DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-058, May 18, 2007 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 2007 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html 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 NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1359: ** tentative Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 [irregular] Sat 2130 WRMI 9955 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1500 WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Mon 0530 WRMI 9955** Mon 0930 WRMI 9955** Tue 1030 WRMI 9955** Wed 0730 WRMI 9955** WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL SCHEDULE: 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 For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN NOW AVAILABLE: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh has been good here most days on 17700 [via UK] till 1800*. Housework is almost fun while listening to the Afghan Top 40, and "our theme" appears periodically in the rotation. True, you can't set your watch any more by its appearance but at least they play the whole thing. Hope you too have better luck with reception and 73 de (Anne Fanelli in chilly-but-green Elma NY (receiver Kenwood TS-570D, antenna 80-meter dipole), DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not yet ** ALBANIA [and non]. Glenn, Today, 13750 KHz is not clear from the interference. I hear Arabian in the adjacent channel -5 kHz with 13750 at 1300UT. Do you have such interference in USA? (Drita Çiço, R. Tirana, May 18, to gh, via DXLD) I noticed that too at the beginning of transmission, but it was not too much of a problem, and your signal increased as the half-hour went on. Per HFCC it must be DW from Rwanda to NE Africa, so not likely to be a problem in NAm; probably reception favored it today. It`s only on Fridays and Saturdays, and TWR website shows the language is Afar: 13745 1300 1315 48 KIG 250 30 0 156 67 250307 281007 D USA TWR MER 4146 Int (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Tirana, *1300 UT, 13750 kHz, May 18, 2007. While listening to R. Tirana, hearing QRM. Check +/- 5 kHz. Hearing talk on 13745. Program on 13745 ends at 1315*. Checked EiBi. See Fri/Sat 1300-1315, Trans World Radio, 13745 in Afar broadcasting to East Africa. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Why is reception of RAE`s North American service in English so poor? RAE has very old transmitters, which means frequent breakdowns, problems with getting spare parts, and in all probability not operating up to full rated power of 50 or 100 kW. The station seems long overdue for an upgrade in its facilities, and we are probably lucky it is still operating on SW at all. In the B-04 season, HFCC had 11710 as 100 kW at 335 degrees for the broadcast at 0200 UT. RAE seems to be tied to this frequency, season after season, year after year, despite widely varying propagation conditions which would make a higher or lower frequency propagate better. 0200 UT may be a good compromise prime-time for all of North America with only one broadcast, but other times would probably work better for the west coast. Since it is not currently registered with HFCC, there is also an increased risk of interference. Another factor: it`s a long haul from Argentina, requiring a few hops at 11 MHz, and much of it is overland, where signals are reflected less efficiently than from the sea. This site, Great Circle Mapper, will show the path, bearing from the transmitter and the distance in nautical miles if you enter airport codes such as BUE for Buenos Aires and your nearest airport: http://gc.kls2.com/ Azimith favors the east, e.g. Tampa at 336 degrees from Bs As (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASIA [non]. Hy Glenn: Nos informa Mr. A J Janitschek de una nueva serie de 4 QSL de Radio Free Asia; he visto la gráfica de las tarjetas y son muy bonitas y se salen de común puesto que son dibujadas por niños, en el contexto de el año internacional de los jóvenes. "Youth the world" Atte, (Hector Frias, Comision de Radioescuchas, FEDERACHI, CHILE, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Hy, Radio Free Asia is happy to announce the release of our new, 4- card QSL series commemorating the youth of the world, and the spirit of democracy and freedom. You have received this email as you have expressed interest in our programming and QSL cards in the past; please let us know if you would like to be dropped from our distribution list (via Frias, ibid.) Dear Friends: According to e-mail received from the station RFA issued 4 news QSLs. Reception Reports to: e-mail: qsl @ rfa.org Postal Address: Reception Reports Radio Free Asia 2025 M. Street NW, Suite 300 Washington DC 20036 United States of America. Upon request, RFA will also send a copy of the current broadcast schedule and a station sticker. 73s (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But no transmitter sites ** BANGLADESH [non]. Wavescan May 27 --- for your kind info from Salahuddin Dolar of Rajshahi, Bangladesh (Ashik Eqbal Tokon, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Dear friends, I and my friend the Editor of DX-NET attended DW Listeners conference in Dhak[a] on 20th April, 2007. Mr Grahame Lucas, the head of DW south Asia was present there. Mr. Ashik took an interview of Mr. Lucas. Now it is presenting for Wavescan listeners. The correct reception of the segment will be verified with special QSL by Rose DW listeners Club. Please send your reception report with one US Dollar or IRC to the following address. AWR Wavescan QSL, RoseDWLC, Luxmipur greater Road, GPO Box 56, Rajshahi 6000, Bangladesh. the program will be air on 27 May 2007 on the following schedules : UTC 1200-1230 on 15435 kHz UTC 1500-1530 on 11640 kHz UTC 1530-1600 on 15225 kHz UTC 1600-1630 on 11640, 11805 kHz and 1630-1700 on 6155 kHz Regards, Salahuddin Dolar, DX Editor, Wavescan, Adventist World Radio South Asia (via Ashik, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BELARUS. 7105, Radio Belarus, 2040-2145, May 18, English news features, lite instrumental music, IDs. Music from Porgy & Bess. Fair signal strength but muffled audio & occasional HAM rtty QRM. Threshold reception on // 7390, 7440 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL report: Radio Belarus International. 7210 f/d blue/white paper "Radio Minsk" logo card with two postacrds, a couple of small stickers, and pocket calendar in two months after an e-mail followup. V/s: Larisa Suárez (JDS-AL) 73, (J. D. Stephens, Hampton Cove, AL, USA, May 18, HCDX via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. I am pretty sure I heard Bhutan on 6035 this morning at 0005-0030 UT fade out with the typical Buddhish monks choir. I have not seen them reported heard since January, so it may be their new 100 kW transmitter being tested. Are you able to confirm that they are on the air. They probably sign on at 0000, but may also quickly fade out at your locations. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, May 17 via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) Hello Anker, Been inactive in DXing in the last 2 months; a lot of work in my school and the monitoring and also listening to the Cricket World Cup which Sri Lanka missed winning. Yes, you are right, just checked at 0000: Bhutan on 6035 blasting in, in fact the strongest station on 49m. You didn't indicate the frequency but obviously you were referring to 6035. Good observation, Anker. 73 (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, ibid.) Just called up Thinley, station engr at BBS, confirmed that the new transmitter being tested since 17th May. Regds (Alokesh Gupta, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. 17/05/2007: Steve, W7VOA will be active May 17-22nd as A52SW from Thimpu, Bhutan. He will operate on 80-6 metre CW, SSB and, possibly, PSK, as well as 10 metre FM. Steve is a news correspondent based in India covering South Asia and says this will be the first of numerous trips he plans to make to Bhutan over the next several years. QSL via K2AU. [Tnx 425 DX News] (I.C.P.O. Bulletin (May 17 - 25, 2007) Islands, Castles & Portable Operations, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL: AVIÓN DEL PAPA NO PUEDE COMUNICARSE CON TORRE DE CONTROL Miércoles 16 de mayo de 2007.- RIO DE JANEIRO - Brasil - El avión que llevaba al papa Benedicto XVI de regreso a Roma luego de una visita a Brasil trató en varias ocasiones de comunicarse con una torre de control en el noreste de Brasil, sin recibir respuesta, lo cual pone todavía más en duda la capacidad del sistema de control de tráfico aéreo en el país, dijo un legislador el martes. Efraim Filho dijo que el piloto del vuelo papal, de la aerolínea Alitalia, llamó a la torre de control durante 23 minutos el domingo y habló en inglés, lenguaje de uso internacional, para transmitir un discurso del prelado, pero no obtuvo respuesta, dijo el sitio de Internet de la Cámara de Diputados de Brasil. Filho dijo que se enteró de lo ocurrido por un radioaficionado que grabó los esfuerzos del piloto para establecer comunicación. Esta solamente se logró cuando el piloto de un avión de la aerolínea brasileña TAM escuchó al de Alitalia y avisó a la torre de control, dijo el legislador. La torre en Recife, 1.900 kilómetros (1.200 millas) al noreste de Río de Janeiro, es uno de los principales centros de control de tráfico aéreo en Brasil, país que visitó el Papa del 9 al 12 de mayo, en su primera gira por Latinoamérica. Un panel del Congreso investiga una crisis de tráfico aéreo en Brasil, ejemplificada por el choque en pleno vuelo de un avión ejecutivo Embraer Legacy 600 y un Boeing 737 de la aerolínea gol sobre el Amazonas, que dejó 154 muertos el 29 de septiembre, en el peor desastre aéreo en la historia del país. El avión de Gol se estrelló, matando a todos a bordo, mientras que el jet Legacy, de la empresa Excelaire, con sede en Ronkonkoma, Nueva York, aterrizó sin problemas. El desastre es uno de los factores citados por los controladores de tráfico aéreo al iniciar una serie de protestas de varios meses de duración contra sus precarias condiciones de trabajo, lo cual afectó el tráfico en todos los aeropuertos del país. El jefe del panel, el diputado Marco Maia, dijo que la comisión investigaría la falta de comunicaciones en Recife, para ver si se debió a fallos en el equipo o si la torre no respondió porque el piloto hablaba en inglés, dijo su sitio en Internet. (via José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Noticias DX via DXLD) Well, since the Pope has a hotline to God not using radio frequencies, maybe God could relay in an emergency (gh) ** BRAZIL. 5990, Radio Senado, Brasilia, 0955-1010, May 18, Brazilian music. ID at 1000. Portuguese talk. Very good signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CBC NQ, 9624.97 at 0110 in Inuit. Better in USB. Obvious a low priority since this xtr has been off freq for at least a year. 17 May. (Liz Cameron, Metro Detroit MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Admittedly inspired by the NPR series, CBC is doing its own ``This I Believe`` radio essay series. Airs following the news, M-F at 1405, and Tue-Fri at 2305 [+1/2/3/4/ hours on timezone-delayed webcasts]. Easier to read or listen to ondemand via http://www.cbc.ca/thisibelieve/about.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. FLAGSHIP CLASSICAL SHOW PLANNED FOR CBC RADIO TWO Last Updated: Thursday, May 17, 2007 | 1:00 PM ET CBC Arts CBC Radio Two is renewing its commitment to classical music on weekends with the creation of a flagship Sunday-afternoon show featuring high-quality classical performances. The Sunday show, to run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., is as yet unnamed, but will feature classical performances from the best Canadian and international symphonies and chamber orchestras. "Our goal is to produce the highest-quality, best classical show in the world," said Jane Chalmers, vice-president of English Radio, in an interview with CBC Arts Online. "We want it to stand out as exceptional." . . . http://groups.google.com/group/alt.radio.networks.cbc/browse_frm/thread/04d558d27719ffa2/0a33359cf49e03bd?hl=en#0a33359cf49e03bd (via Dan Say, alt.radio.networks.cbc May 17 via DXLD) CLASSICAL SHOW TO ANCHOR SUNDAYS ON CBC RADIO TWO http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/insidethecbc/~3/117532964/ Posted: 17 May 2007 03:31 PM CDT Classical lovers, rejoice! CBC Radio 2 is going to air at Sunday- afternoon show featuring high-quality classical performances. The Sunday show, to run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., is as yet unnamed, but will feature classical performances from the best Canadian and international symphonies and chamber orchestras. CBC Radio program director Jennifer McGuire said the goal is to grow younger audiences by drawing them into classical listening with better-quality and more contemporary works. Full details are at cbc.ca, so have a read http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2007/05/17/radio-two.html then come back here and let us know what you think of the idea (Meir Weiss, May 18, radioinmontreal yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. Application of CHQB-1280 Powell River BC to move to FM approved but must find new frequency *This message was transferred with a trial version of CommuniGate(tm) Pro* The application of CHQB-1280 Powell River BC to move to FM has been approved by the CRTC but they must find new frequency as the applied for 94.1 MHz is reserved for use by the CBC: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2007/db2007-146.htm English-language FM radio programming undertakings in Powell River The Commission approves in part the application by Vista Radio Ltd. (Vista) for a broadcasting licence to operate an English-language FM radio programming undertaking in Powell River to replace its AM station CHQB. Vista must submit for the Commission’s approval, within three months of the date of this decision, an application proposing the use of another frequency and technical parameters that are acceptable to the Commission and the Department of Industry for use in the Powell River market. 73, (via Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CANADA SETS DROP-DEAD DATE FOR ANALOG TV http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2007/r070517.htm http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2007/pb2007-53.htm "Television licensees will be authorized to broadcast only digital OTA signals after 31 August 2011, although exceptions may be made in northern and remote communities where analog transmissions will not cause interference." It appears to have been determined that stations must implement a digital OTA signal in order to retain their preferred status with regard to cable carriage. There had been some discussion of closing OTA television altogether in Canada, but it seems this will NOT happen (Doug Smith, May 17, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CHIAPAS [non]. Radio Insurgente vía Radio Klara en la 104.4 FM de Valencia los viernes de 1930–2100 UT, http://www.radioklara.org/ En Internet: http://www.radioklara.org/emision.m3u 73 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just when it has claimed to be on 6.0 MHz (gh) ** COLOMBIA. 6009.45, LV de tu Conciencia, Puerto Lleras, 0510-0525, May 18, Spanish religious talk. Frequency a little lower than usual. Had been on 6009.49 lately. Also heard weak spur on // 5811.43 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. SW CENTER BAUTA CELEBRATES 46TH ANNIVERSARY Mensaje de la vicedirección de Radiocuba Mis Saludos a todos los colegas que como yo nos sentimos parte de la radio cubana y en especial de Radio Habana Cuba, pues 10 años de mi trabajo lo dediqué en el Centro de Ondas Cortas de Bauta, (centro pionero de las transmisiones de la Onda Corta en Cuba que arriba también a su 46 aniversario este 1 de Mayo). Ahora desde mi nueva responsabilidad de Vice Director de Radiocuba continuaré apoyando el trabajo de Bauta y Titán con el objetivo de mantener y elevar los indicadores de calidad de las transmisiones. Por estos días hemos publicado en la intranet de nuestra Empresa artículos sobre la historia de las primeras transmisiones de Radio Habana Cuba en el 1961 desde Bauta. La página web del Centro se está conformando en estos momentos con el objetivo de dar a conocer lo que se hace por bauta http://www.bauta.radiocuba.cu [not currently working, bt]; le proponemos consultarla y aceptamos sus sugerencias, que podrán enviar a la compañera Lourdes de Bauta lourdes @ bauta.radiocuba.cu Mis Felicitaciones a todos, Juan C [Radiocuba is the Cuban transmitter network operator, cf. WRTH2007, pg. 435. Not to be confused with Radio Habana Cuba (RHC) which leases airtime on the Radiocuba txs, bt] (from http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/aniversario46/mensajes/radiocuba.htm via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, May 18, dxldyg via DXLD) And next year it with be the 47th, if it still exist --- so what? At least that anniv would slightly more noteworthy as a prime number (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 4918.99, Radio Quito, 0125-0225, May 18, Spanish talk, IDs at 0133, 0203. Ads, jingles. Fair. Irregular (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. R. Cairo 0200-0230 UT May 18, 7270 kHz. Female announcer "It's exactly 5Am Cairo local time" at 0200 UT. Music. Overmodulated female audio during "Telecommunications in Egypt". News and talk on tourism. Except for overmodulated audio overall good with slight CW QRM. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. R. Africa 1004 - 1028 UTC fade out May 18, 2007 15190 kHz. "Christ Gospel Broadcast" and "Life Answers Today". Overall poor. I believe the broadcast and the message are more effective if the speaker does not shout and yell. If anything, shouting and yelling gives the impression of a crazy person. The shouting and yelling might actually scare the listener into not listening again. I'm sure this is not the desired result of the broadcasts. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Hallo, KWRN Nordland Radio wird an disem Wochenende von einem neuen Standort aus mit dem 18-Watt-Sender mehrere Tests durchführen. Wir wollen am Sonnabend ab ca. 05.30 Uhr UTC und am Sonntag ab ca. 05.00 Uhr UTC im 48 mb senden. Falls frei, wird die QRG 6325 khz genuzt. Berichte bitte an SRS Deutschland, SMS an 0163 622 7837 oder an kwrn @ freenet.de Hello, KWRN Nordland Radio will test wis weekend with the own 18-watts transmitter in the 48 mb from a new location. We hope we can go on air saturday 05.30 hours UTC and sunday 05.00 hours UTC. If the frequency is free, we use 6325 kHz. Reports to SRS Germany, SMS to 0049163 6227837 or to kwrn @ freenet.de vy 73 Felix Stein (via José Miguel Romero, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. The next SWR programme will be on Saturday Jun 02 where I hope to have couple of [our] own programs around 0400-0600 Crazy Mad Morning and 1100-1200 World Radio Roulette (Alpo Heinonen, May 11, DSWCI DX Window May 16 via DXLD) Starting 2100 UT Friday June 1 (gh) Hello Glenn, maybe that message was edited by Anker or you???, but anyway in reality nearly ALL programs of SWR are our own production, these two programs mentioned are MY own ones. 73 (Alpo Heinonen, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Alpo, Tnx for clarification. In English you can`t use ``own`` by itself in this sense. You have to precede it by ``my``, ``our`` or whatever possessive pronoun. So I guessed it was meant to be ``our``. 73, (Glenn to Alpo, via DXLD) Hi Glenn, I noted I had forgot that "my" out from my sentence. Mistakes happen and more when I am writing "foreign" language as English, sorry (Alpo, ibid.) Please don`t apologize. I`m glad someone is paying attention to the final edit of their items in DXLD. Some other non-native English speakers keep making the same mistaxe over and over, I keep correcting them, etc., etc., and they never notice or learn from my trouble. Not to mention native speakers who also err (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Re 7-055: Summer A-07 of RFI in Hausa from June 1: 0600-0630 on 9805 ISS 500 kW / 170 deg 0600-0630 on 11995 ISS 500 kW / 170 deg >>>>> 7220 from Sep.2 0700-0730 on 11830 ISS 500 kW / 170 deg 0700-0730 on 15315 ISS 500 kW / 170 deg 1600-1700 on 15315 ISS 500 kW / 170 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 15 via DXLD) According to http://www.radio-music.org/article.php?sid=8721&thold=0 these broadcasts should start on May 21st. Regards (J-M Aubier, France, May 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. Re ``So what has become of AN1? Come to think of it, have not heard it lately on 17630 around 1330, nor on 19160 harmonic. Is it still heard on 9580? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` 17630 ANO has been irregular for some time, apparently due to technical problems. One day I noted them having a problem getting the "on" switch stay in the closed position after the 1100 switch from 21820. The carrier only appeared in short, regular blips and this went on for many minutes. Today, Thursday, the signal before the 1025 switch to 21820 was much above average, but the modulation was somewhat scratchy. I have never noted the Afropop jammer missing, so it has priority over 17630 when they are short one transmitter (Olle Alm, Sweden, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. 4777, Radio Gabon, *0501-0525, May 18, Sign on with last 15 seconds of National Anthem & into French talk. IDs. Afro-pop music. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Radio Gloria International will broadcast in teamwork with MV Baltic Radio on 6045 KHz. The first transmission of Radio Gloria International on this channel is planned for the 27th of May [Sunday] at 1200 UT. Good Listening (Tom Taylor, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 11640, Freie Volksmission Krefeld via DTK- Telekom/Wertachtal transmitter. Full data (including transmitter site) verification letter with photo insert of the Mission Center at Krefeld. V/s mentioned to visit their web site for frequencies and times of their broadcasts. Web site: http://www.freie-volksmission.de E-mail reports: peter.vitsek @ freie- volksmission.de Reply in 23 days for a Postal report in German/English. v/s: Peter Vitsek, Technical Department (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Canada, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Deutsche Welle has introduced a Dhabayya relay (or I missed it so far) on 9545 kHz for the German hours 22-24 UTC. The 9545 change from the 20-22 to the 22-24 block adds 3 DW transmitters to the log within 10 minutes: Until 2159:00 both Sines and Woofferton are on the air, with Sines covering Europe, and dominating here, while Woofferton is beamed to SW Europe to cover the Sines gaps. SINPO 54544. At 2159:00 Sines went off as scheduled, Woofferton remained with a weaker signal here, SINPO 34333. At 2159:35 also Woofferton went off. Dhabayya came on late, 9545 was empty until DW returned at 2208 with 42333. The I=2 was noise produced in my neighbourhood. 73, (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, May 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) What's the target area or just the azimuth of this transmission? Right now (after 2330) it is quite weak here, unlistenable on a portable radio. Postings in a German forum indicate that it is quite common for DW frequencies now to come on air late (Kai Ludwig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UAE target is same as Nauen ... 12 NW S. America, 13 NE Brazil, 14 Bolivia, Paraguay, + Chile & Argentina N of 40 deg S, 15 SE Brazil, 16 S. America, south of 40 degrees S; Falkland Is. 9545 2200-2400 12S,13-16 DHA 250 245 GERMAN UAE DWL ex9545 2200-2400 12S,13-16 NAU 500 230 GERMAN D DWL 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Has UAE site ever been used deliberately for South America before? Just using existing antennas toward Africa? (Glenn, ibid.) 245 degrees via Djedda, Djibouti, Khartum, CAF, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Tomé, St. Helena, Ascension --> Atlantic, Porto Alegre, 12000 km Buenos Aires. A lot of (240 degrees) 47 Central Africa 48 Ea Africa outlets from UAE yet. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** GREECE. News in English is aired by Radio Macedonia from Thessaloniki Monday through Friday at 1156 hours. The QSL address is: Radiofonikos, Stathmos Makedonias, Angelaki Street 2, Thessaloniki 54636, Greece (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX program May 18 via DXLD) Had been one UT hour later during winter time, but first confirmation I have seen of the current timing (gh, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA [and non]. La Voz Popular, the URNG clandestine on SW around 7000 kHz, was the subject of Backroads Radio, heard on KUNM May 18 at 1400 UT. Seems it was on the air for nine years, on a twice-a- week schedule, and never got caught. The people running it would bike to the border late at night, swim across the river to Mexico with the equipment in waterproof containers, and set up the antenna on a mountain 35 km inside Mexico. Lots more about it, and its successor community station, plus an excellent recording of LVP`s first broadcast, on the half-hour show. It`s not among selected episodes audible on demand at http://www.backroadsradio.com/ but it might be the episode appearing Sunday May 20, on its alternate-week schedule via webcasting KSFR, Santa Fe, 2330 UT; and BRR sells CDs of the show (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. R. Budapest *0230-0257* UT May 18, 6195 kHz. News and "Hungary Today". Overall fair to good with QRM from BBC via Cyprus on 6195. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3987.05, RRI Manokwari (presumed) at 1205-1228 UT on May 16. RRI station here with Jakarta news // 4789.97 and 4749.96. Jak relay ended at 1218, followed by soft-voiced YL. Could not make much out due to weak signal. Ruined at 1223 UT by a loud ham operator on a nearby frequency. Presume this is Manokwari, which was on this exact freq previously, reactivating after being off the air for several months (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer May 16 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. The Death of Internet Radio - and the Birth of Independent Radio ---------05.17.07 - by: Dan Benbow Recently three judges from the federal Copyright Royalty Board quietly issued a ruling http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/14/technology/14radio.html?ref=business pushed by Sound Exchange (a shakedown entity created by the record industry) that will triple royalty rates and raise costs many times over for webcasters who play commercial music. Prior to the ruling, Internet radio stations paid an annual fee plus 12% of their profits to Sound Exchange, making streaming economically viable for small, independent operators. The new regime will charge digital radio stations ‘per performance,’ meaning a station is charged a flat fee for every song they play, based on the estimated number of listeners, without regard for revenues. . . http://www.getunderground.com/underground/features/article.cfm?Article_ID=2220 (via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) INTERNET RADIO GETS A STAY OF EXECUTION Wed May 16, 2007 at 11:19:34 AM http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2007/05/internet_radio_gets_a_stay_of.php New royalty rates for Internet radio set to go into effect yesterday have been pushed back until July 15. However, if the new Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) rates are implemented, they will be retroactive to January 1, 2007. The change will give Congress a chance to discuss and perhaps pass the Internet Radio Equality Act. U.S. congressmen Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Donald Manzullo (R-Il) introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act in an effort to halt the rate hike. It would throw out the Board's decision to hike rates and return the webcasting industry to a percentage of profits system. The percentage would be set at the same rate paid by satellite radio, 7.5 percent of revenue. The bill would also change the royalty rate- setting standard used in arbitrations, so that the standards applying to webcasters would align with the standard that applies to satellite radio royalty arbitrations. Last week Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sam Brownback (R-KA) introduced similar legislation in the Senate. Internet Radio providers such as the 6 million-member strong Pandora.com and Miami’s own W305 have said if the new CRB rates go into effect they may have to shut down their stations. Earlier this month Pandora.com closed its station to listeners outside the United States because of high international royalty rates. There are an estimated 34.5 million Internet Radio listeners in the United States. --Tovin Lapan (via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) ** IRAN. V. of Justice, 9495 at 0129 17 May with usual sign on. Much political news. Tuned out for a bit but returned at 0216 to catch the end of the daily "Inside the Bush Administration". This was followed by the daily "US Foreign Policy". Daily??? Not even Stephen Colbert can cram in as much political commentary per minute as these folks. 9495 solid S6 but by sign-off about S3. // 7235 weak entire time. Many 73s (Liz Cameron, Metro Detroit, MI, Shortwave Obsession: http://www.geocities.com/alera1/ Radioblonde Blog: http://radioblonde.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. IRAN'S MA'AREF RADIO TO LAUNCH ENGLISH SERVICE | Text of report in English by Iranian Mehr news agency Tehran, 18 May: The manager of Iran's Ma'aref [Islamic knowledge] Radio announced on Thursday [17 May] that it is to commence the transmission of programmes in the English language in the near future. Mohammad Mohammadzadeh said that the English-language department of the radio station will air a two-hour programme in English every day, that will be relayed to the continents of Europe and America via satellite. He noted that the programmes will mainly include: translated passages from the Holy Kor`an and explanations of Kor`anic concepts, questions and answers on Islamic matters, news concerning the world of Islam, and interviews with experts on religious education. With regards to the reasons for launching an English-language service, he remarked: The world is facing a spiritual crisis, since today's man-made cultures do not give peace of mind, whereas Islam is able to bring tranquillity to mankind. Ma'aref Radio in English can be of great benefit. The station is also planning to make programmes in Arabic and Spanish. He further noted that listeners to Radio Ma'aref in Iran find that the programmes produce great calmness in their lives. The radio station is trying to relay programmes that teach the right methods to those who want to find the path to tranquillity, he mentioned. In conclusion he said that a committee has been set up to organize the programmes and recruit personnel including presenters, writers, and chief editors. Source: Mehr news agency, Tehran, in English 1220 gmt 18 May 07 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ITALY. Rai at 0055, 5/16, on 11800; usual announcements and anthem into English service, but news was supplanted by Italian pop music until 0115, with woman with usual announcement "You have just heard" the English language broadcast to North America, then into Italian; Rai back to an excellent signal level this day (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 9485, Shiokaze & Radio Free Chosun. Sent a CD MP3 form report to the Shiokaze station covering a listening period for both stations. Received back the usual COMJAN blue/white (shows the 6045 & 9845 [sic, their mistake or yours?] frequencies) card, with date, time and frequency. I requested the program name for Radio Free Chosun but alias [sic] not indicated on the QSL card. Reply in 20 days time (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Canada, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. relay via 9290 khz Sunday May 20th Latvia Today 1500-1600 UT Wednesday May 23rd Mi Amigo 1900-2100 UT Saturday May 26th Latvia Today 1000-1100 UT Radio Casablanca 1100-1200 UT Sunday May 27 Radio Joystick 0900-1000 UT Latvia Today 1000-1100 UT Wednesday May 30th Mi Amigo 1900-2100 UT (Tom Taylor, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA [non]. 9525, Star Radio (presumed) via Ascension, 0717- 0737, May 17, mostly in African language, recorded segments of people talking about Liberia, occasionally in English, no ID heard, poor- fair. 0737 seemed to change over to Cotton Tree News (CTN) (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. Re 7-057: Hi, Kai and Glenn, Thank you very much for the information about the station I heard on 17645 kHz. It was a surprise for me. Actually I had already heard that jammer when Sawt Al-Amal was on the air a couple of months ago. But on this 16 of May I forgot completely about the jammer because 1) it was playing a different kind of African music (not the Arabic songs I used to hear) and 2) there was nothing to be jammed at that time and on that frequency. Anyway, thank you very much indeed for the info. This information will be on a DX programme called "Radio DX", on "CVC A Sua Voz" (Brazilian Service of the Christian Vision), on the "Trans- oceanic" feature, which I present. 73 and good listening! (Marcelo Xavier Vieira, Chapadão do Sul - MS - Brasil + 55 67 8413 1899, HCDX via DXLD) Hi Marcelo, The Arabic music jamming was from a different source, probably inside Libya but that seems to have quit some weeks ago. 73, (Glenn to Marcelo, ibid.) And as I said before, it was on 17647 (gh) ** LITHUANIA. 9710, May 17 0750-0755, Radio Vilnius, Sitkunai. ID "This is Radio Vilnius..." ID continuously before starting the program at 0800 GMT (Vincent L., Poitiers, France, HCDX online log via DXLD) ** MONTENEGRO. ITU APPROVES MONTENEGRO CALL SIGN PREFIX AGREEMENT Although it became a country – and a DXCC entity – in its own right last June, Montenegro has not had an Amateur Radio call sign block to call its own until this month. According to The Daily DX, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) did not want to give Montenegro an entirely new prefix, so it required the states of Montenegro and Serbia to agree upon one or two prefixes from the five (4N, 4O, YT, YU and YZ) assigned to the former Serbia-Montenegro. An agreement was reached May 11, and the ITU now lists 4O (that’s “four Oscar”) as Montenegro’s prefix. This means Montenegro stations may use 4O0 through 4O9, while Serbia stations will continue to use YT and YU prefixes for all call districts, 0 through 9. The ITU has taken back the former 4N and YZ prefixes for future reassignment. The ITU reportedly wants the two nations to complete the transition to new call sign blocks as soon as possible. The Daily DX Editor Bernie McClenny, W3UR, recommends that DXers update their logging software carefully to reflect the changes (DX Editor Dimiter Petrov, LZ1AF, R. Bulgaria DX program May 18 via DXLD) Altho not credited, the above item was taken almost verbatim from ARRL (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. Radio Ancash, ‘La Voz de los Andes’, Huaraz, transmitting on 4990, has now website at: http://www.radioancash.org/ (finndxer, May 18, DXing the Finnish Way via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Radyo Pilipinas. I have noticed the frequency listings for Radyo Pilipinas English service to the Middle East from 0200 to 0330 require updating. The A07 frequencies are 11880, 15285 and 15510. I listened to each of the frequencies during the first hour of this mornings broadcast to ensure that these are the frequencies currently in use (T. C. Patterson, Philippines, PTSW May 16 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Saludos cordiales Glenn, para ver las frecuencias en español de La Voz de Rusia hay que entrar en el Link "Espacios". http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=spa&w=90 73 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, of course, where else? I had concluded that SW frequencies in Spanish were not on their website, since there was no more obvious link (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. V. of Russia WS, 0127-0158 UT May 18, 2007, 7250 kHz via Armenia. News, music, "Kaleidoscope", "Things of Interest" and "The Radio And I". Overall good with slight CW QRM. Yes, the cold war is back. Just listen to V. of Russia news (several anti US items). Reminds me of R. Moscow 30 years ago. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA. R. St Helena special imminent --- Remember the test from RSH Thu May 17 at 1500-1510 or less on 11092.5 USB, but they will not QSL it. By all means give it a try, but I suspect it won`t make it to North America. Likely to be absorbed across the noon meridian on that low a frequency. Conditions in November, 6 hours later were much more favorable. Around 1350 I wasn`t hearing anything from Brazil or Africa on 25m, not even 11780 RNA, unless that was the source of a weak carrier. 73, (Glenn Hauser, 1432 UT May 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Not a peep out of St. Helena either here on 11092.5 USB from 1500 to 1507 tuneout (guess we really need that darkness path in NAm on 11 MHz), but R. Solh has been good here most days on 17700 till 1800* (Anne Fanelli in chilly-but-green Elma NY (receiver Kenwood TS- 570D, antenna 80-m dipole), DX LISTENING DIGEST) see AFGHANISTAN [non] Noted R. St. Helena at 1500 with IDs and music. In fact, this is USB without any noticeable carrier. There were mentions of shortwave frequency in the program. Rather weak reception here due to bright daylight and static. Audio was lost at 1522 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio St. Helena on 11092.50, from 1500, with nice pop music like Tigerfeet from Mud, Boy George, a.m.o. At 1509 full ID "This is Radio St. Helena". Signal poor and audio not so clear. Best with the KAZ antenna. RX NRD545. Gr. from (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, May 17, HCDX via DXLD) Traces of a weak carrier at 1505, way below audio threshold. Of course it needs not be them. "Heard" on RF Space SDR-IQ, ALA-100 loop (24m circumference) on 71N, 29E, some 9300 km from St. Helena (Bjarne Mjelde, Berlevag, Arctic Norway, http://arcticdx.blogspot.com dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11092.5 USB, Radio St Helena, 1500-1507, 17-05. Emisión de prueba de esta emisora. Inicio a las 1500 con identificación por locutor: "This is Radio St Helena", locutora, comentario en inglés. Señal muy débil, por momentos apenas audible, y a las 1507 ya no se escuchaba. SINPO 13211. (Méndez) 11092.5 USB, Radio St Helena, 1500-1507, 1705. Test transmission. At 1500 identification by male: "This is Radio St Helena". Female voice, comments in English. Very weak, barely audible for moments. SINPO 13211 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, escucha realizada en casco urbano de Lugo. Grundig Satellit 500 y antena interior de cable, 4 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Friends, I tried Radio St. Helena test transmission from my location in Kerala, South India from 1500 to 1508 on 11092.5 kHz. But only noted some carrier only. There was also some very weak unintelligible signals, but nothing identifiable. I was much disappointed with the result. I am interested to know the results from elsewhere (T. R. Rajeesh, Kerala, India, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sorry Rajesh, I haven't been up to much DXing recently, but I will never give up. I didn't know about the test. Hope I will know about it next time. I have the identical Yaesu station and a 1kW ICPW1 amp. Sometime I must fire it! Regards, Victor (G. VICTOR A.GOONETILLEKE 4S7VK, "Shangri-La," 298 Madapatha Road, Piliyandala, Sri Lanka, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just barely audible here at 1500 on 11092.5 USB, using the R8 and 200' W-E wire. I stuck with it to 1510 but had to leave (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Absolutely nothing here. 73/ (Liz Cameron, Metro Detroit, MI 1523 UT May 17, ibid.) Hello all, Nothing heard here for the special St-Helena broadcast at 1530 UT; been on frequency for 30 minutes now and don`t hear anything at all (Gilles Létourneau, Montreal, Canada, ibid.) Same in Copenhagen. Now 1539 UT. 73, (Erik Køie, ibid.) Hello, St Helena heard quite well here in central Sweden. Signal peaked at about 1520 with strength S4 and readability 3. Female announcer reading some reception reports. Otherwise playing a few well-known pop hits. Transmission has not ended at 1532, but has faded away almost completely. 73 (Eric SM6JSM Lund, Yaesu FT897, Random wire antenna, ibid.) Not a peep here in BC, ef, AOR 7030+ MFJ active antenna (Eric Flodén, 1542 UT May 17, ibid.) Nothing at all here; tried four different receivers and antennas, but quit at 1509. It would be nice if they had adhered to the published plans to make it only 10 minutes, or let people know to keep listening past 1530, but I had to go out, anyway. What a difference an hour makes, however, as by 1459, Brasil was inbooming on 11780; maybe it was not on the air earlier. Also ANU Gabon [q.v.] 17630 had become audible, tho poorly. If RSH wants to be more widely heard they should run tests during darkness or around grayline time (Glenn, OK, 1556 May 17, ibid.) Well friends, R St Helena picked up strength again at 1535 and the male announcer read a reception report from Melbourne, Australia. Some 20 minutes ago they played "That's the way a-ha a-ha I like it" with signal strength 2-3 but no QRM. A nice country song at 1556 and a final talk by both announcers ended the test transmission at exactly 1600 UTC! 73 (Eric Lund, SM6JSM, Yaesu FT897 now using a multi dipole for 80/40/20/15/10, ibid.) Ikke, maar in het begin net boven de ruis, maar later werd het beter en kon ik de muziek herkennen en ook het sluiten door een juffrouw waarnemen. Dat was ongeveer om 1525Z. 73, (Pim Ripken, Netherlands, BDX via DXLD) Ook hier was de ontvangst niet zo goed als bij hun jubileum uitzending. In het begin was het erg zwak en er zat ook nog een storing op de freq die ik toch merkelijk kon reduceren door over te schakelen van de 2TFD antenne naar de mijn dipool van 9.2 meter ( gaf ook nog een ietsje beter signaal) De ontvangst was duidelijk beter. Na 15.23 waren ze opeens nauwelijks te horen tot rond 15.40 UTC, dan waren ze terug (met enkele ontvangstrapporten uit o.a. Duitsland Japan, Denemarken......) met net geen O=3, Om 16.01 was er signing off. Tot zo ver mijn observaties !(hi) Groetjes, (Hugo Matten, Belgium, ibid.) Radio Santa Helena, 11092.5 kHz, has been heard in Thessaloniki on 1500+ with an under marginal signal to marginal at maximum with some talks and sporadic music, and a woman seemed to spell letters or numbers; prior to ID that heard on 1510 and 1515. Called as ``This is Radio Santa [sic] Helena _radio_``. Due to other project same time I was unable to listen to the full program. However after the ID of 1515, after ending the mini project, there was an unknown _jammer_; or _buzzer_ sounded QRN that covered most of the 10-15 MHz band in just several seconds with an S7 level on this QRG. SINPO is referred as 12241, no S indication, with a tone / carrier of ca 200 Hz on upper band and much of local DSL QRN. Please listen for more into my audio clip. The first below is in MP3. Would like to know if someone can identify the QRN type that is heard after the 16th minute For non multiply users please download it on http://www.savefile.com/files/732532 [MP3 24kbit rate, 3MB file] and on http://www.savefile.com/files/732533 [WMA 12 kbit rate, 1.5MB file] and please use headphones for listening to it (Zacharias Liangas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) John Herkimer from NY-USA: Nothing here 1500+ -- not a sign of a carrier and quite a bit of noise. Any luck in Europe, Anker Petersen? (via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Greetings from Salzburg, Austria: Some reports from Austrian and German DXers in my A-DX mailing list: RSH signals around S3-S5 from 1500-1520 UT, (Disco music, short IDs) after 1520 UT lower signal level, (other antenna direction?) but audible. Nothing here in Salzburg for a DSWCI QSL (Christoph Ratzer, Austria, OE2CRM, A-DX May 17 via Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) Negative here in southern Germany too. Tiny carrier signal on 11092.30 kHz, but not sure it was receiver-produced intermodulation. No patience, switched off at 1510 UT. Congrats to lucky people with outstanding equipment, - or location. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Wolfie, Radio St. Helena was on the air *1500-1601* UT on 11092.5 USB (best by me on 11092.4) today 17 May 2007. Weak signal. Often ID by man "This is Radio Saint Helena" followed by info read by lady voice (miss Laura?). From many songs played I recognized "Tiger Feet" by Mud at 1511 UT and "American Pie" by John McClain at 1525 UT. Seems to be changed the beam at 1524-1544 UT when the signal was almost nil, May 17. with respects, 73s (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) The broadcast on 11092.5 USB was audible here yesterday *1500-1601* UT. Started with sign-on announcements and then some oldie pops like "Walking on Sunshine", "Karma Chameleon" etc. with more announcements over them. Weak and muffled to start with (SINFO 25332) but reasonable by the sign-off (35433). (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer May 18 via BC- DX via DXLD) Obviously R St. Helena test was directed towards Europe today as I and others in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Spain and Portugal heard it with weak signals, but clear ID's. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, May 17 via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) Solar-terrestrial indices for 16 May follow. Solar flux 77 and mid- latitude A-index 4. The mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 17 May was 2 (18 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) Radio St. Helena was to have run a transmitter test at 1500 on 17-May. It was reported by Euros to have been on for an hour. Since the test was only to have lasted 5-10 minutes, there's an ever so slight chance that some/ most of what was reported could have been the fake Radio St. Helena which has appeared on past Radio St. Helena Days (Harold Frodge, Free Radio Weekly via DXLD) 11092.5, Radio St. Helena. 'Revival 2006' QSL card with Information Letter, enclosed in envelope which featured a stamp of Napoleon. Reply in 5-1/2 months for a MP3 CD Report. v/s Laura Lawrence, Station Manager (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Canada, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. 9525, Cotton Tree News (CTN) via Ascension, 0737-0756* May 17, news in African languages (did not seem to be any news in English), several IDs ("This news comes to you from CTN, Freetown" & "This is CTN"), sign-off announcement: "This is CTN with news and information from Freetown, Sierra Leone", mentions Media For Peace and Human Dignity, United Nations Integrated Office for Sierra Leone and also Irish Aid, poor-fair. Would seem that the change over time from Star Radio programming to CTN varies almost every day. Also the sign-off time & format for CTN also varies slightly. There is a picture of their production studio at - http://www.cottontreenews.org/latest/cotton-tree-news-studio-3.html (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ref. DXLD 7-057: Yes, George Bennett of CTN is the same GB who ran Star Radio. He's a legend - a former head of the BBC African Service who later ran Radio Rajo/Radio Manta, the UN station in Mogadishu in the early 1990s. The last time I bumped into him in Nairobi he was running the Red Cross in Somalia. A real radio man and Africa man (Chris Greenway, UK, May 17, ibid.) Related to Anne Bennett, as in e- mail address? (gh) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.9 at 1840 UT. SIBC with overnight BBC relay _ Charlie Gillett's World of Music, fair Apr 28. BBC news at 1900. At 1931 retune was SIBC program in Pidgin, news about NZ Foreign Aid for Education (Bryan Clark, NZ, NZDXT May 15 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. Subject: unID station 5985. Dear Wolfgang, Hello again from Cyprus. I continue to enjoy your web pages. I have a new unID, my night off last night. 5985, 0313 UT in English with talk about water, then some African music, then announcement to learn English via some forthcoming programmes, then interview with a male announcer about the USA. Sign off at 0330 UT, SIO 433. 17/5/07. According to WRTH 2007 Congo is listed as this frequency. Much QRM made hearing this station difficult into my NRD 515 receiver (Costa Constantinides, Cyprus, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Dear Costas, Mon-Fri only 5985 0300-0330 Mon-Fri USA Sudan Radio Service En EAf /RRW 5985 0300-0330 47E,48W KIG 250 kW 000 degrees 23456 USA MNO MER 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** TAIWAN. Re: DXLD 7-057, 9955 kHz ``1800-1900, May 12 & 13, RTI in German, apparently from Tainan. No mentioning of this broadcast on their website http://german.rti.org.tw Perhaps, 9955 is reactivated due to recent RTI relay failures on Skelton & Issoudun. Splash from All India R. on 9950 after 1745 (Serghey Nikishin, Moscow, Russia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn! This was a special transmission directly from Tainan, Taiwan on the suggestion of the RTI Listener´s Clubs in Berlin and Ottenau from May 3rd - May 6th and May 11th - May 13th, as there aren´t any regular transmissions in German coming directly from Taiwan. According to the RTI information brochure "RTIntern 33" the transmissions those special transmissions were on those weekends, where listeners´s meetings were held (on May 5th in Berlin and on May 12th in Ottenau). 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, May 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wow, how many stations would bother to do that? (gh, DXLD) ** U K. La Despistada BBC Mundo --- Es desconcertante que BBC Mundo fue premiada como uno de los sites más completos en Internet y que a esta hora del partido no hayan caído en la cuenta de lo desactualizados que están con la onda corta, a no ser que estimen que este medio no tiene hoy en día la menor importancia. Todavía muestran su suspendido servicio de 0300 a 0400 por 6110 y 7325, incluyendo 7315, que ha de ser la frecuencia que utilizan para su único esquema en español actualmente, a saber, 10 a 1230 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, May 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ? I thought it was at 11-12 on 6095 and 11825; did you not confirm that? ** U K. These might be of interest: Extensive coverage of UK's summer festivals on Radio 3 http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/05_may/16/festivals.shtml Radio debuts of Black Watch and Splendour part of summer drama highlights on Radio 3 http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/05_may/15/radio3.shtml (via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** U S A. LAWMAKERS DEMAND CLOSE OVERSIGHT OF US ARABIC TV CHANNEL By Dan Robinson Capitol Hill 16 May 2007 Listen to Robinson report http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-05-16-voa60.cfm U.S. lawmakers are demanding greater oversight of the U.S.-government funded Al-hurra television for the Middle East, amid continuing controversy over programming carried by the station in late 2006 and early 2007. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, where a congressional hearing also examined U.S. public diplomacy efforts aimed at improving the U.S. image in the Middle East and combat extremism in the Muslim world. Since the September 2001 al-Qaida terrorist attacks on the United States, Congress has approved tens of millions of dollars for expanded programming for the Middle East and Muslim world. Al-hurra television is a key element, along with radio broadcasts of Radio Sawa, heard throughout the Middle East, including Iraq. Other programming by the Voice of America, and Radio Farda targets Iran, and there are also separate efforts for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent body controlling non-military U.S. government-funded broadcasting, says it is committed to "using the tools of objective journalism to promote freedom and democracy and enhance understanding about the United States and the world to audiences overseas." It also has a five-year strategy designed to counter extremism, while adhering to U.S. law and guidelines requiring fact-based news and objective analysis, including broadcasts, and responsible discussion of, U.S. policy. But Al-hurra, which in English means "The Free One", has been the focus of intense criticism because of programs it aired between November 2006 and February of 2007. Broadcast officials acknowledge the station violated editorial guidelines in airing, among other things, an un-edited speech by the leader of the Hezbollah, interviews with a Hamas leader, and coverage of a conference in Tehran denying the Holocaust. Congressman Gary Ackerman is a Democrat who chairs the Middle East subcommittee: "Why are American taxpayer dollars used to spread hate, the lies and propaganda of these nuts, when our goal is to counter them?" he asked. Board member Joaquín Blaya testified that Al-hurra erred in broadcasting "several reports that lacked journalistic or academic merit," saying there were "significant and unprofessional breeches in Al-hurra's editorial policy" by contractors and employees. He added these were a "very small fraction" of the station's output. Blaya told lawmakers what he calls "enhanced editorial structures" aimed at centralizing editorial control are now in place at Al-hurra: "We feel that we have those internal controls in place now, and we feel that it is not a systemic problem," said Joaquín Blaya. Brian Coniff, who heads the Middle East Broadcasting Networks overseeing Al-hurra, details steps taken in the wake of the incidents, including appointment of an official responsible for internal review. "This person reports directly to me, he does not report through the editorial chain of command, he does not report to the [Al-hurra] vice president [for news], his job is to watch Al-hurra all day long as well as the other Arab language networks for feedback to me," said Brian Coniff. As part of additional safeguards, Coniff says an Arabic-speaking American citizen has also been hired to track programming. Republican Mike Pence questioned whether managers and reporters for Al-hurra understand the station's mission. "This is a diplomatic mission of the U.S, and are we communicating in very practical ways to employees down the line that this is not a "We report, you decide," television station, we are about promoting the truth about the free world and the United States of America in this region?" said Mike Pence. Lawmakers also question whether a non-Arabic-speaker should be managing news operations at Al-hurra, a reference to the station's vice president for news, former CNN producer Larry Register, who did not appear at Wednesday's hearing. While criticizing Al-hurra, Democrats and Republicans assert they do not want the station to fail, suggesting that the broadcasting board should institute private independent reviews of programming. Congressman Ackerman and others also raised questions about how the independent broadcast board is measuring the impact of U.S. broadcasting to the Middle East: "Simply measuring audience size is great, but it doesn't tell us how much or whether our broadcasting influences those who receive it," said Gary Ackerman. In its testimony to Congress, the broadcasting board pointed to surveys it says show that both Al-hurra and the Arabic language Radio Sawa are, in Blaya's words, regarded as credible sources of news and information by audiences, despite high levels of anti-American sentiment throughout the region. In separate testimony, State Department public diplomacy officials pointed to progress under President Bush in coordinating government information programs in the effort to undermine ideological support for terrorism around the world (VOA News May 16 via DXLD) But is "journalism with a mission" really journalism? At the 16 May hearing of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, Brian Coniff, president of the BBG's Middle East Broadcasting Network Inc., said that Alhurra's content "isn't just straight journalism, but it's journalism with a mission." The phrase "journalism with a mission" was applauded by at least two members of the subcommittee, so we might be hearing it more in the future. See Kim's report. http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/?id=1540 See also BBG testimony and other texts from the hearing. Posted: 18 May 2007 http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/index.php?id=1541 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Testimony of Joaquín Blaya, Broadcasting Board of Governors Before the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, Committee on Foreign Affairs: http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=144&mode=general (BBG press release May 16 via DXLD) Long, complete text ** U S A. KAIJ off air --- Serious data link problems between out studio and the transmitter site. The data company has ordered a part they did not have in stock and it will be replaced tomorrow (Friday). Hopefully we will have audio sometime Friday. Thanks for responding to this problem (George, Manager, KAIJ, 2042 UT May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think I heard 9480 back Friday afternoon, May 18 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 17 May 2007 --- Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting --- Tonight (with sincere apologies to Charles Mingus), shortwavemusic presents two more items from our Caligari's cabinet of American evangelical music: one representative each from the transcendent and the terrifying. Newport, NC's very own WTJC has been dispensing Rapture-induced migraines for years from their distinctively overmodulated signal on 9370 kHz. With a seemingly bottomless reserve of basso profundo singers and absurdly overheated choruses, WTJC's steroid-enhanced signal slices through the 31-meter band like Constantine's sword. Their message is one of such urgency that they rarely, if ever, allow songs to completely fade, a technique which makes this surreal station all the more like a small-town talent show in which the impatient performers prematurely shove one other offstage. Tonight, however, the obstreperous piano and virtually unintelligible singing are hammered into a strangely moving cacophony. (And, yes, the cut-off is theirs.) "Bring Back the Glory" WTJC (Newport, NC) 5/15/2007, 9370kHz (0035UTC) On the somewhat less charming end of ramshackle is our second item, this time from WHRI (World Harvest Radio), a network which pillaged the now-defunct WSHB after the Christian Science Monitor folded its (altogether more wonderful) Monitor Radio operation. Their programming is geographically targeted into "Angels" (e.g., Angel 1 for Central and South America and Angel 5 for Africa and the Middle East), but it's hard to imagine what horrible angel would knowingly speed this distinctly non-ethereal voice across the firmament. "The following program is not religion as commonly known in America," the singer boasts (after a particularly egregious tape edit), and thank God. We think he might have done better to remember a credo of the famously snarky pop group Steely Dan: "Use an accordion, go to jail." "Highway of God" WHRI (Cypress Creek, SC) 8/13/2006, 7465 kHz (2300 UT) posted by shortwavemusic at 02:42 (Myke Weiskopf, http://shortwavemusic.blogspot.com/ for audio linx May 17 via DXLD) Strange; I always assumed Angel 1, etc., were pet names for the transmitters rather than the targets (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Hi, it seems Family Radio has changed frequency for Europe: I heard them yesterday (May 16) loud and clear, SINPO 54544, at 2047 UTC on 7430 kHz. I suppose this is from Grigoriopol which is scheduled at this hour on 7360, but 7360 was empty. (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, May 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7430 Grigoriopol since May 10, new YFR. Not RRS(7360) Kalatch (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Go Away, Jerry http://www.rfma.net/archives/001041.html (RFMA via DXLD) OBIT ** U S A. NRC member Ken Onyschuk, Lockport, IL passes along info, gleaned from a Robert Feder column in the Sun-Times to the effect that WLS-890 will be airing a special radio broadcast on Memorial Day, 5/28, featuring many of the famous 890 WLS personalities of the past, from 5 am to 12 pm. WLS radio will broadcast this special re-union with DJ's, newsmen, etc. (Paul Swearingen, NRC via DXLD) 05/15/07 - Former KJR Seattle superjock and Hall of Famer Larry Lujack will be featured on The Big 89 Rewind at WLS Chicago. Regular talk show programming will be pre-empted for the Memorial Day spectacular 5 a.m. to midnight (CT) May 28. Robert Feder, Chicago Sun-Times (Northwest Broadcasters via DXLD) Viz.: 'BIG 89 REWIND' --- LARRY LUJACK KICKS OFF STAR-STUDDED FLASHBACK OF TOP 40 ERA ON WLS -- May 15, 2007 BY ROBERT FEDER Sun-Times Columnist http://www.suntimes.com/business/feder/385269,CST-FIN-feder15.article It's going to be a Memorial Day to remember when WLS-AM (890) turns back the clock to its Top 40 heyday and brings back some of its greatest stars. Kipper McGee, program director of the ABC-owned news/talk station, is assembling a dream team of WLS alums for what they're calling "The Big 89 Rewind." From 5 a.m. to midnight May 28, regular programming will be pre-empted for a Memorial Day spectacular starring Superjock Larry Lujack, Fred Winston, John Records Landecker, Jeff Davis, Chris Shebel and Tom Kent. All were part of the '70s and '80s rock era at WLS. Also appearing throughout the day will be WLS news veterans Lyle Dean, Catherine Johns and Gil Gross and sportscaster Les Grobstein, among others (via DXLD) ** U S A. RE: TIS sychronization --- Ben, Century Blvd [Los Ángeles] is using an Optimod 9505 for the processing. The tunnel is using an Inovonics 222 limiter only. I'm hoping to get a real Optimod such as the 9100B for Century like I am using at Ontario and then taking the 9505 and putting it at the tunnel. The wire antenna stops about 10-15 feet short of the ends of the tunnel (Burt, via Ben Dawson, DXLD) Glenn and friends, In regards to the TIS discussion in DXLD 7-056, dated 13 May: Music may not be officially allowed on TIS stations but the two stations at the Straits, 530 and 1610, play music the entire time on the loop that promotes tourism. The music stops when they broadcast wind warnings, which happen nearly everyday. The Ambassador Bridge station-the bridge is privately owned-has an interesting combo of public service and gambling interests. Exchange rates are mentioned, as would be expected, but so are various casino discounts, which come in the form of coupons at the toll booth. http://www.ambassadorbridge.com If you can own an international bridge, you can have your own radio station with your own "format". And if the state owns a bridge, it too can have its own format in a last ditch attempt to make money. 73 as always/ (Liz Cameron, Metro Detroit, MI, May 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Public Radio #1 in Seattle On Radio: KUOW (not KZOK) tops the ratings By BILL VIRGIN, P-I REPORTER With additional data now in hand, it's time for a revision to our recent story about the highest-rated stations in the Seattle-Tacoma market during winter quarter. KZOK-FM (102.5) was not the top-rated station, although it was the highest-ranked commercial station. The overall winner, though, was KUOW-FM (94.9). That information comes from Arbitron data as reported by the Radio Research Consortium, which provides audience data and research to non- commercial stations. The overall ratings reflect listeners 12 and older tuned in Monday through Sunday 6 a.m. to midnight. When Arbitron releases its quarterly ratings and rankings, it lists just the commercial stations. RRC compiles its own list of non- commercial stations by market, although by interpolating the two it's possible to see how the two types of stations compare. In fact, Arbitron has proposed including non-commercial stations in its overall list. KUOW has been near the top before, ranking as high as No. 2 in some books. A spokeswoman for National Public Radio said it appears KUOW is the only non-commercial station to place first in a major market in the winter book. "We're quite pleased about that," said KUOW program director Jeff Hansen. Just down the road in Portland, KOPB-FM, ranked third in the market in the most recent rankings. KUOW wasn't the only non-commercial station with a strong winter-book performance in this market. KPLU-FM (88.5) placed ninth in the revised list. Also having enough of an audience to show up in the ratings were KEXP-FM (90.3), KBCS-FM (91.3), KVTI-FM (90.9) and KXOT- FM (91.7). The big programming winners for KUOW, over a four-book period, are "Morning Edition" at 7 and 8 a.m. weekdays, and "All Things Considered" at 5 p.m. weekdays. KUOW also enjoys strong weekend listenership, with the top programs being "Car Talk," "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me," "This American Life," "A Prairie Home Companion," "Weekend Edition Sunday" and the Sunday repeat of "A Prairie Home Companion." (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) That says a lot about Seattle. Smart people there (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Logo changes: KASA-2 Santa Fe has a new logo: http://www.kasa.com KXMA-2 Dickinson continues to use their old ring logo, but "KX" is being used on at least their noon newscast (which apparently comes from KXMB-12). I haven't seen a KX logo there in years, in spite on KXJB-4's use of KX. http://www.kxma.com Jeff Kadet reported on TV/FM Skip Log that XHPN-3 has a new logo. It is not to be found on the Internet (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, May 17, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Road Trip Logs --- All logs were made between May 12 and May 17 during a random road and hiking trip to GA, NC and TN using the stock radio in the 2006 Hyundai Sonata rental (very poor sensitivity). All frequencies in kHz unless otherwise stated, times/dates EST. 830, GEORGIA, (TIS) William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport; after vinyl record shopping in Atlanta's Little Five Points neighborhood, I tuned to this one around the I-285/US-23 junction (the usual huge signal). Female loop abruptly malfunctioned and stopped, leaving just an open carrier for the next 30 minutes of listening this early afternoon, May 15th. 1390, GEORGIA, WISK, Americus; a totally cool station, clearly this must be a hobby station with automated programming built to fit the owners' music likings. I was in the Americus vicinity from late afternoon one day through noon the following, and never did this one air any commercials or PSA's for that matter, during my listens. Format is automated nonstop Top-40 60's/70's rock and soul. Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, Dan Fogleberg, Michael Jackson, Mama's and the Papa's, Del Shannon, The Beatles, etc. Near top-of-hour canned ID by male as "Your music, 1390 WISK, Americus" and several variants at other times, though rare. Nice, warm audio. Someone here is having fun and knows how to do it at a cost that must be out of his own pocket. Listed in the FCC dB as 1 kW, NDD. 1410, KENTUCKY, WHLN, Harlan; May 13, 6:06 p.m. local at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountain National Park (a pretty good place to do AM/FM bandscans as I found out last year). Unusual format that one would expect on FM, not here: hits by Snow Patrol, Tracy Chapman, Lionel Ritchie, Train, etc., female DJ Mary (Mills?). I thought 1-800-832-0308 announced (I may have gotten it wrong, or my Cingular would not work in this area or both, as it kept prompting me to send a text message with no other options or identification). Fortunately, they ID'ed after the attempted call with a canned "The radio station everyone can agree on. Today's hits and yesterday's favorites, 1410 WHLN." At 6:34, a promo for a Walt Disney World trip contest, beginning Monday. Never any commercials! Not so certain the programming was really locally-originated based on the format and 800 number. Listed at 5 kW, ND1 in the FCC dB. 1510, SOUTH CAROLINA, WDRF, Woodruff; May 13, 6:37 p.m. local at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Tune in to The Eagles "Take It To the Limit," canned male "Oldies 1510, WDRF" and into national Home Depot commercial, then Grand Funk Railroad's "Locomotion" cover. Fair. Listed at only 250 watts NDD in the FCC dB. 1580, UNIDENTIFIEDS, May 13, 6:55 p.m. local at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Two domestic stations with Spanish formats trading places, fair to poor. One uses the slogan "La Pantera 80" and the other (apparently simulcasting with FM) as "La Buena --- FM." Anyone know who these are? I Googled La Pantera 80 + 1580 and located WXRA, Georgetown, KY supposedly using the slogan La Pantera 15-80. No clear hits on La Buena + 1580 in this geographic region. 1600, UNIDENTIFIED May 13, 6:37 p.m. local at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountain National Park. This is the same domestic Spanish unidentified heard trading places last May with English gospel station WXMY, Chilhowee, VA at this site, and it remains active and with the same Mexican format. Snagged a slogan this time, "La Favorita." WXMY is still there too, same format. I suppose one possibility after having Googled La Favorita + 1600 is WAOS, Austell, GA. 1610, FLORIDA, (MIS), Manatee Information Radio, Crystal River; big signal noted late afternoon on the return home through the back roads east of Crystal River and then south of the city on US-19. Long loop by squeaky female regarding manatee habitat, boating safety in manatee zones, etc. This one continues to remain unlisted (and thus the callsign is unknown) in the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau dB. 1610, GEORGIA, (MIS), US Army Corps of Engineers, Buford Dam (southern end of Lake Sidney Lanier); the most interesting new find on the trip, a TIS/MIS seemingly not listed in the FCC's dB (presumably due to government operation status vs. private or municipal). Peaking at fair level on I-985 at exit 8 and lost just south of the first Gainesville, GA exit. Looped male, partly copied text as: "This is a public service announcement regarding water release at Buford Dam. This service is provided by the US Army Corps of Engineers... The scheduled water release for Saturday and Sunday [initial log was on a Saturday] is zero... For... information, call 770-945-1467, or for the latest water release information, call 770-945-1466, or in the local vicinity, tune your radio to 1610 on the AM dial." No signs posted for this on I-985, maybe there's something heading west at exit 8 (SR-347)? I called these numbers (pre-recorded messages) upon returning home. One states to call a third number, 770-945-9531, for web information. I called and it's a live number. The lady gave the URL as: http://lanier.sam.usace.army.mil which works. The address she gave me for potential QSLing is: USACE, Attn. Mr. Williams, PO Box 567, Buford, GA 30515-0567, which matches the mailing address on the web. On some days, the recorded phone information (1467) is updated by a Ranger Brad Vogel, USACE. 1610, GEORGIA, (MIS), Perry Area Convention and Visitors Bureau WPJY891; still active and still with a big signal that gets out for 10 miles or better. The same male and female looped information as last year, except for a short insert regarding May events. 1640, FLORIDA, (TIS), FL Turnpike, Sumter County; UK-accented female with generic Turnpike ID, male generic traffic flow blather, time/date stamp ("7" instead of 2007 or 07). Briefly fair on I-75 northbound (as always during daytime), just north of the Lake Panasofkee bridge. 1680, FLORIDA, (TIS) Florida Department of Transportation, Jennings; as previously reported by David Crawford, a large blue background with white letters sign (and inactive yellow flashers attached) is posted just across the Georgia/Florida line on I-75 southbound. But this is still not active. Would it not make sense to have it functioning during the wildfires that are sporadically seriously hampering travel on I-75/I-10? This is presumably the same phantom station that was on 1640 per a previous sign in the same area. 1680 is listed under the generic FDOT mobile calls WQBN524 and at Jennings in the FCC's Wireless Telecomm dB. 88.7 MHZ, NORTH CAROLINA, WNCW, Isothermal Community College, Springdale; noted May 13, 5:30 p.m. local at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Bluegrass and Appalachian folk vocals. Top-of-hour ID, promo for a Telluride vacation giveaway, mention of http://www.wncw.org fair. First heard this one last May, a few miles southwest of here. One of the nicest regional flavor stations/formats. 89.9 MHz, GEORGIA, (PIRATE), "Brisas del --," Tifton; this Mexican- format Spanish pirate appears to be gone. Noted last May on the way north and a few days later on the return. Nothing this time heading up and back on I-75 around Tifton, and nothing traced on any other channel. 92.1 MHz, GEORGIA, WDDQ, Adel; still spewing nonstop loops for Wild Adventures/Splash Island tourist attractions. Heard while sitting for 1-1/2 hours on I-75 under the eastbound I-10 overpass, waiting for those of us who were the last on the Interstate to move north after both I-75 and I-10 were closed due to the wildfires on May 12th. 92.5 MHz, SOUTH CAROLINA, WESC-FM, Greensville; May 13, 5:42 p.m. local at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Live DJ with "92 point 5 WESC" into Country format songs. Canned ID near 6:00 as "WESC-FM, Greenville." 94.3 MHz, FLORIDA, WNFB, "Mix 94 point 3," Lake City; pathetic that only one station had any updates on what was happening with the wildfires and the Interstate closure situation: WNFB Mix 94.3. Their Saturday air staff gave awesome accounts between songs. I sent John Newman, President and GM, an email about how his staff did such great job in this age of consolidation, brokered crap, satellite-fed repeats of weekday talk spewers, voice-tracking, etc. Responsible local radio? We cannot have that; someone buy this station out regardless cost. John Newman's reply: "Terry, Thanks so much for your kind words. I will pass your comments on to our staff, who all worked overtime and with a good attitude to provide the coverage of the fires. As a broadcaster of 40 years, we still feel it is important to be very involved with our community. When disasters occur, such as the hurricanes of nearly 3 years ago, or fires, we all step up to the plate to keep our listeners informed. We are delighted to hear from you and many others who have passed along similar comments. Stop by on your way through Lake City next time for a free tour and a chat." – John Newman, President. 96.7 MHz, FLORIDA, WZPH-LP, Dade City; the usual pop/country oldies format (Bobbie Gentrie's "Ode To Billie Joe"), canned ID's. Audible briefly on I-75 near Zephyrhills. *********************************************************** (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html or: http://www.geocities.com/geigertree/flortis.html DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE? 6045, Radio Zimbabwe?, 2330-2340+, May 18, Tentative. Afro-pop music. Talk in unidentified language. Poor with a lot of adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. It appears that the new Voice of Zimbabwe will start on Africa Day next Friday 25 May but still no details of times or a frequency just that it will be for two hours only. Pretty useless if no one even knows when to tune into this new service as absolutely no mention of tuning details have been revealed and it is less than one week to launch. Somehow the following statement seems very far removed from the truth as Happison Muchechetere is one of the cronies who owns an invaded farm. Yikes, they already know that they are a state propaganda station and haven't even got on the airwaves yet. Quote from article: "It will not be a propaganda station. It will present the truth" Veteran broadcaster - Happison Muchechetere 73 David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ZIMBABWE: NEW SHORT-WAVE RADIO SERVICE TO LAUNCH ON AFRICA DAY, 25 MAY Text of report by Zimbabwe daily Electronic Chronicle website on 18 May Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) will on Africa Day launch Voice of Zimbabwe, a news and news analysis station that will broadcast internationally. The station, which will broadcast on short wave, will be stationed in Gweru. Veteran broadcaster, Happison Muchechetere, will be the station's general manager. In a statement, ZBH said the station would be Zimbabwe's first world station which would broadcast initially for just two hours a day and gradually increase its broadcast time until it quickly becomes a 24- hour news and talk station. Although aimed predominantly at a world audience, the station may be of interest locally too because of its focus on news, news analysis and discussion programmes. "The station will broadcast from well- equipped studios in Gweru. World television broadcasts will be added to the station during the course of the year," ZBH said. Muchechetere brings to the station more than 20 years experience in the broadcasting industry. He joined the then Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation as a reporter in 1984 and has held a number of senior positions with ZBH, having at different times been head of Television Productions, Head of Current Affairs Productions and Assignments Editor. He trained in radio and television production in Tunisia, Holland and at Stanford University in the United States. He has been head of Electronic Services at New Ziana for the past five years. ZBH Group Chief Executive, Henry Muradzikwa, said the station would counter the hostile propaganda of other foreign-based radio stations by providing factual information about the reality on the ground in Zimbabwe. ``We hope it will also give Zimbabweans an opportunity to tell their own story. We plan to not only interview business people and other people in urban areas but to go out to the rural areas and record what people there have to say," he said. Muchechetere made a similar point: "We have not been created to counter or oppose what other radio stations say. Our mission is to give a true picture of events in Zimbabwe. We will not be setting out to comment on or react to what other stations say. We will be telling our own story, the true story of events in Zimbabwe." The new station will give Zimbabweans living abroad and anyone abroad with an interest in Zimbabwe the opportunity to hear reports on what is happening in Zimbabwe and news analyses from a Zimbabwean perspective. Source: Electronic Chronicle website, Bulawayo, in English 18 May 07 (via Gerry Jackson, SW Radio Africa via David Pringle-Wood, DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. MINISTER CHINAMASA URGES AFRICA COMMISSION TO HELP SHUT DOWN RADIO STATIONS --- By Violet Gonda 17 May 2007 At a summit in Ghana on Thursday the Minister of Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Patrick Chinamasa, launched a blistering attack on radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe and called on the African Commission to help close them down. Speaking during a session on the status of human rights in Africa, the government minister went on a propaganda campaign claiming media groups and non-governmental organisations have a western agenda that is pushing for regime change. Chinamasa said there is a massive misinformation drive by SW Radio Africa, Voice of America’s Studio 7 and Voice of the People (VOP). He then asked the Commission to put pressure on the countries hosting these radio stations to shut them down. Arnold Tsunga the Deputy Chairman of VOP, said it was clear that the regime was trying to play psychological games to try and win the sympathy of Africans but delegates were not fooled but actually shocked. He said: “It is not surprising that a minister from Zimbabwe can come before the African Commission and stupefy and make a complete mess of himself in terms of attacking the rights to freedom of expression in Zimbabwe which is enshrined in the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights.” Responding to this latest attack on the media our station manager Gerry Jackson said: “Chinamasa has conveniently left out the fact that radio stations are forced to broadcast from outside, because independent radio is not allowed in Zimbabwe.” Armed para military forcibly shut down Zimbabwe’s first independent radio station Capital Radio, started by Jackson in 2000. All the equipment was seized after just 6 days of tests broadcasts. Despite broadcasting regulations brought in at the time, that government claimed would allow for licences for private broadcasters, there are still no independent stations in Zimbabwe. Abel Chikomo from the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) said it was really worrying to see the Minister showing these strong views during the plenary session. In a wide ranging speech to the Africa Commission, Chinamasa also admitted to the plenary that the police did use violence against opposition officials on March 11 and added that the authorities will continue to use ‘appropriate force’ to crush acts of “terrorism.” He claimed between 2000 and 2005 more than 650 NGOs were created with a regime change agenda, and the government will make every effort to fight the siege it is under. Sources in Ghana said the minister’s statements were so threatening that the mood among Zimbabwean delegates from civic society changed during the meeting. It was feared that some of the civic groups were going to withdraw their names from the list of speakers as a result of the threats. But Jacob Mafume the Chairperson of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said the NGO community and members of the civic society were going to submit their presentation, which will show the true extent of repression in Zimbabwe. The groups are also receiving a lot of support from other human rights bodies in Africa. Zimbabwe has seen an escalation of violence against perceived opponents of the government in recent weeks. Scores of opposition, civic activists, church leaders, journalists, student and lawyers have been beaten and arrested. The orgy of violence has resulted in 4 people killed since March, while 32 MDC members have been in custody for almost two months. Mafume said that the government has shown no repentance and continues to brutalise innocent people. SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news (via David Pringle-Wood, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. There seems to be a similar very distorted audio on around 7290 at 1535 UT the 18 May. Just wondering if this is the one heard on around 7310v or something else (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7285 English / 7291.6 Arabic --- Yes Yari, two very distorted stations noted nearby at present. But not Chadienne music or French language fragments noted so far. 7285 1530-0330 38,39,47,48 MAS 500 238 ARABIC IRN IRB Arabic station - probably IRIB Mashad from 7285 kHz - seems to be wandered towards 7291.6 kHz at 1725 UT. S=9+10 dB 7285 - And a very 12 kHz broad band - probably - US evangelic- protestant - religious program noted at 7279.46 to 7291.38 kHz (small 2.3 kHz filter), maybe from Tashkent site in Uzbekistan. S=9+40dB 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) [Later:] Broad band station on 7285 is "UNI news" in US-American accented English, via IRRS Milano program, which was in last decade on Sofia Kostinbrod transmitter site. 7291.6: And Arabic could be RTVM Bamako in Arabic close-down at 1800 UT ??? which was varying between 7284 and 7287 kHz lately. 73 wb [Later2:] Re: distorted Arabic station. 7292.10 -- centered Arabic station with continuous talk is definitely NOT IRIB. No music heard yet. But heard few times 'Mali'. At 1850 UT on wide 7289.20 to 7294.04 kHz. 73 de wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Yimber Podcast Hola! los invito a visitar mi podcast ..Yimber Podcast.. alojado en Podomatic, y el url es: http://yimbergaviria.podomatic.com El objetivo principal es que escuchen los audios, como llegaron en su tiempo, en esas entonces cuando vivia en POPAYAN, en el departamento del Cauca. Nada de equipo sofisticado, solo las ganas de escuchar y hacer DX, hasta el momento los archivos alojados son una tanda de otras que tengo, pero que todavia no las he pasado a formato mp3. Espero que los audios escuchados sean de interes para los que verdaderamente saben sobre el DX. Espero seguir subiendo mas archivos para el interes de los diexistas. Para comentarios, escribir a: dxreport @ yahoo.com de su amigo y colega Yimber Gaviria, en Cali, Colombia. 73 (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is really a nice audio archive where items may be played individually, a great many of them. Some good historical ones, such as La Voz de Nicaragua. Mostly from his previous period of DX activity 1988-1991, but some new ones too; many illustrated with QSL or logos (gh, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ Re: DXLD 7-057 DRM Reception Notes ``On the other hand if you just want to bag the station, it is identified in a text box giving details such as name of station, type of program, country of origin, digital encoding method, and language. This is displayed at much lower SNR, say 5-10 db, so you know what you have even if you can`t hear it.`` But don´t believe everything you see there. The NASB transmission of the HCJB DX Programme via Sackville 9800 kHz on May 5th was labeled with "Deutsche Welle" ;-) 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As with all our wonderful new technology, GIGO (gh, DXLD) DTV: see CANADA RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ CAR VOLTAGE GOING UP Well, maybe this is not OT as I have a nice Sony SW car radio, and the car is my most RF-free site to DX by far . . . Anyway, I have heard talk that cars will be changed over to 42 volts very soon. Does anyone know when or why? Thanks (Eric Flodén, BC, May 17, ODXA, ABDX and IRCA via DXLD) The industry has been jawing about this since before 1999 and still no 42 volt system. You can Google for info on the 42 volt auto electrical system. Doesn't look like anytime soon and even when it does it is really a 36 volt system that charges at 42V DC. This will be for the auto electrical internal systems, not for add on components (R_GM_S_R [Retired GM Shop Rat] in northern Michigan, ODXA via DXLD) Eric, I have a pretty good idea that this is being done to improve the efficiency of the car's electrical system. The power lost in wiring, especially between the car's battery and the starter, is proportional to the square of current drawn. So if one raises the battery voltage from 12 to 24 volts, the current wasted drops to ? of that wasted at 12 volts. By the same token, there's been a proposal kicked around somewhere inside government and the electrical utility industry to raise the voltage coming into homes to 1,000 volts, and then step it down with a small autotransformer to 120/240 volts. That'll save some of the power wasted in the service entrance conductors. Happy High Voltage to You! (Charles A Taylor, WD4INP Greenville, North Carolina, ABDX via DXLD) Hi Eric, They are changing over to 42 volt batteries to power the hybrid cars. The driving motors must have enough torque to power the car while the gasoline engine is off. Eventually all accessories will run on 42 volts (John Hunter, IRCA via DXLD) I was told this WAS to start happening a few years ago. 12V systems are currently at the limit, and higher voltage systems mean smaller everything. And also the ability to run more powerful hybrid stuff. Now to really get things going --- battery technology needs to take a big leap forward! (Powell E. Way III, IRCA via DXLD) It has to do with accessories and some items being changed from mechanical to electrical power. Power steering, brakes and several other subsystems. It appears that the alternator might be moved to behind the flywheel and integrated with the starter. It also makes hybrid operation easier. Newer vehicles will stop the engine rather than idle. Things like brakes and airconditioning need to keep going with the engine off. And, the restart of the engine needs to be instantaneous and quiet. Here's an example of one subsystem: http://www.delphi.com/manufacturers/auto/other/steering/electric/eps/ When will be subjective, depending on the vehicle. Much like the changeover from 6v to 12v which transitioned from the early to mid- 50's (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) ###