DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-149, December 9, 2007 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2007 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1385 Mon 0400 WBCQ 9330-CLSB [irregular?] Mon 0515 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Mon 0930 WRMI 9955** Tue 1130 WRMI 9955** Tue 1630 WRMI 7385 Wed 0830 WRMI 9955** ** flexible times 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 ** ALBANIA. Re: POSSIBLE CLOSURE OF RADIO TIRANA FOREIGN SERVICE ON SHORT WAVES Hello, that's quite remarkable: The EBU actively discourages continued shortwave broadcasts from Radio Tirana and suggests to put all programmes on the Internet instead? Well, it would be nice to have them available online, but I would not jump to a quick conclusion that MW/SW transmissions are unnecessary, judging from the circumstance that Radio Moldova International from Chisinau is almost forgotten since they took exactly this step years ago. (It should be added that their approach is quite bad: They merely stream their programmes at the same times as they were once transmitted via the Galbeni station in Romania. That's really not the way to do it!) Or remember Radio Tashkent International: They left shortwave, continued via web streaming, soon started to sound the alarm "we're loosing [sic] our listeners" and were closed down after just a few months. Of course that's just anecdotal evidence, but is real audience research available that would proof that one could shut down MW/SW and referring all listeners to the Internet without losing a substantial number of them? An account of the money to be paid for powering the Fllaka and Shijak transmitters hardly appears to suffice, considering the amount of airtime still leased to third parties at Fllaka, resulting in incomes on the other side. Or does the EBU suggestion not include mediumwave from Fllaka and is basically about shutting down the Shijak site now, with TWR being gone? To me this is just a bit too simple, and I find it really displeasing how the EBU representative offered to teach Radio Tirana staff in putting audio material on a so far not existing website. Without knowing more details I can only sincerely hope that we're not talking about EBU's International Broadcasting Group*) here. Otherwise this would raise questions beyond Radio Tirana. *) http://www.ebu.ch/en/radio/news_and_sports/intlbc/index.php [chaired by Jan Hoek of RNW] Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 8, to Drita Çiço, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. Hi: During last DX-Pedition on Santa María la Real de Nieva (Segovia), I could listen to the following armonics: 2916, CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL in Italian (2 x 1458). Paz y Dx (Ignacio Sotomayor, Sta.Mª la Real de Nieva, Segovia, Castilla, España (41º04'03.62''N, 4º24'35.68''W), ICOM R-75, K9AY loop 5x5, Web: http://perso.wanadoo.es/igsosa/index.htm Dec 9, [original font: Comic Sans MS] DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 15344.47, R. Nacional, 0007-0032, Dec 9, live fútbol coverage and sports news. Per their website http://www.radionacional.gov.ar/ this program is appropriately named "Pasión Nacional", scheduled for 0000-0230 UT (Sun.), fair, noted parallel with their live audio streaming (AM 870) (Ron Howard, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. 15680, ALEMANHA: CVC Australia, via Wertachtal, EE, 08/12 1545. YL: talks, mx pop cristã, id YL: ‘CVC’ (é perceptível a mudança do estilo da programação da CVC ultimamente, emissora cristã, deixando a comunicação habitual e canções cristãs tradicionais, aderindo ao estilo mais contextualizado, dando vez a mx pop, reggae, e inclusive rock’n roll ‘cristão’ (?). A estratégia ocorre na CVC Austrália, na CVC Africa (Zambia) e com mais evidencia na CVC em PP e SS), 35543 (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo-SP, Brasil, dxclubepr yg via DXLD) Questions their straying too far from ``Christian`` music (gh, DXLD) ** BELARUS. 6090, Radio Station Belarus, Minsk, 2225-2259, Dec 8, tune-in to choral music. English talk at 2229. Variety of local pops, lite instrumental music. Audio always somewhat muffled. Poor under a strong Anguilla. // 7390-weak. Stronger on // 7360 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6025, Radio Patria Nueva, La Paz, 2353-2358, 07-12. Canciones latinoamericanas, locutor, locutora, comentarios: “Continuamos aquí en la radio, sintonícenos”. “Seguimos con mucho entusiasmo”. A las 2358 desaparece, completamente interferida por China Radio Internacional en 6020 con programa en inglés. Señal muy débil. 13221 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) a.k.a. Radio Illimani. Nothing identifiable I see there; are you quite sure it was not Amanecer, Dominican Republic? It`s more like 6025.1 (gh, DXLD) Hola Glenn, respecto a Radio Illimani, yo creo que se trata de la emisora boliviana; obviamente, no estoy seguro al 100 por 100 y que no pude escuchar la identificación. Quizás debería haber puesto "probable". En tiempos pasados escuché varias veces a Radio Illimani, e incluso con la nueva identificación de Patria Nueva en esta frecuencia y a esa hora, más o menos. Nunca jamás logré escuchar a Radio Amanecer aquí en España; sí lo hice, lógicamente, por 2 veces que estuve en la República Dominicana, hace unos 5 años, y aún allí entraba no muy fuerte y fuertemente distorsionada. Lo que escuché ayer no era distorsionado, era una señal clara, no me pareció en absoluto un programa religioso. En fin, que con la experiencia que tengo con esas dos emisoras, yo creo que se trata de Radio Patria Nueva. ¡Yo creo que nunca ví reportada a Radio Amanecer desde Europa! (Manuel Méndez, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6135, Radio Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 0935- 0940, December 02, Spanish, government announcement as: “…Campaña de Prevencion de incendios forestales en el departamento de Santa Cruz….”; announcement In opposition to Evo Morales government: “…porque el gobierno es el único culpable!!!”, 42432/3 with QRM from Radio Aparecida in the same frequency (Arnaldo Slaen, DX Camp in Salto Argentino (210 km NW of Buenos Aires, with my friends & DXers Hector Goyena, Enrique Wembagher, Gerardo Choren. My receiver: a Degen DE1103 and a longwire antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 2379.95 [tentative], Rádio Educadora, Limeira at 2310 to 2340 UT vocal with lyrics "Yo no ..en progresso ...no voy.. en los ojos .." OM locator [sic] and many romantic songs," ..en el aire, mi corazón ... América..." and "en el edificio local .. semana próxima cinco y tres, ocho .. en el centro.." 4 Dec (Bob Wilkner, FL, DXplorer Dec 7 via BC-DX via DXLD) ?? More likely a closer harmonic, 2 x 1190v. For starters, a Brazilian would be speaking Portuguese, not Spanish. I`m surprised several other DX bulletins have published this without remark (gh, DXLD) ** BURKINA FASO. 5030, Radio Burkina, *0558-0620, Dec 9, Sign on with National Anthem followed by opening French announcements. French talk. French ballads. Afro-pops. Poor with adjacent channel splatter from Cuba 5025 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re 7-148, ``CJBC AM 860 Toronto, Ontario --- CHWO [740, same transmitter site, and antenna?]`` Yes: http://gallery.bostonradio.org/2004-09/nrcbatavia/index.html And the switching over to the second transmitter seems to indicate that the site is staffed around the clock? That's by no means a matter of course for such mediumwave facilities (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE [non]. There was a station I heard a couple of times in the late 1970s and early 1980s called Radio Magellena. Both times were in Spanish, with anti-Pinochet programming. Does any one know just what this station was? One of the frequencies listed was 9510 kHz, which was a frequency in 1981 WRTVH as being a Radio Nacional de Chile frequency. Somehow I was under the impression that this was a Soviet based station of "propaganda," somewhat similar to "Radio Peace and Progress" or "Radio Paz y Progreso" as they were known in Spanish. Is there a Soviet connection, or was this a clandestine station? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, ODXA yg via DXLD) Per a QSL reply from Radio Moscow, Radio Magallanes was a Spanish language broadcast directed to Chile (anti-Chilean broadcast via Radio Moscow). The frequencies used where 9470 // 9490. My report was for February 27th 1987, to 0400 hours sign-off. V/S: Patricio Martínez. No transmitter location but all indications would have been via Armavir for best results. Classified as a clandestine broadcast (Edward Kusalik, AB, ibid.) I was about to reply similarly minus the QSL info. So I will just add that the name came from the Spanish version of Magellan, who really had nothing to do with Soviet communism and I am quite sure had no opinion on Pinochet. It was ``clandestine` ` but no secret about where it was coming from. It was not ``anti-Chilean`` but anti-a-certain-faxion-in-Chile. We throw around these ``anti-`` evaluations much too loosely in classifying clandestines. Likewise, R. Martí is not ``anti-Cuban`` per se, indeed run by fueraCubans; it is anti-the-current-Cuban-government (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Once again, R. Havano Kubo`s weekly Esperanto broadcast heard on 13760 in addition to 11760, Sunday Dec 9 at 1502, as they were giving schedule, not mentioning 13760. But at 1507 recheck, 13760 was gone, so I suppose it was just running over after previous transmission in Spanish, while 11760 continued (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also VENEZUELA [non] ** ECUADOR. 3810, HD2IOA, Guayaquil, 0732-0736, 08-12, señales horarias, anuncio cada minuto: “Al oir el tono serán las 2 horas, 32 minutos, 0 segundos”. 154321 [sic] (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 11690, HCJB, La Voz de los Andes, 1145-1200, 08-12, programa "Galápagos", dedicado a estas islas del Ecuador. Hoy comentario sobre las personas que se han establecido en el archipiélago, tarjetas de tránsito necesarias para ir a ese lugar, "emigrantes ecuatorianos en las Islas Galápagos", "situación irregular de parte de los inmigrantes". "Este privilegiado lugar del planeta". "Tendrán una nueva cita con Galápagos la próxima semana". 23322. También por 11960 con SINPO 23222. En cambio hoy no logro sintonizarla en 21455 USB (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, escucha realizada en Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. 7100, VOBME, Asmara, Program 1, *0355-0400+, Dec 8, IS. Talk at 0359. Very weak. 7170, VOBME, Asmara, Program 2, *0355-0420+, Dec 8, IS. Talk at 0359. Very weak. Covered by jammer at approximately 0400. Eritrea moved to 7175 shortly after 0400 and the jammer followed. They both continued to move back and forth between 7170 and 7175 during this time period. The one chasing the other (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. 8 Dec 2007 noted Ethiopian jammers at 1748 on 7100 and 7175, apparently against Eritrea. At the same time similar jammer was on 9485, I guess against V. of Oromo Liberation. All went off around 1800 as did the target stations, too (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Cordiales Saludos, Don Guillermo, Me llamó la atención su más reciente log de una escucha de una emisora no identificada por Ud., y que utiliza tiempo alquilado a la emisora WHRI desde los Estados Unidos. Indudablemente que se trata de un programa dirigido a Etiopia, posiblemente en idioma Ahmárico, aunque tal como Ud. lo señala es un poco claro entender el nombre del servicio y su idioma. Estuve revisando el Horario de WHRI, y en sus emisiones dirigidas a África a las 1900 UT, por los 11785 kHz aparece lo siguiente: 1900 0200 PM Monday - Demitse-Tewahedo Mo 0300 PM Friday Demitse-Tewahedo Demitse Tewahedo 11.785 MHz http://www.whri.com/index.cfm?fa=schedule ¿Quien sabe si se tratará del mismo servicio que Ud. escuchó? Cordiales 73´s! Don Guillermo (Jorge García, Barinas, Venezuela, Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, that would be the obvious assumption, but as I said I was not convinced this was the program really heard (gh) ** ETHIOPIA. 5950, Voice of Tigrey Revolution, *0356-0430, Dec 8, IS. Talk at 0400. Some Horn of Africa music. Poor under Okeechobee, Florida. // 5980-poor under unidentified co-channel station (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. PIRATE, SCOTLAND. 6399.91, WMR-Weekend Music Radio, 0507- 0530, Dec 9, pop music of the 70s. IDs. Poor to fair. Must use ECSS- USB to avoid RTTY on low side (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. Hi: During last DX-Pedition on Santa María la Real de Nieva (Segovia), I could listen to the following armonics: GABÓN. 14540 RTV GABONAISE in French (2 x 7270). Paz y Dx (Ignacio Sotomayor, Sta.Mª la Real de Nieva, Segovia, Castilla, España (41º04'03.62''N, 4º24'35.68''W), ICOM R-75, K9AY loop 5x5, Dec 9, [original font: Comic Sans MS] DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. See SAAR ** GUATEMALA. 4780, R. Cultural Coatán, San Sebastian Coatán, 34333, Spanish. If this ID is correct, power must be more than 1 kW! Man talking in definite Spanish; my propagation program says this could be possible at this time; nothing else shown on this time/frequency. 1242 UT (Murray Lycan, 7J1AQH, near Tokyo, Japan, Dec 9, Kenwood TS-690S, 7 MHz rotatable dipole at 45 feet high, ABDX via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. Re 7-148: Hello, Every political speech program is now made by MR1 Kossuth, but also including MR4 and the so far unnamed international programs like Szulofoldunk. (meaning that they are in the same building and the editor in chief of all these are the editor in chief of MR1.) As far as I know, what they do is just repeat old Szulofoldunk programs and replay the day`s news programs from Kossuth MR1. Henrik H H a e r n g r i i t k a i http://emc.elte.hu/~hargitai/ http://planetologia.elte.hu/ http://geogr.elte.hu/tef/ http://emc.elte.hu/ http://eper.elte.hu/ http://planet-veab.elte.hu/ http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://puskas.matav.hu http://www.demonium.hu/ Mobil: 06-70-5061158; Otthon: 2081 Piliscsaba, Levente u. 21. (via Mauno Ritola, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. WORLD SPACE AFRISTAR 1 UNENCRYPTED CHANNELS Hi Glenn, Thanks for mentioning that some Worldspace AfriStar channels are back unencrypted. I own a Hitachi KH-WHS1 World Space receiver; it also has SW coverage but rather average, though. I did once subscribe to the Afristar South Beam package for six months about two years ago as a trial but was disappointed as the cost was way too high for the service. This is radio not TV, BTW! I subscribe to Multichoice Africa DSTV so hear World of Radio on Saturdays at 0800 UT on the audio bouquet which is from the PAS 7 satellite. [? Should now be 0900 UT in southern summer – gh] Anyway I checked out the following channels are currently unencrypted, WRN 1 included so I can listen in to World of Radio from AfriStar 1 again. Please use this info: 73 (David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: AfriStar South Beam Unencrypted Channels - December 2007 Broadcaster Channel Number Type Preview Channel 1 World Space preview Radio Caroline 11 Retro UK Hits CNNI 300 International News NPR 301 National Public Radio BBC - World 302 BBC World Service Bloomberg Radio 304 Business News WRN 1 305 World Radio Network - English WRN 2 327 World Radio Network - Multilingual RFI 2 330 Radio France - French BFM 331 News - French BBC-Africa 337 BBC Africa Service TalkSPORT 500 UK Sport FoxSPORT 501 US Sport Esperance 612 Religious ALC 750 Africa Learning Channel ********************************************************************** (via David Pringle-Wood, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 3880.80V, V. of Iranian Revolution, Nov 29 *1429-1437, 24432-21431, Kurdish, 1429 sign on with IS, ID at 1434, Talk, Jamming from 1434 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. LITUANIA?? 6265, Voz de la Rep. Isl. de Irán, 2020- 2026, escuchada el 9 de diciembre en inglés a locutora con ID, dirección, E-mail, segmento musical, música de sintonía, SINPO 45554. Probablemente nueva frecuencia o emisión accidental, ya que se anuncia para ésta hora en 6225, sin emisión en ésta frecuencia (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [and non]. Back in 1988, Bob Zanotti met a visitor at SRI named Alfredo Cotroneo from Milan, Italy. Some time later, the two decided to put a privately-owned commercial shortwave station on the air in Milan. The result of their efforts was the Italian Radio Relay Service (IRRS). They purchased a 10-kilowatt Siemens shortwave transmitter from the Swiss PTT which, as Bob describes it, "was about the size of a large refrigerator, and was operational from 1.5 to 30 MHz with eight-second or less band switching." IRRS used reduced carrier single sideband modulation. Bob Zanotti's sidekick from "The Two Bobs," Bob Thomann, was also a technical advisor for IRRS. At first, IRRS was only on the air on weekends, with Bob Zanotti and Alfredo Cotroneo taking turns operating the transmitter and playing the programming at the transmitter site on a farm in the outskirts of Milan. Bob related some very interesting and entertaining stories about his stints as transmitter operator. But all of this ended when the station became completely automated in 1993. Today IRRS continues to broadcast, but the Milan transmitter site has been closed for a number of years. Currently the service transmits via rented airtime from a relay station elsewhere in Europe (Jeff White, European DX Council Celebrates 40th Anniversary at Conference in Lugano, Dec NASB Newsletter via DXLD) SLOVAKIA, shhh! ** JAPAN [and non]. Sat Dec 8 at 1411 came upon World Interactive just started on NHK Warido Radio Japan, 7200. Quite good signal, and no need to listen to Sackville relay instead, but I checked 11705 anyway, still stronger and running a few words behind 7200, which is Yamata at 240 degrees to SE Asia, so directly off the back would be 60 degrees, not too far from their NAm azimuths. The show had several studio guests, the theme being Japanese people who speak English well, or are learning to, in order to further their careers. There was a gaijin in there too, a teacher or something. A prime example of cultural differences, as the show was full of exaggerated excitement, politeness, oohs and aahs, everybody talking at once, spurred on by the hostess, Kei (?), excessive from our point of view, and managing to convey very little useful info except that participants seemed to be having a wonderful time. She said this edition was also on video, so she had her makeup on. Maybe they combined it with their Xmas party featuring a little booze. It certainly sounded like they were high on something (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. 4557, Korean National Democratic Front, Haeju, 55443, Korean. Parallel with 4450; other frequency much better; this frequency has what sounds like another carrier on top which drastically mutes audio; probably some kind jamming; 1154 UT (Murray Lycan, 7J1AQH, near Tokyo, Japan, Dec 9, Kenwood TS-690S, 7 MHz rotatable dipole at 45 feet high, ABDX via DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290, Latvia Today, Ulbroka, 1146-1210, Dec 8, tune-in to lite instrumental music & English talk about local history. IDs. Radio SWH address for reports. Radio Casablanca programming at 1200 with ID and into local folk and pop music. Good signal. I do not usually hear these guys this well (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. 4760, ELWA Radio Monrovia (probable), 0626-0650, canciones religiosas en inglés y algunas en vernáculo. 35433 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Date? Probably Dec 7 or 8 like other items in this batch. Did anyone ever hear them testing on 6070, morning or evening? (gh, DXLD) Respecto a la probable Elwa, el día de escucha fue hoy día 8, entraba bastante clara, y a las 0730 ya había desaparecido la señal, probablemente cerró a esa hora (Manuel Méndez, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. 17725, Dec 8 at 1624, weak signal in French, must be V. of Africa as scheduled 1600-1700 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. See IRAN [non] ** MADAGASCAR. Dear Member, I'm controller of Nagoya DXers Circle. "Visiting Radio Nederland Madagascar Relay Station" by Eiki Satomi: http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~BCLSWL/Madagascar.html de "Gekkan Tanpa" T.Akabayashi (H. Seiichi, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Bilingual, well illustrated, from Nov 2004 (gh, DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 5009.95, RTV Malagasy, 0330-0345, Dec 9, local religious choral music and vernacular talk. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also U S A WBCQ ** MALAYSIA [and non]. Google Earth imagery. Penang Georgetown MW location G.E. BUT rather 05 22 28.26 N, 100 18 17.58 E instead. http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=5.374517&lon=100.304883&z=18.3&r=0&src=ggl Yes, that could be also the SW masts location. I can remember me on a location midst between the harbour and the westerly small hills side, -- after 30 years. I passed that transmitter location many times during five visits between 1974 and 1978, but forgot everything after 30 years now. Radio Malaysia installation was well equipped with some 60, 41, and 31 mb antennas at this era. The most exciting stations those days were RAAF Butterworth local MW station and V. of Malayan Revolution clandestine station from Kunming southern China area. 05 27 32.02 N 100 23 14.94 E Radio RAAF Butterworth http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=5.459428&lon=100.388288&z=17.4&r=0&src=ggl http://www.raafschoolpenang.com/rrb.htm http://www.defence.gov.au/raaf/airpower/html/publications/pathfinder/2005/Pathfinder_35_Nov05_hires.pdf http://www.rafregiment1964to1970.co.uk/a_brief_history.html http://www.rafregiment1964to1970.co.uk/raaf_butterworth.html http://www.rafregiment1964to1970.co.uk/butterworth_photo's.htm http://www.rafregiment1964to1970.co.uk/penang_as_it_is_today.htm http://www.defence.gov.au/raaf/bases/butterworth/index.htm (wb, wwdxc BC-DX Dec 4) and former BBC relay Tebrau Malaysia, 4 x 250, 6 x 100 kW. I visited that station in December 1977 during a trip from Bali, Java, to Singapore, Malacca, K-L, Ipoh, Georgetown-Penang, Phuket, Bang Kok. Just before the equipment was moved in stages to then built up Kranji site. http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=1.540328&lon=103.730793&z=13.8&r=0&src=msl (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX Dec 4 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 4810, XERTA seems off the air week of 4 to 8 Dec, strong carrier on 4808.91 kHz on 7 Dec but no usable audio (Bob Wilkner, FL, DXplorer Dec 7 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. XEXQ, 6045, back on air after missing a couple days, with Badinerie, Dec 8 at 1341; also heard XEOI, 6010, at 1405 with ``viva la música de México``. Is this a total simulcast of XEOY 1000? They used to have some separate SW programming. I wonder how XEOY does in the ratings in the extremely competitive DF market (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Here's a great website for fairly detailed maps of Mexican states and cities http://www.maps-of-mexico.com/index.shtml 73, (Steve N5WBI Houston TX Ponder, ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. One thing to remember about Mexico superimposed text IDs: Fernando told me several years ago that text IDs generally are inserted at the transmitter site, and they list the transmitter location, rather than city of service. Televisa and TV Azteca use their transmitters at Las Lajas and Perote to serve the cities of Jalapa and Veracruz. It is not likely that they would spend big money to put up high-powered transmitters (100 kW on the low-band, for example) to serve small mountain communities (Danny, Shreveport, LA, Oglethorpe, Dec 7, WTFDA via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 4830, Mongolian Radio 1, Altay, 53333, Mongolian. Parallel 4895; 4895 signals stronger but this frequency less interference; sounds like jamming on frequency, otherwise good signal; man talking in Mongolian, 1301 UT. 4895, Mongolian Radio 1, Murun, 53333, Mongolian. Parallel 4830 kHz; this frequency stronger but more interference; man talking in MM; interference from strong Voice of Strait on 4900, 1311 UT (Murray Lycan, 7J1AQH, near Tokyo, Japan, Dec 9, Kenwood TS-690S, 7 MHz rotatable dipole at 45 feet high, ABDX via DXLD) ** MONTENEGRO. Re 7-148: Sorry Jari, But it's the same for me, although I also tried to make ATT: [sic; contact?] to a previous personal QSL-replier at the station. I have sent a couple of emails as well. They haven't bounced, but also haven't been replied to. 73 from (Björn Fransson, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. NEW RADIO STATION ON AIR IN MYANMAR Xinhua General News Service reports that a new radio station has been on the air very recently in Myanmar mainly broadcasting music with brief domestic and international news intercepting its program, according to Yangon audiences. The two-and-a-half-hour morning program of the Padauk Myay Radio Station, broadcast in local language from an unidentified location since end of October and believed to be from inside the country, is received from 5:30 a.m.to 8 p.m. (local time) on FM, MW and SW, the audiences said. http://www.burmanet.org (‘Padauk Myay’ is also a name of Myanmar magazine / finndxer) December 8, 2007 (DXing the Finnish Way blog via DXLD) WTFK?? ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI takes the domestic service for much of the overnight period and gets a "warts and all" product from the domestic service including local weather (Barry Hartley, NZ, Nov 28, wwdxc BC- DX Dec 7 via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 7274.86, best time in Europe to check for Abuja/Kaduna? regional station is after 0630 UT, when Tunisia leaves co-channel. Very tiny. Stronger signal observed in southern Spain during my holiday trip a month ago (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX Dec 6 via DXLD) 7275, R. Nigeria Kaduna-Jarji, 12/06, English, 0607 male and female talks, presumed news, some mentions "R. Nigeria", 0610-0615 "Nigeria Network", studio and outside talks, 33433 (LOB-B). 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP, Brasil (23 33 S, 46 51 W), Sony ICF SW40, dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 9690, Voice of Nigeria, Ikorodu, *0757-0810, Dec 8, Sign on with their usual theme music. Opening ID announcements in vernacular at 0758. Possible news at 0800. IDs. Short breaks of local African music. Very good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Okies have been warned for more than a week that an ice storm was coming this weekend, and so it has. As of 2000 UT Dec 9 in Enid, there is lite buildup of ice on trees, powerlines and antenna wires, but no serious breaks yet. However, a worse wave is forecast for UT Dec 10, and there probably has not been much melting in the meantime. If we do have a protracted power outage here, I may be offline for the duration. This site gives an idea of where the outages are in the portion of OK which is OG&E territory: http://www.oge.com/systemwatch/SystemWatch.Systemwide_1_content.html OG&E originally stood for Oklahoma Gas & Electric, but gas was abandoned by that company sesquidecades ago. Fortunately, we have gas from another company to keep us warm if not electrified. If it`s severe, there could be radio stations off the air, or on the air with day facilities at night (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5486.67, Radio Reyna de la Selva, Chachapoyas, at 1040 to 1110 UT Dec 7 "en el numero zero [sic] ... en el mundo ...Señor Carlos Puesta [Cuesta ?] en las ... hoy ... en el tiempo de ... cambio en todos ... recuerdo en el final ... en el gran sábado ... Carlos Puesta..." Note: Both 5460.1, Perú, Radio Bolívar and 5470.8, Perú, Radio San Nicolás, off the air at this time (Bob Wilkner, Pómpano Beach FL, DXplorer Dec 7 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re 7-148: 6075, R. Rossii via Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka, 0432-0509, Dec 7, Russian folks songs and ballads, Russian conversations, ToH 5 + 1 pips, many "Radio Rossii" IDs, fair reception with less than perfect audio (muffled), as also reported in Glenn's log; clearly parallel with 5935 via Magadan, fair-poor mixing with WWCR; 7200 via Yakutsk, fair with the usual warble; 7320 via Magadan, the weakest. Re-checked at 1146 to find 6075 good, 5935 poor, further under WWCR, 7200 only had Chinese language station, with no R. Rossii heard, 7320 a clear frequency but also with no R. Rossii. Thanks to Noel Green (UK) for pointing out the Magadan change from 5940 to 5935 during the winter. Today was certainly above average reception for Russia. Update - Log: Radio Rossii --- Dec 8, from 1808 to 1834 heard R. Rossii on 6075 with enjoyable program of Russian ballads, folk songs, operatic songs, etc., fair, audio sounded better today. Noted parallel with 5935, fair with no QRM (nice!) and 7320, poor but in the clear. 7200 was totally covered with strong Asian station and a strong het. Have noticed that R. Rossii tends to cluster their IDs together within a 2-3 minute time span and then will not give one again till another cluster. Good reception conditions for Russia still continue (Ron Howard, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RYUKYU ISLANDS. JAPAN. VOA Okinawa Request. Does anybody in the group have the exact location of the former VOA site at Okinawa, Japan? I asked Nagoya DXers and they say: VOA Okuma tx site: 26 44 11.00 N, 128 09 36.00 E transmitted VOA SW, MW on 1178 kHz and FEBC-KSBU on 1360 kHz. Transmitter site is now "JAL private resort Okuma". VOA Okinawa between Aug. 1, 1953 - May 14, 1977. HQ: Cyatan, Kadena AFB VOA On-na Comunication Center - receiving station: 26 28 21 N, 127 50 21 E (Mauno Ritola, Finland, shortwavesites yg Dec 6 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** SAAR. GERMANY. Das Buch "Geschichte und Geschichten des Senders an der Saar. 50 Jahre Saarlaendischer Rundfunk" ist ab 8. Dezember im Buchladen und bei "SR am Markt" erhaeltlich. 427 Seiten, Preis noch unbekannt. Bei amazon.de ist es auch noch nicht bekannt. Wenn Ihr das Buch bei amazon bestellt, tut es doch ueber http://www.ratzer.at (Joe Leyder-LUX, A-DX Dec 5 via BC-DX via DXLD) Danke fuer den Hinweis. Preis 29.80 Euro. Naehere Infos in der Zeitschrift SRinfo, Heft 12-2007, Seite 28f (downloadbar ueber http://www.sr-online.de/dersr/129/1152.html und auf http://www.sr-online.de/kultur/38/708070.html (Bernhard Weiskopf, Germany, A-DX Dec 7 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** SAINT HELENA. SHORTWAVE FROM THE SOUTH ATLANTIC The final presentation on Friday, Nov. 2 was by Robert Kipp, an American shortwave listener who lives in Germany and headed up the Radio St. Helena Revival Project. St. Helena is a small British island in the south Atlantic Ocean, about 700 miles from Ascension Island, where the BBC relay station is operated by NASB associate member VT Communications. A British/American military base is located on Ascension Island, and it served an important role during World War II for transatlantic military flights. Jerry Kircher, an American shortwave listener who was at the EDXC Conference, was a military pilot during the war, and he actually landed on Ascension once. Jerry explained that due to the island's isolation in the middle of the south Atlantic, military pilots at the time used to joke that "if you miss Ascension, your wife gets a pension." As for St. Helena, it's a beautiful volcanic island. Jamestown is the capital. Among the well-known visitors throughout the island's history was Napoleon Bonaparte, who is buried there. The oldest Anglican Church in the southern hemisphere is on St. Helena. Robert Kipp explained that the island's government funds Radio St. Helena (a mediumwave station) and a newspaper called The Herald. During the 1990's, Radio St. Helena carried out a special broadcast on shortwave one day each year, using a transmitter borrowed from the local Cable and Wireless station. On "Radio St. Helena Day," as it was called, shortwave listeners around the world would try to pick up the station and send reception reports for the coveted Radio St. Helena QSL card. When the Cable and Wireless transmitter was scrapped in 1999, the broadcasts ended. But Robert Kipp and other DXers around the world launched the Radio St. Helena Revival Project. The DXers donated funds and bought a new amateur transmitter and amplifier, an antenna and other equipment which were shipped to St. Helena and installed there. The Japan Shortwave Club was one of the biggest financial backers of the project. The Revival Project provided a Yaesu ham transmitter with an output of 25-30 watts. This is used in conjunction with a 1000-watt power amplifier which was made for them in the Ukraine. A three-element yagi beam antenna was built in Germany. It provides a forward gain of 5 dB and has a rotator enabling the station to beam to different parts of the world during hours when the propagation is most appropriate. Radio St. Helena's annual shortwave broadcast returned in 2006. Some 380 valid reception reports were received from listeners in Japan alone. Robert Kipp announced that Radio St. Helena Day for 2007 will be December 15 -- actually from 1730 UTC Dec. 15 to 0100 UTC Dec. 16 - - on the frequency of 11092.5 kHz in upper sideband. A special QSL card will be issued for reports on this broadcast, which will mark the 40th anniversary of Radio St. Helena. Details on specific target areas and beams can be found at http://www.sthelena.se/radioproject There will also be an article about the station in the December 2007 issue of Monitoring Times magazine (Jeff White, European DX Council Celebrates 40th Anniversary at Conference in Lugano, Dec NASB Newsletter via DXLD) ** SCOTLAND [non]. Apologies for the absence of shortwave transmission on Sunday [meaning Dec 2?], due to an administrative problem at our transmitter facility. We'll now resume shortwave transmissions on 7415 kHz on Sunday 9th December at 2300 GMT (from http://www.radiosix.com checked Dec 8 by Glenn Hauser for DX LISTENING DIGEST) This of course refers to their revived show via WBCQ. Strangely enough the WBCQ online schedule http://www.zappahead.net/wbcq/main.php?fn=sked&freq=7415 still shows Su 7415 06:00PM 07:00PM ET 2300 0000 UTC The Checkerboard Lounge and searching on Radio Six does not find it anywhere else on the WBCQ schedule --- but then, it hasn`t been updated since Sept 22! But that can`t be true, as the EST/UT time difference of 5 hours is now correct (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Hi: During last DX-Pedition on Santa María la Real de Nieva (Segovia), I could listen to the following armonics: ESPAÑA 4896, COPE ALMERÍA in Spanish (4 x 1224); 6120, COPE ALMERÍA in Spanish (5 x 1224) Paz y Dx (Ignacio Sotomayor, Sta.Mª la Real de Nieva, Segovia, Castilla, España (41º04'03.62''N, 4º24'35.68''W), ICOM R-75, K9AY loop 5 x 5, Web: http://perso.wanadoo.es/igsosa/index.htm Dec 9, [original font: Comic Sans MS] DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. In relation with RNE/R1 on tropical bands, I hear it on both 4395.30 and 4396.30. No trace of Onda Cero Radio on this band. More information about this DXP as soon as possible. Paz y Dx (Ignacio Sotomayor, Sta.Mª la Real de Nieva, Segovia, Castilla, España (41º04'03.62''N, 4º24'35.68''W), ICOM R-75, K9AY loop 5 x 5, Web: http://perso.wanadoo.es/igsosa/index.htm Dec 9, [original font: Comic Sans MS] DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Timesignals: 4998.00, OBSERVATORIO NAVAL DE LA MARINA, AND, Cádiz / San Fernando, España, 1012 5-dic-07, 1 [probably signal strength]. (Ignacio Sotomayor, Sta.Mª la Real de Nieva, Segovia, Castilla, España (41º04'03.62''N, 4º24'35.68''W), ICOM R-75, K9AY loop 5 x 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tell us more, such as callsign, format of signals and ID, mode. Not in WRTH 2007 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. 7280 kHz, UAE, Sudan Radio Service, Dhabbaya 12/07, Arabic, 0445 studio male and outside audio talks/short music pattern various times, 0458 maybe local folk music, 0459 ID, 0500 s/off 34333 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP, Brasil (23 33 S, 46 51 W), Sony ICF SW40, dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SURINAME. 4990, R. Apintie, Paramaribo, Dutch/Sarnami, 12/09 0657, music selection with E. Presley, 70's pop "give me one more time/cause I never had enough", 0700 male announcer, Nat King Cole's music, 0701 strong QRM of 4885 R. Clube do Pará, 23322 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP, Brasil (23 33 S, 46 51 W), Sony ICF SW40, dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Olá Lucio, No caso da Radio Apintie eu também ouvi com um sinal razoável (mesmo SINPO), um pouco mais cedo, aproximadamente às 06:10, pois normalmente o sinal dela chega muitíssimo fraco. Quanto à interferêcia, a emissora deve ter sido a Rádio Brasil Central de Goiânia em 4985 que chega aqui na nossa região bem mais forte que a Apintie e possui a QRG vizinha. 73's!!! (Thiago P Machado, [PY2002SWL]. QTH: Riacho Fundo-DF, Brasil [GH54XC] http://www.bsbdx.blogspot.com radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** SWAZILAND. QSL: TWR, 6130, full/data card, sked and bible tract in 7 weeks for postal report with $1. The QSL is actually the ham card of 3DA0BC (James Burnett, TWR). The back of the card has a photocopy of the blank side of a regular TWR QSL pasted over the areas where a ham would enter contact information. The card is actually very nice with a map of Swaziland against flag with inserts of tribal images, etc. (John Herkimer, NY, DXplorer Dec 2, via BC-DX Dec 7 via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND [and non]. THE VOICE OF SWITZERLAND --- One of the best-known voices from Switzerland on shortwave for 32 years was Bob Zanotti, an American journalist who has lived in Switzerland for decades. From 1970 until 2002, Bob worked at Swiss Radio International as a reporter, producer, editor, program host and as one of "The Two Bobs" (Bob Thomann was the other one) who hosted the "Swiss Shortwave Merry-Go-Round" -- SRI's DX program. In addition to his radio and journalism experience, he is also an amateur radio operator with a great deal of technical knowledge about the shortwave medium. In his talk at the EDXC in Lugano, Bob tackled three subjects: his personal views on why Swiss Radio International was closed, his own website Switzerland in Sound, and his involvement in the Italian Radio Relay Service. Regarding the demise of Swiss Radio International (SRI), Bob said: "What happened to all shortwave stations was the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Before that, every country had to have a station and a voice on shortwave." Switzerland was officially neutral during the Cold War, but in reality it was aligned with the West. "But when the Cold War ended," Bob said, "politicians began to ask [the shortwave stations], 'what are you going to do now?' Many stations were not ready for this, and could not justify their existence to the politicians. Some stations had answers and are still around. Other stations didn't have answers and are no longer around." In Bob Zanotti's view, "SRI suffered from mismanagement." At SRI and many other shortwave broadcasters, "top managers were often people who were ineffectual elsewhere in the organization or were about to retire, so they were parked at the shortwave service where they couldn't cause any problems." They often had no firsthand experience of international broadcasting, so they hired consultants who were not international broadcasters either. "They came up with marketing jargon," said Bob, "and the station managers did whatever they said, including shifting emphasis away from the shortwave services," "Most station managers never liked QSL-hunting DXers," continued Bob. "SRI was always in the top 10 in shortwave station polls. But then the BBC started telling everyone that shortwave was dead, which some uninformed management figures interpreted as a call to drop shortwave." But Bob said this could have possibly been a strategy by the BBC to get rid of the competition, noting that it's quite ironic that the BBC is still on shortwave. Today, Swiss Radio International is "swissinfo.ch," a website with information about Switzerland. Only one journalist from the old English section of SRI is still at swissinfo. In 1998, the SRI transmitter site at Schwarzenburg was dismantled, explained Bob, "supposedly for environmental concerns, but really because of economic factors." SRI opted for buying airtime from relay stations, including Deutsche Welle, and for a time had a transmitter swap arrangement with what is now China Radio International. According to Bob Zanotti, "One SRI director, Roy Oppenheim, knew shortwave would be around for at least another 20 years. He said that Internet and satellite were necessary, but only as a supplement to shortwave -- not as a replacement. But Oppenheim left SRI, and the Internet gurus said 'we can do this for free, and even put audio on the web.' But today they have no serious audio on swissinfo." Other directors were just simply "incompetent" in Bob's opinion. He noted that the CNN World Report segment produced by SRI for many years has ended, and the people who still support shortwave at many international broadcasting organizations are retiring or dying. Bob Zanotti was involved with the organization of the 1981 EDXC Conference, which was hosted by SRI in Bern, Switzerland. Before coming to SRI, he worked for a time in the 1960's at Radio Sweden, where he hosted the popular "Sweden Calling DXers" program and also worked as a freelance reporter. He remains a big proponent of shortwave radio. "There are millions of shortwave receivers out there," he told the conference in Lugano. "And shortwave receivers still come out when there's a crisis." Regarding Digital Radio Mondiale, Bob Zanotti offered this view: "DRM is wonderful technology, but it may be too little too late. If it's going to happen, it has to happen soon." Bob retired from SRI at an early age, and he wanted to remain involved in radio, so he started his own website, Switzerland in Sound http://www.switzerlandinsound.com which is self-financed. SIS was "sort of a way to keep SRI going." It contains extensive audio material about all aspects of Switzerland, including tourist information. There is also a monthly "Letter from Switzerland" audio feature, which until the EDXC Conference in Lugano was hosted on alternate months by Bob and his former SRI colleague Richard Dawson. Tragically, Dick Dawson died the day after the EDXC Conference ended, "only minutes after sending me his Letter From Switzerland contribution via email. I was to call him on Skype to record his audio rendition of the Letter an hour later. He never answered." But Switzerland in Sound continues, and it even has a "Two Bobs" section with some of the most memorable editions of SRI's DX program, and new versions as well, including a report from a recent Shortwave Listeners Winterfest in Pennsylvania, and now a report from the EDXC Conference in Lugano. [portion about IRRS filed under ITALY [and non]] Following his presentation, Bob Zanotti recorded a roundtable discussion with EDXC Secretary General Tibor Szilagyi, former secretaries general Anker Peterson and Michael Murray, and yours truly. The roundtable audio is now available on switzerlandinsound.com under the "Two Bobs" section (Jeff White, European DX Council Celebrates 40th Anniversary at Conference in Lugano, Dec NASB Newsletter via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4635, Tajik Radio 1, Dushanbe-Yangiyul, 45333, Tadjik. Man singing Indian-sounding traditional music; quite good audio; female announcer 1202 UT (Murray Lycan, 7J1AQH, near Tokyo, Japan, Dec 9, Kenwood TS-690S, 7 MHz rotatable dipole at 45 feet high, ABDX via DXLD) 4635, Tajik Radio, Yangi Yul, 2252-2320, December 01, vernacular, talk by male, some music, bulletin news. At 2310 very nice local songs, 24322 (Arnaldo Slaen, DX Camp in Salto Argentino (210 km NW of Buenos Aires, with my friends & DXers Hector Goyena, Enrique Wembagher, Gerardo Choren. My receiver: a Degen DE1103 and a longwire antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TANNU TUVA. Tyva ------- Local program on 6100 kHz 0610-0700 and 0810-0900 http://www.tyva.ru/index.php?name=News&op=article&sid=19 (Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk / "open_dx' via Rus-DX Dec 9 via DXLD) {Checking the above site, we see that TUVA is spelt with the vowel which looks like Roman bI, not usually translatiterated as U but TUVA is the traditional spelling, e.g. philatelically. TANNU TUVA has no current relevance but we think it`s a neat name --- gh} ** UGANDA. 4975.97, Radio Uganda, 0345-0430, Dec 9, variety of Afro- pops, African choral music. English news at 0404-0421 followed by several public service announcements concerning government programs, medicine distribution for control of malaria & other topics. Good signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. CHANNEL 4 RADIO POSTPONED Radio Today 8 December 2007 http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.2795 The launch of Channel 4 Radio could be delayed until April 2009, according to Ofcom. The speech based service is one of three to be provided by Channel 4 on the national 4 Digital multiplex. In October, Ofcom's Radio Licensing Committee discussed a request by 4 Digital to postpone the launch of the station from January 2009 to April 2009. The Committee decided the delay fell within the terms under of the national radio multiplex licence. The details of the discussion were only released by Ofcom at the end of November. E4 Radio, a service aimed at 15 to 29 year olds, is still expected to begin broadcasting next year. The delay in launching Channel 4 Radio will affect the launch of Channel 4's third service 4 Plus, a station aimed at older listeners with an interest in music, the arts and entertainment. The reason for the 18 month wait for Channel 4 Radio is unclear. Speculation suggests the delay may be connected to the availability of Bob Shennan, who last week announced departure from the BBC as controller of Five Live to become director of radio for Channel 4. A start date for Shennan has yet to be confirmed (via Mike Terry, BDXC- UK via DXLD) Is this to be a commercialized clone of BBC Radio 4? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Re kimandrewelliott.com: ``I’m told that Delano will remain, for now, in “caretaker” status.`` Ah-yes, for now. I assume this will eventually lead to the same end as for Greenville-A: It had also been kept in this so-called caretaker status, still staffed with two engineers, after transmissions ceased in autumn 2005. But DXLD correspondents wrote in last February that the site is now officially shut down and transmitters are being cannibalized for spare parts. Thus I tend to believe that a later reactivation of Delano is really unlikely and would be just too expensive even in cases of whatever kind of urgent need. And Radio World reported that equipment from Delano could be moved to other IBB sites if the budget will allow carrying out such a project. (Can't find this particular report now.) Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 8, DX LISTENNG DIGEST) ** U S A. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The U.S.A. is Canada’s main trading partner and is currently the world’s preeminent financial power. Great debate has taken place over the years regarding the U.S.A.’s role in the world, but suffice to say, most people have heard of the place. Serving a domestic market of about 300 million people, U.S. popular culture is driven by an immense media sector and is known and emulated around the world. Other major industries include computers/electronics, military goods, and greasy/tasty (you pick) fast food. International broadcasts are provided by the Armed Forces (AFRTS and others), Broadcast Board of Governors (BBG), who operates at least a dozen stations including Voice of America, and tens of private, religious stations. We’ll focus on Voice of America. Voice of America (VOA): http://www.voanews.com/ The VOA website is available in 53 languages and language-variants; for example, there’s English to Africa, English Worldwide, Special English, and Zimbabwe – English. We’ll stick with the main page, as it’s already in English. The layout of the page is quite simple: it’s surprisingly unsophisticated, but this may have more to do with the technological means of its intended users than those of VOA itself. At the top of the page, beside a VOA logo, is a search box and a link to the Text Only version of the website (featuring a fancy layout and five colourful pictures, oddly). Below these are links to VOA Home, VOA English, Regions/Topics, and About VOA. The main body of the page is divided down the middle, with various news items on the left side, followed by links to Program Highlights for TV, Radio, and Internet below. Within the Internet section is a link to Mobile Services, which leads to a text-only version that’s formatted for small screens (why isn’t this the same as the above Text Only?). The right side of the page features a vast area for selecting your preferred language (via three redundant methods), a What’s Happening at VOA section that includes a Program Guide (linking to a vast and comprehensive PDF file with times, frequencies, information about shows, and more – nice!), three features, and a section for the Video of the Day. Across the bottom of the entire page are links to FAQs, Terms of Use, the Broadcast Board of Governors, Site Map, and links for people who want to Link to Us and Contact Us. It’s rather difficult to review the VOA website, as everyone approaches things from the U.S.A. with their own baggage. That said, I found the VOA website underwhelming; there’s some fantastic content, but you have to dig to find it, and there are numerous examples of duplication of effort (such as several text-only versions). Your own opinion is what matters, so Click! on over to the VOA and see how it works for you (Paul Guise, Click!, Dec ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** U S A. 3199.48, 3230.52, WWCR Spurs, 0235-0255, Dec 8, weak, distorted spurs of 3215 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WHRA, 15665, Sat Dec 8 at 1415 with gospel huxter, awful quality internet feed full of chirps, etc. Per WHRA online schedule this is ``Speaking The Truth In Love, with Brother Phil`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KAIJ, missing from 5755, at various nighttime chex Dec 8-9, and also from 9480 in daytime. Inquiries to them about what the problem is have not been answered yet (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBCQ observations Sat Dec 8: had not heard 17495-CLSB for several days, but audible with usual gospel huxter around 2030, but no sign of it at 2148 check. At 2141, 9330-CLSB was a few hundred Hz off- frequency to low side, did not try to measure, but big het from carrier closer to 9330, presumably Syria and with very little modulation of its own. This caused WBCQ audio to be off-pitch, but it was only Rod Hembree who is certain the End Times Are Near, so off- pitch fits; same situation an hour earlier. Could get usable reception of WBCQ 9330 on LSB or synch LSB. At 2038 on 7415, Allan Weiner Worldwide repeat was in progress, discussion with someone on phone about antique radios. According to WBCQ online program schedule this hour is supposed to be The Alternative Transportation Show, which I guess disappeared weeks ago, and the online schedule is much in need of updating. See also SCOTLAND [non] WBCQ, 17495-CLSB, Sunday Dec 9 at 1510 discussing overnight delivery and blown speaker. Not Al Weiner show. Scheduled as The Zeph Report, 14-18 UT Sundays only. A few minutes later it was back to gospel- huxterism. There was another signal underneath causing a slight ripple against WBCQ`s reduced carrier, but not like the 9330 collision where they were a few hundred Hz apart. That of course is Democratic Voice of Burma, via Madagascar, daily 1430-1530 on 17495, as EiBi reminds us (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. The Metropolitan Opera season is on again Dec 8 until the first Saturday in May. The nominal start time for the live broadcasts is 1830 UT, but some longer operas get a head start of half an hour, like Dec 15, or even a full hour, like Dec 22. This is detailed at http://www.operainfo.org/ with times given in something called ET, to which 17 hours must be added. This is on a great many public radio stations across the USA, tho there are some which decline and give us alternative programming, definitely not the opera. Station finder, http://www.operainfo.org/stationfinder/ which may not be accurate and up to date, especially lacking streaming asterisks which we know exist; also is on a French CBC network, and in many European countries of various languages. No longer shown are some commercial AM stations in Kansas; that arrangement ended when Texaco pulled out from sponsorship. CBC Radio 2 also carries The Met as part of Saturday Afternoon At the Opera (SAATO), the nominal start of which is 1800 UT, but only in the AT and ET zones --- don`t ask me why some CBC programs air simultaneously in AT/NT and ET, but most are an hour ahead in AT/NT. This is bound to cause more scheduling problems, as something has to give when the switches forth and back are made. On Dec 8, SAATO did its own run-up to The Met during the first semihour, background to the same opera, before joining the live broadcast at 1830 UT. Unlike Radio 1, CBC Radio 2 has a convenient multi-time-zone player displaying what is on in each of the five zones, even which hour of a multi-hour broadcast. It refreshes at the top of each hour. From this I could easily determine that altho The Met allegedly insists on live broadcasts in all US timezones, except for a few extenuating circumstances, it allows CBC to delay it 1 hour for Central (Winnipeg and Regina), 2 hours for Mountain (Calgary, Edmonton), 3 hours for Pacific (BC, Yukon). This will be very convenient for US listeners who need to miss an hour or two for lunch or Saturday-afternoon shopping, and pick up the rest of the Opera where they left off. Or just start listening at whichever hour is most convenient. The opera block on CBC Radio 2 is long enough to cover most Met presentations, leaving more fill time at the end. This week they had more excerpts from the same opera, previously recorded classic performances. BBC Radio 3 also carries The Met live, tho last season opted out certain weeks, especially when Met was taking its January break for reruns, or something important was happening in the UK. We are frankly more interested in the intermission features than listening to most standard repertoire operas straight through. The Met has a page about the subject of intermission feature(s) linked from each week`s opera above, but refuses to publish their approximate times. This info is certainly made available to affiliates so they know when they have to stand by for local breaks, IDs. If anyone has this info or knows where to find for this season on the web, please enlighten us. In past seasons, BBC R3 did give the intermission times, some of which are from NY and some of which they produce themselves. But that was not the case with the December 8 listing via http://www.bbc.co.uk/whatson/services.shtml --- we still hope they shall in future and that this week they merely did not have their seasonal act together yet. The intermissions typically last 20-25 minutes. In our searches thru webcasting public radio station schedules, we have come upon a few Met broadcasts which are delayed. Altho with satellite networking, there is no obvious reason now not to carry it live, KRNN in Juneau, AK, has not Saturday, but Sunday Afternoon at the Opera, which is believed to include Met broadcasts in season --- we heard some last year --- starting at 2200 UT, until 0130 or so UT Sunday. Radio Cultura FM, São Paulo (also on SW but we`ll take the webcasts), has TEATRO DE ÓPERA Sundays at 1700-2000 UT during DST, 1800-2100 after DST is over Feb 17. On Dec 9 it`s something played locally, but in past seasons this block has contained The Met on an 8-day delay --- shipped on CD, I suppose, an even better chance to catch a Met performance missed the original weekend. So this should be back from Dec 16 with Iphigénie en Tauride. And of course the length will vary both on KRNN and RCSP, but not the start times (I think). There`s another easily-preëmptable hour after it on RCSP if needed. Nor am I sure to what extent RCSP carries the intermission features which are in English, unlike most of the singing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 7-148: The tsunami warning system is in place on the coast. There are a series of sirens that will go off and information on going to higher ground. It has been used many times in the past. at times there are practice drills too. Where I live is out the tsunami zone a bit. If the wave was high enough, it could maybe reach me, but there is a mile of land between me and the surf and it would have to go up over a lot of hilly area to reach me. As you drive a few miles North of South you do enter the tsunami zone though. KAST is the EAS station in the county and has a generator. But unfortunately if a tsunami hit, KAST would be gone being right on the shore. The studios are moving to a safer spot in Warrenton in the next year or two though (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. According to its website, KELA-1470 in Centralia WA is "experiencing technical difficulties due to flooding" and asking listeners to tune to their FM sister station. I checked 1470 just now and could only hear a weak CJVB (KELA would normally be easily heard). KELA is in the area hardest hit by the storms and flooding earlier this week. The transmitter site may still be still under water, and likely suffered major damage (Bruce Portzer, WA, Dec 9, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. STATUS OF FLOODED SW WASHINGTON RADIO STATIONS Many have asked about the status of your friends and colleagues in the flooded areas of Southwest Washington. I have been in touch with most of the stations in Centralia/Chehalis and the Grays Harbor areas to find out how they are doing and whether WSAB can be of any assistance. I thought you would be interested in an update. Here are excerpts from their responses. _John DiMeo (KELA/KMNT, Centralia/Chehalis):_ "We took about five feet of water inside our building. That's about 2 feet more than back in 1996. All staff is OK. One did lose his home. We got KMNT on the air almost immediately via our xmtr site up on Crego Hill. KELA is still out, but we're hoping to get that back up by Friday. Bicoastal (our new owners) are bringing in 5 engineers from other markets to assist. I have already enlisted the services of a good general contractor. (Thank God for flood insurance!) Tough start for our new owners. The deal just closed on 12/1." _Derek Shannon (KITI-AM/FM, Centralia/Chehalis):_ I have not communicated directly with Derek, but with one of his business partners. KITI is only a couple of miles up the road from KELA, and KITI had a foot of water flooding their building. Both stations were off the air for about 12 hours on Tuesday, but both are back on the air now. _Cameron Bierle (KACS-FM, Centralia):_ "90.5 KACS is on the air, and has stayed on for the most part. Went off for a few hours due to a power outtage. KACS is working with the Lewis County United Way, The Ranier Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army in relief and recovery efforts through our KACS Cards for the County campaign. We'd welcome other media participation too. It's a very simple and effective program we worked on with Cards for Katrina following the gulf states disasters, and then Cards for the Cowlitz last year." _Dona Rosi (Morris Communications, Aberdeen/Hoquiam):_ "We have 3 of our 4 stations on the air, not KWOK. We are trying to get propane up to our generator at the KXXK site which will run out in about 12 hours. Other than that, we’re keeping people informed. Hopefully power will be restored in the next day or two." _Bill Wolfenbarger (Jodesha Broadcasting, Aberdeen/Hoquiam):_ "Thanks, Mark. It's been a mess, but slowly we're climbing out. KSWW-FM is on air at low power with gas generator fillups every 6 hours. KJET-FM is on air from booster site with fillups every 3 hours. KBKW will remain off air until power is restored to the site. It is problematic due to high water and limited coverage. We have focused on providing wall-to- wall coverage of road closures, PUD stuff, gas availability, resources for showers, shelters, food, stores open, etc. from 6a-6p on KSWW and KJET. KSWW was totally off Monday and Tuesday, but went on air Wednesday morning after gnawing through about fifty trees over the access road to the transmitter. Would have been much better if the KSWW propane generator had not died Monday morning. KJET was off from about 11 am Monday until Tuesday morning. KJET Raymond main transmitter has been off since Monday. The good news is Pacific County just got some power. The bad news is the transmitter won't fire by remote control and I have no idea if I can get up that road yet. We had no power at the studio until Wednesday morning but did a decent job of reading in the dark and getting a signal out. Would have been much better if our entire digital phone system had not died at the initial power surge. Hard to receive calls when you don't know they're calling. It's been replaced now and all phone lines are up and running. I'm sending this note at 1:50 AM Thursday. I'm in between gasoline runs. Our newsguy Dave has had reports on air within the past hour about the flooding situation in Aberdeen which thankfully has not happened as was feared. We're doing okay. Not much sleep but people seem to be happy that we're providing the info..." _Joel Hanson (KLOG/KUKN, Kelso):_ "We are fine. KUKN was down Monday morning for a few hours. A tree knoked out the coax from the transmitter to the antenna. Lucky for us no real damage and a quick fix. Hope everyone else makes out as well." WSAB has offered its assistance in any that we could be of help to all of the affected stations. We've had no requests yet. It is very impressive that with these stations struggling to simply stay on the air, they are still making an extraordinary effor to serve their community with emergency information and anything else they can do to help their listeners. Mark Allen, Esq. President & CEO Washington State Association of Broadcasters 724 Columbia Street NW, Suite 310 Olympia, WA 98501 Ph: (360) 705-0774; Fax (360) 705-0873 wa-broadcasters @ earthlink.net http://www.wsab.org (Dec 6 via Ben Dawson, WA, DXLD) ** U S A. KALW TO DUMP ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, OTHER NPR PROGRAMS November 29, 2007 Dear KALW Listener: In 2008, you’ll hear changes on KALW that will expand the range of international news and perspectives we offer, while deepening our coverage of communities in the Bay Area. I want to take the opportunity to fully inform you about these changes and speak directly to you about the vision that drives them. In considering the future direction of KALW’s programming, I’ve asked two questions: What do we do well that we can build on? And, given the choices on the radio dial, how can we best serve the public interest in the Bay Area? I think the answers to both questions are "global" and "local", and that’s the direction our new programs will take. In January, we’ll add three new hours of international programming to our weekday schedule: [PST = UT -8, DST UT -7] BBC’s World Have Your Say. At 10 a.m., the world’s first truly global listener-participation program. Listeners around the world set the agenda and make their voices heard – now, the Bay Area will join the conversation. International, In-Depth. At 2 p.m. daily, a series of programs that provide in-depth reporting on global issues. These include The State We’re In, a weekly newsmagazine on human rights from Radio Netherlands; Dispatches, reports from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s international correspondents, and Radio Australia’s Asia-Pacific. BBC World Briefing. At 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, the latest news from BBC correspondents worldwide. Then, in August, our local coverage will take a big step forward, as KALW News launches a daily half-hour of direct, creative reporting that embraces the diversity of the Bay Area, to be broadcast Monday through Thursday at 5 p.m. The planning for these changes has involved a great deal of thought, as well as some difficult decisions. Many of our current weekday programs – among them Your Call, News & Notes, BBC Newshour, As It Happens and The Tavis Smiley Show -- will move to new times. And some programs – All Things Considered, New Dimensions, Commonwealth Club, Living on Earth, and Fascinatin’ Rhythm – will no longer be broadcast on KALW. Each of these decisions has been rooted in a commitment to expanding the range of global and local perspectives on KALW, and the choices available to public radio listeners in the Bay Area. I invite you to take a close look at the following program grid, and to let me know your thoughts. All our work depends on you, someone who understands that independent, non-commercial radio can’t survive without listener support. You’ve been there for us, and I want you to be with us as KALW continues to move forward. Sincerely, Matt Martin, General Manager, 91.7 KALW-FM (from http://www.kalw.org/media/Documents/2008%20Program%20Change.doc which also presents the new grid, via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. KWSU / NWPR: Kevin, They have two different program streams now, but apparently you only link to one. Strangely, finding a listen link isn`t that easy on some of their pages. http://www.nwpr.org/07/Listen/listen.aspx 73, (Glenn to Kevin Kelly, via DXLD) Hi Glenn -- Actually both have existed for at least several years on both radio and Internet. If you go into my station name listings and look under either "Northwest Public Radio" or "NWPR" you'll find a cross-reference that points to both. But I think I know why you didn't find it listed somewhere that you expected it: the flagship of the news/classical service is KRFA-FM, located across the state line in Moscow, ID, so you wouldn't see it if you were looking at stations in Washington. I always list networks under their primary stations' call letters and cities of license, though there are certainly arguments to be made both ways about whether it really makes sense to do that for internet streams. There are a few listings where it creates confusion, see also VPR Classical having its main station located across the lake in New York, and Georgia Public having no station in the Atlanta market even though its studios are there. Some history I didn't know until right now is that WSU bought KRFA-FM from University of Idaho back in 1984 when Idaho cut funding to operate the station, per Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Public_Radio a solution enabled by the fact that these two states have their major land-grant state universities only 8 miles apart (Kevin Kelly, Bedford, Massachusetts, http://www.publicradiofan.com/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1640, WKSH, WI, Sussex - 12/6, 1600 EST - Over unID HAR/TIS pile-up; Radio Disney promos, “AM 1640 WKSH Sussex, Milwaukee.” Off frequency at 1640.113 kHz, with clear audio only in USB mode (Bruce Conti, NH, DDXD-East, NRC DX News Dec 17 via DXLD) ** U S A. KEVT 1210 kHz Sahuarita (Tucson), Arizona DX Test--- SHORT NOTICE TEST ALERT - PLEASE SHARE THIS INFO WITH FELLOW DXERS WHO MAY NOT HAVE INTERNET ACCESS OR WHO DEPEND SOLELY ON DX CLUB BULLETINS FOR TEST NOTICES! Date: Monday morning (late Sunday night), Dec. 17, 2007. Time: Midnight - 3:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, 0700-1000 UT. 10,000 watts using non-directional antenna pattern. Station will be running regular Spanish-language programming with frequent use of their "La Raza" slogan, and English IDs at top of the hour. The Broadcast Test Committee will be handling all reception reports and verifications for this test. Both eQSL service and traditional paper QSLs will be offered. Recordings on disk in .mp3 or .wav format, audio files via e-mail or cassette recordings will be accepted as proof of reception. Send reception reports and recordings to: IRCA/NRC Joint BTC, Attn: KEVT DX Test, P. O. Box 3777, Memphis, TN 38173-0777 USA. E-mail reports and audio files may be sent to: KH2AR @ comcast.net NOTE: All requests for paper verifications must be accompanied by return postage in order to receive a reply. Our sincere thanks to Chief Engineer Frank Luna for agreeing to conduct this test, to Paul Lotsof for arranging it and to Patrick Martin for his assistance (Jim Pogue - http://www.dxtests.info IRCA/NRC Joint BTC Coordinator, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I will be at my Burnt River ON DX site and will be plugging away for this one. It would be only my second-ever from there for Arizona. My appreciation for the test to those who are making it happen! (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) ** VENEZUELA. 5000, Observatorio Naval Cagigal, Caracas, 0646-0657, 08-12, Señales horarias, identificación cada minuto: “Observatorio Naval Cagigal, Caracas, Venezuela, al oir el tono serán las 2 horas, 47 minutos, 0 segundos”. 34333. Se sigue escuchando también en 5100 kHz, con peor señal. 25322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is this only sporadically active? I seldom hear any sign of it. Should be interesting to monitor when V switches to UT - 4:30 at 0700 UT Dec 9, and thereafter (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Y por lo que respecta a Observatorio Naval Cagigal, en 5100, no podré comprobar a esa hora los días 9 y siguientes, pues ya no estaré en Friol y no tendré condiciones adecuadas para observarla. 73'3 (Manuel Méndez, Spain, DX LISTENNG DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Another no-show for ``Aló, Presidente``, Sunday Dec 9, the first day of UT -4:30, so perhaps HCF was confused and didn`t know what time it was, despite his own decree. At 1506 checked all the usual frequencies via Cuba, 17750, 13750, 13680, 11875, 11670 and nothing there. However, an hour earlier I did hear presumed RHC mixing with WEWN on 11875, so A,P probably started at usual 1400 and was cancelled during the following hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. Best known as a war, Vietnam is in fact a country, home to 83 million people. Despite (or due to) communist control, Vietnam has one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and the U.S.A. is its main trading partner (not surprisingly, oil is a major export). A wide array of media is available, with the state exercising significant control through the Ministry of Culture and Information. The Voice of Vietnam operates many internal radio stations and VOV International. Voice of Vietnam International (VOV6): http://www.vov.org.vn/ or http://www.vovnews.vn/ The site loads in Vietnamese, so we’ll begin by clicking on English, located in the middle, just below the top graphic. The layout is typical, with a logo (and advertisement) at the top, links on the left side, news-type items in the middle, and links to VOV1/VOV2/VOV3/VOV6 on the right (all of which link to a page labeled VOV1 Online, with VOV6 nowhere in sight). Below these, still on the right, is News In Brief and an advertisement, with space reserved for several other ads. The VOV1 Online page allows you to listen to VOV1-2-3 live in Real Audio format. Back on the left side of the main page, there are links to Current Affairs, Politics, Economics, Society, Culture, Sports, Mailbag, and Commentary. These same categories are presented in the middle of the page, each with three stories; the first of each includes a picture and brief annotation. Each link leads to a page of the same name; the Sports page, for example, presents ten stories in detail. Below the links (left side) is a weather section, obscured on my browsers by a pull-down menu of external links. Further below are graphic links to feature items, such as Electricity Conservation and Short Story. At the top of the centre column there is a slim grey menu bar (where we found the English link earlier) with links to the Vietnamese version of the site, the VOV main site, the Homepage, and Media. This last item piqued my interest, as it opened a new page in grey with a simple “Loading…” note. Alas, even repeated attempts resulted in nothing loading. Perhaps it’s still under construction, or there’s a problem with the Javascript used to construct the page. Please check it out, and let me know if your results differ (Paul Guise, Click!, Dec ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** YEMEN. 9780, Yemen Radio Sanaa suffered bad modulation heavily, after 0600 UT Dec 6th. Modulation like oscillating dithers (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, wwdxc BC-DX Dec 7 via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. CHILE [sic]. CVC, 13590, 1940, English 444 Nov [sic; surely means Dec] 2. Continuous pop music. OM with an ID that sounded like CVC at 1950. ID at 2000 as CVC by a YL and OM. And then into "Your World" program (Stewart MacKenzie, CA, WDX6AA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Stewart, CVC does not broadcast in English from Chile. This is their new transmitter in Zambia, as mentioned in DXLD 7-146 and some other recent issues. Viz.: 9430 0500-0600 46SE LUS 100 315 English ZMB CVC CVI 13590 0600-1400 46SE LUS 100 315 English ZMB CVC CVI 13590 1400-2100 46SE LUS 100 315 English ZMB CVC CVI [OR?] 13650 1400-1700 46SE LUS 100 315 English ZMB CVC CVI (Bueschel-Germany, BCDX) (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Hi Glenn. Looks like you got me once AGAIN!!! I missed the Zambia via info which was listed above the frequencies and not next to them. I now have the Zambia block outlined. Many thanks for keeping your eye on me. Can not claim a Senior Moment this time around. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2008! (Stewart MacKenzie, WDX6AA, Huntington Beach, California, USA "World Friendship Through Shortwave Radio Where Culture and Language Come Alive", DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. For the record, the mystery 1181 kHz carrier is still there, and from the same direxion when checked at 0240 UT December 9 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The 1181 het [sic] was also in very well this morning at 1230 with no trace of Cuba on 530, but was totally gone at 1245 re-check (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, Dec 9, ABDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. INIDENTIFICADA, 5150, 0645-0658, 08-12, canciones en español, señal algo distorsionada, mejor en LSB. A las 0658 desapareció la señal. ¿Radio Amazonas? [Venezuela] 23222 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Am seeing a pattern in the rapid clicking which I suspect is Chinese OTH radar. Dec 8 at 1348 found it on roughly the same frequency range as last two days, 5195-5240, but also: 6695-6740 and 6895-6945. However at 1407 check the top one ranged from 6945 to 6990 instead. Did not hear it above 7000 as hams have complained (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5904.1 LSB ? Estação de números transmitindo em CW: ‘925 162 352 339 422....’ 53. 8 Dec (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo-SP, Brasil, dxclubepr yg via DXLD) Time? So they were in groups of 3 rather than 5 (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 13848 spreading at least 5 kHz up and down, a continuous noise but as if keyed irregularly, maybe 7 or 8 shorts, than 2 or 3 longs. Blocked DGS via WWCR 13845 which was weak anyway as usual here, at 1506 Dec 9, and same a few minutes later. Possibly jamming something on 13850? Ah yes, Israel`s Persian, its only remaining external service (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15150, Dec 9 at 1534 and earlier, M singing slowly in very minor key would be an understatement, Mideastern style, and also at 1606 recheck. Looking up later, I don`t find anything likely on the three major online listings, other than possible Indonesia, but doubt that from fair strength, and style (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 17515.0 AM, 5-digit Spanish mechanical YL spy numbers, good signal at 1622 Sat Dec 8, presumably out of Cuba (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5 number station in Spanish language, female voice, noted here in Europe around 1623-1630 UT on exact 17515.00 kHz. Today Sunday Dec 9th. S=6 signal on Etón E1, - seemingly from Latin America, compared to remaining stations on the band. Best were WHR and YFR at same time slot after local sunset. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 73, I'm amazed every time at the tremendous amount of work you put into every DXLD, (Martien Groot, Netherlands) SHORTWAVE MUSIC +++++++++++++++ FALLECE EL COMPOSITOR K. STOCKHAUSEN, CREADOR DE "KURZWELLEN" Falleció el 5 de noviembre pasado. Una de sus composiciones es "Kurzwellen" (1968) para seis interpretes con proceso electronico en tiempo real, que combina música electrónica con sonidos de la radio de onda corta. (Piano, Electronium, Tamtam y Micrófono, Viola con Micrófono, 2 Filtros con 4 Moduladores y altoparlante, 4 receptores de onda corta). (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) Viz.: BERLÍN (Reuters) - El compositor alemán Karlheinz Stockhausen, uno de los más influyentes del siglo XX y reconocido por su trabajo pionero en la música electrónica, ha muerto a los 79 años. Los medios alemanes citaron a la ex esposa de Stockhausen, Mary Bauermeister, diciendo que murió en su casa del estado occidental de Renania del Norte-Westfalia después de una breve enfermedad. Conocido sobre todo por sus experimentos con la música electrónica en los años 60 y 70, Stockhausen, que compuso más de 300 obras en solitario, tuvo también un gran impacto en la música clásica y de vanguardia. "Cualquier sonido puede convertirse en música si está relacionado con otros sonidos (...) Cualquier sonido es precioso y puede llegar a ser hermoso si lo pongo en el lugar adecuado, en el momento adecuado", dijo en una ocasión en una entrevista. Al principio de su carrera jugó con sonidos de la vida cotidiana, distorsionándolos electrónicamente y uniéndolos para formar una composición. Desde obras para intérpretes en solitario a eventos a mayor escala mezclando ópera, dance y mímica, Stockhausen dijo que intentaba despertar "una conciencia completamente nueva" en el oyente y el intérprete. Nacido el 22 de agosto de 1928 en Burg Modrath, un pueblo cercano a Colonia, el compositor aseguró que su experiencia en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, en la que fue camillero, le marcó profundamente. En su juventud probó con el jazz, tocando el piano para ganarse la vida en la Escuela de Música de Colonia, donde trabajó desde 1953, y llegó a ser director artístico. Encontró su propia forma de mezclar sonidos para formar una composición, desarrollando las ideas de una generación anterior de compositores europeos como Schönberg, que compuso en torno a una serie de sonidos, en lugar de desarrollar y repetir un tema. En sus primeros trabajos, Stockhausen exploró no la melodía, sino la calidad y la relación de un sonido con otro. "Gesang der Jünglinge" (1956), llevado a escena con cinco series de altavoces, ha sido descrito como "un ballet sónico", donde la posición de cada altavoz es crucial para las imágenes acústicas producidas. En una mezcla de solos y música para varios instrumentos y técnicas electrónicas unidas con mímica, su obra clave "Licht" fue estrenada en La Scala de Milán en 1981, marcando la ascendente posición de Stockhausen en los círculos convencionales de música clásica (via Horacio Nigro Montevideo, Uruguay, Dec 8, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) OBIT Gracias, Horacio, por la información. Encontré más sobre Stockhausen en la web: http://tinyurl.com/2so7db (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, condiglist yg via DXLD) Illustrated DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ TROPICAL ZONE USE -- THE LAST REGULATORY ELEMENT OF DRM USE IN THE HF BANDS This is the real regulatory triumph for us in the shortwave band use of DRM. At WRC-03, I was able, along with others, to get DRM accepted officially for use in the HF bands that are governed by Article 12. That is the regulation that specifies the use of HFCC-like coordination twice a year, etc. for the bands above 5900 kHz. It took a massive amount of modifications in various Articles, Appendices, Resolutions and Recommendations to get to that point, originally drafted by Ian Davey (UK) and me, with very little changes along the way. However, none of this addressed the domestic "tropical zone" use of DRM. (These are the broadcasting bands below 5900 kHz.) This time, in modifying Resolution 517, which in its latest form comes from WRC-03, we finally got to remove any mention of single-side band signals. This is something I could not get rid of at WRC-03. In the process, with the "stroke of the pen" we lowered the bands under consideration from 5900 kHz to 3200 kHz, thereby including the "tropical zone" bands. The suggested change sailed right through the Plenary session without any objection. This new aspect finishes the DRM official ITU recognition in the HF broadcasting bands. It has enormous marketing potential since more than half the people in the world live in the "tropical zone," which is roughly defined as between 30 degrees North and South latitudes. Countries like Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Congo, South Africa, Algeria, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina are simply a sample of what we're talking about. (A good NVIS capability for DRM is an essential element of this application.) (Summary of WRC-07 Results; Impact on the DRM System [excerpt] by Don Messer, DRM Consortium Representative at WRC- 07, Dec NASB Newsletter via DXLD) DRM: see also SWITZERLAND RADIO HAS PICTURE PERFECT FUTURE --- By Spencer Kelly, BBC Click Digital radio means more stations have the ability to broadcast extra information alongside the audio. But some experts are looking at providing some pretty controversial extra radio content - pictures. Radio 1 is among the stations experimenting with visual radio. It has been said that radio is superior to television because the pictures are better. Not everyone agrees. "Young audiences do expect different things from audiences that have grown up with that sharp divide between television and radio," explained Andy Parfitt, controller of BBC Radio 1. "If you get hold of any of these hi-tech converged devices they all have a small, very high quality, colour screen. That means that audiences come to expect to see as well as hear their favourite audio and radio brands to the extent that if you're using the device and there's nothing on the screen, it can feel and look like it's broken." The 'right' pictures --- As a station for the UK's fashion conscious, up-to-the-minute, MySpace-ing youth, Radio 1 is already trying to fulfil its audience's visual expectations by providing pictures for the digital TV screen, even filming the concerts they broadcast. A DJ at work. Not the most interesting visual experience. They and other broadcasters are trying find the right pictures to accompany the sound... http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7132171.stm More digital noise? Found this interesting piece on the BBC's news website this morning. Radio with pictures! Do we have this to look forward to? (via Mike in St Isidore, AB Stonebridge, IRCA via DXLD) Radio with pictures --- now if there were only some jazzy name we could use to define that. Will this change the cost of a UK "radio" license? Will this change the cost of automotive insurance when one has a receiver in the car? (Something with 'vision' in the name, maybe 'distant vision'? It's gotta be marketable, whatever it's called.) (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ SDR VS TRADITIONAL RADIOS [continued from 7-147] Hi Herman, I do agree that you cannot directly compare any two people's reception unless their operating conditions are similar, but I don't agree that one person's catches are of less value than another's. Actually, I don't understand how one can attach value to a DX logging except perhaps in relation to one's own experience. For example, I use SDRs, Martin Hall doesn't (yet). However, Martin gets vastly more and better DX than I do. Why? Because he is in a different location, has better antennas, less local interference, less noise and is a more experienced and dedicated DXer. I don't think his catches are of less value because he doesn't use an SDR and I don't think mine are of less value because I live somewhere very different. Competing with other people is not why I do this. I only compete with myself and try to hear things I haven't heard before. Other people, other places, other equipment will always result in other DX. I was very pleased recently to log 1630 KRND but only because it was a rare achievement for me, not because any one else has heard it or not heard it. I'm not sure why you say that using an SDR is a different method of reception. It uses the same antennas, operates (in most cases) on the same superhet principle, and plays sound through my headphones in the same way. Of course, some receivers are better than others, but a good conventional receiver is still better than a bad SDR. Spectrum recording is possibly a different issue, but I think only if you are trying to compete against other DXers. If we accept that it is all right to log from an unattended recording, and if we accept that one may have more than one receiver recording at a time, then it must be all right to use a spectrum recording. Obviously it does provide an advantage to some people but, as I say, that only matters if you feel that you are in competition with other DXers. I don't and I can't really understand why anyone would see it that way. However, I think Martin's point about always listing people's equipment and location is exactly right. It allows everyone to compare their achievements if they want to. I have always stated what receiver and antenna I use when submitting logs to MWN. As the technology develops, we will all start to use different equipment and techniques. I think that's a good thing but we will always be in a position where some DXers are more fortunate than others. Best regards, (Jack Weber, UK, Dec 5, MWC via DXLD) I'm another one likely to upgrade in 2008 - probably to a Perseus (based upon reports I've read so far). I try to think of a basic analogy. DXing with an AOR7030 is like fishing with a rod and line. I also use a second receiver so that really means I have two rods in the water (one excellent + one not so attractive to the fish). By comparison an SDR set up to capture 400 kHz of band continuously is best compared to a large drift net as sea catching everything. I know that drift nets are indiscriminate killers of sea mammals and turtles but at least DXers using SDRs won't kill off DX signals :-) Martin is quite right that the problem is the limited time one has to analyse captured signals. Maybe the next development is the DXer`s equivalent of Echelon which will scan the stored recording looking for keywords in the recorded speech and print out a transcript all ready to e-mail off for a QSL card! 73s (Steve Whitt, ibid.) Jack wrote: "Let's not forget that performance isn't everything. The fun of using a receiver is also valuable and some traditional radios provide more of that. That's why I still have my AR7030, and a bunch of older valve and solid state radios. They're fun to use, but if you really want to get the more difficult DX then my money is on the SDR way of doing it." This is absolutely right; I would never sell away my NRD545 or the old beasts RA17 and the SP600 even if I don`t use them as much as I once did. With the SDRs you will never get the same feeling as tuning an old Hammarlund or Racal even if you use the Griffin Powermate (Bernt- Ivan Holmberg, ibid.) Hi Mark, Absolutely. The same would apply, to a lesser degree, with multiple ordinary receivers. However, anyone organising a listening contest would certainly need to make clear rules on this. I'm not really into listening contests myself and don't know how you'd compare results from different locations anyway, but spectrum recording (not SDR because not all SDRs do spectrum recording) would definitely complicate it even further. Regards, (Jack Weber, ibid.) Hello Jack, It took some finding, but the Griffin Powermate can be used with Perseus. We recommend you use P E R S E U S with our external GTW-1 USB-Tuning-Wheel for maximum convenience and usability. Just wind through the bands as usual. The tuning-wheel can be programmed for up to six different functions under P E R S E U S (or Winradio and other applications) and complements a computer mouse just perfectly. Once you've used it, you won't want to be without it! http://www.ssb.de/amateur/englisch/perseus/perseus_e.shtml (Tracey Gardner, ibid.) Bother. I've no intention of buying an SDR - I can't justify it. I hardly have the time to do the things I have to do without spending decades listening to recordings of loads of other channels which (as has often been the case recently) have nothing on them. It's a bit like the very large collection of VCR tapes we have here! Once I've completed what I have to do, I get on to things I'd like to do... they hardly ever get started. I was rather hoping that there would be a glut of NRD-545s and Watkins-Johnson de-luxe rigs for sale at bargain prices because the bottom had dropped out of the second hand HF receiver market! I would willingly have snapped one or two up. Nope, I've been spending a little cash and a lot of effort on improving my aerial set up. All right, a lot of cash. Personally I think - I hope - this will provide me with a better return on investment! If I lived in Clashmore or in Scandinavia, I might look at things differently. Good luck to those who have the time and money to explore the possibilities, but I'm sticking to PSR - Plain Simple Radio. Feel free to call me a Luddite. 73 (Andrew Brade, UK, ibid.) SDRs - a final thought --- Looking back, it seems to me that there is some confusion between SDRs and spectrum recording. The two are not the same and not even necessarily connected. An SDR is just a type of radio receiver. It offers some potential benefits, but only in the same way that the introduction of crystal filters offered some potential benefit over tuned circuits. Whether that potential benefit will be realised depends on whether the radio designer did a good job and whether the specific signal that you are trying to catch at this moment actually requires that benefit. Spectrum recording is an entirely independent thing. You could do it with any radio that has an IF output, but it would be immensely expensive, complex and impractical to do it with analogue technology. It's very much easier with an SDR. However, some SDRs don't offer it at all, some only do it in a relatively narrow bandwidth - enough for one or two MW channels, and a few provide wider bandwidth recording. As the technology improves, even wider bandwidth recording will become possible and eventually someone will offer a radio that can record all of MW in one go. Of course, it might be a really crummy radio that no MW DXer will want to use. A very nice SDR for MW use is the G303PD. It doesn't provide any form of spectrum recording - it's just a radio. You tune it, twiddle the bandwidth, etc., and then listen. Maybe you'd prefer it to a conventional radio, maybe not, but it isn't going to let you suck up vast amounts of DX in some magical and suspect way. It's just a nice radio. There is no absolutely clear dividing line between SDRs and other radios, they all merge into each other. The AR7030 is entirely analogue in its signal path (but has digital control) while the NRD- 545 uses IF DSP and is much closer to an SDR. Many modern radios that look quite conventional from the outside operate internally very much like an SDR - the Icom IC-R9500 or Ten-Tec RX340, for example. Where true SDRs go further is that their software is less thoroughly locked in, thus allowing a wider range of adjustments, easy upgrades, modifications, bug-fixes and so on. Because of this required flexibility, their software needs to run on a general-purpose computer rather than a very specific custom-built system. The easiest way of achieving this is to make use of a conventional PC and so they're often thought of as inherently PC-based radios, but even that is arbitrary. At least one new SDR due out soon will have all the computing hardware built-in to the radio. It will be a one-box radio just like any other, albeit with a keyboard, mouse and screen attached, and running an operating system inside. I think there's a risk of viewing SDRs as a threat to DXing, but there's also a risk of building up one's expectations too high and then being disappointed by SDRs. The best ones are excellent and offer a step forward in DXing. Similarly, spectrum recording is a valuable new tool for DXers but it won't catch anything that your antenna can't deliver to it. Andrew makes an important point - putting money into antenna improvements is usually money well spent. Good DX (Jack Weber, ibid.) MUSEA +++++ MARCONI PRESENTATION http://www.rsgb.org/news/hl4.php A presentation entitled "Guglielmo Marconi" will take place at the Institute of Physics, 76 Portland Place, London, on Wednesday, 12 December at 6.30 pm. This will be a unique evening of theatre where Ralph Barrett, G2FQS, takes the part of Marconi. There will be a demonstration of a replica of the original transmitter and receiver of the 1896 patent. There is no charge for admission and refreshments are provided (RSGB via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ A NEW BEACON CHECKS MARCONI'S CLAIM A new beacon, GB3SSS, is operating on 3597 kHz from Poldhu in Cornwall during the winter months. The purpose is to investigate propagation between Poldhu and St John`s, Newfoundland, during a sunspot minimum. This will help determine how Marconi's signals were able to cross the Atlantic on that famous afternoon in 1901. The transmission format is the same as the 5 MHz beacons and last year's 1.96 MHz GB3SSS beacon. Transmissions last one minute and start at zero, 15, 30 and 45 minutes past the hour. A callsign is followed by two sets of 6dB power steps, then a PSK31 message starting at the 30 second boundary. Software used for the 5 MHz beacons can be used for decoding and this is available for download from http://www.rsgb-spectrumforum.org.uk Power is 15dBW to an 80m dipole. Reports should be sent to gb3sss @ yahoo.co.uk, and further details are on the Poldhu Amateur Radio Club web site at http://www.gb2gm.org (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) GEMINID METEOR SHOWER The Geminid meteor shower, described as the best meteor shower of 2007, peaks on 14 December. This is good news for meteor scatter operators on 50 and 144 MHz. It will also be possible to observe the meteors by eye. According to NASA astronomer Bill Cooke of the Marshall Space Flight Center: "Start watching on Thursday evening, 13 December, around 10 pm local time. At first you might not see very many meteors - but be patient. The show really heats up after midnight and by dawn on Friday, 14 December, there could be dozens of bright meteors per hour streaking across the sky." Details of how to use meteor trails to reflect radio signals can be found in the RSGB's Amateur Radio Operating Manual, available from the RSGB on-line shop Source: GB2RS News http://www.rsgb.org/news/ Courtesy of the RSGB via Southgate http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2007/geminid_meteor_shower.htm (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Such as DXing FM broadcast stations, not a major interest of the hams (gh, DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 'TIS THE SEASON, EVEN FOR THE GODLESS ~ MANY ATHEISTS AND OTHER NONBELIEVERS CELEBRATE WINTER SOLSTICE Just what is an Atheist to do during the "Christmas" time? Nonbelievers -- a segment of the American demographic landscape which comprises up to 13% of the population (that's nearly 30 million people!) -- face this dilemma during the so-called Christmas season... http://home.comcast.net/~lmunding/DEC0707.pdf (AA pr via DXLD) ###