DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-092, August 4, 2007
Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING
edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com
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NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1369: ** tentative
Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 [confirmed August 4]
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 [irregular]
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
** ALGERIA. Re 7-091: Right now they run no English, as I speculated
yesterday, but again Arabic instead, with pips and news headlines not
starting until 1802 or so, so obviously the pips are just part of
their layout and not a time signal as one would expect. Enclosed a
mono mix-down of their hideous stereo stream as received here (Kai
Ludwig, Germany, 1818 UT Aug 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. Neil Kazaross wrote: ``Is Caribbean beacon still on?``
Yes, but having technical problems lately on the AM. The 1610 does not
simulcast the SW. It is a mix of English and Spanish brokered
programming. Before his death, Dr. Gene Scott said the engineers at
Caribbean Beacon were a "Bunch of dumbasses". That could explain the
technical problems and wrong programming on the wrong transmitters at
times. Last night for the first time I heard Cuba on 1610 as well
(Kevin Possum Hunter, location unknown but can we guess?, Aug 4, ABDX
via DXLD) ? Are you sure it wasn`t after his death? (gh, DXLD)
** ARMENIA. RFE/RL lands Armenian affiliate. "The Broadcasting Board
of Governors (BBG) has renewed a contract to carry the programs of
Radio Liberty's Armenian language service on a private radio network
based in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The contract with AR Radio
Intercontinental runs from August 15, 2007 until September 14, 2008.
The network has 23 transmitters, which cover Yerevan and a number of
outlying districts. ... However, Gedmin noted that efforts to renew a
contract with Armenian Public Radio, which has transmitters covering
the entire country, have so far proven unsuccessful."
http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2007/08/37FF98E4-014A-4A5B-9095-6EF37CE2DBAB.ASP
RFE/RL press release, 1 August 2007. 03 Aug 2007 (kimandrewelliott.com
via DXLD)
** BELGIUM. Tnx to Bill Wilkins, Springfield MO, for sending along the
Été 2007 program booklet he got July 31 from RTBF. It contains
generalized program sked info for the 9970 + satellite transmissions,
and maps of the footprints of both. Astra 1KR for Europe and NSS7 for
Africa have realistic footprint maps, altho uncalibrated. But like
last year, the Eurafrican map of the SW coverage area looks like
fantasy. It shows a dark circle over central Africa, which is nothing
like a SW signal from Belgium would produce --- only a NVIS signal
from the centre of the circle, which this transmission is certainly
not. It shows another smaller dark circle centred in the middle of the
Mediterranean, equally fabulous. Larger, lighter circles, presumably
secondary or less-reliable coverage areas, surround them, but the
European ones are concentric, while the African one is tangential!
Altho the circles are obviously not reflective of a real SW coverage
area, this at least implies that two different antennas are in use,
one high-angle for Europe and one low-angle takeoff for Africa, altho
there is only one frequency, 9970. But HFCC has just one entry showing
a single antenna and azimuth, 167 degrees with 100 kW from Wavre.
Probably what really happens is that the first hop comes down in the
Mediterranean (or they hope, European land areas adjacent), and the
third(?) hop comes down around Congo DR, if they are lucky. More big
news: since 2006, 24-hour FM relay in Kinshasa on 99.2.
The SW coverage page in the booklet says, times carefully converted to
UT here, for
SEu, 9970 runs at 05-20 Apr-Oct, and 07-17 Nov-Mar
CAf, 9970 runs at 03-0430 & 19-21 Apr-Oct, and 04-06 & 17-2215 Nov-Mar
So once again the breaks and overlaps really don`t make sense either.
Is there really a break currently on 9970 at 0430-0500? (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BULGARIA. Does anybody still remember the typical, metallic-
sounding noise that always plagued one of the Ukrainian transmitters
until they took it aside when the RUI schedule had been cut down? One
of the 500 kW transmitters at Padarsko has developed an almost
identical noise, just noted on German 1900-2000 on 5900. Bassy
modulation, unlike what had been heard in the past, but altogether it
sounds somewhat muffled (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 3, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
Re Bulgaria - the noisy transmitter has been heard here on 5900 and
11600. The effect is distracting, but not so bad as the noise that
sometimes occurs via Romania's sender(s). (Noel R. Green, Aug 4,
dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. Continuous Radio Canada International identification noted
in French/English 0758 tune in on 6045, faded out 0828. Any ideas?
(Edwin Southwell, July 7, World DX Club Contact via DXLD)
6045 is used from Sackville for Korea`s Spanish to Europe 0600-0630 so
I would think either the transmitter had not automatically turned off
or that they were testing the propagation towards Europe at this time
(Mike Barraclough, ed., ibid.) Have previously heard them doing this
for a few minutes past 0630 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
** CANADA. CHTO 1690 Toronto: At 1100 EDT, I've got them in decently
here in Rochester, 80 miles or so across the lake. Mediterranean-
sounding music, then a long TOH announcement about the station
testing, with studio location and a phone number to call about
interference. They appear to be on 1690.0 right now. s (Scott Fybush,
Aug 3, IRCA via DXLD)
** CANADA [and non]. The Toronto station CHHA has recently moved their
transmitter, and ever since, it has been often heard in Memphis. It
apparently made a huge difference. I'd bet that they could easily be
heard anywhere the big Toronto stations like CJBC are heard (Adam
Myrow, TN, NRC-AM via DXLD)
It's good, but nowhere near THAT good. CHHA has the advantage of a
very clear channel on 1610, as well as a short antenna right on the
edge of Lake Ontario. That gives it good skywave takeoff for the sort
of long-distance reception we're all reporting, and I expect we'll see
some pretty spectacular reports on its signal this winter. (Patrick
Martin - have you heard this one out west yet?) Closer in, CJBC still
has all the advantages. 50 kW from a half-wave tower on 860 will beat
10 kW from a short tower on 1610 any day of the week. 860 is like a
local here in Rochester, 80 miles across the lake, while CHHA is deep
DX via groundwave, buried under a couple of local TISes just to add
insult to injury. s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, ibid.)
Didn't they get a power increase to 10 KW Day too? I seem to recall
one of the Canadian XBanders getting 10 KW Day (Paul B. Walker, Jr.,
ibid.)
Yes, they did - they needed more juice to get back into the ethnic
neighborhoods north and west of downtown Toronto after losing the site
right in the heart of that area that they had been using. The
neighbors didn't like hearing CHHA in their telephones and toasters,
so the station moved to a site on the Toronto waterfront, which is
great for DX but not so much for actually serving the audience they're
trying to serve. (It's on the wrong side of all the RF blockage that
the big steel buildings of downtown Toronto cause.) s (Scott Fybush,
ibid.)
Scott or others, It seems ironic with all the Canadian stations
dropping off the AM band in favor of FM that Canada would authorize
use of the X-band. Are newly-manufactured radios in Canada (and Mexico
too, for that matter, since they have X-banders) required to provide
X-band coverage? Was this all part of some NARBA agreement which I
missed? (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, NRC-AM via DXLD)
On the first question - using the X-band provides a quick and dirty
way to put low-cost stations on the air in Canadian cities where the
FM band is full, or nearly so. With the exception of the Canadian
clear channels, the use of most other AM channels in the "regular"
band in Canada requires directional antennas (sometimes very complex
ones) to protect the US border. On the X-band, all you need is a
fairly short Valcom fiberglass whip antenna (made in Canada, no less)
and a warehouse rooftop and you're on the air. That's why we're seeing
1610/1650/1690 light up in Montreal, for instance, while other
"abandoned" AM channels (600, 850, 1410, 1470) remain dark. The 600
there was a huge 4-tower array; the 1410 took 6 towers to protect WPOP
and other co-channel US stations.
On the second question, here's my guess - I don't know of any specific
mandates that radios made in or imported into Canada cover the X-band,
but I doubt there'd need to be. There are very, very few radios
designed specifically for the Canadian market, after all. As long as
manufacturers are required to include the X-band in products destined
for the US, Canada will get them, too. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.)
I rent cars a lot in my travels in Canada and every single one has had
x-band coverage for at least 10 years if not longer. (I first became
aware of the x-band on a trip to The City in 1995 or so and heard KDIA
on 1650 or so -- I noticed as I had QSLed them on 1310 years earlier)
ef on the road a lot (Eric Flodén, BC, ibid.)
Just 'cause I'm feeling nitpicky tonight <g> - the KDIA that operated
on 1640, then 1630, then back on 1640 again in Vallejo, CA has no
connection at all to the KDIA in Oakland that was on 1310. That one's
still on 1310, still transmitting from the same site next to the Bay
Bridge toll plaza, and is now Radio Disney as KMKY.
The KDIA on 1640 in Vallejo was the X-band outgrowth of the old KNBA
on 1190 (now KDYA). The 1190 is still in Vallejo itself, at the site
where 1640/1630/1640 started, but the X-bander has moved south and now
diplexes with KNEW 910 in Richmond, a few miles north of the 1310
site.
I remember when the 1640 came on for the first time out there. With a
completely empty channel (it was the very first X-bander, as I
recall), it was an easy barefoot catch at my then-QTH in Waltham, MA -
the only CA I ever logged there, in fact. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.)
** CHINA. CRI in Russian on 6100, August 3 until 1257*, good signal on
500 kW aimed 55 degrees from Beijing site, thus onward toward us past
DVR. Per Aoki, resumes at 1300 in Mongolian but aimed NW from Beijing
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** COLOMBIA. Bienvenidos a "Historias de Radio", un programa donde el
pasado y el presente de la radio se dan la mano. Una idea y producción
de Daniel Camporini. Realizado, íntegramente, en el estudio de
diexismo y comunicación, Munro, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Esta semana el programa está dedicado a "La Radio en Colombia". Sabías
que la primera emisora radial en la historia de Colombia comenzó a
funcionar en Bogotá y no en Barranquilla como erróneamente se ha dicho
y se ha escrito en diversas ocasiones? La radio en Colombia se puso en
marcha impulsada desde el gobierno y en medio de las expectativas del
gran público, se le denominó HJN y se inauguró el jueves 5 de
septiembre de 1929 a las 11 de la mañana. Esta y otras historias
podrás escuchar en este magnífico programa que no puedes dejar de
escuchar.
Si quiere estar informado sobre la historia de la radiodifusión
mundial, este es su programa; no se pierdan cada sábado este fenomenal
espacio. Para cualquier comentario sobre el programa se pueden dirigir
a: diexismoarg @ yahoo.com.ar
Pueden escucharlo, a partir del sábado, en su página:
http://es.geocities.com/programas_dx/historiasderadio.htm
También en Programas DX: http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/
Cordiales 73 (José Bueno, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR. 4909.23, Radio Chaskis, Otavalo, 0410-0435, August 4,
Spanish talk, Ecuadorian music. Weak. Presumed (Brian Alexander, PA,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** FINLAND. Radiomaailma/Radioworld via Scandinavian Weekend Radio is
a special transmission starting 21 UT on August 3rd from annual
summermeeting of Finnish DX Association held in Ylöjärvi
http://tredxk.hard-core-dx.com/kesis2007/
You can follow atmosphere and happenings in this meeting directly from
our remote studio in meeting place.
We shall have 1500 watts ERP-power on our 25 mb frequencies and
transmitting powers of 400 watts on MW 1602 kHz and 100 watts on 49 m.
There will be issued a Special QSL from this transmission. Send your
reports with 2 IRC's, 2 Euros or 2 US-dollars to:
SWR Reports
P O Box 99
FI-34801 Virrat FINLAND
e-mails to our studios: studio(at)swradio(piste)net
Aikataulu - Schedule 04.08.2007 Radiomaailma/Radioworld via SWR
Local Frequency - Taajuudet Program details - Ohjelmatietoja
Time 48 25 MW Studio UT
00-01 6170 11720 1602 00.00 Lähetys alkaa.
00.15 Kesisstudio: Kesäkokouksen
avajaisseremoniat. Y 21-22
01-02 6170 11690 1602 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 22-23
02-03 6170 11690 1602 02.00 Hukala.net News.
02.05 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 23-00
03-04 6170 11690 1602 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 00-01
04-05 6170 11690 1602 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 01-02
05-06 6170 11690 1602 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 02-03
06-07 6170 11690 1602 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 03-04
07-08 6170 11690 1602 Kesisstudio: Madmanin sävellahja.
Vinyylinvingutusta, CD:n rousketta ja
kesäkokouslauantain sisäänajoa aamuvirkuille.
Y 04-05
08-09 6170 11690 1602 Kesisstudio: Huomenta kesäkokouksesta by Dj
Häkä. Y 05-06
09-10 6170 11690 1602 Aamuviihteellä SWR crew. V 06-07
10-11 6170 11720 1602 Aamuviihteellä SWR Dj Esa. V 07-08
11-12 6170 11720 1602 Kesisstudio: DX-kolmiottelu. (live) Y 08-09
12-13 6170 11720 1602 12.00 Hukala.net News.
12.05 Taajamakuuntelijan tehoantennit. Y 09-10
13-14 6170 11720 1602 "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" an in
depth look at this ground breaking album
presented by TrickyTrev. V 10-11
14-15 6170 11720 1602 14.00 Hukala.net News.
14.05 Kesisstudio: Radioruletti. Kesiksen
kuudestilaukeava Madmanin käsissä. Y 11-12
15-16 6170 11720 1602 TrickyTrev presents Jeff Waynes Musical Version
of "War of the Worlds" Tricky looks at part one
of this remastered classic album which features
original 1978 famous cast (a must hear) V 12-13
16-17 6170 11690 1602 TrickyTrev's "60's show " a chance to relive
those "groovy baby" days with some classic
tracks that we all love. V 13-14
17-18 6170 11690 1602 Tricky's "Party time" a mix of music for the
early evening, a warm up for a Saturday night
out. V 14-15
18-19 6170 11690 1602 Kesisstudio: Iltatuulen viesti kesäkokouksesta
2007 by Madman. Y 15-16
19-20 5980 11720 1602 Kesisstudio: Happy Hour by JMN. Y 16-17
20-21 5980 11720 1602 Softaradiot käytännössä. Y 17-18
21-22 6170 11690 1602 FM-paneeli. Y 18-19
22-23 6170 11690 1602 TreDXK ry 40 vuotta -juhlaesitelmä. Y 19-20
23-24 6170 11690 1602 Tunnelmapaloja iltaohjelmasta ja closing
seremony. Y 20-21
73' (Alpo Heinonen, SWR, August 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Less info: http://www.swradio.net [in advance on the dxldyg]
** GERMANY. Media&Broadcast schedule updates
Some recent changes in Media&Broadcast shortwave transmissions (see
also A07web_15a.pdf in Yahoo group):
MV Baltic Radio:
Another additional transmission is scheduled for September 16, as
always 1200-1300 on 6045 (Jülich, using the HQ antenna). This could
again be a broadcast from a third party like Coloradio (Dresden) or
Radio Zusa (Uelzen/Dannenberg).
Christian Voice:
The transmissions via Wertachtal, supposed to be replaced by an
additional transmitter at Zambia, have again been prolonged and are
now scheduled until August 31.
Bible Voice Broadcasting:
Some transmissions have been added on the Nauen transmitters,
abandoned by Deutsche Welle in spring: Daily at varying times in the
1500...1559 period towards 95 deg. on 15140 and 15530, Thu only 2000-
2030 on 9665 towards 145 deg., all with 250 kW.
Trans World Radio:
5910 1807-1840, added on May 28, has again been cancelled on July 30.
DRM for Broadcast Center Europe (i.e. RTL):
5990 is on air via Wertachtal Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri 0530-1630 plus Wed
0530-1729, 90 kW towards 270 deg.
International Broadcasting Bureau:
Updated entries are from May 1 1800-1845 9875 Wertachtal 250 kW to 150
deg. (VOA in Amharic) and from June 15 1500-1659 9725 Jülich 100 kW to
60 deg. (RL Belorussian), but these appear to be engineering
adjustments, specifically antenna changes, only. But what about
another entry updated on June 15, 1730-1800 7235 Wertachtal 250 kW to
90 deg.; what's this?
Radio Miami International:
Site for Minivan Radio on 11965 is again Jülich.
Another new transmission, launched on July 8: Saturdays only 1700-1729
on 15650, Wertachtal 125 kW towards 135 deg.; what's this? (Kai
Ludwig, Germany, August 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Glenn: 15650: I guess this is Voice of Oromia Independence, which has
been on for over a year now. But I think it has been on from Juelich,
so maybe it has been switched to Wertachtal (Jeff White, RMI, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. XM / Sirius audio quality (DXLD 7-087)
>> I siriusly (yuck, yuck) doubt the bird is the problem with the
sound quality. Both XM and Sirius are digital, so you either get the
signal or you don't. I've always thought the XM sound quality was due
to too much compression. I recall reading somewhere they're using 96
kbps on the music channels. (Talk channels must be about 32 kbps with
horrible artifacts.) I'm not sure that correlates directly to MP3 bit
rates, but it's clearly less than optimal (Jay Heyl, FL, ibid.) <<
Both XM and Sirius are suspected to use less than 96 kbps, cf.
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t56289.html
I don't know how XM sounds, but for Sirius some samples are available
at
http://www.opengeek.org/2005/03/hd-radio-analog-fm-mp3-and-ogg-audio.html
Music channels sound dull to me, lacking transparency and clarity, and
on speech as well as critical material like cymbals things already
start to fall apart into a digital mess. Audio bandwith is limited to
12 kHz (hard cut-off), and quite a lot of dynamics compression is in
use as well.
Talk channels (last two examples on the mentioned page) generally
sound like mediumwave, but with the added products of heavy data
reduction. Here a 8 kHz low-pass is applied.
My conclusions: Nothing I would like to listen to. It might be
acceptable for car use, but not for decent loudspeakers or headphones.
(Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Amateur radio satellites are in orbit, not
one or two, but several of them, but they all seem to be getting very
little use. Today I will try here to attempt to understand why the
existing amateur radio satellites are seeing such little use, and the
first thing that comes to my attention is that among radio amateurs
there is very little knowledge about ham satellites and how you can
operate using them. After the fiasco caused by the failure of the
Oscar 40 super amateur satellite that was supposed to last for many
years in its elliptical orbit, interest in amateur satellites dropped
dramatically, and in my opinion it has never recovered. Another
contributing factor to the present low use of ham satellites was also
the failure of the popular Russian RS10 and RS12 easy sats, that could
be accessed using very simple antennas and equipment.
Now there are some signs of a revival in interest in the use of
amateur satellites, that focuses mainly on using them during ham radio
contests to boost the number of points by both club and individual
stations, at a moment when as we all know well, HF propagation
conditions are very poor.
But, again, after carefully attempting to find out why ham radio
satellites see such little use nowadays, there seems to be yet another
important element, and that is the fact that the presently available
satellites are at very low altitude Earth orbits, so the time
available to make two way contacts is really very limited for even the
best possible conditions between two stations.
Prospects for a satellite with similar operating characteristics as
the doomed Oscar 40 are not optimistic at all, so my point of view is
that amateur radio satellite communications will remain at the present
low ebb for years to come. Yes, it is one of the more than 81 ways you
and I can enjoy the radio hobby, and at the present time it doesn't
require a lot of expensive equipment or sophisticated antennas. So, if
you are already an amateur radio station operator, explore the
possibilities of testing your ham station's satellite communications
possibilities. At these times of extremely poor HF propagation
conditions, satellites keep operating as usual, because they don't
depend on solar activity to provide two way communications (Arnie
Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited Aug 4, HCDX via DXLD)
** ISRAEL. Re 7-091: The schedule we last saw on the internet shows
Ladino at 1645-1700 and Spanish at 1715-1730. I haven't checked it
thoroughly so it may not be correct. Whenever I hear Ladino I cannot
tell the difference between it and Spanish. Are they one and the same,
or are there differences? So, Ladino is the service at 1645-1700 and
Spanish is at 1715-1730 as per schedule? (Noel R. Green, NW England,
dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Yes, there are some differences, such as `strange` or archaic words
here and there. I should think these would stand out to a Castilian
(or Catalan) speaker. Could be Kol Israel defaults to regular
Castilian during some of the Ladino time (Glenn, ibid.)
Según parece ser, este servicio sería en judeo-español, (ladino).
Se pueden escuchar los programas de kol Israel bajo demanda en:
http://reka.iba.org.il/
Hay que reconocer la similitud entre el ladino y el español; es apenas
unas palabras diferentes:
Español: Palestinos, Ladino: Palestinianos.
Arabe Arabo
Jerusalem Jerusalaim
A [sic] dicho A disho
Policia Policies
Frontera Fronteres
Eridos Feridos
Etc., etc. Curioso e interesante (José Miguel Romero, Spain, ibid.)
I'm not surprised at this, since "Jerusalaim" is very similar to the
Hebrew pronunciation (transliterated in English: Yerushalayim). I
imagine there are a lot of Hebrewisms in Ladino, as there are in
Yiddish (the other traditional vernacular language of European Jews).
(Saul Broudy, Philadelphia, PA USA, ibid.)
** ITALY. Rai still on SW? Re 7-091: If I understand Raul's message
correctly, he is saying that the services to North, Central and S.
America on 11800 and 9840 are still on air. These services are sched
between 2240 and 0335. Two additional frequencies are listed for
Italian at 0130-0230 = 6110 and 11765.
However, on Aug. 2 I tried the 1830-1905 service to N America in
Italian on 17780 and 15380 but couldn't hear either - perhaps due to
no propagation, unless Italian language services have been reduced?
Italian via Singapore relay 11920 at 1000 is either not propagating or
not on air on Aug. 3.
Services heard on Aug. 2 included Serbian at 1910 on 6130 - and much
louder than preceding tent. Polish until 1900 on the same frequency
that was mixing with better TWR SWZ. Somali was on air at 1910 via
11890 with a loud signal and English to E Africa & ME on good 5970 and
poor 11875. Portuguese followed at 2050 on 11875 to the same area //
6110 & 7130 to NW Africa. And I heard bird chirps on 15240 at 2050,
but too weak to copy the language - I assume it was Portuguese to C
Africa. Earlier Italian transmissions to this area - as reported
previously - were not audible (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Exactly the same situation today. At 1855 tune-in I found 6130 on air
with Italian songs, accompanied by a whistle of roughly 800 Hz which
suddenly disappeared at 1858 before I had made out whether it was
transmitted or a het from a co-channel transmitter severely off
frequency (HFCC suggests "TIG 50 kW", i.e. the Romanian Saftica site,
as possible culprit). At 1859 the RAI transmission suddenly cut from
the ongoing song over to a closing announcement for "broadcasts to
eastern Europe" as far as I could make out, then the open carrier
stayed on air till past 1905.
At 1910 a stronger RAI carrier appeared again on 6130, immediately
followed by modulation of already running opener for RAI in Serbian
and welcome from announcer with contact details and so on. It just
makes no sense that this transmission comes in stronger here than
Polish before, it should be the other round if really an antenna
switch is involved, but HFCC suggests that the same antenna is in use
for both transmissions. Modulation depth is better on the Serbian
broadcast from 1910, too, furthermore a slight distortion which
plagued the transmission until 1900 is gone as well, so this appears
to be another transmitter in better condition. The audio input into
the transmitter is of course the same, heavily filtered to phone
bandwidth and with an AGC with very low threshold and release set to
about 3 seconds in the chain, during pauses of the announcers sucking
up the residual noise picked up by the studio mic to full volume. And
while I'm on the radio ... [see BULGARIA] (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August
3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Re the comments from Kai Ludwig - according to the HFCC registrations
for RAI on 6130, what is in use until 1900 should also be in use from
1905/1910, but obviously "something" changes. I had difficulty in
recognising the language of their Polish transmission due to the poor
and QRMed signal, but the Serbian service was "loud and clear". As Kai
intimates, I also would suggest another transmitter and antenna are in
use.
6130 1800 1900 28E ROM 100 52 1234567 250307 281007 D various I RAI
6130 1905 1955 28E ROM 100 52 1234567 250307 281007 D various I RAI
(Noel R. Green, Aug 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAMAICA. JBC is the one that went away. I have a v/l from JBC 750
Port Maria, from the early 1960's, a bit of a collector's item, I'd
imagine. RJR just IDs as their FM, and I think "94" is part of their
ID. 720 is about the only Jamaican I ever hear anymore and I'm a near
local to them in Tampa. Any time I hear voice from there, it is in the
beautiful (to me anyway) Caribbean accent (Bob (K2EUH once and now
nowhere near NY) Foxworth, Tampa FL, ABDX via DXLD)
** KOREA NORTH. 13760v, Voice of Korea (presumed), *0700 to past 0800,
July 31 & August 1, 2 and 3; IS, anthem, into programming in Russian,
varied from 13759.9 to 13760.1, weak. No sign of CTN programming (via
Meyerton) since their August 1 move here (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA,
Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) also see SIERRA LEONE [non]
** KOREA NORTH [non]. RHC 6000 now has a het in the mornings here on
6003, and no doubt that is from the new frequency of Echo of Hope,
clandestine from S to N Korea. Not strong enough at 1251 August 3 to
really bother RHC, but detectable; on // 6348, heavy swish jamming
dominated (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KUWAIT. 11990, Radio Kuwait, 1800-1905+, August 4, Tune-in to
National Anthem followed by English opening announcements. Some local
Arabic music & talk about Islam. US & Euro-pop music at 1814. News at
1830. Back to US pop music at 1834. Program about Kuwaiti women at
1900. Good signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LIBERIA [non]. see SIERRA LEONE [non]
** LIBYA. 17870, Voice of Africa, 1404-1559*, August 4, English IDs.
African pop music. Talk about human rights. News at 1435-1443.
Readings from the Green Book. Fair to good. // 17725-weak (Brian
Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MALDIVE ISLANDS [non]. GERMANY, 11965, Minivan R. via DTK Aug 01
*1600-1615 33433-23432 Vernacular, 1600 sign on with R. Miami
International's ID, 1600 IS, ID, Talk, QRM from CRI on co/channel;
Thanks for tip from Seiiti Hasegawa, (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan
Premium Aug 3 via DXLD)
I forwarded to Jeff White the above report, and the previous one from
Spain indicating considerable QRM from China, as received elsewhere
(gh)
Glenn: Maybe so, but take a listen to this recording from the
Maldives. There's absolutely no QRM that I can hear (Jeff White, RMI,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Jeff, Fine; I wasn`t disputing your report from the scene (maybe no
QRM but reception pretty poor; I guess motivated Dhivehis could make
it out). If it works for MR, it works, and I`m sure CRI is not losing
much in its target area, with plenty of redundancy anyway. Still,
strange DTK would have picked that frequency. Without checking the
map, it seems Kashi to Europe would be more like off the side to
Maldives, rather than off the back. 73, (Glenn to Jeff, via DXLD)
Glenn: I agree, it seems weird that T-Systems would have chosen a CRI
channel, and it does seem like that would have the potential of
causing serious QRM in the Maldives area. So I'm amazed that CRI
wasn't even the slightest bit audible in the recording they sent me.
But as you say, if it works for the Maldives, it works. I think its
worth keeping an ear on though in case the first day's recording was a
fluke. I appreciate your reports (Jeff White, RMI, Aug 3, via DXLD)
** MEXICO [and non]. XEXQ, 6045, now definitely heard again, as
classical vocal music was audible August 3 at 1248; 1259 piano music,
1300 announcement by YL but too weak to make out. This had a hefty 4
Hz SAH from something, presumably the FE station on 6045 which might
otherwise go unnoticed. Aoki shows that is now:
VOICE OF RUSSIA 1100-1400 1234567 Chinese 250 kW 230 degrees
Vladivostok-Rasdoln RUS 13157E, 4332N VOR a07 and followed by another
hour in English, same parameters.
Also, no trace of XEYU carrier on 9599.2 once Cuba had closed, at 1303
August 3 nor 4 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS. The Opinión de los lectores section of the Radio
Enlace website
http://www.informarn.nl/programas/programassemanales/RadioEnlace
is filling up with objexions to the announced cancellation of the
program in October. Here are a few of the latest ones, some of which
aren`t even in Spanish, but Portuguese or Italian, if not Swedish:
JOSE RONALDO XAVIER, 02-08-2007 - BRASIL
POR FAVOR, NÃO DEIXEM RADIO ENLACE SAIR DO AR. É O MELHOR PROGRAMA DE
RADIOCOMUNICAÇÃO DEDICADO AOS OUVINTES.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Luis Oscar Ottone, 02-08-2007 - Argentina
No estoy convencido de que la decisión de cierre de programas fuese
del Sr Zepeda, pero si así lo fuera, creo creo que no tuvo en cuenta
que se puede innovar/ampliar los programas, pero sin afectar los
conceptos fundamentales, manteniendo los mismos dado que tienen una
gran relevancia en los oyentes, que SI son “vinculantes” o ¿acaso el
programa no está dirigido a ellos? Finalmente creo que el cierre del
programa Radio Enlace, como otros de RN, provocará una gran tristeza
para aquellos que como yo, se iniciaron en la radio en su juventud,
dejando volar la imaginación mediante la escucha de las Broadcastings
internacionales.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Enrique Wembagher, 01-08-2007 - Argentina
Si bien el avance de las comunicaciones no ha hecho emigrar
compulsivamente a otros medios de escucha, esta no es razon para que
RADIO ENLACE deje de emitirse. POR FAVOR SRES DIRECTORES DE
PROGRAMACION, No sean hipocritas y recapaciten !!! Radio Enlace merece
estar entre la grilla de programas OBLIGATORIOS de RNW !!! NO A LA
DESAPARICION DE RADIO ENLACE !!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Henrik Klemetz, 01-08-2007 - Suecia
Lo hemos oído antes. Se requiere “un proceso de revitalización”. Hay
que “hacer modificaciones”. Es cierto que en la radio, como en otros
campos, cada cosa tiene su tiempo. Igual de cierto es que hay
programas radiales emblemáticos que, cuando desaparecen, dañan el
goodwill acaparado durante años.
Cuando el fundador del programa “Sweden Calling DX-ers” se hizo viejo,
decidió sustituirlo por un magacín electrónico, presentado por una
persona con quien solo compartía el apellido (en traducción [Skoog &
Wood]). No fue ningún acierto, pues se trataba de una “renovación”
impuesta por la radio y no por el respetable público de la emisora.
Cuando el “DX Juke Box” se convirtió en “Media Network”, fue un paso
en adelante. Pero cuando al presentador de este programa lo
ascendieron, ya no le quedó tiempo para seguir al frente del programa
que lo había catapultado a la cima. Con la desaparición de “Media
Network”, a mi se me quitó el principal motivo para seguir
sintonizando el programa en inglés de Radio Nederland.
Si los moderadores de “Radio Enlace” piensan que ya les llegó la hora
de “plegar”, tienen todo el derecho de hacerlo. Que lo hagan con la
cabeza en alto, pues han realizado una labor importante, pero que a
José Zepeda le conste que no solo deberá tapar el vacío que se forme
sino que deberá reemplazarlo por algo todavía mejor (aunque no
necesariamente de tanta extensión en minutos).
Me sorprende cuando dice que “la opinión de los oyentes la toma en
alta consideración, pero que no es vinculante”, que “es importante
pero no determinante”, y que “no siempre la gente tiene razón”. Como
director tiene todo el derecho de expresar su criterio. Pero queda por
ver si con el anunciado “proceso de revitalización” saldrá ganando
Radio Nederland. Henrik Klemetz
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dario Villani, 01-08-2007 - Italia
Dopo 30 anni di trasmissioni, posso capire che sia necessario qualche
cambiamento nel palinsesto, ma la formula di RADIOENLACE è talmente
fortunata da renderlo un evergreen. Forse Jaime e Alfonso devono
andare in pensione? Non chiudete questo programma. Ve lo chiedo a nome
di circa 9-10 mila visitatori del nostro sito web, radiomagazine.net
Grazie. Dario Villani giornalista
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Carlos Mourato, radiofarol@gmail.com, 01-08-2007 - Portugal
Porque hacem esso? Esso es un buenissimo programa , com muchissima
information tecnica, e que interessa a decenas de milhares de
radioescuchas e radioaficionados por el mundo. La onda corta es muy
importante para la radiodifusion, e el programa es muy importante para
la cultura tecnica de los oyentes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
João Costa, 01-08-2007 - PORTUGAL
Estou ainda em estado de choque com esta incrivel noticia "el término
de Radio Enlace" pois são 30 anos de programas que desaparecem. Caro
Sr José Zepeda, director del departamento latinoamericano de Radio
Nederland, os argumentos invocados são da MAIS PURA e SINISTRA
HIPOCRISIA e concordo em absoluto com a analise do Pedro Sedano. Tal
como ele, já escutei demasiadas decisões POLITICAS e ECONOMICAS para o
encerramento de diversa emissoras, mas iguais ás invocadas por V. Exª
ultrapassam tudo até hoje dito.
Y para terminar le preguntaría, ¿quien o quienes son los nombres y
apellidos responsables de esta increible decisión? Um VERDADEIRO
DIRECTOR seria o PRIMEIRO que debería de encabezar un Comité de
Protesta y ser la Voz de NOSOTROS los oyentes ante la Dirección de R.
Nederland o ante la persona o personas que se están equivocando. Seja
um HOMEM LIVRE e PEÇA A SUA DEMISÂO, pois ao não faze-la está a
pactuar com este ENORME ATENTADO "TERRORISTA" desenvolvido dentro do
departamento latino-americano da Radio Nederland. João Costa desde
PORTUGAL (via DXLD)
** PAKISTAN. TWO NEW MEGAWATT MEDIUMWAVE TRANSMITTERS FOR PAKISTAN
The Director of Engineering for the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation
(PBC), Mukkaram Khan Niazi, says that PBC has decided to install 1000
kiloWatt mediumwave transmitters in Umerkot and Lahore to extend the
range of its broadcasts to about 500 kilometres radius. The project,
to cost Rs1,200 million (US$20 million), was discussed in the Central
Working Party and referred to the Executive Committee of the National
Economic Council for final approval, he added. Mr Niazi said that the
engineering wing of the PBC had manufactured some transmitters in its
own factory.
(Source: Dawn) (August 4th, 2007 - 8:57 UTC by Andy, Media Network
blog via DXLD) WTFK? WTFK?
** ROMANIA. Subject: Romania 1989 (DXLD 7-088)
>> Romania hung its leader (Nicolae Ceausescu, d. 1989) <<
Well, actually he had been shot to death. Perhaps it is not so well
known, but the revolution in Romania was largely a TV event, as
documented in the German production "Videograms of a revolution" I
found extremely fascinating:
http://www.pecina.cz/files/www.ce-review.org/99/17/kinoeye17_privett.html
The red image mentioned herein actually contained an inscript
"Transmisiune Directa" or like that, i.e. "live transmission", and it
was very obvious that no technical problem had arisen, as this slide
tried to suggest. A screenshot of these last live TV pictures of
Nicolae Ceausescu:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/Ceausesculosingpower.jpg
Studio scene after rebels had occupied the TV centre on Dec 22 1989:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Tvr_revolution_%281989%29.jpg
Actual screenshots:
http://foundation.generali.at/fileadmin/artware/images/JPG/231/farocki_GF0003419.00_001.jpg
http://www.xposeptember.se/galleri/farockiweb.jpg
And footage from a few days later:
http://danielsimpson.blogspot.com/2001_12_01_danielsimpson_archive.html
(Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SAINT HELENA. Radio St Helena made another test transmission July
17 1900-2100 (Mike Barraclough, Aug World DX Club Contact) [11092.5U]
Strong signal here in Ludlow at S9 for the first 55 minutes with
occasional fading, no interference. Dropped to S3 at 1955 but peaked
again to S7 at 2040. After 2000, reception generally difficult. Music
quality OK but microphone audio somewhat muffled. Interested to note
that my Racal 6790 (crystal filter IF) copied the transmission
throughout the 2 hours I monitored, admittedly sometimes with
difficulty. The DSP receivers, TenTec RX340, Winradio 313 frequently
lost the signal completely during the weaker periods. Perhaps there is
life in the old technology yet (Glyn Jones, UK, ibid.)
** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. Re 7-091, LIBYA [and non]: Bueno, parece
que hoy no está en el aire la emisora afropop, estoy escuchando en
17660 a los saudíes en francés sin ningún tipo de interferencia;
tampoco parece estar en un barrido que he hecho por la banda, lo que
no me di cuenta ayer si ya no estaba. No es que los añore mucho o
poco, pero los de BSKSA deben estar contentos.
17660.0, 1355 ARS BSKSA-Ryad Señales horarias + inicio en francés
02/08 Fra 45444. Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez, Aug 2, Noticias DX via
DXLD)
** SIERRA LEONE [non]. 13760 (new frequency, ex: 9525), Cotton Tree
News (CTN) now via Meyerton (ex: Ascension), scheduled for 0730-0800,
starting from August 1. This per e-mail from Anne Bennett,
Coordinateur de Projet Sierra Leone, Fondation Hirondelle, Mount
Aureol, Freetown, Sierra Leone. I have not been able to hear them here
since the move. Wonder about Star Radio, have they also shifted their
0700-0730 programming here? (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST) also see KOREA NORTH
** TAIWAN [and non]. From Radio Taiwan Intl. website ---
RTI Broadcast problems
The following English broadcasts were suspended due to technical
difficulties. We apologize for the inconvenience.
On August 1, broadcasts to Europe from 2230 to 2300 UT on 15600 KHz.
On August 2, broadcasts to North America from 0200 to 0210 UT on 5950
KHz and from 0200 to 0210 UT on 9680 KHz.
However seems like more transmissions were affected, here's what I
heard on 31st July transmission to South Asia at 1650 utc on 15515 :
http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/rti_tech_snag.mp3
Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Aug 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING
DIGEST) All except 15515 are WYFR. Why only fraxions of each hour
affected?? Just news or material which is normally fed live? (Glenn
Hauser, DXLD)
** U K. Re: Landmark radio masts demolished ``BBC News 2 August 2007
... BT said the masts had been superseded by satellite and other
methods of communication.``
Is it asking too much to do some own research on news items instead of
just relaying the PR stuff issued by companies? Already a quick check
of Wikipedia would have been enough to find out that BT has simply
lost the former Rugby customers to the competition; neither the Royal
Navy's VLF communication with submarines nor the 60 kHz MSF time
signal were "superseded by satellite" but are on air via facilities of
VT Communications now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_VLF_transmitter (illustrated)
(Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) GBR
** U K. BUG STRIKES BBC WEB RADIO PLAYER
By Mark Sweney August 3, 2007 MediaGuardian.co.uk
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2141179,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=4
BBC online radio player: problems come as the corporation unveils the
'beta' test of its long-awaited iPlayer
A major technical glitch has hit the BBC's online radio player,
leaving listeners unable to access much of the service for several
weeks.
The radio player gives listeners live access to all the BBC radio
programming including Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio Five
Live, the Asian Network and about 50 local and regional radio
services. It also has a "listen again" facility.
Visitors seeking to use the player over the last several weeks have
been greeted with the following message: "We are experiencing severe
technical problems, and regret that many programmes are unavailable.
We are working to restore normal service. See station websites for
alternative links."
The BBC says that access to all of its radio content has still been
available if listeners avoid the radio player and instead visit the
websites of individual radio stations.
"We have had a problem with the database that runs the BBC radio
player," said the BBC in a statement.
"The current issue has arisen in the last couple of weeks. We've
rebuilt much of the software and have now fixed the worst of the
problems. However, throughout the problem, all our programmes have
still been available via 'listen again' on network's homepages."
The ongoing problem with the service comes at the same time that the
BBC has unveiled the public "beta" test of its long-awaited iPlayer.
The radio player and the BBC news player will eventually be integrated
into the iPlayer as a one-stop media shop for all BBC content.
But classical music and audio books will not be available through the
iPlayer after the BBC Trust ruled that it would have had a
disproportionate effect on commercial rivals.
The BBC has, this afternoon, removed the original error message which
appeared in the "launch BBC Radio Player" icon which stated, in bold,
that the BBC Radio Player is experiencing "severe" technical problems.
Under the "get help listening" link below the icon a toned down
explanation of the issues says:
"We are currently experiencing technical problems with listen again
streams on the BBC Radio Player. We regret that many programmes are
not available. We are working to restore normal service as quickly as
possible" (via Mike Terry, dxldyg; Dan Say, DXLD)
** U S A. Kim's review of new biography about Willis Conover.
Willis Conover: Broadcasting Jazz to the World, by Terrence M.
Ripmaster (iUniverse, 2007)…
If you go to my website about international broadcasting and search on
“jazz,” you’ll see several entries about musicians who were inspired
by Willis Conover’s jazz broadcasts on the Voice of America. They
listened from East Europe and the Soviet Union, as expected, but also
from India, Cuba, Sweden – all over the world, actually.
My own first memories of Willis Conover were as a teenaged shortwave
listener in Indiana. When I began working at VOA in 1985, I considered
it a perk to encounter the famous international broadcaster in the
corridors. Willis always had a smile and a hello for me. I don’t think
he ever knew my name.
Given all the people who knew Willis, or at least listened to him on
the radio, it’s surprising that the first biography about his was
written by someone who had never heard of him until after Willis’s
death in 1994. Nevertheless, Terrence M. Ripmaster, a retired history
professor, is an expert on jazz and its history, so he writes with
authority and recognizes the significance of Willis’s career.
Ripmaster goes back to the early days of Willis’s life. At age 16, he
started a publication for devotees of science fiction. By World War
II, his interests had shifted to music. During and after the war, he
was able to get work as host of jazz programs at radios stations in an
around Washington. This is in the days before radio was focused-
grouped and formatted, and when jazz was almost mainstream.
That must have been quite a time, those hipster days of the 1940s and
1950, when Willis frequented the jazz clubs of Washington and New
York. Cigarettes were more fashionable back then, and smoke filled
clubs even more so. I regret that I am a bit too young to have
experienced that scene, though my lungs are probably the better for
it.
As Ripmaster writes, for unknown reasons, Willis largely quit the club
scene when he was hired by the Voice of America, his first program in
January 1955. Willis always worked for VOA as a contractor rather than
in the civil service. This, he said, was to protect his
“independence,” though it may also have provided him with more
generous remuneration than received by the usual starting VOA
broadcaster. Willis did not receive benefits, such as health
insurance, which would have helped him as his health failed in the
1990s.
Ripmaster describes Willis’s many overseas trips, his efforts to break
the color line in the jazz scene, and his personal life. We readers of
biography always love gossipy, personal stuff … you do … don’t you? …
and so we learn about Willis’s five marriages, which produced a grand
total of zero children. But here, the author’s research trips up a
bit. On page 11, he writes that Willis married his first wife, Mary
Felker, in 1952. On page 19, we read that his marriage to Felker was
in 1947, ending in divorce in 1950.
Well, biography is difficult, especially when it involves gathering
information from the National Archives, from the Willis Conover
collection at the University of North Texas (did Willis ever set foot
in Texas?), from Willis’s friends and associates, and from VOA itself.
Ripmaster’s book meanders, like a procession of 4 x 6 index cards, so
you have my permission not to read it from front to back, but to
choose chapters as your mood suits.
When I interviewed him for VOA’s “Talk to America,” Ripmaster told me
there is enough material about Willis at the University of North Texas
for at least two more books. In the meantime, there is plenty of good
reading in his book for anyone interested in Willis’s life, VOA’s
past, or the history of American jazz. Posted: 03 Aug 2007
http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/?id=2065 (via DXLD)
Reviews of the new bio about Willis Conover. About Willis Conover:
Broadcasting Jazz to the World, by Terrence M. Ripmaster (iUniverse,
2007): "In places all around the world where America is hated today,
the name Willis Conover still draws smiles and releases a reserve of
goodwill, yet the bizarrely narrow and smug Ken Burns PBS series on
jazz a few years ago managed not even to mention Conover."
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/08/random_friday_question_what_to.html?nav=rss_blog
(Marc Fisher, Washington Post blog, 3 August 2007) See also my review
as written for the IBB house organ. [as above] (Kim Andrew Elliott,
kimandrewelliott.com Aug 3 via DXLD) See also ARMENIA
** U S A. George Moore, Deputy Director of IBB. I am very sad to share
with you the news of the sudden passing this morning (Aug. 3, 2007) of
George Moore, our beloved Deputy Director of the International
Broadcasting Bureau. George died at his home in Annapolis. All of us
join in expressing our most sincere condolences to George’s family.
George served as IBB’s Deputy Director since June 2006. He also served
as Director of Engineering from 2000 to 2006. He joined VOA
engineering in 1981 as a Transmitter Technician in Botswana, and
rapidly progressed through the ranks of the Foreign Service to Station
Manager. His other overseas assignments included Greece, Germany, and
Morocco.
George was promoted to the rank of Senior Foreign Service in July
1995, and in February 2003 he was promoted to the rank of Minister
Counselor. He was the first Foreign Service Officer within the IBB to
achieve this rank.
Before he joined the BBG, George served in various engineering and
management positions at radio and television stations in Columbus and
Savannah, Georgia, and with General Electric Telecommunications
Division in Lynchburg, Virginia.
James K. Glassman, Chairman, Broadcasting Board of Governors Posted:
03 Aug 2007 (via http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/?id=2069 via DXLD)
OBIT
** U S A. Re 7-091: 2 Responses to “BBG/IBB to install new mediumwave
transmitter at Marathon”
Hans Says: August 2nd, 2007 at 15:37 e
I think the maximum output power on AM for the U.S. is normally 50 kW.
Does this station have a special license?
Kai Ludwig Says: August 4th, 2007 at 12:20 e
FCC rules for commercial broadcasters, including the 50 kW power limit
for mediumwave stations, simply do not apply to the Marathon
transmitter because it is operated by the IBB as a governmental body.
Hence it also has no callsign whatsoever, like the Greenville and
Delano shortwave transmitters.
What I find quite remarkable is that they plan to squeeze the new
transmitter into the rather small control room instead of installing
it in the transmitter room. Presumably the latter is already fully
occupied by the existing gear? (To my knowledge two 50 kW
transmitters, operated as a pair.) (Media Network blog via DXLD)
** U S A. I happened to hear WWCR announce on 13845 at 1303 Aug 4 that
all four transmitters were going off the air for ``powerline and
electrical maintenance``, and would return when completed. Meanwhile
programming continues available on streams. Now`s our chance to hear
something else around 15825, 13845, 9985, 5890, later 12160, depending
on how long it lasts. (Glenn Hauser, OK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. High Adventure Ministries --- Below a translated
excerpt from Medien aktuell: Kirche im Rundfunk #144, published by
Hansjörg Biener, explaining what became of High Adventure Ministries:
"In 1999 Otis [who died July 22] handed the leadership over to Jackie
Mitchum Yockey, but she did not manage to keep High Adventure
together. Announced projects which were supposed to use the
transmitters pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2004 never
materialized. The successors of the ministry include Bible Voice UK,
Bible Voice USA und High Adventure Canada who broker airtime
[primarily on Media&Broadcast transmitters in Germany] as well as the
shortwave station T8BZ at Palau, now with own management and mostly
relaying Radio Free Asia programming. But the primary successor of
High Adventure who rigorously supported Israel is Voice of Jerusalem,
broadcasting from Jerusalem via the Sky Angel satellite network in
North America with conservative, Israel-loving Christians being the
target audience." (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
They love it to death (gh, DXLD)
** U S A. SMALL STATION OWNER IN A SMALL MARKET
I've just finished reading selected material from the 400-plus posts
in my in-box after a three-day trip to Amarillo to visit my brother
and his wife, including several on which I've already commented. I am
a great fan of genuine local radio, as some will note on my comments
earlier this evening regarding KSLM and other Willamette Valley
operations.
Clint Formby, owner of one 250-watt daytimer where I worked, and
Warren Hasse, at KPDN-1340, a 250-watt fulltimer, in Pampa, TX, taught
me a lot about local radio, and much of what I learned I put into
practice at still another 250-watt daytimer, WCAS-740 in Cambridge,
Mass., on which I was privileged to work with Pete Taylor, who has
participated in this thread.
After hearing Larry Stoller and his partners talk about their
operation at WODI in Brookneal, Virginia, at the NRC convention in
2004, and, of course, after my own observations about how much more
difficult it is to operate a truly local station today than it was
during the time I was in the business, I had prepared some questions
about WABV's operation even before the other Taylor suggested we could
get a detailed picture of what's being done by a young, dedicated
radio man to build a station that's relevant to his market.
I did a little mapwork and webwork at the FCC website to get an idea
of what the competition might be like in Paul's corner of South
Carolina, close to the Georgia border, and confined myself to stations
within about 40 to 50 miles of Abbeville.
At Hereford, in 1958 when I was there, the population was slightly
larger, at 8,000, than Abbeville is now. Hereford has grown to 14,000+
but Deaf Smith County has only 18,000. At KPAN, our operation was live
.. I worked from sign-on (6:15 or sunrise, whichever came later, to 1
p.m.) on the board and a fellow named A.C. Higgins worked from 1 to 5
p.m. Then Rose Garcia came in to do the Spanish music show until sign-
off, which went quite late in the summer. Higgins sold ads in the
morning, then participated in our news block from noon to 1 p.m., and
I gathered news in the afternoon, covering night meetings, etc. I
also, during football and basketball season, took a big old reel-to-
reel tape recorder (it was in the days before portable cassette
recorders came on the market) to the football stadia and the
basketball gymnasia and taped the Hereford Whitefaces football and
basketball play-by-play. (I was quick enough back then that I could
actually keep statistics and broadcast at the same time.) Formby
handled some sales also, and there was one other full-time salesman.
For a time, it was Ralph Beistle, who later managed Formby's station
at Tulia, KTUE-1260, where I worked part-time as the afternoon DJ
while going to school at West Texas State. Betty Roberts answered the
phone, typed the logs and wrote much of the advertising copy which,
for the most part, was read live on the air by Higgins, myself and
Formby during the morning news block.
(Clint also, as I recall, taped some spots and, I think, during the
time I was there, we installed our first cartridge tape machine and
began to records some of the spots thereupon.) It was a small but
efficient staff.
The questions I'd posed for Paul are:
In your city of license of approximately 6,000 population in a county
with a little more than 27,000 population, do you have a newsman who
goes to the police station, the fire station and the sheriff's office
to gather news from those sources? Does he cover the Abbeville City
Council, the School Board, the County Board meetings? Does he use the
cellphone (or some other form of communication) to call in on-scene
accident or fire reports? Does someone do local interview programs
with community leaders involved in various events? Do you reach out to
the southwest for news and information from Calhoun Falls, to the
south to relatively unserved McCormick County, or due north to Due
West?
Does your sales staff produce its own local commercials or are they
done by talent (presumably you). How much production is done on local
commercials? Do you do live remotes from advertisers' stores?
Abbeville County looks to be small enough you're probably not yet
dominated by chain retail outlets, so there should be, still, some
locally owned and operated retail outlets ... but some county
residents and maybe even some in Abbeville itself likely to head north
to Anderson or east to Greenwood. Dun and Bradstreet, via Melissa
Data, shows there are 334 businesses in the Abbeville ZIP-code, where
the population in 2000 was 13,506.
Regarding classic country music, how large is your playlist? How far
back does it go? Do you have any Carl Smith, Webb Pierce, Hank Snow,
Faron Young, Jim Reeves, on the play list? Mel Tillis, Marty Robbins,
Don Gibson, Kitty Wells, Jean Shepherd, Mickey Gilley, Jerry Lee
Lewis, Charlie Pride, Sonny James, Tom T. Hall, Merle Haggard, Buck
Owens? Does anyone on your staff know who wrote "I Can't Stop Loving
You"? I note that the median age of Abbeville County residents in 2000
was 36.9, 68.3 percent of the population was white, and only 0.8
percent of the population (eight years ago) was Hispanic.
Do you have a local sports show that talks about American Legion
baseball, high school football, basketball, track, baseball and other
sports in Abbeville County? Does WABV do sports play-by-play? What
arrangements have been made with small-school coaches to call in their
scores?
Do you concentrate on Abbeville County alone or do you depend upon
your music to compete for local sales with stations in nearby
Greenwood (population 22,000) in Greenwood County (population 67,000),
where 100000watts reports WCRS-1450 plays adult standards, WLMA-1350
does talk and sports, WCZZ-1090 does black gospel, WZSN-103.5 is adult
contemporary, and the 36-watt LP, WHZZ-97.7, does variety and 100-watt
WXOR-102.3 does religion. I note WZLA-92.9 Abbeville, not owned by
Hellinger, does oldies. Or perhaps you're trying to hit the Anderson
market. Or, perhaps, none of those stations has significant
listenership in Abbeville city/county, other than WABV and WZLA and
listeners go farther outside the market for your competition. What
competition do you expect, if any, when the FM'er with a CP in Due
West goes on the air ... or will their owners concentrate on Anderson
rather than Abbeville County? Do any of the stations mentioned in this
paragraph have a full-time local newsman on staff?
Demographics for Greenwood County are similar to that of Abbeville
County, at least in 2000. Median age slightly younger -- 35.2; a
slightly higher percentage of whites -- 65.6; and a considerably
higher percentage of Hispanics, 2.2 percent. In the four Greenwood ZIP
codes, there are 1,824 businesses, but one would consider
How deep is Hellinger's commitment to its city of license and the
county where you operate, considering that an application is on file
with the FCC to move WABV from Abbeville to Whitney, Nevada, on 1370
kHz, to put a 14-kw signal from nine towers about five miles south of
Las Vegas, daytime only, with virtually all of the signal going north-
northwest?
------
If I were 30 years younger, I'd be interested in seeing what could be
done with a news-sports guy, a crackerjack salesman, a good woman
personality, each sufficiently versatile to contribute to programming,
and some office staff to skillfully program a fully-automated station
in a market the size of Abbeville. Preferably a market in Oregon!!!
Impossible dream; Janice wouldn't go with me so I wouldn't go!!!
(John Callarman, Krum TX (who often identifies only as Qal R. Mann,
and/or The Krumudgeon, because my full name is in my e-mail address.),
IRCA via DXLD)
I have two employees here, me, and my chief engineer; well, 3, if you
count my beagle, George. I focus almost exclusively on Abbeville and
Abbeville County in terms of programming, which is a classic country
as you said and goes all the way back to the Mid 40s. We don't do any
local sports, as WZLA 92.9 has a pretty good lock on that market of
revenue around here. WCZZ is all automated off the bird, WLMA 1350 is
a joke and sounds like crap. I don`t think anyone around here has a
full time news person of any kind. I basically do everything here
except sales and major engineering. I walk the dog, fix the toilet and
mow the lawn. I`m in the process of hiring a sales person or two.
Hellinger Broadcasting's commitment to serve its COL and County is as
deep as I make the commitment, since I`m in charge here. I don't want
to comment too much on the APPLICATION, but suffice to say it was
filed by a semi major engineering firm who ran this station for a
short time. I farm out my voiceover work, for stuff like station IDs,
liners and promos. If the client has an already produced commercial, I
run it as is. If they need one done, I will do it myself or have a
friend do it depending on what the client is looking for. Abbeville
has a city population of about 5850 people, a county population of
about 24,000 or so and Greenwood, the city itself is a city of about
22,000 (Paul Walker, WABV, SC, ibid.)
Thank you, Paul, for your comprehensive and quick response to my late
Sunday night query. It's a shame a fellow with your drive and
determination couldn't have reached employable age in the early '50s
or '60s when those of us who loved broadcasting could find that love
at least partially requited. If you've read my posts on the loosy-
goosy work I was able to do on my first full-time radio job in Oregon,
you could tell it was fun to be on the air. Same thing happened at
KIXZ-940 in Amarillo, which was thoroughly dominant Top 40 station in
that market 1960-61 when I part-timed there while in my junior year at
West Texas State. Playlist was, of course, stacked with locally
charted Top 40 (don't by the PD's instinct rather than any scientific
effort) but we had leeway to use lots of optional extras, including
album cuts that tickled our fancy. We could still put on Sinatra,
Sarah Vaughan, Bud & Travis album cuts to intersperse among the other
material ... and we still had walk-ins from visiting artists ...
Remember one night when Glen Gray and a couple of members of the still
extant Casa Loma band knocked on our door an hour or so before
midnight. My favorite KIXZ story concerns the week I was fired as the
PD was told to drop two jocks by expanding air shifts from four to six
hours. Saturday, I got my notice not to come in ... Sunday I got a
frantic phone call ... An independent New York ad agency survey of
high school kids in Amarillo determined that "Johnny Callan," the
airname they gave me, was the most popular jock in Amarillo and, as
I've told this story too often before, it's still true that they
placed the Gillette Safety Razor account on my show, which continued
without a hitch that Monday night. The Callan Caper continued.
I seem to recall that the best local sales people were the ones who
were willing to work on commission only. It was too easy to think you
could get by on draw and difficult to determine how fast it would take
someone on draw to get to where he was actually bringing in money
rather than taking it all home with him. But then again it wasn't that
easy to find someone who'd work on commission only!
I wonder, too, since I've been out of the industry for a quarter
century, what effect the dwindling number of local retail outlets, mom
and pop stores, so to speak, has had on co-op advertising and the
temptation to succumb to double-billing.
With your workload, it's amazing you have time to spend with us on the
list ... Go easy, though, on us geezers who remember the days when
station personnel, particularly the engineers who were still around
from the '30s and '40s, courted DX reports. We DX'ers didn't start to
be perceived of as nuisances until sometime in the '60s, and some of
us unthinkingly react negatively to that perception. John Culver, Krum
TX (That's the name KFJZ-1270 gave me when I did news there in '63.)
(John Callarman, ibid.)
** U S A. Re 7-091, clip of the new WCXH 780; the correxion was made,
altho not shown, to the callsign in the URL, no longer wcxj.mp3:
http://www.walkerbroadcasting.com/wcxh.mp3
Sounds like it is the last in a string of mostly FM stations,
apparently no local origination at WBCQ Monticello studios.
Paul also linx his blog from the main website, wherein he muses on his
radio career so far, and his misgivings about it (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
** U S A. WINS is going off the air for the night tonight while they
upgrade to AM-HD radio. They'll continue to stream online though. The
teletype sound will sound never sounded quite so good! [sic]
http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,77837.0/topicseen.html
Please, let`s not have this degenerate into an HD hating thread, even
though I know it will because you DX'ers despise HD. I just wanted to
pass along the information, nothing more. -- Sincerely, (Paul B.
Walker, Jr. http://www.walkerbroadcasting.com
http://www.myspace.com/walkerbroadcasting August 3, IRCA via DXLD)
Lots of other stuff on 1010 New Yorkers and vicinitors might hear (gh,
0038 UT August 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sorry to hear that.
Now the teletype will sound muddy (Larry Stoler, NRCAM via DXLD)
Heck, Paul, I promise not to start anything. Just wanted to take issue
with a word you used. You said UPGRADE to AM-HD :-))(Mark Durenberger,
CPBE, NRC-AM via DXLD) HD thread continues under DIGITAL BROADCASTING
With WINS off the air, I am hearing the following..... [EDT]
1010 KXEN MO ST. LOUIS 0145 04/08/07
"KXEN, AM 1010, FESTUS - ST. LOUIS, CHRISTIAN PROGRAMING FOR ST.
LOUIS." THEY SOUND GOOD FOR ONLY 500 WATTS; MIXED WITH WMOX. [WM-TN]
1010 WMOX MS MERIDIAN 0145 04/08/07 CARRYING COAST TO COAST,
MIXED WITH KXEN.
1010 CFRB ON TORONTO 0155 04/08/07 "1010 CFRB" [WM-TN]
All three stations are mixed together, a real mess.
(DXer: Willis Monk, QTH: Old Fort, TN, ANTENNA: 149' long wire, RCVR:
Drake R-4C, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD)
Here in Pennsylvania, around midnight Eastern time I got a mix of an
unID black gospel, a likely WQYK FL with Sporting News Radio, and a
Mexican with their national anthem. On my E-W EWE antenna both CFRB
and WINS were knocked out almost completely. The channel sounded like
a graveyard at times (Brett Saylor, R-8 w/ 50' EWE, IRCA via DXLD)
Here's info on the WINS-1010 silent period tonight/tomorrow -
including times - from the station's website: "Programming Note: 1010
WINS will be off the air from 12:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. Saturday
morning, and approximately 14 other similar periods of overnight
hours, to prepare our transmitter facility for HD broadcasting."
That's 12:30-4:30 AM Eastern Time, or 0430-0830 UT. 73 - (J. D.
Stephens, Hampton Cove, AL, August 3, IRCA via DXLD)
** U S A. You`d never know it from the item in 7-091 about A Way with
Words, but the reason for the new website is that the show has just
been canceled by KPBS! The current hosts are trying to get it picked
up by another distributor. AWWW certainly has had a rocky trajectory,
with 3 or 4 changes in personnel, and apparent bad blood among some of
them and/or the KPBS management --- despite it being such a fun and
informative show about language. I hope archives will still be
available somewhere, as I have missed quite a few shows lately. The
entire KBPS website was inaccessible when I checked around 0350 UT
August 3; perhaps crashed by all the indignant listener reaxion? But
back shortly later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
From Martha`s blog:
http://marthabarnette.blogspot.com/2007/08/news-about-way-with-words.html
also linx to press about the matter:
KPBS CUTS TWO LOCAL SHOWS, 12 EMPLOYEES
by John Wilkens, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER, August 2, 2007
SAN DIEGO – Citing a need to “spend our financial resources wisely,”
KPBS yesterday canceled two local programs – the radio show “A Way
With Words” and the TV show “Full Focus” – and laid off 12 employees.
Doug Myrland, general manager of the public broadcasting station, said
both programs “had elements of success in the past, (but) trends
indicate their future potential for audience and revenue growth is
minimal.”
Among those losing their jobs, effective tomorrow, are Martha Barnette
and Grant Barrett, co-hosts of “A Way With Words,” a language call-in
show launched in 1998. “Everybody was completely blindsided,” Barnette
said. “It was a punch to the gut, and I'm deeply disappointed for our
listeners.”
Myrland said the weekly one-hour program had a “decent-sized local
audience” but was labor-intensive, and at $250,000 per year,
“substantially” more expensive than other local productions.
The show, also carried on public radio stations in Wisconsin and
Kentucky, seemed destined for some time to become a national program,
but Myrland said almost eight years of efforts to secure outside
funding to make that happen failed.
Barrett said yesterday's decision, while painful personally, made
sense. “They tried,” he said. “The show is poised to go national, and
they can't do it.” The co-hosts said they were talking with potential
sponsors and stations about taking the program elsewhere. “I'm not
sure where we'll land but I'm absolutely convinced we will land well,”
Barnette said.
KPBS said old episodes of “Words” will air in the program's Saturday
noon time slot through the fall. . .
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070802-9999-1m2kpbs.html
Plus forum discussion abottom
The KPBS website came back, with press release on cancellation, much
of it quoted above: http://kpbs.org/about_us/press_room;id=9225
And archive of the shows which they say will be maintained (Glenn
Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also LANGUAGE LESSONS
** U S A. Pirate, LPFM or translator on 95.3 near Phoenixville PA
Heard this last evening both on the way to and back home from my son's
house. Location a bit NW and across the river from Phoenixville. On
the trip down there it was quiet instrumental music, on the way back,
children's religious music. Very strong just below the county
Geriatric Center where Black Rock Road again meets Rt 113. Covered
only a very small area, but too strong to be a satellite (or other)
rebroadcast device.
Have to pay more attention to this next time. I realize only a few
people are in this area and might hear it, but... – (Russ Edmunds,
Blue Bell, PA ( 15 mi NW of Philadelphia ), Grid FN20id, Yamaha T-80 -
Conrad RDS Mgr; Onyko T450RDS; APS-9B @ 15', IRCA via DXLD)
Could be a closed-circuit broadcast that isn't very closed -- tipoff
was the old folks home -- In both Havre de Grace and NE Baltimore I've
picked up a service intended for such homes. It's a satellite that is
rebroadcast on FM transmitters for residents to listen to. I forget
the name of the service, but the one in Havre de Grace gets out for 4
or 5 blocks. Usually 3-4 channels (Bruce Collier, York, PA, ibid.)
One such service is Companion Radio, http://www.companionradio.com/
They're based right here in Rochester (Scott Fybush, ibid.)
Russ, Bruce and Scott may have answered more about the Indianapolis
mystery "babbling brook" station on 100.1 that myself, Mike Glass,
Steve Rich and Glenn Hale (I think) have heard. If you recall, Mike
pinpointed it to an area behind some apartments on East 21st Street,
near I-465. He drilled it down even further to a rehab or retirement
facility, behind the apartments. I doubt that it's a leaky closed
circuit broadcast but more like the companion radio that Scott
mentioned. That being said, why a natural sound broadcast? If it is a
companion radio setup, I wonder if there are other frequencies in
play?
The bad thing is that there is an application for a 27 watt translator
on 100.1, with the transmitter located near 26th and Shadeland (near
the old Western Electric facility). This would be 3/4 of a mile away
from the "brook" station and that is definitely in the service contour
of the translator.
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=FX632075.html
(Dave in Indy KC9KDY Hascall, WTFDA via DXLD)
The babbling brook *could* be them --- if you look at their website,
they have several different channels, and the website used to mention
at least one is programmed to "calm excitable residents" or some such
language. Often you'll hear old radio shows, old gospel tunes, etc.
Havre de Grace's runs on 4 frequencies --- I remember 99.9, 107.1,
102.3 --- don't remember the 4th. In NE Baltimore, one frequency was
104.7, and I found at least one other. They set them up on "open
channels" in the area. I don`t know what the antenna is --- if it's
just like an FM talking house type-thing or if it couples into the
wiring like carrier current AM or what. 73, BC (Bruce Collier, ibid.)
Thanks, Bruce. I did not delve too much into the companion radio
website, that Scott mentioned but it could be either to help calm them
or the "water" sound to help them to go to the bathroom (groan). Scott
- Are these "companion radio" things legal? Mike Glass seems to think
that they are 1-2 watts, tops. Is that not illegal? They do get out. I
have heard them up to 2.5 miles away. I may have to do a nearby
bandscan to see if anything else "oddball" shows up. Thanks, (Dave
Hascall, ibid.)
Hi David, I think you are on to something. I believe it has something
to do with the retirement complex across the street from the
clubhouse. When that translator kicks on, the "babbling brook" or
"crashing waves" will have too much interference to keep operating on
that frequency (Mike Glass, ibid.)
Hey Mike; Right about the interference. However, I'm sure that
translator operator will do some field strength tests and the engineer
driving about will say, "what in the world is that???" It may only be
a watt or two but it does cover quite well (Dave Hascall, ibid.)
When I listen to it, I usually hear waves gently crashing on a shore.
I need to go back over there and see if anything has changed. The one
time I called was a Sunday afternoon and the lady who answered didn't
know anything about it. A great mystery! (Mike Glass, ibid.)
With mine, I'm not yet convinced this is it because: 1) The peak
signal was 1/4 mile away from the Geriatric Center; 2) This is not a
typical nursing home but rather a country [sic]-run, publicly-financed
facility, therefore even the children's religious programming would
seem inconsistent. I'll make some time to pursue this further in the
next week or so, including checking additional frequencies. End-to-
end, the signal didn't cover a radius of more than a mile (Russ
Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia), ibid.)
** U S A. DISPOSITION OF CHANNELS 52-69 --- The FCC has also released
the plan for use of TV channels 52-69 after transition.
Channels 52, 57: 176 EA licenses
Channels 53, 58: 734 CMA licenses
Channels 54, 59: 734 CMA licenses (already sold)
Channel 55: 6 EAG licenses (already sold)
Channel 56: 176 EA licenses
Channel 60 and the lower 5/6 of 61: 12 REAG licenses
Lower 5/6 of channels 62 and 67: 1 nationwide license
Upper 1/6 of 62; 63; and the lower 5/6 of 64: public safety
Channel 65 and the lower 5/6 of 66: 12 REAG licenses
Upper 1/6 of 67; 68; lower 5/6 of 69: public safety
Upper 1/6 of 61, 64, 66, and 69: 52 MEA licenses, already sold
Among the public safety channels:
Upper 1/6 of 62 & lower 4/6 of 63: broadband
Upper 1/6 of 67 & lower 4/6 of 68: broadband
Upper 1/6 of 63 & lower 5/6 of 64: narrowband
Upper 1/6 of 68 & lower 5/6 of 69: narrowband
5th sixths of 63 & 68 are guardbands.
Provisions were made that seem (from a very quick read) to suggest
commercial users will be allowed to use the public safety spectrum on
a preemptible basis - the commercial service goes away in an emergency
(Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) Abbrs mean?
** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Pleased to get a semi-listenable signal from
Radio Nacional de la RASD, still on the air by 0608 UT, August 3 on
6300, with chanting in Arabic, or rather Hassania, I suppose, and
shortly into talk. At first it seemed to lack any RHC spur co-channel
QRM, but that developed shortly at 0611, 6060 leapfrog over 6180 at
120 kHz further up the band (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ZAMBIA. New CVC transmissions delayed again: see GERMANY
** ZIMBABWE [non]. (via Madagascar), 9765, Radio Voice of the People-
VOP, *0400-0455*, August 4, Sign on with local music & opening
announcements in local language. English ID announcements at 0401
followed by talk in local language. Many IDs. Short breaks of African
music. English at 0439-0455, but difficult to understand due to thick
accent. Closing English announcements with address & e-mail address
followed by local African music to sign off. Fair to good signal. Very
weak music loop jammer heard under VOP at 0449-0455 (Brian Alexander,
PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. A 1600 kHz station is off-frequency, about 1600.1 or
slightly more, I would estimate. This het has been audible for years,
but I have never been able to nail it down with all the QRM. This
morning, August 3, it was still audible by residual skywave at 1315
UT; meanwhile KUSH Cushing OK gave way to further KRVA Metroplex TX in
Vietnamese, and as that was happening it was clear those two stations
were only 2 Hz apart [not 4 Hz as in original version of this report],
so that rules them out as source of the audible het. It can`t be too
far away, and there are 1600 stations in all states adjacent to OK.
Would appreciate others monitoring for this, especially on local
stations in neighboring states during the day. It won`t be obvious if
there is nothing else to het against, but with BFO you can compare it
to other stations known to be on frequency, perhaps something on 600,
9600 (not XEYU!), 11600, 15600, or WWV.
Is anyone else at least hearing the het? Possibly it is something
local, altho too long-term to be a talking house, unless a forgotten
transmitter.
I know there are groups keeping track of precise TV, and MW
frequencies outside the US, as an aid to DX IDs, but how about inside,
even in mid-America?
There used to be frequency-measuring services, checking these out
routinely, and maybe in FCC records, but I assume all that is a
pastthing now. 73, (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, dxldyg et al. via DXLD)
This would seem to be a good candidate for a Spectran run from those
who are familiar with the application. We had a discussion on the list
about this a while back regarding using it for DX tests.
I've been using Spectran and DX Lab for carrier monitoring for some
time now with interesting results.
I would recommend using SSB mode on the receiver, selecting either USB
or LSB, with the selection based on which sideband was the cleanest
and had less slop. Once the sideband that is cleanest is determined,
offset the dial tuning by 1 kHz to get a 1 kHz beat note on the
carrier(s) and then fire up Spectran. The preset QRSS3 mode would be a
good starting point for a carrier this far off frequency.
You should be able to see the carrier even if you can't hear it or
separate it from the other carriers on the channel by ear. And being
100 Hz off of the channel frequency should make the off-frequency
carrier real obvious on the waterfall display.
It should be possible to use either a receiver with digital filters
that can be adjusted to a narrow very width or an external audio
filter set very narrow, to effect single signal reception of this one
off-frequency carrier het using Spectran as a filter setting indicator
(because it is so far off), then go to audio by ear and with the AVC
off on the receiver and the RF gain backed down, use a loop antenna to
get a bearing on the off-frequency carrier. With a few bearings from
folks who can receive the station, some idea as to the geographic
location of the station might be inferred. I'll take a listen later on
this evening from Michigan (Rick Kunath, ABDX via DXLD)
KCRG Cedar Rapids is heard on 1600.01 kHz, but it is only 10 Hz up,
not 100, and not causing any audible het of course. 73, (Mauno Ritola,
Finland, ibid.)
Glenn, I hear this one from time to time around local sunset. Don't
have my PFM before me, but think it's about 70 Hz high. Think it's a
TIS. I don't have any other info, but if I can get a DF on it, I'll
report such (Charles A Taylor, WD4INP, Greenville, NC, ibid.)
Watertown, MN (now KZGX and ETH[nic]) used to be off frequency for
years when call was KWOM. Don't know if they're still off? (Lars
Bygdén, Sävar, Sweden, mwdx yg via DXLD)
UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 7-091: Dear OM, 12135 kHz is additional service
of Open radio for North Korea (ORNK) via Taiwan (S. Hasegawa, NDXC,
Japan, 1616 UT Aug 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Just keep doing it (Tim Hendel, AL, with a check in the mail to Glenn
Hauser, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702)
I look forward to WOR. I catch it on shortwave or download the
RealPlayer file. Question: Would you forward the text of the Standard
Disclaimer? No fuss or bother. Curious only. Thanks for your program!
(John in USA O`Neil with a PayPal donation to woradio @ yahoo.com)
John, Many thanks. By standard disclaimer, I mean something like
``The opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily represent
those of the staff, management, or contract engineer of this station,
nor do their opinions necessarily represent those of this program.``
Regards, (Glenn)
LANGUAGE LESSONS
++++++++++++++++
[AWWW] Bonus! New Word Open Mic
There's a new online-only episode of "A Way with Words" today: a half-
hour "New Word Open Mic" from the 2007 Dictionary Society of North
America conference, during which all comers were invited to step up to
the microphone and submit a new word they had coined or found.
Find out more here: http://waywordradio.org/openmic
Listen here: http://waywordradio.org/dsna
Special thanks to Charles Hodgson of Podictionary.com for recording
the audio and agreeing to let us use it on the show.
Thanks! Martha Barnette & Grant Barrett, Hosts of "A Way with Words"
http://waywordradio.org words@waywordradio.org
(AWWW mailing list Aug 4 via DXLD) See also U S A, KPBS
MUSEA
+++++
PEQUEÑO MUSEO VIRTUAL DE QSL
Hola: Estoy creando lo que he dado en llamar "Mi pequeño Museo Virtual
de QSL", dentro de mi Website personal, así que en estos dos últimos
días he estado escaneando-reduciendo para Web-subiendo, vamos lo
típico en estos casos.
La idea aparte de escanear para preservar el material original (algo
que me llevará bastante tiempo) es también compartir estas imágenes de
QSL que son como pequeños recuerdos de mi actividad con radioescucha y
también recuerdos de las emisoras, algunas de las cuales hace años que
dejaron de existir. http://www.telefonica.net/web2/amaranta/photo2.htm
Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez Losa, Spain, Aug 3, Noticias DX via DXLD)
includes Aum Shinrikyo
DIGITAL BROADCASTING
++++++++++++++++++++
ERIC BUENEMAN`S LATEST ANTI-HD, DRM RANT
I read Gary Siegel's Forum in DXM 44-27; the damage is already being
done. On the night of June 8, KMOX 1120 was noted running low-
definition digital after local sunset. It still wipes out 1110 and
1130, where I used to hear KFAB and KWKH.
IBOC (alias "HD Radio") is not the only ill-advised technology being
tested on AM; DRM is also being tested on AM, long wave and shortwave.
I tried to use the Dream software to decode DRM broadcasts on
shortwave, using the DRM signal that Radio Canada International is
sending via Sackville, NB on 9800 kHz. While the program can decipher
the zeroes and ones in AMSS mode with the software (I'm using a
Sangean ATS-803A); it cannot decode the DRM broadcasts as received on
even a portable receiver. It would require a more expensive receiver
(such as a Kenwood R-5000) to allow the Dream software to decode DRM
broadcasts.
The truth to the matter is that the AM, FM, long wave and shortwave
bands are unsuitable for, and cannot support, digital audio
broadcasting.
Since the Department of Defense is illegally squatting on the L-Band,
in violation of international regulations (which Canada has been using
for DAB), there is no suitable band for terrestrial digital audio
broadcasting in the United States.
I also talked with a sales associate at Radio Shack in Florissant, MO;
the Accurian HD Radio receivers are not selling very well. I actually
listened to some of the HD signals; there is no improvement in audio
quality. Some of the HD stations sound worse than those broadcasting
only in analog FM Stereo. KFTK 97.1 (which is in HD) had a scratchy
signal in its city of license!
Satellite radio is outselling HD Radio, despite the problems being
reported at both Sirius and XM Satellite Radio. If this is any
indication, digital audio broadcasting on AM and FM is doomed, despite
the propaganda campaign the National Association of Broadcasters is
wasting money on.
All HD Radio does is make bogus claims of "CD-quality audio on FM" and
"FM-quality audio on AM", when FM Stereo and AM Stereo ALREADY DELIVER
near CD-quality sound!
There's only one corporate-owned commercial FM station left
broadcasting entirely in analog (which offers far better Stereo
separation than HD Radio); WHHL 104.1. KEZK 102.5 (which is co-owned
with KMOX) just added low-def digital in May.
One DXer also reported in WTFDA that he had to hook up a longwire to
Sangean's new HD receiver to pick up WTIC 1080 in HD mode; he reported
no improvement in audio quality; it sounded like a low- quality AM
monaural signal. He couldn't pick it up with his loop!
One thing is true: HD Radio reduces a station's signal coverage area
significantly. Even my only remaining local in AM Stereo, KSTL 690,
sounds far better than any AM station in low-def digital.
The broadcasters should realize that going back to proven standards is
a viable option; dumping HD on AM to return to the C-QUAM standard
(there are still over 24 million AM Stereo receivers in the U.S.
marketplace) is more logical than keeping the failed "HD Radio". I
won't be surprised that HD Radio will be a thing of the past in the
next few years; it is a product of the most anti-consumer FCC in
history. 73 and good DX! (Eric Bueneman, N0UIH, Hazlewood MO, IRCA DX
Monitor August 4 via DXLD)
DW en DRM 15725
Hola: Estoy escuchando (al hacer un barrido por la banda) a DW en
15725 (según Aoki pues no tengo receptor DRM) a las 1345. Solamente
para decir que si esto es un avance tecnológico que baje Dios y lo
vea, saliendo con 90 kW desde Sines está ocupando desde 15720 a 15730
con su transmisión, lo cual quiere decir que tanto 5 kHz arriba como
abajo no hay posibilidad de escuchar nada, ya me dirán entonces dónde
está la supuesta ventaja, además si estas transmisiones se generalizan
lo vamos a tener crudo, podemos entonces añorar al Jamming Chino por
lo menos este se centra en la frecuencia a interferir. Cordialmente,
(Tomás Méndez Losa, Spain, Aug 3, Noticias DX via DXLD) v also GERMANY
RADIOSOPHY --- BUSINESS NEOPHYTES SHARE PERILS --- by Pat Mack
Morning Edition, July 19, 2007 Three years ago in North Sioux City,
South Dakota, a husband and wife launched the company Radiosophy to
produce high definition radios. But after suffering setback after
setback, they say their story is something of a cautionary tale for
entrepreneurs.
Bill Billings and Sue Nail struck out on their own with the goal of
living the American dream. They thought they'd create their own
business, building and selling lots of high-definition radios, and
live happily ever after. But it hasn't exactly worked out that way.
"Would I do it again? No way," said Nail. "I just had no idea it would
be this much work and this much of a challenge."
"It's been so hard on Sue," Billings said. "I would not put her
through that again." But the couple thought it was a smart move three
years ago when they formed Radiosophy. . .
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12091960
(via Paul Vincent Zecchino, FL, IRCA via DXLD)
[Thread taking off from WINS going off to ``upgrade`` to HD, U S A:]
This is not a flame, but please allow me to ask, and you answer from a
broadcaster's perspective! What is the point of HD on AM news talk
stations that don't play any music ? 73 Klueless KAZ (Neil Kazaross,
IL, IRCA via DXLD)
I can't honestly answer that as I`m against HD on AM in the first
place, so I couldn't answer that and be fair (Paul B. Walker, NRC-AM
via DXLD)
If Paul won't take this one on, I'm fool enough to try.
Keep in mind that even though we all know that analog radio, if not
bandwidth-constrained, can sound extremely good on a properly-designed
receiver under optimum signal conditions, most broadcasters have long
since become accustomed to the cruddy, muffled sound that's typical of
the AM section of most contemporary radios.
If you believe that that's what analog AM sounds like (and for the
majority of listeners these days, that IS what analog AM sounds like),
the improved frequency response and low (nonexistent, actually) noise
floor of AM HD seems like an attractive prospect, especially for AM
news-talkers competing against the growing number of FM stations
finding success with news-talk formats (Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake
City, just to name a few big examples.)
I've spent some time listening to New York's WOR in HD, and a little
time listening to my local WHAM in HD (can't stand most of the
programming there, so I don't spend a lot of time with it!), and
there's something to be said for hearing the music bumpers and such in
stereo and with more than 5 kHz frequency response.
Unfortunately, at least to my ears, the reality doesn't live up to the
hype where AM HD is concerned - at least not yet. The limited bitrate
available for the AM HD signal (24 kbps) leads to annoying artifacting
on all but the very best-processed stations (KFAB in Omaha is probably
the best-sounding HD AM news-talker I've heard so far, in part because
they roll off the digital audio at about 12 kHz to give the codec an
easier job), and of course we all know about the adjacent-channel
interference issues and the nighttime skywave issues.
There's also the issue of very limited usable range for the digital
signal at current power levels. When we had our weekend get-together
out at Jim Renfrew's place in Clarendon last weekend, I could hear
just one HD AM signal, WLGZ 990 at about 8 miles distant, and even
that one not very well. WHAM 1180, with 50 kW at perhaps 18 miles,
decoded for only a few seconds, and WHTK 1280 (5 kW ND at 23 miles or
so) not at all.
That's not the story broadcasters were sold in the early years of HD,
and many of the AM stations that adopted the system did so with hopes
of a much better system than it's turned out to be.
In this particular case (1010 WINS), I really wonder what they'll
accomplish. WINS already suffers from some painfully tight DA nulls -
it's all but inaudible for big chunks of my usual NYC commute, from my
cousin's house in Montebello, Rockland County (less than 25 miles from
the 50 kW transmitter) down the Thruway and the Palisades to the
George Washington Bridge. I don't have HD in my car yet, but it's hard
to imagine that an HD signal on 1010 would be very useful during that
drive, either. The audio from WINS is already carried as an HD2 on
sister station WWFS 102.7, which can be clearly heard in many of the
areas of New Jersey and upstate NY that 1010 doesn't reach well.
s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, ibid.)
Great summary, Scott. My wife drives a 2006 Honda CRV whose factory
audio system suffers from the CRAPPIEST-sounding AM section I have
EVER heard on a modern receiver of any kind or make! I swear it sounds
like the 2.4 kHz ceramic filter on my Yaesu FRG-100 does in full AM
mode!! It's pretty much all bass and mid-bass, and as such is totally
unlistenable in a moving vehicle (and I have high-frequency hearing
loss in one ear as it is!). The FM section -- and the CD player--
sound perfectly decent, so it's obviously a design feature/flaw in the
AM section. Frankly, however aurally tiring digital artifacting etc.
might be, I place a high premium on INTELLIGIBILITY --- and on the
muffled mess that is the (analog) AM section in our Honda, there ain't
no such a thing. It's enough to make a person WANT AM-IBOC/HD just to
get some damn treble (even of the "artifacty" kind)!! (Randy Stewart,
Springfield MO, ibid.)
What's 'degenerate' about the free and open exchange of ideas and of
opinion? Nothing. But those with something to hide seem to find it
most unsettling.
I hold no animus for HD Radio. Do you know what the abbreviation
represents? I don't. Industry experts give conflicting answers. Would
anyone be even mildly upset about HD, let alone steadfastly opposed to
it, if it didn't jam licensed services? I wouldn't. Nor would anyone
else.
I dislike monopolistic, exclusionary business practices by which
elites exaggerate benefits and deny destructive faults. I look askance
at undue influence brought to bear against officials, retailers, and
manufacturers. When the public - HD's alleged beneficiary - is kept in
the dark, you have all the badges of a racket.
Citizens quickly discover product faults. Sometimes thru purchase,
other times by regression as when desired stations are jammed. When
public and private authorities callously dismiss their concerns and
answer routine questions with nonsense, citizens first become
skeptical, then quickly apathetic.
HD is DOA. That's not my anti-HD opinion. It's the marketplace
speaking. Why would a few bloated broadcast behemoths insist upon
putting new HD jammers on air despite rampant consumer apathy? Can you
arrive at any conclusion other than, in addition to jamming their way
to monopoly status, BigRadio harbors additional unsavory sub rosa
motives?
Given the times, even slight projection of the lines allows one to see
matters with clarity (Paul Vincent Zecchino pvz mk fl, ibid.)
Isn't HD WINS a delightful and long awaited development, sort of a
Hertzian miscegenation of goats? WINS 1010 now joins HD cloven hooves
with Boston's 1030 and Pittsburgh's 1020 to pull the Great Northeast
Jamming HatTrick.
Personally, I can't wait until these greedy-gutkasters go HD all
night. Howzabout you? Up until now, transmitters had Guy Wires. With
HD, they have corkscrew tails.
I can hear HD jamming before it keys up. Why can't Kronykasters see
the brick wall coming? Yours in thrall to HD, Dr. Zecchino
(PV Zecchino, T.D., Manamonopoly Key, FL, ibid.)
Oh, good ! An oxymoron ! I never knew that apathy could be rampant.
This opens up a whole new avenue.... Let's see, aggravated
indifference ? Could we use that? (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360'
ASL ), ibid.)
Herein lies the problem with this flawed tech. A super power 50 KW ND
local and you can't keep it locked in 18 miles away at Jim's fine
QTH!! I remain amazed that the FCC hasn't shelved AM HD!! Anyhow, what
is needed for AM is for the FCC to pressure power companies about
endless line noise (they don't care in IL) and to pressure device
makers to add that 10 cent part to reduce AM emissions and to do their
part to put decent analog AM sections in car rx's. 18 miles and you
can't listen to WHAM in HD ..OMG .. 73 gagging KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL,
IRCA via DXLD)
RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM
+++++++++++++++++++++
RACAL 6790 trumps other receivers: SAINT HELENA. HD receivers: above
PROPAGATION
+++++++++++
ARNIE CORO'S DXERS UNLIMITED'S HF PLUS LOW BAND VHF PROPAGATION UPDATE
AND FORECAST
Extremely low solar activity continues. The July official sunspot
average published by the Royal Observatory of Belgium was 10, a clear
evidence that we are still going trough the solar cycle's minimum. And
the most recent forecasts are telling us that during the next several
days a blank solar disk is to be expected, with zero sunspots
prevailing together with rock bottom figures of the 10.7 centimeters
microwave solar flux. The extremely low solar activity is causing very
poor daytime propagation on the frequencies above 15 megaHertz. More
about solar activity and the HF plus low band VHF propagation update
and forecast as always at the end of the program.
Solar activity is , and will continue to be for the next several days
at extremely low levels with solar flux between 67 and 72 units and
daily sunspot count at zero or very near zero. Expect possible
sporadic E openings by the end of the week, according to the most
recent forecasts. Expect daytime maximum useable frequencies not
higher than 18 megaHertz, and the best propagation conditions to be
available always after your local sunset (Arnie Coro A., CO2KK, RHC
DXers Unlimited August 4, HCDX via DXLD)
TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING
++++++++++++++++++++++++
KAGIN ON INTERNET RADIO, RIVERO SHOW SATURDAY, 6:00 PM ET [22 UT]
AMERICAN ATHEISTS MEDIA ALERT http://www.atheists.org
EDWIN KAGIN, National Legal Director for American Atheists and co-
founder of Camp Quest will be the guest tomorrow, Saturday August 4,
2007 on Michael Rivero's live internet radio call-in program. Visit
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com to listen in. Mr. Kagin will be
interviewed live from this year's Camp Quest/Michigan site, and will
discuss the history of this important national project -- a summer
camp for non-believing youngsters where "it's OK to ask questions."
Kagin will also be discussing Atheism and related state-church issues.
The call-in number is 1-877-864-4869.
WHO: Edwin Kagin , National Legal Director for American Atheists.
WHAT: Will appear on the Michael Rivero live radio call-in talk show
to discuss Atheism related issues, on whatreallyhappened.com
WHEN: Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 5:00 PM Central, 6:00 PM Eastern.
WHERE: http://whatreallyhappened.com Call in number is 1-877-864-4869
Listen on line at: http://togientertainment.com/radio.php or
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights
for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and
addresses issues of First Amendment public policy (AA via DXLD) ###