DX LISTENING DIGEST 18-17, April 24, 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 1927 contents: Antarctica, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Biafra and non, Bougainville, Canary Islands, Chad non, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Kuwait, Mongolia, North America, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia non, South Carolina non, Swaziland, Uganda non, UK, USA, Vietnam; Alexa; and the propagation outlook SHORTWAVE AIRINGS of WORLD OF RADIO 1927, April 24-May 1, 2018 [WBCQ 9330 airings have become sporadic, hit-and-miss; canceled?] Tue 2030 WRMI 9455 7780 [confirmed] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 7780 [confirmed] Tue 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not aired] Wed 1030 WRMI 9455 [confirmed] Wed 2100 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Wed 2100 WBCQ 7490v [confirmed] Wed 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not aired] Thu 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not aired] Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Sat 0630 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [to resume April 28] Sat 1431 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [to resume April 28] Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sat 2130 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 [not last two weeks; canceled?] Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 Sun 0310v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [to resume April 29] Sun 1900 WRMI 9395 [NEW] Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Mon 0130 WRMI 5850, [5950 not last week], 7780 Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v-AM Area 51 Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 Tue 2030 WRMI 9455, 7780 [or #1928?] 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 IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!! WOR IO GROUP: Effective Feb 4, 2018, DXLD yg archive and members have been migrated to this group: https://groups.io/g/WOR [there was already an unrelated group at io named dxld!, so new name] From now on, the io group is primary, where all posts should go. One may apply for membership, subscribe via the above site. DXLD yahoogroup: remains in existence, and members are free to COPY same info to it, as backup, but no posts should go to it only. They may want to change delivery settings to no e-mail, and/or no digest. The change was necessary due to increasing outages, long delays in posts appearing, and search failures at the yg. Why wait for DXLD issues? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our io group without delay. ** ALASKA. 6045, KNLS, 1229, April 20. Strong signal, but mixing with equally strong Voice of Freedom (Korea). What was unusual was that // 7355 was not on the air today (had recently been heard with good signal) (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** ALGERIA [non]. FRANCE, TDA Télédiffusion d'Algérie via TDF Issoudun, April 18 0500-0559 on 9535 ISS 500 kW / 162 deg to CEAf Arabic Holy Quran px* 0600-0659 on 9620 ISS 500 kW / 194 deg to NWAf Arabic Holy Quran px *xx03-xx13 news in French http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/tda-telediffusion-dalgerie-via-tdf.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via DXLD) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. 4760, AIR Port Blair (presumed not to be AIR Leh [Kashmir]). On April 17, with better than normal reception 1343-1353; my local sunrise was at 1330 UT; good signal strength cutting through the QRN (static) and CODAR QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** ANGUILLA. 11775, April 20 at 1415, no signal from CB, but I believe she was on earlier this morning. The extremely erratic appearances of this and 6090 at night theoretically call for monitoring reports of when they are on and when they are off, but I confess to being extremely bored by the spectacle, since their modulation when on is of no interest whatsoever, and I do not always log whether they are on or off; I hope you understand (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, on air now. 1800-1858, 18-04, after 20 days out. At first only carrier detected, but now, comments by females and songs can be heard on USB (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) LRA-36, 15476 also being heard at S2 level with rapid/deep fades from remote KiwiSDR in SW England from 1905 tune. Non-stop Argentinian vocals past 1915. Tnx to Manuel for heads-up! LRA-36 15476 off suddenly in mid-song at 1930.5. Non-stop Argentinian vocals prior to that from 1905 tune using KiwiSDR site in SW England (Bruce Churchill, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, ibid.) 15476, LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, 1905-1930, 18-04, improving signal, songs in Spanish, only audible on USB, strong fading, but at 1930 signal cut off suddenly and now LRA 36 out of air. (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500, cable antenna, 8 meters, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, ibid.) ** ARGENTINA. Desde hace unos días, una estación de Amplitud Modulada está siendo reportada en la frecuencia de 530 kHz, identificándose como “SOMOS RADIO AM 530”. Al parecer, esta nueva estación se trata de la ex RADIO MADRE, la emisora operada por la Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo y autorizada a emitir en dicha frecuencia a través del Decreto Nº 721/07. La misma desde hace varios meses se encontraba inactiva por problemas técnicos. Por el momento, la estación difunde una programación estrictamente musical, anunciando además espacios informativos y deportivos. Estas son las nuevas direcciones de contacto: E-mail: y Página Web: . (tomada de Argentina en AM y FM) [sin nombre] (Conexion Digital 22 Abril via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Very good signal of Reach Beyond Australia in 19mb, April 23 1115-1130 on 15575 KNX 100 kW / 310 deg to CeAs English Mon-Wed/Fri 1315-1330 on 15320 KNX 100 kW / 310 deg to SoAs English Mon/Wed/Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/very-good-signal-of-reach-beyond_23.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 22-23, WOR iog via DXLD) ** AZERBAIJAN. Dear Glenn, I would like to contribute some details regarding Azeri station mentioned in last WOR and few previous ones. I hope that would help somehow. As far as I am concerned about Azerbaijani, the word "Ictimai" means simply "Public" or "Social" (for instance social affairs). So using word Ictimai in reference to radio or TV seems OK there. What is more, the TV channel broadcast by "Teleradio (a public broadcaster or broadcasting authority (I'm not sure) is simply called "Ictimai TV". This is the only channel in Azerbaijan transmitting Eurovision. The radiostations of Teleradio I know of are "Araz" (their FM station) and Respublika, a News like station. All those are available via their Azerspace satellite free to air (46.0 E). We should check whether the Ictimai TV compares to the occasional SW transmissions. My clue at least for now is that for some reason the TV audio is transmitted on short wave. Why FM? Why TV audio on SW? Those questions are still unanswered. Greetings from Poland, (Patryk, 73, April 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Patryk, Thanks for the info. Perhaps you could also explain phonetically how to pronounce Ictimai? I don`t know what sound the C represents --- s, k, ts, ch ? (Glenn to Patryk, via DXLD) I suppose that is pronounced as something between "cz" as in "Czech" and "J" as in "Jochn". The "I" at the beginning is also something between phoneme I like in "India" I and German O Umlaut (it is somewhat turkish there). P.S.: I don't know Azerbaijani so much, just my translator's and linguist's hobby there connected with radio world skills. Greetings from Poland, (Patryk, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. See CHINA [and non] 6035 [WORLD OF RADIO 1927] ** BIAFRA [and non]. CO-DEFENDANTS CHARGED FOR ESTABLISHING RADIO BIAFRA Co-defendants of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu have taken plea in a fresh charge submitted before the Federal High Court, Abuja by the Federal Government. Four of Kanu’s co-defendants, Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu, David Nwawuisi, and Bright Chimezie Tuesday pleaded not guilty to three count-charges of setting up illegal broadcast in London and Nigeria for the secession of the South East, South South [sic] and parts of Benue and Kogi States from Nigeria. They also pleaded not guilty to illegal importation of radio transmitter, and unlawful possession of firearms. This followed fresh application by the Federal Government, lawyer, Magaji Labaran, who informed the court that a fresh information, which reduces the charges from five to three counts have been filed before the court (Daily Post Nigeria, March 20 via April MW News via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) IPOB who brought us Radio Biafra via WRMI for a few weeks last year (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6025. RED PATRIA NUEVA. Abril 19. 1048-1100 UT. Espacio noticioso con informaciones departamentales. SINPO: 44444 con leve QRM desde Martí en 6030. 6025. RED PATRIA NUEVA. Abril 24. 1040-1050 UT. Noticias sobre el departamento de Santa Cruz, el municipio de Tacané, conexión con la “Radio para los pueblos originarios” con informaciones en varios idiomas indígenas. Luego avisos sobre la realización de una feria del libro. SINPO: 45444 (Claudio Galaz, RX: Tecsun PL 660; ANT: Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** BOUGAINVILLE [and non]. 3325, NBC Bougainville, 1041-1132, April 17. In Pidgin; pop and religious music; no news at ToH; seems to not be on the air every day; some RRI QRM. 3325, NBC Bougainville, 1054-1201*, April 18. DJ in Pidgin playing pop Pacific Islands music; no news at 1100; only very slight RRI QRM after 1150. BTW - No NBC Madang (3260) today. 3325, NBC Bougainville, 1019-1157*, April 20. DJ in Pidgin playing pop Pacific Islands songs and pop hit songs in English (Shania Twain - "From This Moment On," etc.); speech in English about 2019 referendum; 1102 sound affects and series of "NBC Bougainville" IDs; no news at 1100; suddenly cut off in mid-song; stronger signal than usual. Pro 1 RRI Palangkaraya (3325) was clearly not broadcasting during this time period, nor after 1157. BTW - NBC Madang (3260), on April 20, also with above average reception; 1159-1212*, cut off in mid-song (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4885.023 stronger likely Clube do Pará from Brazil, S=8-9, fast Brazilian music play, and a weaker 4885.014 Brazilian too. 0400 UT April 24. In 60 mb nearby some wideband CODAR signals noted annoying on 4440- 4582, 4735-4850, and 4885-4915 kHz. 5939.718, much lower in frequency now, Voz Missionária Brazil, poor S=5-6 talk in BrasPortuguese at 0419 UT. 6040.681, Poor signal from Brazil S=6 tiny, Brazilian music kind, hit against co-channel TRT Emirler 6040.003 kHz. 678 Hertz whistle buzz tone annoying at 0428 UT. Morning log April 24 0400-0445 UT on remote SDR unit in NJ state in USA [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4895 kHz, Rádio Baré de Manaus (Amazonas): Em conversa que tive com o técnico de transmissores em ondas tropicais, Joseph, ele relatou que vai voltar em 4895 kHz em qualquer momento desse ano de 2018 em ondas tropicais para transmitir principalmente para regiões ribeirinhas da Amazônia legal. https://dxbrazilsw.blogspot.com.br/2018/03/noticia-boa-4895-khz-radio-bare-de.html?m=1 (Daniel Wyllyans, Brasil, March 27, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1924, DXLD) Brazil (4895 kHz) - In recent months, Brazilian DXer Daniel Wyllyans has undertaken the noteworthy effort to encourage Brazilian stations to return to (more regular) short wave transmissions. The list includes Radio Baré (4895 kHz). Having found little information in my own records, I took the time for some internet research. There is an article on Radio Baré in the wikipedia https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A1dio_Bar%C3%A9 which seems to rely at least partly on the former website http://www.radiobare.com.br which is not available any more. Unfortunately the article it is not entirely correct. E.g. according to http://www.ale.am.gov.br/event/sessao-especial-para-comemorar-os-75-anos-de-fundacao-da-radio-bare-no-amazonas/ SESSÃO ESPECIAL PARA COMEMORAR OS 75 ANOS DE FUNDAÇÃO DA RÁDIO BARÉ NO AMAZONAS 08/10/2013 11:18h http://www.cmm.am.gov.br/camara-municipal-parabeniza-a-radio-bare-e-o-jornal-do-comercio/ 09/11/2013 9:56h the predecessor station of Rádio Baré went on the air on 7 September 1938 (not 1939). Glenn Hauser asked, when Rádio Baré left short wave. The last reference to the station in the domestic broadcasting survey seems to have been in 2008. But I think, the station website still listed the short wave frequency for some more years. Looking at the history of affiliations, the production of own programmes has been very limited for quite a while. The wikipedia article mentions a new partnership established in February. This may or may not give the idea of reactivating idle AM transmitters some credibility. This might be easier for the medium wave transmitter (2016 migração AM-FM) than for the short wave transmitter. Everything will depend on the availability of the infrastructure and a viable business model (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, 22 April 2018, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Here`s a reminder that behind the scenes we DXers may have much bigger problems than correct IDs or frequency precision (gh) Voltar ao DX --- orem por mim pessoal minha esposa é surda e muda e os parentes dela tentaram levar ela embora a força e mentiram a polícia dizendo que tenho armas mas o Deus Santo de Israel vai trazer minha paz de volta ao meu sítio quero voltar a fazer o dexismo e radioescuta que é o que mais gosto de fazer nessa vida espero voltar em breve pois não estou conseguindo fazer DX. 73 (Daniel Wyllyans, Brasil, April 25, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) gh`s translation and attempt at punxuation: Returning to DXing --- Pray for me, people. My wife is deaf and mute, and her relatives tried to take her away by force, lying to the police saying that I have weapons. But the Holy God of Israel will bring my love back to my home. I want to resume DXing and SWLing, which I enjoy more than anything in this life. I hope to return shortly since I am not managing to do any DXing. Good luck, Daniel! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Na verdade os parentes da minha mulher estáo de olho no cartão dela (Cartão de aposentadoria) com esse dinheiro que compramos comida e remédios aqui. Mas Deus já mandou uma pessoa para nos defender uma advogada vai fazer as mentiras cair todas mentiras vai vim a tona.. P.S. Ontem liguei o rádio um pouco em um pirata 8225 kHz em breve vou está no dexismo novamente. 73 (Daniel W, April 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [google, improved by gh:] ``In fact my wife's relatives are eyeing her card (Retirement Card). With that money we bought food and medicine here. But God has already sent a person to defend us; a lawyer will make the lies fall, all lies will come to the fore. PS Yesterday I turned on the radio a bit on a pirate 8225 kHz; soon I'll be DXing again. 73 Daniel W.`` Well, this is all very personal and mostly off-topic, so we`ll leave it there. He decided to post it publicly on HCDX (gh) ** BULGARIA. Spaceline Bulgaria will have a special DRM transmission today, 18 April, from 1200 to 1400 on 11600 kHz (including an old Mighty KBC show between 1200-1300). From SpaceLine (shortwave.airtime) Facebook page: "On April 18 Space Line supporting Digital Radio Mondiale will air special show @ 11600 kHz, 12.00-14.00 UTC in DRM mode targeting Mallorca and Spain for the Digital Radio Mondiale consorcium GA meeting held there." From Mighty KBC Facebook page: "Today (18-4-2018) Spaceline Bulgaria is repeating an old KBC show between 12:00-13:00 UTC on 11.600 kHz in DRM. The power is 100 kW and the antenna is beaming direction Spain (260 degrees). The total broadcast is between 12:00 - 14:00 UTC. Enjoy it!" (via Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, 0803 UT April 18, WOR iog via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Log: 9400 kHz KBC radiogram 15.30z MFSK32@1500Hz >>American eagle<< RSID: <<2018-04-21T15:30Z MFSK-32 @ 9400000+1500>> Watch the progress of bald eagles Mr. President and The First Lady, and their eggs, at the National Arboretum in Washington DC ... Sending Pic:120x69C; https://www.dceaglecam.org/ Please report decode to themightykbc@gmail.com ====================================================================== Der Link zur Webcam läuft auch im VLC/Videolanplayer: https://americaneagle-lh.akamaihd.net/i/AEF_DC1@31049/index_2000_av-p.m3u8?sd=10&rebase=on HLS-Streaming 1280x720 MPEG4 h264 (roger, April 21, WOR iog via DXLD) ** CANADA. 346 kHz, April 22 at 0624, ND beacon YXL and dash, 500 watts from Sioux Lookout, Ontario (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hmmm, wonder if there is one called XYL? (gh) ** CANADA. 1410, CFTE, Vancouver BC “All Business Bloomberg Radio 1410” ex TSN Sports from April 30. CFTE had been operating as an "overflow station" for Vancouver's TSN 1040 (CKST) since 2010. With the arrival of Sports Net 650 (CISL) in Vancouver this past Fall having three Sports stations in the market was redundant. TSN 1040 will now merge some of the programming that was broadcast on TSN 1410. Story from Miss 604: https://miss604.com/2018/04/1410-bnn-bloomberg-radio-launches-in-vancouver.html (Canadian Radio News fb group via Ydun’s Medium Wave Info 18.4.2018) via ARC mv-eko 23 April via DXLD) ** CANADA. THE NORTHERN QUEBEC SHORTWAVE SERVICE FROM RCI SHORTWAVE IN SACKVILLE It was in the Summer of the year 1923 that the Westinghouse radio complex in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania launched its earliest programming that was beamed on shortwave to the frigid areas of the far north in Canada. This early programming grew into what became the KDKA-8XS Far Northern Service, and it was on the air from 1923 - 1940, a total of 18 years. [and the subject of a previous story] Out of the KDKA-8XS Far Northern Service grew the equally famous Canadian Northern Messenger Service, a program that was originally produced by CRBC, the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, in its Toronto studios at mediumwave CRCT in 1933. This radio program, the Canadian Northern Messenger, was taken over by CBC the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation nearly four years later towards the end of the year 1936. However, radio coverage of the far northern areas of Arctic Canada grew from this single weekly program on mediumwave and shortwave into a multi-station network of programming services, again on mediumwave and shortwave. Here’s Ray Robinson with what happened. Back in 1938, CBC established a 50 kW mediumwave station, CBA, on the edge of the huge Tantramar Marshes near Sackville in the province of New Brunswick. The Tantramar Marshes, one of the largest tidal salt water marshes in the world, cover an area of nearly 80 square miles. They are located on the edge of the Bay of Fundy, which claims the highest tidal movement in the world, a rise and fall of 55 feet twice each day. The maximum tidal rise there of 71 feet occurred in 1869. At the same location, they later installed an RCA 50 kW shortwave unit, and the first test broadcast on shortwave took place on December 16, 1944. A few days later, on Christmas Day, CBC made a special broadcast for the benefit of Canadian personnel on duty in Great Britain and continental Europe. A second shortwave transmitter was then added, and a regular daily international shortwave service via the two RCA 50 kW transmitters began exactly two months later, on February 25, 1945. A year or two later again, CBC began special programming that was beamed to the frozen north, and the two shortwave transmitters carried the same programming in parallel on 6090 and 9620 kHz. At this stage, the northern programming was presented under the title CBC North West & Arctic Settlements. During the winter, the Northern Messenger program was included in this shortwave scheduling. In 1958, the CBC announced plans to install a 50 kW shortwave transmitter in Vancouver, British Colombia, for coverage into the western areas of the Canadian Arctic, that is the Yukon and the North West Territories. However, that project was never implemented, and instead the CBC augmented its daily Northern Service on shortwave from RCI Sackville and gave it a new name, The CBC Northern Canada Service. At this stage, the CBC also took over a small community medium wave station in Yellowknife, station CFYK on 1450 kHz, which had been established by the Royal Canadian Signal Corps in 1948. Nearly 40 years later, the Northern Canada Service became the Northern Quebec Shortwave Service, though it was still on the air from the same transmitter site at Sackville. However, over the intervening years, the older 50 kW transmitters (by this time now three RCA units on air) were retired in favor of newer transmitters rated at 100 kW and ultimately 250 kW. In the 1960’s, a total of eight northern medium wave transmitters were carrying a relay of the CBC northern service, generally as an off-air relay from shortwave RCI Sackville. In 1968, the CBA mediumwave transmitter and one 460 foot high antenna tower were removed from the Sackville shortwave station and re-installed near Moncton, New Brunswick, on Dover Road at Fox Creek. During the 1970’s, the specialized program service, the Northern Messenger, was phased out as no longer being necessary, due to other more modern forms of communication, though the Northern Quebec Shortwave Service itself continued as usual. The international shortwave service from CBC-RCI Sackville, with its official callsign CKCX, ended on June 23, 2012; though the Northern Quebec Shortwave Service was continued for several more months, coming to a final end on November 30 in the same year 2012. The northern Canadian programming was now available via satellite, and a total of five new low power FM relay transmitters took over this programming for the benefit of small local communities. For much of the lifetime of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s northern programming, CBC issued a special QSL card for the verification of their shortwave programming from Sackville. At least half a dozen of these very attractive QSL cards are known over the years. Interestingly, after the CBC-RCI shortwave station at Sackville was closed, the entire property was sold off. In February 2017, a First Nations group, MTI, bought the entire property, including the 2½ storey building with its bevy of transmitters and additional electronic equipment. Included in the sale, was the on-site original RCA transmitter from 1944, Model MI733A, no longer in working condition, but preserved as a museum piece. In an endeavor to save this historic transmitter from destruction and sale as metallic scrap, MTI offered it to any interested buyers for $5,000. And just a couple of months ago, in February this year, William Steele purchased the historic old unit and announced plans to install it as a museum piece in an old and equally historic prison that he procured a few years ago. The prison is located in nearby Dorchester, New Brunswick. The building is now in use as a guest house, and the old transmitter will occupy pride of place in a former prisoner cell (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan April 15 via DXLD) WTFK? At its heyday, CBCNS/CBCNQ ran some 19 hours a day on 9625, with a second transmitter on 11720 day/6065 night. Later on 9625 only (gh) ** CANARY ISLANDS [non]. Atlantis FM, Tenerife - unofficial relay --- PIRATE. A (presumed unofficial/pirate) relay of Atlantis FM from Tenerife is being heard since tune-in at 0805 UT with fair-to-good reception on 6285 kHz. Radio transmission is running about 1 minute behind the webstream at http://www.atlantis.fm/ (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, April 18, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) Hi, first noticed Atlantis FM on 6285 kHz yesterday around 1530 UT. Prior to this on the frequency I have recently heard Coast FM also based in Tenerife. Last year I think they were both heard on 6205/6210 kHz. 73’s (John Hoad, UK, April 18, bdxc-news iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) ** CHAD [non]. Radio Ndarason Int via BaBcoCk Ascension on April 18: 0500-0600 on 5960*ASC 250 kW / 065 deg to WeAf Kanuri, poor/weak 0600-0700 on 7415 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg to WeAf Kanuri, very weak * co-ch on 5959.8v KBD 250 kW / non-dir to N/ME Arabic GS R. Kuwait http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/radio-ndarason-int-via-babcock.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via DXLD) I hear RNI well, but no het from Kuwait here. 5960, April 22 at 0558, R. Ndarason, or Dandal Kura, mentioning Boko Haram multiple times until ASCENSION chops it off abruptly at 0559.5* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENIG DIGEST) Received e-QSL for the reception of "Ndarason Radio International" (12050 kHz, via Ascension). The report was sent to Ops.Asc [at] babcock.co.ac (Ivan Zeleny, Nizhnevartovsk, Khanty-Mansky Autonomous Area, Russia / "deneb-radio-dx" & "open_dx" via QSL World, Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) Presumably no individual design for NRI (gh) ** CHILE. 5825. R. TRIUNFAL EVANGELICA. Abril 17. 2200-2240 UTC. Música y luego predicación. SINPO: 25322. 5825. R. TRIUNFAL EVANGELICA. Abril 20. 2218-2249 UT. Espacio de música. Desde las 2230, se emite una predicación. SINPO: 35433 con el audio bajo. 6925. RCW. Abril 20. 2040-2124 UT. Música. A las 2100, se emite una identificación de la emisora en varios idiomas y de transmisión en la banda de 43 metros. Desde las 2102, se emite: “El castor cibernético” de Radio Canadá Intl. SINPO: 45433 (Claudio Galaz, RX: Tecsun PL 660; ANT Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** CHINA. CNR12 ("Happy Radio") is now on 6030 (presently not CNR1). Seems AM 747 is doing some work on their antenna, so they are relaying on 6030, now through May 10. At 1300 with Beijing time and ID "A M qi si qi" (sounding like "A M chee suh chee" and said very fast). Announcement about being on shortwave, in Chinese, at https://weibo.com/happyradio?is_hot=1 My audio today - http://goo.gl/2DJA19 with QRM underneath from Calgary, Canada (CFVP relaying CKMX AM 1060). Something new to listen to! Thanks to Cahcn (China) & Hiroshi (Japan) for the timely alert! (Ron Howard, California, April 19, WOR iog via DXLD) Hi Ron, very nice recording. For those struggling with Chinese ID's I'd like to add that CNR12 Chinese channel name is "Yule Guangbo" meaning more "Entertainment Radio" than (what they say on air in English) "Happy Radio". In your recording after the Beijing time announcement for 21 hours there is a formal ID at 0.09 as "Zhongyang Renmin Guangbo Diantai, AM 7-4-7, Yule Guangbo". At 0.34, when the man starts talking, he gives ID "Yule Guangbo", repeated later at 3.34 and 3.48. Thanks and 73, (Jari Savolainen, Finland, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, ibid.) Thanks, Jari, for the clarification. Appreciate your feedback. Yes, I do in fact struggle all the time with the Chinese language, hi (Ron Howard, ibid.) Thanks, Ron, for the tip. 6030: Checked the Seoul remote SDR 0430-0510 UT this April 22 morning: (seemingly) CNR12 px at 0500 UT S=7 in Seoul. At 0530 UT increased to S=9 Others from China at daytime 0505 UT path: CNR1 7230, S=8 schedueld far away Xian ? 150 kW quadrant non-dir ant 7269.986, PBS Nei Menggu Mongolian px, S=9 7420even kHz, PBS Nei Menggu Chinese px, S=9 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6030, CNR12, at 1329, on April 21. Continuing to carry "Entertainment Radio" programming here through May 10; good signal; in Chinese; a bit of propaganda about having a better life; into talk about the Yongle Encyclopedia, commissioned by the Yongle Emperor, during the Ming dynasty (audio translated by native speaker of Mandarin). My audio today - http://goo.gl/qHKHj4 again with QRM underneath from Calgary, Canada (CFVP relaying CKMX AM 1060) (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) ** CHINA. 6035, PBS Yunnan, 1210-1240 & 1329, April 17. Clearly a permanent change in format and schedule since March 21; daily noted many hours past former 1200*; still in the relay mode of a FM station; in Chinese; many commercial announcements; seems no longer the "Voice of Shangri-la" format; at 1329, with considerable N. Korean jamming QRM from 6040 (Shiokaze) and that also causes QRM for Voice of Freedom on 6045. Suggest that if folks are hearing just a solo station here after 1200, that it's Yunnan and not Bhutan, which when BBS is on the air, normally would go off about 1200 and when they do run past 1200, their format is very different than PBS and would in fact be mixing with Yunnan (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) BHUTAN/CHINA. 6035, on April 21: BBS (Bhutan), mixing with relay of FM 99 (Kunming, Yunnan Province, China), from 1125, till BBS cut off at 1139*; certainly two stations mixing here; one with mostly non-stop music (believe FM 99 relay) and the other mostly with announcers (believe BBS); onward from 1139 to 1320, just FM 99 programming here, with various amounts of adjacent QRM (at times heavy QRM); overall reception was poor; format consisted of segments with either non-stop EZL pop songs or non-stop commercial announcements in Chinese; I presume this to be the relay of FM 99, as others have confirmed ID (see below), but I think it will be a challenge for me to actually make out an ID here due to poor reception and at the beach, I don't have access to FM 99 online audio streaming [WORLD OF RADIO 1927] Thanks very much to Mauno Ritola and Hiroyuki Komatsubara for establishing the positive ID of the FM relay. Great work on their part! From Mauno - "Yes, FM 99 relay 2300-1630 in Chinese as far as I have managed to check, also at 1000 and 1100. But there is still one Shangri-La segment in Vietnamese 1630-1700 and also ID in English." ["Yunnan Radio and Television International, the Voice of Shangri-La" - Ron] - - - Additional helpful info per http://radio.chobi.net/DX/bbs/?res:160#3198 : Recently, they are broadcasting FM relay ?? It is very interesting information .. Thanks to Ron Howard and Mauno !! Ron Howard : http://radio.chobi.net/DX/bbs/?res:3140 Ron Howard : http://radio.chobi.net/DX/bbs/?res:3177 ...also see: http://radio.chobi.net/DX/bbs/?res:731#3189 http://radio.chobi.net/DX/bbs/?res:731#3196 -0030- [April 21] 6035 kHz (via kiwiSDR in CHINA, TNX!!) // Live stream of FM99 memo: FM99 Live stream : http://www.wodt.net/play/2568-1-1.html https://www.qingting.fm/radios/20139 http://www.zuiaishiting.com/radio/yn/19.html FM99 Shangri-La Tour Frequency: "F-M-99(jiu jiu) xianggelila luyou pinlu" Yunnan Shangri-La Tour Frequency Program (Sample) **Times UTC --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2300-2400 Flying House Map "Fei wu ditu" 0000-0100 Flying House Map "Fei wu ditu" 0100-0200 Journey CD "Lutu CD" 0200-0300 Ping An 99 "Ping'an 99(jiu-jiu)" 0300-0400 The movie tour "Dianyang zhi lu" 0400-0500 Travel Supermarket "Luxing chaoshi" 0500-0600 Fun by car "Wan zhuan zijia" 0600-0700 Trip CD "Lutu CD" 0700-0800 Universal Traveler "Huanqiu lu hang jia" 0800-0900 Play to Happy Purchase "Wan qu huanle gou" 0900-1000 Auto Market Intelligence Bureau "Cheshi qingbao ju" 1000-1100 Play Tour "Hai wan zhi lu" 1100-1200 World Cuisine "Shijie meishi" 1200-1300 Adventure King "Maoxian wang" 1300-1400 Journey CD "Lutu CD" 1400-1500 The poem and the distant "Shi he yuanfang" 1500-1559 Midnight Flight "Wuye feixing" --------------------------------------------------------------------- (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** CHINA. 6115, Voice of Strait, 1220, April 20. Reception here well above the norm, while the other VOS frequency on 9505 was silent; normally they are both heard with fair reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** CHINA. 7192-USB, VC01 (Chinese Military numbers station), on April 19, at 1140, with numbers in Chinese; fair reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** CHINA. 9745, The Firedragon, 1900. Crash and bang jamming music. Very likely, the target of the attack is RFA via Kuwait, listed here at this hour (tho not heard at my QTH). VG Apr 18 (Rick Barton, Logs from Central Arizona, Grundig Satellit, RS SW-2000629, and HQ-180A. with various outdoor wires. 73 and Good Listening....! WOR iog via DXLD) ** CHINA. Summer A-18 frequency changes of China Radio International Full A-18 schedule of China Radio International CRI can be found here. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/summer-18-frequency-changes-of-china.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. CARACOL UPDATE With Henrik Klemetz via ARC/mv-eko Info compiled by Henrik Klemetz based on private monitoring, including SDR files recorded in Colombia by Don Moore Sistema Caracol Radio. This is the network where it all started. It is spoken word format, including one-hour local news programmes (with local IDs) at 1100 and 2300 on weekdays, and gates for local ads throughout the day, excepting weekends, where programming is mainly musical. Stations: Bogotá, 810; Medellín, 750; Cali, 820; Barranquilla, 1100; Bucaramanga, 880; Pereira, 950; Neiva 1010; Cúcuta, 1090; Tunja, 1120; Armenia, 1150; On FM, in Bogotá, Medellín and Cali as well as Garzón and Pitalito (both in Huila, south of Neiva). Oxígeno The Oxígeno format was abandoned on December 31, 2017. Only two outlets remain, their slogan being “Oxígeno Urbano”, Bogotá, 100.4 and Medellín, 102.9. Oxígeno is no longer on AM. Sistema Bésame Sistema Bésame, “la radio apasionada”, with Latin pops and ballads from the 80’s, counts with transmitters in Manizales, 930, HJIA 5 kW (unlisted in WRTH); Cúcuta, 980; Pereira, 1300; Neiva, 1210; Pasto, 1130 and Ibagué, 1350. On FM in Bogotá, Medellín (“La Voz de Colombia”), Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cúcuta, Manizales, Armenia, Sogamoso. Sistema Cardenal Several Caracol frequencies were sold last year to Gámez Editores who have created an independent local network, Sistema Cardenal, serving the Atlantic seaboard on AM, with the addition of one FM outlet, in Riohacha, Guajira. The AM stations include 1010 Barranquilla, 1050 Valledupar), 1360 Cartagena and 1580 Sincelejo. The following Caracol frequencies have also been sold to various private owners: 590 Medellín, Volvamos a Dios Radio (evangelical); 870 Ibagué, La Voz del Tolima [ex-Bésame] (local and regional news); 1120 Bucaramanga, 24 horas Bucaramanga; 1170 Tunja, Cadena Radial Vida (evangelical); 1230 Tunja, Emisora Radio Recuerdos [ex-Oxígeno]; 1260 Duitama, Torrefuerte Radio (evangelical). Sistema W Radio Includes the following AM stations: 690 Bogotá; 700 Cali; 1150 Duitama; 1250 Cúcuta; 1270 Bucaramanga. Part-time leased by Caracol are 860 Valledupar (La Voz del Cañahuate) and 1400 Quibdó (Ecos del Atrato). On FM, in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Armenia, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Ibagué, Manizales, Montería, Neiva, Pereira, Popayán, Santa Marta, Tunja, Villavicencio and Tauramena [Casanare]. W Radio has affiliates in Panamá City, 990; Miami, 1260 [0800-1300 utc]; New York and New Jersey, [Paterson, NJ], 930; and Madrid, 103.9. (April MW News via DXLD) But no connexion to W Radio in México? (gh) ** CUBA. 11840, ?, 2115 (and on subsequent rechecks up to this writing at 2150), hearing only an open carrier. However, by turning the volume up very high and now detecting some very very weak audio, certainly sounds like Cuba (and "there's always something wrong at Radio Cuba)". Very strong on peaks signal. Apr 16 (Rick Barton, Logs from Central Arizona, Grundig Satellit, RS SW-2000629, and HQ-180A. with various outdoor wires. 73 and Good Listening....! WOR iog via DXLD) ** CUBA. 6100, April 18 at 1130, checking RHC which allegedly airs `Mesa Redonda` during this bihour on this frequency only, per its latest schedules, besides the live hour at 23-24 UT on 6000 & 11950 (4? or 5 days a week?). NO, 6100 same as mainstream RHC Spanish on // 6060. But this is a Big Day in Cuba, as the Commies are ``electing`` their next dictator, and apparently various local races. Results to be notified tomorrow. Also stuff about the Playa Girón anniversary --- they just can`t get over it. 13700, April 18 at 1318 check; and April 19 at 1333, No spur constellations across the 22 m band from RHC; what`s right? There`s always another day (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. RHC Englisch, um 0500 UT, 5040, 5999.996, 6060.002, 6100, 6165 kHz. 6060 kHz schlecht, QRM gestört von BRA 6059.830 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Circa 0500 UT April 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13700, April 20 at 1411, again today no galaxy of filthy distorted FMish spurblobs all over the band from RHC. 6165, April 21 at 0216, RHC English is S9+20 to S9, but just barely modulated; only // 6000 is S9+10 but suptorted with tone, the best they can do as about to translate a Raúl (valedictory?) speech. I hope he doesn`t mind. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 13700, April 21 at 1329, not a dozen, not any filthy FM spurblobs audible from RHC which is failing to provide them day after day: but I`m sure they`ll be back eventually. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 11860, April 21 at 2302, RHC music still on air, but chops off at 2305.3* while continuing on 11840, 11760, 11700. 11670 soon goes from dead air to join the rest, not including listed 12000. 13700, April 22 at 1325, RHC again spurless: it`s so lonely. UNIDENTIFIED. 11990-12007 approx., April 23 at 0113, huge distorted blob peaking about 12000, S9+10, cannot make out any rational modulation in AM or FM modes. Maybe Cuba. RHC is OK on 11840, 11760, 11700, 11670 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11985-12015 approx., 2126 UT April 23, horrible distorted blob of S9+20/30, and this time enough modulation to match it by AM tuning to RHC Spanish on 11840, 11760, 11860. This is not a mixing product, but an attempt to broadcast normally on scheduled 12000. The blob seems to peak about 12002, but no specific center carrier. Cf my previous unID, which was certainly this. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 12002 approx., center of distorted blob with some program modulation, April 24 at 2134, RHC still totally out of whack. Can`t they tell this at the site or by any remote monitoring? Something`s always wrong at RHC. [and non]. 15140, April 23 at 1758 on caradio, RHC is already on in tail of Spanish, tnx to sloppyraters; and with a SAH of about 2 Hz; 1800 opening RHC Arabic vs music from understation Radio Sultanate of Oman, a long-standing collision. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5999.995, RHC Quivicán TITÁN San Felipe site in English, S=9+35dB powerhouse signal. Nice audio modulation today, far better than noted low level in past weeks. 0424 UT. 6060.002, RHC Spanish at S=9+25dB powerful level. Always talk on Polio and Malaria illness; on World UNO Health organization program. At 0430 UT hit against co-channels 6059.991 kHz Channel Africa from SenTec Meyerton AFS, and Brazilian weak on 6059.831 kHz. 6165even, BAD MIXTURE of co-channels CUB RHC S=7-8 west coast antenna, and NHK Radio Japan Tokyo in Russian via MBR Nauen Germany relay. S=9 signal in NJ-US, but S=8-9 in remote SDR in Doha Qatar. 0440 UT. Morning log April 24 0400-0445 UT on remote SDR unit in NJ state in USA [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. OCB Radio Martí 7335 already [finally] registered in HFCC Database http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/ocb-radio-marti-on-7335-khz-already.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via DXLD) ** DENMARK. 5839.980 kHz, WMR World Music Radio from Karup, Brazilian rhythmen, S=8-9 signal at 0609 UT April 19. 5839.980, Dänemark, WMR Karup mit brasilianischen Rhythmen S=8-9 um 0609 UT April 19 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Please note that the transmitter site of World Music Radio is not Karup. That was in 2004-2005. Now the transmitter site is Randers. Best 73s (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, WMR, ibid.) Reception of World Music Radio Denmark, April 23 from 0505 on 5840 001 kW Randers/Denmark, weak/fair signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/04/reception-of-world-music-radio-denmark_23.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 22-23, WOR iog via DXLD) ** ECUADOR [non]. Russia / Austria ------------------------ I received a new beautiful QSL card from the Voice of the Andes from Voronezh in response to the report of April 7, 2018. In addition to the card, they traditionally sent a personal letter and poems. QSL here http://freerutube.info/2018/04/17/qsl-hcjb-golos-and-avstriya-voronezh-aprel-2018-goda/ (Dmitry Elagin, Saratov, Russia / "deneb-radio-dx", QSL World, via Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) Looks like aspen tree trunx, not leaves (gh, DXLD) ** EGYPT. 15630.035 kHz UNDOUBTEDLY terrible distorted audio signal from Radio Cairo Abis in Dari/Persian language, at 1332 UT on April 22. S=9+20dB noted in remote New Delhi SDR unit. Terrible audio visible on screen, 15 x 50 Hertz distance apart strings either sideband, and additional scratching audio spurs also on 15386, 15450, 15516, 15712, and 15690 kHz {nothing visible today of VoTibet Dushanbe sce in 19 mb, wb.} [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, DF5SX, WWDXC BC-DX TopNews April 22 via BC-DX April 22 via DXLD) Much odd frequencies of Radio Cairo on April 22: 2000-2115 on 9894.7 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu French 2115-2245 on 9799.7 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu English http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/much-odd-frequencies-of-radio-cairo-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, WOR iog via DXLD) ** ERITREA. Two Asmara outlets, 7140.017 kHz phone-in at 1754 UT, S=9+25dB powerful, and frequency corrected 2nd unit (ex 7181v) now re- aligned or another TX in use on 7180.017 kHz, less strength of S=9+10dB. April 20, 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7140.020, Asmara Radio played HoA music at 0500 UT, S=9+10dB in Qatar. 7180.019, Asmara Radio played HoA mx at 0502 UT, S=8 in Qatar though. 0446-0510 UT April 24 on remote SDR unit in Doha Qatar ME [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. SECRETLAND, Reception of Dimtse Radio Erena via SPL Secretbrod on April 18: 1700-1800 9720 SCB 050 kW / 195 deg EaAf ONLY in Tigrinya today, VG http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/reception-of-dimtse-radio-erena-via-spl_19.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Ethiopier: 5949.998 V of Tigray program, 6030.002 R Oromiya, 6089.995 R Amhara, 0547 UT, kein Signal 5940 kHz aus Jijiga province (Wolfgang Büschel, Circa 0500 UT April 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. Noted Gedja Voice of Ethiopia til program end at 18 UT on most variable hopping/moved 70 Hertz up and down! on center 7236.666 kHz April 20, 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) When checked Sunday April 22, only exciter seen on 7235 kHz around 0400:38 UT on Apr 22, but no Sunday service noted today, of Voice of Peace and Democracy of Eritrea, latter Sun, Tue, Thur. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, DF5SX, WWDXC BC-DX TopNews April 22 via BC-DX April 22 via DXLD) Ja wo laufen sie denn? ETHIOPIA Der Gedja Sender läuft fq-mäßig wieder sehr flott, Tigrinya VoDem All. mit S=9+20dB auf 7236.235 kHz um 1505 UT Apr 24. Jetzt um 1547 UT ist er bei 7236.524 kHz, läuft und läuft fq-mäßig aufwärts (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Google translation: Where are you walking? ETHIOPIA The Gedja station is again running very fast, Tigrinya VoDem All. with S = 9 + 20dB on 7236.235 kHz at 1505 UT Apr 24. Now at 1547 UT, it is at 7236.524 kHz, running and running fq- moderately upwards (via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Reception of Radio Deegaanka Soomaalida Itoobiya April 22 from 1953 5940 JJG 100 kW / non-dir to EaAf Somali, very good signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/reception-of-radio-deegaanka-soomaalida.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 22-23, WOR iog via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. FRANCE, Voice of Independent Oromiya & Voice of Amara via TDF Issoudun April 22 1600-1630 on 17850 ISS 250 kW / 130 deg to EaAf Oromo Su Voice of Independent Oromiya 1700-1800 on 15360 ISS 250 kW / 120 deg to EaAf Amharic Sa-Mo/We Voice of Amara Radio http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/voice-of-independent-oromiya-voice-of_23.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 22-23, WOR iog via DXLD) ** FRANCE. MARIE-CHRISTINE SARAGOSSE PRÉSIDENTE DE FRANCE MÉDIAS MONDE Décision n 2018-210 du 18 avril 2018 portant nomination à la présidence de la société en charge de l’audiovisuel extérieur de la France Date de publication : mercredi 18 avril 2018 Assemblée plénière du 18 avril 2018 Sur le fondement des 1er et 2ème alinéas de l’article 47-4 de la loi du 30 septembre 1986, le Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel, réuni en séance plénière le 18 avril 2018, a nommé Mme Marie-Christine Saragosse en qualité de présidente de France Médias Monde, la société en charge de l’audiovisuel extérieur de la France, pour une durée de cinq ans à compter du 23 avril 2018. Il a apprécié l’expérience et la compétence de Mme Saragosse qu’attestent tant son parcours professionnel que les actions qu’elle a engagées depuis son premier mandat à la tête de l’entreprise. Celles-ci se mesurent notamment à l’aune de l’amélioration significative de la situation de France Médias Monde depuis 2012. Mme Saragosse a en particulier réussi à affirmer l’identité et la complémentarité des différents médias du groupe et à développer leurs audiences en France et à l’étranger. Le Conseil a également pris en compte la création de la société unique et le processus d’harmonisation des conditions de travail au sein du groupe. Le projet stratégique de Mme Saragosse reprend en l’actualisant celui qu’elle avait présenté lors de sa candidature en juin 2017. Le Conseil a particulièrement apprécié l’attachement de Mme Saragosse aux missions de service public. Il a été très sensible à l’engagement de Mme Saragosse en faveur de l’éducation aux médias, dans un contexte où la sensibilisation aux fausses informations revêt une importance fondamentale. Le Conseil considère enfin que Mme Saragosse dispose de l’expérience managériale nécessaire pour poursuivre la transformation numérique de la société en charge de l’audiovisuel extérieur de la France, dans le respect des équilibres budgétaires et grâce à la maîtrise des dépenses et au développement des ressources propres. La présente décision sera publiée au Journal officiel de la République française. Fait à Paris, le 18 avril 2018. Pour le Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel : Le président, N. CURIEN http://www.csa.fr/Espace-juridique/Decisions-du-CSA/Decision-n-2018-210-du-18-avril-2018-portant-nomination-a-la-presidence-de-la-societe-en-charge-de-l-audiovisuel-exterieur-de-la-France (via Dr Hj. Biener, Germany, April 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) Says she has the necessary qualifications to carry out the digital transition of external media, presumably including RFI SW (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) ** GERMANY. und der Deutsche Wetterdienst Pinneberg auf gleich 2 Frequenzen Test in \\ um 0600 UT: 5905 S=9+25dB und 6180 S=9+30Db. Signal gehört in Liverpool West England, letztere leise unten drunter QRM 6180 VoA Franz. aus Pinheira São Tomé werktags (Wolfgang Büschel, April 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 15310, Bible Voice - Nauen relay heard at 1605 on 4/17/18, talks by a man in listed Oromo. Actual frequency of this transmission was 15309, so slight detuning was required for clarity. Fair (Bob Brossell, Pewaukee, WI. Equipment: JRC NRD-545 (Grove Flex antenna); DRAKE DSR-2 (Longwire); ETON E1; SONY ICF SW77, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Unusual to be a full kHz off-frequency (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Again unscheduled broadcast of New Shortwave Radio for Europe on April 22 1800-2200 on 3975 WIS 001 kW / non-dir to NWEu English Mon-Sat + Sun, fair to good Probably new schedule of New Shortwave Radio for Europe is ONLY 1800- 2200UT on 3975 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/unscheduled-broadcast-of-new-shortwave.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 22-23, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. RFA RELEASES NEW QSL IN IBB RELAY SITE SERIES IBB LAMPERTHEIM MAY 2018 Radio Free Asia (RFA) announces the release of the fifth QSL card in the series highlighting the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) relay sites used for RFA programming. RFA programs also broadcasts from these IBB sites: Biblis, Kuwait, Saipan and Tinian. IBB Lampertheim is one function of the IBB’s Germany Station and is also an integral part of IBB’s global satellite interconnect system (SIS) carrying RFA programming where needed. This is RFA’s 67th QSL overall and will be used to confirm all valid RFA reception reports from May – August 2018. More information about RadioFree Asia, including our current broadcast frequency schedule, is available at http://www.rfa.org RFA encourages listeners to submit reception reports. Reception reports are valuable to RFA as they help us evaluate the signal strength and quality of our transmissions. RFA confirms all accurate reception reports by mailing a QSL card to the listener. RFA welcomes all reception report submissions at http://techweb.rfa.org (follow the QSL REPORTS link) not only from DX’ers, but also from its general listening audience. Reception reports are also accepted by email at qsl@rfa.org and by mail to: Reception Reports Radio Free Asia 2025 M. Street NW, Suite 300 Washington DC 20036 United States of America. (via Rich D`Angelo, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** GREECE. UNIDENTIFIED: On April 18th with very strong signal on exact 7726.0 at -1520-1757* non stop popular instrumental evergreens from Mantovani, Purcell, Mansini... orchestras. (Rumen Pankov-BULGARIA via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Thanks, Rumen. GREECE, 7726, Greek pirate 'Zeppelin Radio', April 7, from 1410 UT, very good signal (Ivo Ivanov-BUL, hcdx / dlxd via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 7 via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) 7725.872 kHz noted at 1850 UT April 18, S=6 in southern Germany. wb. April 20, 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED {Greek pirate 'Zeppelin Radio'} On April 18th with very strong signal on exact 7726 kHz at 1520-1757* UT, non stop popular instrumental evergreens from Annunzio Mantovani, Purcell orchestra, Henry Mancini ... orchestras. In my log I found on April the 1st at 0910-0940 UT same type orchestral instrumental evergreen melodies but on 6001 kHz (Rumen Pankov, BULGARIA, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 21, BC-DX April 22 via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) Unidentified Greek Music Pirate in 49mb, April 22 1039 & 1216 on 6001 unknown transmitter, fair & tx off/on; off/on http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/unidentified-greek-music-pirate-in-49mb_22.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 22, WOR iog via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. YA SALIMOS AL AIRE EN RADIO VERDAD POR INTERNET CON EL mixlr. Para escucharnos, copie y pegue el link que le daremos al final. Abra un nuevo archivo de Word con el nombre de "Links". Anótele como título: Radio Verdad Internet. Luego, pegue este link. Después, coloque el cursor al final del link y déle un enter. Inmediatamente, el link cambiará de color y ya se podrá usar como link. Para escuchar Radio Verdad Internet, presione "Ctrl" y, al mismo tiempo, haga un click sobre el link, y le saldrá Radio Verdad Internet con el mixlr. Esperamos sus reportes. Éste es el link [not]: http://mixlr.com/verdad-chiquimula-guatemala/ (Dr. ÉdgarAmílcar Madrid, Director General, Radio Verdad y Radio Verdad TV, April 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I tried it immediately, and again several hours later: ``Page not found! We've looked everywhere and we still can't find this page. It's possible the link no longer exists. 404`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thank you. I am investigating the error. [Later:] correct link, does it work? http://mixlr.com/radio-verdad-chiquimula-guatemala/ (Édgar Madrid, ibid.) Yes, it works, but there is a bit of hum, and it`s louder than necessary with some distortion on peaks (Glenn to Édgar, via DXLD) ** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1316, April 17. A day with much stronger than usual audio; in Hindi and subcontinent music; almost fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) See also DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM ** INDIA. AIR in Hindi is being heard on unscheduled 12025 kHz today, 21 April, at 2000 UT tune-in, in parallel with scheduled 9445 and 7550 kHz (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, WOR iog via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Frequencies for the World Cup and Internet in airplanes and trains are approved --- Moscow, April 17, 2018. --------------------------------------- The Minister of Communications and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation Nikolai Nikiforov held a meeting of the State Commission for Radio Frequencies (GKRC), during which the plan was approved for the use of radio frequencies at the FIFA 2018 FIFA World Cup (2018 World Cup), radio frequency bands in the 29.5-30 GHz and 19.7-20.2 GHz for the organization of communication in transport using geostationary satellites, radio frequency bands have been allocated for the organization of communication and deployment in Russia of digital broadcasting networks of the DAB + standard, and a new the decision of the GKRC decision regulating the use of amateur and amateur satellite services. In addition, SCRF considered a number of applications for the allocation of various radio frequency bands. During the meeting, the SCRC determined specific radio frequency bands to be used by the organizers and participants of the 2018 World Cup in a simplified manner in the territories of all the cities in which the championship matches will be held. The approval of the plan for the use of radio frequencies will ensure the requirements for the radio- frequency spectrum of the organizers and participants of the 2018 World Cup. In addition to the approval of the plan, the commission also recommended that the organizers of the radio frequency band in the bands 470-638 MHz and 650-758 MHz use wireless microphones. To ensure the operation of communication systems in motion and connected to geostationary satellites, air, rail, sea and road transport, it was decided to allocate radio frequency bands 29.5-30 GHz and 19.7-20.2 GHz at the commission meeting. Use dedicated frequencies can be without the design of frequency assignments, subject to certain conditions. In particular, all traffic that will be generated by such communication systems must pass through the gateway of a Russian telecommunications operator located in the territory of the Russian Federation, which will also monitor the operation of subscriber earth stations and control their parameters. The commission also determined that such stations in motion can not be used to build networks intended for the safety of life. GKRCH also considered the introduction of a new digital standard DAB + in Russia. The Commission presented a report of the Radio Research Institute on the possibility of working in Russia DAB + networks and their compatibility with existing networks in the radio frequency band 175.872-228.128 MHz. GKRC has decided that DAB + technology can be used under certain conditions and with the availability of a free radio frequency resource within the current order and established procedures. To deploy communication networks with DAB + technology, it is necessary to certify the equipment and adjust the regulatory documents that define the licensing of digital broadcasting of the new standard. The Commission also adopted a new version of the GKRC decision governing the use of amateur and amateur satellite services. In Russia there are more than 38 thousand radio amateurs who actively participate in public life, provide assistance in providing communication with natural disasters, participate in various sports competitions. Source: http://minsvyaz.ru/en/events/38154/ https://vk.com/vcfm2014 & https://vk.com/club59176345 (via Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) I.V.: See also MALI [non] ** IRAN. [and unidentified foreign JAMMING too] 13610.002 kHz, IRIB Arabic service from Zahedan site, S=9+5dB in THA/CBG border remote SDR at 1320 UT on Apr 22, and co-channel but TERRIBLE CO-CHANNEL BUBBLE SIREN JAMMING, some 119 Hertz away distance on lower side at 13609.883 kHz. and in \\ too IRIB Arabic service 13785.006 kHz from Sirjan but TERRIBLE CO-CHANNEL BUBBLE SIREN JAMMING, some 39 Hertz away distance on lower side at 13784.967 kHz, S=8-9 in THA, but S=9+15dB on New Delhi remote SDR, at 1325 UT on April 22 [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, DF5SX, WWDXC BC-DX TopNews April 22 via BC-DX April 22 via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) 7410.005 Voice of IRIB Arabic, S=9+45dB noted 0348 UT on Apr 22. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 22, dxldyg via DXLD) But Arabic service stopped at 1430 and the sirens are still going on at 1610. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, April 22, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) 7409.998, VoIRI, Sirjan NW Af, terrible overmodulated distorted bad audio, S=9+45dB powerhouse in Doha Qatar SDR unit. 18.6 kHz much wideband audio. 0446-0510 UT April 24 on remote SDR unit in Doha Qatar ME [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) VIRI IRIB PARS TODAY on wrong frequency 9800, instead of 13610 Apr 24 0845&1145 on 9800 ZAH 500 kW / 289 deg to EaAf Arabic instead of scheduled 13610 // frequency 13780 SIR 500 kW / 216 deg to N/ME Arabic till 1130 + sirene jamming // frequency 13785 SIR 500 kW / 216 deg to N/ME Arabic from 1130 + sirene jamming Videos will be added later today -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, WOR iog via DXLD) Right now from 1300 UT Radio Saudi Int in Urdu on wrong 13785 kHz, instead of 13775. Video later today (Ivo Ivanov, Apr 24, ibid.) But at 1330 UT here is my monitoring report: No sirene jamming heard at all. Two Arabic services of IRIB on 9800.003, S=9+35dB in Doha Qatar, weak underneath co-ch CRI Kunming in English. \\ 13785even, IRIB Arabic S=9+45dB, HQ prayer now at 1346 UT, and co- channel few minutes another - like Saudi Arabia programm jammer underneath on exact odd 13784.989 kHz measured. IRIB Urdu still on scheduled 13795.009 kHz, S=9+25dB in Doha Qatar checked. IRIB Russian measured on 13730.012 kHz S=9+15dB. 73 wb IRAN/SAUDI ARABIA siren jamming check at 1447 UT in remote unit in Doha Qatar 7410.004, VoIRIB Kurdish sce, S=9+40dB at 1414 UT. 9465.013, carrier from Sirjan site already at 1445 UT, S=9+25dB VoIRIB Uzbek at 1450 UT start, 3 x Arabic on 9790 kHz in \\ : 9790 even, VoIRIB Arabic from Sirjan at 1445 UT, S=9+45dB powerhouse. HQ prayer 1451 UT, but I guess a 2nd Iranian TX unit additionally COMBINED from 9790.038 kHz frequency. and additional SIRENE jammer underneath on exact 9789.919 kHz frequency. 9810.007, VoIRIB Hindi, 1453 UT S=9+25dB strong. 11745even, Al Azam Radio S=9+20dB at 1454 UT, stronger than 11860even, Yemen Radio ArabicS=9+25dB at 1456 UT. 11825.009, VoIRIB Bangali service, S=9+10db at 1457 UT 12060.003, VoIRIB Hindi service, S=9+15dB at 1458 UT 6090.003, VoIRIB Uzbek sce S=9+30dB at 1511 UT. 9650.004, VoIRIB Arabic, S=9+45dB powerhouse at 1515 UT, and underneath SIRENE jammer on 9649.980 kHz 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Apr 24, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) und zwei Sirenen (aus Saudi Arabien ? ) sind auch wieder on air: > 9789.919 kHz frequency. > underneath SIRENE jammer on 9649.980 kHz. 73 wb (Büschel, 1553 UT Apr 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unknown jammer on 9650 kHz, 1717 UT, Northland Radio SDR (New Zealand) Apr 24, 2018. Covering (presumed) Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran in Arabic? (Bruce F., NY, WOR iog via DXLD) With mp3 att: it`s a rising-pitch ``sirene`` 128 x per minute, or slightly over twice a second (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VIRI IRIB PARS TODAY on wrong frequency 9800, instead of 13610 Apr 24 0830-1430 on 9800*ZAH 500 kW / 289 deg to EaAf Arabic instead of scheduled 13610 // frequency 13780 SIR 500 kW / 216 deg to N/ME Arabic till 1130 + sirene jamming // frequency 13785 SIR 500 kW / 216 deg to N/ME Arabic from 1130 + sirene jamming *1300-1400 on 9800 KUN 500 kW / 135 deg to AUS English China Radio International http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/viri-irib-on-wrong-frequency-9800-khz.html (Ivo Ivanov, WOR iog via DXLD) ** IRAN {non]. Radio Ranginkaman/Radio Rainbow via BaBcoCk Tashkent, April 23: 1600-1630 7580 TAC 100 kW / 236 deg WeAs Farsi Mon/Fri, fair to good No signal Radio Payem e-Doost via BaBcoCk Grigoriopol April 21/22/23: 1800-1845 7480 KCH 500 kW / 116 deg WeAs Farsi probably is cancelled 0230-0315 7460 KCH 500 kW / 116 deg WeAs Farsi probably also deleted http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/radio-ranginkamanradio-rainbow-via_23.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 22-23, WOR iog via DXLD) ** IRELAND [non]. ITALY/ROMANIA?/BULGARIA?, 7290, Italian Radio Relay Service, *1800-1830, 20-04, tuning music, ID IRRS, Milano, Italy, English program. 24432. Despite being announced Radio City program, 1800-1900, third Friday of the month, Radio City did not go to air. I contacted the station about this, and here is the answer: "Dear Manuel, It sometimes happens IRRS finds other customers for the Friday evening slot. The 3rd Saturday on 9510 kHz is guaranteed and if there is no other customers, old programmes may be repeated other Saturdays. Radio City was on the air yesterday on 9510 kHz as announced. Best regards Radio City - the Station of the Cars" (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in the Gran Talaso Sanxenxo Hotel balcony, Sanxenxo, Pontevedra, Spain, with my XHDATA D-808 and telescopic antenna. Good propagation conditions Friday evening, but bad conditions Saturday evening and more of the stations heard on Friday could no be heard on Saturday, WOR iog via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. SAWT AL-AMAL, SHE’AR YASHUV - 1287 kHz --- QSL-card signed by Ray Robinson received from Sawt al-Amal 1287 kHz, (or Voice of Hope) in She'ar Yashuv for reception from KONG [DX-pedition site, Norway?] on September 21st, 2017, at 1925-1931 UT. The station utilizes an omnidirectional antenna and a 50 kW Nautel transmitter. It is a descendant of Voice, King and Wings of Hope (945 and 6280, 9985 & 11515 kHz, George Otis Sr, High Adventure Radio) 1979-2000 and came on the air March 28, 2017. The owners are Strategic Communications Group. http://www.voiceofhope.com (ARC mv-eko 23 April via DXLD) ** JAPAN. Received a response from NHK Tokyo on a report on the reception of the radio station NHK-2 Tokyo / JOAB (693 kHz, via Kuki): "Thank you very much for your report. We are sorry, but the QSL card services and confirmations for NHK Tokyo were terminated almost 20 years ago. Thank you for your understanding. Regards, NHK Audience Assistance Center in Tokyo » Data of the report on admission: 13 April 2018, 1430-1441 UT, 693 kHz, SINPO: 32532. The report was sent via the form on NHK Tokyo website https://cgi2.nhk.or.jp/css/mailform/mail_form.cgi QSL-card from them did not ask for. I know that NHK Tokyo reports do not confirm the ochun for a long time (Ivan Zeleny, Nizhnevartovsk, Khanty-Mansky Autonomous Area, Russia / "deneb-radio-dx" & "open_dx" via QSL World, Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) I received a QSL card from the Russian service of Radio Japan in response to a report on February 12, 2018. The theme of the card is Snow Country - Akita Prefecture. Also sent a booklet of the Russian edition and a postcard with the image of Lake Kinrin in Oita Prefecture. QSL here http://freerutube.info/2018/04/19/qsl-radio-japan-nhk-world-radio-yaponii-fevral-2018-goda/ (Dmitry Elagin, Saratov, Russia / "deneb-radio-dx", ibid.) Japan / Lithuania -------- I received a QSL card from the broadcasting section in Russian by the Radio Japan - NHk World Japan. 2 Marat 2018/1386 kHz. Plus a program schedule, in which a photo of all the leading programs in Russian (Anatoly Klepov, Moscow, Russia, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. Checked the Seoul remote SDR 0430-0510 UT this April 22 morning: Korean report 0430-0458 UT midst daytime, grayline Hawaii/midway Pacific: Hefty jammer signals of S=9 to S=9+25dB strength range on 3480, 3910, 3930, 3985, 4450, 4557, 5830, 5995, 6003, 6015 (rather 5820-6040 broadband covered), 6135, 6250, 6350, 6600 kHz. 2849.998, KCBS Pyongyang, speech by female soldier(?), S=9+20 3219.851, KCBS weak and tiny S=5 at 0443 UT, wandered to x.844 frequency, nice brass band mx. 3319.994, Pyonyang BS, nice brass band orchestra mx, S=9 0444 UT 3479.986, VoP, female announcer, S=9+20dB, and hefty multi-tone jammer 5857.514, HLL Seoul Meteo service, female announcer, S=9 at 0447 UT 5905.009, EoU, S=9+10dB at 0436 UT. 6044.985, VoF, S=9 at 0439 UT. 6099.998, KCBS Pyongyang S=9+10dB at 0455 UT speech by female soldier(?) 6249.994, EoH, S=9+20, 0458 UT. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 11645, Voice of Korea at 1645 UT April 17 with political commentary [in English] and Korean opera music. This transmitter is much more stable than the ones used towards North America earlier in the day. Good. The 11710 kHz transmitter has an awful growl on it but much stronger in French. Very Good. Rx: Perseus SDR, Ant: Wellbrook ALA100 loop. 73 (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, AB, WOR iog via DXLD) 13649.971, V of Korea from Kujang D.P.R. Korea center, English at 0557 UT smooth orchestra mx at S=9 signal strength. 13760even, V of Korea from Kujang D.P.R. Korea center, Spanish at 0605 UT S=8 sidelobe of N/SAm across Kamchatka, Alaska signal. Not only Spanish program heard, but also mixture with their vagabond scratching Jamming signal from Kujang site. 0511-0615 UT on remote SDR unit on Thai-Cambodian border in SE Asia [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. 6045.0, Voice of Freedom, April 15 (Sunday), at 0945, with the start of the program in Korean called "Ingwon balo algi" ("Know human rights correctly"); portion with radio drama; reception fair-good with no jamming, which was still down on 5920. My audio of ID at http://goo.gl/VArjR5 The IDs I'm making here are only possible with the kind guidance of Amano-san (Saitama, Japan). Not off frequency here and no drifting, so definitely a different transmitter than was heard on 5917.4v (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) 6045. VOICE OF FREEDOM. Abril 20. 1108 UT. Música de trot y luego mujer habla en coreano junto a un varón. A las 1118, música. SINPO: 45343 Audio: https://archive.org/details/6045.V.OfFreedom.Abril201111UTC (Claudio Galaz, RX: Tecsun PL 660; ANT: Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. Dengê Welat via Issoudun and Grigoriopol, April 19 0230-0500 on 9525 ISS 250 kW / 090 deg to WeAs Kurdish, very strong 0500-1400 on 11530 KCH 300 kW / 130 deg to WeAs Kurdish, weak signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/reception-of-denge-welat-via-issoudun.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. 13645-13650-13655, April 19 at 1824, DRM noise from scheduled R. Kuwait in Arabic, averaging S7, probably not enough to decode, but way better than inaudible English DRM allegedly circa 15540. Alexander Busneag, WOR iog, presents an updated DRM schedule: ``DRM schedule now with graphical overview and more technical details: http://ab27.bplaced.net/drm.pdf Unfortunately, most transmissions have unnecessarily high bitrates, which makes decoding without dropouts almost impossible`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reception of MOI Radio Kuwait General Service on April 23: 0200-0630 on 5959.9 KBD 250 kW / non-dir to N/ME Arabic, weak/fair 0500-0900 on 15515.0 KBD 250 kW / 059 deg to EaAs Arabic, very good 1000-1200 on 17760.0 KBD 250 kW / 084 deg to SEAs Filipino, good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/reception-of-moi-radio-kuwait-general_23.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 22-23, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) 5959.885, Radio Kuwait, from Kabd in Arabic, powerhouse S=9+40dB, heard at 0449 UT on remote Perseus in Doha Qatar in ME. 0446-0510 UT April 24 on remote SDR unit in Doha Qatar ME [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KYRGYZSTAN. Dear DX-friends, Here are the latest Domestic shortwave loggings, I heard in Skovlunde on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire: 4010.17, 1750-1800*, 9+10.4, Birinchi R, Krasnaya Rechka. Russian talk, 1758 National hymn by choir. _Not yet using announced A18 schedule until 2000*_ 55444 AP-DNK 4820.00, 0030-0035, 10.4, Birinchi R, Krasnaya Rechka. Kyrgyz opera - Hum on frequency and QRM Xizang, 31331 // 4010.11 (45434) Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, wbradio yg via DXLD) ** LAOS. 6129.989, Lao National Radio from Vientiane, proper S=9+35dB signal at 0725 UT. Hill tribe people singer. 6.8 kHz wide audio range. Log April 23, at 0720 to 0800 UT Checked on remote SDR unit on Thai- Cambodian border in South East Asia [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 23, dxldyg via DXLD) 6129.988 LAO Laotian National Radio from Vientiane, S=9+20dB at 0511 UT. 0511-0615 UT on remote SDR unit on Thai-Cambodian border in SE Asia [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. MADAGÁSCAR, 5010, R. TV Madagasikara, Ambohidrano, 1741-1753, 15/4, malgaxe, texto, canções; 25342. Sinal consistindo em portadora com banda lateral (inferior) suprimida. Good DX and 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. Received QSL from RTM for receiving a radio station Wai FM - 24.02.2018, 1430-1445 UT at a frequency of 11665 kHz (via Kajang). Card number 12-2018, s [with] a drawing of the flag of Malaysia. The report was sent by e-mail to: roziyati @ rtm.gov.my. Acknowledgment received from Irywan Nizam Bin Ramli (Dmitry Kutuzov, Ryazan, Russia / "deneb-radio-dx" via QSL World, Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) ** MALI [non]. Nouveaux Paramètres de Réception des Programmes de l’ORTM (ORTM, TM2, Radio Nationale et Chaine2). Écrit par oumar Coulibaly Publication : 13 avril 2018 DIRECTION DES RESEAUX DE DIFFUSION L’office de Radio et Télévision du Mali (ORTM) informe ses téléspectateurs et auditeurs du MALI et de l’Afrique de l’Ouest d’un changement de paramètres de réception de ses programmes (ORTM, TM2, Radio Nationale et Chaine2) en bande KU sur le satellite Intelsat IS 25. Les nouveaux paramètres de réception qui seront opérationnels à partir du vendredi 13 Avril 2018 sont : - Fréquence 12334 MHz - Symbole Rate 6428 - FEC 7 /8 Par ailleurs les anciens paramètres demeurent opérationnels jusqu’au jeudi 19 avril 2018 minuit. http://ortm.ml/index.php/actualites/1318-nouveaux-parametres-de-reception-des-programmes-de-l-ortm-ortm-tm2-radio-nationale-et-chaine2 (via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, 22 April 2018, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Mexican station news: XECH-1040 adds 89.3 FM Listening to web streams this morning, XECH-1040 is now //XHCH-89.3. Format is US classic rock, new slogan "Capital pirata FM 89.3, La Radio con Final Feliz." Per Wikipedia the FM was added last November. The ID after the anthem only mentioned FM 89.3 so it's possible them AM may be off already. Old Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CAPITAL.AM.TOLUCA/ has only been updated once in the last 5 or 6 months. New Facebook page for the FM is https://www.facebook.com/PirataFMToluca/ I sent them a message to ask if the AM is still on. 73 (Tim Hall, CA, April 20, ABDX yg via DXLD) Correction: the format appears to be current US rock. Like many radio stations, they have failed to take down several old web pages after launching their new one! 73 (Tim, ibid.) Thx, and this has gotten past WHO a couple of times here to IL in severe AU [auroral conditions] (Neil Kazaross, ibid.) The station confirmed via Facebook message that they are still broadcasting on both 1040 AM and 89.3 FM. 73 (Tim, Apr 20, ibid.) ** MEXICO. One Border Inn doorbell mystery solved (XEPBGL-630/XEPBPV- 1080) --- One of my unidentified doorbell stations was identified today. The attached 6-note doorbell themes are coming from XEPBGL-630 (ex-XEJB) and XEPBPV-1080 (ex-XEJLV). I finally figured it out after hearing the same doorbells on 1080 that I had previously heard on 630 (upon further review, similar doorbells heard on 820 turned out to be just a partial copy of Radio Reloj's nightly doorbell madness at Midnight Cuban time). The doorbells on 1080 came right after the Mexican anthem. I went through dozens of archived podcasts on the stations' web page http://c7jalisco.com/?q=podcast and eventually found some that included this signal. The 6-note theme is C-E-G, G-C-E, where G is the highest note and C the lowest. Another interesting observation is that XEPBPV-1080 runs the national anthem at 7 am local time, not 6 am (my log was on a Monday morning, so it wasn't a late weekend sign-on). I can't tell if XEPBGL-630 also does this, because at the 2017 Border Inn DXpedition I never managed to log both stations simultaneously. Both stations were assigned new call letters a year or so after a brief lapse in their license. (The new IFT is apparently very pedantic about that). 73 (Tim Hall, Chula Vista CA, April 18, ABDX yg via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Ron Howard: Greetings from California. Perhaps the attachments might be of interest for SWB? XEXQ-AM is a radio station in San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí. XEXQ is the second-oldest university radio station in Mexico, behind Radio UNAM. On July 28, 1938, the UASLP's radio efforts began with the sign-on of XEXQ-AM, the second universi-ty broadcaster in Mexico. The new AM radio station came with a shortwave counterpart, also called XEXQ, on 6045 kHz, which by the 1950s was one of 16 short-wave radio stations in Mexico and is still in operation. In 2007, the station moved to 1190 kHz (SW Bulletin April 22 via DXLD) Asked Ron for more (gh): MEXICAN SW MEMORIES Back in the 1970s & 80s, there were a number of very good regional Mexican SW stations to listen to. Two of my favorite stations were XEQM (Sistema Radio Yucatán), in Mérida, Yucatán, and also XEXQ (Radio Universidad de San Luis Potosí). Often listened to XEQM playing pop songs on 6105 kHz. Back in 1978, they even made me an "honorario" member of the station's "Club de las Panteras" (copy attached). At the other end of the musical spectrum was XEXQ, located in San Luis Potosí, on 6045 kHz, with their very enjoyable classical music format. In 1988, they sent me a nice anniversary decal (copy attached). Every month they would send me their program schedule for the month. A very friendly station. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XEXQ-AM : "XEXQ-AM is a radio station in San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí. It broadcasts on 1190 kHz and is one of two radio stations owned by the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, known as Radio Universidad 1190 AM. XEXQ is the second-oldest university radio station in Mexico, behind Radio UNAM. On July 28, 1938,[2] the UASLP's radio efforts began with the sign-on of XEXQ-AM, the second university broadcaster in Mexico. Only a year prior, XEXX-AM in Mexico City, the station of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. The original station, licensed for 1250 kHz with a power of 50 watts, began formal transmissions the next day with programming from 1 to 3 pm and 6 to 8 pm, Monday through Saturday.[3] The new AM radio station came with a shortwave counterpart, also XEXQ, on 6045 kHz, which by the 1950s was one of 16 shortwave radio stations in Mexico and is still in operation. In 2007, the station moved to 1190 kHz." Another university SW station back then was XEUDS (Radio Universidad de Sonora), broadcasting on 6115 kHz. They provided a nice QSL card (copy attached). These stations are no longer on SW, but the memories remain (Ron Howard, California, April 22, with 3 attachments, WOR iog via DXLD) ** MEXICO. RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT this week [including DTV] --- [re 18-16:] Raymie, Here are four XHTDMX-TDT RF 11 videos that were uploaded to YouTube. The last video looks like a MULTIMEDIOS network promo video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-R4uEtdzwQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NXYqIW59M0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9J26-teVhk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKJ0yC58KH8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3ZQq1BYTII (amfmtvdtvbrla, April 21, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) A couple of those are fake, but #1, #2 and #4 are definitely real. Teleritmo's live stream yesterday was displaying the strangely cycling color bars, and apparently the Teleritmo subs were down, too. (Gargadon showed me because said stream is geoblocked.) (Raymie Humbert, Phœnix AZ, April 21, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Yesterday... and today too: https://youtu.be/h_IUXSnY0GI (Gargadón, Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, ibid.) It looks like Audiorama gets going tomorrow in León, not only with La Bestia Grupera but at least one other station with a new name. XHVLO-FM will become romantic "Love FM", a brand also used at Audiorama's XHUA-FM in Chihuahua Capital, tomorrow morning, coinciding with XHML's flip from Estéreo Vida — the first format change in that station's nearly 30 years on the air. XHERZ-FM hasn't announced changes yet, but that station has seemed especially desperate to stay afloat conceptually since losing Los 40 last year. Audiorama's Súper pop brand is very likely, especially since the rather obvious transition from Estéreo Vida to the Vida brand is not being carried out. A summary of the fate of the former Radiorama Bajío cluster: XHML - Estéreo Vida -> La Bestia Grupera XHERZ - Playlist 93.1 -> ??? XHGTO - Éxtasis Digital -> Hits FM XHSD - Arroba FM -> La Lupe XHVLO - Tu Recuerdo -> Love FM XHOO - Fiesta Mexicana -> La Caliente It's evident that there is something lost here — namely, radio format diversity. Audiorama and Multimedios Radio arguably have the clearest "hierarchy" of important formats to them. Both will lead with their respective grupera formats, and their pop formats are the next common. The loss of Éxtasis Digital in particular didn't go over too well with its loyal listeners, but the English classic hits format is one that has been slowly shrinking in general despite being squarely aimed at ABC+ socioeconomic levels (Raymie, April 22, ibid.) If a wolf howls on the airwaves and you don't hear it for eight months, does it make a sound? Well, it was finally heard. In February 2017, I reported that the IFT had given the green light, after a court order originating in telecommunications court, to a new social station in Tampico. XHMRT-FM 102.5, owned by Martha Morales Reséndiz, was the first social station in the city. The format was kind of a big unknown. Morales Reséndiz as a last name pointed to a connection to XHVI-FM in San Juan del Río, Querétaro, which is also owned by a family of that name, but there were absolutely no leads. It turns out that XHMRT-FM is a religious wolf. It's been on the air since August but was finally noticed this week by Miguel (SnoopyFan93 here). It is Radio Oasis Vida, https://www.facebook.com/Oasis1025fm-1034129206723866/ broadcasting from Av. Hidalgo 5004, Col. Petrolera Chairel with a range of, you guessed it, Christian programs. In looking back at XHMRT's case, the initial IFT denial that was later reversed came in 2014 when the agency turned down 18 radio station applications, http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/conocenos/pleno/sesiones/acuerdoliga/pift180614197completo.pdf all because at 800 kHz, there wasn't enough room at the inn. They came in a handful of cities: Aguascalientes Bona Terra, A.C. (astute Mexico Beat readers will know this is the Universidad Panamericana which actually had gotten a permit awarded for 98.1 FM and had it fall through) Impulso a la Música Mexicana (which just picked up a station from the Tepic permit forest and whose sister A.C. won out on a frequency in Uruapan) Mexico City Centro Laudate Fundación Ecoforestal (the clearing of the Culiacán permit forest all but confirmed this is a wolf for Multimedios) Valores y Tradiciones de Mi Tierra (wolf for Grupo Radiofónico ZER) Querétaro Comunicación Integral para la Familia (owns XHCIF-FM Calvillo, Ags.) Fundación Ecoforestal Tampico Fundación Ecoforestal Martha Morales Reséndiz* Tijuana Apoyamos tu Superación Asociación Radiofónica Fronteriza** Radio Digital Cultural (wolf for Uniradio) Villahermosa Enlace, Cultura y Desarrollo (The legal representative is Jorge Arturo Pérez Flores. A man of this name was listed as member of a new religious association in Villahermosa known as Comunidad Cristiana Internacional Jesús el Rey de Gloria, constituted in 2010) Enrique Lodoza Gómez (who currently hosts a show on the new XEGMSR-AM 620) Fundación Ecoforestal Simón Valanci Buzali Timoteo Méndez Sánchez (Tapachula address) Vidalia Castillo Javier (who has the same mailing address as Morales Reséndiz but has Tabasco ties. This XHVT report from December says she is the ex-secretary general of the worker's union for employees of the Tabasco Social Security Institute - ISSET) http://www.xevt.com/verpagina.php?id=42238 The Asociación Radiofónica Fronteriza application at Tijuana also managed to get an amparo in 2014, requiring IFT action in 2015. http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/conocenos/pleno/sesiones/acuerdoliga/piftext08041579.pdf The proposed station would have been a Class D, with 50 watts on 103.3 MHz, a frequency that had been tried at high power in Tijuana in the early 90s (see: the original XHTIM-FM, now XHGLX-FM) with American interference problems forcing a change. The problem they ran into was a class definition issue that no longer exists. Today, under IFT-002- 2016, Class D stations in Mexico are 50 watts with a maximum reference HAAT of 45 meters. Under IFT-002-2014, the effective FM technical guidelines at the time, Class D was 20 watts with a maximum reference HAAT of 30 meters. The national guidelines were stricter than the US- Mexico FM agreement, but that was no object for the IFT, which said the ARF proposal should be treated as a Class A station. Under those grounds, and at 400 kHz (this was in 2015), there was no room for the application. Additionally, the Class A station would not have met spacing requirements to 102.9 and 103.7 in San Diego — 47 km away when 65 and 94 were called for, and 7.47 km away from 92.5 (10.8 MHz away) XHRM where the needed distance was actually 21 kilometers. This application was thus denied again (Raymie, April 22, ibid.) Also courtesy Miguel, here's a look at the XHMRT-FM tower... https://i.imgur.com/gW13ZN9.jpg (I'd embed it here, but there's no way on this forum to shrink large images.) (Raymie, April 23, ibid.) If Radiorama wasn't already confusing, its Pergom-aligned Piedras Negras cluster sure is. The local operator, still trading as Radiorama Piedras Negras, is also calling itself Intermedios, and their local news portal says their legal name is Integración Radiofónica Quantum, S.A. de C.V. If that name sounds familiar, Quantum showed up in IFT-4. It won, but never paid for, a station at Cadereyta del Montes, Querétaro. ——— Last week, the IFT-6 station on air count went from 2 to 3 as Quiero Media, S.A. de C.V., the legal name for OchoTV, began test transmissions for XHQMGU-TDT (RF 9, VC 10) in Guadalajara. https://www.facebook.com/leonardo.schwebel/photos/pb.695957660445832.-2207520000.1524489343./1948143785227207/?type=3&theater This is the first of two new stations for the Guadalajara area. Their MPM entry says they have a 50 kW ERP, which is decent for the VHF band. It also shows what appears to be a rendering of a new studio and headquarters facility for this channel, which also has national reach on cable. ——— "Just like in Tulancingo 26 years ago..." https://www.facebook.com/erick.garciaibarra/posts/10211983308558313 The first of Grupo Ultra's three IFT-4 stations has come to the air. It's class A XHPHBP-FM 91.7, which will pump out the Ultra pop format for Huauchinango, Puebla. Ultra also will build XHPCMQ-FM 92.3 Cadereyta de Montes Qro. with the same format and XHPLVI-FM 99.7 Calvillo Ags. with Radio Ranchito. All three stations were won on rebounds, when the original winning bidder did not pay up for the frequencies. Also on the air in Oaxaca this month is XHPIXT-FM 98.9, the only IFT-4 station on the frequency, which broadcasts to Asunción Nochixtlán and is known as La Grandiosa de Nochixtlán. https://www.facebook.com/La-Grandiosa-de-Nochixtl%C3%A1n-1316788148422476/ Last edited by Raymie 04-24-2018 at 01:56 AM (Raymie, April 23, ibid.) First on the Mexico Beat: Fresh Air on Mexico City's New Commercial FM It's arguably the star story of second-wave migration: the first new, essentially from-scratch, commercial FM station in the capital city in decades. XHINFO-FM 105.3, owned by the Henkel family, came out the winner of the commercial radio lottery for Mexico City's only available frequency. There's been hype about the incorporation of former Radioactivo talent, https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/empresas/La-molecula-que-creo-a-Radioactivo-volvera-a-la-CDMX-por-el-105.3-FM-20180326-0052.html leading to some wildly false headlines, but there's also been a lot held back. http://www.chilango.com/cultura/radioactivo-volvera-en-el-105-3-fm/ Well, it's time to reveal what's going on at Mexico City's newest and freshest FM — and it all happened under the radar. While searching for any news on the fate of 94.7 FM (XHPTUL-FM, class B1) Tulum Q. Roo, one of the stations coming out of IFT-4, I ran across a website with something far more tantalizing at airelibre.fm. The Aire Libre site (Aire Libre means "outdoors", but I prefer to think of it as "fresh air") is sparse on information. It's the last line that blows up the news. "Aire Libre Tulum 94.7 / CDMX 105.3" Obviously, nobody's paid attention. They have just eight Facebook likes and one lone Twitter follower, all on accounts that don't even have the logo yet. While tons of ink has been spilled about XHINFO, there's far less about XHPTUL. Más Radio Telecomunicaciones, S.A.P.I. de C.V., paid 23.8 million pesos for this Class B1 station. Más Radio is co-owned by Jose´ Luis Guillermo Ferna´ndez Prieto and Rodrigo Humberto Gonza´lez Calvillo. González Calvillo is the director general of CIE Las Américas. CIE is in the entertainment business; it operates the Centro Citibanamex, an important convention center in Mexico City, and it runs the Mexico Grand Prix of Formula 1. Fernández once headed Grupo Imagen, prior to selling it to Grupo Empresarial Ángeles, and he actually put in a bid for the 105.1 frequency in Cancún that became XHNUC-FM in 1988. Neither XHPTUL or XHINFO are on the air. José Álvarez, director of Aire Libre, said to Nicolás Lucas of El Economista in late March that the station would be on the air in two months, three at most. I also reread this part of that interview, which now makes 20 times more sense: "Saldremos al aire en dos meses; máximo en tres. Y también estaremos transmitiendo en la Riviera Maya y en nuestros canales digitales." Well, now we know how they got to the Riviera Maya. Oh, and excluding the XHNUC shadow in Tulum, this is the first ever radio station there (of three total that have been awarded —*XHPTLM-FM 93.5 also belongs to Grupo Turquesa, while social station XHICT-FM 104.7 was also recently approved). (Raymie, April 24, ibid.) One down and two to go as Tampico clears the Article 90 reserved band — and it looks to be cleared very shortly in southern Tamaulipas. Today, XHFW-FM moved to 88.5, https://www.facebook.com/hitsfm1063/ keeping all other things unchanged. There are strong signs that its sister XHTW-FM will make its move to 94.9 https://www.facebook.com/RRecuerdo1071FM/photos/a.127179117743272.1073741828.112203502574167/425000354627812/?type=3&theater in the very near future, and XHEOLA-FM has already begun promoting its move to 103.5. https://www.facebook.com/LaHuasteca1079/photos/a.588821827862563.1073741825.588818557862890/1683946771683391/?type=1&theater These stations were on 106.3, 107.1 and 107.9, respectively. Este programa es público, ajeno a cualquier partido político. Queda prohibido el uso para fines distintos a los establecidos en el programa [tagline] (Raymie, April 26, ibid.) ** MONGOLIA. 7260, Mongolian Radio 3 (presumed), on April 16, at 1032. Phone in program; same program heard again on April 17; not bad reception, as China had not propagated yet; both days not on 4830 nor 4895. 4895 // 7260, Mongolian Radio 3 (presumed), on April 19, after 1203+, with pop music; clearly //; still heard with audio on 4895, past 1307+, but by then definite QRM from Voice of Strait (China) on 4900, which started at *1300. Very rare for me to pull in any audio on 4895 (10kW). Noted 4830 was silent. Also heard today by Jim Young (Calif.) 7260, Mongolian Radio 3 (presumed), on April 20, at 1217. Pop music and announcers; clearly not in Chinese, but with China QRM. On 4895, heard OTH radar blocking frequency 1216-1318, but by 1324 no radar and no Mongolia; 4830 also silent. So 7260 is on daily, with 4895 being on erratically (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) Re: [WOR] Mongolia on 7260 kHz Getting into Europe? Have been automatically recording audio on 7260 kHz between 1200 and 1500 UT daily since 13 April using U. Twente SDR receiver. Although carrier lock is typically achieved by at least 1430, no audio was ever heard, not even faintly. Suspending automated recordings for now (-- Richard Langley, April 24, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 7344.995, Thazin Radio from Puyin U Lwin northern site, S=9+30dB in remote Perseus net unit in eastern Thailand on CBG border. 1220 UT on April 22. Karaoke like Asian pop singer performance. 5915even fq, Myanmar R, Nay Pyi Taw at S=9+35dB at 1225 UT April 22. Local Karaoke like Asian pop singer performance. 5984.996 kHz, MR probably Yangon site now on fq oddity again. {or R Nay Pyi Taw changed with Yangoon the frequency ?} At 1230 UT nothing observed on 6165v kHz from Puyin U Lwin, only CNR6th sce from Beijing #491 site heard here, // 9420 kHz CNR6 px too. Nothing observed on MMR 6030, 6165, 7200, 9460, 9490, 9730 kHz channels. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (wb df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 22) dxldyg via DXLD 9589.993, Thazin Radio from northern capital Puyin U Lwin area, pop music played of smooth kind like in SE Asia usually. S=9 strength at 0720 UT on April 23. 5914.985, Myanmar Radio via capital TX unit at Nay Pyi Taw, S=8-9 strength at 0731 UT on April 23, local soft singer program. 9729.998, Myanmar Radio from Yangoon, British empire colonial capital in southern Burma, smooth music group performed at 0738 UT on April 23. S=9+5dB, TX came on air late at 0734:30 UT, S=8-9 in near skip zone. Aoki Nagoya Japan list show 0730-1130 UT time range. Nothing noted at 5985, 6030, 7200, 7345, nor 9460 kHz at this time span. Log April 23, at 0720 to 0800 UT Checked on remote SDR unit on Thai-Cambodian border in South East Asia [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 23, dxldyg via DXLD) 5914.986, Myanmar Radio from Nay Pyi Taw, at 0520 UT rock like beats. 9589.995, Test tone of 1000 Hertz noted at 0528-0529 UT, S=9+5dB signal, Thazin Radio start then 05.30:03 UT sharp crash start flute and drums mx program, Kachin language scheduled. 9730even MMR Myanmar Radio from Yangoon, fluttery S=8-9 signal in short distance skip zone. At 0537 UT on April 24. 0511-0615 UT on remote SDR unit on Thai-Cambodian border in SE Asia [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. 2598-USB, April 23 at 0128, YL voice in English with marine weather, VP S4-S5 about equal to noise level. Canadian Coast Guard schedule shows starting at 0107 is VOK Labrador via St. Anthony, Newfoundland Island site. Nothing on 2749-USB right now, normally stronger from NS area if anything be on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. As noted this a.m. (19 April) here in NB, RNZI did not change power/azimuth at 1059 UT on 7425 kHz. Continued with fair signal right through 1100. Didn't hang around to see if they switched a little later on. Mistake or storm-related change of schedule? (-- Richard Langley, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. KG5JST Radio Reception Logs April 21-22, 2018 -- all via SDR in New Zealand http://blog.jmb.mx/index.php/2018/04/22/kg5jst-radio-reception-logs-april-21-22-2018-utc-heard-via-sdr-in-auckland-new-zealand/ In this report, a block of listening to MW stations in the North Island of New Zealand, focusing mostly on the range of content available to listeners in this locale. No DX in this report. 73, (James Branum, KG5JST, http://blog.jmb.mx/index.php/category/radio/ - http://www.broadspectrumradio.com WOR iog via DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. FRANCE, Radio Dandal Kura International via TDF Issoudun, April 18 0500-0600 on 7220 ISS 100 kW / 167 deg to CeAf Kanuri, fair 0600-0700 on 11910 ISS 100 kW / 167 deg to CeAf Kanuri, good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/radio-dandal-kura-int-via-tdf-issoudun.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. SECRETLAND, Radio Nigeria Hausa Service via SPL Secretbrod, April 19: 1800-1900 15110 SCB 100 kW / 195 deg WeAf Hausa, poor/weak signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/reception-of-radio-nigeria-hausa-sce.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 19-20, WOR iog via DXLD) ** NORFOLK ISLAND [and non]. Norfolk Island in the 1566 Maze? In the Cook Islands there never was a problem with transoceanic DX being too weak -- the problem was that it was too strong, and from too many areas at the same time. In this 1566 kHz MP3 recorded at 1641 UT on April 12th the Oz mega-pest 3NE is apparently in a fade, but that only seems to bring in a couple of other DU English stations in an S9 mix (along with a third station, apparently in Chinese). Does anyone know what Norfolk Island's current format is, and does anyone know if the new 3 kW (Chinese?) station is now broadcasting in Wellington? This MP3 apparently features two government-type programs (RNZ and/or ABC) mixing together, with the third station in apparent Chinese in the background (don't know if this would be HLAZ, or the new Wellington?). Can anybody sort out this zoo? https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/hysvrh4f7i8u16f3740ch5azam0iervx (Gary DeBock (DXing in Aitutaki, Cook Islands), April 20, IRCA via DXLD) Gary: As Tony Ward from Toronto mentioned last week, Norfolk runs RNZ National overnight (supposedly till 1930 UT so way after your reception period). And no, World TV has never activated 1566 in Wellington which they picked up at auction a couple of years back. The planned power has always been listed at a strange 15.3/15.8 kW depending on the source of the information. I checked with the Kiwi SDR near Nelson at ~1520 UT and what appeared to be 3NE was dominant, with talk about the Commonwealth and NZ; not sure why, but it wasn't // with RNZ Nat/567. Someone else was really weak and scratchy underneath; I didn't attempt to figure whether it could be Norfolk or ABC Gympie in Queensland (Theo Donnelly, BC, ibid.) Thanks for the detailed info on 1566-Norfolk Island, Theo. No wonder the station is a real challenge for anyone to track down at long range. With both Norfolk Island and the Indian big gun on the frequency 1566 got a lot of attention during my Cook Island trip, but most of it was wasted on 3NE. Two other DU English co-channels would occasionally give 3NE some competition (as in the MP3, but impossible to sort out), along with HLAZ's Chinese and another foreign language station that didn't seem Chinese (possibly Nagpur). Hindsight is 20/20 -- if I had known that Norfolk Island was running RNZ it would have been easy to check a parallel during the MP3 recording to nail it down (Gary DeBock, WA, ibid.) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6100, PIRATE (NA), "The Relay Station". Tnx John Herkimer tip, noted at 2205 with end of announcement of website welcomeradio.com, Dance music with DJ "Annie" giving program credits, name and "The General Store", Blues music, ID by little girl for WXNZ, Skowhegan, ME, cont[inued?]. Blues song, then "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell. Very good signal. Here's a link to a Youtube video of the reception: https://youtu.be/JTRfsX5LugM 18 April, Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop antenna. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) Dave, An actual low-powered FM station from Maine? Interesting reception for sure. WXNZ, Skowhegan. 73, (Rich D`Angelo, Wyomiissing PA, ibid.) As relayed on SW. I believe that`s the one Timtron of WBCQ is involved with at his home QTH (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. UnID, Saturday, April 14, 2018, 1557, 6925 AM. UnID music, followed by several selections from The Beatles' Rubber Soul album, Drive My Car, Norwegian Wood, You Won't See Me, Nowhere Man. Off at 1613. Fair signal. (Will-MD) RCCI, Radio Comedy Club International. Saturday, April 14, 2018, 1713, 6925 AM. Humorous speech by Ronald Reagan, a parody song, song with clucking chickens at 1719. Fair signal. (Will-MD) UnID. Saturday, April 14, 2018, 2141, 6905 AM. Hard rock music. Doors' Break On Through at 2142. More Doors, Light My Fire, at 2145. Fair to good signal. (Will-MD) Wolverine Radio. Sunday, April 15, 2018, 0030, 6950 USB. Wolverine Radio with Motown music. Excellent signal, S15. (Will-MD) Yeah Man Radio. Sunday, April 15, 2018, 2218, 6925.2 AM. "Taxman" by The Beatles and "I Got the News" by Steely Dan. Good signal with excellent audio, noisy conditions. Possibly another station on the sideband (Larry Will, Mount Airy, Maryland, IC-R75, PL-880, various wires, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6905 kHz, Seven Tree Radio (United States of America [heard] in Brazil) Musics, SINPO 24121, in 0108 UT, Day UT 18 April 2018; Here in Brazil 17 April 2018 https://youtu.be/anKX7ORsrqg RX: Yaesu FRG 8800, Antena: Beverage simples (DXer: Daniel Wyllyans - Sítio Estrela do Araguaia - Nova Xavantina - Mato Grosso - Brasil, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6905-AM, April 21 at 2315, S7-S8 of pirate music. No one else logged it at hf underground or free radio net. 6905 has been an active pirate frequency lately, including two stations by me (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6960-AM, April 23 at 0056, JBA music S6 vs S5 noise level, and some stronger ute bursts. Slightly better at 0122 with ECSS, music, some SSB ACI. These say it`s Dr. Detroit: https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,41983.0.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6905-AM, April 23 at 0057 blues music at S7-S9, with barking, YL talking with dance music, synthetic voice rappy in English nonsense. No ID circa hourtop. Off by 0122 check. These say it`s Clever Name Radio: https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,41982.0.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 530, April 18 circa 1830 UT and 2025 UT chex, ``K-530- AM``, Vance AFB, is still on but dead air instead of mostly irrelevant PSA loops; still same at 1552 UT check April 19. 530, April 20 at 1416 UT, still dead air from ``K530AM``, Vance AFB. Happen to retune at 2138 UT when the background-noisy canned ID is firing, back to dead air instead of irrelevant PSA loopings. 530, April 21 at 1334 UT, `K530AM` Vance AFB is still dead air; ID will presumably fire on timer at unpredictable intervals. 530, April 22 at 1915 UT check, ``K530AM``, Vance AFB remains open carrier as for last several days; how long till anyone-in-charge notice? 530, April 24 at 2135 UT check, `K530AM` Vance AFB is still open carrier/dead air (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [non]. Today's broadcast of Broad Spectrum Radio --- The program scheduled for 0700 UT on [Monday] April 23rd only aired for about 8 minutes before cutting to filler. I'm not sure what happened at the station end, but oh well. Anyway --- I will be replaying the BSR Radiogram (which was going to be the second half hour for this week's show) next week, but for anyone who wants to try decoding it early, I do have it posted online at: https://archive.org/download/bsr-radiogram-6/bsr-radiogram-6.mp3 It is in MFSK32 format centered on 1500 Hz. The pictures are all scans of US postage stamps, all on the topic of Oklahoma. 73, (James Branum, KG5JST http://blog.jmb.mx - http://broadspectrumradio.com April 23, WOR iog via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN [and non]. THE LONELY LITTLE AMERICAN RADIO STATION IN PAKISTAN: AFRTS PESHAWAR [Jeff White:] In January of this year, we had the opportunity to see a movie in Malaysia right after the HFCC shortwave frequency conference there about the lawyer who negotiated the release of American pilot Francis Gary Powers who was shot down over the Soviet Union 58 years ago. It was back on Sunday May 1, 1960, that Captain F. Gary Powers was shot down while flying a high altitude cold war spy mission over the Soviet Union, continental Russia. While high over the city of Sverdlovsk, his plane was hit by the first of three Dvina S75 surface to air missiles that were fired from a launching pad near Kosulino on the edge of the Ural mountains. What does all this have to do with an American radio station in Pakistan? Here’s Ray Robinson with the answer. The plane began to spiral downwards, upside down with the nose pointing upwards, and Gary Powers was flung out into space as soon as he opened the canopy. He floated down to Earth by parachute, hitting the ground rather hard, and he was immediately arrested. Thus he was catapulted into the world’s news headlines, in what became known as the U2 Incident. The Gary Powers story began with a take-off at the American operated Peshawar Air Station at Badaber in a remote country area of Pakistan, some four miles south of the frontier city of Peshawar. The aircraft was a Lockheed U2 plane, Model A, which had a capability of flying at 70,000 feet (13¼ miles high), way above interception by normal aggressive counter-measures. This plane was more like a jet propelled glider than a regular airplane, and the Powers overflight of Russia under Operation Grand Slam, was the United States’ 24th deep- penetration overflight of Russian territory. The Peshawar Air Station (or PAS) at Badaber was established by the United States under the designation Project Sandbag in 1958 with the cooperation of the Pakistani president Ayub Khan. The major purpose for this American facility during the Cold War was to provide electronic surveillance of the Soviet Union, and its total staff while operational was around 1300 personnel. This American airbase incorporated many western amenities for the benefit of their personnel, including a school for the children, swimming pool, bowling alley, a golf course and a shop that sold regular American products. There was also a radio broadcasting station, and a TV station as well, on the base. The radio station was a unit of AFRTS, the American Forces Radio & TV Service, and it was inaugurated quite early in the development of the air base. Originally, this radio station was operating with 10 watts on 850 kHz; though soon afterwards when newer equipment was installed, the operating channel was moved upwards to 870 kHz, with 25 watts. Programming for AFRTS PAS Peshawar was provided by local talent, recordings from AFRTS in the United States, and at times by off air relays on shortwave. At the time when an international radio monitor who was living in Pakistan, visited this small AFRTS radio broadcasting station in 1968, it was no longer operating on mediumwave but on FM only at 107 MHz. However, the WRTVHB does not show any FM listing for this station, only the two consecutive mediumwave channels. At the time of the visit, the station engineer stated that the base was due to close some time soon, and that the radio station would be closed also. However, in spite of the pending closure, plans were in hand for the installation of additional upgraded equipment. Right towards the end, with closure of the base looming on the horizon as personnel were transferring elsewhere, the TV station was closed, though the radio station continued on air, albeit at a lower programming level. The American air base, Peshawar Air Station, was taken into service on July 17, 1959, and it was officially closed a little more than a decade later on January 7, 1970. The entire facility was handed over to the Pakistani air force, though the new owners never used it for flight activities, but only as a Vocational Training Center. Only one QSL was ever issued to verify the reception of AFRTS PAS Peshawar, and that was a generic card from AFRTS headquarters in the United States (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan April 8 via DXLD) When I was with AFRTS, I recall crossing paths with someone who was or would be stationed at Peshawar, considered a rather undesirable hardship post (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3260: See BOUGAINVILLE [and non] ** PERU. 4747.24, Perú, Radio Huanta 2000, Huanta, Ayacucho, 2320 to 2330 strong carrier with some weak Spanish audio under CODAR, 21 April. Not noted same time on 20 April (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Drake R8 and noise reducing antenna, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** PERU. 5980, April 21 at 2358, JJBA carrier from R. Chaski, cuts off circa 2359:45* so no more slippage. We`ll have less and less reception of this with earlying sunsets (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5980. R. CHASKI. Abril 24. 2250-2304 UTC. Programa: “Visión para vivir”, luego espacio musical. SINPO: 45343 (Claudio Galaz, RX: Tecsun PL 660; ANT: Dipolo; QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** PERU. =============== LOGS FROM THE INCAN EMPIRE ================== I’m spending two days on the outskirts of San Ramón, on the edge of the jungle in central Perú at a location good for DXing. Made some SDR recordings of some utility bands this morning [4/18]. The 6200-6500 kHz range was full of radio-telephone traffic. Radio Tarma, 4775 kHz shortwave, uses a 500 watt tube transmitter that was built in 1958 by the station's founder, father of current owner / manager Mario Monteverde. However, by the end of May they hope to replace that with a modern solid-state 2000 watt shortwave transmitter. The new transmitter is currently in Lima, where it is being checked by the Ministry of Communications (Don Moore, visiting Tarma Peru, MARE Tipsheet 20 April via DXLD) PERÚ - I'm spending two days on the outskirts of San Ramón, on the edge of the jungle in central Perú at a location good for DXing. Made some SDR recordings of some utility bands this morning. The 6200-6500 kHz range was full of radio-telephone traffic. Here are a few logs: 6203, Unid Net, 1334-1338, Intermittent USB Spanish traffic apparently about shipping traffic, giving dimensions and weights about a shipment going to Tarapoto. Main station was "Central". Strong. 6228, Unid Net, 1330-1334, USB Traffic between multiple stations including "Flota Mariano." (Flota - or fleet - is often used in the names of bus and trucking companies, so not necessarily maritime.) At one point discussing what time a shipment would arrive in the city of Piura. Strong. 6269.5, Unid Net, 1340-1342, USB traffic between "Ayacucho" (Peruvian mountain city) and another station. Lots of mentions of something going through the town of Huanta. 6277, Unid Net, 1330-1350, Intermittent USB Spanish traffic. Main station "Pucallpa" (Peruvian jungle town) with exchanges to different sub-stations, including "Talleria" and "Penu" (or similar names). At one point discussing a flight to a community in a nature reserve. Strong. 6345, Unid Net, 1330-1350, Intermittent LSB Spanish traffic. At least three different stations but only identifiers heard were "Base Uno", "Base Tres", and "Base Cuatro". "Uno" was a woman, others men. At one point talking about bringing in Sprite and Fanta to one of the bases. Unfortunately no mentions of place names to narrow down where these were but strong here so probably in nearby Peruvian selva. Don Moore --- donmooredxer@yahoo.com http://www.donmooredxer.com (18 April 2018 - Don Moore, San Ramón, Perú, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9794.978, Very odd frequency of FEBC Manila Iba site, Mon language service from 2300 UT, noted at S=9+30dB signal level on remote SDR unit in Eastern Thailand on Cambodian border area. Pre- scheduled still with FEBA interval signal before, at 2256 UT on April 19 [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, DF5SX, WWDXC BC-DX TopNews April 22 via BC-DX April 22 via DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. 810 WKVM San Juan was silent, now Spanish religion, adds slogan: “Radio Paz 810 AM”. 1160 WBQN Barceloneta-Manatí was silent, now Spanish CHR (Top 40 Rock -ed) [CHR means contemporary hit radio --- gh] 1430 WNEL Caguas was silent, now NotiUno-pgm 1460 WRRE Juncos was silent, now Spanish religion. (All PR-info from IRCA’s DX Monitor 55/29, via ARC mv-eko 23 April via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) Of the 70 stations listed in the 2018 WRTH, 49 stations now seem to be back on the air (after Hurricane María) according to various sources. -tl (Tore Larsson, ed., ibid.) ** QATAR. Qatar Media Corporation is building a new website at http://www.qmc.qa/ It is still very much under construction both in its Arabic and English versions. At the bottom of the „home“ page you find links to two TV and six radio stations. But you need to know that you have to click for yet another page with the web stream using the icon to the left at the bottom. TV http://www.qtv.qa/ http://www.alkass.net/alkass/default.aspx online service at http://www.alkass.net/alkass/live.aspx?ch=online Radio http://www.qatarradio.qa/ (stream working) http://www.soutalkhaleej.fm/portal?sawt=1 (stream working) http://www.qbsradio.qa/ („under construction“, but stream working) http://www.oryxradio.qa/ ("en construction", but stream working) http://www.urduradio.qa/ („under construction“, but stream working) http://www.quranradio.qa/Live (stream working) Qatar Media Corporation (QMC) is the official broadcasting authority for the State of Qatar. As a corporation, QMC was established in 2009 to oversee media services in numerous TV and Radio channels that include: Qatar TV Channel, Alkass Sports Channels, Qatar Radio, Quraan Kareem Radio, QBS Radio, Oryx FM Radio, Urdu Radio, and Sout Al Khaleej Radio. Equipped with the slogan "keeping up with what's new and to our values we commit" and a media orientation that serves the ends of Qatar National Vision 2030, QMC vigorously pursues the latest developments in media updates & technologies in the third millennium with media content that accommodates development and preserves the culture and identity of the state and its community. http://www.qmc.qa/en/p/about (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, 23 April 2018, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thank you. Maybe they want to update it for the world cup of the intelligent ball game :-) 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) ** RUSSIA. 7295 // 7345, Radio Sakha, via Yakutsk, 0950, April 15. Commercial announcements ("on-line" service, etc.) and music; ToH time pips (still with no IS); fair, with both frequencies doing well. My audio clip at http://goo.gl/CB3wXe (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. The history of DX and radio ================= AS THE LENINGRAD REGION ON THE NORTHERN AMERICA WROUGHT ------------------------------------------------------- In July 2001, a representative of the profile committee of the Government of the Leningrad Region addressed us with another request. In this case, the request was somewhat unusual - about the possibility of organizing one-time broadcasts in the short-wave range to the countries of North America during the forthcoming visit of the delegation of representatives of the authorities of our region. From the organizational side, there were no special obstacles in the preparation of such a broadcast, since from St. Petersburg for a few years short-wave broadcasting of the Radiodar Gardarika radio station, supervised by the Government of the Leningrad Region, was carried out, although it was conducted mainly in the countries of central and western Europe. Of course, due to the long-range propagation of the HF signal in the 41 or 49 meter bands, it was sometimes accepted even in Japan or New Zealand, but there was practically no experience in the direction of the North American continent. Due to the geographical location of the powerful broadcasting facility in the village of Krasny Bor, Tosnensky District (Radio Center No. 11), the SW range hardware was originally designed to provide radio broadcasting to the countries of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the territory of the USSR, and in part the countries of Latin America (since the azimuth of the "SGD" antennas for the countries of northwestern Europe "coincided" with the direction to South America). For the same "geographical" reason, broadcasting from Red Bora to North America was almost never carried out, because the track in this case passes far beyond the Arctic Circle with frequent violations of the passage of radio waves. Therefore, before the start of the one- time broadcasting sessions, it was decided to conduct several tests in order to select the optimal frequencies and check the quality of the transmission. In this we were assisted by our volunteer radio amateurs [sic] from the United States and Canada, the RMS remote monitoring service employees (who put the radio frequencies of Radio Studio Nevskaya Volna on automatic radio monitoring in Washington, Dallas, Ottawa and even New Delhi for a change), specialists of the radio-frequency department in Moscow, who were preparing seasonal timetables for Russian broadcasting at the time, and which we, in turn, often helped with the adjustment of the frequency schedules of the radio station Golos Rossii. Our final test schedule was as follows: July 30, 1400-1500 UT 15605 kHz July 31, 0200-0300 UT 7400 kHz, 1400-1500 17690 kHz August 1, 0200-0300 UT 9940 kHz, 1400-1500 17690 kHz 2 and 3 August, 0200-0300 UT 9940 kHz. For the broadcast, 200 kW "Sneg-MU" and "Middle Eastern" antennas "SGD 4/4 RAD" and "SGD 4/2 RAD" with a reverse reversal of 327 degrees and an additional rotation of the directional pattern in the horizontal plane minus 15 degrees were used. In conclusion, we offer - several recorded short sound files of the RMS system about the reception of "Radio Studio - Nevskaya Volna" in Canada, the USA and India ... https://vk.com/club59176345 (Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. RUSSIA CONSIDERS DEPLOYING DAB+ AsiaRadioToday 22 April, 2018 The Minister of Communications and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Nikiforov, held a meeting on 17 April in Moscow with the State Commission for Radio Frequencies (GKRC) during which the possibility of deploying DAB+ was discussed, where appropriate and dependent on availability of spectrum. Relevant regulation and licensing measures would also be required. The Commission presented a report of the Radio Research Institute on the possibility of working with DAB + networks in Russia and their compatibility with existing networks in the radio frequency band 175.872-228.128 MHz. GKRC has decided that DAB + technology can be used under certain conditions and with the availability of a free radio frequency resource within the current order and established procedures. To deploy communication networks with DAB + technology, it is necessary to certify the equipment and adjust the regulatory documents that define the licensing of digital broadcasting of the new standard. http://www.asiaradiotoday.com/news/russia-considers-deploying-dab (via Mike Terry, April 22, WOR iog via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Mass media ========== The State Commission for Radio Frequencies (GKRC) at its meeting scheduled for April 16, 2018, plans to consider the introduction of digital broadcasting in Russia standard DAB +. -------------------------------------------------- --------- This follows from the agenda of the meeting of the commission, which is available to CNews. As expected, GKRCH will allocate frequencies to the uncertain circle of frequencies in the range of 174-230 MHz for the construction of DAB + networks. The initiator of the consideration of the issue is the state enterprise "Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network" (RTRS), engaged in broadcasting television and radio broadcasting. The commission will consider the report of the state enterprise "Research Institute of Radio" (FSUE NIIR) on the possibility of working in Russia DAB + networks and the conditions for their electromagnetic compatibility with existing networks. The research conducted by NIIR showed the possibility of DAB + working in parallel with other radio-electronic means using this range, including analog and digital television, military equipment, Roscosmos transmitters, etc. The press service of the RTRS confirmed to CNews that the organization will report on the results of the DAB + tests conducted on its network at the SCRF meeting. The tests confirmed the possibility of using this standard. Talks about the digitalization of broadcasting have gone to Russia since the late 1990s simultaneously with talk about the digitalization of television broadcasting. Initially for digital radio it was planned to use the ultra short-range standard DAB, the predecessor of the DAB + standard. But no work in this area was carried out. In 2008, work began on digitalization of television in the DVB-T standard. At the same time, it was decided that another standard would be used for digital radio - DRM, intended for short-wave broadcasting. But in the field of DRM, no significant work was done either. In 2015, authorities began to think about the DAB + standard. In Moscow, a study was conducted of the possibilities of its operation, following which the GCRC was to decide on the possibility of allocating frequencies for this standard. However, the decision was postponed for further testing. However, there is still no consensus in the corridors of power whether it is worthwhile to launch digital radio in Russia. As Deputy Minister of Communications Alexei Volin told CNews, he is against digitization of broadcasting: the transition to the figure will lead to an increase in the number of broadcasters and will kill the broadcasting market, as there will not be enough advertising budgets for everyone. The DAB standard was approved in Europe in 1995-1997. It can operate in the range from 30 MHz to 3 GHz and provide input speed from 8 Kbps to 384 Kbps. DAB uses MPEG Audio Layer 2 encoding technology. Due to this, the standard provides a broadcast quality similar to CDs, although they require a much higher speed - 1.4 Mbps. DAB + is an improved version of the DAB standard. This technology can work in the ranges from 47 MHz to 3 GHz. The speed of the input stream is from 8 Kbps to 172 Kbps with the support of 16 kHz, 24 kHz, 32 kHz and 48 kHz sampling frequencies. The standard uses a more modern, than in DAB, audio compression technology - MPEG-4 He-AAC v2. This allows you to broadcast more radio stations on the same frequency. So, according to the report of the Air Force Academy attached to the materials of the SCRF. NOT. Zhukovsky and Yu. A. Gagarin [??], DAB needs a speed of 192-256 Kbps for high-quality broadcasting, 128 Kbps for normal broadcasting. DAB + for high-quality broadcasting needs 64 kbit/s, for normal - 48 kbit/s. Accordingly, if the DAB standard allows 12 radio channels to be accommodated in one multiplex, then DAB + is 18. At the same time, the authors of the report from NIIR consider it a delusion that high-quality DAB + broadcasting can be provided at a speed of 64 Kbps, thereby increasing the total number of channels. The NIIR report says that in Switzerland, DAB + is broadcast at 64-84 Kbps. This leads to characteristic for digital compression distortion of sound, which is especially noticeable in music programs, which become rather monotonous. As a result, the goal stated for the digital radio - to ensure broadcasting with a quality comparable to CDs - can not be achieved, the NIIR states. Moreover, most paid and free music services on the Internet operate at speeds from 192 Kbps to 360 Kbps. Accordingly, for high-quality DAB + broadcasting, a speed of 128 Kbps is required, while at 64 kbps, the digital radio becomes uncompetitive next to them. A feature of the DAB / DAB + standards is the possibility of transmitting a dynamic range control signal (DRC), which can be used in the receiver to compress the dynamic range of the reproduced sound signal under noise conditions. Also, this technology will be useful for people with hearing loss. DAB + transmits a multiplexed data stream, in which several programs are simultaneously transmitted. The multiplex contains: sound program data; Auxiliary data, including data associated with the program (PAD channel); Multiplex configuration information (MCI) and service channel (SI). As a result, the user of the digital radio besides the direct sound signal receives additional receiver functions (dynamic range control), a text display of the selected information in the SI channel (information about the selected program), additional options for selecting other programs and one or more general data services for example, the Traffic Announcement Channel (TMC)). The DAB + standard can support conditional access technologies, which allow the transmission of sound only to a certain circle of subscribers (for example, who paid for the subscription). There is also the possibility to organize an additional data transmission channel at the expense of channels that are not used for sound transmission at a speed of up to 16 Kbps. The receivers also have a radio interface for exchanging data with a PC. Data transmission can also be provided in the PAD channel with rates from 0.66 Kbps to 64 Kbps. This is done by reducing the bandwidth of the audio channel. In the channel, you can transfer dynamic indication of the program label and service identification, and the decoding of the basic hypertext markup language (HTML) and JPEG images is supported. Together with the program, the service markup (SI) is also transferred: the name of the program; time and date; cross reference to the same or similar program transmitted in another group of programs or simultaneously by the service of analog AM or FM broadcasting; Extended service label for services associated with the program; information about the program; the transmitter identification and the traffic message channel (TMC, can use the speech synthesizer at the receiver). It is also possible to automatically switch to alternative channels of the selected program (for example, in the FM band). In order for the receiver to be able to access each or all of the individual radio programs with a minimum delay, a fast access information channel (FIC) is used to transfer information about the current and subsequent contents of the multiplex. This information is information about the configuration of the multiplex (MCI). In Europe, there is an active introduction of DAB + technology. Norway last year began a phased withdrawal from analogue broadcasting in favor of digital. Switzerland intends to implement a similar transition in 2020. DAB + is also being introduced in Austria, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Belgium and Latvia. Outside Europe, this standard is used in Thailand. At the same time, the authors of the report from NIIR warn of the danger of a sharp transition from analogue to digital broadcasting: most of the vehicles are not yet equipped with DAB + receivers, and hence the refusal of analogue broadcasting will have a bad effect on the traffic situation due to the inability to receive emergency and emergency signals services. To provide an assortment of compatible radio receivers, the European Telecommunications Systems Institute has developed the Euro DAB standard, according to which the subscriber equipment must support three technologies at once: FM, DAB and DAB +. Also, the British non-profit organization Radioplayer introduced the HMI interface, which allows the receiver to automatically switch between FM / DAB / DAB + depending on the quality of the broadcast. And in 2016, South Korean LG introduced the world's first smartphone with support for DAB + - LG Stylus 2. An alternative to DAB + is the Russian standard of digital radio "Ravis". In 2015, SCRG commissioned the testing of this standard. The developer "Ravis" Alexander Dvorkovich told CNews that the tests in late 2017 began in Kazan, and soon they will be held in Izhevsk. "My opinion is that Russia should introduce a domestic standard," Dvorkovich said. "The Ravis technology has a number of technical advantages over DAB +: it provides better noise reduction, surround sound and even video." As receivers in "Ravis" you can use microcomputers with additional USB-modules or set-top boxes. http://cnews.ru http://www.cnews.ru/news/top/2018-04-15_vlasti_zapuskayut_v_rossii_tsifrovoe_radio (via Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) see also INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** RUSSIA. Radio station "Radonezh" ---------------------------------- Our reader made comments on the radio station's timetable for broadcasting from Vladivostok. Thank you for noticing our reader Mauno Ritola, Finland. - Answer: For my part, I noticed discrepancies in the broadcasting schedule of the station on the site of the station - http://radonezh.ru/radio/cities and the group in the "Contact" Radio "Radonezh" (official page) Media "World Russian Orthodox Radio Radonezh" - https://vk.com/radio.radonezh which leads to a disagreement in schedules, in particular, broadcasting from Vladivostok. I reported this to the VKontakte group. We are waiting for the results. Maybe someone will respond to this topic in the group. Unfortunately the answer was not received and no corrections were made to VKontakte. Apparently, there are no people here who deal with the technical issues of broadcasting on air. According to the publications on the Internet, the station in Vladivostok does not work at the moment (Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) See also MUSEA ** RWANDA [non]. As heard on NPR Morning Edition via KOSU, 1351 UT April 19: Science [sic] --- RWANDAN RECONCILIATION THROUGH RADIO SOAP OPERA --- Shankar Vedantam In the ruins of the recently-ended Rwandan civil war, a team of radio performers attempted to unite Hutus and Tutsis through a soap opera. The idea behind "Musekeweya," or "New Dawn," is to do the opposite of what the government's notorious "hate radio" did 20 years earlier. Stephanie Aglietti/AFP/Getty Images [caption; link to 6:57 audio]: https://www.npr.org/2018/04/19/603844651/rwandan-reconciliation-through-radio-soap-opera (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 15435, April 21 at 1718, wobbly carrier on weak signal, presumed BSKSA as only scheduled 15-18, 500 kW, 320 degrees USward from Riyadh; sounds like interview in Arabic. Only alternative explanation would be CCI from another station slightly off-frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Saudi Inter in Urdu on wrong 13785 kHz, April 24 1200-1300 on 13775 RIY 500 kW / 070 deg to SoAs Urdu as scheduled A18 from 1300 on 13785*RIY 500 kW / 070 deg to SoAs Urdu instead of 13775 * co-ch same 13785 SIR 500 kW / 216 deg to N/ME Arabic VIRI PARS TODAY http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/radio-saudi-inter-in-urdu-on-wrong.html ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. IRAN/SAUDI ARABIA siren jamming check at 1000 UT April 25 in remote unit in Doha Qatar Middle East IRIB Arabic service program is on air as scheduled on 13610.005 probably via Zahedan bcast site. S=9+30 to +35dB, 10.8 kHz wideband + Saudi? Sirene jamming on both 13609.886 main string, and 13609.765 kHz lower signal string. Another Saudi? Sirene signal at same time on 13779.970 kHz S=9+30dB at 1008 UT, 20 kHz wideband. But heard a break of IRIB Arabic, was on air again at 1040 UT on 13780.011 kHz, S=9+35dB. 13740.011 kHz Another IRIB service in 22 mb is Dari/Persian sce, weaker S=9+10dB at 1010 UT, 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, screenshots attached, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also IRAN [and non] Jamming on 13780 kHz continues even after Iran s/off: but there is also ARS Qur`an transmission, which continues at 1140. Looks like it has moved from 11935 kHz. Iran started 5 kHz higher on 13785 kHz right after 1130, but jamming remains on 13780 kHz. Open carrier on about 13785.5 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) At 1130 Radio Riyadh Holy Quran in Arabic is on 13780, instead of 11935 // 17615. Videos later today (Ivo Ivanov, ibid.) from 1200 on 13780 is Radio Saudi Int in Urdu, instead of 13785, April 24 and ex 13775 A-18 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/unid-probably-viri-irib-on-unscheduled.html (Ivo Ivanov, ibid.) ** SIKKIM. 4835, AIR Gangtok (presumed), 1232, April 19. Had a definite carrier and we know Ozy Radio is off the air for a while here, so now is a good chance to check this out. 4835, AIR Gangtok (presumed), 1213, April 20. Had a definite, decent strength carrier, but by 1318 off the air (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, SIBC, on April 20, noted with extended broadcast; at 1224, with decent level carrier, but no audio (has been a long time since I last was able to make out any audio here); due to their being on the air longer than usual, was in fact able to faintly hear some music and announcers by 1256; went off the air sometime around 1319. In past years their audio level was fine (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** SOMALIA [non]. Reception of Radio ERGO via BaBcoCk Al-Dhabayya, April 18 1200-1300 on 17845 DHA 250 kW / 225 deg to EaAf Somali, fair signal: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/reception-of-radio-ergo-via-babcock-al.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) WRTH 2018 says HQ in DENMARK; previously called IRIN. Some other Somali-language clands are axually for Ethiopia (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. [Re 18-16] Members, I have been noticing that a few of the South African commercial stations on MW have been reported by Bill Bingham as being silent. So far I am only aware of 1485 kHz Radio Today and 1422 kHz Hellenic Radio falling victim apparently to a "you pay the bill and you go back on air" message from Sentech. This seems like a pretty drastic measure to invoke but I cannot imagine that with such a small reach within Jo'burg their income will be large. Perhaps the resources within the city's Muslim community will have fared better at keeping 1548 kHz Radio Islam and 1584 kHz Radio 1584 afloat. Obviously this is one to watch. I will not be moving these entries to my Inactive or Closed spreadsheet imminently. I look forward to any other updates. 73 and 88 (Dan Goldfarb, April 18, mwmasts iog via DXLD) Both 1485 (Radio Today) and 1422 (Hellenic Radio) are back on air in Jo'burg. Both were already back when I checked last night (April 20) at 1849. Both still on air as of April 21 at 0445 (Bill Bingham, Jo'burg, RSA. Drake R8E, Sony ICF 2001D. WOR iog via DXLD) Members, Again Bill Bingham has alerted members of Glenn Hauser's WOR Groups.io website about a change in the situation of MW in South Africa. Both 1422 and 1485 kHz have now returned to broadcasting. No doubt they have paid the required amount to Sentech. Good news. 73 and 88 (Dan Goldfarb, UK, April 21, mwmasts iog via DXLD) Jo'burg - suspended stations back, article. https://techcentral.co.za/suspended-radio-stations-back-on-the-air/80842/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+co%2FUqJF+%28TechCentral%29 (Bill Bingham, Jo'burg, RSA. April 24, WOR iog via DXLD) Viz.: State-owned signal distributor Sentech has lifted its suspension of 15 radio stations with outstanding signal distribution fees following a meeting with communications minister Nomvula Mokonyane and industry stakeholders. The meeting, which took place on Friday, saw the minister meet with Sentech and the National Community Radio Forum, the Media Development and Diversity Agency and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to resolve the impasse. “We have managed to broker an agreement between the parties that will be aided by our support to the community radio stations through the MDDA. Sentech has agreed to reconnect all suspended stations and will not effect any further suspensions in the short term while we seek to find sustainable solutions to the financial viability of the community media sector,” said Mokonyane. Fifteen community radio stations were last week suspended from broadcasting and a further 17 would have been affected in an attempt by Sentech to recover R33m that it is owed by the stations. “We have also committed to further engage the community radio sector through a process aimed at strengthening governance, financial management, revenue generation and skills development within the sector. The above will create an environment wherein community radio stations are geared to attract investment and advertising expenditure from both the public and private sector,” said Mokonyane. The minister also committed to hosting a community radio sector summit in May, which will provide a platform to further explore the variety of challenges and opportunities that exist within the sector. “The community radio sector is a critical communication platform to ensure we provide our people with access to information in their communities as a means towards the creation of an informed citizenry. It is for this reason that we cannot allow the sector to collapse,” said Mokonyane. — SANews (via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. SECRETLAND, Brother HySTAIRical via SPL Secretbrod on April 18 1500-1655 on 11600 SCB 100 kW / 306 deg to WeEu English, very good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/reception-of-brother-hystairical-via_19.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 9329.70, WBCQ Monticello ME (presumed); 2046- 2102+, 4/18; Bro. HyStairical, the Last Days Prophet of the Overfondlers on a tear, blowing a gasket; said he doesn’t want to preach anymore because of all the words being said against him. He implied that abortions are not a bad thing, since the babies would not be born into this evil world. (No matter; Harold Camping told a caller that newborns could not be saved, since they couldn’t comprehend the Son of God thing. Great religion.) 2053 abrupt segué into news about Syria; “Keep your eyes on Jerusalem because that was the original land of the Garden of Eden.” 2057 B.S. was interrupted by the B.S. chorus. No ToH ID (I wouldn’t either). 2102 B.S. continued after Alexander Scourby Bible reading. S20 peaks but with muted audio distortion & drone QRM; echo during the Bible reading. (Frodge-MI) 7490.05, WBCQ, Monticello ME (presumed); 2223-2230+, 4/19; Bro. HyStairical, the Last Days Prophet of the Overfondlers ragging on Bush for fighting terrorism; B.S. was rudely interrupted by his horns at 2228+ & segued into comment about a bus accident on I-24 in Tennessee, saying it might have been a terrorist attack. No BoH ID (I wouldn’t either). S10 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' & 60' RW + 125' bow-tie, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5850, WRMI, FL, Okeechobee with Brother Spare the Overfondler talking about how HE is the prophet even though many have been doubting him and how he NEVER was off the air even while he was in the pokey. Mention that he's on many SW stations & several AM & FM again, including mention of WWVA (1170 had a preacher, but not him at this time). He also made mention of Harold Camping and his end of the world predictions (he forgot there were three and said he did this TWICE!) as well as continuing to berate those who claim to not be able to listen to him. (Hey, he's right about that!) Discussion of the attacks on Syria in April and a rambling 'train of thought' diatribe of everything from Planet X destroying earth, his claim that Time began 6000 years ago. 4+4+54+4+, 0400-0445 15/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet 20 April via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 9395, Sat Apr 21 at 1251, WRMI with Brother Scare instead of scheduled Oldies. 1300 break for ID, and more TOM with Scourby pontifications. BS had not been starting until 1500 on 9395, but see below. Same as but not synchro with WBCQ, April 21 at 1251, which is closer to on-frequency now, 9329.935v-CUSB (no LSB). 7570, April 21 at 2307, WRMI reactivated with Brother Scare, VG S9+20 during Moanin` `n` Groanin` vespers hour. This frequency had been totally off since December when TOM was drastically cut by WRMI. Again on 315 degree antenna right at us, and too bad it has not been used for any rational programming. The skedgrid http://www.tinyurl.com/WRMIfqs has now been updated as of April 21 to show XMTR 11 on 7570, 315 degrees with light green System C TOM at 23-05 (and all the rest: 7730 at 01-04, 5850 at 02-05; 9395 at 10-19; 7780 at 17-20) {this adds up to 24 frequency-hours per day, not a coincidence} (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: WRMI ** SPAIN. Today (18 April), noted at around 1945 UT with a Real Madrid fútbol game: 15390 kHz: very weak here in NB; poor signal with U. Twente SDR receiver and seemingly distorted 15520 kHz: nothing heard here in NB nor with Twente receiver 17755 [sic] kHz: nothing heard here in NB nor with Twente receiver 17855 kHz: good signal here in NB; fair signal with Twente receiver (-- Richard Langley, WOR iog via DXLD) 15390, April 18 at 2023, REE distorted as usual, but no signal on 15520 which if on would be clear. Duh: if you`re going to turn one transmitter off, it should be the bad one! What about 16m? 17855 for North America is about S9, sufficient but not the bigsig it could have been. Nothing on 17715, so that one probably off too. 15390 & 15520, Sat Apr 21 at 1719 no signals from REE, but fair on 17855 with a partido. O, the 161-degree distorted transmitter is supposed to be on unpropagable 21620 for the weekend 14-18 expansion, and then 15390 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN SOUTH [and non]. Gobierno de Sudán del Sur cierra transmisiones de la BBC por impagos --- 21/04/2018 Autoridades especializadas de Sudán del Sur cerraron las estaciones de retransmisión de la British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) en la capital de este país africano por incumplir con el pago de deudas acumuladas en los últimos tres años. https://gruporadioescuchaargentino.wordpress.com/2018/04/21/gobierno-de-sudan-del-sur-cierra-transmisiones-de-la-bbc-por-impagos/ (Prensa Latina [CUBA] via GRA blog via DXLD) ** SWAZILAND. Note on the web. Source BBC News. Swaziland becomes eSwatini http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43821512 (Bill Matthews, Columbus, Ohio, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Swaziland is now eSwatini --- Hi all, Not that this article is shortwave-related, but as we all like to be on top of country name changes in our hobby, I thought I would pass this on to you all. The article proceeds to comment on other name changes in a way this particular Australian news agency tends to take nowadays. Just my “two cents”, but maybe if a few more people took up and kept with our hobby, we wouldn’t have so many people confusing Swaziland with Switzerland and Austria and Australia? (Brian Powell) http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/africa/king-of-swaziland-has-suddenly-changed-the-name-of-his-country-to-eswatini/news-story/6e097ab5ba72e54f9da79838d8775d80 KING OF SWAZILAND HAS SUDDENLY CHANGED THE NAME OF HIS COUNTRY TO eSwatini --- April 20, 2018. 6:37pm THE leader of a small African nation has officially changed the name of his country because he said it keeps getting confused with Switzerland. King Mswati III made the surprise announcement on Wednesday that the country previously known as Swaziland would, from now on, be known as the “Kingdom of eSwatini”. The ruler is able to make the decree as he is one of the world’s last absolute monarchs who has complete control over his country’s affairs. His fiefdom is not the only country that has had issues with its name. In 2016 the Czech Republic also introduced a new name — Czechia. Swaziland is only slightly larger in size than the Greater Sydney area, and has a population of around 1.3 million — about the same as Adelaide. Entirely landlocked, it borders the eastern fringe of South Africa and southern Mozambique. King Mswati made the declaration at a stadium in the capital Mbabane at an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence from Britain, reported the BBC. The new name “eSwatini” means the same as the old name — “place of the Swazis” — but is in the local language. “I would like to announce that Swaziland will now revert to its original name,” he said. “African countries on getting independence reverted to their ancient names before they were colonised. So from now on the country will officially be known as the Kingdom of eSwatini.” There was also some confusion with the name. “Whenever we go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland,” King Mswati, who reportedly has 15 wives, said. The move has been criticised by some who say the king should be concentrating on more pressing issues such as the country having the highest rate of HIV infection in the world and its low life expectancy. Swazis can expect to live seven years less than South Africans just across the border. There’s also the cost of changing the country’s name on official institutions such as the army and central bank. Swaziland Airlink, the national airline, will also have to change its name — although as its fleet consists of just one plane it might not be a huge cost. A number of countries in Africa changed their names upon independence. Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, Nyasaland switched to Malawi while Bechuanaland became Botswana. Name changes aren’t confined to Africa either. In 2016, the Czech Republic government decreed that “Czechia” would become the new English language shortened version of the country’s name. Unlike the French Republic, which is shortened to France, there had been no shortened version in English of Czech Republic. While Czech Republic is still commonly in use, Czechia is gaining traction and is now used by large Czech brands such as Skoda cars and Pilsner Urquell beer. The name Czechia also appears on Google Maps. Another European country is still grappling with its name. Officially called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the southern European state had been pushing to call itself simply “Macedonia” since its independence in 1991. But the term Macedonia refers to a far larger region, much of which lies in modern day Greece. And Athens is unhappy about the country to its north claiming the name for its own. The name furore has badly affected relations between the two countries for decades. This year, some headway appears to have been made with a number of compromise names put forward including Upper Macedonia, New Macedonia or Macedonia-Skopje (via Powell, DXLD) With Swaziland taking the lead, perhaps Austria will change its name to avoid confusion with Australia. But given the name “Austria” has existed in one form or another for 1000 years maybe we should change our name? -- Regards, (BRIAN POWELL, VK2FBAJ, Sydney, Australia, April 20, WOR iog via DXLD) Must admit my recent skiing holiday in Manzini was a big disappointment :( Wonder how long it will be before the name change will be reflected in TWR Africa announcements, though I'm not sure if they still do local IDs anyway (David Kernick, Interval Signals Online, WOR iog via DXLD) Hi David, Back on March 19, on 4775, at 0429, heard the following IS and ID, per brief attached audio clip. Note significant CODAR QRM. (Ron Howard, California, ibid.) Music box IS, and yep, they were saying ``This is Trans World Radio, Swaziland`` (gh, DXLD) Thanks for that, Ron! I'll try and remember to tune in myself on the Jo'burg SDR later today (David Kernick, Interval Signals Online, ibid.) Wikipedia is already giving both names. Is this the only country in the world to have the Capital letter as the second letter in its name? How acceptable would it be to capitalise all letters? Is a small e a different word in Swati (yes, that's what the new name for the language is) compared to a capital E? A bizarre sudden change. These snap decisions seem to be the norm nowadays! Still it keeps us busy. 73 and 88 (Dan Goldfarb, WOR iog via DXLD) Observed signing-on for Urdu on 15360 kHz at 1400 UT today - still IDing as "Transworld Radio, Swaziland" (David Kernick, Interval Signals Online, ibid.) A “new” radio country! Swaziland king renames country ‘the Kingdom of eSwatini’ --- King Mswati III declares a name change at events celebrating independence and his 50th birthday. From: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43821512 (via Bill Carney, MARE Tipsheet 20 April via DXLD) Does “eSwatini” mean it will only exist in cyber space, like cryptocurrencies? I assume there will be e-QSLs. Reminiscent of The Central African Empire of Emperor Bokassa! (MARE ed., ibid.) And the big question (for an editor, anyway), is must we alfabetize it under E or keep it under S?! Cf. Eslovaquia in eSpanish (Glenn Hauser, WOR iog via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Under S of course. And I think we should keep calling it Swaziland, which is its English name, just as we should write "Burma" in English and not "Myanmar", and "Ivory Coast", not "Côte d'Ivoire". After all, you will call Lithuania "Lithuania", as this is its English name, and not "Lietuva", and you will spell "Chad" with a "C" and not "Tchad", as it is called locally. And Belgium is called "België" or "Belgique" locally, depending on the linguistic community, yet you wouldn't dream of calling it anything else than "Belgium" in English. And you will call Germany "Germany", not "Deutschland". Austria remains "Austria" in English, you would never call it "Österreich" and so on and so forth. It's just a matter of coherence. Regards, (Rémy Friess, France, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND [non]. ESWATINI(non), TWR Africa on 9940 kHz via Grigoriopol & Manzini, April 22 1800-1830 on 9940 KCH 300 kW / 157 deg to EaAf Kunama Sun 1905-1935 on 9940 MAN 100 kW / 343 deg to CeAf Lingala Daily 1935-1950 on 9940 MAN 100 kW / 343 deg to CeAf French Daily Again with old TWR IS: This is Trans World Radio Swaziland. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/twr-africa-on-9940-khz-via-grigoriopol.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 22-23, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 9155, R. Som de Esperança Int'l., Formosa, 1522-1532, 15/4, emissão em mandarim destinada à China continental, texto; 15341. 11100 idem, 1532-1542, 15/4, emissão em mandarim destinada à China continental, texto; 15341. 12100 idem, 1535-1545, 15/4, emissão em mandarim destinada à China continental, texto; 15341. Good DX and 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sem jammings? (gh) ** TAIWAN [and non]. 9320.012, SOH Chinese, 0515 UT, JBA S=4 tiny. 13530.221, SOH Chinese at 0544 UT. 13620even, CNR 1st px JAMMING S=9+10dB, against SOH Chinese, S=8-9. 13680.184 TWN SOH Chinese, S=7 at 0559 UT. 0511-0615 UT on remote SDR unit on Thai-Cambodian border in SE Asia [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 13859.971, IBB Radio Farda in Persian via Udorn Thani, S=7 at 0610 UT. 0511-0615 UT on remote SDR unit on Thai-Cambodian border in SE Asia [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. TAJIKISTAN, Frequencies Voice of Tibet April 19 2300-2306 7482 DB 100 kW 131 deg to CeAS Tibetan S=9+20dB in Eastern THA bad solution, hopping from 7482 to 7488 kHz midst on jamming range: 2306-2332 7488 DB 100 kW 131 deg CeAS Tibetan QRM 7490 kHz jamming, 2324-2335 7493 DB 100 kW 131 deg CeAS Tibetan 10 kHz wide jamming. 2335-2335 7483 DB 100 kW 131 deg CeAS Tibetan 3 seconds only on air ! 2335-2359:50 7487 DB 100 kW 131 deg to CeAS Tibetan. Overlapping both DB tx on 7488 and 7493 kHz at 2324-2332 UT range. CHN jamming TX off at 0000:10 UT DB TX off at 0000:47 UT All frequencies are jammed by China x.0 x.5 kHz. Changes between frequencies vary from 5 to 7 minutes. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 19), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. UNIDENTIFIED INTERMODULATION. Hello, today, an unID reception caught my attention: 9637.8 kHz, 1820-1900* UT (approx.) French talk before 1830, possibly music-only of various styles afterwards. (Couldn't pay full attention due to a visitor). Checked for CRI and V of Turkey French transmissions, but they seemed not to be in \\ (Thorsten Hallmann-D, desde el noroeste de Alemania, April 16, WOR iog via dxld April 17) Thorsten Hallmann hatte vorgestern (Apr 16) eine aehnliche '.77' fq Meldung: 9637.8 kHz 1820-1900* UT (approx.) French talk til 1825 UT, vielleicht treibt sich ein TX mit einem starken Spur- od Intermodulations-Signalen auf den Baendern herum ...? Since "a decade" Uli and Wolf of the DARC IARU Bandwatch have repeatedly criticized the track spurious INTERMODULATION mixing products from Emirler in the Amateur radio band above 10.0 to 10.1 [sic] MHz. TRT hat die starken Signal Richtung 310 Grad Azimuth nie im Griff, wie ein Sack voll Floehe gab es immer wieder Mischprodukte. Das wurden immer Spurs beobachted, eine Mixture aus dem stundenlangen 9460 kHz Turkish Dienst, und den Deutsch, Englisch, French Services aus 500 kW und 250 kW Antennenmischprodukten am TX Standort in Emirler. Ich konnte auch folgende Produkte heute Abend (Apr 18) nachvollziehen; man muesste den Taschenrechner in Ruhe nachrechnen / bemuehen: nominal sind auf Sendung 9460.061 kHz Turkish, 9635.006 kHz French, 9840.061 kHz German, 9785.060 kHz English, fq vary from day to day. dazu Spurious Signale auf 9322.209, 9282.343, 9285.117 kHz, 9135.093 {9785.030/9460.061 / Distance 324.969 kHz}, 9809.951 9285.116 {9635.006/9460.061 / Distance 174.945 kHz} 9637.779 {9785.030 Distance 147.251 kHz} an Thorsten Hallmann: und ueberraschend TRT Franzoesische Sprache aus dem Onlinedienst bis 1825 UT und registriert auf 7360 kHz im 41 mb. Da druecken starke 500 kW Signale am Standort Emirler zusammen. Muss man noch mal in Ruhe an einem anderen Tag monitoren. {later April 19} 7360.022 TRT Emirler French, at 1745 UT on Apr 19, S=9+15dB fluttery signal here in southern Germany. 9460.007 kHz TRT Emirler in Turkish, 500 kW at 310 degr. S=9+45dB powerhouse at 1807 UT. 9785.060 kHz TRT Emirler in English, 1830-1925 UT, S=9+35dB, sign-on late at 18.30:45 UT. 9840.061 kHz TRT Emirler in German. 1730-1825 UT. 9635.006 kHz TRT Emirler in French. 1930-2025 UT. And spurious, vary on April 18 and 19, etc. etc. {9635.006 minus 9460.061 = 174.945 kHz; = 9285.116 kHz low side} {9635.006 minus 9460.061 = 174.945 kHz; = 9809.951 kHz high side} {9785.060 minus 9460.007 = 325.053 kHz; = 9134.954 kHz low side} {9785.060 minus 9460.007 = 325.053 kHz; = 10110.113 kHz high side} {9840.061 minus 9460.007 = 380.054 kHz; = 9079.953 kHz low side} {9840.061 minus 9460.007 = 380.054 kHz; = 10220.115 kHz high side} 9637.779 kHz stray frequency of TRT French heard at 1730-1825 UT. [so I do not see how this fits into all those other spur kHz, which are closer to 5-kHz spacings – gh] 9465.012 UNID S=9 Signal empty carrier, rather technician TEST check in TRT Emirler broadcast center. 6040.003 TRT Turkish at 0545 UT on April 19. 9460.027 kHz TRT Emirler in Turkish, 500 kW at 310 degr. S=9+45dB powerhouse at 1830 UT April 20. 9785.061 kHz TRT Emirler in English, 1830-1925 UT, S=9+40dB, sign-on late at 18.30:45 UT April 20. {9785.061 minus 9460.027 = 325.034 kHz; = 9134.993 kHz low side} {9785.061 minus 9460.027 = 325.034 kHz; = 10110.095 kHz high side} (wb df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 18 / 19 / 20) (Wolfgang Büschel, DF5SX, WWDXC BC-DX April 22 via DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. 15240, Saturday April 21 at 1720, no signal detectable from WWRB with R. Munansi. It might be due to degraded propagation, except neighbor 15825 WWCR is getting a sporadic-E boost {also reported on VHF} up to S9+10! (also on 13845, and even more on 12160, S9+20/30. Nor was 15240 audible around 1430 UT check via UTwente. So appears to be OFF. Please check 15240 Sunday between 14 and 21 UT. 15239.93, April 22 at 1430, 1842, 1909 chex, NO signal from WWRB with R. Munansi, nor even on 15240.00. Seems to be off like yesterday, but very poor propagation today; neighbor WWCR 15825 is JBA. Final check at 1909 has some clicking centered on 15240 like OTH radar (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Same here in NB when checked around 1430 UT (-- Richard Langley, NB, April 22, WOR iog via DXLD) See also USA: WWRB ** U A E. TWR Africa via BaBcoCk damaged tx Al-Dhabayya, April 19 1300-1315 on 17680 DHA 250 kW / 230 deg to EaAf Afar Thu-Sun, fair: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/04/reception-of-twr-africa-via-babcock.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via DXLD) ** U A E. 17745, April 19 at 1409, JBA carrier here, at least compensating for nothing on 17775 from KVOH. HFCC shows it`s BBC Somali, 250 kW, 225 degrees via DHA at 1400-1500 since March 31 (not 25), while on Saturdays expands to 1130-1600; silly ballgames? Also daily 1100-1130 on 5 degrees less azimuth of 220, why? UAE site means it`s probably off-frequency, so I should have measured it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) e.g.: 13580.122, BBC London, much frequency oddity at Al Dhabbaya relay unit, S=8 at 0547 UT. From 06 UT then via Talata Volonondry. 0511-0615 UT on remote SDR unit on Thai-Cambodian border in SE Asia [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. Dear Babcock: Heard your 15640 kHz test transmission today April 19. Tune-in at 1340 UT with bits of various music, including steel drums, the Babcock Theme and periodic ``You are listening to a test transmission``. Occasionally also gives this email address. Keeps looping past 1408, but off at next check 1427. It`s a steady S9, very light fading. Only equivalent signal on 19m band is Cuba 15230. Is this Woofferton? Nothing else from European area anything like it. Saudi is audible weakly on 15380. Or is it Ascension? Do these test loop announcements ever emanate from any site but Woofferton? It would be helpful if the announcements also mentioned where they are coming from. I also wonder about the antenna azimuth. If WOF, does it still have one suitable for North America? We`re all set for the BBCWS to resume . . . I hope this has been useful, and will appreciate an answer to my questions, or even a QSL. Receiver: Icom R75. Antenna: 100-foot E-W longwire Glenn Hauser P O Box 1684 Enid OK 73702 USA (to transmissiontest@gmail.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Received this reply in 10 minutes! --- Hi Glenn, Well, we have all the 250 degree to 305 degree antennas on all the bands still in place at WOF so the BBC have only got to ask; but they seem to be internet and FM mad these days for grade A countries rather than as they would say crackly old HF! You really need trump/Putin and Rocket Man to get going to stoke up the HF again. VoV were the last to use those bearings after Sackville closed. Martin 2E1EKX who made the loop deliberately did not mention WOF as the solo, only source as we generate more interest that way! Thanks for your IRS checks to the Voice that bought us most of the WOF infrastructure over the last 60 years! Below is a copy and paste of the standard info / QSL we send to the reporters. Vy 73, Dave Porter G4OYX, 30 years at WOF! follows >>> Hello, Thank you for your report and I confirm the details are correct. These transmissions were to fault-find on a 250/300 kW sender at the UK HF transmitter station at Woofferton. These duration of these tests can be variable as the engineers can sometimes need a long time to establish a fault or they may interrupt the test, make an adjustment and resume. This is particularly so if the fault is of an intermittent nature. Babcock, Woofferton is the only remaining UK HF sender broadcast station and also is the only one with this transmission test audio and email address. The audio is contained in a file play-out system and incorporates non- copyright music and voice announcements from one of the engineers, Martin 2E1EKX at the transmitter site. Thanks for your interest. 73 Dave G4OYX, (Retired) Senior Transmitter Engineer Woofferton 1982-2012. Check out the video presentation of Woofferton on https://www.youtube.com/user/wooffertonuk There is also the history of WOF on http://www.bbceng.info/Technical%20Reviews/technical_reviews.htm (via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) ** U K. THE VETTING FILES: HOW THE BBC KEPT OUT ‘SUBVERSIVES’ 22 April 2018 Image caption Broadcasting House in 1959 For decades the BBC denied that job applicants were subject to political vetting by MI5. But in fact vetting began in the early days of the BBC and continued until the 1990s. Paul Reynolds, the first journalist to see all the BBC's vetting files, tells the story of the long relationship between the corporation and the Security Service. "Policy: keep head down and stonewall all questions." So wrote a senior BBC official in early 1985, not long before the Observer exposed so many details of the work done in Room 105 Broadcasting House that there was no point continuing to hide it. By that stage, a policy of flatly denying the existence of political vetting - not just stonewalling, but if necessary lying - had been in place for five decades. As early as 1933 a BBC executive, Col Alan Dawnay, had begun holding meetings to exchange information with the head of MI5, Sir Vernon Kell, at Dawnay's flat in Eaton Terrace, Chelsea. It was an era of political radicalism and both sides deemed the BBC in need of "assistance in regard to communist activities". . . [MUCH more, illustrated] http://www.bbc.com/news/stories-43754737 (via Gerald T Pollard, NC, DXLD) ** U S A. 293 kHz, April 20 at 1247 UT, ND beacon FBY. DXInfocentre.com shows it as 25 watts from Fairbury, Nebraska. I was tuned to 295. 347 kHz, April 22 at 0625, ND beacon AFK, 25 watts from Nebraska City NE. 353 kHz, April 22 at 0626, ND beacon LI, 400 watts from Little Rock, Arkansas. 410 kHz, April 23 at 0534 UT, ND beacon EGQ, which is 25 watts from Emmetsburg, Iowa (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 17530, April 20 at 1413, open carrier, fair signal, and the OSOB = only station on band --- nothing from KVOH, RHC or BSKSA. Typical behavior of Greenville-B, warmup/test for later scheduled broadcast, the ONLY English now from VOA GB, at 1700-1830 daily. 1400- 1500 is a gap in IBB 17530 usage except on weekends when STP is on here; daily SMG until 1400, BOT after 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 9490, April 21 at 1256, YL alternating English and Korean, a les about such confusing but vital idioms as ``under the weather``. This hour only is VOA Korean, 250 kW, 333 degrees from TINIAN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. More changes of IBB Voice of America and Radio Farda http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/more-changes-of-ibb-voice-of-america.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 18-19, WOR iog via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1926 monitoring: confirmed Wed April 18 at 2100 on WRMI 9955 (following IS & ID loop from 2057; also pulse jamming is building up: tnx a lot, Arnie!); and at same time on WBCQ 7490.09v: S8-S9, while 9955 is more like S9 with less band noise. Also confirmed Wed Apr 18 at 2330 on WBCQ 9329.667v- CUSB, good S9/S9+10. Next: Thu 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0629 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW [suspended until April 28] Sat 1431 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW [suspended until April 28] Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2130 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 to NE [not last week; canceled?] Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0310v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW [suspended until April 29] Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0130 WRMI 5850 to NW, 5950 to S, 7780 to NE [NEW] Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1927?] Tue 2130 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1927?] WORLD OF RADIO 1926 monitoring: 9330v-CUSB, April 19 at 2330, WBCQ keeps going with Brother Scare instead of WORLD OF RADIO, and, even worse, it`s a double audio feed from BS with horrible echo making him even more unlistenable than usual. Same on 5129.8v-AM. No one minding the store? 9329.807v-CUSB, April 20 at 2330, once again Brother Scare instead of WOR, and also at 2359 recheck, but this time only one BS, no echo; anyway, during the incomprehensible Moan & Groan hour. It`s always something. We`ll see what happen Saturday when WOR is supposed to appear a bihour earlier. Next, maybe: Sat 0629 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW [suspended until April 28] Sat 1431 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW [suspended until April 28] Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2130 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 to NE [not last week; canceled?] Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0310v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW [suspended until April 29] Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0130 WRMI 5850 to NW, 5950 to S, 7780 to NE [NEW] Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1927?] Tue 2130 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1927?] WORLD OF RADIO 1926 monitoring: missing again from WBCQ, Saturday April 21 at 2130 when has been on 9330. Now 9329.82v-CUSB keeps playing BS from 2128 past 2130. Makes the third day in a row this has happened, along with April 19 & 20 at 2330. No notification or reply from WBCQ whether this be intentional. And for the second week, contrary to its own websked, 7780 WRMI at 2300 Sat April 21 is airing `Voice of the Report of the Week` along with some other frequencies, instead of WOR. But next airing, UT Sunday April 22 at 0200 on 7780, WOR is reconfirmed, fair. Furthermore, skedgrid update shows another NEW TIME for WOR: Sunday 1900 on 9395. That`s JBA here, but should be better along the 355 degree azimuth from Okee. [WORLD OF RADIO 1927] Next: Sun 0310v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW [suspended until April 29] Sun 1900 WRMI 9395 to NNW [NEW] Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Mon 0130 WRMI 5850 to NW, 5950 to S, 7780 to NE [NEW] Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1927?] Tue 2130 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1927?] WORLD OF RADIO 1926 monitoring: confirmed on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, Wentzville MO, UT Sunday April 22 at 0352 about 20 minutes in, so started rather late circa 0332; ARRL was still playing at first check 0328. NEW time of Sunday 1900 on WRMI 9395 barely confirmed April 22 - -- JBA, but intonation at 1907 with ECSS boost sounds like me; it reads S4, same as the noise level. Other frequency 9455 is slightly stronger with music. Next: Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe, not for last few days] Mon 0130 WRMI 5850 to NW, 5950 to S, 7780 to NE [NEW] Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1927?] Tue 2130 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1927?] WORLD OF RADIO 1926 monitoring: confirmed, restored to 2330 UT on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB: Sunday April 22 good signal on 9329.9v-CUSB. Also confirmed UT Monday April 23 at 0130:30 on WRMI, S9+40 on 5850, S9-S5 on 7780 --- but third frequency 5950 is off. It had been on before 0100 with Eslovaquia; at 0050 no longer with the big SAH, but still trace of another signal, presumably Iran. Also confirmed UT Mon Apr 23 from 0300:30 on Area 51 webcast, and until 0329:30 on WBCQ 5129.8v. JBA UT Mon Apr 23 at 0330 on WRMI 9955, but definitely on webcast. And still repeating immediately from 0400 on webcast only, a full schedule for which is not available. More below about WRMI`s new schedule display. Next: Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1927?] Tue 2130 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1927?] WORLD OF RADIO 1926 monitoring: gone again from WBCQ 9330v-CUSB, Monday April 23 at 2330, instead Brother keeps Scaring // 5130v. I suppose WOR is the last left variation from all-BS-all-the-time on 9330, since Blalock was moved to 7490; so it`s hit-and-miss, whether anyop will break away for a semihour of WOR, which did occur again 24 hours earlier. WOR confirmed UT Tuesday April 24 at 0030 on WRMI, 7730, good. [WORLD OF RADIO 1927] This week I plan to start WOR 1927 at its earliest possible time, unless some unforeseen delay intervene: Tue 2030 WRMI 9455 to WNW, 7780 to NE Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 to WNW, 7780 to NE Tue 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Wed 1030 WRMI 9455 to WNW [unconfirmed] Wed 2100 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2100 WBCQ 7490v to WSW Wed 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Thu 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Sat 0629 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW [to resume April 28] Sat 1431 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW [to resume April 28] Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2130 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 to NE [not last two weeks; canceled?] Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0310v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW [to resume April 29] Sun 1900 WRMI 9395 to NNW [NEW] Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Mon 0130 WRMI 5850 to NW, 5950 to S [? not last week], 7780 to NE Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 0400 WRMI webcast only Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1928?] Tue 2130 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1928?] WORLD OF RADIO 1927 contents: Antarctica, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Biafra and non, Bougainville, Canary Islands, Chad non, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Kuwait, Mongolia, North America, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia non, South Carolina non, Swaziland, Uganda non, UK, USA, Vietnam; Alexa; and the propagation outlook Was ready for first airings April 24: confirmed Tue Apr 24 at 2030 on WRMI 7780, poor, but unusually stronger than // 9455 still in effect; also on both at 2130, with 9455 at S4-S6 vs noise level at S2, and 7780 at S5-S8 but 100% readable. Not confirmed at WBCQ`s first chance, Tue Apr 24 at 2330 on 9330v-CUSB – music playing at 2331, presumably from TOMBS; as WOR appearances have become sporadic, hit-and-miss. Confirmed Wed Apr 25 at 1030 on WRMI 9455, as I am unfortunately awake, reconfirmed both on air and propagating well for a change. Chris Krug in Tulsa agrees: ``GM Glenn, just wanted to let you know WOR is on loud and clear this morning on 9455. (I didn’t tune in till 1043 actually), great copy, good to have you back! Chris KC5IIE Tulsa, OK SDRplay RSP1A 40m loop``. Next: Wed 2100 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2100 WBCQ 7490v to WSW Wed 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Thu 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Sat 0629 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW [to resume April 28] Sat 1431 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW [to resume April 28] Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2130 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 to NE [not last two weeks; canceled?] Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0310v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW [to resume April 29] Sun 1900 WRMI 9395 to NNW [NEW] Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Mon 0130 WRMI 5850 to NW, 5950 to S [? not last week], 7780 to NE Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 0400 WRMI webcast only Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [maybe] Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1928?] Tue 2130 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1928?] Full WOR sked on all outlets, podcast access: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5129.8, April 18 at 1141, WBCQ has resumed Brother Scare, despite rock music instead as of 0000 UT April 18, likewise 9330v, which so far is JBA. [and non]. 9329.663v-CUSB, April 18 at 1320, now WBCQ is audible with reactivated BS, more modulation on USB but also some on LSB with slightly reduced carrier. And also a het from 9330.0: TWR-India via ARMENIA is now registered: 1300-1450, 300 kW, 100 degrees in various languages, but may not be using the entire span every day. 9329.807v-CUSB, April 20 at 2311, WBCQ with Brother Scare in Moanin` `n` Groanin` Hour, sounds same on 5129.83v. Also continues past 2330 when WORLD OF RADIO should have aired on 9330-. (7490.05v) on webcast, April 21 at 0000, WBCQ with `Allan Weiner Worldwide`, but soon obviously a rerun, from a few weeks ago when he and Angela had apologetically just returned from a cruise to DR and Grand Turk, so tune out. John Carver, IN, also notes: ``No report this evening as I've already posted the synopsis of this episode a few weeks ago as they are rerunning a previous episode. At a guess Allan and Angela are on their way to Maine or are having a last fling in FLA before returning to Maine and evidently Allan couldn't find anyone to host the show this evening. Episode is the one about Trump and taxes and CNN on the cruise ship.`` After that hour, really 7490+ at 0106 April 21, it`s Blalock the Blaster, and now he is also back on // 9330, but 5130 is off. 7490, April 23 at 0107, WBCQ with Blalock the Blaster; 9330 with Brother Scare; 5130 with Area 51 music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. FTIOM & UBMP, Apr 29-May 5 From the Isle of Music, April 29-May 5: International Jazz Day is April 30, and this year the official concert site is St. Petersburg, Russia, but in 2017, Havana was the official concert site, and this week we listen to some of that 2017 concert. Four opportunities to listen on shortwave: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including parts of East Asia and Oceania) with 100 kW, Sunday 1500-1600 UT on SpaceLine, 9400, from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK) 2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 UT on WBCQ, 7490 from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9 PM EST [sic] in the US). This has been audible in parts of NW, Central and Southern Europe with an excellent skip to Italy recently. 3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UT and Saturday 1200-1300 on Channel 292, 6070 from Rohrbach, Germany. Uncle Bill's Melting Pot, Sun, April 29 and Tues, May 1: What better way to celebrate the addition of Channel 292 to the UBMP family than with Colombian big band dance music? Thanks to a recent trip to Colombia, we will be featuring some of the best of it in Episode 60. 1. Sundays 2200-2230 UT (6:00-6:30 PM Eastern US) on WBCQ The Planet 7490 shortwave from the US to the Americas and parts of Europe 2. Tuesdays 2000-2030 UT on Channel 292, 6070 from Rohrbach, Germany for Europe. If current propagation conditions hold, the broadcast should reach from Iceland to Western Russia, Scandinavia down to the Middle East, AND a long bounce to parts of New Zealand. (William "Bill" Tilford, Owner/Producer Tilford Productions, LLC 5713 N. St. Louis Av Chicago IL 60659-4405 email: bill@tilfordproductions.com phone: 773.267.6548 website: www.tilfordproductions.com April 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Has received QSL-card WRMI --- December 11, 2017 / 2000-2030 UT / 11580 kHz. Subject: The morning fog, a common occurrence at WRMI's Okeechobbe transmitter site. E-mail: info@wrmi.net To look a card it is possible here - http://rusdx.blogspot.ru/2018/04/blog-post_16.html (Anatoly Klepov, Moskva, QSL World, via Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) 5950, April 18 at 2338, Fámily Radio remnant in Spanish via WRMI this hour only --- and again, that subaudible heterodyne of regular fading from another transmitter a few Hz away from WRMI. What can it be?? Still nothing else known on 5950 at this time. It goes on past 0000 as previously noted, but not there later all-night when WRMI is still secretly running Oldies on 5950. WYFR/WRMI did not double up two transmitters & antennas on one frequency before, but maybe experimenting with that now? If so, they need to zero-beat them; or not, since it would be less obvious to the monitor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5950.007 odd frequency, sehr selten bei WRMI Okeechobee, kein reguläres Programm um 0509 UT, eher viele Werbungs Füller wie "Triniti School", dann alte pop mx, wie Beatles "Hey Jude" rauf und runter. Kein Brother Stair programm (Wolfgang Büschel, Circa 0500 UT April 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Slightly off-frequency: 5950.007 odd frequency, much seldom happened by WRMI Okeechobee transmissions, no regular programm at 0509 UT on April 19, rather advertisement filler like "Triniti School", Oldies pop mx, like Beatles "Hey Jude" once more [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, DF5SX, WWDXC BC-DX TopNews April 22 via DXLD) 5950, April 21 at 2345, this WRMI with FR in Spanish still has a SAH as if a second slightly offset transmitter be upon it; nor does updated skedgrid show Oldies on 5950 between 0200 and 1100 as we have been hearing it the past week. http://www.tinyurl.com/WRMIfqs Finally! it does show 9395 with RAE in German at 19-20, Italian at 20- 21, weekdays, where they have been for months, but also still shows same at 21-22 & 22-23 on 11580, a disused frequency so far. See also SOUTH CAROLINA [non] for WRMI`s Brother Scare changes; and USA: WORLD OF RADIO monitoring. 5950, April 22 at 0558, no signal any more from WRMI with Oldies, as had been heard past week. Never appeared on skedgrid, but off for good? 7570, April 22 at 0615, WRMI still on with BS, after a bit of music, despite new skedgrid showing 2300-0500 only; unknown how far extended, but off by reawakening before 1300. Checking http://www.tinyurl.com/WRMIfqs I see that the program skedgrid below the transmission skedgrid has been completely reorganized! --- now it`s System by color-coded System, each of which will be on a variety of frequencies depending on the time. This is more explicit than before. But it would still be helpful to have a separate schedule sorted by frequency. Otherwise you have to hunt thru the Systems for a particular frequency and time. WORLD OF RADIO times are as before, including the new one Sunday at 1900 on 9395, and the almost-new one Monday at 0130 on 5850, (5950- not), 7780. AND, still allegedly Saturday 2300 on 7780, while VORW has really been airing. Now there`s a better view of System G - Oldies, and all the variations from that. But strangely, shows RAE in German M-F at 19-20 UT on 9395, but Italian M-F at 20-21 UT on 9455. Yet System D shows 20-21 UT with variety programming on 9455 and 7780, including WOR Tuesday at 2030 as before. 9455 can`t be on both Systems at once. [RAE not heard on 9455] NOTE that System G and System B (mainly 9955) are displayed in EDT!! While the others are in UT. It`s still not 100% accurate compared to monitoring, e.g. Overcomer really running beyond 0500 on 7570 as heard last night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Monitored WRMI Sunday Evening / Monday Morning (UT) 7780 kHz Schedule From my recording last Sunday evening, 22-23 April UT: 2015 Viva Miami (??? poor reception; hard to tell) 2030 Reserve Military Retirement 2100 Voice of the Report of the Week, VORW Radio International 2200 Voice of the Report of the Week, VORW Radio International (repeat? didn't listen closely) 2300 Wavescan 2330 Shortwave Radiogram 0000 Radio Slovakia International in Slovak 0030 Radio Slovakia International in English 0100 Rockphesy (new program on WRMI? Christian rock music) 0130 World of Radio 0200 Wavescan (repeat) (-- Richard Langley, WOR iog via DXLD) WRMI on Tune In --- right now WRMI on Tune In is broadcasting a program on the early days of U.S. International Broadcasting. In Spanish. But not on the WRMI streaming site (Ira Holmes, 1747 UT April 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be the subject of this week`s `La Rosa de Tokio` episode. Wish they would provide complete program schedules for all platforms. (Glenn to Ira, via DXLD) 7570, April 23 at 0521, WRMIBS is off this night, in keeping with scheduled closure at 0500 on new sked, despite running way past that the night before. 5985, April 23 at 0524, American English gospel huxter at S9 --- it`s WRMI, which per transmission skedgrid is airing only at 0330-0430 daily, but Mondays only like this, extended to 0600. There is no System A yellow program schedule below it to tell us who this is. HFCC as of April 11 does not account for the extension, but does show CRI in Arabic via Albania starting at 0500 daily, bit of which we can normally hear without WRMI. 9455 // 9955, Monday April 23 at 1348, WRMI in a new episode of `Viva Miami`, Jeff interviewing someone in English at a Ft Lauderdale event about the cruise industry around Japan. Jeff has quite a sideline(?) as a cruise promoter. Tuesday at this block it`s Famagusta instead. 7570 and 5950, April 24 at 0603 are both off now as scheduled (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5830, April 19 at 1857 mid-day, WTWW-1 audible on night frequency with SFA ID, S9-S5; ALSO on day frequency 9475 at S9+20, but NOT SFAW, not // with music and 1901 TedHamad, 1903 ``classic songs on WTWW``, i.e. country. Seems Ted is jumbling up the transmissions now; what`s next? 9475, April 20 at 1409, still C&W music rather than SFAW, and 5830 is off. What would PPPPP say? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5085, April 20 at 0529, WTWW in ham ads, but very poor signal, less than 5129.8 WBCQ which is S9+10. 4840 WWCR at same time is poor, reading S9+10/20 but less than usual and fluttery. Unusual for these two not to be loud & clear all night. G2 geomagnetic storm has disrupted closer signals, and lowered MUF. 3215, WWCR still good at S9+20 but fadey. WWV reported at 0600 & 0900: ``Solar-terrestrial indices for 19 April follow. Solar flux 71 and estimated planetary A-index 3. The estimated planetary K-index at 0600 UTC on 20 April was 5. The estimated planetary K-index at 0900 UTC on 20 April was 6. Space weather for the past 24 hours has been moderate. Geomagnetic storms reaching the G2 level occurred. Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be moderate. Geomagnetic storms reaching the G2 level are expected.`` Daytime propagation all day April 20 was also degraded (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Does W T W W really stand for We Transmit Weird Waves? Maybe there needs to be a contest asking listeners what they think WTWW stands for. Other than what they say it stands for (Mark Sills, Dallas TX, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5050, April 22 at 0002, no signal from WWRB nor on any 90mb frequency. I`ve yet to hear them on reactivated 5050 as others have reported. Nor was 15240 heard by me earlier April 21, see UGANDA [non] 5050, UT Mon Apr 23 at 0055, still no signal from WWRB nor anywhere on 90m. 15240 also missing earlier, so maybe just totally off, whatever the nominal scheduling may now be (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Last weekend I heard on 5050 one of the announcers say that they would be off this weekend for maintenance (Peter W Hansen, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Im Telegramm Stil: 7504.980 WRNO S=8 (Wolfgang Büschel, Circa 0500 UT April 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7505v, April 23 at 0107, still no signal from WRNO. 7505v, April 23 at 0521, WRNO is on with low modulation, altho was not on by 0100+. Must have started late (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9265, WINB, PA, Red Lion (so what is the etymology of that city name? I bet it's a good story!) with end of one Bumper into "Restoration of Faith" Bible bumping with an actual factual ID between along with the address to contact WINB in it. The Restoration dude REALLY likes the word "Hallulajah" [sic] which he used both as a general interjection & like a verbal pause word (like many people use "um" or "er"). It would make a good drinking game! ;) 44+4+4+4; the ANC-4 helped with the noise a LOT -- noise is 15 dB higher without it! 1928-1938 15/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet 20 April via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) Red Lion, settled in 1852, was named after one of the first pubs in town, the Red Lion Tavern (MARE Ed.? Harold Frodge, ibid.) ** U S A. 3215, April 23 at 0532, WWCR-1 is off, despite scheduling 0100-0900. And it`s not because of deleted BS either, variety of programming on the outdated program sked, as of March 1, still showing 6-hour difference between UT and CT. 4840 and 5935 are still on and audible despite degraded propagation. If on, 3215 should remain inbooming, best of all overnight (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KVOH situation --- Hello Glenn, Thought I would give you update on the spurious sidebands from KVOH. My letter to the FCC apparently went into the round file, as the problem is still there intermittently. It is disappointing that they would take it so lightly. The transmitter is near Los Angeles, where I'm sure they (the FCC) have a technical staff. Further, there is an Air-To-Ground band at 17900 to 18030. I can understand that interference to Amateur Radio is probably not high on their priority list. You would think that Protecting Air-To-Ground comms would be. I didn't think to point out that problem in my letter, assuming that they would be well aware of that. Perhaps I am giving them more credit than they have earned. Studying the symptoms, I have noticed that it comes and goes with certain programs. Also it sometimes disappears for a few days. When the hash is present, their on-channel modulation is usually distorted too. It can cut on-and off with modulation content. It is almost impossible to diagnose such a problem without being at the transmitter site, but I am wondering if it might be a loose connection somewhere in the antenna, causing an arc. I will not give up on this. If it continues, I will again attempt to get the FCC involved with another letter, (copy of original letter included). Also I personally know a couple of retired FCC personnel who I might be able to get my letters through the red tape to someone who cares. We will see. 73 - (Ronnie Miller - K5WLT, April 24, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. INSIDE THE WPTF STATION: AN UNTOUCHED TIME CAPSULE FROM THE 1940'S --- The distinct Art Deco style clearly defines the WPTF radio station as a 1940's classic. With rounded windows and curved edges, the building looks tiny on the outside, but cuts deep underground into a shelter that allowed announcers to broadcast through wars and hurricanes. Today, it's hidden behind tall shrubs, a chain-link fence, and a set of train tracks - it often goes unnoticed, a relic from a long past era of Raleigh history. Read the full story here: http://abc11.com/business/inside-the-wptf-station-an-untouched-time-capsule-from-the-1940s/3335967/ (via Mike Terry, Medium Wave Circle via TN, via ARC mv-eko 23 April via DXLD) 680, Raleigh NC ** U S A. 1130, April 18 circa 1830 UT and 2025 UT chex, KLEY Wellington KS is still in total SNAFU with the carrier/modulation cut- ons and separate continuous fast noise bursts. Ditto at 1552 UT check April 19. I must get a recording of this for everyone to hear. 1130, April 20 at 1427 UT, KLEY Wellington KS in usual SNAFU, mixture of rapid regular noise pulses, and carrier modulation cutting on and off the air at slower very irregular pace. Here`s a sample of how it sounds when tuned to 1129-USB [corrected]: http://www.w4uvh.net/KLEY1130SNAFU1.mp3 Later in day I wanted to record it on caradio without BFO and with stronger signal, but it was completely off. No doubt there will be more opportunities. 1130, April 21 at 1134 UT, KLEY Wellington KS is back to normal at the moment, continuous carrier and modulation! Promo for a co-ed mud volleyball festival sponsored by Rocking M Media, usual slogan ID ``The Wave, 100.3 and 1130, your music stations from the wheat capital of the world``. No doubt the SNAFU will be back anon. 1130, April 22 at 1915 UT, KLEY Wellington KS back to SNAFU mode as described multiple times before (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Is Anyone Listening? I have a local LPFM in my neighborhood. They broadcast 'Relevant Radio' from an IP stream with a top-of-hour voice insert that states their legal ID. The IP stream obviously cues the hourly ID because for nearly a month the station has been simply an open carrier and nothing more. 100 watts of pure nothing. Their 'tower' is a pole attached to a modest house in a residential area. That is one weird TV antenna they have over there, Marge. This isn't the first time this has happened. This isn't the first time I have heard a station go open carrier or simply not go on at all. I know another local LPFM that uses a transmitter that has a modulation sensor. If the audio source is mute, the transmitter goes off the air. If the audio source is active, it goes on the air. This particular station plays a 12 hour playlist from 7 am to 7 pm daily. When the power fails, the computer that produces the transmitted audio does not come back to life and requires human intervention. If the human is in Florida, the station stays off the air for weeks at a time. What is the point of radio stations like this? Should these entities be licensed when they care so little about what is on (or not on) the air? I think that some of these are owned by spectrum hoarders hoping for someone someday to need the frequency for something so they can sell it for a profit. I can only imagine that no one is listening - or at very least - no one cares. How about the AM station in Pennsylvania years ago that would be stuck on a syndicated program feed and transmit a repeating spoken ID of 'Westwood channel 43' or something similar all day long. Things have changed an awful lot since I was growing up in radio 50 years ago! Is this the best they can do? Really? Thanks for listening! (Sorry, I had to go there!) (Karl Zuk, N2KZ, Katonah, NY, FN31eh, April 21, WTFDA gg via DXLD) This is the world of LPFM's. I have one nearby which plays music only, and it's all music that other stations in the market play. And it's overpowered. There are a couple of others which have the same format. These are nothing more than vanity stations for their owner. They are in violation of the whole spirit of LPFM's, which were intended to provide unique programming absent in the market and/or local content. There are a few which actually do offer either mostly community or mostly ethnic programming in this area but they aren't the majority. I suspect rebroadcasting of a regular broadcast service such as "Relevant Radio" is also illegal (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, Grid FN20id, ibid.) Rebroadcasting Relevant Radio is legal (unfortunately, IMHO -- I don't think that carrying 100% satellite-fed programming is within the intent of LPFM) Best I can tell the only limitations on LPFM programming are that it must be non-commercial, and that a LPFM may not enter a time brokerage agreement ("LMA") with another station. It is challenging to write a regulation requiring local programming that wouldn't run afoul of the 1st Amendment; would be effective; and wouldn't cause unintended side-effects. I guess my experience with LPFM has been more positive. There are stations that aren't fulfilling the intent of LPFM -- and there are stations that *are*. In Nashville and immediate suburbs: WBOU 100.5 Nashville Mostly Relevant Radio. Seems to split out for an hour or two of other Catholic programming, and three hours of EWTN programming in Spanish late nights. WDYO 104.1 Nashville Locally programmed, bilingual "Worker's Dignity Radio" WHQV 103.9 Hendersonville "La Sinai" Spanish Contemporary Christian. No obvious link to national organizations but no real indication of local programming either. WIAF 103.9 Antioch "Radio Maranatha". No web presence (that I can tell) and I've not heard this station. WRFN 107.1 Pasquo Mostly locally programmed. Wide variety of music & talk programming from a left-of-center perspective (Green Party of Tennessee is a frequent underwriter). Airs a few hours of national progressive talk programming (like "Democracy Now") during middays. Relayed on 103.7 translator in West Nashville. WXNA 101.5 Nashville To my knowledge 100% locally programmed. Generally similar to WRFN but more of a music focus, vs. WRFN's more talk focus. I would say WDYO, WRFN, and WXNA meet the intent of LPFM. In Madison [WI]: WALK 103.7 Monona No apparent web presence. Wasn't on last time I was in Madison. WIDE 99.1 Madison Progressive talk and a few music programs. Similar to WRFN. WIXL 97.1 Madison "97X.fm" Automated Contemporary Christian. WLSP 103.5 Sun Prairie "103.5 The Sun", associated with the local cable TV access channel. Wide variety of programming, all seems local. WMUU 102.9 Madison Run by the Unitarian Church (the one with the famous Frank Lloyd Wright building. Don't worry, the antenna is elsewhere :) ). Mostly apolitical talk, much of which originates outside Madison. Still, since the speakers don't have a political axe to grind, you can learn a lot in a hurry on WMUU. FASCINATING station which gets most of my dial time when I'm back home. WVMO 98.7 Monona "The Voice of Monona" municipal station. Mostly a wide variety of music, locally programmed. WWMV 95.5 Madison Community station on the West Side. Appears to be locally programmed, mostly music (it was testing last time I was in Madison). I would say all of these stations except WIXL (and possibly WALK) meet the intent of LPFM. The community programming seems to thrive despite (or maybe because) Madison having a 43-year-old full-power community station WORT (Doug Smith, TN, ibid.) Karl, Try to keep a record of the time and dates when this LP has dead air. Report it to the FCC; probably the Washington DC office may be best or the local field office if you have a contact there. If you send the details of the extended time that dead air is being broadcast, the FCC might do something. There is a translator on 107.1 in Jonestown, PA (near Berwick, PA) for K-Love station WLKA 88.3 Tafton, PA. It picks up the signal from 88.3 off the air. A few years ago (2014, I believe) they moved the 88.3 transmitter to another tower location. The receiving antenna for the translator wasn't adjusted for over 7 months. They were broadcasting mainly dead air with an occasional blip of audio for a few seconds. Apparently the receiver has a muting circuit that eliminates weaker signals for the audio feed. I suspect that they may have someone who is supposed to monitor the translator, but they aren't actually listening. In May 2016 the receiver for the translator started to drift toward 88.1. Apparently the receiver tunes a wide range. It was picking up the signals of both 88.1 WRGN Sweet Valley, PA and 88.3 WLKA. It was rebroadcasting both audio steams simultaneously. The tuner slowly drifted closer to 88.1 and the 88.1 signal became dominant, but it still picked up 88.3. This continued unchanged until late July 2017 when a thunderstorm knocked the translator off the air. The 2 station audio stream was rebroadcast for over 15 months. There apparently should have been someone listening to the audio on the translator, but again they weren't. Over that 15 month period, the audio being broadcast by the translator could not be listened to for other than a very short period of time due to the two audio streams being rebroadcast. The 107.1 translator was owned by the engineer who initially applied for it from Colorado. It was "transferred" to K-Love later in 2015 (if I recall correctly). If someone was supposed to monitor the translator they weren't doing their job (Bob Seaman, Hazleton, PA, ibid.) ** U S A. INDIANAPOLIS GETS A NEW RADIO STATION — AND IT ISN'T TODAY'S TOP HITS Domenica Bongiovanni, d.bongiovanni@indystar.com Published 10:19 a.m. ET April 4, 2018 | Updated 4:06 p.m. ET April 6, 2018 Musician Oreo Jones hosts his monthly experimental music show Sound Lab, on 99.1 FM WQRT at Big Car's Listen Hear on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018. Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar 636555231219327472-MP173889-2.jpg Buy Photo (Photo: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar) Story Highlights Want to get involved at WQRT? Community call-out meeting: 7 p.m.-9 p.m. April 9 at Tube Factory artspace, 1125 Cruft St. Or, email info@wqrt.org Last fall, the CD player wasn't working in Daniel Chamberlin's Subaru Outback. He didn’t have an auxiliary input to plug in another device, so he turned on the radio, spinning through stations until he hit on one playing music from Aphex Twin's first volume of "Selected Ambient Works." Chamberlin stopped, shocked. The experimental electronic music — what he called the "holy record for people who came up in the rave scene" — is neither easy on the ears nor in the regular rotation for most radio stations. He'd stumbled upon WQRT 99.1 FM, the new radio station run by Big Car Collaborative, the Garfield Park-based cultural organization. Since February 2017, WQRT has been running the low-power station out of Listen Hear, the garage-sized building across Shelby Street from Big Car's headquarters at the Tube Factory artspace. . . https://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/arts/2018/04/04/indianapolis-gets-new-radio-station-and-not-todays-top-hits/377017002/ (via Blaine Thompson, Indiana Radio Watch via John Carver, DXLD) One wonders if the station was aware of the irony in such a callsign? ** U S A. REINVENTING LOCAL TV NEWS To attract young viewers, stations are going digital-first, crowdsourcing reporting, experimenting with augmented reality, and injecting more personality into the news http://niemanreports.org/articles/reinventing-local-tv-news/ (via Blaine Thompson, Indiana Radio Watch via John Carver, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Reception of Adventist World Radio via Tashkent Apr 20 till 1330 9955 TAC 100 kW / 131 deg SEAs several seconds V of Tibet 1330-1400 9955 TAC 100 kW / 131 deg SEAs Hmong Thu/Fri, fair to good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/04/reception-of-adventist-world-radio-via_12.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, April 20-21, WOR iog via DXLD) Vs WRMI over here. V of Tibet normally via TAJIKISTAN on other frequencies; apparently on same feed/link input channel (gh) ** VATICAN [non]. 11875 kHz, strong S=9+20dB signal heard, seemingly after Vatican Radio in Russian to Asia Far East, but heard only the VR interval signal just before off switch at 1250:01 UT, at US IBB Tinang site in PHL, on April 22 [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, DF5SX, WWDXC BC-DX TopNews April 22 via BC- DX April 22 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. [Re 18-16, UNIDENTIFIED] - - - - WRTH Facebook page: James Whitney Young: 4/18/18 - 7155.00 was weaker this morning than the previous two days. I checked for possible // to VOV on 7285. During VOV's loudest music played at 1255, I was only vaguely impressed the two were //. But I then had CRI signon at 1258 on 7285, so that masked any other ability to check for // transmission with 7155. James Whitney Young: I further checked for a possible extra spur 130 kHz above 7285, on 7415, but found nothing at all. 7155 went off the air as it did yesterday at 1328. Ron Howard: Hi Jim - Was listening at the same time today as you were. When the distinctive music started at 1255, I was able to confirm a positive 7155 // 7285. So in fact a VOV spur. Thanks to you and Mauno for your assistance. As you say, impossible to check // after 1258 on 7285, after the start of the big CRI signal. James Whitney Young: As I have suspected all along (for years), your reception is far better than mine. I was biased at 1255+, so didn't want to make the judgement as positive. Back to bed (via Ron Howard, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) 9635.823, much odd frequency of V of Vietnam from Son Tay, domestic Vietnamese program. S=9+5dB at 0742 UT. Log April 23, at 0720 to 0800 UT Checked on remote SDR unit on Thai-Cambodian border in South East Asia [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 23, dxldyg via DXLD) 6020even, V of Vietnam 4th domestic service, from DacLac Buon Me Thuot, S=9+15dB 5975even, VoVietnam 1st dom sce, from Son Tay site, fair S=7-8 5925even, VoVietnam 2nd dom sce, from Xuan Mai site, S=7 fair at 0518 7210even, VoVietnam 1st dom sce, from DacLac Buon Me Thuot, S=9+20dB at 0522 UT April 24. 50 Hertz + 188 Hertz strings buzz. 7435even, VoVietnam 1st dom sce from Son Tay, S=9+10dB at 0527 UT and \\ 9635.841, VoVietnam 1st dom sce from Son Tay, S=9+20dB at 0528 UT. 11720even, VoVietnam 1st dom sce from Son Tay, S=9+30dB powerful nice audio quality, at 0542 UT. 9.6 kHz wideband excellent. 0511-0615 UT on remote SDR unit on Thai-Cambodian border in SE Asia [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [and non]. 11720 even frequency. Terrible mixture til 1256 UT, CRI Baoji Xinjie #722 center in Vietnamese at 150 kW level, S=9+15dB heard at THA/CBG area remote SDR. And underneath co-channel other Vietnamese signal of V of Vietnam 4th service via (Hanoi) Xuan Mai site (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 22, BC-DX April 22 via DXLD) 11720even V of Vietnam 1st dom sce from Son Tay, S=9+30dB powerful nice audio quality, at 0542 UT. 9.6 kHz wideband excellent (Bueschel, Apr 24, ibid.) ** ZANZIBAR. 11735, ZBC, 1809 English ID by W at end of news as "This is the English news from Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation. Thank you for listening". Best signal during the English news in quite a while. 18 April. Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop antenna. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5050-LSB, a spy? April 22, from 1047 till ended shortly after 1304. OM in Russian(?); very brief spots about every minute (not timed regularly); some segments with slightly more words than others. Of course heard mixing with China (Beibu Bay Radio) on frequency. In all my years of monitoring BBR, have never heard this before. Didn't note any unusual conditions, but seemed more or less like normal propagation today. Have edited together eight brief segments; my audio http://goo.gl/y6EQva Appreciate any assistance with this, as to the language and/or ideas as to who it might be. Appreciate any comments! Thanks (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) Thanks very much to Mauno for this per WRTH Facebook page. Ron Mauno Ritola Not a number station, but a lot of numbers in Russian, maybe some aviation telecomms station? (via Ron, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 5055.978, April 24 at 1241, JBA carrier. Could 4KZ Australia be off-frequency? Nothing on 5055.0 and this trace is about what I used to hear there. Also noticed yesterday but not logged or measured. Could be local device, but not here previously (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6116.58-USB approx., April 19 at 0610, weak INTRUDERS, 2-way in tonal language, maybe Chinese; no broadcasters around at this time tho Japan & Congo should be on 6115-AM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9209.2 USB, 2210-2234 tune-out. Woman with evangelical religious talk. Strong. 18 April 2018 (Don Moore, San Ramón, Perú, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Language? Checked here within the hour but nothing heard (Glenn Hauser, OK, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 15054.5-USB, April 24 at 1313, big racket of background engine noise, on colloquial Spanish 2-way; first words recognized, ``puta madre``, en contacto with much weaker ``Juanito, cambio``. Still something there at 1353 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ACKNOWLEDGED ON WORLD OF RADIO 1927: Thanks also to Chuck Ermatinger, for a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED FUTURELY: Great show. Keep up the good work (David Cheever, also via PayPal) Note from Brian Scott Gamble: Hello Glenn. Thanks again for WOR. Just wanted to drop you another donation for the cause. All the best, Scott Gamble (via PayPal) Hi Glenn, I always enjoy your weekly DX Digest. Thank you for all the great DX years! (Michael Stone, Arlington Heights, IL. WWW.PixelXaos.Com via PayPal) Thanks to William Hassig, Mount Prospect IL, for a check to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 (along with a `Black Collar Crime` report featuring The Overcomer, from http://ffrf.org ) Hope all is well with you. Your long "career" in radio listening is very interesting. Hope you can continue with it. 73 - (Ronnie Miller - K5WLT, April 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WORLD OF RADIO HITLIST UPDATE Hi Glenn, my latest Hitlist update. http://www.w4uvh.net/hitlist.htm 1) Argentina - RAE: Added alternative live stream link 2) Bangladesh - Bangladesh Betar: Added link to English programme sked 3) Bulgaria - R Bulgaria: Removed obsolete links to podcasts and webcasts (I suppose that I will eventually remove this entry altogether as they have no international radio broadcasts anymore - not even online/downloadable programmes). 4) Bulgaria - SpaceLine Bulgaria: Added link to SpaceLine's Facebook page 5) Germany - Shortwave Service: Removed redundant links for Frequency/Programme schedules 6) Thailand - R Thailand: Added link to Facebook page 7) USA - VOA: Added link to second Music Time in Africa Facebook page 8) USA - WMLK: Added link to Facebook page 9) USA - WRNO: Amended link to WRNO program sked; removed obsolete to freq sked; added link to Facebook page Next update is expected to be end of May. Best wishes and 73 (Alan Roe, April 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DX/SWL/Media Programs Updated: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html World of Radio schedules: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html LANGUAGE LESSONS See also AZERBAIJAN; SWAZILAND ++++++++++++++++ SANCIONAR >>>Yes, it is clear from the context, but I fear that like in English it is one of those words which can also mean exactly the opposite, and is best avoided (gh, DXLD) Yes, it can cause confusion to non Portuguese speaking persons translating from Portuguese to English. Sancionar is a direct transitive verb. The Portuquese equivalent of the English word sanction is sanção, a feminine substantive plural word. https://www.dicio.com.br/sancao/ Regards, (Vince Ferme, Ottawa, ON, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NEW & REASSIGNED LANGUAGE CONSULTANTS: African languages, Mal Agassi, Sarah Leone & Maurice Tania Alpine languages, O. Lee O’Lahey Biafran, Glenn Hausa Cajun, Billy Bob “Gator” Boudreaux & Okra Winfrey Creole, Addie Dasha Pepper & Reggae Jackson Cuban, Marty Jammer & Bob Aloo Dixiese, Bailey Cotton, Yul Kumbaknow & Frank Lee Scarlett Ethiopian, Haile Unlikely Gaelic, Sharon B. Gorrah & Hettie O’Dyne Inuit, Iggy Loo Tuktoyuktuk & Yukon B. Serious Italian, Isabella Ringing, Thad Samoray & Harry Verderchi Klingon, Sheldon Homqoqdaq Korean, Kim Ping Pong & Kim Chi Meso American languages, Lucy Sonido & Bess Amy Mucho Monagasque, Bette DeFarme Northern Downunderese, Katherine Alice Tennant Quechua, Matthew Picchu & Andy Huaylas Russian, Warren Peace, Heywood Jabuzzov & Ollie Garchy Serbian, Victor Yugo Special English, Sloan DeLiberate Swahili, Tanya Zania Tagalog, Philip Pinot Texan, Al & Mo Paso Turkish, Anna Tolia Ukrainian, Cher Noble With homage to Click & Clack, the Tappet brothers (MARE Tipsheet, Harold Frodge, ed., 20 April via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO AND SHORTWAVE MEETINGS IN MAY (From EDXC News - by Risto Vähäkainu of the Finnish DX Association) Dates: May 4-6 Location: Jönköping, Sweden Description: DX-Parlamentet 2018, the annual meeting of the SDXF Organization: The Swedish DX-Federation (SDXF) More info: www dot sdxf dot se, dxp at sdxf.se Note: Partly joint meeting with Arctic Radio Club. Special guest: Mika Mäkeläinen Expected attendance: 50 Dates: May 17-18 Location: Elkhart, Indiana, USA Description: Annual NASB Conference Organization: National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters More info: www dot shortwave dot org [also open to individual SWLs; no registration fee] Dates: May 18-20 Location: Dayton, Ohio, USA Organization: Dayton Hamvention More info: www dot hamvention dot org More dates for 2018 here: https://edxcnews.wordpress.com/2018/02/18/radio-and-shortwave-meetings-2018/ (via Mike Terry, WOR iog via DXLD) MUSEA +++++ RADIO RADIO... Hi BDXC, I've added a couple of pages recently to my website which may be of interest. Visits to the Museum of Rock Art in the Hook of Holland & the RAF Radar Museum in Norfolk. Some pictures on the website & I can highly recommend both places! Different topics, but still all part of this wonderful radio hobby! All the best. Jim Salmon http://www.emmatoc.com/radioradio-1/4594259721 http://www.emmatoc.com/radioradio-2/4594280134 (James Salmon, April 20, bdxc_news iog via DXLD) RFE/RL ARCHIVED LETTERS Hello from passed -------------------------- Recently I accidentally learned that the RFE / RL archives, including letters of radio listeners with names and addresses on envelopes, were transferred to the Open Society Archive and are publicly available. And I learned about this when some people in the VC began to publicly discuss me and my letter to Radio Liberty, which I wrote about in 1989. Such here is greetings from the past (Fedor Brazhnikov, Irkutsk, Russia / "deneb- radio-dx" via Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ HAWAII DX My wife, a DX-398 and a marvelous Gary DeBock FSL ventured to Kailua- Kona (Big Island), Kaanapali (Maui) and Lihue (Kauai) 3/29-4/16. Foreign DX is listed below; domestics will come later. Time is HST [UT - 10] since this is meant to reflect what you would more than likely hear if you were there and not what you would necessarily hear from the Mainland. Except as noted, all loggings are between 8:30-10:30pm local time. Please note there are no Kauai loggings; the time share we were in was hopelessly overwhelmed by QRN. This was disappointing because I was looking forward to comparing reception with what I heard in Poipu in 1984. 612 – 4QR Brisbane. Fair in both Kona and Maui. 621 – TUVALU. Reasonable strength in Kona and good on Maui 4/4 5am but only a het on Kauai. 666 – Japanese 4/4 5am, Maui (JOBK Osaka) 747 – JOIB Sapporo even with UNID 4/4 5am, Maui 774 – 3LO Melbourne & JOUB Akita mixing it up 4/4 5am, Maui 846 – KIRIBATI. I have no notes indicating I ever heard this station from anywhere 963 – Very loud 4/4 5am but I didn’t hang around long enough to ID it 972 – HLCA very loud 4/4 5am, Maui 1017 –TONGA. Good in Kona but mixed with an excitable 2KY on Maui. I think I heard JJ in there too (JOLB Fukuoka) 1044 – CHINA. Changzhou presumed with JJ programming. Very loud 4/4 5am Maui 1098 – V7AB MAJURO. Gangbusters in Kona but barely even a het on Maui (KFAX loud). 1350 – UNID Asian. Sounded Japanese but Hiroshima has only 20kw. 1440 – KIRIBATI. Very strong in Kona but not a peep from it in Maui. From Kona, ABC news 4/1 9pm followed by hymn-like chorale. At 9:37p, weather and tides by soft-spoken lady in English followed by ID. Very strong level. 1440 – JOWF Sapporo. Good level with kiddie program 4/11 5am. 1548 – 4QD Emerald fair 3/31 10p, Kona 1593 – Chinese fair 4/11 5am. Changzhou presumed. 4/4 5am, Maui. As for Hawaii, all stations were heard in all three locations. KWAI- 1080 is the weakest of the 5kw stations. KIKI-990 has a bad hum. KNUI- 550 is poorer in all locations than KMVI-900. In Kaanapali (NW corner of Maui), the mid-island stations (KNUI KCIK KMVI KAOI KEWE KUAU) don’t do a great job. Many Honolulu stations are louder. Domestics: coming up. (Pete Taylor Tacoma, WA 12225w 4719n HQ180 & ICF2010 Kiwa aircore & Palomar loops DX398, SRF-59 & M37V Eton E100 + Tecsun PL-300/380, nrc-am gg via DXLD) As noted previously, my wife, a DX-398 and a Gary DeBock FSL went to Kailua-Kona, Kaanapali (Maui) and Lihue (Kauai) 3/29-4/16. Foreign DX was covered previously; this reflects reception of Mainland domestics. There was no DX from Kauai because of overwhelming QRN. All times HST. Strongest U.S. stations every night from both places: 580-KMJ, 1460-KION, 1110-KBND (usually //KPNW-1120 W/CTC), 1580-KBLA The post relates to reception of domestic stations. Unanticipated loggings: 630 - KIDD (strange variety of semiclassical music) 630 - CHED 4/3 9pm, Maui 640 - Unknown under KFI (probably KYUK) 660 - KTNN (chanting) and CFFR 790 - KABC 850 - KICY abrupt carrier cut mid-hymn 9pm 4/10 from Maui 850 - OC 8:55p, Maui (perhaps KICY w/early signoff or prep for pattern change) 860 - K-Talk, KPAM or KTRB (maybe it was K-Pam) 890 - KBBI 4/6 9pm, Maui 910 - SS, KKSF? 920 - SS? 960 - CFAC Jets Network, 4/10, 8p Maui 970 - KFBX Fairbanks w/wx, 4/3 9pm Maui 1140 - CHRB mixed with KHTK 1150 - KEIB LA 1170 - KLOK Asian, 4/11 8p, Maui 1320 - KIFM Sacto. ESPN 1380 - CTC, presumed KTKZ 1550 - Asian (either KZDG or KRPI) 1600 - KVRI (Asian) 1600 - UNID - ESPN Other expected regulars: 670-KBOI, 680-KNBR, 710-KIRO, 720-KDWN, 730-CHMJ, 750-KXTG, 770-KTTH, 780-KKOH, 820-KGNW, 840-KXNT, 930-CJCA, 950-KJR, 980-CKNW, 1010-CBR, 1050-KTCT, 1060-CKMX (under KIPA), 1070-KNX, 1090-sports, 1100-KFAX sometimes, 1120-KPNW, 1160-KSL, 1190-KEX, 1300-KAPL, 1410-CFTE, 1510- KGA w/Asian under (KSFN?), 1530-KFBK (w/someone under), 1560-KNWZ, 1590-KLIV, 1640-religion (probably KDIA). For the record, there are Hawaiians on 550 570 590 650 670 690 740 760 830 880 900 940 990 1040 1060 1080 1110 1210 1240 1270 1370 1420 1500 1540 1570. Both Kailua-Kona (Big Island) and Kaanapali (Maui) are on the West side of their islands. Also, our rooms in both places were facing South/Southwest which was desirable because I was seeking stations in those directions. This was not favorable for Mainland station receptions but that seemed not to be a problem. The dial was very porous the night of 4/11 on Maui. Also, there was something on just about every domestic frequency while driving around Poipu, Kauai the night of 4/15. It was fun. Thanks to Gary DeBock for his creation. For the record, TSA people at airports in Kona and Kahului were mystified and took 10- 15 minutes to explore before letting the FSL through. Having the descriptive booklet helped. Aloha! (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, FSL courtesy of Gary DeBock, ibid.) Thanks very much for the extremely detailed transoceanic DX reports from Hawaii, Pete. These are far and away the most extensive North American DX logs every compiled by a "Frequent Flyer" FSL antenna user in Hawaii (and there have been 5 trips so far to the Aloha state, including two from yours truly). In the Cook Islands I wasn't really trying for North American DX, but several stations did show up as I was checking sunset skip to New Zealand. 1070-KNX, 1160-KSL, 1170-KFAQ and 1640-KDIA all come to mind. Of course the Hawaiian stations were all potent in the Cook Islands, and several of them wiped out nearby TP-DX frequencies. Thanks again for the outstanding DX logs from Hawaii (and from your European and Caribbean cruises, earlier)! (Gary DeBock (back in nearby Puyallup), nrc-am gg via DXLD) MUSINGS ABOUT DXING ABOARD A CRUISE SHIP Having spent a month now aboard the Holland America Line cruise ship, the Noordam, and now 5 days out from Honolulu, I thought it might be interesting for some to read about my experiences with DXing from a large cruise ship on the open ocean. This isn’t the first time I’ve DX’d, having done so about 9 years ago on almost the same voyage between Sydney, Australia and North America. On that first voyage across the Pacific, I used a brand new Gary Debock furnished Eton e1 ultralight receiver, modified with an external ferrite rod, with an adjustable coil. From within the ship, of course, reception is near impossible. On that voyage, I DX’d from the aft end of the ship, high up on near the pool, in the open. Most of my DXing occurred after dinner, when the area was deserted. I recall the noise to be very low, and results very good, especially around New Zealand, where I was able to confirm most stations (on MW) on the air. I did no recordings, but posted occasionally to DX lists. In those days, SW was more widespread, so I also spent some time on those bands (recalling Radio Malaysia, for example, on 15295 in English after sunset), using about 20 feet of random wire attached by alligator clip to the Eton’s whip. Three years ago, we spent 35 days aboard another HAL ship, sailing from Vancouver, down the west coast of North and South America, around Cape Horn, to the Falklands, and finishing the journey in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On that voyage, I elected to bring along my original SDR-IQ, with an old Wind small laptop. For an antenna, I brought about a 50’ length of random wire, through an impedance matcher, and into the IQ. DXing was done at the back of the ship, below the pool deck, along a very private area that virtually no one used, keeping me away from the many prying eyes and quizzical looks! Again, results were very good for more local MW broadcasts, and also for reception of LRA 36 on 15476 from Antarctica, which I enjoyed daily. Drawback was that I was limited to 192 kHz of bandwidth at a time. On this voyage, from Sydney to Tasmania, to New Zealand, and then back to Sydney, before proceeding to New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, American Samoa, and upcoming to the Hawaiian Islands, and home to Vancouver, I brought with me my underutilized Elad FDM-SW2 SDR, and a pretty fast Asus U36S series 13” laptop, and a Wellbrook ALA 100 loop antenna. For the first time, we have a veranda room on the 7th deck, high above the water on the starboard side of the vessel. The first issue was to erect a loop. For this, I had brought some speaker wire which I was able to erect in a fixed near square loop oriented directly in the plane of the side of the vessel. Drawback # 1: Directionality is fixed, wholly dependent on the ship’s direction. The antenna and the ALA 100 antenna head have produced all of the issues, and have not been totally satisfactory. Of course, there’s a certain amount of electrical noise in the ship, but I think most of the noise I’m seeing is coming from the antenna head itself. Let me explain. On to Drawback # 2: The balcony, despite being 7 decks up is exposed to a huge amount of salt water spray and up to hurricane force winds. Unfortunately, the salt water infiltrated the antenna head, causing it to fail. A quick email response from Andy Ilkin from Wellbrook (and with the help of my wife) solved, in part, the problem with the salt water contamination. Having been unable to find any isopropyl alcohol on-board, I used one of the little single shot vodka bottles in the room fridge to soak the BNC connector for several hours. After drying, the antenna indeed came back to life. Thank goodness! Still, there remains more noise than I’d like to see, especially in the upper half of the MW band, making it almost useless to monitor. The lower half of the band remains quite quiet, except for Drawback # 3: Whether it’s the ALA 100 antenna head, or just the design of the ALA, the position of the wire is VERY sensitive. The noise floor fluctuates continuously, with the movement of the wires, and of course, I’m unable to stabilize this sufficiently to eliminate this, due to the constant wind. Taping to the plexiglass balcony ledge works temporarily but invariably, the wind, and saltspray loosens the tape (old white surgical tape), leaving the loop to flap in the wind (and with it major white residue marks on the plastic --- hope no one from HAL notices ;-) . Here’s a screen capture of the MW spectrum and noise floor: Please see below for the image! [visible on the WOR iog post] As you can see, the noise increases from a very respectable – 115 dB to a noisy – 90 dB --- not so good. I might add, that the coax used is a small diameter RG-174, 50 ohm cable --- perfect for the job of fitting under the balcony door without damaging either the door, or crushing the cable. I wish I had brought another antenna head with me, but alas, I did not. In can some of you wondered about making your own loop, I would argue that nothing would stand up to the severe winds experienced on the ship, and only using the ship’s superstructure is robust enough as an antenna support. Drawback # 4: Finding the time to DX. Life aboard ship is very busy! While in port, we’re always off the ship, so DXing during those days is impossible. On sea days, there’s breakfast, lunch, and supper, evening shows, often lectures in the morning and afternoon, exercise, etc., etc. Spending too much time in front of the SDR screen is also not conducive to a happy spouse, so one needs to be cautious here! Attempting to DX overnight also did not work as the flashing lights from the computer and its screen promptly awoke my wife. Again, not a way to endear myself with her!!! Drawback # 5: Some DX targets are passed in the middle of the night. On this voyage, returning from New Zealand to Sydney, the following day the Captain gave his noon time announcement, mentioning that we had passed within 15 km of Norfolk Island (my DX target on 1566) at 4:00 AM. Of course, I was sound asleep at the time. Grrr! There’s not any good way of knowing position, or predicted route. I suppose I could have asked the navigation officers, but then, in this world, I wondered whether they’d think something was amiss with a passenger asking too many strange questions! I do recall a similar problem during a cruise, circumnavigating Cuba years ago. Of course, we went by Guantánamo Bay around the same time in the middle of the night, making it a tough catch to hear AFN from that base! Drawback # 6: The record timer function on the Elad does not work for me. I only get error messages. Advantage # 1 of the Elad: I LIKE the FM function! In Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji, I enjoyed doing an FM bandscan while in port after returning from our shore excursions. This is a first for me, as my normal go-to SDR (which I still feel has the edge) is the Perseus receiver. I chose the Elad to eliminate another power source, as the Elad is powered directly via the USB cord. In many ways, I was envious of Gary Debock who was safely on the ground in the Cook Islands while we were heaving in very rough seas north of New Zealand. With his setup, he could escape the noise completely, and DX some very awesome targets, that I can only dream about here. On the other hand, we are traversing many thousands of miles of ocean, enabling some armchair copy of stations rarely heard, or very difficult catches, especially while in port. On those days, I’d let the mp3 recorder run all day, while on an excursion, so it’s fun to have a 5 to 7 hour recording of a local MW station (540 Samoa, 558 Radio Fiji 1, 990 Fiji Gold, 621 Radio Tuvalu to name just a few). I hope that this essay may have sparked some interest in cruise ship DXing. I would love to hear experiences of others that might have done similar crazy antics. Please, while on a heaving ship in heavy seas, don’t get up too high on a chair to secure a corner of the ALA loop like I did! 73, (Walt Salmaniw, 4 days out from Honolulu and one day from American Samoa. 24 April, 2018, WOR iog via DXLD) Walt, Thanks for your comments on cruise ship DXing. Of particular interest was your statement: "There`s not any good way of knowing position, or predicted route.`` We go back and forth between Princess and HAL and in nearly all cases, there is a ship-produced TV channel which displays speed and coordinates. Only twice has this not been the case: (1) we left Ft. Lauderdale for Halifax but had to re-route because of a tough storm up there (not sure why they couldn`t reprogram it on board) and (2) on our December South Caribbean cruise, they were modifying the system. Shipboard Wifi is exorbitant and slow so we usually don`t bother with it. Instead, I use he Compass program on my iPhone to get coordinates whenever there is enough signal to do it (like, in or near ports where we use Wifi at Starbucks or McDonald`s). My DX tools include a DX-398, a Gary DeBock FSL and a little cassette recorder which has line in capability. We always get a balcony and always request a room on the side of the ship which faces land the most. Thus far, I have not been sufficiently venturesome to lug the equipment anywhere outside the room. Likewise, FM is of interest too but I am not sure I would bother with it if it weren`t for RDS. We`re going on a South American cruise next year sometime. It should be challenging keeping notes since EVERYTHING will be (1) new and (2) in Spanish. (Pete Taylor Tacoma, WA 12225w 4719n HQ180 & ICF2010 Kiwa aircore & Palomar loops DX398, SRF-59 & M37V Eton E100 + Tecsun PL-300/380, IRCA via DXLD) After recalling our email correspondence just before your cruise, I'm kind of kicking myself for not sending out the new 7.5" loopstick PL- 380 model through Vancouver Customs, and taking my chances that they wouldn't delay it for a week (like they did with Colin's package in December). After spending over 10 years attempting to chase DX on U.S. Navy ships your description of the challenges of maritime DXing sounded all too familiar. Shipboard radar and other RFI sources made it tough to chase DX at sea, while the salt spray corroded any type of exposed antenna elements. Even in the Cook Islands our motel was an RFI generator, so it was necessary to walk about 50m down to the lagoon beach for noise-free DXing. But then a bizarre new problem showed up-- the enhanced ocean beach propagation boosted up multiple stations at once, so that they tended to blank each other out. I also tried for 1566-Norfolk Island, but the mega-pest 3NE seemed to own the frequency. When it took a rare fade two other DU English stations mixed at a near S9 level, making it very tough to decipher the programming. These were almost certainly the very low power 4GM and Norfolk Island, but it simply sounded like a snarled mess. I didn't know at the time that Norfolk island was relaying RNZ, or I could easily have checked a parallel. The sunrise gray line propagation was seriously slanted toward east Asia, but it shut down Japan almost completely. Obscure stations like 693-Bangladesh, 918-Cambodia and 1431-Mongolia sounded much stronger than the ghostly 774-JOUB-- the only Japanese to show up at all. Bizarre! Have a safe cruise to Hawaii, Walt (Gary DeBock, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB See RUSSIA! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See also BULGARIA; KUWAIT; RUSSIA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DRM SCHEDULE NOW WITH GRAPHICAL OVERVIEW AND MORE TECHNICAL DETAILS: http://ab27.bplaced.net/drm.pdf Unfortunately, most transmissions have unnecessarily high bitrates, which makes decoding without dropouts almost impossible. Even at 8 kbps xHE-AAC, audio quality should be good enough for a robust shortwave channel. And stability would be much better than with up to 20.96 kbps. See 03:00-03:14 min in this video: http://www.drm.org/drm-xhe-aac-demo/ By the way: Is there any possibility in the DREAM software to see if a station employs xHE-AAC? I heard that at least R. Kuwait uses xHE-AAC, but DREAM only shows AAC+ (Alex Busneag, Germany, April 18, WOR iog via DXLD) How come there is no mention of All India Radio in this file? 73, (Rémy Friess, France, ibid.) Currently, All India Radio has no DRM broadcasts on SW. DRM transmissions from AIR can only be heard on various Indian MW channels at present. 73, (Alexander, ibid.) Can't tell for sure, as I don't have a DRM receiver anymore, but there seems to be a DRM signal on 7555 right now, and that channel has been used by AIR for years. So who is it if it isn't India? Regards, (Rémy, 1536 UT April 19, ibid.) On 7555 kHz USB, there is only a DATA channel (< 3 kHz wide). India used 7550 kHz for DRM to Europe, now with analogue transmissions on this frequency. http://www.radioeins.de/programm/sendungen/medienmagazin/radio_news/beitraege/2016/indien.html In this article, Kai Ludwig links to a constantly updated AIR schedule: http://qsl.net/vu2jos/es/time.htm Regards, (Alexander Busneag, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See also MEXICO; RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ANTENNA TV VIEWING ESSENTIAL --- Update from: WKAR TV WKARTV@contact.wkar.org Are you among the many mid-Michigan viewers who rely on an antenna to watch free, over-the-air television? If so, this information is for you. May 1 - Plan to Rescan WKAR Television is scheduled to move its over-the-air broadcast to a new frequency on May 1. If you watch TV using an antenna, you will need to rescan your TV or converter box for channels to continue viewing WKAR after the change. No new equipment will be needed. April 18-May 1 Reception May Be Poor From approximately April 18 to May 1, WKAR TV will be broadcasting at substantially reduced power as crews work on our broadcast transmitter and antenna to make the required frequency change. This may result in poor or no reception for some viewers. There will also be short periods when the station is off the air entirely for crew safety when working on the antenna. Most cable and satellite services will be unaffected. Why the Change? The move is required by law as part of the FCC reassignment of broadcast spectrum to make room for cellular and new digital TV technologies. Nearly 1,000 TV stations nationwide must change broadcast frequencies through a period continuing to the spring of 2020. Tables of stations changing channels: https://newscheckmedia.sharefile.com/share/view/se12a981ba8e4372a Four stations in Michigan will 'go dark' and shut off their transmitters. Flint and Jackson have already done so: https://www.rabbitears.info/repackmap.php?channel=0&adj=N For some 'easier to digest' maps and info see: https://www.rabbitears.info/blog/index.php?post/2017/04/13/RabbitEars-Repacking-Tools And the 'one best' tool: https://www.rabbitears.info/repackchannels.php?country=B&city=&state=&mktid=&owner=&sort=loc&ph=&lss=&status= For Michigan only stations: https://www.rabbitears.info/repackchannels.php?country=US&city=&state=MI&mktid=&owner=&sort=&ph=&lss=&status= (via Ken Zichi, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ MISSOURI TV TOWER COLLAPSE: 1,980 FOOT TALL STRUCTURE KILLS ONE, INJURES OTHERS IN FORDLAND By Nicole Rojas On 4/19/18 at 2:29 PM http://www.newsweek.com/one-dead-after-1980-foot-tall-tv-tower-collapses-missouri-893488 Watch: Officials Say One Person Dead After Tower Collapses Updated | One person is dead after a TV tower collapsed in Fordland, Missouri, the Logan-Rogersville Fire Protection District reported. The tower fell just before 10 a.m. off of Highway 60 near Highway FF, KY3 reported. The tower belongs to KOZK-TV, a PBS station operated by Missouri State University. According to firefighters, a six-person crew was working on the tower when it collapsed. According to KY3, the crew was working about 105 feet up in the tower at the time of the incident. Three crew members suffered minor, non-life threatening injuries and were transported to area hospitals, Assistant Fire Chief Robert Talburt of the Logan Rogersville Fire Protection District told Newsweek. The victim was described as a male crew member, who will be identified after next of kin are notified. “We’re very lucky we didn’t have any other deaths,” Talburt said in an interview with KOLR-TV. Talburt told Newsweek the tower was built in 1971 and was 1,980 feet tall. According to KOLR, the NOAA weather radio system by the National Weather Service (NWS) is one of the services that used the downed tower. “The NOAA weather radio at Fordland (162.400mhz) is off the air until further notice,” the NWS Springfield, Missouri said on Facebook. “Please look for another frequency on your weather radio until Fordland is back on the air.” Talburt told Newsweek that the Webster County Sheriff’s office is investigating the collapse. “We are shocked and saddened by the news,” Suzanne Shaw, vice president for marketing and communications at Missouri State University, said in a statement. “Our condolences go out to the victims and their families. We are also providing support and resources to the other team members affected.” The university said that regional stations are helping KOZK-TV, or Ozarks Public Television, to restore service following the tragic incident. This article has been updated to include the statement from Missouri State University. (via DXLD) Many more stories about this can be found by searching on Fordland tower. My tip on it came from ARV, Telemundo news after 2000 UT (gh) http://www.ky3.com/content/news/TV-tower-collapses-in-Fordland-480261283.html (via Kevin Redding, Crump TN, ABDX yg via DXLD) 1,980-FOOT TV TOWER COLLAPSE IN WEBSTER COUNTY; 1 DEAD, SEVERAL INJURED, OFFICIALS SAY Harrison Keegan and Giacomo Bologna, News-Leader Published 10:25 a.m. CT April 19, 2018 | Updated 3:04 p.m. CT April 20, 2018 https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2018/04/19/tower-collapse-webster-county-1-possibly-dead-several-injured-official-said/532227002/ A collection of video pans from the ground at the scene of a TV tower collapse near Fordland. (Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader) A TV tower in Webster County collapsed Thursday morning, killing a man and injuring several other people, according to the Logan-Rogersville Fire Protection District. The tower was used to broadcast KOZK Ozarks Public Television, according to a spokeswoman for Missouri State University. Webster County Sheriff Roye Cole said Stephen Lemay, 56, of Washington state was killed while working on the tower that collapsed. Assistant Chief Rob Talburt said 50 to 60 emergency workers from multiple agencies responded to the tower collapse at 905 State Highway FF. Previous tower collapse: Ice brought down another Fordland tower 17 years ago [link] Talburt said just before 10 a.m., six workers were performing routine maintenance on the 1,980-foot-tall tower when it went down. At 11 a.m., Talburt said officials were still not sure what caused the tower collapse. The workers were about 105 feet high at the time of the collapse, Talburt said. Scenes from a TV tower collapse in Fordland on Thursday, April 19, 2018. One person died and several others were injured. Andrew Jansen/News-Leader [caption] One worker was trapped and killed, Talburt said, and the five other workers suffered non-life-threatening injuries. "It's very lucky that we didn't have more fatalities out here," Talburt said. Andrea Mostyn, spokeswoman for Missouri State University, briefed reporters at the scene of the incident. Mostyn said MSU owns the tower and uses it to broadcast KOZK Ozarks Public Television. An aerial view from 417 Drone Imaging shows the aftermath of a TV tower collapse. 417 Drone Imaging [caption] Mostyn said the university contracted with a company to perform work on the tower. She said she was not sure how long the crew had been working on the tower. MSU spokeswoman Suzanne Shaw said the workers were installing structural support to accommodate new equipment associated with a channel change. [tnx a lot, FCC-mandated repacking of UHF band! -- gh] MSU issued a statement, calling the tower's collapse and the ensuring death a "tragedy." More: Man killed in Fordland TV tower collapse was 'picture perfect dad' [link] “We are shocked and saddened by the news,” Shaw said in the statement. “Our condolences go out to the victims and their families. We are also providing support and resources to the other team members affected.” The statement said there was a crew from the state of Washington working on the tower, three of whom were transported to Springfield for medical evaluation. Logan-Rogersville Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Rob Talburt gave an update following a tower collapse near Fordland with 1 confirmed death. Cole, the sheriff, said the workers were replacing crossbeams on the tower. The sheriff’s office will perform an investigation looking for any possible criminal activity, but Cole said he doesn’t have any reason to believe something criminal occurred. Talburt, the assistant fire chief, said the surviving workers were in a state of shock when first responders arrived. John Myers, a structural engineering professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology, said it's extremely rare for any type of structure like a TV tower to collapse without some type of major event, like a hurricane or tornado. Myers cautioned against speculation but said it appears to him that multiple factors could have contributed to the tower's collapse. Depending on the age of the tower, there could have been deterioration of the structure, Myers said. He noted that it was significantly windy Thursday. Those factors, in addition to workers actively doing maintenance on the tower, could have led to the collapse, Myers said. The nearest location to Fordland that the National Weather Service has wind data on is Springfield. At the time of the tower collapse, wind speeds in Springfield were between 13 and 16 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Jeff Raberding said that's well below what would necessitate a wind advisory. Wednesday had peak wind speeds of 40 mph in Springfield, according to the National Weather Service. Wind speeds are typically higher with altitude. Scott Allen, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said Thursday afternoon that a compliance officer was on the way to the collapsed tower to investigate the cause. Allen identified the crew working on the tower as from TCI Tower Consulting Inc. and said OSHA is concerned about the collapse. OSHA investigations are required by law to be completed within six months, Allen said. Large support cables lined the private drive that leads from State Highway FF down to the tower on Thursday morning. Missouri State says the TV tower was donated to the university by Springfield TV station KY3 in the early 2000s. Scenes from a TV tower collapse in Fordland on Thursday, April 19, 2018. One person died and several others were injured. (Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader) [caption] Tom Houston, general manager of Webster Electric Co-op, said there were at least five TV, weather and radio towers near Fordland. The area in Webster County has an elevation of 1,600 feet above sea level, 300 feet higher than Springfield, making it a desirable location for tower transmissions. Lee Brown lives a couple of miles away from the tower. He said he heard what sounded like a "car crash magnified by 500" when the tower went down. He said the noise lasted for a few seconds. Brown said he came to the scene to see if there was anything he could do to help, but first responders had things under control. Brown said he knows people who work on the towers and the scene was tough to see with all of the mangled metal. Claudette Riley and Wes Johnson contributed to this report (via Jack Amelar, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ANYBODY OUT THERE STILL LISTENING TO MUSIC ON AM OR FM RADIO? I listen to music and local AM and FM programming in my car, in the evenings, and off and on all day. I collect radios and listen to SW a lot, too. I DX AM stations in the evening and try for interesting FM signals during summer days. However, I am alarmed that NONE of my music students or choir members listen to radio. Last week, a high school age student saw my new Skywave SSB and asked if it was an antique. I told her it was brand new and showed her how it worked, and she was fascinated by it. She had no idea that radios like that still existed. Then again, there are never advertisements for radios in mainstream media - just in materials for hobbyists and senior citizens (comprimario, ABDX yg via DXLD) I have always enjoyed tuning the radio dial (AM and FM) to see what interesting programming is out there. The variety is certainly less than it used to be in my area (Northern IN), but it's not a wasteland. There is a newer low power FM station in South Bend (WETF-LP, 105.7) that plays jazz music of all kinds, especially heavy on Latin jazz, catering to the L. Am. population here. There have several locally- produced and recorded jazz programs, and sometimes even live remote broadcasts from various venues. It's a really great station! I work in the same county as the transmitter, so at lunch, or driving around before and after work, I listen to it, but by the time I get home in the next county, it's mostly taken over by a station in Grand Rapids (which is still pretty weak, unless conditions are good for FM prop.) I also listen to Detroit Tigers baseball on the official Tigers AM station, 590 WKZO, Kalamazoo. Sometimes it's kinda iffy at night when they switch to low power, but I'll even put up with fading and static, just because that's the way I've always listened to baseball. I'm getting old and set in my ways, I guess (Mark Pettifor, April 18, ABDX yg via DXLD) Your situation compares with what I see. Kids do not and have not listened to radio unless it was on their phone and streamed. Radio is in trouble and probably going to be very very diminished in 10 years, Even Sirius/XM is beginning to have problems getting listeners (Kevin Redding, Crump, TN, ibid.) Kevin, your comments echo what I hear others in the DXing hobby saying. I dunno. In 2014, I heard someone say that, in 5 years, AM radio would be gone, but 4 years later, it's still with us. I've enjoyed being an active MW, FM, and LW DXer for most of the past 30 years, when I initially joined the National Radio Club. All I can say is that I simply can't imagine being able to indulge myself in any other hobby like I have this one if radio ever goes away completely. I just don't know what I would do with my spare time. 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska, ibid.) ALEXA’S ROUTINES CAN NOW PLAY MUSIC, PODCASTS AND RADIO SHOWS Sarah Perez @sarahintampa / Apr 3, 2018 https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/03/alexas-routines-can-now-play-music-podcasts-and-radio-shows/ Alexa’s routines are getting a musical upgrade. First launched last year, routines allow Alexa device owners to string together a series of actions that kick off with a simple command — like “good morning” or “I’m home,” for example. Until today, the feature included support for news, weather, traffic, smart home skills, as well as, more recently, a set of “Alexa says” commands that let you add a little personality to a given routine. Starting today, Alexa can play your favorite music, podcast or radio show in a routine, too. To use the feature, you’ll select an artist, playlist, album or station from your music library or one of the supported streaming services. Currently, the supported services are those that already work with Alexa — Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Saavn, Deezer and TuneIn. Amazon says you’ll also be able to create a volume action to control the audio output on your device. The addition has the potential to make routines more useful for those who like to have music in their home on a more regular basis. For instance, if you like to start your day with a playlist that gives you energy, you could create a “good morning” routine that turns on your lights and smart coffee maker, then starts playing your favorite upbeat songs. You also could create a routine for relaxing that includes more soothing music or a nighttime routine that locks the door then plays sleep sounds. A party playlist could be included in a routine that puts your smart light bulbs into a flashing disco mode or crazy colors. But music isn’t the only option — because some of the services support radio shows or podcasts, those can now be integrated into your routines, too. For instance, a “welcome home” routine could play your daily briefing followed by a podcast or favorite radio show from TuneIn. Although Alexa gained the ability to run routines before its rival, Google Assistant, Google’s version already supports music, podcasts and radio. So Amazon is playing a bit of catch-up here. In addition, Google Assistant routines can also pick up an audiobook where you left off — that’s oddly not one of Alexa’s routines options today, even though Alexa can read to you from your Audible library. Presumably, Audible support in routines is in the works. Music is an increasingly important business for Amazon, so better integration with Alexa makes sense. The company this week told Billboard it now has “tens of millions” of paid customers, confirming earlier reports that it has become the third-largest music service behind Spotify and Apple Music. The ability to customize routines with music and other audio content will be available within the Alexa app for iOS and Android. However, the feature is just now beginning to roll out — so you may not see the option immediately (via Blaine Thompson, Indiana Radio Watch, via John Carver, WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) GOODBYE, HONEST DXING ... http://radon.org.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8367&catid=43&Itemid=65 (Pavel Ivanov, Belgorod, Russia / "deneb-radio-dx" & "open_dx" via Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) The article is about radio amateurs, but it will also be of interest for DX-ers. In Russian. Author Ukrainian radio amateur Sergey Litvinov UX1UA http://uarl.com.ua/!_all_news_2017/UX1UA-WEB-SDR.html I agree with the author in many respects - but in addition to the title. Dishonest people are everywhere, although I want to believe that they are in the minority. It is pointless to struggle with new technologies, this is true; we are not luddites any. But we have to admit that the meaning of correspondence competitions, diplomas, ratings --- I have long ceased to consider my countries, and this year decided to make a pause (for indefinitely) with competitions - and in fact 15 years in a row participated in the Italian A.I.R. Contest and even won it somehow. As one writes My Italian acquaintance, in the latest contest on the reception of pirate stations the person who has a receiver does not have a victory :) My attitude to the web: I do not deny them and even sometimes I listen - but only when it is justified. I wonder how the ether sounds where there is never happened. Receiving the MR of China on the Web Sdr looks strange, and some low-power hobby-Europeans why not listen? Not for the sake of achievements, but purely for enjoy the program. Some of them, incidentally, in the announcements specifically write: if you are out of the zone of confident reception - here is a link to you in Dutch online receiver. Do not forget that the stations do not broadcast for DX-sources, and To receive gratitude for a good program for them is more important than "listening to you" in distant Russia, but because of the weak signal and noise, nothing is understood ":) In general, I do not see a big difference between the reception on the web and the reception on the trip. I have 2 countries (Luxembourg and Antarctica) for QSLs from travel - well, not I hear them at home with me. In the reports the place of reception was honestly indicated. Paul, certainly, it is right - it is not necessary to mislead broadcasters (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia / "open_dx" via Rus-DX 22 April via DXLD) ANIMALS & INSECTS IN RADIO - 2 On this occasion here in Wavescan, we present another episode in the story of animals and insects in radio - literally! We begin with a story from Australia, back in the middle of the year 1936. It just so happened that a wayward field mouse crept stealthily into the transmitter building of a mediumwave station located in a country area adjacent to the River Murray in the state of New South Wales. The radio station was the government-owned ABC mediumwave outlet, 2CO, which was located a few miles north of the town of Corowa and the mouse was a common field mouse. During his intrusive explorations, the mouse crawled unobserved into the 7½ kW transmitter itself. Being unable to read, and not knowing just how dangerous this excursion could be, he crept stealthily over the high tension areas of the transmitter. Unwittingly, he shorted the high tension to earth, there was a brilliant flash, and the medium wave channel 670 kHz went silent for half an hour. Likewise, there was a similar event at the small AWR shortwave station located at Forlì in Italy. The 10 kW Collins shortwave transmitter there had previously been on the air with the programming of Radio Free Europe in Holzkirchen in Germany, though with AWR in Forlì the power level had been reduced to 2½ kW. Back in October 1993, two mice entered that transmitter, they were electrically roasted, and they successfully put the station off the air. On at least a couple of occasions the American radio journal, Radio World, has drawn attention to the technical problems mice can cause in radio transmitters. In 2002, they published a story about a radio engineer who had found on one occasion a large mouse nest inside a phasor housing unit. Five years later, they also reported a suggestion from another radio engineer that copper wool or stainless steel wool could be stuffed into small openings to prevent them from otherwise being used by mice to gain entry into technical equipment. The larger rodent, the rat, can also cause its share of damage in the electronic equipment of a radio station. The AWR shortwave station KSDA on the island of Guam reports that a rat entered one of their transmitters back in 1993; in so doing, the large rodent was roasted, and the transmitter turned silent. In a very interesting incident, Popular Communications (now no longer in print) reported that an American army Brigadier General was on service in South Vietnam during what Americans call the Vietnam War, and the Vietnamese call the American War. The army officer was interested in Morse Code, and he would sometimes practice sending Morse Code on his own little Morse key and oscillator in his underground bunker. One evening, he was awakened by the sound of very irregular Morse Code coming from his little oscillator; and he was surprised to discover that a rat was playing with the Morse Code key and enjoying the sound it made. The army officer stated that this unusual event occurred on several subsequent occasions. In the same issue of that now defunct American radio magazine Popular Communications, there is also a report that a swarm of flies put a radio station off the air in southern Sweden. The small FM station, Radio Active in the town of Ystad, maintained a small transmitter building adjacent to their studio building. Unbeknownst to the staff, a swarm of flies had laid their eggs inside the transmitter equipment and when the eggs hatched, the new flies swarmed and disabled the transmitter. When the main door to the small building was opened, many thousands of newly hatched flies swarmed out into the open air. It took the staff another three hours to install new equipment and thus restore the station to its regular programming. [Jeff:] That reminds me of another animal story that occurred here at WRMI in central Florida. We have a very large C-band satellite dish which we use to receive the signal of Radio Japan. We rebroadcast the Spanish service of Radio Japan live at 0400-0430 UT on 5985 kHz. Well, a year or so ago, we suddenly started having trouble getting the Radio Japan signal via the large satellite dish. It was sporadic; sometimes it came in, and sometimes it didn’t. We checked with the engineers at Radio Japan to see if they had made any changes to the satellite parameters that might account for the problem, but they said there had been no changes. Our engineers scratched their heads and tried all kinds of things to try to figure out what was going on. Finally, they went out to the dish, took the LNB receiving device off and looked down inside. Much to their surprise, they found a wasp nest in there, and it was blocking the signal. They very carefully removed that wasp nest and its inhabitants, and our listeners in Central America were once again able to hear NHK World from Tokyo (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan April 22 via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ LONG DISTANCE GROUND WAVE RECEPTION AT MID DAY Hi guys, From my location near Cork City on the south coast of Ireland, I am hearing the 50 kW Radio Nacional transmitter on 855 kHz near Santander on the north coast of Spain in the middle of the day. It's there every day and there is no fading so I'm pretty sure it's ground wave over a sea path. The distance is 992 km / 616 miles. More info... http://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2018/04/long-distance-reception-of-spanish.html My question is, if this is exceptional? What kind of distances do most people hear in the middle of the day? I'd also be interested to know if any members have any links to material about long distance day time paths or dx-ing? Rgd's (John, EI7GL, April 18, MWC yg via DXLD) Hello John, I don't think that your reception is anything exceptional over a sea path. When they were operative (they closed down in the early 2000s) the marine Non Directional Beacons (NDBs) on the northern coast of Spain were heard on a daily basis in the daytime in the UK. And we are not talking about 50 kW/855 kHz, but a few hundred watts and frequencies below 300 kHz. 73s (Tracey G5VU Gardner, UK, ibid.) Hi John, Santander should be pretty normal given a nearly 100% sea path. You might even go further – have you tried looking for stations in the Canaries 2700 km; 100% sea path. This time of year should be good before summer thunderstorm noise levels increase. Rgds (Steve Whitt, ibid.) Hi John, In the Mediterranean area it happens, especially in winter, to get 600 and over km far transmitters. Conditions may change, of course. 50 kW is a good power anyway. Try also in FM; with tropo you could be able to receive Spain in 88-108 MHz band. Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Italia, ibid.) Very interesting reception, John, and I agree it does sound like ground wave (which travels farther at lower frequencies, hence NDB reception during the daytime can be interesting also). Years ago, National Radio Club in the USA, ran an article by Gordon Nelson about the limits of midday DX (it is still available as a reprint from them, #P11, http://nationalradioclub.org/catalog/reprints/reprints.html In it, he worked out the likely losses for a ground wave medium wave signal over various surfaces including salt water. His conclusion was that a 50 kW station's carrier level traveling over salt water would drop to the noise floor in an "urban site" (with 70's level electrical noise) at 860 miles, and best case midwinter, quiet site, 1950 miles. Of course, a carrier isn't audio, and I find that to hear weak and mostly unreadable audio, a signal 20 dB above the noise floor might be required, 12 dB more again, and things start to cook. I don't know your site noise level, or how well you're hearing audio from Santander. I'd need to look more carefully at the article, but if your site's noise level is not bad, and you're hearing occasional recognizable Spanish, 600+ miles seems possible. I would regard it as good DX, and a tribute to your receiving system, especially as you are not right at the coast (though presumably with good ground conductivity between you and the coast?). I think you would find it louder yet right at the coast. best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, BC, ibid.) Hi John, I don’t have my logs to hand but here in the UK there is a surprisingly good daytime groundwave path over water – Aberdeen to North Norfolk, over 500 km is easily possible 990/1035 kHz with just 1 kW or less. Probably OK into Netherlands too (any Dutch members confirm this?) 700 km to the Hague (730 km to Ostend). 73 (Steve Whitt, ibid.) My memory nagged at me today, so I decided to take a peek at exceptional ground wave DX over sea water. Going back to my files I found this logging: Waves AM 1566 50mW Peterhead, Scotland Svenn Martinsen (cr) Hjelme, Norway 512.0km 27/07/94 Day This was mid Summer so unlikely to be assisted by skywave reception. The astonishing fact is that this station was apparently using 50mW (rather than a more usual 1 W) Another log across the North Sea: VRN 1287 Kirkcaldy, Fife Peter Witten Saltum, Jutland DNK 791 km 06/08/02 0900 UT In this case one can assume the power was 1 W radiated. The transmitter was located 1 km from the sea. MWN 47/03 page 5. 73 (Steve Whitt, ibid.) Spain in winter on MW gives often good reception here until 0900 UT, but on January 26th, 2015 I heard around 25 stations from Spain between 1200 and 1300. In 2005, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts I could clearly hear at midday on my car radio WQBQ732/WQBE789 Logan Radio in Boston on 1650 kHz with airport information, a distance of about 100 kilometres. Possibly the reason of this “large” distance reception is that signals travelled over water between Boston and my location. 73 (Max van Arnhem, The Netherlands, ibid.) And from Newfoundland, we can sometimes hear the powerful BBC transmitters during the day - often just after lunch around 1 PM or so. And on the low power side, Azores has been noted during the day. (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) << In the Cook Islands there never was a problem with transoceanic DX being too weak-- the problem was that it was too strong >> Gary, how many signals could be heard at high noon local (i.e. groundwave) with the most sensitivity you could throw at it? In Newfoundland, the DXpedition group managed NYC, Bermuda, and Azores at noon: all in excess of 1000 miles / 1600 km. When some skip got in the mix (NOV/DEC), the former Norway blaster (1314) and UK (1215) were basically 'round-the-clock signals. Back when Turks and Caicos 530 was big power, it could be heard here on Cape Cod all day at about 1400 miles / 2000 km. (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, South Yarmouth, MA, IRCA via DXLD) I'm afraid that the high noon situation in the Pacific is a little different, Mark. The distances are greater, and there was an added distraction during this trip that made daytime DXing somewhat awkward to attempt. 630-Radio Cook Islands in Rarotonga (2.5 kW) was 164 miles to the south, and of course it was easy to receive it an S7 level throughout the daytime hours. The next closest MW station was 540-2AP in Apia, Western Samoa (5 kW) 866 miles to the west, which failed to manage even a carrier until just before local sunset. After that it was 846-Kiribati in Christmas Island (10 kW) at 1443 miles to the north, which was also a no-show in the daytime, without even a carrier until sunset was approaching. I think that your Atlantic-area daytime DX distances were probably noted during somewhat favorable autumn or winter propagation, but currently the South Pacific is in somewhat of a transition period between summer and autumn, and conditions didn't seem to be optimal for long range daytime DX. The other distraction that I mentioned earlier is that my wife is a snorkeling fanatic, and we had to carefully balance the vacation time between DXing and snorkeling. Fortunately, both are awesome in Aitutaki. Since this was an anniversary trip to celebrate out first meeting 38 years ago, and since I was already making out like a bandit in the sunrise DXing sessions (with Bangladesh, Mongolia and Cambodia), attempting to DX around local noon would probably have been pushing my luck a little too far (Gary DeBock, WA, ibid.) http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1936-10.pdf I've been looking at an old BBC Field strength test report from 1936 which was carried out with a 1 kW transmitter at Start Point in Devon before the high-power MW transmitter was opened in 1939. It was anticipated that its service to many South Coast towns would be via over sea paths. It's interesting to note the marked difference in signal levels between Southampton and Portsmouth. A medium-power transmitter on 1457 kHz at Bartley, a few miles west of Southampton was later provided to enhance West of England Home Service coverage. I think this transmitter closed in 1978 when R4 moved to Long Wave. A major concern in locating the Start Point transmitter was to avoid including areas of poor ground conductivity in the transmission paths (Ian Brooks, MWCircle yg via DXLD) Interesting report but I can’t locate an index of these reports. Where to look pls? 73 (Steve Whitt, ibid.) Would this be what you're looking for, Steve? http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/bbc-rd-report-list.pdf best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, BC, ibid.) I found two reports for the Start point transmitter while looking at photos and history of the site on the mb21 website. The earlier report used a lower power transmitter. http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/gallerypage.php?txid=1474&pageid=1641 Regards, (Ian Brooks, ibid.) :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2018 Apr 23 0149 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 16 - 22 April 2018 Solar activity was very low. Region 2706 (N03, L=281, class/area Dao/130 on 22 Apr) produced the strongest flare of the period, a B5 at 20/1704 UTC. The region continued slow growth through the end of the reporting period. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed in available coronagraph imagery. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit ranged from normal to high levels on 10-20 Apr; high levels on 22 Apr and moderate to high levels for the remaining days of the reporting period. The peak flux observed was 24,100 pfu at 21/2120 UTC. Geomagnetic field activity was quiet until 20 Apr, when unsettled to G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic conditions were observed in response to CIR ahead of a negative polarity CH HSS. Total field peaked at 23 nT around 20/0510 UTC and slowly declined to around 5 nT by late on 20 Apr. Solar wind speeds were increased from around 290 km/s to a peak of near 620 km/s during the HSS proper late on 20 Apr. The geomagnetic response decreased to quiet to unsettled conditions over 21 Apr and finally to quiet on 22 Apr as influence from the CH HSS waned. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 23 APRIL - 19 MAY 2018 Solar activity is expected to be very low throughout the forecast period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at moderate to high levels on 23-30 Apr and 07-19 May; normal to moderate levels are expected from 01-06 May. Elevated levels of electron flux are expected due to the anticipation of multiple, recurrent CH HSSs. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to reach unsettled levels on 26 Apr, 06 May, 09-10 May and 19 May; active levels are expected on 27 Apr, 07-08 Apr [SIC! means May] and 18 May; G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm conditions are likely on 17 May. All enhancements in geomagnetic field activity are associated with the anticipated influence of multiple, recurrent CH HSSs. The remaining days of the outlook periods are expected to be mostly quiet. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2018 Apr 23 0149 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 2018-04-23 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2018 Apr 23 75 5 2 2018 Apr 24 75 5 2 2018 Apr 25 75 5 2 2018 Apr 26 75 8 3 2018 Apr 27 75 12 4 2018 Apr 28 75 5 2 2018 Apr 29 75 5 2 2018 Apr 30 75 5 2 2018 May 01 75 5 2 2018 May 02 75 5 2 2018 May 03 70 5 2 2018 May 04 70 5 2 2018 May 05 70 5 2 2018 May 06 70 10 3 2018 May 07 70 15 4 2018 May 08 70 12 4 2018 May 09 70 10 3 2018 May 10 70 8 3 2018 May 11 70 5 2 2018 May 12 70 5 2 2018 May 13 70 5 2 2018 May 14 70 5 2 2018 May 15 70 5 2 2018 May 16 70 5 2 2018 May 17 75 42 6 2018 May 18 75 12 4 2018 May 19 75 8 3 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1927, DXLD) ###