DX LISTENING DIGEST 18-01, January 2, 2018 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 2018 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 1911 contents: Argentina and non, Australia, Biafra non, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ethiopia non, Germany non, Goa, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kashmir, México, Myanmar, Netherlands non, Nicaragua, North America, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Solomon Islands, South Carolina and non, Spain, Tibet non, USA SHORTWAVE AIRINGS of WORLD OF RADIO 1911, January 3-10, 2018 Tue 2030 WRMI 9455 11580 [1910 replayed] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 [1910 replayed]; 15770 [off the air, post-Irma] Wed 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not confirmed: inaudible] Wed 1030 WRMI 9455 [confirmed] Wed 1415 WRMI 9955 [canceled] 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 [not confirmed: inaudible] Sat 0730 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 1531 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [not confirmed] Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not confirmed] Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 [confirmed] Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 [barely confirmed] Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM [confirmed] Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [confirmed in Spain, Bulgaria] Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not confirmed] Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v-AM Area 51 [confirmed] Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 9455 [pre-empted again this week] Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 Tue 2030 WRMI 9455, 7780 [or #1912?] 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/ ** ANTARCTICA. Re: 7995-USB, Dec 23, 2303, nothing heard from net of bases including McMurdo which were allegedly going to sing carols to each other from this time, per Ed Kusalik; source? Unknown for how long. Could be an interesting frequency to keep monitoring (Glenn Hauser, OK) ----------------------- In Salzburg sind jetzt gegen 2315 UT Fragmente von Musik zu hören, aber sehr, sehr dünn. Aber diese Ausstrahlung war auch die letzten Jahre richtig schweres DX. 73 (Christoph Ratzer, Austria, SW Bulletin Jan 1 via DXLD) No sign of the Antarctic hams doing the caroling in the 2300-0000 time frame. Disappointing. 23 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 630 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** ANTIGUA. Following presumably about the 1160 station here, tho no country or frequency specified! (gh) QSL mail --------------- The Caribbean lighthouse simply "threw" messages recently. A couple of weeks ago I wrote that there was a postcard on the QSL form, in which general information was reported, such as "all reports are confirmed, the station is destroyed by Hurricane Irma, we will restore it" But today came a QSL-card, confirming the reception. With the date, frequency, time and even the power of the transmitter!!! Confirmed reception in March 12th year!! I rummaged in my notes - so it is! It was! The waiting time for QSL was 5 years and 9 months. Thus, the Caribbean lighthouse broke my personal waiting record, which belonged to Radio Mali. In the case of the latter, he was only some "pathetic" 3.5 years! (Vasily Kuznetsov, Moscow, Russia / "open_dx", via Rus DX 31 Dec via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 6973, PIRATE (ARGENTINA), Lupo R. Nothing but nonstop Tango music from 2332 to 2354, then long announcements by M in Spanish ending with nice canned ID by W over music at 2356:25 as "??, transmite Lupo Radio..660 kilohertzios, amplitud modulada, desde la provincia Buenos Aires, Republica Argentina...", then right back to more Tango music. Fair signal at times. The 630’ BOG aimed at Argentina sure helped. Didn’t know about this Pirate and glad to hear it. Almost makes up for not hearing the Antarctic hams caroling. 23 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 630 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 6973, PIRATE (ARGENTINA), Lupo R. Signal here at 2244 after I moved to the top of the hill and changed BOG to 175 degrees. Definite music at 2259, and again at 2307 check. 2318 Tango music. W announcer at 2341 but impossible To copy. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) PIRATE (ARGENTINA) Nice e-QSL from Lupo R. for Saturday`s reception. A great Christmas present!!! 25 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 6973 AM, Pirate Radio Lupo heard on the 28th of December, from 0046 to 0112 UT. Heard the last two nights, but this was best reception. Heard via Perseus at the remote site of Don Moman VE6JY antenna farm, on the Wellbrook loop beverage. Audio clip at 0046 at this link: https://app.box.com/s/1v2v7ybyyy34q2dfrjiaouxzxi9mho3y or https://goo.gl/UHWZ1k QSL route via luporadio@hotmail.com (Edward Kusalik-Alberta CANADA, ODXA iogroup via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) Hi Ed, I have not seen this one before. I will have to keep an eye on this frequency in the future. BTW, what is a "loop beverage" antenna? I have not heard of this before. I always thought that a Wellbrook loop was a stand alone loop? Happy holidays to you and your family (John Fisher, ibid.) The Loop1 Ed was using is the Wellbrook ALA100n which uses a large wire loop, in this case about 80m of wire in a diamond shape, hung vertically about 120 feet above ground. A western facing beverage was one of the antenna options but it favours the Aussies on 5045 and 5055, not Argentina. Tonight I reconfigured the Perseus with the remote antenna switch at port 8023 (using the ATT settings): Loop1, Loop2, 5 el 40m yagi at 150', 4-30 log periodic at 120'. Both beams are pointed at Argentina and are providing the best signals currently. The other remotes are on the Wellbrook. I'm already (2314 UT Dec 28) hearing a decent carrier at 6972.908 and some snippets of audio - music. Significantly better now at 2347. Lots of other Spanish ute traffic in the area as well. 73 (Don VE6JY Moman, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here is what I got back from the station, checking this morning`s inbox: Sr. Edward Kusalik. Le pido disculpa!! lo que me envió es correcto, mi ordenador está fallando y no me permite responder como correspondo!!! luego le completo el mail. Atte LUPO. Translated (via Google) Mr. Edward Kusalik. I apologize! what you sent me is correct, my computer is failing and does not allow me to respond as I should! then I completed the mail. Atte LUPO. So either a further response will be coming via e-mail OR he is going to reply via mail? Being patient for now (Kusalik, Dec 29, odxa iogroup via DXLD) Here is the e-mail response from Lupo Radio for my reception report of Dec 28th: Sr. Edward Kusalik. Agradezco su reporte y el audio enviado. Creo que de Canadá es el primero, [h]e recibido de USA, Holanda, Italia, Alemania y Japón, que son los reportes más lejanos. El sitio de emisión es desde la provincia de Buenos Aires, a unos 150 km al oeste del capital federal. El transmisor es valvular 25 watt de salida, la antena es un dipolo de media onda a 12 metros de altura. Inicio de actividad, 18/octubre/2017; Se emite todos los días, en el horario de 1800 a 0200 UT con programación musical de TANGO y FOLCLORE Argentino. Lo felicito por su trayectoria de radio, cualquier duda no deje de preguntar, responderé con mucho gusto. Le agradezco su mail, Feliz 2018, atte LUPO. pd: le pido me informe si recibe este mail. Google Translation.... Mr. Edward Kusalik. I appreciate your report and the audio sent. I think Canada is the first, and received from the USA, Holland, Italy, Germany and Japan, which are the most distant reports. The emission site is from the province of Buenos Aires, about 150 km west of federal capital. The transmitter is valvular 25 watt output, the antenna is a half wave dipole at 12 meters high. Start of activity, October 18, 2017; It is broadcast every day, from 0600 [sic!] to 0200 UT. with musical program by TANGO and FOLCLORE Argentino. I congratulate you on your radio career, any doubt do not stop asking, I will respond with pleasure. Thank you for your mail, Feliz 2018, atte LUPO. PS: I ask you to inform me if you receive this email (via Mayor Ed Kusalík, AB, later Dec 29, ODXA groupio via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) Card attached displays mascot of a goofy wolf in pants with a cigar in mid-air beyond its mouth (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA [non]. 5850, Dec 27 at 0929, unfortunately awake, so I check WRMI and discover that the RAE hour in Japanese is still/again on the air here, but 7730 not on air. This corrects my item near the start of WOR 1910. Based on both being absent at 0945 UT Dec 21, I concluded that these relays were canceled. Not having checked in the 08-09 hour yet for Chinese, that remains in question. Has anyone heard it lately? 7730 continues to be AWOL from 06 for first Japanese airing, and English from 07. Originally, and still displayed on the WRMI skedgrid, only the 07-08 hour in English was on both frequencies, with TOM after 08 on 7730, before 07 on 5850. We also wonder whether 7730 still be turned on Sundays at 06-07 for Radiogram and Radio Panorama in Russian, and what about UT Mondays? Kim thinx so: http://swradiogram.net/ Light green Overcomer C blox are still all over the WRMI skedgrid as of 1748 Dec 27. Viewing besides Jeff are an anonymous menagerie of Narwhal, Gopher, Ibex, Monkey. The Tiny URL I created http://www.tinyurl.com/WRMIfqs might lead to an outdated extremely complex URL googledox spreadsheet? No, we get exactly same old thing linked from WRMI Programming page: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nEVwCMB9RSKowLzLXamyayVpCzjmPAw_SB1r3YOdzQc/edit#gid=0 Maybe by 2018 Jeff will totally revamp it to match reality? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9395, USA, RAE (via WRMI) at 0200 with multilingual IDs and a woman opening “RAE, Argentina to the world” with program highlights and into news at 0203 – Very Good Dec 27 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iogroup via DXLD) 11580, USA, RAE (via WRMI) at 2330 in French with a man with “RAE, Argentina a la monde [sic]” and opening announcements – Very Good Dec 27 – A mistake on the part of WRMI or has this replaced Radio Ukraine International at this time? (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iogroup via DXLD) Yes, it has, ex 13-14 UT on 11580, and this will be 7780 ex-11580 as of Jan 8 (gh) I summarized all the sked changes for RAE via WRMI on WOR 1911 (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. 5054.997, 4KZ, 1032 music faintly, M announcer 1033. 1040 music a little more audible. Same frequency as noted yesterday for the first time. Couldn’t really get anything more than just music or talk by M or W throughout to 1145 tune-out. Very fady. Just a tad weaker than Ozy, as it should be as it’s half the strength (now). Conditions were too poor. Thanks to Rob Wagner for the first alert on this. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro- DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) YES, exact, 'me too' in past week (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA. 5045, Ozy R. Heard what was apparently the news by W after 1100, then caught “Waltzing Matilda” with M announcer mentioning “radio” at 1107. Couldn’t copy anything else, though. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Hi all, Please see YouTube link below containing video I made of reception of both 4KZ on 5055 and Ozy Radio on 5045, during the time period 1354-1400 UT Dec. 27. https://youtu.be/7NHpGt-TzoA The two newest private HF stations in Australia, both received with good signals into Sydney late tonight. As usual, this has been received on my balcony with a Tecsun PL-880 with 6m external long wire antenna. This is the first time I have received 4KZ, which has started transmitting on 5055 (albeit on reduced power of 500 watts) in the last week and a half. 4KZ is located in Innisfail, Queensland, 1898 km from me almost due north. Ozy Radio on 5045 is located much closer to me at Razorback, 32 km almost due west. Songs played on 4KZ: "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John, "I Can't Help Myself" by The Four Tops, fading out prior to ID at top of hour then Macquarie National News reporting on the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race. Song heard on Ozy Radio: "As The Days Go By" by Daryl Braithwaite. Also, I did receive Tascoast Maritime Radio on 4483 kHz USB [below] Regards, (Brian Powell, VK2FBAJ, Sydney, Australia, Dec 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. NEW 60 METER SHORT WAVE LAUNCHES in AUSTRALIA Amateur Radio Newsline From John Williams VK4JJW December 29, 2017 At last, short wave radio station 4KZ is on the air at 5055 kHz from Queensland, Australia. Signal reports are coming in from New Zealand and parts of North America. Al Kirton VK4FFKZ general manager of NQ Radio, reports that transmissions started on the 20th of December and currently will be at half-power, or 500 watts, until repairs can be made of one of the RF boards. The station will then operate regularly at its 1 kW of power using an inverted V antenna at a site in Tropical North Queensland. Although the 60 meter transmissions are intended for the listening audience in the northern outback and the Cape York area, signal reports have come in from as far away as New South Wales, Victoria, New Zealand, Canada's province of Alberta and even Monterey, California in the U.S. Australian Broadcasting Corporation ended its short wave transmissions to the northern outback in January. If you're interested in listening for the signal and want to receive a 4KZ shortwave QSL card, be listening from 0500 to 2300 hours UT and send your report to Al Kirton by writing to Al at nqradio dot com dot au (al@nqradio.com.au) or to Radio 4KZ, P.O. Box 19, Innisfail Queensland 4860 Australia (WIA) Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) 5055, Radio 4KZ, 1310-1342, Dec 28. Always best in USB, due to BBR (China) QRM on 5050; pop songs The Lovin' Spoonful - "Summer In The City," Tony Orlando - "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'round ol' Oak Tree," etc.; some commercial announcements; still with some SSB chatter in Spanish which blocks 4KZ reception. Dec 30 - Best reception so far; 1442 alert regarding the New South Wales police investigating the disappearance of an 11 year old boy from Shalvey; taken from a backyard at Sedgeman Crescent, Shalvey, about 7:30; believed to be traveling to Queensland with his natural mother in a 2006 Hyundai Elantra with New South Wales registration AN02YL; semi-readable. Very respectable reception, especially if still 500w. My audio clip at http://goo.gl/gaW271 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach (near Monterey), CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Certainly it wasn't a great morning here in Alberta for 4KZ --- one of the poorest in some time (Don VE6JY Moman, ibid.) 5045, Ozy Radio, 1508, Jan 1. Always best in LSB due to QRM from BBR (China) on 5050; John Paul Young, Scottish born Australian pop singer with "Love Is In the Air," Australian pop band Leonardo's Bride, with "Even When I'm Sleeping," the band originally from New Zealand who moved to Australia, etc.; frequent IDs ("right here on Ozy Radio," etc.); decent reception still at 1554. 5055, Radio 4KZ, brief check at 1531, Jan 1, with the usual program; YL with on-air phone calls; close to readable. Again best in USB (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Pleased to learn that Radio 4KZ is indeed still with 500 watts. Responded to my emailed reception report. Received on Jan 2, at 0035 UT, from Al Kirton : "Nice work! We are still on 500 watts. Al Kirton (Radio 4KZ)." Whenever Al goes to full power, 4KZ should be even more readable! (Ron Howard, Jan 2, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [sic] strangely, I am now finding some web addresses with double-dots in them displayed, even tho underlying linx have only one dot as would be normal (gh, DXLD) 5055, Radio 4KZ, 1231+, on Jan 2. Noted decent audio level earlier than usual; commercial announcements ("money back guarantee," etc.); pop songs - Kenny Loggins "Whenever I Call You Friend," Herman's Hermits "There's A Kind Of Hush All Over The World," The Lovin' Spoonful "Daydream," etc.; 1300-1306 with news, sports (item about tennis player Andy Murray), weather and SW ID (".. 60 meter band .."); format: 1231-1300 pop music, then 1306-1400 & 1405+ with call-in program with the usual YL announcer (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Jim Young (Calif.) sent a reception report to Al Kirton, at 4KZ, who responded early Jan 3 (UT) that output is now 300 watts (Ron Howard, UT Jan 3, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA. Strong signal of Reach Beyond Australia on Jan 1 1115-1130 on 15575 KNX 100 kW / 315 deg to SEAs English Mon-Wed/Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/strong-signal-of-reach-beyond-australia.html Very good signal of Reach Beyond Australia on Jan 1 1245-1300 on 11865 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs English Daily 1315-1330 on 11865 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs English Mon/Wed/Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/very-good-signal-of-reach-beyond.html Reception of Reach Beyond Australia on Jan 1 1415-1500 on 12040 KNX 100 kW / 310 deg to SoAs English Daily http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/reception-of-reach-beyond-australia-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 31-Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. I did receive Tascoast Maritime Radio on 4483 kHz USB at approx 1310 UTC during their scheduled contacts with boats during the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. However I didn't record this as I was otherwise preoccupied away from the radio. The first boats have crossed the line in record time but there are still many out on the seas yet to finish so these scheduled contacts will still continue and hopefully I will catch another sked in the next 24 hrs and record it. Regards, (Brian Powell, VK2FBAJ, Sydney, Australia, Dec 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi guys, Following up from my emails a few days ago, please find a YouTube clip I made (see link below) of Tascoast Maritime Radio (ID'ing as "Hobart Race Control") heard at 1307 UT December 29. https://youtu.be/Nr6LXWe52iA TMR was heard on 4483 kHz USB contacting vessels competing in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. As I type this email, the race is now complete but I was very happy to hear these skeds before they concluded. Each yacht still at sea was contacted by TMR/Hobart Race Control OM to record and report positions as of 0800 UTC and the transmission concluded with a marine weather forecast. Transmission for this particular sked concluded at 1315 (S-on at 1305). Signals were good from TMR and some yachts were heard reporting into race control. Regards, (Brian Powell VK2FBAJ, Sydney, Australia, Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZORES [and non]. 5598-USB, Dec 30 at 0455, Santa Maria contacting various planes, Delta, American, interrupted by selcalls and talkovers as traffic is heavy on the North Atlantic red-eye paths; English is lingua franca of air traffic control, but this guy has a pronounced Portuguese accent. Refers to 3016 secondary where nothing heard here. Then stronger New York also on 5598 contacting more planes for position reports, etc. and refers to Gander on 5616 and 8891. The former USB also heard active here at 0501 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENIG DIGEST) ** BERMUDA. Thread: Cool ZBM 89.1 Bermuda via Es On Thursday, December 28, 2017 from 3:30 to 4:30 pm EST (2030-2130 UT) ZBM 89.1 FM 'Ocean 89' in Hamilton, Bermuda was received in Easton, Pennsylvania via short-range Es for over one hour. Signal quality was mainly spotty, weak with occasional moderate level fade-ups. Initially I believed it was tropospheric propagation due to the reception characteristic of the signal. But a check of the Hepburn map in the North Atlantic region showed no tropo paths between me and Bermuda island. The color code was gray, meaning zero, nil signal. According to the DXMAPS website, the MUF reached 86 MHz above grid square FM18 [south of Washington, D.C.] at 2132 UTC, near the end of the received broadcast. Bermuda Broadcast was verified three times; two times with the male announcer station branding, once with online 'Tune-In' audio stream programming match. ZBM [15 kW] overpowered the 200 watt semi-local 89.1 WBYH 'Word-FM' Christian Contemporary Radio station near Hawley, Pennsylvania, fifty- one miles [82 km] to the north. Distance of 819 miles [1318 km]. True azimuth southeast 131 degrees. Here is the interesting part, the folded-dipole antenna is only 31 inches [79 cm] off the ground with its main beams towards the north/south. The last time I logged Bermuda Broadcasting 89.1 'Ocean 89' via Es was on Monday, July 25, 2016 at 9:08 am EDT, 1308 UT (GACTVDX. Easton PA, Dec 29, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Nice catch for this time of year!! I noticed the map was looking good yesterday, but I hadn't noted any e-skip at all here. By the way, I'd say you're doing well if you're concerned about a 200 watt signal 51 miles away. The FCC has already trashed the non- commercial portion of the FM band here. They'd probably consider a 200 watt signal at 51 miles away far enough to insert another signal on 89.1 at your location. I have an 88.5 that's about 50 miles away and 50,000 watts, yet ironically I'd still consider 88.5 one of my best frequencies to monitor when Es fires up. My TV and FM DX Photos from Akron, Ohio... https://www.flickr.com/photos/133179000@N04/albums (Andrew ``crazymonkey``, Akron OH, ibid.) Here are the nine FM radio stations. 1. 89.1 ZBM Ocean 89 15 kW Fort Hill 2. 94.9 ZFB Power 95 1 kW Fort Hill 3. 98.3 VRBF Radio Ire Fort Hill 4. 100.1 ZBB - Government Emergency Radio Fort Hill 5. 102.7 ZFM Magic 102.7 Fort Hill 6. 103.3 ZFV Vibe 103 Fort Hill 7. 105.1 ZFB-1 Inspiration 105 Fort Hill 8. 106.1 VSV Mix Devonshire, Cedar Bridge 9. 107.5 ZFH Hott 107.5 Fort Hill According to Bermuda Broadcasting - We are beefing-up our output with a major digital upgrade across our three stations. 1. Ocean 89 2. Power 95 3. Inspire 105 (Last edited by GACTVDX; 12-29-2017 at 04:21 PM, ibid.) ...and AFAIK, at this time, only one AM station left, per a report I got from a Bermudian the other day --- 1280 BBN, // bbnradio.org .....top of hour ID is "WYFQ, Wadesboro/Charlotte" --- no BDA mention. cd (Chris Dunne, Pembroke Pines FL, ibid.) ** BHUTAN [non-log]. 6035, BBS. On Dec 27, checking 0112-0135, noted they didn't sign on as they normally would have during this time period, as has recently been heard (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6035, BBS, on Jan 2, checking 0110-0130; didn't hear any sign on, but checking again at 0134, they were on the air; only carrier heard. Jim Young, listening in Southern Calif., noted *0132. My Dec 27 non-log perhaps due to late sign on? (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BIAFRA [non]. 9955 webcast of WRMI is still running following Angloparade pre-empting WORLD OF RADIO, when I recheck at 0519 UT Jan 1, and guess what I hear: Radio Biafra, usual YL in Igbo, stumbling over 11530 in schedule announcement, as ``1153``, and music. 0500 UT was the original airtime on 11530, but not confirmed lately, and still can`t hear any signal there, while 11520 WEWN English is barely audible. And 9955 is also off/inaudible (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9580, OPPOSITION. Radio Biafra – Issoudun, FRANCE, 1946–1959, 12/31/17, in English and Igbo? Woman announcer with ID at end, several pieces of distinctive Afropop, brief announcement by a man in local language, 1959 off. Poor–fair (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, Perseus, SDRPlay; Eton E1, ICOM R75, Tecsun PL 880, and various other portables; 42 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, W6LVP loop, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Lately at this hour it should be R. Herwa, as on Miami 11530, but never heard any English from it (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.42, Radio Pio Doce, on Jan 1. With their annual extended special New Year's Eve broadcast; 0335 mostly chatting on phone; count down to the New Year (0400), followed by National Anthem (instrumental); speeches; many IDs - "Viva Radio Pio Doce." My six minute audio at http://goo.gl/Pkrytj BTW - 5952.42, Radio Pio Doce, was already off the air by 0103, on Jan 2, after their greatly extended schedule for New Year's Eve (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.82, R. Santa Cruz. Jan 2, with usual closing format of the "Santa Cruz" song 0203-0205, then dead air for a long time (0300+). (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOTSWANA. 4930, VOA, continuing with their expanded schedule; Dec 27, 0200-0205 VOA news; followed by music program IDing as "VOA 1" --- http://www.voanews.com/t/92.html fair. 4930, VOA, continuing with their expanded schedule; Jan 1 at 0151; New Year's Eve music program of pop songs; "Happy New Year from the Hit - VOA 1"; fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The extended service of the Voice of America continued into the new year. The morning to noon music and headline service on 15580 kHz was still audible in Europe on 1 January 2018 (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, 1 January 2018, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOUGAINVILLE [non-log]. 3325, NBC Bougainville, 1112, Dec 27. Recently has been off the air (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [and non]. I have just been recently reading of Brazil's decision to do away with using the AM radio dial. In 2013 the MCTIC, which oversees communications in Brazil, gave approval for the migration of AM radio stations to the FM dial (Decree 8.139). Immediately upon the approval of that new decree, of 1,772 AM stations in Brazil, 1,381 asked MCTIC to switch to FM. Those were to be stagger phased into the FM dial through 2017. All of those stations supposedly surrendered their AM licenses. The MCTIC estimates the remaining number of stations on AM in Brazil will be migrated to the FM dial during 2018. The AM band will then have far fewer stations than are there currently. I find it interesting that with México and Brasil (ck) vacating the AM radio airwaves, how many more countries will follow suit? Last edited by Jim Thomas; 12-31-2017 at 10:17 AM. Reason: Corrections (Jim Thomas, Springfield, MO, Ozark Mountain DTV dxing Daredevil, originally Dec 30, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) [later:] One clarification regarding Brazil - I understand that migrating to FM is strictly voluntary and not mandatory. Almost 600 stations have migrated to FM, NOT the 1,391 stations requesting the migration, as cited previously. The MCTIC still has to approve all migrations and some are just not logistically possible. SO - there will still be an active AM radio band in Brazil for some time to come. Last edited by Jim Thomas; 12-31-2017 at 10:17 AM. Reason: Corrections (Jim Thomas, Springfield, MO, Ozark Mountain DTV DXing Daredevil, Raymie`s Mexico Beat, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) ** BRAZIL [and non]. 4774.91, R. Sora. From 2239. Mixing a little with Tarma [PERU]. 2247:35 “Radio Congonhas” ID by W. 2248 full ID by M. Nonstop ZY Pops over the ToH 2257-2307. Haven’t heard it this strong in a long time. Only about 4 or 5 hertz separates this from Tarma. 20 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) I still think this ``Rádio Sora`` ID is incorrect, a misunderstanding or mis-editing of the word Difusora, which could have informally preceded Congonhas. Aoki perpetuates this with entry as ``R.Sora de Congonhas``, but WRTH merely as R. Congonhas. Website link doesn`t connect: radiocongonhas.com.br but if it does, try to find the single word Sora anywhere in it; or record a real mention of it on air or webcast (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Ultimi ascolti del 2017 in onde corte a Milano, ancora col ricevitore SDR Airspy HF+ 4875.26, 28/12 0215, Rádio Roraima, Boa Vista, Brazil, talks, songs, fair. Ciao, (Giampiero Bernardini, Italy, playdx blog via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4885, Jan 1 at 0528, R. Clube do Pará with full ID mentioning Belém, now up to S9-S7, avoiding CODAR by LSB tuning; while earlier in evening it was too weak to copy any NYE celebrations. 4885 is normally running all-night anyway, and the biggest 60m ZY signal. Without DST, Pará 2018 arrived at 0300 UT. Tried for any other Brazilians around 0200 for *2018 in much of Brasil, but nothing more than JBA carriers on 25, 31, 49, 60 m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 6011.74, R. Inconfidência. First found around 2252 with M and W. W in Portuguese went over the 2300 ToH. Some canned announcements at 2302, and into music at 2304. Slowly getting better. M in Portuguese at 2318 recheck, and more music. Music program with M DJ hosting continued, playing a bunch of songs in a row after 2330. Got a het from presumed China on 6010. Nothing noted on 15190 as conditions were too poor. Heard on a couple ZY web receivers too and only 1 ID in the 2300-0000 hour. Wonder why it’s so far off frequency. 26 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 6011.736 (thanks to Dave Valko for this measurement), Rádio Inconfidência. Don't recall them being this far off frequency before? Thanks to Dave's alert, heard faint audio with some music at 0144, on Dec 27; too weak for any meaningful details (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 6011.732, Dec 30 at 0625, JBA carrier, and a stronger carrier on 6010.021v, with some music, and audibly varying. Per Dave Valko log Dec 26 around 2300 in Portuguese, R. Inconfidência was on 6011.74, and EiBi Dec 29 has it on 6011.7. No other stations known now around 6010, so 6010.021 is presumably LVC, far too close to nominal (and 5910v is off) (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 6160.03, Super R. Boa Vontade (presumed) Came on late at 0907:54 today with male choral song. Too weak as usual. 26 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9514.93, R. Marumby. 2309 C&W like Portuguese religious song. 2312 M announcer in Portuguese with mention of Cristo, then choral music briefly, and canned announcement by M with phone #, and nice canned ID promo by M at 2313:30. Pretty decent signal. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Rádio Aparecida has returned to 11855 kHz after a few days’ absence. Actual frequency is 11854.89. Heard with a weak signal from 0340 with songs, male in Portuguese. Not very readable, but signal actually improved a bit toward TOH. Clearly parallel to 9630 kHz (which was worse). (Art Delibert, North Bethesda, MD, 12/27/17, JRC NRD-93, Pennant antenna with DX Engineering pre-amp, Sent from Mail for Windows 10, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) Tonight (12/28 at 0045), not hearing Aparecida on either frequency. (Art Delibert, Maryland, ibid.) 11854.9, Dec 28 at 0650, R. Aparecida is still/again missing, while other 25m ZYs, 11815 and 11934.9 are detectable. Art Delibert in Maryland had noted it was back on in the meantime, UT Dec 27 at 0340 on 11854.89; and Wolfgang Büschel listening via Florida put it on 11854.848 with a tiny signal Dec 28 at 1110 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11854.848 Tiny Signal S=3 JBA -112dBm weak, noted on remote SDR in Florida, US state, Dec 28 at 1110 UT. 11854.848 kHz 1 kW ZYE954 R. Aparecida, Aparecida SP Dark zone between Nova Scotia / Cuba and Burma / Java / Perth Australia. To compare the strongest signals in 25 meterband coming probably via southern Pacific propagation path 11700 CHN CRI Kunming, Indonesian 11875 CHN CRI Kunming, Chaozhou language 12015 CHN CRI Kashgar, English 12045 CHN CHN mainland jamming Chinese, against VoA Mandarin service. All S=6-7 in Florida - US-state. 73 (wb dxldyg via DXLD) R. Aparecida is NOT missing - now at 21-22 UT Dec 28 slot; more than fair signal here in Germany. wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Illustration in Conexión Digital of an Observatório Nacional QSL received by Timm Breyel in 2013 shows it imprinted with this propaganda slogan surrounding the flag: GOVERNO FEDERAL -- PAIS RICO E PAIS SEM PROBREZA. ``A rich country and a country without poverty``. I thought this propaganda was a bit exaggerated until I took a closer look for the accents even atop the all-caps, which change the meaning entirely, here without all-caps: ``País Rico é País sem Pobreza`` = ``A rich country *is* a country without poverty``, which one could hardly dispute, but what has it to do with timesignals on SW? Axually, one does not correlate 100% with the other: there is certainly poverty in America, for one, despite being ``rich``. It`s also debatable whether Brasil`s previous slogan on the flag, `Ordem e Progresso`` is being fulfilled (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. Space Line Bulgaria is now affected by a power outage. The Mighty KBC is therefore not being broadcast as scheduled at 1500- 1600 on 9400 kHz. And it does not look good for Shortwave Radiogram, also on 9400 kHz, 1600-1630 UT (Kim Elliott, 1556 UT Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, also no signal at 1500 on 15515 Radio Waaramgela [sic], and probably from 1700 on 9400 BVB in Farsi, and on 9720 Dimse [sic] Radio Erena (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, 1647 UT Dec 30, ibid.) ** CANADA. 6069.98, CFRX Breaking away from their usual news/talk format to play Christmas music on this Christmas Eve at 2028 check. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. 6069.98, CFRX. 1557 W giving her version of a memorable Christmas, canned ID by M “This is Toronto’s breaking news, traffic, and weather, Indepth Radio, Newstalk 10-10. CFRB AM, an iHeart Radio station”, and into Christmas music. Fanfare, ID, news and sports from the Canadian Press by W, Christmas and New Years ID greeting, then back to Christmas music including “Happy Christmas, War is Over” by Lennon. Strong. 25 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) Re 17-52: Hello, This from the ABDX group. 1010 CFRB Toronto taking C2C talk show from 01-01-18, Best wishes (Barry :-) Davies, Carlisle UK. Lat. 55.0119N Lon. -2.9668W, Dec 28, MWCircle yg via DXLD) Viz.: Coast to Coast moves into Canada --- C2C is excited to announce our new affiliates in several Canadian cities: CIRH in Vancouver (starting 12/25), CFRB in Toronto (starting 1/1/18), and CFKR in Kelowna (starting 1/15/18). We are looking to replace several other markets in Canada, where there has been a switch-up. Stay tuned for further announcements (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via Davies, MWCircle yg via DXLD) ?? CFRX already had C2C on Dec 27, as I logged, and AFAIK it`s always 100% duplicating 1010, so someone at C2C should have turned on a radio before publishing this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. BEGINNER'S CLASSROOM for January 2018 by Joe Robinson ---- OLD TIME RADIO PROGRAMS... ON RADIO Radio dramas and comedies have always fascinated me. The fact that people could tell a story right before your very ears, one in which you had to use your imagination to visualize what was happening, was and is a wonderful way to utilize the magic of radio to stimulate the brain. . . https://groups.io/g/odxa/files/Beginner%27s%20Classroom%20for%20January%202018.pdf (ODXA iogroup via DXLD) Lots of suggestions, not including whether or not certain stations webcast. I was going to copy it for DXLD, but the pdf is a mess requiring a lot of editing to fix up for plain text. Not sure whether this group has open archives, but you can try it (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. I am going through some personal paper archives and creating scans to save digitally. Here's one I thought you'd enjoy from Fall 1973. https://photos.app.goo.gl/bY05p1MDpwvwhWdr2 (full-color 4-page RCI program guide) -- (Keith Weston, http://keithweston.com http://www.facebook.com/keithweston Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. 5825. R. TRIUNFAL EVANGELICA. Diciembre 19. 2245-2255 UT. Predicación sobre la nación salva y el periodo de la gran tribulación. SINPO: 45433 con desvanecimiento de la señal de forma permanente. Desde las 2254 en adelante, solamente ruido ambiental. 5825. R. TRIUNFAL EVANGELICA. Diciembre 22. 2222-2251 UT. Espacio musical y desde las 2230, predicación. SINPO: 45422 con largo espacio de desvanecimiento, además de un audio bajo (Claudio Galaz; RX: TECSUN PL-660; ANT: Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, Dec 25, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** CHILE. 6925.13, PIRATE (CHILE), R. Compañía Worldwide (presumed). Signal here at 2320 but Spanish renegades were here. 2332 possible music?? Definite music at 2343 but extremely weak. Very fady. Needed that extra 315 feet of wire like last night. Just too weak. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** CHINA. 4750, CNR1, Hailar. Canned announcements at 2259, usual time ticks with last higher, then “Beijing tsen” ID. Presumed news at 2301, and some canned announcements at 2303, //4800 which was better. Feed on this frequency just a hair behind 4800. Interestingly this had a slight echo effect. 20 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** CHINA. 4990, PBS Hunan. Starting suddenly in Jan 2015, I found the reception here had greatly improved and had been so till several months ago; since then have mostly had below threshold level audio. Gone are the days of decent reception! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 5050, Beibu Bay R. 2258 M vocal song. 2300 time ticks and W ID in Chinese followed by W with English TC “It’s Beijing time 7 AM”, canned M announcer, then ID in unison by several people. 2305 ad starting with ”Jingle Bells”. Fair signal for Beibu Bay on this frequency here. 20 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 5050, Beibu Bay Radio, on Dec 26 (Tue.), Ron wrote: "tuned in at 1509 to hear special programming; audio feed of Queen Elizabeth with her annual Christmas address, in progress; followed by Elton John with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"; in Chinese; Xmas song - "O Come, All Ye Faithful." Video of Queen's message at http://goo.gl/TT7j8w ." Dec 30 (Sat.), at 1512, with a repeat of the above 26th reception, already in progress (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 7400, apparently Ron’s UNID. heard with signal coming on at 1056:43 and Chinese music up already in progress 10 seconds later. Music over ToH and straight through nonstop till laptop battery ran out of power at 1219. 25 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** CHINA. 7415, Dec 29 at 1528, Firedragon jamming fair to poor, with target inaudible. Aoki/NDXC shows RFA Chinese at 15-19, 250 kW, 303 degrees via Tinian; and this overlaps CRI in Persian from Xi`an starting at 18, tsk2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7415 // 9455 // 9860, Firedragon (music jamming) at 1707+, on Jan 1; strong jamming of RFA (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7445, CNR1 at 2210 in Mandarin jamming RTI in Mandarin with two men with excited talk – Good Jan 1 7470, CNR1 at 2212 // 7445 in Mandarin jamming RFA in Tibetan via Tajikistan with two men with excited talk – Fair Jan 1 7480, CNR1 at 2214 // 7445 and 7470 in Mandarin jamming RFA in Tibetan via Kuwait with two men with excited talk then a woman with talk at 2215 – Fair Jan 1 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten- Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iogroup via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. CHINA vs JAPAN, PBS Xinjiang vs Radio Japan NHK World on 9560 on Jan 1 1400-1430 on 9560 URU 100 kW / non-dir to EaAs Uighur PBS Xinjiang, B17 till 1200 1400-1430 on 9560 TAC 100 kW / 163 deg to SoAs English Radio Japan NHK World http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/pbs-xinjiang-vsradio-japan-nhk-world-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 31-Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 9860, Firedragon jammer at 1700. crash-boom-bang. Strong S- 9. Probably targeting Radio Free Asia (via Marianas). Jan 2 (Rick Barton, AZ, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 15149.971, THAILAND, VoA Mandarin Chinese sce 09- 12 UT via Udorn Thani, monitored 'underneath' in Seoul southern Korea location, 1145 UT on Dec 30. 20 kHz broadband signal of CHN mainland CNR1 'spoken' jamming program. S=9+25dB strength [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] Log of Dec 30 of 1145-1445 UT - in southern Korea remote SDR access near Seoul capital location (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5910.266v, Dec 29 at 0655, Alcaraván Radio is on with S9- S5 music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO [and non]. 6115, Dec 27 at 0639, music from R. Nikkei 2, JAPAN, but BFO affirms there is a second carrier making a slight beat, which per Aoki/NDXC can be nothing else but Brazzaville, altho it`s a bit late for that, after sunrise 0449. Manuel Méndez in Spain often reports only Congo around 0600, but we should check as early as nominal *0500 for it, lessening CCI from Japan where that`s only 14 local time. New WRTH 2018 shows 05-19 sked, but domestic service is on before 0500 and after 1900, just when English news starts. Everything is irregular and approximate (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 5040, RHC with English Hour including music, talx re the UN resolution condemning the US for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, item re generating electricity in Cuba/ into Cuban music. News headlines at 0656 & s/off of English with dead air starting about 0658:30 to carrier off. WAY overmodulated/distorted! 45542, distortion dropping what should have been an “O4" down to 2! 0625-0659* 23/Dec— (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet 29 Dec via DXLD) 6060, Dec 27 at 0636, RHC on best-modulated of the 49m overkill channels, in `DXers Unlimited` with Arnie talking about plans to activate 90mb transmitters in B-18 season. Yeah, sure. Due to mumbling and fades, was not able to copy details, did anyone? I think he gave times and frequencies both for English and Spanish. 6165, Dec 27 at 0935, S9+20 of dead air. Got to be RHC failing to turn off a sesquihour earlier. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 15232, 15301, 15439, 15508, all approx., Dec 27 at 1435, RHC filthy dirty extremely distorted spurblobs out of 15370 Spanish transmitter. Something`s always wrong at RHC. Weaker ones further out obscured by high local noise level of S8 on this band; from neighborhood Xmas lites? Should not be on in daytime anyway, but maybe dirty transformers keep running. This happens every year, and can only hope it abate into 2018y. 6000 & 6165, Dec 28 at 0305, RHC`s only two English frequencies are both S9+20 but just barely modulated, virtually open carriers. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 15507, 15439, 15302, 15233, 15165, 15097 approx., Dec 28 at 1544, filthy dirty spurblobs out of 15370 RHC, the bottom two barely audible, at roughly 68-69 kHz intervals. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 15508, 15439, 15301, 15232 approx., Dec 29 at 1452, filthy distorted spurblobs out of RHC 15370, and much weaker ones detectable further around 15164, 15095. It`s now a rare morning when this is *not* happening. Something`s always wrong at RHC. However, 15370 in the afternoon is obviously a different transmitter free of such a constellation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9776-9782 & 9798-9804 approx., 0440 UT Dec 30, strong spur noise fields out of the superstrong 9790 CRI Cantonese relay, 250 kW at 305 degrees. Something`s always wrong at RadioCuba (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. At 0720 UT Dec 30: 6000, Very LOW modulated RHC Quivican in English. Despite S=9+25dB strong signal. Totally under-modulated. Could understand only the English language, but not content of program. So switched over to tune-in on 6060, RHC from Bauta site, At 0622 UT heard interview on touring industry among Cuba, different political dialogue, result as cruiseliner to come more and more to Cuba now. S=9+15dB. Slight BUZZ QRM on lower sideband from Brazilian interference of 6059.834 BRAZIL, ZYE726, SRDA, "Super Radio Deus e Amor", Curitiba, PR 6100, Also slight low modulated at S=9+25dB signal into MI-US. And also some Cuban spur signal noise jammers around 6130 to 6139 kHz at S=7 strength, like against Marti at Greenville-NC on 6030 kHz [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DXLD) 6000, Dec 31 at 0706, RHC English is S9+40, suptorted but sufficiently readable, better than usual; while // 6100 & 6165 are also undermodulated but not distorted, while 6060 has completely different loud modulation. 5040 is already off for the final hour of the cycle. Aoki shows 6000 is Quivicán site, the others all Bauta (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15507, 15438, 15301, 15232, 15164, 15096, 15029, 14961, Dec 31 at 1447, approx. centers of filthy dirty plus/minus 68-69 kHz spurblobs out of 15370 RHC transmitter mis-modulated by Arnie `En Contacto`, with news of Hermano Stair and his impact on private US SW stations. I can only make this out when briefly tuned to fundamental, which until now has sounded normal itself, but it has become undermodulated and breaking up, as so much power is being squeezed out onto the spurs, like stepping on a tube of toothpaste, blaaatt. 15232 of course also QRMs another intentional RHC frequency, 15230, tsk2. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Glenn, I am hearing a weak R Havana signal on 6270 parallel to 6165 from 0400 to 0800 UT on Jan 1. I assume its some sort of spur or mixing product (David Pete, Old town, ME, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Dave, Yes, I occasionally get it there. It`s 6060 leaping over 6165 another 105 kHz higher (Glenn to David, via DXLD) 15507, 15438, 15303, 15235, and much weaker 15167, 15099, 15031 uncomfortably close to CHR 15034-USB, Jan 1 at 1513, ho hum, another day, another year of filthy extremely distorted spurblobs out of 15370 RHC; all approx. at ~68 kHz intervals, with no definite carriers and could easily be plus or minus 1 kHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 11635, Unidentified Number Station 2100. Was checking the frequency for scheduled numbers broadcast, but only hearing open carrier. I was tempted to log this is a Hauseresque "non log" as nothing was ever heard (Something is always wrong with Cuban radio). OC finally went off 2148, after I heard zero audio in all that time. I am calling it "numbers station - presumed", as the numbers station at this hour and day does close down at the same time. VG, but with moderate turbulence. Dec. 31 (Rick Barton, AZ, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA. Radio Bila Hora 3381 kHz right now! Like every December 31: Radio Bila Hora (CZE) on the air again! 3381.2 kHz, power and exact location unknown. Heard before 1600. Happy New Year ! Karel Honzík, Czechia, 1613 UT Dec 31, MWCircle [sic] yg via DXLD) Thank you, Karel, for this very special Log. Bila Hora starting again at 1620 UT, nice music and good signal. Happy New Year and good reception to all MWC Members from Salzburg! 73 (Christoph Ratzer, -- http://ratzer.at http://remotedx.wordpress.com 1624 UT, ibid.) Thanks, Christoph. To explain a little bit what is going on: it is a pre-recorded show presented by the former Czechoslovak pop singer Richard Adam who was very popular in the 50s and 60s. He died this year, he was 86. He prepared this show especially for Radio Bila Hora several years ago and it is now repeated as a reminiscence of him (Karel Honzik, 1714 UT, ibid.) Many thanks, Karel, heard the German part from Richard Adam around 1630. Nice to have this special memory broadcast! 73 (Christoph, ibid.) Is Malawi still on this frequency? (Mike Terry, ibid.) No, Malawi stopped SW many years ago vy73 (Harald Kuhl, ibid. ID heard at 1733. Thanks for the tip and all the best for 2018! vy73 (Harald Kuhl, Germany, Gesendet: Sonntag, 31. Dezember 2017 um 17:04 Uhr, ibid.) Czech Pirate Radio Bila Hora --- Being heard widely in Europe now (1700 UT) on 3381.2 kHz, AM mode. Fairly good signal via the Kongsfjord KiwiSDR in Arctic Norway at the moment. Two dudes chatting and playing "Oompah" music. This comes on the air every New Year's Eve, I gather. More information, courtesy of Karel Honzik via the Mediumwave Circle reflector: "It is a pre-recorded show presented by the former Czechoslovak pop singer Richard Adam who was very popular in the 50s and 60s. He died this year, he was 86. He prepared this show especially for Radio Bila Hora several years ago and it is now repeated as a reminiscence of him." 73, (Andy Robins, Kalamazoo, Michigan USA, Dec 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST Thanks to a tip from Karel Honzik (mwdx yg) Radio Bila Hora heard on 3381.2 kHz from tune-in at 1745 UT. Weak signal here with Czech talk and old Czech music, clear ID at 1748. Just after 1800 noted an ID in English as "Radio White Mountain" and email address rbh @ ??? This station seems to broadcast annually on New Year's Eve on SW frequencies around 3 MHz. 73s (Dave Kenny, Caversham, Berks, AOR 7030 +25m long wire, BDXC UK yg via DXLD) UNID Europirate 3326 kHz --- Fair signal 1750 UT via the DL2SBA KiwiSDR in Filderstadt, Germany. Similar music to Radio Bila Hora 3381.2 kHz but not as strong. 73, (Andy Robins, Kalamazoo, Michigan USA, Dec 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Comes in here quite well. Who is behind that? Happy New Year! (Jurgen Bartels, Suellwarden, N. Germany, 1833 UT Dec 31, mwdx yg via DXLD) CZECH REPUBLIC, 3381.260 kHz measured exact at 1720 UT tonight Dec 31, Radio Bila Hora noted on both Perseus units on neighborhood nations in Stein-am-anger in Western Hungary close to Styria Austria border on remote SDR unit of HA1VHF S=9 signal, and also on Bavarian/Czech border at DARClub Amberg Oberpfalz unit rather S=9+10dB little stronger, depends of selected antenna. Program is pre-recorded of formerly popular Czech singer of the 50ties and 60ties. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, to DXplorer yg, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 31, via BC-DX 1 Jan via DXLD Re: Radio Bila Hora, Czech Republic, on 3381.260 kHz I also heard Radio Bila Hora on 3381.26 kHz on Dec 31, at 1510-1525 UT, when checking the 90 mb in Skovlunde, Denmark. Wellknown pop songs, but the signal was weak at that time: SINPO 23222 with QRM from a strong whistling tone [heterodyne] in USB. Now I tried it again at 2115-2125 UT, when they were heard stronger with Czeck entertainment with an audience. SINPO 33433 with same whistling tone (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DXplorer Dec 31 via BC-DX 1 Jan via DXLD) Hi dear Anker, - heard only now and then few minutes -, radio program is typical for Czech - Slovak national feeling. It's not easy to understand background memories for foreigners. Rather stable fq, at 2130 UT noted on 3381.255 kHz five Hertz down. Still S=9+10dB signal strength here in eastern Bavaria on Czech Republic border area. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, to DXplorer yg, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 31 via BC-DX 1 Jan via DXLD) re Radio Bila Hora Czech Republic on 3381.260 kHz. R Bila Hora on 3381.26 kHz also hrd Dec 31 from remote KiwiSDR sites at Kongsfjord Norway (varying from weak to inaudible with an occasional short peak to S2) from 2140 to 2230 UT and Haparanda Sweden (SM2BYC site) from 2241 to 2320 UT. The SM2BYC site was a decent signal, S3 with a moderate amount of QSB and slight static. No QRM from either site. Nice clean signal noted from SM2BYC. At 2300 UT (Midnight in Prague) they played two anthems, presumably including the Czech National Anthem and after a short pause resumed their prior programming with men and women talking and various music selections as heard prior to 2300 UT. At 2315.5-2318 UT a speech or reading by a man was played and then back to usual program. In this time period music was definitely not pop music but local songs (Bruce Churchill, CA DXplorer Jan 1 via BC-DX 1 Jan via DXLD) ** DENMARK. Am 17.02.2008 um 17:00 schrieb Bjarke Vestesen: World Music Radio will tonight relay the following stations: .......................... Power will be 7 kW from a place near Karup, Jutland, Denmark. ......................... Best 73's Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That was almost 10 years ago. Now some new notes from this country: http://radioforum.foren.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,202857,1451100,page=2#msg-1451100 https://tinyurl.com/y75sdghh https://www.facebook.com/WorldMusicRadioWMR/ http://www.wmr.dk/ http://www.wmr.dk/logo.png http://www.wmr.dk/streaming/index.html http://www.wmr.dk/history.html http://www.wmr.dk/frequencies.html 927 kHz - Copenhagen (coming soon) 5840 kHz - Europe (coming soon) 15805 kHz - Europe (coming soon) Nothing in the air at the moment, but the WMR webstream sounds good. Between the pieces of music there are occasionally jingles and hints to the web address, in all exotic languages, also German is used. ;-) (roger Dec 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [non]. U.K. Radio Akhbar Mufriha via BaBcoCk Woofferton, Dec 28 2100-2115 on 7300 WOF 250 kW / 170 deg to NoAf Tachelhit 2115-2145 on 7300 WOF 250 kW / 170 deg to NoAf Arabic http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-radio-akhbar-mufriha-via_29.html Radio Akhbar Mufriha via BaBcoCk Ascension, Dec 28 2145-2215 on 9530 ASC 125 kW / 027 deg to WeAf Hassinya Thu-Tue http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-radio-akhbar-mufriha-via_87.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 28-29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 9899.58, R. Cairo Arabic version of “Jingle Bells” at 2108!!! Had to change the laptop battery after the song, and W was in French on return. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) Radio Cairo at 2015 UT in French with strong but (as usual) terribly distorted signal on nominal 9900 kHz. Used U. Twente SDR receiver's AM sync mode to measure carrier frequency as 9899.576 kHz. All of these signals noted indoors with a portable using its whip antenna (-- Richard Langley, NB, date not stated, and yg archive search not up to date, dxldyg via DXLD) Good signal & modulation of Radio Cairo on Dec 24 2115-2245 on 9989.6 [SIC] ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu English http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/good-signal-modulation-of-radio-cairo.html Good signal & modulation of Radio Cairo on Dec 29 1900-2000 on 9570.0 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu German, 2000-2115 on 9899.6 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu French, 2115-2245 on 9899.6 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu English http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/good-signal-modulation-of-radio-cairo_30.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 29-30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) "EGYPT Good signal & modulation of Radio Cairo on Dec 29 2000-2115 on 9899.6 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu French," You call that good modulation? See my earlier report (-- Richard Langley, NB, ibid.) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional, Bata, *0519-0610, 29-12, open with popular an religious Spanish songs, at 0534, male, ID “Radio Bata”, Spanish, information and greetings to listeners, “Feliz Año Nuevo, les informamos..., llame a través del teléfono...”, “Saludos a Victor Manuel..., a todos los vecinos...”, “terminamos con esta convocatoria, el ayuntamiento de...”, at 0549: “Son las 6 y 49 minutos, vamos a felicitar por Año Nuevo...”, “Feliz Año Nuevo desde Radio Bata y Radio Malabo” “...felicita a su novia Rosalinda...”, at 0556 song “Despacito”, at 0600 more greetings. At 0610 signal more weak, barely audible due to daylight path. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, Grundig Satellit 500, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. 7140.0, VOBME 1 (presumed), 1455-1503, on Jan 1. HOA music/singing; in vernacular; hit with strong jamming (white noise or DRM?) at *1503; also ham QRM. 7181.55, VOBME 2 (presumed), 1455-1503, on Jan 1. In vernacular with on-air phone calls; some HOA music/singing; hit with strong jamming (white noise or DRM?) at *1503; also ham QRM. (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ETHIOPIA [and non] ** ETHIOPIA. 6030, Radio Oromiya (presumed), on Jan 2. CNR1 the strongest station here, with Calgary (Canada) with slow, deep fading in and out at 1453, with comedy and canned laughter; by 1458 suddenly realized I was also hearing definite HOA music/singing in the mix. Has been a long time since I last heard this station! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 7236.55v, R. Ethiopia (presumed), 1505, on Jan 1. Drifting, with HOA music/singing; poor with ham QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. Reception of Deegaanka Soomaalida Itoobiya, Dec 30 1900-2000 on 5940 JJG 100 kW / non-dir to EaAf Somali, fair: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-radio-deegaanka-soomaalida.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 30-31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6090, Amhara R. Nice ID by W coming back from HoA Pop song. Excellent Signal. Incredibly strong. 24 Dec. 6110, ETHIOPIA Fana BC 2023 song “Let Me Be Your Love-Maker”, then a HoA Pop song. 2028 M DJ. Audio still slightly over-modulated. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. Reception of Radio Xoriyo Ogaden via MBR Issoudun on Dec 30 1600-1630 11970 ISS 500 kW / 130 deg EaAf Somali Tue/Sat, fair/weak: Transmission is jammed by Ethiopia with strong white noise digital jamming http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2017/12/reception-of-radio-xoriyo-ogaden-via_31.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 30-31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. 7140 & 7180, Dec 30 at 0445, DRM noise centered around these, obviously jamming Voice of Broad Masses of Eritrea; no carrier detectable amid 7140, but JBA one on signature 7181.555. There is another carrier on 7180.028, but of course no other broadcasters are known as all are INTRUDERS into the hamband. BTW, Aoki/NDXC shows VOBME on 7183, but they are always right near 7181.555! The DRM noise is hardly distinguishable from band noise level in AM mode, but more so in SSB mode (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ERITREA ** ETHIOPIA [non].[non-log]. 11600, Radio OMN (Oromia Media Network) via IRRS (Kostinbrod [Sofia]). Not heard since my Dec 22 (Friday) reception, checking through Dec 27 (Wednesday). Would certainly seem to confirm Mauno Ritola idea that they were testing last week? So what is next for this station? Will they actually start regular broadcasting? (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. 7700.02, PIRATE (EUROPE), Free R. Service Holland. Music finally audible at 0907, same as on the Leiden web receiver. M with ID at 0948. 0956 M talk with mention of dates. 1000 ID jingle. 1010 M announcer again. 1012 “more music” jingle. 1052 still in with M mention of the “Free Radio Service”. 24 Dec. 6284.06, PIRATE (EUROPE), Free R. Service Holland. Thought this had started the broadcast at 0830, but heard the “Close Encounters” theme song IS at 0857. Slightly weaker than 7700.02. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 7700.06, PIRATE (EUROPE), FRSH, Getting a decent signal here right from the start at 1850-1855, plenty strong on peaks, but couldn’t detect any audio. Gone at 1919 check. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** EUROPE. 4009.97, PIRATE (EUROPE), LHH. Dance music at 2020. Fairly audible at this time but surprisingly nothing on 48m. Really long Dance song, 2124 “Oh Girl” by Chi-Lites. 2130 Seagulls. 2135 canned announcement, and into “Come Together” by The Beatles. 2143:00 jingle ID by M, then “Love You Inside and Out” by The Bee Gees. Very fady like 3975 Shortwave R. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) Laser Hot Hits ** FINLAND. YLE'S 'NUNTII LATINI' SAVED FOR NOW https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20171230/p2g/00m/0fe/042000c HELSINKI (AP) -- For nearly three decades, Finland's YLE radio has broadcast a weekly news program in Latin to a small group of committed listeners around the globe. With the audience numbering just 10,000 and people increasingly turning to the internet for content, Friday was meant to be the end of the road for "Nuntii Latini," which means "news in Latin." But don't underestimate the passion of Latin aficionados -- more than 3,000 of them wrote in from around the globe, some in fluent Latin, encouraging the station to save the program. YLE leadership listened, agreeing to extend it until at least its 30th anniversary in 2019. "Ne umquam desperaveris," (loosely translated: "never give up,") said co-announcer Reijo Pitkaranta, a docent and lecturer in Latin at the University of Helsinki. He's one of the original creators of the five-minute program that hit the airwaves in 1989 and has ever since inspired Latin students, academics and language lovers around the globe, from China and Vietnam all the way to Belgium and the United States. One listener based in Thailand, who signed a letter to the station as CJ Hinke, said he became aware of "Nuntii Latini" through listening a shortwave radio broadcasts while he was living on a remote island off the Pacific coast of Canada. "I began to teach Latin to our 4- and 6-year old children, and about the world through Latin," he wrote. "'Nuntii Latini' gave my children the lesson of being a world citizen, of caring about our past, where we came from." Though the program has always been broadcast for small audiences, Lauri Kivinen, director general for YLE, Finland's national radio and television broadcaster, says the station was taken aback by the passionate feedback. YLE also provides news in English, Finnish, Swedish, Russian and the indigenous Sami language spoken in the northern parts of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia. "It's not just about the language," Kivinen says, acknowledging the special nature of "Nuntii Latini," which tackles both domestic and international issues. "It is also a question of the perspective that is brought to issues by expressing them in Latin. And it's very much about culture and education." Latin is generally considered Europe's own mother tongue, as it forms the basis of the Romance languages and has contributed many words to English and German, too. After the Roman Empire collapsed, Latin developed into French, Italian, Spanish and other languages. There is currently plenty of Latin to be heard on Vatican Radio since any Mass celebrated by Pope Francis will feature at least some prayers if not entire Gospel readings in Latin. It's the official language of the Vatican, and the Pope recently praised the teaching of Latin to young people, saying it can help them navigate "the path of life." Nevertheless, Latin isn't one of the 39 languages Vatican Radio regularly uses. Though far from Rome geographically, Finland -- a Nordic country of 5.5 million -- has wholeheartedly embraced Latin in recent years, with a full-scale opera and Elvis Presley songs being performed in the language. Local experts believe Finns are attracted to Latin due to its grammar and that it's pronounced much like it is written - a clear similarity to Finnish, a Finno-Ugric language that has no relation to Latin. By broadcasting radio news in Latin, "Finland has done something that had earlier been experimented only in the Vatican in the 1930s," wrote Latin professors Christian Laes from the University of Antwerp and Dirk Sacre from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in an op- ed article published recently in Finland's leading daily, Helsingin Sanomat. "I think it's wonderful if the program inspires someone into getting acquainted with Latin language that is the basis our European culture," YLE's Kivinen said (via Kim Elliott, dxldyg via DXLD) Thanks, Kim. But 4 times? Expecting reception difficulties? ;-) I wish I remembered more of the Latin I learned in high school (and New Testament Greek). But I still find the smattering of what I remember useful, especially in teaching; for example, when introducing new terms to students, such as osculating orbits. One of my recent papers was pretentiously titled "High Accuracy GNSS Positioning: Ubi Fuimus? Ubi Sumus? Quo Vadimus? ;-) For the record (and from YLE's website), "Nuntii Latini" is on YLE Radio 1 on Fridays at 18:15 local time. Available on FM throughout Finland (no YLE AM radio left or shortwave, as we all know) and Internet streaming (and there's an English news broadcast on YLE Radio 1 daily at 15:55 local time). By the way, YLE has a multi-language service, YLE Mondo, broadcasting on FM in Helsinki. (-- Prof. Richard Langley, UNB, ibid.) Sorry Richard and everyone. My window showed me sending only the top three paragraphs once. Not sure what generated the verbiage (Kim, ibid.) ** GERMANY. Special programs of Hamburger Lokalradio on Jan 1: 0900-1200 9485 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg CeEu German HLR, weak to fair 1200-1300 9485 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg CeEu Spanish R. Tropicana, good 1300-1400 9485 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg CeEu English Media Network, fair http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/reception-of-special-programs-of.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 31-Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 3975, Shortwave R. 2117 Pop/Rock song, 2119 next song which was “Things We Do For Love” by 10CC. 2122 M DJ with UK accent. 2127 Rod Stewart and jingle with ID. Getting some decent peaks at 2129. 2130 short song announcements, then “If You Leave Me Now” by Chicago to 2135. Hams staying away for the most part except for 3972.5. But 2 guys came on right on top at 2133. 2140 M with mention of shortwave and song announcements. Pretty clear at 2141. 2142 more song announcements, and into “Somebody to Love” by Queen. Weird that this would come in but nothing from 3995 HCJB Weenermoor. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6160, Short Wave Radio de., received e-QSL card for a reception report send 02-08-2017, in 146 days. Report send to 6160@shortwaveradio.de (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Dec 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Full data eQSL from Short Wave Radio on 6160 also received here today for test broadcast reception using KiwiSDR in Iceland on 2 Aug 2017. Station indicated that delays in responding were due to prioritizing broadcast site development over listener responses, understandable given the test environment and desire to get operational as soon as practicable. Just received my 2018 WRTH today and ShortwaveRadio.de QTH shows as Winsen, just south of Hamburg - probably not news to most folks but I had not seen the location mentioned previously (Bruce Churchll, CA, Dec 28, ibid.) According to the listed HFCC coordinates, it is Winsen (Aller) in the district Celle and not the Winsen (Luhe) "near Hamburg". "Nothing is known exactly" or is shown on their homepage. Sometimes secrets make a thing interesting at all. ;-) http://www.rhci-online.net/files/D-06193_Petersberg_150km_mapping+foF2.png List source: userlistHFCC.txt, file date 2017/12/25 10:30 kHz: 6160 UTC/PSN: 1800-2000 Days/PI: 123456 (Mo-Sa) Language: Multiple languages Station: For new organization NEW Country: DEU (Germany) Transmitter: Winsen Latitude: 52.6667 <===== Winsen (Aller) Longitude: 9.7667 <==== Winsen (Aller) Modulation: Power (kW): 1 Target: 0 (CIRAF 27, 28NW) Distance: 195 Bearing: 311 Notes: 2910-2503 Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur, Germany) Details: 49 m from Germany to Western Europe/Central/Eastern Europe QTH locator: JO42vq20aa Winsen (Aller) District Celle near Hannover H 52 41' N, 9 55' O https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsen_(Aller) Winsen (Luhe) District Harburg near Hamburg HH 53 22' N, 10 13' O https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsen_(Luhe) (roger, germany, ibid.) It is specified as Winsen (Aller) also in WRTH 2018 at 52 40n 9 46e, NOT Winsen (Luhe). Best regards, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) Roger/Mauno, Tnx much for the clarification! In this group "secrets" and "hidden" information don't stay that way very long! ?? (Bruce Churchill, ibid.) ** GERMANY [non]. Radio Mi Amigo high power transmission today December 31 at 1800 UT, 5845 kHz http://radiomiamigointernational.com/english/news.html "Radio Mi Amigo International presents a very special live broadcast. In the 1st hour you will hear our monthly magazine 'INSIDE' where you get all news about the station and we will answer your questions and in the 2nd hour we have the monthly magazine called 'my radio story, my songs'. Each month a DJ from our team tells his (offshore) radiostory and plays his songs of that time. This time it will be Stuart Vincent [ex Caroline, Laser, VOP] The shows will be aired on December, 31 from 19-21 CET (18-20 UT) on 5845 kHz in the 49m SW-band with 100 kW of power all over Europe and also online on our webstreams." (via Manuel Méndez, Spain, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) Via ARMENIA? UZBEKISTAN? (gh) Very strong signal from Radio Mi Amigo International this evening from 1800 on 5845 kHz with their monthly high-power broadcast. Anyone know what tx site they are using - Armenia or Uzbekistan presumably? 73s (Dave Kenny, BDXC_UK yg via DXLD) Hi Dave, I heard Captain Kord say it was coming from Tashkent. 73 for now, (Alan Gale, 2007 UT, ibid.) Next one monthly would be Jan 28, Sunday. Mark your calendar (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. Re: NDR Xmas special underway Image: 1 Files 177KB PNG I also picked it up clearly here in South Eastern, PA. It was very easy to copy with a lot of English words being used. Last year I received a very nice QSL card and package from them with branded station goodies for a snail mail report and $2.00 towards return postage. The QSL card arrived about two weeks after the package. Image (John Cooper, Lebanon, PA, dxldyg via DXLD) Shot of the loot shows a lanyard, ball-point pen, glasses-cleaning cloth, branded with NDR, ``Das Beste am Norden`` (gh, DXLD) 9800, FRANCE, "Groß on Bord" [sic], Issoudun. 1856-1815 December 24, 2017. Tune-in to test tone maybe at around 1.5 kHz, transmitter seemingly off 1858, back up a few seconds before 1900, German male and female ID and chatter, into English rendition of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire)" and more tunes. Fair signal in my horrid local noise. Also noted on 9590 from the same site at 2123 (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC- R75, longwires, active loop unless otherwise stated, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9800, FRANCE, NDR Annual Christmas relay for sailors. *1900 with W doing news in German already in progress. 9790 and 9740 fair to good, 11650 very poor but audible and fady, and 6080 and 6010 excellent. Interestingly, 6080 was ahead of 6010. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 5930, GERMANY, NDR (Nauen) was very strong with signal on at 2059:50 and program start at 2100:00. 6155 (Yerevan) came on late with audio up at 2101:19 and nearly as strong at 5930 but audio a bit distorted. 9590 (France), 9650 (Austria), and 9830 (France) all good, but 9765 (Nauen) weak. 9650 was of course mixing with Guinea. A bad frequency choice. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro- DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) Download - Auf kann man die Sendung schon in der Mediathek finden. (Daniel Kaehler-D, A-DX ng Dec 25 via BC-DX 1 Jan via DXLD) ** GOA. 9809.97, UNID. AIR Panaji?? Found a signal here with 1 kHz test tone from 1245. Going of over an hour and a half until finally going off at 1416:37. (See below) 28 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 9809.98, INDIA, AIR Panaji. Weak at 1230 but came up rapidly and decent signal in just 5 minutes Indian Pop music to W announcer in presumed Tamil at 1240, then deadair for 5 minutes, and audio back at 1245 with W announcer and canned announcements in possible Hindi. Horrible distorted noise in the audio. Audio cut and test tone for 2 seconds, then off at 1254:17. So this was indeed the one with the test tone yesterday. 29 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** GOA [non?] INDIA. 11828v, UNID. Found a strong OC here at 1417 varying quickly and drifting as well. Was able to check on a number of web receivers around the world and it was noted everywhere. Went off at 1428:46 without any audio unfortunately. Must have been someone with a high-powered transmitter. (See below) 29 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 11828.5v, INDIA, AIR (site??). Found again today at 1410 with audio, unlike yesterday. M talk in what sounded like Hindi. 1412-1419 subcontinental music. 1419:25 clear AIR ID by M and talk. Another ID by M at 1429:37. Discussion by at least 2 men from 1430 until the signal suddenly went off at 1433:05. Fair signal with some QRM from 11830 which was easily notched out. I don’t see AIR listed on either 11825 or 11830. A Youtube video of the reception can be found by clicking on this link: https://youtu.be/RUHUs6efpvQ 30 Dec. Used a Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop antenna. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) I guess this odd frequency matter need more investigation on coming days. Re AIR, mostly Kingsway transmitters are unstable frequency on upper fq side mostly Urdu/Pakistan etc. in 7.3 to 7.5 kHz range, up to 2500 Hertz odd frequency. I noted a press release the other month, that AIR ordered already new units for the Delhi SW sites in future ... But I noted today Dec 30 FEBC Tibetan half hour earlier 1300-1330 UT speedy wandered up: 11825.670, PHL, FEBC Bocaue in Tibetan-Khams sce - acc Aoki Nagoya database list, S=9 in Seoul, but hit heavily by China mainland jamming, on even fq. 11825 kHz. At 1309 UT S=8, the Bocaue technicians are keen {or was not desired ?} and moved fq upwards 100 Hertz step by step to 11826.840 kHz at 1321 UT. Wandered 1300 Hertz up-wards within 12 minutes Whats about the other Bocaue outlet 1400-1430 UT on 11750 kHz? Request scheduled: 11750 FEBC RADIO 1400-1430 1234567 Lahu 100 305 Bocaue PHL FEBC b17 Maybe they are unstable too ? 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) All India Radio on drifting frequency 11816v-11825v via Panaji, Jan 1 1215-1330 on 11816v-11825v PAN 250 kW / 025 deg to CeAs Tibetan, instead of 11620 1330-1430 on 11816v-11825v PAN 250 kW / 025 deg to CeAs Nepali, instead of 11620 1355-1425 on 11816v-11825v PAN 250 kW / 025 deg to CeAs open carrier / dead air Strong QRM Radio Japan NHK World on 11815 and FEBC/Radio Romania Inter on 11825 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/all-india-radio-on-drifting-frequency.html (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) Dear Dave & Wolfgang, - Happy New Year! - Regarding AIR on 11828.5 kHz sign off around 1430 UT, it must be some spurious signal of AIR Nepali Service on 11620 kHz via Goa Panaji. I shall check it up (Jose Jacob- INDIA, VU2JOS, hcdx Jan 1. Via BC-DX 1 Jan via DXLD) Later: AIR Tibetan and Nepali Service on 11620 kHz via Goa Panaji site. 11620 250 Panaji Goa W 1215-1330 Tibetan, 1330-1430 Nepali (ex11775) \\ 7555 100 Delhi (Khampur) 1215-1330 Tibetan(China), 1330-1430 Nepali, 1515-1530 Hindi HS, 1530-1600 English HS (ex 6155/7505) Yes, wandered radio program station solved now Jan 1st, thanks Jose. Noted very same AIR Goa Panaji program today Jan 1st at 1310 UT on 11822.386 kHz at S=9+25dB strength, was unstable and hopped some +/minus 20 Hertz up and down, and wandered steady upwards to 11822.706 kHz at 1331:41 UT when Nepali program started. \\ 7555.578 kHz outlet of S=9+15dB in remote Delhi SDR unit. 1310 UT on 11822.386v, at 1320 UT 11822.496v kHz, 1327 UT 11822.536v kHz Tibetan stn ID and English annmt by female voice at 13.30:15 UT, followed by male voice annmt in Hindi?/Tibetan? [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX Topnews Dec 25 via BC-DX 1 Jan via DXLD) FEBC also reported on 11825v: see PHILIPPINES (gh) ** GREECE. Weak signal of Voice of Greece on 9420 kHz, Dec 23 2050&2150 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 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/weak-signal-of-voice-of-greece-on-9420_24.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #1050 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec 31, 2017, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GREECE. 9420, Voice of Greece, after weeks I don't heard it, now on air, 2115-2123, 27-12, Greek, comments. 45444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Lugo, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM [and non]. 11900.027, KSDA AWR Agat Guam, in Malay, Sats 1330- 1400 UT, totally covered by CRI English service on even 11900 kHz from Kunming superpower 500 kW site. At 1336 UT S=9+15dB strength. Very bad fq selection of Adventist World Radio FMO team [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] Log of Dec 30 of 1145-1445 UT - in southern Korea remote SDR access near Seoul capital location (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. Fair signal of KTWR Trans World Radio Asia on Dec 30 1230-1300 on 11695*TWR 100 kW / 290 deg to SoAs English Sat Not new freq 12160 TWR 100 kW / 290 deg to SoAs in B17 HFCC * strong QRM 11690 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg to CeAs English CRI http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/fair-signal-of-ktwr-trans-world-radio_30.html Good signal of KTWR Trans World Radio Asia on Dec 30 1317-1346 on 7510 TWR 100 kW / 320 deg to EaAs English Sat http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/good-signal-of-ktwr-trans-world-radio_57.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 29-30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4054.98, R. Verdad. Usual vibraphone-like music with Spanish ID announcement by M at 0805, and into religious music. Guess they were staying on all night for Christmas. Fair signal at best with a lot of crackly static-like noise through the entire SW spectrum. 25 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 4055, Dec 27 at 0941, S8 open carrier, except for some wind-blowing sound, from what? TGAV on late, or early, or all-night? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. 9650, R. Guinée. Nice local Afro music 1853-1859, deadair, then canned ID at 1859:30. 1900 Afro music briefly, live M in French with ID, music bridge, then M with presumed news. Nice signal but wandering band of ruined it [sic] 19 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** HAWAII. (USA) Got a QSL picturing a fiery sunset (or is it sunrise) in the mail from WWVH for the Dec. 7 reception on 2.5 MHz. Ironically the time wasn't included!! 26 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** ICELAND. See LANGUAGE LESSONS ** INDIA. 4920, AIR Chennai 1228-1229 couple canned announcements. 1229 W in hyper-speed mentioning upcoming English news. Deadair, then English news by soft-spoken M announcer to 1235. ID by studio W announcer, then subcontinental music. Fair. 28 Dec. 5010, AIR Thiruvananthapuram. English news by soft-spoken M 1230-1235 could just barely tell it was // 4920 and 5040 28 Dec. 5040, AIR Jeypore. Similar strength to AIR Thiru., and just barely able to tell it was // 4920 with English news by M 1230-1235. 28 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) See also GOA ** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, on Dec 31, with the usual "Country Roads" C&W music show at 1237; Kenny Rogers with "Daytime Friends & Nightime Lovers," etc.; unusual propagation, as the signal went downhill rather badly by 1313. 5040, AIR Jeypore, on Dec 31, heard the AIR IS at 1128, followed by program in Hindi and subcontinent music (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 7550, AIR at 2217 // 9445 with a woman reading reception reports and letters on “Faithfully Yours” mailbag program and into subcontinental vocals at 2221 – Fair Jan 1 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iogroup via DXLD) ** INDIA. 9940.066, AIR Kingsway on air before 0700 UT, ready for 07- 08 UT Nepali transmission, S=8 here in Europe. Empty carrier 0656 UT. Log of Dec 30 of 0630-0730 UT- in southern Germany location, [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DXLD) 11828.5v, INDIA AIR (site??). Found again today at 1410 with audio, unlike yesterday. M talk in what sounded like Hindi. 1412-1419 subcontinental music. 1419:25 clear AIR ID by M and talk. Another ID by M at 1429:37. Discussion by at least 2 men from 1430 until the signal suddenly went off at 1433:05. Fair signal with some QRM from 11830 which was easily notched out. I don’t see AIR listed on either 11825 or 11830. A Youtube video of the reception can be found by clicking on this link: https://youtu.be/RUHUs6efpvQ 30 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) I guess this odd fq matter need more investigation on coming days. Re AIR, mostly Kingsway transmitters are unstable frequency on upper fq side, mostly Urdu/Pakistan etc. in 7.3 to 7.5 kHz range, up to 2500 Hertz odd frequency. I noted a press release the other month, that AIR ordered already new units for the Delhi SW sites in future ... But I noted today Dec 30 FEBC Tibetan half hour earlier 1300-1330 UT speedy wandered up 11825.670 PHL FEBC Bocaue in Tibetan-Khams sce - (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) See GOA; PHILIPPINES ** INDIA. All India R noted on 11560 kHz from 1330 UT tune-in with Dari until 1415; followed by Pashto until 1530 and then the news in English, all as scheduled. Meanwhile, 9620 kHz which should have been in Sindhi until 1500 UT and then Baluchi was running in parallel with 11560 kHz, resulting in an unscheduled English news broadcast on 9620 from 1530 to 1545 (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, Jan 2, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [non]. ARMENIA, Very good signal of TWR India via Yerevan, Jan 2: 1245-1300 on 9910 ERV 300 kW / 100 deg to SoAs Maithili Mon-Fri 1415-1445 on 9910 ERV 300 kW / 100 deg to SoAs Bhojpuri Mon-Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/very-good-signal-of-twr-india-via.html Good signal of TWR India via Yerevan on Jan 2: 1300-1315 on 9745 ERV 300 kW / 100 deg to SoAs English Mon-Sat 1435-1450 on 9745 ERV 300 kW / 100 deg to SoAs English Mon-Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/good-signal-of-twr-india-via-yerevan-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, January 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya. Found too late, but sounded like M announcer at 2315, music at 2221 [sic]. Right at threshold level. Faded out just as Palangkaraya should. Very surprised to find it here and the first time to hear an evening Indo in years. 19 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 3325, RRI Palangkaraya Signal wasn’t there at 2155, so it obviously signs on at 2200. 2159 end of IS but couldn’t start the recording fast enough. Fanfare, then live studio W announcer with clear ID at 2200:00, during announcement, Pop-like music, then canned ID announcement at 2202:40, and live W returned. More canned announcements at 2204 with mention of Indonesia, and another mentioning “programa” and Palangkaraya. 2206:20 short “RRI Palangkaraya” ID, then into ballad song. Still easily audible at 2217 with ballad. 20 Dec. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya. Signal came on at 2159:09 with what sounded like the IS already in progress. Sounds like a somber religious instrumental. Then lively fanfare music at 2159:35. Us ual fast- talking W announcer at 2200. Music for about 2 minutes, then canned announcements. Conditions just too poor. Audio went down to threshold by 2222. Signal pretty much gone by 2252. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO DXLD) 3325, RRI Palangkaraya. Decent signal up at 2158, but blasted by South Africa and ute. Audio too low and too much QRM to ID. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 3325, Pro 1 RRI Palangkaraya, 1517+, on Jan 2. Segment with all songs in English; Alphaville "Forever Young," Erma Franklin "Piece of My Heart," etc.; "Pro satu RRI Palangkaraya" ID jingle, best in USB due to Korea on 3320; strong CW QRM the whole time. The only Indonesian on SW today! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA [non-log]. 9525.95, VOI, on Jan 1, at 1454, clearly off the air; no carrier at all. 9525.95, VOI, on Jan 2, found still off the air; no carrier at all (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. 1650, GULF OF MEXICO, oil rigger beacon DVS. 1055 December 30, 2017. Faded up and held forth for a few minutes in the massive stew of 1650 stations. 1650, UNIDENTIFIED "The Beeper" 0915 December 31, 2017. Here again. Would be nice to hear oil rigger DVS at the same time, just to confirm it's not the same source, but so far not (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 9900, Dec 31 at 1421, VIRI IS at S9-S6, 1423 NA, opening the hour in Hindi, due east from Sirjan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Recorded the English broadcast from the Voice of the [Islamic?] Republic of Iran ("IRIB English Radio") this afternoon using the U. Twente SDR receiver on 6040 kHz. Crash start with the transmitter coming on about one minute late at 1920:46 UT. Very good signal. Also provided a fair signal here in NB on an indoor portable with its whip antenna. According to published schedules should be // on 11880 kHz. There was only a trace on the U. Twente waterfall, whether or not that was them. Also, not heard on that frequency in NB. I tuned in to see if they would even mention anything about the ongoing demonstrations. Nothing. The newscast only talked about the problems of other countries. Not too surprised. The ID and schedule announced after the news only mentioned the 15:20 to 16:20 UTC broadcast on one SW frequency: 9420 kHz. The main program was the listeners' program ("Listeners' Special"), reading out listeners' letters and a phone interview with a listener in England. Off at 2019:38 UT or thereabouts (-- Richard Langley, Dec 31, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST // on 11880 kHz towards whole South Africa and MDG 211 degrees azimuth at zones 52,53,57, -- total different Azimuth then, so tiny signal could be true in Europe and NB-CAN. 73 wolfie df5sx (Büschel, ibid.) VOIRI This Afternoon --- In the news bulletin, there were some brief oblique references to the demonstrations in this afternoon's broadcast. Blaming the enemies of the nation for trying to foment dissent. But extensive coverage of demonstrations in Kashmir and the problems in various other countries (all negative). Also, mentioned the time and frequencies for the 19:20 UTC broadcast. Later in the broadcast, there were quotes from the "Leader of the Islamic Revolution" Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei's 27 December speech, also highlighted on the Pars Today website: http://parstoday.com/en/news/iran-i72335-leader_enemies_deploying_various_tools_to_hurt_islamic_establishment (-- Richard Langley, Jan 2, ibid.) Isn’t it interesting that in non-democratic countries, it’s always someone else’s instigation that is the cause of their country’s problems, usually the USA. Examples include North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. Just saying! Hoping for a more peaceful 2018 (Walt Salmaniw, Ukraine, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Fair/good signal of Marconi Radio International, Dec 25 0900-1100 on 7720 unknown 100 watts tx to CeEu En/It/Ge/Fr USB http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/fairgood-signal-of-marconi-radio.html Fair signal of Marconi Radio International on Dec 31 1030-1230 on 7720 unknown 100 watts tx to CeEu En/It/Sp USB 1315-1515 on 7720 unknown 100 watts tx to CeEu En/It/Sp USB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMUyuR16I5w&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAou_b6MLts&feature=youtu.be (DX RE MIX NEWS #1050 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec 31, 2017, dxldyg via DXLD) MARCONI RADIO INTERNATIONAL LAST 2017 DAY SCHEDULE Please be advised that Marconi Radio International (MRI) will be on the air today Sunday, 31 December 2017 as follows: 10.30-12.30 and 13.15-15.15 UTC. The frequency is 7720 kHz (USB mode). Reception reports to this E-mail address: marconiradiointernational (at) gmail.com Last but not least, we need your help! If you are a DX blogger, or use social networks, please post an announcement on your own blog and/or Facebook or send out a tweet. You can also forward this message to a friend. (MRI Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fair signal of Marconi Radio International on Dec 31 1030-1230 on 7720 unknown 100 watts tx to CeEu En/It/Sp USB 1315-1515 on 7720 unknown 100 watts tx to CeEu En/It/Sp USB http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/fair-signal-of-marconi-radio.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 30-31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [and non]. 6115, Dec 30 at 0507, taking my own advice to try for Congo this early, but already hearing music, sure sounds like J- pop from R. Nikkei 2 where it`s only 2+ pm, but twilight/dark over most of the GC path; no signal from 9760 to make a //. But there is a second weaker undercarrier on 6115 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [and non]. 9750, UT Dec 31, NHK in Japanese with some excited chat, VP S6-S7 but the best we can hear it, 1500 timesignal and apparently celebrating arrival of 2018y. Without the ceremony we used to enjoy years ago with drums, countdown, etc. At least this frequency, 300 kW at 290 degrees, is now scheduled until 1600* instead of cutting off right at the NY (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. 9455, Jan 1 at 0429, R. Japón ending Spanish semihour with schedule, including at 0400 ``6195, 5985``. They don`t even know that WRMI is also putting this on 9455 (6195 is WHRI). Of course, NHK will not condescend to put any English broadcast on WRMI or WHRI, since that would facilitate North Americans` hearing Radio Japan! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR. 4950.0, AIR Radio Kashmir, Srinagar (presumed). On Jan 1, extremely rare situation here with Angola (4949.74) being off the air, leaving frequency clear for Kashmir; a check at 0124 had no signal; at 0134 heard weak signal with announcer; 0141-0144 nice subcontinent singing. Normally Angola is so strong as to block reception of Kashmir, so today was a rare treat! Jim Young in Southern Calif. also noted same reception at the same time (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KIRIBATI/KIRITIMATI. 846-Kiribati Transmitter Issues Kona, Hawaii Ultralight DXpedition -- Pacific Island Results The new 846-Kiribati transmitter on Christmas Island has awesome signals, and was overall the strongest Pacific island station received during the recent Kona, Hawaii DXpedition. Of all the Pacific island DU's it faded in at the earliest time after sunset, and maintained its strength even during strong Asian propagation -- as long as it managed to transmit without its signal dropping out. Unfortunately that seemed to be a pretty common occurrence in Kona. TP-DXers both on the west coast and in New Zealand have occasionally found it to be MIA for an entire evening. In Kona I recorded a couple of MP3's of 846-Christmas Island's signal dropping out multiple times within one minute. This segment at 0620 UT on December 17th features 6 signal dropouts within one minute https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/shqpg3c3yuhz4fzvnhkhkvgzamg4s6do This segment at 0944 on December 18 is even worse -- 9 dropouts in 90 seconds https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/vxzwv9x8wc9hwqgj4xye2b12fzbtbtsk After a prolonged 846 transmitter dropout it seemed like the programming time delay between the distant 1440-Kiribati on Tarawa Island and the new 846-Kiribati on Christmas Island would change. On December 17th I recorded two different time delays -- 19 seconds, as in the following recording (the MP3 starts out on 846 at 0635, switches to 1440 at the 1:02 point, then switches back to 846 at the 1:34 point, with a 19-second time delay evident between the 1440 and 846 programming (846 lags behind) https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/leyyz3kj8aarsu4gwp24czdwp0onbk22 Later on the same evening there was a 36 second time delay between 1440 and 846, with this MP3 starting off on 1440 at 0645, and switching to 846 at the 11 second point https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/0w1an6509xvgow2aq9i7lxfyfhx1gend Both 1440 and 846 now sign off around 1008 UT, a change from April when 1440 signed off at 0936. Unlike in April 1440-Kiribati was usually getting hammered by JOWF in Sapporo by that time in the December propagation, although the 1000 Hz tone that 1440 uses before the power is cut gets through QRM like a DXer's dream. This was the 1440-Kiribati sign off routine (National Anthem and 1000 Hz tone) recorded on December 19th at 1005: https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/79v68rumi2mcmamxgu1vy5rwn989z4bp 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (DXing at the Royal Kona Resort Motel with a 7.5" loopstick CC Skywave Ultralight, + 5 inch (127mm) "Frequent Flyer" FSL antenna, Dec 29, IRCA via DXLD) Kona, Hawaii Ultralight DXpedition -- Pacific Island Results From December 17 to 20 a Mini-DXpedition was conducted in Kona, Hawaii with a 5 inch (13cm) "Frequent Flyer" FSL antenna and a 7.5 inch (19cm) loopstick C.Crane Skywave Ultralight radio. The FSL antenna was a new type designed to easily pass through TSA security checkpoints at airports, and provide inductive coupling gain roughly similar to that of a 4 foot air core box loop. South Pacific island reception was generally good from 0630 to 0800 UT daily, but usually became problematic after that when powerful Asian stations tended to drown out the exotic Pacific island stations as sunset progressed over Japan, Korea and China. By 0900 daily only the most powerful Pacific island stations on 621, 846, 1098 and 1440 had much of a chance of surviving the Asian signal onslaught, and even some of those were drowned out. During a similar visit to Kona, Hawaii with identical gear in April (DXing at the same motel) the Pacific island stations had no co-channel competition from the Asians from 0800 to 1030 UT. The new 846-Kiribati on Christmas Island was a star performer as the strongest island DU station, with local-like signals shortly after the Hawaiian sunset each evening. Despite this it had an intermittent transmitter cutout issue, with the signal failing to transmit at odd intervals (including one stretch with six signal dropouts within one minute, as documented in an MP3 linked below). In addition 846- Christmas Island's programming had a variable time delay with that of distant 1440-Kiribati in Tarawa, with both a 19-second and 35 second time delay noted. This may be related to the transmitter cutout issue, with the time delay changing after a major dropout. DXers looking for a parallel with 1440 should keep this programming quirk in mind. Although both 846 and 1440-Kiribati signed off at the usual 0936 UTC time on the first couple days of the trip, they had both switched to a 1009 UTC sign off on the last couple of days. Whether this is a permanent programming change is unknown, but the loud 1000 Hz audio tone is still being broadcast before power is cut, resulting in a very easy way to distinguish the stations at sign off time (even in heavy domestic QRM). 846, R. Kiribati, Christmas Island, 10 kW. This newly rejuvenated station had awesome signals, and was overall the strongest Pacific island station received. Of all the Pacific island DU's it faded in at the earliest time after sunset, and maintained its strength even during strong Asian propagation -- as long as it managed to transmit without its signal dropping out. Unfortunately this seemed to be a pretty common occurrence while I was in Kona. Island-type music at typical S9 strength at 0735 on 12-18 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/7sb6luietjmx0fdghwqedi9x5splos1n This segment at 0620 UT on December 17th features 6 signal dropouts within one minute https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/shqpg3c3yuhz4fzvnhkhkvgzamg4s6do This segment at 0944 UT on December 18th is even worse -- 9 dropouts in 90 seconds https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/vxzwv9x8wc9hwqgj4xye2b12fzbtbtsk After a prolonged 846 transmitter dropout it seemed like the programming time delay between the distant 1440-Kiribati on Tarawa Island and the new 846-Kiribati on Christmas Island would change. On December 17th I recorded two different time delays-- 19 seconds, as in the following recording (the MP3 starts out on 846 at 0635, switches to 1440 at the 1:02 point, then switches back to 846 at the 1:34 point, with a 19-second time delay evident between the 1440 and 846 programming (846 lags behind) https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/leyyz3kj8aarsu4gwp24czdwp0onbk22 Later on the same evening there was a 36 second time delay between 1440 and 846, with this MP3 starting off on 1440 at 0645, and switching to 846 at the 11 second point https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/0w1an6509xvgow2aq9i7lxfyfhx1gend 1440, R. Kiribati, Bairiki, Tarawa, 10 kW. Somewhat weaker than its rejuvenated 846-Christmas Island parallel (which has variable programming delay times, as explained above), this home transmitter could hold down the frequency until around 0800 every night, after which it was usually hammered by JOWF in Sapporo. Despite this it often put up a good fight until its new sign off time of 1009, and it continues to use the loud 1000 Hz tone right before the power is cut (an awesome aid for DXers hoping to ID the station through heavy QRM). Typical island language speech and strength level at 0830 on 12-18, just as it is starting to get jumbled by JOWF (a Japanese female "Sapporo desu" ID is at 25 seconds) https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/7kc0bmbzt0beglp6saca5xc6cb6sipi2 Full sign off routine at 1005 on 12-19, including the National Anthem and the 1000 Hz tone before the power is cut. The tone gets through the JOWF QRM like a DXer's dream https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/79v68rumi2mcmamxgu1vy5rwn989z4bp 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (DXing at the Royal Kona Motel with a 7.5" loopstick C.Crane Skywave Ultralight+, 5 inch (127mm) "Frequent Flyer" FSL antenna (Demo video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRaOnWS-5Ig Dec 31, IRCA via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 2850, KCBS Pyongyang. Soft W vocal song, not really like the usual opera-like fare at 2207. Getting some weird rapid pulsing wideband QRM here for a time. Can’t be anything local as I wasn’t anywhere near anything electrical. Clear at 2222 but weaker fading signal. 20 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 6400, Pyongyang BS, 1450, on Jan 2. A very strong signal here; never before heard at this level; // 3320 (not // 3219.9). Result of better conditions today? (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DXf LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 7570, Voice of Korea, 2233-2237 just opera music sounding almost identical to 7580, but they weren’t. This frequency slightly QRMed. Hear 7580 often, but don’t recall hearing this Spanish transmission before. 20 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 15180, Voice of Korea at 0320 (presumed); no voice just open carrier with odd transmitter noise often associated with DPRK broadcasts. S9 signal - Jan 1 (Rick Barton, AZ, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6085, JAPAN, Shiokaze Sea Breeze. Thought the English program was only at 1330. Glad I was recording over 1300 as the signal dropped quite a bit by 1330. Usual piano music and long opening announcement by W with ID, website, e-mail, phone, and mailing address. Into news focusing on North Korea. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 7625, UZBEKISTAN, Voice of the Wilderness. Signal already on at 1321. 1330 program start with usual wind blowing SFX and trumpet blaring, religious choral music, and M in Korean. Just a fair signal. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Extended broadcast of Radio Free North Korea via BaBcocK Tashkent, Dec 29: 1100-1300 on 9345 TAC 100 kW / 076 deg to NEAs Korean, fair/good signal, ex 1200-1300 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/extended-broadcast-of-radio-free-north.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 28-29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 6045, CLANDESTINE (SOUTH KOREA) Voice of Freedom. Getting weak music at 2059 as 6040 VOA São Tomé signed off. Gradually getting better during the nonstop Korean Pops, about half of which were ballads. Excellent signal by the time of the long announcements by W over piano music bed at 2155. M and W announcer in discussion at 2209. More Pops with same announcers between songs. Getting blasted by CNR and Evangelizar on 6040 by 2250. Pulsing jammer no match for it. Tnx to Ron Howard for his continuing monitoring/reporting of this. 20 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. 6045, CLANDESTINE, Voice of Freedom. In the clear finally at 1400 after China went off. Not a bad signal with W in Korean then MOR Korean song. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. 9100, CLANDESTINE (SOUTH KOREA). Echo of Hope Fairly strong with W announcer in Korean at 2109, but of course mixing it up with the ute here. Magnificent signal like a local at 2228 with M and W in Korean with mentions of Kim Jong [sic]. 20 Dec. 4885, CLANDESTINE (SOUTH KOREA), Echo of Hope. 1255 short Gregorian chant-like vocal and W with ”VOH” ID, then another announcement by W with at least 3 “VOH” IDs. Still audible at 1354 with “VOH” IDs again. Was still there at 1410 but there was a white noise jammer making it very difficult to detect audio. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 4885, Dec 28 at 1529, VP music at S5 = band noise level, but late for Echo of Hope still to be audible, weaker than 5025 Cuba; 107 minutes after LSR here at 1342 UT, a week before latest of 1344 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 11970, Radio Kuwait in DRM digital outlet transmission, 05- 08 UT, S=9+5dB sidelobe into southern Germany. 10.2 kHz wideband signal block visible. At 0643 UT on Dec 30. Log of Dec 30 of 0630-0730 UT- in southern Germany location, [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DXLD) Is that in Arabic or English?? Years ago 05-08 UT was an English block on AM (gh) ** LAOS [non]. 7530, CLANDESTINE, Suab Xaa Moo Zoo 2233-2235 “Hark the Herald Angel Sings”, 2236 M announcer in Hmong, then what sounded like a segment recorded outdoors. 2237 tune-out. One of the best signals heard. 20 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro- DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 100 kW, 250 degrees from Tamsui district, TAIWAN, per NDXC Aoki (gh) ** MADAGASCAR. 17730, Dec 27 at 1549, JBA carrier. Surely RHC would be stronger by now, and that`s the only thing listed in NDXC/Aoki checked first. But HFCC and EiBi remind us now there is also AWR in Hindi via Madagascar at 1530-1600 (plus English at 1600-1630 allegedly including `Wavescan` on Sundays). 17775 KVOH is also a JBAC at this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very good signal here in NB from World Christian Broadcasting, KNLS (Madagascar World Voice), in Chinese, this afternoon on 11610 kHz at 2110 UT. Supposedly beamed to Europe. Why? Perhaps also good coverage in Africa where China has a lot of citizens working on various aid projects (-- Richard Langley, Dec 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WCB Madagascar World Voice KNLS New Life Station Dec 30 1800-1900 9570 MWV 100 kW / 355 deg to EaEu Russian tx#1, very good 1900-2000 9810 MWV 100 kW / 355 deg to EaEu Russian tx#2, very good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/wcb-madagascar-world-voice-knls-new_31.html WCB Madagascar World Voice African Pathways Radio, Dec 30: 1800-1900 17640 MWV 100 kW / 310 deg to WeAf English tx#2, good/weak http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/wcb-madagascar-world-voice-african.html WCB Madagascar World Voice Radio Feda on Dec 30 1900-2000 11945 MWV 100 kW / 355 deg to N/ME Arabic tx#1, good 2000-2100 11945 MWV 100 kW / 355 deg to N/ME Arabic tx#1, good 2200-2300 11790 MWV 100 kW / 325 deg to NoAf Arabic tx#1, good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/wcb-madagascar-world-voice-radio-feda_31.html WCB Madagascar World Voice The Light of Life, Dec 30 2100-2200 11610 MWV 100 kW / 325 deg to WeEu Chinese tx#1, good 2200-2300 9490 MWV 100 kW / 055 deg to EaAs Chinese tx#2, good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/wcb-madagascar-world-voice-light-of_31.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 30-31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MARSHALL ISLANDS. 1098 kHz, R. Marshalls (V7AB), Majuro, Marshall Islands, 25 kW. This station was very strong in Kona with its island music every night, and rarely had any Asian co-channels. S9 Island music and native language speech (and possible ID) across the 0700 TOH on 12-17 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/plc05sfu6nffulhpaq64v4nzs2jzm7ow Equally strong island music and native speech at 0813 on 12-18 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/9se2sxv5nx0x56hja0hy4h9l1vwdmd61 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (DXing at the Royal Kona Motel with a 7.5" loopstick C.Crane Skywave Ultralight+, 5 inch (127mm) "Frequent Flyer" FSL antenna (Demo video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRaOnWS-5Ig Dec 31, IRCA via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6185, R. Educación. Excellent signal at 2344 with Ranchera music nonstop all the way to 0001. 0001-0003 choral NA, then nice full canned ID by W with frequencies and QTH, then back to Ranchera music. About the best ever heard at this time. 19/20 Dec. 6185.02, R. Educación. Audible at times. Thought I had Turkey in Italian at 1510 but it wasn't sounding parallel to what I had on a web receiver in Greece. The only other thing I could see that it could have been was Educacion. So I tried a web receiver in TX, and sure enough, it was parallel. 1531 with W then M in Spanish on peaks. W still audible on peak at 1546, and M at 1551 and 1556, same as on the TX web receiver. Never heard R. Educacion at this time of day before. Signal visible in the display throughout the day even after China came on at 2000 (Educacion was slightly off frequency.). 29 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) I have detected its carrier at least in the afternoons, long before *2300 or *0000 nominal sign-on, but never a trace around sunrise. Definitely signs off circa 0600 (DST: 0500) (gh, ibid.) ** MEXICO. 1060, XERDO La Raza 1060, Reynosa, Tamaulipas. 1206 December 24, 2017. Canned "La Raza 10-60" by man between Mexi-tunes. 1110, XERED, Radio Red, México, DF. 0739 December 27, 2017. Male Mexico political talk, WBT mostly nulled, but some Radio Angulo still present. 1120, MEXICO, unidentified. 0805 December 27, 2018. Presume a Mexican, tough not positive however nothing US appears to fit the format. Mostly Spanish romantic ballads, roughly pointing SSW/NNE and some KMOX co-channel still. Brief breaks 0929, 0937 and 0948, a couple times seemed to mention "La Invasora" or similar, though may not have been a slogan (and no Mexican or other Latin Americans located with that slogan). Audible daily until around 1200 fade. On December 28, Spanish male and female chatter, one Mexi-tune from 1147. No Mexican anthem noted 1000, 1100 or 1200 thus far (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop unless otherwise stated, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT this week --- including DTV This one's a bit historical, but I think it's worth sharing given that this station probably was a headache for whoever was in charge of making callsigns for second-wave migration... While there are 25 dual-callsign FM pairs, there is just one on AM, and it is deliberate. While XEWA had been operating in San Luis Potosí since 1948, the XEWA in Monterrey was not given the green light until May 1961. (The two stations were connected into the 21st century, though today they are very much separate but co-owned entities. Televisa Radio does not even directly operate the SLP station.) The callsign originally given to XEWA/Monterrey was XEWM-AM. This should raise some eyebrows — that callsign had to bounce around quite a bit! It was originally awarded in 1955 for what became XETAB (and is now XHTAB-FM) in Villahermosa. This callsign was in use there through at least 1959. By 1969, the XEWM calls had moved from Monterrey (if they were ever there long) to San Cristóbal de las Casas for the launch of what is today's XHWM-FM. Since XHEWA is already taken for the SLP station, this one should have an interesting callsign. XHWAM (or XHEWAM?) would make sense if the procedure for creating these was identical to Cofetel-era migration. Stations like XHNAQ (already an XHENA) and a few southeastern cases, like XHROOC, XHMET, XHFCY, XHCANQ and XHAC/Camp., got their new calls by adding a letter to represent the city or state. (Even though XHROO, XHEME, etc. were available, this was done a bunch in the southeast.) (Raymie Humbert, Phoenix AZ, Dec 28, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Most of the 13 winners of IFT-6 had their identities known by now, but not one: Radio-Televisión Digital de Nayarit. With the publication of ownership information for IFT-6's winners, much like was done earlier for IFT-4, we now know that RTDN is co- owned by José Antonio Rodríguez Tello and Diego Nieto González. It is worth noting that the company had previously been referred to as Radio-Televisión de Nayarit. http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/industria/espectro-radioelectrico/television/2016/6/cuadroaccionarioift-6.pdf Rodríguez Tello has a history in communications in Nayarit. His site, NTV (formerly known as Nayarit en Línea), is a news portal and online TV channel. http://www.ntv.com.mx/ He also was once the director general of the Sistema de Radio y Televisión de Nayarit — the state network, not to be confused with the new TV company — and for a time in the late 2000s ran the Álica Medios stations in Tecuala and Puerto Vallarta. Additionally, he was the press secretary for Governor Antonio Echevarría Domínguez when he took office in 1999 and spent four years as an El Universal correspondent. Nieto González owns Nieto Constructora, S.A. de C.V., which competes for public sector construction contracts. The company, while founded and headquartered in Cuernavaca, seems to have taken an interest in Nayarit in recent years, with new contracts there. http://www.nietoconstructora.com/ (Raymie Humbert, Phœnix AZ, Dec 29, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) 2017 was a year to be bombarded with news, and the world of Mexican broadcasting was certainly no exception. It was a year shaped by the two biggest station auctions in the country’s history, which marked a historic opening of commercial radio and television for the first time in more than two decades. However, the radio auction lost much of its luster due to anticompetitive activity by one bidder. That wasn’t all. In September alone, a succession crisis at the IFT and two earthquakes rocked the industry. New stations also began to hit the FM band by way of direct awards and the second—and likely last—wave of AM-FM migration. There were plenty of format changes, including some national-level ruptures, and some broadcasting milestones. Licitación The year’s dominating stories were IFT-4 and IFT-6, the historic radio and television auctions. IFT-4 only concluded late in November, while IFT-6 is nominally still going but is far more settled at this point than its radio sibling. The IFT-4 auction took place in February and ultimately adjudicated 114 FM and 27 AM stations. Of the 191 FM and 66 AM frequencies on offer, about a third met with absolutely no interest whatsoever. However, a malicious bidder was the primary story in the radio auction. Tecnoradio, S.A. de C.V., was a nobody that some people thought had ties to Grupo ACIR and that others linked to a former IMER head. But when Javier Tejado Dondé’s column broke the truth in May, the seeds were sown not only for their disqualification but for criminal and economic competition investigations. Tecnoradio, which won more than 30 stations, had astronomical bids and had driven the prices up in other lots of the auction. It turned out that the company was the unholy brainchild of Alí Eduardo Bañuelos, who had won federal auctions before to produce TV sets for the digital transition. His wife, Viviana “Vivis” Toscano, is from the Pérez Toscano family that runs Audiorama, one of the increasingly present familial divisions of Radiorama. RR could not compete in the auction directly as a consequence of another economic competition investigation. The very high bids also meant that some stations that should have gone to other parties were declined. Most notably, Grupo Radio Centro, competing as Promotora de Éxitos, backed out of two stations in Acapulco that ultimately went vacant and a frequency in Chetumal. GRC did win stations in Cancún — arguably the jewel in the crown — as well as at Campeche. Tourist destinations were among the most coveted frequencies in the auction, and Quintana Roo’s own Acustik Media, doing business as Escápate al Paraíso, picked up more than half of the new AM frequencies, with which it plans to build a national network. Most concessions were awarded in July, and ex-pirate XHPVAT-FM 88.3 Maravatío went into the record books for being on air just three days after getting its official paperwork. The next known sign-on did not occur until September, when the two stations in Guachochi, Chihuahua, signed on the air. IFT-6 went much more smoothly, but its controversy was over a winner that actually got something: Albavisión, the company of Ángel González, which won 12 stations trading as Telsusa Televisión México. Other big winners were Multimedios and Francisco Aguirre Gómez in Mexico City. Three other notable parties competed and won in both auctions. Grupo Zócalo nabbed a Monclova radio station, now on air, and a Saltillo TV station. The Tribuna papers obtained FM-TV clusters in La Paz, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta, while Radio Operadora Pegasso, revealed to be one of three winning radio bidders associated with the Torres Corzo family of San Luis Potosí and its GlobalMedia broadcasting business, won the San Luis VHF TV station and radio stations in surrounding states. Stations are now on air in a few areas from IFT-4. Many more should come on the air for 2018, along with IFT-6’s television stations, just in time for a hectic and unsettled electoral year. Who’s the President? Politics was also the reason for the IFT’s succession crisis, which broke out in September and was not resolved for weeks. The Senate refused to immediately reconfirm Gabriel Contreras as the head of the agency, and per the agency’s organic law, the oldest commissioner, Adriana Labardini, took the reins. It was not until early October, after a lengthy series of hearings with the commissioners vying for the role, that the Senate, in a vote marred by allegations of ballot box stuffing, returned Contreras to the top job. As an electoral year approaches, political pressures are only going to increase at Insurgentes Sur. Labardini’s term ends in February 2018, requiring a new commissioner to be confirmed to the post. That ball is already rolling. Additionally, a draft law that would stiffen penalties against pirate broadcasters, which is being decried by community radio and human rights activists, sits in the legislature and has the approval of broadcaster-aligned deputies (and probably senators). Second-Wave Migration In July, 41 stations in all got the green light to take FM frequencies that had not been available prior to the change of station spacing to 400 kHz. All but one were commercial broadcasters, with the notable exception being Radio Educación, soon to transmit on 96.5 to Mexico City. The stations include two in Mexico City, as well as outlets in Guadalajara, Puebla, and Monterrey, and in some border cities. The first second-wave migrant, XHCH-FM Toluca (89.3, formerly XECH-AM 1040), began testing in October and began program service November 6. XHCH and the other 40 stations (which could potentially be the other 38 in actuality, due to nonpayment by two potential migrants in Puebla) will be required to transmit in HD Radio as a condition of migration; along with the 50 stations in IFT-4 that committed to HD Radio in order to obtain a scoring bonus, the number and distribution of IBOC-enabled stations in Mexico should improve considerably in the coming months. In terms of formats, some second-wave stations, particularly talkers, are jettisoning their existing programming for music. Examples include (probably) XHECD-FM 92.9 Puebla, which will flip to La Romántica on migration, and XEOK in Monterrey, which is to shed its talk shows for Radio Disney. Community Radio There were many community radio assignments made in 2017, along with a handful of public and untyped social stations. In just three months, two stations were greenlit for the Juchitán, Oaxaca, area. Guna Caa Yuni Xhiña, A.C., received XHGCY-FM 106.1 “Órbita Digital”, while Yati Ne Casti, A.C. also jumped into the fray with a community station. That brings the total in the region to three. There were quite a few others, particularly in Oaxaca and Michoacán. The highest profile community station can thank second-wave migration for its existence. The same process that identified those available frequencies found 22 of them in the Article 90 reserved band, including 106.1 Mexico City. In August, Alianza por el Derecho Humano de las Mujeres a Comunicar, A.C., won the concession, and XHCDMX-FM “Violeta Radio” is slated to take to the airwaves early next year. It is the first community station for Mexico City proper and the first feminist community station in the country. Also in the Mexico City area but not in Mexico City itself, XHNEZ-FM 97.3 won an amparo to get a concession in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, and XHCHAL-FM was given the go for 98.9 MHz as the first radio service in Chalco, a pair of municipalities with a population greater than 700,000. Format News The format story of 2017 came in the summer, when Grupo Audiorama cut all ties to Televisa Radio and changed formats at the majority of its stations as a result. Ke Buena and Los 40 were replaced, or shuffled around, with Audiorama’s own La Bestia Grupera and Súper brands in the same categories. This change likely occurred amid the backdrop of the realignment between the companies and Televisa Radio’s incursion into Ensenada, where Audiorama previously had a Los 40 station, in IFT-4. Format changes were noted from Chetumal to Tijuana. Audiorama was also the epicenter of effects to radio from the September 19 earthquake, centered near the Morelos-Puebla state line. The collapse of the ten-story Torre Latinoamericana in Cuernavaca, home to Audiorama’s Cuernavaca transmitter and studio facilities, knocked XHCM and XHNG off air for six days. In the same city, XHTIX was forced to broadcast from MVS Radio’s studios for a time and also spent several days off air. Another 2017 theme was the expansion of Grupo Larsa Comunicaciones outside Sonora. In addition to an HD3 and FM translator in Tucson, Arizona, they picked up the Radiorama (División Pergom) cluster in Mexicali and XHRAW-FM in Ciudad Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas. In typical Larsa fashion, they wasted no time putting Toño on the air in those markets (Raymie, Dec 29, ibid.) Surely Mexico is the broadcast story of 2017. Awesome work capturing it! I am curious - is there anything along the lines of a master list of AM stations that have signed off and moved to FM? (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, Dec 29, ibid.) I have a list of AM stations that have continuity obligations — i.e. they must stay on AM. I don't have a list of stations that have left. What is this for? It is also worth noting that some AM frequencies are being brought back into use with the stations awarded in IFT-4. Additionally, this year two Combos of '94 closed their AM frequencies and went FM-only. These are XEZS Coatzacoalcos, which made deal of turning off its AM transmitter, and XEVU in Mazatlán, which was discovered to have surrendered its AM authorization in June. It is also believed that XECSV Coatza is gone for good but on the books, as XEZS's shutdown was described as the closure of the last AM in town. (Raymie, ibid.) Realizing fairly recently that I did not know a couple of pretty powerful Mexico City stations had departed. I was presuming 0000/0600 anthems to be those stations when in fact they had gone silent, to FM, and I should have waited for whatever might have IDed. I'll often sweep the band at 0000 / 0600 central time looking for anthems. I think the stations were 790 and 1030. Wondering if there are others in my logbook that are now silent (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, ibid.) The case of 790/1030/1150 in Mexico City is not migration. Grupo Radio Centro shut the stations down, presumably to save on operating costs, and consolidated the programming onto its other two AMs (690 and 1110). It has also been reported that the land under the sticks has been sold for development. The only commercial migrant to FM in Mexico City is 1560, which seeing as it has spent more time off than on in the last decade, serves to create a brand-new radio station. 1060 will also migrate but will do everything it can to get that frequency on a new concession. Honestly, I really should have put that in the year-ender (Raymie, ibid.) Would that explain why Radio Red 1110 has been ultra strong this fall- winter? Heard more and better than usual? (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, ibid.) Huh? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8ulLDGYQkrI In all fairness, your reception could well be Aurora-related. We are exempt down here! Be that as it may --- that wattage claim --- yeah, right. (/sarcasm) cd (Chris Dunne, Pembroke Pines FL, Dec 30, ibid.) Season hasn't been terribly auroral at all. I'm finding a somewhat general improved reception of this station (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, Dec 30, ibid.) The final pre-RPC edition of the IFT tables says 100/50. The whole AM removal thing also smacks not only of cost cutting but potentially economic competition (or, in more usual English, antitrust) issues. Remember that GRC has 53.7% audience share in Mexico City. While it has been the audience leader in the capital since 1970, according to its BMV annual report (thanks for being publicly traded!), this has been the best decade in its existence. In 2011, it topped 50% audience share for the first time ever. XEQR-FM alone has more listener share than Televisa Radio, the next-best group (16.9 versus 16.7 percent). Mexico City, in turn, is the largest radio market in the country, about 35% of the national market. Not only is it extremely populous (metro area comparable in population to New York), but it has a high human development index and is the residence of many of the national power brokers and the political, financial and media capital of the country, which is to say it probably skews more ABC+ than other large markets. (Imagine New York City if it were the capital of the United States. You might see why there's something of a national media bubble.) One of the biases this generates is that volumes are written about national and about Mexico City-area broadcasting matters. Tons of ink was spilled this year on the migration of XEINFO, for instance, and on the award of Violeta Radio. But broadcasting news from the provincia rarely merits national attention. Here are some of the stories this year that did get it (I sampled El Universal): -Outcry over format changes at the Nuevo León state network FM in Monterrey. The reason was that it looked political, and Jaime "El Bronco" Rodríguez is running as an independent for the presidency in 2018. -Radio announcer killed while leaving his station in Morelos. This fits into the whole "Mexico is deadly for journalists" category. (Another thing that barely missed the year-ender, largely because the victims come more from newspapers than broadcasting, and it's not of direct import to DXers.) -The Audiorama tower collapse in Cuernavaca after the earthquake. Even then, this was a mention in a larger item about devastation in Morelos and Puebla. -The call to get a concession that became XHGCY. Again, this was preceded by a natural disaster and ORC (the community radio association backing Guna Caa Yuni Xhiña) correctly used that moment to draw attention to their pending application. It was approved by month's end. Other stories are more industry-based (what do kids listen to), revolved around IFT-4 (which had several political-ish strands), or were technical in nature. You might see what makes this space different. My technical approach to stories (like the XHDD authorization that amounted to a Monterrey move-in), heavy reading of documents, and emphasis on what goes on outside Mexico City all give me a different flavor compared to even the specialized media (Raymie, Dec 30, ibid.) Quote Originally Posted by Jim Thomas: ``One clarification regarding Brazil - I understand that migrating to AM is strictly voluntary and not mandatory. Almost 600 stations have migrated to FM, NOT the 1,391 stations requesting the migration, as cited previously. The MCTIC still has to approve all migrations and some are just not logistically possible. SO - there will still be an active AM radio band in Brazil for some time to come`` AM-FM migration in Mexico was similarly voluntary, but everyone wanted it. There are a few stations, though, that did not migrate despite probably being able to if they wanted (e.g. there was space on FM). These include: XERSV 810 AM in Ciudad Obregón XEGL 1270 AM in Navojoa, Son. XEIX and XERNB in Sahuayo, Mich. XERY in Arcelia, Gro. (renounced migration auth), and probably their sister XEXY Cd. Altamirano XEDJ 1450 AM in Magdalena de Kino, Son.* (shuttered either in 2004 or 2007) Another, XEQC 1390 in Puerto Peñasco, had an auth and everything but never built out the facilities or renewed its concession. XEDJ is a zombie on the books — though I personally suspect its concession, which most recently would have expired January 8, 2017, may not have been renewed (Raymie, Dec 31, ibid.) How are you spending the new year? If you're Luis Fernando Álvarez Laso, concessionaire for XHPACP-FM 97.1, you're waiting to hear from the IFT so that you can start broadcasting. https://www.elsoldepuebla.com.mx/estado/espera-radio-texmex-aprobacion-del-ift-para-iniciar-transmisiones With its comparatively high profile and existing internet presence, XHPACP "Radio TexMex" has been among the easiest stations to track in this post-IFT-4 landscape. We've had a good amount of technical information on this, the first commercial radio station in Acatlán (a second, XHPAOS 94.5 from Grupo Acustik Media, is not too far behind). All the transmitting equipment is ready — some of it had to be transported up the mountain by a team of 10 burros because no vehicle could make the trek. TexMex is hoping to get the green light by the end of the month. ——— There was also some programming news related to Acustik that dropped yesterday. Acustik's media empire not only includes those new radio stations (and a pirate and questionable social wolf) but a new cable channel, and they signed high-profile media personality Víctor Trujillo (known as "El Brozo", previously of Televisa) to be part of the new TV and radio venture. His program will debut January 15. https://twitter.com/Omar_AguilarG/status/947916619493335040 There's also now an @AcustikNoticias Twitter account, which somehow has 1 million followers. I think this might explain it... https://twitter.com/RaymieX/status/948285054442024960 Last edited by Raymie; 01-03-2018 at 12:46 PM. Reason: corr name of concessionaire Este programa es público, ajeno a cualquier partido político. Queda prohibido el uso para fines distintos a los establecidos en el programa [tagline] (Raymie, originally Jan 2, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5914.98, Myanmar R. (presumed) Signal with 1 kHz test tone from 2315 tune-in to 2325. Weak signal mixing with slightly stronger presumed CRI. Couldn’t really confirm any audio, but the frequency being slightly off, and the test tone should be a dead give-away. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5985, Myanmar Radio, 1241-1252, Dec 27. The Wednesday edition of the English language lesson "Say It In English"; today about having some film dropped off to be developed. A repeat of the Monday show. 1542-1547, Wednesday edition of VOA program "The Benefits of Baby Talk"; transcript and audio streaming of today's show at http://goo.gl/UfeC7W (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Dec 28 - Good news! Myanmar still carries the NHK production of "Friends Around the World," but now only on Thursdays. Noted today at 1542, on 5985, with a show about the Glory Gospel Singers from New York. Myanmar has dropped the repeat Friday show and replaced that with their own "Friday evening music program." Glad to find at least one day that still has this interesting NHK production. 5985, Myanmar Radio, on Dec 30, at 1539 with the usual Saturday program about ASEAN, during their segment in English (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR [and non]. Reception of Myanmar Radio in English on Dec 29: 1530-1700 on 5985 YAN 025 kW / 176 deg to SEAs English, fair signal * co-ch same 5985 BEI 500 kW / 257 deg to CEAf Swahili CRI from 1600 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-myanmar-radio-in-english.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 28-29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. 6150, Dec 31 at 0001, The Mighty KBC via GERMANY has just started, rock music underway, VG S9+10/20 on new frequency, ex-5960 where there is nothing. No QRM ACI or CCI to affect 6150 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Huge here right now on 6150 (Jay Novello, Wake Forest NC, 0122 Dec 31, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good reception into Kyiv Ukraine using a Kaito 1103 receiver, although was there someone cochannel (an Indian station, perhaps)? (Walt Salmaniw, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, ibid.) The new Mighty KBC frequency of 6150 kHz for the Sunday 0000-0200 UTC broadcast was somewhat of a bust for me. Overall poor to barely fair (at times). Nauen has a strong S9 +10dB signal. Unfortunately, there is something around 6151 kHz causing severe QRM with what sounds like wind blowing thru a tunnel or blowing thru a hole. Can't win --- no luck. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) ? Such QRM Not heard here or in any other reports; maybe something local to Manassas, or at least temporary? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. GERMANY(non)[sic], Dutch Pirate Studio 52 will be on air via MBR Issoudun: 1200-1400 on 5970 ISS 500 kW / 021 deg to WeEu Dutch/English on Jan 1 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/dutch-pirate-studio-52-will-be-on-air.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 28-29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 7390, UT Dec 31 at 1404, RNZ National via RNZ Pacific, national weather forecast, one hour later will have coastal FC; 1305 All-Night Programme, plugging `Science in Axion`, presumably de BBC, at ``3:30`` = 1430 UT, review of 2017y. But first, a short story. It is already 2018y per NZ clox even discounting the pretend-extra DST hour they have cribbed, never mind the Dateline (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NICARAGUA. 1120, Radio CEPAD, Managua. 1103 December 30, 2017. Tune-in to male "Buenos días, Radio CEPAD." Long talk by same guy, mention of Managua, some fades and trades with KMOX despite using the portable loop. Inspirational talk, slow Spanish gospel 1144, same guy with "Buenos días Nicaragua, Radio CEPAD" at 1146, tenor vocal, Mexican-ish vocal at 1150, telephoned female chatter with the announcer at 1152. Pretty much clobbered at 1155 sign-on by WKCE, though still weak underneath. This may or may not be the same as my December 27th, 0805 GMT station. However, the Radio CEPAD barely website states they are on air 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. local, and if that's true then I may have heard the end of an opening announcement. From their website, it's the "voz oficial del Consejo de Iglesias Evangélicas Pro-Alianza Denominacional." Looks like a Christian-based, community oriented station, active since at least 1992. The WRTH lists a slogan as "El Arco Iris del Amor" though nothing like that heard. Nice to have caught a new Nic from here (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 7255-, Dec 27 at 0627, no signal from VON during the Hausa hour which when on amounts to a North American service. 7254.921, Dec 28 at 0645, VON is back on tonight, S9+20/30 in Hausa toward North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Log of Michigan-US state remote SDR: 7254.923, Voice of Nigeria, Abuja, in French at 0711 UT on Dec 30. News cast. Excellent repair work of Bodo technician at Abuja and Kaduna in past November, nice audio modulation at S=9+25dB strength into North America. At 0715 UT started special Noël-program with "Holy Night" singer group. But suffered ute QRM here in Europe target of 250 Hertz apart distance fast speed machine signal of S=7 strength, on exact 7253.880 and 7254.130 kHz at 0715 UT [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DXLD) 7255-, Jan 1 at 0630, VON in Hausa, but sounds like English underneath: yes, voice-over NY message from some official, tail in English heard for a few seconds without Hausa; then a bit of military band music but cut off abruptly, resuming studio talk; S9+30 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. 11530, Dec 31 at 0714, African music, VP, so R. Herwa International is now on as finally admittedly on the latest WRMI sked update; also at 1930 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Herwa International via WRMI on 11530 kHz. Good signal. A lot of indigenous music. Transmitter came on late at about 1934 UT. Went off a second or so before 2000. All of these signals noted indoors with a portable using its whip antenna (-- Richard Langley, NB, date not stated, and yg archive search not up to date, dxldyg via DXLD) FRANCE, Radio Herwa International via TDF Issoudun on Dec 28 1930-2000 on 9580 ISS 100 kW / 170 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri, weak // frequency 11530 YFR 100 kW / 087 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri, poor http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-radio-herwa-international_29.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 28-29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) FRANCE, Radio Herwa International via TDF Issoudun on Dec 31 1930-2000 on 9580 ISS 100 kW / 170 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri, poor http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/reception-of-radio-herwa-international.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 31-Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 5010, PIRATE (NA). Pirate Radio Newport (relay). 2120-2157 very good signal with Rock music including 2129-2139 “Stranglehold” by Ted Nugent. 2140 M announcer with what seemed to be a full list of songs played in the show to that point, and ID, then LP by The Scorpions. 27 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6940-USB, PIRATE (NA) Yeti R. Just caught the last couple minutes of the broadcast. 2043 “I’m a Believer” by The Monkeys, followed by “Ruby Tuesday” at 2044 and “Angie” at 2045 by the Rolling Stones. 2046 M announcer in heavy special effect with announcement “The ??? FCC. My name is Yeti. This is Yeti Radio”. Couldn’t ID until someone responded to my post on HF Underground. Fairly good, clear and almost no QSB. 19 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6950, PIRATE (North America). Molester Stair numbers station, 2155, 12/30/17. Brother Stair with a variety of random numbers, occasionally asking for an air check. Funny parody. Poor (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, Perseus, SDRPlay; Eton E1, ICOM R75, Tecsun PL 880, and various other portables; 42 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, W6LVP loop, NASWA Flashsheet via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6940-USB, Dec 29 at 0047, unID pirate, S9 rap music, maybe some brief DJ talkovers, but stops at 0050*, no announcement. No reports on HF Underground, but maybe related to these 6940 logs which ended earlier at 2338 Dec 28: https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,39519.0.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6940-DSB, AM? Heard both on USB and LSB, but LSB weaker. A reduced carrier? It`s unstable, fluxuating with modulation. Maybe it`s the electronica music at certain prolonged tones/pitches which seems to form a carrier. Past 2300 Dec 29 with no announcements; 2307 hip hop with some vocals. 2320 ID only once when I am not expecting it, and can`t copy first word but ``something, Radio`` by synth OM voice. I don`t think it`s Clever Name Radio this time. Multiple logs here say it called itself ``Unidentified Radio``. https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,39538.0.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6930-USB, Dec 30 at 2229, martial music at S4-S6, sounds German; 2233 ID as ``Radio USA, with a Nazi holiday``, more lofi band music, maybe authentic from the era, instrumental and some choral; if Horst Wessel Lied is included, I do not recognize it. 2238 fading, losing to local HNL, but R75 noise blanker helps. 2247 ``Nazi Christmas on Radio USA`` but never heard any carols. 2252 says something about Ohio, ID again, and greeting to ``the Grand Wizard of the Missouri Ku Klux Klan, sieg-heil!`` and some more music; 2254 fading more, longer announcement mentioning ``500 hours``? Maybe another broadcast time? Brief rendition of ``Deutschland über Alles``, and off just before 2257*. Then a few seconds of ``running water``, coincidental? Now I look up what others have reported on HFU: https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,39558.0.html Classified as a parody; one guy IDed most of the music, and it was 500 dollars, not hours, for a T-shirt (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6950-USB, Jan 1 at 2132, pirate with rock, S8-S9 vs local HNL, soon ID as Radio Free What-ever, only found this after tip about something on 6925, unfound; says he is pro-Yaesu, picks on Icoms; acknowledges posters on HFU. ``FCC knows where I am, locked & loaded``, 2135 music, doze, off at 2200*. Many other logs: https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,39609.0.html I need to tune for winterpirates even earlier in afternoon, but I wonder why none of them ever seem to operate later in the evening after 01 or 02? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. December 31, 2017, 6940 USB hearing from tune-in at 2055 UT, Screaming "songs", rap and rock, OM with ID "You're listening to Unidentified Radio 6 9 Forty" and "You're listening to Unidentified Radio which is a clever name for an unknown radio station. Request lines are open.". However, neither phone number nor email address given. Signal barely heard to very good with abrupt signal apparently off at times. Based on the name, new pirate for me. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. Yeah Man Radio, 6925.72 kHz, from 2050 tune-in. Male with music by Maceo Parker, James Brown. Good signal, with occasional deep fades. The carrier is a bit unsteady, so a synchronous detector, if you have one, is better than ECSSB (Art Delibert, N. Bethesda MD, NRD-545 rcvr, Pennant antenna with DX Engineering pre- amp, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. 362 kHz, Dec 27 at 0650 UT, quick visit to NDB band finds OWP barely audible, but pretty sure of ID after a dozen iterations - dxinfocentre.com shows it`s at OK`s William Pogue airport, Sand Springs (near Tulsa) (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1000, Jan 2 at 0700 UT as I tune past KTOK OKC, ToH ID says they are also on KXXY 96.1 HD2. Not shown in the NRC AM Log; in fact, seems it does not get into such details as FM subchannel duplicates of AM stations, just main channels, translators or not (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The database for the AM Radio Log is able to track licensed entities that are included in the amq and fmq that is maintained by the FCC. The FCC doesn't have an easily trackable sub channel downloadable database available. Therefore, for a one man shop, virtually impossible to track. 73 (Wayne Heinen, Editor AM Radio Log, ibid.) Hi Wayne, I want to make clear that such a comment is not meant as criticism, just stating a fact. I know it is a huge task you have volunteered to maintain. Maybe like other info reported by monitors, you could add it where appropriate, with the clear understanding that it is not complete info from official sources. That, like notations of the few stations that have been discovered to be SSB, could be very helpful clues in IDing DX. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) Glenn, I have thought of that in the past but then the rather of the masses when things change and I am not aware of it is hardly worth the trouble! 73 (Wayne Heinen, Editor AM Radio Log, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. [Re USA: 1510 KCKK:] Hi Kit. When I was at KOMA in the mid 1970s, we were locked into an insane Top 40 loudness battle with WKY. Storz bought one of Mike Dorrough's DAP boxes, and for good measure we added a Pacific Recorders Modulimiter. In addition to that, Continental modified our 317 C to include a diode clamp on the negative peaks. Back then, there was no NRSC mask as we know it today. KOMA was easily 15 kHz wide and compressed enough that the jocks wouldn't dare take a breath, out of fear of being sucked into the transmitter and flung off the towers. I don't know how much of that stuff remained in the 1980s, but I can tell you that array sprayed about 110,000 Watts to the North, and it was true firebreathing Monster. Thanks for the memories! 73, (Mike Gorniak, MN, ABDX via DXLD) For what it's worth, up until about 10 years ago, KOMA/KOKC was one of the most un-nullable signals on the dial here in San Diego, the other being the old KMIK-1580 when it was still 50kW at night. Those two were actually harder to null than most of my locals! 73 (Tim Hall, Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone, ibid.) Oh yes, Mike, in Cedar Falls it took a deep auroral cx's to knock out super pest KOMA. they were indeed just as much of a pest as KAAY was. (Todd Skaine, IA/MN, ibid.) ** OKLAHOMA. Earthquake felt at WOR HQ in Enid, a few seconds of horizontal shaking and creaking, UT Dec 29 at 0445:14. In a few minutes, USGS shows it as: 4.1 20km ENE of Hennessey, Oklahoma 2017-12-29 04:45:00 (UTC) 5.0 km And an aftershock which we did not feel: 2.5 21km ENE of Hennessey, Oklahoma 2017-12-29 05:21:55 (UTC) 2.0 km As often happens, revised later, as of 1545 UT and adding another, to: 2.6 21km E of Hennessey, Oklahoma 2017-12-29 06:03:27 (UTC) 4.8 km 2.5 21km ENE of Hennessey, Oklahoma 2017-12-29 05:21:55 (UTC) 2.0 km 3.8 20km ENE of Hennessey, Oklahoma 2017-12-29 04:44:59 (UTC) 5.0 km First figure is magnitude, last figure is depth. So it took 14-15 seconds to reach here. Epicenter is quite close to the KZLS-1640 transmitter site, but it remained on air, ops normal. EQ no doubt due to fracking/wastewater injexion (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 7805.62-LSB approx., distorted ham net with roll call, unstable. I figure it`s second harmonic from 80m band, rather than spur out of 40m band, and sure enough, it`s from 3903.00-LSB, so why isn`t the harmonic on exactly 7806? NCS never gives call but at S9+40/50 could be next door in Enid! Only his signal is heard on harmonic, so I continue listening on 3903. Stations called by first name, callsign and town, seemingly all in OK except for one near Denison TX across the Red River. Many but not all reply with friendly personal greetings. Obviously these guys have known each other for a long time. Some give local temps in the F teens or less, e.g. 9 degrees in Blackwell (for me it`s 11 in Enid). NCS is addressed as Ron, and BTW there is some background noise with him. 1414 finally NCS call is WD5HUT. It`s the ``Oklahoma --- something --- Emergency Net`` as someone mentioned once in passing. ARRL/FCC Lookup shows: CLINTON, RONALD L, WD5HUT, 3415 W OKLA[homa], ENID, OK 73703; so he is only a few miles away. The final Nets To You from more than 10 years ago had this entry: ``1400 1300 3900 OKLAHOMA EMERGENCY Sunday [Has been on 3902-3903 recently due to QRM]`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. RF 27, KFOR-TV, ``4``, OKC, Dec 31 at 1700 UT flashes slide of translator callsigns, happened to be recording after `Meet the Press`, so could photograph freeze-frame. This time it`s full screen without edges cut off. Visible but blurry, some autofocus! http://www.w4uvh.net/KFORxltrs.jpg Previous capture was described in DXLD 17-47 and it`s the still the same. Both were really at 1700 UT Sunday, not 1600, so appears to be a reliable scheduling for this. Come to think of it, I have *never* seen any corresponding slides from the other OKC TV stations which also have translators; out of compliance? RF 27, Jan 2 at 2140 UT, I notice that KFOR-TV OKC now has a new subchannel, Justice, as 4.3. Logo is a J in a shield at lower-right. For a long time the only extra was Antenna TV on 4.2. Yes, Justice already shows in rabbitears.info for Market 50. If I wanted to get it on my Sanyo screen, even by direct entry, I would have to rescan the whole thing, while the Zenith STB finds it right away simply by tuning up from 4.2 on the way to 5.1 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DTV ** OKLAHOMA. Enid, 36, KZMB-LD OFF (Doug Smith, FCC News, Jan WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest via DXLD) Damn right it`s off, in fact nonexistent (gh) ** PALAU. 9960even, Furusato no Kaze in Japanese, S=9+25dB strength in Seoul. 10.8 kHz wide broadband signal, BUT SUFFER by 120 Hertz BUZZ from main power, like 3 spurious either sideband strings visible on 120 / 240 / 360 Hertz apart distance. 1436 UT [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] Log of Dec 30 of 1145-1445 UT - in southern Korea remote SDR access near Seoul capital location (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALAU. Weekend transmission of WHRI T8WH Angel 3 back on air Dec 31 1000-1300 9930 HBN 100 kW / 318 deg to EaAs English Sat/Sun, very good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/weekend-transmissions-of-whri-t8wh.html Weekend transmissions of WHRI T8WH Angel 5 back on air, Dec 31 1300-1430 9965 HBN 100 kW / 345 deg to NEAs English Sat/Sun, good/fair http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/weekend-transmissions-of-whri-t8wh_1.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 31-Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3260, NBC Madang, on Dec 31, with New Year's Eve extended two hour broadcast past their normal 1200*; at 1140 with the normal Sunday religious (Christian) songs and in Pidgin; 1207 till suddenly off at 1403* with many phone conversations and playing a few pop songs; signal slowly improving the whole time (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3260, NBC Madang, Jan 2 running later than usual (past normal 1200*); 1205 end of the "NBC News" in English; into pop music show till suddenly off at 1230* (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4764.03, R. Huanta 2000. 2323 Pop song, 2325-2332 live studio M DJ with long talk, then long ad block 2332-2340 with about 1000 mentions of Huanta. Phone #’s. One ad sounded like Quechua. Canned program intro/ID by M including other stations in network at 2340 and into presumed regional news by W announcer. Fairly decent but right on the top edge of a CODAR. 19 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** PERU. 5980. R, CHASKI. Diciembre 22. 2306- UT. Canciones navideñas. Desde las 2210 [2310?] se emite un devocional SINPO: 55454. 5980. R. CHASKI. Diciembre 24. 2318- UT. Espacio musical, luego con identificación como: Red Radio Integridad y devocional a las 2323. Después un espacio musical de Navidad hasta las 2332, cuando comienza: “Jungla semántica”. SINPO: 54454 algunos siseos provenientes de CRI 5990 [CUBA] y ruido blanco [RRI DRM and/or Cuban off-time jamming] que se va intensificando. Salida del aire a las 2325 [2335??] (Claudio Galaz; RX: TECSUN PL-660; ANT: Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, Dec 25, condiglista yg via DXLD) Too bad there is no one down there to precise time its recessing about 6.7 seconds later per diem on the autotimer cutoff. And CZ needs to proofread his time numbers (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. 6174. R. TAWANTINSUYO. Diciembre 22. 2256-2206 UT. Música de huaynos. SINPO: 53453 con marcado QRM de Radio Internacional de China en idioma portugués y luego en idioma español (Claudio Galaz; RX: TECSUN PL-660; ANT: Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, Dec 25, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 12095, FEBC. Diciembre 20. 2302-2325 UT. Via Bocaue. Música, luego desde las 2304 un hombre habla en idioma Hmong. SINPO: 45444. 12095, FEBC. Diciembre 23. 2303- 2330 UT. Via Bocaue. Espacio de música navideña. Luego habla una mujer y luego un hombre en idioma Hmong hasta las 2315. Luego un espacio de música. A las 2320 vuelve a hablar un hombre. Luego espacio musical y a las 2327, música de navidad y salida del aire a las 2330. SINPO: 45444 (Claudio Galaz; RX: TECSUN PL-660; ANT: Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, Dec 25, condiglista yg via DXLD) 9795, FEBC. 2309-2314 English language lesson in the Mon language program hosted by M and W announcers. Of course scriptures were used. And some words were spelled out such as “think” and “spoke”. Fair signal. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro- DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) [cf INDIA] But I noted today Dec 30 FEBC Tibetan half hour earlier 1300-1330 UT speedy wandered up 11825.670 PHL FEBC Bocaue in Tibetan- Khams sce - acc Aoki Nagoya database list, S=9 in Seoul, but hit heavily by China mainland jamming, on even fq. 11825 kHz. At 1309 UT S=8, the Bocaue technicians are keen {or was not desired ?} and moved fq upwards 100 Hertz step by step to 11826.840 kHz at 1321 UT. Wandered 1300 Hertz up-wards within 12 minutes What's about the other Bocaue outlet 1400-1430 UT on 11750 kHz ? Request scheduled: 11750 FEBC RADIO 1400-1430 1234567 Lahu 100 305 Bocaue PHL FEBC b17 maybe they are unstable too? 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, HCDX via DXLD) [and non]. 11825.670, FEBC Bocaue in Tibetan-Khams sce - acc Aoki Nagoya database list, S=9 in Seoul, but hit heavily by China mainland jamming, on even fq. 11825 kHz. At 1309 UT S=8, the Bocaue technicians are keen {or was not desired ?} and moved fq upwards 100 Hertz step by step to 11826.840 kHz at 1321 UT [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] Log of Dec 30 of 1145-1445 UT - in southern Korea remote SDR access near Seoul capital location (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 17700, R. Pilipinas, 0206, Dec 27; “From the presidential palace Manila, Dateline Malacañang,” info about Mindanao survey regarding satisfaction with President Duterte; this frequency much better than // 15640 or 17820. 17700, R. Pilipinas, on Jan 1, with well above average reception; very readable; 0203 montage of recordings of past presidents; 0212 - show "It's more fun in the Philippines" (tourist program); 0318 year end review of highlights from the "Dateline Malacañang” programs; special year end PBS news review (president's "War on drugs"); 0328 closing ID with the correct frequencies given; National Anthem; 0329*; this frequency much better than // 15640 or 17820 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. 7220, RRI at 2308 // 7325 with a woman with news and a man with ID at 2311 and contest info – Fair to Good with fading over CCI from CRI in Vietnamese Dec 27 – According to their website, RRI is in English on 5980 // 7220 at this hour, NOT 7220 // 7325. 5980 was not heard. What’s the point of having your sked on your website if it’s not up to date (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iogroup via DXLD) 5980 has been running in DRM, contrary to sked, not AM that hour; perhaps you overlooked the noise, or did they really turn it off, uncovering Radio Chaski? (gh, DXLD) 6130, R. Romania Int. 12/26, 0130-0150 in English, music feature of 4 songs. For about the first 6 minutes, SINFO steady 43233; DX Mailbox, then the segment People and Places. Gradual decline of reception until end of program; final SINFO 21131 Also: 12/30, 0100-0145, in English; analog SINFO 31132 for first 15 minutes before change over to Aud.N. to check out RRI Encyclopedia, which featured a history of the first automobiles used in the Romanian provinces, circa 1895-1920. Very interesting. Recheck analog at 0130, no change. All That Jazz featured holiday standards. One last check on the radio shows only slight improvement (Ronald Sives, South Plainfield, NJ, ETON field radio and 66 ft. random wire, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 7340. Dec 31, 2017 at 0212-0220, Radio Romania International, Tsiganeshti, in Romanian. Classical Music program and man announcer says Maramures Concert in program "Romania Musical". RRI has a good signal and modulation at this frequency, 45444 (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier, Cabedelo-PB, Brazil, Sony 7600GR, Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) 15430, RRI at 1143 // 15255 in French with soft piano instrumentals and a woman with ID at 1145 and into a feature – Fair to Good with some fading Dec 31 – Romania and Spain always seem to propagate to my QTH through thick and thin regardless of band conditions (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iogroup via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 6000, Adyegyan R.?? W vocalist at recording start around 1907. 1912 M announcer in east Euro language Almost like a hybrid German/Russian. 1921 M choral song like Russian Christmas song. 1924 same M announcer. W announcer joined in at 1926. 1927-1932 same song as heard at 1921. 1932-1936 M and W announcers again. 1936-1940 male chorus again. 1940 W announcer, no M. 1941 audio way down but sounded like background noise from live broadcast (entire broadcast live perhaps??). Retuned at 1948 and heard instrumental music and possibly more background noise. Midnight Mass?? Finally M and W announcers again at 1958. Test tone came on at 2000:40 to 2002:38, then OC, tone back on 2003:13 for 17 seconds, and deadair again, 2004:10 tone back, OC, and signal finally went off at 2006:40. Poor with popping audio. Fady. Fairly good on short peaks early on. Occasional thunderstorm static crashes. Now that Bro. Stair is in jail, was hoping Adygeyan R. would be in the clear and it was. Thanks to Alexandr Kostiukevich in Ukraine for his help on this. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) 6000, Adygeyan R. (presumed) Had the signal here from [sic] but not strong enough for audio. Plus there was a band of local noise between 5999-6010. Went off at 1859:35. Had it fairly well on a web receiver in the Ukraine too. 25 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) Reception of Radiocompany Adygeya/Adygeyan Radio, Dec 29: 1800-1900 on 6000 ARM 100 kW / 188 deg to CeAs Adygeyan Fri, good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/reception-of-radiocompany.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 28-29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Mass media =========== The Buzzer UVB-76 ------------------ Around the world, news was about the UVB-76 station and many of its bulletins were reprinted or printed without a source of data. As it turned out - this is fake news. * As it was in reality: - The very first was spread by a deza in an Internet fan of eavesdropping web receivers, in the VC Maxim Barsyanin: yesterday at 19:36 No buzzing https://vk.com/uvb76?w=wall-21131959_3691 Maxim does not know about the "Dead Zone" reception, about the passage of radio waves at night time on HF in the section 4-5 MHz! - The second (and the first of all Internet media) picked up and distributed Rosa de Rosa, first added the word to the title "Hackers": December 25, 2017, 00:59 Hackers broke the most mysterious radio station in Russia http://www.rosbalt.ru/russia/2017/12/25/1670872.html - Third distributed the deza Lenta.RU and added a link to two audio tapes Masyanya from "Dvacha": 04:16, December 25, 2017 Hackers broke the most mysterious radio station in Russia and shouted "Glory to Ukraine!" TJournal writes that approximately at 21:00 Moscow time on waves of "UVB-76", rap sounded in Russian, and then for a few minutes the cycle of shouting "Glory to Ukraine!" In case, the users of the anonymous image board "Dvach" also drew attention. One of the users posted two audio tapes ...... ". https://lenta.ru/news/2017/12/25/creepy/ From "TWOCHA": Anonymous. >> 2005557 The tape editor will apologize in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... (See p / l frequencies - those two recordings are completely irrelevant to the frequency of the buzzing - 4625 kHz). "HF Urohakers": https://2ch.hk/news/res/2005851.html That's the result - you need to know the propagation of radio waves on HF at night, what is on SW such a thing as "Dead Zone" and not raise in advance the boiling "the buzzing buzz went missing!" The media also "distinguished themselves" from Maxim's dezo with "VC" ... By the way, now it is very faintly audible buzzing at 4625 kHz Dutch web-receiver, where yesterday Maxim could not hear from VC and launched a dezu into VC: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ On my SDR receiver, I can hear a buzz much louder (up to 9 points, there are fadingov) than on the Dutch websphere. Bearing bearing on the buzzer is old, that is, she did not move anywhere, did not change her location. Do not pay attention to the misinformation of Maxim Borsianin with the "VC" and, accordingly, on the deuce, the gossip of several Internet media outlets. http://www.radioscanner.ru/forum/topic12415-149.html#msg1351711 (Max [UA3WAK] / "deneb-radio-dx" via Rus DX 31 Dec via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 9695, Dec 29 at 1449, awful buzzroar, no program audio from BSKSA`s Pashto bihour, 500 kW, 55 degrees from Riyadh. And also can hear the same pitch spurs circa 15-20 kHz above, in AM not SSB mode, as I first encounter it tuning downward, also on the below side. Why in the world are they broadcasting this way? Must be total incompetence (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 11745, Al-Azm Radio to Saudi forces in Yemen clash area of Huti, at 0649 UT from Jeddah. Similar S=9 signal also noted on 11860 kHz of Yemen exile Radio relay transmission too. But Al-Azm R reception suffer here in Germany, by powerhouse of adjacent CRI English from Cerrik Albania site on 11750 kHz, with extreme 20 kHz wideband visible on screen, S=9+20dB signal here in southern Germany. And some whistle tone from 11750.983 Hertz signal at S=7 level too. Log of Dec 30 of 0630-0730 UT- in southern Germany location, [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DXLD) 9695_?_, BSKSA Riyadh's Urdu service at 1420 UT, WIDE BUZZ signal, I couldn't even determine the carrier frequency exactly! S=8 sidelobe in KOR/KRE/JPN. No less than 41 spurious signals of each 120 Hertz apart distance - as 'garden fence' like, were visible on the channel, in range of 9693 to 9697 kHz [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] Log of Dec 30 of 1145-1445 UT - in southern Korea remote SDR access near Seoul capital location (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9714.978, BSKSA Saudi Radio from Riyadh, Arabic, NE/ME non-directional fountain characteristic antenna, morning scheduled 03-10 UT. S=5-6 strength even on daylight path into W Europe 0702 UT. Log of Dec 30 of 0630-0730 UT- in southern Germany location, [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SIKKIM [non-log]. 4835, AIR Gangtok. No signal on Dec 25, at 1527, Dec 26 at 1458, Dec 27 at 0112 nor at 1325 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dec 28 - At 1353, noted they were back again; checked again at 1551 and still with definite carrier on 4835.0. Happy they are back (Ron Howard, ibid.) Two nice surprises in my inbox this morning [continued from TIBET] and an e-mailed letter from AIR Gangtok on 4835 for an Aug 2 2017 reception from KiwiSDR site in Bay of Islands NZ. The Gangtok letter was signed by A. Saha, Deputy Director for Engineering. I noted that the station's e-mail address was airgtk@rediffmail.com which differs from what is listed in WRTH (gangtok@prasarbharati.gov.in). Apparently some AIR regionals use the rediffmail.com domain but not all (Bruce Churchill, CA, Dec 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4835.0, AIR Gangtok, 0058, Jan 2. Tentatively heard the AIR IS, which was later confirmed by Jim Young, listening in Southern Calif. (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA [non]. 11580, USA, Radio Slovakia International at 2100 with Martina Šimkovicová and Zuzana Botiková with a year end edition of “Listeners’ Tribune” opening with a Slovak pop song and reading a couple of letters then having all of the personalities with RSI’s English service reading letters from the “My Slovakia” contest to 2116 and into another Slovak pop song - Very Good Dec 31 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iogroup via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, SIBC (presumed), 1111 through random checking till 1221, Dec 27. Only hearing a decent level carrier, with no audio detected (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) YET, similar story to 17-52: NO LIGHTS FOR SOLOMON'S BROADCASTER THIS FESTIVE SEASON Radio NZ 27 December 2017 http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2017/december/no-lights-for-solomon-broadcaster-this-festive-season.htm#.WkQUq99l_IU The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation is reportedly struggling to stay on air after the electricity company cut power to the station because of more a than $US8,000 (8,300) unpaid bill. Its chief executive Ashley Wickham told the Solomon Star newspaper that the national broadcaster's poor financial situation was the direct result of a critical cash-flow problem with the government. Mr Wickham said he's written a complaint to the Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance about Solomon Power not knowing that the SIBC comes under the essential services act, and that it didn't care about the cash-flow situation the government was facing. Mr Wickham said the station was now running solely on generators, and its running only its short-wave service which covers the whole country. He said a live stream overnight service for its international audience is switched off at 11pm local time to allow generators to rest. Mr Wickham said if the financial situation does not improve, it would firstly look at reducing its short-wave transmission in the early morning and early evening, before beginning any process to lay-off staff. The SIBC has the furthest reach and the widest audience in rural and remote Solomon Islands' communities and gets a majority of its revenue from government. Solomon Power said any customer with an outstanding bill will face similar action (via Mike Terry, Dec 27, dxldyg via DXLD) 5020, SIBC. Dec 29, with greatly extended broadcast; 1427-1545+; non- stop pop songs (Rolling Stones with "Honky Tonk Woman," etc.); only heard a few announcers very briefly; didn't sound like a Wantok FM relay, as there were no frequent IDs, so strongly suspect this was SIBC extended programming; weak. Headed for broadcasting 24 hours today? 5020, SIBC, on Dec 31, with greatly expanded New Year's Eve broadcast; 1227 to past 1532+; some pop songs and many phone conversations; poor (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5020, SIBC, 1150-1203*, on Jan 2. Unique format without the normally heard "Evening devotional," instead pop songs up till the usual canned full ID; suddenly off after a few notes of the NA (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALILAND. 7120, R. Hargeisa. Very nice signal at 1944 tune-in with clear ID by M just as I was about to start recording. Usual station theme song, then same M with mention of Somaliland, and talk by another M with many mentions of Somaliland. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [and non]. 5890, Dec 27 at 0630, ancient BS on WWCR is singing, ``I am whiter than snow`` --- yes, we know! But I wonder what proportion of TOM cult members now are black? In SC of all places (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Cancelled frequencies of Brother HySTAIRical via US private stations WRMI: 5850, 7570, 7730, 7780, 9395, 9455, 9955, 11530, 11580 and 11825 WHRI: 5920, 6040, 7315, 7355, 9840, 15710 and 21610 kHz. Old recordings of Brother HySTAIRical TOM from the end of 80 years, continue to be broadcast via WWCR, WBCQ, WWRB & via SPL Secretland. More details may be found here. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/cancelled-frequencies-of-brother.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #1050 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Dec 31, 2017, dxldyg via DXLD) Statement on website: Attention Overcomer Listeners: Due to legal difficulties, as of January 1st, 2018, the Overcomer Ministry will not be broadcasting on AM/FM radio and Shortwave. The Overcomer Broadcast will continue on satellite and on this website stream. Overcomer Ministry – “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." (via Mike Terry, Dec 27, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) Statement on the Overcomer web site http://overcomerministry.org/ "Attention Overcomer Listeners: Due to legal difficulties, as of January 1st, 2018, the Overcomer Ministry will not be broadcasting on AM/FM radio and Shortwave. The Overcomer Broadcast will continue on satellite and on this website stream." “Legal difficulties” are not specified, it might be that broadcast contracts after 31st December had not been arranged prior to the arrest and detention of Bro Stair on 18 December. He had been appealing for donations in order to continue broadcasting after the end of December only a few weeks ago. WRMI and WHRI have already stopped carrying Overcomer but Bro Stair continues to be heard on other SW stations including WBCQ, WWCR and WWRB – at least until 31st December (BDXC-UK yg Dec 27 via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) ?? As I have reported, three BS hours had been prolonged on WRMI. And as of Jan 2 still on WWCR, WWRB, WBCQ (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I'm glad this sexual predator and hatemonger is going off the air but worried about what this might mean for private shortwave broadcasters. Positively though --- this would be a great time for more hobbyists to step up and start their own shows with purchased airtime. The cost can be fairly low and every program aired helps to keep these stations on the air (James Branum, Edmond OK, Broad Spectrum Radio on WRMI, WBCQ, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Listening here in NB on 9980 kHz (Transmitter #4), the Overcomer broadcast is an amalgam of different recordings of BS, young and old. Seemed to be some slight higher-frequency distortion at times (ringing?). At about 1700 UT, there was a WWCR announcement about the ending of the Overcomer broadcasts (except on satellite) on 31 December (Richard Langley, NB, Dec 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here is the announcement. On closer listening, it comes from the Overcomer feed with a WWCR ID interspersed. Also appears to be a synthetic voice (Richard Langley, 1642 UT Dec 30, with a clip, ibid.) Indeed text-to-speech stuff ("AM slash FM radio", harhar), and indeed not inserted by WWCR but already in the Rape Room. Apparently no one else is, under no circumstances, permitted to ever touch the mic fader there. Note also the document of blatant homophobia that went out just after this TOH insert. I proceed from the assumption that it is representative for the Overcomer program content and that those who transmit it are fine with that (Kai Ludwig, Germany, with another clip, ibid.) The "rape room"? Oh, now I get it, the one at TOM. Posted by: (jk3119, ibid.) COMMUNITY OR CULT? EXPERTS SHARE WHY PEOPLE JOIN OVERCOMER MINISTRY IN RURAL SOUTH CAROLINA --- By Angie Jackson and Michael Majchrowicz ajackson@postandcourier.com mmajchrowicz@postandcourier.com https://www.postandcourier.com/news/women-at-south-carolina-religious-compound-say-preacher-sexually-assaulted/article_6aeb443e-da86-11e7-bf7a-2779c1133934.html Charleston (S.C.) Post & Courier Sunday, December 31, 2017, page A3 Sixteen years after she moved out of Overcomer Ministry's secluded Christian compound, one former follower of self-proclaimed prophet Ralph Gordon Stair has a hard time attending church services. For another woman, wearing pants felt foreign after more than a decade of living under Stair's dress code for the ministry, where about 70 people live on a rural commune near Walterboro as they await the return of Jesus Christ. And one young woman who grew up attending school at Overcomer Ministry feels she was robbed of an education. Her schooling there didn't include science courses, and she doesn't have a high school diploma. Some defectors like these women say they consider Stair's group a cult, a term the 84-year-old preacher has rejected. They describe a place where residents surrender their possessions and financial assets and are largely stripped of their free thinking in exchange for rules set by Stair, who founded the ministry in the early 1980s. Congregants are told to cut ties with people outside the compound, a swath of farmland in the unincorporated community of Canadys. Stair's end-times message has, up until recently, reached an international following of radio listeners. Law enforcement over the years has fielded calls from relatives of residents at Overcomer concerned about whether the ministry is a "cult," according to Colleton County Sheriff's Office reports. One of those calls came during a recent criminal investigation into Stair, which culminated earlier this month with the preacher's arrest. {{tncms-asset app=editorial"id=6ba1ac3c-757b-5ae5-bdcb-eb612e310bef"}} Stair remains in jail on eight criminal charges, including three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, after multiple parishioners - girls and women - said he had sexually assaulted them in incidents dating back to 1992. The allegations bear similarities to charges leveled against Stair in 2002, when he was arrested on two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and later pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery. Several of Stair's accusers in the latest investigation said he would coerce them into sex acts, telling them it was "God's will." One woman who reported she was raped at least 35 times said Stair told her she'd "made the Man of God happy," investigators wrote in an affidavit. "What we thought was normal wasn't really normal," said Shannel Robinson, 31, who lived at Overcomer as a child with her family until 2001 and was not a victim of sexual abuse. "He didn't (kill) us with Kool-Aid, but it was probably the same thing." Educators who study cults and similar groups say there are likely thousands of religious and political sects in the United States, though an exact count is impossible because many such groups are small and not widely known. Janja Lalich, professor emerita of sociology at California State University, Chico, said a cult begins with a charismatic leader who trumpets a transcendent belief system and a "recipe for change." "They tell you exactly how you need to change in order to be on the path to salvation, resolution or whatever it may be," she said. Lalich said sexual exploitation is prevalent among cults. "The cult leaders thrive on money, sex or power, or a combination of all three," she said. "Sex is, of course, a very deep and intimate way of controlling someone." At Overcomer Ministry, Stair is accused of committing some of his alleged crimes before scores of witnesses. His accusers told investigators he groped underage girls from the pulpit while on camera, and a video posted to YouTube earlier this year showed Stair touching a 12-year-old girl's breast during a worship service. In other cases, women said alleged assaults occurred as Stair strolled the grounds of the compound in broad daylight. Gisele Bennett, who worked at the ministry as a teacher before leaving Overcomer in 2001, said she tried to look out for young women. Once, Bennett said, she confronted Stair about his conduct and was brushed off. "I said, `Hey y'all, he's messing around with these women on his farm who don't wanna be messed with, these single women,' '' Bennett said. "He said I had the devil in me." Steve Eichel, a psychologist in Delaware and president of the International Cultic Studies Association, a nonprofit based in Florida, said it's common for cults to teach adherents to bury and reframe their doubts, a practice known as "thought stopping," because questioning the leader is viewed as "a demonic or satanic or an evil thing to do." For these reasons, it's difficult for deeply indoctrinated followers to speak out or leave in light of perceived misconduct, said Eichel, who is familiar with Stair's ministry. Additionally, there are what he calls "exit costs." "In a group like Stair's, for example, you've got whole families involved, so to leave may very well mean losing your family," he said. "That's a pretty serious cost." Bill Goldberg, a clinical social worker in New Jersey, has also tried to understand why members of cults fail to intervene when they witness wrongdoings. He and his wife specialize in working with individuals who have defected from cults. Speaking generally, Goldberg said a majority of these types of defectors have what he calls "unconscious doubts." {{tncms-asset app=editorial"id=ea1323ad-a195-59d3-bdc6-e1440981d9aa"}} "Every former cult member I've worked with has told me they had doubts when in the group that they learned to suppress," he said. Often, Goldberg said, members of cults become fixated with idealism and desire a deeper connection with the group leader who touts a "direct relationship with God or the truth." This was the case for Laura Johnston Kohl of San Diego, who was part of the Peoples Temple for most of the 1970s. The sociopolitical cult was headed by Jim Jones, who infamously compelled more than 900 followers to commit mass suicide by drinking cyanide-laced Flavor Aid at his South American compound, popularly known as Jonestown, in Guyana in 1978. "Who could even believe it when it happened?" said Kohl, 70, who was not at the settlement when the suicides occurred. "It just kind of stopped the world." Jonestown historians, academics and former members alike say Jones was a master manipulator who used charisma and coercive sex to control those who felt obligated to him. From Kohl's perspective, the community largely lived in peace. She relished the idea of living on a compound among diverse residents with a common goal of creating a utopia of sorts. But it was that devotion to idealism, Kohl added, that blinded her to the larger problems in Jonestown, including the coercive tactics Jones employed to keep order. Bennett, the former teacher at Overcomer, said she saw a similar dynamic play out at Stair's ministry. The prospect of living among fellow Christians drew her and her family to the compound. She expected people to adhere to moral principles. "It was like we're all Christians, we don't have nobody lying, cheating, stealing, doing stuff like that," she said. "We fell in love with the place." (via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) The only way to sort this out, is make these places illegal (Tony Magon, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Er, what about freedom of assembly, freedom of religion? (gh, DXLD) Hello All! When I have stumbled across Brother Stair, occasionally I have heard a recording of some scripture --- with a big, BIG voice that sounds like God. Anyone know what recording Stair uses for these scripture readings? Anyone know the voice that is narrating these passages? Thanks! (B-T-M, dxldyg via DXLD) I believe it is Alexander Scourby, a legendary voice talent. In addition to recording the audio book version of the Bible pinched by BS, he was also the voice of the National Geographic TV specials I watched as a kid in the 60's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Scourby 73, (Andy Robins, Kalamazoo, Michigan USA, ibid.) 9980, Jan 1 at 2001 check, WWCR is still airing Brother Scare, in fact as I tune in, synthetic voice announcement interrupts that there are no AM/FM or SW broadcasts as of January 1. O, yeah? And that`s not all. 9370, Jan 1 at 2205, WWRB still on with presumed TOM, as that`s all they ever put on this frequency. Ditto 3185 night frequency, BS still has gall to ask for ``sacrifices`` of 1, 10 or 100 thousand dollar donations to help him stay on the air. Spells out contact info as always for his ignorant psychophants. Then cut to BS with a lead-in cue to next recording for ``Wednesday June 20 on the count of three --- one, two three``, and onward. Well, June 20, 2017 was a Tuesday, so which years were Weds? 2007, 2012 and 2018, but probably long before 2007, out of his huge ego-archive. I can`t stand to listen to his screaming, young or old for more than a few seconds, and IMHO, the man is and was *insane* (and so were everyone who followed him). But, not *too* insane for his current defense, let us hope. 3215 // 5890, Jan 2 at 0659, both WWCRs are still BSing too, almost // 3185 WWRB. Next check at 1453 Jan 2, 9980 WWCR BS and one second later on 9370 WWRB. At 1904, still BS on 9370 WWRB and 9980 WWCR. And still on the third UT day of perpetual? life, Jan 3 at 0238 on 3185. Contrary to what some assumed, WRMI kept BS on the air till the end of 2017y, but only in three one-hour blox, as I previously reported. But the latest sked update as of January 1 has removed even those, altho I have not confirmed that by monitoring (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6950, PIRATE (North America). Molester Stair numbers station, 2155, 12/30/17. Brother Stair with a variety of random numbers, occasionally asking for an air check. Funny parody. Poor (Mark Taylor, WI, NASWA Flashsheet via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) ** SPAIN. 15390, Dec 28 at 2239, REE is still scratchy and distorted on this unstable transmitter to S America, altho Wolfgang Büschel had just reported: ``11685, Surprise, surprise, all FOUR REE transmitter on air tonight from Noblejas, S=9+10dB at 2119 UT, 12 kHz wideband broad signal, \\ 9690 S=7-8, 15390 14 kHz wideband S=9+15dB, 15500 S=9+10dB, all 10/12/14 kHz wideband broad. A l l transmissions with excellent audio, seemingly the faulty REE unit has been repaired now`` And earlier that day, but unlogged I also found 15390 to be scratchy. Maybe it cuts back to normal for brief periods? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15390, Dec 29 at 1909, REE is still scratchy and distorted on this frequency to S America. Today by 2230, 15 MHz is no longer propagating. Meanwhile, Wolfgang Büschel says for him it is not so, any longer, and suggests an explanation why I hear it differently: ``Maybe your location in Oklahoma gets a SIDELOBE signal from the curtain antenna at Noblejas, or their SLEWING installation? On various Perseus SDR's I couldn't note any scratching audio; sorry. Maybe there are unclean signals later on towards transmission end at 2300 UT? 73 wolfie`` Wolfie, This seems unlikely --- anyhow, Saturday Dec 30 at 1605 UT I check and find 15390 quite distorted, carrier also unstable, compared to 15500 which is fine. Surely you and anyone else in any direxion would find the same now? How about some reports from others. Also via UTwente at 1612 the same distortion is heard on 15390. Replies: ``At 1644 here in Alberta 15390 is loud but distorted and very over modulated sounding. 15500 is OK. 73 Don VE6JY Moman`` ``re Spain 15390 kHz. Only 3 txs on air today. Yes, you are right, checked 1658 UT much distorted audio scratching, the screenshot picture and Audacity recording are totally different, to the monitoring audio block in past days. At present 9690 kHz is an good audio example, how the 15390 kHz signal was excellent back in past 2-3 days ... when I monitored that. 11685 kHz is OFF AIR at 17/18 UT tonight. 15500 kHz is on air, but not as strong as the two others. So, there are different txs available at Noblejas, and maybe also different feeder/antennas too. Is there a 5th TX unit available? > Something's always wrong at REE Noblejas. 73 wolfie`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Excellent audio again on all four REE channels heard here all over Europe tonight. 11685* ESP Surprise, surprise, all FOUR REE transmitter on air tonight from Noblejas, S=9+20dB at 1940 UT Dec 29, 11.8 kHz wideband broad signal, \\ 9690 S=9 11.6 kHz wideband, 15390 14 kHz wideband S=9+15dB, 15500 S=9+10dB, all 10/12/14 kHz wideband broad. A l l transmissions with e x c e l l e n t audio, seemingly the faulty REE unit has been repaired now. * tonight at 19 - 21 UT Dec 29 also a RTTY high speed ute signal 850 Hertz apart nearby adjacent on 11688.430 and 11687.580 kHz 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Dec 29, dxldyg via DXLD) Reception of R Exterior de España 3 of 4 frequencies, Dec 31 1500-1900 9690 NOB 200 kW / 290 deg ENAm Spanish Sat/Sun, fair signal 1500-1900 15390 NOB 200 kW / 230 deg SoAm Spanish S/S, good/distorted 1500-1900 15500 NOB 200 kW / 110 deg N/ME Spanish Sat/Sun, strong 1500-1900 17755 NOB 200 kW / 161 deg WCAf Spanish Sat/Sun, not on air http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/reception-of-radio-exterior-de-espana.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 31-Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The best signal for live programming from Europe at Jahrwechsel is traditionally Spain on 9690, but will they keep it on past 2300 UT? Used to play a lot of music in English during the preceding hour, celebrations from some plaza, no doubt Madrid not Barcelona (Glenn Hauser, OK, Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9690, Dec 31 at 2255, REE in NYE celebrations, apparently TV soundtrack. At tune-in, brief clip in English about predator and victim; news review? 2257, TC for 11:57, 10:57 en Canarias, from in front of the Casa de Televisión Española. 2259 says bells will be heard for 8 seconds, mentions clock Puerto del Sol; timesignal to 2300 and 12 bells = campanadas, ``¡Feliz 2,018!`` and sound of fireworx, some big explosions. 2301 music and promos mix in, more salutations, ``Viva la Vida``. 2304 to music snippet, ``Day by Day``, Sinatra? Then interview a crooner, perhaps the one inspired by Sinatra, 2307 song ``Que sabe nadie``. Normally signs off at 2300, but still going past 2312 when I realize I am missing `Uncle Bill`s Melting Pot`, q.v. on WBCQ 7490; REE still at 2332; 2336 says will be on the air until 3 am (2 en Canarias) --– at least the original TV show. Altho a few other European SW stations still broadcast to N America, I can`t think of any other one that would be live at Jahrwechsel. Except maybe Greece at 2200 on 9420/9935, but has been extremely sporadic (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) re 9690: yes, before I went to bed around 2335 UT heard REE rather thin at S=7 here in central EUR. But not on 11685, 15390, nor 15500 kHz, condition was very bad in 25 and 19 mb tonight. 73 (wolfgang, Dec 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tonight at 1940 UT on Jan 1st here in Europe, UAE, and NJ/FL-US remotes, very bad propagation condition of REE Noblejas Spain. All f o u r REE txs on air tonight. In Europe only S=7 signal each, on 9690 and 11685.006 kHz. Only JBA, -- just on threshold level S=3-4 on 15390 and 15500 kHz. All three are even frequencies, except 25 mb is oddly 6 Hertz on upper flank. I couldn't check the Near East 110 degrees [sic] AUDIO quality outlet on 15390 kHz though tonight. See also remote KIWI SDR's http://sdr.hu/map in Alicante southern Spain under http://sdr.ham-radio-op.net:8073/ KIWI_SDR: Software-defined receiver near Alicante Alicante, Spain | Grid: IM98qd, ASL: 14m, [map] Antenna: WiMo Windom 160-10m, Length 178 meters set OFF_AGC option switch set positive 'Manual Gain' by hand: up to 70 to 90 dB But 11685 kHz suffers often by ute from upper flank, like 850 Hertz apart distance of UTE RTTY high speed signal, on frequency pair of 11687.574 and 11688.424 kHz exact measured tonight at 1950 UT Jan 1. 73 wb (wolfie, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9690, REE at 2225. M in Spanish, New Year's, but with somewhat religious overtones. Traditional Spanish guitar music, then jazz music, then into another segment with man in Spanish. Usual BoH pips. VG Jan 2 (Rick Barton, AZ, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. 9155, CLANDESTINE (TAIWAN). Sound of Hope. End of fanfare music at 2228, then canned announcements by W in Chinese for a minute, then talk by M to 2232 tune-out. //9180, similar quality signal. Weak but audible and surprised to catch these. Would never hear them at home. 20 Dec. 7730, Sound of Hope. Immediately after leaving 9155/9180, came down to tune above the 41mb and was surprised to find SoH here with same M announcer in Chinese that was on 9155/9180, and also found on //7810 as well!! These 2 down here were weak but audible very similar to the ones below 31m. 20 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non]. 11580, USA, PCJ Radio International (via WRMI) at 0115 with pseudo-Christmas tunes like “A Marshmallow World” and “Happy Holidays” and Keith Perron talking about the songs and Christmas then more Christmas fare – Fair Dec 27 – Wednesdays only at this time (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iogroup via DXLD) Moving to 7780 as of Jan 10 (gh, DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4790, TADJIKISTAN, BBC. Signal already on at 1257 and audio up at 1258:42 with M announcer giving e-mail address. Deadair, 1259:17 with canned ID announcement by M in English, then another in language ending with ”…BBC London”, then into apparent Uzkek program at 1300. Fairly good but horrible CODAR QRM. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 6765.1-USB, Bangkok Meteorological R. 1211 end of IS and mechanical M with opening ID/frequency/sked announcement in English as “This is Bangkok Meteorological R. broadcast on the frequency of 6765.1 kHz and 8743.0 kHz from… Heavy weather forecast ?? on Thursday the 21st of December 2017. Broadcast message for shipping…”. 21 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) Yes, at present at 1930 UT in Thai, at 1935 UT in English, schedule 6765.1 USB and times told, station melody, and also Thai addresses S=7-8 or -88dBm in Europe. Dec 27 ** TIBET. Two nice surprises in my inbox this morning - eQSL from Holy Tibet Radio --- holytibetradio@163.com --- on 4905 kHz for an Aug 31 2017 reception from KiwiSDR site in Bay of Islands NZ and [continued at SIKKIM] (Bruce Churchill, CA, Dec 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. 9898, CLANDESTINE, Voice of Tibet (via Tajikistan). Found with weak signal at 1332 with talk in Asian language, no doubt Tibetan. Signal went off 1335:44 on sked. 26 Dec. (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 9903, CLANDESTINE, Voice of Tibet (via Tajikistan). Came on here just 3 seconds after 9898 went off. Continued talk in presumed Tibetan by M, W joining in later. Still talking and no change in signal quality by 1345 tune-out. Don’t recall ever hearing these 2 frequencies before. 26 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) ** TINIAN [and non]. 5885, Dec 28 at 1530, S9-S7 talk apparently in Korean altho I don`t catch any key syllables ``imnida``, maybe NK dialect, as there is some lite tone/pulse jamming. Aoki/NDXC shows RFA in Korean at 15-19 via Tinian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TONGA. 1017, A3Z, Nuku'alofa, Tonga, 10 kW. Female native language speech at a very good level at 0858 on 12-19 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/j6n0mh0afz5h35cpspcbym2p8xsma4e7 Somewhat weaker through the T-storms on 12-17 at 0734 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/hyusuqyu12t8gyxh75goxxwkw5xt7u8r 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (DXing at the Royal Kona Motel with a 7.5" loopstick C.Crane Skywave Ultralight+, 5 inch (127mm) "Frequent Flyer" FSL antenna (Demo video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRaOnWS-5Ig Dec 31, IRCA via DXLD) ** TURKEY. 15420.045, V of Turkey, Emirler, Mandarin Chinese program, S=6 rather poor signal at 1202 UT. Scheduled 1200-1255 UT [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] Log of Dec 30 of 1145-1445 UT - in southern Korea remote SDR access near Seoul capital location (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reception of TRT Voice of Turkey on wrong frequency Dec 31 1300-1355 on 9410 EMR 500 kW / 095 deg to SoAs Urdu, instead of 15390 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/01/trt-voice-of-turkey-in-urdu-on-wrong.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 31-Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUVALU. 846 and 1440 weren't the only exotic DU's with transmitter issues. 621-Tuvalu came down with distorted audio on December 18th, a problem which got worse and worse on the remaining two days. By the last day it was sounding very garbled, making a bizarre combination with 621-Voice of Korea's buzzing Japanese service transmitter. Whether 621-Tuvalu [q.v.] has repaired its garbled audio is also unknown. 621, R. Tuvalu Funafuti, Tuvalu, 5 kW This station had very strong signals until around 0800 on most evenings, when it usually began to be pestered by Asian QRM (China, N. Korea and NHK1). It also came down with a garbled audio issue on December 18th, which continued to get progressively worse until I left Hawaii. Sign off time is still around 1006, but by that time it ran the gauntlet of powerful Asian co- channels during the December propagation. Local employment offers read by the usual lady announcer at an S9 level at 0750 on 12-18. This was the last undistorted audio signal recorded from the station during this trip; after this the audio went "south" https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/8w8ht0f9k2j87dok77ho23msxoidqgy6 Guest speaker in Japanese-accented English, followed by local island- type music at 0835 on 12-18-- the first sign of audio distortion https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/izdocq942897mvdxoa0xjksufztnh46d Full Radio Tuvalu sign off routine at 1003 on 12-18, but with China QRM initially. Tuvalu's signal prevails during the national anthem, but the audio distortion is quite noticeable. The carrier apparently stays on for over a minute after the audio stops https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/msy64393v8ty1qxq6hi8kixflb32beqx 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (DXing at the Royal Kona Motel with a 7.5" loopstick C.Crane Skywave Ultralight+, 5 inch (127mm) "Frequent Flyer" FSL antenna (Demo video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRaOnWS-5Ig Dec 31, IRCA via DXLD) ** U A E. 15215.121, One of the odd frequency units at Al Dhabbaya via Babcock FMO. FEBC program Gaweylen Tibetan R, carrier already on air at 1155 UT on Dec 30, scheduled 1200-1230 UT, 250 kW of power listed. S=6-7 in Seoul KOR monitoring post. At 1159:10 UT Babcock pause music theme played from control room, some 40 seconds later followed by/heard the magnificent FEBC interval signal, spoken station ID in Tibetan heard at 1200:20 UT on Dec 30 [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] Log of Dec 30 of 1145-1445 UT - in southern Korea remote SDR access near Seoul capital location (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. MSF Scheduled Maintenance Periods The MSF 60 kHz standard-frequency and time signal, broadcast by Babcock on behalf of NPL, is occasionally taken off-air to allow maintenance work on the masts and antennas at Anthorn Radio Station to be carried out in safety. This means that your radio-controlled clock will not be picking up the MSF signal, so may not be working correctly. The dates and times of the forthcoming scheduled maintenance periods are as follows: 2018: 14 June 2018 from 10:00 to 14:00 13 September 2018 from 10:00 to 14:00 13 December 2018 from 10:00 to 14:00 2019: 14 March 2019 from 10:00 to 14:00 13 June 2019 from 10:00 to 14:00 12 September 2019 from 10:00 to 14:00 12 December 2019 from 10:00 to 14:00 The shutdowns will take place between 1000 and 1400 UT in December and March, and between 10:00 and 14:00 BST in June and September. The duration of each outage period will be kept to a minimum, and the signal may be back on-air prior to the times given above. In addition to these dates, the signal is likely to be taken off-air for a two-day period during spring or summer each year, remaining off- air overnight. The dates of this longer outage will be announced on this page and by e-mailed notices to registered users as soon as they are known. If you wish to be kept informed about planned outages, please complete and submit the E-mailed Notifications of Scheduled Maintenance Periods form. Find out more about the MSF Radio Time Signal http://www.npl.co.uk/science-technology/time-frequency/products-and-services/time/msf-radio-time-signal Some common problems with radio-controlled clocks [another link] Contact: communications@npl.co.uk (via Mike Terry, Jan 2, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. Used to be an annual ritual, listening to BBCWS at yearchange, but we know it will be frustrating to hear any SW frequencies at this hour, so I just listen to BBCR4 FM webcast. At 2355 Dec 31, some nice secular homilies, to end `Something Understood`, 2359 NO Greenwich timesignal! which would be wrong anyway on delayed webcast --- but ToH 4 x 4 = 16 chimes, and from approx. 0000 GMT January 1, 2018, full 12- strike of Big Ben, low-key HNY wishes, into news. Richard Langley managed to track down some SW frequencies where there was no timesignal either; and BBCR5 Live aired more of a NY celebration (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBCWS online at 0000 had the full Big Ben chimes, but no time pips. I didn’t try SW either, reception usually nonexistent at this hour (Stephen Luce, Houston, Texas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Around midnight UTC, there are only four BBC WS SW frequencies active, all to south and southeast Asia. 3915, 5890, and 6195 kHz from Kranji are scheduled until 0000 and 5970 kHz from Al Seela from 0000 until 0200. 6195 kHz was providing acceptable reception using the U. Twente SDR receiver but it went off at 2359:30 UT. Also using the U. Twente receiver, the transmitter for 5970 kHz came on at about 2358:21 with the BBC WS bow bells IS and could be heard with a weak signal under the stronger co-channel CNR1 (?) jammer against RFA. The BBC WS audio started just in time for the start of the "Westminster Quarters" chimes followed by the announcement and the strikes of Big Ben, starting at midnight. No pips except for those of CNR1. The jammer went off shortly thereafter. Of course, a much clearer signal on the SiriusXM BBC WS channel (via an iPhone app) but I had 14 strikes due to a buffering/recording problem somewhere along the audio path. ;-) For anyone who missed it, you can relive the event here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csr369 BBC Radio 5 Live had Big Ben plus the countdown and the ambient sounds of the fireworks, etc. Also coverage from Edinburgh. Starts around the two-hour mark in this listen-again item: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09jxn1m (-- Richard Langley, NB, ibid.) "NO Greenwich timesignal! which would be wrong anyway on delayed webcast --- but ToH chimes and from approx. 0000 GMT January 1, 2018, full 12-strike of Big Ben" The last time I recall Big Ben AND pips (7!) being used by BBC, at least for Radio 5 Live, was back in 2008 for the leap second that year. Clip attached (for those getting individual postings). (-- Richard Langley, ibid.) ** U K. THE BBC IN PIDGIN? PEOPLE LIKE IT WELL-WELL Image An article on the BBC website telling the story of a Tinder date gone wrong, written in West African pidgin English. CreditBBC [caption] By Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura Dec. 30, 2017 https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/30/world/africa/bbc-pidgin.html The headline on the article, published on the BBC's website, reads like this: "Woman wan troway poo-poo, come trap for window." The piece, written in a form of West African Pidgin English, tells the story of a Tinder date gone horribly wrong: A woman in Britain found herself in a deeply embarrassing bind when the toilet in her date's apartment would not flush and she tried to throw the "evidence" ("di poo-poo") out the window. (You can read the details here, in British English.) The offbeat anecdote tickled readers, not only for the story itself but even more so for its rendition in West African Pidgin English, an informal language that dates from the slave trade and that mixes English with West African languages. It was, according to the British tabloid The Sun, a "hilariously fresh take" on the date-from-hell story. The "poo-poo" article, as it became known, was one of the most popular by the British broadcaster's renowned World Service, which recently added a dozen foreign language websites to its roster as part of efforts to capture a younger, more diverse and digitally savvy audience. The expansion, the BBC's biggest since the 1940s, was funded by a British government grant of about 290 million pounds, or $380 million. In addition to West African Pidgin English, the service now delivers news in Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Tigrinya (languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and other parts of Africa); and in Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi and Telugu (spoken in India), among others. It plans to add the West African languages Igbo and Yoruba next year. The BBC also has a website in Korean, and it broadcasts radio programs in Korean that can reach the reclusive state of North Korea, bringing the total number of languages it uses to more than 40. The media organization says it aims to reach 500 million people by its centenary in 2022, about twice the current figure. "We're reaching new audiences in a language that is popular," said Bilkisu Labaran, who oversees the service in West African Pidgin and who grew up speaking it, in spite of her parents' disapproval. In schools, teachers warned students about the dangers of what they considered a "deviant" language. While Pidgin is looked down upon by some, the word itself is not derogatory. More than 75 million people are thought to speak the language, either as their primary or secondary tongue. "It's so expressive, it brings people together and reaffirms a shared African identity," Ms. Labaran said. There are many variants of pidgin spoken across West Africa, from Mauritania in the north to Nigeria and English-speaking parts of Cameroon in the south, and the BBC said it is using a melange in an effort to create some sort of regional standard. This has fueled debates among staff members over word choices: should, for example, an article use a word from Cameroonian pidgin, or from Nigerian pidgin, the most widely spoken variant. The team is also trying to pioneer a standardized written form of Pidgin, which is primarily a spoken language. There are no formal ways of learning it; people simply pick it up. Chris Ewokor is helping the BBC effort by putting together a linguistic guide. "I'm creating rules that we never had before," he said. In Mr. Ewokor's dictionary, "adrenaline," for example, is translated to "power dey pump for im brain." Drunken driving is translated as "drunkaman driving." Since the Pidgin service started in August, Bill Gates tried his hand at speaking the language in a BBC interview, where he responded to questions from Nigerians, many of whom speak a variant called Naija, or Nigerian Pidgin. ("Bill Gates: `Nigeria dey important,' " the headline on the BBC Pidgin site later read.) The British high commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Thomas Arkwright, also appeared in a BBC clip, speaking Pidgin rather fluently. ("I like Nigeria well-well," he said.) Pidgin does have its own grammar, phonetics and vocabulary, linguistic experts say, and it has historical and cultural significance in West Africa. Dr. Christine I. Ofulue, an associate professor of linguistics at the National Open University of Nigeria, who specializes in Pidgin, says it reflects Africa's relationship with outsiders over the centuries, evolving from the language of the slave trade to a form of resistance and anticolonialism. Today, she says, it represents African pride, seen in the flourishing number of radio stations and television programs that use Pidgin. An opera sung in West African Pidgin was staged two years ago in London, a world first. Pidgin helps bring together, at least linguistically, large parts of a continent carved up by European colonizers who were later replaced, in many cases, by corrupt leaders. "It's the language of the masses," Ms. Ofulue said. She commended the BBC's decision to offer the service, saying it helped remove the stigma attached to Pidgin, often derided as a corruption of standard English. West African Pidgin has its origins in the 15th century, when Portuguese traders were the first Europeans to reach the western shores of Africa, looking for copper, ivory and pepper, as well as slaves. Vestiges of Portuguese remain -- for example, "pequenho," the Portuguese word for "small," evolved into "pikin," the Pidgin word for "child." "Sabi," the Pidgin word for "to know," comes from the Portuguese verb "saber." Then came the British, who developed a more robust form of communication with local chieftains in the 17th and 18th centuries. At the time, Pidgin was regarded as a language for the local elite, who benefited from the slave trade of their own people. In Nigeria, the largest former British colony in West Africa, Pidgin thrived as more and more people interacted with the colonizers. As British English was introduced into schools in the region as a result of colonialism, Pidgin began to be viewed as a bastardization of the pure English that had been promoted with the help of institutions like the BBC. But as time went on, Pidgin evolved into a language of resistance and anti-colonialism, embraced by activists like Fela Kuti, a firebrand Nigerian musician, who sang in Pidgin as an act of defiance. In "Gentleman," for example, a song in which he attacks Western standards imposed on Africans, he sings: "I no be gentleman at all o, I be Africa man original." Even after West African nations gained independence, artists used Pidgin to criticize their leaders. In 2004, Nigeria's president at the time, Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military general, banned a popular rap song, "Jaga Jaga," ("Rubbish Rubbish") about politicians who were "scatter scatter" (ruining) the country. Although some critics discourage the use of pidgin, its supporters say it represents far more than a language. "Young people are taking it and owning it, and creating an identity from it," Ms. Ofulue said. "This is our creation. That pride belongs to us." A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: A BBC Story Relayed in Pidgin? Audiences Like It Well-Well (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U K [non]. 9440, ASCENSION, BBC London in French to Africa, 0700- 0729 UT, heard at 0706 UT on Dec 30, S=9+10dB proper from Ascension into S Germany. 10 kHz wideband excellent audio. Interview with BFA national TV director in superb French. Log of Dec 30 of 0630-0730 UT- in southern Germany location, [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Xmas long-wave b’cast: https://swling.com/blog/2016/12/wi2xlq-formerly-wg2xfq-brian-justins-annual-longwave-broadcast-dec-24-25/ (via Lorraine Kulbacka, MARE Tipsheet 29 Dec via DXLD) ** U S A. It looks as though New York VOLMET will be off the air at least through the end of May, according to an FAA Notice To Airmen: ``A7072/17 - VOLMET 10.051, 6.604, 3.485, 13.270 U/S. 19 DEC 15:14 2017 UNTIL 01 JUN 00:01 2018. CREATED: 19 DEC 15:17 2017`` U/S is an abbreviation for "Unserviceable." The station had been off the air for two months before this NOTAM was issued (Mike Cooper, GA, Jan 1, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 13565-CW, Dec 28 at 1542, HIFER beacon K6FRC IDs from California are JBA; first one heard on this band for several weeks despite almost daily scans. 13565-CW, Dec 29 at 1523, K6FRC, HIFER beacon vs CODAR is a little stronger than yesterday, but where are all the others? Listed as 13565.035, Patterson CA, CM97, 10 wpm CW (h 2017/12) at LWCA: http://www.lwca.org/sitepage/part15/index.htm This one has a website, linked from this info at QRZ.com lookup: ``K6FRC USA flag USA QSL: MAIL TO - K6FRC P.O. BOX 175 VALLEY SPRINGS, CA 95252 Ham Member Lookups: 124190 Operator of- K6FRC/B 50.080 MHz. K6FRC/B 28.300 MHz. K6FRC 13.565 MHz. (Part 15 'HiFer') Go to www.K6FRC.com for K6FRC beacon locations and other information. Please mail your reception report or QSL to: Paul Shinn P.O. Box 175 Valley Springs, CA 95252 No S.A.S.E. required! It is a pleasure to respond by sending a real QSL card for all mailed QSLs and reception reports. Respect for tradition demands it. If you send your QSL in an envelope, you will receive your confirmation QSL in an envelope. If you send your QSL postcard style, you will receive your confirmation QSL by postcard`` Own website shows 13565 power as *1.8 milliwatts* and see it here: http://www.k6frc.com/images/HiFerbcn.jpg Illustration of ``colorful`` QSL card adds that antenna is ``hamstick vertical``: http://www.k6frc.com/images/QSL.GIF Also has beacons at different locations on 10 and 6 meters with much more power. Patterson is east of the Bay Area (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. 9825.021, MRA, VoA Agignan Point, Saipan in Mandarin Chinese, equal signal level as co-channel CHINA mainland CNR1 jamming on 9825even CHN S=9+10dB at 1428 UT on Dec 30. Very bad frequency selection by IBB/FCC on hfcc.org conference: 9820 Nanning CHN, 9825 CNR1 jamming, 9830 CNR1 Beijing [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] Log of Dec 30 of 1145-1445 UT - in southern Korea remote SDR access near Seoul capital location (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I believe FCC is not involved in IBB frequency management, except of course if coördination be needed with FCC-licensed private stations (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1910 monitoring: confirmed first SW broadcast this week, Wednesday December 27 at 1030 on WRMI 9455 S9 and 5850 S9+20/30. Also confirmed Wed Dec 27 at 1415 on WRMI 9955, good and no jamming. Next: 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 6190-CUSB to WSW [ex-7265] 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 [not pre-empted] 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 [or #1911?] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 to WNW [or #1911?] Full WOR schedule via all media, and podcast access: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7490, USA, WBCQ at 2216 with Glenn Hauser’s “World of Radio” - Good [Wed] Dec 27 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iogroup via DXLD) WORLD OF RADIO 1910 monitoring: confirmed Wednesday December 27 at 2218 the 2200 on WBCQ, 7489.828v, good S9+10/20. Not confirmed UT Thu Dec 28 at 0030 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB, but probably inhabiting a JBA carrier. 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 6190-CUSB to WSW [ex-7265] 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 [not pre-empted] 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 [or #1911?] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 to WNW [or #1911?] Full WOR schedule via all media, and podcast access: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html Including about this at 1648 UT Dec 28: ``Hi Glenn, World of Radio has been restored from tonight anytime between midnight-0600 UT on Laser Soul Hits. http://lasersoulhits.bravesites.com/listenlive Business as usual, Happy New Year, Gary Drew, Sent from my iPhone`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1910 monitoring: confirmed Thursday December 28 at 2230 on WRMI, 5850, S9+30/10. Not confirmed at 0045 UT Fri Dec 29 the 0030 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB, no signal detectable (but even 9265 WINB is a JBA carrier; 9395 WRMI S9 still with TOM; 9370 WWRBS missing nor on 3185). Next: Sat 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0729 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 1531 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW [ex-7265] 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 [not pre-empted] 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 [or #1911?] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 to WNW [or #1911?] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GERMANY, Reception of World of Radio via HLR 6190CUSB, Dec 30 0731-0800 on 6190 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg to CeEu English Sat, fair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3epWgEDAyvE&feature=youtu.be (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 29-30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1910 monitoring: not confirmed UT Sat Dec 30 after 0030 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB: no signal audible (9265 WINB is fair, 9395 WRMI VG; 9370 has a JBA carrier, but WWRB is already VG on 3185 this time). Missed checking Sat Dec 30 at 1531 on HLR 6190-CUSB via UTwente, but at 1600 heard nothing but adjacent splash. 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 [not pre-empted] 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 [or #1911?] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 to WNW [or #1911?] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, I checked 6190 today at the usual time (KBC was off air so plenty of time for that), but nothing was heard from HLR, just the slight interference from the two other stations on the channel, one of which sounded Chinese. I don't know if it was due to propagation or if they just weren't on today. I'm just monitoring 7290 for the 1900 UT IRRS Broadcast, but no sign of that either so far, which is most unusual (Alan Gale, England, Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1910 monitoring. Alan Gale, England, says the Sat 1531 on HLR 6190-CUSB was not audible this week. Sat Dec 30 at 2230, WOR IS well audible, a good S9+10 on WBCQ 9329.970-CUSB, sounds like it could be running full power. By 2300 when Blalock starts blasting, has drifted to 9330.025 (9330 already had a music prélude at 2225 tune-in, before starting The Planet ID & IS runup loop). Also confirmed Sat Dec 30 at 2300 VG on WRMI 11580, S9+30 to S9+10, but by 2310 starting some deep fades. We will have to wait two more weeks until Jan 13 before the QSY to 7780 is supposed to go into effect. By 0200 UT Sun Dec 31 at 0200, 11580 is a JBA carrier for the next WOR repeat. Also confirmed UT Sun Dec 31 at 0437 about halfway thru, so started circa 0421 on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, MO, S9+20/30 but with CW QRM, the lower/longer 160m band crammed with CW contesters. Next: Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW [not pre-empted] 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 [or #1911?] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 to WNW [or #1911?] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1910 monitoring: 9330, Jan 1 at 0030, WBCQ no longer audible after staying on all day, but fading down an hour earlier (Now, the neighbors: 9265 WINB JJBA carrier, 9370 WWRB inaudible/off, 9395 WRMI S9+10.) Checking Area 51 webcast, at 0400 UT Jan 1, JL says he`s staying on another two hours to bring in the NY. So much for WOR and HRI, unless delayed to very late. Presumably the same on WBCQ 5130-v, unchecked yet [yes, 5129.83]. Will WOR be on both 9455 and 9955 from WRMI at 0430? They were duplicative a couple nights ago (Glenn Hauser, 0408 UT Jan 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No sir. Was listening to 5130, waiting for WOR to start and it didn't. Tuned to 9955, which was terrible by the way and at 0430 they ran a foreign language program instead (John Carver, Mid-North Indiana, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No, we are bumped off WRMI too. 9455 and 9955 // at 0430 but with an `Angloparade` NYE special until 0500. Normally it`s UT Thu 0430 on 5985 {now on 5985 is `Blues Radio International` as sked}. Only news about this was on WRMI FB, neglecting to show frequencies. Our erstwhile SW stations don`t feel we deserve any notification when we are going to be pre-empted. WOR at 0430 UT Mon on 9955 is still on the skedgrid update Jan 1, so hope we will be back on one or both next week. Tonight 9955 is JBA while 9455 is good -- usually they aren`t that different. How come? I had to bring up webcast to be sure what`s on 9955. And why do they call it Angloparade? There is nothing Anglo about it, continuous salsa music under Spanish chatter. Anyway, HNY to Eastern zonebies. 73, (Glenn Hauser, 0500 UT Jan 1, ibid.) HOWEVER, after our own NY celebration at 0600 UT, bedtime bandscan UT Mon Jan 1 at 0622, I find WBCQ back up strong S9+10 on 9330.110v-CUSB, and playing WORLD OF RADIO 1910, tnx! during 4KZ item so started just a few minutes before (by now, 7490v & 5130v are off). During surprise temporary 24/7 run of 9330, there could have been some more WOR playbacks, but no way to know without continuous monitoring; and not to be relied upon in future. By 1505 UT Jan 1, 9330 is off again, unlike yesterday morning. Next WORs: Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 11580 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1911?] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 to WNW [or #1911?] WORLD OF RADIO 1910 monitoring: confirmed UT Tuesday January 2 at 0030 on WRMI, 7730, S9+20/30; but at same time on 9330v-CUSB, JBA carrier. Missed check Tue 2030 but 1910 should have been on 11580 & 9455; Tue at 2130 WOR 1910 confirmed on 9455, but poor with local noise. Not confirmed UT Wed Jan 3 at 0030 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB, inaudible, contrary to the middle of the night. WORLD OF RADIO 1911 contents: Argentina and non, Australia, Biafra non, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ethiopia non, Germany non, Goa, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kashmir, México, Myanmar, Netherlands non, Nicaragua, North America, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Solomon Islands, South Carolina and non, Spain, Tibet non, USA WORLD OF RADIO 1911 was not ready in time for the last two Tuesday or the first Wednesday airings, as above, but now, as amended for WRMI: Wed 1030 WRMI 9455 to WNW; 5850 is deleted Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE is CANCELED 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 6190-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, 9455 to WNW Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1912?] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 to WNW [or #1912?] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Summary of WRMI time and frequency changes for WORLD OF RADIO (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9955, Dec 27 at 0945, WRMI-4 is off, while 5 & 6, 9395 & 9455 Oldies are on. I guess 9955 now runs 11-15 & 22-06, having deleted TOM blox. See also ARGENTINA [non]! 9955, Dec 27 at 2300 past 2344, WRMI playing World Music, including several familiar tunes from many genres, S9+10 and no jamming. What a pleasure, to accompany my dozenap. But regular programming must be missing. Scheduled for Wed at 6-7 pm ET is `EBF Genesis Study`, so quite an improvement (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Updated winter schedule of WRMI Okeechobee by transmitters from Dec 28, after cancellation of transmissions of Brother Stair The Overcomer Ministries http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/updated-schedule-of-wrmi-okeechobee-by.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 30-31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9455, Dec 28 at 0251, VP signal from WRMI, but sounds like BS also on VG 3185 WWRB. Yes, with a 9 second delay via WWRB. So WRMI has not deleted ALL TOM hours. This was and is on sked for one hour only, like another 1-hour at 00-01 on 9395, need to check that. Kept as tokens, oversight, or too much trouble to delete and replace or turn off just yet, as these two frequencies are 24h with Oldies or something. Before 0300, other WRMI frequencies 9955 and 11580 emit otherstuff, while the 5 and all three 7s are off. At 0301, we find this: 9455 Spanish from Taiwan, // JBA 5985; 9395 R. Praga in Spanish despite skedgrid as ``Prague`` implying it`s English. 11580 is still on but JBA carrier; after 0300 had been scheduled as TOM, but now?? By 0340, 9455 is much better in Taiwanese Spanish // 5985. 9395 now with R. Slovakia in English, S9+20 VG, interviewing a Slovak violinist who is promoting classical vs celtic music in Ireland. At 0647, 5850 and all three sevens are still off, no RAE in Japanese. 11530 also seems off, while 11520 WEWN is audible. The 06-07 hour on 11530 had been TOM fill between Biafra and Herwa (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Message running at the top off the hour that WRMI will be leaving 11580 kHz on January 8 for 7780 kHz better propagation in the Winter months. Dec 31, 2017 (Richard Lemke, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11580 is to be replaced by 7780 in 2018y, says Jeff White of WRMI in a message to Clients on 11580, early UT Dec 29, 2017: ``Dear Friends and Colleagues: After receiving many suggestions from WRMI listeners and after monitoring our transmissions in many parts of Europe, we have come to the conclusion that our programming on 11580 kHz needs to be on a lower frequency for the rest of the northern hemisphere winter period. WRMI has been transmitting to Europe on 7780 kHz with very good to excellent reports from all over Europe, so we have decided to transfer all programming that is currently on 11580 kHz to 7780 kHz as of 0000 UTC Monday, January 8. 7780 kHz is a frequency that WRMI listeners are accustomed to hearing us on, and it should provide listeners with better reception than 11580 kHz for the rest of the winter period. Next spring or summer we may want to switch back to 11580 kHz, but we can watch propagation conditions and make this determination at a later time. During the next several days we will be making announcements on 11580 kHz, informing listeners that they can hear all of their favorite programs on 7780 kHz beginning January 8. You may want to make similar announcements within your programs. I should mention that both 11580 and 7780 kHz also provide excellent coverage of the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada as the signal makes its way over to the United Kingdom, and then down through Europe and into the Middle East. So we use these frequencies to cover Eastern North America as well (including Bermuda, Greenland and Iceland too). These areas will also see better coverage on 7780 kHz for the rest of the winter period. If you have any questions about this frequency change, just let me know. We want to provide the best possible coverage for listeners. Thanks for your understanding. Jeff White`` To which I replied: ``Jeff, You have certainly been needing to go down from 11 to 7 MHz by sundown, but 7780 has always been a poor third here to the other 7 MHz frequencies, as would be expected about 90 degrees off azimuth (yet 11580 in daytime fared much better at 20-21, presumably also always 44. This early 7780 will not be an improvement). Thus for coverage of N America beyond the eastern seaboard, I would like to see the 11580 programming put on a 315 degree antenna and/or put on 7570 which was already 315, and now going unused. And does this include the 21-23 UT period M-F, where you currently have Power Hour on 7780, to be replaced or moved? 73, Glenn`` He does not specify the hours, but presumably during what`s left after removal of Brother Scare on XMTR #9, 11580: 2000-0300 (and Sundays only at 1300-1500). Aside from relays of Argentina, Czechia, Slovakia and Ukraine, the only diverse programming spans for this are 20-21, 2300-2330, and 01-02. And a bit more when RAE, RUI take weekends off. Yes! The skedgrid has finally been updated Dec 28, removing almost all the light-green Overcomer blox, except for the ones we are still hearing, 00-01 on 9395, 02-03 on 9455. And also 12-13 on 9395. Will these also be gone after Dec 31? When checked circa 17 UT Dec 29, the anonymous animals also watching http://www.tinyurl.com/WRMIfqs are Capybara, Gopher, Jackal, Monkey, Manatee. Other significant updates: Radio Herwa is finally shown at 0700-0730 & 1930-2000 on 11530, XMTR #10 at 160 degrees! (Yet HFCC shows the proper azimuth for Africa, 87); and NO Radio Biafra. RAE French finally gets an evening airtime as 11580 at 13-14 has been removed: 2330-2400. All the 06-10 UT RAE broadcasts have been removed, including the one we reconfirmed a few days ago at 09-10 in Japanese on 5850. So that means RAE in Japanese and Chinese are totally off SW. BUT, 5850 & 7730 are to be on the air at 07-09 UT Sundays and Mondays only with other programming (such as Broad Spectrum Radio, I assume). And what about `Radiogram` which had been UT Monday 0600? Richard Langley forwards this Dec 29 notice from Kim Andrew Elliott: ``Jeff White at WRMI has kindly offered us Monday at 0800-0830 UT on 7730 kHz and (for this weekend at least) 5850 kHz.`` Along with all the White space on many transmitters, 7780 is now shown with nothing but 21-22 M-F `Power Hour`, Sat/Sun `Walking in Power`; 22-23 M-F `Power Hour`; and Sunday 16-17 `Yeshua Messiah`. All but the last will presumably be replaced by RAE ex-11580. The program blox below the frequency blox have not yet been updated. How will this affect WORLD OF RADIO? The Sat 2300 & UT Sun 0200 airings from January 8 (but not yet this weekend, nor next) should be on 7780 instead of 11580; likewise the Tue 2030, which had really been on // 7780 anyway, along with // 9455 (will that continue?). The change to 7780 at 0200 has been much needed, with 11580 starting to fade out after 2330 and probably earlier to the north/east. In general, it`s too bad that the 7570 transmitter on the 315 antenna right across the USA now lies fallow when it could provide a super signal of WRMI diverse programming now weaker on 9955 et al. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shortwave Radiogram, 30-31 December 2017 2030_2330_hutchinson_D_Georg.jpg On 24 December 2017, 11580 kHz from WRMI Florida, Georg in Germany received the MFSK32 image at 2037 UTC (left) and the same image at 2337 UTC. Hello friends, Apologies, especially to North Americans who were awake at an inconvenient hour, for the missing Shortwave Radiogram last Sunday at 0600 UTC on 7730 kHz. The legal difficulties of Brother Stair, a major WRMI client, caused a sudden reduction in the WRMI transmission schedule. Jeff White at WRMI has kindly offered us Monday at 0800-0830 UTC on 7730 kHz and (for this weekend at least) 5850 kHz. This Monday is a holiday, but when Monday reverts to being a work day, North Americans might want to consider using Audacity’s timer record. Or just leave Fldigi running all night, then read the text and look at the images in the morning. Please also note that The Mighty KBC is changing frequency this weekend to 6150 kHz for its North America broadcast, UT Sunday at 0000-0200. The new frequency replaces 5960 kHz. Last weekend’s holiday lights special produced some very nice decoded MFSK32 images from all parts of the world. See the examples above and at the bottom of this email. Additional images have been posted to @SWRadiogram, or https://twitter.com/swradiogram If you missed the broadcast, Scott in Ontario provided this video, suitable for your own decoding. This weekend we will transmit images of Happy New Year in the fourteen languages of the Shortwave Radiogram listeners who are currently sending reception reports or reporting decodes to @SWRadiogram. Sorry if I missed anyone’s language. There will be four additional MFSK32 images, for a total of 18! Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 28, 30-31 December 2017, all in MFSK32: 1:32 Program preview 2:34 New shortwave broadcast station in Australia* 7:23 Radio Caroline returns to the airwaves* 12:28 Images of "Happy New Year" in 14 languages* 22:17 Closing announcements* * with image(s) Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net And visit http://swradiogram.net Twitter: @SWRadiogram Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/567099476753304 (via Richard Langley, Dec 29, DXLD) "I should mention that both 11580 and 7780 kHz also provide excellent coverage of the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada" [Jeff White, WRMI] Well, this afternoon (2130 UT) here in NB, 7780 kHz is rather weak compared to 11580 kHz, which is nice and strong (peaking to 7 on the Satellit's signal strength scale, compared to 2 for 7780 kHz). 9395 kHz is even better at a level of 4. Perhaps 7780 kHz will be better later on (Richard Langley, Dec 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very good signal of The Power Hour via WRMI tx#1, Dec 29: 2100-2300 on 7780 YFR 100 kW / 044 deg to WeEu English Mon-Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/12/very-good-signal-of-power-hour-via-wrmi.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, December 29-30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7780, Dec 29 at 2250, WRMI with `The Power Hour`, fair S9 to S9+10, // 9395 also reads S9 to S9+10 but sounds much stronger. Also // 9455. 11580 at this hour has RAE at S9 to S7 with multilingual IDs, presumably during Italian. From Jan 8, 11580 programming is to overtake 7780, so maybe TPH weekdays will remain on the other two. 9955, Fri Dec 29 at 2322, WRMI is replaying last week`s sesquihour special `Noches con Mirka` with chatter and Cuban music from Little Habana; started at 2200 and normally would be over at 2300, but once again this week, `Happy Station` year-end show (NOT `Media Network Plus`; both are PCJ produxions) starts half an hour late at 2330. I suppose its full hour also overcomes `Viva Miami` at 0000, but what about `Noticiero/Radio Libertad` which is supposed to start at 0015? Not checked. 9455, UT Sat Dec 30 at 0437, surprised to find that this frequency is // weaker 9955, with a gospel huxter. Skedgrid does show System B at 0430-0500 on both 9455 and 9955 as ``Eslovaquia``, but the 9955 program grid shows that one hour earlier at 0330, and at 0430-0445 Sat, `Upward Look Forum` & 0445-0500 `Bible Commentary`. Maybe a mistake, but if it hold up, that`s another frequency for WORLD OF RADIO at 0430 UT Monday, and `Hobart Radio International` at 0430 UT Sunday! All three 9 MHz channels of WRMI have almost faded out by 0500, but at 0516, 9955 is still on with a song, unknown if still // 9455. Sked on 9955 now is `Viva Miami` which does not play music. By 0611, 9955 appears to be really off. WRMI has now put up a new 9955 program schedule effective January 1, already. http://www.tinyurl.com/WRMI9955 Among other changes, the Wed 1415 broadcast of WORLD OF RADIO has been dropped. That leaves only UT Mon 0430 on 9955. So far the times on other frequencies are still shown. Parallel frequency setups seem to be changing. Sat Dec 30 at 2213 I find that unlistenable now half-hour `Dub Politico` is not only on 9955 but also 11580, while on weekdays they would be different. Oldies music inhabits all three, 9455, 9395 and 7780, but 7780 is off by 2300. 9395 & 9455, Dec 31 at 1426, WRMI ending the last `Wavescan` of 2017 with a bit of Swiss music. In the last DX/SWL/MEDIA Programs we had the Sun 1400 airing only on 9455. This secret airing which has existed for quite some time cannot be seen on the WRMI frequency or program sked grids. 11580 // 9955, Sun Dec 31 at 2309, WRMI in `AWR Wavescan` during DX report from India; and also 5850 but not synchronized. In two weeks, 11580 to be replaced by 7780; by when 11580 propagation will be gradually improving on average. In fact, `Radiogram` at 2330 Dec 31 was still OK this week (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) New beginning --- Hi Jeff, I hope you will take this opportunity as a new beginning to make a serious effort to get some decent programming on WRMI transmitters left idle. Such as mainstream (that is NOT a dirty word) public radio journalism from NPR, PRI, etc. Or at least some of the few VOA non-musical feature/news programs left in addition to newscasts at unpredictable times. And then there`s Radio Australia... Thank you for keeping most of the WOR airtimes. 73, (Glenn to Jeff White, via DXLD) 11580, Jan 2 at 2105, WRMI with RAE in German as usual; and what else? 7780 is off, but QRX to replace 11580 from Jan 8; instead of Power Hour, which is only on 9395; while 9455 is Wavescan: the skedgrid has finally replaced defunct `15770`` for this hour block. Not confirmed by monitoring yet, but also now shows additional weekday prepeats of RAE to Europe: 1900 German and 2000 Italian on 9395, in addition to 2100 German & 2200 Italian on 11580. It also shows 0800 Japanese & 0900 Chinese on 9455 only, no more 5850, and no more 0600 Japanese & 0700 English, which have already been gone for a few weeks (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7489.87v, Fri Dec 29 at 2252, WBCQ with vintage ``Winter Wonderland`` song on `Behavior Night`, a really neat program at 2200 when I am usually otherwise occupied. I keep checking WBCQ. At 2300 changes to Brother Scare, for the gratis legacy broadcasts Allan has pledged to maintain no matter what BS did or is convicted of. By 0000 UT Sat Dec 30, I have switched to webcast, and to my surprise it`s not `Fred Flintstone`, but a replay of last week`s `Allan Weiner Worldwide`. Cut off incomplete at 0100, replay a few words, then re- opening with live new show. Says he and Angela are back in DeLand of Fla for a few days, since Xmas. They only went back to ME in winter because of the transmitter fire, etc. The feed from Studio 9 is lost for a couple minutes at 0121-0123, replaced by fill music. When he comes back on, unaware of this, is finishing talking about a new program starting a week from today by someone named Francis/Frances? Will be a live phone-in, at 7- 8 pm ET, as the person does not do internet or cassette tapes {discouraged as it`s labor-intensive, requiring someone at controls}. So this will replace `Flintstone`, but if Allan explained what happened to Fred, it was lost in the outage! We heard he had health and financial problems. Fred is still on the website at http://schedule.wbcq.com/index.php?fn=p&id=17 so one could ask him at fred7415@hotmail.com if that still be vigent, as the rest of the info is *very* old: ``Description --- Music from the late fifties through the present, ranging from Rolling Stones to Zebra and late doo-wap to eighties hair bands. Highly recommended! Be sure to crank up the volume and attach a subwoofer to your receiver. Notes --- Fred surprised his long time listeners on Easter weekend this year with the revelation that he is a born again Christian. This happened by chance (design?) when we were simulcasting WBCQ's webcast on a low power community FM radio station. Fred's show is consistently good and we reiterate, highly recommended. A great test for the old tube type radio for hearing how good WBCQ's 7415 service sounds when conditions are right. Moves a half hour later and adds a half hour effective November 6. New time with be Saturdays from 8 to 9 PM ET on 7415. On hiatus from April 30, 2005 to Thursday, August 24, 2006 (New date and time 6 pm on 7415).`` Only one old episode is in the rni archives: http://radionewyorkinternational.com/archives/ fredflintstone 1 item 8 Mar 2013 The Fred Flintstone Music Show As of Jan 2, the AWW edition of 12-29 is not yet in the archive: http://radionewyorkinternational.com/archives/aww/2017-1229%20allan%20weiner%20worldwide.mp3 AW goes on to mention all the times and days available on WBCQ with BS gone after 9 pm ET. Also says that `Mitch & Kathy` might not be on much longer since they are 6 months behind in payments! That`s UT Sun 01-02 on 7490. A little public nudge? Before his arrest, Brother Scare had told Allan that TOM had spent 42 megadollars over the years on radio time! Yes, SW stations will be taking a hit without all his input, but WBCQ will be OK. Station will be doing some big things in 2018, rebuilding transmitters, etc., very busy during the summer season, as not much can be done in winter, extremely cold. But he can`t tell us all the details. 0155 benedixion, 0200 canned Allan promo cuts off live Allan, and sign-off, as AW mentioned earlier that he has ordered 7490 to be turned off at 0200 UT with no BS to ensue. Webstream remains silent for a while, but rechecked a couple hours later, rock music is playing on it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AWWW tonight: Poor signal on 7490 so listening on 5130 again. Program started about a minute late after playing a bit of last week's show. Angela was with Allan and they're back in FLA this week. Allan said that the FM transmitter at the station went down this morning and Tom and Jason had to snowshoe out to the transmitter building to fix it. Then he was complaining about a cold snap in Florida and the temps being in the forties today. Audio dropped out at 0118 and 0119. Seems like it's going to be one of those nights again with frequent dropouts. Some more talk about Brother Stair but the dropouts make it difficult to follow the conversation. Music came up from the studio at 0122 to cover the dropouts. Program started again at 0126 right at the end of Allan telling us about a new program starting next week at 0000 right before AWWW. Have no idea what the program is. Allan mentioned that 7490 would be shutting down at 0200 since Brother Stair wasn't there anymore. Made a pitch to fill all the empty slots on the station without Stair. Dropouts seemed to have stopped by 0134. Allan mentioned that Brother Stair had spent forty-two million on shortwave broadcasts over the last twenty years. Allan then read an article from Spectrum Monitor about the current state of MW and FM broadcasting in this country. Show ended at 0200 in the middle of a sentence. There were no phone calls this evening and while there were emails Allan didn't read them over the air (John Carver, Mid-North Indiana, UT Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7490.09v, Sat Dec 30 at 2302, WBCQ S9+20 with ``Ride of the Valkyries`` theme for `SW Saturday Night`; then J P Ferraro is relieved that there is no more terrible stuff to talk about this year with only 30 hours left in 2017y; seems to have a rumble on his audio. WBCQ needs your help now more than ever after the transmitter fire, which he says is also what happened to its predecessor. And 3265 unit is the same kind of transmitter, so will not be activated until the air plenum which caused the fire on #1 is replaced on it, and with weather in northern Maine frightful, that won`t be completed until it warms up. 5129.807v, Dec 31 at 0002, WBCQ starting Radio Timtron Worldwide, S9+10. 9330v-CUSB, Dec 31 at 0004, sounds like Blalock is blasting for a second hour, but has faded to a JBA carrier after having been S9+10 when it started at 2230 with WORLD OF RADIO. 9330.121-CUSB, Dec 31 at 1427 UT, surprised to find good S9 to S9+10 signal, obviously WBCQ, on a frequency which is just fine when used after sunrise. Louder and clearer than neighbor 9265-AM WINB, only S9. Altho ``compatible``, music still sounds better in USB when tuned precisely. C&W, Dolly & Willie, ``From Here to the Moon and Back``, soon DJ ID as Carl (sp?) O`Donnell (sp?), who is a pastor in NB, doing only his third radio show, and plans more featuring country and bluegrass --- but he never names the show! Every week at this time. More tunes have a gospel subtext as one would expect. 1454 is wrapping up episode for NYE with another George Hamilton IV song, ``Auld Lang Syne``; 1457 contact info: blacksalmonlad@gmail.com as he used to be a fisherman. He`ll now try to check his email more than once every triweek, as he wants to know from where people are hearing him. So I`ll tell him about this. Not clear whether he is aware he is also on shortwave! For the past two Sunday mornings too? Cell 506-221-0147; or via ``Kicks FM`` 94.7 WBCQ. 1459 some Ricky Skaggs runs over hourtop. Karl is a true Canadian as he pronounces about ``aboat``. After a quick check for 2018 arriving on Japan 9750, back to this: 1503 restaurant ad and drive safely from Marston? (NB or ME?), WBCQ-FM ID mentioning several towns, but not Monticello? Late, from 1504 Town Hall News, 1508 optional cutaway, This-Day-in-History, 1510 Kix-FM jingle, and forecast highs for next few days in F: 5, 2, 3, 12, 16 and with C equivalents. Still going with country music past 1530, off at 1547 recheck --- no, it`s not off, just diminished to very poor S5 under the local noise level, why? As for the WBCQ FM slogan, every station spells it differently, so could even be ``Qycs``. WTFDA FM Database does not help, only as ``Classic Country 94.7``, 6/6 kW at 95m so it must not cover very far into NB. Of course, this transmission is not shown on the WBCQ program schedule for 9330 with incomparably greater coverage. Maybe they were just testing the transmitter with some convenient programming. Then at 1654 I just got this notice From Allan: ``Hi Gang, 9330 on 24/7 for awhile. Good time for some alternative programming. Suggestions are welcome. Thanks, Allan`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Booming in here in Maryland at 2152 UT on December 31. Running the Area 51 webcast. I dropped in a classic aircheck with Allan doing "Uncle Fred's Just Plain Ol' Talk Show" from WOZI/WOZW in 1984 (Larry Will, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7489.85, Sun Dec 31 at 2315, WBCQ with `Uncle Bill`s Melting Pot` halfway in, after monitoring NYE in Spain, q.v. 2320 acknowledges gh/WOR among others for publicity; NY tunes in Spanish, such as ``Año Nuevo, Vida Nueva``. 2326 Spike Jones. 2330 `Furthermore, 29-54` from Ramsey is still following. 9330.15v-CUSB, Dec 31 at 2341, WBCQ has been on all day as Allan had notified us, now faded to S3-S5 with music. By 0030 it`s gone when WOR runs. The rest of the story: see WOR Monitoring. Meanwhile, I received this brief reply at 0049 UT Jan 1 from the country/bluegrass program I was hearing Sunday morning, pulled off WBCQ-FM 94.7: ``Hello, this is Carl O'Donnell. I really appreciate you sending me a note on hearing the radio show #3 (un-named as of yet). I am only doing it in hopes that it can be a bit of spiritual help to folks. Thanks for checking in! Yes the station is in Monticello, Maine. I live in NB``. 9330.130v-CUSB, Jan 2 at 0710, WBCQ with C&W music at S7-S9, from Kix- FM (sp?) = WBCQ-FM. Still on air all night, and very strangely, around this time it`s propagating well, while around 0030 with WOR it is JBA or NAAL. Maybe there are huge experimental variations in power, rather than propagation? Around this hour it`s bound to collide head-on with Cuban numbers station, but not this time since it is Tuesday. Bulgaria DX Blog shows schedule for that: ``xx55-xx20 broadcasts 25 minutes; xx20-xx25 open carrier/dead air; xx25-xx50 broadcasts 25 minutes; xx50-xx55 change of frequencies. 0655-0750 9330 secret tx probably BEJ 50 kW Spanish Sun/Mon/Wed/Fri`` 9330.15-CUSB seems steady spot during the day on Jan 2, at 1454 only S1-S5 with music, 1500 WBCQ-FM ID and Townhall news, not delayed. Even weaker at 1903, not music, could be Blalock? Or just news on hour. At 2110, jazzy music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9930, WTWW. Massive signal with Christmas music at 2106, then nice canned ID by M with mention of “…with miles of wires, and thousands of volts…”. 20 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, BOGs of 315 feet, micro-DXpedition near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 5085, Dec 27 at 0940, WTWW-2 still on with C&W Xmasmx, for those who just can`t get enough of it. And it seems Ted never plays anything which could be classified as classical, godforbid. 12105, Dec 27 at 1540, JBA carrier. Nothing but WTWW scheduled now, yet neighbor WWCR on a higher frequency 15825 is strong with a sporadic E boost, so why is WTWW so weak? 9930 is also on with Xmasmx blasting at S9+40. 5830, Dec 28 at 1530, WTWW-1 still on night frequency instead of 9475 for SFAW, S9+10/20. 5085, Dec 30 at 0502, WTWW-2 is on with Xmasmx, pause for ARRL plug and Happy New Year greeting from canned ham K0AQH in Kansas, so this may keep on a few more days. Had not heard 12105 lately even in daytime. 5830, Dec 30 at 0515, WTWW-1 is off, and no carrier audible on 9475 either. 12105, Jan 2 at 1904 and misc. other daytime chex, no signal from WTWW-3, so the Xmasmx fest is long over, and transmitter apparently dark again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 11825, Dec 27 at 0946, gospel huxter in English; had been a WRMIBS frequency, but WHRI has it at 0900-1030, 245 degrees toward Pacific. And now it`s not only the SSOB at S9+20, but the OSOB! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9232.15v, Dec 27 at 1541, Brother Scare spur out of 9370 WWRB transmitter, and much weaker matching one circa 9507.85; so this time they are about 137.85 kHz away, vs 140.34 some 24 hours ago. 9232.30 & weaker 9507.70 approx., Dec 28 at 1536, filthy distorted spurblobs out of the 9370 BS from WWRB. So now separated by 137.7 kHz close to the 137.85 of yesterday. Exact carrier shifts with modulation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9370, Dec 30 at 0033, JBA carrier, maybe WWRB? No, BS already moved to blasting 3185 today. Nothing else scheduled on 9370, a phantom? No four schedules agree on the 9370 WWRB hours: HFCC: 13-24 NDXC: 11-01 EiBi: 14-02 WRTH: 12-02 So Dave QSYs whenever he get around to it. 9235.284v, Jan 1 at 1502, WWRB extremely distorted spurblob from 9370 has pulled in a bit closer to fundamental. Approx. measurement during pauses as modulation causes the spur frequency to fluxuate. A much weaker match on the other side circa 9505, which computed would be on 9504.716, i.e. 134.716 kHz above and below 9370. Presumably still Overcomer, tho unsounds like Brother Scare at the moment. Since TOM says all AM/FM/SW broadcasts cease ``due to legal problems`` as of Jan 1, it will be significant to note whether any of the laggards are still SWBCing him anyway (WWCR, WWRB, Spaceline), even WRMI which had kept him on for three hours daily as I previously reported. Allan says still gratis forever on WBCQ 7490, M-F 23-24 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 17774.989, Dec 29 at 1530, KVOH is S9+20 to S9, but just barely modulated in Spanish; why bother? So I can measure its variations, also noting a slight waver against the BFO which does not occur with other carriers I check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re KVOH Spurs: I think their signal is beamed toward the Caribbean area, putting it more over me. The white noise is still there on days when prop. is good. I didn't want to have to resort to it but I sent a letter to the FCC Enforcement division making them aware of the issue, since they either don't understand the problem, or else don't consider it an issue of concern. May take some time for anything to change. Keep watching it. Thanks for your help (Ronnie Miller - K5WLT, Seguín TX, Dec 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17774.888, Jan 2 at 1905, KVOH still on its favorite offset, S9+10/20 in Spanish, undermodulated (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 12056-12057 & 12073-12074, Dec 31 at 1437, approx. plus/minus 8-9 kHz spur peaks of hashcrap out of WEWN English 12065 transmitter, just like accompany 15610 when it`s strong enough. QRMs weak 12075 station, which would be VOA Radio Ashna in Pashto via Kuwait. BTW, NDXC/Aoki shows wrong language for 12065 WEWN at 12-15, Spanish instead of English, as they are discussing some ex-pope (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 12160, WWCR – Nashville, 12/30, 1635-1640, a preacher speaks. Good signal, but speech is muffled, as if he was talking from inside of an outhouse. SIO 433 (Ronald Sives, South Plainfield, NJ, ETON field radio and 66 ft. random wire, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** U S A. KWMT 540 in Fort Dodge, Iowa used to have a slogan of "playing 5 decades of the greatest country music". They had to revise that in recent years when they starting adding songs from the 1990s but ALSO the 1930s, so it's now "7 decades". But if you want to be technical about it, KWMT has been known to dig deep and go way back to the early years in the Jimmie Rodgers catalog by playing "T For Texas" and "In the Jailhouse Now", both recorded in 1928. I still continue to hear "Wabash Cannonball" and "Great Speckled Bird" (both recorded in 1936) by Roy Acuff on KWMT from time to time. In the past, they've also played Rosalie Allen's 1946 version of "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart", although I wish they would put the 1935 original by Patsy Montana into their library, for a real treat. 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska, Dec 29, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. 1080, FLORIDA, "WUTT" University of Tampa. Silent mid-day December 18, 2017 while just a few blocks from the University. Probably off due to the campus holiday break. Non-licensed carrier current === Florida Low Power Radio Stations: https://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/florida-low-power-radio-stations (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC- R75, longwires, active loop unless otherwise stated, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1110, KVTT, TX, Mineral Wells – Reported silent (Bill Hale, TX, update to NRC AM Log, AM Switch, NRC DX News Jan 8, published Dec 31 via DXLD) 50 kW daytimer with Asian format; really stood out around SR/SS vs KFAB or 39 kW critical hours (gh, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard S Asian singing, seems back on (gh, later) ** U S A. 1120, TENNESSEE, WKCE, Maryville. 1155 December 28, 2017. Abruptly up mid-song, something quasi-Barbershop Quartet-ish, into "Can't You See That She's Mine" by Dave Clark Five, quick Knoxville traffic report by guy mentioning I-75 at 1200, then male canned "WKCE, Maryville-Seymour-Knoxville and new on FM 97.1 W246DH." Into "Oh Carol" by Rita Pavoro and Paul Anka. Trounching KMOX, and held up until around 1210. D1 at only 1000 watts, a nice surprise (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop unless otherwise stated, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. LIVE, LOCAL A RARITY ON RADIO, AND KQV GOES OUT TALKING Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-2 hours ago When the ball drops at midnight on Pittsburgh's First Night Celebration Sunday, it marks the last seconds of 2017. With it, goes legendary 1410 KQV. “That's when the signal ends,” said PJ Maloney, whose 40-year career at the Downtown AM radio station concluded Thursday. The longtime morning DJ had ... http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/tv-radio/2017/12/29/KQV-Pittsburgh-legacy/stories/201712290008 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Sad way in radio to end 2017 1410 KQV Pittsburgh signs off for good: http://www.clarkeingram.com/KQVFinal.mp3 cd Sent from my iPhone (via Chris Dunne, DXLD LIVE, LOCAL A RARITY ON RADIO, AND KQV GOES OUT TALKING Photo of Maria Sciullo Maria Sciullo Pittsburgh Post-Gazette msciullo@post-gazette.com 3:54 PM Dec 29, 2017 When the ball drops at midnight on Pittsburgh’s First Night Celebration Sunday, it marks the last seconds of 2017. With it, goes legendary 1410 KQV. “That’s when the signal ends,” said P.J. Maloney, whose 40-year career at the Downtown AM radio station concluded Thursday. The longtime morning anchor had been interviewing former members of the KQV family in the two weeks since owner and general manager Robert Dickey Jr. announced it was no longer financially feasible to continue. Former host Eleanor Schano was his final guest on the 11:30 Live Line. “It’s been a good run for me,” said Mr. Maloney, who will retire. “I’m a news guy; I delivered the Pittsburgh Press when I was a kid so I like to tell people I was in the news business for 60 years.” Brian O'Neill: KQV gave Pittsburgh the world, in bits [caption] After making the announcement KQV likely would go dark, Mr. Dickey told the Post-Gazette he had no regrets in pouring the station’s soul into a challenging format. “We perceived the world of reporting on the news as a sacred one. What made this worthwhile is not that we were making money, but that we were doing something important.” Although Mr. Dickey has said he will try to sell the station, it’s highly unlikely a new buyer would attempt to duplicate the increasingly rare all-news/talk format. KQV flipped from Top 40 music in 1975 to become a staple of local news for generations of baby boomers. In today’s market, local news and talk is almost prohibitively expensive. “They spent a lot of money to do it live and local,” said Jeff Roteman, a radio veteran who has maintained a KQV history website for almost 22 years. “They had newscasts every hour, they had producers, they had anchors, and they had to put in the money. “I’m very proud of them for that.” The current KQV got its start with help from the late Richard Mellon Scaife, who partnered with Robert Dickey Sr. to form Calvary Inc., and buy the station from Taft Broadcasting in 1982. It truly was a family business; until her death last month, Cheryl Scott was a business partner with her brother, Robert Jr. Their sister, Carol Finelli, is a KQV reporter. “I consider KQV’s news format a gift to Pittsburgh by Richard Mellon Scaife and the Dickey family, in the tradition of Pittsburgh philanthropists. The decision to program and maintain a local news format was a community service that could only have been done by a local media entity,” said Ed Salamon, Brookline native, former national radio programmer and author of the book, “Pittsburgh’s Golden Age of Radio.” “The news/talk format was also a labor of love for the dedicated employees, on and off the air, that took on the task.” In the end, Mr. Salamon said, KQV cannot be judged by the size of its audience. Instead, its legacy of news/talk should be honored: “The KQV newsroom kept every other news-gathering entity in Pittsburgh sharper than it would have been without their competition.” Not to be confused with syndicated talk radio, which can be lucrative, local talk and news formats require more staffing, more local advertising and deep pockets. “When they are done right, and in the case of [stations in] Washington, D.C., and New York, they make huge amounts of money. They are very hard to get started but they are incredibly profitable, said Robert Unmacht, a partner in the consulting firm RTK Media. “WTOP in Washington, D.C., [an FM] is the most profitable station in the country, and the highest-billing. There are tons of money to be made once you’re successful, but starting one is virtually impossible. “Westinghouse decided to do an all-news station in Chicago that took five years to establish itself. And that’s about normal for a truly successful talk or news station.” KQV, he added “ was kind of run as a throwback. It didn’t really follow any of the rules and was pretty much a family business.” Younger listeners, he said, have never been the primary audience for news/talk radio, instead seeking music on the dial. It’s only when they reach an older demographic that news and talk become of more interest. A big problem with radio, he said, often lies in its lack of marketing: “Here you are in a business that says you ‘need to advertise your business’ and then you’re not advertising yours. You’re seeing fewer billboards than there were a few years ago, you don’t see TV spots [ads] like you used to.” When Frank Iorio bought WJAS 1320-AM in 2014, he switched the standard music format to nationally syndicated talk. “We got beat up [in the media] pretty bad,” he said, remembering how a flood of longtime listeners wanted their songs back. “They said we were going to blow up a station that’s been there for 100 years, and I get it, but it was a pure business decision. “Which, ironically, is the same thing now with KQV.” WJAS fields a heavy hitter syndicated lineup of conservative talk that includes Rush Limbaugh (formerly known as Jeff Christie when he worked at KQV), Sean Hannity and Mark Levin. President Donald Trump, Mr. Iorio said, is “like the gift that keeps on giving. Whether you like him or not, he’s done very well for talk radio. Since the election, talk radio is the No. 1 format in America.” There are still many who long for the days of ultra-local talk radio. Although sports has always been a strong topic of discussion, when it comes to news and in-depth takes on issues such as education and culture, results have been mixed. “We will never see a format like KQV again [here],” said Lynn Cullen, longtime radio talk host whose show is now streamed online from 10 to 11 a.m. on weekdays through City Paper. Noting national talk shows can be found on the air, through apps and online, she added that the cachet of local created a sense of “special-ness.” “There is a big difference: KQV was locally owned, WPTT, my last major radio gig, was locally owned. That’s an animal that is truly almost extinct, now that the ‘corporatization’ of radio has homogenized it to the point that it’s like being on the outskirts of any city in the country, which looks like the outskirts of any city in the country.” With Entercom assuming control of CBS Local radio stations around the country — including Pittsburgh’s talk and news flagship, KDKA — the future of the format here is hard to predict. Waxing nostalgic, Ms. Cullen said the heyday of local talk radio evoked a “sense of community.” “It was something that helped hold a community together, that helped define a community, sort of the ultimate democratic medium… a town square kind of thing.” Indeed, for a while during the mid-’70s when Pete Flaherty was mayor of Pittsburgh, he held court on the air during his weekly morning hour on KQV. One of KQV’s finest moments, or at least one Mr. Maloney said he will never forget, was the night in 1980 when Gov. Dick Thornburgh was a guest on the live show hosted by Mark Schreiber. This was a time when the numbers game outside of Pennsylvania’s official lottery was thriving. Shortly after TV host Nick Perry announced the winning numbers, 666, the KQV phone line began ringing. “[Those running the illegal numbers] spotted right away; it was a fix,” Mr. Maloney said. “They called the radio station and said ‘Governor, your lottery numbers for tonight are fixed.’ We thought these were some sort of crank phone calls.” It became clear by morning that indeed there was something strange going on; Mr. Perry and others were eventually convicted of, among other charges, criminal conspiracy and theft by deception. “Later, we didn’t think much of the fact, other than we were first in the world to report Pennsylvania’s lottery was fixed that night,” Mr. Maloney said, laughing. “You know how it is in this business; some of your best stories just fall out of the sky.” (via DXLD) Recorded the last hour and a half. 73 (Tony VK2IC Magon, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1410 KQV --- Surprised that nothing was said on here. I checked the webstream and it is indeed silent (Todd Skaine, MN, 0325 UT Jan 2, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. 1430 WION, Ionia, MI, Morse Code ID --- This is from an SDR Play recording that I made near Hovland, MN on November 1. I still haven't finished logging all of the catches from that trip, but this one is unusual. It features a genuine Morse Code ID at the top of the hour. I haven't heard one of those on a US station in ages. The only ones I have heard in the past were on DX tests. However, this was heard at 2 PM CDST. The distance is over 400 miles, and the antenna was a sloppy 500 foot unterminated BOG, with about 30 feet of RG 6 making the connection to the inside of the cabin. No matching network was used. The station is listed at 4,700 Watts, so I'm thinking that the BOG did its job nicely. Is anyone else doing Morse IDs anymore? This is the sort of thing that makes me smile! 73, (Mike Gorniak, Dec 27, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. If the station in CO on 1510, it is likely KCKK Littleton. They go by "93.7 The Rock" and play top 40 hits from the 60s through today. They wouldn't likely be stuck on day power since they run higher power at night. They are 10 KW day, 25 KW night with an airplane propeller pattern that runs mostly NNE/SSW. I worked there in the 80s when it was KDKO running 10 KW day, 5 KW night. Needless to say, the 25 KW night coverage area is a lot larger than the 5 KW was. The signal is very clear at night in Albuquerque and northern New Mexico, and I suspect it can be easily heard in Phoenix since the 5 KW night signal could be. The pattern is very tight, so not much goes east or west. I have heard a listener from Rapid City, SD call in at night. The station runs DA-2 with nearly identical patterns from 4 tower array. When I worked there, we were using a new transmitter facility that was only a year or two old and was located south of Littleton and southwest of Denver in Douglas County. It replaced an identical 4 tower array that was located just down the hill from the new site. However, that site is no longer there. Around 10 years ago, the site changed to Thornton (in Adams County) on the northeast side of Denver, and that was when the night power increased. They have a 99 watt translator on 93.7 that covers all of metro Denver and beyond from Lookout Mtn. 73, (Kit S. Sage, W5KAT, Golden CO, ABDX via DXLD) KCKK is a pest in Cedar Falls Iowa and Bloomington MN. Ugh! (Todd Skaine, ibid.) Really? In a way, that is good to hear. When we ran 5 KW night, there were a lot of dead zones around metro Denver we couldn't cover, which is why they eventually increased to 25 KW. Our studio was in Greenwood Village, south of Denver and east of Littleton, so we weren't in the main lobe of our signal. When I was on the air with our night pattern, I couldn't listen to our air signal at the studio because it was so weak and KOMA was clobbering us. We also took a big hit from KEZW (1430) because their 5 tower night array was pointing right at our studio site from just a few miles away. Our contract engineer told me the reason it was so bad was because our air monitor was an old Volkswagen car radio on a 12 volt power converter. So much for major market radio! (Kit, ibid.) ** U S A. 1650, FLORIDA, WQQJ297 I-275 HAR, Tampa (pretending to be WQVF594 again). 1034 December 30, 2017. Same as usual generic compu- man loop, only the WQVF594 calls inserted instead of the correct WQQJ297 calls, as has happened before. Presume someone sends the wrong file after deleting a (rare) traffic update to this and maybe the more eastern second transmitter. Florida Low Power Radio Stations: https://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/florida-low-power-radio-stations (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC- R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also INTERNATIONAL WATERS: 1650 ** U S A. 1680, FLORIDA, WOKB, Winter Garden. 0701 December 27, 2017. For what it's worth, noting Haitian kreyol in the sometimes overnights here. Woman alternating babble between coughing spells, lots of mentions of "Kanada" whatever the context of that was. Still in kreyol in the 0800 hour (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop unless otherwise stated, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1690, MARYLAND, WPTX, Lexington Park. 0919 December 31, 2017. Again clearly on day power, with ID's, station promos, national product ads, into Oldies. Crushing WMLB at times (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 101.1 MHz, FLORIDA, W266CW, Tampa. Still not active, ex-St. Petersburg site and the translator then of WTIS 1110 kHz, which went silent December 31, 2016. The translator is listed as construction permit to a site just east of the University of Tampa, across the Hillsborough River, and is occasionally announced on the automated liners on the reactivated WTIS (Oldies format now) as "coming soon" to 101.1 FM. Not heard when in the locale on December 18 and December 25. Florida Low Power Radio Stations: https://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/florida-low-power-radio-stations (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC- R75, longwires, active loop unless otherwise stated, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RADIO FREE MIAMI — FCC TRIES TO MAKE MIAMI PIRATE RADIO STATION WALK THE PLANK --- $144,000 fine for ignoring all requests to stop. [with embedded linx] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/fcc-tries-to-make-miami-pirate-radio-station-walk-the-plank/ Nate Anderson - 12/28/2017, 8:25 PM Enlarge Getty Images | Priscila Zambotto 121 comments "Pirate radio" in 2017 takes many forms, but here's one: a north Miami couple hosting a transmitter in their backyard shed while a DJ's signal is piped in over the Internet and promoted on Facebook—even after multiple warnings from the government and a gear seizure by the US Marshals. Oh — did I mention the $144,344 fine? Not that anyone's likely to pay it. Welcome to 90.1 MHz, "Radio Touche Douce," a Haitian music station appearing to be so obviously illegal that it even has the ability to unite the current fractious set of FCC commissioners. It's not even a secret; as the Miami Herald notes, the station is "the pulse of the Haitian music industry in Miami, organizing some of the most popular big-ticket parties while promoting bands and guiding konpa music fans to the next hit." But that doesn't mean it has been easy to shut down. Here, in statements pulled right from FCC documents, is the story of how Radio Touche Douce has operated for years right under the nose of government investigators — and how the FCC has now upped the ante. (If you want to see a map of all "pirate radio" warnings issued by the agency between 2003 and 2017, you can; the vast majority are in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and California.) Radio Touche Douce Our story begins at the residence of Harold and Veronise Sido, where in 2012 FCC field agents in Miami used direction-finding gear to locate a strong illicit signal emanating from the couple's backyard shed. The agents consulted the Commission’s records and confirmed that no authorization had been issued for the operation of an FM broadcast station at or near that residence. The agents issued a NOUO [Notice of Unauthorized Operation] to the Sidos directing them to “immediately discontinue” operating the unlicensed radio station on 90.1 MHz, and warning that continued unlicensed operation could result in additional enforcement action. But the broadcasts were picked up again on May 9, June 13, and July 3, 2012. So the FCC moved to seize the offending gear, and two days later it obtained the help of US Marshals. As a result of those observations, the US Marshals Service executed an in rem warrant at the Sido residence on July 5, 2012, seizing the radio equipment used for the unauthorized transmissions located in a shed in the Sidos’ backyard. Agents from the Commission’s Miami Office who accompanied the US Marshals observed a laptop computer in the shed with an audio play list with "Radio Touche Douce" in the name. They also observed computer file folders with MP3 files with the name "Paz." The Miami agents have determined that Mr. [Fabrice] Polynice refers to his unauthorized station as “Radio Touche Douce” and refers to himself as “Paz" during the illegal broadcasts. The DJ, Polynice, was fined $25,000 in 2013. He didn't pay it—and he apparently didn't stop the broadcasts. The FCC went back to the Sido residence again in 2015, and agents again detected the signal. The agents interviewed both Mr. Sido and Mrs. Sido and orally warned them of the unlicensed operation. Mrs. Sido initially denied the radio station was there, but then admitted the station’s antenna and structure were in the Sidos’ backyard. She also acknowledged that the station had been there before, and advised that it belonged to someone named “Paz.” In the backyard, the agents observed a coaxial cable running from the antenna to the bottom of the antenna structure and then buried in the ground. The agents also observed what appeared to be an AC power line running from the shed to the Sido residence. The shed from which radio station equipment was seized during the 2012 in rem seizure was still located in the backyard. An agent heard what sounded like electrical equipment hum coming from inside the shed. The agents mentioned this fact to Mr. Sido and Mrs. Sido. About two minutes later, the sound ceased and the agents used a portable FM radio to determine that the carrier signal on 90.1 MHz was no longer transmitting. This was certainly suspicious. So FCC agents did a bit of snooping in a Super-Top Secret Government Research Database called "Facebook." One Radio Touche Douce Facebook page identifies Mr. Polynice as the owner of Radio Touche Douce. Another Radio Touche Douce Facebook page includes Mr. Polynice’s picture and encourages people to tune in to “RadioToucheDouce 90.1 FM” in Miami. Moreover, in September 2014, Mr. Sido posted a video on his Facebook page showing him with Mr. Polynice at the station’s studio as Mr. Polynice is talking into a microphone in the background. Mr. Sido reposted that video to his Facebook page in December 2016, which provides further evidence that Mr. Sido is aware of Mr. Polynice’s radio programming, that Mr. Sido was present during the course of such use and operation, and that he has a personal and/or professional relationship with Mr. Polynice. In late 2016, the agents returned to the Sido house and again identified the radio signal. Within ten minutes after taking the measurements, the agents knocked on the Sidos’ door to interview them. About ten minutes after the agents began knocking on the door, the Sidos answered the door. In response to the agents’ questions, both denied that a radio station was operating from their residence. The Sidos brought the agents to the backyard where the agents observed the shed, antenna mast, and antenna coaxial cable that ran down towards the ground. When asked about the lock that the agents observed on the shed, the Sidos informed the agents that only they possess keys to the lock. Mr. Sido unlocked the shed and allowed the agents inside. The agents observed that the shed was dark, and so they could not determine whether it contained the transmitter or other radio transmitting equipment that they heard before they started the site inspection. Mr. Sido told the agents that no lights were available in the shed, claiming that there were none because of a problem with the breaker that controls power to the shed... When the agents inquired about the nature of Sidos’ relationship with Mr. Polynice, they asserted that they had not seen him in two years. When the agents asked about the unlicensed transmitter, the Sidos alternately refused to respond or claimed that no radio transmitter had been operated on their property since the 2012 in rem seizure... As had occurred during the August 2015 site visit, the station had been taken off the air when the agents took further field strength measurements immediately after the Sido interview ended. A pair of document footnotes suggest that FCC agents didn't buy this explanation. However, the video provides evidence that while the Sidos’ shed contains the equipment needed to broadcast the unauthorized station’s signal, the studio where Mr. Polynice originates its content is at another location... The agents concluded that Mr. or Mrs. Sido turned off the equipment during the ten minutes from the time the agents first knocked on their door and when the Sidos answered it, or that Mr. Sido turned off or moved the equipment during the five or so minutes that Mrs. Sido talked to the agents before Mr. Sido presented himself at the door. (The Miami Herald confirmed the agents' understanding of the broadcast setup, writing in its piece that the actual Radio Touche Douce studio is "located in a North Miami storefront, where the on-air programs are sometimes live-streamed over the internet.") FCC staff at this point concluded that the Sidos were actively working with Polynice, due in part to the fact that the Sidos pay the bills. The Sidos supply the Internet connection to the unauthorized transmitter on their property. This Internet service is necessary to carry the programming for this unauthorized station from where it originates to the radio transmitter. The bill for Internet service is in the Sidos’ name, and the Sidos pay for the Internet connection to the antenna and the transmitter. Moreover, Mr. Sido and Mrs. Sido arranged and pay for the electrical power necessary for the station and transmitter and other equipment to operate. The bill for electrical services is in the Sidos’ name. In addition, the Sidos have an electrical breaker on the electrical circuit to the shed that allows them to halt the supply of electricity to the shed at will. Similarly, Mr. Sido and Mrs. Sido continued to provide access to the site on which the antenna, transmitter, and coaxial cable used by the unauthorized station are located. As noted above, the agents determined on twelve occasions from 2012 to 2016, that the Sidos were providing the space for this unauthorized station. In September 2017, the FCC hit all three individuals with a joint fine of $144,344 — the highest possible amount under current law. The targets of the investigation don't seem particularly worried, though; as the FCC noted in a recent document, Harold Sido is still hosting the allegedly incriminating video on his Facebook page. And Radio Touche Douce still has its own webpage, where it provides contact info for its DJs, sells advertising space, and tells listeners that they can hear the station on "90.1 FM." United front In September, FCC Chair Ajit Pai issued a statement about the $144,344 fine and made clear his support for a continued crackdown on pirate radio. "One week ago today was International Talk Like a Pirate Day," he said in a statement, "which is probably the only holiday that can trace its origin to a racquetball game. When the two co-founders were playing, one of them suffered an injury and screamed out 'Aaarrr!' One thing then led to another, and a day of light-hearted commemoration was born. By contrast, there’s nothing funny about pirate radio." Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, for whom pirate radio crackdowns are a key issue, wrote, "If you believe that radio is actually a critical medium for sharing vital information, especially in times of crisis as has been noted during the recent hurricanes of Harvey, Irma and Maria, then allowing rogue individuals to potentially cause interference, effectively steal listeners and put legitimate broadcasters at risk of failing is antithetical to the Commission’s purpose." Not that he thinks the Commission's actions will have much effect: "Instead, I suspect the perpetrators will run and hide, failing to respond at all." Mignon Clyburn, one of the Commission's two Democrats, also supported the fine — but she asked what it was about current policy that led pirate broadcasters to operate outside the law. "According to US Census data, there are 213,000 foreign-born Haitians living in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area," she wrote. "This represents nearly 4 percent of the metro area population yet, research by my staff found just a single FM station serving the Haitian community of the almost 60 FM stations in south Florida. If these unlicensed operators were ever afforded the opportunity to transition to a licensed station, would they take it? Unfortunately, in most large media markets, that opportunity may never exist, both because of the lack of an available license and high financial hurdles." Clyburn's comments were echoed by locals in Miami a few days after the FCC order. According to the Miami Herald: Some Haitian music fans are wondering if the move, and an ongoing investigation of other South Florida pirate radio stations by the FCC, will compel the Haitian community to purchase its own FM station after years of complaining an FM radio license is too expensive. “We need it,” said Wilky “Kikko” Saint-Hilaire, a songwriter for several konpa musicians. “This was probably the only station that played our music genre, konpa, exclusively on a daily basis.” For now, though, the beat goes on (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** VATICAN [non]. 6070, Dec 27 at 0638, whew! Vatican Radio is gone again, 24 hours after surprise reactivation for Latin mass, leaving CFRX Toronto in the clear, after ad, back to George Noury and C2CAM -- - a program which hardly needs a little SW relay, already on hundreds of MW stations, including many major ones. BTW, we still can hear some old Art Bell shows retreading on Saturday evenings (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. 11615, Dec 27 at 1538, S9+10 in African language, something new. Aoki/NDXC shows only since Dec 18, VR in Amharic at 1530-1600, 250 kW at 115 degrees. Probably the biggest signal from Europe on 25m now: yet another example of superb coverage Santa Maria di Galeria enjoys to direxions far from the intended azimuth, in this case close to opposite (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: Pope's Urbi et Orbi Blessing over Vatican Radio --- And reviewing my recording, I note that they introduced the broadcast as coming from "Vatican Media." No specific mention of "Vatican Radio" but they were supplying the English voice-over for not just radio but TV, too (-- Richard Langley, NB, Dec 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Vatican - On 1 January 2018 I came across a Latin mass, with short comments in Arabic. -0955- on 15615 kHz. 1025 jazz music. 1029 audio ended. 1032 close down. No interval signal or station identification, but who else should that have been except RIP Radio Vatican (Dr Hansjoerg Biener 1 January 2018, DX LISTENING DIGEST) es war ein mal ... [once upon a time ---] 15595 0930 1050 38-39S,47-48W 250 121 -9 616 1 Amh VAT VAT 15595 0930 1050 38E,39NW 250 121 -9 616 1 Ara VAT VAT 15595 0930 1050 29SE,39N 250 98 0 556 1 Armen VAT VAT 15595 0930 1050 19,29,30NW 250 41 0 216 1 RusLit VAT VAT 17590 0930 1050 38-39S,47-48W 250 144 14 616 1 Amh VAT VAT 17590 0930 1050 38E,39NW 250 116 -14 616 1 Ara VAT VAT 17590 0930 1050 29SE,39N 250 84 -14 616 1 Armen VAT VAT 17590 0930 1050 19,29,30NW 250 72 14 616 1 RusLit VAT VAT (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** VATICAN. Africa Service of Vatican Radio in English. Strong signal on 9660 kHz at 2005 // weaker 7365 kHz. Still identifying itself as "Vatican Radio." All of these signals noted indoors with a portable using its whip antenna (-- Richard Langley, NB, date not stated, and yg archive search not up to date, dxldyg via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 12019.12, Voice of V. W doing the news in English at 1006, // 9839.81 which was good. Better than a couple days ago. 24 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 12019.120, Very odd frequency, English service of VoV from Son Tay site, at 1348 UT, nice clear S=9+5dB signal, played some pop music from Vietnam, male singer and excellent solo guitar performance. and \\ 9839.798 Son Tay too at S=9+25dB (!) signal strength. 11 kHz wideband signal at 1354 UT [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] Log of Dec 30 of 1145-1445 UT - in southern Korea remote SDR access near Seoul capital location (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOV, 12019.120 // 9839.798 (thanks to Wolfie for exact measurements), on Dec 31, in English at 1133, with item about Vietnam successfully controlling inflation, etc; per Wolfie, both via Son Tay site, whereas Aoki listed "Hanoi-Sontay"; both equally fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. 7315, Dec 27 at 0029, WHRI with usual Voice of Martyrs promo in break mentioning a Vietnamese name, how cheeky. 0030 dead air, but eventually VOV in Spanish starts, so the relay still exists, while 48 hours ago on Xmas eve it was praise music fill in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 13655, Voice of Hope – Lusaka (Presumed), 1607, 12/31/17, in English. Man with Bible teaching on the Lord’s Prayer. Good (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, Perseus, SDRPlay; Eton E1, ICOM R75, Tecsun PL 880, and various other portables; 42 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, W6LVP loop, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ?? supposed to be 13680 (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 1300, Fri Dec 29 at 1412 UT, old-fashioned gospel huxter wrapping it up with a prayer, and program ID as `Word of Prophecy`, address Jaxonvil FL, which means it is this: http://www.wordofprophecy.org/ the website with everything but a station/schedule list! Fades out in time for an ID if any before another program at 1415 UT. Definitely loops east/west. Daytime 1300 inhabitant here is KAKC Tulsa, but it`s sports. What else could this be? Format, language do not fit for the TX or AR, or even CO 1300 stations in the NRC AM Log. Why not 50 kW WNQM Nashville TN? Unlike its SW WWCR, WNQM does not provide a program schedule, but a list of programs, not including Word of Prophecy: http://www.1300wnqm.com/pgm-links_wnqm.html but I still think it`s most likely the source of this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1330, 1128 December 31, 2017. Someone with nonstop mostly merengue/tropical and non-Christian Spanish vocals, across top of hour, pretty much lost after sunrise by 1230. Solid, as if getting at least some ground signal, so maybe merely WJNX, however they're Spanish News/Talk and in the past seem to remember to ID on the hour, plus go into (and oddly) CBS [English] news. WCVC up at 1155 with English EWTN spew for the co-channel (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1650, "The Beeper" 1036 December 26, 2017. The single tone, staccato mutant sporadically heard since 2014 popped up again today way under XEARZ, WHKT and the Tampa I-275 HAR. (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop unless otherwise stated, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1679.3, 1032 December 30, 2017. Fairly strong het [carrier] with no audio remains here, along with the one on 1649.7 (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC- R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4069.826-CW, Dec 31 at 0656, ZN beacon barely audible again, location unknown but probably USA. The pauses between the letters are virtually the same to the ear, so could equally be NZ. Presumed ZN since known as a ``zebra beacon`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5785 Unidentified utility station, at 0300. The station I have dubbed "the jackhammer" with intermittent bursts. (station is likely an Over-the-Horizon radar, Seems to be hanging out on this frequency as of this writing Dec. 27, Grundig Satellit 750, Hammarund HQ-180A, RS SW-2000629 with various outdoor wires. 73 and Good Listening...........! Barton-AZ UNIDENTIFIED. 6160, NA Pirate?? Getting a weak signal here at 2222 with unrecognized Rock music. Also had it on VA web receiver, and very weak signals with out audio on various European web receivers, but may have been something else. In fact it was strongest here. Unreadable M announcer at 2227:55 sounding like English. 2233:20 mention of “…on frequencies 6160 kHz shortwave…”. 2234 back to Rock music sounding like a remake of “Here Come the Sun”. 2236:50 canned talk in English by M with mention of United States, Watergate, and Vietnam, then audio off at 2238:14 and signal gone at 2238:31. Didn’t return. Not a spur or image. One or two NA Pirates have been heard around this frequency in the past. 25 Dec (Dave Valko, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA1530S loop at home, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ??? Could it be a special radio outlet from Shortwave Radio Winsen Aller, Germany, at other times on 3975 kHz in 75 meterband. see above 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. Next door upwards from Bangkok 6765.1 [see THAILAND]: 6769.450-LSB mode. Mentioned some Canadian / US weather, New Foundland etc. and maritime radio ... in English, 1915 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Dc 27, HCDX via DXLD) So what station is this?? (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 13700, UNKNOWN, Deutsche Welle, 1609, 12/31/17. Unknown transmitter location and language. Perhaps South Asian language (e.g. Urdu). Male announcer with fast talk, 1610 ID, bumper into talk by the same man with DW bumpers at several points, ID, bumper, same announcer briefly, off mid sentence at 1615. Good. I was not able to find information about this transmission in Aoki, EiBi, 12/31/17 HFCC or December DX Listening Digest (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, Perseus, SDRPlay; Eton E1, ICOM R75, Tecsun PL 880, and various other portables; 42 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, W6LVP loop, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Well, HFCC Jan 4 shows Bangladesh, suspected fantasy; and Bulgaria in Arabic. Don`t think DW has ever used Bulgaria relay. EiBi shows neither, and nothing else on 13700 at this time (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ACKNOWLEDGED ON WORLD OF RADIO 1911: Thank you Glenn from my new home of New Orleans. With my move here after decades in Atlanta, I listen to SW less often but I still appreciate your service and dedication (Tom Roche, with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED FUTURELY: Thanks to an Anon., via PayPal Note from Henning Vahlbruch: quote ``Keep up the good work!`` also via PayPal Tnx to Ron Howard, Monterey CA, for a check with 2018 wishes to P O Box 1684, Enid OK, 73702 Ron, Many thanks for the check. And even more for the continuing flow of your editor-friendly top-notch reports. 73, Glenn Glenn, It's I who am always grateful for all you do for our hobby! Speaking of "editor-friendly" postings, I still miss the many good reports of Brian Alexander. Is now five years since his passing (Dec. 26, 2012). Doesn't seem possible that so much time has passed since then (Ron Howard, CA) Thanks for always providing exceptional details and shortwave info every week! (Mark Brandau, with contribution via PayPal) Wishing all the DXLD/WOR family the best for 2018. You all make this a great forum I am so grateful for! (Glenn, 0134 UT January 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for everything. I haven't had the time to listen but that new SDRPlay won't go to waste. Happy New Year! (Liz Cameron, MI, ibid.) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WORLD OF RADIO IN WRTH 2018 For the very first time, WORLD OF RADIO gets an entry under USA in the new WRTH 2018, which arrived here Dec 23. We figured it was about time, since other ``programs`` like VORW and FTIOM are treated as ``stations``. WOR is appropriately found between WBCQ and WRMI on page 508. Thanks, editor Sean Gilbert and publisher Nicholas Hardyman! We might have had a display ad years ago, but nothing to sell. We give it all away (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HITLIST UPDATE Hi Glenn, Happy New Year and thank you for all that you do to maintain WoR, DXLD and dxldyg. It is appreciated so much! My latest Hitlist update. http://www.w4uvh.net/hitlist.htm 1) Germany - Hamburger Lokal R: Updated live stream links 2) Nigeria - V of Nigeria: Updated live stream link 3) Vatican - Vatican News: Updated links to point to new beta website Due to holidays, the next update is likely to be delayed until mid February. Best wishes and 73, (Alan Roe, England, Jan 1, DXLD) Updated: DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html WORLD OF RADIO SCHEDULES http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html B17 frequency/transmission schedules many different formats and sources linked from WOR homepage, look for B17: http://www.worldofradio.com (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL WINDOW JANUARY 2018 Dear friends. We are releasing the new edition of the electronic publication 'QSL.window' with new information from e-mail and postal addresses used successfully in obtaining a QSL card, a confirmation letter, or an eQSL from radio stations that received reception reports. The layout of this publication data has been improved, making it easier to locate the information that is being sought. Many radio stations continue to receive and accept reception reports, confirming them in the best way they understand how to do it, and this is what the pages of this electronic edition presents. Developed initially in 2012 in a joint activity with my friend Fabricio Silva (Tubarão SC), the information base of 'QSL.window' brings together data provided by SWLs from Brazil and from other countries for the use of others who wish to increase the number of their confirmations. The collaborators are presented at the beginning of the publication, to whom we thank you once again. This publication is free. You are free to disclose this data through blogs, website or similar, always crediting the source of origin. For comments and suggestions, please contact: grimm.r@outlook.com.br . To access 'QSL.window': http://dxways-br.blogspot.com Click on 'QSL.window - January 2018' (on the right of the screen, just below the DX Clube do Brasil logo). Regards, (Rudolf Grimm, Editor São Bernardo SP BRASIL http://dxways-br.blogspot.com YouTube: GrimmSBC Jan 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am not sure what to make of this; seems a far-fetched conspiracy theory, but I know this fellow (a.k.a. John England as in the mixcloud website) has been on the case for a long time. Make of it what you will, if you haven`t already seen this, sent to just about everybody who is anybody in radio and DXing (gh) THE CAROLINE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES Because so many large pieces of the jigsaw puzzle have become available, without ever having access to the 'lid' on the box that shows what the puzzle that we are assembling will reveal as a single picture, I am opening up access to this study in order to gain input from as many people as possible. The easiest way will be to convert future emails into a newsletter format. In the meantime here is one of the latest segments for study. It concerns a very strange book that was written by a man, now deceased, but whose credibility as a major player in the broadcasting empire of Gordon McLendon has been documented elsewhere in contemporary journals and by his colleagues in radio. Charles William Weaver, known to everyone he met as Bill, was manager of KILT in Houston. He was also manager of the motor vessel Mi Amigo when it arrived at Galveston in March 1963, until it departed in the last hours of December 1963. Upon arrival Weaver dismissed the crew which had been supervised by Wijsmuller, and he had the ship stripped of its radio broadcasting equipment which was sent to Houston for storage at the KILT warehouse which McLendon used to service his stations in the USA with spare parts. The transmitters were then sent on to Dallas for refurbishment at Continental Electronics. Information received seems to point to Continental being asked to supply two additional new 10kW transmitters for a second ship (Fredericia), and the four transmitters were then sent back to Galveston when the Mi Amigo slipped out of port on a subterfuge during the hours before the dawn of 1964. Of course, in the meantime some earthshattering major world events centered in Dallas, Texas had also taken place: namely the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in the streets of Dallas on November 22, followed by the assassination of the alleged assassin two days later. The man who pulled the trigger and shot the alleged assassin in police custody, was a known gun-runner out of Galveston, Dallas club owner and friend of Gordon McLendon. So it was no small matter in shipping 4 transmitters past U.S. Customs and out of the USA. That seems to have been accomplished by the Mi Amigo which made a short journey through the Gulf of Mexico and docked in the Bahamas. Some of these details I learned first hand from Bill Weaver when I met him in Texas during the 1970s. I have spent most of my life in Texas having lived in Houston among other locations. Now we come to a great mystery which cost me over $200. It was a case of buy it and have access to it, or wish that I did. So I paid up. The book alleges that Gordon McLendon was part of a group that caused the assassination of John Kennedy, and at the center of the story is the Mi Amigo. I do know from my own research that John's brother Bobby was heavily involved with both a secret continuing war against Cuba (which his brother denied was taking place), and Bobby was personally conned into creating the myth that Radio Caroline was named after his niece. But that did not happen until March 1965. What I have now discovered is that the contributor to Weaver's book who is responsible for much of the Kennedy assassination details is a man by the name of Jones Harris. More of him after I tell you that Weaver wrote in detail about a CIA role involving the Mi Amigo. The last half of the book seems to have been written by someone else, perhaps after Weaver died. I add this because that section, unlike other sections does not follow the same sort of factual basis, but subscribes to laughable fiction because it is so ridiculous. Now back to Jones Harris. He was the son of "Jed Harris (born Jacob Hirsch Horowitz; February 25, 1900 – November 15, 1979) was an Austrian-born American theatrical producer and director. He was responsible for some of the most successful productions on the Broadway stage in the 1920s and 1930s..." His mother was "Ruth Gordon Jones (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985), known as Ruth Gordon, was an American film, stage, and television actress, as well as a screenwriter and playwright." His parents were never married and Jones Harris was born as the result of an affair in Paris, France. But Jones Harris is the key to the beginning of the debunking of the Warren Commission, because it was Jones Harris who within days of the assassination asked whether a news photo showed Lee Harvey Oswald on the steps of the School Book Depository the moment that John Kennedy was clutching his neck as a bullet ripped through it. How could Oswald be on the steps and upstairs firing a gun at the same time. The 1963 question led to a man named Billy Lovelady about whom the conspiratorial pages of Facebook and numerous books and magazines have a lot to say. So the question is: How did Weaver and Harris meet, and why did Weaver endorse Harris' views by including them in his book. But don't think for a moment that Weaver's ideas are without controversy. He rips into the entire reason for the Mi Amigo being in Sweden. Right now I am in contact with a third party who claims to know Jones Harris personally, and so it will be interesting to learn what Jones Harris has to say. In the meantime, here is the book cover and accompanying blurb: Mervyn Hagger, Investigator of Cultural Origins https://mervynhagger.academia.edu/ http://foundthreads.com http://pebbletheatre.com/project.html http://yesterguide.org/20.html https://www.mixcloud.com/mervyn-hagger/1512114600373_mervyn.gif (Hagger, Dec 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS See FINLAND: Latin; UK: BBC Pidgin ++++++++++++++++ AN OLD TONGUE’S NEW TRICKS The strange reinvention of Icelandic A language both ancient and modern --- ÍSLENSKA https://www.economist.com/news/christmas-specials/21732691-language-both-ancient-and-modern-strange-reinvention-icelandic IT IS hardly surprising that Icelanders have names for the many different fish that abound in their surrounding waters—the various types of cod, herring and so on which they have been catching for centuries. It is rather more surprising that they have not just one word for the coelacanth, but three. After all, the living fossils of the Indian Ocean’s depths hardly impinge on their Atlantic way of life—and if an Icelander found a pressing need to talk about them, why not just use the Greek word, as other nations do? But Icelanders are keen namers of things—and would never dream of simply adopting a transliterated version of someone else’s word. So they call the coelacanth skúfur, which means “tassel”. Or skúfuggi: tassel-fin. Or sometimes forniskúfur: “ancient tassel” [listen to a spoken pronunciation here]. Icelanders are fiercely proud of their tongue and stay actively involved in its maintenance. On Icelandic Language Day they celebrate those among the population of 340,000 who have done the most for it. They love the links it gives them to their past. Ordinary Icelanders revel in their ability to use phrases from the sagas—written around eight centuries ago — in daily life. The commentator who says that a football team is bíta í skjaldarrendur (“biting its shield-end”) [spoken] as it fights on in the face of great odds, is behaving quite normally in borrowing an image from ancient tales of Viking derring-do (one of the castles in the British Museum’s 12th-century Lewis chess- set records the metaphor in walrus ivory). Upgrade your inbox The result is something close to unique — a language that is at the same time modern (it can happily express concepts such as podcasting), pure (it borrows very few words from any other tongue) and ancient (it is far closer to the ancestral Norse tongue than its increasingly distant cousins, Danish and Norwegian). Its complex grammar has barely changed in almost a thousand years and has a distinct old-worldliness. But if, like the forniskúfur, Icelandic is a living fossil, it is a lovely and lively one. Ingólfur Arnason brought the first settlers from Norway to Iceland in 874AD. They spoke the common language used throughout Scandinavia often called “donsk tunga” (“Danish tongue”) or, by others, some version of “northern” (the origin of “Norse”, “Norwegian” and “Norman”). From early on they were particularly keen on using it to write things down; much of what is known about Viking culture comes from Icelandic texts. In the 13th century Snorri Sturluson produced the Prose Edda, one of the earliest and most important accounts of the antics of Thor, Frigg, Loki and their kith and kin. Icelanders also looked self-consciously at their own history, producing the sagas: generation-spanning tales of family, honour, feuds and outlawry that fall somewhere between history and myth. They are remarkable documents; Milan Kundera, a Czech novelist, once remarked that they would be rightly considered “an anticipation or even the foundation of the European novel” if only they had been written in a language anyone else spoke. They came from the land of the ice and snow Religious works also got recorded on sheepskin parchment. In 1000 a close-run decision at the Alþingi (an annual parliament) saw the Icelanders trade in Odin for the Holy Trinity. Fairly soon, theological texts were being translated into Icelandic; the common tongue became “a respectable alternative to Latin” centuries before the Reformation brought a comparable transition in the rest of Europe, according to Kristján Árnason, a linguist at the University of Iceland. The idea that scholars and clerks needed to take seriously the language people actually used was not unique to Iceland. Dante Alighieri, a Tuscan poet, made the same argument in “De Vulgari Eloquentia”. But he did so, tellingly, in Latin—and in the early 14th century. Iceland’s “First Grammatical Treatise”, which explored ways to write Old Norse using the Latin alphabet, was written by an unknown hand 150 years earlier. The wealth of early vernacular literature and scholarship is one reason Icelandic is preserved in its ancient form, with a complex grammar other Scandinavian languages have lost. (Icelandic has three genders and four cases, which affect the endings on nouns and adjectives based on their roles in sentences. For the most part the continental Scandinavian languages have lost a gender and almost all of their case systems. Icelandic verbs have six forms for the six grammatical persons. The others have stripped this down to one.) Another reason for preservation was straightforward isolation. Iceland is 700km (380 nautical miles) of rough ocean from the nearest inhabited land, the tiny Faroe Islands—which have their own grammatically conservative Scandinavian language. One study of more than 2,000 languages found that those with few speakers that are spoken in small areas with few neighbours tend to have precisely the kind of complexities Icelandic and Faroese have retained and Danish has abandoned. “Big” languages can keep Icelandic-style intricacy— Russian is one that has done so. But they are the exception. Another factor is that Iceland was unpopulated when settled. Conquest often leaves “substrate” influences on the language of those taking charge. And class was largely irrelevant; the prestigious written language was spoken by educated and illiterate alike. The result, say many Icelanders, is that they can read 13th-century sagas “like a newspaper”. Such claims should be taken with a pinch of the island’s black salt. The grammar may have changed little, but the sagas assume knowledge of kinship ties and myths that modern Icelanders must learn about at school. Many compare the difficulty of reading them to English-speakers’ struggles with Shakespeare. But that is still extraordinary; the sagas were not written in Shakespeare’s time. They were written a century before Chaucer. To fight the horde, and sing and cry The stability of Icelandic is a subject for debate and speculation. Its lexical purity is more easily explained. It has borrowed many words in its history. But in the 17th century Icelandic intellectuals began to kick them out. A Danish-Icelandic dictionary shows how different the two cousins have become. Danish has borrowed a slew of pan-European words: passiv, patent and pedicure appear on one page. The Icelandic equivalents are hlutlaus [spoken], einkaleyfi [spoken] and fótsnyrting [spoken]. A huge stock of words with Latin and Greek roots is shared across almost all European languages, from “telephone” to “address”. Not so with Icelandic. “Telephone” is sími, from an old Norse word for “thread”. “Address” is heimilisfang [spoken]—literally, the place where one may be caught at home. A foreigner encountering Icelandic-only signage is usually unable to decipher a single word. Forbiddingly long compound words like hjúkrunarfræðingur (nurse) [spoken] have no familiar elements (Hjúkrun comes from roots for “serving” and “caring”, and fræðingur is a specialist). The letters ð and þ, representing two “th” sounds (the first as in “this”, the second as in “thin”), add to the exotic feel. That said, some words do look similar to English ones: bók, epli and brauð are “book”, “apple” and “bread”. This is because the Scandinavian languages, like the west Germanic languages (English, Dutch and German), share a proto-Germanic ancestor. More overlapping vocabulary comes from the fact that Viking invaders left some words behind in England: “knife”, “leg”, “husband”, “window” and even “they” (þeir in both Old Norse and modern Icelandic). To English ears, this means that many words, bewitchingly, are neither as alien as hjúkrun, nor as easy as bók, but both familiar and not. To be ill is veik, or “weak”. Something’s price is its verð, or “worth”. To wait is biða, or “to bide”. A fever is hita, or “heat”. Put together höfuð, “head”, and verk, cognate to words like “work” and “wrought”, and you get a headache, höfuðverk. Thus to learn Icelandic feels a little like becoming pre-modern, or entering a fantasy. “She is biding at home, heat-weak and head-wrought” is the sort of diction you might imagine for characters in “Game of Thrones” (filmed partly in Iceland, as it happens). Some of these similarities, though, can mislead. An English-speaker who knows that dóm is cognate to the English word “doom” may find the Reykjavik building marked dómsmálaráðuneytid [spoken] rather menacing. But it is just the ministry of justice: “doom” in English was once mere judgment; only later did it take on first the meaning of condemnation, then ruin. It is not clear in quite what way J.R.R. Tolkien meant the word when he named the climactic locale in “The Lord of the Rings” Mount Doom. But as a philologist interested in Norse and other ancient tongues, and keen on the archaic, he certainly knew his Icelandic. The name of the wizard Gandalf is taken from the Eddas. The Tolkiens’ Icelandic nanny, Adda, not only took care of the children; part of her role was to help him practice Icelandic. Mrs Tolkien was not pleased by the attention. W.H. Auden — a great fan of “The Lord of the Rings” — was also entranced by Iceland’s stories and language. He liked the local smoked lamb and dried fish less, preferring to live on endless coffee and cigarettes during his stay there in the 1930s. And he disliked some of the island’s other devotees, too. In a letter to a friend he described catching a bus “full of Nazis who talk incessantly about Die Schönheit des Islands [the beauty of Iceland], and the Aryan qualities of the stock.” This is the downside to a reputation for isolated, undiluted purity. The country remains the recipient of unwelcome attention from fascists. David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, has said that “there’s only one country anymore that’s all white, and that’s Iceland. And Iceland is not enough.” Paul Fontaine, a journalist at the Reykjavík Grapevine, says that white-supremacist comments on the newspaper’s Facebook page warn Iceland not to “make the same mistakes” as other countries: letting in asylum-seekers or Muslims. This is one reason why Ari Páll Kristinsson, head of the island’s language planning council, cringes at the idea of linguistic “purity”, and suggests shyly that one speak simply of the “Icelandic vocabulary tradition”. But he works hard at keeping the language as close to uncontaminated old Norse as is feasible. Compared to other countries with the same goal, his team does very well. In France, an Academy of 40 grey-haired worthies pronounces on what is and is not proper French and terminology committees in government ministries busily coin new words. The French, merrily ignorant of most of their pronouncements, continue to liker posts from Facebook friends and bruncher with their real-world friends regardless. In Iceland Ari Páll and his staff of three listen to what the public wants and get listened to in turn. The council has around 50 unofficial groups of enthusiasts with an interest in language as well as subjects such as cars, electrical engineering, computers or knitting. Those committees suggest new words with solid Norse roots, taking in the council’s advice on how to make them fit the sound and grammar of Icelandic. In perhaps their most famous example of purist creativity, when a word for computer was needed in the 1960s, the planners coined tölva, combining tala (“number”) and völva, an old word for prophetess. When doctors started talking about AIDS using the English acronym rather than its long, literal Icelandic translation, heilkenni áunnins ónæmisbrests [spoken], the committee coined two shorter alternatives: alnæmi [spoken], something like “all-susceptibility”, and eyðni, which sounds like the English term, but comes from the Icelandic eyða, meaning “to destroy”. When Icelanders started saying “podcast”, the council quickly responded with hlaðvarp [spoken], from roots meaning “charge” (squint and you can see hlaða as a distant cousin to “load”) and “throw”. Peace and trust can win the day The country welcomes new people, even as it makes its own new words. The foreign-born now account for over 10% of the population. Many come from eastern Europe (though Iceland is not in the EU, they don’t need visas) but there are also Thais and Filipinos. In 2004 American racists reacted with particular bile against a Grapevine cover story featuring a Kenyan woman in Icelandic national dress. Guðni Jóhannesson, the president (who is also a historian, and a friend of your correspondent), says that Iceland’s fishing industry might collapse without foreign workers. Iceland may be the world’s only country with a “Herring Era Museum” (Síldarminjasafn). But fish- processing survives largely thanks to Poles willing to endure harsh factory conditions. Do these immigrants pose a threat to Icelandic? Not yet, but worries are growing. Subsidised language lessons are available, but support is woefully weak, says Nichole Mosty, who was until recently an American- Icelandic member of the Alþingi [spoken]. Her own Icelandic sometimes draws criticism from Icelanders not quite sure if someone with a foreign lilt can represent them in politics. It takes grit to get past one’s early struggles with the language. When Eliza Reid, who is now the first lady, moved to Iceland with Guðni in 2003, she soon started learning Icelandic in earnest. The difficulty was that Icelanders, not used to hearing their language spoken by foreigners, would switch to English before she got the first phrase out. She learned to say “I’m learning Icelandic” pre-emptively to stop them. Some 14 years later she gives speeches in the language— but she makes fun of her own conjugation mistakes as she does so. Not all new arrivals stay as long. Short-term workers from the EU, like the 2m tourists a year, find they have no need to learn Icelandic. Law requires that signs primarily for Icelanders be written in Icelandic. (H&M, a clothing retailer, recently flouted it with a sign reading “Grand Opening!”). But much of Reykjavik no longer seems to be “primarily for Icelanders”. Technology may pose an even greater threat than foreigners. Icelanders cannot use Siri on their farsímis or Alexa at home: Apple and Amazon do not support the language. An Icelandic engineer at Google convinced the company to add Icelandic speech-recognition to Android smartphones, a task that required recording thousands of hours of Icelandic and having it transcribed into text. Google made this data freely available to others. But how much it will be used is not clear. Eiríkur Rögnvaldsson of the University of Iceland says that while Microsoft Windows added Icelandic fairly early, the translation was bad enough that many users stuck with English. It was later improved. But when he recently asked a class of 20-30 native students in his Icelandic university course how many used Windows in Icelandic, not one did. That it is the language of technology contributes to a sense among the young that English is cool, practical and international, while Icelandic is stolid, difficult and local. When asked, young people repeat their parents’ beliefs about the need to keep the language pure. But they adore English. In 2017 Stefanie Bade, a German doctoral student at the University of Iceland, found that listening to recordings of their own tongue spoken with different accents, Icelanders rated the local accent as the most “attractive” and “relaxed”, but the American the most “intelligent”, “reliable” and “interesting”. They gave the American accent the most positive rating overall. But Icelanders have survived isolation, ice and volcanoes for more than a millennium. It will take more than tourists, foreign workers and Siri to make them give up on their most treasured cultural inheritance. Where else in the world could you find such an arresting word for a lucky windfall—hvalreki [spoken], a beached whale that offers months of food? Icelanders will not make the mistake of treating their lovely language as such a happy accident. It is an ongoing achievement to be cherished. It may be something of a living fossil, but keeping it alive is both their duty and delight. This article appeared in the Christmas Specials section of the print edition under the headline "An old tongue’s new tricks" About The Economist Published since September 1843 to take part in “a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress.” Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2018. All rights reserved (via Gerald T Pollard, DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ Happy New Year! Shortwave Loggings for December 31, 2017 Up to twenty years or so ago I used to be able to listen to New Year’s celebrations and observances across the globe via shortwave radio. I would start at 6 AM local time where it was midnight in New Zealand (UT +13) then move on to Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and stopping, for a few hours, at 8 AM local time where it was midnight in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. One particular New Year’s celebrations got out of hand in Sydney and fireworks caused several fires on rooftops that kept the fire departments quite busy. Starting about 3 or 4 PM local time I would listen across Africa and would catch speeches from government officials and live music events. With the demise of shortwave broadcasting those days are long gone which is too bad for anyone fairly new to the hobby. At least, I have some solid memories of great times listening to shortwave radio. Happy New Year to those reading these loggings ”If it ain’t out of keeping with the situation!” (Mark Coady, Ont., ODXA yg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See ERITREA; ETHIOPIA; KUWAIT; PERU; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ROMANIA DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See MEXICO +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See also MEXICO; OKLAHOMA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PHOENIX TO SERVE AS ‘MODEL MARKET’ FOR ATSC 3.0 Ten stations in the market will deploy the next-generation TV standard before early April 2018 Written by Phil Kurz for TV Technology [Nov 15, 2017] Source: http://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/0031/phoenix-to-serve-as-model-market-for-atsc-30/282269 PHOENIX — Seven broadcasters across 10 stations in Phoenix will launch what they describe as a “model market” to demonstrate the viability of the next-gen ATSC 3.0 ecosystem while at the same time continuing to serve over-the-air viewers with legacy ATSC 1.0 digital television, the broadcasters announced today. The broadcasters include E.W. Scripps Company, Fox Television Stations, Meredith Local Media Group, Nexstar Media Group, Tegna, Telemundo Station Group and Univision. The Pearl TV consortium will coordinate the effort. “Our goal is to have the market serve as a model for deployment for the next generation of TV service,” said Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV. “That will provide the industry with the components and framework that will be common as guidelines for the industry to deploy 3.0 services.” Government authorization allowing broadcasters to begin deploying ATSC 3.0 on a voluntary basis is expected to be granted Nov. 16 at the FCC’s monthly Open Commission Meeting in Washington, D.C. If commissioners vote in the affirmative, the participating Phoenix broadcasters will aim to have ATSC 3.0 service on air before the NAB Show, April 7-12 in Las Vegas, said Schelle. There were a few reasons Phoenix, with more than 20 percent of its 1.8 million TV viewers receiving OTA television, was chosen for the model market project, she said. “First, we are already testing together for the Verance watermark test,” said Schelle. Another factor was separate ATSC 3.0 interactivity testing Pearl TV has been involved with in the market. Additionally, the consortium has a good relationship with cable operators in Phoenix, which makes it easier to test MVPD interoperability, she said. Finally, only a couple of the stations participating in program will be changing channel assignments as part of the FCC TV spectrum repack and those stations are assigned to Phase 1 of the repack, she said. That made it relatively uncomplicated to get an early start in Phoenix. Anne Schelle [portrait caption] Participating stations include: ? KNXV (Channel 15), E.W. Scripps Company’s ABC affiliate; ? KSAZ (Channel 10), Fox Television Station’s Fox station; ? KUTP (Channel 26), Fox Television Station’s MyTV Network; ? KPHO (Channel 17), Meredith Local Media Group’s CBS affiliate; ? KTVK (Channel 24), Meredith Local Media Group’s independent; ? KASW (Channel 49), Nexstar Media Group’s CW Network affiliate; ? KTAZ (Channel 39), Telemundo Station Group’s Telemundo station ? KPNX (Channel 12), Tegna’s NBC affiliate; ? KFPH-CD (Channel 35), Univision’s UniMas station; and ? KTVW-DT (Channel 33), Univision. Phoenix will serve as a testbed for the business models and the consumer testing needed to prepare go-to-market strategies for next- generation television, said Schelle. Among those are over-the-air delivery to fixed receivers, mobile – especially for the automotive market —as well as interactivity and MVPD retransmission. An equally important thrust is to demonstrate the viability of the lighthouse approach to keeping legacy DTV on-air while broadcasters transition to 3.0, she said. The approaches taken in Phoenix can serve as a model to the entire industry. Schelle said she envisions channel sharing beyond what she calls “self-sharing,” or duopolies, as part of the effort in Phoenix. “All of this demonstrates to the market the seriousness of broadcasters [regarding 3.0] and the need for the entire ecosystem to invest and complete implementations,” she said. “The standard is near completion. Now it is time to build and get out to the marketplace.” For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo. http://tvtechnology.com/atsc3 (via January WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest via DXLD) JOCKEYING FILLER SUBCHANNELS OTA WTIC-TV (RF31) has just added TBD (61-3) and Justice (61-4) to their lineup. Antenna TV is on 61-2. Does anyone really watch these channels? -- (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT USA, Dec 28, WTFDA gg via DXLD) According to this article with some stats from Oct. 2017, the answer would be yes, especially MeTV. http://www.katzmediagroup.com/research/Dropoff/Insights/KMG-DIGINETS-October%202017%20(100217).pdf At times, I watch diginet stations like MeTV, COZI TV and Decades more than other OTA networks like NBC, ABC, etc. (Steve Rich, Indy, ibid.) We until recently watched Antenna TV and especially Johnny Carson at 10:PM. I was a fan of Maxwell Smart and Batman. Problem is our cable dropped it two weeks ago. They had been picking it up (apparently) off the Ion station for Boston, and that may not be on the air any more. These channels with old time TV and some game shows are a joy to watch (Allan Dunn, K1UCY, ibid.) Antenna in the Boston market was on a subchannel of WBIN-50/RF35 from New Hampshire. When WBIN sold its spectrum at auction, it became a "zombie license" and was sold to Univisión. The subchannels went away and the WBIN license ended up channel-sharing on Univisión's WUTF (now WUNI)-66/RF27. They're running a different diginet on 50.1 (via RF27) now, and Antenna is no longer on the air in Boston. As with most of these diginets, there's no national cable feed - so if it's not on the air locally, the cable system can't carry it. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) When nothing else is on, I often let one of my monitors display TBD which from OKC is on KOCB RF33, 34-2. Default programming seems to be QYOU Up or QYOU Edge for many hours a day, playing amateur videos, some of which are somewhat interesting. But hardly ever have I granted it my full attention. Also here on Altice Suddenlink cable 142 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dropping pay TV doesn't necessarily mean watching OTA, but OTA viewership is increasing at a surprising rate. According to https://www.tvb.org/Default.aspx?TabID=1553 more than a quarter of TV viewing in Milwaukee and Albuquerque is OTA. On a nationwide basis it exceeds 13% and is increasing. As you saw in the December EVUD and will see again in the January issue, stations are asking for power increases beyond what was assigned them in the repack. The repack will pay for replicating their signal on their previous channel -- stations which are applying for more power will be paying for that additional power out of their own pocket. Clearly they think it's worth it. -- == (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, WTFDA gg via DXLD) So if the trend is for larger and larger OTA television viewing, why didn’t we as viewers petition the FCC for holding onto what spectrum space we had for OTA TV? There’s enough interference issues we have with 50 channels and soon they all get slammed into 35 channels of spectrum. Cell phone service has more pull than TV? (Dan Oetting, Elkton MD, Sent from my iPhone, ibid.) More and more as people are dropping Pay TV (Rick Shaftan, OBX NC, ibid.) "Does anyone really watch these channels?" According to this article with some stats from Oct. 2017, the answer would be yes, especially MeTV. http://www.katzmediagroup.com/research/Dropoff/Insights/KMG-DIGINETS-October%202017%20(100217).pdf At times, I watch diginet stations like MeTV, COZI TV and Decades more than other OTA networks like NBC, ABC, etc. (Steve, Indy, Rich, ibid.) Yes, simply put, cell phone is more important than OTA TV. With OTA TV of interest to maybe 15% of people, most people have cell phones and want the type of service 5G in particular will provide. That being said, existing TV isn't being "slammed" into 35 channels.... many stations are giving up their channels so fewer stations will be repacked into those 35 channels... and some LD stations will probably become casualties and disappear. In the MD - DC, SW PA area alone, the following stations are giving up their rf signals: WMDO-22, WZDC-25, WDCA-35, WDCW-50, WUTB-41, WJAL- 39, WYBE-35, WGTW-27, WUVP-29, WTSD-23, WTVE-25, WGCB-30, WXBU-23, WLVT-39 and WFMZ-46. Most of these stations will be sharing with some other station in their market. Also, in the repacking the FCC was careful to maintain the same amount of interference-free coverage as before, and made sure enough stations were going off the air to accomplish this. In areas from Washington to Boston, the dial was already pretty well packed, so it's not going to really get much worse. WPVI-6 Philly for example has long wanted to move to UHF, but there simply were no available channels. Same thing with WABC-7 NewYork. Of course, DXers aren't really interested in "interference free coverage":.. we relish the "white space" where no signal is received on a given channel, and the amount of white space will diminish.... much more so in much of the rest of the country where signals weren't tightly packed before. The impact in the Washington - Boston corridor will be less. Meanwhile, WUTB Baltimore is supposed to turn off their ch 41 transmitter today, and share with WBFF on rf 46. Can you tell if this has happened yet? (Chris Lucas - dtvdxer, Poughkeepsie, NY FN31bs, ibid.) Thanks for the wisdom Chris. I’m still looking forward to seeing what the repack will do for my DXing. I will check WUTV when I get home late tonight (Dan Oetting, Elkton MD, Sent from my iPhone, ibid.) As others have mentioned before, ATSC 3.0 will change a lot of things. I can envision more co-owned stations merging into one transmitter to save money. wrh (William Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) WUTB went off at 5AM (- Trip Ericson, ibid.) Thanks, Trip. WXTV-40 Paterson, NJ was off when I woke up at 6:30 this morning. Now ch 40 is totally dead here (Chris Lucas - dtvdxer, Poughkeepsie, NY FN31bs, ibid.) Wireless providers were willing to pay big $$ for that spectrum (because their customer base wanted it and was willing to pay), OTA broadcasters weren't. And it's arguable whether we needed all that spectrum to provide viewers with the OTA services they actually wanted. The repack auction thinned out the herd, eliminating a bunch of stuff that was taking up spectrum without getting much viewership. Put channel-sharing into the mix, plus the eventual move to the more efficient ATSC 3.0, and I think one can make a pretty decent case that once everything settles down post-repack, the spectrum that remains will be used much more efficiently than it had been before, with very little net loss in actual service to real-world viewers. We've certainly come a long way from the days when it took 6 MHz just to deliver a single 480i SD picture and one mono audio channel! (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, ibid.) - The FCC has made a fundamental change in the way channels are allocated. Before digital, the Commission assumed all analog stations would operate at the maximum allowable power/antenna height for their band/zone. WVTV, WTVO, and KCSD (for example) were all protected from interference to a distance of 107 km. Most analog VHF stations came fairly close to maximum facilities. Many UHF stations didn't. The three UHF stations I mentioned above had real life 64 dBu useful coverage areas of 84, 60, and 25 km respectively. KCSD's channel 23 was unavailable for use in Watertown, S.D. because any signal from Watertown would cause interference in Brookings, within KCSD's 107 km protected zone. But KCSD didn't come anywhere near providing service in Brookings. In digital, the FCC only protects stations within the area they reach with the facilities they're actually using. - The pre-repack digital assignments protected analog stations. Of course, analog stations no longer exist. (OK, there are still a few low-power analogs but they don't receive any protection) In Hartford, for example... WEDH couldn't use channel 30 because of WVIT's analog. WFSB couldn't use channel 36 because of WSBE's analog. Both channels are now available because WVIT's and WSBE's analogs are gone. == (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ BATTERY RECHARGING TIPS Harold Frodge: In the previous Tip Sheet, I asked if a drained battery should be recharged soon, or left drained till the next DXpedition. Carl Schmidt: Assuming the battery you refer to in Tip Sheet #970 is a lead-acid type, yes, it will freeze at a higher temperature when discharged. Also, unless a deep cycle type, not good to fully discharge. Too many deep discharge cycles will greatly shorten its life. Recharge as soon as possible, otherwise the plates sulfate resulting in reduced capacity. Paul Dobosz: Battery chemistry has a great deal to do with proper charging protocol but in general it is not a good idea to leave a depleted battery in that state for a long period of time. Lead Acid (including AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) & gel electrolyte (Gel Cell) batteries have an unloaded voltage of just under 13 volts when fully charged & will slowly self discharge if left for a long time. Fully charging these batteries & occasionally recharging during long periods of storage will keep the battery in good condition. Lead acid batteries generally tolerate constant voltage charging the best where the current tapers off until the battery reaches the same voltage as the charging power supply. This type of "float" charging can maintain the battery as long as the prolonged charging does not "cook" the electrolyte out of the cells over a long period of time. Some so called "battery tenders" are smart enough to sense temperature and voltage of the battery & adjust or terminate the charging as required to spare the battery any damage. Nickel Chemistry batteries are quite prone to self discharge & should be discharged down to 1.1V per cell before recharging. Frequent shallow discharges followed by recharging will create a "memory effect" that will not allow you to get fully potential energy out to the batteries. Discharging below 1V per cell creates the risk of permanent damages as the weakest cells in a pack will actually take on a reverse polarity. NiMH are more robust than NiCad batteries but still behave in a similar manner. Lithium Chemistry batteries require careful charge management to avoid damaging the battery or even setting them on fire. Nominal cell voltage is around 3.7V with a full surface charge measuring just under 4.2V. Lithium batteries should never be discharged to less than 3V or permanent damage is raisked. They also do not tolerate overcharge so a smart charger is usually needed to prevent damage. Li Polymer batteries (typically found in radios like the Tecsun PL 880) are LiPo batteries & don't have any issues with recharging frequently as long as charging is done on an intelligent charger. [how do you if it`s intelligent?? --- gh] That's a brief summary. In practical terms (the exception of Ni chemistry) recharging a partially discharged battery is a prudent action. With Ni chemistry batteries, resist the urge to charge early & often. Books have been written on this topic; therefore the above only skims the surface. For a deeper dive you'll need to dig into the technical manuals for the batteries you intend to use. Harold Frodge: Typical battery acid is 30-50% sulfuric acid. 30% freezes at -25 deg.F & 50% at about -35 deg.F. I have to guess that that the solution in a discharged battery may have more dissolved lead sulphate than when charged. If the “freezing” thing is real, I’d guess that it’s solid lead sulphate precipitating out & not the acid freezing. I always recharge it soon after a DXpedition anyway (MARE Tipsheet 29 Dec via DXLD) REMEMBERING CRICKET VIA SHORTWAVE "Short-wave radios are interesting things. Sadly, you get to see very few of them these days. It has almost got to a point where you need to explain what a short-wave radio is. A radio, by default, is now an FM radio. How defaults have changed. "The quality of long-distance audio over the internet is obviously much better. Television brings direct visual effects. However, there is something a bit more active about the short wave. The waxing and waning has an almost human quality to it. It conforms to distances: far-flung places actually seem far-flung. Perhaps, after all, there is something to be said for the analog. "Cricket commentary never felt better than on radio. Lata Mangeshkar sometimes sounds even better on a creaky old short-wave. But maybe I'm getting a bit carried away. ... " http://www.espn.com/cricket/story/_/id/21897325/remembering-cricket-was-delivered-radio (via Kim Elliott, dxldyg via DXLD) PROPAGATION ++++++++++++ QUADRANTIDS A reminder that the first major shower of 2018, the Quadrantids, will peak on the night of January 3 and early morning hours of January 4. Meteor showers usually generate FM "pings", and maybe more interesting propagation effects. Expected to be best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere, weather permitting (and be careful of the storm)! Posted by: (Mike Terry, Jan 2, dxldyg via DXLD) PEAK OF THE SPORADIC-E SEASON [southern hemisphere] The South African Radio League via Southgate January 1, 2018 http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2018/january/peak-of-the-sporadic-e-season.htm SARL News reports that it's the peak of the Sporadic-E season in South Africa and says that, for those of you who have never experienced a strong Sporadic-E opening on 50 MHz, you are in for a very exciting surprise when it happens. Unfortunately Sporadic-E openings cannot be predicted and unless you monitor a distant beacon or FM broadcast station when it happens, you would not normally be aware of the Sporadic-E opening. The beacon that you wish to monitor must be outside the skip distance of about 600 km on 50 MHz or 900 km on 144 MHz. A Sporadic-E opening first appears as a weak fluttery signal and in minutes it increases in strength and the flutter changes to slow QSB. The Sporadic-E signal could often peak well over S9 plus for a half an hour or so, before rapid QSB starts again and it finally disappears. Sporadic-E is normally a north/south event in South Africa, but Cape Town and Port Elizabeth have worked each other on 50 MHz Es when both were beaming north. In the past many Sporadic-E stations have been worked many times from Division 1 to Divisions 5 and 6 or from Division 2 to Division 6 and Namibia on both 50 MHz SSB and FM mostly in the mornings. But the most memorable Sporadic-E opening occurred on a Saturday afternoon in January on 50 MHz between Port Elizabeth, Windhoek and as far north as Tsumeb. This Sporadic-E opening lasted almost three hours with S9 plus signals and almost no QSB. ZS6DN ran two beacons from Irene, one on 50 MHz and the other on 144 MHz. On a few occasions these two beacons were copied via Sporadic-E propagation in Port Elizabeth and signals could be compared with each other. The 50 MHz beacon signal was always the strongest, lasted the longest and with less QSB. There are still a few Sub-Saharan Band 3 television stations on the air with FM sound channels around 53,750 MHz and could often be heard around midday during the Sporadic-E season. Sporadic-E is an ionospheric propagation and is not polarized (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) We are also in the corresponding minor winter Es peak in the northern hemisphere; some openings into the FM band across N America have been reported. Keep an eye on this map showing Es MUF grid patches: http://www.dxmaps.com/spots/mapg.php?Lan=E&Frec=MUF&ML=M&Map=NA&HF=N&DXC=ING2&GL=N (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) NEW LATIN ES TV DX AID New TV DX aid : I've put together an .m3u file that provides streams for many of our Latin American Es targets. If you open this file in a player than can handle .m3u (such as VLC Player), you can browse through the channels using the < > buttons in the program. This should help during those Latin openings. I will send another reminder in May. The file can be found here: http://dxinfocentre.com/tvdx_streams.m3u (William Hepburn, Ont., WTFDA gg via DXLD) GEOMAGNETIC INDICES – Compiled by: Phil Bytheway E-mail: phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary December 1 2017 through December 31 2017 Tabulated from status daily (K @ 0000 UTC). Flux A K Space Wx 1 70 8 1 no storms 2 72 4 1 no storms 3 70 2 1 no storms 4 68 11 4 no storms 5 68 29 4 minor, G1 6 68 16 2 no storms 7 68 10 2 no storms 8 70 5 1 no storms 9 71 4 0 no storms 10 72 3 1 no storms 11 72 10 1 no storms 12 71 13 3 no storms 13 72 7 3 no storms 14 72 4 1 no storms 15 72 5 2 no storms 16 71 4 2 no storms 17 71 24 4 minor, G1 18 72 17 1 no storms 19 69 6 3 no storms 20 74 5 0 no storms 21 76 3 0 no storms 22 75 2 1 no storms 23 76 5 1 no storms 24 76 12 3 no storms 25 76 10 2 no storms 26 72 11 3 no storms 27 71 7 2 no storms 28 71 5 2 no storms 29 72 4 1 no storms 30 70 3 2 no storms 31 71 4 2 no storms Gx – Geomagnetic Storm Level Rx – Radio Blackouts Level Sx – Solar Radiation Storm Level (IRCA DX Monitor Jan 6 via DXLD) :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2018 Jan 01 0250 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 25 - 31 December 2017 Solar activity was very low throughout the period. Region 2692 (N18, L=087, class/area=Eai/160 on 24 Dec) was the only numbered active region this period, but the region was without sunspots and unproductive through most of the week. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed this period. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels on 27 and 29 Dec with moderate levels observed through the remainder of the period. Geomagnetic field activity reached active levels on 26 Dec due to the influence of a negative polarity CH HSS. Quiet and quiet to unsettled levels were observed throughout the rest of the week. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 01 JANUARY-27 JANUARY 2018 Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels throughout the outlook 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 02-06, 14-19, and 23-24 Jan. Moderate flux levels are expected through the rest of the outlook period. Geomagnetic field activity is likely to reach G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels on 01 and 13 Jan, with active periods likely on 02, 08, 14, 20 and 27 Jan, due to the effects of multiple, recurrent CH HSSs. Quiet and quiet to unsettled geomagnetic field activity is expected throughout the remainder of the outlook period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2018 Jan 01 0250 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 2018-01-01 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2018 Jan 01 68 25 5 2018 Jan 02 68 15 4 2018 Jan 03 68 8 3 2018 Jan 04 68 5 2 2018 Jan 05 70 5 2 2018 Jan 06 70 5 2 2018 Jan 07 70 10 3 2018 Jan 08 70 12 4 2018 Jan 09 70 6 2 2018 Jan 10 70 5 2 2018 Jan 11 70 5 2 2018 Jan 12 70 5 2 2018 Jan 13 72 22 5 2018 Jan 14 72 16 4 2018 Jan 15 72 6 2 2018 Jan 16 72 5 2 2018 Jan 17 72 5 2 2018 Jan 18 72 5 2 2018 Jan 19 72 5 2 2018 Jan 20 72 12 4 2018 Jan 21 72 10 3 2018 Jan 22 72 8 3 2018 Jan 23 72 6 2 2018 Jan 24 72 5 2 2018 Jan 25 70 5 2 2018 Jan 26 68 5 2 2018 Jan 27 68 6 4 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1911, DXLD) GLENN`S PROPAGATION OUTLOOK FOR MEDIA NETWORK PLUS AS OF JAN 4, 2018 [on hiatus next few weeks due to repeat shows] Keith, from Space Weather Services, Australia, the global HF propagation forecast thru January 6, normal at low and middle latitude bands; normal to fair at high latitudes. From Space Weather South Africa thru January 6: magnetic conditions quiet; shortwave fadeouts unlikely; MUF unstable. From Met Office UK thru January 7: Solar activity likely to remain very low. There is a chance of unsettled to active geomagnetic intervals by January 7. From F K Janda of the Czech Propagation Interest Group, the Geomagnetic field will be: quiet on January 5, 11, 17 - 18, 23 - 24 mostly quiet on January 6, 19, quiet to unsettled on January 7 - 8, 10, 16, active to disturbed on January 9, (13, 20 - 21) quiet to active on January 12, 14 - 15, 22 From the Space Environment Predixion Center, China, the planetary A index is predicted to peak at 12 on January 8; 24 on January 14, otherwise mostly single digits. Solar flux varying little between 70 and 73 thru January 30. SWPC in Boulder predicts solar flux: rising from 68 January 4 but no higher than 72 from January 13 to 24. G1 minor geomagnetic storm levels January 13 with A and K indices peaking at 22 and 5. Lowest A`s and K`s of 5 and 2 or 6 and 2, January 4-6, 9-12, and 15 to 19 (via DXLD) ###