DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-045, June 1, 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 2009 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1462, May 28-June 2 Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Tue 1900 WBCQ 7415 SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1463, June 3-9 Wed 0500 WRMI 9955 Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1900 WBCQ 7415 Thu 0530 WRMI 9955 Thu 1900 WBCQ 7415 Fri 0000 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Area 51 Fri 0100 WRMI 9955 Fri 1130 WRMI 9955 Fri 1900 WBCQ 7415 Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 [or 2029] Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 9510 [except first Sat: June 6] Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 [suspended] Mon 0500 WRMI 9955 Mon 2200 WBCQ 7415 Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Tue 1900 WBCQ 7415 Wed 0500 WRMI 9955 [or new 1464 starting here?] Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1900 WBCQ 7415 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 or http://schedule.worldofradio.org or http://sked.worldofradio.org 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://podcast.worldofradio.org or http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** ABKHAZIA. GEORGIA. Here is the complete schedule of Abkhaz Radio from Sukhumi, Abkhaz Rep.: ID in Abkhazian: "Apsua Radio", ID in Russian "Gavarit Sukhumi". 0330-0345 MS RR 0345-0400 MS AB 0400-0430 MS AB, Sun till 0425 RR (same news are repeated on Sunday at 1100 and at 1400 hours) 0430-0500 MS AB 0700-0800 MF AB 0800-0810 MF RR 1100-1120 MF AB, Sat & Sun in RR, Sun till 1125 1400-1420 Sat, till 1425 in RR 1400-1455 MF AB and irregularly 1425-1455 on Sat in AB [MF must mean Mon-Fri, but what does MS mean, Mon-Sat, or Mon-Sun, i.e. daily? --- gh] All times vary and the usage of languages also vary. In times like 0500-0700 MF (Sat till 0600) and after 1455 is relaying Radio Rossii, mostly Stream No. 4,sometimes No. 3 (as on 4055 kHz). All above is for the frequency of 9495 kHz, irr. // also 9535. The // MW frequency of 1350 is with increased broadcast times than on SW (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF 2001, Marconi), June Australian DX News via DXLD) ** ADEN. Jamming/UK and non --- The British National Archives has just released a file (T220/1394) revealing that the British authorities in 1959 set up a secret jamming project in their Aden colony. It shows that transmitters of the Diplomatic Wireless Service and transmitters stored in Cyprus were involved in the operation, which was designed to counter hostile broadcasts from Cairo and elsewhere at the time of 'the Aden Colony elections to the Legislative Council'. There is discussion in the file concerning how best to disguise the budget for the jamming. It is argued by one official that it should be accounted for as a 'miscellaneous item' in the Colonial budget which 'is appropriate ...from the point of view of preserving anonymity: this is important because for political reasons the Government of Aden has had to preserve the strategic secrecy locally over the operation which gave rise to the expenditure.' Another official says that the jamming equipment 'might be a permanent requirement - this depends on a study by the Electronic Warfare Board.' (Roger Tidy, UK, June 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALGERIA. Speaking at a seminar on the future of radio in early March, the secretary of state for communications and former director of Algerian Radio, Azzedine Mihoubi said ``For radio, our strategy is to provide multiple applications and usages in a multi-media environment. Radio will benefit from a national FM network with some 300 retransmitters to fill shadow zones, and the installation of an *international centre for shortwave broadcasting*`` (Radio World April 9 via DX News, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Why? They rent transmitter time easily from France, maybe VTC (gh, DXLD) ** ANGUILLA. How is the Caribbean Beacon 1610 relay via 11775 doing? Did not check it May 31, and on June 1 the 11775 transmitter was off the air again at 1326 check; just some ChiCom jamming audible. And reception was generally poor across the bands, so that`s all I logged that day (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BALEARIC ISLANDS. See UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 6910 ** BANGLADESH. From midnight of 19th June 2009, Bangladesh will advance the local time by one hour. The midnight hour would then be 0100 local time. It has not been announced how long will this daylight savings time continue. This change is supposed to save electricity by saving day light savings [sic]. The local radio stations of Bangladesh would then sign on at 2300 UT instead of 0000 UT as it is doing now. Evening broadcast sign off would now be at 1610 UT instead of 1710 as it is done now (Supratik Sanatani, West Bengal, June 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLOCKS GO AHEAD FROM JUNE 19 MIDNIGHT Mon, Jun 1st, 2009 3:23 pm BdST http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=85889&cid=2 Dhaka, June 1 (bdnews24.com)—Bangladesh will introduce Daylight Saving Time from midnight on June 19, the cabinet decided on Monday. Clocks will be set one hour ahead at midnight to 1 am, said the prime minister's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad. The government is introducing DST, as practiced in many parts of the world, in a bid to save power as the country faces acute energy shortages, especially in summer. The power ministry has been planning the move for some time. The national grid will be able to conserve power as the move means the sun will effectively set 'an hour later' on June 20, saving consumption of artificial light. Azad cited the example of 70 countries which advance clocks as necessary. The press secretary did not say how many months DST would be effective. "The government will decide and make an announcement later." The state minister for power said earlier this month that the new timing may continue until the end of September (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DXLD) Standard remark about the absurdity of DST, especially in the tropix, and especially2 when that puts a country ahead of the time in neighbors even to the east of it! This confirms the item in WRTHMonitor national update, which did not yet have the exact start date. http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst2009.html still hasn`t caught up with this development (Glenn Hauser, June 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL – A Rádio Difusora de Macapá (AP), tem sido monitorada, em Nova Xavantina (MT), pelo Daniel Wyllyans, por volta de 2300, no Tempo Universal, pela frequência de 4915 kHz. De acordo com ele, neste horário, nos sábados, a emissora leva ao ar um programa somente com músicas de grupos da região Norte do Brasil, como Calypso, entre outros. Agrega que às 2300, no TU, é quando justamente a Rádio Anhanguera, de Goiânia (GO), desliga seu [4915] transmissor de ondas tropicais (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX May 31 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Guarujá Paulista em 5045 kHz está dando uma verdadeira aula de manutenção de transmissores, pois com apenas 250 W tem conseguido chegar aqui em Feira de Santana, quase todos os dias. Começa a aparecer já à tardinha até na manhã e com uma excelente qualidade na modulação. Chega agora, 0432 UT, com sinpo 25332 e apresentou a ID com divulgação e prefixo também da frequência em OT. Nesse momento uma boa música, “Aquarela” com Toquinho, realmente um final feliz das minhas escutas desta noite. A gravação dessa escuta está no meu blog em: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/75006/home?t=74925&c=6&s=uploaded 73 e boas escutas, (Jorge Freitas, June 1, dxclubepr yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. While R. Cultura on SW is still absent... [from 17815]: 1200, R. Cultura, São Paulo SP, 2234-2242, 29 May, IDs "Cultura FM", news; 34442, QRM de Brazil. As a matter of fact, the band was loaded with Brazilian signals audible as early as 2215 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. TV BRASIL NO CANAL 2 EM VHF RECEBIDA EM PORTUGAL --- A propagação começa a fazer das suas. no inicio do periodo de verão no hemisferio Norte. TV do Brasil a ser recebida em Portugal. TV DX é tambem uma actividade dos radioescutas. Esta emissão foi recebida pelo Dexista Hugh Cocks no Algarve, Zona Sul de Portugal. A emissão foi captada dia 30/05 /2009 via propagação esporádica multi hop, um canal da TV brasileira transmitindo a programação da TV Brasil no canal A2 sem offset (55.250). Vejam o video em: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ6un3d8IdI 73. (CT1AXZ, Manuel Jesus, Sintra, Portugal, http://www.sitesmaisuteis.pt June 1, condiglist yg via DXLD) Terrific catch. Really strong signal with typical Es fading, no QRM, hard to believe it`s multi-hop. I wonder from which city (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. I am listening to Radio Bulgaria, 2330 UT on 9700 and 11700. Audio very clean and transmitters seem stable/on frequency - unlike last winter. Both frequencies strong tonight. Problems all fixed up there? (Andy Reid, Ont., June 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wow, that is one great signal. Heard booming into the Columbus, Ohio area, in English, around 2355. Both frequencies were strong and in the clear. Thanks for the tip! (Larry Cunningham, Gahanna, Ohio, ibid.) Larry: I noted RB in English yesterday at 2300 UT on 9700 inbooming at my QTH. Great Signal! No Fading or static (Noble West, TN, ibid.) ** CANARY ISLANDS [non]. Re 9-044, 6990: This station was actually the pirate station Cactus Jack Radio. I was actually in a Private Chat with the op at the time, in Iann's chat http://www.easyshopdiscountzone.com/radio/pirate/english/ a chatroom from France, mostly in English, about pirate radio. BTW this is the same op as R. Barretina/Camping Radio. At this time, he was back in Catalunya, transmitting with 10-watts, as his linear amp was not working, although he said he should be back with 100-watt output this coming weekend. This is the same station that was operating around 6910 last weekend; at that time he was transmitting from a 100-w. mobile in the Balearic Islands. See UNIDENTIFIED 6910 (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, June 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Someone asked me if I could compare working in Cuba and China. Honestly I cannot. Cuba was fun and people had a sense of humor. At CRI it was totally different. In Cuba most people know the system (revolution) does not work and is crazy. But they say, let`s make the best of it, things will change sooner or later. In China, it's do anything to support the CCP and to show respect, whoever the waxwork is who is running the country. Mind you, some or maybe three people at RHC still feel the cold war is still on (Keith Perron, Taiwan, June 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. RADIO HAVANA CUBA AND FOREIGN STAFF I was just reading on WOR [DXLD 9-044] that someone [gh] was commenting on the announcing staff of Radio Havana Cuba. It is not that easy for RHC to get foreign staff. When I was at RHC, my closest friend was Michael Finney (a.k.a. Langston Wright). He was an American who in the early 70s hijacked a plane to Cuba, and from that moment until he passed away a few years ago from cancer, was on the FBI`s most wanted list for the shooting death of a US State Trooper. I remember the interesting stories he use to tell me of that time. Mike was one of the nicest people you could ever meet and always helpful. I find it amazing that I had as one of my best friends there a former member of the Black Panthers and someone on the FBI`s wanted list. From when that plane arrived in Cuba, he never left. Two others I have lots of respect for are Yolanda Fisher (not her real name). She has been at RHC for many years. And also Ed Newman (also not his real name). I hope you can understand, them being American, it would not be wise to publish it here. When I was at RHC, our salary was 350 Cuban Pesos, and 100USD a month. The contract also included a huge apartment and some of us were lucky to also get a car. I had a Polish made Polski 650 (based on the Fiat 650). We also had a [ration] book to get our food, which I kept with me when I left Cuba. This is what we got: 2 pack of cigarettes a day 1 cigar a day 1 bread a day [slice? loaf?] 2 bottles of rum a week (I use to sell mine in the black market) 2 cases of 24 bottles of beer a week (also would sell it on the black market) 5 lbs of rice 5 lbs of black beans 3 eggs or sometimes 5 a week 5 ounces of coffee a month 1 KG of horse meat a month (if it came in) Half a chicken a month (if it came in) 5 lbs of potatos a month 2 lbs of carrots a month 5 lbs of pork a month (if it came in) 1 broom a year 1 can of old Russian milk a month 1 bottle a week of soy yogurt 3 lbs of fish a month (if it came in) 22 aspirin a month 22 Made in Vietnam condoms 4 oranges a week (if it came in) Now this is not what you would call a lot. Cuban nationals would get less. Salary at RHC for Cubans was 150 Cuban Pesos a month. How did you survive? Well, the black market. Just days after I arrived, Michael introduced me to some people that could get anything I wanted. All the items had fallen off the back of trucks on the way to embassies. Things like lobster, cheese, wine, beef, etc., etc., etc. I could also buy things I really needed in the hard currency shops, but prices were insane. Since I left, things have gotten worse. Salary is still 350 Cuban Pesos, but now in hard currency it's 20USD a month. So it is not an easy task to get people. People always ask me, why go to RHC and why stay so long. It's simple. I have to say I really enjoyed working there. It was the most fun I've ever had in any station. Also, Havana is a wild city and there is always things to do. How many people can say what did I do? Wake up at 9 am, go to the beach, stay until 2 pm, then head into work. On weekends also go to the beach. The next thing was the staff. The staff at RHC except for maybe one (no names) was a ball and always liked to have fun. On Fridays the English, French, Creole would have Friday parties in the station. Not much food but lots of drinking. I remember one Friday, I was scheduled to present Mailbag with Luis Alberto Chirno. All I remember about recording that show was us just giggling like teenagers and driving our technician José Costa insane. Of all the RHC staff, the person I had the upmost respect for is Manolo De La Rosa. He and his wife treated me like their son when I was there. And Manolito, his son was like having a brother I never had. Someone asked me if I could compare working in Cuba and China. Honestly I cannot. Cuba was fun and people had a sense of humor. At CRI it was totally different. In Cuba most people know the system (revolution) does not work and is crazy. But they say, let`s make the best of it, things will change sooner or later. In China, it's do anything to support the CCP and to show respect, whoever the waxwork is who is running the country. Mind you, some or maybe three people at RHC still feel the cold war is still on (Keith Perron, Taiwan, June 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Aha, mornings at the beach explains why there are no English broadcasts before 2030 UT. A true (guest)workers` paradise (gh, DXLD) Thanks, Keith, for taking time to write that! Very interesting and insightful. I was especially pleased to read your kind words about Manolo De La Rosa and his wife Malena. They were just as warm to me back in 1990-91 during their work at Latin America Service of Radio Moscú. Wonderful people! Just found some pics from that time: http://tinyurl.com/l98eow Sadly, Pancho died in the end of last year. I got to know them through him (Sergei S., Russia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I third that about Manolo, always friendly (gh) ** CUBA. Re 9-044: Quivicán --- That's the only SW relay site these days on Cuba island, with proper SW transmitters and antennas. So I guess, an expansion will occur here at this location: they have antennas, they have main power access here. {Former} Bauta site is nearly dismantled (Wolfgang Büschel, June 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) We still hear some frequencies at any time that have an inferior signal, modulation and/or are slightly out of synch with the others. Surely those are the old Bauta site still in use, or Bejucal. WRTH 2009 has a separate entry from RHC for Radiocuba, the transmitter operator, with three sites specified: Bauta, 22N57, 082W32, 6 x 100 kW and 1 x 50 kW Bejucal, 22N55, 082W23, 3 x 50 kW and 1 x 100 kW Quivicán, 22N49, 082W17, 5 x 250 kW This means theoretically, 16 frequencies could be on the air at once from `Habana` if all the transmitters are funxional. Perhaps someone in the know could tell us how many currently are used from each site, and even which sites go with which frequencies. There are certainly at almost any time more than just the big `Cuban 5` 250s at Quivicán. Ha, the Transmitter Documentation Project shows only Bauta, and has not caught up with anything installed since 1965: http://www.tdp.info/cub.html This makes TDP of little use beyond early historical info. BTW, WRTH also lists Prof. Arnaldo Coro Antich as in charge of RHC Frequency Management. We had assumed he was, but this says so explicitly, so our comments about RHC`s frequency (mis)management directly concern him (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: I thought Arnie was in charge of RHC from the getgo; in fact on the YouTube video of RHC, it claims Coro is The "Founder" of Radio Habana Cuba! So, I guess if he is the one jamming on orders from Fidel's successor, he should think twice before turning jammers on a private U.S. shortwave Station like WRMI. 73's, (Noble West, TN, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I remember conversations I had with Coro at RHC many years ago. Maybe it`s different now, but I suspect nothing has changed. Glenn, you`re right, in THEORY RHC could use 16 frequencies at once. But you hit the nail in the head. How many are working? As like many things in Cuba many are now and have been taken apart for parts to use for ones that are working. This is the way Cubana Airlines keeps old IL62 planes flying. Take parts from 3 to make 1 that can "somewhat" fly. I remember when RHC was using a frequency in 31 meters on SSB. If I remember it was 9820 kHz (I'm not sure now). This was an old utility transmitter the Russians left behind. Again parts taken from others were used to fix this one. You also hit the nail on the head again when you said "frequency (mis)management". If you knew how it was done, you would be shocked. Now don't get me wrong; I like Coro. He always made me laugh (think about it). My dogs could do a better job at frequency management. There is an expression in Spanish I could use, but I'm too much a gentlemen to say it in a public forum (Keith Perron, Taiwan, ibid.) From the Satellite images of G.E. and others I see two site units in working condition, old Bauta site with easy dipoles, 22 57'01.00"N 82 32'44.00"W http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=22 57'01.00"N+82 32'44.00"W&ie=UTF8&ll=22.950282,-82.54759&spn=0.00739,0.018024&t=h&z=17 and most modern antenna fields at Quivican - built by the Chinese in past decade. 22 49'36.16"N 82 17'34.18"W http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=22%C2%B049%2736.16%22N++82%C2%B017%2734.18%22W&sll=22.950282,-82.54759&sspn=0.00739,0.018024&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17 Bejucal is SW like dead. Looks like a SAM missile station of cold war era 30 years ago, as someone put as text header on Google Earth. And another mystery is La Julia site with many antenna masts visible, like a monitoring receiving station, or direction finding at 23 00'17.35"N, 82 13'47.20"W -- up to 100 antenna masts visible. La Julia appeared as RHC's transmitter site in many issues of WRTH's in past decades. Quivican new Chinese transmitter units counting may correct, but > Bauta, 22N57, 082W32, 6 x 100 kW and 1 x 50 kW > Bejucal, 22N55, 082W23, 3 x 50 kW and 1 x 100 kW is rather mystery counting. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Hmmm, maybe La Julia is a major jamming site now (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Re 9-044: LA GUERRA DE LA DICTADURA CUBANA POR BLOQUEAR TODO ACCESO A INFORMACIÓN ALTERNATIVA --- LA GUERRA DE LAS PARABOLICAS EN CUBA Los cubanos se las ingenian para camuflar las antenas de televisión por satélite - El Gobierno lanza una campaña contra los canales de televisión extranjeros . . . http://www.lanuevacuba.com/2009/May/notic-09-05-3060.htm (via Oscar de Céspedes, FL, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** CZECHIA. Radio Prague is currently holding a competition, the first prize of which is a holiday for two in the Czech Republic. The topic is, 'What is the most interesting period or event in Czech history for you?' There is no maximum or minimum number of words for the answer and the closing date is June 12. Entries should be sent to: Czech Radio 7 - Radio Prague, Vinohradska 12, 120 99 Praha 2, Czech Republic or to cr @ radio.cz (Roger Tidy, UK, June 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Colegas. Nesse momento, 2251 UT, a Rádio Cairo aqui em Feira de Santana chega com uma forte portadora, quase sem variação no S- Meter no mais auto valor, mas com forte apito e com a modulação tão baixa que a maioria das locuções não é ouvida. Solicito aos colegas enviarem seus relatórios de escuta para o endereço de e-mail brazilian_prog@ ertu.org e se possível postar um log aqui na lista. Nossa participação como dexistas é muito importante para que o problema com os transmissores da Rádio Cairo seja resolvido e depois não venhamos a lamentar por mais uma perda de transmissão em ondas curtas para o Brasil. A frequência é de 9360 kHz das 2215 às 2330 UT, todos os dias. O site da emissora http://www.ertu.org/br/ e o link da programação diária em mp3 é http://www.ertu.org/br/brasileiro_pro.html Que os colegas contribuam com seus relatórios para o e-mail brazilian_prog@ ertu.org em nome da Srª Amal. Mesmo que o sinal chegue inaudível enviem seus relatórios e vejam a programação através do site. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Bahia, May 31, dxclubepr yg via DXLD) I`m glad at least someone at R. Cairo is concerned about the lack of modulation, as without it, all their work is futile! But if they need Brazilians or any other listeners to keep telling them about it, they are totally incompetent, still don`t get it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. (?) 7210, Voice of the Broad Masses, Asmara, 1552-1631, 31 May, Vernacular, tribal songs, talks, news (presumed) at 1600, phone- in program afterwards; 24332, just adjacent QRM until 1630. Or is this ETHIOPIA with their typical program used as a jammer on ERITREA? I compared this against ETH 6110, and they didn't match (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. 9704, Radio Ethiopia. According to the ID at 1255 on 15/5 and that they are on weekdays, resp. in UTC 1200-1300 in the 31, 41 and 49 mb and on MW (at the same time their home service is on 9561, again +/- 1 kHz). (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF 2001, Marconi), June Australian DX News via DXLD) What language was this in? Are we to assume English? Would be new time for it; had been 14-15 UT in this domestic service, per WRTH 2009. No, it`s the external service on 9561v. Did you get them mixed up, or did they, or have they swapped them? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) R. Ethiopia observed in English Mon-Fri 1200-1300 UT on 9704 and at 1255 with a weak signal on // 7110, also announced 5990 and several MW frequencies. At 1600-1700 English heard on 9560 and 7165. There is a strange situation on 7165 where Eritrea was observed on 16 May at 1600-1700 instead of its usual 7175 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, DX News, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** EUROPE. EUROPirates --- 6910, UNID, 2032-, 24 May, English, unreadable IDs, pops; same as 6940 on 20/5? 45343. 6940, Classic Hit R (the ID sounded like this), site?, 2109-, 26 May, English, IDs, pops; 45444 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6910: see UNIDENTIFIED [non] ** GUINEA. -Conakry. 7125, R. Guinée was observed both this Sat. & Sun.; they must have a serious transmitter problem as the audio / modulation level is terribly low, almost as if nil on a not a signal that otherwise could be readable (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. When a ground station wishes to contact an aircraft, they use Selective Calling (SELCAL). These unique for each craft. They are four letter codes usually given at the beginning of the message, or used for radio check. If the aircraft runs into some trouble, they transmit a SQAWK [sic] code, usually 4 numbers like 7500 for radio failure, or if followed by 7700 a hijack (Alex Wellner, ed., The Fountain of Ute, (Chris Elliott in Tasmania suggested that we name the Utility section "The Fountain of Ute" dedicated to the memory of Allen Fountain), June Australian DX News via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. New on WRN-North America: DW and swissinfo I noted something new on WRN when I was driving in my 2009 Ford Focus, which has Sirius included along with the usual AM/FM radio, on 5/31: Deutsche Welle, which I recall was on PRI when that network was on Sirius some years ago. Checking the full sked at http://wrn.org I see that DW has two daily half-hour airings, which is world news followed by "Newslink", at 12:30 pm and later at 11:30 pm ET. [1630, 0330 UT] Another program that should grab the attention of former Swiss Radio International SW listeners is a weekly 15-minute segment from swissinfo, Saturday at 4:30 am and Sunday evening at 8:45 pm ET [Sat 0830, Mon 0045 UT]. Wonder if any ex-SRI announcers (Bob Zanotti?) are part of this show? (Joe Hanlon, NJ, June 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I don`t think so: Bob has his own Swiss web audio service (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Re 9-044, BRAZIL: SATCOM/BRAZILIAN PIRATES Hi Glenn, 240-290 MHz is the frequency; I thought that a lot of the Brazilian traffic wasn't intentional piracy as such, just that Satcom was accidentally picking up Brazilian 2-way traffic. Some of it sounds like taxi traffic to me. I really hope this isn't the end of Satcom. I love all these accidental relays and interesting accidents. Just had a quick tune around and 257.150 is blasting in at 1537 UT 1/6/09, but things are perhaps a little quieter than usual (Tim Bucknall, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Saludos amigos: Alguno de ustedes ha logrado captar algo de los operativos de busqueda del avión de Air France desaparecido hoy cuando volaba entre Río de Janeiro y París ??? Cualquier info sera apreciada. Muchos tienen la esperanza de que sus familiares sobrevivan http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias_det.php?id=201905 73, (Dino Bloise, FL, June 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Queridos amigos, con motivo de la desaparaición del airbus de Air France, los colegas brasileños han indicado las frecuencias 8834 y 9010 kHz en USB para monitorear las transmisiones del grupo SAR. [búsqueda y rescate] Desde temprano he estado monitoreando estas frecuencias y en la ultima hora he estado escuchando muy seguido el siguiente sonido que comparto con todos ustedes. Sabe algún colega de que modo digital se trata este audio? (José Elías, Venezuela, 2041 UT June 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non?]. /IRAQ clandestine: Two stations heard on 3920-3934. One is the old Voice of Kurdistan (ID ``Eira radio Dengi Kurdistana`` in Kurdish) and another radio is with new name Voice of Turkman Iran (probably) because I heard the second part of the ID: ``Turkmenistani Iran``. It is heard on new 4770-4795v. Sign-on 3929 was around 0145 and sign-on 4770v was around 0201 and both jammed by Iran, May 14-15 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, DX News, June BDXC-UK Communication vis DXLD) ** IRELAND [non]. The RTE Ireland relay via WRN via South Africa at 1930-2030 daily moves June 1 from 6220 to 6225. Is that better? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's better... for Mystery Radio... (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) On 1 June at 1940 still on 6220 (Jari Savolainen, Finland, ibid.) ** IRELAND. IRELAND'S STATE BROADCASTER RTE "ON BRINK OF BANKRUPTCY" The Independent 1 June 2009 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/irelands-state-broadcaster-rte-on-brink-of-bankruptcy-1694114.html RTE is losing around £870,000 (?1 million) a week and will not be able to pay staff by October unless a programme of salary cuts and redundancies is implemented in the coming weeks. The crisis comes amid growing anger among staff at the level of pay and bonuses paid to the director-general and senior management over the past number of years. The bankruptcy warning has come from management at the Irish State broadcaster. And the director-general Cathal Goan has cautioned that up to 300 jobs are now under threat. The cash-strapped station is facing a "worst case scenario" of a budget loss of up to £87 million (?100m) - far more than the current estimate of £59 million (?68m). The news comes as staff at the broadcaster continue to ballot this week on whether or not to accept proposed pay cuts of up to 12.5 per cent. A well-placed source at RTE has described the station as "sitting on a knife-edge" as the proposal is about to be put to a staff vote. "This is make or break for RTE. There will be no other offers put on the table. Staff have been told that management is drawing up a list of people who they are going to make redundant, if necessary, to save money. The entire organisation is sitting on a knife-edge now." Speaking about the prospect that RTE could run out of money by October because of high costs and a collapse in advertising revenue, a spokesperson for the station said: "We need to claw back £59 million (?68m). It poses a significant cash crisis for RTE. Otherwise the station will be in serious financial difficulty." Asked about the warning that several hundred jobs are now under serious threat at the station, the spokesperson continued: "There has been an ongoing negotiation process over the last month and if that fails Mr Goan has made it clear to staff that we will have to look at alternatives. And there aren't that many alternatives available." There is also growing resentment among workers over the level of executive pay. In 2007 Cathal Goan earned £385,000 (?441,000), more than US President Barack Obama. In the same year Mr Goan's basic salary was £247,030 (?283,000), his performance-related bonus was £94,000 (?108,000), his pension supplement was £20,076 (?23,000) and his other benefits amounted to £23,568 (?27,000). His salary was up from £314,244 (?360,000) on the previous year. In the same year, managing directors in RTE earned between £130,000 (?150,000) and £174,000 (?200,000). They also received a bonus of £17,458 (?20,000), a 'performance-related uplift' of £4,500 (?5,200) and another £26,187 (?30,000) for simply being a member of the executive board. Management have said they have since taken pay cuts to their bonuses but the publication of the 2008 Annual Report, currently due out, has been delayed. Taken from the Belfast Telegraph (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. OFFICE THAT FUNDS KOL ISRAEL FARSI BROADCAST WILL BE SHUT DOWN "Israeli media are reporting that a small and unconventional Iran office in the Israeli Ministry of Defense will be shut down. ... The unit (technically known as the Lebanon coordinator unit, perhaps because of Iran's role in Lebanon) had in later years just four people and ran on a budget of just over a million dollars per year, according to Haaretz. ... They kept track of and sometimes provided assistance to Iranian dissidents who came out of Iran on their way to the West, stayed in touch with Iranian exiles in Europe and the United States (some who they had known in the shah's day), and funded a Farsi- language Israel Radio program broadcast on shortwave into Iran." Laura Rozen, The Cable, Foreign Policy, 25 May 2009. (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) The Farsi transmission is the sole remaining Kol Israel shortwave broadcast. Will it continue given this news? Posted: 26 May 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** ITALY. English news on the RAI Notturno Italiano overnight service (MW 657, 900 and 1107 kHz) has been irregular of late and not always heard at the usual times of approx 2305, 0005, 0105, 0205 and 0305 UT (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria and Dave Kenny, England, MW Report, June BDXC- UK Communication via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. See IRAN; UNIDENTIFIED 4770 ** MONGOLIA. 12085, V. of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. The very pleasant music of the IS was followed by badly distorted audio of news reader in English. Signal strength good but atmospheric noise and distortion reduced readability, 1030 13/5 (Charles Jones, DX-Pedition at Ellalong, Hunter Valley NSW, June Australia DX News via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. It seems Myanmar [sic] Radio in English is no longer on 7185 or 7200 at 0200-0230, maybe on 7230 but needs checking. Regularly heard sign-on 0030 and sign-off 0100 in vernacular on weekdays and on Sat & Sun according to observations in April and May (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ?? Are you trying to say Sat and Sun were different, or same as weekdays? (gh, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. El retorno de RNW para nosotros aquí en el sur de América. Hola a todos: Siendo las 2308 la portadora dejó paso a una tramsmisión en portugués en 9495 kHz, SINPO en Santiago: 45544. Es Voz de Rusia en vez de la esperada RNW. En 9450, RNW normalmente en español (35443) 9495 cierra emisión, a las 2357 UT, siempre en portugués La Voz de Rusia. Será hasta mañana (Hugo López., CE3BBC, June 1, condiglist yg via DXLD) VOR is not scheduled on 9495 at all; suspect Guiana French got the wrong program feed on that frequency; they are, after all, running VOR PT during same hour on 11605. Isn`t anyone paying attention in Montsinéry? 9450 RNW is Greenville (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9705, La Voix du Sahel is still inaudible (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, June 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. This was observed back here in Lisbon and reported too: 917 kHz, R. Gotel (presumed), Yola, 2146-, 24 May, talks, no language identification possible; 13441, QRM de Spain. Now this was observed near the coast: 917, R. Gotel, Yola, 1912-1925, 29 May, Vernacular, African songs, sung ID; 44343, QRM de E 917, but barely noticed for most of the time (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. Another Crystal Ship transmission notice: Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 21:43:45 -0400 Subject: TCS Sunday Night From: tcsshortwave@gmail.com Greetings, mates! The Crystal Ship is commencing a show right now on 6876 kHz at 0142 UT. John Poet, The Crystal Ship (via Will Martin, MO, 1653 UT June 1, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. One other national SW service that advertises besides Vatican Radio --- Dear Glenn, I swear that I've heard solicitations for ads on the English service of the Voice of Russia. It was an announcement by one of the announcers (Carl something) that people can either buy advertising or time on the VOR, and gave the address for, I'm guessing, remittance. It would certainly explain why there's stuff like "The Christian Message from Moscow" on the VOR. Has anyone else heard these ads for ads, or was it just me, or something exclusively heard on the Internet stream? (April Ferguson, June 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) April, Yes, I believe I have heard those solicitations too, but not any actual ads (spots), as opposed to infomercials(?). I am not sure Christian Message from Moscow is a `sponsored` program under present circumstances, but it beats Aum Shinrikyo. I seem to recall that their program grid a few years ago had some `open` spaces in it, presumably for infomercials or paid programming, but the present one http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&w=225&p= has all the spaces filled, with lots and lots of redundant repeat repeats, so it would be hard to pick out anything which could be `commercial` (Glenn to April, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 17805, BSKSA Main program in Arabic at 1100 on 14/5 with superbuzz jamming sound covering all range 17790-17811. By the way again another buzz there is on 9715 0300-0655 and their third buzz transmitter which was on 11855 seems is not on the air. When I wrote about it they requested me to send a MP3 recording (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF 2001, Marconi), June Australian DX News via DXLD) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. 15220, Cotton Tree News, Sierra Leone, via Skelton. Came on 15 seconds late with news reader in English in mid- sentence. Other speakers in vernacular. Signal only at fair-weak level. Move from Ascension to Skelton has reduced signal strength and clarity at my location, 0730 13/5 (Charles Jones, DX-Pedition at Ellalong, Hunter Valley NSW, June Australian DX News via DXLD) A tough one on this high frequency, at least from home (Craig Seager, NSW, ibid.) This transmission, 189 degrees from Rampisham, not Skelton, recently doubled power from 250 to 500 kW. Does that help? (gh, DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. R. Patria on 1098 kHz introduced a new 10 kW transmitter on 1 May 2009 at Nitra-Jarok to cover the western part of Slovakia. Meanwhile a new 5 kW transmitter at @ižatice began testing on 702 kHz on 18 May for Košice and the surrounding area. Radio Patria is scheduled 0400-1600 UT, whilst at night Devín Radio is relayed (Slovak Radio website via Tony Rogers, MW Report, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SOMALILAND. 7145, R. Hargeisa. Good clear signal of males speaking in Arabic-like language. Though in the amateur radio band there was no Morse or other QRM, 1850, 14/5 (Charles Jones, DX-Pedition at Ellalong, Hunter Valley NSW, June Australian DX News via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [and non]. RTI INTERVIEW WITH BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS / RFA - RTI FUTURE? `Radio Taiwan International' (RTI) recently broadcast a program where the President of `Radio Free Asia' and one of the governors of the BBG (IBB) were being interviewed by RTI's Carlson Wong. The interview mainly focused on the global recession's effect on the Media. The program was broadcast on Sunday May 31st on Carlson's `On The Line' radio program. Folk can access this program via RTI's audio streaming. This can be accessed via: http://english.rti.org.tw Please move the streaming time slider bar to the 31 minute mark to go the start of the program. Perhaps also of interest to listeners & DXers is that Carlson also mentioned that Taiwanese Government representatives are now questioning RTI's future existence. We all know what that means, don't we!! . Never-the-less it's an interesting program. Regards (Ian Baxter, Australia, May 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. BBCWS test transmission on 12085 at 1644 GMT 1 May, SINPO 44444. Looped announcement ``There are no scheduled programmes on this channel``. Requested site info from VT Communications, but no reply (Jonathan Kempster, London, DX News, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Listed in VT schedule as BBC Russian via Moscow, M-F 1600- 1630 only (Dave Kenny, ed., ibid.) Neatly filling a one-hour gap between Mongolia and Syria, with useless info (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. DANGER WILL ROBINSON! WHITE HOUSE CREATES THE GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT DIRECTIVE (updated: it's "Directorate") "Among the other shifts at the [National Security Council], a new entity, dubbed the Global Engagement Directive, will aim to coordinate public diplomacy, foreign assistance and international communications at a single White House desk." Wall Street Journal, 27 May 2009. (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) I don't know if US international broadcasting will be among the activities "coordinated" by this new office, but "international communications" suggests this might be the case. It dovetails with the rumors that the Obama Administration has not nominated new members for the Broadcasting Board of Governors because it plans to eliminate the BBG. The best thing the BBG can do now is to place large pieces of furniture in front of the door. When staff of the Global Engagement Directive come to visit, be very quiet until they leave. Otherwise, eventually, someone in a goatskin tent in the desert will be listening to the news on VOA. He will say to his companion: "It sounds like someone has coordinated this newscast. Please retune the radio set to the BBC." (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) Update: "I particularly like the choice of 'global engagement' as the blanket term, thus avoiding the logjam between advocates of 'public diplomacy' and of 'strategic communications.'" Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy blog, 29 May 2009. Commenters to Marc's post point out that the actual name of the new entity is Global Engagement Directorate. "Creating a new Global Engagement Directorate to drive comprehensive engagement policies that leverage diplomacy, communications, international development and assistance, and domestic engagement and outreach in pursuit of a host of national security objectives, including those related to homeland security." President Obama, White House, 26 May 2009. "But the WH announcement re the 'Global Engagement Directive' makes no mention of 'public diplomacy.'" John Brown to Marc, op cit. See also John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review, 27 May 2009, and links thereto. Posted: 30 May 2009 (see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=6639 for linx, via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. ESTADOS UNIDOS VIA CHILE – A CVC – La Voz vai continuar transmitindo a sua programação em espanhol em ondas curtas. É provável que as emissões sejam apenas reduzidas. As informações são de Gabi Rondanim, que trabalha naquela emissora. Lembramos que a Rádio Christian Vision estará no ar, em português, em 15410 kHz, em 19 metros, e também na Internet, até 30 de junho (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX May 31 via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 9-044, KTBN Salt Lake City, G.C. 40.650328N, 112.046256 W or 40 39 01.18 N, 112 02 46.52 W On Google Earth V.5 you see different images of Jul 13, 2006 Aug 31, 2006 Sep 25, 2006 Dec 31, 2006 Apr 28, 2007 Look also to Photo Street View modus, on the left[western] side of the street S6200W/S6400W. former MS Live Search, now Bing.com service and Bing bird view option (Wolfgang Büschel, June 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Smooth jazz pirate 87.7 Chicago? Heard a smooth jazz pirate on 87.7, while driving from New Buffalo, Michigan back to Indy. They must have a good transmitter. The signal is strong, in $tereo, and was heard until WRTV took over the frequency! I assume this station is filling the void left by WNUA's switch to a new format? They even had a commercial for Claritin. Has this been reported already? Anyone else hear it? (Bob Timmerman, May 31, WTFDA via DXLD) This is actually the audio carrier of WLFM-LP TV-6 from Chicago, which, just like WNYZ-LP in New York, is using its TV license to broadcast programming over its audio carrier. They picked up the syndicated Broadcast Architecture Smooth Jazz network the same day WNUA flipped a couple weeks ago (Nick Langan, Florence, NJ, My DX page: http://www.wnjl.com/dx/ ibid.) Interesting, it reminded me of WNYZ. I heard their Russian programming in Iowa two summers ago (Timmerman, ibid.) You're hearing FCC-approved, already-existing WLFM-LP from the Hancock Tower (licensed to Rochelle), which switched to smooth jazz after dropping its new country format. You can get it from Holland, Michigan down the shore into Chicago and up to Kenosha almost before WITI takes it out. It surely is no typical "LP," more like an equivalent of a 50 kW station, although just 4 kW from the top of the Hancock Tower gets out a good 80 miles, sometimes more. See the Tribune's recent article about The L hoping to pick up stranded fans of WNUA http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-smooth-jazz-25-may25,0,5760364.story Frankly, I didn't like their current but now-old format of country (it was kinda more of a mix of stuff). Clear Channel was almost smart to ditch the jazz, not that I support anyone getting rid of jazz music with all the junk on the airwaves these days. With Kalle (Spanish reggaeton simulcast) being ditched on 103.1 and 93.5, eliminating the Spanish urban market (stupid, given the Hispanic population!), 95.5 picking this up, or some similar form of this format, is good for radio, and if they play it right, maybe money too. Just when I did a final update of RDS for the Chicago market, 95.5 changes the DAY I leave the US and 87.7 follows. Radio is a'changin, too quick to keep up with! That's why we have our FM News folks I guess (Chris Kadlec, Icheon, Korea, (Still monitoring the list, waiting for the happenings of June 12th), ibid.) ** VATICAN. Re 9-044, ads on VR: The "105 live channel" is the Vatican Radio "domestic" service, reaching Rome on 105 MHz FM, elsewhere via internet. So, apparently, the ads will not be heard on the shortwave services, for now at least (Kim Andrew Elliott, May 29, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Note: Below follows part 2 of a very long thread. The next UNID entry far below is for 4770 (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 9-043, 1710 kHz: Wonder if there are any Russian Orthodox churches in Blaine? (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, May 25, IRCA via DXLD) Dennis, this is not a Russian Orthodox station, but rather a Protestant congregation. These are springing up all over Russia, and also in North America aiming at new immigrants. One needs to look for Pentecostal or Baptist churches. I taped them all night last night and they were there right through past 6:30 am with the "usual" transmissions. Deep fades, with occasional fair to fair+ signal strength (Walt Salmaniw, BC, ibid.) Well received from my perch in Victoria with little/no fading. Anyone else? (Colin Newell, Victoria, British Columbia, 0440 UT May 26, ibid.) I left the SDR-14 recording 1710 kHz today, and the carrier strength did vary over time, but only +/- 3dB around -117 dB on its display. There was a fair bit of electrical noise, so the noise floor was at - 120, and it was rare for the carrier to drop below that. By 0030 UT (4:30 pm local time [sic: with PDT, 0030 UT = 5:30 pm local; or 4:30 pm local = 2330 UT --- gh]), the carrier was getting a little more erratic, with some stronger and weaker points, but nothing like right now (0440UT) when it will drop from -99dB to well below the noise at - 120 within a few seconds. So, I think we're getting weak ground wave on this channel here. Best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, Victoria, BC, Canada, 0440 UT May 26, ibid.) Colin, I have them with a weak-fair signal.? Can you give a direction?? Are you using a loop? Much better signal here tonight than last night at this time (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, JRC 545 Ewe NW, 0440 UT May 26, ibid.) Subject: [IRCA] 1710 website of Ethnic churches in Washington state Walt, Below is a link to a web site that list ethnic churches in Washington state. If you go down to Russian there are quite a few in Seattle and surrounding area. http://www.ethnicharvest.org/regions/states/WAchurches.htm (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Subject: [IRCA] Plotting a course to 1710 kHz Location Pat, That's the same course that I plotted on my map from your location. Thanks for verifying it. 1710 is the strongest that I have heard it during any evening tonight. A lot of noise with the signal too (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Using the Eton E1 which is non-directional. Have nothing on the Sony 2010 and zip on the Drake R8 with my dual Wellbrooks. Apologies, (Colin Newell, Victoria, British Columbia, ibid.) Walt, I have the CD going out to you tomorrow. Lots of good fade ups too. Strong at times. 73, (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) Dennis, The first night I heard them was a best [sic] I think, but they peak here well most nights. The best again off the NE EWE. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Subject: [IRCA] 1710 heard best tonight Hello, With the JRC 545 connected to the Kiwa loop in the backyard and aimed North, the station on 1710 has had the best signal since I have been listening to it. I can actually hear it in the wide selectivity mode (6 kHz). Before only possible in 2.4 kHz. If you have not heard this station, you might want to give it a try tonight (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, JRC 545 Kiwa loop North & ewe NW, 0524 UT May 26, ibid.) Here in Victoria from 0510 to 0520 UT I was getting a male Russian- sounding voice occasionally rising out of the noise. Right now at 0523 it sounds more like a female voice but it's not as strong as the earlier peaks (Brian Chapel, VE7AUL, BC, ibid.) I wonder what the reference to "Russian Radio" (2nd entry) is? http://www.aaag.com/radio-stations-seattle.htm (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, May 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Russian Radio, 2714 Eastlake Avenue E, Seattle, WA 98102, 206-323-8828 (via gh, DXLD) Dennis, Yes they are S7 here on peaks. Sounds like a Russian version of "This Land Is Your Land" (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, 0542 UT May 26, IRCA via DXLD) Colin, Thanks for trying. I have not heard any audio in about 10 minutes; maybe they sign-off? (Dennis, 0546 UT, ibid.) Group, Had about a 15 minute fade out on 1710 kHz. Back now with music, but not as strong as before, but still hearing in the wide selectivity mode (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, 0550 UT, ibid.) Here in Victoria from 0510 to 0520 UT I was getting a male Russian- sounding voice occasionally rising out of the noise. Right now at 0523 it sounds more like a female voice but it's not as strong as the earlier peaks (Brian Chapel, ibid.) Pat, Yeah Pat, you were the first to hear them. I think that I heard them a few days later. They had some nice peaks tonight. Every time I hit the record button, they certainly go into the fade mode or a large burst of noise appears (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Dennis, They are still there with a man in Russian at 0615 UT. I am wondering if there are any Russian areas in SE Puget Sound, like East of Tacoma. That looks like a likely area per the headings. (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Pat, In a search of the internet I found this Russian church in Tacoma. ?????????? ??????????? ??????? [Cyrillic lost?] 3501 S. Orchard St. Tacoma, Washington 98409 (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Patrick and Dennis, Here in the south Puget Sound area we have a weak mixing product of KIRO-710 and KOMO-1000, which is right on 1710 kHz. This complicates DF efforts on the 1710 Russian, which is weaker than the mixing product and only shows up at night, with no apparent ground wave propagation. Puyallup is about 7 miles southeast of Tacoma, and there are many large experimental loops here. The best bearing I have been able to come up with for the 1710 Russian is one made at midnight in the null of the KIRO/KOMO mixing product, or at 015 or 195 degrees true bearing from Puyallup. The mixing product interferes with accurate DF work, though. 73, (Gary DeBock, ibid.) Gary, I was thinking more East of Puyallup even, so maybe beyond the mixing products. That is a part of Puget Sound I have never been to either. But the bearing runs through there using the loop. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) I have posted a note on the DXer.ca website checking for any DXers in the NW Washington area (that we might not already know about) to keep a watch out for this station - I am heading over to Vancouver for a week in June. If the Russian station is still on the air, I might be gently convinced to make a run for the border. Fascinating stuff, this radio hobby (Colin Newell - Victoria, British Columbia, ibid.) My aunt just got back to me and heard nothing from AM 1710 at her Port Townsend, WA location this past Monday night. Keep in mind, she was probably using a regular home radio or car radio, but I thought the information might help (Paul Walker, NE? May 26, ibid.) Paul, Thanks for having your aunt check 1710. It was on line with my North plot of the station. Seems the target might be further South? (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) I'm betting on some kind of religious school or a church; and if it's a bonafide school, they could run not carrier current, but over the air free radiating, and as long as it doesn`t reach outside the boundries of the school, it`s legal. But those rules are rarely enforced. Anything is possible here. Has anyone pointed their plots/beams/loops towards --- RUSSIA? Could it POSSIBLY be coming from there? (Paul Walker, ibid.) Here is a crazy idea. For those of us with somewhat dope radio voices, Why not OPEN the online 411 yellow pages and start randomly calling folks in the suspect communities to see if they can tune in our "Russian station..." for a special prize. I know. Crazy (Colin Newell Victoria, British Columbia, ibid.) I mean, yeah - why not? or shipboard? Russian fishing boat running a 10 kW AM somewhere in the pacific. Walt: Call some of your friends off of the Charlottes! (Colin Newell, Victoria, British Columbia, ibid.) Hi Gary, I'm finding the 1710 mystery Russian around the clock at my receiving location in Puyallup, not just night time. Also, it's the strongest by far of any signal surrounding 1710, as noted on the Perseus waterfall. (But strong is relative -- all the carriers are fairly weak.) I noted the Russian varying slightly, 1709.987 - 1709.989 after I calibrated the receiver display around 10 a.m. PDT. At that time there were 13 carriers found between 1709.9 and 1710.1! Now at 4 p.m. I only see two carriers in that range. I'm not sure if I'm seeing a KIRO/KOMO mixing product or not. There's an *extremely* faint trace at 1709.999 kHz. The Russian on 1709.989 shows a signal strength between -105 and -110 dBm right now, stronger than it was this morning (-118 dBm). So far I'm only checking the frequency with the NW Conti loop antenna; before the day is over I will hook up the rotating ALA100 again and report back on the bearing. 73, (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA http://www.perseus-sdr.blogspot.com ibid.) Gary, Thanks for the bearing numbers from your Puyallup location. Pat`s and my lines connect at Lacey, WA. Gary's passes about 13 miles to the East of ours. Nick`s direction passes through Blaine, WA area. Now with Guy receiving the signal 24 hours, we might nail this down when his bearing become known (Dennis Vrooom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Hi Guy, Thanks for your report on the Perseus' 1710 kHz investigation. Your Perseus report is probably more trustworthy than the results I have obtained using the 30" loopstick ICF-2010, which typically does not react well to urban issues. The hot-rodded loopstick takes the spurs evident in a stock ICF-2010, and magnifies them. Although very sensitive to DX, the side effects can be disappointing -- and the KIRO/KOMO mixing product on 1710 kHz may be one of these issues. Anyway, I'll try a couple of other receivers (like the ICF-S5W and PL- 600) inductively coupled to the large loops here, and try for a bearing on the 1710 Russian. If they don't receive the KIRO/KOMO spur, it should be easy to get an accurate bearing. 73, (Gary DeBock, ibid.) So far, what we surmise is that it's a station located likely north of Seattle/Tacoma and south of Blaine. Possibly to the east from there. It is not from Russia. It is a local, quite professional sounding station that seems to be 24 hours. No IDs confirmed. Likely a church group (Protestant, not Russian Orthodox) or school. Has no connection to anything in Russia. Slightly variable just below 1710 kHz. The mystery continues. You'll have to solve it without me, as we're off to Italy tomorrow for a few weeks! (Walt Salmaniw, BC, May 26, ibid.) Walt, Below is a link to a web site that list ethnic churches in Washington state. If you go down to Russian there are quite a few in Seattle and surrounding area. http://www.ethnicharvest.org/regions/states/WAchurches.htm (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Dennis, this is a valuable resource for sure. I tried to do a Google search but didn't come up with this one. Someone with a bit of time on their hands might wish to call each Russian and Slavic church listed and ask whether they're transmitting on 1710; just might find the answer there! (Walt Salmaniw, ibid.) Likely North of Seattle, South of Blaine? My loop bearing shows a more Southerly route of South of Tacoma here. My NW EWE does not do well with the signal at night, which would be more in line with NW WA. I was thinking more to the East of Puget South maybe too? However, I can barely detect a carrier off the NE EWE during the day and it is very weak. Not audible off any other antennas (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) I think those of us who have no interest in the 1710 signal will be happy when the solution is resolved too! I certainly admire the zeal of you guys who are trying to figure it out, but after all, it's only a radio signal. Guess I'm just getting old and cranky (Tom Dimeo, elsewhere, ibid.) It's not anything I'd have any hope of hearing here in North Texas, but I am very much entertained by the continuing effort to determine the identity of this station. Good cooperative effort by y'all in the Northwest (Qal. R. Mann, Krum, Texas, ibid.) Good Evening, 1710 in at 0410 UT May 27, with fair signal and choir singing. Again able to hear in the wide mode 6 kc (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, Jrc 545, ewe NW, ibid.) 1710 Mystery Russian - Bearings Measurements I've spent at least a couple hours today trying to pin down the bearing of the 1710 kHz mystery station from my location. Most of the day, only a carrier was audible, and it was really difficult to find a null point due to the very weak signal and varying signal strength (typical: -102 to -111 dBm in less than a minute). It takes my rotor with the ALA100 about a minute to turn 360 degrees, so with the variable signal it was nearly impossible to discern a believable bearing. Within the last few minutes though -- about 1/2 hour past local sunset -– the Russian language audio appeared on 1710 and the signal has steadied a bit. The strength is about -96 dBM (S-5), and it's getting stronger by the minute. Interestingly, I'm getting a sharper peak with the ALA100 vs. a sharp null. This is really helping out with the confidence level for DF'ing, and the station is appearing on a bearing of 0 - 180 degrees (as close to a true north-south line from my Puyallup location as I can measure). A lot of potential communities are on this bearing: all of the south Puget Sound area (Kent, Auburn, Renton, etc.) as well as Mercer Island & Bellevue on the East Side of Seattle. Farther north, potential locations are Kirkland, Kenmore/Bothell, Everett, Marysville, and into Canada --- Abottsford. Mount Vernon, Bellingham, and Blaine are at approximately 350 degrees from Puyallup, so they are possibilities too, as others have mentioned. To the south of me there are not many potential targets, but there is Graham and Orting. I'm not aware of any Russian communities in these towns, but it would be simple enough for me to drive out there to check reception. For that matter, I could investigate Kent, Auburn, Renton, and Bellevue easily on my drive to & from work. A useful Web site is http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/calculators with various ways to calculate distances and bearings between different cities. 73, (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA ibid.) 100% acceptance is extremely hard to find in gatherings of more than one. While you think it has became boring and redundant (use that delete key Tom), I find the extended search very fascinating and am looking forward to the successful conclusion --- where the station is broadcasting from and with the power output. Our buds in the N.W. are hot on the trail (Don Kaskey, San Francisco CA, ibid.) If I were a betting man, I might put a small pittance on the Good Life Evangelical Faith church in Federal Way. It's located on Campus Drive which might indicate a school as well. Probably end up being in Seaside OR, next door to that Martin guy :-) (Don K., ibid.) Guy, Thanks for your bearing measurements. I also got North-South with the Kiwa loop. The signal for the 1710 station has peak at S-5 with just the NW ewe and no tuner/preamp used. Much fading as usual. (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Don, Too weak and distant or a local, :-) but it could be a carrier current campus station with a bit of wire as help for coverage. QSL'd a couple of those, SLC and Sacramento. It doesn't take a lot of power on a clear spot on the dial to get out well. They could be using a watt or two (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) Good Morning, 1710 station in at 1139-1142 UT, fair to weak, long fade outs. Woman singing. Have a waive clip of this reception if anyone wants it? (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, JRC 545 Ewe NW, May 27, ibid.) While I have no possibility to hear the Russian station, I find the process used to locate it to be quite interesting. It outlines a number of personal methods to DF signals, and it's been a good read. Thanks folks! Or perhaps "spaciba vom bolshoi chelovecki" [sic] is more appropriate (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Thanks Guy, Your detailed investigation is appreciated. During late night monitoring of the weak 1710 Russian, I also had a null in a general north-south direction, which could place the station anywhere from Blaine to Federal Way. Probably the only way to really nail it down is to take a DF loop in a car traveling east of Puget Sound (I-90 or even better, Highway 2 to Stevens Pass) and get a bearing to pinpoint it. I'm sure the one who nails it down will be quite popular -- not only among the NW DXers, but also among those who would like the discussion to end :>) 73, (Gary DeBock, ibid.) More listeners might help to solve this mystery. Friends and family can do some listening but hams in southern BC and northern WA would be more technically inclined and probably more enthusiastic. The regional nets like the: BC Public Service Net on 3729 kHz at 0130 UT Northwest Country Cousins Net on 3970 at 1900 PDT might be good places to contact hams in the target area. Does anyone around here have a 80 m antenna and about 100 W to put into it? (Brian Chapel, VE7AUL, Victoria, BC, ibid.) I, too, have enjoyed your chase; hitting the Delete key only occasionally. If you guys haven't nailed it down by the end of June, I'm bringing the 3/8" x 48" Bazooka Slider with me and we can hunt it down, pretending all the time to be sane. Keep up the good work!! (John Bryant, Stillwater OK, ibid.) Hi Dennis and all, if there any clips with talk, please send them to me. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) Great to hear from you John. This is a toughie to nail down, but the thought of a college or religious school is a good possibility. The carrier current radio station with help from some extra wire does wonders. I wonder if that is what we are hearing? (Patrick Martin, ibid.) I drove to Lacey this morning (near Olympia) and heard nothing on 1710 there or 10 miles south of it where I used a loop. I then got back on I-5 North, went east on 512 and then north on 167 to the Supermall. Again, nothing other than the KIRO/KOMO image from time to time. I mean, nyetsville. It has to be coming from somewhere. Maybe a satellite (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, 27 May, ibid.) It's somewhere near Mill Creek!!! I headed north on I-405 during my lunch hour with the radio tuned to 1710, and started hearing audio near the Canyon Park exit. I got off the freeway and headed north on the Bothell-Everett Highway. The audio got better and was soon recognizable as a man in Russian. I went as far as Maltby Road and headed east on Maltby for about a mile. By then, the signal ranged from strong to nil, depending on power lines and other noise sources. The same guy talked continuously the entire time, except for a brief piano interlude. I didn't have a portable radio for DF'ing, didn't know the area, and needed to get back to the office, so I turned around and headed back to work. The signal got gradually weaker as I headed towards 405 and disappeared completely about a half mile past the on-ramp. That doesn't quite pinpoint the location, but at least we've got it narrowed down considerably. It looks like Guy's bearing was on the money. Now, if somebody wants to try their hand at what hams call a fox hunt, we might be able to find the exact location. Unfortunately, my schedule is pretty full this weekend, including my son's high school graduation (Bruce Portzer, WA, ibid.) [IRCA] 1710-NOT --- in parts of Vancouver BC, 1710 = 980 CKNW + 730 CHMJ at a number of locations on my Sony car radio . . . at least I assume that's the arithmetic. I did ID CHMJ so assume the rest of the equation is CKNW ef (Eric Flodén, BC, off to Eastern Ontario for a vacation soon, ibid.) WAY TO GO BRUCE!! It'll be interesting to see where exactly this is, and unless this set up is in a friendly neighborhood, it's unlikely we'll ever see what kind of transmitter they're using or power output it's set at. Would also be interesting to see what kinda antenna they're using. That being said, it might be easy to find if you look on nearby roofs as you drive through the neighborhood, and look for an antenna. It's probably going to be a whip style antenna. I'm betting they probably have one of those TIS/LPB type transmitters running 50 W (Paul Walker, NE?, ibid.) I have actually noticed a bit of a jumble (at least 2 stations) on there at sunset most evenings. "S-5 sounds about right - my Eton E1 not being calibrated in dbm...) One playing chorale music and the other something else. Is it possible that we are actually hearing an "image" of something and there isn't actually a Russian station there at all? (Colin Newell, Victoria, British Columbia, ibid.) Pete, Thanks for taking the time to drive to Lacey and checking on the 1710 signal. Lacey was my main target location (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Bruce, Thanks for taking the time and congratulations on finding the area of the transmitter. Guy's bearing were right on the money. (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) From Walt's list of Russian Churches and Bruce's latest scouting report, I'd say check the two churches in Mountlake Terrace, the one in Lynnwood & one in Everett. There is also a Slavic church in Mountlake Terrace (Don Kaskey, CA, ibid.) Well done, Bruce. If a couple of you guys try this weekend with portable you'll nail this down. If this stays on the air at this power, I'll see if I can log it here when conditions improve in the fall. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL/WI, ibid.) Subject: [IRCA] COLD LEAD FOR 1710 After Bruce Portzer got us warmer on this, I thought this would be a hot lead out of Google for our 1710 friend BUT the phone number has been disconnected. Ethnic Churches in Washington State RUSSIAN. Bethany Church Pastor Vasiliy Dskoskiy, c/o Vladimir 21404 48th Ave. W. , #101. Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043. Phone: (425) 712-9123. Next, still thinking it is up there somewhere, I talked with the CE of KCIS-630 who doesn't know anything about it but is fascinated and has promised to get his meters out and at least get some signal strength readings. Stay tuned (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, ibid.) Bruce, I was wondering "if" my loop bearing was right as I do have a metal roof on my house. Installed that after I got tired of replacing shingles for years, but it doesn't help the loop bearings, I am sure. My NE EWE is much better and does well on the Puget Sound weaker signals. But unfortunately, the EWE's beam is a bit more broad probably, but the Puget Sound is always where it came back to. Great going again, Bruce. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Very nice job, Bruce!! Your mention of Mill Creek reminded me of a church in Bothell/Mill Creek that for years has reached out to various ethnic communities in the area -- Cedar Park Church. They are located just to the south of the I-405 & Bothell Hwy. interchange; however, they also run a private Christian school north of there in Mill Creek (13300 Bothell Everett Hwy, Mill Creek, WA). This school location is just north of where you were driving today. I remember reading in the paper about a food drive the church held for Russian immigrants a year or two ago, and it got me wondering if they have a Russian student population at their school, or Russian families in the area. If so, maybe this school is the site of the transmitter? I've looked through the school's Web site but have found no mention of a radio broadcast, or a Russian community, etc. Still, it's worth investigating. Just putting two and two together, hopefully! I may drive up there tomorrow on my lunch hour, to follow up on your lead. 73, (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, ibid.) 1710 Mystery Russian - Getting Closer! Today I needed to be in the Bothell/Mill Creek WA area for a totally unrelated reason, so before I returned to my office I drove north on the Bothell-Everett Highway, past the Maltby Road intersection which is where Bruce had turned back yesterday. The farther I went, the stronger the 1710 signal became. Eventually I turned left at 164th St. SE, as I was running out of time and couldn't head farther out (north). As I headed west, the signal grew even stronger, and was VERY strong when I neared Mill Creek Community Church (16415 North Rd.) on the corner. I drove around the building as far as possible, looking for any sign of an antenna, but nothing was seen. Not only that, the signal appeared slightly weaker right near the church. I drove north on North Road (north side of 164th St. SE), and found the 1710 mystery station stronger still! Unfortunately, I didn't have a portable radio with a ferrite loop with me, but the area of strongest signal seems to be among a group of apartment complexes. Here's a Google Maps link to the location: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=mill+creek+community+church,+mill+creek,+wa&ie=UTF8&ll=47.850106,-122.23651&spn=0.002606,0.004812&t=h&z=18 In the few minutes I had remaining I scanned for antennas or wires around balconies and rooftops, but didn't see anything. I feel confident though that the transmitter is within a few blocks of here. A return trip to the neighborhood seems inevitable :^) (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA http://www.perseus-sdr.blogspot.com May 28, ibid.) Guy, Thanks for the update on 1710. Hope you can get a address for receptions reports. Hi. Steve's location is 258 miles from Mill Creek, WA. Pat and mine are 150 miles as the crow flies. 8.1 degrees North of this location. The link was great, enjoyed looking at Martha Lake. Must have a decent antenna to get out that far (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Guy and Bruce, Great work on pinpointing the 1710 Russian's approximate location. Given the very weak daytime signal in south Puget Sound, demographically, the northern Seattle suburbs were always a logical target area, with a significant Russian population. And the northerly bearing matches the loop nulls we had here in Puyallup. 73, (Gary DeBock, ibid.) Subject: [IRCA] GNARLY 1710 INFO Yesterday I talked with the CE of KCIS-630 who was intrigued enough to ask a friend (a contract engineer) to check it out. The results: ``Chris actually found the transmitter up here in Lynnwood. Near the Home Depot between Highway 99 and Boeing field. They aren't putting out very much signal. 100 mv from across the street. Chris says they are using something like a citizen's band antenna on a two story building. Perhaps there are other 'pirates' out there doing the same thing.`` Mill Creek and Lynnwood are about five air miles apart but based on the mv reading from across the street, it seems unlikely that a single station at either location would be "loud" at the other. At the same time, unless they were synched (unlikely), they would clash significantly between both locations. Anyone want to hit both locations on the same day? (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, ibid.) This is from the contract engineer: ``The House in the exact center of the image is the one with the antenna on the roof. It is the 4th house at the end of the cul-de- sac on our left. I have the lat long if you want it.`` (The lat & long are in the URL but need to be converted to min/sec.- PT) (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, ibid.) Hi Pete, The plot thickens! Thanks for sharing this information. Before I drove around the church in Mill Creek, I drove about five blocks past it to the west (toward Lynnwood) and found the signal drop, drop, dropping. After picking it up the strongest near the apartments across from the church, I thought it likely that the transmitter was in the area. Based on the engineer's info and my location this afternoon at 164th St. SE and North Road, the distance to a spot half-way between Boeing Field and Hwy. 99 is three miles. If it's indeed a single transmitter in Lynnwood, maybe the groundwave varies a lot depending on the surrounding terrain. A drive between the two neighborhoods should settle this once and for all. BTW, I thought I heard an ID at 12 noon that sounded like "Radio Enshah" or "Radio Enya" or something like that. 73, (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA http://www.perseus-sdr.blogspot.com ibid.) Hey. Clue me in someone. I have Russian OM on 1690 - huge signal. And I think YL in Russian on 1710. Seriously - not trying to start another Russian language thread. Who is in Russian on 1690? KFSG-1690? (Colin Newell, Victoria, British Columbia, ibid.) The 1710 Russian is pretty good reception this evening, with little fading, 0430-0450 UT, weak/medium on peaks. Apparently I am the farthest to hear it so far; Dennis calculated about 250 miles. (Steve Ratzlaff, [Bend] NE Oregon, 0452 UT 29 May, ibid.) More data points --- I enlisted the help of Tom Rothlisberger, who lives and works near this station. Tom's an IRCA member but isn't on this list. If you check Google maps, his observations are somewhat consistent with what Pete forwarded earlier this evening (Bruce Portzer, ibid.) Viz.: Thanks, Bruce. I heard the station in the lot at work (Everett Boeing plant) very well. On the way home on I-5 it peaked in strength at the 128th St exit (adjacent to northern Mill Creek) and then began to slowly decline in strength. Once home it was still audible weakly on the car radio. Used three different loops to get a bearing and it came out to ~340 magnetic or 000 true from my coords of N 47 48.044, W 122 15.818. I thought about taking a ride with a portable and a camera but unfortunately I had an appointment here at the house tonight. Tomorrow when I leave work I'll head over to the suspected area with a ferrite portable and try to get a pic of the antenna. It's pretty cool that one popped up so close to home! (Tom K7WV, ibid.) Colin, Most likely your 1690 Russian is the station in Roseville CA. Their format is Russian (Don Kaskey, ibid.) Might there not be two separate [1710] transmitters, operating on some sort of an alternating schedule with the intent of making it harder to pin down? (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) 1710 Russian decent, (weak/medium), 1140-1150, fading to poor/weak after that, back weak again 1225, continuing, presently poor to very poor 1248. Yesterday had what could have been a short interval signal then possible ID, right at 1200 UT but apparently was just random programming as nothing like that this morning at 1200 with no break in program. Very interesting of course to read of the great progress in tracking down the transmitter location (Steve Ratzlaff, NE Oregon, May 29, ibid.) Yes, this is getting interesting. I guess we have to ask the question, "How many DXers does it take to ID a Russian language station on 1710?" As Guy Atkins posed, ``A drive between the two neighborhoods should settle this once and for all.`` If Chuck Hutton is indeed up to this tomorrow afternoon, we should know shortly. Good time to break out the Stoli (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, ibid.) After work today, I used a portable radio with a ferrite antenna and zeroed in on the transmitter. Just a few blocks west from the Home Depot as mentioned earlier. Appears to be mounted to the roof of a private residence. Coords: N 47 53.369 W 122 15.929 Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=N+47+53.368+W+122+15.929&sll=47.889543,-122.265317&sspn=0.000856,0.001462&ie=UTF8&ll=47.889536,-122.265483&spn=0.000856,0.001462&t=h&z=19 I posted a pic of the antenna on my web site here: http://home.comcast.net/~k7wv/1710_b.jpg (Tom Rothlisberger K7WV, Brier, WA, May 29, ibid.) Guys, This is amazing. A Russian pirate operating from a private residence in the Puget Sound area. But the programming still sounds like it may be a relay of some broadcaster. Great going! (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) That satellite dish on the same roof is probably picking up the programming stream. That's not a typical 18" DISH/DirecTV setup. (Tom K7WV, Brier, WA, ibid.) I've been following this thread with interest. I'm a bit too far away to get them. I was just thinking that a pirate station would not have the resources to generate 24 hour a day programming that this station does. What are the chances they are relaying the Internet feed of some station in Russia? (Len Donutbandito, ibid.) Congratulations! This has been an exciting and interesting chase. I have been watching with great interest. One of my neighbors replaced his 1 year old standard 18" dish with this exact same dish a couple months ago. I have no idea what the difference is. Possibly something to do with the digital vs analog conversion deadline? That AM antenna is a nice piece of work. It looks to be a very professional installation. Note the insulators in the guy wires just below where they attach to the mast. Now it's time for Patrick M. to go for a QSL and hopefully some details (Patrick Griffith, CBT CBNT CRO, Westminster CO, ibid.) Most of the Dish ethnic programming is on either the 148 pr 61.5 bird. The 148 is fairly high in the sky, but the 61.5, the dish is basically looking at the ground at 10 degrees above the horizon, here in the NW. The regular programming is on the 110 & 119 positions. 129 is for HD. But I don't know of any Russian audio services Dish runs. They do have several TV services. There are several Russian audio services on a DVB bird, but an 18 inch dish will not get them. You need a 30-40 inch dish for those KU feeds. My guess is that the people do sub to Dish, but probably just regular programming. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Dish: 24 inches - Dual sided galvanized steel - Unique aluminum powder-coat weather-protection - Standard grey color.? LARGER SIZE DISH REFLECTIVE SURFACE INCREASES SIGNAL STRENGTH and REDUCES RAIN FADE. It turns out that Dish has several models and sizes available for various applications with dishes 18, 24, or 30 inches in diameter and "wide" models to allow reception of several sats simultaneously without moving the dish (Patrick Griffith, CBT CBNT CRO, Westminster CO, ibid.) In further close observation of the dish on the roof, it does not look like a Direct/Dish network one, but a DVB Galaxy 25 offset dish, a bit lower on the horizon, so my guess is that the dish is indeed picking up Russian programming off G25. I think it is around 93 degrees West. I had to look a bit closer. But a Russian pirate? Really different to say the least. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Patrick, My guess would be a G25 DVB dish set up. I don't know of any Russian audio services on Dish, but there are several TV and radio services on G25. Tonight, after dark I will see if I can pick up any audio services on G25 and look for a //. I do get some Russian TV stations, but I have not checked out the audio services of late. I get whatever is free to air. I don't sub to anything on the bird. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) I checked G25 for radio services in Russian and there are several, but all are scrambled, so a subscription is needed to receive those service(s). I get a couple hundred TV and 100 audio/radio services on the KU side of G25, but the rest are scrambled. I do get a few Russian TV stations, including "Russia Today" in EE that broadcasts news and documentaries 24/7. There is a company that sells the receivers and a person can sub to their favorite TV and Radio services and you buy a card and pay by the month. I get what is free. I just have a basic free-to-air receiver. But I would guess the pirate is getting the service off G25. They are probably a Russian family that subs to the Russian package and they are rebroadcasting the radio station to serve the Russians who live in the area. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Hey Tom in Brier - did you get the address of the house? Perhaps a reverse address search will turn up the name of the person to whom one could try to send a QSL. With the sophistication of the antenna, could be they are a ham anyway and have several QSL cards ready to go! (Kevin Satya, Bainbridge Island, WA, ibid.) When I called KCIS yesterday, CE Bryan Hubert was interested in the 1710 transmission to the point where he asked Chris Wartes, an occasional contract engineer who does engineering for KSER (FM) but is actually in to photography, to scout it out. Chris was the actual person who took signal strength readings, plotted the location and sent the Google map. Both of these guys deserve our thanks. However, a couple of questions remain: (1) Why was the signal heard at a loud level near a church in Mill Creek, five miles away (more or less)? (2) Is it a legitimate Part 15 operation? Is there a list of approved Part 15ers on the FCC web site or anywhere else? Does an operation like this need a business license? And finally, is anyone interested in tracking the antenna lead to the operator's home and visiting with him/her? After all, we all want Pat to get a QSL out of this! Chris, by the way, does a classical show weekly on KSER. He is a ham but is not in to BCB DX but is aware of the KFBK hash on KXPA and has been around long enough to remember hearing East Coast clear channel stations. I am sending him an IRCA bulletin to arouse his curiosity. In these days where more and more CEs are too pushed to deal with the DXing hobby, I am very gratified that these two gentlemen responded in such a helpful manner. We have been fortunate! (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, ibid.) Are we possibly jumping the gun here in thinking the programming is from Russia? Walt has already emphasized the 1710 station is airing Christian programming in the Russian language. It seems unlikely to me that a non-Christian country, Russia, would be broadcasting a Christian program on satellite (Steve Ratzlaff, NE Oregon, (1710 with weak signal at present, 0530 UT), ibid.) Why in the world do you think Russia is ``non-Christian``, for God`s sake? There has been a lot of backsliding in Russia since Soviet Communism gave Atheism a bad name (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The house next to it was 2324 119th St SW unit 2 so it stands to reason that the house with the transmitter is unit 1. Couldn't see their house number but there were several cars parked there and the garage door was open. Looks like they were home (Tom K7WV, Brier, WA, May 30, ibid.) Pete, To answer part of your second question, no there isn't a list of Part 15ers on the FCC web site or anywhere else. Part 15 of the FCC rules covers all sorts of low powered rf devices such as garage door openers, bluetooth devices, radio controlled toys, wireless microphones, low powered AM/FM transmitters, wi-fi devices, ad nauseam. It even includes the often denigrated BPL operations, and other things that are incidental radiators of rf energy. The average person has a whole bunch of part 15 devices without even knowing it (Bruce Portzer, ibid.) Pete, Thanks! I sure would love to get a QSL from them!!! However, I really doubt it is a Part 15 station, not with the coverage they have! But they could be operating with a couple of watts. The antenna does look impressive and I do have a CD of the signal. I sent a copy to Walt. But it looks like the location has indeed been nailed down. They could have a second transmitter near the church. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Steve, Russia is loaded with Christians. Millions of them. Several U.S. backed religious outfits have relays there. Even during the Soviet Union days, there were still Christians, but many were underground. However, I don't know where the transmission comes from, as I could not hear any of the Russian radio stations on the bird as they are scrambled. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Hi Steve, Since the collapse of the USSR, Russia has "thrown open the doors" to many beliefs, activities, philosophies, and religions. Evangelical Christianity grew at a rapid rate in Russia in the late 1990s. Wikipedia says that there are over 1 million Protestant Christians in Russia now. This source also says "There are Evangelical Christians - Baptists (most numerous), Lutherans, Pentecostals, Adventists, Methodists, Quakers and nearly all other known Protestant denominations [re]presented in the country. By the opinion of Keston Institute, Protestants are widely present and may well outnumber the Orthodox in some places of Siberia. There are very few "nominal" believers among them: everywhere they preach, pray and often struggle against local bureaucracy to acquire their rights. Anyway, they are also regarded as respectable, hard-working citizens." Not only is there Christian programming on satellite that originates in Russia, there are AM/FM outlets (such as FEBC's Khabarovsk outlet on 1188 kHz). I seem to remember logging a Russian on the tropical bands a year or two ago with Christian preaching. 73, (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, ibid.) Guy is correct. On the TV side, TBN is one example of the U.S.-based religious networks that have expanded into Russia. See the last section at http://www.multichannel.com/article/132737-Diverse_Flocks.php (Tim Kridel, ibid.) Congratulations, fellas! Great sleuthing. I`m over here in Milan, Italy. I am 99% sure that this is not a Russian feed from anything from Russia. Unlike what was earlier reported, Russia indeed is a very Christian country, as long as it`s Russian Orthodox. Protestant denominations are tolerated up to a point, but that is all. The quality of these programs suggest an American location, and perhaps it is being relayed on satellite. I`d love to get a QSL; kind of like a talking house! Ciao from Milano for now (spent a great day along the shores of Lake Como --- spectacular). (Walt Salmaniw, ibid.) I have DirecTV, and they've been swapping out the old 18" round dishes with a new one that is just a hair under 1 meter wide. It's to pick up the new birds that are carrying locals and high-def programming. (Bill Carney, ibid.) Hello group, Does anyone have a clear recording of the station on 1710 kHz? I sent Mauno a recording of my reception, but it was hard for Mauno to get any good information out of the recording. He lives in Finland and might be able to get some information on the Russian source of programming. Top of the hour would be great or any good recording. The only antenna I have to aim North is the Kiwa loop. Would appreciate if a recording could be e-mailed to Mauno and myself. Thanks for the help. "Mauno Ritola" (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Dish and Direct have only a small percentage of all of the ethnic programming up there. G25 is loaded with it! (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Dennis, I have a good copy of the signal on DVD. What is your address? I will mail you out a copy on Monday. You are free to put it online if you want. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) If I may chime in here: unless you have lotsa copy and across the hour, let`s have someone drive near the transmitter and record 15 min across the hour and have some of our Russian speakers have a listen. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) If it`s part 15 or a pirate, why should they ID around top of the hour? At least two IDs (phonetic) have already been reported in this long thread (gh, DXLD) Kaz, Pat Martin has a good copy of the Russian speaking station on 1710 kHz. on CD. He's sending it to me and I will e-mail a copy to Mauno in Finland. Mauno can go over the language and hopefully give us the details. I'm trying tonight with the Kiwa loop in the backyard. Signal is almost good at times but only for 15 seconds, then fades into the noise. 150 miles from my location and 6 degrees North, the Kiwa yields the best results. Yes, a recording next to the station would be ideal, especially at the TOH. I will be near the area this coming week and will try a drive bye (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, IRCA via DXLD) And so this long thread takes a pause, awaiting an axual visit to the perpetratnix (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4770. Language similar to Turkish at 0158 during the s/on ID, some like "Radiosu Turkestani Irana", next the traditional anthem of Kurdish radios, sermon and news in presumed Persian, jammed at 0210, but the station was with different program from VOK on 3932 with s/on at 0145 - both observed several days in May. 4770 is the new one, ex 4880 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF 2001, Marconi), June Australian DX News via DXLD) See also IRAN [non?] UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 9-044, 6910: This station was actually the pirate station Cactus Jack Radio. I was actually in a Private Chat with the op at the time, in Iann's chat http://www.easyshopdiscountzone.com/radio/pirate/english/ a chatroom from France, mostly in English, about pirate radio. Normally he transmits from Catalunya, but at this time he was using a mobile with 100-watt output from the Balearic Islands, a very rare DX target indeed! See also CANARY ISLANDS [non]. (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, June 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Glenn: I've listened to you for many years. Upon reflecting on radio as is in the here and now and what radio was and has been, I wanted to email you and say thanks for continuing to provide the information you provide and for continuing to do the show as well as the great articles from time to time. I'm an extra class ham but my radio interests began with shortwave and shortwave still occupies many an evening here at our house. Anyway, good health to you Glenn. Many more years on the air. We appreciate you (Steve M Stewart, W4ARZ, May 31) MUSEA +++++ VOA MUSEUM UPDATE Here's the latest VOA Museum story from the Cincinnati Enquirer. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090529/NEWS01/905310326/1055/NEWS/VOA+Museum+takes+shape . . . An opening date has not been announced, though Zerkle says he expects the museum to open in about two years (via Dale Rothert, May 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BETHANY STATION PROJECT WILL NEED $12M-$14M, PLUS OPERATING FUNDS The Middletown Journal By Dave Greber - Staff Writer May 29, 2009 Renovating West Chester Twp.'s 1940s-era former Bethany Station could bring an estimated 30,000 visitors at its peak and $1.7 million annually to the area once construction is complete later this year, officials told trustees last week. The $12 million to $14 million project looks to turn the former Voice of America Bethany Station - a landmark that spread messages of democracy throughout the world for more than five decades via shortwave radio - into The National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting. . . http://www.middletownjournal.com:80/news/middletown-news/bethany-station-project-will-need-12m-14m-plus-operating-funds-139761.html (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ QSL BRAGGING I`m putting this here rather than as a response to any particular item, but a number of them recently have prompted me: You may be aware that I personally am not much interested in QSL collecting, tho I treasure the ones I accumulated when I was more into that, pastwise. Yet to make DXLD well-rounded, I am always on the lookout for QSL tips to pass on. But so many QSL reports posted by individuals lack essential details, such as the exact address used, verie signer, or special techniques to crack a tough one. Was r.p. sent and used, and what method? Were other `bribes` enclosed? Such sparse reports amount to nothing more than self-congratulatory bragging. The point of all DX news is to HELP your fellow listener to accomplish what you have already. Sometimes a `rare` QSL report turns up but the reporter never even bothered to report his original reception of that station! This raises eyebrows about the veracity of the catch. And `F/D` = full-data is often claimed, even from stations which are reluctant even to acknowledge the transmitter site. Well, if they say what it was, pass it on, or don`t call it F/D! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ODXA LISTENING IN CONTENT IS NOW ON THE WEB As we have announced here and in our Listening In magazine over the past year, the Ontario DX Association has made the switch to web-based content. Most of our Listening In columns are now posted on http://www.odxa.on.ca A few, still remaining to be reformatted, will be added soon.Our columns are now free downloads, as pdf documents. Drop by for a visit. Send us your contributions. Everyone is now welcome to do so. Send us your comments (Harold Sellers, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, Managing Editor, "Listening In", Ontario DX Association, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The direct URL is really: http://www.odxa.on.ca/listeningin/index.html XE3RN WEBSITE Gusto en saludarles espero les guste mi web. Visita mi página web http://www.qsl.net/xe3rn Atte: (Ing. Javier Gómez Villalpando XE3RN, Villahermosa, Tabasco, DX LISTENING DIGEST) General info with the emphasis on ham radio (gh) MONITORING MATTERS --- THE FUTURE The situation so far: Almost 300 have expressed interest by subscribing to the forum, and having completed the readers interest poll we have ascertained the interests that the new e-zine should contain. The name voted for was Monitoring Matters (Monthly) and the web site will contain numerous information pages, a "Heads Up Page" containing the latest news, a frequency database, a shipping movements diary and a daily/weekly NOTAM report. The e-zine will include features, articles, kit reviews, all with an in depth content that will not be matched else where. Subscribers will also be given the opportunity of joining day trips and discount at some of the leading retailers in our area of interest. As for contributors to the features, we have lost two of the original team and been unable to contact a further two, but have gained additional ones. All these goodies are a tall order yes, but one we know we can and will deliver. What is the next development? The web site and server are receiving some finishing touches along with the web domain and hosting service. As for myself, time has been at a premium as I have been in Scotland covering "Exercise Joint Warrior", in Belgium covering the last TLP at Florennes Air Base and now have some interviews to complete at Lajes Air Force Base in the Azores. On my return we will make some more announcements, but until then there is no facility for general posts in the forum. However, please watch this space, thank you for your interest and support, and if you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the forum where we will attend to them on my return (Pat [Carty] and the team, UK, May 30, MM yg via DXLD) Will it be a freezine? (gh) PRIME TIME SHORTWAVE WEBSITE The Prime Time Shortwave website is being moved to a different host. If Prime Time Shortwave is not at http://www.primetimeshortwave.com or the wrong website appears you will be able to find Prime Time Shortwave at http://home.centurytel.net/danielsampson temporarily. This process should take only take 24 hours (Daniel Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, June 1, ptsw yg via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ READING INTERNATIONAL RADIO GROUP The next meeting of the Reading International Radio Group will be on Saturday June 6 in the Main Hall or Room 3, Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Street, Reading at 2.30 p.m. The meeting will include a look at BBC Radio in 1936, some British and US radio magazines from 1926 and 1935, the history of Radio Luxembourg, particularly the 1950's and 1960's, including audio from a rarely heard documentary This is How It All Began broadcast by Radio Luxembourg in 1974, as well as more recent developments and audio from international and UK radio. All are welcome. For more information email me or phone 01462 643899 (Mike Barraclough, England, May 31, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) THE 16TH ANNUAL MADISON – MILWAUKEE GET TOGETHER for Dxers and Radio Enthusiasts will take place on Saturday, July 25, 2009 starting at 1:00 PM until 10:00 PM CDT. This year's venue is in Madison at Mark Taylor's house – 1114 Ellen Av., Madison. This is an informal event to meet and socialize with other radio hobbyists and enthusiasts. We will have dinner at a local restaurant about 5:30 PM and can return to Mark's after for the traditional cake and chat. If possible, please RSVP to markokpik @ tds.net or 608.225.2690. Come when you can, and leave when you must (Mark Taylor, NASWA Flashsheet May 31 via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ Re 9-043, San Andrés logs, et al.: Hola Colegas, Adjunto encontraran enlaces a los audios que preparé con identificaciones y promos de las emisoras de AM como de FM escuchadas en San Andrés Isla y en el Departamento de Boyacá; espero los disfruten http://www.goear.com/listen/1abc2d5/Mix-local-emisoras-San-Andres-Rafael-Rodriguez http://www.goear.com/listen/bfd406c/Mix-emisors-Boyaca-2009-Rafael-Rodriguez En próximos días subiré otro con emisoras del área del Caribe. Buen DX (Rafael Rodríguez R, Bogotá - COLOMBIA, May 30, playdx yg via DXLD) `emisors` is correct. They start playing automatically from a single file, it seems (gh, DXLD) Re 9-043, My logs from Guadeloupe Hi Glenn, Many thanks for all your effort and for these very helpful comments. Nice to see that my effort arose such an interest! And I find it rather strange that not many logs are received from the Caribbean, given its proximity to the US. Well, if people are in Puerto Rico, then they probably can't listen to anything else, due to so many stations present on this island! (do they really need so many?) I agree about Radio Isla 13-20. And nice to know the true ID of R. Fiesta from Colombia. As for La Acerera, I think I will write to them and ask for confirmation of these details. I will let you know. And what about the other UNIDs, especially those from the US? I was surprised that I could receive stations from as far as Chicago. Many thanks again! Some comments on your comments... GRENADA 540, Catholic R. (GDM??), Grenada. [surely Catholic Radio was a Sunday morning/Easter program, not the name of the station, or did you mis-hear ``Klassik AM``, the slogan now used by Grenada Broadcasting Network, GBN? --- gh] {see http://www.klassicgrenada.com/ (DM)} I heard IDs as Catholic Radio on two consecutive days, including the very beginning of the programming at 0900 UT. GBN is correct. PUERTO RICO ****1500 R. Vi (??), Puerto Rico. 4/4 23:25, SINPO 42333. Mention of alcalde, Ana Rodríguez, ID, song including words "Por lo menos tú". [supposedly is WMNT, Radio Atenas, Manatí --- gh] {see http://www.radioatenas.com/ (DM)} In my logs this is tentatively listed as Radio Ví, Radio Adí and Radio Abrí. I heard the ID several times on several days. 720, WWWJ (Virginia, US). 7/4 0953, SINPO 25222. ID heard, weak. [no such station in NRC-AM log; however, FCC AM Query shows it only as an application to move to from 1360, 5 kW daytimer in Galax, to 720, 2.2 kW day, 1.4 kW night in Portsmouth. Galax is in the SW tip of VA, nowhere near Portsmouth in the SE corner. So the app is already on the air! How about the CP stage? - gh] {I THINK THIS IS UNID STATION (DM)} I logged the ID as W?WG (second letter was not clear; the others sounded clear). Then I looked on MW lists, and the only similar call- sign I could find on this frequency was WWWJ. I could bet this was it – what else could it be? Can anyone confirm it is on the air? By phone perhaps? Would be grateful. ****1090 UNID - MCNA Radio Network (??), 5/4 0044, SINPO 33333. [out of order, unless the frequency was a typo! In sports terminology, it`s not Yukon, but U-Conn, i.e. University of Connecticut, gotcha. Don`t find any MCNA, tho there is an NCNA, National Council for a New America, splinter group more Republican than the Republicans, which might be mentioned on far-right talk radio; but this was sports format] {Please Reconfirm the frequency. If it is 1090 kHz may be WBAL BALTIMORE (DM)} I can confirm the frequency; the station was also logged on another day, and the reception was not sporadic. Why did they mention the US Navy? Could this provide any hint? UNIDENTIFIED 570, R. Tei(??), Cuba(?). 11/4 01:33, SINPO 23322. IDs heard two times, mention of Cuba. {THIS MAY BE RADIO RELOJ , SANTA CLARA , LISTED 30 kW (DM)} Is there no other station here with ID “Radio Tei” or similar? Perhaps not in Cuba? 690, R. Vigan (exact name and country??). 8/4 0158, SINPO 22322. Mention of Barrio Bolivia, telephone 2961697, ID. Colombian?? Perhaps this will help if I say that the accent was at the end: Radio Vigán. Barrio Bolivia points to Bogotá, Colombia (Robertas Pogorelis, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ SPORTSUGUESE Re: ``Even the Brazilians have a hard time understanding the sportsuguese on RDPI (gh, DXLD)`` Glenn, Do Brazilian stations stick to just one football match whenever they're airing a report? I am afraid I have to say no; they include info, comments and bits of reports on other ongoing matches as well. This is what I can hear every time I observe this or that station. As for the RDPi, I suppose Célio Romais and many out there forget that our overseas service is primarily aimed at the Portuguese living abroad, not the Portuguese speakers of other countries. On the other hand, as you correctly put it, Brazilians do for some odd reason (?) fail to understand standard, European Portuguese. I wonder whether Portuguese films exhibited in Brazil even include subtitles! I would not be at all surprised, if they would. We don't need them to understand what Brazilians say --- or write. Such phenomena seem to occur elsewhere too. I have watched documentaries where English is used and perfectly understood, but subtitles in English are added. What's the need for that, if even foreigners are perfectly able to understand what's being said?! 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) There is so much variety in the way English is spoken around the world, even within a single country, that we often have a hard time understanding it. The more subtitles, the better (gh, DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ DST UT+7 from June 19: see BANGLADESH BONG! BIG BEN RINGS IN ITS 150TH ANNIVERSARY By RAPHAEL SATTER [illustrated] LONDON (AP) — Defiantly low-tech yet accurate to the second, Big Ben is having its 150th birthday Sunday, its Victorian chimes carrying the sound of Britain into the 21st century. It's a birthday the world can share in. The peals of London's favorite clock are carried globally by BBC radio, and its 315-foot tower, roughly 16 stories, is the city's most famous landmark. . . http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jZeC9CXJJVJdnVPtkuQrsaupCVqQD98G08Q80 (via Ricky Leong, Day Say, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A WEARY TV DXER ASKS "IS DTV DXING REALLY DXING?" Answer: yes, of course it is, but it is not weak signal DXing which DXing has always been associated with. DTV DXing is the same as putting your Icom R7100's squelch on S9 and then searching for signals. Everything from S1 to S8 is out of play. The lack of CCI cues and a signal having to be S9 to decode puts a real damper on DTV DXing for me. It was fun to grab new DTVs as they came on the air in years past but now I just don't know any more. Thankfully I have a few more years of Mexicans and Canadian analogs to watch. A big part of my life is coming to an end :( (Jeff Kadet, Macomb IL, WTFDA via DXLD) And to think it was your late 1990's DTV screenshots that got me interested in DTV and *DXing* DTV back in January 2005. ;) My recent DXing sessions have been mostly analog logs (save for the DTV skip logs on Tuesday). Even though, there will be less crowding of the bands after June 12, tropo TV DXing is going to be less important. Most of my post-June 12 DXing is going to be VHF ham radio (6m, 2m, and perhaps finally getting a 70cm antenna for the Yaseu FT897), and FM. I'll still keep a converter in the shack, but most of my tropo targets have already been logged and only a few remain. The days of low-hanging DX fruit on DTV are long over. As a *TV viewer*, DTV is a boon especially in outlying areas *within* range of the transmitters. I never imagined growing up that I would be watching KARK OTA 70 miles from the transmitter without static, skip interference, and airplane flutter. Although I have locals from Dish, I prefer the picture quality of the signal OTA and where applicable, full HDTV. But as *DXer*, the digital age is bittersweet. The thrill of seeing 200+ mile snow free pictures was fun in the beginning (and still is) , but just seeing a few seconds of decoded video in some cases --- as in E's reception and very long-haul logs --- takes some of the exotic quality out of the hobby (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, EM43aw, http://tvdxseark.blogspot.com http://www.twitter.com/KC5KBV ibid.) DTV DX vs analog DX --- Mmm... let's see; which do I prefer? Watching KNOP-DT [North Platte NE] clear as a bell with frequent breakups, or what a mash of analog stations briefly popping in and out along with the CCI and annoying CCI noise? Tough call. First one's more pleasant to watch. Second one's gives me more stations. Oddly enough, right now I am REALLY enjoying watching KNOP-DT. The Zenith box has one hot tuner in it. If this is what it's like with full power DTV, then DTV skip DX is awesome! (Bill Hepburn, Grimsby Ont., 0010 UT June 2, ibid.) Es DTV Target Delayed KCWX-DT 5, Fredericksburg, TX will not be on the air as of June 13. The tower crew hired to install the new digital antenna will not be able to do so until early July due to schedule delays. http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101312975&formid=337&fac_num=24316? (Steve Rich, May 30, WTFDA via DXLD) So KCWX-2 analog stays on until then?? (gh) HOW TO GET FREE HDTV IN CANADA Interesting read here: http://money.canoe.ca/News/TopPhoto/2009/05/25/pf-9574371.html (Ed Thomas / wd8kct, May 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I.e., with antennas, off the air. Except for one brief reference to reception in BC, this article studiously avoids making clear that most such broadcasts are from across the border! (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WTIC-1080 Hartford and WINS-1010 NYC IBOC In checking the dial at 0100 [EDT May 27] Wednesday morning, noted WTIC-1080 running its HD signal. It formerly had it off at night. Hope this was a one shot as the HD sidebands almost completely took out 1070 (which, aside from CHOK - can anyone find them a FM home??? - is pretty much wide open) and 1090 WBAL as well. Finally, either I was hearing things or WINS-1010 was testing various HD power levels about a week ago. Several days prior to that, they seemed to move out the HD bands about 2 kHz as there was a gap between where the analog signal ended and the HD signal began. I always maintained the HD signal had to be moved outward, away from the analog, if higher HD powers were used. Anyway, several nights later, WINS was noted running different HD power levels including a super level which I suspect was far in excess of 10% of the analog power. That one probably could be heard in downtown Pittsburgh under KDKA's signal. Another variation, on purpose or not, was a normal/near normal HD on the low side but a high powered HD on the high side. That's it for now (Joe Fela/So. Plainfield, NJ, May 28, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB et al. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OT: Future of Digital Radio OT because shortwave and DRM goes unmentioned here, but if you read between the lines there are some very intelligent observations made that can be applied to any analysis of analog broadcast, digital broadcast and internet (or "connected") radio. http://www.techradar.com/news/audio/interview-pure-digital-on-the-future-of-radio-503126?artc_pg=1 (John Figliozzi, NY, Swprograms mailing list, May 30 via DXLD) Very interesting John. Thanks for posting this. Most of the analysis seems on target to me. Two things concerned me. I am bothered though by the (admitted) arrogance that the company says "we believe we know what our customers want" (i.e. better than the customers do!). It's attitudes like this that I have heard much too often from marketing people in the media and electronics business. Ultimately, it gets companies in serious trouble. As a consumer and listener, I don't want to be told "what I want". [I get that enough from my cable provider!] The other is that while it's true from their standpoint that there is a downside risk to depending outside companies like Reciva to provide the portal, he fails to note that by using their portal they lock you into their products and no others. It's the Apple argument. Great if you like Apple products, bad if you don't. And oh, if Apple (or in this case) Pure Digital ever get bought or go belly up you are left nowhere. So, it isn't quite as ideal a situation as it is made out to be. Overall, Pure Digital seems to have much of it right. For now and for the UK certainly (Rob de Santos, ibid.) Really? My Apple computers can also boot into Windows or Linux (David Goren, ibid.) Fair point, David, but what I was thinking about was hardware, support, etc., not software in the case of Apple. You may be able to think of other (better) examples. Pure Digital is a "closed" system and I am not aware that I could offer a competing directory provider accessible by the radio, but I could be wrong. Does anyone know? (Rob de Santos, ibid.) An interesting article, thanks for drawing attention to it. The core problem they are addressing is how to make Internet radio usable to the mainstream listener. From a volume manufacturer's perspective (as against a badge engineering company), being locked into another directory provider (such as Reciva) is limiting and runs the risk that the reputation of your product and brand is linked to this third party service. Also Reciva, while being very usable for the technically literate fails the "can my elderly mother use it" test. My mother has a DAB radio made by Pure which she likes because it's so easy to use, if they can get a user interface to internet radio that is as simple to use as the DAB set they will have enabled internet radio to go mainstream. All my mother would then require is broadband! (Mark Hawkins, London, UK, ibid.) I was catching up on my reading of "I, Cringley," and his column from May 13, while focused on TV, is probably pertinent here: http://www.cringely.com/2009/05/the-future-of-television-part-ii/ and with it, his part 1 in the discussion, http://www.cringely.com/2009/05/the-future-of-internet-tv-in-america/ He argues that by about 2015, over-the-air TV broadcasting will be shriveling up and the stations complaining like newspapers are starting to do, and that cable and satellite TV service providers will become just internet providers. In other words, internet delivery of content will be essentially the only way to get video programs, "telephone," and other communications services. And that the iTunes model of purchasing downloaded programs will outstrip (and remain profitable) compared to streamed access such as on the new Hulu service. Personally I can see it (but I also hope not). At least temporarily I see a resurgence of people getting TV via over-the-air digital broadcasts given they are essentially free and the new digital formats improve both the quality of the picture received and the number of channels, and are dropping their access to cable and satellite due to the ever-rising costs, filling with accessing Hulu, etc. So the parallel in the TV world of what Richard and John have been touting in the radio world in regard to podcasting, "connected" radio, etc. The part I'm unsure about is the cost factor for getting internet into the home itself. Those costs are also rising, and if cable companies, for instance, loose television subscribers, will they still offer good prices to get internet (since the services are often bundled), or will that to become too expensive for the average person. I understand that people are starting to drop cell phone contracts, for instance, as a response to the tightening income and rising costs in the home (Kevin Anderson, IA, swprograms via DXLD) I suspect that first-run, "must-see TV (and movies)" will support this model, but I believe that subscription models (Netflix, Rhapsody) will retain a significant niche for a "value" consumer that doesn't care about last night's "American Idle" episode. I suspect TiVo - which would make use of today's cable delivery platform - will remain important. This will help give cable TV a reason to exist, even if only a small percent of people watch a TV show "live". I believe digital OTA TV will largely be a bust. The number of people who will want to limit their access to OTA channels will continue to drop as those who were brought up on three or four networks die off -- much like young people listen less to radio nowadays than young people did in years past, and less than their older kinfolk (like us). When it comes to cable and Internet access, you are now seeing a tiering of broadband Internet access - with DSL starting as low as $15 / month and FIOS at the high end. Watch out for mobile broadband...I suspect that will become reasonably ubiquitous within 5-7 years' time. You read it here first --- good luck with that! (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) The analysis by Cringely is a fascinating one but I see several weaknesses in his argument. First, bandwidth is not unlimited and cannot increase by 50% per year for very long. Physics tells us that either you make the pipe bigger or eventually you will run out of room. Making bigger pipes is very expensive. One look at Verizon's balance sheet and the amount of investment they have made in fiber optics should make that clear. Can you improve the compression, efficiency, etc.? Yep, and the cable providers (for example) will shed their analog service and other things to do it, but a day of reckoning is coming. (Aside: If Verizon was making the same decision today (in this economy) about investing in their "FiOS" network, they wouldn't do it.) Secondly, even if we assume he's right about the long term direction of Apple, Microsoft, and the TV networks today I wouldn't assume the disadvantaged players will not make some adjustment to changing reality. They may or may not, but assuming they won't is not a safe bet. Likewise, I wouldn't assume Apple has this quite so neatly figured out. (If he's right, I assume Cringely is buying up Apple stock right and left and you should, too!) Lastly, if Steve Jobs sits on the Disney board and is the largest shareholder, do we really think that Disney/ABC will be allowed to wither while Apple eats up the market? That would be strange to say the least so when Disney/ABC changes its direction the other networks won't notice? Don't bet on it (Rob de Santos, ibid.) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC ON BROADBAND INCLUDING BPL o Acting FCC Chairman Copps has released a report on broadband strategy for rural America. White Space devices and BPL are among the available technologies to serve rural regions: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-291014A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-291012A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-1211A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-1211A2.doc (The FCC is in the process of repairing the last URL. -Ed.) (CGC Communicator June 1, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ SW RADIOS --- How many of you think EBAY sellers are loony? I was just surfing around ebay the last few weeks looking at both new and older SW radios on sale at ebay. My conclusion is. What the hell are these people smoking? I saw some vintage radios and the information about them is so incorrect it's not funny. The buzz words are: Rare - I've seen people use this word to describe radios which were built in the thousands. Super rare - also radios built in the thousands. Hard to find - also thousands and can be found at almost any flea market or garage sale. Also prices are silly. I would really like to know what planet these people are living on. With very very few exceptions the vast majority of vintage radios have very little value. It makes me wonder who will buy this stuff? I've seen Zenith Transoceanic radios which was called Super rare. Hummmm! Ahh not really! LOL I bought one two years ago for 50$USD that was in good condition. But I've seen people on Ebay selling them with tubes mission or a knob broken and selling it for 299$USD. OH Brother! Next a small warning about a group of Ebay sellers based in Hong Kong. The account may say Hong Kong, but they are really based in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. They tend to sell TECSUN and DEGEN SW radios. But you should remember the old saying: buyer beware. They again are over- pricing and in many cases sell radios which have been returned, but selling them as new. Also way over priced. The TECSUN BCL3000 (in the US known as the Grundig 350) on ebay is selling for around 50USD with postage at around 45USD. If you know someone who speaks Chinese you can buy it directly from Gome. Gome is the largest electronics chain in China, kind of like a Chinese version of Radio Shack. This model from Gome is half the price it's sold on ebay. Also postage on this item should not be more than 20USD. Finally something about the Grundig Satellite 800. This in reality is the TECSUN HAM 2000 --- http://www.tecsun.com.cn/english/index.htm Now I've seen this radio sold from different radio suppliers in the US for as much as 299USD to even one place that was selling it for 399USD. In China the TECSUN HAM 2000 sells can be found from a few retail outlets for between 120USD to 150USD. Postage from China will run around 30USD. TECSUN has taken lots of business away from Taiwan's Sangean. Reason? Cost. TECSUN radios cost a lot less. But you get what you pay for. Sangean in the past that has made radios for SONY, Panasonic, Sanyo and others follows very strict standards. The R&D turn around time for a new radio is 2 years. Tecsun is less than one year as life time testing is not done. I know a number of people at Sangean and they told me they were so surprised that Radio Shack in the US decided to buy from TECSUN. The different between the two and cost? Sangean is a family owned company. Tecsun is owned by the Guangdong government and is funded out of the ying-yang (Keith Perron, Taiwan, June 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) THE MEASURING AND MONITORING STATION AT BOCKHACKEN The modern DW measuring and monitoring station is situated on high ground about 317 m above sea level in the vicinity of Hückeswagen, some 40 km north-east of Cologne. It takes its name from the nearby village of Bockhacken. Here a constant check is kept on the short wave broadcasts and on their special propagation conditions. At the same time, newscasts by other radio stations and by news agencies are received for the DW Monitoring Service so that the general trend of foreign radio programs beamed to the target area in question can be taken into account. The technical quality of other broadcasting organizations is also checked. In an exchange process, these stations also conduct similar observations of the DW programs. The extensive field of operations of this receiving station also includes the conduct of measurement tests, the study of propagation conditions, the checking of the channels on the various short wave bands, the reception of teletype transmissions by the relay stations and distant teletype transmitters and the reception of transmissions from other broadcasting stations, which, as contributions to DW programs, are put through to the broadcasting house in Cologne. The variety of work to be done here calls for a well coordinated team which works day and night on a shift system. A number of important factors had to be considered in selecting the location for this receiving station. As reception - especially of very weak signals - has to be as free from interference as possible, the station has to be situated well away from areas with a high noise level, i.e. from densely inhabited residential areas or industrial plants which cause considerable disturbances and produce screening effects. Moreover, it is necessary that the receiving station is erected well apart from a transmitting station, because in the immediate vicinity cross modulation might occur in the receiving apparatuses due to the high power-rate of the transmitter. To ensure the trouble-free functioning of the Adcock antenna system, the station building was constructed underground. Above it, at ground level, in a circular area with a diameter of 28 meters, 18 vertically polarized antennas are arranged in two Adcock circles. With 6 and 12 antennas, respectively, they form an inner and outer antenna system. Each antenna is 8.5 m high. The wide-band Adcock antenna system covers the frequency range from 1.5 to 28 MHz. A vertically polarized multi- band antenna is located in the geometrical centre of the two Adcock circles and is used as a radio receiving antenna for long, medium and short waves. An alteration of the antenna characteristic of the Adcock system can be effected by means of goniometers. Unlike other directional reception systems, it is not the selected reception direction that is amplified. Instead, the stations causing the interference are attenuated depending on their direction of incidence. The tune-out effect is as much as 50 decibels for any desired azimuth. In addition, the direction of incidence of a foreign station can be ascertained by a visual direction finder (IDF). For communication with the relay station at Kigali in Rwanda and for the reception of radio stations in Africa, a double rhombic antenna is available with frequency ranges from 3 to 11 MHz and from 11 to 28 MHz. This is used mainly for the radio teletype link with the Kigali relay station and can be employed both as a transmitting and receiving antenna. Furthermore, there is a 230 meter long L-type antenna for long and medium wave reception, a rotatable FM-directional antenna (VHF-frequency range: 87 to 108 MHz) and a rotatably arranged three- band short wave directional antenna for the 10, 15 and 20 meter bands - all of them located in the grounds of the receiving station. All antennas are connected via distribution amplifiers with the measuring and receiving set-ups so that multiple uses of the antenna systems are possible. Each measuring and receiving set-up is equipped with two receivers, a single sideband attachment, a telegraphy demodulator (except measuring set-up 1) and a directional rejection goniometer with phase and amplitude control unit. The equipment here also includes a central frequency measuring system with radio and audio frequency generators of great accuracy, a high precision crystal clock installation controlled by a standard frequency transmitter, four remote-controlled tape machines, RF-spectrum analyzing recorders, long-time registration recorders for field strength measurements, DC recorders for the registration of field strength fluctuations or a field strength spectrograph respectively, a visual direction finder, FM, short, medium and long wave receivers for the DW monitoring service and extensive audio frequency equipment. Receivers connected to telegraphy demodulators and SSB-units are used for the reception of radio teletype (RTTY) and single sideband transmission. Between the broadcasting house in Cologne and the receiving station, there is a multitude of connections. They include 2 programme lines, 8 monitor lines, one line to the private branch exchange at the broadcasting house and a direct line to the monitoring service. The measuring and monitoring station also has its own telephone exchange line. (article from the 3rd edition of DW Engineering revised and augmented by W Kramar from the original text by H J Felbick via Tony Ashar, Indonesia, June World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Now obsolete?? (gh) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE STANDARD --- Some thoughts to some friends Today our society is so perverted, this is how it boils down. If you are nice to people they see you as weak! If you stand up for what is right and moral you are not a team player! If you do things above board and with integrity then you are not a good business person and lack an edge! If you tell the truth about things it can and will get you fired. If you try to correct things that are wrong for the good of everyone you are a troublemaker. If you have not experienced these examples as the standards today, then you are one of, very lucky, a liar or dead. This is the standard today. We are told everyone has their own standards and we are not all alike. It is quite clear that we are surrounded by people in high places that have no standards at all. So as a troublemaking, non team-playing, bad businessman is it not time to write a new standard? It needs to be done at the expense of the folks that have established the current standards, that we have all have had pushed in our faces It’s time that we not back down from shining a bright light into some very dark corners if we want the future to be bright. The creators of the current set of standards are not doing such a hot job of paying the bills! (Ted Randall, Radio Disclosure, QSO Radio Show http://www.tedrandall.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###