DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-141, November 23, 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 1383
Sat 0900 WRMI 9955
Sat 2230 WRMI 9955
Sun 0330 WWCR3 5070
Sun 0730 WWCR1 3215
Sun 0900 WRMI 9955
Sun 1615 WRMI 7385
Mon 0400 WBCQ 9330-CLSB
Mon 0515 WBCQ 7415 [time varies]
Mon 0930 WRMI 9955
Tue 1130 WRMI 9955
Tue 1630 WRMI 7385
Wed 0830 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
** ALASKA. 30/11/2007: Rick, K6VVA will be going back to Revillagigedo
Island (NA-041, USi AK-141S, 1st S. Eastern County), Alaska, again for
the ARRL 160m Contest (Nov 30 - Dec 02) operating as KL8C, and also
hopes to be QRV on other bands as K6VVA/KL7 again (the Sept/2007 QSLs
are being printed - QSL via N6AWD). The operating QTH has a great
over-salt-water path to the U.S. and much of Europe, although condx in
Sept. were not good for EU. There is a big hill in the direction of
JA, so Rick may try to operate from the other side of the Island with
a clear shot to JA for a while during the daytime/non- 160m hours (if
not this trip, then the next time). QSL via N6AWD. [K6VVA] (I.C.P.O.
Bulletin (November 22 - 30, 2007) Islands, Castles & Portable
Operations via editor Dave Raycroft, VA3RJ, ODXA yg via DXLD)
Yes, this reminds us that both Mexico and USA have islands named
Revillagigedo, quite a coincidence! A quick Googling indicates this
was the name of a viceroy in Spanish colonial days. Sometimes it`s two
words, Revilla Gigedo. I wonder if in Alaska they have corrupted it
away from Spanish pronunciation? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ALBANIA [and non]. Trying again to hear R. Tirana`s NAm service on
new B-07 frequency 9915, Nov 22 at 2104, but could barely detect a
carrier under high noise level in this range, which is also subject to
desensitization by super-strong Pastor Pete Peters from WWCR 9975.
That overloads the receiver also risking cross-modulation on other 9
MHz stations if attenuation is not applied. But R. Tirana with fair
signal on 7430 at 2107, so again the European service makes it while
the NAm does not. I am sure RT would like to know how well 9915 makes
it into the east coast, as would I (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** ANTARCTICA. LRA 36, 21/11 15476, 1920 UT, program with Spanish
songs. Not strong signal but fair Gr (Maurits van Driessche, Belgium,
Nov 22, HCDX via DXLD)
Looking for LRA36, Nov 22 around 2000, not audible, but rechecked at
2046 could barely hear some music on 15476, not 15475. 2101 some talk
mentioning Esperanza, and more music which was cut off in progress at
2102:15 and the carrier off a few seconds later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
15476, LRA36, 2039-2102*, 11/22/07, Spanish. Female announcer between
Spanish-language pop tunes, M announcer at 2101 with ID that sounded
like "Radio Nacional..." and more talk, then the beginning of a song
which was cut off, and off air at 2102. I see Glenn Hauser also noted
this. Poor, but that's still much better than usual here (Mark
Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BANGLADESH. Audibility OF 4750: see PROPAGATION
** BOLIVIA. 3390.29, Emisoras Camargo, Camargo, 2340 to 0010 OM en
español, tenor ballad, other music with OM locator [locutor?], short
announcement in between "...Camargo.." mentioned once by OM. 0000 ute
"All stations, this is Kilo - Echo - November- Lima..." in USB,
Emisoras Camargo music strong below. 16/17 November. Also weak at 0000
to 0020 on 15 November with same ute interference (Robert Wilkner,
Pómpano Beach FL, Japan Premium via DXLD)
** BURKINA FASO. 5030, Radio Burkina, *0525-0555, Nov 22, Sign on
with test tone. National Anthem at 0528. Opening French announcements
at 0530 followed by local African music. French & vernacular talk.
Fair but some adjacent channel splatter from Cuba 5025. University
Network 5030 not on the air. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CHINA [non]. An undermodulated discussion in English about
e/immigration from/to Ireland caught my ear on 13630, Nov 22 at 2036.
Shortly later it became clear this was just CRI, as the topic became
the first Irish study center in China. It`s 111 degrees from Bamako,
Mali.
On 7285, Nov 22 at 2128, sports report in American English had me
guessing; another non-African VOA service not // African service on
6080? After 2131, Chinese-accented woman joined in, about computers.
Apparently the domestic-cum-external hour from CRI, in scheduled relay
via Cërrik, Albania (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 4950, V. of Pujiang, Shanghai, 1325-1335, 1357-1405 22 Nov.
Chinese pop music // 3280, 5075 with ads/sports promos in presumed
Chinese dialect, "Zeng shi FM" at 1330 & more Chinese pop music;
recheck with romantic ballad, fan-fare and 3+1 pips at 1400 and
partial ID: "zhi sheng guangbo diantai", ad string & "FM Zhi" jingle
at 1405 ('zeng shi' & 'zhi' are attempts to pronounce the jingles'
Chinese and as such may only be loosely connected to reality) (Dan
Sheedy, CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 5060, PBS Xinjiang (presumed), 0110-0127, Nov 23, mostly
non-descriptive conversations in Chinese, weak/poor reception, is rare
for me to hear anything here (Ron Howard, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 6095, CNR-1, 1346 22 Nov. Noted in passing // 5030, etc.
Aoki B07 has BBC in Chinese via Kimjae, RoK here 1300-1530* so perhaps
being used against them (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. 6160, CNR, 1206-1210+, 11/23/07, Mandarin. M/F announcers,
promo-sounding type spots, bumper music that sounded like CNR's,
seemed to be // to 7280. VOA in Mandarin is listed here, but it didn't
sound like them - a CNR "jammer"? In any case, this pretty well ruins
chances to hear CKZU here in local AM. Fair (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA [and non]. 9355, Nov 22 at 2013, Firedrake fairly good, but
QRM from WYFR in German altho really targeted at RFA in Chinese via
Saipan. Fortunately, Firedrake VG in the clear on 9455 at 2106, also
against RFA Chinese via Saipan but RFA inaudible on either frequency
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** COLOMBIA [and non]. AUTORIDADES DETECTAN RADIOS CLANDESTINAS DE LA
GUERRILLA EN LA FRONTERA COLOMBO VENEZOLANA
Fuente: Caracol 11/21/2007 - 12:54:00
La ministra de Comunicaciones, María del Rosario Guerra, dijo que las
autoridades persiguen emisoras ilegales que están reclutando
combatientes para la guerrilla. La señal de estas emisoras se ha
detectado en zonas de Arauca y Meta.
La guerrilla de las Farc ha vuelto a utilizar el espectro
radioeléctrico con fines de difusión de su propaganda subversiva.
Ante la persecución de las autoridades, en algunos casos, estas
emisoras clandestinas han cruzado la frontera con Venezuela, lo que
dificulta su desmantelamiento, explicó la funcionaria. Los ministerios
de Comunicaciones de Colombia y Venezuela adelantan gestiones
conjuntas para perseguir y clausurar estas señales ilegales.
La ministra Guerra, quien presentó un proyecto de estatuto que
regulará a la radio, dijo que también se han presentado casos de
emisoras ilegales en Putumayo y Amazonas, fronterizas con Ecuador y
Brasil.
El nuevo estatuto de radio está siendo discutido con los
radiodifusores y otros sectores de la comunidad (via José Elías Díaz,
Venezuela, Nov 22, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) WTFK?????
** COLOMBIA [and non]. COLOMBIA DICE QUE FARC OPERA EMISORAS
CLANDESTINAS EN FRONTERA CON PERÚ
La ministra de comunicaciones de ese país afirma que también han
ubicado estos grupos en las líneas fronterizas con Venezuela, Ecuador
y Brasil. Además, dijo que cuando van a interceptarlos desaparecen, a
veces, hacia el otro lado de la frontera.
El gobierno colombiano denunció que la guerrilla marxista de las FARC
opera radioemisoras clandestinas desde zonas fronterizas con
Venezuela, Ecuador, Brasil y Perú, e incluso llegan a operarlas
ocasionalmente desde territorios de esos países.
Según la ministra de Comunicaciones, María del Rosario Guerra, su
despacho ha detectado esas emisoras, pero cuando llegan al lugar a
decomisar los equipos se encuentran con que han sido movidos, y en
algunos casos al otro lado de la frontera.
Básicamente las radioemisoras irradian propaganda para reclutar a
jóvenes y contra el estado colombiano, explicó la ministra a radio
Caracol.
Tras señalar que las radioemisoras clandestinas de las FARC se han
detectado "en general en todas las fronteras" del país, agregó que "lo
que estamos viendo es que irradian más allá, ya sean las colombianas
hacia el otro lado o las de los países vecinos hacia Colombia".
La ministra indicó que para impedir esa situación se firmó con Ecuador
un convenio, y señaló que espera hacer lo mismo con Venezuela.
"En el caso de la zona del Amazonas con Brasil estamos en las mismas
circunstancias", agregó, para concluir que "tenemos que sentarnos con
los ministros de los países vecinos", para tratar esa situación.
Fuente: AFP (via José Elías Díaz, Venezuela, Nov 22, noticiasdx yg via
DXLD) WTFK???
** CONGO DR [non]. 9525, Radio Okapi, *0700-0758*, Nov 22, What is
going on here? I tune in to hear Star Radio to Liberia & I hear Radio
Okapi to Congo DR instead. Is this an error in programming or a
permanent change. Needs further checking. Via Ascension I assume. Sign
on with "Okapi" jingles & talk in French & vernacular. Many "Okapi"
jingles & mentions of Congo throughout programming. CTN programming to
Sierra Leone at 0730 with English CTN news at 0730 and later back into
vernacular. "CTN" ID at 0758 & off. Good at sign on but fair to poor
in noisy conditions by 0730 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
See also LIBERIA [non]
** CUBA. This is hardly news, but RHC still doesn`t have its act
together. Nov 22 at 2028 on 11800 I heard the outroduxion of the
Portuguese service at 2000, claiming it was on 17750. I quickly
punched up that frequency on another receiver, but nothing heard. At
2029, 11800 introduced the RHC Arabic service (for all those Arabs in
the Caribbean, never mind Europe, Africa and the Mideast; rather like
Taiwan, q.v. broadcasting in French to Greenland.) At 2032 tuned over
to 11760 to reconfirm RHC`s English service, which does not exist
according to their own schedule. There it was, but with heavy ACI from
WHRI 11765, and // 9505. 11760 was running a good two seconds behind
weaker but clearer 9505! Could Arnie explain how that happens?
Strange. The 2030-2130 English broadcast was originally for Europe,
but apparently due to lack of suitable antenna, they don`t say where
it`s for, but presumably North America. Aoki shows broadcasts
before/after this hour on both frequencies as 100 kW non-direxional
I see that both Aoki and EiBi do not list this 2030-2130 English
broadcast on either frequency, leaving a gap during that hour.
Apparently they prefer to believe the disinformative schedule from RHC
itself than my repeatedly reported reconfirmation by monitoring that
this transmission exists! Geez; why do I bother? Well, those who do
read my reports have the correct info about this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [non]. The new Lista Mundial de Emisiones en Español [see
PUBLICATIONS] suggests that R. República on 6135 and 6155 could be via
Ascension (but not 6100, possibly Skelton). It should not be too
difficult to rule Ascension in or out based on the known number of
transmitters there and whether or not they are all accounted for
during the 2200-0200 time period on other frequencies. Who would like
to study this? WRTH 2007 said there are six. BTW, the very last entry
in the time list, for República via WDHP USVI shows 1260 instead of
1620 kHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** DEUTSCHES REICH [and non]. Continuing the thread in 7-139:
Concerning 'Pyongyang Sally'. I think this must be another name for
the famous 'Seoul City Sue', who broadcast North Korean propaganda
from the city of Seoul, which was occupied for a time by the North
during the Korean War. She is believed to have been an American-born
woman named Anna Wallace Suhr, a former Methodist teacher who was
married to a Korean leftist. Her fate is unknown but it is likely that
she headed north when Seoul was re-taken by the South Koreans. Perhaps
she continued her broadcasting career from Radio Pyongyang? (Roger
Tidy, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Re DXLD 7-139's item on craziness heard on radio:
Personally, I find what I hear on SW to be nowhere near as silly and
idiotic as some of the people on medium-wave's "Coast2Coast AM" late-
night program that seems to be on every third MW channel after local
midnight.
Several times a week, I try listening to it, and usually turn it off
after a few minutes when either the guest or the host says something
demonstrably untrue in a scientific field and they each support the
other in their error. That irritates me so much that I just give up,
even if the topic has some vestiges of interest. I'd far prefer the
complete wackiness of UFO believers that make no pseudoscientific
assertions.
One of the more idiotic ones in recent memory was some guy who claimed
that there were 5 or 6 secret space stations in orbit around the
Earth, and the proof for this was the time it took for the space
shuttle to get to the real ISS -- he said it was stopping at these
others to drop off supplies on the way. Since any amateur with a home-
made half-way-decent telescope can SEE bigger objects in orbit, how
these mystery stations could be "secret" was conveniently ignored. Of
course, we also have bases on the moon and have been on Mars for
years, etc. We've been reverse-engineering saucer technology to zip
around the solar system ever since 1947 or whatever... Watch out for
Planet X! Be sure to wear your magnets! 73, (Will Martin, MO, Nov 21,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Re: That's crazy!
The craziest had to be the Mexican AM radio station (I forget which
one) that ran huge power at the USA/Mexican border. You could hear
them most nights up here in Winnipeg. The preacher was offering (are
you ready?): 8 x 10 glossy autographed pictures of Jesus Christ.
All you had to do is send in "a love offering" to get one. Somehow I
doubt they were real pics. 73 and Best of DX (Shawn Axelrod,
VE4DX1SMA, Nov 19, ODXA via DXLD)
LOL. I remember hearing them I always thought if he broadcast that in
the US, the bunko squad would be visitin`. LOL. They also offered the
original last supper gold chalice. I think it was XERX I believe on or
around 1500 kHz. I believe that's where Wolfman Jack started out, not
sure (RON TROTTO - WDX-4KWI, If you wanna find the truth in life,
Don't pass music by, ibid.) That`s XERF 1570 Ciudad Acuña (gh, DXLD)
Must have been XEG [1050 Monterrey], as I also remember them booming
into Brandon, MB on cold winter nights. Still heard here on good
nights in Sherwood Park. My favorite though was XELO on 800 (changed
to XEROK in the early 70's)with the "Record Roost" gang. 73 (Mick
Delmage, ibid.)
They're out there, all right, and the frightening part of it is people
with these ideas walk around free and unencumbered. There's Alex
Jones, and his special brand of paranoia in the 9/11 truth movement
(everybody's lying, except me.) As I type this, there's an infomercial
of sorts for Newswatch magazine for the truly paranoid, being hawked
by David J. Smith. "Did you know? (the world will be taken over by the
Illuminati, or the Communists)" Yes, someone forgot to tell this guy
the Cold War is over (Dan Malloy, KA1RDZ, ibid.)
Well, the one that takes the cake for me had to be this one strange
broadcast I came across a year or two ago. Sorry I didn't write down
the details. It consisted of a group of children chanting religious
sayings over and over, repeating the same words. This went on for the
better part of a half hour. Sounded like a recorded loop but I don't
think it was because the vocalizations seemed to vary, and every now
and then you could hear someone cough or clear their throat, etc.
More like a live to tape broadcast.
Thing was though that part of this chanting included the children
promising that if they ever sinned they would cut off some part of
their body. If they said something blasphemous they would cut out
their tongue, listen to something they shouldn't then cut off an ear,
if they took or stole something they would cut off their hand, if they
ever partook in any sexual activity they would, well I'll leave this
to your imagination. These children sounded pretty young to me,
probably mostly pre-teen.
This was on one of the regular Christian broadcasters on HF, just
can't remember which one. After this chanting stopped, an adult voice
came on and reassured all children that if they ever sinned they
should indeed cut off the offending body part. Pretty freaky in the
way this stuff was said in such a "matter of fact" way. I wondered if
anyone ever reported these broadcasts to the FCC since it was one of
the usual religious right broadcasting stations. Perhaps some nutbar
cult organization had just bought air time on this station, and the
station operators were not checking up on what was actually being said
on these programs (John M. Hudak, ibid.)
That's KJES from Vado, New Mexico, John; come across that from time to
time below 25 meters. Claim to be Catholic (RON TROTTO - WDX-4KWI,
ibid.) 11715 1400-1700, still very much in business, same stuff (gh)
Being from the States, I used to worry some that people overseas
hearing this cacaphony of extreme voices would think that this is what
America and Americans were like. Then, George W. Bush became President
and settled that question for the forseeable future (John Figliozzi,
NY, ibid.)
Sadly, I know earnest, well-meaning people who have been duped by some
of the fringe evangelists, though those who have graced SW are further
out on the bell curve than those who frequent brokered / non-profit AM
and FM broadcast band radio.
Since, by definition, religion requires a suspension of logic --
otherwise it wouldn't be religion -- I find less to criticize about
religious broadcasters than I do about folks like George Noory and
right wing conspiracy theorists, for the same Oklahoma City-based
reason as mentioned earlier.
It is now cheap enough to rent shortwave air time that it is easy for
shortwave to become the audio version of spam - the unsolicited e-mail
type. One idiot that buys one miracle glow worm funds another month
of shortwave broadcast. Oh joy.
To that end, I have rarely, if ever, publicized fringe programming in
my NASWA Easy Listening column. I have little tolerance for blatant
lies and grossly fraudulent misrepresentation. And, no, I can't
listen to them along the lines of watching a car wreck. Instead, I
get real angry real fast.
I also have little respect for broadcasters who make their living
providing these operations with a public voice. Yes, these
broadcasters indeed have the right to offer this opportunity, but I
don't have to like it or respect them.
Rant aside, the one example I'll mention is a recent one, from which I
have derived an element of Schadenfreude. There was a penny stock
firm, called IBC Media, which hawked penny stocks, including the
shares of their own firm. For a while, they filled some of their air
time with rebroadcasts of legitimate shortwave broadcasters -- I
specifically remember Radio Netherlands among them. This outfit
maintained its own 24/7 webcast and also bought airtime on WRMI. The
firm abruptly ceased broadcasting, ceased its webcast, leaving a pile
of unpaid WRMI invoices. One reaps what they sows.
Sadly, what's left of USA shortwave largely contains these fringe
elements, along with other more legitimate organizations who earnestly
desire to use the vehicle of shortwave to evangelize. Yes, it's a
gray (sorry...'grey' ) area -- what I might consider a legitimate
evangelist might strike someone else as a blatant charlatan.
That is why I'm more interested in publicizing the activities of
broadcasters who might not be using shortwave, but who are
illuminating topics that themes that elevate awareness and, hopefully,
understanding of global and regional issues.
Sorry for venting...I know that this thread wasn't started for that
purpose. However, this topic strikes a raw nerve with me (Richard Cuff
/ Allentown, PA, ibid.)
Saw an Alex Jones video once, just a short. Really in some victim`s
face, low on lithium and MAD! That`s why the tazer was invented.
haven't heard him recently, blow a fuse? jim (banjojim, ibid.)
You don't need to turn to America's shortwave broadcasters to find
bizarre programming. Just stay up past midnight and listen to almost
any episode of Coast to Coast AM, carried on hundreds of AM stations
across the United States and Canada (Greg Shoom, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada, ibid.)
That's my reference to George Noory. Nut case (Richard Cuff /
Allentown, PA USA, ODXA via DXLD)
I lose countless hours of sleep listening to George. The copters in
the night are real, I see them land over by the university hospital
all the time. Dumb fun. Listening to George and Art [Bell] before him
takes me back to the early 60's listening to my transistor radio in a
pup tent and hearing news reports about UFO's, bigfoot, and keeping my
scout knife sharp for protection. Those were the days when pranksters
would launch flares and foil on balloons and freaking out small
towners like me.
I believe it`s also true that the bastard child of Art Bell and Alex
Jones is Dick Cheney. Apologies for mixing politics with radio. I'm
bad. He can read my e-mail. Jim n8rpi (banjojim, ibid.)
** ECUADOR [non]. 12025, VG signal in Arabic at 2143 Nov 22, but at
2144:30 cut to RCI IS and IDs for a semiminute until 2145* This is one
of those multi-layered gospel huxter services, which HFCC classifies
as HCJB via Merlin via Sackville, 250 kW, 73 degrees to CIRAF 37 and
38NW, i.e. Iberia, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya. This confusing
transmission is missing from Eibi, and Aoki has A07 info as via
Rampisham. It does switch sites depending on season, so tnx to RCI for
leaving no doubt about it currently.
Let us approach identifying this from HCJB. This page makes no mention
of Canada as one of the relay sites they use, but UK is mentioned:
http://www.hcjb.org/mass_media/radio/broadcast_sites.html
This schedule, besides being out of date and linked as ``international
shortwave`` does not mention any Arabic nor anything but Pifo site! -
http://www.hcjb.org/docs/radio/HCJB_A07_Sched.pdf
No, you get nothing if you change A to B!
Where do you find a COMPLETE HCJB SW schedule including relay sites?
Not from them directly, it seems. Try searching the site on Arabic,
and you get 53 articles going back a few years, but I just want to
know what this 2100 UT broadcast is. No, I am not going to go thru all
53 of them, but something looks familiar at #50 from 8 April 2005, in
part:
``HCJB World Radio reaches across North Africa, the Middle East and
Europe with Christian Arabic programming aired via shortwave,
satellite and local stations. The Radio Al Mahabba (Radio Love) Arabic
satellite network airs programs direct-to-home 24 hours a day.``
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT [and non]. Since I was monitoring T-giving afternoon at a
time I usually don`t, I checked to see how early R. Cairo could be
heard on 48m. Nov 22 at 2039 it was definitely there, but marred by
slightly off-frequency 2-way SSB, which is after all, what belongs in
this frequency range. 6290 in Arabic was also barely audible. Checked
6250 again just before 2115, and timesignal, six seconds late compared
to WWV, so why bother? And opening English with age-old Cairo theme;
what`s the name of it? Again no sign of Equatorial Guinea on 6250, and
Brian Alexander says he heard it in the morning only on Nov 17. That
may have been a special temporary reactivation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST) See also MEXICO: XEXQ
** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional-Bata, *0459-0555, Nov 22,
Sign on with National Anthem. Spanish announcements at 0502. Variety
of Spanish pops/ballads, orchestral music & Afro-pops. Spanish talk.
Weak with low modulation. I have been checking for the 6250
transmitter but only heard one day, Nov 17 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** ETHIOPIA. Radio Fana to boost output --- An Ethiopian newspaper
notes that today is Radio Fana's 12th birthday, and says the station
is to expand broadcasting hours from the current 11 hours a day, to
18. Also to build new premises. The article mentions that Radio Fana
broadcasts on AM, FM and SW, but gives no further details of current
SW usage. As reported widely in DXLD, Radio Fana recently added a
third SW transmitter - or is that transmitter now being used for
jamming purposes? See full article at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200711220213.html
(Chris Greenway, England, Nov 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz:
RADIO-FANA TO ERECT 11 STOREY BUILDING - 22 November 2007
Radio Fana, a pro - government station, is to construct an 11 storey
building inside its compound, in a bid to upgrade its broadcasting
capacities, sources told The Daily Monitor.
The corner stone for the construction of the building will be laid on
Saturday. The construction of the new building will enable the station
to scale up its transmission capacity to 18 hours, from its present
service of 11 hours a day.
Asked on the total cost of construction, Radio Fana General Manager
Woldu Yimesel said it was too early disclose figures to the public as
the process of bidding the project to contractors is underway.
Yet, unofficial reports indicated that Radio Fana estimated the
construction cost close to 40 megabirr. The GM said the station will
use its own funds to construct the building. He added that Radio Fana
might solicit loans from the banks if need be.
The radio station which started operation in 1995 will celebrate its
12th year anniversary on Thursday, November 22, 2007.
Details as to the construction project are expected to surface at a
press conference to be organized to mark the day.
Radio Fana gives public broadcasting services in the three wave
lengths of AM, FM and SW to the local and external services in
Amharic, Oromiffa, Amharic and English languages (via Zacharias
Liangas, Thessaloniki Greece, DXLD)
?? I fail to comprehend how the number of hours on the air per day
depends on the number of storeys in a station`s building. Countless
stations manage to be 24h NSP with far fewer than 11 storeys (Glenn
Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ETHIOPIA [and non]. DW, 9690 via Kigali, 295 degrees, English to
WAf, Nov 22, after news about Uganda at 2016, at 2019-2023 interviewed
the head of DW`s Amharic service, Ludgar Sadowski (sp? [see below])
about the recently started Ethiopian jamming. Among the points: it was
first detected by DW`s in-house monitors on Nov 11 against the
service`s two frequencies [WTFK? 15640, 11645], and `yesterday` also
against the third [15660]; and there is also jamming against 3/5 of
the VOA Amharic frequencies. The jamming will ultimately backfire, but
DW is not pointing fingers at who is behind it; however, DW Intendant
Bettermann has written to the Ethiopian ambassador in Berlin asking
him to look into it. There has been a clampdown on press freedom in
Ethiopia since the elexions of May 2005. He said 20% of the adult
population of Ethiopia listens to the DW Amharic service, so it is
very influential.
As usual, DW makes you go thru multiple steps until you finally find
their current English SW radio PROGRAM (as opposed to frequency or
transmission) schedule. Saving you the trouble, here it is:
http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_pdf/0,,2530152,00.pdf
Which however does NOT show the frequency I was listening to, 9690,
but rather ex-9735. It does show that the program was the 25-minute
(short) version of Newslink. I am looking for the audio file to
reference. Back on the audio on demand page, however, checked after
2300 UT, already replacing the 2005 edition, we get the 2105 UT
edition of Newslink, which does NOT include this story which should
have started about :14 minutes into the file. Also, you have to choose
the real version if you want to be able to move immediately into the
file, not the mp3 or wm versions, altho the latter show the length of
the file and the embedded real player does not. What a mess and a
waste of time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Ludger Schadomsky, appointed as head of the Amharic service in last
December: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2275677,00.html
(illustrated)
Today he also wrote a piece for the DW website in German, right now
linked on the frontpage with the headline "just like during the Cold
War": http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2968581,00.html
Says that listeners complained via e-mail, SMS and phone calls about
that kind of noises typical for jamming, easily distinguishable from
atmospheric noises. Subsequent monitoring confirmed that DW Amharic,
the most listened foreign radio service in Ethiopia (about 20 percent
of the Ethiopians tune in at least once in a week), is subject of a
"big and expensive censorship campaign".
Ethiopia has the lowest power consumption amongst the countries south
of the Sahara desert, people will presumably not be amused by the
circumstance that this little bit of power is not used for economic
development but instead to fuel jamming transmitters. But what is even
more important is the timing of this sabotage: Observers fear that a
new war between Ethiopia and Eritrea is looming.
The Ethiopian government takes action against DW since the reporting
about the elections in May 2005 with 135 killed and some ten thousand
arrested people. Villagers were compelled to sign a petition to the
German parliament, Ethiopian authorities were instructed to reject
interview requests, DW correspondents experience massive hindrance of
their work and are not allowed to attend press conferences.
Recently two visits of DW director Erik Bettermann in Ethiopia and an
intervention by the German ambassador lead to an improvement of the
situation. This makes it even more surprising that Ethiopia now falls
back upon the Cold War practice of jamming which used to be common on
the Horn of Africa, too. Ethiopian websites claim that the necessary
equipment has been delivered by China. So far this is merely a
speculation, but it is a fact that China increases its presence in
Ethiopia, with the oil deposits there being one of the reasons.
It is a fact as well that the Ethiopian press is subject of massive
censorship. The Horn of Africa in general could be considered as most
difficult region for press freedom at all: In Somalia already eight
journalists were killed and three radio stations closed. And Eritrea
is now an "axis of evil" with North Korea and Turkmenistan in regard
to media censorship, journalists are experiencing brutal reprisals
here (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Jamming ceases? No jamming noted here against DWL Amharic today Nov
22, 1400-1457 UT, all three channels free of "foreign noise". 73 wb
(Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Note: No jamming of VOA Oromo/Amharic/Tigrinya heard here in Caversham
yesterday (22 Nov). (Chris Greenway, England, ibid.)
Jamming against DWL Amharic remains [resumed] on Fri Nov 23. 1400-1457
UT, 11645 KIG, 15640 IRA, 15660 KIG. All three suffer of mixture by
WHITE noise, crunch, rasp scratches. No bubble, motorboat, pips, and
whistle buoy howl jamming noted today (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** ETHIOPIA [non]. Clandestines: 7560, Andenet Ledemocracy, Nov 07,
*1600-1615 35433, Amharic, 1600 sign on with IS, ID, Opening announce,
Talk, and Ethiopia pops music, (ex: 9445 kHz)
9445, EPPF R. Nov 08 *1600-1612 25432-35433 Amharic, 1600 sign on with
IS, 1601 ID, Opening announce, Talk and music. Also Nov 15 *1600-1614
35433 Amharic, 1600 sign on with IS, ID, Opening announce, Talk and
music (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD)
** EUROPE. Next Sunday Internet / Dec. 30th --- Dear FRS Friends, In
this e-mail we pay attention to upcoming Sunday and our December
broadcast. Next Sunday repeat 18th November broadcast (streaming
audio). As already announced, next Sunday will see a full repeat of
last Sunday's 4 hour broadcast. This time not on SW but via
cyberspace. Time 16.00-20.00 CET. Url is:
http://nednl.net:8000/frsh.m3u [i.e. Nov 25, 1500-1900 UT! --- gh]
I N V I T A T I O N
December 30th, FRS-Holland will be re-introducing a long time
tradition. And that means we invite you - the listener – to
participate. Forward your very own personal New Year Greetings to the
Free Radio Service Holland and we will make sure it’ll be read out
during our Dec. 30th broadcast. You can dedicate your greetings to
anybody or anything. It's up to you! Greetings can be written or taped
(cassette, CD, MD or mp3 file) and sent to our P. O. Box 2702, 6049 ZG
Herten in the Netherlands. Of course the easy & quick way is by
sending an e-mail: frs.holland @ hccnet.nl or frs @ frsholland.nl
You can add something special to our December 30th broadcast by
participating. So --- what are you waiting for? Make sure your
contribution reaches us before December 9th. We are looking forward
hearing from you !!! 73s, Peter V. (on behalf of the FRS staff)
a Balance between Music & Information joint to one Format....
(via Roberto Scaglione, shortwave yg via DXLD)
** FINLAND. Hello Friends, I have heard yesterday evening Family Radio
in Englisch between 1900 and 2000 h on 963 kHz, via Finland? (Peter
Kruse, Nov 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Family Radio is currently audible here with a good signal on 963 kHz
via Pori, Finland. First reported yesterday by Peter Kruse in Germany.
This MW test is reportedly at 1900-2000 in English (Dave Kenny,
England, Nov 22, BDXC-UK via DXLD)
I just had a chat with one person at Digita (Finland) and he confirms
963 (Pori) has a one hour test evenings for Family Radio and some
tests on 6 MHz as well for the same customer. He had no exact details
on hand atm. 73, (Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
And YFR test on SW via Pori Finland also. Woken up from permanent
hibernation (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.)
USA/FINLAND, Test transmissions of WYFR Family Radio from Nov. 21 till
Dec. 5:
1800-1900 on 6125 POR 250 kW / 110 deg to EaEu in English
1900-2000 on 6130 POR 250 kW / 130 deg to WeAs in English
73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Checking the shortwavelog.com site, I tuned the remote receiver in
Italy on 11/23 and on 6130 I hear the WYFR relay test via Pori (with
Harold Camping sermon) underneath strong Voice of Russia signal in
French (Moscow, 200 kW/265 degrees via Aoki B07 list). (Joe Hanlon,
NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
They also appear to be on 6240 preceded by Russian style tuning
signal. Sign on is at 2000 UT, I think Sign off is 2200; I presume
this is via Moldova (Ken Fletcher, Nov 23, BDXC-UK via DXLD) See also
RUSSIA, QRM to 6130
** FRANCE. RFI, which for years had live Internet streams for its
French services only, has added two multilingual streams. The audio
links are http://213.186.61.62:8110/listen.pls
and http://213.186.61.62:8130/listen.pls both in MP3 format. It is
likely that these streams carry some of RFI's English broadcasts, but
at 1200 UT, the streams were in Mandarin (presumed) and Spanish
respectively. The port 8110 stream has English at 1400 UT. No English
on either stream at 1600 or 1700 (Kevin Kelly, Bedford, Massachusetts,
USA, http://www.publicradiofan.com/ Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Yes, I erred on time of RFI English broadcast. During US DST, the 10
am Eastern broadcast via WRN is live from Paris. I forgot that during
the winter, it is a one-hour delay of the 1400 UT broadcast (Mike
Cooper, Nov 22, DXLD)
** GERMANY. Jamming of DW Amharic: see ETHIOPIA [and non]
** GERMANY [non]. Correxion: Deutsche Welle in Dari/Pashto on 9380:
1330-1400 9380 ERV 500 kW / 100 WAs Dari (not DHA 250 kW / 090 deg)
1400-1500 9380 LV 500 kW / 096 WAs Pashto (not DHA 250 kW / 090 deg)
73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GERMANY. Radio Gloria International this Sunday --- The channel
will be 5965 kHz and the time will be 1300-1400 UT with Programming in
German and English. Good listening (Tom Taylor, Nov 23, DX LISTENING
DIGEST) So, Nov 25
** GERMANY. Radio 700 bald auch auf Kurzwelle 6005 kHz
Traditionsfrequenz wird Europaradio: Radio 700 übernimmt Kurzwelle
6.005 kHz vom DeutschlandRadio --- Peter Kruse
http://de.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/RundfunkstationeninDeutschland
(via Dario Monferini, DXLD)
Ciao! L'amico Peter Kruse segnala nel gruppo Yahoo da lui diretto che
su 6005 kHz dove operava DeutschlandRadio (Tx Berlino) molti anni fa
operava sempre su 6005 kHz RIAS Berlin, inizierà ad essere diffuso il
programma di RADIO 700, che opera attualmente su WEB Radio, con
sistema DRM nella loro WEB: http://www.radio700.de
Per il momento NON LO SCRIVONO, ma state allerta, Funkhaus Euskirchen,
Radio 700 - Das Europaradio, Kuchenheimer Str. 155, D-53881
Euskirchen, Germany. Telefon: +49 (2251) 921300 Telefax: +49 (2251)
921303 (Dario Monferini, 23 November, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Plans to reactivate soon the heritage ex-RIAS Berlin frequency 6005
with Radio 700 in DRM (gh, DXLD)
A German web radio called Radio 700 says that Bundesnetzagentur
allocated 6005, abandoned by Deutschlandradio, to them. They will
operate own transmitters, "the transmission quality will benefit from
this circumstance". Transmitter site "in the Eifel mountains", not
further specified, also no power given. The first transmission is
announced for today 1000-1200.
Three photos are posted at
http://radio700.de/frame.php?seite=hoeren&kategorie=kurzwelle&language=de
Used telcom transmission gear and a dipole antenna. The first picture
could portray a Rohde&Schwarz transmitter, maybe 10 kW?
The whole thing gets quite some attention by German radio freaks,
tonight I already got this story forwarded by two guys who otherwise
have to affiliation with shortwave broadcasting. A discussion of the
above referenced press release is already three pages long, after just
two days: http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,543164
Fun reading for those who understand German: Wild speculations that it
must be Jülich (of course not!), opinions that it is sheer megalomania
how they sell themselves as successors of RIAS (I agree with that),
other opinions that the whole thing is merely vaporware with DXers
being a tried and tested target for such stunts (indeed I'm not
convinced, too), show-offs who claim that they know exact location and
power of the transmitter "but I won't tell you" etc., etc., etc.
Btw, beware of the Wikipedia article about this station. It mentions
FM frequencies but omits the fact that they are only flew power (50
milliwatts or so), not considered as broadcasting but instead merely
meant to serve the buildings where they are placed (Kai Ludwig,
Germany, Nov 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GREECE. Glenn: last night, I managed to bring up the Greek language
web site for The Voice of Greece's B-07 Programs. This is the way
things look for their broadcasts in English. I couldn't find any signs
of Katerina's "Hellenes Around The World":
0700-0800 Every Day 12105 Radio Filia Program In English
1105-1200 Sunday 9420 15650 Greek In Style
0005-0105 Monday 7475 9420 12105 Greek In Style
0300-0400 Monday *7475 9420 *12105 It's All Greek To Me (Tichi
*Broadcast ends 10 minutes early Agathi)
(John Babbis, Silver Spring MD, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. AIR Guwahati back on air --- AIR Guwahati 4940 was noted
back on air at around 1600 UT. Went off the air at scheduled 1700. All
the SW frequencies were off air since 12th Nov as reported by Gautam
Sharma. Earlier spoke to Station Engineer Mr. S. N. Basak who informed
that SW freq's were off air due to fault at power supply and spares
were arranged from Shillong. Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi,
India, Nov 21, dx_india yg via DXLD)
** INDIA. 6165, All India Radio (Delhi), 1248, 11/23/07, listed Sindh.
Subcontinental-type sitar music, possible brief ID around 1259 then
into a short presumed newscast. Some co-channel QRM, probably China.
Rapid fades, else fair/good (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** INDIA. 9425, AIR (presumed) Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) -
National Channel, 2248-2303, Nov 21, sub-continent music, fair till
QRM at *2300 from CRI via Jinhua, in listed Cantonese (Ron Howard, CA,
Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. DD, AIR STAFFERS CALL OFF STIR [sic]
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200711222222.htm
New Delhi (PTI): The administrative staff of Prasar Bharati-run
Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR) on Thursday called off
their agitation following the assurances by the government that their
grievance of unequal pays will be looked into by the Group of
Ministers (GoM).
Nearly 7000 employees, agitating under the banner of Akashvani and
Doordarshan Administrative Staff Association, went back to work today
morning after the Minister of Information and Broadcasting P R
Dasmunsi assured them that the issue of pay scales will be taken up in
the next GoM meeting within a week.
The administrative employees want their pays at par with engineering
and programming employees, whose scales have been increased.
The relay hunger strike by the employees had entered into the third
day yesterday as the government decided to work a way out. The issue
of agitation of DD and AIR staff at all kendras and radio stations in
the country was also raised in Parliament on Tuesday.
The negotiations which went into late last night, by attended by
Dasmunsi, senior I&B ministry officials, Prasar Bharati CEO B S Lalli
and the representative of the association.
"We have deferred our agitation after the minister gave us an
assurance in black and white last night. We will wait for the outcome
of the GoM's meeting," Sangam Thakur, general secretary of the
employees association, said (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Nov
22, dx_india via DXLD) ``relay hunger strike`` ? (gh, DXLD)
** INDONESIA. 3976.1, RRI-Pontianak (presumed), 1158-1211 22 Nov.
"warta berita Jakarta" to 1200, fan-fare & SCI, RRI ID (missed site..)
more w.b. with phone reports to 1210 and then local music (Dan Sheedy,
CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. 7380, VOIRI (presumed), 1340, 11/23/07, Japanese. Extended
talk by F in Japanese, a vaguely Middle-Eastern sounding music bumper,
then switched to M. Fluttery, noisy. Poor (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN [non]. Clandestine: 7470, R. Democracy Shorayee, Nov 09 *1700-
1707, 32332, Farsi, 1700 sign on with opening music, ID, Opening
announce, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5985, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, Japan,
*1400-1430*, Nov 23 (Fri.), in English, open carrier on at 1359,
starts with piano IS, YL with sign-on announcements, requests
information about abductees, gives e-mail address, mailing address and
three phone numbers (seemed to be 81356845058, etc.), OM with program
"News on North Korea Issues", reading items from Japanese newspapers,
IDs "This is Shiokaze Sea Breeze from Tokyo, Japan", YL with sign-off
announcements, gives clear "JSR" callsign, so Yamata indeed does still
use their callsign, but used only once. Some days have noted strong
jamming here, but not today. Reception was fair (Ron Howard, CA, Etón
E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LAOS. 4677.8, RNL-Xam Neua (presumed), 1215-1230* 22 Nov.
Definitely // Vientiane-6130 with national news, long phone report
(with recording "beeps" every 15 seconds), music bridge at 1224 and
M/W yak to 1229 harp-like music bridge with voice-over & gone. 6130
very clear this morning which made // checking almost fun (Dan Sheedy,
CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LATVIA. RELAYS THIS WEEKEND VIA 9290 KHZ
Sat 24th November
Latvia Today 0800-0900 UT
Radio City 0900-1000 UT with repeat at
2000-2100 UT only via 945 kHz Riga
and http://www.radionord.lv
Sun 25th November
Radio Waves International 0800-0900 UT
Radio Caroline Eifel 0900-1000 UT
Latvia Today 1000-1100 UT
Good listening (Tom Taylor, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LIBERIA. ELWA RESUMES TESTING 4760 --- 4760 ELWA is back on for the
weekend, assuming no technical problems. We added audio processing so
audio should be more consistent. 6070 tests may begin on next Monday
or Tuesday. The 6070 antenna is ready, but the transmitter output
networks haven't been tuned yet for that band. 73 and God Bless (John
Stanley, at ELWA, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Previously had been on
usually until around 2300 (gh, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LIBERIA [non]. 9525, Star Radio, via Ascension, *0700-0730, Nov 23,
Sign on with ID & into English news concerning Liberia. Audio somewhat
muffled but good signal strength. Radio Okapi programming heard on
this frequency the previous morning but now back to the normal Star
Radio programming this morning. English CTN news at 0730 (Brian
Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CONGO DR [non]
** LITHUANIA. The reason for the 5815 Sitkunai puzzle is that IRIB
registers their own Iranian frequencies of Iranian soil tx centers
with HFCC; and Sitkunai registers the LTU Radio Vilnius schedule only.
But never registered the others, the IRIB relays and R Raja [Racja]
Belarussian with HFCC group (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX Nov 19 via
DXLD)
** MALAYSIA. 5964.96, Klasik Nasional FM (presumed) via RTM, 1614-
1625, Nov 22, in vernacular, reciting from the Qur`an, ballads, weak,
under QRM from DW via Sri Lanka, in English on 5965.0 (Ron Howard, CA,
Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
7295, Traxx FM via RTM, 1538-1611, Nov 22, in English, program
Alternation (derived from "alternative" and "nation"), scheduled for
Thurs., 1415-1700 UT, with DJs Lola and Maya playing alternative
music, promos for the upcoming MYHC hardcore music fest in Kuala
Lumpur http://www.junkonline.net/node/453 many IDs ("You are tuned to
Traxx FM", singing "Traxx" jingles, etc.), ToH pips, "News in brief
from the RTM News Center Kuala Lumpur", their blog is
http://alternation.wordpress.com/ with a live audio streaming that
works well (Ron Howard, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. XEXQ is back! I`ve been keeping a close watch on 6045 since
R. Universidad de San Luís Potosí disappeared almost 4 months ago. My
last log of it was Aug 3, in DXLD 7-092.
Finally, Nov 23 at 0625 I detected the tell-tale subaudible het mixing
with KBS World Radio in Spanish via Sackville on 6045. After that went
off at 0629, a hefty carrier of S9 +10 remained on frequency, and I
kept listening until 0643, but absolutely no modulation heard.
Retuned at 1352 and now there was classical music, good signal on
6045, Gaîté Parisienne. The can-can girls were celebrating with high
kicks! Segués to more pop classics with no announcements, XEXQ`s usual
style, until 1359, timecheck for 7:59, ID as R. Universidad, 25,000
watts on 1190 AM, no mention of SW. Then a string of government PSAs
including one for transplants from the Secretaría de Salud, and
another full ID for XEXQ including their phone number 826-1345, 8:02
TC and 1403 back to music. Still coming in well past 1452 at S9+10. It
will be interesting to see in solstitial conditions how far it can
penetrate north of the border during daytime, perhaps even at low
noon.
There is more news here, as their MW frequency used to be 1460 with
250 watts. Seems there has been a major upgrade to 1190 with 25 kW,
along with a change in transmitter site. Note the night power is only
300 watts.
John Callarman`s Mexican list of early 2007 has this entry:
1460 SAN LUIS POTOSÍ XEXQ “Radio Universidad*” San Luis Potosí.
(250/250*) Universidad de San Luis Potosí, General Mariano Aristo 245,
Colonia Histórico 78001 T: (444) 98-26-13-84 uaslp.mx/rtu
http://www.uaslp.mx/Plantilla.aspx?padre=1912 N 22-09-08 W 100-58-39
(1,000/500)(+ N 22-10-19 W 100-57-48 25,000/300 on 1190)
In this originally color-coded listing, the first part was from WRTH
2007, the long URL from SCT, and the last part about 1190 from Fred
Cantú`s website. I haven`t found exactly what the plus symbol means in
the lengthy introduxion to John`s list, but maybe it`s construction
permit.
Craig Healy`s Westlist, allegedly offline, came up in a Google search,
the SLP state page as of Nov 2006, already showing XEXQ on 1190 with
25/0.3 kW. http://www.am-dx.com/lists/104stat.htm
There is precious little on the UASLP website about the radio station.
Searching on XEXQ, we got this item about a radio marathon when they
were on 1460, date Thursday Sept 30, no year given, but has to be
several years old since in 2007 that was a Sunday:
http://www.uaslp.mx/Avisos.aspx?na=128
Oh, here are pages about this year`s Radio Marathon, which was on Sept
28, and as of then they were already on 1190, with 6045 also
displayed.
http://www.uaslp.mx/Plantilla.aspx?padre=1944
http://www.uaslp.mx/Plantilla.aspx?padre=1948
The page I had previously bookmarked showing their FM 88.5 program
schedule, at least, is now blank:
http://www.uaslp.mx/Plantilla.aspx?padre=1915
Both http://www.uaslp.mx/rtu and http://uaslp.mx/rtu no longer work.
Digging further into the UASLP website, found this about the station:
http://www.uaslp.mx/Plantilla.aspx?padre=3516
which says they are on the ``sixth shortwave band`` and also
webcasting, but any further details? Of course not! Are there any
further links from this page, such as to a webcast or a program
schedule? No. It does show the person in charge, LCC. Leticia Zavala
Pérez.
Despite the abysmally poorly-designed website, we are delighted that
XEXQ is reactivated on SW and hope it is back to stay this time. The
signal seems better than before, and the frequency is relatively clear
much of the time. Aoki shows hardly anything else on 6045 between 0630
and 1430 UT when India starts.
It`s also of note that all three currently active Mexican SW stations
are cultural ones, playing lots of classical music. (Excluding XERTA
4810, reported once recently but still not heard again here.), while
zero US SW stations are cultural, let alone non-commercial and would
not be caught dead playing classical. (One could hardly classify VOA
as cultural these days.) Clear evidence that the United States of
Mexico are way ahead of the US of A (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
Rechecked at 1656 Nov 23, 6045 still with traces, but noise level too
much for it. Next recheck not until 2002, when a very weak carrier
could be detected, and could have been something else. At this hour
not much else was evident on 49m, but stronger carriers from Cairo
were in on 6250, 6290 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
I have not removed the data from the site, only the public link. I
have no problem with it being used as reference, with the caveat that
it is old info. Now and again I work to see just what the problem is
with the auto-update routine, but have come up dry. The full link to
the database is: http://www.am-dx.com/fcclist.htm Use at your own
risk. (grin) (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, IRCA via DXLD)
Interesting development --- based upon monitoring by Glenn, with the
announcement for 1190 with 25,000 watts, XEXQ's AM facility has been
substantially updated. When I folded the FCC data into the list I put
together, when I found material in the FCC list was not duplicated in
any other source, and that was clearly not an OLD listing, I added it
with a + sign, basically to tell us that this was merely a listing.
Obviously, it has now become more than that.
The problem that we have with Mexican information is that there is no
single, official, authoritative source of information. Some sources
are relatively up to date regarding some estados; other sources are
relatively up to date on other states or stations; some networks keep
their Internet listings up to date; others are woefully behind ... so
I chose to integrate all the listings into what I produced, as a
working guide to show what needs to be checked.
The FCC material does get updated from time to time with notifications
from official sources in Mexico, but there is no real way to tell, in
the FCC listings, what is current, what is proposed, what is actually
operational, and what is merely some kind of future plan similar to
the FCC's FM potential assignment list. All the XENVAs, for example,
in the FCC's listing for Mexico have some possible order to them, but
I don't know what it is! Maybe one out of 100 will materialize into an
actual station.
Even the official SCT list, which is updated once a year, contains
outdated material, possibly tied in to the license renewal date.
Though changes in frequency, power and (rarely) call letters occur,
they may not show up in the SCT list until the list following the date
the license is renewed.
I've kept the FCC transmitter site notifications in the master list
I've put together primarily because I like to measure distance and
azimuth from my site to the station's site. I have no way of vouching
for the accuracy of the transmitter coordinates without plugging each
coordinate onto a Mapquest (or other provider) map, then traveling to
the transmitter site itself and seeing which site is actually on the
ground.
Cantú is good for the heavily populated metropolitan areas, but he is
behind in some of the rural northwestern Mexican estados, sometimes
several years behind, based upon what monitoring we DX'ers have been
able to do.
Power listings leave much to be desired as well, with many Mexican
stations apparently using their daytime powers at night. I've not been
as active listening and taping in the last year or so as I had been
earlier, but I am finding two Mexico City stations that are now heard
consistently when one XEVOZ on 1590, had been heard only occasionally,
and the other, XEL on 1260, which hadn't been heard at all until this
fall (John Callarman, Krum TX, IRCA via DXLD)
XEXQ was on with classical music before 0330z Fri (UT) much stronger
that HCJB on adjacent 6050. Good signal for 250 watts (Jerry Lenamon,
Waco TX, Nov 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Me informa Directora de Radio Universidad de SLP Leticia Zavala que,
efectivamente se trata de un nuevo transmisor, el cual fué fabricado
en Chile y cuenta con una capacidad hasta de 1 kW.
Desde ayer se encuentran en pruebas y utilizan solo 250 vatios -
potencia autorizada - en espera de recibir la anuencia para utilizar
más potencia. La antena es prácticamente la misma que tenían en el
anterior transmisor, una "V" invertida con un poco más de 12 m. por
lado en dirección norte-sur.
El Ing. Moreno, encargado técnico, nos informó que este fin de semana
continuarán las pruebas, por lo que eventualmente estarán entrando y
saliendo del aire. Con la intención de que en la semana venidera ya
estén con regularidad.
El horario de transmisión será de las 1300 UT (07:00 del Centro de
México) a las 0500 UT (23:00 del Centro de México).
El contenido de sus emisiones es fundamentalmente cultural y está en
paralelo con su señal de onda media.
Cabe hacer notar que asimismo sus tranmisores de onda media (1190 kHz)
y de FM (88.5 MHz) son nuevos, el primero con una potencia hasta de 25
kW y el segundo por el momento de 1 kW - en espera de autorización
para el aumento de potencia en el caso de FM.
La programación es diferente en oc y om a la de la FM. Por el momento
no sé si tendrán política QSL. Realmente de felicitar el esfuerzo y
trabajo de la Universidad de San Luis Potosí, México. 73´s (Julián
Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
[Later:] Emisoras Culturales en Onda Corta --- Coincido contigo,
Glenn, en relación a que pocos países pueden presumir de tener
emisoras netamente culturales en onda corta. No sé si XERTA pueda
entrar en esta clasificación; la que sí creo tiene el perfil es XEOI
Radio Mil onda corta, ya que, ahora su programación es en relación a
hacer conocer México en sus diversas manifestaciones culturales:
gastronomía, arqueología, costumbres, celebraciones, música, etc.
El nombre oficial de México es: Estados Unidos Mexicanos; por tanto,
en Inglés es: United Mexican States y no United States of Mexico.
Saludos y estaré pendiente de Radio Universidad de SLP, la cual
definitivamente tiene desde ya una gran presencia local, regional e
internacional con sus nuevos transmisores en las tres frecuencias.
73´s (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Oops! Please excuse me for overlooking your station XEOI, 6010.
Reality is that I can rarely hear it well enough to listen to,
unfortunately, unlike 9599, 6185 and now 6045 (Glenn Hauser, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. XEYU, Radio UNAM is usually on when checked lately, such as
Nov 22 at 2026 with classical vocal music, somewhere between 9599.2
and 9599.3, atop whatever was hetting from 9600.0 (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
9599.29, Radio UNAM, Mexico City, 0755-0810, Nov 23, classical music.
ID at 0803. Good signal & in the clear. Also heard at 1910 (Brian
Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 4810, XERTA, 0030 carrier with poor audio [tuned] in LSB to
avoid the hash, 1030 to 1100 same with OM and music; very poor for a
station so close to this QTH. 16 November (Robert Wilkner, FL, Japan
Premium via DXLD)
BTW, we no longer suspect the hash to be part of XERTA`s defective
transmitter since it has continued in their long absence; but they
sure need a better frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Reminiscences of XERF/XEG: see DEUTSCHES REICH [and non]
** MOLDOVA. Hello Glenn, Just noted Radio PMR on 6240 at 2300 UT in
English. I checked for them at 1700 UT recently, but no signs. Must be
the new transmission time. Can you shed any more light on this? Best
Wishes, (Chris Lewis, England, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Kishinev is now registered on 6240 at 2300-0100 with 500 kW, 309
degrees to CIRAF 8, 9 and 27, i.e. USA E of 90, Altantic Canada,
Ireland, UK and France. Same azimuth as for VOR after 0100. Must be a
new broadcast, finally a NAm service, but what are the full language
timings? The 1700 to Europe has moved to 7370. PMR and DMR are both
correct depending on which name you abbr. (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
7370, R. DMR, Nov 12 1703-1740, 31431-33433, English and German, News,
ID at 1719 and 1720, IS at 1721.
7370, R. DMR, Nov 13 *1700-1740, 31431-34443, English and French,
1700 Opening announce, News, ID at 1719.
7370, R. DMR, Nov 15 *1700-1741, 33443-32442-43443, English and
French, 1700 Opening announce, News, English ID at 1700 and 1718,
Address announce at 1718, IS at 1720, French ID at 1732.
7370, R. DMR, Nov 16 *1659-1741, 31431-32432-34433, English, 1700
Opening announce, News, ID at 1700 and 1740 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan,
Japan Premium via DXLD)
This would be a return to an old approach: Their first shortwave
transmissions in the nineties went out in the late local evening on a
Grigoriopol frequency which afterwards carried Radio Moscow in English
throughout the night. At 0035 check I found 6240 off while co-located
7125 was booming in with RMR (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 24, dxldyg via
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MOROCCO. Strange Moroccan outlet. Glenn, Which fundamental RTM
frequency are you estimating?
Re: ``MOROCCO. 1637a, RTM-"B" (& other), site?, 1402-..., 17 Nov,
Spanish, newscast till 1405, Rabat ID, Sp. songs; 35444 but still the
weird, FM-like modulation causing the audio to be unreadable until one
switches from the AM to the FM mode. I could not find this on any in-
band channel airing this in regular AM modulation and at the same
signal level, which is frankly good (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX
LISTENING DIGEST) So this one is not a second harmonic? (gh, DXLD)``
Adjacent to 1637 (approx.), there's usually the harmonic of 819v,
which has been a lot weaker lately. Besides, programs on 1637a & 819v
differ. Sorry, I can't recall whether I also sent you an audio clip of
1637a. If I did send it, what do you think of the modulation? 73,
(Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) strange (gh)
** MYANMAR. BURMA (MYANMAR), 5985.80, R. Myanmar, Nov 11, 1402-1432,
33443-32442 vernacular and English, English lecture and music, ID at
1429 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) 5770: see
PROPAGATION
** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. PICTURE GALLERY OF RNW BONAIRE TRANSMITTING
STATION
Dear DXers, Look at some very nice 29 pictures of RNW BONaire
transmitting station... Taken from
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/browse_thread/thread/8986bab0b1f950e9
Best regards! (Dragan Lekic from Subotica, Serbia, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST) Viz:
Visiting RNW Bonaire --- I got a chance to visit Radio Netherlands in
Bonaire recently. Edwin, the station engineer gave me about a 90
minute tour. Edwin was a very gracious host and I had a thoroughly
enjoyable visit. I posted some photos. See if you can spot the MFJ
equipment being used in the station. Bonaire is a wonderful place. I
can't wait to go back. http://gallery.mac.com/northernsw/100015 (via
Lekic, ibid.)
Unfortunately not much can be identified. In DSCN1088 I note three
Jünger D06 levellers and to the right what appear to be the controls
of the Brown Boveri transmitter. In the centre probably controls of
the new transmitters, with DSCN1101 perhaps featuring details of one
of them. Thomson???
DSCN1098 and 1099 feature the Siemens transmitter, installed for DRM
tests around 2001 but also used for some AM transmissions with 50 kW
if I recall correct. Back in last year this transmitter had been
disconnected for the installation of new antenna switches; is it again
usable or merely a relic now? And from where did they actually get
this old Siemens rig? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 23, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. SPECIAL DRM TRANSMISSION FROM BONAIRE TO
ECUADOR ON 26 NOVEMBER
In connection with a conference on digital broadcasting to be held in
Ecuador next week, RNW Bonaire will make a special DRM transmission to
Ecuador with the following parameters:
Date: Monday November 26th
Time: 1600-1800 UTC
Frequency: 15245 kHz
DRM output power: 120 kW
Antenna: HRS 4/4/1 230 degrees
Language: RNW Spanish
November 22nd, 2007 - 17:00 UTC by Andy (Media Network blog via DXLD)
** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI, 5950, Nov 23 at 1406-1414, YL reading ``Met
Service Coastal Forecasts``, lots of rough seas, I guess covering
every part of NZ`s formidable coastline, identified with unfamiliar
names à la Britain, concluding at 1413 with Chatham Islands, 1414 to a
short story reading. Very specialised programming, hardly of any
interest to the other Pacific Islands, or indeed anybody not directly
involved with each coastal area (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** PALESTINE. E4/OM2DX Palestine --- After almost one year of hard
working with Palestinian authorities a callsign E4/OM2DX was issued.
As a country which wasn`t activated for almost 8 years and which is on
26th place on the ARRL Most Wanted List, we didn't hesitate and made
immediate steps to active this call as soon as possible. After Slovak
hamfest which was held on the third weekend in November the team got
complete. We decided to go in group of 4 operators.
Mike *OM2DX* http://www.qrz.com/om2dx
Steve *OM3JW* http://www.qrz.com/om3jw
Rudy *OM3PC* http://www.qrz.com/om3pc and
Miro *OM5RW* http://www.qrz.com/om5rw
All four top CW operators and contestmans with plenty of experiences
from the past. The operation is planned on 14.-22.12.2007 and we will
be active on all bands from 160m to 10m CW, SSB and RTTY with two
stations. QSL manager will be OM3JW. More informations coming soon.
[K1XN & The GOLIST] (I.C.P.O. Bulletin (November 22 - 30, 2007)
Islands, Castles & Portable Operations via editor Dave Raycroft,
VA3RJ, ODXA yg via DXLD)
** PERU. 4824.54, La Voz de la Selva, Iquitos, 2223 to 2300 with usual
flauta andina, good signal; not noted local mornings 1000 to 1100;
Infrequent schedule. 17 November (Bob Wilkner, FL, Japan Premium via
DXLD) No to be confused with:
4826.45, Radio Sicuani, 2350-2359 Nov 23. Noted a male in Spanish
comments, followed by local music. Again the male returns with
comments at 2355. And again music presented. Signal was poor.
4857.53, Radio La Hora, 2358-0010, With a male in conversation with a
second male. They continue thru the hour, until 0004 when a third male
gives live ID and leads into canned ads. At 0006 signal drops off
without any warning. Probably closed down on shortwave only and medium
wave still up? Signal was fair (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida,
NRD545, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PRIDNESTROVYE. See MOLDOVA in this issue at least
** RUSSIA. Subject: V. of Russia 6130 spurious emissions.
Dear Mikhail, dear Andrey, Spurious VoRussia, Moscow site 6130 1600-
2100, on 6013.48 kHz, wandering to 6013.73 / symmetrically on 6246.24
kHz. VoR in English 1600-1700, French 1700-2100 UT 200 kW 265 degrees
Nordafrica, produced two strong signals on odd frequencies, signal
strength S=9+10-20 dB !!!!!!!!!!
and did hit QRM IRIB Pushto 6015 kHz, + coming DTK Wertachtal in
Polish Radio relay at 1800 UT? Friday November 23, 1600-1730 UT.
Kind regards de Wolfy (Wolfgang Bueschel, Stuttgart Germany,
http://topnews.wwdxc.de Nov 23 via DXLD)
Spurious Voice of Russia, 6130 1600-2200, on 6013.48, drifting to
6013.73 / symmetrically on 6246.24, 5897.91 kHz
Spurious VoRussia, 6130 kHz at 1600-2039 UT. Spurs left the air
suddenly at 2039 UT, <<<<<<< and fundamental 6130 kHz kept on service
at S=9+20-+30 db level til 2200 UT.
Note signal drifting tonight to 6014.23 and 6245.66 at 2030 UT and
another spurious at 115.36 kHz away on 5898.47 and 6361.38 at 2038 UT.
73 wolfy
Note signal drifting tonight to 6013.79 and 6246.18 at 1805 UT 6013.97
and 6245.97 at 1850 UT and another spurious at 116.3 kHz away on
5897.91 and 6361.97 at 1857 UT. all VoRussia Moscow French til 2100
UT. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) I assume this came up whilst
checking WYFR tests via Pori, FINLAND, q.v.
** RUSSIA [and non]. From a complete external service schedule, the
first frequency until 1 March 2008, the second from 2 March 2008 ---
[hmmm, they are all the same in this segment but not in the whole
sked], kW:
English to NAm:
0200-0300 13735 13735 Vladivostok 250
0200-0300 12040 12040 Vladivostok 250
0200-0300 7250 7250 Yerevan 1000
0200-0300 6240 6240 Chisinau 500
0300-0400 13735 13735 Vladivostok 250
0300-0400 12040 12040 Vladivostok 250
0300-0400 7350 7350 Vatican 250
0300-0400 6240 6240 Chisinau 500
0300-0400 6155 6155 Wertachtal (Germany) 125
0400-0500 12030 12030 Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy 250
0400-0500 12040 12040 Vladivostok 250
0400-0500 12010 12010 Komsomolsk-na-Amure 250
0400-0500 9840 9840 Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy 250
0400-0500 7350 7350 Vatican 250
0400-0500 7150 7150 Krasnodar 500
0400-0500 6240 6240 Chisinau 500
0400-0500 6155 6155 Wertachtal (Germany) 125
0405-0500 9855 9855 Vladivostok 250
0500-0600 12040 12040 Vladivostok 250
0500-0600 9855 9855 Vladivostok 250
0500-0600 9840 9840 Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy 250
0500-0600 7350 7350 Vatican 250
0500-0600 7150 7150 Krasnodar 500
Spanish to South or *Central America:
0100-0200 7560 7560 Dushanbe 1000
0100-0200 7330 7330 Samara 500
0100-0200 7170 7170 Moscow 1000
0100-0200 6195 6195 S-Petersburg 800
0100-0200 5945 5945 Krasnodar 500*
0100-0200 6240 6240 Chisinau 500*
0100-0200 5900 5900 Moscow 500
0200-0300 9945 9945 Dushanbe 1000
0200-0300 7560 7560 Dushanbe 1000
0200-0300 7330 7330 Samara 500
0200-0300 7170 7170 Moscow 1000
0200-0300 5900 5900 Moscow 500
0200-0300 5945 5945 Krasnodar 500*
Last update: 19.11.2007 (via Vadim Alexeyev, VOR Russian world
service, DX programme editor; via WWDXC-Germany BC-DX Nov 23 via
Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD)
** RUSSIA. Hello Glenn, I've just found your site (from links on
http://www.radioscanner.ru
As you might know, on 10-11 Nov 2007 in Caspian sea, Russian ship
"Kamyust-1" was lost. My brother (son of sister of my dad) was on this
ship (crew member). [must mean cousin]
As your site aggregate all kind of radio traffic around the world,
I've thought that you might help me. The news agencies around the
world (also owner of this ship), keep saying, that SOS signal was not
sent at all. Or it was received on 17 Nov.
Might be anyone heard or received something on dates 10 - 18 Nov,
coming from area of Caspian Sea? Might be anybody monitoring 2182 kHz
or other emergency frequencies?
Russian authorities published coordinates of found oil slick:
North 42 51 59 / East 50 02
They searching for survivors one week already, but only 3 of 12 were
found. My brother is not in this trio... :( If you can, please help.
Thank You, (Dan Moshnakov admin @ moshnakov.org Nov 22, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
I told him I would post this, but he would have better chance of a
reply from the UDXF group where I also posted it (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
** SENEGAL [non]. UNITED KINGDOM, 11975, West Africa Democracy R. via
UK, Nov 08 0747-0800*, 24342-34343, English, Talk, ID at 0751, 0800
sign off. Also Nov 09 0747-0800* 34343, English, Talk, ID at 0759,
0800 sign off. Also Nov 11 0747-0800*, 34443, English, Music, ID at
0750 and 0753 and 0759, 0800 sign off. Also Nov 12 0755-0800*, 34343,
English, Talk, ID at 0757 and 0759, 0800 sign off (Kouji Hashimoto,
Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) That well establishes that this
frequency goes off at 0800, not 0900 (gh, DXLD)
** SEYCHELLES [non]. Strong Arabic signal on 9550, Nov 22 at 2013 I
first assumed was RHC until I found Cuba really opening their Arabic
at 2029 on 11800, just as 9550 was going off at 2030. So looking that
up, I find it`s really FEBA via Kigali, 30 degrees to the ME daily at
1900-2030 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also SPAIN
** SINGAPORE. 6120, RS International, 1347-1355 22 Nov. Cheery DJ yak
in Indonesian to 1351 music bridge/fanfare, "Radio Singapore
Internasional...ciaran Indonesia...warta berita", at 1352 into world
news (Myanmar, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore). Very nice signal today
(Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [and non]. REE`s main frequency to NAm, 9630, marred by BBCWS
in English underneath, Nov 22 at 2015; BBC was // if not exactly
synchronized with 15400 and 17830 Ascension, whilst 9630 is Seychelles
at 270 degrees until 2100. I wonder why BBC continues from its
Seychelles site, while FEBA found it too costly to continue theirs
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [non]. Hola José, || What about the 15560 Beijing FE relay
outlet til 0800 UT, || || programa separado ??? || || 15560 0600-0800
45 BEI 150kW 95degr SPANISH E REE || || 73 wolfie || (Wolfgang
Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Hola Glenn: Me comenta Antonio Buitrago de REE lo siguiente: La
emisión desde Beijing por 15560 kHz está registrada por RNE ante el
HFCC para la transmisión de su programación hacia Japón. El problema
es que todavía no se ha firmado un acuerdo con Radio Internacional de
China para su uso, pero esperan que llegue pronto. 73 (José Bueno,
Córdoba, España, ibid.)
Hmmm, I wonder if the agreement calls for the REE audio via China to
be as constantly distorted as the CRI audio via Spain?? (gh, DXLD)
** SUDAN [non]. ITALY [sic, really SLOVAKIA] 9825, Miraya FM (via
IRRS), Nov 10 1502-1534, 34433-34333 English and Arabic, News, ID at
1509 and 1512 and 1530, URL announce at 1511. Also Nov 11 *1500-1518,
34232-24232, English and Arabic, News, ID at 1509, URL announce at
1510 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD)
Finally a report saying they were heard signing on at 1500 as
originally scheduled. But has anybody yet heard them past 1600 until
1800*? (Glenn hauser, DXLD)
** SUDAN [non]. UAE, 13720, Sudan R. Service via Dhabayya, Nov 12,
0554-0559*, 35333, Arabic, Talk, IS and ID at 0559, 0559 sign off.
Also Nov 13, 0556-0559* 35333 Arabic, Talk, IS and ID at 0558, 0559
sign off (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) = Mon, Tue
RWANDA. 5975, Sudan Radio Service, via Kigali, *0300-0330*, Nov 22,
opening English ID announcements. News at 0302. Program at 0315 about
government policies in Southern Sudan. Mon-Fri only. Poor to fair with
adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Sudan Radio Service in English, 5975 at 0315z (apparently) via Rwanda
5975 0300 0330 47E,48W KIG 250 0 23456 281007 300308 D USA MNO MER
15019 (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas, Drake R8B, T2FD, UT Nov 23, dxldyg
via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN [non]. R. Taiwan International, 13695 // 11665, in French
news headlines, constantly interrupted by bits of music, as if giving
the news straight would be too boring! Both are via WYFR: 11665 is 44
degrees to Europe, while 13695 is 355 degrees for Canada east of 90W
plus Greenland. Not too many broadcasts in French to Greenland, I
expect. Thank you, RTI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAJIKISTAN. 7430, BBC (tentative), 1352-1402+, 11/23/07, listed
Bengali/Hindi. M interviewing another M on the phone, then a more
extended talk. Theme music at 1359 to more upbeat F announcer at 1400.
Tentative log, but nothing else listed on this frequency at this time.
Poor (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** UGANDA. 4976, Radio Uganda, 2205-2237 percussion dominated African
Pops, om announcer in English, announcements between songs, fair to
good signal disturbed by CODAR. 2240 recheck they were gone. 17
November (Bob Wilkner, FL, Japan Premium via DXLD)
** U S A [and non]. With so many new immigrants, illegal or otherwise,
in the USA, who need to learn English, why not convert the VOA into
another Radio Canada Internal? VOA already has Special English on
Greenville 11975 aimed at Africa but plenty strong back here in the
heartland, as noted Nov 22 at 1950. This would doubtless give VOA a
higher profile inside the country, which is apparently what RCI was
looking for. Only a slight change in name would be necessary, Voice of
Americans, or Voice of American English.
African Beat was inbooming on 13710, Nov 22 at 2037 giving phone and
e-mail addresses. During this hour only, 13710 is via Botswana, 350
degrees.
During the next hour are other music programs for Africa, but on
different frequencies. 15580 Greenville at 21-22 only is primary,
unless MUF and skipzone do not cooperate, but also heard it not
exactly synchronized on 6080, at 2108 Nov 22, which is São Tomé at 335
degrees; quickly tuned out when they talked about American Idol. Who
cares? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) For RFA non-logs, see
CHINA; Radio Liberty: SRI LANKA
** U S A [non]. Frequency changes for VOA Urdu Aap Ki Dunyaa:
0630-0700 NF 15325, ex 17655 \\ 17685
1400-1500 NF 9370, ex 9510 \\ 11705
1500-1600 NF 7495, ex 7345 \\ 9705
1600-1700 NF 7495, NF 9370, ex 7345, 7405
1800-1900 NF 7495, ex 7355 \\ 7405
73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. AFN, 7811-USB, Nov 22 at 2122 was still/again cutting out
more than in, during feature about Thanksgiving from census.gov, and
still cutting out, somewhat less, during Clark somebody`s talk show
about VOIP. Isn`t anybody responsible for this transmission paying
attention? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. YFR testing via reactivated Pori: see FINLAND
** U S A. Checking WHRA, 11785, Thu Nov 22 at 1939, found that
contrary to online schedule, it is not in English, but some unID tonal
African language! Another clandestine broadcast? Maybe just
missionary, as variations of ``kristian`` heard periodically, also
mentions of Darfur. Tuned in at 1939 with YL talking; 1944 primitive
and distorted music break; more talk, 1952 chanting with rustic
musical instruments. Did not catch anything resembling an ID until
1958 when WHR announced in English QSY to 7520. The online schedule as
of Nov 22 just shows for M-F during this hour:
1908 Mo-Fr 0208 PM 0245 PM Music Lesea Productions 11785
1945 Mo-Fr 0245 PM 0300 PM Moments in Bible Prophecy Ray Shockley
11785
So I am fairly sure it was neither of these; even if Shockley
broadcasts in unID African tonal language, it was already going before
1945. So what is this?? Whatever it is, I suspect it is ruining
reception of V. of Indonesia`s French service in Europe during this
hour, right? If they are still on 11784.9 instead of 15150v or 9526v
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 9265, Nov 22 at 2013 man speaking over PA about Yahweh; no
ID, but am 101% certain this was WMLK as scheduled. The modulation
level is no longer very poor, but fair, and definitely not yet good.
Off when rechecked sometime after 2100 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
9265.04, WMLK, Bethel, PA, 1929-1932*, Nov 23, Just caught the end of
their transmission with IDs & their usual theme music to sign off.
Fairly good audio. Sign off was a little earlier than usual. I believe
sign off is usually around 2000-2100 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WBCQ couldn`t find the new WOR 1383, so started to play some
other program on 7415, UT Friday Nov 23 at 0030. We had to phone it
in, but that didn`t start until about 0035, and we were cut off at
0100 before the late-starting program was over. During the first
several minutes there was also crosstalk, evidently the operator on
another line or on open mike discussing this with someone else. It`s
always something, with WBCQ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. [SW BC TX Site Archive] Historical SW Site - WRUL
Hi folks, A recent email from Adrian Peterson provides the following
information about the former: Worldwide Broadcasting Corp, WRUL, WNYW,
WYFR shortwave TX site at Scituate, MA, USA. (IB)
FROM Adrian: "You will find the exact location for the old WRUL at
these co-ordinates: - 42 12 37.63N / 70 44 14.51W
These co-ordinates give you the base of their famous chimney stack.
The transmitter building is adjacent to the chimney stack. In 1973 or
1974 I visited the station just at the time when WNYW was soon to be
taken over as WYFR, and the WNYW staff gave me a tour of their
facilities. On the occasion of my most recent visit, the whole place
was overgrown with weeds. The chimney stack was still there, and so
was the old transmitter building." END QUOTE (Ian Baxter,
shortwavesites yg via DXLD)
** U S A. Reminiscences of KJES; William Cooper; Alex North; George
Noory: see DEUTSCHES REICH [and non]
** U S A. BROADCAST TEST COMMITTEE Podcast #5 Now Ready For Download -
-- Show #5 of The BTC Podcast has just been released. It is available
as a free download through the i-Tunes Music Store, or your favorite
podcast reader. The URL for subscription is:
http://www.dxtests.info/podcasts/BTC_feed.xml
Or, you can download it directly at:
http://www.dxtests.info/podcasts/BTC_Podcast_5.mp3
The BTC Podcast will be updated regularly with the latest DX tests as
scheduled, as well as last-minute tests or changes. Your comments are
welcome at dxtests @ dxtests.info (Jim Pogue - KH2AR @ comcast.net
http://www.dxtests.info Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Called #4, not 5,
but recorded on Nov 22 (gh)
** UZBEKISTAN. 7485, Bible Voice (presumed), 1405-1419+, 11/23/07,
listed Hindi/Bengali. Long continuous sermon-type talk by F, then
later a couple of hymn-type songs sung by a chorus. Just above the
noise floor. Poor (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
9500, UZBEKISTAN, CVC/The Voice Asia, 1213, 11/23/07, Hindi. Female DJ
spinning subcontinental pop music, ID as "The Voice Asia" and contact
info given with addresses in Pakistan and India, possible short news
update at 1230, apparent promo-type spots, then back to the tunes.
Slight co-channel QRM from presumed CNR-Shijiazhuang. Fluttery, else
fair (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
The gospel huxters` home away from home – UZBEKISTAN! (gh, DXLD)
** VENEZUELA. Cuba off Frequency: 632, It's either Progreso or
Rebelde. Sounds like a political talk (OLD ROY Barstow, Cape Cod, 0127
UT Nov 23, WTFDA-AM via DXLD)
Roy, Definite ID heard here on 631.27 kHz for "Radio Nacional de
Venezuela" at 0549 UT Nov 23. Nominal frequency is 630 kHz. This is
most likely what you heard. All news in Spanish, they may have played
part of a political speech at the time of your reception. And the
speech easily could have contained references to Cuba (Marc DeLorenzo,
South Dennis, MA, Nov 23, WTFDA-AM via DXLD)
NOV 5 0240 - Logged as R. Progreso Cuba, but defer to Marc with the
better vantage point for Latin American DX. While I received the same
carrier measured at 631.276 kHz, the audio heard must have been
sideband splatter from 630 Cuba (Bruce Conti, NH, NRC IDXD via DXLD)
These days one could easily be forgiven for mistaking a Venezuelan for
a Cuban (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
YVTA Still off frequency on 631.27 --- Just as last night, R. Nacional
de Venezuela (nominal 630 kHz) is on 631.27. Noted at 0428-0431 UT Nov
24 with Spanish teletalk. Signal at good level. Uh, make that YVKA
(per WRTH) although I'm not sure they actually use their call letters.
Several IDs heard as "Radio Nacional de Venezuela" (Marc DeLorenzo,
South Dennis, MA, IRCA via DXLD)
** ZANZIBAR. Radio Tanzania Zanzibar, 11735, noted today with no
English segment from Spice FM at 1800-1810. 22 November (Steve Lare,
Holland, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Maybe takes ``Saturday night`` off? (gh, DXLD)
11735, Radio Tanzania-Zanzibar, 1759-1809, Nov 23, drums at 1759. Time
pips, "Spice FM" ID and English news at 1800-1808. Back to Swahili at
1808. Good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 6855.0 AM, 5-digit Spanish YL numbers on AM, Nov 22 at
2117, S9+25, in the clear tnx to WYFR`s evacuation to 6875, which at
the time was only S9+20, in English. Recheck at 2137, 6855 still going
with numbers, or maybe repeat of previous transmission. She has a
sing-songier style than some of the other numbers broadcasts, such as:
12180, still no WWRB, but 5-digit Spanish YL spy numbers on AM, Nov 22
at 1936 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 11805, Nov 22 at 1958, carrier with a variety of
different tones, lo and hi, a few seconds each, thru hourtop until off
at 2001:30 as splash from RHC Portuguese 11800 was building up. Per
online skeds, the likely source is SENTECH Meyerton, following the
scheduled 1900-1957 relay of RNW in English at 15 degrees, right?
Would SENTECH do something like this? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. Help. 11855.00 and 11854.94 odd. Somebody may measure
the 11855 channel at 1400 UT? I hear two stations here in Germany, one
is undoubtedly YFR in English, the other seemingly Iranawila in
Georgian acc Aoki list. One station is odd approx. 60-70 Hz and
produces nasty beat. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Nov 23, dxldyg
via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Wolfy, Did this not come up before? I believe you/we decided it was
Saudi Arabia the off frequency one. Jeddah there with 50 kW at 0600-
1700. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
Re: Saudi Arabia (tentative). Okay Glenn, but the programm is NOT "HQ"
or "Arabic 1st program" like, and I guess not Arabic. It's a pity of
tiny signal level here in Germany. I'll ask Tarek to check this
channel in Cairo. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PUBLICATIONS
++++++++++++
LISTA MUNDIAL DE EMISIONES EN ESPAÑOL
Hola, La AER anuncia que acaba de realizar una nueva actualización (y
ya es la 17ª en este año) de su LISTA MUNDIAL DE EMISIONES EN ESPAÑOL
que tienes disponible GRATIS en forma de base de datos con criterios
de busqueda y también en formato PDF en la dirección:
http://aer-dx.org/listas/lmee.php Un saludo (Pedro Sedano, Madrid,
España, COORDINADOR GENERAL Nov 21, noticiasdx yg via DXLD)
A very useful reference. One item near the top of the schedule by time
caught my eye, among other pirates mixed in:
``0016-0055 LMXJVSD R. LIBRE CASCADIA México 15045. (Emite en contra
de la Organización Mundial del Comercio y en las fechas que la OMC
celebra reuniones, puede variar la situación del transmisor. En
español/inglés. También se identifica como RADIO REBELDE LIBRE
CASCADIA). AM Pirata``
I`m afraid this is a few years out of date; no activity known from
this for a long time, but I don`t think it was in Mexico and was known
mainly in English as Radio Free Cascadia International. 6-043 had news
of it being on FM and 6925 in March 2006, but the 15045 operation goes
back to November 1999 as recounted in DXLD 3-027.
I haven`t gone all the way through it, but there is other long-
outdated info, such as the long-gone R. Nacional de Colombia, 4955 at
2200-0200, supposedly valid thru 30.3.2008 like many other entries.
Here`s another item incorrect in a number of ways:
``2100-2200 LMXJVSD WWCR Estados Unidos 15285. AM 28/10/2007 0:00:00``
It did have Spanish during this hour, but it was weekdays only, LMXJV,
and it was on 15825, effective until 2/11/2007. The current broadcast
at 2200-2300 on 7465 is not listed.
The list still shows the defunct RFI broadcasts at 16 and 18 on 17630,
which we have pointed out in DXLD more than once.
It shows WYFR at 20-23 on 5385. Surely not! There is a Spanish
broadcast at 2000-0200 on 5985. See also CUBA [non], R. República
(Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM
+++++++++++++++++++++
THE SHORTWAVE TRANSMITTER SITE ARCHIVE
Update to our public website --- Just a short note to advise that our
URL http://shortwavesites.googlepages.com/home has been updated.
There are now two new pages:
1. Links for common B07 schedule references with tx site references
2. A page devoted to uncertain sites. The page was created in the hope
that someone in the know might stumble across the page & provide some
helpful feedback. Some new info also appears on this page.
Future Plans to have our WANTED pages translated into other languages.
Suggestions & comments welcome. Regards (Ian Baxter, Australia,
shortswavesites yg via DXLD)
CODAR FREQUENCY RANGES
Re 7-140: >> Is this a recent reply? CODAR certainly operates just
below 5.0 MHz and in the 4.7-4.8 MHz area as any frustrated 60mb
listener can tell you. How can he say otherwise? (Glenn Hauser, DX
LISTENING DIGEST) <<
Yes, it is quite recent, being a frustrated 60 mb listener myself was
what prompted my complaint when the email address was posted a month
or so ago (Nick WPE2BSW Nov 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Retune your transmitters --- Sir, I understand that your equipment is
supposed to be occupying the frequency band between 4.4 MHz to 4.7
MHz. Unfortunately, your signal is not being transmitted in that
frequency spectrum. Instead it is between 4.7 MHz to 4.9 MHz. Please
retune your equipment so that you signal will stop causing harmful
interference on frequencies where it should not be broadcasting. Thank
you (Charles Bolland to SFSU COCMP staff, via DXLD)
Charles, I've passed this message on to the technicians and we will
check today. Thanks, (Toby Garfield, SFSU COCMP staff, to Bolland, via
DXLD)
Dear Mr. Garfield, Would you happen to know if there is a similar
system operating for the Atlantic Ocean somewhere or is your system
the only one, presently? I appreciate your quick response and also
your help. Thank you (Charles Bolland, ibid.)
Dear Charles, Yes, there are systems on the east coast. What you are
finding are instances of shore-mounted radio antennas that are used to
determine coastal ocean surface currents. The emitted signal reflects
coherently (Bragg scatter) off waves of wavelength 1/2 the emitted
wavelength. The instruments measure the variation in the Doppler shift
of the return signal to estimate surface currents. Most of the
instruments are manufactured by CODAR Ocean Systems,
http://www.codaros.com although there are also systems from a German
company, WERA as well as a few home-grown systems. The operating
frequency determines the spatial resolution, 42, 25, 12 or 5 MHz.
As part of the NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) we are
building a loose confederation of researchers operating arrays.
California has made a commitment to monitor the whole CA coast, other
states are similarly supporting the technology at various levels. NOAA
has sponsored a site where most of the data are being submitted
http://cordc.ucsd.edu/projects/mapping/
Within NOAA, Jack Harlan jack.harlan @ noaa.gov is the point person
for dealing with frequency issues. He is probably your best contact
for obtaining the most complete picture on where frequency matters
stand and are being resolved. Hope this helps (Toby Garfield to and
via Chuck Bolland, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Mr Garfield, Thank you for your latest email. With each message you
send, the situation looks more hopeless for those of us who want to
listen to the 60m band (Chuck Bolland, to Toby Garfield, SFSU, via
DXLD)
I would say the opposite, we are working very hard to find a solution
that works both for radio operators and the coastal community. We are
following FCC rules and trying very hard to be good airwave citizens.
Jack is doing his best (Toby Garfield, SFSU, via Chuck Bolland, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
Glenn, Your expose' of CODAR in DXLD 7140 was very informative and
helped me with the unknown that I had associated with CODAR. It would
be great if those individuals who control CODAR would practice what
they preach and get their signal on the correct frequencies where they
claim they are active. I.e. 4.4 to 4.7 MHz. If they produce current
information as accurately as they follow frequency usage, I can
imagine how inaccurate their product must be? (Chuck Bolland, ka4prf,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Chuck, However, we don`t know for sure where the CODAR above 4.7 MHz
is coming from. It could be the US sites are in compliance, as per
their claims, while other sites (isn`t there one in Honduras, for
instance?) are not. Will be interesting their reply if any to you.
(Glenn, to Chuck, via DXLD)
Glenn, You are correct of course. I have always thought what I heard
here in Florida was coming from the Atlantic not the Pacific. The
strength here would suggest Atlantic. And our local weather reports
often mention the bouys that are located off shore to measure wave
height and winds. So I thought CODAR would also be part of the mix.
Regardless, I wanted to register my protest to the CODAR people
mentioned in DXLD anyway. It will help the blood pressure when I am
trying to listen on the 60 meter band (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
Thanks to Nick for the info about CODAR. Dr. Barrick, the President of
CODAR Ocean Sensors Ltd. may be unaware of the intrusion into the
broadcast spectrum.
Last night I scanned the 60m tropical band (4750-5000) for CODAR
intrusions. The list shows channels that would suffer interference at
my location in central Texas.
4730 - 4765 (4725 clear, 4770 clear)
4780 - 4835 (at least 2 different signals in this range)
4845 - 4875 (4840 clear, 4880 clear)
4905 - 4945 (4900 clear, 4950 clear)
4965 - 4995 (4960 clear, 5000-WWV clear)
So, of the 55 channels between 4750 and 5000 only 11 are not subject
to CODAR. The sweep noise was most apparent near the center of each
segment and may be more or less obvious depending on one's proximity
to the coast.
I'm planning to file a complaint with the FCC, just love to tilt
windmills (Jerry Lenamon, Waco TX, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Now we have CODAR people as well as the FCC (must be the newbies) that
seem to be unaware of the existence of the 60m tropical band. Perhaps,
someone has told them that is abandoned tracks nowadays, and they
simply took it for granted. Or, what else would you think? Count on
me, Jerry, as the 2nd one supporting your complaint (Raúl Saavedra,
Costa Rica, ibid.)
NEW MOVIE WITH AM RADIO MENTION >>> TUNNEL RADIO
I keep seeing an ad for the latest Will Smith movie I Am Legend which
comes out next month. This is like the third remake of this movie and
it is one of those typical 'last man on Earth' movies. The amusing
part is the sound bite where Smith announces that he is broadcasting
"on all AM radio frequencies" in an attempt to contact other
survivors. Now that's a wideband transmitter! (Patrick Griffith, CBT
CBNT CRO Westminster, CO, IRCA via DXLD)
Aren`t there really such wideband transmitters used in tunnels to
bring radio to captive audiences? How does that work, anyway? Re-
transmission on each individual channel in use, or over-riding onto
receiver IFs, at least when in emergency mode? 73, (Glenn Hauser,
ibid.)
I haven't had any experience with tunnel radio at broadcast
frequencies. I'd like to know more about that technology too. I have
been curious if the Big Dig tunnel project in Boston included any
provision for broadcast reception in the underground portions (Patrick
Griffith, CBT CBNT CRO Westminster CO, ibid.)
AMPLIAN LA BANDA DE 7 MHZ PARA RADIOAFICION
Noticia aparecida en web de la FEDIA
http://www.fediea.org/news/?news=7mhz
Saludos (Antonio Madrid (ADXB) dxldyg via DXLD) Is Madrid your
apellido or lugar? (gh)
Oh la banda de 40m es la cosa más revuelta que hay, no termina de
quedar claro cuál segmento corresponde a los radioaficionados y cual a
las emisoras internacionales. Si este artículo viene cierto con esa
apertura de 7100-7200, qué clase de colocho se va a armar con Radio
Int. de Rusia y RTV Conakry en 7125, BBC Seychelles 7160 y otras
cosillas que se escuchan entre las 2200 y las 0500 UTC por decir lo
menos. Qué tan errado estoy? (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, ibid.)
I think the extension of the 40m hamband upwards past 7100 is being
done on a country-by-country basis in Europe, so we can expect various
broadcasters in certain countries and elsewhere to continue below 7200
for some time. They are getting a taste of band-sharing like we have
in the Americas, except both hams and broadcasters are sharing the
same frequencies in the same continent (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
ORGANIZING YOUR DIGITAL DX
Cheap digital storage space has revolutionized the way we DXers can
save, organize and access our recordings and QSL collection. Creating
a digital DXing archive however requires many decisions concerning
formats and file names, with long lasting consequences. This article
explains the many mistakes I have made, and how I have tried to
resolve practical problems related to going digital.
Check out http://www.dxing.info/articles/digital_dx.dx
And feel free to post comments about the article, or about your own
experiences in recording, converting and organizing your best DX!
(Mika Mäkeläinen, McLean VA, dxing.info via DXLD)
DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: GERMANY; NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
++++++++++++++++++++
PROPAGATION
+++++++++++
THE MYSTERY OF MISSING BANGLA BETAR, DACCA 4750 KHZ AT KOLKATA ON
EVENING OF SUNDAY 18TH AND MONDAY 19TH NOVEMBER
After the SIDR cyclone which hit Bangladesh on 16th November,
Bangladesh frequencies are in focus. I was quite certain that while I
was checking the Bangla Betar MW and SW transmission from Kolkata on
Sunday 18th and Monday 19th November, Bangla Betar was not there on
4750 kHz between 1400 till about 1700 UT.
Alokesh Gupta from Delhi is, however, certain that he heard this
transmission on Sunday. So what is the Puzzle? Bangla Betar from
Kolkata some two hundred and fifty km away and is normally heard here
on 5 signal strength (I even have to attenuate the signals on my
receiver to prevent it from cracking.)
So where did the signals go?
I got the answer when I was listening to Myanmar Army Radio Station,
Taungyi on 5770 kHz, coming in full blast with Burmese pop music at
1400 UT on Wednesday 21st. At times it was much stronger than the
regular Yangon on 5985 kHz. The Taungyi signals were strongest that I
have ever listened in the last 25 years or so of this station`s
existence. However, just a few days earlier Taungyi was simply not
there and I was about to shoot off an email in response to DXLD 7-138
reporting Taungyi from Ron Howard, CA who had logged it tentatively.
Another exotic station playing hide and seek is AFN Diegogarcia 4319
USB. This station was not there too on 18th and 19th but last week I
could hear it every day from around 1700 hrs.
So where does it all take us - it takes us to propagation. We are at
an unusual low of the current sunspot cycle. We are having an
unusually prolonged low. In the month October for days there were no
sunspots. On November 19th and 20th there were no sunspots, the A
index was low, the solar wind speeds were low and planetary K index
was very low too.
From my experience of DXing in these sunspot lows, I have enjoyed
unususal long distance propagation of exotic signals, e.g. on 16th
October 2007 I had a lucky opening of MW stations from the
Philippines.
This case of absent 4750 kHz from Dhaka to Kolkata is the other more
common side of the sunspot low which is a shortwave blackout over
selected short distance paths in the tropical band frequencies
(Supratik Sanatani, 23/11/07, Kolkata, athena_eye @ vsnl.com DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
HFRADIO.ORG NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT
Your help needed, today. http://hfradio.org/help.html
Thank you (Tomas Hood, NW7US, via Stewart MacKenzie, DXLD)
GEOMAGNETIC SUMMARY OCTOBER 24 2007 THROUGH NOVEMBER 21 2007
Tabulated from email status daily.
Date Flux A K Space Wx
October
24 67 4 1 no storms
25 68 4 2 no storms
26 67 4 4 no storms
27 68 14 3 no storms
28 67 13 2 no storms
29 68 9 1 no storms
30 67 8 3 no storms
31 67 11 2 no storms
November
1 67 8 1 no storms
2 67 3 0 no storms
3 68 2 0 no storms
4 68 2 1 no storms
5 68 3 1 no storms
6 67 2 0 no storms
7 69 1 0 no storms
8 68 0 0 no storms
9 70 3 1 no storms
10 69 1 0 no storms
11 70 5 1 no storms
12 69 1 0 no storms
13 70 1 1 no storms
14 x x x x
15 70 12 2 no storms
16 69 5 2 no storms
17 71 4 1 no storms
18 70 8 1 no storms
19 69 3 0 no storms
20 70 2 2 no storms
21 70 24 3 moderate
(Phil Bytheway, IRCA DX Monitor via DXLD) ###