DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-060, May 12, 2008 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 2008 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 1407 Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1130 WRMI 9955 Wed 2300 WBCQ 17495-CUSB [or 15420 by then?] 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: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** AFRICA [and non]. Glenn, A belated reply with perhaps inconclusive answers! On 7120 I hear Chad very well in the daytime. At 1557 this is blocked by China Radio International (in Hindi?) for an hour. I observe Chad on 4905 from around 1602. On 29 Apr 2008 at 1700 on 7120 a repeated series of tones with a background rhythm was audible, presumably jamming of Radio Voice of the People. By 1757 Radio Rossii was heard. After about 1535 on 7120 I have detected a weaker signal under Chad but I cannot identify it even on days when Chad is off. While I assume this is Radio Hargeisa it may also be Russia? 01 May 2008 on 6030 at 1559 interval signal heard followed by ID sounding like Radio Omoriya (tentative). At this time I usually hear two stations mixing as I said previously. I am looking forward to moving into new accommodation in a few months' time. I hope the electrical noise interference will be less, that I can improve my aerial and dedicate a bit more time to providing more useful information! (James MacDonell, Niger State, NW Nigeria, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. LRA36, Arcángel, 15476, 1907 May 12, Spanish info about local news by female, 1919 Spanish music. At 1921 too noisy for listening. RX: Perseus, antenna, LW 25 meter, Gr (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Pelo menos no Sudeste do Brasil, a nova emissão em português da RAE - Rádio Difusão Argentina Para o Exterior, entre 1100 e 1200, em 11710 kHz, está enfrentando acirrada interferência de uma estação regional chinesa, que emite na freqüência vizinha de 11705 kHz. Foi o que constatou o Glauber Peres, em Pindamonhangaba (SP), em 6 de maio. De acordo com ele, "não dá para escutar praticamente nada". (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX May 11 via DXLD) EiBi and Aoki do not show any such station on 11705, but on 11710 itself at that hour is Taiwan, jammed by China. V. of Korea in French to C&SAm is also on 11710 at 1100! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have always wondered why, when most SW broadcasters targeted North America, they selected to beam here in what the TV folks call "prime time" when the competition from network TV, dinner, and family obligations was greatest. I often found it more convenient to listen to programs from Moscow that were beamed to Western Europe for example. That problem is sort of moot now as very few bother to target NA any longer. At 1800 UT I plan to tune in RAE Argentina on my Compaq laptop receiver with 15 inch color display. Antenna is a phone line using a DSL-lite preamp. 8^) (Joe Buch, FL, May 12, swprograms via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 1610 kHz, AM FORTALEZA es la nueva denominación de esta emisora religiosa evangélica, anteriormente conocida como "Radio Misión Fortaleza" (Ex 1520 kHz). Su QTH se ubica ahora en la calle Independencia 646 de la localidad de Ezeiza, Tel: (011) 4295-4355. Su director es el pastor Miguel Navarro (via Marcelo A. Cornachioni Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, Conexión Digital May 11 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 2325, VL8T Tennant Creek, 1030 to 1100 May 12, back with good signal with 70's rock music, after six weeks of poor NT signals to southeast Florida. 2310 Alice Springs not as strong, and 2485 Katherine very weak. Excellent lock with R75 -Kiwa modified- (Robert L Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Southeast Florida, Noise Reducing Antenna ~ 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. May 12 at 1400, found pop instrumental music on 13775, 1402 into Chinese, no jamming, fair to good signal. First checking PWBR `2008` the only listee is RFA Palau, jammed in an `other` language, but surely they would have news on the hour. As usual, only updated online listings would later identify this properly. Aoki and Eibi say: CVC Darwin at 1000-1500 in Mandarin. And RFA is not using 13775 at all this season (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. New [sic] 4750, *2359-0025 fade out 11.05, Bangladesh Betar, Khabirpur, Dhaka back with morning transmissions in Bengali Instrumental I/S, short announcement, time pips, longer announcement, 0002 Muslim Call to Prayer, 0010 talk, 35343. China had faded out (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres longwire, via Dario Monferini, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 3309.98, Radio Mosoj Chaski, YL and exotic music, 0950 to 1000. This the strongest and most consistent CP. 12 May (Robert L Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Southeast Florida, Noise Reducing Antenna ~ 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We still call them CP`s tho callsigns are apparently no longer in use; not shown in WRTH (gh) ** BRAZIL. 4805, Brasil, Rádio Difusora do Amazonas, Manáus, 0950 strong signal, dependable good signal every day. 12 May (Robert L Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Southeast Florida, Noise Reducing Antenna ~ 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4905, Brasil, R Anhanguera, Araguaína TO; May-03 PP 0057 gospel music, ID with frequency info by OM, 0001 "Rota 66" program (this station is religious but the program Rota 66 seems about mysticism or spiritism) "você acha que é possível conversar com os mortos?". 43333 (Lucio Otavio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL - A Rádio Roraima, de Boa Vista (RR), permanece fora do ar na freqüência de 4875 kHz. Faltam peças para o transmissor, conforme informações da emissora dadas a Goerge Cunha, de Brasília (DF). BRASIL - A Super Rede Boa Vontade, de Porto Alegre (RS), tem a freqüência de 9550 kHz ativa em ondas curtas. O canal foi escutado, em Altamira do Paraná (PR), pelo Reinaldo Gomes, em 1º de maio, às 1405, quando levava ao ar o sinal de identificação, dentro do programa Comando da Esperança. BRASIL - A Rádio Gazeta, de São Paulo (SP), está com todas as suas freqüências de ondas curtas ativas no momento. O canal 9685 kHz, que não estava sendo captado ultimamente no Sul do Brasil, voltou a ser escutado em 10 de maio, em Porto Alegre (RS), pelo colunista, por volta de 1420. Já a freqüência de 15325 kHz foi monitorada, em São Bernardo do Campo (SP), pelo Rudolf Grimm, em 2 de maio, às 1231, quando era transmitida música popular brasileira. (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX May 11 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Radio Gazeta, São Paulo, 15325.04 kHz, 12/5 1955 romantic song, 2001 full ID as "Rádio Gazeta, São Paulo de Brasil" following with frequency schedules. Noisy but fair. RX: Perseus. LW 25 meter antenna. Gr (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [and non]. Re 8-056; and 8-057 MOLDOVA, 9665: Glenn, I asked a Brazilian DXer to check if he can hear CRI: he couldn't, checking during one week. Maybe he is too near the tx. But it wasn't clear to me: did you ID CRI definitely recently? It is strange that I don't have even a carrier trace from it here in Finland, always VOR via Moldova only, but maybe the carriers are then on the same exactly by one Hz? Or Brazil is with much lower power than listed? Could others further than Brazil in Latin America please check it, also if it then has a break 0200-0300 (and in Spanish 0100-0200 and 0300-0400, 9665 kHz)? 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, May 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) In DXLD 8-056, and 8-057 MOLDOVA, I mentioned CRI relay via Brasil on 9665 at 0200, but just noise and distortion. Mauno Ritola asked me to confirm whether this was really the case, since in Finland all he hears is VOR via Moldova. Yes, CRI relay on 9665, presumably still Brasil, is definitely there. UT May 13 I did not get to check at 0100, but at 0240 there was only VOR Moldova // 9480 Germany. And that was very much bothered by much stronger 9660 NHK Bonaire in Portuguese. Recheck 9665 at 0259: S9+20 open carrier, 0300 into CRI IS and opening in Spanish, but very undermodulated. As far as I could tell it was not too distorted, but muffled. There was a fast SAH, maybe about 15 Hz, with presumed Moldova, which is still supposed to be on with VOR English to NAm after 0300 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [and non]. "What cyclone?" On 30 April, Tun Lin Moe, a Burmese student at Penn State University listened to RFA via the internet: "An interviewer asked the head of Myanmar's weather service about an approaching cyclone, Moe recalled. The official -- a representative of the military dictatorship that runs the country -- said, according to Moe, 'What cyclone?' ... Moe monitored Radio Free Asia as Cyclone Nargis approached Myanmar. He learned that Myanmar's leaders were warned of the storm's severity by three different international sources. And yet, he said, he heard the leader of Myanmar's weather service say during an interview that residents could prepare by fixing their roofs to keep out the rain." Patriot-News (Harrisburg), 10 May 2008. "No warning was given to the people in the hit areas. In a country where the media is controlled and telecommunications infrastructure is under-developed, the people usually get whatever information there is from independent short-wave radio services like the Voice of America and BBC World Service. 'Most people are too poor to have radios though, so they would have been totally unprepared for the cyclone.'" The Star (Kuala Lumpur), 12 May 2008. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 12 May 2008 (see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=3995 for linx, via DXLD) ** BURMA. Those interested in Burma may enjoy reading `Finding George Orwell in Burma` by Emma Larkin [a pseudonym]. Orwell lived in Burma in the 1920s as an officer of the Imperial Police Force. National Public Radio interview here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4761169 73s, (Robert L Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Southeast Florida, Mosquito Coast DX News, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Concerning governments recognizing the Naypyidaw*) regime: For most German media this was no reason to follow the federal authorities in calling the country Myanmar. And their relationships to the regime were in the past good enough for a ban against Democratic Voice of Burma relays via Jülich, which had been lifted only after the matter had been covered by mainstream media. *) Never heard about this? Check out: http://svaradarajan.blogspot.com/2007/01/naypyitaw-photo-album.html http://willthedutch.blogspot.com/2007/06/inside-naypyidaw.html http://www.sequential-one.com/blog/?p=895 Note how this CIA-produced map explicitly reflects a point of view that the capital of Burma (as opposed to the state of Myanmar, as I choose to put it) is still Rangoon. Note also Taunggyi, that’s the location of the 5770 kHz station: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia08/burma_sm_2008.gif (Kai Ludwig May 12th, 2008 - 18:53 UT, Media Network blog via DXLD) Hi! I found the following in a (German language) encyclopedia from 1985. Birma - official name: Sozialistische Republik der Birmanischen Union - official name in native language: Pyi-Daung Su Se She-Lit Thammada Myanma Nainggan Daw. So Myanma(r) was an official name of this state even before the actual regime came to power in 1989. 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, May 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. 9490, *2330-2350, CLANDESTINE, 10.05, Democratic Voice of Burma, via Wertachtal, Germany. Burmese, sign on with Burmese song, announcement including frequency, news e.g. about U.N. emergency help, sudden fall in transmitter power (?) 55444 - 35232 - 15121 15480, *1430-1500, CLANDESTINE, 10.05, Democratic Voice of Burma, via Gavar, Armenia Burmese announcement jingle, news, Myanmar often mentioned, reports probably from disaster area 25333 // 17625 via Talata-Volonondry, Madagascar (14121, QRM 17630) (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres longwire, via Dario Monferini, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CBC Radio Summer has 13 "new" programmes, and PromoGit They still haven't dropped the unhumourous PromoGit that evolved from a PromoGirl for the summer stuff. And Sean Cullen is back. Why? So far it looks like new shows are CBCOverNightOverTheSummer with many foreign English language shows (Germany, China, France, Poland, Romania, etc. make English language shows) Why can't we have foreign classical music shows to push out Q and such. Language doesn't matter with music. Bring back Roots and Wings, 10 hours straight of Global Village, Karl Ancel Conducts for a week, etc. (Dan Say, BC, May 10, alt.radio.networks.cbc via Mike Cooper, DXLD) PINSENT TO HOST OBIT SHOW IN SUMMER LINEUP ON CBC RADIO ONE CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2008/05/09/radio-summer.html CBC Radio One has added 13 new programs to its summer lineup, including a documentary series of unusual obituaries hosted by actor Gordon Pinsent. The Late Show, to air weekly, will profile the lives of little known but extraordinary Canadians, from a street kid with dwarfism to an elderly man obsessed with sailing the Northwest Passage. Other programs added to the period from June 23 to Aug. 31 include Between You and Me, an exploration of sexuality with sex columnist Josey Vogels and Alien Nation, in which Judith Mackin, herself the mother of a teenager, sets out to explore the world of today's teens. On a lighter note, CBC has added The Irrelevant Show, a sketch comedy routine from an Edmonton troupe, and Revision Quest, a satirical look at the past with First Nations comic Darrell Dennis. Other additions to the CBC lineup: * The DNA Files: A documentary series exploring the science of genetics. * Crossing Boundaries: A half-hour program of documentaries from public broadcasters around the world. * Mashup: An exploration of Canadian multi-culturalism and ethnic identity with Geeta Nadkami. * World of Mystery: Radio mystery dramas from BBC, Ireland, New Zealand and other countries. * Global Perspectives: Documentaries on the theme of escape from around the world. * Simply Sean: Sean Cullen hosts a show with music and special guests. * Under the Covers: Musical exploration of the cover song with musicians Danny Michel and Emm Gryner (via Dan Say, ibid. via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CANADA. Moncton, New Brunswick will be home to a most unusual "special-event" radio station later this week. "Wed FM" will sign on at 100.9 Wednesday afternoon, and will leave the air for good Sunday afternoon, after the event for which it's being built: the wedding of Serge Cormier and Yanbing Zou. Cormier is a radio enthusiast who now works as a consultant in Toronto, and he's trying the 50-watt special- event station for his own wedding as a trial run to see if there's a business in setting up similar stations for other such events. Programming will include a top-40 countdown hosted by the bride and groom, lessons in French and Chinese, and of course a live broadcast of the wedding ceremony and reception next Saturday. There may even be a webcast, too, at the wedding website, http://wedfm.ca (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch May 12 via DXLD) It ain`t no CBA, but --- (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. The following streamlined decisions were announced by the CRTC today: CJLO-1690 Montreal Quebec has been given an extension to Oct 1, 2008 to begin broadcasting. CKDR-5-1340 Red Lake ON has been given an extension to Dec 31, 2008, to move to FM (97.1 MHz, 420 watts) Both applications were processed without public notice or hearing pursuant to streamlined procedures: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2008/pb2008-41.htm 73, (Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, May 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. According to Chinese media, Changjiang Maritime Security Information Center (No. 134, Yangjiangdai Road, Wuhan, Hupei, China) is now broadcasting on 8794 kHz USB and 156.65 MHz FM, five times a day at 0000, 0300, 0600, 0900, and 1400. The broadcasting consists of water traffic information on Changjian river. At 0900 news and weather information is added (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, May 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 837 kHz, CNR-5 (Voice of Zhonghua, to Taiwan) on new 837 kHz, first noted by me on 25 March around 1415 listening in Tarakan, Indonesia. According to their Chinese-language website http://www.nihaotw.com the new frequency started operating on 28 Dec 2007. 909: Web sources suggest the new Quanzhou SARFT* site is already in operation, with a location near Zhangban in Hui'an County (GE low-res area in the region of 24 53N, 118 48E). The sources specifically mention that high-power transmitting equipment for both MW and SW has been installed at the new site, so the Chinese are evidently still wanting to continue doing whatever they have been doing on SW from the curtain antennas at the old Quanzhou site. It's possible that Zhangban is the site for the new CNR-5 frequency of 837 kHz, but I haven't been able to find any confirmation of that. 1269 kHz: FS can be a fair to strong signal in S Asia and in the western part of SE Asia. 1323: Chinese sources say there is at least one Harris DX-600 unit at the Huadian site, from which Korean 1323 kHz is the only known frequency, and the CRI/VOR Korean signals can sometimes be heard quite well in SE Asia - presumably it's quite a narrow beam southwards. 1377: On the subject of Chinese sites, I recently found a paper published in 2005 describing the lightning-protection arrangements at the SARFT Station at Xingyang (near Zhengzhou). According to this, CNR-1 1377 kHz is also from a Harris DX-600 using a two-tower antenna with a slightly directional pattern - which must be the rather unimpressive-looking masts at 34 48 28N, 113 23 17E on GE, most likely being a radiator and reflector to give maximum radiation in a direction just north of west. The site also has two Thomson M2W units each operating with 100 kW into single-mast omnidirectional antennas for 630 kHz (CNR-2) and 972 kHz (Henan PBS), which must be the masts at 34 48 40N, 113 23 22E and 34 48 43N, 113 23 07E. The same article also mentions that the SARFT site at Putian for 549/684 kHz has two Thomson S7HP transmitters. The sites for Shandong PBS News Service mentioned in various web sources are: 891 kHz: Dongying 918 kHz: Binzhou, Dezhou, Heze (10 kW), Jinan-Huangtai (200 kW), Jining, Laiwu, Rizhao (10 kW), Tai'an, Yantai (10 kW) 1467 kHz: *Beizhen (1 kW), Dezhou (1 kW), *Xin Xian (1 kW) 1485 kHz: *Dan Xian (1 kW), Liaocheng (1 kW), *Lu Xian (1 kW), *Pingyi (1 kW), *Tai'an (1 kW), *Weihai (1 kW) 1548 kHz: Linyi (7.5 kW), *Longkou (10 kW), *Qingdao (10 kW), *Rongcheng (10 kW), Weifang (10 kW) *= sites not mentioned on Shandong PBS website I can't explain the double listings for Dezhou on 918 and 1467 kHz and for Tai'an on 918 and 1485 kHz. Probably there have been frequency changes for these sites. The powers listed for some sites may be out of date, but probably haven't changed dramatically (all China items from Alan Davies, ARC Information Desk 28 April via DXLD) *SARFT = State Administration for Radio, Film, and Television (and Jamming) (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CHINA. 4500, China, Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi; May-04 Mongolian 2330 "East is Red" I/S, ID "Sinkiang ardyn radyo nibtrelhi", OM and YL talks, 2338-2341 local pop music. Thank you very much Mr. Anker Petersen for the helping and info in this ID. Signal improving 33333. Short audio file 440 kb at http://geocities.yahoo.com.br/eefibra/unid4500khz2330utc040508b.mp3 73's (Lucio Otavio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, HCDX via DXLD) ** CHINA. I have noticed that recently a number of CRI frequencies have been relaying Easy FM (CRI`s local English language service for Beijing) rather than the CRI external service – e.g. heard several times in early April around 2100-2200 on 5960 and 7285 via Albania. Easy FM carries programmes such as China Drive – a mix of very fast chatter and music which is clearly not intended for listeners abroad. Presumably a feed mixup (Dave Kenny, May BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) I thought they had deliberately been carrying some of the domestic English programs at certain other times (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also BRAZIL ** CHINA. Firedrake check May 12 at 1356: 12050, 12040, 11990, 11805- under RHC, 11785, 11665, 11605, 11590-which went off at 1400. At 1400, 12050 was open carrier, not sure Firedrake or target, while 12040 was still running FD. At 1411, FD back on 12050, and 12040 FD with a SAH. Also FD VG at 1409 on 15285. This was not an exhaustive search for all audible FD, but at 1413 also found generally weaker ones on 11510, 9450, 9605, 9845, 9930; and at 1416 on 14410, as I did make a point of bandscanning the non-broadcast MHz segments up to 18 MHz. The last surely against Sound of Hope, fortunately staying above the hamband (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA [and non]. 6010, La Voz de tu Conciencia, HJDH ID just as I tuned in, May 12 at 0643. Lo audible het with XEOI, annoying collision, as both were about same strength, LVC continuing with some stealth religion talk, while R. Mil was trying to keep Mexican music alive (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA [and non]. 3984.84, Voice of Croatia, 0200-0207, May 12, English news. IDs. Local music at 0207. Very weak. // 9925-via Germany-very weak. Not on 7285. Unidentified station on 7285. Possibly Iran (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Next time the ungrateful SOBs at RHC accuse the USA of ``genocide``, as they do every day, every hour as one of the main Commie talking points along with the ``five heroes``, remember this: The U.S. is Cuba`s top food supplier, despite a 45-year-old embargo against trading with Fidel Castro`s communist government. Congress passed a law in 2000 that authorizes the sale of food to Cuba, provided it pays in cash (AP via The Week, April 6, via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 3279.8, La Voz del Napo, Tena at 1020; 1040 blasting in with unusually good signal 12 May [Wilkner] 4814.95, Radio El Buen Pastor 1045 to 1110 "...el Padre en el corazón de Cristo ...", good signal each day, but troubled by nearby ute. 12 May (Robert L Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Southeast Florida, Noise Reducing Antenna ~ 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB, Quito, 21455, 2024 UT. Spaans rel. programa in usb, zachte audio in de ruis. Tijdje geleden dat ik dit station nog kon horen, Gr (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, bdx mailing list via DXLD) There`s a vote for USB; still haven`t heard it myself since the recent report it was on LSB (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** EGYPT. 9250, Radio Wadi el Nile, 2135-2200*, May 12, Arabic talk. Lite instrumental music. Koran. Off with anthem. Poor in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So like 6290, here is another Cairo Arabic service that is closing one hour earlier than originally in winter (and beginning of A-season) since DST started in late April. I wonder why these shifts don`t show up in any published schedules for this station? I bet Wadi el Nil is also starting an hour earlier than before, 1600 instead of 1700. Please check if you can hear it then (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. 1593 kHz, Littoral AM on air since Feb 21, 1700 UT. Note the coordinated powers for 1593, as given by Thierry Vignaud: 50 kW day and 5 kW night. This means that at night the transmitter would have to be run at about 1 kW only. I understand that they leave the DRM signal on air with 10 kW throughout the night, or do they turn it off? If not this is a violation like running full day power at night in AM, since only a power level 7 db below the coordinated AM carrier power may be used in DRM mode. Perhaps the permission for this DRM test expires on April 30 for this very reason? (Kai Ludwig, ARC Information Desk 28 April via DXLD) The French radio authority CSA has asked Littoral AM to report the outcome of the test period in June-08. Probably that means that they will continue transmissions on 1593 kHz until that report is presented. A meeting with CSA is scheduled in May in Paris. Littoral AM has received a reception report from Germany 1000 km from Saint- Gouéno (Thierry Vignaud via BE 2008-04-22, ibid.) Using 25 kW AM and 10 kW DRM (Bengt Ericson, ibid.) ** GERMANY. 13590, Bible Voice Broadcasting, Julich, 1545-1600*, May 12, English religious programming with "Hour of Prayer" program. IDs at sign off. Sign off at 1600 on Mondays. Fair signal but weak CVC- Zambia heard underneath Bible Voice. CVC heard in the clear after Bible Voice signs off (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Gossip: DW BULGARIAN AND ROMANIAN WILL CLOSE IN 2009 Mentioned in passing on Radio Romania International, as quoted in the enclosed posting by Paul Gager: Gossip, picked up when attending a seminar at Bonn, has it that the Bulgarian and Romanian programs of Deutsche Welle are to be closed down by 2009. These services had already been taken off shortwave at yearend 2006, together with Albanian, Croatian, Polish, Serbian, Turkish and the relays of RBB-produced Romanes, in conjunction with abandoning the Wertachtal transmitters. Consider also the source of this gossip: It is well possible that this is not the whole story and more language services will be axed as well (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Subject: [A-DX] DW Sprachdienste 2009 Im Funkbriefkasten von Radio Rumänien International am Sonntag abend//Montag früh erwaehnte die Moderatorin so nebenbei "das sie bei einem Seminar in Bonn gehoert hat(Flurfunk), das die bulgarisch/rumaenischsprachigen Programme der DW 2009 eingestellt werden sollen". Beide Programme werden derzeit in Sofia//Bukarest auf UKW-Frequenzen ausgestrahlt. 73, (Paul Gager, A-DX via Ludwig, ibid.) ** GERMANY [non]. DW Russian via Rampisham, May 12 at 1408 on 15420; no sign of WBCQ here or on 17495, but latter could easily still be on and not propagating. See also U S A (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re 8-59, RUSSIA [non]: ex 603 20 kW ``VOR Spanish 20 kW unit was meant to greater Berlin area, like 100 kilometers around the capital`` Not even that, it was originally meant just for Berlin. The whole thing started in March 1996 with 5 kW from the Köpenick (Dammheide forest to be specific) site within Berlin. This was the transmitter originally used by Radioropa on 693 from November 1993 til October 1995. After that Deutsche Telekom approached Voice of Russia (as an existing customer, due to the Wachenbrunn transmitter) that they would have a nice mediumwave outlet for Berlin as well, and so at short notice the new, abandoned transmitter had been fired up again, now with the incoming feed from Moscow previously meant for 1323 only. This 693 kHz transmitter finally closed down in spring 2001. Sometime in 2000 a new transmitter on 603 had been inaugurated at Zehlendorf to replace 693, the frequency because it was to be used with high power for Megaradio and the site because it was to be closed altogether. Out there the power had been raised to 20 kW in order to compensate for the remote location of the transmitter. But still reception had deteriorated over the previous transmitter within the city, and Voice of Russia received listener complaints about this circumstance. Probably this was the primary reason for replacing 603 by the 250 kW transmitter on 693. This results not only in extended coverage of the rural areas of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern but also provides some 10 dB more juice to penetrate noise-contamined places in Berlin. The story with Spanish on 603 was simply that this transmitter was on 24/7, Deutsche Telekom simply did not bother to automatically switch it off overnight. And in the 0100-0200 hour (always 2 AM to 3 AM local, i.e. during summer 0000-0100 UT) Voice of Russia has nothing but Spanish on air (except Russkoye Mezhdunarodnoye Radio), thus it's also on the satellite feed picked up by this transmitter. So this relay had no particular target audience at all. And it appears that the now used 250 kW transmitter on 693 indeed goes off at night to save expenses. However, this still needs a reliable confirmation, I have a bit too much interference on this frequency to be sure that Zehlendorf is really off at night. ``There are few more language bcasts of various station in Berlin, like En, Fr, Sp, and of course on FM: Turkish state like invasion community in [Berlin] Moabit and Kreuzberg suburbs.`` Well, the VOR relay was indeed the only Spanish on air at Berlin. English: There are the BBC via a big 20 kW TV tower outlet on 90.2 (until the nineties it were 50 kW from the now dismantled BFBS tower near the Olympia stadium) and NPR via the weakish 200 watts frequency 104.1 from Kreuzberg (cold war story of this transmitter site discussed in DXLD when BBG/VOA got kicked out of Berlin in favour of NPR). French: RFI has a 1 kW TV tower outlet on 106.0. The licence has been prolonged for just three years, and I suspect they could have to go in case they decide to scrap the German service. Turkish: There is a dedicated commercial station for Turkish listeners in Berlin, called Metropol FM, using 4 kW from the Schäferberg transmitter in Berlin-Wannsee on 94.8. Meanwhile Metropol FM got FM frequencies at Stuttgart, Mainz, Koblenz and Ludwigshafen as well. So the Turkish community does not need to listen to any German-language radio stations, just like they do not watch any German TV channels (satellite dishes pointing at an unusually eastern direction? they are for Turksat). In Berlin-Kreuzberg and Berlin-Neukölln (the latter has an even more precarious situation than the widely known Kreuzberg) Turks can live their lives without ever speaking a single word of German. Many of their children speak only a terrible slang known as Kanak-Sprak. Trouble is: Nobody gives them any decent jobs. A keyword for a Google search, which could bring up something (in English, there are lots of material in German) would be Rüthli school. Russian: There is also a commercial Russian station, called Radio Russkij Berlin. It uses the slot 7 AM to 4 PM on workdays and 7 AM to 1 PM on weekends on 97.2, a shared frequency which at night relays various international broadcasters by way of carrying WRN Deutsch (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Following now available for download from the AIR website: AIR Compandium 2006 (27 MB) http://allindiaradio.gov.in/reports/AIRCompandium2006.pdf Prasar Bharati Annual Report 2007 (20.6 MB) http://allindiaradio.gov.in/reports/PBAR2007.pdf Regds (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, May 12, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 999 kHz, Jakarta sounds reasonably powerful, and probably in the tens of kW at least. RRI seem to be maintaining their MW transmitters better these days than a few years ago. Most of the regional frequencies are regularly active at the moment, and a few have increased their hours - e.g. Samarinda 1215 kHz which is now on throughout the usual broadcast day (approx 2100 or 2200 to 1600), instead of a few hours each day as previously (Alan Davies, 01.04.2008, ARC Information Desk 28 April via DXLD) ** IRAN. Re Iran magazine mention in DXLD 8-059 --- To see the front cover, back cover and table of contents of the magazine mentioned, please visit http://www.kg4lac.com Scroll down the left hand side, click Iran then on the right hand side, click the link to Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran April 30, 2008 Mahjubah The Islamic Family Magazine. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Manassas, VA USA, May 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. ESTADOS UNIDOS: Esquema de emisiones de Radio Farda en idioma Farsi (Persa): HORA UTC KHZ 0030-0200 5860, 7280, 7350 0200-0330 5860, 7280, 9510 0330-0400 5860, 7280, 17575 0400-0500 5860, 9460, 17575 0500-0530 5860, 15255, 17575 0530-0600 15255, 15690, 17575 0600-1000 15690, 17845, 21715 1000-1200 7125, 15690, 21715 1200-1400 7125, 15690, 17755 1400-1500 11520, 17670, 17755 1500-1600 11520, 15410, 17755 1600-1700 9770, 11945, 15410 1700-1800 5860, 7580, 9770 1800-1900 7105, 7580, 9960 1900-1930 7105, 7580, 9505 1930-2130 5830, 7580, 9505 QTH: Radio Farda, 7600 Boston Blvd., Springfield, VA 22153, USA. E-mail: comment @ radiofarda.com Web: http://www.radiofarda.com (via Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital May 11 via DXLD) Now that Morocco is no longer involved, Farda is a lot harder to hear in CNAm. Any suggestions about best frequencies here or in ENAm? Quite close and far sites must now be in use at same time, e.g. 5 to 17 MHz at 0330-0530, 7 to 21 MHz at 1000-1400 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** IRELAND. Re 8-017: "Christian station Spirit has been licensed to use the former RTE channel of 612 kHz. There has been some conflicting info as to whether they will use Athlone or will have to build their own transmission facilities." This is evidence of them building a new site: http://lists.radiolists.net/pipermail/broadcast/2007-November/063584.html Various discussions indicate that the former RTÉ mediumwave site in Athlone, shut down in 2004, will be demolished for development (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ARC Information Desk 28 April via DXLD) ** KARAKALPAKSTAN. This site is an independent and authoritative source of information about all things Karakalpak, from the origins and history of the Karakalpak people to their present day lifestyle. It contains important sections on the traditional material culture of the Karakalpaks, such as costume and yurts. http://www.karakalpak.com/ Young Karakalpaks in the 1920's. [caption] Image courtesy of the Regional Studies Museum, No'kis. The Karakalpaks are an ethnically diverse Turkic-speaking people who mainly inhabit the isolated delta region of the lower Amu Darya, situated to the south of the Aral Sea. Their exact numbers are unknown but are probably close to 600,000. Their homeland is the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, formed by the Soviets in 1925. Despite its Autonomous Republic status, Karakalpakstan is effectively little more than just another province within the independent Republic of Uzbekistan, albeit the largest province, accounting for over one third of Uzbekistan's land area. However, most of Karakalpakstan is occupied by barren and inhospitable desert. In the Soviet era its main use was for the production of cotton and the provision of isolated and secret testing sites for chemical and biological weapons. During the past decade or so, sizeable oil and natural gas reserves have been identified under the U'stirt plateau and the bed of the Aral Sea. The Karakalpaks make up less than a third of the inhabitants of Karakalpakstan, and live alongside large populations of Khivan Uzbeks in the south and Kazakhs in the north, plus some Yomud Turkmen along the western border. The Karakalpaks are one of the poorest ethnic groups within Uzbekistan and they suffer from high unemployment, generally poor living conditions and bad health. In recent decades they have had to contend with the full effects of the desiccation of the Aral Sea and the lower Amu Darya. The desertification of the northern delta has led to an evacuation of its rural population and the growth of the southern urban towns, especially the capital city of No'kis. In the past, Karakalpak life revolved around cattle breeding, fishing and irrigated agriculture, the main crops being wheat, sorghum, millet, alfalfa, vegetables and fruit. Rushes were extensively harvested for fodder and bedding. Unlike their Kazakh and Turkmen neighbours, the Karakalpaks were not nomadic although they did migrate seasonally with their cattle from their wintering quarters to their summer grazing grounds in the nearby marshes. Under the Soviets, an increasing amount of the delta was drained and irrigated for the intensive culture of cotton and rice, as was much of the rest of Uzbekistan and neighbouring Turkmenistan. Indeed, it was the development of cotton monoculture coupled with the construction of the Karakum Canal that ultimately led to the present Aral Sea environmental disaster. Like many ethnic peoples who lived in monotonous or barren desert environments, the Karakalpaks developed a colourful and vibrant culture, which is clearly Turkic yet remains uniquely Karakalpak. The Karakalpaks overcame their poverty by utilizing all of the natural and agricultural materials available to them. Unlike the nomadic Turkmen they had limited access to sheep’s wool, so instead they used goat hair, cotton, rushes and reeds, fur pelts and calf skin. Although dyes and imported textiles were available from local bazaars they were expensive, so Karakalpak women used every scrap of thread and textile available to them, creating works of art from virtually nothing. The most distinct features of Karakalpak material culture are expressed in women’s costume, especially women’s bridal wear, and in the decoration of the Karakalpak yurt. Although Islam was suppressed by the Soviet authorities, most Karakalpaks have maintained a semblance of their faith, although mosques are few and far between. However many of their customs and traditions may well have more ancient origins, predating the conversion of the Turkic tribes to Islam under the Golden Horde. Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the help of webdesigner Tim Randall at http://www.northern-images.co.uk in the construction of this website. We could not have undertaken this project without the valuable assistance of many people throughout Karakalpakstan, as well as in Uzbekistan, Russia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. We thank them all for their time and patience in answering our multitude of questions (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) I humbly admit that I had never heard of Karakalpakstan. Its obscurity is reinforced by the lack of any SWBC transmitters, and not much on MW or FM. If No`kis is the capital, Nukus is probably the same place in WRTH with government outlets on 1062 and 1260. The website has a great deal of fascinating info about the place, but apparently not (yet?) including broadcasting or communications in general. It`s slightly smaller than Oklahoma, but much less population, and superficial visitors have dubbed it ``the worst place in the world``, especially if they are booked into ``the worst hotel in the world``, rather than visiting hospitable people in their homes. Nice example of what a couple of people can do to bring an obscure region to attention of the world (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6005, Shiokaze: the newest COMJAN "JSR Shiokaze" blue ribbon QSL card from Tokyo in 8 days, QSL printed with the current frequencies: 5965 & 6045 and 6005 & 6020, full data but no site given, for an email sent to COMJAN commenting on the interference from Echo of Hope on 6003. Slightly different design than the one that I received from them last month. Surprised to receive this, as I had not requested a QSL. Since May 9, through May 12, they are heard back on 6020 again, *1400-1430* (Ron Howard, CA, May 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. 9875, Radio Vilnius, 2330-2340+, May 11, Vilnius booming in right now with English programming. In the clear with a very good signal. No sign of the Chinese music jammer. 11690, Radio Vilnius, *0001-0045+, May 12, sign on with Lithuanian programming. Into English at 0029 with music and opening ID announcements. Poor to fair in noisy conditions. Lost in noise by 0045. No Chinese music jammer heard (Brian Alexander, PA, Mechanicsburg, PA, TenTec RX-340, 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. See COLOMBIA [and non] ** MOROCCO [and non]. Re: But noted RTM Nador 15340 as always tiny S=3-5 signal, deep fadings. 1150 UT May 2nd (Wolfgang Büschel) Probably the schedule for this needs to be confirmed. Now, after 0900, I have no trace of any signal on 15340 or 15345. At the same time the other Nador transmitter is still audible with Medi 1 on 9575, although quite weak. These are more than 2000 km under broad daylight. Also made a point of tuning up 15455 for a bit of Voice of Russia via Samara, just in time to witness a bad slip by the news announcer. Gulp (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 12, dxldydg via DXLD) And what was that? 15340: Next to the CRI Russian powerhouse from Kashi on 15335 kHz I could trace a tiny signal, when set the E1 to SYNCand/or ssb/usb mode plus PBT. The signal left the air at 0959:32 UT, so I guess it's DWL via Kranji Singapore towards E Asia 0900-1000 in English, the only station which is registered at this time slot. Now at 1002 UT the 15340 channel is empty. A tiny carrier on 15345.07 kHz, maybe RAE Buenos Aires on Whitsun holiday broadcast? Or an unwanted spur of something else? (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) RTM is on air today (12th May) at 1045 tune in on 15340 with music. The signal is peaking to S-9+10dB on my meter (with deep fades), but modulation level is low. This sounds like the Nador transmitter. ID and jingle at 1100 followed by news and talk/music at 1102 (Noel R. Green, (NW England), ibid.) Was apparently still off shortly after 1000, as Wolfgang already noted. First noted on here at 1052 recheck, so weak that it was not even possible to say if this faint carrier had any audio. 9575 is still noticeably stronger here, and it is well modulated in regard to both modulation depth and fidelity. If this 15340 really aims at Europe something must be very wrong with the antenna and/or the transmitter. 250 kW on 19 metres from 2000 km away and within the main beam would have to be much, much stronger. Btw, RTM as an organization name is a thing of the past, like RTA in neighbouring Algeria (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) I think it was RFI in Russian on 15345 at 1500-1530, with another underneath. This is heard from 1530 peaking to S-9 with deep fades and low modulation playing Arabic music and song. So frequency change from 15340 could still be at 1500 (Noel R. Green (NW England), DX LISTENING DIGEST) Official data says 110 degrees from Nador. Also for 15340, and let's say as real operational parameters? WRTH specifies the target of this frequency as Europe. If it is really run with an antenna aiming at 110 degrees the weak signal would of course be no surprise, and of course this would in reality not be a service for Europe! Here are pictures of the Nador site, but they are just better thumbnails: http://www.medi1.com/elementcle/diffusion.php (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) Both 9575, 15340, - and 15345 15-22 UT are meant to 110 degrees. L'émetteur Ondes Courtes, dirigé vers l'Afrique de l'Ouest[sic??] a une puissance de 250 kW. Ouest means West. But 110 degrees is never in direction of W Africa. This is for 9575 : Elle couvre ainsi l'ensemble du bassin méditerranéen ouest, c'est-à-dire le grand Maghreb (Maroc, Algérie, Tunisie, Mauritanie ainsi qu'une partie de la Libye). Elle peut être aussi reçue en Espagne, en France et en Italie. Click on "Nos frequences" in the top right corner (dark blue) and smaller Medi 1 window opens. Keep your mouse on the "Afrique de l'Ouest" ball, and immediately the display shows a map of half Africa, up to Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) 5340 MRC - at Stuttgart S=4-6 with deep fades, Briech was always S=9+20-30 dB powerhouse. The station had previously a warm-up start from 0845/0850 UT, so is still a puzzle; I'll check the 10 to 11 UT slot tomorrow. According to Noel's check I guess switch-on time at Nador is about 1045 UT warm-up now? Lobe / Side-lobe / backside-lobe --- Official data says 110 degrees from Nador, and from Briech 27 degrees previously. Nador 110 degree signal cross towards Central Algeria, southernmost point of Tunisia, Libya, border region Sudan/Egypt, Djibouti, Yemen, Somalia, latter 6500 km distance. See attached image. Briech 27 degrees was towards Toulouse, Luxembourg/Frankfurt, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm. Nador-Berlin is 30 degrees, a right angle, or let's say a "DEAD" sector. Nador-Blackpool 359 degrees, so Noel gets a more or less backside-lobe signal (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** MOROCCO. 595: RTM has been noted elsewhere in Europe, and I've been asked whether it's Morocco: it is Oujda, NE Morocco; e.g. 2117-..., 07 May, parallel to 540 Tahadart, 33443, weakish audio most of the time (hence hard to ID), QRM de PORTUGAL. I was not fully sure of what it was a number of weeks ago, and even disregarded it because Oujda has been regular on 594 for ages, but it's the RTM after all, and the heterodyne is pesting the channel for too too long now. That of Syria on 782 is nevertheless even "older." (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Re 8-059, MUSIC AND RNW: In light of the discussion about bla-bla vs music on Radio Nederland, that "non" part is particularly significant. In the issue of DXLD you mention, the item mentions that music isn't banned on their Spanish service, and although as fond as you are of classical music, what I find astonishing is that the bla-bla blahs are somehow considered by RN as being the exclusive venue of information rather than aural euthanasia. Now that Dody has graced us with her presence in the Happy Station Yahoo Group, I think it's timely to award both her and Tom Meijer with a trophy for providing more information about the Dutch and music popular among the Dutch than all the current bla-blah put together. Tom used to say quite frequently "keep in touch with the Dutch", and he in fact delivered on that. Bla-bla has the sound of a Dutch eulogy as the audience's ears glaze over. An international audience usually wants to know more about what's happening in Holland, what's popular there, what's going on with the home folks, what their culture is, and culture includes music, arts. Music and arts ARE information about the Dutch. Blah-blah just causes the blahs. And smaller audiences (Clara Listensprechen, May 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or to put it another way, if we do have music on some RN SW broadcasts, why must it be the latest pop, instead of the dust- gathering barrel organs and carillons, or godforbid, classical? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) If it's what's popular among the Dutch, it's information about what's currently enjoyed by the Dutch, so I have nothing against Dutch pop music. I still have that autographed Mouth & McNeil album I won via Happy Station and I think it's perfectly appropriate for Holland to be proud of its local talent, even if it is the latest pop. Insofar as classical music may have been part of what was popular in Holland at some time, as was barrel organ and carillon music, I would agree that it, too, has its place as information about the Dutch (Clara, ibid.) OK Clara, and Glenn, this topic about music whereas SW or local FM can become never ending. I have never had any trouble with all kinds of music from Ravel to Pink Floyd, Sade or Agustín Lara (who is he?) and even Dutch 70's George Baker Selection or The Shocking Blue. But finally I'll have to admit I'm getting old regarding these nowadays stupidity of reggaeton or hip hop and rap crap. Where in the world is the talent? [see below] When I hear all that nonsense Alfonso Montealegre introduces in the Europarade, or the fill-in music of the British Pop on BBC Mundo some mornings (there's no obligation to stay tuned, of course) well, that reminds me how disappointed Hill Edell was after playing Surfin' Bird by The Trashmen, 44 years ago over WRUL's World Wide Hit Parade. It has to be a generation gap issue. Happily we have lots and lots of options at this very time, thanks to the Internet, where we can handle even our own radio station! 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, ibid.) Of course there are lots of options, but as a fan of both Happy Station and His & Hers, I'm all in favor of the Dutch being part of those options. I used to be quite fond of the Dutch till their international serviced dried up to a prune. If I want to fall asleep to verbiage, I'll just tune in an American preacher, thank you very much. There are many, many options among preachers, IF you call that "options". Talk is cheap, not to mention monotonous unless you tune into a screamer like Stair. At least when your brain falls asleep, your eyeballs remain jacked open wide. His & Hers as well as Happy Station provided ambassadorial-level service to the international community for Holland; no one has been able to match that since they left. The only other comparable ambassador for his country on the shortwave bands was the incomparable Rudy Espinal who would play nearly all merengue. And nearly every time he did, he got my boogie up. [Radio Clarín, 11700, Dominican Republic] Where's the talent? In the persons of Rudy Espinal, Deborah Rey, and Tom Meijer. The stations that let them go let go of great treasure, music and all. The only place that music wasn't informative was in DX Jukebox. Now THAT sucked (Clara Listensprechen, ibid.) Precisely, Clara, my fond memories of entertainment in short wave radio throughout the years relies in the best couple from whom I was delighted because of their voices, namely Jerry Cowan and the freshness and sympathy of Dody (OK, call her Deborah). Besides, I enjoyed every time Jerry went on reading some of the technical features for DX Jukebox, when as a matter of fact they used to fill- in between items with top songs of that era, as I recall Gary Lewis & The Playboys' 1965 hit "Count Me In". Obviously, for someone interested only in DX, that doesn't have any sense. The other air personality from RNW Spanish section, in which I founded my DJ and radio announcer career, for 37 years now, was Pancho Ibáñez: versatility 100%, just great. And you know what, was the only time listening an Argentinian (was unaware from where he came from by then) with their characteristic accent. BTW, let me clarify that when I referred to where is the talent, I meant most of today's pop music, if we can really call it that way. Regards (Raúl Saavedra, ibid.) ** NORFOLK ISLAND [and non]. "THE OLD TIMER" (60 Years in the hobby of Amateur Radio) is a book written by Jim Smith, VK9NS, from Norfolk Island, and is now available at: http://www.studiomonarchbooks.com/ This book is about the story of Jim Smith's travels through life and becoming involved in the hobby of Amateur Radio. The book is almost 600 pages long (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 858, May 12, 2008, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. In a recent post to this group I mentioned that I was hearing Karai National radio in the evenings (some weeks ago) on 3290 kHz rather than 'Radio Central's' own Kundu service programs. Apparently there is some technical problem at Radio Central's studio so they are carrying the Karai program temporarily at the moment. Regards (Ian Baxter, Australia, May 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. The Catholic Radio Network (CRN) (now defunct), which was taken over in Port Moresby by Radio Maria has not progressed over the past 12 months. Radio Maria currently only operates in Port Moresby and Lae on FM. Some other independent Christian religious FM stations in PNG may however broadcast the Radio Maria program. The Vanimo SW station (4960 kHz) is currently off the air with damage to the power supply. No news at present on when this might be fixed (Ian Baxter, Australia, May 12, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** PERU. 4789.64, Radio Nueva Atlántida noted at 1040-1055 with OM en español. At 0950 Radio Visión 4790.1 alone. 12 May [Wilkner] 4826.35, Radio Sicuani, noted on at 0950, early for this OA. Strong signal. 12 May [Wilkner] 5120.28, 0950 on early, presumed Ondas del Suroriente after period off the air. [Monitored] in LSB to avoid horrendous ute. 12 May (Robert L Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Southeast Florida, Noise Reducing Antenna ~ 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Re 8-059: Hi Glenn, You are quite right. I was searching for Radio Africa on 15190 on May 3rd, but found only Radio Pilipinas with a "crash start" at 1730. They ID-ed in English and tentatively Pilipine language and played a song by a choir, sounding like a march (national anthem?). Heard for about a quarter of an hour and disappeared behind static noise. No Radio Africa at that time and day! 73 from (Björn Fransson, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAO TOME. VOA relay on 1530, Pinheira 600 kW for A-08: 0300-0430 Daily English 1600-1700 Daily English 0430-0500 Daily Portuguese 1700-1800 Daily Portuguese 0500-0530 Daily Hausa 1800-1830 M-F Portuguese 0530-0600 M-F French 1830-2000 Daily French 0600-0700 Daily English 2000-2200 Daily English (VOA schedule via Tony Rogers, Medium Wave Report, May BDXC-UK Communications via DXLD) This is not in the EiBi frequency list, which is mainly SW but includes certain MW external services, only Vatican on 1530, but also VOA Botswana on 909, so why not? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA observed on 17785 in English at approx. 0750- 0800 on 11-13 April, ID as ``Radio Riyad`` before switching to French at 0800. The transmission is scheduled to start at 0800 but sometimes opens earlier enabling the end of the local English service to be heard. English at 1000-1230 on 15250 is difficult now (Dave Kenny, England, May BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SOMALIA [non]. New 7230, *1730-1745*, AFS, 07.05, IRIN, via Meyerton - test Somali reports mentioning Amnesty International, ID, song from Horn of Africa 54544 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres longwire, via Dario Monferini, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ?? Last we heard, this was testing 7290 last week, and still scheduled there. There is however, an unID Samara, Russia VOR broadcast listed for only 15 minutes at 1730 via Samara, 250 kW, 224 degrees to CIRAF 39, which is not Somalia, but from Turkey and Iraq to Yemen. Possibly an additional IRIN test if Anker is sure of the ID, rather than typoed the frequency? However, per WRTH Update, BBCWS in Swahili is via Meyerton from 1746 on 7230, so perhaps SENTECH had Somali on the wrong frequency just before it (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 657 kHz: The Christian Radio Station, Radio Pulpit, has purchased a new transmitter with capacity of broadcasting simultaneously in analog and digital systems. Listeners will be informed of how they would be affected during the installation process and on which frequency they will be able to listen to their favourite programs. The old transmitter is 26 years old. Power indicated today 50 kW. Email: gospel @ radiopulpit.co.za. Webpage: http://www.radiopulpit.co.za (Bengt Ericson, 28.3.2008, ARC Information Desk 28 April via DXLD) ** SPAIN. A partir del dia 15 de mayo se producira un cambio en la frecuencia que emite en inglés y francés para el Magreb de 1900 a 2100 UT (21:00 a 23:00 HOE). Dejaremos de emitir por 11625 kHz para hacerlo por 11620. Estos ajustes están motivados por las interferencias que se producían en la antigua frecuencia. Información facilitada por Antonio Buitrago REE. Cordiales 73 (José Bueno, Spain, May 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So now instead of colliding with Vatican in English at 2000 on 11625, REE will collide with AIR on 11620 in English, Hindi and English, 325 degrees from Bangalore to Europe, and if not so impeded, sometimes onward to E North America. Way to go, REE! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. Re 8-059, are the NAm frequencies still on air, supposedly targeted elsewhere now? 12120, English on Sat / May 10, 0138–0142, I heard 'be care we share", sports news on football and golf then ID. Sun / May 11 0031 – 0033 export promo, http://www.getthai.go.th followed by business news on Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and oil prices, Rupert Murdoch and joint venture. 15275 on Mon / May 12, 0215–0230, Global News on Myanmar, Chinese and Japanese leaders talk, British Prime Minister and Somalia followed by promos on Blue Ribbon Club - Bangkok Airway, http://www.bangkokair.com and world of food exhibition, kitchen of the world, and http://www.getthai.go.th followed by business news. Time gong conclude program to NAm. 0231 – 0329 Thai service starting with talk mentioning "daily news" and "America" then talk on video, MTV, and electronics. Traditional instrumental music and talk on cyclone, Ban Ki-moon, America and song by male (Tony Ashar, Depok – Indonesia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [DXLD 8-059: How about the WNAm service at 0200-0330 on 15275. Is anyone hearing that anywhere now? Glenn]. 15275, R. Thailand, *0200- 0214, May 12, in English, chimes, ID, "It is now time for our broadcast in English for listeners in the United States, west coast", national news followed by segment with biographical sketch of their king, into global news (first item about the tornadoes in Oklahoma). Checked at 0235 and from 0255-0314, both times in Thai, fair to good reception the whole time (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Remember, Asilomar spelt backwards is Ramolisa (gh) ** THAILAND. R. Thailand MW sites in Bangkok area, according to the plausible information on their website at http://center.prd.go.th/engineer/surveySection/AM.htm (details in parentheses are added from other sources): 819 kHz - Rangsit (Pathum Thani Province) 10 kW 837 kHz - Bang Phun (Pathum Thani Province) 10 kW 891 kHz - (Nong Rong, Nong Khae District) Sara Buri Province 1000 kW 918 kHz - Salaya (Phutthamonthon District, Nakhon Pathom Prov) 100 kW 1476 kHz (typo for 1467) - Rangsit (Pathum Thani Province) 100 kW (Alan Davies, ARC Information Desk 28 April via DXLD) ** U K. BBC lectures on Public Service Broadcasting The video of the second of three lectures on “The BBC and the future of Public Service Broadcasting”, produced by BBC Parliament, is now available online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/thefuture/video_fry.shtml This lecture is by broadcaster, actor and comedian Stephen Fry, who reveals that he is still “frightened” by pop music and offshore radio. If you prefer, you can listen to the audio and/or read the transcript of the lecture, and there are also links to the first one by Sir David Attenborough. These lectures are available to Web visitors from outside the UK (May 12th, 2008 - 12:47 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 8-059: Death of Richard M. McCarthy, who worked for USIA, VOA. As IBB audience research analyst for East Asia, I worked with Richard. In his final years at VOA (I think he worked beyond 2003, perhaps as a contractor), he was frail, but sharp as the proverbial tack, knew everybody's name. A very nice person. Posted: 11 May 2008 (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) OBIT ** U S A. James Glassman will speak at the Heritage Foundation, 15 May, noon. [1600 UT] "As freedom and democratic progress are being challenged around the globe, how is U.S. International Broadcasting responding? James K. Glassman, President Bush's nominee as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, gives his first public speech since becoming the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors last June. His remarks will have special emphasis on Afghanistan, Iran, Cuba, Syria, Russia, and Tibet." Heritage Foundation announcement. And because Glassman's appointment to the public diplomacy post is being delayed by Senator Tom Coburn (see previous post and viz. the global challenges to "freedom and democratic progress" mentioned above), this could be interesting, despite the unfortunately hyperbolic title of the event: U.S. International Broadcasting on the Frontlines of Freedom. Posted: 11 May 2008 (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. See GERMANY [non]. Rechecked at 1720: 15420 now clear, but WBCQ still on 17495 with usual religionist declamations predominating on this transmitter, reduced carrier and more modulation on the USB than the LSB, but enough on the LSB to be listenable in that position too, if one ever wanted to. Allan Weiner indicated to me the WBCQ move back to 15420 has been delayed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VANUATU. VANUATU SW TRANSMISSIONS TO RESUME 'BY MID YEAR' This from The Vanuatu Independent, 11th-17th May 2008. "After eight years in which most islands have not been able to receive Radio Vanuatu, the national broadcaster will return to speaking nationwide in the middle of the year. The short wave transmitters will cost over VT 35 million (approx UKP200,000) which is to be given by aid donors. A fifty per cent deposit is required for supply of the equipment. By the end of July installation should be completed. Eight years. Unbelievable that Radio Vanuatu could suffer such neglect." I've just come back from a week on Efate, the main island of Vanuatu, and heard nothing of the station on either MW or SW despite being in clear sight of the AM transmitter site. Only the local FM service was audible (Gavin Robertson, May 12, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Thanks for this and the insider observation, Gavin, and nice to have a posting from you. For those that don't know, Gavin is now based in Australia!- BDXC-UK yg Moderator, ibid.) ?? See 8-056, where 7260 was heard in NSW on 25 April (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. LA AM SE NIEGA A MORIR --- Expertos aseguran que la radio digital puede remozar a la Amplitud Modulada --- SONIBERTH JIMÉNEZ Con 20 años de apogeo indiscutible, la radio FM no ha logrado sepultar a su banda hermana, la AM. Por el contrario, el futuro de ésta en el espectro radioeléctrico es bastante promisorio, a juzgar por los expertos y su contundente vaticinio: las AM no desaparecerán, especialmente si se llega a concretar la tecnología de la radio digital en el país. El reconocido hombre de la radiodifusión venezolana, Oswaldo Yépez, asegura que "Las AM no van a desaparecer. Además, la posibilidad de la radio digital es una fuerza de renovación a las AM". Yépez explica que "la FM ha dominado el espectro radial. Pero cuando el sistema digital entre en la competencia, seguramente la AM recuperará muchos espacios. Por supuesto, dentro de la competencia hay emisoras que tendrán que cambiar su concepto para poder competir con la FM, esos cambios pueden estar relacionados con la programación". . . http://www.eluniversal.com/2008/05/11/qhay_art_la-am-se-niega-a-mor_849875.shtml (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) Digital will be the salvation of AM against competition from FM in Venezuela. Usual demographic split, oldsters preferring AM, youngsters FM, they think, altho radio ratings have just about disappeared (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re: "3175.37 harmonic,[??] 0010; 0900 with strong signal, - If you know it`s a harmonic, any idea of what? It could not, of course, be a MW frequency ending in zero (gh, DXLD May 11, 2008)" Hi Glenn, Good point, also speculation by KM in Cedar Key .... but this morning 12 May on 3176.51, new frequency at 1030. Originally looking for Perú, Radio Municipal, Panao; irregular in the last few months (Robert L Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Southeast Florida, Noise Reducing Antenna ~ 60 meter dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Ha, HAH! I wonder if I was the only one who logged him, but really I wish everyone did, after all. I tuned into the (late middle of a long)? show at 0207 GMT as Saturday morning GMT. 10 May 2008. 6998 kHz. Heard during the last 15 minutes, Brad, John Lightning funny but about inaudible sketch, banjo song inaudible, signal slowly varied between S0 and S4 usually with bad luck that the audio was its best with the signal towards its worst. When I caught the station the audio was very echoey and totally collapsed the B + voltage to the modulator (not finals) on long winded audios until towards the end of the show the audio was more sensibly proportioned. (Hence AM station with 2 power supplies like old Radio Switzerland). Next, banjo with singer in song, "Here Pussy, I`m Singing With Delight" with full small room of people chorusing, "Meow". Then a Warner Brothers sign off with either usual Porky Pig or seemed to be a Bugs Bunny (couldn`t tell) vocal sign off at 0222 GMT. The carrier went off just 2 seconds later. A nearby DX hound had been peeping a neat fist just 2 Kc up frequency (= 7.000 Mc on the nose?) in short winded but neat 1 1/2 minute transmits and receives throughout my listen. At 0228 a slow scan TV for only a second, stopped. My first 41 metres catch had been a station with a ton of enthusiasm and some banjo playing (Frederic Jodry, KA2PYQ, May 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Oscillating tones jammer, May 12 at 1316, hard to tell whether it was aimed at 11635 or 11640. Aoki has two possibilities during this hour, tho neither is a*terisked as jammed: RTI in Amoy on 11635, and V. of Wilderness, Korean, religious-clandestine to North Korea via Irkutsk on 11640 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 8-059: " Numbers station, Spanish speaking women [?] 17435 kHz, 1720 UT 5/10/08, sinpo 45555, Good signal into Cincinnati. FT2000, IC-R-70, 260 ft windom, 2 ele quad at 50 ft, alfa delta sloper (Tim McGraw, N8YI, WPE8KHZ Cincinnati, OH, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)" Refers to V02a Spanish Lady sent from Cuba. There is a schedule of sorts [freqs/schedules can be found in ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter]. Sending is usually AM with three messages of 150 groups each, different addresses and usually repeated one hour later. Regards (Paul Beaumont, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEW ADVENTURES IN SOUND ART presents the 6th annual RADIO WITHOUT BOUNDARIES CONFERENCE & WORKSHOPS MAY 30 - June 1, 2008 @ Ryerson Student Centre, 55 Gould Street, Toronto, ON as part of the 7th annual month-long DEEP WIRELESS FESTIVAL of RADIO & TRANSMISSION ART http://www.deepwireless.ca http://www.naisa.ca/RWB Register online, space is limited http://www.community-media.com/RWB08_Registration.html $150/$130 (price includes conference sessions, workshops, lunches, & performances) $85/$75 day rate The sixth annual Radio Without Boundaries conference makes Deep Wireless an internationally sought after destination for those with a general interest in radio and transmission art and/or those who just want something more from radio. We are very excited to be brining both Tetsuo Kogawa (Japan), and Chris Brookes (Nfld, Can) as thw RWB 2008 keynote speakers. Also included are Jared Weissbrot (SoundPrint in USA), TradeMark G (USA), Chantal Dumas (Can), Anna Friz (Can), Andreas Kahre (Can), Peter Courtemanche (Can), Damiano Pietropaolo & Neil Sandell (Can) play many more. Conference workshops include "Making Rain" by Chris Brookes, "DIY Wired Coils" Peter Couremanche, "Build a Micro-Radio Transmitter" Tetsuo Kogawa, "How to Pitch" by Jared Weissbrot & Neil Sandell, "Integrating Text and Sound" by Andreas Kahre and "Listening & Recording" workshop by Darren Copeland will be offered during the conference weekend for those attending the conference. For full session description go to http://www.naisa.ca/RWB/sessions.html Your conference registration also gets you into all Deep Wireless performances and Radio Without Boundaries workshops. The Deep Wireless 2008 festival is partially funded by the government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, Associates of Independents in Radio (AIR) and the SOCAN Foundation. Thanks also to Third Coast Festival, CKLN radio and the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC) for its support of Deep Wireless 2008. New Adventures in Sound Art is a non-profit organization that produces performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental sound art. Included in its Toronto productions are: Deep Wireless, Sound Travels, Arts Birthday and SOUNDplay. Media inquiries & general information (including ticket info): Nadene Thériault-Copeland Managing Director New Adventures in Sound Art 416-516-7413 naisa @ naisa.ca Festival information http://www.deepwireless.ca http://www.naisa.ca (via Jaisakthivel, Chennai, India, dxldyg via DXLD) NASB ELECTS NEW BOARD MEMBER AT 20TH ANNUAL MEETING May 12, 2008 (Cary, North Carolina, USA) - Bill Damick of Trans World Radio was elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters (NASB) at its 2008 annual meeting in Cary, North Carolina on May 9. Damick also gave a presentation about shortwave audience research during the event. The meeting was hosted by Trans World Radio (TWR) at its world headquarters building in Cary, which is a suburb of Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina. This year’s conference was the 20th annual meeting of the NASB, which is a professional association for the nation’s privately-owned shortwave stations. Opening the meeting in a large auditorium with a giant glass wall looking out into a tranquil North Carolina forest, Trans World Radio CEO Thomas Lowell expressed his view that shortwave broadcasting remains an important delivery method for TWR’s Christian message in many parts of the world. TWR invited representatives of the NASB to speak to staff members about the viability of shortwave radio in today’s world, in the midst of new technologies like satellites and the Internet. The NASB reps explained that there are many countries where Internet access is non-existent or very limited, and many places that cannot be reached by local FM signals. Again this year, as it has for the past several years, the NASB annual meeting was combined with the annual meeting of the USA DRM Group. The DRM meeting took place on May 8 at the same TWR venue, and featured speakers such as Adil Mina of Continental Electronics, who is chairman of the USA DRM Group and a director of the DRM Consortium. Mina gave an update on the latest developments at the Consortium, and the prospects for new consumer-friendly, inexpensive DRM receivers in the coming months. The NASB annual meeting had a very North Carolina flair this year. Besides TWR’s participation, the meeting featured a presentation by NASB member Fundamental Broadcasting Network, which operates shortwave stations WTJC and WBOH on the Atlantic coast of North Carolina. An audiovisual program was also offered by the staff of the IBB Greenville, North Carolina transmitter site, from where the Voice of America and Radio Marti are transmitted. Rachel Baughn, the veteran editor of Monitoring Times magazine, which covers shortwave extensively, spoke about her publication and the need for shortwave stations to provide timely information to magazines such as hers which reach the shortwave listening public. Monitoring Times’ headquarters is located in Brasstown, in western North Carolina. Lunches and dinners at the meeting included typical North Carolina fare such as pork barbecue, grit cakes and sweet tea. They were sponsored by NASB members and associate members Media Broadcast, Comet North America, Thomson Broadcast, WMLK and Continental Electronics. Another session which drew a great deal of response dealt with shortwave radio’s role in crises and disasters, such as tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. Personnel of various stations talked about how they can be most helpful when a disaster occurs. Mike Adams of Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) told delegates that he is developing a disaster plan for his stations that can be implemented in the event of sudden need, which other NASB members may want to adopt as well. A new member and a new associate member were welcomed at this year’s NASB meeting. Jason Cooper and Brady Murray of WWCR in Tennessee gave a brief introduction to their station, and Allan McGuirl of Galcom International in Canada talked about his company’s newest innovations, including a multi-frequency “fix-tuned” shortwave receiver and a low- power FM transmitter that will eventually be adapted for use on AM and shortwave as well. At the Cary meeting, the NASB decided that its representatives at the upcoming High Frequency Coordination Committee (HFCC) meetings will be Glen Tapley of WEWN in Alabama, who will attend the B08 HFCC Conference in Moscow in August; and Jeff White of WRMI in Miami, who will go to the A09 conference in Tunis, Tunisia in February of next year. Besides newly-elected board member Bill Damick of TWR, the other NASB board members are Jeff White of WRMI (president), Mike Adams of FEBC (vice president), Glen Tapley of WEWN, Adrian Peterson of Adventist World Radio and Charles Caudill of World Christian Broadcasting, which operates shortwave station KNLS in Alaska. All were present in Cary except Caudill, who was hosting a visit to his headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee by the president of Madagascar, where World Christian Broadcasting is building a new shortwave station. Mike Adams was re-elected to a second three-year board term. Jeff White and Mike Adams were re-elected as president and vice- president, respectively. Dan Elyea of WYFR in Florida was re-elected NASB Secretary-Treasurer, and Thais White of WRMI was re-elected Assistant Secretary Treasurer. Bill Damick replaced Elder Jacob O. Meyer on the board. Elder Meyer, of WMLK in Pennsylvania, ended two consecutive three-year terms on the NASB Board this year. According to the Association’s bylaws, after two terms, board members must rotate off for at least a year. The new board decided to investigate the possibility of the NASB commissioning a survey of shortwave listeners in North America, and it talked about methods of publicity that the group can use to make listeners more aware of its member stations and organizations. At the NASB business meeting in Cary, the members decided the dates and places for the next two annual meetings, which will again be held jointly with the USA DRM Group meetings. The 2009 meetings will be co- hosted by World Christian Broadcasting and WWCR in the Nashville area on May 7 and 8, 2009. The 2010 meetings will take place May 13 and 14 in Hamilton, Ontario, hosted by associate member Galcom International. Complete audio files of this year’s meetings, as well as video presentations, will soon be available on the NASB’s website, http://www.shortwave.org (Jeff White, News Release from the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters, May 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see also FRANCE; C&C just above ++++++++++++++++++++ Will the redesigned DRM website help bring us DRM receivers? The Digital Radio Mondiale consortium, seeking to replace analog on shortwave, medium wave, and longwave, has redesigned its website. "While it remains, as ever, the most comprehensive and accurate source of information about the DRM standard and global digital radio, the site now has a more user-friendly feel with exciting improvements in design, content and navigation." http://www.drm.org Does anyone else notice that the home page loads slowly? -- "It's especially pleasing to see Analog Devices, a U.S. company, as one of the new DRM members listed. The company is developing DRM receivers for various world markets." www.26mhz.us (kimandrewelliott.com May 11 via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) That statement is not correct. Analog Devices is a world leader in DSP ICs, and has developed a multimode tuner IC that can be programmed for AM, FM, and DSP-based technologies such as DAB, IBOC, and DRM, but it is NOT developing DRM receivers or DRM-specific ICs, as a quick visit to their corporate web site will confirm. In fact, when you search for "DRM," you get references for digital rights management ICs and technologies instead of radio (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, ibid.) Re: DTV discussion on NPR Talk of the Nation Science Friday, May 9: ``It`s only the first segment of four, not the whole hour, 12 minutes and pretty superficial. Guest is a real booster, refers to ``terrible, fuzzy, analog`` compared to ``crystal clear digital``. The few callers who got in did bring up the usual problems with DTV reception.`` I listened too. I agree with it being a poor segment, considering that it was supposed to be a "scientific" look at the subject. The one caller who was trying to call attention to the fact that the over-the- air digital signal is NOT either "not there" or "perfect", but often is extremely variable in quality, with audio dropouts and picture freezing or breakup into pixellations occurring without warning even in good weather, and much more often in rainy or windy conditions, was basically ignored. Even though she had a chance to re-emphasize those artifacts before she was cut off, Ira reiterated the "perfect or absent" lie and refused to address the issue. The guest was a consumer-electronics association PR person or shill, with no technical qualifications. The issue of relying on an essentially unreliable medium for emergency notifications in times of disaster or weather dangers, replacing the far-more-reliable analog-TV systems that have worked for decades, and rendering useless all the millions of small portable battery-operated TVs people have added to their emergency kits in recent years, was totally ignored. Actual science coverage on domestic radio is so rare that it infuriates me when they waste any of their measly two-hours-a-week of airtime on this sort of unscientific puffery. It's even worse than their using the time to cover peripherally-science-related political topics, which they do all too often. 73, (Will Martin, MO, May 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) SWITCHING TO DIGITAL TV --- YOU CAN GET SIGNAL TODAY BY CONNECTING RABBIT EARS TO CONVERTER By Elmer Ploetz NEWS STAFF REPORTER Updated: 05/12/08 8:12 AM Bill Wippert/Buffalo News [caption:] Lora Fletcher of Williamsville prepares for 2009 when it's out with the old rabbit ears antenna and in with the new digital conversion box for older home televisions. The little black boxes are finally in the big box stores. So if you get your TV signals through an antenna and you want to see digital transmissions, now is the time to get a digital converter box — but be sure to grab a $40 government coupon to help pay for one. As digital television — or DTV — finally comes of age, there seems to be more confusion than ever about the switch from analog broadcasting. To begin with, there are four things you need to know: 1. You don’t need a converter box if you get your television via cable or satellite. The box you already have from Time Warner Cable, Dish Network or DirecTV is all you need. Cable and satellite TV dominates the market in Erie County, leaving the market for the new over-the-air boxes to mostly older residents who have never gone to cable and those in rural areas who haven’t opted for satellite. 2. If your TV is relatively new, you don’t need a converter box because the circuits for digital reception are already built in. 3. But if you’re still getting your TV signal from rabbit ears, roof- top antennae or the little antennae attached to an older TV, you do need a converter box. The analog signals they’ve been receiving for 60 years or so are set to disappear on Feb. 17, 2009. 4. You don’t have to wait until that deadline to start enjoying ghost- free, snow-free digital TV. All the Buffalo stations already have digital signals up and running. You can buy a converter box and start watching them today. Nevertheless, there are still potential problems: http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/344651.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ ALLLIS BECOMES TCA; QUADRANT IS WHERE? I just glanced over the Thomson Grass Valley pages related to transmission equipment http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/products_disttrans/index_radio_transmission.html What caught my eye was the circumstance that they obviously abandoned the ALLISS product name. These systems are now called TCA instead. And this flyer http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/docs/DataSheets/tbm/radio_transmission/SW_Antennas_V1.pdf shows one such antenna at Kashi as illustration, one that could run that certain kind of transmissions never appearing in any ITU or HFCC documents. The Rigid Dipole antenna shown there has been built at Junglinster for 6095. But where could the featured quadrant antenna be? Looks somewhat like a tropical jungle location? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Picture of the Quadrant antenna maybe taken on Bhutan Himalaya site?? [AHR(S) 2/2h] The Rigid Dipole Technology combines design principles as implemented in rotatable shortwave antennas with the advantages of curtain antennas. Two of these antennas erected at Sines-Portugal. One each at Çakirlar and Emirler Turkey. Two at Radio Kuwait site. Maybe one at Kamalabad, western corner? rotatable curtain antenna system (TCA, former ALLISS system) 12 former ALLISS at Issoudun France, four at Nauen Germany, and 2 also at French Guiana Montsinery site. One at Sines Portugal. One at Radio Kuwait, where the picture maybe taken. One at Seela, Oman. 12 at China ?? to be questioned. ALLISS on http://hireme.geek.nz/alliss8_Nauen_proto.jpg http://hireme.geek.nz/ALLISS.html http://hireme.geek.nz/Thales_ALLISS_brochure_contents.jpg 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ``Picture of Quadrant antenna maybe taken on Bhutan Himalaya site??`` Don't think so, due to the trees. Enclosed a photo taken from a Thalès (at this time) newsletter report about this project. It shows the entry of the transmitter site, situated at 2600 metres above sea level. `` [AHR(S) 2/2h] The Rigid Dipole Technology combines design principles as implemented in rotatable shortwave antennas with the advantages of curtain antennas.`` To put it simply: It is a fixed installation with dipole elements from the ALLISS system. ``Two of these antennas erected at Sines-Portugal. One each at Çakirlar and Emirler Turkey. Two at Radio Kuwait site. Maybe one at Kamalabad, western corner?`` Really all of the 2/2 type? ``12 former ALLISS at Issoudun France`` Note the possible configurations. HCJB German 1730-1830 on 6015, at present under discussion due to reception problems, uses antenna type 147. Now what's this? Could not find a reference table for these codes. And the details given in the brochure are incomplete in at least one point: One of these units, called Gange, is a special design with 75 metre capability, at present used for Radio Taiwan International programming on 3965. See http://pagesperso-orange.fr/tvignaud/am/rfi/e1991-2001.htm ``12 at China ?? to be questioned.`` Presumably more equipment had been delivered after the brochure was produced. ``ALLISS on http://hireme.geek.nz/alliss8_Nauen_proto.jpg `` NOOOOOOO, that's the 1964 vintage antenna at Nauen, developed by Rundfunk- und Fernsehtechnisches Zentrum at Berlin-Adlershof. It has absolutely nothing to do with Thomson. This antenna is adjustable not only in azimuth but also in elevation, and I think different dipole configurations are possible as well. It was in use in conjunction with a 100 kW Funkwerk Köpenick transmitter, during the nineties for Deutsche Welle and RNW (the latter with English to the UK 1130-1325) until it was shut down in 2000. In early 2006 the Nauen station crew revived this antenna by pulling a S4001 transmitter out of Jülich. They did not need any contractor; it was indeed just a matter of dismantling the rig, putting it on a truck, unloading it at Nauen and plugging anything in since the old Funkwerk Köpenick had fortunately the same 380 volt three-phase power supply as the much newer Telefunken. See also http://www.jans-radioseiten.de/rbi/rbi1970.jpg http://hireme.geek.nz/ALLISS.html --- It's better to not refer to this one. The same goes for anything about ALLISS etc., etc. on the English Wikipedia. Good night! (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) ###