DX LISTENING DIGEST 18-42, October 15, 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 1952 contents: Alaska and non, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bougainville, Brasil, Canada, Chile, China, Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Germany non, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mali, México, Nepal, Nigeria non, Papua New Guinea, Perú, Sa`udi Arabia, Sikkim, Taiwan, UK, USA, unidentified; propagation outlook SHORTWAVE AIRINGS of WORLD OF RADIO 1952, October 16-22, 2018 Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 [confirmed] Tue 0100 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 [confirmed] Wed 1030 WRMI 5950 [confirmed] Wed 2100 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Wed 2100 WBCQ 7490v [confirmed] Sat 0630 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 1231 WINB 9265 via Unique Radio Sat 1431 HLR 9485-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [ex-6190] Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sun 0300v WA0RCR 1860-AM [nominal 0315-] Sun 1030 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [ex-9485] Sun 2130 WRMI 7780 9955 Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v-AM Area 51 Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 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. NEWISH! DX LISTENING DIGEST IN PDF, HTML VERSIONS Jacques Champagne in Ville-Marie, Québec, has developed programs to convert DXLD .txt into PDF and HTML versions for his own use, and now has made them available to the rest of us. Starting with 18-24, they have been posted as attachments to the WOR iog. He says it takes about an hour to do this, once each issue is published. Merci, Jacques! (gh) Thanks also to Jacques for assisting with formatting of .txt original ** ALASKA. 720, KOTZ, Kotzebue. OCT 12 0435-0440 UT – weak but alone, matching special programming scheduled as per their Facebook page: NPR-style female host interviewing male speaker on religious topics. First Alaskan on first DX through North basement window; South window was just RFI on 720 (JON PEARKINS, Edmonton AB, Sangean PR-D15 with 200 mm internal ferrite bar antenna, on batteries only, DX Worldwide, IRCA DX Monitor Oct 20, published Oct 15, via DXLD) 850, ALASKA, KICY, Nome. OCT 6 1305-1400 UT – clear religious sermon in English to BOH, then “Music in the Night” program to TOH. Solid signal at times, alternating with Spanish from assumed Chihuahua. Amazingly free of expected QRM from KOA. Missed ID at 1300 and too weak by 1400 for ID, but who else could it be? Sent e-mail report to generalmanager@kicy.org gleaned from website. Listened again on OCT 8 around 1300 hoping for ID, but KOA dominating. Was KOA off on the 6th? First MW Alaskan for me in years; I’ll take it! (ART PETERSON, Richmond CA, awpetersonrpf@att.net, JRC NRD-545, Radio Plus Quantum ferrite loop, Bonito Boni-whip active antenna, ibid.) ** ALASKA. Re: [WOR] Brief Report from ION GNSS+ 2018 "There was also a report from the Coast Guard Research and Development Center during which the Coast Guard's test of DRM in Alaska was mentioned. There is supposed to be a final report on the test but I don't know if it is publicly available yet. I'll try to track it down." I obtained a copy through contacts at USCG. I've archived it here: http://www2.unb.ca/gge/test/SWL/2018-0568a%20DRM%20REPORT%20final%20PDF%20UDI%201732.pdf Fairly comprehensive report [112 pages] with lots of info, photos, diagrams on transmitter and receivers and reception. Includes brief discussion of reports by "amateur radio users," including Walt's screenshot using the Dream decoder. Also included in an appendix is a reprint of Larry Van Horn's article on the USCG DRM testing (-- Richard Langley, Oct 13, WOR iog via DXLD) WTFK? From page 31: ``The transmitter was operated continuously, with broadcast frequencies changed every 2 or 3 days (changed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1600 UT). The broadcast schedule can be made available upon request. Ten frequencies were requested and authorized by CG-6 (2.45, 5.20, 6.85, 8.00, 9.90, 12.1, 18.6, 22.6, 24.0, and 29.9 MHz). After initial testing and reviewing propagation predictions, we decided to use only the lower six frequencies, as the higher frequencies did not appear to have the desired range. When the transmissions were switched to the TCI-550 antenna, we had to drop the 2.45 MHz frequency as the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) was too high, causing transmitter problems.`` [and non]. From page 54: Table 6. Potential DRM locations to provide nationwide geographic coverage. Location Power Antenna Type Fairbanks, AK 25,000 W TCI-550-4 Honolulu, HI 15,000 W TCI-530 Twin Falls, ID 15,000 W TCI-550-4 New Orleans, LA 5,000 W TCI-530 Harrisburg, PA 15,000 W TCI-530 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. 4760, AIR Port Blair (presumed not to be AIR Leh [Kashmir]), 1404+, Oct 10. Per WRTH Facebook posting by Pradip Kundu (India)- "Improved signal on 4760 kHz. indicates xmtr is being used with full power," which conforms to my observation with today's signal stronger than normally heard; audio above threshold level. Nice! My local sunrise was at 1410 UT (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** ANGUILLA. 11775, University Network (presumed); 1717, 10/6; Rev. Barbie waxing about prophets -- never once mentioned the Last Days Prophet, Jim Jones, David Koresh, etc. S9 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ---- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! ----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6090, Caribbean Beacon at 0300 with a PMS (DGS XYL) monologue. At recheck at 0345, it was DGS himself. 0455 recheck had PMS again, announcer with the "three-oh three-oh" number, then the stations suddenly off at 0459 - Very Good Oct 10 (Rick Barton, Arizona SW Logs, Grundig Satellit 205(T.5000) & 750; RS SW-2000629, & ATS-909X with various outdoor wires, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11775, Oct 11 at 1329, PMS is on from TUN via CB; has been quite sporadic, not heard here nor at night on 6090 for a week or more (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6090, Caribbean Beacon at 0330. DGS XYL PMS with religious lecture to close at 0400. Heard on big Grundig and indoor shortwire - Very Good Oct 12 6090, Caribbean Beacon/University Network at 0700. I heard the Caribbean Beacon go off the air at 9:00PM local time here, but on recheck at midnight, the are back on. Dr. Gene Scott (DGS) preaching from regions beyond, the send us money music (with contact phone number), then the widow Pastor Melissa Scott (PMS). Heard on big Grundig and indoor shortwire - Very Good Oct 12 (Rick Barton, Arizona SW Logs, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11775, Caribbean Beacon at 1726 with OC to 1729 when a sermon by the late Dr. Gene Scott came on // 13845 (WWCR) to 1731 and OC to 1732 and back to the late Dr. Gene Scott – Very Good Oct 13 – I guess Pastor Melissa Scott's satellite feed was acting up as the carrier never dropped dead but the still very dead Dr. Gene Scott kept dropping dead. Also this one was noted later acting up by showing up plus and minus 100 kHz (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) So spurs on 11675 & 11875? Seek those (gh) ** ARGENTINA [non]. 9395, UT Tue Oct 9 at 0111, S9+20 RAE ATTW in English via WRMI, but no longer on // 5950, despite still shown on System G program grid (in EDT at 2100) for both. 5950 instead with `Viva Miami` mailbag playback (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. The bands weren't very good this morning (we had a tornado warning about 12 hours earlier), but I did manage to make a few loggings of interest. All reception times are approximate as I bounce around a lot. I am using a Perseus receiver with a SAL-30 antenna. 4KZ, 5055 kHz, 1130 UT. I had a rough copy at best, but I could make out the 70s pop classic(?) Sometimes When We Touch. There was another mellow pop song from the 90s I recognized a little later, but I have no idea what the name was. Off abruptly at 1151. I could see a carrier on 5050 that I presume was Beibu Bay, but nothing else ever materialized (-Tim Rahto, Luther, IA, Oct 9, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5055, Radio 4KZ, at 1017, on Oct 14. Noted John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High." Always feel a little strange at this time of year whenever I hear his songs. Oct 12, 1997, he died when the plane he was flying crashed into Monterey Bay, only a short distance from where I'm SWLing. http://goo.gl/Aq7rmM (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. How the ABC's leadership went up in flames By Australian Associated Press Published: 21:55 EDT, 14 October 2018 | Updated: 21:55 EDT, 14 October 2018 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-6276107/How-ABCs-leadership-went-flames.html HOW THE ABC CRISIS UNFOLDED: 2017 - Communications Minister Mitch Fifield writes to ABC board over concerns about Triple J changing the date of the Hottest 100 away from Australia Day. Board stands by Triple J decision, despite concerns from board chair Justin Milne. 2018 Feb - ABC receives complaints from Prime Minister's Office, Fifield, Qantas, Business Council regarding stories on corporate tax by ABC chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici. Article is amended and published. Feb 28 - Board receives a document seeking to strengthen editorial control and oversight and agrees changes are appropriate. March-May - Fifield expresses concerns to ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie over Tonightly program using coarse language directed at an Australian Conservatives party candidate. Minister also complains to Australian Communications and Media Authority. May 7-9 - Further complaints are made by PMO and Fifield about other Alberici stories. Milne is copied in to complaints. May 8 - Milne emails Guthrie seeking the sacking of Alberici. May 25 - Guthrie write to Fifield saying there had been no breach of ABC editorial standards for accuracy. May 26 - PMO complains about Andrew Probyn report claiming Malcolm Turnbull "chose" the July 28 by-elections date. Fifield also complains. June 14 - Milne seeks update via email from Guthrie on the 'Probyn matter'. June 15 - Milne follows up email with a heated phone call to Guthrie, in which he reportedly spoke about "shooting" Probyn. Guthrie describes the call as angry and upsetting and felt pressured to sack Probyn in order to "save the ABC" (which she says is a reference to future funding under threat). June 16 - Milne emails Guthrie about recommencement of Tonightly. June 27 - Guthrie confirms to minister there was a breach of accuracy standards in the Probyn report. July 25 - ACMA report finds no breach of editorial standards in Tonightly program. July-Aug 22 - Milne says the board was "performance managing" Guthrie during this period. Guthrie says she has no warning of her dismissal before August 22 or that such a performance management process was under way. Sept 12 - Milne contacts Fifield to advise the board "no longer believed Guthrie was best placed to lead the organisation". Milne says he will give Guthrie this message on September 13. Minister says it is a matter for the board. Sept 14-16 (date unknown) - Milne tells Fifield discussions with Guthrie are "ongoing". Sept 21 - ABC board gets letter from Guthrie in which she responds to issues raised with her. She also asks that the board confidentially investigate other matters. Sept 23 - ABC board resolves to appoint an external, independent, expert advisor to look at the matters raised by Guthrie. Sept 24 - Guthrie is sacked by the broadcaster's board, who claimed it was "not in the best interests" of the broadcaster for her to continue in the role. Milne says Guthrie's relationship with the government was a factor but there had been no government pressure. Guthrie says she is considering legal options and considered the Alberici, Probyn and Tonightly matters were behind the board losing confidence in her. David Anderson is appointed acting managing director. Sept 26 - Fifield announces his department secretary will hold an inquiry into the matter. Labor and the Greens say they will pursue a Senate inquiry. Sept 27 - ABC board meets without Milne before asking the chairman to step aside. He resigns. Milne denies claims he called for journalists to be sacked, saying leaked confidential emails were taken out of context. Sept 28 - Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces ABC board member Dr Kirstin Ferguson has been recommended to take over as acting chair. Oct 11 - Fifield gets report from his department secretary Mike Mrdak. Report finds no political interference. (Sources: Statements by minister; media reports; report by Mike Mrdak) (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** AZERBAIJAN. ============== The State Department hopes to resume the work of Radio Liberty in Baku. Questions of democracy, regional security, the Karabakh conflict and bilateral cooperation were discussed during the visit to Baku of US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent, reports Turan. “We highly appreciate the activities of the Azerbaijani government in order to ensure and enhance security in the region,” he said at a press conference on October 10 at the US embassy. To the question about the state of democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan, Kent replied that these questions were discussed during his meetings with the leadership of Azerbaijan. According to him, the principle of ensuring fundamental rights is one of the main principles for ensuring the development of any society. “I really hope that during my next visit I will be able to listen to the reports of Radio Liberty,” he said. Regarding the situation of the media as a whole, freedom of the media is one of the indicators for ensuring the freedoms of citizens and their rights to freely express opinions and receive information, George Kent said. Turan reminds that the Azerbaijani authorities closed the office of Radio Liberty in Baku in 2014. regnum.ru http://onair.ru/main/enews/view_msg/NMID__70875/ (via Rus-DX 14 Oct via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Heard on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde: 4750, 1940-2110 10.10, Bangladesh Betar, Shavar, NEW All Night Service with non-stop local songs, interrupted every half hour with Bengali ID:"... Bangladesh ..." and 2 minute talk, 45333. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, WBradio yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) Unknown if permanent change (gh) ** BHUTAN. 6035, BBS, 1124-1150*, Oct 9. Change of schedule today. No pre-election public debate broadcast today, even though one was scheduled to take place http://www.bbs.bt/na2018/file/NA%20Debate%202018.pdf instead was mostly non-stop pop songs in English and announcers very briefly in what seemed to be English. Recently had been hearing the debates (in vernacular) on a daily basis 1100+ till cut off about 1140* or so. YouTube, with video of one of the BBS public debates at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53dWwnCd6Qk Yet another day without PBS Yunnan relay of FM99 (China) here. 6035, BBS, 1118-1128*, Oct 10. No pre-election debate scheduled today; EZL pop song; mostly announcer, but unable to confirm the language; rather an early cut off time for them. Again no PBS Yunnan relay of FM99 (China). Will Yunnan ever return to SW again? 6035, BBS, 1100 till cut off in mid-sentence at 1129*, Oct 12. Back to the normal schedule; in English (unreadable) and pop songs; still with rather an earlier than normal closing time; PBS Yunnan relay of FM99 (China) still absent here, greatly helping BBS reception, which is now regularly heard. 6035, BBS, 1100 till cut off at 1128*, Oct 14. In English, with some pop songs; almost readable by cut off time; again very nice to find no PBS Yunnan, relay of FM99, here (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) 6035, BBS, 1101 till cut off at 1138*, Oct 15. Clearly in English, but too weak to be readable; 1101-1110, probably news; 1110-1120, music segment; 1120-1138*, with an interview. Still no return here of PBS Yunnan, relay of FM99 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6135. R. SANTA CRUZ. 2255-2306 UT. Informativo sobre garantías constitucionales. Luego, lectura de las frecuencias. Y desde las 2300 se emite un espacio de música romántica en español hasta las 2305, cuando se emite el noticiero de “Red Guaraní”. SINPO: 54444 con leve interferencias de otras emisoras aledañas y de Radio Aparecida de Brasil en la misma frecuencia (Claudio Galaz, Receptor: TECSUN PL 660, ANTENA: Hilo largo de 30 metros + balun 9:1+ tierra; Lugar de escucha: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, HCDX via DXLD) ** BOUGAINVILLE/PNG. Oct 9, noted 3325, NBC Bougainville (Maus Blong Sankamap), at 1025 with the usual public service announcement in English from the National Dept. of Health (PNG), World Health Organization and NBC, that from Oct 1 to 14, all children under 15 must get vaccinated against polio; this important PSA is frequently broadcast; today also heard the very same polio PSA in English via NBC Madang (Maus Blong Garamut), on 3260, at 1031 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) 3325, NBC Bougainville (Maus Blong Sankamap), 1156*, Oct 15. Back again after yesterday`s absence; usual format; at 1016 a discussion in Pidgin about "an individual's right to liberty and property"; suddenly cut off just after the ID for "NBC Bougainville" (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 820 kHz, BRASIL: Radio Jauense, Jaú SP, 10/10 0057. Anúncios comerciais, ID ‘Jauense’. 24542 (RG) 820, Radio Aparecida, Aparecida SP, 10/10 0100. Identificação ‘Radio Aparecida, programa Com a Mãe Aparecida’. 34443 (RG) Segundo informações recebidas de algumas fontes no dia de hoje, os 820 kHz da Radio Aparecida serão desativados no dia 12 de outubro. 820, Radio Bandeirantes, Goiânia GO, 10/10 0112. Programa esportivo, comentários sobre o Goiás FC, sobre o Vila Nova. 34433 (RG) Rx: KiwiSDR + Antena Mini Whip (Padrão PA0RDT, São Bernardo SP) 73, (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP, BRASIL http://dxways-br.blogspot.com Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4885.024, Oct 11 at 0538, R. Clube do Pará, S9 with music and Portuguese announcement, only slightly off-frequency. CODAR QRM swishes from the plus side only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Rádio Global Hits 9835 kHz (Ondas Curtas SW Banda de 31 Metros) Música e locutor indentifica! "Rádio Global Hits o melhor da música nacional" depois passou outra música sinal agradável 13:41 UTC Dia 09 Outubro 2018 https://youtu.be/RxMEfcvIaEU RX: Yaesu FRG 8800 Antena: Beverage simples (Daniel Wyllyans, Sítio Estrela do Araguaia, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brasil, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) Daniel, De onde é esta estação? Estou ouvindo a mesma bem baixinho aqui em São Bernardo SP. 73, (Rudolf Grimm, ibid.) Olá, é da cidade de Cordeirópolis SP. 73 (Daniel Wyllyans, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. Rádio Máxima 8095 kHz (Ondas Curtas SW) Música depois locutora fala anúncios. Depois música novamente. Sinal Bom. 1354 UT, Dia 09 Outubro 2018 https://youtu.be/gVDybjBgi20 RX: Yaesu FRG 8800 Antena: Beverage simples (Daniel Wyllyans, Sítio Estrela do Araguaia, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brasil, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) 8095, BRASIL: Radio Máxima (emissora pirata), Ouro Fino MG, 09/10 1653. Mx brasileira, identificação ‘Radio Cultura Brasil, Fundação Padre Anchieta’, presumivelmente um link direto da emissora pirata com a Radio Cultura Brasil SP 1200 kHz, 35333 (RG) 8095, identificacao da Radio 'Cultura Brasil', devem estar com um sinal plugado na Cultura SP 1200 kHz. Não é difícil migrar um sinal oficial pra uma pirata... varias tem feito em alguns horários... (Rudolf Grimm, ibid.) Sim, essa aí está como pirata no momento. Eu coloquei lá que os Livre não podem fazer isso. Más não consigo segurar eles (Wyllyans, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 8000 kHz, BRASIL: Radio Casa (emissora pirata), Amparo SP, 09/10 1648. Música internacional, identificação ‘Radio Casa’. 35543 9835, BRASIL: Global Hits Radio (emissora pirata), Cordeirópolis SP, 09/10 1553. Sequencia musical, locução por voz masculina. Um fading considerável, para um sinal apenas perceptível do que está sendo apresentado (música, locução...). Identificação às 1617 UT ‘Global...’. 15321 (RG) 73, (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP, BRASIL, Rx: KiwiSDR + Antena Mini Whip (Padrão PA0RDT, São Bernardo SP) http://dxways-br.blogspot.com Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9664.831, Oct 11 at 0605, R. Voz Missionária the best Brazilian by far, S9 with music; quick check for others: no signals circa 9675, 9725; weaker sigs circa 9565, 9630, 9819, 11857 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. CARRIER TEST, 2069 KM, 12 Watts, 9925, R. S. Roncador, TX in Jacaraú PB, 1558 UT!!! https://youtu.be/HskSC_CBI_s RX: Yaesu FRG 8800 Antena: Beverage simples (Daniel Wyllyans, Sítio Estrela do Araguaia, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brasil, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11856.8, Radio Aparecida at 0011 in Portuguese with a woman with talk then a man joining the woman in conversation at 0013 with mentions of “Brasil” and “Aparecida” then ranchero-like vocals and a man with talk at 0121 re-check – Weak but audible rising to Fair by re-check Oct 13 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 12288 kHz, Paulo Rádio - São Mateus do Maranhão / Brasil Música as 1600, UT, Dia 11 Outubro 2018 https://youtu.be/O_0laWx2zE8 RX: Yaesu FRG 8800 Antena: Beverage simples (Daniel Wyllyans, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brasil, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) SUMMARY of Braz pirate frequencies: (WORLD OF RADIO 1952) ** BULGARIA [and non]. Shortwave Radiogram, 12-15 October 2018 Am 11.10.2018 um 01:55 schrieb Shortwave Radiogram: Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 69, 12-15 October 2018, in MFSK modes as noted: 1:38 MFSK32: Program preview 2:55 Progress towards geostationary amateur radio satellite* 8:56 MFSK128: Voyager 2 near edge of solar system* 12:21 MFSK64: International panel issues climate change warning* 17:28 New font might improve your memory* 19:36 Images and painting of the week* 27:25 MFSK32: Closing announcements* http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2018-10-13.htm#SWRG Google-Übersetzung https://tinyurl.com/yc7cj6r8 P.S.: Relevanz "DAB+ Leipzig": http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2018-10-13.htm#6C_Leipzig (roger, germany, WOR iog via DXLD) ** CANADA. CHHA, Voces Latinas, 1610 kHz AM - Toronto / Canada Locution voice woman and men announcers and musics in Portuguese of Portugal (Radio of community Latin and Portugal in Canada). 6 KW Video 1: 09:14 UT Video 2: 08:59 UT Video 3: 09:00 UT 14 Octuber 2018 https://youtu.be/rZZ90rgp9AY RX: Yaesu FRG 8800 Antena: Long wire 50 meters (Daniel Wyllyans, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. 2598-USB, Oct 15 at 0449, synthyl with marine weather in English, S4-S5 vs storm crashes up to S9+10. 2749-USB, Oct 15 at 0450, same type of broadcast, weaker S3. Checking the Canadian Coast Guard website schedule, http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/Marine-Communications/RAMN-2018/Part2#21 we find that these both originate with VCF, altho at many other times there are separate stations, partly from NS or NL; so these may well have been in //, not checked: ``Table 2-8 - Les Escoumins MCTS/VCF - Broadcasts [starting at:] 04:37 Natashquan 2598J3E La Vernière 2749J3E Radiotelephony Technical marine synopsis and forecasts for marine areas 215 to 221 and 301 to 302. Wave height forecasts for marine areas 215, 217, 219, 220, 221, 301 and 302. Notices to Fish Harvesters (when available)`` These are the last broadcasts of the night until resuming at 0847 on both. But where are these places, exactly, in Québec? Elsewhere in sked, concerning VHF, coördinates are shown: La Vernière 47°21'28"N 061°55'30"W is in the Magdalen Islands. Natashquan 50°09'06"N 061°47'42"W is on the north shore of St Lawrence in remote SE Quebec, on hwy 138; far from Les Escoumins HQ for VCF, also on hwy 138 much further west between Rimouski and Saguenay. Above website shows many other DX possibilities on these two MF channels, on a rotating time schedule; and several other 2 MHz banders including 2582 and 2514 where I`ve yet to hear anything. Also higher marine bands from some northern stations (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Mickey Delmage last week mentioned that he hasn't heard CFVP 6030 for a while. Although reception is really poor, at 1830 I'm hearing them, I'm pretty certain here in Victoria. Not sure whether they were off for a while; perhaps that snow that Calgary had last week had some effect. 73, (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, Oct 9, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Walt and group, A check for CFVP 6030 kHz at 1900 UT Oct 9 reveals nothing here. Also checked via kiwi remote near Hanna Alberta and nothing heard. I will keep checking. 1060 heard OK tho with comedy. 73 (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I asked a friend if he had any info; his reply: ``Don, I talked to the chief eng today about the shortwave station and he didn't know it was off the air. They don't have an alert system on such a non-competitive, non - revenue generator which was why I wouldn't be surprised if they just pull the pin one day. He said last time he was out there a couple of weeks ago, it was on. He said it is running less power than what it is licensed for because the transmitter (which is solid state) had a output stage problem. he guessed it was 30 or 50 watts. If you can determine that it is not on the air at all, please let me know. It may be weaker than normal because of extremely low power. I can't hear it all on my side of town - it`s just too weak and there is too much noise. I've never really been able to hear it! He admitted there is no funding to keep it on, but it has been through the engineering department`s goodwill that it has been kept going. I told him to keep it going if at all possible!.`` I was able to hear it remotely this afternoon (IDAHO Kiwi) so it is on the air. No trace from home, though; the storm has really hurt us guys in the north. 73 (Don Moman, Lamont AB, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, ibid.) I logged CFVP 6030 today, October 10th, at 1846 with ads, followed by a male comedian doing a routine about “partying like a rock star”. Fading in and out, very poor, while fair on 1060 medium wave. DXing from my car, parked near Kalamalka Lake, Vernon, British Columbia (Harold Sellers, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. While confirming the year that CHU changed one of its frequencies from 7335 kHz to 7850 kHz (it was 2009), I noticed that the National Research Council of Canada now has a system status page for its shortwave broadcasts including a list of historical outages: https://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/services/time/status.html (-- Richard Langley, NB, Oct 13, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also has info on leap seconds, et al. None ending December 2018 (gh) ** CANADA. (1350 kHz): "Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2018-385 [...] Ottawa, 3 October 2018 Radio Humsafar Inc. Brampton, Ontario Public record for this application: 2018-0283-5 Ethnic commercial AM radio station – Technical changes The Commission denies an application to change the authorized contours of the applicant’s unlaunched ethnic commercial AM radio station in Brampton, Ontario. Background In Licensing of new radio stations to serve Brampton, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2015-471, 21 October 2015, the Commission approved an application by Radio Humsafar Inc. (Radio Humsafar) for a broadcasting licence to operate a new ethnic commercial AM radio station to serve Brampton, Ontario. As set out in that decision, the new station would operate at 1350 kHz with a daytime transmitter power of 1,000 watts and a nighttime transmitter power of 45 watts (non-directional antenna). The Commission found that of the proposals received, that of Radio Humsafar best met the needs of the Brampton radio market. In a letter decision dated 7 December 2016, the Commission approved an application by Radio Humsafar to change the technical parameters of the unlaunched station’s transmitter by relocating the transmitter site, changing the station’s service contours and decreasing the nighttime transmitter power from 45 to 40 watts. In that application, Radio Humsafar indicated that the originally approved transmitter site was no longer a viable option and that it had carefully selected a new site located in Brampton in close proximity to the original site. It added that using the new transmitter site would not alter the station’s broadcast contours, target audience and communities to be served, and would not alter the grounds on which the original application to operate the station was approved. In that letter decision, the Commission also imposed a new deadline of 7 December 2018 for the launch of the new station with the implemented technical changes to its transmitter. Application On 27 April 2018, Radio Humsafar filed another application relating to its unlaunched Brampton radio station. Specifically, it requested to change the station’s authorized contours by relocating the transmission site to an existing telecommunications tower in Mississauga, Ontario, almost seven kilometres south-east from the approved site in Brampton, and by changing the class of the transmitter from C to B. All other technical parameters would remain unchanged. This is therefore the applicant’s second request for a new transmitter site for its unlaunched station. The applicant stated that the previously approved transmitter site is no longer a viable option given that it is not possible to “achieve all necessary coordination” at that site. Further, it argued that the new transmitter site would not affect the communities to be served, and would not alter the grounds on which its original application to operate the station was approved. The Commission received an intervention in opposition to the present application from Trafalgar Broadcasting Limited (Trafalgar), to which Radio Humsafar replied. Issues When a licensee of a radio station files an application for a technical change, the Commission expects the licensee to present compelling technical or economic evidence justifying the change. Given this expectation, and after examining the information on the record for this application in light of applicable regulations and policies, the Commission considers that it should address the following issues: whether approval of the application would have an undue financial impact on incumbent radio stations; whether the licensee has demonstrated a compelling technical need for the technical changes; whether the requested changes are appropriate on a technical basis; and whether approval of the application would undermine the Commission’s licensing process. Financial impact on incumbent stations In its intervention, Trafalgar indicated that the proposed technical changes could cause interference to its ethnic commercial AM radio station CJMR Mississauga, and could therefore have an undue financial impact on that station. It also questioned how the applicant can be certain that approval of its proposed technical changes would not have a financial impact on other radio stations. In its reply, Radio Humsafar stated that it would remedy any valid interference complaints as outlined in the Department of Industry’s (the Department’s) regulations. In regard to possible interference to CJMR, the Commission notes that it is the responsibility of the parties involved and of the Department to resolve any interference issues. Moreover, the Department has deemed Radio Humsafar’s application conditionally technically acceptable. The Commission further notes, however, that approval of this application would result in a significant increase in the overlap between the population that would be served within the primary service contour of the unlaunched station and the population currently served within the primary service contour of the ethnic AM radio station CINA Mississauga, operated by 1760791 Ontario Inc., which could have an undue financial impact on that station’s operations. In light of the above, the Commission finds that approval of the requested technical changes could have an undue financial impact on an incumbent station. Technical need for the proposed technical changes Radio Humsafar submitted that the previously approved transmitter site is no longer a viable option for its unlaunched AM radio station. It added that it has been difficult to find a transmission site that suits the specific needs of its unlaunched AM radio station and at the same time abide by the approvals and bylaws established by the cities of Brampton and Mississauga. The applicant added that it has invested a lot of its time and money to secure a completely new transmitter site. Radio Humsafar did not provide details, however, as to why the previously approved transmitter site was no longer viable. Further, it did not provide any information regarding the nature of the issues or any steps taken towards resolving the problems, including exploring other options that would allow it to maintain service to Brampton. Given that approval of the application would lead to significant changes to the unlaunched station’s Brampton service contours, the Commission considers that more evidence is needed to justify the proposed technical changes. Consequently, the Commission finds that Radio Humsafar has not demonstrated a compelling technical need for the proposed technical changes. Appropriateness of the requested changes on a technical basis In requesting technical changes to a radio station, the onus is on the applicant to demonstrate that the changes are appropriate on a technical basis (i.e., that the technical solution proposed will have the least impact on the market it was licensed to serve). As noted above, in approving the original application to operate the Brampton AM radio station, the Commission considered that Radio Humsafar’s proposal best met the needs of that city’s radio market. Given that the currently proposed technical changes would move the unlaunched station’s primary service contour away from Brampton and into Mississauga, the population that would be served by the station would be significantly different than the population it was originally licensed to serve. Further, the applicant did not propose any other modifications to the station’s technical parameters that would compensate for the loss of coverage to Brampton and surrounding areas and did not provide any specific evidence to demonstrate that it had considered other possible sites or options that would allow the station to maintain service to that city’s radio market. In light of the above, the Commission finds that the requested technical changes are not appropriate on a technical basis. Integrity of the Commission’s licensing process The Commission approved Radio Humsafar’s application for a broadcasting licence to operate the Brampton AM radio station following a public hearing where two other applicants had requested the same frequency to operate radio stations to serve that city. Radio Humsafar’s previous application to relocate the transmitter site for the unlaunched station substantially maintained coverage to Brampton with only a relatively small change to the size of the population to be served. In the Commission’s view, any changes to the transmitter site approved in 2016 should maintain coverage of the original community the applicant was authorized to serve. Radio Humsafar’s requested technical changes would result in a significant shift of the station’s coverage away from the Brampton radio market and, consequently, in a significant decrease in the population the station was licensed to serve. Consequently, the Commission finds that approval of the present application would undermine the integrity of the original licensing process during which the original application to operate the station was approved. Conclusion In light of the above, the Commission denies the application by Radio Humsafar Inc. to change the authorized contours of its unlaunched ethnic commercial AM radio programming undertaking in Brampton. Reminders When requesting technical changes for radio stations, the onus is on the applicant or licensee to demonstrate technical and/or economic need and to provide sufficient evidence justifying those technical changes. Further, the applicant or licensee must undertake efforts to find a solution and provide sufficient evidence that the solution proposed will have the least impact on the market the radio station is licensed to serve. As set out in the 7 December 2016 letter decision, Radio Humsafar’s unlaunched undertaking must be operational by no later than 7 December 2018. To ensure that any request to extend this authority is processed in a timely manner, the applicant should submit a written request at least 60 days before that date using the form available on the Commission’s website." https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2018/2018-385.htm 3 October 2018 (via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, 10 October, DXLD) The original Radio Humsafar is CHRN, 1610 kHz, 1/1 kW, Montreal (gh) ** CHILE. 6925-AM. RCW. Octubre 5. 2124-2216 UT. Espacio de música. Desde las 2127 se emite el noticiero en español de NHK, desde las 2140, noticiero de la VOA en español. A las 2144, identificación de la emisora como: “RCW, Radio Compañía Worldwide”, aviso de presentación de noticieros. Desde las 2148 se presenta el noticiero de la Voz de Irán y un programa de oyentes. SINPO: 45433 con fading largos. Desde las 2200, el fading se hace más leve. 6925-AM. RCW. Octubre 8. 2323-2359 UT. Espacio “La hora del lolo” con música del recuerdo en inglés. SINPO: 55444 (Claudio Galaz, Receptor: TECSUN PL 660, ANTENA: Hilo largo de 30 metros + balun 9:1+ tierra; Lugar de escucha: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** CHINA. 4870-CW, October 12 at 1237, ID marker ``DE RIS9 V``, repeating and a bit more CW which I don`t copy in marginal reception. My only log earlier this year explains it: ``4870, March 8 at 1255, CW marker DE RIS9, vs. CODAR and fading, took a while to copy the ID, better at 1322. That would be Russia if the R- were ITU allocated, but several logs in UDXF iog say this is from the Chinese Army in Beijing, on this and several other frequencies. So much for RRI, abandoned 4870v`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 15140. Out 4, 2018. 0300-0315, China National Radio 1, jammer-firedrake. Locutores falam quase que ininterruptamente, cada um a seu tempo - locutor e locutora. CNR1 chegando por aquí com bom sinal e modulation satisfatória, 45433. 15270. Out 13, 2018. 1013-1020, China National Radio 1, XX, em Mandarim. Jammer/Firedrake: Locuções continuas, cada uma a seu tempo, em vozes masculina e feminina. CNR1 com boa recepção entre nós, 45544. (José Ronaldo Xavier (JRX) - PR7036SWL, Cabedelo, Paraíba, Brasil, Receptor(es): Degen DE1103 & Sony ICF-SW100, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) If there was any speech, even singing, the jamming was presumably CNR1 programming and NOT Firedrake, which consists of raucous instrumental music only, I say again and again. 15140 target at 03-04 would be IBB Tibetan via Thailand; HFCC shows nothing on 15270 after 10, just CNR Beijing until 0900. HFCC cannot be believed when it concerns Taiwan, as shown in Aoki/NDXC at 10-11 on 15270: RTI in Cantonese, Hakka. Could you hear either of these along with the jamming? Often one cannot, one reason perhaps being that the jamming is less direxional than the victims, aimed inward toward parts of China/Tibet. However, unless you make a CNR1 parallel on a non-jammer frequency, or even distinguish the languages heard, it could be the victim. What does XX mean? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non] 7600, CNR 1 at 1200. Long talk by W in Chinese, dramatic music towards the BoH. (Likely here merely to jam SOH Xi Wang Zhi Sheng via Taiwan). Pips at ToH and off - Armchair Oct 13 (Rick Barton, Arizona SW Logs, Grundig Satellit 205(T.5000) & 750; RS SW-2000629, & ATS-909X with various outdoor wires, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9680, CNR1 at 1241 in Mandarin jamming RTI in Mandarin with a man and woman with excited talk – Weak but audible Oct 12. No sign of any CNR jammers on 25 meters today (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) 11785, CNR9 at 1208 in Mandarin // 11640 jamming the VOA in Mandarin via the Philippines with a woman reading what sounded like a children's story with a possible Asian lullaby underneath – Very Good Oct 13 – I'm assuming it was CNR9 as that is the Voice of the Literary. 11785, PHILIPPINES, VOA at 1209 in Mandarin with a woman interviewing a man – Fair under CNR jammer Oct 13 Coady-ON 11825, CNR9 at 1214 in Mandarin // 11640 and 11785 jamming the VOA in Mandarin via Thailand with a woman reading what sounded like a children's story with a possible Asian lullably underneath – Weak under VOA via Thailand Oct 13 – I'm assuming it was CNR9 as that is the Voice of the Literary. 11825, THAILAND, VOA at 1214 // 11785 in Mandarin with a woman interviewing a man – Very Good over the CNR jammer Oct 13 – I went from one day with no CNR jammers to having them all over the place but it's rare to hear them weak under this one while also hearing this one this well (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** CHINA. The bands weren't very good this morning (we had a tornado warning about 12 hours earlier), but I did manage to make a few loggings of interest. All reception times are approximate as I bounce around a lot. I am using a Perseus receiver with a SAL-30 antenna. Voice of Strait, 4900 kHz, 1200 UT. Easily the loudest signal of the morning, but an hour earlier than their schedule on shortwave-info would indicate. All in all, not a bad haul. I was hoping for audio out of the Marshall Islands on 1098 kHz, but no such luck. I'm expecting local conditions to get better after the next cold front rolls through and it finally stops raining for a while (-Tim Luther, IA, Rahto, Oct 9, WOR iog via DXLD) Hi Tim, Very nice to see your logs again. FYI - both services of the Voice of Strait, on both 4900 & 4940, have for some time now been observed here in California with a starting time of about *0940 UT. Please note the 4940 Sat. & Sun. weekend show called "Focus on China," that is in English; runs from start up of *0940 till 0955. English program is not // 4900. Whereas 0955-1000, they are // with the a report from the Strait Fishery Meteorology (Channel fishery weather), in Chinese ("It's the weather forecast about the strait in the next 18 hours. Talked about wind, waves, temperature, and the weather for the next two days"). For program info please see: http://radio.chobi.net/DX/bbs/?res:3423 and http://radio.chobi.net/DX/bbs/?res:3424 Please keep the reports coming! 4940, Voice of Strait, 1430-1455, Oct 13 (Saturday), with the weekend "Focus on China" program; started and ended with pop songs in English; as usual, mostly an audio feed from some CCTV documentary, with native speaker of English; fairly readable, about Chinese culture and history. This was a full 25 minute program, unlike the earlier weekend scheduled 0930-0955 segment, that never starts at 0930, but closer to a *0940 start, with program already in progress till 0955 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. 13740, Oct 11 at 1405, China Plus via CUBA with higher modulation level than usual, slightly distorted, and louder than RHC on 13700; 1406 starting `Roundtable`, cleared up except for a light squeal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5910.5, as of Oct 9 at 0615, NO trace now of Alcaraván Radio, since its presumed carrier was heard here September 29, despite virtually nightly chex around this hour or earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO. [Republic of]. 6115, Radio Congo (presumed), at 0510, on Oct 13. Sitting here listening to "RN2, Radio Nikkei" (Japan), waiting to hear if Congo comes on. Yes, at *0538, suddenly was hearing another station underneath Japan; sounded to be French, but unable to be positive. Pleased to find them still active! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) 6115, Radio Congo, Brazzaville, 1743-1830, 04-10, French, comments, at 1801 “Radio Congo, le journal”, news, more comments, songs. 14321. Also 0555-0615, 05-10, French, comments, ID at 0600 “Radio Congo”. 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST 18-41 via WORLD OF RADIO 1952) ** CUBA. 980, COCO, Ciudad de la Habana. 0903 October 9, 2018. Truncated anthem to 0904. Spastic they seem, on when to play it. Previous logs show 1159 GMT March 4, 2018, 0957 October 18, 2015. -- (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater FL, All times/dates GMT, IC-R75, NRD-535, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 6165, 6100, 6060, Oct 9 at 0612, three-quarters of RHC English frequencies are OFF, leaving only 6000, which is S9+20 and suptorted. The upper trio are Bauta site, while 6000 is Quivicán, per EiBi, so that explains it: Bauta probably closed at least as precaution due to high winds from nearby Hurricane Michael. Something`s always wrong at RHC. The jammers against Martí are still running vs. 6030, 7335, 7365. 9570, Oct 9 at 1417, S9+20 open carrier, as Quivicán has failed to turn off by 1400 at end of CRI relay. Something`s always wrong at RadioCuba. Obviously must be another transmitter at same site, nominal now in English on 13740, and not breaking up like Bejucal was on 13740 the previous hour in Spanish. 13740, Oct 9 at 1325, RHC Spanish with crackly carrier breakup. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 5025, Oct 10 at 0604, R. Rebelde with double audio, music and talk, both undermodulated. Or is this intentional voice-over programming? On SW it`s not so clear. One of them is not // 6000 RHC English; but 5040 has not been turned off yet, dead air. Something`s always wrong at RadioCuba. 13660, Oct 13 at 1332, RHC is S7 here, sufficient on leapfrog mixing product of 13740 over 13700 another 40 kHz lower; but no reverse audible on 13780. 13740 is S9+20, 13700 is S9+30 and no FM spurfield from it today. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 6100, Sunday Oct 14 at 0701, RHC opening Esperanto, while all the other frequencies are off. Unlike a week ago, when Esp`o showed up at 0600 on a bunch of them. Something`s not wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. 13820, Oct 14 at 1415, lite pulse jamming against no Radio Martí ---- lest we forget, RM uses this in the B-seasons, instead of 13605 in the A-seasons; why? HFCC B-18 now available confirms 13820 GB at 14-20, nothing on 13605 (and new 11860 remains M -F at 14-22) (Glenn Hauser, OK DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 15140, RHC, 1550-1602* Noticed Spanish service of RHC here with OM talking. ID at 1600 into presumed news. Sudden off at 1602. Normally they are on this freq from 1800 to 2030 daily. As Glenn Hauser is so fond of saying: There’s always something wrong at RHC. Fair on 10/10 (Don Hosmer, West Branch MI, ICOM IC-7200, CommRadio Cr-1a &/or XHData D-808 radios with G5RV dipoles & W6LVP loop, MARE Tipsheet 12 Oct via DXLD) Had been *1500- continuously past 1830 (gh) 15140, Oct 11 at 1410, S9+30 carrier and off --- got to be RHC, obliterating any trace of Oman; back on at 1411, and to remove any doubt, a bit of RHC modulation // 15230 before cutoff again. Must be IBB-like, transmitter check for upcoming broadcast from 1500. Until then, 15230 RHC is the SSOB at S9+20 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 13767-FM, Oct 12 at 1434, RHC 13700 AM transmitter is again emitting spurs in FM, best here, but also detectable circa 13633, 13566?, 13834, 13900, all with the F# tone above CMiddle. At the usual approx. 66-67 kHz intervals. I scan the 22 mb almost every morning for these, but none had been heard since a trace on August 31. Fundamental is S9+10/20, while 13740 CRI relay, not subject to this, rates S9+40. Something`s always wrong at RHC --- if not this, another anomaly. 13630 & 13770 approx., Oct 15 at 1348, FM spurs out of RHC 13700-AM, barely detectable with tell-tale F# tone but no readable modulation; even less so around 13773, 13763, 13637, 13623, 13555, so the main peaks are plus and minus 70 kHz, but now also elsewhere in between. Need to tighten them up! Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11840. RHC. Octubre 14. 2245-2258 UTC. Programa: “En Contacto” con presentación del programa y lectura de un mensaje de un radioescucha cubano que vive en México. Luego comentarios acerca de la norma de la radio digital que se utilizará en varios países, tal como el DRM y DRM+ que promociona la India. Después comentarios sobre el cierre de emisoras de AM y continuación sobre el tema del DRM. A las 2252, se emite una identificación del programa y del email del mismo y luego conexión con CO2KK con comentarios sobre la mejora en la propagación en algunas bandas altas y el proceso contrario en las bandas bajas, junto a informaciones sobre el ciclo solar actual, Frecuencias de radioaficionados debido a una reciente tormenta tropical. Desde las 2259 se emite una identificación de la emisora y el comienzo del programa: “De Cuba, un disco”. SINPO: 55555 (Claudio Galaz, Receptor: TECSUN PL 660, ANTENA: Hilo largo de 30 metros + balun 9:1+ tierra; Lugar de escucha: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) Claudio also reports extremely detailed logs of Spanish programming heard from N and S Korea, and Vietnam, like the above but even more so, as in HCDX (gh, DXLD) ** EAST TURKISTAN. 13669.964, CHINA, Usual ODD frequency of PBS Xinjiang Uighur service from Urumqi western China relay site, RTC was often odd fq on this channel. S=9+5dB at 0530 UT, scheduled 0257-1227 UT. Some log in 0500 to 0600 UT time slot on Oct 11, taken in remote SDR units at Doha Qatar, Germany, Austria, and Hungary remotes [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 9799.56, Radio Cairo (presumed); 2144, 10/7; M in English with Egypt news to 2145:17 chanty music. Copiable but buzzy & muted. At least their frequency has been consistent lately (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ---- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! ----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial, Bata, *0501-0545 , 14-10, Spanish, comments, Afropop and African songs. 25322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Friol, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) on earlier than usual in hour (gh) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. Have Ethiopia’s Airwaves Found Peace? Exiled radio programs make their way back into the country as new prime minister modifies political stance --- Hans Johnson, Oct 10, 2018 https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/have-ethiopias-airwaves-found-peace ADDIS ABABA, Ethi­o­pia [sic, as copied] — Ethiopia’s new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has been on a whirlwind peace offensive since taking office in April. He's just signed a peace agreement with Eritrea, a long-time enemy of Ethiopia. In late June, Ahmed removed three rebel movements from Ethiopia's list of terrorist groups. A street scene in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Credit: Simon Davis, DFID. [caption] A number of exile radio programs are beamed to Ethiopia on shortwave. The programmers purchase airtime on various transmitters in Europe. Ethiopia not only jammed these transmissions, but also jammed some Western broadcasters such as Voice of America and Deutsche Welle. Ethiopia used its own AM and shortwave transmitters to carry opposition group programs beamed to Eritrea. Given Prime Minister Ahmed's political overtures, has anything changed in the broadcasting scene? The Oromo Liberation Front is one of the rebel movements formerly considered to be a terrorist group. Its leaders returned from exile in Eritrea to Ethiopia on Sept. 15. Two shortwave programs supporting the Oromos cause are beamed to Ethiopia. Voice of Oromo Liberation has been on the air for more than 30 years and was jammed by Ethiopia. It remains on the air, but is no longer interfered with. The situation is the same with the other program, Radio Voice of Independent Oromia. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is another rebel movement once listed as terrorist. It declared a ceasefire in August. Radio Xoriyo is a program supporting the ONLF. It also remains on the air and its transmissions are no longer jammed. [Read: Radio Reaches Blocked Countries] [sidebarlink] Patriotic Ginbot 7 is the third rebel group. They recently suspended resistance against the government and its leaders returned to Ethiopia from exile in Eritrea. They once had an AM and shortwave radio program via Eritrean transmitters that is no longer heard. It is hard to ascertain exactly when the program ended, but Ethiopia jamming against the shortwave frequency ended in July. Ethiopia is no longer jamming any opposition groups. The same is also true of Western broadcasters. Prime Minister Ahmed's peace efforts have clearly manifested themselves on the radio dial. Credit: Trevor Cole, Unsplash [caption] Ethiopia also transmitted a number of programs via its own radio facilities directed to Eritrea. These transmissions are difficult to monitor as there are frequent transmitter breakdowns. They were once active on both AM and shortwave, but have not been heard as of late. Prime Minister Ahmed's peace efforts have clearly manifested themselves on the radio dial. These recent developments are just a few in what will — hopefully — be a long string of positive changes for the radio broadcasting landscape in a region where turmoil has been the norm for far too long (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** FIJI. 558, Radio Fiji One (presumed), briefly noted at 1253, on Oct 10, with singing; has been a long time since I last heard definite audio here; poor due to the normally strong San Francisco QRM from 560 (KSFO) (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach [near Monterey], CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Radio listening --- About 43 million people listen to the radio in France every day for an average of 2 hours, 51 minutes, according to a dossier published by Mediametrie, a French ratings service. More than one-third (38.5 percent) listen to music stations. Musique was the top motivation for listening, with 57.4 percent naming it as a factor. The news ranked second, at 52.1 percent, while weather and traffic information ranked third, at 33.6 percent. A summary of the survey was reported by the French CB News web site (Mike Cooper, Oct 14, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Hamburger Lokalradio --- program in German today, 13 October, from 0900 UT on 6190 kHz music from Robert Stoltz announcing 7265 kHz but nothing heard there. vy73 (Harald Kuhl, bdxc-news iog via DXLD) Hi Glenn, At 1040 UT I'm listening on 6190 kHz and HLR is coming in very well here, so at least we now know their transmitter is working okay. I did some checking and found their updated website, which now shows their schedule as the following, and which explains why we haven't been hearing them on Saturday afternoons in recent weeks: http://hamburger-lokalradio.net/?page_id=2229 I'll check out 9485 kHz this afternoon and see if World of Radio is audible (Alan Gale, England, Oct 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: HLR-Kurzwelle Programmschema Hamburger Lokalradio sendet zu folgenden Zeiten auf Kurzwelle: Samstag 06.00 – 11.00 UTC – 6190 kHz (49mB) 11.00 – 15.00 UTC – 9485 kHz (31mB) Sonntag 09.00 – 12.00 UTC – 7265 kHz (41mB) Aktueller Sendeplan ab 13. Oktober 2018 Samstag 06.00 UTC 6190 kHz Englisch – Media Network Plus 06.30 UTC 6190 kHz Englisch – World of Radio – Glenn Hauser 07.00 UTC 6190 kHz Deutsch 08.00 UTC 6190 kHz Deutsch 09.00 UTC 6190 kHz Deutsch 10.00 UTC 6190 kHz Deutsch 11.00 UTC 9485 kHz Englisch – New Letters – Making Contact 12.00 UTC 9485 kHz Englisch – UN-Radio – Radio City – With Good Reason 13.00 UTC 9485 kHz Spanisch – Radio Tropical – Mundofonias 14.00 UTC 9485 kHz Englisch – Media Network plus 14.30 UTC 9485 kHz Englisch – World of Radio – Glenn Hauser Sonntag 09.00 UTC 7265 kHz Deutsch 10.00 UTC 7265 kHz Englisch – Media Network Plus 10.30 UTC 7265 kHz Englisch – World of Radio – Glenn Hauser 11.00 UTC 7265 kHz Spanisch – Radio Tropical – Mundofonias (via Alan Gale, DXLD) (also via Manuel Mendez, WOR iog via DXLD) See also USA [and non] WORLD OF RADIO monitoring Hi All, Some info on the Hamburger Lokalradio schedule from their revamped website, 6190 kHz just went off at 1100 UT, and is now coming in well here in the UK on 9485 kHz at 1105. Below is their schedule - translated to English via Google: http://hamburger-lokalradio.net/?page_id=2229 [as above] Hamburger Lokalradio is a non-commercial broadcaster. Approved as division culture radio by the MA HSH. In and around Hamburg, the word-coded program can be received on FM 96.0 MHz. Trial broadcasts were broadcast on the 1242 kHz centerline. The HLR has 2 own shortwave frequencies: 6190 kHz and 7265 kHz. Allocated by the Federal Network Agency. Our broadcasts are broadcasted via the broadcast station MV-Baltic in Göhren near Schwerin. The HLR also uses the MV frequency 9485 kHz. The station has three shortwave stations: 2 x rft KSG 1300 (1000 watt transmitter power) 1 x tx am - (150 watts transmitter power) Broadcast via an automatic antenna tuner and a three-band dipole antenna. Hamburger Lokalradio confirms reception reports with a QSL card. (Return postage required) Foreign 1US dollars. Address: Hamburger Lokalradio Cultural Center LOLA 21031 Hamburg Germany I checked 49 m also before 0900 UT but heard HLR on 6190 kHz only from around 0858 UT. Maybe no propagation, which is kind of difficult (if not horrible) on SW these days. vy73 (Harald Kuhl, Germany, bdxc-news iog via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Atlantic 2000 will be on the air : - Saturday 13th of October from 0800 to 0900 UTC on 6070 kHz - Sunday 14th of October from 1900 to 2000 UTC on 6070 kHz + streaming at the same time on our website Good listening! -- Visit our website : http://radioatlantic2000.free.fr (via Mike Terry & Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Oct 10, WOR iog via DXLD ** GERMANY [non]. DW-RADIO - Schedule B18 - Subject to change - Schedule of September 20th, 2018 : Short Wave Frequencies - valid from October 28th, 2018 to March 30th, 2019 Language Time/UT Freq. Site Target Valid from-to Weekday AMHARIC 1600-1700 13780 DHABAYYA Ethiopia 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily AMHARIC 1600-1700 15275 ISSOUDUN Ethiopia 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily DARI 1330-1400 9720 DHABAYYA Afghanistan 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily DARI 1330-1400 11720 DHABAYYA Afghanistan 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily HAUSA 0630-0700 7220 SAO TOME Africa W 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily HAUSA 0630-0700 9830 ISSOUDUN Africa W 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily HAUSA 0630-0700 15200 MEYERTON Africa W 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily HAUSA 1300-1400 9830 SAO TOME Africa W 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily HAUSA 1300-1400 11980 SAO TOME Africa W 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily HAUSA 1300-1400 17800 ISSOUDUN Africa W 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily HAUSA 1800-1900 9785 ISSOUDUN Africa W 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily HAUSA 1800-1900 9830 SAO TOME Africa W 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily HAUSA 1800-1900 15200 MEYERTON Africa W 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily [the Saturday broadcasts in Hausa are all also labeled Football] HAUSA 1425-1630 15195 ISSOUDUN Africa W 03.11.18-10.11.18 Sat HAUSA 1425-1630 15320 ISSOUDUN Africa W 03.11.18-10.11.18 Sat HAUSA 1425-1630 15195 ISSOUDUN Africa W 24.11.18-22.12.18 Sat HAUSA 1425-1630 15320 ISSOUDUN Africa W 24.11.18-22.12.18 Sat HAUSA 1425-1630 15195 ISSOUDUN Africa W 19.01.19-16.03.19 Sat HAUSA 1425-1630 15320 ISSOUDUN Africa W 19.01.19-16.03.19 Sat HAUSA 1425-1630 15195 ISSOUDUN Africa W 30.03.19-30.03.19 Sat HAUSA 1425-1630 15320 ISSOUDUN Africa W 30.03.19-30.03.19 Sat PASHTO 1400-1430 9720 DHABAYYA Afghanistan 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily PASHTO 1400-1430 11720 DHABAYYA Afghanistan 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily SWAHILI 1000-1100 15275 MADAGASCAR Africa E 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily SWAHILI 1000-1100 17710 MEYERTON Africa E 28.10.18-30.03.19 daily For further information please turn directly to: DEUTSCHE WELLE Customer Service 53110 Bonn Germany Email: Internet: (via Oct WWDXC DX Magazine via DXLD) So the once-great DW is down to only 5 languages on SW ---- to benighted areas where SW is still deemed necessary; and none via the SW sites within Germany (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4055, Oct 9 at 0618, TGAV Radio Verdad carrier is still on after sign-off, S9 vs storm crashes reaching S9+20. With precarious financing, you`d think they would not waste electrical fluid. 4055, Oct 11 at 0534, R. Truth with amateur hymnody, still on as usual, altho Manuel Méndez reported it signed off at 0500* October 5; an anomaly in transmission or logging? Normally until 0610v* except two hours earlier on UT Mondays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4055, R Verdad at 1110. Old school preacher (English) and retro sounding religious music with piano and what sounded like a marimba (popular in Guatemalan traditional music). Very strong signal today. Solid S-9 with big Satellit and shortwire (indoor due to wx condx). Oct 11 (Rick Barton, Arizona SW Logs, Grundig Satellit 205(T.5000), WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 550, ABC Radio, Tegucigalpa. 1107 October 12, 2018. Newscast with ID, frequent ascending three-note chimes. Rebelde co-channel. -- (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater FL, All times/dates GMT, IC-R75, NRD-535, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. IN (702 kHz): According to http://allindiaradio.gov.in/Oppurtunities/Tenders/Documents/Neighbourin g%20Countries%2010042018.pdf there is an Panjabi Service, broadcast at 0800-0830 UT on the medium wave frequency 702 kHz of „Akashvani Jalandhar“ (sounding to me like „Je’lendar“). This information is also given by the World Radio TV Handbook 2018, page 472, and at the subpage „All India Radio : External Services on Medium Wave“ of Jose Jacob’s https://qsl.net/vu2jos/ Judging from an ongoing listening project on the internet streams at http://allindiaradio.gov.in this information needs to be verified by actual listening in South Asia. Listening to the Panjabi-stream on several days in October, I have established the following line up: 0800-0810 h: film music, announcement of platforms incl. „medium wave“ and upcoming news in Panjabi and Urdu 0810-0820 h: Panjabi news -- 13:40 h IST, as shown at http://www.newsonair.com/News-Schedules.aspx 0820-0830 h: Urdu news -- 13:50 h IST, as shown at http://www.newsonair.com/News-Schedules.aspx) Some more observations: (1) The general content of the Panjabi and Urdu news is identical as is the case with many other newscasts listed at http://www.newsonair.com/News-Schedules.aspx This is shown by the repeat of names of persons, cities, countries, key words taken from English like „artificial intelligence“ etc. (2) The Panjabi news have the audio packaging also used by other central newcasts while in contrast the Urdu news do not. (3) The Urdu newscast is also broadcast by Radio Kashmir, but not by the Urdu stream, which seems to be completely separate from all the others (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, 12 October 2018, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also KASHMIR ** INDIA. Just noticed that India is not in the current B18 HFCC file. (Peter W Hansen, Oct 15, WOR iog via DXLD) India telecom authority has not been a regular member of HFCC Prague private organization, and didn't take part regularly at the HFCC conferencesat least in past decade ... India is also NOT on current joint HFCC/ASBU/ABU B18 Frequency request file. But 'Doordarshan India' took part on https://www.abu.org.my/Latest_News-@-ABU_General_Assembly_Concludes_in_Ashgabat.aspx 73 (wb df5sx, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA [non-log]. 3325, Voice of Indonesia, via RRI Palangkaraya, at 1209, Oct 9. No signal at all; a totally clear frequency. 3325, Voice of Indonesia, via RRI Palangkaraya, at 1131, on Oct 10. In Chinese, without any QRM, as NBC Bougainville was not here today; at 1259 closing announcement for Japanese segment; 1300, into English, with news; "Today's Commentary," about an election; 1319, "Today in History," during which went off the air for several seconds and then came back again for some seconds, only to go off again and didn't come back (1323*); so today's problem was at Palangkaraya, with a good audio feed from Jakarta (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952,DXLD) 3325, Oct 11 at 1257, RRI Palangkaraya manages to modulate today with song, S4-S5, 1300 talk, but still too weak to be positive it`s English from VOI (Glenn Hauser, OK,WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Oct 11, reception of VOI (3325) not as good as yesterday! Oct 10 - My brief audio of VOI ID in Japanese and English, at http://goo.gl/HCzAdu (Ron California, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [and non]. 13610.001, IRN, IRIB Zahedan site, scheduled 0530-1430 UT, heard at 0542 UT male Arabic singer program, S=9+30dB or -47dBm, also accompanied IRN Arabic in 22 mb by Saudi Arabia spoken and music program nearby on 13609.994, ARS Riyadh light Arabic program, co-channel as jamming against IRIB Tehran. Little weaker heard in Qatar and Hungary remotes. 13780.008, IRN, IRIB Tehran Arabic service via Sirjan site, S=6 level, noted at 0559 UT, scheduled 0530-0830 UT, and accompanied by Saudi Arabia jammer service at 0559 UT on Oct 11 on 13780.002 ARS underneath music jamming by Riyadh security service. Some log in 0500 to 0600 UT time slot on Oct 11, taken in remote SDR units at Doha Qatar, Germany, Austria, and Hungary remotes [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 11, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. 7353 kHz USB, 4XZ Haifa Radio, Haifa, CW, 12/10 0458; CW marker “VVV 4XZ 4XZ”. 589 (RG). 9378 kHz USB, 4XZ Haifa Radio, Haifa, CW, 12/10 0442; CW marker “VVV 4XZ 4XZ”. 589 (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP, BRASIL http://dxways-br.blogspot.com Rx: KiwiSDR (São Bernardo SP) + Antena Mini Whip - padrão PA0RDT, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Israel Military Radio moves home Galei Zahal radio station moving to Jerusalem this month. The new 2,500-square meter building in Jerusalem will include advanced radio studios for the Army Radio channels and their digital broadcasting system. The Galei Zahal (Army Radio) radio station will begin broadcasting news from Jerusalem on October 25 at 9 am. Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman will lay the cornerstone of the station's building in Jerusalem. Construction is slated for completion in three years. Four months ago, Liberman decided to move Galei Zahal from Jaffa to Jerusalem. The new 2,500-square meter building in Jerusalem will include advanced radio studios for the Galei Zahal and Galgalatz channels and their digital broadcasting system. Since this project will continue for a long time, Liberman and Galei Zahal commander Shimon Elkabetz agreed that Galei Zahal would continue broadcasting news until the evening from its existing studios in Beit Hahayal in Jerusalem until the project is completed. The existing studios were upgraded in recent weeks with advanced digital equipment, with a news desk, work and editing rooms, and a new studio being added to them. The Ministry of Defense engineering and construction department is in charge of this work. Elkabetz said, "In September 1950, David Ben Gurion announced the founding of army broadcasting station Galei Zahal. 70 years later, having become the most Israeli soundtrack in the country, the station is beginning its move to a new permanent home." (via Oct MW News via DXLD) ** JAPAN. 774, JOUB Akita (NHK-2), 1246, Oct 10. In English and Japanese; language lesson; she asks "Are you going to wear a Halloween costume this year?", he says he will probably dress as a pirate, but she says he did that last year and this year he should be a vampire; fairly readable. This is always the best Trans-Pacific station for me to hear! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** KASHMIR. Radio Kashmir Srinagar 4950, 1116 kHz, sign on is noted at 0120 UT. Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In reply to this?: ** KASHMIR. India (4950 kHz): Some observations on the sign-on routine of Radio Kashmir --- According to https://qsl.net/vu2jos/ (as of 28 September 2018) the schedule of Radio Kashmir is as follows: s0030/w0100-0215 4950 kHz (50 kW) 0225-0501 h: 6110 kHz (50 kW) 0501-0600 h: 6110 kHz (50 kW) Sundays only 0600-1115 h: 6110 kHz (50 kW) 1120-1743 h: 4950 kHz (50 kW) 2115-2215v h; 4950 kHz (50 kW) Ramzan Special broadcast. During an ongoing monitoring project of the AIR online streams at http://allindiaradio.gov.in/Default.aspx I noted that the sign on of Radio Kashmir (ID „Ye Radio Kashmir Srinagar he“) seems to be very variable. I never noted a sign-on before 0100 h. The „official“ time seems to be rather like 0115 h or later. Some established facts: (1) There are news in Sanskrit and Hindi from Delhi (languages heard announced just before 0125 h) 0125-0130 h: news in Sanskrit -- 06:55 IST, confirmed by http://www.newsonair.com/News-Schedules.aspx 0130-0135 h: news in Hindi -- 07:00 IST, confirmed by http://www.newsonair.com/News-Schedules.aspx These newscasts have the same style and content (key words/names) and are also heard on other language streams. (2) Depending on how much earlier the sign on was, I heard some five minutes of programme previews (incl. mentioning of „sponsored programmes“). (3) Today’s line up included a Muslim segment, I had not noted / recognized before: 181012 0018 h UTC, IS, Vande Mataram, ID „Ye Radio Kashmir Srinagar“ („medium wave“/short wave“ in m, FM in MHz, DTH, mobile), possibly religious music (Trommeln/Tröten), announcement of the upcoming news in Sanskrit and Hindi, 0125 news in Sanskrit, 0130 news in Hindi, 0135-0140 short recital of the Qoran and probably an explanation of the verse. (4) On short wave 4950 kHz, Radio Kashmir is no easy catch for me. Today, 12 October 2018, short wave reception was possible, but no pleasant listening (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, 12 October 2018, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sanskrit? Wikipedia says: ``Contemporary distribution. Sanskrit is a studied school subject in contemporary India, but scarce as a first language. In the 2001 Census of India, 14,135 Indians reported Sanskrit to be their first language. In the 2011 census, 24,821 people out of about 1.21 billion reported Sanskrit to be their first language.`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) India: On 3 February 1966, West Germany's external service Deutsche Welle started a (monthly) Sanskrit programme as part of its Hindi output. This led to questions in the Indian Parliament why All India Radio did not have broadcasts in the historic mother language of Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati and Marathi. Due to the political pressure All India Radio also started broadcasting in Sanskrit. According to information from my electronic files (started in the late 90s), Radio Nepal also started a weekly programme in Sanskrit, in 1995. The special Mahalaya morning programme Mahisashur Mardini https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahisasuramardini_(radio_programme) is also in Sanskrit. This 90-minute All India Radio production was first aired in 1931. In Bengal, Mahalaya marks the beginning of Durga Puja festivities (end of September/start of October, date depending on the new moon). Mahalaya is the day when the goddess Durga is believed to have descended to Earth. Bengali people traditionally wake up early in the morning on Mahalaya to recite hymns from the Devi Mahatmya (Chandi) scripture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitru_Paksha The daily AIR-news in Sanskrit are aired at 0125-0130 UT on the DTH/online streams of Gujarati Malayalam Panjabi Telugu Kannada Kashmiri Odia Sequence of the language follows the sequence in the window at http://allindiaradio.gov.in/Default.aspx (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, 13 October 2018, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KENYA. Koma Rock Imagery --- It's been a while since we've had some new imagery posts of shortwave transmitter sites. Also a while since there's been a new Google Street View (SV) release of a significantly sized nation. Very recently the Google folk have released SV imagery of Kenya. The SW TX site that only just barely & oh so briefly made it to air was the Koma Rock site. There's distant SV imagery of the site here: https://goo.gl/maps/uA56s2gaNR52 Also a couple of photos of a dude with the caged dipole quadrant antennas in the background, I guess standing on the rooftop of the tx building. One of the links to the photos here: https://goo.gl/maps/wz5hKpHjy2k The members can search the users photos for the other photo. I'm surprised to see the dipoles still hanging... KENYA: SV Langata --- Nice SV imagery of the VOK Langata TX site Entrance: https://goo.gl/maps/aj6Bv6o7iwQ2 Metallic Masts: https://goo.gl/maps/pzn42d9ww7x No sign of wire strung from any of the masts & some do like vertical radiators looking at the base of masts. I don't know if all or most of the SW transmission antennas used from the site were vertical radiators. If anyone knows more about the site, feel free to comment. What are these wooden poles? https://goo.gl/maps/BEayE4pCwQr There's also more shorter poles on the site that are about feeder support pole lengths in height, but don't fit a feeder support pole configuration (Ian, Oct 11, SW TXsites YG via DXLD)s A lot more historical info of Kenya on SW in latest BC-DX (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 13649.034, Voice of Korea, Kujang, in English, only weak at 0544 UT. Some log in 0500 to 0600 UT time slot on Oct 11, taken in remote SDR units at Doha Qatar, Germany, Austria, and Hungary remotes [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unusual for VOK to be almost 1 kHz off (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6165, Thursday Oct 11 at 1303, Sea Breeze from JSR Tokyo in weekly English broadcast; earnest YL with brief Daily NK items between stingers; still no QSY (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 6045, Voice of Freedom, 1405* (a few seconds before 1406), Oct 13. Ending with the very distinctive song "Aleumdaun Nala" ("Beautiful Country"); YouTube song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBsPN8HXK5c Still on this frequency, so they must be about to move again, probably to 5920 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. 5959.870 kHz, much ODD fq transmission by Radio Kuwait in Arabic service, signal of S=9+35 or -42dBm much powerful noted on remote SDR unit at Doha Qatar at 0533 UT, scheduled 02-09 UT, powerhouse, and very excellent audio on shortwave band. News read by female professional sounded presenter. 15515 even fq, R Kuwait in Arabic at 0537 UT, scheduled 05-09 UT to Central Asian muslim states, S=9 or -77dBm signal noted in Qatar remote SDR site. Played nice Arabic orchestra music, like in the 60ties at Radio Cairo, after British Empire left the Suez canal zone in Egypt. 15529.705 kHz another very odd fq transmission by Radio Kuwait, but this in English language backlobe of 310degr NE/EUR target service. S=8 or -81dBm on backlobe in Qatar ME, Persian Gulf. At 0543 UT on Oct 9, female program presenter in action [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11970.000, Radio Kuwait English sce in DRM mode. 10 kHz wide data block visible on waterfall window. S=9+25dB in Doha Qatar. 0520 UT on Oct 11. Some log in 0500 to 0600 UT time slot on Oct 11, taken in remote SDR units at Doha Qatar, Germany, Austria, and Hungary remotes [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 11, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. 6130, Lao National Radio (tentative), 0952-1000, Oct 12. The language heard, from what I could make of it, certainly sounded right to be LNR; YL & OM chatting (interview?) (via phone?); after 1000, always very much bothered by adjacent QRM, but pre-1000 was in the clear. My audio at http://goo.gl/GFgwYZ (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) 6130, Lao National Radio (tentative). Regarding my Oct 12 reception and audio clip - thanks very much to Ralph Perry for providing the following comments. Greatly appreciate his feedback. "CONGRATULATIONS! I am 99% positive you had LNR. Great to know this old friend is still available on SW. I listened to your audio and that sounded to me about as Laotian as it gets -- Laotian is extremely similar to spoken Thai, similar tonality and essentially the same language (Laos being the Country Bumpkin relative of Thailand), which I was able to speak reasonably well, a decade ago and still have enough fluency to play golf or order a meal, hi. What you recorded sounds exactly right to me." (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 11610, World Christian Broadcasting (KNLS) at 2057 in Mandarin with OC to IS at 2059 and opening music at 2100 and a man with opening announcements over opening music then contact info and url and pop vocals from 2101 to 2105 and a man with talk about “Jesus” – Very Good Oct 11 – Unless needed to illustrate a point about where mankind has failed to follow the Gospel, I still fail to grasp why secular pop vocals are needed during a “religious” broadcast (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA [non-Sarawak]. 11665, "Wai FM" and "Wai FM Limbang," via Kajang, 1311, Oct 11 (Thursday). In vernacular playing pop songs; several singing "Wai FM" IDs; 1315-1400, the segment IDing as "Wai FM Limbang" (there is also a Monday edition of this at the same time); pop songs and segment with a long dialogue in vernacular; almost fair. So for the vast majority of the time this is "Wai FM" and not "Wai FM Limbang." Sorry, I should have followed up earlier regarding my item about Sept 16 being "Malaysia Day." This was the first year that I can recall that RTM didn't broadcast, via SW, the Prime Minister's address to the nation 1300+. Disappointed! The RTM SW service has been in a steady decline for many years now. Was not that long ago I could enjoy Radio Klasik (5965), Asik FM & Suara Islam/Voice of Islam (6050), Traxx FM (7295) or Voice of Malaysia (6174.4, 6175.0 and 15295), but they are all gone now. So they have put their emphasis now on their online presences, as evidenced by the RTM audio streaming at https://myklik.rtm.gov.my/radio/Wai_FM?r=regional (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** MALI. 9635, R. Mali, Kati, 1752-1803*, 30/9. Portadora vazia [OCDA]; 45343. Por outras palavras, até cumprem o horário... em vão, já que o sinal está desprovido de áudio. Tem estado ausente dos 5995. 9635 idem, 1111-..., 04/10. Portadora vazia; 35443 (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, Oct 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Inactive on both frequencies, no audio and no carrier detected for several days on 5995 at its usual time 0600-0800 and on 9635 at 0800-1800 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters or 13 or 14, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** MEXICO. 630, XEFB, Monterrey, Nuevo León. 1059 October 7, 2018. Instrumental anthem, male 1100 "XEFB... Desde Monterrey... frecuencia modulada... Radiocentro..." into soft Spanish ballads. 710, XEMP Radio 710, México DF. 1123 October 11, 2018. Mexi-tunes, male slogan 1128. 780, XESFT La Poderosa, San Fernando, Tamaulipas. 1058 October 12, 2018. Mexi-tune, male calls and slogan, into truncated choral anthem, then another ID with lots of reverb slogan. -- (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater FL, All times/dates GMT, IC-R75, NRD-535, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 650, Oct 12 at 1200, XETNT, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, opening `Noticiero Altavoz` (loudspeaker newcast) with 6 am timecheck, dominant signal here, and also audible // amid QRM on 610, XEGS Guasave, both still on AM tho Radio 65`s FM has moved to 100.5, ex- 106.5, top of band being cleared for community/non-commercial use (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 800, Oct 12 at 1207, XEROK doing well, must be running more power than usual, vs easily nulled KQCV OKC. Adstring including help- wanted for some engineer familiar with AM radio (for XEROK itself? apply at a street address on Insurgentes, which chex for XEROK). ``800, bajo el cielo de Ciudad Juárez``; local news headlines, on `Calibre 800` (short for canal libre = clear channel) which seems to be the newscast name, on ``Radio Cañón``. 1210 finally starts the news with 6:09 TC; 1211 mix a bit of English, ``Good morning, El Paso``; and ``sí, hay clases, no hay día festivo``, no holiday for students even tho this is the Day of the Race. At this time you would not know the main format has converted to religion (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 870, Oct 12 at 1215, XETAR, La Voz de la Sierra Tarahumara, going from Spanish to native language, leisurely opening announcements including phone numbers for CDI and other government agencies, mixed with bits of rustic music. Good dominant signal from Guachochi, Chihuahua, hardly any WWL to be heard even if nulled (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEW lives! Very good, dominant XEW/900 kHz heard by way of remote SDR near Las Vegas NV on Friday Oct 12, roughly 1012-1025 UT, with daily-5:00 AM newswheel in // with webstream. Fairly rapid-fire lineup of news items, Mex. state-by-state ("In Colima,..." "In Chihuahua,..." -- etc.), some on-scene correspondent reports noted; frequent mentions of "W Radio - FM 96.9", with no acknowledgement of AM 900. (Could 900 be on its way out?? That would be like bulldozing the Maya pyramids!) Also repeatedly heard traditional 4-note descending chimes musical logo, synthesizer-generated. Signal really sounded like good ol' days of 250 kW, consistently stomping several weak/distant freq-mates (-- GREG HARDISON, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Nice catch from the Border Inn - XETT-1430 Tlaxcala --- Reviewing my recordings from the first night (when conditions were very good), at 0457 UT 10/5 on 1430 kHz under KYKN I found almost two full minutes of the Tlaxcala state anthem (Himno Estatal de Tlaxcala) followed by a choral version of the Mexican national anthem. XETT-1430 is the last AM station left in Tlaxcala, since XEHT-810 finished moving to FM. New state, and I'm pretty sure this is the first time I have logged Tlaxcala from anywhere. Station #1470 from the Border Inn. 73 (Tim Hall, Oct 9, ABDX yg via DXLD) ** MEXICO. ----- Mensaje reenviado ----- De: 'Carlos J.DX Radio Centro... pulverizar audiencias OPINIÓN // Javier Tejado Dondé // ESPECTRO Qué hay detrás del regreso de Aristegui --- 02/10/2018| La semana pasada se anunció que el 17 de octubre Carmen Aristegui regresa a las frecuencias de la radiodifusión nacional vía un acuerdo con Grupo Radio Centro, que comanda Francisco Pancho Aguirre. Es una buena noticia que la comunicadora haya podido regresar a un espacio en la radio nacional y que cualquier noción de veto haya quedado atrás. Sin lugar a dudas, hará mucho más competida la mañana en los ratings de la radio, pero es una noticia que tiene varios ángulos a analizar. Veamos: *Pulverización de audiencias: no se entiende la decisión de Pancho de tener tres frecuencias distintas en la CDMX — y en el resto del país — dedicadas a informativos. Y es que, bajo el nuevo arreglo, Radio Centro tendrá cada mañana compitiendo entre sí a Sergio Sarmiento y Lupita Juárez en la 92.1 de FM; a Carlos Loret de Mola en la 88.1 FM y, ahora, a Carmen Aristegui en la 97.7 FM. De hecho, la 88.1 y la 97.7 son estaciones “hechizas” en materia informativa, pues el resto del día llevan programación musical. Bajo ninguna lógica empresarial hace negocio el hecho de pulverizar audiencias entre tres comunicadores. Radio Fórmula, de la familia Azcárraga Romandía, tiene dos cadenas nacionales noticiosas, no tres; y, de hecho, en sus planes de eficiencia financiera está sólo quedarse con una. Así que la decisión de Radio Centro es más bien política. *La decisión política: Radio Centro está en proceso de pagar y/o de impugnar multas por el impago en la cadena de TV en la que falló y fue multada con 415 millones de pesos. También, tiene abiertos tres procesos por frecuencias de radio que no pagó en la pasada licitación (y le podrían costar otros 7 millones de pesos en multas). Aunque aquí aduce errores en el procedimiento del Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, dado que otro licitante habría inflado ilegalmente los precios en la primera licitación de radio FM del país. Asimismo, es altamente dependiente de recursos públicos que le ingresan como publicidad. El año pasado, las estaciones de Radio Centro recibieron, según la Secretaría de la Función Pública, más de 129 millones de pesos en publicidad oficial. Ahora que se ha hecho público que estos recursos irán a la baja en la siguiente administración, es evidente que Radio Centro busca hacer “migas” con Andrés Manuel López Obrador al poner al aire a una personalidad que él mismo sugirió regresase a los micrófonos. La idea es no perder estos recursos que representan 13% de su venta total. En Radio Centro saben que con las recientes contrataciones están aumentado sus costos y que además traen grandes deudas. Para mejorar sus ventas, ayer anunciaron la incorporación de dos nuevos directivos, provenientes de Televisa Radio/Prisa. Pronto se darán cuenta que, aunque Radio Centro cotiza en la Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV), al igual que Televisa o Prisa, en realidad su manejo es más el de una empresa netamente familiar. *Un viejo anhelo: para nadie en la industria es un secreto que Pancho Aguirre tenía años tratando de llevar a sus estaciones a Carmen Aristegui. A su salida de W Radio (sociedad de Televisa y Prisa), Pancho trató de contratarla; de hecho, él presume que durante meses le ayudó en lo económico. Pero cuando llevó su contratación al Consejo de Administración de Radio Centro, sus hermanos no aceptaron la contratación por lo oneroso de ésta, en particular Carlos Aguirre, quien era entonces el director general de la empresa. Hoy el tema es distinto, pues los hermanos que frenaron a Pancho ya no están en Radio Centro, con lo que pudo haberle ofrecido, sin mayor oposición de su Consejo, cualquier salario. De hecho, ha trascendido que el arreglo entre el empresario y comunicadora conlleva, además de un importante sueldo, un porcentaje de ingresos por comercialización de spots. Pancho es un hombre que busca lograr sus metas, aunque salgan caras a la empresa que comanda. Así, ya tiene a un precio alto (425 millones) una licencia para un canal de TV en la CDMX, anhelo que tenía desde que el gobierno de López Portillo le requisó a su familia el Canal 13 para convertirlo en Imevisión. Ahora, ya tienen entre sus comunicadores a Carmen Aristegui. Y desde luego, sus estaciones le dan una importante audiencia, sobre todo musical, en todo el país. *Una radio cambiante: la radio nacional ha cambiado en los tres años desde que Aristegui dejó los micrófonos de MVS por un complicado litigio con la familia Vargas, mismo que sigue pendiente. Hay mucha más competencia en el horario matutino, con comunicadores relevantes y que operan en varias plataformas de manera exitosa. Tan sólo por mencionar a algunos de los más destacados: Alejandro Villalvazo (ACIR-TV Azteca); Ciro Gómez Leyva (Radio Fórmula-Imagen); Carlos Loret de Mola (Televisa-Radio Centro); Gabriela Warkentin-Javier Risco (W Radio-El Financiero-Bloomberg); Sergio Sarmiento y Lupita Juárez (Radio Centro-TV Azteca); y, Óscar Mario Beteta (Radio Fórmula). Pero también hubo cambios en la parte legal. La Ley de Réplica fue aprobada por el Congreso (2015) y validada por la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (2018), y hay nuevos criterios luego de la Ley de Responsabilidad Civil para la Protección del Derecho a la Vida Privada, el Honor y la propia Imagen en el D.F. (reformada en 2014). De ésta surgió el criterio de “Malicia Efectiva”. Así que hay nuevas disposiciones ya validadas por los más altos tribunales para rectificar por información falsa o inexacta y para resarcir daños por información transmitida con intención de causarlos. Con lo que ya todos los periodistas tienen que ser más cuidadosos en lo que trasmiten y, al ser Radio Centro una empresa que cotiza en la BMV, será fácil fijar los montos de reparación. Con ello, tanto la periodista como Radio Centro están más expuestos a demandas millonarias si cometen abusos o errores en un ánimo de ganar rating. *¿Y José Gutiérrez Vivó? Pues este otro personaje que quiere regresar a la radio y también tiene el aval de AMLO aún no aparece en la programación de ninguna estación. Quizá los buenos oficios de un muy buen y combativo abogado le vengan bien. Y es que Javier Quijano es el abogado tanto de Aristegui como de Gutiérrez Vivó. Así que, ahora que hay contacto con Radio Centro, quizá pudieran dirimir un conflicto entre la empresa radiofónica y el periodista, litigio que lleva más de 15 años (source? via Juan Franco Crespo, Spain, DXLD) [I think this last bit is from Juan Franco Crespo, the forwarder: -gh] Colegas y amigos, me encontré con un cartelito que me llena de dudas y ansiedad... Les propongo que por este medio contestemos y comentemos unas preguntas sencillas y luego las podamos concentrar y comentar en el próximo Encuentro DX. Incluso se me ocurre que bien podría ser la trama o guión para un programa de Radio... 1.- Porqué un Museo de Radio en México, 2.- Yo como radio escucha, qué quisiera ver y oír. 3.- Dónde ubicaría al Museo. 4.- Como organizaría el Museo. 5.- Quién debe de patrocinar el Museo. El cartel está al fin del escrito. ¿Dónde estará ubicado? ¿Han leído algo al respecto? ¿Debería de ser publicado ya? Saludos. Se aceptan comentarios... [JPG of sign: ``AQUI SE CONSTRUYE EL MUSEO DE LA RADIO DISCULPE LAS MOLESTIAS PROHIBIDO EL PASO``] CORDIALES SALUDOS / GOOD LUCK / (JUAN FRANCO CRESPO * STAMP JOURNALIST (AIPET), SÀLVIA 8 (MAS CLARIANA), E-43800 VALLS-TARRAGONA (ESPAÑA-SPAIN-ESPAGNE-SPANIEN), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT this week --- including DTV = TDT The IFT's work is done in repacking. The last two TV stations needing approval of new channel assignments got them on October 3. The stations, commonly owned, were moved from channels 42 and 43 to 17 and 19. http://www.ift.org.mx/comunicacion-y-medios/comunicados-ift/es/el-ift-culmina-proceso-de-liberacion-de-la-banda-de-600-mhz-comunicado-742018# (Their identity, and the meeting notes for October 3, are not available.) In all, more than 200 television stations were assigned new channels. Much of that activity occurred on March 7, when the IFT issued assignments to independent commercial and noncommercial stations, and April 25, when in three (still unavailable) authorizations the agency cleared dozens of main stations owned by TV Azteca and Televisa. ——— Meanwhile, Puebla's indigenous station needs money. XHSBE-FM needs to raise money to broadcast with its authorized 1,000 watts ERP and cover the service area it has assigned. Right now, they only have 30 watts. http://intoleranciadiario.com/detalle_noticia/171289/cultura/cholollan-la-radio-comunitaria-de-tlaxcalancingo-que-sonara-en-fm (Raymie Humbert, Phœnix AZ, Oct 10, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) The Supreme Court has handed down a potentially seismic sentence that should result in the first low-VHF digital broadcast station in Mexico. The court has overturned the IFT's 2017 decision to deny Comband, S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of MVS, the ability to use its in-band TV channel to broadcast broadcast television. When Cablevisión received the original channel 52 concession on November 17, 2000, it was a concession for subscription television services (televisión restringida, which in practice could also include MMDS services like the one MVS had in 2.5 GHz until a few years ago, or cable or similar). A clause in the concession prohibited its use for broadcast television. On November 15, 2004, Cablevisión transferred the concession to MVS Multivisión, S.A. de C.V. (In January 2015, a pro forma reorganization led to the concessionaire becoming Comband, S.A. de C.V.) On September 9, 2013, the SCT approved the relocation of the concession to channel 51 as part of freeing up 700 MHz. And on August 8, 2018, the IFT changed out channel 51 for channel 2 http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/conocenos/pleno/sesiones/acuerdoliga/pift080818479.pdf — the first ever use of low-VHF after the digital television transition. But MVS was still required to not provide a broadcast service. Instead, it's believed they are using ATSC A/70 Conditional Access. Meeting notes mention a staggering fact about channel 51: it only had three subscribers! http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/conocenos/pleno/sesiones/ordinaria/xxiv-ordinaria-del-pleno-8-de-agosto-de-2018/vpestenografica24aord080818_1.pdf That's according to Commissioner María Elena Estavillo Flores, who said in the meeting (emphasis added [and subtracted for plain text]): Yo también adelanto mi voto a favor, puesto que se persigue el objetivo con esta acción de liberar la banda de 600 MHz, como ya mencionó el Comisionado Fromow, que es un objetivo de primer orden en nuestra política de espectro; sin dejar de observar que a este concesionario ya lo hemos visto aquí en Sesión de Pleno para distintos asuntos, continúa teniendo tres usuarios, y que por lo tanto, sí me preocupa que no se esté dando el adecuado uso a este recurso escaso de la nación, lo que se tendrá que atender en su momento. The 2013 telecommunications reform and the LFTR should have opened the door for this concession to be used for broadcasting. Post-LFTR, all concessionaires of broadcast stations and telecommunications services receive two concessions. In broadcasting, one is a spectrum concession, which defines the frequency, callsign and technical parameters. There are as many spectrum concessions as there are stations owned (and in telecom, there are also other types of concessions). The IFT had denied them on multiple occasions, saying it did not have the authority to retroactively modify the concession that explicitly said no broadcast service should be provided. But the verdict today from the SCJN was in MVS's favor. https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/cartera/telecom/mvs-gana-juicio-ift-sobre-canal-de-tv The matter now returns to the IFT Pleno, where they'll have to let MVS have its station (Raymie, Oct 10, ibid.) Public broadcasting, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Sistema Público de Radiodifusión del Estado Mexicano. Its continuing mission... to provide public broadcasting channels nationwide, to extend the reach of Canal Once and others... To boldly go where no Mexican broadcaster has gone before. Today, the SPR went where no Mexican broadcaster had gone before. With the exception of its Mexico City station, its operating transmitters changed their callsigns. For instance, where once there were XHOPPA, XHOPLA and XHOPMT, there are XHSPRPA, XHSPRLA and XHSPRMT. Seven-letter callsigns are a reality in Mexico. This is the first letter expansion in Mexican broadcasting in thirty years. On December 13, 1988, XEVILL-AM 650 got its concession and opened the door to callsigns of six letters. Today, it appears the SPR has taken the next step. The first 26 SPR repeaters were all assigned callsigns in the series XHOP**, with OP standing for Organismo Promotor de Medios Audiovisuales. (The OPMA was renamed SPR as part of a law promulgated the same day as the LFTR in 2014.) The next seven have XHSP* callsigns, while the fifth wave has generic XHPB** callsigns assigned before the frequencies were given to the agency. It will take months for the new calls to propagate in systems. The first place they are likely to show up is in the IFT virtual channels and multiprogramming lists. In December 2017, XHOPMA-TDT Mexico City was rechristened XHSPR-TDT (Raymie, Oct 12, WTFDA Forum via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) In the RPC just this week but completed in June, Televisa has conducted a major reorganization of its concessionaires. The effect is to consolidate Televisa's stations under four concessionaires, each of which holds (generally) all the concessions associated with a given network. The four companies are Televimex, S.A. de C.V. — Las Estrellas stations, XHTV in Mexico City, and XHCQR (C5) in Chetumal, Q. Roo Radio Televisión, S.A. de C.V. —*Canal 5 transmitters Teleimagen del Noroeste, S.A. de C.V. — Nu9ve transmitters Televisora de Occidente, S.A. de C.V. — mostly regional stations The move includes the disappearance of concessionaires including T.V. de Los Mochis, Canales de Televisión Populares, Televisión de Puebla, and Televisión de Mexicali. The move means more than 100 stations changed concessionaires. XERV, the "second" Las Estrellas in Reynosa, was transferred to Televisora de Occidente. Note that XHCQR appears to have been omitted, likely as a mistake, from being transferred to Radio Televisión. In fact, not counting XHTV, it is the only network transmitter with a mismatched concessionaire (Raymie, Oct 12, ibid.) Saltillo's IFT-6 station began testing yesterday. XHTSCO-TDT 36 (VC 10) was originally slated to go on air June 13 http://www.zocalo.com.mx/seccion/articulo/iniciara-operaciones-en-junio-tele-saltillo but missed its date by nearly four months, more than that if you count the fact that there is no actual programming. Instead, they are airing some sort of series of placeholder graphics for a newscast with a CNN headline dated February 3, 2015. Tele Saltillo will broadcast from the XHEIM-FM tower across the street from the Palacio de Gobierno in the heart of Saltillo and studios in the Zócalo Saltillo newsroom. It has no coverage information in the Coverage Viewer (Raymie, Oct 13, ibid.) Are you tired of Puebla's revolving radio carousel? Well, it isn't stopping! On November 5, 92.1 XHPUE-FM becomes "Kick FM" with an electronic music format. https://twitter.com/DaMovementTv/status/1046876006433398784 Pasión FM will have lasted less than three months after being evicted to 92.1 by the sale of XHJE-FM. ——— In the land of missed stories, there was this. Acustik's 95.3 in Cancún was only off the air for two weeks, but when the pirate ship returned to the radio airwaves on September 3, it had found a legal buddy! That is social station XHAKUM-FM 105.5 Akumal, now simulcasting the 95.3 pirate. https://www.facebook.com/acustikmedia/videos/acustik-est%C3%A1-de-regreso/1037812113077157/ The station has no coverage information in the Coverage Viewer Este programa es público, ajeno a cualquier partido político. Queda prohibido el uso para fines distintos a los establecidos en el programa [tagline] (Raymie, Oct 13, ibid.) ** NEPAL. 5005, Radio Nepal (presumed), 1055-1116*, Oct 10. Since reactivation, today had the strongest carrier heard so far; still no audio, but seemed improved strength. 5005, Radio Nepal, checking at 1035 and 1046, on Oct 14. Definite carrier heard. The bad news, at least as far as I'm concerned, is that this is already broadcasting in DRM mode. My Oct 10, improved reception of their carrier was perhaps due to it already being in DRM? The following very helpful info is from WRTH Facebook: Bishwa Shrestha (Oct 11): According to Radio Nepal's website, 12 sets of DRM transmitters have already been purchased. Alexander Zink & Sharad Sadhu apparently came to give hands-on training about DRM just a few days ago. From what it looks like analog 5005 kHz as we know it is going to be a history. http://radionepal.gov.np/news-details/19273/2018-09-26 Sanjay Sutradhar (Oct 14): Improved carrier on 5005 kHz of course Radio Nepal taking to DRM came quite a while back (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) If it`s really DRM, there should be no trace of an AM carrier amid the noise (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) 5005, Radio Nepal, checking at 1026 and 1050, on Oct 15 and again with definite carrier; unable to confirm DRM from what I'm hearing; just too weak (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) Ron, DRM I hear does not have any AM carrier in the middle of it, and I think that is the way true DRM is supposed to be. So if you do have any JBA carrier on 5005, it should not be in DRM at all. There could be CCI from something else in AM, like my 15110 Kuwait log vs Udorn before 1325, altho we certainly don`t know of anything else on 5005 you could be getting. Or possibly in initial experimental stage, Nepal is somehow retaining an AM carrier (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** NIGERIA. 9690, Voice of Nigeria, 2035-2058* OM in presumed Hausa till African music at 2042. Then another OM speaks. Presumed news as Boku Harum terror group mentioned. Possible ID as Nigeria heard at 2057, brief drum music, then dead air. Xmtr turned off at 2058. Fair to poor on 10/7 (Don Hosmer, West Branch MI, ICOM IC-7200, CommRadio Cr-1a &/or XHData D-808 radios with G5RV dipoles & W6LVP loop, MARE Tipsheet 12 Oct via DXLD) 7255-, Oct 11 at 0603, VON unmodulated carrier cutting off and on at S9+10/20 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. 11830, FRANCE, Dandal Kura Radio Interna[tional] at 1912 with lively African folk vocals and a man with a full “Dandal Kura Radio International” ID at 1914 followed by talk – Fair to Good Oct 11 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. U S A. 11580, Oct 12 at 1441, dead air of S9/S9+10; audio shortly cutting on and off and on and off over and over, bits of African music, talk. Rustic string instruments and singing. Signal is pretty strong and steady, obviously not from afar like JBA 11530 from Eastern Hemisphere (which includes Issoudun). Surely it`s WRMI, now a seldom-used 25m channel. 1450 YL ID mentions ``radio``, but what? Modulation still cutting in and out; 1453 I think I hear ``Nigeria, Kaduna``. 1455 very small bit of Qur`an, more YL talk. Now it has stopped cutting out. 1456 singing in a round; 1500 partial canned WRMI ID and off*. Paul Walker, PA, was also hearing this mystery as early as 1310, and was not sure whether it`s WRMI. I`ve asked Jeff White what station or program they are testing? Jeff White replies: ``Hausa. It’s the programming of Radio Nigeria Kaduna in Hausa. Jeff``. So what will be the regular schedule? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I've got a mystery station on 11580 at 1310 UT here in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, USA. It sounds like Arabic/Quran chanting and speech. I don't think this is WRMI because they aren't listed on this frequency anymore plus check two east coast SDR's and one in western Europe, WRMI should've been strong if this was them and I heard not a peep. It's STRONG and steady here so I guess it COULD be WRMI. FEBA India isn't scheduled to be on till 1315 and this didn't sound like what FEBA would run, but I can't be sure. Anyone have any idea who this was? Was it someone jamming somewhere else or a test of a B18 registration ahead of the actual B18 start date? I tuned in again at 1335; it's still going strong with Arabic/Quran chanting/singing. Am I being duped by a reactivated WRMI 11580? (Paul Walker, 1344 Oct 12, odxa iog via DXLD) [Later:] Turns out it’s WRMI. From WRMI owner Jeff White: ``That's us with Radio Nigeria Kaduna in the Hausa language, on daily now at 0500-0900, 1100-1500 and 2000-2300 UTC on 11580, till further notice. It's beamed to West Africa.`` (Paul Walker, 2058 UT, ibid.) More on Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, new relay via WRMI 11580. Further info from Jeff White, a bit too late for my last report: On Friday, October 12, 2018, Glenn Hauser wrote: ``Tnx. So what will be the regular schedule? Modulation was really cutting off and on a lot today. Glenn`` Jeff: ``0500-0900, 1100-1500, 2000-2300. But it may change to just 2000-2300 in the near future. Sent from AOL Mobile Mail`` And I see these have already been entered on the WRMI skedgrid, XMTR 10 at 87 degrees, as System L in brown, but no further details. This is the FRCN regional station, in Kaduna, formerly active on 6090. Federal government, *not* clandestine this time. My further monitoring of 11580: at 2022 Oct 12 VP S6-S8; better S9+10 with music at 2048. At 0611 Oct 13, JBA carrier, OSOB except for slightly stronger Aparecida, Brasil on 11857-. Sure hope the night MUF is holding up better eastward from Okee. At 1413, S9+10 in Hausa talk. Oct 14 at 0630, JBA carrier again. 11580, Oct 14 at 1447, non-African music on good signal, 1449 canned Biermann WRMI ID as in the Oldies stream, and indeed followed by an obviously Oldies tune. (9395 currently with TOMBS); so this transmission is already gone from Nigeria, but still on the air (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Back as of Oct 16 Strong signal here in NB today at about 2014, noted while setting up to record 7780 kHz. Peaking at about 43 dBµ on the PL-880 outdoors with the 7-metre reel antenna compared to about 23 dBµ for 7780 kHz at about the same time. 11580 kHz signed on at about 1956 with the usual repeating top-of-the hour sign-on announcement. Noted with about S9 signal with the NRD-545D with indoor loop antenna. (-- Richard Langley [lost date but probably also Oct 14 -- I wish people would always include date in body of report, not just ``today`` --- gh], WOR iog via DXLD) 11580, Oct 14 at 2126, R. Nigeria, Kaduna, via WRMI, in Hausa at S9, still going for this transmission. I wonder if there is any English? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 5150 USB, PIRATE, Mix Radio International, 0029, 10/13/18. What I can best describe as Hawaiian style music, ballad, 0035 gone. Back at 0047 with lively rock, 0049 ID, Jazz piano, “Anybody really know what time it is,” Motown, ID into a program of other era music. Fair (Mark Taylor, Madison, Wisconsin. Equipment: Perseus, Airspy HF+, SDRPlay RSP1; ICOM R75, Tecsun PL 880, and various other portables; 42 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, W6LVP loop, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. Pirates: == Shortwave == Ion Radio. Sunday, October 7, 2018, 1815, 6930 am. Appears to be some kind of radio drama. Fair signal, s5. SSTV at 1820, "ION RADIO 6930 KHz" and into another radio drama with a long organ music theme opening. (Will-MD) Radio Illuminati. Sunday, October 7, 2018, 2103, 6060 am. Music by Blue Oyster Cult, "Burning For You" and another 80s pop song. Excellent signal and fidelity, s9/15 on the R75. Radio Illuminati ID and contact info at 2133. [you mean 6960 AM??? --- gh] == FM == Sunday, October 7, 2018, 1911, 101.7 FM. Contemporary music, ID "The all new hound (arf arf) radio." This is apparently a pirate FM relay of a locally sourced webcast at houndradio.com. Fair signal in northern Montgomery County, Maryland. I've also noticed this one in the Rockville/Gaithersburg area with a fine signal, occasionally broadcasting in the middle of the afternoon (Larry Will, Mount Airy, Maryland, Icom IC-R75, G5RV dipole, Tecsun PL-880, various random wires, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 13600even, Radio Oman from Thumrait, noted at 0526 and 0540 UT, station ID at 0540:50 UT. Some log in 0500 to 0600 UT time slot on Oct 11, taken in remote SDR units at Doha Qatar, Germany, Austria, and Hungary remotes [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. NBC Radio Madang 3260 kHz (Tropical Band 90 Meters) Locution voice of woman speaker in 0918 UT 10 Octuber 2018 https://youtu.be/R3iBp7rYxqo RX: Yaesu FRG 8800 Antena: Beverage simples (Daniel Wyllyans, Sítio Estrela do Araguaia, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) [non-log]. 3260, NBC Madang. On Sunday, Oct 14, tuned in 1058+, only to find them off the air. Normally I would be hearing their religious programs. NBC Bougainville (3325) also silent at the same time. 3260, NBC Madang, 1158, Oct 15. Back again after yesterday`s absence; pop song (Berlin - "Take My Breath Away"); 1200 PNG bird call and into the news in English till 1205 (unreadable); followed by more pop songs; cut off suddenly at 1213* (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Wantok Radio Light with transmitter problems Three days ago Wantok Radio Light, 7324.94 kHz could be heard via remote SDR Kiwi receivers in Brisbane, Australia and North New Zealand with fair to poor signal, but for the last three days no signal is received via those receivers. Assuming they had problems, I contacted with the station and here is the answer: “Yes, we have problems with the transmitter, so we are transmitting on less than 200 watts. We are working on fixing the transmitter next week, so hopefully you will receive a better signal next week. Regards, Billy Yasi” (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Oct 10, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** PERU. 4920. LA VOZ DEL PUEBLO. Octubre 8. 2240-2250 UT. Música. SINPO: 35333 (Claudio Galaz, Receptor: TECSUN PL 660, ANTENA: Hilo largo de 30 metros + balun 9:1+ tierra; Lugar de escucha: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) New station quite sporadic, and has been last reported a few months ago almost up to 4921; on air evenings too? (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** PERU. 4955. R.CULTURAL AMAUTA. Octubre 8. 2230-2240 UT. Música en quechua y a las 2235 habla una mujer en el mismo idioma. SINPO: 45343 (Claudio Galaz, Receptor: TECSUN PL 660, ANTENA: Hilo largo de 30 metros + balun 9:1+ tierra; Lugar de escucha: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES [and non]. FILIPINAS, 9910. Out 7, 2018. 1744-1752, Radyo Pilipinas, Tinang-PHL, em Tagalog. Música filipina; Locução feminina em tagalog. Às 1745 entra a interferência da All India Radio com seu IS e locuções masculina e feminina em inglês, configurando uma colisão de ambas neste horário. Para livrar-se deste desconforto, vá para 13695 All India Radio e 12120 Radyo Pilipinas (José Ronaldo Xavier (JRX) - PR7036SWL, Cabedelo, Paraíba, Brasil, Receptor(es): Degen DE1103 & Sony ICF-SW100, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Centro Emissor de Onda Curta de Pegões da ex-RDP Internacional Centro Emissor de Pegões, desativado desde 2011, está cada vez mais degradado. No interior há milhares de peças amontoadas. Por Duarte Faria in Correio da Manhã Instalações e material do antigo emissor da RTP em Pegões estão ao abandono e degradado. É assim que se encontra o Centro Emissor de Onda Curta de Pegões, no concelho do Montijo, propriedade da RTP, como comprovam as fotos a que o Correio da Manhã teve acesso e que revelava esta segunda-feira. No seu interior encontram-se, abandonados à sua sorte, equipamentos, viaturas históricas da rádio, guiões de teatro radiofónico batidos à máquina e discos. Neste último caso, é mesmo possível encontrar discos partidos de recolhas musicais de Fernando Lopes Graça e Michel Giacometti dos quais foram prensados poucos exemplares. Mas há muito mais material histórico não identificado. De acordo com os relatos feitos ao CM por fontes que estiveram no interior dos edifícios, é também possível encontrar, espalhados pelo chão, dados pessoais de trabalhadores, alguns do período do Estado Novo. Trata-se de um complexo com 90 mil metros quadrados, que alberga vários edifícios e que se encontra guardado por um segurança. Nos últimos anos, a sua degradação e a do material que se encontra no seu interior foi alvo de vários alertas por parte de trabalhadores e partidos políticos, junto da administração da RTP e do Ministério da Cultura. Mas nada mudou. Questionada pelo CM, a RTP esclareceu que "o Centro de Emissão de Pegões serviu como emissor de Onda Curta e está desativado desde 2011, ano em que a RTP, seguindo a tendência dos grandes operadores europeus, deixou de usar esta tecnologia". Por isso, a empresa pública "não tem prevista outra utilização do Centro e o terreno, tal como alguns outros, está identificado para potencial alienação". O CM sabe que a administração da RTP já fez a avaliação da situação e concluiu que os equipamentos de Onda Curta que se encontram no local estão obsoletos e não têm interesse de mercado. As restantes peças foram consideradas de menor interesse histórico. PORMENORES 1954 Foi o ano em que a Emissora Nacional (hoje Antena 1, do grupo RTP) inaugurou em Pegões o Centro Emissor Ultramarino. A este emissor acrescentou-se um outro de onda curta, em 1957, e mais quatro, em 1966. Imóveis da RTP à venda Em 2017, a RTP tinha à venda, segundo o plano de atividades, o Centro Regional dos Açores, a Estação Emissora de Santa Maria, a Estação de Chaves, o Edifício Cinema Lumiar, um terreno em Ribeira de Nisa e o Centro de Pegões. Esperava um encaixe de 1,8 milhões de euros. Ler mais em: http://www.cmjornal.pt/tv-media/detalhe/material-historico--da-rtp-ao-abandono?v=cb (via "João Costa > CT1FBF", Oct 12, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** ROMANIA [and non]. log 31, 25, 22, 19 and 17 mb 22-23 UT --- Hello, I don't know what happened tonight to the RRI Galbeni English transmission outlet from Romania on 9760 kHz at 310degr requested. Checked in NJ, NY-USA, in Belgium and Italy... Signal was much weaker (!), than S=9+30dB powerhouses of VoGRC Avlis 9420.004 and 9830.021 TRT Emirler at 22 to 2220 UT. Even the ASC BBC 12095, 9410, 9530 Akhbar Mufrika, BSKSA diverse on 11820.045, 11914.990, 9555even, 9870.010 and CRI Kashgar outlets from western China in Port, Spanish, Kashgar jamming against TWN on 9900 kHz also, were much much louder. 73 wb ps. recently during summer 2018 they repaired some gear in Tsiganeshti and Galbeni sw sites (Wolfgang Bueschel, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Re: ``17615.064 kHz, on Oct 1 at 1413 UT, SBC is poor S8-S9 with Qur'an and markedly off-frequency, unlike \\ 17895 kHz, or not \\ 17705 kHz, which in fact are the OSOB. Similar situation 23 hrs later (Glenn Hauser-OK-USA, hcdx and dxld Oct 1)`` Some Saudi Arabia Radio logs in 1350 to 1450 UT time slot on Oct 10: 17895.019 ARS Saudi Radio Riyadh HQ Arabic, phone-in male/female talk at 1350 UT on Oct 1 taken on remote SDR unit in DARC club Amberg Bavaria in southern Germany. S=9 strength level. and \\ too 17615.066 ARS Saudi Radio Riyadh HQ Arabic, at 1355 UT S=9+10dB or -65dBm 17705.099 ARS Saudi Radio Riyadh 1st progr, at 1356 UT =9+10dB or -65dBm. and \\ too 21505.022 ARS Saudi Radio Riyadh 1st progr, at 1415 UT, scheduled 12-15 UT at 295degr towards NoAF/NE/SoEUR, at S=7-8 level. next door 21525.000 WRMI Okeechobee FL-USA and 21630.145 UAE BBC London in Hausa via Al Dhabbaya at 1420 UT, scheduled at 1400-1430 UT Mon-Fr only, S=7-8 in southern Germany 13774.988 ARS Saudi Radio Riyadh in Urdu language towards subcontinent, S=7 sidelobe in southern Germany. At 1430 UT on Oct 10. 11860.000 ARS Saudi radio transmission center facility covers Yemen {exile} Radio progr at 1434 UT on Oct 10. S=7-8 only these days 11745.000 ARS Saudi radio transmission center facility covers Saudi Forces Al-Azm Radio program to Yemen civil war location, at 1437 UT on Oct 10. S=7-8 only these days. 9694.994 ARS Saudi Radio Riyadh, heard in Pashto language at 1455 UT on Oct 10 here in southern Germany. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. 13610.001, IRN, IRIB Zahedan site, scheduled 0530-1430 UT, heard at 0542 UT male Arabic singer program, S=9+30dB or -47dBm, also accompanied IRN Arabic in 22 mb by Saudi Arabia spoken and music program nearby on 13609.994, ARS Riyadh light Arabic program, co-channel as jamming against IRIB Tehran. Little weaker heard in Qatar and Hungary remotes. 13780.008, IRN, IRIB Tehran Arabic service via Sirjan site, S=6 level, noted at 0559 UT, scheduled 0530-0830 UT, and accompanied by Saudi Arabia jammer service at 0559 UT on Oct 11 on 13780.002 ARS underneath music jamming by Riyadh security service. Some log in 0500 to 0600 UT time slot on Oct 11, taken in remote SDR units at Doha Qatar, Germany, Austria, and Hungary remotes [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 11, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 21505, SBC at 1330 in Arabic with a telephone interview between two men – Fair to Good with fading Oct 13 – Only signal on the band today but that's good considering there was zilch on the band yesterday. That's what you get for pursuing this hobby during solar minimum (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** SIKKIM. 4835, AIR Gangtok, 1347-1402, Oct 10. Clearly no Ozy Radio heard here, conforming to info in ADXN-618 that Craig is currently off the air; AIR audio hovering at threshold level, but slowly improving; subcontinent music/singing. With Ozy off the air, now is a good time to try for Gangtok, which is normally buried under the Australian. My local sunrise was at 1410 UT (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. U.S.A.: 9330.10, WBCQ Monticello ME; 2049-2101+, 10/9; Bro. HyStairical sez he’s negotiating to be on a station in Istanbul & someone should send him 100,000$; segued into a “billionaire” evangelist bash mentioning Kenneth Copeland; WBCQ spot at ToH+ over non-B.S. Trump bash. S10+ (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ---- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! ----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9330.133v, Oct 11 at 1413, S5-S7 of dead air from WBCQ; and ALSO at 1418, S8-S9 of dead air from WRMI. Not a coincidence, since both have lost feed from Walterboro. Neither is prepared to fill with music or anything. 5950, another WRMI at S5-S6 also seems dead. This is about when H. Michael crosses SC; what? Can`t Brother Scare pray it away?? Recheck at 1530, both are back for Alternative Media TV synthetic soundtrack to inform us that ``The Vatican controls all government agencies`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11600, BULGARIA, The Overcomer Ministry at 1553 with Brother Stair preaching and pontificating with people responding and clapping to his comments and singing in a monotone drone – Good Oct 13 – It's amazing how this guy keeps his followers despite his disdain and hatred for all of the established Christian churches and denominations let alone the charges of sexual misconduct. I guess he is just preaching to the lowest of the low or the least common denominator in society (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 9410-USB+carrier, Fu Hsing BS, 1203, Oct 10. This was a post-BBC sign off reception; not surprised to find this erratic station on the air today, as it's National Day of the Republic of China (Double Ten) national holiday; in Chinese with songs; problem with a different weaker secondary, over modulated, audio underneath. Taiwan's other frequency (9774) remains silent (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Interview with the new shkf-editor [??] of the Russian service RTI Ms. Maria Li. In the middle of October, this year, Maria Li, the host and chief editor of the Russian Service of Taiwan International Radio, returns to work on the radio. She will again sit at the microphone and become the coordinator of the broadcasting department in Russian after Vitaly Samoilov left the post in September. I met with Maria before leaving for Taipei and asked about work plans ... The interview was taken by Igor Kolke, Moscow, Russia. Fully interview on his page here (Russian) - https://kolkeradio.blogspot.com/2018/10/rti.html#more A small quote from the interview: - International broadcasting has changed since you left Taiwan. The audience’s rollback is now noticeable, and the classic short waves pass on to Internet broadcasting. You must understand that you will have to manage the department of the radio station that needs to be kept afloat short waves. Is there any prospective plan that includes work on analog broadcasting and on new platforms (Internet, mobile applications)? - In fact, even before I left, we began to explore modern resources. We started with a blog. And we were the pioneers, the first to start a blog from all the language services of MRT. Then everyone was obliged to start blogs, and we already had one. Then we went on Facebook, then, in my absence, we had a page on VKontakte. As for our future plans, they are not built at the level of the language service, but at the level of the entire radio station. It all depends on what plans will make a guide. While it is heading for the preservation of short waves. But I am not making any illusions and I understand that sooner or later it will stop. It takes a lot of budget funds, and the main audience still does not come through short waves, but through the Internet. I want short waves to remain, and we could work with different parts of our audience at various venues, attract a new audience. And who knows, maybe a new burst of love for vintage and short waves will regain their popularity. Well, as now vinyl records are experiencing a revival: it is quite possible that we will come again to the short waves. Why do I say that I do not create illusions - since such “monsters” as the BBC leave short waves, then what about us. And since our leadership changes basically every three to four years, it all depends on who will replace our current leaders and what policies they will begin to pursue (Rus-DX 14 Oct via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 17639.963 kHz odd fq outlet of Radio Thailand Bangkok from US IBB-BBG relay site at Udorn Thani in north-eastern Thailand. Scheduled at 0530-0600 UT an Eastern Europe target sce towards Helsinki, St.P., Moscow, Yekaterinburg Ural target. S=9+10 or -64dBm strength in Doha Qatar SDR receiving post. Sounded like as much commercial program of FM band. Lots of talk on touristic development projects, with great support assistance from the Thai Princess family. Exact at 0550:00 UT end of 10 time pips signal heard. Adverts of airline service Bangkok - Taipei Taiwan heard and touristic program matter. Then at 0552 replaced by "H A P P Y NEWS service amongst the Thai Kingdom society ...". Final announcement of Thailand elephant conservation center at Lampang festival in November (?). see http://thailand.sawadee.com/lampang/ [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. 5875, Radio Thailand, 1136-1159*, Oct 14. Nice surprise today to find them in English; brief off the air break at 1144. An anomaly? Strong signal and not scheduled to be in English. 5875, Radio Thailand, at 1145, Oct 15. Chimes IS and ID; another day with English program, but not as strong as yesterday; so is not an anomaly (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** TURKEY. 13765.680, TRT Emirler noted with over and over TRT interval signal at 0554-0600 UT, opening with Turkish mx, scheduled 0600-0655 UT. Some log in 0500 to 0600 UT time slot on Oct 11, taken in remote SDR units at Doha Qatar, Germany, Austria, and Hungary remotes [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Vesti Plus on air with local programming in Ukraine Vesti FM is a news service run by VGTRK [the Russian state broadcasting company], with many cities having opt-outs carrying local news for a few minutes in the hour. In what I believe is a 'first' for the station there is now a relay carrying some local programming OUTSIDE Russia's borders. Called 'Vesti Plus' it broadcasts in the self-styled 'republic' of Luhansk/Lugansk in Ukraine, a separatist entity controlled by pro-Russian rebels. It transmits on 107.9 MHz in the city and according to contributors on the Victor City forum (and my own observations) local programming is on air 08:00-15:00 UT on weekdays - at other times Vesti FM national programming is relayed. The local content is produced by Luhansk's 'state' broadcaster GTRK-LNR which has a website at http://www.gtrklnr.com, although the site doesn't mention Vesti Plus at all. However, a live stream can be accessed via the excellent worldradiomap.com website (David Kernick, Interval Signals Online, Oct 15, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST Why did you decide that this station has any authorisation from VGTRK (i.e. from Russian government)? It's just local station that relays Vesti FM. Even the name is different. Pretending to be Russian region is not the same thing that to be real one (Victor Rutkovsky, Russia? ibid.) ** U A E. 13580.116, Much odd frequency outlet of BBC London in English, via ME relay site Al Dhabbaya. S=9+5dB fair signal in local UAE skip zone area, at 0525 UT Oct 11. Some log in 0500 to 0600 UT time slot on Oct 11, taken in remote SDR units at Doha Qatar, Germany, Austria, and Hungary remotes [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. 1535 UT Mon Oct 15, this is a test transmission from Babcock via Woofferton in the UK. This has been done before and it’s used to identify faults in their transmission system “Transmissiontest@gmail.com” is the email address given out for reception reports, as usual. Oops. I totally forgot the frequency sorry, 11810 khz! Easy to forget or miss things while DXing outside on my phone. Annnnnd...Poof, off it went. Gone. Transmitter went off at 1540 (Paul Walker, Ridgway PA, 300 foot long wire, tecsun pl880, Dentron antenna Tuner, dxengineering hf preamp and zoom h1 digital recorder, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) Babcock (who owned the UK's last remaining shortwave transmitting station (Woofferton), and who operated the BBC Short- and medium- wave relay stations on Ascension Island, Cyprus, Oman and Singapore, has sold its media operations to US based Encompass. Press release at https://www.encompass.tv/encompass-to-acquire-babcocks-media-services/ (Andy Sennitt, ODXA yg via DXLD) Yep, correct to call it Encompass, as the transaction was closed on 27th September. That's a relatively quick turnaround. https://www.encompass.tv/encompass-completes-acquisition-babcocks-media-services/ (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** U K. {to Tunisia} Log: BBC DRM mode on 6095 kHz. Wie es auf heisst, sendet die BBC anlaesslich einer Konferenz in Richtung Tunis in DRM mode - (wieso auch nicht). Gegenwaertig bis 2300 UT auf 6095 kHz, an meiner Anlage reicht es allerdings nicht fuer stabiles Decoding, ich bin jedoch auch nicht ganz im Zielgebiet. Senderstandort koennte vielleicht Woofferton sein? (Daniel Kaehler-D, A-DX ng Oct 10) re: BBC DRM 6095 kHz Arabic. Neben Deinem Beitrag gibt es auch noch die 2. Stunde im 19mb auf 15730 kHz, gehoert in Athen Griechenland mit shots: (Oct 9 / 10) (Wolfgang Bueschel, Oct 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: 09-10-2018, 10:55 #1 alokesh Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New Delhi, India Posts: 70 DRM tests by BBC for ASBU conference, Tunis Tuesday 9th October: Test - 1500-1600 UT, 15730 kHz Test - 2200-2300 UT, 6095 kHz Please monitor. Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, India (via DXLD) ** U K [non]. 12095, MADAGASCAR, BBC at 1759 in Arabic with bells IS and a single bell tower chime at 1800 and a man with news – Fair Oct 13 – The sked for this one is 1700 to 1900 so I fail to see why they had the IS playing as there is no indication of a beam or target change. Unless, of course, Dan Ferguson's SW Skeds files have been given erroneous information (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) HFCC does show two hours of Arabic on 12095, no change at 1800 (gh) ** U K. BBC warns of more `difficult choices' as senior management cut by half --- The public broadcaster has reduced senior management in a bid to save money. Press Association Last updated: 10 October 2018 - 4.00pm http://home.bt.com/news/showbiz-news/bbc-warns-of-more-difficult-choices-as-senior-management-cut-by-half-11364302220961 The BBC has warned of further "difficult choices" and an impact on programming as a report showed it has made sweeping cuts and halved the number of senior managers. Senior manager roles have been reduced by 56% and more than 1,000 jobs have been stripped from the public broadcaster, according to the report into efficiency savings. The organisation warned the impact on jobs will soon extend to an impact on content, with efficiency cuts likely to be noticed by viewers and more "difficult choices" to be made. Although 94% of the publicly funded broadcaster's expenditure now goes directly into creating content, overhead costs at the BBC are up -L-12.2 million from last year. The cost of overheads currently stands at -L-196.1 million from a total BBC spend of -L-3.4 billion. The planned reduction in costs led to a raft of efficiency savings, including slashing the number of senior managers from 614 in 2010 to 270 in high-paid managerial roles in the 2017/18 financial year. The BBC report also records the reduction of more than 1,000 employees across the organisation since 2006/07. Deputy director-general Anne Bulford said: "This report demonstrates the hard work that has gone into achieving our financial goals. "While we have sought to protect spending on content wherever we can, savings cannot simply come from overheads. "It's not possible to make savings on this scale without also making changes to services, which some audiences will notice. Simply put, we cannot reduce our cost base by a fifth and not see impact in our content. Scottish Parliament's Education and Culture Committee hearing Anne Bulford (Andrew Milligan/PA) [caption] "At the same time, the BBC faces significant financial challenges, from competition for talent and rights, and from rising audience expectations. "Reinventing the BBC at a time of unprecedented pressure will require difficult choices to be made. We have made a strong start but there is still much to do." Overheads have been brought down at the BBC, from a 7.6%, -L-279.3 million running cost in 2014/15, to a 5.7%, -L-196.1 million running cost in the last financial year. Despite the cuts, this is still up more than -L-12.2 million from the lower total of 5.2% in 2016/17. Cuts to management are thought to have resulted in savings of -L-38 million, according to the report, and staffing cuts overall to have saved the BBC around -L-59 million since 2010/11. Property costs have also been slashed, with the total expenditure on BBC real estate being cut from -L-321 million at the time of the last efficiency report in 2014 to -L-270 million in the last financial year. Ms Bulford added: "The BBC is financially well-managed with less bureaucracy. "It is a BBC that is streamlined, with visible and accessible leaders. It is a simpler BBC" (via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) OTOH 316 staff given pay rises after querying BBC salaries The BBC has previously announced pay cuts for some of its male stars. Press Association Last updated: 11 October 2018 - 10.40am http://tv.bt.com/tv/tv-news/316-staff-given-pay-rises-after-querying-bbc-salaries-11364302361773 More than 300 BBC staff - including some men - have received a salary boost after questioning their pay in the last 14 months, according to new figures. The Times obtained figures, under the Freedom of Information Act, on the BBC's informal system for handling staff with questions about their salaries. The Corporation has received 1,047 queries on different issues about pay since July 2017, when salaries of high earners were first published, sparking the gender pay gap controversy. BBC Director General Tony Hall BBC director-general Tony Hall (Justin Tallis/PA) [caption] Of these, 316 have been awarded increases while 144 queries remain unresolved. A BBC spokesman said: "Over the past 24 months, we've been making major reforms to staff terms and conditions and have encouraged people to come forward with queries about their pay, and as we've said before, in some cases this has led to us making adjustments for men and women." The BBC has previously announced pay cuts for some of its highest-earning male stars, including John Humphrys, Jeremy Vine, Huw Edwards and Jon Sopel (via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ** U K. Terms for new SSDAB radio multiplexes agreed Radio Today By Roy Martin 13 October 2018 Small-Scale DAB multiplex operators will need to reserve space for community radio stations under new framework set out by the government. Companies who win an SSDAB licence in the upcoming rounds will have to make a certain proportion of capacity available to C-DSP licence holders. Ofcom will be creating a new category of licence for community radio stations – the C-DSP, (Community – Digital Sound Programme) which will help them go live on a SSDAB multiplex. The information on the new rules comes as the Government publishes responses to the Small Scale DAB Licensing consultation. In it, we see that the BBC indicated that it did not expect to take capacity on any small-scale multiplexes or hold any licences, but will be allowed to take carriage if required. . . https://radiotoday.co.uk/2018/10/terms-for-new-ssdab-radio-multiplexes-agreed/ (via Mike Terry, bdxc-news iog via DXLD) ** U S A. 13565, Oct 12 at 1437, K6FRC beacon from California is JBA despite CODAR and blob maybe from RHC FM spur (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 11175-USB, ESTADOS UNIDOS: 11/10 1543, tx // a 13200 kHz e 15016 kHz. São frequências da HF-GCS. Presumo que estas transmissões emergenciais tem a ver com o furacão Michael. 35543 (RG). 13200-USB, ESTADOS UNIDOS: 11/10 1435. Estação de transmissão de códigos alfanuméricos (fonia, voz feminina), inglês, Sequência de 2 minutos de leitura pausada de letras e números intercalados por ‘I say again...’, This is J, walk out...’, ‘stand by...’. Após 3 minutos, uma nova transmissão de números e letras, pausadamente. 35543 (RG). Pesquisando no Google sobre esta transmissão, encontrei informações que nesta e em outras frequências são transmitidas mensagens codificadas de emergência, conhecidas como EAM (Emergency Action Message). Informação levantada na Internet: “An EAM (Emergency Action Message) is a high priority message that is transmitted around the world by the US Air Force. These messages are able to be sent globally because of the HFGCS. The HF-GCS stands for High Frequency Global Communications Systems which is used by the US Air Force in different countries across the world. These messages are a high priority for the military since they are used for many of their strategic military operations, including nuclear attacks if it was ever needed. These messages are broadcasted on the common HF-GCS frequencies which are 4724 kHz, 6739 kHz, 8992 kHz, 11175 kHz, 13200 kHz, and 15016 kHz. 6712 kHz is another frequency but is only used by Croughton, UK for part of the day. You are very likely to catch an EAM if you stay tuned to one of these frequencies, although there are still a few other backup frequencies used for EAMs”. https://www.numbers-stations.com/media/articles/EAMs.pdf 15016-USB, ESTADOS UNIDOS: 11/10 1539 UT, // a 13200 kHz e 11175 kHz. 35553 (RG) 13200 neste mesmo momento com SINPO 15421 (Recepções / Confirmações, Rudolf Grimm, 11/10/2018, Rx: KiwiSDR (São Bernardo SP) + Antena Mini Whip - padrão PA0RDT (Horários em UT), radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA to Burma --- Greta Van Susteren of VOA has told a U.S. House committee that VOA began transmitting 30 minutes of "learning English language across AM and shortwave radio." She also says VOA plans to start "limited broadcasting [sic] the Rohingya dialect." [WORLD OF RADIO 1952] Full transcript: WITNESSES: GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST OF PLUGGED IN WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, VOICE OF AMERICA They were also interested in learning English. In April 2018, VOA started transmitting 30 minutes of learning English language across AM and shortwave radio. VOA is also planning to start limited broadcasting [in] the Rohingya dialect. The value [of] bringing news and information to the Rohingya cannot be underscored. Left in these camps long term, they will lack economic opportunity[,] be targets for human trafficking or exploitation or violent extremism. VOA news can make a difference. HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE HEARING ON GENOCIDE AGAINST THE BURMESE ROHINGYA --- SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:VpB09Qul45oJ:https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA00/20180926/108717/HHRG-115-FA00-Wstate-VanSusterenG-20180926.pdf Testimony of Ms. Greta Van Susteren Host, Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren, Voice of America Before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, September 26, 2018 Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today about Myanmar and the Rohingya refugee crisis. As you know, I am a journalist, and my job is simply to tell the truth — unbiased, accurate, and objective. I’m here today with the Voice of America, the largest of five media networks under the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), formerly known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). VOA connects the world to the United States through news and information and provides an independent voice in international media. Its mission is to serve as a reliable source of news, to represent America to international audiences, and present the policies of the United States, including responsible discussion of these policies. As requested by the Committee, I will be sharing my personal observations of the conflict, which have been informed by my on-the-ground reporting, and the work of VOA to report the facts on this crisis and support access to information in the affected areas. My observations should not be construed as official positions of the Administration. I volunteer to host a weekly foreign affairs news program at VOA. I have made four trips to investigate what is going on in Myanmar and the surrounding region. My first trip to the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh was in December 2017 in my own capacity, and I returned with VOA Director Amanda Bennett in June 2018. In this June visit, I saw breathtakingly worse conditions because of the monsoon season. Continuous rains had devastated the camps — with shelters slipping away in mudslides, walls collapsing around huts and people, and attempts at basic sanitation obliterated. This is pure human suffering, measured not by the few but by the hundreds of thousands of people seeking safety and dignity. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that some 800,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are now living in the camps. These people are forgotten — stateless, homeless, nameless. In Myanmar, the government has rejected use of the term “Rohingya,” refusing to recognize them. This attitude was evident in nearly every interaction I’ve had with people in Myanmar — from government officials to taxi drivers. The Rohingya are non-people to them; they have been dehumanized. The trauma of the refugees’ violent departure from Myanmar is fresh. Pregnant women carry their babies not knowing if that child was conceived through their marriage or as a result of a gang rape by the Myanmar military. They are shunned in the community. Children have witnessed unspeakable brutality and live with those memories. One young boy proudly showed me a drawing he produced in an NGO-sponsored art program. I asked him to explain his artwork to me, and at one point said, “What is that?” He replied that it was a drawing of a severed bloody hand that he saw on the ground near his village home in Myanmar as he fled with his mother. I heard many people in the refugee camp speak about the Myanmar military’s use of machetes to kill or maim. The Rohingya people may look different from us, espouse a different culture, and practice a different religion. But fundamentally, they just want to live their lives and raise their children in a secure, peaceful home. They want to be healthy. They want to be educated. They want to work. These refugees in the camps are considered to be the lucky ones because they escaped. But the challenges for them are formidable, as you’ll see in this short video: [Insert video] What do we do now? The international community is aware and concerned, but gaining traction with Myanmar officials has been difficult. In August 2018, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) issued a report documenting atrocities against the Rohingya people, detailing the military’s mass killings of villagers, raping of women and girls, and torching of villages. The report recommended that senior military leadership in Myanmar be investigated and prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Nikki Haley confirmed that the State Department’s own fact-finding report was “consistent” with the UN report. She was right when she said, “The whole world is watching what we do next and if we act.” As reporters, the Voice of America is already acting by covering the crisis from the start for its international audiences, including those in Myanmar. It’s risky for VOA reporters in Myanmar to do this, as we have seen with the prosecution of Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Our reporters have faced pressure to stop using the term “Rohingya” in their work, but they have resisted and are bravely covering the facts as they unfold. In the very early days of the crisis in August 2017, reporters were barred from Rakhine State by the Myanmar military. VOA’s NewsCenter in coordination with its Bangla and Burmese Services worked to piece together what had happened, and the Bangla service was able to get a stringer to the refugee camps in and around Cox’s Bazar in the first days. Since then, VOA reporters have continued to cover the story in multiple languages, including interviews with representatives from the Myanmar and Bangladesh governments, UN officials, human rights organizations, reactions from the U.S. State Department, and congressional comments and hearings. VOA is also working to directly reach the refugees. Director Bennett’s visit with me to Bangladesh in June was not just to observe the conditions in the camp; it was to assess how VOA can better report on and broadcast to refugees. UNHCR representatives and other NGOs in the field were highly supportive, as were representatives from the Government of Bangladesh. VOA has had a Bangladeshi language service since 1958, and has strong brand recognition and credibility in the country. The assessment visit identified multiple options for delivering content, including radio and “listening groups” already established by NGOs where people gather regularly to listen and discuss content — mostly public service announcements — provided on thumb drives. Director Bennett and her team also spoke with people living in the camp to investigate their news habits and issue preferences. Without exception, every group they talked to was extremely interested in news and information, across male and female groups. They wanted more than public service announcements about how to tie down their tarp in a monsoon. Rather, the groups exhibited self-awareness of how isolated they are from the rest of the world, and are especially eager to hear news from Myanmar and what the international community is saying about them. Some refugees with prior education recognized the VOA brand. They were also interested in learning English. In April 2018, VOA started transmitting thirty minutes of “Learning English” language instruction programing across AM and shortwave radio. This existing program for other areas has been extremely popular both in giving people a marketable skill, but also in building the VOA brand. VOA is also planning to start limited broadcasting in the Rohingya dialect. The value of bringing news and information to these isolated, traumatized people cannot be underscored. Left in these camps long-term, with no viable future, they will lack economic opportunity, be targets for human trafficking or exploitation, or worse — violent extremism. VOA news can make a difference. And I believe that this type of work is directly related to the VOA mission. I’m extremely passionate about this project because I see it as contributing to what I hope will be a strong, decisive response by the U.S. government to seek a long-term, peaceful solution for the Rohingya people. In closing, I must acknowledge the efforts of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. [sic] Ambassador Nikki Haley. I know they have been forceful about this crisis. I must also thank the many NGOs that rushed to help the Rohingya people fleeing from Myanmar last year, who work day-in-and-day-out in unthinkable conditions. From Doctors Without Borders to Samaritans Purse to the World Food Program, and many more. Their work is daunting, but their commitment is firm. And finally, thank you, Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel, for convening this hearing. Reporters must bear witness, especially in documenting atrocities as they occur and using objective news to accurately inform policymakers. I firmly believe this is a pivotal moment for the United States and for being on the right side of history. When we say, “never again,” we must mean it (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. FCC Building --- Due to “water damage,” Monday was a “holiday” at the FCC. --- TomTaylorNow.com October 16, 2018 That unplanned aquatic event affects filings, especially ones that were due yesterday. The Commission itself issues a terse one-liner – “The headquarters building [in southwest Washington DC] will be closed on Monday, October 15 due to water damage.” One communications attorney tells clients that the closing presumably qualifies as a legal holiday. Meaning that “any applications, pleadings or other filings with a deadline of [October 15] are due on the first business day that the FCC’s headquarters building re-opens.” The vital CDBS (Consolidated Database) and other online systems seem to have been working (a very good thing). The agency moved from its historic home at 1991 M Street down to the Portals two decades ago. It didn’t renew its lease there, and the plan is to relocate up to the “NoMa” (North of Massachusetts Avenue) district in late 2019. That’s around the corner from NPR, and they’d once been neighbors on M Street, just a block apart (via Mike Terry, WOR iog via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1950 monitoring: 9955, WRMI, Radio Miami Int’l (presumed); 2131-2143+, 10/7 [Sunday]; Repeat of Glenn Hauser’s World of Radio #1950. SIO=3+33 easily copiable with Arnie’s buzz-pulse jammer (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ---- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! ----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1951 monitoring: confirmed Tuesday October 9 at 2030 on WRMI 7780, very poor. Confirmed Wednesday October 10 at 2100 on WBCQ 7490v and WRMI 9955, both poor-fair and just about synchronized. Next: 2330 UT Thursday WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [maybe: check in case WBCQ agreed to my request without telling me] 0629 UT Saturday HLR 6190-CUSB Germany to WSW [off last 3 weeks] 1231 UT Saturday WINB 9265V via Unique Radio to WSW 1431 UT Saturday HLR 6190-CUSB Germany to WSW [off last 3 weeks] 1930vUT Saturday WA0RCR 1860-AM non-direxional 0300vUT Sunday WA0RCR 1860-AM non-direxional [nominal 0315-] 1030 UT Sunday HLR 9485-CUSB Germany to WSW [off last 3 weeks] 2130 UT Sunday WRMI 7780 to NE, 9955 to SSE 0300vUT Monday WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW 0330 UT Monday WRMI 9955 to SSE WORLD OF RADIO 1951 monitoring: confirmed Saturday October 13 at 1255 the 1231 on Unique Radio via WINB, 9265, S9+10. Next WOR broadcast, at 1431 via Hamburger Lokalradio, has been missing from 6190-CUSB the past three weeks with no info from station about the status. But Alan Gale, England, found a new schedule effective today Oct 13 on their website, with 9485-CUSB replacing 6190 for this transmission, WOR at the same times as before: http://hamburger-lokalradio.net/?page_id=2229 [see also GERMANY] Samstag 06.00 – 11.00 UTC – 6190 kHz (49mB) 11.00 – 15.00 UTC – 9485 kHz (31mB) Sonntag 09.00 – 12.00 UTC – 7265 kHz (41mB) So 9485-CUSB, at 1430 via UTwente, gets a JBA carrier, with huge splash, especially during music, from 9490 CRI Bengali, 150 kW, due west from Kunming. HLR might have a chance if it were on LSB instead of USB. Which HLR frequency is only 150 watts? As shown on website, the other two 1 kW. 9485 means an even greater skip distance at 1431, less likely reception as close as UTwente. But further in England, Alan reports: ``Hi Glenn, HLR on 9485 at fair strength. I've been listening to HLR since it came on 9485 at 1100 UT, not booming in, but fair and listenable, though at around 1440 there is some QSB starting to build up during the World of Radio slot. Nice to listen to it without the usual PBS carrier, and to be able to use AM rather than CUSB. No splatter noted here on either sideband, thankfully. Alan`` From Northern Ireland, Jordan Heyburn reports: ``World of Radio - Glenn Hauser: 9485 kHz CUSB at 1435 UT good signal. Perseus SDR - Beverage (Facing South) - Remote QTH Finland``. WOR 1951 confirmed UT Sunday October 14 at 0328 on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, Missouri, good signal about 11 minutes into show so started circa 0317. Next HLR airing should be Sunday 1030, HLR on new 7265-CUSB, ex-9485. Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, confirms during the previous program: ``7265-CUSB. Now on air 1005-1013, 14-10, with poor signal, program "Media Network Plus"`` Next: 2130 UT Sunday WRMI 7780 to NE, 9955 to SSE 0300vUT Monday WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW 0330 UT Monday WRMI 9955 to SSE #1952 should be ready for first airing UT Tue 0030 on 7730 WRMI. Besides the original WOR times on WRMI 9955, Wed 2100 & UT Mon 0330, now heard additionally Sun 2130; and UT Mon 0100, as heard Oct 2 by Alan Gale on webcast, so also on 9955 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1951 monitoring: Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, reports: 6190, Hamburger LokalRadio, Göhren, *0603-0708, 13-10, after having been inactive last Saturday[s], today on air, program “Media Network Plus”, at 0634 Glenn Hauser’s program “World of Radio” nº 1951, at 0701 German program. 15321. 7265, Hamburger LokalRadio, Göhren, 0950-1100, 14-10, music, Dutch, comments, ID “Hamburger LokalRadio”, at 1000 English, ID program “Media Network Plus” and “World of Radio” Weak signal. 15311. Hamburger LokalRadio has changed its 9485 kHz Sunday frequency for its English program and now this program is on air on 7265 kHz. Logs in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters`` WOR 1951 confirmed Sunday October 14 at 2130 on WRMI 7780 at S4-S6 AND on WRMI 9955 at S9+10 but with pulse jamming; tnx a lot, Arnie! The two frequencies are about one word apart, so separate playouts rather than exactly // from same feed; just before at 2127 they were different, 9955 with World Music and 7780 with `Wavescan`. Also confirmed UT Monday Oct 15 after 0300 on Area 51 webcast, and via WBCQ 5129.84, good S9 ending at 0330:29 so started circa 0301:40. The 0330 UT Mon Oct 15 on WRMI 9955 is a JBA carrier vs pulse jamming, but audible on webcast. WORLD OF RADIO 1952 contents: Alaska and non, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bougainville, Brasil, Canada, Chile, China, Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Germany non, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mali, México, Nepal, Nigeria non, Papua New Guinea, Perú, Sa`udi Arabia, Sikkim, Taiwan, UK, USA, unidentified; propagation outlook WOR 1952 completed and uploaded by 2351 UT October 15, ready for first airings on WRMI: confirmed UT Tuesday October 16 at 0030 on 7730, VG S9+20/30. Also new immediate repeat confirmed UT Tue Oct 16 at 0100 on 9955, very poor S7 in pulse jamming; by 0114 has faded to JBA carrier leaving nothing but jamming. Tnx a lot, Arnie! I sure hope 9955 has held up into its South American target area. Next: 2030 UT Tuesday WRMI 7780 to NE 1030 UT Wednesday WRMI 5950 to WNW 2100 UT Wednesday WRMI 9955 to SSE 2100 UT Wednesday WBCQ 7490v to WSW 0629 UT Saturday HLR 6190-CUSB Germany to WSW 1231 UT Saturday WINB 9265V via Unique Radio to WSW 1431 UT Saturday HLR 9485-CUSB Germany to WSW [ex-6190] 1930vUT Saturday WA0RCR 1860-AM non-direxional 0300vUT Sunday WA0RCR 1860-AM non-direxional [nominal 0315-] 1030 UT Sunday HLR 7265-CUSB Germany to WSW [ex-9485] 2130 UT Sunday WRMI 7780 to NE, 9955 to SSE 0300vUT Monday WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW 0330 UT Monday WRMI 9955 to SSE Full schedule including AM, FM, webcasts, satellite: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI: ** U S A. Monitored WRMI Sunday Evening / Monday Morning (UT) 7780 kHz Schedule --- From my recording last Sunday evening, 7-8 October UT 2015 Viva Miami (in Spanish talking about the trip to Bratislava for the HFCC meeting; repeat) 2030 Reserve Military Retirement 2100 Wavescan (#502) 2130 World of Radio (#1950) 2200 Your Weekend Show (Bob Biermann talks about "Ancient Word Radio" and hymnology, including extensive interview with Richard Jones) 2300 Full Gospel (Half-) Hour (not Alameda Bible Fellowship) 2330 Shortwave Radiogram (#68) 0000 Radio Slovakia International in Slovak 0030 Radio Slovakia International in English 0100 Wavescan (#502) 0130 Through the Cross Ministry (with Pastor Chuck) (-- Richard Langley, NB, Oct 9, WOR iog via DXLD) Thanks for observations! Here is Shortwave Radiogram #68 in detail: http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2018-10-06.htm#SWRG (although different station, but same content) And here you can listen to the broadcasts of Bob Biermann as a podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/bishop-robert-s-biermanns-tracks https://www.spreaker.com/user/yourweekendshow (roger, germany, ibid.) WRMI: See also NIGERIA [non]! WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ: ** U S A. (7490v), Oct 13 from 0004, `Al Weiner Worldwide` on WBCQ is instead inhabited by CE Tom Barna, with Robert aside, since AW and Angela are away at some hamfest. Takes a lot of phone calls, bits of music, and mainly talks about Superstation progress. About 65 to 75% complete now. Need to hook up antennas and transmission line. 500 kW Continental transmitter expected to be delivered about November 5. Tom will be working long hours 6 days a week for two months, installing it along with TimTron and the rep from Continental. Tom has already moved into the apartment in the new octagon building (seen on website) which will house master control and the transmitter. Building has copper faraday cage screening built in already. Hope that most of the RF out of antenna will be directed away from the MCR. Depending on whether the Ampegon antenna is ready, maybe start testing (presumably meaning on the air), early December. To be installed, a kilofoot of 9-inch transmission line. Tom says working on a 500 kW unit will be new for him, only 50 kW previously. Maybe ready to go on air in five months (which would be mid-March, already). One caller asks if they have icing problems there in northern Maine --- not much, he says; it`s either too cold or too hot for ice to build up. No e- mail reading, since he can`t get into AW`s inbox (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7490.169v, UT Tue Oct 9 at 0013, WBCQ with `From the Isle of Music`, nice sacred classical music, chorus and chamber orchestra, with ``Gloria``s, a special presentation of `Misa Cubana`; and WBCQ off after 0100 when you would think there would be plenty of demand for prime-time slots. Note frequency has drifted higher and higher (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. From the Isle of Music, October 14-20, 2018: Our special guest this week is Gastón Joya, whose album Mama Ina won the Jazz Soloists category of Cubadisco 2018. We’ll speak with him about the album, listen to some of it, and we will also hear music from some of the other nominees. The transmissions take place: 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 rom Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9 PM EDT 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 UT on Channel 292, 6070 from Rohrbach, Germany. Also recommended: Jetzt geht’s los! (Here We Go!), an excellent program of early German Jazz produced by Radio Ohne Nahmen, comes on right before FTIOM on Tuesdays at 1800-1900 UT on Channel 292. Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, October 14 and 16, 2018 Episode 84 will feature some different types of recent music from the United States. The transmissions take place: 1. Sundays 2200-2230 UT (6:00-6:30 PM Eastern US) on WBCQ The Planet 7490 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 North Africa and the Middle East, AND a long bounce to parts of New Zealand. Also recommended: Marion’s Attic, a unique program produced and hosted by Marion Webster featuring early 20th Century records, Edison cylinders etc played on the original equipment, comes on immediately before UBMP on Sundays at 2100-2200 UT on WBCQ 7490 (William "Bill" Tilford, Owner/Producer, Tilford Productions, LLC, Oct 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB ** U S A. Re: [WOR] Strangeness on 9265 Khz 1 Files 889KB PNG 889KB Save It's there again this morning (13 October). Noted right now at 1244 UT. No carrier. Screenshot attached (Richard Langley, NB, Oct 13, WOR iog via DXLD) Hi Richard, I tuned in prior to 1100 UT. I heard a pulsating beacon of some description but when WINB signed on at 1055 or so it was well over the top and I had a great signal at my QTH (Using an inverted V), better than an S9 , which was good. It was faintly heard underneath. So I take it that is the sound you can hear. I also think that signal in Canada is suffering with no sunup at that hour? Best regards (Tim Gaynor, Unique Radio, Gunnedah NSW, Australia, ibid.) I assume that like last week, Richard is talking about: as received in Europe, not NB (gh) Hi Richard, that is different to what I was hearing. Interesting, many thanks (Tim, WOR iog via DXLD) Replying to an unseen reply? (gh) 9265, Saturday Oct 13 at 1301, right after WOR finished on Unique Radio via WINB, Tim Gaynor`s own `Sounds of Your Life` show starting with ``Happiness`` song, nice (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHER: ** U S A. 3215, Oct 11 at 0530, S9+20 of dead air from WWCR. If I were a stockholder in this, I would be upset about management burning up 100+ kW for nothing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** USA. 7505v, WRNO, Oct 12, checking at 1005, 1140, 1205 & 1225, only to hear English (no Chinese heard today!); fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** U S A. 5050; 5044.3 & 5055.7, WWRB – Manchester, TN (Presumed), 0037, 10/14/18, in English. Man with allegedly Biblical prophecy talking with another man who was encouraging him. Audible spurs on 5044.3 & 5055.7. Main signal was very good. Spurs were fair & a bit fuzzy (Mark Taylor, Madison, Wisconsin. Equipment: Perseus, Airspy HF+, SDRPlay RSP1; ICOM R75, Tecsun PL 880, and various other portables; 42 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, W6LVP loop, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) As in my previous reports (gh) ** U S A. 15810, WTWW Religious program, October 7, 2018, 2331 – 2334 in English. SIO 433. OM preacher with bible quotations and homily. Noisy signal and a ridiculous sermon (Vince Henley, Anacortes, WA, U. S. A. Equipment in use: WiNRADiO G39DDCe SDR, ICOM IC-R8600, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R8B, TECSUN PL-380, TECSUN PL-660, TECSUN PL-880. Antennas: whips on PL-380, PL-660, PL-880 and Alpha-Delta DX-Ultra installed broadside east west at 30 feet, NASWA Flashsheet via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) Had not heard it since August (gh, ibid.) 9475, WTWW, Lebanon TN (presumed); 2146, 10/7; Purveyor of Poison, Paleverer of Perdition & Past Putrid Pastor Pete Peters waxing about Jews taking over America; Heil Peter! S10, a lot stronger than lately (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ---- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! ----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. HFCC Bratislava [notes of topix on a 3:46 discussion:] Jeff White WRMI & Jerry Plummer WWCR with Glenn Tapley WEWN Four 500 kW transmitters but only 3 transmitters on air any one time Usually run at 250 kW but can use 500 kW Antennas 8 curtains WEWN originally planned for Philippines, would be with Radio Veritas Launched near Birmingham Alabama 1992 EWTN 500 AM FM stations in USA, also TV (AWR Wavescan summary for 14 October 2018, via DXLD) ** U S A. I've tried to download the latest Wavescan programs from AWR.org, but when I do, all I get is a 0 kB file. Nothing there. Anyone else notice this, and is there a solution? 73 (Walt Salmaniw, BC, WOR iog via DXLD) Mit der rechten Maustaste über den entsprechenden Link gehen und aus dem Kontextmenü auswählen: Ziel speichern unter.... Right-click over the corresponding link and select from the context menu: Save target as .... That's how it works for me in the German Firefox version. http://feeds.feedburner.com/ENGMI_WAV?format=xml https://podcasts.awr.org/Audio/asia/ENGMI/WAV/ENGMI_WAVX_20181007_1.mp3 Or try it with different download managers. Or make from the https a simple http-connection. Some programs have problems with https. http://podcasts.awr.org/Audio/asia/ENGMI/WAV/ENGMI_WAVX_20181007_1.mp3 And then always pay attention to the traffic! ;-) (roger, ibid.) Granted, I can play them OK, but that's not very convenient. I prefer to download and play them while I'm biking! 73 (Walt, ibid.) Hi, Walt. When you play the audio, right click on the pause button and choose 'Save Audio As' (Ray Robinson, ibid.) Ahhh! If that works, perfect! Thanks, Ray! (Walt, ibid.) It's a little different on a Mac. Control + click on the pause button at the bottom of the screen will bring up a small menu that gives you the option of saving the link to a file. Selecting this option then downloads the file. Note that the dates of the files are not the dates of the actual broadcasts (-- Richard Langley, ibid.) Worked perfectly on my PC. Learned something new today! (Walt, ibid.) ** U S A. 780, Oct 12 at 1204 UT, nulling KSPI Stillwater, I expect still to hear WBBM making fast SAH with off-frequency KSPI, but instead it`s Newstalk 780, WJAG, Norfolk NE, with morning news, ad for Battle Creek Mutual Insurance --- that could be confusing --- and 1205 UT, Skywatch weather including records and forecast. WJAG is surprisingly seldom heard here at 629 km = 391 statute miles; 1 kW ND daytimer with 500 watt PSRA but no PSSA, says NRC AM Log. If not for KSPI, it might be JBA in daytime like 840 KTIC, but that`s 5 kW. Official FCC sunrise for WJAG full power is 1245 UT in October, 1315 UT in November. In fact, I find only one previous report of it, almost exactly three years ago, so this must be the season for it: ``780, Oct 8 [2015!] at 1210 UT, promo for Norfolk Community Theatre, local news from WJAG, i.e. Norfolk NE, 1 kW ND daytimer, but before 1245 UT in Oct, must be only on 500 W PSRA; yes, one of those few legacy W-calls west of the Miss. Nearby KSPI OK is nulled, and at this time no WBBM, after axual Chicago sunrise today at 1155 UT``. WJAG dates back to 1922, but no explanation of the call letters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WJAG Own website seems to lack any history: http://norfolkdailynews.com/wjag/ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Like Glenn, I'm unable to find any information concerning the origins of WJAG's call sign. However, I did find this little monograph that gives a rather thorough overview of the station's history: https://history.nebraska.gov/sites/history.nebraska.gov/files/doc/publications/NH2011WJAG.pdf I checked the newspapers.com database (to which I have access) as well and, while there's been much ink spilled over the years about the station, I saw nothing concerning the call sign itself (Bill Feidt, nrc-am gg via DXLD) According to one site, “With joy and gladness” https://www.americanradiohistory.com/call_letters.htm (Paul Walker, ibid.) This source, The Early Years of Broadcasting in Norfolk, Nebraska, 1922-1928 https://history.nebraska.gov/sites/history.nebraska.gov/files/doc/publi cations/NH1998Broadcasting.pdf claims that the call letters were randomly assigned. ``Huse's fascination with radio, his hobby since the early teens, had blossomed into regularly scheduled broadcasting ten years later. On July 27, 1922, the Commerce Department granted a Limited Commercial, Land Radio Station broadcast license and randomly assigned call letters, WJAG, to the Huse Publishing Company (Norfolk Daily News).`` (Bill Feidt, ibid.) In many cases, particularly those which go back many years, a slogan attached to the call letters is created after the assignment of the calls. In other cases, the calls were requested specifically. WABC, WNBC and WCBS in NYC are examples of the latter. One of the former type was WFBL-1390 in Syracuse NY which adopted the slogan "When Feeling Blue, Listen". Depending on how far back the calls go, it may not be possible to establish the sequence. At one time, there was a listing of calls and meanings/slogans published in DXN, and I believe also in DXM (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH [what does that mean?], Blue Bell, PA, Grid FN20id, ibid.) As with so many of the 1922-23 era W-calls with "A" or "B" as the third letter, WJAG was purely sequential. If you go through the Department of Commerce Radio Service Bulletins, you can see the sequence as it was issued. And as with so many of the 1922-23 era W-calls with "A" or "B" as the third letter, there were plenty of stories made up after the fact to "explain" the calls later on. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) ** U S A. New York Mets Move Radio Broadcasts To WCBS/Entercom Seth Everett Sports Broadcaster, Podcaster & SAGAFTRA Union Member https://www.forbes.com/sites/setheverett/2018/09/18/new-york-mets-move-radio-broadcasts-to-wcbs-entercom/#27e4bd0143c8 When the 2018 season ends, the New York Mets will no longer be heard on WOR Radio 710 AM. Monday they announced a new seven-year agreement with Entercom to air their games on WCBS 880 AM beginning in 2019 and running through 2025. The new deal includes all regular season, spring training and postseason games, along with pregame and postgame coverage. The new deal also includes Spanish language rights to Mets broadcasts, which currently air on ESPN Deportes 1050 AM in New York. [Spanish?? Surely not on 880 at same time as English --- gh] The Mets join the crosstown New York Yankees under the Entercom New York sports umbrella. Yankees games are heard on WFAN-AM/FM, which was the Mets radio home from the station’s inception in 1987 through 2013. “We’re pleased to be the new radio home of the Mets,” said Susan Larkin, Regional President and Market Manager, Entercom. “We remain committed to bringing our listeners and partners the most exciting sports content from their hometown teams, especially in the New York metropolitan area, where we will be the radio home for both Major League Baseball clubs beginning in 2019.” WOR 710 AM is known as a news/talk station that airs political commentators Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. The station announced on social media https://twitter.com/PeteyMacWOR/status/1041708325916889089 that they are canceling their evening sports talk show, the “Sports Zone” with hosts Pete McCarthy and Sal Licata. WCBS 880 AM is an all-news station, with plenty of experience airing sports play-by-play. They aired the Yankees recently & currently airs WFAN spillover play-by-play. In those circumstances, the stations aired its non-stop news coverage on a web stream. There was no confirmation that this was the case again with upcoming Mets broadcasts, but industry sources are expecting this again. “We are excited to join the Entercom family, and look forward to leveraging the power of their portfolio of stations in the nation’s largest market,” said Lou DePaoli, Executive Vice President, New York Mets. “This new partnership allows us to continue delivering outstanding radio broadcasts to our passionate fan base, while also reaching a wide audience via cross promotions on all of Entercom’s New York stations.” The Mets radio broadcast booth is also up in the air. The team made no announcement regarding personnel once WCBS begins airing games. Play-by-play man Howie Rose is expected to make the switch over to WCBS. Rose has called Mets games on either TV or radio since 1995. He has been the primary radio play-by-play broadcaster since 2006. There is no word on the other Mets play-by-play man Josh Lewin, who has been in the booth since 2012. Pre/Post-Game host Wayne Randazzo has been with the station since 2015. Their status is up in the air at the present time. One person who might be back in the mix is WFAN Mets Reporter Ed Coleman. Coleman served as the Pre/Post-Game host when the games were on WFAN from 1996-2013. When the Mets left the FAN, Coleman stopped using the team’s charter and recently cut down on travel. It would be interesting to see if Entercom, which now owns both WFAN and WCBS, would consider reuniting Coleman with the broadcast. In addition, Entercom’s New York radio stations WCBS 880, (ALT 92.3 (WNYL-FM), NEW 102.7 (WNEW-FM), WCBS-FM 101.1 (WCBS-FM) and 1010 WINS (WINS-AM) will offer promotional support. The Mets will work with each station on custom promotional opportunities on air and during Mets home games at Citi Field. Listeners can tune in to WCBS 880 (WCBS-AM) in New York on-air, as well as nationwide on the Radio.com app. The Mets were on WOR for five seasons. The New York Post reported https://nypost.com/2018/09/17/mets-radio-booth-could-face-shakeup-at-ne w-station/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm _campaign=site%20buttons that WOR lost money in all five years. WCBS is now the flagship for seven years. The Mets in their history were only on the FM radio dial in 2013 when WFAN started broadcasting at 101.9 FM in New York. Every other season since the team’s inception in 1962 has been on the AM dial and will continue through 2025 (via Kevin Redding, TN, Oct 11, ABDX yg via DXLD) ** U S A. 980, SOUTH CAROLINA, WAZS, Summerville. 1004 October 11, 2018. Male canned "980 La Raza" between Mexi-tunes. Multi-station FM plus AM WAZS Summerville ID by accented male at 1102. Some COCO and WAAV co-channel -- (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater FL, All times/dates GMT, IC-R75, NRD-535, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. MIPD launches AM radio station Lance Shearer, Correspondent Published 5:02 a.m. ET Sept. 25, 2018 | Updated 8:21 a.m. ET Sept. 25 https://www.marconews.com/story/news/2018/09/25/mipd-launches-am-radio-station/1408610002/ The Marco Island Police Department is joining Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, Rick Steves, Dave Elliott and a host of other hosts [sic], broadcasting on AM radio. Their lineup, coverage map and intent may be closer, though, to “traveler radio,” the traffic broadcasts you sometimes see a sign promoting as you enter an airport or a congested area such as the Magic Kingdom. The MIPD station, broadcasting at a frequency of 1690 on the AM band, is designed to help island residents be aware of emergency situations or other safety concerns, especially in the wake of a major storm or a widespread power outage. “It’s a low power station, but it covers the entire island,” said MIPD Capt. Dave Baer, who is managing the radio operation. “We have to test it to make sure it doesn’t go further than it’s allowed.” AM radio broadcasts, he noted, can experience interference from power lines, and can be blocked inside large concrete buildings – think the garages of high-rise condos. The genesis of the system came about, said Baer, after the difficulties with communications experienced on the island after Hurricane Irma. [caption] MIPD Capt. Dave Baer, left, Heather Comparini and MIFD Deputy Chief David Batiato are some of the voices on the new broadcasts. The Marco Island Police Dept. is on the air with their low-power AM radio broadcasts, aimed at getting safety information out to island residents. (Photo: Lance Shearer/Correspondent) “In Irma, everyone lost power. Television went down, internet went down, cell phones were out – there was no way to communicate.” Baer urged everyone to purchase an inexpensive battery-operated transistor radio with the AM band, and noted people could also pick up the signal on their car radio. “We don’t want to make people go out in a hurricane to listen on their car radio, though,” he said. “Go buy an AM radio.” The programming is not likely to be up for any Peabody Awards soon. While the broadcasts are still in their infancy and will likely gain in sophistication and content as the department gains experience with the medium, for now it is very much “just the facts.” [caption:] MIPD records clerk Heather Comparini is recording messages for the emergency radio network. The Marco Island Police Dept. is on the air with their low-power AM radio broadcasts, aimed at getting safety information out to island residents. (Photo: Lance Shearer/Correspondent) The system went live on Sept. 10, the one-year anniversary [sic] of Hurricane Irma striking the island. On a “blue sky” day, meaning one with no emergency to get the word out for, it will offer safety tips, notifications about traffic conditions such as lane closures or roadwork, and general crime- and fire-prevention advice. They can break into the prerecorded message live when necessary, and the system automatically airs safety messages such as “Amber Alerts” or severe weather warnings. The island’s fired-rescue department is also participating in the broadcasts, and MIFD Deputy Chief David Batiato is one of those whose voices will be heard on the airwaves. Others include Baer, Officer Paul Keys, and MIPD records clerk Heather Comparini. The one policeman on the island with significant broadcast experience, auxiliary officer Tony DeLucia, aka Steve Reynolds, will likely join in as well, said Baer. [caption] The electronics are the heart of the $20,000 emergency broadcast system. The Marco Island Police Dept. is on the air with their low-power AM radio broadcasts, aimed at getting safety information out to island residents. (Photo: Submitted) “We didn’t add any personnel. We’re doing this with existing forces,” said Baer. The equipment cost the city approximately $20,000, he said, and broadcasts from an antenna atop City Hall. “Please tell your friends, family and coworkers to tune to 1690 AM, the City of Marco Island’s emergency information radio station,” said the inaugural message. The loop quickly repeated, although they did make a point of alternating voices to…keep it “must hear radio?” The AM radio outreach is just one more foray into communications for the police department, which puts out a lot of messages on Twitter – the MIPD Twitter handle is @MarcoIslandPD – and recently has produced recruitment videos for prospective police officers, which were uploaded to YouTube. They also have electronic signs which call out traffic conditions ahead, and before July 4th, reminded everyone coming over the Jolley Bridge that fireworks are prohibited on Marco Island (via Kevin Redding, Crump, Oct 11, ABDX yg via DXLD) ** U S A. Lubavitcher Radio - Radio moshiach and redemption Hi Glenn, They're back on the air. https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,46754.0.html (Chris Smolinski, Black Cat Systems, Westminster, MD USA, Oct 9, http://www.blackcatsystems.com WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. 1699.7 kHz, NYC area (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A. Public Radio Station in Rhode Island Expands, Changes Name Published at 1:57 PM EDT on Oct 11, 2018 | Updated at 1:58 PM EDT on Oct 11, 2018 https://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Public-Radio-Station-in-Rhode-Island-Expands-Changes-Name-496986071.html A Rhode Island public radio station is changing its name now that it has expanded into southeastern Massachusetts. Rhode Island Public Radio will be known as The Public's Radio starting Friday. Its new website, http://thepublicsradio.org launches 12:01 a.m. Friday. The station previously bought the rights to a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth frequency and moved a transmitter to Tiverton. Station CEO Torey Malatia says Federal Communications Commission regulations require the station to serve the area under its signal, which prompted the name change. Malatia says the station will open a bureau in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and they will launch an online initiative where listeners can suggest topics they want covered. He says the station will continue programming from National Public Radio, the BBC and American Public Media (via Kevin Redding, ex-RI, Oct 11, ABDX yg via DXLD) Torey Malatia? Used to be at WBEZ Chicago, often kidded by David Sedaris on This American Life (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. No longtime residents of this area will have seen a hurricane this strong before. It's possible that radio stations will be damaged, lose power or operate under emergency conditions. Northern Florida doesn't have many AM stations with high power operation round the clock. Florida as a whole only has 6 stations with night power of 50000W and they are all in southern part of the state! However several stations have higher power facilities used during the day. Under emergency conditions they could easily fire these up round the clock and then they might be heard by DXers outside the storm zone. Here is list of stations that could boost power significantly under emergency operations. [source??] 1410 WHBT TALLAHASSEE FL 5000* 18 NDA BLK GSPL HEAVEN 98.3 & 1410 1070 WFRF TALLAHASSEE FL 10000 ----- NDA SPANISH RELIGION RADIO FE 1270 WTLY TALLAHASSEE FL 5000 110 NDA URBAN AC 105.3 THE BEAT 1330 WCVC TALLAHASSEE FL 5000 ----- NDA RELIGION GRN THE ROCK (Steve Whitt, ed., 1458 UT Oct 10, MWCircle yg via DXLD) ** U S A. Hurricane Michael Takes Panama City Off The Air - RadioInsight As Hurricane Michael made landfall just east of Panama City FL this afternoon, nearly every broadcast facility in the market went off the air due to downed towers and power outages. https://radioinsight.com/headlines/171070/hurricane-michael-takes-panama-city-off-the-air/ (via Artie Bigley, UT Oct 11, DXLD) Artie also checked with 1620 Pensacola whether they would stay on 10 kW tonight, but the answer was no (gh) FCC Early Accounting Shows 36 Radio Stations Were Knocked Off Air By Hurricane Michael --- October 12, 2018 at 6:01 AM (PT) Hurricane Report The FCC's first report of the damage done to the communications infrastructure due to HURRICANE MICHAEL shows 30 FM, four AM, and four television stations reported out of service; two FMs down with programming sent to another signal; and 23 TV, 61 FM, and 18 AM stations remaining on the air. The stations reported out of service include: FMs: CUMULUS Country WBYZ (Z94.5)/BAXLEY-WAYCROSS, GA POWELL BROADCASTING Country WKNK (KICK'N COUNTRY 103.5)/CALLAWAY-PANAMA CITY, FL TEL-DODGE Country WMCG (PURE COUNTRY 104.9)/MILAN, GA iHEARTMEDIA Country WOBB (B100)/TILTON-ALBANY, GA STATE BROADCASTING CORP. Country WQZY (Y96)/DUBLIN, GA ALTRUA INVESTMENTS Contemporary Christian WAKU (WAVE 94)/CRAWFORDVILLE-TALLAHASSEE, FL POWELL BROADCASTING Adult Hits WASJ (BOB FM 105.1)/PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL RADIOJONES Classic Hits WBMZ (103.7 THE BOOMER)/METTER, GA CUMULUS Hot AC WBZE (STAR 98.9)/TALLAHASSEE COLUMBUS STATE UNIVERSITY Variety WCUG/LUMPKIN-COLUMBUS, GA DOWDY PARTNERS Urban WDBN (107.9 JAMZ)/WRIGHTSVILLE-DUBLIN, GA iHEARTMEDIA Urban WEBZ (99.3 THE BEAT)/MEXICO BEACH-PANAMA CITY, FL FAMILY STATIONS Religion WFRP/AMERICUS, GA EDUCATIONAL MEDIA FOUNDATION Spanish Religion WGCN (RADIO NUEVA VIDA)/NASHVILLE, GA iHEARTMEDIA Top 40 WGEX (POWER 97.3)/BAINBRIDGE-ALBANY, GA-TALLAHASSEE, FL CUMULUS Classic Hits WGLF (GULF 104)/TALLAHASSEE EDGEWATER BROADCASTING Religion WHHR (FREEDOM RADIO FM)/VIENNA, GA EDUCATIONAL MEDIA FOUNDATION Contemporary Christian WHKV (K-LOVE)/SYLVESTER-ALBANY, GA RADIO TRAINING NETWORK Contemporary Christian WIZB (THE JOY FM)/ABBEVILLE-DOTHAN, AL EDGEWATER BROADCASTING Religion WJEP (FREEDOM RADIO FM)/CUSSETA, GA MIDDLE GEORGIA COMMUNITY RADIO Religion WKIH (FREE FM)/VIDALIA, GA POWELL BROADCASTING Top 40 WPFM (HOT 107.9)/PANAMA CITY, FL GSW, INC. Top 40 WQIL (Q101.3)/CHAUNCEY, GA POWELL BROADCASTING Classic Rock WRBA (CLASSIC ROCK 95.9)/SPRINGFIELD-PANAMA CITY, FL EDUCATIONAL MEDIA FOUNDATION Contemporary Christian WVKV (K-LOVE)/NASHVILLE, GA CUMULUS Urban WWLD (BLAZIN 102.3)/CAIRO, GA-TALLAHASSEE BIG BEND HERITAGE MUSIC ASSOCIATION Variety WZRE-LP/PERRY, FL AMERICAN FAMILY RADIO Religion W232BI/ALBANY, GA iHEARTRADIO Rock W242BF/PANAMA CITY STATE BROADCASTING CORP. Classic Rock W245BT (96.9 THE BUZZ)/DUBLIN, GA FMs sending programming to another station: RADIOJONES Country WXRS-F (THE ROOSTER 100.5)/SWAINSBORO, GA CUMULUS Urban AC WHBX (96.1 JAMZ)/TALLAHASSEE AMs: iHEARTRADIO Rock WDIZ-A (96 ROCK)/PANAMA CITY iHEARTRADIO Gospel WJYZ-A/ALBANY, GA STATE BROADCASTING CORP. Classic Rock WMLT-A (96.9 THE BUZZ)/DUBLIN, GA RADIOJONES Classic Hits WXRS (THE ROCKET 97.1)/SWAINSBORO, GA TVs: GEORGIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING PBS affiliate WABW-TV/PELHAM-ALBANY, GA NEXSTAR ABC affiliate WDHN-TV/DOTHAN, AL SINCLAIR FOX affiliate WFXL-TV (FOX 31)/ALBANY, GA NEXSTAR ABC affiliate WMBB-TV/PANAMA CITY, FL Since the initial list, WFRP, WGEX, WGCN, WIZB, WKIH, and WOBB have returned to the air, while ECHO BROADCASTING NETWORK, INC. low power WSWL-LP/VALDOSTA, GA has been added to the list of silent stations (allaccess.com October 12, 2018 via Brock Whaley for DXLD) Tnx, Brock; are you still in GA? Geez, this source doesn`t care much about frequencies, hit or miss, and all missed for the AMs which I uplook in the NRC AM Log callsign cross-reference: WDIZ 590, WJYZ 960, WNKT 1330, WXRS 1590. TFK (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Volunteer search teams born of prior disasters reactivated in Florida --- Friday, October 12, 2018 11:01 p.m. CDT Homes destroyed after Hurricane Michael smashed into Florida's northwest coast in Mexico Beach, October 11, 2018. Chris O'Meara/Pool via RE [caption] By Steve Gorman https://wsau.com/news/articles/2018/oct/13/volunteer-search-teams-born-of-prior-disasters-reactivated-in-florida/ (Reuters) - Volunteer search-and-rescue networks formed during previous flood disasters in Texas and Louisiana sprang into action in Florida this week following Hurricane Michael, providing a boost to authorities hit by electricity and communications outages. By Friday, two days after Michael plowed into Florida's Panhandle as one of the fiercest hurricanes ever to strike the U.S. mainland, there was no official word on the number unaccounted for in beachfront communities affected by the storm. But the all-volunteer group CrowdSource Rescue said its search teams were trying to locate more than 2,100 people. Loved ones reported the majority unaccounted for, while a smaller number found themselves stranded and sought help, group co-founder Matthew Marchetti said. Most of the search effort focused on Bay and Gulf counties, which took the brunt of the storm while Panama City and Mexico Beach, the towns nearest Michael's landfall accounted for the largest numbers reported missing, he added. Marchetti said the search teams, made up mostly of off-duty police and firefighters, also had either rescued or accounted for 345 other individuals reported to Houston-based CrowdSource Rescue. That organization, set up in response to deadly flooding that swept the Gulf Coast of Texas after Hurricane Harvey last year, has about 650 rescuers on the ground in Florida this week, Marchetti told Reuters. He said 3,500 more were helping coordinate efforts from afar. To communicate, they relied on a digital application called Zello that lets cell phones send and receive short-wave radio transmissions, as well as an Uber-like app with global-positioning satellite (GPS) technology to pinpoint those in distress. Similar volunteer outfits operating under the name Cajun Navy and formed in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 also sent teams to Florida. The private, non-profit efforts add to a force of more than 1,700 government-based searchers across Florida, Governor Rick Scott's office said in a statement. Those include 20 urban rescue teams, seven swift-water rescue teams and nearly 300 ambulances. Relatives of people who defied evacuation orders in Mexico Beach, a town where the storm obliterated shorefront neighborhoods, also posted messages on the Facebook pages of law enforcement pleading for help finding relatives. But widespread power outages and disruptions in landline and cellular phone networks hampered authorities' communications with each other and the public, said Ruth Corley, a spokeswoman for the Bay County Sheriff's Department. With two television stations knocked off the air for two days, authorities had to rely on a college radio station to broadcast public service bulletins. Except for emergency 911 systems, authorities there were virtually without telephone or internet service until late on Friday. "We didn't have anything," Corley said. "We've been writing things down on pieces of paper. We're doing what we can with the minimal media that we have." (Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) (via Artie Bigley, WOR iog via DXLD) What do they mean by ``shortwave``??? (gh) ** U S A. Permanent damage in Panama City Hurricane Michael “Catastrophic damage” causes group owner Powell to “cease broadcasting operations in Panama City, Florida.” For one thing, a piece of a 150-foot STL tower “punched a hole in the roof of the studio building, allowing water to rush in,” says Radio Insight. That’s what market manager Jeff Storey told a Powell sister station in Sioux City, Iowa. Now COO Robert Bond tells the site “We have made the difficult decision to cease broadcasting operations in Panama City… The hurricane did catastrophic damage to our physical plant, to the point that rebuilding was uneconomic.” On the personal level, PD/afternoon talent Greg “Fitzdog” Fitzgerald of classic rock WRBA/95.9 lost his house – and he’s likely not the only one to suffer such serious property damage. COO Robert Bond says “We wish the entire Panama City community Godspeed in re-building.” But his Baton Rouge-based company isn’t planning on returning its now-silent stations back to the air. Last month, pre-Hurricane, Powell filed to sell Panama City top 40 “Hot 107.9” WPFM to K-Love parent EMF (September 25 NOW). We don’t know how the destruction from the Category 4 storm might affect that deal. It’s also not clear what the insurance situation was for the cluster. In addition to WRBA, Powell has country “Kick’n 103.5” WKNK and variety hits “105.1 Bob FM” WASJ. Tom Taylor Now (via Paul-Gager-AUT, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 10 via DXLD) MUSEA +++++ Pirate radio memories Many of you will recall the heyday of landbased MW pirate radio in UK which was in the 1970s. Well, I stumbled upon some interesting tales recounted by Ray at the Radio Workshop in Sussex. Ray’s a natural raconteur and takes you back in time via his Youtube workshop chats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjivvJueD4M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPA0nTtv3bg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLME1PFnbdo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xn7AkJ5QBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WLuemSjZos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VW6eJkxUAY Grab yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy! (via Medium Wave News 64/05 5 October 2018 via DXLD) BBC to release classical music archive The BBC is set to make many recordings from its archives available to the public, for on-demand online listening. Tony Hall, Director General of the BBC, is expected to make the announcement, when he launches ‘Our Classical Century’, a season of programmes spanning both radio and television channels which will explore the past hundred years of classical music-making by the corporation. With all that sits in the BBC’s vaults, the announcement is an enticing prospect for classical audiences. Not only is the corporation home to a number of prestigious performance groups - including world-leading ensembles such as the BBC Symphony and BBC Philharmonic orchestras, as well as choirs such as the BBC Singers - but it also produces the Proms, one of the world’s longest and most wide-ranging concert annual music festivals, and major competitions including the BBC Young Musician and Cardiff Singer of the World. All of this makes the BBC archives among the world’s richest repository of classical performances. Full details are yet to be revealed, though it’s understood that recordings will be introduced into the public domain for limited broadcast and on-demand listening over time, on platforms including BBC iPlayer and a soon to be launched audio app BBC Sounds (Source? via Oct MW News via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS Sanskrit: see INDIA ++++++++++++++++ BBC cockup From today's New York Times. Perhaps it's the Beautiful Breasts Corporation. And the BBC briefly ran a subtitle that referred to Princess Eugenie's "beautiful breasts" rather than her "beautiful dress" as she walked up the stairs to the chapel. The British broadcaster blamed the failure of its voice recognition system, The A.P. said. mc (via Mike Cooper, Oct 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ IRCA Convention Report – Ken Hawkins It gives me great pleasure to say that even though we had a small turnout for the event, the 2018 IRCA convention at the Best Western Charles Inn in St Charles MO was a complete success! We all did our usual activities for the event and it was all fun! The attendees for the event was the host Kenneth Hawkins, Nigel Pimblett, Todd Skaine, Frank Merrill, Ernest Wesolowski, Gus Mancuso, Nick Hall-Patch, Eric Bueneman, Bruce Portzer, Stan Weisbeck, Mike Lantz, David Gordon, and John Tudenham, as well as others. The first night on Thursday 9/6 was the registration day at the hotel and a few people showed up, then there were more the next day. We did our usual radio schtuff that evening, including setting up the free radio swag like stickers and pens in the meeting room, and it was pretty much an easy night. The next day on Friday 9/7, we had our free breakfast at the hotel to start the day off. Then the whole convention officially began later that morning with everybody showing up by the afternoon. That morning, some of us went to take a tour of the KLJY Joy FM studios in Des Peres MO and our guide there was Mike Thomas. He showed us around the station's studio and explained what they do at their station, i.e., how they manage their songs that are played on their computer via automation, how they do the traffic reports, and showed us their auditorium where small concerts are played. After lunch, then it was on to the KWRE/KFAV studios about 30 miles away from the hotel in Warrenton MO. Our host there was Steve Rotz (KAØKAZ) who is also a ham operator. He showed us the DJ studios, business office, sports department, and transmitter there which was onsite there at the station. Then we went back to the hotel for technical talks before the big pizza party there courtesy of Imo's Pizza, THE SQUARE BEYOND COMPARE. After the pizza, we had more technical talks of DXing and other things courtesy of Mark Durenberger. Then after that, we just all hung out in the meeting room at the hotel and chatted, then it was off to bed. The next day on Saturday 9/8, we started off with breakfast in the morning and then some more tech talks with Mark as he explained how certain radio antennas worked and how they can be used at certain places, i.e., near the beach on the Northwest US coast and what far-away stations can be picked up as well as picking up far-away signals from one point of the world to the other. Later on that afternoon, some of us rode in my SUV to the KHOJ studios in St Charles to briefly see and take pictures of their transmitters there before we got "prosecuted". [??] Then it was on to a brief drive-by through Old Town St Charles to see the sights there while driving slowly on a brick street. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel for the annual IRCA business meeting with Bruce Portzer from Seattle WA, which went well. After that, we had our group photo in the lobby of the hotel. Then it was on to the gathering banquet at Culpeppers that evening. Mike Lantz from Miami FL was the motivational speaker there and he talked about how he was into radio and what got him to that interest. Then it was back to the hotel for the auction in the meeting room. Some of the auction items were hard to sell but I was able to convince some people into buying them. Some of the auction items included radios, radio books, QSL card photo books, antennas, radio shirts and stickers, etc. Then after that, we all stuck around to play around with our radios and chat, then it was a night. The next and final day of the convention, Sunday 9/9, started with breakfast. Then it was the gathering quiz made by Eric Bueneman of Hazelwood MO, where the questions were about Midwest radio. We only had a few who took the quiz and even though it was real hard, we still made something out of it. Then we stayed a little longer to chat and all of that after the quiz, then the convention was over and we all went our separate ways. All in all, it was a real fun and awesome time! I was real glad to be the host of the event and if given the opportunity, I would do it again! My wife Penny got to help out to and we both got thanks from everybody there who was at the convention. Overall, I give the convention a good solid 10! It could not have gotten any better. Now let's all sit back and relax and wait to see what's in store for the next convention as it all has yet TBD. So to all of you people in the IRCA, I would highly suggest that you make plans for the next IRCA convention in 2019. Just like this one in 2018, it will be all worthwhile. You will not ask for anything better! See ya all next year and 73s! (IRCA DX Monitor Oct 20, published Oct 15, via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS [or PROPAGATION; or RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM] ++++++++++++ "Frequent Flyer" FSL Antennas Take Off The mission of the compact, TSA-friendly "Frequent Flyer" FSL antennas is (to paraphrase Captain Kirk) to "seek out exotic new DX, and new propagation... to boldly go where no gain antenna has gone before." With this compact antenna's ability to go practically anywhere and provide serious inductive coupling gain for portable radios, isolated ocean beaches worldwide have suddenly come into play for serious long range DXing. Just like Captain Kirk and his crew put their skills to the test in strange new worlds, a "Frequent Flyer" DXer puts his skills to the test on strange ocean beaches, and isolated tropical islands. Weather can be extreme, and the DXer needs to be ready to face the challenge head on. Instead of Klingons there are RFI issues to work around, and in instead of Romulans there are prohibitions on external antennas. Internet access costs can easily exceed the yearly budget of a Star Trek captain. A strong sense of creativity and adaptability is a must, as well as a determination to carry out the mission regardless of any obstacles. But the rewards are as great as the challenges. Most DXers are aware that a salt water beach can enhance transoceanic propagation, but few DXers have had the chance to chase transoceanic DX on an isolated tropical island, surrounded by salt water on all four sides. John Bryant had the chance to do so at Easter Island in 2007, and I had the unforgettable experience of doing so on Aitutaki island (in the Cook group) in April. Ocean-enhanced propagation at such sites seems to be in a higher league than what we enjoy here on North American beaches. John Bryant remarked (in his unforgettable way) that DXing on Easter Island was "the most fun that I've ever had with my clothes on." DXing on Aitutaki Island was certainly in the same league, although I wouldn't want to attempt any description similar to John's. After receiving long range AM-DX from India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mongolia and Brazil with a compact FSL antenna, though, I can definitely say that it was the most fun that I've ever had in the radio hobby! If you plan a long range vacation (or many) and think that you are up to the challenge of "Frequent Flyer" DXing on exotic ocean beaches, the Federation would like to talk with you. New ferrite bar and ferrite rod FSL models are available for donation to those who are willing to put their DXing skills (and innovation) to the ultimate test. So consider following in the footsteps of Captain Kirk, and take this opportunity to put your hobby excitement into warp drive. (Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA), Oct 15, nrc-am gg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See ALASKA; CUBA; KUWAIT; NEPAL; UK; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UNIDENTIFIED 3260 DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB See BULGARIA; UK ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See MEXICO ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ What’s Next for AM Radio? By Peter Tannenwald on October 10, 2018 Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, PLC, CommLaw Blog Late on Friday, October 5, the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") released a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in a five-year ongoing effort to "revitalize" the AM radio broadcast service. The new proposals continue a trend toward allowing higher power operation by smaller stations, by reducing nighttime signal protection for some 60 Class A AM stations located in the continental United States and 16 stations in Alaska... https://tinyurl.com/yb4ee3hs (via Neal McLain, Brazoria, Texas, Oct 11, WTFDA gg via DXLD) I discuss this proposal at great length in my podcast this week, too - http://www.fybush.com/podcast-026/ (Or search for the "Top of the Tower" podcast on your favorite podcast client...) s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) This appears to be business as usual for the FCC. Make the situation worse by doing more of what has already made it worse. More interference, less listenability (Russ Edmunds WB2BJH Blue Bell, PA Grid FN20id, ibid.) An important reminder that nothing has actually been written into the rules yet. The FCC needs to hear from people - yes, even "ordinary listeners" - as part of this process. The comment period doesn't open until this rulemaking proposal is published in the Federal Register, which will probably be next week or the week after. I'll post a link for comments as soon as it's available (Scott Fybush, ibid.) I wish I had any confidence that they take listener comments seriously rather than merely an exercise they have to go through. Given decades of manufactured items which cause interference and decades of adding more stations for more hours at higher powers, I'm not expecting anything that would be an improvement, because that would mean retreating on the congestion issue and the horse is long out of the barn on interference - those devices are out there everywhere. They aren't going to be recalled, and the cost of making all of these devices interference-free or nearly so would be intolerable to the business community whose dollars finance campaigns (Russ Edmunds WB2BJH, ibid.) Comments Wanted On AM Interference Protection By Adam Jacobson https://www.rbr.com/author/ajacobson/ - October 8, 2018 Who listens to AM radio anymore? The answer, of course, is a whole lot of people across the U.S. and its territories. Stations on the kHz band include Class A giants, such as iHeartRadio’s WGY-AM 810 in Schenectady, N.Y., Tyler Media’s KOKC-AM 1520 in Oklahoma City, and Cumulus Media’s WLS-AM 890 in Chicago.. What sort of interference protection should these booming stations, which reach multiple states after dark thanks to skywave reception, have in the modern age? That’s exactly what the Commission would like to answer, and it is turning to the public for assistance in reaching its conclusion. A Second Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (SFNPRM) was released Friday (10/5) by the Commission, as part of the agency’s continued efforts “to assist AM broadcast stations in providing full-time service to their local communities.” That language alone sets the tone of the initiative, which seeks “revised alternative proposals regarding interference protection to Class A AM radio stations.” Translation: Should a station such as Class D 10kw daytimer WKNV-AM 890 in Fairlawn, Va., serving the Blacksburg-Pulaski-Roanoke, Va., area, have to sign off at sundown to protect WLS? If it is allowed to stay on at night, what sort of protections are needed in the final months of 2018, anyway? WLS, which can be heard in six states during daylight hours and across much of the eastern U.S. at night, presently has a 400-mile buffer zone from the closest co-channel station at 890 kHz. WKNV is some 500 miles away; WLS’s closest co-channel worry is 960-watt Class D KMVG-AM in Gladstone, Mo., covering the Kansas City market some 400 miles away from WLS’s Tinley Park, Ill., tower site. KMVG uses two towers to cover Kansas City during the day. It signs off at dark, reliant on only its 250-watt FM translator to serve the market with religious programming. But, what if KMVG didn’t have to protect WLS? These scenarios are at the crux of this FCC SFNPRM. The Commission in this proceeding’s Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, “sought comment on technical proposals to reduce the nighttime protection afforded to wide-area coverage Class A stations, to enable more local AM stations to increase their nighttime service that is currently curtailed by the need to protect Class A stations’ service areas.” What did the FCC receive, in terms of responses? “While many commenters supported or rejected the Commission’s proposals as set forth in the AMR FNPRM, a number of commenters proposed thoughtful and evidence-based alternatives to the Commission’s proposals,” the FCC says. As a result, the Commission is now presenting one new proposal for the protection of Class A AM stations during the day, and two alternative proposals for “critical hours” protection, as well as two alternative proposals for protection of Class A AM stations at night. “These alternative proposals are designed to preserve some of Class A stations’ wide area coverage, while relieving more local stations of their current obligation to protect Class A stations from interference,” the Commission claims. “Our proposals should enable local stations to provide greater and improved local service to their communities, especially at night.” Does this mean one should begin to say goodbye to “DX’ing,” and the ability to hear a faraway station after dark? If so, is this a matter of national security, leaving precious few ways the U.S. government could reach the nation in the event of a disaster that prevents communication through means other than, perhaps, KMOX-AM 1120 in St. Louis — a Class A that can be heard in nearly every corner of the U.S. after dark? The latter question has not come up in discussions designed to give added life to media properties some view as archaic, and relics of a yesteryear when transistor radios were the hand-held audio delivery vehicle of choice and “Superjock” Larry Lujack woke up hundreds of thousands of Americans on WLS’s big-watted signal. Yet, the success of AM radio — in particular in rural communities or with multicultural broadcasters — has greatly contributed to its continued use in the U.S., as opposed to several European nations and even Canada, which has taken several AM radio stations dark through FM signal conversions. With comment dates set for 60 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register and reply comment dates affirmed for 90 days after such publication, the public may soon respond to the following plans: Nighttime and Critical Hours Protection to Class A AM Stations The AMR FNPRM proposals attracted “a voluminous and diverse set of comments.” This came in response to a tentative conclusion that all Class A stations should be protected, both day and night, to their 0.1 mV/m groundwave contour, from co-channel stations, thus maintaining daytime protection but reducing protection to secondary coverage service areas at night. Additionally, the FCC deemed that, in its proposal, that all Class A stations should continue to be protected to the 0.5 mV/m groundwave contour, both day and night, from first adjacent channel stations; and that the critical hours protection of Class A stations should be eliminated completely. “Understandably,” the licensees of Class A stations, represented primarily by the AM Radio Preservation Alliance (AMRPA), argue that the Commission’s proposal would do “significant harm” to the AM band by creating new interference, resulting in “small islands of service in a sea of interference.” AMRPA, interestingly, pointed out “the vital role” that Class A stations have played in prior emergencies, such as Hurricane Katrina; Class A WWL-AM 870 in New Orleans was a key communication dissemination point in August-September 2005. A number of other commenters join AMRPA in opposing the AMR FNPRM proposal.. “Some believe that reducing protection to Class A AM stations would reduce those stations’ utility during national emergencies,” the Commission noted. Supporters, including licensees of AM stations that must reduce nighttime power to protect Class A stations, wish to improve their local nighttime service and argue that extended skywave service that Class A licensees seek to protect “has become increasingly unreliable and prone to interference, particularly given high environmental noise floors caused by power lines,” and even LED lighting. Then, there is a third group of commenters. They believe that changes to Class A protections are necessary, but do not believe the Commission’s proposals are the right way to bring change. The majority of the third category of commenters state that protecting Class A stations to their 0.1 mV/m groundwave contours “is pointless, as such a low-level signal cannot be heard over environmental noise.” The majority of these commenters propose instead that Class A stations be protected to their 0.5 mV/m groundwave contour, both day and night, from co-channel stations and, in some cases, first-adjacent channel stations as well. What should the FCC do? It’s turning to you. “We seek comment on revised proposals for amending protections to Class A AM stations,” the Commission says. “We remain committed to the Commission’s decision, in the AMR FNPRM, to explore a reduction in the extensive distance protections afforded to Class A stations to enable improvements to local service by the other station classes. We recognize the value of wide-area service but, at the same time, commenters suggest that much of the wide-area service that was once the exclusive province of Class A AM stations has been supplanted by FM stations, satellite radio, and other media.” The FCC SFNPRM, in addition to comments on alternative proposals presented to the Commission, also offers suggestions on changing its nighttime RSS calculation methodology; and amending the daytime protection afforded to Class B, C, and D stations. Full details can be viewed here. https://www.rbr.com/wp-content/uploads/FCC-18-139A1.pdf At least one FCC Commissioner is highly interested in what the public, and broadcasters, have to say about the continued protection of Class A AM radio stations. In a statement, Republican Mike O’Rielly notes, “The Commission bases its new proposal on engineering data in the record indicating that protection of the 0.1 mV/m Groundwave contour cannot be heard under current noise conditions. Therefore, it is contended, that it is only necessary to protect Class A AM stations to their 0.5 mV/m Groundwave contour. If true, I would be more sympathetic to this change as it wouldn’t alter the realistic reach or expectations of those holding existing licenses.” O’Rielly adds that he appreciates Chairman Ajit Pai accommodating his request to clarify that, at this time, “this is not a universally held viewpoint.” He said, “I hope the record will reflect a consensus by engineers on how far a listenable signal extends. I will be hesitant to support a final order on this proposal without such consensus. However, at this stage, I support moving forward and developing a record on this, and other, important questions presented in the SFNPRM.” https://www.rbr.com/comments-wanted-on-class-a-am-interference-protection/ (via Kevin Redding, Crump TN, Oct 11, ABDX yg via DXLD) FCC MIGHT REDUCE AM CLEAR CHANNEL POWER https://swling.com/blog/2018/10/fcc-might-reduce-am-clear-channel-power/ (via "Sean Traverse", Oct 11, DXLD) Re: Comments Wanted On AM Interference Protection As I've said on other lists and in the lengthy piece I did about this in my podcast yesterday - http://www.fybush.com/podcast-026/ the FCC really does want and need to hear your comments once the filing period opens. There are interesting arguments on all sides of this issue and I don't think anything is a done deal just yet, depending on who speaks up and how effectively. I know many of us are cynical about the FCC, but I have seen this comment process work and I know that the experience of DXers actually has some value in this particular proceeding. I'll post the comment links once the comment period begins (and listen to the podcast in the meantime!!) s (Scott Fybush, NY, Oct 11, ABDX yg via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2018 Oct 15 0146 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 08 - 14 October 2018 Solar activity was very low this period. Regions 2724 (S08, L=126, class/area, Hrx/20 on 12 Oct) and 2725 (S11, L=113, class/area, Axx/10 on 14 Oct) were the only numbered sunspots on the visible disk but were quiet and stable throughout the period. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed during the summary period. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels on 08-13 Oct then decreased to moderate levels on 14 Oct. Geomagnetic field activity reached G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels on 10 and 13 Oct, active conditions on 08-09 Oct, unsettled levels on 11 Oct, and quiet conditions on 12 and 14 Oct due to CH HSS influence. Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 15 October - 10 November 2018 Solar activity is expected to be very low throughout the outlook period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 15-25 Oct and 04-09 Nov with moderate flux levels expected thoughout the remainder of the period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to reach G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels on 19 Oct and 03-04 Nov with active levels expected on 18 Oct and 05-06 Nov due to the influence of multiple, recurrent CH HSSs. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2018 Oct 15 0146 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 2018-10-15 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2018 Oct 15 72 10 3 2018 Oct 16 72 5 2 2018 Oct 17 72 5 2 2018 Oct 18 72 12 4 2018 Oct 19 72 18 5 2018 Oct 20 72 10 3 2018 Oct 21 72 5 3 2018 Oct 22 70 10 3 2018 Oct 23 70 8 3 2018 Oct 24 70 5 2 2018 Oct 25 69 5 2 2018 Oct 26 69 10 3 2018 Oct 27 69 5 2 2018 Oct 28 69 5 2 2018 Oct 29 69 5 2 2018 Oct 30 69 5 2 2018 Oct 31 69 5 2 2018 Nov 01 69 5 2 2018 Nov 02 69 5 2 2018 Nov 03 69 22 5 2018 Nov 04 69 20 5 2018 Nov 05 70 15 4 2018 Nov 06 70 15 4 2018 Nov 07 72 8 3 2018 Nov 08 72 5 2 2018 Nov 09 72 12 3 2018 Nov 10 72 8 3 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1952, DXLD) ###