DX LISTENING DIGEST 17-50, December 12, 2017 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 2017 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 1908 contents: Anguilla, Australia, Bangladesh, Biafra non, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China non, Colombia, Cyprus non, East Turkistan, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Kiritimati, Korea South, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nigeria non, Oklahoma non, Perú, Philippines, Romania, Sa`udi Arabia, Somaliland, Taiwan non, USA, Yemen; and the propagation outlook SHORTWAVE AIRINGS of WORLD OF RADIO 1908, December 12-19, 2017 Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 9455 11580 [1907 replayed] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 [1907 replayed]; 15770 [off the air, post-Irma] Wed 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not confirmed: inaudible] Wed 1030 WRMI 5850 [confirmed] 9455 [off the air] Wed 1415 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v [confirmed] Thu 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not confirmed: inaudible] Thu 2230 WRMI 5850 [confirmed] Fri 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not confirmed: inaudible] Sat 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Sat 0730 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 1531 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v-AM Area 51 Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 Tue 2030 WRMI 9455 [if reactivated], 11580 7780 [or #1909?] 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 ANOTHER PODCAST ALTERNATIVE, tnx to Keith Weston: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GlennHausersWorldOfRadio NOW tnx to Keith Weston, also Podcasts via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/glenn-hausers-world-of-radio/id1123369861 AND via Google Play Music: http://bit.ly/worldofradio 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 NOTE: I have *resolved* to make DXLD leaner, more selective, as I seriously need to reduce my workload, much of which has been merely editing gobs of material into presentable form. This makes it even more important to be a member of the DXLD yg for additional material which may not make it into weekly issues (gh) 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/ ** ALASKA. 7370, KNLS, Anchor Point at 1254 in English, “New music from your New Life Station”, schedule, Kelly Clarkson song, 1259 pause, 1300 electronic notes and into Chinese. - Good, Dec 7. 7560, KNLS, Anchor Point at 1303 in Mandarin, giving website, into Christmas song. - Very good, Dec 7 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, listening in my car, parked on a quiet country road and using the CommRadio CR-1a receiver and Sony AN-1 active whip on the roof, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALGERIA [non]. FRANCE, Reception of Télédiffusion d'Algérie via TDF Issoudun, Dec 6 1800-1858 on 7375*ISS 500 kW / 155 deg CEAf Arabic Holy Quran px 1900-1958 on 5905 ISS 500 kW / 194 deg NWAf Arabic Holy Quran px 2000-2015 on 5905#ISS 500 kW / 194 deg NWAf French news bulletin 2015-2058 on 5905 ISS 500 kW / 194 deg NWAf Arabic Nat. Chaine 1 2000-2058 on 5940 ISS 500 kW / 160 deg CEAf Arabic Holy Quran px * co-ch same 7375 GAL 300 kW / 285 deg WeEu Romanian R Romania Inter. # till 2030UT 5905 PIN 010 kW / non-dir to CeEu German Deutscher Wetterdienst http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-telediffusion-dalgerie-via_7.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 6-7, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. 4949.729, R Nacional in southern hemisphere summer path across Atlantic Ocean, only S=6 weak signal into East coast NoAM remote units at NJ and MI-US state, at 0320 UT [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGUILLA. Reception of Caribbean Beacon University Network on Dec 6 0000-1000 on 6090 AIA 100 kW / 320 deg to CeAm English, fair signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-caribbean-beacon.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 6-7, dxldyg via DXLD) 11775, Dec 6 at 2035 check, no signal from PMS or DGS on TUN via CB. But at 2041 recheck, PMS is on at S9+10/20. I force myself to keep listening to this know-it-all, and sure `nuff, cuts off abruptly again at 2045:50*; 2102 recheck, back on again. And so it goes. Seems they have a lot more trouble keeping this frequency going than 6090 at night, which continues to be on whenever checked. So are these now really from the un-destroyed Anguilla station? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good signal sporadically on 11775 kHz here in NB this afternoon when checked at 2155. Seem to be going off and on the air (-- Richard Langley 2201 UT Dec 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) University Network / Caribbean Beacon also providing a good signal in NB on 6090 kHz at 0236 this evening. Not dropping out like 11775 kHz was this afternoon (-- Richard Langley, UT Dec 7, ibid.) 11775, Dec 7 at 2054, no signal from CB. Ditto Dec 8 at 1513 check. 11775, Dec 9 at 1511, no signal from CB. Without continuous longer monitoring, we`ll not know whether it cut on and off briefly & unpredictably. 6090, Dec 10 at 0205, Caribbean Beacon is gone again even from night frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) (?) Rumors are that these transmitters [sic] were ‘destroyed’ by storms and thus there is speculation this might be from elsewhere, but the signal quality and general distortion and ‘issues’ imply this really IS from Anguilla, so ..... we’ll see what is going on here. Or indeed we may NOT see since this station is notorious for not really telling anyone what is going on. Methinks Rev. Barbi may have issues ‘opening up’ after her first career experiences. :o –kvz (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet Dec 8 via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, LRA36 (presumed); 1832, 12/8 carrier noted which was not there just a few minutes earlier. 1901, 12/8; bits of audio only. 1926, 12/8; brief peaks with vocal music (Harold Frodge, M.A.R.E. DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500’ dogleg E-W/N-S unterminated bev, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! -----. DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 5045, Ozy Radio, 1607 UT December 4 with ABC News about Australia followed by Business and sports news. ID at 1611 followed by music "Though The Years" by Tim Finn. The World at 1614 with World News. An ad for shortwave radios from I believe Tecsun Radio aired at 1637 followed by Laughing Kookaburra and Waltzing Matilda and request for reception reports. Good. A reception report was sent to ozyradio@gmail.com and 6 hours later Craig Allen responded saying cards were being printed and when they arrive one would be sent to me. 73 (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA 100 loop, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5045, Ozy Radio, 1225-1310, Dec 6. Mostly pop songs ("All Out of Love," by the Australian duo Air Supply, etc.), except for news 1231- 1241 & 1300-1305, both with many reports from out-of-the-studio/sound bites (not readable); at 1305 the usual format of first a commercial announcement for radio receivers ("range of shortwave, AM ..... radios"), followed by "Waltzing Matilda," followed by full ID. 5045, Ozy Radio, 1205, Dec 10. Usual format of first a commercial announcement for radio receivers, followed by "Waltzing Matilda," followed by full ID; mostly pop songs (Bee Gee's, etc.); weak (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. TWR VIA REACH BEYOND AUSTRALIA --- Now a days I am receiving UNLISTED TWR programs on 12040 kHz at 1330-1445 in Hindi, Bangla etc. TWR has now informed me that it is Reach Beyond Australia which is transmitting these TWR programs! -- Thanking you, Yours sincerely, Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, http://www.niar.org cell: 91 94416 96043, Dec 8, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Additional broadcasts of Reach Beyond Australia (not TWR programs), Dec 9: 1330-1500 on 12040 KNX 100 kW / 310 deg to SoAs Hindi/Bangla/Urdu/English and etc http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/additional-broadcasts-of-reach-beyond.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 9, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) But TWR told Jose that they were (gh, DXLD) Good signal of Reach Beyond Australia in 25 mb, Dec 11 1400-1430 11900 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs Hindi Daily 1430-1445 11900 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs Hindi Sun-Thu 1430-1445 11900 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs Marathi Fri 1430-1445 11900 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs Urdu Sat 1445-1500 11900 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs Bangla Mon/Thu 1445-1500 11900 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs Marwari Tue 1445-1500 11900 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs English or Himachali Wed 1445-1500 11900 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs Gujarati Fri 1445-1500 11900 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs Chattisgarhi Sat/Sun http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/good-signal-of-reach-beyond-australia.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #1047 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec 12, 2017, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 4750.00, 1445-1450 7.12, Bangladesh Betar, Shavar. Bengali news, mentioning Bangladesh three times, 1450 jingles, 45333. 4750.00, 1525-1535 5.12, Bangladesh Betar, Shavar. Local songs, 1530 English ID: "This is Bangladesh Betar. The News", English news about Bangladesh, 35333 (Anker Peterson, Denmark, my latest loggings from Skovlunde on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, wbradio yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) ** BELARUS [and non]. Mass media --- What does Radio Union State broadcast? -------------------------------------------------- ------------- For the sixth month on the territory of Russia, allied radio programs are aired on the waves of the radio station "Komsomolskaya Pravda" - until July 1, the broadcast was conducted on Radio Russia. How is the program grid now built? What new does this give the listener? And in general what is the audience of the union radio? We are talking about this with his leader, Nikolai Efimovich. - Where can you listen to your radio today? We do not have our own radio station. We, according to the law, as a state organization, hold competitions for broadcasting. Since July 1 of this year in Russia, allied radio programs are aired on the waves of the federal radio station "Komsomolskaya Pravda" at a frequency of 97.2 in the largest cities of the country (more than 200 in the broadcasting zone). In Minsk, our partner is the First National Channel Belarusian Radio. There we have two programs with a total time 45 minutes - "Belarus - Russia" and "Minsk - Moscow". "Who is your listener?" This is a person with an active life position, constantly demanding the most prompt and accurate information, and therefore preferring information radio stations. It is clear that these are people who are keenly interested in everything that is happening around them, and those who have relatives in Belarus, some from there, many rest, travel by Sineokaya. In addition, you do not forget that there are a lot of Belarusian diasporas all over Russia. In the Union State is actually a common labor market, in Russia thousands of Belarusians are working now. In addition, we share common historical and cultural roots. Every week on Radio KP, the audience is measured: who and what listens most. A number of allied programs - "Our People", "Second Motherland", "State Interest" - on the ratings are on par with popular broadcasts of Radio KP itself. This is encouraging and encouraging. - How do you take the audience? We simply try to speak the same language with our listeners, give them the information that they can not find on any other radio station, we invite interesting people to the air, we tell about those events that are of primary interest to our people. - And what changes in the content did happen? Yes, almost everything has changed! We completely reformed and modernized our radio content. First, since July 1, 2017, the volume of broadcasting has radically changed. The number of broadcasts of programs increased more than twofold: there were 14 outlets a week, and it was 44. The total broadcasting time increased by one and a half times - before that it was 85 minutes a week, it was 200. The entire radio network is filled with new programs - "Our People", "Second Motherland", "Union Poster", "State Interest", "Announcements of Allied Media", "News of the Union State". The most significant events in the Union, the resonant news, interviews with experts and correspondents from the scene - our leading and the journalists of the allied media, whom we actively involve in cooperation, provide a complete information picture of the past seven days. - And who peeps to you on the air? Yes, it is difficult to list all. This is the State Secretary of the Union State, Grigory Rapota, and the deputies of the Parliamentary Assembly, and the Ambassador of Belarus to Russia Igor Petrishenko, and Petr Elfimov - the popular Belarusian singer, winner of the festival "Slavonic Bazaar 2004", and Oksana Solopova - chairman of the Belarusian Belarusians of Moscow, and Ales Kozhedub is a writer and many others. - What else has changed the main partner for you? The ability to broadcast to Russia - from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. To create all the opportunities to react quickly and flexibly to the constantly changing information agenda. Programs on the subject of the Union State are prepared for the air on the eve of the release, which excludes the possibility to skip current topics and events. By the way, if you could not or did not manage to hear our programs on the radio, you should not worry: on the website of "Komsomolskaya Pravda", where the radio is constantly broadcast, the programs that are on the air are uploaded. - I can not restrain myself from the traditional question: what are the plans for the future? In 2018, we plan to keep the volume of broadcasting. Perhaps, some more new interesting programs will be added. And, by the way, we will have more partners. rg.ru http://onair.ru/main/enews/view_msg/NMID__67728/ (Rus-DX 10 Dec via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. 6035, BBS, 0120, Dec 11. Nice grayline reception; my local sunset at 0052 UT and Thimphu sunrise at 0041 UT; indigenous chanting/singing; signal didn't hold up too long (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BIAFRA [non]. Radio Biafra Broadcasting from London --- There again this morning with a good signal as received by the U. Twente SDR receiver with slight fading on 7240 kHz for the same (seemingly) half- hour program between about 0500 and 0530 UT (-- Richard Langley, Dec 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11530, Dec 6 at 1942 check, no signal from WRMI with R. Biafra. 11530, Dec 7 at 0553 check, Qur`anish music in World Music fill, but VP S2- S3. I need to check earlier in each hour in case RB is still on in the first half (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Recorded 11530 kHz yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon [Dec 6] here in NB from 19:00 to 20:00 UTC. No audio detected. But the half-hour program from Issoudun starting at 05:00 UTC on 7240 kHz was there this morning as recorded using the U. Twente SDR receiver. Poor signal; not as strong as yesterday. -- Richard Langley, Dec 7, dxldyg 11530, Dec 7 at 1902, no signal from WRMI with R. Biafra (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also NIGERIA [non] And nothing noted between 1900 and 2000 UT here in NB on 11530 kHz this afternoon, 8 December (-- Richard Langley, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11530, Dec 8 during the 19-20 hour, no signal from WRMI with R. Biafra. From now on I`ll not bother to reconfirm absence, unless/until it reappear. 11530, Dec 10 at 0549, JBA carrier from WRMI, not enough to tell whether with Radio Biafra. Zero signal on // 7240 via France. 11530, Dec 11 at 0525, JBA carrier from WRMI, vs slightly stronger 11580, and slightly stronger than that 11520 WEWN. Presumably with R. Biafra as scheduled. 7240, Dec 11 at 0526, I check the other R. Biafra relay frequency, via FRANCE, and hear it the best yet, in fact for the first time with definite audio: it`s very poor S9-S7 but no QRhaM; OM announcer, maybe in English; 0528:45 music and the usual YL with schedule announcement. I cannot read details, but seems too brief so apparently she no longer mentions an evening broadcast at ``8 pm`` which appears to have been canceled, at least via WRMI. 0529:40 to dead air, and off the air at 0530:07*. Back to 11530: still detectable on air, and probably with World Music fill until 0600 Brother Scare hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This morning's 1/2-hour broadcast on 7240 kHz at 0500 UT, recorded using the U. Twente SDR receiver, was the usual repeat. Fair to poor reception. The English announcements still erroneously mention their morning and evening broadcasts as being an hour long from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. (0500 to 0600 UT) on 7240 and 11530 kHz and 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. (1900 to 2000 UT) on 11530 kHz (-- Richard Langley, Dec 12, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.82, R. Santa Cruz, 0201-0412+, Dec 8. Special coverage of the "Comarapa – Portachuelo y Cotoca (Santa Cruz) Day of the Purisima Concepcion"; many reports from the event; at times fair reception; well past their normal sign off just after 0200. News story (English google translation) at http://goo.gl/P96G9j (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Was interested to note my log from last year. So with annual coverage. - - - - - - - DXLD 16-50, December 14, 2016: ``6134.82, R. Santa Cruz, with greatly extended broadcast on Dec 8. Tuned in at 0229 and still being heard at 0344+; special coverage from some live(?) event in Santa Cruz; talking to folks at the event, with background sounds; very unusual for them to be on the air this late (Ron Howard, Calif., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` 6134.82, R. Santa Cruz. Dec 11, with usual closing format of the "Santa Cruz" song 0204-0206, then dead air till carrier off 0215 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4925.01, R. Educação Rural, Tefé. Horribly distorted signal at 1000 UT gradually clearing up by 1003. Apparent morning news including actuality. Wonder if this distortion is a result of their recent attempt to readjust the frequency (Dave Valko-PA-USA, hcdx [sic] Dec 3 - 5 via BC-DX 09 Dec via DXLD) 4924.990 kHz peak seen at 1107 UT Dec 8, wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. On air on 4885.022, 4985.010, 5939.777, 6040.684 kHz, at 03-04 UT on Dec 11: 4875.253, ZYG810, R. Roraima, Boa Vista RR, S=9+25dB or -50dBm powerful in Alberta-CAN remote unit at 0312 UT Dec 11. Nice Brazilian Latin mx selection. 4885.022, 5 kW, ZYG362, R. Clube do Pará, Belém PA, male singer in Alberta CAN remote at 0318 UT on Dec 11. S=9+25dB strong signal. 4985.010, 10 kW, ZYF690, R. Brasil Central, Goiânia GO, S=9+25dB signal but suffered by co-channel annoying 840 Hertz apart distance ute signal pair on 4984.580 and 4985.420 kHz. 5939.777 kHz, 0.5 kW, R. Voz Missionária, Camboriú SC, poor S=6 signal, suffered by adjacent powerful WWCR Radio sermon on 5935even kHz, at 0333 UT on Dec 11. 6040.684 kHz, 10 kW, ZYJ200, Rádio Evangelizar, Curitiba PR, {ex RB2}, only fair S=7 signal at 0340 UT on Dec 11 [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4985, Dec 9 at 0056, music in clear, no RTTY, no doubt R. Brasil Central, so I quickly compare to 11815 which is weaker. By the time I get back to 4985, S9+25 of RTTY has blasted on, totally blocking RBC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11779.95, R. Nacional Amazônia at 1727 UT on Nov 3 [sic, presumably means Dec 3], M in Portuguese mentioning Brazil, then vocal music. Full canned ID by M at 1730 UT. Very weak but definitely there back on after being off for a long time. 11780.01, R. Nacional Amazônia. Surprised to find this on at full high power at 2046 UT on Dec 5. News in Portuguese. Went off the air at 2048:11 UT and audio was distorted briefly when it came back on a minute later. Went off again at 2051:00 UT and had the same distortion for a few seconds when it came back on a minute later. Full ID by M at 2058 UT, then promo for "Voz do Brasil" and into the "Voz do Brasil" news at 2100 UT. Good of course. Wonder if they're testing at high power (Dave Valko-PA-USA, hcdx [sic] Dec 3-5 via BC-DX 9 Dec via DXLD) 11780, Dec 7 at 2054, RNA fair in Brazuguese, while 11775 Anguilla is absent. This daypart is best for hearing RNA, not on the air much after 2200, nor ever on 6180. Seems the power is now in respectable range, if not up to original 250 kW. 11780, Dec 8 at 2157, RNA is good in Brazuguese, 2159 outro for `Voz do Brasil` show, starts another announcement, no ID, and cut off the air at 2200* as I expected (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA [and non]. Shortwave Radiogram for the weekend of 9-10 December will mostly be in our usual MFSK32. But there will be one news item in 8PSK-1000F. The 8PSK-1000F mode is very fast (3000+ wpm) and normally would not be used on shortwave. But Shortwave Radiogram is not a normal radio program. The 8PSK-1000F will be transmitted in conjunction with Flamp, which will divide the news story into 10 blocks of 480 bytes each, then transmit the story four times. Any block without the correct number of characters will be filled in on subsequent passes. This will result in either a 100% decode or a spectacular failure. Either way, it will be entertaining. The first opportunity to try this is Saturday at 1600 UT on 9400 kHz via Bulgaria. This probably won't be audible in North America, but North Americans can tune in via http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901 in the Netherlands. (A good way to use this receiver is to "max in" on the waterfall, then "zoom out" to taste. You can use AM, LSB, USB, or AMSync to decode.) The Sunday 2330-2400 UT transmission on 11580 kHz from WRMI Florida, lately not heard well in most of the world, will be in Olivia 64-2000, Olivia 32-1000, and Olivia 16-500. Details and schedule: http://swradiogram.net/post/168319819732/shortwave-radiogram-9-10-december-2017-fun-with (Kim Elliott, Dec 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 25, 9-10 December 2017, all in MFSK32 except where noted: 1:34 Program preview 2:56 French engineer creates biodegradable plastic* 10:18 Russia Declares RFE/RL, VOA ‘Foreign Agents’* 19:30 8PSK-1000F with Flamp: same as preceding story ** 20:40 MFSK32: Christmas markets in Germany* 26:36 Closing announcements * with image ** Use with Flamp (see above) I've made a comparison of the rugged modes of the 24-S & 25-S SWRG-broadcasts. Here the optical appearance: http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2017-12-02.htm#7x-test In terms of weakest signals, OLIVIA 64-2000 fails below a certain field strength mark. Only OLIVIA 16-500 can play in this league. MFSK- 8 is the leader. In a multipath collision of the signals (example 30ms at 100 percent), the OLIVIA modes gain in importance, MFSK-8 increasingly fails. OLIVIA 16-500 seems the best compromise, albeit the slowest. And because the receiving reality is an unpredictable mix of everything, there are different winners for the various points on Earth each time. Also IFKP1.0 is an alternative. But here the text is stored separately in a file, it disappeared from the normal reception window of FLDIGI. With unattended decoding, many OMs thought that IFKP was "not working". The log-file can be found here: %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\fldigi.files\temp\ifkp_audit_log.txt http://www.rhci-online.net/gallery/ifkp_audit_log-txt.lnk Here is a summary in a simplified diagram: http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2017-12-02.htm#diagram (roger, germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Am 08.12.2017 um 04:17 schrieb Shortwave Radiogram: > The IFKP 1.0 did not decode for most listeners (including me), but there were some successes, including the image. There seems to be an IFKP-bug in fldigi. This also occurred in my case. The decoded IFKP- text was [selectively!, only this one] deleted in the FLDIGI-RX window, AFTER changing to a new mode So: Check the logfile for the decoded text [makes sense only if you have previously enabled the option: "Text capture: Log all RXTX text"] In the logfile you will find the decoded text, if something really worked. That would look like this: RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:49Z): RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:49Z): RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:49Z): RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:49Z): pic%Awc RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:49Z): This is Shortwave Radiogram in IFKP 1.0 RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:50Z): RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:50Z): RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:50Z): Migrating Birds Winter in Israel as Climate Change Makes Desert RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:50Z): Too Dangerous RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:50Z): RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:50Z): Reuters via voanews.com RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:50Z): 27 November a~017 RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:50Z): RX 11581500 : IFKP (2017-12-03 23:50Z): AGAMON HULA, ISRAEL - Climate change is turniv Israel into a. etc. (roger, ibid.) ** CANADA. 333 kHz, Dec 7 at 0708 UT, beacon QE and dash, but not listed. Must really be QT, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, dah instead of a dit. 341 kHz, Dec 7 at 0710 UT, beacon YYU, no dash, mixing at different pitch, so not exactly same frequency as my local on 341, EI Enid. YYU is in Kapuskasing, Ont., also per http://www.dxinfocentre.com/ndb.htm That`s neat; I was not expecting anything so exotic on a rare foray into the LW NDB area. Kapuskasing was also the location of a hot analog TVDX target years ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 680, Dec 10 at 0700 UT, ``680 CJOB, Your News Station``, then news from Canadian Press starting with carbon monoxide in BC, and an ABC correspondent in Alabama. Dominant on my east-west longwire, even tho from the north. All 50 kW supposed to head NNE from Winnipeg at night, and most of it in daytime. And is CJOB really in $tereo as in NRC AM Log? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2017-423 Ottawa, 30 November 2017 Dufferin Communications Inc. Winnipeg, Manitoba Application 2017-0030-3, received 20 January 2017 Public hearing in the National Capital Region 15 June 2017 CKJS Winnipeg – Conversion to the FM band The Commission approves the application by Dufferin Communications Inc. for a broadcasting licence to operate an ethnic commercial specialty FM radio station in Winnipeg to replace its ethnic commercial AM radio station CKJS Winnipeg. Application Dufferin Communications Inc. (Dufferin) filed an application for a broadcasting licence to operate an ethnic commercial specialty FM radio station in Winnipeg to replace its ethnic commercial AM radio station CKJS Winnipeg. Dufferin is a wholly owned subsidiary of Evanov Communications Inc., which in turn is controlled by Mr. William Vasil Evanov. The FM station would operate at 92.7 MHz (channel 224B) with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 19,700 watts (maximum ERP of 35,000 watts with an effective height of antenna above average terrain of 154 metres). The station would broadcast 126 hours of local programming in each broadcast week, including discussions on topics of interest and reporting on community events, festivals and traditions, medical and financial news, school closings, traffic and weather. Dufferin indicated that it would adhere to a condition of licence requiring it to direct ethnic programming to at least 19 cultural groups in at least 16 different languages. The station would offer Top 40 ethnic music and a blend of world beat and international, non-classic religious, pop, rock and dance and easy listening music, as well as spoken word and multi-faith programs. Finally, it would feature Canadian emerging artists both on air and on the station’s website. Interventions . . . http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2017/2017-423.htm (via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, Dec 12, DXLD) WTFK? CKJS on 810, 10/10 kW U3, FWIW. Never heard it here (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2017-418, Reference: 2017-94 Ottawa, 29 November 2017 Radio Communautaire Francophone et Francophile de l’Outaouais Gatineau, Quebec Application 2016-1312-5, received 21 December 2016 Public hearing in the National Capital Region 10 April 2017 Community radio station in Gatineau The Commission approves an application for a broadcasting licence to operate a French-language community AM radio station in Gatineau, Quebec. Application Radio Communautaire Francophone et Francophile de l’Outaouais (Radio Franco) filed an application for a broadcasting licence to operate a French-language community AM radio station in Gatineau, Quebec. The Commission received numerous interventions in support of this application. Radio Franco is a not-for-profit corporation controlled by its board of directors. The new station would operate on frequency 1350 kHz with a daytime transmitter power of 1,000 watts and a nighttime transmitter power of 180 watts. The station would broadcast 126 hours of local programming each broadcast week. . . http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2017/2017-418.htm (via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Dec 12, DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. 860, Dec 7 at 0658 UT, French mixing with C&W and at 0700 mixing with KKOW ID, I do detect ``Première`` as CBC French calls itself, but that`s not enough, as there are two of them, CJBC Toronto, 50/50 kW U1, more likely; and slightly further (1883 vs 1766 km), CBKF-2 Saskatoon, 10/10 kW U4; presumably // during informations en sommet de l`heure, but otherwise deux timezones apart for programmation {make that one timezone in winter, CST/EST, tho it`s a long way from QC to SJ}. DFing would nail it but I`m not on the DX- 398. CBKF-2 has major lobes N and S, day and night, with nulls toward Toronto and Prince Rupert (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6030, Calgary - CFVP relaying CKMX (AM 1060), 1346, Dec 6. Their 100 watts doing well against 100kW of CNR1; ID "Funny 10-60 AM" and mentions of "Calgary," per attached brief audio clip (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. [Re 17-48:] CANADA. CBC`S DIGITAL SHIFT IS HELPING TO KILL LOCAL NEWS OUTLETS The Globe and Mail by Barrie McKenna OTTAWA Published December 1, 2017 Updated December 1, 2017 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/cbcs-digital-shift-is-helping-to-kill-local-news-outlets/article37165887/ Postmedia executive chairman Paul Godfrey says the spark for the latest wave of newspaper closures was Ottawa's rejection of a bailout for the industry. Postmedia Network Canada Corp. and Torstar Corp. swapped 41 daily and community newspapers this week, and then promptly shut nearly all of them, eliminating 291 full- and part-time jobs. "With the consolidation of print advertising, it became necessary to look around. It really picked up steam when the feds closed the door on any assistance for the industry," he explained. Mr. Godfrey is right that Ottawa bears some responsibility here. But it's not because Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly balked at setting up a $350-million fund to shore up the ailing industry. A more obvious culprit is the Liberal government's tacit endorsement of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s aggressive and expensive "digital shift," which has put the CBC into direct competition with the country's besieged newspapers for online readers and advertising. The CBC is now among Canada's largest news websites, offering national, regional and local news in the same markets served by the main Canadian newspapers. And it wants to become even more dominant online. "Our digital shift allows us to extend our reach even further and position ourselves as the public space for all Canadians," CBC president and chief executive Hubert Lacroix says in the Crown corporation's most recent annual report. Talk about mission creep. Under the Broadcasting Act, the CBC's mandate is to "provide radio and television services incorporating a wide range of programming that informs, enlightens and entertains." CBC's digital push is also proving to be a growing money maker. The CBC and Radio-Canada generated $36.6-million in digital advertising revenue in 2016-17, up 40 per cent from the year before, according to its annual report. Online advertising now accounts for 12 per cent of all the ad dollars CBC pockets. That might not seem like a lot. But it's a big deal for daily and community newspapers, which generated less than $300-million over all from online ads in 2015, according to a report earlier this year by the Public Policy Forum about the struggles of the newspaper business. And unlike newspapers such as The Globe and Mail, the CBC doesn't charge for its digital news, making it even more difficult for papers to generate subscription revenue online. But it's far from free. The CBC goes about its business with the help of more than $1-billion a year in subsidies from the federal government, which recently bumped that up by an extra $150-million a year. The CBC is using half the new money to become even bigger online – investing in its websites and mobile apps, and greatly expanding its staff of online writers and editors. Among other things, the CBC is boosting news and other digital content in many local markets served by struggling newspapers, including Halifax, Fredericton, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, Regina, Saskatoon and Edmonton. And yet Mr. Lacroix insists the broadcaster has nothing to do with the industry's struggles, including the steep and continuing decline in print-advertising revenue. "The challenges facing media in Canada are many but they are not caused by the public broadcaster," Mr. Lacroix said in a letter last year to Hedy Fry, chair of the House of Commons Heritage committee. Indeed, as Mr. Lacroix sees it, Canada needs the CBC more than ever as newspapers shrink in size, numbers and reporting resources. That may be true. But the CBC could just as easily do its thing by enhancing its woefully neglected radio news and current-affairs operations, which are central to its mandate. Transforming itself into a virtual newspaper, including offering opinion and analysis, is not. The government has already squandered an opportunity to act. In June, Ms. Fry's committee issued a report on the news business, recommending among other things that the CBC stop selling digital advertising on its news sites. Ms. Joly didn't bite in her recently unveiled overhaul of cultural policy, which was conspicuously silent on the role of the CBC. A government bailout of newspapers was always a troubling notion. Independence is essential for newspapers if they want to hold governments accountable. But Canadians may regret that Ottawa isn't doing more to rein in the predatory behaviour of the public broadcaster in the backyards of newspapers. The latest closures are a harbinger of more consolidation ahead. The ad dollars and digital consumers that go to the CBC are lost to your local newspaper. Follow Barrie McKenna on Twitter @barriemckenna 60 Comments (via Dan Say, alt.radio.networks.cbc via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC TO LAUNCH AD-FREE STREAMING SERVICE WITH REVAMPED TV APP, PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP TO COST $4.99 by Nick Salerni – 1 hour ago 2 comments https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.tv.networks.cbc/Wc45x1umq2s According to a series of tweets from Jame Wattle, CBC is planning to launch a paid version of a new CBC TV app that will let users watch programs without ads. http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/news/cbc-to-launch-ad-free-streaming-service-with-revamped-tv-app-premium-membership-to-cost-4-99/ The leaked documents reveal that the new app will allow users to live stream CBC TV, watch episodes on demand on the same day they’re released, see ad-free children’s programing, and see series not aired on the network. The app will reportedly go live tomorrow and will offer all 14 of its regional channels. Users will be able to watch for free, however, creating a free CBC account will let them access even more content. If you want the ad-free version of this service, you will have to pay $4.99 per month. The broadcaster seems to be shifting as more consumers are getting their content from streaming services like Netflix (via Dan Say, alt.tv.networks.cbc gg via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Viz.: ** CANADA. CBC TV GOING FULLY OTT, INCLUDING AD-FREE VERSION, FOR $4.99/MO DECEMBER 4, 2017 Greg O'Brien Radio & Television cartt.ca TORONTO – Starting Tuesday, December 5, each of CBC’s 14 regional linear TV channels will be live-streamed along side a whole host of additional CBC content which will be made available direct to consumers in ways the public broadcaster’s content has not before as it takes the lid off of an upgraded app and web portal. CBC executive vice-president of English services, Heather Conway, told employees in a memo Monday that in order to keep up with the Netflixes of the world, CBC content has to be available on all platforms at all times to all Canadians. “When we first introduced these platforms in March 2016, we told you to expect more changes as part of our commitment to constant iteration and improvement,” she told the company. “Many Canadians are getting more and more of their content from digital OTT services like Netflix. We need to ensure our audiences can get CBC in the same way… Our OTT strategy is driven by shifts in audience behaviour and a desire to be a truly audience-focused, data- driven, multi-platform video service and modern public broadcaster.” The primary new things Canadians will be able to do with CBC content as of Tuesday is stream live TV; watch full current episodes and complete seasons of CBC shows on demand with new episodes added every day; watch episodes on demand as soon as they air on TV; gain access to exclusive series that haven’t aired on CBC TV but will be on OTT; ad-free kids TV. Also – viewers will be able to pick up where they left off watching shows on multiple devices, to pick up where they left off a show at home, on their phone. CBC TV is also introducing authentication, too, allowing audiences to sign in with a CBC account and granting them access to more features. As well, any user who wants to watch CBC content OTT without ads can take advantage of the new “premium membership” for $4.99. The content will be continue to be made available at no charge for those willing to watch commercials. “The number of unique visitors we see using the CBC TV digital service each month grew to over 1.1 million in November 2017. We’ve also moved up to a 4.6/5 star rating on the App Store (iOS version). It is our hope that this new offering will entice an increasing portion of our audience to spend even more time with us each month,” added Conway’s memo. On the French side, Radio-Canada has enjoyed success with its OTT platform tou.TV, for more than six years. Watch for more on this story Tuesday and to see the portal, check out http://cbc.ca/watch (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) What does OTT mean?? (gh, DXLD) I didn't know the OTT term, either. But that authoritative, widely used Wikipedia says: Search Results Over the top (OTT) is a media distribution practice that allows a streaming content provider to sell audio, video, and other media services directly to the consumer over the internet via streaming media as a standalone product, bypassing telecommunications, cable or broadcast television service providers that ... I was familiar with Over The Air (OTA) but I think this new acronym is over the top. mc (Mike Cooper, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. 6925. RCW. Diciembre 10. 2345-2359 UT. Programa de recuerdos y audios del servicio en español de DW, “La voz de Alemania” sobre la unificación de Alemania, causas de su desaparición, entrevistas, programa de contactos, actualidad de la emisora, entre otros aspectos. SINPO: 45444 (Claudio Galaz; RX: TECSUN PL-660; ANT: Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) ** CHINA. 5050, Beibu Bay Radio, 1326, Dec 6. Noticeably distorted audio (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 6180, Firedragon station at 1245. Official censorship via radio. Crash and bang music with W in Chinese heard underneath. Missed the ToH, so unsure if that was RTI (which is supposed to be here) or CNR 1 (which isn't). VG Dec 7 (Rick Barton, AZ, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6180, Dec 7 at 1525, Firedragon jamming mixing with Chinese, averaging S9 combined, i.e. RTI in Chinese as scheduled from TAIWAN at 10-16 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. 11785, Dec 12 at 0703, CRI news in English with Canadian accent pauses to plug its newly branded website http://chinaplus.cri.cn Good S9-S5 via ALBANIA, as the 25m MUF is way up tonight, this aimed 310 degrees USward, and paired with 11855 same parameters in Chinese with het from Rádio Aparecida on the low side circa 11854.9 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. China Radio International’s English broadcasts have partly rebranded to China Plus, with news programming identifying as “News Plus”, although the China Radio International ID is still used regularly on air, the web site is now http://chinaplus.cri.cn (Dec BDXC UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) ** CHINA. 9455, Firedragon station at 1715. Crash boom bang! Another frequency used by RFA via Saipan, Northern Marianna Islands. Strong; target not heard. Dec. 10 (Rick Barton, AZ, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Never mind WRMI, 9455. Wonder if that`s why it went off? (gh) ** CHINA [non]. 9570, Dec 6 at 1322, CRI English via CUBA, with wailing, screaming drama, ``I want to die``. Quick tune-out. Alan Roe`s new monitored schedule of CRI in forthcoming DXLD 17-49 shows this is simply called `Chinese Theater` at 1305-1330 daily and also at 1605 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 6010.18v, La Voz de tu Conciencia. First found on yesterday at 2309 UT with "Ticket to Ride" by the Beatles mixing with Inconfidência. This morning found up on this frequency at 1025 UT with variety of music. Canned ID by W at 1041 Dec 7. A bit distorted and freq varying up and down about 200 Hertz. {6009.990 and 6009.982 kHz visible at 1050 UT Dec 8, wb.} 5910.41, R. Alcaravan [sic], at 1042 UT pleasant LA tropical music. A couple canned announcements but didn't hear an ID. 1103-1105 UT choral HJ NA, M with timecheck, and into lively music. Finally short canned ID promo by W at 1112 UT. Noisy this morning. 7 Dec {5910.271 kHz measured 1045 UT Dec 8, wb} (Dave Valko-PA-USA, hcdx [sic] Dec 7, via BC-DX 09 Dec via DXLD) 5910.416, Dec 7 at 0739, finally a signal again from Alcaraván Radio, unheard for some weeks at early or late evening chex. weak S7-S8 song and audibly varying slightly as I listen; and even further off- frequency. 5910.38, Dec 8 at 0039 very poor music at S7-S8 vs noise level of S7; Alcaraván Radio still active and down a bit from last measurement as carrier varies audibly. 5910.282, Dec 8 at 0706, now the JBA carrier is down to here. [and non]. 5910+, Dec 9 at 0107, het between Romania and Alcaraván, about equal levels, which means RRI is relatively weak for 300 kW aimed at us from Tsiganeshti (just watch, some editors will respell it to Tiganesti without the essential diacriticals, for which I am compensating by fonetik rendering, as if I had made a mistake) (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5910.26, Alcaraván Radio (p); Tropical music to fanfare at 2301 into sung anthem, then M&W w/SS rlgs pgm. SIO=252+ (Frodge-DXP) 6010, La Voz de Tu Conciencia (tentative); 0228-0240+, 12/9; Mix of gospel, tropicale & rock oldies; M in SS ID’d only as “HJ” (Harold Frodge, M.A.R.E. DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500’ dogleg E- W/N-S unterminated bev, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! -----. DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5910.3, Alcaravan Radio, 0810-0835, 09-12, Latin American songs. Extremely weak, best on LSB. 15321. Also 0755-0812, 10-12, Latin American songs, Extremely weak. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Lugo, Tecsun PL-880, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5910.273, Alcaraván Radio, Puerto Lleras, Meta, endless talk. S=8-9 strength noted of speech/sermon at 0331 UT on Dec 11. {5910 fq entry NOT in Aoki Nagoya list anymore, wb.} [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CRIMEA [and non]. In the Crimea they promised to stop broadcasting of the Ukrainian radio. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Domestic Politics, Information and Communications of the Republic of Crimea Dmitry Polonsky said that the peninsula will tighten measures to combat Ukrainian broadcasting. His words lead portal "Crimean News." "There are measures that any state takes to protect its territory and its information space. They are made methodically, and until the end of this year will be strengthened - this is unambiguous. On the territory of the Crimea, except for Russian television and radio channels, no one will not be broadcasting, "Polonsky said. He added that the Ukrainian side "makes various attempts to organize regular broadcasting from the capacities that they are trying to deploy in the Kherson region." "Another question is that they can not do anything. If there are any episodic bursts, then they quickly stop, "- said the minister. November 23, a member of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting Sergei Kostinsky in Faceboook said that the power of digital television broadcasting from the Chongar tower in the Kherson region to Crimea has increased. According to Kostinsky, the television signal spreads over the territory of the Dzhankoysky and Krasnoperekopsky districts of the Crimea, and also goes beyond them. In total, according to the estimates of the National Council, access to the air of the Ukrainian TV channel "UA: Crimea", "Channel 5", ICTV, Black Sea TRC and "Direct" received 200 123 residents of the peninsula. In January, in the village of Chongar, Kherson region, on the border with the Crimea, the construction of a 150-meter tower was completed, with the help of which Ukrainian TV channels and radio had to broadcast on the territory of the peninsula. lenta.ru http://onair.ru/main/enews/view_msg/NMID__67754/ (Rus-DX 10 Dec via DXLD) ** CUBA. 11635, Unidentified numbers station, at 2130. Noted in progress. This is a regular broadcast that comes after three others, earlier in the day, on 11435, 11530, and also 11635. They run daily from 1555 to 1850 UT, and split between those frequencies. Those three are seamless and transition from one to the other, making me wonder if they are repeats or one long broadcast that hand-off frequencies. VG Dec 10 (Rick Barton, AZ, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. CODAR signals noted, suffered 4733-4836 kHz all over 60 mb. STANAG digital scratch noise signal 4810.5-4813.5 kHz at S=9 level. In east coast NoAM heard - for the first time - like local BUBBLE tone jamming ahead of co-channel Radio Progreso from Bejucal CUBA, in broadband range 4760.8 to 4768.8 kHz. Though CODAR signals noted / covered 4733 to 4836 kHz range. 5025even, Radio Rebelde, Bauta, S=9+35dB strong in NJ-US east coast and Alberta-CAN remote SDRs. At 0250 UT on Dec 11, rather OVERMODULATED this UT morning, after TX break on Dec 10. Spanish pop music of "Puerto Rico" theme (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Arnie Coro writes: We have now three Cuban Stations on the 60m Tropical Band. And my plans are in the works to go on the air on the 90m band by 2018 with 50 kW and an omnidirectional NVIS antenna. [promises, promises – gh] Now we have 5025 kHz 100 kW 24 hours with Radio Rebelde program, on 5040 kHz from 2100 to 0600 UT omnidirectional Radio Habana Cuba, and 4765 kHz 50 kW with Radio Progreso, from 0130 to 0500 UT (Arnie Coro on Facebook 4 Nov, in reply to comment on his posting about recent nil sunspots -Alan Pennington) (Dec BDXC UK Communication via DXLD) ** CUBA. 4765.04, 0350-0355 12.12, R Progreso, Bejucal. Spanish talk, 35232 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, an AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, wbradio yg via DXLD) ** CUBA. 5025, UT Sunday December 10 at 0148, R. Rebelde is OFF, but there is a JBA carrier on 5025.007, Perú? Q.v. Or maybe RR exciter. By 0201 it`s back on full strength with rock song in English, ``Tonight We All Unite``, and more in English; what`s with that? Perceptibly // vs QRM on 1180, 1620, 710. 15370, Dec 6 at 2048, RHC French is JBM, while English on 15140 is VG S9+30/20 and somewhat overmodulated. Retuning to 15370 shortly, the modulation has been turned up. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 11760, Dec 8 at 2200, RHC frequency announcement in typical Soviet- style reverse disorder: 15370, 13740, 11760, 9535, 9640, 5040; and FM 102.5 Habana, 103.1 Artemisa etc., 91.7 Isla Juventud, 89.1 Cienfuegos, all 24 horas. This contradicts info from RadioCuba reported by Jim Thomas, of WTFDA FM Database, and in DXLD 17-48: ``Relays for Radio Habana Cuba - 102.5 moved to 97.1 CMBN-1 Sierra Caballos IJ, 300 watts 33 meters``. Early on, there was confusion whether this was 97.1 or 91.7, but 102.5 is/was the frequency for Habana (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 6270, Radio Habana Cuba; 0218, 12/9; mixing product; M&W in SS; mentioned Habana Cuba SIO=1+52+; // 6060 RHC (Frodge-DXP) 17580, Radio Habana Cuba; 1349, 12/9; Spanish commentary re Cuba, Castro & Venezuela. S30 peaks; // 17730 S9 & 17430 S5. I thought maybe 17430 & 17730 might be +/- 150 kHz spurs from 17580. 17730 is listed, but 17430 is not (Harold Frodge, M.A.R.E. DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500’ dogleg E-W/N-S unterminated bev, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! -----. DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17430 is a leapfrog mixing product of 17730 over 17580 another 150 kHz lower --- not one I have noticed so I need to bandscan down to 17400. And 6270 is a leapfrog of 6060 over 6165 another 105 kHz higher. Apply such a formula if you hear RHC on a strange frequency, where something is always wrong (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 15370. RHC. Diciembre 10. 2132-2159 UT. Se escucha una mescla [sic] de dos audios, aunque sobre sale ciertas cortinas musicales del inicio del servicio en Esperanto y luego informaciones noticiosas, luego noticias culturales y de actividades de asociaciones esperantistas. A las 2148, se emite música. Y desde las 2152 se entregan noticias políticas hasta las 2158, cuando se da por finalizado el programa con datos de contacto de la emisora. SINPO: 45343, audio tiende a mejorar levemente desde las 2135 en adelante, aunque no es superior al ruido atmosférico. (Claudio Galaz; RX: TECSUN PL-660; ANT: Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** CUBA. 7355, new fq Cuban scratching jammer against US IBB BBG Martí from Greenville NC site, 0000-0700 UT, 8 kHz wide broadband noise, S=9+10db here in Germany at 0422 UT on Dec 11 [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 7355, Dec 6 at 0700, Radio Martí stops this frequency altho jamming continues a bit. WHRI does not show up, as it had been from 0700 with BS for one hour; instead continues on 7315. Still don`t know when Radio Martí resume on 7355 (and IBB/OCB has yet to reveal it to HFCC), but it and the jammers are running at next check 1253 about equal to // 7435. (While RNZI has moved to 7430, q.v.). BTW also hearing lite pulse jamming at 1313 on 7405, not an RM frequency now. 11930 // 9565, Wed Dec 6 at 2106, `Contacto Cuba` is the Radio Martí program now vs jamming in the unceasing effort to prevent contact. Still have not found a third daytime frequency on anyband, besides new 7355 starting at 2300 and again until 1400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. RADIO MARTÍ INCORPORÓ NUEVA FRECUENCIA EN ONDA CORTA PARA SUS TRANSMISIONES HACIA CUBA --- 10/12/2017 La emisora Radio Martí ha informado que agregó una nueva frecuencia simultánea a sus dos bandas existentes para trasmitir su programación hacia Cuba a partir del pasado 1 de diciembre. Resultado de imagen para radio marti [hidden caption] Detalla Martí Noticias https://www.martinoticias.com/a/radio-marti-aumenta-frecuencias-transmision-simultanea-cuba/157376.html que el anuncio fue hecho por el director interino de la Oficina de Transmisiones a Cuba (OCB) André V. Mendes: “Junto con nuestra poderosa señal de 1180 AM que se origina en Marathon, FL, y su señal en Hispasat, Radio Martí continuará aumentando el cumplimiento de su misión, brindando a la población cubana la información que les niega la censora dictadura de Castro”. La nueva frecuencia simultánea, en los 7355 kilohertz (kHz), se añade a las transmisiones en los 7435 kHz y los 7405 [sic; 7365] kHz, y estará disponible de 6:00 p.m. a 2:00 a.m. y luego, de 5:00 a.m. a 9:00 p.m., [sic, a.m.!= 23-07 & 10-14 UT] añadió la información. “Aumentaremos aún más la cantidad de frecuencias simultáneas, a medida que nuestros ‘nuevos’ transmisores entren en línea más adelante este año fiscal”, detalló Mendes. Radio Martí salió al aire por primera vez el 20 de mayo de 1985, y desde su primera seden en Washington D.C se movió a Miami, Florida, en 1996. En 1990 se agregó Televisión Martí a la plataforma, y más adelante surgió la web Martinoticias.com. Radio Martí transmite su programación a la isla en nueve frecuencias en total, incluida la nueva en 7355 kHz. Pese a que el régimen cubano bloquea la señal de Radio Martí en el territorio de la isla, muchos cubanos son capaces de sintonizar la emisora y utilizarla como medio alternativo a los existentes en el país, todos en manos del Partido Comunista (Cubanet via GRA blog via DXLD) ** CYPRUS [non]. I finally wrote to Nathan Morley of FG Radio about his program on WRMI repeating the same episode for months: ``Dear Mr Morley, I am wondering why you keep broadcasting the same old Travel Gazette program over and over on WRMI? It seems to date back to April, with items such as Kenya planning to start direct flights to USA by next April; high crime rates in the Caribbean, etc. Or perhaps you are not aware this is happening? Now you are. Regards, Glenn Hauser, Oklahoma (also on WRMI)`` Reply received Dec 7: ``Hi Glenn, Thank you for this note; it is appreciated. The problem is from my end - and I am fixing issue. Cheers, Nathan`` So I check the current WRMI program schedules for when we may now expect to hear new episodes: Tue 1445 9955 Wed 0515 9955 Wed 1400 9955 Wed 2100 15770 > meaning 9455 Thu 0245 9955 Thu 2245 9955 Fri 0515 9955 Fri 1015 5850 > meaning also 9455 I have found that it is essential to keep reconfirming by axual monitoring on SW (or webcast if possible) that your (new) broadcasts are going to air as expected. Nathan replies Dec 8: Hi Glenn, The schedule you emailed looks accurate - and appears at a glance - to correspond with the WRMI play-out grid. New episodes - including the most recent featuring Gary Powers Jr discussing his new book, should air over the coming week. Please do let me know if the new transmissions are reaching you, as the signals are not (despite some effort) receivable here in Nicosia. Thanks again Glenn - keep up the excellent work you do. Merry Christmas, Nathan`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [non]. 9955, Tue Dec 12 at 1445, checking WRMI at our first opportunity to hear a new episode at last from FG Radio --- but no signal --- must be a power failure at Okeechobee; next chance will be Wed at 1400 on 9955. see USA: WRMI (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fulfilled ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. INDOTEL CIERRA CUATRO EMISORAS [que] OPERABAN DE MANERA ILEGAL EN EL NOROESTE DE LA REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA 01/12/2017 https://gruporadioescuchaargentino.wordpress.com/2017/12/01/indotel-cierra-cuatro-emisoras-operaban-de-manera-ilegal-en-el-noroeste-de-la-republica-dominicana/ El Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (Indotel) dispuso el cierre de cuatro emisoras que operaban de manera ilegal en varias provincias de la Línea Noroeste, con la finalidad de continuar garantizando el uso eficiente y responsable del espectro radioeléctrico de la República Dominicana. Resultado de imagen para indotel [hidden caption] En el operativo, encabezado por la Dirección Técnica del Indotel, fueron clausuradas las estaciones Killa 96.9 FM, en Mao; Unik 94.5 FM, en Monción; Banda 87.9 FM, en Castañuelas, y Brava 94.9, en Villa Vázquez. “Puesto que estos operativos se ejecutan en estricto apego a la Ley a los fines de asegurar los derechos de las personas, aún estuvieran cometiendo una ilegalidad en el uso del espectro radioeléctrico, el personal actuante estuvo conformado además por personal del Ministerio Público y miembros de la fuerza pública, cuya profesionalidad permitió que la acción delIndotel fuera llevada a cabo sin inconvenientes”, informó el órgano regulador. Durante la intervención fueron incautados transmisores, consolas, computadoras, amplificadores, micrófonos, compresores y procesadores de audio, que utilizaban las estaciones para sus transmisiones clandestinas.El Indotel insistió en que no permitirá la operación de estas emisoras ilegales que afectan la transmisión de aquellas que cumplen con la regulación, que tienen su concesión, que pagan sus impuestos y propaga la depreciación del mercado, por lo que implica la informalidad en términos comerciales. http://eldia.com.do (via GRA blog via DXLD) Thanks for the story, Glenn. RD (Indotel) seems to have problems with pirate stations also, but they seem to get on them pretty quick. Next door neighbor Haiti (CONATEL) situation is much more complicated and I think it is going to go on for quite some time, trying to shut down illegal radio operations there. The FCC, the UN, and the ITU are all assisting CONATEL in trying to get their FM RF mess straightened out. (- Jim Thomas, db.wtfda.org DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 1240 ** EAST TURKISTAN. 1521, CHINA, China Radio International, Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 1158 December 10, 2017. Presumed the source of a decent het right on 1521, no audio making it. In tight null of WXYB. Believe listed as Russian this and much of the time (Terry L. Krueger, Times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Has been reported in our evenings by E Coast DX-peditions, even into Michigan. This would be circa grayline near our sunrise, their sunset (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** ECUADOR. 6050, 1154 4 DEC - HCJB VOICE OF ANDES (ECUADOR). SINPO = 25322. Spanish, female and male announcers alternating. QSB=moderate- to-rapid rate; modulation on noisy carrier mostly just above the noise floor with occasional fades to mixing with it. (I don't seem to be hearing the Kuwaiti DRM hash others have been hearing here). sf68.9, a2, k2, geomag: quiet. 10kw, BeamAz 18 , Bearing 159 . Sangean ATS505 w/MFJ-1020C active antenna and MFJ-901B tuner used to preselect ~230’ chainlink fence surrounding rectangular backyard. Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 5217KM from the transmitter at Pico Pichincha. Local time: 0554 (Rodney Johnson, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [and non]. /ETHIOPIA, v7140 kHz, empty - nothing on air from Asmara. 7181.552, VOBME 2, Dimtsi Hafash relay Voice of Oromo Liberation from Asmara, and accompanied by ETH Gedja jamming 7168 to 7191.2 kHz. S=9+20dB at 0412-0415 UT here in Germany and Belgium sites [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. 9720, CLANDESTINE, Radio Erena - Sofia, *1657-1739, Dec 6. Open carrier to instrumental music opening at 1700. Several station IDs by man announcer with listed Tigrinya language opening announcements. Into news program which was followed by some musical selections. Fair to good (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX- pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 10 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 6110, Radio Fana (presumed); 2040-2100:34*, 12/10; Peppy LL [unknown language] pop + English C&W tune; 2059 sung anthem & off; no ID--unusual for them. SIO=353 (Harold Frodge, M.A.R.E. DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500’ dogleg E-W/N-S unterminated bev, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! -----. DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. 7234.061 ... unstable x.084 kHz at 0416-0419 UT on Dec 11, S=9+5dB strength in southern Germany. 'Voice of Eritrea' program from Gedja site in Ethiopia, daily 0400-0430 UT or extended to 0500 UT ? - need more monitoring. Suffered by adjacent channel 7240.019 kHz powerhouse of TRT Emirler in English, talk on Turkey- Turkmenistan relations, latter S=9 [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6090, Amhara State Radio. Dec 11, with Anguilla off the air. Carrier already on at 0246; start of the correct Amhara State Radio IS (not the Radio Oromiya IS nor the Radio Fana IS) at 0259; weak (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6090, Amhara State Radio - Addis Ababa, 2045-2102*, Dec 5. man announcer with Amharic language talk followed by Horn of Africa music programming. ID at 2100, closing announcements and instrumental music followed by Choral National Anthem. Fair. Next day noted at 2022 with fair signal and Horn of Africa vocal selections ad discussion by a man and woman in Amharic language. 6110, Radio Fana - Addis Ababa, 2043-2057, Dec 5. Man announcer with Amharic language talks and various local instrumental and vocal selections. [+] 0354-0416, Dec 6. Nice Horn of Africa vocals until 0359 with station ID by a man announcer followed by news with another man and a woman announcer in presumed Amharic language. Poor to fair (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 10 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. BRB Radio Voice of Independent Oromiya on Dec 10 1600-1630 on 17850 ISS 250 kW / 130 deg to EaAf Oromo Sun, fair Transmission is jammed by Ethiopia with white noise digital jamming Today no signal from other clandestine BRB Radio Voice of Amara 1600-1700 on 15360 ISS 250 kW / 120 deg to EaAf Amharic Sun http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-brb-radio-voice-of.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 10, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. 15360, CLANDESTINE. Voice of Amara - Issoudun, 1703-1738, Dec 6. Missed opening but in the clear with a man and woman doing the news in the listed Amharic language. When another man began talking at 1710 the white jammer bounced on the channel blocking 95% of the available audio. Very effective! Fair signal before jamming commenced (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 10 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 3975, Short Wave Radio de, 2000-2010, 11-12, pop songs, English, ID "3975 kHz Short Wave Radio..." 25422" (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Lugo, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. 9719.991, Dec 7 at 1420 big hum with some modulation. Again it`s DW in Pashto via UAE until 1430, off at 1442 recheck leaving a JBA carrier from algo, listed IBB in Khmer via Tinian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Poor signal of Voice of Greece on 9420 kHz, Dec 6 0624&0755 on 9420 AVL 170 kW / 323 deg to WeEu Greek*tx#3 NO SIGNAL on 9935 AVL 100 kW / 285 deg to WeEu Greek tx#1 *news in Arabic/Serbian at 0751-0758UT & off air at 0904UT http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/poor-signal-of-voice-of-greece-on-9420.html Weak signal of Voice of Greece on 9420 kHz, Dec 7 0615&0755 on 9420 AVL 170 kW / 323 deg to WeEu Greek*tx#3 NO SIGNAL on 9935 AVL 100 kW / 285 deg to WeEu Greek tx#1 *news in Arabic/Serbian at 0752-0759UT & off air at 0800UT http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/weak-signal-of-voice-of-greece-on-9420.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 6-7, dxldyg via DXLD) VOG, Good signal here in NB on 9420 kHz this evening (noted at around 0300 UT) with a relay of the First Program (Proto Programma). "Connection with Cosmos" program. Mostly smooth jazz. Nice (-- Richard Langley, UT Monday December 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. Hi again Glenn, Radio Verdad on 4055 with ID at 0605 UT, about S5 easy copy loud audio on their signal on 10 Dec 2017 in Spanish. Off air 0641. I did some research on this station that I remember hearing years ago and found this blog which has pics of their transmitter facilities (I don’t know how they do it; amazing) http://radioverdadguatemala.blogspot.com/ Their web site; look under videos section to see antenna vids. http://www.radioverdad.org/ Doc W2MFT (Mark F. Tattenbaum MFA, 0645 UT Dec 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Lots of info in English and Spanish on the blog, and photos, but appears to have been dormant since 2010y; why? This happens again and again with blogspot, it seems (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) 4055, TGAV Radio Verdad (presumed); 0002-0010+, 12/9; M in Spanish religious music. SIO=333- with grinder QRM that LSB took out (Harold Frodge, M.A.R.E. DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500’ dogleg E- W/N-S unterminated bev, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! -----. DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. Fair to good signal this afternoon from Conakry here in NB on 9650 kHz at 2055 UT even indoors with a built-in whip antenna. Around 2058 after then end of a program in French that sounded like announcements of regional events, just the carrier. AM Sync frequency: 9650.003 kHz. Audio briefly returned at about 2117 UT but then gone again; carrier remains. This went on until after 2130 tune-out (-- Richard Langley, Dec 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAITI. Question about 300 watt FM signal and distance? Hi list, I work as an editor on the WTFDA FM database and take care of the Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean FM listings. My current project is working on a gazillion updates from Haiti. IF you have been following my posts and FM news updates on Haiti, you already know then that the FM spectrum in Haiti is a total nightmare. CONATEL is dealing with 350+ illegal stations operating on the FM dial, with varying kilowatts. This is in addition to the almost 400 FM stations licensed to operate, mostly low power operations of 300 watts or less. Port-au- Prince runs the most power, currently mandated at 1 kW per station and enforced by CONATEL. My question - is a 300 watt signal problematic at 10 miles? That is, case in point - one station is operating at 300 watts and 10 miles removed, another station is operating at 300 watts. I am running into this type of scenario all over the country of Haiti. Comments??? (Jim Thomas, db.wtfda.org, Dec 9, WTFDA gg via DXLD) Other factors are involved, such as terrain, antenna height, stations running under allocated power. Given a real 300 watts, level terrain, and even modest height, this would likely be a problem. Is it possible that there are shared time situations? (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, Grid FN20id, ibid.) No shared time on frequencies. Most run a 4 or 5 AM to 9 or 10 PM schedule. There are a few that run split schedules (very few) and they appear to be like a siesta break (early mid-afternoon they go off air and return late in afternoon). (Jim Thomas db.wtfda.org ibid.) To elaborate some more on Russ's comments - Terrain - yes, the terrain in Haiti can be a major issue. BTW, the term *Haiti* is French and the term is the condensed version for the description "mountainous landscape". Most FM *towers* are really antenna masts, much like our hobby antenna masts. They support maybe one or two bay FM antennas. Most antennas are 30' in the air. Haiti is the 3rd poorest country in the world, meaning they don't have much money to spend to put an FM station on the air. They can do it for less than a $1000. I've been told that many of the low power FM's (community stations and illegals) are on the air for less than $500, and mostly used equipment. So I can imagine a station that is in a valley, running 300 watts, isn't probably going to be heard 10 miles over on the same frequency, in another town in another valley. So I guess I'm curious --- *Is 300 watts on the same FM frequency, over rough terrain in a tropical environment, practical for 10 mile spacing? Or is it still going to cause problems?* The FCC, the UN, and even the ITU, are all working with CONATEL to try to get the FM RF dilemma corrected. Currently 90% of the Haitian population depend on FM radio for news and entertainment. Almost 80% of the population CANNOT read or write. Most don't even know how to verbally spell words in their native Creole language. And at the same time, the Haiti GNP is made up of 90% US dollars. Haiti is currently the number ONE nation where FM radio is number one for news and information. Just a bit of background on a country not that far from the US, and yet so far away (Jim Thomas db.wtfda.org ibid.) As Russ says, it's VERY VERY dependent on terrain. Using the FCC's propagation curves, a 300-watt station with an antenna 10 meters high **on flat ground** has a coverage radius of about 7.5km and an interfering radius of about 25 km (so two such stations on the same frequency would need to be at least 32.5 km apart to not interfere with each other). If you increase the antenna height to 100 meters, the coverage area increases to 13.5 km. The interfering radius increases to 46 km, so two such stations would need to be about 60 km apart. Again, all this assumes flat terrain, where the height of the tower is roughly equal to the height above average terrain. As you say, that is certainly not the case in Haiti! If transmitters are on opposite sides of a mountain, I'd say 15 km is probably plenty. If one (or both!) are *on* the mountain, I'd say it's nowhere near enough. To some degree you could take into account the location of the interference area. In the "opposite sides of a mountain" situation, there's probably still interference *on* the mountain. If nobody lives there, you don't care. If the interference area falls in the ocean (or in the Dominican Republic where they speak Spanish instead of Creole) you probably don't care == (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) ** HUNGARY. The new 5 x 400 kW Nautel transmitter system at Solt on 540 kHz is in operation from today [? Not specified]. It replaces a 40 year old Soviet transmitter. Maximium EZRP [sic] from the tower is 3500 kW! (László Tringer, Hungary, WRTH Facebook page 27 Nov via Dec BDXC UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) ** INDONESIA [and non-log]. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya, Dec 10 is the ninth day off the air (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3325, RRI Palangkaraya. Good news on Dec 12. Checking at 1128, found frequency clear (also no NBC Bougainville, which has recently been silent); pleasantly surprised at 1216 to hear the Jakarta news relay in Bahasa Indonesia, during which they also ran a promo; longer than normal news segment; 1238-1239 ending the news relay with the usual patriotic song “Bagimu Negeri” (For You Our Country), followed by RRI jingle; poor. Nice to have them back again! Several days ago I emailed the station that I missed hearing them on SW and hoped they would return again shortly. Today will write a follow up, thanking them for broadcasting again via SW (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Reception of Voice of Indonesia on "new" QRG 9526 Dec 9: 1300-1400 NF 9526 JAK 250 kW / 010 deg EaAs English, fair/good ex 9525 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-voice-of-indonesia-on-new.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #1047 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec 12, 2017, dxldyg via DXLD) 9525.95, VOI, 1302, Dec 10. Seemed to be in English; very low modulation (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. SKA TAKES SHAPE Or a DX listening location to die for November 2017 The sun is harsh in Western Australia’s Murchison shire. In this land of unpaved roads, kangaroo tracks, and low, scrubby vegetation, visitors can and sometimes do get lost. Nevertheless, a few hundred kilometers from the coast, here is the site of one of the most ambitious low frequency radio telescopes ever conceived. With just a hundred or so residents in an area bigger than the Netherlands, this piece of the Australian outback is something precious in a world swamped by wireless signals: an island of unusual calm, a clear window onto the cosmos. Back in the cool of our four- wheel-drive vehicle, one of my guides, Antony Schinckel, is emphatic about the location’s merits. “We really found this one of the best areas on the planet,” he says. Schinckel, a telescope director with the Australian government’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and his colleagues have already braved hostile conditions to turn a small portion of this vast territory into one of the world’s leading radio astronomy facilities. But the hard work is now starting to pay off. Over the last eight years, astronomers and engineers have transformed land where cattle once grazed into a kind of astronomical garden: the Murchison Radio- astronomy Observatory (MRO). Dozens of gleaming-white 12-meter-wide radio dishes, tailor-made for cataloging galaxies, now dot the landscape. They’re joined by thousands of spiderlike antennas, which form a state-of-the-art array capable of picking up electromagnetic waves dating back almost to the start of the universe. Technicians connect the prototype fixed antennas being tested at the Murchison site. The system funnels signals from as many as 256 antennas into one optical fibre, for transmission to the next processing stage. Eventually, the site will have more than 100,000 of the low-frequency antennas, which will collectively peer back at a time when the universe was a mere billion years old [caption?] These different kinds of antennas have been used to create two telescopes at MRO that are stretching the capabilities of radio astronomy. The telescopes are also the prelude to a much more ambitious project: the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Already more than 25 years in the making, the SKA promises to be a radio telescope of immense sensitivity, by virtue of a collecting area equivalent to more than (you guessed it) a square kilometer. When the project is complete, sometime in the early 2030s, it could encompass more than two thousand dishes in Africa and half a million or so antennas in Western Australia, dwarfing the telescopes at the MRO and other such facilities. In the process, the SKA—a collaboration among 10 member countries involving more than 500 engineers—will test the limits not only of telescope design but also of data processing pipelines, international coordination, and the infrastructure of big-science projects. “Nobody’s ever built anything on the scale we’re attempting,” acknowledges SKA director-general Philip Diamond. But he and many other astronomers think the effort will be well worth it. SKA’s sensitivity, resolution, and ability to scan large areas of the sky quickly will let it probe some of the universe’s most pressing mysteries. By cataloging vast numbers of galaxies through their hydrogen emissions, for example, the SKA is expected to help pin down the identity of dark energy, which is driving the universe to expand at an accelerating rate. The telescope will also be able to measure an unprecedented number of pulsars—spinning stellar remnants that beam electromagnetic radiation out along their magnetic poles. When these cosmic beacons wind up in tight orbits around black holes, they can be used to hunt for evidence of new physics that might finally allow physicists to develop a unified theory of quantum mechanics and gravity. Given its staggering scale, the SKA is proceeding in stages — beginning with a smaller incarnation called SKA1. Although just a fraction of the size of the SKA, this first iteration will still be the largest radio telescope in the world, Diamond says. Part of it will be built in South Africa and the other portion here in Western Australia, and the two sites will operate — as the full SKA will — as two independent telescopes. The South African component of SKA1 (known as SKA1-mid) will encompass 197 radio dishes with diameters of 13.5 and 15 meters. Data from those dishes will be combined to study a range of targets, including pulsars and radio emissions from hydrogen that sits relatively close to our own Milky Way galaxy. Australia’s part, known as SKA1-low, aims to pick up lower-frequency radio waves, including ones that originated from a time, billions of years ago, when astronomical objects like stars first lit up the universe. To receive these waves, the telescope won’t use dishes. Instead, it will use many simple, fixed antennas designed to pick up signals over a very wide range of frequencies, including ones in the TV and FM bands that happen to coincide with the frequencies of some of the universe’s oldest light. To yoke those antennas together into a single powerful telescope will require state-of-the-art amplification and signal processing. At the MRO, astronomers are already hard at work testing prototype SKA antennas. A patch of antennas was incomplete during my visit in June, but it already looked crowded. Dozens of the spindly 2-meter-tall structures, which resemble little fir trees, were packed together in a messy steel miniforest. By 2024, the SKA team expects to install more than 131,000 of these treelike antennas, grouped in clusters and extending into the desert for tens of kilometers along three spiral arms. The result won’t be much more photogenic than the test patch was. But if all goes well, the array could produce truly stunning results: the first detailed images of a universe as it was transforming from a murky sea of neutral hydrogen into something we’d recognize today—a black ocean of space studded with shining stars and galaxies. Super-sized facts: 1. The array’s 131,000 antennas will collectively produce upwards of a terabyte of data every second, says Keith Grainge, an astrophysicist at the University of Manchester, in England,. “It’s about an eighth of an Internet that we’ve got to transport,” Grainge says 2. This is an exascale problem, says Andreas Wicenec, a professor at the University of Western Australia studying the computational needs of the project. Wicenec estimates that SKA1-low will need a supercomputer at least as fast as the current world-record holder, China’s Sunway TaihuLight. The only hitch is that it must be significantly cheaper and consume just a fifth as much power as the Sunway TaihuLight, which can eat up 15 megawatts. 3. The SKA’s success will depend in part on making sure Murchison’s radio window stays as clear as possible. Cellular signals, electric motors, TV transmitters, arc welding, and many other sources of RF can interfere with observations. The site itself is protected as much as it can be from outside noise. A “radio-quiet zone” extends out to 260 km around the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. “The intention is to protect the site from 70 MHz to 25.25 GHz,” says Carol Wilson, spectrum manager for the MRO. 4. All the electricity needed must be produced on site. Both observatories aim to keep their carbon footprint to a minimum. It now has 1.6 MW worth of solar panels, and vast packs of lithium-ion batteries that can store 2.6 megawatt-hours—more than half of what SKA1-low will need when it is fully operational. 5. The budget for building SKA1 in South Africa and Australia is capped at about €675 million (about US $800 million, or about a billion Australian dollars), an amount set by the project’s 10 member countries: Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. But that funding won’t cover the entire cost of SKA1 with the specifications that astronomers are hoping for. 6. Performance is expected to be 10 times more sensitive than any existing radio telecope Abridged from IEEE Spectrum “Engineering the World’s Biggest Radio Telescope`` (Medium Wave News 62/07 December 2017 via DXLD) ** IRAN. 6061.34, 3/12 0054, Voice of Iran, Zahedan, Arabic, erratic frequency between 6061.28 & 6061.35, bad mod, S 9+. QTH Bocca di Magra, RX Excalibur Pro, ANT Wellbrook ALA 1530LNP, Pubblicato da (Giampiero Bernardini a dicembre 08, 2017, playdx blog, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) PARS TODAY VIRI IRIB on jumping frequency on Dec 10: 1730-0230 on 6060-6061 ZAH 500 kW / 289 deg to EaAf Arabic Full B17 schedule of PARS TODAY VIRI IRIB via tx Zahedan is 0230-0530 on 7380 ZAH 500 kW / 289 deg to NEAf Arabic 0530-1430 on 13820 ZAH 500 kW / 289 deg to NEAf Arabic, even 1430-1730 on 7310 ZAH 500 kW / 289 deg to NEAf Arabic, even 1730-0230 on 6060 ZAH 500 kW / 289 deg to NEAf Arabic http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/viri-irib-on-jumpingdrifting-frequency.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 10-11, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) Re 6061..267 ... x.299 kHz very odd frequency log: IRIB Zahedan v6061 kHz at 1835 UT on Dec 2. 7381.010, still the faulty Zahedan transmitter, frequency faulty wandering / hopping procedure at 0424 UT, variable 20 to 30 Hertz unstable, IRIB Arabic S=9+15dB on sidelobe into Germany on Dec 11. Also \\ on nearby 7370.004 kHz from Sirjan site at S=7-8 level [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL [and non]. MICKEY GURDUS, PROFESSIONAL DXER WITH A MISSION From the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/08/obituaries/mickey-gurdus-dead-eavesdropped-on-the-world.html Mickey Gurdus, Who Eavesdropped on the World, Dies at 73 By Sam Roberts Mickey Gurdus was always a good listener. For decades he commanded a battery of shortwave and FM radios, UHF and VHF receivers, tape recorders and other devices from a swivel chair in his Tel Aviv apartment, all to intercept and record foreign news broadcasts, secret satellite transmissions, confidential military messages and diplomatic conversations. He was no vicarious eavesdropper, however. Mr. Gurdus listened for a living. He monitored the airwaves for the state-run Israel Radio and tipped his editors -- and, sometimes, intelligence agents -- to hijackings, invasions and revolutions. In one instance he intercepted a telephone call between the White House and Air Force One. After he died of a heart attack on Nov. 28 in Yehud, Israel, at 73, the country's president, Reuven Rivlin, hailed him as "our mythological broadcaster." Mr. Gurdus called himself a journalist, but his professional niche -- rendered less exclusive but not defunct by the internet -- was so unusual that Israelis coined a Hebrew word for him: kashaveynu, or "our listener and correspondent." "I define myself as a journalist," he once told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, "but first of all as a patriot." In 1974, he was credited with helping to save the life of Archbishop Makarios III, the president of Cyprus, after he was deposed in a bloody military coup. Archbishop Makarios was presumed dead, but Mr. Gurdus overheard his appeals for assistance from a makeshift transmitter and alerted the British authorities, who rescued him. During the Watergate scandal in 1974, he intercepted a White House phone call to Alexander M. Haig Jr., President Richard M. Nixon's chief of staff, who was on Air Force One as it flew over the Middle East. The White House was calling to say that the Watergate special prosecutor was on his way to retrieve potentially incriminating tape recordings of Oval Office conversations from "the red safe." "We just don't want anyone to have access to any tapes," Haig was heard saying. "Anyone." Mr. Gurdus, perpetually sporting earphones and often sifting gibberish and static, listened in on a litany of, well, signal events. He overheard and revealed Operation Tshura, in which Israeli forces destroyed 14 Arab airliners in Beirut in retaliation for terrorist attacks on El Al planes. He got wind of a secret Soviet airlift of weapons to Egypt in 1970. He also picked up on the hijacking by Palestinian terrorists of an Air France plane to Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976; an abortive United States attempt to rescue hostages from the American Embassy in Tehran in 1980; Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990; and a devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Arab states attacked Israel, Mr. Gurdus helped identify captured Israeli paratroopers by lifting their images from Egyptian television. In 1977, an Israeli radio station prematurely broadcast his tip that German forces were on their way to recapture a Lufthansa plane that had been hijacked to Somalia. The rescue mission could have potentially been jeopardized by the report, but it succeeded. Mr. Gurdus said he was not pleased by the leak. "Whenever I have information that could jeopardize human lives," he said, "I do not publish it." In 1984, he overheard Shiite Muslim hijackers executing one hostage and beating others after they had commandeered a Kuwaiti plane. "I could hear the screams as they tortured the hostages and threatened to execute them," he told The Christian Science Monitor in 1985. "It was the most awful thing. I sat here shaking." Michael Gurdus (who was known as Mickey or Micki) was born on Nov. 9, 1944, in Tel Aviv. His father, Nathan, who used a wheelchair because of a crippling childhood illness, was living in Warsaw when he began monitoring Eastern European radio broadcasts and Morse code communications for a London newspaper in the mid-1920s. Nathan Gurdus and his wife, Irene, fled Warsaw as the Nazis invaded in 1939 and settled in Israel, where he joined the Irgun, the militant Zionist group. He later became a correspondent for Agence France-Presse. Their son was still in high school when he, too, discovered his calling. "I was my father's legs," he told People magazine in 1982. "He was my teacher." Mr. Gurdus later studied Orientalism and political science at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His survivors include his second wife, Bilha; three daughters; and several grandchildren. Mr. Gurdus conducted his eavesdropping vigils, up to 18 hours a day, for most of his life from a 10-by-12-foot room in the second-floor Tel Aviv apartment where he was born. The room, festooned with photographs and postcards, was a jungle of tangled wires. The building's roof was forested with aerials and satellite dishes. He knew Hebrew, English, Arabic, French, Russian and Polish, which helped him remain Israel's ears even as the internet and other communications advances might have rendered him obsolete. But he did not know much about electronics. "I do not understand anything about technology," he once said. "If a device ever breaks, I call a technician." He did not drive or fly and rarely took vacations during a life crisply defined in a magazine profile decades ago. "There were two major events in Michael Gurdus's life this year," the profile began. "He acquired a new wife and a new antenna -- both beauties." (via Mike Cooper, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mickey Gurdus // what a cool dude/. Wow! What a neat guy! Thanks for posting this bit of news. I would not have heard about him otherwise. Fascinating man. Reminds me of a male version of myself- I don't understand electronics or tech very well & have to have someone else fix things. I should get back into receiver monitoring. Anyway, what a loss to the planet that "Mickey" is no longer in it. Posted by: (kmakhl, dxldyg via DXLD) Was spelt Gordus in 17-49; Hebrew transliteration ambiguity? (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY. 7720 USB, Marconi Radio International, 1440-1604, 09-12, pop songs, English, Italian, comments, radio news. Very weak, barely audible. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Lugo, Tecsun PL- 880, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. ITALIAN FREE RADIO --- Giving a voice to the people by Giorgio Ghiglione 1 November 2017 [source???] “We have about 15,000 supporters who give a fixed share each year. And that is something special. We are not just a radio, we are a community.” In Italy, every day a small group of radio stations give voice to the voiceless: from social and environmental movements to immigrants and ethnic Roma who suffer discrimination. These are the “free radio”, a group of progressive and non-commercial broadcasters around Italy – from Turin, in the North, to Cosenza, in the deep South – who try to cover the kind of news that the mainstream media does not. Today, the free radios are trying to find a balance between their mission of broadcasting content that is outside the mainstream and the need for economic sustainability. Unlike commercial radios, free radios aren't supported by large media companies – which gives them editorial independence but also means that they struggle financially. To further complicate their economic situation, they are extremely selective in the advertising they accept (many run ads only for ethical companies), if they accept advertisements at all. What mostly distinguishes them, says Tiziano Bonini, a researcher at the University of Siena specialized in media studies, is that “free radios answer [ie: “feel obliged to be accountable”] only to their own listeners and they do not need to create profit for shareholders.” When a radio makes money, the profit is reinvested in the radio. Three of the most well known radios of this kind are Radio Popolare in Milan, Radio Blackout in Turin and Radio Onda Rossa in Rome. Founded in 1976, Radio Popolare is the oldest non-commercial radio still running in Italy. Radio Onda is just one year younger, while Radio Black Out was born in 1992. Despite their lack of resources, these three stations have been able to cover extensively important topics that the mainstream media would sooner bypass – such as police violence, the gentrification of poor neighborhoods, the revolutionary Kurdish movements in Rojava, Iraq. They have also kept covering the democratic revolutions in the Middle East for a longer period compared to the mainstream media. In Turin, Radio Blackout was the first radio to give voice to the protests of the inhabitants of the Val Susa against the construction of the high-speed Turin-Lyon line, a long tunnel drilled into the mountains which critics argue is damaging to the environment and costing the government big money that could be spent in a wiser way. The citizens in Val Susa who protested the railway were demonized by the mainstream media. But on Radio Blackout they had their own radio show, called “Radio No Tav” (Tav is an acronym for high-speed train in Italian). Radio Popolare sets itself apart because “it’s the radio that broadcasts the most international news in Italy”, as Bonini says. Radio Onda Rossa, on the other hand, is well known for “giving voice to grassroots campaigns”, says Cristina, that has been an editor for the Roman radio since 1994. As a longterm policy, the staff of Onda Rossa use only their first names. Another distinctive policy is that they let everyone speak: “We have had the same phone number for 40 years. Just call and you will be on the air”, Cristina continues. She said that often the people who call the radio wanting to talk are from workers’ unions fighting on some labor rights issue. While the mainstream media claim to be impartial, the free radios are proud of their political identity. “We believe which stories get to be told, and people having a choice in who gets to be interviewed, means that [the journalist] is already taking a side. [Working in the] news requires making choices, and making choices requires a thoughtful position. We are convinced that every part of the media makes choices, but we do it openly and we are left-leaning politically” says Lorenza Ghidini, senior editor of Radio Popolare. A bit of history Until the mid-1970s, Italy authorized only the broadcasting of public broadcasters – the Radio RAI network, whose programs were controlled by a special commission that censors uncomfortable content. Radio frequencies were liberalized in 1976. Soon afterwards, leftwing organizations, such as Autonomia Operaia or Lotta Continua began opening up their radio stations. In the same period Radio Popolare and Radio Onda Rossa were born, as well as the now-defunct Radio Alice and many others. The 1970s were a time of social and political upheaval in Italy and the birth of free radios was intertwined with the student movements, feminism and workers’ rights movements, who for the first time could make their voices heard without any intermediary. "The social movements needed to deconstruct the language of [those in] power and to create their own language. They needed to show the dark side of power” explains William Gambetta, researcher at Centro Studi Movimenti of Parma. In the early 1980s, many free radios begun to shut down: the high management costs, the reordering of radio frequencies so that it favours the creation of large oligopolies and the fierce repression of social movements, made their job too difficult. Yet, a new generation of free radios was still to come. In the mid 80's Radio Onda d'Urto was born in Brescia. In 1992, Radio Blackout was founded in Turin, still the youngest of the bunch. But a few years later, a new broadcast law made it too expensive to open up non- commercial radio. ? Radio Blackout stencil outside Turin Polytechnic, 2012. Wikicommons/jcracow [caption] A community of listeners Today, it's thanks to listeners if free radios are still active. Radio Onda Rossa organizes some fundraising concerts in Rome’s community centres. Radio Blackout in Turin and Radio Onda d'Urto in Brescia also organize summer festivals with concerts, debates and book launches. Radio Popolare, however, began accepting advertising in 2000. But most of its financial income comes from a particular form of subscription – in practice, supporters pay a voluntary subscription even if they can freely listen to the radio regardless of whether they pay or not. "The economic crisis has drained advertising revenue, so now we depend much more on the support of listeners. We have about 15,000 supporters who give a fixed share each year. And that is something special. We are not just a radio, we are a community”, says Ghidini. But do free radio have any impact? Do they contribute to shaping the public debate? According to Bonini, the media researcher, not so much. He argues there’s just too few of them of them to make a difference and that they are local radios anyway. “Free radios gives voice to the voiceless. But it’s just Radio Popolare and some other local radio here and there. They don't counterbalance the gap between mainstream media and common sense." Meanwhile, many of the innovations invented by the free radios have passed to the mainstream media. For instance, the "open microphone", the possibility for listeners to comment on a specific theme, is used today by many commercial radios. The concentration of media ownership in Italy paradoxically should stimulate forms of dissent says Alessandro Robecchi, former program director of Radio Popolare, who is now working as a TV author. "The prevalence of ideological conformism should stimulate dissonant voices. I think of a free radio as a megaphone of a society that does not accept and disputes the current narrative." It would be wrong to reduce the radios to a relic of the golden age of social movements. Undoubtedly the concentration of media ownership and the relationship between the media and politics in Italy is really strong, so it's very difficult for different voices to be heard. But while the mainstream media are only interested in what happens in the corridors of power, free radios offer a possibility to be heard for all those groups who are ignored by the mainstream media and discriminated against by society. Cristina, the news editor of Radio Onda Rossa, is convinced that free radios are still important for many: “When we open the microphones, there’s always someone calling. Maybe they do not agree with us, but still they have thought about the issues, and that’s important. This means that, in 2017, there are still people listening to the radio and who think that we are important.” Footnote: What can our Italian members add to this story? Please let me know (Medium Wave News 63/07 12 December 2017 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. 6055, RN 1 at 1230. Trance music. Seems to be only on weekends? W in Japanese at ToH, pips, and to jazz quartet. Good, Dec 9 6115, R Nikkei 2 at 0715. Long dialogue with two men in Japanese. Good Dec. 9 (Rick Barton, AZ, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. TOP JAPAN COURT FINDS PAYING NHK BROADCAST FEE "LEGAL OBLIGATION" KYODO NEWS KYODO NEWS - 12 hours ago - 21:30 https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2017/12/340985196295-update2-top-court-finds-paying-nhk-public-broadcast-fee-legal-obligation.html The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that owners of televisions in Japan are legally required to sign up with public broadcaster NHK and pay a subscription fee, dismissing a claim that the fee collection system violates the freedom of contract guaranteed by the Constitution. The ruling that the fee collection is constitutional was handed down in a lawsuit filed by the broadcaster against a Tokyo man who persistently failed to respond to NHK's requests from September 2011 for a contract. He owned a TV from March 2006. NHK, also known as Japan Broadcasting Corp., relies on the fees as its main source of income and has been struggling with unpaid bills. At issue is the Broadcasting Law that states any person who has installed equipment capable of receiving NHK broadcasts shall conclude a contract with it. But the law does not stipulate that payment of the so-called broadcast reception fee is an "obligation," leaving room for arguments over its interpretation. In the ruling, the top court's 15-member Grand Bench said the fee is intended to be paid "broadly and fairly" to ensure that the public broadcaster is financially independent and will not be "influenced by state organizations and others." "The system has been in place to satisfy the public's right to know. It is a necessary and constitutional system to ensure freedom of expression, which is the purpose of the Broadcasting Law," the top court said. While welcoming the acceptance of its argument by the top court, NHK said in a statement, "We will continue to explain well (to the public) why we need the system and will work to make sure that the burden will be equally shared." The man expressed his disappointment and anger over the ruling, according to his lawyer Katsuhiko Takaike. "We totally lost, like in the district and high courts," Takaike said at a press conference. NHK says the fee should be paid by all residents of Japan, regardless of nationality and whether or not its programs are viewed. But around 20 percent of households with TVs, mainly in major cities, do not pay the fee, according to the broadcaster. There is no penalty for failing to pay the fee, which is about 14,000 yen ($125) for receiving terrestrial broadcasts when the payment is made annually. According to NHK, countries such as Britain and South Korea make payment of TV license fees, which are similar to Japan's broadcast reception fee, an obligation. But past attempts in Japan to revise the 1950 Broadcasting Law to declare the fee an obligation met strong opposition. During the trial, the man argued the Broadcast Law stipulation is legally nonbinding and only requires "efforts" to be made to enter into a contract with NHK. He also said forcing him to sign an agreement to pay would violate the freedom of contract. The trial also looked into when a contract with NHK is concluded, with NHK claiming it is when a written request is delivered to the person concerned and the man arguing it is when the person consents to sign. In the ruling, the top court judged that the contract cannot be deemed as concluded just by sending a request and NHK would need to win a lawsuit ordering the person to enter into a contract. It also said the obligation to pay the fee starts from the point when a TV is installed. The top court's ruling follows a 2014 decision by the Tokyo High Court, which upheld a 2013 Tokyo District Court order that the man sign a contract with NHK and pay around 200,000 yen in broadcast reception fees. Facing a rising number of people refusing to pay the fee in the wake of NHK-related scandals in 2004, the public broadcaster began taking legal action to demand payment from 2006, changing its earlier policy of seeking contracts on a voluntary basis. The proportion of TV owners paying the fee recovered to about 80 percent in fiscal 2016, but around 10 million households and businesses are believed not to be paying it. The top court ruling, meanwhile, will not end ongoing lawsuits and disputes regarding whether the fee should be charged to people who only watch TV programs on their cellphones or the internet. District courts have been divided on whether possessing cellphones amounts to "installing" broadcast reception equipment as written in the Broadcasting Law. With more people spending time on the internet rather than watching TV, the top court may eventually need to rule on the issue, observers said. 12 hours ago | KYODO NEWS (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. 9855, Dec 6 at 2048, good S9+20 in French; not VOA. Soon mentions ``samurai`` and voice-overs some Japanese, clues: yes, NHK at 2030-2100, 250 kW, 310 degrees via MADAGASCAR, making it an outstanding signal on this band. Would that NHK could be heard as well intentionally in English to North America. 5960, Dec 9 at 0333, wild wailing and drumming, what`s it? O, Japanese talk follows, from NHK, 0300-0500 to Mexico/Central America/Caribbean, 500 kW, 290 degrees from Issoudun, FRANCE. This bihour presents some interesting music, close enough to North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KIRITIMATI. [re 17-49]: Kiribati, 846, Christmas Island --- A difference from last night. Yesterday, a strong carrier became visible from 0330 UT, and reasonably good audio after 0400. Tonight, I saw no carrier at 0330. Audio is much weaker as well, with low modulation audio at 0539 as I type this. Kudos to Theo Donelly for guessing the location. He was right!!! Congratulations, Theo! 73, (Walt Salmaniw, 0541 UT Dec 7, IRCA via DXLD) No sooner had I sent this in, did Radio Kiribati come roaring into Victoria, BC with a very useable signal (male talking) at 0542 UT. Note it looks like Christmas Island doesn't enter darkness until about 0420 UT, so 0330 isn't bad! 73 (Walt Salmaniw, ibid.) I went downstairs after seeing it ?pinning the meter? on the NHP radar; and within minutes, down to nothing. You might say that the new 846 is a Christmas present for 2018! (Colin Newell - Victoria - B.C. CANADA, 0548 UT Dec 7, ibid.) Interesting, I was watching/listening at the same time and was surprised, too having it go from "strong" to nothing over the course of a minute (only to have it recover shortly afterwards). The vagaries of the ionosphere! 73 (Walt Salmaniw, ibid.) 846 kHz, Dec 7 at 0543, JBA carrier definitely here and very close to 846.00. Huge splash from both sides, WHAS and KOA. Also IBOC noise circa 843 from WCCO makes it better to listen on USB despite that being 1 kHz closer to KOA than WHAS. Some fade-outs like 0603, and back up, again at 0701 check, but I don`t expect it to rise enough for any modulation here. I`m getting it both on the R75 with E-W longwire, and the NRD-545 with ALA-330S loop E-W, not on the DX-398 internal. This has got to be the reactivated R. Kiribati. Several years ago it closed this frequency and moved to 1440 from Bairiki. New 846 was first reported as an unID by Nick Hall-Patch, Victoria BC, Nov 30 at 0500-0535, and then heard by others on the west coast, including Walt Salmaniw also in Victoria as early as 0330. Ace DXer Bryan Clark in New Zealand did some research and found out that this frequency now is coming from a different part of Kiribati, in fact, Christmas Island = Kiritimati! This news Dec 6 in the DXLD yg quickly spread to North American MW DX groups: ``Appropriately as we approach the Christmas season, we learn that the reactivated transmissions of Radio Kiribati on 846 AM are in fact coming from a new location - London Village on Christmas Island, providing coverage of the Line and Phoenix Group, including Kanton Island. Long time DXers will recall the last radio station on Canton Island - WXLE on 1385 AM. See attached from the Radio Kiribati Facebook page. Thanks to Theo Donnelly for encouraging me to do some sleuthing on this one! --- Bryan Clark`` See https://www.facebook.com/RadioKiribati/posts/1734641830176128 ``Broadcasting and Publications Authority added 2 new photos. November 23 at 8:42pm BPA COMMISSIONS NEW AM TRANSMITTER FOR LINE AND PHOENIX GROUP TARAWA, November 24, 2017 (RADIO KIRIBATI) --- I-Kiribati living in the remote Line and Phoenix Islands can now for the first time listen clearly to Radio Kiribati broadcast from the Broadcasting and Publications Authority’s (BPA) main studio in London, Christmas Island following the installation of a new AM transmitter. The newly installed transmitter was commissioned on Saturday, 25 November 2017 in London village. BPA Board Vice Chairman Betarim Rimon said the launching was covered live on Radio Kiribati and was heard in the Kiribati islands (Gilbert Group) through AM1440 khz and in the Line and Phoenix Islands through the newly installed AM846 khz in London. Mr Rimon said the people of Kanton (Canton), the only inhabited island in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) can now tune and listen clearly to the broadcast from Christmas Island, a barrier in radio communications which has plagued and isolated the island from the rest of the islands in the country for many years. "The people of Kanton can now tune to this service as it will sufficiently cover the rest of PIPA. You are now no longer far but drawn closer to the rest of the nation and the world in terms of news updates and radio service," said Mr Rimon… RK News KAMAIUAKI ANA ‘AM TRANSMITTER’ TE BPA AE E BOOU IBUKIN TE AONO N RAINA MA RAWAKI TARAWA, November 24, 2017 (RADIO KIRIBATI) ---- A kona ngkai te nati ni Kiribati ake a tionako ni maeka n aban te Aono n Raina ma Rawaki n ongora n te moan tai ni Bwanan Kiribati ae e itiaki man ana tabo ni kanakobwana te Botaki ni Kanakobwana ma Karekerongorongo (BPA) are i Ronton, Kiritimati imwin kanimwakin ana transmitter te BPA ae e boou ikekei. E katekeraoaki kamaiuan te transmitter ae e boou aio n te Kaonobong 25 n November 2017 n ana tabo te BPA i Ronton Kiritimati. E taku te Kauoman ni Tia Babaire n ana Baba n Tararua te BPA ae Betarim Rimon bwa e katanoataaki ao ni katabwenaki moan kamaiuan ke kabonganakin te transmitter ae e boou aio n te kanakobwana ae e maiu iaon Bwanan Kiribati are e ongoraeakinaki n aban te Aono ni Kiribati (Gilbert Group) rinanon te band ae te AM1440 kilohertz ao n te Aono n Raina ma Rawaki rinanon ana band te transmitter are e a tibwa kanimwaki ae te AM846 kilohertz. E taku Betarim bwa ai akea ngkai aia kanganga kain Kanton, are bon ti ngaia aban te Aono n Rawaki ake a kainaki (PIPA) ae e kaainaki ni karekean Bwanan Kiribati ao n itiaki naba ongoraaia man te kanakobwana mai Kiritimati, te kanganga n te itoman n te rerio are e a tia ni kationakoa Kanton ma aban Kiribati ake nikabane inanon ririki aika a mwaiti. "A kona ngkai kain Kanton ni karekea ao ni kabongana ana tieweti Bwanan Kiribati aio n akea aia kanganga ngkai e a kona n roko korakorana ao n ongoraeaki n aban te Aono n Raina (PIPA) ni kabane. Kam aikoa tionako ngkai ma kamwa kaaniaki riki ma aban Kiribati ni kabane ao te aonnaba ni kaineti ma rongorongon baika a riki ao te tieweti n te rerio," e taku Betarim….RK News`` Longitude is 157-29 WEST, i.e. in the western hemisphere, yet the dateline was moved east of there, and the timezone advanced to UT +14 which would be the same at UT -10 on the day before as in Hawaii, Tahiti. Just as Kiribati is pronounced kiri-bas, the TI`s in Kiritimati are equivalent to S, so it comes out sounding a lot more like Ch-ris-mas. Current sunset there is 0421 UT, and varies little at less than 2 degrees north of the Equator. It`s not clear when 846 sign off, but 1440 was listed as 0500-1000 for their evening broadcast. So far on the IRCA and NRC lists I don`t see any reports of direct reception of 846 beyond the west coast, except for Alberta. Before 0600 I also check 558 for Fiji, 1098 for Marshalls, but probably too early for them (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bryan, That jibes with my reception of R. Kiribati on 846 last evening (circa 0815 UT) from the KiwiSDR at Kaneohe Bay HI - noticeably better reception on 846 from Kaneohe compared to what I would have expected to be better reception from my usual haunt at Bay of Islands NZ. SINPO 33433 with QRM from KHVH Honolulu on 830 and KHLO Hilo on 850 - but essentially a clear channel with the usual long term fades (Bruce Portzer, WA, Dec 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I did log them 2 nights ago. I log stations using the ARRL DXCC list. The Line Islands are considered "E. Kiribati". Regards, (George, NJ3H Redmond, Oregon USA, Kenwood TS-940S, Hustler 4BTV with 30m and 17m Yaesu FT-1900R and FT-60R, SDRs: Perseus and Elad FDM-S2, Antenna: Wellbrook ALA1530AL-2, ibid.) 846.00, Dec 8 at 0625 UT, and again at 0659 check, JBA carrier on this precise frequency, from new R. Kiribati, London Town. Because of its great distance from the rest of Kiribati, some believe that Christmas Island should be considered a separate radio country. From Tarawa: 3294 km = 2046 statute miles = 1778 nautical miles. From London, Kiritimati to Enid: 7200 km = 4474 stmi = 3888 nmi. I see there is also a Paris on the island. I wonder what the power is?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, The ARRL DXCC list of countries actually has Kiribati divided into 3 distinct countries, E, C, and W Kiribati. Christmas Is. is in E Kiribati. I realize the SWL world considers country definitions differently. Take care. Regards, (George, NJ3H, Stein, Redmond, Oregon USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Since I've been trying to hear Kiribati on 846 over the past couple of weeks I've always had a good carrier from 0530ish until when it goes off at variable times around 1000 UT. Last night I didn't hear a trace of it all night. Conditions wouldn't seemed to have changed enough to account for that, so was it perhaps off the air??? I'm curious if anyone heard them on last night. 73, (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore, AB, 0141 UT Dec 10, IRCA via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) The NZ Radio DX League's Bryan Clark located ~100 km north of Auckland asks the same question? He had been registering Kiribati's transmitter slightly offset to the low side of 846, along with someone exactly on 846.00 -- which he presumed to be Newstalk ZB from Masterton/Waingawa down near Wellington. His evening/NZ date 9 Dec or early hours of UT/9 Dec, only the exact 846.00 was showing, leading him to surmise Kiribati was not on air (Theo Donnelly, 0157 UT, ibid.) 846, Dec 10 at 0548, can`t pull a JBA carrier from R. Kiribati, but I can get one at 0655. 24 hours earlier I could not hear it at all, but so marginal at best that I did not conclude it was off. However, concerning UT Dec 9, these reports in IRCA: [as above] No reports yet of whether they were hearing it again on UT Dec 10 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 846, Dec 11 at 0531, JJBA carrier from presumed R. Kiribati; none audible at another check 0630. Need to monitor it for longer periods, as some have reported drastic ups and downs in signal levels (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 846 --- Showing as huge signal on NHP radar. 0540 UT (Colin Newell - Victoria - B.C. CANADA - Dec 12, IRCA via DXLD) Kirimati-846 may have been missing a few nights ago, but it is delivering a good signal on the westerly Flag in Victoria, BC at 0540 UT this evening; man in island language equal to 840 and 850 kHz stations on peaks. The relative lack of interference is due to the Flag of course, but it is still delivering audio on other antennas also. best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, Victoria, BC, Canada, 0547 Dec 12, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH. 6134.999 kHz this communist plague, checked at 1405 UT on Dec 5. Noise scratching jamming in range of 6131 to 6139 kHz channels. S=9+10dB plague here in southern Germany [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 5, BC-DX 09 Dec via DXLD) vs QSYed Voice of Freedom ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6085, Dec 7 at 1355, JSR JAPAN, the Sea Breeze earnest YL in English on Thursday only, S9-S6, about some Japanese government activity, music background; 1356 typical sounders; briefly overridden by huge uteblapps at S9+20 but no jamming; 1358 contact info, spelling out website, off at 1400* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Japan / North Korea, Ilbon-E Baram, produced by the Japanese agency “Headquarters for the Abduction issue” targeting Japanese citizens believed to have been abducted to North Korea between 1977 and 1983 has a new service on 7220 via Taiwan in Korean. Heard 1500-1530 then 1530-1600 daily on the same frequency. The radio is clearly heard signing off at 1528 then on again at 1530. The radio began this service at the start of the B17 season. Poor to fair at my location (Michael Ford, Dec BDXC UK Communication via DXLD) Really??? Not in Aoki, but 7220 is a busy frequency at 15-16, both CRI in Japanese and VOV in Vietnamese (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. BBC Korean new frequency --- From 9 December, 7395 from Kranji replaces 9940 from Tinang (Chris Greenway, BBC, Dec 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now what were the times? (gh) U.K.(non), Frequency change of BBC Korean Service from Dec 9 1530-1830 NF 7395*SNG 250 kW / 025 deg to NEAs, ex 9940 PHT //freqs 5895 DB 250 kW / 072 deg & 7530 TAC 100 kW / 068 deg * co-ch CRI English/Hindi 1530-1700 UT and German 1800-1830 UT http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/frequency-change-of-bbc-korean-service.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 10-11, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. new 6045 (ex: 5920), Voice of Freedom. Thanks very much to an early alert by Hiroyuki Komatsubara, on Dec 6, noted the return to this former frequency; not jammed by North Korea, which was still jamming ex: 5920; very good reception 1059, per my audio at http://goo.gl/qYxhs7 1200-1400 caught in the VOA + jamming by CNR1 mess; noted in the clear again at 1407 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KYRGYZSTAN. KYRGYZ REPUBLIC, 4010.222, Kyrgyz Radio, Birinchi R, Krasnaya Rechka, Bishkek, S=9+5dB or -68dBm strength, at 1727 UT on Dec 11, but stronger S=9+20dB in Finland remote SDR. 5129.950, SW Relay Sce, Krasnaya Rechka, Bishkek, only empty carrier, seemingly Afghan religious Radio in Pashto language on other days of the week, via Bishkek frequency. S=6-7 poor at 1734 UT on Dec 11 [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. A decision was made to stop testing of terrestrial digital broadcasting (DAB +) - the National Council for Electronic Media (NSESMI) of the country decided that this format will not be introduced. Tests were started in October 2016. At that time, it was reported that for the community digital radio would mean better signal quality, as well as the ability to listen to programs throughout Latvia. In turn, for radio stations, the transition to digital broadcasting had to cut costs, since analogue broadcasting, existing at the moment, allows only one program to be transmitted on one frequency, and up to eighteen for digital broadcasting. Mikus Karlsons, a technology specialist, on the air of Latvijas Radio explained that the terrestrial digital broadcasting system (DAB +) has a lot of advantages. For example, when traveling by car to different places in the country, to continue listening to the desired station, you do not need to switch from frequency to frequency, and when listening you can see information about the song on the air and its performer. In addition, the police in their work can use digital broadcasting to broadcast a variety of information for drivers. Carlsons noted that if the NSESM decides not to switch to DAB + now, it probably will not happen. The main reasons for refusing to introduce DAB + in Latvia are two: this process will cost several million euros (from taxpayers' funds), and will require each listener to change the receiver. In addition, in Latvia, a very good Internet, the country is gradually moving to 5G, which means that radio stations will have more opportunities in different formats to transfer their programs. https://vk.com/dxingradio (via Rus-DX 10 Dec via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 11790, World Christian Radio at 2210 with mix of talk and musical Bridges consisting of everything from soft flute music to Latin salsa. Excellent reception on SW-2000629 with 9-foot vertical. Dec. 7 (Rick Barton, AZ, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. Arabic service unless again played the Chinese hour by mistake (gh, DXLD) ** MALI. 5995, Radio Mali (ORTM), 2234-2256, Dec 6. Man announcer with French language talk speaking to another man from a remote location. Music programming followed hosted by a man and woman announcers. Poor to fair signal. At 2253 seemingly, a carrier opened up on channel blocking Mali’s audibility significantly. At home when I hear Mali between 2300-2400 I just assume it has poor modulation. However, the studio modulation seems fine until this “carrier” pops on the channel (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 10 via DXLD) Strange; nothing else known on 5995 except Korean radio war during diverse hours or ex-hours (gh) ** MEXICO. 550, Dec 8 at 0116, ``Los locutores de la fuerte --- gran sorteo --- Lotería Nacional --- Cuauhtémoc Navidad``, phrases heard dominating frequency, so certainly XEPL, 5000/150, Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua. At first I thought ``La Fuerte`` might be a station`s slogan, but maybe misheard ``suerte`` to go along with gambling theme. Followed by a Diputados PSA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) For what it's worth, Mexican lottery commercials (I struggle to accept a lottery ad as a "PSA"!) usually include the phrase "la suerte está en tus manos" (or maybe "sus manos"). (Tim Hall, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 830, Dec 6 at 0137, something in Spanish with WCCO attenuated by aurora and nulled; all I can catch is a definite mention of 105.7 FM, so is it the usual Unitedstatesian spoiler, WFNO, Norco, Louisiana? NRC AM Log shows its translator wagger is on 97.5. Now to check the IRCA Mexican Log: here`s the one with a 105.7: XELN, Linares, Nuevo León, 5000/250 watts, ``La Caliente``. It`s also the only 830/105.7 Mexican combo in WRTH 2017 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) XELN has a continuity obligation — it *must* be on air, so it has to be them (Raymie Humbert, AZ, Dec 9, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 1030, Dec 8 at 0106, ID immediately on tune-in: ``Grupo Fórmula Juárez, 10-30 AM``, then overtaken by some Dave Ramsey station. I.e. XEYC, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, 1/1 kW per IRCA Log; it`s the XE most often heard here on 1030, not XEQR, CDMX, 50/5 kW but twice the distance (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) XEQR is not on air since Grupo Radio Centro shut off in May 2017, also are off-air XERC-790 and XEJP-1150 (Gargadon, Campeche, Dec 8, WTFDA Foroum via DXLD) To the best of my knowledge, XEQR-1030 has been silent for some time. They were a casualty of the Radio Centro - Radio Mexico implosion a few years ago, which took 4 or 5 Mexico City stations off the air. XERC-790 programming was collapsed into XERED-1110. XEQR-1030, XEJP- 1150 and XENET-1320 programming was collapsed into XEN-690. The fate of the 5th silent station, XEINFO-1560, is a bit of a mystery to me. This station had reportedly been silent for many (9?) years. A few months ago, the web site for XEEST-1440, whose "Quiéreme" format (which is a contemporary Christian/religious teaching format, not a romántica format, despite the misleading name and logo), suddenly indicated that this format was now on 1560 kHz. About a month later, the "1560" references across this web site all reverted to 1440. 73 (Tim Hall, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I didn't know until reading this that XEQR 1030 and XERC 790 Mexico City stations were silent and gone. This explains the lack of anthems on those channels on my occasional 0000 and 0600 CST (local there) checks. And means when I do hear anthems on these channels I'd better be paying more attention. Glenn, I appreciate your regular posts. Raymie, is there a list of silent Mexican AM stations? (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, Dec 10, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Remote bandscan - Cancún, Quintana Roo http://forums.wtfda.org/showthread.php?11690-Remote-bandscan-Canc%FAn-Quintana-Roo&p=45124#post45124 Okay, so it technically isn't a band-scan, but it represents one. The goal of this project was to verify programming (formats) and station ID's for area Cancún FM stations, for verification purposes for the WTFDA FM database. Using internet streams, I had to access one station at a time, which isn't the same as being there and basically tuning across the dial. It would be so cool to have an Es opening to Cancún and be able to record all of these stations, similar to what I did here. Yes, it is possible to do an internet *band-scan* of a market, but it takes up a lot of time. I spent the better part of one day getting these. My goal was to get station ID's and I have found that most FM's in MX run their full ID's between 00:50-00:00 (ten minutes before the TOH). Raymie (México FM-TV news editor) mentioned to me about needing to do a Cancún band-scan some time. I thought since I recorded these, I would post them here for him to get a chance to listen to them in one place and also for anyone else wanting to take a *mental* trip to Cancún. All of these were recorded over the course of the day, December 12th. Enjoy! ----------------------- Clips are for these stations: 89.1 XHPMQ Puerto Morelos 89.9 XHRB Cozumel 90.7 XHQOO Cancún 91.5 XHCCQ Cancún 92.3 XHCAQ Cancún 93.1 XHYI Cancún 97.5 XHCAN Cancún 99.3 XHCQR Cancún 105.1 XHNUC Cancún 105.9 XHCUN Cancún 106.3 XHLAYA Playa del Carmen 106.7 XHCBJ Cancún Observations: 92.3 XHCAQ, not sure if they really ran their station ID, even though I recorded this at the TOH; 104.3 XHROJ Cancún, appears to be missing in action. Are they on the air?? No web presence, Tunein and Streema have pages for XHROJ do NOT have a live stream; 106.7 XHCBJ, the Streema connection on the XHCBJ page actually connected to a French talk station in Quebec; Tunein has the correct stream. 98.1 XHPYA Playa del Carmen, even with web presence, they have three separate pages for a stream but none work - Streema, Tunein, and their own web-page. 93.1 XHYI Cancún, I know many México FM's take long commercial breaks, but I think XHYI should be awarded 1st place for this. I easily observed 15-20 minute commercial breaks EVERY TIME they took a break. Attached Files File Type: mp3 89.1 XHPMQ Magica.mp3 (890.8 KB, 5 views) File Type: mp3 89.9 XHRB Sol Stereo.mp3 (689.4 KB, 5 views) File Type: mp3 90.7 XHQOO RMX.mp3 (1.87 MB, 5 views) File Type: mp3 91.5 XHCCQ La Z.mp3 (2.23 MB, 5 views) File Type: mp3 92.3 XHCAQ Formula.mp3 (1.27 MB, 4 views) File Type: mp3 93.1 XHYI Mix.mp3 (1.05 MB, 4 views) File Type: mp3 97.5 XHCAN Maxima.mp3 (2.42 MB, 4 views) File Type: mp3 99.3 XHCQR Pirata.mp3 (1.20 MB, 5 views) File Type: mp3 105.1 XHNUC Turquesa.mp3 (2.88 MB, 4 views) File Type: mp3 105.9 XHCUN RCA.mp3 (1.51 MB, 5 views) File Type: mp3 106.3 XHLAYA Capital Pirata.mp3 (397.1 KB, 5 views) File Type: mp3 106.7 XHCBJ Caraibe.mp3 (2.74 MB, 6 views) Appears to be a quantity limit per post. Two more. Was able to get a clip from XHPYA 107.7 XHZCM Cozumel 98.1 XHPYA Playa del Carmen File Type: mp3 107.7 XHZCM La Voz del Caribe.mp3 (3.09 MB, 3 views) File Type: mp3 98.1 XHPYA Riviera.mp3 (394.2 KB, 3 views) Last edited by Jim Thomas; 12-13-2017 at 12:05 PM (Jim Thomas, Springfield, MO, Ozark Mountain DTV dxing Daredevil, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Weird about XHPYA, I just visited their stream and it's online right now. What? Soriana and Nissan ads in a public station? (Gargadón, Campeche, ibid.) So you are saying you heard ads on XHPYA??? And does XHPYA have a sign off time in the evening? I went to the exact page you linked to and there wasn't any audio during mid evening (around 8 PM CST). (Jim Thomas, Springfield, MO, Dec 13, ibid.) I don't know if XHPYA signs off in the evening, but I swear that I just heard ads in their last commercial break ("sponsors", they say). (Gargadon, ibid.) So Acustik's site and platform for QFM actually went down the very weekend I wrote them that nice 1,100-word letter. I believe they are on the air — Acustik is still pumping out a newscast. Also, this is the first you'll hear of this, but XHCBJ is an Article 90 clear. It has been told to move to 101.9. This is the second A90 clear of a public station (the first was XHGUA-FM in Sonora). (Raymie Humbert, ibid.) Any idea if 93.1's sister AM 580 XEYI is still running? It used to be a tough daytime catch from Flamingo FL, but I have not heard it in a couple of years. ---> audio http://forums.wtfda.org/showthread.php?9568-XEYI-580-Cancun&highlight=XEYI c d (Chris Dunne, FL, ibid.) ** MEXICO. RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT this week [barely including some DTV] Second-wave migrants, especially those with talk formats, are faced with the choice of keeping their existing programming or blowing it all up and going to a musical format that might not have been viable on AM. The first such station to hit the air, XHCH-FM 89.3 Toluca, took the latter route, killing talk and going to music. While two of Puebla's (potentially) five migrants have already indicated they will retain their grupera formats on the FM band, XECD-AM does not appear to be going that route. While looking for info on XHEV-FM in Izúcar de Matamoros, which appears to have changed operators from Capital Media to locally based Grupo Oro, I instead found information on "La Romántica". Since I had heard reports that this is the new name for XHEV, I was instead surprised to see an "Under Construction" slide on laromantica.com.mx — *advertising not 99.9 but 92.9, which was the frequency reported back in July for XECD's migration. The Ciudad 1170 site has also disappeared as of sometime this week. Little else is known. We know the programming plans for XEPA (89.7) - retains Ke Buena XEEG (92.1*) - ??? XECD (92.9) - flip to La Romántica XEZT (95.5*) - retains La Mejor XEZAR (96.1) - probably retains Arroba FM and likely flipped to this format in preparation for migration The two stations with asterisks may not migrate if they, as indicated, did not pay up to migrate. XEZT has promoted its FM frequency already and did so just days ago, so there is some uncertainty as to what's happening here. https://www.facebook.com/lamejorpue/photos/a.351792044834129.98099.340764335936900/1866343966712255/?type=3 As to XHEV, the one note on its change, a line item in a Milenio Puebla column (which mentions not Grupo Oro but the Grajales family that runs it), put the station not in Izúcar but in Atlixco, about 35 km away. It may be that Grupo Oro has set up shop there instead of in Izúcar. The new station still has no social media or web presence, so finding further information is tricky (Raymie Humbert, Phœnix AZ, December 9, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Staying in Puebla but moving to another city, the Hermanos Serdán (unlicensed) community station in Tehuacán has a problem. They are complaining of jamming to their signal, https://meganoticias.mx/tehuacan/noticias-tehuacan/67771-radio-comunitaria-se-queja-por-bloqueo-de-senal.html causing listeners to not be able to tune in. The station is upset that they are being interfered with despite not being a commercial competitor and, according to them, being a totally lawful operation. Hermanos Serdán, according to Facebook, moved from 96.1 to 91.9 in July (Raymie, Dec 9, ibid.) While digging through Cofetel-era documents, I saw something that must have come out of another universe. Well, not really. But it is a head scratcher, and I think it's worth addressing. Perhaps in another universe, 98.1 FM in Aguascalientes is celebrating ten years of broadcasting right now. No, I'm not talking about state- owned XHNM-FM, among the last of the migrants to come to air. I'm talking about XHUBT-FM, which would have been owned by Bona Terra, A.C. If neither of those sound familiar to you, well, they weren't to me! We start with the permit award that was made on May 2, 2007. http://apps.ift.org.mx/publicdata/P_020507_233_Bona_Terra.pdf XHUBT-FM was to be a class A station with facilities on the southern edge of the city, in an area also called Bona Terra. The application had been made two years earlier, on April 27, 2005. I believe XHUBT was to be a private university station, operated by the Universidad Panamericana, whose address matches that in the permit award. The representative was one Santiago Rodrigo Reinoso Velasteguí, who today is the Secretary General of the Universidad Panamericana Campus Bonaterra. http://www.up.edu.mx/es/profesor/28645/santiago-rodrigo-reinoso-velastegui This campus was started by this private, Catholic university in 2007. From there, it's unclear what happened, but XHUBT had to have crashed and burned fairly quickly. Perhaps the permit was never actually signed, or the university opted not to do anything. In any event, 98.1 was vacant and eventually awarded as the migration frequency for XENM- AM (Raymie, Dec 10, ibid.) Tehuacán's frequency battle has prompted more attention from the local press. https://www.elsoldepuebla.com.mx/estado/estaciones-se-disputan-frecuencia-en-tehuacan The report out of El Sol de Puebla goes into more depth on the Hermanos Serdán jamming issues. The operators of the station point the finger at Radiorama, operator of XHTCP-FM 90.7 and particularly XHTEU- FM 99.1, which they claim is jamming Hermanos Serdán with XHTEU's signal in order to try and recover lost listeners. Additionally, Radiorama apparently participated in a campaign to drive advertisers off of pirate radio stations. Hermanos Serdán says that they will attempt to attract the IFT's attention—a bold move for an unlicensed station—calling Radiorama's actions "sabotage and disloyal competition". Out of Municipios is another report that takes a wider angle. http://municipiospuebla.mx/nota/2017-12-09/tehuac%C3%A1n/en-tehuac%C3%A1n-operan-22-radios-comunitarias-sin-permisos In the general region, there are 22 unlicensed radio stations. That figure is according to Francisco Sánchez [Tinoco], one of the owners of XHGY/XHWJ-FM (together known as RadioTH Comunicaciones) and a former head of the Puebla-Tlaxcala chapter of CIRT. Sánchez notes that the rise of community stations has eroded the outside advertising base of Tehuacán's local stations. Previously, potential advertisers in surrounding towns had to buy airtime from the Tehuacán stations. However, these unlicensed stations, which can and do operate as commercial ventures, have taken some of that market. Additionally, this piece notes that Hermanos Serdán has at times had to impose a 100 kHz offset and transmit at 92.0 MHz to attempt to escape the jamming. ––– Speaking of community radio, the situation is apparently dire http://libertadbajopalabra.com/2017/12/10/radio-teocelo-requiere-cinco-mdp-evitar-extincion/ for Radio Teocelo XEYTM, the dean of social (and community) radio stations in Mexico. The station is still needing funds to update equipment, around 5 million pesos, and the rest of the article is something of a word salad about requirements to digitalize. (The real goal here might be a reserved band FM.) (Raymie, Dec 11, ibid.) Looking Back at the Class I Ghost Stations So I was curious to see, now that we have some final tallies from IFT- 4, as to how the Class I ghost stations from 2000 might fare today. http://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=2053313&fecha=10/04/2000 Here's a look by state: Baja California Sur 2 stations each at Cabo San Lucas (99.9/100.7), La Paz (102.3/103.9) Bidders dropped out from these markets because of cost issues (Tecnoradio inflation) more than anything else. There might be *too* much supply, however BCS markets are in dire need of additional stations to reduce the market share of Promomedios California. It might be worth it to finally put these out to bid. Coahuila 2 stations at Ramos Arizpe (96.7/101.7) This is the Saltillo market, and it would probably attract significant interest. If put in the PABF for noncommercial or other use, this could also let the Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro finally move to FM as it has desired for years, only to see the Article 90 reserved band steal an ideal frequency and internal strife prevent action. Guerrero 106.1* at Teloloapan The municipality has 51,659 people but might not be that attractive of a radio market. There are no stations here. Additionally, the 106.1 frequency once proposed would have to be changed to accommodate the reserved band. (There are several allotments in here that would need to change.) Hidalgo 94.1 at Tepeji del Río The problem with this allotment is that XHUAM-FM's upgrade to Class A would put an additional co-channel A at Tepeji short-spaced to the new Mexico City 94.1. If the SFN were still on the table, this would not be an issue. IFT-002-2016 prescribes a 100 km separation between co- channel Class A allotments. The distance from the UAM Cuajimalpa tower to Tepeji is 57 km, though a mountain is in the way. 89.5 at Zacualtipán This would be the first radio service for this mountain town firmly in the Huasteca (and somewhat close to the Veracruz state line), 22 km from Huayacocotla. It has just 26,000 people. Zacualtipán is 70 km away from Tamazunchale, in San Luis Potosí; 60 km from Huejutla de Reyes; and in the opposite direction, 64 km from Pachuca and 70 km from Tulancingo. The viability of a station here might not be all that great. Jalisco 2 stations at San Juan de los Lagos (91.9/106.3*) There was a station added here in IFT-4, which was XHPSJL-FM 96.1 bought by Arnoldo Rodríguez Zermeño — who has had quite the appetite for stations in the Jalisco highlands through social wolves and commercial acquisition. México 2 stations at Valle de Bravo (105.3/106.7*) Valle de Bravo has just one commercial station — XHEVAB 93.5 (whose callsign protects the ghost at 106.7). The availability of alternate frequencies for the lost 106.7 isn't as much of an issue as it would be for... 94.1 at Villa Guerrero Villa Guerrero sits on the south slopes of Nevado de Toluca...which means this station would either become the first FM for Ixtapan de la Sal (which has just one AM), the second station in the Tenancingo area (XHMLO-FM Malinalco has its studios in Tenancingo) or a move-in into Toluca (it does match Toluca's bandplan at 800 kHz). The frequency has a short-spacing problem to another recently added radio station — we're 48 km from XHFCSM-FM Cuernavaca using the assigned coordinates, or 41.16 km from the actual center of town. Michoacán 105.5 at Los Reyes de Salgado There is a 92.5 here and a community 104.5 (which suggests that 105.3, not 105.5, might be the better frequency to put this station on). 88.7 at Nueva Italia There was appetite for the two Nueva Italia FMs offered in IFT-4, so this is definitely an option. Oaxaca 2 stations at Santa Lucía del Camino (104.9/106.5*) This is the Oaxaca area proper, which means that merely liberating 106.5 for a new community station would lead to a firestorm of applications. (The recently awarded XHEDI-FM is 400 kHz down the road at 106.1.) 104.9 is one of several glaring commercial or public allotments that could be made here. Oaxaca's bandplan suggests there are openings with full 800 kHz spacing on 88.1, 88.9, 90.5, 91.3, 92.1, 99.3, 103.7 and 104.9 (along with many obvious 400 kHz drop- ins). While I don't expect this to be the approach taken, putting 104.9 in IFT-8 would certainly attract interest. 101.3 at Nochixtlán 96.5 went in IFT-4. There aren't many stations here. Puebla 92.1 at Zacatlán Two stations went in this area in IFT-4, including 91.7 Huauchinango and 88.3 Chignahuapan. There'd probably be decent interest. Querétaro 101.9 at Tequisquiapan A local bidder took home XHPQUI-FM/Qro., marking this town's long- delayed entrance into the world of local radio. A second station (XHQUI-FM, coincidentally) would provide competition. Quintana Roo 2 stations at Playa del Carmen (98.9/100.7) These would sell for a lot of pesos, just judging by the price that was paid for XHPPLY 96.1. XHDGM 98.9 was the subject of years of battles between an applicant and regulators (into the IFT era!). San Luis Potosí 106.1* at Cerritos The last radio station here was XEWZ. It high-tailed it and moved into the capital city in the 90s. Aside from the need for a new frequency, this sounds like move-in bait eventually. 106.1* at Salinas de Hidalgo There has never been a radio station for this town of 50,000. Sonora 101.5 at Altar There are no commercial stations here, and no wonder — there are fewer than 10,000 in the municipality. 91.3 at Etchojoa The only station here is a CDI AM operation, but with more than 60,000 residents, there's something here. Rimshotting Navojoa with a move to the northeast is also an option, especially if the station were built in town. Tabasco 93.3 at Teapa This town is near the Chiapas line, close to Pichucalco. It has no stations. 105.3 at Paraíso This town is due north of Comalcalco and on the coast. Comalcalco is, in turn, northwest of Villahermosa. A move-in might be what would happen here. Tlaxcala There would be more commercial stations on paper here than there are actual commercial stations (not including the Tlaxcala state-owned commercial stations) in the state! 2 stations at Apizaco (93.3/97.3) Apizaco has XHXZ on 100.1 and that's it — even in a population of 80,000. 2 stations at Tlaxcala (102.7/103.9) These stations would almost certainly be built to cover Puebla *and* Tlaxcala — and there certainly is room for more stations in both. It would be the first private commercial station to operate in the state capital of Tlaxcala, as XHXZ is in Apizaco and XHHT is in Huamantla. A well-placed, high-power station (which is to say probably not these) could cover Puebla, Tlaxcala, San Martín Texmelucan and Apizaco all together. Veracruz 88.9 at Las Choapas 102.3 at Naranjos Naranjos was up for grabs in IFT-4, but Tecnoradio's collapse meant neither of the two stations allotted met with qualified bidders. Yucatán 104.7 at Ticul 90.7 at Tekax Give the Tekax station to the municipal government that wants to build one — and did so on 90.5! Zacatecas 88.7 at Sombrerete Both IFT-4 stations here found bidders, but they were primarily interested in statewide coverage, so additional bidders might be harder to grab. 102.1 at Miguel Auza An AM covering this area was awarded in IFT-4. There has never been an FM in this municipality of 22,000 (Raymie, Dec 11, ibid.) Akustik Media, S.A.P.I. de C.V. Escápate del Paraíso, S.A. de C.V. And now, Centrado Corporativo, S.A. de C.V. First reported by Gabriel Sosa Plata http://www.sinembargo.mx/12-12-2017/3361826 based on new shareholder information made available by the IFT last week, it's official: Centrado is the third leg of Grupo Acustik Media, which becomes the definitive winner of IFT-4 having nabbed 22 of the 141 stations that were made available. The information available also points us to the composition of other IFT-4 winners. Medios y Editorial de Sonora is owned by the successors of Julio Ramón Luebbert Duarte, who died in 2012, http://www.dossierpolitico.com/vernoticiasanteriores.php?artid=108293&relacion=dossierpolitico&criterio= and Luis Felipe Romandia Cacho. We learn from this that this group runs the Expreso newspaper. Radio Casandoo, which won two stations in Oaxaca, is owned by Enrique Rojas Galindo and Luis Eduardo and Enrique Rojas Zavaleta. Rojas Zavaleta heads the state Secretariat of Agricultural, Fishing and Food Development (SEDAPA) and threatened a reporter just this July. https://www.nssoaxaca.com/2017/07/25/amenaza-titular-de-la-sedapa-a-periodista-por-criticar-su-desempeno/ He had previously been a municipal president and has other business interests. https://rubenosorio.wordpress.com/2013/12/05/los-negocios-de-familia-de-lalo-rojas/ The El Sol Nochixteco, La Puerta de la Mixteca and Los Ojos del Cielo stations are all partly owned by members of the Vera Hernández family, discussed in Sosa Plata's piece. The family made its money in the leather tanning industry. Sonora Emedios is the business of the Lemmen Meyer family. They have to have some dual citizenship somewhere in there because they also own, through LM Media Group, KUDF-LP channel 14 in Tucson. ——— It's time to get caught up on the new social stations that were awarded on November 28. http://www.ift.org.mx/conocenos/pleno/sesiones/l-ordinaria-del-pleno-28-de-noviembre-de-2017 Estéreo Peñasquito, A.C. — Mazapil, Zacatecas. There is a mine known as Peñasquito here. http://ntrzacatecas.com/temas/minera-penasquito/ Did the mining company set up this station? Radio La Filosita, A.C. — Mezcala, Carrizalillo and Mazapa, Guerrero. Existing pirate on 99.1 in the community of Los Filos! https://issuu.com/goldcorpinc/docs/aboveground_spring11_spanish_issue_ Grupo Radio Fiesta Sierreña, A.C. — likely Moctezuma, Sonora http://www.radiofiesta.mx/ Rate Cultural y Educativa de México, A.C. — Manzanillo, Colima Most noteworthy, several concession items were pulled from the agenda. http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/conocenos/pleno/sesiones/ordinaria/l-ordinaria-del-pleno-28-de-noviembre-de-2017/vpordendia50aord281117_1.pdf The concession transfers were XHMP-FM -> Fermur Radio, S.A. de C.V. XHECQ-FM -> Radio CQ de Culiacán, S.A. de C.V. XHTX-TDT -> Telemisión, S.A. de C.V. (same concessionaire as co- owned XHAUC in Chihuahua) Technical modifications were the order of the day for XHANV-FM, XHKJ- FM, and four other stations, including three FMs and one AM. ——— Victims of fraud took a radio station by storm last week http://imparcialoaxaca.mx/los-municipios/95124/toman-defraudados-radiodifusora-en-la-ciudad-de-tlaxiaco-oaxaca/ in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca. XHTLX-FM "La Poderosa" was taken over because 12 percent of the station is allegedly owned by Rufino Sanjuán, who owns the SOFIC cooperative savings institution. SOFIC apparently disappeared and left account holders without their savings, leading to building takeovers in Santiago Juxtlahuaca and a street blockade in the state capital, among others, in the last year. Last edited by Raymie; 12-12-2017 at 04:58 PM (Raymie, ibid.) Mmm, freshly printed in the Diario Oficial de la Federación... It's the 2018 PABF! Let's dig in! TDT Commercial: Just two commercial stations are included, a fairly low-power VHF station for Jojutla, Morelos, along with a UHF station for Villahermosa. Social: It's all-Vs, half of them in Michoacán. Notable large markets include Chihuahua, Cancún-Playa del Carmen, Chetumal, Villahermosa and Mérida. Public: The big prize here is tailor-made for one state government headed by Javier Corral. As had been reported here, Chihuahua wants a state network, and there's one in here, which would have a statewide concession on VHF and transmitters at Chihuahua Capital, Camargo, Cuauhtémoc, Delicias, Guachochi, Jiménez, Juárez, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Ojinaga and Parral. That's essentially the entire state. There's also another VHF, for Puebla. FM Commercial: A grand total of 25 stations, including B1s at Lázaro Cárdenas, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Durango, Torreón and Parras de la Fuente — and a few in Baja California Sur. There's an A at Mazatlán. These stations will appear in the IFT-8 radio auction that's around the corner. The B1 at Torreón is a surprise — there doesn't seem to be room in that region. There's definitely space in Durango, though. There are no stations in Victoria de Durango below 92 MHz, XHITD is in transition limbo, while 93.7, 97.3, 99.7 and 102.1 are available. (104.5 has been earmarked for XHDRD to clear the reserved band, and XHOH will almost certainly be moved too.) Social: A platter of 21 social stations including allotments for Hermosillo, Villahermosa, Salina Cruz, Santiago Juxtlahuaca, Mérida, Fresnillo, and Manzanillo. All are A or AA except for a Class D station at Vicente Guerrero, Durango. Public: Yet another public FM for San Francisco de Campeche, plus stations at Xpujil, Taxco, Tlapa de Comonfort, Jesús María and Hermosillo. Just three stations appear for Chihuahua, suggesting a lack of available frequencies is going to frustrate plans for a public radio network there. The Nuevo Casas Grandes, Guachochi and Ojinaga allotments were made available, however. AM Commercial: Seven commercial AMs in some pretty small places. Why do people bother? Social: The presence of 49 social AM allotments is highly unusual, but most of that is due to some ambitious requests for 19 in Guanajuato, 21 in Michoacán, and 4 in Querétaro. Of course, now the clock begins for parties to make their own requests to go in the final 2018 PABF, which we should get around February. The publication of the first edition is somewhat later than usual, probably because the earthquake and approaching electoral year have the agency backed up. [tagline:] Este programa es público, ajeno a cualquier partido político. Queda prohibido el uso para fines distintos a los establecidos en el programa (Raymie, Dec 13, ibid.) ** MONGOLIA. AWR Facebook mentioned the start of a new broadcast on mediumwave for North Korea at December 1 - without any frequency. But in spring 2016 “someone" have test transmissions from Mongolia on 1431. And that`s the frequency. The signal is good around 1530 UT also in Salzburg on December 2 and 3 (Christoph Ratzer 4.12.2017, Arctic Radio Club mv-eko 4 Dec via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) From AWR info sheet 1.12.2017: “Beginning today, more listeners in North Korea will have a chance to hear messages of God’s love, thanks to AWR’s new AM broadcasts from a station in a neighboring location. We have blanketed North Korea for years with shortwave programs and have recently increased our shortwave broadcasts to 3 hours/day. But AM radio is more accessible for North Korean listeners, and we have been working for a long time to find a way to launch AM broadcasts. Although the AM signal may be less clear than we might wish, we know that listeners are hungry for news and will patiently tune in. Many thanks to the members of our Korean-language production team. Who are working hard to produce these extra programs. Please join us in prayer for our listeners in this extremely difficult part of the world.” (Arctic Radio Club mv-eko 4 Dec via DXLD) Of course, the 1431 kHz Mongolian station is also being used by BBC for its new North Korean service; any others? (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR. 2598-usb, 1907, Labrador, Coastguard R, Canada - weather reports. English, 244 23/11 dks 2598-usb, 2142, Placentia Coastguard R, Newfoundland, Canada - weather reports. English, 344 23/11 dks (Dave Kenny, Sheigra, Sutherland, Scotland, UK DX-pedition, AOR 7030plus 4xBeverages, 20m EWE, Dec BDXC UK Communication via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZ LOOKS TO MOVE UP TO 50 JOBS FROM WELLINGTON TO AUCKLAND AND EXIT AM RADIO [with [audio-]video] https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/99642893/rnz-looks-to-move-up-to-50-jobs-from-wellington-to-auckland-and-exit-am-radio Radio New Zealand Morning Report is co-hosted by Susie Ferguson in Wellington and Guyon Espiner in Auckland. LAWRENCE SMITH//STUFF [caption] Radio New Zealand has indicated there is still a long way to go in its plan to downsize its Wellington headquarters. RNZ planned to shift up to a further 50 jobs from its Wellington to Auckland office, it said in its briefing to broadcasting minister Clare Curran. It also signalled a scaling back of the nation's AM radio operations. RNZ owned a large amount of broadcasting technology, but said it wanted to eventually sell and decommission a lot of its infrastructure and land. Paul Thompson, chief executive of Radio New Zealand.[caption] Although the state broadcaster had stated these plans in its report, a spokesmen said things could change with the incoming Labour-NZ First Government. The new government said it would give an extra $38 million to share between RNZ and NZ On Air. The budget would not be confirmed until May. READ MORE: * Titahi Bay Radio New Zealand transmission mast demolished * Labour promises free-to-air RNZ TV channel * John Campbell named Best Radio Host at global broadcasting awards RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson said about 80 staff were in Auckland, compared to about 160 people in Wellington. He wanted each office to be the same size, with both sites being big enough to run RNZ on its own if emergency hit. Video will play in 1 second ROBERT KITCHIN/FAIRFAX NZ A Radio New Zealand radio mast has been demolished in spectacular fashion [caption] The Auckland expansion was also to strengthen the station's reach in the region, Thompson said. It had a relatively small Auckland audience. "To fully reflect New Zealand in the 21st century, RNZ needs to be as strong in Auckland as it is in Wellington," the report said. It identified issues with RNZ's engagement with ethnic minorities. Maori, Pasifika and Asian communities were "under represented" in RNZ's audience, the report said. Thompson said the broadcaster needed to increase its ground staff in Auckland to connect with a more diverse audience. RNZ had been moving jobs to Auckland for some time, and Thompson said it would probably take another five years for the Auckland office to be equal in size with Wellington. A funding increase could mean fewer jobs left Wellington, he said. Instead, he said RNZ could look to hire more people in Auckland while the Wellington office was left alone. In the longer term, the report raised RNZ's wish to divest from broadcasting infrastructure. "RNZ currently owns a significant property portfolio and other related equipment required to support its AM radio services," it said. "While the AM audience is declining, the cost of maintenance and upkeep of the property, buildings and AM equipment is increasing." The report went on to say RNZ was sitting on potentially lucrative land, that could be used for housing. "RNZ considers it is now time to work with stakeholders to develop plans to, either partially or completely, exit AM broadcasting over time," the report said. Thompson said RNZ's plan to sell of its transition sites would likely take more than a decade. It had just invested in a new AM tower in Titahi Bay, Wellington, that he said cost "millions". Through its network of transmission towers, RNZ was also responsible for broadcasting other radio stations including Newstalk ZB and iwi radio stations. "We think we're an audience and content organisation, not an infrastructure organisation," Thompson said. If RNZ was to sell or close its AM towers, he said the Government would need to make the call. The other broadcasters would also need to be consulted (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND [and non]. 13730, Dec 5 at 0714, RNZI is holding up better than I expected, fair S9-S9+10, but not as solid as it had been on 11725. Also Dec 6 at 0702 good S9+10. Adrian Sainsbury replied to me early UT Dec 6: ``Hi Glenn, We will give 7430 a test drive today 13-1650 UT Rgds Adrian Sent from my iPhone``. So Dec 6 at 1253 I`m on previous 11610 which is VP S5-S6 with music, 1257 barely audible QSY announcement to 7430. That cuts on with bell bird IS at 1258:50, S9+10, so no longer co-channel to the Cuban radio war on 7355 --- and no CCI here, but now it`s adjacent to the Cuban radio war on its other 40m frequency, 7435. LSB tuning is absolutely required to hear RNZI without ACI, OK for me, and maybe the CRW is not such a problem in the Pacific. 1300 starts `Pacific Regional News` including at 1303 about sorcery incidents in PNG`s second largest city, Lae. By 1439 recheck, CRW 7435 is off and now the 7435 adjacent is something weaker from Asia, no problem. RNZI has already duly registered new 7430 in the Dec 6 edition of HFCC: 7430 1300 1700 61S,62,63W RAN 50 35 0 148 1234567 061217 250318 D 7430 1300 1700 51,56,64S,65S RAN 50 325 0 148 1234567 061217 250318 D RNZI own sked now says: 1259-1650 7430 Pacific Daily from 6 Dec 1651-1750 7285(DRM) Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga Sun - Fri 1651-1758 7430 Pacific Sat from 9 Dec (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Frequency change of Radio New Zealand Pacific effective from Dec 6: 1259-1650 7430 RAN 050 kW / 035 deg All Pacific English, ex 7355 Dly 1651-1758 7430 RAN 050 kW / 035 deg All Pacific English, ex 7355 Sat Videos will be added later today -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, dxldyg via DXLD) Frequency change of R. New Zealand Pacific from Dec 6: 1259-1650 7430*RAN 050 kW / 035 deg All Pac English-fair, ex 7355 Dly 1651-1758 7430*RAN 050 kW / 035 deg All Pac English-fair, ex 7355 Sat *strong QRM 7425 China National Radio-2/7435 China Radio International http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/frequency-change-of-radio-new-zealand_7.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 6-7, dxldyg via DXLD) Correct, fq change noted today Dec 6, new 7430 channel: 7430.004, R NZi Rangitaiki on powerful signal S=9+30dB or -44dBm on remote Perseus unit at Brisbane Queensland, heard presenter Paul Hawkins(?) start at 1300:01 UT. TX Rangitaiki came on air crash start at 1258:42 UT followed immediately by BIRD CHIRP till 1259:56 UT, and few time pips. Before from 1250 UT noted adjacent 7425 CNR 2nd Xian China music program, S=9 in Brisbane, S=6 in Nagoya, scheduled 1100-1605 UT. On 7435 kHz noted both, V of Vietnam Son Tay domestic and probably OCB / IBB BBG R Marti Greenville NC, also S=9 common signal mixture. Nearby heard also an unknown ute signal in Brisbane and Nagoya Japan remotes: 1226:25 UT new FAX signal like session on 7433 to 7434.4 kHz fq range - center string measured on 7433.895 kHz. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7433.5 is known frequency for HLL Seoul with meteo fax transmissions. 73, (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7430, Dec 7 at 1357, RNZI on its second day here, S9+20 music, doing very well adjacent to 7435 Martí and Cuban jamming; 1400 Martí is off, and RNZ News, including a train strike expected to cause large disruptions in Auckland. Issue is safety, as reduxions to one driver per train are going into effect. 7430, Dec 8 at 1449, no signal from RNZI after two days on new frequency; nor on ex-7355, nor found anywhere on quick scans of the 6, 7 and even 9 MHz bands; nor at 1543 recheck. What happened? I have asked Adrian. Website sked still shows 7430 including tomorrow Dec 9. 7430, Dec 9 at 1349, RNZI reactivated with music, good if tuned in LSB to avoid Cuban radio war on 7435. Was missing yesterday. Adrian Sainsbury replied to my inquiry: ``No we have not moved. Tx had a fault so no broadcast. Sent from my iPhone`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Re: NIGERIA: Abuja & upgrade of Ikorodu SW station Re Wolfy's comments in BC-DX 1323 WB> 7275 kHz FRCN Abuja Gwagwalada is out and only totally scrapped. Sorry; where was this information sourced? Nice 0.3m Worldview 4 satellite resolution(res) from Terra Server (one has to join as member to zoom in further) & to take advantage of the higher res, if not for the watermarks (unless a paid member). Anyway to get to the point, can still see the MW & SW masts in place per 0.3m res Aug 2017 imagery. As for txers? From the imagery there are separate TX buildings for the MW & SW Txers. WB> So seemingly no V of Nigeria services anymore on 9690, 11770, nor 17800 kHz. The site is just in mothball (standby) status, isn't it? Since March 2016? Please correct me if I'm wrong or to enlighten us further :-) 73s (Ian, Dec 9, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) > Sorry.. where was this information sourced? From someone who should really know it. In more detail: The Gwagwalada mediumwave station got in 2003 two 100 kW shortwave transmitters (Thomcast TSW 2100) for domestic services. For this purpose it took over the 7275 kHz frequency from Kaduna (shortwave transmitters there are at Jaji, co-located with 594 kHz, I understand?). By 2008 these transmitters were broken. At this time there was enthusiasm about renovating the station, also installing the latest control system as used at the new Voice of Nigeria station. But no stable operation of the equipment could be achieved anymore. And meanwhile the shape of these transmitters is described as "scrap metal". Which means to say: Just forget it, this stuff is off for good. > WB> So seemingly no VoNigeria services anymore on 9690, 11770, nor 17800 kHz. > The site is just in mothball (standby) status isn't it? Since March 2016? You mean Ikorodu? There have been different opinions about the real origin of certain signals, so the date is unclear. Concerning the current status note how the substation that presumably fed the station is disconnected from the passing medium voltage line. So it does not look as if the Ikorodu station could still be used at short notice, unless it can get its power from other lines (, too). And the current situation at the Abuja-Lugbe station in detail: One transmitter is tuned to 7255 kHz and connected with the formerly rotatable HP-RCA antenna. Another transmitter is tuned to 15120 kHz and connected with a fixed curtain. The third transmitter is being cannibalized for spare parts. The control system is long broken. No retuning of transmitters, no turning of the HP-RCA anymore. Note also the really impressive web presence at http://von.gov.ng (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) 7254.923, V of Nigeria in Hausa from Abuja site, S=9+5dB in southern Germany. Male presenter talk, at 0625 UT on Dec 8. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [and non]. /ANGUILLA, Latter sermon prayer program is back on air on 6090.0015 kHz, S=7 fair signal from Anguilla island into central Europe, but in peaks rather stronger S=8-9 signal from 6089.9455 kHz exact measured FRCN Radio Nigeria Kaduna here in southern Germany, on our winter grayline path on peaks at S=8-9 on our Dec 8 sunspots. Anguilla accompanied by 60 Hertz BUZZ tone, also visible on screen. Audio quality far better now at Kaduna Nigeria! after repair work recently, despite old 100 kW HARRIS unit only a tenth of its previous power [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. Radio Herwa Int via TDF Issoudun and WRMI Okeechobee on Dec 6: 0700-0728 13710 ISS 100 kW / 170 deg WAf Hausa/Kanuri very good signal // freq 11530 YFR 100 kW / 087 deg WAf Hausa/Kanuri tx#10, JBA/poor: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/radio-herwa-int-via-tdf-issoudun-and.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 6-7, dxldyg via DXLD) 11530, Dec 8 at 0700, no signal from WRMI with R. Herwa International --- not due to propagation, since 11580 with WRMIBS is well audible (as is 11520 WEWN English) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also BIAFRA [non] [WORLD OF RADIO 1908] FRANCE, Reception of Radio Herwa International TDF Issoudun, Dec 9 0700-0728 13710 ISS 100 kW / 170 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri, fair/good: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-radio-herwa-international_9.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 8-9, dxldyg via DXLD) 11530, Dec 12 at 0701, WRMI is unusually S9+20/30 in the nightmiddle, in language, presumably Hausa, mentioning Kaduna, from Radio Herwa International. (I had not checked a bihour earlier whether Radio Biafra were audible.) OTOH, 13730 New Zealand is but a JBA carrier (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also BIAFRA [non] ** NIGERIA [non]. U.K.(non) Radio Dandal Kura Int via BaBcoCk Ascension/Woofferton, Nov [sic; Dec] 7 0500-0700 5960 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg to WeAf Kanuri, very good signal 0700-0800 13810 WOF 250 kW / 165 deg to WeAf Kanuri, weak/good signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/radio-dandal-kura-int-via-babcock.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 6-7, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. Hi Glenn, I was just listening to WOR 1906 this morning on my phone and heard you mention a Pirate on 5010 that was heard by a few people only in Maryland. Well I believe I also had that station on 5010 Khz on 19 November from 2132 to 2156 UT. When I first came across it the signal was weak, but quickly went up to S8 around 2040, stayed strong for about 15 minutes, then quickly flamed out after 2156. It was local grayline and the signal acted similar to other grayline fade ups and then out. Programming consisted of all 80's pop music with no ID (Dave Pete, near Bangor ME, Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6935 - WFDR, pirate at 0027 in USB with famous FDR Pearl Harbor speech. Slow speed IDs in between repeating of speech. Signal started at fair level but has degraded to just barely there now, 0038. Provides quite a contrast to current Presidential addresses (Stephen Wood, Harwich, Mass., UT Dec 8, NASWA yg via DXLD) 6935-USB, Dec 9 at 0048, very poor, but instantly recognizable the patrician tones of FDR, Pearl Harbor speech. Again at 0114 check when he is mentioning island after island the Japanese have attacked. HFU has a couple of reports during this span, but many more during the original WFDR rebroadcast the night before = Dec 7 local: https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,39151.0.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6950-USB, Dec 10 at 0211, S9 music, jazz piano, a few more tunes until 0219 Wolverine Radio ID as expected (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1520, KOKC, Oklahoma City. 1153 December 10, 2017. End of gospel program on a local Sunday, quack doctor ad, recruiting promo for the National Guard, "sponsored by the Oklahoma Army National Guard." ID and net news 1200 (Terry L. Krueger, Times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [non]. December edition of the BSR International Magazine Show from BroadSpectrumRadio.com Hello friends, Here's the details about the BSR International Magazine Show broadcasts for December.... Theme: Winter Holiday Music (including songs celebrating Eid Al-Adha, Diwali, Advent, Winter Solstice/Darkest Night of the Year, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year's Day) Scheduled broadcasts are: For Eastern North America, the Caribbean, Central America and beyond: Listen via WBCQ, 7490 kHz. Sunday Dec. 10, 2017, 04-05:00 UTC (Saturday Dec 9th, 22-23:00 CST) For Western North America, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia and Oceania: Listen via WRMI, 7730 kHz. Monday Dec 11, 2017, 07-8:00 UTC (01-2:00 CST) and possible repeats on the other Mondays in December For Most of North America, Alaska and far Eastern Russia: Listen via WRMI, 5850 kHz. Monday Dec 11, 2017, 07-8:00 UTC (01-2:00 CST) and possible repeats on the other Mondays in December For Europe (as far east as Russia), the Middle East, North Africa and Atlantic Canada: Listen via Channel 292, 6070 khz. Saturday December 16, 16-17:00 UTC (10-11:00 CST) QSL's are welcome to broadspectrumradio@gmail.com James Matthew Branum Contact Information Email: jmb@jmb.bike Cell/Text: 405.476.5620 Alternate: 405.494.0562 Facebook: jamesmbranum Web: http://www.jmb.mx - http://www.jmbranum.com Wearer of many hats Legal Director/Media Program Co-Director: http://www.centerforconscience.org Radio Broadcaster: http://www.broadspectrumradio.com - http://www.mennoniteradio.org Peace Activist Attorney: http://JMBranumlaw.com - http://ConscientiousObjectorLawyer.com Peace Activist Minister: http://JoyMennonite.org - http://MennoniteRadio.org Amateur Radio Operator: KG5JST - http://www.qrz.com/db/kg5jst (James Branum, Dec 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) (7490), UT Sun Dec 10 at 0400-0500 on WBCQ, monthly `Broad Spectrum Radio`, as previewed by James Branum, an hour of music celebrating holidays of various religions, lesser-known tunes, not all of them serious. Since 7490 had faded to poor level earlier in evening, and since I was on the computer anyway, I didn`t even try to hear it on SW, sorry. Unfortunately the webcast buffered a lot especially during the first half --- maybe because too many of us were trying to listen that way, and then some of us gave up. Anyhow, all about the enjoyable ``Winter Holiday Music Mashup`` here, and a play link: http://broadspectrumradio.com/2017/12/09/december-2017-bsr-international-magazine-show-winter-holiday-music-mashup/ (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KGOU NOW BROADCASTING TO WESTERN OKLAHOMA broadcast coverage map https://www.facebook.com/kgounews Public radio listeners in western Oklahoma are now hearing KGOU on 89.1 FM from a transmitter located in Clinton. On Dec. 1 KGOU and the University of Oklahoma assumed operation of the signal, formerly licensed to Cameron University as part of its public radio service, KCCU. KCCU and KGOU have been working together for more than a year to make the license transfer happen. This week we've performed some maintenance on the transmitter and other equipment, and 89.1 is now operating at its assigned 40 kilowatt strength. It reaches a large area, from the Wichita Mountains to Woodward, and from near El Reno to the western state line and beyond. We are excited about this new opportunity and welcome listeners in that part of the state to the KGOU community! (KGOU E-newsletter Dec 7 via DXLD) They don`t need to cover Woodward, with KWOU 88.1 already there. They do need to cover Enid, but this will be no good at all since we have an 89.1 local translator. In its rare absences and before it existed, we were more likely to get KMUW Wichita than KYCU Clinton. 40/40 kW H&V, 193 m HAAT. Can`t keep that Cameron-University-branded call: KQOU effective Dec 1. How come KCCU at Cameron University, Lawton, is getting rid of its relay network? earlier, 95.9 in Woodward went to KCSC/KUCO. At least they are not selling out to gospel huxters already infesting all parts of Oklahoma`s FM band (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALAU. Cancelled transmissions of T8WH Angel 3 no signal from Dec 2 0800-0900 on 9930 HBN 100 kW / 318 deg to EaAs English Sun-Fri 0800-0900 on 9930 HBN 100 kW / 318 deg to EaAs Japanese Sat 0900-1000 on 9930 HBN 100 kW / 318 deg to EaAs English Daily 1000-1200 on 9930 HBN 100 kW / 318 deg to EaAs English Sat/Sun http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/cancelled-transmissions-of-t8wh-angel-3.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 8-9, dxldyg via DXLD) Fair to good signal of WHRI T8WH Angel 3 on Dec 10 1200-1230 on 9930 HBN 100 kW / 318 deg to EaAs English Sat/Sun 1230-1300 on 9930 HBN 100 kW / 318 deg to EaAs, BUT NO SIGNAL! Today also no signal of WHRI T8WH Angel 5 and WHRI T8WH Angel 4 WHRI T8WH Angel 5 1300-1430 on 9965 HBN 100 kW / 345 deg to NEAs English Sat/Sun WHRI T8WH Angel 4 1430-1500 on 11675 HBN 100 kW / 270 deg to SEAs English Sat/Sun http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/fair-to-good-signal-of-whri-t8wh-angel.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 10, dxldyg via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3260, NBC Madang, 1204-1213*, Dec 6. News in English, followed by the audio feed of "NBC Radio" in English; suddenly off; poor; running somewhat past their normal sign off time. 3260, NBC Madang, 1124-1205*, Dec 10, Sunday. Mostly non-stop religious (Christian) songs; in Pidgin; 1148 sounded like the very distinctive promo for Stacy Rose's Sunday show "Island Praise", which in the past started about 1201, but in promo unable to make out her current schedule; her Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/ipraize/ Suddenly cut off mid-song (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4764.04, R. Huanta 2000. At 1030 UT end of OA campesina song, deadair, then long ad block with many mentions of Huanta and Perú. Ended in an accurate TC by W at 1035 on Dec 3. Started the next song, then immediate xmtr fault creating a test tone-like effect, then song broke in again for a couple seconds, then fault again. Signal fine though at 1046 UT recheck. Was on the bottom of one CODAR and at the top end of another. No sign of Tarma this morning at this time (Dave Valko-PA-USA, hcdx [sic] Dec 3 via BC-DX 09 Dec via DXLD) ** PERU. 4764, PERÚ. Radio Huanta 2000 – Huanta, 2251-2303, Dec 5. End of OA vocal followed by man announcer with Spanish language talk, station ID and announcements followed by more music. Blocked by a carrier opening up on 4765 at 2303. Poor to fair. Again, 1043-1104 Dec 6 with excited man hosting morning music program, Fair with slight CODAR QRM (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 10 via DXLD) Rich doesn`t do split frequencies ** PERU. 4775, PERÚ, Radio Tarma - Tarma, 2214-2246, Dec 5. Long Spanish language talk by a man announcer followed by some OA vocals. Nice siren followed by a station ID at 2238. Fair with light CODAR QRM (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 10 via DXLD) Radio Tarma - 4774.9 tonight --- Peru's Radio Tarma handily beating CODAR tonight with a surprisingly loud signal, high-altitude music of the sort we hear too little of on HF anymore, and DJ with ID in passing at 0023 December 8 (Jay Novello, Wake Forest NC, Dec 8, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Codar much too strong here. Just getting some brief periods of music but I can definitely make out the Andean flutes (Stephen Wood, Harwich, Mass. 0046 UT Dec 8, ibid.) ** PERU. 5025.007, Dec 10 at 0148, R. Rebelde is surprisngly off, but there is a JBA carrier here. Is it R. Quillabamba? IIRC it used to be slightly on the lo side; if not, maybe the Rebelde exciter. By 0201, RR is back on, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5980. R. CHASKI. Diciembre 10. 2310-2333 UT. Avisos de la emisora y espacios musicales. A las 2327 ID como: Red Radio Integridad y un nuevo espacio de himnos protestantes con referencias al tiempo de Navidad. Posteriormente, un programa devocional hasta la salida del aire a las 2333. SINPO: 45343, mejora a 45444 desde las 2328 en adelante (Claudio Galaz; RX: TECSUN PL-660; ANT: Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** PERU [and non]. Peruvian SDR Recordings While traveling in Peru I have made dozens of SDR recordings of the medium wave, long wave, and some shortwave bands. I am slowly DXing those. In the meantime I have uploaded some recordings to a shared Google drive so that other DXers can hear what the bands sound like in northeastern Peru, on the edge of the Amazon jungle. You will need this link to see the SDR files and an explanatory document. BTW, I plan to add a few more once I get an hotel with a good Internet connection again. Please feel free to pass on this information. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17XXTi0w5hzzNmC60kjm6WiNTXEnvNloX?usp=sharing (Don Moore --- donmooredxer@yahoo.com http://www.donmooredxer.com Dec 10, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz., intro to read_this_first: These recordings were made in the area around Tarapoto in northeastern Peru, on the fringe of the Amazon jungle. You will need a program such as HDSDR to use these. I have a lot of recordings made and I am still traveling through Peru (with plans to be in Cuenca, Ecuador by Christmas). As soon as I have a hotel with good Internet again I plan to upload a few more files - at least one more 60 MB SW and another MW. You can check my own MW log at the following location. It includes logs from the files included here and others. I continue to update the log page as I do more listening. http://www.donmooredxer.com/lam/sam2017/peru/peruDXMW.html I also have a DX blog in which I post station pictures and comments. I haven’t updated this for over a month and have a lot to add. http://www.donmooredxer.com/lam/sam2017/peru/peruDX.html (via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Weak signal Radio Pilipinas PBS on Dec 11 1730-1930 on 9925 PHT 250 kW / 283 deg to N&ME Tagalog 1730-1930 on 12120 PHT 250 kW / 283 deg to N&ME Tagalog http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/weak-signal-radio-pilipinas-pbs-on-dec11.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 11-12, dxldyg via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 9335, Dec 9 at 2230, Yankee Doodle VP but audible, more so than 9330 WBCQ which I am trying to hear with zero success. VOA is closing a semihour in Cambodian due west from Tinang (and to resume at 2330 with a semihour in Myanmarianese) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. On WOR 1907, I neglected to give the frequency and call of the triple-hop sporadic E FM catch by Geoff Wolfe, Australia: 92.3, DXWT-FM (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, via DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. PUERTO RICO STATIONS FACE OBSTACLES By James Careless http://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/0002/puerto-rico-stations-face-obstacles/340860 Many weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico’s infrastructure, radio broadcasters there were struggling to get and keep their signals in air. Most of the AM/FM stations in service were relying on diesel generators for electricity, because the island’s storm-ravaged power grid was still in terrible shape. Other stations were just too damaged to get back on air without substantial reconstruction, and that’s a problem since money is in short supply in Puerto Rico these days. Due to the devastation, “there’s no business for radio stations, and when there’s no business there’s no money,” said Jose Ribas Dominicci, executive director of the Puerto Rico Radio Broadcasters Association. In response to this situation — which has not only affected radio station owners and their staff, but also the people of Puerto Rico who rely on radio for information — U.S. broadcasters are providing money, equipment and support to their broadcast brethren in the territory. “Our members understand what it is like to be slammed by a hurricane, and remember how other broadcasters helped them out in times like these,” said Vance Harrison, president of the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations. “We’re stepping up to help our fellow radio stations in Puerto Rico, just as they would if we were in such serious trouble.” THE BIGGEST NEED What do Puerto Rico’s radio broadcasters need most? The answer is simple. “With so many stations relying on diesel and gasoline generators to stay on air, money is needed to pay for the fuel, at a time when advertising is not coming in,” Ribas said. “Without that fuel, which has to be purchased constantly, we can’t keep broadcasting.” To help pay these fuel costs, the Puerto Rico Radio Broadcasters Association opened a bank account to accept donations on behalf of radio broadcasters there and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, both pummelled by Maria. The PRRBA hopes to raise $250,000 to help these broadcasters get back in service and stay on air. “Getting Puerto Rican radio back on its feet is going to be a long- term challenge, due to the fundamental damage they’ve suffered there,” said VAB Executive Director Jim Condon. “So we need to be there for our fellow broadcasters, for the long haul.” In early November, donations had come in from NASBA plus individual groups such as the Florida Association of Broadcasters and the Vermont Association of Broadcasters, and the fund had raised $25,000, said Harrison. “But much more is definitely needed.” Ribas subsequently emailed that the Maine Association of Broadcasters had contributed another $25,000. WNYC’S HANDS-ON APPROACH New York City public stations WNYC(AM/FM) understands the experience of having broadcast infrastructure devastated. “Our FM transmitter was located on the World Trade Center, which came down on 9/11,” said Steve Shultis, its chief technology officer. “Had we not received help from WKCR(FM), who lent us a studio, and WNYE(FM), who found us a frequency and transmitter, we would have been knocked off air for a long time. So we know what it is like to need help, and to receive it.” When WNYC’s staff learned that San Juan public station WIPR had lost its mountaintop transmission/antenna facilities — “When we visited the site, we saw wreckage everywhere,” said WNYC Engineering Manager Dannie Raghunath — they wanted to help. That’s where the nonprofit CoastAlaska media collective came in. As Shultis recounted it, “They contacted WNYC to tell us that CoastAlaska had built two ‘radio-to-go’ kits, each of which would let them set up a temporary station after a tsunami. So we asked CoastAlaska to lend us a kit to take to Puerto Rico, and they did.” Equipped with the 300-pound radio-to-go kit — filled with microphones and mixer to a 150-watt transmitter and 30-foot standalone vertical antenna mast — Raghunath and fellow WNYC engineer Peter Polanco travelled to Puerto Rico in October to get WIPR back on air. “We had an armed guard escort us and our equipment from the airport to the hotel,” Raghunath said. “That’s just how the situation there is right now.” In three days’ time, the two WNYC engineers had set up the kit at WIPR’s San Juan studios, and erected the antenna mast on its roof, held in place by cinder blocks on its tripod legs. “We are getting a 3 dB gain on the antenna, which is carrying 150 watts on FM throughout Greater San Juan in a 20-mile radius,” said Shultis. “It certainly is no match for WIPR’s original 150,000 watt signal from its mountaintop antenna, but this temporary setup is still a big help.” RADIOS TO THE RESCUE Maria didn’t just knock out radio coverage in Puerto Rico, it also destroyed the radios that people used to tune into this coverage. (The same is true for TV, cellular telephone and internet service; all of which were still severely compromised due to physical damage and lack of power.) The National Association of Broadcasters, NASBA and many unnamed U.S. broadcasters banded together to send 10,000 portable radios to the people of Puerto Rico. “Time and again, broadcast radio has served as a lifeline to communities desperate for information and support,” stated NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith in an NAB news release. “Our fellow Americans in the Caribbean now face a once-in-a-generation humanitarian crisis, and radio is one of the only communications resources available.” The 10,000 radios were cassette tape-sized QFX R-9s. Capable of AM, FM and SW (shortwave) signals, each R-9 comes with a telescopic antenna, LED power indicator and a 3.5 mm earphone jack. They retail online for $9.99. The NAB/NASBA/broadcasters coalition that acquired 10,000 of these for Puerto Rico also supplied two pairs of AA batteries with each radio. “We found the R-9s on the West Coast, and had them shipped to Florida,” said FAB President Pat Roberts. “Even at their small size, the 10,000 R-9 radios required three pallets to ship them. The 40,000 AA batteries needed six pallets more.” After much legwork, the radios/batteries were flown into Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin islands in October. Suzanne Raven, NAB’s senior manager of public service, was on the ground in Puerto Rico with NAB Building Engineer Louis Abanez when the radios were distributed with FEMA’s help to 25 communities there. “It was touching to see the faces of Puerto Rican children light up when we handed them a new radio. People literally danced in the streets,” said Raven. “Residents flocked to us, particularly after dark when our vehicles provided the only lights for miles. “Word of mouth was key in making the mayors’ offices aware of our initiative,” she said. “Some mayors only became aware of our radio distribution upon arriving in San Juan. Without cell service, they could not receive messages about our efforts.” This generosity played out against a backdrop of fearsome destruction. “Most of Puerto Rico remained without power and drinkable water during our visit,” said Raven. “Even in the capitol of San Juan, power came almost exclusively from generators that had to be refilled with fuel or diesel daily by hand, sometimes every four hours. “Seeing the devastation drove home the need for reliable communication,” Raven said. “Cellphone connections and Internet service are non-existent in many parts of Puerto Rico. Broadcast radio continues to connect people to critical information.” THE NEED IS REAL It will take months, or even years, for the industry and its island home to recover from Maria’s bulldozer-like destruction. “As Floridians, we know what it is like to be where Puerto Rico finds itself today,” said FAB’s Pat Roberts. “This is why our broadcasters are doing all they can to help our radio colleagues there, and we urge all other broadcasters to join us in doing so.” To donate money to the PRRBA’s fund for broadcasters in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands: Financial Institution: Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Account Holder: Asociación de Radiodifusores de P.R. Account Number: 203544423 Routing Number: 021502011 Swift Code: vpprprsx (via Kevin Redding, Dec 8, ABDX yg via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. See UNIDENTIFIED [non] 1363 ** ROMANIA. I noticed recently that Radio Romania International have refreshed the jingle and programme intro/outro package in their English language programming. Admittedly it’s not a big deal as it’s the programming that really counts, however I have to say that I do like the new sound. The previous package always had a brash and urgent feel about it. It gave the impression of always being in a rush. It’s not that I didn’t like the old sound, but it did leave you feeling a little breathless at the end of the hour. The new package has an altogether more relaxed feel to it – and I like that. I haven’t noticed any change in programming and am pleased to hear all the same programmes continuing. RRI remains one of the most “listener- friendly” stations on shortwave with regular listener competitions to win souvenirs, two regular listener letter programmes each week with Listener’s Letterbox (featuring general comments about programming), DX Mailbag (acknowledging reception reports) and a daily music programme covering many music styles including traditional/folk, classical, pop and jazz (Alan Roe, Dec BDXC UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) ** ROMANIA. MEMORIES OF THE YIDDISH SERVICE OF RADIO BUCHAREST SOUGHT On occasion of the "experimental weekly program in Hebrew for Israel" http://rri.ro/he_he/pages/home a "memory gap" was discovered at Radio Romania International: "From the 1950s to the end of the 1960s, Radio Romania International - at that time Radio Bucharest - also had broadcasts in Yiddish, but surprisingly to North America. Although it is true that the majority of Yiddish speakers lives in the USA, I cannot say anything about the content of the programs at that time, because so far I have not been able to locate any contemporary witnesses, let alone former employees or audiotapes. All I've learned is that the program was probably discontinued in the late 1960s and early 1970s. So if somebody among our long-standing listeners happened to hear this program at that time, maybe remembers the names of the editors or content, I ask for info for our archive." (Sorin Georgescu, RRI German Service germ@rri.ro http://rri.ro/de_de/horerpostsendung_3122017-2573003 (via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Good signal of Adygeyan Radio on Dec 8 1800-1900 6000 ARM 100 kW / 188 deg CeAs Adygeyan Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/good-signal-of-adygeyan-radio-on-dec8.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 8-9, dxldyg via DXLD) Good signal of Radiocompany Adygeya /Adygeyan Radio/ Dec 11 1800-1900 6000 ARM 100 kW / 188 deg CeAs Adygeyan/Arabic/Turkish Mon http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/good-signal-of-radiocompany-adygeya.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 11-12, dxldyg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 9996, Dec 7 at 1409, RWM CW IDs repeated, very poor, 1410 resuming pips, from Taldom (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Next year, another news radio station will appear in Moscow - the National News Service. It plans to launch "Multimedia Holding" senator Vitaly Bogdanov instead of Best FM at 100.5 FM. Conversational radio is a risky and expensive business, in Moscow such stations have not been launched for several years. "Multimedia Holding" (MMH) senator from the Kursk region Vitaly Bogdanov reformat the music station Best FM, told the interlocutors of "b" in several radio holdings. Instead, at the frequency of 100.5 FM in the new year, the national news service "National News Service" (NNS) will launch on the basis of the news agency of the same name, which produces news for MMX radio stations. "The results of Best FM are not very good, and NSO rose to its feet as a news agency, and it became possible for her to come up with spoken content as a separate station," one of the interlocutors of Kommersant explains. Moscow frequency 100.5 FM is registered at Radio Russia - Nostalgie LLC. On November 1, this company registered the "National News Service" media as a radio channel, indicated in the register of Roskomnadzor, but the broadcasting license has not been reissued yet. In addition to Moscow and the Moscow region, Best FM broadcasts in Arkhangelsk, Ussuriysk and Achinsk. The informed interlocutor of "Kommersant" says that the NSC plans to broadcast in all these cities, the launch of a new format is scheduled for January 20. Initially, the launch of the NNS radio was planned for an earlier date - December 6. At the conference of the Russian Academy of Radio in November, the vice-president of the MMH and the editor-in-chief of the IA NNS, Sergei Gorbachev, called the interlocutors of Kommersant. Announcing the new format, he said that the station will be oriented to listeners over 40 years old. Vitaly Bogdanov told Kommersant that it is too early to speak about the format of the restart of Best FM. Best FM has been broadcasting since 2004, replacing Ultra radio. Initially, the station broadcast only foreign music, in August 2015, Russian executors were added to the air, which complained of difficulties with rotations on the "Russian radio". In August-October Best FM in Moscow on average listened to 194 thousand people. The station is in the fifth ten by audience in Moscow. There are ten information stations in the capital. According to Mediascope, their daily coverage in August-October 2017 was 30% of students over 12 years old. Spending on spoken radio is several times more expensive than for music, recalls the head of one of the holdings. Such formats have not entered the market for a long time - the last was the radio "Says Moscow" by Mikhail Gutseriev, launched in February 2014. In March 2015, the information station "City FM" Gazprom-Media was closed, the holding explained that it was too expensive. Similar to the NSN information radio "Russian News Service" (RSN) was the "Russian Media Group", one of the founders of which was Vitaly Bogdanov. In 2011, RNC bought the National Media Group and transferred Aram Gabrelyanova, managing media manager, who launched "Life Sound" on this frequency. In 2017, Mr. Gabrelyanov stopped operating the station, now it broadcasts the soundtrack of the IzG channel, owned by the NMG. "With news formats in Moscow is not just an overload - they are the same as twin brothers. The station of general news can no longer be done, because there are strong players, for example, "Vesti FM" with a corset around the world. It is not clear that the new station will be sold to the listener. To play talk radio, you need star leading, it's always a big expense, "says one of the creators of Business FM Yegor Altman. The last two years Vitaly Bogdanov considered the possibility of selling MMH business, several top managers of media companies say to Kommersant. In addition to Best FM and NNS news agency, the holding includes "Our radio", Rock FM, "Radio Jazz", TV channel "Our TV" and other assets. MMH offered co-owner of UMMC and "European Media Group" Andrei Bokarev, shareholder of the group "Safmar" and several radio stations Mikhail Gutseriev, as well as Gazprom-media, a source familiar with the proposal told Kommersant. According to him, the whole holding was estimated at 4.5 billion rubles. (about $ 75 million at today's rate). Buyers at such a price was not found, interlocutors say. (Anna Afanasyeva) Audience of talking stations in Moscow Place / Name / Audience (%) * 1 / Vesti FM / 8.9 2 / "Echo of Moscow" / 8.3 3 / Business FM / 5.9 4 / Mayak / 5.3 5 / "Zvezda" / 4.2 6 / Radio Russii / 3.8 7 / Sport FM / 3.4 8 / "Govorit Moskva" / 3.2 9 / Kommersant FM / 3.1 10 / Komsomolskaya Pravda / 2.5 * Accumulated daily number of students in percentage of the population over 12 years. Source: Mediascope, data for August-October 2017. https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3489372 https://vk.com/vcfm2014) (via Rus-DX 10 Dec via DXLD) See also BELARUS ** RUSSIA [and non]. RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT BARS RADIO FREE EUROPE AND VOICE OF AMERICA FROM PREMISES --- By David Filipov https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-names-9-media-organizations-as-foreign-agents-including-voice-of-america/2017/12/05/7aac7eb4-d98d-11e7-a841-2066faf731ef_print.html MOSCOW -- Russia's lower house of parliament on Wednesday banned Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from entering its premises, a day after the Russian government declared the organizations "foreign agents." The 413-1 vote by the Russian State Duma to ban the outlets came as Moscow followed through on its promise to retaliate for similar U.S. actions against the English-language Russian network RT, which Russian leaders characterize as an assault on freedom of the press. Congress rescinded the accreditation of RT, previously known as Russia Today, last month after the Justice Department required that it register as a foreign agent under a 1938 law because of its alleged role in interfering in U.S. affairs and the 2016 presidential campaign by pushing the Kremlin's agenda. On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Justice published a list of nine outlets, which includes Russian-language subsidiaries of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that cover the Caucasus region of Russia, Crimea, Siberia, and two predominantly Muslim regions in central Russia, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. Also designated were Current Time TV, which is produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Factograph, a website produced by Radio Liberty. The affiliates are not banned from the Duma, however. The ministry statement did not mention any specific restrictions on the media outlets. RT disputes that it is an agent of the Russian government, arguing that it offers alternatives to mainstream news coverage, and Russian leaders vowed to respond in kind. "We didn't start this theater of the absurd," Maria Zakharova, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said Monday at a Duma hearing. "But we have to respond to it." Russia's law on foreign agents, which in the past has been used on nongovernmental organizations critical of the Kremlin, requires the organizations to label their publications as coming from a foreign agent. The Russian government recently designated a union of truckers protesting highway tolls as a foreign agent. A bill extending that law to media organizations was signed by President Vladimir Putin last month. [Russian legislators pass law targeting international media as `foreign agents'] [caption? Or link] On Tuesday, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty quoted its president, Thomas Kent, as saying he had received no details about what the foreign agent designation will mean. "So far, the full nature of these limitations is unknown. We will study carefully all communications from the ministry and other Russian official organizations," Kent said in a video statement. "At the same time, we remain committed to continuing our journalistic work in the interests of providing accurate and objective news to our Russian-speaking audiences." Voice of America and Radio Free Europe were created during the Cold War to broadcast news to the closed societies of the Soviet Union and the Communist countries in its orbit. [VOA was created BEFORE the Cold War --- gh] Russian leaders say that in the drama surrounding RT, they are the ones defending democracy. "We are not interested in limiting freedom of speech and the rights of foreign journalists," said Olga Savastyanova, who heads the Duma commitee that proposed the ban on the U.S. media outlets. She said the lower house was forced to make the move by "unfair, undemocratic" decisions by Congress that "violate international principles of human rights," motivated by "fear of the objective information and truth produced by our journalists." The upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, passed a similar decision on Tuesday to bar U.S. journalists working for foreign-agent media outlets from visiting the upper house of the Russian parliament. Read more [linked from original]: Kremlin denies that Flynn persuaded Putin to hold off retaliatory sanctions Putin says Olympic disqualifications are sign of U.S. meddling in Russia's elections Kremlin: Attempts to tie U.S. investigations to Russia `baseless' and `ludicrous' (c) The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) No big loss: the Duma is obviously nothing but a rubber-stamp: from the margin of this very vote (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. HISTORY OF DX AND RADIO. ==================== 1990 ------- Radio “Nadezhda” ("Hope") I was broadcasting in the late 90s of the last century from the city of Livny, Orlovskaya oblast. Operating frequency: 1625 ± 5 kHz (medium waves). Power station: 100-150 watts. The presenter at the station was "San Sanych". The station had a vivid political orientation of the Stalinist type. At the final stage of broadcasting, the station rather thoroughly conducted its programs. The signals of the exact time were transmitted, news, various thematic programs were transmitted to each other. Among them, the program "Political Diary" had a broadcasting duration of up to 1 hour. Also there were programs: "The table of orders", the press review, the history, the news of Livny, entertaining games ... As far as we know, Radio Nadezhda's plans included short-wave broadcasting. Reports on reception of the radio station were confirmed by round cardboard tokens with a diameter of 4 cm. On which the round seal was printed "Radio Nadezhda., Livny." http://free.radiodx.ru/page-16.xml - You can see the token of Radio "Nadezhda" here - http://rusdx.blogspot.ru/2017/12/blog-post_62.html (Rus-DX 10 Dec via DXLD) ** SAO TOME E PRINCIPE. 1530 | SÃO TOMÉ E PRÍNCIPE | VOA, Pinheira, OCT 27 2200 - Announcer mentioning contacting VOA for program schedule; mixed with WVBF. {A} + NOV 2 2200 - End of soul song, announcement by man "This is the Voice of America, Washington, DC, signing off.", then information about contacting the VOA for program schedules; good / dominant. {A} + NOV 10 0259 - Man "This is the Voice of America, Washington, DC, signing on", then Yankee Doodle theme; mixing evenly with WCKY. {A} [Connelly*Y-MA] Report from (Mark Connelly, WA1ION Times / dates = UTC / 2017 e-mail = "MarkWA1ION@aol.com" [Connelly*Y-MA] = South Yarmouth, Cape Cod, MA, USA (GC= 41.6931 N / 70.1912 W) (= 41? 41.59' N / 70? 11.47' W) (grid FN41vq) Receiver: Microtelecom Perseus See http://microtelecom.it/perseus/ Antenna 1: Cardioid-pattern SuperLoop: 10m vert. by 11m horiz. (peak 165 deg., null 345 deg.) Antenna 2: Cardioid-pattern SuperLoop: 9m vert. by 20m horiz. (peak 90 deg., null 270 deg.) See http://www.bamlog.com/superloop.htm for similar antenna type. NOTE: {A} in entry indicates that audio can be accessed from link on the following page: http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/doc1/audio_2017.htm IRCA via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 9695, Dec 7 at 1422, horrible humbuzz, with multiple carrier peaks, no program modulation audible, BSKSA Riyadh scheduled in Pashto: makes 9720 DW/UAE sound almost great (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 11745, 1344 27 NOV - BSKSA AL-AZM RADIO. SINPO = 34312. Arabic, music microtonal vocals. male voiceover but echo'y sounding as if in a large room. QSBqsb=moderate-to-ff rate, modulation on noisy carrier mostly above the noise floor with occasional fades to mixing with it for short durations. QRM=occasional OTH radar clicks. sf76.1, a3, k1, geomag: very quiet. 500 kW, BeamAz ? , bearing 44 . Sangean ATS505 w/MFJ-1020C active antenna and MFJ-901B tuner used to preselect ~75 feet of rain gutter running north/south. Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 11246KM from the transmitter at Jeddah. Local time: 0744 (Rodney Johnson, http://swldx.tumblr.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Al-Azm Radio is probably 24 hours on SW 11745, Dec 7 1700-0700 11745 JED or RIY tx ??? kW to N/ME Arabic extended from ?? 0700-1700 11745 JED or RIY tx ??? kW to N/ME Arabic as scheduled B17 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/al-azm-radio-is-probably-24-hours-on-sw.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 6-7, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) 11745, Dec 9 at 1510, chanting and drumming from military station Al Azm Radio; about one S-unit better, S9-S6, than Yemeni service on 11860, S8-S5 with talk. Original sked of 07-17 UT had expanded by Dec 4 as Ivo Ivanov reported: ``Al-Azm Radio on 11745 before 0700 & after 1700, Dec 4 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/al-azm-radio-on-11745-before-0700ut.html 0613&0653 11745 JED or RIY tx ??? kW N/ME Arabic, extended from ?? 0700-1700 11745 JED or RIY tx ??? kW N/ME Arabic as scheduled B-17 from 1700 11745 JED or RIY tx ??? kW N/ME Arabic, extended till ??`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Powerful signals on S=9+5dB level here in European central states, of both Saudi Arabian Al-Azm Radio at 0620 UT on 11745 kHz and Yemen exile Radio 11860 kHz on Fri Dec 8 [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also YEMEN [non] ** SOMALILAND. 7120, R. Hargeisa. Thanks to recent reports by Glenn and Dave Valko, of this having better than normal audio levels, tuned in at 1331 and yes, definitely in English, on Dec 6; at 1336 Leo Sayer's pop song "More Than I Can Say"; 1339 into vernacular with series of three "Radio Hargeisa" IDs; later playing HOA music; 1359 usual marching band National Anthem till 1401*; poor; CW QRM. My audio http://goo.gl/eAgk3L Rare for me to hear them above threshold level for the English segment (1320-1340) (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7120, Radio Hargeisa, 1924-2002*, Dec 6. Talk by a man and woman in the Somali language with HOA vocals shortly thereafter. Poor at tune in but steadily improving by closedown. Off rather quickly with quick announcements and short instrumental music segment. (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 10 via DXLD) Sign-off used to be circa 1900, as in WRTH 2017; another hour helps a bit; is it permanent? (gh, DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 5850, Dec 8 at 0624, as I tune across WRMI, Brother HyStairical is saying his ``mouth may be stopped December 31`` depending on $$$; GWBD. 7355, Dec 8 at 0712, WHRIBS is now here after R. Martí is finished, not 7315, contrary to staying on 7315 the other night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA ** SRI LANKA. Reception of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation Dec 6: 1630-1730 on 11750 TRM 125 kW / 345 deg to N/ME Sinhala City FM, good 1730-1830 on 11750 TRM 125 kW / 345 deg to N/ME NO SIGNAL as of Dec 5 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-sri-lanka-broadcasting_7.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 6-7, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. Reception of FPU Radio Tamazuj and Radio Dabanga on Dec 11 Radio Tamazuj 1429-1527 on 13800 MDC 250 kW / 340 deg to EaAf Juba Arabic, fair/good 1429-1527 on 15550 SMG 250 kW / 150 deg to EaAf Juba Arabic, very good Radio Dabanga 1527-1626 on 13800 MDC 250 kW / 340 deg to EaAf Juba Arabic, good/fair 1527-1626 on 15550 SMG 250 kW / 150 deg to EaAf Juba Arabic, very good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-fpu-radio-tamazuj-and.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 10-11, dxldyg via DXLD) Standard remark about Juba Arabic applying to Radio Tamazuj for SUDAN SOUTH, rather than Radio Dabanga for Sudan The Rest (gh, DXLD) ** SURINAME. 4990, Radio Apintie - Paramaribo (very tentative), 2220- 2237, Dec 6. very weak signal but occasional talk by a man announcer heard. Could have been Dutch but not really sure as very weak signal with deep fades. Very tentative at best (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 10 via DXLD) [See Rich’s commentary about the DXpedition in Comments below – Ed., ibid.] ** TAIWAN [non]. How to hear Media Network Plus online? The radio4all archive under that name stopped last July. Now Charlie Harlich has found out from Keith Perron that if you go here: http://radio4all.net/index.php/search/ and enter PCJ in the search field, NOT Media Network, you get a ~6- hour collexion of PCJ programs each week, including MN+. The latest one as of Dec 11 is dated Nov 27-Dec 3: http://radio4all.net/index.php/program/95060 including MN+ dated Dec 2, and then you may click the button/arrow to download and hear it, or any of the others (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for posting this, Glenn. I had assumed that Keith had begun monetizing all of his programs so that they were no longer freely available as podcasts or for download or streaming. I had missed listening to Happy Station, Media Network Plus, and Jazz for the Asking (-- Richard Langley, NB, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. Reception of Sound of Hope Xi Wang Zhi Sheng on Dec 5 0835 & 1235 on 11970 unknown kW / non-dir to EaAs Chinese, fair: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-sound-of-hope-xi-wang-zhi.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 5-6, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4765.061, Seldom odd frequency from Yangi Yul center, seemingly a reserve tx unit is in usage now, today Dec 11. Tajik Radio scheduled 23-22 UT, usual noted as standard exact frequency, like similar on 7245.0 kHz. S=9+10dB strength noted at Mauno's place in Finland. Lower strength also here in southern Germany as S=6-7 level [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. Frequency changes of Voice of Tibet, Dec 11 1208-1219 NF 11513 DB 100 kW / 095 deg to EaAs Chinese, ex 11512 1219-1230 on 11512 DB 100 kW / 095 deg to EaAs Chinese, unchange 1325-1335 NF 9898 DB 100 kW / 131 deg to CeAs Tibetan, ex 9895 1335-1400 on 9903 DB 100 kW / 131 deg to CeAs Tibetan, unchange http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/frequency-changes-of-voice-of-tibet.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 10-11, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TURKEY. One new QSL card was received from the Voice of Turkey in response to two reports dated 02 and 18 September 2017. Only today I noticed that on the cards of the station the month of the current year is indicated, for which QSL is issued. Thus, the Voice of Turkey produces twelve unique QSLs per year and apparently now sends to each listener not more than one card per month. So in the envelope put a fresh station schedule. The letter was sent from Ankara only on November 20. The card is here http://freerutube.info/2017/12/07/qsl-voice-of-turkey-turtsiya-sentyabr-2017-goda/ (Dmitry Elagin, Saratov, Russia / "deneb-radio-dx", QSL World, via Rus-DX 10 Dec via DXLD) ** U A E. 6180.097, one of the four transmitter of Babcock UAE relay Al Dhabbaya, odd frequency, IBRA Radio Somali sce at 17-18 UT, noted at 1745 UT, only S=6-7 in Finland remote SDR [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Ukrainian radio refuses the services of foreign correspondents. Journalist Andrei Lavrenyuk reported on his Facebook page about the closure of a foreign correspondent radio network in connection with the establishment of the National Public Television and Radio Company of Ukraine. "All civil-law transactions on the Ukrainian radio, in particular, with correspondents of the foreign corset, are being torn from December 11, 2017. This is due to financial and organizational problems, "explained the Director of the Directorate of Information Broadcasting Programs Oksana Malovichko. https://vk.com/dxingradio (Rus-DX 10 Dec via DXLD) ** U K. LATE NEWS 1: Radio Caroline continues its test transmissions on 648 kHz. The programming is not the same as online programming so if you hear it you can send unique details of what you heard when you request a QSL card. The tests have been heard widely across Europe and there’s one unconfirmed reception from Canada. If you are DXing on the Eastern seaboard of the USA try some sunset DX on this frequency (Medium Wave News 62/07 December 2017 via DXLD) ** U K. Caroline Supporters meeting last night --- A fabulous and well attended evening with special guest speaker Peter Chicago, the legendary Caroline engineer who started his career on RNI. Peter gave us a fascinating and comprehensive talk and answered many questions. Alan Beech, the current Caroline engineer was a bit reticent about when 648 broadcasts will officially start but it seems that it will coincide with the link up with Manx Radio on 16/17 December (Mike Terry, Dec 7, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** U K. BaBcoCk Test transmission in 31mb, Dec 11 1300-1312 on 9775 probably Woofferton, very good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rafdWZOJp-0&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BcGNMC0PXE&feature=youtu.be (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 10-11, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. 4100.5/USB, “W” California wind speed beacon; 1317, 12/10; same format as on 4102.2 except more spacing between anemometer pips (larger diameter turbine?) (Frodge-DXP) 4102.2/USB, “W” California wind speed beacon; 0407, 12/9; Rapid pips corresponding to anemometer turns; code W sent between each pip sequence & sometimes “W” + other characters. +++ up to 4102.5 at 1317, 12/10 & wind speed seems higher this morning (Harold Frodge, M.A.R.E. DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500’ dogleg E-W/N-S unterminated bev, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`ve only heard the 4102+ one, a number of times since original logs, not relogged (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. 96th ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST TRANSATLANTIC SHORTWAVE TRANSMISSION --- Southgate December 11, 2017 Monday, December 11th, will mark the 96th anniversary of the first message to ever be sent across the Atlantic Ocean using shortwave frequencies. The original event in 1921 was called "The Transatlantic Tests" and was organized to determine if amateur radio signals could be heard in Europe using short wave frequencies. Several (amateur) stations will be participating by establishing contacts between the U.S. and Europe including: N1BCG (Greenwich, CT - where the first successful message was sent by 1BCG) GM7VSB (Ardossan, Scotland - where the receiving station was located) KB3WFV (Chesapeake Bay, MD) W2PA (Millbrook, NY) N1ALF (Greenwich, CT) Bands and frequencies have not been set to permit flexibility due to propagation, but will likely begin during the day (Eastern U.S.) on 20 meters USB. Additional information can be found at: https://www.qrz.com/db/N1BCG http://www.internetwork.com/radio/n1bcg http://w2pa.net/HRH/crossingsi-aquitania https://books.google.com/books?id=1...2&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q=qst february 1922&f=true [last one gets a 404, presumably due to the 3 dots omitting something] Posted by: (Mike Terry, 1223 UT Dec 11, dxldyg via DXLD) December 12, 1901 - Marconi receives first trans-Atlantic wireless signal. Today in Radio History http://www.radiomagonline.com/misc/0082/today-in-radio-history/34745#april (via Mike Terry, ibid.) ** U S A. 3272-USB, Dec 8 at 0122, AAR7ZH in MARS net, among others, poor in noise level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1907 monitoring: more errors preventing this new episode from being heard ASAP on SW. Wed Dec 6 at 2200 on good WBCQ 7490, they are replaying last week`s 1906! This time it`s not my fault, as 1907 was first available 21.5 hours earlier. I reminded them to get it in time for all the subsequent airings such as UT Thu Dec 7 at 0030 on 9330-CUSB --- but there was *no* signal audible here. Next: Thu 2230.5 WRMI 5850 to NW Fri 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0729 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 1531 HLR 7265-CUSB to WSW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 11580 to NE, 9455 to WNW, 7780 to NE [or #1908?] Full WOR schedule via all media, and podcast access: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) USofA: 5850, 2230-2305, WRMI, Glenn Hauser's WOR. He mis-pronounced my name, but it's been years since I last talked with Glenn. Followed at 2300 with Spanish ID and then English relay of R Tirana Albania began at 2301. Good 12/7 [Thu] (Don Hosmer, West Branch MI, CommRadio CR-1a w/102' & 51' G5RV dipoles, MARE Tipsheet Dec 8, via DXLD) WORLD OF RADIO 1907 monitoring: confirmed Thursday December 7 at 2230.5 on WRMI 5850, very good, S9+20/10. Also confirmed UT Friday December 8 after 0030 on WBCQ 9330.0v-CUSB, but only at great effort with ECSS on extremely weak S2 signal at about the same band noise level; finally at 0035 I recognize the 5580 Bolivia item which means it is the new 1907 episode. Comparing to neighbors: 9265 WINB at S3; 9370 WWRBS S9+25; 9395 WRMIBS S6. Next: Fri 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0729 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 1531 HLR 7265-CUSB to WSW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 11580 to NE, 9455 to WNW, 7780 to NE [or #1908?] WORLD OF RADIO 1907 monitoring: not confirmed UT Saturday December 9 at 0046 the 0030 broadcast on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB: NO signal audible; neighbors: 9265 WINB VP S4 vs S3 band noise level; 9370 WWRBS S9+20; 9395 WRMIBS S9-S7. Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria confirms the next airing: ``GERMANY, Reception of World of Radio via HLR 6190-CUSB, Dec 9 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-world-of-radio-via-hlr.html 0731-0800 on 6190 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg to CeEu English Sat, weak`` Not confirmed the next HLR broadcast, Sat Dec 9 1531 on 7265-CUSB. Via UTwente SDR, I can hear nothing but CRI with S Asian music and talk from EAST TURKISTAN site (also had it direct with JBA carrier at 1515). Nor anything audible during 1557-1600 UT CRI pause before blasts back on in Russian. Next: Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 11580 to NE, 9455 to WNW, 7780 to NE [or #1908?] 6190, Hamburger LokalRadio, Gohren, 0740-0750, 09-12, Glenn Hauser’s program “World of Radio”. Very weak. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Lugo, Tecsun PL-880, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1907 monitoring: ``Dear Glenn, How are you? I hope very well in this final of autumn. Here is my audio report of World Of Radio 1907 on SW for B17 period. Hamburgher Lokal Radio, Goehren 6190 kHz - December 9, 2017, 0730-0759 UT in English, SINPO 25532. My listener details are: Nino Marabello, Treviso, Italy, e-mail yacht02003(at)yahoo.it Receiver: SONY ICF-SW7600G; Antenna: VHF outdoor horizontal 090ï¿œ. [degrees?] I have heard all program World Of Radio 1907 by Glenn Hauser via HLR-Germany. I have attached an audio report of 287 kB in WMA format. 73 from Treviso, Italy, N. Marabello, http://acquamarina.blogspot.com`` Alan Gale, England, reports: ``Nothing on 7265 again today --- Hi Glenn, Nothing heard of HLR on 7265 kHz this afternoon [1531 UT Sat], even the Indian station [CRI East Turkistan] seemed weaker than usual. I can't work out if it is just propagation or if they're off air; they're usually at least audible here, even if they're very weak. I'll try and catch your programme on WRMI or WBCQ instead. Alan`` NOT confirmed, Sat Dec 9 at 2230 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB: NO signal detectable, as I had hoped on the one day per week when scheduled two hours earlier. (Neighbors: 9265 WINB S9+5; 9350 WWCRBS S9+50; 9370 WWRBS S9+30; 9395 WRMI S9+20). Confirmed, Sat Dec 9 after 2300 on WRMI 11580, fair. By repeat at 0200 UT Sun Dec 10, 11580 has faded to a JBA carrier. Confirmed, UT Sunday Dec 10 at 0429 on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, Wentzville MO, S9+30, at the Shiokaze sked by Ivo, about 14 minutes in so started close to nominal 0415. Next: Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 11580 to NE, 9455 to WNW, 7780 to NE [or #1908?] WORLD OF RADIO 1907 monitoring: missed checking 0030 UT Monday December 11 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB, but probably inaudible/off the air? as usual. Confirmed UT Monday December 12 from 0400 sharp on Area 51 webcast, but no signal at 0428 check on WBCQ 5130v (it was also inaudible earlier at 0154 check). John Carver, mid-north Indiana, relies on the A51 WOR airing, but reported at 0406 UT: ``FYI. Going to try WRMI for World of Radio this evening. 5130 transmitter turned on and was running promos at 2357. At 2358 transmitter went down. Two attempts to start after 0030 and finally came up at 0048. Went into a Jean Shepherd show and crashed again about forty-two minutes into that and has never come back up since. Need to try the other frequency for WOR this evening.`` WOR confirmed here UT Monday December 11 at 0430 on WRMI 9955, poor S9-S7. Next: Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 11580 to NE, 9455 to WNW, 7780 to NE [or #1908?] WORLD OF RADIO 1907 monitoring: not confirmed UT Tuesday December 12 at 0030 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB: no signal detectable, as is usually the case now, and we continue to wonder whether it is on the air at all, greatly reduced power and/or just not coping with low-MUF winter propagation. BUT on this day of week, UT Tue, we have another broadcast at 0030, WRMI 7730, and as usual it is VG here, S9+20/30. Also confirmed Tue Dec 12 at 2030 on the WRMI triad: 7780 // 9455 // 11580. Also confirmed Tue Dec 12 at 2130 on 9455 only, as I could not finish new 1908 quite in time for that, but it was available to all stations and listeners by 2230. WORLD OF RADIO 1908 contents: Anguilla, Australia, Bangladesh, Biafra non, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China non, Colombia, Cyprus non, East Turkistan , Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Kiritimati, Korea South, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nigeria non, Oklahoma non, Perú, Philippines, Romania, Sa`udi Arabia, Somaliland, Taiwan non, USA, Yemen; and the propagation outlook WORLD OF RADIO 1908 monitoring: Also not confirmed UT Wed Dec 13 at 0030 on WBCQ 9330v on what should have been its first SWBC: again no trace of a signal (while neighbors are: 9265 WINB S4; 9370 WWRBS S6 and distorted; 9395 WRMIBS S9; other WBCQ 7489.8 with Alan Sane, S9). Next: Wed 1030 WRMI 5850 to NW, 9455 to WNW Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW Thu 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Thu 2230.5 WRMI 5850 to NW Fri 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0729 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 1531 HLR 7265-CUSB to WSW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 11580 to NE, 9455 to WNW, 7780 to NE [or #1909?] Full WOR schedule via all media, and podcast access: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7490-, Dec 9 at 0032, WBCQ rock music, presumably `Fred Flintstone` still on air, but poor S7-S5, boding ill for AWWW reception to follow. 5129.8 WBCQ is on with carrier of S8-S9 at 0054. 0100 `William Tell Overture` opening AWWW on both and this time they are synchronized. Reception slightly better on the lower one. Starts out with ``nothing`s working`` --- and next 10 minutes we overhear him and colleagues trying to get something to work, meanwhile swearing a lot (Allan seems confident WBCQ is not going to get into trouble for naughty language). By 0110 mentions it`s ``on-the-air-repair``, problem a Gates microphone preamp from the `50s. Enough for me, but over to John Carver, mid-north Indiana, despite his internet problems, yeoman reporting what he could hear: ``Show started on time this evening. 7490 is unlistenable so listening to 5130. Chaos ruled the early part of the show as a microphone mixer/amplifier had a bad tube. Only one microphone usable and a lot of talk for minutes and minutes off mic as they attempted to repair the other unit. Only one working mic. Lots and lots of four letter words off mic and Allan was heard to say that he had had it with tubes. Allan and Angela are back in Maine and were in studio number one with Dr. Becker and only one working mic. Allan stated that the backup transmitter for 5130 that he wanted to run this evening blew up today. The AM transmitter on their MW station was also down and Allan repaired that also. There was also a problem with the computer control for the transmitters leaving the filament charge on around the clock which he says will cost a bunch of money to pay for. Allan said again that he's had it with tubes, old transmitters and the FCC. After a phone call things settled down and he went into a little rant about abolishing the IRS and again advocating a tax revolt in this country. Several phone calls in a row after this and lost the signal on 5130 at 0202`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WBCQ 5130 at 0000 this evening [UT Sunday Dec 10 = local Saturday]. Dropouts every five to ten seconds till 0009 when it just stopped and didn't return till 0014. After 0014 dropouts continue to plague one's ear. Another long outage at 0020 and once returned another dropout only three seconds later. Another long dropout at 0023 and after 0025 dropouts are coming every two seconds. Drop outs continue frequently. No dropouts between 0041 and 0052. First hour was unlistenable in this writer's opinion [Timtron at 00-02]. Second hour had no dropouts between 0103 and 0124 when they started again. Dropouts weren't as frequent but lasted longer till 0200. 0200 was the start of Lumpy Gravy. Dropouts increased again and were frequent for the first twenty minutes or so. Another long outage at 0232. I stopped noting the times of the outages at that time. In the past, when I've asked about the dropouts, I was told that it was some SW or MW programmer uploading their programs to the station's computer in advance of their airing. Since so much of the station's weekend programming seems to rely on streaming over the internet, I say to programmers uploading their programs when something else is being streamed, STOP IT! At least until the station can cob together a more robust internet system. In the immortal words of former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz, Get big or get out. Should this writer ever win the Lotto, he vows to buy everyone that streams their program live to the station a phone patch. While a phone patch would degrade the audio slightly this writer would rather have slightly degraded audio to insure audio continuity (John Carver, Mid-North Indiana, 0248 UT Sunday December 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5129.84, WBCQ Monticello ME (presumed); 0218-0232+, 12/10 [UT Sunday]; Rock & oldies; 0231 “Lumpy Gravy Radio Show”. SIO=353 when on & fady; on/off problem (Harold Frodge, M.A.R.E. DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500’ dogleg E-W/N-S unterminated bev, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! -----. DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7490.11, Dec 11 at 0154 check, WBCQ Brother Scare has varied to the plus side for a change; while 5130v which ought to be audible with Area 51, is off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. THE POWER HOUR --- Shortwave Radio station frequencies and times have all stayed the same! 9395 - WRMI (Live 3-5PM CST) (Replay 7-10AM CST) 7780 - WRMI (Live 3-5PM CST) (Replay 7-10AM CST) 7490 - WWCR (Replay 7-8AM CST) 13845 - WWCR (Replay 7-10AM CST) (TPH Newsletter 5 Dec via John Carver, DXLD) 7780 // 9455 // 11580, Wed Dec 6 at 2050, WRMI with sermon before an audience, sounds like Bob Biermann pushing it a bit more than usual, i.e. `Your Weekend [sic] Show`, which is still not shown on WRMI skedgrid for 7780. YWS is listed for 11580-only, Wed at 20-21, but for longtime has also been // 9455 during this hour only. 7780 joins them at 2030 on some days, opting away from Brother Scare, when there is a half-hour program, but apparently at 2000 when there is a one-hour program like Wed (and also Thu for VORW). Here`s what`s really happening during the following hour, contrary to schedule: 9455 only is carrying the ``15770`` program, `FG Radio` with their ``Travel Gazette`` repeated over and over from last April. (I have finally written directly to the program about this.) Contact info is on page 464 of WRTH 2017, where FG Radio somehow qualified as the #1 international broadcaster from Cyprus. I can`t wait to see what 2018 has about it. 9395 // 7780 at 2108 check are in `The Power Hour``. 11580 at 2103 is as usual in German from RAE Argentina. ** U S A. 9955, Dec 12 at 1445, WRMI is off --- also no signal on 11580, 11825; still off at 1508, so I leave a receiver with BFO tuned to 9954, and it finally pops on at 1642 with BS in progress; but the 11s are still not back by 1648 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CYPRUS [non] ** U S A. 17775, Wed Dec 6 at 2035, KVOH is *on*, VG S9+20/30 with musicalabanza in Spanish; no spurs audible, still past 2103. Checking because we got this notice Tue Dec 5 at 1919 UT from Ray Robinson at KVOH: ``KVOH (17775 kHz) Off Air --- We have a high wind event here in Southern California today, with several large brush fires. At the KVOH transmitter site on Chatsworth Peak, sustained winds are now at 60 miles per hour with gusts to over 90. The microwave link between our studios and the transmitter site is unstable because the winds are blowing the microwave dishes off beam, and the power is very unstable too (there are currently about half a million people in Ventura County without power at all). Looking at the weather forecast, we may be off tomorrow also, but hopefully back by Thursday --- Ray Robinson, Strategic Communications Group / Voice of Hope, Americas / Africa / Middle East, http://www.voiceofhope.com`` [via WORLD OF RADIO 1907] So they were able to get back by Wednesday afternoon. Apparently KVOH facilities not threatened by the wildfires themselves. 17775 also audible as JBA carrier Thu Dec 7 at 1504, 1524 chex (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Meanwhile, I have also heard from a ham in TX who has been experiencing white noise from KVOH extending even above 18068 kHz into the hamband, and had been discussing it with KVOH. He got this reply from John Tayloe in October: ``Glenn Houser mentioned this a few days ago. We made some changes to our audio chain as we suspect this is where the problem was. We are really interested in solving this. It’s not showing up on our test equipment and we are [asking] a few of our friends who listen outside of California to monitor and give feedback. John Tayloe, (805) 338- 0075`` K5WLT wrote later: ``Things were great (no hash in 17 m amateur band) for about a month. Then around Nov 20 somewhere it came back, and I sent the following: On 11-20-17 at 1500 UT I found that your problem with spurs had returned. White noise hash up into the 18 MHz amateur band, and your modulation on 17775 was badly distorted and splattering. Again upon sign-off on that frequency all spurious emissions ceased. This problem surely should be evident on a spectrum analyzer at your transmitter site. Hopefully you will find the cause and a final fix be in place soon. Ronnie V. Miller - K5WLT`` 17775, Dec 8 at 1513, no signal yet from KVOH, but JBA carrier showing at 1522, 1543. Maybe will build up to good level later, wildfires permitting (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: KVOH spurs --- Please watch them close. The problem extends about 300 KCs up and down from their carrier freq. and when prop is good (almost every day) they are causing severe interference to weak DX signals in the 18 MHz amateur band. It's so strong for the first 100 KCs away from their carrier I CAN'T BELIEVE OTHERS HAVEN'T NOTICED IT. 73 - (Ronnie, K5WLT, Miller, Dec 11, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9370, Dec 6 at 2046 check, WWRBS remains nominal, S9 to S9+10 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9475 & 5830, Dec 7 at 2057, WTWW-1 is off, neither on day nor night frequency. Likewise at 0052 Dec 8 (while neighbor 9370 WWRBS is still S9+25). And likewise zilch at 0703 and 1453 Dec 8. What`s the deal? Transmitter broken? Out of money to pay electric? Ted didn`t get around to turning it on? HQ decided it`s all pointless? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9475, Dec 9 at 1645 check, still no signal from WTWW-1. Has not been heard on this or night frequency 5830 at random chex for a few days now, tho I have hardly patrolled all possible frequencies 24/7. It shall be interesting to observe whether WTWW-2 appear on 5072/5085/5098 by 0200 UT Sunday Dec 10 for `Theater Organ in the Ozarx`. 5085 had begun playing Xmasmx every evening, but haven`t noticed that lately either. 5085, Dec 10 at 0147, WTWW-2 with Xmasmx, ``Merry Little Xmas``; more past 0204 and no `Theater Organ in the Ozarx` by 0207; while WTWW-1 continues to be AWOL now from 9475 and 5830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5830 & 9475, Dec 12 at 1405; and Dec 13 at 0025, still no signals from WTWW-1 on day or night frequency --- but Dec 13 at 0346, 5830 is finally back on after missing for at least five days whenever checked; evidently biblical citations. 5085, Dec 13 at 0346, WTWW-2 is also on with music at S9+30, flanked as always by weak parasites about 5072.1 & 5097.9 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7505, WRNO New Orleans LA; 0248-0258+, 12/10; “Time to Dream” program from Roy Lands Ministry, English huxtress interviewing a Moslem woman who converted to Christianity; 0256 call ID & Pastor Ray Bentley spot into “Marantha Radio” religi-huxter program. S40 splattering +/- 20 kHz (Harold Frodge, M.A.R.E. DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500’ dogleg E-W/N-S unterminated bev, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7504.989, WRNO from New Orleans LA state, but in MANDARIN Chinese language endless sermon, at 03-05 UT ?, heard at 0343 and at 0433 UT on Dec 11. S=7 or -83dBm fair signal also here in Germany, Belgium and Liverpool England SDR units [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7505v, WRNO, 0354, Dec 11. Start of the one hour "multilingual" show (mostly Chinese) called "Praise for Today" (have seen reports of this as "Pray for Today"?); intro and exit briefly in English; for some reason, never seems to start at ToH, but always before (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9265, WINB Red Lion PA; 1618-1624+, 12/10; Religihuxter having trouble pronouncing r’s as w’s, pwaphasizing & pwaying (wascally wabbit). SIO=454 at tune-in, down to 353 about 1620 (Harold Frodge, M.A.R.E. DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500’ dogleg E- W/N-S unterminated bev, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WINB program scheduled just updated for Dec 10 shows Sunday: ``11:00A / Sun-1600...Templo Trinidad Presenta Jesucristo`` with correct UT/ET time conversion! But Harold`s log not in Spwanish (gh) ** U S A. Good signal Brother HySTAIRical via WHRI Angel 1/2 on new 6040 on Dec 8, all: 250 kW / 047 deg to WeEu English WHRI Angel 1 2200-2300 on 6040^HRI Mon-Fri Brother Stair 2200-2300 on 6040^HRI Sat/Sun other rlg pxs 2300-2400 on 6040^HRI Sat vary rlg programs WHRI Angel 2 2300-2400 on 6040^HRI Mon-Fri Brother Stair 2300-2400 on 6040^HRI Sun vary rlg programs ^ from March 3 again on 9505 kHz http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/good-signal-brother-hystairical-via.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #1047 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec 12, 2017, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. 660, Dec 8 at 0115 UT, Navajo drumming and chanting, dominating, so again suspect it`s ND rather than protecting NYC. Official FCC December sunset for KTNN Window Rock AZ is 0000 UT. This programming *really* stands out, making any further ID unnecessary. A bit earlier I was also hearing cheater KHAC, 880-USB, and echoey KKOB & KKOB, 770. NYC is just out of luck (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Three days ago I noted KUOM 770 on full power at 0505 [CST = 1105 UT]. KUOM has been getting sloppy lately but with so many kids running the station they still manually shut the station down and its easy for mistakes to happen by forgetting to turn their transmitter off (Todd Skaine, Bloomington MN, Dec 10, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. NINE DECADES IN, KONO RADIO REMAINS A VINTAGE ESCAPE By Jeanne Jakle December 10, 2017 Updated: December 11, 2017 3:43pm Glenn, Mr Kiley sent out QSLs for decades while at KONO: [caption] KONO radio veteran Bill Kiley was a teen in the early 1940s when he initially worked for the 90-year-old music station. Photo: Courtesy Bill Kiley Before country singer Ernest Tubb recorded his biggest hit, “Walking the Floor Over You,” the Texas crooner was walking the floors of KONO radio in the 1930s, entertaining listeners here with a live block of songs every morning. Numerous singers and bands from the worlds of country, big band, pop and more performed live in KONO's studios until they eventually were replaced by more economical methods of delivering music — from 45 rpm records to albums to taped cartridges to compact discs to songs on a computer hard drive. . . [subscription required for the rest] http://www.expressnews.com/sa300/article/Nine-decades-in-KONO-radio-remains-a-vintage-12420434.php (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, DWCAZ 990 Carthage, Ill was busted by the FCC: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/index.do?document=348183 (Artie Bigley, Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Electronic Document Management System (EDOCS) EDOCS Document 12/08/2017 Robin R. Dunham; Carthage, Illinois Notice of unlicensed operation issued for AM station operating on frequency 990 kHz in Carthage, Illinois Documents: Word : DOC-348183A1.docx PDF : DOC-348183A1.pdf Text : DOC-348183A1.txt Viz.: FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION ENFORCEMENT BUREAU REGION ONE Columbia Regional Office 9200 Farm House Lane Columbia, Maryland 21046 (301) 725-1996 December 8, 2017 Robin R. Dunham Carthage, Illinois NOTICE OF UNLICENSED OPERATION Case Number: EB-FIELDNER-17-00024522 On June 28, 2017, in response to a complaint, an Agent from the Chicago Office of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) inspected an AM station that was operating on the frequency 990 kHz from Antenna Structure Number 1009006 in Carthage, Illinois. The Agent conducted the inspection with you, the owner of Ralla Broadcasting Company, Inc. (Ralla), which previously held a license for WCAZ, an AM radio station, and found that you were operating a Harris SX-1A transmitter on frequency 990 kHz with an output power of 975 Watts. Upon further investigation, the Agent found that on April 21, 2017, the Commission issued a letter to Ralla dismissing the license renewal application for WCAZ and cancelling the license to operate the station because Ralla failed to pay its delinquent debt owed to the Commission. The Commission further stated it deleted the station’s call letters and that any operation of the AM station on 990 kHz is unauthorized and must cease immediately. During the June 28, 2017 inspection, the Agent informed you that you had no authority to operate the AM station on frequency 990 kHz and, therefore must discontinue operation immediately. You refused to cease operating the AM station. You are hereby warned that the operation of radio transmitting equipment without a valid radio station authorization constitutes a violation of the Federal laws and could subject the operator to severe penalties, including, but not limited to, substantial monetary fines, in rem arrest action against the offending radio equipment, and criminal sanctions, including imprisonment. [footnote:] 1 UNLICENSED OPERATION OF THIS RADIO STATION MUST BE DISCONTINUED IMMEDIATELY. 1 --- See 47 U.S.C. §§ 401, 501, 503 and 510. You have ten (10) days from the date of this notice to respond with any evidence that you have authority to operate granted by the FCC. Your response should be sent to the address in the letterhead and reference the listed case number. Under the Privacy Act of 1974, [footnot:] 2 we are informing you that the Commission’s staff will use all relevant material information before it to determine what, if any, enforcement action is required to ensure your compliance with FCC Rules. This will include any information that you disclose in your reply.You may contact this office if you have any questions. David C. Dombrowski Regional Director Region One Enforcement Bureau Federal Communications Commission Attachments: Excerpts from the Communications Act of 1934, as amended Enforcement Bureau, “Inspection Fact Sheet,” March 2005 2 --- 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(3). (via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) Doug Beard in Springville, Iowa noted them on most of the month of May, and I noted WCAZ on the air while I was in Davenport near the end of June and also while in Iowa City around August 20-21. I see that Paul Snider in Welland, Ontario heard WCAZ on just a scant three weeks ago with a high school basketball game. 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska, 12 Dec, IRCA via DXLD) WCAZ 990 noted s/on this morning Dec 12th. at 05:58 CST [1158 UT] with vocal NA and ID at TOH. Weak with WMVP slop. I have to use USB due to somebody in neighborhood with electronic gadget producing a modulated tone right on 990 LSB. So, they are still on the air. What do they owe the FCC? (Tom Jasinski, Joliet, IL, ibid.) Cedar Falls is where WCAZ and and KAYL are of equal strength. Years ago I logged WCAZ. Nowadays I do not sit on this frequency. Maybe I should (Todd Skaine, Bloomington MN, ibid.) WCAZ 990 was in well again this morning at their s/on beginning at 05:58 CST and even better around 07:00 [1300 UT]. It's ironic how the FCC works. A station can have a crappy, distorted signal or splatter across the entire band for days on end when they don't monitor their own on the air signal. That's OK. But when a station with a good clean signal is providing a useful service to the community fails to pay a bill to the FCC, they get their license yanked! (Tom Jasinski, Joliet, IL, Dec 13, ibid.) Good clean signal? when I heard WCAZ going from Jacksonville to Quincy IL, they sounded like they were modulating at 200 percent (Paul Walker, PA, ibid.) True, but they did when I lived around there 27 years ago, the 93.9, so I tend to think of it as theirs, though one or the other station must have been sold (Dave Faulkner, ibid.) ** U S A. 1210 WNMA Miami - music --- Continuous music instead of ESPN/Spanish. Does anyone have any insights? Thank you, (Ivan NO2CW, Miami FL, 12-07-2017, 08:36 AM, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) I do! ESPN Deportes was taken by WMYM 990 in Kendall --- owned by Actualidad Radio, who own 1040 WURN Miami & 1020 WLVJ Boynton Beach. All three stations did a major shuffle about a year ago, each with higher power, albeit moved to different locations. Actualidad also owns WURN-FM "Exitos 107.1." The FM very briefly had Actualidad as an HD2, but they no longer have HD at all. 1210 apparently now has to fend for itself, with filler music. They occasionally have a sports talk program (I think I heard talk about soccer). Even though 990 has a slightly bigger signal than last year, IMO ESPN Deportes didn't know what they were getting into, coverage- wise. Although not meant to cover my QTH, it is barely audible at night, with Radio Guamá in Cuba all over it. Edit: BTW the new-facility 1040 has been heard on Oldtimer's Global Tuner in Northern Ireland; the *former* 1020 was heard there as well. The old 1040 was not heard there to my knowledge, and we are still trying for the new 1020. cd (Chris Dunne, Pembroke Pines FL, Dec 8, ibid.) ** U S A. I`m at the kite field in north-central Enid, away from power lines, but too close to 1390 & 960, undertaking a low-noon bandscan on the caradio, as local mean noon here is always 1832 UT. Nothing much on low band, not even 670 KLTT Denver, which normally barely reaches on groundwave. But lots of skywave CCI above 1100, e.g. 1130, presumably KS & LA. Further: 1250, Dec 9 at 1850 UT, good signal in Spanish, obviously KYYS, Kansas City KS, La Equis, La Súper Estación, which makes it here only on skywave, 25 kW with major lobe to the WSW while we are SW of it. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1270, Dec 9 at 1850 UT, Spanish also atop this frequency, i.e. KFLC, Benbrook (The Metroplex) TX which is now ESPN [sic] Deportes, updating the NRC AM Log. 50 kW almost ND, with groundwave just beyond Norman per radio-locator. Totally overcoming Tulsa / Claremore which is our normal daytime groundwave occupant. Benbrook? A 21K suburb, SW side of Fort Worth, now with a claim to fame; but radio-locator site pin is on the east side of FW. 1270 was the original KFJZ (Glenn Hauser, midday bandscan on caradio at kite field in north-central Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A quick clarification - KFLC is Univisión Deportes, not ESPN Deportes. 1540 KZMP is the ESPN Deportes affiliate for the Dallas area. Most (all?) of the Univisión-operated stations (KTNQ-1020, KLSQ-870, etc.) now air Univisión Deportes, but this does not appear to be a full-time format, as I often hear these stations reverting back to the old "Amor Celestial" Spanish contemporary Christian format, or running a variety of music. Along these lines, I'm pretty confident that the UNID ESPN Deportes 1020 you reported a few months ago was KTNQ running Univisión Deportes. 73 (Tim Hall, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KTNQ is 50/50 kW U4 Los Ángeles, day and night null toward me and KDKA --- don`t think I`d ever heard it or any previous call (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 1540, Dec 9 at 1853 UT, KXEL Waterloo IA is skywaving in, with oldtime radio, drama also plugging the DAV. 1857 UT it`s `Classic Radio Theater` from USA Radio Network, fades for ID around hourtop, but matches KXEL sked for Sat: ``Noon-1:00 p.m. KXEL Classic Radio Matinee`` And KXEL IDs in passing at 1907 UT (Glenn Hauser, midday bandscan on caradio at kite field in north-central Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1540.116v, Dec 10 at 2351 UT, first on caradio on way to an Xmas program, still tuned to 1540 for yesterday`s KXEL midday reception, now a big low-audible-heterodyne (LAH) and classic rock music, at first not sure that`s the station causing the het. Soon ID as ``KGBC (?) 1480``, with three Houston suburbs, ``we`ve got you covered``. The one I recognize and retain is Clear Lake. The 1480 station is KLVL Pasadena, NOT KGBC, but I`m positive the letters uttered were nothing like KLVL, altho first sounded like KGBD. It so happens that the two are jointly owned, by Siga, so are they now running // and KLVL also branded as ``KGBC``? 1480 is blocked here by Spanish from KBXD Metroplex. Next break at 2356 UT of same format, got three more suburbs covered, but this time really as ``KGBC 1540``. Natch, fade into QRM for hourtop legal(?) ID. But Michael Jackson playing until 0002 UT December 11. Back home on the R75 at 0155 UT, I measure the off-frequency and do match it to the above stunting. 0158 UT, another ``we`ve got you covered`` slogan, hard rock. 0202 UT fade for quick mumbled legal(?) ID, then a chiropractic ad which starts out sounding like a PSA, but with a 713-phone; also frequently heard something with an 877 toll- free number. A year or two ago, KGBC Galveston was off-frequency like this for a long time, but more recently had attained 1540.0 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1540, Dec 13 at 0021 UT check, ID right away for KEDA San Antonio and TexMex music, no het from KGBC like last night about 1540.11. As I hoped, Steven Luce in Houston TX has replied Dec 12 in the DXLD yg to my log of KGBC 1540+ Galveston also referring to 1480: ``Glenn, I can confirm that KLVL and KGBC have been // at recent checks here in Houston, running oldies music and a very occasional commercial. Both are brokered time stations looking for new clients. The previous programmer on KLVL (which had moved from KYND, and before that, KJOZ) only lasted a few weeks on 1480. That group has not resurfaced anywhere. I can hear the het on 1540 during critical hours. Nighttime at my QTH KGBC is completely lost in the co-channel pileup. No useable reception of KLVL at night, either, although day signal is good. During critical hours KLVL often clashes with skywave from KBXD [Metroplex]. Speaking of KYND 1520, the station is still running the promotional loop looking for a new programmer to lease airtime. I have noticed that the station is not signing on until 0800 local (1400 UT) so chances of it getting out during morning critical hours are reduced. Houston has a lot of brokered time stations on AM, and we may have reached a saturation point, with not enough potential clients for all of them`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1560, Dec 9 at 1856 UT, gospel huxter in English atop sports from OKC, 1858 UT fading. I would have guessed KKAA Aberdeen SD, but it is supposedly off the air pending new owner, ex-Family Radio. Surely instead closer 10 kW ND, KLNG Council Bluffs IA. Also getting ``The Zone`` on 1620 from Omaha at 1855 UT (Glenn Hauser, midday bandscan on caradio at kite field in north-central Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WRXB 1590 GOES SILENT http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/Radio-station-WRXB-longtime-voice-in-St-Petersburg-s-black-community-goes-silent_163354203 (Via Terry Krueger, Clearwater, WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) Viz.: RADIO STATION WRXB, LONGTIME VOICE IN ST. PETERSBURG’S BLACK COMMUNITY, GOES SILENT --- by Waveney Ann Moore ST. PETERSBURG — Radio Station WRXB, a constant in Tampa Bay’s African-American community for more than four decades, offering a staple of R&B, gospel and community news, is no more. The radio station, once black-owned, abruptly went off the air on Nov. 14. It was a shock to Richard C. Guess, 67, host of the weekday show "Undignified Praise and Worship." "I walked into the office this morning and everything was disassembled and in boxes," he wrote on Facebook. "No warning, no courtesy phone call, no thank you for your service. Nothing." The Chicago owners, Polnet Communications, "a key player among ethnic broadcasters in the U.S. and … number one media outlet in the Polish- American community," according to its website, did not return calls from the Tampa Bay Times. Guess, who had been on WRXB-AM 1590 for "well over 15 years," said the station’s owners had "never invested anything" in the local community. "We were doing very well at one time, until our transmitter blew and we were off the air for about a year," he said. "We came back up and we were only on a portable transmitter that only reached so far in our community. I wrote two letters to Chicago to the corporate office. I questioned them about the station and what were their plans." On Nov. 27, Polnet notified the Federal Communications Commission that WRXB was off the air. FCC records show that WRXB’s transmitter problems dated to Aug. 19, 2015, when Polnet requested a "special temporary authority" to operate the station with reduced power. The FCC, in an October 2016 letter, noted that WRXB’s owner had been trying to repair the transmitter for more than a year, but that "many older transmitters simply cannot be repaired." The problems continued until April 14 this year, when Polnet notified the FCC that it had resumed licensed operations. Guess said he’s been told that the station, which operated out of studios at 3551 42nd Ave. S, is for sale. FCC rules require any contract to be filed within 30 days of its execution. So far, there’s no application pending for reassignment of the WRXB license. WRXB was once owned by the late J. Eugene Danzey, who acquired it in 1975, making it the region’s first independent, African-American-owned radio station. Danzey sold it in 1998. A couple of years earlier, he told the Times that he was concerned about the future of small, independent stations like his. "This is a hard sell in this market," he said. If he had to do it over, Danzey said then, he probably would have gone into a market with a larger African-American population. Over the years, WRXB, which in recent years went to an all-gospel music format, was the station of radio personalities such as Sister Dianne Hughes, who even prayed with callers. State Rep. Wengay Newton, D-St. Petersburg, hosted a weekly community program while he was on the St. Petersburg City Council. The Rev. Basha Jordan, grandson of St. Petersburg’s pioneer African-American businessman Elder Jordan, also hosted a show. But Jordan had a falling out with Polnet over the station’s transmitter problems. "They were not being forthright with the broadcasters, or the advertisers. Lightning had struck the tower and the station was not putting out the 5,000 watts that they were giving us the impression that they were," he said. "When I confronted them with it, they tried to blow me off." Guess plans to relaunch his show on the Internet this week. His 24- hour Undignified Praise, on upradio.org, will feature gospel and smooth jazz for a worldwide audience, he said. Another former WRXB host, Pastor Brian J. Anderson Sr., 45, also filled the role of weekend program coordinator. Polnet Communications "didn’t do enough to ensure the legacy and success of the station," said Anderson, whose on-air name was Brian Jay. "This was their first foray into urban radio. I never felt that they had a real vested interest in the black community, and that was the failure." Council member Lisa Wheeler-Bowman, who had been a guest on Anderson’s show, The Voice of the Village, said WRXB had been a valuable resource. The St. Petersburg Police Department had a weekly show, Police and Community Perspective, which was launched in 1997 and halted in December 2016. "They were having regular transmitter problems, equipment problems, and their listening audience was getting smaller and smaller and we felt that there were better ways to reach out with out grant dollars," police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez said. "We were paying more than $800 a month and it just wasn’t reliable. … They couldn’t guarantee us who they were reaching and we have to be good stewards of public funds." Anderson, who was in his third stint with WRXB when it went silent, said the station had provided a voice for the black community to celebrate its victories, such as when President Barack Obama was elected. And there were occasions to help each other, like a fish fry fundraiser so a family could bury a loved one. "Those are the things that I remember," Anderson said. "It was old- fashioned black radio. That was the village way of getting information out." Contact Waveney Ann Moore at wmoore@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2283. Follow @wmooretimes (via Kevin Redding, ABDX yg via DXLD) According to the Radio Years website, this station started out in 1958 as nostalgia music WILZ. It later switched to Top-40. Later yet, around 1975, it switched to an urban contemporary format and assumed the call letters WRXB. The station was not the first urban contemporary station in the Tampa Bay area. In the 1950s, Tampa's WIOK began broadcasting to the African-American community. Within a few years, its call letters were changed to WTMP, which letters are still in use today. During the years that the station was being electronically maintained, they did have some very unique personalities. There is a 1-minute audio clip of Sister Diane Hughes on the Radio Years website at http://www.radioyears.com/other/audio.cfm?pg=23&srch=general&srchfor=&id=13 If you take a minute to listen to it, you'll see that she was a very entertaining personality. It's sad to see this longtime classic station go down (Dick Wheeler, Tampa, Dec 8, ibid.) ** U S A. BEFORE NET NEUTRALITY, THERE WAS RADIO REGULATION Livia Gershon December 11, 2017 https://daily.jstor.org/before-net-neutrality-there-was-radio-regulation/ Almost a century before the current fight over net neutrality, the federal government debated commercial profitability and popular access in the context of a different medium: radio. In the 1920s, radio was a bit like the early internet of the 1990s: quirky, obsession-driven, and noncommercial. Robert W. McChesney writes that hundreds of nonprofit broadcasters sprouted up in the first half of the decade, most of them affiliated with colleges or universities. Even those stations run by for-profit entities didn’t try to generate revenue themselves. They typically functioned as public relations arms for private companies like newspapers, department stores, or power companies. Industry representatives and public officials, including Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, argued that radio was a poor medium for commercial ads. In 1927, the American Newspaper Publishers Association declared that “fortunately, direct advertising by radio is well-nigh an impossibility.” Much like with net neutrality today, the ACLU and virtually all of the U.S. intelligentsia objected to commercial control of radio. As stations proliferated, they overlapped each other’s bandwidths and made a mess of the airwaves, leading the federal government to step in with regulation. Congress established the Federal Radio Commission in 1927, and it rapidly set to work, meeting with executives and engineers from startup radio networks NBC and CBS in unpublicized sessions. The plan the FRC came up with in late 1928 gave it the power to allocate the hours stations could use a particular AM radio band, and how powerful their signals could be, based on its determination of their value. How did the commission make those determinations? A 1929 report explained that it considered the greatest “general public service” to be provided by profit-driven stations, which would be motivated by market forces to provide programming people wanted. Meanwhile it identified nonprofit, non-commercial stations as “propaganda” broadcasters devoted to spreading their own viewpoint rather than meeting audience needs. The result was a quick winnowing of stations. While the FRC didn’t turn down many license renewal applications, it offered many stations so few hours on a shared channel that they ended up shutting down. In just a year, there were 100 fewer stations. The big winners, unsurprisingly, were NBC and CBS. In 1927, affiliates of the two networks made up 6.4 percent of broadcast stations. Four years later, they were up to 30 percent. In terms of total number of hours and power level, they represented almost 70 percent of broadcasting. Now, commercial radio advertising flourished. The change did not go unnoticed. Much like with net neutrality today, McChesney writes, the ACLU and virtually all of the U.S. intelligentsia objected to commercial control of radio. Many argued that the airwaves should be regarded as a public resource. But the movement to de-commercialize radio didn’t win out. Aside from the small corners occupied by public radio stations that emerged later in the twentieth century, radio would remain controlled by commercially funded, profit-motivated stations. The question now is how much the internet will continue to mirror that history. JSTOR Citations The Debate Over Public Policy and the Emergence of Commercial Broadcasting in the United States, 1927-1935 By: Robert W. McChesney Business and Economic History, Vol. 21, Papers presented at the thirty—eighth annual meeting of the Business History Conference (1992), pp. 171-181 Cambridge University Press https://www.jstor.org/stable/23703219?mag=before-net-neutrality-there-was-radio-regulation (via Indiana Radio Watch via John Carver, DXLD) ** U S A. Newsonomics: These are the 3 fault lines redrawing the U.S. media business --- The duopoly, the FCC, and the hunger for scale — these three forces are roiling the news industry, from corporate conglomerates to your hometown daily. By Ken Doctor @kdoctor Dec. 8, 2017, 10:34 a.m. On the surface, Meredith’s $2.8 billion buy of Time Inc. seems fairly straightforward: Leading women’s marketing company adds more digital and print audience to its roster of Middle America titles, with People the prime prize. But in that purchase we can also see the deeper tectonic shifts rumbling beneath all of the media industries, whether news or entertainment, broadcast or digital. The changes we’re seeing in media ownership, some out of the blue, are dizzying and can be tough to place into an understandable framework. In fact, though, the Meredith/Time deal, the would-be Disney/Fox deal, and the even the much smaller sales of big daily newspapers all seem to be driven by three widening fault lines. As we enter 2018 — and start planning in earnest for the 2020s — those break points are: The absolute value of scale . . . http://www.niemanlab.org/2017/12/newsonomics-these-are-the-3-fault-lines-redrawing-the-u-s-media-business/ (via Indiana Radio Watch via John Carver, DXLD) ** VATICAN. Additional broadcast of Vatican Radio from Dec 18: 1530-1600 on 11615 SMG 250 kW / 115 deg to EaAf Amharic, new 1530-1600 on 13765 SMG 250 kW / 135 deg to EaAf Amharic, new http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/additional-broadcast-of-vatican-radio.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 10, dxldyg via DXLD) ** YEMEN [non]. SAUDI ARABIA. 11860, 1347 27 NOV - REP. YEMEN RADIO, SANAA (YEMEN). SINPO = 25211. Arabic, male announcer reading. QSB=moderate-to-ff rate, modulation on noisy carrier mostly above the noise floor with occasional fades to mixing with it for short durations. sf76.1, a3, k1, geomag: very quiet. 50kw?, Omni?, bearing 36 ?. Sangean ATS505 w/MFJ-1020C active antenna and MFJ-901B tuner used to preselect ~75 feet of rain gutter running north/south. Received in Plymouth, MN, United States, 11234KM(?) from the transmitter at Riyadh(?). Local time: 0747. (Rodney Johnson, http://swldx.tumblr.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Republic of Yemen Radio with 2 hour break, Dec 7 till 0657 on 11860 JED 050 kW / non-dir to N/ME Arabic 0657-0856 on 11860 kHz no signal, break, empty channel from 0856 on 11860 unknown tx / unknown to N/ME Arabic http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/republic-of-yemen-radio-with-2-hrs_7.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 6-7, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) see also SAUDI ARABIA Powerful signals on S=9+5dB level here in European central states, of both Saudi Arabian Al-Azm Radio at 0620 UT on 11745 kHz and Yemen exile Radio 11860 kHz on Fri Dec 8 [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 11680, 0533 5 DEC - VOICE OF HOPE AFRICA (ZAMBIA). SINPO = 25222. English, male announcer, religious, reading/answering letters. “the boundary” (?) I think he called the show. QSB=slow-to-moderate rate; good modulation mostly mixing or just above the noise floor with occasional peaks well above it. sf68.1, a11, k4, geomag: active. 200kw, BeamAz 315 , Bearing 77 . Sangean ATS505 w/MFJ-1020C active antenna and MFJ-901B tuner used to preselect ~230’ chainlink fence surrounding rectangular backyard (after a fresh snow). Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 13667KM from the transmitter at Makeni Ranch. Local time: 2333 (Rodney Johnson, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fair to good signal of KVOH Voice of Hope Africa on Dec 10: 1200-1700 on 13680 LUV 100 kW / 315 deg to WeAf English Sat/Sun tx#2 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/fair-to-good-signal-of-kvoh-voice-of.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 10, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA, 11735, Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation, Dole, 1800-1810, 12-05, time signals, ID “Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation, the news”, news in English, 1809, vernacular. Very weak today. 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Lugo, Tecsun PL-880, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11735, Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation – Dole, 1753-1816, Dec 6. Swahili language talk by several men. 5+1 time pips at 1800 followed by a woman announcer in English with a nice station ID and news program. More English station IDs at 1805 and at end of the news at 1809. Back into Swahili language program after the English news. Fair (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 10 via DXLD) Reception of Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation on Dec 6 1801-1811 on 11735 DOL 050 kW / non-dir to CeAf English, very good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-zanzibar-broadcasting.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 6-7, dxldyg via DXLD) 11735, Dec 6 at 2055, ZBC music for a while, fair until cutoff at 2102* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reception of Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation, Dec 10: 1800-1809 on 11735 DOL 050 kW / non-dir to CeAf English, good/fair http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-zanzibar-broadcasting_11.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 10-11, dxldyg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 900.15, Dec 11 at 0635 UT, something here making a het upon the 900s (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. RADIO MARIA-1240 --- I just completed a quickie Caribbean cruise (Ft. L., St. Thomas, Martinique, Grenada, Bonaire, Curaçao) and at night in St. Thomas, noted a Radio Maria on 1240. It was pretty weak there but got progressively stronger as we headed southward. I Googled it and found a Radio Maria on 1240 in the Dominican Republic; it is not in WRTVH. I vaguely recall from 5-10 years ago a 100+kw station on 1240 planned for somewhere in Brazil but don’t recall ever seeing anything like this reported. Any ideas on what this might be? (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, nrc-am gg via DXLD) What I could suggest is monitoring 1240 at various times of day on the Bonaire KiwiSDR: http://bonaire.twrmon.net:8073 Pete, were any TA's audible during your trip? How many US stations made it down there? Any other comments about Caribbean / South America / Central America stations not recently reported by recent East Coast DXpeditions (PEI, ME, NJ, etc.) or in logs submitted by me and other eastern DXers such as Conti, Naud, Willie, etc.? (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, South Yarmouth, MA, ibid.) R. María in Santo Domingo *is* in WRTH (Mauno Ritola, ibid.) There is an odd misprint in WRTH 2017; all AM-stations from the Dominican Republic are missing in the Frequency list. 73 (Håkan Sundman, FInland, ibid.) Oh yes, I remember that mentioned. I hope that it is fixed now in WRTH 2018. In 2017 the station is listed in the country section. 73, (Mauno Ritola, WRTH, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Hi there! I've been listening to faint unID station for about couple of weeks on 1363 kHz, about 1600-2000 UT and later. This can be Greek religious pirate or another clandestine, or spurious signal from any transmitter. Is there any information? My QTH - Moscow region, receiver - Degen 1103, built-in whip antenna. Best regards, Eduard. Youtube copy: 0412201726288 MW 1363 kHz - unid station 04.12.17 https://youtu.be/PuWWcwzWASA 0412201726288 MW 1363 kHz - unid station 04.12.17 1651-1702 UT. At 0142 in video - talking indistinct. Received in Moscow region 04.12.17 on Degen 1103, bui... mp3 fles: 0812201726322_1363_unid_1.mp3 https://yadi.sk/d/XCvNYUgG3QV7Ks View and download from Yandex.Disk 0812201726323_1363_unid_2.mp3 View and download from Yandex.Disk https://yadi.sk/d/dhQU5wMs3QV7Kd (Eduard Korsakov, Moskva, Dec 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Eduard, at what time did you hear those 8th Dec signals? From the 4th Dec clip I can confirm, that at least it is NOT a spur of Dengê Kurdistanê 1395 kHz and shouldn't anyway be a mixing product of Armenia 1377 and 1395 kHz, because 1377 kHz doesn't start until 1700. Also I don't have any carrier on 1363 kHz here. So maybe a Moscovite pirate? Best regards, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) Hello! The mp3-files of December, 8 are 1636 and 1645 UT. The style of this station is not the same as Russian pirates have, and the language is not Russian. It seems, it's somewhere from Greece or Middle East, and it's obviously religious. Best regards, (Eduard, ibid.) Heard now at 1800 also in Finland, no carrier, just a 'belt' on 1362- 1367 kHz. The current song would fit to Balkans, but I suppose there aren't any active members there any more? (Mauno, 1823 UT Dec 11, ibid.) Yes, it looks like FM signal. And it seems like a prayer (Mauno, 2010 UT Dec 11, ibid.) Looks like Romanian language (11.12.17 1708 UT): https://youtu.be/TzFLqsLc_4E (Eduard Korsakov, ibid.) Yes. Have you compared it to Radio Maria Romania stream: https://www.radiomaria.ro/ascultalive/index.html (Mauno Ritola, DXLDyg via DXLD) Not yet. Thank you for interesting information. Best regards (Eduard, ibid.) Romanian. 100 pct. ??? ????? [Eto Tochno] (Leo Barmaleo, Moldova, ibid.) Yes, seems to be //, just the stream about 1 minute behind. However no symmetric for 1485 kHz found on 1605 kHz. 73, (Mauno, ibid.) According to Mwlist, Radio Maria is not using 1485 kHz any more. Just Radio Vocea Sperantsei is there. http://www.rvs.ro/ (Eduard, ibid.) Hi Mauno, Have just got out of bed - and would agree the Radio Maria stream is about a minute behind. 73 (Tony Magon, ibid.) Maybe this is a new tx: Roman/Rotunda. Check WRTH and radiomaria.ro: But is this a spur or has it drifted so far? (Mauno, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 1440, Dec 8 at 0059 UT, in the mix a variety of tones past 0103 UT; they are not pure, not musical, and are random pitches and durations rather than sweeps or some kind of intentional testing. Can`t get a DF on it as equal on N/S and E/W antennas (which might mean it`s roughly NE/SW, or NW/SE) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6945-LSB, Dec 9 at 0117, 2-way in language I cannot recognize. Wonder if ``pesky`` mariners far from homeland (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ACKNOWLEDGED ON WORLD OF RADIO 1908: With continuing appreciation for the Herculean task that you perform weekly! 73, shalom, salaam, and namasté! (Jim Gershman, K1JJJ, with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED FUTURELY: Happy Holidays, Glenn! Thank you for WOR! Best wishes, (Scott Gamble, with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) One may also contribute by MO or check in US funds on a US bank, to Glenn Hauser, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES --- We must have a number of members in the area. Hope everyone is OK, including Bruce Churchill. I heard his city Fallbrook mentioned in the news (Glenn, Dec 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks, Glenn - we had to evacuate Thursday evening but back home last night. The fire never got closer than about 2-3 miles from our home but it was a good evacuation drill! There were lessons learned (as usual...), Hi! Ed Sylvester is in Fallbrook as well but his wife did not have to evacuate (as far as I know, anyway). Have a great weekend and thanks for all that you do for the hobby! (Bruce Churchill, ibid.) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WORLD RADIO TV HANDBOOK 2018 Published 7 December 2017 - Order your copy today! We are delighted to announce the publication today of the 72nd edition of WRTH. For full details of WRTH 2018 and to order a copy please visit our website at http://www.wrth.com/_shop/ where you can also order the B17 WRTH Bargraph Frequency Guide on CD and Download. WRTH 2018 is also available for pre-order, for readers in the USA, from Amazon.com or Universal Radio in Ohio. https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/book1.html I hope you enjoy using this new edition of WRTH and the new CD. Best regards, Nicholas Hardyman, Publisher (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Its now published and I have today received my copy in the UK. Its looks as comprehensive as ever with 672 pages, the same number as last year (Mike Terry, Dec 11, ibid.) MUSIC ON SHORTWAVE Alan Roe`s updated B-17 schedule is now available to members in the Files of the DXLD yg (Glenn Hauser) BROADCASTS IN ENGLISH *NEW* COVERING THE B17 WINTER SCHEDULES Extra printed copies while stocks last: UK £3, Europe £4, €5 or 5 IRCs. Rest of World £5, $US6 or 6 IRCs. RADIO STATIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM (26TH EDITION 2017/2018) – BDXC’s indispensable guide to MW, FM and DAB radio across the British Isles, by frequency and station name. PRICES (include postage): UK £4, Europe £7, 10 Euros or 7 IRCs; Rest of World £8, $US 12 or 8 IRCs. SPECIAL OFFER: TWO COPIES only £7 (UK); £10 or 15 Euros (Europe). Please send all orders (UK cheques/ Postal Orders payable to “British DX Club”) to: British DX Club, 19 Park Road, Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 6PF ($ or € - cash or Paypal only). All prices above include postage. Paypal payments to bdxc@bdxc.org.uk Payments also welcome by bank transfer at no extra cost - please email for details (Dec BDXC UK Communication via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ FRENCH CREEK STATE PARK, PENNSYLVANIA [see several logs above under the countries] Rich D’Angelo, French Creek State Park DXpedition No. 54 (December 5, 6 and 7, 2017). 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. Tuesday-Thursday [Dec 5-7] we did a DXpedition to French Creek State Park. I was joined by Kris Field, John Figliozzi, Rich Cuff and Ed Mauger. It was quite warm when we arrived but cold and wet weather soon arrived. Overall, listening conditions were pretty good. VOA Botswana on 4930 seems to be running extended schedule these days. It was nice to hear Rádio Nacional Amazônia (11780) once again. I don’t think that I have ever logged the Chinese station on 4990 before (tuned in looking for Apintie). The Voice of Amara on 15360 had a decent signal until the jammer pretty much covered the station. Thanks to Dave’s tip, I was able to log Alcaraván Radio on 5910. Cell towers must have been improved since we had some level of cell service most of our stay. Radio Mali on 5995 had a decent signal and respectable audio until seemingly someone opened a carrier on the channel reducing audio quality. It happened both days around the same time. At home I usually listened to them with almost no audio after 2300. Three Peruvians were heard mornings and evenings – Huanta 2000 (4764), Tarma (4775) and Cultural Amauta (4955) – but Logos was not heard. I had a very tentative Apintie (4990) but now I wonder if perhaps it was the Chinese station? We had a couple of evening 19-meter band receptions (Radio Taiwan International on 15320 at 0400* and FEBC on 15560 at 0130*) while the band was essentially dead. Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation on 6015 was heard both evenings after 0300. Finally, I always enjoy hearing the English news from ZBC on 11735 at 1800 (From Rich D’Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 10 via DXLD) French Creek SP is a favorite DX-pedition site for Rich & friends, but where is it exactly? About 15 miles SE of Wyomissing, convenient for Rich; Wyomissing is a suburb (co-burb?) of Reading. FCSP also about 35 miles NW of downtown Philadelphia (gh, DXLD) MUSEA +++++ WKBW 1520 BUFFALO NY 1962 QSL CARD which sold for $66: https://www.ebay.com/itm/QSL-Radio-WKBW-Buffalo-New-York-USA-1520-kcs-medium-wave-1962-DX-SWL-/222742469553?hash=item33dc7c5bb1%3Ag%3AgqAAAOSweM1aJEma&nma=true&si=H59%252FeftwhsYerHtw2Ksan398FEc%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Original art, poor map of Europe (gh) COLD WAR COMMUNICATION PROJECT (CWCP) Representatives from over 15 universities (and growing) are exploring of the history of federal and international radio recordings. We're looking at Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, and related recordings such as public service announcements, propaganda broadcasts, refugee radio, and documentaries, in collaboration with the following institutions: Hoover Institution Library and Archives Library of Congress U.S. National Archives The Hoover Archives recently held a conference in Washington DC discussing Cold War Broadcasting. CWCP Research Director, Jane Leftwich Curry, chaired both Wilson Center sessions and, in her opening remarks, noted “the Cold War was a war of words and not bullets” that was largely fought over the radio waves. “Today,” she argued, “there is another a war of words using the Internet,” making understanding Cold War broadcasting and its impact even more important. Finally, Dr. Curry recalled interviewing Polish citizens and elites in 2002-2004 and being told repeatedly that RFE/RL broadcasts and other Western reports were followed by communist elites who then pressed their own media to emulate Western networks so they would appear more credible. Journalist, Walter Wisniewski, discussed his experiences working in Moscow and Warsaw during the Cold War noting that, while journalists from the New York Times, Washington Post, and Newsweek were offered lodging in an admittedly modest compound, he and his colleagues from RFE/RL and VOA had to fend for themselves, often in the properties of sympathizers. Mark Pomar, a former journalist and editor for both RFE/RL and VOA, sought to remind attendees that RFE/RL’s research and monitoring divisions played crucial roles during the Cold War—the latter by publishing analyses related to political situations within RFE/RL’s broadcast range while the latter produced off-air recordings of the very state-run media RFE/RL sought to counter (Medium Wave News 63/07 7 December 2017 via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See ECUADOR; NEW ZEALAND; RADIO EQP FORUM ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB See LATVIA; PUBLICATIONS: UK ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See KIRITIMATI ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See MEXICO [TDT] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ DEFEATING SOFT MUTING ON TECSUNS Re: Steve, I’ve never used a Tecsun radio, but I seem to recall reading that some (or is it all?) Tecsuns have soft muting, which seems to be a sort-of reverse-AGC designed to make weak stations weaker. Presumably this is so that the stronger local stations, which are what most users will be interested in, can be tuned in with less distraction on the intervening frequencies. Jack Is there a way of deactivating the soft mute function on the PL310ET? I’ve noticed that the audio level rises and falls all the time in AM making it really irritating to listen to for any length of time, I assumed this was a function of the AGC but maybe its linked to the muting? (Dave Kenny, Dec 10, MWCircle yg via DXLD) Hi Dave, Yes, there is. 1/ Select shortwave, 2/ Choose an empty frequency, (I always use 9 MHz) 3/ Tune downwards with the tuning knob about 30 kHz to tell the scanner to scan downwards, 4/ Press "vm/vf" and keep it pressed till the scanner starts, 5/ Tune downwards again with the tuning knob, The noise in the loudspeaker gets louder. You're done. You can then select MW or LW if required. To reactivate soft-muting just switch the set off and on again (that is actually the annoying bit, as it means you have to go through the process every time you switch the set on). With the original PL310 the process should be the same, though I haven't tried, my unit is out of order. It is also identical with the PL380 and possibly the PL390, except that the button is just marked "vf" and not "vm/vf"? Regards, (Rémy Friess, Germanance, ibid.) NORTH AMERICAN AM STEREO STATIONS Just how many MW stations in North America are broadcasting in “C-QUAM AM Stereo” these days?? I found this reference which appears to be the most accurate list around the internet. http://www.meduci.com/stations.html Best way to catch a AM Stereo signal these days is with a SDR device. We have been using Bernd Reiser’s “SoDiRa” program (version 0.100 Preview 24) with a SDRPlay RSP1 and does an excellent job with C-QUAM AM Stereo decoding. http://www.dsp4swls.de/sodira/sodiraeng.html During sky wave nighttime conditions we received CFCO in Chatham Ontario well of late on 630 kHz in AM STEREO (country music format). Program also appears to have built in DRM and DRM+ decoding (we have not tested this part of the program). IMPORTANT NOTE : We found we needed to use the older EXTIO version 3.7 otherwise we encountered errors with OUR connected Windows 7 PC's (your situation may vary). Not to forget that the JRC NRD-545 receiver has “built in” AM Stereo decoding (AMS mode). One MUST use the phono jack “line outputs” on the rear panel connected to an external amplifier etc. It does NOT output via it’s headphone connector. Speaking of the JRC NRD-545, please see my web page for late important service information on my “Radio News” webpage. http://webpages.charter.net/n9ewo2/news.html Regards, (David Zantow N9EWO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: AM Stereo Stations (Frequencies in KHz) North America - December 2017 derived from : http://www.meduci.com/stations.html PDF Format : David Zantow N9EWO [NOTE: list later determined to be very outdated, as below: I was about to delete it here, but retain it as an historical document –gh] Alabama • WATV - 900 - Birmingham, AL • WEUP - 1700 - Huntsville, AL • WOPP - 1290 - Opp, AL (Country) • WGOL - 920 - Russellville, AL (Country) Arizona • KJAA - 1240 - Globe, AZ (Oldies) • KYET – 1170 - Kingman, AZ (Classic Country) California • KVON - 1440 - Napa, CA (Sports) • KDIA - 1640 - Vallejo, CA (Religious) Connecticut • WLAD - 800 - Danbury, CT (Adult Contemporary / Talk) • WQUN - 1220 - Hamden, CT • WINY - 1350 - Putnam, CT (Hot Adult Contemporary) • WAXB - 850 - Ridgefield, CT (Oldies) (daytime only stereo) Florida • WPCF - 1290 - Panama City Beach, FL (Trop Rock radio) • WRNE - 980 - Pensacola, FL ("The Touch") Georgia • WPAX - 1240 - Thomasville, GA (Adult Standards) Idaho • KWAL - 620 - Wallace, ID (Country) Illinois • WCAZ - 990 - Carthage, IL (Country / Talk) • WDWS - 1400 - Champaign, IL (News / Talk) • WIRL - 1290 - Peoria, IL (Oldies) • WMBD - 1470 - Peoria, IL (News / Talk) • WKBF - 1270 - Rock Island, IL (Spanish) Indiana • WSLM - 1220 - Salem, IN • WZZB - 1390 - Seymour, IN (Adult Contemporary) Iowa • KJAN - 1220 - Atlantic, IA (News / Sports) • KROS - 1340 - Clinton, IA (Full Service) • KSIB - 1520 - Creston, IA (daytime only stereo) • KDTH - 1370 - Dubuque, IA • KGRN - 1410 - Grinell, IA (News / Music / Sports) • KRIB - 1490 - Mason City, IA (Oldies) Kansas • KUDL - 1660 - Kansas City, KS (Classical) Kentucky • WSON - 860 - Henderson, KY (Adult Standards) Maryland • WTHU - 1450 - Thurmont, MD (Classic Hits) Massachusetts • WJIB - 740 - Cambridge, MA (Adult Standards) (daytime only stereo) Michigan • WION - 1430 - Ionia, MI (Variety) • WQLR - 1660 - Kalamazoo, MI (Sports) • WOAP - 1080 - Owosso, MI (Classic Hits) (daytime only stereo) Minnesota • WXYG – 540 - Sauk Rapids, MN (Rock) Mississippi • WTNI - 1640 - Biloxi, MS (News, Talk) Missouri • KXEO – 1340 - Mexico, MO (Adult Contemporary) Nebraska • KCSR - 610 - Chadron, NE (Country) New Jersey • WEMG - 1310 - Camden, NJ (Spanish) • WHWH - 1350 - Princeton, NJ (Variety) New Mexico • KYVA - 1230 - Gallop, NM (Oldies) New York • WRSB - 1310 - Canandaigua, NY (Sports) • WIRY - 1340 - Plattsburgh, NY (Oldies) North Carolina • WZKY - 1580 - Albemarle, NC (Oldies) • WPFJ - 1480 - Franklin, NC (Religious) • WIXE - 1190 - Monroe, NC (Talk / Country) (daytime only stereo) • WNNC - 1230 - Newton, NC (Oldies) • WLWL - 770 - Rockingham, NC (Beach Music) (daytime only stereo) Ohio • WBCO - 1540 - Bucyrus, OH (Full Service) • WGFT - 1330 - Campbell, OH (Oldies) (daytime only stereo) Oklahoma • KWHW - 1450 - Altus, OK (Country) Oregon • KBPS - 1450 - Portland, OR Pennsylvania • WYNE - 1530 - North East, PA (Oldies) (daytime only stereo) Rhode Island • WBLQ - 1230 - Westerly, RI (News, Variety) South Carolina • WPCC - 1410 - Clinton, SC (Sports) • WGTN - 1400 - Georgetown, SC (News /Talk /Sports) Tennessee • WKDA - 900 - Lebanon, TN (Religious) Vermont • WIKE - 1490 - Newport, VT (Country) Washington • KYIZ - 1620 - Renton, WA (Urban Contemporary) Wisconsin • WRPQ - 740 - Baraboo, WI (Adult Contemporary) • WRDN - 1430 - Durand, WI (Country) • WDGY - 740 - Hudson, WI (Rock) (daytime only stereo) • WAQE - 1090 - Rice Lake, WI (Sports) (daytime only stereo) Canada • CFCO - 630 - Chatham, Ontario (Country) • CKJH - 750 - Melfort, Saskatchewan (Oldies/Classic Rock (via DXLD) Dave, Tnx. Glancing thru it I see KUDL in Kansas 1660. That station has not been KUDL nor classical for a good many years now; so that raises question about how outdated some of their other listings may be. Another very outdated item is format of Mississippi WTNI -- not news talk but ESPN for years. 73, (Glenn to Dave, via DXLD) Glenn, Yes, finding out now it appears to be a VERY outdated list. Been hunting for an AM Stereo list that is "really" up to date, but no luck. I do know from my own monitoring that CFCO on 630 kHz (which is on that list) is indeed active in AM Stereo. Country format but with local sports as well. AM Stereo is becoming more and more of a very rare bird, but is not totally gone either. Here is a WIKI list that is also out of date (or was this one based on the other one) ?? : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:AM_Stereo_radio_stations_in_the_United_States Of course AM Stereo hunting with the JRC NRD-545 is a bit blind as it has no STEREO indicator, but can hear that easily when you find one. A low cost pair of AMPLIFIED computer speakers can do the trick in a pinch. You just have to obtain the right adapter cable to convert the 3 conductor 1/8 inch STEREO phone plug (socket) over to TWO 2 Phono (RCA) PLUGS (like this one). https://www.parts-express.com/audtek-electronics-35yrm-35mm-female-to-dual-rca-male-y-adapter-cable-1-ft--181-437 Thanks, (Dave Zantow, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sony XDRS10HPiP radio Hi everyone, Today I went to Goodwill and I found in very good shape, a Sony XDRS10HDiP HD Radio. I plugged it in and it came on and seemed to work. No price on it, so I asked. The clerk said "How about $4.99, but the radio is "as is", no returns. I even got my 10% Senior Citizen discount, so it was $4.49!!! Got it home, hooked up the FM Yagi and it works perfectly. I got several FM stations in HD including KJR FM Seattle. It even has a connection on the top for an Ipod. I tried the Ipod connection and it works too. This radio has two front speakers with Surround Sound and sounds great! The signal is even a hair better than on my XDR-F1 HD. That is the 3rd good deal I have found of late at Goodwill. This was the best of the bunch. First I found a Turntable / cassette/ CD recorder for $20. Then I found a wifi radio for $15. All three work fine too. On the XDRS10HPiP radio, I have not tried the AM at yet. My XDR-F1 HD gets KSL in HD at times at night. I presume this one will too. Depending on the noise level. I am really pleased with this! I have found a lot of bargains at local Goodwill's. Often the 'Off the path" ones are better with good finds. I have found the Tillamook, Lincoln City, and Scappoose Goodwill's better that Portland. The smaller cities offer better prices where in the bigger cities are more expensive. It is just "hit and miss". Sometimes there are goodies and other times nothing too exciting. Lots of older clock radios, DVD players, TV's, even some car radios with cassette tapes. Amps, you name it. My friend Carey go often when traveling around the NW. He looks for old movies on DVD. I look at the electronics. We plan a trip next Summer down the coast, over to the Valley and back up. We should be able to hit about 8 Goodwill's. Fun stuff (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, KGED QSL Manager, Dec 7, nrc-am gg via DXLD) Cool, though in reading a review of the S10 on the "FX Radio DX" blog, he says there's no audio out or headphone jack on it, just the built- in speakers, which would make recording one's DX cumbersome. But obviously you can't complain for the price you paid! (Randy Stewart, Arts Producer, KSMU, 901 S. National, Springfield MO 65897, IRCA via DXLD) Hi Patrick, Wow, you've had some great Goodwill finds lately! Now I know where all the electronics bargains have gone -- to the smaller Goodwill stores! I used to go to the main Seattle Goodwill (near downtown) during my lunch hour at work, but they wised up to the most valuable electronics. These better items are pulled aside for their online sales now. I'll be DXing near Tillamook next month so I'll have to check out the Goodwill store there. My best Goodwill finds over time include a nice Zenith Trans-Oceanic Royal 1000-1 model for $6.95, but the best by far was a rare Stax brand electrostatic headphones amplifier that is sought after in the audiophile hobby. It was selling for $29 at the Puyallup Goodwill, but I sold it on Ebay for over $400 --- and I didn't even have the proper electrostatic headphones to test it with. 73, (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, ibid.) FIRST THOUGHTS ON THE SKYWAVE SSB PORTABLE I received my *Skywave SSB* yesterday; it's a nice unit! The packaging and accessories make a good impression too. I like it better than the original Skywave for sure. On weak daytime signals its almost as good as the 909X and Satellit Exec but falls behind on the weakest of the MW signals. That's expected due to the bigger ferrite in the bigger radios. However the SSB modes in the new Skywave are a really good addition for tight signal situations! For instance, there's a fairly low power (4.5 kW) Milwaukie, Oregon station just 10 kHz up from powerhouse KOMO 1000, and the Skywave can hear it when using USB, indoors and in the daytime. Not only that, using LSB I can easily hear a 5 kW Dalles, Oregon outlet on 1440, just 10 kHz away from my strongest local KSUH 1450 (1 kW omni-directional, Korean lang., 1.4 miles away). I'm *very* impressed with what this little handful has accomplished in the short time I've had the radio. This radio should do well at the coast with receiving some TPs and DUs when using LSB/USB, especially with a coupled loop. FM is of course superb on the Skywave SSB, just like on similar SiLabs-chipped receivers. The weather channels are good to have too, and I read in the manual that the radio can even be set to receive weather ALERT broadcasts such as when severe thunderstorms or tornadoes are approaching. The radio's build quality is just fine for the price. I like the new gray color, and I don't mind the "Speak & Spell" toy speaker shape once I saw the radio in person (I admit it -- I'm a designer and the looks of a radio are more important to me than to many DXers). The Skywave SSB's build quality is pretty good too. The radio seems sensitive enough (MW & HF) and I haven't noticed any abnormal amount of digital noises. Like many radio hobbyists, my own home has enough buzzes and hash to cover up any weaker circuit oddities. Speaking of oddies, I've never encountered a radio that ramps up in volume over 1-2 seconds when you turn it on; has anyone else? I'll be interested in my cross-town pal Gary DeBock's opinion of the the Skywave SSB after he's taken his for a test drive (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, Dec 9, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) Hi Guy, Thanks for posting your initial impressions on the CC Skywave SSB model, and I'm happy that the new radio is meeting your expectations. <<< On weak daytime signals its almost as good as the 909X and Satellit Exec but falls behind on the weakest of the MW signals... that's expected due to the bigger ferrite in the bigger radios. >>> Yes, this is the primary reason why I'm about to violate C.Crane's warranty by transplanting 7.5" loopsticks into a couple of these Skywave SSB models (I wonder how many DXers would be eager to do this on a $169.99 radio?). Thanks for your detailed daytime DXing observations. Once there is adequate time here I also plan to investigate all of the new SSB Skywave capabilities, using the basic CC Skywave review (in the 2015 Ultralight Radio Shootout) as a benchmark. As you may recall, though, our mutual good friend John Bryant was pretty insistent that SSB capability should be a disqualifying factor for "official" Ultralight radio classification-- a guideline that has been in place for over 9 years now. As such, my own personal interest in this model is in using it as a possible replacement for the ICF- 2010 SSB "spotting receivers" that are used to track TP and DU-DX carrier strength during ocean cliff DXpeditions. Keeping track of transoceanic DX carrier strength gives you a very accurate, timely impression of propagation changes from minute to minute. For a live DXer hoping to maximize the limited, intense propagation openings around sunrise, this information is critical. Unfortunately, the hot-rodded ICF-2010 models are a little too big and bulky to take along on the "Frequent Flyer" DXpeditions to places like Kona, Hawaii (next week) or the Cook Islands (in April). If the compact new Skywave SSB models can perform this transoceanic carrier "tracking" function, though, they would dramatically boost the overall effectiveness of the "Frequent Flyer" DXpeditions. With a follow-up trip to Kona planned for next week, this aspect of the new Skywave SSB model should be fully investigated. Knowing which DU carriers are performing well at any given moment makes it much easier to choose MP3 recording targets! 73, (Gary (in the Mount Rainier Lahar Valley), ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Last Monday, the 4th of Dec I was on 160 meter SSB chatting with friends when a station from Crete called in for a signal report as well as a station in Slovenia and another from Austria. Was nice to hear and work them as even the low bands have been poor at best. That lasted for 2 days and then I heard that the aurora conditions were raising hell with propagation on 160 meters. Hopefully it will get better as the winter comes on and quiets the static down. I just picked up an Icom 7300 which is essentially an SDR that you don’t need a computer to operate. I find it has an amazing receiver and especially on medium wave. So I have been dxing the MW band, or learning how to DX it. Hope you are well. Merry Christmas. Best, Doc W2MFT (Mark F. Tattenbaum MFA, Dec 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2017 Dec 11 0147 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 04 - 10 December 2017 Solar activity was at very low levels. Regions 2690 (N07, L=332, class/area Bxo/010 on 06 Dec) and 2691 (S03, L=221, class/area Axx/010 on 10 dec) were both relatively quiet and stable throughout the period. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at moderate levels on 04-05 Dec and increased to high levels on 06-10 Dec following CH HSS influence. Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to active levels on 04-06 Dec with G1 (Minor) storm conditions observed on 05 Dec due to influence from a positive polarity CH HSS. Quiet to unsettled conditions were observed on 07 Dec as CH HSS effects waned. Quiet conditions prevailed for the remainder of the period. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 11 DEC 2017-6 JAN 2018 Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels throughout the period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 11 Dec, 13-17 Dec, 19-21 Dec and 02-06 Jan following recurrent CH HSS events. Normal to moderate levels are expected at all other times during the period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet to active levels on 11-13 Dec, decreasing to quiet to unsettled levels on 14 Dec due to positive polarity CH HSS effects. Quiet conditions are expected on 15-16 Dec. Unsettled to active conditions are expected on 17-21 Dec, with G1 (Minor) storm levels on 18 Dec due to recurrent positive polarity CH HSS influence. Quiet conditions are anticipated from 22-26 Dec, followed by unsettled to active levels on 27-28 Dec due to negative polarity CH HSS effects. A return to quiet conditions is expected on 29-30 Dec. Predominately unsettled to active conditions are expected on 31 Dec-03 Jan, with G1 (Minor) levels likely on 01 Jan, due to effects from a recurrent positive polarity CH HSS. Quiet conditions are expected for the remainder of the period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2017 Dec 11 0147 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 2017-12-11 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2017 Dec 11 72 14 4 2017 Dec 12 72 16 4 2017 Dec 13 74 14 4 2017 Dec 14 74 8 3 2017 Dec 15 74 5 2 2017 Dec 16 74 5 2 2017 Dec 17 74 8 3 2017 Dec 18 74 25 5 2017 Dec 19 74 10 3 2017 Dec 20 74 8 3 2017 Dec 21 74 8 3 2017 Dec 22 74 5 2 2017 Dec 23 74 5 2 2017 Dec 24 72 5 2 2017 Dec 25 72 5 2 2017 Dec 26 72 5 2 2017 Dec 27 70 12 4 2017 Dec 28 70 8 3 2017 Dec 29 70 5 2 2017 Dec 30 70 5 2 2017 Dec 31 70 10 3 2018 Jan 01 70 26 5 2018 Jan 02 70 14 4 2018 Jan 03 70 10 3 2018 Jan 04 70 5 2 2018 Jan 05 70 5 2 2018 Jan 06 72 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1908, DXLD) ###