DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-105, September 24, 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 1427 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 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sat 2000 WRMI 9955 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 Mon 2200 WBCQ 7415 [temporary, confirmed Sept 15] Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 0530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1130 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 ** ABKHAZIA. 17/9 0705 - 9495v//9535 kHz prob. APSUA RADIO - Sokhumi (Georgia) Parlato YL (forse ID) e musica locale. Segnale insufficiente-sufficiente La portante di 9495v oscillava rapidamente. (Luca Botto Fiora, Rapallo (Genova), G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh, 17700 via Rampisham UK, Sept 20 at 1641 with familiar music I used to hear during earlier hours, drums and fifes and singer. Was expecting a break at 1700, but other music continued; fair (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. ANTÁRTIDA, 15476, LRA36, Radio Nacional, Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, 1900-1908, 23-09, escuchada a partir de las 1900 que cierra Africa nº 1 en 15475 kHz. Identificación en alemán, italiano, francés, portugués y español: "Desde Base Esperanza, transmite LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, en 15476 kHz.". Locutor y locutora, luego programa de canciones argentinas. Bastante desvanecimiento. 24222 15476, LRA36, Radio Nacional, Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, 1901-1910, 24-09. De nuevo se escucha hoy a partir de las 1901 que cerró Africa nº 1 en 15475 kHz. Canciones argentinas y luego identificación en español por locutora: "Desde Base Esperanza transmite LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, en 15476 kHz." Luego identificación en varios idiomas por locutor, y a continuación música. Bastante ruído y desvanecimiento. 24111 variando a 24222 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, (43º00.626'N-7º33.065'W), Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, DX LISTENIING DIGEST) LRA36 op 15476.013 kHz, 1905 UT Sept 23. Zoals altijd met mooie Spaanse klanken. Goed tevolgen. LRA36, 15476 khz, 1909 Sept 24. Met Spaanse songs en ID sterk en weinig ruis (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, bdx mailing list via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 6214.62, Radio Baluarte (presumed), Puerto Iguazú, 1012- 1030, September 20, Spanish/Portuguese, songs in Portuguese, announcement phone number, program conduced in Spanish by female & Portuguese by male, "llámenos al teléfono...", "vamos a escuchar un tema musical... el pastor...", more songs in Portuguese, greetings: "...saludamos a nuestra audiencia en esta nueva primavera..." ¿in // with FM frequency? 24432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Made a quick early-morning trip to a local DXpedition site I've been scouting, when an abundance of carriers seemed to indicate that the Papua New Guinea stations might be in today. They weren't, but plenty else was. In particular, 11/13/15 MHz seemed to be hopping w/Europe and Asia a little after sunrise - wished I could've stayed longer to check it out. 2485, VL8K Katherine, 1220, 09/22/08. Rock/pop tunes with a couple of AM/FM IDs, then a news bulletin at 1230 with a mix of nat'l/int'l and Northern Territory news, including widespread power outages in Alice Springs following severe storms. Not enough to knock shortwave off the air though - // 2310 VL8A also heard, along with VL8T. 2310 fair, 2325 good, 2485 very good (Mark Schiefelbein, Bois D'Arc, MO, Eton E1/ ~1000' E-W beverage, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. So why is HCJB moving its transmitter site already? You`d think they would have learned their lesson in Quito/Pifo to stay away from airports! The remote sites have many other drawbax (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: KUNUNURRA UPDATE - HOW FAR HAVE WE COME? By David Maindonald http://www.hcjb.org.au/docs/HCJB_News.pdf When HCJB Australia was granted its four international broadcast licenses we were required to be “on air” within two years. To meet this time-frame we built on our existing property an interim facility catering for two 100 kW transmitters and three antennas. We praise God for the granting of the long term lease on the adjoining 1,200 acres of land on which we are now well under way with the construction of our new expanded International Broadcast Facility. This new Transmitter Building will be the hub of our International Broadcasting Facilities at Kununurra, and has been designed to take additional transmitters. Its two large workshops will make it easier to carry out construction and maintenance tasks during any type of weather conditions. Three short-term accommodation units will allow staff to remain on site during the wet season, when the nearby Packsaddle Creek and Dunham River flood, cutting off our access roads. Work on this new building is almost finished but we still need to: • Install air conditioners, main power cables and main switchboard. • Install power supply and control cables for the transmitters and air conditioning. • Install transmitters, control room and broadcast equipment. • Furnish the kitchen, accommodation units, control room and workshops. • Install communications links between the existing and new sites. Cost to complete: $150,000 What a joy to be onsite with the team in Kununurra last month and to see a number of towers, including a 96 metre one, being erected. God willing we plan to turn on that BIG SWITCH OUT THE BACK and commence broadcasting in the third quarter 2009. Yes, it will take a miracle of His provision, both by way of funding and special people. Glenis and I return to Kununurra on Sept 15th to review progress to date and with the team chart the course that, God willing, will see this great facility come on line for HIS GLORY and the SALVATION OF MANY MANY LOST SOULS. In this article we outline for you the significance of the major parts of the project together with estimated costs. Please pray much with us and at the same time ask our Loving Heavenly Father what part He would have you play in terms of your involvement with us. HCJB Australia’s existing antennas have done a great job for the past five years. They have enabled us to share the gospel with millions of people in the Asia Pacific region. But they don’t give us the ability to change frequencies. The new antennas will give us this flexibility. Our new site, being further away from Kununurra airport, allows us to erect taller masts, up to 100 metres tall, on which we can mount larger and more strategically designed antennas, resulting in stronger signals to our international audience. God has provided us with one of the world’s finest antennas, including its 96 metre masts, that had sat unused in Croatia for over 10 years. Specialist antenna engineers at HCJB’s Elkhart Technology Centre in Indiana, USA, have completed the design work on three other antennas that we will build on site at Kununurra. That will give us two log- periodic antennas (SEA2 & SEA3) for audiences close to Australia (Indonesia and Indo-China), and two curtain antennas (EA1 & EA2) for destinations up to 7,000 km away (India, China and Japan). We will later build a special antenna (AP1) that is steerable through 180 degrees and also bring two of our existing antennas (SA1 & EA3) to the new site. Massive concrete tower bases and guy wire anchors are required together with poles and transmission lines to connect the transmitters to these antennas via custom-built switchers and switching matrixes. The towers for four of these seven antennas have been erected. Farm development covers more than planting and harvesting crops. The new broadcast site must be fenced and new access roads and tracks between and around the two properties built and brought up to a standard that can withstand flooding during the wet season. Moving the antennas and transmission lines out to their new site frees up land that can be used for crops. Additional irrigation facilities are required for the bananas, mangoes and others crops. We need to sink a bore near the new transmitter building for fresh water and the additional houses necessitate extending power and water reticulation facilities. Landscaping is ongoing around the houses and the new broadcast facility. Estimated cost: $100,000 HCJB’s two 100 kW shortwave transmitters consume large amounts of power and our current power costs average between $12,000 and $15,000 per month. Whilst we praise God for the wonderful provision of our long term leased land from the Western Australian Government for the new expanded International Broadcast Facility, it came without power, roads, communications or water supply. The local Power Authority has estimated around $350,000 to install the 22,000 volt high-tension power supply and transformers. This work is planned for 2009. Kununurra being a remote outback town is an expensive place to live. Housing costs are higher than in most capital cities and rental properties are almost impossible to find. By building houses on our farm property we can provide suitable homes for our mission staff. For them to work throughout the year in the heat and the humidity they need good air-conditioned homes to retreat to at the end of the day. The houses we have built provide some spare bedrooms to cater for any overflow of visitors and working party groups who come to help from time to time. We are also upgrading the existing short-term accommodation building by improving public facilities and ensuiteing individual rooms where possible. Cost to complete: $300,000 (Sept 2008 HCJB News via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. 13730 with horn and piano classical music before and after 1330 Sept 24, fair; Ö1 has this frequency entirely to itself 0500-1600 or 1700 per listings --- except when Sound of Hope draws Firedrake there as Aoki notes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. Radio Bangladesh was heard in Sofia after 1430 hours on 4750 kHz and from 1530 with news in English till 1545. The rest of the broadcast between 16 and 17 hours is in local languages, most likely Bangla (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX Sept 19 via DXLD) 4750, Bangladesh Betar, *0025 and 1712, Sep 02, back after 2 weeks, Bengali programmes, 44444 (Victor Goonetilleke, Kolamunne, Piliyandala, Sri Lanka, DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. "De verdad... es la misma emisora Radio Panamericana, solo que en la frecuencia de los 5970 y no 6105 como dice el WRTH. 5970 es Radio Panamericana, Hector, anda y escucha los 5970 aqui llega como los dioses..." Hola Glenn: Recibo esta información de un amigo radioescucha de la Sexta Region en Chile, que me informa que escucha Radio Panamericana en los 5970 kcs, pero nosotros la registramos en 6105. Te consulto si has recibido alguna información sobre este cambio? De lo contrario hay que seguir minitoreándola. Atte, (Héctor Frías, FEDERACHI-CHILE, Sept 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola Héctor, Hasta ahora nada. ¿A qué horas? Por la mañana hay REE/Costa Rica en 5970 [11-14; // 5930 10-13]. Creo que la boliviana fuera inactiva en los 6105. 73, (Glenn to Héctor, via DXLD) Hola Glenn; Sí, en horas de la mañana (1000 UT), Estamos confirmando la información y mañana te cuento; el radioescucha que me lo comenta no se maneja con las grabaciones de audio, pero me dice que es Radio Panamericana, tiene 40 años de experiencia y es digno de crédito. Pero igual te lo comentaré cuando tenga la certeza; Acá en Santiago imposible escuchar esa señal... Atte, Héctor Frías. Hola Glenn ; Mi amigo Sergio, CW3CMZ, desde la Boca de Rapel, Chile, sigue escuchando Radio Panamericana (6105 kcs), en la frecuencia de los 5970, fuerte y claro hasta cercana las 1300 UT donde el ruido se incrementa hasta hacerla desaparecer. Habría que preguentarle algún amigo de Bolivia que la monitoree a eso de las 0900-0930 a ver si logra escuchar los que mi amigo está escuchando desde hace unos días. Probada la frecuencia en Santiago, es solo ruido; acá el ruido a esa hora ya es intenso no permitiendo la escucha en forma satisfactoria. [Luego:] GLENN, Es definito, mi amigo comprobó con el audio en vivo por internet, es lo mismo transmitido por los 5970 kcs, Radio Panamericana, Bolivia (Héctor Frías, Chile, Sept 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6105v had been reported as late as July, per LA-DX. What about R. Nacional, Huanuni, 5968v? May have been inactive for a while longer (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** BOLIVIA. 6075, R Causaki [sic] Coca (or R Casachun [sic] Coca which means "Viva la Coca"), Dept. Cochabamba, *1000-1200 and 0100-0230*, Sep 09, 13, 14 and 15, new station broadcasting in Aymara and Spanish, belonging to the Patria Nueva network (Government). "Llevando información sobre la situacion social que se presenta en algunas regiones luego del estado de sitio declarado en la región de Pando". Telephonic interviews with leaders in various regions of Bolivia, mentioned "Red Patria Nueva y la Red de radios de los pueblos originarios . . ". Also mentioned "Radioemisoras Bolivia", Andean songs and reports from Oruro, ann: "....pueblos indígenas del mundo ...campesinos de Bolivia...". In the evening a special transmission of the anniversary of Cochabamba, live from the Municipal Council with the participation of President Evo Morales, a female voice said: "..estás en compañía de Radio Causaki [sic] Coca...". From 0200 normal programming and ID: "...Transmite Radio Causaki Coca con instalaciones en lau - - federación de productores de coca del trópico de Cochabamba, emite su señal en 95.7 frecuencia modulada, 740 amplitud modulada y muy pronto en 6075 kHz onda corta banda de 49 metros señal internacional...". The locutor continued with press releases from several unions and promo for a program about the truth of Conalde and Crescent (autonome organizations) that have caused riots and deaths in Pando. Before the close at 0230*, was played a poem in honour of the "sacred leaf of Tawantisuyo". In closing are referred to as "the voice" of the Democratic Revolution Cultural Evo Morales, 24422 (Bolland, Cássio, Otávio, Rodriguez via Monferini and Conexion Digital, Slaen). (DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) Some of this has appeared previously in DXLD in non-merged form (gh) Radio Causachun Coca heard here as well on Friday morning up until 1030 fade out. Checked again on Saturday and Sunday up until 1030 and nothing there. Today, Monday, heard at 0930 tune in, so wondering if they are possibly off, or have a later sign on time on weekends? Or, did they simply have transmitter problems over the weekend? (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, Sept 22, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Steve, I didn't hear them either during the weekend, but they are booming in now (Chuck Bolland, FL, 0910 UT Sept 22, ibid.) 6075, R. Kausachun Coca. September 24, 0850-0902, many ID`s "stay en compañía de R. Kausachun Coca", "todos los días R. K. Coca", "radio de los pueblos bolivianos", 0853 seems president Evo Morales`speech "un conjunto de cambios con apoyo del pueblo boliviano". 33433 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Bolivian separatist movements --- Some interesting stuff going on in Bolivia. It sounds like the separatist movement in the lowlands is heating up again. For one recent report, take a look at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/world/americas/15bolivia.html Now we have a radio station actively promoting the coca leaf (on 6075, Ed), as does Bolivia's president. Coca leaf tea is an important part of Andean culture. But, coca leaves are to cocaine as barley is to beer and the U.S. government does not care for it. For a real Bolivian perspective, take a look at the myspace page for Atajo, one of Bolivia's most popular bands - http://www.myspace.com/atajo There are six sample songs you can listen to and download. They play a variety of musical styles - rock, love ballads, ranchera - but I suggest listening to one of their rockers "Que la DEA no me vea", which roughly means "I do not want the DEA to see me", DEA being the US government Drug Enforcement Agency. If you do not understand Spanish, do not worry. Towards the end they switch to all English and just what they think of the DEA is very clear. Great song, too. These guys know how to rock (Don Moore, IA in DXplorer via DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Caros amigos, Está fora do ar a Radio Frontera, que emitia em 4450 kHz (Variável como é comum a estas emissoras Bolivianas...), desde a cidade de Cobija, no departamento de Pando, na Bolívia. A ERBOL - Educación Radiofónica de Bolivia, suspendeu as transmissões desta emissora por falta de garantias, para que seus funcionários consigam desenvolver seus trabalhos jornalísticos e de comunicações em favor da sociedade. A cidade de Cobija faz fronteira com o Brasil, na região Amazônica, ficando separada por uma ponte sobre o Rio Acre que a separa da cidade brasileira de Brasiléia. A região do Departamento de Pando, do qual Cubija é a capital, foi a região onde ocorreram os piores incidentes, na recente onda de violência política que envolve a Bolívia. Maiores detalhes sobre estas ocorrências podem ser lidos no Estadão (on-line) em http://www.estadao.com.br/internacional/not_int242802,0.htmv E também em El mundo de la Radio, em http://www.elmundodelaradio.com/archivo/radio-frontera-suspende-emision.html Um abraço a todos, (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Barbacena - MG - Brasil, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DXLD) Anyhow, haven`t seen this reported for some time (gh, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 4865, R Alvorada, Londrina, PR, Sep 07, heard at 1112 with choral music, "Battle Hymn of the Republic", talk in Portuguese, poor. (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Rádio Pioneira de Teresina inactive on 5015 kHz --- George Sampaio, Iguatu (EC), has monitored Rádio Pioneira de Teresina (PI), to be inactive on the frequency of 5015 kHz. Reason: they are waiting for a new modulation transformer. As soon as they receive the equipment, the station will return to the world of short wave. Please note that the Rádio Pioneira is one of the few stations in Northeast Brazil still on shortwave (Celio Romais via DXing the Finnish Way September 20, 2008, http://finndxer.wordpress.com:80/ via Mike Terry, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Voz Missionária has been reported on the unusual frequency of 5870. I contacted the station and they said they are on 9665 only, so 5870 remains a mystery (Christer Brunström, Sweden, HCJB DX Partyline via WRMI Sept 23 at 1513, via gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL [and non]. BRASIL – Pelo visto, a Rádio Guaíba, de Porto Alegre (RS), não está desligando o seu transmissor de 49 metros nos finais de semana. Na madrugada do domingo, 21, por volta de 04h50min, na hora de Brasília [0750 UT], a programação musical da emissora estava sendo irradiada em 6000 kHz. BRASIL – O sinal da Rádio 9 de Julho, de São Paulo (SP), tem tido excelente sintonia, em Anápolis (GO), em boa parte do dia, pela freqüência de 9820 kHz, em 31 metros. A constatação é do Jairo Gomes Barbosa. De acordo com ele, a freqüência “está livre de interferências de outras emissoras brasileiras”. A emissora tupiniquim mais próxima é a Rádio Gazeta, de São Paulo (SP), em 9685 kHz (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DXLD) 9820, R 9 de Julho, São Paulo, SP, heard also here in Finland from 1900 onwards, Sep 13 (Mauno Ritola, Joensuu, Finland, DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) Beware of RDPI Portugal also in Portuguese (but not Brazilian accent) on 9820 at 1900-2300, but possibly not on every day. Opening and closing times may vary depending on silly ballgames. Not only is R. 9 de Julho blocked on 9820 by Cuba when Mesa Redonda is on at variable times between 2200 and 2400, but note that RDPI, Portugal is also scheduled on 9820 at 1900-2300. However, Brazilian Portuguese sounds a lot different than Portuguese Portuguese. I heard some of that weakly Sept 22 at 2204, and really nothing else on frequency, unless some fading could be imagined to be a SAH from São Paulo. Why in the world would a new Brazilian SW station choose to be on the same frequency as Portugal? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9820, 17/09 0015, R. 9 de Julho, São Paulo, SP, programa religioso, comments about comportamento humano, 55544 (MICHEL VIANI, OSASCO-SP, BRASIL, @tividade DX via DXLD) 9820, R. 7 de Julho, possible. 9/21 and other recent days, various times evening and night, when freq. permits. Mostly with man tk in PP, sometimes mx.. One day with what seemed soccer match. Always very weak and has strange habit of rising almost to fair level but only briefly and then vanishing entirely for longish periods. Seems very inconsistent signal. Never is good enough or around long enough to come to any conclusion. But worth more checking (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, NASWA yg via DXLD) I checked 9820 in the 1900 hour just for kicks and did hear Portuguese but it was Portugal. This may be on of the stations warned about on World of Radio when one checks for this reactivated Brazilian (Sheryl Paszkiewicz, Manitowoc WI, Sept 21, ibid.) Yes, Portugal is here, and I'm aware of their schedule, ending at 2300 per AOKI. Format and sound doesn't match typical RPI. But, as noted, I have not yet enough to conclude it is 7 de Julho (Jensen, ibid.) I'm not doubting what you heard--just that at the time I tuned in there was a potential fooler (Sheryl Paszkiewicz, Manitowoc WI, ibid.) If anyone wants to give a try at Identifying the unidentified station on 9820, it is now, 2357, about as good as I have heard it (Don Jensen, WI, Sept 21, NASWA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11735, station in Portuguese, Sept 20 at 1415, music and mentioned Mundial; presumably R. Transmundial, seldom heard here, instead of Germany or Korea North also scheduled on 11735 this hour. Amazônia 11780 was also audible. At 1452 11735 was discussing futebol; just how religious is this station? Oh yeah, soccer is a religion in Brasil (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Good open carrier on 11780, at 0552 Sept 21, no doubt RNA Brasília; still no modulation at 0600 and 0608 check, but finally some soft music at 0615. I think this one signs on earlier on Sundays than other days for some reason, contrary to what you might expect. Just wait until mid-October when Brazil pretends local time is UT -2, which should knock this another UT hour earlier. Not much else was audible on 25m besides Chile 11665 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. R. Gazeta, São Paulo, 15325.060, 1914 Sept 24. Met mooie Portuguese songs Gr (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, bdx mailing list via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. 11900, DRM digital signal, from Bulgarian Radio Sofia at 0654 UT Sept 20. 06-12 UT scheduled (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. 11895-11900-11905 ** CANADA. Radio Canada Int'l to discontinue (English?) shortwave to Europe Listening to Radio Canada's "The Link" via DRM as I work today around 1630 UTC, host Marc Montgomery mentioned in passing that they would no longer be broadcasting on shortwave to Europe as of the end of the current A08 season. It was not specified whether this affected only English-language programs or all shortwave broadcasts, and I can find nothing about it on RCI's website. If no official announcement is forthcoming, it should be audible around midway through the second hour of today's Link (9/24), once that is posted to the rcinet.ca website. A rather baffling decision, considering the announcement was immediately followed by a letter from a listener in Turkey, then another program segment featuring a question from a Russian listener! (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1427) Old news? I'm listening to RCI on DRM 9800… they mentioned they're ending SW to Europe on October 28 (Kevin Mikell, Sept 24, via Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, DXLD) The announcement is 22 minutes 46 into part two, just says "RCI will be discontinuing its shortwave broadcasts to Europe as of October 26." (Mike Barraclough, England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I assume they mean "Europe" in the old style, excluding Russia and the Ukraine. So it's about French and English, and here only a single token frequency from Sackville is still on air, 15235 between 1900 and 2100. 5850 from Hörby had already been discontinued at the end of the B07 season, at present they use this airtime instead on 11980/11765 for Africa and the Middle East. Had anybody complained the loss of 5850? I have not seen any such comments. Quod erat demonstrandum. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) I really hate to say this as RCI was once one of my favorite stations, if not my absolute favorite --- but RCI has really become nearly a non-entity over recent years. First it dropped many of its most popular in-house produced programs and either sent many of its most popular and competent on-air voices away or reduced their roles to the point where it diminished them and the service itself. Then, it pulled all of the popular CBC domestic content from the service. It might have been a noble experiment to re-engineer the station as a sort of "gateway" to Canada for potential immigrants; but clearly there doesn't seem to be much of an audience for that and the plan was apparently not that well thought out or smartly deployed. To be sure, RCI has gotten caught up in budget issues, turf issues within the CBC and the general challenges that have confronted international broadcasting services since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Maybe it couldn't have been played any better (though I personally doubt that); but in the end it hasn't been played well. The results are starting to set in and this closure of service to Europe is sure not to be the last act, I'm afraid. And that's unfortunate, regardless of the reasons (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) Yes -- some closures/cutbacks hurt more than others, and John's post was a painful reminder of what RCI has become relative to what it was. I became interested in SWLing, in part, by listening to the Radio Canada Shortwave Club when Elaine McMaster was host; it was fun listening to the foreign-language recognition course, and absolutely enchanting hearing the "Northern Messenger" on 9625. To a city kid from Queens, it was mind-boggling -- but fun to eavesdrop -- that people had to correspond via radio. And the languages, now gone -- German, Czech and Slovak. Bummer. (sigh) 73 anyway de (Anne Fanelli, wallowing in nostagia in Elma NY, ibid.) ** CANADA. Die op 1690 kHz zou CJLO kunnen zijn, een nieuw station in Montreal, die momenteel aan het testen is (tot begin oktober nog) met ietsje meer dan 1 kW. Op 11 september heb ik hen hier ook gehoord. Ze brengen om de 5 a 10 minuten een ID in het E en F. Heb je daar een opname van? Dat is adres het CJLO 7141 Sherbrooke Street Ouest Montreal, Quebec H4B 1R6 Suite CC-430 CANADA product @ cjlo.com 73 (Hugo Matten, Belgium, Sept 24, BDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. 6030, Sept 21 at 1230 with talkshow discussing co-enzymes, briefly over Cuban jamming leftover after R. Martí closed. I don`t see how it could be anything but 100-watt CFVP Calgary, despite the country-music format of parent CKMX, which does not show a schedule grid at http://www.classiccountryam1060.com/shows If they do have talk shows, or more likely infomercials, I suppose the early-Sunday-morning ghetto would be the place for them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6030, CFVP, tentative 9/21 1224, Very weak with man talking in English. I dismissed this as some sort of anomaly since I expected C&W music, but later noted that Glenn Hauser heard this at virtually the same time with more programming talk detail than I could extract. Anyone know if this one has, at this ungodly Sunday hour, some sort of low-rent infomercials? (Don Jensen, WI, NASWA yg via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Hope all is well and that you are enjoying the weekend! Is it possible that what you heard was a program relating to agriculture? They supposedly do carry such programming, e.g. "Call of the Land", which is scheduled to be aired over CKMX during weekdays, at their local noon time http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/info5040 Perhaps they have other related programs, for which talk about "co- enzymes" might seem to fit in with agriculture? Just a guess (Ron Howard, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could be; anyhow, I have heard it certainly many times before (gh) ** CANADA [and non]. CFRX, 6070, presence was felt making a rapid SAH and with some audio mixing with CVC Chile, Sept 20 around 0605; at 1243, 6070 had an audible het, so is Korea North further off- frequency? Also some CFRX audio, but unusable (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CBC Northern Québec, 9625, Sept 22 at 2135 with native- accented announcer in English giving detailed weather forecasts for many unrecognised small communities, temps mostly in the single digits. 2139 a break for a song about how to play poker, The Gambler? So are there casinos everywhere up there now too and/or is CBC encouraging the First Nations to become gambling addicts? 2142 more weather for another northern region. This is the M-F 2130-2200 northern news block cutaway from CBC network programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Buzzsaw 44 + 64 --- If you hear a strange buzzsaw sound on either channel 44 or 64, this is CJMT-DT and CFMT-DT with some sort of problem. The cynic in me says this is being done on purpose to see if they get complaints - since this also happened on the official DTV launch day !! I sent them an e-mail. Both are owned by a cable company (Rogers) who I suspect, despite the CRTC's best efforts, would rather see OTA eliminated. Anyhow, it might make a temporary DX target - the sound is 6 MHz wide and unmistakable. Web Site: http://www.dxinfocentre.com (William R. Hepburn, Grimsby, ON, CAN, Sept 20, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CANADA. I have a quick question and I thought that you might be able to help: What was broadcast overnight on CBC Radio One before 'CBC Radio Overnight' began airing in 1995? Many thanks, (Henry Brice, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Henry, Not sure, but it seems like they were just off the air. Or maybe that was earlier. There may have been a music show meanwhile. No doubt some Canadians could answer this better (Glenn to Henry, via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. KALISPELL & BANFF DX --- My wife and I returned today from a few days up north. The bare ICF-2010 came along with us. We flew from SeaTac to Spokane and drove the rest. Observations: KALISPELL 1. KOFI has two lovely large identically-sized towers in the southern part of town. I am only surprised that they are not closer to Flathead Lake. 2. KERR-750 does not cover Kalispell at night. We drove down to Polson but I never did see the KERR towers. 3. On 9/12, KATQ-1070, with HSFB, was doing a number on KNX around 9 pm MDT. BANFF 1. No AM locals. CFFR-660 and CHQR-770 provided the best AM signals. However, CHQR was consistently better coming up US-95 to Sandpoint and Bonner's Ferry and MT-2 thereafter. 2. Vancouver area stations on 730, 1040, 1130, 1320 and 1470 were listenable at night. CISL was barely there and CBU was poor. KIRO and KOMO were both good. KKMO-1360 was dominant most of the time. KVI was fair. 3. I can't find my notes but I believe it was the night of 9/12 when a (presumed) Cuban wobbler was heard on 590 at a very good level. I don't recall it being reported on this frequency before. There was also some sort of injected noise on 1080 and 1180 but it was dissimilar to what was on 590. 4. KOA for some reason was poor. There was always a second station under it (presumably, and surprisingly, KHHO). We had XM in the rental car. Between that and the declining number of Canadian AM stations, I didn't spend a lot of time DXing while driving. Meanwhile, Glacier, Banff, the Ice Fields and Lake Louise were all absolutely awesome. Thank you to the DXers who provided input. On a related note, don't hold your breath waiting for accurate radio station info on signage as you come in to town. The CBC FF FM station in Banff was not on as posted; also, somewhere down AB-93, highway signage for a CFIW-1200 was noted. Also, the only AM TIS I noted was at the entrance to Glacier on 1610. And finally, we are spoiled rotten: We had 75-85 degrees F and clear blue skies the whole time in Banff (40s at night), a far cry from our reception at SeaTac this morning (gray, cold, rainy). (Pete Taylor. Tacoma, WA, 12225w 4719n Sept 20, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CHINA. Firedrake on 13625, Sept 22 at 2113. Per Aoki, target is R. Free Asia in Chinese via Tinian at 17-22, which was inaudible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 9/21: Lots of CRI activity at 1100 where 13650 in English via Cërrik was very good here, and it slopped over 13645 direct; also heard well on 13590 over One Africa via Zambia; Russian was very good on 11935 and 9890 at same hour (Joe Hanlon, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13790, CRI (via Urumqi), 1252, 09/22/08, English. Wrapup of a report about villagers seeking redress for their grievances through the local court system. Good (Mark Schiefelbein, Bois D'Arc, MO, Eton E1/~1000' E-W beverage, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Hola a todos, los invito a que vean el video de Marfil Estereo / LV de Tu Conciencia en Youtube en: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa3BkBZDVeg 73 de (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, Sept 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) English narration by Stendahl, very poor audio quality, but interesting video; refers to 5910 as being a new frequency, so several years old; ``Marxism is really Satanism``; 5 minutes (gh, DXLD) ** CONGO DR [non]. Hi all, This morning I found repeated piece of instrumental music instead of Radio Okapi on 11690 kHz. It was during the time slot 0450-0510, then I left the frequency. Audio file here: http://dxsignal.ru/audio/a/afs/Sentech_11690_080921_0450UTC.mp3 Wonder if the station is permanently off, or it only was absent today? 73, (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Sept 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very poor reception; is that the usual Merlin music? (gh) ** CUBA. 18/9 0710 - 6000 kHz, RADIO HABANA CUBA, Inglese, notizie OM. Segnale sufficiente-buono. Fuori orario solo tale giorno e dopo qualche minuto si sentiva un rumore in sottofondo che poteva essere un jamming (Luca Botto Fiora, Rapallo (Genova), G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) Another anomaly when I am not monitoring, English prolonged that day only (?) beyond 0700 (gh) While on Sept 17 I had heard RHC English 6000 and 6140 equally mixed with RHC in Portuguese, on Sept 21 at 0614 the same thing was happening but this time in Spanish --- again, at this late hour no Spanish is ordinarily broadcast on any RHC frequency. And once again, the other frequency, 6060, was clear in English only. No other major SW broadcaster is so continually screwed up. Checking the last contradixion on RHC`s updated website schedule, just as I suspected, Aló, Presidente is NOT on 11690 as listed, but on usual 11670, Sunday Sept 21 at 1452 check, // 11875, 13680, all weak and a reverb apart from 11670, and very strong 13750, the only one aimed this way; not audible on 17750 so probably not propagating. To summarize, the following entries in http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/frecuencia/frecuencias-espanol.htm are WRONG, as confirmed by my axual monitoring the past week: [with additions missing from my original post about this] Spanish: 11680 on the air as early as 2300, not 0000; ditto 9600 11800 missing at 2100-2300 Spanish Mesa Redonda: 9820, 6000 starts as early as 2200 or 2230, not 2300 Spanish Aló, Presidente: Sundays 1400-, on 11670, not 11690 English: To Caribbean, 2030-2130 on 13680: no sign of it; French at 2200-2230 also missing from 13680. To NAm, 0500-0700, 9550 removed from sked but is still on the air. There are a few other entries in other languages I have not confirmed one way or the other. The above does not include obvious mistakes, even if they happen more than once, such as one day Venezuela instead of RHC English on 11760. RHC still missing from 11800, tho it is still on their revised online schedule at 20 Portuguese, 2030 Arabic, 21-22 Spanish; instead Sept 22 during the 2100 UT hour heard only R. Bulgaria in Spanish, wrapping up at 2158, to carrier off at 2200.5. I am still wondering if 11800 has been replaced by an unknown channel or if these transmissions are simply gone. Also checked 13680 after 2200, and nothing there, despite on the schedule as in French. At that time nothing on 11750 either, also supposed to be on in Spanish. The only RHC Spanish frequencies audible at 2203 were 13760, poor and splashed by much stronger Portugal on 13755; and 9550. Looking for R. 9 de Julho, Brasil on 9820, I found RHC not on the air yet at 2204 Sept 22, instead Portugal audible weakly, but at 2230 recheck Habana was on with big signal in Mesa Redonda, a TV simulcast, starting with a clip from Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, dictator emeritus. 15330, noise bursts at the rate of 2 per second, Sept 23 at 1315. Old habits die hard for the DentroCuban Jamming Command --- R. Martí hasn`t used this frequency all summer, but will again in the B-season between 1400 and 2000. 11930 had the same type of pulse rate but not exactly synchronized, with bubbles added, and bothering some Asian station at 1322, well before RM sign-on. RHC, 13760, with open carrier at 1319 Sept 23, and much weaker than 13680 which was modulated (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Re 8-104: Glenn, Noted Terry Krueger Cuban report and that at his monitoring QTH, [Key West] Marathon was delivering good signal. Marathon very recently completed installation of the new 100 kW solid state high performance transmitter that was the subject of a procurement a year or so ago. So I would not be surprised to find their modulation levels even denser and hotter than with the old CEMCO 317's (Ben Dawson, WA, Sept 20, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA. 13580, Sunday Sept 21 at 1320, nice folk music from R. Prague, but wrapping up at 1324 as ``Magic Carpet`` show. It must be very brief as there are several other programs on the semi-hour Sunday broadcasts. More at http://www.radio.cz/en/html/magic_carpet.html They say they cannot audio archive the shows, but I assume they are available in the daily audio files linked at the right for the entire broadcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DEUTSCHES REICH [and non]. Interesting Advertisement --- I was watching TV yesterday. Well, actually I was on the computer with the TV on, but I digress. A commercial came on that caught my attention. It was for one of those computer role playing games that are so popular these days. Band of Brothers - Hells Highway. The commercial featured an older turntable, a record starts playing and a sultry female voice comes on, speaking into a rather cool vintage mic. Its an Axis Sally type character with the usual propaganda... (paraphrasing) "...you think the Germans don't know you are coming... enjoy the music, it`s the last thing you will hear..." From the website for the game: The female actress featured in several of the Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway ads is based on an actual historical figure, Mildred Gillars (1900-1988). Also known as "Axis Sally", Mildred was a female radio personality during World War II, best known for her propaganda broadcasts for Nazi Germany. She went to Dresden to study music, and around 1935 accepted a job as an announcer and actress with Radio Berlin, where she remained until the Nazis fell in 1945. With her sultry voice, Gillars was a well-known propagandist to Allied troops. She often speculated about whether their wives and sweethearts were still faithful to them, and played American songs she knew the Allied soldiers wanted to hear. Her broadcasts were sometimes peppered with antisemitic rhetoric and bitter attacks on Franklin D. Roosevelt. Gillars usually introduced herself as "Midge at the mike," but American troops nicknamed her "Axis Sally." Gillars didn't know it at the time, but American authorities had gotten wind of her broadcasts. They were all closely monitored and recorded. Gillars' last broadcast was on May 6, 1945, just two days before the German surrender. After the war, Gillars blended into the large number of displaced persons in Allied-occupied Germany. She was captured and eventually flown back to the United States in 1948. She was charged with 10 counts of treason, although she was actually only tried for eight. Prosecutors called Gillars' broadcasts subtle attempts to break down the morale of American soldiers. They introduced evidence that Gillars had signed an oath of allegiance to Hitler. They also claimed that she posed as a worker for the International Red Cross in order to record messages from American soldiers that could be converted into propaganda. The sensational, six-week trial ended on March 8, 1949. After long deliberations, the jury convicted Gillars on only one count of treason, for making the "Vision of Invasion" broadcast and sentenced her to 10-to-30 years in prison. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Gillars http://brothersinarmsgame.us.ubi.com/axissally/ I have never played a computer role playing game in my life. I've been playing my own version in real life for the past couple of years. But I found the graphic nature of this particular game appalling. In a sense, they are using an Axis Sally type character to do in the fantasy world what the real one was less successful in doing --- enticing listeners/viewers/gamers to do something (buy/play the game). Plus Mildred Gillars wasn't as attractive as the game character. But then its just a game. I think. [tagline] To those of you who seek lost objects of history, I wish you the best of luck. They're out there, and they're whispering. - Clive Cussler http://www.doghousecharlie.com (Fred Waterer, Sept 20, odxayg via DXLD) ** DEUTSCHES REICH [non]. RADIO IN WARTIME: THE MAN WHO DUPED HITLER (book review) --- Media Network By Andy Sennitt September 21. 2008 Today's Sunday Express carries a review of a new book called "Churchill's Wizards" which tells the story of Sefton Delmer, the newspaper's former Berlin correspondent who was in charge of broadcasting misleading propaganda to Germany. In September, 1940, Delmer was recruited by the Political Warfare Executive to organise black propaganda broadcasts. An early success was a shortwave station called Gustav Siegfried Eins. It came on air shortly after Rudolf Hess's controversial flight to Britain in 1940. Sunday Express, By Paul Callan, Saturday September 20,2008 http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/62430/Express-man-who-duped-Hitler- (via MIke Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB Spanish, 11960 at 1329:30 Sept 22 automated ID about Ecuador being the third-largest exporter of flowers, and still claiming to be on 21455: ``11690, 21455, 11960`` altho the 13m frequency was dropped months ago per HCJB`s own publicity at the time. 9745, Sept 22 at 2206 with music which at first seemed SE Asian, and afternoon opening from over there certainly possible, screeching soprano with rustic string instrument accompaniment. Could it be V. of Han, Taiwan? No, talk at 2211 certainly did not sound SE Asian, but more S American Indian. 2217 music resumes, segué at 2228 to a bit of more familiar Andean music and 2229 HCJB ID with numbers pronounced in Spanish. This is just the Quechua service, 100 kW at 155 degrees, but rather weak and fluttery here as equatorial signals sometimes are. HCJB, 11960, usual big signal Sept 24 at 1333, but no modulation, unless that was the low roar audible during fades. Automation must have seized up. 1336 brought up gospel rock in English, perhaps from automatic silence-sensor; 1337 back to ``himnos de la vida cristiana`` in Spanish sponsored by some product I missed. Is HCJB Spanish overtly commercial now? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Re 8-102, I meant to say half-MINUTE-late timesignal: ``R. Cairo, English to NAm, 9280, Sept 13 at 2310 Arabic music at fair level, but half-second-late timesignal after 2315 led to drop in modulation with news theme, and YL beginning newscast. Couldn`t make it out; gave up (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` ** EGYPT. 9250, Radio Wadi el-Nil, 2130-2259*, Sept 19, Arabic talk. Qur`an at 2146. Local music. Possible radio-drama. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. No sign of 5005, 6250 or 15190 on Sept 19-20 (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) After a month or so on the air almost every day, R. Africa, 15190 missing again, Sept 22 at 2115 when no adjacent QRM. Believe it was also absent Sept 21, and maybe 20. Tsk tsk, Tony Alamo, just raided for alleged child porn and sexual abuse, had been a regular in the 2200 UT hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA for more on Alámo ** ERITREA. Two stations named Radio Eritrea have been noted on one and the same frequency – 8000 kHz, the one from Asmara beginning its program at 1455 hours, reported on 7210 kHz as well, and the other between 1530 and 1630 hours (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX Sept 19 via DXLD) ** ERITREA. Just trying to summarize all the recent ERI monitoring, the following seems to fit to more or less all my information: VOBME mornings: 7100 regularly from 0355 7175 (alt. 7165) regularly from 0355 7220 (irregular? alt. 7210?) from 0355-, new 3rd service (?, only one report in DXLD) evenings: 7999.4 regularly 1500-1730 or a bit longer in vernaculars, sometimes noted 1700* - possibly Sundays only. 7100 (irregular, often switching around between 7090 and 7120, jammed), possibly // 7999.4, occasionally on 7210 or others (?) 7175 or 7220 until 1800*, mostly Arabic, may change to the latter at 1700v, but these two never heard in // So three transmitters on 41m, and independent from that R. Bana on 5100 until 1800, possibly sometimes relay of VOBME. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Local Radio Fana was received in Sofia on two frequencies – 5940 and 5950 kHz after 04 hours (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX Sept 19 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. AUDIOCLIP: RADIO OROMIYA ID. ALSO IN ITALIAN 6030, 1755, Radio Oromiya, IS. ID in Oromo and end ID in Italian. Signal suff. with QSB. The audioclip is available at http://blog.libero.it/radioascolto/5487704.html 73's (Francesco Cecconi, Italy, Sept 22, Noticias DX yg via DXLD) And sounds like ubiquitous Chinese underneath (gh) Hi Francesco, I think it is "KUN Radio Oromia", not "Qui ...". 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 7110, Radio Ethiopia, *0259-0310, Sept 20, short IS on electronic keyboard. Chimes at 0300 and Amharic talk. Short breaks of techno music. Horn of Africa music. Fair to good. Weak // 5989.80- drifting up to 5989.87 by 0310. 9 MHz frequency not heard (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 17655, Ginbot 7 Dimts Radio, via Samara (250 kW / 188 degrees), heard *1700-1729*, Tue Sep 16, Amharic ID, long talk by the same man, mentioning America, 35344 deteriorating to 35333. 21555 was not audible - 13 mb had faded out (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) New 17655, *1700-1729*, Clandestine, Tue 16.09, Ginbot 7 Dimts R, via Samara. Amharic ID, long talk mentioning America - New clandestine. 35344 deteriorating to 35333. Not audible on // 21535. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) Ginbot 7 Dimts Radio on 17655 and 21555 kHz is heavily jammed today Sept 23, 1700-1730 UT by the Ethiopian government with same like BUZZ signal of DWL Amharic once on 15 MHz, i.e. white noise hissing. Weak Ginbot 7 Dimts Radio program is hardly read underneath here in Germany, but I'm outside here the main lobe signal. On 21555 only noise hash noted (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 13820, Wertachtal, Sep. 19, 1702-1727, V. of Ethiopian Unity, vernacular music and talk by OM mentioning democracy, then song by male chorus. 44131 (Tony Ashar, Depok, West Java, Indonesia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re: 9750 R. Emmanuil via CVC Juelich site Here you can see the new nameplate on the station entrance: http://www.vfo-magazin.de/index.pl/christian_vision_rundfunksendestelle_jlich__08/2008 Rundfunksendestelle is an old postal office term, and I think that Media Broadcast still takes care for the operation of the station, they just no longer own it (and it would no longer exist now if CVC would not have stepped in as new owner). Even the regime of staffing the station with only one shift of engineers, confining its operations to the period from late afternoon to late evening, has not changed after the hand-over. It came in force in last year, after Deutsche Welle left the Wertachtal transmitters (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re: DW and BBC Join Forces on DRM On Saturday Deutschlandfunk had some statements (or a short phone interview it seems) from Horst Scholz, head of transmission management at Deutsche Welle. Transcript (audio of it does not appear to be online): http://www.dradio.de/dlf/meldungen/marktundmedien/849839/ Summary: It's supposed to become a mixture of world news, analysis, reports, background on current events and culture news. For the time being the goal is not to attract additional listeners, instead this is meant to support DRM. It took a very long time until the DRM technology was fully developed. We have now reached this point, so now we have to take care of the content which so far is certainly insufficient. It is the option of both the BBC and Deutsche Welle that one can not just copy shortwave content on a DRM channel with good quality, instead it is necessary to look after new content. DAB and DRM are no competitors but complement each other. The idea of the Australians for example is to start in the core areas with high quality DAB and, if one reaches the fringe area of a town or if one reaches an area not worth to install lots of DAB transmitters, to go over seamlessly to DRM on mediumwave and offer a very good quality, also in stereo, and then, if one goes further out into the rural territory, one can listen to DRM via shortwave. And the listener, he will know the digital radio only, he starts downtown and if he moves outwards he will be seamlessly handed over from one technology to another (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is interesting, but for us in North America I think the closest we will come to having a diverse, regular, viable digital radio service for the foreseeable future is internet radio. So, my advice is stop wasting your time with DRM (except for experimental/hobbyist reasons) and buy a wifi radio or two (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) ** GERMANY [non]. After hearing DW English, VG on 15205 and 11865 via Rwanda, also found it on 9735, Sept 22 at 2135, running a second behind with report on fashion shoes. 9735 is Rampisham UK, 500 kW at 140 degrees, but this site does a good job off the back of its antennas, while Rwanda reaches us off the front beyond the W African target (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREENLAND. As I heard a nice a signal yesterday morning from Radio Reloj 570 [CUBA], I just tuned in again to this frequency. Now I hear a station on 570.05 in an UNID language. Male slow talks. Somebody an idea which station this can be? Can this be Nuuk, Greenland at this time? In the past I only heard Greenland in late local evenings (Max van Arnhem, The Netherlands, Sept 23, MWC via DXLD) Hi Max, I think I had Nuuk at just after 0500 UTC low audio - om in long talk - the loop bearing was right for Greenland, although weak im fairly sure it was Greenlandic (Paul Logan, Lisnaskea, N. Ireland, ibid.) Paul, Thanks for your info. Here at 0505 UT. The MW offset list gives: 570.058 GRL Nuuk (Telegraføen) (KNR) So, it must haven been Greenland, (Max, ibid.) ** GUAM. 11850 with hymn, Sept 22 at 2121, then Japanese announcement, more music, off abruptly at 2129*, no ID caught. Per Aoki, it`s KSDA, which should have continued in English at 2130, but not noticed here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. South America --- 4799.934, Sep 19, 0210-0245, GUATEMALA: Radio Buenas Nuevas- S. Sebastián Huehuetenango. File mp3 (Audacity) 10 MHz. Two IDs "Quinze minutos", "veinte minutos desde Radio MAM", Esta es Radio Buenas Nuovas" trasmitiendo en 4800 desde S Sebastian. With a new PERSEUS, 1.1B MY station: JRC515, JRC525, JRC 535D, 535DG, JRC545, WJ1000A, Drake 4245, R7, R7A, R8E, ICOM756IIIpro, various long wire and acc. home made Kind regards Roberto. rpuppo941 (HCDX online log via DXLD) As usual, this logging system does not provide proper attribution, but I think Roberto Puppo is in Italy, cf. his Italianate spellings of Spanish. BTW, Guatemala is not in S America; does the log put it there automatically? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4775, AIR Imphal (I should have indicated I presumed this to be them), 1239-1302, Sept 22, in vernacular, music program (songs in vernacular that seemed to be a cross between C&W songs and Christian hymns, somewhat strange music for AIR), fair-poor, CODAR QRM; 1320-1401, Sept 23, in vernacular, interview, into a radio drama/soap opera, some subcontinent music. No ID heard but there seemed to be various vernacular languages used that sounded right for India, plus the subcontinent music they occasionally play. Dan Sheedy also heard the same Sept 22 music program and he also did not hear an ID. Needs more work for that positive ID (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR, 15050, Sinhala service better than usual just a sesquihour before equinox, Sept 22 at 1402 nice vocal music with tabla and chimes, modulation OK, some trans-polar flutter but better signal than an hour earlier. 1410 into talk, and modulation not so good. With BFO on, carrier wobbled slightly but maybe due to Doppler effect rather than transmitter instability. This is 174 degrees from Delhi/Kingsway, so could be longpath (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3987.05, RRI Manokwari 1249-1400 Sep 18. Back after a long absence - M with phone chats (requests?), one vocal music selection at 1255; snuck into Jak relay at 1301 with no SCI; back to local programming at 1315 with a variety of music, including a weird techno version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight;" IS on a dulcimer-like instrument at 1330, five pips to 1330:33, then sounded like regional news. VG signal, the best low-band Indo signal; in well the next day, as well. Hope they're back for good. 3578.73, unknown Indo, 1238-1320+ Sep 15. Scraps of audio (man and woman talking); vocal music after ToH; any announcements after ToH, if there were any, were unreadable. Poor but better than usual - getting audio at all is a rarity here (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DXLD) Well, PWBR 2007y showed 3579 as RSPD Maluku Tengah, Masahi, irregular with 400 watts at 0900-1410, and nothing else near that frequency. But WRTH 2008 shows 3579, RSPK, Ngada, at Bajawa, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4750, RRI Makassar, 1133, 09/22/08. Male (and occasionally a female) announcer between local-sounding tunes, followed by a long one-on-one interview. Fairly strong signal fighting with stronger CODAR. Good otherwise (Mark Schiefelbein, Bois D'Arc, MO, Eton E1/~1000' E-W beverage, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RRI Makassar, 4750, was the dominant one Sept 24 at 1258, with 4790 Fak2 hardly audible. 4750 had a string of promos in Indonesian, 1300 M&W talking with lots of Salaam-Aleikums, 1303 into Qur`an. There was a rippling SAH from a weaker station, China or Bangladesh (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 11784.84v, VOI, 1320-1340, Sept 22, in English, talking about their Constitution in "Today's Focus", "Indonesian Wonders" and "Music Corner", mostly fair with weak QRM from assume VOA in Chinese, no Firedrake heard, but suspect it was not heard due to poor propagation (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Cambio de horario en La Voz de La Rep. Islámica de Irán. EN EL NOMBRE DE DIOS --- Estimado oyente: El cambio de horario en Irán será a partir del 21 de septiembre y se retrasará una hora. Aquí le adjuntamos la actualizada tabla de las frecuencias y horarios de la emisión de los programas de nuestra emisora. La Redacción Española de la Voz Exterior de la R.I.I. LA TABLA DE LAS FRECUENCIAS, ONDAS CORTAS: 1930-2030 / HORA LOCAL: 00:00-01:00 EL SUR DE EUROPA 6065 1930-2030 / HORA LOCAL: 00:00-01:00 NORTE ÁFRICA SUR EUROPA 7300 9800 1130-0030 / HORA LOCAL: 04:00-05:00 AMÉRICA CENTRAL, SUR 9655 9905 0130-0230 / HORA LOCAL: 06:00-07:00 AMERICA CENTRAL, SUR 9905 0430-0530 / HORA LOCAL: 09:00-10:00 NORTE ÁFRICA, S EUROPA 15530 17785 (via José Elías Díaz Gómez, Barcelona, Venezuela, Sept 20, Noticias DX yg via DXLD) Man, are they mixed up! Summer time just ending was UT +4.5, yet the time conversions above are still at 4.5 rather than +3.5 from UT! The real UT of these broadcasts normally don`t change, cf. PWBR where there are no arrows for these frequencies in the grids. So the time change they are notifying everybody about is of concern only at the studio where they make the programs one hour later by local time, and cause needless confusion to the victims of their mailing list (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And now we have this that Iran in Spanish was heard on 3985, tho not on above sked, confused with Croacia --- ** IRAN. Amigos, postei alguns logs de ondas tropicais hoje. Uma das emissoras que coloquei que ouvi foi a Hrvatski Radio (Croácia) nos 3985 kHz. Comecei a ouvir uma emissora nessa freqüência, ontem. A emissão me pareceu em espanhol, mas o sinal não chegava bem para poder identificar o idioma e a emissora ouvida. Chegando nos meus arquivos do EIBI A08 e no HFCC A08, só achei a Hrvatska Radio em espanhol, mas não no horário em que ouvi a emissora. Julguei então ter ouvido a Hrvatski Radio. Hoje ouvi novamente essa emissora nos 3985 kHz, mas com uma qualidade de sinal bem superior a ontem. Deu para identificar claramente o idioma, pois, o sinal chegava forte. Houve várias menções ao Irã e calaramente vi que escutava a Voz da República Islâmica do Irã. Deve ser uma nova freqüência para sua emissão em espanhol para a Europa. Pelo que sei, ela usa as freqüências de 6055, 7300 e 9800 kHz. A emissora ouvida nos 3985 kHz no final da tarde e à noite, é a Voz da República Islámica do Irã e não a Hrvatski Radio. Seguem os logs devidamente corrigidos e outro de uma escuta feita há minutos atrás. Deculpem a minha falha. Rubens Ferraz Pedroso. Bandeirantes - PR. 3985 IRÃ IRIB, QTH??, SS, 2128, 19/09, YL, mx local 35333 3985 IRÃ IRIB, QTH??, idioma??, 0022, 19/09, mx local, OM 45233 3985 IRÃ IRIB, QTH??, idioma??, 0027, 20/09, OM, nxs 35333 3985 IRÃ IRIB, QTH??, SS, 0257, 20/09, YL/OM, nxs 35333 3985 IRÃ IRIB, QTH??, SS, 2053, 21/09, OM, nxs, menções ao Irã 45333 (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso; Bandeirantes – Paraná – Brasil, Receptor: Degen DE1103, Antena: LW do Degen DE1103 com aproximadamente 10,62 metros, dxclubepr yg via DXLD) ** IRELAND [non]. From http://www.rte.ie/radio/worldwide.html --- this appears to be identical to the 7 September info for the hurling final, which is also mentioned on this page but edited out here. We inserted UTime conversions. ``GAA All Ireland Football Final on 21 September, when Kerry meets Tyrone, to GAA fans worldwide using various broadcast technologies. These services are part of RTÉ’s continued commitment to Irish people overseas, particularly in geographically or technically isolated areas. DRM (AM Digital Radio) trial service --- Target, Frequencies Europe 11715 kHz until 3.30 pm [-1430 UT] 9850 kHz from 3.30 pm to 5 pm [1430-1600 UT] LISTENERS IN AFRICA AND SOUTHERN ASIA In Africa, and as far as Southern Asia, RTÉ Radio 1 will broadcast live commentary from 3 pm to 5 pm Irish time [1400-1600 UT] on both 7 and 21 September on the following shortwave frequencies: Shortwave Frequencies for Africa Target* Frequencies West of [sic] Central Africa 11695 kHz East of [sic] Central Africa 11960 kHz Southern Africa 7295 kHz *Note: These transmissions may be received a considerable distance outside the African continent (e.g. Southern Asia) depending on weather [sic] conditions.`` The above info contradicts the Observer, Bulgaria version which said: RTE Radio One to broadcast on shortwave on Sep. 21: 1300-1300 on 11715 WOF 035 kW / 103 deg to WeEu DRM [sic; 0 minutes!] 1330-1500 on 9850 WOF 035 kW / 103 deg to WeEu DRM 1300-1500 on 7295 MEY 250 kW / 290 deg to SoAf 1300-1500 on 11695 MEY 250 kW / 335 deg to WCAf 1300-1500 on 11960 MEY 250 kW / 100 deg to ECAf (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Sept 16 via DXLD) It looks like someone is confused about time conversions, but timeanddate.com says Ireland is definitely on UT +1 currently. According to http://www.rte.ie/radio1/sport/1014960.html the Sunday sports show lasts from 1:30 to 6:00 pm on domestic radio, but includes other events, i.e. 1230-1700 UT. Altho it would be nice if RTE would get its Sept 21 schedule together accurately, this is not that big a deal. If you really want to hear RTE relayed from beyond Ireland on SW, the DentroCuban Jamming Command permitting, it happens M-F 1800-1830 and 2100-2130 on WRMI 9955 with World Radio Network, ``Drivetime`` shows, rather than silly ballgames. DRM on 11710-11715-11720, Sunday Sept 21 at 1308, weaker than a fortnight ago. This is the second September sports special from RTE, football final via Rampisham UK; this time no KJES audible in the middle. So it indeed started again as early as 1300 UT, contrary to RTE`s own website which said from 3 pm local = 1400 UT. Nothing audible on the analog relays via South Africa, 11695, 11960, the latter totally blocked by HCJB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Stream http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/live/radio/radio1.smil QSL woofferton @ your-mail.com When is Ireland [non] really on SW Sunday? RTÉ Radio to broadcast on shortwave on 21 September 7295 1300-1600 MEY 290 degr AM 9850 1430-1600 WOF 160 degr DRM 11695 1300-1600 MEY 335 degr AM 11715 1300-1430 WOF 102 degr DRM 11960 1300-1600 MEY 100 degr AM All times GMT. Target Middle East. 73 Dave G4OYX, Sen Tx Eng WOF. We look forward to the DX reports! (via Büschel, DXLD) Hello overthere, RTE1 via Woofferton UK site 11715 kHz started at exact 12.59:33 UT. 24.8 dB signal noise rating here in Stuttgart Germany, 940 km distance. G.C. 48.44/48.7333 N, 09.11/09.1833 E RTE1 Internet stream is 2.5 seconds faster than DRM program decoding path of Stream.exe or DRMSoftwareRadio.exe Another DRM signal are on Kuwait 13620 kHz 20.3dB, and DWL Sines Portugal 13810 kHz 24.3dB ratio, at present. BR Ismaning 6085 kHz is in dead zone unfortunately. vy 73 de (Wolfgang DF5SX Bueschel, to David Porter, ibid.) Thanks for the report Wolfgang, I note that this time WOF is not doing two DRM streams so I have no idea of the site of the second! 73 (Dave, ibid.) Hi David, there are two other VTC sites which may use DRM mode broadcasts these days, like Skelton 100 kW, and Norwegian Kvitsoe site at 190 degrees, latter with 35 kW of power. The 11715 outlet lasted from 1300 to 1600 UT today, so I guess the overlapping time approx. 1530-1700 UT on 9850 kHz occurred from Kvitsoe site at 190 degree antenna, which is aimed at Lisbon, Morocco, West Africa, and works very bad here in central Europe. May you can ask your VTC operating manager, from which site the DRM 9850 kHz broadcast did occur TODAY ? DRM RTE special, today Sept 21: From 1259 til close-down at 1600 UT no complaints with DRM service on 11715 kHz, always between 22.8 and 25.4 dB SNR on the AOR 7030 set and DRM Line-Out modification. Between 1530 and 1700 UT I noted a DRM signal on 9850 kHz. The Dream.exe and DRMSoftwareRadio.exe software could decode only station ID, program label/language/transmission mode ... but nnooooooo audio at all. SNRatio was always down, under threshold less than 10 dB. And on adjacent 9855 kHz I noted an AM mode station interference, like US Biblis-Germany station to Asia? At same time in 31 mb shortwave band I could decode Voice of Russia in French on 9750 and Radio Deutsche Welle Sines on 11810 kHz, both with fair to medium signal level of SNR 16.6 to 19dB. Both VTC brokered RTE1 AM relays to Africa 11695 (S=1) and 11960 (S=2) from Meyerton South Africa were NOT WORTHY here in Europe. regards de Wolfy (to Dave, ibid.) Subject: RTE update --- Hi Wolfie, Just checked and WOF is carrying 9850 from 1530 until 1700 on 160*. The present DRM transmission on 11715 is on 102*. 73 Dave G4OYX at WOF! (ibid.) [Later:] Hi Wolfy, You probably [by now] have received my last message when I said that it was from WOF that both RTE DRM transmissions came. I wasn't the person who programmed the control system from the Service Message. Thank you for your report. Would you like me to send it to my colleague Martin who does the QSLs? I understand he sends a photo of me in front of Sender 96! Aaaargh! OK about 9850 on Sender 92 being poor, well it was on 160*! Thank you for the info on RTE via Meyerton into Europe. Re VT and the other services we don't rent Kvitsoy to the BBC, that is one that the BBC went to NRK themselves! We have a VT bouquet of DRM broadcasters on Fri and Sat from WOF on S96 100 kW with various contributions RNZI, R Prague etc. But that's it! 73 (To: David Porter g4oyx, via Büschel, Sept 21, ibid.) There's a weak to fair DRM signal at 1430 on 11715 with someone in 'Chinese' on 11710 and Russian on 11720. I assume the DRM is via WOF. A check of the reported MEY frequencies 11695 and 11960 reveals no signals at all same time. There is something too weak to copy on 7295 - but it isn't sport, and not parallel 252 where I can loudly heard the game in progress (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checking 21 Sep at 1502 shows 7295 Traxx-FM, Malaysia, while 11695//11960 have sports, RTE I guess (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) Listening to RTE 1 sports finale on 11960, 1500 UT onwards, fair to good signal. Nothing was heard during several checks between 1300-1500 on 11695 & 11960. 7295 occupied by Traxx FM (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, ibid.) ** ISRAEL. 15785, Galei Zahal (presumed), 1335, 09/22/08. Easy listening / oldies type music with occasional brief DJ chat between, no definitive ID heard but format matches previous loggings on 6973. First time heard on their daytime frequency. Fair/poor (Mark Schiefelbein, Bois D'Arc, MO, Eton E1/~1000' E-W beverage, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL [and non]. Israel Clock change Oct 5 / Israel Radio on WRMI again? --- Putting together the new WRMI program schedule, dated September 8, 2008, plus the WRMI frequency list, plus the WRN schedule, it seems to me, that WRMI has Israel Radio English back on shortwave again. For quite a while, WRMI ended its WRN relay at 2200 UTC, so Israel Radio wasn't included. (This 2330 UTC program is recorded earlier in the day.) Can anyone confirm this is being broadcast now? The schedule seems to be: Monday-Friday 7:30 PM ET / 2330 UTC 9955 aimed to the Caribbean The sources I combined: http://www.wrmi.net/schedule.php http://www.wrmi.net/program.php?id=94 http://www.wrn.org/listeners/schedules/schedule.php?ScheduleID=2 == Israel changes its clock back to Standard Time in two weeks, on Sunday, Oct 5. This means that Persian to Iran on shortwave moves from 1400 to 1500 UT: Persian to Iran: 1500-1630 UT (Friday and Saturday 1500-1600 UT), 13850 and 11605 kHz Also, all of the other live broadcasts, will be shifted an hour. For example, English moves back to: 0430, 1030, 1830 UT Israel Radio International http://www.intkolisrael.com/ REKA (Immigrants' Network) http://www.iba.org.il/reka IBA's live and on-demand website: http://media.iba.org.il The on-demand feed availability will also shift an hour. On demand is available above and at: http://www.wrn.org More specifically: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=35 http://www.israelradio.org (Almost all of the audio links here actually point to WRN or the IBA.) The on-demand telephone based service at http://www.upsnap.com program availability for Israel Radio English would also shift an hour. This service is free if you kick off the cellphone phonecall via a data connection http://wap.upsnap.com --- otherwise, there is a monthly fee. The service has many WRN broadcasters on it. The regular WRN schedule for Israel Radio (for example, rebroadcast on Sirius), won`t be impacted. REKA/Israel Radio International still does not have downloadable audio files. The WRN website does have downloadable audio files for the 0430, and 1830 UT English broadcasts, but not the 1030 UT (Doni Rosenzweig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But now WRN relay until 2400. Jeff White confirms that includes Israel (gh, DXLD) Yes, Israel Radio English (on WRN via WRMI) is on the air at 2330 UT M-F on 9955, as it seemed in the WRMI schedule. I just listened to it today Sept 22 from here in New York. Reception wasn't exactly armchair quality, though (Doni Rosenzweig, ibid.) ** ITALY. Bob Zanotti in his interview with Bob Thomann for this 80th birthday, admitted that IRRS (when it was really transmitting from Milano, gh outpoints), while rated at 10 kW, *was* running only 5 kW or less, in order to prolong the life of the expensive tubes. Everybody exaggerates their power. Nevertheless, using A3A, reduced carrier SSB, they managed to drive BBC off 3985 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. 3945, R Nikkei 2, Nagara, 0822-0836, Sep 13, selections of a soft female voice singer, lite music. Poor, 24322 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu, SP, Brazil, DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) Nice catch! It has not been heard since February according to my information (Ed. Anker Petersen, ibid.) ** JAPAN [non]. NHKWNRJ, 11705 via Canada was rather weak Sept 20 at 1414 during mailbag show, and had co-channel QRM from rapid talk in unID language, certainly not the usual pre-echo from NHK Yamata direct, also in English. Since this was Saturday, EiBi has the answer: 11705 1330-1530 Sa G BBC SWA EAf /AFS 11705 1530-1630 Sa G BBC SWA EAf /SEY That is, BBC`s Saturday-only Swahili broadcast via South Africa. Just as the theoreticians never dreamed that NHK could interfere with itself in CNAm, I am sure they never expected this BBC service to bother NHK either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 3980, KCBS, 0904-0930, Sep 03 and 07, Korean talks and musical bridge, elation music with male choir, 0909 virtuoso piano followed by orchestra, 0916 female singer with choir, instrumental orchestral music // 3970, 3960 was a carrier with noise, at signal peak 34333 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu, SP, Brazil, DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) Spur on 3980 or new transmitter? (DSWCI Ed., ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 11540, Irkutsk , Sep. 19, 1235-1300* R Free Chosun, OM & YL talk, music, chorus, and song by male. 34232 to 34222. 11640, Irkutsk [RUSSIA], Sep. 19, 1304 and 1330, V. of Wilderness, YL emotional talk, OM talk, music. 23222 interfered by 11635 Taiwan in Chinese (Tony Ashar, Depok, West Java, Indonesia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 15360, Rampisham, Sep. 19, 1804-1815, KBS World Radio, news by OM in Russian: America, parliament, Panmunjom, China, Mercedes Benz, Honda, Porsche, and Coca Cola. Following jingle and ID, YL talk on finance: Financial Times, and Morgan Stanley; ended by IS. 44232 (Tony Ashar, Depok, West Java, Indonesia, DX LISTENING DIGEST ) ** LAOS. Via remote receiver in the Philippines: 4412.6, Sam Neua (presumed) 2255 Sept 23, sign on with instrumental interval signal. At 2257 I heard what sounded like Laos' national anthem (I matched it up via a version on the Internet.) 2258 talk by woman but I could not make out what she was saying. They started playing music at 2300, but the signal seemed quite low (Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4411.84 carrier at 1123, may be spurious of course. 73 (Bob Wilkner, South Florida, Sept 24, ibid.) ** LAOS [non]. 15260, Taiwan, Sep. 17, 0110-0130* Moj Them Radio, OM long talk, song by male, marching music and chorus. 34433 to 44444 (Tony Ashar, Depok, West Java, Indonesia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. 9290, *0800-0900* Sat 20.09, Latvia today, via Ulbroka. English ID's, Latvian pop songs, talks about the pollution in the Baltic Sea and the history of Railways in Latvia. The transmitter was not yet warmed up at 0800, so first the audio was weak: SINPO 45332, at 0810 it became better: 55444 and at 0830 perfect: 55555! AP-DNK 9290, *0900-1000* Sat 20.09, R City, via Ulbroka English announcement by man with hoarse voice playing British and German oldies, ID 55555. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** LIBYA. 17725, Sept 20 at 1639 with chanson, i.e. song in French, lo-fi and fading in and out. Per EiBi this must be V. of Africa, with French at 16-17. It is seldom audible here when in English at 14-16 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. New 9770, *1029-1059* Sat 20.09, The Mighty KBC testing, via Sitkunai. IS, Lithuanian announcement, 1030 English test program with oldies and many ID's: "We are the Mighty KBC", address 55444. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 9770, The Mighty KBC, 1037-1050, Sept 20, test transmission with pop music. ID. Beatles tune. Weak in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I listened to The Mighty KBC from 0215 to 0230 UT on 6110 kHz. The station is run by KBC Imports. They were playing old rock and roll songs. Do you know anything about this station? I believe they are in the Netherlands. Good DXing! (John Davis, UT Sept 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes. Transmitter site is in Lithuania. This is UT Sundays only, but they have a daily broadcast for Europe at 2130-2230 on 6055 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** MALAYSIA. Radio Voice of Malaysia has registered the following emissions in English: from 03 to 06 hours as Voice of Islam and from 06 to 0830 hours news, music, features, all on 6175, 9750 and 15295 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX Sept 19 via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, Traxx FM via RTM, 1440-1505, Sept 23, in English, recorded greetings from listeners overseas (from Indonesia, Australia, etc.) with good wishes for Ramadan for the people of Malaysia and the listeners of Traxx FM, several singing "Traxx FM" jingles, music program "In the Lime Light" with DJ Shaz, use their new slogan many times "Travel N' Music", ToH: 11 PM news roundup from Kuala Lumpur, good reception. This station still plays a lot of pop songs, but their "new approach aims to provide its listeners with better knowledge of Malaysia through informative and interactive banters". I sent the DJ an email with an attached audio clip of his program. Received a response in 3 hours from "Shaz" ( djtheshaz@... ), the DJ for the "In the Lime Light" program: "It was great to receive your very encouraging e-mail. I actually didn't know Traxx fm could over spill all the way to the states. There are cases of people sending us letters from overseas telling us they like our shows but I always assumed it was via our on-line streaming. Thank you very much for actually sending me an e-mail. I really appreciate the effort. All I can say is keep on listening to Traxx. Take care and keep in touch. Warm Regards, Shaz" (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. Radiodiffusion Télévision Mali du Bamako was noted on 7285 kHz with music at 0750 hours with a female voice announcing the identification at 0800 hours followed by the program “Ubaru Duma” in vernaculars (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX Sept 19 via DXLD) 5995, RTVM, Bamako, 2335-0001*, Sept 19-20, French talk. Wide variety of music including local rustic vocals, Afro-pop music, & US pop music of the ‘70s. Sign off with National Anthem at 0000. Poor with adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MARSHALL ISLANDS. 1098, V7AB Majuro, Sep 19 0643 - Noted fading in with weak audio by male at 0643 in presumed Marshallese, at sunset in the Marshalls. Signal was fading back into the noise about once per minute, until 0708 when a female announcer was heard at slightly better strength, introducing an island music tune. Another jump in strength was at 0718, but still with regular fades. Noted at various weak signal levels with island music throughout the next hour (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing from Orcas Island, WA, Two 70' x 100' Conti Super Loops, West and Northwest. Perseus SDR Receiver [so reception extracted later]; IRCA via DXLD) ** MEXICO. RADIO CHAPINGO LA RADIODIFUSORA UNIVERSITARIA, DA VOZ Y VOTO A LA CIUDADANÍA. http://www.alianzatex.com/Alianzatex/nota.jsp?nota=N0006577 Texcoco México, (Texcoco Mass Media), Publicada: Septiembre 22, 2008 - La Universidad de Chapingo, destacada por preparar a personas enamoradas de la agricultura, la cosecha y las plagas, también da cabida a hombres y mujeres, que habidas por transmitir sus vivencias, conocimientos o cualidades artísticas utilizan los micrófonos de la emisora. La radio difusora, creada hace trece años, es una emisora permisionaria, dicha autorización fue expedido por la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes; al ser una emisora con concesión emitida por el estado, no puede ser comercializada. Es decir, Radio Chapingo no puede vender espacios destinados para publicidad y únicamente puede tratar temas de interés social, yendo desde la labor y pensamiento de las mujeres, hasta el análisis político, pasando por la programación de música en todos sus géneros. La labor de Radio Chapingo es hacer valer la voz de todo el público; la radio universitaria tiene programas específicos en los que la voz de las personas es bien recibida, la pretensión de la radiodifusora es ser democrática e incluyente, sin importar raza, género y/o posición social. Dentro de la programación de Radio Chapingo, las emisiones dedicadas a presentar la voz del pueblo son Voces de la Región, Encuentro Ciudadano y Reporteros Comunitarios, donde cualquier persona puede comunicarse para proponer un tema y ser invitado a participar dentro del debate y análisis que se presenta en dichos programas. La radio universitaria, cuanta con una extensa gama de programas, donde destacan los antes mencionados a la par de emisiones como, Perspectiva en Movimiento, La Sartén por el Mango y la Barra Juvenil. El programa, La Sartén por el Mango es una revista conducida por mujeres en las que, sin caer en producciones radiofónicas del mismo corte, se abordan temas de interés, no solo para las féminas, sino también para la comunidad masculina, dichos temas van de hablar sobre el día a día de la mujer del siglo XXI, temas sobre violencia, en su carácter de pareja, laboral o racial, se habla también de la salud en general y también se da espacio para hablar de política. Dentro de la Barra Juvenil, misma que abarca de lunes a sábado de siete de la tarde a nueve de la noche, se presentan jóvenes amantes de la música alternativa, poesía, artes, ciencia y tecnología. Radio Chapingo se puede escuchar en el 1610 de A.M. de lunes a domingo con su programación en vivo de 9:00 A.M. a 9:00 P.M. de lunes a domingo y a partir de las 9:00 P.M. y hasta las 9:00 A.M. música continua (Fuente: AlianzaTex Lunes, Septiembre 22, 2008 via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) NOTE: this says it is on the air 24 hours, with nothing but continuous music from 9 pm to 9 am = 0200-1400 UT. Not even any legal IDs? Previously had been off the air during this period, impossiblizing its escuchance e.g. just before sunrise. Its logo also claims it is on the air 365 days a year; that is, except on Feb 29s? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XERTA, 4800, Sept 20 at 0614 immediately as I tuned in played English ID by YL, including website; fair with CODAR QRM only. Around sunrise, such as 1235, this just makes a het with Guatemala on slightly different frequencies. XEOI, 6010, Sept 20 at 1240 check really with Mexican music instead of talk block; perhaps because it`s Saturday. Whenever a bit of classical music can be pulled out of the weak and undermodulated carrier on 6045 it is still notable as must be XEXQ, Sept 24 at 1312, very poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6185.9, XEPPM, R Educación, Ciudad México, DF, *2300-0116, 0715-0825 and 1053-1101*, Sep 02, 06, 07, 12 and 13, Spanish long discussion of the Mexican economy, Caribbean songs, ID: "Radio Educación, 1060 de amplitud modulada, 100.000 watts de potencia, transmitimos desde ... Colonia del Valle, México D. F.", ann programmes: "La hora nacional", "El noticiero", 34333 QRM R Nacional da Amazônia drifting to 6185 (Hauser, Méndez and Ronda, DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) ?? I have never had it almost 1 kHz high, tho it is slightly low toward 6184.9. I don`t think Méndez has reported it on 6185.9 either, so that leaves Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK. This publication by insisting on merging reports from different contributors forces us to make such guesses about who said what. Certainly more trouble than it is worth (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. Radio Mexico Internacional and Radio Educación sites: Hi folks, Recently there has been some discussion (on list & off list) on the 'Shortwavesites Yahoo Group' as to the actual whereabouts of the former 'Radio Mexico International' shortwave transmitter site. It appears that the location recently discovered by Wolfgang Bueschel was in fact that of Radio Educación according to Colin Miller. We are unsure if the above location was also used for RMI or if another location exists for that broadcaster. Given the proximity of Mexico to the USA and that a large number of US DXers exists and hopefully many Mexican DXers/listeners. I am wondering if anyone can assist with the location of the RMI shortwave transmitter location? In fact any location of former or existing Mexican SW station transmitter sites would be appreciated. Using Google Earth the location of Radio Educación - XEPPM - 6185 kHz appears to be here: 19 21 50N 99 01 38W The MW mast can be easily seen. Any information/assistance would be greatly appreciated (Ian Baxter, shortwavesites YG, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Regarding Radio Mexico International's transmitter site, wouldn't the WRTVH geo coordinates work, assuming they are accurate? Such as the 2006 edition International Transmitter Sites on page 689? If correct, why would one not just have just referenced that? (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, ibid.) These WRTH 2006 tables are taken purely from ITU Geneva database, which are sometimes 30 to 40 years old from USSR era, etc. ACCURACY - That geographic coordinates material differs sometimes up to 150 miles/200 km, like vailed UKR_Mykolaiv_Luch_Posad-pokrovskote site, which is settled in USSR/ITU lists as SMF Simferopol Crimea. Notation should be as 23 27' 30" E; for higher precision, the seconds are specified with a decimal fraction. An alternative representation uses degrees and minutes, where parts of a minute are expressed in decimal notation with a fraction. A lot of that database is wrong in detail, sometimes in order to vail the old communist hardware sites. Common SW TXsites newsgroup, - Ian Baxter-AUS, Mauno Ritola-FIN - latter the editor guy of WRTH editorial staff -, Alan Davies in East Asia, and a lot of approx. 120 guys are STRUGGELING hefty to expell the EXACT transmitter installation coordinates, since such strategic tools like Google Earth, Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Flash Earth, Fallingrain, Yandex Russia, GeoPortail France, Slovenia Atlas Okolja etc. are available on the market to help the average user/listener. See enclosed .KMZ file to import in Google Earth program. See RMI Miami as ITU coordinates 25 54 N 80 22 W, but narrowed in G.E. as 25 54'01.70"N 80 21'47.78"W RMEXI 19 16 N 99 03 W supposed to be formerly at 19 18'54.83"N 99 04'51.97"W, 4 miles / 6 kilometers difference. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 7260.00, Mongolian R., 1455, Sept 19, Mongolian closing announcement, 2-minute orchestral NA, carrier off 1500:48. Weak on clear channel (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. Voice of Mongolia escuchada hoy 20/09 1030 UT iniciando transmisión en inglés con señal de intervalo en 12085 kHz. Señal muy fuerte, sin QRM, audio algo saturado y con un poco de ruido proveniente aparentemente del enlace con los estudios. Degen DE 1103 con antena telescópica dentro de casa junto a una ventana. 73, (Moises Knochen. Montevideo, Uruguay, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. QUIZ CONTEST OF THE VOICE OF MONGOLIA Received the following msg from Voice of Mongolia ************************************************* Dear all, The Mongolian National Radio in cooperation with the National Council for Foreign Advertisement and Cultural relations is announcing a radio quiz "Who better knows Mongolia" The quiz is announcing for a period of two months starting from September 15 until November 15. The entries for the radio quiz would be considered by a joint selection commission of the above two organizations and names of winners would be announced on December 1. Here are the questions of the radio quiz "Who better knows Mongolia" 1. What do you know about the territory, population and national minorities of Mongolia? 2. Since when Mongolia has been participating in the Olympic Games? How many Mongolian athletes and in what categories took part in the 29th Summer Olympic Games in Beijing? How many medals Mongolia won and what were the categories? 3. Some cultural and natural heritages of Mongolia are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. What are they and why they had been put on the UNESCO list? Three best entries would be selected to be awarded and there would also be two special prizes. So tune to us, take part in the quiz and be a winner! Yours sincerely, Densmaa Zorigt, Mail editor of the VOM Ulaanbaatar - 13 C.P.O. Box - 365 Mongolia So, all the best -- (via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Sept 23, dxldyg via DXLD) So what are the prizes?? ** MYANMAR. Radio Myanmar was reported after 1450 hours in a local language, at 1530 hours with news in English and pop music after 15.35 hours on 5985 kHz until the end of the program marked by the National Anthem. The Myanmar military radio has been on again on 5770 kHz with popular songs until signing off at 1530 hours. The QSL address [for the former] is: Myanma Radio & TV, GPO Box 1432, Yangon 11181, Myanmar (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX Sept 19 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Dear Glenn Hauser, about music on shortwave. Many years ago, Radio Netherlands had a program, His and Hers. This was a music request program. The music was of no interest to me. His and Hers was presented by Jerry and Dody Cowan. Jerry was a staid serious announcer. Dody was a madcap disc jockey. Two people could not be more different. Yet theirs was a very successful marriage. TO me, His and Hers demonstrated a very successful marriage and the charm of the Dutch people and their country. I believe this opinion was not only mine, because the program had a fan club. Jerry was of Dutch descent, and Dody was pure Dutch. After a long time, they had a daughter, Samantha, and then they left Holland and got divorced. I believe they divorced because they left Holland. His and Hers was only formally a music program. It was a propaganda program, with true propaganda, showing that the Dutch are charming people who get along well with each other in a charming coiuntry. His and Hers was a charming program. Today, Radio Netherlands has good, serious programs, but there is no charm in them. And the Dutch people are not charming and their country is not charming. I reached these conclusions from listening to Radio Netherlands. Music has very little to do with it. Best wishes, Yours (David Crystal, 19125 Ramat Zvi, Israel, typed letter by air-mail, postmark illegible, undated but received Sept 22, retyped by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) And thanks for the stamps. See also TURKEY (gh) ** NEW ZEALAND. Oceania --- 9655, Sep 22 1410-1458, R. New Zealand. Rangitaiki News Weather, music announcement change frequency at 1457 UT, ID signoff. Sinpo 23322. 73 from Marabello Treviso, (Italy) RX: SONY SW7600G ANT: VHF outdoor antenna at 230 degrees? (Navaiowhite, HCDX onlinelog via DXLD) ?? Then RNZI automation messed up again. 9655 supposed to be on only at 1059-1258, then 6170, referring to analog. I usually notice 6170 in the 13-14 UT hour, but not certain if I did on this date. BTW, RNZI online sked has added already the expected revised schedule http://www.rnzi.com/pages/listen.php effective 19-25 October only, flagging changes in the 2051-0258 period. Watch out: it is above the current schedule so you are likely to look at it first and think it is the current one (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Re RNZI history specials: The Mailbag programmes they have up at the moment are the 18 Aug and Sep 15 ones. I have just emailed them to ask that the Sep 1 edition be put back up, I'd assumed it would be up for a month so hadn't got round to downloading it yet! The Sep 15 one is very interesting (Mike Barraclough, UK, Sept 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have had a reply from Adrian Sainsbury apologising for the oversight. The September 1 edition of Mailbag, part one of the 60th anniversary of RNZI series, is now available for streaming or download (Mike Barraclough, Sept 22, ibid.) Now the first link is dated August 31, so that is the missing one, listening via http://www.rnzi.com/pages/audio.php Is their capacity really so limited that only two shows can be available at any one time? Part 1 will presumably be deleted by Sept 29 when part 3 appears (Glenn Hauser, 1540 UT Sept 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Radio New Zealand International 60th Anniversary 1948-2008 RNZI Special Mailbox Documentary airs on September 29 ____________ _________ _________ _ Listen to Mailbox on RNZI on Monday, September 29 as David Ricquish of the Radio Heritage Foundation hosts a very special documentary taking a look at the future of RNZI shortwave radio services to the Pacific. The documentary is the third in a series being broadcast this month to celebrate 60 years of shortwave broadcasts to Australia and the Pacific since September 27, 1948. In this 40 minute program, you'll hear how RNZI has moved over the years to become the Voice of the Pacific, increasingly reflecting the voices and cultures of the islands from French Polynesia in the east across to Papua New Guinea in the west. During this time, partnerships with the growing number of local radio stations in the region who carry RNZI's flagship news and current affairs programs have also expanded. You'll hear more about this growth in Pacific news and current affairs programs, technical assistance for local stations and expanded coverage since the new digital [DRM] transmitter came into service, and how partnerships with Radio Australia, the BBC and a global monitoring network continually extend the reach of the station. The future? Expect the role of RNZI as a crisis broadcaster at times of natural disaster such as cyclones to strengthen and for new technology to deliver RNZI program content to even more Pacific audiences. You'll also hear about plans for new very high powered transmitters and greater flexibility to offer more program options and broadcast languages, as well as potential for local FM outlets in major urban areas across the region. The full 40 minute version of this special Mailbox program is aired on Monday, September 29, followed later in the day by a 19 minute shortened part one version. The next day, there are repeats of part one, and of the additional 19 minute shortened part two version. Visit http://www.rnzi.com for shortwave frequencies and times and to download audio on demand options for these three different versions available from September 29. Remember New Zealand moves its clocks forward one hour for Daylight Savings [sic] time on September 28 2008. The full version is also likely to be broadcast on the domestic service of RNZ National on AM and FM nationwide and streaming at http://www.rnz.co.nz on Saturday, September 27. Listeners who send written reception reports to RNZI from September 27 can also receive a special souvenir 60th anniversary QSL postcard to confirm their reception. Details for sending written reception reports are at http://www.rnzi.com As well, you can still download and hear the two earlier Mailbox documentaries from September 1 and 15 that cover the early days of shortwave radio from New Zealand as well as the unique voices of the station since 1948. These are also at http://www.rnzi.com At http://www.radioheritage.net look for 'Radio New Zealand Signs On' celebrating the first broadcasts on September 27, 1948. For more information about early radio broadcasting in the Pacific, featuring exclusive stories, images and memories including the popular 'Art of Radio Hawaii' online art exhibition, visit today. Full searchable lists of today`s AM and shortwave stations across the entire Pacific region are also available free online at the PAL Radio Guides, and an FM guide is currently in preparation. The Radio Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organization registered with the Charities Commission in New Zealand and connects the heritage of radio broadcasting and popular culture across the Pacific. Radio New Zealand International is the award winning shortwave broadcaster serving the Pacific from Wellington since 1948 (David Ricquish, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here are the details from the RNZI website; the special QSL card will be available for broadcasts on & after 27th Sept, 2008 (and not 2009 onwards), Radio New Zealand International celebrates 60 years of Shortwave Broadcasting 17 Sep, 2008 19:32 UTC On Monday 27 September 1948 Radio New Zealand Shortwave Service began broadcasting to the Pacific and beyond. To mark this special occasion a 60th Anniversary QSL will acknowledge reports on and after 27 September 2008. The 60th ANNIVERSARY MAILBOX SPECIAL BROADCAST TIMES ARE AS FOLLOWS: SAT 27 SEP Sat 0020 NZDT 2320 UT (Fri) FULL VERSION Sat 1806 NZDT 0506 UT (Sat) FULL VERSION [above entries also indicate +13 offset from UT, yet NZ does not begin DST until Sept 27 at 1400 UT! i.e. 2 am local time Sunday becomes 3 am. So what are we to believe about their real times? If they just forgot about NZST/NZDT and kept everything on UT there would be no such problems. Who cares what local time is in NZ, anyway, when listening abroad? This IS an external service -- gh] MON 29 SEP NZDT = +13 UTC Mon 0105(NZDT) 1205 UT (Sun) FULL VERSION DUR: 39:32 [9655] Mon 0610(NZDT) 1710 UT (Sun) FULL VERSION DUR: 39:32 [7145] Mon 1135(NZDT) 2235 UT (Sun) SHORT VERSION #1 DUR: 18:42 Mon 2030(NZDT) 0730 UT [Mon] SHORT VERSION #1 DUR: 18:42 TUE 30 SEP Tue 0030(NZDT) 2330 UT (Mon) SHORT VERSION #2 Dur: 18:52 Tue 0230(NZDT) 1330 UT (Mon) SHORT VERSION #1 Dur: 18:42 Tue 0530(NZDT) 0430 UT (Mon) SHORT VERSION #2 Dur: 18:52 Tue 1135(NZDT) 2235 UT (Mon) SHORT VERSION #2 DUR: 18:52 SAT 04 OCT Sat 0930(NZDT) 2030 UT (Fri) SHORT VERSION #2 Dur: 18:52 (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Sept 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Latest Update on RNZI 60th Anniversary QSL Card -- Radio New Zealand International (RNZI) is going to send the 60th anniversary QSL Card from September 27, 2008 onwards, not as I mentioned in the coming year i.e. 2009 in my previous email related to this topic. This was informed by Mr. Adrian Sainsbury of RNZI in response to my e-mail. Alokesh Gupta of New Delhi also informed me that this information was posted on their website. So, rush your reception reports to RNZI for this special 60th anniversary QSL Card. 73 & 55 (Gautam Kumar Sharma, Abhayapuri, Assam, India, dxld via DX LISTENING DIGEST) viz: Corrected version for QSL information to obtain the souvenir 60th anniversary QSL card. The website to visit is http://www.rnzi.com RNZI Extends 60th Anniversary Documentary Coverage Radio New Zealand International has rescheduled and extended coverage of its special 40 minute documentary celebrating 60 years of service to the Pacific. Full details of the new schedule are now at http://www.rnzi.com and include: 2 x broadcasts of the full version on each of September 27 and 29; 2 x broadcasts of part #1 on September 29, 1 x broadcast of part #1 and 3 x broadcasts of part #2 on September 30, and 1 x broadcast of part #2 on October 4. Radio NZ National the domestic AM/FM service is also carrying the full version twice, once on September 27 after the midnight news, and again as the Tuesday Feature at 9.06 pm NZDT on September 30. As well, podcasts of the full 40 minute version of the program will be available on both http://www.rnzi.com and http://www.radionz.com from September 27. September 27 2008 is exactly 60 years to the day that Radio New Zealand first began its shortwave service back in 1948. The program looks at the future of SW broadcasting in the Pacific, the growth of partner stations, and expansion plans for RNZI including new high power transmitters and local FM relay stations in major Pacific metro locations. Souvenir QSL Card RNZI has produced a special souvenir QSL card that is available to confirm hard copy reception reports of broadcasts from September 27, 2008. The card will be available until September 2009 or until stocks are exhausted and features several early RNZ shortwave card designs from the collections of the Radio Heritage Foundation http://www.radioheritage.net For QSL information to obtain these cards, please visit http://www.rnzi.com Return postage [US$2] is required to obtain the souvenir 60th anniversary card (David Ricquish, Radio Heritage Foundation, Sept 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) How many times do we need to see the same URLs in a single message??? I already deleted several of those redundancies (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Re 8-103, Radio Disney, 1380 sponsoring an event at Wal- Mart in Enid, where there is no Radio Disney on any frequency --- this was followed up in the Sept 21 Enid Eagle, with a photo story by Candice Budgick, RADIO DISNEY HELPS KIDS PREPARE, captioned: ``Kids (above) participate in a true or false trivia game at Wal-Mart on Saturday at ``Rock Out With Radio Disney`` that provides emergency preparedness information in a fun way. Sean McGee (top right, right) a representative of Radio Disney conducts the Limbo as Makenzie Jones (left) attempts to make it under the bar. Sherman Merchant (left, from left), Mollie Lewis and Crissie Burdell help host the event.`` The three photos could have been take in front of any Wal-Mart, but it may be Enid`s. Several kids were wearing ``Chisholm`` shirts, which is a local high school. A tent marked 1380 and Radiodisney.com could be seen. Maybe this was a warm-up for the big event. Per http://radio.disney.go.com/music/yourstation/tulsa/index.html KMUS is doing more Rock-Outs at the Tulsa State Fair from Sept 25 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALAU. Correxion, Re 8-104: ``KHBN/T8BZ uses a new call sign of THWH from Sep. 1. http://www.ric.hi-ho.ne.jp/in_hiroshi/k/thwh-20080902-1159_9930.mp3 (2 Sep. 1159UT on 9930kHz) de Hiroshi S. Hasegawa NDXC`` "it's actually T8WH, it sounds very much like THWH!" de Mauno Ritola. Thanks, Mauno. Palauan prefix is surely T8 (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Sept 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Clip above is exactly the same `OCS` ID with phony-enthusiastic announcer heard on WHRI and all the other outlets, except says ``T8WH, Palau``. So the WH signifies World Harvest, which is in process of purchasing the station. It will be interesting to see if it still retain dual identity for FCC and HFCC purposes as KHBN, or change that too? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3335, R East Sepik (presumed), 1237, 09/22/08. Island-type music and a male DJ poking out of the noise, a surprisingly weak showing from PNG this morning despite good reception from its neighbors. Poor (Mark Schiefelbein, Bois D'Arc, MO, Eton E1/~1000' E-W beverage, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. Radio PMR Pridnestrovye observed on 7370 while band scanning on September 9 at 1400, ex 12135. Rolling programme of English, French and German. English to Europe at 1400, 1445, 1530 and 1615. French 1415, 1500, 1545, 1630. German 1430, 1515, 1600, 1645. Monday to Friday. No change to North American service, still noted on 6040 September 15 (Edwin Southwell, Basingstoke, UK, World DX Club via Mike Barraclough, Sept 23, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard here in English 1400 to 1415 September 23 on 7370, the entire programme was on the Republic of South Ossetia celebrating the 18th anniversary of its declaration of state sovereignty and recognition of this by Russia. Excellent reception, SINPO 44444 (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth Garden City, UK, ibid.) Thank you. Also very strong and fine here in Copenhagen on 7370, with German at 16, followed by English at 1615 UT. 73, (Erik Køie, Denmark, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) MOLDAVIA, 7370 Radio PMR, 1557-1559, escuchada el 24 de septiembre en francés a locutora con comentarios, ID, fin de emisión, SINPO 45444. 7370, Radio PMR, 1559-1602, escuchada el 24 de septiembre en alemán a locutor con presentación, ID, boletín de noticias, sin señal en 12135, SINPO 45444 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, ibid.) ** ROMANIA. RRI, 9790, Sept 22 at 2208 news in English about politics, Romanian names mentioned, merits of unicameral vs bicameral parliament, fair aside Sackville DRM 9795-9800-9805. 2210 ID as Radio Newsreel on Radio Romania International (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. During the [HFCC] Conference, the report of the Working and Discussion Groups of HFCC on DRM was made. Rachel Staviskaya, a representative of the Russian State Broadcast Company “The Voice of Russia”, said that VOR has been transmitting in DRM radio for many years and not only from Taldom, Moscow region, but also from Khabarovsk to China. And all are waiting only for receivers (Olex Yegorov, Whole World on the Radio Dial Sept 13 via DXLD) ?? News to us that Khabarovsk be a DRM-capable site. The DRM DX schedule besides Taldom in Russia shows instead Komsomol`sk/Amure: 0100-0300 daily 15735 213 Asia 90 VoR RUS Russian Komsomolsk Amur 0300-0500 daily 15735 213 Asia 90 VoR RUS English Komsomolsk Amur So which are we to believe? HFCC registrations also show K/A. Perhaps in faraway Moscow it`s easy to mix up the two (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. R. Rossii, 7320 via Magadan, Sept 21 at 0556 M&W talk with several IDs in passing before hourtop, better than any other non- American outsending on 40-41m. Time signal at 0600 was 4 seconds slow compared to WWV, so why bother? It`s incredible how many SW stations, even ones from major countries with the capability to get them right, get them wrong, misleading millions of listeners. Into Vesti, info program from R. Rossii (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Re 8-104: I notice that 7200 is registered with the HFCC for 250 kW at 45 degrees which probably accounts for your good reception. It is indeed a 250 kW transmitter, a Vyuga model installed within a modernization project in 1991. It is identical to the transmitters at Rimavská Sobota and maybe elsewhere, too, dubbed as PKV-250 (which to my knowledge is a summarizing term, referring to a certain specification). For quite some time this transmitter was seriously out of order, but it seems that it is now finally fixed. ``Eike seems to believe that Regional programs are still being broadcast.`` Anybody seems to believe it, but are they really still on air? The only explicit discussion of this question I saw concerned the Arman transmitters on 5935/5940 and 7320, and here it was about GTRK Magadan programming missing from these frequencies, replaced by a plain Radio Rossii feed. This would be especially remarkable, since it would mean that the shortwave transmitters run no longer // co-located 234. Perhaps the GTRK Magadan broadcasts were simply missed because they had been cut back considerably in 2005, cf. http://www.magtrk.ru/index.phtml?a=gm But I would not take it as granted that the remaining Radio Rossii shortwave outlets for domestic coverage still take the feed with program windows from the GTRK of the respective region. This in particular for 5930 from Monchegorsk ("Murmansk") and 6160 from Koskovo ("Arkhangelsk"), since here the GTRK-including feed now otherwise goes out on FM only (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chuck, 7200, definitely regional GTRK Sakha program at 0810 in Russian and Yakut. 7345 kHz is listed in HFCC with 310 beam and so that is stronger here in Europe, although power is 100 kW compared with 250 kW on 7200 kHz. Also 7230 kHz is listed in HFCC, but nothing heard there. At 0910 R. Rossii time-shifted programming, not //261 kHz. 7140 and 6150 kHz too weak to be sure. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Sept 23, ibid.) 22 to 24 Sep. I monitored regional program of GTRK-Sakha on 6150, 7200 and 7345 kHz at 0800-0900 UT. 7140 is blocked by North Korea. I investigated regional programs of these other times. 22 Sep. 0800-0810 RR News in Russian 0810-0831 Sakha local in Yakut 0831-0851 Sakha local in Russian 0851-0900 RR in Russian 23 Sep. 0800-0900 RR in Russian 24 Sep. 0800-0810 RR News in Russian 0810-0848 Sakha local in Yakut 0848-0856 Sakha local in Russian 0856-0900 RR in Russian http://ndxc.org/aoki/binews/ab/sakha-20080924-0851_7200.mp3 de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Sept 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7320, Radio Rossii, 0930-1000 Sept 24, Relayed via Magadan, noted a program of Russian Language comments and Pop music. During the last 15 minutes of the hour, the music was mainly that of ABBA from a live concert it seemed. After a few ABBA tunes, the music is mainly Russian pop music. Noted this being parallel to 7200 which is relayed via Yakutsk. Signal fades a little by 0954, but still at a fair level. However, by 1000 the entire band seems to drop out (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, ibid.) ** RUSSIA. Russian AM update --- Recently Vesti FM took over several of Radio Rossii's AM frequencies. This seems to be the current situation: Radio Russia: 171 Bolshakovo 171 Oyash 189 Blagoveshchensk 225 Surgut 234 Irkutsk 252 Kazan 261 Moscow 279 Eaterinburg 279 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 621 Syktyvkar 873 Samara 1053 Orenburg 1395 Buguruslan 1485 Tyumen Vesti FM: 567 Volgograd 585 Perm 594 Vladikavkaz 594 Izhevsk 639 Omsk 693 Ufa 765 Petrozavodsk 810 Vladivostok 855 Penza 873 Moscow 873 St. Petersburg 873 Kaliningrad 918 Arkhangelsk 936 Matveevka 945 Novocherkassk 1080 Saransk 1458 Kudymkar (open_dx) (from DXing the Finnish Way, Sep 18, http://finndxer.wordpress.com:80/ via Mike Terry, UK, Sept 20, dxldyg via DXLD) An addition to a recent posting about Russia on AM. I was in Novosibirsk, Sibera, 28 July-2 August, 2008. Only three active AM-stations noted: Radio Rossii 171, Radio Slovo 270 and Radio Mayak 576 kHz. The receiver used was Sangean ATS-909. Signal strengths of local AM- stations were not very good, so I suppose these are kept on the air with reduced power for mostly old people who are used to tune their AM-radios into a certain wave-length or "volna". I also noted that regional breaks (local news & advertisements) were audible on FM only while AM frequencies of Radio Rossii and Mayak relayed Moscow at the same time. It seems that there is going on a huge shift from AM to FM in Russia. Private stations have already moved to FM (very few exceptions) and now the giant state-owned VGTRK-channels like Radio Rossii and Mayk are also moving to FM (including OIRT-FM). (Jorma Mantyla, Kangasala, Finland, mwdx yg via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Broadcasting Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Third program called “Qur`an Kerim” was heard in Sofia at 1100 hours on the new frequency of 9460 kHz, as well as on the traditional frequencies of 11935, 17615 and 21495 kHz. The Second Program was heard at 9580 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX Sept 19 via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. SAUDI DAILY RADIO BROADCAST 'SUSPENDED' WELL-KNOWN DAILY RADIO PROGRAM http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidGN_17092008_10245465/%20KSA:%20Well-known%20daily%20radio%20broadcast%20taken%20off%20air Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008 via Gulf News Riyadh: In a surprise development, the Holy Qur`an Radio in Saudi Arabia has suspended its famous daily broadcast Light In The Path. The decision to take the programme off the air comes in the wake of the controversy generated by a fatwa issued by Shaikh Saleh Al Luhaidan, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Council. The stricture says it is acceptable to kill owners of Arabic satellite television channels that broadcast programmes considered immoral. Light In The Path is a half-hour bulletin that features leading Saudi Islamic scholars fielding questions about Islamic issues from a global audience. The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Shaikh Abdul Aziz Al Al Shaikh; Shaikh Mohammad Bin Abdullah Al Subayel; Saleh Fawzan Al Fawzan; Abdullah Bin Ali Al Rukban and Shaikh Saleh Al Luhaidan are among prominent scholars who have appeared on the programme. Ministry denies hand According to the Islam Today news website, the broadcast of a new episode of Light In The Path was halted yesterday along with another Islamic programme, Fahd Al Sunaidi. The website said the episode was scheduled to host Shaikh Abdul Rahman Al Ghadyan, a member of the Senior Ulema Board, but gave no reasons for the sudden decision not to air the programme. Meanwhile, the Assistant Deputy Minister of Culture and Information for Radio Affairs, Ebrahim Bin Ahmad Al Saqoub denied the ministry had anything to do with the suspension of the radio programme. "There is nothing official so far." © Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved. (URL: http://www.zawya.com via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. U.K. (non) Additional transmission of FEBA Radio via VTCommunications: 1530-1630 NF 9855 TAC 100 kW / 131 deg to SoAs in Hindi (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Sept 23 via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. 7290, IRRS, 1931- Sept 19, threshold signal but able to make out opening of Glenn Hauser’s World of Radio at 1931 (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 17690, Sat Sept 20 at 1501, YL in English with heavy accent talking about Darfur peace agreement, backed by music sounding like steel drum. This is Sudan Radio Service, via Sines, Portugal. Per EiBi, it`s M-F 1500-1700 in Arabic, except 1530-1600 English; Sat/Sun 1500-1530 English, 1530-1600 Arabic. Fair signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN (non). 15390, Southern Sudan Interactive Radio Instruction (via Meyerton), 1259, 09/22/08. A radio English lesson designed to be used by a teacher and students following along with the program, with frequent doorbell prompts for responses. Subjects covered included calculating how many kilograms of flour one had received from the World Food Program, which is probably a relevant local topic. Solid signal made it possible to understand the often thickly-accented presenters. Mon/Wed/Fri only. Good. (Mark Schiefelbein, Bois D'Arc, MO, Eton E1/~1000' E-W beverage, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. ESLOVAQUIA, 15650, Miraya FM, 1727-1759, escuchada el 23 de septiembre en dialecto sin identificar, probablemente en dialecto Fur, aunque no descarto otro dialecto cómo el dinka o el nuer, no me recuerda a nada el árabe, locutora realizando cantico y comentarios al respecto, cuña de identificación, "..Miraya FM.. Sudán..", locutor con referencias al Ramadan y Sudán, segmento musical, SINPO 55555 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN [non]. 11640, surprised to find very good signal in Swedish, Sunday Sept 21 at 1310, talk and music. Surely has to be R. Sweden, and surely has to be Sackville relay. Trouble is, this transmission is supposed to be on 15240, as in online references, and R. Sweden`s own http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/International/nyhetssidor/artikel.asp?nyheter=1&ProgramID=2076&Artikel=493601 Sackville has used 11640 previously for special relays of RNW at other times, so the frequency is probably on their roster for up-punching as a big mistake. Unfortunately, did not check 15240, but I bet it was missing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Transmitter Trouble --- Due to a broken relay transmitter in North America, our 1430 UT broadcasts on 15240 kHz to North America are currently out of action. We hope to resolve the problem as soon as possible. Until then, North American listeners can still catch our programmes at 1230 UT on 15240 [direct] or here on our homepage (via Alokesh Gupta, India, 0839 UT Sept 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) That is not exactly accurate. As I previously reported, the 1300 broadcast in Swedish was heard Sept 21 on 11640 instead of scheduled 15240, and it was again on 11640 Sept 22, 1327-1329* discussing fytbal. This led me to check at 1430, and sure enough, 11640 Sackville relay came back on with English, also instead of 15240. Unfortunately, I missed which frequency George Wood announced at the opening. The CRI relays via Sackville are funxioning normally on 15260, 15220. So how is the relay transmitter `broken` if it can run on 11640 without warning, instead of 15240? O, as I type, at 1435, George said that the 1430 would be on 11640 instead of 15240 till further notice. And the R. Sweden English page now says: ``New Frequency --- Following a technical fault at one of Radio Canada International’s transmitter antennas at Sackville, a new antenna has been set up, but our transmissions are now on a new frequency. Instead of 15240 kHz, the broadcast in English to North America at 1430 UT is now using 11640 kHz, in the 25 meter band. The change is expected to continue until our new shortwave schedule at the end of October.`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. Re 8-104, Bob Thomann Turns 80 --- Nice to hear that Bob Thomann is still around. I remember the very first time I met him, when I was editor of WRTH. His first words were "Hi Andy, pleased to meet you. Let me buy you a beer." He's that sort of guy, down to earth and no airs and graces. Just a very, very nice person to know. Happy Birthday Bob! (Andy Sennitt, Sept 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. AUDIOCLIP THE LAST MINUTES OF RTSI1 ON MW The audioclip of the last minutes of transmission on RTSI1 in medium wave (Via Monteceneri, 558 KHz)the last june 30, is available at: http://blog.libero.it/radioascolto/5478527.html 73 (Francesco Cecconi, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. Futuro delle onde medie in Svizzera -- forse RITORNANO ????????? Ciao! In Svizzera si sono resi conto di aver fatto una CAZZATA??? Pare di si! Adesso cercano di aprire ai privati l'utilizzo di 4 frequenze sulle onde medie, chesono già mute (3) ed una 531 kHz che lo diverrà presto. Qui sotto la relativa documentazione. Ringrazio l'amico Boris per la segnalazione. Futuro delle onde medie --- Biel-Bienne, 23.09.2008 - L'Ufficio federale delle comunicazioni (UFCOM) sta valutando l'attuale bisogno di onde medie per la radiofonia in Svizzera. Con la messa fuori servizio del trasmettitore di Beromünster a fine dicembre 2008, infatti, quattro delle cinque frequenze su onde medie messe a disposizione nel nostro Paese rimarranno inutilizzate. . . http://www.bakom.admin.ch/themen/radio_tv/01214/02379/02380/index.html?lang=it (via Dario Monferini, DXLD) Ciao Dario, La Svizzera, come d'altra parte tutto il mondo, è dominata dal denaro. Purtroppo nessuno si rende conto di cosa vuol dire viverci. Il sabato pomeriggio, quando alle 16 (!) i negozi chiudono, la città si svuota perché è tutto chiuso e non si può più comprare niente. Te lo dice uno che ha vissuto 30 a Milano e quest'anno sono 15 in Svizzera, uno che per metà è bolognese e per metà svizzero patriota e campanilista. La cazzata della chiusura dei TX in onde medie è proprio grande. D'altra parte così va il mondo e il progresso non si ferma. Resta il fatto che prendere una radiolina e metterla in cucina e sintonizzarsi su una frequenza in onde medie è CERTAMENTE più semplice, comodo ed economico che doversi comprare un ricevitore DAB o satellite o un PC per ascoltare la radio in rete. Saluti, Andrea, http://www.hb9gce.ch (Carl Andreas Stumpf, playdx yg via DXLD) ** SYRIA. What's on 783.8? Is the drifting Syrian there? I had a decent carrier in a bit presunset but needed a bit more sig for audio. 73 KAZ Lake Michigan front in Grafton WI phased BOG System aimed at 30 degrees tonite, i.e. towards Mideast (Neil Kazaross, 0233 UT Sept 21, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Syria is on 783 kHz, but its carrier spreads spurious carriers at every 100 Hz from 782 to 784 kHz 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) ** TAIWAN. On September 22, 2008 I received one brown envelope postmarked Taipei 12.9.08 directly sent from P. O. Box 123-199, Taipei 11199, Taiwan, i.e. information as follows: RTI IS OFFERING UP TO ONE MILLION NT$ IN PRIZES FOR INTERNET RADIO SUBMISSIONS! These days, with a computer and internet access, anybody can create his or her own internet radio program. Now all you have to do is produce a 15-minute program about Taiwan in either English or Japanese, and submit it to the “I Show” Radio Competition, and you’ll have a chance to win big! Just by joining in the “I Show” Radio Competition, you have the chance to win one of several prizes totaling $NT1,000,000! The new competition kicks off as RTI celebrates its 80th anniversary. It’s part ambitious new plans to improve and expand internet programming, and follows the launch of RTI’s new webcasts rtichatroom.blogspot.com and cell-phone listening services http://www.rti.org.tw/pda/ Not only will your entries help us share Taiwan with the rest of the world, it will also enable us to meet some new radio talent. To find out more, visit the “I Show” Radio Competition web site: http://rti.im.tv/english/ RTI English Service Program Schedule, Effective September 1st, 2008 Sunday ’00 News – Presented by RTI English Staff with reports by Caroline Gluck and others ’10 Time Traveler – Huang Shih-han ’20 Spotlight – Angelica Oung ’40 On the Line – Carlson Wong ’55 Close Monday ’00 News – Presented by RTI English Staff with reports by Caroline Gluck and others ’10 Woman Making Waves – Paula Chao ’20 Chinese to Go - Huang Shih-han ’30 Asia Review – Radio Australia ’55 Close Tuesday ’00 News – Presented by RTI English Staff with reports by Caroline Gluck and others ’10 Health Beats – Angelica Oung ’20 We’ve Got Mail – Natalie Tso and Shirley Lin ’55 Close Wednesday ’00 News – Presented by RTI English Staff with reports by Caroline Gluck and others ’10 Strait Talk – Paula Chao ’20 People - Shirley Lin ’30 Jade Bells and Bamboo Pipes – Carlson Wong ’55 Close Thursday ’00 News – Presented by RTI English Staff with reports by Caroline Gluck and others ’10 Ilha Formosa – Paula Chao ’20 Breakfast Club – Natalie Tso ’35 Instant Noodles – Andrew Ryan and Charlie Storrar ’50 Chinese to Go - Huang Shih-han ’55 Close Friday ’00 News – Presented by RTI English Staff with reports by Caroline Gluck and others ’10 News Talk – Natalie Tso ’20 Taiwan Indie – David Frazier ’35 Taiwan Outlook – Lo Chih-cheng ’55 Close Saturday ’00 News – Presented by RTI English Staff with reports by Caroline Gluck and others ’10 The Occidental Tourist - Charlie Storrar ’20 Groove Zone – Ellen Chu and Andrew Ryan ’55 Close (via Tony Ashar, Depok - West Java, Indonesia, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [non]. [Frecuencia DX] Eliminaciòn de Frecuencias RTI. Hola a todos, desde Chile quiero informar lo siguiente que consierne a eliminaciòn de frecuencias de RADIO TAIWAN INTERNACIONAL, un abrazo a todos y muy buena semana desde Chile, Hèctor Pino. Estimados oyentes, Les informamos que a partir del 1 de noviembre Radio Taiwán Internacional dejará de emitir a través de las siguientes frecuencias: 15190 kHz (UT 2300-2400) y 17845 kHz (UT 0200-0300). El motivo de tal decisión es la mala calidad de la recepción a través de esas frecuencias, además de para ofrecer una major recepción a nuestros oyentes en los otros diales con un nivel óptimo. Lamentamos cualquier molestia que les haya podido ocasionar. Atentamente, Sección Española, Radio Taiwán Internacional, P. O. BOX 123-199, TAIPEI, 11199, TAIWAN, R.O.C. (via hector enrique pino pino, Chile, Sept 22, logsderadio yg via DXLD) Hola: Tan solo comentar que dichas frecuencias son emitidas desde la estación WYFR en Okeechobee hacia Sudamerica y que por lo que yo entiendo en el mensaje seguramente sea para buscar otro Relay desde el que sea más optima la escucha. Saludos (Tomás Méndez, Spain, ibid.) If they think reception is bad now in LAm with WYFR relays, wait till all they have is direct from Taiwan (gh, DXLD) ** TATARSTAN [non]. 9690, Radio Tatarstan [Rossii] outlet in Tatar/Russian via Samara site at 0600-0700 UT, S=8-9 level. Sept 20 (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. 9680, Radio Thailand, 2031-2045, Sept 19, English news. ID. Into listed Thai at 2045. Weak but readable (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Voice of Turkey in Turkish with traditional music was good on 13635 at 1125 check, while booming in with IS on 13760 starting up German at 1128 9/21 (Joe Hanlon, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. VOT`s fortnightly DX Corner on Saturdays I confirmed UT Sunday Sept 21 at 0321-0327 on webcast, but probably would also have been audible via Canada 7325 and even direct on 5975. It was hosted by the main announcer, Seref [Isler]. Items as follows: 1, Ramadan greetings 2, There *will be* special event ham station TC4X for SSB contest Sept 13-14 3, From Bangladesh: birthday greetings from his wife to a well-known DXer who will be 31 on October 13. Could not catch his name 4, UK`s new broadcasts to Afghanistan border area from August 21, like VOA`s phone-ins for Pakistan`s NWFP allowing Pashtuns there to express themselves; attributed to Sunday Herald, Glasgow, Sept 14. This was in DXLD 8-103, probably where he got it. 5, Radio Andorra history site, URL quickly given once and impossible to copy. This was surely taken from DXLD 8-103 without credit, or from the original source quoted without credit: ``ANDORRA. THE HISTORY OF RADIO ANDORRA http://f5nsl.free.fr/andorre/amenuen.html This page is available in English and French (Sheldon Harvey, Sept Radio HF Internet Newsletter via DXLD)`` 6, in six months the 7100-7200 range will go back from broadcasting to ham radio, IARU story which has also appeared in DXLD 8-103 under INTERNATIONAL. Yet DXLD was mentioned nowhere in this program, as required when quoting. I`m fed up with having my long hours at the computer compiling such info ripped off by others without so much as four letters of acknowledgment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Dear Glenn Hauser, About the Voice of Turkey, and Live From Turkey --- Fist, something simple. A phone call from Israel to Turkey costs about double a phone call from Israel to USA. No more. I called the VOT at least twice about emergency technical problems. And now: you are not fair about Live from Turkey. It is live because the participants in the studio speak without a script. Only previously invited callers participate. This is as much as you can expect. Think of your own country, the USA, land of the free and home of the brave. Think of VOA and Talk to America. The subject was fixed by the station, and only questions were allowed. You have no right to expect more from Turkey. By the way, TTA is no more. Yes, in my time with Live from Turkey, I talked about anything I wanted to, as much as I wanted. This was very abnormal. This was only thanks to the lady announcer. She is a great beauty and her husband is head-over-heels in love with her and he is very powerful in Turkey and he lets her do whatever she wants. Without him, she would have been fired. She is no longer with VOT and she is now flaunting her beauty on Turkish television. Nowadays, VOT English is a normal station and no worse than that. I hold no grudge and neither should you. Let`s see you find, in your own country, freedom of speech on the radio at no charge, even without 500 kW transmitters, even without the caller being outside your country. I never understood why other people did not phone Live From Turkey. Anyhow, try to be fair to VOT. Best wishes, Yours (David Crystal, 19125 Ramat Zvi, Israel, typed letter by air-mail, postmark illegible, undated but received Sept 22, retyped by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) And I was doing this just as I was listening to the webcast of the Tue Sept 23 1850 broadcast of LFT upon which Christopher Lewis, England, was once again the invited caller. I am not sure how I am being unfair to LFT; perhaps David is basing his comment on the rant against me VOT aired, and already discussed and resolved here (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** TURKS & CAICOS. As previously noted, it will be several months until RVC 530 graces the airwaves again. Hurricane Ike took down their 480 foot tower and to add insult to injury, the local power company estimates it to be 6 weeks before power is restored to the site. 135mph+ winds do wonders on rural power poles. 85% of poles either snapped off or were pulled out of the ground (Jerry Kiefer, NM, Sept 20, IRCA via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. 5970, First Channel of Ukrainian R, Kiev (100 kW non- directional), "Persha prohrama" heard in Denmark at 1205-1250, Sep 16, Ukrainian news from Ukraine, ad, weather, talks about Ukraine, 1230 operatic songs, 45344 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. New 5970, 1230-1250, 16.09, Natsionalna Radiokompania Ukrainy-1 ("Persha prohrama"), Kiev, Ukrainian news from Ukraine, ad, weather, talk about Ukraine, operatic songs - new relay on SW ! 45344. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Radio Ukraine International announced a new schedule for English effective September 21 at the end of the English programme at 1900 September 17: To Europe: 1900-2000 7490, 2100-2200 5840, 0500-0600 7420, 0900-1000 and 1100-1200 9950. To North America: 0000-0100 and 0300-0400 on 7440 (Edwin Southwell, Basingstoke, UK, World DX Club via Mike Barraclough, Sept 23, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Radio Ukraine International (22.09.08 - 26.10.08) RUI change of frequencies TIME UTC; FREQUENCY ; DEGREE DIRECTIONAL 0000-0500; 5830; 055; 0500-0800; 7420; 290; 0800-1300; 9950; 277; 1300-1700; 5830; 055; 1700-2000; 7490; 290; 2000-2400; 5840; 290; 2300-0400; 7440; 303; [to NAm, no change to this one] http://www.nrcu.gov.ua/index.php?id=308 National Radio Company of Ukraine Address: 26, Khreschatyk Str., Kyiv, 01001, Ukraine aseg @ rambler.ru "Aleksandr Egorov" Radio Ukraine International (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) Seems last year they changed frequencies around this date. Something about the equinox? (gh, DXLD) New schedule of Radio Ukraine International from Sep. 22: 0000-0500 NF 5830 KHR 100 kW / 055 deg to RUSS, ex 7530 0500-0800 NF 7420 KHR 100 kW / 290 deg to WeEu, ex 9945 0800-1300 NF 9950 KHR 100 kW / 277 deg to WeEu, ex 11550 1300-1700 NF 5830 KHR 100 kW / 055 deg to RUSS, ex 7530 1700-2000 on 7490 KHR 100 kW / 290 deg to WeEu, ex 17-21 2000-2400 NF 5840 KHR 100 kW / 290 deg to WeEu, ex 7510 2300-0400 on 7440 LV 600 kW / 303 deg to NEAm, no change English to NEAm: 0000-0100, 0300-0400 English to WeEu: 0500-0600, 0900-1000, 1100-1200, 1900-2000, 2100-2200 German to WeEu: 1700-1800, 2000-2100, 2300-2400 Ukrainian on all other times and frequencies (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Sept 23 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. First is the announcement which I hope would be very pleasant to radio listeners and DX-ers who are interested in collecting the QSL cards. The National Radio Company of Ukraine has designed and printed the series of the new QSL cards for confirmation of the reception reports to Radio Ukraine International as well as to home services of the Ukrainian Radio on all bands including FM. The address for sending the reception reports on Radio Ukraine International transmissions is well-known to you: Radio Ukraine International, 26, Khreshchatyk str, 01001, Kyiv, Ukraine. The e-mail reports are welcomed to address vsru@nrcu.gov.ua The reports on the Ukrainian National Radio transmissions you can send to: National Radio Company of Ukraine, monitoring department, 26, Khreshchatyk str, 01001, Kyiv, Ukraine, or by E-mail egorov@nrcu.gov.ua Please right to us your reports and you will receive our new QSL cards (Olex Yegorov, Whole World on the Radio Dial Sept 13 via DXLD) (also via Gautam Kumar Sharma, India, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Now I have to inform the TV DXers about next change in the Ukrainian TV1 channel logo. The previous identification logo of the First channel of the Ukrainian National Television UT-1 imitated the white sloping figure ‘1’ surrounded with the sloping ellipse, and was placed in the upper right corner of the screen. The new logo represents the Ukrainian word [transliterated: “PERSHIY]” which means in English “the FIRST”. Be attentive! Don’t mix it up with the alike logo of the Russian TV1 channel (the former ORT) – namely with the analogical Russian word “[transliterated: PERVYY]”, which has appeared on the screen not so long ago, too. It became almost the tradition that Russian and Ukrainian logos were changed simultaneously and in the same manner (Olex Yegorov, Whole World on the Radio Dial Sept 13 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. Frequency change of BBC WS in English: 0600-1400 on 9860 MEY 100 kW / 015 deg to SoAf, ex 06-16 1400-1600 NF 7230 MEY 100 kW / 015 deg to SoAf, ex 9860 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Sept 23 via DXLD) ** U K. "Brain of Britain" is back on BBC Radio 4. The program has been absent from the World Service for several years, but remains a much-loved program on Radio 4. The programs returns in a week... see http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/brainofbritain.shtml (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, Sept 22, swprograms via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DXLD) Viz.: Well hurray! At last Brain of Britain has come back. It is lovely to have Robert Robinson back and I really enjoyed the first programme (Jane Stevenson, Sept 15, uk-radio-listeners yg via Cuff, ibid.) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes for Voice of America in Burmese: 0000-0030 on 6035 UDO, 7430 IRA, 9325 PHT >>> new additional txion 0130-0300 on 12015 IRA,15110 PHT,17775 PHT >>> new additional txion 1430-1530 NF 6000 PHX 050 kW / 285 deg, ex 12120 \\ 9325,11910 1530-1630 NF 6000 PHX 050 kW / 285 deg, ex 11695 \\ 9325, 9940 Frequency change for VOA Aap Ki Dunyaa in Urdu from Sep. 19: 0000-0100 NF 9515 IRA 250 kW / 332 deg, ex 11755 \\ 7135 IRA 250 kW / 340 deg, not KWT! Last transmission on SW for Voice of America in Hindi on Sep. 30: 1600-1700 on 7430 UDO 250 kW / 300 deg 9320 PHL 250 kW / 283 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Sept 23 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Pleased to find VOA News Now in English, M&W alternating headlines, on a frequency where I don`t normally hear it, 9510 fair and in the clear. A good thing too, since 9760 Philippines was mixing at about equal level with CRI English. 9510 is Udorn, Thailand, at 12-14, 250 kW at 130 degrees, so intended for everything from SE Asia to New Zealand (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. VOA TO CARRY PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES LIVE VOA will carry the first presidential candidates' debate on foreign affairs live from Oxford, Mississippi on September 26, 2008 Washington, D.C., September 24, 2008 - The Voice of America (VOA) will carry the first presidential candidates' debate on foreign affairs live from Oxford, Mississippi on September 26, 2008, providing international audiences with analyses and commentary. VOA (VOANews.com), the largest U.S. international broadcaster, is sending a team of journalists to cover the debate between Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill. VOA journalists from English-language programs as well as those from Hindi, Urdu, Persian and Central African services will be on location at the University of Mississippi, with supplemental coverage at VOA's Washington, D.C. headquarters. In a special program aimed at Urdu-speaking audiences in Pakistan, VOA and Pakistan TV (PTV) will assemble panelists in Islamabad and Washington to discuss issues raised in the debate about U.S. relations with Pakistan and its neighbors. "The 2008 presidential election is generating intense interest around the world," said VOA Director Danforth W. Austin. "VOA - reaching about 134 million people in 45 languages - is uniquely poised to explain to its audiences the differences and similarities in the candidates' foreign policy positions." VOA will also cover future debates, including those between McCain and Obama at Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn., on October 7, and at Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y., on October 15. It will also cover the debate between the Vice Presidential candidates, Sen. Joseph Biden, the Democrat, and Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican, on October 2 at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Televised debate coverage will be carried in English on all of VOA's satellite paths - Intelsat 907, New Skies 806 and 703 (VC 340 only), Asiasat 3, and Eutelsat Hot Bird 3 (VC 340 only). Special coverage in Urdu of the presidential debates, but not the vice presidential debate, will air on New Skies 703 (VC 420), Asiasat 3 (VC 409), and Hot Bird 3 (VC 240). (VOA press release Sept 24 via DXLD) WTFK? Is there anything about SW here? Of course not! Nominal start time is 0100 UT Saturday Sept 27 per TV schedules; perhaps VOA will add some extra frequencies like they did for the Democratic and RepubliCon, e.g. from African sites which we may be able to hear, 6080, 9885, 12080, even 15580 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now after WOR is done, Chicken McCain wants to put off the Sept 26 debate, challenging Obama NOT to debate (gh) ** U S A [non]. Joseph Valerio, of anti-communist Radio Liberty, dead at 87 --- BY MICHELINE MARONI August 19 2008 Joseph J. Valerio, a former vice president for the federally funded, anti-communist Radio Liberty, died Wednesday at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore of Alzheimer's disease. He was 87. The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-livale205806858aug19,0,6841207.story (via Dale Park, HI, DXLD) OBIT ** U S A. 4426-SSB, Sept 21 at 0604, robot OM voice reading ``urgent marine information broadcast`` concerning missing vessels. They all sounded the same, but details varied, with different dates, Sept 13 back to Sept 10, different coordinates, etc. All came from USCG Honolulu and concerned Pacific waters; however I don`t find Hono listed on this frequency but instead NMC San Francisco, and NMN Virginia, so presumably the former. One concerned the sailing vessel ``Freedom``, with its description, one person aboard, did not make it to destination San Diego (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WHRI missing from 9410, Sunday Sept 21 at 1250; normally they run their own fill programming during this hour Sat & Sun, since the BBC Mundo Spanish relay is M-F only. 9840, Sept 21 at 1259, Full ID from WHRI, presumably just signing on; voice audio was OK, but terrible quality on Onward, Christian Soldiers theme music, as if from a low bitrate internet feed instead of hi-fi satellite; 1300 into Lutheran Reformation Hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Updated schedule of World Harvest Radio: WHRI Angel 1 0500-1100 on 7315 Mon-Fri 0500-1100 on 11565 Sat/Sun 1100-1300 on 7315 Daily 1300-1800 on 9495 Daily 1800-1900 on 17520 Mon-Fri 1800-1900 on 9495 Sat/Sun 1900-2000 on 9495 Daily 2000-2100 on 17650 Fri Voice of Biafra International in Ibo [but mostly in English. Hasn`t it stayed on 15280? --- gh] 2000-2100 on 9495 Sat-Thu 2100-2300 on 7385 Daily 2300-0500 on 7315 Daily WHRI Angel 2 0000-0300 on 7385 Daily 0300-0400 on 6110 Mon-Fri 0300-0400 on 7385 Sat/Sun 0400-0700 on 7365 Daily 0700-0900 on 11565 Mon-Fri 0700-0900 on 5875 Sat/Sun 0900-1000 on 5875 Daily 1000-1200 on 9425 Daily Deutsche Welle in German 1200-1300 on 9410 Daily BBC World Service in English [no! SPANISH gh] 1300-1600 on 9840 Sat/Sun 1600-2000 on 9840 Daily 2000-2200 on 15665 Daily 2200-2400 on 9615 Daily KWHR Angel 3 0100-0500 on 17800 Sat/Sun 0500-0800 on 13650 Sat/Sun 0700-0800 on 9930 Mon-Fri 0800-1200 on 9930 Daily 1200-1500 on 12130 Sat/Sun 1200-1500 on 9930 Mon-Fri Radio Sound of Hope in Chinese 1500-1800 on 9905 Mon-Fri R Free Asia, Chinese (HBN 080 kW / 318 deg) 1500-1800 on 9930 Sat/Sun 1800-1900 on 9955 Mon-Fri (HBN 100 kW / 280 deg) 1900-2200 on 9905 Mon-Fri R Free Asia, Chinese (HBN 080 kW / 318 deg) [?? then it`s not KWHR if it is KHBN PALAU, or rather T8WH! --- gh] KWHR Angel 4 0100-0300 on 15710 Mon-Fri 0300-1000 on 15700 Mon-Fri 1000-1400 on 12130 Mon-Fri Hoa-Mai Radio in Vietnamese 1200-1230 Wed 1400-1500 on 9955 Mon-Fri (HBN 100 kW / 280 deg) [So NOT KWHR] 1500-2200 on 9930 Mon-Fri (HBN 100 kW / 345 deg) [So NOT KWHR] WHRA Angel 5 0500-0700 on 7490 Daily 1200-1400 on 15710 Daily 1400-1600 on 15195 Daily 1600-1800 on 17520 Daily 1800-1900 on 17690 Daily V. Meselina Delina Tigrinya 1800-1830 Thu/Fri 1900-2000 on 17690 Daily Demitse Tewahedo in Amharic 1900-2000 on Mon 2000-2100 on 7520 Mon-Fri 2000-2100 on 11885 Sat/Sun 2100-2300 on 11885 Daily 2300-0500 on 5850 Daily WHRI Angel 6 0000-0700 on 5875 Daily 0700-1300 on 7385 Daily 1300-1400 on 11785 Sat/Sun Hmong Lao Radio in Lao [no, both HMONG gh] 1400-1500 on 11785 Sat/Sun Hmong World Christian R., Lao 1400-1430 Sat 1500-1600 on 11785 Sat/Sun 1600-2400 on 11785 Daily DXing With Cumbre sked: WHRI Angel 1 0130-0200 on 7315 Sun 0330-0400 on 7315 Mon 0430-0500 on 7315 Sat 0500-0530 on 11565 Sun 1930-2000 on 9495 Sat WHRI Angel 2 0200-0230 on 7385 Sun KWHR Angel 3 1500-1530 on 9930 Sun WHRA Angel 5 0230-0300 on 5850 Sun/Mon 1230-1300 on 15710 Sat WHRI Angel 6 1000-1030 on 7385 Sun 1430-1500 on 11785 Sat/Sun 1830-1900 on 11785 Sat (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Sept 23 via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DXLD) I`ve yet to see anything on the WHR website about PALAU, q.v., much less such schedule info; nor even Angel 6 --- for a while they did mention it separately, then removed it from the technical page (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Some changes of YFR Family Radio with kW / degrees: 1200-1300 on 11855 DB 100 / 024 Russian to CAs, new >>> from Aug. 27 1600-1700 NF 17545 ASC 250 / 100 Portuguese CAf, ex 21680 from Sep. 1 1700-1800 NF 17545 ASC 250 / 085 English to CAf, ex 21680 from Sep. 1 2000-2100 on 15195 ASC 250 / 065 English to WCAf, ex 20-22 from Sep. 8 2100-2200 NF 12055 ASC 250 / 065 English to WCAf, ex 15195 from Sep. 8 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Sept 23 via DXLD) ** U S A. RHC isn`t the only station broadcasting two programs at once on the same transmitter. Sat Sept 20 at 1246 on WWCR-3 7490, found that Rock The Universe was competing at equal or even lesser audio level with another program, America`s Greatest Heroes, from USA net, which had just paused for a sports update; overdone drama about ratifying the Constitution, little states like Jersey vs big ones like Virginia. How could this happen? WWCR-1 on 15825 was inaudible as usual this early, but scheduled on that was The Baptist Hour, and AGH not likely to be on 2 or 4 with DGS and PPP. I seem to recall AGH used to be on WWCR, but it`s not found at any time on their current online schedules, not updated since August 8. Perhaps on the WWCR-3 control board, someone left a pot open hooked to the USA network feed which they do need at other times, in addition to the pot playing RTU; and nobody noticed. I think also that some network feeds have silences during certain unused times, rather than constant tones or music fill, so operators may not realize the pots are left open, bad practice! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Raids on Tony Alámo`s Texarkana compound, child porn source and sexual abuse alleged, were reported as Breaking News on CNN, UT Sunday 0200. We`ve heard that name before, as one of the regulars on Equatorial Guinea 15190: EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, Radio Africa, 2220-2255*, Sept 9, pastor Tony Alamo preaching and some religious songs, gives address in *Texarkana, Texas, along with phone numbers,* mostly poor with moderate QRM (2257 ID for WYFR in Portuguese). Tony's program seems to be here daily from 2200 till sign-off (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-101) He`s also on the WWCR schedule, M-F 1300-1400 UT on 15825. The WHR online program schedule is messed up and inaccessible. Perhaps other SW scheduling can be uncovered, and we shall see if it lasts (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ANOTHER BLACK EYE FOR SHORTWAVE From the AP: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EVANGELIST_CHILD_PORN?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US Arkansas compound raided in child porn case By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press Writer FOUKE, Ark. (AP) -- Federal authorities conducting a child-porn investigation raided the headquarters Saturday of a ministry run by a convicted tax evader once labeled by prosecutors as a polygamist who preys on girls and women. Social workers interviewed children who live at the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries complex, which critics call a cult, to find out whether they were abused. The two-year investigation involves a law that prohibits the transportation of children across state lines for criminal activity, said Tom Browne, who runs the FBI office in Little Rock. "Children living at the facility may have been sexually and physically abused," Browne said. In a phone call to The Associated Press from a friend's house in the Los Angeles area, Tony Alamo - who was also once accused of child abuse - denied involvement in pornography. "We don't go into pornography; nobody in the church is into that," Alamo said. "Where do these allegations stem from? The anti-Christ government. The Catholics don't like me because I have cut their congregation in half. They hate true Christianity." Alamo told the AP on Saturday that he believed the raid was part of a push by the federal government to make same-sex marriage legal while outlawing polygamy. From The Southern Poverty Law Center; Alamo blames the Catholic Church for every evil imaginable, including communism, Nazism, the two world wars and even the Jonestown Massacre. “Narcotics, prostitution, pornography, booze and black market - every filthy thing – can be traced right back to the Vatican,” the cult leader has written. Hatred of Catholics isn’t Alamo’s only unorthodox belief. In 1993, he published a tract called “The Polygamists” which argued, “the Holy Scriptures proclaim polygamy to be righteous.” Fourteen years later, he still pushes that message, producing daily radio broadcasts that are beamed around the country and the world and proclaim a holy man’s right to take multiple wives. It doesn’t stop there. Alamo, who has three children by three different, current “wives,” also has been justifying sex with underage girls over the radio waves in recent years. Alamo argues that girls should marry once they start menstruating — even if they are as young as 10. In one September 2006 broadcast, he put it like this: “God impregnated Mary when she was about 11 years old. So the government idiots, the people that don’t know the Bible, what you’re going to have to do is get a hold of God now, you’re going to have to get up there and ‘cuff him and send him to prison for statutory rape.” It’s a theme that Alamo keeps coming back to. In a radio show just this Feb. 24, the preacher cited the alleged promiscuity of first- graders as grounds for marrying them before the legal age of consent. From his website: http://www.alamoministries.com/content/english/radiobroadcasts/radio.html Short Wave Radio Information WWCR 12.160 MHz at 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (CST) Coverage area: Central America, Caribbean, South America 15.825 MHz at 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. (CST) Coverage area: Europe, Middle East, Africa [this is the only one on current WWCR schedule; make that CDT --- gh] 5.070 MHz at 4:00 a.m. – 5:00 a.m. (CST) Coverage area: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Ocean Islands WINB 13.570 Frequency at 11:00 a.m. – 12 noon and at 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. and at 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. (EST) Monday through Friday Coverage area: USA, Europe, and Africa. European Gospel Radio 5990 kHz at 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. Monday – Thursday (CET) Europe [0430 UT via Slovakia] Radio Africa Stations [timezones not specified, geez!] 7190 Frequency Radio West Africa – 50,000 watts SW at 9:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. Saturday & Sunday and at 11 p.m. – 12 midnight Monday through Friday Coverage area: Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia [7190 has not been confirmed active for many years --- gh] 15190 Frequency Radio East Africa at 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays Coverage area: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Congo, Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea 15190 Frequency Radio South Africa – 50,000 watts SW at 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Mondays and 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays, and 12 noon – 1 p.m. on Wednesdays Coverage area: South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia 9430 Frequency Radio North Africa – 250,000 watts SW at 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Saturdays Coverage area: Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria [nothing scheduled there now after 1Africa Zambia closes at 0600 UT, but this one was certainly not Eq. G, probably some ex-European relay --- gh] Sri Lanka Station Radio Sri Lanka Frequency 9770 100,000 watts SW at 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Sundays Coverage area: India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhurma, Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Malaysia (Brock Whaley, HI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) & how do you pronounce Fouke? Site also lists numerous US MW stations. Does he have a TV ministry at all? Apparently not; maybe because not so telegenic or incredibly, for lower profile? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Tony Alamo Ministries, whose compound in Fouke, Arkansas, was raided on suspicion of child porn and sexual abuse, is scheduled on WWCR M-F 1300-1400 on 15825. So at the next opportunity I tried to listen, Sept 22 at 1312. I missed the opening so cannot be certain it was still Alamo; very poor reception here in usual skipzone. No fire & brimstone here, just low-key talk at the moment about tsunamis, earthquaxe. He`s on lots of other radio stations, but apparently no TV ministry; at least I don`t find Alamo, searching TV schedules. WWCR DGS service, 13845 is normally in the clear, tho usually weak in skip zone here only one megameter away from Nashville, but Sept 22 at 2112 had QRM from hi-speed RTTY on 13847. At 2202 recheck WWCR was weaker, starting to echo with multipath or backscatter and RTTY was stronger (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Been noticing WRNO off frequency and a lot weaker than before the Hurricane. They've been on 7505.1 and a lot weaker than usual --- actually carrier is pretty strong, but modulation is way down there. ID at 0125. Wonder what's up down there (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, UT Sept 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RE 8-104: Maine -- The next Dan Lewis program on WBCQ will be on Monday September 29, 2008 at 0100 UT -- Sunday the 28th in North American, 9 PM EDST -- on 7415 kHz. The theme of this show is radio. The first hour will feature memories of *Irving Blonder, influential inventor and seeker of the Loch Ness Monster, and Tom Kneitel, prolific author, Ouija Board DXer and the Don Rickles of the DX Community. In the second hour, Dan interviews Benn Kobb, promoter of the idea of using 26 MHz and DRM for domestic broadcasting --- see http://www.26mhz.us --- and access to the airwaves (Dan Lewis, Sept 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) *Serves me right for typing so darn fast -- Mr. Blonder's first name is Issac. You at least hope they get your name right when you die. 73 (Dan Lewis, DX LISTENING DIGSET) ** U S A. Glenn, American! I noticed the South Florida Band Scan in DXLD 8-104 from Terry L Krueger, and where he listed AFR stations, he named them as "Armed Forces Radio". If I recall, the AFR network changed their name from "Armed Forces" to "American Forces" back in the 1968 or 1969 years. I believe they felt that the word "Armed" was too aggressive or militaristic (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But was that a permanent change? (gh) ** U S A. KLVI status [560 Beaumont TX] --- In one of my other roles, as editor of The Radio Journal http://www.theradiojournal.com I've been corresponding with some of the Gulf Coast engineers about Ike's aftermath, and I asked specifically about what was going on with KLVI. The answer is that it got good and flooded out - water up to 3 feet deep across some of the site, and nearly 2 feet in the transmitter building. That delayed access to the site, and for a few days, KLVI was operating at reduced power from a 1 kW transmitter and short whip antenna at an alternate site. Full-power operation from the licensed site reportedly returned today, so Harry and other Gulf Coast DXers should be hearing 560 back to normal tomorrow. KBME 790 is also on generator power, but at its licensed site. s (Scott Fybush, NY, Sept 21, ABDX via DXLD) Sounds like KLVI is back tonight. Haven't heard an ID, but sounds like them. af (Allan Furst, TX, 0424 UT Sept 22, ibid.) I just checked and KLVI is back here at their pre-Ike signal level (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17, 1512 UT Sept 22, ibid.) 560, KLVI, TX, BEAUMONT, 2200 [EDT] 23/09/08. FOX news followed by ad for Bank of America. At 2206 ID, "KLVI, it's the you trust, it's the one you listen to, News radio for south Texas." Then into the Michael Reagan show. Very nice signal for this time of night. Covering usual station on this frequency, WVOC. DXer: (Willis Monk, QTH: Old Fort, TN, ANTENNA: 149' long wire/ rewired, with new lead-in wire. RCVR: Drake R-4C, IRCA via DXLD) Normal night pattern is very tight toward San Antonio, almost due west. Probably on daytime facility non-direxional in order to get back on the air ASAP (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, and they are normally, if heard at all, not heard until after 0400 [EDT] or closer to sunrise. They will be weak when heard. Beaumont is a nice little town; they know how to eat in that place, with great BBQ and Tex-Mex and What-A-Burger (Willis Monk, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WNQM, 1300, on day power? New one here. WNQM-1300 on top of local KAKC, 2255 CDT 20SEP 08 with Spanish vocal music, presumably religious music. Nice ID at 2300 CDT as "We are WNQM Nashville, TN" then Spanish call letters "doble oo-eh neh-coo-eh may", into more Spanish vocals. I am smack dab in the middle of one of KAKC's night pattern's nulls mixing with Austin, TX usually at equal level in the null. WNQM dominating them tonite. Suspect they are still on 50 kW day power? Perhaps a transmitter test/maintenance operation before local midnight? Also noted KAKC's IBOC off tonite (Bruce Winkelman, AA5CO, Tulsa, OK, R8, 50 foot wire sloper, ABDX via DXLD) Bruce, its just the ionospheric Gods smiling on you. I am 130 miles away and can't hear a peep from them and I can easily hear them in the day (Kevin Redding, Adamsville, TN, 0432 UT Sept 22, ibid.) [14 minutes later:] Spoke too soon. They just popped on and in a big way (Kevin Redding, ibid.) I hope the daypower includes WORLD OF RADIO (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. HAR stations, US 17 between Wilmington and Jacksonville, NC, 9/23, Camry car radio and embedded antenna Callsign and location as per FCC database - except for one station, no IDs heard. At least there's activity. [probably EDT = UT -4, but in daytime, local range, anyway --- gh] 530, WPGU847, Town of Wrightsville Beach, New Hanover County, NC Listed for the area. Female continuously announcing the time (about 1 hour behind). No other information heard. 9/23 at 1320. 1610, WPPG958, Town of Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC; WQFU301, Town of Pine Knoll Shores, Carteret County, NC. Two stations mixing with what sounded like NWS forecasts. One M and one F announcer. Fair level at best. 9/23 at 1330. 1610, UNID noted 9/23 at 1305 while in Wilmington with political discussion between (presumed) students and Congressman Ron Paul. Good signal in area of UNC - Wilmington. Found the station: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080503/ARTICLE/805030339/1109/Ron_Paul_cured_their_apathy From the site: "You would have been hard-pressed to have missed the group's handwork over the past year. They've held signs at the intersection of College Road and Oleander Avenue, passed out anti- income tax leaflets on April 15, and even broadcast a continuous loop of an interview with Paul on a low-power radio station beaming on 1610 AM." 1620, WPSF938, Surf City, Pender County, NC. M announcer with NWS forecast for area. M announcer occasionally breaking in with local information for residents of "Pender County." A sign along US 17 N (near a fire station) tells motorists to tune to 1620, however, the station on 1620 is fair at best. The 1640 outlet (q.v.) is loud and clear. 9/23 at 1345. 1630, Carrier - vicinity of New River MCAS. This frequency was noted briefly active, during Hurricane Ike. 9/23 at 1410. 1640, WPSF938, Hamstead, Pender County, NC with repeat of NWS forecast, and M announcer breaking in with tips on what to do if a hurricane approaches. ID heard - only station noted with definite ID. This mixing with DOD HAR (Camp Davis area) warning, by W, of smoke and fog danger in the area. 9/23 at 1351 (Mike Hardester, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KVNS 1700: A blast from the past here. I was checking the high end of the band with my new E100 and picked up someone on 1700 playing rock oldies. "Tequila Sunrise". "Waterloo". The signal quality was spotty -- like usual, good during the music, fading and pulsing during IDs -- but I swear I heard the announcer say "KVNS". Harry's mention here is the only reference I can find to KVNS playing oldies. Radio Locator says news/talk. Several other older references mention a change to SS music. I did hear the DJ say his name was Lou Ward or Lou Warren or something that sounds like that. This was about 02:30 am EDT, early on 9/23. I can't find any reference to anyone else on 1700 playing oldies. I'm getting a pretty decent signal right now while they're playing "Ramblin' Man" (Jay Heyl, Orlando, FL, Eton E100, ABDX via DXLD) Jay - IIRC, KVNS changed to oldies earlier in the year. I can get them every night here in PEI, although not exactly armchair copy. Lately - on the Palstar only - I can hear faint English language talk in the background on 1700. On other receivers its not audible, due to internal noise etc. Not sure what that station would be (Phil Rafuse, ibid.) What I found surprising is that WJCC in Miami Springs didn't dominate here. They're only 200 miles away vs KVNS' 1000 miles. Admittedly, KVNS is almost all over water while WJCC is all over land. The talk you hear in the background might be KBGG in Des Moines (Jay Heyl, ibid.) Listen carefully, Phil on 1700 for mentions of "San Diego" in English. XEPE in the Tijuana area was heard nicely by us in Miscou last year, and it was an all-English business, news, and traffic type of station at that time. I would not at all be surprised if you were getting Mexico on 1700, and Pacific coastal Mexico at that! (Brent, VY2HF, Stratford, ibid.) IIRC, KVNS has been oldies for about a year. Before that, they were Spanish and never powered down at night. I had some fun little arguments on this list with a now-banned member who insisted they were indeed powering down at night because someone at the station told him so. But they seem to be powering down now that they are oldies. Radio Locator is so out of date it's useless. The 2008 NRC AM Log is a great reference for current formats, and Scott Fybush is associated with another very useful station reference he might want to mention (take it away, Mr. Fybush!). (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17, ABDX via DXLD) Jay, That station comes in clearly on my PR-D5 in Laredo (KVNS), more weakly on ulr's. It plays oldies 24 hours per day. Heatwave (Richard Berler, Laredo, TX, ibid.) As mentioned before, the talk is definitely KBGG Des Moines. They recently flipped from a regional Mexican format that was actually drawing ratings to a sports talk format. I guess they're trying to take on KXNO 1460 which has owned the format for the past few years (Thomas Anderson, ibid.) I briefly checked 1700 last night about 11:30 pm. This time a Spanish speaking station was totally dominant, coming in at just less than local quality. I didn't get an ID, but I can only assume it was WJCC. This makes my reception of KVNS the night before all the more mysterious (Jay Heyl, Orlando, FL, Sept 24, ibid.) Re 8-104, Help with 1700 UNID wanted --- Another fella sent me the following: You said the station ID sounded like "WRJH". Well, the WEB page of http://www.vmgworldwide.com/1US%20Radio.htm Wonder Motion Picture lists the stations in US carrying the Bobby Farell International Network and among the stations there are: WMMG, 1140 kHz AM, BRANDENBURG, KY US. WRJH, 97.7 MHz FM, BRANDON, MS US. WEXP, 101.5 MHz FM, BRANDON, VT US .... KVNS, 1700 kHz AM, BROWNSVILLE, TX US. So may be you have heard KVNS 1700 kHz in Texas relay the National Network and announcing WRJH. Now that could make sense as 1700 KVNS is regularly heard here in South Africa and I have a QSL from them a few years ago when they were running "news/talk" format. Then they changed ownership to "la Presci[os]a" Spanish format, but now they may have changed again??? Help would be gratefully appreciated (John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa, mwdx yg via DXLD) ** U S A. The first thing many viewers notice about "Mad Men," the AMC series that has a game-high 16 nominations going into Sunday's Emmy Awards (8 p.m., Ch. 7) [and won several], is the cigarette smoke. Almost everyone smokes in "Mad Men," which is set in the upwardly mobile world of Madison Avenue in the early 1960s. Almost everyone drinks, too. Executive offices have wet bars. Everyone has cocktails after work. On social occasions, they open the spigots. But smoking and drinking are just two minor signs of the larger, far more unsettling mission of "Mad Men": deglamorizing and then deconstructing the whole television image of 1950s and early 1960s America. It's an image that's important because it remains a cornerstone of the way many Americans badly want to think we once were. So it will be interesting to see if Emmy voters reward this stylish subversion with statuettes. [won a bunch --- gh] You don't have to have lived in the '50s to know how TV portrayed the era. Mom, ever-cheerful, baking cookies and dispatching wisdom. Dad, sometimes goofy but caring, the rock on which all else rested. In some ways that image has become an affectionate national joke. But many of us also quietly believe it's rooted in truth, which is why, when people don't like things about America today, their point of comparison surprisingly often is '50s television. The world was so safe you didn't have to lock your car or your front door. All kids, after a little harmless teenage mischief, went to college. There were no drugs. There was no prejudice. Ever since Ronald Reagan, one of the most successful political platforms in America has been the tacit promise that we can roll back the ruinous consequences of those awful 1960s and restore the world of "Leave It to Beaver." "Mad Men" says we can't. It says that world didn't exist and that image is a lie. "Mad Men" has its own Cleaver family, the Drapers. Handsome, successful Dad, stay-at-home Mom, two cute kids, perfect clean home. Except Don Draper isn't Ward Cleaver. He neglects his family. He cheats. He's dishonest. Scariest of all, he isn't a villain - just a complex man who can't control his weaknesses. Betty Draper has all of June Cleaver's skills. She's a former model and a perfect wife. But it's not enough. She's unhappy and not sure why. Sometimes the kids annoy her. She feels restless and marginal. She doesn't know what to do about the deep and scary hollow places in her perfect marriage. She's a desperate housewife, without the funny parts. Echoes of her sadness permeate "Mad Men." Women are pushed aside as if their dreams mean nothing. Men are rewarded for empty achievements. And in the end, a Lucky Strike and a screwdriver don't put this American dream (NY Post via Brock Whaley, HI, Sept 19, DXLD) An friend even more anti-smoking than I is convinced that Mad Men`s secret agenda is to revive popularity of smoking today, and won`t watch it no matter how good it be (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VANUATU. VTBC Port Vila is currently using a low power modified amateur radio transmitter to broadcast weak signals on 7260 kHz. Reception has been monitored of Pacific style music in the past day or so. The new 10 kW shortwave transmitters are still enroute to Vanuatu. Delivery has been delayed for a variety of reasons, including difficulties obtaining freight space on cargo ships visiting Vila. An RNZI technician has just returned from Vila where preparation work has been underway for installation of the two new DRM/analog transmitters later this year. The frequency of 7260 is one of several registered for VTBC for the new service and the current broadcasts appear to be a prelude to the full service starting as soon as the new transmitters are installed. (David Ricquish, Radio Heritage Foundation, http://www.radioheritage.net Sept 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Times? 7260 is currently registered 2000-0700, but in the past has been reported on the air later, or much later, especially if a lower nite frequency is not funxional. Watch out for Algeria via Skelton UK until 0600 on 7260 (Glenn Hauser, OK, ibid.) I did note a weak signal on 7260 at 0810 tune in, music which seemed to be under modulated and what seemed to be a female announcer, slightly better modulated. Most likely Vanuatu as no one else seems to be sked at that time. Checked for a signal again at 1045, still there though very weak, then obliterated by Thailand at 1100. 9/24 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VTBC is blocked by Mongoliin R.-2 in Mongolian of the same frequency and cannot receive in Japan (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Sept 25, ibid.) I do see that now on Aoki, so perhaps what I heard was not indeed Vanuatu. I was unable to determine a language from the weak signal. I'll try to check further in the early mornings here as I can (Steve Lare, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA. RADIO DEL SUR: LA INTEGRACIÓN A TRAVÉS DE ONDAS HERTZIANAS Venezuela exhibe avances importantes en la democratización de la información con experiencias exitosas como Telesur y el desarrollo de medios alternativos y comunitarios, además de un buen trecho andado en la constitución conceptual y operativa de la Radio del Sur. De manera breve y concisa, pero con la rapidez que permiten las convicciones profundas, Helena Salcedo, directora del Circuito Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV), valora la consolidación de la Radio del Sur "creo que es importante y necesaria". . . http://www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/?act=ST&f=17&t=79332 (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) I can hear it now: as long as RNV is involved, it will be nothing but pro-Chávez, anti-American propaganda (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. LANZAN GASES CONTRA GLOBOVISIÓN Tuesday, September 23, 2008 10:15 PM, El Financiero en línea El canal de televisión Globovisión es señalada como "objetivo militar", subrayan afines a Hugo Chávez --- Los atacantes la consideran como tal si se concreta un magnicidio o golpe de Estado contra el mandatario Caracas, 23 de septiembre.- Activistas que se identificaron como afines al presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, arrojaron hoy gases lacrimógenos contra el canal de televisión Globovisión, al que señalaron en unos panfletos abandonados en el lugar como "objetivo militar". "A bordo de dos vehículos rústicos, los atacantes pasaron por la fachada de la televisora, donde, además, dejaron panfletos que declaran la guerra a Globovisión y lo señalan como objetivo militar en caso de concretarse un magnicidio o golpe de Estado" contra Chávez, dijo la emisora, que repite insistentemente imágenes que registran el momento del ataque... http://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/ElFinanciero/Portal/cfpages/contentmgr.cfm?docId=145576&docTipo=1&orderby=docid&sortby=ASC Fuente: (El Financiero en Linea via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. See CUBA ** YEMEN. Radio Yemen was heard in Sofia on 6135 kHz between 1350 and 15 hours with news in Arabic at 14 hours. Radio Yemen had been received often on 9780 kHz during the past few months (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX Sept 19 via DXLD) ** YEMEN. 9780, Radio Yemen, 1535-1543, escuchada el 20 de septiembre en idioma árabe con emisión de música folklórica local, se aprecia fuerte colisión con emisora sin identificar, hay que templar a 9778 o 9779 para poder escuchar la música, SINPO 33443 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A- 108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. Hi Glenn, I came across this article from MISA -Zimbabwe which was also published in the current local weekly newspaper the Zimbabwe Independent. Perhaps some day the State broadcaster, ZBC will return to being a public broadcaster? 73 David Pringle-Wood FREEING OF AIRWAVES, MEDIA URGENT http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/ MISA-Zimbabwe welcomes the signing of the agreement by Zanu PF and the two (MDC) formations as a development that should usher in a new era of tolerance and diversity of views underpinned by fundamental reforms that respect the right to freedom of expression and access to information by citizens. The media and most critically radio and television because of their wider reach, play a critical role in creating the required platform for national dialogue that will input into the envisaged era of national healing, stability, harmony, reconciliation and economic development. Misa-Zimbabwe is therefore appealing to the incoming inclusive government to prioritise the transformation of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) from a state broadcaster into a truly independent public service broadcaster (PBS) that serves the citizens objectively and impartially as a matter of extreme urgency. The role of the PBS is that of enhancing the national collective responsibility of engaging the people of Zimbabwe to actively participate in national discourse by freely expressing, imparting and accessing information through the broadcaster irrespective of one's political affiliation, religion, ethnicity, colour or creed. The African Charter on Broadcasting (ACB), which calls for a three-tier system of broadcasting that includes public service, commercial and community broadcasting can be used as a benchmark for the enactment of the enabling legislation and policy formulation. The Charter stipulates that: *All formal powers in the areas of broadcast and telecommunications regulation should be exercised by public authorities protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature, by, among other things, an appointments process for members which is open, transparent, involves the participation of civil society, and is not controlled by any particular political party. *All state and government controlled broadcasters should be transformed into PSBs, that are accountable to all strata of the people as represented by an independent board, and that serve the overall public interest, avoiding one-sided reporting and programming in regard to religion, political belief, culture, race and gender. *PSBs should, like broadcasting and telecommunications regulators, be governed by bodies which are protected against interference. *The public service mandate of PSBs should be clearly defined. *The editorial independence of PSBs should be legally guaranteed. *PSBs should be adequately funded in a manner that protects them from arbitrary interference with their budgets. ZBC should therefore be run by an independent board which is representative of civil society, the media, churches, labour and the business community among others. This will cushion the institution from falling into the helms of political and economic interests that compromise its public service mandate. Misa-Zimbabwe remains committed to playing its contributive role towards that eventuality and reiterates its position that an enabling environment can only be created through: 1. An immediate cessation of the arrest, harassment and torture of all journalists and media houses reporting on Zimbabwe. 2. The granting of permission to all media houses, (both foreign and local) to cover the political situation. 3. The suspension and subsequent repealing of all repressive legislation that targets the media, and in particular, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Broadcasting Services Act and the Interception of Communications Act. In their place, all media policy should be guided by the principles outlined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the Windhoek Declaration and the African Charter on Broadcasting. 4. An immediate conversion of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation from a state broadcaster into a public broadcaster under the guidelines outlined in the African Charter on Broadcasting. -- Misa- Zimbabwe (via David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, Sept 21, DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 4880, SW Radio Africa, via Meyerton, 1750, Sep 04, English, no jamming last few days, 44444 (Victor Goonetilleke, Kolamunne, Piliyandala, Sri Lanka, DSWCI DX Window Sept 17 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 1700, re 8-104: see USA, KVNS etc. UNIDENTIFIED. Got what seems to be a little surprise tonight. Someone from Spain mentioned non-stop music there before 0000 a couple of days ago on 5010. What I heard at 0130 sounded more to AIR Chennai per Aoki-08, because of the music and the talking. But at only 50 kW on this frequency 5010, is very strange for this time around here in Tikizia. Never before heard. 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, UT Sept 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Raul, The AIR station scheduled on 5010 is Thiruvanthapurm, not Chennai (Jose Jacob, India, ibid.) 5010, India, AIR Chennai (pres.), Thiruvananthapuram. September 20, Hindi, 0102 OM talks quick speech, 0108-0110 short music, OM and YL talks. Poor 24222 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, SP, ibid.) Does Thiru relay any programming from Chennai, accounting for the confusion? Thiru is at the SW tip of India, while Chennai is on the SE coast, not too far apart, but seems unlikely they would be related organisationally (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) or could it be: 5010.03, 2340-2345 (fade out), Madagascar, 19.09, R Nasionaly Malagasy, Ambohidrano (tentative), Malagasy announcement, pop music - obviously a prolonged schedule 24222. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 8-104, 6003: Hi Wolfie, Re this item in Topnews BC-DX 878 --- Sep 15th: on 6003 instead of Echo of Hope was station with slow tempo Indian songs 1605-1903 (no // 9425, 1566, etc.) and ID seems "All India Radio" at 1615 and 10 minutes news in Vernacular and next songs and tunes. At times on 6003 a distorted spur of All India Radio, Delhi in Urdu // 4860 (Jari Savolainen, Finland, BC-DX via DXLD) Hi Alan, thanks Jari - formula would enlighten like this: 6003 minus 1143 kHz = 4860 kHz Kingsway in Urdu 1430-1930 UT. BUT - I don't see any mediumwave entry for Delhi Kingsway 1143 kHz. Still a puzzle; any comment? 73 (wolfy to Alan Davies, ibid.) Maybe an unclean signal of the 250 kW unit 6045 kHz at same time? Difference 42 kHz. Symmetrical spurious should also be also around 6087 / 6003 kHz? 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 6035, normally nothing audible here, but Sept 24 at 1307 weak M&W talking in unID language, overshadowed by Firedrake from 6030. Bhutan is a very hard catch here, and at this hour Yunnan and Singapore are also scheduled on frequency. One could dream that the big neighbors would give BBS a chance to have just one SW frequency clear to itself. It will be some more weeks before reception could hold up past 1400 when it goes into English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6066.6, unstable carrier with a warble when BFO on, nondescript music, noticed as interference to undermodulated CFRX 6070, Sept 21 at 1235; my first guess would be North Korea, nominal 6070; in past year Iran was reported varying around 6067, but not likely at this hour; also possibly inactive(?) Jayapura varying from 6070. China has also put out spurs in the region. Hope someone further west can identify this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn's 6066.6 UNID: Sept 23, at 1240 noted Korea on 6072.09 with fair reception. Did not heard any het or anything on 6066.6, which for me was badly QRM'ed by CNR-2/CBR on 6065 with their usual good signal. Have never heard CNR-2/CBR off frequency so we can rule them out and have not heard a spur from them. Do not recall hearing Korea as low as 6066.6 before, but it's certainly possible and as Glenn points out, is probably the most logical. Sorry, am not much help (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15515 with strong open carrier, Sept 22 at 1401-1405*. No broadcaster is scheduled anywhere around this time, but suspect it is Guiana French with test or error, as happened before, tho scheduled only at 1200-1230 in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 17515.0, robot YL, 5-digit Spanish numbers, Sat Sept 20 at 1638, weaker than adjacent preacher on 17520, WHRA at 90 degrees. At this hour, there is no other need for RHC transmitters (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ http://www.intervalsignals.net/ The Interval Signals Online website is now "back in business" and fully functioning after last week's hosting problems, with the 5000th audio clip being recently uploaded. Latest additions include a revamped and updated Yemen page, with clips of four Republic of Yemen Radio regional stations, and two new private stations in Oman (Dave Kernick, Interval Signals Online, Sept 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Arto Mujunen, leader of the IBB monitoring in Finland, explained that he has 10 monitoring stations and 20 private monitors throughout the former Soviet Union. They monitor the VOA, Radio Free Europe/Liberty and Radio Free Asia. Their reports are satisfactory, so reports from DX-ers are not needed. He had just returned from the HFCC conference in Moscow in August where it became evident, that international shortwave broadcasting is *not* dying, but it is still more difficult to find available frequencies. There are fewer broadcasters, but the remaining stations use an increasing number of relaystations. Generally the international broadcasters are not interested in using the tropical bands, so these bands will not be crowded by these powerhouses (Anker Petersen, from his report on EDXC 2008, Sept DSWCI SW News via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION OF PLC/BPL INTEREFERENCE --- September 24, 2008 A Japanese video is available on YouTube showing the severe radio interference that's caused by devices that use the mains electricity supply for broadband internet connections. The video was made in May 2007 at the West Japan Ham Fair and can be seen at http://www.southgatearc.org/news/september2008/pcl_public_demonstration.htm (Southgate) Data over Mains Radio Interference http://www.southgatearc.org/news/august2008/data_over_mains.htm (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: BULGARIA; CANADA; GERMANY; IRELAND; NEW ++++++++++++++++++++ ZEALAND; ROMANIA; RUSSIA; USA WBCQ; VANUATU DTV: CANADA TDPradio to add broadcast to Asia [DRM] From Daniël Versmissen, Program Manager TDPradio: "Next month we're planning to broadcast towards Asia and we can't wait to get their reactions as well... it's not yet possible to broadcast 24/7 in DRM but we hope to do this soon in the near future. (So please help us advertise DRM, mouth to mouth advertising is the best way to get it recognised in its full capacity!)" I assume both that 'next month' means October (though no word here on the times/frequencies) and that the planned Asia broadcast will be DRM (DRM being the subject of our correspondence.) (Terry Wilson, Grand Rapids MI, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM to a world without proper radio sets yet ... DRM since 1996 year. TDP hobby music programmes of very special music kind; as usual they rent airtime two hours via Issoudun France 6015 kHz to Europe, and a single hour via Sackville Canada 9790 kHz towards North America. And a single hour now additional in winter schedule via CVC Darwin in 16 mb 17780 kHz at 0700-0800 UT towards SouthEast Asia, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. 40 kW of power at 317 degrees. Adjacent channel of 17785 kHz in use by BSKSA Riyadh in French, which starts often around 0745 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ ETON E5 AND SONY ICF-7600GR REVIEWS The two titans of compact shortwave radio are compared and contrasted: http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/eton-e5-versus-sony-icf-7600gr.html (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17, Sept 23, ABDX via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ MORE ABOUT SUNSPOT CYCLE 24 Maybe no Maunder Minimum, but possibly a Dalton Minimum is in the cards: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/09/22/new-cycle-24-sunspot/#more-3195 (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17 http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/ ABDX via DXLD) Geomagnetic field activity ranged from quiet to active levels during 15 - 16 September with minor to major storm periods observed at high latitudes. Activity decreased to quiet to unsettled levels during 17 - 18 September, though active to major storm periods were observed at high latitudes on 18 September. Activity decreased to mostly quiet levels during 19 - 21 September. ACE solar wind data indicated a co- rotating interaction region (CIR) was in progress at the start of the period. The CIR, which preceded a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream (HSS), commenced on 14 September and continued into 15 September. The HSS began on 15 September and reached a peak velocity of 620 km/sec at 15/1200 UTC. Velocities gradually decreased during the remainder of the period with a minimum of 295 km/sec observed at 21/2221 UTC. The proton density increase associated with the CIR reached a peak of 17 p/cc at 15/0426 UTC. Interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) activity associated with the CIR included increased Bt (peak 14 nT at 15/0627 UTC) and intermittent periods of southward Bz (minimum -10 nT at 15/0938 UTC). Bz settled into a range of + 5 to -5 nT following the CIR. Bt varied from 01 - 07 nT following the CIR. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 24 SEPT-20 OCT 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 01 - 14 October. Quiet geomagnetic conditions are expected during 24 - 29 September. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled levels on 30 September. A further increase to active to minor storm levels is expected during 01 October with a chance for major storm levels due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream (HSS). Activity is expected to decrease to unsettled levels during 02 - 05 October as the HSS subsides. Quiet conditions are expected during 06 - 11 October. Activity is expected to increase to active levels on 12 October due to a recurrent coronal hole HSS. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet levels during the remainder of the period as the HSS subsides. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2008 Sep 23 2252 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 23 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2008 Sep 24 70 5 2 2008 Sep 25 70 5 2 2008 Sep 26 70 5 2 2008 Sep 27 68 5 2 2008 Sep 28 68 5 2 2008 Sep 29 68 5 2 2008 Sep 30 67 8 3 2008 Oct 01 67 30 5 2008 Oct 02 67 8 3 2008 Oct 03 67 8 3 2008 Oct 04 67 8 3 2008 Oct 05 67 8 3 2008 Oct 06 67 5 2 2008 Oct 07 67 5 2 2008 Oct 08 67 5 2 2008 Oct 09 67 5 2 2008 Oct 10 68 5 2 2008 Oct 11 70 5 2 2008 Oct 12 70 15 4 2008 Oct 13 70 5 2 2008 Oct 14 70 5 2 2008 Oct 15 70 5 2 2008 Oct 16 70 5 2 2008 Oct 17 70 5 2 2008 Oct 18 70 5 2 2008 Oct 19 70 5 2 2008 Oct 20 70 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1427, DXLD) ###