DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-053, April 28, 2008
Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING
edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com
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** ALGERIA [non]. Re 8-052, Issoudun relays: 9425 / 9430 - YES,
seemingly some are wooden entries; 6-7 \\ 7295 and 11615 ??? Let's
wait and see (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, April 27, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
Re 8-052: Most probably additional Radio Algerienne programmes via
Issoudun from Apr 28``
I monitored 7295, 9425, 9430 and 11615 till 0700, 11615 13570 and
13830 from 0700 and 15230, 15360 from 0800 and heard only "dead air"
on the 28th April. So are these registrations "wooden", or will ISS
suddenly spring to life one day, I wonder (Noel R. Green (NW England),
April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Probably contract from May 1st onwards? Yes, looked from 0455-0810 UT
onwards, but all channels NEGATIVE. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, April
28, ibid.)
** ANTARCTICA. New [sic] 15476.00, 1902-1920 fade out, 22.04, R
Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Esperanza reactivated, only weak
carrier heard after Africa Numero 1 signed off at 1902*, no audio
audible that night! 15111 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario
Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD)
** ARGENTINA. Hola: Un fin de semana más aprovecho mis ratos de
escucha para sintonizar RN Argentina en 15345 y sus buenos programas a
estas horas 2000-2100 UT. También ante un día de mala propagación como
ya sabemos a través de Internet en
mms://rae.telecomdatacenter.com.ar/rae habiendo observado un retraso
en la señal de unos 25 segundos respecto a la radio (Tomás Méndez,
QTH: El Prat de Llobregat-Barcelona España, Coordenadas 41º 19' 26" N-
02º05'25" E; April 26, RX: GRUNDIG Satellit 700, SONY ICF-SW7600GR,
DEGEN DE1103, ICOM IC-R2. ANT: Hilo largo exterior 7 mts. y
telescópicas. Visite mi sitio Web en: http://www.amarantadx.net
playdxyg via DXLD)
** ARGENTINA. Here is yet another version of what RAE will be doing
from May 1, contradicting earlier reports that the 2-hour Japanese
broadcast in the morning and the 2-hour Portuguese broadcast in the
evening would exchange an hour so each would have one hour each in the
morning and evening! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ---
ARGENTINA: RAE, Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior, posee este
completo esquema de emisiones, a partir del 01-05-2008:
Lunes a Viernes:
HORA UTC IDIOMA KHZ
1100-1200 Portugués 11710
1200-1400 Español 11710
1800-1900 Inglés 9690, 15345
1900-2000 Italiano 9690, 15345
2000-2100 Francés 9690, 15345
2100-2200 Alemán 9690, 15345
2200-2400 Español 6060, 11710, 15345
0100-0200 Japonés 11710
0200-0300 Inglés 11710
0300-0400 Francés 11710
Sábados
HORA UTC IDIOMA KHZ
2000-2200 Español 11710
2000-0230 Español 6060, 15345
[and what of Domingos??? -- gh]
QTH: RAE, = Casilla de Correo 555, Correo Central, C1000WAF Buenos
Aires, Argentina E-mail: rae @ radionacional.gov.ar
E-mail para reportes: barrera @ arg.sicoar.com (Gabriel Iván Barrera,
Argentina, Conexión Digital April 27 via DXLD)
Caros amigos, A Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior-RAE, apresenta um
novo esquema de transmissões em português, válido á partir de maio de
2008. As transmissões, são na freqüência de 11710 kHz, no horário de
1100 às 1200 UT.
Lembramos também, que esta emissora transmite um excelente programa,
em espanhol, para radioescutas, que é o Atualidade DX, sob o comando
do Gabriel Ivan Barrera. O Atualidade DX vai ao ar nas Terças-Feiras,
às 2250 UT, nas seguintes freqüências: 6060, 9690, 11710 e 15345 kHz.
Um abraço a todos, Adalberto Azevedo, Barbacena-MG, dxclubepr yg via
DXLD)
A RAE é bastante interferida em 11710 kHz em 25m no horário das 12h às
13h UT por uma das transmissões da China, aquelas que tocam uma
musiquinha infernal. Já informei a RAE através de e-mail, mas me
parece que o pessoal técnico da RAE nada pode fazer, visto que a China
está com frequências espalhadas quase por todo o espectro de ondas
curtas, principalmente em 25m, com aquela musiquinha característica.
Acompanho há muito tempo o programa Actualidad DX às terças e
Suplemento às sextas entre as 12h30 e 13h. Informativo bem
interessante. Pena que seja interferida no horário. 73 (Luiz Chaine
Neto, Limeira -sp-, 27/4/2008, dxclubepr yg via DXLD)
** ARGENTINA. 1620 Argentinian unidentified --- I recorded this at
0202 UT today April 27 on 1620 kHz
http://paulc.mediumwaveradio.org/audio/1620unid.wav
Is anyone able to positively ID this station? I note that there appear
to be 3 Argentinian stations on 1620 - R Italia, R AM 1620, R Vida. I
think R Italia can be eliminated since it runs Italian language
programmes.
"1620" is mentioned but what is said just before and after. I'm
assuming that this is Radio AM 1620 but is there a positive ID?
Perhaps anyone who has heard it before can ID the musical notes at
just before the news begins (Paul Crankshaw, Troon, Scotland, RealDX
yg via DXLD)
Paul - I'm hearing "En AM mil seiscientos veinte, ? todas noticias". I
can't work out the missing word, not the words before "horas dos
minutos en la Argentina".
I've heard Vida and Italia before, but this doesn't sound like them to
me. By the way Italia does broadcast in Spanish, in fact in the few
times I've heard them, all have been in Spanish. They also frequently
give their ID as "1620 R. Italia". Vida tends to have health or
religious programming. 73 (Andrew Brade, UK, ibid.)
Thanks Andrew, You're right - it is "En AM" - I thought it was a
single word. That would seem to confirm that it is indeed R AM 1620.
I'm just missing the word after '1620'. Prior to the announcement
'Eleanor Rigby' was played and a few minutes later there was a
telephone chat with a (presumed) caller. It's the first Argentinian
I've heard on 1620, so I'm pleased with this one (Paul Crankshaw,
ibid.)
Surely is the new AM 1620 from Mar del Plata. Here is more info (in
Spanish)
http://noticiasderadiodelmundo.blogspot.com/2008/01/nueva-emisora-de-am-1620-comenz.html
In the audio clip I hear "En AM 16 20 estas son las noticias... 23
horas dos minutos en la Argentina" and the slogan of this new station
is La 16 (diez y seis) 20 (veinte). Surely is this station and not
Radio Italia. This station was heard also in Italy. 73s (Nicolás
Eramo, Argentina, ibid.)
Listening again - thanks to Nicolás and Henrik - my "mil seiscientos"
was wrong, it is "diez y seis". The Argentine habit of dropping the
last "s" of some words certainly makes it challenging for novice
Spanish students like me! It's an interesting recording and I shall be
on the look-out for this station! 73 (Andrew Brade, ibid.)
** BERMUDA. WQED HELPS CREATE BERMUDA PUBTV --- WQED in Pittsburgh is
helping Bermuda develop its first public television station, Community
Information TV, run by the Government of Bermuda.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-15-2008/0004793256&EDATE=
CITV, which first went on the air in October 2007, offers public
affairs, culture, history, science and health shows, produced with
assistance from WQED staff. Go to CITV's website here.
http://www.citv.gov.bm/index.html
posted at 8:37 AM EST (Current April 16 via DXLD)
Any chance it`s on low VHF giving us a new DX target? Apparently not:
even at ``about us`` there is no info on channel number! But finally
found at http://www.citv.gov.bm/citv-ourshows.htm ``Cablevision
channel 2, WOW channel 102`` and this page launches a live player.
Show schedule indicates on air daily 7 am to 3 pm [UT -3 DST], but
with repeats. Some kind of meeting was running, so it looks more like
a cable-access/local government channel we have in many US cities
(Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BOLIVIA. 5952.49, 0220-0230* 25.04, R Pio XII, Siglo XX. Spanish
preaching, ID, closing with complete ID and frequency announcement,
jingle 32333.
5952.49, 0210-0230* 24.04, R. Pio XII, Siglo XX. Quechoa talk, Spanish
ad, Andean flute and song, best in USB due to QRM 5950 23433.
6134.81, 0030-0045 25.04, R. Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Spanish, "La Bamba" song, ID 35343 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario
Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD)
6134.78, Radio Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, 27/4 0021 IDs and talks about
different countries, good (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL. Caros amigos, A Oldies Radio, é uma rádio livre, que
segundo os mantenedores, transmite com 50 watts (valvulado) de algum
ponto da região sudeste, na frequência de 7695 kHz. A programação
desta emissora é recheada de flash Back, com hit's dos anos 50, 60
e 70 entremeados por inserções de alguns áudios e comerciais antigos
do rádio e da TV. O público alvo deles são os Dexistas e amantes de
rádio. Informam também que estão preparando cartões QSL para em breve
enviarem aos que lhe enviarem relatórios de escutas. Estes relatórios
devem ser enviados para: cidadeoldies@... [truncated by yg]
Em função da baixa potência de transmissão, esta se torna uma boa
pedida em termos de pesquisa de DX. Por ter o TX localizado na região
sudeste, esta possibilidade de captação, se torna um pouco maior e
pelo tipo de programação divulgada, acredito que será uma excelente
possibilidade de uma boa e agradável escuta a todos que conseguirem a
sintonia. Um abraço a todos, (Adalberto Azevedo, Barbacena-MG, April
26, radioescutas yg via DXLD) 0300 UT Sat & Sun
** BRAZIL. 6089.94, Rádio Bandeirantes, 27/4 0007 UT ID by male, noisy
9504.97, Rádio Record, Sào Paulo, 26/4 2223 Sports, same frequency
Cuba (qrm)
9514.97, Rádio Novas de Paz, Curitiba, 26/4 2239 about la senior et la
luna [? Those are not Portuguese words --- gh]
9645.23, Rádio Bandeirantes, Sào Paulo, 26/4 2301 ID and sports, good
9675.020, Rádio Canção Nova, Cachoeira Paulista, 26/4 2315 about the
program and Brazil, good (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CANADA. 6030, Calgary - CFVP relaying CKMX (AM 1060), 0433-0504,
April 28, the usual clear Monday with both Martí and jamming off, C&W
and bluegrass songs, promo for listeners to play "radio chicken" and
win up to $20,000, ID "Classic Country AM1060. An Astral Media radio
station. Astral Media, entertaining the world", mostly fair (Ron
Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. ONTARIO DX ASSOCIATION TO CONTINUE AS QSL MANAGERS FOR CHWO
/ AM740
Hello all. On May 1st, 2008, new owners take over CHWO / AM740. I am
happy to confirm that they agreed to have the Ontario DX Association
continue as the 'QSL Manager' for the station.
We also plan to start designing a new QSL for first time reports that
arrive after July 1st, 2008. More on that later. For your information,
the music format will not be changing.
We will continue to QSL reports for CJYE 1250 and CJMR 1320.
All reports should go through the Ontario DX Association
http://www.odxa.on.ca/chwo.html or via am740 @ rogers.com.
Thank you to all for your support these many years with many more to
come (Brian Smith - am740 @ rogers.com AM 740 - http://www.am740.ca
Reception Reports (CHWO, CJYE, CJMR)
http://www.odxa.on.ca/chwo.html
Yahoo Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AM740/
MZMedia Inc. - http://www.mzmedia.com/
CHWO Streaming: http://www.am740.ca/main.htm
and click "Listen Live! Click Here", NRC-AM via DXLD)
** CHINA. Re 8-048: ``As far as I know, only three rotable antennas
have been spotted, two at Zhejiang and one at Qiqihar.``
Thales Multimedia&Broadcast had an article about the Kashi project in
their newsletter, and it featured also a photo of an ALLISS unit. Or
has this been revealed as kind of a "symbolic picture" meanwhile?
``Before the big expansion of the jamming networks, the Chinese used
some highpowered transmitters modulated with CNR-1 in narrow band FM
and sometimes with a low frequency growl added.``
Audio examples of this old technology used to be available at the IBB
monitoring website, but I see that http://monitor.ibb.gov/jamming/ has
been updated a few months ago now (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 27, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
As far as I know, only three rotable antennas have been spotted, two
at Zhejiang and one at Qiqihar. All others seen in GE images are fixed
curtains. I wonder if the "Xinjiang" site at 113 degs east in TDP is a
typo for Xingyang or is the Xinjiang-Kashi site with the Xingyang
coordiates incorrectly added? So far no HF antennas have been found by
Alan around Xingyang.
Before the big expansion of the jamming networks, the Chinese used
some highpowered transmitters modulated with CNR-1 in narrow band FM
and sometimes with a low frequency growl added. These were then
converted to normal AM. At times ordinary BC transmitters were taken
off their normal frequencies and used as jammers. This included to
some extent the Continental 100 kW transmitters (Olle Alm, Sweden,
ibid.)
** COSTA RICA. Sorry fellas. I forgot to report while listening the
Guápiles ELCOR transmitter testing last Friday 25, I found out a spur
on 5930. How can be produced and if it is of interest to some of you,
I don't know. Just a remark. BTW, didn't heard anything yesterday, and
when this happen on weekend, hardly there'll be any testings on
Sunday. 73. (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, April 27, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
Presumably at +2130-2156 or so. Just coincidental, I suppose, that at
other times REE Cariari uses 5930, as well as nearby 5965, 5970 (Glenn
Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** COSTA RICA. REE, Cariari, still off-frequency 11814, as reconfirmed
Sunday April 27 at 1401 just as they were opening ``the longest sports
show``, 7-hour Tablero Deportivo; signal only fair (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CROATIA. 9830, 1310-1356*, HRV, 27.04, Hrvatski R, Deanovec
Croatian talk, pop songs in Croatian, shifts to 6165 one hour later,
45444 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via
DXLD)
** CROATIA [non]. Hola: Escuchada ayer a las 2230 UT el programa
habitual de La Voz de Croacia en la frecuencia de 7285 desde
Wertachtal, al parecer activa desde el día 24 de abril hasta el 15 de
mayo cuando volverá a 9925,según esquema de la web de la emisora:
http://www.hrt.hr/hr/glashrvatske/gh_spa.php
(Tomás Méndez, El Prat de Llobregat-Barcelona España, playdx yg via
DXLD)
No, this page shows the 9925 transmissions in effect from 30 March to
26 October 2008, and 7285 in effect from 24 April to 15 May 2008, and
we have already confirmed both frequencies are currently in use (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC considers ``Aló Presidente`` from Venezuela an RHC
program, rather than a relay service, if there is any point in such a
distinxion, as Sunday April 27 at 1359, big signal on 13680 was
opening ``A,P`` announcing usual frequencies 13680, 13750, 11670,
11875, 17750, in that strange order, and immediately into Cuban, not
Venezuelan, national anthem. Nothing audible yet on 13750, as
frequencies habitually come up late when they get around to it, but it
was still missing several minutes later. At 1402 also heard on much
weaker 11670 mixing SAH with WYFR, // 13680 and also weak 11875, now
inexplicably giving a string of other regular RHC frequencies, the
morning ones, I think, even tho this was not // regular RHC stream on
11760. Transmitter switching and program feed lines get all confused
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. 17705, Radio Nacional Venezuela, Havana, Cuba, 2059 April 26.
Interesting in that the woman reading an SS numbers transmission came
up the second RNV dropped carrier. It lasted about 10 seconds and was
abruptly cut off. Good signal (Kevin Redding, Gilbert AZ, Sony ICF-
2010 and a Eton AN-03 antenna, ABDX via DXLD)
Good catch on the error! More likely the carrier did not drop between
RNV and numbers, but rather modulation source misfeed. Or were you
watching the meter, or hearing noise level rise in the meantime?
73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
Glenn, the meter did not move at all but you know how the 2010 is.
Its not real accurate as it has LEDs and no needle. The modulation
rose and the carrier did not change. The Cubans messed up and it was
kinda cool to catch them doing the numbers thing instantly after the
RNV end of program (Kevin Redding, ibid.)
** CUBA [non]. 6030, R. Martí (presumed), 0410-0417, April 27
(Sunday), no jamming heard, in Spanish with a comedy program, very
light QRM from assume Calgary (CFVP) playing C&W songs. This is the
second time recently that the jamming has been completely off, other
than the usual Monday (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [non]. BBG AWARDS NEW CONTRACT FOR AEROMARTÍ
The US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), International
Broadcasting Bureau (BBG/IBB), as a result of findings of a market
survey, intends to negotiate and award a non-competitive contract with
Phoenix Air Group, Inc (PAG) Cartersville, GA. The contract will
require PAG to provide air services for TV Martí’s airborne
broadcasting platform called AeroMartí that is located at the Naval
Air Station - Key West, Florida.
Under the BBG contract PAG shall provide and perform all tasks needed
for the directed television broadcast missions that utilizes two (2)
PAG-owned Grumman Gulfstream I turboprop aircraft. PAG has been
providing such services under an existing interagency contract. These
aircraft have US-Government television transmission systems installed
and operational onboard. This airborne broadcast platform is referred
to as AeroMartí.
PAG shall be responsible for conducting all directed AeroMartí
broadcast missions as well as perform all necessary aircraft
maintenance, and other related tasks. PAG was part of the AeroMartí
design and development team and has been providing air services for
AeroMartí under a Task Order to an Army contract since July 28, 2006.
(Source: FBO Daily)(April 28th, 2008 - 9:06 UTC by Andy, Media Network
blog via DXLD)
** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. DOMINIKANSKA REPUBLIKEN. R Villa/Cima 100 som
sänder/sände på 4960 heter R Global enligt deras hemsida (Dan Olsson,
Shortwave Bulletin April 27 via DXLD)
Radio Villa/Cima 100 who uses/used 4960 is named R Global according to
their website (Dan Olsson, SW Bulletin April 27, translated by editor
Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Unfortunately no website given by DO, but I found this one when
searching Google: http://www.cima100fm.com/otracima.html
Regards (Thomas Nilsson, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Axually says Radio Global Internacional, 4960; beware: page
autolaunches music in embedded WM player (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGESET)
** EGYPT. New 9300, 2120-2151* 26.04, R. Cairo, Abis ex 9280. French
talks, Arab songs, news 45333 Thanks for tips to Romero (Anker
Petersen, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD)
** ERITREA. 5100, V of Broad Masses of Eritrea, Asmara, 1746-1803*, 22
April, vernacular, talks, music; \\ to 7999.4; 12441, QRM de Ethiopian
jamming signal with normal programs.
7999.4, V. of Broad Masses of Eritrea, Asmara, 1756-1803*, 22 April,
vernacular, talks; parallel to 5100; 14341, sporadic utility QRM
(Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ERITREA. 5100.00, 0410-0420 27.04, R Bana, Asmara. Vernacular talk,
Horn of Africa music, faint signal with slight utility QRM 13111
7175.00, 0400-0410 [date?], Voice of the Broad Masses, Asmara. Arabic
news, music from Horn of Africa, QRM from co-channel R Liberty,
Lampertheim in Russian 33433. ERI on 7100 was not on the air (Anker
Petersen, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD)
** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA. 5100: see UNIDENTIFIED
** ETHIOPIA. 5950, 1758-1859* 21.04, Voice of Tigray Revolution,
Mekele. Tigrinyan announcement, Horn of Africa music, audible after
DRM broadcast closed at 1758* 35444.
5990.02, 0325-0335 27.04, R. Ethiopia, Geja Dera. Vernacular, Horn of
Africa songs 25333 heard // 7119.00 (35343). 9704.2 not faded in.
6110.00, 0335-0345 27.04, R. Fana, Addis Ababa Amharic announcement,
Horn of Africa songs 35333 heard // 7210.00 (13221). Nothing on 5970
or 5980 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via
DXLD)
5950, V. of Tigray Revolution, site?, 1800-1825, 22 April, Tigrinya
(tentative), music, news (tentative) 1801; 45433.
6030, R. Oromiya (confirmed by Mauno Ritola), Geja Dera, 1655-1700, 27
April, Horn of Africa style songs; 25432. Blocked by BBC in Arabic at
1700 but still audible underneath.
8000, Ethiopian jammer upon Eritrea (as per Mauno Ritola's info.),
Geja Dera site?, 1640-1703*, 23 April, vernacular, songs, talks; 35433
(Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GERMANY. 6140, *1200-1300* Sunday 20.04, European Music R, via
Wertachtal. English by Tom Taylor in 34th anniversary programme,
55544.
6140, 1250-1255* 27.04, R Gloria International, Dresden, via
Wertachtal. German/English, pop songs 45544. Stays on this frequency
all year! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via
DXLD)
6140, 1220 UT, Radio Gloria International, SIO 232, interferido pela
Rádio Record (SP) nos 6150 kHz, cujo TX está a 1,5 Km da minha casa.
Prog Pop, Mx Internacional, OM Talk + ID. 73, (Denis Zoqbi, April 27,
JRC NRD-91, Antena Vertical 5 metros, + Long Vire 85 metros com
acoplador Panasonic 9820, dxclubepr yg via DXLD)
** GREECE. XRISTOS ANESTI! We heard the church service at 5 p.m.
Saturday (our time) [2100 UT April 26] on Avlis 2 and 3 at SINPO 55555
on 7475 and 9420. On the ERT web site:
Greeks Celebrate Easter --- Greeks visited churches to celebrate the
celebration of the Christ. However, they will have to spit the lamb
today in poor weather conditions (John Babbis, MD, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** GUAM. Long path from GUM via S Pacific, Colombia, Bonaire, Azores
into Europe: KTWR English starts at 0800 til 0835 UT. S=4 (Wolfgang
Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA. Re gh`s logs: I was able to catch just a trace of the AIR
interval signal on 6165 just prior to 1230 here this morning. My local
sunrise is at 1042. April 28, 2008 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA,
dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Re some points from DXLD 8-052:
´´For the VoA/IBB/RFE and RL services we run from Woofferton, they
come from Washington (RFE/RL arrives by satellite in Washington after
being uplinked from Prague where the studios are situated) via
Intelsat 605 over the Atlantic.´´
--- Intelsat 605 has meanwhile been moved to an inclined orbit at
174 E (if not transferred into a graveyard orbit by now) and replaced
by Intelsat 907: http://www.lyngsat.com/intel907.html
http://www.tbs-satellite.com/tse/online/sat_intelsat_605.html
´´The Voice of Vietnam is received at Wofferton by satellite after
being uplinked from Israel. The link to Israel is in Thailand and then
they get it directly fron Hanoi. We send the audio directly to Skelton
by fibre for UK output and also to Moosbrunn, Austria and Sackville,
Canada for them to transmit on HF.´´
--- So it was not Bush House but instead Woofferton who forwarded the
wrong audio from this RRSat mux on Hotbird (TV audio of IBA Channel
33, no longer on air there) to Moosbrunn for weeks? (Kai Ludwig,
Germany, April 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. 13789.95, Kamalabad 0530-1430 April 28, Arabic (Wolfgang
Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ISRAEL. 15785.67, Galei Zahal poor at 0745 UT April 28 (Wolfgang
Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAMAICA. Re 8-052, 700, Nationwide Radio, Hague --- Is this named
for the Netherlands` Hague? Pronounced how? (gh)
I wonder myself. That's just what the WRTH-08 lists the site as, with
Trelawny in parentheses after. In fact, all MW sites have a completely
different name in parentheses after. What's with that? Either it is or
it isn't (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
I believe Jamaica has smaller political units, like districts,
parishes, counties or states, so perhaps those are involved in such
nomenclature, but what are they really called? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
Maybe so, no real hardcopy political maps of Jamaica on hand here
though I'm sure the I-net would confirm (Krueger, ibid.)
I am recalling an old NGS West Indies map from the 50s/60s which
showed the political divisions, but which very well may have changed
by now. Barbados and some other islands had them too (Glenn Hauser,
ibid.)
Parishes and counties of Jamaica:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parishes_of_Jamaica
(Terry Krueger, ibid.) including Trelawny
** KOREA NORTH. 13759.87, KRE at 0725 UT April 28, and co-channel TRT
13760.00, terrible heterodyne whistle tone, latter 7-8 Azeri.
15243.56, wandering down from 0735 til 0756 UT on 15243.46 kHz then.
Back to 15245.00 even, immediately within a second at 0757 UT
(Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6020, JAPAN. Shiokaze, 1400, 4/25/08, in
English. At the ToH, woman reading ID, frequency, addresses, web link
etc. in English over gentle piano music. Followed by, "Today's news
flash" with man reading news highlights most of which focused on North
Korea. Fair signal, easy listening (Phil Stremple, Folsom CA, AOR 7030
Plus, Alpha Delta DX-SWL, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 11690, *1500-1530*, CLANDESTINE, 26.04, Ibon-e
Baram, via Darwin. Korean talk 34343.
New 11775, *1430-1500, CLANDESTINE, 26.04, Furusato no Kaze, via
Darwin. Japanese talk, orchestral music and Japanese song, web
address, 35333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx
yg via DXLD)
** LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS. Re Thomson Misplaces Lakshadweep ---
Dear Glenn, I am at present in my native place near Kochi (very close
to Lakshadweep). I will return on 5th May to my normal place in
Hyderabad.
It was nice to know about new transmitter for Lakshadweep. I also read
about new transmitter for AIR Kavaratti in AIR sources. I shall try to
contact the station and get any latest info.
AIR Kavaratti is controlled from AIR Kozhikode and after lot of effort
I got a QSL verification from AIR Kozhikode some years back.Its copy
is available at: http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/qsls/kavaratti.jpg
(Mention of 1431 kHz and FM in that letter is about AIR Kozhikode
only)
Yes, as mentioned by you, Lakshadweep is located in South west coast
of India in Arabian Sea (Not in NE India). Yours sincerely, 73 (Jose
Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road,
Hyderabad 500082, India, Tel: 91-40-6516 7388 Telefax: 91-40-2331
0287, Cell: 94416 96043, http://www.niar.org April 28, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** LAOS. 6130, Lao National Radio, QSL: friendly email from Inpanh
Satchaphansy (Director Internet Radio Department, Head External
Relations, Lao National Radio [LNR]), thanking me for listening and
indicating they do not have any QSLs on hand now, but they will send
me one once they are made, in 27 days for an emailed report with
attached audio clip (239 KB, MP3). Also sent report via postal mail
with one dollar (Ron Howard, CA, April 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** LAOS [non]. 11785, Hmong Lao R. via WHRI, 1304-1359, April 27
(Sun.), assume in Hmong, news with some words in English (items about
UNICEF, HIV, American embassy, New York verdict, etc.), SE Asian music
and songs (both EZL and indigenous), good reception, parallel to Angel
1 audio streaming at WHRI website, which was about 5 seconds slower,
at end of program an ID for WHRI from Cypress Creek (Ron Howard, CA,
dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA
** LATVIA. 9290, *1259-1430, Sunday 20.04, European Music R, via
Ulbroka, English by Mike Taylor with mailbag, ID's in English and
French, noisy transmitter, 35232.
9290, *1000-1100* Sat 26.04, Latvia today, via Ulbroka English talks
about Latvian theatres and architectures, ID, 55555
9290, *1100-1140 Sat 26.04, R Casablanca, via Ulbroka. German ID, ann,
German pop songs 55555 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario Monferini,
playdx yg via DXLD)
Re: ``So do you think 9430 was a low-power pirate transmitter? Nothing
officially scheduled there. Glenn`` i.e. R. Casablanca // Latvia 9290
Glen[n], I believe this frequency was listed earlier for Latvia
(David Visser, Holland, April 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LITHUANIA. 9875, Radio Vilnius, 2354-2359*, April 25, just caught
the end of English broadcast with closing ID announcements. Weak.
Poor under Chinese music jammer (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** MEXICO. After listening to XEX 730 for a while, just as I tuned up
to 780 on the Panasonic RF-569D, which is against a wall so it nulls
east/west, heard an ID for ``Radio Nostalgia … en el centro de
Coahuila``. This is XEMF, Monclova, 5000/500 watts, during a momentary
fadeup as WBBM faded down, April 27 at 0518 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. I don't generally report unIDs unless there is something
significant about them. Between 1715 and 1735 CDT, a TV Azteca relayer
(with soccer) was in on channel 2 from a southerly direction. At
around 1717, a station carrying an Univision program ("U" logo lower
right) faded in for about a minute. A logo was supered upper right
with italic style letters "TVT" in a capsule. There is no channel 2 in
Tabasco, the program and logo do not match TVT, nor does the program
and logo match the state network in Tlaxcala (Danny Oglethorpe,
Shreveport, LA, April 26, WTFDA via DXLD)
** MOROCCO. 15335 Briech, - since about a week ago, like Apr 15th /
20th - I noticed only 15340 RTM relay via Nador outlet, but NOT Briech
15335 anymore. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, April 27, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** MYANMAR. Dear Glenn, Lately I am hearing Myanmar on 5915 from
around 2300 to past 1500, often parallel to 5985. On the first day,
about one week back, for some time I got them on 5815 also. 2300-0000
China & 0040-0200 Vatican co channel. Looks like new channel. Please
publish this info if it`s new one and not reported (Sorry, I don`t
have WRTH & Passport to WBR with me right now to check it up.) (Jose
Jacob, Camp: Near Kochi, Kerala, S.India, April 28, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Re SWEDEN [and non] below ---
Glenn, The fact that our international Dutch service doesn't play a
lot of music has nothing to do with any "absurd notion" about one of
the delivery platforms. The fact is, our mandate is to provide
information, not entertainment. We do carry a substantial amount of
music on our European service in Dutch (e.g. in our two-hour programme
for Dutch truckers) but the international (i.e. non-European) Dutch
service has limited airtime on shortwave. We carry the same
programming on shortwave, satellite and the Internet.
You can argue that there should be more music in our programmes, but
that has nothing whatsoever to do with the delivery platform. In the
ten years I have been at RNW, I have never heard anyone say that we
couldn't broadcast something because it was on shortwave. I would be
interested to know who told you different (Andy Sennitt, Radio
Netherlands Worldwide, dxldyg via DX LISTNENING DIGEST)
No one told me that explicitly, just an observation on my part. And I
have previously noted that the timing of real music programmes on the
24-hour RNW Dutch program schedule exactly corresponded to the hours
when it was not on SW. That can hardly be accidental. There is perhaps
a bigger issue here of the real value of ``entertainment`` e.g. great
classical music, versus ``information`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING
DIGEST) And look at this:
** NETHERLANDS. Radio Netherlands Programme Previews ---
My new antenna is up and working rather well. Radio Netherlands' (our
local) afternoon frequencies are not propagating to Eastern North
America any better. Since this is my prime time for listening to the
Netherlands and Germany, there is no point in reading a roundup of
upcoming programming if I cannot hear it.
As a result, I have cancelled my weekly subscription and the weekly
programme preview will no longer be posted. Should Radio Netherlands
adopt more suitable frequencies for this time period in the future, I
will revisit whether to reinstate the weekly postings (Mark Coady,
Editor, Your Reports/Listening In Magazine, Co-Moderator, ODXA
Yahoogroup, Ontario DX Association via DXLD)
Backfire decision as far as you are concerned, as RNW assumed that
they had more audience in the evenings than mornings or afternoons, so
cancelled the latter to NAm --- if you hear them at all in morning,
it`s to Asia, and in afternoon to Africa. I wonder how many other
stations incorrectly assume that they should broadcast in target area
``prime time`` if at all? For me, that`s worst for shortwave
listening, with too much competition from TV, live events, many other
broadcasts on air or online. But then, I don`t have a 9-to-5 job,
instead a 0-to-24 job so I can easily listen in the daytime. Best
times for propagation is an entirely different matter, also depending
on whether relays be used (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Well, we got several hundred responses from North America last year
when we asked people to tell us when they listened to us. I was one of
the people who read and analysed these responses, and over 90% said
they NEVER listened to the morning broadcast, and only a handful said
they ever listened to the afternoon transmissions at weekends, and of
those most said they only listened occasionally. But the majority said
they did listen to the evening transmissions. When I mentioned in the
Media Network Newsletter that we were cutting these broadcasts, I had
ONE message of regret. Since the start of the A08 season I have not
seen any complaints.
At RNW we do not make policy decisions based on "absurd notions" or
"assumptions". We base them on continuous analysis of listener
response, supplemented where necessary by additional research. I am
not claiming that we never make the wrong decisions, but I can assure
you that any decisions we do make are based on hard facts, not
assumptions (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, dxldyg via DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
This is meant as a general comment and is not aimed at any
individual; but is engendered by the topic raised.
Quite frankly, if you live in NA and can communicate the way we are
here, then you can get all the RNW (and DW and most any other
station) you want in any language you want by using your computer or
by purchasing an internet (wifi) radio. Before anybody gets their
shorts in a twist, I know well that this is not a perfect alternative
and I am just as disappointed as anyone can be that the trends are
away from shortwave as a preferred platform for stations to access a
NA audience. But at some point it has to occur to even the most
stubborn listener that a refusal to change with the times and start
to embrace other ways of doing things becomes frustrating and
ultimately self-defeating (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.)
Whew, you certainly are not aiming at me, since I am listening to
webcasts, including lots of music, virtually 100% of the time I am on
the computer, and as might guess, that is far too much time. But when
I do listen to SW, the lack of music on some but not all stations is
striking; I advocate for shortwave being a well-rounded medium, and
for those who listen to it, or might listen to it, rather than online
sources (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Meanwhile, over at ODXA, the thread was wending this way:
Thanks for your comments, Glenn. In my case there are two reasons for
preferring the early evening (UT)/local afternoon broadcasts. During
the week I am up between 3:30 and 3:45 AM for the morning commute to
Toronto (123 km one way) so I am obviously turning in early when I
have to be up so early. Also, as most of you are aware, astronomy is
another major hobby of mine and, when it is dark, as long as it is
clear outside, I like to be out with my telescopes and binoculars
stargazing.
It is interesting to note that, despite having subscribed to the
programme preview for a few years, I was never contacted by Radio
Netherlands regarding my listening habits. Here, they had a willing
participant that they could tap in to for research. It would be
interesting to find out who they did contact for their research unless
they either did no research or went to a polling service who had
no idea what shortwave radio was all about.
Maybe it's my fault for not contacting Radio Netherlands directly,
when they had the extra weekend transmissions in effect and thank them
for providing them. Andy Sennitt's comments would be greatly
appreciated on this (Mark Coady, Editor, Your Reports/Listening In
Magazine; Co-Moderator, ODXA Yahoogroup, Ontario DX Association
President, Stars Up, Lights Down, Peterborough; Director, Publicity
and Light Pollution Abatement, Peterborough Astronomical Association
Member, RASC Belleville Centre
Member, International Dark Sky Association
Member, Planetary Society
http://geocities.com/luckywimpy
"Stars Up! Lights Down! Support light pollution abatement in your
community!", ODXA via DXLD)
If anyone wants to subscribe to the RNW listings on their own, visit
http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/listeningguide/weekly_newsletter
Andy Sennitt and RNW have regularly sought input from NA listeners --
over the past few months, a request for input from North America has
appeared on the frequency listings, looking for guidance on the
morning listings as well as the weekend afternoon listings. Longtime
NASWA member Joe Buch used the term "Schedule Gods" to describe the
unfortunate fact that radio stations' schedules, listeners' schedules,
and SW propagation were sometimes mutually incompatible.
This is why, to me anyway, streaming on-demand webcasts and
downloadable audio have become part of my listening routine. That way,
the station's on-air schedule just doesn't matter. Yes, I know it
isn't the same as it used to be on Thursday evenings when I would
arrange my schedule to be home for "Media Network", but even then I
would set up a voice-activated cassette recorder and an audio patch
cord and user the timer feature of my Sony 2010 to snag RNW when it
was on in the evening (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.)
Thanks, Andy, for your input [as above]. Despite not being a squeaky
wheel, I think it would still behoove any organization that has people
subscribing to their programme schedule updates to actively seek out
their opinion, in addition to any general request for input. I regret
not having been that squeaky wheel (Mark Coady, ibid.)
Mark: I understand the frustration on your part, but RNW did spend the
better part of the last year asking for input from listeners in NA.
We should also remember that when the BBC flat out abandoned its
shortwave listeners in NAm, RNW stepped up with new broadcast times
and a real effort to fill that hole. I have to think that RNW's moves
this spring had everything to do with those listener responses and the
continuing budget crises we know most international broadcasters,
including RNW, are experiencing. As you may know by now, those weekend
afternoon frequencies for NAm no longer exist. Are you having problems
with the evening frequencies to NA? (John (Figliozzi), ibid.)
Hi John: Most evenings (weeknights) I am already in bed when the
evening frequencies kick in as I have an early morning wake up.
Anyways, enough said on this thread (Mark Coady, ibid.)
** NEW ZEALAND. 15720, RNZI, 0420-0440, April 27, BBC documentary
about women from the Middle East in London, good (Ron Howard, CA,
dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NEW ZEALAND [non?]. DRM 7145 not NZ? Hi Craig, Have been hearing
some DRM on 7145 during the period RNZI says it is not running DRM,
1200-1550 UT. I heard DRM there recently after 1300. Someone heard DRM
at 1400, and now Adrian Sainsbury says it is definitely not RNZI.
Could you check? (Assuming something like this happens again tonight).
Tnx, (Glenn, April 23 to Craig Seager, NSW, via DXLD)
Hi Glenn, Been away for a week (on DxPedition, actually), so only just
picked up your e-mail. Whatever RNZI has been doing, is not on 7145
now at 1300, or 1400.
I didn't note it down, but reckon I probably heard it on 22/4 at 1300.
I was tracking Laos, which I heard at 1230 that day - remember re-
checking for the listed French and English & finding that the
frequency was comprehensively blocked and thinking that I had no
chance of resolving anything underneath. It's completely vacant today
at 1300/1330, so adds up.
I'll keep a check on it. As you have observed regularly in DXLD,
RNZI's scheduling is somewhat changeable. It's so close to being a
local here that we generally don't get too excited about its comings
and goings, unless a completely new channel pops up. Rgds, (Craig
Seager, NSW, April 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. Altho KOKB 1580 Blackwell was absent Saturday afternoon
and evening, it was back on Sunday morning April 27 at 1404 and 1505
UT chex (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Looking at the Aoki A08 just recently I noted
that they still have PNG's Radio North Solomons 3325 kHz listed and
from Keita!
Aoki needs to be informed that the station last heard on 3325 was
last named Radio Bougainville. It hasn't been called Radio North
Solomons for so many years and as for Keita, well there's been no NBC
radio operations from Bougainville island (where Keita is located) for
near on 20 years.
Radio Bougainville operates/ed from Buka island nearby. This is old
news for the DX community, but Aoki still contains this ancient entry.
As for other PNG SW stations, that's been covered here previously.
Can someone ask Aoki to correct this entry, in an otherwise very good
SW schedule/database. Regards (Ian Baxter, Australia, April 28, dxldyg
via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Is that Kieta? WRTH 2008 calls 3325 Radio Buka (gh, DXLD)
** PERU. 4991.02, 0200-0202* 24.04, R. Manantial, Chilca (tentative),
Spanish closing and carrier off, 15221.
6173.83, 0055-0240 24.04, R. Tawantinsuyo, Cusco. Spanish
announcement, Andean songs, ID, some adjacent QRM from *0100, 24232
(Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD)
6173.83, Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cusco, 27/4 0031, Nice music and info,
fair. RX: Perseus; Different antennas (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PERU. Re 8-051, 6724: Hi Raúl, I haven´t seen reports of Radio
Satélite for a long time. I know from the station owner Sabino Chávez
that Santa Cruz was connected to the national telephone grid during
the late 90s and I suppose that must have turned business into a
very risky proposition for a station depending on personal messages as
much as Radio Satélite.
There are, however, other Peruvians that seem to be doing well. Some
of the stations that used to be audible in the 5010-5040 area are now
streaming online. Radio Altura, Radio Juliaca, Radio Horizonte and
Radio Libertad de Junín all mention their shortwave frequencies on
their web pages. While Radio Libertad was dedicating music to a
Peruvian family in the state of Colorado, Radio Altura was promoting
the huayño pop star Dina Páucar, "la diosa hermosa del amor", who will
appear in Cerro de Pasco on April 30.
Thousands of the town´s miners are expected to show up. And Dina
Páucar seems like doing a really good job together with Los
Superelegantes del Perú. Performing at an altitude of more than 4,000
meters above sea level might however turn out to be a difficult task
(Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, dxldyg via DXLD)
** PRIDNESTROVYE. I tried 6040 last night, Sunday 27 April, just out
of curiosity, to see if Radio PMR was there and not expecting to
actually hear anything. At 2227 I heard the end of the English
broadcast and when I tuned in again at 2258, I heard the end of the
German broadcast and all of the English broadcast. At 2313 there was
an announcement of times and frequencies.
This was, Monday to Friday at 3pm gmt, 3.45pm gmt, 4.30pm gmt and
5.15pm gmt on 12135 and at 11.15pm gmt and 12pm gmt on 6040. The times
that were mentioned are not gmt but are UK local time, with
12pm gmt obviously a mistake for 12am. I fell asleep some minutes
after the start of the French broadcast at 2315. This requires further
monitoring to discover the full schedule. Regards (Harry Brooks, North
East England, UK, April 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
So converted to 24h UT, those English times would be, M-F: 1400, 1445,
1530, 1615 on 12135; 2215, 2300 on 6040. I believe that matches
previous observations, tho the 6040 times have varied (gh, DXLD)
** RUSSIA. Re 8-052, Razdolnoye and Tavrichanka sites: See under Korea
North in DXLD 8-029. Razdolnoye = Ussuriysk, but Tavrichanka is
another site, and on HFCC files both get thrown into one "VLD" basket
(Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. WORLD SERVICE IN ENGLISH IS CELEBRATING A JUBILEE
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&rt=196&p=
This year marks 30 years since the launching of the Voice of Russia
World Service in English, formerly Radio Moscow World Service. On
October 3, 1978 Radio Moscow went on the air with round-the-clock
broadcasts in English beamed throughout the world.
In the run-up to the anniversary we invite you to share with us your
most vivid memories and impressions, reminiscences of your first
encounter with the World Service broadcasts on the airwaves, your
impressions of our programs, both of the past and the present day,
recollections about our broadcasters, staff writers, announcers –
anything you would like to share with us and other listeners of the
World Service in English.
Your letters may be sent to us by the regular mail, by e-mail or voice
e-mail. You may record them on a CD or audio cassette. Anything you
wish to contribute is welcome. Your most interesting entries will be
included in our programs and posted on the web site, and your voice
letters – played in our programs on the air.
Write to us at: the Voice of Russia World Service, Moscow, Russia, or
e-mail to us at: world @ ruvr.ru (via Media Network blog via DXLD)
** SAINT HELENA. Robert Kipp, the DXer that helped get Radio St.
Helena back on shortwave, mentioned that 2007 Radio St. Helena Day
QSLs are on the way to 110 DXers around the world (26 are going to
Japan) in this first batch. ?More [sic] will follow soon.
The list of 17 names of OM's that still need their RSD 2006 QSL has
been sent to Radio St. Helena. They will check their files. I assume
that RSH will contact the OM's by email regarding the missing
reception reports.
The RSH 40th anniversary souvenirs are now "sold out". ?Not one person
from USA ordered any. Rather disappointing (once again). That's it
from Wyomissing! 73, (Rich D`Angelo, PA, April 27, NASWA yg via DXLD)
I received today a QSL for from R. St. Helena for their Dec. 2007
broadcast. It arrived in 124 days and was stamped as dispatched from
St. Helena on Apr. 9, 2008. The card is a 40th anniversary card with a
map of the island and the coat of arms for St. Helena along with
photos of the broadcasters. Five dollars was sent for return postage.
This is my first QSL from them. Every other time they were
broadcasting I wasn't able to pick them up or had something else
happen to interfere with listening thus I am quite pleased with this
(Steve Wood, So. Yarmouth, Sunday April 27, NASWA yg via DXLD)
** SAUDI ARABIA. 17729.97, odd BSKSA Arabic at 0747 UT, \\ 17740.00
even (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOUTH AFRICA. Since we know that Channel Africa has moved from 6105
to 6135 a week or two ago for English at 0300, I went to their website
to get the latest schedule, and guess what, it still shows 6105! Let`s
hope that is the only change so far:
Shortwave Frequency Schedule
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BROADCAST FREQUENCIES 30 MARCH 2008 TO 25 OCTOBER 2008
TIME UTC kHz MB STUDIO CHANNEL TARGET AREA LANGUAGE
MORNING PROGRAMMES
0300-0355 6120 49 2 East & Central Africa Swahili
0300-0355 6105 49 1 East & Central Africa English [really 6135!]
0300-0459 3345 90 1 Southern Africa English
0400-0455 7390 41 2 Central Africa French
0500-0555 9735 31 1 West Africa English
0500-0659 7230 41 1 Southern Africa English
0600-0655 15255 19 1 Far West Africa English
0800-1200 9625 31 1 Southern Africa English
1200-1300 9625 31 1 Southern Africa Chinyanja
DAY TIME PROGRAMMES
1300-1400 9625 31 1 Southern Africa Silozi
1400-1559 9625 31 1 Southern Africa English
1500-1555 15360 19 2 East & Central Africa Swahili
1500-1555 15215 19 1 East & Central Africa English
EVENING PROGRAMMES
1600-1655 15235 19 2 West Africa French
1700-1755 15235 19 1 West Africa English
1900-2000 3345 90 1 Southern Africa Portuguese
2000-2200 3345 90 1 Southern Africa English
(from
http://www.channelafrica.org/portal/site/channelafrica/menuitem.55105713e14905292aca35505401aeb9/
tidied up and corrected by Glenn Hauser for DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. Tenho ouvido com certa regularidade a emissão para o Brasil,
feita pela Radio Exterior de Espanha na freqüência de 17595 kHz.
A programação de 55 minutos feitas ás segundas e sextas feiras, às
1800 e às 2100 UT, que antigamente era apenas um curso de espanhol,
hoje apresenta também um boletim informativo, entrevistas e até
algumas reportagens. A coordenação e apresentação é de Victor Garcia
Guerrero e Estela Viana.
Na parte final da emissão, continua como escopo principal o curso de
espanhol (Que é produzido pelo Instituto Cervantes do Rio de Janeiro),
mas a transmissão para o Brasil, hoje, é bem mais rica e agradável de
ser sintonizada. Eu recomendo! Um abraço a todos, (Adalberto Azevedo,
Barbacena-MG, April 25, radioescutas yg via DXLD)
And how long until Portuguese officially appear on REE sked? (gh)
** SPAIN [non]. REE, Lenguas Co-Oficiales, continues to be hurting,
Monday April 28 at 1253 check the 5-minute Basque segment was again in
Castilian, but news and weather about Basque country; 1255 REE promos
e.g. for http://www.cervantes.es and then rock song in Spanish, not
Catalan; via Costa Rica 15170 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SRI LANKA [non]. New 7205, *0000-0010, CLANDESTINE, 27.04, IBC
Tamil R, via Wertachtal, Germany. Tamil, TS, ID: "IBC Tamil ..", Tamil
folkmusic, ex 7320, 45444 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario
Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD)
** SUDAN [non]. via Sines, Portugal, 17690, Sudan Radio Service,
*1500-1600*, April 26, opening English ID announcements and "Let`s
Talk" program with discussion about local census. Short breaks of
African music. African music at 1525-1530. Arabic programming at
1530. Sign off with multi-lingual IDs at 1559. Poor to fair (Brian
Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SUDAN [non]. 15325, alternating 2-pitch tune-up tones every 6
seconds, so obviously via SENTECH Meyerton something was coming,
Monday April 28 at 1258; already at 1259 YL slowly and clearly opening
Southern Sudan Interactive Radio Instruction in English, then lessons.
Per EiBi this is M/W/F only at 1300-1330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** SURINAM. 4990, R. Apintie, 4/25, 0602-0645, light pops, mostly
vocals, occasional announcements in Dutch by man, with ID at 0645.
Fair but deep fades and static levels high (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI,
NASWA yg via DXLD)
** SWEDEN [and non]. R. Sweden via Canada, 15240, Swedish talk at 1313
April 27. This is a station which must have made a conscious decision
to do away with music on its SW broadcasts, as it`s always yak-yak-yak
when I tune across, except for musical bits as production or theme
music, or fill at the end of the semihour, just like in English. No
programs about music, actually playing music for its own sake, least
of all classical or folk. Another is the Dutch service of Radio
Nederland. Big strong SW signals like this are perfectly capable of
conveying music of acceptable quality, yet the audience is deprived of
it because of the absurd notion that SW is not a suitable medium for
music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Just checked the program content for today. News and monthly magazine
for the merchant marine. (The magazine is not my stuff, but obviously
needed). When abroad I would hate to hear music on the Swedish service
which usually crams more into 30 minutes than the home service would
ever be in a position to do. Which is fine for travellers. Today´s
compère, Göran Löwing, is one of the real anchormen on the Swedish
program. He has been there for ages, and he is doing an excellent job.
On their home page, which I haven´t checked for a very long time, I
notice that Radio Sweden will celebrate their 70th anniversary later
this year (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
There you go; music is the most expendable when time is short. Like
the arts in general are expendable in American schools where funds are
short (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) but see also NETHERLANDS
RADIO SWEDEN TURNS 70 THIS YEAR
This year, the external service of Swedish Radio (Sveriges Radio)
turns 70. On July 1, 1938 the first ever broadcast from Stockholm
directed abroad was in Swedish. A year later, programmes in English
and German went on air. Today Swedish Radio broadcasts in 13 different
languages.
Ahead of an anniversary programme in September, the Radio Sweden
website will publish a special archive including the most interesting
reports of the previous seven decades and an online competition.
More information will be published on this page.
http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/International/nyhetssidor/artikel.asp?nyheter=1&ProgramID=2054&Artikel=2029354
(April 28th, 2008 - 13:30 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD)
** TAIWAN. 9745, Voice of Han, 1420-1450, April 28, in Chinese, mostly
long conversations talking about Taiwan, some EZL music, parallel with
online audio, which was about 15 seconds slower.
Audio http://www.voh.com.tw/?page=003 They have corrected website, SW
audio now via blue satellite dish block, labeled in Chinese for SW
(4th one down). Have observed that the most of their programming
consists of long conversations. Reception fair-poor, with QRM splatter
from strong 9740 (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TAIWAN. Radio Taiwán Internacional está enviando a sus oyentes por
correo postal una encuesta de opinión bastante extensa y completa
sobre el grado de conocimiento de la radio, por ejemplo: ¿Cuáles son
los motivos por los que escucha nuestra emisora?, ¿Cómo calificaría el
contenido y objetividad de las noticias de Radio Taiwán? ¿Con qué
frecuencia escucha nuestra radio?, etc. Se solicita el envío de las
respuestas antes del 15 de junio y "gratificarán" con un recuerdo de
la emisora. De todos modos voy a intentar contactar para preguntar si
este mismo formulario está en alguna parte de su web (yo no lo he
encontrado) y contestarlo desde allí, sinceramente hacerlo solo por
correo postal me parece un atraso en estos tiempos (Tomás Méndez,
España, playdxyg via DXLD)
Hi All. Thnx to Glenn H., et al., for the heads up that interested
parties need to write R.T.I. re: the possible closure of English
relays to N. America. I mailed Paula Chao over the weekend and said in
part:
"I enjoy listening to the short waves when I am working, on a camping
trip, or just sitting outside. The work I do is largely out of doors,
where internet access just is not available. It is easy (and CHEAP!)
to access shortwave with a modest portable receiver and your WYFR
relay signals sound as good as a local mediumwaver here".
Hate to see yet one more go. I like to listen when away from the
house, but there's less and less to hear easily on a portable outside
the religious broadcasters it seems. I used to have a sort of
"schedule" that got me thru the afternoons, that included Canada,
Japan, Belgium, China, Spain and Netherlands. R. Netherlands used to
have a 13m broadcast that came in daily as good as a local MW, around
1 PM local here (Rick Barton, AZ, April 27, ABDX via DXLD)
** TURKEY. El video de Youtube con el concurso de La Voz de Turquía ha
tenido un éxito sorprendente para mí; en seis días ha sido visto casi
100 veces http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpd20KwVF1Q caramba, quizás
ha sido una buena idea; además haciendo una búsqueda en Google acerca
del concurso aparece en primer lugar del listado. Cordialmente, (Tomás
Méndez, España, playdxyg via DXLD)
The more publicity the contest gets, the less chance anyone has of
winning, to state the obvious? Altho it has been mentioned in DXLD, it
would be best if people heard about it by axually listening to VOT
themselves, so possible winners would at least have demonstrated a
real interest in Turkey and the station, rather than by surfing
YouTube, not even knowing what SW is (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** TURKEY. 11729.96, TRT Azeri 7-8 UT via Çakirlar. 15390.04, TRT
Turkish at 9-13 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
See also KOREA NORTH
** U K [non]. BBC Mundo Radio, via WHRI 9410, Monday April 28 at 1234
with ``Los Clásicos`` fill music, would it be another repeat? No,
something different this time, but as always, unannounced.
Gershwinesque piano and orchestra music, could have been a suite from
a film score, until 1248 when seguéd to another unannounced piece.
Ended at 1300 but this time open carrier until 1301* (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. PRESS CONFERENCE USA DISCUSSES THE FUTURE OF US
INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING
Morand Fachot writes: Just listened to VOA’s Press Conference USA on
the future of US international broadcasting with Alan Heil and Barry
Zorthian; very interesting. The programme is available for download in
various formats, and well worth listening to: MP3 WMA RealAudio
http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/press-conference-usa-discusses-the-future-of-us-international-broadcasting
(April 27th, 2008 - 11:35 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD)
** U S A. BBG STILL LOOKING TO MAKE CUTS --- Dateline: WASHINGTON,
04/24/08. The BBG is still looking to make the same cuts they proposed
to make in their FY 2008 budget request. Even though Congress made
clear that it did not agree with the cuts, the BBG is attempting
through the FY 2008 Program Plan to implement the very same cuts. AFGE
Local 1812 got a peek at the Program Plan (the very same Program Plan
the BBG's General Counsel's Office has failed to provide in response
to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Union.)
In the Program Plan, the BBG is requesting the elimination of the VOA
Cantonese, Croatian, Georgian, Greek, Thai, and Uzbek Services. The
BBG also seeks the elimination of the radio broadcasts in the VOA
Albanian, Bosnian, Hindi, Macedonian, Serbian, Tibetan, and Ukrainian
Services. The BBG also requested reductions of the VOA Portuguese to
Africa broadcasts. In an apparent attempt to disguise their desire to
eliminate the VOA News Now global English radio broadcasts, the BBG
has asked for permission to reorganize the English Services.
The BBG is requesting permission to make these cuts by September 30,
2008 and desires that the targeted employees be off the rolls during
the first quarter of FY 2009. Part of the Program Plan makes clear the
BBG's antipathy to shortwave radio broadcasts:
"Expansion of the BBG Internet capability will continue the
technological evolution of program delivery from shortwave to
Internet".
As if it is a question of either/or. The BBG fails to address the
problem of television broadcasting and reliance on affiliates. The
BBG's largest television project has proven to be non-competitive. Al-
Hurra in the latest Annual Arab Public Opinion Poll conducted by
professor Shibley Telhami of the University of Maryland shows Al-Hurra
garners only an aggregate 2% audience in the Middle East. Also, the
BBG is paying affiliates to air the BBG produced television programs
instead of the other way around and in some cases such as Russia,
Indonesia, and Pakistan the affiliates have been or are currently
prevented from airing the material.
The program Plan is replete with other important omissions. The BBG
states that shortwave listenership is down but fails to mention that
it cut broadcasts and frequencies and that almost every sector of
media is losing audience share with the possible one exception of the
Internet. So far it seems that Congress has not been hoodwinked by
this latest scheme from the BBG (AFGE Local 1812 via DXLD)
** U S A [and non]. RFE/RL WEBSITES HIT BY MASS CYBERATTACK
Several websites run by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) have
been hit by an unprecedented cyberattack, making them inaccessible to
the outside world. The attack, which started on 26 April, initially
targeted the website of RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, but quickly spread
to other sites. Within hours, eight RFE/RL websites (Belarus, Kosovo,
Azerbaijan, Tatar-Bashkir, Radio Farda, South Slavic, Russian, and
Tajik) were knocked out or otherwise affected.
The “denial-of-service” (DOS) attack was intended to make the targeted
website unavailable to its users, according to RFE/RL’s Director of
Technology Luke Springer. “The way this is normally done is by
flooding the target website with fake requests to communicate, thereby
using up all [the website’s] free resources and rendering the site
useless to all the legitimate users,” Springer said.
RFE/RL has been hit before by denial-of-service attacks, but this
attack was unprecedented in its scale, as RFE/RL websites received up
to 50,000 fake hits every second.
Springer says this more sophisticated assault is known as a
“distributed denial-of-service” attack, in which “the attacker has
made use of other machines, distributed its intentions out to other
machines, and then all of these machines attack at the same time.”
DOS attacks are difficult to protect against, and the software
required to carry them out is available on the Internet.
RFE/RL Belarus Service Director Alexander Lukashuk said he began
getting e-mails from frustrated web visitors about two hours after the
attack began on 26 April. He noted that the problems began on an
important date in Belarus - the 22nd anniversary of the Chernobyl
nuclear catastrophe.
Lukashuk said that a large Internet audience was relying on RFE/RL’s
Belarus Service to report live on a rally of thousands of people,
organized by the Belarusian opposition. The demonstrators were
protesting the plight of uncompensated Chernobyl victims and a
government decision to build a new nuclear power station.
Other Belarusian websites were also hit, including the Minsk-based
nongovernmental organization Charter 97. Since the attacks, many other
independent websites in Belarus have carried content from RFE/RL’s
Belarus Service.
RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin said he is deeply concerned by the
attacks. “If free and independent media existed in these countries
where we’re working and broadcasting, we would have no reason to
exist,” Gedmin said. “The Belarusians, the Iranians - they all have
basically the same objective. They see free information - flowing
information of ideas and so forth - as the oxygen of civil society.
They’ll do anything they can to cut it off. If it means jamming, if it
means cyberattacks, that’s what they’ll do.”
RFE/RL has taken countermeasures and restored full service to most of
its Internet sites (Source: RFE/RL)(April 28th, 2008 - 15:33 UTC by
Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD)
** U S A. WHRI, 11785, with Hmong Lao Radio, Sunday April 27 at 1304,
bothered by continuous squeal of varying pitch, another transmitter in
bad condition; still doing it at 1402 recheck in English (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. CVC La Voz, Miami via Chile, 17680 in Spanish, Sunday
April 27 at 1318 was playing a coloratura soprano, then some talk
about La Flauta Mágica de Mozart, 1325 promo for El Mundo del Arte,
which is this program. As I recently noted, the show is missing from
their program schedule at http://www.cvclavoz.com/prog2008.htm where
it appears only at 0000 UT Sunday, while at 1300 Sunday it`s
supposedly ``Todo Bebe``, which must mean either ``all about babies``,
or ``everyone drinx`` -- or both? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A. NEW YORK's WOR (710) is apparently about to bring back one
of the station's signature voices. John R. Gambling is the third
generation of Gamblings in what had been an unbroken chain on WOR's
"Rambling with Gambling" morning show from 1925 until the station
fired him in 2000. Gambling resurfaced a year later on WABC (770), but
lost his midmorning shift there in Citadel's budget cuts earlier this
year.
Now Allan Sniffen's New York Radio Message Board is reporting that WOR
will bring Gambling back to morning drive, possibly as early as next
week, alongside current morning host Joe Bartlett. The odd player out,
apparently, will be Bartlett's current co-host Donna Hanover. WOR
hasn't commented on the reports yet, but there's a news conference
planned for Wednesday; we'll keep you posted (Scott Fybush, NE Radio
Watch April 28 via DXLD)
** U S A. Funny story - when WJDM launched on 1660, one of the first
things they broadcast was a simulcast of the "Spectrum" shortwave show
that was on WWCR back then. As the newscaster on "Spectrum," it's my
belief that I may have delivered the very first newscast ever heard on
the X-band. Or at least, that's my story and I'm sticking with it. s
(Scott Fybush, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD)
** U S A. OHIO RADIO STATION BROADCASTS IN FRENCH ACCENT
"There's a new guy in town -- radio town, that is. His mellow voice
comes out of the night from 9 p.m. to midnight every Saturday on WTAM
AM/1100 on the 'Simon Rendezvous' show. The show opens pretty much the
same way every time: 'Bon joir [sic] Cleveland; Bon soir. I have
crossed the ocean only to be with you. I have crossed the ocean to
bring back joy to Cleveland.' That's the voice of Simon Badinter, a
Parisian and the new man on the air. The show started on a trial basis
in the afternoon last November. Now it's a regular part of the
Saturday lineup. Badinter is French, and he makes the most of the
reputation Frenchmen have for being sexy and charismatic." . . .
http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19521944&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6
Morning Journal (Lorain), 27 April 2008. Posted: 27 Apr 2008 (via
kimandfrewelliott.com via DXLD)
OK, but what`s the show about? Apparently a call-in talkshow, the host
``anything but conservative``. That`s UT Sundays 0100-0400; WTAM has a
wide reach, even to Enid, formerly a clear-channel (Glenn Hauser,
DXLD)
** VENEZUELA [and non]. TELESUR IMPLICATED IN FARC INTRIGUE. "María
Augusta Calle -- also the head of Venezuela's Telesur TV network in
Ecuador and a supporter of President Hugo Chávez -- let the [FARC]
rebels use her bank account for at least one transaction and helped
promote their ideas through another news agency she directs, [a]
Colombian official said."
http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/511273.html
Miami Herald, 27 April 2008. Posted: 27 Apr 2008
(via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD)
** ZIMBABWE [non]. 4880, 23.4 1810, Short Wave Radio Africa via
Meyerton [sic] til Zimbabwe med engelsk, nyheder, lidt svag
modulation, ID, bedst hørbar på USB. 24444 BV (Bjarke Vestesen, Sweden
SW Bulletin via DXLD)
UNIDENTIFIED. 528.00, the mysterious, fully-modulated open carrier [?]
is still popping up spastically in the local daytime. I had 530
Enciclopedia on from 1500+ GMT yesterday, April 26th, in LSB to
capture any 528 appearance. Recheck at 1632, this carrier was loud.
Recheck at 1742, not present. As previously stated, this loops roughly
Habana (or the Florida Keys for conspiracy freaks).
Please note: I will no longer accept emails from those who keep
telling me this is either A) a Tennessee NDB on 529 (check: wrong
frequency) or Texas TIS that is off-frequency on 529 (check: wrong
frequency). Equipment here is fully capable of discerning 528 from
529, as well as groundwave (water path) daytime signals located SSE of
this coastal location (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA,
27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Hi Terry, How can an open carrier be fully modulated?? 73, Glenn (via
DXLD) Well, I mean full AM mod as I can tune USB or LSB and hear it
(but obviously LSB is the only practical way with Enciclopedia so
strong) (Krueger, ibid.)
UNIDENTIFIED. RE 8-052, 5100: For several days the situation on 5100
has been rather confusing. There is an Eritrean station, cannot say if
it's streaming VOBME-1, Bana or a clandestine program or maybe a
mixture of all three. This station is anyway signing off at 1800 with
Eritrean N/A.
Very often there's also another stronger station on the frequency, I
believe it's Ethiopia. Carrying audio stream (sounds the same as in
your file) which isn't in parallel with any Ethiopian SW-channels.
This stronger station is some days on until 1800 and signs off around
the same time as Eritrea underneath.
Earlier Ethiopia used to jam 5100 with DRM-type jammer; now it seems
they're using the power of word. Mauno has been monitoring this
closely, I wonder if he has more specific info. During evenings, 7100
has been empty for some time now (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski,
Finland, April 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
No more specific info, except ETH jams ERI only during certain
segments and days. On 5100 kHz ETH is on exact fq and ERI 20 Hz below.
I haven't been able to ID or find any // for the ETH programming used
for jamming. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.)
Hi Glenn, Re 8-051: After checking and thinking over my own and some
other logs on 5100/7175 taking into account my logs of 7220 and 7999.4
I think that it was possibly right not to list "Eritrea" in the index
of DXLD 8-051, though most likely non-intentional. I got the
impression that the // transmission on 5100/7175 is not Asmara, though
I can't prove it.
Maybe this is a special Ethiopian operation to Eritrea, using their
frequencies? In fact I got no positive ID and it seems the programme
doesn't really begin or end but is faded in and out.
On the other hand: the low-powered Bana transmitter seems to be also
on 5100 until 1800+, the transmitter on 7220 would fit by language
scheme and music style for Asmara 2 (change into Arabic at 1700), and
the odd 7999.4 would also fit for Eritrea (Asmara 1?). Just
suggestions though.
And finally: Yesterday April 27 I got the impression, that until 1700,
7999 was intentionally jammed, and after 1700, 7220. But generally
signal strength around this time was much weaker than previous times,
so summer and/or bad conditions take toll. Suggesting to list this
complex as UNID 5100/7175/7220/7999.4. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster,
Germany, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also ERITREA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LANGUAGE LESSONS
++++++++++++++++
ROMANIZED RUSSIAN
Hi ! Re 8-052: ``Note: the spelling Ussurijsk is obviously a
Germanism. Those and Frenchisms are totally out of place when
transliterating Russian to English, which can and should be done
perfectly well directly``
In March I got a QSL card from Voice of Russia English Service (for a
broadcast in Russian on 7260 kHz), on which the transmitter site is
spelled "Ussuriisk". 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
IIRC, this is a diphthong, the second I with a mark over it, best
rendered in English as ``iy`` (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
PUBLICATIONS
++++++++++++
THE STATE OF THE STATES - BROADCASTING IN 2008
This excellent article by Karl Zuk was originally written for the
British DX Club's journal "Communication" intended for readers in The
United Kingdom and Ireland is now available online at
http://karlzuk.blogspot.com:80/
(Mike Terry, April 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
WRTH OR PWBR?
Hi gang. Received an e-mail from Amazon, in some way trying to
convince me about getting the PWBR. Let me tell you a couple of
providers from Texas are selling it brand new for just $4.00. Seems to
good to be true. I think aside from the Larry Magne receivers reviews
(which I enjoyed any other Saturday on RCI's Ian McFarland DX show) or
some other valuable comments, the schedule information we can get from
Eibi or Aoki is enough. But I would like to see opinions and ratings
from some of my colleagues about this publication, the only time I
bought it was while visiting Dallas in Summer 1987. 73 (Raúl Saavedra,
Costa Rica, April 27, dxldyg via DXLD)
Once upon a time I used to buy both PWBR and the WRTH. While I get my
frequency information largely online now, I still buy PWBR each year.
Online information is great and often more up to date, but I still
like having a printed reference like PWBR, especially if I am going to
be away from the computer. A few years ago I had to choose between the
WRTH and PWBR. For my needs I prefer the latter. I prefer the layout,
and the frequency grid (Fred Waterer, Ont., ibid.)
I really need to have both, but I refer to WRTH much more often, since
I know where I can look up what I need to find out, and it goes into
much more detail than PWBR. When I do check PWBR `blue` page frequency
listings, the odds are high that they are out of date or misleading
compared to the online frequency schedule listings, so I always have
to check the latter anyway. And PWBR is so damn heavy, I have to be
careful not to sprain my wrist (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
MUSEA
+++++
Re: 8-052 RADIO MUSEUM EXPERIENCE at Cork City Gaol
The correct e-mail address should have read corkgaol@indigo.ie a rogue
space appeared in there. By the way, should also have mentioned their
website of: http://www.corkcitygaol.com for more details of the Gaol
and the Radio Museum (Alan Roe, World DX Club, UK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
DIGITAL BROADCASTING
++++++++++++++++++++
DTV ON DTV
What's wrong with this picture? Someone recently mentioned how some
networks and local stations are doing more to publicize the DTV
transition than others. Well, today I saw a very nicely crafted DTV
PSA --- on the local NBC affiliate's "Weather Plus" digital
subchannel. Yup, makes sense -- let's put an ad telling people they
have to convert to DTV on a subchannel that you can't see unless you
have already converted to DTV. The mind boggles (Stan Jones, Orlando
FL, April 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
DIGITAL TV TRANSITION AND TRANSLATORS --- DTV in *minor market* areas?
I am curious how the atv/dtv transition is going to affect *minor
market* areas. What I mean by *minor market* areas are areas that
*MAY* have one full power dtv station, but mostly even now rely on
translators for television reception.
Will OTA viewers have to continue to rely on an analog tv for analog
signals in areas that are too far removed to receive reliable dtv
signals? I am specifically thinking of areas in the midwest,
specifically, very rural areas of eastern Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas,
Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and mountainous regions
of the Rocky Mountains. I imagine most of those areas will continue to
do WITHOUT a digital signal for sometime, perhaps NEVER, unless
someone ponies up money for digital translator stations.
I understand that lptv's do not have the same timeline for dtv that
the full power atv's and their transition to dtv.
(Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu, Milliken, Colorado, (40 miles north of Denver)
40 18.642'N 104 52.566'W
DTV DX: Insignia NS-DXA1 & CM 4228 @ 20'
FTA Satellite DX: Pansat 2500A ku band & Fortec 31" w/USALS motor
Become an FCC authorized DTV Deputy! Pass the test -
http://www.dtv.gov/dtvquiz.html WTFDA via DXLD)
It would appear that in most cases there is little interest in
preserving translator networks into the digital era, with occasional
spot exceptions, and the entire state of Utah.
There are 2,143 records for low-power analog stations in Colorado
(this includes both translators and LPTVs, and a given station may be
counted more than once if it has an application on file or approved to
change facilities). There are 2,131 such records in Utah.
There are 213 records for low-power *digital* stations in Colorado -
just about exactly 10% of stations have plans for digital (again, this
includes LPTVs). There are 1,239 such records in Utah - nearly 60%.
However, spot-checks suggest no other state comes anywhere near Utah's
figure. Idaho and Montana come pretty close to Colorado's 10% figure;
Montana does a bit better at 14%.
Utah's broadcasters made a concerted effort to preserve digital
translator service. It might help to some degree that the entire state
is one TV market and there is a significant population center in the
state's southwest corner which is served by translators from SLC.
A number of Colorado translators don't really seem all that interested
in surviving as analog systems either. I've noted at least two where
all their channels are above 51 and there hasn't even been an
application to move below 52, let alone convert to digital. I'm sure
there are quite a few more (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN, ibid.)
I live in a market where much of the OTA television is delivered by
translator or -CA. If you want to watch anything other than our full-
power NBC or PBS affiliates, you are either watching via:
- a -DT (KOHD 51 - ABC, KTVZ-DT2 - CW, KTVZ-DT3 - Univision)
- a -CA (KFXO-CA 39, Fox)
- a -LP (KOIN and KVAL - CBS, KOHD and KATU - ABC, KGW - NBC, KPDX -
My, KQRE - Univision).
Many of the LPs and CAs around here have apps to flash cut to digital.
Some - particularly the out-of-market stations (Portland and Eugene) -
are going to drop OTA service (Dave, Bend OR, ibid.)
Re 8-052: WOAI-1200 HD delay
``As far as WOAI is concerned, I bet they left their Delay unit online
for censoring talk shows. The HD didn't help it much either although
that delay is usually only about 1 or 2 seconds.``
I don't think it was a talk show delay but instead another one of AM
IBOC/HD's "unexpected benefits."
Most of WOAI's programming is syndicated talk --- Sean Hannity, Rush
Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Coast to Coast AM, etc. --- for which you
wouldn't have, or need, a local delay. Moreover, there was a Spurs
pre-game show prior to tipoff, and I don't think you'd need a delay
there since there are no call-ins.
I've seen other reports (like those from Scott Fybush) of AM stations
turning off IBOC during live sports broadcasts, and last night was
perhaps a good indication of why they do so! (Harry Helms W5HLH,
Smithville, TX EL19 http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/ ABDX via DXLD)
Let us suppose Ibiquity had their way and we are now "all digital" -
with only the digital signal being transmitted, at 100% modulation.
Then delay could not be turned off, could it? (Jim Tonne, TN, ibid.)
Microsoft calls unexpected benefits (problems) undocumented features
(Dennis Gibson, ibid.)
Harry Helms W5HLH wrote: ``I knew HD lagged behind analog during live
broadcasts, but 21 seconds!?!? Zowie!!``
The HD delay is only 8 seconds, and to that can be added at most a
second or so of codec delay for whatever transmission method is being
used to get the audio from the venue to the station.
So WOAI is clearly keeping their profanity delay in place during the
game, too, and in this regulatory climate that's not a bad idea. The
FCC will gladly hand out a $325,000 fine (no, that's not a typo) for
even fleeting obscenities heard over a crowd mic or from a player.
Excessive? Obscene, even? That's your government regulators at work --
- and as long as they're taking that stance, if I had a license to
protect I'd probably be running a delay, too.
In any event, I don't get the impression that it's common for
basketball fans to turn down the TV audio and listen on the radio, as
is widely done amongst fans of certain NFL teams. Nor are there very
many (if any) fans at the venue listening on the radio while watching
the game. I don't even see that very much at baseball games these
days, and it used to be very common.
Syncing to the TV broadcast is damned near impossible these days,
anyway. There are so many points along the TV distribution chain that
can have varying levels of delay that it's a lost cause. You can
easily get as much as 10-15 seconds of accumulated delay along the
fiber or satellite paths from the venue to the network, from the
network to the local station or cable operator or satellite company,
and especially from local stations to OTA DTV viewers/digital cable
viewers/satellite viewers. Some radio stations try to delay their NFL
broadcasts to match the TV delay, but if you match the local analog
cable feed, you're a couple of seconds ahead of DTV and satellite and
probably behind OTA analog. It's a lost cause.
(The next time there's an event - say, a presidential address - being
carried simultaneously by multiple networks, flip around and watch how
much the delay can vary!) s (Scott Fybush, ibid.)
I watched the Spurs/Suns NBS playoff game today on ABC HD and noted a
consistent 20 second delay in the broadcast on WOAI-1200 compared to
the ABC telecast. However, the ABC HD telecast was about 11 seconds
behind the broadcast of the game on KZNX-1530, meaning WOAI was at
least 31 seconds behind the actual game action! (Both WOAI and KZNX
were carrying the Spurs network broadcast.)
I guess KZNX is a lot less concerned over the possibility of a dirty
word getting out over the air than WOAI. Or, since San Antonio is
Clear Channel's corporate HQ, maybe WOAI is just a shining example of
CC's commitment to engineering excellence. Ah, so many possibilities!
(Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, April 27, ABDX via DXLD)
As I watched the feed leaving the production truck compared with the
Local ABC affiliate in Phoenix, I noticed about a 9 second delay in
the signal. A lot of that is the ABC 5 second delay in New York and
the rest of it was the satellite delay from Phoenix to New York and
then back to the affiliate. I wasn't able to listen to any radio so I
don't know what the delay was there (RCVIDEO in Phoenix today, ibid.)
OTHR ON 9010, CYPRUS OR FRANCE?
Hi, on 09010k Laurent reports at 1530z a very big sound in southern
France. Here in NW France s7 also! Any report about this strange large
sounding at moment? (Michel Lacroix, jn19, April 20, UDXF yg via DXLD)
Hi Michel, it's the Cyprus based OTHR system. BRGDS – (Leif Dehio,
near Munich, Germany, ibid.) At least 40 tones. An OTHR I should
think. Coming from direction 120/300 degrees, probably from the OTHR
site in Dreux just to the west of Paris.
http://signals.taunus.de/TABLES/ALE.HTML
73 de (Jim, (MPJ), ibid.)
Searching UDXF, I could not find the report from Laurent, but this old
one re: ``9010.0 --- :OTHR CYP 06:15 OTHR 25 hertz spaced carriers 40
ms pulsed (PPA)(1 Nov 2007) GD DX (Peter Poelstra, The Netherlands``
(Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
SACKVILLE IMPROVES DRM
I took a look at Sackville after reading recent reports of its
improvement. It’s sounding very good, I also note that they have also
decreased the bandwidth of the audio signal they’re sending. This in
turn allows them to step up the robustness of the forward error
correction they’re sending – this means you’ll copy them when they’re
weaker.
Right now they’re at S6 and copy is 100% - which it could never be
when they were using 22 kHz Stereo (iirc) encoding. Distance (from
here) is about 550 miles. Well inside the tricky reception area (Lee
KD1SQ Reynolds, Goshen NH, April 26, drmna yg via DXLD) Presumably re
9795-9800-9805 DRM: see also ETHIOPIA; NEW ZEALAND; UNIDENTIFIED 5100
RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM
+++++++++++++++++++++
Re 8-052, Meyerton: ´´I was concerned to read somewhere that they have
to rely on valve re-builds from Econco.´´
--- At least BCE in Luxembourg states that spares including tubes are
available for their elder Telefunken gear. Media Broadcast appears to
have no big trouble in keeping their SV2500 transmitters at the
Wertachtal plant (Meyerton has three ones a well) either. Or are the
old BBC's the problem? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 27, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
Re 8-052, ex-Caribbean splits:
Glenn, "Radio Lighthouse" which was originally on 1165 is in Antigua!
It was assigned 1170 in the Rio Agreement, and I think now operates on
that frequency, although it was still on 1165 when I visited about 20
years ago. It used a 10 watt FM transmitter in the regular FM band as
an STL (Ben Dawson, WA, April 27, 2008, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Ben, Oops! On my one visit to Antigua, I saw CR Lighthouse, along with
the other radio facilities on the island. It`s listed on 1160 now, not
1170. 73, (Glenn to Ben, via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Re: INVISIBLE ENGINEERS GET NO RESPECT
Engineers are all but forgotten until you go off the air or have some
other technical problem. Then management wants it fixed yesterday and
as cheaply as possible. A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to get
tours of some of the San Diego area AM, FM, and TV station studios
and/or transmitter sites. At some stations tons of money is spent on
HD but requests for necessary diagnostic equipment and spare parts are
routinely denied (Dennis Gibson, CA, WB6TNB, April 26, ABDX via DXLD)
Do consider that there may be another reason the engineers don't get
much visibility on station websites (both radio and TV) - as tight as
staffing levels are these days, it's all many engineers can do just to
keep their stations on the air. If they had to deal with a lot of
website inquiries from people outside the station, many of which would
probably be tangential at best, they'd never get anything done.
How bad is staffing getting? Citadel is running both Chicago (WLS
890/WZZN 94.7) and NYC (WABC 770/WPLJ 95.5) with TWO engineers at
each. In each case, they're responsible for studios, FM skyscraper
transmitter sites, and the fairly distant AM transmitter sites.
At WXXI, anyway, we maintain a listener/viewer inquiry line and e-mail
address. If there's a question that requires a response from
engineering, the nice folks in viewer services pass it along and make
sure it gets answered. Our engineers have even been known to make
house calls to help people with DTV reception --- but by handling all
those calls through viewer services, the requests are properly logged
and the engineers aren't bombarded with questions that either have
nothing to do with them or can be answered easily by others. s
(speaking, as always, only for myself) (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.)
THE UTAH EXPERIENCE, WITH BEVERAGE
Well, it's late morning here and I've just rolled out of the sack,
after a very late night, after a very fun day yesterday.
Started with ATV-ing at 8,500 feet in some spectacular country above
the Colorado River and ended at the West end of a Beverage antenna in
the Utah desert, with a campfire under the desert stars. While safely
removed from the campfire light pollution, we took time-exposure star
shots of the Coma Bernices Cluster.
We had a Doubting Thomas local engineer among us who said this
"Beverage" antenna cannot work; it's too close to the ground, etc.,
and besides, he said: why are we pointing it AT the station instead of
orthogonally?
So I stood next to him at the West end Sony 2010. The radio was
copying 10 kW KDXU 180 miles away off the back (West) side, about 40
over S9. Fresh ground rods at both ends.
One of our small group was at the East end with a multi-turn pot to
add the termination that would change the bi-directional pickup into
East-pickup only. I got on the FRS and walked him through the null.
Doubting Thomas got very quiet when KDXU from the West completely
disappeared and WLS Chicago came up --- in broad daylight!
GPS Waypoints suggest we had about 2500 feet rolled out on our 4-foot
stakes.
One of the signals we chased was the mysterious 1710 from somewhere in
the East. We heard a carrier but no modulation on both an I-COM and a
2010. I did some long-form recording against the possibility that a
long lazy sky wave shift might have brought it in, but won't know for
sure until I can review the recording.
Possibilities: Conditions were heavily auroral last night so the path
might have been closed; also need to verify that antenna azimuth was
correct. With that amount of wire, directionality's pretty critical.
We might have been spoiled by the original copy of that signal back in
Oct 2004, as reported on the DX Audio Service. I'm sure CX were
perfect that night, and I'm very glad I have a recording of that
catch! After all, a watt or 2 or even 10 from that far East is really
reaching :-))
Having said that, we're planning a Fall trip out there for another
try. I had 6 radios out. Skipped the 50-kilowatters in favor of a
group of local/regional frequencies that had stations no closer than 4
states distant. It'll be interesting to see what we've captured.
Was anyone else lurking on 1710 over the weekend? Regards, (Mark
Durenberger mobile, CPBE, April 27, NRC-AM via DXLD)
PROPAGATION
+++++++++++
NOTHING UNUSUAL WITH THIS SOLAR CYCLE
Thank you for requesting Dr. Tapping's notes on the solar minimum
between cycles 23 and 24. This attached pdf document is a response to
the incorrect and misleading quotes that appeared in Investor's
Business Daily in February 2008.
On Wednesday, April 23rd IBD did it again, with another misleading
article, containing this disingenuous paraphrase:
"Tapping reports no change in the sun's magnetic field so far this
cycle and warns that if the sun remains quiet for another year or two,
it may indicate another repeat of that period of drastic cooling of
the Earth, bringing massive snowfall and severe weather to the
Northern Hemisphere".
Dr. Tapping said no such thing. He is not a climatologist, and as
you'll see in his attached notes, there is nothing unusual about the
current solar minimum. . .
CONCLUSION: AT THE MOMENT IT IS UNJUSTIFIED TO ASSUME THE SUN IS
UNDERGOING A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN BEHAVIOUR. ON THE BASIS OF
SUNSPOT NUMBER DATA, WE CANNOT ASSUME ANYTHING ODD IS HAPPENING
UNLESS THE NEXT CYCLE DELAYS ITS START INTO 2009 OR 2010 (from reply
to a blank e-mail to sunspotmin @ gmail.com via DXLD)
STRANGE SOLAR FLARE
No sunspots? No problem. Yesterday the blank sun unleashed a solar
flare without the usual aid of a sunspot. At 1408 UT on April 26th,
Earth-orbiting satellites detected a surge of X-rays registering B3.8
on the "Richter scale" of solar flares. That's a relatively minor
flare; nevertheless, the blast sent a "solar tsunami" shock wave
rippling through the sun's atmosphere and also launched a coronal mass
ejection. The CME is expected to reach Earth late on April 28th or
April 29th, possibly sparking high latitude auroras when it arrives.
Visit http://spaceweather.com to view images, movies and updates.
Be alert for any effects to propagation (from http://spaceweather.com
via Mark Coady, April 27, odxayg via DXLD)
CORONAL MASS EJECTION
I'm sure that this is old news for most by now but I was so busy over
the weekend I did not have a chance to report on the event until now.
On Saturday 04/26/2008 a solar filament collapsed near 8 degrees north
and 8 degrees east and produced a small B3.8 class solar flare
beginning at 1408 UT. The solar flare produced a weak and slow
(velocity 466 km/s) full halo coronal mass ejection (CME).
A solar filament is a relatively cool and dense ribbon of gas held
together by solar magnetic fields. From Earth they usually appear as
relatively dark lines across the face of the Sun. At times the
magnetic lines holding the filament open up creating a tremendous
eruption similar in size and impact of a coronal mass ejection (CME).
The collapse of solar filament is virtually impossible to forecast.
The geoeffective (Earth facing) CME should begin impacting Earth's
geomagnetic field on 04/29/2008 in the form of unsettled (Kp-3) to
active (Kp-4) geomagnetic conditions. A brief and minor geomagnetic
storm (Kp-5) is possible at high latitudes.
Normally I would not report on a weak event such as this but as we
have not seen an Earth directed CME in a long long time it is
newsworthy. 73 & God Bless, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Lakeland, FL,
USA kn4lf @ arrl.net
KN4LF Daily Solar Space Weather & Geomagnetic Data Archive:
http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm
KN4LF Daily LF/MF/HF/6M Frequency Radiowave Propagation Forecast &
Archive Site: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf6.htm
KN4LF 160 Meter Radio Propagation Theory Notes:
http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf8.htm
LF/MF/HF/VHF Frequency Radiowave Propagation Email Reflector:
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/kn4lf
April 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###