DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-004, January 10, 2009 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. 1442 currently running Wed 0630 WRMI 9955 Wed 1230 WRMI 9955 Thu 0630 WRMI 9955 Thu 1530 WRMI 9955 Fri 0030 WBCQ 7415 Fri 0200 WRMI 9955 Fri 0900 WRMI 9955 Fri 2030 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Fri 2130 WWCR1 15825 Sat 0000 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Area 51 Sat 0900 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 9510 [new; except first week of month] Sat 0900 WRMI 9955 Sat 1730 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0330 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0730 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0900 WRMI 9955 Mon 2300 WBCQ 7415 [confirmed January 5] Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 Tue 1630 WRMI 9955 WBCQ is also airing recent archive editions of WOR M-F 2000 on 7415; except on Wednesday or Thursday this should be the latest edition. Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN NOW AVAILABLE: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** AFGHANISTAN. Once the ground dried out here, the harmonics and spurs from 1107 kHz RTVA were back with a vengeance, albeit somewhat reduced [3321, 7749 at least]. We are now seeing some of the same junk from the VoA/BBG transmitter on 1296. Since the masts and antennas are so close and the products seen calculate out, I wonder if one or the other is re-transmitting mixing products? If anyone has any contact with these guys, please let them know. I have been trying via the US Embassy, but am completely stonewalled. And that's the state of things in Kabul! Best 73 de (Al Muick, Afghanistan, WinRadio G303e, 200m Longwire/Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFRICA. EAST AFRICA REPORT DECEMBER 2008 --- CHRIS GREENWAY The following observations were made in the second half of December in Kenya. Many thanks to two excellent reference sources - Tony Rogers' Africa on Shortwave at http://www.bdxc.org.uk and Thorsten Hallmann's Africalist at http://www.africalist.de.ms - which were both very useful during my listening. Given the uncertainty which often surrounds the exact status of many African SW stations, the main objective of this report is to confirm some that are definitely active, and a few which which definitely aren't. By next month, I'll have had a chance to write-up my notes on the continuing Eritrea-Ethiopia radio war, so will provide a further report for February's Communication. One headline is that although Kenya and mainland Tanzania are both now definitely off shortwave, and Somalia also appears to be, Ethiopia continues to expand its presence on both shortwave and mediumwave. I was using a Sony ICF-SW7600GR, so frequencies are given as observed, to the nearest 1 kHz at best (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) Tnx, Chris! The report has been filed under each individual country in this issue starting with ANGOLA. The entire report in one piece appeared in the dxldyg (gh) Hello Glenn, Great work and thoroughly presented as well. I use both of the resources you mentioned and just recommended them to another DXer. Thanks, Glenn, for the tremendous and tireless work. Now if I can just put it to beneficial use. Look forward to more (Bruce Barker, dxldyg via DXLD) Tnx? But all credit goes to Chris Greenway for this (gh) ** ALBANIA. 7435, R. Tirana (tentative). January 5, 2208 weak signal, some fade out, able to distinguish when was music or talks only, from 2229 to 2242 a consistent and definitive enhance showed a female talks, alternating presumed a native folk music, sometimes with a eloquent singer or male choral. Fady, at peak 23422 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Tirana awful audio --- January 9, 2009 *0330 UT, 6110 kHz, R. Tirana with awful audio. Shame since the signal is strong 4 - 5. What a waste! R. Tirana is, I believe, the only times I've logged, "useless" with such a strong signal. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Manassas, Virginia USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Listening to Radio Tirana on 13720 right now at 1530 UT Jan 9 and audio is very bad, signal is quite good, but audio is so low that it's difficult to understand anything (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, ibid.) ** ALGERIA [non]. 6090, ALGERIA, R. Algerienne, heard at 0410 on 07 Jan in Arabic talk and pop music. Strong French accent on the Arabic and slow-speaking as if it was someone who had full command of the language but could not speak it quickly. Very good sigs. 73 de (Al Muick, Kabul, Afghanistan, WinRadio G303e, 200m Longwire/Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) via Rampisham-UK 0400-0600 UT 500 kW 180 degrees (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via DXLD) per Aoki (gh) ** ANGOLA. This was noted regularly on the distinctive off-channel 7217 when checking Eritrea on 7220 (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Glenn, first a very good new year 2009!! Inside the e- mail recording from RAE, 11710.953 kHz, 0000. With full ID in different languages. Strong signal to S9. I`m now most of all on the mediumwave for DXing, but I coming back to the tropical and shortwave bands. I`m using a new antenna for the mediumwave, the Flag antenna (see foto). So all the best and 73, (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mooie opname van Argentinie, Buenos Aires op 11710.953 kHz, 0000 UT. Opname is live gemaakt met de Perseus. Station kwam sterk binnen tot S9. Blijft toch nog nog één van mijn favorieten (Maurits, bdx via DXLD) 15344.50v, RAE; 1759-1808, Jan 6; tuned-in to IS and pips; multi- language ID for RAE; into programming in French; poor-fair and best in LSB to get away from het. Noted a slight drift down in frequency (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15345, Radiodifusión Agrentina [al] Exterior (General Pacheco), 2253- 2258*, 1/7/2009, Spanish. Easy listening instrumental music. Closing announcements by man followed by IS and RAE ID at 2256, repeated to 2258*. Moderate signal with fading. SINPO 34323 (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and 90' attic / 200' fence top random wires, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ASIA [non]. 9385, Jan 6 at 1516, Brother Scare on WWRB getting a run for his money from strong co-channel QRM in Korean, also with a rippling SAH indicating perhaps 20 Hz separation. This is R. Free Asia as scheduled; online references differ whether site is Sri Lanka or Saipan, but the latter is more likely and more recent. If WWRB were not there, RFA would have a fine signal even here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASIA [non]. USA [non] B-08 RFA Daily Broadcast Frequencies. All times in UTC. * changes Burmese (4 hours daily) 0030-0130 13710TIN, 13815IRA, 15700SAI* 1230-1330 11795TIN, 12105IRA, 15700TIN 1330-1400 9670TIN, 11795IRA, 13855IRA 1400-1430 11795KWT, 13855IRA 1630-1730 7505TIN Cantonese (2 hours daily) 1400-1500 5840TIN, 7280TIN 2200-2300 9570TIN, 11740SAI* 11775TIN Khmer (2 hours daily) 1230-1330 13725IRA, 15160TIN 2230-2330 9355IRA, 11850TIN Korean (5 hours daily) 1500-1700 1350 , 5860TIN, 7210IRK, 9385SAI 1700-1900 1350 , 5860TIN, 9385IRA 2100-2200 1350 , 7460 , 9385TIN, 12075TIN Lao (2 hours daily) 0000-0100 11830IRA, 15535TIN 1100-1130 9355IRA, 15120IRA 1130-1200 9355IRA, 15120SAI Mandarin (12 hours daily) 0300-0400 11980IRK, 13710TIN, 15150TIN, 15665TIN, 17615SAI*, 17880SAI, 21540TIN 0400-0600 11980IRK, 13710TIN, 15150TIN, 15665TIN, 17615SAI* 17880SAI, 21540TIN 0600-0700 11980IRK, 13710TIN, 15150TIN, 15665TIN, 17615SAI* 17880SAI 1500-1600 5810TIN, 7445TIN, 9440TIN, 9905PAL, 11945TIN, 13670TIN 1600-1700 5810TIN, 7415TIN, 7445TIN, 9455SAI, 9905PAL, 11945TIN 13670TIN 1700-1800 5810TIN, 7415TIN, 7445TIN, 9355SAI, 9455SAI, 9905PAL, 11945TIN, 13670TIN 1800-1900 5810TIN, 6095TIN, 7385TWN, 7415TIN, 7445TIN, 9355SAI, 9455SAI, 11790SAI, 11945TIN, 13670TIN 1900-2000 1098TWN, 5810TIN, 5990TIN, 6095TIN, 7385TWN, 7445TIN, 9355SAI, 9455SAI, 9875PAL, 11790SAI, 11945TIN 2000-2100 1098TWN, 5810TIN, 5990TIN, 6095TIN, 7190TIN, 7355TWN, 9355SAI, 9455SAI, 9875PAL, 11900SAI, 11945TIN 2100-2200 1098TWN, 5810TIN, 6095TIN, 7190TIN, 7355TWN, 9355SAI, 9455SAI, 9875PAL, 11945TIN, 13745TIN 2300-0000 7540 , 11775TIN, 11975TIN, 15265SAI, 15430TIN, 15550TIN Tibetan (10 hours daily) 0100-0300 7470KWT, 9670WER, 11695UAE, 15220TIN, 17730 0600-0700 17515 , 17715KWT, 21570TIN, 21695UAE 1000-1100 11605LAM, 15140LAM, 17750KWT 1100-1200 7470 , 11540 , 11590KWT, 15375UAE 1200-1400 7470 , 11540 , 11590KWT, 13625TIN, 15375UAE 1500-1600 7470BIB-1530 / KWT1530-, 7550 , 11500KWT, 15145UAE 2200-2300 5820TIN, 7470TIN, 9835LAM 2300-0000 6010UAE, 7470 , 7550KWT, 9875LAM Uyghur (2 hours daily) 0100-0200 7480 , 9480LTU, 9645UAE, 9690UAE, 13605TIN 1600-1700 7470IRA, 7510 , 11720SAI, 11730UAE Vietnamese (2 hours daily) 1400-1500 5855TIN, 7515TIN, 9455SAI, 11605TWN, 12130IRA 13865IRA, 15195TIN 1400-1430 1503TWN 2330-0030 5855IRA, 11580 , 11605TWN, 11965TIN, 15135SAI* 15565VLD (Radio Free Asia website, via Gordon Brown-UK, NWDXC Jan 5 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. RA, Shepparton. 11880 kHz at 1700 GMT --- Surprising but welcome to hear this frequency with good copy at Local Noon. Lots of Snow Static QRN across all the bands here the last several days, which has all but killed my ability to DX. Time to go put a ground wire on every snowflake (Terry Wilson, MI, Jan 6, receiver: Grundig G5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. Glenn, As you noted, there is still some English on ORF shortwave, despite the cancellation of "Report from Austria". This appears to be a repeat of the early morning English (and French) news broadcasts of the Austria 1 domestic network just after 0700 UT, Monday to Fridays. Unfortunately, these bulletins consist mostly of international news, with very little Austrian content, though we do get the local weather report for the day. There is no mention of these bulletins on the updated ORF International program schedule on their website, so maybe this was a last minute decision, throwing a bone to the "Report" listeners who protested the cancellation. It is good to hear that at least a few of the English service staff survived the end of "Report", but the ORF is certainly getting a lot of mileage out of those news bulletins when you realize that the last repeat goes out at 0100 UT the next day, some 18 hours after the live broadcast on Austria 1. (Will F., PA, Jan 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This news bulletin in French (and English) is heard since Jul 1st, 2003 (end of the French programmes on R. Austria International). Regards, (JM Aubier, France, ibid.) Checking whether OE1 still has an English news segment on the CANADA relay 16-17 on 13675: Jan 8 tuned in at 1619 and all in German except for a few sex of English at 1651 in an axuality, quickly voiced-over in AustroGerman. Thought maybe English would show at 1645, as there was a report of that happening at 0045, presumably on 7325, during a formerly full English broadcast. Then at 1655 went to Blue Danube IS and multilingual IDs in German, English, French and Spanish! just to fill up the hour until 1659*. That would have been enough time to repeat the entire 4-minute English news segment from the previous morning 0706 on 6155. Since these don`t appear on their schedule, we need people to note the exact times and frequencies when English is still heard. Meanwhile an open carrier came on 13680 around 1627 past 1630; Cuba for some reason? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZERBAIJAN. Video del cierre de Radio Azadliq --- Azerbaiyán: PROHÍBEN EMISIONES RADIALES EXTRANJERAS ANTES DEL REFERÉNDUM CONSTITUCIONAL. . . http://es.globalvoicesonline.org/2009/01/08/azerbaiyan-prohiben-emisiones-extranjeras-antes-del-referendum-constitucional/ (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, Jan 9, dxldyg via DXLD) ** AZERBAIJAN [non]. Radio Liberty in Azerbaijani again on SW. Noted today Jan. 8: 1600-1700 on 9485 (55544), UNID transmitter (WER/NAU/LAM/BIB?) 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHAMAS. 810, ZNS3, Nassau [sic; Freeport] 06Jan09 0007 UT - Man in Island English reading obituary reports for Jan 9 [sic: a neat trick! gh]. Then "Radio Bahamas news time seven minutes past the hour of seven". - Recorded - Fair-Good with WGY phased (Chris Black, Cape Cod, UltraHeavy Icom 756 Pro II, R-75, 35' x 90' E/W flag, 30' x 50' N/S flag, 140' sloper, ABDX via DXLD) ** BELARUS. 7135, RS Belarus, heard at 2200 on 07 Jan in English with news and cultural programs. Good reception with just a hint of adjacent channel QRM. Program was actually interesting! 73 de (Al Muick, Kabul, Afghanistan, WinRadio G303e, 200m Longwire/Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. 6035, BBS (presumed), 1444-1500*, Jan 8; in English; woman playing EZL pop songs in English; poor (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4409.84, Radio Eco, Reyes, 0015 to 0030 OM commentary with pulsating signal as if someone was keying up on this frequency, fair to good signal 4. January. 4451.165, Radio Santa Ana, Santa Ana de Yacuma, 0000 to 0030 OM with announcements, brief music bridge Radio Santa Ana mentioned. 3 January. 4554.501 tentative, Radio Virgen de Remedios, Tupiza, 0000 to 0040 with fair signal, OM en español, some flutes and but no positive ID, tnx Lucio [LOB] logs. 3 January (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach Florida, R8 746Pro, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Blog de Radio Kawsachun Coca http://radiokawsachuncoca.blogspot.com/ (José Miguel Romero, Spain, Jan 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Muy oportuno el descubrimiento de ese blog, José Miguel. Según el blog, recién en enero de este año, se inaugurará esta emisora que fue la comidilla del mes de septiembre. Leo que el sr. Arnaldo Coro, de RHC, les ha enviado un comentario en el cual dice que espera que pronto salga a la onda corta la emisora. (Es de suponer que los bloguistas bolivianos les hayan enviado una invitación para opinar; de otra forma no se explica su ignorancia al respecto pues la O.C. de RKC, en 6075 kHz, fue reportada por muchos hace cosa de tres meses). La empresa JOPACH ( http://jopach.com/ ) me envió el 9 de octubre del año pasado varias fotos de la instalación de las antenas de onda corta de la emisora, cuyo nombre según el gerente de esa firma sería el de Radio Causachun Coca, ortografía que se usa en la página titulada "Nuestro trabajo" del sitio web de la empresa JOPACH. Sea como fuere, una K y una W, en lugar de una C y una U, no cambia en nada la prounciación de la palabra quechua que significa "que viva". Una foto de las enviadas por JOPACH, fue publicada en el nro. 12/08 del Kurier-Weltweit Hören, de Alemania, junto con unas apreciaciones recogidas del diexista boliviano Angel Oquendo, quien actualmente reside en Suecia (Henrik Klemetz, Suecia, HCDX via DXLD) ** BOTSWANA. 4930, VOA (Selebi-Phikwe), 0425-0435, 1/6/2009, English. Man with news / commentary regarding Africa followed by report on Israeli invasion of Gaza, current status of war in Iraq, etc. Good signal with fading slammed by CODAR. Was able to remove much of the CODAR by phasing the signals from the random wires. SINPO 32323. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4885, Rádio Clube Do Pará (Belém), 0450-0500, 1/6/2009, Portuguese. Lively pop music with male DJ. Identification by man at 0500. Very good signal, second only to Rebelde in strength on 60 meters this evening. SINPO 44333. 4915, Rádio Difusora Macapá (Macapá), 0443-0455, 1/6/2009, Portuguese. Talk by man. Identification at 0445 followed by very enjoyable Brazilian pop music. Good signal with some CODAR interference. SINPO 33333. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 6160, R. Rio Mar, Manáus, musical jingles in Portuguese, 1049 UT 8 Nov, SIO 233 (Mr Robin Tancoo, Fyzabad, Trinidad, by P-mail postmarked 23 Dec 2008, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Seldom reported but he is relatively close, and WRTH 2009 says not on air in evenings, just 1000-2100, while their other frequency which used to get out well, 9695, is inactive. Is that still correct? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No, or was this an Xmas special only? 9695, R Rio Mar, Manáus, AM, *1000-1010, Dec 25, sign on announcement, ID: "Ondas curtas 31 e 49 metros, 9695, 6160 kHz, Radio Rio Mar, Manáus, Amazonas, Brasil", talk and Brazilian songs, 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Spain, DSWCI DX Window Jan 7 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Re 9-003: Dear Glenn, Recently I have spent quite some time monitoring the Brazilian on 11765 kHz at around 0900 UT. They have impressive canned IDs giving the name Super Rádio Deus é Amor and one AM and three SW frequencies and the web page URL. I never heard any Rádio Tupi IDs but I suppose the station is still Rádio Tupi. Kind regards (Christer Brunström, Sweden, Jan 6, WORLD OF RADIO 1442, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9564.94, Super Radio Deus e Amor, 0615-0705, Jan 10, ex-Radio Tupi. emotional preacher in Portuguese. Several IDs at 0700-0702. // 11765, 6060 - all frequencies with fair reception (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. BBCWS in English, via South Africa, 11765 at 335 degrees, Jan 8 at 0620 ruined by the wacky wailing preacher who speaks neither Portuguese nor Spanish but a bastardized mixture of them, David Miranda who has occupied yet another Brazilian transmitter, this one in Curitiba and supposedly renamed Súper-Rádio Deus é Amor; roughly equal strength to BBC and with fast SAH of maybe 15 Hz. If God really loved us he would not do this to us. Found to be // Curitiba on 9565, this one in the clear; where`s the DentroCuban Jamming Command when we need them? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Pessoal, Estou ouvindo o Observatório Nacional em 10000 kHz. Está se identificando a cada 10 segundos e dando a hora certa. Dica de Michel Viani, OSasco-SP. 73 (Carlos Felipe, São Caetano do Sul-SP Jan 8, radioescutas yg via DXLD) El informe de recepción oportunamente enviado por mi no ha sido contestado aún (Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) Olá Grupo, O OBSERVATÓRIO NACIONAL está falando a hora a cada 10 segundos; antes falava de minuto em minuto (a cada 60 segundos). Bom para acertar o relógio... 9999 kHz. 73 (Roger Viscardi F.R.C., PU2WZY Guarujá - SP, 23º56'43.77 "S", 46º18'17.96 "O", "GG66ub33jb", Técnico em Manutenção Aeronáutica http://www.hambrasil.com.br/pu2wzy Jan 9, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Eu tenho uma curiosidade em saber quantos 'feeds' (alimentações) o ON gera da hora certa. Agora conhecemos 4! . hora certa a cada 10 segundos, usado pelo antigo sistema Telebrás, através do número 130. . hora certa a cada 60 segundos, usado pela Rádio Relógio Federal. . e, agora em 10000 kHz, foi possível notar os dois estilos acima, mas precedidos pelo id do "ON". —hg (Huelbe Garcia, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. DX CLUBE DO PARANÁ --- Atualização da lista de emissoras brasileiras OM/OT/OC - Versão 20090106.01 MW/SW Brazilian radio stations update - Version 20090106.01 http://www.dxclube.com.br/arquivos_lista_br.html - Spreadsheets http://www.dxclube.com.br/db/LISTA_COMPLETA_list.asp - DB On-line Nova denominação: New denomination: 1210 kHz - Super Radio Deus é Amor, Curitiba-PR 6060 kHz - Super Radio Deus é Amor, Curitiba-PR 9565 kHz - Super Radio Deus é Amor, Curitiba-PR 11765 kHz - Super Radio Deus é Amor, Curitiba-PR Audio ID: http://www.dxclube.com.br/db/LISTA_COMPLETA_download.asp?field=AUDIO&key1=3354 (Marcelo Bedene, dxldyg via DXLD) And now the competition: ** BRAZIL. Brazilian Medium Wave list --- A new version of medium wave radio stations list in Brazil (edited by the DX Clube do Brasil), is online, both html and pdf. Dozens of updates, with many split frequencies. Browse or download: http://www.ondascurtas.com/om/index.htm (Rocco Cotroneo, Brasil, Jan 7, mwdx yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. Departure of CBE-1550 delayed --- The CBC has asked the CRTC to remove the FM conversion of CBE-1550 Windsor from the Jan. 26th public hearing. However, this is only a temporary reprieve. Apparently the planned FM frequency for the station's relay in Leamington was not acceptable and they're going to have to find another one before the Windsor portion of the application can be heard (Doug Smith W9WI. Pleasant View, TN EM66, Jan 9, NRC AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. CFDR-780 still on? Noted at 1730 EST today under WBBM, someone playing C&W songs, with non-ID slogan "Classic country 780". Presuming this is CFDR Halifax, NS. Are they still on? I know their days on AM are numbered. AM broadcasters in Canada are hard to find outside of the major cities, i.e. the cities with NHL teams - Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, and Vancouver. Winnipeg too, in case they bring back the Phoenix Coyotes. But Quebec City - original home of the Colorado Avalanche - has no more AM stations! 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, Dec 31, The NRC AM mailing list via DXLD) Still on 780, January 3 at 0142 UT "Classic Country 7-80 Kixx". Have you heard, sometimes they ID "7-80 K-I-X-X, 100% pure Classic Country" as if they were a US station! (Andersson Sigvarrd in Sweden, ibid.) ** CANADA. CKKW FM 99.5 Kitchener, ONTARIO --- is on the Air!!! Hi Guys: CKKW FM on 99.5 from Kitchener, Ontario has moved to 99.5 FM from 1090 kHz AM. They signed on the air TODAY!! They are putting a GOOD Signal into London, Ontario tonight. Not sure what the Power is, but it is relatively low powered?? IDs are as "K-FUN". "The New 99.5 K-FUN", "The Tri-Cities Greatest Hits 99.5 K-Fun". Oldies/Classic Rock Format, leaning more to Classic Rock, although they did play Kentucky Rain by Elvis!! Logged them for NEW Station on FM # 1808. 73 (Robert S. Ross VA3SW, London, Ontario CANADA, Jan 6, WTFDA via DXLD) Can anyone hear 1090 Kitchener ONT? Oldies 1090 'flipped' to FM today at 20 UT. Now calls itself kfun995. http://www.kfun995.com/ Can anyone hear the AM signal? I normally can hear the AM under WBAL [I have been checking for weeks ;- > )] but not now. Could it have gone off already? [later:] Still on but seemingly much weaker (Andy Reid, Ont., Jan 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DGIEST) The 1090 transmitter is still on the air as of this morning (Wed. Jan. 7). It's still coming in at full strength here in Dundas (30dB/S9). I listened in yesterday to the "flip". I even recorded the last 30 minutes of programming, fully expecting the station to go silent after 3 p.m. All they did was to continue simulcasting with their FM station. I periodically checked the AM station during the rest of the day and they were still on at full strength. There was no reduction in signal strength at any time that I could detect. I'm listening to them right now (10:00 a.m.) and they are still booming in. There is no mention anywhere of how long they will continue with the simulcast. I'm assuming they will do so for a while in order to make sure that any of their listeners who were unaware of the change will at least get a chance to hear the announcement if they tune into the AM channel. The problem I'm going to have with their FM outlet is that WDCX in Buffalo comes in at almost the same strength on 99.5 MHz. With my portable radio I can fiddle with the whip antenna so that K-FUN comes in over WDCX, but this is a bit tricky as the Buffalo station is so strong at my location. 73 (John VE3CXB, ODXA yg via DXLD) This is the rub, John. We can always find out when a new station comes on but it is more difficult to find out when one goes off the air, especially these AM flips. It helps to have DX'ers in the area. They have a window of 3 months to keep the AM transmitter on but may choose to close it anytime or later. They would only keep the AM on longer if the FM coverage was not satisfactory. As you say, they are up against strong WDCX. Remember another broadcaster tried the 99.5 frequency in Cambridge and they ended up moving! (Andy Reid, Jan 7, ibid.) Any Canadian station that `brands` itself with a K- or W-like call has no self-respect whatsoever, and no sense of Canadian identity, to say the least --- there we have two of them, and there are a lot more (Glenn Hauser, USA, DXLD) ** CANADA. Angervating CBC Tweet about new tentative agreement Friday: I know how some of you olde pharbts see no point in Twitter, but every once in a while one gets things like what the CBC Tweeted about some tentative agreement: """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" thecbc New: New Tentative Agreement Posted Online http://tinyurl.com/a5n2mz 7 minutes ago from Twitter Tools """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" When I clicked on the tinyurl, I was taken to a login page which required some sort of special code and a link to a pdf file containing the tentative agreement --- and I got an error message: FORBIDDEN. Apparently the idea is to get whomever is qualified to vote on the agreement to sign in and vote on it. But Twitter is a public facility and I'm still scratching my head over why the CBC posts internal business on Twitter. Hey Glenn and other old pharbts: just because Twitter asks you to post what you are doing now, you might consider that Huffington Post posts what it's doing now; that the CBC posts what it's doing now, that the Wall Street Journal posts what it's doing now, etc. It's how Rachel Maddow gets instant feedback from her audience, Mr. Media. I even get Radio Canada International Tweets in French. Y'all might want to reconsider your poo-pooing of Twitter (Clara Listensprechen, UT Jan 9, dxldyg via DXLD) I figured this went to the insidethecbc blog which I check periodically. I had no problem getting to the 108-page pdf linked therefrom, tho I really don`t have time to digest it, and of course have no right to vote on it. http://www.cmg.ca/cbcmemoagreement2009EN.pdf (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Twitter? I still haven't gotten over the international broadcasters citing Wikipedia as something having a shred of credibility. Maybe the CBC's next attempt at coolness will be to walk around with its pants hanging halfway down to its knees (Terry Wilson, MI, ibid.) Just take a look at all posts from this "thecbc" account: It obviously belongs to the person who runs "Inside the CBC", and it is in use only to announce new blog postings. To me it's not quite clear what qualifies this blog as "official"; its contents clearly do not reflect the views of CBC's management. Btw, and it is really cute how they try to impress people by mentioning three Terabyte of data. Should I buy you three 1 TB harddrives from our small-town computer dealer? Concerning this agreement, see this summary: http://www.insidethecbc.com/details-of-the-new-tentative-agreement A 1.5 per cent salary increase, i.e. real incomes clearly shrink. Note also the comments that going on strike for more could severely backfire by turning the public opinion against the CBC in general (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 10, ibid.) ** CANADA. Radio Canada DX Group Home [not what you may think --- gh] http://www.radiocanadadxgroup.com/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page For any of you out there who may have thought that the good old citizens band (CB) was dead and buried, this might hopefully change your minds! This is a group of over 2000 members. Its webpage is indicated above and from the content, it appears to be a very active and vibrant group. Please consider checking them out. Here is the introductory blurb from their webpage. ``Welcome to the new collaborative web site for the Radio Canada DX Group. It is powered by MediaWiki - a powerful Open Source community project served on Fedora Linux. The “Radio Canada DX Group” is a non- profit, 11-meter SSB (Single Side Band), Citizens Band Radio Group, established in 1969. It replaced “Radio Free Canada” which was adopted in Saskatchewan sometime in the middle 60’s. We are known internationally as the Largest DX Group in Canada with a membership of approximately 2000 members. Our Group is open to all Canadians and we take great pride in representing our country to the rest of the World. Our aim is to promote a degree of professionalism in the Canadian “Theater of Radio Operations” and to unite the collective voice of Canadians. Our Group enjoys a worldwide reputation, of first class Radio Operation. Hello fellow radio operators from all over the world. This page was designed to inform other radio operator’s world wide of the Radio Canada Club and some of the happenings in and around Manitoba, Canada`` (Jan CIDX Messenger via DXLD) see also NEWFOUNDLAND ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Thoughts on 2008: RADIO --- Our radio station has played a key role in educating people on many of these development issues. ICDI continues to receive letter after letter from people thanking ICDI for what they've heard and learned about micro- enterprise, HIV/AIDS, water, sanitation, agricultural work, and Biblical topics as they see those lessons making an impact on their daily lives. In a country where the economy has collapsed and few companies remain in the country (two more lumber mills closed there doors while I was here this time), the simple fact that ICDI is here, and working hard to improve living conditions is an encouragement to Central Africans (Jim Hocking, ICDI, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Meanwhile, Radio ICDI remains one of the rarest DX SWBC stations, on 6030 with a limited schedule facing large QRM problems beyond the CAR prime coverage area, at least. A reminder to look for it UT Mondays around 0500 when at least Radio Martí and the DentroCuban Jamming Command are in truce (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1442, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Bangui was heard regularly at various times during the daytime on 7220, co-channel with Eritrea (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ** CHAD. As reported elsewhere, Chad has resumed the use of 4905 in the morning and evening (daytime on 6165), though exact frequency usage seemed to be a bit erratic (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) 4904.97, RNT, 0644-0720, Jan 7; in French and vernacular with man DJ playing pop Afro-pop songs; started out with good reception, noted fading by 0650 and was poor about 0700, but then improved back up to fair by 0710 and finally faded out to very poor by 0720 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4905, Radio National Tchadienne (N'djamena), 0602-0610, 1/7/2009, vernacular. Brief talk by man followed by local music. Talk continued at 0604. Good signal with some CODAR interference. SINPO 33333. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4750, CNR-1 and PBS Qinghai (presumed); 1437, Jan 8; with the absence today of both Bangladesh (as already reported in DXLD 9- 003) and RRI, I was able to clearly hear just two stations, both in Chinese; CNR-1 noted // 5030 and was stronger than PBS Qinghai. Believe this is the first time I have heard PBS Qinghai here, as it is usually totally covered by Bangladesh and/or RRI. 6100, CRI via Xian; *1700-1737, Jan 6 & 7; carrying domestic "China Drive" program mostly in English with Mark, a Londoner and a Chinese woman in English and Chinese; "China Drive" is broadcast twice a day, Mon. thru Fri.; website is very much out-of-date http://english.cri.cn/537/2006/05/23/61@93407.htm topic of the day: 6th - talking about movies and books, 7th – What makes you happy?; weather conditions for major cities in China; BoH "CRI Easy FM - We are the difference" jingle; sports and business news; fair-good; // 6165, 7150, 7180, 7205, 7335 and 9570, all mostly fair-good (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7415, Firedrake/jamming; 1838-1853, Jan 6, vs. R. Free Asia; // 7445 (vs. R. Free Asia) // 9000 (vs. SoH) // 9355 (vs. R. Free Asia) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7415, Música jammer melódica atorando al servicio chino de Radio Free Asia; esta música es más melódica y menos estruendosa que las Firedrake Dragon; a las 1900 UT termina su emisión con unos tonos horarios. También se escucha en la frecuencia de 7445 atorando la misma emisora. ¿Adiós a las estruendosas Firedrake Dragon? (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Jan 8, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, ibid.) Are you sure it isn`t just whatever programming was on CNR-1 network at that early-morning hour, with the timesignal? They have been using a lot more CNR-1 and a lot less Firedrake for several weeks now (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. TAIWAN/PALAU, 9635 Sound of Hope in Chinese, 2200- 2300 UT, S=8-9 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 4, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 9 via DXLD) Sound of Hope interference whistle to T8WH from Palau 9930 kHz observed today Jan 6 on 9929.216 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) 17350 Taiwan ... und zwar mit dem Sender Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, den vom WRTH ueber S&F bis zu Klingenfuss und Passport nur die Aoki-Liste meldet. Hat jemand dazu naehere Infos? SIO 252-3. [later] also: "Sound of Hope" ist es: http://sohnews.com/shortwave-broadcasts/ (Nils Schiffhauer, Germany, DK8OK, A-DX Jan 9 via BC DX via DXLD) [non] 14410, TAIWAN, Sound of Hope, heard at 0700 on 08 Jan with ID and Mandarin talk. No sign of jamming. Poor sigs, however with a lot of QSB (Al Muick, Kabul, Afghanistan, WinRadio G303e, 200m Longwire/Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 9705, CRI in Mandarin noted 5 kHz up, on Jan 7th and 8th. Scheduled 9700 Kashi 1500-1557 UT, \\ noted on 9740, - both powerhouse signals in Europe -, and poorer to the south on 9560 kHz. wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Two very wide signals of Thomcast transmitters 'visible' on Perseus screen today. Kashi and Urumchi sites, like 15225 kHz CRI Czech at 11-12 UT on 15217 to 15233 kHz range. But also TRT Emirler in Turkish on 15350 kHz which warbles also 'sidebands' 15344 to 15356 kHz range, S=9+20dB (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Prueba hoy, Radio Juventud 5588-5590 kHz --- Hola Colegas, el sábado [3 de enero] en la tarde se reactivó la pirata colombiana desde Pasto, Nariño; Radio Juventud operando en 5553.5 kHz. La estuve escuchando desde las 2320 hasta aprox. 0030 presentando música de Vicente Fernández y música popular del Ecuador. Mencionando solo "Canal 55-90 y 104.7 FM". Hoy me he comunicado con el señor Omar Alberto Cabrera, que opera esta emisora, ya que hace años atrás había localizado su número telefónico. Efectivamente me confirma que durante el sábado prendió el transmisor de onda corta y probó unos de los tres cristales que posee, a saber: 5555, 5585 y 5590 kHz. Me cuenta que hoy va probar el cristal del 5590 y como es conciente que no está ajustado, puede salir desde los 5588 kHz. El horario tentativo es desde las 2300 a 0100 ya que en esta zona del país se encuentran en el Carnaval de Negros y Blancos. Ojalá puedan estar atentos a esta prueba, que con seguridad podrán obtener alguna verificación de parte del Sr. Cabrales. Buen DX (Rafael Rodríguez R., Bogotá D.C. - COLOMBIA, Jan 5, condiglist yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1442, DXLD) I think I heard the reactivated Colombian last night: 5554.99, R Juventud, Pasto, Nariño Dept. (presumed), 2305-0050*, Jan 05-06, Spanish announcement: "... transmitiendo..." and mostly LA music and songs. Reactivated with 300 watts, best the first hour, then deep fades. Thanks to Rafael Rodríguez for alerting about this, 25222 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Jan 6, WORLD OF RADIO 1442, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re R. Juventud, Pasto, Nariño Dept.: That it is not licensed, seems to be confirmed by the fact, it is not among five listed broadcasters in Pasto found elsewhere on the web. I have seen scattered bits of info about this station elsewhere in the past, but do not recall seeing any loggings from anywhere other than Colombia, so, I would guess, very low power (Don Jensen in DXplorer via DSWCI DX Window Jan 7 via DXLD) It was mentioned in WRTH 2007 and 2008 (but not in WRTH 2009) on 5585, HJV44 with 300 watts. Irregular Sun 0100-0500. Address: Cra. 1 Nº 21- 36, Pasto, Nariño (Anker Petersen, Ed., DSWCI DX Window) So: licensed, unless they made up the callsign (gh) 5554.99, R. Juventud, Pasto, Nariño Dept. (tentative), 2305-0050*, Jan 05-06, Spanish announcement: "... transmitiendo..." and mostly music and songs, best during the first hour, then deep fades. Thanks to Rafael Rodríguez for alerting about this, 25222. The station was not audible the next night, but a weak carrier was heard at 2300-2330 on 5555.01 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) Because of your log, I just made another phone call to Sr. Omar Cabrera who tells me that last night only was operated with the crystal on 5590 kHz (5587.4 exactly). In the last days Dec 31, Jan 01 and 02, it was operated on 5550 kHz (I heard it on 5553.5). Last night I had focus on listening on the frequency 5590 aprox., but not down to 5550. On the other hand, Cabrera say they will continue with another test, and really this station. It is a hobby for him (Rafael Rodriguez, Colombia, Jan 06, ibid.) So what did Anker hear?? (gh) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, Radio Marfil Estéreo (Puerto Lleras). 0443-0514. 7 Jan 09. Spanish. MOR Spanish pops and slow love songs. ID's at 0446, 0454, and 0500. After each ID, the music would change to more lively tunes for one song them back to the slow stuff. This station is an extremely rare visitor to Greenback. It is the first confirmed log since 2006. Fair (Joe Wood, TN, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ?? It is an extremely common visitor in Enid. I hear it any night I tune by after 0600 or so, and don`t even bother to log it. Currently the only significant co-channel QRM should be Romania at 0100-0300 to NAm in Romanian. Isn`t the ID just ``Marfil Estéreo`` without the ``Radio``? BTW, HJDH got itself into HFCC, as 24 hours, 5 kW, 300 degrees to zone 12 = CAm and NW SAm. Meanwhile, sister station Voz de tu Conciencia on 6010 shows same except 270 degrees azimuth, in deference to XEOI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mercoledì 7 gennaio 2009: 0700, 6009.9 kHz, LV DE TU CONCIENCIA - Lomalinda (Colombia), Spagnolo, riflessioni bibliche OM. Segnale sufficiente-buono. Dominante su altre portanti in battimento. 0708, 5910 kHz, MARFIL ESTEREO - Lomalinda (Colombia). Musica locale e ID OM. Segnale sufficiente-buono. QRM BBC Arabic Cyprus 5905 kHz. (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) 5910, Colombia, R. Marfil Estéreo, Lomalinda. January 10, Spanish, 0826-0835, Spanish local pop music selections, OM talks with ID in every music break. 23322. 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6009.95, La Voz de tu Conciencia (presumed); 0515-0525, Jan 9; religious program; brief segments in English followed by Spanish translations; fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6010, La Voz de tú Conciencia, Puerta Lleras, JAN 10, 0751 UT - before getting to sleep was treated with back-to-back traditional LAm vocals (mainly música llanera, though did heard an ugly Mexican mariachi), then ID around 0756 surprisingly in English "This Is The Voice Of The [sic] Conscience", followed by military march of some kind, then more pasajes, joropos, etc. Fair with some more or less annoying fadings and very slight QRM from a second Spanish signal, most likely Mexico (XEOI Radio Mil). Usually, Mexico-6010 is atop Colombia-6010 at this time, but since conditions toward Latin America weren't really good, it was the strongest station, the Colombian (10 kW, if my memory serves me well) that did dominate the channel at this time. No other ID other than the assumed ToH catched around 0756 UT, so possibly the clock inside my Sangean CST-818 needs to be adjusted. SINPO 33433. It's so nice to hear once again local radio aimed toward the remote areas on shortwave, almost as challenging as to listen to it on long and mediumwave! (Bogdan Alexandru Chiochiu, DXing from Pierrefonds (Montreal's West Island), PQ - QC, using the Sangean CST-818 receiver with random wire, HCDX via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6035, LV de[l] Guaviare, 1150-1250 9 Jan. Apparent news/press program with M hosting and many many actualities. After 1200, there were more ad blocks than news. Canned ID at 1159, 4+1 long time ticks 31 seconds slow. ID at end of probable promo at 1205. Another ID during M and W dialog in ad at 1206, then another at 1207. Mentions of Colombia and "radio de Colombia" during ads. Program promo for "Camposina [sic] Buenos Dias" at 1227. Still a little readable after 1230 with coo-coo clock SFX in ad during ad block at 1232. Just about gone by 1250 but could still hear the M announcer. Seemed more readable after 1200 than before. Interesting that at 1250, it's a complete daylight path from Guaviare to PA, and well in daylight, around 1:45 after sunrise, at the transmitter. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Yimber Gaviria sent me his recording of R. Nacional on 10770, which I could not to get to play on his blog. It`s very noisy, and will have to take his word on the ID. He also switched to RN MW frequencies 580, 570, 550 and 680 and was not hearing anything except a strong signal on 580 which is Cali, his location. Apparently this was // 10770 altho I can`t tell that either from his recording, using one receiver. Maybe the Cali 580 transmitter is mixing with some other local signal, altho not likely a broadcast station. Checked 10770 here around 1330 Jan 10, nothing heard (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO. On 9 Jan at 1820 noted on 6115 a station in Afro-French with talks about Congo. Audio was switching from good to real poor. Around 1849 I guess there was "Radio Congo" ID and then the signal went off. Maybe Brazzaville firing up a transmitter again (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) was long silence ** CONGO DR. The two SW stations in the east of the country - Radio Candip on 5066 and Radio Kahuzi on 6210 - were heard regularly with good reception at various times of the day (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ** CONGO DR [non]. Interestingly, I'm hearing French on 11690, or was, at 0520 or so, gone now [0621 UT Jan 10]. Surprised at how strong the signal was for this time of solar cycle, year, and day, if in fact it was DRC Radio Okapi. (?) A very "clicky" sounding French, similar to certain southern African languages. Incredibly good signal. Seems an unlikely signal/frequency for the dead of our winter. Cheers, (Robert McEntee, Austin, Texas, UT Jan 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, surely R. Okapi via South Africa, 250 kW at 340 degrees from Meyerton, which is also a favorable azimuth for us. It`s mid-summer down there, so the signal gets a good head start, and just needs the MUF to hold up to 11.7 MHz the rest of the way (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Got it. I had figured the favorable azimuth, and at 250 kW it shouldn't surprise even at this time of year here/there. Overall fidelity was unexpected. Thanks for your time and concurrence. Best, rm (Robert McEntee, ibid.) ** COSTA RICA [and non]. As I was checking RNZI`s other frequencies while 6170 was missing (see NEW ZEALAND), I could not help but notice that the REE relay on 9765 was nothing but a steady open carrier, Jan 8 at 1450. Same appeared to be the case on 15170, but with the usual Romanian co-channel audio and SAH. The third frequency, 11815, was modulating as usual, which means under-modulating, but at least it was audible during Españoles en la Mar, while 17595 direct was weaker than usual. I had not heard about the 4.0 earthquake in CR Jan 7, which maybe was the cause, and this was before the 6.1 quake on Jan 8 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) EARTHQUAKE STRIKES COSTA RICA, EMERGENCY HAM FREQUENCY DECLARED Special Bulletin 1 ARLX001 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT January 9, 2009 To all radio amateurs On Thursday, January 8 at 1921z, an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale struck the Central American country of Costa Rica. The earthquake, with an epicenter located about 22 miles northeast of San Jose, comes after a series of almost 60 seismic events that have rocked the country since early this week. The Radio Club de Costa Rica (RCCR) -- that country's IARU Member- Society -- is monitoring local repeaters and 7090 kHz. IARU Region 2 Emergency Communications Coördinator César Pio Santos, HR2P, requests that 7090 kHz be kept clear of non-essential traffic due to possible emergency communications dealing with the earthquake. The ARRL encourages all amateurs to be aware of the emergency operations on this frequency. US amateurs should avoid interfering with Spanish language SSB while using digital modes (W1AW Mailing List via Mike Terry, UK, Jan 9, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CROATIA [and non]. DXLD 9-003 reports Croatia using the new frequency to Australia from 0600 to 1000 of 17655 kHz since Jan 1 2009. There must have been a change of plan as it booms in here near Melbourne of 15360 instead and there is a Chinese service on 17655. It is ironic that the BBC World Service dropped use of its Singapore transmitters to service Australia, requiring us to listen via the internet. Now Croatia has realised what an excellent service they can provide to their expatriates in Australia by picking up some of that unused capacity. Of course, their listeners could no doubt hear them on the internet but it is much easier and free of charge to listen on shortwave. What muddled thinking on the part of the BBC. They don't even acknowledge complaints along these lines (Morrison Hoyle, Australia, Jan 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3985, Croatian Radio (Deanovac), 0523-0535, 1/6/2009, Croatian. Local pop music. Moderate signal with usual ARO interference. Parallel 7375 (Nauen) with slightly stronger and much more interference free signal. SINPO 32323. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Usual sloppy operation at Quivicán, Bejucal, and/or Bauta transmitter sites: Jan 6 on 13680, replay of 1100 UT RHC program Despertar con Cuba was underway until cut off at 1501*. RNV relay on 11680 was in English about FARC operations in Venezuela, when also cut off the air at 1504* and still not on at 1515 recheck. RHC DCC meanwhile was continuing on weaker 11760 until that too was cut off abruptly during a speech by Raúl himself, at 1514*. RHC discrepancy report: Jan 8 at 1430, the big signal on 15370 was missing. Other frequencies confirmed as usual: 15360, 15120, 13760, 13720 (leapfrog 13760 over CRI relay 13740), 13680. At 1445 recheck, 15370 was back on. RHC, which normally closes 6000 at 1400 UT, contrary to announcements, presumably to move the transmitter to a higher frequency, on Jan 9 was still going at 1411 during a Raúl speech; also still going with same later than usual at 1441 // 15370; 1443 back-announcement as something special for the 50th anniversary of the revolution; then interviewing a like-minded broadcaster visiting from Uruguay; but 6000 finally off at 1446. As I tuned by 15120, Jan 10 at 1427, heard the announcer mention matter-of-factly the ``genocidio bloqueo``. I take great offense at RHC`s characterization. Many Americans oppose the blockade, as counter-productive, giving the regime an excuse for all its own defects, and punishing only the poor oppressed Cuban people. But it is NOT ``genocidal``, i.e. designed to kill great masses of people! Nor has it. It is merely intended to undermine the unelected, dictatorial, human-rights-suppressing, DentroCuban government. Lots of money, food and other aid still get into Cuba from the USA, including wheat from Oklahoma, and what they cannot get from us they get from elsewhere. Additional US aid is offered and usually rejected, after emergencies such as hurricanes. In this and so many other ways, RHC is totally lacking in credibility, home of The Big Lie (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. If memory serves, the 1180 transmitter site has eight towers with huge insulators, and has or had the capability of half a million watts (Ron Gitschier, WNZF Bunnell, FL, ABDX via DXLD) To jam R. Martí, of course (gh) see also U S A ** CYPRUS. 9760, Cyprus BC (Limassol), 2240-2245*, 1/9/2009, Greek. Greek music followed by talk by woman at 2243. More Greek music at 2244 to 2245*. Rather weak signal but in the clear. Parallels noted on 7210 under heavy co-channel interference from CRI Cërrik relay [ALBANIA], and 6180 with heavy adjacent channel interference (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and 90' attic / 200' fence top random wires, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** DESECHEO. An Austrian site which mainly requires a subscription in Euro provides free access to some pages such as this, isle of an upcoming ham DXpedition: http://www.dokufunk.org/amateur_radio/dxcc_entities/index.php?CID=4728&lang=EN (Glenn Hauser, tipped by BC-DX Jan 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. Heard regularly on 4780 with excellent signals and good quality audio. The combination of winter and low sunspot activity meant that, despite the low frequency and a distance of around 1,000 miles from my location, the station didn't fade out even during the middle of the day (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 3279.9, La Voz del Napo, Tena, 1015 música andina; 1047 YL over flutes 7 January (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach Florida, R8 746Pro, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See PERU ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, presumed R. Africa, Bata, 1554, Jan 6, English. In the clear but very weak with M preaching the gospel; choral music at 1601 then silence until something at 1603 tho too weak to determine what; poor (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, RX350D, CLR/DSP, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, Radio Africa, *1517-1530, Jan 9, abrupt sign on with the usual English religious talk. Gospel music. Fair level but poor audio with slight distortion & somewhat low modulation. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional (presumed); 0534-0547, Jan 9; fair reception of high-life music and songs; a good evening for African reception, as it is not often I hear this so well (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6250, Radio Nacional, Malabo, 0533-0545, Jan 10, Irregular with Spanish talk. “Radio Malabo” IDs. Short breaks of Afro-pop music. Phone talk. Not heard every day. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. The only definite loggings I made of Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea (VOBME) were on 7220, which was heard regularly at various times of the day, although transmissions are not continuous. It was heard signing on for the evening transmission period at 1400. On one occasion (0935 on 22 December) I heard what may have been a second VOBME channel on 7210. At 0945 this transmitter moved to 7220, co-channel with the other VOBME station, and also with Bangui, making further identification impossible. No Eritrean transmissions were heard on 8000. Radio Bana on 5100 was heard regularly, and without any jamming. An English-language lesson was heard in progress with excellent reception at 1745 on 27 December (a Saturday), to close-down at 1803 after a request for letters to be sent to Department of Adult Education, Ministry of Education, Box 609, Asmara (as in the WRTH) and the national anthem. On another occasion, English was also heard just after 1500, with an ID and announcement that it was on 5100 and 1089 (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Shortwave: A total of 11 transmitters were confirmed active: Radio Ethiopia National Service on 5990 (observed closer to 5991), 7110, 9704. The audio quality on 7110 is rather poor. The Monday-Friday English broadcast is now at 1200-1300 (ex 1400- 1500), with news at 1230. Radio Ethiopia External Service (and anti-Eritrea clandestines) on 7165, 9560v. The variable 9560 transmitter was heard as low as 9556. The 7165 channel is very heavily jammed at times with a noise jammer covering 7160-7170 and sometimes even more spectrum than that. Radio Fana on 6110, 6890 (also heard on 1080 MW). Voice of Tigray Revolution on 5950, 5980. The 5980 channel was only heard for the early morning transmission, closing at 0530 on weekdays (though heard beyond that time on a Saturday). 5950 is much stronger than 5980, but has telephone-quality audio, supporting the theory that 5980 is from Mekele (where the studio is) but 5950 is from Addis Ababa. Radio Oromia on 6030 (also heard on 1035 MW). Amhara Regional State Radio testing on 6090 at 0300-0600, 0900-1100 and 1400-1700. Not in parallel with Amhara Regional State Radio heard on listed 801 MW. Mediumwave: Radio Ethiopia National Service was heard on listed 594, 684, 828, 855, 873 and 972. Some of these frequencies opt-out at times for regional programmes. As noted above, Radio Fana, Radio Oromia and Amhara State Radio were al heard on their listed MW channels. Two unlisted MW transmitters were heard with good signals: 891 (relays National Service) and 918 (unidentified programming, definitely Ethiopia but not in parallel with any other Ethiopian stations). Mauno Ritola says 891 is believed to be from Dese (north-central Ethiopia). On 1044, test transmissions were heard during the evening and early morning. I was pleasantly surprised to hear an announcement in English (as well as Amharic) at the start of the tests at 1600 confirming the station as Mekele on test. WRTH lists this as 200 kW, the most powerful MW (or SW) transmitter in Ethiopia (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 6110, Radio Fana (Addis Ababa), 0428-0434, 1/7/2009, Oromo. Horn of Africa music. Talk by man and woman at 0432. Moderate signal, easily dominating cochannel interference. Parallel 6890 much weaker. SINPO 33333. 7110, Radio Ethiopia (Gedja Jewe), 0420-0435, 1/7/2009, Amharic. Talk / speech by man with occasional applause. Horn of Africa music at 0429. Return to spoken program at 0433. Very strong signal with some fading. A bit over-modulated. Parallel not heard. SINPO 44333. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 7 Jan, 0752. 9560.4 kHz, RADIO ETHIOPIA - Gedja, Somalo, musica locale e talk OM. Segnale sufficiente-buono. Battimento con Xinjiang PBS 9560 (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) so ex-9556v 9560.31v, Radio Ethiopia, 1800-1815, Jan 9, Tentative with Horn of Africa music. Talk in unidentified language. Echo announcements. Drifting up to 9560.36 by 1810. Poor in noisy conditions. 9560.28v, Radio Ethiopia, 1815-1833*, Jan 10, talk in unidentified language. Local Horn of Africa music. Abrupt sign off. Varying between 9560.0-9560.30. Weak. Poor. Very weak on // 7165-covered by Iran sign on at approximately 1825 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. COUNTRY LIBERALISES; RADIO AND TELEVISION MAY FOLLOW, SUPPORTS THRIVING LOCAL FILM CULTURE Russell Southwood 8 January 2009 London - The Ethiopian Government is best known for the tight control it has exerted over the political process of the country. Therefore it comes as something of a surprise to learn that it has made the development of media a priority and with a certain amount of external prompting has liberalised the radio sector. Two new private radio stations have been launched (more will follow) and community radio stations have also started broadcasting. Well-informed sources say that there will be a new private free-to-air television channel within two years. Against this backdrop, the country is also sustaining a significant local film culture in Amharic. . . One of the country's universities runs a radio station in partnership with an international NGO with a 3 KW transmitter with an 80 mile radius. Makele University in Tigray is developing locally produced antennas and transmitters. One of the conditions of World Bank funding was that the Government start offering private commercial licences. There are currently two private FM radio stations (Sheger FM on 107.3 and Zami on 90.7) and a third radio station focusing on English and French programming (Afro FM) will be launched next year. In addition, there are two Government radio stations and Radio Fana (see below). However, there is a considerable thirst to launch stations as there were over 45 applicants for the current round of licences. Critics of the liberalisation say that too few stations have been licensed and that they are all in the capital, Addis Ababa. One of the most dynamic of the new private sector radio players is in fact an already existing station, Radio Fana. It came out of the military struggle against the Dergue and had its origins as a clandestine radio station in the bush. As a result, it has remained broadcasting after the current Government came to power. It broadcasts in Amharic, Afar, Oromo and Somali and is expanding its number of stations, launching new transmitters in Jimma in the south and Gonder in the north. It transits on FM in the urban area and on short wave in the rural areas. In the next two years it will have 10 stations with increased local programming. All together the company employs 254 people and before too long it will move from its current "hut-like" premises to a new multi-storey office block it is building next door to its current offices. It is supported by three different kinds of advertising: conventional advertising, mainly on the FM stations (30% of revenue), programme sponsorships (15%) and programme partnerships where an organisation will fund a programme. The latter category includes Government Ministries and international donors like UNICEF and Save the Children. Programmes include community discussions on health and sanitation issues and talk shows in the urban areas. Advertising rates vary between 10,000 birr for three spots in an hour for programme sponsorship to six thirty second spots for 690 birr for a more conventional national ad on a premium programme. There are reductions for the three non-Amharic languages. Advertising for non- commercial organisations goes as low as 35-40 birr a minute. The losers in the struggle for radio advertising have been the Government radio stations. Whereas they used to have a 40%+ market share with Radio Fana taking the lion's share, they are now down to 18-20%. Radio Fana has more or less kept its market share with Sheger taking 25%. Radio Fana takes a very bullish view of competition, believing that it helps them sharpen up the delivery of everything they do and grows the market. Radio Fana would clearly be one of the contenders for a free-to-air TV licence as and when the Government puts one on the table. Well- informed sources told us that it's "in the pipeline". New elections are only 18 months away and the decision could be taken after the elections... http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200901080648.html (via Zacharias Liangas, Kim Elliott, DXLD) Article has more about film, TV ** ETHIOPIA [non]. via Samara, Russia, 7485 NF, Ginbot 7 Dimts Radio, *1701-1730*, Jan 10, sign on with Horn of Africa music followed by Amharic talk. Fair to good. // 9610 - weak under a very strong Radio Canada International; Tues/Thur/Sat only (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. 5980, 0745-0945 03.01, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, Finnish talk, musical interlude 34222 at first, but later R Martí, Greenville took over frequency. 11720, 0945-1205 03.01, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, Finnish talk, pop songs, 15111. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres longwire here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** GERMANY. BlueStar Radio this Sunday: 11th of January 2009, 1300 to 1400 UT, Channel 6140 kHz. The transmissions of BlueStar Radio will be broadcast over the transmitting station Wertachtal in Germany. The transmitter power will be 100,000 Watts, and we will be using a non- directional antenna system (Quadrant antenna). Good listening. 73s (Tom Taylor) (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why does BlueStar Radio exist? ** GERMANY [non]. DW - ASCENSION Y EMIRATOS ARABES (DHABAYYA) ASCENSION --- La Voz de Alemania recientemente y como se he comunicado oportunamente, ha dejado de transmitir en la frecuenca habitual de 9545 kcs desde hace mucho tiempo (A-08); cambiando a la nueva frecuencia de los 9775 desde las 0000 hasta las 0200 UT, el resultado muy satisfactorio en el cono Sur, de tal forma que aunque continúa con una interferencia por co-channel con una emisora china (2100 0200, CHN CNR 2, China Business R., M, CHN 9755a 9775b); ahora la señal de la DW se superpone a la China escuchándose diametralmente mejor. EMIRATOS ARABES (DHABAYYA) --- También La Voz de Alemania ha procedido desde el 1º de enero 2009 a suprimir 9545 kcs a las 2200-0000, cambiándola por 9475, con excelente resultado, señal potente y sin inteferencias, lo cual es totalmente distinto a la frecuencia anterior al 31 de diciembre que tenía una fuerte interferencia desde hace mucho tiempo de la VOA en idioma chino desde Filipinas (Héctor Frías, CE3FZL, Radioescuchas, FEDERACHI, CHILE, Jan 8, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** GUAM [non]. 11720 NO ID, inglés, dirección de Hong Kong. Saludos cordiales. 11720 NO ID, 1302-1329, escuchada el 6 de enero en inglés a locutora con comentarios, probablemente emisora religiosa; anuncia dirección de Hong Kong, E-mail y Web. Al acabar la emisión se despide locutor en probablemente chino, SINPO 45554 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, Jan 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11720 1300-1329 42,43W 70 degrees, 261008 280309 Nauen 250 kW AWR Aoki: Chinese, except Sat/Sun Uighur (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Saludos Wolfi, eso pensaba yo, que se trataba de AWR, pero la emisión ha sido totalmente en inglés, no ha habido música de sintonía, tan sólo un largo monólogo por parte de la locutora. Al final ha dado una dirección de Hong Kong, la despedida ha sido en chino, a las 1330 he podido escuchar el servicio de AWR en chino en 11725, no se parecía en nada. Posiblemente se trate de AWR en un programa especial en inglés por el día de la Pascua, no sé. 73 (José Miguel Romero2, ibid.) ** GUATEMALA. According to a letter I received from TGNA in Guatemala City, its repeater station on 100.7 in Panajachel was shut down by the government. Based on a court order, its equipment was confiscated and Marco Tulio, the person in charge of the compound but who had nothing to do with the repeater, was arrested. The charge was that the station was operating illegally on 109.9 MHz; a pirate was. The pirate station, which is within a block or so of TGNA`s station and which had been giving interference to it, wasn`t bothered by the government. It is still on the air (Marlin A Field, Hillsdale MI, Jan NASWA Journal via DXLD) Panajachel is the town across scenic Lake Atitlán from Santiago Atitlán, home of the also late La Voz de Atitlán, 2390; I visited both years ago when there was no TGNA repeater or pirate. You embark from Panajachel to reach S.A. (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIDGEST) ** GUATEMALA. La razón por la que Radio Verdad aun está fuera del aire... --- Copia de un e-mail de Radio Verdad: ``Aquí le envío la lista de transistores e integrados que necesitamos para nuestro transmisor. Lo que necesitamos es: Transistores: 16 unidades del W15NB50 Integrados: 16 unidades del EL7104CN Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid, Director y Gerente.`` Alguien puede darle información al respecto? Él está pidiendo presupuesto a unos contactos, pero de cualquier manera, si hay alguno que sepa de estas cosas electrónicas, envíele una información; él que estaba encargado de la reparación le falló y por eso aún no puede salir en onda corta!!! Ya para Febrero estará celebrando su 9o. Aniversario!!! 73's de su amigo, (Magdiel Cruz, México, playdx yg via DXLD) Amigos de Radio Verdad: YA SALIÓ EN INTERNET NUESTRO WEB SITE, además de nuestro nuevo Blog en http://radioverdadguatemala.blogspot.com Gracias a Dios. También les informo que, estamos pidiendo de nuevo los transistores para nuestro transmisor de onda corta. Esperamos que Dios nos ayude en esto, para volver a salir al aire en onda corta. Que Dios les bendiga. Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid, Director y Gerente. Dear Friends of Radio Truth: OUR WEB SITE HAS COME ON INTERNET ALREADY, besides our new Blog http://radioverdadguatemala.blogspot.com Praise God. I am informing you also that we are now ordering again the transistors for our short wave transmitter. We hope God will help us this time on this issue, so that we can come back to the air on short wave. God bless you (Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid, Director y Gerente, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. http://www.radioverdad.org is back ** GUATEMALA. 4780, Radio Cultural Coatán, San Sebastián, 2300 to 2310 with ID by OM on 1 January but not heard since (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Jan 8, R8 746Pro, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. Colegas. Hoje muito me surpreendeu a propagação nos 40 metros. Aliás eu já tinha falado sobre isso, essa faixa realmente me tem dado gratos dxs e hoje mais do que nunca. Estava fazendo uma varredura a partir das 1800 UTC nos 40 metros e não é que me deparei com a Conacry! Gravei a curta escuta, existe uma curta fala no início da gravação que parece ser a ID em francês, trata-se de uma tentativa, não entendi a ID, o dioma o que parece ser o francês, portanto não afirmo ser a Conacry, os colegas ao ouvirem a gravação por favor postem os seus comentários. Existem cortes na gravação durante as músicas para que o arquivo não fique muito grande. Sobre a propagação o mesmo não posso dizer agora a noite, não está muito boa. A escuta pode ser ouvida em http://www.ipernity.com/doc/75006/home?t=74925&c=6&s=uploaded (Jorge Freitas, Jan 10, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena fio longo com 20 metros e balum 9:1, HCDX via DXLD) Viz.: 7125kHz-1840UTC-10.01.2009-R Conacry [< 5 minutes] 7125 10/01 1840 GUINE, R Conacry(?), tentativa, mx típica com uma pequena fala de OM, sinal sai do ar as 1855 por uns 15 segundos e volta com a mx e sinal melhor, as 1857 começa sinal de abertura da tx da R România em alemão, 23332, gravado (Jorge Freitas, via DXLD) ** HAITI. A new FM radio station in the city of Limbé will soon start its transmission. Limbé is located in the northern part of the country, about 25 kilometres west of Cap-Haitien, both cities in the Département du Nord, with the latter one being the main city and Limbé being the second city in that Département. The new radio station is owned and operated by the Groupe d'Action citoyenne pour le Développement communautaire du Limbé (GACIDEL), a local NGO (non- governmental organization). The full text is available as: Le Groupe d'Action citoyenne pour le Développement communautaire du Limbé (GACIDEL) lancera au début de 2009 sur 100.9 FM la Radio Liberté du Limbé http://www.lenouvelliste.com/article.php?PubID=1&ArticleID=65829&PubDate=2009-01-09 (via Dr. Anton J. Kuchelmeister, Germany, Jan 8, DXLD) Al, Perhaps you are familiar with this? (Glenn to Al Muick, via DXLD) Hi Glenn, No, sorry, I am not aware of any details of this station. It may be of interest that so many of the FM stations in Haiti are unlicensed. The government is incapable of tracking them down outside of Port-au-Prince. They have one DF and measurements van, which they constantly show in PSA's, however, the last time I saw it, it was on the side of the road with flat tires. Haiti also uses 400 kHz spacing between its FM stations in direct contravention of what the ITU has ruled for its region. In fact, when we were trying to get our FM license for the UN operation there, the regional ITU rep flew in from Barbados and had one helluva fight with the Haitian regulatory commission, CONATEL. He said it was completely insane to be using 400 kHz. One of the reasons I have heard for the 400 kHz spacing is that some of the upper-level bureaucrats have socked the extra frequencies away for a rainy day when they can sell them off and pocket the money. As you know, Haiti is quite corrupt, and decades behind its neighbor, the Dominican Republic. The other explanation that I have heard (and seen!) is that many of the FM stations use home-brew and very old equipment without filtering, and the spacing is needed to prevent interference. This is truth, as I have seen some stations with such poor filtering that they interfere with everything. I tend to believe that both points are probably true. CONATEL was very adamant that the UN should use the latest equipment with filtering, etc., and when asked why that did not apply to the local Haitian stations, we were thrown out of their offices. CONATEL is a hoot. All of our FM stations are located on UN bases or UN guarded outposts. CONATEL liked to show up, demanding access, stating that they had the right to inspect the stations anywhere and everywhere (of course they didn't - that was spelled out in the agreements between the UN and the Government of Haiti). This always escalated into arguments at the front gate with guns drawn on all sides. Once, when they were allowed on the base, they did not even inspect, but demanded access to the UN PX, which was refused, and, of course, a row ensued. One time they parked outside the gate and demanded that we loan them a spectrum analyzer to do their measurements. Everyone regards the UN as an ATM machine. When it was first announced that we would be starting an FM service, there were howls of protest from the local broadcasters association, and they mobilized both people and their parliament to block us. No matter that it was spelled out in the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) that we had the absolute right. We had been renting airtime on local Haitian FM stations country-wide at the cost of about USD 2 million a year and suddenly that revenue source was going to dry up. When they did broadcast our programming, the quality was very poor and the UN never did devise a way to make sure that it was broadcast on the right frequency at the right time. Everyone then had a frequency to rent or sell to the UN. The problem was that they kept trying to raise the prices through the negotiation process and it turned into a fiasco. Interesting to note that the same sort of thing happened in both Sudan and Haiti. This is what happens when the UN allows people who have no concept of technical operations to do the initial setup and negotiations, and because the UN does not have the balls to stand up and insist on the enforcement of agreements in the countries they are trying to help. Almost every Peacekeeping Mission has had its agreements reneged upon by the countries' government. Ethiopia, Eritrea and Angola are also notable in this regard. Hope I haven't bored you too greatly! Best 73 (Al Muick, Kabul, Jan 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3250.00, Radio Luz y Vida, San Luis, 0016 to 0030 religious program, very strong, "Dios en ...contra la mentira..." 3 January (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach Florida, R8 746Pro, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. 3975, Radio Budapest (Jaszbereny), 0533-0542, 1/6/2009, Hungarian. Man and woman talking. Pop music at 0541. Good signal with varying levels of ARO interference and rather significant fading. SINPO 32323. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [and non]. After some Indian music on 9870, the Vividh Bharati Service channel of AIR, Jan 7, I was surprised to hear at 1400 an ID in English instead for the General Overseas Service, then a program about Indian cinema. But the GOS in English at 1330-1500 is supposed to be on 9690, where nothing was audible. They are both listed as Bangalore/Bangaluru site, on 9870 500 kW at 335 degrees, 0845-1200 and 1230-1740 with VBS; On 9690 500 kW at 108 degrees, 1330-1500 only with GOS. 9870 had a good signal but with polar flutter, as usually the case with it. The other 31m frequency audible here, National Channel on 9425, could be heard weaker in Hindi talk at 1419 check. It`s 500 kW at 18 degrees, 1320 to 0040 UT. 9870 continued in English at 1420 with press review, negative about the Gaza situation; 1425 interviewing a Bengali poet, 1436 saying that had come from the AIR archives; 1437 into film music from ``Dawn``. All this Indian film music primed me to go see another good movie in current release, Slumdog Millionaire, which does not paint a pretty picture of Bharat, altho it seems far-fetched that a quiz-show contestant would be tortured on suspicion of cheating. And the following evening from 0500 UT Thursday, I had to listen to Spice Routes on KBCS webcast. Back to 9870: at 1456 with concluding news summary by YL. 1459 sign- off as the AIR GOS to SE Asia but S/N ratio had decreased and could not copy frequencies; I strongly suspect the 9690 and 9870 feeds got switched by mistake. Or maybe 9690 was down so they deliberately put GOS on 9870 transmitter as substitute? 1500:30 to tone test past 1502, and 1503 into music, perhaps back to the correct VBS. I asked the DXLD yg to please check on January 8 whether this happens again or GOS is back on 9690; and what about // 13710, also Bangaluru 500 kW 108 degrees, and // 11620 Delhi. So far no reports from elsewhere received, but I checked it again the next day, Jan 8: at 1400, 9690 was audible with music not // 9870 music. 1420, 9690 confirmed back in English with another press review, while 9870 went on with VBS music. 11620 and 13710 were very weak but seemed to be // 9690 as they should be, altho 11620 not in synch. 1425 into talk about medical tourism by a correspondent of The Hindu newspaper. Unfortunately, her higher-pitched voice and accent made it hard to understand. I also noticed that 9690`s usual hum had also resumed. Another India-related program I recommend is Extension 720 from WGN Chicago, which I was listening to until 0415 UT Thursday, interviewing the author of a book about Gandhi and Churchill. Unfortunately it`s missing from the Jan 7 schedule info at http://wgnradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=167&Itemid=275 but maybe will show up in one of the podcasts or audio archives (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I listened today at 1330-1430 to AIR on 9870 and heard no English except for the India Oil Co. ads: "It's the best petrol for your vehicle." I think your theory about a switching anomaly is correct. I wish you would campaign for AIR to use this channel and transmitter for an English program to North America. They come in here to beat the band --- far better than any other frequency or time (Bruce Barker, PA, Jan 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4970, AIR-Shillong; 1507-1512, Jan 8; local programming in English; woman playing pop songs (Harry Belafonte song, etc.); fair; at 1512 switches over to New Delhi programming, becomes // 9425. I have noticed that they always switch over at 1512 and continue carrying New Delhi through the "New at nine" till 1545 and then they switch back to local Shillong programming till 1631 sign-off. 9690, AIR, 1359-1427, Jan 8; subcontinent music and song; woman announcer in English with "Listeners Choice" music program; by 1427 noted talking in English. 9870, AIR (presumed); 1359-1427, Jan 8; subcontinent music and song; sign-on at ToH of CRI in English, much stronger than AIR; seemed to be in vernacular (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR looking for reception reports for DRM Test to UK/Europe. All Indian Radio is looking for reception reports for DRM test transmission towards UK & West Europe: Frequency: 9950 kHz Service: GOS-IV/ HINDI/GOS-V Time: 1745 - 2230 UTC (2315-0400 IST) Target/ Coverage Area: UK & WEST EUROPE Parameters: POWER: 50 kW (7 dB below the original analog power) MODE: B QAM: 64 INTERLEAVE: L PROTECTION RATIO: 0.6 Reception reports to: (Alokesh Gupta, India, DXindia Jan 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) 9950, DRM ID "HPT AIR Khampur" could be traced on Perseus set at 1940 UT, poor 8.5 dB SNR. But unfortunately no program decoding level of - 85 dBm. Few broken audio with many dropouts noted later, when used the bandpass filter, at 11.9 dB SNR. 1745-2230 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 3, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 9 via DXLD) 9470.047 AIR National channel Aligarh at 1345 UT, S=6 approx. -90 dBm. (Büschel, Jan 7, ibid.) Hi Wolfgang, Thanks for posting your observations on AIR DRM transmissions. Some of the DXers from Delhi visited the AIR Khampur site last Sunday. It was a nice tour around the site. The official inauguration of DRM transmitter is on next Friday (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Jan 9, ibid.) DRM transmitter service inauguration --- After a series of tests amd trials for last 2 years DRM facility at All India Radio, Khampur transmitter site will be officially inaugurated on 16th Jan (Fri) by CEO, Prasar Bharati. As per sources, two more SW transmitters each at Khampur & Aligarh will be converted for DRM Transmission very soon (Alokesh Gupta, DXindia Jan 9, ibid.) ** INDIA. Revamp AIR news timings --- The All India Radio is India's first electronic broadcasting station that has penetration to almost entire nation. However, the time schedule of the news being broadcast at the station should be revived to compete in growing electronic news market . . . http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=155737 (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. RRI Makassar missing from 4750, Jan 9 at 1421 check, while 4790 Fak2 was fairly audible amid CODAR with pop music. No other 60m Indos heard either. Some 23 hours later there was a weak signal on 4790, but still no 4750 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9525.889, peak of V. of Indonesia 'visible' on Perseus screen. At 1300-1400 UT S=6 at -91 dBm (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Title: INTERPRETATION OF THE EXTRAGALACTIC RADIO BACKGROUND. Authors: M. Seiffert, D. J. Fixsen, A. Kogut, S. M. Levin, M. Limon, P. M. Lubin, P. Mirel, J. Singal, T. Villela, E. Wollack, C. A. Wuensche (Submitted on 5 Jan 2009) Astrophysics Abstract: We use absolutely calibrated data between 3 and 90 GHz from the 2006 balloon flight of the ARCADE 2 instrument, along with previous measurements at other frequencies, to constrain models of extragalactic emission. Such emission is a combination of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) monopole, Galactic foreground emission, the integrated contribution of radio emission from external galaxies, any spectral distortions present in the CMB, and any other extragalactic source. After removal of estimates of foreground emission from our own Galaxy, and the estimated contribution of external galaxies, we present fits to a combination of the flat-spectrum CMB and potential spectral distortions in the CMB. We find 2 sigma upper limits to CMB spectral distortions of mu < 5.8 x 10^{-5} and Y_ff < 6.2 x 10^{-5}. We also find a significant detection of a residual signal beyond that which can be explained by the CMB plus the integrated radio emission from galaxies estimated from existing surveys. After subtraction of an estimate of the contribution of discrete radio sources, this unexplained signal is consistent with extragalactic emission in the form of a power law with amplitude 1.06 \pm 0.11 K at 1 GHz and a spectral index of -2.56 \pm 0.04 (via Eike Bierwirth, HCDX via DXLD) Well, it seems these guys are looking for a serious QSL address. If you want to get this into your logbook too, then all it takes is getting a 3-90 GHz receiver with liquid-Helium cooling at the top of the atmosphere (and a little sophisticated signal analysis). Full article at http://arxiv.org/abs/0901.0559 Good DX, (Eike Bierwirth, CO, ibid.) I'm sure China has already occupied most of the bandwidth up there, Eike! LOL 73 de (Al Muick, Afghanistan, ibid.) Or try this version: NASA BALLOON MISSION TUNES IN TO A COSMIC RADIO MYSTERY Thursday, January 8, 2009 5:09 PM Listening to the early universe just got harder. A team led by Alan Kogut of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., today announced the discovery of cosmic radio noise that booms six times louder than expected. The finding comes from a balloon-borne instrument named ARCADE, which stands for the Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission. In July 2006, the instrument launched from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, and flew to an altitude of 120,000 feet, where the atmosphere thins into the vacuum of space. ARCADE's mission was to search the sky for heat from the first generation of stars. Instead, it found a cosmic puzzle. "The universe really threw us a curve," Kogut says. "Instead of the faint signal we hoped to find, here was this booming noise six times louder than anyone had predicted." Detailed analysis ruled out an origin from primordial stars or from known radio sources, including gas in the outermost halo of our own galaxy. The source of this cosmic radio background remains a mystery. . . http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/42382/NASA_Balloon_Mission_Tunes_in_to_a_Cosmic_Radio_Mystery.html (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. TRUCKER NETWORK DROPS XM FOR IPHONES -- - I suspect they are the first of many syndicated radio shows that will eventually be available via iPhone and other 3G phones: http://www.midnighttrucking.com/Article.asp?id=1082043&spid= (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17 http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/ Jan 6, ABDX via DXLD) ** IRAN. Another check of VIRI`s Russian service on 9575, Jan 9 at 1429 musical prélude, 1430 ID as Govorit Iran, Golos Isl. Resp. Iran, which almost saves me from trying to figure out or mess up the Russian declensions. Mandatory Qur`an segment, where there is anything but separation between mosque and state, lasted only 70 seconds from 1431:30, making it seem quite perfunctory, even on a Friday, so some progress is being made. Good signal but with flutter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. Re 9-003: ``I checked for Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 6115 kHz, via Lithuania, but nothing there at 2005 UT, same yesterday. VOIRI propagating well here into West Midlands on 6010 (Chris Lewis, England, Jan 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Yes, IRIB relays missed on Jan 1 - 4, but noted French service on 6115 kHz again yesterday Jan 5th. Needs more investigation. Also pop music station Mighty KBC on 6055 2130- UT noted on past days. wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1442, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see LITHUANIA ** ISRAEL. 6379, 4XZ Israeli Navy heard with CW marker at 0050 on 07 Jan. CW marker as VVV DE 4XZ 4XZ BT BT. Fair sigs. 73 de (Al Muick, Kabul, Afghanistan, WinRadio G303e, 200m Longwire/Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. Additional WORLD OF RADIO repeat on Saturday to EU over IRRS-Shortwave --- Glenn, just a quick note: we have just added one repeat of your program each Sat (except the 1st in the month) on 9510 at 10:05 CET (0900 [sic] UT, winter) effective today. Radio Joystick is on the air for the whole hour from 0900-1000 UT each first Sat in the month. Updated program schedule at: http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/IRRS-SW-program-schedule.html We are on the air each Saturday from 1000-1100 on 9510 kHz to Europe UT since Jan. 3, 2009. Hope you can enjoy the additional free run - Take care, (Alfredo E. Cotroneo, CEO, NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association, Jan 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks much; unfortunately, news came too late to publicize this week; 0900 or 0905? Here is the full hour schedule from website above, CET!: 10:00 Streaming + 9510 kHz English **SIGN-ON** 10:00 Streaming + 9510 kHz English IPAR - World of Radio (repeat) 10:30 Streaming + 9510 kHz English IPAR - DX Party Line (repeat) 10:45 Streaming + 9510 kHz English IPAR - 39 Dover Street (poetry) (repeat) (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN. 9310, YFR Burmese service via Almaty Nikolayevka, distorted satellite audio feed with lots of dropouts. Noted 1300-1400 UT at S=9+10dB signal (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 8 via DXLD) ** KENYA. KBC is definitely off SW altogether. I drove to the Langata SW transmitting station on the outskirts of Nairobi and found that it was still there. (I would not have been surprised if the site had been redeveloped for housing.) I couldn't stay long but someone on the gate confirmed to me that the station was no longer operating. The KBC Eastern regional service (which had been carried on 4915) is now only aired via local MW opt-outs in the evening on 639 and 1305 (usually the English service). The KBC Central regional service transmitter on 1269 has closed. The service is now only aired via a morning and evening opt-out on 747 (usually the English service). All other listed MWs were heard, including Malindi 927, which has been reactivated. Malindi 1044 remains off the air. Garissa 567 and 639 are active, but irregular. A recently-leaked report by the official audit office says the KBC is technically insolvent and cannot afford to repay huge loans it has taken out or to pay statutory deductions such as VAT (sales tax), PAYE (payroll tax) and pensions. The expansion of private FM stations continues. Nairobi alone now has more than 40 FM stations. The KBC has surrendered some of its FM frequencies in Nairobi to make way for private stations (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Shiokaze, 5910 via Japan, Jan 9 at 1417 with tearful tale by a YL in Japanese, no doubt about a relative being kidnapped by the North Koreans, with constant piano music undercurrent. So not English on this Friday as it has been mostly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. [Re 9-003:] “VOICE OF AMERICA” SENDING UNFILTERED KOREAN LANGUAGE BROADCAST (PROGRAMS)… MAY AFFECT TENSENESS BETWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTH. [ 2009-01-02 07:32:57 ] No Cut News - Pak Se-gyeong Reporter VOA's (Voice of America) Korean language broadcast (program) inaugurated a medium wave transmission for the North (note: North Korea) through a domestic radio broadcast (station) from the (beginning of) the New Year but putting that aside, it is noted that this is a violation of the broadcast law. This re-transmission of VOA has come about through the domestic conservative Christian medium FEBC (Far East Broadcasting) (AM 1188 kHz), and is broadcast daily at 10:30 PM to midnight for residents in North Korea as the principle listeners. The broadcast program on the first day consisted of World News and News Panorama, a broadcast (program) dealing with the political situation on the Korean Peninsula, and a special New Year’s program but in the process, it was transmitted unfiltered even with VOA’s call sign. Foreign broadcast operators can re-transmit (their programs) through domestic cable operators and satellite broadcast operators, but in clause 2 of 3 in Article 61 of the current Broadcasting Law Act, there is no regulation providing for terrestrial broadcasters (to do the same.) In connection with this, Pak Seong-mun a research member of the Northeast Asia Broadcasting Institute, a reception and research organization that specializes in broadcasts to the North, in a telephone interview brought up that re-transmitting VOA through domestic terrestrial radio broadcast (stations) is not a clear violation in the relevant law and (its) regulations. He also pointed out that in the case of the domestic consignment broadcasting of VOA, things such as the transmission of individual overseas programs and the relaying of an hour long program for one day does not apply to the rebroadcast exception regulations in the Broadcast Law Act. In case that the VOA’s domestic consignment transmissions continues, the controversy of violating the law would of course be seen to have an impact on the strained inter-Korean relationship and would make things difficult. Meanwhile, in the case of domestic civilian broadcasts to North Korea, (domestic broadcasters) have been requesting domestic transmissions since the beginning of the new administration but it has not come about because it does not meet the requirements of the radio wave and broadcasting laws. (NOTE: the phrase consignment transmission is similar to brokered programming) (Bill Harms, Elkridge MD, Jan 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx, Bill, who used to live in South Korea and knows the language. I assume it be clear by now that this was not a one-off, as suggested above (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Glenn: It is a more or less literal translation. Koreans tend to leave out words that we would put in, so the words in parenthesis are words that I added for clarity. Basically, there [are] people in South Korea who are afraid of offending their brothers in the North and so there is a reluctance to allow other countries to broadcast to the North in Korean from South Korea. The rest is self-explanatory in the translation. (And yes, it might not be a violation of the broadcast law, but then again it might. It just depends on who has the bigger political pull.) (Bill Harms, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am now listening to FEBC's 1188 kHz Seoul transmitter rebroadcasting VoA in Korean. They went right from their Chinese-language programming between 1230 and 1330z into VoA Korean at 1330 (1/9). Signals: 55244 (ballast QRM). No apparent NK jamming. NK (presumably it's them doing it) employs a bubble jammer against KBS's Social Education Network programs on 972 kHz. Here in the southeast corner of the country, the jammer is usually way down below KBS on that frequency (Steven Zimmerman, Ulsan, South Korea, Yaesu FT-817/60m dipole on roof, fed with twisted pair and balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checked at 0155 UT Jan 10, 1188 STILL not added to sked: http://www.voanews.com/english/about/frequenciesAtoZ_k.cfm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ASIA [non] 1350 ** KURDISTAN [non]. 11530, Jan 9 at 1455 with traditional music, 1457 into modern music, 1458 clear ID as ``Denge Mezopotamya``, surprise early timesignal around 1459:40 and off. At 1503 checked 7540 and heard very poor signal, presumably its scheduled successor via Ukraine (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. 6130, LNR; 1416-1431, Jan 9 (Fri.); in English and Laotian ("New Dynamic English") with Kathy and Max teaching about family relationships and looking for a vegetarian restaurant; 1431 back to all Laotian programming and SE Asia music and songs; poor-fair with moderate QRM from PBS Xizang, which recently has become more of a problem for LNR reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. I sent a report to Voice of Africa using following address. English Service Voice of Africa P. O. Box 4677 Soug al Jama Tripoli Libya They responded in about eight weeks with a package of literature, a couple of post cards, a blank report form, but no QSL. The package had really nice stamps on it. 73 (Joe Wood, Greenback, TN, USA. Jan 9, HCDX via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. Saludos cordiales, hoy 10 de enero a las 2115, observo que el servicio en español de VOIRI por 6055 vía Lituania está sin emisión; por otra parte en 7130 via Irán con buena señal. Así cómo en 7350. En la página web de VOIRI siguen anunciando esta frecuencia. Desde las 2120 se aprecia en 6055 una portadora sin señal, minutos antes no estaba, me pregunto si el servicio de KBC Radio se emitirá hoy. [luego:] A las 2130 inicia emisión KBC Radio (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, missed IRIB French at 1845 UT today, 6115 too. Lease payment delay? (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Russian 1430-1527 was also absent on 3960 yesterday (Serghey Nikishin, Moscow, Russia, Jan 11, ibid.) ** MADAGASCAR. Confirmed active on 3288, 5010 and 6135. 3288 and 5010 were heard in parallel in the evenings. As others have reported, 5010 was heard sometimes in USB+carrier mode. However, it was also heard at least once in conventional DSB mode. (Thorsten Hallmann notes that, when in DSB mode, 5010 is slightly off- channel.) 6135 is slightly off-channel. On one occasion I heard a station on 7105 at 1130 but it was too weak to confirm whether it was Madagascar, which is listed on that frequency. Checking 9690 regularly, I heard Voice of Nigeria, rather than Madagascar, also listed on that channel (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 5030, RTM Sarawak, Kuching, 1040-1110, Dec 29, Recitation of the Kor`an, time signal at 1100, talk (presumably news) in Bidayuh(?). ID at 1106 and 1109 as "Radio RTM Kuala Lumpur", 55444 with very strong signal. // 7130, and // 101.5MHz FM also very well (Nobuya Kato, Fujisawa-city, Kanagawa, Japan visiting Brunei, DSWCI DX Window Jan 7 via DXLD) So there at least, it can override Beijing (gh) ** MALAYSIA. 9750, V. of Malaysia, Kajang, 1202-1225, Jan 3, Indonesian. M with talk and pop music/ballads; "Suara Malaysia" ID jingle at 1204; fair-good! First Malaysian logged here in quite some time (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, RX350D, CLR/DSP, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. 5995, RTVM, 0745-0759*, Jan 9, French talk. Some local guitar music. Sign off with flute IS. Fair, but co-channel QRM from Radio Australia at their 0758 sign on (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. 9635, RTVM, *0800-0828, Jan 9, sign on with flute IS & opening French ID announcements. Some local string music at 0801. Vernacular talk at 0802. Local guitar music at 0825. Rustic vocals. “Radio Mali” ID. Fair. Weak // 7284.58 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 4845, RTV Mauritanie (Nouakchott), 2335-2345, 1/7/2009, Arabic. Talk by man, occasionally joined by other men. Good signal with substandard audio. SINPO 43333. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6104.81, Candela FM, Mérida 0022 to 0030 mention of "Instituto de ... en México " less distorted signal 3 January (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach Florida, R8 746Pro, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It is no longer relaying Candela FM, so just call it XEQM (gh, DXLD) Agradecimiento --- Estimados Todos, Sirva este correo, para agradecer a todos los que han acompañado a Radio México internacional con su sintonía en las pasadas semanas y en estos días, el esfuerzo no ha sido fácil, aunque no sea palpable por todos ustedes, pero les comparto; he pasado por diferentes problemas que se han sorteado para continuar con la señal activa para todos ustedes que se han identificado con esta señal, y que se acompañan de ella en sus actividades diarias o en sus hogares. En respuesta a su escucha, les reitero mi esfuerzo por mantener la señal activa y que estén acompañados y acompañen a la estación, y a quienes estén fuera del territorio mexicano, gracias por simpatizar con nuestras costumbres. Estoy trabajando en algunas sorpresas que se estarán pasando en horarios variados y de momento no notificados para que sean sorpresa a su sintonía. Nuevamente muchas gracias por valorar este esfuerzo y compromiso. Saludos Fraternos (Ing. José Antonio Martínez Sánchez, XE1A, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Fine with RMI above, but for those who would like to hear broadcasts from Mexico in English, I remind you of Living in Mexico, which I just listened to today Saturday Jan 10 at 1600-1700 via webcast, for LIVING IN MEXICO, as entered in our MONITORING REMINDERS CALENDAR. Also Sundays at same time; see http://www.imagen.com.mx/profile/living_in_mexico_(eng)/44 where there is a 2-month audio archive and link to blog of the host Ana María Salazar. Imagen also has a 6(?) day-per-week Mexican news semihour at 0500 and 1130 UT, which does not seem to be mentioned on the website but was reconfirmed by AMS plug. Most of the commercials in the weekly show are in Spanish, so it seems they are not prepared to go that far in English, but at least the show remains sponsored and has lasted for some years now. Times above are subject to usual DST shifts, one UT hour earlier non-winter, which don`t exactly match US change dates. These originate from a real DF radio station, XEDA-90.5, which we have DXed directly many times in the past, but only during Spanish. Imagen also has a national network as shown here: http://www.imagen.com.mx/cobertura and some of the stations as indicated in the right column also carry the English shows (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 7260, Mongolian Radio HS-2 Ulaanbataar, 1145-1200, Jan 5, listed Mongolian. Snatches of exotic music and talk; poking thru band QRN; distinct IS at 1158; very poor (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, RX350D, CLR/DSP, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mongolian National Radio, 7260 kHz, full/data “Voice of Mongolia Winter reindeer pulling sleigh” QSL card, letter, and travel brochure from Mrs. Densmaa, Mail Editor, Voice of Mongolia, in 14 weeks (Allan Loudell, DE, Jan CIDX Messenger via DXLD) See also VANUATU, PFM ** MOROCCO. Seldom strong heard here in southern Germany, because Nador signal leaves eastwards to ARS, EGY, SDN, and ETH direction. 15340 RTVM via Nador in Arabic, scheduled 09-15 UT, today S=7-8 at 1240 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5770, Myanmar Defense Forces BS via Taunggyi; 1438-1528*, Jan 9; in vernacular; "Here Comes Santa Claus" sung in vernacular, along with EZL pop songs; indigenous music at sign-off; mostly fair and enjoyable listening (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Nace un nuevo programa en RN: Al Día --- InformaRN 06-01-2009 La programación de Radio Nederland registrará algunos cambios a partir de este martes con la salida al aire del primer magazín ‘Al día', que tendrá también una emisión los miércoles. Este nuevo espacio reemplaza, por ahora, a los programas ‘Con Acento Holandés' y ‘Estación Europa'. Resto del extenso artículo en el siguiente enlace: http://www.informarn.nl/programas/programassemanales/act090106-cambio-programacion Cordialmente, (via Tomás Méndez, El Prat de Llobregat-Barcelona España, Jan 5, logsderadio yg via DXLD) ** NEW CALEDONIA. [ICDX] New Caledonia FM Es DX Bandscan A forwarded message from the ICDX list - Todd Emslie's reception in Sydney, Australia of various FM stations from New Caledonia. Excellent video of his XDR-F1HD in action (Curtis Sadowski, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) To facilitate identification, I decided to record FM DX audio direct to DVD. The audio output of the Sony XDR-F1HD was fed direct into the Sony DVD recorder via one RCA lead. The video was fed via a Sony digital camera. This is now my preferred method of recording FM DX openings. Most of NCL signals were stronger on vertical polarisation. Some semi-local and local signals were briefly tuned in order to provide a reference for the XDR-F1HD high DSP filter selectivity. Most of the NCL signals were 100 kHz adjacent to strong signals. The stations featured in the bandscan include: 90.0 RFO Noumea 91.0 RF0 93.0 RFI 93.5 NRJ Noumea 95.0 Radio Oc?ane FM 96.0 Djiido 96.1 Blue Mountains (local signal) 97.3 Illawarra (semi-local) cricket 98.0 Radio Rythme Bleu 99.0 Radio Rythme Bleu 101.0 Radio Rythme Bleu 103.0 Radio Djiido http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=67x8v1Mp8OU&feature=channel_page (Todd Emslie, Sydney NSW, ICDX via Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. CKZN – CBC Labrador Network, 6160 kHz, partial/data “Newfoundland & Labrador contour map” QSL folder cards in 10 weeks and in 5 weeks from Happy Valley address, for mint stamps (Allan Loudell, DE, Jan CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. 1-Jan-09 // 2125 UT // 13270 (USB) // Volmet Gander Radio // Unknown power // Gander, Newfoundland // Male with "This is Gander Radio." Into wx report for Winnipeg. // Good signal strength. MP3 clip available here: http://www.21centimeter.com/21centimeter/Recordings/13270-khz_2125-UTC_1-1-09_Volmet_Gander_Newfoundland.mp3 Rgds, (Pete Jernakoff, K3KMS, Wilmington, northern DE, ABDX via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI missing from 6170, Jan 8 at 1403 and still missing at 1446 when I also checked several other possible frequencies in case they got stuck on one of them: 7145, 9615, 9655, 9765, 11675, 11725, 13660, but those were either empty or occupied by other stations. RA was audible poorly on 5995, 6080, 7240, so RNZI should have been detectable on 6170 if on the air. Then I check the website and find this notice which almost accounts for the absence: ``Transmitter Maintenance 07 Jan, 2009 20:49 UTC --- There may be interruptions to our short-wave broadcasts on Thursday 8 January from 1045-1800 NZDT (2145-0500 UTC)``. BTW, this also gives me a chance to point out an annoying matter of style I am frequently correcting as I edit: if you write ``from`` before a pair of times, you should also write the word ``to`` between the times. If you are going to put a hyphen between them, you should write the word ``at`` before them. I suspect people who mix the two are subvocalizing and convert the ``-`` into ``to`` without thinking of how it looks in print (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Missing the day before, RNZI was back on 6170, Jan 9 at 1411 check with usual coastal weather details. Also heard Jan 10 after 1305 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Both Kaduna stations (4770 and 6090) were heard. 4770 has news in English at 0500. 6090 was heard after co-channel Ethiopia closed at 0600 (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) 4770, R. Nigeria, Kaduna. January 8, English, 0540 repetitive tribal music, OM short talks returning music, 0545 guitar jazz as bridge to YL segment, male and female alternating till 0600. CODAR QRM 22322 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4770, Radio Nigeria (Kaduna), 0603-0611, 1/7/2009, English. News read by man and woman, sometimes joined by field reporters. Identification by man at 0611. Decent signal strength with rather poor audio. SINPO 34333. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6090, Radio Nigeria (very tentative), Kaduna; 0352-0410, Jan 9; Anguilla not heard till after a check at 0502, so was able to hear possibly Nigeria (would they be on at this time?) with non-stop repetitive music and mixing with station in Portuguese (probably R. Bandeirantes, on 6089.94); Nigeria also on the low side of 6090; poor, but still nice to hear something other than Anguilla (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 15120, Voice of Nigeria (Ikorodu), 1856-1905, 1/7/2009, English. Commentary by woman. Identification and schedule at 1857, followed by pop music. Identification and news at 1900. Moderate signal, improving in strength over time. SINPO 34333. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. KANO STATE 2009 BUDGET INCLUDES PURCHASE OF 500 KW AM TRANSMITTERS --- The 2009 proposed budget speech by His Excellency Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, the Executive Governor Of Nigeria’s Kano State, included the following provisions for broadcasting: 253 megaNaira (US$5.4 million) for The Kano State Radio Corporation for services and projects which include the purchase of 500 kW/AM transmitters, rehabilitation of the Takuntawa stations and burnt down Jogana Transmitter and procurement of spare parts. Kano State Television Corporation has been allocated the sum of 94.2 million Naira (US$687,000) for its activities which include establishment of automatic uplink for coverage of external occasions, television village and rehabilitation of offices and studios. (Source: Triumph)(January 6th, 2009 - 16:05 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) How many? Obviously at least two, which should be plenty, but maybe a dozen? (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Greetings Glenn, Just listened to Spanish on WKY late Wednesday afternoon; they were ESPN earlier during the day. It is very sad a legendary station can`t survive. I believe a unique format would work, but terrestrial radio doesn`t get it. Oh well, thanks for your time (Bill Eckart, OK, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The once-venerable WKY-930 OKC, has gone Spanish --- again, after another failed format in English, sports talk. Tnx to a tip from Bill Eckart, who first noticed it the afternoon of January 7. I`ve yet to monitor the details, but the last time they did this, it only lasted a few months, and was an FM simulcast. The following rant, originally aired on KWTV-9 in 2006, might as well have been written today, January 8, 2009: MY TWO CENTS: RADIO STATION ENDS ERA By Kelly Ogle, Published: January 25, 2006 http://masterweb1.newsok.com/my-two-cents-radio-station-ends-era/article/1742552 I'm deeply saddened by the demise of an Oklahoma Legend that has played an important part in my family for nearly 50 years. WKY Radio signed on in 1922, but now the first station west of the Mississippi, has gone south of the border. The station recently dropped its talk format and is now simulcasting a Spanish Language station. It may make more sense on the bottom line, but it seems strange to longtime Oklahoma residents. E.K. Gaylord bought WKY in the '20s and into the '70s, it was THE station. Walter Cronkite and Curt Gowdy were on WKY early on. My dad did the news and OU football at WKY in the '60s and '70s, me and my brother both anchored there. But starting in the '70s you couldn't win with music on the AM dial so WKY underwent a series of facelifts from Top 40 to Country, to Christian to Talk never with much success. They went TALK way too late - should've when I worked there in the '80s before KTOK grabbed the market with Rush Limbaugh and other nationally syndicated talkers. WKY's recent attempt to counter program with LOCAL talk was admirable, but too little too late. So now it's gone Spanish. Will it work? I don't know, can't blame them for trying, being nostalgic doesn't pay the bills. But in my mind this marks the end of a radio era in Oklahoma City, and maybe the beginning of another. I'm Kelly Ogle and that's My 2 Cents (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WKY 930 OKC is now ``La Indomable 930 AM, con la mejor música regional mexicana en todo el estado de Oclajoma``, an exaggeration, as daytime coverage does not really reach the four corners of the state with any significant signal. Also claiming 5 times the power as before, so where did this format move from, a 1 kW station? ID as heard 1720 UT January 9. 930 sounds like local origination and not an FM simulcast; until a 1731 plug for a show on La Indomable 105.3! Which I cannot get in Enid, at least not on a portable to confirm whether //. 105.3 is KINB Kingfisher, NW of OKC, which has only 0.93 kW ERP, so they are comparing FM and AM powers which are in reality Incomparables. Tigermap 60 dBu coverage not working, but region map shows site is due east of Okarche, the next town S of Kingfisher, making an upright isosceles triangle with Kingfisher, and putting it a bit closer to NW OKC. Anyhow, coverage of 930 AM is much greater for those wishing to listen to AM. The IDs only mention 930 AM so maybe the 105.3 promo was a leftover. $$ trumps language as an ad in English for Turbotax ran at 1732 UT, and Spanglish is also OK. Just before 1801 UT ran legal ID in Spanish but with calls pronounced in English, ``WKY, Oklahoma City`` and una emisora de Citadel Broadcasting Company. A post on the OKCTalk board Dec 23 by Nermel said ``According to the radio-info.com boards, 930 & 105.3 will swap. Basically the ESPN programming will be on 105.3 and the regional Mexican on 930.`` On the radio-info.com board itself we find these: ESPN RADIO SPANISH ON 105.3 AND LA INDOMABLE MUSIC ON 930 on: January 07, 2009, 01:37:48 pm » The Switch has happened (Watercooler) Ceeeeee Senor! Circus hits continue on 930 and 105.3 is the new home of mexi sports. Not a bad idea, except I don't know if many of the musica audience will move over to AM. Something tells me 106.7 won this one (OKCradioguy, ibid.) 106.7 has been winning this one for quite some time. KINB 105.3 doesn't have the signal to be competitive. WKY has a much better signal, but, as you mentioned, it's on AM. Hispanics listen to AM less than the general population. So, it's definitely an uphill fight (Kent, ibid.) Exactly, Kent. There is a very big misconception that Mexicans will listen to AM. Truth is in many markets (OKC included) the first Spanish language station in the market was on AM. Like the rest of us they'd rather have FM fidelity so 106.7 was and still is a big hit. Too bad 105.3 couldn't have gotten another signal south to pair up with somehow. The idea of running Spanish sports is pretty unique and progressive. Hopefully that will work out for them (OKCRadioguy, ibid.) Glenn, when I lived in SE Kansas east of Iola, WKY-930 was in all day there 24/7/365 with a listenable signal; I don't know what your threshold of "significant" is, of course, but I wonder if their signal has degraded since the '70's? I seldom hear them in Topeka now except at SSS times and almost never at night because of other skywave signals. "Indomable", indeed - ha! And because my radio shack is in an unheated room (except in the summertime, lol) I put off recording the 1120 station in Catoosa; I hope they get their problems fixed by the time the weather warms up! -pls. (Paul Swearingen, Topeka KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not to be funny, but doesn't "La Indomable" mean "the abominable"? as in snowman?? (Steven Wiseblood, TX, ABDX via DXLD) Well, no: my Random House Spanish/English dixionary translates it as: untamable; invincible; indomitable; ungovernable, unmanageable. Then English/Spanish translates abominable as: abominable, aborrecible; repugnante, execrable; inf. Horrible. You would think the word would be indominable, but too much of a tongue-twister, supongo. Oooh, tnx for making me go to the ABDX yg website to reply rather than the digest lacking your illustration. Pleased to have provided an excuse for it, even tho misunderstood. 73, (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. I just tuned the radio and found KOKC 1520 Oklahoma City fighting and dominating over WWKB [Buffalo NY]! A nice personal first. In a brief listening period this morning KOKC was the star catch. Around 0930 there was very little MW DX audible & regular stations like CFRB & WBBR were noticeably poor. However strangely KOKC appeared dominant on 1520 at 0933 with several clear IDs. Very odd conditions, 73s (Steve Whitt, York, England, Jan 5, MWC via DXLD) not on DA? (gh) Steve, I was also monitoring 1520 kHz this morning, and KOKC came on top of WWKB at 0933 here as well for some fine IDs. 73s (Martin A. Hall, Clashmore, Scotland. Perseus SDR, NRD-545, RPA-1 preamp, MFJ- 1026 phaser (modified), beverages: 490m at 233 degrees, unterminated; 500m at 279 degrees, terminated; 545m at 338 degrees, terminated; 50m at 321 degrees, unterminated. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/clashmoreradio/ ibid.) For the past couple of nights up here in the Boston area, 50 kW blowtorch 1520-KOKC Oklahoma City has been under Buffalo's WWKB, with "Midnight Trucking Radio Network" and now "America in the morning". Using day pattern? (~Kaimbridge~ M. GoldChild, Jan 7, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KEOR-1120 Catoosa still missing Jan 9 at 1717 UT check. Quick caradio monitoring check while visiting OKC Jan 7: RBN far-right pirate on 107.1 still on the air with good coverage, but new KNID North Enid takes over not far north of OKC. 99.7, still no sign of (KZLS) hijacked from Enid to ``Mustang``, just the gospel-huxter translator K259AM which FMedia! says will become K261DP on 100.1 instead (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. For the first time in the months since I`ve been observing KFOR-DT-27.2, no continuous weather from the NBC service, but instead something about stupid ballgames; bug in upper right is E/I, or is it E/1? Subtitles show SST, which may be program name. This is full screen, no surrounding weather info. Sat Jan 10 at 1535 UT. Is there anything about this change at http://www.kfor.com ? Of course not! We can hope it`s only a temporary Saturday aberration. Yes: back to weather at next check 1803 UT as KOCO.2 is into a rare sports show but still with weather on part of the screen. Quick, look up the 4.2 listings in Titan! Whaddya know, still claims ``4 Warn Forecast Channel`` at this time! I am NOT surprised, as Titan listings have never caught up with the OETA subchannel changes a year ago! Still shows KETA-DT-32 with 4 channels, but ``programming unavailable`` on all but the main channel, while in fact there is only one extra channel, OKLA, and its programming is readily available from OETA. Also shows KOCB 34.2 ``off the air``, which has always been the case. Does that mean it ever existed? O well, we still have constant weather on KOCO-DT-7.2, from Accuweather, altho it seems more rudimentary than before in grafix and periodically plugging into NWS audio, also alternating with loops from own weathercreature (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALESTINE [and non]. GAZA MEDIA UPDATE Jan 8, lots and lots: http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=5600 Plus linx to previous updates; look for future ones nearby (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALESTINE [non]. 9505, IRAN, V. of Palestine, heard at 0410 on 08 Jan with Arabic talk and interviews. Really strange audio, like it was run through a flanger or was demod'ed SSB. Lots of millisecond breaks in the audio as well. Maybe one of their feeds was acting up. Otherwise great sigs (hell, they're right next door!). (Al Muick, Kabul, Afghanistan, WinRadio G303e, 200m Longwire/Randomwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UNIDENTIFIED 5815, Al Aqsa relays! ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3905, R. New Ireland, aus Kavieng, Papua war heute wieder gegen 20 Uhr UT kurz zu hoeren. Der Traeger war schon seit 1925 UT zu sehen, das Signal aber erst seit 1945 sehr schwach zu hoeren. Exakt um 1959 UT war das Programm auch halbwegs verstaendlich zu hoeren um gegen 2015 UT wieder in den Weiten des suedlichen Pazifiks zu verschwinden (Christoph Ratzer, Austria, Jan 4, A-DX via BCDX Jan 9 via DXLD) ** PERU. 3280, R. Ilucán, musicals with s[inging?] IDs and ads, in Spanish, 0140 UT 15 Nov, SIO 322 (Mr Robin Tancoo, Fyzabad, Trinidad, by P-mail postmarked 23 Dec 2008, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Intriguing, as WRTH 2009 shows this frequency *inactive, previously reported on 5678, where it had a pretty good signal, as I recall some years ago. Have not seen any other reports of this being active on 3280, and unfortunately it`s almost two months later when this reaches us, but please check it out. The known active station on 3280v is La Voz del Napo, Ecuador, but he does report an ID for Ilucán (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3329.53, Ondas del Huallaga, Huánuco with música rápida de flauta andina, OM ID and mix of music 0015 to 0020 3 January. 1020 to 1050 fade program of OM talk with very little music, 7 January. 4857.39, Radio La Hora, Cusco, 2310 OM with frequency and time given, good signal 1 January (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach Florida, R8 746Pro, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4790, R. Atlántida, Iquitos, 2308-2345 Nov 10, spectacular program of música del campo; M announcer in Spanish with clear `R. Atlántida` ID at 2320; unlike noted in [DSWCI] DBS-10, audio was outstanding; the huaynos completely filled the room and were an absolute joy to listen to; in the clear with an excellent 40-60 dB signal (Richard Parker, Pennsburg PA, Collins 51S-1, 51-X, R390A, SE3, antenna farm, Tropical Band Loggings, Jan NASWA Journal via DXLD) Irregular; great catch! (Scott Barbour, ed., ibid.) Without embargo, the Peruvian usually heard on 4790v is R. Visión in faraway Chiclayo, as in next item. See DXLD 8-126 and 8-127 re previous confusion over them (gh) 4790, Radio Visión (Chiclayo), 0450-0505, 1/6/2009, Spanish. Usual echoing religious talk by man. Talk by apparent second man at 0500 followed by discussion between man and woman. Moderate signal with CODAR and atmospheric noise. SINPO 32232. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4939.96, R. San Antonio, 1104-1115 10 Jan. Very nice nonstop tinkly OA camposina [sic] music. M part of one song shouting something mentioning Cusco and ??bamba. 1115-1119 announcement block; first, M with roomy audio and possible mention of onda corta; second, two men with what sounded like " ?? domingo.dia.radio.radio.Municipal Villa Atalaya.". 1119-1139 slow-talking live studio M with news (??). Mention of Perú. 1120 canned announcement, then live M again and possible mention of Villa Atalaya and Provincia. 1124 another canned ad, and then the live M returned of course. Could tell it was still going with talk by M at 1139, but it was gone for all intents and purposes a couple minutes later. Guwahati took over the frequency shortly later. Don't recall ever hearing this one before and surprised more DXers haven't reported it (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 15190, Radio Pilipinas; 1823-1833, Jan 6; in Tagalog and English; BoH ID; poor with QRM from weaker R. Africa (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. 13805-13810-13815, DRM, DWL/BBC Sines program in English, well decoded signal S=9+10 dB. Only 1-2 dropouts per minute. 18.7 dBm at 1330 UT, but also deep fades down to 6 dB SNR (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. RTP: Rádios online crescem 20% --- 2009/01/08 Carlos Martinho As rádios públicas online fecharam 2008 com mais de sete milhões e 200 mil contactos, um número que representa um crescimento de perto de 20% em relação ao ano homólogo, segundo dados do própria grupo RTP. A maior subida foi a da Antena 3, que subiu o número de contactos em 36% em relação a 2007, aproximando-se dos 3,5 milhões. Ainda de acordo com o grupo RTP, a Antena 1 registou um crescimento homólogo de 11%, ultrapassando a barreira dos 2 milhões de contactos web em 2008. A Antena 2 ultrapassou o meio milhão de contactos nos últimos 12 meses do ano, enquanto RDP África e RDP Internacional aproximaram-se dos 500 mil e 300 mil contactos, respectivamente. Finalmente, a Rádio Lusitânia, que emite em exclusivo para a internet, registou 60 mil ouvintes únicos em 2008. Fuente: BRIEFING http://www.jornalbriefing.iol.pt/noticia.php?id=1029936&div_id=3421 (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) Not including SW listeners! (gh) ** QATAR [non?]. Al Jazeera TV on MW in the Middle East. Hello DXers, I noticed a note on al Jazeera TV today 10/1/09 a note stating that they are transmitting on the MW frequency of 954; I picked them up yesterday around 2215 UT. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Jan 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) A temporary measure due to the Gaza situation? Co-opting QBS, for how much time? Or is there really any distinxion between QBS and Al- Jazeera ownership? 954 is of course the main QBS frequency, a direxional sesquimegawatt, that Al has trouble hearing in Kabul (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ownership-wise there is probably no big difference, but organizational-wise Al-Jazeera has presumably nothing to do with QBS. Quite interesting. And now rant-mode on: Is nobody making *radio* anymore? Is all they manage to do is putting TV audio on air when somebody feels that this time radio is necessary and satellite TV not enough?! The transmission facility is quite interesting: http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&hl=de&geocode=&ie=UTF8&ll=26.063954,51.086297&spn=0.014225,0.019312&t=h&z=16 Looks as if two completely independent complexes were built subsequently, with feed lines from the two transmitter buildings going out to only one antenna each. One consists of four lattice towers, the front ones carrying antenna cages while the two ones behind them appear to be just passive reflectors, an arrangement like in use at Haeju [KOREA] for 1080. The other system consists of five lattice towers in a line, it looks as if only one of them is being fed while the others are passive elements, but maybe it's in fact different. This system is reminiscent to the Duba site in Saudi-Arabia. Btw, TDP shows a 500 kW shortwave transmitter from Continental, delivered to Qatar in 1995. Has it ever been installed? I seem to recall that around this time the shortwave transmissions of QBS disappeared. Not much to see on the transmitter site, still in use for 675 and 1233 if it is indeed the same site: http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&hl=de&geocode=&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=25.403856,51.478586&spn=0.028609,0.038624&z=15 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Al Jazeera, Qatar TV, Qatar Radio, Aldawre TV and Alkass TV are all based on a single campus in near the Khalifa Flyover in Doha. Taxi drivers call the roundabout near the campus "Television Roundabout". The Qatar Broadcasting Service is at Coordinates: 25 18'47.55"N, 51 30'11.38"E. The Radio Studios for the Arabic and English programs are in the collection of buildings at Coordinates: 25 18'48"N, 51 30'9"E. The Sout Al Khaleej Studio (100.8 FM) is at Coordinates: 25 18'52"N, 51 30'4"E The QBS FM Studio is at the other end of the same building, Coordinates: 25 18'50"N, 51 30'6"E. The building at Coordinates: 25 18'54"N, 51 30'0"E is the Al Jazeera Arabic News Channel Studio. The newer building at 25 18'56.34"Nm 51 29'55.50"E is the Al Jazeera English News Channel Studio. The Qatar TV Studios are the buildings at Coordinates: 25 18'47"N, 51 29'58"E. The Al Jazeera Sports Channel is at Coordinates: 25 18'44"N, 51 29'55"E The Aldawre TV and Alkass TV studios are at Coordinates: 25 18'46"N, 51 30'2"E. So as you can see if you paste the coordinates into Google Earth or Google Maps, at least in a physical sense all the Qatar broadcast outlets are packed in together. For example to travel from the main Al Jazeera reception to the Al Jazeera Sports Channel studio you drive past all the Qatar TV buildings. One more thing... If you want to eyeball the Qatar Broadcasting Campus then this pasting this URL into a browser will make it a bit easier... http://wikimapia.org/#lat=25.317824&lon=51.496107&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2&show=/328496/TV-Roundabout-Doha-Qatar&search=Al%20Jazeera%2C%20Doha%2C%20Qatar This URL will place you at "Television Roundabout" in Google Maps. The campus to the southeast of the roundabout is the broadcasting centre. The buildings are all identified when you roll your mouse over them. I know this is a radio DXing message list (rather than a satellite DXing list), however this might be of interest... I receive almost all of the radio and television content from this campus here in Australia via various satellites, the official Qatar Broadcasting Services are on Asiasat 2, and a range of the Al Jazeeera services are on Asiasat 3 and Asiasat 2. Aldawre and Alkass are on Asiasat 2. I have video samples of many of the services on my website http://www.satdirectory.tv also some screen grabs can be seen on my other sister website http://www.satdirectory.com Cheers, (Mark Fahey, Sydney NSW, Jan 11, ibid.) This shorter URL might work better: http://tinyurl.com/a2wkqm (Larry Cunningham, ibid.) Re Gaza war. QATAR or SYRIA? Boel-Liste [954 kHz stations]: ISR - Reshet Qlita v'Aliya, Tel Aviv (50) - 24h QAT - QBS Arabic, Al Arish (2000 [sic]) - 0245-2130; antenna main beam: just south of west; SW parallel: 9570 [inactive?? --- gh] SYR - Radio Voice of the People (2nd px), North Syria - 0400-1600 TUR - TRT Trabzon Radio, Trabzon (300) - 0400-0800 (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LILSTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. RRI`s English broadcast at 1300-1400 is a loss lately, as 15105 not propagating Jan 10, and // 11970, covered by WYFR until its 1345*, when uncovered was quite weak compared to the Romanian language channel 11940 which continues past 1400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 13600: For the very first time I notice this often reported BUZZY sound from Moscow transmitter today. VOR, Russian service at 1315 UT, S=7-8 varying. 13755-13760-13765, DRM, V. of Russia's Russian service, in peaks up to 7.3 dB SNR, some Russian audio fragments, but now a lot of dropouts occur during winter propagation season. -97 dBm negative DRM impression today (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Pancho: A Late Obituary Francisco "Pancho" Rodríguez from the Spanish Service of the Voice of Russia Radio passed away in Moscow on December 11, 2008. He was well-known in the world DX-circles as a Frecuencia RM's host. This sad news didn't reach me in time so I am late with my obituary. But as someone who knew Pancho personally I feel that I have to put a few of my cherished memories of him in writing… I met Pancho first time sometime around 1988. As a teenager keenly interested in international broadcasting, I frequented Radio Moscow at 25 Pyatnitskaya Str. During one of my visits I was introduced to a Chilean émigré. His on-air name was Francisco Rodríguez but he liked everyone to call him Pancho. Only years later I found out that his real name was Juan Patricio Cortés. During Pinochet's years it wasn't safe for an émigré with relatives in Chile to use his real name in radio broadcasts from Moscow. At that time Pancho worked in the Chilean Service of Radio Moscow hosting ¡Escucha, Chile! broadcast and more hard-hitting Radio Magallanes. The original Radio Magallanes was a local Santiago station that carried the famous farewell speech of the deposed Chilean president Salvador Allende. The Soviet version of Radio Magallanes was a "surrogate station" that promoted a democratic change in Chile. When I met Pancho he already produced his weekly communications show Frecuencia RM. As you might guess RM stood for "Radio Moscú." After a brief conversation Pancho invited me to a studio to record a brief interview for his Frecuencia RM. Then he asked me to prepare a report about the DX-periodicals in the USSR. That was something unusual as for a long time in its DX-programs Radio Moscow didn't acknowledge DXing in the Soviet Union. All the focus was on the official ham-radio operators' movement. But in 1988 the times were already different so my reports were translated into Spanish and carried in Frecuencia RM. Pancho wisely decided not to mention that the publications that we discussed weren't registered. As samizdat, they would formally be considered illegal in the USSR. I guess Pancho liked what I prepared. He invited me to become Frecuencia RM's regular contributor or as he would introduce me on the air "nuestro corresponsal." In the next five years we would spend hours together working on programs and just talking. At a desk near studio and at R. Moscow's cafeteria we spoke about DXing and Frecuencia RM. We would also discuss politics, cultures, history and life in general. We always spoke in Russian. His Russian was far from perfect but still much better than my rudimentary Spanish. To me those were very memorable moments. - Before meeting Pancho I had never spoken to a foreigner. Slowly I learned about his life story. Before a Chilean coup of 9/11 (1973) Pancho was an industrial engineer student of the left political leanings traditional for Latin America. In his free time he enjoyed listening to various SW stations. I believe he was fascinated with DXing more than with Marxism. As a student he started working at three local radio stations dreaming of a career in international broadcasting. When Augusto Pinochet staged a coup in Chile, Pancho had to emigrate. That's how he found himself in Romania, one of the poorest socialist countries with a repressive regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. "Why did you go there?" – I asked Pancho. "When you are running for your life you are ready to settle for any country," – he replied. In Romania Pancho tried to get a job at Radio Bucharest but failed. He had to settle for a position of an engineer at a fruit processing factory. However, Pancho didn't give up his radio dream. He kept sending his demo tapes to various radio stations in the socialist countries. He wanted to broadcast to his people back in Chile. In the end his persistence paid out. In 1984 he was invited to work for the Chilean Service of Radio Moscow. He was 36 when he arrived to the USSR. Pancho didn't want to prepare only political programs and Frecuencia RM became his favorite pet project. It wasn't easy to push such a program concept through the extra vigilant editorial board but again Pancho refused to give up. The management didn't see a "propaganda value" in "promoting" other stations. (Not to mention that many of those stations were coming from the capitalist countries.) But Pancho prevailed. On October 25, 1986 the first Frecuencia RM went on the air. I can say that Pancho poured his heart into this project. Being a romantic and idealist, he believed that international radio with its open exchange of thoughts and ideas could make the world a better place. Frecuencia RM turned out to be a huge success. The mail response was phenomenal. In the end of the 1980s the Brazilian Service of Radio Moscow attempted to repeat this achievement by creating a similar program. But the project didn't last because it required a person of Pancho's caliber, knowledge and dedication. For Pancho radio wasn't just about writing a good script and recording a flawless broadcast. He enjoyed personally communicating with his listeners. At that time it was mostly done by means of postal mail. He'd personally QSL all correct reception reports of Frecuencia RM. Contrary to R. Moscow's policies of that time, he even sent QSLs to Soviet DXers. He was also known for constantly "disturbing" the managers with his funding requests for new QSL cards, station stickers, pennants, etc. A few years after coming to the USSR Pancho married a Russian woman. Soon they had a little baby. Economically, those were trying times. Radio Moscow's pay wasn't much. He had to freelance for several Spanish newspapers just to get by. But he refused to change the field and go for a more lucrative pay in international trade and commerce. After the democratic elections in Chile, Moscow and Santiago re- established their diplomatic ties on March 11, 1990. The Chilean Service of R. Moscow was shut down right after the initial announcement of renewed diplomatic relations. Thanks to Pancho's tip, I was lucky to hear the last SW broadcast of Radio Magallanes and got a QSL from him. Pancho was transferred to the general Spanish-language Service of Radio Moscow. For the first time in many years Pancho had a chance to travel to the country of his youth. During his visits he enjoyed catching up with his relatives and old friends. It was rewarding to him to realize that he contributed to democratic changes in his country. Soon he started working part-time at the newly opened Embassy of Chile in Russia. But as he confided to me with some sadness, he couldn't see himself going back to Chile for good. He spent too many years in other places and cultures. Now his roots were deep in the Russian soil. Our life paths took different directions when in 1992 I left Russia to work for HCJB Radio in Quito, Ecuador. I saw Pancho last time in the very end of 1990s. He was still as passionate about Frecuencia RM and world radio as the day I first met him. Just like in "the good old times" he interviewed me for his radio show. We spoke about what Internet can do for the international communications and if there was any sparkle left in the old-fashioned SW radio. Pancho was only 60 years old when his time on this earth was cut short. Sadly, his wasn't a very long life. But he lived it to the fullest. He worked at the Voice of Russia Radio to the end because for him international broadcasting wasn't just about pay but about calling, dedication, purpose and a dream. His last Frecuencia RM went on the air on December 2, 2008. It was a program # 1005. People who knew Pancho will greatly miss his warm personality, friendly smile, soft voice and kind spirit. I'm one of them. Pancho's last Frecuencia RM can be downloaded at: ftp://ftp.vor.ru/video/Spanish/Frecuencia_rm/081202_DX_1005.mp3 VoR's official announcement of his death: http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=spa&q=7968&cid=83&p=12.12.2008 Special QSL devoted to Frecuencia RM program #1000: http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/frecuenciarm.htm Pancho awarded a medal from the Voice of Russia for his special contribution to the Dialog of the Cultures: http://www.chilenos.ru/noticia_71.htm (Sergei Sosedkin, Moscow, Jan 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Many tnx, Sergei for your very moving personal reminiscences, and we hope to have more of them about Russia, HCJB (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Thanks, Glenn! I appreciate your kind words. Yes, I spent a year and a half with HCJB doing cultural/youth programming in Russian. I learned about Pancho's death thank to your brief note when you commented about his QSL. I'm sure it was reported before in previous DXLD issues but I didn't have a chance to read those. - I was doing a lot of traveling in Oct-Dec period with very poor Internet connection. After I already posted my obituary I found Pancho's picture with Chile's president Michel Bachelet during her visit to Moscow: http://www.ruvr.ru/files/Image/Editiors/Espanol/OLEG_02/Bachelet_Patricio.jpg It's taken against Christ the Savior Cathedral in the background. I'm glad that Pancho's contribution in Chile's return to democracy was recognized during his life time. Take care, (Sergei, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. January 9, 2009, *0400 UT 7335 kHz, V. of Russia WS via French Guiana. Barely heard due to QRM from Vatican R. also on 7335. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Manassas, Virginia, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) When the GUF relay started, we assumed that Vatican was leaving the frequency as the two stations after all do coöperate with relay exchanges, such as VOR via Vatican on nearby 7350. But VR remained on 7335, 0330-0620 to eastern Europe starting with Russian at 54 degrees, apparently assuming that the widely divergent azimuths and targets would not be a problem for each other. But this is hardly the only case of VR`s broadcasts northeastward being heard very well northwestward (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also VATICAN ** RWANDA. Radio Rwanda was heard regularly on 6055, including news in English as scheduled at 0515 and 1830. This daytime and evening SW relay of the FM service still takes a weekday break at 0600-0900. (The FM service is 24/7.) Early morning reception of 6055 suffered co-channel interference from Kuwait. WRTH says Kuwait should close at 0400, but it was heard continuing beyond that time (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) 6055, presumed R. Rwanda Kigali, 2028-2101*, [Tue] Jan 6, French. Announcer over lite instrumental music with what sounded like a call- in program; pulled the plug mid-sentence at 2101; poor under increasing band QRN by ToH (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, RX350D, CLR/DSP, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) English had been reported before, but what is the schedule, exactly? WRTH 2009 says 6055 relays both of their FM services, but not shown which one at which times. Channel 2 has English Thursdays at 2000- 2045, and news in English at 0515 and 1830, daily? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SEYCHELLES [non] ** SEYCHELLES [non]. 7320, RUSSIA, FEBA Radio, Novosibirsk, 1156-1218, Jan 6, Mandarin. Transmitter tones at tune-in; IS and sign-on announcement at 1200; M with lengthy talk; break for ballad at 1214; poor-fair with constant ute of sorts; sounds like rhythmic tapping on a metal pipe. 11875, RWANDA, FEBA Radio Kigali, 1621-1630*, Jan 6, listed Afara. M with talk; W between musical bits at 1628; M with s/off announcement; filler music and IS at 1630; weak talk continued on frequency after 1630; presumably BVB in listed Nuer to Sudan via Juelich (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, RX350D, CLR/DSP, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. 6055: RSI 6055 kHz // 5915 kHz (poor) in English with letterbox program at 1740 UT Dec 7. Fair at best (Mick Delmage, AB, CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. QSL-Mail aus den Solomonen, auf meinen Bericht mit MP3-File ein. Ich sandte ihn an [mp3 file report to] Die Antwort kam von: [QSL from] Nilorier Tavo (Joachim Thiel, Germany, A-DX Jan 5 via BC- DX Jan 9 via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. No SW broadcast activity was heard. Nothing was heard of the reportedly reactivated Radio Hargeysa SW service on 7120 (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ** SUDAN. State radio was heard regularly on 7200. Southern Sudan Radio from Juba on 693 was heard with good reception after dark. News in English is at 1530. (Since 2005, South Sudan has had its own government, with a high degree of independence from the central government in Khartoum. A referendum is due to be held in 2011 on whether South Sudan should have full independence.) Radio Peace from southern Sudan was heard irregularly in the early mornings on 4750 with Christian programming in Arabic and English. However, it was not heard for several days running in the last week of December. It was not heard at all on 5895 (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) see also UGANDA ** SUDAN [non]. New 5965.00, 1710-1730*, CLANDESTINE, 03.01, Darfur Salaam, via Zygi, Cyprus. Arabic talks with interludes of Arabic music, refers to BBC 43333, QRM 5970 RCI in German, // 9760 (15111). Best 73, (Anker Petersen, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres longwire here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** SWAZILAND. 4775, Trans World Radio (Manzini), 0350-0415, 1/6/2009, Lomwe / German. Religious talk by man in Lomwe followed by short religious music and abrupt carrier drop at 0358. Back at 0400 with English ID by man and announcements in German by woman. Program of religious vocal music followed with occasional talk by man and woman. Very good signal. SINPO 43333. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. I found a clip where solidiers demolish two of five antennas at former Motala / Orlunda longwave station (ex. 189 kHz) in the winter 1987. It's so sad to the these 200m high antennas fall down to a pile a steel crap. Today no antennas remains but the two 300 kW CFTH-transmitters are still in mint condition but haven't been used since 1991. (Chris SM6VPU, hcdx Jan 4 via BC-DX Jan 9 via DXLD) Crap, or scrap?? (gh) ** SYRIA. Radio Damascus News --- Dear Mr. Hauser - Glenn, Dear Mr. Petrov - Dimiter, Dear Mr. Büschel - Wolfgang, Contrary to some news and rumours on the DX news channels [i.e., R. Bulgaria], Radio Damascus is still on air and the External services are functioning as normal. Especially these days, black days because because the horrendous conflict in Gaza, it is very interesting to listen to the news and commentaries of Radio Damascus to hear an angle on the conflict you will not hear on the BBC's and CNN's media moguls. It is true that sometimes 9330 kHz is irregular on the air because of the bad condition of the shortwave transmitter but yesterday the transmitter was definitely on the air during the German and French program at 18 and 19 hours UT respectively. The signal was even quite strong but the audio modulation was unfortunately, as always, very weak so even with the strong signal it was difficult to listen. Once again my advice is to tune in on satellite: Hot Bird at 13.0 E : 12380 MHz Nilesat at 7.0 W : 11823 MHz Badr / Arabsat at 26.0 E : 12054 MHz Or you can download the program on the internet at the following direct link: http://www.rtv.gov.sy/index.php?m=541 According to my friends at Radio Damascus they are working on a real foreign language website which will be online (hopefully) soon. The Radio Damascus staff does highly value when you write to them with your commentaries about the programs or reception reports. Their address is: Radio Damascus P. O. Box 4702 Damascus Syrian Arab Republic Radio Damascus Listeners Club: http://www.radio-damascus-listeners-club.tk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/radio_damascus Kind greetings from Belgium! (Kris Janssen, Jan 6, WORLD OF RADIO 1442, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SIRIA, 9330, Radio Damasco, Adra, 1902-1907, escuchada el 7 de enero en francés a locutora con presentación, música de sintonía, emisión de música árabe, nivel de audio muy bajo; sin embargo no se aprecia el molesto zumbido característico que acompaña a esta emisora, locutora con comentarios con referencias a Israel, SINPO 45433 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also QATAR ** TAIWAN. 6150, Radio Taiwan International (Kouhu), 2305-2330, 1/7/2009, Chinese. Talk by man and woman. Occasional promo-sounding short segments. Good signal on busy frequency. Parallel 6105 (Taipei) a bit weaker and bothered more by cochannel interference. SINPO 33333. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Both are probably jammed by CNR-1, so be sure that was not what you were really hearing. In fact, per Aoki asterisks, both are jammed. Since the jammers are higher power, multiple and/or less direxional than Taiwan, one should assume it is the jammers heard over here rather than Taiwan unless there is evidence to the contrary. The same goes for other jammed services, RFA, VOA, BBC, etc. (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** TANZANIA. Mainland: As reported in DXLD last March, former Radio Tanzania (or RTD - Radio Tanzania - Dar es Salaam) is now IDing as "TBC" or "TBC Taifa" (Taifa = Nation). It is no longer broadcasting on SW. It was heard on 603, 621, 648, 657, 711, 720 and 1215 (not 1214). Zanzibar: Sauti ya Tanzania (Voice of Tanzania) has a noticeable hum on its SW transmitter, heard on 6015 mornings and 11735 evenings. The transmitter is also somewhat irregular in operation. The morning (0300-0600) reception of 6015 was spoiled by co-channel BBC Arabic at 0300-0500 and BBC Turkish at 0500-0530 (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ** TIBET [and non]. 17550, 1405-1420, CLANDESTINE, 02.01, Voice of Tibet, via Talata-Volonondry, MDG. Tibetan talk by two men, 34343, stronger than the CNR-1 jammer heard // 4800. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres longwire here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** TUNISIA. 7275, RTV Tunisienne (Sfax), 0510-0520, 1/7/2009, Arabic. Talk by woman followed by very dramatic operetta style vocal music accompanied by orchestra and piano. Very good signal. SINPO 44333. Logs were made using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and random wires phased through MFJ-1025 (exterior 200' primary, attic 90' secondary/noise). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY [and non]. Two very wide signals of Thomcast transmitters 'visible' on Perseus screen today. Kashi and Urumchi, CHINA sites, like 15225 kHz CRI Czech at 11-12 UT on 15217 to 15233 kHz range. But also TRT Emirler in Turkish on 15350 kHz which warbles also 'sidebands' 15344 to 15356 kHz range, S=9+20 dB (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. No reply received from VOT about using DXLD as source for all the info on DX Corner, without any credit whatsoever; I had sent a copy of my complaint directly to their English Desk. So I was listening carefully to the next edition, Saturday January 10 at 1348- 1355 on 12035. No apology, no mention whatsoever, and no DX or media news either. This time only read several reception reports, from Poland, India, New Zealand, Italy?, Australia, and finally mentioned that the multilingual TRT TV6 is on the air, even in Kurdish, available via webcast and Turksat 3A, 12685-H. So that evaded the question of stealing info from DXLD, but periodically their so-called DX program degenerates into a mailbag, for which they already have a separate show on Wednesdays, Letterbox. BTW, reading reception reports on the air, by VOT or any other station, I find extremely poor programming, basically a cop-out from having to come up with anything original. Who in the world cares, except for the one individual who sent a report, to hear about the SINPO, receiver, etc. So what will VOT do a fortnight hence on January 24? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. Radio Uganda - 4976 at 0410 UT, World news in English with only a few decipherable phrases. Mention of happenings in Sri Lanka, Gaza, etc. Lotsa atmospherics making copy difficult on a well modulated signal. After finally hearing Rwanda on Xmas and News Years Eve, these are also rewarding after having re-situated my end fed sloper (quietest antenna I've ever owned!) to capture more Africans; it seems to be doing just that. Cheers~ (Robert McEntee, Austin, Texas, UT Jan 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4975.9, Radio Uganda (Kampala) (presumed), 0412-0419, 1/10/2009, English. Talk by man in English, appeared to be news. Possible mention of Radio Uganda at 0414. Short pop music selection at 0417 followed by more talk. Poor signal, barely above noise level, fading down badly by 0419. SINPO 23222 (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, using new Eton E1, attic Eavesdropper dipole, and 90' attic / 200' fence top random wires, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** UGANDA. UBC Radio (clearly IDing as such, not the former name of Radio Uganda) was heard running a single SW transmitter on 4976/7195. 4976 often seemed remarkably weak, especially as I was listening only about 130 miles from Kampala. I'm sure it is running well below the listed 10 kW. Audio quality is also poor. I was interested to hear a very weak but clear parallel UBC signal on 909 Listed as Kampala), as I had thought that all Ugandan MW transmitters were currently inactive, awaiting renewal. I expect that once the modernisation of the MW network has been completed, UBC will close its SW service. Radio Dunamis on 4750 was heard with excellent reception in the evening (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) 4750: see also SUDAN, natch ** U K. Re: ``Frequency change of BBC in Russian from Dec. 22: 1700- 2100 NF 5790 RMP 500 kW / 047 deg, ex 5990 (17-18 Daily & 18-21 Sat/Sun) (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Jan 5 via DXLD)`` Checked at 1905 and found 5790 with a very strong signal, discussing the problem of routing natural gas deliveries to Central Europe through the Ukraine. Has a UK transmitter ever used such a frequency below 5800 before? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) NTMK ** U K. Visit to BBC Transmitter Site at Rampisham. Hi Ian, Have a look at these links if you've not come across them earlier. Visit to BBC Transmitter Site at Rampisham, By James Hart: Photos from trip to Rampisham Transmitter Site by James Hart: (Alokesh Gupta, India, SWsites yg Jan 9 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U K [non]. It is ironic that the BBC World Service dropped use of its Singapore transmitters to service Australia, requiring us to listen via the internet. Now Croatia [q.v.] has realised what an excellent service they can provide to their expatriates in Australia by picking up some of that unused capacity. Of course, their listeners could no doubt hear them on the internet but it is much easier and free of charge to listen on shortwave. What muddled thinking on the part of the BBC. They don't even acknowledge complaints along these lines (Morrison Hoyle, Australia, Jan 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC PERSIAN ANNOUNCES TV CHANNEL LAUNCH DATE London, 8 January 2009 – Today, BBC World Service announces that its Persian language television channel will launch on Wednesday 14 January. BBC Persian TV will form part of the BBC’s multimedia news and information service for Persian-speakers in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and around the globe. BBC Persian is designed to reach audiences on radio, television, the internet, mobile phones and handheld computers in whatever way best suits the audience. BBC Persian TV will showcase high-quality accurate and impartial news, information and analysis from a global perspective. The channel will cover the political, social and cultural issues that are of interest to its diverse audiences. It will bring a context to global issues and reflect the impact of these issues on the daily lives of its audiences. . . The press pack and press release are available from the BBC Press Office website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/01_january/08/persian.shtml (BBC Press release, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. BBC WORLD SERVICE AND WAMU DEBATE OBAMA’S WASHINGTON In the run-up to the US Presidential Inauguration, BBC World Service and Washington DC's WAMU 88.5 have joined forces for a global debate about the challenges the next US administration will face. Obama's Washington and the World will be broadcast live at 13.00 EST (1800 GMT) on Saturday 10 January 2009 from the American University' Washington College of Law. The program/me will be broadcast to the BBC's audiences across the world. The panel includes Susan Eisenhower, consultant, author and expert on international security; Lawrence Mishel, Director of Economic Policy Institute in Washington DC; lobbyist Grover Norquist; Richard Perle, political advisor and lobbyist; and Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters. The debate will cover issues such as how the current financial crisis, as well as the events in Gaza and the wider Middle East will affect the next US presidency, and whether Obama will be able to keep his campaign-trail promises to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison and get the US troops out of Iraq. The panel will be fielding questions from live audience as well as those submitted by BBC listeners around the world via the webpage http://bbcworldservice.com/news Co-presenters - WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi and BBC World Service's Owen Bennett-Jones – say they are looking forward to a dynamic discussion about what's in store for the new president at home and on the world stage in the months and years to come. Owen Bennett-Jones says: “It's a very exciting time to be in Washington, and I'm looking forward to hearing the questions our live audience are going to put to such a distinguished panel of guests.” Kojo Nnamdi adds: "Every day, our show's mission is to connect issues important to our Washington community to issues throughout the world. I see this joint BBC-WAMU event as a wonderful opportunity to connect the world to Washington - and a truly unique way to celebrate this historic Inaugural." Ends// (BBC World Service International Publicity Jan 8, DXLD) ** U S A [and non] CANCEL TV AND RADIO MARTÍ, HE WRITES "For years now, the U.S. has tried to beam television programs into Cuba. The Cubans have by and large managed to block them out so the U.S. is now having the signals broadcast from a plane. This is most expensive and has had questionable success. In any event, the programs are broadcast during the dawn hours, so it is doubtful that many people would be watching even if they could receive the signals. The whole exercise simply makes us look foolish. TV Martí should be cancelled, and in fact so should Radio Martí; rather, we should go back to programs on the VOA. These were widely listened to in Cuba and had great credibility, something Radio Martí has never had." Wayne S. Smith, Counterpunch, 8 January 2009 (via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) TV Marti during the "dawn hours"? In keeping with the typically poor job that U.S. international broadcasting websites do in providing schedule information about USIB radio and television, to find the TV Martí transmission schedule, go to martinoticias.com and click not on TV Martí but on Radio Martí Frecuencia [long out of date --- gh] (as if there were only one frecuencia). There, TV Martí is shown to transmit (presumably via the airplane) on channel 13 at 18:00-22:00 Eastern Time. That schedule also shows TV Martí 24-hours via satellite. VOA Spanish remains audible (and unjammed) in Cuba via shortwave. The VOA Spanish "Ventana al Caribe" program reports about Cuban events. Shortwave, because of its natural resistance to jamming, remains the best bet for getting uncensored news into Cuba. However, satellite television (to illegal satellite dishes) and the internet are becoming more viable for this purpose. Posted: 10 Jan 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) Hi Kim, I question your statement that VOA Spanish ``remains unjammed``. It was certainly jammed when the program was called Ventana a Cuba, and the jamming tended to spill over into the rest of the schedule (even when the VOA frequencies were off the air, in DCJC`s usual sloppy fashion). Have you or IBB studied whether they have turned off jamming now that it`s Ventana al Caribe? I am seldom monitoring during that time period. 73, (Glenn to Kim via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Please pardon me if I deviate a little from the topic; in my opinion any means that has a message of peace and democracy should continue transmission to Cuba like Radio Martí (Dino Bloise, FL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. ON 31 DECEMBER, THE BBG CUTS OFF VOA UKRAINIAN RADIO. ON 1 JANUARY, RUSSIA CUTS OFF GAS TO UKRAINE. COINCIDENCE? SOME THINK NOT. "In yet another show of incredibly poor judgement combined with bad timing and ulterior bureaucratic motives resulting in a major waste of U.S. tax dollars, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), a bipartisan body responsible for U.S. international broadcasts, had silenced Voice of America (VOA) radio programs to Ukraine one day before Russia halted natural gas deliveries to Europe. ... [Former BBG chairman James] Glassman formed an alliance with the BBG’s liberal Democratic members, including Edward E. Kaufman and D. Jeffrey Hirschberg, who were equally eager to dismantle Voice of America radio programs to Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine in order to bolster privatized broadcasting by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which is based in Prague and Moscow." Ted Lipien, FreeMediaOnline.org, 7 January 2009 (via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) A September 2008 survey in Ukraine shows weekly audience rates of 12.4% for VOA Ukrainian TV, 5.8% for RFE/RL Ukrainian radio, and 2.6% for VOA Ukrainian radio. The BBG eliminated duplication in U.S. international broadcasting to a declining Ukrainian radio audience. How is that a "major waste of U.S. tax dollars"? Maintaining two international broadcasting efforts to the same country, in the same language, is, by my lights, a major waste of U.S. tax dollars. I know, the theory is that one station transmits news about the target country, and the other station transmits news about the United States and the world. The reality, however, is that if there is any important news about Ukraine, both RFE/RL and VOA will report it. And if there is any U.S government statement about Ukrainian affairs, both RFE/RL and VOA will report it. In this and a previous essay, Ted refers to RFE/RL and Middle East Broadcasting Networks Inc as "privatized." This, apparently, is because RFE/RL and MBN are government-funded corporations, as opposed to VOA, which is a government-funded government agency. *Real* privatized international broadcasting is, well, private, and self funded through advertising or pay-TV subscriptions. Examples are CNN International and CNBC Asia. True privatization is my favorite model for international broadcasting because 1) it costs the taxpayers nothing and 2) the absence of purse strings reduces the possibility of government getting involved in the content. Unfortunately, international broadcasting in most of the languages of U.S. international broadcasting has little or no commercial potential, so government funding is necessary. And, thus, my second favorite model for international broadcasting is the statutory autonomous corporation, government funded, but governed by a bi- or multi- partisan board that hires and fires the senior management. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 10 Jan 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) VOA URDU SHORTWAVE IS RESTORED --- VOA Urdu (Radio Aap kee Dunyaa) has been given back the shortwave transmissions that were dropped on 31 December. They are 0100-0200 UT on 9520 and 9820 kHz, and 1400-1500 UT on 7440 and 9390 kHz, according to this schedule http://www.voanews.com/english/about/frequenciesAtoZ_u.cfm These are in addition to medium wave 972 and 1539 kHz (via relays outside of Pakistan) at 1400-0200 UT. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 09 Jan 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** U S A. KVOH-LA, VOZ DE LA RESTAURACIÓN, 17775 kHz, F/D very nice illustrated QSL card correctly confirming 1 reception report sent by e-mail in 3 audio files in Mp3 format. Received in 20 days (Julio Rolando Pineda Cordón, GUATEMALA, Jan CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. JUDGE RESCHEDULES ALAMO’S TRIAL FOR MAY 11, 2009 The Associated Press, January 8, 2009, By CHUCK BARTELS Judge delays start of evangelist Alamo’s trial TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday delayed the trial of jailed evangelist Tony Alamo on charges he took young girls across state lines for sex. U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes reset Alamo’s trial to begin on May 11. The trial had been scheduled to begin on Feb. 2, but Alamo’s lawyer John Wesley Hall Jr. objected to the start date, saying he needed more time to prepare. Prosecutors had argued that federal law requires cases involving child witnesses to be expedited. . . http://www.tonyalamonews.com/817/1809-judge-reschedules-alamos-trial-for-may-11-2009.php (via DXLD) Meanwhile he stays in jail, keeps broadcasting (gh) ** U S A. 9369.921, WTJC, Newport NC, men`s chorus at 2330 UT, S=5-6, -92 dBm (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 7, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 9 via DXLD) That`s getting pretty far off, 79 Hz (gh) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, Due to staff cutbacks, have to cut the 15420 broadcast on Wednesday 5-5:30 pm Eastern [WORLD OF RADIO, 2200 UT]. Also Ted Randall`s shows QSO and Radio Disclosure have moved to Tues- Thur, 5-7 pm Eastern [2200-2400 UT] on 7415. Cheers, (Allan Weiner, Jan 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Just a note that Ted Randall's new programs QSO and Radio Disclosure on WBCQ are just what the shortwaves need. More programs like this is just what our audience craves. Shortwave listeners are just that, because they are looking for something different and a bit more technical than the "mainstream" fare offered by domestic broadcasters. Glad he is with us. Thanks, (Allan Weiner, WBCQ, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Does that mean Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, or does it mean Tuesday and Thursday only, or does it mean Tuesday only as on your website? Which hour(s) is QSO in, and which hour(s) is Disclosure in? 7415 usually fades down here before 2300 UT, but maybe things will improve as spring comes on. May I safely assume that all your previous times on WBCQ, 7415 and 9330, are gone? 73, (Glenn to Ted Randall, via DXLD) Tuesday QSO, Wednesday Radio Disclosure, and Thursdays will be something else undetermined yet; possibly it will change from week to week and some possible repeats of Disclosure or anything good. All times are 5 pm EST each day and the shows are two hour blocks. The problem we had with 9330 was people finding us, and the ones that did complained about the sideband issues, and that was really too bad as 9330 has a good signal. I will write more when I feel a bit better. 73's (Ted Randall, Jan 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5002.8, UnID. 0323, 1/9/08. OM with indistinct talk, 0326 music, 0327 OM talk, 0328 church choir (“Old Rugged Cross”), 0329 off. – rather overmodulated, so hard to understand, but English word comprehensible occasionally. Spur of some sort? I was not able to check for //. That got me looking for different possible U. S. station spurs, and I found: 5034.3, 5065.7; 5081.4, 5018.6, WWRB spurs, 0334-0350, 1/9/09. First and second order spurs from fundamental 5050 WWRB signal. 5034.3 quite audible with a "waterfall" sound present. 5065.7 was distorted, but holding its own against the powerhouse WWCR on 5070. 5081.4 was weak, with same "waterfall" sound as 5034.3. 5018.6 was a het with occasional few distorted words or music breaking through (again // with 5050.) (Mark Taylor, WI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So 5002.8 is surely another WWRB spur as these are all spaced at 15.7 kHz intervals from 5050 (or 15.8 --- maybe it`s really 15.75, which as I think I remarked before brings to mind the horizontal TV scanning frequency, making us wonder if some component of the SW transmitter is somehow tied in to that) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9510, WHRI Angel 1. Inglés. 1925-, escuchada el 10 de enero, emisión de música religiosa, locutor con cuña de ID "World Harvest Radio", locutor con comentarios religiosos, SINPO 45444. No listada ni en Aoki ni en EiBi; sin embargo en la página web de la emisora si lo está, http://www.whr.org/Frequencies.cfm servicio anunciado de 1900 a 2000 UT (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saturday only in English 9510 kHz, 1900-2000 UTC via HRI 250kW 25degr HRI (Wolfgang Büschel, HCDX via DXLD) http://www.whr.org/customcf/dsp_schedule_read.cfm?Search=Angel1 Saturday only: 1900-1930 Live From Studio B 9510 1930-2000 Call To Worship 9510 (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 4440 Harmonic, WSRC - Fair Bluff, NC, 0745-0845, Jan 10, 3rd harmonic of 1480. A semi-regular here. “Country Gold” country music program. Walmart ad. Local ads. Promo for “America’s Grand Ole Opry Weekend”. Very weak but fair on peaks (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CBS RADIO STABS LOCAL RADIO IN THE BACK Tuning the nightstand radio to the usual late night talk show on WCCO Minneapolis I hear a familiar but misplaced voice - not Al Malmberg but John Grayson who is supposed to be on another of the few "good neighbor" radio stations left - KMOX in St. Louis. Hmm...weird. Must be the filters on the cheap radio. Oh well I'll listen to the other local talk show on KDKA Pittsburgh. WHAT the eff? Same voice and same show as is on WCCO and KMOX! This is becoming twilight zone material. I'll try WBX [sic] 1030 out of Boston - SAME VOICE SAME SHOW! Are you kidding me? This can't be happening! A search of the web today confirmed my deepest fear - syndication has killed the few remaining local late nighters that have become my companions over the years. Crap. Not even a warning. Not even time to get used to the idea. What a class organization you are CBS Radio. No wonder you are going broke. Good riddance. Guess it's shortwave and Brother Stair to put me to sleep at night henceforth. He's better than a somonex laced Nyquil cocktail. (asswideshut, Jan 6, rec.radio.shortwave via Mike Cooper, DXLD) NO HAPPY TRAILS FOR WCCO'S MALMBERG --- LATE-NIGHT RADIO HOST OF 12 YEARS WAS FIRED AND DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO BID FAREWELL TO LISTENERS. By PAUL WALSH, Minneapolis Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/tv/37095119.html?page=2&c=y The smooth, friendly and rich sound of host Al Malmberg's voice on WCCO Radio has been silenced before he ever got a chance to say goodbye to his listeners of 12 years. Malmberg, 57, was fired last week in the latest in a series of cost- cutting measures taken by the CBS-owned station and by other media outlets in the Twin Cities and elsewhere around the country. The station also let go Brad Walton, who was behind the microphone on weekends overnight for about the same length of time as Malmberg. "I've never had a more loyal audience," said Malmberg. "You are a companion, and people felt like they knew you. Unfortunately, that's been lost." Malmberg grew up in Richfield and remembers as a child hearing his father, Larry, play the accordion as a live in-studio musician for WCCO Radio and later WCCO-TV. "He took it hard," Malmberg said, recalling when he told his 85-year- old father the news. "I think he took it harder than I did." Malmberg's slot has been filled by Jon Grayson's CBS-syndicated "Overnight America," heard weekdays from midnight to 5 a.m. Its other markets include St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Boston. Turning to syndication overnight breaks "The Good Neighbor's" practice of having only locally produced programming. WCCO program director Wendy Paulson described Grayson's show as not syndication but a "custom simulcast" between the four stations. Local weather coverage will continue overnight. Malmberg said he asked his bosses at the time of his firing, " 'When is my last night?' And they said, 'Last night.' "I couldn't say goodbye to my audience. It took me 25 years to make it to WCCO." He even had in the back of his mind how he wanted to sign off if he had been given the chance to plan his final show. "I would put on Roy Rogers and sing 'Happy Trails,'" he said, reprising how he departed for WCCO from his own nationally syndicated radio talk show that was based in Colorado Springs, Colo. "It would have been hokey, but it would have been cool." Paulson said "Al and Brad were beloved by our listeners, and we completely understand that." She said their departures were because of "economic events that we are not immune to." (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) WCCO-AM HOSTS AL MALMBERG AND BRAD WALTON LOSE JOB - THE ECONOMY TO BLAME? --- by Jack Ryan http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212197426.shtml The economy certainly isn't helping the radio business as WCCO-AM radio lost two of there hosts. Overnight host Al Malmberg and Brad Walton were let go by the CBS station. Malmberg apparently said that his radio show that went on from 1-5 a.m. will be replaced by a syndicated show from St. Louis. The laying off of Malmberg and Walton were quick and has left quite a few listeners in shock (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) That`s the complete story in this case, as I indicate by putting the link at the top rather than abottom (gh) ** U S A. 1680, Tue Jan 6 at 0703 UT check was not even in news, but black gospel music, no doubt KRJO Monroe LA, which tends to be the dominant 1680 here at night. On UT Sunday I had heard Tom Leykis talkshow later in the same hour from unknown source. Perhaps the only solution will come from monitoring one week later than that, unless it was a total fluke. Another check of 1680 kHz, Jan 7 at 0633 found gospel music from KRJO Monroe LA. Then I shifted to 1670 for a while, WTDY Madison WI, promoting their website http://madison1670.com and its links to Pulse TV. So I also checked out their program schedule at http://wtdy.com/viewpage.php?id=5 and find that Sundays at 1-2 am CST, WTDY runs The Best of Tom Leykis which is exactly what I thought I was hearing on 1680; so I conclude that semi-sleeping, I must have been on 1670 instead of 1680. I see that many of WTDY`s talkshows are far-right extremists, including Dennis Miller, Glenn Beck, Michael Medved, Laura Ingraham, just what Madison needs. I wonder what inspired the call letters --- as a vet, I always think of ``temporary duty``, but it could be ``turdy``, or more politely, ``too damn yucky``, or: ``We Talk Down to You`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) When the station changed calls to WTDY from the popular Top 40 WISM (in the very early 80's if I recall correctly), the "TDY" was shorthand for "today." They used to call themselves "Today's Radio," and as I recall stressed information and public service. 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strangely enough, "Today Radio" - a short-lived slogan when they first flipped from top-40 WISM-1480 in the 1980s. Seems to me the slogan was gone before the X-band frequency was even available to apply for. But even though the slogan was gone, they still chose matching WTDA calls for the X-band facility when first authorized (they later swapped the two calls, and then changed 1480 to WLMV "La Movida" when they LMAd it to become Madison's first & only full-time Hispanic station.) Didn't realize they'd switched sides. They'd been liberal talk for awhile. I suppose WXXM-92.1 has that market wrapped up (with an interesting format that includes a Spanish-language block -- Saturday nights?). For those who consider Air America to be conservative talk, there's also WORT-89.9 (which features some awesome music shows. I rarely listen to anything else when I'm up there. Actually, thanks to web streams that actually work over dialup, I rarely listen to anything else when I'm down here!) WIBA-1310 has been the traditional commercial talker up there. Oh, I vote for "We Talk Down to You" (Doug Smith, TN, ex-WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. "WHY LOCAL RADIO IS NO LONGER LOCAL" --- Via Mark Ramsey's Hear 2.0 web site, a lengthy article from the San Diego Reader. Several very interesting points: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/dec/30/cover/ (Harry Helms, TX, Jan 7, ABDX via DXLD) And the person who commented under the name DevorahLeah is me. ;-) (Donna Halper, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. 530 kHz, WPWA752, Syracuse, UT 1404 30-Nov-08. Weak, with QRM from Japan on 531, but heard ID ‘This is Antelope Island information radio at 530 on your AM dial.....’ (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore, AB R-5000, SDR-IQ, Perseus, beverage antennae, Jan CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** U S A. POSSIBLE PIRATE: MT. SAN JACINTO COMMUNITY COLLEGE Apparently the unlicensed 1620 kHz AM station at Mt. San Jacinto Community College ("MSJCC") [San Diego CA area] has returned to the air and, according to earlier reports, can be heard in Hemet. One of our readers asks why the college has resumed operating the station when unlicensed operations should only cover a distance of approximately 200 feet, or serve the area of a college campus. MSJCC was cited for grossly excessive field strength a year ago. See the FCC's opinion on the nominal reach of unlicensed AM stations: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/lowpwr.html#UNLICENSED See the FCC's Notice of Unlicensed Operation to MSJCC: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-279229A1.html For case history, see the first story under Random Notes at: http://www.bext.com/_CGC/2008/cgc840.htm and http://www.bext.com/_CGC/2008/cgc841.htm Editorial comment: Unless someone files a complaint with the FCC and presses the issue, the San Diego FCC field office is likely to do nothing further in this case. The upcoming DTV transition is straining the Commission's resources (CGC Communicator Jan 7, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. New stations granted: KSKY-AM 660 TX translators on FM: callsigns are unofficial. Arlington KSKY-1 92.1, 99 watts h,v; 59m, 8 km range Dallas KSKY-2 92.9, 800 watts h,v; 144m, 21 km Richland Hills KSKY-3 95.5, 140 watts h,v; 30m, 6 km The three FMs have been granted STA to relay KSKY 660 AM Balch Springs TX (Dallas) in the station`s primary service area due to interference at night caused by co-channel Mexican stations operating with 50 kW instead of their notified 1 kW. This info from Bill Hale, North Richland Hills TX, who spoke to the stations` consulting engineer. It is not known if the stations will operate fulltime, or be restricted to nighttime operation (Dec FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. WOKB 1680, Winter Garden FL, Rama Communications, fined $25,000 for failure to clean or repaint its tower. The FCC found no effective locked fence, it was operating at times with power other than stated in its license and it did not maintain a complete public inspexion file (Selected AM Happenings, Dec FMedia! via DXLD) Well, thank you so much from the DX community for running 10 kW instead of 1 kW at night, as you endangered the neighborhood; that`s the one recently heard in Creole late evenings (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. On Air: Real stations and pirates: AZ, Bagdad, KFTT, 107.7, ``K Fat``, uses solar power for its transmitter and studio-to- transmitter link (Dec FMedia! via DXLD) A fairly sunny area, but with non-solar backups? FCC FM Query shows 107.7 is just a CP for 1 kW, but presently licensed on 103.1 with only 0.9 kW ERP, so not that big a deal to solar-power, as the transmitter power in either case could easily be 100 watts or less! Licensee/ Permittee is named Smoke and Mirrors, LLC, hee hee (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. COMIENZA EL JUICIO MÁS ESPERADO DE LA TELEVISIÓN HISPANA --- Disputa entre Televisa y Univisión Los Ángeles, (EFE).- El juicio más esperado entre las dos grandes empresas de la televisión hispana, Univisión y Televisa, comenzó ayer en un tribunal de Los Ángeles y de su resultado depende cómo será el futuro audiovisual en español en Estados Unidos.Televisa reclama que Univisión ha violado los términos de un acuerdo que vence en el año 2017 y por el que la empresa mexicana suministra en exclusividad su producción de telenovelas. Univisión considera, por su parte, que ha pagado en exceso a Televisa y defiende la validez del acuerdo que permite la emisión de tres horas diarias de telenovelas producidas por la empresa mexicana. . . EFE http://www.lainformacionrd.net/index.php?idnoticia=26445&seccion=2&nseccion=Sociales&cat=noticias&a=1 (via Dino Bloise, FL, Jan 7, dxldyg via DXLD) Fight over payments for soap operas. I wonder in which language the court proceeding will be conduced? Looks like all the lawyers are Anglos (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. ROB HARRINGTON --- I received the sad news today that Rob Harrington passed away. He had been a member of the IRCA for much of the 70's and 80's doing most of his DXing/listening from the Denver, CO area. Rob had been suffering from a lengthy illness. Some of you may remember him as he attended a couple of IRCA conventions. Rob founded a SWL/DX club in the early 1970's called "Colorado Association of DXers" (COADX). He was a member of SPEEDX, NASWA, and other clubs. Although Rob was interested in AM BCB to some degree, his main interests were shortwave listening and computers. He had the SWL call sign WDX0SWL and ham radio callsign N0NNI. Rob was a great friend to many and will be missed. 73 (Chris Knight, Fort Lupton, CO, Jan 10, IRCA via DXLD) OBIT Thanks Chris, There is a nice write up and picture of him on http://www.QRZcom/n0nni I wonder if there is an online obituary. This should be reported to the ARRL.73 de (Joe/KJ8O, ibid.) Much more personal info at http://www.qsl.net/n0nni/n0nni.html He was diabetic; sad. He and I met during the year I lived in Denver (gh) ** VANUATU [and non]. I just want to emphasize that Vanuatu is on 7259.97, not .997. Just measured 7259.968 kHz with sign-off at 1115 as listed in the WRTH. Mongolia was today on 7259.998 kHz and they have a regular break between 0500-0655. I would say the frequencies are accurate within ±2 Hz or so (Mauno Ritola, Finland, date? in DXplorer via DSWCI DX Window Jan 7 via DXLD) ** VATICAN. 15280 NO ID, francés, Programa religioso, ¿R. Vaticano? Saludos cordiales. 15280 NO ID, 1005-1010, escuchada el 6 de enero en francés a locutor con comentarios, cánticos religiosos, "Aleluya", intervención del papa, ¿Radio Vaticano?, SINPO 45554 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hoy tres reyes; see 15280 in French to Africa on Jan 11 too http://www.radiovaticana.org/CoorPro/entrasmisspec.htm wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) One must always keep an eye on VR`s special transmissions page (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** VATICAN. Re: ``Frequency changes of Vatican Radio: 0200-0320 NF 9545 SMG 250 kW / 086 deg, ex 12070 NVS 250 kW / 180 deg Various* *Hindi/Tamil/Malayalam/English, each x 20 min. 2315-2400 NF 7395 SMG 500 kW / 072 deg, ex 7340 NVS 250 kW / 145 deg Vietnamese (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Jan 5 via DXLD)`` So is the airtime exchange between Voice of Russia and Radio Vatican still running or came it to an end at yearend 2008? In other words, is VOR still on air via Santa Maria di Galeria? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, as already reported, Vatican via Khabarovsk in Chinese at 0000 on 13785 also ended 31.12 per VR`s printed sked, with no replacement, so maybe you are on to something there (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also RUSSIA ** VENEZUELA. 1260 kHz, RRB - 1260 AM - gospel broadcast in Spanish, 30 Nov at 1114 UT, SIO 333. Also at 2231 13 Dec, SIO 444, ads for Bible college, ``reading of the book of Daniel``, in Spanish (Mr Robin Tancoo, Fyzabad, Trinidad, from a log report by P-mail, postmarked 23 December 2008, extracted by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) This one caught my eye in the long list of logs which don`t have a column for country, so at first I was wondering if it was from somewhere in the Caribbean; but found it in WRTH as YVRM, 10 kW in Caracas. RRB stands for Red de Radiodifusión Bíblica = Bible Broadcasting Network (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 9839.902 to 9839.886 wandered signal of VOV Hanoi, Jan 6 at 1100-1230 UT, ID in English at 1130, in Japanese at 1210 UT. Co- channel 100 Hertz interference buzz noted Jan 6 with TRT Emirler 9840 in Greek language at 1135 UT, latter S=8-9 (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 3, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 9 via DXLD) Hanoi - Me Tri Shortwave site now viewable with Panoramio. (Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavesites yg Jan 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. ARGELIA, 6300, Radio Nacional Saharaui, Rabouni, 2010-2013, escuchada el 10 de enero en árabe a locutor con ID “Arabía Democratia Saharauia”, locutor con saludo, emisión musical y comentarios, SINPO 45444 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. Re 9-003: ``9780, R. Sana'a (presumed), 2008, 1/4/09. Mixing with VOA French service via São Tomé. Signal P-F was OM in extended Arabic talk (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, AOR AR7030 Plus, Wellbrook ALA-100 Loop, http://www.radiodx.net/wordpress/ Cumbredx list via DXLD)`` Time? between 2000 and 2100 is VOA French via ST on Sundays; if it were a weekday, would be 20-2030 or 21-2130 with Hausa in between via Meyerton; per Aoki (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) 9780, Radio Yemen, Sanaa, 2004-2009, escuchada el 10 de enero en árabe a locutora con noticias, referencias a Israel, hay que templar a 9779 para evitar interferencia de VOA, SINPO 33443 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A- 108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9780.145, Tiny Sana'a Radio Arabic program on S=5-6 level at 1335 UT, -83 dBm (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9780.14, Rep of Yemen Radio, 1920-2010, Jan 10, Arabic talk. Traditional Mid-east music. Anthem at 2001 followed by news. Strong. Slight distortion (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. ZNBC was heard regularly on 5915 and 6165 (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) 5915, ZNBC, *0248-0300, Jan 10, sign on with Fish Eagle IS. Choral anthem at 0250 followed by vernacular talk and local choral music. Possible religious talk. Weak. Poor with adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5915, R. Zambia/R. One (presumed); 0413-0426, Jan 9; call-in program in vernacular with high-life music between calls; almost fair but troubled with being over modulated. Is it my imagination or are there now more and more SW transmitters with audio problems? Is it just due to the transmitters getting old? Doesn't anyone in their engineering department monitor their outgoing signal? Do not recall hearing so many problems in past years (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 4965, CVC Lusaka, 2103-2115, Jan 5, vernacular/English. M announcer in unidentified language with phone number; talk; "R. Christian Voice" ID at 2106 into choral music and contemporary English religious pops; fair with increasing band QRN. I've heard heavily accented English here before but never talk in a (presumably) native tongue (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, RX350D, CLR/DSP, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 11735, Radio Tanzania-Zanzibar, 1800, Jan 9 [Friday], no sign of Zanzibar today (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also TANZANIA ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. 3396 and 4828, R. Zimbabwe; 0330 + 0400, Jan 9; random checking on an evening with good African reception found these two frequencies noticeably silent with no carrier heard at all (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [earlier:] Despite the problems in the country, the ZBC is managing to keep two SW transmitters on the air with good signals and audio. Radio Zimbabwe was heard on 3396 or 6045 while Voice of Zimbabwe was heard on 4828 or 5975 (though VoZ was only ever heard with continuous music). The switchover times between the daytime and nighttime frequencies were inconsistent. It seems that sometimes they leave 6045 on through the night rather rather switch to 3396. Reception on 3396 could be especially good during the evening. I heard an advert for a car auction "by barter" - no doubt because cash auctions are now impossible in a country where hyperinflation means that the currency loses half its value each day. [but see Ron, below] I heard the exiled stations SW Radio Africa, Radio Voice of the People and Studio 7 on all their listed frequencies. Studio 7 said it was being jammed on 909 mediumwave and advised listeners to tune to one of its three SW frequencies instead. I did not hear any definite jamming on 909, though there was an unidentified carrier on 910 causing a whistle, which might have been a jammer. I did hear some jamming of SW Radio Africa on 4880. The jamming was either of the "bubble" type or was a carrier rapidly moving in discrete steps on the high side of 4880, causing random interfering tones. Switching to LSB mode eliminated the jamming noise. The jamming on 4880 was intermittent. More of a problem was co-channel interference from India. Reception of the second SW Radio Africa frequency (11745 from Woofferton) was very poor indeed (inaudible on some days). I think an 11 MHz frequency is too high for an evening path from the UK to Africa when sunspots are so low. Similarly, Sudan Radio Service was getting only a weak signal into Kenya at 1600 on 17745. Far too high a frequency! (Chris Greenway, Kenya, late December, Jan BDXC-UK Communication, Jan 9, via DXLD) ZIMBABWE CALL-IN SHOW LAUNCHED BY VOA Radio program serves listeners in English, Shona, and Ndebele Washington, D.C., January 9, 2009 – The Voice of America's (VOA) Studio 7 today launched LiveTalk, a 30-minute weekly call-in radio show for Zimbabwe, offering people a forum to discuss the political, economic and social challenges facing the nation. "With LiveTalk, Zimbabweans have a chance to say what is on their mind and express themselves openly and freely," said Gwen Dillard, director of VOA's Africa Division. Brenda Moyo and Blessing Zulu, co-hosts, discussed the stalled power- sharing process between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's economic collapse, food shortages, the on-going cholera epidemic and other issues during the inaugural show. Among the callers were Vijana from South Africa, who said, "People are disappointed with the current leadership, including the regional leadership." Callers to LiveTalk, which airs Friday at 8:00 p.m. Zimbabwe time, are able to speak English, Shona or Ndebele, the three languages in which Studio 7 broadcasts. [1800 UT Fridays] Started in 2003, Studio 7 broadcasts 90 minutes Monday-Thursday, and one hour on Saturday and Sunday, on shortwave, medium-wave and on the Internet at VOANews.com/english/Africa/Zimbabwe/programs.cfm The program provides news and information about the latest developments in Zimbabwe, including details of the humanitarian crisis under way in the country. The World Food Program, for example, is providing assistance to 4.5 million Zimbabweans (VOA press release Jan 9 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 3320, Radio Sudamérica, musicals with QRM, in Spanish, 0145 15 Nov, SIO 322 (Mr Robin Tancoo, Fyzabad, Trinidad, by P-mail postmarked 23 Dec 2008, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As with all his reports on a copy of the BDXC-UK logging form, there is no entry for country! I don`t know of any such station on 3320 in any country; most likely at that hour he would be hearing R. Sonder Grense, South Africa, but certainly in Afrikaans, not Spanish. I wonder if that ID could have sounded like ``Radio Sudamérica``? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5206 USB, UNID relay of R Mayak, fade in 1430-1630, Jan 03 and 05, Russian talk and music. A Siberian feeder? Minsk utility station reactivated? 34333 (Max Van Arnhem, Maarten Van Delft, Netherlands, and Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Jan 7 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Nueva Clandestina???, 5815//5835 No ID, árabe, música revolucionaria. Saludos cordiales. 5815 NO ID, 1735-1748, escuchada el 8 de enero en idioma árabe a locutor con comentarios; se aprecia muy subido de tono, habla a veces gritando. Se capta emisión en paralelo por 5835 en colisión con VoA Deewa Radio, referencias a “Asan y Arabía”. A las 1742 comienza emisión musical, me suena a cánticos militares o revolucionarias, cánticos con repique de tambores, a las 1747 otra pieza musical de las mismas características, SINPO 44343. 5815, NO ID, 1849-1852, vuelvo a captar a esta emisora tras haber perdido su señal en esta frecuencia; sin embargo en 5835 se seguía captando en fuerte colisión con VOA. La señal es pobre y acompañada de mucho ruido, locutor con comentarios y emisión musical, SINPO 23232 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Jan 8, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola José Miguel, yes, heard now at 2100 with music and talks in Arabic about Palestine politics, no apparent ID yet. Heard on 5814.95 and 5835.05 kHz, the latter badly distorted. Difficulties in keeping the transmitter on and at times audio like via telephone. Sudden s/off at 2115. Maybe a relay of an FM station? 73, Mauno Ritola, Finland, Jan 8, Cumbre DX via DXLD) NEW STATION SUPPORTING GAZA ON 5815 - RADIO AL AQSA Hello DXers, based on a tip from JOSE MIGUEL ROMERO, I started monitoring 5815 around 1645 UT and I could hear a call in show talking about the situation in Gaza. The tone used here reminded me of the Arabic section of VOIRI, and the Voice of the Islamic Revolution in Palestine network as well, a long talk about the resistance in Gaza and linking it to the Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006. I checked VOIRI on 6065, but it had a different program, but I'm positive about one thing, the voice of the main announcer of the show is similar to an announcer in the Arabic section of VOIRI. After a long conversation with the caller, they started playing patriotic songs; around 1740 UT I heard an ID saying, Alaqsa channel, your eye on home. Around 1800 I heard another ID, Alaqsa radio. After googling a bit I can see FM station from Gaza called Voice of Al Aqsa http://www.alaqsavoice.ps/ but not on MW or SW so is this a special network - by VOIRI - to support the people in Gaza? I have to keep an ear on that frequency and will keep you posted. [later at 1850 UT Jan 9:] Hello again, after checking with my satellite receiver I noticed that what I'm hearing on 5815 is matching what I'm watching the audio feed of Al Aqsa TV channel. I noticed that they are transmitting on the NileSat satellite, 7 West. So I wonder who's getting Al Aqsa TV audio carrier on the SW!? All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Jan 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tarek: This is very interesting. Well done on the detective work! Can you tell us whether the audio on 5875 and that on NileSat are exactly in sync (suggesting that someone is picking up the satellite signal and relaying it on SW) or whether 875 is slightly delayed (suggesting that it may be coming direct from Al-Aqsa TV)? (Chris Greenway, UK, ibid.) 5815, Radio Al Aqsa, 2003-2014, escuchada el 9 de enero en árabe a locutor con comentarios, emisora de origen desconocido, gracias al colega egipcio Zeidan Tarek que ha conseguido identificarla, SINPO 22332 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, ibid.) I don't know if this is Aqsa but at 2032 there were drums playing, then Arabic folk songs, possibly religious (I hard allah at 2037) on 5815. A signal of S7 here, 34343. At 2028 there was indeed an ID from a male speaker heard as Asa, mentioned kHz and continued with talks that pass 2100 without clock. Seems again as religious??? Reference to mujahedeen at 2102 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, HCDX via DXLD) Actually at 2050 UT there are two signals with similar strength (max S9+10), identical programming: 5814.95 5835.05 (has better modulation) 73, (Günter Lorenz, Freising, Germany, Jan 9, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Had been hearing a strong het on 5815 for a while, and now at 2045 beginning to get some audio. Hopefully will improve as darkness approaches. EiBi and Aoki both seem to show no other usage of 5815. I stepped away for a few minutes, and when returned, 5815 seemingly off at around 2130? (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Emphatic speeches in Arabic and revolutionary-sounding music heard on 5835.05 kHz since 2115 UT tune-in. Reported on 8 January by Jose Miguel Romero on 5815 // 5835. Abruptly off at 2152 on 5835.05 kHz. (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, UK, AOR 7030+ / LW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I can confirm that as well, and the reception on 5835 was much better than 5815, but it didn't last for long :( (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, ibid.) Hi Chris, well, I had that in mind as well; there's a bit of a delay, so as you said, someone is relaying AlAqsa TV audio. I have to do more listening to be 100 % positive. More to come tomorrow as the station is off SW now :( All the best my friend (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, 2214 UT, ibid.) Thanks. Of course I was muddled in my message above. If Al-Aqsa was supplying both the satellite and the SW from the same feed, 5815 would be ahead of the satellite reception (Chris Greenway, ibid.) Chris, if the Iranian government feed this satellite copy to Sirjan or Kamalabad site, some internal satellite feed path is underway too. The only country to help the Palestine people against the invaders these days -- is IRAN. They have a lot of odd Telefunken and BBC- Thomcast shortwave transmitters at their disposal. All Arab governments are much conservative or feudalistic orientated (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Al Aqsa (Gaza) heard on 5815 and 5835 kHz --- Based on a tip posted on dxld yg by Jose Miguel Romero in Spain, who heard an unidentified station in Arabic on 5815 // 5835 kHz on 8 January 2009, Tarek Zeidan in Egypt (also via dxld yg) has identified it as being a relay of the audio feed of the Al Aqsa TV channel, matching that on the Nile Sat 7 West satellite. This is being relayed on SW presumably in support of Hamas activities in Gaza. But by whom? Iran? I tuned into a station myself on 5835.05 kHz at 2115 UT on 9 January 2009 with emphatic speeches in Arabic and revolutionary-sounding music, which was presumably the same station, although no ID heard. It went abruptly off at 2152. Fair reception. Well worth checking 5815 and 5835 kHz in the days ahead (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, UK, AOR 7030+ / LW, 2241 UT Jan 9, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Next day, Jan. 10: Hello DXers, around 1600 UT I could hear Al Aqsa Radio on 5815 with a very weak signal; around 1615 I noticed that they started using 5835 as well, but with a stronger signal it's even beating VOA Deewa radio. Re the Question of Chris Greenway, the audio on the SW is ahead of the audio I get on my digital satellite receiver of the same network on the NileSat satellite. All the best, guys (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, http://www.tarekzeidan.tk skype: mrdxer Jan 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here in Germany: 5815 at 1700 UT S=5-6 signal, fair signal, not bad, good audio quality. Due of China Firedrake music against RFA Tinian 5810 kHz underneath, switch to SYNC USB mode is the best receiver mode selection. 5835 DEEWA (VoA Pashto) Udornthani Thailand is very strong in Europe, nothing observed underneath, 1705 UT Jan 10th. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Hello DXers, 1730 UT, I can hear radio Al Aqsa now on both 5815 and 5835; I have one more observation now. In my previous e mail I stated that the audio on SW is a couple of moments ahead of the satellite network. I noticed as well that 5835 is almost a couple of moments as well ahead of 5815. All the best, my friends (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Jan 10, ibid.) Here in Europe after 1700: Some faint signal on 5815, a bad mixture with a het of about 20 Hz or so on 5835. And do not jump to quick conclusions from the observation that shortwave is ahead of 7 degrees West. The signal on Atlantic Bird 4 is already a second satellite hop from Bahrain, including at least a remux if not even a reëncoding. The original uplink from Gaza is on Arabsat 2B (30.5 degrees East), and it is believed to be run with an outdoor broadcasting van because the Al Aqsa facilities have been bombarded (it would have been a big surprise if not). This leads to another question: Why the TV audio on shortwave and not the radio station, Sawt Al Aqsa (WRTH 2009 says 106.7 MHz in Gaza)? Is it probably not being produced at present? Here it would be necessary to check out either Arabsat 2B or the uplink from Jordan on Badr 4, where the radio station is listed as well, unlike all other satellite retransmissions. Btw, it's really cute what JMC in Amman does with the IBB programming for Badr 4: They put it in the same multiplex as Al-Manar. The strangest bedfellowship in relay I saw so far. [and makes IBB risk broadcasting that by mistake --- gh] And yes, Al Aqsa on 7 degrees West does not originate from Nilesat but from Atlantic Bird 4, an Eutelsat satellite, with Noorsat in Bahrain being the uplink provider. It's exactly the same constellation as for the Eurobird 2 relay that a few days ago came into the news for somebody in France objecting to it (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 1748 UT Jan 10, ibid.) Iranian broadcasts on 6065, 6100 and 6180 kHz are much stronger than 5815 and 5835 kHz at same time. Both Sana'a YEMEN transmissions on air 6005 and 9780.14 kHz. 5815 S=6-7 at 1900 UT. 5835 also S=5-6, but very low audio level at 1915 UT (Guenter Lorenz measured 5815.03 and 5835.045 kHz tonight) 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 10, ibid.) CLANDESTINA, 5815, Radio Al Aqsa, 2014-2018, escuchada el 10 de enero en árabe a locutor en conversación con invitado, referencias a “Ameriki”, en paralelo por 5835, SINPO 33343 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A- 108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Received this evening, 10-01-2009, on 5815 kHz Radio Al Aqsa, if I heard it OK; time was from 2100 to 2139, talk was in Arabic; after that there was drum-music. S/off was very suddenly at 2139. SINPO was 34544, some QRM from a station nearby that frequency. Any idea about location from this one?? (Johan, PE9DX, Netherlands, BDX via DXLD) AL AQSA TV & RADIO CREW ABDUCTED BY FATAH "SECURITY SERVICES" IN TULKAREM. Many Hamas affiliated journalists and media outlets in Gaza Strip and the West Bank have in the past been attacked by Fatah. . . http://palestinefreevoice.blogspot.com/2008/01/al-aqsa-tv-radio-crew-abducted-by-fatah.html (via José Miguel Romero, dxldyg via DXLD) FRENCH REGULATOR TAKES HAMAS-RUN AL-AQSA TV OFF THE AIR IN EUROPE Text of report by French news agency AFP http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/french-regulator-takes-hamas-run-al-aqsa-tv-off-the-air-in-europe (January 9th, 2009 20:28 by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5882.7, 0730-0800* and again *0800-0805*, Dec 28, only a number of five figures in Spanish continuously, 24332-24341. I think this signal comes from Asia, near Japan (Shin-ichi Shiraishi, Sendai, Japan, DSWCI DX Window Jan 7 via DXLD) Ha! I think it comes from Cuba, near USA as it inbooms here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 7136.011 at 1353 UT, maybe Myanmar jammer against BBC Kranji in Burmese 1345-1430 UT. Also V of Russia in Russian Sodruzhestvo program on 7135 kHz even (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 7, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 9 via DXLD) What kind of sound did 7136+ make? (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. Dear Glenn: This is what I heard on 9960 kHz at 1030 UT. I wonder what that can be. With regards, (Andy Martynyuk, Moscow, Russia, Jan 8, with an audio clip, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Andy, As surely you can tell better than I, Russian numbers. No doubt some encrypted military or spy transmission, not a broadcast. Maybe you can detect some accent or variation from usual pronunciation of numbers that would give a clue? Or keep listening in case they transmit something other than just numbers (Glenn to Andy, via DXLD) Kidding? Spies all over the world send classified information via legal channels. It looks ridiculous to use shortwave for this purposes (Andy Martynyuk, ibid.) There are lots of numbers stations in various languages and formats on shortwave today. We hear them mostly in Spanish. Who knows their real purpose? But someone is spending a lot of money and effort to transmit this way. A theory is that they are for agents in deep cover or remote areas where getting messages by shortwave is most efficient. One organization which monitors and classifies them is ENIGMA --- look that up (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Today I heard unidentified station in unidentified language at 1020 UT on 11620. It wasn't AIR. It was working parallely with AIR and was stronger than AIR. I enclose the clip. Could you identify it? Best, (Andy Martynyuk, Russia, Jan 9, ibid.) I can`t make any sense out of your 11620 clip. Seems like two or three different languages. Are those chirping sounds as received or part of your wav recording software? If you send me a much smaller mp3 file of same, we can post it on the dxld yg and have other people listen to it (Glenn to Andy, via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 12220 NO ID, inglés. Cuando son las 2208 estoy escuchando una emisora sin identificar emitiendo en inglés por 12220; no encuentro ninguna listada en Aoki ni en EiBi en esta frecuencia. La señal es muy fuerte para tratarse de una señal fantasma. SINPO 45444 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, Jan 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why not BBC Skelton aimed due south at you, 2 x 6110 until 2300? Nothing audible here on 12220 around 2230, not surprisingly (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Si, acabo de averiguarlo, en efecto se trata de BBC, por 6110, por momentos la señal entra muy fuerte en 12220. 73 (JMR, 2221 UT Jan 10, ibid.) I've no signal on 12220 but a strong broadcast in English on 6110. ID at 2218z, BBC WS, from Skelton (Roberto Scalgione, Sicily, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. OHR signal supposedly from Cyprus observed on 12277 to 12313 kHz range at 1325 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 8, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 9 via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks to William T. Hassig, Mt Prospect IL, for a check in the mail to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 ODD ITEMS UPDATE http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/2009/01/odd-items-update.html An Alert OMW Reader tells us that your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) got a brief mention on the internationally-broadcast "World of Radio", a half-hour radio news program about various forms of shortwave and domestic radio and media hosted by Oklahoma's Glenn Hauser. Glenn - who's been doing the program for decades - gave a brief mention to our story on the end of the liberal talk format, and the start of St. Gabriel Catholic Radio, on Columbus outlet WVKO/1580. Mr. Hauser didn't know that as a teenager, your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) listened to his program on an old "Soundesign" AM/FM/SW radio...the same radio which earlier first brought in the old WKNT-FM 100.1 and Howie Chizek's then-new midday talk show on the Kent station. "World of Radio" airs on a number of different shortwave stations, a handful of broadcasters, and like everything else, its audio can be found on the Internet at this page. Scroll down to WOR episode 1441, December 31st, 2008, and that's where we were mentioned...again, briefly. It'll take you longer to download it (even on a fast connection) than to hear the very short mention. And if you'd like to listen to his show via radio, be it shortwave, Internet, satellite radio or whatever, Glenn helpfully provides a list of stations and outlets carrying "World of Radio". We're reminded by the list that one of those outlets, the World Radio Network out of London, is carried on the SAP audio channel of Lima NBC affiliate WLIO/35. http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/ (via Artie Bigley, DXLD; and Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ SHORTWAVE LOG WEBSITE HAS RETURNED! And it looks like Bob has put a lot of time into refurbishing the website. Not all the links work yet, but I'm sure they will, given time... http://www.shortwavelog.com/ 73 (Mike KA3JJZ Agner, Jan 8, NASWA yg via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ EDXC CONFERENCE 2009 IN IRELAND EDXC News --- Dear DX-Friends, Shortwave Listeners all over the World! The EDXC ( European DX Council, the umbrella organisation of shortwave clubs, DX-clubs in Europe ) cordially invites you all to the next EDXC Conference, August 28-30, 2009, in Dublin / Ireland. We kindly ask you to make your hotel reservations already NOW ! Venue of the Conference : Grand Canal Hotel, Grand Canal Street, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland. Phone : + 353 1 646 1000. Fax: + 353 1 646 1001. E-Mail: reservations @ grandcanalhotel.com Home-page: http://www.grandcanalhotel.com Please observe: This is a 3 / three / star hotel. Prices: Single-room EUR 115,- / room and night, Double-room EUR 115,-/room and night. If sharing the Double-room you only pay EUR 57,50 per person. This hotel accepts the following credit cards: VISA, MASTER CARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS and DINERS CARD. PLEASE MAKE YOUR OWN RESERVATION NOW ! First you write: The special password for this reservation: EDXC CONFERENCE 2009. Then you write your family name, your christian name, your arrival date at the hotel, your departure date from the hotel. The hotel needs your credit card number at the time of reservation to be able to confirm your room. The Irish DX Club, Edward Dunne and the EDXC, Tibor Szilagyi are working on the programme of the Conference. What we know now: There will be interesting lectures about our hobby, sightseeing tour in Dublin by bus with English speaking guide and a visit at the Ye Olde Hurdy-Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio in Howth, Dublin North. The traditional Banquet Dinner will take place at our Conference Hotel on Saturday evening, August 29. Please do allow me to come back to you with more detailed information about the programme, as soon as we know more about it. THE CONFERENCE FEE YOU WILL PAY DIRECTLY TO ME (Tibor Szilagyi) UPON ARRIVAL. The Conference Fee: EUR 115,- per person includes: Use of the Conference Room, relevant papers like Conference Covers, Name-Tags, Lunch on Saturday, Sightseeing Tour in Dublin, visit at the Museum of Vintage Radio. Furthermore the Conference Fee includes the Banquet Dinner. What you consume as drinks during the Banquet Dinner, you will pay extra to the hotel staff. For further information you may contact: Tibor Szilagyi, Sweden. Phone: +46 8 500 264 83. E - Mail: tiszi2035 @ yahoo.com and Edward Dunne, Ireland: E-Mail : edunne @ iol.ie edxc2009 @ live.ie http://edxcnews.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/edxc-conference-2009-in-ireland/ (via Mike Terry, UK, Jan 8, dxldyg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: INDIA; PORTUGAL; RUSSIA ++++++++++++++++++++ DTV TRANSITION: A CONTINUUM Should I take Vacation Days on Feb 17th and 18th? I am thinking of taking vacation on Feb. 18th so I can DX the TV bands with our local analogs off the air. Anybody planning to do the same? (John L., Muskego, WI, WTFDA via DXLD) I'll be working ;-) Seriously, though, it's not as though the band will be dramatically different at 12:01 AM on 2/18 than at any time later on post-transition. The only thing that may inject some spice into the mix is this "Analog Nightlight" business, whereby certain analog signals can stay on the air for an extra 30 days, IF... ...they're on channels 2-13 or 21-51 (and maybe 52-69, but that's not clear to me), and IF... ...their analog channel can be used without major interference to post-transition digital operations, and IF... ...the analog transmitter is staying in place and not being cannibalized for conversion to DTV, and IF... ...the station doesn't mind paying an extra power bill and finding a way to feed separate, commercial-free, programming about the DTV transition (AND NOTHING ELSE) to the analog transmitter. Madison actually looks like it could end up with a bunch of these "nightlight" signals, since none of your digitals are reverting to their analog channels...so you might wake up on 2/18 with some or all of your analogs still chugging away. One more thought on the matter - by midnight on 2/17, a fair number of analogs will already be gone, or nearly gone, anyway, as more and more stations lower analog power or go dark early to make the transition go more smoothly behind the scenes. So it's really more of a continuum than a sudden shift... s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, ibid.) I booked off Feb 13 thru Feb 18 --- in case of some overnight opportunities leading up to D-Day that might give me a last crack at some analog pix (especially test patterns!!!) for my website log before they're all gone or any other off air opportunities/testing stuff (Bill Hepburn, Grimsby Ont., ibid.) Re 9-003, VIRTUAL CHANNELS, REMAPPING, etc. This is all in the A/65 standard. http://www.atsc.org/standards/a_65cr1_with_amend_1.pdf read pages 89 and 90 of the file. Note the widespread use of the word "shall" below. In a nutshell: 1. For stations with an existing analog license, the major channel number for all DTV virtual channels shall be the current analog channel number. 2. For a new DTV-only station with no existing analog license, the major channel for all DTV virtual channels shall be the RF channel number of the DTV station. 3. If a station's DTV RF channel changes at the end of transition (next month) for any reason, the station's DTV major virtual channel numbers shall not change. 4. If, after the transition, a new DTV station is licensed on an RF channel previously used by an existing analog station, the new station shall use the RF channel number of the analog station's pre-transition DTV facility as its DTV major virtual channel. (Imagine that, in Gotham City, WTVB-TV is analog channel 17, DTV RF channel 15. After transition, WTVB-DT will remain on RF channel 15. This opens up RF channel 17 for new full-power DTV station WSTV-DT. WSTV-DT is required to use *15* as its DTV major virtual channel. Because 15 is the DTV RF channel of the station whose old analog channel WSTV is using.) 5. If a station controls licenses for two or more stations with overlapping service areas, they may use the same major channel number for all such stations. They may choose the major channel number appropriate for any of these stations. They must ensure the complete channel numbers (including the minor channel numbers) don't conflict with the overlapping service areas of other DTV stations on the same major channel. (I would suggest this would be a dangerous practice, in the case where a viewer can receive more than one transmitter with the same program and same major channel. On many TVs, only the transmitter with the highest RF channel number will remain in the TV's lookup table -- and in many cases, this will *not* be the transmitter with the most reliable signal. Consider this in the Canadian case above as well. There's plenty of overlap among the Global transmitters in Southern Ontario. A viewer in Cambridge probably wouldn't get the most reliable reception from the CN Tower or London transmitters - but if those transmitters were on a higher RF channel number than the Paris transmitter, that's likely what they'd be getting on virtual channel 3. Or, you could argue that avoiding conflict would require CN Tower to be virtual channel 3.1, Paris to be 3.2, and London to be 3.3, etc... Kinda blows the point of using a common major channel though!) 6. The virtual channels for other stations may be included in the transmission, provided there is no duplication with any other station with overlapping coverage. (so if KATV-7's tower collapsed and the station went off the air, they could arrange for KWBF-DT 44 to carry KATV's programming on virtual channel 7.1, alongside KWBF's own programming on virtual channel 42.1. KWBF has ensured virtual channel 7.1 is not duplicated - in this case because KATV-DT's antenna is on the ground and not transmitting anything!) 7. (paragraph 7 is worded very differently from paragraph 6 but seems to say the same thing.) 8. The above 7 provisions guarantee unique virtual channel combinations within a DTV service area. 9. Major virtual channels 70-99 may be used. I believe I earlier posted somewhere (not necessarily here) that these are assigned by some central authority - this is not true. Jerry Whitaker of the ATSC has agreed to maintain a table of major virtual channels in use in this range, but it's the responsibility of individual broadcasters to ensure they're unique. As it turns out this doesn't make a whole lot of work for Mr. Whitaker as only two organizations have notified him of their use of these numbers: Tribune Broadcasting registered major virtual channel 75 in nineteen markets where they have stations; and (now defunct) U.S. Digital Television registered major channel 99 nationwide. 10. When a digital translator is operated, the translator shall use the same major/minor virtual channels as the station being rebroadcast. Unless that would cause a conflict with another station in the translator's service area, in which case the translator shall choose a non-conflicting number. ==================== -CD (Class A) stations are held to the same standards as full-power stations above. -LD (LPTV) stations are covered by a requirement to produce signals that can be "satisfactorily viewed" on receivers designed to the ATSC standard - I don't see that that specifically requires adhering to the major virtual channel assignment rules above, but it does (IMHO) require choosing a major virtual channel that won't conflict with any other station, full-power or low-power, in the same area. -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) Is there a source that tells if a digital TV station has sub channels and what they run on those? Thanks. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, NRC-AM via DXLD) My website http://w9wi.com takes a stab at it, but it's fairly incomplete. I don't know of anything comprehensive (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Try http://rabbitears.info --- Lots of DTV info there. De (Joe, K1CR, ibid.) Yup - RabbitEars is a good site. It's the product of a college kid in Virginia. I've been corresponding with him - he's not done improving it yet. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) I was reading that KRII-11 on MN's Iron Range has a channel 11.9, as well as 11.1; 11.2; 11.3; 11.4. Is this possible?? http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/index.html (John Ebeling, MN, ibid.) Sure - virtual channels are virtual, after all, so they can be designated pretty much anything you want to call them. There's nothing stopping KRII from having 11.1 followed by 11.23, 11.29 and 11.56, if I read the standards correctly. As far as trying to cram an HD channel (NBC) and four SD channels (CBS, CW, My and an all-news channel) into the 19.39 megabits/second of the DTV datastream --- well, they can try. :-) s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Yes, it is technically possible to use any number from 1 to 99 for a minor virtual channel. (the thing after the dot) It's also perfectly legal to use any number in this range as long as it doesn't duplicate any other station with overlapping coverage. And no, there's no problem if you leave gaps. If I had to guess I'd say KMSP-9 used to be on cable up there and they're playing on the channel 9 association with KMSP and My Network TV (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Except --- I don't believe KMSP was ever a My affiliate. And while I think it (and WFTC 29, which *is* the My affiliate in the Twin Cities) used to be on cable up north, I think the 1979 Twin Cities affiliation swap meant that Minnesota never had the strong "big-city independent superstation" association with KMSP (or with its indie/superstation predecessor, WTCN 11) that, say, Wisconsin had with WVTV or the northeast with WPIX. (Scott Fybush, ibid.) If you want to see a really confusing display of digital virtual channels try a scan of a digital cable TV system. I have seen this at work with Connecticut Cablevision. You will get all kinds of wacky virtuals like 93.196 in no particular pattern. Of course, most of the in-the-clear virtuals on cable are exciting channels like Shop NBC, Home Shopping Network and QVC and everything but something useful or watchable. Connecticut Cablevision also has some over-the-air virtuals in the clear like NBC WeatherPlus. There are also test channels that are silent text frames saying "MPEG-4 Test." etc. Still, over-the-air digital looks much, much better than compressed cable digital (Karl Zuk N2KZ, ibid.) See also OKLAHOMA ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ANALOG NIGHTLIGHT PROGRAM It's official. The "Nightlight Bill" has become law. Eligible TV stations may keep their analog transmitters on the air for an extra 30 days past the February 17, 2009 DTV switch date to broadcast emergency and DTV switch information on their analog channels. The FCC is to work out the details by mid-month: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6624867.html http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6626521.html http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-281A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-287676A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-2820A1.doc (CGC Communicator Jan 7, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) OBAMA ASKS CONGRESS TO DELAY DTV TRANSITION By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/8/2009 2:30:00 PM http://www.broadcastingcable.com/CA6627776.html Related: ABC Backs Delaying Feb. 17 Date The DTV Countdown: Complete Coverage of the DTV Transition Markey: Feb. 17 DTV Date May Have To Move President-elect Barack Obama has asked Congress to extend the Feb. 17 DTV transition date. Citing problems with the DTV-to-analog converter box program and "inadequate funding" of government DTV education programs, John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama-Biden transition team, requested that "the cut-off date for analog signals should be reconsidered and extended." That is according to a letter (click here to view) being sent Thursday to the chairs and ranking Republicans on the House and Senate Committees overseeing communications (The House Energy & Commerce Committee and Senate Commerce Committee). Saying that only 28 days after the inauguration Americans would wake up to find their analog TV's no longer able to receive an over-the-air signal—and pointing to the decision on the date made in 2005 and implemented by the outgoing administration—Podesta urged them to "consider a change to the legislatively mandated cut-off date." He said that funds to support the conversion are "woefully inadequate," particularly to address the problems of seniors and low income viewers. He also suggested that there would be money from the president-elect's economic recovery package that would help address the funding shortfalls. Consumers Union, which called for a similar move Wednesday after consultation with the transition, has suggested moving the date to midsummer. Brandon Burgess, chairman and CEO of Ion Media, the nation's largest station group owner with 60 outlets, said that given the Obama request, there is a "serious chance" that the date would move. He said that, personally, "it was disappointing. It's a lot like studying for an exam. Once you have studied, it doesn't really help to get an extra day." Burgess noted that there has been a billion dollars of promotion that has gone into the transition. "It doesn't get any better with an extra four months," he said.—Glen Dickson contributed to this report (Broadcasting & Cable via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) And here's a pdf copy of the actual letter from the "Office of the President-Elect": http://www.wtfda.org/images/stories/pdf/Obama%20Letter-1.pdf (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, WTFDA via DXLD) Trouble is, all of the consumer advocates insist there's all these households not ready. The procrastinators will only procrastinate further with a delay. And a delay won't address the lack of coupon funding. Looks like he's getting bad advice here (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Wow -- all this preparation, and they will now say 'never mind'? Shades of Roseanne Roseannadana! My gut reaction? I guess it boils down to one of two thing: 1) PulEaze, if people are not ready yet they will NEVER be ready and 2) Hooray – DTV as implemented is poorly thought out, and will force people to install huge antennas where rabbit ears used to work just fine, and besides, who wants to count the blackheads on Conan O`Brien's nose; wasn't analog good enough? (Ken Zichi, ed., MARE Tipsheet Jan 9 via DXLD) I can think of more pressing issues with a collapsing economy, than holding broadcasters hostage with analog TV a few more months. These same broadcasters that are facing declines in advertising. With 40 or so days left, and stations running two transmitters and now being told "...NEVER MIND" The transition could be delayed to 2012 and there will be some viewers out there that simply won't get off their tails and get a converter if they were completely free. Nightlights, delays won't help those viewers that won't take the initiative and do anything except gripe and moan about "DTV being some sort of conspiracy by the Sat/Cable industry" (I could think of more colorful language, but won't in this forum) – (Fritze H. Prentice, Jr KC5KBV, Star City, AR http://tvdxseark.blogspot.com WTFDA via DXLD) In the paper it said the group behind this delay is called Consumers Union, they have been pushing for a delay for awhile now. This is all like a bad toothache, just get it over with once and for all (Craig, ibid.) Consumers Union is the group who publishes Consumers Report magazine. Maybe they should stick to testing toasters and refrigerators. I just got back from having my car's emissions tested at Computer Tune and Lube. They had a color TV there hooked up to rabbit ears. I mentioned to the guy that he should buy a converter box. He said they were looking into basic cable instead. I didn't comment because if they want to waste their money, it's their problem, but they keep the set on ch 30 all the time so what's the point of going to basic cable? People are stupid (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ibid.) Re: Obama calls for analog TV shutoff delay http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/72530 Yeah - until his term in office is over if he is smart! I've been saying this for years - whoever is in the White House is going to experience the wrath of everybody who was clueless about this. Whether democan or republicrat - it is going to PO enough people that they will vote the controlling party out of power in the next election (Bruce Carter, ABDX via DXLD) Nonsense. At this point, even in the least-wired markets, it will affect at most 10% of viewers, and probably significantly less than that. (Based on what I'm hearing from WXXI members, the numbers that are coming out now significantly underestimate how many people have made a successful transition to OTA DTV.) For the other 90%-plus, nothing will change on "transition day." Meanwhile, whether there's an official shutoff date or not, stations are shutting down analog on their own in ever-larger numbers - and the stations that aren't turning off analog completely are turning down power levels so they can convert transmitters to digital, or switching to lower auxiliary antennas so they can top-mount DTV antennas. With everything else going on politically right now, this issue won't even rank in the top 100 by November 2010, when federal officials are next up for re-election. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) I have to agree. Anyone who watches any significant amount of OTA TV has known about this for months. They may not be all that happy on conversion day, but they should not be surprised. I wonder if the cable & satellite companies are seeing any significant blip in signups. My mom decided to just bite the bullet and get satellite. She's now enjoying her new DVR, and all of the new channels. We didn't bother hooking up the TV in the kitchen, so the picture is marginal on a few channels when using the converter box and whip antenna. I am going to make my 12 year-old build her one of those YouTube HD antennas. That should do the trick, and give him something fun to do (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, ibid.) Back on May 26, 2005, Congressional hearings were held on whether to stick with the original 2009 analog shut-off date or extend it. The consensus of those testifying --- including the FCC, Nielsen, the Consumer Electronics Association, various cable and satellite providers, etc. --- was that 87% of Americans received TV via cable or satellite, with only 17% relying solely on OTA reception. That's in keeping with the 2000 census, which found about 80% of Americans (including over two-thirds of those below the federal poverty line) get TV via cable or satellite. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of households with cable or satellite is now well past 90%. There will no doubt be some people who will, despite everything, be caught unaware of the analog shutoff. But as my dear grandmother used to sweetly say before we signed those papers and put her in the rest home, "There are some people who can't find their ass even if they use both hands." So no, the analog shutoff isn't going to trigger an American version of the French Revolution. 'Tis a pity! (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17 http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/ ibid.) MOBILE DTV? We're starting to hear radio-program reports from attendees at the currently-in-progress CES in Las Vegas, and there was a brief mention of the introduction of an in-car (or in-RV) mobile DTV TV receiver. Now, since we've long known that DTV reception in regular life is impossible when the TV antenna is moving relative to the transmitting antenna (even with a designed-to-be-portable DTV, it has to be sat down and allowed some time to "sync up" the DTV signal before you get audio and video), have any details been released as to just *how* an in-car over-the-air DTV receiving system functions while the car is in motion? (Will Martin, MO, Jan 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) These were no regular ATSC signals but instead transmissions in another system. Two such systems appear to be on air in the USA at present, the DVB-H variant of DVB-T and ATSC-M/H, a variant of or addition to the ATSC system. It seems that the latter will be declared as standard. "Mobile TV" was a big story here in Europe, and "Bruxelles" felt compelled to define DVB-H as standard for it. However, DVB-T can, unlike ATSC, also be received in motion. Speed figures that can be found are 90, 130, 140, 170, even 200 km/h. And the death-knell for "Mobile TV" were cellphones with a DVB-T tuner (reportedly their performance is pretty good). Who subscribes to a DVB-H service when he can simply tune in to the regular, free-to-air TV signals? It appears that attempts were being made to prevent these cellphones from showing up in Germany, but it was just too late. To me it was recently a sudden insight to spot a TV screen in a car while waiting on a railway crossing. Indeed, "everywhere TV" as the marketing claim for DVB-T here in Germany goes ("Überall-Fernsehen"). And this in a rural area where the same transmission facilities delivered only snowy, hardly viewable pictures to mobile sets when running in analogue mode (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 10, ibid.) FCC BEGINS GRANTING [HD FM] POWER INCREASE REQUESTS FOR TEST PURPOSES Radio World By Leslie Stimson, December 18,.2008 The FCC has begun granting permission to organizations for further increased FM IBOC power testing. On the Radio World Webinar "What to Watch for in 2009" here http://radioworld.com/article/71658 yesterday both Milford Smith of Greater Media and Mike Starling of NPR said their companies have further tests planned. Smith later told me WKLB(FM) in Boston has experimental authority to operate its digital power at up to minus 10 dB (from the current -20 dB below analog carrier up to -10 dB). "I'm optimistic we are going to find a middle ground," he said, referring to differences between the testing of the major, mostly commercial radio groups who petitioned the FCC for the change and that of NPR Labs regarding the proposed voluntary digital power increase of up to 10 dB. The increase, Smitty said, needs to be enough of an improvement to solve most of the issues we've got now - having digital coverage match the analog. Talks are ongoing among the broadcast groups that initially asked the FCC to approve a voluntary increase, and iBiquity, NAB, the FCC and NPR, according to Starling and Smith. "The faster we get to an industry consensus the better. The FCC would love a red-ribbon package on their doorstep with a solution," said Smith. Starling said NPR plans additional testing with Minnesota Public Radio and also two NPR-member stations. "We know we've got to solve this indoor coverage shortfall. An unhappy listener is a failed transition." Maybe a controlled increase at a compromise level, coupled with other options is the answer, he indicated. NPR Labs wants to look at single-frequency networks and asymmetrical digital sidebands. Perhaps a station with a first-adjacent neighbor only raises the digital sideband without a neighbor station, is the theory. All parties may have a solution by spring/summer timeframe, they said. If you'd like to hear the Webinar, you can listen at our newly re- designed site here http://radioworld.com/article/71658 http://radioworld.com/article/71720 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Well, I'm obviously not an engineer; but what is the issue with raising power to allow digital to match analog coverage? Is there an interference issue? If so, with what? Is it confined to the main channel or to the multiplexed channels (or both)? Then there's the issue on the commercial side (apparently self- imposed) that has put the clamps on any real content experimentation on the multiplexed channels (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, Jan 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Causes increased first-adjacent-channel interference. Formerly DXable channels in many markets are already blocked by FM IBOC, and this would make it worse, as well as generally shrink effective coverage area of adjacents. O yes, also the more power goes into the IBOC, the less is left for the original analog signal. This converts to lower modulation, decreased coverage of the station itself. This is especially harmful in fringe areas. Our main public radio signal in Enid, from KOSU `Stillwater` got a self-imposed double-whammy by moving transmitter closer to OKC, and adding ``HD``. I can no longer depend on hearing KOSU solidly on walkman or at all in buildings, and on caradio it is more subject to picket-fencing. More IBOC, which no one is listening to, and less analog will only make it worse, maybe finish it off in this area. Yet there is enough signal that KOSU will not consider putting a translator in Enid. We must be one of the larger towns with NO local public radio transmitters, let alone originating stations, not even a translator, only gospel-huxters. But this IS Oklahoma, the most backward state in the nation in so many ways (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Read the comments after the story http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/01/why-so-little-hd-radio-in-cars.html (Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) The comments illustrate another major reason why most of the car manufacturers have stayed away from HD. Stations with audio that keeps dropping out, and coverage that doesn't match that of the "regular" stations that they listen to, leads to unhappy customers. Unhappy customers take their vehicles back to their dealers to get their defective radios repaired or replaced. Unfortunately, it's the technology that's broken, not the radios, so the customers will remain unhappy. This also illustrates why Ibiquity & co. are so anxious to get the 10 dB digital power increase. Although they've mostly talked about improving indoor HD reception, it would also help to convince the car manufacturers to get on board. Too bad increasing your digital coverage probably means taking a bigger bite out of somebody else's analog coverage (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibid.) SAN ANTONIO RADIO DIAL MAY SOON GET ADDITION Web Posted: 01/09/2009 12:00 CST By Jeorge [sic] Zarazua - Express-News A years-long grass-roots effort to start a nonprofit radio station representing San Antonio's minority communities now hinges on whether organizers can raise $50,000 by the end of next month. The idea for San Antonio Community Radio emerged from the loss two years ago of what the organizers considered the city's only radio station targeting African Americans — KSJL 810 AM. KSJL was the only station in the city that played contemporary, urban R&B music, and it carried “The Tom Joyner Morning Show,” the country's largest syndicated black radio show. Tommy Calvert Jr., one of the organizers, said the effort to establish the station has received widespread support from residents eager to have their voice restored. Calvert said an agreement is being finalized with Trinity University to lease its 91.72 [sic] FM frequency for the new station, which would carry the call letters KROV — the last three letters representing the campaign's slogan of “Restore Our Voice.” Trinity would continue to broadcast its jazz programming on KRTU 91.7 FM, but because the station broadcasts both analog and digital signals, it has the technology to transmit the side frequency 91.72, said station manager Alfredo Cruz. Cruz said no one currently uses the side frequency, which can be picked up only on HD radio. . . http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/SA_radio_dial_may_soon_get_addition.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) First time I have seen IBOC ``side-channels`` designated that way. It`s not really on 91.72 MHz, is it? And would KROV be a real callsign? So happens it is not in FCC AM or FM query at the moment, but would FCC go for assigning a distinct callsign to an HD sub- channel?? They`d better give away a LOT of `HD` radios to make this viable. It`s the old SCA tactic (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ CHANNEL 6 TV STATIONS ACTING AS FMs -- FEEDBACK GALORE In our last two newsletters (December 2008), readers commented on various aspects of Channel 6 LPTV stations behaving like FM broadcast stations instead of televisions stations. In particular, there were comments on the FCC's Notice of Violation (NOV) against KSFV-LP for allegedly running almost eight-times the allowable aural transmitter power -- and KSFV's special request to the FCC that KSFV be allowed to run excessive power. Right after our last newsletter was published, Radio World printed a cover story entitled Concerns Raised About 'Franken FMs.' Franken FMs is their term for Channel 6 stations acting like FMs. The article by Randy J. Stine is fascinating and is available here: http://www.rwonline.com/article/71552 Now our readers have added even more thoughts to the Franken FM situation and their responses have been Web-posted at the following address. Perhaps KSFV's special request – asking the FCC for permission to run excessive aural power – will entice the Commission to rule on the question of whether Channel 6 stations are even allowed to act like FMs. Our readers' questions and letters are posted here: http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Franken_FMs.htm (CGC Communicator Jan 7, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) LAUREL AND HARDY DEFTLY EXECUTE A HOME ANTENNA INSTALLATION (5-star video, 6-minute duration): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIgqrHTEXbI&feature=related (CGC Communicator Jan 7, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) RCA VICTOR RADIOS OF YESTERYEAR For this New Year, I’m hoping that readers will share with us at the Messenger their stories of radio’s Golden Age – the early days of the medium, back in the day when getting a new radio was even more exciting than waiting for the shop to deliver your 52-inch HDTV. I’m too young to be nostalgic but my parents will still tell me of how families like theirs saved up for a radio and how the oldest of the radios used dry batteries, which lasted for more than six months. I even have one of those radios, a 1941 RCA Victor. Can’t plug it in, though, because I don’t have a dry cell and I don’t know how to set up a power source (read that it has something to do with nine 9-volts in series?) I recently found some ads in a December 1939 newspaper for RCA Victor’s “New Yorker” model: “…a superb new six-tube radio embodying brilliant performance features heretofore unheard of in radios of fewer than eight tubes.” “…enable you and your friends to choose the fi nest programs anywhere in the world and hear them with unbelievable realism…right in your own living-room!” This Model 6Q4’s design, said the ad, “fairly breathes the vivacious, glamorous atmosphere of modern-day New York.” The radio had “outstanding reception of distant programs on long and short waves, including the European long-wave band…preserving all the dept[h] and beauty of the original program as it comes from the radio.” The radio’s cabinet was also designed “to meet the dynamic, vigorous lines of New York architecture.” And it even had “tropic-proofing!” (It was either good in hot weather or great for taking with you as you traveled through exotic jungles, I guess.) Another ad featuring a radio as a suggested awesome Christmas present also appeared in a December ’39 newspaper. It was also for an RCA Victor Model 8Q2. This “breathtaking perfection of tone quality” was an eight-tube, three-band table model radio which featured “choice programs from gay cities” like Paris, London and New York. These days, if you say “gay cities” people are thinking you’re referring to San Francisco. We think of advertising today as being strictly about trying to sell a product, but in the 30s and 40s, the advertisers weren’t far off when calling their models a revelation in “luxurious radio listen[ing].” Back then, as you might know, radio was all many people had to stay in touch with what was going on the world. TV news coverage was in its infancy then, and radio offered immediate access to current affairs. The days of “programs from gay cities” on the RCA “New Yorker” are long gone. But some of our older CIDX members would remember the old radios and programs. I’d like to collect some of those stories and run them in a future Forum. 73 (Sue Hickey, NF, CIDX Forum, Jan CIDX Messenger via DXLD) EDWIN HOWARD ARMSTRONG, RADIO ENGINEER By Frederik Nebeker -- engineering hall of fame 12.08 Seventy-five years ago this month, on 26 December 1933, Edwin Howard Armstrong received four patents for frequency modulation (FM) inventions. Our present FM radio owes more to Armstrong than to anyone else: he developed much of the technology himself, and he worked for two decades to establish FM broadcasting in the United States. . . http://www.todaysengineer.org/2008/Dec/history.asp (via Benn Kobb, DXLD) INTERNET CAR RADIO A WORLD FIRST The Age, Australia, By Asher Moses in Las Vegas [NV], January 7, 2009 Australian technology is powering the world's first internet car radio, which will soon provide drivers worldwide with access to 30,000 stations including online broadcasts and AM and FM stations from around the globe. The technology was developed by Melbourne-based online radio aggregator miRoamer, which has inked a deal with one of the largest producers of car radios in the world, German-based Blaupunkt. The technology, unveiled in prototype form at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, poses a significant threat to traditional terrestrial broadcasters such as Austereo because it opens them up to competition from tens of thousands more radio stations from around the world. Today, it is difficult to access live internet radio broadcasts without sitting in front of a computer. Blaupunkt will produce the radios, which should soon be integrated into the latest models by car manufacturers such as Ford, Holden, Mercedes, BMW and Audi. The product will also be sold separately for those who want to install it in their cars. . . http://www.theage.com.au/news/digital-life/home-entertainment/articles/internet-car-radio-a-world-first/2009/01/07/1231004091554.html (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Same story in the Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/news/digital-life/home-entertainment/articles/internet-car-radio-a-world-first/2009/01/07/1231004091554.html (via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) I use Moodio.fm radio the portal to setup and select my favourite internet stations and to select a download stream speed. I then use my Sony-Ercsn T-Mobile "web'n'walk plus" internet bandwidth to listen to the stations, taking the audio out from the phone into audio in on my Blaupunkt car radio/CD/DAB. On main trunk routes, internet radio is pretty reliable. My present C902 by Sony is a bit deaf in reception terms; a better phone would be able to stick with the remarkably good quality 24k stereo stream I use. Certainly listenable and not sounding worse than the 112 kb/s of many DAB stations - and far more choice. Using the 3G phone for internet streaming is notably more robust on main train routes than FM or DAB. The 3G network is better tailored for use on the move on major routes than FM or DAB broadcast solutions. Driving along with FIP, NPR or Otto's Baroque or Point Blank FM via the net is already a reality (CHRIS McWhinnie, England, via BDXC-UK via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ NASA-FUNDED STUDY REVEALS HAZARDS OF SEVERE SPACE WEATHER Jan. 05, 2009 Dwayne Brown, Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov RELEASE: 09-001 WASHINGTON -- A NASA-funded study describes how extreme solar eruptions could have severe consequences for communications, power grids and other technology on Earth. The National Academy of Sciences in Washington conducted the study. The resulting report provides some of the first clear economic data that effectively quantifies today's risk of extreme conditions in space driven by magnetic activity on the sun and disturbances in the near-Earth environment. Instances of extreme space weather are rare and are categorized with other natural hazards that have a low frequency but high consequences. "Obviously, the sun is Earth's life blood," said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "To mitigate possible public safety issues, it is vital that we better understand extreme space weather events caused by the sun's activity." Besides emitting a continuous stream of plasma called the solar wind, the sun periodically releases billions of tons of matter called coronal mass ejections. These immense clouds of material, when directed toward Earth, can cause large magnetic storms in the magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. Such space weather can affect the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems. Space weather can produce solar storm electromagnetic fields that induce extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines, causing wide-spread blackouts and affecting communication cables that support the Internet. Severe space weather also produces solar energetic particles and the dislocation of the Earth's radiation belts, which can damage satellites used for commercial communications, global positioning and weather forecasting. Space weather has been recognized as causing problems with new technology since the invention of the telegraph in the 19th century. A catastrophic failure of commercial and government infrastructure in space and on the ground can be mitigated through raising public awareness, improving vulnerable infrastructure and developing advanced forecasting capabilities. Without preventive actions or plans, the trend of increased dependency on modern space-weather sensitive assets could make society more vulnerable in the future. NASA requested the study to assess the potential damage from significant space weather during the next 20 years. National and international experts from industry, government and academia participated in the study. The report documents the possibility of a space weather event that has societal effects and causes damage similar to natural disasters on Earth. "From a public policy perspective, it is quite significant that we have begun the extremely challenging task of assessing space weather impacts in a quantitative way," said Daniel Baker, professor and director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Baker chaired the panel that prepared the report. "Whether it is terrestrial catastrophes or extreme space weather incidents, the results can be devastating to modern societies that depend in a myriad of ways on advanced technological systems," said Baker. "We were delighted that NASA helped support bringing together dozens of world experts from industry and government to share their experiences and begin planning of improved public policy strategies." The sun is currently near the minimum of its 11-year activity cycle. It is expected that solar storms will increase in frequency and intensity toward the next solar maximum, expected to occur around 2012. The Heliophysics Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington provided funding for the study. The division seeks to understand the sun, its solar processes and the interaction of solar plasma and radiation with Earth, other planets and the universe. Understanding the connections between the sun and its planets will allow better prediction on the impacts of solar activity on humans, technological systems and even the presence of life itself in the universe. The National Academies are chartered by Congress to provide independent technical and scientific advice to the federal government. For images related to the study and more information about the Heliophysics Division, visit: http://nasascience.nasa.gov/heliophysics To view the National Academy of Sciences' complete report, visit: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12507.html (NASA mailing list via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) SOLAR WEATHER THREAT TO WIRED EARTH (INCLUDING RADIO COMMUNICATIONS) Thursday, January 8, 2009 12:01 PM Aviation Week, By Frank Morring, Jr, January 7, 2009 A rare but not unprecedented "space weather Katrina" could cost the global economy $1 trillion to $2 trillion in the first year afterward as society's dependence on space and terrestrial networks that are vulnerable to solar weather continues to grow, a new federally commissioned science report says. The National Academy of Sciences workshop on the societal and economic impacts of "severe space weather events" finds efforts to protect power grids and spacecraft like the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation continues to lag, with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) struggling to accommodate a growing customer base on a budget of only $6 million to $7 million a year. NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), which monitors high-energy particles in the solar wind from a vantage point at the L1 Sun-Earth libration point, was launched in August 1997 and is "well beyond its planned operational life" with no plans on the books for a replacement even though "the requirement for a solar wind monitor at L1 is particularly important," according to the report. . . http://www.aviationweek.com:80/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/SOL010709.xml&headline=Solar%20Weather%20Threat%20To%20Wired%20Earth (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) WEAK IONOSPHERE This is DXers Unlimited mid week edition, coming to you from Havana. And here is our next radio hobby related item, amigos. Poor propagation on the high frequency bands, especially from 10 megaHertz and up, but also hitting hard lower bands like 40 meters or 7 megaHertz, that traditionally were practically immune to the effects of the lower phase of solar cycles. Scientists are practically sure now that the extended periods of extremely low solar activity is the cause of what they are describing as a “ weak ionosphere”, that according to the propagation gurus is the cause to blame for the very poor propagation on the short wave bands. The year 2008 average number of sunspots was an amazingly low 4.3, with practically three quarters of the days of 2008 without a single sunspot seen on the solar disc. Now, I am sure that you are going to ask two questions. If and when this is going to change --- and sorry to say, all I can assure you is that YES, solar activity will sometime in the future is going to increase, but, it is practically impossible to forecast when solar cycle 24 is going to really start to enter its active phase!!! (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited Jan 6 via DXLD) Re: Another aspect of the decline of shortwave ``The difference in ionosphere altitude seems quite significant. It would be interesting to know what has caused this.`` Low solar activity. Nothing new, the measured figures are just particularly low. Actually NASA's original press release explains this background, but of course they still had to turn it into a sexy story in order to justify such programs to the non-caring public. And further reproductions just omitted these details at all. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/outer_atmosphere.html The story can also go the other way round: In 1986 the Salyut 7 space station with a coupled Almaz module had been put into an about 480 km high orbit. The idea was that it could last there very long, allowing to pick it up at a later point, in particular with a Buran spacecraft. But high solar activity increased the density of the outer atmosphere; thus after just a bit more than four years the Salyut/Almaz complex made a basically uncontrolled reentry, with the debris raining on Argentina: http://www.astronautix.com/craft/salyut7.htm As well-known, no such storage attempts had been made with the even larger Mir complex later. And I guess that one day it will be necessary to get rid of the ISS the same way (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ PRAY DON’T, MR. PRESIDENT-ELECT (Cranford, NJ). As Americans look forward to the inauguration later this month of a new President, we at American Atheists wish we could be treated as the first class citizens we assuredly are. As our own president, Dr. Ed Buckner, notes, “If President-Elect Obama would like to have someone representing those of us who lack religious beliefs at his ceremony, we can give him the names of dozens of different men and women who could express our robust devotion to and confidence in the American government and in the U.S. Constitution even while articulating our own strong preference for a life without religion. A better solution, however, than attempting such a balancing act would be to leave religious expression in the hands of individual American citizens and any leaders they choose, rather than entangling the civic and the religious.” † Atheists and others who demand strict separation of church and state are often falsely accused of trying to suppress all religious expression, which is utterly untrue. But a majestic, historic, and important civic ceremony does not need to omit or insult a substantial portion of the citizenry to be inspiring. Mr. President-elect, we call on you to leave religious imprecations and supplications out of your inauguration, for the sake of the religious liberty of all Americans. Our best wishes for all for 2009CE and for the new administration in Washington, DC. *** *** *** AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy. American Atheists, Inc. P. O. Box 158, Cranford, NJ 07016 Tel: (908) 276-7300 Fax: (908) 276-7402 Date: Saturday, January 3, 2009, 11:47 PM American Atheists, Inc. http://www.atheists.org http://www.americanatheist.org For more information, please contact: Ed Buckner, President (770) 803-5353 or (908) 499-9200 Dave Silverman, Communications Director (732) 648-9333 (Jan 3 press release via DXLD) ###