DX LISTENING DIGEST 19-10, March 4, 2019 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 2019 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 1972 contents: Bougainville, Brasil, Canada, China, Cuba, France, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea South, Kuwait, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria non, Northern Mariana Islands, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan non, Switzerland, USA, Vietnam non, Yemen non; and the propagation outlook SHORTWAVE AIRINGS of WORLD OF RADIO 1972, March 5-11, 2019 Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 [1971 replayed] Tue 0900 Unique 5045-LSB NSW Australia low-power [2 episodes -1000] Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 [confirmed] Wed 0930 Unique 5045-LSB NSW Australia low-power Wed 1030 WRMI 5950 Wed 2200 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v [confirmed] Thu 0000 WRMI 7730 [confirmed] Thu 0100 WRMI 7780 [confirmed] Fri 0930 Unique 5045-LSB NSW Australia low-power Sat 0730 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 1200 Unique 5045-LSB NSW Australia low-power [alt weeks, Mar 16-30] Sat 1230 WRMI 9955 Sat 1531 HLR 9485-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sat 2200 WRMI 9955 Sun 0030 WRMI 7730 Sun 0400v WA0RCR 1860-AM [nominal 0415] Sun 0830 WRMI 5850 5950 7730 Sun 1130 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sun 2130 WRMI 7780 Mon 0230 WRMI 5950 9395 Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v-AM Area 51 [ex-0400v] Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 [ex-0430] Mon 0930 Unique 5045-LSB NSW Australia low-power Mon 1900 IRRS 7290-Romania [NEW] Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 [or new 1973?] 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 MORE PODCAST ALTERNATIVES, tnx to Keith Weston: https://blog.keithweston.com/2018/11/22/world-of-radio-podcast/ feedburner: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GlennHausersWorldOfRadio NEW via tunein.com: http://bit.ly/tuneinwor 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. ** AFGHANISTAN. Radio Afghanistan External Service on Feb.28 from 1600 on 6100 YAK 100 kW / 125 deg to SoAs Urdu, fair from 1626 on 6100 YAK 100 kW / 125 deg to SoAs NO SIGNAL! https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/fair-signal-of-radio-afghanistan.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.27-28, Mar 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA [non]. 9395, USA, Radio Tirana (via WRMI) at 0230 with IS and opening music and a woman with ID and web platform and a man with program highlights and ID and news at 0232 – Good Feb 28 – No sign of listed // 5950 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Drake SPR-4, Kenwood TS440S, or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles (OCFD), ODXA iog via DXLD) Vice versa here (gh, OK) ** ALGERIA. In this Sahara / Sahel area also new built up Bechar Algeria 131degr antennas look like ready, see G.E. image Nov 2018. A-19 plans: ALL: 37SE,38SW,46E,47NW BEC 300 131 146 310319 261019 Arb ALG TDA [37 is Algeria, the others: adjacent parts of Libya, Niger, Mali -gh] 6100 0400 0500 6100 0500 0600 6145 0300 0400 7285 2200 2300 7285 2300 2400 7335 0200 0300 9850 2000 2100 9850 2100 2200 11760 0600 0700 11900 0600 0700 11900 0700 0800 13585 1800 1900 13585 1900 2000 15185 1000 1100 15185 1100 1200 15185 1200 1300 15730 1600 1700 15730 1700 1800 17485 1300 1400 17485 1400 1500 17485 1500 1600 17635 0800 0900 17635 0900 1000 Dipol Antennas / 3 Masts stand, on 49 - 16 meterband. 31°34'25.59"N 02°20'54.70"W SW Antennas_131degr_RTA Bechar_Algeria_ built up 27 April 2017 to February 2018 https://goo.gl/maps/i55qLY7wWdn In Ouargla ALG you can not see this construction progress yet. The mast parts are still in the north-western part of the terrain, see ALG Ouargla shortwave Ampegon 300kW 210degr 3 masts close to 31°55'27.83"N 05°04'28.66"E (Wolfgang Bueschel, dxldyg via DXLD) Also, WRTH 2019 says: F.Pl: SW expansion of the MW site Sidi Hamadouche, 600 kW on 549 kHz (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGUILLA. 6090even, religious radio program, endless repeats of California snail mail address, phone number ... 3300..., website address, S=9+35dB powerful signal at 0112 UT, 10 kHz wideband signal. BUT also accompanied eight BUZZ TONE signals visible of apart distance 60, 120, 180 ... 300 Hertz [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, Some logs of Feb 27 at 0000-0130 UT on SDR remote unit at Massachusetts US eastern coast state, wb df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11775, University Network (presumed); 1504, 2/28; Rare week-day appearance by Rip-Roarin’ Bountiful Rev. Barbie ragging on Facebook & waxing about loneliness. SIO=3+33+ with xmtr? whistle QRM; SSB no help. Gone at 2003 check (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ---- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time. ----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UK non ** AUSTRALIA. At about 1205 UT I checked 5055 from the bedroom DX-394 and I hear a fadey-carrier in the hash and noise - too weak for audio, so I put shoes and a jacket on and I went out to the shop/radio-room building and tried for it on the Kenwood R-100 and 20m end-fed wire, and I could hear bits of audio but too much noise / hash still. Being a clear, no-wind and mild temp. morning for a change, at about 1225 I took my Sony ICF-SW7600GR way out back into the field away from the noise field and could hear remarkably well the tune by Ace "How Long." Some bits of Aussie accented DJ in there. Just on the whip! This tentative reception makes me want to roll out an HF Bev. (just 100m long usually does it!) toward Oz sometime soon, as I have done this long ago with pretty good results once. UR is the 5045 SSB one. The 5055 - 4KZ signal has enough audio on peaks to be fairly copyable. Good bassy audio noted on the Ace tune a bit ago. I'm going to head back out to the quiet-field momentarily to try with an audio recorder... I made a recording until about 1303 UT (first light to the east was beginning) -- 4KZ was still OTA with news (female announcer) - a few words copyable on brief peaks. Some SSB junk intervenes occasionally, that strange "burbly" utility thing come on occasionally, a fadey-het (no modulation noted) on lower-side - maybe on about 5053, and slight splatter from a Chinese station on 5050 that is much stronger. Bit of a tough frequency what with the QRM all 'round. Later I will edit/post the recording and give notice here. All reception just with the telescoping-whip via my Sony SW7600GR. 28 February 2019. (Steve McGreevy, CA, N6NKS - www.auroralchorus.com -- all of my DXing is done real-time with traditional (non-SDR) receivers, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Unique Radio: see USA: WORLD OF RADIO; WINB ** BELGIUM [non]. Re Mediumwave closures/RTBF no longer via Eutelsat 5 West A --- RTBF International disappeared from the C-band transponder on Eutelsat 5 West A, 3727 R (-- Alexander Busneag, Germany, Feb 28, WOR iog via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. [6035:] Checked today at 0930 and BBS heard, no sign of Yunnan, so both seem to be irregular. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, March 1, HCDX via DXLD) [and non]. NOW confusion on 6035 kHz is complete: abrupt s/off of BBS Thimpu Bhutan at 1138 UT, sign/on of Yunnan-CHINA at 1141 UT, much earlier as scheduled. Just 3 minutes in between. 1147 UT (Uwe Volk-in eastern Thailand, March 1, BC-DX March 1 via DXLD) Here is a .mp3 I can receive BBS loud and clear again after absence of a least two days. Never heard it strong like now. 1100 UT English News broadcast, NO abrupt s/off after the news, maybe extended program, maybe test after tx repair. Keep tuned it (Uwe Volk-in eastern Thailand, March 1, ibid.) Signal level of both stations is almost equal as you see in the diagram. Fortunately the kind of program is very different. Anyway: one could think, just a transmitter failure, trip and come back. Very unusual, if not top of the hour. 1630 UT (Uwe Volk-in eastern Thailand, March 1, ibid.) Also here in Finland quite a good signal on 6035 kHz at 1430 UT using USB (Mauno Ritola, Finland, March 1, BC-DX March 1 via DXLD) See also CHINA 6035 6035, BBS, on March 2, broadcasting somewhat later than normal; 1026-1045, usual segment with announcers (unreadable); 1045-1101, pop music (John Lennon with "Imagine," etc.); 1101-1108, news in English (unreadable); 1112-1120, back to music (Queen with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," etc.); 1120, a discussion of some type till hit with start up of China (PBS Yunnan relay of FM99) at *1140, after which was not worth listening to, as FM99 was stronger than BBS; so BBS was still on past 1140+. 6035, BBS, on March 3, another day of broadcasting somewhat later than normal; 1124-1135, very distinctive and often played here, "Desolation Row," sung by Bob Dylan; a long song; another day with *1140 sudden start of PBS Yunnan, with FM99 relay, which was stronger than BBS. So another day with BBS going past 1140+ (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** BOUGAINVILLE. 3325, NBC Bougainville (Maus Blong Sankamap), 1022-1156*, Feb 28. Above average reception; EZL songs; 1031, segment with public service info about campaign to end violence against children; back to music; 1102-1111, in Pidgin, with the "Regional News"; followed by discussion in Pidgin, about education in Bougainville ("primary and secondary schools . . . community college . . . students . . ."); 1134 till suddenly cut off at 1156* with pop music; from time-to-time light VOI QRM, but with heavy QRN (static). 3325, NBC Bougainville (Maus Blong Sankamap), 1009, March 2. NBC news in English; not // to NBC Madang (3260), which was playing music; 1013, PSA from the Dept. of Health (mostly unreadable); by 1143, noted NBC mixing badly with VOI here; a mess, not worth listening to. 3325, NBC Bougainville (Maus Blong Sankamap), March 3 (Sunday), 0947-1000, local Bougainville Christian sermon, in Pidgin; many mentions of "Bougainville"; 1015, into segment with religious songs; 1030, local time check ("half past nine"); very respectable reception and somewhat readable; QRN (static); some CWQRM; no VOI QRM at this time. My audio: http://bit.ly/2XwZH2B (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) see INDONESIA ** BRAZIL. E-Qsl + Adesivo !!! Radio Cultura do Amazonas, 4845 cultb@ig.com.br --- Gostaria de informar que a Radio Cultura do Amazonas voltou a operar seu transmissor de onda tropical desde a semana passada na sua habitual frequencia de 4845 kHz; quem puder escutar e fizer um relatorio de escuta, eu farei a confirmação por e-mail. enviar o relatorio para: cultb@ig.com.br (Eudson Lima, rodada dos radioescutas) via Wyllyans Depois ele falou que envia adesivo! (Daniel Wyllyans, March 2, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4885.008 and 4885.024 kHz, two Brazilians co-channel, S=7 at 0038 UT. Hit each other [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, Some logs of Feb 27 at 0000-0130 UT on SDR remote unit at Massachusetts US eastern coast state, wb df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4885.025 BRA R Clube do Para, SW was 15 seconds ahead of Livestream audio access \\ 690 kHz MW, motos annmt in Belem Amazonia. Between 0200 and 0330 UT this March 2nd, remote receiver in Massachusetts? [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2 via dxldyg via DXLD) 4885.03, 0320-0325 2.3, R Clube do Pará, Belém, PA, Portuguese ann, Brazilian pop songs, 35333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, my recent loggings from Skovlunde on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, wbradio yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4985.008, R Brasil Central, suffers totally covered by digital ute station. Between 0200 and 0330 UT this March 2nd, remote receiver in Massachusetts? [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2 via dxldyg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL [and non]. 5990, CUBA, CRI at 0038 in Spanish with a woman with talk to 0042 and into pop vocals – Fair to Good mixing with Radio Senado Feb 28 5990, BRAZIL, Radio Senado at 0037 in Portuguese with a woman with talk then a music bridge and a man talking with the woman at 0039 with definite mentions of “mundo”, “Brasil', and “Brasilia” – Fair mixing with CRI Feb 28 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Drake SPR-4, Kenwood TS440S, or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles (OCFD), ODXA iog via DXLD) R. Senado 5990 is in Aoki/NDXC as (available) 24 hours; not in WRTH or EiBi. Must be extremely irregular. Of course, not in HFCC either --- not a single B entry from Brasil, not even RNA/RNB, let alone Senado; altho HFCC has 27 site-location abbreviations on its roster, just in case (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. PIRATE STATION --- 5995 kHz: Radio Scalla FM, unid, PP, 01/03 2145. Orchestra mx, id OM: 'Scalla FM'. 25322. Recording of excerpts of the 1990s from the authentic Radio Scalla FM (São Paulo) of then. Orchestral music with various rhythms. Poor signal. Rx: KiwiSDR (São Bernardo SP) + PA0RDT Mini Whip Antenna (Rudolf Grimm, HCDX via DXLD) Cf MALI ** BRAZIL. 6134.9, Radio Aparecida, Aparecida, 0715-0730, 01-03, Portuguese, religious comments “Santuario Nacional”. 25322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6134.84, 0345-0350, 2.3, R Aparecida, Aparecida, SP, Portuguese ann, religious hymns, 35333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, my recent loggings from Skovlunde on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, wbradio yg via DXLD) Right where RSC, Bolivia used to park (gh) ** BRAZIL. 6180, 0350+-0355 2.3, R Nacional da Amazônia, Brasilia, DF, Portuguese ann, Brazilian pop songs, 35343 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, my recent loggings from Skovlunde on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, wbradio yg via DXLD) Not to be confused with La Voz Alegre, MADAGASCAR in Spanish during this hour on 6180. No interference?? RNA had been signing off around 0200 during DST, so expected to be -0300*, local midnite, now back on standard time. And had been on 6180 instead of 11780 only rarely. When on 6180, it collides with China via Cuba in English, Mandarin at 01-03 (gh, DXLD) ** BULGARIA [and non]. I hope I didn't forget anything http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2019-03-02.htm#HB9OAB http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2019-03-02.htm#SSR_28 http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2019-03-02.htm#descriptions http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2019-03-02.htm#PSK31 http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2019-03-02.htm#KBC (Kim wants to get rid of his old Drake SPR-4 receiver, everything will become digital......) ;-) http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2019-03-02.htm#SWRG http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2019-03-02.htm#TIAMS (with three artists from Germany) (roger thayer, Germany, WOR iog via DXLD) ** CANADA. 284 kHz, March 2 at 0715 UT, dash and QD, NDBeacon from The Pas, Manitoba with 500 watts. Tuning up from 30 kHz, this is the first beacon audible! Not to mention no LWBC stations. 300 kHz, March 2 at 0718, dash and YOG, NDB from (where else?) Ogoki Post, Ontario, 500 watts. That`s certainly a new one here calling for looking up that place. Not in my Rand McNally but coördinates put it just about in the center of the province between Pickle Lake and James Bay; in the Marten Falls First Nation; ICAO: CYKP. 332 kHz, March 2 at 0720, dash and QT, a kilowatt NDB from Thunder Bay, Ontario. At first I copied it as QE -- is their dah a bit curtailed? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Two more: see USA ** CANADA. CKRM Regina: See USA [and non]. 620, KEXB ** CANADA [and non]. 6070-, March 2 at 0327, CFRX with medium-fast SAH, maybe about 10 Hz, as CFRX is always offset slightly-minus, but what else could there be? Channel 292 Germany could be 24 hours, but Manuel Méndez, Spain has reported that ``eclipsing`` CFRX sometime after 0500, so is that when it signs on? But EiBi has the answer: IRAN in Arabic at 0320-0420 on 6070 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. THE ILLEGAL TV NETWORK IN NORTHERN ONTARIO THAT TRIED TO GO LEGIT https://www.cbc.ca/archives/the-illegal-tv-network-in-northern-ontario-that-tried-to-go-legit-1.5017396 (via Andy Reid, Ont, DXLD) ** CHAD [non]. R. Ndarason International via ENC-DMS Ascension Feb.28 0500-0700 5960 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg to WeAf Kanuri, weak/fair signal BUT no signal of Radio Ndarason Int via ENC-DMS Ascension, Woofferton: 1800-2100 12050 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg to WeAf nothing on Feb.27/Feb.28 0700-0800 13810 WOF 250 kW / 165 deg to WeAf nothing Feb.28 & March 1 https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/radio-ndarason-international-via-enc.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.27-28, Mar 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Ndarason International via ENC-DMS Ascension and Woofferton https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/radio-ndarason-international-via-enc_4.html 0500-0700 5960 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg Kanuri, unchanged & co-ch QRM til 0625 5959.8 KBD 250 kW / non-dir N/ME Arabic Gen.Sce - R. Kuwait 1900-2100 12050 WOF 250 kW / 152 deg Kanuri, ex ASC 250 kW/065 deg 0700-0800 13810 WOF 250 kW / 165 deg Kanuri, cancelled from Feb.26 1800-1900 12050 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg Kanuri, cancelled from Feb.26 ??????????? ?? Observer ? 3:51 PM (via DXLD) ** CHINA. CNR-1 Jammer vs Sound of Hope Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, March 3: till 0900 15800 unknown kW / non-dir to EaAs Chinese, very good signal https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/cnr-1-jammer-vs-sound-of-hope-xi-wang.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News March 2-3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. The new address of QSL manager China Huayi BS, Voice of Jin Ling and Fu Shing Broadcast station. Hello WWDXC, I would like to send out this message to DXers all over the world via TopNews column: Just sent out an QSL card of China Huayi Broadcast Station to a Japanese DXer, Ichiro Nonaka of Osaka, he who sent out his reception report last year, use a wrong address (out of date). Yes, I am still QSL manager of China Huayi BS, Voice of Jin Ling and Fu Shing Broadcast station. The right address is: Jonathan Short, Ming Ri Feng Lin 3-1002, Li Zha Road, Changshu, JS 215500 P.R. China $2 as return postage would be appreciated but not necessary, radio station souvenirs such as QSLs/Stickers/Pennants/used radio schedules/radio books and magazines would be much more welcome. 73! (J. Short, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Febr 24, BC-DX March 1 via DXLD) ** CHINA. 4940, Voice of Strait, on March 2 (Saturday), *0939-0955. Suddenly on with the weekend "Focus on China" program already in progress (scheduled for 0930-0955); started with very low modulation, then quickly up to full audio and very readable; TV audio feed of program about Beijing's food and flower markets regarding the Chinese New Year; presenter seemed to have an Australian accent; ID at 0950 - "Fresh, dynamic, professional, profound, explore Chinese culture . . . You are now listening to Focus on China"; pop song till into Chinese at 0955, at which time became // to 4900, with the Strait Fishery Meteorology (Channel fishery weather), till 0958 pop music; after 1000 time pips, no longer //. 6035, FM99 relay via PBS Yunnan, *1140, March 2. Suddenly on; program in progress; stronger than Bhutan (BBS) already here; mixing together rather badly. 8806-USB, XSG Shanghai Coastal Radio, 0900-0908*, March 2. Fair reception of marine info in Chinese; numerous mentions of "Shanghai"; CW QRM. 4940, Voice of Strait, on March 3 (Sunday), identical reception as yesterday; *0939+; repeat of the same "Focus on China" show (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD) ** CHINA. 6035 kHz was on air 22-23 UT, when used mainly Seoul Korea Perseus unit remotedly, all other Japanese Perseus performance units were much weaker then. With international music program only, but no Vietnamese language heard, only Mandarin Chinese sounded. DRM Beijing 6030 kHz block is very strong signal adjacent lower sideband, so I limited bandwidth to USB-mode of 2.1 kHz wide range only, from 6035.0 to 6037.1 kHz fq range cut out. My Audacity recording noted when sidesplash limited around 2255 UT listen on recording like Russian(?) singer in 01.45 m/s to 02.55 m/s, and Chinese Mandarin announcer at 03m55sec onwards on recording. I guess even Shalang Kunming site southwards signal towards Vietnam {Aoki says 147degrees} (Shalang old Voice of Malaya exile communist party radio clandestine of mid 70ties site) 6035 suffers much of Beijing DRM signal even on half of Vietnam target, or throughout the territory of Vietnam in full south to Saigon too. To monitor 6035 kHz channel in full nearby in South East Asia target, ask Uwe Volk in south-eastern Thailand, to put his Perseus on net with password access, for monitoring CNR Kunming Shalang full 24 hours periode. translated in Chrome translator English. Yunnan International Broadcasting Shangri-La Voice B18 Program Schedule 2019-02-15 Radio 39 The international frequency of Yunnan Shangri-La, also known as "The Voice of Yunnan International Broadcasting Shangri-La", covers the Indo-China Peninsula with a short wave of 6035 kHz. In the past two years, the 6035 kHz program has changed frequently, and the time period of self-running programs has been greatly reduced. As of mid-February 2019, the station had only one hour of Vietnamese programming per day, and the rest of the time was broadcast to the internal version of FM99.0 Yunnan ethnic tourism frequency Shangri-La. The live broadcast source provided by Yunnan People's Broadcasting Station is broadcasted every day from 6:00 to 1:00, and the short-wave 6035 kHz launch period has not been confirmed yet. All-day program schedule (February 15, 2019): (Self-time program) 00:30-01:00 Vietnamese-language starry sky 05:40-06:00 Test music 06:00-06:30 Vietnamese-speaking starry sky 06:30-07:00 Music. (relay to the internal version of FM99.0 period) 07:00-09:00 Travel everyone help morning edition 09:00-10:00 Car energy music 10:00-11:00 Flying House map 11:00-12:00 Radio Tourists 12:00-13:00 Travel CD 13:00-14:00 Fun to drive / / The main anchor in the program mentioned 11:00 Beijing time, actually broadcast at 13 o'clock, suspected to be recorded 14:00-15:00 Education Geography+Audio Magazine 15:00-16:00 Travel Supermarket 16:00-17:00 World Food 17:00-17:35 Bus City Intelligence Bureau 17:35-19:00 Travelers Help Afternoon Edition 19:00-20:00 Movie Tour 20:00-21:00 Fun Tour 21:00-22:00 Le Lai Party Mix 22:00-00:00 Music \\ 2 hours without major Show 00:00-00:30 Backpack mood 2019-02-20 Radio China Voice DRM Temporary Test Frequency (2019.2.20-2.21) From February 21 to 22, 2019, the Voice of China DRM frequency was temporarily adjusted, and four frequencies were suspended. Five temporary frequencies were added. According to official information, the temporary new frequency is transmitted to North China. During the test, it is necessary to stop from time to time according to equipment debugging or testing. The launch pad staff welcomes conditional enthusiasts to listen to and record the detailed receiving information, and feedback the feedback to the official to improve the launching work. Feedback Email: [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Febr 25, BC-DX March 1 via DXLD) see also BHUTAN ** CHINA. 6970, China Nat’l Radio (presumed); 1219, 2/23; Chinese drama -- sounds like a child’s program. Presume from Cuba as S10 steady sig (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) None of the references I checked have this either. Aoki does mention 6969.9 SOH Xi Wang Zhi Shen 24/7 from Taiwan so this would be a prime 'jamming' type target, but why so strong here. Albania would also produce that sort of signal strength but not at 12 UT. Quite the mystery! --kvz (Kenneth Vito Zichi, ed., ibid.) CUBA(presumed); 6970, China Radio Int’l; 2223-2236+, 2/28; M&W in Chinese. S7 peaks; // 7430 via China; only copiable // found. Presume via Cuba (Frodge-MI, ibid.) I don`t think it`s Cuba; no CRI relay ever scheduled at this hour and never relays CNR1 as in other log (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Voice of the South China Sea B18 1 Files 11KB ODS Voice of the South China Sea _B18_.ods The shortwave broadcasts of this CRI service, with the exception of programs in Filipino, were believed to be future planning. But I have received this schedule which states that Voice of the South China Sea is on shortwave in various languages. The English service is past my bedtime and I have only been able to check it once. I only heard CRI programming at that time, but I only caught the last 15 minutes. I am not sure about the other language services yet (Hans Johnson, FL, March 2, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here is the sked relayed by Hans in text format for those unable to use a .ods file: FREQ STRT STOP LANGUAGE 9720 1200 1230 Fil 11640 1200 1300 Vie 11700 1230 1330 Mly 11805 1330 1430 Ind 11895 0900 1000 Chn 11955 1230 1330 Mly 11955 1330 1430 Ind 11955 1200 1230 Fil 13645 0600 0700 Eng (-- Richard Langley, ibid.) Listening to service in Malay on 11955 and 11700 at 1320 via Hong Kong SDR. Not // to webstream which might be FM service. I could hear IDs for CRI only, although I am not sure what "Voice of the South China Sea" would sound like (Hans Johnson, March 4, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) in B-18 11700 kHz Kunming 100 kW and 11955 kHz Kunming 500 kW. Followed by CRI Indonesian same channels at 1330-1427 UT. In A-19 summer season now requested: Malay 11955 kHz Kunming 500 kW, and 15600 (x11700) kHz Kunming 100kW. Followed by CRI Indonesian same channels at 1330-1427 UT on 9535 Kunming 100 kW, and 11955 Kunming 500 kW. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Bueschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, ibid.) Winter B-18 schedule of Voice of The South China Sea via CRI https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/winter-b-18-schedule-of-voice-of-south.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News March 2-3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. China's Communist Party Runs This U.S. TV Station. How Independent Can It Be? CGTN America, which [is] based in Washington and available in 30 million United States households, insists it does not do Beijing's bidding. Some people are skeptical. Image: From China Central Television's Beijing offices, President Xi Jinping of China addressed CGTN America's Washington staff via videoconference in 2016. "Good morning, President Xi," they responded in a rehearsed moment. Credit Ma Zhancheng/Xinhua, via Getty Images By Paul Mozur Feb. 28, 2019 It broadcasts forced confessions to American audiences. It avoids subjects that displease Beijing. It cuts away when wind musses the hair of Xi Jinping, the Chinese president. China Global Television Network America, which reaches 30 million households in the United States, is an arm of China's propaganda machine. It is controlled by the Communist Party and serves as part of what Mr. Xi has called Beijing's "publicity front." But when the American authorities asked about those ties, CGTN America argued that the Chinese government doesn't tell it what to broadcast. That contention, made last month in a filing with the United States Department of Justice, may not get a warm reception in Washington. In the wake of Russian influence in the 2016 election, American officials are trying to get a clearer picture of efforts by China and other countries to build influence in the United States. The claim by CGTN America, an overtly state-owned organization, represents a direct challenge to that effort. "They have put the Department of Justice into a position of looking utterly ridiculous and toothless if it simply walks away from this type of false claim," said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University. "This is right up there with Pravda claiming to be a health magazine," he added, referring to the onetime official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. "On its face, it doesn't hold."... https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/business/cctv-china-usa-propaganda.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 6210.2, Radio Kahuzi, Bukaku, 1745-1801*, 28-02, comments in Swahili, extremely weak signal, barely audible. 15311. Also 1740-1805*, 02-03, Swahili, comments, religious songs. Very weak. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 2860, R. San Carlos harmonic: see UNIDENTIFIED 2940+ ** CUBA. 6970, China Nat’l Radio (presumed); 1219, 2/23; Chinese drama -- sounds like a child’s program. Presume from Cuba as S10 steady sig (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) None of the references I checked have this either. Aoki does mention 6969.9 SOH Xi Wang Zhi Shen 24/7 from Taiwan so this would be a prime 'jamming' type target, but why so strong here. Albania would also produce that sort of signal strength but not at 12 UT. Quite the mystery! --kvz (Ken Zichi, ed., ibid.) ** CUBA. (presumed); 6970, China Radio Int’l; 2223-2236+, 2/28; M&W in Chinese. S7 peaks; //7430 via China; only copiable // found. Presume via Cuba (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ---- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time. ----, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Presumed NOT Cuba: see CHINA above ** CUBA [and non]. 15700, CRI China Radio International via Quivican TITAN San Felipe 250 kW relay, TOTALLY DISTORTED S=9 at 1510 Feb 26. 15140 not Cuba, Bauta on air, is OFF today, instead Oman Arabic heard S=5-6 in MA, NJ, FL, MI US states, 1515 UT 15230 kHz at 1516 UT, 38 kHz mucho wideband signal, S=9+10dB strength in MA, NJ, FL, MI US states, but at Edmonton Alberta Canada even S=9+40dB real backlobe signal of Brazil azimuth southwards of Quivican TITAN San Felipe 250 kW relay. 13700even fq EXCELLENT audio of RHC Bauta, S=9+55dB on Alberta antenna NOT overmodulated, fine signal. Excellent Cuban music selection, at 1520 UT on Feb 26, - 9.2 kHz audio band block [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Feb 26, dxldyg via DXLD) 5990even, CRI Quivican TITAN San Felipe Cuban relay, Chinese music, powerhouse S=9+45dB signal, music till 0059:20 UT program feed cut, 0059:42 QUIvican transmitter switch-OFF. Well modulated transmission. 5999.999, RHC somewhat distorted audio feed, powerful at 0103 UT, two main carrier strings visible, wrong characteristics and overmodulated feed signal on this transmitter, 5999.996 and 6000.002 kHz main strings visible, 3 Hertz distance string signals hopping up and down. S=9+45dB powerhouse tremendous. 24 kHz wideband signal [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, Some logs of Feb 27 at 0000-0130 UT on SDR remote unit at Massachusetts US eastern coast state, wb df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 12140, Feb 27 at 1345, JBA carrier, so I try again to match trace of modulation to RHC and barely do so // 11950 as leapfrog fulcrum of 11760; rather than Quwait fundamental. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 15700, Feb 27 at 1512, China Plus relay of CRI English is S9+20 but suptorted. Something`s always wrong at RadioCuba. 15140, Feb 28 at 1539, RHC carrier off and on and off and on. When it comes back, dead air at first, then music modulation re-applied. 11760 also dead Feb 28 at 1543 before music cuts on. Something`s always wrong at RHC. During brief 15140 offnesses, probably a trace of OMAN. 13780, March 1 at 1510, RHC still on but undermodulated; off by 1525 check when 13700 is S9+30 of dead air; 15700 CRI relay at 1510 is undermodulated but not distorted, sufficient with volume up. 15140 at 1526, RHC is dead air, while 15230 is undermodulated. Somethings are always wrongs at RHC/RadioCuba (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SAUDI ARABIA 5025even, R Rebelde Bauta, much LOW MODULATED signal 5040even, RHC Bauta, S=9+15dB, CARRIER ONLY, no audio 0302 UT. 5910even, CRI English from Quivican TITAN San Felipe, 250 kW relay site, S=9+25dB on remote in Massachusetts US state BUT MIXED UP with overmodulated RHC 5999.996 kHz audio signal also from Quivican site. 5999.996, RHC S=9+35dB or -41dBm powerful signal. Between 0200 and 0330 UT this March 2nd, remote receiver in Massachusetts? [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2 via dxldyg via DXLD) 5040, March 2 at 0325, RHC is S9+10 of dead air in Spanish, ha2; 5910, CRI English relay is S9+30 of JBM; 6000 RHC English is undermodulated somewhat distorted; 6165 RHC English is less undermodulated and not distorted; 6060 RHC Spanish is *off*. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 5040, March 2 at 0701, it`s time for RHC to have closed but 5040 is S9+20 and open carrier with hum; 6165 S9 to S7 dead air and off at 0702*. 6000 & 6060 & 6100 already off. 5025 Rebelde is S9+20 like 5040 but at least undermodulated; Something`s always wrong at RadioCuba. 13700, March 2 at 1444, RHC is S9+30 of dead air except whine, but shortly cut on talk JIP. No big FM spurs, but JBA blobitos detected at 13728.288, 13756.586, 13671.716 and circa 13643.2, too weak to pinpoint, i.e. plus and minus ~28.28 kHz multiples so obviously spewing out from 13700 transmitter. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 6165 & 6000, March 3 at 0139, both RHC English are S9+20 and quite undermodulated; whilst 6060 Spanish is VG S9+20. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6100, Sunday March 3 at 0728, this and all other RHC frequencies are off. 6100 should have and maybe did emit Esperanto from 0700, finishing early, as confirmed multiple earlier Sundays, rather than at 0800, the previously scheduled standard time for it which is still announced in the sign-on schedule, as copied later Mar 3 from 1602 on 11760 // 15140: 08 to NAm on 6100, 16 to N/C/SAm on 11760 (only!), 2330 to SAm on 15730. The OM announcer also could not escape his first language, Spanish when he uttered ``polítiko`` instead of ``politíko`` --- Esperanto stress is absolutely regular, always on the penultimate sylláble, e.g. also ``radío`` without any accent markings needed. Something`s always wrong at Radio Havano Kubo. BTW, from next Sunday already, March 10, Cuba, as a Running Dog Of Yanqui Imperialism, resumes daylight shifting time of UT -4 on the same early date as America; cannot be coincidental. This will affect some but not all RHC program and frequency scheduling --- maybe less so than usual, as when Cuba went off DST last fall, after confusing attempts to resume winter-time scheduling, RHC reverted to some summer-timings, notably English evenings at 01-07 UT instead of 02-08 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See WORLD OF HOROLOGY 12300, March 4 at 1333, RHC harmonic is S3 with same suptorted modulation as on S9+10 fundamental 6150. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. 5070 (NF? Whoops?), R. Marti, 1215, SINPO-33233, man talking in Spanish with mentions of Colombia-Venezuela clash, Puerto Rico and human rights (Karl Racenis, MI, 23-FEB-2019, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) Cool catch Karl! Now the question is, was this intentional / an attempt to thwart jamming, a mixing product, a mistake in Greenville or something else? Who knows! .... further monitoring from morning people is required here! -kvz (Ken Zichi, ed., ibid.) 5070 already established as a USA SWBC frequency for many years until WWCR dropped it --- why? But in this case, I bet it`s merely a double IF image produced in his receiver, Greenville 5980 minus 910 kHz. Not familiar with his Sony SW-55, but I bet it`s single conversion and even overloaded by his ``NASA`` antenna (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CZECHIA [and non]. A LOOK BACK AT SIX DECADES OF VOA BROADCASTING IN CZECH --- Brian Kenety 27-02-2019 Voice of America (VOA), today the largest U.S. government-funded international broadcaster, ceased its Czech language broadcasts exactly 15 years ago today, on 27 February 2004, shortly ahead of the country’s accession to the European Union. The move followed budget cuts by the U.S. Congress and, the Cold War long over, a shift to “new audiences and new priorities”. We look back at the station’s local legacy. VOA began broadcasting in the Czech language in 1942, the year it was established, and continued to do so throughout the Cold War, when it was for the most part less subject to jamming than its more famous counterpart, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. “The Voice”, as the station is also known, was born during the propaganda battles of World War II. It was continued during peacetime under a special act to combat Soviet propaganda and operated by the U.S. State Department. In its early days, the Czech broadcast was best known to listeners for shows featuring the comedic acting duo of Jirí Voskovec and Jan Werich, who broadcast to their occupied country via VOA. In a 1945 piece airing on the anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s foundation, Werich, then in New York, addressed listeners at home: “Greetings friends, this is Voskovec minus Werich, at my American eyepiece. Today we’re celebrating our October freedom. After the first October 28, in 1918, today is the most beautiful of all the twenty-seven October 28s since then. Not just because after so many years we are celebrating it freely again – this year as well as our October freedom we also have our May freedom.” RFE/RL concentrated on the internal affairs of the Soviet Union and its satellites. VOA, as the official spokesman of the American government, was somewhat less provocative – its mission being to inform the world about Washington’s take on events, not to present a direct alternative source. And so it was tolerated. In April 1964, for example, while Czechoslovakia discontinued its jamming of VOA and the BBC, it still blocked RFE transmissions. After the Warsaw Pact invasion, the USSR resumed massive jamming of both, until 1973. This isn’t to say VOA was apolitical. For example, journalist Ivan Medek, based in Vienna, regularly delivered news about the Charter 77 protest movement. And by the second half of the 1980s, VOA was more openly political, and the most listened to foreign station broadcasting in Czech. It got its first Prague correspondent, the Czech-speaking US journalist Jolyon Naegele – who interviewed dissidents and Charter 77 signatories such as Václav Havel and Jirí Dienstbier. But it may have been “soft power” – programmes dedicated to books, film and music – that drew most listeners in. Writer Josef Škvorecký, for example, hosted a show reviewing books and interpreting literature. Sometimes, broadcasters even explained the English-language lyrics – in real time – such as to Louis Armstrong’s “It’s a Wonderful World”. As noted by the Prague-based Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, the broadcasts of both RFE/RL and VOA reflect various phases in Western policy over the decades, from “containing Communism” to “the emancipation of subjugated countries” to gradualism (efforts to support natural liberalisation within Eastern Bloc states), détente (relaxation of relations after accepting the fixed status of the other side), the New Cold War, and its conclusion. https://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/a-look-back-at-six-decades-of-voa-broadcasting-in-czech 27 February 2019 (via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, DXLD) ** DENMARK. 5825, 1515-1535 Sat 2.3, OZ - Viola, Hillerød via groundwave, English ID, non-stop pop music, 35343 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, my recent loggings from Skovlunde on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, wbradio yg via DXLD) ** DENMARK. 15805, World Music Radio, Randers, 0842-0935, 03-03, pop songs in English, Brazilian songs, ID “WMR, World Music Radio. 25422 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 6050, HCJB at 0235 in Spanish with Latin American pop vocals and a man with brief talk at 0237 and more pop vocals to 0246 and a man with a brief mention of “Musica” – Weak but audible Mar 3 – Sked is in Spanish from 0230 to 0500 on Fridays and Saturdays only so the fact this was UT Sunday and they were playing Latin American pop vocals was a bit of a surprise (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Drake SPR-4, Kenwood TS440S, or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles (OCFD), ODXA iog via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial, Bata, *0530-0610, 03-03, open today at 0530, non stop African songs, at 0603 id. “Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial”, “Boletín Informativo”, news, Spanish. 25432 at first and later 15421 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [non]. The first two of four episodes of Ministry of Evil: Tony Alamo & Suzie are now available at: https://www.sundancetv.com/shows/ministry-of-evil (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Virrat Finland are on air this weekend from 2200 UT tonight (Friday 1st March) until 2200 UT tomorrow (Saturday 2nd March). Same frequencies as usual, but timings have been revised on 49mb and 25mb frequencies: 49 metres: 5980 2200-2300 (Fri) 6170 2300 (Fri) -1200 (Sat) 5980 1200-1700 (Sat) 6170 1700-2200 (Sat) 25 metres: 11720 2200-2400 (Fri) 11690 0000-1000 (Sat) 11720 1000-1300 (Sat) 11690 1300-1900 (Sat) 11720 1900-2200 (Sat) Also locally on 1602 kHz and 94.9 MHz FM. Full details with programmes http://www.swradio.net/schedule.htm (via Alan Pennington, bdxc-news iog via DXLD) 11689.8, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Virrat, 0720-0815, 02-03, pop songs in English, Finish, comments. Very weak. 15221. Also 1718-1735, 02-03, pop songs. Extremely weak, barely audible. 15311. 11720, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Virrat, 1945-2010, 02-03, pop songs in English, Finish, comments ID at 1954: “Scandinavian Weekend Radio”. 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) SWR noted on 6170 from KiwiSDR site in SW England (G8JNJ) from 2 March 0748 tune. Nice signal at SINPO 33333, but after 0810 QRM from a 2-way conversation co-channel (unidentified) and periodic pulse noise. QRM ceased circa 0825. Bothersome QSB. ID, request for comments and URL by man at 0800, English news by man and remote reporters at 0801, “Just the Way You Are” by Billy Joel at 0819, “How Will I Know” by Whitney Houston at 0833.5. Frequent man announcer in Finnish (Bruce Churchill, CA, WOR iog via DXLD) ** FRANCE. In France, the radio station was engaged in the illegal collection of data about the audience. The French private radio station Europe-1 has been collecting information on its listeners who have been on the air for fifteen years. Presenters and producers made notes about sexual orientation and audience of the audience, adding often offensive comments. Employees of the radio station called trying to call "fascists", "idiots" and "racists." According to the report of the National Data Processing and Civil Liberties Commission (CNIL), which journalists of the French Mediapart were able to familiarize themselves with, the special program Chamane (“Shaman”) was used to collect data from Europe-1. With its help, journalists and producers could rate the caller on a scale from “excellent” to “bad” and add “own opinion” about the listener. Since 2002, employees of Europe-1 have added more than 573 thousand numbers to the database. Some of the records contained information about the caller’s voice (“incomprehensible North African accent”, “accent of a Jew from Tunisia”, “voice of an old idiot”), others about health (“he has a sick-list, he wants to talk about his cancer,” “alcoholic”, "Patrice with HIV infection"). Producers noted the sexual orientation and ethnicity of the audience. The radio station also kept a black list consisting of 448 telephone numbers. Radio employees were not allowed to broadcast subscribers who called from these numbers. As noted by Mediapart, often students did not know that they were forbidden to participate in the programs and continued to call the studio. At the same time, the cost per minute of connection for Europe-1 short number is 50 eurocents. French law prohibits the collection of information about the health, sexual orientation and race of users without their consent. The maximum penalty for violation is 1.5 million euros. Despite this, the regulator decided not to punish the radio station and not to publish a closed report. Representatives of Europe-1 responded to the publication of the Mediapart and acknowledged the list. “We have fixed these unacceptable violations. Our future is respect for listeners, ”said the vice-president of the radio station Laurent Gimieux. Europe-1 added that the CNIL report was released in 2017. eadaily.com http://onair.ru/main/enews/view_msg/NMID__72458/ (via Rus-DX 3 March via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6160 Shortwave Radio off air? I was listening to 6160 Shortwave Radio on Saturday morning [March 2] when it fell silent. Since then nothing on either 6160 or 3975, is there an equipment problem, perhaps? (Chris Sentance, Huddersfield UK, March 3, bdxc-news iog via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Some Media Broadcast changes Radio Sinit Eritrea 0500-0600 9540 ISS 250 kW / 123 deg Tigrinya/Arabic Sat from Dec.1 1700-1730 15390 ISS 100 kW / 123 deg Tigrinya Mon/Sat from March 16 Gospel For Asia Athmeeya Yatrahe Radio-all are cancelled from Feb.1 1230-1500 15285 NAU 250 kW / 089 deg to SoAs Various Asian langs 1330-1530 15235 NAU 250 kW / 085 deg to SEAs Various Asian langs 1530-1630 15150 NAU 250 kW / 099 deg to SoAs Various Asian langs 2330-0030 7380 NAU 250 kW / 085 deg to SEAs Various Asian langs 0030-0130 7410 NAU 250 kW / 100 deg to SoAs Various Asian langs Brother HySTAIRical TOM 1400-1600 6015 NAU 125 kW / 115 deg to N/ME English from Feb.1 Pan American Broadcasting 1930-2000 5930 NAU 250 kW / 155 deg to NoAf English Sun, cancelled Bible Voice Broadcasting 1930-2000 6030 ERV 100 kW / 330 deg to EaEu English Sun, ex 1900-2000 1930-2015 6080 NAU 125 kW / 133 deg to N/ME English Sun, ex 7425 MOS https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/02/some-media-broadcast-changes.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.26-27-28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4055, TGAV Radio Verdad; 0029-0032+, 2/28; Spanish vocal to BoH, 26 seconds dead air, into tinkle tune & full ID; bird calls into SS commentary. SIO=3+33; hiss QRM that’s been there the past week still there but much weaker. I spoke too soon; at 0157 strong hiss back; need LSB (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ---- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time. ----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4054.991, Frecuencia al Dia, 0229 UT, Kol Israel interval signal. Between 0200 and 0330 UT this March 2nd, remote receiver in Massachusetts? [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2 via dxldyg via DXLD) ** HONG KONG [non]. While checking 11820 in EiBi for Sa`udi Arabia, I see an adjacent interesting entry: ``11825.5 1300-1330 HKG FEBC Radio Liangyou KHA Tib /PHL-b`` i.e. a Hong Kong ``station`` in the Khams dialect of Tibetan via FEBC Bocaue, Philippines site (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LSTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Some logs March 2 from remote SDR at 4S7VK home at Piliyandala Ceylon Sri Lanka 4760.003, could be parked IND AIR PortBlair exciter warm-hold ? 0323 4910.005, AIR Jaipur, soft smooth Hindi singer, subcontinental music, S=9+15dB 0325 UT March 2. 6140.021, AIR Aligarh Urdu sce, S=9+25dB at 03.30 UT. 6109.996, AIR Srinagar, Kashmiri, MUCH DISTORTED AUDIO quality, S=9+35dB at 0410 UT. 7420.003, AIR Hyderabad, S=6 at 04.24 UT 7430.015, AIR Bhopal, best Indian domestic signal [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via dxldyg via DXLD) ** INDIA. DD, AIR can't operate the way they have operated in the past By: Krishnanand Tripathi | Updated: February 27, 2019 4:46 PM India's public broadcaster Prasar Bharati which operates Doordarshan and All India Radio has been struggling to stay relevant to young audience. Shashi Shekhar Vempati, CEO, Prasar Bharati (File Photo). Shashi Shekhar Vempati has an unenviable task at hand. The Prasar Bharati CEO is busy revamping the public service broadcaster to cater to younger audiences, but facing and uphill challenge with the ageing workforce of Doordarshan and All India Radio. He also has set his sights on building a world class TV channel for global audiences on the lines BBC and NHK. In an exclusive conversation with Financial Express Online's Krishnanand Tripathi, he lists his priorities at Prasar Bharati. Edited excerpts: [long Q&A] https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/dd-air-cant-operate-the-way-they-have-operated-in-the-past-says-prasar-bharati-ceo-shashi-shekhar-vempati/1498292/ (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) NO mention of DRM and only this mention of shortwave: ``On the radio side, both studio automation and expanding the FM footprint. So if you look at radio listening habits have changed significantly, you'd hardly find any mediumwave sets or shortwave sets any more. Most of the radio listening has moved to the smart phones, many of them have in-built FM chip, so FM is clearly the choice of listening for the future apart from digital radio. So again in that sense, expanding the FM foot print is a big focus area of focus for this funding. Lastly it is also about preparing for the future, so investing more in digital and more IT based products.`` (via gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3325, VOI via RRI Palangkaraya, 1047-1059, March 3. In English till 1059, into Chinese; much stronger than NBC Bougainville, also on frequency; later at 1307 (NBC no longer on the air), weekend segment "Highlights of the Week," then "Today in History" (this date in 1994, crash of Turkish Airlines flight 981, etc.); a very good day for VOI (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) see BOUGAINVILLE ** INDONESIA. Re: 7289.92 - - - via Facebook (UNION OF ASIAN DXERS), from Jim Young, on Feb 27 UT: "As Howard reported yesterday (from Valko), RRI Nabire (presumed) was heard this evening, 2/27, from 0903 to 0909*. Lite singing music the entire time heard, fair strength and audio. They went off mid-song at 0909.... Jim Young California" BTW - Here is a picture of Jim and me at Asilomar State Beach, taken last year. Note the wooden fence that I string my antenna wire along - https://app.box.com/s/xqzzx9v3kio57nqk9cpeg0ywk1nos7km (Ron Howard, California, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. KNAU Insider prEview - March 1st, 2019 Possible Solar Outages Stop me if you've heard this one before. How many radio engineers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Answer: Only one because the rest are dealing with solar satellite interference. With early March comes a pesky annual problem when the sun makes satellite reception impossible for a few minutes each day. Our satellite dish antenna is aimed at the NPR satellite parked over the equator in geosynchronous orbit, meaning it appears fixed in space. But next week, as the sun crosses directly behind the satellite, we are blinded with thermal noise for a minute or two. This interference peaks at about 11:40am with peak days Wednesday and Thursday. We may get lucky this year because we're using a larger more powerful antenna which should minimize the problem. But even if our programming here in Flagstaff is unaffected, areas served by our KNAU regional satellite network (Page, Prescott, Grand Canyon) will still be knocked out temporarily. Thanks for your patience. Learn more about the phenomenon here. http://www.intelsat.com/tools-resources/library/satellite-101/satellite-sun-interference/ (KNAU Flagstaff AZ newsletter via DXLD) See also BELGIUM non ** IRAN [and non]. BBC details new 'harassment' of Persian Service staff --- Joe JACKSON, AFP March 1, 2019 https://www.yahoo.com/news/bbc-details-harassment-persian-staff-170828429.html The London-based Persian Service reaches nearly 23 million people The London-based Persian Service reaches nearly 23 million people The London-based Persian Service reaches nearly 23 million people (AFP Photo/ALIREZA SOTAKBAR) [caption] London (AFP) - The BBC on Friday detailed the latest "escalation" in the "systematic targeting" by Iranian authorities of its Persian Service journalists and their relatives. In the most recent intimidation, government-affiliated media in Iran published articles and pictures of staff describing them as "a mafia gang" associated with terrorism, BBC TV presenter Rana Rahimpour said at a panel discussion in London. Iran's judiciary-linked Mizan news agency warned in its report that "God's hand of justice will manifest itself through the arms of the Iranian people and they will be punished for their actions", she said. "This language is ominous: it has had particular use in the past in reference to extra-judicial killings," Rahimpour noted. Iran's embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment. In video testimonies, BBC staff described receiving death threats targeting their children, missing parents' funerals because of travel bans and facing attempts by Iranian agents to recruit them as spies. Veteran journalist and BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson, who chaired the event on Friday, said the situation reminded him of the Cold War. "I hoped we'd never see any more of that disgusting kind of behaviour," he said. "It's one of the worst things a nation has done to free speech in recent times." - Popularity 'draws fire' - The London-based Persian Service -- launched on shortwave radio in 1940 and now also comprising TV and digital output -- says it reaches nearly 23 million people, including around 13 million inside Iran. But the BBC alleges its journalists and their families have faced worsening persecution and harassment, particularly since a 2009 uprising in the Islamic republic was brutally put down. Iranian authorities in 2017 launched a criminal investigation of 152 BBC staff and their relatives for "conspiracy against national security", while their assets were frozen -- preventing them from buying or selling property in Iran. An internal staff survey later that year found 86 of 96 respondents had suffered harassment themselves and 45 had seen their parents interrogated by officials. "It's the existence of the channel, its popularity, the way that it exists inside Persian living rooms that draws fire," said Tarik Kafala, Controller of BBC World Service Languages. The British broadcaster does not face intimidation "on this scale" anywhere else in the world, he added. In recent years it has appealed to United Nations Special Rapporteurs David Kaye and Asma Jahangir and the UN Rights Council in Geneva. The moves prompted free speech rapporteur Kaye and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres both to make public calls for Iran's government to stop the harassment (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** JAPAN. 6055, Feb 27 at 1321, R Nikkei 1 with English lesson, phrases by OM alternating with Japanese by YL, something about yuan market prices in Shanghai, perhaps a regular Wednesday feature. A bit earlier it was not heard on 3925 which is supposed to be on from the other site (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. JAPAN, Good signal of JSR Shiokaze Sea Breeze on Feb.28 1300-1400 on 6085 YAM 300 kW / 280 deg to NEAs English Thu & 1405-1435 on 6085 YAM 300 kW / 280 deg to NEAs Japanese Dly: https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/good-signal-of-jsr-shiokaze-sea-breeze.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.27-28, Mar 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 4885, Echo of Hope - VOH, 1248, March 3 (Sunday). Nice surprise to find an English language lesson here; first time I have heard it; very readable; 1257, chimes and "VOH" ID. My 5+ minute audio http://bit.ly/2tW74mV (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) ** KUWAIT. Good signal of Radio Kuwait on odd frequency 9749.8, Feb.27 1055-1325 on 9749.8 KBD 250 kW / 286 deg NEAf Arabic General Service https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/02/good-signal-of-radio-kuwait-on-odd.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.26-27-28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 5960, two signals of KWT and CHN hit each other on co-channel, 5959.877 R Kuwait, and 5959.940 kHz PBS Xinjiang [EAST TURKISTAN] Urumqi Changji #523 bcast center at 0415 UT. Some logs March 2 from remote SDR at 4S7VK home at Piliyandala Ceylon Sri Lanka [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via dxldyg via DXLD) Strange variable frequency of Radio Kuwait in Filipino 16mb on March 2 1000-1200 on 17655v-17654v KBD 250 kW / 084 deg to SEAs Filipino, instead of 17760 https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/strange-variable-frequency-of-radio.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News March 2, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strange variable frequency of Radio Kuwait in Filipino on March 3 1000-1200 on 17658v-17648v KBD 250 kW / 084 deg to SEAs Filipino, instead of 17760 1200-1237 on 17648v KBD 250 kW / 084 deg to SEAs Arabic General Sce - unscheduled! 1000-1157 on 17650 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg to WeEu Chinese China Radio Int. QRM co-ch https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/strange-variable-frequency-of-radio_3.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News March 2-3, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA [and non]. ======= Radio Center will be on the air this March last time on their historical frequency AM 1485 before completely moving to NEW frequency AM 1602 from Riga, Latvia: March 1st from 3-5 UTC (6-8 MST) with their special 27 Years Anniversary program & March 27 & 28th from 1900 to 2059 UT (22:00-23:59 MST) with very special programs for NRB (National Religious Broadcasters) Convention attendees. Radio Center Moscow, a pioneer of Religious broadcasting in Russia, has been granted a license for operating a powerful AM transmitter in Riga, Latvia to deliver Christian programming in RUSSIAN language into every RUSSIAN community in Eastern Europe, including Russia proper -- during a time when the Russian Government has restricted the rights of many Christians groups. Due to growing restrictions and governmental interference, Radio Center is moving from Moscow to Riga while keeping our radio studio in Moscow. Our NEW frequency on AM dial is 1602 kHz. On February 2019 Russian lawmakers backed a bill aimed at isolating the country's Internet from the rest of the world to secure it in the event of a cyber attack or other threat. The creation of this «red button» that gives the State more ways of disconnecting the country from the global network could further isolate Russians from the rest of the world. As a result, only conventional radio waves can reach our listeners in Russia! OUR MINISTRY NEEDS ARE: NEW AM TRANSMITTER NEW ANTENNA (a location in Latvia close to Russian State border) STUDIO & BROADCAST EQUIPMENT PRODUCTION COSTS ELECTRICITY BILLS We invite you to partner with us. Together we can make a difference in this world by preaching the Gospel through the airwaves to reach Russian-speaking people! Please contact us at http://www.radiocenter.net + Foto: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2433134580089886&set=gm.10157037513528698&type=3&theater&ifg=1 (Andrey Nekrasov / https://www.facebook.com/groups/wrthgroup/ via Rus-DX 3 March via DXLD) ** MACAU. The Radio Scene on the Islands of Macau - 4 Our opening topic here in Wavescan today is the Radio Scene on the Islands of Macau Part 4, and this is the final topic in this mini-series on Macau, the one time Portuguese colony in coastal China. On this occasion, we pick up the story of Radio Vila Verde, the second radio broadcasting station in Macau. According to the American radio journal Radio News, commercial Radio Vila Verde in Macau was inaugurated in 1951, and they were on the air temporarily in March and April on shortwave 9500 kHz. This new radio broadcasting service had borrowed the use of a 1 kW shortwave transmitter from Radio Club Macau while they were awaiting the arrival of a new mediumwave transmitter from overseas. The new Radio Vila Verde was initially located in the private dwelling of Pedro Jose Lobo in Macau and when they finally inaugurated their anticipated mediumwave facility, two transmitters were in use. These two units were noted with separate programming and they were allotted separate callsigns, both of which looked like amateur radio callsigns, though they were indeed two legitimate radio program broadcasting services. Station CR9XM with ¼ kW on 1200 kHz carried Home Service programming, and station CR9XL with 3 kW on 1005 kHz carried their Foreign Service. Seven years later in September 1958, Radio Vila Verde again experimented with radio program broadcasting on shortwave with what they called a new Foreign Service. On this occasion, Arthur Cushen in Invercargill in South New Zealand, stated that the transmitter was rated at just 300 watts, and the frequency was 17785 kHz. The WR(TV)HB for 1959 states that the callsign in use for this experimental Foreign Service was CR9XM, with programming in Portuguese, parallel with mediumwave 1250 kHz. This second exploratory venture into shortwave broadcasting by Radio Vila Verde turned out to be their last. Three years later (1962), Radio Vila Verde installed a 10 kW mediumwave transmitter on 735 kHz, and the previously active low power transmitter continued in service on 1005 kHz. The new triangular tower for the 10 kW transmitter stood at 250 feet and it provided excellent coverage over a very wide area. However, at this stage, the usage of callsigns was dropped; and in addition, Radio Vila Verde introduced a new broadcasting service on FM, with just 5 watts on 89.0 MHz. In 1968, the use of the low power transmitter on 1005 kHz was terminated; and in 1981 an additional new mediumwave channel was activated on 858 kHz, though this also was terminated just five years later. Then in 1994, Radio Vila Verde suspended all operations due to insufficient financial income. Three years later in January 1997, Anker Petersen of Denmark visited the station and he described it as basically inactive, and so did Nolan Stephany of New York in April. However, in 2002, Radio Vila Verde was re-inaugurated, by the Tourism Department, though now entirely on FM, on 99.5 MHz. The studios and transmitters are located in the Hipodromo da Taipa, the Macau Jockey Club, on Taipa Island. However, the latest edition of the WRTVHB informs us, that once again, Radio Vila Verde lies inactive and silent. Thus, the only radio station on the air in Macau these days is the now privately operated Radio TV Macau on FM with Portuguese on 98.0 MHz and Chinese on 100.7 MHz. However, it should be remembered that there are now five different TV services on the air in Macau, with five main transmitters and two additional repeaters. Both Radio Club Macau and Radio Vila Verde issued QSL cards during their earlier years while they were still operating on mediumwave and shortwave. Any international radio monitor who still owns a Macau QSL card does indeed hold a historically valuable piece of real radio history (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan Feb 24 via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 5009.931, RN Malagasy Aubohidrano S=5 or -92dBm 0256 UT Between 0200 and 0330 UT this March 2nd, remote receiver in Massachusetts? [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2 via dxldyg via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. What to do with Madagascar World Voice --- With the impending closure of Sentech's Meyerton, South Africa, transmitter site, you would think that World Christian Broadcasting (parent company of KNLS in Alaska and Madagascar World Voice) would try to attract some of the broadcast hours that will be looking for a new home after Meyerton closes. They have their own transmitter site in Madagascar roughly 3º north and 1º degree west of the former Radio Netherlands site at Talata Volonondry. This would give them some well deserved financial support so their proposed cuts in their own program hours could be avoided. It's not rocket science, just basic economics (Mark Coady, Ontario, ODXA iog via DXLD) There are many hours a day when MWV is not on the air at all. That would make too much sense. But WCB has never engaged in relays one way or the other with other broadcasters, likewise KNLS. WCB could have been on air years earlier via Madagascar if they had been willing to get time on Talata, but it was more important to do their own thing with 100% control. 73, (Glenn Hauser, WOR iog via DXLD) My understanding is that they are not allowed to sell time to other parties at this facility (Hans Johnson, FL, WOR iog via DXLD) ** MALI. CRI via Bamako is on air again --- Very good signal in Arabic at 1645 on 15125 probably via Bamako 085 deg. From 1700 on same 15125 will be in Swahili with different azimuth 111 deg -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, 1648 UT March 2, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) From 1701 change frequency to 13645 in Swahili, fair to good signal, probably only one tx is on air, instead of two. From 1800 in Hausa on 11640, fair signal (Ivo, ibid.) Thanks for the tip, in Arabic with world news at 1833. 4/3/3 via a KiwiSDR in South Africa. ID at 1835 (Hans Johnson, FL, ibid.) And probably next 1930 in Portuguese and 2000-2127 in English on 11640, 2130-2227 in French, 2230-2357 in Chinese on 11975 (Ivo, 1844 UT ibid.) Nothing from CRI Bamako after 2130 French 11975, 13630 and 2230 Chinese 11975, 15505 and probably 2300 Chinese 7295 (Ivo Ivanov, March 2, ibid.) French heard at 2130 on 13630, but nothing on 11975. Regards (Jean-Michel Aubier , France, 2220 UT March 2, dxldyg via DXLD) Very poor/JBA till 2230 in French on 13630 and from 2230 in Chinese on 15505 (Ivo Ivanov, March 2, ibid.) China Radio International CRI via Bamako is again on air, but only via one transmitter, instead of two transmitters as follows: 0800-0857 on 7295 BKO 100 kW / non-dir to WeAf Hausa, very weak/JBA 1400-1557 on 13685*BKO 100 kW / 111 deg to SoAf English, fair/good 1400-1557 on 17630 BKO 100 kW / 085 deg to CeAf English, not on air 1600-1657 on 15125 BKO 100 kW / 085 deg to CEAf Arabic, very good 1600-1657 on 17880 BKO 100 kW / 020 deg to NEAf Arabic, not on air 1700-1757 on 13645 BKO 100 kW / 111 deg to CEAf Swahili, fair/good 1700-1757 on 15125 BKO 100 kW / 111 deg to CEAf Swahili, not on air 1800-1827 on 11640 BKO 100 kW / 085 deg to WCAf Hausa, good signal 1800-1827 on 13645 BKO 100 kW / 111 deg to WeAf Hausa, not on air 1830-1927 on 11640 BKO 100 kW / 085 deg to CeAf Arabic, very good 1830-1927 on 13685 BKO 100 kW / 020 deg to NEAf Arabic, not on air 1930-1957 on 11640 BKO 100 kW / 111 deg to SoAf Portuguese, fair/good 1930-1957 on 13630 BKO 100 kW / 111 deg to SoAf Portuguese, not on air 2000-2127 on 11640 BKO 100 kW / 111 deg to CEAf English, fair signal 2000-2127 on 13630 BKO 100 kW / 111 deg to CEAf English, not on air 2130-2227 on 11975 BKO 100 kW / 020 deg to WeAf French, not on air 2130-2227 on 13630 BKO 100 kW / 111 deg to CEAf French, very poor/JBA 2230-2357 on 11975 BKO 100 kW / 020 deg to NEAf Chinese, not on air 2230-2357 on 15505 BKO 100 kW / 085 deg to CeAf Chinese, very poor/JBA 2300-2357 on 7295 BKO 100 kW / non-dir to WeAf Chinese, very weak 2300-2357 on 11975 BKO 100 kW / 020 deg to NEAf Chinese, not on air *til 1425 on 13685 EMR 500 kW / 072 deg to CeAs Uyghur VOTurkey co-ch https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/china-radio-international-cri-via.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News March 2-3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13685, March 3 at 1509, S5-S6 VP talk M&W conversation, // about a second ahead of 15700 CRI English via CUBA. BUT, no 13685 signal at 1536. 13685 has been scheduled as CRI via Bamako, English at 14-16, but this and all other transmissions have been off the air for months. Yesterday March 2, Ivo Ivanov reported some Bamako relays had resumed, and then many others logged, but only one frequency/transmitter at a time instead of two. Nothing audible here on 17630 which would have been // 13685 before 1600, but even if on, unlikely would propagate as nothing else audible on 16m under pathetic propagation conditions. 15125 was first heard yesterday during Arabic, but today at 1639 I have no signal there. The resumption may well continue sporadic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) March 3, CRI only via one tx in Bamako: 1400-1600 [English] on 13685 fair to good, // 17630 is not on air (Ivo Ivanov, ibid.) Looks pretty much like a more or less thorough renovation, including the installation of new transmitters (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) 13630 - English service at 2003 with fair/poor reception. News, IDs, program Chinese Theatre. Audio dropped out at 2006, signal vanished, then back, but still no audio. Back up again at 2007, no change in reception quality (Stephen C Wood, E. Dennis, MA, Perseus SDR, 30 x 15 terminated superloop antenna, March 3, ibid.) Re: CRI Bamako on again: Good signal here in NB when noted at about 2015 UT while setting up to record WRMI with my PL-880 outdoors. Another snowshoe trip to the back of the cleared area behind my house. ;-) Note to self: must get that outdoor antenna up (-- Richard Langley, March 3, WOR iog via DXLD) Decent signal here in Indiana at 2030z on 13630 in English (Ethan Best, March 3, ibid.) 11640, CRI at 2042 // 7285 (Very Good via Albania) with “Alight on Literature” with a woman reading from a book about the teachings of Confucius to 2055 then a man and a woman with “Chinese Studio” language lesson – Fair to Good Mar 3 – I haven't heard the Mali relay for a while – possibly being in the wrong place at the wrong time – but this was CRI's (known as Radio Beijing back then) first overseas relay that they built. Before this they started out with a program relay agreement with Radio Canada International where they gained access to Sackville to improve their signal in North America and RCI got to use Xian to improve their signal in Asia and the Pacific (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Drake SPR-4, Kenwood TS440S, or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles (OCFD), ODXA iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) Whoops! My reception was on 11640 kHz not 13630 kHz. Sorry about that. Does that mean both transmitters at Bamako are in operation? (-- Richard Langley, NB, 2141 UT, ibid.) Yes, they seem to be. Logged both 11640 and 13630 via a South African KiwiSDR (Ethan Best, 2317 UT, ibid.) And CRI Bamako in A-19 [all BKO 100 kW 310319-271019 MLI CRI RTC] 7295 0800 0900 46E 0 925 Hau 7295 2300 2400 46 0 925 Chn 11640 1800 1830 46E 85 206 Hau 11640 1830 1930 47E,48NW 85 206 Ara 11640 1930 2000 53NW 111 216 Por 11640 2000 2100 53 111 216 Eng 11640 2100 2130 53 111 216 Eng 11975 2130 2230 37 20 216 Fra 11975 2230 2300 37 20 216 Chn 11975 2300 2400 37 20 216 Chn 13630 1930 2000 53NW 111 206 Por 13630 2000 2100 53 111 206 Eng 13630 2100 2130 53 111 206 Eng 13630 2130 2230 53 111 216 Fra 13645 1700 1800 48SW,53NW 111 206 Swa 13645 1800 1830 46E 111 206 Hau 13685 1300 1400 53 111 206 Fra 13685 1400 1500 53 111 206 Eng 13685 1500 1600 53 111 206 Eng 13685 1830 1930 37 20 216 Ara 15125 1600 1700 47E,48NW 85 206 Ara 15125 1700 1800 48SW,53NW 111 216 Swa 15505 2230 2300 47E,48 85 206 Chn 17630 1400 1500 47E,48 85 206 Eng 17630 1500 1600 47E,48 85 206 Eng 17880 1300 1400 53 111 216 Fra 17880 1600 1700 37 20 216 Ara (via Wolfgang Bueschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. 5995, RTV Malienne, Bamako M in French speaking over stringed instrument being played at 2215. SINPO - 45333 (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ICOM IC-7300, A/D Sloper, March 4, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) Also very good level here in SW Michigan at 2235. Perhaps the Chinese technicians to fix CRI's site in Bamako also paid RTVM a visit? 73, (Andy Robins, MI, ibid.) I was thinking the same re: Chinese engineers. I heard the CRI relay xmtrs over the weekend, too. 73, (Don Hosmer reply to Andy Robins) Also heard in northern Michigan at 2231. OM & YL in French with many mentions of Africa and Mali. Good signal using Icom IC-7200 and G5RV antenna (Don Hosmer W8SWL, W Branch MI USA, WOR iog via DXLD) This is a huge development -- Mali has apparently caught the disease from Guinea. Signal is wonderfully big. Thanks to John F. (Dan Robinson, 2302, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) Yes, Mali here in 5995 with a reasonable signal. For years they have been transmitting with very low modulation, today I have heard it satisfactorily well here in my QTH. Listen in my Blog (DX-Jorge Freitas, Brasil, 2310 UT, WOR iog via DXLD) But for several months now, completely off the air (gh, ibid.) Hi Glenn, I am sure you're aware by now -- breaking news (seems may have been reported first by John Figliozzi) now being reported across the FB groups. Mali is back (for now) -- apparently repaired something over there -- huge level being heard on regular radios and SDRs (Dan Robinson, 2324 UT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UPDATE: They closed carrier on 5995 around 2336 UT. Program heard continuing on the ORTM online link, past 0000. Perhaps a bit early to be celebrating -- will be interesting to monitor 5995 in coming days. Please see attached short video with audio of both 5995 and online.... (Dan Robinson, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Switching back and forth to demonstrate they match. Beware: there could be something else on 5995 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) PIRATE STATION: 5995 kHz BRAZIL: Radio Scalla FM, unid, PP, 01/03 2145. Orchestra mx, id OM: 'Scalla FM'. 25322. Recording of excerpts of the 1990s from the authentic Radio Scalla FM (São Paulo) of then. Orchestral music with various rhythms. Poor signal (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP, BRAZIL, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) 5995, March 5 at 0600, no signal yet from ORTM, which was reported yesterday reactivated with modulation until 2336*. Old sked was 0555-0800 & 1800-2400, and 9635 at 0800-1800; Chinese techs have presumably been to Bamako also resuscitating the CRI relay transmitters since March 2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And no further reports of 5995 on March 5 or 6 but again March 7. CRI relays also seemed to be gone again (gh) ** MALTA. Radio Malta 999 kHz at reduced power, possible interruptions of the transmissions in the next days. Some shutdowns affected the 999 khz of Radio Malta in the last hours, the problems are this time due to some problems arose after the storm of bad weather last weekend. The transmitter is currently operating with 3 kW of power instead of the 5 kW used usually. David Mizzi told us that because of the work that will be ongoing for a few days, more will be possible shutdowns, especially on Monday 4 March. (tnx Giovanni Lorenzi) Radio Malta article 999 kHz at reduced power, possible interruptions of the transmissions in the next days. Radio Malta 999 kHz a potenza ridotta, possibili interruzioni delle trasmissioni nei prossimi giorni. Alcuni spegnimenti hanno interessato i 999 khz di Radio Malta nelle ultime ore, i problemi sono questa volta dovuti ad alcuni problemi sorti dopo l'ondata di maltempo dello scorso fine settimana. Il trasmettitore e al momento operativo con 3 kW di potenza al posto dei 5 kW utilizzati di solito. David Mizzi ci ha comunicato che a causa dei lavori che saranno in corso ancora per qualche giorno, saranno possibili ulteriori spegnimenti, specialmente nella giornata di lunedi 4 marzo. (tnx Giovanni Lorenzi) proviene da Bclnews (via Roger Thauer-D, A-DX newsgroup March 2 via wb, DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6184.997, XEPPM Mexico City, S=8 when selected upper sideband, at 0130 UT on Feb 27, suffers heavily by adjacent 6180 kHz Quivican sideband splash splatter signal [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, Some logs of Feb 27 at 0000-0130 UT on SDR remote unit at Massachusetts US eastern coast state, wb df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT this week --- barely including DTV/TDT Even the Voice of God Needs a Concession It’s Time for Clarity in Religious Radio The framers of the Constitution of 1917 were obsessed with making the country secular. They wrote a founding document that was quite anticlerical: it established secular public education, obligatory registration and regulation of religious associations, and stiff church-state separation. This heavily secular imposition resulted in the Cristiada of the late 1920s and the gradual thawing of what once was a violent conflict that resulted in thousands dead. The imprint on Mexican society, however, remains. Ministers cannot run for public office, and outdoor worship is prohibited. Most notably, however, religious associations (ARs) cannot own print or broadcast media outlets (with the exception of “print publications of religious character”), and SEGOB permission is required to broadcast religious programming on radio and television. The consequences of the broad religious ban have been lessened over the years. Since 2000, RTC has become incredibly light-touch on religious programming authorizations, as it should. No democracy should have that sort of prohibition on freedom of speech. In 2000 and 2001, RTC issued 7,536 such authorizations, a number that ascended to 380,263 for 2013 and 2014. However, churches continue to chafe at the broadcasting provision. They’ve expressed their concern over seizures in the past, particularly a major round of them in 2008 that resulted in thousands marching to demand reforms to the then-Ley Federal de Radio y Televisión. In 2016, amidst the papal visit to Mexico, representatives from the Vatican formally petitioned the government to allow the church to set up broadcasters. Last week the head of one of Mexico’s largest evangelical associations pressed for changes to the Ley de Asociaciones Religiosas y Culto Público to remove the long-standing ban. Despite the climate, over the last decade plus, however, they’ve managed to get on the air. Radio María: A Catholic Beacon One way they have is by renting stations. Radio María is the best example. The Mexican national Catholic broadcaster has its headquarters and studios in Zapopan, Jalisco, and has a 15-year-plus relationship to operate XELT-AM 920 Guadalajara (owned by Televisa Radio) as its flagship. Incorporated as Fundación Cultural de la Sociedad Mexicana, Radio María has fanned out. It now holds the concessions for 11 AM and FM stations from Ensenada to Mérida, five of them awarded in the last 15 months, and last holiday season sought donations to construct the new facilities in Ciudad Obregón, Ensenada, Guasave, San Miguel de Allende and Zamora. FCSM/Radio María has been able to operate this way thanks in part to the support of commercial broadcasters. In San Luis Potosí, XHCSM-FM 107.9 tested by simulcasting MG Radio’s XHESL-FM 102.1, and its offices are across the street from those of MG. Mérida’s XEFCSM-AM 680 petitioned to move from 1700 because it already had a 680 transmitter available from Grupo Rivas. In Puebla, XHPBP-FM 106.7 originates from the tower of Grupo Ultra’s XHZM-FM 92.5, and XHFCS-FM Culiacán is co-sited with Megamedios’s XHNW-FM 103.3. Radio María is an exception to the rule of the current generation of Mexican religious stations for two important reasons. One is that it has a national programming and operational structure. The other is that it is Catholic. Most of the stations we are going to discuss here are evangelical in some or other form, mirroring the ascendance of evangelicalism across Latin America. Other outliers that are Catholic include XHCRIS-FM 90.7 San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, whose facilities were blessed by then-Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel; XHPBJZ-FM 98.9 (yet to come to air), which is the legalization of one of two Catholic stations serving southeastern Oaxaca and features the communications director of the Diocese of Tehuantepec as one of its board members; and some others. Also worth noting are some AM stations in Juárez and Monterrey that have religious programming, like XEMR 1140 “Radio Esperanza” Monterrey or XEWR 1110 “Cristo Rey Radio”, which features programming from the Catholic Diocese of Juárez. Cacahoatán to Agua Prieta Aside from FCSM and the short-lived XEPVI 1280 in Tepic (which took four years to sign on and shut down after three), the first religious wolf to hold a permit, in my estimation, is XHVDR-FM 100.3 Cacahoatán, Chiapas. Visión del Rey is like quite a few of the stations we’ll meet in this adventure. It’s in Chiapas, a state crawling with religious radio pirates and stations. It’s owned by an individual, a typical run-around of the AR ban. 2012 brought not only XHVDR but XHDAB, Radio Familia, owned by Dabar Radio, A.C. Radio Familia is exceptional: it’s Catholic, it’s a Class C with 30 kW ERP from atop a high mountain, and it’s the only noncommercial station in southern Chihuahua. (The IFT just greenlit a sister station for Guadalupe y Calvo, too.) The pace and geographic spread of awards has only spread, too. Telecommunications court said there was room in Tampico and Martha Morales Reséndiz launched XHMRT-FM 102.5 “Radio Oasis Vida”. Delia de Luna, or Delia Rodríguez Arreola as the concession has her, built and signed on XHPEDX-FM 96.9 Linares, Nuevo León, “Radio La Siembra” for the church where she and her husband are pastors. On the northern border, Agua Prieta got its first new station in decades when María de Lourdes “Marilú” Robeson Chávez, the wife of the pastor of the Centro Evangelístico de Agua Prieta, received XHAGP-FM 92.7 which today is “Radio Alcance”, complementing an existing cable channel. (IFT commissioners noted her participation in an AR but approved the station anyway.) Existing pirates have legalized, too. Radio Bendición 107.1 in Loma Bonita, Oaxaca, is on the board to move to 94.3 and become XHPBLM-FM. Unción FM in Álamo Temapache, Veracruz, owned by pastor Ageo Hernández Hernández, moved from 104.7 to 104.3 XHATV-FM last year. Radio Santidad 102.5 FM (Eulalio Soto Domínguez) in Texistepec, Veracruz, will be the first radio station in the town with a recently approved social concession. None of those stations are in Chiapas, where a crush of social awards in an already rich environment seems to be producing a bumper crop of religious stations. Some are ex-pirates, like 12-year-old Radio Estrella in Cintalapa de Figueroa (set to move from 95.9 to 95.7 XHPEBX-FM). Notable is the use of women as “shell” concessionaires. The new XHCSAC-FM 94.3 Mapastepec Chis. (Arlene Jasmine Elsie Alvarado Cuéllar) has a concession signed by Tapachula evangelical leader Antonio Morales Hernández, who also had a hand in the award of Pijijiapan’s XHCSAD-FM 101.1 to Keren Victoria Morales Ruiz the same day. Some stations I have no leads on, like XHFJSC-FM 102.5, which will serve Tonalá. Two religious stations are even community authorized. They are XHIXMI-FM 107.7 Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo, which had already been on the Article 90 frequency as La Brillante, and XHSCCF-FM 93.3, operated by the Cielos Abiertos church in Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca. And that’s not even mentioning the dozens of permit- and PABF-era applications for stations that would almost certainly be religious. Pirates on the Radio Sea All of these stations have had their legality sanctioned, and for the wolves we see in the light, there are many in the shadows. Religious pirates have increased their activity and gotten more ambitious in their facilities and geographic scope. Unión Radio operated stations in Los Mochis (95.3) and Chihuahua Capital (98.1) with fake callsigns. (The page for the Los Mochis station “XHFEL”, now known as Conecta, actually had government advertising from the municipality of Ahome. It and “XHAMB” Chihuahua use actual callsigns belonging to state network repeaters in other states.) Albuquerque-based Voz y Visión Radio, which has programmed American stations, is especially bold. In the last year, it has built 101.3 Juárez, 101.1 Chihuahua Capital and this week put the antenna in place for a third station at Ciudad Delicias (frequency unknown). In August 2018, the group announced Torreón, Mérida, Puerto Vallarta and Ciudad Cuauhtémoc as its next markets. Another very new station is Vida FM Tampico on 90.9 MHz, associated with Pan de Vida Ministerios. I have some things to say about them, but they’re not as relevant for this post as they will be in the future. Some stations, like high-powered Radio Vida y Esperanza 94.7 at Tumbalá, Chiapas, sell commercial airtime. Chiapas Chaos In Mexico’s southernmost state, the density of religious radio stations has created an incredibly noisy FM dial. Sarelly Martínez Mendoza, an academic at the Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, headed a survey in 2013 and found there were 67 religious radio stations in 31 municipalities in the state. Most were evangelical, even though two in three people in Chiapas are Catholic. The other effect of so many religious stations is to create a cluttered band. In “El púlpito electrónico: la radio religiosa en Chiapas” (2013), Martínez Mendoza, Francisco Javier Cordero Fernández, and Hugo Alejandro Villar Pinto found stations with up to three frequencies (like Adventist station Radio Maranatha, then on 92.9, 104.5 and 106.7 —*it now has four according to its website), as well as a station that had a 3 kW transmitter (Radio Vida Ocosingo on 92.7, in the largest city in the country to lack legal FM service). That last station also serves as a reminder that some religious stations operate in communities that do not have legally operating local radio stations. Before going up in a spectacular blaze last year, Radio Salvación de México broadcast on 105.9 MHz to Benemérito de las Américas, Chiapas, a border community that cannot receive any local Mexican radio stations according to the IFT Coverage Viewer. What Would Legalization Mean? Javier Tejado Dondé’s column in El Universal this week describes several consequences of legalization: https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/columna/javier-tejado-donde/cartera/religiosos-tras-estaciones-de-tv-para-hacer-politica * A rewriting of electoral law. There would need to be strict prohibitions — not to mention monitoring — of political messages on religious stations and of the use of such a church apparatus to promote candidates and parties. * A big social blow, to the Catholic Church, which, unprepared as it is for such a confrontation with evangelicals, could lose millions of faithful. I think there are others: * A tidal wave of applications at the IFT. Let’s say the IFT creates a new “social religious” station class that can be owned by ARs. I would expect the agency to be inundated with hundreds of applications from coast to coast, many of them requiring comparative hearings. * The saturation of many remaining frequencies. Mexican radio has had much more room to grow because of the 800 kHz station separation policy and the lack of religious stations. There would be a surge in station count once the IFT processed the applications described above and much of the supply of frequencies would be eaten up by religious radio stations. * Some order in Chiapas. The radio dial there seems to desperately need some decluttering, and if nothing else, imposing a concession system on religious radio would require the stations to comply with IFT norms on station spacing and interference. * Potential conflicts of religious liberty with nondiscrimination clauses. The Constitution proscribes “all discrimination motivated by ethnic or national origin, gender, age, disability, social condition, health condition, religion, opinions, sexual preferences, civil status or any other [category] that goes against human dignity and has as its goal nullify or undermine the rights and liberties of people”. The same language is incorporated into the LFTR. What if a religious radio station alleges such discrimination is part of religious liberty? * For those stations constituted as community stations, community applicants must be constituted “under the principles of direct citizen participation, social coexistence, equity, gender equality and plurality” (Article 68 LFTR), which may be difficult for some religious associations to fulfill. Religious Plurality and Scarce Spectrum Every indication would point toward an even more clogged FM dial after legalization with the high interest in religious radio stations. That doesn’t seem to be the best use of a scarce public good —*spectrum, whether that be AM, FM or TV. But what if we introduced something different for radio? What if there was just one religious frequency per area and that station would have to provide programming from a variety of religious denominations and producers? That is the system I would implement, though I don’t think it’d be viable politically. It’d resolve the long-running religious access problem while ensuring that religious radio has a minimal impact on spectrum availability. (None of these stations would be Article 90-eligible, either.) The station organizer would run the transmitter, take on compliance duties, arrange the programming, and ensure an equitable, plural religious station with a variety of programs. And if you worked with existing religious stations, you’d have dozens of them in fairly short order and further reduce the need for additional radio stations. They could even start a program exchange to supplement local programs. *** What is clear is that the current order is untenable. The ban on religious radio stations and even programs represents a restriction of freedom of expression, the conservation of some of the most militantly secularist provisions of law, and the existence of dozens of religious broadcasters already suggest an urgent call to action. However, regulators should not permit a tidal wave of new religious radio stations to so saturate the FM dial that there is no room for other desirable services. Mexico needs more public radio, more commercial competition, and many more community stations. Nor should a tidal wave of religious radio stations be so skewed that there is no room for the representation of minority beliefs. Even the voice of God needs a concession. That means pirates need to be legal, but it also means Mexico needs a regulated category of religious broadcasting services. Last edited by Raymie; 02-27-2019 at 10:10 PM (Raymie Humbert, Phœnix AZ, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) It's felt a little dry of late around the IFT, so the irony that there's news in a concession awarded to Tarandacuao Pueblo de Abundante Agua, A.C., is kind of rich. I don't normally make a whole post about a new callsign, but it's a noteworthy assignment: XECSCA-AM will go on 1670, making that the second new 1670 assignment in the last year and the first reserved band AM assignment. The people running 1670, however, seem to think they'll only be stuck on AM for a few months. It looks like 1670 went on the air on January 15. It's a local station and ex-FM (105.5) pirate known as La Más Perrona. https://www.facebook.com/Radio-Comunitaria-Tarandacuao-AC-164562973697289/ At the time they went on 1670, they made a comment saying they'd only be on AM for a "few months" and would later return to FM. It's unclear how that's possible, but I've gone ahead and asked anyway (Raymie, Feb 28, ibid.) Speak of the devil... We have four IFT meeting agendas to plow through today, though only two contained broadcasting items. I Ordinaria - January 23 The IFT's first regular meeting of the year kicked off with a few new radio stations: Carlos Martínez Macías — Puerto Vallarta y San José Del Valle, Jalisco (social AM) Martínez Macías lost the bid for XHPVT-FM 97.5 last year. Kahal Sembradores de Futuro, A.C. — Villahermosa, Tabasco (community FM) Already reported as XHSCBI-FM 102.9 Radial Humanamente Positiva, A.C. — Cd. Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico (community FM) Radio Comunicación Tzacualli, A.C. — Jacala de Ledezma, Hidalgo (community FM) Ángel López López — Plan de Agua Prieta, La Concordia, Chiapas (social FM) Toskitl, A.C. — Catemaco, Ver. Believed to be a social wolf for Avanradio The IFT also renewed 7 station concessions. III Ordinaria - February 6 The IFT fined Televisión de la Frontera for noncompliance with its AEP obligations and renewed 9 concessions. Also awarded were: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo —*Pachuca, Hidalgo (public TDT) Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua —*Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua (public FM in one of the largest public radio deserts in the country) Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez — Práxedis G. Guerrero, Chihuahua (public FM. it's happening!) Asociación Patronal, Industrial, Comercial, Empresarial y Profesional, A.C. — San Luis Potosí, SLP (social FM) Last edited by Raymie; 03-01-2019 at 05:47 PM (Raymie, March 1, ibid.) It also includes the enforcement of the amparo in review with respect to the request for the additional service requested by Comband, S.A. de C.V. (Channel 51). (RadarDX, DF [sic], ibid.) Oh, the MVS saga is in one of them. The title of the resolution says it's going to at least be considered (emphasis added): Resolución mediante la cual el Pleno del Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones determina procedente la solicitud de servicio adicional presentada por Comband, S.A. de C.V., el 8 de septiembre de 2014, respecto de la modificación y prórroga de la concesión para usar, aprovechar y explotar bandas de frecuencias del espectro radioeléctrico para usos determinados en los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, otorgada el 9 de septiembre de 2013, en cumplimiento a la Ejecutoria dictada en el Amparo en Revisión R.A. 561/2018 emitida por la Segunda Sala de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación. I also missed a multiprogramming change for XHCOQ in Cozumel, Quintana Roo, which added Nu9ve to become one of the few transmitters to have 2, 5 and 9 on one mux. ——— Grupo Radio Korita's got changes in store for Nayarit radio listeners. One is a format change, and the other is a frequency change. The latter happened midday on February 27 (Wednesday), when XHSK in Ruiz moved from 106.7 to 100.7. This is one of the Article 90 clears and has been awaited for some 19 months; it was approved July 5, 2017. Currently, stations being eyed for their A90 clears are XHBJ, XHETOR, XHVK, XHCHG, XHACA, XHPPO, XHENS, and two approved in 2018, XHTVR and XHKOK. This is the second of two clears in Nayarit; XHERIO-FM was grandfathered, while XHXT Tepic moved to 105.7 last year. The former goes into effect on Monday when XHERK in Tepic flips to "Los 40 Nayarit", previously having been known as Fusión. Last edited by Raymie; 03-02-2019 at 04:32 AM (Raymie, March 2, ibid.) Almost ten months, but we finally have the callsign for the social TV station to be owned by Simón Valanci Buzali in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, awarded in May after a wait of more than 10 years. The station will be XHTUG-TDT on channel 7. (Disappointingly, Valanci does not own XHTUG-FM.) It will be the first social digital TV station in Chiapas and is the first brand-new station for Tuxtla since Canal 10 began operations in 1993. ——— The new IMER director says budget cuts have put her agency in a bind. Interviewed by El Universal, https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/cultura/por-recorte-de-presupuesto-el-imer-en-situacion-critica Aleida Calleja says that 2019's austerity and a failure to invest in technological modernization during the Peña Nieto administration are some of the largest challenges for the broadcaster. She warned that better equipment was necessary to help the IMER improve deteriorating working conditions and create phone apps to reach listeners. She's also working to provide more space for indigenous groups and children, and more regular fact checking, within the IMER SNN news department. Last edited by Raymie; 03-04-2019 at 05:56 PM. [tagline:] Este programa es público, ajeno a cualquier partido político. Queda prohibido el uso para fines distintos a los establecidos en el programa (Raymie, March 4, ibid.) ** MYANMAR. 5985, Myanmar Radio, on Feb 27, at 1151, live coverage (TV audio feed), in vernacular, of the women's (under 16) championship football/soccer match between Myanmar and China, held at Mandalar Thiri stadium, in Mandalay; background sound of the fans there; preempted regular programs; cut away to a music segment during the half-time break; 1233, back to live coverage. YouTube full coverage of today's game at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyyD_ivYU1I 5985, Myanmar Radio, on March 3, at 1155, another day of live coverage (TV audio feed), in vernacular, of the women's (under 16) championship football/soccer match between Myanmar and Philippines, held at Mandalar Thiri stadium, in Mandalay; background sound of the fans there; preempted regular programs; cut away to a music segment during the half-time break; 1230, back to live coverage. Unable to find YouTube coverage today (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) see INDONESIA ** NIGERIA. 15120/DRM, V of Nigeria ranging from 9dB s/n which didn't to 12dB s/n which did decode. During 19 minutes of monitoring I got almost 4 minutes of audio. And this is 'good' as far as DRM decodes go usually! Sigh, because digital is SO much better, right? English programming, but I really couldn't provide any insight into WHAT they were talking about it skipped so much. Splatter from RHC 15140 (yes, from that far away!) causing the decode issues? The decode was OK for a while, but not long. (see above) 1435-1454 23/Feb SDRplay +SDRuno +DReaM DRM software +Beverage (Ken Zichi, DXpedition in Brighton MI, ant=500' unterminated beverage, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. End of Radio Kaduna Transmissions --- The Radio Kaduna relays via ISS have ended. Manara Radio 07-08 on 13840 continues (Hans Johnson, Feb 28, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) Yes, Feb.27-28 no signal from Issoudun 0500-0700 on 7335. Good signal of Manara Radio International 0700-0800 on 13840 (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, ibid.) ** NIGERIA [non]. Manara Radio International via MBR Nauen [sic], Feb.28: 0700-0800 on 13840 ISS 150 kW / 170 deg to WeAf Hausa, very good BUT on Feb. 27/28 no signal from Radio Nigeria Kaduna: 0500-0700 on 7335 ISS 150 kW / 170 deg to WeAf Hausa All relays of Radio Nigeria Kaduna via ISS have ended https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/reception-of-manara-radio-international.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.27-28, Mar 1, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. == From the Fest == Here is our presentation from the 2019 SWL Winterfest Pirate Radio Forum. [13 pp slide show, QSLs illustrated, hotlinx] http://www.wbcq.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019-pirate-forum.pdf The Winterfest is happening this weekend in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. No shortwave pirates logged as yet, but there are several FM stations apparently originating from here, including 87.9, 89.5, 91.3, and 91.9 (Larry Will, MD, at the fest, Free Radio Weekly March 2 via DXLD) ** NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. Hi Glenn, I thought the Korean service of RFA was supposed to be off the air. I am hearing it loud and clear on 9985 at 2100-2130 on three SDRs located in Japan. Judging by the strength of the signal, I have to wonder if the transmission isn't coming from NHK. The other frequencies of 7485 and 9860 are dead, not even a carrier. They have frequent IDs and the program was a special broadcast of the Trump-Kim Summit Meeting in Vietnam. There is no doubt it is RFA (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, 2133 UT Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So did it continue past 2130? RFA Korean was one of those services dispensed with on SW when NMI Saipan & Tinian sites were destroyed. The schedule *was* per page 500 of WRTH 2019, which flagged all the SW frequencies as not operational due to typhoon, and to be moved to other sites: 10-11 1566jej 15-17 9590s 15-19 1188seo 5885t 9985t 21-22 7485t 9860t 9985t And nothing about this in the Updater. Searching current Aoki has the same SW info all x-ed out for same reason: 10-11 1566 15-17 9590s 15-19 1188 9985t 5885t 21-22 9985t 7485t 9860t EiBi has deleted all RFA Korean listings on SW but retains 1566 at 10-11 and 1188 at 15-17-19 IBB has not bothered to remove numerous TIN and SAI listings from the latest HFCC as of today, including the above which had been off the air since typhoon. In HFCC there is no distinxion between VOA and RFA. There could well be more temporary RFA SW reactivations for the duration of the ``I love you`` summit. VOA Korean is quite a different matter, which has continued mostly unscathed via Philippines or Thailand; the SW hours designed not to conflict with RFA, i.e. 12-15 & 19-21 on other frequencies (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RE: Korean Program_9985 kHz_1530 UTC_February 23, 2019 Hi Glenn, Now for the rest of the story. I reported the reception of RFA in Korean on 9985 on 23 February and got the first reply seen below. I re-listened to the frequency and reported that I indeed hear them. Ms. Ripley wrote back with the second reply. Hope this clears up things. It looks like they are getting things back on line at some of the transmitters. Bill From: Valerie Clarke Ripley [mailto:ripleyv@rfa.org] Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2019 2:52 PM Good afternoon Bill Harms, Greetings from all of us at Radio Free Asia. It is a pleasure to receive your reception report. Thank you for taking the time to submit your report of February 23 for Korean program 9985 at 1530 UTC. Our Tinian and Saipan transmitter sites went down on October 29th due to super typhoon Yutu, which affected those two transmitter sites. At this time, there`s no estimated date of being back up and running. So, it is possible you were able to monitor another station like Deutsche Welle, BBC, or VOA. Do you have any further information to provide about the report? If not, may we kindly ask you to submit a new reception report? By the way, you can always find our frequencies online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/about/help/frequencies.html We look forward to hearing from you again soon. Best wishes from all of us at Radio Free Asia. Valerie Ripley Reception Desk Radio Free Asia (RFA) 2025 M St NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 202-530-4900 ripleyv@rfa.org [and the second reply:] -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: RE: Korean Program_9985 kHz_1530 UTC_February 23, 2019 Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2019 14:28:33 -0500 (EST) Hello Bill, I was forwarded some updated information yesterday concerning a few of the SAI sites [sic] are back up and running. I`m placing a QSL confirmation card go out in today`s mail. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Have a great weekend! Valerie Ripley Reception Desk Radio Free Asia (RFA) 2025 M St NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 202-530-4900 ripleyv@rfa.org (via Bill Harms, March 2, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) Then Bill sent me a view of the QSL card he received with Saipan checked as the xmtr for 9985 at 1530 Feb 23. I still have my doubts; may be disinformation hiding temporary secret usage of Tinang, Philippines, contrary to agreements allowing VOA but not RFA (gh) ** OKLAHOMA. FCC DTV News by Doug Smith: Bartlesville 36 KDOR-TV Moved from 17. Claremore 32 KRSU-TV Moved from 36, 133kw/252m. Duncan 26 KSWX-LP From 31, 15kw, 34-35-35/98-19-06; amendment from 14kw & to change site. Granted. Oklahoma City 25 KWTV-DT Moved from 39, 748kw/478m. Sallisaw 26 KXUN-LD Call changed from KQRY-LD. Tulsa 16 KWHB Moved from 47, 26kw/182m, 36-02-35/95-57-12. (WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest March 2019 via DXLD) ** OMAN. Radio Sultanate of Oman/Nation Station Oman FM 90.4, March 3 1400-1401 on 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu no signal, tx is off, 1401-1402 on 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu open carrier/dead air from 1402 on 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu English, good signal, from 1500 on 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu Arabic, very good https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/radio-sultanate-of-omannation-station_3.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News March 2-3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Very good signal of FEBC/Radio Teos in Ukrainian, March 3 from 1529 on 9920 BOC 100 kW / 323 deg to CeAs Russian/Ukrainian Sun: Wrong announcement summer frequency 11650, instead of winter 9920 kHz! https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/very-good-signal-of-febcradio-teos-in.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News March 3-4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. New additional airing of World of Radio via IRRS SW RADIOCOM Saftica 1901-1930 7290 SAF 100 kW / 300 deg WeEu English Mon, effective Mar 4 https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/02/new-additional-airing-of-world-of-radio.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.26-27-28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Radio Romania International on very odd frequencies via tx Galbeni: 0730-0756 Arabic on 9608, instead of 9610 0800-0856 Romanian on 15427, instead of 15430 from 0900 Romanian via Galbeni is scheduled 11960/13630 -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, 0816 UT March 3, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) Very odd frequencies of Radio Romania International, Mar 3 [all GALbeni 300 kW] 0730-0756 on 9608 / 245 deg to NoAf Arabic, instead of 9610 0800-0856 on 15427 / 110 deg to WeAs Romanian, instead of 15430 0900-0956 on 15377 / 175 deg to EaAf Romanian, instead of 15380 1000-1056 on 15257 / 285 deg to WeEu Romanian, instead of 15260 1100-1156 on 15252 / 285 deg to WeEu French, instead of 15255 1200-1256 on 15457 / 300 deg to WeEu English, instead of 15460 1300-1306 on 15457 / 245 deg to NoAf Arabic, instead of 15460 1306-1326 on 15460 / 245 deg to NoAf Arabic, as scheduled in B18 https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/very-odd-frequencies-of-radio-romania.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News March 2-3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Correction, at 0900 Galbeni is on 11780 even and 15377 odd. From 1000 in Romanian via Galbeni 11780 & 15260 (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, March 3, WOR iog via DXLD) And RRI_ROU Romanian Sunday special at 0945 UT now on 11780G 11960T 13630T, and odd fq of 15376.777 kHz, fine S=9+15dB signal in Doha Qatar and Holland. 73 wb (Wolfgang Bueschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) And RRI_ROU Romanian Sunday special at 1010 UT now on 11780G 15430T 17640T, and odd fq of 15256.800 kHz, fine S=9+15dB signal tambien. 73 wb (Bueschel, ibid.) from 1100 French on 15252, instead of 15255 from 1200 English on 15457, instead of 15460 from 1300 Arabic on 15457, instead of 15460 BUT from 1306 Arabic on nominal 15460! (Ivo Ivanov, March 3, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, ibid.) 5989??? 1924 UT 03 MAR; Italian sounding male presenter with Turkish sounding music. Any ideas? SIN 544 in Warwickshire, UK on a ALA1530 loop and ICR8600. Maybe Radio Romania Int.? Thanks (Will Grocott, BDXC 2575, bdxc-news iog March 3 via DXLD) Yes it's RRI in Romanian, with Romanian folk music now. Transmitter is off-channel; it should be on 5990 1800-2100 parallel 7375 per WRTH. 73s (Dave Kenny, 1958 UT, ibid.) Galbeni 5988.790 kHz exact S=9+40dB here in GER, HOL, etc. and 7375 kHz S=9+45 dB too. 19-21 UT. 73 wb (Wolfgang Bueschel, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) RRI Galbeni 'DRM mode' English at 2350 UT March 3, on 5978.77 kHz S=9+35dB here in GER, HOL, etc. and AM mode 7220exact kHz S=9+10 dB too. 23-2356 UT. RRI Galbeni both in AM mode Spanish at 0010 UT, on 5978.772 kHz exact S=9+35dB here in GER, HOL, etc. and AM mode 7325exact kHz S=9+5 dB too. 0000-0056 UT. 73 wb RRI Galbeni 'DRM mode' English at 0650 UT March 4, on 9768.77 kHz S=9+35dB here in GER, HOL, etc. RRI Galbeni both in AM mode Arabic language, requested to NoWeAfrica, Maghreb/Sahel target, 9610 kHz at 0750 UT, on 9608.013 kHz exact S=9+35dB here in GER, HOL, etc. and AM mode 11660exact kHz S=9+20 dB too. 0730-0756 UT. Latter ended at 0756 UT with 1000 Hertz tone technical check, about 20seconds on air. RRI Galbeni both in AM mode Romanian language, requested to Western Europe target, 11780 kHz at 1100 UT S=9+30dB in GER, HOL, etc. and AM mode odd fq 15251.864 kHz kHz S=9+40 dB signal strength too. 1100-1156 UT (Wolfgang Bueschel, March 4, HCDX via DXLD) Radio Romania International on very odd 11972.5 kHz Galbeni, March 4 from 1400 11972.5 GAL 300 kW / 290 deg Romanian, instead of 11975.0 from 1400 9810.0 GAL 300 kW / 285 deg Romanian as scheduled in B18 https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/radio-romania-international-on-very-odd.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News March 3-4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5980 2300 2400 27N GAL 300 285 Eng ROU RRO 5978.772 kHz DRM til 23.56:30 DRM mode, from 23.57:07 AM mode. 5978.769 kHz 5980 0000 0100 12NE GAL 300 280 Spa ROU RRO 5978.772 kHz Mar 4 5978.769 kHz Mar 5 (Wolfgang Bueschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Problems with budget and funding for QSL cards -- Recent e-mail received from RRI on Feb 28, 2019. Bye, Richard ``Dear listener, Thank you for having submitted your reception report. This is to acknowledge receipt of your report of 17 January 2019 concerning RRI’s English language broadcast at 2130 UT on 7310 kHz and of 26 February 2019 concerning RRI’s English language broadcast at 0100 UT on 7325 kHz. Your feedback and remarks are of great interest to us and we are looking forward to receiving further reports from you. Unfortunately, for the moment, we are unable to send out QSL cards in the format you have been used to, due to budget issues. We are sorry for any inconvenience! Kind regards and best 73’s, The English Section team, February 28, 2019`` (via Richard Lemke, Alberta, March 2, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) R Romania Int have just advised me by email that they are at present unable to send out physical QSL cards by post due to budget issues. Alan Roe, Teddington, UK "Dear listener, Thank you for having submitted your reception report. This is to acknowledge receipt of your report of 1 January **2019 concerning RRI’s English language broadcast at 0630 UT on 7345 kHz. Your feedback and remarks are of great interest to us and we are looking forward to receiving further reports from you. Unfortunately, for the moment, we are unable to send out QSL cards in the format you have been used to, due to budget issues. We are sorry for any inconvenience!" (via Alan Roe, UK, March 4, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. GERMANY ========== Radio Sputnik ceases broadcasting in Berlin and Brandenburg, the press service of Sputnik reported. Until recently, the media company was broadcasting under the brand SNA Radio. “SNA Radio (as part of the international news agency Sputnik) has to stop broadcasting in Berlin and the neighboring federal state of Brandenburg since March 1,” the media company press service reported, noting that “this step was dictated by the rulings of the regional courts.” Earlier, a local court confirmed the legality of the decision of the media office not to issue a permanent license for digital broadcasting of the station, which included in its programming grid content prepared by Sputnik, noted in Sputnik. The radio station was broadcast in Berlin and Brandenburg with a temporary license in force. At the end of last year, the radio station sent a request for a permanent license, but this request was rejected. The regulator explained the refusal, in particular, by the fact that the radio station “financially depends on the“ Russia Today ”MIA, broadcasting its content on its air about 12 hours a day.” "The authorities also did not accept the fact that the owner of the frequencies" does not control the content of the channel. "Attempts to challenge the ruling in the courts were not successful,” - noted in the media company. Radio SNA will continue to broadcast on the Internet, as well as broadcast in Hesse, Vienna (Austria) and Bern (Switzerland). rns.online http://onair.ru/main/enews/view_msg/NMID__72487/ (via Rus-DX 3 March via DXLD) ** SAO TOME. 13590.058, Feb 27 at 1933, S7-S9 of off-frequency news in Special English about Indo-Pak conflict, i.e. VOA as scheduled via Pinheira; their 6080 is also noticeably askew+ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. Reception of Radio Saudi International in 13mb, Feb.27: 0900-1200 21670 RIY 500 kW / 100 deg SEAs Indonesian, weak/fair same time 15120 RIY 500 kW / 070 deg SoAs Bangla blocked by VON in DRM https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/02/reception-of-bsksa-radio-saudi.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.26-27-28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. 11820.02, Feb 28 at 2240, SRI/SBA Qur`aning poor signal but enough to lullaby my nap, until abrupt chopoff at 2300* -- Allah`ll get`em for that? Trying again March 1 at 2220 for a more precise reading, SA is JBA, vs another even weaker carrier closer to 11820.00 --- since nothing is scheduled there, suspect it is a second-order spur from 11840 RHC, doubled beyond the constant first-order one on 11830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Glenn, So South Africa will cease to be an active SW radio country at the end of March? At lease that is what Jeff White said on his latest Wavescan show I heard today on the internet. Radio RSA, Radio Havana Cuba, Radio Netherlands via Bonaire and HCJB certainly had the strongest and most reliable SWBC signals in South Texas when I first got started listening to SWBC in 1967. Radio RSA was by far the strongest signal from Africa back then and the first African logging. Like you said, it appears Channel Africa will go internet only. This may be of interest to some of the readers: Radio RSA - Johannesburg (Signature Tune Recorded in 1966 ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9ZXYWWyVzQ ? 2:04 Apr 30, 2011 - Uploaded by djsudi Shortwave Transmitters Location: Meyerton. ... the title of the martial tune that also accompanied the opening ... (Artie Bigley, OH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Four old articles you may be interested in on the history of Radio RSA. Is there still room for shortwave radio? - EE Publishers https://www.ee.co.za/article/is-there-still-room-for-shortwave-radio.html Oct 8, 2018 - Sentech operates South Africa's shortwave radio station in Bloemendal, near Meyerton which it inherited when Radio RSA was closed down. Radio wars - SAGE Journals http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0306422014522934 by K Somerville - ?2014 - ?Cited by 1 - ?Related articles service of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), on 27 October 1965, Prime Minister Hendrick Verwoerd said it would allow “South Africa's good work to become known throughout the world”. Page 9 — 1974, Book Chapter, Southern Africa — Central Michigan ... https://scholarly.cmich.edu/?a=d&d=CMUFac1974-01.1.9& Southern Africa, 1974 — Page 9 ... Broadcasting on a small scale to the rest of the continent had begun in the 1950s from a single short-wave transmitter near Pretoria, ... was really started with the completion of the huge H. F. Verwoerd Station at ... Despite South Africa's precarious diplomatic position in the worlds forums, ... The Press and Apartheid: Repression and Propaganda in South Africa https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1349076856 William A. Hachten, ?C.Anthony Giffard - 1984 - ?Business & Economics International Broadcasting: RSA — The Voice of South Africa Another policy area ... huge H. F. Verwoerd station at Bloemendal outside of Johannesburg, with its ... (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) More troubles for SABC - SABC TO PAY 170 MEGARAND IN CARTEL SETTLEMENT https://city-press.news24.com/Business/sabc-to-pay-r170m-in-cartel-settlement-20190303?isapp=true (Bill Bingham, Jo'burg, RSA, March 3, WOR iog via DXLD) ** SOUTH AMERICA. Radio Piraña Internaciónal 6930 --- We are now on air on 6930 kHz from South America with a 100 watts (carrier) AM transmitter. We will be on air until 09 UT tomorrow. This sched will be repeated until at least Monday morning. There are probability that the sched will be extended. Some of the broadcast will be live as some will be boxed. We will also air some programs of other friend stations. If we receive reports of much QRM we could go higher in frecuency. Reports to : rpi@radiopirana.com 73 Jorge R. García Radio Piraña Int. http://www.radiopirana.com Saludos nuevamente desde Sudamerica! Estamos emitiendo en estos momentos en la frecuencia de 6930 kHz AM. Lo haremos hasta almenos las 09 UT del día de mañana. Este mismo esquema haremos hasta el lunes próximo, es decir desde mas o menos las 22 horas UT hasta las 09. Quizás seguiremos con más emisiones la próxima semana, eso todavía no está decidido. La programacion será en parte directa, como también programas pregrabadas. También pondremos al aire algunos programas de emisoras colegas. Si hay informes de mucho QRM en la frecuencia, podríamos cambiar a una frecuencia más alta. 73 (Jorge R. García, Radio Piraña Int. -- Porfavor siempre responder a: rpi@radiopirana.com Hard-Core-DX 2323 UT March 1 via DXLD) 6390* kHz UNID (South America): Radio Piraña, SS, 01/03 2340. Male communication, Latin America songs. ID "...Radio Piraña...". 25432. Rx: KiwiSDR (São Bernardo SP) + PA0RDT Mini Whip Antenna (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP, BRAZIL http://dxways-br.blogspot.com YouTube Channel: GrimmSBC, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) *presumably RG`s typo for 6930 rather than JRG`s punch-up (gh, DXLD) As recorded from a KiwiSDR near Sao Paulo (Pardinho) there is a pirate station on 6930 but does not sound like R Piranha - language is US English and German and QSL contact info is not for R Pirana. The station appears to have German-oriented programming. Lots of recorded jingles and announcements. ID is hard to discern at 0045. Signal is about S3 but with significant QSB. Faintly audible from other Kiwi sites in ZY-land (Bruce Churchill, CA, 0050 UT March 2, WOR iog via DXLD) 6930.10, Radio Piraña Internacional, heard now, at 0625-0639 UT [Sat March 2] via SDR Kiwi remote receiver in Pardinho, near Sao Paulo, Brazil, songs in Spanish, ID in English at 0626, male: "Radio Pirana International", "Gloria Estefan, No te Olvidaré", Spanish "flamenco" song, at 0637 Juanes song "A Dios le Pido", male, Spanish: "Juanes, aquí en Radio Piraña Internacional", song and more identifications in English. "Radio Pirana International, free radio". SINPO 25322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, WOR iog via DXLD) 6930.1, Radio Piraña Internacional, 0515-0620, 03-03, only weak carrier detected here in Friol, but via SDR Kiwi remote receiver in Pardinho, Sao Paulo, clear audio, songs in English and ID “Radio Piraña Internacional” (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. 12030, Thu Feb 28 at 2236, REE VG S9+10 discussing The Virgin Mary in Spanish, monogamy, alternating with ARABIC --- not clear which one is translating the other originally; but not // 11945 & 9690 in Castilian only. WRTH 2019 mentions that REE webcasts in Arabic, but does not show any SW schedule for it; and nothing at all about Spain in the Feb 4 update. 12030 is the ME-beam frequency which nevertheless arrives here well off the back (sometimes propagating better than 9690 direct). EiBi does not show any Arabic either, but there is Sephardic/Ladino Sundays only at 2230-2300 on 12030. WRTH asterisks that as a cutaway from Spanish at same time on all four frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 9505, Sudan Radio, Al Aitahab, 1720-1728, 01-03, East African songs, English, ID “This is the Voice of Africa”, “Welcome to the Voice of Africa, Sudan Radio”. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. Upcoming frequency change of FPU Radio Dabanga March 1 https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/02/upcoming-frequency-change-of-fpu-radio.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.26-27-28, WOR 1972 via DXLD) Viz.: 0430-0500 on 7315 ISS 250 kW / 134 deg EaAf Juba Arabic - unchanged, 0430-0500 NF 11650 MDC 250 kW / 335 deg EaAf Juba Arabic, ex 9600 MEY 1530-1600 on 15350 ISS 250 kW / 134 deg EaAf Juba Arabic, ex same MEY 1530-1600 on 15550 SMG 250 kW / 150 deg EaAf Juba Arabic, ex same ISS (Observer via DXLD) i.e. getting out of SOUTH AFRICA right away (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non] & SUDAN SOUTH [non]. Radio Tamazuj & Radio Dabanga via Talata & Meyerton, Feb.27 1459-1527 11705 MDC 250 kW / 340 deg EaAf Juba Arabic Radio Tamazuj 1527-1556 15350 MEY 250 kW / 005 deg EaAf Juba Arabic Radio Dabanga 1527-1556 15350 ISS 250 kW / 134 deg EaAf Radio Dabanga from March 1 https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/radio-tamazuj-dabanga-via-talata.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.27-28, Mar 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. [Re 19-09:] DRM on 6930.5 --- Ampegon tells me that this is not one of their transmissions, although it might be a customer of theirs. They previously acknowledged that "DRM Service A" on 3260 and 4770 were the Swiss government. These were low-power, about 1 kW. In all cases, these are Ampegon transmitters (Hans Johnson, FL, Feb 28, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4765.07, 0315-0320 2.3, Tajik R 1, Yangiyul, Russian talk, local song, 35333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, my recent loggings from Skovlunde on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, wbradio yg via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 13445 [sic]. Radio Thailand, March 3, 2019, 0009–0016 in English. SIO 545. Headline news with OM announcer. Advertisements for tourism packages. Morning news, including Kim’s visit to Vietnam. Trade news, including a defense contract for fighter jets (Vince Henley, Anacortes WA, Equipment in use: WiNRADiO G39DDCe SDR, ICOM IC-R8600, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R8B, SDRPLAY RSP Duo, TECSUN PL-880. Antennas: whip on PL-880 and Alpha-Delta DX-Ultra installed broadside east west at 30 feet for all others, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Obviously a typo for 13745; I have to point this out here since the FS cannot be depended upon to publish correxions (gh, DXLD) ** TURKEY. 12240H, 16.02.19, 1947-1957, V of Turkey, Emirler, Turkish: 2nd Harmonic (6120x2=12240 kHz). 35533 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia (Bulgaria). RX: Sony ICF2001D. ANT: Folded Marconi antenna own made, DX Fanzine via DXLD) TRT Voice of Turkey EMR on very odd frequencies on Feb.28 1000-1055 11955.7 500 kW / 180 deg NEAf Arabic instead of 11955 Feb.27 1300-1325 11965.7 250 kW / 072 deg CAs Turkmen instead of 11965 Feb.27 https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/voice-of-turkey-on-very-odd-frequencies.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.27-28, Mar 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5960, UT Fri March 1 at 0045, German at S9+10 fading to S7, so yet again VOT sloppyrators at Emirler have left this transmitter on an extra hour after English; will The Mighty Farty KBC stay here, taking their chances on UT Sundays, until the bitter end of B-18? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TRT Voice of Turkey in Bulgarian on very odd frequency 7245.7 kHz, March 4: 1200-1225 7245.7 EMR 250 kW / 300 deg Bulgarian, instead of nom. 7245 https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/voice-of-turkey-in-bulgarian-on-very.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News March 3-4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 12035.718, March 4 at 1335, VOT English is poor with lite stray pulse jamming, vs JBA carrier on 12035.0 from KSDA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKS & CAICOS. See UK [non] ** U K [non]. Extra BBC frequencies, due to elections Nigeria, Feb.26: 0700-1200 17780 DHA 250 kW / 260 deg WeAf Hausa Sat-Tue, good, ex ASC 1200-1400 17780 ASC 250 kW / 055 deg WeAf Hausa Sat-Tue, weak to fair https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/02/extra-bbc-frequencies-due-to-elections.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News Feb.26-27-28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. 15200, March 3 at 1913, Encompass (BaBcoCk) traditional music loop of guitar & violin repeating once a minute, S9-S7 past 1922. No announcements but surely another such test from Woofferton site. Not much else making it from Europe on 19m now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. SCORES OF UK RADIO STATIONS TO LOSE LOCAL PROGRAMMES https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/26/scores-of-uk-radio-stations-to-lose-local-programmes (via Andy Reid, Ont, DXLD) ** U K [non]. Re ANGUILLA 1610, TURKS & CAICOS 530 kHz: In former times it appears that the local regulators in various British Overseas Territories would sometimes allow operations that were, to put it mildly, in contravention of the ITU regulations or applicable bilateral and regional agreements. This no longer seems to be the case. Per info from OFCOM, it is clear that OFCOM now has overall regulatory authority, and is responsible for such broadcasting allotments/operations and their consistency with ITU regulations. It therefore seems likely that the high power 1610 Anguilla and 530 Turks and Caicos operations no longer are in operation due to OFCOM's determination that they are inconsistent with the ITU frequency use requirements. Most particularly, use of 1610 is limited to 10 kW day and (under most circumstances) 1 kW night, and 530 broadcasting use is limited to 1 kW day, 250 watts night. So I am told (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 353 kHz, March 2 at 0723, a four-letter NDB, INLI?? But then the IN and LI spread further and further apart. Two different ones at same pitch: IN, 100 watts from International Falls (brrr) - Ray, Minnesota; and much closer LI, 400 watts from Little Rock, Arkansas (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3 more: see CANADA ** U S A. WWV Celebration --- "We’re glad you’ve joined us to help celebrate the World’s oldest continually broadcasting radio station, WWV, as it turns 100 this year." http://wwv100.com (via Benn Kobb, March 2, WOR iog via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. 9335, Feb 27 at 1328, 1 kHz tone, 1329 Yankee Doodle and VOA sign-on, 1330 Cambodian via Tinang, S3-S4 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 6195, SAO TOME, VOA at 2130 hosting “Country Music USA” - Fair Mar 3 – They played fairly old country hits like Shania Twain's “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” so I wonder if this was program filler as I can't find a reference to “Country Music USA” on the VOA website anymore (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Drake SPR-4, Kenwood TS440S, or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles (OCFD), ODXA iog via DXLD) See also SAO TOME ** U S A. 5070 (NF? Whoops?), R. Marti, 1215, SINPO-33233, man talking in Spanish with mentions of Colombia-Venezuela clash, Puerto Rico and human rights. 23-FEB-2019 (Karl Racenis, DXpedition in Brighton MI, Sony SW-55 with a NASA P-30 antenna, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) Cool catch Karl! Now the question is, was this intentional / an attempt to thwart jamming, a mixing product, a mistake in Greenville or something else? Who knows! further monitoring from morning people is required here! -kvz (Ken Zichi, ed., ibid.) 5070 had been an established USA SWBC channel until WWCR dropped it a few years ago, why? In this case, it must be an image from 5980 Greenville --- I don`t know the Sony SW-55 he was using, but I bet it`s single-conversion and subject to 2 x 455 kHz IF images, 910 kHz below; maybe overloaded by that NASA antenna? i.e. no signal really there (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Radio Marti firing 8 over disparaging Soros The Washington Post: U.S.-funded broadcaster firing 8 reporters and editors over ‘rogue’ anti-Semitic reports disparaging George Soros Thursday, February 28, 2019 8:28 AM Segments disparaging Soros as a “Jew of flexible morals” were not the result of political influence from the Trump administration, U.S. agency says. . . https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-funded-broadcaster-firing-8-reporters-and-editors-over-rogue-anti-semitic-reports-disparaging-george-soros/2019/02/27/72d711f2-3ad2-11e9-aaae-69364b2ed137_story.html (via David Cole & Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1971 monitoring: confirmed Wednesday February 27 at 2200 on WRMI 9955, fair and 4 seconds later on WBCQ 7490+, good S9+10. At 2220 I noticed another WBCQ on the air, 5130.469, JBA, and yes, it`s WOR. But off at next check 2230. Also confirmed UT Thursday February 28 at 0000 on WRMI 7730, VG, but by 0015 recheck it`s dumped to music fill, same as last week when first discovered by Richard Lemke. Yes, WOR is now on the sked for half an hour. 0030 starts Wavescan with no problem. I miss checking next airing at 0100 on WRMI 7780. Next, not until: 0930 UT Friday Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND 0729 UT Saturday HLR 6190-CUSB Germany to WSW 1200 UT Saturday Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND [alt weeks: March 2/16/30] 1230 UT Saturday WRMI *9955 to SSE 1531 UT Saturday HLR 9485-CUSB Germany to WSW 2030vUT Saturday WA0RCR 1860-AM MO non-direxional 2200 UT Saturday WRMI *9955 to SSE 0030 UT Sunday WRMI 7730 to WNW [NEW] 0400vUT Sunday WA0RCR 1860-AM [nominal 0415], ND 0830 UT Sunday WRMI 5850 to NW, 5950 to WNW, 7730 to WNW 1130 UT Sunday HLR 7265-CUSB Germany to WSW 2130 UT Sunday WRMI 7780 to NE 0230 UT Monday WRMI 5950 to WNW, 9395 to NNW 0400vUT Monday WBCQ *5130v Area 51 to WSW 0430 UT Monday WRMI *9955 to SSE 0930 UT Monday Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND 1901 UT Monday IRRS/NEXUS-IBA/IPAR 7290 Romania [NEW] 2330 UT Monday WRMI *9955 to SSE * also webcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7780, WRMI at 0106 with Glenn Hauser's “World of Radio” - Fair with fading Feb 28 [Thu] (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Drake SPR-4, Kenwood TS440S, or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles (OCFD), ODXA iog via DXLD) WORLD OF RADIO 1971 monitoring: Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria reports: ``GERMANY, Reception of World of Radio via HLR on 6190 kHz CUSB, March 2: https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/reception-of-world-of-radio-via-hlr-on.html 0730-0800 6190 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg CEu English Sat very good signal`` Confirmed? on WRMI 9955, Sat March 2 sometime between 1230 and 1300, good; or did I dream it? Not found on my log notes, zzzz. Not confirmed after 1531 on HLR 9485-CUSB, never direct, but not audible at UTwente either; and the Italia SDR was occupied by limit 4 users. Alan Gale, England, also reports: ``Hi Glenn, Nothing at all heard on 9485 kHz here. Maybe it was down to the current solar activity, or it may have been that the skip had just gone a bit long again, but whatever it was I didn't hear World of Radio or anything else on HLR this afternoon unfortunately. Better luck next week I hope! Alan`` Confirmed Sat Mar 2 at 2200 on WRMI 9955, P-F S7-S9. Also confirmed UT Sun Mar 3 at 0030 on WRMI 7730, very good. Also confirmed UT Sun Mar 3 at 0449 on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, MO, S9+20/10, about 7 minutes into so started circa 0442 (earlier check at 0428 was running SSTV). Next: 0830 UT Sunday WRMI 5850 to NW, 5950 to WNW, 7730 to WNW 1130 UT Sunday HLR 7265-CUSB Germany to WSW 2130 UT Sunday WRMI 7780 to NE 0230 UT Monday WRMI 5950 to WNW, 9395 to NNW 0400vUT Monday WBCQ *5130v Area 51 to WSW 0430 UT Monday WRMI *9955 to SSE 0930 UT Monday Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND 1901 UT Monday IRRS/NEXUS-IBA/IPAR 7290 Romania [NEW] 2330 UT Monday WRMI *9955 to SSE * also webcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9955, WYFR, March 2, 2019 [Sat], 2224–2229 in English, SIO 444. World of Radio with GH host. Radio news from around the spectrum. Listed target is SAM (Vince Henley, Anacortes WA, Equipment in use: WiNRADiO G39DDCe SDR, ICOM IC-R8600, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R8B, SDRPLAY RSP Duo, TECSUN PL-880. Antennas: whip on PL-880 and Alpha-Delta DX-Ultra installed broadside east west at 30 feet for all others, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) There is no more WYFR! It`s WRMI (gh) WORLD OF RADIO 1971 monitoring: Ivo Ivanov: ``GERMANY, Reception of World of Radio via HLR on 7265 CUSB, March 3 https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2019/03/reception-of-world-of-radio-via-hlr-on_3.html 1130-1200 7265 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg to CeEu English Sun, fair signal`` Confirmed Sunday March 3 at 2130 on WRMI 7780, fair Confirmed UT Monday March 4 at 0230 on WRMI 5950 S9, but // 9395 is a JBA carrier, as usually the case in comparison at this hour Confirmed UT Monday March 4 from 0359 on Area 51 webcast; while WBCQ 5129.396 is a JBA carrier at 0423 check (from next week: 0300v) Confirmed UT Monday March 4 after 0430 on WRMI webcast, while 9955 is a JBA carrier (from next week: 0330) Confirmed Monday March 4 at 1900 on IRRS 7290 via Romania, as monitored via UTwente; huge splash from 7295 China required narrow LSB tuning. IRRS SW ``Milan`` signed on at *1859.5, and 1900 right into WOR, no minute of news. I understand that IRRS might also run WOR during this hour on some other variable days of week. Not confirmed Monday March 4 at 2330 on WRMI 9955; instead check at 2347 found something else and not // any other WRMI frequency: some repetitive music loop, 2351 announcement ``thanks to the ragamuffins for all the music``, ``Kim Cordray (sp?) with teachers` corner``. This sounds vaguely familiar; was that a show on the ill-fated Global 24 experiment? And back to music. WRMI skedgrid still shows WOR. Anyway this would have shifted to 2230 from next week like the others on 9955 WOR 1971 confirmed UT Tuesday March 5 at 0030 on WRMI 7730, very good WORLD OF RADIO 1972 contents: Bougainville, Brasil, Canada, China, Cuba, France, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea South, Kuwait, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria non, Northern Mariana Islands, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan non, Switzerland, USA, Vietnam non, Yemen non; and the propagation outlook. Ready for first airings: 2030 UT Tue WRMI 7780 to NE 0930 UT Wed Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND 1030 UT Wed WRMI 5950 to WNW 2200 UT Wed WRMI *9955 to SSE 2200 UT Wed WBCQ *7490v to WSW [and 5130v? as last week] 0000 UT Thu WRMI 7730 to WNW 0100 UT Thu WRMI 7780 to NE 0930 UT Fri Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND 0729 UT Sat HLR 6190-CUSB Germany to WSW 1200 UT Sat Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND [alt weeks: March 16/30] 1230 UT Sat WRMI *9955 to SSE 1531 UT Sat HLR 9485-CUSB Germany to WSW 2030vUT Sat WA0RCR 1860-AM MO non-direxional 2200 UT Sat WRMI *9955 to SSE 0030 UT Sun WRMI 7730 to WNW 0400vUT Sun WA0RCR 1860-AM [nominal 0415], ND 0830 UT Sun WRMI 5850 to NW, 5950 to WNW, 7730 to WNW 1130 UT Sun HLR 7265-CUSB Germany to WSW 2130 UT Sun WRMI 7780 to NE 0230 UT Mon WRMI 5950 to WNW, 9395 to NNW 0300vUT Mon WBCQ *5130v Area 51 to WSW [ex-0400v] 0330 UT Mon WRMI *9955 to SSE [ex-0430] 0930 UT Mon Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND 1900 UT Mon IRRS/NEXUS-IBA/IPAR 7290 Romania [NEW] * also webcast WORLD OF RADIO 1972 monitoring: confirmed first SW broadcast Tuesday March 5 at 2048 the 2030 on WRMI 7780, fair. Or maybe there was an earlier one, as Aussie Tim informed us at 0936 UT Tuesday: ``Listeners can hear a double episode of World of Radio on Unique Radio 5045 kHz Tuesdays 0900 to 1000 UT. Great reception normally on these SDR's : - http://kiwisdr.northlandradio.nz:8073/ http://vk2dds.net:8073/ Best regards, Tim Gaynor, Unique Radio, Gunnedah NSW, Australia``. Next: 0930 UT Wed Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND 1030 UT Wed WRMI 5950 to WNW 2200 UT Wed WRMI *9955 to SSE 2200 UT Wed WBCQ *7490v to WSW [and 5130v? as last week] 0000 UT Thu WRMI 7730 to WNW 0100 UT Thu WRMI 7780 to NE 0930 UT Fri Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND 0729 UT Sat HLR 6190-CUSB Germany to WSW 1200 UT Sat Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND [alt weeks: March 16/30] 1230 UT Sat WRMI *9955 to SSE 1531 UT Sat HLR 9485-CUSB Germany to WSW 2030vUT Sat WA0RCR 1860-AM MO non-direxional 2200 UT Sat WRMI *9955 to SSE 0030 UT Sun WRMI 7730 to WNW 0400vUT Sun WA0RCR 1860-AM [nominal 0415], ND 0830 UT Sun WRMI 5850 to NW, 5950 to WNW, 7730 to WNW 1130 UT Sun HLR 7265-CUSB Germany to WSW 2130 UT Sun WRMI 7780 to NE 0230 UT Mon WRMI 5950 to WNW, 9395 to NNW 0300vUT Mon WBCQ *5130v Area 51 to WSW [ex-0400v] 0330 UT Mon WRMI *9955 to SSE [ex-0430] 0930 UT Mon Unique 5045-LSB NSW ND 1900 UT Mon IRRS/NEXUS-IBA/IPAR 7290 Romania [NEW] * also webcast; direct linx to these and many others at: Complete WOR sked, all affiliates, satellite, webcast, AM&FM, podcast: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ: ** U S A. 3264.937 1/2 kHz, WBCQ, pop music program, S=9+15dB signal in Massachusetts US state, S=8 in Detroit MI. 13.4 kHz wideband signal at 0020 UT on Feb 27. No connect to K2DLS SDR remotedly in New Jersey tonight. Disconnected [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, Some logs of Feb 27 at 0000-0130 UT on SDR remote unit at Massachusetts US eastern coast state, wb df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5130.035, Feb 27 at 0734, surprised to find JBA carrier here with a trace of modulation; WBCQ running this transmitter on a frequency adjusted closer to nominal. Now also JBAC around 3264.9. 5 MHz frequency also on during WOR at 2220, but back to higher offset. 7490.19, UT Fri March 1 at 0055, WBCQ with `Camp Constitution Radio``, 0100 ``WTO`` and into an `AWWW` repeat, which must be plenty old since ``it`s a balmy night``, and the tenth monthiversary of A&A togetherness. (7490), UT Sat March 2 at 0100, WBCQ webcast with bits of music and silence as if trying to bring up the wrong feeds; finally `William Tell Overture` starts and then lo-fi audio as A&A interject. Says they just flew down from Bangor ME to Sanford FL, so they must have skipped the Winter SWL Fest along the way near Philadelphia. At 0121 checking the SW frequencies: 7490.2 is VP; 9330.17 is VP but identifiably // AWWW; 3264.9 JBA carrier of unknown content; 5130.48 is VP best of the lot but with something else. I hope John Carver heard more of it; he already reports as of 0140: ``Tonight's AWWW --- Music, dead air, station promo before the top of the hour, dead air, snippet of music, dead air, music snippet and then the familiar theme starts. Both Allan and Angela doing voice overs during the theme. Poor signal on 7490. Allan and Angela flew to FLA this morning and are doing the show from there this evening. Mr. Transistor Norm called at 0107. Lost the signal at 0108. 5130 has the militia, no signal on 9330 so I end up on 3265 again. Fair signal and then it almost sounds like the transmitter went down and was restarted. then the noise came up making it difficult to copy. By 0116 I can copy nothing on either frequency. After the previous weekend's terrible 26 hour windstorm with gusts as high as 65 mph I checked all the antennas this week and the only one that didn't survive was the TV antenna. So I guess it's Allan Weiner only in certain areas instead of world wide. John, Mid-North Indiana``. Meanwhile I was wondering if there would be any live broadcasts from the Fest: I asked Larry Will if there will be any (non-pirate); he replies: ``Jane and I are planning to be live from the Fest Sunday 0100-0200 UTC on 5130 and the Area 51 webcast. Lw`` i.e. Saturday night {but later said they did not due to snow on the commute route} I also asked Jeff White of WRMI, and he replied, no, not this year, but he is there recording a bunch of interviews which will be on Wavescan next weeks (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3264.911, WBCQ. 5130.436, UNID on threshold, only exciter power? Between 0200 and 0330 UT this March 2nd, remote receiver in Massachusetts? [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2 via dxldyg via DXLD) (7490), March 2 at 0248, I notice that the WBCQ webcast I had up earlier for AWWW is still running with someone talking; so I listen in: It`s about the Unity Bible Fundamentalist Church planning its very own ``DMR``-only SW transmitters, the next big thing, as a second ``free speech`` station like WBCQ but reaching parts of the world it does not: western US, Russia, China, India, Europe. Huh? WBCQ 500 kW and rotatable antenna expects to cover everywhere from Maine. Appeals for funds, anything from $1 to $5000 welcome --- hey, if Brother Starr [sic] and Scriptures for America can raise hundreds of thousands for SW broadcasts, why not? Altho he ``hates money``, and will get this done, even without major financial support. Says he already got a positive response from FCC. Keeps referring to ``DMR``, but slips once calling it ``DRM``. Needs to be on SW, since he is banned from FB, Twitter and other social media. This turns out to be Pastor Cody Serafeld(?), and a sidekick, from a ``little bitty church`` in Conroe TX, on the `Far Right Radio Show` --- so as a Free Speech station, he will certainly welcome the Far Left! The FRRS still has not achieved any visibility on the WBCQ program sked; UT Sat 02-04 on 7490 still shows as `Dead Frog Radio` which has passed away. Still listening to webcast, at 0301 the standard WBCQ sign-off, so I guess the 7490+ transmitter was still running if inaudible here. And after that still more music on the webcast, at least. At 0324, 5130.43 is still on JBA trace of modulation, with what? The 5 MHz unit has been showing up at unexpected times (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7490, WBCQ at 2156 with IS and ID loop to 2158 then off until 2220 and joining “Marion's Attic” eclectic and really old music program in progress with Marion Webster and Christina – Good Mar 3 – I doubt that Marion Webster is paying for airtime on WBCQ but, if I was, I'd be mighty upset with losing twenty minutes of program time as I'd be programming in advertising support. If this were to happen often enough I could foresee a breach of contract lawsuit (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Drake SPR-4, Kenwood TS440S, or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles (OCFD), ODXA iog via DXLD) WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI: ** U S A. 5950even, WRMI Okeechobee, pop music, poor S=6 signal, limited reduced power these days, azimuth? non-directional ?, 0051 UT [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, Some logs of Feb 27 at 0000-0130 UT on SDR remote unit at Massachusetts US eastern coast state, wb df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15770, March 3 at 1911, WRMI with S9 of dead air instead of SMTV (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From my recording last Sunday evening, 3-4 March UT; no report from previous week due to snow storm; with longer daylight hours now, reception on 7780 kHz is only fair here in NB until later in the afternoon/evening: 2015 Viva Miami (in English and Spanish, acknowledging listeners' reports, including one of mine; repeat) 2030 Reserve Military Retirement 2100 Wavescan (#523) 2130 World of Radio (#1971) 2200 Oldies 2230 VOA News with Christopher Cruise (unusually stumbling over words a few times) 2235 Oldies continues 2300 Full Gospel Broadcast 2330 Shortwave Radiogram (#89) 0000 Radio Slovakia International in Slovak 0030 Radio Slovakia International in English 0100 Wavescan (#523) 0130 Through the Cross Ministry with Pastor Chuck 0200 Radio Prague in English 0230 Viva Miami (in English and Spanish, acknowledging listeners' reports, including one of mine; repeat) 0245 Living Water (still repeating; how long has it been now?) (-- Richard Langley, NB, WOR iog via DXLD) OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHER: ** U S A. Hi, Glenn. It's curious that you didn't hear any signal from us on Tuesday 26th. We were transmitting from 1500 to 2200 UT, and I heard the ground wave quite clearly here at my house, about 15 miles from the transmitter site. I checked it multiple times, and if anything, it was stronger than usual! Our CE measured the output power following our repairs at about 58 kW (Ray Robinson, Strategic Communications Group, Voice of Hope World Radio Network, http://www.voiceofhope.com Feb 27, WOR iog via DXLD) Ray, Your signal is often at the margin propagationally, too high and too close for reliable F-layer. When I do get a good signal it may well be due to sporadic E over the path which otherwise goes unnoticed. Yesterday at times I may have had an ``imagination-level`` carrier. Propagation is subnormal currently and likely to get worse: ``Solar-terrestrial indices for 26 February follow. Solar flux 71 and estimated planetary A-index 2. The estimated planetary K-index at 1500 UTC on 27 February was 3. No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be minor. Geomagnetic storms reaching the G1 level are likely``. [--- WWV Alert at 1500 UT 27 Feb] Can you confirm being on air normally today on usual schedule? At 1705 I am not getting any signal either (Glenn to Ray, ibid.) Yes, Glenn, I can confirm we are on as normal. Dino reported from South Florida that we were S9+20dB at 1600 UT yesterday. As you say, you may just be too close to get that first hop at the moment. (Ray Robinson, KVOH, ibid.) 17775, Feb 27 at 1512 and 1705, no signal audible from KVOH, but Ray Robinson assures me it`s back on the air. Finally at 1926 I can hear it propagating with praise music in Spanish, S9 to S9+10. 17775, Feb 28 at 1929, no signal audible from KVOH, unlike yesterday. Wolfgang Bueschel explained Feb 27 while 17774.989 was well audible on the east coast, ``17 MHz reception behind 1st skip at least need 2500 kilometers distance. To Enid_OK 1890 kilometer distance only`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 3215, 4840, 5890, Feb 28 at 0721-0725, 75% of WWCR transmitters are on the air without modulation. Only 5935 is modulating, S9-S7 poor. 3215, S9+20 with hum and 5890, S9-S7, would normally be off the air at this time, while 4840, S9+20 would be TOMBS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. From the WINB Twitter Feed: ``@SWWINB with two new data programs - @SlowScanRadio 1445-1500 UTC Fri 13755 kHz #DRM. HB9oab, Franco, in #SSTV PD120, same mode as #ISS and #ARISS 1500-1530 UTC Fri 13755 kHz DRM, 9265 kHz Sat 1830-1845 UTC, 2300-2315 UTC. Will QSL. The HB9OAB program in the Saturday afternoon slot replaces Shortwave Radiogram`` (via -- Richard Langley, NB, March 2, WOR iog via DXLD) WINB with two new data programs - SlowScanRadio 1445-1500 UTC Fri 13755 kHz #DRM. HB9oab, Franco, in #SSTV PD120, same mode as #ISS and #ARISS 1500-1530 UTC Fri 13755 kHz DRM, 9265 kHz Sat 1830-1845 UTC, 2300-2315 UTC. Will QSL for reports to winb40th@yahoo.com You don't need to purchase a DRM radio to listen to DRM transmissions. Just a computer. Here's how: https://www.hobbyradio.se/en/drm/kiwisdr.html There is a great network of KiwiSDRs at https://sdr.hu/ (Hans Johnson, Naples FL, WINB Airtime Sales/Frequency Manager [founder of Jihad/Cumbre DX which led to DXing with Cumbre, who has just joined the WOR iog], via DXLD) Welcome to Hans. Please explain the WINB DRM system, which unlike all others we`ve heard, has some multi-carriers on the lower sideband rather than regular DRM noise. Is WINB also experimenting with some kind of data transmission which needs special equipment/processing to decode? How about a complete program schedule for the DRM hours? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Hi Glenn - 10 kHz bandwidth, 5 kHz data, 5 kHz audio. I don't know what the data is. 15 kW 62 degrees, mostly streaming WINB internet feed with a few exceptions like Wavescan, ShortwaveRadiogram (Hans, ibid.) Hello, Tim, Do you know off-hand the beam-direction and xmtr. power WINB is employing? I assume toward the So. pacific, no? I cannot decode DRM presently, but I could monitor the data-noise just to get an idea... thanks - Steve McGreevy, CA, N6NKS - www.auroralchorus.com WOR iog via DXLD) The DRM transmitter is 15 kW. In the past, they've hooked it up to the usual rhombic antenna but beaming in the reverse direction; i.e., 62°. But they can test using the Continental 50 kW transmitter with the usual beam of 242°. I wonder if we know which transmitter and which beam direction will be used for the Unique Radio broadcast? See: http://www.winb.com/Coverage%20Map.html (-- Richard Langley, NB, ibid.) Hi Steve, 62 degrees towards Europe. Yes, I've been receiving it here during my evening around an S4 to an S6 or S7 at times and quite clear. Appreciate your interest ;-) Best regards (Aussie Tim, Unique Radio, Australia, Gunnedah NSW, ibid.) Thank you everyone for all of this very fine and interesting info. I have one issue and question: Quoting: "1100-1200 hrs UTC or 6am EST in Eastern North America" If beaming with only 15 kW at 62 degrees (toward Europe) - that puts much of the eastern-end of the path in daylight and not really optimum for the 31mb frequency (around noon in central Europe), even if the MUF is rather low now, by day. Good it was heard in Italy well, but would it not be better to have it on 19mb instead? OH! I just took a view of the website Richard gave and I see: "The transmitter is rated at 15 kW and is using the Rhombic antenna at 062 degrees. The authorized schedule for this transmitter is: Monday-Friday 0700-0900 on 7325 kHz, 0900-1100 on 9265 kHz, >>> 1100-1700 UTC on 15670 kHz." <<< After 1100, it shows the 19mb frequency of 15670 for the ASI unit at 62 deg. [15670 was originally used but this info is long outdated -gh] and this: "At times when the ASI transmitter is not being tested, WINB will occasionally test in DRM using its existing Continental 417B transmitter on 9265 kHz beamed 242 degrees" ...unless the sked. has changed from the info. copied above, are they then using the (secondary) Continental and 224 deg. antenna beam? I keep a globe with a long shoestring for these great-circle path lookups (hi!): 224 degrees azimuth puts the WINB 15 kW DRM signal toward the So. Pacific - almost toward Easter Island directly, but perhaps still enough toward Australia to be copyable, where the program (I assume) originates from and on a better, (total) nighttime-path for long-skip hops at that time of day. But then again, that path to Oz is pretty far for 15 kW DRM me thinks. I only think this from longtime propagation observations. I was way too sleepy early this morning to get up and try to hear even the DRM buzz, as I needed to arise earlier than usual this morning (really warm weather in the Mojave Desert today - like up 35F from the same time last week...). Well, it's being heard Italy to Australia anyway, whatever transmitter WINB is using for the test! With shortwave, practical theories about propagation often need not apply, har! How many ionosphere hops can DRM handle before the data is corrupted too much? Must also depend upon the frequency, time, and beam-heading, etc. This all makes me want to obtain a DRM receiver. 73 - (Steve McGreevy, CA, -- N6NKS - www.auroralchorus.com ibid.) Hi Steve, lower bitrates fare a lot better than high bitrates with propagation. The bitrate WINB use is reasonably low but sounds fine. I have to admit I was very biased about DRM until I actually heard it on a file, some months ago, sent to me from New Zealand. So I'm a bit of a convert to DRM and I can see the positives with it. 73 (Tim Gaynor, Unique Radio Australia, Gunnedah NSW, ibid.) Very good signal from WINB into NB this afternoon (2 March) on 9265 kHz at 1830 UT as is usual for midday here. HB9OAB's SSTV test program ran for 15 minutes. Some of the images got the station's call sign a little wrong (Richard Langley, WOR iog via DXLD) ``WIMB`` illustrated ** U S A. 5085even, WTWW S=9+30dB, EXCELLENT AUDIO QUALITY! 5829.985, WTWW S=9+35dB -37dBm powerhouse! Between 0200 and 0330 UT this March 2nd, remote receiver in Massachusetts? [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2 via dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Re WMLK: Hi Richard, didn't the FCC require WMLK to go to an approved building rather than renovate the old building. That's what I think they mean in a roundabout way. Best regards (Tim Gaynor, Gunnedah NSW, Australia, WOR iog via DXLD) Tim: It is a new building. See here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/www.wmlkradio.net/photos/ (-- Richard Langley, NB, WOR iog via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. 620, March 2 at 0709 UT, Spanish as previously discovered from KEXB The Metroplex, overnight, giving phone numbers, and 0732 mentions versículos, so these clues lead me to believe that Radio Oasis is in fact religious, without having to listen to it much. (OK has an Oasis network of gospel-huxtering in English, unrelated?) but listening to it much now is difficultized by heavy QRM from something with C&W music; what could that be on 620? NRC AM Log shows only one US C&W station: KWAL Wallace ID, 1/1 kW U2. But far more likely it`s CKRM Regina, 10/10 kW U4, which I have heard before. Did not try to DF it, but would be roughly opposite from KEXB (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 880-CUSB, March 1 at 0701, praise music mixing with KRVN Fox ``News``, while tuning LSB I have KRVN Nebraska without the QRMusic; therefore it is KHAC Tse Bonito NM/Window Rock AZ, secretly known for suppressing its LSB; not especially strong and maybe really not on 10 kW ND day power now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 880-DSB, March 2 at 0736 UT, vigorous dance music in the nightmiddle in Spanish, including ``¡¡¡vivan los programadores, vivan los locutores, vivan los bailadores!!! 0739 ``La Tremenda, 8-80, La Raza``. Dominant signal despite KRVN, and certainly not KHAC-USB, rather the ``Race`` station, WIJR, Highland IL (St Louis mkt), 1700/160 watts U4 --- probably day facilities. I wonder how much it cut into WCBS` protected coverage area? 843 miles apart (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1120 KCRN Limon, CO --- They may have pre sunrise authority but that limits them to a max of 500 watts. I have a dead carrier on 1120 this morning at 6:25 am mtn [1325 UT], which is 20 minutes before 645am sunrise for KCRN, according to the FCC. I had them on the air Friday morning with programming just after 6 am. And yes, they are still ID'ing as KLIM (Paul Walker, Laramie WY, March 2, ABDX yg via DXLD) ** U S A. 1130, Feb 28 at 1534 UT check, KLEY Wellington KS is still on the air with rock music; and also March 1 at 2216 UT. It could crash again at any moment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still going March 6 ** U S A. 1430, WION, MI, Ionia with ENGINEERING adjustments/test (NOT a "DX Test" which apparently annoyed the engineer who was in Ionia doing the work as a favor to Jim Carlyle when people started complaining about no code, etc.)! Heard a 1 kHz tone starting at 0536 (in mono per Jim C) and then silence until about 0549 when they started varying the tone frequency, and playing with compatible USB and LSB to do the adjustments. I wish I had known about the sideband tests as I would have zoomed in on the spectrum display to look, but as it was I just heard the tones without noting that detail. WAY down in the mud, 0536-0619 24/Feb SPR-4 and SDRPlay (with both SoDiRaSDR and SDRuno) and Beverage antenna (Ken Zichi, DXpedition in Brighton MI, ant=500' unterminated beverage, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) ** U S A. Re my hearing a Spanish, Radio Vida on 1480 instead of Vietnamese, KBXD The Metroplex: ``Glenn, to further the update on 1480: In just the past few days KLVL [Pasadena TX] has started running the Radio Vida religious format // to KRCM 1380, so that is what you heard (Stephen Luce, Houston, Texas``, Feb 27, WOR iog via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio World magazine has done an article about TIS stations. and MARE Paul Dobosz has passed it along. He adds: "Disclaimer, I do consulting and design work for Information Stations Specialists who supplies a large portion of the TIS equipment in use. They will be exhibiting at the Dayton Hamvention this year if any of you are planning to attend. See: (MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) viz.: TIS Is a Stalwart of Our Radio Landscape New technology supplants some highway systems, but TIS stations still play key role in emergencies --- James Careless · Feb 25, 2019 This Highway Advisory Radio system south of Norfolk, Va., got a reprieve, but the state appears to be moving away from TIS [caption] Back in 1977 — before the Sony Walkman and compact discs, back before the internet, as we know it, existed — the FCC authorized the creation of Travelers’ Information Stations, also dubbed Highway Advisory Radio stations by some departments of transportation. Licensed in the AM band (530–1700 kHz) with a power limit of 10 watts and typical coverage radius of three to five miles, TIS was intended mainly to provide motorists with vital (live and recorded) information about local road and traffic conditions; hazards and travel advisories; and lodgings, rest stops, service stations and local points of interest. Ads and music were forbidden. In emergencies, local authorities could use TIS stations to broadcast evacuation routes and other life-saving news. Today, when drivers can access real-time traffic, news and weather on our smartphones, TIS might seem as technologically relevant as VCRs and 8-track players. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some states operate fewer TIS transmitters than in the past, and at least one state plans to turn off its last systems. Yet TIS stations remain popular with states, local governments, parks and government agencies that want to keep operating them. And advocates say the systems can provide an important safety channel for times when other networks fail. THEY LIKE TIS To assess how TIS operators feel about their stations, Radio World contacted a number of state departments of transportation. We heard back from Caltrans in California, MDOT in Michigan, TDOT in Tennessee and VDOT in Virginia. Caltrans “operates 201 HAR stations in 10 out of 12 of our Caltrans districts,” said Matt Friedman, Caltran’s senior transportation planner and lead for traveler information. (Caltrans District 4, serving the San Francisco Bay Area, has the most with 64 HAR stations.) “HAR stations are often used to provide information about road closures and areas of chain control during normal operations as well as emergencies,” he said. Michigan operates three TIS stations, one at the Blue Water Bridge international crossing at the Canada-U.S. border, two at the Mackinac Bridge that links the peninsulas and have been in operation for more than 30 years. Blue Water Bridge Plaza area. [caption] “This is a supplemental means of relaying basic information regarding the customs crossing into Canada — toll rates, et cetera — along with emergency notifications,” said Collin Castle, MDOT’s ITS program manager, about the Blue Water location. In Tennessee, TDOT operates 57 AM transmitters and 146 static signs with information to tune into regional frequencies for traffic information when beacons are flashing. “Information may include traffic, weather, Amber alerts and emergencies,” said Ray Hallavant, TDOT’s traffic management center operations coordinator. Caltrans has no doubt that TIS remains relevant to motorists. “We know that the Highway Advisory Radio is an essential tool because not all of our customers have access to other tools while they are driving such as social media and our QuickMap app,” said Friedman. “We receive regular feedback that customers rely on this tool while they are travelling. “The benefits to using TIS allow us another method of communication to the public and motorists who can listen to messages without being distracted from driving by a device,” he added. “There are some areas of the state where commercial radio coverage is very spotty, such as the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and a HAR station can provide a way to communicate information to motorists in those areas.” This is why, even in the internet age, “There are no plans to discontinue the HAR program” in California, Friedman said. “Many of the transmitters are approaching the end of their service life and are due for an upgrade. We are hoping to get them replaced in the near future.” Michigan sees a similar value to TIS in 2019. “The messages that are relayed continue to be of use to the motoring public,” said Castle. He noted that TIS costs little to maintain and “allows for a longer message to be relayed than what could be shown on a dynamic message board; you are getting the message out to a wider range of communication than you normally would with a sign needing to be viewed by line of sight.” The state plans to maintain its TIS stations. “As long as this technology continues to be a beneficial tool for the dissemination of information to the motoring public regarding the crossing, we will continue to support this as a resource for the state of Michigan,” Castle said. Since 2016, Tennessee has based its TIS decisions on a continuing online driver survey at http://www.tn.gov According to the most recent data, 41 percent of drivers surveyed use TDOT’s TIS service. About 6 percent said the TIS offered “great assistance,” roughly 10 percent chose “moderate,” 15 percent “little assistance” and 11 percent said none. As far as the state is concerned, this response level is sufficient to justify continuing TIS and improving it over time. That said, “TDOT will consider any technology that will provide the best information resources for Tennessee roadway users,” said Hallavant. SHUTTING DOWN Virginia used to have TIS stations across the state but has since shut all of them down except for one: the eight-transmitter TIS on 1680 kHz that serves the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and connected roads. In the past, Advanced Traffic Management System information was fed by VDOT’s Hampton Roads Regional Traffic Operations Center into the TIS stations’ server as recorded audio and as data into the state’s roadway message boards. “In recent years, through a state contract, VDOT has phased in a common statewide ATMS in four of its five Regional TOCs to streamline its operations,” said VDOT Communications Manager Holly A. Christopher. “Hampton Roads VDOT, currently operating on an independent system, is the last to enter into this statewide network, which is a cloud-based system that increases control center interoperability. This means that should something happen in any one of the TOCs, another TOC will be able to provide continuity of operations.” The downside: “This statewide network does not support HAR, which has already been discontinued in the rest of the state districts as the new communication system was phased in,” said Christopher. “As a result, the HAR station was discontinued at 9 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019.” This shutdown didn’t last long: “As a combined result of motorist feedback and a delay in the installation of the new statewide communications software, the Virginia Department of Transportation is extending the operation of HAR in Hampton Roads,” Christopher said. The station resumed operation at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 8, and will stay on the air while the state waits to install the new ATMS, now expected in late spring. “During the extension, VDOT will explore alternative opportunities to provide hands-free options for motorists to receive travel updates,” Christopher said. “These alternatives have not yet been identified.” Bill Baker is an observer with a particular interest in the subject of TIS. He owns Information Station Specialists in Michigan, a long-time supplier of such systems, and he is a director with the American Association of Information Radio Operators. “I had read that VDOT had announced they were stopping the 1680 service but listeners/travellers who use it balked, and so they are going to continue it for now,” he said. But Baker believes TIS remains a critical service. “Because the ‘internet age’ also corresponds with the age of tenuous communications during an emergency, these stations are more valuable than ever to their host communities, airports, national parks, federal agencies and military bases.” Baker wrote in a commentary in Radio World last fall that the value of TIS was bolstered recently when the FCC clarified that local officials have authority to broadcast emergency information directly to citizens on these stations, and that determination of content lies entirely with public safety officials in charge of incidents. The commission also relaxed bandwidth restrictions on the TIS service from 3,000 to 5,000 Hz. As a result, he said, more stations are finding use for community safety purposes. He believes that it is local emergency managers, fire officials, broadcast engineers and amateur radio operators who collaborate to make TIS radio stations function for communities that may find themselves in harm’s way. Rich Phoenix with the “flamethrower” serving North Plainfield 1630 AM Radio in New Jersey. [caption] CASE STUDY North Plainfield is a pleasant New Jersey borough of 21,936 people. It is also home to a TIS known as North Plainfield 1630 AM Radio, available on the web and whose mix of recorded voice programmer is provided by Municipal Clerk and Chief Operator Rich Phoenix. He happens to have more than 50 years’ radio experience, which is why the TIS’ recorded audio is professionally delivered. North Plainfield’s TIS transmitter is located at the town’s Department of Public Works garage where a natural gas generator provides uninterruptible power for all DPW functions. This allows North Plainfield 1630 AM Radio to stay on air in virtually all situations. The transmitter feeds a 36-foot vertical antenna mounted on the building’s metal portico, which looks like a standard CB whip. “TIS is the ultimate local radio station with information keyed to a particular locality,” said Phoenix. Take weather, for instance: When NOAA Weather’s VHF station KWO35 left the local airwaves in 2017, “I became the de facto hippy-dippy weather man, reading summaries from NOAA’s on-line weather for our locality, updating twice daily — more frequently if severe weather was on its way.” Today, North Plainfield 1630 AM Radio transmits a regular warning “about winter conditions, preparations and safety issues, including the need to keep hydrants clear in snowstorms and protecting against carbon monoxide buildup in homes,” Phoenix said. Its messages also promote free radon detection kits, flu inoculations for local residents, and in-depth news bulletins and information. But no commercials or music; that’s not within TIS’ mandate. “Thanks to my broadcast background, I’m a fast writer, having spent many years writing both news and commercials,” said Phoenix. “In some emergency situations I have recorded from home, as my wife and I own our home five blocks from Borough Hall. When the snow piles up, the phone allows me to stay up to date on the TIS and work from home. In the event of a storm-related power failure, it is also possible for me to insert messages via mobile phone.” As for coverage? “With 10 watts on what amounts to the low end of the 160 amateur band, our best DX (distant reception) reports from listeners have come from as far as some 15 miles distant,” Phoenix said. “In rainy weather, no problem; as a matter of fact, coverage probably improves slightly with the enhanced ground conductivity. Snow is also OK; freezing rain can slightly attenuate coverage, but the stick’s in a sunny spot and the problem quickly corrects itself.” (Phoenix sends out “QSL cards” to listeners who write to his TIS, reporting how well they received its signal at a distance.) “When we first went on the air years ago, there was a local pirate in the next town operating on an adjacent frequency; we are 1630 while they were on 1620,” he said. The pirates “complained bitterly when they discovered that they had a federally-licensed neighbor sitting next to them — although the interference was minimal.” (via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, Found this one: House Passes PIRATE Bill, Would Raise Fines Up To $2 Million. | Story | insideradio.com The FCC would also be required to conduct sweeps in the five cities where pirate radio is the biggest problem — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Dallas — at least once a year. . . http://www.insideradio.com/free/house-passes-pirate-bill-would-raise-fines-up-to-million/article_511370d4-394b-11e9-82b4-5395b7e20642.html (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) Six Things Broadcasters Should Know About the PIRATE Act - https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/business-and-law/six-things-broadcasters-should-know-about-the-pirate-act 4 hours ago - H.R. 583 cleared the House again — here's why you should care (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) ** U S A. FCC Report 2/17: New Proposed Rulemaking Seeks To Streamline Non-Comm & LPFM Applications --- Feb 17, 2019 Radioinsight by Lance Venta --- FCC Actions The FCC has issued a proposed rulemaking for how they process and license competing applications for non-commercial and LPFM stations. The rulemaking proposes to simplify the procedures by: ? Eliminate the current requirement that NCE [non-commercial educational] applicants amend their governing documents to pledge that localism/diversity be maintained in order to receive points as “established local applicants” and for “diversity of ownership” ? Improve the NCE tie-breaker process and reduce the need for mandatory time-sharing ? Clarify aspects of the “holding period” rule by which NCE permittees must maintain the characteristics for which they received comparative preferences and points ? Reclassify as “minor” gradual changes in governing boards with respect to non-stock and membership LPFM and NCE applicants ? Extend the LPFM construction period from 18-months to a full three years ? Allow the assignment/transfer of LPFM construction permits after an 18-month holding period and eliminate the three-year holding period on assigning LPFM licenses. The full rulemaking proposal can be read here. The requirement that licensees file paper copies of station documents including transfers of control, management agreements, LMA or Time Brokerage Agreements, and Joint Sales Agreements has been eliminated. The documents just need to be filed into each station’s Online Public File. The agency also has eliminated the Form 397 Broadcast Mid-Term Report due to redundancy with the Online Public File (via WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest March 2019 via DXLD) ** U S A. From MARE Don Moore: Amazing pictures. This was a practically a pest when I lived in Central Pennsylvania in the 1970s. https://www.abandonedamerica.us/wfbr-radio-blog (Kevin Mikell, Chicago via Don Moore, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. I tuned in to WHRI on 7315 kHz last night (28 February UTC), to catch VoV's English broadcast to hear "direct" from the country where a world event was happening, just like in the old days (viz. my archived SW recordings from the early 1990s). Reception was excellent for the 00:00 UTC broadcast here in NB even indoors with the PL-880 and just its whip antenna thanks, in part, to the 25° antenna beam direction from Angel 1 (I believe). And the programming was current with the news including the 45th U.S. president's discussions with Vietnamese officials on trade and other matters. Letter Box followed the news including very recent (e-mailed) letters. The Spanish and second English (at 0100 UT) airings are directed with southerly and southwesterly beam directions and so are weaker and noisier here in NB. There was even a third English airing at 0130 instead of Spanish (a mistake?), although the last minute or so was over-ridden by a WHRI ID! (-- Richard Langley, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Vietnam via WHRI --- All of the broadcasts at 0130 UT that I have heard since the beginning of the B18 season have been in English. First broadcast is at 25 degrees for the northeast. Second broadcast is at 160 degrees to the south. And this third broadcast at 260 degrees to the southwest (Peter W Hansen, March 1, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7315, March 3 at 0137, VOV news in Englishish. Apparently this is not a mistake instead of Spanish. Peter W Hansen, FL, says ``All of the broadcasts at 0130 UT that I have heard since the beginning of the B18 season have been in English. First broadcast is at 25 degrees for the northeast [0000]. Second broadcast is at 160 degrees to the south [0100]. And this third broadcast at 260 degrees to the southwest.`` Indeed this one is very strong from WHRI, S9+30/40. I guess that leaves Spanish at 0030 only, but at times I had heard English during that semihour too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. 7305, V of Vietnam via WRMI, 1250, SINPO-32222, woman talking in VT?, time pips and ID at 1300. 23-FEB-2019 (Karl Racenis, DXpedition in Brighton MI, Sony SW-55 with a NASA P-30 antenna, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ??? I don`t know what to make of this: WRMI does not relay VOV; 7305 is not a WRMI (or WHRI) frequency. HFCC and Aoki show the only 7305 at this time is CNR1 via Shijiazhuan site, 37 degrees USward (gh, DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. 9670, Radio Dap Loi Song Nui (Vietnam Democracy Radio) (presumed), ex: 1503 kHz, on Feb 27, with the best reception heard so far; at 1240, in Vietnamese and playing some music; sounded like Vietnam siren jamming and also adjacent QRM; overall poor reception, but clearly in Vietnamese. My audio (one minute talk, then singing) at http://bit.ly/2H6hl7z (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) ** YEMEN [non]. SAUDI ARABIA. In western central Europe / Moscow Russia, Hungary: Riyadh is ODD FREQUENCY on Sana'a Yemen national radio FOR THE FIRST TIME today ! not 11860even. 11859.968 kHz, odd frequency, exile radio from Sana'a Yemen, S=9+5 here in Europe, but even 11860 kHz Cuba [Marti/jamming -- gh] on S=3 tiny threshold level. On Feb 26 at 1450 UT. But in Massachusetts, MI, NY states some piccolo/bubble pulse heard, heard these piccolo pulse sounds sometimes [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Feb 26, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) So does this imply a change in transmitter or even a change in transmitter site, for the Sa`udi Yemen service? (gh, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 2940.133, Feb 27 at 0729, JBA carrier from suspected second harmonic such as Cali, which would make the fundamental about 1470.0655. Or MWoffsets has WBCR, Alcoa TN on 1470.063; NRC AM Log says 77 watts at night. Perhaps a DXer in Maryville/Alcoa could confirm the offset and harmonic. 2940.129, March 1 at 0049, JBA carrier presumed second harmonic from some LAm or NAm broadcaster on 1470.065 or so. Another measurement March 1 at 0658 puts it on 2940.132. Others closer and/or with better antenna gain and/or with less noise should be able to ID this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re gh`s 2940+ log: ``Glenn, I checked for this and it has a pretty hefty signal on the S mini-bev here [Spanish or English?] However, I noted a much stronger signal on 2860 at the same time (2345 this evening) and was rewarded with a nice ID from Radio San Carlos, 2 x 1430, in Costa Rica. Clip of the ID is here temporarily: https://www.dropbox.com/s/27hymrngdlozfon/20190301-2350-2860_RSanCarlos.mp3?dl=0 As I type this, I’m also hearing a strong harmonic on 2960 (Jay Novello, Wake Forest NC, WOR iog via DXLD) WFBR Mobile? (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 3455-USB, March 3 at 0125, JBA air-ground comms in noise level mentioning nautical miles, flight levels. EiBi lists as New York, San Francisco and Guam, so a busy frequency. Hope the pirates drawn to aero bands avoid this and other frequencies in use for vital flight contacts. I was looking for Saturday night pirates and not finding any, not even from SWL Winterfest (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9790, March 4 at 1402, S8-S3 of carrier, maybe trace of modulation, but off at 1403*. Nothing scheduled until 1400, but Saudi Arabic is in HFCC & EiBi, not Aoki, from 1400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ACKOWLEDGED ON WORLD OF RADIO 1972: Thanks to Jeff Murri for a PayPal contribution to woradio at yahoo.com TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED FUTURELY: Thanks to Anne Fanelli, Elma NY, for a check in US funds on a US bank to Glenn Hauser, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 Thanks to Steve McGreevy, CA for a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com Thanks to Chuck Ermatinger for another contribution via PayPal Glenn Hauser’s World of Radio: http://www.worldofradio.com Glenn Hauser’s website includes much more than just the current World of Radio broadcast and a number of archives. There is the DX Listening Digest, a list of SW/DX Media Programs, receiver and reception information and tips, and much more. You can also access the schedule of when World of Radio is aired on various stations. Glenn is one of the world’s premier DXers, and you can be sure his information is accurate and up-to-date at all times (Joe Robinson, Beginner`s Classroom pdf, March, ODXA iog via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Coastal Bandscans / 500 TOH IDs Hi all. For those who are interested in FM bandscans - and I know it’s certainly not everyone's cup of tea - I have posted all my current bandscans along the shores of three of the five Great Lakes. My entire Lake Superior FM bandscan series: 30 bandscans at 18 sites covering 2,700 miles of shoreline along the world's largest freshwater lake; 73 photos, site maps, descriptions, tips, and nearby sights and attractions for this lake with regular reception nearing 400 miles. http://www.chriskadlec.com/radio/coastal/superior In addition, you can access all my Lake Ontario and Lake Erie scans here as well. All scans include details for areas in and around the radio sites if anyone decides to use the same site for their own purposes one day. My sites are picked using a series of guidelines that are necessary for maximum reception along a coastline, so they're anything but random, so in most cases, they are very suitable for DXing. Regular in-season reception along the Great Lakes often easily tops 300 miles, even in crappy conditions, and it's been my DX concentration for the past 16 years. * * * * * I have also posted a project that was nine months in the making, my 500 Top-of-Hour IDs project from here in West Michigan. There are 6 hours of 500 TOH IDs from La Crosse to Buffalo and Marquette to Columbus, with 30 bonus IDs and more, plus a 55-page guide. They are all separated by market area into individual downloadable compilations for those with that niche interest (I was never one of those people, but wanted to document my regular FM band before translators killed it, and they started to pop up immediately after!). The content may be more valuable in 10 or 20 years I suppose, but for now, it seems to be the most extensive collection of Great Lakes radio. http://www.chriskadlec.com/radio/top-of-hour There are other radio resources on the AM and FM side of things - my 3-hour documentary on Asian AM and propaganda (with 115 page guide), 3 hours of audio and logs of my Chinese FM tropo and Es, which includes some double-hop, Russian, Buryat, Mongolian, and other exotic catches (with 123 page guide), plus some other DX projects for those who are bored in this DX off-season (-Chris Kadlec, MI, Feb 25, WTFDA gg via DXLD) Fascinating! Talk about a labor of love, beautifully crafted. I listened to about 15 minutes of the 500 TOH IDs, enough for now, but what fun and memories! Thank you! (--Fred Schroyer, Waynesburg, PA, ICOM 7300 & MFJ amped loop, mostly AM DX but car radio FM DX in summertime, ibid.) LANGUAGE LESSONS See CUBA: Esperanto ++++++++++++++++ WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ DAYLIGHT `SAVING` TIME A BIG LIE timeanddate.com shows, besides Cuba, other peripheral countries under undue American influence, do the same thing March 10: Bahamas, Bermuda, Greenland-Thule Air Base, Haiti, Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Turx & Caicos --- and those parts of Canada and Mexico which normally observe DST. In the case of Mexico, it`s border cities only, while most of the rest of the country will not be catching up for another month until April 7, which was the old USA change-date, before legislation passed to impose irrational DST upon us for another month in spring, another week in fall. Europe has been wrestling with whether to abolish it or make it permanent yearound avoiding biyearly resets. BTW3, daylight CANNOT BE SAVED, only SHIFTED by the clox, as I insist on calling it. Its very name from the outset has been a Big Lie. You may mull that over this week before being forced to accede to it (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See also MEXICO; OKLAHOMA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cord Cutter effect on Pay TV and Sports Programming This comes as NO big surprise to me. It was reported on US sports radio stations today that Disney Corporation, which owns ESPN Properties and ABC Television, made an announcement today pertaining to Monday Night Football on ESPN. They said that once the current MNF contract expires with ESPN & the NFL, Disney has the option to renew the contract. They have already decided to move MNF back to network television (ABC). The two main reasons they cited for the decision to make the change is, 1st - they see that cord cutters are killing cable (and satellite); and, 2nd - advertisers are refusing to pay ESPN's ad rate for a national sports event (NFL) on a medium (cable/sat) that is losing subscribers at a fast pace. ESPN is losing the type of advertisers that buy space on NFL games on CBS, Fox, and NBC. They cited that what advertisers ESPN has for the MNF package, the advertisers refuse to pay the same rate that they pay to the networks. I was hearing all of this on an ESPN affiliate sports station from Kansas City. The sports DJ was a local KC announcer. I thought it was interesting to hear him describing Disney's news announcement and adding that there are 150 million plus viewers and growing that do NOT pay for TV and some of those only pay for streaming services (he mentioned Netflix and Hulu). He said it`s a no brainer to buy an antenna and get FREE TV that is in HD from your local station and "see the sports event in HD, compared to the compressed blurry garbage you see on cable" (announcer's words). FYI (Jim Thomas, Springfield, Missouri, Feb 28, WTFDA gg via DXLD) Sinclair Plans to Launch Next Gen ATSC 3.0 Over-the-Air TV in 26 Markets in 2019 ---- By Luke Bouma February 15, 2019 Cord Cutters News Yesterday Cord Cutters News interviewed Mark Aitken, VP of Advanced Technology for Sinclair. During our talk, we dove deep into the future of 3.0 OTA TV and what it means for cord cutting. First, you may be wondering what is ATSC 3.0 OTA TV? ATSC 3.0 is a new standard that will bring a long list of new features to over-the-air TV. Two main features that will really excite cord cutters are 4K HDR picture with better sound and better over-the-air TV coverage. There are other great features such as detailed custom weather alerts and interactive news stories. Yet the biggest selling point for cord cutters is the fact that ATSC 3.0 does a far better job covering a larger areas compared to the current OTA TV standard. During our interview, Aitken relayed how committed Sinclair is to the next gen 3.0 OTA TV. “We are committed completely to the transformation of our business to this new platform…” When talking about how quickly 3.0 OTA TV will roll out, Aitken went on to say, “We will have inside of this year roughly 26 markets on the air with 3.0 services.” Sinclair has not announced what markets will get the new 3.0 OTA TV standard this year. Sinclair is looking at all their options from partnering with other station owners to using a partnership in markets they own multiple stations in to ensure that the current OTA standard continues to broadcast for the required five additional years as they roll out the new 3.0 OTA TV standard. So, what does this mean for the end consumer? According to Aitken, in areas that the current over-the-air TV standard would only allow one HD and two SD channels, this new standard could offer five HD channels and ten SD channels. This means more TV channels offering more options for the end users. So how will you get these new channels on your TV if your TV does not support 3.0? According to Aitken, Sinclair plans to “seed the market with low-cost transition devices.” These devices will include devices meant for your TV as well as devices like a USB dongle that will work on phones, tablets, and computers. Sinclair also plans to offer tablets with ATSC 3.0 built in that will allow you to access over-the- air TV at home and on the road through your tablet. “This is an opportunity for broadcasts to reinvent the entirety of their business.” Aitken went on to say, “the long-held idea of TV everywhere will become a reality.” We are not just talking about at your home. Aitken was very clear that Sinclair is looking at expanding OTA TV from something that happens inside your house to something that happens on the go from your car to when you are at the park, for example. Sinclair is not just looking at this as a way to bring TV to Americans. Sinclair also plans to use ATSC 3.0 to offer data needed for a wide range of products including data for cars. Soon your car may get traffic and weather updates from ATSC 3.0. The options for the data side of ATSC 3.0 are just getting started. As for when this will happen, Aitken did not have a date. There are some FCC rules like a four-month notice rule before the transition will happen. So, at the earliest, we are likely looking at very late spring or summer as the absolute earliest possible time for ATSC 3.0 to start rolling out (via WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest March 2019 via DXLD) The First ATSC 3.0 Dongle Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced the launch of its Next-Gen ATSC 3.0 solution for Pay TV service providers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), original design manufacturers (ODMs), smart TV manufacturers and semiconductor companies based in North America. The company has partnered with Airwavz.tv, a Seattle-based startup, pioneering the design and sale of NextGen TV receivers and antennas, for this solution. ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards for television broadcasting created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee. Wipro’s Next-Gen ATSC 3.0 solution provides full support for hybrid TV viewing and enables viewing of broadcast video content on a range of devices such as set-top-boxes (STBs), smart TVs, media gateways, mobiles, tablets, dongles and in-car entertainment units. This solution enables its customers to quickly build immersive and interactive receiver solutions and position themselves uniquely within the hybrid TV viewing user segment. The solution will be compatible with Android TV and other operating systems, thus enabling quick integration on the desired device. The solution incorporates both legacy ATSC 1.0 and Next-Gen ATSC 3.0 delivery systems, with a multi-process architecture and well-defined abstraction layers for easy porting. It also provides multi-type application support across HTML5, Android, iOS and native apps, and comes pre-packaged with Wipro’s MPEG DASH and HbbTV components for multi-screen delivery. Wipro’s Next-Gen ATSC 3.0 solution has been enabled using Airwavz RedZone Receiver (RZR) dongle, which is a hybrid ATSC 1.0 & 3.0 digital TV front-end tuner-demodulator that easily plugs into a standard PC, laptop or other OTT device over USB interface. Wipro’s hybrid-TV viewing solution comes equipped with a plethora of next-gen enabler features, such as broadband services, security, watermarking, file download, 4K, immersive audio, 3D TV, VoD media players and TTML closed captions, in addition to primary features such as Live TV, electronic service guide, parental controls, emergency warning alert and multi-language support. Notice the sale price on the right. [$895.00] (via WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest March 2019 via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING -- DRM See CHINA; INDIA; NIGERIA; ROMANIA; SAUDI +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ARABIA; SWITZERLAND; USA: WBCQ, WINB RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ BEACONS MAY MISCUE THE DITS AND DAHS Hi Glenn, Regarding the 332 QT-Thunder Bay, ON NDB and your report of the "T" in its ident as being a bit truncated (or shorter than it should be), over the long decades of NDB DXing since about 1981, indeed I have heard several NDBS in the USA and a few in Canada that have ident character (or usually the "dash" element in the code ident can sometimes be programmed too-short - maybe a 2:1 ratio compared to a "dit" rather than the standard weight of 3:1 ratio between the dash and dot elements. Some of these ident defects come from a mis-programming of the ident (many were using DIP switches, or maybe - as in the case of very old NDBs of long ago, problems with their electro-mechanical ident unit. In quality NDB DX logs and databases online, such ident defects are often noted hopefully). Another notorious ident defect (if it can be called that) is the syndrome of an NDB to drop carrier power when the ident keys on (perhaps due to deficiencies in its power-supply or over-modulation on the A2 tone ident level on DSB beacons - as such, the carrier becomes an "inverted ident" of what the NDB's true ident is. Many an NDB has been identified in this manner when the one or two of its sidebands are otherwise inaudible! 73 for now, (Steve McGreevy, CA, WOR iog via DXLD) East Coast online SDR's (most get an "F") Periodically I check out the KiwiSDR directory page since new receivers come on from time to time (and old ones are occasionally dropped). For the uninitiated, the links homepage is: https://sdr.hu/ Two TA stations are very consistent here mid-evenings and are therefore good candidates for evaluating the receivers. These are RNE Spain on 855 and Absolute Radio UK on 1215. Since those are midway between domestic channels, the AM Narrow setting on a KiwiSDR should be adequate to separate those stations from domestic interference. Those receivers are far from a Perseus, Elad, or Excalibur (or, for that matter, Collins R-390A) in the selectivity game but those two big stations even can be heard on ultralight portables, at least near the ocean. Last weekend I simultaneously had audio from my own receiver running as I tried about 15 online receivers in the Eastern time zone of the US and Canada. The 855 and 1215 signals were both doing great here around midnight EST / 0500 UT. Only TWO (!) of the available online receivers had audio from these stations. Bill Whitacre's Lubec, Maine receiver was doing the best job and had results about the same as I was getting on my Elad here. http://qhkiwisdr.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073/ The mid-coast Maine receiver run by WA2ZKD/1 came in second with somewhat weaker TA's than on either Bill's receiver or mine. Domestic splash was worse, indicating a less directive antenna. http://rx2.wa2zkd.net:8073 Interestingly, there was very little internet delay (live versus online) audio. The old (2005 era?) DXTuners used to run about 8 seconds of latency. So what about the dozen plus other receivers including ON, QC, New England, NY, NJ, MD, and all the way down to FL? ZIP .. ZILCH .. NADA! Just huge adjacent channel slop onto 855 and 1215 or, if not that, the sounds of silence --- or electrical buzz. The Dominican Republic SDR also had zippo on 855 and 1215. http://dr.twrmon.net:8073 So if you're looking for interesting MW DX on an eastern US or Canada SDR, don't waste your time, just go to one of the two receivers above. I believe that the deficiency in most cases is the antenna. If Kaz in IL and Tim Tromp in MI, not to mention DXers all the way out to BC/WA/OR, frequently hear 855 Spain and 1215 UK, then there is no excuse for a receiver in NH, MA, NJ, MD, VA, etc. not to have those stations "inbooming". The only other US East Coast KiwiSDR's I see having much use are two in Florida, mostly to keep an ear on Cubans and other close-up Latins: http://keywest.twrmon.net:8073 http://qth.ddns.net:8073 (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, S Yarmouth, MA, Feb 27, nrc-am gg via DXLD) I checked out a few Southern KiwiSDRs last night, namely, from Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. For me, the litmus test is how well they sound on longwave, i.e., if the amount of buzz is impeding non-directional beacons from being heard or not. I figure that if they are relatively clean on longwave, then mediumwave, of course, will be worth trying. IMHO, only the SDRs from Lubbock, Texas and Fort Rucker, Alabama, passed muster in that regard. By the way, I noticed, while looking at the map on sdr.hu, that Bob Hawkins has turned off the SDR in Edinburgh, Indiana. Hope this isn't permanent, as I always found it to be one of the better-sounding SDRs out there. 73, (Rick Dau (nightly visitor to the KiwiSDR in Overland Park, Kansas - metro Kansas City), South Omaha, Nebraska EN21af, Feb 27, ABDX yg via DXLD) True, Rick. Control of local electrical noise is one of the biggest problems for these sites. Antennas with poor RDF (directivity) is another. Woefully inadequate gain at MW is a third problem. To an extent a coastal site can mitigate the problems but a truly bad setup is a truly bad setup even if on a beach or a mountain top. (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, South Yarmouth, MA, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2019 Mar 04 0318 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/subscription-services # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 25 February - 03 March 2019 Solar activity was very low through the summary period. There were no numbered spot regions. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed in available coronagraph imagery. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal to high levels. High levels were observed on 28 Feb - 03 Mar. A peak flux of 45,516 pfu was observed at 03/1950 UTC. The remaining days of the summary period were at normal background levels. Geomagnetic field activity ranged from quiet to G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels. Solar wind enhancements from the onset of influence from a negative polarity CH HSS increased geomagnetic levels from unsettled to active conditions after midday on 27 Feb. Isolated periods of G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels were observed on 28 Feb - 01 Mar as wind speeds continued to increase, reaching a peak of 608 km/s on 01/0340 UTC. An isolated period of active conditions was followed by quiet to unsettled levels for the remainder of 02-03 Mar as the CH HSS slowly waned. The remaining days of the summary period were at quiet levels under nominal solar wind conditions. Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 04 March - 30 March 2019 Solar activity is expected to be very low throughout the forecast period. No notable regions are due to return to the visible disk. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to range from normal background to very high levels. Very high levels are likely on 04-05 Mar and 29-30 Mar; high levels are likely on 06-13 Mar and 29-28 Mar; moderate levels are likely on 14-19 Mar; normal background levels are likely on 20-26 Mar. All enhancements in electron flux are anticipated in response to multiple, recurrent CH HSSs. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to range from quiet to G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels. G1 (Minor) levels are likely on 27-28 Mar; active levels are likely on 08-10 Mar, 26 Mar and 29 Mar; unsettled levels are likely on 04-05 Mar, 07 Mar, 11 Mar, 20 Mar and 30 Mar. Increases in geomagnetic field activity are anticipated due to the likely influence of multiple, recurrent CH HSSs. The remainder of the outlook period is expected to be at quiet levels. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2019 Mar 04 0318 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/subscription-services # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2019-03-04 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2019 Mar 04 70 10 3 2019 Mar 05 70 8 3 2019 Mar 06 70 5 2 2019 Mar 07 70 10 3 2019 Mar 08 70 15 4 2019 Mar 09 70 12 4 2019 Mar 10 70 12 4 2019 Mar 11 70 8 3 2019 Mar 12 70 5 2 2019 Mar 13 70 5 2 2019 Mar 14 70 5 2 2019 Mar 15 70 5 2 2019 Mar 16 70 5 2 2019 Mar 17 70 5 2 2019 Mar 18 70 5 2 2019 Mar 19 70 5 2 2019 Mar 20 70 10 3 2019 Mar 21 70 5 2 2019 Mar 22 70 5 2 2019 Mar 23 70 5 2 2019 Mar 24 70 5 2 2019 Mar 25 70 5 2 2019 Mar 26 70 12 4 2019 Mar 27 70 30 5 2019 Mar 28 70 28 5 2019 Mar 29 70 14 4 2019 Mar 30 70 8 3 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1972, DXLD) ###