DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-096, September 2, 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 SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1424 Wed 0530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1130 WRMI 9955 Wed 2100 WBCQ 15420-CUSB Thu 0530 WRMI 9955 Thu 1430 WRMI 9955 Thu 2330 WBCQ 7415 Fri 0100 WRMI 9955 Fri 0800 WRMI 9955 Fri 1930 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 Fri 2300 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Area 51 [NEW] Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sat 2000 WRMI 9955 [NEW] Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 Sun 2030 WRMI 9955 [NEW] Mon 2200 WBCQ 7415 [temporary, heard Sept 1] Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 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 ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Periodic reconfirmation of R. Solh via UK, 17700, playing exactly same recording day after day for at least a year, Sept 1 at 1346-1349, music ruined by skipping CD; fair signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALASKA. I did notice that 1020 in Alaska has changed call signs. It had been KAXX, which I?ve heard earlier this year. Now they announce KA?A (with the ? being either a B, C, D, or V, I suppose) at 06:05. Conditions were so good that I recorded TOH segments throughout the night using the Wellbrook Array (Walt Salmaniw, BC, IRCA via DXLD) FCC AM Query has a callsign history table for each facility, this being # 53491: Current Call Sign: KABA Facility ID Number: 53491 Call Sign Begin Date KABA 03/28/2008 KAXX 06/03/1997 KFFR 04/20/1992 KCFA 07/03/1985 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks, Glenn! In my notes I have a mp3 clip of KAXX right around the changeover time, the last I was in Masset, so it'll be nice to keep for posterity. 73s (Walt Salmaniw, BC, ibid.) ** ALASKA. 1170, 0527- Aug 31. KJNP North Pole, always enjoyable to listen to local programming. In this case, some indigenous Alaskans were singing 'Joy to the World'. 'Currently in North Pole it's 47 degrees' appeared at 0529 when the church service was broken away. Into C&W music. Excellent level. Time and temperature check again at 0545, including 38 in Barrow, brrr! Into Brother Gerry, a native minister (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, QCI, BC, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Anything above freezing there is a nice day (gh) ** ALBANIA. 13640. Radio Tirana, unknown site, at 1852 on 8/28 with English news or commentary. ID at 1854 when they appeared to go off. Scheduled to NA for all of a quarter hour, 1845-1900 (Gerry Dexter, WI, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ?? All RT SW broadcasts are via Shijak, Albania site (gh, DXLD) ** ALGERIA [and non]. Re 8-095: Last night, around 2335 UT at our sunset, longwave was offering quite a show despite some noisy periods. There was carrier and audio at most channels. 153, ALGERIA, Chaïne 1. Man talking in Arabic. Low modulation, fair. 250, ALGERIA, Chaïne 1-3. Drifted from his nominal 252. Arabic traditional music followed by man in French. 252, IRELAND, RTE1. Music in English, poor to fair. Mediumwave was not so impressive. Caught with the 88 degrees, 228 m (750 ft) terminated beverage, RPA-1 preamp and Perseus SDR (Sylvain Naud, Portneuf, QC, Canada http://www.quebecdx.com/ Sept 1, mwdx yg via DXLD) ALGERIA oddity --- As reported by Kai Ludwig yesterday on the DXLD yahoo group, Algeria's longwave transmitter has moved to 250. It's still there this evening (1 September). Such odd behaviour is a real rarity on the stable longwave band. The result of course is a very nasty whistle for anyone trying to listen to RTE on longwave [on 252]. This can be nulled out on a portable receiver, but that is no remedy for car radios. I assume that RTE longwave has a small but significant audience in the UK. Most of these UK listeners won't know what is causing this whistle on their normally fairly-good RTE reception, so someone needs to tell RTE so that they can complain to the Algerians (Chris Greenway, England, Sept 1, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. LRA36 Arcángel, 15476, 1928 UT Sept 1. Zelf nog tenemen met afgeknakte antenne (25 meter LW) Program met Spaanse muziek en talks by female. Gr (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, bdx mailing list via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. A surprise was waiting on 49 metres today (Sept.1) at tune in around 0630UT. ORF was not on air via 6155, and neither was the DRM signal from Moosbrunn for D. Welle. I could not hear a signal on 13730 either. So, is there a fault or maintenance at the station, or has some plugs been pulled? (Noel R. Green [NW England], dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re my earlier posting concerning the non-appearance of Moosbrunn on 6130, 6155 and 13730 this morning (Sept. 1) It's still off air at 1100 UT. on 6155 and 13730. The next scheduled external service is at 1200- 1300 to Australia/Asia on 17715, and it might be worth checking the SAC relay on 13775 at 1500-1600 to see if these appear on air. And below are some relays carried by Moosbrunn --- the list may not be a complete one. BBC Arabic 1700-2100 on 13660 Azeri 1600-1630 on 13720 Turkish 0400-0430 (Mon-Fri) on 7295 1500-1550 (Sat/Sun 1530) on 11615 VoVietnam 1700-1825 on 9725 in English, Viet & French D. Welle in DRM 0600-0700 on 6130 0700-0800 on 7310 RCI 0300-0359 on 9520 in Arabic (Noel Green, NW England, Sept 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still off at 1244. Further transmissions to check out would be the AWR relays, although there appear to be not as much of them as some years ago. And recently an enquiry about what will happen with ORF's shortwave transmissions brought only a cryptic reply that no informations about this are available at present, so it indeed remains to be seen what's up: Major fault/incident, a kind of maintenance requiring to take off all transmitters --- or what is in German saying called a "night and fog action". And I just noted that http://www.ors.at the website of the transmitter operator (Österreichische Rundfunksender), does not mention shortwave/Moosbrunn anywhere. Not under infrastructure, not under services, also no such customers like AWR in the respective list. 6155 came back on at 1400, more or less exactly. So apparently it was just a scheduled maintenance --- this time (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Apparently Mossbrunn has a scheduled maintenance this MONDAY- WEDNESDAY, September 1-3 at 06:15-14:00 UTC. Quote from http://oe1.orf.at/service/international Serviceinformation --- Aufgrund von Wartungsarbeiten wird von 1. bis 3. September 2008 auf den Frequenzen 6155 kHz und 13730 kHz von 8:15 Uhr bis 16:00 Uhr MESZ kein Programm ausgestrahlt. Regards, (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, ibid.) Via Sackville 13775 on as usual Sept 1, German into English at 1545 on a Monday, 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Thanks Dragan, Kai and Glenn for the information re ORF. So we can expect them to be off for the next two days too MONDAY-WEDNESDAY, September 1-3 at 06:15-14:00 UT. I tried to hear the 1200-1300 transmission to Asia and Australia on 17715 but couldn't trace anything, so this probably was not broadcast. But 13775 via SAC is fair to good at 1530 with some deep(ish) fading. (Noel R. Green (NW England), ibid.) ** BAHAMAS. For those who have never heard The Bahamas, now is the time to do so. ZNS is on day power and pattern on 1540, putting in nice signal, playing Caribbean music. They are on because of hurricane Hanna. Love this station, it is a good change from the noise of many U.S. stations (Willis Monk, Old Fort, TN, 0149 UT Sept 2, IRCA via DXLD) I wasn't aware ZNS 1540 had "day power" and "pattern". I thought it was the same power/pattern 24 hours a day 7 days a week, but I know next to nothing about the station. Calling Jerry Kiefer? (Paul B. Walker, Jr., NE, ibid.) They`ve been reported before with much better signal in NAm during hurricanes. Suspect they just go non-direxional in emergencies. NRC Antenna Pattern book 2006 shows almost identical day and night patterns, both flattened cardioid (I`m sure that is not the proper term) with a deep null toward KXEL (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Paul, Willis and all, ZNS is airing out their new Nautel box as the family islands south of Nassau have no aural service. I talked this evening to an over 20 year government servant of ZNS in the news department. The new transmitter is in but the DA has not be tuned up yet after they replaced one of the towers. Until this weekend they were running 20 kW non directional but kicked her into high gear for the hurricane. ZNS-2 has officially been retired although there is talk of it having a second life at 1240 as local service to Exuma. Nothing on the drawing board as yet (Jerry Kiefer, Roswell NM, IRCA via DXLD) Up here I hear WDCD [Albany NY] with Spanish (Mexican?) under it instead. At least, that's what I had an hour ago (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, 0308 UT Sept 2, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ZNS-1540, On top here now with English religion underneath. Heard the Spanish before but not now (Rick Shaftan, NJ, 0317 UT Sept 2, ibid.) Checked here around 0515, but couldn`t detect ZNS; usual mix of presumed KXEL, something in Spanish and others (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BENIN. Re 8-095: 1566: 6 to 7 level at 0447 and again at 0517 2 Sep, TWR Benin (Walt Salmaniw, QCI, IRCA via DXLD) ** BHUTAN [and non]. 6035, BBS 1230-1258 Aug 22. Presumed with flutes, regional vocals, M in language between music segments; ended with chanting from 1255 to 1258. Fair signal but lost them at 1259 due to increasing QRM from co-channel BBC at 1259 (see below) and the Firedrake on 6030 at 1300. No ID yet but am hearing them daily, peaking around 1245. The band is fading by 1330 so no chance to try for the 1400 English but that should change in a few weeks. LOCATION? - 6035, BBC *1259-1300 Aug 22. Pops on around 1259:30 with Indo ID ("BBC Siaran Indonesia"); pips (5+1) to ToH, then news at ToH after time check for 20:00 ("Dua puluh waktu Indonesia Barat"); trashed by 6030 Firedrake a few seconds later. Can't find this listed anywhere; noted // to 7135 (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) BBC 6035 at 1300-1330 is Singapore aimed south (gh, DXLD) BBS 6035 problems update: Sept 1, heard their audio again with news in English after 1401, but about 1419, their audio ended, with the transmitter still on. Seems whatever the problem is, they are having trouble fixing it. After 1419 could only hear PBS Yunnan with a music program, // to their spur on 6043 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4498.2, Tentativa, RADIO ESTAMBUL, Guayamerín, 2254-2301* agosto 30. Locutora con comunicado por invitación a ceremonia religiosa. Menciona FM 107.5 y "...onda corta por los 66 metros..." Fuera del aire a las 2301* 4781.5, RADIO TACANA, Tumupasa, 2322-2345 agosto 30. Mensajes para la familia y el respeto al derecho a la individualidad."...compartiendo en camino de la vida con cada oyente, fe y esperanzas del recorrido en el alma de nuestro pueblo... Radio Tacana transmite en 4780 kHz, banda de 60 metros onda corta; estudios y oficinas instalados en Tumupasa, La Paz, Bolivia..." Luego programa de la Red de radio municipal (Rafael Rodriguez R., Bogotá, Colombia, Winradio G33I, JRC NRD 525, Sony ICF 2010, Antenas de hilo largo de varios longitudes, Aug 31, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 6089.96, Radio Bandeirantes, Sao Paulo, 0410-0510, Sept 1, Portuguese talk & local music. Promos. Jingles. ID. Lite instrumental music at 0432. Fair to good. Anguilla & Nigeria off the air leaving this frequency clear. Very weak // 9645.28 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CAMEROON [non?]. Re 8-095: Isn't this the French Air Force loop which can be heard every now and then on various frequencies. Counting day and month names for testing purposes. For example, see http://www.shortwavemonitor.com/05-10.htm and scroll to frequency 5803 (Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Looks that way, and a most useful utility reference to be bookmarked, altho incomplete. Referred to as `Calorie` instead of Cameroun. But not necessarily in Metropolitan France (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CANADA. Re 8-095, 94.3 FM Winnipeg The Curve --- The latest Industry Canada listing has CHIQ-FM still listed as the official callsign. No change as of yet. All we ever stole up here was all the CBC callsigns, HA HA. Never figured how we got away with that 73 and Best of DX (Shawn Axelrod, MB, VE4DX1SMA, REMEMBER ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN HEAR FOREVER, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 1240, 1441- Aug 31, CFNI Port Hardy. A great morning for TP DXing and once they faded out, enjoyed the local scene. CFNI IDs as 'The Port 1240' with EZL music. 'You're listening to the north island's best music, the Port 1240' at 1444. Good reception. Full ID noted at 1503 over cochannel with news, which I think is CJOR Osoyoos but it's too weak to be certain. It is a BC station, though. 1280, 1444- Aug 31, CHQB Powell River. Oldies music with ID heard earlier as 'Sun FM', and playing the old song which goes like this: 'What's the matter you, eh?....shut uppa your face.' Good reception. Rechecked at 1509 and can confirm the ID is '95 7, Sun FM'. My 2007- 2008 NRC AM Radio Log states it's 'New Magic 1280'. This ID is not heard, presumably with the move to FM. They are broadcasting for a time on both AM and FM. Gave full ID for 95.7 at 1513 as CFBW 95 7. I listened again on Sept 1st at 1443 and noted the following ID: 'This is Sun Life, 95 7, Chum FM'. Website is http://957chumfm.ca Very good reception on the 1st (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, QCI, BC, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 13510/fax, CFH Halifax NS w/weather chart of forecast for North Atlantic & Hudson Bay. They do a neat thing at the start of most (all?) of their charts -- they broadcast a short 'test signal' of grey bars progressing from black to white in 17-18 'steps' of different shades of grey. It looks cool, sounds even cooler and is an easy way to distinguish their signals audibly from any other fax even if you aren't in front of a computer. 1620-1639* 16/Aug (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** CHAD. RNT very strong here at 1950 UT Aug 22 on 4905 kHz (Dr Derek Lynch, Ireland, Aug 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 20/8, FIREDRAKE > SOUND OF HOPE? 0528-0530* 15030 kHz, 0530/0916-0922* 15040 kHz, Segnale insufficiente- sufficiente (Luca Botto Fiora, Rapallo (Genova), G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, playdx yg via DXLD) "Firedrake" con fuertes señales en las frecuencias 11760, 15430, 15485 y 15585 kHz del servicio en mandarín de Radio Free Asia notadas a las 2345; también bloqueando el servicio en 9875 en Tibetano de la misma emisora (Rafael Rodriguez R., Bogotá, Colombia, Winradio G33I, JRC NRD 525, Sony ICF 2010, Antenas de hilo largo de varios longitudes, Aug 31, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** CROATIA. After 1400 I was for a moment surprised to hear Italian on 6165. Of course it's Deanovec, relaying Radio Pula. More such relays are supposed to originate from Mostar 1430-1500 and from Osijek (in Hungarian) 1630-1700, all Mon-Fri only (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. All times/dates are in GMT. Frequencies are in kHz unless otherwise stated. RF = reactivated frequency; NS = new station. DISCLAIMER: No portion of the below may be reproduced or redistributed by the National Radio Club, their editors or current members without expressed written permission, which will then be swiftly denied. Editors receiving this directly from me are excluded provided this disclaimer is included if any of the below is reproduced. 550, Radio Rebelde, Pinar del Río, Pinar del Río; 0418-0422 23 August, 2008. Very good in passing with presumed Olympics coverage of some event, as kept referring to the Estados Unidos and Australia. 570, Radio Reloj, Santa Clara, Villa Clara; 1411-1418 23 August, 2008. Audible weakly under very local 5 kW WTBN, Pinellas Park. Reloj with the usual format, male reader. Site per Osvaldo Rodriguez, Cuba. 1140, Radio Cadena Habana, Pastora, Ciudad de la Habana; 1440-1456 23 August, 2008. Cuban vocal segued into Santana track with Spanish male vocalist. Man and woman announcers from 1446, quick "Cadena Habana" reference. Very good but only via LSB to avoid the local on 1150. 1140, wobbler, unknown network/site; 1604-1630 24 August, 2008. Fairly strong, not the same transmitter as Cadena Habana, which was good and steady underneath this but eventually the wobbler was so strong it overtook most of Cadena Habana. Refreshing to hear one of these again. But little wobby was gone upon 1717 recheck, leaving only Cadena Habana with "Noticiero Nacional de Radio" patched feed here. 1180, Radio Reloj, Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud; 1036-1040 22 August, 2008. Site per Osvaldo Rodríguez, Cuba. Fair under Rebelde transmitters with the usual minute tones and Morse "RR"s. First time heard here. 1550, NS, Radio Rebelde, Nuevitas, Camagüey;0130-0205 21 August, 2008. A new Rebelde channel, thanks Crawford discovery. Huge signal with baseball coverage, Rebelde theme sounders, ID's. Slightly ahead of 5025 and a micro-second ahead of the strongest on 1180. Mixing with the jammer. No trace of WAMA, Tampa with these two active. LOBS by Paul Zecchino put it near Nuevitas, which is where Radio Nuevitas is or was located, though this signal is way more than the listed 1 kW for Radio Nuevitas. 1550, jammer, Habana; 0130-0205 21 August, 2008. Massive swisher jammer that's been here for awhile, now sharing space with the new 'bro Rebelde (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [starting over, with a later report:] 530 CUBA Radio Enciclopedia; 1315-1320 / 1517-1530 / 1833-1841 1 September, 2008 check, mostly open carrier but occasional micro-second bursts of distorted music. Recheck at 1833, nice and loud, but audio badly clipped during all top-end modulation. So, they're finally back up with audio, but something needs to be adjusted down this week once Arnie's Commandos can get there. Welcome back, my little Enci friend. Love your version (albeit chopping up right now on the top end) of the Bee Gee's "How Deep Is Your Clipped Audio Love." [Later:] R. Enciclopedia, 530: Now falling silent for a second or two, frequently. Arnie's Commando's are working on it, no doubt. Meanwhile, I hear a very weak 529-ish carrier (just popped sometime up after 1910) once again. 590 CUBA Radio Musical Nacional; 1852-1857 1 September, 2008. Still off the air. At least two domestics in the mix - Clewiston, FL (XE format) in Spanish and WDIZ, Panama City (mostly 70's T40 Adult hits) with back timed the late Nicolette Larsen's wonderful NeilYoung "Lotta Love" cover into canned ID 1900, net news, and possibly a third in English threshold (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. A scan of the 49m band revealed a little more activity than has been usual lately. A strong carrier was noted on 5883.00 at 0655 before the Cuban lady began to read numbers (in AM) from 0700. Earlier I noted that a similar strength signal on 6060 went off air by 0650 - could it be the same transmitter? (Noel R. Green [NW England], dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The surge in spy-number station activity after 0700 is suspicious, as that is exactly when several RHC transmitters are freed up --- and the numbers can be exceedingly strong, certainly comparable to RHC or even stronger, perhaps due to more favourable azimuths for spies in NAm. Not to say that there are not also numbers or cut numbers running before 0700 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Hi Glenn - no sign of Rebelde, 5025 kHz, here this morning. Not sure if due to prop condx or the hurricane. You hearing them there? Best (Rick Barton, Arizona, 1252 UT Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Altho it was on earlier when Gustav crossed, R. Rebelde, 5025, had only open carrier (unless it was Benin?) Sept 1 around 0600, and no carrier at all at 1205 check, leaving China 5030 in the clear for once. This led me to check all the RHC frequencies, and they were all missing too at various chex until 1223! 6000, clearing Brandon DRM 5990-5995-6000; 6180, 9600, 11760, 12000, 15120, 15360. At 1223 when I hit 13760, heard a snippet of music and then it vanished, probably something else. Proving my assertion that the DentroCuban Jamming Command has priority over RHC for what power is available, jamming was still noted as follows: 1212, 5980 Martí dominating, but J audible under; 1217, 7405 Martí, nothing but J; 1218, 9805 Martí mixed with J; 1221 9955 WRMI, nothing but J; 1223, 13820 Martí over J. Furthermore, the relay of CRI on 9570 was still running at 1218, altho with dropouts; and of RNV on 11705 at 1222, also with modulation cutting out every second. These are probably from a different transmitter site than (most of?) the regular RHC frequencies. RHC started coming back at 1248: 9600 open carrier and shortly re- joining in progress Despertar con Cuba; 1249 [not 1239 as typoed in original post], 11760 and 12000 too ending La Gaceta Cultural segment which no one really heard. 13760 back on with OC and hum. 1251, 15120 on, good, no 15360 --- but the latter is always very much weaker. 1253, 6180 on, and with hum and QRDRM, 6000. 1254, Rebelde 5025 back on with 8:54 timecheck. 1300, 9600 off as usual, replaced from *1301 by 15370, DcC JIP. 13680, which normally opens at 1300, was on when checked at 1343, huge signal and much better modulation than // 13760 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Re 8-095: ``RHC English stream Heavily overmodulated! WMA-Stream mit 20 kb/s. Cuba si! Yankee no! ;-) :-) (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX via DXLD) Is this English stream still only at 0500-0700, as Arnie has announced repeatedly? (gh, DXLD)`` Glenn, not only in English language. Program heard in Spanish, when switched in at 0930 UT today Sept 2nd. Social Club music group theme. Music in Cuba. Less modulation level today. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`m sure it`s mostly if not entirely in Spanish, except for 05-07 (gh, DXLD) ** CZECHIA. CZECH MEDIUMWAVE SITES FOR SALE See this page with site photos: http://www.radiokomunikace.cz/o-spolecnosti/sprava-majetku/nemovitosti-k-prodeji.html Lipno carried CRo Ceske Budejovice, Broumov CRo Hradec Kralove, Tachov CRo Plzen, all running 1 kW each on 558. Lipno and Broumov were closed down 31 Oct 2003, Tachov followed 31 Jan 2004, marking the final end of the once comprehensive mediumwave service of Czech regional stations. Lipno and Tachov also had 1584 transmitters for CRo 1, closed down much earlier. Plzen Prestice: Last use was with 20 kW on 1287 (CRo 6), closed down 31 Jan 2004. In earlier years this site run the daytime-only frequency 774 for CRo Plzen, which made it with 40 kW quite some way into Germany. Brno-Komarov: 1 kW on 1584 (Country Radio) closed down during 2003, 25 kW daytime-only on 900 (CRo 2 Praha) closed down 31 Oct 2003, 20 kW on 1233 (CRo 6, earlier 50 kW) closed down 31 Jan 2004. Earlier site usage also included 1 kW on 1485 (RFE/RL) and 25 kW on 603 (CRo Brno). Of the two buildings for sale at Litomysl one is presented as apparent transmitter building. This could be the former home of the mediumwave transmitters, closed down on 31 Jan 2004 as well (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Re 8-095: In a message Carlos Benoit says that Radio Amanecer in Santo Domingo has moved to 1580 kHz to give place for Radio Universidad UASD, Santo Domingo, on 1560 kHz. Another interesting thing is that Radio Universidad also plans to transmit on 4720 kHz with 3 kW. Interesting to see what will come out in the end of these plans (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin Aug 31, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Re: HCJB 9740 to close --- The promised amendments: It is not sure yet if there will be a big live programme on Sep 30, but some kind of special will be certainly done. Probably also the last staff member of HCJB's former English service who is still in Quito will help in preparing the farewell programming. The antenna in question is the well-known steerable system. Due to its complexity three months will be provided for its dismantling, thus the close-down on Sep 30. The beam for the remaining DRM transmission (the B08 schedule for it sounded quite complex, so I did not try to copy it) has been specified as "Europe and South Pacific". I think this indicates that the transmitter will be connected to the antenna so far used by the recently closed low power transmitter on 21455 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. ECUADOR ORDERS BROADCASTERS TO TRANSMIT GOVERNMENT PROGRAMMES Ecuador has ordered television and radio stations to transmit government programmes that inform the public about a plan to reform the constitution that will bolster President Rafael Correa’s powers. In a letter, the education ministry told the country’s media watchdog to enforce a law that obliges private radio and television stations to broadcast up to one hour of state-run educational programming every day. It was not clear what sanctions broadcasters could face if they do not transmit the spots. Short programmes will be broadcast three times a day, sometimes during prime-time, and would likely help Correa rally support before the 28 September referendum for a constitution that would give him greater sway over the economy. The leftist leader is inching closer to the 50 percent majority he needs to pass the reform, recent polls show. “We consider the broadcasting of the proposed constitution crucial for the citizens’ education,” the ministry said in the letter. The ministry said programmes should start today. Some broadcasters said they feared the government could use the programmes for electoral purposes, and were evaluating whether to obey the order. ”I’m talking to the owners of concessions and they think it is a very odd (order) amid an electoral process,” Nicolas Vega, the head of an association of private television stations told Reuters. “We are still evaluating the order.” Correa launched a public television and radio station this year and already broadcasts messages to the public via private TV and radio stations several times a week. Opposition politicians say Correa wants to increase state intervention in the media and accuse him of seeking dictatorial powers via the proposed constitution, which allows him to run for reelection once after one term. Correa, who took office last year with a pledge to wrench power from old elites, has clashed repeatedly with the media. He accuses journalists of bias against him and says they protect the interests of economic groups opposed to his government. The 44-year-old US-trained economist, who is sometimes criticized for his abrasive style, even ejected a journalist from one his radio shows last year. In July, Correa seized two national broadcasters as part of a mass confiscation of more than 200 companies owned by a local business group over a debt dispute with the state stemming from the late 1990s. The confiscation raised fears of state intervention in the media but was cheered by many in Ecuador who blame the companies for a decade- old banking collapse. If approved, the new constitution would bar bank owners from holding stakes in media outlets. (Source: Reuters) Related story: RNW interview with President Correa http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/southamerica/080726-rafael-correa (August 29th, 2008 - 10:20 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 20/8 0941 - 15190 kHz, R. AFRICA - Bata, English, riflessioni bibliche OM e mx afro. Segnale insufficiente - sufficiente. Irregolare la stazione o la propagazione? (Luca Botto Fiora, Rapallo (Genova), G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, playdx yg via DXLD) 15190, Radio Africa, Bata; 1835-1845 23 August, 2008. Tune-in to telco audio male, "Thank you for listening to Radio Africa..." followed by email and postal addresses read slowly over EZL music bed, also asking to let the program sources know how much this crap means to you, then into crazy US preacher from 1840. Clear and fair (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, Radio Africa (presumed); 1751-1807+, 25 Aug; Barely audible English sermonizing; no ID heard at ToH but several addresses given; suddenly much better at 1803 with more English sermonizing. SIO-242, occasional short ute bursts (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) 15190, 2043- Aug 31, Radio Africa. Presumed logging with American accented preacher following a hymn in English. Fair level (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, QCI, BC, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Watch out: some of the `Americans` are Canadian (gh) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, R. Nacional, Bata, Is definitely the one here heard 31 August at 2200, talk by M in Spanish at tune-in amid nasty local QRN. Last announcements at 2212, then nothing but nonstop Afro Highlife and Pop music to sign-off. Instrumental NA 2255-2258*. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** ERITREA. 5100, Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, Asmara, 1707- 1801*, 30 Aug, Vernacular, talks, tunes, announcement; 15331. 7999.4, Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, Asmara, 1625-1735, 30 Aug, cf. & // 5100, blocked by Ethiopian jammer on 8000 with regular programs; 22441. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 8000, RTV Eritrea. 1700 on 22/8 very clear ID "Redio end Televizhun Ertran" - R&TV spelled as in English. Many times speaking about "Ertran" - seems the name of Eritrea in Amharic. News, jammer and at 1702 songs. So we have not radio The Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, but RTV Eritrea (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF- 2001, Marconi), Sept Australian DX News via DXLD) 7210 NF, VOBME, *0357-0410, Sept 1, sign on with IS. Vernacular talk at 0400. Horn of Africa music. Poor in noisy conditions. No other VOBME frequencies heard (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6110, Radio Fana, Addis Ababa, *0257-0310, Sept 1, sign on with IS. Opening ID announcement at 0301 followed by local music. Good. In the clear with a nice signal. Listed // 7210 not heard (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE [non]. FRANCE (sort of) RFI --- Listening to RFI's 1130 broadcast on 13640 this morning, the Météo Marine program ended about 1156 -- followed by the repeating "This is the BBC, there is currently no service on this channel" announcement. Then, at 1200, BBC in Spanish (Mike Cooper, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBCMR via GUF, which is supposed to be on 11860 // WHRI 9410; did it stay on 13640 for the rest of the hour? (gh, DXLD) ** HAWAII [and non]. I have always thought that KBOI-670 has a trace of ground wave coming into Puget Sound throughout the day, especially for guys pretty near the salt water. It puts in a carrier around noontime in the winter, and it doesn't fade out completely until well past sunrise, even in the summer. At Grayland [DXpedition site, Washington coast], it's like somebody pulling a switch on KBOI's signal after daylight comes. KPUA booms in with a vengeance, and there is no trace of KBOI. Salt water does strange things! Unfortunately, KPUA-670's format has very few local IDs from 1300 to 1400 UT. The Wall Street Journal morning program is run, with no local ID noted, even at 1330. Considering that the local time in Hawaii is around 0330 then, it's a nice program to cure insomnia. 73, (Gary DeBock, IRCA via DXLD) ** INDIA. If you check the usual AIR GOS schedules, you won`t find any English between 0045 and 1000, but I notice in Aoki listing for 15185, English is mixed in with other languages in a rather confusing manner; is this a HS relay, or what? These are all given as daily, 50 kW, 102 degrees from the Delhi (Kingsway) site at 07712E, 2843N for A08: 0700-0730 English/Various 0730-0735 English 0730-0930 English/Various 0735-0740 Hindi 0800-0810 Bengali 0810-0820 Assamese 0820-0830 Oriya 0830-0840 English 0840-0850 Hindi 0850-0930 English/Various 1115-1130 Arunachal 1130-1135 Hindi 1135-1140 English 1300-1310 English/Hindi Quite possibly there are similar English mix-ins on other SW channels (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4790, RRI Fak Fak. English programme for “KGRE Kangaroo Radio English” with a song by Midnight Oil at 1018, followed by details and advice on Australian scholarships, then KGRE sign-off and back to Indo programming at 1025. Heard on 4/8 (Dennis Allen, Milperra NSW (Icom R75, Dipole), Sept Australian DX News via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Hurricane Gustav Some Hurricane Watch frequencies given at http://www.southgatearc.org/news/august2008/hurricane_watch_net.htm There is a link to Internet streaming audio from the Hurricane Watch net at http://www.hwn.org/Net%20Activation%20Plans/NetActivationPlan.htm http://remote.n2jeu.net:8000/SWRadio.m3u VoIP Hurricane Net Internet Streaming Audio (from 0000 UT) http://live.wx5fwd.net/voipwx.mp3 International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) http://www.iresc.org/ Hurricane Watch Net http://www.hwn.org/ VoIP SKYWARN/Hurricane Net Support Site http://www.voipwx.net/ 73 (Trevor M5AKA, monitoringmonthly yg via DXLD) ** JAPAN. We shouldn`t have to go to Japan to hear Western classical music on SW, but are indebted to R. Nikkei for playing so much of it in their late evenings, such as 1235 Sept 1 on 9595, Switched-on Bach, also on 6055 which of course fades down earlier. On this occasion, no CubaRM on 9600 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR. From today Sept 2, 2008, Radio Kashmir, Srinagar was noted with special transmission in connection with the Ramzan season. Today at 2250 UT (4.20 am local time) tune in, Muslim prayers etc. heard on 1116 kHz. 4950 was not heard (may be bad propagation to my area). These special transmissions are noted every year for about one month. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, UT Sept 1, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. ARMENIA 9950, 2102- Aug 31, Open Radio for North Korea. Good reception with sign-on in presumed Korean and over co- channel AIR in English (although the latter is also easily heard). Heard only with North mini-Beverage well terminated to eliminate any reception from the south (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, QCI, BC, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. TAIWAN, 9820, 1700- Sep 2, Nippon no Kaze. Heard at 1700 s/on in presumed Japanese under cochannel Voice of Russia in Scandinavian language. Produces a mess, really, as both are reasonably strong (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, QCI, BC, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. ? - 4412.58, Lao Nat'l R., Sam Neua being reported here, apparently ex-4678v. Heard daily here after 1200 with a weak carrier only, have not been able to pull audio yet. Observed 8/23 with carrier shutting down at 1233* (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R- 8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 4412.6, Lao National Radio (presumed), 1209, 8/21/08. Moderate het today under better than usual conditions, so only a matter of time until audio pops through (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, Drake R8, Drake R8B, Microtelecom Perseus SDR, Wellbrook 330S One Meter Loop, Alpha Delta SWL Sloper, http://www.radiodx.net/wordpress/ Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. Hi Glenn, RE: DXLD 8-095: ID for Malaysia - 6049.65. Believe this ID came about from the Eibi list, which incorrectly shows Voice of Malaysia from 1400 to 1700. In fact, Suara Islam (Voice of Islam) via RTM- Kajang has been here now for over three years during this time period. I routinely monitor them and frequently hear "Radio Suara Islam" or "Radio Suara Islam FM" IDs, along with their singing "Suara Islam" jingle and I less frequently hear "RTM" IDs. I double checked this Sept 1 and found no change. At 1435 heard a clear ID for "Radio Suara Islam FM", fair reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. I have been hearing Mali again on 5995 and (weaker) 9635 but 4835 (which was excellent a decade ago – before a transmitter repair) is useless for RTM here (Dr Derek Lynch, Ireland, Aug 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. Strong signal in Arabic at 1945 UT Aug 22/08 on 4845 kHz. Missing there during coup crisis and before (Dr Derek Lynch, Ireland, Aug 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 870, XETAR Guachochi, Chihuahua, a nice surprise just after 7:00 am Central while checking on WWL-870. Very loud over WWL with male and female announcers, nice full ID as "esta es aykis ay tay ah erray, la voz de la sierra tarahumara" (had to confirm the spelling of that last one via Fred Cantu's list!!), sounds effects of a rooster crowing, and some really primitive ranchera music----man and woman singing off-key accompanied by a badly-tuned, poorly-played guitar, sounding like a couple of "nacas," to use the Mexican slang for "hicks." WWL began to reassert itself and XETAR was totally gone by 7:15 am. I suppose this reception was possible through a skywave/seawave clash and cancellation thanks to the sunrise terminator. Nonetheless, a welcome catch! (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17 Sept 1, ABDX, via DXLD) I've also heard XETAR here on 870 exactly at that time of the morning, right around sunrise. What`s amazing in the evening is that 870-WWL goes into a phase cancellation mode and I here a couple of Latins underneath. When I have time I also want to see who is the SS on 1200 mixing with WOAI between 2100-0000 local CDT! 73's de (Steven Wiseblood, AB5GP, South Padre Island TEXAS, ibid.) Nice catch. I've often heard XETAR here in the mornings. Their format is almost of clone of XEETCH, "La Voz de los Tres Rios" (the voice of the three rivers). Bonus points for anyone who what the 3 "rivers" are. Mesa Mike LA de NM http://mesamike.org (Mike Westfall, Lost Almost NM, ibid.) ** MEXICO. 6184.95, Radio Educación, Mexico City, 0510-0545, Sept 1, local folk music. Spanish announcements. Fair signal. // 1060 - weak under KYW-Philadelphia (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Previously I was not hearing them after 0600, so maybe that is when they sign-off, or irregular? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, 1531- Sep 1, Voice of Mongolia. Strongest morning yet with good reception into English program (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, QCI, BC, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 3935.07, Radio Reading Service, not on (1 Sept. 0850- 1125) 73 (Dave Valko, PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. PROGRAMME ON 60 YEARS OF RADIO NEW ZEALAND SHORTWAVE The first part of this programme is now available for online streaming or download at: http://www.rnzi.com/pages/audio.php Listen to Mailbox on RNZI on Monday September 1 as David Ricquish of the Radio Heritage Foundation looks at the history of shortwave radio from New Zealand. On September 27 1948, the shortwave division of the NZ Broadcasting Service began broadcasts to Australia and the South Pacific from two low powered war surplus transmitters located near Wellington. In this special Mailbox documentary, you can hear how shortwave radio started in New Zealand, including calls for a national shortwave service as early as 1928. Private commercial stations 2ZW Wellington, 3ZC Christchurch and 4ZM Dunedin were all early shortwave broadcasters, and the program takes us through the early years that led up to the late arrival of Radio NZ on the international airwaves. Hear how the NZ Post & Telegraph office played a pivotal role in getting regular shortwave broadcasts on air as early as the 1930's, and how the relays of domestic radio services such as 2YA and 2ZB in Wellington proved popular with foreign listeners. Audio includes the famous birdsong interval signal that for many years announced the arrival of a RNZ shortwave broadcast, the opening announcement by the Prime Minister of the day, and an excerpt from the most popular program in the early days, 'Song and Story of the Maori' broadcast in 1949. Now known as Radio New Zealand International, the station has always worked hard to stay true to the original vision announced on opening day in 1948. It's growing popularity with partner stations across the Pacific some 60 years later demonstrates how this small shortwave station from the South Pacific has quietly gone about targeting its niche audience yet with popularity amongst shortwave listeners worldwide that belies its small resource base and regional focus. Visit http://www.rnzi.com for shortwave frequencies and times and to download an audio on demand version of the program that will be available throughout September, the anniversary month. A second radio heritage documentary on September 15 will continue to celebrate 60 years of service to the Pacific by RNZI. At http://www.radioheritage.net you can read an article celebrating the first broadcasts from Radio New Zealand, the original shortwave service in 1948. Look for 'Radio New Zealand Signs On' to see details of the original programs, technical information about the original station and more history of the station. . . Radio New Zealand International is the award winning shortwave broadcaster serving the Pacific from Wellington, New Zealand since 1948 (David Ricquish, RadioHeritage.net, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 15120, Voice of Nigeria, Ikorodu; 1702-1715 24 August, 2008. News by English male who would read 1-5 words and pause, thankfully into a more literate female at 1706 with talk regarding percussion forms, sample drumming and tribal vocals. Very good but somewhat distorted audio (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. I have to correct my information re Pakistan 1330-1530 - the 9 MHz frequency is in fact 9385 (thanks to Erik Køie for pointing this out) and this has been verified by a re-check of their schedule and by monitoring. My apologies. However, English News & Commentary is listed on 9380 in their sched for 1600-1615. I cannot recall what was used before they adopted summertime. Hopefully it will be 9385 when it returns (Noel R.Green (NW England), Aug 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Reference 8-094. A little correction with reference to Noel Green reply to Salmaniw. It has been mentioned that Dari Service is broadcast from 1430-1530 UT. But the revised timings of Dari service w.e.f. 1st July 2008 are 1300-1400 UT. While the Pushto language transmission is broadcast from 1430 UT to 1530 UT. It has been decided by Government of Pakistan to extend the Daylight saving time till October 31, 2008. Previously it was decided that it will revert back to UT+5 w.e.f. September 1, 2008 (Aslam Javaid, Lahore, Pakistan, Aug 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALAU. 9955, WHRI, Cypress Creek. Weak and noisy reception of English religious talk, followed by ID and website details at 1035 on 4/8 (Dennis Allen, Milperra NSW (Icom R75, Dipole), Sept Australian DX News via DXLD) No, it wasn`t. WHRI would not possibly be on 9955 during the 24 hours that WRMI just south of there uses it. Must have been another test of WHR via KHBN/T8BZ PALAU as already reported several times here. Did they really give a WHRI ID (applying only to the SC site), or just mention World Harvest Radio? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** PERU. 5602.4, RADIO SAN FRANCISCO, San Miguel de El Faique. 2210- 2240 agosto 30. Ex-Radio LV de los Andes, frecuencia reactivada. Presentando música folclórica, "...está en sintonía de San Francisco..." Mencionan transmisión en FM 94.7 MHz. "...desde San Miguel de El Faique para todo el Perú... tu emisora favorita Radio San Francisco..." Señal débil y pobre modulación. Bandscan peruanas en 60 metros a las 1100 UT, Agosto 31 4747, Radio Huanta 2000 con programa en vernacular. 4755, Radio Tarma con transmisión de la misa. 4790, Radio Visión, programa: LV de Liberación. 4826.4, Radio Sicuani con noticias locales de la region del Canchis. 4835.5, Radio Marañón, programa: Preparando el dia del señor. 4974.7, Radio del Pacífico. Baja modulación. 4991, Radio Manantial, programa evangélico y predicación 5039.1, Radio Libertad. música en vernacular. 5120.2, Ondas del Suroriente, música y programa en vernacular. Buen DX (Rafael Rodriguez R., Bogotá, Colombia, Winradio G33I, JRC NRD 525, Sony ICF 2010, Antenas de hilo largo de varios longitudes, Aug 31, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** PERU. 5024.95, R. Quillabamba?? *1000:52 signal on the air and music starting 8 seconds later. Left the recorder running on VL8K after I left for the micro-DXpedition and caught this signing on. Of course it was off frequency just a little. Not quite as good as on the 170 BOG at the micro-DXpedition site (see below) 1 September 2008: Figured I'd take advantage of the Labor Day holiday go up to the SGLs on a morning micro-DXpedition. Conditions were just fair for LA and poor for Pacific and Asia. It was moderately noisy. RX: Eton E1, ANT: 315' Beverage (BOG) at about 170 , changed to 325 at 1035-1040 UTC. QTH: Pennsylvania State Game Lands #26, south parking lot. Duration: 0850-1125 UTC. Solar Indices: Solar Flux = 67, A Index = 2, K Index = 2 No storms. WX: Clear and starry, then sunny. Temp in the mid-50's F. 5024.95, R. Quillabamba??? Definite campesina music at 1005. M at 1005 but just too weak to copy. 1009 back to campo music. 1026 M in definite Indian dialect. If indeed Quillabamba, not as strong as it used to be, and modulation rather low. Quite weak in the absence of Rebelde. (1 Sept.) 4826.4, R. Sicuani, 0904 morning Rosary by women. 0906 M announcer but no ID, and music bridge, then campesina song with W vocal. 0911 simple R. Sicuani ID during song. 0916 M returned in local dialect and nice ID with mention of date. At tune-in, carrier was 'whooping' (when tuned in SSB) and slowly drifting up slightly. So must have just signed on and transmitter not fully warmed up. Clear and no other stations around it. (1 Sept.) (Dave Valko, PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Poro? - rather Tinang-B site. Re 8-095, USA: ``Here are plans for VOA coverage during the Republican Con, Sept 2nd to 5th, 0100-0300 u.o.s., altho may be changed at last minute if the Reps change own sked due to Gustav: Poro 12065 SEAs/SAs/ME/NE 15625 Malaysia/Indonesia/WAu`` VoA Poro - called PHP - shortwave existed in 1953(+MW beast too) till Aug/Oct 1999. 50 kW mobile units moved then to Tinang-B site restruction. PHL Poro Point San Fernando 1143/1170 kHz 1000 kW - since 1953, of Okinawa / Munich-Erching class. 16 37'25.36"N 120 16'56.36"E PHL Poro Point MW reserve masts?, maybe rather a 49 mb non-dir fountain antenna? 16 36'55.10"N 120 17'03.46"E http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&hl=de&geocode=&q=16%C2%B036%2755.10%22N++120%C2%B017%2703.46%22E&ie=UTF8&ll=16.615307,120.284296&spn=0.003737,0.005085&t=h&z=18 PHL old Poro-A SW site, ITU call PHP, see installation wounds on the ground. 16 36'54.22"N 120 17'13.06"E (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. MOLDOVA, 12135, 1617- Sept 2, Radio PMR. Excellent level of why the PMR shouldn't be part of Moldova (they still call it MoldAvia) in English with history of the region (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, QCI, BC, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 12085, TWR via listed Novosibirsk, 0045, 8/23/08. Tuning tones prior to 0045 into listed Dzongkha. Searching under Dzongkha shows it to be the national language of Bhutan. Very distinctive spoken sound. English ID at 0115. Several announcements and audio out at 0130. Fair signal (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, Drake R8, Drake R8B, Microtelecom Perseus SDR, Wellbrook 330S One Meter Loop, Alpha Delta SWL Sloper, http://www.radiodx.net/wordpress/ Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Tnx to R. Martí kilowasting kilowatts by warming up as much as a quarter hour before transmission, open carrier on 11930 muscled aside the local noise level and easily audiblized something Asian on frequency, Sept 1 at 1345. Had that religious `feel` to it, soon confirmed by ``What a[n imaginary] Friend We Have in Jesus`` theme. Per Aoki this is TWR via Novosibirsk, 200 kW due south, in Tibetan Mondays only, all other days in Hindi. I still find it hard to grasp Tibetans retaining any cultural identity if they become Christians. It`s just as bad as Chicom imperialism wiping out Tibetan culture except as tourist attraxions (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. Russia Today's new broadcasting parameters in U.S. -- - Broadcasting parameters of Russia Today on Galaxy 5 (97 W) have been changed from September 1, 2008 to: FEC ¾, Symbol rate: 20.0 Msyb/s; Downlink frequency: 12152.5 MHz, Polarization: H. Now you can watch RT in North America on Globecast World TV, Channel No 462. Source: http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/29768 (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT VINCENT. 700, NBC, Kingstown, St Vincent (presumed) BBC World Service, W, 0500 23/08 (Paul Crankshaw, Troon, Scotland, MWC via DXLD) 700, NBC Kingstown, St Vincent (presumed); English, BBCWS W/F, 0305 31/8 (Christoph Mayer, Germany, MWC via DXLD) W/F = weak to fair? In case there remain any doubt it be on the air (gh, DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.86, SIBC (presumed), 1329-1354, Sept 1, poor reception, struggling around threshold level, but can say it was clearly in English and sounded like British accents, so assume relay of BBC. In the recent past when I checked here I only found an open carrier with no audio, so today was a big improvement. As we get more into the DX season this should become more readable, just as Bhutan/BBS has improved recently (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. UK (non): BBC Sports World, 7380 at 1520z 23 Aug, via Meyerton 250 kW at 5º // 17830 // 9740. Four hours after dawn here in Central Texas, no other African stations heard. FEBC 7400 (Iba) and R Australia 7240 (Shepparton) also still audible though weak. This must be a long path via the Indian and Pacific Oceans. I may have previously caught a long path from Madagascar but I can't recall hearing a long path from South Africa before. About 9100 miles short, 15900 miles long. Still audible at tune out, 1550z (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas, Drake R8B with sloper, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. BROTHER STAIR COMFORTS NEW ORLEANS A timely example of why he's called Brother Scare 9385, USA, WWRB-The Overcomer exceptional signal. Just as Gustav was pounding on the Mississippi delta's door, I tuned in at 1345 to hear "Yay New Orleans, Yay New Orleans, Yay New Orleans!" Then he asks "Did I have a premonition or what?" 'Scare' explains that several years ago (think he said 1987) he had predicted that New Orleans was facing great trauma in coming years. Said the city would be hit by three hurricanes. Points out that Katrina was #1, Gustav is #2 and number three, he said, is out there. Apparently referring to Hanna (sp). Goes on to shout "Yay New Orleans!" three more times. Very reassuring stuff. I wonder what New Orleans needs the National Hurricane Center for? (Bruce Barker, PA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think that should be, pseudo-Biblically, ``Yea, New Orleans`` (gh) While tuning around I came at 1401 across a coarse voice of 6110, saying something like "the end is near" --- was he discussing shortwave broadcasting? On next passing at 1408 he was talking about New Orleans, prompting me to tune away without delay to avoid getting upset by really serious b*llsh*t (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sounds like the claims about predicting the impact of the comet in the Mojave Desert in "Everything You Know Is Wrong". Hmmm... I think I can smell breakfast (Chris Trask, AZ, ibid.) Predicting New Orleans will face "trauma" doesn't require the Last Days Prophet of God to stick his neck out too far. From hurricanecity.com: How often New Orleans gets affected? brushed or hit every 3.80 years Average years between direct hurricane hits (usually within 40 miles to include small hurricanes) once every 12.45 years How sad that he would (apparently) celebrate. Shouldn't he be weeping for lost souls condemned to damnation, as he sees it. What a sad little man (Fred Waterer, Ont., ibid.) I had the misfortune to tune across WWRB 9385, Sept 1 at 2017 when BS was pushing a publication, `Marked for Termination` about the imminent collapse of the USA including the government in Feb 2009, when there will be martial law, concentration camps in each state. ``Martial law is inevitable.`` On the off-chance this doesn`t happen, pound him relentlessly about being a false prophet. Hmmm, if the govt has collapsed, how can it enforce martial law? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** SPAIN. Radio Nacional de España --- Changes in the RNE chains from today Sep. 1st: The official brand for the first channel is now "Radio Nacional" (ex Radio 1). Regional outputs M-F at 0525-0530 (//R5TN), 0750-0800 (//R5TN), 1110-1200 UT. No changes on weekends (1110-1200 only). Radio 5-Todo Noticias is starting its programming at 0700 to 2200 UT (9 to midnight local time!) the rest is // with Radio Nacional. Regional/local outputs M-F at 0525-0530 (Reg//RN), 0750-0800 (Reg//RN), 0745-0800 (local), 1300-1315 (Reg.) Saludos (Mauricio Molano, Salamanca, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Re comments in DXLD 8-095 regarding the 70th anniversary broadcast details, Sept 3: The schedule for the internet broadcast is at the link below, the first half hour is in English, it's followed by a panel discussion for an hour, presumably internet only, and then the live Swedish shortwave broadcast: http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/International/nyhetssidor/artikel.asp?nyheter=1&ProgramID=2076&Artikel=2278804 (Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. Glenn, The famous MW transmitter Beromuenster in Switzerland on 531 kHz, built in 1931 and one of the highest antennas in Europe with 215m, an important voice during WWII, will close down at the end of this year. The antenna is a national monument and its future not yet decided. More info at http://drs.ch 73, (Andre DL8WX, Aug 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA. NEW RADIO DAMASCUS QSL-CARDS POSTED IN THE PHOTOS SECTION Hi Glenn, I just posted a whole selection of Radio Damascus QSL-cards in the photos section of the Radio Damascus Listeners Club group at Yahoo [for members of that yg only]: http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/radio_damascus/photos/browse/f5a2 I hope you can mention it, if possible, in your newsletter. Best regards (Kris Janssen, Belgium, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TATARSTAN. RUSSIA, 15110, 0410- Aug 31, Voice of Tatarstan. Good reception with a single IS followed by Russian and Tatar announcements, then went into regional music. MUF is holding, but just barely. I suspect that within the hour, the signal will deteriorate (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, QCI, BC, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. Radio Thailand FS on 7155 at 19 UT daily this week. I wish someone would tell the Thais that 9 MHz works better in the summer here in Europe. They choose to use 9 MHz at that time in Winter (Dr Derek Lynch, Ireland, Aug 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 4905, 1634- Sep 2, Holy Tibet. Only fair reception at best with English programming and Tibetan music. Fall must be right around the corner when I can pick this program up so late in the morning. // frequencies noted 4920, and 6110. 6200 appears to be cochannel with another Chinese station? (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, QCI, BC, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. As reported in DXLD 8-093 the new Ukrainian domestic relay is active today on 5970. It was suffering splash from VAT 5965 until about 0700 and then clear with a fair to good signal (Noel R. Green [NW England], dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Noted here (eastern Germany) after 1230 with a rather weak, unlistenable signal. As such it is in the absence of Moosbrunn still the second strongest AM signal on 49 metres after 6075, and in fact the only other one at all. And it's the first shortwave signal from Brovary after six years, after the minimized Radio Ukraine International schedule came in force in autumn 2002 (Kai Ludwig, Sept 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. 7440, 0317- Aug 31, Radio Ukraine International. Very good reception with DX program hosted in English by Alexander Yegorov called the Whole World on the Radio Dial. This was followed by the Mailbag program. Excellent reception with a solid S8 to 9 signal and excellent modulation. Rarely heard this well, but perhaps it's my location at my cottage and using a mini-Beverage aimed due north over the Pole that accounts for the excellent reception. Sure wish they'd be so regular back in Victoria! 7440, 0001- Sep 1, Radio Ukraine International. Again, excellent reception with IS and sign-on in English with news about South Ossetia. At same time, I could just make out the IS for the 100 kW unit on 7530 in Ukrainian to Russia (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, QCI, BC, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Virgin Radio --- What do they call themselves now? I can recognize the music most of the time on 1215 but the audio isn't that good (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Hi Mike, Virgin will become "Absolute Radio". Info here: http://www.virginradio.co.uk/about/index.html Listen live from this page too. New website to come (currently redirects to the existing Virgin site): http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk Cheers (John Faulkner, UK, ibid.) And lots of vodka ads? More on this: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/uks-virgin-radio-to-rebrand-as-absolute-radio (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U K. THE BBC ANNOUNCES ITS INTERNATIONAL NEWS AND PROGRAMMING LINE- UP FOR THE US08 ELECTION London, 1 September 2008. In the run-up to the 2008 US presidential election the BBC will broadcast a wealth of election news and programming across its international TV, radio and online news services. At the centre of the election coverage will be the BBC US08 Election bus. On the bus will be a multimedia news team travelling across the US looking to find out what Americans want from their next president, and also what the rest of the world wants from America. News The BBC will offer news that will provide an international perspective, including live coverage of the US presidential debates and the election night results. The US08 Election bus tour will not only provide multimedia coverage across TV, radio and online, it will also be multilingual, with 12 separate BBC World Service language teams joining at different stages of the 38-day, 4,000-mile journey. BBC.com, will be gearing up for the election by providing online audiences with compelling editorial coverage at http://bbc.com/uselection Covering up-to-the-minute election news, the website will include on- site reporting and photos from the US08 Election bus plus an interactive and customisable widget, links to a BBC poll tracker, battleground map, Q&A Presidential Election and issues guide. Radio Programming - BBC World Service Full schedules are available on http://bbcworldservice.com/schedules BBC Debate: Talking America As the US08 Election bus travels across the US, the BBC will join with partner radio stations, universities, community groups and individuals to co-host a series of exclusive, thought-provoking debates. Los Angeles: broadcast on Wednesday 10 September at 1500 GMT Nashville: transmitted live on 5 October at 1700 GMT Minneapolis: transmitted live on 1 November at 1700 GMT. Analysis News and current affairs programme, Analysis, will talk to pundits from around the world about the importance of the election and the result they are expecting. From Monday 20 October Outlook With America facing the real possibility of its first black president, Outlook finds out what it’s like to be African-American in the US today. From Monday 27 October My Senator, My Vote The award-winning presenter, Robin Lustig, visits the home states of John McCain and Barack Obama to get an insight into some of the issues that will decide the vote. From Wednesday 17 September The Lost Veterans Andrew Purcell investigates the growing crisis of homelessness among America's Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. From Wednesday 29 October Out Of The Ghetto Fifteen years after their original series became one of the most acclaimed programmes in American public radio history, Out of the Ghetto returns to get the views of two Chicago audio diarists. From Friday 17 October The Great Gatsby An abridged reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic story of the Jazz Age. From Monday 20 – Friday 24 October TV Programming - BBC World News Full schedules are available on bbcworldnews.com/schedules Question Time In a special edition Question Time comes from Washington DC, with a diverse panel debating on the expected outcome of the forthcoming election. Sunday 2 November at 0130. Repeated at 1430 HARDtalk presenter Stephen Sackur will be in the US hosting a week of programmes dedicated to the election. Monday 27 October – Thursday 30 October daily at 0330. Repeated at 0930, 2130 BBC World News America Presenter Matt Frei and Washington Correspondent Katty Kay will be reporting from the presidential debates, while veteran newsman Ted Koppel will provide an insight at key points in the race. In addition, Matt Frei will be visiting Culpepper, Virginia to take the political temperature of voters in a typical town in the battleground state. http://bbc.com/worldnewsamerica complements and adds value to the programme’s coverage and includes the latest election news, with films and reports from the BBC’s expert team of correspondents. Visitors can also find other distinctive BBC World News America content, including Matt Frei's Washington blog. Mon – Fri at 2300 Ends/ For further information and images please contact: (BBC World News Press Office Tel: +44 (0)208 433 2419 Email: bbcworldnewspressoffice@bbc.com Sept 1 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Re VOA SW coverage of Republican Con: Since the first evening in primetime was canceled in order not to seem insensitive to the plight of Gustavictims, I was not expecting to hear any of the special frequencies given in 8-095, but checked anyway shortly after 0100. Right, none heard, but noted that 9885 also has VOA Spanish Greenville on it along with the DentroCuban Jamming Command. Maybe not a problem in Africa eastward, and maybe these will get underway UT Sept 3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also PHILIPPINES ** U S A. WEEKLY SEDITION : HOMELAND POLICE STATE Posted by Kontra on 2008/9/2 11:08:12 http://wrir.org/x/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7740 This past weekend I posted in outrage about the preemptive, violent raids that occurred against the convergence space for protesters of the Republican National Convention. I didn't know the half. The Twin Cities has quite literally been turned into a police state. I just completed a show on the raids (both with and without warrants), disappearances of activists, break-ins, theft, and violence perpetrated by local and federal forces against demonstrators before the convention even began. You can listen to it at noon today on WRIR, or you can listen at the link below: The Police State in Action: Preemptive Fascism @ the RNC http://www.radio4all.net/responder.php/download/29116/33715/49356/?url=http://www.radio4all.net:8080/files/kontra@riseup.net/3413-1-rnc08.mp3 The occurrences since the convention actually started has been further astounding. In case you didn't know, Amy Goodman is also in jail right now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ The friction is growing, and we're all going to have to come down on one side or the other sooner or later. I have chosen (WRIR website via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Updated A-08 of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: ARABIC 0200-0700 1593 R. Free IRQ 1500-1530 1593 1830-2000 1593 2100-2300 1593 AVARI 0300-0320 7290 17510 1500-1520 11810 15565 BELORUSSIAN 0300-0500 612 5925 7115 1500-1700 612 7180 9725 1700-1900 612 6050 7115 1900-2100 612 7115 9750 CHECHEN 0320-0340 7290 17510 1520-1540 11810 15565 CHERKASSI 0340-0400 7290 17510 1540-1600 11810 15565 DARI 0330-0430 1296 15615 15690 17670 R. Free AFG 0530-0630 1296 15615 17670 17685 0730-0830 1296 15615 17670 17685 0930-1030 1296 15090 15680 17685 1130-1230 1296 15090 15680 17685 1330-1430 1296 11550 15090 GEORGIAN 0500-0600 9725 11960 17770 1130-1145 12070 15130 15460 Mon-Fri 1400-1500 13615 15460 1800-1900 7370 9370 2000-2045 7480 9840 Mon-Fri 2000-2100 7480 9840 Sat/Sun KAZAKH 0000-0100 5945 9765 0100-0200 7215 9750 0200-0400 9615 15660 1200-1300 11520 15120 1300-1400 9465 12005 1400-1600 7170 9815 MOLDOVAN 0400-0430 5955 Mon-Fri 1600-1630 9850 Mon-Fri 1800-1830 9840 Mon-Fri PASHTO 0230-0330 1296 12140 15690 17670 R. Free AFG 0430-0530 1296 15615 15690 17670 0630-0730 1296 15615 17670 17685 0830-0930 1296 15090 15615 17685 1030-1130 1296 15090 15680 17685 1230-1330 1296 11550 15090 15615 PERSIAN 0030-0200 1575 5860 7280 7350 Radio Farda 0200-0330 1575 5860 7280 9510 0330-0400 1575 5860 7280 17650 0400-0500 1575 5860 9460 17650 0500-0530 1575 5860 15255 21715 0530-0600 1575 15255 15690 21715 0600-1000 1575 15690 17845 21715 1000-1200 1575 7125 15690 21715 1200-1400 1575 7125 15690 17755 1400-1500 1575 11520 17670 17755 1500-1600 1575 11520 15410 17755 1600-1700 1575 7340 11945 15410 1700-1800 1575 5860 7580 9770 1800-1900 1575 7105 7580 9960 1900-1930 1575 7105 7580 9505 1930-2130 1575 5830 7580 9505 2130-0030 1575 RUSSIAN 0300-0400 6105 7155 7175 15470 0400-0500 6105 7175 9520 9760 0500-0700 9520 9760 12005 17560 0800-1000 11700 15535 17730 1200-1300 11700 15130 15565 17730 1300-1400 11725 15130 15565 1400-1500 9530 11725 11735 11880 15565 1500-1600 9530 11625 11725 15255 1600-1700 7270 9445 9520 1700-1800 5980 5995 9520 11805 1800-1900 9520 9820 11755 11805 1900-2000 7220 9405 9465 9585 2000-2100 7285 9465 TAJIK 0100-0200 9760 13760 0200-0400 9760 15525 1400-1500 9790 11895 1500-1600 9790 11975 1600-1700 9565 9790 TATAR 0300-0400 7185 9635 0500-0600 9635 1500-1530 9715 11760 1600-1630 9695 11790 1900-2000 9805 TURKMEN 0200-0300 864 9555 15460 0300-0400 9555 15460 1400-1530 13725 15170 1530-1600 864 13725 15170 1600-1700 11975 13815 1700-1800 11825 11975 UZBEK 0200-0300 9855 12025 15145 0300-0400 9855 15145 17770 1400-1500 12005 13645 15265 1600-1700 7555 9390 12150 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Sept 2 via DXLD) ** U S A. Re: Do you hear WEWN at all when Cairo is on? On Aug 31, it was stronger here and still no Cairo audible (gh, DXLD) No, I never hear WEWN at that time [2115] on 11550. Cairo has a strong carrier here, it's one of the few stations I that can hear on 25mb punching through the Power Line Adapter interference from next door! (sigh). (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) On Sept 1 around 2000 I could hear them both mixing again on 11550 (gh, Enid, DXLD) ** U S A. Re: WBCQ Schedule Update. 8/30/08 ``Church of the Subgenius Hour of Slack ends, was Sunday 11 pm on 7415 (will continue to air regularly on Area 51)`` But WHEN will it be airing on Area 51? Does "regularly" above mean a specific weekly time or something else? That was one of the programs I really tried to listen to each week. 5110 kHz reception here in St. Louis is far less reliable than 7415, usually. That means "Area 51" is not all that good a replacement venue. Does it really cost any more to run the 7415 transmitter than the one on 5110? If not, why not put "Area 51" on the 7415 unit later at night, after the usual 0430 UT sign/off time, so that those of us across the country can have it as a fairly-reliable service, instead of running it earlier in the evening on 5110, and leave 5110 turned off at that time until the airtime is sold to other customers? (I've never understood why "pirate radio" has always seemed to be a late-afternoon/early-evening exercise instead of being where I would think it belonged, during late-night hours. If "Area 51" is meant to be a legal "pirate" programming outlet, put it on late at night, when it should be.) 73, (Will Martin, MO, Sept 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Today we noted that "This Week In Amateur Radio International" aired at 2000 UT on WBCQ 7415 in one of the "available time slots" on the schedule. Immediately following TWIAR we heard World of Radio 1423 in another available slot at 2200. Signal excellent here in Maryland. Regards, (Larry Will, Monday Sept 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Right now (Monday 2200-2230 UT) I'm hearing the World of Radio on 7415. WBCQ's current schedule lists time slot 2100-2230 as "available" for lease (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, ibid.) ** U S A. 7505 WRNO New Orleans LA (presumed xmtr site); 0145-0222. 29 Aug., English. This station has been one of my dream catches. After many years, I have a definite log of them. Many IDs as “WRNO Worldwide. We appreciate you catching the wave on shortwave - WRNO Worldwide, 7505 kHz.” & “You are listening to WRNO on 7505 kHz.” YL thanked the listeners for all of the reception reports received and asked for more. She gave the station addy as: WRNO Radio, POB 895, Ft. Worth Texas 76101, USA and gave an uncopied email addy. News at 0201 with Jonathon Peter. The programming consisted of contemporary Christian music. Thx to Harold Frodge for the tip. S9+20/Excellent (Joe Wood, TN, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ? Why presume? NOLA is well-known as the transmitter site; cf ALBANIA. It was still missing UT Sept 2 at 0353 check (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Hello Glenn, Just an observation that on 8/31 and 9/1, WRNO, 7505 kHz was off the air, presumably an evacuation of the transmitter site due to the approaching Hurricane Gustav. I tried both days in the 0100 to 0130 time slot, then again 0200 to 0230. Not a surprise, since the transmitters are located in New Orleans. I am not aware of any damage caused by flooding or winds at this time (Ed Insinger, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Communications from New Orleans http://www.radioreference.com:8000/nola_ps.m3u http://www.radioreference.com:8000/nola.mps Listen to the happenings in New Orleans (Bert New, Watkinsville, Georgia, Proudly Serving You Since 1964! Aug 31, IRCA via DXLD) Hurricane Gustva [sic] Quad-feed --- Hi, This site only works in Microsoft Internet Explorer, but is the best I've found to see live local news from New Orleans. Also a live webcam picture. Be sure to click the mute buttons on two of the three players on the screen, unless you can understand three or more voices speaking at the same time!! http://www.weatherserver.net/gustva.htm We need to pray for these folks, although most have evacuated (Tom McNiff, Burke, Virginia, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Three of four, you mean --- local NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox affils were all running when I checked, as one would expect for `quad` (gh) See also INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non] For those of you wanting New Orleans coverage of the hurricane, DirecTV is currently running WDSU-6 on channel 361 on the entire system (Joe Fela, NJ, Aug 31, WTFDA via DXLD) WDSU deserves kudos for their coverage and for streaming it all on their site. I prefer their coverage much more than CNN's :) Sad thing is the major networks could be relaying their affiliates' coverage. Anytime a storm or major news event happens somewhere in the US I prefer the locals' coverage (in most cases) over the networks' (Aaron Reed from Brockton, MA, (21 miles south of Boston), ibid.) ** U S A. TOP STORYRadio's prepared for Hurricane Gustav - and so is the FCC --- Three years ago during Hurricane Katrina, the FCC began staffing the office 7 days a week to help stations with necessary paperwork and other support, and these days, there's a Disaster Information Reporting system. DIRS is web-based and lets radio stations and other licensees report problems, like a downed tower or flooded transmitter. The "areas of interest" are parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. Stations can also call 24/7 help with Special Temporary Authority and other questions: 202-418-1122. More info here. On the ground in the Gulf States, the Radio-Info.com board has some praise (for WWL, New Orleans) and criticism (for stations that stayed in regular programming). (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Viz.: RADIO-INFO.COM Louisiana board with discussions of hurricane coverage (and stations off the air or not modulating): http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/board,220.0.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Re 8-095, KXTR 1660: Haven't forgotten about you and this question - I'll check the Royals' schedule and listen in when they are scheduled. I do recall vaguely that a year or so ago I heard them cut away around 1:15 pm, probably on a Saturday when I was laying out DXN - for some sporting event - but now I don't remember what it was, although it might have been a winter sport like basketball. Yes, the web sites for most of the Cumulus stations are pretty useless as far as programming goes, and frankly, when WDAF flipped off 610 I removed it from all my car pushbuttons. I had listened to WDAF-610 from about 1951, too, from back in the days of block programming, through their chicken-rock and MOR days, and all the way from 1977 when 61 Country took the air. Sportstalk to me is completely useless. I totally do not care to listen to pro/con discussion about any sports entity; you know the statement: "Opinions are like you-know-whats; everyone has one!" What a waste of airtime -pls (Paul Swearingen, Topeka KS, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Meanwhile we had the answer, 8-095; yes, they run BB but not Royals. Paul was away in Pittsburgh for the NRC Convention (gh, DXLD) Lol - Sunday afternoon I was actually in PNC Stadium in Pittsburgh watching the Pirates being manhandled by the Brewers. Beautiful stadium. Was also listening on 104.7. Glad that Richard was able to verify that KXTR now carries baseball, which is a far cry from what they carried when they were still located on Swearingen Road in Independence and playing only classical music. When I was teaching in '70-71 at O'Hara High School, south of Raytown, I needed some wire copy, and as I lived near 40 highway and Van Brunt KXTR [then on FM where it belonged, 96.5, I believe – gh] was the closest station, so I dropped by and collected some AP wire copy to use in my newspaper class, which I'd more or less converted to a television newscast. We used a 2-inch Sony reel-to-reel video recorder, which was always breaking down, and had to record everything sequentially - no video editing, and of course it was all in black- and-white. The copy was for our announcers to practice reading and to emulate when they were writing broadcast copy. I believe we might have been one of the very first schools to do any kind of video production. After I left, the school dumped the video and went back to hard copy newspaper. I don't think they were ready for any pioneering -pls (Paul Swearingen, Topeka, ibid.) ** U S A. FAMOUS RADIO TOWER CALLS BRENTWOOD HOME Posted: July 29, 2008 07:34 PM [tower illustrated, coverage maps] http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?s=8754562 BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Many who have driven by the intersection of Concord Road and Interstate-65 have wondered about the 800 foot tall landmark that sits off the side of the road. The landmark is one of the world's most famous radio towers. The radio tower still broadcasts the signal of WSM-AM 650 over 38 states at night. The station also reaches parts of Canada and Mexico. WSM signed on in 1925, but moved its transmitter to Concord Road in 1932. The diamond shaped tower is all original and has survived a lot of severe weather over 76 years. The station's chief engineer said the tower could easily withstand 76 more years. The 808 foot WSM-AM radio tower is special because it is just one of a half dozen like it left in the world. "They stopped making this design in the late 1930s," said engineer Watt Hairston The Blaw-Knox company of Pittsburgh designed the tower in 1932, and a big section of the world hears the country music that radiates off the steel structure from top to bottom. "In AM broadcasting, the tower itself is the antenna." WSM's 50,000 watt non-directional signal reaches 200 miles from its Brentwood home during the day. At night the magic of the earth's atmosphere sends the tower's signal a minimum of 750 miles in all directions. "It's unique. It's described as a dual cantilever tower." Meaning the tower comes to a point at the top and bottom and gradually widens in the middle." "The wind and temperature changes are constantly moving it," Hairston said. A pivoting base absorbs the twisting and turning. Indoors, the original station logo graces the floor leading to the transmitter room. A new digital transmitter takes up one corner of the room. The original transmitter took up the entire room. An original logbook is one of many artifacts on display in this makeshift museum. Back outside, how does the tower's diamond design affect the signal? "The actual shape has no impact on how the signal propagates." Hairston said a brand new tower would still have to be 808 feet tall to broadcast WSM's signal efficiently. "They have not figured out a better way of transmitting an AM broadcast signal than that," Hairston said. Hairston said the WSM tower was so efficient, the signal has been heard as far away as South Africa and Finland when atmospheric conditions were just right. General Manager Chris Kulick said he would like to find a sponsor to help operate a proper broadcasting museum in the transmitter building at Concord and I-65 - teaching people the science of what keeps stations like WSM on the air (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Nice story by the competition`s TV station; no video (gh) ** U S A. TOM KNEITEL --- I read [every] publication Tom published, and every article he wrote since the early 60's. He loved DX'ing and broadcasting history. I feel as if I knew him. Nothing was more exciting to me as a child, than a new Tom Kneitel article or magazine. The joy and interest I found in his work continued until he retired. Radio Swan indeed (Brock Whaley, HI, Aug 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. All times/dates are in GMT. Frequencies are in kHz unless otherwise stated. RF = reactivated frequency; NS = new station. DISCLAIMER: No portion of the below may be reproduced or redistributed by the National Radio Club, their editors or current members without expressed written permission, which will then be swiftly denied. Editors receiving this directly from me are excluded provided this disclaimer is included if any of the below is reproduced. 940 RF, FLORIDA, WPTI814, Pinellas County Emergency Management, Largo; 1425+ 23 August, 2008. A massive, sloppy carrier with 60-cycle buzzing telco-like loose/mispatched cable hum audio. Weak WINZ, Miami and Radio Reloj audible underneath. Suspected this would be the MIS station back on the air, as it looped directly south. And indeed it is. Reactivated, sort of any way, whether intentional or somehow after a year or so it turned itself back on. I took the short drive to confirm as just as I neared the transmitter/antenna pole, the audio kicked in for the call sign portion of the loop and dropped back to the buzz mode. Surely someone must be working on it? No. I drove in the parking lot and parked in front of the thing. Not a soul in site. Go figure. And still buzz blobbing away with the same audio loudly at 1520 check on 24 August. [note: this log predates the one in 8-095, due to gh clearing out backlog piled up during vacation] 1189.85, MISSISSIPPI, WBSL, Bay St. Louis; 1510-1520 23 August, 2008. It's amazing that this is still here, off frequency since I first noted it over 19 month ago! So does this mean no FCC inspection for maybe two years? Black female announcer, into soul and blues vocals. Audible via LSB to escape WAMT, Pine Castle-Sky Lake, FL on 1190. WBSL is listed as 5 kW DA1. Of course, if not for being off-frequency I doubt I'd hear it at this location. 1189.85, MISSISSIPPI, WBSL, Bay St. Louis; 1325-1340 / 1517-1522 / 1841-1845 1 September, 2008. This one was still on with usual R&B/Blues format, nearing the peak of Hurricane Gustav. However, off the air at 1517 check, but back on at 1841 check. Probably my last Hurricane Gustav radio observations, since this much- hyped storm was not the bark the media was hoping for. 1550, NS, FLORIDA, WNZF, Flagler Beach; 0104-0120 21 August, 2008. Presume running day power of 8+ kW during Tropical Storm Fay conditions, mostly poor under WAMA, Tampa (Mexican Spanish format) and the huge Cuban swisher jammer. At 0104, live male stating "...Flagler Beach... emergency crews are on line..."; 0106 uncopiable phone number; 0107 "... any questions about anything?... You'll hear about it right here on WNZF... WNZF..." 0116 "...I want to remind everyone... " This is a new station, activated a couple of weeks ago (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 760, WJR Detroit has dropped IBOC per a post on the Michigan buzz board. Monitoring seems to confirm this. They no longer mention HD in TOH ID (Larry Russell, Fluching MI, MARE Tipsheet Sept 1 via DXLD) ** U S A. SPECIAL EVENT (Highway to a DX Party!). The Citrus Belt Amateur Radio Club of San Bernardino, California, will host (probably one of the most fun special event activities) the 9th annual "Route 66 On The Air" special event between September 13-21st. The purpose of this event is to offer amateur radio operators a fun way to "Relive the Ride" of their own memories of Route 66, and to celebrate the highway's 82nd anniversary. The U.S. Highway 66 established in 1926, was the first major improved highway to link the west coast with the nations heartland. Through stories, songs, and TV shows, the highway came to symbolize the spirit of the freedom of the open road, inspiring many to see America. Look for the following 19 stations (two are rovers) operating in or around the major cities along the old "Route 66" from Santa Monica, California, to Chicago, Illinois: Stations City Club -------- ------------ -------- ------------ --------- ---- W6A Santa Mónica, CA Westside Amateur Radio Club W6B Los Ángeles, CA Westside Amateur Radio Club W6C San Bernardino, CA Citrus Belt Amateur Radio Club W6D Víctorville, CA Victor Valley Amateur Radio Club W6E Barstow, CA Barstow Amateur Radio Club W6F Kingman, AZ Hualapai Amateur Radio Club W6G Flagstaff, AZ Northern Arizona DX Association W6H Albuquerque, NM New Mexico Amateur Radio Alliance W6I Amarillo, TX Chapter 141, QCWA W6J Elk City, OK Western Oklahoma Amateur Radio Club W6K Oklahoma City, OK No Club Affiliation W6L Tulsa, OK Tulsa Amateur Radio Club W6M Riverton, KS Wichita Amateur Radio Club W6N Joplin, MO Joplin Amateur Radio Club W6O Lebanon, MO Lebanon Amateur Radio Club W6P St. Louis, MO St. Louis Amateur Radio Club W6Q Chicago, IL Six Meter Club of Chicago ROVER STATIONS ------------ ---- W6R Goleta, CA Santa Bárbara Amateur Radio Club W6S Santa Bárbara, CA No Club Affiliation Special event stations are expected to be found in the vicinity of the following frequencies. (Look for digital modes in the standard band segments for such mode) All frequencies +/- QRM: CW - 3533, 7033, 10110, 14033, 18080, 21033, 24900, 28033 and 50033 SSB - 3866, 7266, 14266, 18164, 21366, 24966, 28466 and 50166 kHz R66 MOBILE Operations - Any amateurs operating while actually driving along Route 66 during the special event period are encouraged to take part in "Route 66 On The Air", by using the designation "mobile 66" for SSB or "/m66" for CW after their callsigns. All other amateur radio operators are welcome to contact these mobile operators. REPEATERS - Some of the participating clubs will also be operating this event from their local VHF/UHF repeaters. Check the ARRL repeater guide for possible repeater frequencies, if your in the local area. Each participating club will issue their own QSL card commemorating this event. QSL information is available on the Web at: http://www.w6jbt.org/Route_ota/General_Pages/QSLRoute.htm For more details about the event and the certificate that is available, please visit the "Route 66 OTA Site" at: http://www.w6jbt.org/Route_ota/Index.htm (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 873, The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster, September 1, 2008 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 5915, ZNBC, program 1, *0240-0258, Sept 1, sign on with Fish Eagle IS. Choral National Anthem at 0250 followed by vernacular talk. Local choral music. Poor. Weak with adjacent channel splatter. 6165, ZNBC, program 2, *0243-0250, Sept 1, sign on with Fish Eagle IS. Barely audible under a strong Radio Nederland. Too weak to catch further details (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Odd Noise on 1170 kHz. Hello All, I'm getting something odd on 1170 this morning (0425 CDT [0925 UT]); someone is broadcasting what very nearly sounds like an old airplane engine. I understand that there is a type of jammer that sounds like that. The signal displays fading, and the direction is the same from here and down the block, so it isn't likely to be anything close by (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton, Illinois, Sept 2, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) So what was the direxion?? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 8-095, CODAR: Hi Glenn: I'm monitoring in Brooklyn, New York. I checked during the day, and heard CODAR loud and clear centering around 4780. Later in the evening it was strong there and higher up as well in 60 meters; I didn't jot down the exact frequencies. I think it was around 4885-4915. I checked later at 0425 and found the entire band clear of CODAR again. I will follow this over the next few nights if I can, and make a more accurate notation (David Goren, UT Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 8-095: 6390 kHz solved --- Hi all, per a tip from Glenn Hauser, I looked for a similar sounding station down in the 49 meter band. What I thought was Spanish turned out to be Japanese from our friends to the north; seems Sackville has a spur on from the transmitter on 5960. This is Radio Japan via Sackville starting at 0200 till 0500. I gotta get my ears checked, thinking Japanese was Spanish. Oh well, back to the dials for more fun and games. Holding my breath for the Gulf coast this is going to be a doosie this time (Chuck Sayers, Harrisburg PA, WA3GSI, FN10og, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Chuck, I was going to add that Sackville was also a likely suspect, but discounted that since no Spanish from there at that hour. So this is a leapfrog over 6175, the relay of Vietnam, at 215 kHz intervals. Wait a minute, your original report said 0100, not 0200. There is nothing on 5960 until 0200 Japan via Sackville, as you now say. Not the first time Japanese has been mistaken for Spanish on a weak signal. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 9250-9270, weak CODAR swishes on a range I don`t recall ever hearing before, nor seeing reported before, Sept 1 at 1333, at the rate of about 88 pulses per minute, contrary to the 60 per minute we hear around 5 MHz. Anyone know where this is located, and if it is new? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 12096.6; 1742-1746 23 August, 2008. That big open carrier is still here. First noted 1114 on 17 August. Again 1510-1515 24 August (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Enjoy DXLD, takes dedication. Excellent bulletin! Make certain there remains time for Glenn. Best 73, (Bob Wilkner, FL) BE MY FRIEND? I am getting an increasing number of solicitations to sign up on social networking websites. Please understand that as a matter of policy I do not choose to participate in any of them. I realize that some of them automatically solicit everybody in someone`s address book! My lack of response does not mean I am not friendly, as am always glad to hear from people individually by e-mail (Glenn Hauser) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ MUTUAL BROADCASTING REUNION PLANNED It's been ten years since the MUTUAL BROADCASTING SYSTEM was shut down, thanks to mergers and acquisitions and such. To honor the great legacy of the MBS, former staffers are gathering for a reunion on SEPTEMBER 13th at the CRYSTAL CITY HYATT, not far from MUTUAL's final headquarters in VIRGINIA. The highlight of the evening is expected to be talk show great JIM BOHANNON sharing the same mic as XM star BOB EDWARDS. If you worked at MBS at any time and would like more information, please write to mutualreunion @ yahoo.com (allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, HI, DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ POLICE CALL PUBLISHER DIES Gene Costin, 80, recently passed away. He used the pen name Gene Hughes and published what hobbyists considered the bible of police radio scanning frequencies, "Police Call." (Gary Lycan, On the Radio columnist, Orange Country Register, Aug 21, via Greg Hardison, CA, DXLD) OBIT 2008 MEXICO LIST BY ESTADO.DOC (1840 KB) [AM stations, introduction accompanying latest mailing] I have done a little tweaking on the list ... a few minor changes, mostly coordinating the printed format, on "By Frequency" and a consolidation on "By Estado," so here is the latter. I realize that some of us, in the northern reaches of the North American continent, will enjoy rarer reception from México than those who live along the Gulf and in the Southwest (except, of course, when auroral conditions abound), but to those of us for whom at least some Mexican stations are semi-locals, I hope we will keep track of changes and, for that matter, status quo, so we can try to do a better job of keeping this list up to date. It is my hope, also, that there will be some travelers to México who can take radios and recorders, along with a copy of the list, and keep things up to date. James Niven has been in the Río Grande Valley during the past week and done some monitoring to help confirm what's happening. Rick Barton in Arizona has confirmed that XESOS, Agua Prieta, Sonora, is still on 670 ... and perhaps we can encourage Rick to be on the lookout for other changes in Sonora, Sinaloa, and other estados that are more easily heard in Arizona than elsewhere. Hopefully, too, we can establish contact with interested radio hobbyists or professionals in México who can compare this list with what they hear and/or know about the radio scene there. Some may think there's too much information here, but here's my justification. For old slogans, there are other lists that are found on the internet that haven't been updated. If we were to find one of those lists, we might be inclined to think we've found new information if we did not have some reference to history. Plus there's the possibility that a station might revert back to an older slogan, as we have occasionally seen since I've been tracking stations. For addresses and telephone numbers, while it's unlikely that many of us will be calling a station in México, and almost as unlikely that we'll be seeking QSLs (given the percentage of return in recent years), the addresses and telephone numbers are often given in detailed station ID announcements near the top and bottom of the hour and, with so many frequencies covered by noise from so many stations, it may be a fragment of an address or telephone number that will help us identify what we're hearing. Same thing is true for ad sales representatives or network operators. Those of us who have been paying attention to Mexican medium wave stations have undoubtedly noticed that there have been very few new commercial radio stations coming on the air in the last decade. The aforementioned XESOS appeared to have been a new station, but its profile in MPM's quarterly publication shows it was established in 1942, giving credence to the belief by Tim Hall and Kevin Redding's that XESOS derived from the no-longer-listed XETM in Naco. The only other possibly new medium wave commercial station in this list is XEZHO-1410 in Zihuatenejo, Guerrero. XEZHO still has not shown up in MPM. There have been a handful of new government owned and operated stations put on the air in the 21st century, most of them broadcasting for native Indian peoples. The transmitter site coordinates may have an even more esoteric value ... we DX'ers can use one of the available formulas to plug in our coordinates and those of the stations we hear to satisfy our curiosity about how far away they are from us; we can do the same for a target station to orient our phased antennas; or we can follow Scott Fybush's trail and travel to México and take pictures of towers! We can also plug the coordinates into a website, such as MapQuest, and build a collection of maps of transmitter sites and, even, satellite photos of the areas where these stations are located. Of course, if you want a streamlined list, since this is a Word document, it shouldn't take too long (after you copy the main file so you won't completely erase information you may decide you want to keep later) to remove extraneous information and have a "streamlined" copy of the list! Perhaps a little background, for those among us who haven't been familiar, over the years, with my connection to broadcasting and the DX'ing hobby, might be of interest. When I started DX'ing 61 years ago in Corvallis, Oregon, I and three other seventh-grade classmates thought we had invented the hobby. We knew about White's Radio Log and the old Stevenson's Radio Log, but neither, in 1947, listed Mexican stations. I heard a sign-off announcement (remember sign/offs?) from XEG-1050, which then was a "Border Baby," broadcasting mail order ads in English, along with country music, to the U.S., and copied the name of the governmental agency that regulated broadcasting in México. (I'd heard XEG and a few other English-speaking Border Babies, XERF-1570 Villa Acuña back then (Del Río, Texas); XEAC-690 Tijuana; XERB-1090 Rosarito Beach, BC; XENT-1140 Nuevo Laredo; XELO-800 Juárez (Clint, Texas); XEMO-860, Tijuana; and misidentified the calls as XCG, XCRF, et xetera, so it was a surprise when the governmental agency at the time sent, in response to my request, a mimeographed list of Mexican broadcasters and their call letters began with "XE." By 1950, I'd discovered ham radio (though I didn't pursue a license until 1984), SWBC DX through Ken Boord's International DX Column in the old Radio-Television News Magazine, and became a subscriber, at age 15, to Broadcasting Magazine, when the $7 annual subscription price included the Broadcasting Yearbook. I started collecting QSLs from shortwave broadcasters in 1950, but it didn't dawn on me that medium wave stations would QSL, until I joined the Newark News Radio Club in 1955 and the National Radio Club in 1956. (Earlier, I spent a couple of weekends at the typewriter in the offices of KRUL-1340, Corvallis, typing a complete list of US, Canadian and Mexican stations from BYB, an endeavor that eventually led to my typing the first NRC Log back in 1968, after Carroll Weyrich had given up typing his annual log.) My DX'ing hobby led to a news media career, starting as a sports stringer as a sophomore in high school for the local newspaper in Corvallis. I'd had a hankering to be a funny disk jockey, but to break into broadcasting in the late '40s or early '50s, a first class engineer's license was required to operate a studio console, and I was not technically electronically included, so I focused my career aspirations on print. (The multiple choice format for the ham radio license worked to my advantage many years later.) By 1955, the first class ticket was no longer required ... you just had to pass a simple test on the rules ... and I got my first radio job at KCOV-1240 in Corvallis in the spring of that year. A year later, I volunteered for the draft, was assigned to a regimental PIO in Germany, and while I was in the Army, my parents moved to the Texas Panhandle, where I relocated in 1958, as news director/chief announcer for KPAN in Hereford (still today, 50 years later, a great local station under the same ownership). I part-timed at KIXZ-Amarillo and KTUE-Tulia while getting my degree at West Texas State, went briefly to work for the Social Security Administration before realizing I was not bureaucratic material, worked at another great local station, KPDN in Pampa, Texas, for four years; did news for KFJZ Fort Worth and KILT Houston back when Top 40 radio stations prided themselves on their news departments; and had a really great experience 1967-70 at tiny WCAS-740 in Cambridge, Mass., doing a news/local issues telephone talk format that was an artistic success but didn't make any money. DX'er Pete Taylor, who put on Kaiser Broadcasting's sister station, WJIB-FM, hired me to build the programming for WCAS, which covered suburbs Watertown, Cambridge, Arlington, Somerville and Belmont under, basically, the same principals I'd learned at KPAN and KPDN in the Panhandle. When WCAS switched from news/talk to folk music, I and my new bride (a schoolteacher with roots in Texas) looked for a small market station within a day's drive of our families in Texas (so we could get there easily, but not so easily we'd be expected every weekend.) We wound up in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, for 30 years, the first 11 at WMIX-940 as news director and sports play-by-play announcer, the last 19 as city editor, managing editor, then executive editor of the Mt. Vernon Register-News. (I'd anticipated the death of local radio news, I suppose you could say.) Upon retirement, we moved to my wife's home town, Krum, Texas, where I've become "The Krumudgeon," volunteering to write news and a weekly column for the local newspaper, purely ... as has been my putting together this Mexican station list ... as a hobby. I believe, in case it isn't obvious, in sharing, and will continue to do so with those on this mailing list and others who express an interest (John Callarman, TX, Aug 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Who may do so by contacting JohnCallarman @ msn.com DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see also AUSTRIA; CUBA; ECUADOR ++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC: USA: WJR DRM WEBSITE NOW OFFERS SORTING/FILTERING OF TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE The website of Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) has added the facility to sort and/or filter the online DRM broadcast schedule to display just a subset of the complete schedule, or display it in a different order. This makes it easy to find all the DRM transmissions of a specific broadcaster, or from a specific site. The display can also be sorted by frequency or target area in addition to the standard time order. The schedule is on this page. http://www.drm.org/for-broadcasters/live-broadcast-schedule (August 26, 2008 1048 UT by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) But this version of exactly(?) the same info has always been sortable: http://baseportal.com/baseportal/drmdx/main (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 8-095, ALASKA: Construction Begins for DRM Alaska Test Bed, ``DRM signals in three of the lower shortwave bands around 5, 7 and 9 MHz.`` What happened to the plan for DRM to use the 26 MHz band for local- area broadcasting? Wasn't this the original plan? 73, (Will Martin, MO, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s one plan still being promoted, but in AK, trying to do it lower on HF with ionospheric propagation makes more sense, as it would take thousands of 26 MHz groundwave transmitters to cover the state. 73, (Glenn Hauser, OK, ibid.) I believe FCC dismissed all applications for 26 MHz local-area broadcasting (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, ibid.) Is that correct, Benn Kobb? In that case why maintain your 26mhz.us website? (gh, DXLD) It is correct. The FCC received a grand total of one application for 26 MHz broadcasting, from a contractor to Family Radio. I predicted that the FCC would dismiss that poorly prepared application, and told the applicant so. The FCC dismissed it on October 5, 2007. If the FCC has received other applications for 26 MHz stations, I'm not aware of it. My http://www.radiospectrum.info site tracks new, granted and dismissed FCC experimental license applications. In an October 9, 2007 post on 26mhz.us I wrote that "the dismissal of the Joseph/FR application is not a setback to the eventual approval of local 26 MHz DRM broadcasting in the U.S. "If anything, it validates the principle that experimental stations are for gathering scientific data, or performing some related and clearly defined mission, and should not provide regular public services or used as an excursion around the rulemaking process. "This proposed experiment was sparsely documented, and the FCC was likely concerned that it would be used to transmit content for general listening when local use of this band is not yet allowed in this country." That dismissal has been widely misinterpreted to mean that for some unknown reason the FCC has rejected DRM, rejected local use of the 26 MHz band, or both. There were surprised faces at my SWLfest presentation when I pointed out that so far neither are true. If Mr. Sosedkin has contrary information, please let's see it. > In that case why maintain your 26mhz.us website? (gh, DXLD) I maintain the site for the same reason I started it: to gather the available news and information relevant to DRM local broadcasting in the U.S. and present it in a simple, usable format. > What happened to the plan for DRM to use the 26 MHz band for local- area broadcasting? Wasn't this the original plan? The only plan I'm aware of is to do some additional experiments on 26 MHz and provide the data to the FCC in the context of a rulemaking petition. But that will only happen if the test results are favorable and if prospective broadcasters voice their support. It would help if receivers people might want actually materialize. The Alaskan test is not licensed to operate at 26 MHz and is not designed as a local station. It is an antenna and propagation exercise to see if it is practical to cover that large state from a single site. Legally it is not a broadcast station at all. It is licensed in the Experimental Radio Service. Statewide, regional or national-coverage domestic DRM stations will require changes to the WWII-era regulations that govern private international broadcast stations. Those regulations limit the stations to international service. They don't prohibit coverage of U.S. territory, obviously, and they are only partially enforced. But they aren't advantageous to a station aiming at U.S. audiences. If the Alaskan test succeeds, and if its licensee and anyone else wants to build stations specifically for U.S. coverage, they will have to ask the FCC to make regulatory changes. How such changes would be pitched to the Commission and who would do it are open questions. They are largely independent of any considerations of local broadcasting at 26 MHz (Benn Kobb, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Baltimore Sun article on HD Radio "We're where we'd like to be, but we'd like to make it go quicker," says Bob Struble, president and chief executive officer of Columbia- based Ibiquity Digital. . . . . . . "I've had reports from people, as soon as they start moving, the HD signal cuts off," says Greg Smith, a Maryland-based software engineer who started a blog titled "Is HD Radio a Farce?" http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com "To me, this system is just totally flawed. I can't see why anybody would put up with this." http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/custom/today/bal-to.hd02sep02,0,6053743.story (via Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17 http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/ ABDX via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC PROMOTES HF JAMMING Re 8-095, CUBA: ``Jim, I really cannot think of any known instance of the USA engaging in jamming directly or indirectly, now or in the past semi-century. ... The USG certainly does not jam any SW broadcasts incoming to the USA to prevent the American people from hearing them, as Cuba and China do to such excess against their own people. 73, (Glenn to Jim, via DXLD)`` Glenn, An agency of the US Government did conspire to have a nationwide jamming system deployed at no expense to the US Government. This agency authorized commercial interests to build and deploy distributed HF jamming technology that would have destroyed HF broadcast reception had it been economically viable. The agency is the FCC. The same agency is required by international treaty to enforce ITU regulations against jamming. With total disregard for its international obligation, and for thousands of comments from both the SWL community and amateur radio operators, the FCC elected to charge ahead also ignoring the Government's (NTIA) own test data. Somebody even brought pressure on the NTIA to retract their opposition to BPL so the FCC could proceed unchallenged by forces within the Government. Luckily for SWLs and hams, BPL is an unsound technology and is failing to draw economic interest. One can't say the FCC did not give it as big a push as possible. It is my guess that the FCC (Michael Powell) was acting on orders from on high. It is also my guess that it was a way for those in high places to exercise plausible denial while instituting a nation-wide HF jamming network at no expense to the taxpayers (Joe Buch, FL, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ GRUNDIG G6 PORTABLE REVIEW COMPLETE http://www.dxer.ca/content/view/61/1/ Enjoy (Colin Newell, Victoria, BC, Canada, Aug 24, HCDX via DXLD) PROPAGATION ++++++++++++ KEEP AN EYE TO THE SKY For the Astronomically inclined among us, here is something that I hope you will find both informative and interesting. Space Weather News for Aug 31, 2008 Sky watchers across the USA and Europe are reporting unusually colorful sunsets and sunrises. The cause appears to be the August 7th eruption of the Kasatochi volcano in Alaska's Aleutian islands. The volcano hurled a massive cloud of ash and sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere; high winds have since carried the aerosols over parts of the USA and Europe. "Violet domes," long pink rays crossing the sky, campfire-red aureoles around Venus--these are just a few of the sights documented on Spaceweather.com in recent days. When the sun goes down tonight, look west. You may be in for a treat. Ongoing coverage of the phenomenon may be found at http://spaceweather.com First reports of the volcanic sunsets are documented in the Aug. 27th edition of SpaceWeather.com, located in our archives at this URL: http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=27&month=08&year=2008 (Duane Fischer, W8DBF - WPE8CXO, Hallicrafters web site: http://www.w9wze.net HHRP web site: http://hhrp.w9wze.net Sept 1, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Re 8-095, as PROPAGATION [non], as we don`t think this will have any effect on propagation, but still want to mention it (gh, DXLD) PROPAGATION OUTLOOK FROM HABANA With solar activity at an all time low for the past 11 years, we may be able to enjoy a very nice upcoming autumn equinox AM broadcast band DX season. More about the extremely low solar activity that has prevailed since October of last year. A detailed account of the way that the solar cycle has behaved in a few seconds, when the weekend edition of Dxers Unlimited will continue. I am Arnie Coro in Havana. You are listening to Radio Havana Cuba, the name of the show is Dxers Unlimited, and here now is a detailed account of the solar statistics that clearly show that the Sun has gone trough two minimums. The month of October of 2007 registered an extremely low monthly sunspot average of 0,9, that was followed by a very slightly higher figure of 1.7 in November, then during December of last year activity increased to 10.1, only to take a dip to 3.8 during January, continue the downward turn in February to 2.1, and then March data shows a monthly sunspot average of 9.3. Some scientists thought that solar cycle 24 was starting, but they were wrong. April and May of 2008 average monthly sunspot count registered the same figure of 2.9, June was just slightly more active at 3.1 and then July brought the lowest monthly sunspot average of the whole cycle, just 0.5, that meaning that for practically 31 consecutive days solar optical observers saw a totally blank solar disc. And to bring to an end this lengthy but very important statistical analysis, so far, during 22 days of the month of August, only a very small cycle 23 sunspot was seen. In total agreement with the zero sunspot count that has prevailed during August, the microwave solar flux at 10.7 centimeters way length has stayed at rock bottom levels , with an average very near the minimum ever registered of 64 units. Now, after you have patiently heard those terribly low numbers, here is the analysis of what they may mean for the low frequencies DX enthusiasts, a crowd that includes operators of automatic low frequency beacons, listeners to the natural radio emissions of Planet Earth that include the often heard but not very well known whistlers, Long Wave AM broadcast band DXers, the radio amateurs that are operating on the two thousand and two hundred meters band, non directional aviation beacon DX hunters, the new group of radio amateurs that are operating on a segment of the old Marine 500 kiloHertz band, and those that are not yet allowed to transmit on the 600 meters band, but that as I am doing are constantly monitoring that new ham band in order to learn more about its unique daytime propagation characteristics. But if you add the people devoted to the above mentioned ways of enjoying the radio hobby, they are no match to the hundreds of thousands of persons around the world that in one way or the other have a good time trying to pick up DX stations on the AM medium wave broadcast band, where practically every nation in the world has at least one station operating. If the present extended period of very low solar activity continues during the months of September and October then AM medium wave broadcast band DXers will enjoy a super DX season, because of the very low ionospheric absorption that will prevail during the upcoming autumn equinoctial period, that should be starting in about two weeks and extend at least until mid October. Si amigos, yes my friends, oui mes amis, AM broadcast band DXing, according to my propagation forecast, is going to be really amazing, and the only thing that could spoil this autumn equinox DX season will be a sudden, abrupt and so far unexpected increase in solar activity. Get ready for what is going to be possibly the best AM band and Long Wave broadcast bands DX season in years to come, and stay tuned to this program, because our technical topics section for today will provide you with several nice tips for low frequency DXing, in the range from 10 kiloHertz all the way up to 2 megaHertz, because, yes, the 160 meters amateur band is also going to be excellent for DXing during the upcoming autumn equinox (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited Aug 23, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) WHAT DEARTH OF SUNSPOTS WOULD MEAN While the evidence and studies to date are not altogether convincing, the likelihood that there will be a dearth of sunspots for the balance of our lifetimes is impressive. What this means to us as DXers is of interest. F2, in the MHz regions above 30, will cease to exist or be very rare in occurrence. Sporadic E, the source of which remains non-identified, will become the only 1,000-8,000 mile mode for frequencies above 30 MHz. Amateur radio, so dependent for its attraction on periodic cycles of high sunspots, will take a hard hit just at a time when alternate forms of planet-wide communications is becoming more common (as in cell fone, internet). Shortwave broadcasting, above perhaps 15 MHz, will essentially disappear creating significant pressure on frequencies between 3 and 15 MHz. Solar storms, creating havoc in the ionosphere and above where satellites "fly", will become far less common reducing significantly the danger to above-ionosphere devices. And that is but the tip of the iceberg - as the previous three recorded "extended sunspot minimums" have ALL coincided with significant cooling of the planet earth. Just when you were about to believe all of the polar ice was going to disappear raising water levels in coastal areas, along comes 'mother nature' to even it out. Snow in Iowa in July? Stand by - the polar bears may not be endangered after all (Bob Cooper in New Zealand, Sept 2, WTFDA via DXLD) JIM SOLATIE Minimum Highlights Warm summer greetings from Finland! The next mediumwave season is about to start. Before we go again, please take a look at my brand new article about the best AM catches last season. It was just published at http//www.dxing.info You'll find the link to the article on this main page (bottom leftern corner). Please enjoy. I have included the very best catches as audiofiles. I hope to provide you the feeling how the heart beats when something truly exciting is heard in your earphones. With very best 73 (Jim Solatie, Espoo, Finland, jim (at) solatie.com (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) PROPAGATION OUTLOOK FROM BOULDER :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2008 Sep 02 1951 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 25 - 31 August 2008 Solar activity was very low. No flares were detected. The visible disk was spotless. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels during 25 - 26 August. Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels at all latitudes during the period. ACE solar wind data indicated no significant changes during the period. Solar wind velocities ranged from 269 to 367 km/sec. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 03 - 29 SEPTEMBER 2008 Solar activity is expected to be very low. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels during 07 - 12 September and 15 - 22 September. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet levels during 03 - 04 September. Activity is expected to increase to active levels on 05 September due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet to unsettled levels during 06 - 07 September as the high-speed stream subsides. Quiet conditions are expected during 08 - 11 September. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled levels during 12 - 13 September. Activity is expected to increase to active to minor storm levels on 14 September due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Activity is expected to decrease to unsettled levels during 15 - 16 September as the high-speed stream subsides. Quiet conditions are expected during 17 - 29 September. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2008 Sep 02 1952 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2008 Sep 02 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2008 Sep 03 67 5 2 2008 Sep 04 67 5 2 2008 Sep 05 67 18 4 2008 Sep 06 67 12 3 2008 Sep 07 67 8 3 2008 Sep 08 67 5 2 2008 Sep 09 67 5 2 2008 Sep 10 67 5 2 2008 Sep 11 67 5 2 2008 Sep 12 67 8 3 2008 Sep 13 67 8 3 2008 Sep 14 67 20 5 2008 Sep 15 67 10 3 2008 Sep 16 67 8 3 2008 Sep 17 67 5 2 2008 Sep 18 67 5 2 2008 Sep 19 67 5 2 2008 Sep 20 67 5 2 2008 Sep 21 67 5 2 2008 Sep 22 67 5 2 2008 Sep 23 67 5 2 2008 Sep 24 67 5 2 2008 Sep 25 67 5 2 2008 Sep 26 67 5 2 2008 Sep 27 67 5 2 2008 Sep 28 67 5 2 2008 Sep 29 67 5 2 (SWPC Sep 2 via WORLD OF RADIO 1424, DXLD) ###