressures
of work and life continue to mount. Weeks will go by without a single
session at the dials, or even time to review SDR recordings (Les
Rayburn, AL, IRCA via DXLD)
** U S A. 1380, Nov 11 just before 0502 UT as I have just IDed WKJV in
Asheville NC, I catch another ID (nothing but) underneath, WLRM ---
that`s in Millington TN, 2500/1000 watts U4 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. First Christmas music of the season heard on 1390. On 11/4
at around 2300 ELT [=EST = 0400 UT Nov 5], I heard my first Christmas
music of the season on 1390. I wasn't able to ID them because they
faded down and I had other things I needed to go and do but I'm pretty
sure it was KLGN, Logan, Utah. KLGN isn't consistently there at night
here but does show up relatively often. They are normally AC/EZL & use
the slogan "Lite 103.3," promoting their FM translator: K277BD.
Around 0900 ELT, 11/6, while driving to work I noticed my local
KISC(FM) "Kiss 98.1" playing solid Christmas music which will, of
course, continue through 12/25. I believe this is lucrative for them
as they sell sponsorships for it and have been doing this for many
years. I called my wife at lunchtime to inform her that Kiss FM had
gone all Christmas music, preempting their normal "Lite Rock," and she
was excited. Kiss FM is her favorite station anyway.
I'm with Rick Dau that Christmas music should appear only after
Thanksgiving, and then only mixed in with the regular music. My normal
response to Kiss FM is to remove them from my car radio presets until
12/26, although I haven't done this yet.
My favorite station is Kool 107-1, KPKL Deer Park-Spokane, WA, which
plays oldies from the 50's to the 80's, including many I haven't heard
on the radio in decades. Where else can I hear "Pictures of Matchstick
Man" by Status Quo (1968) or "Bad Time" by Grand Funk Railroad (1975).
For years I've yearned for an oldies station that didn't play the same
300 oldies over & over but instead played lots of the thousands of
popular old rock songs & KPKL does.
Sorry if I've veered too far from the DX topic, but at least I didn't
talk about how my local grocery store had a giant Halloween candy
display up the last week of August, and the day after Halloween
replaced them with Christmas candy (Stan "Bah Humbug!" Weisbeck,
Spokane, WA, IRCA via DXLD)
Stan, As we say down here in the South, "Preach it, brother!" I wish
corporate America and especially broadcasters would get it through
their heads that no one wants 90 straight days of the holiday season.
What used to be a special few weeks has now grown to something to be
dreaded. Enough already. -- 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, Maylene, AL EM63,
ibid.) I wonder what USPS would do with grid locators, not ZIP codes?
(gh, DXLD)
** U S A. SOUTH SUBURBAN CHICAGO AM STATION TURNS IN ITS LICENSE
Chicago-market brokered-ethnic WCFJ/1470 has been taken silent by
owner Newsweb, which will surrender the license to the FCC. Robert
Feder says the station went dark Saturday, with Newsweb Radio
President Charley Gross explaining that “the station was not
profitable; we are turning in the FCC license.” Thousand-watt WCFJ
Chicago Heights has a demanding technical array, which requires six
towers for its daytime signal and three towers at night. It uses a
total of eight sticks, in the farmland south of Chicago, serving the
Indiana-Illinois state line. In addition to some talk stations, Fred
Eychaner’s Newsweb operates three other ethnic stations in the Windy
City (WSBC/1240, WNDZ/750, WAIT/850). Gross says “the rest of our
stations are good.” Those include stations near-and-dear to Eychaner’s
heart, progressive talk WCPT-AM/FM (820/92.5). (From Tom Taylor's
Radio Newsletter Posted by: "Paul B. Walker, Jr." dxldyg via DXLD)
** U S A. 1510, KGA, Spokane, WA, 0058 UT 10/28/2015 - Noted several
nights with fair to good signal during the last few days of the month
until 0100 UT (October) pattern/power switch and then gone, relog and
made much easier now using the North D-KAZ (Tim Tromp, October, 2015
MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted
in the log, ABDX via DXLD)
** U S A. SILENT STATIONS: Formerly silent stations informing the FCC
that they are no longer silent:
1530, KQSC, CO, Colorado Springs – Silent (as KKHI) Mar. 23; back on
the air Oct. 23 (David Yocis, AM Switch, NRC DX News Nov 16 via DXLD)
** U S A. 1550, KRPI, Ferndale, WA, 0100 UT 10/28/2015. See KGA 1510
log, the same applies to KRPI, which hasn't been heard here since the
DX test several years ago. Now much easier thanks to the North D-KAZ
combined with end-of-October long haul western enhancement (Tim Tromp,
October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna
used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD)
** U S A. DENVER RADIO CHANGE --- Our local pot station is gone.
(Awwwwww...) The station known as Smokin' 94.1, which is actually a
translator on 94.1 that was simulcasting KBUD 1550 Golden, is now a
simulcast of KOA. An application has been filed to sell the translator
to KOA, so it appears to be a permanent change. Meanwhile, KBUD 1550
is now silent. No sale application has been filed yet for the AM. I
doubt that many stoners would listen to AM, so look for it to be sold
very soon. 73, (Kit, W5KAT, Nov 10, ABDX yg via DXLD)
Never heard here in IL. I'd hoped 990 watts ND days could make it by
sunset skip (Dir Night pattern is bad to me) but it never did. They
have a CP for 5 kW ND days. If that is the plan, I assume someone
might make a viable station out of them? 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL/WI,
ibid.)
As you may know, KBUD (originally KDCO) has only been on the air for
about a year. The current owner is the third owner. The second owner
sold it very quickly after buying it from the original owner, and I
mean within a matter of days. I think it was the second owner who
applied for the 5 kW day upgrade, so the current owner may or may not
follow through with it. Since he sold the translator, I would say it's
a safe bet that he is now trying to sell the AM. It's probably just as
safe a bet that the AM will end up being sports, religion, or Mexican,
none of which are needed in this market. What this market could use is
an all traffic station since the traffic is so bad here.
In case nobody saw it, Salem just bought KDDZ 1690 from Disney, but so
far it still has R. Disney on it. There are already so many religious
stations in this market, it's hard to believe another one is coming
shortly. One has to wonder how they all survive.
And as I have said before, I still find it stupid that a 50 kW 1-A
[KOA 850] thinks they need a piddling little 250 watt FM translator.
Oh well. 73, (Kit, W5KAT, CO, NRC-AM via DXLD)
[and non]. I know of only one all-traffic station, 730 in Montreal,
and I wonder how well it's working out in that market. Kit, it sounds
to me like what Denver could really use is an all-news station, with
traffic checks and weather every 10 minutes throughout the day (à la
WBBM's "traffic and weather together on the 8s"). Granted, WBBM, along
with WCBS, KYW, WWJ, and KNX, all of which are other all-news
stations, are CBS-owned, so it would take an ownership change for that
to happen. But surely CBS could swoop in (if it felt like doing so),
buy KLZ, KHOW, or KOA, and convert it to all-news. Three poli-talk
stations in a market of Denver's size is, IMO, overkill. 73, (Rick
Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska EN21af, http://www.dxworld.com/bcblog.html
NRC-AM via DXLD)
As I remarked in a recent log of something else, CHMJ Vancouver, 50/50
kW, also on 730 is ``All Traffic All the Time`` according to NRC-AM
log --- or not quite, also talk // CKNW 980? Is this not so? 73,
(Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Hi Rick, If you hear traffic info on 730 in English, it will likely be
Vancouver --- http://www.am730.ca/ (what is it about 730 in Canada?)
They've been at it a number of years now, so it seems to be something
that's needed. I've certainly used it in Vancouver, sometimes
vowing to use a bicycle next time. Best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, IRCA
via DXLD)
The Montreal station is subsidized by the Quebec government. I don't
know to what extent (does it also sell advertising?) == (Doug Smith,
W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.)
Things to consider with a possible change such as that; What are the
ratings/revenue of the current format and will a change exceed the
current numbers; does the signal do a solid job of covering the
market; and starting an all news operation is a very expensive
proposition. CBS in New York owns two all news stations, WCBS and
WINS. Plus, WBBR also gives traffic, though not as frequently (Bob
Galerstein WB2VGD, Monroe, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD)
KOA is probably the closest thing to that here, but I don't listen to
them since they are owned by you know who. CBS did have three FMs here
for a few years (KIMN 100.3, KXKL 105.1 and KWOF 92.5) but they sold
them for a big loss. They still have the TV here. Those three FMs were
just sold by Wilks (who bought them from CBS) to the guy who owns
several sports teams in Denver. I haven't seen or heard any changes
yet. KIMN and KXKL are solid, so they probably won't change, but KWOF
never has had very good numbers, so that one would be the most likely
to change.
There is a lot of format duplication and overkill here. In addition to
the Denver stations, there are also outlying stations with local
signals that multiply the number of AM formats for talk, sports,
Mexican, and religion. I don't know how they pay the electric bill to
stay on the air, especially in the case of the stand-alone AMs.
It would be interesting to find out how much was paid for the 94.1
translator. My guess is that it could easily be more than the guy paid
for it and 1550 since translator prices in major markets have gone
through the roof. The guy who owned KBUD has probably already packed
up and gone back to California and left a for sale sign on the AM.
Wasn't the all traffic in Montreal on 690 or 940 before it was on 730?
What a ridiculous waste of a 1-A, or any 50 kW facility. 73, (Kit
W5KAT, ABDX via DXLD)
The traffic station in Montreal has been at 730 since CKAC changed to
that format. There was an application for 940 as an English language
traffic station, but that was denied. The deal with CKAC going all-
traffic was that the station would fund it for a certain amount of
years. I can't remember how long but I think that deal is going to end
in the next couple of years at the most. And yes, the former CKLG is
also all-traffic in Vancouver. What a waste of what was once the most
popular music station in town (Justin Nielsen, ibid.)
** U S A. 1570, Nov 11 at 0503 UT, I`m DXing now because a few hours
ago, northerners were reporting ``auroral conditions`` but not very
now, not here. On the E-W antenna I am hearing CBS News in English
instead of XERF, seems cutaway already at 0504 UT, and ``country
music`` on WTI#. Uplooked later, the closest fuzzy call to this is
WYTI, Rocky Mount VA, 2500/220 watts U1, format C&W; but not CBS per
NRC AM Log --- that may well have been a different station. Geo area
fits as I just got NC and TN on 1380.
I do a quick eyeball scan of the Log`s 1570 listings, and believe it
or not, of the 60 stations, find only one C for CBS, WPTW, Piqua OH,
250/250 watts U1. But news net affiliations are too subject to
outdating, and it`s easy to miss a hit with the eyeballs (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1580, KAMI, NE, Cozad – 10/27 0940 [EDT = 1340 UT] noted
with mention of DeKalb-dot-com, ID for the Rural Radio Network, ad for
Cozad Community Hospital, “K-1580” ID into a Country format. A poor
signal was noted. This station has not been noted in years; used to be
common years ago, but is now a rare reception at L’Anse (John J
Rieger, L’Anse MI, Grundig Satellit 750, stock antenna, Terk AM1000
loop, EDXR, IRCA DX Monitor Nov 7 via DXLD)
This is a change from Bott Christian Teaching, simulcasting KCVN 104.5
(Eric Bueneman, ed., ibid.)
** U S A. In light of the recent FCC “AM revitalization” order, it’s
interesting to see a couple AM “Class B” stations this week (WNZF-1550
and KMIK/KHEP-1580) apply to downgrade to Class D. I wondered whether
these applications have anything to do with Class C (graveyard) and D
stations getting the first crack at a translator move window. I doubt
it; WNZF already has a translator (W292DE-106.3) and KHEP has a
longstanding tower problem and a new owner to fix it. But a number of
stations with longstanding STAs (especially those that have lost
translator sites and can’t find new sites that meet FCC coverage
rules) have stated they will apply for downgrade CPs when the new
rules take effect. So stay tuned! (David Yocis, AM Switch, NRC DX News
Nov 16 via DXLD)
CONSTRUCTION PERMITS FOR EXISTING STATIONS Applications for CPs filed:
1580, KHEP, AZ, Tempe – Applies for U1 50000/95 from a new site,
diplexed with KXEG-1280 at 33-29-32/112-08-28 (David Yocis, AM Switch,
NRC DX News Nov 16 via DXLD)
** U S A. 1620, KSMH, West Sacramento, CA, 0111 UT 10/30/2015 - Heard
during brief fade-up with Immaculate Heart Radio religious programming
about 15 minutes prior to their pattern/power change, on North D-KAZ
with South Bend nulled, new (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from
West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log,
ABDX via DXLD)
** U S A. 1630, Nov 6 at 0701 UT, news all about Iowa, how strange in
the nightmiddle rather than plugging into some national network at
hourtop; I bet it`s recorded. 0702 UT weather from some TV station;
0703 UT ``The Mighty 1630 --- loud & clear, KCJJ`` and rock music.
Split format from Iowa City of TLK/AC per NRC AM Log.
1630, Nov 10 at 0138 UT, YL DJ informally talking on and on about some
music group, then invites calls to 358-1630 or 1630kcjj.com and also
KCJJ IDs from Iowa; at the moment in ascendance over KKGM TX (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. "KBXZ-LP" 1650 - can someone explain this? I've just noticed
that the "pirate" on 1650 in Flagstaff that has been running Fox
Sports for over a decade is now starting to show up in listings as
"KBXZ" or "KBXZ-LP". Is this legit??? Station web site:
http://www.foxsports1650.com/
Note its inclusion in the official Fox Sports Radio site:
http://www.foxsportsradio.com/pages/radiostations.html?state=arizona
(Tim Hall, CA, Nov 6, ABDX via DXLD)
It's definitely not licensed and in my opinion not licensable on that
frequency. Its night contour would seriously overlap with KFOX and
KSVE (Dennis Gibson, CA, Sent from my iPad, ibid.)
Weird, isn't it? They seem to run about the same power as a TIS.
They've been on the air every time I've been to Flagstaff since
2001. I'm no expert, but I don't know of any type of license that
would cover this. Meanwhile, two legitimate stations in this market
(600 and 690) have at least gone silent and I think at least one
of them has bit the dust for good (Tim Hall, Sent from my BlackBerry
10 smartphone, ibid.)
Point of clarification here, fellas. KBXZ is not a pirate but, rather,
a Part 15 station, allowable under FCC rules, but limited to a
broadcast output of 1/10 of a watt. KBXZ is listed as such, in fact,
on http://mwlist.org (so its nighttime signal will DEFINITELY not
affect anyone else's!). Under normal circumstances, 1/10 of 1 watt in
the 1610-1700 range of the AM band will only allow a Part 15 to get
out no more than 2-3 miles from the transmitter site (at least I know
that's been the case with some of the Part 15s that've been on the air
here in Omaha in recent years). I find it interesting, however, that
the station carries Arizona State University sports. I wonder if
anyone if anyone in the ASU sports marketing office is aware that KBXZ
has such a limited reach? :) 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska
EN21AF http://www.dxworld.com/bcblog.html ibid.)
Thanks Rick. I guess I didn't realize Part 15 stations could air
ads. 73 (Tim Hall, ibid.)
There's really no such thing as a "Part 15 station." Part 15, if you
read it in the federal code, is the section of rules that regulates
how much interference "unintentional radiators" can generate against
licensed signals. Pretty much anything electronic in your home is (or
is supposed to be) certified under Part 15 that it won't generate
unacceptable interference.
Some clever folks figured out that you could put enough signal on the
air under the Part 15 rules to actually get out a small distance.
To the FCC, "KBXZ" isn't a "station," it's "interference." :) So what
it programs, including ads, isn't the FCC's concern.
About KBXZ in particular: I have heard (but never confirmed) that they
run several Part 15 transmitters at different locations around
Flagstaff that are synchronized to give the effect of a higher-powered
signal. As long as each individual site complies with the Part 15
rules, it's at least theoretically kosher (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.)
Thanks Scott for the very clear explanation. It's a bit surprising
that Fox would go along with this, but the 1650 has always had a clean
signal in town, which is more than could be said for the old 600 and
690 stations.
Now I'm remembering another case, the old KRSX-660 in Victorville CA
"Route 66 Radio". That guy had a great oldies format and sold ads for
$1 apiece. They threw the book at him, as I recall, and the local 1590
celebrated his demise by changing their calls to KRSX. I suppose he
must have been running more than the allowed 1/10 watt? 73 (Tim Hall,
ibid.)
Scott, I've always understood that the 15.200-series rules cover
intentional radiators (like the AM rule in 15.209 that mentions 100
milliwatts and a 3-meter antenna system; yes, I know I'm
oversimplifying), and the 15.100-series rules cover unintentional
radiators. I also understand that 15.109 and 15.209 are the general
requirements across the spectrum, and in cases where other rule
sections conflict (like 15.219 vs 15.209), the other section applies,
but if you exceed the rule of one you still have to be in compliance
on the other.
One thing that annoys me is that 15.209 and 15.109 generally specify
the same limits. :( I personally would rather see the intentional
radiators increased some (primarily in designated bands or designated
modes, not necessarily across the entire spectrum), but the
unintentional radiators (like CFL lights, dimmers, switching power
supplies, etc.) decreased greatly, like 60-100 dB or so. 73, (Stephen
[Ponder?], ibid.)
** U S A. 1660, KXOL, UT, Brigham City, 10/25 0401 [EDT = 0801 UT]
weak signal with legal ID after Mexican song, station still truckin’
along despite [deleted] status; 469 miles (Brian Rachford, Prescott
AZ, RTL-SDR with upconverter, 7’ x 24’ Conti superloop aimed 90
degrees, WDXR, IRCA DX Monitor Nov 7 via DXLD)
** U S A. 1680, KNTS, Seattle, WA, 0128 UT 10/28/2015 - With "Radio
Luz" slogans and Spanish programming, strong and dominant at times on
the North D-KAZ just before pattern/power change, relog (Tim Tromp,
October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna
used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD)
** U S A. 3060, WCKY Cincinnati OH (Villa Hills KY transmitter); 1200,
8-Nov; 2x harmonic; feature on ethnic restaurants & Cincy March of
Dimes. S8 peaks! // 1530 at S30! Checked back at 1220 and harmonic
gone (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI,
Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on
my receiver, in real time! WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. NEW TV NETWORK AVAILABLE IN MICHIGAN OVER THE AIR
Coupled with the 'there's nothing on SW BC any more' canard, is the
'but I HAVE to have cable to watch TV' lie. Emphasizing how false that
is, is the 'new' network on the air called Comet, featuring classic
Sci-Fi, and some really bad (so bad they are good?) "B" movies of the
genre. Founded June 29, 2015, and owned by MGM & Sinclair TV Group
(i.e. not a flash in the pan organization) it is being used to phase
out the ZUUS country music 'network' that had run on many Sinclair
stations, but is being cut.
That is exactly the case in Flint (RF-16 PSIP 66 WSMH) where they
started up pretty much as the network started broadcasting on October
31. Thanks to Larry R for spotting this and sharing!
I watched a bit Saturday PM --- a REALLY bad 1970s movie starring Tom
Sellik [sic] set in the Philippines and an even worse B Movie after
that made me think 'meh' but they 'redeemed' themselves with their
weekday programming: Reruns of "The Outer Limits" and Stargate SG-1.
They could give SyFy a run for its money, particularly since SyFy has
dropped all their good original programming in favor of wrestling and
the like! --kvz (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet Nov
6 via DXLD) Viz.:
DTV: RF-16, PSIP-66, WSMH, Flint MI, 66.3 running new COMET network,
sci-fi shows. Program data still says ZUUS. 3 am [EST] 11/1 (Larry
Russell, Flushing [Flu-xing?] MI, MARE Tipsheet Nov 6 via DXLD)
[see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_(TV_network) ]
Wow, a reason to slew my antenna north! :) Thanks for the tip!
16, 66.1, WSHM-DT [sic], Fox network w/"Sleepy Hollow
66.2, Get TV network (mostly old movies) with "Dead Reckoning"
a REALLY good Bogie movie!)
66.3, Comet TV now showing the appropriate digital ID rather than
ZUUS which is what they had up through the weekend, and carrying
"Outer Limits". See <http://comettv.com>
All this in very well -- 75% signal, but they have set the aspect
ratio wrong so unless you adjust your TV it is in 'squeeze-o-vision'.
0150-0205 [UT?] 6/Nov. Thanks to tip from Larry R about the network
addition! (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet Nov 6 via
DXLD)
** UZBEKISTAN [non]. Re: Perseus Colombo. BBC Uzbek 4790 kHz check at
Victor's Perseus 1257 - 1301 UT. Some 12 Hertz down frequency noted
that outlet.
4789.988 kHz footprint from Dushanbe TJK 1300-1330 UT daily, not like
compared to exact even frequency 4765 kHz of Tajik R1 program. S=7 or
-86dBm signal in Piliyandala. I hear no jamming, but in background
very low ?CODAR? ute scratches?
Uwe Volk updated the web router at Victor's site in Piliyandala Ceylon
today, changed the router mode, and now the access to SDR receiver
unit works fine, and excellent antenna signals noted too. GREAT, many
thanks to Piliyandala, ultra excellent reception at 1220 UT, Nov 8
Perseus alignment +002 Hertz throughout, also 13 mb. vy73 de wolfy
(Wolfgang Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [and non]. B15 schedule for Vatican Radio in English
0140-0200 Daily As 7410-va 9560-va
0300-0320 Daily As 15470-ph
0300-0330 Daily Af 7360-va 9660-md
0500-0530 Daily Af 7360-va 11625-md
0630-0700 Daily Af 9660-va 11625-va
0730-0745 .mtwtfs ME 15595-va
0800-1130 irreg Af 21550-va (irreg -special events)
0900-1100 XwX Eu 7250-va (Papal audience - multiple languages)
[I`m not sure how those X`s get in there, but leaves Wed only above]
1130-1200 .....f. As 17590-va 21560-va (mass)
1530-1550 Daily As 11695-ph 15470-rv 15775-va-drm (Sat Mass to 1600)
1715-1730 Daily ME 11935-va
1730-1800 Daily Af 9660-md 11625-va 13765-va
2000-2030 Daily Af 9660-va 11625-va
(Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Source HFCC, something else? (gh)
I’ve noticed Vatican Radio using 3975 kHz again since the new B15
season changes took place on October 25th. This is always parallel
strong 6070 kHz (which is a pity, as it blocks the weaker 6070 relays
via Kall, Germany here). Their online schedule isn’t updated as I
write this, but on HFCC, 3975 kHz is registered by Vatican at: 0630-
0715, 1940-2015 and 2140-2200 UTC (Alan Pennington, Nov BDXC-UK
Communication via DXLD)
** VATICAN [non]. 7425, Nov 7 at 0229, Vatican R IS is JBA from
Greenville leapfrog of 7305 over 7365, about to close; while ALBANIA
remains escaped to 7470, but not any stronger, with propagation
degraded.
7425, Nov 8 at 0136, JBA carrier from VOA Greenville, caused by S9+25
open carrier on 7305, leaping over adjacent 7365 Radio Martí
transmitter, and a trace of that modulation can be heard on 7425 //
7365. Vatican Radio starts Spanish at 0145 per its new unpublicized
schedule, and now the spur on 7425 rates S6, a mixture of weak Vatican
and Martí audio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA
** WESTERN SAHARA. MOROCCO. 711.0, 2302-..., 29/10, SNRT-"R", El Aiún.
Arabic, chanting. Reactivated. Strong modulation. QRM de France. 54433
711.0, 1300-..., 02/11, SNRT-"R", Al-Watania channel relay, Arabic,
news. Strong modulation - new transmitter? 45454 (Carlos Gonçalves, SW
coast of Portugal, JRC NRD-545DSP & DRAKE R-E; Advanced Receiver amp.;
raised, 4 loop K9AY, 30 m 180º/0º mini-Bev., 80 m 300º/120º Bev., 200
m 270º/90º Bev., 270 m 145º/325º Bev., 300 m 225º/45º Beverage,
radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1797, DXLD) Probable source of het
I got to 710; see UNID TA carrier search below (gh)
WESTERN SAHARA. 711, SNRT Laâyoune, NOV 6 0500 - Fair; choral Morocco
national anthem. Measured on-frequency at 711.0 kHz with no het.
Previously logged at 711.11 kHz (Bruce Conti, WPC1CAT, Nashua NH;
WiNRADiO Excalibur, MWDX-5 phasing unit, 15 x 23-m variable
termination SuperLoop antennas at 60 northeast and 180 south, NRC
IDXD via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 1550.0, 1159-1303* 02/11, ALGERIA, POLISARIO
Front (cland.), Rabouni. Arabic, talks, songs, anthem (new version) at
closure. 35343 (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, JRC NRD-545DSP
& DRAKE R-E; Advanced Receiver amp.; raised, 4 loop K9AY, 30 m 180º/0º
mini-Bev., 80 m 300º/120º Bev., 200 m 270º/90º Bev., 270 m 145º/325º
Bev., 300 m 225º/45º Beverage, radioescutas yg via DXLD)
** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA: 11735, Radio Tanzania-Zanzibar (tentative);
2000-2006+, 6-Nov; Arabish instrumental music to W in unknownlanguge
at 2004:45; mentioned Dar es Salaam. SIO=2+23-, ute pips & roar QRM;
LSB helps with ute but enhances roar (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA,
MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated
beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
6015, Nov 9 at 0338, presumed Ungujan music, from ZBC, S9 but only
fair with ACI from 6020 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Nothing from Tanzania 11735, 1700-1915 UT yday and today – neither on
my own receiver in Central Ireland nor via UTwente SDR. Presume they
are off for tech reasons again (Derek Lynch, Nov 10, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. Trans-oceanic 9-kHz-plan carrier searches on the DX-398:
Nov 5 at 0711-0714, first noted het on 620, i.e. 621.0 kHz; then found
het on 710 too, i.e. from 711; and JBA carriers on 738 and 882.
Sunrise in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands was 0719 UT today,
likely source of 621, and maybe 882 tho WRTH flags it as low power;
711 could be Morocco, while 738 more likely Tahiti from the other
worldside, looping WSW/ENE. My DFing is quite approximate, and the
true bearing of Tahiti from here is 232 degrees (exact southwest being
225); and of Canary Islands is 71 degrees.
Another search after I awaken at 1250-1253 UT Nov 5: first check 774
but nothing there; however JBA carriers on 747, 738, 702 from the
west, and 792. My guesses: 747 Japan, 738 Tahiti, and 702 from
Australia. Our sunrise today: 1258 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. TA carrier search Nov 6 at 0643-0651: 711 from ENE,
Morocco? 783 from about 80 degrees, Mauritania? 738, probably TP
Tahiti (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 1220, Nov 11 at 1353 UT, ad for something on ``Hiway 95
in Athens``, soon fade-out, long past sunrise here. This should be
easy to pinpoint, but not: first of all, there are no 1220s axually in
any community of license called Athens. The Wikipedia entry for Athens
(Greece) has a handy list of ``Other locations named after Athens`` in
the USA, some being townships, including AL, AR, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA,
KS, MI, MN, MS, OH, TX, WI (skipping some too far east or west). I`ve
looked up most of those on atlas maps and so far haven`t found any hwy
95, US or state, in their vicinities. Ideas? Perhaps I will keep
searching more minutely. No idea of the direxion on this one (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or could it have been Atkins?? (gh)
Other locations named after Athens; United States:
Athens, Alabama (pop. 24,234)
Athens, Arkansas[136]
Athens, California
West Athens, California (pop. 9,101)
Athens, Georgia (pop. 114,983)
Athens, Illinois (pop. 1,726)
New Athens, Illinois (pop. 2,620)
New Athens Township, St. Clair County, Illinois (pop. 2,620)
Athens, Indiana
Athens, Kentucky
Athens, Louisiana (pop. 262)
Athens Township, Jewell County, Kansas (pop. 74)
Athens, Maine (pop. 847)
Athens, Michigan (pop. 1,111)
Athens Township, Michigan (pop. 2,571)
Athens, Minnesota
Athens Township, Minnesota (pop. 2,322)
Athens, Mississippi
Athens (town), New York (pop. 3,991)
Athens (village), New York (pop. 1,695)
Athens, Ohio (pop. 21,909)
Athens County, Ohio (pop. 62,223)
Athens Township, Athens County, Ohio (pop. 27,714)
Athens Township, Harrison County, Ohio (pop. 520)
New Athens, Ohio (pop. 342)
Athena, Oregon (pop. 1,270)
Athens, Pennsylvania (pop. 3,415)
Athens Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania (pop. 5,058)
Athens Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania (pop. 775)
Athens, Tennessee (pop. 13,220)
Athens, Texas (pop. 11,297)
Athens, Vermont (pop. 340)
Athens, West Virginia (pop. 1,102)
Athens, Wisconsin (pop. 1,095)
(Wikipedia, via DXLD)
UNIDENTIFIED. unID on 1580 at 2338 UT --- Got someone on 1580 almost
two hours ago with Christmas music and an ID that sounded like "The
Jet 101.1" I'm 100% positive about the FM frequency, not so sure
about the slogan. Tried to find any 1580/101.1 combos using radio-
locator and topazdesigns.com/ambc, but struck out. Some of the
Christmas songs had a country flavor to them. Any ideas? 73, (Rick
Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska EN21AF, 0130 UT Nov 6,
http://www.dxworld.com/bcblog.html
NRC-AM via DXLD)
You should also try the WTFDA FM Database, as I did, but no Jets on
101.1 there either (gh, DXLD)
UNIDENTIFIED. 4590, Nov 11 at 0509, I am deliberately looking for
another WWCR minus WNQM spur now that the WWCR-4 transmitter is on
5890 instead of 7520 after 0300. I do detect a JBA carrier, but
beneath a heavy ute blob and some CODAR. No way to ID anything unless
that abates. 1300 kHz up, the fundamental 5890 is suffering from a
dropping MUF, only poor at S8 with BS. 5890 is currently on air 03-13
UT Tue-Fri, 03-12 UT Sat, 05-12 UT Sun, 04-13 UT Mon --- mostly BS but
some other g.h.`s before him in evenings. The WNQM relay of WMDB 880,
La Ranchera, may not run all night, but you can`t tell from the WNQM
website. Other #4 frequency is 9980 in the daytime, so look for
parasite on 8680 when it is on, and maybe 11280 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 4800, random checking 1140-1404, Nov 6. What happened
here today? Recently CNR1 had been off the air here, leaving AIR
Hyderabad in the clear, but no longer so. Heard strong signal, with
traditional Chinese music (no singing, but not Firedragon); one very
long loop of music with no announcements at all; non-stop filler
music; not CNR1 programming. Thanks to Aoki, who also noted UNID
today:
"It has broadcast the same program(non-stop music) at frequencies
below.
3985 kHz(CNR-2)
4800 kHz(CNR-1)
6080 kHz(CNR-1)
6090 kHz(CNR-2)
** 4800 kHz and 6080 kHz broadcast from the same transmitting
station." Worth monitoring tomorrow to see what the situation is.
4800. The station I heard 1140-1404, Nov 6, playing non-stop filler
Chinese music has not returned as of Nov 8; am only hearing presumed
AIR Hyderabad in the clear (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach,
CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 5925, Nov 6 at 1315, very poor talk in unknown language,
marred by humwhine seemingly self-imposed. HFCC shows only thing is
CNR from Beijing; Aoki says it`s CNR-5, but also lists Voice of
Vietnam-2 during this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 12104.980, 'string' visible at 0225 UT (Wolfgang
Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada
Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
WTWW-3 carrier on late? (gh, DXLD)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17653.5-USB, Nov 8 at 1410, intermittent 2-way Spanish
contacts and high background(?) noise, one INTRUDER much stronger than
the other (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17800, Nov 7 at 1839 tune-in to open carrier, shortly
off at 1840*. Not very strong. HFCC and Aoki show previous and
following users of 17800; maybe one of these such as AWR checking up:
17800 1700 1800 37,38,46,47,52,53SW ASC 250 65 0 147 1234567
251015 260316 D 16440 Fra UAE DWL DWL 296 www.dw.
17800 1930 2000 46S MEY 250 315 -25 418 1234567
251015 260316 D 17690 Ful AFS AWR AWR 3836 x104
Note the strange DWL info: site Ascension, but country UAE!! Error? Or
has Deutsche Welle moved to Abu Dhabi? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 17805.50-USB, Nov 6 at 2220, very poor 2-way INTRUDERS,
probably in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 18000-SSB, Nov 10 at 1455, weak 2-way, perhaps Spanish,
demodulated by the FRG-7 MHz birdie; could be aeronautical, what this
band is for (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Just wanted to say thank you for your daily SW logs. They are very
interesting and useful (Bruce KG5GEM Johnson, Sent from my iPhone, Nov
9)
Hello Glenn! Please two items for the wonderful WOR & DXLD! Best
wishes, (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria)
Financially, one may contribute by check or MO on US funds on a US
bank to World of Radio, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702
Or via PayPal, not necessarily in US funds, to woradio at yahoo.com
PUBLICATIONS
++++++++++++
UPDATED:
DX/SWL/Media Programs
http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html
World of Radio Schedule
http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html
Alan Roe`s SW Station Hitlist
http://www.w4uvh.net/hitlist.htm
B-15 schedules from many different sources and formats are linked from
the updated World of Radio homepage:
http://www.worldofradio.com
Victor Varzim, Leningrad region said on "deneb-radio-dx" & "open_dx":
BASE AOKI B15
http://www1.m2.mediacat.ne.jp/binews/ut/bib15.xlsx
(RusDX Nov 8 via DXLD) Still waiting for non-zipped text version (gh)
RADIO-RELATED FILMS & SONGS
To add the growing list of radio related films, CHRISSY BRAND tells us
of Piter FM, set at the St Petersburg radio station. The city is a
star in it and you can find a subtitled version on YouTube. The plot
can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piter_FM
And RUMEN PANKOV would like to add, with regard to radio songs: “After
my mistake with Pilot on the Airwaves (which was already published in
Communication No 488 by Richard Gedye) here is another song hard
related with the radio: Al Jolson and Isham Jones Orchestra with Mr
Radio Man 2582 (1924) and an instrumental version of same song by Ted
Lewis and his band both recorded in 1924 and be listening to YouTube.”
(Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD)
PHIL BYTHEWAY IS STUCK ON RADIO
by Ken Deutsch on 11.05.2015
People who are passionate about radio collect all manner of station
ephemera, including but not limited to coffee mugs, QSL cards proving
reception, T-shirts, airchecks, belt buckles, key chains, buttons and
music surveys.
Phil Bytheway and sticker storage containers.
The unusually-appellated Phil Bytheway collects stickers. [caption]
“There are bumper stickers, window stickers, the relatively new
static-cling stickers, mailing labels, phone stickers and even press-
on tattoos,” Bytheway said.
He collects just about anything with call letters or a slogan on it.
“I started my collection with KJR(AM) here in Seattle, but in my early
days I also picked up stickers from WLS(AM), Chicago; KHJ and KFRC
[both AM] in San Francisco and others. On Yahoo, there is a group that
buys and sells these, and the most famous stations seem to fetch the
highest prices. Single stickers typically sell for between $5 and $10
online, but I like to pay much less if possible. My favorites are the
ones with great designs, and the most colorful stickers come from
Florida and Hawaii. But I’d be interested in collecting a sticker from
any AM station I have heard.”
In the world of radio stickers, there is often a promotional tie-in
with musical groups, sports teams or radio personalities.
“WRIF(FM), Detroit has a racetrack oval design,” said Bytheway. “In
the middle they have their call letters, or even a rock group name
without the call letters! At one point the networks that broadcast
sports play-by-play would create decals and stickers for their teams
and put the call letters of the local stations carrying the games on
them as well.”
How did Bytheway discover this niche hobby, and how does he obtain new
station stickers?
“I started listening to the AM band for distant stations while I was
in junior high,” said Bytheway, now 62. “I began writing them to
verify my reception and often they would include a sticker with their
reply. That started me building and organizing my collection by call
letters, and now I have about 42,000 stickers.
“It’s more difficult to get stations to send you their stickers these
days,” he said. “So when I initially contact a station, I seek out the
promotions director and offer to include a self-addressed, stamped
envelope. Once they ask for the envelope, I get a 100 percent return
rate. If I can get them to send me two stickers, I’ll have an extra
one to trade with my friends.”
A COMMUNITY OF COLLECTORS
Bytheway runs a newsletter called DecalcoMania (www.anarc.org/decal)
and belonging to the club will cost you less than the price of a Big
Mac. There are about 30 members in the United States, but Bytheway
says that this hobby is huge in Europe.
While he has obtained a small number of stickers from places like the
United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, he says he has a
hard time just keeping up with domestic product.
A collage of stickers from Bytheway’s collection [caption]
All 42,000 of his stickers are detailed in an Excel spreadsheet, and
Radio World obtained a copy of that document. Besides the expected
“W,” “K,” “C” and “X” call letters of North America, one can’t help
but notice stickers in the collection from VOAR in St. John’s, Canada
(covering Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan), IBC in Iqaluit (Inuit
Broadcasting Corporation) and JOY Radio in Ghana.
Bytheway’s sticker collection is large, but that is a relative term.
He trades with a friend in Italy who owns about 330,000.
Contact Bytheway at phil.bytheway @ gmail.com
(Radio World asked Bytheway about his surname. “My last name is
derived from the British term for someone who was granted land on a
road in Shropshire near Much Wenlock,” he said. “They lived by-the-
way. ‘Bytheway’ is pronounced just like the expression ‘by the way,’
no odd twists or emphasis on any syllable.”)
In perusing Bytheway’s spreadsheet, Ken Deutsch found a number of
familiar call letters representing stations at which he did a lot of
damage in his younger days: WOHO(AM), Toledo, Ohio; WPAG(FM), Ann
Arbor, Mich.; and WXEZ(FM), Sylvania, Ohio. See more at [illustrated]:
http://www.radioworld.com/article/phil-bytheway-is-stuck-on-radio/277460
Our fearless leader – great photo (?) (via Dennis Gibson, IRCA via
DXLD) Phil heads the IRCA, not mentioned
I don't know about fearless; Was approached about an article a couple
months ago. Went through the process and then didn't hear back from
them re WHEN it might appear. So thanks to the watchful folks that
spotted it. Didn't have any idea about front page exposure. Kinda
nice!! Article focuses mainly on my radio sticker collecting, but I
did get an AM DX mention or two. I'm not holding my breath for tons of
emails offering to send me stickers though, hi! (Phil Bytheway, ibid.)
RADIO PHILATELY
+++++++++++++++
DX PHILATELY --- Information for lovers of philately from Radio Habana
PHILATELIC CONTEST 2015 --- On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of
the first transmission of “The World of Stamps” show, Radio Havana
Cuba has organized the 2015 philatelic contest. The question you must
answer is: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED BY LISTENING TO RADIO HAVANA CUBA’S
PHILATELIC SEGMENT?
All participants will be awarded Cuban postal issues as a prize.
Besides, the best answers will be read in the program and published in
the webpage. Contest deadline is December 31st, 2015.
Essays must be addressed to RHC, P. O. Box 6240, Havana, Cuba; or sent
electronically through radiohc@enet.cu Messages can be left also in
the Correspondence Section of our website http://www.radiohc.cu
(Anatoly Klepov, Moscow, Russia, RusDX Nov 8 via DXLD)
LANGUAGE LESSONS
++++++++++++++++
WUM-DA-DA, WUM-DA-DA
``Auf 15190.075, ZYE522, Radio Inconfidencia aus Belo Horizonte MG und
jetzt auch wum-da-da, wum-da-da, zum Schunkeln um 0750 UT bei
(Wolfgang Bueschel, Oct 25, A-DX via wb, WORLD OF RADIO 1797, dxld)
How do you say wum-da-da in English? Google translates, merely
jumbling the order in the second instance:
"on 15190.075 ZYE522 Radio Inconfidência from Belo Horizonte MG and
now also wum-da-da, da-da-wum, to swaying around 0750 UT at"
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe alludes to heavy beat``
Bavarian brass band music! Sway in the beer tent, like Oktoberfest in
Munich sway - to link arms and sway from side to side (Wolfgang
Büschel, Stuttgart, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE 2015
(#WRC15) is in session from 2 to 27 November 2015 in Geneva,
Switzerland. News to follow (Mike Terry, Nov 8, dxldyg via DXLD) Viz.:
La Conferencia Mundial de Radiocomunicaciones (CMR-15) dibuja en
Ginebra el futuro del sector
La Unión Internacional de las Comunicaciones (UIT/ITU) celebra hasta
el 27 de este mes en Ginebra la Conferencia Mundial de
Radiocomunicaciones (CMR-15). Broadcasters, operadores, reguladores,
fabricantes y diferentes asociaciones y organismos debatirán estos
días sobre diferentes cuestiones intentando mantener actualizado el
campo técnico y regulatorio de las telecomunicaciones de cara a
intentar armonizar los diferentes intereses en materia de espectro y
procedimientos regulatorios.
Reuniones previas a la CMR-15
Las Conferencias Mundiales de Radiocomunicaciones, que se celebran
cada tres o cuatro años, ofrecen la oportunidad de revisar el
Reglamento de Radiocomunicaciones, que es el tratado internacional que
regula el uso del espectro de radiofrecuencias y las posiciones
orbitales de los satélites. En este caso se trata de adaptar el marco
existente para el espectro de necesidades, a fin de mejorar las
aplicaciones existentes e introducir otros nuevos. Una vez sea
aprobado este nuevo tratado, éste será obligatorio para todos los
miembros de la Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones (UIT).
Sin duda, el principal reto de esta Conferencia será determinar cómo
hacer frente a la evolución de las comunicaciones móviles y la banda
ancha con respecto al uso tradicional de frecuencias por parte de los
broadcasters. La CMR-15 tiene como principal desafío identificar
nuevas bandas de frecuencias para el desarrollo de la banda ancha
móvil ya que, según defienden las telcos las necesidades en este campo
crecen exponencialmente. También se valorarán las necesidades de banda
por parte de los servicios de emergencia en caso de desastres o
situaciones graves, o las relacionadas con desarrollos científicos de
investigación y seguridad en la circulación aérea.
Las decisiones que se adopten en Ginebra serán decisivas en el futuro
de la banda de UHF, al estar previsto un segundo dividendo digital e
incluso una posible revisión del uso del resto de esta banda,
atribuida exclusivamente a servicios de radiodifusión de televisión
terrestre en la inmensa mayoría de los países a día de hoy.
La identificación de nuevas bandas de frecuencia para IMT
(Telecomunicaciones Móviles Internacionales) o para el uso de
tecnologías de Tercera y Cuarta Generación, y su atribución al
servicio móvil de manera prioritaria, será un tema recurrente en esta
CMR-15.
Esta reunión servirá también para reactivar las discusiones sobre la
revisión y modificación de los procedimientos regulatorios del
Reglamento de Radiocomunicaciones, en lo relativo a la coordinación y
notificación de redes satelitales. En este terreno, destacar que una
resolución del Parlamento Europeo aprobada el pasado jueves insta a la
Comisión Europea a desarrollar la tecnología satelital para el
seguimiento de aeronaves en cualquier punto para mejorar la seguridad.
Esta propuesta se llevará a la Conferencia Mundial de
radiocomunicación (CMR-15) ya que, a juicio de Estrasburgo, poder
disponer de una propia banda del espectro radioeléctrico podrían
prevenir los fallos de seguridad y facilitaría la localización y
recuperación de datos en caso de accidente aéreo (Panorama
Audiovisual.com via GRA blog via DXLD)
EBU WELCOMES WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR TV ON UHF
DTG 10 November 2015
The European Broadcasting Union has welcomed the support of many
international broadcasting groups at the World Radiocommunication
Conference 2015 to retain UHF spectrum below 700 MHz for terrestrial
TV.
European and African countries, the Arab States, the Commonwealth of
Independent States, and the Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Union, as
well as a joint proposal from 14 South American states, have all
signed up to the 'No change' position on allocating spectrum between
broadcast and mobile use.
You can find out how the decisions made at WRC-15 will affect the UK
at the DTG Dynamic Spectrum Access Forum's WRC-15: Impact on UK Plc
seminar on December 14th — click the link on the right to register.
http://dtg.org.uk/news/news.html?id=5497
Posted by: (Mike Terry, Nov 10, dxld yg via DXLD)
BDXC AC Extra - November 2015
Hi All; As promised, this month's BDXC AC Extra is in the form of two
talks given at this year's EDXC Conference in St Petersburg. They were
provided by Chrissy Brand.
The first talk is titled, "DXing in Finland Today" and was given by
Risto Vahakainu. You can download it here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b7ijxd36qlgmmml/20150919%20Dxing%20in%20Finland%20Today.mp3?dl=0
The second talk is titled: "Radio Hooligans of the 1970s in a USSR
Province a Sip of Freedom" and was given by Victor Rezunkov of Radio
Liberty. It is in Russian translated into English and can be dowloaded
here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4u7g76y9plin0gm/20150919%20Radio%20Hooligans%20of%20the%201970s.mp3?dl=0
The quality of the recordings is not studio quality, but to those of
you who would normally listen through the ether to a distant DX signal
it should not prove too much of a challenge! We hope that you enjoy
the recordings! (Andrew Tett, Nov 9, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD)
MUSEA See also USA: WWBS
+++++
PUBLIC COMMENTS SOUGHT FOR ANTICIPATED ADVERSE EFFECT ON HISTOR [sic]
Hi everyone - I received the note below in my e-mail; the US Fish &
Wildlife Service is considering alterations to the site AT&T used for
its ship-to-shore communication in the past century, and was
apparently also used for VOA transmissions from 1944 onwards.
Public comment on these plans is invited; check out the link near the
bottom of the message. Note that the public comment period expires
November 15 (Richard Cuff / editor, Easy Listening, Nov 5, NASWA yg
via DXLD)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Cultural Resources, FW5 <northeastcr@fws.gov>
Date: Tue, Nov 3, 2015 at 3:12 PM
Subject: Public comments sought for anticipated adverse effect on
historic properties
Dear North American Shortwave Association:
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposes a pole removal project in
the tidal marshlands of the Good Luck Point (Ocean Gate) and
Manahawkin units of Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in
Ocean County, New Jersey. The undertaking will contribute to saltmarsh
enhancement funded by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013.
The proposal is for hundreds of poles to be removed, in addition to
cables, wires, metal towers, and concrete blocks. The goal of this
action is to enhance coastal marsh habitats by increasing marsh
resiliency from impacts of large storm events and other ecosystem
stressors.
The poles are part of inactive shortwave antenna fields
associated with AT&T’s ship-to-shore shortwave communications system,
which was in operation at the sites from the early 1930s until 1999.
The wires connecting the antenna poles were removed by AT&T prior to
the creation of the National Wildlife Refuge units.
Good Luck Point in Berkeley Township, Ocean County includes a
shortwave transmitter building and antenna field. The municipality
owns the shuttered building, while the poles of the inactive antenna
field are on Refuge land. Under the call sign WOO, the shortwave
facility at Good Luck Point (known as Ocean Gate) was a renowned
transmitting station, which helped broadcast Voice of America around
the globe after 1944 and enabled communication with ships at sea
throughout the twentieth century.
The historic property is eligible for listing in the National Register
of Historic Places. The proposed project will remove approximately 340
wooden poles from the inactive antenna field, along with several metal
antennae.
Manahawkin in Stafford Township, Ocean County includes the WOO
companion site, which consists of a shortwave receiving station and
antenna field. Via Manahawkin, shortwave communications from ships at
sea were linked to America’s telephone network from the 1930s until
1999.
The entire Refuge unit is within a conservation easement to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which does not own the building. The
historic property is eligible for listing in the National Register of
Historic Places. The proposed project will remove approximately 113
wooden poles from the antenna field. Several metal antennas will be
removed, as well.
Because both of the historic properties represent well-preserved
examples of nationally significant shortwave facilities, they have
been determined eligible for National Register listing. Consequently,
the proposed removal of poles from the antenna fields will cause an
adverse effect under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act.
A mitigation program is being developed in consultation with the
New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office. In accordance with
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service seeks public comment on the anticipated adverse
effect.
The public is invited to submit comments concerning the project’s
effects on the historic properties to northeastcr@fws.gov
The public comment period ends on November 15, 2015.
Additional information is available via this Web link:
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/edwin_b_forsythe/
Thank you for your interest.
-- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Cultural Resources Program
Division of Refuge Field Support
Northeast Regional Office
300 Westgate Center Drive
Hadley, MA 01035-9589
(via Cuff, NASWA yg via DXLD)
I remember hearing WOO in the 60`s(?) as an AT&T station, but never as
a VOA site. Perhaps it was backup or before my time pre-1957y (gh,
DXLD)
NORTHEAST BLACKOUT RADIO REMINISCENCES, 50 YEARS LATER
From: Mark Connelly, WA1ION
This is being written on the 50th anniversary of the Great Northeast
Blackout of 1965. Power went out in large parts of New York, New
England, and some other adjacent states and Canadian provinces.
The evening of November 9, 1965 was going on pretty much like any
other after-school night. At my family home in Arlington, MA we had
just finished supper. It was a chilly night outside and I went in the
living room to do a little radio listening on a Realistic TRF portable
( http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1964/h080.html ) that had
good sensitivity to pick up the many AM music stations from around the
northeastern United States and adjacent parts of Canada.
A bit after 5 p.m. I was listening to WNJR on 1430, a black R&B
station skipping in from Newark, NJ (after local WHIL Medford had done
its sunset sign-off). The song "Two is a Couple (Three is a Crowd)" by
Ike & Tina Turner ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GUA5IaDhOw ) was
playing. At 5:17 p.m. the lights dimmed, blinked off, blinked on, and
then quickly went off to stay off for quite a while. The radio became
the only link to the outside world that ran on battery power, so its
role became much more important than usual functions as a source of
music and long-distance hobby listening ("DXing").
I was a junior in high school at the time and was developing an avid
interest in electronics. I was already building the occasional project
and logging many broadcasts from around the world. A couple of my
friends (Phil [later N1PZU] and Dick [WA1FAE / later KB1DN]) chatted
with me on CB channel 11 from time to time on 100 milliwatt walkie
talkies (' http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1965-a/h003.html '
or similar) including, I think, during the blackout. In less than two
years I would be a licensed radio amateur (now WA1ION).
The world of 1965 was one that had recent memories of the Cuban
Missile Crisis and JFK assassination. The Vietnam War was starting to
ramp up and civil rights struggles rocked many cities. Late that
summer, folk protest music was making a resurgence with Bob Dylan's
songs and "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntLsElbW9Xo ).
Such music had been earlier in vogue around '62 and '63 but was
sidetracked a while by the British Invasion juggernaut. Cold War
hysteria was never much below the surface in the autumn of 1965. The
massive popularity of James Bond spy movies and of TV shows such as
"Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "The Avengers" had a lot of appeal to young
people. Sci-fi was also big. Space exploration and science had a
certain amount of a "cool" factor; kids interested in it weren't
necessarily thought of as geeks and nerds. Boston's Route 128
technology belt was growing by leaps and bounds as government and
private money poured into aerospace, defense, computer, and
telecommunications advances. Proximity to world-class universities
spurred much of the activity.
As I listened to the radio that November evening, it quickly became
apparent that this blackout was not one of the usual ones just
affecting our street and maybe, at most, a couple of others nearby -
your typical branch-lands-on-wire or car-hits-pole scenario.
Reports came in not only from nearby Boston but also Providence, New
York, Albany, and quite a few other locales with stations that I could
receive on the transistor radio.
There was a pervasive uneasiness out there and various theories
running from Russian sabotage to domestic loonies / criminals to UFO's
abounded.
The AM dial was an interesting mix of absent usual signals - gone with
the loss of power - and other stations which had managed, thanks to
generator availability, to come back on. Leading local Top 40 station
WMEX 1510 lost power at the Boston studio but managed to get a
generator going at the transmitter site, then located in North Quincy,
MA. An improvised broadcast got going when some of the staff arrived
there from Boston, 6 miles to the north. But either the voltage level
or AC frequency of the generator was a bit off as records being played
lurched along between too slow and too fast. I remember "Let's Hang
On" by the Four Seasons
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8782KIj_rKw )
playing in a most discordant manner. Aware of the problem, the people
at the transmitter quit music for a while and just talked.
Houses started getting chilly as many furnaces wouldn't fire up
without electricity. Fortunately the power did come back and a more
normal pace of life returned.
There is an online article written by a New York City broadcast
professional that gives a good insight of how various stations
responded to the blackout:
http://nrcdxas.org/articles/blkout1.html
Some other links:
Dan Ingram on WABC New York
http://www.mediafire.com/download/c2020aqx6j38m3b/WABC+1965+Blackout-1.mp3
Action at WDRC Hartford, CT
https://www.facebook.com/groups/transmittersites/permalink/969803296414651/
NBC TV news coverage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o47VVM5riaQ
Boston Globe 50th anniversary articles
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/11/08/the-day-massachusetts-went-dark-fifty-years-later/EjabrHTQkJpRFn4eYuThcN/story.html
http://www.boston.com/news/history/2015/11/09/remembering-the-day-boston-went-dark-years-ago/X4Be7F3fiGx3mw3QbFC5tK/story.html?s_campaign=bcom%3Asocialflow%3Afacebook
How I Got Started in Radio and Electronics
http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/wa1ion_history.htm
Besides songs mentioned in the narrative above, some of the other big
hits I remember on Top 40 radio around then include:
Look Through Any Window (Hollies) .. their greatest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B2_OTRpPd4
Turn, Turn, Turn (Byrds) .. taken from the Bible and huge follow-up to
Dylan-written "Mr. Tambourine Man" of the early summer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKP4cfU28vM
Something About You (Four Tops) .. soul classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6P-v5RD02g
Rescue Me (Fontella Bass) .. another soul classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9mp3s2gpy8
Five O'Clock World (Vogues) .. working man's anthem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9Nm_c3GVY
Get Off My Cloud (Rolling Stones) .. Stones string of successes
continues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlhPRuAve8k
Mystic Eyes (Them) featuring Van Morrison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bo3IwYZlkw
I'm a Man (Yardbirds) rocked-up blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAdCePtwoW4
Liar Liar (Castaways) .. garage monster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EpP9DPZ0Xo
Sounds of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel) .. title cut from an outstanding
album
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fWyzwo1xg0
Once a week, WBZ's Jefferson Kaye brought us to an alternate universe
of folk music and, occasionally, blues. Here are two of the more
important tunes spinning in late 1965:
Children of Darkness (Richard & Mimi Farina)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWPjWh_EwBo
Shake Your Money Maker (Paul Butterfield Blues Band)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1L2vJ0U4Bc
(Mark Connelly, MA, Nov 9, 2015, NRC-AM via DXLD)
Mark, you have a great memory. I was 12 and remember that night and
the next day being without power. I grew up in central Connecticut and
was starting to become interested in short wave listening, Got my
first short wave receiver that Christmas. Yes, it was dark and cold. I
could see from the living room bay window that not only the lights
were out on our street but the whole neighborhood was black. I had a
little AM transistor radio that was tuned to WTIC 1080 in Hartford so
the family could get the latest information. Lucky for us there was a
fireplace in the family room which kept the house from freezing.
Thanks for the memories, I had forgotten about that night 50 years
ago. 73, (Dan W6DAN, ibid.)
I was in college in Syracuse NY - so we were hit early. I was in the
office of the student newspaper when we lost power. Nobody had a
portable radio. I was actively DX'ing then, but had only my HQ-100
which was back in my dormitory room on the 13th floor. So even if I'd
had a portable there, I probably wouldn't have wanted to walk up to
get it.
Instead, the few of us who were in the office went back to the
apartment of one of the upperclassmen, found some candle and
flashlights and hung out. He did have a portable, but everyone was too
interested in hearing the news - and I forget now what station we
found for that purpose, but it wasn't local - I'd guess it was either
WKBW -1520 or WHAM-1180 opn generator power.
I briefly aroused some minor interest when it was reported that the
outage might have originated in Canada, and I was able to find
CBE-1550 to check for that part of the news. It got quite cold, and
eventually we dispersed and I did have to walk up the 13 floors to get
some sleep.
Since then though I usually tried to have at least one portable with
good batteries available. Lesson learned. – (Russ Edmunds, 15 mi NW
Phila, NRC-AM via DXLD)
VOICE OF TRUTH --- YouTube Video of the Month
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf2c93sUSjM
Produced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in support of the 7th
War Loan, "Voice of Truth" is a terrific example of WWII propaganda
films. "Voice of Truth" uses a Tokyo Rose broadcast as its conceit, to
remind the audience of the stakes in the war. Stories circulated that
Tokyo Rose could be unnervingly accurate, naming units and even
individual servicemen; though such stories have never been
substantiated by documents such as scripts and recorded broadcasts
(November CIDX Messenger via DXLD)
WORLD OF HOROLOGY
+++++++++++++++++
North America has switched back to standard time as of November 1st
causing longer periods of darkness each day as we head to the shortest
day of the year. This is always an excellent time for DXing,
particularly the AM radio band which has already seen some very nice
openings including several periods of trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific
reception (November CIDX Messenger via DXLD)
Gotcha! The Big Lie of DST scores another triumph over simple logic.
Reverting to Standard time does NOT ``cause longer periods of
darkness``! This is a natural process caused by Earth`s tilt, and
consequent seasonal variations. Messing with our clox cannot possibly
influence how much darkness there is, one way or the other (Glenn
Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
VAIZEY CALLS FOR EUROPEAN DIGITAL RADIO PLAN
DTG 10 November 2015 [Daily Telegraph?]
The Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey, has called on the European
Commission to include radio in the Digital Single Market Strategy to
encourage the rise of common technical standards, in-car receivers and
the carriage of European radio services on digital networks.
Vaizey told the WorldDAB Assembly 2015 that the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport is helping Germany, Scandinavia and France to
follow the UK success (sic) with DAB take-up by working with
broadcasters and car manufacturers.
http://dtg.org.uk/news/news.html?id=5497
Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD)
DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See also BRAZIL, VATICAN
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DRM RECEIVER ON AMAZON INDIA
Konstantin Aseev, Kursk reported in the newsletter "deneb-radio-dx":
I came across a DRM receiver from India:
http://www.amazon.in/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/279-8249921-0410156?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=AV-DR-1401
But the price issue once shocked. Subject DRM thumb [sic] for a long
time - do not have the budget the radio? (RusDX Nov 8 via DXLD)
14,990.00 in some currency; icon looks like a lightning bolt --- is
that Rupees? Would be about USD $226, not too unreasonable in American
terms. Or Yen? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
DISCO PALACE BROADCAST VIRUS ON DRM; QSL SCOFFLAWS
On the attachment paranoia, if you recall many years ago I reported a
virus-laden graphic file sent via Disco Palace DRM. Perhaps the only
SW transported virus ever reported?
Never got the promised QSL, tho; Actually, the only DRM broadcaster
who has ever QSL'd a DRM broadcast over all these years for me was VOA
Greenville. Most disappointing was AIR who specifically requested DRM
reports a few years back. 73, (Brandon Jordan, WA4230SWL, Fayette
County, TN EM55gc, http://www.swldx.us dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Re: [radioescutas] Fim das ondas curtas e tropicais
[extracted from the long thread under BRAZIL]
Amigos, boa noite. Peço licença para meter minha colher torta na
conversa. Estive em um evento em São Paulo, promovido pela BBC Brasil.
O evento foi realizado para apresentar o DRM ao mercado brasileiro.
Fazia-se referência à música do Queen (Radio Ga Ga): “you’ve yet to
have your finest hour”. O DRM seria a “finest hour” (melhor hora) do
rádio, ainda por vir. Uma inovação fantástica e revolucionária.
Foi em 2004.
A falta de receptores/decodificadores, a indefinição de padrões e a
facilidade do webcasting deixaram o DRM para trás. Sinceramente, acho
que não vinga mais. Infelizmente. Os colegas poderão dar opiniões
diferentes e mais bem fundamentadas. Abraços, (Valter Aguiar,
Curitiba, Nov 10, radioescutas yg via DXLD)
Samuel, Corroboro da sua opinião. O DRM não é e nem será a salvação
das ondas curtas. De nada adianta uma plataforma mais barata, bonita,
cheirosa ou o que for se não tem ouvintes. Volto a citar o que disse
no início dessa discussão: alguém aqui conhece fora do nosso círculo
sequer 100 pessoas que ouçam ondas curtas? 73 (Ivan Dias Jr., ibid.)
DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See BRAZIL; CANADA; USA: 1290
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See also USA; CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[Note: this is a very long thread, but important, about the future of
TV broadcasting (and DXing!) in the USA; it required so much editing
that it has been delayed a couple of issues --- gh]
FCC TO WCBS. GET OFF THE AIR.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/90838/fcc-is-offering-new-york-tv-station-900-million-go-off-air
(via Kevin Redding, Oct 16, ABDX via DXLD)
I believe that the spectrum auctions are organized as reverse
auctions. I suspect that the quoted figure is an opening bid. Final
bids are usually heavily discounted from opening bids and the station
is not obligated to accept the bid. JL (Jerry Lenamon, Waco, ibid.)
Now from the WTFDA gg:
FCC SETS INCENTIVE AUCTION OPENING BID PRICES
Could this lead to the real end of OTA [over-the-air] TV? It seems to
me that a number of stations would be crazy NOT to sell at these
prices. Time will tell how this all shakes out.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/fcc-sets-incentive-auction-opening-bid-prices/145025
(Steve Indianapolis IN Rich, Oct 18, WTFDA gg via DXLD)
I just posted on this top on WTFDA Forum. Digital TV. Some little
hole-in-the-wall stations can make a lot of money just by going off
the air (Chris Lucas - Poughkeepsie, NY - FN31bs, ibid.)
WBGU-TV MAY AUCTION SPECTRUM; COULD LEAVE PART OF OHIO WITHOUT PBS
http://current.org/2015/06/wbgu-tv-may-auction-spectrum-could-leave-part-of-ohio-without-pbs/
(Steve Indianapolis, IN Rich, ibid.)
I can see that the true TV broadcasters (those that don't want to
surrender), will move to a VHF assignment. We may get low VHF Es back
because of a concentration of signals in that frequency range, but I
can see it will be RF hell if this happens in very many urban areas
(Jim Thomas, Springfield, Missouri, ibid.)
Make me an offer I can't refuse. I think they just did (Mike Bugaj,
Enfield, CT, ibid.)
Woah! Almost $270M *FOR AN LPTV* (WFXZ-CD: $269,322,300)!!!
(Kaimbridge, ibid.)
For a Class A. And, a reminder, these are opening prices. The auction
will drop prices over time until a final price is reached (Trip
Ericson, http://www.rabbitears.info ibid.)
While the referenced article mentions a possible $40M spectrum value,
the auction price list released today indicates an opening auction
price of $188M for WBGU. They might find this very tempting (Chris
Lucas, ibid.)
What Trip said. These are opening prices in a reverse auction, they
will go down from there. The FCC estimates the auction could generate
$45 billion -- some in the wireless industry say up to $60 billion.
The sum of all opening bids in that table is nearly $350 billion --
nobody believes the auction will actually deliver that much $$.
For what it's worth, just to pick two stations, Meredith bought KTVK-3
and KASW-61 for $230 million. They couldn't keep KASW because of
duopoly regulations, so they resold it for $68 million. That suggests
the market value of KTVK is $160 million. The opening bid price is
$191 million. It doesn't have to drop very far for a closedown to stop
making sense.
I suppose the most pressure will be on stations in small markets
located near larger markets -- where the presence of a small-market
station will preclude use of a chunk of spectrum in an adjacent larger
market.
Take, for example, the stations in Youngstown, Ohio, market #114.
Listed opening bids of $399 million, $410 million, and $285 million.
Compare to the stations in market #112 (Augusta, Georgia) - none of
which is worth more than $222 million. Or, with market #115 (Fargo,
North Dakota) where no station is worth more than $36 million and a
majority of stations are worth *nothing* in the auction.
Youngstown is of course adjacent to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and
Columbus. These stations' spectrum probably isn't worth very much in
Youngstown, but if it prevents a move in Cleveland it becomes a LOT
more valuable (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.)
That's why the prices are what they are. It's the most effective way
to move stations out when the spectrum at auction is worth way more
than they're paying here (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA (15 mi NW of
Philadelphia), ibid.)
FCC Sets Incentive Auction Opening Bid Prices --- Reading up on this
auction, I see that the owners of non-commercial stations are not
restricted on what they can do with the proceeds. A community or
university can cash in their public TV station and do something else
with the money. Will we see a reduction in OTA PBS programming? (Mike
Glass, Lebanon, IN, Sent from my iPad, ibid.)
Probably, at least in places where PBS availability is duplicated. In
your area, I wouldn't be surprised to see WIPB and WTIU cash in, as
WFYI will continue to reach those areas. I think (as Scott suggests in
NERW) that where duopolies exist, one of the two stations is likely to
be sold. Non-commercial stations will be no exception. PBS duopolies
exist in Boston, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, and Minneapolis (and there
may be more [Tampa]). I would not be at all surprised to see WMVT
sold; PBS would still be available OTA on WMVS. == (Doug Smith W9WI,
Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.)
I would expect NJ to sell off those stations which are already covered
by WHYY, WLVT (Allentown) and WNET respectively, as there are some
budget problems remaining there. Were we still all analog, there would
be more potential takers along this line because the OTA coverage
areas were larger (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.)
I have looked at some of the "prices" (which could be much lower).
However, if they stand up, I can see the PBS OTA network disappearing
and possibly being payTV only if it survives at all. University and
state licensees will see $s and being able to use the money however
they see fit will place their TV stations in jeopardy. The licensee of
local KTWU-11 (a university) is looking at that possibility.
Educational spectrum should not have been a part of this ill-conceived
auction. I think OTA could disappear in Topeka if the prices stay
where they are. I think that is what KSQA-12 is all about. The 32
million listed for them would be grabbed up immediately. They have
never amounted to much (24-hour country music), they have no promotion
and just merely exist. Just waiting to sell "their" spectrum (Dave
Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, Oct 19, ibid.)
I'm throwing this thought out to all because I don't know the answer.
Under the FCC auction/repacking plan guidelines, can a station (PBS,
religious, ABC, Fox, etc.) sell its spectrum and still exist as a
fully-functional station in the market via satellite, cable, IPTV,
etc., and just not have an OTA signal? If so, will the FCC mandate
that these pay-for-service providers MUST carry the station(s) with no
OTA signal? I haven't read (so far) or heard anything about this
possible option. Or, if the station sells its spectrum, is it SOL in
being carried by any paid provider? (Steve Indianapolis, IN Rich,
ibid.)
If the station wants to continue operating, it has the options of not
being in the auction, moving to VHF, or channel sharing. You can't go
off the air and retain some kind of zombie license (- Trip Ericson,
ibid.)
Agree. The license covers the OTA. Everything else is an offshoot of
that. That said, there are such things as cable-only or satellite-only
channels, but today I don't know if I'd want to hitch my wagon to the
former (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.)
Mild curiosity --- why would a low VHF station be offered money to go
OFF THE AIR? I didn't think that particular part of the spectrum is of
interest to the cellular telephone industry. Is it just to free up the
channel for another station? I notice KJWP in Philadelphia (RF 2) is
listed at $159 million (Jim Thomas, Springfield, Missouri, ibid.)
Yes, if a UHF wants to go to VHF and no VHF is available, a VHF might
be bought to make that option available to the UHF (Trip Ericson,
ibid.)
Thanks, Trip. The spreadsheet is here if you are looking for it:
http://wireless.fcc.gov/incentiveauctions/learn-program/Reverse_Auction_Opening_Prices_101615.xlsx
Does anyone know what the column Interference2 represents? (Jim
Thomas, Springfield, Missouri, ibid.)
I would think that licensees that own a number of stations but provide
little or no local programming could opt out of OTA altogether and
become national cable/satellite/streaming only channels. Two that come
to mind immediately are ION and TBN. Not only would they receive lot
of cash from the auction, but they would save operating costs for
dozens of TV stations and maintain most of their current audience that
doesn't use OTA anyway (Chris Lucas, Poughkeepsie, NY, ibid.)
If ION and TBN did that they would lose their "must carry" rights in
those markets (Mike Glass N9BNN, Lebanon, Indiana USA, ibid.)
I have a technical question about channel sharing. Many of us who use
computer controlled scanning make use of the TSID for many station
IDs. If two stations share a channel, will there be two TSIDs on one
RF channel? What will that look like for tuners that use TSID? (Mike
Glass N9BNN, Lebanon, Indiana USA,
Digital - Zenith DTT901, HDHR-US
VHF - Antennacraft CS1100 at 48 feet AGL
UHF - 10' parabolic dish w/CM4220HD feed at 40 feet AGL
Preamps - HDP 269
HDHR-US for real time DX at: http://www.n9bnn.ham-radio-op.net/TV/
Current count at Lebanon, IN: DTV 432 starting 4/20/2014)
Indy count May 2007 to Feb 2014 - 208 analog, 390 digital, ibid.)
That is a great question. Wish I had a good answer; my guess is the
TSID will be that of the "host" station (Trip Ericson, ibid.)
FCC Sets Incentive Auction Opening Bid Prices, What about DX?
I have just one other observation. I notice in some markets there are
stations marked as "NOT NEEDED". The application instructions mention
that if a station that is marked as "NOT NEEDED" submits an
application to participate in the auction, the FCC will reject the
application. SO --- there are stations above channel 38 that are
marked with "NOT NEEDED". I thought ALL stations are suppose to vacate
any spectrum above channel 38. Maybe I heard that incorrectly. But if
they are suppose to vacate channels above 38, do they just get forced
to move without any money? (Jim Thomas, Springfield MO, Oct 19, ibid.)
As Mike Glass pointed out, if ION and TBN did that they would lose
their "must carry" rights in those markets. So would any other station
making such a move. Furthermore, commercial stations would lose their
retransmission consent rights and their geographic monopolies.
Without retrans-consent rights, commercial stations would no longer be
able to force CATV and SATV companies into accepting take-it-or-leave-
it carriage agreements. They'd have to deal with CATVs and SATVs on a
level playing field.
Under current law (the grotesquely misnamed "Cable Television Consumer
Protection and Competition Act of 1992"), a station can demand just
about anything in retrans agreements:
- Money. Retrans fees have been rising steadily for several years,
thus driving up the retail price of CATV or SATV service.
- Carriage of the station's signal on the basic tier.
- Mandatory carriage of co-owned non-broadcast channels. Under current
law the licensee of a commercial broadcast station can demand that a
CATV or MATV carry, and pay for, co-owned non-broadcast programming as
a condition for granting retrans consent. It can demand that such
programming be carried on the basic tier. Thus, for example, a Disney-
owned ABC station can demand that CATVs and MATVs carry, as a
condition for granting retrans consent, other Disney-owned programming
such as ABC Family, A&E, Biography Channel, H2, Lifetime, ESPN, and
numerous ESPN spinoffs.
And that's the short list; for the full list see:
http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=disney
From the point of view of the CATV and SATV companies, non-OTA
"stations" would not be stations. They'd be just some more non-
broadcast signals trying to get carriage in an already-crowded market.
CATV and SATV companies would have ample reason to play hardball in
such negotiations if for no other reasons that to seek revenge for
years of abuse by the broadcasters (Neal McLain, Retired Cable Guy
(TCI, Niall, Comcast, Warner), nmclain@annsgarden.com Brazoria, Texas,
ibid.)
Those stations will be paid to be relocated, but otherwise can receive
no money above that relocation compensation (Trip, ibid.)
All of this repacking activity may give a short term DX boon similar
to the 2009 Transition. Some stations will move or go off the air
before others do, so there may be a short window of opportunity if you
have a local shut down early. It's not much, but I like to see
something positive in everything! LoL (Mike Glass N9BNN, Lebanon,
Indiana USA, ibid.)
After doing a little reading, found the answer to my question:
The methodology gives each station a weighted interference value that
reflects its footprint and its impact on adjacent stations it overlaps
with. A station with a big footprint and a lot of overlap with other
stations will have a higher interference value — and command a value —
than one in a more rural area that may not overlap with many stations
or cover as large a number of people. That is because if the FCC
doesn’t get that one station with the bigger footprint, it might have
to buy three or four stations to achieve the same repacking result
(Jim Thomas, MO, ibid.)
At least in ATSC 1.0, a transmitter can only have one TSID. Which,
IMHO, is the best solution for DX anyway. If WZTV and WUXP are sharing
one transmitter, they may be two stations as far as the FCC is
concerned but they're only one station as far as WTFDA is concerned
(Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.)
I totally agree. The "sharee" is essentially a sub channel of the host
station. The PSIP will not be the reliable method of station ID for DX
purposes. It will be an interesting time (Mike Glass, Lebanon, IN,
Sent from my iPad, ibid.)
Honestly, as long as the ATSC standard is observed (which occasionally
it isn't) the TSID is the only reliable method of ID anyway. And it
is, in my experience, accurate a lot more often than anything in PSIP.
I do try to shy away from calling a "sharee" a "sub channel". When it
comes down to it, I don't like the term "subchannel" at all. Each
program stream on a DTV station is co-equal from a technical
standpoint.
WSMV 4.1 isn't any "better", as far as transmission is concerned, than
WSMV 4.2 or 4.3.
And really, the FCC is extending that principle to channel sharing.
Each station sharing a channel is equally responsible for compliance.
I suppose in many cases, Station X and Station Y will be sharing an
existing transmitter currently carrying only Station X - so you could
call X the "host station".
With repacking though --- Consider this scenario:
- Sinclair and Byrne enter into a channel-sharing arrangement for
WMSN-47 and WBUW-57.
- The two channels involved are 32 and 49.
- The FCC repacks the stations into channel 15.
- Neither the WMSN transmitter & antenna nor the WBUW transmitter &
antenna are suitable for operation on channel 15.
- A completely new transmitter & antenna are installed for the shared
pair.
Who's the "host station" when the transmitter & antenna in use didn't
exist until repacking? (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66,
ibid.)
My experience is that TSID is generally more reliable for full power
stations, but many low power stations don't use it at all. I guess it
is not something the FCC is enforcing. Since an ATSC transmitter can
only have one TSID, won't one of the stations on a shared channel have
to be the "host"? But I understand that in reality both could be co-
owners. Such an interesting time! However, this change doesn't sound
good for station engineers if there are fewer physical transmitters (
Mike Glass, Lebanon IN, Sent from my iPad, ibid.)
How did the WTFDA count share-time analog TV back when it existed -
WTHS/WPBT 2 in Miami, say, or WPWR/WBBS 60 in Chicago? (Scott Fybush,
NY, ibid.)
Having lived in Anchorage, AK for a year I checked the list for the
value of stations there. They were all marked "Not Needed." A decent
sized city, but in reality a rural area. The next nearest TV stations
(other than translators) are in Fairbanks. There is no overlap with
any other market. The Albuquerque market is similar (Dave Pomeroy,
Topeka, Kansas, ibid.)
"Not Needed" means the FCC can fit all existing UHF stations in the
market into channels 14-30. They don't have to buy any stations to
make things fit. There are only 4 UHF stations in the Anchorage market
so that won't be a challenge. Two of them are above channel 30,
though, so if they do take the whole 126 MHz they will have to
reimburse KCFT and KDMD to move below 31 (Doug Smith, ibid.)
Since Channel 15 is already occupied in Madison (WMTV, NBC), WMSN and
WBUW might want to include WMTV in their plans. I suspect that WMTV
wouldn't want to move. But it might be willing to share its
transmitter with WMSN or WBUW (Neal McLain, TX, ibid.)
15 is WMTV's virtual channel - their physical channel is 19 (which is
why I chose 15 for this example: because that channel had to be clear
during transition, to avoid interference to WMTV's analog signal, it
was likely to still be available today). It does raise a question I
haven't seen answered. What happens if more than two stations wish to
share a channel? It *is* technically feasible (Doug Smith W9WI, ibid.)
I'm not sure what you mean by "what happens". It is allowed in the
rules. There is one host and multiple sharee stations, in that case.
And to answer the earlier question, in the rules one station is always
the "host", even if that's only a fallacy on paper with the FCC. In
your WBUW/WMSN example, if the new channel 15 signal is on the current
WBUW tower, then WBUW is the host. If it's on the WMSN tower, WMSN is
the host. Presumably, at least, since the non-participating station is
the one whose area and population are being preserved (Trip, ibid.)
Some stations are already sharing, but I have not seen one where the
"second" channel is as good as the first. It is done in Des Moines and
Wichita. Here in Topeka KTMJ-43 (LPTV) is also broadcast on KSNT-27 on
channel 27.2 which is co-owned. Since the channel 43 coverage area is
smaller, I believe channel 27.2 is used to get the KTMJ Fox signal to
more viewers. The picture on channel 27.2 is inferior to the signal on
channel 43.1. KTMJ does have three translators, but the last time I
saw channel 17 from Emporia it was still analog. They also have
channel 15 in Manhattan and channel 6 in Junction City (Dave Pomeroy,
Topeka KS, Oct 20, ibid.)
I have a feeling the greatest fallout from the channel packing will be
the services that have came along for multicasting --- sources like ME
TV, Antenna TV, Cozi TV, etc. I'm sure most broadcasters will want to
preserve their stream quality for the major network sources and if the
secondary stream sources have to go, they will go bye bye (Jim Thomas,
ibid.)
I just really realized that the cutoff is ch 30. Think about that!
Just 28 lousy channels left, 12 of them on VHF and 16 of them on UHF.
We might have to change the name of the WTFDA to WFDA at some point.
(Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ibid.)
Glad I have my low UHF yagis! Sent from my iPad (Mike Glass, ibid.)
Incentive Auction --- At the beginning of this, I understood that
channels 38 to 51 would be removed but there was a chance that more
would be confiscated. Apparently that is the case with channels 31 to
36 also gone. That doesn't leave much for DX. In my area there are 13
vacant channels between channel 2 and 30. There are ten stations
currently operating on channels 31 to 51 that would have to move to
lower channels if they all decide to stay on the air. It is likely
that some of the area stations will sell out.
But if they all stayed on there would be only two vacant channels. And
this (Kansas City, Topeka, Sedalia, St. Joseph) is not an area with a
particularly large number of stations -- most are network stations
with only 7 not being affiliated with a significant network including
ION, Telemundo, TBN, ABC, PBS, CBS, NBC, CW and Fox.
I don't see how this could possibly work in areas such as Chicago, Los
Angeles, Baltimore-Washington, Philadelphia, Dallas, New York, etc. If
WCBS-TV were to sell out for $900 million OTA would disappear as the
major networks would go to pay TV. I can't imagine that cable and
satellite operators wouldn't want to have them exclusively. Of course,
technology is changing rapidly and everything could soon be online
with cable and satellite gone too. When I wrote my thesis in the 60s,
I predicted that stations would go dark due to payTV. I just hoped I
would never see the day, but maybe I will (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka,
Kansas, ibid.)
And losing those wouldn't bother me a bit. AFAIK those came about
largely because the digital conversion created the space for
additional channels which many broadcasters hadn't given any thought
to how to use. At this point, the current effort seems to be
addressing the same problem in a different way - putting more
constructive use to those .2,.3,.4 channels (Russ Edmunds, PA, ibid.)
USF CONSIDERS CLOSING WUSF-TV IN FCC AUCTION
http://www.tbo.com/news/education/usf-considers-closing-tv-station-in-fcc-auction-20151012/
(Steve Indianapolis, IN, Rich, ibid.)
Interesting article. Couple of comments were interesting. The writer
mentions that both the RF and virtual channels were important as
spectrum. Also, several remarks made about the "lower quality" VHF
channels. Wasn't long ago when VHF was highly desired! (Mike Glass,
Lebanon, IN, Sent from my iPad, ibid.)
My fear is that the non-commercials will be the ones to sell out,
leaving us with a proliferation of Ion, ME and their ilk to replace
them. At that point it'll be almost 'why bother?' (Russ Edmunds, Blue
Bell, PA, Oct 21, ibid.)
Russ, I think some people like the channels such as Cozi, ME, etc.
(Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport LA, ibid.)
What I am wondering is how fast is all this going to take place? The
FCC auction is March 2016 and I think the stations have 90 days to act
with a possible 90 day extension after they work an deal. Will we have
a repacked TV dial by the end of 2016? (Mike Glass N9BNN, Lebanon,
Indiana USA, ibid.)
I re-read the Canadian decision on what they plan to do with the U.S.
auction and can't for the life of me figure out how there's any room
in the Toronto-Buffalo region. The Canadian decision does not force
any sharing (sharing is discouraged as stations want the bandwidth for
future upgrades). Canadian stations will not have to switch bands.
Canadian stations are not being asked to go off the air. I guess
there's going to be a lot of new VHF stations in my area, lol.
Also - Canadian stations (both digital and analog) will not have to
change channels until the spectrum is actually needed in their area -
even on channels as high as 51. So, there could be some decent upper-
UHF Canadian targets for years to come - mainly north of the US border
- such as 41 Sudbury, 44 Cloyne, 46 Saguenay, 47 Pembroke, etc. wrh
(Bill Hepburn, Grimsby Ont, ibid.)
So, the Buffalo area will not have full use of the new spectrum? (Mike
Glass N9BNN, Lebanon, Indiana USA, ibid.)
Looks like they have pretty good opening auction prices for the
Buffalo dtv's. See attached (Jim Thomas, Springfield, Missouri, ibid.)
Toronto/Hamilton/Oshawa stations on UHF:
15, 19, 20, 22, 25, 36, 40, 41, 44, 47 - total of 10. This does not
count low power 35, 42.
Buffalo/Batavia/Jamestown stations on UHF:
14, 23, 26, 32, 33, 38, 39, 43, 49 - total of 9.
Total Toronto/Buffalo = 19.
Adjacent markets :
Kitchener/Paris/Woodstock 17, 28, 31
Peterborough 27, 35
Rochester 28, 45
Erie 16, 24, 50
So from channel 30 below -
14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 are currently used
in market or adjacent = 13 channels.
18, 21, 29 are empty = 3 channels.
That means 32, 33, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 47, 49 - 11 channels
need to fit into 3. -- and we also have to deal with adjacent market's
31, 35, 45, 50 - so really it's 15 channels into 3. I suppose 16, 24
could be shoe-horned in to Toronto. I could see 14/49 and 32/39
Buffalo sharing. VHF 7, 9 already used in market as well as 8, 10, 12,
13 in adjacent markets. That leaves 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11 available on
VHF.
So add it all up and I will have a grand total of " 0 " dx channels or
maybe 1. Or they just use the same channels in Buffalo and Toronto and
I end up with no reliable OTA.
If up to channel 36 could be used instead of just 30, it helps a
little but it'll still be tight. Wrh (Bill Hepburn, WTFDA gg via DXLD)
Same topic was covered in WTFDA FORUM threads, trying to weed out the
duplications:
THREAD: FCC SETS INCENTIVE AUCTION OPENING BID PRICES
Is this the beginning of the real end of OTA TV? It seems that a
number of stations would be crazy NOT to sell at these prices. Time
will tell.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/fcc-sets-incentive-auction-opening-bid-prices/145025
(Steve Rich, Oct 18, WTFDA Forum via DXLD)
Regardless of how much money the auctions take in and pay out, I do
think this is another step toward the death of OTA TV. I watch very
little TV, but today I did watch a sporting event, and most of the
commercials seemed to be for telephone services. I suppose people
would rather watch TV and do everything else on a handheld device -
even while driving their cars. Thanks for the link, Steve (Danny
Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, ibid.)
Yes, you`re right, Danny. It's a shame everyone is selling out their
right to free OTA TV to all these greedy companies that are buying up
each other to become too big to fail and to kill any form of
competition so that the only company you have to buy from is the mega
company and that company sets up the price of goods they sell to crazy
high prices because the one mega company bought up all their
competition and you have no choice but to buy service from their
greedy company.
Just look at the merger of DirecTV & AT&T. Bet you that most of those
commercials you saw was the excitement of how their merger will be the
greatest thing that has ever happened. And let`s not forget about
Verizon wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile etc. trying to fight for air time
too. You notice how there are no commercials about how OTA TV is in
danger and how you can save it by calling your congressman or senator
and telling them to save my Free OTA TV during the airing of these
highly rated sporting & TV shows. Thanks for the link, indysteve. I
wanted to know how much they where offering to sell out OTA TV (Mike,
southeast Louisiana, ibid.)
So what happens if nearly every station sells? From what I understand,
the most the FCC wants to reduce the spectrum to is down to RF 31.
Would that mean more vacant channels? (Andrew, Akron OH, ibid.)
And another question ---- Let's say that everything has been
completed; the remaining stations have moved to their new RF's, and
the other stations have indeed gone off the air. Now --- What about
ATSC 3.0? Will the new-allocations stay where they are, or will it be
a case of re-re-allocation? cd (Chris Dunne, Pembroke Pines FL, ibid.)
It appears that if the FCC really had its way, the OTA TV spectrum
would be reduced to just VHF (like the 1950's), no more UHF TV
(Andrew, Akron, ibid.)
Admittedly, I'm no expert on DTV engineering, but some things about
all of this don't seem to be just right. Remember my little talk about
WVUE-DT the other day? Why did they shut down the channel 8 and keep
the channel 29? We know why. We also know VHF low is not good for DTV.
Well, when you have a crowded VHF band, my thought is that there would
not be room for high-powered stations in many locations. So then we
are back to the WVUE problem.
I'm not going to worry about all of this. I'll just do what I can with
the DX for now. Then I'll move on. I'm still waiting for all of the
Mexican low-band analogs to go off in a few weeks. After that, I'm not
sure of my future in DXing, but I'll probably continue to do some DTV
DXing and watch for the Cuban and Latin American analog TVs for a
while (Danny Oglethrope, Shreveport, LA, ibid.)
Well, Danny, there is always AM & SW, at least for now; and, you can
catch something every night! "Everything old is new again." cd (Chris
Dunne, ibid.)
With the upcoming repacking and new channel assignments, I wonder what
will happen with short-spaced stations. A while back I did a study,
and found that EVERY New York City full-power DTV is short-spaced to
other full-power DTV's except WWOR-38; and now the new WJLP-3 is also
not short-spaced. Serious short-spacing exists in particular between
NYC and Hartford-Springfield on ch 11, 31, 33 & 40. And bad Hartford-
Boston short-spacing on 20 & 31; and so on. Will the new channel
assignments try to avoid such short-spacing, or will the current
short-spacing / interference contours be kind of "grandfathered" ---
or will short spacing as currently defined get worse, perhaps through
new shorter spacing requirements? Any thoughts? (Chris - Poughkeepsie,
NY, ibid.)
Well I would say that as the goal is to get stations off the air to
accommodate the allocations, I see no QRM issues. What I do see is
cable and sat. companies with dollar signs in their eyes. cd (Chris
Dunne, FL, ibid.)
Andrew, I told my son that the prices listed are very high and the
final amounts will likely be much lower. However, he asked me why any
of the stations in Shreveport (especially the small ones) would want
to move to another channel when so few people use OTA TV and the
stations can make all of that money. My thought was the new DTV format
would be adopted as soon as the stations move. Am I wrong? (Danny,
ibid.)
The broadcasters want to do that, which makes some sense, but who
knows!? (Raymie Humbert, AZ, ibid.)
This is all Facepalm City. cd (Dunne, ibid.) ??? (gh)
OTA is definitely taking a back-seat to the mobile phone companies.
With the FCC trying to cram every TV station into VHF, I wonder why
ATSC 3.0 tests weren’t done on a low-VHF channel instead of RF 31.
That would have been more practical. At this point, the only hope left
for OTA is ATSC 3.0. But I know that the FCC isn’t going to wait on it
becoming available before they completely destroy what’s left of OTA
(Andrew, Akron, ibid.)
Tribune had an RF 31 digital facility sitting around and not in use,
which they allowed the Futurecast partners to modify for their tests.
I don't know if anyone in the US had a low-V digital facility
available (Raymie, AZ, ibid.)
According to Neal McLain (Retired Cable Guy (TCI, Niall, Comcast,
Warner)), this may be the saving grace for some OTA TV stations for
now. Neal is talking about why TV stations will choose not to go off
the air. This is from WTFDA Google Group: [as above]
My thinking is, unfortunately, there is no guarantee that "must carry"
laws won't be rewritten in time to come in order to get around this
(Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, ibid.)
[Re Raymie:] I would *not* consider that a legitimate reason not to
test on low-VHF. As much money as the government wastes on thousands
of expensive, yet useless, studies of such things as the the affect
watching TV for ten hours a day has on Siamese cats living in houses
that are painted white, DTV tests on the low-band would be one
"useful" way to spend taxpayer money (Danny, ibid.)
I wonder if they could have tested ATSC 3.0 using WKYC's old channel 2
DTV transmitter in Cleveland; unless WKYC didn't have it anymore
(Andrew, Akron, ibid.)
Neal is right about why many stations with minuscule audiences will
not sell out. Must-carry rights attach to an OTA signal. If that OTA
signal is gone, the station loses its guarantee of access to most of
its audience.
I would suggest a different dynamic applies to retransmission consent
stations. There is no guarantee of access for these stations. If they
can't reach an agreement with a CATV system, they drop off the system.
It can (and does) happen.
The fact that these disputes are nearly always settled within a few
weeks (if not sooner) tells me these stations' programming is critical
to the success of the CATV. That fact won't change if the station
surrenders its OTA signal. How many people would continue to subscribe
to a Comcast system that didn't offer CBS? That said ---
- Must-carry is a nice backstop. One might like to think cable
systems will always find it economically impossible to stop carrying a
local ABC affiliate. That might not always be the case. The OTA signal
maintains that audience access.
- An OTA signal is an economically effective way to get your
signal to some CATV systems. If your station is in an area with a
number of smaller systems, running fiber to each system may not be
economically practical.
- OTA may be 10-15% of the audience, but stations will spend a TON
of money on promotion/programming/talent to obtain a 10-15%
improvement in viewership (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66,
ibid.)
But what if the demographics are not the desired ones? Some people
have a viewpoint that everybody has cable or satellite except old
people and poor people. I couldn't say if the viewpoint is correct
(Danny, Shreveport, LA, ibid.)
Doug, how much does a high-powered TV transmitter cost? What is the
lifetime of a transmitter? How much does it cost to operate and
maintain a transmitter, antenna, and tower? And I know there is some
cost for maintaining or renting land. I'm just wondering what the cost
of operating transmission equipment would be (Danny, ibid.)
Doug, I'm not trying to be spiteful or rude with these questions. I'm
playing devil's advocate here. I fully expect most (if not all) OTA
broadcasting will end someday, regardless of current regulations that
might keep TV alive a while longer (Danny, ibid.)
``I wonder if they could have tested ATSC 3.0 using WKYC's old channel
2 DTV transmitter in Cleveland... unless WKYC didn't have it anymore``
I believe it was shipped off to WLBZ in Bangor, ME.
`` DTV tests on the low-band would be one "useful" way to spend
taxpayer money``
But the government had nothing to do with the Cleveland test, that was
handled by the ATSC which is not a governmental group (Trip, Charlotte
Co., VA, US, ibid.)
Thanks, Trip. I knew someone would say that. There should have been
testing on the low-band, and the results otherwise are worthless for
the low-band. That low-band noise is real. I know someone will now
tell me that they can run computer simulations, etc, etc. (Danny,
ibid.)
My primary concern with this repacking is whether or not stations will
be forced to be closely-spaced. I suppose at this point in time, it’s
too early to know what will happen. It will be a matter of stations
deciding to sell their spectrum or not. Shoehorning stations together
will be bad for DXing and increase interference. We need some vacant
channels in order for the hobby to continue. I am optimistic… I don’t
believe this is the end of OTA television, but I don’t want to see co-
channels in closely spaced markets near here like Pittsburgh,
Cleveland/Akron/Youngstown, Erie, Detroit, Toledo, Windsor, London and
Columbus.
Another question --- what will happen in areas like Detroit where
nearly all of the full-powereds are above channel 31? And there aren't
any lower channels available due to nearby markets occupying those
channels (Andrew, Akron, ibid.)
All of the talking in the world is not going to affect the outcome of
this. In fact, the telephone and cable companies, politicians, and
American citizens are not interested in OTA TV. The young, affluent,
buying, voting demographic groups don't even know there is such a
thing as OTA TV. Let me be clear that I'm not blaming Trip for any of
this. I'm sure he does a good job. I hope my name hasn't been placed
on some kind of government list of troublemakers. I'm sorry if I've
offended anyone here (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, ibid.)
Well this all goes back to my post about how going back to the "good
old days" is being unrealistic. Not knowing if this is exactly true,
but somebody commented in Bernews' article about the VSB closing as
VSB not being able to adapt to modern times [Bermuda].
OTA TV could well go away eventually --- no timeframe I know of, so we
should just enjoy what we have now. The whole concept of repacking,
moving channels, changing antennas, getting new TVs/CECBs to adapt to
ATSC 3.0 --- it is enough to have people wanna do this to their TVs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGrs5ycQNf4
Here is a big question, though: Will 3.0 be the standard, once
everything is in place? or will 1.0 continue, after the repacking? Are
there any "target dates" for anything??? (Assuming that 3.0 will have
less fading or blacking-out, I figure that no station will wanna move
to 2-6 until 3.0 is the norm.)
And, Danny, I used to be a member of what is now radiodiscussions dot
com; after reading over there, your posts are tame, I assure you! cd
(Chris Dunne, FL, ibid.)
I'd actually have to disagree with your contention that young people
don't know broadcast TV exists. This story ran just last week on
Marketplace (a business-focused public radio program).
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/new-generation-discovers-good-old-tv-antenna
And here's one of the big stats in the story:
“Initially, my goal was to sell 35 antennas a month," said Richard
Schneider, who runs a company called Antennas Direct, not far from St.
Louis. "Last month, I think we shipped 70,000.” (Raymie, AZ, ibid.)
Although there is a trend toward "cord-cutting" as they are saying
now, it would be interesting to know the demographics of the buyers at
Antennas Direct & other companies. What if the younger buyers find
out, that once the antenna is installed, they cannot find "Keeping Up
with the Kardashians"? cd (Chris Dunne, ibid.)
People aren't going to be happy when they see the diginets disappear
due to the spectrum repack. From what I heard, the FCC WILL NOT wait
for ATSC 3.0 to become available before they repack the spectrum
(Andrew, Akron, ibid.)
All good points, Raymie and Christopher. I also read that about
Antennas Direct. Steve posted that on the Google group. I'm sure
people of all age groups are buying antennas. However, I'm still not
convinced that as many people under 25 know about OTA TV as those who
don't. I'm not saying they are dumb (and I know they are not dumb).
There has never been a need for them to use OTA TV, so why should they
know about OTA. In reality, none of this really matters much in real
life. It is not worth getting hurt feelings over (Danny, Shreveport,
LA, ibid.)
[and now a separate thread on the same subject, backing up to Oct 18:]
Thread: Auction Prices
The opening prices for the FCC DTV Auction this coming spring have
been announced:
http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0002/fcc-auction-opening-broadcaster-bids-released/277179
A full list of first round auction prices listed here (you'll need to
copy and paste this):
http://www.tvtechnology.com/portals/0/Reverse
http://www.tvtechnology.com/portals/0/Reverse Auction Opening Prices 101615 Attachment.pdf
[this worx for me even with spaces in it; incredible figures --- gh]
In particular, here is the list for New York market. I see that local
WRNN-48 would be offered well over $800 Million to just go away. One
of the very highest prices in the country. For a nothing station, this
is amazing. I hope they take the money and run! (Chris - Poughkeepsie,
NY, Lucas, DTV DXer since April 2009, Oct 18, 2015, WTFDA Forum via
DXLD)
I was looking at this via another board the other day. I don't
understand: where is all this money that is being offered, whether to
go off, move, or whatever? I guess that what I am asking is, why would
*any* station, if offered that kind of money, wanna stay on OTA at
all? I was thinking: it woulda been a wise move at the start, for any
TV station, even the LD's, to get on the air, just to grab $$$ like
that. (Lessee: In Miami, RF's 9, 11, 16, 17, 21, 24, 25, 29, 38, 41,
43, 44, 45, 48, 50, and 51, all being LD's or CD's, stand to reap the
whirlwind here!) cd (Chris Dunne, ibid.)
The "incentive auction" is in reality two separate and simultaneous
auctions:
A reverse auction designed to buy wireless spectrum from television
station owners (full-power and Class A LPTVs are eligible):
and a forward auction in which wireless carriers then buy the
spectrum.
In the reverse auction, bids go down over time as more spectrum is
cleared. (These are opening bids, and they are high bids. This is
very, very important.) The idea is that if nobody wants to sell, then
the incentive is greater for someone to go out. Conversely, if more
spectrum is reclaimed, there is less incentive to cash out. The
forward auction works a little more normally.
Note that non-Class A LPTVs are not eligible for the auction.
http://wireless.fcc.gov/incentiveauctions/learn-program/broadcaster-faq.html
After the auction, the FCC will then clear the 600 MHz band by
repacking, channel-sharing and other mechanisms to move stations to
vacant UHF channels; there are also incentives to move down, from UHF
to high-V or low-V and from high-V to low-V. American stations may be
placed in the duplex gap within wireless services.
Mexican stations, of course, will also be repacked, but their channels
have been identified already (thus the tables I've posted). The FCC
also has some understanding with Industry Canada but I cannot recall
the terms of it (Raymie Humbert, AZ, ibid.)
It is a little more clear now thanks to you, Raymie; I do think that
there needs to be a "Repacking for Dummies" book though. cd (Chris
Dunne, ibid.)
Christopher, remember the government is good about spending $2 for
every $1 taken in from taxpayers, auctions, etc. That way we taxpayers
wind up owing more in taxes to pay for this kind of fiscal management.
It would save taxpayers money to just turn off all OTA stations and
give the spectrum away (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, Oct 18,
ibid.)
RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM
+++++++++++++++++++++
Map Talk 2015-11
Recently I mentioned that Yahoo Maps had been retired. Whilst that is
true from the main site, I discovered yesterday that you still access
Yahoo Maps from the following Australian URL:
https://au.maps.yahoo.com/search/maps/
As a reminder Yahoo Maps is powered by Here Maps (the former Nokia
Co.). I however find the Yahoo Maps a nicer interface.
2015 saw many new countries & regions appear for the first time with
Google SV imagery and 2016 should produce some surprises with exotic
countries such as Senegal, Bolivia, Uruguay & Kyrgyzstan appearing.
Hopefully other scheduled countries of Jordan, Sri Lanka & Austria
will also appear in 2016. Should be some chances of seeing some
remaining SW TX sites amongst that lot.
Discovering when new satellite imagery comes along isn't as easy or
frequent as it once was. GE previously released two updates per month.
Now via the GE Voyager updates they only seam to come around once
every few months or so, but the updates are large. I haven't heard of
any updates from Bing Maps for some time. Unlike Google they do
produce proper Birds Eye View of many regions which is a bonus when
the area includes a SW TX site.
Has been talk of Apple rolling out their own Streetview imagery, but
to date limited to Apple products, but rumored to be available to
Windows sometime in the future.
A reminder to all members that we as a group are still chasing the
locations of many unknown SW TX sites across the globe both active &
closed/inactive sites. The discovery of previously unknown sites has
slowed to a snails pace this past year. Peru & Boliva remain
relatively untouched & yet there is SV availability in Peru. A large
number of extinct SW sites still remain to be discovered in Africa &
the list rolls on.
Procuring txer info can be challenging, but it's so rewarding. Hope I
can motivate our ghostly quiet members to help out (Ian, Nov 6,
shortwavesites yg via DXLD)
Some of the most captivating, although horrific stories of SW TX sites
have been those associated with warfare or a coup d'état. Sites such
as: IBB Liberia & DW Kigali come to mind with horrifying stories.
Sites such as the Yuloslav Stubline site were destroyed by NATO and
the SW sites of former Radio Baghdad/R Iraq International were also
targeted many years ago. I'd be very interested in the stories of the
radio engineers who escaped the target raids on the Radio Baghdad SW
transmitter sites and knowing more about the former operations there.
My attempts to contact the organisation that is now the former Iraq
national broadcaster for info, etc., as per usual resulted in no
replies. These are the kind of stories that would have been covered
superbly by Radio Nederland's Media Network, that we all miss very
much (Ian, shortwavesites yg via DXLD)
PROPAGATION
+++++++++++
PREPARING FOR SEVERE SOLAR STORMS
David Moore sent this article about the U.S. government plans for
dealing with problematic space weather:
http://www.space.com/30986-united-states-space-weather-plan.html
David also sent this link to a high definition video of the Sun:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/4k-nasa-video-lets-see-sun-new-light/
Robert Wood, W5AJ of Midland, Texas noted that sunspot 2443 is close
to the Sun's equator, and we both got to wondering what this means
regarding the current sunspot cycle projection. I couldn't remember.
A check of butterfly diagrams shows us that early in a solar cycle,
sunspots appear further north or south of the solar equator, and
gradually appear close to the equator as the cycle progresses:
http://bit.ly/1SvnU0a
So this sunspot is probably typical of spots appearing after the
peak of the solar cycle.
A sign that the solar cycle is transitioning to the next cycle is
when the magnetic signature of sunspots begins to change. In the
most recent magnetogram, we can see the north magnetic polarization
as the white splotches, and south as black:
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/hmi_mag/512/
You can click that image to see it with higher resolution. This image
is in real time, so by the time you see it in the future, the image
may have changed significantly.
Here is an article from nine years ago about sunspot polarization.
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/hmi_mag/512/
As the solar cycle transitions from one to the next, that
polarization will change, with an increasing number of new cycle
spots gradually replacing the old. But don't expect this until five
years from now (QST de W1AW, Propagation Forecast Bulletin 45 ARLP045
From Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, WA November 6, 2015, To all radio
amateurs, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD)
GEOMAGNETIC INDICES --- GEOMAGNETIC SUMMARY OCTOBER 2015
Via Phil Bytheway – Tabulated from email status daily (K = 0000 UTC).
Date Flux A K Space Weather
1 120 11 3 moderate, R2
2 107 14 2 moderate, R2
3 97 11 1 no storms
4 88 20 4 minor, G1, R1
5 83 18 2 minor, G1
6 81 19 4 no storms
7 81 77 6 strong, G3
8 80 56 4 moderate, G2
9 81 26 4 no storms
10 81 12 2 no storms
11 85 12 3 no storms
12 89 22 4 minor, G1
13 96 25 4 no storms
14 101 23 3 minor, G1
15 107 10 3 minor, R1
16 109 8 1 minor, R1
17 117 11 2 minor, R1
18 120 22 2 minor, G1
19 124 4 1 no storms
20 123 9 2 no storms
21 129 12 2 no storms
22 121 6 2 no storms
23 115 7 3 no storms
24 106 11 3 no storms
25 106 8 1 no storms
26 106 3 0 no storms
27 110 4 2 no storms
28 112 3 0 no storms
29 113 5 2 minor, S1
30 121 9 3 no storms
31 113 6 3 minor, R1
Sx – Solar Radiation Storm Level / Gx – Geomagnetic Storm Level / Rx –
Radio Blackouts Level (NRC DX News Nov 16 via DXLD)
:Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
:Issued: 2015 Nov 09 0211 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 02 - 08 November 2015
Solar activity was at very low to moderate levels. The summary
period began with numerous weak to mid-level C-class flares from
Regions 2443 (N07, L=316, class/area Fkc/650 on 01 Nov) and 2445
(N15, L=026, class/area Dac/240 on 02 Nov) observed on 02-03
November. Activity increased to moderate levels (R1-Minor) on 04
November. At 04/0326 UTC, Region 2445 produced an M1/1n flare with
an associated Type II radio sweep (790 km/s estimated shock
velocity). In addition, discrete frequency bursts of 56,000 sfu and
41,000 sfu were observed on 245 MHz and 410 MHz, respectively.
Region 2445 also prodcued an M2/1n flare at 04/1203 UTC with an
associated Type II sweep (1033 km/s estimated shock velocity).
Shortly afterward, Region 2443 produced an M3/2b flare with
associated Type II (955 km/s estimated shock velocity) and Type IV
sweeps. This event also prodcued an associated partial-halo coronal
mass ejection (CME), first observed in LASCO C2 imagery at 04/1436
UTC.
By 05 November, activity levels declined to very low levels. Levels
increased to low on 06-07 November with weak to mid-level C-class
activity observed from Regions 2446 (N15, L-349, class/area Cro/020
on 01 Nov), 2448 (N06, L=234, class/area Dao/140 on 06 Nov), 2449
(S12, L=209, class/area Dao/150 on 07 Nov) and 2450 (S23, L=200,
class/area Bxo/010 on 07 Nov).
No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at
normal levels on 02-03 November and high levels on 04-07 November
due to enhanced solar wind speeds.
Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to major storm levels. The
summary period began with quiet to unsettled levels on 02 November.
Solar wind speeds, measured at the ACE spacecraft, were weak at
about 300 km/s. Field activity picked up to unsettled to minor storm
levels (G1-Minor) on 03-04 November due to effects from an
equatorial, positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH
HSS). Wind parameters observed a rapid increase in winds speeds to
an average of about 675 km/s with a peak of near 770 km/s early on
04 November. Total field (Bt) increased to peak at 34 nT about
03/0700 UTC while the Bz component reached a maximum southward
extent of -24 nT at 03/0620 UTC. Activity levels decreased to quiet
to active on 05 November through early on 06 November as effects
from the CH HSS waned. Quiet levels were observed from 06/0300-1800
UTC. During this time frame, wind speeds decreased to near 475 km/s
while Bt and Bz relaxed to nominal levels.
On 06/1800-2400 UTC, field activity increased to active levels and
further increased to minor to major storm levels (G1-G2 /
Minor-Moderate) for the first half of 07 November. This increase in
activity was attributed to the arrival of the 04 November CME. Wind
speeds increased to 719 km/s at 07/0257 UTC, Bt increased to 20 nT
late on 06 November and the Bz component varied between +18 nT to
-16 nT. The last half of 07 November through the first half of 08
November saw field conditions relax to quiet levels. Wind speeds
declined to about 425 km/s while Bt and Bz relaxed to nominal
levels. By midday on the 8th, wind parameters indicated the likely
onset of a co-rotating interaction region in advance of a recurrent
positive polarity CH HSS. Wind speeds peaked to near 550 km/s late
on the 8th while Bt reached 10 nT and Bz was mostly southward to -6
nT.
FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 09 NOV - 05 DEC 2015
Solar activity is expected to be at predominately low levels with a
chance for moderate levels (R1-R2 / Minor-Moderate) through the
outlook period. Regions 2443 and 2449 , coupled with the return of
old Region 2437 (S18, L=098) on 12 November, are the regions most
likely to produce M-class activity.
No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit in the absence
of any significant flare activity.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is
expected to be at moderate to high levels on 09-16 November and
again on 01-05 December due to an enhanced solar wind enviroment as
recurrent CH HSSs become geoeffective. Normal to moderate levels are
expected on 10-30 November.
Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at unsettled to active
levels on 09-11 November. Minor storm levels (G1-Minor) are expected
on 09 November as a recurrent, positive polarity CH HSS impacts
Earth. Unsettled to active levels are expected on 16-17 November due
to extended periods of southward Bz. Unsettled to active levels are
expected on 30 November - 02 December and again on 05 December, with
minor storm levels likely on 30 November and 01 December. This
activity is due to recurrent positive polarity CH HSSs. Quiet to
unsettled levels are expected for 12-15 and 18-29 November.
:Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt
:Issued: 2015 Nov 09 0211 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 2015-11-09
#
# UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest
# Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index
2015 Nov 09 108 25 5
2015 Nov 10 108 18 4
2015 Nov 11 110 12 4
2015 Nov 12 110 8 3
2015 Nov 13 110 8 3
2015 Nov 14 110 8 3
2015 Nov 15 110 8 3
2015 Nov 16 105 8 3
2015 Nov 17 100 12 4
2015 Nov 18 100 5 2
2015 Nov 19 105 5 2
2015 Nov 20 105 5 2
2015 Nov 21 105 5 2
2015 Nov 22 105 5 2
2015 Nov 23 110 5 2
2015 Nov 24 110 5 2
2015 Nov 25 110 5 2
2015 Nov 26 115 8 3
2015 Nov 27 115 5 2
2015 Nov 28 120 8 3
2015 Nov 29 120 8 3
2015 Nov 30 120 25 5
2015 Dec 01 115 25 5
2015 Dec 02 110 15 4
2015 Dec 03 110 8 3
2015 Dec 04 110 5 2
2015 Dec 05 110 12 4
(SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD)
GLENN`S PROPAGATION OUTLOOK FOR MEDIA NETWORK PLUS AS OF NOVEMBER 11
From IPS in Australia, the global HF propagation forecast thru
November 14: normal to fair at low latitudes; poor to fair at middle
and hi latitudes. with significantly degraded HF conditions.
From Spaceweather South Africa thru November 14: shortwave fadeouts
unlikely, MUF unstable; magnetic conditions unsettled to active on
November 13, active to minor storm on November 14.
From Met Office UK, thru November 15: solar activity low; geomagnetic
field unsettled to active with minor or moderate geomagnetic storm
periods likely.
From OK1HH of the Czech Propagation Interested Group:
Geomagnetic field will be:
quiet to unsettled on November 13, 17, 20, 23, 27
quiet to active on November 14, 16, 26, December 1 - 2
quiet on November 15, 22, 25,
mostly quiet on November 18 - 19, 21, 24, 28 - 29
active to disturbed on November 30.
From SWPC in Boulder, Solar activity predominately low with a chance
for minor-moderate R1-R2 levels through December 5. Geomagnetic field
unsettled to active November 16-17 with A- and K-indices peaking at 12
and 4. Minor storm levels likely on November 30 and December 1, A and
K of 25 and 5. The quietest dates of 5 and 2 should be November 18-27.
Solar flux dipping to 100 November 17 and 18, rising to a peak of 120
on November 28-30.
William Hepburn`s VHF-UHF-Microwave DX maps show extreme tropospheric
ducting around Madagascar to Mozambique thru November 16; and off
western and northwestern Australia. Also along the southwestern coast
of Mexico, November 15 and 16 (via DXLD) ###