DX LISTENING DIGEST 15-51, December 23, 2015 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2015 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html [also linx to previous years] NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn WORLD OF RADIO 1805 CONTENTS: *DX and station news about: Angola, Argentina, Australia, Bhutan, Biafra non, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia non, Canada, Czechia, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia non, Europe, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea North non/South, Libya, Nigeria, North America, Norway, Perú, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Sweden, Tajikistan, USA, Venezuela, Yemen non SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1805, December 24-30, 2015 Thu 1230 WRMI 9955 Thu 2100 WRMI 7570 [confirmed] Fri 0200 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [confirmed] Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 [confirmed] Fri 2130 WRMI 7570 [confirmed] Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM [confirmed] Sun 0900 WRMI 5850 Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v Area 51 [confirmed] Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] 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 location, and say something about why you want to join. Those who do not, unless I recognize them, will be prompted once to do so and no action will be taken otherwise. Here`s where to sign up: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** AFGHANISTAN. ISIL HITS AFGHAN AIRWAVES TO DRUM UP SUPPORT Radio broadcasts launched by ISIL loyalists in Nangarhar used to recruit fighters and spread anti-government propaganda. Shereena Qazi | 21 Dec 2015 07:51 GMT ISIL's radio broadcasts in Nangarhar province have 'hooked' some listeners [Ghulamullah Habibi/EPA] [caption] The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has launched a radio station in Afghanistan to recruit fighters and stir up anti-government sentiment. The one-hour-long Voice of Caliphate broadcast in Pashto language was started in eastern Nangarhar province by supporters who pledged allegiance to ISIL. It was unclear when the broadcasts began but Afghan officials say they found out about the station a week ago. "The ISIL militants in Afghanistan are growing stronger and this radio channel is helping them recruit fighters which will make them even stronger," Achin district governor Haji Ghalib told Al Jazeera. ISIL and the Taliban. "Their aim is to brainwash people through this radio channel. However, we are trying to track it and shut it down." READ MORE: ISIL won't get far in Afghanistan - for now Mohammad Yasin Samim, spokesman for the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, told Al Jazeera the technology being used made it hard to locate the source of the broadcasts. "What makes it difficult to immediately shut down the radio station is that it is broadcast via portable transmitters that do not have a fixed location," Samim said. "It does not have a base station." Tolo News, an Afghan news channel, included an audio clip of the Voice of the Caliphate in a report, in which a presenter said ISIL's flag will soon fly over the Afghan Presidential Palace. A resident of Jalalabad, the provincial capital, told Al Jazeera some locals find themselves "hooked to the channel". "Their listeners are increasing every day - I am one of them. They say that the current government is un-Islamic and how we should all stand up against them," said Hamid, who asked that his surname not be published. "I found out about this radio channel from my friend and I make sure I listen to it every day. What they say is not wrong because they want to bring Sharia [Islamic law], which I am in favour of." But another resident said the channel is "poisoning the youth of Afghanistan" and demanded that it be shut down immediately. "Many people listen to radio in Afghanistan as not all have access to televisions. I have listened to their channel and I can tell you that the ISIL fighters are conveying only hatred. Young people can be fooled by this very easily," Hamidullah Dawlatzai told Al Jazeera. "It can turn into a disaster. It is pure evil." Competing with the Taliban Battles between the Taliban and ISIL fighters have increased over the past few months, most notably in the Taliban stronghold of Nangarhar province. When asked about ISIL's radio broadcasts, the Taliban responded that it was an "ineffective way to reach out to people". "This [radio] will die out soon. It won't last long," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Al Jazeera. "The radio channel has a very limited audience. Just a one-hour programme cannot get people to join ISIL." The Taliban has a history of recruiting people through poetry, especially those of a well-known Pashto poet in Afghanistan, Faqeer Mohammed Darwish, who wrote about "fighting for Afghanistan's freedom and jihad against foreign fighters". Q&A: ISIL, the Taliban and the battle for the Khorasan "My poems are aimed at reminding the youth how our country was invaded by foreign forces and how important it is to fight them out," Darwish told Al Jazeera. "My jihad is to motivate young people through my poems to join us in jihad." ISIL recruiting and brainwashing Afghan children Darwish pledged allegiance to the Taliban after the appointment of new leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor upon news of Mullah Omar's death. He also wrote a new poem in Pashto praising Mansoor. 'Serious threat from ISIL' US Army General John Campbell, who leads the international forces in Afghanistan, said ISIL had coalesced over the past six months in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. Between 1,000 and 3,000 ISIL fighters are in Afghanistan, according to Campbell. He said its presence has forced the Taliban to redirect resources away from fighting Afghan security forces. In an unannounced visit to Afghanistan last week, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned of the threat posed by ISIL in Afghanistan. "We are seeing little nests of ISIL spring up around the world, including here in Afghanistan, but I will say that that is a threat that we track very closely," Carter said (AlJazeera, via Clara Listensprechen, DXLD) ISIS LOYALISTS HAVE REPORTEDLY LAUNCHED RADIO STATION IN NANGARHAR PROVINCE https://www.khaama.com/isis-loyalists-have-reportedly-launched-radio-station-in-nangarhar-province-1818 The loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group have reportedly launched a radio station in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. The radio station – Caliphate Radio, has been launched with an aim to encourage encouraging local youth to enroll in jihadi ranks and airing anti-government Islamic rulings, or fatwa. The security officials have not confirmed the launch of the radio by ISIS fanatics so far, however the provincial council officials have said the broadcast has already started using a broadcast band of 90 FM. The launch of radio station by ISIS fanatics comes amid growing concerns that the terror group is gaining foothold in Afghanistan with more militants formerly fighting for other militant groups pledging allegiance. The commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan Gen. John Campbell said the loyalists of the terror group are attempting to establish a regional base in Jalalabad, the capital city of eastern Nangarhar province with foreign militants from Syria and Iraq had joining the ranks of ISIS loyalists in eastern Nangarhar province. Gen. Campbell further added that the loyalists of the terror group in Afghanistan are also trying to consolidate links with the leadership of the terror group based in Syria and Iraq. This comes as the United Nations late in the month of September this year, stating the terror group is making inroads in Afghanistan with the number of sympathizers and followers growing across the country. The report further added that the group is recruiting followers in at least 25 provinces of Afghanistan with 10 percent of the sympathizers belonging to the Taliban group. “The number of groups and individuals who are openly declaring either loyalty to or sympathy with ISIL continues to grow in a number of provinces in Afghanistan,” the report said. The report also added that around 70 militants of the terror group are busy in forming the core of the group’s branch in Afghanistan which was initially formed by Abdul Rauf Khadem after visiting Iraq in 2014. Posted by: (JOSE MIGUEL ROMERO ROMERO, Spain, Dec 16, dxldyg via DXLD) IS LAUNCHES FM RADIO CHANNEL IN EASTERN AFGHANISTAN VOA NEWS Ayesha Tanzeem December 17, 2015 http://www.voanews.com/content/is-launches-fm-radio-channel-in-eastern-afghansitan/3106966.html ISLAMABAD - The Islamic State group has launched an FM radio channel in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. Local journalist Anaat Khan said the channel has been active for almost a month and can be heard in the provincial capital Jalalabad. Local Provincial Council Member Zabihullah Zmaray said the broadcast lasts two hours daily from 6 to 8 p.m. and tries to convince the local population that their current system is un-Islamic. "They broadcast propaganda in their favor and against the state in order to turn the people against the government. But in the last decade people have become aware and they are not falling for it," Zmaray said. He added that it is a mobile setup and the government was not worried because "the people will stand with the system and against (IS)." But Khan said the local population is scared. "They dislike IS, but they are so scared that they will listen to anything," he added. Khan, who has heard the broadcast, said IS asks the local population whether they prefer them or the government and promises the local population victories over their enemies. "They say that they will fly the black flag first in Kabul, then in Islamabad (Pakistan), and afterwards in all the capitals of Muslim world," Khan said. Provincial governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said they are making efforts to get the station off the air, according to local TV Channel TOLO News (VOA Radiogram Dec 19 via roger, dxldyg via DXLD) A NEW ISLAMIC STATE RADIO STATION SPREADS PANIC IN EASTERN AFGHANISTAN By Pamela Constable, Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/a-new-islamic-state-radio-station-spreads-panic-in-eastern-afghanistan/2015/12/21/f41ecf96-a75c-11e5-b596-113f59ee069a_print.html JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- At exactly 6 p.m. across this nervous city and surrounding districts, a clandestine radio broadcast comes to life each night with sounds of clashing swords, drumming hoofbeats and bursts of machine-gun fire. "Caliphate Radio, where hell welcomes the conspirators of infidels," intones the announcer in the Pashto language. For the next 90 minutes, speakers deliver sermons about Islam, recite Koranic verses in Arabic, threaten death for anyone connected with the "infidel" government and call on young Afghans to join their holy war. No one is sure where the week-old broadcasts are coming from. Officials say they are attempting to track the radio broadcast facility and silence it, but they suspect it is mounted on a truck, moving among the tribal regions that straddle the nearby border with Pakistan. The program can be heard throughout Nangahar province but not nationally. Already, the broadcasts have struck new fear into residents of this besieged eastern region, a rich agricultural area and strategic trade corridor. Fighters loyal to the Islamic State, known here by its Arabic acronym Daesh, are reportedly reaching as close as 12 miles from this provincial capital as they wrest control of areas where Afghan security forces largely remain confined to outposts. Islamic State forces in Afghanistan have been mostly a mixture of disaffected Taliban and tribal militants from Pakistan and of Uzbek and Chechen fighters. Recently, though, there have been indications that some fighters from the Middle East have joined them and are attempting to establish a stronghold in Nangahar. Many Afghans suspect that the militants and the new radio station are being sponsored by Pakistan, which officials in that country deny. [The Islamic State is making these Afghans long for the Taliban] Provincial leaders said they are frustrated with the poor results of a recent military offensive that failed to push back Islamic State militants. With NATO air power no longer available to provide cover to Afghan troops, they said, the government is being forced to rely on poorly trained local police and even on Taliban fighters -- widely viewed here as a lesser, homegrown evil -- to take on the better armed and financed Islamic State forces. "The Afghan soldiers fight well. But they are badly managed, and the government is weak. How else can 20 Daesh fighters capture districts where they have sent in 2,000 army troops?" demanded Ahmed Ali Hazrat, the provincial council head. He said that local armed tribes are ready to take on the Islamic State in coordination with the army but that their offer has been rebuffed. "Without international air support, there is no way the Afghan forces can defeat them," he said. Last week, Gen. John Campbell, the top U.S. and NATO military commander in Afghanistan, signaled growing U.S. concern about the Islamic State's ambitions here, saying that its leaders may be trying to create a regional stronghold in Nangahar. On Friday, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter briefly visited a U.S. base in Jalalabad, where he predicted a "hard" year ahead in the fight against the Islamic State and the Taliban. [The Islamic State is growing in Afghanistan, and has its eyes on a specific city] Leaders from four districts, including two close to Jalalabad, said their areas are now partly or fully under Islamic State domination. An elder from Chaparhar, a short drive from Jalalabad, said the extremists are "beheading four to five people a day" there and control 90 percent of the district. He said that one family was murdered in recent days and that Islamic State fighters returned two of their severed heads to local authorities. The elder, who fled with his family to Jalalabad, spoke on the condition that he not be identified. "They just kill people; they don't say why," he said. "They have already warned me. If they see my name, they will kill me, too." `Everyone is afraid' The launching of Caliphate Radio has magnified the intimidating power of the Islamic State and has made the group seem more ubiquitous. Officials said the broadcast can be heard throughout most of the province. In Jalalabad on Saturday evening, every word came through clearly. "This is an infidel government, with an infidel system," one speaker said. "Those who are in the same trench with infidels are not Muslim" and are therefore worthy of death. He included in that group anyone who delivers goods to government agencies, shares offices with foreigners, or befriends Jews or Christians. "It is negative propaganda that we kill everyone," he asserted, "but we are fighting to finish an evil system." The chilling effect is palpable in this bustling city of 350,000, which is full of hotels and restaurants that cater to tradesmen and travelers. On a recent day, the streets emptied quickly after dark, and police and army vehicles circulated. Business owners said trade was down; officials said the city was flooded with jobless men who had fled conflict zones. "Everyone is afraid," said one council member, from nearby Achin, where Islamic State fighters remain in control four months after they executed villagers by forcing them to sit on explosives. "These people are not human. They have much money and many big weapons. They can put Dashikas on every hilltop," he said, referring to Russian-made DShK heavy machine guns. He spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing for his security. "They easily slip in and out across the border, and they bring everything in on horses. We wonder who is really behind them," he said. The radio is worrisome for a second reason: its potential to appeal to young Afghans who are alienated, idle or already influenced by radical Islamist teachings. Local officials say the area's high unemployment rate makes young men susceptible to the Islamic State's promises of high pay. Another group of potential recruits are students at Nangahar University, the second largest in the country. In November, Islamist student activists staged an anti-government protest, waving both Taliban and Islamic State flags. Police made 27 arrests. One economics instructor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said the campus -- once known as a center for medical and technical studies -- is now so full of radicalized students that it is too dangerous for a foreigner to visit. In some dormitories, he said, students are watching extreme Islamist videos and becoming swept up in the idea of violent jihad. A Sunni cleric here, Maulvi Zahir Haqqani, who is working with the government to counter the Islamic State's message, said he and his fellow scholars issued a fatwa, or religious edict, this week denouncing the militia's predations as un-Islamic and encouraging residents to defend themselves against the "invaders." Haqqani said the Taliban, though cruel, is more palatable here because it consists of fellow Afghans, ethnic Pashtuns and Hanafi Muslims, a mainstream Sunni sect. The Islamic State is largely made up of Salafist Muslims, who follow an ultraconservative strain of the faith that originated in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and the group is led by Middle Easterners. The Islamic State radio broadcasts told listeners in recent days that Taliban fighters should be higher-priority targets than the government. Relations between the two Islamist militias are complex, with some Taliban members joining the Islamic State while others are fighting it. Afghans worry that their growing armed rivalry will sow chaos in the region. Already, elders and officials from across Nangahar said, the conflict has emptied Achin, close to the Pakistani border, and has sent residents fleeing from six more of the province's 23 districts -- Khogyani, Chaparhar, Deh Bala, Shinwar, Behsud and Pachiragam. In the past week, they said, Islamic State fighters have reached an area of Chaparhar that is 12 miles from Jalalabad. "The women are all locking themselves in their houses because they have heard about the flags Daesh is demanding," said Habiba Kakar Qazizada, a teacher from Behsud. Islamic State fighters have ordered that flags be raised over houses with widows or unmarried daughters, whom they claim the right to take as spoils of war. "The Taliban treat women like goods, too, but they are more lenient," she said. The broadcasts of Caliphate Radio have made it clear that the insurgents do not plan to stop until they control Afghanistan. On Friday, before signing off with a stirring, familiar melange of ancient and modern battle sounds, the announcer vowed that "soon our black flags will fly" over the presidential palace in Kabul. Read more: Afghan government turns to militias as Taliban gains strength Afghans who once watched war from afar are forced to flee After Kunduz, the Taliban is now targeting other Afghan cities (c) The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. UAE, 5940.092, IBRA Radio's Dari service program, via Babcock brokered service Al Dhabbaya-UAE unit, at S=9+15dB signal here in southern Germany. Called Dari like "Sadaye Zindagi" at 0235 UT on Dec 18 (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, log at 0225 til 0255 UT on Dec 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. VOA-Deewa R.-Thailand on 9355 at 1820 in Pashto. Afghani music, Man with ID, telephone conversation. // 9370-Iranawila. Good (Online Twente SDR via Mike Bryant, KY, Dec 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALASKA [and non]. Good signal of KNLS The New Life Station Dec 22: 0800-0900 on 9615 NLS 100 kW / 270 deg to SEAs English tx#2 0900-1000 on 9680*NLS 100 kW / 300 deg to NEAs Russian tx#2 * very poor due to strong signal of Ictimai Radio on 9676.9. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/good-signal-of-knls-new-life-station-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Dec 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very weak signal of KNLS The New Life Station. Today December 23 no signal of Ictimai Radio on 9676.9: 0900-1000 on 9680*NLS 100 kW / 300 deg to NEAs Russian http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/very-weak-signal-of-knls-new-life.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALGERIA. I just looked at MWLIST and see that the Algeria 891 kHz has been reported off the air, but from the notes, maybe it has returned. The reason I mention that, is that when I was stationed about 1 hour drive from Boston in 1980, I heard chanting on 890 --- I assumed it was Algeria almost every night. cd (Chris Dunne, Pembroke Pines FL, Dec 20, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) 891 kHz Algiers Ouled Fayet still on reduced power? ALGERIA, 891, after these recent carrier-only tests of new TransRadio Berlin unit at Algiers Ouled Fayet MW 891 kHz channel site. How is the service now on this RA chaine-1 channel, reception on remote SDR units around Mediterranean reveals only reduced power usage these days, heard first program ch 1 \\ on both LW 153 and MW 891 kHz at 1830 UT, but latter much less the signal strength of Youth program channels on 531 or 549 kHz. wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Dec 20, mwmasts yg via DXLD) You are fully right. 891 has a quite good signal at 21 UT, but it can't be full power. Can be test of 600 kW day/300 night. Best regards/ (Bengt Ericson, Sweden, ibid.) Much lower than the test tone of past days (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, ibid.) Re 891 kHz Algiers Ouled Fayet --- I don't understand the MW prop condition this morning. 891 Algiers poor signals heard at 08 UT at remote Madrid Spain, Forli Italy, and at St. Gallen Switzerland, but fair to well heard signal from Algiers heard on new remote Perseus net unit close to Polish-Czech-Slovak border near Sumperk-Ostrava, Opole and Katowice. PS: also Heusweiler Saar 1179 kHz signal is really well heard in eastern Sumperk-Moravia near Polish border. I guess the guy at Sumperk uses an excellent MW range antenna? (Wolfgang Büschel, Dec 21, ibid.) ** ANGOLA. 4949.75, R. Nacional de Angola, 0317-0408, Dec 20. Poor, but audio well above threshold level the whole time; religious program; EZL pop songs; 0400 time pips; news; 0405 clear ID: "Rádio Nacional de Angola"; enjoyable to listen to the pop songs; has been a while since I last heard them at this level. Audio at https://app.box.com/s/yusir0o2vdov4h25gz523qoe41bu58jq with ID and music (poor quality) 4949.75, R. Nacional de Angola, 0302-0408, Dec 22. Again with above threshold level audio; able to make out several IDs. For me, any reception I have that I am able to dig out clear IDs is good reception! They played one Xmas song! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4950, 12/23 0104-0109, RNA, Mulenvos, in Portuguese. YL talks, but unlistenable. Many days RNA is on air but has a terrible radiotelegraphy interference; presumed, best audible in USB mode (DXer José Ronaldo Xavier (JRX), Cabedelo - Brazil, Degen DE1103 / Tecsun S- 2000, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** ANTIGUA & BARBUDA. TEP - Observer Radio - 91.1 MHz - Caribe - Amigos, ontem houve uma boa abertura transequatorial na faixa de FM Broadcasting aqui na cidade de São Paulo. Comecei a receber o ruído oscilante característico da TEP por volta de 23:00 horário de Brasília [01 UT] encobrindo totalmente o fraco sinal que recebia da Rádio Ipanema FM de Sorocaba SP, 91.1 MHz, quando às 23:20 no meio desse ruído surgiu a emissora caribenha Observer Radio 91.1 MHz. Essa abertura durou cerca de 50 minutos indo até as 00:10 hora de Brasília. Em horário UT foi entre 0120 e 0210. Vamos ver se agora a TEP estabiliza por aqui; essa temporada está sendo muito fraca. Observer Radio - 91.1 Mhz - Antigua and Barbuda - Caribe - Parte 1 https://youtu.be/RHZsHHhsH1E Observer Radio - 91.1 Mhz - Antigua and Barbuda - Caribe - Parte 2 https://youtu.be/rGsX1VsSShI 73´s (Fran Jr, São Paulo, Dec 22, SPSony XDR-F1HDAntena interna direcional Yagi de 6 elementos, radioescutas yg via DXLD) A segunda gravação está bem melhor. Parabens (Anderson José Torquato, ibid.) Grato Anderson, a segunda foi por volta de 0200 UT no pico da abertura; ontem não abriu a TEP por aqui. 73's (Fran, ibid.) Still tough copy, but amazing DX. 4821 km = 2996 miles, St John`s to São Paulo (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 11710.90, Dec 19 at 0136, RAE is S5 with undermodulated music; hadn`t measured it lately, and tonight it`s a bit higher than usual, but never yet reaching 11711.0 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15345, 12/23 1718-1723, RAE, B.Aires, in German. OM talks; good signal and a strong distorted modulation; unlistenable, 44331 (DXer José Ronaldo Xavier (JRX), Cabedelo - Brazil, Degen DE1103 / Tecsun S-2000, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. MARÍA SEOANE RENUNCIÓ A LA DIRECCIÓN DE RADIO NACIONAL DE ARGENTINA --- by gruporadioescuchaargentino La periodista María Seoane, renunció hoy a su cargo como directora de Radio Nacional. Su decisión fue comunicada desde su cuenta de Facebook, donde explicó que su salida se produce en un marco de orgullo, luego de haber administrado "con profesionalismo y honestidad la radio pública". Su renuncia se da en una semana clave, en la que se espera que el responsable del Sistema Federal de Medios y Contenidos Públicos, Hernán Lombardi, tome posesión de varios de los múltiples entes que componen su flamante cartera y comience a definir el nuevo modelo de contenidos. Una de las piezas clave de ese inmenso sistema de medios es Radio Nacional, dirigida hasta ahora por Seoane. Se trata de una cadena de 50 emisoras AM y FM distribuidas en todo el país. Incluye ocho "emisoras comerciales" propiedad del Estado que quedaron por fuera de la cadena oficial. En muchas de estas radios se cree que Lombardi encontrará gremios en protesta que piden el pase a planta permanente de los empleados contratados que, según ellos, el Estado mantuvo en negro estos años. "Acabo de presentar mi renuncia a como directora de Radio Nacional", publicó esta tarde Saoane, y destacó su orgullo por "haber impulsado las realizaciones más importantes de toda su historia. De haberla hecho popular y de haber logrado colocarla en el lugar que siembre debió tener en la consideración de los argentinos". Seoane, que apuntó contra la "policía mediática macrista que difama y miente", aclaró que "nunca" tuvo "responsabilidad alguna sobre la contratación de periodistas", ni "responsabilidades administrativas ni económicas sobre el manejo del patrimonio de Radio Nacional". Por último, la ex Clarín añadió que decidió renunciar hoy a su cargo "en homenaje a los caídos del 21 de diciembre de 2001" (La Nación via GRA blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) Quizás la Sra. Seoane confunda en sus declaraciones lo popular con populista. Los medios del gobierno perdieron popularidad durante los últimos 12 años porque respondieron al kirchnerismo populista. De todas maneras, la periodista ha tenido un gesto que la enaltece. Esa misma decisión no parece tenerla el militante Martín Sabbatella al frente del AFSCA. Veremos cuánto tiempo aguanta. Saludos RGM (Rubén Guillermo Margenete, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** ASCENSION [and non]. BaBcoCk changes from Dec 15: BBC via Woofferton, instead of Ascension 0530-0600 on 6135 WOF 250 kW / 140 deg to WeAf Hausa, ex ASC 0600-0630 on 9870 WOF 250 kW / 170 deg to CeAf French, ex ASC 0630-0700 on 9440 WOF 250 kW / 152 deg to WeAf Hausa, ex ASC 0700-0730 on 9440 WOF 250 kW / 180 deg to WeAf French, ex ASC 1800-1830 on 15400 WOF 250 kW / 182 deg to WeAf English,ex ASC 1830-1930 on 15400 ASC 125 kW / 027 deg to WeAf English,ex 18-20 1930-2000 on 15400 WOF 250 kW / 182 deg to WeAf English,ex ASC HCJB, Radio Akhbar Mufriha 2145-2215 on 9530 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg to WeAf Hassinya Th-Sa/Mo/Tu 2145-2215 on 9530 DHA 250 kW / 275 deg to WeAf Hassinya Sun, ex ASC 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, circa Dec 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Temporary for Ascension maintenance? They`ve done this before, tho it seems a lot of trouble, closing ASC just on a Sunday (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Dec 17 - We know ABC Tennant Creek NT will be off the air for a while (2325 & 4910), but today seemed to me that 2485 (ABC Katherine NT) was also silent while checking from 1243 and subsequent listening till 1315. ONLY able to hear 4835 (ABC Alice Springs NT). (Ron Howard, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks to Rob Wagner (Victoria, Australia) for his feedback: "Yes Ron. 2485 was not heard here last night when checked at 1145 UT. Gone off in sympathy?? :-) Rob" Appreciate his confirmation! (Ron, Dec 17, ibid.) 2485 kHz, Katherine NT ist wieder auf Sendung, 4835 kHz sowieso, -- aber Tennant Creek 2325 kHz wartet noch auf die Reparatur ("Wolfgang Bueschel", 1224 UT Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2485, ABC Katherine NT on Dec 19 back on the air after being off for several days; // 4835, ABC Alice Springs NT; 1242 with Xmas songs (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2325, ABC Tennant Creek NT, after being off the air for about a week, they returned today (Dec 23); noted at 1338 talking about the new "Star Wars" movie; // 4835, ABC Alice Springs NT and // 2485, ABC Katherine NT (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. 2015 Christmas Special --- This year's show is a bit different but we're sure you'll enjoy our perks and quirks. On today's 2015 Christmas Special we're playing some compulsory Christmas music, wonder what happened to Christmas is today's society, we look at famous Christmas quotes and figure out what an Australian does for a hot summer's Christmas day. We have a SPECIAL E-QSL to send to listeners hearing us via shortwave radio! LISTEN (MP3): https://archive.org/download/ChristmasSpecial2015/ChristmasSpecial2015.mp3 (Rob Wise, Tasmania, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) GERMANY, No signal of Hobart Radio International via R. Channel 292 on Dec 19, 1900-1930 on 6070 ROB 010 kW / non-dir to CeEu English, Christmas Show: transmitter is off http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/no-signal-of-hobart-radio-international.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZERBAIJAN [and non]. ONE YEAR AFTER ISMAYILOVA ARREST, BILL PROPOSES SANCTIONS ON AZERBAIJAN Friday, December 18, 2015 Communications / Press Releases http://www.rferl.org/content/pressrelease/27434176.html December 17, 2015 --- One year since Azeri authorities raided and shut RFE/RL’s Baku bureau and imprisoned prominent contributor Khadija Ismayilova, U.S. Representative Chris Smith has introduced a landmark bill denying U.S. visas to senior members of Azerbaijan’s government. The December 16 announcement came as Rep. Smith chaired a hearing to examine “Azerbaijan’s persecution” of Ismayilova. The investigative reporter was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison in September on charges widely viewed as retaliation for her reporting linking members of President Ilham Aliyev’s family members to massive foreign real estate holdings, controlling stakes in the country’s telecom and airline industries, and ownership of Azeri gold mines. In testimony provided at the hearing, RFE/RL Editor in Chief Nenad Pejic described Ismayilova’s imprisonment and the December 26 closure of RFE/RL’s Baku bureau last year “as a targeted and coordinated effort by the country’s most senior leadership to punish journalists who report on the government’s corruption, silence independent journalism, and end RFE/RL’s operations in Azerbaijan.” In published remarks announcing the bill, Rep. Smith, who is Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, explained, “…the United States can no longer remain blind to the appalling human rights violations that are taking place in Azerbaijan.” He said, “The Azerbaijan Democracy Act demonstrates that the United States…will not compromise when faced by a government that represses the political opposition, the media, and religious minorities.” Almost concurrent with Rep. Smith’s announcement, Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland yesterday provided notice of an official inquiry into Azerbaijan's compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, citing “an arbitrary application of the law in Azerbaijan, notably in order to silence critical voices and limit freedom of speech.” Journalists with RFE/RL’s Baku bureau yesterday received the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ (BBG) 2015 David Burke Distinguished Journalism Award for demonstrating exceptional bravery and integrity in reporting and, said BBG Chairman Jeff Shell, “tackl[ing] issues of critical importance in some of the most dangerous locations on earth.” (via Hansjoerg Biener, DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. 1540, ZNS1 Nassau, DEC 18, 1059 - Good; "You're tuned in to Radio Bahamas 1540 AM, 107.9 FM, this is the voice of the Bahamas," then lost to WDCD Albany sign-on. Also noted strong hets from ZNS1 spurs at 1521 and 1559 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 Dec 18 via DXLD) ** BAHRAIN. R. Bahrain on 9745 at 0039 in Arabic, Dec 18. Loud male speaker, orchestra. Into Meast vocals. Weak, just above noise floor (Online WebSDR at U. of Twente, Netherlands via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RB-Abu Hayan on 9745 in Arabic. M with Shabab ID, into what sounds like modern romance music by W. Fair (Online Twente SDR via Mike Bryant, KY, Dec 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Time missing, probably 1700/1930 span along with other logs (gh) Surprisingly strong signal of Radio Bahrain on Dec 23: 1445-1515 on 9745 ABH 010 kW / non-dir to N/ME Arabic in CUSB due to NHK World on 9750 YAM 300 kW / 290 deg to EaAs Japanese is off today http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/surprisingly-strong-signal-of-radio_23.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. 4750, Bangladesh Betar (Home Service), 1427-1435, Dec 23. Fairly good signal; almost no QRM; subcontinent music, theme music and news in Bangla; certainly above average reception. My audio at https://app.box.com/s/bmlqoa9sokrozr9dqmtpsjnp4vsny8d8 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. 9455, Bangladesh Betar - Dhaka, 1332-1344*, Dec 14. Nepali Service with brief talk by a man announcer followed by continuous local music until carrier was terminated. Poor to Fair (Rich D’Angelo, December 20, 2015: French Creek State Park DXpedition No. 49 (December 13, 14 and 15, 2015); Equipment: Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX- 340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via DXLD) ** BELARUS. RB-Minsk on 11730 at 1422 in Russian, Dec. 18, M & W speaking over patriotic music. Strong, despite co-channel Iran (Online WebSDR at U. of Twente, Netherlands via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strong signal of Radio Belarus, but modulation not 100%: 1100-1400 on 11730 MNS 100 kW / 246 deg to WeEu Belarussian on Dec.23 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/strong-signal-of-radio-belarus-but.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. Hi Glenn, I suggest checking BBS/Bhutan again today (Dec 17), as it's Bhutan's "National Day" and BBS might have an extended schedule and special programs. Worth checking! Thanks very much to Sei-ichi Hasegawa for the alert about their "National Day"! https://anydayguide.com/calendar/2750 (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 6035.053 accurate frequency now. Yes, - second time Thimpu heard here 100 Hertz higher frequency than usual. Poor signal into southern Germany, Just S=5 above threshold signal level at 0232 UT on Dec 18. Male announcer voice. Much late, nothing from Kunming Yunnan in southern China mainland sce propagate co-channel 6035.0 kHz at this 0230 UT hour towards central Europe anymore (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, log at 0225 til 0255 UT on Dec 18, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6035.055 (thanks to Jim Young [Calif.] for measurement), 0049, Dec 22. Just missed sign on; 0051-0101 non-stop indigenous chanting/singing. Am very pleased to finally catch their sign on format. https://app.box.com/s/0mmh3p5hve98s6ca1ya2d3evkf35zbe3 contains my 5+ minute recording of this unique chanting. Thanks very much to Jim for his helpful assistance in monitoring BBS, one of my favorite stations! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BIAFRA [non]. 11600, Dec 17 at 2031 check, zero signal from R. Biafra via BULGARIA: is it still on at 2000-2200 daily? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello - has anyone copied them on the (reportedly) 23200 kHz frequency? (Rich Near Chicago, IL, Ray, dxldyg via DXLD) Note how this announcement declared the transmissions as test for now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHC4_GZPFEY And I find it again quite irritating how African people appear to no longer have other means to communicate with each other than broken English (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) Radio Biafra via Secretbrod, 2000-2300 on 11600 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/radio-biafra-resumed-its-shortwave.html And video from 2002 UT, Dec.18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKJjlf2N_E0&feature=youtu.be (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strong signal of Radio Biafra at 2000UT on 11600 kHz, Dec 19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGlhBu80y9I&feature=youtu.be (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, ibid.) No sign of Radio Biafra on 11600 kHz today at 2000 UT using the U. of Twente WebSDR. Not even a weak carrier noted. Is the broadcast only on weekdays? (Richard Langley, 2012 UT Sat Dec 19, ibid.) Audio disappeared between about 2110 and 2115 UT but the carrier was still there. Back now. Speaker keeps repeating the SW frequency. Studio --> transmitter problems? (Richard Langley, NB, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SECRETLAND(non), SPL The Global specialist for International Communications on shortwave and provided to you strong and quality signal around the world. SPL relay test broadcast of Radio Biafra via Secretbrod on December 19: 2000-2143 11600 SCB 100 kW / 195 deg to WeAf English, live broadcast 2143-2233 11600 SCB 100 kW / 195 deg to WeAf open carrier / dead air Also open carrier 2110-2115, frequency announcement 2116, off air 2233 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/spl-relay-radio-biafra-via-secretbrod.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11600, Sat Dec 19 at 2029, JBA carrier from presumed R. Biafra via BULGARIA. Which is about all I can ever expect to get. At 2000, Richard Langley in NB could not hear it at all even via UTwente SDR, and wondered if it`s Mon-Fri only? But Ivo Ivanov reports hearing a strong signal at local range Dec 19 at 2000. Richard Langley, NB replied via the DXLD yg: ``Ivo: Did you mean 19 December? As I said, I detected nothing via Twente at 2000 UT. But, I periodically checked the frequency from time to time and noted an S9 carrier at 2045. I then stayed on the frequency, and Radio Biafra signed on at about 2050:46. They are on right now with what the speaker said is a live broadcast. Pretty good reception via Twente but some fading at times. Audio disappeared between about 2110 and 2115 but the carrier was still there. Back now. Speaker keeps repeating the SW frequency. Studio --> transmitter problems? -- Richard Langley`` [as of 2117] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also open carrier / dead air from 2143 till 2233 and off air. Videos will be added later today -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Dec 20, dxldyg via DXLD) Open carrier, dead air from Radio Biafra at 2000 UT on 11600 kHz, Dec 20. SPL The Global specialist for International Communications on shortwave and provided to you strong and quality signal around the world. Cheers!!! (Ivo Ivanov, ibid.) SPL relay test transmissions of Radio Biafra via Secretbrod on December 20: 2000-2300 on 11600 SCB 100 kW / 195 deg to WeAf ONLY open carrier / dead air http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/radio-biafra-via-secretbrod-open.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgaria, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) At least the carrier is almost spot on frequency. I measured it just 4 Hz off. ;-) (Richard Langley, 2105 UT Dec 20, ibid.) Radio Biafra is currently on 11600 kHz with a fair signal via Twente (at 2122 UT, 21 December). The host is taking calls from listeners but with some difficulties. Appears to be a live program again (Richard Langley, NB, ibid.) In English! But the accent is so thick I can't make out most of it (Also on Twente WebSDR) ~2148z (Rodney Johnson, NV, ibid.) Looks like the broadcast might have gone to about 2300 UT. Need to review the recording but signal quality definitely deteriorated in the last hour. Poor propagation? (Richard Langley, 2312 UT, ibid.) Yeah. But should be getting better. (Rodney, 2324 UT, ibid.) Why? It`s later and later into the night on Africa-Europe path (gh) On reviewing the recording, it seems reception deteriorated significantly at around 2210 UT. Due to propagation conditions? Could still make out the telephone beeps used during the phone-in calls and occasional voice and music towards the end of the broadcast. All traces of audio disappeared by 2256. So, this appears to be nominally a three-hour broadcast. Do we have confirmation that when problems don't occur, the broadcast runs for three hours? (Richard Langley, NB, Dec 22, ibid.) Radio Biafra on Dec 15 [sic], 2000-2300 on 11600 Secretbrod http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/radio-biafra-resumed-its-shortwave.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Dec 22, dxldyg via DXLD) SECRETLAND(non), SPL The Global specialist for International Communications on shortwave and provided to you strong and quality signal around the world. SPL relay test broadcast of Radio Biafra via Secretbrod on December 22: 2000-2300 on 11600 SCB 100 kW / 195 deg to WeAf English, live broadcast http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/spl-relay-test-broadcast-of-radio.html (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Dec 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ? You mean this time it succeeded with continuous modulation? (gh) And just a carrier noted on 11600 kHz today (23 December) at 2130 UT via Twente. And at 2132, the carrier was gone (Richard Langley, ibid.) ** BOLIVIA. We seem to have lost 4699.9, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta another silent Bolivian (Bob Wilkner, FL, SW Bulletin Dec 20 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6025. 0246-0305 UTC. 17.12. Bolivia. Red Patria Nueva. Música Folclórica con algunos anuncios de la emisora, tanto en español como en quechua, así como la hora e ID: “Radio Patria Nueva, Bolivia” y pequeño avance informativo. SINPO: 54444 con leves siseos de R. Martí desde 6030 (Claudio Galaz T., Receptor: Realistic DX-160, Antena: Hilo de 30 metros + Tierra + Balun 4:1, Lugar: Ovalle, Chile, lista: condig, via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.76, R. Santa Cruz, 0118, Dec 22 doing fairly well; many mentions of "Radio Santa Cruz Internet"; certainly better than normal reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Am hearing 4885, Brasil, Rádio Clube do Pará, Belém, PA from 2330; alas, seems irregular (Bob Wilkner, FL, SW Bulletin Dec 20 via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) 4885, Dec 12, 0825, R. Club do Pará, Belém PA, prgr. Eu e Você na Madrugada; QRM de CODAR. 1941, Dec 13, rubrica desportiva Bate Bola, mas em franca e rápida progressão (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, ibid.) Also noted here in Ängelholm on Dec 16 with close/down as early as 2218 (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, ed., ibid.) That explains why I am not hearing it before 0700 (gh, OK, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. [Re 15-50:] 5990, Rádio Nacional Amazônia, Brasília, at 2000, on 12 Dec --- PLEASE DISREGARD log as I am not sure what frequency I heard this on to a degree I can be sure. When I looked at my SDR frequency it did state 5990. I was distracted by a phone call earlier and probably made a mistake (John Cooper, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5939.907, A Rádio Voz Missionaria, Camboriu SC, S=8 at 0613 5964.970, ZYE858 Rádio Transmundial, Santa Maria RS, poor S=5 signal 6009.946, Rádio ZYE521 Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte MG, and 6040.411, RB2, BrasPortuguese, Ave Maria prayer px at 0637 UT. S=6-7 6059.774, SRDA, S=5, hit by RHC 6060 English sce at S=8 signal. 6119.984, SRDA, S=5-6 at 0631 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, logs at 0555-0645 UT Dec 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 6135.2, R Aparecida, Aparecida, SP seems silent leaving the adjacent Bolivian easy listening from 2300. /Best -bob (Bob Wilkner, FL, SW Bulletin Dec 20 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11780.1, Dec 17 at 2045, RNA is already on in Brazuguese, only about S6 this early. Yesterday did not cut on until *2100 for `A Voz do Brasil` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 28446.9-USB, Dec 19 at 2043, ZZ90IARU, call given fonetikaly, working US station. I`ll bet this has something to do with the ninetieth anniversary of the IARU which was last June, but his QRZ.com page says he will be on the air also in December 2015, i.e.: ZZ90IARU 90 YEARS OF IARU Op. Mario Libardi - PY2DV Rua Dr. Costa Leite 1038 Botucatu - São Paulo 18602-110 Brazil (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. SECRETLAND, SPL relay IRRS Shortwave Radio Warra Wangeelaa-ti: 1500-1530 on 15515 SCB 050 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Oromo Sat December 19 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/spl-relay-irrs-shortwave-radio-warra.html SPL The Global specialist for International Communications on shortwave and provided to you strong and quality signal around the world. Mixture between Radio Warra Wangeelaa-ti of 15515 & Denge Kurdistan on 9400: 1500-1700 on 9400 SCB 100 kW / 090 deg to WeAs Denge Kurdistan + R. Warra Wangeelaa 1500-1530 on 15515 SCB 050 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Sat only Radio Warra Wangeelaa-ti http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/mixture-between-rwarra-wangeelaa-ti-of.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also BIAFRA [non] (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) ** CAMBODIA [non]. Re: TAJIKISTAN Poor signal of Voice of Khmer M'Chas Srok, Dec 13, 1130-1200 17860 DB 200 kW 125 deg to SEAS Khmer Thu/Sun. 17860 Suns only, TOTALLY distorted audio feed, 20 kHz wide bandwidth signal at 1140 UT. I guess the technicians at Yangi Yul site should align their satellite receiving equipment properly. Wolfy (Wolfgang Büschle, df5sx, Dec 20, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) ** CAMEROON [non]. GERMANY(non), Lutheran World Federation, Voice of Gospel on December 18 1830-1900 on 9800 ISS 500 kW / 180 deg to WCAf Fulfulde Sawtu Linjilia: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/lutheran-world-federation-voice-of.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. 6069.995, CFRX Toronto, talk by female and male at 0623 UT, fair S=6 6070.000, CVA, Vatican Radio, Latin prayer at 0632 UT, S=9+50dB powerhouse (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, logs at 0555-0645 UT Dec 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6070, Dec 21 at 0621, JBA carrier, presumably CFRX almost wiped out with K-index of 6 at 0600, after G2 storms and R1 blackouts. [and non]. 6070, Dec 23 at 0339, JBA carrier, surely not CFRX, so is it off? Propagation is somewhat degraded but should be getting more than this. With southern advantage, RHC Spanish is strong on 6060 & 6075; altho unusually weak in English on 6000, 6165. Maybe if CFRX relayed CHHA in Spanish it would be stronger, hi. But northerly MW signals like 830 WCCO also wiped out. By 0639, however, CFRX is there making SAH of ~8 Hz under much stronger Vatican in Church Latin (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: CFRX was on this morning when I checked at about 1145 UT just before I left for work (Richard Langley, NB, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or could CFRX have been running reduced power/antenna as has happened before? (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Hi everyone! I am just after information about the CBC's domestic shortwave services. Why are these transmitters still broadcasting when the CBC has cut services like RCI, the Northern Quebec Shortwave Service and lots of rural TV transmitters? Does anyone listen to these services and while CKZN broadcasts to Labrador what is the purpose and broadcast area of CKZU? I have picked up CKZN on 6160 kHz once here in Scotland and really miss the Northern Quebec Service which came in here really well in the evenings, it's just not the same listening online. Thanks guys, (Rob, Glasgow, Scotland, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rob, these transmitters are under the auspices of CBC, and not RCI. There are vast areas of northern Canada which are poorly served by existing, mostly retranslators. In the case of CKZN, it would serve remote areas of northern Labrador, while CKZU would do the same for northern BC. In both cases, fishing vessels could also tune in. I use CKZU frequently when I'm at my DX cottage on Haida Gwaii, and in addition, in my vehicle when it was so equipped with a SW receiver. There are plenty of isolated areas where there's nothing available on the AM or FM bands, especially during the summer. I can attest how well CKZU is heard up there. They beam due north, I think. Then again, I too miss the Northern Quebec service. It was something special. With Sackville now history, little chance of RCI ever returning to SW, sadly. 73, (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria BC, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Merry Christmas from DXer.ca --- Over on the DXer.ca homepage I have a 32 kbps MP3 recording on a CBC RCI broadcast that has not been heard since December 1989! A 1-hour program from the Reel-Reel master that Ian McFarland owns. Head on over - download for free - The sample is 32 kbps - but I will be making a 128 kbps stream available on Christmas Eve to enjoy the track in its full glory! And Merry Christmas! Welcome to the DXer.ca website (Colin Newell, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) All about First-Nations Xmas traditions (gh) ** CHILE. 6925-AM. 0240-0435 UT. 19.12.2015. Chile. RCW. Música folclórica chilena. i.e: Cuecas, et al. A las 0300, noticiero de R. Francia Internacional en Castellano. A las 0311, la sección “Dx Jukebox Oldies” con canciones del recuerdo en inglés y francés. SINPO: 45434, desde las 0246 mejora a 45444. Desde las 0355 SINPO: 45343 (Claudio Galaz T., Receptor: TECSUN PL-660, Antena: Hilo de 50 metros, Lugar: Barraza Bajo, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** CHINA. 6225-USB, Chinese military (Navy), tuned in 1224 and still on at 1243, Dec 22. Fair/good reception of Chinese numbers; strongest reception so far; not heard every day, but seems they like this frequency (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Good reception of Voice of Jinling, December 18 1420 & 1455 on 6200 NAN 100 kW / 161 deg to EaAs Chinese http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/good-reception-of-voice-of-jinling.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Music Jammer on 9355 at 1845, Dec 20. No doubt jamming RFA (Marianas), but at least their new music loop is better than their old one (Online Twente SDR via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Please explain how they differ and why one is better than the other (gh, DXLD) Music Jammer on 9870 at 1911, Dec 20. Old school flute and drum music. Good (Online Twente SDR via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CNR-1 Jammer vs Sound of Hope Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, 0830 on 11530, 11580 probably via transmitters in Taiwan http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/cnr-1-jammer-vs-sound-of-hope-xi-wang.html (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Dec 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 7260, Dec 18 at 1253, very poor signal with singing. Aoki shows two possibilities (discounting the third, Vanuatu at this hour); CRI in Japanese via Xian; and Mongolian Radio 2 but that was from A-15 and not sure if currently active. Anyhow, the point is how poor Asian conditions were today. Asian conditions are horrible this morning 2-10 MHz, and non-sequitur temp here is 22F (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 7270, Dec 17 at 1345, a carrier is on here; 1356 can make out some talk at VP level; 1400 timesignal as talk continues, then music, and at 1403 I make the music // 7365, i.e. CNR1 jammers, but there is also a weaker second signal. I`m checking this out because of a report of 7270 during the 14 hour as V. of China, clandestine from Taiwan. But in all such cases, the first assumption one must make, is hearing a ChiCom jammer. If that can be ruled out, then maybe it`s something else listed. This also requires being alert to the * next to frequencies in the Aoki list, meaning jammed! which seem to get lost or ignored. Ron Howard was also checking this today and found no sign of V. of China, but the second signal was another from inside China, PBS Nei Menggu in Mongolian. V. of China is certainly an obscure California-based clandestine, allegedly on air only two hours a day at 14 and 23 on 7270; see page 505 of WRTH 2015 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See TAIWAN ** CHINA. On 5905 kHz heard a VERY TERRIBLE CRI Russian service, HEAVY DISTORTED audio from the digital SATELLITE FEED receiver at the relay station. S=9+10dB in Europe, at 1325 UT on Dec 17 (Wolfy dxldyg via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. CHINA TRIES TO SELL ITS VIEWS ON INTERNET CONTROLS William Ide, Joyce Huang, VOA NEWS, December 16, 2015 BEIJING - Despite being the world's biggest censor of online content, China is hosting a conference this week at a small town in eastern Zhejiang province to try to sell its views about Internet governance to the world. The list of big international companies in attendance was short, but did include the head of China Internet giant Alibaba and Taiwan's FoxConn Technology. Representatives from Apple, IBM, Microsoft and Facebook also attended, despite calls to boycott the proceedings. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are among a long list of websites that are blocked in China. In addition to a keynote address from Chinese President Xi Jinping, the opening session Wednesday included speeches from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussein. Internet sovereignty In his speech, Xi argued all countries should jointly oppose Internet surveillance and hacking, and urged countries to fight against what he called a cyber arms race. He also spoke about Internet sovereignty, a key position China uses to justify its tight controls. "We should respect each others' right to choose our own Internet development paths and Internet governance models, Internet public policies and the equal right to participate in international cyber governance," Xi said, adding that "(we should) oppose cyber hegemonism, not interfere in others' internal affairs, not participate, connive or support cyber activities that jeopardize others' national security." China has some of the world's most sophisticated Internet controls. Beijing denies it censors content, saying it manages information. It has long had a key aim of controlling public opinion to keep the Communist Party in power. Companies that want to operate in China must accept that reality or pack up and leave. "Safeguarding the legal rights of foreign-invested businesses will not change," Xi said. "As long as China's laws are respected, we warmly welcome companies and entrepreneurs from all countries to invest in China." Meeting mocked On social media, some postings that were quickly taken down by authorities mocked Beijing's hosting the event, asking why such massive security had to be deployed to such a small town and questioning China's role as host. "The world is already connected by the Internet and here you are [a country] that madly takes down posts, blocks sites, wipes out anonymity and clings to your old ways, resisting modern political culture," one post said. Qiao Mu, a professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the idea of China hosting the conference is laughable, given its controls of the Internet and denial that it censors online content. "If China does not censor content, then why is it that in Wuzhen (during the conference) that Facebook and Twitter can be accessed, but not in other parts of China," Qiao said. Full text: http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese-leader-calls-for-global-governance-of-cyberspace/3105076.html See also: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/control-12162015113758.html (VOA Radiogram Dec 19 via roger, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. CRI relays on US MW stations gone? See U S A ** COLOMBIA. 5910.070, Alcaraván Radio, Rumba music at 0610 UT, S=8-9 6010.048, LV de tu Conciencia, at 0618 UT, poor signals in Germany (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, logs at 0555-0645 UT Dec 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CRIMEA. Radio Meydan away from Crimea --- The world's only Crimean Tatar radio Meydan, which after the failure of Roskomnadzor to obtain a license to broadcast on the Internet, stops in the Crimea. This QHA is the chief editor of the radio station Asan Khairetdinov. - The entire staff of Radio "Meydan" dismissed. Now I am preparing the entire database is passed in Kiev. Broadcast will already be there. Here, the "Meydan" will not - said the chief editor. According to him, the reason for the closure of media resources, such as in the case of children's programs edition «Lale» and information site "15 minutes" - the owner of the rights filed for this brand. All employees who wish to continue to work, it was proposed to move to Kiev. - We were told that all those who want to, come to Kiev, I'll give you a job, but in the Crimea, you will fail. At the moment of collective radio station in Kiev no one is going, - said Asan Khairetdinov. Recall that the editors of the children's programs «Lale» Crimean production studio «QaraDeniz Production» December 16 cvoyu stopped work, as well as the site of "15 Minutes." As explained in his address to the readers of the editorial staff, the decision was taken due to the fact that the owner of the previously moved to Kiev media holding ATR, which includes a children's television channel «Lale» Lenur Islyamov laid claim to this brand. The members of the band "15 minutes" will be working on a new project. Meydan Radio ceased broadcasting on the night of April 1. The radio station, which is part of the media holding ATR, was unable to obtain a certificate of registration of mass media in accordance with the Russian legislation. Meydan is open from 5 February 2005. This year, the station celebrated its 10th anniversary. qha.com.ua (via OnAir.ru via Rus DX 20 Dec via DXLD) ** CUBA. 1140, Huge ID outa Radio Surco, Cuba. Wonder if this the same Cuban I've been chasing for months. New. Great Auroral conditions tonight. I mean REALLY great (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, 0134 UT Dec 23, NRC-AM via DXLD) One of my recordings earlier this year: http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/audio1/r_surco_cuba-1140_20150324_0000z.mp3 "Transmite CMIP, Radio Surco, desde Ciego de Avila, capital de la locucion cubana." Fairly regular here at the coast, one of 4 different Cubans (!) attempting to "stick it" to WQBA Miami (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, South Yarmouth, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) Thanks, Mark. That makes 1140 one down and three to go for me in the Cuban dept! Not sure if last night's Surco is the unIDed one that's been dominant the last few months; aurorae can play good tricks with the usuals (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, ibid.) Actually, besides Radio Surco, there are 5 other Cubans on 1140! R. Bayamo, Media Luna // 1150 & 1620 R. Cadena Agramonte, Camagüey // 910 R. Mayabeque, La Salud // 1040 R. Musical Nacional, Santa Clara // 590 R. Rebelde synchros // 670, 1180, 5025 and a gaggle of others WQBA will probably show up in the "stew" as well. Poor WRVA! Happy hunting! (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, South Yarmouth, MA, ibid.) Hi Mark, I'm sure WRVA is OK in its primary coverage, or at least one would think it would be. Thanks for the list with parallels. Last few nights would have been great for you at the seafront (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) ** CUBA. 1310, Radio Enciclopedia, Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud. 0052 December 19, 2015. The usual female announcing, "Moon River" and other film scores in the co-channel. 1320, Radio Artemisa, Artemisa, Artemisa. 0145 December 19, 2015. Fair, parallel excellent 1020 with Spanish man and woman. Both 1320 and 1020 are missing from the RadioCuba 2015 listing, though they've been active for a long time, and are listed in the WRTVH 2015, with only 1000 listed in the RadioCuba document. 1320, Radio Veintiséis, La Jaiba, Matanzas. 1100 December 22, 2015. Sitting on the channel while tending to paperwork, the Cuban national anthem popped up at 1100, fade, then back in the co-channel with traditional Cuban folk vocals. Checking parallels to confirm if this or Radio Artemisa, it's this one, as parallel much better 1060 kHz. (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, NRD-535, IC-R75, roof dipole, active loop u.o.s., Clearwater, FL u.o.s., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 5990, Dec 20 at 0041, Spanish music, sounds like it could be RHC instead of CRI relay; undermodulated. But not // 6060 with `Sonido Cubano` nor weaker 6075. As I am checking other RHC frequencies, at 0111 Dec 20 I find that 11760 is in dead air and at 0114 so is 6060; nominal are poor 6075 and 9535, VG 11670, G 11840, and by 0115 so are 11760 & 6060 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. UN NUEVO LIBRO REVELA INTERESANTES INTIMIDADES DE RADIO MARTÍ --- by gruporadioescuchaargentino [A very good story: translate it for yourself if necessary; or maybe The Miami Herald also published it en inglés - gh] Ante la posibilidad de que Radio y TV Martí cierren o cambien de función en los próximos meses como consecuencia del restablecimiento de relaciones entre Estados Unidos y Cuba, el libro Cuba Sin Censura (Alexandria Library, Miami, 2015), con bibliografía e índice onomástico, es de indudable importancia. La historia de esta emisora se presenta desde un punto de vista personal por Jorge A. Riopedre, quien comenzó allí como director de noticias y trabajó en ella por 30 años. Solamente al leer el primer capítulo, “La víspera”, ya nos adentramos en una especie de thriller de intrigas políticas que parecen el tema de una novela más que el de un ensayo histórico. Riopedre tiene una mano y memoria magistral para recorrer los eventos, pero también conservó un diario del acontecer desde el primer momento, y guardó importantes documentos. A veces son demasiados para absorberlos en una sola lectura. El narrador es a la vez descriptivo y opinante, pues no separa los hechos de sus propias conjeturas al respecto, pero con un dominio del estilo impecable y lujoso. El resultado es la comprensión de que la creación de Radio Martí por el gobierno de Ronald Reagan, y por oficios del director de la Fundación Cubano Americana, Jorge Mas Canosa, y la inspiración de Humberto Medrano, recorrió un camino de obstáculos desde sus inicios hasta que culminó en la salida al aire el 20 de mayo de 1985. Las vicisitudes no cesaron entonces tampoco. En su narración, Jorge Riopedre es a la vez descriptivo y opinante, pues no separa los hechos de sus propias conjeturas. David Santiago el Nuevo Herald Una de las varias intrigas que cuenta se cierne alrededor de uno de sus primeros directores, Paul Drew, que trató de que la emisora tuviera menos empleados de origen cubano y que fueran sustituidos por miembros del establishment norteamericano, como por ejemplo, Saul Gefter en lugar de Medrano. Hubo que luchar frente a todos esos inconvenientes, para que la estación comenzara y funcionara hasta ahora con noticias del mundo libre y sin censura. Las actitudes políticas del Congreso norteamericano eran muy diversas con respecto a su establecimiento, y también las de dos secretarios del gobierno de Reagan. Además, había mucha oposición a que fuera solo para Cuba, sin estar ligada a la emisora para toda Latinoamérica, Voice of America (VOA). Finalmente fue establecida como se pensó originalmente en 1983, en Washington D.C. por el International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), como hermana de Radio Free Europe, la VOA y otras. Más tarde, Radio Martí se mudó a Miami en 1996, que la independizó aun más. En la presentación en Books & Books, Arocha, editor de Alexandria Library, contó emocionado: “Oí por primera vez, en el Restaurante 1830 en La Habana, la ‘Clave a Martí’ [tema de Radio Martí], a fines de los años 80, a las 11 de la mañana. Estaban pasando la telenovela Esmeralda, y nadie tenía miedo. En Cuba no se sabían otras noticias, ni el tema del narcotráfico, ni nada. Después de aquel día, solo se podía oír en onda corta y yo me dedicaba a enseñarle a la gente como sintonizar Radio Martí, en qué frecuencias, con qué antenas, y dónde se podían evitar las interferencias”. Fue esa memoria la que le hizo querer ayudar en la edición de este libro. También colaboró en la presentación Orlando Rodríguez Sardiñas (Rossardi), quien trabajó todos esos años en Radio Martí en diversos puestos importantes. Rodríguez Sardiñas comentó que leer este libro era como leer un diario de su familia. “Jugué en todas las bases”, dijo, y “no hay duda de que Humberto Medrano fue el alma de Radio Martí, fue un aliento para todos, haciendo las cosas que hay que hacer”. El libro le está dedicado a Medrano, a Mas Canosa y a Ernesto Betancourt, que se recuerda como su mejor director al principio de las operaciones. “Jorge tiene datos precisos, y muchos nombres que se me habían olvidado y otros que quisiera olvidar. Debemos perdonar, pero no olvidar”, anotó Rodríguez Sardiñas. “Los primeros cinco años fueron como Camelot, sentíamos que teníamos una misión, que llevábamos la verdad para Cuba”. Recordó la biblioteca que era necesaria antes de la internet, y que él dirigió por un tiempo, antes de la era digital. Al presentar su punto de vista, Riopedre dio las gracias a toda la familia de Medrano, algunos allí presentes, y a Carlos Alberto Montaner, como inspiradores, y dio la prueba de la importancia de RM, al ver que Raúl Castro exige que se cierre, “es una prueba de su éxito”, subrayó. “Los problemas internos que hubo en RM se originaron fuera de la emisora”, declaró el autor, “y crearon una imagen negativa, pero la mayoría de los empleados eran verdaderos profesionales. La emisora sí cumplió su misión: puso ‘en jaque’ a la dictadura”. The New York Times comentó que era un milagro de radiodifusión, la emisora que más se oía en Cuba, informó Riopedre. “Sobrevivió la maquinaria mediática de La Habana, y las maquinaciones de la Casa Blanca, en los años que siguieron”. Una anécdota que contó es que alguien le dijo a una niña en Cuba cuando visitaba Vilma Espín la ciudad, que allí estaba la mujer más importante del país, y la niña corrió a decirle a su madre: “Corre, mami, que aquí está Esmeralda”. La paradoja, dice en su libro Riopedre, es que Radio Martí haya constituido la única victoria real de Estados Unidos en el medio siglo de conflicto con Cuba (El Nuevo Herald via GRA blog via DXLD) CUBAN POLICE STATE REMAINS INTACT: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article49373210.html (Miami Herald editorial Dec 12 via gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. Good signal of Cuban Spy Numbers HM01 on December 21 0654-0748 on 9330 secret / hidden tx ?Bejucal? Spanish Sun/Mon/Wed/Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/good-signal-of-cuban-spy-numbers-hm01_21.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA. Radio Prague --- I heard a report and interviews about Havel anniversary in ENGLISH on Cesky Rozhlas Medium Wave 639 and 954 kHz – 1910-1915 Fri 18 Dec. Recognized female announcer from Shortwave days - Daniella Lazarova. Wonder if this is a regular English slot or a once-off (Derek Lynch, Ireland, Dec 20, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Czech Radio, CRo Plus, has started carrying news bulletins in English weekdays at 1805 and 1905 (BDXC UK Broadcasts in English B-15 booklet via DXLD) Thanks, that explains it. The 639 kHz frequency is very high power and does well into UK and Ireland, especially in Winter (Derek Lynch, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 750 + 30 kW = 780 kW, per WRTH 2016 (gh, DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TO REMAIN ANALOG UNTIL 2021 The Dominican Republic, which had once contemplated an analog shutoff this year, has decided it will wait for August 9, 2021, to conclude analog operations. By way of Decree 294-15, the date has been changed. Indotel had noted some interfering factors as well as a lack of investment and readiness by broadcasters. [new tagline:] Este programa es público, ajeno a cualquier partido político. Queda prohibido el uso para fines distintos a los establecidos en el programa. Read my Mexico Beat blog (Raymie Humbert, AZ, Dec 23, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Re: DTV ** EAST TURKISTAN. CHINA: 5059.984, PBS XJBS Xinjiang Chinese service from Urumqi, S=9+10dB, commercials at 0242 UT on Dec 18. 4979.988, PBS Xinjiang Uighur service, female announcer on S=9+5dB signal at 0245 UT on Dec 18. 4850.000, even frequency PBS Xinjiang Kazakh service, guitar string / flute music performer, at 0247 UT on Dec 18. Fair S=9+5dB signal into southern Germany. 3949.977, PBS Xinjang Chinese language service from Urumqi site in western China, poor S=7 signal at fade-out at 0252 UT on Dec 18. 3990.000, PBS Xinjang Uighur language service from Urumqi site in western China, fair S=8 signal strength. Male voice presenter heard at 0255 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, log at 0225 til 0255 UT on Dec 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) These are sometimes audible around SR/SS grayline here (gh, OK, DXLD) ** EAST TURKISTAN. 7250, Dec 19 at 0126, poor S9 signal in Chinese, per EiBi, CRI in Mandarin via Urumqi to South Asia, this hour only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 12015, CRI via Kashi-Saibagh 2022, English, “Weekly Business Report” including talx re inflation and other economic news. “Beijing Hour” promos at BoH and a ‘non-time check’ at 1142 as “34 minutes past the hour” (SIC). They are usually better than that! Then into silly sports news and I lost interest. // 11650 was much worse, 252+31+ (just barely able to tell it was //) but this channel was 35444; 1133-1145 12/Dec (Kenneth V Zichi, MARE Brighton MI DXpedition, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Henrik Klemetz med kommentar ang R Tarqui: http://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/2015-89/1/radio-tarqui-apago-su-senal-a-los-60-anos Bildgalleriet med ett tjugotal? bilder är imponerande. Se t ex auditoriet och se utsidan byggnaden i gamla delen av Quito. Ägaren/grundaren finns på två bilder i form av en tavelbild på väggen. Honom uppvaktade jag flera gånger under ett Quito-besök 1966 för att få ut ett QSL. Stationen hördes vid den tiden på ca 4975 och fanns kvar på kv när jag besökte Quito i januari 1975. På inspelningen som jag själv gjorde i Quito hör man Gustavo Herdoíza själv. http://www.thomasn.sverige.net/4973_Radio_Tarqui_Quito_jan_1975_HK.mp3 Han blev något senare borgmästare i Quito i åtminstone en period (fyra år brukar det vara). Den som nu stängde stationen är hans son. En bild på honom finns i ovanstående artikel. /HK (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, SW Bulletin Dec 20 via DXLD) Picture gallery with about twenty? images are impressive. See for example the auditorium and see the outside building in the old part of Quito. The owner / founder has two images in the form of a picture image on the wall. He courted I several times during a visit to Quito in 1966 to get a QSL. The station was heard at the time on about 4975, and remained on the square when I visited Quito in January 1975. On the recording I myself did in Quito hear Gustavo Herdoíza yourself. http://www.thomasn.sverige.net/4973_Radio_Tarqui_Quito_jan_1975_HK.mp3 He became somewhat later mayor of Quito for at least a period (four years tends to be). The now closed station is his son. A photograph are available in the above article. / HK (Google translation via DXLD) ** EGYPT. Unscheduled transmission, probably of Radio Cairo Dec 15 0915-0930 9965.2 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to ENAm open carrier/dead air: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/unscheduled-transmission-probably-of.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #931 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec. 21, 2015 via DXLD) R. Cairo-Avis on 9970 at 0055 in Arabic, Dec 18. Lively modern ME female vocals. Incredibly distorted (Online WebSDR at U. of Twente, Netherlands via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s on 9965, slightly variable. SDR at too-wide bandwidth setting? (gh, DXLD) Strong signal and very low modulation of Radio Cairo, Dec 18 1800-1900 NF 9435 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu Italian, ex 9655 B-14 1900-2000 NF 9570 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu German, ex 9905 B-14 2000-2115 NF 9900 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu French, ex 9905 B-14 2115-2245 on 9900 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu English same in B-14 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/strong-signal-and-very-low-modulation.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R Cairo, Abu Zabaal on 15345 at 1745 in English. M & W talking about Egyptian heritage. Strong carrier, but barely audible due to distortion. // 15500. Targeted to East Africa (Online Twente SDR via Mike Bryant, KY, Dec 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005.3, EQUATORIAL GUINEA. Radio Nacional - Bata, 0511-0540, Dec 15. Carrier just seemed to pop-up out of thin air causing a het since station opened up slightly above listed 5005 kHz. Started up with male African highlife vocals. A man announcer with fast Spanish talk was noted after two musical selection. Female vocals at 0519 and pretty much continuous music programming. Poor with some noise and fading to contend with (Rich D’Angelo, December 20, 2015: French Creek State Park DXpedition No. 49 (December 13, 14 and 15, 2015); Equipment: Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX-340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via DXLD) 5005.00, Dec 19 at 0551, JBA carrier rating S5 but no modulation audible, presumed RNGE (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non-log]. 5005, RNGE Bata. Dec 20, listening 0445-0540 and heard nothing; clearly off the air (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5005, Dec 21 at 0505 and 0610 chex, JBA carriers from presumed RNGE. I gather that it is not on the air every day (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5005, RNGE/R. Bata. Recently have been checking here 0445-0515 with no success. Perhaps the problem was I was tuning away too soon? Dec 23 again with 0445-0520 no signal; next check at 0530 had definite signal with African pop song; today's program consisted of repeating the following format: 2-3 minutes of Spanish followed with an African pop song (very nice music!); IDs for "Radio Nacional (de Guinea Ecuatorial?)," "Radio Nacional" and "Radio Bata"; mostly poor; found overall conditions to be very poor. My audio at https://app.box.com/s/j040w2khmmkiyymua93rb0xletbmvwpd (ID at 0:51) (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This clip starts with someone speaking Spanish with a somewhat strange bookish accent, typical of that ex-colony? (gh, DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. SECRETLAND, Dimtse Radio Erena on new or wrong frequency on Dec 23 1700-1730 NF 11850 SCB 050 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Oromo, ex 11855 1730-1800 NF 11850 SCB 050 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Arabic, ex 11855 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/clandestine-dimtse-radio-erena-on-new.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe to avoid YEMEN [non] on 11860? (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Voice of Tigray Rev – Addis Ababa on 5950 at 0340, Dec 18. M & W in Tigrinya (very Arabic-sounding. M&W speaking, tho doesn’t seem like news. Short clips of E. African music. (Online WebSDR at U. of Twente, Netherlands via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Voice of Oromo Liberation, frequency change from December 13 1700-1730 NF 11810 NAU 100 kW / 145 deg to EaAf Oromo Wed, ex 17630 1730-1800 NF 11810 NAU 100 kW / 145 deg to EaAf Amharic Wed, ex 17630 1700-1800 NF 11810 NAU 100 kW / 145 deg to EaAf Amharic Sun, ex 17630 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/media-broadcast-changes.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, circa Dec 16, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GERMANY, Voice of Oromo Liberation via Media Broadcast on Dec 23: 1700-1730 on 11810 NAU 100 kW / 145 deg to EaAf Oromo Wed off at 1710 1730-1800 on 11810 NAU 100 kW / 145 deg to EaAf Amharic Wed no signal! http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/voice-of-oromo-liberation-via-media.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 23, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. EURO-PIRATE R. Merlin Int’l on 6280.2 at 1011, Dec 19. M DJ, station promos and Cyndi Lauper music. Fair (Online WebSDR, U of Twente, Netherlands via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Dear FRS friend, Season's Greetings from all of us at FRS- Holland! We wish you a Merry Christmas 2015 and a Happy 2016 in good health. December 27th 2015 [Sunday]: FRS-Holland on 7700//9300 kHz. For details please surf to http://www.frsholland.nl/20-latest-news/93-frs-seasonal-broadcast-2015.html All the best from the entire FRS-Holland team (via Rich D`Angelo, Dec 21, NASWA yg via DXLD) FRS' traditional Seasonal broadcast 2015 will be aired aired on Sunday December 27th. This year’s broadcast will see a different approach in contrast with previous editions. FRS-Holland will be airing two 3 hour blocks. The first one will be between 0852-1200 UT/09:52-13:00 CET followed by an afternoon slot between 1252-1600 UT/13:52-17:00 CET. Frequencies remain unchanged: 7700//9300 kHz. There might be an evening slot in favour of North American listeners; if so, details will be announced as soon as possible! Our seasonal programmes will be presented by Paul Graham, Jan van Dijk, Roger Davis, Dave Scott & Peter Verbruggen. The music of your life and more… We will ring out 2015 in a great way! (via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS [and non]. HISTORIA DE LRA60 RADIO NACIONAL ISLAS MALVINAS https://gruporadioescuchaargentino.wordpress.com/2015/12/22/historia-de-lra60-radio-nac-islas-malvinas/ Very long, illustrated, multi-subject item basically about why the FI and other British dependencies in the South Atlantic belong to Argentina (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Betreff: Re: [mwcircle] Deutschlandfunk & closure of MW Hello Harald, Can you please confirm which frequencies will go dark at 2300 UT on the 31/12/15? Best wishes (Barry :-) Carlisle UK Davies, Dec 16, MWCircle yg via DXLD) Deutschlandfunk: Nordkirchen 549 kHz (100 kW) Thurnau 549 kHz (100 kW) Braunschweig 756 kHz (200 kW) Ravensburg 756 kHz (100 kW) Neumuenster 1269 kHz (300 kW) Heusweiler 1422 kHz (400 kW) But I don´t know yet if it will be at 2300 UT exactly. 73 (Harald, ibid.) This station always brings back happy memories as it was the first station I listened to, especially their regular English dx programme back in 1971. I wonder if there are any recordings online of that period (David, Sent from my iPhone, Thorpe, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) I don't seem to be able to get the German web site translated into English and will the phone-in be only in German too? I suspect though this is just more pro DAB/DAB+ propaganda and the medium wave transmission end-dates are set. I'd really like to ask Mrs Merkel if the EU is for or against international cross-border broadcasting as this rabid digitization implies (Rog Parsons (BDXC 782), Hinckley LE10 0NJ, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Of course, it was German only. To my surprise they let a few people on the air who wanted to complain about the fact that DLF could no longer be heard abroad without MW. The answers these people received were polite but unambiguous. In substance the idea was: this is none of our business, we are not in charge of that, it's the Deutsche Welle's job (Rémy Friess, BDXC UK yg via DXLD) Yes, Deutschlandradio / Deutschlandfunk nowadays is strictly a domestic broadcaster. But in contrast to other German broadcasters, who closed down their mw outlets this year, they are willing to discuss things openly. Even if nothing will change their mind. They also want to close down their FM transmitters in favour of DAB+ as soon as possible, but that will take a couple of years. Rémy: Are there any open discussions going on in France regarding the end of mw transmissions? 73 (Harald Kuhl, ibid.) ** GERMANY. 5905.000-USB mode, DWD Pinneberg, North Sea weather maritime report at 0605 UT, S=9+15dB. Bandwidth up to 5909.5 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, logs at 0555-0645 UT Dec 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [or non?]. 1005 UT on 20 December. Radio DARC in German (with English IDs) on 6070 kHz. This is scheduled via Channel 292 transmitter at Rohrbach - however, EiBi has this as Moosbrunn. It is a strong signal, which maybe suggests Moosbrunn, but I'll assume Rohrbach for now, unless anyone knows otherwise? https://app.box.com/s/sj1t1y3lymhgrgbmiv8xpgj0seoq2ghx (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK; Elad FDM-S2 + 17m wire, dxldyg via DXLD) Sunday Radio DARC via Moosbrunn, Austria with 100 kW. Sunday before 1000 UT, Rohrbach with some music program. Monday evening Radio DARC via Rohrbach with much less power. 73 from Salzburg (Christoph Ratzer, -- http://ratzer.at http://remotedx.wordpress.com ibid.) Strange that even WRTH 2016 does not mention that on Sundays the signal from 1000 till 1100 UT on 6070 kHz is indeed coming from Moosbrunn. Klingenfuss 2016 Shortwave Frequency Guide has the correct program and site, but a wrong time for it. HFCC has the correct site and time but the wrong program name :-) 73 (Harald Kuhl, ibid.) ** GERMANY [and non]. NDR Christmas Transmission on Dec 24, 2015 On Dec 24, 2015 Media Broadcast will transmit a 4 hour long program on behalf of NDR (Norddeutsche Rundfunk) in Hamburg. The transmission is intended for sailors and Marine personel on the high seas, who cannot celebrate Christmas with their family and relatives. Transmission times will be 1900-2100 hours UT. Below you'll find the complete frequency schedule for the transmissions. Happy Tuning !! 1900-2100 6185 kHz towards CIRAF 27,80,36,81, 11 NAU 125 kW 1900-2100 9810 kHz towards CIRAF 41,49,54,79, 58 MOS 100 kW 1900-2100 9830 kHz towards CIRAF 57,53,48,79 ISS 250 kW 1900-2110 9885 kHz towards CIRAF 48,53,41,79 NAU 125 kW 1900-2100 11650 kHz towards CIRAF zones 13,46,15,66, 52,57 ISS 250 kW 2100-2300 6040 kHz towards CIRAF 27,80,36,81, 11 NAU 125 kW 2100-2300 9515 kHz towards CIRAF 48,53,41,79 NAU 125 kW 2100-2300 9655 kHz towards CIRAF 13,46,15,66, 52,57 ISS 250 kW 2100-2300 9765 kHz towards CIRAF 41,49,54,79, 58 MOS 100 kW (via Roberto Scaglione, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) At 21-23 also on 9830 kHz - why not? 9830 2100-2300 57,53,48,79 ISS 250 156 0 217 5 241215-241215 F MBR MBR request #15131 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** GERMANY [and non]. Saturday Dec 19 from 1955 UT, I`m monitoring the Satzentrale stream for WORLD OF RADIO which they have been carrying at nominal 2000 UT. Ham DX program in German continues late, but WOR 1804 starts at 2008. They have some other German DX programs, and non-DX programs, as per full schedule, in UT+1 at http://www.satzentrale.de/szradio/sendeplan.shtml whence one may also link audio. Nothing is scheduled on the half- hours, so they have flexibility (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GOA. Story of "Voice of Freedom" from Goa --- The Underground Voice That Fought for Goa, Meet Unsung Libia Lobo --- By Rishika Baruah During Goa’s liberation movement, Lobo used to run an underground radio service called “Voz de Liberdade” in Portuguese, ‘Goenche Sadvonecho Awaz’ in Konkani and the “Voice of Freedom” in English. The broadcasts started in 1955 from the jungles of Amboli bordering Goa. Full story at : http://www.thequint.com/india/2015/12/17/the-underground-voice-that-fought-for-goa-meet-unsung-libia-lobo (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Dec 17, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** GOA. AIR-Panaji on 11560 At 1404 in Dari, Dec. 18. Subcontinental vocals. Blasting into Europe (Online WebSDR at U. of Twente, Netherlands via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably Bengaluru still substituting (gh, DXLD) ** GREECE. Transmissions of Voice of Greece on December 14, all on 9420 AVL 170 kW / 323 deg to WeEu 0655-0725 Greek, time announcement 0716 UT! 0725-0745 Serbian/Romanian/Spanish/Russian 1020-1030 Romanian/Serbian/Russian & Music No signal of Voice of Greece on 9420 after 1145 UT, typical for Avlis transmitter! http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/transmissions-of-voice-of-greece-on.html Voice of Greece in 0628-0804 UT slot on December 15 0628-0708 Greek 0708-0800 Vary* * Serbian/Romanian/Spanish/Russian/Polish/Albanian/Italian. Missing language is Arabic. Today VOG off the air at 0804UT http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/voice-of-greece-un-0628-0804ut-slot-on.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #931 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec. 21, 2015 via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) And Greek music, what else, Italian Canzone touch of the 50ties, at 0709 UT on Dec 19 on accurate 9420.002 kHz. S=9+15dB (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, logs at 0555-0645 UT Dec 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Random reception of Voice of Greece on Dec 22 0700-0705 Greek and off at 0706 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/random-reception-of-voice-of-greece-on.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Greece is again on shortwave on December 23 as follows, all on 9420 AVL 170 kW / 323 deg to WeEu 0700-0800 Greek and other languages: Serbian, Romanian, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Russian, Arabic & Albanian missing [which???] 0800-0905 Greek 0905-0910 Arabic/Italian, xPolish 0910-1005 Greek 1005-1015 Romanian/Serbian/Russian 1015-1105 Greek 1105-1110 Spanish/Polish, xItalian/ Alb.missing 1110-1200 Greek 1200-1300 Greek, relay ERT 1 (Proto Programa) from 1300 Greek, instead [OF] English 1300-1305 UT from 1305 Greek and continues how many hours? http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/voice-of-greece-is-again-on-shortwave_23.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) English on Voice of Greece, But Not the News! Like Ivo, I was listening out for the English news on ERT - Voice of Greece today at about 1300 UT on 9420 kHz via the Twente receiver. Disappointingly, it didn't occur. Anyway, I kept listening to the pleasant Greek music as the signal quality gradually improved from about S7 to S9 to 40 over 9 after an hour or so. I was then surprised to hear English at 1401:18 UT. It was a 45-second announcement about a film script writing contest on the subject of Cyprus. The script can be either in Greek or English. A recording of the announcement is attached. Between 1400 and 1500 UT there is some splash from China on 9430 kHz. Switching to LSB with a wide bandwidth gives good music quality. Oh, and as usual, the time signal pips at the top of the hour were way off. Not sure when the transmitter signed off today. It was still on after 1500. P.S. How often is English news actually broadcast at 1300 UT? At least once a week? Less often? (Richard Langley, NB, Dec 23, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) My last video is from 1517 and no signal at 1625 UT http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/voice-of-greece-is-again-on-shortwave_23.html VOGreece again on 9420 after 2000 UT, Dec 23 -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM [and non]. 9912-9913, Dec 20 at 1423, noise centered around here, sounds like DRM except relatively narrow band, a blessing as presumably Juche jamming against KTWR 9910 in Korean at 1345-1500, which is fairly audible, and in the clear when tuned on LSB: W&M dialog, maybe didactic, sounds Korean but never hear a keyword such as ``imnida``! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or maybe not really jamming: see KOREA NORTH ** GUATEMALA. 4055, R Verdad with English ”Spiritual Songs” including familiar hymns apparently sung by local choirs, such as “A Mighty Fortress is our God”, “It is Well With My Soul”, “Rejoice the Lord is King”, “How Great Thou Art” and “Softly and Tenderly (Jesus is Calling)” but with no announcements or other speaking in between. 0550 closedown of program with English OM announcements, and English “Lord’s Prayer” (they use ‘debts’ and not ‘trespass’) at 0553. MANY IDs in various languages (English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and a Slavic language among them) and then Spanish/English close down with “buenas noches” and “good night” and into National Anthem (the LONG version!) which finished at 0606. Carrier off. Decent but for general band noise: 35443+ 0504-0607* 13/Dec (Kenneth V Zichi, MARE Brighton MI DXpedition, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 6145.020, AIR Urdu service from Aligarh broadcast center site. music service, subcontinental female singer in full performance at 0225 UT on Dec 18. S=9+10dB signal propagate from greyline point in India into dark night zone in southern Germany (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, log at 0225 til 0255 UT on Dec 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) AIR-Nat’l Channel (Aligarh) on 9380 at 0005, Dec. 18. Great vocals on Vividh Bharati prgm. Hardly ever heard in the U.S., strong signal into Western Europe. // 9870 (weaker). (Online WebSDR at U. of Twente, Netherlands via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) AIR-Delhi on 9445 at 1841 in English, Dec. 20. Something must be wrong with this transmitter – strong carrier but audio very distorted. AIR-Bengaluru on 13695 at 1810 in English, Dec. 20, 1810 into This Week in Parliament, focusing on Indo-Paki relations. Target = East Africa. Good (Online Twente SDR via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Re: AIR Panaji SW tx problem --- Evening transmission (1245- 1710 UT) of All India Radio's Vividh Bharati service on 9870 kHz has been re-stored wef 18th Dec, 2015. 73, (Alokesh Gupta, Dec 19, dx_india yg via DXLD) So have the GOA transmissions that transmitter replaced reverted to Goa site, or moved to yet somewhere else, or off? (gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3904.98, Pro 1 RRI Merauke, 1300, Dec 21. Time pips; general news followed by economic news; 1323 ending news with usual patriotic song "Bagimu Negeri"; followed by local ID "Pro Satu RRI Merauke"; recently almost fair, but ham QRM. 3904.98, Pro 1 RRI Merauke on Dec 23 coming in well above the norm, but audio is rather mushy (slightly distorted?); anomaly today with no news at 1300 & 1400; mostly EZL songs (some in English - Elton John "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," etc.); 1459 "Pulau Ambon" (Island of Ambon)/"Love Ambon" and ID till 1501*. My audio at https://app.box.com/s/pdz0aok65f4exr51wl2t0f2wz9192zer (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Voice of Indonesia on Dec 15, with strong, but again low modulation from 1325 on 9525 JAK 250 kW / 010 deg to EaAs English, QRM 9530 VOA Chinese from 1625 on 9525 JAK 250 kW / 290 deg to N/ME Arabic from 1725 on 9525 JAK 250 kW / 290 deg to WeEu Spanish from 1825 on 9525 JAK 250 kW / 290 deg to WeEu German from 1925 on 9525 JAK 250 kW / 290 deg to WeEu English http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/voice-of-indonesia-on-dec15-with-strong.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #931 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec. 21, 2015 via DXLD) 9524.99, Dec 17 at 1411, JBA carrier from VOI is audibly one smidgen below 9525.00 on the R75, or maybe 9524.98 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. GCR BACK ON AIR. NOW GLOBAL COMMUNITY RADIO Hello Glenn. I am pleased to announce that my webcasting station formerly known as Geneva Community Radio has returned to the "air" as Global Community Radio. Still based in Geneva, New York, the new GCR now consists of two 24/7 internet streams. Global Community Radio Channel One is devoted to various types of primarily spoken word programming. One thing that I feel will make GCR1 truly unique is that we will offer relays of many international public broadcasters in English. Some of these relays will come from WRN, while most will come from various podcasts made available by these broadcasters. In addition, GCR1 will offer many of the same informative programs that the former Geneva Community Radio offered, including several programs from Pacifica and its associated producers and affiliates. On the other hand, Global Community Radio Channel Two will be all about music. GCR2 will present many different musical genres, including Classical, Jazz, Folk, World Music, New Age/Electronic, Nostalgia/Standards, Oldies, Show Tunes, and Eclectic/Freeform music programming. Most of our schedule is organized in a block style format. In addition to being a webcast for listeners, GCR streams are also available to non-commercial radio stations, including campus, community and LPFM stations, who would like to retransmit our programming during times when no local programming is available. This service will be offered to stations absolutely free of charge. At present, we have one station in upstate New York, WRAQ-LP in Angelica, committed to rebroadcast portions of both GCR1 and GCR2 for several hours per day. I sincerely hope other like minded stations will follow suit. You can find out more about the new Global Community Radio by visiting http://globalcommunityradio.blogspot.com World of Radio will continue to be heard on Sundays at 9:00 PM Eastern (UT Monday at 0200), now on GCR1. As always, your thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks for your continued support of my radio efforts. I'm proud to air World of Radio on the new Global Community Radio. Season's Greetings (Jake Longwell, Dec 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also GERMANY ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Listening to excellent locations from sailing vessels, using the Marine Weather Center. SSB Voice Nets Schedule for November 2015 through October 2016. Click for details: https://mwxc.com https://mwxc.com/news/?p=199 (Bob Wilkner, FL, SW Bulletin Dec 20 via DXLD) See also REF: 2182 ** IRAN [and non]. Å blande DX-ing med politikk eller med religion er sjelden noen god ide, og det er da også noe de fleste forsøker å unngå. Men noen ganger kan det skje ting man ikke helt hadde regnet med. Jeg mener å huske at det var Jan Alvestad som ved en anledning var nær ved å bli arrestert av den lokale lensmann etter at lokalbefolkningen et eller annet sted på Vestlandet hadde rapportert hva de trodde var mistenkelig aktivitet med lange antenner på et øde sted. Nå har ikke jeg opplevd akkurat det, men i dag skjedde det likevel noe som det smaker religion og/eller politikk av. I løpet av høsten har jeg hørt og rapportert en del mellombølgesendere i Iran. Delvis er det snakk om regionalsendinger beregnet på innenlandske lyttere og delvis er det utenlandsprogrammer (Vo-IRI – Voice of The Islamic Republic of Iran) som bruker mellombølge til nabolandene. Litt usikker på hva som gir de beste mulighetene for svar har jeg delvis brukt email og delvis snailmail for å sende rapporter, og noen svar er det også kommet. I dag opplevde jeg imidlertid at en rapport som var sendt medio oktober kom i retur. Først skjønte jeg ikke hvorfor, det var en rapport til VoIRI på deres utenlansprogram på aserbaidjansk så adressen skulle være grei nok. Etter å ha studert og tydet stemplene fant jeg ut at grunnen til at sendingen kom i retur var at den var såkalt «refusert». Nå var det så godt som 100% sikkert ikke VoIRI som hadde refusert den, det må ha vært den kontroll som iranske myndigheter fører med innkommende post som hadde reagert på et eller annet, men hva? Jeg vet ikke sikkert, men en pil som er tegnet med samme tusjpenn som den som er benyttet for å krysse av «refusert» gir en pekepinn. Den pilen peker mot ett av de norske frimerkene på konvolutten. Dette frimerket har det norske riksvåpenet, dvs løven med krone og bittelite kors på toppen. Om det er dette mikro-korset som har blitt for sterk kost for det muslimske Iran vet jeg ikke, men det er den eneste forklaringen jeg kan komme opp med. Konvolutten bærer for øvrig tydelig preg av å ha vært åpnet. Det forundrer meg i grunnen slett ikke. Iranerne som refuserte den har sikkert også åpnet den, og når det gjelder innkommende post (returnert post) fra Iran kan det vel tenkes at vårt eget PST også vil ta en titt. Iran står vel fortsatt på en liste som innebærer at vi ikke skal forsyne dem med utstyr eller informasjon som kan brukes til utvikling eller produksjon av masseødeleggelsesvåpen. PST og NTNU i Trondheim har hatt en kontrovers i den sammenheng når det gjelder studenter fra Iran, og en DVD-plate kan jo inneholde litt av hvert i så måte. Men både den iranske sikkerhetstjenesten og eventuelt PST er nok blitt skuffet når de undersøkte hva som var I konvolutten, inklusive innholdet på DVD-platen (Jarle Synnevåg via Facebook DX-LISTENERS' CLUB, via SW Bulletin Dec 20 via DXLD) Google translation from Norwegian, slightly improved by gh: Mixing DXing with politics or religion is rarely a good idea, and it is indeed something most try to avoid. But sometimes it can happen things one had not quite counted with. I seem to remember that it was Jan Alvestads as on a opportunity was about to be arrested by the local sheriff after locals somewhere in Western Norway had reported what they thought was suspicious activity, Long antennas in a deserted place. Now I have not experienced exactly that, but today it happened nevertheless something that it tastes religion and / or politics of. During autumn I have heard and reported some medium wave transmitters in Iran. Partly it is a question of regional broadcasts intended for domestic listeners and partly it abroad programs (VO-IRI - Voice of The Islamic Republic of Iran) which uses medium wave to neighboring countries. A little unsure of what they give best opportunities for reply, I partially used email and partial snailmail to send reports, and some answers are also come. Today I experienced, however, that a report was sent in mid-October came in return. First I did not understand why, it was a report to VOIRI on their external service in Azeri, then address should be straightforward enough. After studying and indicating pistons I found out that the reason that the broadcast came in return was that it was called a "rejected". Now it was almost 100% certain not VOIRI who had rejected it, it must have been the control that the Iranian authorities leads with incoming mail that had reacted to something, but what? I do not know for sure, but an arrow is drawn with the same marking pen as it was used to check the "rejected" is suggestive. The arrow is pointing toward one of the Norwegian stamps on the envelope. This stamp has the Norwegian coat of arms, i.e. lion with crown and wee cross on top. Whether it is this micro-cross that has become too harsh for the Muslim Iran I do not know, but it's the only explanation I can come up with. The envelope bears the way clear signs of having been opened. It amazes me basically not at all. Iranians who unpublished it has certainly also opened it, and when it comes to incoming mail (returned mail) from Iran may well be that our own PST will also take a look. Iran stands well still on a list which means that we should not provide them with equipment or information that can be used for the development or production of weapons of mass destruction. PST and NTNU in Trondheim had a controversy in the context in terms of students from Iran, and one DVD disc can contain the bit of each in so manner. But both the Iranian security services and possibly PST is enough become disappointed when they studied what was in envelope, including the contents of the DVD (Jarle Synnevåg via Facebook DX Listeners' CLUB, via SW Bulletin Dec 20 via DXLD) ** IRAN. 12040, Dec 18 at 1320, only S3 but clear, lovely IS from VIRI, belying a country where they throw Americans in jail without cause, 1324 sign-on in Japanese, 60 degrees from Kamalabad (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) V of IRIB Russian service in B-15 season 0250-0620 deleted CeSiberia FE Russia !0820-0920! 15170sir 17820sir CeSiberia FE Russia 0820-1150 deleted CeSiberia FE Russia 1150-1450 deleted CeSiberia FE Russia 1420-1520 7350kam 9580ahw CeSiberia FE Russia 1650-1750 6110ahw 7375kam CeSiberia FE Russia 0820-0920 17685kam WeRUS Moscow St.P. 1420-1520 11880sir WeRUS Moscow St.P. 1750-1850 6110kam 7220sir WeRUS Moscow St.P. 1920-2020 6195kam 7225sir WeRUS Moscow St.P. 17685.002 kHz accurate from Kamalabad site to Western Russia noted at 0840 UT Dec 21 at proper S=9+45dB signal level. \\ and also an outlet to Siberia and Far Eastern Russia target on 17820.008 kHz accurate, still backlobe into Germany at S=9+25dB signal strength. Nice clean program audio noted today, even from Sirjan site, who often send out disturbed signals from their satellite feed equipment. \\ also 15169.998 kHz from Sirjan eastern Iran site. S=9+10dB strength (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 21, dxldyg via DXLD) [and non]. Unscheduled frequency of VIRI/IRIB, December 18 0723-0820 on 17850*Kamalabad or Sirjan txs site German // frequency 15175 KAM 500 kW / 310 deg to WeEu German // frequency 17690 SIR 500 kW / 313 deg to WeEu German * strong co-ch Radio France Inter in French on 17849.9 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/unscheduled-frequency-of-viriirib.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. Reception of Radio Ranginkaman/Rainbow on Dec.18: 1700-1730 on 7460 SOF 100 kW / 090 deg to WeAs Farsi Mon/Fri 1700-1730 on 7550 TAC 100 kW / 236 deg to WeAs Farsi Mon/Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/reception-of-radio-ranginkamanrainbow.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND [non]. 5820, MADAGASCAR, RTE Radio One – Talata Volonondry, 1938-1958*, Dec 14. several people crammed into a studio discussing economic issues and government policies (two men and two woman). Program ended at 1955 mentioning it was Friday and giving “RTE Radio One” station identification. Brief instrumental music segment before carrier was terminated. Poor to fair and steadily improving (Rich D’Angelo, December 20, 2015: French Creek State Park DXpedition No. 49 (December 13, 14 and 15, 2015); Equipment: Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX-340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via DXLD) A seasonal treat, propagating that early to eastern NAm (gh, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 21619.8, 4XZ, Israel Navy; 1452, 12-Dec; sending VVV VVV DE 4XZ (Harold Frodge, MARE DXpedition, Tipsheet 18 Dec via DXLD) Yet another 4XZ intrusion into the broadcast bands, but why not, as Israel Radio, Kol Israel gave up on SW (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** ITALY. New post on RADIO LATINO RADIO LATINO NOW ON AIR ON 7625 Khz --- by Radio Latino For 1 hour. Radio Latino | December 19, 2015 at 5:45 pm | Categories: SHORTWAVE RADIO | URL: http://wp.me/p5NFyi-67 (via Ivo Ivanov, 1645 UT Sat Dec 19, dxldyg via DXLD) Another test of Radio Latino on Dec 20 1215-1345 on 7590 unknown tx site, weak signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/another-test-of-radio-latino-on-dec20.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Greetings from Italy! Here is the schedule for the next test broadcasts of Marconi Radio International: 25th December 2015, from 0800 to 1100 UT 27th December 2015, from 0900 to 1300 UT Our frequency is 11390 kHz and power in the region of 30 watts. Test broadcasts consist of non stop music, station identification announcements in Italian, English, Spanish, French and Catalan as well as DX shows in English and Italian. 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 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine. 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 (Marconi Rdio International, Dec 24, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR. 4950, AIR Kashmir, Srinagar (presumed), 0139-0216*, Dec 22. Has been a long time since I caught their morning broadcast; had some faint audio, which is better than I hear for their evening programs about 1300, when all I hear is their open carrier; best of course in USB, due to Angola on the low side (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 6400 and 11680 back on the air from about 15 Dec after being silent for several weeks These two were also off for a long period until early April (Olle Alm, Sweden, 18 Dec, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6400 and 11680 again silent today, Dec 19, after only three or four days of renewed activity. 9665 has been operating regularly. Glenn: Good signals on other frequencies, so not propagational (Olle Alm, Sweden, ibid.) KOREA, DPR: Bad conditions maybe but nothing heard on 6100, 9665, 11680 for KCBS and nothing on 6400 for PBS at 1730-1830 on 20 December 2015. Also nothing on 2850 & 3320 which usually are observed here with tiny signals (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Dec 22 via Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) Hi dear Rumen, checked the KRE / KOR stations in 1830 to 1910 UT time slot Dec 22, used remote SDR net units in Tokyo and Osaka Japan. Pause - nothing noted at 1845 UT Dec 22 on 2350 2850 3920 3959 3968 3980 5830 6070 6100 6400 6518 9665 11680 3219.899 KRE Carrier only 1830 UT, S=9+30dB in Tokyo 3250.002 KRE PBS Korean, female singer, 1834 UT, S=9+30dB 3319.997 KRE PBS Korean, 1835 UT, S=9+40dB 3912.004 KOR VoP, KRE jamming, 1837 UT, S=9+40dB 3985.021 KOR EoH/VoH, KRE jamming, 1840 UT, S=9+40dB 4449.991 KOR VoP, KRE jamming on 4449.931 kHz, 1842 UT, S=9+50dB 4557.000 KOR VoP, KRE Jamming, 1845 UT, S=9+40dB 6003.018 ??? two peaks - also on 6002.988 kHz at 1850 UT. 6015.000 poor KRE jamming only, 1858 UT (6020 CHN Firedrake) 6135.008 and 6134.983 UNID two peaks, VoF KOR, KRE jamming ? 1858 UT 6169.997 KRE S=9+10dB 6250.004 KOR / KRE S=9+10dB 6348.032 KOR S=9+20dB, and ditter audio signal jamming by KRE. 6600.000 KOR S=9+10dB, jamming by KRE. KRE log on 0100-0130 UT Dec 23 in Tokyo and Nagoya remote SDR units: 6100.000 KRE KCBS Pyongyang from Kanggye, S=8-9, at 0126 UT womans chorus 6518.004 KOR VoPeople Kyonggi-do Koyang NOT heard, only KRE scratching noise jamming heard so far, S=7 at 0130 UT. 9665.003 KRE KCBS Pyongyang from Kanggye, S=8-9, at 0105 UT \\ 6100 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 9912 approx., Dec 23 at 1413, ute noise blob, which is usually here, so maybe not Juche jamming against 9910, KTWR in Korean as I previously suggested (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GUAM ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Test broadcasts of Furusato no Kaze via Tamshui and T8WH Angel 5 from Dec 12: 0500-0730 15635 TSH 300 kW / 002 deg Japanese Sat via Tamshui, TWN 1000-1230 9960 HBN 100 kW / 345 deg Japanese Sat via T8WH Angel 5 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/babcock-changes-from-dec15.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, circa Dec 16, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Every Saturday? ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5985, Thu Dec 17 at 1339, Sea Breeze in English with usual sounders, mentioning human rights, 1341 piano interlude, S8. Ron Howard tells why last Thursday they were not in English, but Korean: ``Hi Glenn, Surely last week`s anomaly of not having English on Thursday was due to the fact it was "North Korean Human Rights Abuses Awareness Week," (Dec 10-16) which incorporated an international symposium by the Japanese government (which was carried via Shiokaze?). http://www.rachi.go.jp/en/archives/2015/1212flier.pdf Ron Howard, San Francisco`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Indeed, Shiokaze on Thursday (Dec 17) again in English. Several times recently noted what sounds like a new type of jamming? Is not just a noise, but actually distorts the Shiokaze audio. Need to follow this to find out if it becomes regular against them (Ron Howard, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. RIAS Berlin article --- Daily NK December 21 West German radio gave Easterners window to world during Cold War Media's role in uniting Germany and lessons for the Koreas http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100#=13649 Posted by: (Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. New 4885, Echo of Hope - VOH, 1345-1430, Dec 21. Fair; in Korean with drama, news, Korean songs; easy to ID with "VOH" letters in English and // 6003 (jammed) and 6348 (jammed). Testing? Audio at https://app.box.com/s/jgh1gbzydu1xbmvdlcw10pewrlwdmedy (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks to Bernd Friedewald (DK9FI) for the following email. "Many thanks for the tip. Great! Just put on PERSEUS SDR in Japan and they are still there at 1642 UTC. Looks for test... I remember when I was at the HFCC conference at Dallas we visited Continental. Here we saw a 100 kW (or more) transmitter(s) available for delivery to South Korea. Maybe this is one of them because KBS is still using the very old transmitters." Appreciate his feedback (Ron Howard, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I was there too, but the transmitters I remember seeing were destined for Madagascar World Voice (gh, DXLD) 4885: Heard until -1803*, Dec 21, Suddenly s/off in middle of a talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HRUY7lzuzo&feature=youtu.be (Hiroyuki Komatsubara (Japan)). Could it be a pushing error at the transmitter? The usual heard frequency is 3985 (Anker Petersen, Ed, DSWCI DX Window Dec 22 via DXLD) New 4885, Echo of Hope - VOH, 1222, Dec 22. Second day testing here; fair/good and not jammed; // 3985 (jammed) // 6003 (jammed) and // 6348 (jammed). Per Hiroshi and Hiroyuki Komatsubara, observed schedule so far is *1158-1803*. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HRUY7lzuzo&feature=youtu.be with strong reception yesterday in Japan (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4885, Dec 22 at 1402, S6 signal in Korean, a bit stronger than 4835 Australia, S5. Ron Howard first heard this Dec 21 as a new frequency for Echo of Hope, the clandestine to N Korea, // 6003 and 6348 which are jammed. Testing new transmitter? And he heard again Dec 22 also // 3985. ``Per Hiroshi and Hiroyuki Komatsubara, observed schedule so far is *1158-1803*``. Dec 23 I check at 1403, now only a JBA carrier like everything else on 60m. 4885 is a good spot for it as no other Asians there (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4885, Echo of Hope - VOH, 1406-1416, Dec 23. Third day testing here; mostly fair and not jammed; frequent "VOH" IDs; // 3985 (jammed) // 6003 (jammed) and // 6348 (jammed). My audio with ID and news at https://app.box.com/s/gg8tch31hgslvykfz0umadnmhdt9hgop (Ron Howard, California, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Another station on 4885: see BRAZIL ** KURDISTAN [non]. Denge Kurdistani-Issoudun on 9400 at 1830 in Kurdish, Dec. 20. M with very raspy voice, ME music. Strong (Online Twente SDR via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 19010, The only 19 MHz broadcaster in that band. At 0830 UT heard US IBB "Radio Azadi" (R Free Afghanistan) Dari service from IBB relay site in Kuwait. Fair S=9+5dB sidelobe signal towards central Europe (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 21, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. KYRGYZ REPUBLIC, 4819.854, Kyrgyz local domestic Birinchi Radio, Kazakh R1 program from Bishkek at Krasnaya Rechka broadcast center site heard with same program on both 60 / 70 mb channels of 4010.033 {50 Hertz higher than previously in 2015 year} kHz S=8 level at morning fade-out / greyline path propagation, and on \\ 4819.854 kHz same signal strength (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, log at 0225 til 0255 UT on Dec 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4819.84, *0000-0010 19.12, Kyrgyz R 1, Krasnaya Rechka. Carrier with tones on from 2350, opening ann 0000 in Bishkek and Russian, national hymn, folksongs 32322 // 4010.04 (45444), QRM Xizang 4820.00 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, my latest loggings from Skovlunde on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** LIBYA. 1053.103, R. Libya, Tripoli, DEC 9, 0200 - Male a cappella Arabic vocal with reverb; good (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, South Yarmouth MA; Microtelecom Perseus, cardioid-pattern SuperLoop 10m vert. by 11m horiz. (peak 165 , null 345 ), cardioid-pattern SuperLoop 11m vert. by 30m horiz. (peak 80 , null 260 ), NRC IDXD Dec 18 via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) Not only split, but split from split, so watch out for its unique frequency. WRTH 2015 lists as only 100 kW, V. of Homeland, Tripoli at 05-21 UT, so now all-night? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) 1053, at 2013-2109 UT on Dec 4. Phone-in-show with children singing and vivid DJ. At 2100 UT Birthday song in Arabic and English. At 2109 UT ID by man. At times stronger than Talk Sport [UK] and R. Yash-Iashi from Romania. SIO: 333 (Zeljko Crncic, Germany, Dec 12, BCDX 19 Dec via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. 9455.000 kHz DX Program of RMRC via Sitkunai Lithuania: Heard this DX program in Russian since 1000 UT, mentioned BBC interval signal, antenna discussion, Radio Holygram etc. etc. And from 1031 UT also mentioned German CEO Harald Gabler of RMRC on 9455.000 kHz. And talk about St.P conference and media center excursion too at 1036 UT. 9455 kHz, here in Stuttgart Germany S=9+30dB. Also at Tokyo and Osaka Japan S=4-5 -96dbm signal just above threshold, like St. Helena level signal. But on remote post in Moscow Russia powerhouse S=9+45dB, twist the needle. Not US Radio Liberty Russian program \\ 12025 kHz. I guess they had difficulties to tune match the 25 meterband antenna properly on 11690 kHz at Sitkunai broadcast center site? So this 31mb outlet is an alternative? ("Wolfgang Bueschel", dg1sbn, 1030 UT Sat Dec 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's a very good signal here in the NW of England at 1045 on 9455 = S9 peaking to 9+10db. Lots of fading though. A discussion in Russian and English with someone referred to as 'Alan'. My guess is Alan Pennington. The discussion spoiled by loud rock 'music'/'singing' in the background. Continued in Russian from about 1049 - without the 'nusic'. Signed off at 1100 with lots of announcements - and chimes. Just in time to avoid splash from another Russian transmission starting on 9460. I missed the ID, but if it's KSDA with AWR programme it's a very good signal. Also S9=10dB on peaks. Nice Christmas song from 1107. 73 (Noel R. Green, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Apparently the special EDXC broadcasts via Lithuania, organised by the Rhein-Main DX Club, did not go ahead as planned on 5th December because of problems at the Sitkunai transmitter site. However, the programme has been rearranged for tomorrow, 19th December: From Alexander Beryozkin: Dear friends, there is another try for the shortwave transmission of Rhein-Main-Radio-Club about the EDXC Conference 2015 in St. Petersburg: via Lithuania... 19.12.2015 on 11690 UT 0900-1000 for Asia (Japan) in English 19.12.2015 on 11690 UT 1000-1100 for Russia in Russian. Correct reception reports will be verified with a special QSL card. Reception reports by email should be sent to: mail@rmrc.de or by normal postal service to: Rhein-Main-Radio-Club, Postfach 700849 60558 Frankfurt Germany -- Michael Haun RMRC Vorstand Rhein-Main-Radio-Club (via Mauno Ritola, WRTH - World Radio Tv Handbook Facebook Group, 18 Dec via Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Nothing heard on 11690 kHz. Now we learn "On 9455 kHz by mistake" (re Mauno Ritola on WRTH Facebook). So just caught the end of the Russian hour on 9455 with fair strength at 1056 before closing with ID. But have missed the English hour :-( Frustrating! 73 (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030plus ALA1530 loop, ibid.) ** MEXICO. 900, Dec 18 at 1305, ``Siempre 88.9`` newscast about the ``apagón analógico``, i.e. DTV conversion, starting with a jingle about it, and mentioning the cutoff as of Dec 31, which is really no longer to be enforced; trying to find a DTV set at two publicized locations without success, out of stock. Anyhow, this is presumably XEOK in Monterrey NL, as in DXLD 13-38 we researched that the national newscast originating at 88.9 in México DF, an Acir group station, would lead only to XEOK as an affiliate on 900 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. All DTV from Campeche (including Azteca) --- Last night I did a scan in my TV, and oh surprise, I got all Campeche DTV channels, including TRC and Azteca ones (the most important because I couldn't get those until now). XHCCA (the background buzz is from the channel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiGjeAERNz8 XHCAM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y86ZG48XDiY XHGE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kz3J61QfCg And the other stations I got in summer: XHOPCC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b9laNlLNM4 XHCPA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tQFwE3VXt8 XHAN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NR17z3ob4c (Gargadon, Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Dec 18, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Surprised that the 2-1 and 5-1 are using "AZTECA" and not their calls for their PSIP short name (Raymie Humbert AZ, ibid.) I'm surprised too, because Azteca channels in Ciudad del Carmen are using their callsign (3.1 is shown as XHCCT, and 7.1 is shown as XHGN- TD). Another interesting fact is XHCCA is using its own transmitter, and it is not a XHOPCC subchannel (as I thought), because while XHCCA signal was marked as "Normal" (2 of 4 bars) in my TV, XHOPCC signal was marked as "Good" (3 of 4 bars). (Gargadon, ibid.) I think the confusion Espectador had on the 30/32 thing made a lot of people believe they were subs. There's no channel sharing concept yet in Mexico broadcasting law. XHOPCC broadcasts at 8 kW, XHCCA at 10 (Raymie, ibid.) RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT THIS WEEK --- Azteca stations are getting a facelift starting next year. As part of the plan to take Proyecto 40 national "in HD quality", local newscasts will also move to P40, which is much more suited for the format (it's a news/talk channel generally comparable to foroTV, Milenio TV, etc.). They also plan on increasing local content — something Azteca has really never done in its history, but which they have already started in Tijuana. Meanwhile, the Guanajuato state network is getting multiplexed. http://www.ift.org.mx/comunicacion-y-medios/comunicados-ift/es/el-ift-autoriza-el-acceso-la-multiprogramacion-al-gobierno-del-estado-de-guanajuato-comunicado The new subchannels will be known as Media 4 and Expresa 4. No other information is available. The IFT mentions 47.x but XHLEG uses 4.x (its old analog channel). Last edited by Raymie; 12-18-2015 at 05:05 PM (Raymie Humbert, Phœnix AZ, Dec 18, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) In one state, the constitutional date of December 31 is going up against unforeseen political realities. While most states, including Colima, had their elections back in July, the small western state saw its turn into a complicated legal battle over a very close gubernatorial race. Ultimately, the election was nullified by the national electoral court, and so voters in Colima go to the polls yet again on January 17, 2016. The PRI asked for a delay of the apagón in Colima, and the INE took them up on their proposal. http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2015/12/19/politica/007n1pol?partner=rss This isn't unprecedented; you might recall that Tijuana's apagón in 2013 got pushed back because Baja California was in the middle of a gubernatorial race. But opposition parties, including the PAN, PRD, Movimiento Ciudadano and Morena, said that the PRI was working as Televisa's middleman. INE council member Enrique Andrade agreed with the PRI and said he was worried that an apagón in the middle of the electoral campaign would leave people without access to information. The petition has been sent on to the IFT, along with a request for information on the status of television deliveries in Colima. Only one station in Colima is not broadcasting in digital, state network XHAMO-11 (with intermittent operation authorization) — and that station has some of its own issues. http://www.lavozdecolima.com.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5018:ordena-gobierno-de-mario-desaparecer-canal-11 (Raymie, Dec 19, ibid.) The IFT has put up for public comment the proposed ground rules for Auction IFT-4 — the 191 FMs and 66 AMs for commercial use across the country. Things to note: 1. New FM proposals will be evaluated in part based on how long they will take to begin broadcasting in HD Radio. Expect a significant increase in new HD Radio stations. There are three elements to FM proposals in the IFT scoring system: financial bid, time (in months) to get to air, and time (in years) to get to air with HD Radio. 2. No new stations above 106 MHz as all future stations at the top of the dial will be social use. (The same also applies to the AM expanded band, on which there is only one commercial radio station in Mexico.) 3. Very few stations near the US border despite availability of frequencies even at 800 kHz station spacing. The bulk of the FMs are in states with underdeveloped FM bands — Veracruz, Quintana Roo, Chiapas. 4. Station spacing is at 800 kHz so very few stations in major cities. Also no stations above class B1 (25 kW ERP). 5. AM frequency recycling. Most of the AMs are recognizable frequencies that will soon have new stations. In the AM pool are such stations as 580 Piedras Negras, 1240 Morelia and San Luis Potosí 710. 6. If you have 40% market share in an area, don't bother knocking. You can't get a station in that same area. (I wish the IFT had a cluster breakup rule — some cities really need it!) (Raymie, Dec 20, ibid.) Roundup: XHFW's new logo, from Twitter: XHFW is rolling out a new "26" logo. What happened to PSIP? https://twitter.com/felipepalaxios/status/679025265616404480 Externan zacatecanos descontento por apagón analógico, NTR Zacatecas: Some are saying goodbye to their favorite programs because they can't get converter boxes. http://ntrzacatecas.com/2015/12/18/externan-zacatecanos-descontento-por-apagon-analogico/ Suben las ventas de antenas UHF y decodificadores tras Apagón Analógico, Once Noticias: It's UHF antennas that are in hot, hot demand... http://oncenoticias.tv/index.php?modulo=interior¬a=82&dt=2015-12-21 AGOTADAS LAS ANTENAS UHF TRAS EL APAGÓN ANALÓGICO, MUCHOS SE QUEDARON SIN SEÑAL, XHEMU: ...even in Piedras Negras, which had three UHFs in analog. http://rancherita.com.mx/noticias/detalles/22482/agotadas-las-antenas-uhf-tras-el-apagon-analogico-muchos-se-quedaron-sin-senal.html#.VngeOdE3PIU SQCS-TV Digital: Canal público de QR transmitirá señal digital a partir del 22 Diciembre-Apagón Analógico, podría cambiar de nombre, http://www.expedientequintanaroo.com/2015/12/sqcs-tv-digital-canal-publico-de-qr.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Expediente Quintana Roo: It's a Christmas miracle! The QR state network is going digital starting tomorrow! But it may change its name, because it will no longer be on channel 7+ (don't you just love it when a TV station goes by its channel number AND OFFSET?). This is a miracle because we only have one authorization out of four. Predicted UHF channel assignments: 30 Chetumal, 31 Cancún, 41 Playa del Carmen. —:-:— As predicted, the December 31 list is growing with 141 additional TV stations in 19 states, on top of the 99 already authorized. Some new states are showing up on the list, like Oaxaca and Campeche. http://www.ift.org.mx/comunicacion-y-medios/comunicados-ift/es/el-ift-resolvio-la-transicion-la-television-digital-terrestre-de-141-estaciones-mas-para-el-31-de Baja California: Ensenada incl. XHENB Baja California Sur: La Paz Campeche: All stations Chihuahua: Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad Jiménez, Ciudad Madera, Chihuahua and Ojinaga (this should complete the state) Colima: All stations Guerrero: Acapulco, Chilpancingo, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo Hidalgo: XHPAH-TV Edomex: Shadow XHXEM Temascaltepec Michoacán: Sahuayo-Jiquilpan and Lázaro Cárdenas (should complete the state) Nayarit: All remaining stations except XHNSJ Oaxaca: San Miguel Tlacotepec and Huajuapan de León Puebla: Tehuacán, Zacatlán Quintana Roo: XHCOZ-TV Sonora: Bacanora, Hermosillo, Magdalena de Kino, Navojoa and Santa Ana Tabasco: Frontera and La Venta incl. XHVET Tamaulipas: All remaining stations incl. Cd. Mante, Cd. Victoria and Tampico Tlaxcala: Three transmitters in the state network: XHTXB-TV, XHTXM-TV and XHTLX-TV Veracruz: Cerro Azul, Las Lajas, Mecayapan, Perote, Santiago Tuxtla, Veracruz and Xalapa Yucatán: All stations Last edited by Raymie; 12-21-2015 at 08:22 PM. (Raymie, Dec 21, ibid.) One of the best apagón videos yet comes to us from Televisa Zacatecas. https://www.facebook.com/televisa.zacatecas/videos/1230223513661922/?theater Shutting off XHBD's transmitter (screen at left) actually causes alarms to go off at the transmitter site! (Raymie, Dec 22, ibid.) The IFT made things interesting yesterday by dropping a hot new public comment period...for guidelines to use for virtual channels. The proposed virtual channel guidelines are here. http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/industria/temasrelevantes/6017/documentos/lineamientosgeneralesparalaasignaciondecanalesvirtuales181215cc.pdf A few highlights: Article 6: "...Shadow channels will always be assigned the same virtual channel as their corresponding main station." This is not the case in practice. With the big exception of XHAW which operates as 12.x even in Saltillo, most shadows built across Mexico have used the virtual channel of their old analog frequency. Examples: XHPUR 13.x and XHTEM 20.x Tlaxcala; XHSFJ 10.x and XHJAL 12.x Jiquilpan, Mich. In fact, in certain cases, this may cause further confusion. Article 7: "The Institute will use the programming or commercial information that it already has or is able to obtain to define the Virtual Channel that it will assign to each Broadcast Television Concessionaire in the country, which will be in accord with the coverage of the programming channel, national, regional, or local, taking into account the Identity of the programming channel." The document defines Identity as "a group of characteristics of a programming channel, such as the commercial name, logo, programming, among others, that allow the channel's recognition and identification by audiences". This sounds like it's opening the door to a semi-national scheme where, no matter where you are in the country, channel 7.1 would be Azteca 7, 5.1 would be Canal 5, etc. There are two huge problems: #1. It could cause a mass move of virtual channels. Let's look at Chihuahua, Chih. (XHABC excluded): Current 2: Azteca 13 XHCH Current 4: Azteca 13 XHIT Current 5: XHFI Canal 5 Current 9: XHAUC Gala TV Current 11: XHECH Azteca 7 Current 13: XHCHZ CE Current 20: XHCHI Canal Once Now look at the problem we're left with. In Chihuahua, we have two stations that could go on channel 13 (or, given the way the IFT will handle overlap, 13 and 14). XHFI and XHAUC stay. XHECH gets booted from 11 by XHCHI. XHCH and XHCHZ effectively switch places. Now, if you press 2.1, instead of Azteca 13, you're going to get CE. Pressing 11 will give you Canal Once instead of Azteca 7. You're breaking muscle memory patterns that have been around for quite some time. Or in Tepic, Nay.: Current 2: Televisa local XHKG Current 4: Azteca 13 XHAF Current 5: C5 XHTFL Current 8: Azteca 7 XHLBN Current 10: XHTPG (Nayarit state network) Current 13: CE XHTEN Here the problem is a little different. XHAF displaces XHTEN on 13, and XHTEN displaces XHKG on 2. But where does XHKG go? Channel 36? Channel 4? Does it have to decide on a new channel of its choice? Local stations in various cities would be displaced. Any local station on channel 2 or 13 would have to find a new channel identity, and many of these locals have been around for decades. #2. Border cities. In a network plan, XHCJH-TDT 36 (20.x) Ciudad Juárez would be entitled to the use of virtual channel 7. However, doing so would present a conflict with KVIA. How would KVIA like it if Mexico did that? It would suddenly have to either negotiate with Azteca or rebrand itself, causing viewer confusion north of the border. This is not as much of a problem with Guatemala or Belize given that Guatemala is ISDB-T and Belize has no digital television standard. I am glad the IFT came in here. It was clear that Mexican broadcasters did not have an idea of what to do with virtual channels, especially noncommercial ones (Raymie, Dec 22, ibid.) [and non] Certainly a challenge. In the U.S., a station that had an analog signal is expected to use its old analog channel number as its virtual channel. The few stations that never had an analog signal are expected to use their digital RF channels, unless they conflict with an older station's virtual channel in which case they use that station's RF channel (for example, a new digital station on RF-5 in Delaware never had an analog signal. Virtual channel 5 in Delaware would collide with WTTG's virtual channel 5 in Washington. So the Delaware station is expected to use WTTG's RF channel -- 36 -- as their Delaware virtual channel). If a firm owns more than one station in a market, it may use the same virtual channel on as many of its co-owned stations as it wishes. The idea is that they can arrange a proper split in *minor* virtual channels to avoid conflicts -- and if conflicts do happen, the only station they'll hurt will be themselves. But they can only do that within one market. WNBC couldn't, for example, buy a station in Worcester, Mass. and use their virtual channel 4. Worcester isn't in the NYC market. Finally, the standard did establish a set of virtual channels above 69 which could be assigned for nationwide use. Theoretically, NBC could reserve virtual channel 74 (for example) and ask all NBC affiliates to use that number. Such a thing could work in Mexico. The FCC plan has done a pretty good (although not perfect) job of avoiding virtual channel conflicts. In the early days of DTV it was unclear how some TV sets would perform in the presence of duplicate major channels. We now know nearly all sets will handle them without much trouble. What the viewers will think, on the other hand, may be rather different (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com Dec 22, ibid.) I'm aware of the standards. In fact, I mentioned it some time back when Intermedia was building K26KJ-D (Multimedios) El Paso. Their VC is 25 because that's KINT's physical channel. The problem is that we have decades-old channel assignments and associations changing. In San Francisco de Campeche, the mess is near total because Azteca broadcasts on 2 and 5. If a national channel plan is enacted, suddenly people will tune 2 and 5 and get Televisa, not Azteca (Televisa operates channels 8 and 12 in Campeche, the state network uses 30 and there's XHOPCC on 32). There should be an ability for networked services, such as state networks, to use the same channel in a regional area. For instance, the Hidalgo state network, with seven transmitters, could feasibly broadcast channel 3 on all of them (or 42, as they are doing in Pachuca right now). But if you're a local station that has branded as channel 2, 5, 7, 9 or 13 for decades on end, you have to be thinking, "What does this mean for me, my viewers and my branding?" XHST Mérida has been Trecevisión or Canal Trece for decades. XHCEP Celaya might find itself in a squeeze if people receive XHL from León and suddenly they have two channel 11s. A national plan would work only if it guaranteed channels on a local or regional basis for the state networks, local stations, etc. For instance, it could be expected that all stations on virtual channel 10 are state networks, or that Televisa local stations could use channels, say, 4 and 6. But that fails to alleviate the border cities problem, where applying the national plan could end up encouraging stations in the US to rebrand. Imagine being KYLX Laredo (the successor to KVTV, channel 13) and being told "well, Azteca is going to come in and get channel 13 rights across Mexico, either people tune in two channel 13s or you move". A lot of brand equity for small, local stations would be erased by this move, and viewers would also have to deal with changing their muscle memory. All the chaos of the 1994 TV affiliation switches with all the craziness of Mexico. I don't want that. ——— Here's one station that need not worry about virtual channels, and another Christmas miracle in my opinion. XHAMO-TDT 11 Colima (intermittent operation) is on the air as Mexico's first—nope, second, sorry XHMTA—VHF digital station. (Sorry, XHUS, you were too slow.) There are images of the transmitter setup and of the tower here. http://www.network54.com/Forum/176899/thread/1418251009/18/Colima+ya+en+fase+de+pruebas+HD Last edited by Raymie; 12-23-2015 at 01:03 AM. (Raymie, Dec 22, ibid.) Quote Originally Posted by Raymie: One of the best apagón videos yet comes to us from Televisa Zacatecas. Shutting off XHBD's transmitter (screen at left) actually causes alarms to go off at the transmitter site! What I found funny is that the alarm sounder is identical to those used in car alarms in the 1990s, you could say it was the "official medley" of any large USA city. Couldn't help but notice two screens near the center with "Law and Order" in English. Do some Mexican nets air English language programming? [Taglines:] Comparing Sporadic-E skip to skip on the AM and shortwave bands is like comparing apples and oranges. Comparing tropo to skip is like comparing apples and bacon cheeseburgers (Robert Grant, USA, Dec 23, ibid.) Certainly, probably dubbed. Also note Gala TV running Telemundo's novelas (Raymie, ibid.) Quote Originally Posted by Raymie: The IFT has put up for public comment the proposed ground rules for Auction IFT-4 — the 191 FMs and 66 AMs for commercial use across the country. Things to note: 5. AM frequency recycling. Most of the AMs are recognizable frequencies that will soon have new stations. In the AM pool are such stations as 580 Piedras Negras, 1240 Morelia and San Luis Potosí 710. That surprised me. I thought they were phasing out AMs because they decided AM had no market, and now they're auctioning them back on? I always thought they should have given an exception to XEMU, As it gave millions of Mexicans who move around Texas and between Coahuila and Texas a connection to home. Also odd is releasing 710 back to SLP when 540 was a better (Omnidirectional Clear) channel (Robert Grant, ibid.) ``XHAMO-TDT 11 Colima (intermittent operation) is on the air as Mexico's first VHF digital station.`` Wasn't XHMTA Matamoros (RF12) the first digital VHF in Mexico? Or am I missing something? (mismac, south Texas, Dec 23, ibid.) Yeah, duh, forgot XHMTA. But it is the first new VHF in a very long time (Raymie, ibid.) Quote Originally Posted by Raymie ``A national plan would work only if it guaranteed channels on a local or regional basis for the state networks, local stations, etc.`` Yep, that's why the virtual channels above 69 were reserved. Canal de las Estrellas is channel 72 nationwide, Canal 5 is 75, Azteca 7 is 77, Azteca 13 is 83, etc.. No conflicts. Except that a station in Mexico City that's been channel 5 forever is now channel 75. Promo department nightmare. If I wasn't fighting a horrible head cold I'd try to figure out whether it's possible for one station to transmit more than one TVCT. Can XHWX be both channel 4 *and* channel 83? (Doug Smith W9WI, ibid.) Quote Originally Posted by Robert Grant`` Do some Mexican nets air English language programming?`` If available and if the channel has SAP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2xctNvscA Quote Originally Posted by Raymie ``5. AM frequency recycling. Most of the AMs are recognizable frequencies that will soon have new stations. In the AM pool are such stations as 580 Piedras Negras, 1240 Morelia and San Luis Potosí 710.`` Or Salvatierra Gto. 1290: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHNGWJEM9dM (Gargadon, Campeche, ibid.) I just reread this on the IFT site. The way I read it (remembering that I read Spanish at a 3rd-grade level..), Article 9 says that in case of a collision of major virtual channels, the IFT will assign *minor* virtual channels, giving the lowest minor virtual channel to the oldest station. That would solve any technical issues but it won't solve viewer confusion. It's also problematic if the oldest station decides to multiplex. One broadcaster is responsible for 9.1, 9.3, and 9.4 while another runs 9.2 and 9.5? There are indeed (IMHO) enough numbers below 14 to assign channels for local stations & state networks. The conversion is never as easy as it seems (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Right, I saw that. But boy, is that awkward too. [new tagline rather than apagón dates:] Este programa es público, ajeno a cualquier partido político. Queda prohibido el uso para fines distintos a los establecidos en el programa (Raymie, Dec 23, ibid.) ** MYANMAR. 6165, Thazin Radio, 1156-1234, Dec 15. nice program of vocals and instrumental music selections. A female announcer spoke over music at 1229 prior to news at 1230. Poor with China National Radio poking though periodically but mostly way underneath Thazin (Rich D’Angelo, December 20, 2015: French Creek State Park DXpedition No. 49 (December 13, 14 and 15, 2015); Equipment: Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX- 340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Am 18.12.2015 um 15:27 schrieb VOA Radiogram: The Mighty KBC will broadcast a minute of MFSK32 Sunday at 0158 UT (Saturday 8:58 pm EST) on 7395 kHz, via Germany. This new 0158 transmission time coincides with the beginning of the Radio Romania International interval signal for their French broadcast starting at 0200. This co-channel situation is a good test for the MFSK32. The entire KBC broadcast is Saturday 2300 to Sunday 0200 on 7395 kHz. Reports for this KBC reception to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com QRM-situation here in Germany: http://www.rhci-online.net/mp3/2015-12-20_7395kHz_KBC+RRI-QRM_cut-22khz_decoding-ok-.mp3 MFSK-32 via scattered RF against the RRI-interval signal worked well, demodulated in DSB: RSID: <<2015-12-13T01:58z MFSK-32 @ 7395000+1500>> Here's a boat in Harlingen Harbor, where the KBC ship is docked, illuminated for the holidays ... Sending Pic:170x83C; http://www.rhci-online.net/files/pic_2015-12-20_015829z.gif Look at this boat during daylight to see what looks like a dipole antenna: http://www.webcam-harlingen.nl/pages/cameras/havenmond.php The illuminated vessel is the "Zeesleepboot Holland", a museum ship - I'm sure. The "dipole" is a T-antenna for the radio operator room with the old radio-transmitters and direction finders - am I right? The whole report: http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/VoA_Radiogram_2015-12-19.htm#KBC Also best holiday wishes and 73, (roger, Germany, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. 2598-USB, Dec 17 at 0738, YL with marine weather in English, Very poor S3, so what is scheduled at this hour? Per http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/Marine-Communications/RAMN-2015/Part-2-Atlantic-Facilities-Information it`s: ``MCTS Placentia / VCP - Broadcasts 07:37 St. Lawrence 2598J3E Radiotelephony --- Technical marine synopsis and forecasts for marine areas 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237 and 238. Weather forecasts for marine area 213. Ice Edge and Conditions South Coast east of Penguin Island, East Coast to Cape Freels. Notices to Fish Harvesters (when available).`` St. Lawrence is on the Burin peninsula, west side of Placentia Bay in the extreme south end of the island, just east of St Pierre & Miquelon, FRANCE (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 6224-USB, Dec 18 at 1247, VP signal, only S5 vs S4 noise level with weather by OM voice, sounds DU accent but can`t tell whether Ozy or Kiwi; mostly about wind direxions and knot speeds. EiBi shows it`s ZLM, Taupo Maritime Radio, at 1233-1253. Many transmissions thruout the day, but not every hour, start at 3 minutes past the hour and half-hour, and end 20 minutes later. Taupo is in the middle of North Island, at the NE corner of lake of same name, as far from a coast as you can get, but at a good skip distance, and not far from RNZI`s Rangitaiki site, I think (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Last day on air for RNZ's Hewitt Humphrey Radio New Zealand 22 December 2015 RNZ newsreader Hewitt Humphrey will present his last-ever news bulletin today. Humphrey is retiring after more than half a century in the broadcasting industry. He read the first news bulletin on Morning Report when the programme started 40 years ago. Listen to Hewitt Humphrey discuss his career on Morning Report (?8 min?4 sec?) http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201783805 His bulletins have covered world-changing events, from the Vietnam War to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. They have also been interrupted by the unexpected but Humphrey almost always kept his cool. When a cleaner began hoovering the radio studio part-way through a sports bulletin, Humphrey continued to read but later told listeners: "Sorry about the noise during the sports news, the studio was suddenly attacked by a vacuum cleaner." Comedian Spike Milligan, however, managed to rattle Humphrey. Sitting in the studio during a news bulletin, Milligan cried in a faux- distressed voice "Let me out"! Humphrey initially continued reading but then couldn't help himself and laughed. In his 51 years as a broadcaster, Humphrey said his last role - as RNZ's presentations standards manager - was his favourite. "I get to meet a lot of the new young reporters who come in from the tertiary institutions and I have to say they are very talented young people, a lot of them. And I'm quite impressed with the standard of speech," he said. He will read his last bulletin at 6pm and last headlines at 6.30pm today. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/292746/last-day-on-air-for-rnz's-hewitt-humphrey Posted by: (Mike Terry, Dec 22, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Re the RNZI Rangitaiki SW transmitter site, well this in on the hit (want) list. I simply don't have any private pics of the site, but have previously asked Adrian Sainsbury of RNZI without gaining any response, but I now find significant info & pics of the tx site on the RNZI website. http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/technical (Ian, Australia, Dec 23, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. 740 Nicaragua "La Sandino" into Michigan now --- Auroral conditions still in effect here tonight with 740 Nicaragua "La Sandino" with a big signal at times over everything else, parallel to http://www.lasandino.com.ni with Spanish ballads. That's a new one for me tonight! 73, (Tim Tromp, W Michigan, Perseus SDR + South D-KAZ, 0345 UT Dec 24, ABDX via DXLD) Was originally on 750 in the post-revolution; since then must have shifted to accommodate Managua stations as 720-740-760, etc. I see in WRTH 2016 that in many areas of the MW dial, Managua emitters are at 20-kHz spacing; must be really crowded, and bad luck for adjacent- channel DXing there. Also, every single Managua station is on an ``even`` frequency; planning fits in those everywhere else in the country on odd or some even channels (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 6090, Radio Nigeria – Kaduna (presumed), 2046-2100*, Dec 14. program of tribal vocals with a man announcer presumably in Hausa with brief talks. Mainly music program. Quick announcement at 2059 followed by music fanfare and carrier terminated. Poor to fair with moderate fading (Rich D’Angelo, December 20, 2015: French Creek State Park DXpedition No. 49 (December 13, 14 and 15, 2015); Equipment: Ten- Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX-340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via DXLD) [and non]. 6090-, Dec 19 at 0552, LAH audible on lo side of ANGUILLA, as I was expecting, since Olle Alm, Sweden, had just notified us that FRCN Kaduna had reactivated (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) : 6090, Kaduna finally back on the air. Heard 18 Dec at 2130 with Hausa talk and music, gradually taking over from CNR. Same low frequency as before. Ethiopia had a good period here when both Nigeria and China were off. Ethiopia 6090 now signing off at 2100 just like 6110. Kaduna 6090 signed off at 2259. Now it remains to be seen if they are back on a regular basis (Olle Alm, Sweden, 18 Dec, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6089.855, Dec 18 -2259*, FRCN Kaduna with heavy signal. ID in Haussa at 2257 as "R Kaduna" then NA and sign off 2258:30 (THOMAS Nilsson, Ängelholm, Sweden, SW Bulletin Dec 20 via DXLD) Kaduna Jarji SW on 6090 kHz was not heard anymore, at least since end of August 2015. Heard at 0550 UT on Dec 19 on accurate 6089.859 kHz, S=9 signal, ID Radio Kaduna at 0559 UT followed by some drums. Hit heavily by co-channel CBB Caribbean Beacon (University Network) from Anguilla on 6090.000 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now we await another unscheduled outage by Anguilla to hear Kaduna clearly over here (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Nigeria Kaduna was back again on shortwave from 1751 [tune-in?] on 6089.9 JAR 100 kW / non-dir to WeAf Hausa http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/radio-nigeria-kaduna-was-back-again-on.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good signal of Radio Nigeria Kaduna on Dec 22 from 1640 on 6089.9 JAR 100 kW / non-dir to WeAf Hausa http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/good-signal-of-radio-nigeria-kaduna-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Dec 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. And also Voice of Nigeria in French language service this Dec 19 morning on 7254.922 kHz at 0703 UT. Bulletin news. VERY CLEAR AUDIO !!!! S=5-6 signal in southern Germany (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, logs at 0555-0645 UT Dec 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. TURKEY/U.K., Strong co-channel between Voice of Turkey & Radio Dandal Kura: 0700-0800 15480 EMR 500 kW / 120 deg WeAs Turkish TRT, Voice of Turkey 0700-0800 15480 WOF 300 kW / 165 deg WeAf Kanuri Radio Dandal Kura Int http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/strong-co-ch-between-voice-of-turkey.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 3440, PIRATE (No. Am.), WHYP, 0207, 12/19/15. Low audio with music and indistinct talk since about 0155, James Brownyard’s voice came up with ID, “Yea Yea’s”, George Zeller’s “It was just about the worst station on the air” with various audio manipulations, 0210 off. Poor. (Taylor – WI) 3450, PIRATE (No. Am.) Amphetamine Radio, 0249, 12/19/15. Just enough audio poked though for CW ID, punkish music, faded out. Poor. 6880, PIRATE (No. Am.), Partial India Radio, 2223, 12/19/15. “This is the under seas service of Partial India Radio,” ID by Harold Krishna, OM with talk about this being the first program in some time and saying this was the Jay Smilkstein memorial program, ID and gmail address, then e mail given phonetically, Beatles, another ID, “Tears of a clown,” into a program of usual PIR comedy, altered music, and frequent ID’s. Fair – good (Mark Taylor, Madison, Wisconsin, Perseus, SDRPlay, Eton e1, Grundig Satellit 800, Sangean 909X w/ clear mod, and various other portables; 40 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. Bangalore Poacher: 12/14/15, 2309-2320* UT, 6951 AM. S7-8 and great audio with a parody of the Lincolnshire Poacher station featuring Indian accented OM and YL repeating lots of numbers and an ad for life insurance. Funny stuff! (Filipkowski, RI) 6951, 2312-2320* Dec 14, numbers sequences, Lincolnshire Poacher tuning notes, catch phrases such as “the panic button” and ”beat the best prices” heard. Most in accented Indian English language. Carrier terminated with[out?] anything close to a closedown announcement. Fair. (D'Angelo-PA/FCDX) 6951 AM, Bangalore Poacher verified an electronic report with a full data PDF attachment “Indian Sweet Master” (official sponsor of Bangalore Poacher) featuring “this delightful and delicious order of Gulab Jamun” in one day. (D’Angelo-PA) 6951 AM, 14 Dec 2015 2301-2320*, Rock music. Frequently, a flute playing "A Pirate's Life for me," then bunches of numbers, lots of numbers. Occasionally, a kazoo. Oh, yeah, numbers, lots of numbers. (45454, Hunsicker, PA) (FRW Dec 19 via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) Evidently same station I heard 21 hours earlier with Lincolnshire Poacher tune, as in previous DXLD (gh, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6959.0-AM, Dec 19 at 0051, weak music on the R75, encouraging me to switch to the NRD-545. But a few minutes later as in next log, it`s in USB, so different pirate station? Maybe, maybe not, per unID logs at http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,25172.0.html 6959.0-USB, Dec 19 at 0108, rock guitar music, lyric ``I don`t want to be alone`` heard more than once, 0112 CW ``ID`` as KARMA, and then a message, repeated which I partially copied, trying to listen to Allan Weiner at same time, but others got it exactly on http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,25173.0.html as ``KARMA KARMA IS A BITCH IF YOU ARE`` and nothing further heard from 0113 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6925.75-AM, Dec 19 at 0118, very poor S8 signal with music. These logs http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,25170.0.html say it was Pirate Radio Boston with an Xmas show at 0032-0134* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORWAY. 22 December 2015 --- Svenn Martinsen posted on the WRTH Facebook group: Thank you so much for your interest in the licensed test and development transmissions from LLE-4. These are recent pictures from LKB LLE showing the construction of the inverted "V" antenna for 1611, also the refurbished Comrod plus the restored part of the original southeastern broadcasting mast. The next transmissions on 1611.0 kHz: Christmas Day Friday Dec 25th(evening 2100z-) Monday Dec 28th(evening 2100z-) Thursday Dec 31st Afternoon 1600z- In addition we'll try one morning transmission soon 0600-, date not decided. US DXers have requested the time 0000-0200z we'll see what we can do. Happy Christmas! Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) No mention of SW here but used to be also around 5.9 MHz (gh) ** OKLAHOMA. 1390, Dec 23 at 0350 UT past 0414 UT, open carrier/dead air from local KCRC Enid; by 0414 UT however a bit of a whine has been added. Still OC/DA at 0527 UT check! Carrier is so strong that I can`t null it and hear anything else, but it does remove splash from adjacents; see U S A 1380. Rerecheck at 0647 UT, *still* dead air, and now on the DX-398 nulling as much as possible I can hear some other 1390 station with music, Xmas? The DA also reduces the QRM from KCRC spurs almost on 1360 & 1420. Still DA at 0707 UT, so all-night? No owner or staff of KCRC cares to monitor and/or go in to the studio to restart it, if that can`t even be done remotely. But quite unusual for this station, unlike its sibling 1640 KZLS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1600, Dec 17 at 1531 UT check on groundwave, KUSHing is a steady S9+20 on the R75 with E/W longwire and Preamp2; noting belatedly as a reference point upon suspicion that they have quintupled power as permitted; the CP would have expired in a few weeks. At night they must remain only 70 watts, always non-direxional. BTW, I see the new FCC website has added an ``AM Revitalization`` link to the AM Queries; for KUSH, it bring up a huge list of FM translators by frequency above 92 MHz: ``*** 309 FM Records within 403.14 km distance [=250 miles] of 35 59' 13.00" N, 96 42' 39.00" W ***`` --- supposed to help an AM station try to pick one out to acquire?? The so-called AM Revitalization Effort is explained here: https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/am-revitalization (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 1650, Dec 17 at 1324 UT, dominant signal is in Spanish about Nueva York, so El Paso or Denver? Not hearing much of anything from gospel music KFSW Sallisaw lately since its conversion from KYHN, so wonder if they are really running nominal 10/1 kW U1 non-direxional? During Dec should already be on day power from 1315 UT to 2300 UT (January: 1330 UT to 2330 UT). 1650, Dec 19 at 0140 UT, gospel music in the mix with Spanish from TX/CO, so presumably Sallisaw`s KFSW but not the dominant signal it used to achieve as KYHN. Not up to snuff? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 11240.0-AM, Dec 19 at 0152, S1 signal but sounds like a broadcaster, maybe with a game. Does not work out to be a simple MW harmonic but it does prove to be // local 1390 KCRC Enid ESPN. I can`t figure out any formula mixing it with other locals on 960, 1640 to land it on 11240. It could also be external mixing with a very strong SWBC signal, but nothing like that at plus or minus 1390 from 11240 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Quick check on caradio of the signals previously impaired by the late-November ice-storm, Dec 17 at 2147 UT: 88.3, K202BY, Family Radio, Enid is still off 94.3, KLGB-LP, Enid is finally back to full power all over Enid, not just audible within one block of site; gospel music seems harder-rock now than it used to be, still sponsored by Enid Coldwell Banker Realty 98.1, WWLS-FM, The Village, finally back to full power, sports talk 99.7, KNAH, Mustang, is back on and/or full power, fighting over channel with country music vs Kansas Spanish 100.5, KATT OKC; 101.9, KTST OKC; 102.7, KJYO OKC --- all sound like full power now (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 15140, Dec 17 at 1412, RSO is on again today, S7 to S9 with rock song in English by some currently popular YL; 1416 OM DJ plugging something going to happen at ``9 pm``; recheck at 1432 there is music rather than news in English on half-hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RSO-Thumrayt on 15140 at 1440 in English, Dec. 18. US pop music, M announcer, “This is Oman FM”. Strong signal (Online WebSDR at U. of Twente, Netherlands via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15140, Dec 20 at 1443, RSO English hour is instead open carrier/dead air with flutter, hitting S9 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Surprisingly strong signal of Radio Pakistan on Dec 15: from 0900 on 15730 ISL 250 kW / 313 deg to WeEu Urdu, but off at 0909 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/surprisingly-strong-signal-of-radio_15.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #931 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec. 21, 2015 via DXLD) ** PALAU. 9929.93, Dec 20 at 1417, dense gospel music from T8WH sounds awful when tuned to 9930.00 in SSB; have to refine it way down for off-frequency outlet. EiBi shows WHR-3 on 9930 Sat/Sun only at 10-14; but also Sound of Hope, Taiwan daily at 11-16, and consequently CNR1 jamming except for a break at 1400-1430: however, neither of these heard now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4810, OAW9A, R Logos, Chazuta, Andean flute and vocal music, EST T/C at 5:28, 5:36 and again at 5:48. OM Spanish talx and at ToH into a prayer and/or religious talk. The lively Andean music was fun! 33+553+ with lots of swiper QRM. Offtuning or using LSB helped. 1020- 1100 12/Dec (Kenneth V Zichi, MARE Brighton MI DXpedition, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU [and non]. 5980, Dec 19 at 0059, JBA carrier, 0100 some music, and now two carriers beating, i.e. BBC UAE and Perú. I`m attempting to detect when one of them, R. Chaski goes off, but they are just too weak, and give up at 0107. Just before then, some other carrier(s) swept across (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5980, 2301-2309 UT, 19.12.2015. Perú. Radio Chaski. Portadora sin modulación (Claudio Galaz T., Receptor: TECSUN PL-660, Antena: Hilo de 50 metros, Lugar: Barraza Bajo, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** PERU. 28400-USB, Dec 19 at 2040, OA5O, special call of Radio Club Peruano, working North American stations, S5. Accent and dixion are so bad that there could have been another letter after the 5. But in QRZ.com, I don`t reach an OA5O, instead OA4O, so maybe that was it. Only a few signals on 10m, all from S America except for a beacon from the US 7-call area (I hope that beaconeers keep these accurate, rather than retaining old calls when moving to other areas) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. R. Pilipinas-Tinang at 1920 in English, Dec. 20. Virtually uninterrupted English EZL music. Fair (Online Twente SDR via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Weak signal of Local Radio Voronezh, Comintern Radio Dec 21 1200-1400 6990 VOR 001 kW / non-dir EaEu Russian Local Radio Voronezh 1400-1500 6990 VOR 001 kW / non-dir EaEu Russian Comintern Radio http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/weak-signal-of-local-radio-voronezh-and.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. HISTORY === The history of the international Moscow radio in the version published on the website of radio station "Voice of Russia" in 2004. http://travelradio.lv/history/golos_rossii.htm I then copied the twenty pages on the website "Voice of Russia". TO Unfortunately, not copied audio clips and photographs, was only text. Privacy is no more, the same wording. History of Radio Moscow was the the new leadership does not need. The new management, however, history it is, but its called "history agency" in which no International Moscow radio or the radio station "Voice of Russia" never did not exist prior to the closing. The following text, copied online ruvr.ru, judging by the final result, repeatedly rewritten and adjusted depending on the vagaries of State censorship and the general line of the ruling parties, recalled I hastily painted and repainted with paint a cheap old beat-up fence with fall off here and there, bad stykuyuschimimsya color pieces, reflects the controversial but no less great age, who have lived our once common country. I very much hope that the Russian radio amateurs all slept through the history of radioglusheniya, will be engaged, finally, the history of international radioveshaniya USSR, collect as much as possible complete and comprehensive information about this time and write a book or create online multimedia an encyclopedia about the history of the domestic broadcasting. This subject is still alive, on the surface, still alive event participants, which, if intelligently ask, and very much interesting about his life and work You could tell. It is also hoping that the preserved audio archives, that they are under cover of night, Dmitry and Margarita have not collected all in a heap and not He was taken to a Moscow landfills. By the way, do not be surprised if it turns out that it was so (Vladimir Kazgunov / "open_dx" via Rus DX 20 Dec via DXLD) If you type in google "code words of" a lot of interesting comes up. In the first reference example, http://guides.rusarchives.ru/browse/guidebook.html?bid=203&sid=1152256 And this is only a small part. In general, the whole life is not enough :) (Leo Barmaleo / "open_dx" via Rus DX 20 Dec via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. 19th edition of the "Broadcasting in Russian" Handbook, published by St. Petersburg DX Club, has been recently released. The handbook features all radio stations transmitting programmes in the Russian language in AM bands (on long, medium and short waves) at present, both from Russia and abroad. Station listings include frequency and programme schedules, transmitter location and power, target areas, postal addresses, phone/fax numbers, Web sites, social network pages, e-mail addresses as well as QSL policy info. The schedules are generally valid until March 27 2015 (i.e. during B15 broadcasting season). The Handbook is in Russian and distributed as a hard copy only. Volume is 64 pages of A5 size. Please address your purchase requests and questions to St. Petersburg DX Club: Alexander Beryozkin, P.O.Box 463, St. Petersburg, 190000, Russia or by e-mail: dxspb[at]nrec.spb.ru The price is 5 EUR or 6 USD (including delivery by registered mail). Your comments and suggestions regarding the handbook contents are always welcome. Alexander Beryozkin, St. Petersburg DX Club (via Mikhail Timofeyev, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 15380, Dec 17 at 1353, Qur`an is S5 with reverb, from BSKSA. Per Aoki, this 500 kW at 310 degrees USward is about to go off at 1357. No correlating with sunset here like Yemen, since this one is all-Qur`an-all-the-time, HQS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. This was sent to me last year probably but I only ran across it again on the SIBC website. It's a history of their operations and has some pictures and technical detail. http://www.sibconline.com.sb/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SIBC-history.pdf They have AM, FM and Shortwave signals. I have never heard the AM signal, but I heard their 10 kW 9545 kHz signal ONCE back in May 2015 in California. Never before and never again have I heard them. And for such low power, they were pretty clear. http://www.onairdj.com/SIBC_9545_05112015_0800_100ampacific.mp3 (Paul Walker, AR, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5020, Dec 13 0720 Solomon Island Broadcasting Corp., Honiara, 0720 (!) UT. Karel Honzik machte mich auf eine seltene Empfangsmöglichkeit aus Honiara aufmerksam: Der Sender ist schwach auch morgens gegen 0720 UT auf 5020 kHz zu hören, der Empfangsweg ist der „Lange“ also über die Ostküste Südamerikas, daher auch das beste Signal an der Südamerika Beverage. Leider stört um diese Zeit Radio Rebelde - aus der gleichen Empfangsrichtung - auf 5025 kHz das schwache Signal doch erheblich. Danke Karel für den Hinweis! ------------- Today (Dec 14) Solomons are audible around 0710 UT on 5020 with poor signal, more than 25.000 km at the long path (Christoph Ratzer, Austria, A-DX via SW Bulletin Dec 20 via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) 5020, Dec 15, 0730 SIBC, Honiara also noted here in the morning with weak signal (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, ibid.) Can`t even detect a carrier here on the long-path way, around 0720 Dec 27; Cuba 5025 splash severe (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5020, Dec 19 *1859-, Solomon Island Broadcasting Corp., Honiara, Dec 19, 1900 UT, SIO 232. Nach einer langen Arbeitswoche ist es eine gute Sache wenn die SIBC pünktlich um 1859 UT mit dem Morgenprogramm auf 5020 kHz analog über Funkwelle zu senden beginnt und dann auch noch mit S9 bei meiner Empfangsstation zu hören ist. Im warmen Heim empfange ich dieses Signal aus fast 75 km Entfernung jetzt über das Telefonkabel (Christoph Ratzer, Austria, A-DX via SW Bulletin Dec 20 via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) ** SOMALIA [non]. GERMANY(non) Media Broadcast changes: Voice of Khaatumo, Codka Khaatumo, cancelled from December 11: 1700-1730 on 17580 ISS 250 kW / 120 deg to EaAf Somali Mon-Fri 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, circa Dec 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably cancelled after the edition of Dec 1. This is the last one they posted at http://voiceofkhaatumo.com (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SOMALILAND [and non]. SOMALIA, Ein OM Jawahar aus Saudi Arabien berichtete ueber 'Jamming' gestern gegen das somalische R. Hargeysa auf 7120 kHz so ab 1330 / 1400 UT. Da bin ich vorsichtig mit einer Wertung, bei 6900 bis 7100 kHz treiben sich auch oft OTHRadars aus Russland, Tuerkei, China oder Iran mit ganz anderem Zweck herum (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 12) Greetings from Saudi Arabia! I monitored Radio Herghesha from Somalia on 7125{?} kHz on 11 Dec from 1330 UT in English up to 1345 UT when Somali language started and from exactly 1358 UT it was jammed with blasting jammers. I could observe the jammers up to 1400 UT. A kind of moving and blasting noise jammers was observed (Jawahar Shaikh, Jeddah, Dec 12, BCDX 19 Dec via DXLD) Re: Radio Herghesha, Somalia - observed jammed. Many thanks for the news, dear Jawahar, I'll check this Somalia - 7120 ! kHz - outlet, intensive day by day (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) [and non]. 7120, Dec 23 at 0330, not yet a signal from R. Hargeisa, altho there is a ham in Spanish on LSB. By 0341 there is a JBA carrier about equal to the S6-7 noise level, and still Spanish on LSB. Can`t make out any program modulation on USB tuning (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 3320, 12/23 0020-0103, RSG, Meyerton, in Afrikaans. An excellent musical program dedicated to Christmas period: Soprano singer, Sebastian Bach aria, B. Crosby, Plácido Domingo and many other songs; 0100 YL ID, continues beautiful music; fair, 35333 (DXer José Ronaldo Xavier (JRX), Cabedelo - Brazil, Degen DE1103 / Tecsun S-2000, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. U.S.A.: 15770, WRMI Radio Miami International (presumed); 1715-1722+, 20-Dec; Bro. Hystairical; ragging on scoffers, mockers & other prophets including "other supposed men of God." He also said that he is "The Sign" (Beware of False Prophets?) & still saying he might not be on after 1/1. SIO=4+53+ +++ tuned in at 2132 to hear a non-B.S. huxter talking about "fornicants". (Is that generic for fornicators & fornicatees?) SIO=454; different English non-B.S. huxter on 7570 talking about the Rapture. (When's the next regularly scheduled one?) SIO=454 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, 5515 Whitehall St., Midland MI 48642-3156, Drake R8B + 185' & 60' RW + 125' bow-tie, All dates and times for all logs are UTC unless otherwise noted as AM or PM which is ELT. FMBC & VHF/UHF logs are in MHz; all other logs are in kHz. ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! ----- DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Test of Radio Exterior de España via Noblejas on Dec 17: from 0905 on 9690 NOB 200 kW / 290 deg to NoAm open carrier/dead air from 0905 on 11530 NOB 200 kW / 161 deg to WCAf open carrier/dead air from 0915 on 11530 NOB 200 kW / 161 deg to WCAf open carrier/dead air from 0915 on 15500 NOB 200 kW / 110 deg to N/ME open carrier/dead air http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/test-of-radio-exterior-de-espana-via.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) REE-Noblejas on 15390 at 1750 in English, Dec. 20. Two loud M & W calling a fútbol game. Good (Online Twente SDR via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Surely you meant Spanish? (gh) ** SPAIN [non]. Radio Mi Amigo Newsletter December 2015 Welcome to the Radio Mi Amigo International NEWSFLASH for December. Weekday Schedule change --- As you may be aware, our recent weekday broadcasts at 17.00 CET on 6005 kHz are being severely compromised by The Voice Of Iran. Therefore, we decided to change our weekday schedule from this week as follows: Monday to Friday: 14.00 CET (1300 UT) on 6005 kHz and repeated: 19.00 CET (1800 UT) on 3985 kHz FESTIVE TOP 5 How would you like your Festive Top 5 played on Radio Mi Amigo International this month? Email: paulnewman@radiomiamigointernational.com and listen out on Sundays to Paul Newman's Radio Shack to hear it between 10.00-11.00, repeated 14.00-15.00 CET. If your Top 5 is played, you'll receive some Radio Mi Amigo Christmas Goodies, but get in quick! CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE Make a date with us over Christmas. We're going to broadcast special Festive programmes (in addition to our normal run of schedule) on Thursday 24th and Friday 25th December from 10.00 to 15.00 CET on 6005 & 7310 kHz. On the same evenings between 20.00-01.00 CET we will be repeating these programmes from our 1485 kHz medium wave service based in Riga, Latvia, so yet another chance for a nice bit of Festive DX! All programmes will be simultaneously broadcast online in stereo. Please see our Festive Schedule here: http://www.radiomiamigointernational.com (via Manuel Méndez, Spain, Nov 30, HCDX via DXLD) Oops, already had this, but delayed until Dec 20 by HCDX; a timely reminder (gh) Extra broadcasts during Christmas [not Radio Miami Go International] To: info@radiomiamigointernational.com Hello friends! Radio Mi Amigo International wishes you a very merry Christmas and we hope you will enjoy our programmes in 2016 as we have big plans! Just a reminder for you that we will be broadcasting this Christmas with some very special programming made for you by our DJ’s. Here’s the schedule: On both 6005 kHz and 7310 kHz (and online in stereo): Thursday December 24th 10.00 Peter de Wit - Christmas Aboard The Schoon Schip (Dutch) 11.00 Paul Newman with Christmas In The Radio Shack (English) 13.00 Ron O'Quinn's Festive Time Machine (English) 14.00 Lion Keezer - Season's Greetings To The World (Dutch, this show will be repeated at 19:00 CET on 3985 kHz & online Friday December 25th 10.00 Jeffrey's Stenen Tijdperk Christmas Special (Dutch) 11.00 Kord Radio Nordzee International Chart 'Festive Flashback' (German) 13.00 Bruno's Christmas Soulbox (English) 14.00 Paul Graham's Christmas Cracker! (English, this show will be repeated at 19:00 CET on 3985 kHz & online If you live in the Northern part of Europe you may also get these programs on Medium Wave 1485 AM (from Riga, Latvia) starting each day on 20:00 CET (until 01:00 am) The shows will also be broadcast in stereo in Spain (Costa Blanca) on FM 92.3 and 106.0 from 10 am till 3 pm CET. Check our website for all links, schedules, frequencies and additional information: http://www.radiomiamigointernational.com Again, all the best from all of us here at Radio Mi Amigo International and thanks for listening and your support! (via Manuel Méndez, Dec 23, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Good signal of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation SLBC: from 1700 on 11750 TRM 125 kW / 345 deg to N/ME Sinhala, December 16 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/good-signal-of-sri-lanka-broadcasting.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #931 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec. 21, 2015 via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 9505, Voice of Africa – Al Aitahab, 1807-1842, Dec 14. woman announcer in English describing songs and artists until 1830 station identification and closedown of English program. Dead air from 1832 until Arabic language program kicked in with music at 1839. Poor to fair and steadily improving (Rich D’Angelo, December 20, 2015: French Creek State Park DXpedition No. 49 (December 13, 14 and 15, 2015); Equipment: Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX-340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) ** SUDAN [and non]. BBC WS vs. Voice of Africa/Sudan Radio, Dec 17: 1600-1800 9505 SLA 250 kW / 010 deg to CeAs English BBC World Sce 1630-1730 9505 ALF 100 kW / 210 deg to CeAf French Voice of Africa 1730-1830 9505 ALF 100 kW / 210 deg to CeAf English Voice of Africa 1830-1930 9505 ALF 100 kW / 210 deg to CeAf Hausa Voice of Africa http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/bbc-ws-vs-voice-of-africasudan-radio.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 17, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Omdurman Sudan vs. Radio France International on December 17: 1930-2100 7205 ALF 100 kW / 210 deg CeAf Arabic Radio Omdurman Sudan 2000-2100 7205 ISS 500 kW / 204 deg NWAf French Radio France Int`l http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/radio-omdurman-sudan-vs-radio-france.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. MADAGASCAR/VATICAN STATE, 13800.015, ONLY a single radio program station on air on that channel, heard often mentioned Sudan and Radio Dabanga, phone-in service at 1532 UT from Talata- Volonondry Madagascar site. Proper propagation, S=9+30dB into southern Germany. At 1600 UT Radio Dabanga in Arabic via Vatican Radio SMG Santa Maria di Galeria on 13800.002 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Dec 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. no Puntland on 13800 now (gh) ** SWAZILAND. Good signal of Trans World Radio Africa, Dec 16 1802-1847 on 9500 MAN 100 kW / 013 deg to EaAf English 1847-1902 on 9500 MAN 100 kW / 013 deg to EaAf Juba Arabic http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/good-signal-of-trans-world-radio-africa.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #931 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec. 21, 2015 via DXLD) TWR-Africa on 9500 at 1850 in Swahili [sic], Dec. 20. ID, children’s choir with religious music in Afro hi-life style. Strong (Online Twente SDR via Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Re Alexanderson Alternator, 17.2 kHz --- Don't have a radio that tunes that low? Paul comments that in recent years, people have experimented with using a a sound card with a computer program for spectral analysis. "Sound cards are designed to handle frequencies up to about 24 kHz. Moreover, it turns out that sound cards often have a very low noise level, -100 dB or better, which means that an antenna can be connected directly to the sound card’s input signal without any additional amplifier." This sounds like something Paul is going to have to experiment with and fill us in on how it works! :) (Mare Tipsheet Dec 18 via DXLD) But, but, VLF is RF, and sound cards process AF (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Swedish broadcast history - Stockholm/Spånga --- Shortly after Motala was set into service it was time for Stockholm to get better radio reception. The year was 1930 and a small, weak transmitter in central Stockholm at Brunkebergstorg in the same building as Radiotjänst couldn't serve Stockholm area enough and was an object to be replaced. A new station was built on the Järvafältet, in those days the small village Spånga north of Stockholm. Järvafältet was just farmland and an military exercises field. This was the outskirts of Stockholm. It was constructed with Motala and Grimeton as models with two towers from Motala Verkstad. The towers carried a simple T-antenna fed from the station building. Mr. Carl Åkerblad designed the station building and professor Henrik Kreuger designed the antenna towers. A beautiful white house in neoclassic style, large windows from floor up to roof and of course three crowns over the entrance. During 2:nd World War to be invisible for bombers the station building was painted green, surrounded with fences and guarded by soldiers. The transmitter was on 55 kW made my Marconi in the U.K. Due to different height of the ground, the south tower was only 146m high and the north tower 150m high. The lower section up to 40m was in two halves and assembled together with a help mast. 29:th August 1929 was the start date for the construction works. A crane was moved upwards after the sections became done one after one. Not only a medium wave transmitter was located in the building. In the cellar cooling pumps, transformers and other technical equipment were located. Up in the attic it was equipment for telemetry and a beacon for the nearby Bromma airport. As with Motala it became old and disturbing fading occurred in short distance. So plans to replace Spånga were presented in the end of the 1940’s. Television should be spread around the country. As Spånga should be closed down the towers were dissembled and were set up as link towers, one in Västervik and the second in Follingbo outside Visby on the island of Gotland. So how could then the First Program be transmitted from Spånga without any antenna? A small approx 50m high Rhendal-mast replaced the towers the two last years the station was in service before Stockholm/Nacka took over. Today nothing is left from the radio station. You can [see] remains from the concrete base for the towers beside the walk and bicycle path between Spånga and Tensta. Spånga is today a suburb to Stockholm with mostly plattenbau from the 1960’s. The station was completely demolished shortly after Nacka took over. Today Spånga Sports Stadium is located at the same place as the radio station once upon a time was laying. From 1934 Spånga used 704 kHz (426m) with 55 kW at 80% modulation. After the wave length conference in Copenhagen 1948, Spånga changed frequency to 773 kHz (388m) until closed down 1956. Nacka inherited 773 kHz from Spånga. Posted by: Christian S (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Hörby and Sölvesborg album #89 Hello! I’ve a uploaded some pictures to album #89 Hörby and Sölvesborg. Some pictures are dated late 1930’s when the medium wave TX was inaugurated. In 1952 the first short wave transmitters were bought and installed in Hörby. 20 years later two new Thomson-SW TX were installed and was in use until 1993 when they became prohibited to use due to PCB in the insulation. And from 1993 until 30th October 2010 3x ABB/Thalès. Regarding to the MW TX in Hörby, it was so torn at the end so the technicians prayed every morning for it would start. And that’s a true story. Albums #90 Motala LW and #91 Göteborg MW created. 73 (Chris "Christian Stödberg" sm6vpu, Dec 18, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Hello! I've uploaded almost all Pictures I have from Hörby and Sölvesborg. Some of the pictures have I got from the Radiomuseum in Göteborg. They were intended for my old homepage which suddenly disappeared without any warning. All files from my homepage are saved but I don’t really have time to create a new homepage since I want a complete new layout. So here they are for download. /Chris http://1drv.ms/1Mo7124Hörby More pictures to download: Stockholm MW (774 KHz) (Spånga 1930-1955 + Nacka 1955 - 1981.) http://1drv.ms/1JkokB0 Sundsvall MW (593 KHz) 1949-1978 http://1drv.ms/1Jkocld Östersund MW (719 KHz) 1957-1978 http://1drv.ms/1Jko8Sq Göteborg MW (981 KHz) 1951-1984 http://1drv.ms/1Jko4lJ Motala 1928-1991 (191/189 KHz) (30kW, 150kW and 600kW) http://1drv.ms/1Jkocld Sundsvall http://1drv.ms/1JkoiJs Most of all B/W-photos are taken before 1st January 1969; there are no copyright (according to Swedish copyright law) or permission given to publish. 73 de Chris (Christian Stödberg, sm6vpu, Dec 19, ibid.) ** SWEDEN. Nästa specialprogram från SDXF lördag 26 december (Annandagen) Lyssna på vårt specialprogram över kortvågssändaren i Sala sista lördagen i varje månad. Lördag 26/12 kl 1200–1300 UT. Frekvens: 6060 kHz med 10 kW. Då vi ännu inte vet om vi kommer att ha en eller två sändare tillgängliga så är oklart om vi kör samtidigt på en annan frekvens eller en repris senare på dagen. Se möjliga scenarion nedan: Scenario 1: 2 sändare tillgängliga. Andra sändaren kommer i så fall också att sända kl 1200–1300 men på antingen 3955 eller 3975 kHz med 5 kW Scenario 2: endast en sändare tillgänglig. Repris kl 1800–1900 på 6105 kHz. Eventuellt uppdaterad information hittar du här innan sändningen. Rapporter till vår e-postadress qsl@sdxf.se eller via vanlig post till SDXF, Box 1097, 405 23 GÖTEBORG (SDXF via Rus DX 20 Dec via DXLD) December 20, 2015, Ronny B Goode wrote on the WRTH Facebook group: The Sala SW transmitter in Sweden will be on the air Saturday, Dec. 26 at 1100-1200 UT (Radio Nord Revival) and 1200-1300 UT (SDXF). It is not yet clear whether the 5 kW tx will be operational. If it is it will be used in the 75 mb on 3955 or 3975 kHz. If not, the transmissions will be on 6060 kHz with replay at 1700-1900 UT on 6105 kHz. Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) What is the power or the claimed power of 6060 and 6105? These do not appear in Aoki or HFCC at all. Previously 100 kW was claimed by Ivo: ``Radio Nord Revival via Sala, bad frequency selection on November 28 1100-1200 6060 SAL 100 kW / non-dir WeEu Swedish in LSB, not recorded 1700-1800 6105 SAL 100 kW / non-dir WeEu Swedish in LSB, QRM CRI 6100 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/11/radio-nord-revival-via-sala-bad.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Nov 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Does Sala really have a 100 kW transmitter??? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) I guess 100 to maximal 200 watt? Not more, when compared signals strength, with for example 1-3 kW of hobby programs Kall 3985 6005 or 7310. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) This comment on SALA activities contributed once by Kall technicians Chistian Milling: Neue QRGs fuer Radio Revival aus Schweden. "Radio Revival testing new frequencies in mid-January... Update from the Sala transmitter site in Sweden: In addition to the usual channels 3950 and 6065 kHz we have registered the following frequencies: 3970, 3980, 6035, 9815, 9875, 11745, and 11755 kHz. We will be testing the other frequencies by mid-January 2015. If you would like to book airtime during these tests, please contact Ronny at as soon as possible. For those wanting to reach the British Isles with a good signal, the 31 metre band is a good alternative. We have two transmitters: one 5 kW rig which can broadcast in full AM and a 10 kW transmitter which can use A3H mode (LSB + carrier) or SSB. The 5 kW transmitter is primarily used in the 75 metre band." Interessanterweise taucht keine dieser Reservierungen in der HFCC Liste auf. Auch die Schwedische Frequenzbehoerde vermeldet nichts?! (Christian Milling-D, A-DX Jan 6, 2015)(via wb dxldyg via DXLD) Oh, this is my mistake: The power is 010 kW, not 100 kW -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 24 December 2015, Ronny B Goode just wrote in the WRTH Facebook group: Update from the Sala transmitting site: our 5 kW rig is now working well again and we will be on the air this Saturday, Dec. 26 as follows: 1100-1200 UTC Radio Nord Revival 1200-1300 UTC Programme from the Swedish DX Federation SDXF Frequencies: 3975 kHz AM 5 kW and 6060 kHz A3H 10 kW. 1700-1800 UTC Radio Nord Revival 1800-1900 UTC Programme from the Swedish DX Federation SDXF Frequencies: 3975 kHz AM 5 kW and 5940 kHz A3H 10 kW Reception reports can be sent to qsl @ sdxf.se or by post to Sveriges DX-Förbund, Box 1097, SE-40523 Göteborg, Sweden. All reports will be verified by real QSL cards - not eQSLs - just the way Grandad used to do it. Merry Xmas and good listening! Posted by: (Mike Terry, Dec 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA. Radio rebels: Berlin group makes tiny transmitters for Syria By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) -- On the top floor of an old brick building in the heart of Berlin, a group of journalists and tech enthusiasts are working to spur the Syrian media revolution. Their weapon is an unassuming black case the size of a shoebox that allows opposition radio stations in Syria to transmit inside hostile territory. Dubbed PocketFM, the device is basically a low-powered radio transmitter. Coupled with a satellite dish to receive new programs, a car battery for power and a one-meter (three-foot) antenna, it can broadcast FM radio within a 5-kilometer (3-mile) radius. . . http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_SYRIA_REBEL_RADIO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-12-22-08-56-28 (via Mike Cooper, Dec 22, DXLD) [Same:] Full article http://www.seattlepi.com/business/technology/article/Radio-rebels-Berlin-group-makes-tiny-6714633.php (via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. From Dec 15 Radio Taiwan International's transmission to South Asia in English language has been changed as follows: 1500-1600 on 9465 TSH 300 kW / 205 deg to SoAs English, new 1600-1700 on 6180 TSH 300 kW / 205 deg to SoAs English, deleted http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/radio-taiwan-int-in-english-to-soas-at.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [and non]. Whilst I don't keep stats or records of transmitter sites that go silent throughout the year, it seams like we didn't have such a bad a year, like many previous years where numerous major SW sites that go dark. I can recall from Europe that we lost 'Bijeljina - Jabanusa' & tentatively in Asia we may have lost RTI's Tainan site. One of our members reported that Tainan's transmissions ended in November, but another report that site will close in early 2016. If anyone else can clarify, we would be appreciative (Ian, Dec 23, shortwave sites yg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. New time & frequency for RTI English transmission to South Asia --- Starting December 15th, 2015 Radio Taiwan International's transmission to South Asia in English language on 6180 kHz from 1600 to 1700 UT has been changed to 9465 kHz from 1500 to 1600 UT. --- (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Dec 20, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) Wolfgang Büschel quoted this but must have been he who added this: Tamsui Taipei site 300 kW 205 degr (Alokesh Gupta-IND, DXasia Dec 19) 9465 also heard by Herbert Meixner in Austria on Dec 18 (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [and non]. TAIWAN/CHINA mainland, TWN SOH and others, CHINA jamming, Dec 23, 2015. Monitoring log of some "SOH Xi Wang Zhi Sheng" and other Taiwan broadcasts, and accompanied China mainland jamming of CNR program and Firedrake music. Slots on Dec 23 at 0130 to 0600 UT and 1430-1530 UT heard mainly on remote SDR receiver unit posts in Australia and Tokyo, and Okayama Japan. 5170 - 5173.2 kHz TWN Tainan CWB Meteo sce - weather report in Cantonese, usb mode, no carrier, S=5-6 at 1435 UT. 6230.xxx nothing noted of SOH. 6369.937 SOH, tiny S=4-5 at 1445 UT. 6729.937 SOH, tiny S=4-5 6900.038 SOH, threshold level S=3-4 6960.xxx nothing noted of SOH. 7280.057 SOH female voice, S=6 at 1453 UT. 7309.979 SOH, tiny S=4 at 1456 UT. 7580.156 SOH, on threshold level. 7729.967 SOH, on threshold level at 1502 UT, Dec 23. 9155.xxx nothing noted of SOH. 9180.xxx nothing noted of SOH. 9200.xxx nothing noted of SOH. 9229.965 SOH male voice, S=6 at 0605 UT. 9319.926 SOH / RFA relay, S=6 at 0602 UT. 9360.006 SOH female voice, S=5 at 1508 UT. 9521.989 TWN number station, hit heavily by 9519.981 PBS Nei Menggu 9634.895 SOH tentativelly, but VoVietnam domestic sce 9635.895 kHz 9930.127 SOH male voice, tiny S=4 at 0600 UT. 9970.110 SOH male voice, S=6 10819.982 SOH male voice, tiny S=4-5. 10870.118 CNR1 px jamming, tiny local stn jammer ... 10960.000 CNR1 px jamming, fair S=7 signal. \\ 11640 11600 11580 ... 11070.068 SOH fair S=7 signal level. 11100.115 SOH, but suffers by strong STANAG like UTE signal of 11102 11149.894 SOH male + female voice px, S=6 11300.143 SOH male voice px, but tiny S=4-5 signal level. 11369.963 SOH, female voice heard, tiny signal just above threshold. 11410.010 SOH, S=5-6, but suffer by heavy UTE signal QRM. 11470.115 SOH, S=6 fair audio. 11529.995 SOH, tiny S=4-5 signal strength. 11579.989 CNR1 (local) jammer, poor S=4-5. 11600.230 CNR1 jammer, poor S=4-5. 11639.980 TWN Guanghua Zhi Shang (acc Aoki list) at 0525 UT Dec 23, weak underneath, but ahead the powerhouse from China mainland 11640.000 CHN even frequency, CNR1 S=9+15dB signal at 0540 UT. 11715.077 SOH, poor S=4-5. 11765.135 SOH, fair S=7 signal. 11775.025 SOH, fair S=6 signal at 0525 UT. 12150.060 SOH male voice, S=6 at 0330 UT. 12189.903 SOH / RFA relay program, S=6 at 0333 and 0505 UT. 12230.019 SOH male voice, weak and tiny S=4. 12344.932 ... x.945 wandered tx S=7-8, tentat CNR1 jamming at 0500 UT. 12369.970 SOH, carrier S=5 strength, tiny modulation at 0457 UT. 12430.039 CNR1 jammer, proper S=8-9 strength. 12500.216 SOH, fair S=5 signal, but QRM by KRE type scratch jamming... 12560.xxx nothing noted of CNR jamming. 12870.038 SOH tiny signal. 12910.123 SOH, fair S=7-8 signal at 0338 and 0450 UT. 12950.000 CHN even frequency, CNR1 S=9+15dB signal at 0343 and 0447 and co-channel weak underneath 12950.213 SOH, poor S=4 signal. 12980.120 SOH, S=6-7 13130.179 SOH, S=5 13199.885 SOH, S=5-6 13230.000 Tentat CNR1 jamming, S=7, but like CODAR much wiper tone. 13270.017 SOH, and tone jamming?, tiny S=4-5 13530.218 SOH, tiny S=4-5, but UTE QRM tone signal of 13528.400 kHz. 13639.885 SOH underneath of co-channel 13640.000 CNR1 px jamming, latter S=9+10dB signal strength. 13679.8xx nothing noted of SOH. 13820.226 SOH, tiny S=4 signal. 13870.000 CNR1 px jamming, latter S=9+5dB signal strength. and underneath co-channel 13870.013 SOH program at 0345 UT. 13919.944 SOH male voice, at S=8 level, but heard like CODAR wiper. 13980.000 CNR1 px jamming, latter S=9+10dB signal strength. 14370.xxx nothing noted of SOH. 14430.075 SOH male voice program, one of the stronger at S=8 level. 14499.910 SOH S=5-6 strength, 5 - 10 Hertz variable wandered. 14600.227 SOH male voice program, tiny S=4 at 0403 UT. 14774.966 SOH S=6-7 signal at 0300 UT. 14800.243 SOH tiny S=4-5. 14870.149 SOH female voice px, S=6 at 0258 UT. 14900.230 CNR1 px jamming, S=9+15dB signal strength. 14919.823 SOH S=5 signal at 0220 UT 14920.000 CNR1 px jamming, S=7 signal strength. 14980.xxx nothing noted of CNR / RFA program. 15070.200 CNR1 px jamming, S=6 signal. 15294.974 CNR1 px jamming, S=9+10dB signal at 0411 UT, ahead of SOH also at 0145 UT. 15388.000 TWN Xing Xing guangbo diantai 1 from Kuanyin site, numbers station 0400-0430 UT, fair signal and co-channel heavy QRM on regular. 15390.000 CHN CNR 13 program in Uighur, latter S=9+5dB strength. 15710.000 CHN CNR6 Amoy service, radioplay S=7-8 at 0140 UT. 15775.193 SOH female voice, tiny S=4-5 at 0156 UT. 15840.048 SOH endless mens talk in Chinese S=7 at 0150 UT. 15869.955 SOH tiny S=4-5. 15969.961 SOH poor and tiny S=4. 16100.270 SOH tiny S=4-5. Wandered 20 to 30 Hertz at 0213 UT. 16160.082 SOH female and male voices at 0211 UT, proper S=8-9 signal, unstable signal 5-10 Hertz varying ... 16250.097 SOH female voice, S=5-6. 16299.965 SOH tiny at 0208 UT and co-channel ahead 16300.000 CNR1 px jamming, S=9+10dB signal strength. 16350.020 UNIDENTIFIED, probably tiny SOH ? 16600.xxx nothing noted of SOH. 16774.013 UNIDENTIFIED, probably tiny SOH ? 16979.951 SOH S=9+10dB signal strength at 0240 UT. 17200.350 SOH female voice, S=7-8 at 0205 UT. 17400.094 SOH tiny S=4-5. 17440.524 CNR1 px jamming, S=9+10dB signal strength at 0201 UT. (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 23, 2015, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [and non]. Reception of Voice of China + CNR-1 Jammer, Dec 19, 1400-1500 on 7270 TSH 100 kW / 325 deg to EaAs Chinese http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/reception-of-voice-of-china-cnr-1.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Rodney & Glenn, Ivo had an interesting posting today for 7270 (see above). So he did not have any PBS Nei Menggu QRM? On Dec 19, I heard sign on of AIR Chennai on 7270, at *1258, with AIR IS mixing with PBS Nei Menggu (again clearly // 9750, mixing with NHK). (Ron Howard, California, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Perhaps he did not fully understand your conclusion about this? [that it`s not Voice of China] Anyhow, bears further checking after 1400. (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Glenn, Ron, I listened to Ivo's recording and I'm guessing he presumed the calmer female announcer speaking Chinese was V of China. I'll keep trying as conditions recover from recent Geostorms. 73s (Rodney Johnson, NV, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4790, BBC, *1259, Dec 22. At tune in of 1248, found open carrier already on; *1259 "BBC" ID; time pips; poor with CODAR QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN [and non]. CHINA vs TAJIKISTAN, CNR-2 vs Voice of Tajik on 7245 kHz, December 21 1300-1400 on 7245 BEI 150 kW / non-dir to EaAs Chinese CNR-2 1300-1400 on 7245 DB 100 kW / non-dir to CeAs English Voice of Tajik http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/cnr-2-vs-voice-of-tajik-on-7245-khz.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Wobbly signal of Voice of Turkey, Emirler, on December 23, transmitter on/off, on/off 1200-1225 7245 250 kW / 290 deg SEu Bulgarian, finally off at 1215 UT 1230-1325 17755 500 kW / 310 deg WEu German, no signal till 1245 1330-1425 12035 500 kW / 310 deg WEu English as scheduled B15, good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/wobbly-signal-of-voice-of-turkey-on.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. UKRAINE PLANS TO LAUNCH A NEW RADIO STATION FOR THE MILITARY IN 2016 http://sputniknews.com/europe/20151218/1031980928/ukraine-army-radio.html Alexei Makukhin, an advisor to the Ukraine’s Defense Minister, said during a press briefing that a new Ukrainian radio station for military personnel will begin operating on March 1, 2016. "It’s no secret that our troops on the frontline often suffer from an information vacuum," Makukhin said. "So we need a radio station. Seventy percent of its content will be music; there will also be news broadcasts and programs for the troops – where soldiers can say hello to their friends and relatives, request songs and share stories live on air. There will also be programs featuring interviews with experts and military personnel." The new radio station will be reportedly funded by Spirit of America, a non-profit company which assists US military personnel deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa. The station will be headquartered in Kiev and will broadcast its content on the FM band. Earlier this month the Ukrainian parliament approved the creation of a new broadcasting company called Ukraine Tomorrow. According to media reports, the new broadcaster will "provide foreign audiences with unbiased reports about important events in Ukraine" and "provide information support for Ukrainians abroad." (Sputnik News via José Miguel Romero2, Dec 18, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) Sputnik = Russian government controlled ** U K. OSBORNE AND MURDOCH CONSPIRED TO CUT BBC'S BUDGET George Osborne held two meetings with Rupert Murdoch before deciding on BBC cuts, HM Treasury confirms --- Disclosure part of massive dump of government documents published just before the seasonal parliamentary break [Osborne is Chancellor of the Exchequer, = Secretary of Treasury = Finance Minister] James Cusick Political Correspondent @indyvoices 11 hours ago George Osborne held two private meetings with Rupert Murdoch in June this year before the Treasury informed the BBC that it was imposing a £650 million cut to its budget. Details of the meetings between the Chancellor and the global head of News Corp were revealed in new data published by HM Treasury. The disclosure was part of a massive dump of government documents published just before the seasonal parliamentary break. Come clean about meetings with Murdoch, Osborne told No specific information was given about the content of the meetings. They were described simply as a “general discussion.” In July this year The Independent reported that a meeting between the two men had taken place before the BBC Director-general, Lord Hall, was informed of the government’s plan to force the corporation to accept new financial responsibilities that would affect its programme output. Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osborne-under-pressure-to-reveal-if-meeting-with-rupert-murdoch-preceded-announcement-of-bbc-10428769.html Rupert Murdoch always likes to back a winner http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/rupert-murdochs-private-meeting-with-george-osborne-the-mogul-always-likes-to-back-a-winner-10431838.html Rupert Murdoch had three meetings with George Osborne in one year http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rupert-murdoch-had-three-meetings-with-george-osborne-in-one-year-a6774886.html Although Labour asked the Chancellor to release details of the meetings in “good faith” by fast-tracking the release of transparency data, Downing Street remained silent. Six months on, confirmation of the Murdoch-Osborne meetings will worry News Corp’s competitors, including the BBC. Labour claimed there was a “public interest” in the information being disclosed because of the potentially substantial economic benefits that would come to Mr Murdoch’s UK businesses from a shrunken and less powerful BBC (via A. Burnette, DXLD) ** U K. FORMER BBC CHIEF ATTACKS SECRET GOVERNMENT LICENCE FEE DEAL Mark Thompson said it is wrong to force corporation to shoulder cost of `social transfer' to over-75s and that charter renewal talks have been acrimonious Former BBC Director General Mark Thompson Mark Thompson criticised the way charter renewal negotiations had been handled Photograph: Robert Judges/Rex/Shutterstock [caption] Jane Martinson Wednesday 23 December 2015 12.19 EST Last modified on Wednesday 23 December 2015 19.45 EST http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/dec/23/former-bbc-chief-mark-thompson-says-corporation-faces-tougher-political-environment A former director general of the BBC has warned that the corporation faces a much tougher political environment now than five years ago and criticised the way the charter renewal negotiations have been handled so far. Mark Thompson said that it was wrong to force the broadcaster to provide free licence fees for the over-75s at a cost of -L-700m a year by the next decade. Giving his his first interview about the BBC since he left in 2012, after eight years at the helm, Thompson said the broadcaster was having to pay for government policy. "It's welfare ... It's totally inappropriate to use BBC to support social transfer in this country." When George Osborne tried to impose the same cost on the BBC during negotiations in 2010, Thompson started writing his resignation letter, along with several BBC Trustees. This July the current director general, Tony Hall, agreed to shoulder the burden in return for relief from other costs. "In 2015 the political circumstances are very different and it is much tougher for the BBC. In 2010 it was the coalition government and the Liberal Democrats ... played a very big part in securing a different and better settlement. That recourse has not been available to the BBC this year." In July, the BBC accepted a government proposal to take on the costs of providing free TV licences for the over-75s - a policy originally introduced by Gordon Brown and funded by the taxpayer as part of a deal that would allow the -L-145.50 a year licence fee to increase with inflation if the "purposes and scope of the BBC" remain the same. Conducted over a few days of secret negotiations, Labour described the deal as a smash and grab raid. The former director general, who now runs the company behind the New York Times, believes BBC bosses should not have been made to agree a financial settlement 18 months ahead of charter renewal in 2017, although he insisted his remarks were not criticisms of the current management. "You have to be in the room and I am not going to second guess anything that Tony and the current leaders of the BBC have done", he said. However, Thompson said that he was worried that it was difficult to conduct a review of the BBC's operations - as required as part of the charter renewal process - having agreed its funding. "The correct order is to discuss what the BBC should do and then work out what the funding should be." The lack of a public commitment by ministers that will not seek a radical overhaul of the "scale and scope" of the BBC and its output has been at the heart of the dispute between the broadcaster and government since the financial settlement was agreed. Executives believe ministers have promised not to radically alter the size of the corporation, whereas the green paper suggested a wideranging review. Thompson, who was the longest-serving director general in more than 30 years, said it was right to ask "fundamental questions" during charter renewal. "I am just very anxious at the end of all the questioning that we come up with the right answers. And for me the right answer is a strong, properly funded BBC of scale and scope." The BBC announced -L-150m of cost savings this summer and is expected to outline how it will save a further -L-550m next spring, around the time the white paper on charter renewal is expected. Thompson, who described himself as "not the right person to talk to about cutting the BBC services", conceded there might be some areas the corporation could do a bit less of, such as sports rights and bought-in films. In 2010, Thompson's plans to close 6 Music were blocked by the BBC Trust after a public campaign. "Anyone who looks at the BBC and says `I'm sure they can cut some services' - either BBC radio, radio 3, BBC 4 - starts discovering, bit by bit, that it is tough because those services are there for a reason and most of them have passionate support from the public." A former executive on Panorama and Newsnight, as well as editor of the Nine O'clock News, Thompson said that doing less news should be a non-starter, as there was even greater need for an impartial BBC news in a difficult global political environment with increasing influence from Russia, China and the MiddleEast. "I think the public clearly rely [on the BBC] at every level for local, regional, national and international news. The idea, given the underlying economics of local regional and even international newspapers, that a diminution of the BBC would lead to more investment in news is very big risk to take - and bad for the British public," he said. His experience in the US over the past three years, where newspaper revenues and circulation numbers have been hit by a fall in digital advertising and greater online competition, suggests that the BBC is being blamed for other ills, he says. "It is not as if there is any evidence at all that UK newspapers are doing worse than newspapers in countries without the BBC." Although credited with success at the BBC - from the launch of the iPlayer to the 2012 London Olympics - Thompson's tenure was also hit by several controversies, most notably payoffs to senior executives, the -L-100m cost of its failed digital media initiative and the Jimmy Savile scandal. "I have been absolutely shocked and horrified to hear that story and to hear what Jimmy Savile did at the BBC and other institutions ... I feel appalled by that," Thompson said, adding that he had no personal link with the disgraced presenter. "It is also straightforwardly the truth that I didn't ever work with Jimmy Saville, or I don't believe that I ever met him and I wasn't aware of what he had done until after I had left the BBC." Having spent three years at New York Times, Thompson says few Americans can believe that the BBC is facing such a difficult year: "The BBC is one of the most important cultural institutions in the world. It is an absolute national treasure." Having introduced a paywall at the New York Times, Thompson intends to stay a while longer, in the US, having signed a new three-year contract with the newspaper company last week. "Who knows what the long-term future will hold," he says. "We have achieved a lot over the last three years but there's plenty more to do." His wife is American but there are parts of the UK they both miss. "Whenever I arrive at the apartment, the Archers always appears to be on," he says (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U K. MATTHEW POSTGATE APPOINTED CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER TO LEAD NEW DIVISION Date: 22.12.2015 Last updated: 22.12.2015 at 12.42 Category: Corporate; Online and interactive http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2015/matthew-postgate-digital-division The BBC has today announced that Matthew Postgate has been appointed to the position of Chief Technology Officer, leading a new division that will bring together BBC Digital, Engineering and BBC Worldwide technology teams. As previously announced, the new division will have a global remit, leading the BBC’s digital strategy and technology operations that keep the BBC on-air, online and operational. With immediate effect, Matthew will lead the project to create the combined group, and take over responsibility for the new division from April next year. The CTO will initially report into the Managing Director Finance and Operations but will move to report to the Director General in 2016. and Matthew will be a member of Executive team. At some point during 2016 as the BBC restructures, the CTO will change reporting line to the Director General. Matthew Postgate says: “I am delighted to be taking on this role at such an exciting time for the BBC, helping to integrate the BBC’s digital and technology divisions, and to make the BBC truly internet- fit for the future.” Welcoming the appointment, Anne Bulford said: “Matthew is an outstanding leader and technologist who has been a key part of the BBC’s Digital and Engineering teams for the past 12 years. Matthew will help to build a BBC with digital at its heart, and I wish him every success in his new role.” Matthew Postgate is currently leading the BBC’s Engineering division. Prior to his current role, Matthew was Controller, BBC Research & Development and a Director of YouView Ltd. He was part of the management team that launched BBC iPlayer and was in charge of BBC mobile, where he was responsible for building the corporation's world leading mobile services. The merger of the BBC’s Digital, Engineering and Worldwide technology teams and the creation of this new role will result in the closure of the current CTO role leading BBC Engineering, as well as the role of Director, BBC Digital. Notes to Editors The merger of these divisions is part of the BBC’s ambitions to create an internet-fit organisation that is also a simpler, leaner BBC, as part of our drive to save £150m in costs across the organisation as a result of the iPlayer loophole. The shortfall has arisen because as more people use BBC iPlayer, mobiles and other online catch-up, the proportion of households owning a television is falling - while a loophole allows viewers to watch catch-up TV without a licence (via Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, Dec 23, DXLD) ** U K. BBC INTRODUCES NEW AUTOMATIC VIRTUAL VOICEOVER TRANSLATIONS... http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2015/bbc-virtual-voiceover-translations (via "Hansjoerg Biener", Dec 17, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. 3948-3962, Dec 18 at 0620, DRM noise at S9 level spans this range on R75 1-kHz steps, and no ham dares to approach it, as if this part of 75m in North America were off-limits. It`s BBC in English, 3955, 100 kW, 114 degrees from Woofferton during 0559-0700 UT only per HFCC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Loran C --- Does anyone knows which Loran C transmitter has been re-activated recently on 100 kHz? Caribou ME? (Sylvain Naud, Portneuf, QC, http://www.quebecdx.com 14 Dec, IRCA via DXLD) Well, I think I answered to my own question thanks to this article: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/loran-navigation-signal-back-on-and-better-than-before/article_21d19298-16d0-11e5-9a69-1343edc2e90b.html Listeners from New Jersey should be getting a strong signal on 100 kHz according to this story, unless other outlets have been added since. (Sylvain, 15 Dec, ibid.) Viz.: LORAN NAVIGATION SIGNAL BACK ON AND BETTER THAN BEFORE Posted: Friday, June 19, 2015 6:11 pm RICHARD DEGENER, Staff Writer Ben Fogletto / Staff Photographer: Rep. Frank LoBiondo and Charles Schue, CEO of UrsaNav field questions about the eLoran system. Friday June 19 2015 Coast Guard unveils new additions to the loran navigation system at the Coast Guard station in Diamond Beach, which some thought would be scuttled due to rise in GPS, but instead it was reworked. (The Press of Atlantic City / Ben Fogletto) [caption] LOWER TOWNSHIP - The radio navigation system that helped win World War II and then guided mariners and aviators in peacetime may be making a comeback. And it starts right here in New Jersey. It won’t exactly be the old Loran C system southern New Jersey fishermen and general aviation pilots grew up with. It would be better. The so-called enhanced Loran, or eLoran, is being tested here at a decommissioned Coast Guard base that ran Loran operations from 1947 to 2010. New Jersey became the first state to turn the signal back on Friday afternoon as two private firms, engineering companies UrsaNav and Harris, provided seed money for the tests supported by the U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies under something called a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement or CRADA. “This is a phoenix arriving. We have the opportunity to add 2015 technology to the older idea,” said Chuck Schue, the president and chief operating officer of UrsaNav, and a former Coast Guard commanding officer here at what was then called the Loran Support Unit. The rise of the satellite-based Global Positioning System, or GPS, had put radio navigation out of business. There is growing concern that the nation needs a back-up system since satellites can fall prey to solar storms, wars, jamming devices, and other threats. Fixing them can also involve the expensive proposition of going into space. Schue noted a jamming device recently stopped flight data at Newark International Airport, in April all GPS systems in Russia inexplicably “went dark” for 11 hours, San Diego lost GPS for 13 hours, and solar flares have knocked out commercial satellites. Another concern is “spoofing,” where somebody can take control of a GPS in a car, boat or even a drone and actually navigate it. “A prudent mariner always has two systems to navigate,” said Schue. But Loran isn’t just for mariners. Planes use it. It can be used for precise positioning, navigation and timing with any number of applications. GPS also fails in some dense canopy areas, in between tall urban buildings, underground, under water and other spots where several satellites can’t line up, but eLoran would work. Dana Goward, a retired Coast Guardsman whose non-profit Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation is working on the project, said Loran C was precise within 100 meters but with eLoran “we can get to six meters or less.” U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd., who serves on intelligence, Coast Guard and Armed Services panels in Congress, is a big supporter. “Very often, unfortunately, Congress is reactive to something going on. I want redundancy now to be able to not go dark,” said LoBiondo. The congressman fought several years ago to prevent the 625-foot tower here from being torn down as part of the base was converted into a national wildlife refuge. He was thinking about a back-up system even then. “You’d never get permits to put up a 625-foot tower again,” he noted. The Loran Support Unit was decommissioned in 2010 but under international agreements with countries such as Canada and Russia it had some operations as late as January 2014. That was the last time the equipment was turned on up until Friday. After warning people there would be some noise, and people with pacemakers should leave, the signal was activated at 12:16 p.m. “This is the first Loran in the U.S. in a couple of years,” said Goward. “California will be turning theirs on but we are the first,” said LoBiondo. Those at the event stressed the importance of GPS. Coward said as a Coast Guard helicopter pilot he saved lives due to GPS. “Life would be very hard without GPS,” said Goward. In 2014, however, the federal government decided a second system was need, just in case. A ground-based system would be much easier to fix if GPS went down. That gave rise to the idea of bringing back Loran. The Loran system is considered one of the top 10 technologies of World War II. With stations at isolated islands and atolls in the Pacific, it was able to guide planes and ships to their targets over vast expanses of open water. The radio signals could be used to fix exact positions using a geometric triangulation system. The planes that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan used it. The Loran Support Unit here in Diamond Beach at its height had 250 Coast Guard and civilian workers. Then GPS came along, nobody much worried about satellites being destroyed, and the radio-navigation system was shut down to save an estimated $36 million a year. Pam Drew, the president of information systems at Harris, said eLoran is vital for national security by augmenting GPS. “We will explore many places eLoran can be deployed where GPS isn’t available such as deep canyons, through buildings, in foliage and under water. We’re involved with unmanned aerial drones and eLoran could be key. There are applications for civilian and military uses,” said Drew. LoBiondo recalled the debate on tearing down the Loran tower, which he won. “Folks suggested GPS was the answer to everything. A few of us said, ‘Maybe not so fast.’ I am just thrilled we are embarking on this. This will lead us to redundancy that is sorely needed,” said LoBiondo. Friday was just a test. There will be no regular Loran signal in the immediate future but the two firms, UrsaNav and Harris, will continue doing research and development here. One goal is to reduce the size, weight, cost, power needs and other aspects of Loran, similar to what has evolved with GPS. Drew noted if a decision is made to have a national eLoran system it will take federal dollars. LoBiondo said they have to demonstrate to federal agencies it is a wise investment (via DXLD) ** U S A. 109TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REGINALD FESSENDEN'S FIRST AUDIO TRANSMISSION December 16, 2015 --- ARRL - the National Association for Amateur Radio - wrote on their Facebook group: If you have a radio that will tune down to 486 kHz, listen on Christmas Eve as experimental station WG2FXQ takes to the air to commemorate the 109th anniversary of the Reginald Fessenden's first audio transmission. See the complete story here: http://www.arrl.org/news/fessenden-christmas-eve-commemorative-transmissions-set Posted by: (Mike Terry, Dec 20, dxldyg via DXLD) Viz.: 486 KHZ FESSENDEN CHRISTMAS EVE COMMEMORATIVE TRANSMISSIONS SET TAGS: ac alternator, Antenna Feed Line, audio transmission, Brian Justin, brief Bible verse, carbon microphones, Christmas event, earliest wireless pioneers, early radio history, Experimental Station WG2XFQ, Fessenden’s broadcast, Heising AM modulation, Historic accounts, homebuilt station, listener reports, oscillator power amplifier, QRZ.com address, radio experimenters, Raymond Heising, Reginald Fessenden, shipboard operators, time zones, transmitter, WA1ZMS, WG2XFQ on-air operations, World War 12/16/2015 --- Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, will again put his 600 meter Experimental Station WG2XFQ on the air on for a Christmas Eve commemorative transmission. WG2XFQ will transmit on 486 kHz from Forest, Virginia, to mark the 109th anniversary of Reginald Fessenden’s first audio transmission. Historic accounts say Fessenden played the violin — or a recording — and read a brief Bible verse. It’s been reported that other radio experimenters and shipboard operators who heard Fessenden’s broadcast were astounded. Justin will conduct a run-up to this year’s event starting at around mid-day Eastern Time on December 23. The “official” Christmas event will begin on December 24 at 0001 UTC (the evening of December 23 in US time zones) and will continue for at least 24 hours. Justin said he plans to repeat the commemorative transmissions on New Year’s Eve and on New Year’s Day. Fessenden’s transmitter was an AC alternator, modulated by placing carbon microphones in series with the antenna feed line. Justin’s homebuilt station is slightly more modern, based on a 1921 vacuum tube master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) design. The transmitter also uses Heising AM modulation, developed by Raymond Heising during World War I. Justin said all of his WG2XFQ on-air operations coincide with dates in early radio history as a way to recognize and honor some of the earliest wireless pioneers and their achievements. Listener reports are appreciated and may be sent directly to Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, at his QRZ.com address (ARRL via DXLD) (also via Scott Blixt, MDXC yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) Not heard here UT Dec 24 or 25 (gh, OK) ** U S A. Hi Glenn: I have been hearing a marine weather broadcast on 6519 kHz USB from 0915 (or earlier) ending at 0945 UT. The voice is a synthesized female voice. Content includes information from Seattle and surrounds all the way up to Alaska and the Bering Strait. Lots of detail describing wave heights and other essentials to mariners. From listening to the content, it seems the audio originates at WLO in New Orleans. Where the actual transmitter is unknown to me. I know other stations broadcast marine weather on nearby frequencies and I have heard them. Most every voice is a male synthesized voice instead of female. I have looked at the USCG sites and WLO. None list this frequency and time span. Can you shed more light on this? Any idea where this may be coming from and who might be the target audience? Can you hear it? I use a Sony ICF-SW7600GR with a 30m dipole and a Yaesu FT-dx1200 transceiver with a 40m dipole to monitor this signal (Karl Zuk Katonah, NY near NYC, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Continued at Unsolicited Testimonials Hi Karl, Tnx for the kind words. Per this frequency reference http://www.eibispace.de/dx/freq-b15.txt 6519 is a WLO frequency from Mobile AL. He doesnt`t have the time you heard it, but ending at :45 seems to be the pattern. I think that most if not all of the WLO broadcasts are duplicated on KLB in Seattle, but on discrete frequencies. 73, (Glenn to Karl, via DXLD) ** U S A. Russia Today's take on a class lawsuit against the BBG MISCLASSIFIED: BBG FACES $400MN LAWSUIT OVER CONTRACTING PRACTICES, REPORT CLAIMS A $400 million class action lawsuit against US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was reportedly filed by several workers, who allege that the agency intentionally classified them as independent contractors to cut on their proper payment and benefits. Voice of America (VoA) employees have been intentionally misclassified as independent contractors by officials of the government-funded agency responsible for US international broadcasting, plaintiffs said in the lawsuit filed this week in the US Court of Federal Claims, BBG Watch reports citing Law360 website. "The BBG put the plaintiffs and class members on purchase orders so it could extract their faithful service to the United States while avoiding payment of the more substantial compensation that is owed to federal employees," the complaint reportedly stated. . . https://www.rt.com/usa/326923-bbg-lawsuit-employees-report/ (via Clara Listensprechen, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Additional transmissions of VOA to East Africa: from Nov 30: 1030-1100 13650 BOT 100 kW / 350 deg to EaAf Somali Daily, no signal 1030-1100 15620 SAO 100 kW / 076 deg to EaAf Somali Daily, very weak 1030-1100 17550 BOT 100 kW / 010 deg to EaAf Somali Daily, powerful: from Dec 14: 1630-1700 11770 SAO 100 kW / 076 deg to EaAf Amharic Mon-Fri 1630-1700 15580 BOT 100 kW / 350 deg to EaAf Amharic Mon-Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/additional-trasnmissions-of-voice-of.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #931 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec. 21, 2015 via DXLD) ** U S A. 5865, VoA Radiogram #141 with the usual mix of digital text in English and photos that I recorded and decoded at home later, including items about the 'spots' on Planet Ceres' explained; an Estonian underwater robot; Russia's Dozhd TV under pressure; Santa on 3916 kHz and a photo of the National Christmas Tree on the Mall in Washington DC. Photos in particularly well: @@ [attached to the original] 4+554+4+ 0930-1000* 12/Dec. 17580, VoA Radiogram #141 repeat of 0930 broadcast. MUCH weaker and noisier, 25453+ but text still in with 99%+ accuracy, but photos considerably worse: @@ 1600-1630* 12/Dec (Kenneth V Zichi, MARE Brighton MI DXpedition, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also NETHERLANDS [non] ** U S A. [/rather Sao Tome] Re: ``6080, Dec 14 at 0636 UT, VOA International Edition, with report from climate agreement in Paris; 0639 UT offers free 2016 VOA calendar with photos of America's #1 city, New York, by P-mail if requested by E-mail to VG at steady S=9+20dB, obviously Greenville site still substituting for Sao Tome, but during this semihour only (Glenn Hauser-OK-USA, dxld Dec 14)`` But nothing visible of Greenville usage in IBB RSM log reports of African monitoring posts on Dec 14-15, still mentioned São Tomé 1530, 4960, 6080, 6180, 9550 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX 19 Dec via DXLD) I don`t care about that, from my vantage point it was obviously Greenville, which has been confirmed substituting for ST, only between 0630 and 0700. Possibly on certain other dates it is back to ST. IBB RMS hiding something? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. 5990 US Radio Swoboda Russian service from tentative BIBlis/LAMperteim sites in Germany, heard with ID at 0700 UT GERMANY/KUWAIT 5990 US Radio Swoboda Russian service from tent. BIB/LAM sites in Germany, not requested/registered yet, heard with ID at 0700 UT on Dec 21. Maybe another RL Swoboda outlet to serve Kaliningrad Oblast, Belarus, Moldova target and Russian nationals living still in Ukraine? But could be an technician special outlet to measure the proper curtain antenna matching? S=9+15dB signal, but heard also in Madrid Spain and Calabria Italy remote posts. \\ heavy powerhouses measured monitoring in remote SDR Moscow Russia unit 9635 LAM S=9+50dB 12025 BIB S=9+55dB 17530 KWT S=9+30dB wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) Radio Liberty on unscheduled 5990 kHz with strong signal here at 0820 UT, Dec 21. Videos, later today (Ivo Ivanov, ibid.) Unscheduled & unregistered frequency of R. Liberty in Russian to E Eu, Dec 21 0700-0800 5990 unknown transmitter site // 9635LAM, 12025BIB, 17530KWT 0800-0900 5990 unknown transmitter site, no parallel frequencies SW 0900-1000 5990 unknown transmitter site // 12025BIB, 17770UDO 1000-1100 5990 unknown transmitter site // 12025BIB, 17530LAM 1100-1300 5990*unknown transmitter site, no parallel frequencies SW 1300-1400 5990*unknown transmitter site // 9610TIN, 15130LAM 1400-1500 5990*unknown transmitter site // 11890PHT, 15130LAM *co-ch CRI Mongolian/Russian/Mongolian. No signal of R. Liberty on 5990 at 1430 [heard that date only??] http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/unscheduled-unregistered-frequency-of.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1804 monitoring: confirmed Thu Dec 17 at 2100, good on WRMI 7570; missed monitoring the next, UT Fri 0200 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB; did anyone hear it? Next: Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 to NE Fri 2130.6 WRMI 7570 to NW Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? [how far from St Louis is it audible in daytime? Harold Frodge was hearing it in Michigan last week] Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? [may have started earlier last week] Sun 0900 WRMI 5850 to NW [NEW!] Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW [beware of JL Xmas special] 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 1804 monitoring confirmed Friday Dec 18 at 2130.1 on WRMI 15770, and at 2130.6 on WRMI 7570; lower frequency as usual stronger and holds up better here; reverse in Europe? Next: Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? [how far from St Louis is it audible in daytime? Harold Frodge was hearing it in Michigan last week] Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? [may have started earlier last week] Sun 0900 WRMI 5850 to NW [NEW!] Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW [beware of JL Xmas special] 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 1804 monitoring: trying UTwente Sat Dec 19 at 1557 on 7265-CUSB, not hearing much of anything, neither WOR nor CRI. [WOR: see also GERMANY: Satzentrale; and INTERNATIONAL INTERNET: GCR] Near shortest day Dec 19, I am trying to hear me on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, Wentzville MO, at scheduled 2030 UT Saturday: only a JBA carrier is detectable now and just before 2100, not enough to overcome the S6 noise level. However, Harold Frodge could get it last Saturday in Michigan. Better tune in as early as 0400 for the repeat at nominal 0415 UT Sunday, since last week it may have started early to end before 0442. Otherwise: Sun 0900 WRMI 5850 to NW [NEWish! Please confirm] Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW [beware of Johnny Lightning Xmas special, which could run overtime] 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 1804 monitoring: confirmed on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, UT Sunday Dec 20 at 0426 about 3 minutes into show at Biafra [non] topic, so started circa 0423 this week. Awakened too early and too late to confirm the Sunday 0900 on WRMI 5850, but presumably. Did anyone hear it? 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1804 monitoring: confirmed only 4 minutes late, 0404 UT Monday Dec 21 on Area 51 webcast, and barely audible on WBCQ 5109.7- CUSB. Also confirmed from 0430.5 UT Mon Dec 21 on WRMI webcast and poorly on 9955; the K-index at 03 was, after all, 6. Next: Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW WORLD OF RADIO 1804 monitoring: confirmed Wed Dec 23 from 1415.5 on WRMI 9955, good and no jamming. Next: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7490v WORLD OF RADIO 1805 monitoring. Ready for first SW airings Dec 24: Thu 1230 WRMI 9955 to SSE Thu 2100 WRMI 7570 to NW Fri 0200 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 to NE Fri 2130.6 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? Sun 0900 WRMI 5850 to NW 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 For full WOR schedule, including many webcasts, AM, FM, satellite: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5109.7-CUSB, Dec 18 around 0145, `Mennonite Radio` on WBCQ is only a poor signal, winter propagation just not helpful. This is at 01-02 UT Fridays, following from same source `Broad Spectrum Radio` at 00-01 for at least the rest of December, i.e. Xmas- and NY-eves. I had to miss BSR as out to a band concert here. Content of that not clear, but supposedly secular; a media program? I hope James availablizes it too as a podcast. 5109.7-CUSB, UT Sat Dec 19 from 0100, WBCQ with `Allan Weiner Worldwide`; the first few minutes my attention is divided as I have him on the PL-880 and on the NRD-545 am copying a pirate on 6959, while also tracking R. Chaski for a cutoff time. At 0110 Allan is talking about broadcasters who are no longer with us, such as ``the late, great Bill Cooper`` who got into a shootout with police in Arizona; and Michael Ketter; Allan also says Art Bell will be missed --- seems he has abruptly stopped his `Midnight [sic] in the Desert` show (which was briefly on WBCQ) due to threats against him and his family, to the level of gunshots being fired on his property in Nevada. Strange I had not heard about this as the news broke a week ago. Catch up via stories and scads of comments at: http://midnightinthedesert.com/art-hangs-it-up-for-the-last-time/ http://midnightinthedesert.com/heather-updates-us-on-art-bell/ The Future of Midnight in the Desert and Dark Matter Radio Network: http://midnightinthedesert.com/the-future-of-midnight-in-the-desert-and-dark-matter-radio-network/ So will WTWW and CFRX keep carrying M[sic]ITD with Heather instead of Art, if indeed, DMRN keeps carrying it at all? UT Tue-Sat 0500-0800 on 5085, 6070. Back to `AWWW`, then on the phone with Hal Turner for the next semi- hour until starting to let him go at 0142, recounting his betrayal by the FBI landing him in prison, and how he has ``throttled back a little bit`` his new show on WBCQ, UT Thursdays 0200-0400 on 7490; and the need for free speech on the radio and everywhere. Before 0200, J.P. Ferraro is the guest, as 5109.7 switches to `Grogcast`, so we have to listen on 7489.9-AM only (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Youth update on USS Batfish, antennas, and more kits W5KUB.COM watched in over 150 countries - Amateur Radio Roundtable This week's W5KUB.com show (December 22nd) Emmett Hohensee, W0QH, the chief engineer of Radiowavz, will give us a report on youth activities on the USS Batfish submarine, and will discuss setting up antennas. Joe Eisenberg, K0NEB, will be back with us to talk about more kits. After this we will open the show up to phone calls and talk to anyone who would like to call in. Be sure to send your FCC related questions to Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, to AskRiley@w5kub.com. Riley retired from the FCC’s Compliance and Information Bureau as Legal Adviser for Enforcement Program. He will be answering your questions every few weeks on our "Ask Riley" segment Remember our show is also on international shortwave radio station WBCQ out of Monticello, ME on 5110 Khz, Please send a signal report to tom@w5kub.com. Amateur Radio Roundtable is a live weekly amateur radio webcast, held every Tuesday night at 8 PM CT (0200 UT Wednesday) at W5KUB.com. The show covers a wide range of topics for ham radio operators and electronic hobbyists; including balloon launches, satellite, go-kits, emergency communications, SDR, digital modes, DXing, home brewing, hamfest updates, and more. We also want to grow our shortwave listener base and will be including programs that intrest those listeners as well. Viewers will have the opportunity to ask questions via the chat room or telephone. Since we changed our main video service to Youtube Live, we have had almost zero complaints about buffering or freezing. Quality and stability reports have been great. Because of this, we will stop broadcasting on the back up server each night. You will need to watch on the main server. If there are ever any problems where we lose the main video server, we can quickly turn on the back up feed. This will cut down on the double data we have to send out for each show. We need your help. If you use Twitter, please send out a tweet 15 minutes before the show or retweet our announcement. I suggest something like "live #hamradio show starts in 15 mins on w5kub.com 8 PM CT". This should help increase our viewer base. Towards the end of each show, we provide a link and viewers who have a camera, microphone, and a Google+ account, can join the show. Your video and audio will be on the webcast. This part of the show is very informal and up to 10 people can join. We talk about anything the viewers want to discuss. We would like to share pictures of your ham shack on the webcast. Send a picture of your ham shack with a description and we will feature your shack pictures on the show. In fact, if you give us your permission, your shack could be used as the background of that week's webcast! If you have a specific subject idea for a future show, send an email to tom@w5kub.com. Forward this message to a Friend will allow you to share this message with your friends. If you missed last week`s show, you can watch it here on our Youtube channel. Our shows are recorded and placed on YouTube's W5KUB channel the following day. Join us for fun and interesting discussions! (Tom Medlin, W5KUB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5109.7-CUSB, Dec 22 at 0222, `Amateur Radio Roundtable`, soundtrack of W5KUB.com video webcast, sufficiently audible via WBCQ, until 0330 when WBCQ sign-off announcement fires whether the `cast is finished or not and off 0331* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Wondered if you'd mention this one for me, sir. For quite a while I have been interested in seeing if I could attract an audience for the webcast outside the dishnuts.net feed. http://www.dishnuts.net I want to satisfy that curiosity so I bought time on WBCQ 5110 this Friday evening from midnight to 3 UT [UT Sat Jan 2]. Anyone who wants to participate can call 1-330-752-6909 or use the Skype ID ray.t.mahorney As always thank you sir and keep up the good work (Ray T. Mahorney, WA4WGA, Dec 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Updated B-15 of WRMI Okeechobee from Dec 1 here: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/11/wrmi-graphic-schedule.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Message sent to WRMI Dec 18: ``Terry & Jeff, 9955 had some problems this morning, modulation cutting out for split seconds, 2 or 3 times per second, and carrier also dropping but not going off completely. First noticed 1257 at end of Wavescan, and still so at 1318 in Prague. By 1441 in F&E it was OK. Just letting you know in case this is intermittent and you did not deliberately fix it in the meantime. May need to check it out during daytime downtime. 73, Glenn`` Also noted on 9955: at 1329 Dec 18, outdated promo by Bruce Baskin for fragmentary sports coverage ``this fall`` including World Series, to be heard at ``9 am eastern``, really 1359 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re WRMI with IADs before and after 1300 UT Dec 18 on 9955, Jeff White replied: ``Glenn: We have had some problems with electricity this morning, with phases cutting out, etc. This could be the problem, but I'm not totally certain. Jeff`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WTWW-1 Scriptures For America on daytime frequency Dec 16: 0200-1400 9475 TWW 100 kW / 050 deg to ENAm English, instead of 5830 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/wtww-1-scriptures-for-america-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, circa Dec 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9930, Dec 17 at 2040, surprised to find the day frequency of WTWW-2 on the air; haven`t heard it for ages, and it`s 55 over S9! Religious discussion mixed with financial advice, thus totally untrustworthy. WTWW.us website remains extremely vague about their true programming schedule. It`s a bit stronger than their other blowtorch, WTWW-1 on 9475, and WTWW-3 is in third place at only S9+25. Also, looking at the NRD-545 S-meter on 9930 I can see it dip 5 or 10 dB during pauses, which implies the carrier is slightly reduced (or is it an artifact of overloading the receiver?) 9930, Dec 19 at 2054, WTWW-2 is on again, this time with C&W music at S9+50. Is there a schedule?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Christmas music via WTWW tx#2 on 9930/5085 kHz More info can be found here: http://wtww.us/ 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTWW Lebanon, TN, 5085, 0712 19 DEC - SINPO = 35323. English, Art Bell ‘Midnight [sic] in the Desert’ show (only Art has quit again) with Heather Wade fielding phone call supporting Heather’s taking over Art’s show, but Heather seems to think that Art is going to be back. sf116.8, a5, k1, geomag: very quiet. 100kw, beamAz 315 ?, bearing 107 . Sangean ATS505 w/Kaito KA33 active loop in west facing window. Received at Las Vegas, United States, 2615 km from transmitter at Lebanon, TN (WTWW). Local time: 2312 (Rodney Johnson, NV, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: [dxld] Art Bell quits after threats, gunfire --- This is just sad and so wrong to lose Art again. We really liked listening to Art on shortwave; it made us remember the old days when Art first came on the air. Art, peace and grace, we want you back as soon as it's safe (Thomas Dorman, Dec 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Others were not so kind. John Lightning, e.g., was denigrating Bell as a wuss for quitting time and again. Well, what would you do if your family was threatened by gunfire? Or was that made up? (gh, DXLD) The sad truth is that Art Bell has been dealing with crazy people who have wanted to kill him for 20 years. I will miss Art again too, and hope that he will resurface soon. I have been thinking for years that he either needs to find another property to live on where people can't track him down, or have an armed guard ON SITE (Steven Wiseblood / AB5GP, dxldyg via DXLD) Glenn: -- "BTW, Saturday night/UT Sun Dec 13 around 0430, I am hearing old Art Bell show weekly reruns from a decade ago all over the bigsig MW dial....." This would be the "Somewhere In Time" weekly show, old Art presentations from years past as syndicated by iHeartRadio/Premiere Networks. Art Bell lives!! (GREG HARDISON, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BUT, in case you have not heard, Art quit again circa Dec 11, after threats and gunfire on his property in Nevada. M[sic]ITD is continuing on Dark Matters with a new hostess, Heather; still on SW 5085 UT Tue- Sat 0500-0800, but CFRX and consequently CFRB 1010 have dropped it, replaced by generic ``Newstalk 10-10 programming`` (Glenn Hauser, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 3215, WWCR with the “Horserace Huxter” (Larry Cain) doing his best Kentucky Derby Preaching. WWCR ID at 0231. 5554+4+ 0222-0232 13 Dec (Kenneth V Zichi, MARE Brighton MI DXpedition, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UT Sunday; only? (gh) Distorted audio of World Wide Christian Radio WWCR-1 Dec 14: from 1402 15825 WCR 100 kW / 046 deg to WeEu English US Christian News http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/distorted-audio-of-world-wide-christian.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #931 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec. 21, 2015 via DXLD) World Wide Christian Radio WWCR-1 with transmitter's problem on December 21: 1345 & 1445 on 15825 WCR 100 kW / 046 deg to WeEu English, self-QRMing and squeals: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/world-wide-christian-radio-wwcr-1-with.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6220, Dec 19 at 0130, no signal detected from WMDB via WNQM via mixing product with WWCR; yet the WWCR fundamental, 1300 kHz higher on 7520 is still very strong at S9+40. Nor 6220 heard at several other recent chex. So maybe they have finally filtered out the ``La Ranchera 880`` Spanish spur? Window to check for it is UT Tue-Sat 00-03 only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15785-15855, Dec 21 at 1521, approx. fluxuating range of squeals coming out of 15825 WWCR transmitter, as heard on three receivers since 1455; worst between 15810 and 15840, and self-QRMing WWCR audio on 15825 itself. This fundamental is at only fair strength, while the lower WWCRs, 13845, 9980 and 7490, are blasting in as usual (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7504.80, Dec 19 at 0202, WRNO DJ is introducing gospel music show, at S9+30 but unlistenable due to suptorted (suppressed & distorted) modulation. Spreads out but fortunately not quite down to 7490 WBCQ. This station can never get its act together (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15555-USB, WJHR Milton FL, English Bible Bumping, what I am pretty sure was Rev Baxter and the “End Times Ministries” (they really slurred the name but “fun times” -- which is what it sounded like! -- doesn’t quite fit. Although it you look at their website. These dudes are something else. They were replaying a broadcast from May 21, 2011 (timely!) and assured that “No it (the Second Coming of Jesus and the Rapture/End Times) won’t happen” as Harold Camping is claiming. Not yet at least (because all the “prerequisites” spelled out in Revelation haven’t happened) and then there will be 3.5 years of “great tribulation” before the Rapture, etc. Well, how reassuring and 'honest' of them! They mentioned the 1988, 1999 and now the 2011 end-of-times predictions and said they were all wet, and wanted you to call THEM (they gave their 800-363-TIME number) to buy their stuff. No begging for donations from these folks, they want to SELL you things! Hard to call them 'religious'. SINPO 45554+ - - in much better than usual today. 2025-2037 (it was kind of like a car wreck, I just had to listen because it kept getting sillier!) 12/Dec (Kenneth V Zichi, MARE Brighton MI DXpedition, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In the first few minutes of the Democratic Primary Presidential Debate on ABC-TV, 0128-0135 UT Dec 20, I scan the MW band to find which if any radio stations are also carrying it, never in synch with TV via cable: 740-KRMG Tulsa OK, 750-WSB Atlanta GA, 840-WHAS Louisville KY, 1040- WHO Des Moines IA, 1100-WTAM Cleveland OH, 1110-KFAB Omaha NE. I presume these already have some affiliation with ABC radio, but a lot of other ABC stations must be skipping it. Digging no further into the regional and graveyard pileups where there could be a few more. Then checking the FM band in OK: not a single station, tho presumably on inaudible 102.3 KRMG-FM Tulsa, of which 740 has been demoted to a mere 50/25 kW appendage (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The common thread I see is with iHeart Radio/Premiere, as I'm certain each station has an affiliated XDS box in the rack. KRMG takes Rush & Hannity, and WSB takes Hannity and "Handel On The Law" from Premiere, and the others are iHeart O&Os. Actually, WSB also takes Rush, come to think of it. I don't think Disney/ABC could send it without adding in tunes from "Song Of The South", or plugs for Star Wars (GREG HARDISON, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 550, Dec 20 at 0556-0559 UT, several ``News-talk 550 KTSA and 107-1`` IDs in promos. San Antonio station is not heard much here, night pattern with a little lobe to the north, three major lobes to WSW, ENE and SSE, also mutually protecting Midland (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 700, Dec 17 at 2031 UT, very poor signal from KHSE, music stops and I strain to detect the language: at 2034 UT, YL mentioning phone numbers definitely in Spanish. KHSE had been reported with a format change from Spanish:Religion to ETHnic --- that can and does still include Spanish, but not all the time?? Licensed to Wylie TX, and this daytime coverage map http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=KHSE-AM&h=D shows site ENE of Dallas, with one of three major lobes toward us, but fringe contour not extending much beyond OKC. It`s 1500/920 watts. Apparently no website to check for true program schedule (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The end of progressive talk on 760 AM in Denver: DENVER SPORTS 760 TO LAUNCH JANUARY 4 - RADIOINSIGHT radioinsight.com https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/95604/denver-sports-760-to-launch-january-4/#more-95604 (via Artie Bigley, OH, Dec 21, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) Viz.: Denver Sports 760 To Launch January 4 Lance Venta | December 21, 2015 Real Talk 760 KKZN Denver Sports KDSP Dave Logan iHeartMedia has confirmed that it will flip “Real Talk 760” KKZN Thornton CO to “Denver Sports 760” KDSP on Monday, January 4. The new format will feature a mix of local hosts with an emphasis on the Denver Broncos and Fox Sports Radio programming. Dave Logan and Susie Wagrin, who co-host the afternoon news block on sister News/Talk 850 KOA will add a 10am-12pm talk show on KDSP. Logan also is the longtime play-by-play voice of the Broncos and a former NFL player. Another KOA host, Andy Lindahl, will also pull double-duty as afternoon host on 760 from 3-6pm. Lindahl will continue anchoring “Prime Time Sports” on KOA from 7-8p. The rest of the “Denver Sports 760” lineup will feature Fox Sports Radio network programming including Dan Patrick from 7-10am, Colin Cowherd from 12-3pm, Jay Mohr Sports on delay from 6-9pm. CBS Sports Radio’s Ferrall On The Bench will be heard from 9pm-12am. The launch of 760 KDSP will be the final step in a network affiliation switch taking place on January 4. Bonneville’s 1600 KEPN will pick up ESPN Radio in place of Fox and CBS as Front Range Sports’ “ESPN Denver” 105.5 KJAC goes dark in preparation of its sale to Community Radio For Northern Colorado. – iHeartMedia announced today the debut of new sports radio station, Denver Sports 760 (KDSP-AM), which will begin on January 4. Denver Sports 760 will feature daily shows hosted by well-known Denver Broncos experts, including Dave Logan and Susie Wargin (10 a.m.-Noon) and Andy Lindahl (3-6 p.m.). In addition, Lindahl will be heard evenings 7-8 p.m., hosting PrimeTime Sports on KOA NewsRadio 850 AM & 94.1 FM. Denver Sports 760 will be home to the biggest names in national sports talk, including The Dan Patrick Show (7-10 a.m.), The Herd with Colin Cowherd (Noon-3 pm.), Jay Mohr Sports (6-9 p.m.), Ferrall On The Bench (9 p.m.-Midnight), The Ben Maller Show (Midnight- 4 a.m.) and FOX Sports Daybreak with Andy Furman & Mike North (4-7 a.m.). “Denver Sports 760 will quickly become the premier destination for sports fans,” said Tim Hager, Market President of iHeartMedia Denver. “We’re excited to serve our listeners, partners and advertisers with a new station featuring original Denver Broncos content and the biggest names in sports.” All Denver Sports 760 programming will be available on DenverSports760.com as well as the iHeartRadio app. iHeartMedia is a leading media outlet in the Denver market and its programming and content are available across multiple platforms, including its broadcast stations; online via its branded digital sites; mobile; and social, with nationwide listening through iHeartRadio — with its more than 700 million downloads, more than 75 million social media followers and 87 million digital uniques across the Network Read More At: https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/95604/denver-sports-760-to-launch-january-4/#more-95604 (via DXLD) ** U S A. 830, Dec 23 at 0406 UT, WCCO is JBA on N-S antenna, and not at all on the east-west. MW from most of the US seems normal but Minneapolis is beyond the sub-auroral zone barrier. Instead, better on the E-W antenna is something with Spanish music, more like 830.04; 0408 UT ID as ``La Favorita 830``. I am expecting WFNO Norco LA, the usual US station blocking real Latin American DX, and normally QRMing WCCO if you don`t null it: always suspected of day facilities at night, when 750 watts is supposed to head SE into the Gulf, while 5000 watts day has a broad pattern favoring the NNW right toward WCCO! WFNO got to be on this ``clear`` channel by barely exceeding the ``protected`` distance from Mpls. But WFNO was last known as ``La Fabulosa``, and still listed as such. Possibly I misheard the slogan; need to recheck. I don`t find any Mexicans or beyond called Favorita (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 869.985 approx., Dec 19 at 0145 UT, WWL New Orleans is slightly off-frequency to the lo side; I have been noticing this for a long time as I bandscan MW in SSB on the NRD-545 at 10-kHz steps: makes a LAH unlike spot-on stations such as KOA 850.00. Seems unusual that a major clear channel station like WWL would be that far off. The MW Offset list, as of Oct 2015, http://www.myradiobase.de/mediumwave/mwoffset.txt as usual has years-old info for these, but at least are included: 870 869.996 USA WWL (New Orleans, LA) 20101103 850 849.9999 USA KOA (Denver (IBOC), CO) [-850.0000] 20130316 KOA has been non-IBOC-noise for a long time now, fortunately. Stations with IBOC were supposedly more careful about frequency accuracy, the only positive aspect of it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 900, Dec 20 at 2132 UT, I happen to tune across KSGL Wichita KS, where YL DJ tells us the temperature is ``zero`` and on to some Xmas music. She sounds live, but must be an automatoness, defaulting to zero without any accurate current input, since it`s `way above zero Kelvin, Fahrenheit, even Celsius --- 57 or 58 F according to NWS Wichita 3-day history (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WTIC IBOC STILL OFF [Hartford CT] --- I checked 1070 this morning and WTIC iboc is off. It's been about a week since I first noticed it being off, so maybe it's permanent. At 0950 EST Plattsburgh NY and Sunbury PA and Stirling NJ are mixing up the frequency (Jim B in Springfield MA, WA1EDN, Dec 21, ABDX via DXLD) 1060 KYW is IBOC too, which has made 1070 very difficult to hear anything on here in the North East. Perhaps a member here who works at WTIC will fill us in. I will eagerly see what I can hear on 1070 tonight. Thanks for the tip (FARMERIK [about 25 miles east of Jim], ibid.) ** U S A. 1100, Dec 19 at 0613 UT, `Red Eye Radio` from NW, quite separable from WTAM Cleveland by mutual nulling, so KNZZ Grand Junxion CO is once again on 50 kW ND day power; for a while they had been behaving themselves. In between, the pair produce a fast SAH (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1290, Dec 20 at 0626 UT, classic rock, WIRL singing ID, back to music. That`s 5/5 kW U4 in Peoria IL, ``Good Time Oldies``. Unlike other frequencies, the 1290 map in the NRC Pattern Book does not distinguish between day and night contours: day is supposed to be dotted. That page needs to be replaced; are there others? I suspect for WIRL, the one tightly to the NNE with a minor lobe to the SSW is the night pattern, and the circle tangent SSW the day pattern (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1310, Dec 23 at 0357 UT, mentions Owensboro as a health care region. Therefore, I assume it is WTTL Madisonville KY again, which is about 35 miles from Owensboro (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1380, Dec 18 at 0614 UT, national adstring, including iHeartRadio.com promo, manages to squeeze by local 1390 KCRC, maybe peaking ENE/WSW. By 0641 UT, sports talk mixed with Star-Wars talk, not // ESPN. Most likely closest are KXFN St Louis, but AFAIK that is not an iHeart, while KHEY El Paso TX is, and is also with Fox Sports Radio, 5000/500 watts U1, so tentatively that (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1380, Dec 23 at 0353 UT, ad for Berner(?) Toyota, across from Highland Mall(?), facilitated by the dead air from local 1390 KCRC. Later I search on the Toyota name, and lacking any direct hits on Berner, an engine (was it Yahoo or Google?) helpfully suggests Bruner Toyota in Brownwood TX, or suburb Early. Guess what: there is a station there on 1380, KBWD. But the other clue was probably really ``Highlander``, a Toyota model. KBWD is 1000/500 watts U1, one of my closer 1380s, and I`m quite sure that`s it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WFOR 1400 Hattiesburg, MS --- I think the station will be off the air for awhile after its transmitter site was burnt to a blackened crisp... http://www.wdam.com/story/30768510/1400-am-fox-sports-radio-channel-offline-because-of-fire This was just the transmitter site for the IHeart(Clear Channel) station, no studios there. Posted by: ("Paul B. Walker, Jr.", Dec 22, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. 1430, KZQZ MO, Saint Louis. 12/13 noted off during the overnight hours; another check around 1800 [EST] on 12/17 shows that the station is presently not broadcasting at night, probably due to technical problems. This station is now temporarily 50,000W DA-D (Eric Bueneman, Hazelwood MO, IRCA DX Monitor Dec 26 via DXLD) ** U S A. 1510.0, Dec 19 at 1341 UT, discussion of GM corn from NE/SW, 1346 UT several ads with 913 area codes (Kansas City +KS), so even tho it`s not sports talk, it must be KCTE Independence MO, and not off- frequency producing a het, either; mentions `Sportsradio 810`, however, i.e. WHB KC MO, which must be a relative (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. G&E STUDIO/CRI PROGRAMMING GONE FROM DOMESTIC U.S. STATIONS? It appears that G&E Studio, which was affiliated with China Radio International, might have lost funding from its arrangement with CRI and has discontinued its leased broadcasts on stations in the U.S., including KYND 1520 and KGBC 1540 here in the Houston area. Much discussion of this on the RadioDiscussions.com Houston board. KGBC is now running Hum Tum Radio, a South Asian targeted format produced in Houston (and also heard on 106.1 FM here) while KYND is running music fill while it searches for another programmer to lease time on the station. This new development might have something to do with the Chinese government's reevaluation of its international media efforts as mentioned by Keith Perron on this forum a few months back. The G&E Studio website is still there: http://gestudio.us/ Glenn, you have frequently reported hearing KYND during critical hours (daytime only station) so look for something different underneath KOKC (Stephen Luce, Houston, Texas, Dec 22, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) This CRI relay deal thru a ChiCom front organization in the US got a lot of negative publicity a few months ago, after the FCC had turned a blind eye to it. So now the question is whether CRI has also disappeared from several other cities, e.g. 1120 in Washington DC, 1540 in Philadelphia, etc. (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 1600, Dec 18 at 1315 UT, instead of KUSH OK, I am hearing unfamiliar choral national anthem, from north/south, no doubt the Republic of Vietnam`s in tribute from KRVA The Metroplex TX, followed by Vietnamese announcement and program. Shouldn`t that be KRVN? Tsk2, that call is already taken on 880 in NE (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1600, UT Sat Dec 19 at 0205 UT, Saluki basketball, sponsored by Marion Toyota, at half-time show. This has got to be KATZ St Louis MO, breaking format from gospel hits as ``Hallelujah 1600``. Finally found on website a sked of Saluki football, but nothing about BKB: http://www.hallelujah1600.com/articles/southern-illinois-university-football-494597/2015-schedule-13912347/ Nor did they say they would really broadcast all those games. There are no 1600s in SIL or anywhere in IL, and KATZ night pattern aims toward us, not at all toward Carbondale and vicinity; day pattern is almost ND {but games are surely on local station(s) there, and I suppose there are some Saluki fans in St Louis area} (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1650, Dec 18 at 1313 UT, ESPNDeportesradio.com promo, from WSW/ENE, mentions ``paso a paso``, but this does not refer to El Paso TX, whence KSVE is certainly the source of this. Still not hearing KFSW Sallisaw OK, which should be the dominant signal at least after 1315 UT sunrise (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I doubt that anyone will be surprised to hear that All Johnny Cash, All The Time is now history, as is KDDZ. KDMT is now in use and the format is Money Talk, as in Denver's Money Talk. Here is a real yawner for you. I won't be listening to that at all, but I did turn on Radio Disney once in a while for the music. I also listened when I was in a car with digital capability when I was near enough to hear it, but you could see farther than that digital signal went. Digital is still dying here. In addition to 1690 dropping it, 1340 also dropped it after it was sold and changed to sports. That just leaves 560, 670, 810 (day), and 910 using it in this market. Meanwhile, 1550 (KBUD) is still silent with a for sale sign on the door. 73, (Kit W5KAT, CO, Dec 17, ABDX via DXLD) 1690, KDMT, CO, Arvada, 12/17 1840 [EST] Heard with business talk and then ID as “Denver’s Money Talk 16-90 AM” They have a new format and callsign. NEW! Another old Disney frequency goes away (Shawn Axelrod, VE4DX1SMA, Winnipeg MB Canada, NRC-AM via DXLD) What is up with 1690 in Colorado - ? 1690 + ? + CO, Arvada (Presumed) 12/21, 0700 M[ST = 1400 UT]. Talk radio (politics-what else?) to Male: "Right here on 7-10 KNUS". I was very sure I had heard a new call last week (KDMT), but local reporter was saying that they were using the old call KDDZ at the ToH when he was listening. This morning, I heard this call (KNUS) very clearly. Simulcasting? I can presume. Just what IS the current callsign for this Denver area broadcaster? Also the local DXer was saying that they are using a money business format now, altho this could be an overlap where politics is intertwined with business markets. Anyone? Best wishes from the Sonoran Desert (Rick Barton, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also 760 KNUS 710 is one of the Salem stations in Denver that's a sister to 1690. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're simulcasting or cross- promoting ahead of an official launch of a new format on 1690 (s Fybush, NY, ABDX via DXLD) Ah! TNQ for the reply, Scott Fybush! I am sure that the all Johnny Cash 24/7 format was short lived! heh (Barton, ibid.) I didn't listen today, but the last time I checked in the past couple of days, they were running some sort of syndicated money type show and I heard the legal ID as KDMT, so KDDZ is history. I will see if I can check what they are doing tonight or tomorrow and let you know. 73, (Kit W5KAT, CO, Dec 21, ibid.) Although 1690 is now officially KDMT, they are still using some liners with KDDZ. I heard one yesterday afternoon at 4:30, so you might hear either if you catch them. They were airing financial programs yesterday when I heard them, not a simulcast of KNUS. 73, (Kit W5KAT, Dec 23, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. 94.1 MHz, FLORIDA (PIRATE) 94.1, Orlando. 1730 December 21, 2015. A new one. Noted on the car radio upon departing Rock N Roll Heaven record store on Orange Avenue (by Lake Ivanhoe), Orlando though almost Winter Park. Signal totally lost just before the John Young Parkway exit on FL-408 toll road westbound, so, suspect it's in the South Orange Blossom Trail area based on gangsta rap format with lots of f-bombs in the lyrics (thus confirming not something licensed and semi-local). Also, a bit over-driven audio, never a great copy. Co-channel the W231CT WRSO 810 AM CBS Sports Radio translator, and also, once on FL-408, WLLD "Wild FM" (whose transmitter is in extreme SE Hillsborough County) stations. Don't see any 94.1 entries in FLPRS for pirates past or present in the area. Stupid choice; WRSO has probably already filed a complaint with the FCC. Curious how fast they respond to these things now that the field offices are presumably closed. Unless the Orange County Sheriff's Office is smart enough to know how to DF unassisted. Wondered why the W231CT signal was barely present near downtown Orlando. Looking at the coverage map on Radio- locator, because it's actually in Longwood, well north of Orlando. First FM pirate for me in ages, and I had to drive over 100 miles to do that though it wasn't intentional. – Florida Low Power Radio Stations: https://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/florida-low-power-radio-stations (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, NRD-535, IC-R75, roof dipole, active loop u.o.s., Clearwater, FL u.o.s., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Jingle bell rock: Lots of radio stations go all-Christmas in December. Here's why. By Maura Judkis, Maybe the first time you hear Mariah Carey belt out "All I Want for Christmas is You" on the radio each season, it brings a smile to your face. But then maybe you hear it a 10th time, then a 50th. Maybe you're the radio host who has to play it all December long. And maybe you would rather not. . . https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/jingle-bell-rock-lots-of-radio-stations-go-all-christmas-in-december-heres-why/2015/12/21/5b2a5836-a442-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_print.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL BROADCASTING: EARLY RADIO Baseballessential.com By Stevie Larson December 11, 2015 http://www.baseballessential.com/news/2015/12/11/the-history-of-baseball-broadcasting-early-radio/ (This is the first of a four part series taking a look at the History of Baseball Broadcasting. The second part will be published next week, and will cover the first television broadcasts of MLB games). Today, if you wanted to see a baseball game, you would just turn on the TV or fire up your computer and go to mlb.tv. If you happened to be driving, you could either fire up your phone and watch the games on your phone, or turn on the radio and listen to them. Before television and radio became big mediums, the first “broadcast” of a baseball game was not a broadcast at all. It was similar to what ESPN does on their gamecast. It was a large board with mechanical players who had to be physically moved, with a light up section for balls, strikes, and outs. The game was updated through a game account sent through a telegraph. These “viewing parties” were shown in bars and movie theatres, and were considered very popular, especially during the World Series. This went on until 1921 when the first baseball game was broadcast on KDKA from Pittsburgh. The game was played on August 5, and saw the Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5. The game had only one announcer (imagine that!). Later that year, KDKA and WJZ in New Jersey broadcast the World Series on radio for the first time, with Grantland Rice and Tommy Cowan giving the calls. However, the broadcasters were not actually present at the game, they were actually at the station’s studios, and read a play by play account from a telegraph wire. Radio was not recognized as a legitimate medium by owners for a while, as even in the 1930’s, teams that shared a city with another team were fighting to prevent road games from being broadcast while one team was at home. These deals were common throughout the league, and were constructed on the grounds that if the fans can hear a game on the radio, they were less likely to attend the game in person. Home games could still be broadcast, but if you lived in Boston or New York, and your favorite team was on the road, then you were unable to listen to their game. Major League Baseball Commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who was installed as commissioner after the 1919 “Black Sox” incident, orchestrated a deal in 1935 that allowed the World Series to be broadcast on the radio on all three major networks. In exchange, baseball was paid $400,000 for the radio rights. This marked the end of the radio bans, as by 1939, all MLB teams were able to broadcast all their games on the radio. Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. CAN MSNBC RE-CENTER ITSELF? ANDY LACK ON BREAKING NEWS, ‘TODAY,’ AND BRIAN WILLIAMS http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/21/can-msnbc-re-center-itself-andy-lack-on-breaking-news-today-and-brian-williams.html (via Clara Listensprechen, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Stream of Praise Music Ministries, open carrier/dead air, 2100-2130 on 7530 TAC 100 kW / 090 deg to EaAs Cantonese/Chinese, Dec 17: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/stream-of-praise-music-ministries-open.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UZBEKISTAN. Good reception of BVBroadcasting via BaBcoCk brokery FMO. 1200-1215 17820 TAC 100 kW 131 deg to SoEaAS English Suns only. S=9+10dB signal here in Germany, 1205 UT on Dec 20. English prayer, Bible reading. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, Dec 20, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Radio Caracas ID'ed at 8:13 pm ET // with website http://radiothe.com/radio-caracas-radio-s630/ Radio Caracas Radio 750 AM En vivo RCR - Escuchar Online! ``Radio Caracas Radio is a Venezuelan-based radio station dedicated to Venezuelan at home and the Diaspora community. Radio Caracas Radio (RCR 750 AM) station is of ...`` The website is about 1 second behind, lots of discussion, male speakers, many mentions of Caracas and Valencia, lots of ads also mentioning Valencia electrónico with a website and a telephone number which is too fast for my lousy Spanish. As the night goes on it is becoming more and more dominant, still mixing with Cuba though playing Salsa with male and female speakers (Bob Young, Millbury, MA, SP-600 with 1000' dipole, UT Dec 22, NRC-AM via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) Very clear has been on top starting at 6:00, still very clear at 6:30 ET. Go and get it (Young, 2337 UT Dec 22, ibid.) ** VIETNAM [and non]. CHINA vs. VIETNAM, China Radio International vs. Voice of Vietnam, December 22 1900-1957 9730 KAS 500 kW / 298 deg SEu Portuguese China R Internat 1900-1957 9730 SON 100 kW / 320 deg WEu English/French V of Vietnam http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/china-radio-international-vs-voice-of.html (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Dec 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 9635.79, VOV-1, 1258, Dec 20. In Vietnamese; 1300 instrumental National Anthem ("Sound of Singing Soldiers"). Seems there are two transmitters here, as I often hear this on 9636.0; it is either one or the other, no drifting at all. 7435.0, VOV-1, 1257*, Dec 20. This is scheduled for 1600*, but have recently observed at 1257 suddenly going off the air; up till then // 9635.79, which continued on after 1300 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1,antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 7906-USB // 8294-USB, Ho Chi Minh Radio Coast Station, *1305 on Dec 22. Rapid series of tones; "Attention ... All stations ..., This is Ho Chi Minh Radio"; distress messages for fishing vessels with persons overboard in English and Vietnamese; heavy accent, so hard to make out everything that was said, even with decent signal strength; marine conditions in Vietnamese. 8294-USB only (not on 7906-USB), at 1314 "All stations ... This is Ho Chi Minh Radio" with "Navigational Warnings" in English and Vietnamese. http://www2.jica.go.jp/en/evaluation/pdf/2008_VNVII-3_4.pdf (2008) contains some pictures of the studios/stations, maps, etc. for "Coastal Communication System Project in the Southern Part of Vietnam," that Japan helped set up for VISHIPEL (Vietnam Maritime Communications and Electronics LLC). https://app.box.com/s/216m5uxeyuvpu89vedho1eacgwi8picd contains my recording mostly in English (poor, due to heavy accent) (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1,antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN [non]. 11860, Dec 17 at 1436:42, R. Sana`a stops the ME music abruptly for another Qur`anic Call to Prayer lasting about 2 minutes, quick announcement in Arabic and more secular music; 1444 an echoey speech, 1446 rousing music; 1458 another speech this time with music under. Very strong signal as usual. Neat how QCTP correlates nicely with calculated sunset times in Aden per gaisma.com: 1437 today; by a week from now latening to 1441, so let`s see if the interruptions track right along with that (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Sana'a is also audible here in the NW of England at 1415/1500 UT with similar transmission reported by Glenn, but not easy to hear clearly due to co-channel, assumed to be IBB KWT, which is the same strength as Sana'a = S5+. This was about the best I could achieve when Jeddah was using 11855 for program 2 (Noel R. Green, Dec 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11860, Dec 18 around 1330, R. Sana`a is fairly good, but not up to peak strength until closer to 1400; at 1431 breaks from music for extended sermon, maybe for the Fribbath, almost the Sabbath, must be back-timed to end at 1436:18 when cut to Qur`anic Call to Prayer, at Yemen sundown, for three minutes, back to counter-revolutionary music from 1439:15 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Seemed like several of us checked out your comments about the Maghrib (evening prayer, just after sunset) call-to-prayer via R. Sana`a, on 11860. Only observation that I can add is that at *1430 heard the sign on of Kuwait (VOA Radio Ashna), which was thereafter mixing with R. Sana`a during the call-to-prayer (Ron (listening at Asilomar State Beach, near Monterey, CA, Dec 18, ibid.) ARABIA SAUDI, 11860, Radio Sana´a, 1640-1710, escuchada el 18 de diciembre de 2015 en árabe, emisión de música árabe sin pausa hasta las 1700, tonos horarios, locutor con comentarios y entrevista a invitado, referencia a "arabia", SINPO 34433 (José Miguel Romero Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena hilo de 10 m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11860, Dec 20 at 1430, usual R. Sana`a rousing counter-revolutionary talk and music, and now with considerable CCI from IBB Kuwait, R. Ashna. So I keep an eye on the clock as I await another breakaway for vesper call to prayer at local sundown in Yemen: this happens at 1437:08, vs 1436:18 two days ago, so it is shifting slightly later following the sun. (Ron Howard employs the proper terminology: ``Maghrib (evening prayer, just after sunset) call-to-prayer``, but I tend to lump the Abrahamists in together.) The IBB CCI gets heavier and heavier, till they are about equal level by 1514, the worst yet. Hey Bill, when are you going to move this off? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Vs. USA(non), Radio Sana'a vs. Radio Ashna, Dec 21 1430-1630 on 11860 JED 050 kW / non-dir to N/ME Arabic Radio Sana'a 1430-1500 on 11860 KWT 250 kW / 070 deg to WeAs Pashto Radio Ashna 1500-1630 on 11860 KWT 250 kW / 070 deg to WeAs Dari Radio Ashna http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/radio-sanaa-vs-radio-ashna-december-21.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11860, Dec 21 at 1435, R. Sana`a with siren sounds, much weaker than usual due to propagation disturbances: ``Solar-terrestrial indices for 20 December follow. Solar flux 117 and estimated planetary A-index 66. The estimated planetary K-index at 1500 UTC on 21 December was 3. Space weather for the past 24 hours has been moderate. Geomagnetic storms reaching the G2 level occurred. Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level occurred.`` [WWV at 1518] At 1437:47, Qur`an starts after several seconds` pause. This is 39 seconds later than yesterday. Recheck of gaisma.com finds today`s sunset times: Aden 1439 UT; Sana`a 1438 UT. 11860 continues weakening, only poor by 1500 today (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rep. Yemen Radio Sanaa, 11860, 1454 21 DEC - SINPO = 15211. No modulation detected, only barely audible carrier. sf117.3, a66, k4, geomag: active. 50kw?, Omni?, bearing 27 . Sangean ATS505 w/MFJ-1020C active antenna used to preselect Magic Wand Antenna hanging indoors on west wall. Received at Las Vegas, United States, 13039 km from transmitter at Riyadh. Local time: 0654 (Rodney Johnson, NV, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Who says it`s Riyadh? The 50 kW unit speculated upon is in Jeddah. Giving precise kilometric distances to sites implies more certainty than is called for (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Rep. Yemen Radio Sanaa 11860, 1459 22 DEC - SINPO = 35333. ?Middle Eastern Language?, middle eastern Mediterranean music with microtonal vocals. 1500z female announcer. QSB=ff. sf122.7, a38, k4, geomag: active. 50kw?, Omni?, bearing 27 . Sangean ATS505 w/MFJ-1020C active antenna used to preselect Magic Wand Antenna hanging indoors on west wall. Received at Las Vegas, United States, 13039KM from transmitter at Riyadh. Local time: 0659 (Rodney Johnson, NV, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rodney, Who exactly says this is from Riyadh? Big sig makes that more likely than Jeddah as Ivo thinx, but does anybody really know?? It might not be Saudi Arabia at all (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Glenn, Shortwave.am reports this. AOKI reports Jeddah. I've previously indicated in my logs that I don't believe that this is 50 kW and perhaps not even from Saudi Arabia at all. If it is in Saudi Arabia I would think it more likely Riyadh because of R. Saudi's 500 kW transmitters there. Do they have them that big in Jeddah? Why would a big dog necessarily come from Jeddah? (Rodney, Dec 24, ibid.) There is no regular registration request read yet on international ITU/HFCC databases for this Sanaa' 11860 shortwave program. There is no reliable source, that brings light on the matter. Aoki Nagoya database entry or Ivo's report are only an 'ESTIMATION'. Is just only a 'estimation' yet by the folks, that rather simple signal is in the 50 kW class, never one of the 500 kW beasts at BSKSA's Riyadh broadcast center. Either is coming from a Riyadh' reserve unit, seen on Google Earth satellite images as horizontal rotatable LPH antennas, - or rather true from Jeddah site in the 50 kW power class. Note to my estimation: all international monitor observations on remote receiving units in the Perseus SDR network in past two weeks, reveal the origin of a maximal 50 kW signal or a limited LPH - log periodic horizontal antenna usage in 7.5 dB gain range. Only poor signals in S=3 ... 5 class yesterday Dec 23 observed in Japan and Europe, - and at present at 02 UT in NJ, MI-US and in Alberta Canada remotes too. wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Thanks for the insights, Wolfgang. If it is indeed only 50 kW it's putting as good or better signal to here than BSKSA. I've never heard a 50 kW transmitter come over the pole so well from so far. Especially since we'd be completely on the back side of the beam (bidirectional beam maybe?). http://swldx.tumblr.com/search/Riyadh 73s (Rodney, Dec 24, ibid.) Wolfy, That`s your point of view, but from Rodney`s and my point of view, no way is 11860 only 50 kW, at least in the 1330-1530~~ period when I am hearing it well (certainly nowhere near that strong at other times, if at all). Optimum beam from Jeddah on the west coast would be about 165 degrees toward Yemen, which might carry on well by longpath to us. From Riyadh, much further east, optimum beam would be circa 190 degrees toward Yemen. Remember there are 4 x 250 kW at Jeddah, so why assume it is 50 kW, and why assume it is Jeddah instead of Riyadh with its several 500 (or 350 kW) units? HFCC shows this sked for 50 kW Jeddah: 03-06 9580 06-17 11855 17-22 9580 and also: 15-18 6130 Are any of these frequencies active? Have not researched but I seem to recall that previous logs of Jeddah 50 kW frequencies had them with modulation or frequency accuracy problems. This 11860 is right on (nearly per wb measurement) and certainly good modulation. Someones closer to the area could get DF fixes on it, but no one who can do that ever reports to us. As I also suggested, it could be leased time from some other major site outside Saudi Arabia. Why not? Why not part of the time if not the whole 24 hours? Could be several different sites, like Denge Kurdistane. Until and unless this is revealed, I suggest that it is misleading to post an exact distance to Riyadh for these logs. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Hi Glenn, I have corrected my Logs and put question marks around all references to Riyadh. I also erroneously reported the bearing to Jeddah (27 ) instead of Riyadh (18 ), of which I have also corrected. I'm using question marks at present because it is my best guess from what I hear compared to BSKSA. It just seems similar modulation (strong, clear) and fading characteristics (some flutter from going over the pole). If I find out something different I'll make the appropriate corrections (again). 73 and happy holidaze! (Rodney, ibid.) Aren't these "Jeddah 50 kW" registrations plain wood, no longer heard already for years? It seems to me that this very circumstance led to the speculations about this being the origin of the 11860 clandestine, because it would mean that the equipment is no longer in use for own BSKSA programming. However, it could also indicate that this equipment no longer exists at all, at least not in operational condition. And the "4 x 250 kW" are a new facility for which so far no signs of it being on air have been reported. Of course it could be in use already for quite some time, running frequencies registered as "RIY". I think it's a rather unlikely scenario that the complete new facility has been put into real programming use with that 11860 service for the first time. And of course the Riyadh shortwave plant could be the origin of 11860 as well. Is the BSKSA shortwave schedule so dense that neither a spare transmitter nor a suitable antenna (this would none of the European / American, African, Asian beams anyway) would be available? I don't think so. As a matter of fact, 11860 is right now (after 0930) in Central Europe very faint. About what one would expect for a 25 metres signal from Saudi Arabia at this time. Thus I see so far no need to consider the possibility that leased capacity abroad could be at work here. What baffles me is something else: Just this 11860 kHz shortwave signal, besides a stream buried deep in some Google application? That's all?? Hard to believe. I suspect that a substantial part of the picture is still missing (Kai Ludwig, Dec 24, ibid.) Also Riyadh 11860 would beam south and it would be interesting to hear, how the strength is in South Africa for example. I checked at 0915 via Qatar Perseus and 11860 kHz was clearly stronger than supposed Riyadh on 9715 kHz. Merry Christmas! (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) 11860, Dec 22 at 1425, R. Sana`a is S9+20, usual bigsig, music with heavy beat, drumming; 1430 I cannot hear any IBB Kuwait QRM starting; 1438:04 Maghrib Qur`an starts, which is 17 seconds later than yesterday, following the sunset in Yemen. Now tnx to the built-in pauses I can barely make out R. Ashna underneath. Noel Green in England says the signals are about equal level there. How much longer will IBB allow these to collide? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Weak signal of Radio Sana'a on December 22 from 1650 on 11860 JED 050 kW / non-dir [sic] to N/ME Arabic: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/weak-signal-of-radio-sanaa-on-december.html (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Dec 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11860, Dec 23 at 1425, usual inspirational music and Arabic talk, lower S8 level but still plenty, cut to Maghrib Qur`an at 1437:57.5, which is 7.5 seconds *earlier* than yesterday, so margin of error? Only now in the pauses can I detect R. Ashna, KUWAIT, still colliding underneath. 1441 onward to yelling and screaming, presumably advocating restoration of the ancien régime [oops: my Collins dixionary does not list any ``regime`` in either language!] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Clandestine: 11860, 12/23 1841-1855 Radio Sana´a, Jeddah [sic], in Arabic. Traditional Arabic song; OM talks; fair signal and poor modulation, 35332 (DXer José Ronaldo Xavier (JRX), Cabedelo - Brazil, Degen DE1103 / Tecsun S-2000, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) The modulation is never ``poor`` when heard here in the 1330-1530 period --- so different site at 1841-1855??? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Radio Sanaa copied today - S9 plus and very clear audio at 1335z tune in (thanks to Glenn Hauser for his tip). OM in unknown language (Arabic?) ranting & raving. Couldn't stay at the dials too long - had to get to work. Merry Christmas to all, (Rich, Near Chicago, IL, Ray, Drake R8 and Wellbrook 1530 at 28', Dec 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 5915, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation – Lusaka, 2154-2158*, Dec 13. man announcer with brief talk followed by tribal vocals until carrier was terminated. No chance for an ID. Poor to fair. [+ same] 0323-0407, Dec 14, tribal vocals and drums music followed by a man announcer with talk in local language. More group tribal songs until 0359 ID by a woman announcer and news. Back to music at 0405. Poor to fair. Again *0247-0254, Dec 15, noted with familiar Fisheagle IS followed by choral anthem at 0250 before a man announcer with opening ID and announcements. Poor (Rich D'Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. 6015, Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation - Dole, 0313- 0410, Dec 14. man announcer with Swahili language talks, some local music and vocals. Re-tuned around 0400 to catch ID and news ready by a man announcer. Signal was poor and needed lower side band to clear mess on 6020 kHz. However, improved significantly to poor to fair for 0400 news. Quite pleased to finally log Zanzibar on this channel. Again, *0254-0420, Dec 15, man talking over rhythmic instrumental music with 5+1 time pips at 0300 followed by a woman announcer with Swahili language ID for “Dar es Salaam” and opening announcements. Man with recitation an then another man with a long talk. Woman announcer with news at 0330. At 0400 drums, time pips and woman announcer with ID. Fair signal with splatter from CRI on 6020 kHz required LSB (Rich D’Angelo, December 20, 2015: French Creek State Park DXpedition No. 49 (December 13, 14 and 15, 2015); Equipment: Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX-340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 783.00, Dec 23 at 0409, JBA carrier on this TA-split frequency, likely MAURITANIA, if they are on all-night, and WRTH 2016 says they are; 50 kW. Checked some other 9-kHz Eurafrican channels in the 600s and 700s, but nothing else (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1309.74, 0051 December 19, 2015. Big het always present in darkness on the channel, looping roughly SSW/NNE and frequency approximate. Domestic? (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, NRD- 535, IC-R75, roof dipole, active loop u.o.s., Clearwater, FL u.o.s., DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4870, Dec 17 at 1327, carrier cutting off and on and off until 1328*, vs a much weaker carrier slightly on lo side. Suspect the first one is AIR Kingsway, INDIA, attempting to start the Nepali hour as scheduled; don`t know if they kept trying and stayed on later; and the lower one RRI Wamena, always reported off-low (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5931.0-CW, Dec 17 at 1334, S4 not-hand-keyed message with lots of numbers but not exclusively numbers, continuously past 1338. Never heard any DE to try to copy an ID. INTRUDER (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5982.623 ??? UNID 50 Hertz tone carrier, hit heavily the adjacent ALBANIA CRI Arabic from Cerrik relay site, S=9+25dB backlobe (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, logs at 0555-0645 UT Dec 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6035.02 approx., Dec 17 at 1343, today I have one VP carrier here, so will not hazard a guess whether it`s Bhutan or Shangri-La. Ron Howard followed up: Hi Glenn, I suggest checking BBS/Bhutan again today (Dec 17), as it's Bhutan's "National Day" and BBS might have an extended schedule and special programs. Worth checking! Thanks very much to Sei-ichi Hasegawa for the alert about their "National Day"! https://anydayguide.com/calendar/2750 Ron`` [but later:] ``Hi Glenn, Sorry to say I tuned in 6034.95, on Dec 17 at 1131 through subsequent checking till 1314 and ONLY heard PBS Yunnan, with fairly decent reception. No hint of BBS. Disappointed! Maybe they had been out celebrating all day, hi. Ron`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDentified. Station with powerful signal was noted on December 17 from 1515 on 6175 Turkish and English, suddenly off air at 1517 UT: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/unidentified-station-with-powerful.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. (Voice of China?) 7270, 1456 20 DEC - UNID (VOICE OF CHINA -CLANDESTINE?). SINPO = 15411. ?Chinese?, female announcer. carrier s/off at 1500z (precisely, but didn’t hear pips because of QSB). Checked CNR1 // 9530 which had male announcer, no modulation heard on 7365 and 6125 (So not CNR1). QSB=moderate rate, modulation on noisy carrier only very occasionally above noise floor. sf120.6, a12, k5, geomag: minor storm. 100kw(?), beamAz 325 (?), bearing 310 (?). Sangean ATS505 w/Kaito KA33 active loop in west facing window. Received at Las Vegas, United States, 11015 km from transmitter at Taipei (Pali). Local time: 0656 -- (Rodney Johnson, NV, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7270, Dec 22 at 1407, poor signal with talk, maybe Chinese but not sure; not // 7365 or 7385 which are CNR1 (7365 not a jammer, 7385 a jammer), altho possibly could be way out of synch with 7270, which is losing out by 1417. Question is whether this is Voice of China clandestine via Taiwan, or PBS Nei Menggu in Mongolian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CHINA [non] UNIDentified. Station with Arabic music, December 21: 1100-1110 on 9600 unknown tx site, test tone 1000 Hz 1110-1116 on 9600 unknown tx site, non-stop Ar music http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/unidentified-station-with-arabic-music.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDentified. Two stations as observed on December 23: 0910-0915 on 9600 unknown tx site non-stop Arabic music 0910-0915 on 9600 unknown tx site DRM mode, very strong http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2015/12/two-unidentified-stations-on-9600-khz.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. U S A. 10000, Dec 19 at 2049, WWV has been taken over by the NWS! Something`s haywire. Typical NOAA Weather Radio local info for central Missouri! Doesn`t even pause for WWV time announcement just before 2151:00, but overrides it, generally much louder modulation. Mentions Columbia, Jefferson City, California, Springfield, Joplin; local conditions for Columbia. Back to WWV control starting at 2052. Meanwhile I quickly checked the other WWV frequencies, 2500, 5000, 15000 all of which were much weaker, and did *not* hear this override. I keep listening to hear any more of this SNAFU. Ops normal including WWV`s regular oceanic weather info at 2108-2111, but then NOAA takes over again until 2112, back again at 2113-2114+ but stops before the pre-2115 WWV announcement. Nothing more till an hour later than my first observation, 2148-2152: altho there are some interruptions in NWS, not coordinated with anything WWV is saying, again overriding the pre-2151 time announcement. Now includes current 3:49 pm Central timecheck, partial ID as from somewhere in Missouri, 162.425 MHz, operated from NWS St Louis for central Missouri, site on a tower at Jamestown (which is halfway between Columbia and California; NW of Jeff. City). Again, not on the other WWV frequencies, just 10000. I don`t hear any beat, but possibly this is not the WWV 10000 kHz transmitter, rather from something else. Why isn`t it affecting the other WWV frequencies?? Altho I ran across this myself, there was a previous report of such last week, at a different time in an hour: ``10000, WWV, 1535 and 1538. SINFO=3,3,5,3,3, this one is almost beyond belief, between the WWV minute announcements I heard the NOAA weather forecast for central Missouri including Jefferson City, the Kaito 1103 and its telescoping antenna. Someone please explain this one to me! 12/11 (John Davis, Columbus OH, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD)`` If WWV is doing this, automation must be accessing a VERY WRONG source, no human noticing! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 10000, Dec 20 at 1748-1752, checking WWV for NOAA Weather Radio override, during an hourpart when this previously happened, but no sign of it, just silent ticking until toning resumes at 1752. (WWVH 15000 had North Pacific weather in the 1750-1752 minutes). Shortly after publishing my previous report, I copied it to wwv@nist.gov and asked, Please explain this, but no reply. This one goes to them next. Now it`s obvious that NWS is NOT coming out of the WWV (or WWVH) transmitter: 10000, Dec 21 at 1419 tune-in, a bit of strong NWS stops, leaving a weak WWVH audible and WWV even weaker JBA. At 1429 NOAA Weather Radio for central Missouri resumes, with St Louis ID, and is about S8, way stronger than either NIST signal, and furthermore is on USB only (plus carrier? no LSB). This segment keeps going until 1432, including during tonal WWVH period. A few words cut on briefly before 1436. Back to NWS at 1439 with weather history, total precip for the year in Jefferson City, etc. By 1450 the WWV signal is building up to normal strong day level. I keep monitoring until 1517 but no more NWS interruptions, which would certainly be audible whenever they recur, evidently at totally random times. Remonitoring later catches some more NWS interruptions as in clips below. So what`s going on? Obviously WWV is the victim of this interference, not the inadvertent cause. It could be 1) some USB automated transmitter, maybe a USCG or commercial coastal station, which is mistuned, defaulting to an `even` frequency like 10000 (but Central MO is hardly coastal, not a normal source to be relayed anywhere on SW). Is anyone familiar with such transmitters defaulting like this? But no signs of any IDs other than NOAA Weather Radio for central Missouri. OR 2) some deliberate QRM by anyone with a USB transmitter, probably but not necessarily in range of the central-MO NOAA Weather Radio VHF transmitter to relay. That`s pretty close to here for such a good signal on 10 MHz; could be further, more appropriate skip distance. NOAA Weather Radio roster for Missouri shows this is the one: Jamestown | Prairie Home | KWN55 | 162.425 | 1000 | Weldon Spring, MO http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/coverage/stations.php?State=MO Jamestown is the site name; Prairie Home is the transmitter name; 1000 is the power; and WFO is the weather forecast office (announcements heard say this originates in St Louis, but Weldon Springs is a western suburb of it). And here`s its coverage map, at times much greater! http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/coverage/site2.php?State=MO&Site=KWN55 Some clips recorded Dec 21, clearly showing how this mixes/overrides WWV. We had to rush and grab a phone rather than proper patch cord setup. If you hear California mentioned, that`s a town in central MO. Note that NWS weather segments usually end with a beep and silence, not what you would expect on their own continuous 162 MHz broadcasts. I expect they can be accessed online as well. 1, [2:43 duration] extended forecast, independent fading, mixed with WWVH 1432 & 1433 timechecks; WWV not or hardly audible yet: http://www.w4uvh.net/WWV-KWN55-1.mp3 2, [1:43] WWV time at 1549, NWS forecast, pauses, resumes with conditions, WWV time at 1550: http://www.w4uvh.net/WWV-KWN55-2.mp3 3, [4:14] WWV time at 1559, NWS, 1600 WWV full ID on hour; NWS resumes at 2:06 into clip, ends with beep, WWV ID: http://www.w4uvh.net/WWV-KWN55-3.mp3 4, [4:35] WWV tone stops, NWS starts, WWV at 1608, starts own North Atlantic Weather while NWS mixes, more at 1609, 1610 to 1611 when WWV tone starts, NWS continues mixing underneath; WWV at 1612, now with tone while NWS has stopped: http://www.w4uvh.net/WWV-KWN55-4.mp3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 10000, no further KWN55 QRM to WWV noted Dec 22 or 23, tho I made only a few sporadic chex. On Dec 23 around 1430, not even WWVH or WWV audible on 10000, but 9980 WWCR BS blasting in and desensitizing receivers. FCC should never have allowed them even that close to WWV, altho beyond the `protected` SF band. WWV back up to VG level at 1511. Meanwhile, replies to my previous reports: (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Thanks for your email, and your report of the interference on WWV, 10 MHz. We've heard from a number of listeners about this interference issue. The FCC has been contacted and they are investigating. Sincerely, (Glenn Nelson, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Radio Stations WWV/WWVB, Dec 21 to gh, via DXLD) We had some US Military SIGNIT [SIGINT?] recently with both local AWOS & NOAA WX broadcasts on 7714.1 USB. Might be something along that line, with 10 MHz accidentally plugged into a frequency set (Jack L. Metcalfe - Stanford, KY, Software Radio Laboratory QS1R (x2) & RFSpace Cloud-IQ SDRs, Icom IC-R8500, Icom IC-R75 (x2), Icom IC-R5, Uniden BCD996T, BCD996XT, AOR AR8200, 342' Long Wire & 131' Inverted L Sloper HF Antennas, SAMCO SAM-360 Yagi, Kreco D-150AN & GP-151AN VHF/UHF Antennas, Dec 21, UDXF yg via DXLD) SIGINT involves RECEIVING signals, not transmitting anything; Electronic Warfare involves transmitting and jamming. I am a former Navy CTM (William Knight, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jack, heard the same thing yesterday here in NNJ, very strong signal. When heard this I went to shut off the VHF rig and did a "Duh??" moment when I saw it was already off. Took a few moments for my feeble brain to comprehend that the signal was on top of WWV. Made me laugh though (Paul, Dec 21, UDXF yg via DXLD) I heard this last night, and when the NOAA WX station was on WWV's audio it also sounded like a phone ringing. And every time the NOAA audio ended with a beep. I tried hearing where the NOAA station said the tower was located but that part was pretty rough copy; conditions weren't that great last night. Any time I can't hear WWV on 10 MHz with good levels means propagation is pretty poor. When I heard it, I was adjusting the frequency calibration on my SDR dongle using WWV, and thought the dongle or my HF upconverter was screwing up. The audio started right after I had clicked to move the frequency up a bit. Our local weather station is just a few miles away, but it usually uses the female "Misty" voice. – (Tom Sevart N2UHC, St. Paul, KS, Dec 21, UDXF yg via DXLD) Now 2224z near Chicago, something on USB (only) mixing with WWV on 10 MHz. "Iron Mike" type voice, typical of NWS on VHF but can't quite make it out. Sounds like a looped recording. Will stay tuned (Rich, Near Chicago, Ray, Drake R8 and Wellbrook 1530 at 28', Dec 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have a possible explanation: About 20 years ago I was involved in a similar situation. One of my customers, Bellcore, set-up a nationwide HF network of 100 and 1000W HF transceivers for disaster recovery. They programmed channels on one or more of their radios to WWV for time/frequency checks. One of the radios had some kind of a power or remote control glitch and went by itself to 10 MHz and became continuously keyed down with an open carrier! Since their drills were only once a month or so, this condition went on for days (or weeks?) until someone complained and the FCC tracked it down. Bellcore was contacted and it was promptly turned off. We could never track down exactly why it happened but Bellcore made sure that in the future that WWV was programmed as a receive-only channel! I can speculate that a similar situation is how the currently offending radio is on 10 MHz but that certainly doesn't explain the NWS audio. However, I suppose there could be an open microphone at the location picking up NWS coming from another radio? I listened to the recordings and it seems there may be some other noise in the background, which could give some credence to this theory. Certainly today there are hundreds of commercial/gov't HF radios out there that could potentially create this situation. However, most of them are now in the ALE (Automatic Link Establishment) mode constantly sounding their frequencies. The FCC doesn't have the resources they had 20 years ago so it may take them a lot longer to locate the transmitter! (Bob LaRose, San Diego CA, Dec 22, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glen[n], Others may have not caught it but there has been a station on 5000 kHz frequency of WWV from time to time for at least the last week. It's weak but it is there. We thought it was an issue with the vintage receiver we were using but checked it on our newer radios and it was there also. In addition yesterday for a time there was also a station with WWV on 15000. It's not WWVH we are hearing, this we hear are people talking and at times music. Regards (Thomas Dorman, Dec 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Music on standard frequencies could be the Italian faux-time station ``Italcable`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 12065, UNID Location. Test transmission, 1415-1419*, Dec 14. John Figliozzi caught this while looking for Radio Australia. Test transmission announcements over instrumental music. The test transmission closed with the final announcements: “You are listening to a test transmission. Please e-mail your reception reports to testtransmission@gmail.com.” The station broadcast transmission carrier was terminated revealing Radio Australia weakly in the background. Pretty good signal (Rich D’Angelo, December 20, 2015: French Creek State Park DXpedition No. 49 (December 13, 14 and 15, 2015); Equipment: Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX-340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 20 via DXLD) It`s BaBcoCk, as I also reported it (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 15150 MYSTERY --- I am in the midst of typing my logs from the weekend's DXpedition, and I came across this in my notes; any ideas? Unknownia: 15150 UNID / AWR via Trincomalee (VERY Tent!) with English Indian accented OM talking politics mentioning India, “Labour Party” and “Islam”. NOT typical of AWR programming, and they are supposed to be in Cambodian at this time, so --- Is this India? They are also not scheduled for this time, and aren’t listed as using this frequency. It was NOT Romania on late, and nothing else is listed as English on this channel, and the audio was just too down in the mud to really make things out: 25332 and slowly fading. 1305-1320 by which time it was unusable. 13/Dec (Kenneth V Zichi, MARE Brighton MI DXpedition, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. FMBC: 87.9, Midland MI, Xmas Music Pirate; 12 Noon, 14- Dec; Different singing non-ID as "Radio One". I've heard Hallmark Channel promos here a few times. The pop music pirate was dead air/transmitter hum (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, MARE Tisphet 18 Dec via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ACKNOWLEDGED ON WORLD OF RADIO 1805: Thanks to Gerald T Pollard, Raleigh NC, for a generous quarterly seasonal check in the mail to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED FUTURELY: Thanks to Fred Jodry, Demarest NJ, for a PMO in the p-mail to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702. Hi Glenn, thank you for all your hard work on WOR, I'm ashamed to report that this is my first donation after many years of enjoyable listening and reading. 73s for 2016 (Mike, Bournemouth, England, Terry, in GBP via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) In recognition of your key role in keeping the DX hobby alive (Dan Goldfarb, England, with a contribution in GBP via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) Thanks to Will Martin, St Louis MO, for a generous check to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 (and for re-renewing a subscription to The Week) Dear Glenn, Please accept this long-overdue gesture of appreciation for your hard work in continuing to compile and distribute DXLD, despite all the changes in our wonderful hobby. I wish ou a happy and healthy 2016! Vy 73 de (Anne Fanelli, Elma NY, Dec 21, with a check to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702) Keep up the good work! (Henning Vahlbruch, Germany with a contribution in US$ via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) Dear Glenn Hauser, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May the new year bring you happiness! I have known about your DX'ing since I was a child. Best wishes, (Tomoaki Wagai, Wakayama, Japan) I read, with great interest, your recent data regarding your finds in the 2 MHz region with marine broadcasts. You have a unique way of inspiring us to seek and discover. I really appreciate your work. Thanks for listening (Karl Zuk, Katonah, NY near NYC, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ GREAT LAKES AND MISSISSIPPI RIVER MARINE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS Here is an interesting site covering the inland marine communication systems for the Great Lakes and Mississippi River: http://www.imradioha.org/Great_Lakes.htm (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Dec 20 via DXLD) ILGRadio database Dear Glen[n], the new files of ILGRadio are now available: http://www.ilgradio.com/ A lot of changes were made and I hope you will like it. Again the number of data sets are nearly looking the same, but a few thousands entries replaced by new up-to-data data in the UTILITY range! ILG is available since 1983 and is quite popular among short wave listeners around the world. It you will like it please put a link to ilgradio.com on your web page. Please write also for any questions or suggestions. May I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Regards, Bernd Friedewald (DK9FI) ----------------------------------------------------------- The master source for serious short wave listeners: - the most up-to-date database in the world - broadcasting or UTILITY stations - everything is here - accurate in its detail - entries checked by regular bandscans - you can identify nearly each signal at once - easy to handle and to read - various formats for popular receiver software available - absolute low in price - test it out to talk about ====================================================== This is the International Listening Guide The real and original = the second to none short wave database of the world incl. stations between 2-30 MHz We are promoting short wave listening our web pages ====================================================== ILG Software & BFM Internet-Vertriebs GmbH P.O. Box 11 12, D-34567 Homberg, Germany http://www.ilgradio.com/ E-Mail Contact: http://ilgradio.com/contact.html ====================================================== (Bernd Friedewald, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You may be wondering what this cost? For B-15 season info, 10 Euro; B- 15 and A-16, 15 Euro. This gets you a password for access (gh, DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ AILMENTS UNIQUE TO DXERS One of the things that sets MARE apart from other DX groups is that we have NEVER been accused of taking ourselves too seriously. An email exchange as Harold and I compared notes from the DXpedition illustrates this. While discussing some of the 'whoopses' we made, it occurred to us that we've been missing a 'list opportunity': You know, as we get grayer, it is quite common that we start to have health issues. This is true of DXers just as with others, but as we discovered at the DXpedition, the forms of illness DXers have can be a bit different. This all started when Harold mistook a "B" in a beacon for a "D" ... he missed a dit ... which led to the 'diagnosis' of a 'slipped dit', and the creative silliness just sort of took off from there. This is a work in progress, but so far we've discovered the following ailments unique to DXers: -Slipped Dit: An ailment common among LW Beacon DXers -PTID (Past Time for an ID): A condition affecting MW DXers -Spanish Tongan Flu: A now rare bug once found on 5030 kHz -Erectile Dysfuncton: A condition resulting from guy wires failing (see below!) -Incapacitance: Insufficient bladder capacity to wait for an ID -Rigor Morse: Tightening of the fingers from copying fast CW -TriskaDXaphobia: Fear of DXing the 22 meter band We're sure there are others. What have YOU contracted lately? :) (Ken Zichi, MARE Tipsheet Dec 18 via DXLD) MUSEA +++++ 1923 CHRISTMAS RADIO TIMES AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD "Christmas is all about giving, and we'd like to offer you the chance to download the first Christmas issue. It's a fascinating document and we hope you will enjoy it. Happy Christmas from BBC Genome!" Blog post here http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/genome/entries/dbd2cfd7-f32c-4138-90fd- fd25e94e3694 Posted by: (Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See GUAM; UK; UNIDENTIFIED 9600 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB See GERMANY ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See USA: 870, 1080 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See DOMINICAN REPUBLIC; MEXICO ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ REPORT ABOUT MARINE UTILITY STATIONS STILL ACTIVE ON 2182 KHZ Heard and QSLed, illustrated, from CANARY ISLANDS, MALLORCA, ROMANIA, BJØRN ISLAND, GREENLAND, POLAND, ICELAND, SCOTLAND. See original Norwegian, archived starting on page 12 at http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect.php?http://www.hard-core-dx.com/swb/1839.pdf (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: UTILITY på 2182 kHz Det å monitorere 2182 kHz kan mange ganger være veldig givende. Den 22. november ble en annonsering av kulingvarsel fra Las Palmas Radio på Canary islands hørt i Komagvær. God styrke på signalen, og en rapport med opptak ble sent til den e-postadresse som står listet i 2014/15 utgaven av Admirality's List of Radio Signals. Nå viste det seg at stasjonen har byttet eier/operatør og min epost "stusset". Hva gjøre? Well, sente en e-post til MRCC i Las Palmas, og noen time etterpå så kommer svar fra "Controlador" ved Hoved-MRCC i Madrid. Ikke noe navn, men "Controlador" forteller at samme kvelden som jeg hørte Las Palmas radio hadde man blitt ringt opp av MRCC Gris Nez i Nordfrankrike - og de hadde tatt emot akkurat samme annonsering, ved akkurat samme tidspunkt som jeg gjort I Komagvær! Han forteller videre, at allerede da hadde de blitt forbauset over hvor langt en MF- signal egentlig rekker... Og så kommer da min rapport fra langt nord i Skandinavien! "Controlador" bekreftet rapporten min, og lovde også å sende den videre til korrekt e-postadresse ved Las Palmas radio, så her venter vi med spenning! Nesten antydning til "Utility-QSL-flom" i dag (9/12). Nå kom QSL på min rapport til Palma radio (Mallorca) som ble avlyttet i Komagvær den 2. november. v/s José Benitez på CCR Valencia forteller at man bruker en sender fra Rhode & Schwarz på 1 KW som er lokalisert i Marratxí, Palma de Mallorca Island. Senderen kjøres remote fra Cellnex Maritime Communications Center i Valencia. Utility-spalten må jo få et bidrag i ny og ne. Mottok akkurat QSL fra Bjørnøya Meteo, som alt som oftest høres fint her på 2182 kHz og arbeidsfrekvensen 1757 kHz. v/s Raymond Sellevold hilset og ønsket meg og personellet på Vardø radio en God Jul og et Godt Nytt År. Regner med at jeg kan formidle denne hilsen slik at den også omfatter gjengen i DXLC. Har for øvrig pøst på med en hel del utility-rapporter i dag, så vi får se om det kommer noe mer på den fronten. Constantsa Radio --- For BC-DX:ere er vel staden Constantsa ved kysten av Sortehavet mest kjent for Radio Romania sin lokalsender, som ofte høres på 1530 kHz. Men, her fins også kystradiostasjonen Constanta Radio, som iblandt høres med annonseringer på 2182 kHz. Den 20. november hørtes Constanta radio hos meg i Komagvær med flott styrke, og en rapport med opptak gikk I veg i går om formiddagen. I dag om morgenen kom svar fra Duty Operator som bekreftet med en hyggelig e- post og det flotte elektroniske QSL-kortet her nede. Duty Operator fortalte at lytterrapporter faktisk fortsatt er viktige, da de gir stasjonen en bekreftelse på hvor godt utstyret deres faktisk virker. Jeg fikk også tilsent meg et bilde på operatøren som hadde vakt når jeg hørte stasjonen, en pen ung dame ved navn Corina - men det bildet holder jeg for meg selv :) Aasiaat radio på vestkysten av Grønland høres av og til med gode signaler på 2182 khz, og gir også en god indikering på kondisjoner mot NA. Jeg hørte Aasiaat ute i Komagvær om kvelden den 7. november, og sente en rapport med opptak for noen dager siden. I går kveld kom en hyggelig e-post fra Bo Mogensen på stasjonen. Han bekreftet rapporten min, og skrev også at det kommer et QSL-kort på ekte papir med posten. Han forteller også at han minnes Vardø radio fra de gode gamle dager, hva han nu mente med det - we're still around Witowo Radio ved kysten av Østersjøen, er den siste kystradiostasjonen i Polen. Hørtes med meget god signal på 2182 kHz i Komagvær den 25.11. og en rapport med opptak for et par dager siden. Meget tidlig i dag morres kom svar i form av en hyggelig e-post og det digitale QSL- kortet her nede. Man forteller at stasjonen har fått skiftet ut alle sendere og mottakere i 2014, og at man nå har topp modern utstyr. Uteffekten på MF er 1 KW, noe som er standard for de fleste kystradiostasjoner. I tillegg er det også kommet e-post-QSL fra Icelandic Coast Guard radio / Reykjavik og Valentia Coast Guard Radio. Begge hørt på 2182 kHz i november. Det å få QSL på en søndag er vel ganske sjeldent, tenker jeg. Men, i går skjedde det. George Downie, som er Senior Maritime Operations Officer på Aberdeen Coastguard svarte på min rapport til stasjonen med en trivelig e-post, og det flotte e-QSL kortet her nede. George skriver: "It is always nice to receive these reports from all round the world but as far as I know your report is from the furthest north we have had yet." Han lovde også å sende QSL-kort via klassisk sneilepost! Hyggelig! (Hans Östnell via Facebook DX-LISTENERS' CLUB, via SW Bulletin Dec 20 via DXLD) Hvis det er folk der ute i det ganske land, som driver med Utility-DX og som trenger hjelp med veriesigners og e-postadresser til "vansklige" stasjoner, send meg gjerne et PM, så skal jeg etter beste evne prøve å hjelpe til. Har jo i jobben min tilgang til lister og referanselitteratur som de fleste DX:ere ikke har. God helg, alle! /HR (Hans Östnell, ibid.) Kunde inte låta bli att visa HR's uppmaning och fina QSL från ett område som sällan täcks i våra bulletiner. Kan kanske inspirera för lyssning på något annat nu när övriga stationer sakta men säkert försvinner från KV. /TN (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, ed., ibid.) and here`s the Google translation, slightly improved by gh: UTILITY on 2182 kHz The monitoring 2182 kHz can sometimes be very rewarding. On 22 November, an announcement of gale warning from Las Palmas Radio at Canary islands heard in Komagvær. Good strength at sign cubits, and a report recording was sent to the email address that is listed in the 2014/15 edition of the Admiralty's List of Radio Signals. Now it turned out that the station has changed the owner / operator and my email "taken aback". What to do? Well, sent e-mail MRCC in Las Palmas, and some time afterwards so get answers from "CONTROLADORA" at Main MRCC Madrid. No name, but "CONTROLADORA" says that same evening that I heard Las Palmas radio had one been called by MRCC Gris Nez in northern France - and they had taken emot exactly the same advertising, at exactly the same time as I did In Komagvær! He says further, that already they had been amazed how far an MF signal actually ranks ... And then when my report from the far north of Scandinavia! "CONTROLADORA" confirmed my report, and promised also to send it on to the correct email address by Las Palmas radio, so here we are waiting with excitement! Almost hint of "Utility QSL flood" today (9/12). Now came QSL on my report to Palma radio (Mallorca), which was bugged in Komagvær on 2 November. v/s José Benitez in CCR Valencia says that using a transmitter from Rhode & Schwarz 1 KW which is located in Marratxí, Palma de Mallorca Island. The transmitter runs remoteness from Cellnex Maritime Communications Center in Valencia. Utility gap has to make a contribution in a while. Just received QSL from Bjørnøya Meteo, as everything usually sounds fine here on 2182 kHz and operating frequency 1757 kHz. v/s Raymond Sellevold greeted and welcomed me and the staff at Vardø radio Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Guess I can convey this greeting so that it also covers gang in DXLC. Has also poured in with a lot of utility reports today, so we'll see if it comes any more on that front. Constantsa Radio --- For BC-DX: ere is well page Constantsa the shore of the Black Sea known for Radio Romania's local transmitter, which often heard on 1530 kHz. However, here are also coastal radio station Radio Constantsa, which among sounds with announcements on 2182 kHz. On November 20, sounded Constantsa radio with me Komagvær with great strength, and a report of recording went in road yesterday about noon. Today morning came an answer from Duty Operator who confirmed with a nice e-mail and the great electronic QSL card below. Duty Operator told that listens reports indeed still are important, as they give the station a confirmation of how well their equipment actually works. I also got tilsent me an image of the operator who was on duty when I heard the station, a pretty young woman named Corina - but the image I keep for myself :) Aasiaat radio on the west coast of Greenland sounds sometimes with good signals on 2182 Khz and also provides a good indication of conditions against NA. I heard Aasiaat out in Komagvær evening on November 7, and sent a report by recording a few days ago. Yesterday evening a nice email from Bo Mogensen at the station. He confirmed my report, and also wrote that there comes a QSL card on real paper record. He also says that he recalls Vardø radio from the good old days, what he now thought about it - we're still around. Witowo Radio on the shore of the Baltic Sea, the last coastal radio station in Poland. Sounded with very good signal on 2182 kHz in the Komagvær 25.11. and a report of footage for a couple of days ago. Very early in the day this morning came the answers in the form of a nice e-mail and digital QSL card below. One tells that the drive has been replaced all transmitters and receivers in 2014, and that it now has top modern equipment. Output power at MF is 1 KW, which is standard for most coastal stations. In addition, it also emerged email QSL from Icelandic Coast Guard radio / Reykjavik and Valentia Coast Guard Radio. Both heard on 2182 kHz in November. It getting QSL on a Sunday is all quite rare, I think. However, yesterday it happened. George Downie, who is Senior Maritime Operations Officer at Aberdeen Coastguard responded to my report to the station with a nice e-mail, and the beautiful e-QSL card below. George writes: "It is always nice to the receive These reports from all round the world but as far as I know your report is from the furthest north we have had yet." He promised also to send QSL card via classical sneilepost! Nice! (Hans Östnell via Facebook DX Listeners' CLUB, via SW Bulletin December 20 via DXLD) If there are people out there in the entire country, which is engaged Utility DX and who need help with veriesigners and e-mail addresses of "difficult" stations, send me a PM and I'll best efforts to try to help. Hath my job access lists and reference literature as most DXers not have. Good weekend, everyone! / HR (Hans Östnell, ibid.) [from Swedish:] Could not help but show HR's invitation and fine QSL from an area that is rarely covered in our bulletins. Can perhaps inspire on listening to something else now when other stations are slowly but surely disappearing from SW / TN (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, ed., ibid.) ALL-MODE 1 KHZ TO 1.7 GHZ SDR RECEIVER Flipping thru the January 2016 QST and, beginning on page 30, there's "All-Mode 1 kHz to 1.7 GHz SDR Receiver" by James Forkin, WA3TFS. Very interesting. Includes construction details. $10 to $15 for the dongle and some parts one has the ability to create a decent SDR. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Dec 18, NRC-AM via DXLD) I have not made the converter yet but I have been using the SDR in its VHF mode. It is very sensitive and selective. I have logged 124 different FM broadcasters to date. I have also used it to downlink and convert 138 MHz weather satellite photographs. A lot of fun for the $15 ebay investment! (Dave - AA1JM, ibid.) RADIO BROADCASTING REMOTE PICKUP PIONEER GEORGE MARTI ARRL December 17, 2015 http://www.arrl.org/news/radio-broadcasting-remote-pickup-pioneer-george-marti-w5glj-sk George Marti, W5GLJ, who pioneered and manufactured remote pick-up (RPU) technology to allow radio stations to originate broadcasts away from the studio wirelessly — and lobbied the FCC to authorize its use — died on December 13 at age 95. Marti lived in Cleburne, Texas, where he had served as mayor for 12 years. A radio station owner himself, he developed his first RPU unit to broadcast local high school football games back to the studio, bypassing the use of expensive and sometimes unreliable telephone lines. His company, Marti Electronics, also developed and sold studio- transmitter link (STL) equipment. An early Marti RPU is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. A radio amateur since his teens and a US Marines veteran, Marti also was a cattle fancier, banker, and philanthropist. He sold Marti Electronics in 1994 to Broadcast Electronics. In 1991, the National Association of Broadcasters honored Marti with its Radio Engineering Achievement Award. In 2010, the Texas Association of Broadcasters awarded Marti its Lifetime Achievement Award; he also was inducted in 2002 into the Texas Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) GOVERNMENT CELL PHONE SURVEILLANCE CATALOG https://theintercept.com/document/2015/12/17/government-cellphone-surveillance-catalogue/ https://theintercept.com/2015/12/17/a-secret-catalogue-of-government-gear-for-spying-on-your-cellphone/ The Intercept obtained the catalogue from a source within the intelligence community concerned about the militarization of domestic law enforcement. A few of the devices can house a “target list” of as many as 10,000 unique phone identifiers. Most can be used to geolocate people, but the documents indicate that some have more advanced capabilities, like eavesdropping on calls and spying on SMS messages. Two systems, apparently designed for use on captured phones, are touted as having the ability to extract media files, address books, and notes, and one can retrieve deleted text messages. Above all, the catalogue represents a trove of details on surveillance devices developed for military and intelligence purposes but increasingly used by law enforcement agencies to spy on people and convict them of crimes (via Mike Peraaho, Dec 20, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Any one notice that frequencies above 11 MHz up to 20 MHz have opened up? Been noticing the frequencies have really opened up from 11 MHz on up to 20 MHz, really have blown wide open since around 19 UT. Stations, beacons showing up all over the bands. Any one noticing this or are we just in a hot. Haven't seen this much activity across these bands in a long time. This is crazy cool! Regards (Thomas Dorman, 2029 UT Dec 20, dxldyg via DXLD) Unfortunately his post was delayed :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2015 Dec 21 0423 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 14 - 20 December 2015 Solar activity was at low levels. The period was dominated by low to mid-level C-class flare activity from a number of active regions, the largest of which was a C6/1f flare at 16/0903 UTC from Region 2468 (S15, L=128, class/area=Dao/120 on 10 Dec). Region 2468 was the most productive region on the visible disk throughout the summary period, however, an unnumbered region behind the northeast limb produced multiple mid-level C-class flares within quick succession and caused a slow increase in the background GOES-15 x-ray flux late in the period. Two asymmetrical full-halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were observed in SOHO/LASCO C2 coronagraph imagery on 16 Dec. The first CME was observed in C2 imagery beginning at 16/0924 UTC and was associated with the C6/1F flare mentioned above. The second CME, associated with a filament eruption, was first observed in coronagraph imagery at 16/1436 UTC. Both CMEs were determined to be Earth-directed and arrived at Earth late on 19 Dec. See the geomagnetic summary below for further information on this event. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels on 14 Dec and 19 Dec with moderate levels observed throughout the remainder of the period. Geomagnetic field activity reached active to G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels late on 14 Dec and early on 15 Dec due to the influence of a corotating interaction region followed by the onset of a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Isolated active field conditions were observed early on 16 Dec and again late on 17 Dec due to weak substorming. The CMEs from 16 Dec presumably merged in the interplanetary medium and impacted the Earth at 19/1528 UTC. During the passage of the interplanetary shock, solar wind parameters aboard the ACE spacecraft became suddenly enhanced. Total field strength values initially increased from 5 nT to 17 nT and the Bz component went strongly southward shortly after the initial shock passage. The prolonged period of southward magnetic field (-Bz) associated with the passage of the 16 Dec CMEs caused periods of active conditions late on 19 Dec and active to G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels on 20 Dec. G2 storm conditions were observed between 20/0300-0600 UTC and 20/1500-2359 UTC. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 21 DEC 2015 - 16 JAN 2016 Solar activity is expected to be low throughout the period with a chance for M-class flares (R1-R2 (Minor-Moderate) Radio Blackouts) on 21 Dec through 03 Jan to the increased flare activity from an unnumbered region behind the east limb. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal levels on 21-27 Dec, moderate levels on 31 Dec-02 Jan, and 14-16 Jan. High flux levels are expected on 28-30 Dec and 03-13 Jan. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at active to G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels early on 21 Dec due to the waning effects of the 16 Dec coronal mass ejections. G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms are likely on 02, 06, and 10 Jan due to the influence of recurrent coronal hole high speed streams. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2015 Dec 21 0423 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 2015-12-21 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2015 Dec 21 120 35 6 2015 Dec 22 120 10 3 2015 Dec 23 115 5 2 2015 Dec 24 105 8 3 2015 Dec 25 100 12 3 2015 Dec 26 98 10 3 2015 Dec 27 98 5 2 2015 Dec 28 95 5 2 2015 Dec 29 95 5 2 2015 Dec 30 98 5 2 2015 Dec 31 98 5 2 2016 Jan 01 100 15 4 2016 Jan 02 100 20 5 2016 Jan 03 105 18 4 2016 Jan 04 110 10 4 2016 Jan 05 110 8 3 2016 Jan 06 110 20 5 2016 Jan 07 115 18 4 2016 Jan 08 115 12 4 2016 Jan 09 115 10 3 2016 Jan 10 120 20 5 2016 Jan 11 120 18 4 2016 Jan 12 120 10 3 2016 Jan 13 120 8 3 2016 Jan 14 118 5 2 2016 Jan 15 118 5 2 2016 Jan 16 115 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD) ###